Makoto has been acting strange for a little while. Sae decides it's time for a little personal investigation.
Major Arcana XX - Judgement
Upright Meaning: Reckoning, self-reflection, responding to a calling, resolution, renewal, second chances.
Reversed Meaning: self-doubt, lack of self awareness, refusing to learn lessons, rejecting an inner calling.
Makoto loved her sister with all her heart, but sometimes she couldn't help but feel like she was living with a stranger.
As usual, dinner was quite tense and oppressive. Sae was silent, off in her own head, probably thinking of work even as she was eating dinner, and Makoto was too wary of interrupting her sister. Conversation with Sae these days was an uncomfortable experience.
Some days, her sister would barely even acknowledge her existence. Other days, she would come home angry and stressed out with her work, and then proceed to take it out on Makoto whenever she found an in. Sae would wait for Makoto to make a slip regarding something and then start criticizing her, putting her down.
So lately, she mostly opted to stay silent whenever they were dining together.
"The school gave me a call earlier. They requested for you to be a chaperone for the second year's overseas trip." Sae started, with a mix of tiredness and boredom in her tone.
"Yes, the faculty has requested my aid and a couple of other third years as well. Is it alright if I go, Sis?" Makoto asked, hesitantly.
"Might as well, it will look good on your resume."
Makoto mumbled her thanks, unsure of what else to say or do, while Sae continued to eat in silence. A few minutes later, the elder sister finished her dinner and set her gaze firmly on Makoto.
"When you return, I need you to keep your eyes and ears open around school."
Makoto looked up in surprise. "But, why? I thought you said that I needed to keep my head down and focus on my studies."
"Yes, keep it that way, but if you find ANYTHING that is even remotely relevant, I need to know immediately. Your school has ties with the Phantom Thieves, which means it can also help me in a breakthrough, no matter how small."
Sae spoke with a malevolent glint in her eyes that sent shivers down Makoto's spine. It didn't even seem like her elder sister registered the set of contradictions in her own orders.
There was something VERY wrong with Sae.
Makoto had known since Kaneshiro that her sister had a match in mementos, but was too afraid to think about what it could mean.
There was never a good time after she joined the team. With all her duties as a Phantom Thief and student council president taking up her time, that information ended up slipping away from Makoto's mind. But she couldn't avoid it forever.
As soon as her sister turned in for the night and Makoto was safely secured away in her own room, she opened the nav.
Deep breaths. "Sae Niijima"
A beat.
"Match found."
It was no longer a mementos match. Her sister developed a palace.
Makoto closed her eyes, feeling a cold numbness overtaking her.
This isn't happening.
She slowly sat down on the ground, her back against the bed. Makoto was shaking like a leaf, the tears coming out faster than she could control them, blurring her vision, obscuring the view of the sad reality being displayed on her phone.
Sae had become bad enough to develop a palace. Her sister was gone, leaving her with a shell of her former self.
Makoto cried herself to exhaustion that night.
Life still went on. The Hawaii trip happened, and upon their return, they discovered that the principal had suddenly passed away.
Makoto had been tasked with stealing data from her sister's computer, and so they had a meeting to discuss the analysis result. Things escalated and Morgana went rogue. They lost time and morale, up until they had him join back up, also bringing Haru into the fold.
Things were moving too fast and chaotically. If she didn't have her fellow thieves to oversee with Joker, she was certain she would be spiraling by now. The timing was too terrible for her to even bring up her sister's palace with the others, as they had just started the infiltration of Okumura's palace.
'I should focus on the mission.'
"You okay?"
Joker's question broke Queen out of her reverie, sounding concerned.
She swallowed dryly, looking around the safe room "Yes, just tired and a little stressed. You know how much is at stake in this infiltration."
Joker seemed to stare at her mask for a while, in a contemplative fashion.
"Somehow, I doubt the palace is the only issue here. You have been looking like this for a little while now." He spoke with a soothing and warm tone of voice, making a sharp contrast with his normally charismatic Joker persona.
For a second, Makoto considered his words. She could tell him what was weighing on her mind and end this torment by having his input. She could ask the team for support.
But then she looked around the safe room and saw the determination in Noir's eyes, and realized sadly that the timing was not ideal. They were already in a very delicate predicament, and putting herself in the spotlight to steal the attention from Haru's situation would be incredibly selfish.
"I'm fine, I promise. I won't be distracted again." She said firmly.
"You know that's not the issue. But I won't push it, I just hope you know you can come to me for anything, okay?" He touched her left arm gently, and gave her a comforting smile.
"Thanks Joker, I appreciate it."
"Anytime, my Queen" He bowed with a flourish, making Makoto laugh a bit at his antics.
She spent the rest of the palace trip trying to mask her unease.
There was something going on with Makoto.
Sae always prided herself in being the best of the best at what she does, and that best included possessing highly coveted skills, such as being meticulous and perceptive. Nothing could ever go under her radar.
Quite in fact, she noticed the little signs of abnormality her sister has been displaying the past few months.
Things like coming home later than Sae herself with a "Sorry Sis, I was out studying and lost track of time".
Or taking several hours to reply to Sae's texts, only to excuse herself citing that she was tutoring someone and putting her phone on silent so as to not create unnecessary distractions.
One time Makoto even texted her to let her know she would be staying with a friend, some girl named Takamaki, to have a sleepover at her house.
That actually made Sae pause back then. Since when did Makoto have friends? Acquaintances from highschool are a complete waste of time that proves to be of no value once you graduate. Sae would know, she herself alienated all of her peers during highschool.
'Life is not fair. The only way to be at the top is to just trample over everything in sight and go for the prize.'
Her little sister is avoiding her. Sae had a feeling that Makoto didn't want to talk to her and had been going out of her way to avoid the elder Niijima.
'What an ungrateful girl. Day in, day out, I put in all the hard work for her and she finds my presence to be beneath her. Not that I need anything from a child anyways. I need to WIN, there is NO ONE that can stoP ME. FAILURE is not an OPTION, I DoN't WAnT To B E LIkE Tha T FaIL UrE oF A M aN, hE-'
She ignored the awful feeling in her gut, and shook her head to get rid of her intrusive thoughts. She needs to focus, such feelings were a nuisance to the matter at hand.
Regardless, If she cannot even keep one pesky teenager under her roof in line and behaving obediently as expectedly, how is she even gonna be qualified to catch and prosecute criminals?
"I need to get to the bottom of this." She muttered out loud in the dark of her work office, sounding like a creepy villain plotting something rather sinister while she had her hands crossed in front of her face.
A couple of days after her interaction with Ren inside Okumura's palace, Makoto made her move.
She knew that going into her sister's palace by herself was a bad idea. The team also needed to know, but she just wasn't ready to divulge this information. She needed to see first what her sister's distorted desires were, to prepare herself in case she broke down in front of her friends when they inevitably went for Sae's heart.
Her opportunity to do some scouting came as soon as she received a text confirmation that her sister wouldn't be home for a couple of days. As usual, Sae's workaholic nature cooperated with her Phantom Thief operations.
Makoto gathered her supplies and discreetly set off on her mission.
Since Kaneshiro had turned himself in, Sae's work had doubled in intensity. However, she also got off earlier that Friday due to her superior dismissing her for no reason. She will never understand how that man's mind operated. In one moment he was running her ragged, then the next he was dismissing her as if she was nothing.
'He is USELESS, in the WAY of the PRIZE, but life is not FAIR, I must keep WINNING-'
Annoyed though she was, it was also likely the only chance she had to look into whatever was going on with her sister, so she took the opportunity.
Sae's tactic was simple, yet effective: Send a text to her little sister, pretend that she wouldn't come back home and see how she would respond to that.
After ending their texting, she decided to lay low in her car and see if her sister would try to go out. She parked her car in a secluded spot just so she could have an optimal view of their home just for that.
She shooed away a stray cat that decided to pester her, then stayed in place, watching her home for signs of her sister. She didn't have to wait long. Makoto came out of the building, and seemed to walk at a brisk pace, probably towards the subway station. Sae got out of her car and discreetly followed her at a distance.
'Interesting. She's acting sneakier than I expected.'
Sae's surprise was genuine, because the Makoto she knew was awful at stealth.
She recalls from their childhood days how she would try to follow their father on his way to his job without success.
He would always laugh at her childish antics and humour her. Sae on the other hand, had no time for games because she was expected to excel on everything, including taking care of their home.
'Focus, Niijima.'
She shook herself out of her own musings, and continued to follow her sister.
Makoto took the subway, but she couldn't recall much of the trip. Her mind was going in circles thinking of the possibilities.
She had a couple of guesses as to what her sister's distortion might be. With how openly obsessed Sae was with winning at work, Makoto believes her sister's distortion might be a lottery house or perhaps a casino.
The train announced her stop and she made her way to her destination, determination mixed with dread at her every step forward.
"The courthouse…?" Sae whispered to herself, confused. Makoto never went to see her at work unless she requested for a specific reason or another. "Maybe she is actually just here to see me."
At least a little relieved her sister wasn't going anywhere suspicious, and perhaps feeling a little guilty, Sae decided to approach the building, since she would likely need to make an appearance.
Or so she thought, until she noticed that Makoto was going around the courthouse instead of going in.
'What in the world is this girl doing?'
She shook her head in annoyance and hastened her steps to catch up to Makoto.
" Beginning Navigation"
Before she could call out her sister's name, a terrible wave of dizziness that made her lose her balance hit Sae.
'This is it. This is the moment of truth.'
Queen closed her eyes to gather her bearings, and then opened them. In front of her was her sister's palace.
She was a bit taken aback due to the sheer size of this palace, shocked that her sister would even see the world this way. Once she recovered from the initial sensation overload, Queen took notice of her surroundings and saw that she was already in her metaverse outfit.
It meant her sister saw her as a threat.
Shoving the unpleasant thoughts and its implications aside, Queen decided to look for a way to break and enter discreetly.
She was so preoccupied with her recon that she didn't even notice the figure of a woman in the shadows, leaning back against the building several meters behind her.
The world was spinning, one second everything was quiet and orderly, the next she was instantly on edge as she was hit by loud sounds nearby, the remains of her dizziness making them sound louder than a pachinko parlor. When most of the horrible sensation had passed, Sae opened her eyes.
There, in front of her was no longer the courthouse, but a massive casino instead.
Sae was speechless.
'I must be hallucinating… I think the stress from the job broke me!'
She took a couple of hesitant steps back
'I must have lost my mind!'
Pinching herself to make sure she wasn't seeing things, Sae felt the pain and confirmed that yes, she was very much awake.
Looking ahead of her, she stared at the casino, feeling a strange pull. This place felt intimidating, oppressive and heavy, as if it was weighing her down. Yet, it also felt somehow familiar.
Shaking her head out her thoughts, Sae Niijima decided to focus back to her primary objective: find Makoto. Her sister was here somewhere in the vicinity, she knew, and even if nothing made sense at the moment, Sae knew she had to get her baby sister as far away from here as possible and demand answers later.
She decided to go by the front doors, figuring that she could pass as a customer. Her work clothes would present her in a favorable fashion so she wasn't worried about being turned away.
As she went near the doors, she saw two bouncers. At first, nothing seemed amiss, until she did a double take and realized they looked… Off.
It was hard to describe, they were all dressed formally in the typical casino employee getup, but they looked horribly disfigured, unnatural and weird, but also donning masks.
If Sae wasn't sure she was one hundred percent sober, she'd think these were hallucination byproducts of the use of heavy narcotics.
The creatures turned their eyes to her but seemed to not go hostile at the sight of her, as if they easily recognized who she is.
"Evening Boss." the taller of the two began, in a polite but terribly warbly voice.
'Act natural. Compartmentalize it for now.'
"G-Good Evening, I take it that this… Establishment is open?" She asked a question, trying to mask her imminent growing nervousness.
"Huh? Well of course Ma'am, everything is running perfectly smoothly as The Manager intends."
The creatures continue to stare at her, as if eager for a response.
Come to think of it, monstrous appearance aside, these two look like a pair of complete buffoons. I could use this to my advantage.
"Very well then… I suppose I should go in and see for myself what you speak of." She said stiffly, aiming for an opening with a vague response.
Unsurprisingly, her assessment was correct and they bought into her words by stepping aside, bowing and allowing her passage into the casino.
"Always at your service Ma'am!"
"Right this way Boss!"
Not wasting anymore time with these strange creatures, Sae dashed inside the Casino.
She was hit by a wave of sensations all at once.
Champagne flutes and
Dinner suits that
The entire thing was… Extravagant…
Keep your focus
Away from the cheating hands
Tell me
…Grandiose, with a touch of glamor and temptation…
Does that sexy
Gown say what she's
Got in store for her man?
… And an undertone of danger was written all over the place.
In fact now that she has finished having her senses assaulted and got used to the sounds and visuals, she realized this whole place was trying too much to be high class and yet it underachieved that effect. Sae has been to important places due to her job, so she would know.
Sae narrowed her eyes. There is no way a casino this grand, loud and illegal would have been hidden in the middle of tokyo unnoticed, in the exact same spot the courthouse was supposed to be at. Something extraordinary was taking place here and Sae didn't like it at all
'Focus. Find Makoto first, ask questions later.'
She went further inside.
Months of experience with the team made Queen much better at infiltrations by this point.
Which was also why she was so on edge. It felt easy, too easy.
She knew for a matter of fact that she wasn't being as subtle as she could be due to her nervousness of going inside a palace alone, her sister's palace. She had the distinct feeling that she was being toyed with, but now it was too late to go back. She had to see it through.
So far despite being considered a threat, the alarms of the palace were seemingly down. She was sure she was even spotted once but was promptly ignored by a passing shadow.
Something strange is taking place in her sister's palace, inside her heart.
'But first I need to get a glimpse of her shadow…'
The Manager was at the top of the world, living the best life. Business was going better than usual.
Her golden gaze stared at the CCTV in search of the little rat she knew was around, trying to come up with ideas to break their spirit. She spotted the punk in one of the machine slot parlors, slithering by the shadows.
"Fool! Nothing gets past The Manager."
She lifted the champagne flute to her lips and drank. For a second, The Manager considered raising all alarms for her staff to bring this brat to her knees in front of her, but ultimately decided to give up.
"Mhm yes, a bit of finesse should do, no need to resort to violence just yet. I am, after all, just and fair~" she chuckled maliciously.
"Time to greet the little thief and set the trap."
She was halfway through her office towards the exit when she felt a pulse of energy, stopping her in her tracks. The shadow's golden gaze shined and she knew immediately what it meant.
Slowly, a malicious grin was formed in The Manager's face. She changed her mind, a new wicked plan forming.
"My my my, this is gonna be so very interesting."
Queen was feeling disheartened. In her short survey of the casino, it was clear that Sae's view of the world was disturbing.
From what she gathered from her "clientele" and her surroundings, she saw that Sae was obsessed with winning. The entire place was rigged too. She observed enough to deduct that. The ratio of the games were simply ridiculously tipped in favor of Sae's business.
Queen has seen enough. The infiltration so far has posed no danger to herself, so she could back out safely without causing issues for herself or the team. At this point, staying to catch a glimpse of her sister's shadow would be a foolish endeavor that she should have known in hindsight.
Sadly, her plans went awry because her sister's shadow decided to make an appearance at that very instant.
"Tut tut tut, do I spy with my eyes a little thief all by herself?"
Queen froze and rose from her hiding position, and stood in front of her sister. She was shocked by her sister's appearance as a shadow. She wore a most scandalous black gown paired with fishnets and heels, her hair flowing under a large hat with a golden rose and a set of cards resting on top of it. Her face was caked with heavy makeup, and her sister's normally sharp mahogany eyes, eyes like her own, were now a sickly glowing gold.
"Hm what is the matter, darling. Cat got your tongue?"
As soon as the shadow spoke in the same condescending tone she was all too familiar with, Queen snapped out of her trance and stood her ground against the palace ruler, glaring at her silently.
'Give me your strength, Anat.'
The shadow rolled her eyes theatrically.
"Tch. You pesky thieves have been a thorn in my side for months, ruining every chance I had to WIN." She barked dangerously, her eyes glowing ominously.
But then just as quickly the manager found her composure again "But I am nothing if not magnanimous. You are here for the treasure, are you not? In that case, I propose a fun little competition. If you win, I will let you get the treasure."
Queen was immediately on high alert. Why would her sister's shadow talk so nonchalantly about her treasure? Palace rulers tend to be possessive of their distorted desires. This was most likely a trap.
But she didn't have that many options now. Queen was certain that she'd have to raise the alarms on her way out to escape the palace, which was dangerous.
In the end, she decided to bite the bullet.
"...And if I lose?"
The shadow smirked in satisfaction. "If you lose, you forfeit your life."
Makoto's eyes widened. Her sister was willing to kill her? Her own flesh and blood…?
Tears stung in her eyes, but she shoved those emotions aside. Shadow Sae didn't necessarily know the intruder of her palace was Makoto. She was seeing the Queen, the pesky thief who invaded her palace.
Time was running out and Queen had to make a decision NOW. If she refused, there was a high chance that the palace ruler would go rogue and try to kill her anyways. She resolved that agreeing with The Manager's terms would at least buy her some time to plan an escape.
"Very well, I accept. What are the rules?"
The shadow smiled with an evil countenance. "Why darling, there are no rules. It is but a simple bet. I make mine, you make yours."
"And what would that bet entail?" Queen inquired with a semblance of hesitation.
The shadow smirked. "You will know soon enough. We are waiting for her. She will be here anytime now."
"Her…?"
Not even a couple of seconds later, someone else entered the room. Queen turned to see whomever arrived and let out a gasp, shocked to her core. Time stopped and everything was quiet except for the ominous chuckles of the palace ruler.
This place was starting to set Sae on edge, for she realized something rotten was going on in this casino.
All matches, bets and games were fixed. In her short trek across the complex, all she could see was the clientele losing, but coming back to play again, as if gluttons for punishment.
This entire place disgusted her yet she felt a deep sense of foreboding that she never felt before in her entire life, because Sae was seeing signs. Signs of herself all over the place, and the picture it painted of her was not a favorable one.
Besides, there was still no sight of her sister anywhere.
"Damn you, Makoto..." She muttered under her breath.
'You are so done when we get out of this situation!'
Soon enough though, she heard voices. These seemed normal compared to the monstrous, warbled voices of the casino's staff, so she went in that direction.
She stumbled into a machine slot parlor, and before she could take full stock of her surroundings, Sae was taken by surprise.
There, in front of her, stood several figures. Most of them were the casino staff surrounding two others at the center. One of the figures wore a metal mask and a strange getup that seemed like a mix between a biker and one of those anime characters from TV. The other figure started to chuckle maliciously, drawing Sae's attention to her.
She didn't have to stare too long. She knew right away who it was.
It was herself.
"W-What is the meaning of this…?"
She took a couple of seconds to survey her "other self." She was wearing a scandalous black piece that flattered her body in all the right ways. It reminded Sae of a dress she herself possesses, but more revealing. A floppy hat, heavy makeup, and a malicious smirk.
Her eyes however, were different. Those were demon eyes.
It was a darker and edgier version of herself. Sae pursed her lips unamused. Whomever came up with this strange phenomenon to toy with her was twisted and needed to be brought down at all costs.
As if aware of her thoughts, her clone smiled with even more venom, and walked towards her. Sae took a step back. Her other self stopped.
"Ah there she is, the guest of honor. Top SIU prosecutor, Sae Niijima. The woman in charge of the mental shutdown investigation. I have been DYING to meet you, darling!"
This prompted the other figure in the room to finally act. She looked at Sae and spoke firmly.
"Get out of here! This is a trap!"
Wait, that voice…?
Her other self didn't give her more time to process the rest of that information because she nodded to her bouncers to restrain the figure.
A fight ensued right at that second. The staff transformed into horrendous creatures and demons. The masked girl immediately retaliated and fought.
It was a horrifyingly fascinating spectacle, like something out of a fantasy movie. The metal mask fought through the enemy ranks with determination, punching and shooting her foes.
The figure fought in a familiar way. Sae herself practiced aikido and the style was rather obvious.
Her suspicions were confirmed the moment the person removed their mask.
"Persona!"
Queen was in trouble. This entire mission was a failure.
She was careless. Her sister somehow found her way into her own palace because Makoto couldn't stop her own stupid curiosity. This was her fault.
The palace ruler moved towards her sister with euphoria in her golden eyes and spoke to her. Queen knew she had to snap out of it and intervene.
"Get out of here! This is a trap!" She shouted to her sister.
This provoked the palace ruler, who nodded to her lackeys. Queen prepared to fight.
'I must protect sis.'
The fight that broke out was the hardest she had ever taken part in. Being surrounded by Kaneshiro and Okumura's lackeys was nothing compared to the assault she was receiving in her sister's, but she soldiered on.
Still, she was outnumbered, so she had to resort to desperate measures.
Taking out her mask, Queen called her persona out to take down their foes.
"Persona!"
The weaker of enemy ranks stood no match to her nuclear attacks, but a couple of strong shadows persisted. Queen was running out of energy and had no time to take out her supplies. With no team and no backup, she couldn't safely perform recovering moves. Without her allies, it was a matter of time before she was taken down by her enemies.
Queen was broken out of her thoughts when she heard the click of a gun safety being lifted. Alarm bells rung loudly in her mind and she looked towards where her sister and her own shadow were last at.
Sae was pointing a gun to the forehead of her own shadow, with the clear intention of shooting.
Makoto's will of rebellion vanished instantly at that moment, and she returned to normal, fully revealing her identity. Blind panic consumed her and all she knew was that she had to shout with all the desperation she could muster.
"SIS, NO! DON'T SHOOT HER!"
Sae was startled when she saw it was her sister when she lifted her mask to summon a motherfucking mecha to attack her foes.
She heard her other self step further into her personal space. Out of reflex, Sae took out her government issued gun. She disliked carrying firearms but it was deemed a paranoid necessity ever since she received anonymous death threats and a single murder attempt that she kept from everybody.
She aimed the gun at her other self.
"A step further and I'll shoot."
Her clone just chuckled, completely unconcerned with the threat and continued to invade her space. Sae lifted the gun safety.
She heard a shout laced with desperation.
"SIS, NO! DON'T SHOOT HER!"
The silver haired woman held her ground, but hesitated pulling the trigger. She looked at the metal mask, but that person was gone. In her place, it was her younger sister Makoto, being restrained by the monstrous casino staff.
"I wouldn't do that darling, it would be quite unwise." Her own clone continued.
She looked at Makoto again. It looked like all the fight left her body and she was pleading with her eyes for Sae not to shoot.
"...Release my sister, or I'm going to blow your brains out."
"By all means, do so." Her malicious clone smirked.
Sae put her finger in the trigger but hesitated.
That hesitation was enough for the shadow to Smirk and nod at someone positioned behind Sae.
Before Sae could react, she was knocked out cold.
Makoto's brain kicked back into gear but her reaction was too late. Tired from her fight and emotional turmoil, She passed out from a hit from the shadows restraining her.
The Manager let out an euphoric laugh. Her gamble paid off exceptionally well, now that she had all players in her grasp, it was time for the grand finale, the final bet.
"Double or Nothing, I will WIN".
She nodded to her staff
"Bring them along, and follow me."
So we roll the dice
See where they may fall
Come on, why don't we spin the wheel
See whom it may call
Give into temptation
Win it
Maybe lose it all, yeah
Who knows where the whims of fate may lead us
To be Continued…