"Shiki-Ouji is an amazing addition to the party."
'Thank you, my Trickster.'
Ren smiled faintly as the strange paper Persona settled into the increasingly crowded section of his mind that he had long since given up pretending was normal.
Ryuji interrupted his thoughts.
"So, does the physical attack reflect shit happen in the real world too?"
Ren paused.
That was actually a very good question.
Unfortunately.
He sighed.
"I really, really hope so."
Ryuji grinned.
"So much trolling potential."
"Exactly."
Ann groaned from nearby.
"You two shouldn't sound that excited about getting hit."
"It's not about getting hit," Ren said seriously. "It's about someone trying to hit me and realizing they have made a terrible mistake."
"That's worse."
"It's significantly funnier."
Morgana flicked an ear. "Isn't Yu a Wild Card too? I don't think you can trick your self-proclaimed family in a way he hasn't already seen."
Ren's face fell.
Then he threw both hands dramatically toward the ceiling.
"I KNOW!"
Everyone stopped.
Ren remained there, arms raised toward the golden museum ceiling like he was appealing directly to whatever cruel god had denied him originality.
"...But!"
The team waited.
Ren lowered his arms.
A grin slowly appeared.
"I bet he didn't get the slime Mara Persona."
...
Ann's face went blank.
Shiho visibly recoiled.
Morgana gagged.
Ryuji stared at Ren for several seconds before slowly pointing at him.
"Dude."
"What?"
"That's fucked."
"You laughed when we fought it."
"Yeah, but I don't want that shit living in my head!"
Ren shrugged. "Coward."
Ann and Shiho remembered the horrible slime-covered monstrosity from Kamoshida's Palace at roughly the same time.
Orihime, meanwhile, only knew about it through several extremely vague secondhand explanations, because every time she'd asked what exactly "slime Mara" meant, the others had unanimously decided she didn't need details.
Judging by Ann and Shiho's expressions, she was comfortable keeping it that way.
"DO NOT GET THAT PERSONA!" Ann and Shiho yelled.
Orihime hesitated, then raised a hand.
"I don't actually know what it looks like, but everyone keeps telling me that's a good thing, so... please don't?"
Ren looked genuinely wounded.
"No faith in your leader."
"No!" Ann snapped.
"Correct," Shiho added.
'They fear your potential, mon ami,' Arsène said solemnly.
'Thank you.'
'I fear it too.'
'Betrayal.'
Ryuji was still laughing when Morgana suddenly stopped.
His ears twitched.
"Wait."
Ren looked down at him.
"What?"
Morgana's expression changed.
"...Speaking of Kamoshida's Palace."
That sentence immediately killed Ren's amusement.
Ryuji stopped laughing.
Morgana slowly looked around.
"We haven't found any Will Seeds."
Silence.
Ren stared at him.
Ryuji stared at him.
Ann's eyes widened.
Shiho looked upward like the ceiling might provide answers.
Orihime quietly said, "Oh."
Yusuke tilted his head. "Will Seeds?"
"Damn it!" Ryuji yelled. "I forgot!"
Ren groaned and let his head fall backward.
Of course.
They had been so focused on Yusuke, Madarame, Treasure Demons, weird paintings, security lasers and apparently checking bathrooms for loot that none of them had remembered the three chunks of concentrated Palace distortion they had specifically learned existed in sets of three.
Wonderful.
"Back to the beginning, then."
Yusuke blinked. "The beginning?"
Morgana sighed. "There are three Will Seeds hidden throughout a Palace. They're pieces of the ruler's distortion that could've become Treasures themselves. We found all three in Kamoshida's."
"And then they combined into that horrible screaming crystal thing," Ann muttered.
Yusuke frowned. "That description raises several questions."
"Don't," Ryuji advised.
"A reasonable suggestion."
Ren opened the map.
"Entrance."
The world shifted.
---
Fast travel still felt strange.
Not physically strange.
Conceptually strange.
One moment they were deep inside a massive museum.
The next they were standing near the Palace entrance like someone had selected a waypoint from a menu.
Ryuji stretched.
"God, I love fast travel."
"Stop calling it that," Morgana complained.
"What do you call it?"
Morgana opened his mouth.
Paused.
"...Moving between safe points."
Ryuji stared.
Ren stared.
"Fast travel," they said together.
"I hate you both."
Ren headed toward the Velvet Room entrance.
"I need to reorganize some Personas before we do another full sweep."
"You're fusing them?" Orihime asked.
"Probably."
Several voices in Ren's head immediately started talking over each other.
Some volunteering.
Some refusing.
Jack Frost yelled something about becoming stronger.
Pixie yelled that she had seniority.
Regent demanded clarification on what exactly happened during fusion.
Ren ignored all of them with considerable practice.
"I'll be back."
He vanished through the blue door.
The girls immediately moved together.
Not casually.
Not subtly.
Together.
Ryuji noticed.
Three girls.
Heads close.
Whispering.
Occasional glance toward the Velvet Room.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
He turned around.
Yusuke was nearby.
Safe.
Male.
Currently inspecting one of the Palace walls like he was evaluating the brushwork.
Ryuji walked over.
"Yo, Fox."
Yusuke looked at him. "Yes?"
"You watch anime?"
"Occasionally."
"JoJo?"
Yusuke stared blankly.
Ryuji's expression slowly changed.
"You haven't seen it?!"
"I am unfamiliar with the title."
Ryuji stepped backward.
Actual horror crossed his face.
"You don't know JoJo?"
"No."
"Like... at all?"
"No."
"Stands?"
"No."
"Dio?"
"No."
"ORA ORA?"
Yusuke frowned.
"Are you having some kind of episode?"
Ryuji grabbed his own head.
"Oh my God."
Yusuke watched him carefully.
"Should I retrieve Orihime?"
"No! This is serious!"
Across the room, Morgana glanced toward him.
"More serious than the Palace?"
"YES!"
Yusuke looked mildly intrigued now. "What is JoJo?"
Ryuji's horror vanished.
He stepped closer.
"Okay. So."
That was apparently all the permission he needed.
---
Ren returned from the Velvet Room to find Ryuji looking deeply disturbed.
Yusuke, meanwhile, looked thoughtful.
"...And this individual willingly licked a cherry in this manner?"
"YES!"
"Why?"
"THAT'S NOT EVEN THE WEIRD PART!"
Ren walked past them.
Ryuji grabbed his shoulder.
"Joker."
"What?"
"Fox doesn't know about the Jobros."
Ren looked at Yusuke.
Yusuke looked back.
Ren considered responding.
He didn't.
"We're going through the Palace again."
Ryuji stared.
"Dude."
"Will Seeds."
"The Jobros."
"Will Seeds."
"Caesar—"
"Later."
Ryuji looked genuinely betrayed.
Yusuke nodded. "Very well."
"WHY ARE YOU OKAY WITH THIS?!"
"I assume you intend to continue your explanation later."
"Of course!"
"Then there is no issue."
Ryuji stared at him.
"...You're gonna fit in way too well."
---
Before they started the second sweep, Morgana gathered everyone around the map.
"We already found the Treasure and figured out how we're getting to it," he explained, paw tracing the route they'd mapped near the Main Hall. "The Treasure is below the upper walkways, and there's a crane system connected to the monitoring room."
Ryuji nodded. "Big hook."
"Yes. Big hook."
"Very technical."
"Shut up."
Morgana pointed toward the route again. "Once the Treasure fully materializes after the Calling Card, we use the controls to lower the crane, grab it and haul it up to the catwalk."
Ren looked over the map.
"So the route is secured."
"Basically. We know how to reach it, we know how to steal it and we know the escape route afterward."
Yusuke stared at the marked Treasure location.
His expression hardened briefly.
Ren noticed but didn't comment.
Morgana tapped the earlier floors.
"But if we're going after the Will Seeds, we're retracing almost everything."
Ryuji groaned.
"New Game Plus."
Ren nodded.
"Collectibles run."
"Stop that!" Morgana yelled.
---
Several hours later, nobody was joking about collectibles.
The Palace had already been long the first time.
Doing large sections again while deliberately checking every strange side path, suspicious wall, vent, ledge and room was significantly worse.
They found the first Will Seed after enough backtracking that Ryuji loudly announced he was going to start leaving signs behind in every Palace from now on.
The second required them to take a route Ren was reasonably certain they had looked directly at earlier and collectively decided wasn't important.
Ann was furious.
Mostly because she'd been the one to say it looked suspicious.
Nobody reminded her.
Nobody except Ryuji.
That mistake cost him several minutes of peace.
The third was guarded.
Of course it was.
Nothing in their lives could ever just sit somewhere convenient.
By the time the resulting fight ended, Ren's jacket was torn along one sleeve, Ryuji was limping slightly, Morgana had used enough healing that he was openly complaining about SP, and Yusuke had learned that trying to admire an enemy's design in the middle of combat resulted in Goemon yelling at him.
Again.
But they got it.
The third Will Seed rose from its pedestal.
Ryuji grabbed it.
"Please don't turn into a screaming face this time."
It floated from his hands.
The other two answered from Ren's bag.
All three rose into the air.
"Oh, come on," Ann muttered.
Light filled the room.
They merged.
Another crystal formed.
Everyone stared at it.
Yusuke leaned closer.
"Fascinating."
Shiho immediately grabbed the back of his coat.
"No."
"I only wished to examine it."
"From there."
"Very well."
Ren carefully put the crystal away.
"Done."
Ryuji collapsed against the nearest wall.
"Can we leave now?"
Morgana checked the map.
"We have the infiltration route."
Ren checked everyone.
Tired.
Bruised.
Mentally finished.
"Yeah."
Nobody argued.
---
They finally stumbled out of the Palace looking like they'd spent the entire day being mugged by an art museum.
Ryuji immediately dropped onto the grass.
"Ground."
Ann sat down nearby.
"Insightful."
"Ground good."
"He's devolving," Shiho said.
Orihime giggled.
Yusuke was tired enough that he simply sat beside Ryuji without attempting to maintain any dignity.
Morgana flopped onto Ren's shoulder.
Ren was tired too.
Extremely.
But good tired.
They had everything.
Will Seeds.
Route secured.
Treasure located.
All that remained was the Calling Card.
Then Madarame.
One more push.
Orihime approached while Ren was looking over the group.
"Ren?"
He turned.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated.
Her fingers played with the edge of her sleeve.
"We haven't really gotten to spend time together in a while."
Ren thought about it.
She was right.
Palaces.
Hollows.
Rukia.
Yusuke.
Everything had gotten busy again.
Orihime smiled nervously.
"Would you... maybe want to hang out again?"
Ren smiled.
"I'd love to."
Orihime froze.
Ann looked over.
Shiho looked over.
Ren continued, completely unaware of the approaching disaster.
"What time and where?"
Orihime became bright red.
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Ren waited.
"...Hime?"
"I'LL TELL YOU LATER!"
She turned around.
Grabbed Ann.
Grabbed Shiho.
And ran.
"Whoa!" Ann yelped.
"HIME?!"
The three disappeared down the street.
Ren stared after them.
Ryuji stared after them.
Yusuke watched with obvious curiosity.
Morgana's ears perked up.
Ren slowly turned.
"What just happened?"
'Oh, mon ami,' Arsène said with unbearable amusement. 'You grow more suave by the day.'
Ren adjusted his glasses.
"Naturally. Women are simply overwhelmed by my effortless charm."
Silence.
Ryuji stared at him.
Morgana stared at him.
Yusuke considered him.
Then Arsène laughed.
'I'm glad you're finally showing your true self, mon ami.'
Ren's smile vanished.
'Shut up.'
'There he is.'
Ren cut the thought off before Arsène could become even more pleased with himself.
Then he remembered something.
Morgana was still sitting on his shoulder.
Something from before all of this.
"Mona."
"Hm?"
"You still wanted to talk, right?"
Morgana went quiet.
Ren didn't rush him.
They started walking toward the station while Ryuji began trying to explain JoJo to Yusuke again several steps behind them.
Eventually Morgana spoke.
"Yeah."
Ren glanced toward him.
"But..." Morgana hesitated. "I'd like Teddie there."
Ren slowed slightly.
Morgana continued before he could answer.
"Yu said he was found in a cognitive world too. And he implied Teddie understands... this."
He gestured vaguely at himself.
Cat.
Not-cat.
Mysterious Metaverse creature.
Whatever he was.
"I don't know if we're the same. We probably aren't. But if anyone might understand what I'm dealing with..."
"Teddie."
"Yeah."
Ren nodded.
"We'll call Yu."
That easy.
No interrogation.
No theories.
No trying to solve Morgana himself.
Morgana looked at him.
Ren reached up and scratched lightly behind one ear.
"I'm proud of you."
Morgana froze.
"What?"
"For moving forward."
Ren kept walking.
"You've been scared of finding out what you are for a while. You're still scared, and you're asking anyway."
Morgana's ears slowly flattened.
Not upset.
Embarrassed.
Ren smiled.
"That's brave."
Morgana immediately straightened.
"Well! Naturally!"
There it was.
He puffed out his chest from Ren's shoulder.
"I am Morgana! Gentleman thief, tactical expert and founding member of the Phantom Thieves! Of course I can handle something like this!"
"Of course."
"And if Teddie knows anything, I'll get it out of him!"
"Naturally."
"I wasn't afraid, either."
Ren glanced at him.
Morgana looked away.
"...Maybe slightly concerned."
"Terrified."
"I WILL BITE YOU."
Ren laughed.
Morgana huffed and turned his nose upward.
Then, after several seconds, he leaned slightly against Ren's head.
Ren pretended not to notice.
Behind them—
"So then Jonathan dies—"
"WHAT?!" Yusuke yelled.
Ren looked back.
Ryuji froze.
Yusuke looked genuinely offended.
"You have spoiled the story!"
"Dude, it happens in like the first—"
"RYUJI."
"How was I supposed to explain the Jobros without—"
"You are a barbarian."
Ren faced forward again.
Morgana sighed.
"Should we save him?"
"No."
"Good."
They kept walking.
Tomorrow could deal with tomorrow.
Today?
They had earned curry.
---