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"The target destination cannot be found."
Makoto raised her head to the sky, eyes tracing the constellations. Before her, the courthouse glimmered in the snowy moonlight. Her hands gripped her phone, the vibrant white of the MetaNav glowing against her glove. Akechi shifted his weight to his other foot, cheeks reddened from the bitter winter chill.
He was the last person she would have ever wanted to accompany her here. Yet, her friends needed their own time to process the people and dreams they surrendered. And she certainly couldn’t ask Ren to do any more than he already had. Not after he was forced to confront them; confront her.
"Satisfied, Niijima? Your sister's Palace--" the word tore at her heart, "is no more. We should take leave before one of Maruki's acts of gratitude 'graces' us with its presence," Akechi spat, tapping his foot against the concrete.
"Akechi." Makoto's voice came out in a droll.
"What is it now?"
"When Palaces are destroyed, the MetaNav typically announces the 'Target destination has been erased,' correct?"
A pause. "Yes."
Tears trailed down the contours of her face. "Interesting." She wiped her arm across her face and shoved her phone back into her purse.
"It is interesting, is it not?" Akechi said, a bemused edge to his voice. Makoto leveled her eyes at him.
"Out of all the things in the world that could make her life better, she sees not having a Palace as the fix. One would imagine your parents would be the first priority.”
She pressed the palms of her hands against her legs, willing them not to clench into fists.
"I thought you were done playing detective, Akechi."
"It doesn't require the facade of a Detective Prince to reach the natural conclusion." He crossed his arms, a small, smug grin on his face. "You know, while I was scouting her Palace for Shido all those months ago, I saw all sorts of cognitions. The former SIU director, Isshiki, Sakura…but never your family. Funny, that."
"I don't recall seeing you throughout our infiltration, either," Makoto retorted. In truth, there had been a cognition of Akechi present. And she had quite a vivid memory of slamming her fist straight into his jaw. But the real Akechi didn't need to experience that fact quite yet.
Akechi shrugged. "By all accounts, my working relationship with her was effectively terminated by that point." For the briefest moment, the smile on his face faltered. "But you…you’re her younger sister. What could possibly have explained your lack of presence in her Palace -- her heart?"
Makoto only looked on as Akechi mockingly paced before her, mirroring her own during their Phantom Thief meetings. "Perhaps she abhorred the sight of you, free to do whatever you pleased as she labored night and day for your sake?"
"Or maybe she was grief stricken, a mere look in your direction enough to remind her of the pain of losing your father? Your mother?"
He snapped his fingers. "Better yet, why presume any emotion behind it at all. Could the answer simply be that she doesn’t give a shit about you?"
Makoto snarled, reaching into her purse. Akechi's eyes twinkled as he reached into his jacket. Both had their phones in hand, MetaNav at the ready. Akechi whistled; Makoto glared.
"Have I touched a nerve, Niijima?"
"If you say one more thing about my sister, I'll make you wish you only touched a nerve."
He scoffed. "To think you would threaten violence against a mere civilian. What happened to all that nonsense about justice?"
"You were behind the deaths of dozens of people. Whatever notions you have about justice mean nothing to me."
Akechi shrugged. "And yet, Amamiya seems to place a great weight on my opinions all the same."
"Ren," Makoto corrected, satisfaction overcoming her as she watched Akechi's smile falter once more, "has his own opinions about you. Unfortunately, he and I have our disagreements."
"Is that so? Why don't you prove yourself correct, then?" Akechi's thumb edged closer to the navigation button on the MetaNav. "A single press of a button is all it takes. You can fight me. Perhaps, if you're lucky, you could even kill me. And then you can tell all your little friends about your triumph in the name of your 'justice.'"
Makoto's raised her thumb: she only needed to bring it down. A single press, and she would be Queen, and she would launch as much Nuclear energy as Agnes could muster straight into Akechi's jugular.
"Go ahead, Niijima. You hate me, don't you? Why not make your own decision for once?"
Her fingers inched closer to the screen, every nerve, every cell whispering for her to choose—
To choose.
A memory flashed through her mind. Her, not much older than eight, watching her father head towards the living room door:
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Makoto?"
"Do you really have to leave again?" He stopped, turning to face her.
"Sis is at school a lot, and it's so quiet and sad, and I…" Something wet trailed down her cheeks. In a blink of an eye, her father was at her side, drawing her into a hug.
"Makoto…"
"Why do you and Sis have to leave me?" she sniffled. Her dad knelt before her, wiping a stray tear from her face.
“You care a lot about your Sis and I,” her father said. She nodded, vigorously.
“Just like you care about us, we care about lots of people too. And just like you chose to tell me how you felt just now, there’s a lot of people out there quiet and sad and scared too.”
“What about their family, Daddy?”
“Some of them don’t have a family anymore.”
Makoto’s eyes widened in shock. She put a hand to her heart, frowning. “That’s so sad. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you or Sis…” He patted Makoto on the head.
“That’s what your Sis is learning to do. She wants to help all the people out there who don’t have big sisters like her. Or little sisters like you,” he added. Makoto smiled.
“What about you, Daddy?”
“I try to help all the people out there who don’t have their Daddy, or their…Mommy,” he choked out. Makoto spotted a tear at the corner of his eye. Determined, she raised her sleeve to his face, wiping it off. He looked between her sleeve and her, laughing.
“See? You’re doing just what we do!” He laughed harder when Makoto tilted her head in confusion.
“Our family chooses to help people. That’s just what Niijima do.” Her father held out his hands. He raised one finger. “If I help one person, that person can help someone else, and someone else, and someone else until…” he put up all ten of his fingers. “All of them get help, and they can help someone else too.”
Makoto’s mouth was agape. “Wow! And if they help everyone they know, then you can help everybody in the world! You’re like Superhero Buchi, Daddy!” Her father patted her head once more, chuckling.
“That’s what your Sis and I try to do. But I promise I’ll try to come back soon, and help my favorite little Buchi,” he said, drawing her into a bear hug. Makoto laughed, hugging him in turn. He pulled back, rising to his feet again. “I have to go now, Makoto. Are you going to be okay?”
Makoto nodded. “I’ll be okay, Daddy! One day, I’m gonna help you, and Sis, and the whole world!”
Her dad smiled. “You already have, sweetie.”
"No."
"What?"
"I'm not going to fight you, Akechi," she said, placing the phone back in her purse. "Our focus should be defeating Dr. Maruki. Settling things with you can come later." Akechi stared at her, agape, as she walked past him towards the train station.
"So after all that, you're simply going to walk away."
"I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of fighting me so you can try to run from whatever fear you have of us losing."
"Excuse me?"
Makoto turned towards him. "For the supposed second coming of the detective prince, you're rather bad at deductions."
"Watch your tongue, Niiji--"
"You're afraid of what will happen if we lose," Makoto interrupted. "If Dr. Maruki wins and we all end up trapped in whatever delusion he thinks our happiness is. You goading me into a fight, telling me to kill you," Makoto shook her head. "…Would you truly rather die?"
Something in his expression broke. She couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but the glare he shot her direction felt different. As though it were…resigned.
"I don't want to be pitied. Not by Maruki, not by Amamiya," he spat, glaring her direction. "And certainly not by you."
He looked up to the sky for a moment, snowflakes falling onto his face. He brought his attention back to her, glare still present, but softened. "I am done living under someone else's thumb."
Akechi walked past her. "Shido, Yaldabaoth, Maruki -- every single one of them be damned. I will carve my own path." He turned his head, impassively looking back at her.
"What about you, Niijima?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you prepared to end the Metaverse? Are you ready to go back to being that same old good girl type of pushover?"
"That version of me died so Queen could rise," Makoto retorted.
Akechi scoffed, turning his head and walking off. He raised a hand, calling back to her. "Marvelous, Niijima. So, what then, will happen when we erase the Metaverse? Which version of you is Queen prepared to die for?"
Makoto, scowling, watched him walk off until his back was lost to the falling snow. She faced the courthouse, grabbing her phone.
"Sae Niijima, Courthouse, Casino."
"The target destination cannot be found." Makoto threw her phone to the pile of snow before her. She drew her shaking hands up, clenching them in frustration.
"It doesn't make sense. Why would Sis wish for her Palace to be gone?" Makoto stared at the building, wishing for some answer to magically fall from the snow-covered brick foundation. She sighed. "I know she doesn't talk about Dad or our Mom, but…I always thought she would want them back…" Makoto crouched in the snow, closing her eyes. "Does she even care about our family? Does fixing this reality even matter if she…"
Has your resolve shaken, my Priestess?
Makoto bolted to her feet. She down at her clothing, and then the surroundings. She still wore the same Shujin winter jacket. And the snow-covered courthouse sat still before her. "Johanna? How are you…?"
I am you. Would I not then be able to communicate with you through your thoughts?
She had a point. Makoto quickly scanned the environment again, making sure no passersby would witness her speaking to herself. "Of course. You're a part of me. It would be natural for our thoughts to be shared." Makoto frowned. "But…if you're me, and you disappear with the end of the Metaverse…what will be left of me? Who will I be?"
I do not know, my Priestess. You are filled with many selves, both known and unknown to you.
Makoto scoffed. "You say that as though I'm like Ren, with a thousand different masks and a thousand subtleties. I’m no one special…"
You are far more like your Trickster than you realize.
"Anat." Even though the voices of her Persona sounded the same, somehow, she was still able to differentiate between them.
Do you recall the meaning of the word, "persona?"
Makoto nodded, puzzled. "Carl Jung identified it as the mask people wear. It’s a particular outward projection meant to simultaneously make an impression on others and protect one's true self. But are Persona not different?"
Not as much as you may believe.
"Agnes."
Persona are the inner manifestation of your own spirit. Yet, that is where the differences end. Persona are simply another manifestation of your own persona.
Just as your Trickster holds many masks, you and all humans, hold many different ways of being. Whether that be the difference between a smirk towards the Fool and one towards the Hermit, the intensity of a glare at the Chariot in a Palace versus in your studies, or the subtle changes in your breath at the kiss of a winter wind…
At once, all three of their voices rang in her mind. All of these are you, and you are all of them.
"If these are all who I am now, who will I be once all of this is over? What will happen between Sis and I?" Makoto asked. She glanced to the courthouse once again. "I-is this truly what she wants -- to pretend like none of this ever happened?" She shook her head. “Will she just hate me, forever?”
For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of the gentle winter breeze whistling in her ears. Finally, Johanna spoke:
I cannot say what you will find at the end of this journey, but remember well: I am thou, and thou art I. Wherever this path may lead, I shall always be with you. Never lose heart, Makoto Niijima.
Johanna's voice slowly faded until all that was left was the sound of Makoto's breath in the night. She took one last look at the courthouse.
"Never lose heart…" She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
Right now, her sister, and all of Shibuya, were trapped in Dr. Maruki’s delusion.
Right now, she had a duty to her friends, to Ren, and to herself, to see it through to the end.
She could still make a difference. She was still Queen. She could still do something meaningful.
Makoto gently opened her eyes, taking one last look at the courthouse, before she made her way to the station.