Having escaped the castle for now so let's see what happens next.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.
Persona 5 Royal Fanmake Gaston Arc Chapter 15
Lovers & Magician
The four made it out of the castle and back to the real world as she they stand in the alley opposite the school entrance. Aqua, Uzi and Alexis were back in their uniforms and Gatomon was a regular cat again.
Alexis pants and recovers and said to the others "…Mm, thanks."
"Looks like we made it back." Uzi said and looks to Alexis "Hey, are you okay?"
"Well, pretty much…" Alexis said nodding. "Wait, I lied. I'm still confused about all of this."
"You may be safe now, but a lot sure did happen back there…" Gatomon said to the group and Alexis seem to understand him now too. "At any rate, we stand out too much here. Let's relocate to a safer spot."
"I agree, let's go." Aqua said nodding with the other two.
They made it to the station with Gatomon riding in Aqua's bag so as to not fall behind. Uzi returns with some soda's an energon one for her and a coke and orange soda for Alexis and Aqua.
"Which once do you want?" Uzi asked Alexis.
"Whichever's not carbonated." Alexis said to her.
"Um, they actually both are." Uzi said awkwardly.
Alexis sweat drops at that "Then…" She takes the coke.
"Here you go." Uzi said handing the orange soda to Aqua.
"Thank you." Aqua said accepting it.
"What about me?" Gatomon said coming out the bag and leans on Aqua's shoulder.
"Huh? But you're a cat." Uzi said confused.
Gatomon ignoring the cat comment looks to Alexis and asked "…Have you calmed down, Lady Alexis?"
"Um…Gatomon, right?" Alexis said looking at the white cat bemused. "I am actually talking to a cat…This feels so strange… Oh sorry! You're not a cat, right?"
"It's only natural that you're confused." Gatomon said softly. "Demanding that you understand all of this right after what you wen through is asking too much."
"Honestly, I still can't believe what happened…" Alexis said sipping her drink "And that power… my Persona…"
"It's the will of your rebellion, Lady Alexis." Gatomon explained "With it, you'll be able to fight in that other world."
"So if what you told me is true, we can make Gaston have a change of heart, right?" Alexis asked smiling.
"Remember the other day, when you asked if it was possible for Gaston to forget about you, this is what I meant when I said it was possible" Aqua said nodding.
Alexis nods and asked "Is it really possible? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?"
"The volleyball team's keeping quiet about this, while teachers and parents turn a blind eye." Uzi explained "If people like us try and complain, they're just going to shoot us down. Going all in on this plan is the only choice we got."
Alexis nods and said determined look on her face "Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Hina." She clenches her fist "He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what he did to her…I'll never forgive him."
"Wait, did you just say, 'let me help'?" Uzi asked in surprise "You mean, you want us to take you along?"
"Don't act like I'm going to drag you down." Alexis said serious "Weren't you watching? I can fight and even beat that general."
Uzi concerned look at Aqua and asked "Hey…What should we do?"
"I think she'll be a great addition." Aqua said "Besides we do need a fourth person to pull this off."
"I agree as well." Gatomon said nodding "As she pointed out we are lacking in manpower, after all." He looks serious to Alexis "Don't worry, I'll protect her."
"Even If you said no, I'd just go in alone." Alexis told Uzi.
"Oh right, she can go by herself…I guess it'd be more dangerous turning her down…" Uzi said thinking and sighs "Fine…"
"Then it's decided" Alexis said smiling "Well, I hope we get along!" She looks at Aqua "I'm going to make Gaston atone for what he did. Not just for Hina's sake…but for everything he's done. I won't let any more people suffer because of him. I'll do whatever it takes!"
Aqua nods as she feels a strong fighting resolve from Alexis…
We come to the present where Windblade, Jacob and Jess look at Aqua.
"A group like your must have relied on subtlety and misdirection. Otherwise you'd never survive." Jess said as the female Law Trooper types on her pad.
"I assume some of you might even have being hiding behind a 'public face' their entire lives." Jacob added walking around Aqua.
"Are you listening to us, then answer us!" Windblade told her
We come back to the past as Aqua feels something form within her.
"I am thou, thou art I…Thou hast acquired a new vow." The Female voice said "I shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captvitiy. With the birth of the Lovers Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall to freedom and new power"
Aqua opens up the card book and sees a third on added that had Alexis' name on it. The picture on the card had three figures and about them was cupid.
"Lovers, that's my domain, just having it makes me feel stronger." Pixie said to Aqua.
'Good to know' Aqua though smiling and puts the book away as time resumes.
"Just let me know when you're heading back in…" Alexis said then realized "Oh, wait! We don't have each other's info. Hey, give me your number and chat ID. And, um…" She gets her phone out with the Cyber Tutu themed case and the three of them exchange contact info. "I'll be counting on you, then." She smiles at Gatomon "Same goes for you, Gatomon.
"The pleasure is all min, Lady Alexis." Gatomon said smiling. Alexis nods and leaves. Once gone Gatomon said "What a kind girl…Such admirable consideration for others…And the innocence to cast herself into the jaws of death to achive her goal…"
"She cares about her friends, and she's beautiful to boot…What a girl!" Gatomon said smiling "She's captured my heart…"
"Dude." Uzi said disturbed by that. She chose to move on and said "You know, it'd be better if this group could get together quick from now on…"
"I agree it will save a lot of time" Aqua said nodding.
"That's true." Gatomon said nodding. "Our best option would be to make a secret hideout where we could discuss these things."
"A hideout, huh? I like the sound of that." Uzi said smiling.
"The school rooftop would work…" Gatomon said thinking "It seems like nobody goes up there. For the time being, that will make the perfect hideout." He smiles "I can't contact you from inside a Palace, so I'll stay in this world."
"That sounds good." Aqua said.
"That being said, I'll need someone to take care of me." Gatomon said nodding and looks at Aqua "I personally nominating you. You should feel honoured."
"Wait what?!" Aqua said shocked.
Uzi shakes her head "…That's all you. There's no way I can at my place." She looks and sees her train arriving "Well, we now have our hideout, so let's meet there tomorrow?" She runs to catch her train.
"Okay! Let's go look at my new residence for this world." Gatomon said smiling.
"Okay but don't expect anything spectacular." Aqua said sighing 'I just hope I can convince Vito to let him stay.'
Aqua made it back at LeBlanc with Gatomon hiding in the back. She sees that unlike the last few times but Vito wasn't the only one there.
There was a customer sitting in a booth an alien Aqua knew was a Salarian who wore a white scientific like uniform with red and black bits. He was sitting at the booth humming a tune to himself while working on an holopad looking over data, a cup of coffee that was no doubt good for Salarians on the table.
Vito looks to Aqua from behind the counter and said "Stay upstairs while we're open for business."
Aqua nods and goes but looks at the Salarian who notices "May I help you?"
"Hey, lay off the customers." Vito said to Aqua.
"Right, sorry." Aqua said awkwardly.
"Sorry if he was rude, Doctor." Vito said to the Salarian, least Aqua knew what this Salarian was now in terms of occupation.
"Oh, no harm done" The Salarian said.
Vito nods and stares at Aqua in a glare "Come on, you're getting in the way. Go on upstars."
"I'm going." Aqua said as she keeps going.
A while later the Salarian was don and gets up and said to Vito "…Thanks, I will be seeing you later."
"Come back again." Vito said nodding. The Salraina leaves and Aqua looks to him "Phew…That's it for today."
"By the way, who was that Salraian?" Aqua asked him.
"Oh, that customer just now?" Vito asked "I guess you don't know many of the people here what with busy with school, he was the head doctor over at that clinic down the street."
"Huh, I think I saw him when I first arrived here" Aqua said thinking back.
"Rumor has it he gives lousy examinations and sells some weird homemade medicines on the top of that." Vito said thinking. "Through that's only what I've heard. I haven't been in there myself."
"I see…" Aqua said thinking.
"In my opinion they should really leave him along." Vito said "He may be a bit strange and more work focused but it's not like he's getting in the way of their lives…"
"Hey, are we there yet?!" Gatomon said from the bag.
"Huh?" Vito said surprised and Aqua gets worried. Vito then said "Well, I've got to get hom and start making dinner…"
"Right, see you in the moning.." Aqua said and heads upstairs quickly.
Aqua upon reaching her room puts her bag on the bed and lets Gatomon out.
Gatomon looks around the room on the bed and wasn't pleased as he said "What the… What is this place?!"
"It's my room." Aqua said to him.
"Is this some kind of abandoned house?!" Gatomon asked shocked.
"No it's actually…" Aqua said but stops as she hears footsteps and turns to see Vito approach angry
"Hey, are you…" Vito said but stops upon seeing Gatomon "I was wondering why I heard meowing…Why did you bring it here for?!"
"It's because I found it and it didn't have a home." Aqua said sounding sympathetic.
"Nowhere, huh?" Vito asked sighing and said "Look this place is a restaurant. Animals are a no-go…" He thinks "Through I guess you might stay on good behaviour if you got a pet to take care of…"
"So that mean I can keep him?" Aqua asked.
"Fine…" Vito said sighing. "But keep it quiet when we're open for business. And don't let it roam downstairs or I'll toss it out."
"Don't worry I will, in fact I will take him out with me if I leave the place." Aqua promised to him.
"Good, also I'm not going to take care of it. That's all on you." Vito told her then heads downstairs.
"Was that the ruler of this place?" Gatomon asked.
"Yeah, that was him Vito Scaletta and he is my caretaker for the year." Aqua said nodding.
"He seemed pretty understanding for someone who keeps you cramped up in this dump." Gatomon said to her. "Then again, I suppose to normal people I just sound like a meowing cat."
"I guess so" Aqua said nodding.
Just then Vito returns with a plate of tuna putting it on the bed by Gatomon and said sighing "Seriously…it had to keep calling out in that cute little voice…" He looks to Aqua "Make sure you wash that dish. Also…have you decided on a name?"
"Yes, his name is Gatomon." Aqua said with a nod.
"Gatomon? Huh…" Vito said at that "I was hoping I'd get to name it…through I will give you points for originality on the name." He then leaves for real this time.
"Looks like the chief likes me better than you." Gatomon said with a grin.
"That's because he has a bad impression on me" Aqua said sighing.
"Well, to be honest, this place is heaven compared to Gaston's cells." Gatomon admits looking around and sighs sadly "…Remember how you guys asked me before about what I am? To be honest…I don't remember anything about my birth."
"So, you do have amnesia?" Aqua asked
Gatomon nods "I think the Metaverse's distortions made me lose both my memories and my true form."
"And that form is human?" Aqua asked.
"It has to be!" Gatomon said seriously. "I mean, why else would a cat be able to talk like this? There's no other possible explanation." He sighs "There's no doubt that the distortion were what caused me to lose my real self. I'm sure once they're purged, I'll finally be able to get that self-back."
"Maybe" Aqua said thinking.
"Yeah, and I have a pretty good idea on how to do it too." Gatomon explained "That's why I was in the castle in the first place."
"I see." Aqua said nodding.
Gatomon looked at the tuna and smiles "Come to think of it, I didn't get hungry over in that world…" He eats the food.
Aqua looks around and sees echos of her Personas with her. Pixie was sitting on the table with Jack-o-Lantern relaxes on the couch while Bicorn lay on the floor.
"Hope you don't mind they won't be in the way but they will take note in the room they'll be staying in." Arsene said to Aqua.
'Oh course' Aqua said nodding to him and smiles. 'You guys are part of the team so relax.'
Gatomon finishes the food and said to Aqua "Let me make myself clear. Your taking care of me won't be for nothing. It'll be give and take."
"How so?" Aqua asked
"Due to my knowledgeable and dexterous nature, I have a lot of intel on infiltration tools." Gatomon explained.
"What are those?" Aqua asked him.
"Whoa, I can't tell you more unless we settle on a deal." Gatomon told her. "In exchange for you keeping me here, I'll teach you about these tools. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a good deal sonny." Bicorn said raising his head.
"Yeah, I would go for it." Pixie added.
"Okay then, let's do this." Aqua said to Gatomon.
"I like that answer." Gatomon said smiling and sits on the bed "Hehehe…Then it's a deal."
Aqua smiles as Gatomon seemed rather happy…
We come back to the present as Windblade, Jess and Jacob look at Aqua.
"You made a lot of skilful infiltrations and escapes to all manner of places…" Jacob states.
"There was even the possibility that you used special tools and had someone who manufactured them…"
"If you know this person, then answer us!" Windblade said.
We come back to the past as again Aqua feels a connection form this time with Gatomon.
"I am thou, thou art I…Thou hast acquired a new vow." The Female voice said "I shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captvitiy. With the birth of the Magician Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall to freedom and new power."
Aqua gets the book and looks at it to see the card with Gatomon's name on it. On it the picture had someone crating at a table. Aqua also feels a new ability coming from the card allowing her to craft infiltration tools.
"That's my domain! Yay! Hee-Ho!" Jack-o-Lantern cheered.
Aqua smiles nodding and puts the book away as time resumed.
"I'll lecture you about the infiltration tools over time." Gatomon said then thinks "By the way, the power you used in the Palace was seriously amazing. The stronger that power gets, the more reliable it'll be as a trump card."
"I guess, plus being able to free them shadows from the control is a benefit." Aqua said nodding.
"All right, I'm gonna stick with you wherever you go from today on." Gatomon said "Personas are the strength born from one's heart. Depending on what kind of life experience you gain, I bet it'll affect that power as well!"
"Oh really? That true?" Aqua asked.
"Indeed, it is" Arsene said nodding.
"And if you become acquainted with capable people, you might learn various, useful skills too…" Gatomon added "This is all part of our deal, got it?"
"Yeah, I got it" Aqua said surprised.
"I expect great things from you. Don't let me down, okay?" Gatomon finished saying. "Also, I'll accompany you when you go out so what you said to the chief will be true. Also it will be free of charge."
"Right." Aqua said smiling.
"Yeah, besides getting around in cat forms sounds pretty inconvenient, though…" Gatomon added. "Well, it is what it is. I'll just have to deal with being carried in that bag of yours."
Aqua nods and begins to change while Gatomon gets settled in. Just then she gets a message on her phone from Alexis.
"Thanks for everything today" Alexis wrote "You saved me, and I didn't even thank you properly.
"It's fine" Aqua sends
"No, it's not." Alexis replied "Anyway, I wanted to let you know at least. See you tomorrow."
"You guys send messages to each other with that thing, right?" Gatomon asked.
"Yeah we do" Aqua said in her Pyjamas
"I want in too, so I'm gonna have to ask you to type for me." Gatomon said smiling.
"Alright then" Aqua said with a nod
"At any rate… Is this really a place for someone to live?" Gatomon asked looking at the state of the room that hasn't changed since Aqua arrived.
"Trust me, it was a lot worse when I first got here." Aqua said "I've been meaning to clean it more but with school and all this Gaston stuff, haven't really had the chance or energy."
"Well, we'll sort that out soon." Gatomon said. "Well tomorrow will be a busy day. Keep it together, all right?"
"Right." Aqua said and goes to bed.
During the night Aqua felt a strange weight press down on her body, was this stress of the Gaston threat weighing on her? No it was actually Gatomon lying down on her sleeping
Some new confidants and a new roommate of sorts, what will have next with Aqua.
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