Author's Headnote: I do intend for Akechi to eventually get a team together, but it'll take some time.
Remnant's Very Own Detective: Second Infiltration: Neo's Palace
Goro Akechi:
Health: 100%
Spirit/Aura: 100%
Personas:
Robin Hood
Loki
Weapons: Crude Beam Sword, No Gun
"Semblance": Call of Chaos
Lien: 250
Social Links:
Fool (Unknown): Rank 0
Magician (Unknown): Rank 0
High Priestess (Unknown): Rank 0
Emperess (Unknown): Rank 0
Emperor (Unknown): Rank 0
Hierophant (Unknown): Rank 0
Lovers (Unknown): Rank 0
Chariot (Unknown): Rank 0
Justice (Unknown): Rank 0
Hermit (Unknown): Rank 0
Wheel of Fortune (Unknown): Rank 0
Strength (Unknown): Rank 0
Hanged Man (Unknown): Rank 0
Death (Unknown): Rank 0
Temperance (Unknown): Rank 0
Devil (Unknown): Rank 0
Tower (Unknown): Rank 0
Star (Unknown): Rank 0
Moon (Unknown): Rank 0
Sun (Unknown): Rank 0
Judgement (Unknown): Rank 0
Trickster (Rival): Rank 9 (He defeated me in the last fight. Weakened, I was surrounded by a cognitive version of myself and the local security of the palace, I sacrificed myself so they could escape. I'd rather die than have Shido win.)
End of Main Character status report
Current Objectives:
Find a way for Mementos to open
Continue to investigate Neo's Palace
Saturday, August 12, 2175 - Sunday, August 13, 2175
Mid-Quality Hotel in Metaverse Vale, August 13, Morning, Hotel Room
In a desperate attempt to save money, Akechi decided to sleep in the metaverse, despite the risks. Being that this is the metaverse, people really don't really generate unless it's a very specific cognition around a location outside of one's palace. Even then, they're cognitions. So, there is no real legal consequence for killing them. It would mean he'd be able to sleep at the hotel for free, because they'll just keep popping back up. Like any good cognition.
But he should really return to the real world as soon as possible. sleeping in the metaverse may not be a good idea after all, especially considering that he practically doesn't exist in the eyes of the public. So, what does he do? Well, he gets out of the metaverse hotel and re-enters reality.
City of Vale, August 13, Morning, Commercial District
"You have now returned to the real world, thank you for your hard work."
Now that he's returned to the real world, he just hopes he didn't drag some cosmic horror of unknown origin along with him. Akechi looks around and is relieved he's alone, no person or animal in sight. He doesn't know why those cosmic horrors exist, but they do.
With that out of the way, he decides to leave the commercial district and head to the industrial district as soon as possible to enter Neopolitan's palace. The girl's sees herself as some sort of supervillain sidekick. It's not that far off, but given her distortions, there's a reason for her to think that.
He could further learn the plans of the two through the palace, and then catch them in the act in the real world... use Neopolitan's distortions to her disadvantage. The police will be disrupting Roman Torchwick's plans tonight, so no doubt the distortions are going to alter the palace somewhat. That's if the police don't get distracted by something on their way there.
City of Vale, August 13, Late Morning, Industrial District
Not quite afternoon, but Akechi has arrived to the industrial district. He took the train to downtown and then walked his way here. He'll earn back any Lien by exploring the palace and dealing with the local shadows.
Before entering the metaverse, he should look around for any passerby civilians so he doesn't drag anyone in with him. Like he mentioned, the less people know about the metaverse, the better. Belladonna was lucky he was feeling merciful that day, otherwise she'd be a missing person. Akechi is not the kind to like to make friends with others, he generally dislikes being with other people.
He looks behind him, to his left, right, diagonal directions and in front of him, opens up the metanav and then heads into Neopolitan's palace. Reality begins to distort yada yada, he's done all of this before.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Palace Entrance
"You have now arrived at: Volcano Lair of Passion"
Neo's Palace:
Security Level: 44%
Shadow Identified: True
Akechi now, in his dark huntsman outfit, sees the Volcano in sight. A red door, like the one in the commercial district appears. However, he has no need nor funds for any gacha summons right now.
He proceeds to enter the palace the same way as last time, from the side entrance.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Underground Walkway A
It seems his last visit has made some sort of impact. The side entrance is actually guarded with more shadows this time. Guess Neopolitan's shadow is being more cautious since the last visit. Belladonna really had to make this job harder for Akechi, didn't she?
Nonetheless, he managed to take down the shadows by surprise, one by one. Thankfully the shadows here are rather weak otherwise this experience would be tiring. Akechi continued onward to the next walkway, and then continued to explore back to where he left off.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Entrance Hall
Entering through the underground walkway, he finally reached where the front entrance would be. He scouted out the area last visit. This is the main entrance hall. It has two floors, some of them containing a room regarding Neopolitan's cognitions. The Trophy room speaks for itself, for one. There is also a safe room on the first floor near the underground walkway entrance/exit. Cognitive Torchwick and Shadow Neopolitan aren't anywhere to be seen, so that's good.
From what he knows, Torchwick plans to rob a dust shop. But why is that, exactly? Well, he'll have to find that out. He'll just have to go deeper in the palace. There is door that leads deeper into the palace on the second floor of the entrance hall, opposite to the trophy room. There is also a larger door at the back of the entrance hall, next to the safe room. However, going in by brute force is never ideal in palaces. Subtlety is needed.
Akechi goes up to the second floor, by going through one of the doors in the entrance halls that's just a stairway. This is why he jumped down last time; it's faster going down than up.
The shadows here mostly guard near the elevator, so he can sneak past and go through the palace unalarmed.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Corridor Walkway A
Another walkway, leading downward to a lower level. Through a serious of stairways and corridors. The aforementioned corridors and stairs are all pinned with traps. This is typical, given the theme of the palace. He'd have to go through this area with cunning. Lasers, not laser alarms, actual lasers cover the first stairway. If he touches them, he is going to be cooked alive.
The lasers cover most of the stair space. He'd have to be an expert acrobat or have a gun to deal with these lasers. Alternatively...
Akechi summons his other persona, Robin Hood. A heroic figure deemed in a white suit, with a cape and bow. He uses Robin Hood to shoot down the sources for the lasers, which ends up destroying them in the process. Personas can be useful in more than outside combat. He may not have a gun himself, but he can use Robinhood in it's stead. He's got two Personas for a reason and he's going to use them both.
The next set of traps is poisonous darts, accompanied by floor spikes. This is somewhat more... manageable. He observed the path to see what the right path would be... though, one could just walk straight forward and shrug off the poison, but his stock on healing supplies is dangerously low, so he really can't risk anything. He finds something that's quick to discard, like some useless junk that shadows tend to leave behind and throw it at the trap. From there, he can see what triggers the traps and what does not. He uses this to his advantage and just moves toward the safe spaces of the path. On the otherside, is a lever that disables the traps, in which he so humbly pulls. The traps are no more, he can continue.
"Oh, thank you so dearly." a feminine voice cried out.
Oh great, another wanderer travelling by. He's not going to try and save them this time and just kill them and be done with it, he doesn't want to deal with Shadow Neopolitan's shenanigans and another shadow with BS immunities. And right when he turns he sees... a Zealous Messenger, a clad woman in binds and wings. That was a shadow, not a person.
Akechi pulled up his sword and went to kill the shadow, only for him to be interrupted.
"Now wait just a minute, I'm not with these brutes." the shadow retorted.
"Then what exactly are you doing here? I don't have patience for your kind, so speak quickly." Akechi threatened.
"I could ask the same for you, human. Humans can't normally enter the metaverse."
"I suppose I'm different..."
"That could be the case. You don't feel like a human, after all."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Don't 'oh, nothing' me. I want a full explanation."
"Fine. I believed you were something other than a human when I heard you go through those traps."
"Be specific. Did you think I was a shadow?"
"Yes."
"Not sure why you'd think that, but okay."
"Anyways, now I can finally leave this place." the shadow said, leaving.
Because he doesn't trust the shadow, he cuts the shadow down anyway, killing it. The shadow dropped a card and a lockpick, along with 73 Lien. Akechi picks up the card, and it's blank. May as well hold onto that for now, he also picks up the lockpick and the money.
Akechi had then looked around to the surroundings. He was in the area to the next room, with the stairs behind him and a locked chest next to him. The remains of the shadow are non-existent as shadows disintegrate. If the shadow was really not from here, he shouldn't have to worry about encountering another one next time he comes here.
In any case, Akechi opens up the chest and finds a crudely made firearm. It is of course, resembles a handgun. It is obviously an energy weapon. Akechi picks it up and gets the feel around it. It's not a model, alright. This thing is real, wonder what kind of manufacturer would make actual energy weapons? Guess this world is more advanced than he first thought.
Gun Acquired: Crude Laser Gun
Akechi holsters the gun. No need for it now, besides the batteries on the thing is dead. But that is beside the point, in the cognitive world: when an enemy sees a gun, they're gonna think it's fully loaded regardless. So, every fight the ammunition may as well be fully loaded. Because the cognitive verse sees the gun as fully loaded, no matter how crudely made or fake it looks. He made a toy laser gun fire actual lasers when he tried this. The Metaverse works on a fundamentally different level than reality, regardless of the world it's in.
Anyways, he proceeds to the next area.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Barracks Hub
It seems he's found the other side of the large door. He sees it from where he is. From the looks of it, this looks like a set of barracks an underground lair would have. The set of doors and floors would indicate that they all contain various bunkers full of beds and shadows. Thankfully, he can skip that part as there's an elevator nearby. He goes to the elevator, and it doesn't open. He then closely expects the elevator... apparently, he needs a keycard to access the elevator. And knowing where this is going, one of the shadows in the barracks has the keycard... he just doesn't know which one.
New Objective: Find the Keycard
From here, he sees a set of stairs and two floors. The first floor (which he is on) has eight doors (excluding the one leading to the entrance hall), one of those doors is evidently a safe room. The second floor has six doors. He begins to check each of the rooms one by one...
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Barracks Room C
The first two rooms didn't provide anything useful. In information nor Keycard that is. So, he checks this room. Like most of the rooms, this one has a set of beds and a bathroom on the other side. The only reason a lair would need a barracks is if the troops stationing here would be residing here. It would mean that Neo sees Torchwick building an army.
However, unlike the last two rooms... he can hear some voices... though, they're all random assortments from other people. Usually this indicates the existence of a Will Seed (although in this case, the voices would belong to the palace ruler. However, it would seem the palace ruler is mute). He believes they are distortions taken in solid form. He is unsure if removing them would change the cognition of the Palace ruler or not. However, when the Phantom Thieves stole the will seeds of their targets, it would seem that nothing really affected it until stealing the heart of the palace. So... he would want to take one of Neopolitan's will seeds to see if there is any long-lasting changes.
Akechi looked around, there are no other doors in this room other than the washroom one and the exit. No one else is here, unlike the last two he had checked. However, there is a vent near the ground at the back wall. He's climbed vents before, so he may as well climb through this one. When he does, he noticed the vent shift is diagonal, making it harder to climb.
Akechi had gone through the exit of the vent; he wounds up in a small room with two doors. One of the doors is jammed, the other is obviously the will seed door. Being seen with the yellow security tape and vine-covered door. He doubts the other two will seeds will be that hard to find.
He cuts the tape and opens the door. Leading to a small room with a pedestal with a red glowing skull. The red skull is a will seed. Akechi picked up the will seed and placed it with his other items. For some reason, Astaphios has given him the ability to transfer items into an unknown pocket dimension. He doesn't know why, though. At the very least he can recall them back.
"Will Seed 1 of 4 Acquired." the Metanav spoke.
New Objective: Find the remaining will seeds in Neopolitan's palace (Optional)
One of four? Either he's misremembering something, or the palaces of this world produce an extra will seed. Either way, he doesn't need to collect them, but he does know that the will seeds provide a powerful boon to whomever collects them all. They would form a crystal, which in turn grants its holder power. So, he may collect them if they're nearby, but he won't go out in his way just to look for them.
He goes back from the vent and exits the set of barracks and continues to go through every single one of them. So far, he doesn't think the will seed affected Neopolitan's cognition, but further analysis would be required.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Barracks Hub
After going through the barracks, killing some shadows and looting the place, he returned to the hub of the barracks. However, no keycard was found. Guess he should double check just to make sure he didn't miss a spot.
But it doesn't seem to be the case as a shadow with the keycard had just arrived from the locked out elevator.
"Alright, time for the drill! We're gonna have a heist to- HEY!" the shadow said, before seeing Akechi. "You're not supposed to be here!"
"Your keycard, hand it over." Akechi threatened.
"What? No! I don't need to listen to you!" the shadow said, transforming into a chivalrous fiend. Although most shadows he's seen resemble the earth-like counterparts. This one does not. The ones on earth have red skin, wearing blue garments and wielding a naginata. However, he clearly recognizes as a chivalrous fiend, but this one clearly looks different. The skin is purple with red gleaming eyes. The garment is now black with some armor platings. The naginata is now replaced with a sword staff with a red crystal inside the blade. The shadow also bears goat horns and claws on his fingers.
Different appearance inside, if it's anything like the earth counterpart, it's a physical fighter. So, he should avoid using physical attacks. He waits and sees what moves this shadow will pull, and to his surprise he sees the shadow using agalio, fire magic. Thankfully he doesn't have a weakness to fire so he can shrug that off. What he does notice is that the sword staff is now covered in flames. This is rather different from what he's normally used to. He should be wary of that weapon, though.
But just to make sure he summons Robin Hood to cast heat riser, a single-target all-buffing spell on himself. Following that, he sees the chilvarious fiend using a giant slice toward Akechi, he was only able to dodge the attack thanks to the heat riser, but he had a feeling the attack would have dealt fire damage instead of normal physical damage. After that, the shadow casted Eiga, dark magic. He makes all of his effort to dodge that attack because he has Robin Hood equipped primarily. The attack almost hits, he should consider himself lucky. The blade now turns from fiery to being engulfed in darkness. He senses a pattern. Whenever the shadow uses a magic attack, the physical attacks become the element of the previous magic attack.
So, now that he figures out how the shadow attacks. He just needs to come up with a strategy. First off, he would have to cripple the thing. However, this would require more than pure offensive power. He looked through the items he's acquired... let's see here... ah! A cryo grenade. This does low ice damage, but has a high chance of freezing the target. He's acquired around 7 of them. Akechi throws one of the ice grenades at the shadow and it freezes it solid. The frozen shadow is unable to move, and is open for an attack. Akechi uses this to his advantage and attacks with his weapon, which shatters the ice and damages the shadow more than without doing so. The shadow is downed leaving it open for a follow-up attack. Akechi uses this to his advantage, he switches to Loki and hits the shadow with a debilitate, weakening its potential to fight.
The shadow had gotten up. And attempted to land another giant slice, but the mark was off by a large margin. He then proceded to cast Bufula, ice magic. Akechi dodged that surely, and now the sword staff is encased with ice. Akechi throws another cryo grenade, but the shadow blocked the attack, as if it was immune to ice now. The shadow strikes again, same attack... Akechi dodged, the shadow uses fire magic again and now the swordstaff is flaming again.
He throws yet another cryo grenade, the impact seemed to be even more potent than when the blade was dark. The shadow couldn't move because it was frozen. He used this time to cast another Heat Riser and then knock down the shadow again. He then follows it up with a physical attack from his persona for more of a kick. The shadow got up again, and attacked with a physical fire attack. This time the attack connected, but it didn't harm him that much. The following attack was as predicted, Eiga... with Loki equipped he should be immune to dark. The attack may have connected, but Akechi was unharmed being that Loki nullifies dark.
Now on the offensive, Akechi switches to Robinhood and lands a Kougaon. If he's right about this... the shadow should be weak to light right now. The Kougaon attack connected and the shadow is down, he then follows it up with another Kougaon. These two following attacks kill the shadow.
He must admit, he was rather impressed with that last shadow. It held up a good fight. However, he feels like that shadow is an exception and not the rule for those. He also gets a feeling he may be different variants of the shadows he's familiar of from now on. The leader of the Phantom Thieves was able to manifest those shadows into Personas of his own. Akechi may be able to replicate this power and make himself much more adaptable. The question is... how? He'll just have to figure that out.
The shadow he had just killed had dropped the keycard. Perfect, he's going to need that. The keycard is mostly orange with a pumpkin logo on it.
Key Item Acquired: Orange Keycard
Objective Complete: Find the Keycard
With that out of the way, Akechi uses the keycard to access the elevator and proceeded downward.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Corridor Walkway B
Akechi got off the elevator, and from there he wanders into the corridor. The corridor here looks different from the previous one. No blindingly orange decorations, for one. He walks through the corridor, and as he did so he came across the other side of the jammed door. Akechi at first thought he dumb at first, but then realized he wouldn't have known otherwise.
It would explain the diagonal direction of the vent. It was easier leaving that room than entering. Still, he should be more wary next time.
His time exploring would come to a halt now that he's come across a large, sealed door. Akechi tried cutting it down with his weapon and Persona, but alas... this door is built on a cognitive check. Something important would have to be here. He would have to change Neopolitan's cognition to pass through here. How? He would have to find out what the door is hiding. He examines the area around the door. There is a sign on the wall... Akechi begins to read it.
Only those of authorized access and/or have a contract with Dr. Roman von Torchwick are allowed beyond this point. For what lies beyond here is not for the common mook's eyes.
Yep, definitely hiding something alright. Anyways, he would have to turn back because he can't go any much further without changing Neopolitan's cognition of him or finding someone who fits the criteria of someone who she would see having authorized access. Either way, looks like he can't do this task alone.
Objective complete: Continue to investigate Neo's Palace
New Objective: Change Neopolitan's cognition OR recruit someone who can open the door.
Neo's Palace, August 13, Late Morning, Palace Entrance
Akechi is back at the entrance. Though, he does see something he hasn't seen before, the entrance to the scarlet chamber. It would considered convinient for the entrance to the scarlet chamber to be near the palace entrance. Perhaps the leader of the phantom thieves had his own counterpart at the entrances to the palaces on earth. Akechi enters the scarlet chamber again.
The Scarlet Chamber, Time does not exist in this realm, Entrance
Akechi has entered the Scarlet Chamber, and he sees Astaphaios and Airasor are present as well.
"I see you've discovered that the shadows here can appear different than the ones on Earth." Astaphaios said.
"You would know that, how?" Akechi asked.
"I am a god, how else would I know?"
"Fair."
"Know though that the shadows are manifestation of human's hearts. The humans are not from earth, so their depictions of the same beings will not be the same as the ones on Earth. Likewise, you will come across unfamiliar figures as well."
"That would make sense."
"I have noticed you have not added more Personas to your arsenal."
"I don't really do negotiations."
"That's fair. These things are very hard to deal with. Usually, I would just force them."
"Tell me more..."
"When you weaken a shadow, you can pretty much force it into a position where it would become a part of you, just to conserve it's life."
"Now why didn't I think of that?"
"Good question."
"Anything else?"
"Soon, a series of events will soon unfold. The two factions will conflict by the end of December. Do what you must, but remember you need to destroy the relics. I would recommend finding the Relic of Choice first, as I believe it is located somewhere within the Kingdom of Vale."
New Objective: Find and Destroy the Relic of Choice
"Right, so the relic of choice... where is it, exactly?"
"I'll tell you where it isn't, underneath Beacon Academy. This relic's hiding spot is rather well hidden, this was especially done by the champion who hid it so the other one can't find it. And even if you do find it, you'll need the Fall Maiden to unlock it."
New Objective: Find the Fall Maiden
"The Fall Maiden?"
"I should have told you this, but there are four women who possess magic abilities in Remnant, and unlike aura and semblances, they will have access to this magic even in the Metaverse. So, I would advise caution fighting them directly. The Fall Maiden, in particular, is usually around in Vale. However, don't expect this to be common knowledge, this is usually a secret. You must find either Ally with the Fall Maiden or manipulate an ally into becoming the Fall Maiden, it doesn't matter who the Maiden is."
"Right. So, find the Fall Maiden, find the relic, destroy the relic." Akechi recapped.
"Correct. Each of the relics are hidden behind a door so only the corresponding Maiden can open the said door."
"I would have figured."
"Now, is there any reason you're here? So far, the only asset here is the Hero lottery. Unless you wish to partake in the gacha, there is nothing for you here."
"May as well try it." Akechi said.
"Very Well. Airasor, escort our champion to the Hero Lottery."
"Yes, master." Airasor said. She then went toward the door where the Hero Lottery is.
The Scarlet Chamber, Time does not exist in this realm, Hero Lottery
Back at the Hero lottery. The layout of the room remains the same, though. Akechi and Airasor are gathered near the machine, with the latter looking rather nervous looking. Akechi acquired roughly 3,430 Lien during his run in the palace. This should be enough to last him for a long while. However, he is about to spend 1,000 of that Lien for an artificial ally. He inserts the Lien into the machine.
The machine then begins to activate, with lights turning on and off. The balls in the machine begin to move around, jumping, spinning, constantly bumping between the glass and other balls. This continues to happen for a whole thirty seconds. And yes, thirty seconds. Not twenty-nine seconds, not thirty-one seconds, and not especially negative three seconds. Exactly thirty seconds. Like the thirty seconds it would take for one to count to thirty in a perfect rhythm. And once the thirty seconds ended, the balls collapsed on the ground and one the balls fell out of the machine and came into a slot of the machine, and then opened up. The ball itself dissolved, leaving only a card. Akechi picked up the card and reads it's contents.
Jaune Arc, Pre-Beacon, 1 Star.
Arcana: Magician
Str: None
Weak: Gun, Fire, Wind, Psychic, Dark, Almighty, Ailments
"Looks like you got the joke card." Airasor commented.
"Joke card?" Akechi responded. "You mean I got a joke spirit?"
"Yep, it was mostly put there for the laughs. I would recommend not summoning the hero and just holding onto it until you get another card or Persona."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, with a card of any other rank, you can exchange both of them for a free standard roll. With two one-star cards, you can exchange them to get a guaranteed two-stared spirit card roll."
"This still feels very scummy."
"I think that was the point."
"Then why did you build this?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd actually get that card."
"It's a one-star card."
"That means one-star cards are the most common type, not the cards themselves!"
"This doesn't seem like a good system, like what do you even do with that money, anyway?"
"I don't know."
"Of course, you don't know." Akechi said, facepalming. "I am restraining myself for your health."
"I'm sorry! I-if-I am bothering, I could just go over to the corner and let you calm down." Airasor said, with fear.
"Don't worry, it's fine. Now if you excuse me. I'll have to return to the real world."
"O-of course. I hope you can find some use of the spirit."
Akechi remained silent. He left the scarlet chamber in a foul mood, and then left the metaverse accordingly.
City of Vale, August 13, Afternoon, Commercial District
Akechi spent a lot of time in the metaverse, he entered the palace at 10:42 (AM), it is currently 16:21 (4:21 PM). Though not a single familiar face has shown up. He could consider that a blessing, as Belladonna-san is quite a pain to deal with right now, given she can compromise Akechi's plans with just a touch of a button. Rose and Xiao-Long are nowhere to be seen, either.
However, he does notice a couple of things whilst walking. First off, a plastic chair in the middle of the road. And second, there seems to be a conversation by some two randos. The first thing he does is is move the plastic chair off the road. That thing's only going to get run over and destroy a perfectly good chair. So, he moves the chair over to the sidewalk adjacent to one of the nearby buildings. Hopefully someone can go claim the chair for themselves. He then listens to the conversation.
"You know, I've been hearing a rumor. About a rather powerful huntsman... I think." one of the civilians said.
"Oh? Go on." the second one said.
"Well, it may be baseless or completely true. But I hear about this swordsman with blue hair. Quite the quiet type, from what I hear."
"Sounds intimidating."
"Well... that, or it could be a gunslinging swordsman in a trench coat..."
"Couldn't they also have blue hair?"
"I don't think both cases would be true."
"Well, why not?"
"The descriptions of both criteria quite clash in my mind. There's also this third one. It would be a simple student swordsman. Wearing the uniform and all."
"So... you're saying there's this powerful individual going around. Who is either a quiet blue-haired swordsman, a gunslinging swordsman with a trench coat, OR a sword wielding student?"
"Correct."
"What if it's all three."
"Don't be ridiculous, what could that even look like?"
"A quiet blue-haired gunslinging swordsman with a trench coat who is also a student."
"If that's the person, then that rumor would totally be not true. Rumors are never that specific... I guess."
"Eh, depends on the gossip. None of those descriptions could even be true and it could be something else entirely. Or just not a thing entirely."
A rumor about a powerful huntsman with a vague description? He was expecting something more. Anyways, he should be more worried about finding the Relic of Choice's hiding place, and the Fall Maiden, whoever it may be. As well as finding a way to change Neopolitan's cognition to allow him access further into the palace. For now he should scout around places he hasn't been yet. The dockyards seem like a bad choice as he wouldn't imagine anywhere for one to hide a secret magic door... which is why he should check them out first. He heads toward the docks near the commercial district.
City of Vale, August 13, Afternoon, Dockyards
The dockyards are next to the commercial district. They contain many things a dockyard would have... like docks for one. The smell of salt water and ship fuel is present. From here he can see many loads of boats ranging from civilian to military. The Valean navy is rather reminiscent of a science fictional depiction of what navy soldiers would look like. Given the aspects of this world, no doubt they're tasked with fighting the grimm in the oceans. Truly a terrifying task. Sea monsters were always something people of older times feared. And given they're real in this world, he would understand that fear.
Off topic, the relic could be contained in one of the boats. Either civilian or military. If it was in a rustic old ship or an advanced military boat, it'd stick out like a soar thumb. If it was on one of the boats, it would have to be one where no one would expect it. It may not be in one of the docks at all, or rather in the dock infrastructure. Many many suspectable places for the relic to be.
He'll come back to that another time. There is uptown. From the sounds of it, the royal family palace is there... the relic could be there. Even if it is, he could spot the luxurious home of a monarch with ease.
Then there's old town. From the sounds of it, not many people live there and there's an array of abandoned catacombs in old town. If he didn't know any better, it'd sound like somewhere vampires would be. The catacombs themselves may be a good hiding spot for the relic, though.
Finally, there's the nearby settlement of Patch. It's an island off the coast of Vale, west of it. If the relic is there, he'd have to take a boat ride there. He should continue checking out the city just in case.
City of Vale, August 13, Evening, Commercial District
He continued to wander around even after dark. If the police were competent enough, they'd at least show up to the dust shop he mentioned... from dust to dawn. Akechi is just standing outside of it. Well, a block away that is.
It would seem everything is going well... until...
He hears the windows breaking out and some of the mooks he saw at the nightclub fall out of them. With Rose emerging with a very large scythe. It also looks like Roman Torchwick is here as well. It appears Rose is fighting to mooks effortlessly, despite being outnumbered ten to one. As if she were some shonen protagonist during the first issue of the manga or the first episode of the anime.
"I'm Impressed little red, but let's see if yo-AH! Stupid chair!" Roman Torchwick said, tripping over a plastic chair. Followed by an explosion in Roman's face, in which he miraculously survived. Ruby then giggled a bit. It would appear the chair in question was the one Akechi moved earlier this day. He didn't expect an action so small would take an impact to this event... though, he wonders where the police are. Regardless Akechi keeps watching how this plays out.
Ruby had then run towards Torchwick with blinding speed, only to be stopped by... wait. Neopolitan? Wasn't she told not to show up?
"Neo? For once I'm glad you defied my orders." Roman Torchwick said, climbing up a ladder leading to a getaway copter.
Akechi should not intervene; he should wait to see how this would play out. He sees Ruby struggling to fight Neopolitan in a clearly one-sided fight. If anything, it looks like Neopolitan is playing with her. Akechi continues to watch for analysis. He could intervene on either side, or just remain a bystander. With the aura and call of chaos, he could turn the tide in favor of Ruby or guarantee Neopolitan's victory. But he believes It's best to stay neutral in this conflict. On one hand, helping Neopolitan would be one way to access further into her palace. On the other hand, something about the Rose girl is well... she reminds Akechi of him. As if they bare the same energy. Given the sense of rivalry Akechi and him had, it would be waste for Rose to die so soon.
Akechi continues to wait it out. And as he does, he sees Ruby finally on the verge of defeat, and just as Neopolitan is about to land a killing blow, suddenly a third party intervenes. A woman of blond hair and purple eyes, from the looks of it. She looks like a huntress... possibly the Fall Maiden. She uses some sort of power to lift Neopolitan still and then ragdolls her across the side of the building. Neopolitan then proceeds to retreat. Roman Torchwick had also gotten away. The possible huntress and/or fall maiden the looked at Ruby.
"Are you okay?" the woman asked...
"Yes... I... thought I'd die..." Ruby said, with fear.
"Normally I'd scold you, but it seems like it would be detrimental in your current state. I'll take you to the police station and you can tell them everything that happened."
"Thanks..."
The woman helped Ruby get up, along with retrieving Ruby's weapon. The two of them then went to head toward the police station, in which then Akechi finally breaks from his would-be hiding spot and then approaches them.
"So, just as I feared. The police didn't show up." Akechi said, speaking to Ruby and the woman.
"And who would you just be?" the woman asked.
"Goro Akechi, private investigator. Well, novice private investigator. I found evidence regarding the plan to the dust shop and then handed it to the police. They'd said they send a unit tonight."
"Oh, so that sudden wave of police in downtown was your doing?"
"Downtown? They should have been in the commercial district."
"I think they might have. But then some teenage girl came along and wrecked the nightclub to a degree where the police on their route stopped and arrested her instead."
"Oh ya, so that's what happened over there..." Ruby said. "Too bad I didn't see the perpetrator, though. I showed up right after they got them in the car and drove away."
"Well... we won't have to worry about that." the woman said. "You just need to tell the nice officers about the events that happened, and then you can go home."
"I may as well head down with you. Anything that would have happened would help me with my investigation." Akechi said.
"And what would you be investigating?" the woman asked.
"I'm trying to look into and catch Roman Torchwick."
"Huh, it would seem your goals do align with the noble people of Vale."
"That is the intent, yes."
The three of them continued to discuss whilst heading to the police station.
City of Vale, August 13, Evening, Police Station
Back around downtown. The three of them arrive at the police station. Akechi was sitting next to Ruby in the interrogation room. He was writing down everything Ruby had said about her experiences.
From what he gathered the mooks only stole the dust. Not the money, just the dust. This is considered quite odd. Who would rob a store for only the merchandise? Normally one would either go for both the merch and the money, OR just the money, but never just the merchandise. There could be more behind this plan Roman Torchwick is cooking up, but he would have to find out what he would need the dust for... and why...
Neopolitan's palace is also a key factor to taking down Roman Torchwick. From the looks of it, apprehending Roman Torchwick is outright impossible whilst Neopolitan's heart is distorted. So even if he just focusing on taking down Roman Torchwick alone, he would need to get Neopolitan out of the picture somehow. And for that, he would need to change Neopolitan's cognition or recruit a would be ally of hers to get further into her palace.
With what he has gathered, he can gather up into more what Torchwick is planning... but any plans to apprehend him will wait until Neopolitan is dealt with. He also needs to dedicate time to finding the Relic of Choice and convincing the Fall Maiden to unlock the door to the relic.
But that would wait as a man in a green suit has entered the room. He bears white hair and yellow eyes, and wears glasses.
"You have... silver eyes..." the man said.
"Me?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, you."
"You are Ruby Rose, are you not?"
"Yep. Student at Signal Academy."
"Top of the class, prodigy at combat? And wielder of the Scythe? The rarest weapon type one could have?"
"Yep."
"How would you feel if you could enter Beacon Academy early?"
"Enter Beacon early? Maybe then I could be in the same class as my sister!"
"Unfortunately... something came up and your sister won't be attending Beacon."
"Oh no! What happened?"
"Let's just say... she got herself in some trouble and despite my protests, the majority of the schoolboard decided her application to the academy to be revoked."
"Did she happen to trash a nightclub by any chance?" Akechi asked.
"Yes, actually." the man said.
"One in downtown? One where they supposedly arrested a teenage girl?"
"Yep, the very same. Yang Xiao Long was arrested recently, I came here to inform her that the school won't be pardoning her."
Ruby looked sad.
"It's alright Miss Rose... sometimes we don't even know the people we know about the most, and it breaks our hearts. I've been through that experience myself." the man said.
"Thanks, anyways... I'd like to accept your offer." Ruby said.
"Very well, I'll being seeing you at Beacon tomorrow." the man said. "And how about you, young man? Would you like to attend?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline." Akechi said.
"Excellent, thankfully we ha-wait what?" the man paused.
"I'm afraid a school career would get in the way of my investigation. So, I'm afraid I'll have to turn down your offer."
"I see... well, I'll be off my way." the man said, preparing to leave.
The man left the room, leaving the room with just Ruby and Akechi. With no one else around, Ruby looked at Akechi.
"Why did you decline?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not really one suited for combat." Akechi lied.
"I see. That would make a lot of sense for you to decline attending a combat school. As for me, this is what I wanted, to be a hero."
"Be careful what you wish for. There is no such thing as a living hero, after all."
"That sounded ominous."
"Has it now? Well, I hope you stay safe. You are pursuing a dangerous career, after all."
"So are you. Hopefully we'll run into each other again."
A faint bond can be felt between Akechi and Ruby. A red butterfly can be seen flying across Akechi's eyes.
"So, the Fool makes the start to her journey. And you have begun to earn her trust. I suggest you keep onto it." Astaphaios' voice said.
Social Link Unlocked: Fool (Ruby)
Rank 1 bonus: Persona capacity improved from 2 to 6, unlocked the ability to create personas from shadows by negotiation or force.
Author's Footnote: Sorry for the wait, I got distracted. But first some explanations
Of course, Shadows/Demons/Personas/etc. Would take on different forms in Remnant, being that these are how the people of Remnant would view them. Some of them would be seen as the same, others not so much. As seen from the Vytalean Oni.
I might add a character from a third series (and along with a side story with said character as an antagonist). I don't know if that's a good idea so I'll be running it down with a poll to see what you'd guys think. Check the profile to vote. Well... assuming that's even allowed. If you don't want the extra character, you could just say 'no'. Personally, I'm fine with either or.
Yes, Akechi will be addressing Blake and Ruby by their last names.
As for the vacant slot in the RWBY cast given we're missing Y, an OC or a RWBY version of a Persona character will show up as a substitute for Yang.
If Akechi accepted Ozpin's officer, I felt like it would become too cliché.
And that's the explanation. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and hope you'll enjoy the next one.