Work Text:
Summer break started a week ago and Phantom Thiefs are meeting up in the attic each person doing their own thing
"Oh it's so hot today" say a grumpy Futaba playing in her switch
Indeed Summer break is very humid and hot in Japan that it become quite annoying and hard to handle
"Oh" say Ann out of sudden , her gaze has been focused on the phone in her hand looking at the time
"Oh crap I forget I have to go visit Shiho today , okey guys i am out"
Ann then stand up out of sudden , apologized to her friends and leave the attic as fast as she can leaving everyone looking at her going
Now outside the attic , with fast walks , Ann make her way to Shiho house
Today Ann promised Shiho to go to her house to pass time with her , as she killed time with the others in the attic the whole morning as she decided to go to to Shiho house on afternoon to have a pyjama party with her for the night
"Sorry for being late" Say Ann panting trying to pick up her breath standing outside of Shiho house who has opened the door
"It's fine , oh you look like you was running your way here , come inside and take a rest"
Ann make her way inside her friend house as she told her to come inside and sit on the coach in the living room
"Are you alone here today ?"
"Yes my parents are busy they won't come back today so I felt a little lonely but I am glad you are staying with me tonight , Ann"
"Well I am always alone in my house anyway , because you know , because of my family work so I wouldn't mind spending it with someone specially if it's my amazing best friend Shiho"
"What are you saying out of sudden Ann ? You making me blush"
Both were smiling and laughing enjoying a leasure time in Shiho house , they were both talking for hours about various subjects
"Oh" Ann stomach suddenly started making noices "Omg that's embarrassing"
"Oh it is this time of the day already? Well I will go make dinner"
"Sorry and thank you , oh let me help you out"
"Not today , I decided to treat you this time , you sit there and enjoy yourself and no but's"
"You are really stubborn Shiho , once decided on something there is no way I could convince you"
Ann and Shiho smiled at each others , the black haired left the blond haired alone in the living room
Suddenly Ann pick up a unusual shape in the decorations of the house
"What is that ?" Say Ann as she approached the werid thing
"Oh it's just a vase , but oh wow that's the first time I see a vase like this"
The vase had a unique shape to it , it looked different then usuel and captured Ann attention , and so she decided to try to touch it , and as she put it in her hand , she find it so heavy that it has slips out of the hand to the ground
"Omg what have I done"
Shiho heared the breaking noices and came from the kitchen back to living room and saw Ann stood there in awe and shock in front of the broken Vase
"Omg it looked so unique and antique , it must have been pricey , I am sorry I will pay for this"
"You don't have to do that Ann , it's fine I will explain to my parents that it's an accident"
"No I will find work and pay you back and I am not gonna change my mind"
Shiho wasn't convinced but as she saw her friend determination , she smiled at her and decided to accept her offer And so Night has passed
Few days later, Ann goes job hunting , unfortunately she couldn't find a suitable job and as she walk down the street she saw a pamphlet "Need part-timers" written on it , it was a coffee shop that is butler/maid themed
"Maid outfit huh ? Wait no I should not be picky I need to work to pay Shiho back the earliest possible I don't want her getting in trouble because of me"
Ann decided to try her hand on this job even though she wasn't really for the maid outfit
And as she made her way out to the coffee shop and entered inside , the coffee shop was cute yet modern looking , it was something fit for both genders to eat in as it used butlers and maids as waiters in it
"Oh welcome , how can I help you ?"
Before Ann stood a slender young adult man with a smile on the face wearing the butler uniform of the shop
"I came for the part time job"
"Hello i am the manager here and welcome" Says The man faces light up when he heard Ann
The manager pointed to Ann to the staff room as he took her there , explained to her how this shop work as well as discussed her timetable and various other work releated stuffs
"You may start today , we are really short on staff that's why we immediatly want you to start working"
Ann nodded "it's fine" and gone to changing room with an outfit the manager gave to her saying it used to be worn by an old part timer who had a similar figure to Ann so it could fit her
After a while , she get out of the female changing room but something she didn't expect just happend
"Ann ?"
She turned her face to her right and was quite surprised to see a familiar face
"Ryuji ?"
Female and Male changing rooms were next to each others and both of them get out of it at the same time , both wearing their uniform
"What are you doing here ?"
"No what are YOU doing here ?"
"I started working today here , it happend that I need money , you ?"
"I started here a week ago and I also needed money"
Both blondes stared at each others for a bit before turning their faces away
"Guess we are working in the same place"
"Yeah"
The mood was a bit awkward as everything happend out of sudden between them
"Oh here you are" Manager came in their direction "we need help from both of you right now"
"Undrestood , sir" both says at the same time as they go to serve the customers
Few days passed after Ann started working , her and Ryuji already used at seeing each others every day at the shop
"We are supposed to put that cardboard here"
"What are you saying ? That cardboard should be here instead"
One day , the manager requested to both of them to clean the storage room togather but unfortunately both started fighting
"Are you dumb ? it's here ?"
"No it's here"
Both continued clashing for a while and until their break time came in
"Stop being annoying Ryuji , seriously"
"What did you just say ?"
You can feel the heavy tension between them as they make their way to the break room
"Why do I have to see your face everyday here ?"
"I could say the same about you"
As both continued fighting , suddenly violent air started to envelope in the room and out of nowhere a red colored circled gate appeared in front of them
"What the eff is that ?"
Both look in awe as they stared at the mysterious gate , slowly they start to feel that they uncontrollably walking torward it
"Woah I have no control over my leg , it is sucking me in"
Both tried desperately to fight back but in vain as they get dragged inside the gate as both start screaming for help (mostly Ann though)
And in a matter of second, they find themselves somewhere else as they land on their backs in an unknown land
"Ouch ! That hurt"
Ryuji is complaning as Ann fall on him as she sit on his back while Ryuji face palming the ground
"Oh sorry" Ann apologize as she get up from Ryuji and help him stand up
"Where are we ?" Ryuji asked trying to clear dirt out of his butler outfit he still wearing
"Wow" Both suddenly looked around them and found a beautiful world
"Is that chocolate river?" Both were in Awe to find themselves into a world that looked made of various sweets and food
Ann face lightning up from the unlimited amount of sweets as Ryuji sigh as he tried to calm her up
"You will get fat if you eat that mush"
"Hummm , Just a few more"
As Ann stuffing herself in sweets , Ryuji looked around him , he then put his hand on Ann shoulder
"This look like bad news , let's go Ann , staying here won't help us"
Ann stand up yet again and look around
"Ok let's find a shelter , rest and then advance"
The two teenagers set their journey on searching somewhere to stay in for the day since the sun is setting down, after a lot of walking they reached a village
"Oh look , a village" pointed Ann calling out Ryuji "finally we can rest I am so tired"
They find the name of the village written in front of entrance
"Mochizuki town ? as in Mochi the sticky rice cakes ?"
"I don't know don't ask me"
Ann is in heaven , it's like all her dream has come true , Ryuji walking behind her is sighing
As they keep walking they saw a girl passing by , she looked at them intensely before running in their direction
"Oh werid looking people , I never saw you in the town"
The girl asked the two blondes with sparkles in her eyes as it's first time someone outside the village visit it in a while
"We are not from here , we are actuelly lost" said Ann smiling at the girl
"Oh I see , poor you , oh ! Let me offer you to stay at my house then"
"Are you sure ? You family won't mind?"
"Now I am 100% positive , Oh ! I am Momoka by the way , you ?"
"I am Ann and this is Ryuji , greet her Ryuji"
"Sup"
"That's a very dry response , kinda rude you know"
"Hehehe it's fine you guys are funny"
Ann and Ryuji looked at each others surprised before they both start laughing with Momoka
The mysterious girl showed them the way around the village until her house , it is really a village with sweets based houses of all form and type , everything was made from sweets
"Mom I am back"
"Welcome home Momoka"
The mother appeared from the kitchen to greet her daughter and saw her with Ryuji and Ann
"Who are they ?"
"Travelers that got lost on the way apparently , if you don't mind can we shelter them until we find a way to help them out ?"
The mother hesitated and looked at a smiling Ann and a curious Ryuji looking around
"Ok i like to think you didn't brought bad people on here , it's fine to be here for few days until you solve your problems"
The blond pair were happy and sigh relieved
And so few days passed and both has got used to staying in that town , also got to know more about Momoka and how for starter she is the same age as them
Momoka had brown long hair , she usuelly wear dresses that reach the knees area , usuelly bright colored , she is cheerful, bright and hyper
"Oh this is my best friend Kaede"
Along the way they meet a male friend of Momoka named Kaede , a bit older then them (already 20 years old)
Kaede was white haired , he mostly wear blue and black , he is pretty handsome, he is pretty calm , cool and collected but always the smile on the face, he also love reading and like to occasionaly flirt with Ann and Momoka , he is also became the big brother figure in the group
"How come both of you possess blond hair ?"
Kaede asked Ryuji and Ann out of nowhere someday
"Mine are dyed hers is naturel" Said Ryuji in nonchalant way
"I see , that's pretty interesting , my hair color is somewhat close to you guys and I bet I will look great with blond hair too " Said Kaede with a gentle smile on his face
"Not fair I want to join too , should I dye my hair too?" Said Momoka pouting
Everyone having a good time togather but One morning, Ann walking around the town helping out Momoka with shopping , a werid monster like creature appeared out of nowhere in the town ,it doesn't look friendly
"A shadow? That can't be !"
Ann hurriedly called Ryuji on his phone
"Where are you , we are in trouble"
Ann explained everything to Ryuji by phone, him who was outside of the town with Kaede
"Got it , will be right back"
Ann looked at the shadow looking monster And decided to distract him until Ryuji come
"Idk if I can summon my persona here , perhaps i can't and even if i did i can't take him on alone" Mumble Ann to herself before deciding to move in front of the monster "for the time being let's try to let him go away from the town"
"Hey you ugly thing , come here , don't you want a piece of this beauty ?"
Ann decided to do the obvious distraction of the enemy by charming him as she tried to lure him out from the village into the mountains direction
"Ann !"
"Stay back Momoka , let me handle this"
Now out of town , Ann decided to hide behind a tree
"Ugh where is Ryuji I can't hold him any longer"
"You called"
Ryuji out of nowhere appears behind Ann
"Omg what the hell don't just appear like that"
"Ugh don't scream at me , sorry ok ? ..... good thing you are easy to spot from afar , so ? What we will we do ?"
Ann took out her phone from her pocket and searched up the metaverse app
"The usuel , idk if it's gonna work here but let's try it out"
Ryuji also took his phone , looked at Ann in the eyes and both Click on it at the same time
"Woah"
Both Transformed somehow and gained their phantom thief outfit
"But how ? This is not metaverse !" Said Ann shockly
"Idk but it worked either way so let's go , we will think about the reasons later" Said Ryuji with a huge grin on his face
"Let's work togather for once" Said Ann With a confident smile on her face directed at the monster of sort
Ann decided to distract the enemy with her charm yet again
"Ok Ryuji now !!"
Ryuji ran in Enemy direction
"Capitain Kidd !"
Ryuji use Ziodyne , it didn't work
"What the hell"
"If only Futaba was here to tell us it weakness"
"Oh screw that !"
Ann use Aigdyne , it worked
"Oh I hit him , he probably resist Electricity as seen earlier so use something else"
"Ok then Capitain Kidd ! Charge"
Ryuji use God's Hand , it dealed heavy damage
Enemy defeated
"Oh it disappeared like a shadow"
"Huh he was not too hard to beat"
"What was that though , the monster is all brown as if he was made of chocolate but moved like an actuel Shadow"
"Perhaps it's a low tier shadow"
"Perhaps you may be right for once Ryuji"
"What that supposed to mean ?"
Ann laughed at a triggered Ryuji as she make her way to Momoka and Kaede who joined her once Ryuji joined Ann to defeat the enemy
"Are you alright Momoka-chan ?"
"Yes , what was that ? It was scary looking"
"It's a Shadow, They are bad beings that arises from humans"
"Arise from humans ? Does that mean they are bad humans ?"
"In a way yes" Said Ann with a serious face
After hearing that , Momoka casted her eyes down worried and scared when Kaede get closer to her , put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eyes
"Don't worry I will protect you, Ann & Ryuji will too as they look like they have some special powers, we will get rid of those creatures rest assured"
"Ok" Said Momoka as she look like she is not afraid anymore
"But what are those powers you possess though ?" Said Kaede while turning in Ann and Ryuji direction "and what are those outfits , you wasn't wearing that a minute ago"
"We will explain everything, let's get back to village first haha" Said Ann Perplexed
She then sigh and start heading to village
"That's gonna be a tough one to explain" Said Ryuji in a nonchalant way
"You don't say ?" Ann look at him annoyed then looked back at the road in front of her
They then get back to the village, there Ann explained everything around Persona to both Kaede and Momoka
"Oh !" Said both surprised
"Wow that's wild and so cool" Said Momoka excited
"I agree" Said Kaede with the usuel gentle smile on his face
"Is that so ? Is that really that cool ?" Said Ann not sure of how she should react
"It is though" Said Ryuji with proud smile in his face
Ann sighed as she looked like she is done with Ryuji and looked back at her two friends
"Unfortunely It put us in quite dangerous situations like now so I don't know about the cool part so watch out for yourself around ok ? Don't go around alone"
"Got it" Said Momoka and Kaede togather
After the shadow fight, few days goes by with Ryuji and Ann still in the village
"I like it here but are we going to stay here forever or something ?" Say Ryuji annoyed to Ann
"I don't really know myself, I want to go back too though to be honest" responded Ann with a sad smile
"Maybe it's like a game and we can only go back if we beat the boss monster" Said Ryuji with big smile on his face
"This is not a game"
"But we faced similar situations before with the phantom thieves so there has to be something to do"
"That is true , we lose nothing by trying I guess"
Both decided to explore the world around them since staying here won't do them nothing
And so they told Kaede and Momoka
"You guys are going ?" Said a sad Momoka
"We will be back before dark like usual" answered Ann to reassure her
Momoka stil reluctant but agree anyway and The two blondes left the village
They walked for half an hour before finding themselves in some ruins
"Wow this look like some ruins in an RPG game"
"Again we are not in a game , Ryuji"
As they advanced further in , a shadow jumped at them
"An ambush ?"
"Woh that's a big one , time to beat it up"
After a bit of fighting , the two discovered the shadow was not weak to Fire , Electricity and Physical but is netural to them , probably weak to an other element they don't have and so they beat it up , wasn't easy but it wasn't the most hard fight ever
"That was a bit time consuming"
"Yeah , let's now advance"
"I wonder where the shadows came from and why we are stuck here in first place"
"Thinking about it won't help Ann , let's continue our research and we might as well find hints evently"
"You can say some wise words sometimes Ryuji"
"Shut Up"
They continued a bit further in before they realize its already sunset and they promised Momoko to get back to the village before dark
They got back to the village , assured the worried girl and guy since they went back a bit late as it get dark
Days gone by searching up any clues to go back to their world but after the shadow last time nothing showed up at all
Ryuji and Ann decided it's high time they discover a new area even further ahead but to do so they need to leave the village for more then just few hours
"We have no choice but to leave this place , few hours are not enough for the search" said Ann sadly
"Yeah , we should say goodbye to them" answered Ryuji with a sigh
Both decided to go togather , tell Kaede and Momoka at the same time
"Leaving ? Ah yeah you are not resident of this village in first place"
Momoka looked sad as she said so but she didn't try to keep them as she knew deep down that they will evently leave , she instead decided to smile and them and send them off like that , Kaede was next to her smiling as he usually do with his hand on her shoulders trying to ease her worries
And so the blonds decided to spend their last day in the village in peace, they made sure to play with Momoka for the last time , sleep the night before the big day
Reluctantly but urgently , they did indeed left the next morning , they bid farewell and gone on their way to the town next door and beyond for the next couple of days
Later, evently they find a new town but this time everything was in shambles , it was abandoned and no one live here , houses where no one can live in and big rocks on the street
"This place look burned down , I wonder what happend here" said Ann with a curious but sad tone in her voice
"No one is here anymore , maybe it's the shadows of last time ?" Answered Ryuji who was also as curious as Ann
Suddenly a loud voice emerged from the burned town, too loud it made the two phantom thiefs close their ears
"What the hell !" Screamed Ryuji
"So loud what is that? An actuel Shadow or a wild animal?!" Screamed Ann back
Once the loud noice stopped , Panther and Skull decided to go in the direction of the noice , a huge shadow like figure appeared in front of them and started running after them
"Oh shit Run Ann Run , wtf is that, it's fast"
" Ahhh why it's running after us !!!"
"Ugh I hate this , let's fight it head on"
"Wait Ryuji no !"
Ryuji fed up of running , stop and turn around to face the monster , it's an other sweet made one but still have the attribute of a shadow you find in mementos
"Persona !"
"Ryuji ! Are you planning to face it alone ?!"
Shortly after , Ann followed soon and summoned her persona to make sure her companion don't die , she would hate for that to happend to Ryuji because despite them fighting a lot they are after all friends
As they stand there with Capitain Kid and Carmen out , the monster suddenly decided to flee despite being ready to fight, as if like something called him over
"He was so aggressive now why he run away ?"
"Maybe he didn't run away but rather was answering to a call"
"A call? Someone called a monster ?"
"Idk Ryuji that's what it looked like to me , I say we follow it from behind , of course we make sure it doesn't know or our plan will backfire"
"Sure , let the tailing begin"
And as both of them try to sheathly follow the monster it suddenly stop in middle of nowhere
"Why did it stop walking ?"
"I have a bad feeling about this"
"Ah would you look at that , it's these two , attack them"
They heard a modified voice telling the monster to attack them and so they did , it screamed at their face which brought it friends over
"Ah they multiplied !"
"Oh shit!"
The two blonds tried to throw their moves at them but in no vain suddenly one of the monster headbanded Ann who passed out
"Ann !"
Ryuji was too focused on helping Ann he didn't see the monster closing to him and hitting him as well
Suddenly it's all black
.
.
.
"Hmm"
Ann slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a black room
She looked around her to see where she is
"Ryuji ?"
She attempted to search Ryuji to see if he is around or she is alone in this unknown place
"Ugh what the hell ....."
"Ryuji ?!"
"Ann ? is that you ?"
"Where are you ?"
"It's dark in here so i am not sure"
"I can hear you meaning you are close by .... huh ?"
"What it is ?"
"My arm and legs are tied up !"
"Ah no wonder i couldn't feel my arm , i think i am tied up too"
"Well well would you look at that ..."
A person opened the door and enetered the dark room
Their shadow is now illuminated by the light coming from the door
And for a second it was hard to see
once she succeded in focusing her vision , The blue eyed girl looked up and stared in surprise
"You ..."
"Hello Ann nice to see you again"
Ryuji took a bit more time then her but followed suit just after her to be able to see who is greeting them
"Kaede ?!"
"Hello to you too Ryuji , nice to see you guys are fine"
"What is the meaning of this , why are you here ?"
"Think about it a bit Ryuji why would you think i am here ?"
Ann and Ryuji finally able to see each others faces , looked at each others for a sec
"You meaning to say ?"
"Bingo , there is hope for you after all Ryuji , you guys are here in this position because of me"
"Why are you doing this ?"
"Sorry for the time being i won't answer you Ann , i have more important things to do first but well i thought i would come and show my face at the very least , well see ya"
Kaede waved at their direction , smiled at them then closed the door after him
"What is the meaning of this ?"
"I have no idea , we defiently won't find answers here let's get ot first"
Ann summoned Carmen who burned the rope
"Don't burn our hands please"
After that , Carmen went over to Ryuji and did the same to his ropes
"Ah finally free"
"We need to hurry and find Kaede"
"We need to find a way to get out from here first"
"The room is closed"
"Ah whatever let's bust through"
Ryuji used his persona and destroyed the wall
"Eh this is way too easy , did he seriously expected us to have a hard time getting out from here ?"
"I am not sure but he sure was into something and whatever it is we need to know and stop hi if it's bad"
"He kinda basically kidnapped us and brought us here for whatever reason so i don't think it's for someething good"
"Benefit of the doubt Ryuji , innocent until proven guilty"
"Okey if you think so i suppose"
After getting out of the room , the two blonds find themselves into an abondonned building , it took few hours to get out but they succeded nontherless
"I see why he was lenient with our ropes , this place is huge"
"Yeah definetly the case , we need to hurry up we already lost a lot of time , i have a bad feeling about this"
As they went outside they find that the sun already had set for a bit now
"What is that over there ?"
As they looked right and left to where to go in thye darkness , they see smoke in the horizon
"What is happening over there ?"
"A smoke ? there is a fire over there ?"
"Let's go and check it out"
The blue eyed female and brown eyed male run over to the designated place
"What the hell ?"
"Oh my god"
They find themselves in the village they left few days ago , Mochizuki Village except it's it's on fire now , the two teenagers looking horrified and confused at the view before them
The villagers are running around trying to save themselves from the fire , others try to put out the fire , Ryuji and Ann procced to try to help them out and evacuate them far from the village
"Oh you guys have made it already , you sure took your time , I was almost at the point of sleeping here"
They looked up as they heard a voice speaking to them , the flame didn't make spotting them easy but they found a shadow sitting on top of a semi-burned building
"Kaede you bastard !"
Kaede get down from his position and stood one meter away in front of the blondes
"Nice to see you again as well , Ryuji, Ann"
"What happend to you ? Have you been forced to burn the village down or something?" Said Ann concerned
Kaede put his hand in his head and started laughing
"What ? Forced ? Definitely not the case , that's a funny joke Ann"
"You bastard what the hell are you doing and why ? Explain yourself !"
"Ok calm down I will explain my reasoning, this is going to be a bit long though ,I suppose you deserve to know at the very least before your end come near"
"My goal is to kill humans to get as much souls as possible to create a powerful persona , that need more then 1000 humans and animals sacrifices for sake of my revenge , to create a new world without pain and give me immortality and fortune to control artificial human beings (dolls like so basically humancluous) that i want to replace with it the humans currently inhabitating their world"
Kaede continued saying his reasons by explaining his backstory to the two teenagers :
Kaede used belong to a rich family of doctors and he had an older brother who was to inherit the business , he however was more interested into the world of creations as he wanted to become an inventor and get license for it .
His parents didn't particularly agree but left him do his things nonetheless , he was close to his older brother until the day , terrorist attack have resulted in death of his family.
He survived but have to witness the government not doing anything about it , everyone around him could only care about themselves, no one looked at his direction nor even his relatives as they considered him "werid" because of his inventions.
He then procceded to become a wanderer and have witnessed a lot of injustice as he find out the terrorist attack not only attacked his hometown but it was actuelly a full blown war and some other cities had it worst.
He wanted to help people as much as possible as well as get revenge for his family and so he decided to get out of the country 2 years ago prior to the story , and came across Mochizuki village in the neighborhood country that was rather peaceful and stayed there , then started planning his master plan.
And so He planned to start by destructing the mochizuki village and continue from there (some very important figures releated to his revenge of their world live in/come to said village).
"Needless to say I have succeeded to create a powerful persona , it's still not perfect as I wished but it's good enough for the time being , I need more souls to perfect it so fortunately for you I haven't reached my 1000 souls quota yet"
"You tricked us all this time ?"
"You piece of shit !"
Despite how Kaede act nice and gentle, he is in reality an inventor genius as he create robots/artifucial creatures using animal/human dead bodies parts , brains and souls as a base (have even successfully created artificial birds that can live for 100 years) , he is also apathetic and only care for himself (heartless for all except Momoka) but act nice and charming in front of people to deceive them
"I can't believe this , i thought we are friends ..." Said Ann in Sad tone
"He created a persona using people souls , he must be sick in the head !" answered Ryuji in an angry tone
"Haha don't say that guys , it's useless to be sad for a non existant relationship, you were good pawn in my plan but alas you have to be in my way , I will definitely not let you ruin everything"
"I thought you're just normal werid people that came out of nowhere I didn't expect you have personas as well , and that change everything , I have to get rid of you"
"Come forth , Fenghuang !"
Kaede summoned his person Fenghuang , the Phoenix , he is of the Sun Arcana and his origin come from Chinese Mythology
The fenghuang's body often is symbolizes as a celestial being : the head is the sky, the eyes are the sun, the back is the moon, the wings are the wind, the feet are the earth, and the tail is the planets
His feathers were of the five fundamental colors: black, white, red, green, and yellow. These colors are said to represent Confucius's five virtues
"Fenghuang , attack with your 5 phases !"
Upon hearing his name , Fenghuang procced to rise to the sky and start chanting his first phase
"Humans are a fleeting existance and to that reason they should strive to benevolence and charity , that is the only way they can become complete human being and to that I bastone upon thee the Virtue "Ren"
Fenghuang first phase consist of Ice based attacks which Ann struggled with
"Oh no , not ice , It's Carmen's weakness"
"Don't worry I will tank the attacks"
"Thanks Ryuji"
Ryuji worked hard to make Fenghuang target him instead of Ann to not let the fight end , they are only two people after all , if Ann is down , Ryuji can't continue alone
"Look like that won't work, Fenghuang , go ahead with the second phase"
"Humans have limited physical abilities but are capable of possessing honesty and uprightness to cover their imperfectiness , that is the only way they can become complete human being and to that I bastone upon thee the Virtue "Yi"
The second phase had physical attacks which both Ann and Ryuji are fine with especially Ryuji , Ann was netural against it , she still can take damage but it's not as deadly as taking ice based attacks anymore
"Third phase go !"
Everytime he was ordered to procced with a new phase , Fenghuang rise to the sky and start chanting his phases one after the other , it's a ritual for him to activate his attacks
"Knowledge is the most essential quality for human to possess, only the wisest can achieve godhood , by possessing it I will baston upon thee the virtue of "Zhi"
The Zhi phase is provide Fenghuang with Light attacks which could be tricky since if one hit you it's instant death
"Shit , you can never know with those"
"Let's hold our ground"
Fenghuang has a huge pool of hp that Ann and Ryuji gradually get down slowly but the change of the attacks skills as well as him being strong to everything but not immune) is not making the fight easy
"Gods and humans alike have fallen because of unfaithfulness and dishonestly, doing the opposite to gain allies and followers will guarantee thy reign to continue forever and to that I baston upon thee the virtue of "Xin"
The Xin Phase which is the fourth in total is very disadvantaged torward Ryuji since he is weak to Garu so this time Ann decided to tank it instead
"Carmen hold yourself for a bit more , once he realize it's not working he will change his phase yet again"
"I hate being protected like this but there is no other choice as of now , Ann continue doing what you doing"
"Shit 4 phases in and they are not dead yet , what is this blasphemy"
Fortunately it didn't last long because Ann was doing great job in holding her ground, Kaede who started to get angry ordered Fenghuang yet again to go for an other phase
"Law and order are key to human life , not following it will lead to destruction to one's life and others , by only possessing that I baston upon thee the virtue of "Li"
"This one has to work !" Said Kaede biting his lip
The Li phase has pure Psi attacks and it was more harsher then any other phase in term of number of attacks
"Carmen , use Agidyne"
"Capitain Kid , use Ziodyne"
Fenghuang is inherently very strong and hard to beat but they are slowly but surely going through his hp
In meanwhile the village continue to burn with no one in it as people have been evacuated beforehand but one shadow could be seen through the fire going to the battle direction
As it approaching it become clear who it is
"Ann , Ryuji , Kaede I was looking for you , I was so worried about you three I am glad you are okey"
Momoka with a smile on the face greeted her friends but shortly after as she seen the very sour mood around and Personas unleashed, she lost her smile
"What is happening? Are you guys fighting ?"
"Get back Momoka , leave the village now !"
"Why are you telling me to go Kaede , explain to me what is happening? I saw Ann and Ryuji earlier and I was so happy they came back and now you are fighting? Aren't we all friends, friends don't fight" said Momoka determinated
Ann and Ryuji trying to take a breather looked away as Momok a stared at them looking for an answer then she looked back to Kaede
"I always knew deep down you were hiding something from me but I wanted to respect your privacy, so you also possess a persona like Ryuji and Ann ? Why you never said that? That's so cool !"
Kaede didn't say anything for a bit before opening his mouth again
"This doesn't concern you , so leave"
"I won't leave ! Never !"
"Do you want to die !? I told you to leave!"
The banter continued and the blondes keep watching them
"This is kinda awkward , we were in middle of a battle "
"Momoka ability to change the mood is impressive"
Kaede look at Momoka with an angry expression
"I burned the village and I was fighting Ryuji and Ann so if you are so eager to die i will fulfill your wishes"
"You won't kill me .."
"Why do you think so ?"
"You won't... I know that you won't... we are best friends... so please stop fighting"
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU , ARE YOU DUMB ? WHY DO YOU NOT GET THE FACT I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE , ALSO I BURNED THE VILLAGE AND I WAS THE ONE WHO BURNED YOUR HOUSE, THIS PLACE YOU LOVE SO MUCH , I RUIN IT AND I WON'T STOP UNTIL I MAKE SURE EVERY PERSON IN THIS VILLAGE IS DEAD"
"FENGHUANG USE YOUR ULTIMATE MOVE"
"The dude lost it , Momoka come here behind us"
"But ..."
"Momoka please do as what Ryuji said for the time being, we will not harm Kaede and also protect , we will have to win the battle and then you will pour your feelings to his face"
"Ok ... thank you , I am not sure why he is doing this but there is definitely a reason why, so I want to believe in him"
Attacks from all directions filled the air , Fenghuang ultimate attacks consisted of very hard hitting Almighty attacks , he had one specific move he kept spamming without any break , thus resulted in Ryuji and Ann being very exhausted and lose significant amount of HP
"Kaede .... please...."
"There is no use talking to him Momoka we have to beat him first"
"But how ? He is so strong !"
Ann pondered for a moment trying to catching her breath once the attacks slowed down a bit
"Co op attacks ..."
Momoka looked at Ann
"Are you okey , Ann ?"
Suddenly Ann screamed out of nowhere
"Ryuji ! Co op attacks !"
"Gosh my ears , why are you screaming at me ? Also what ?"
"Didn't we tried to develop co op attacks when Joker get that mysterious stone that guarantee the wish of a coordinated attack between two people?"
"Joker is not here Ann , I am not sure if we can do that"
"We don't need to believe this time, let's just straight up do it"
"Like now ?"
"Yes when else we can?"
"But how ?"
"Fusing out attacks togather"
"What is this ? A shounen manga where we win with power of friendship?"
"In a way yes"
"You gotta be kidding me"
the only way that they find to beat Fenghuang us for Ann and Ryuji to attack him with a co op special move , fusing of Agi and Zio with Physical element to it at the end , Ryuji had doubt it will work but since they had no other choice , they had to do it
"Are you two joking? Do you think you will win against my Fenghuang with those moves ?"
"Red flags bro red flags"
"What ?"
"By believing in ourselves and each others as well as fusing our strongest elemental attacks togather , we can do it , after all we have what you don't, power of friendship !"
"Ah shit she said it , she actuelly said it"
Ryuji face palmed himself then procced to close by and stand next to Ann
"This is getting ridiculous let's just do it and go home"
"Yes let's go !"
Momoka was saddened by the fact she have to see her friends fighting to death against each others , try to convince them to stop but in vain
"I am sorry Kaede but it's better if Ann and Ryuji win this one" she said to herself
Ryuji and Ann launched their supermove on Fenghuang , who tanked it but had hard time keeping up
"Too powerful but I will not give up, to reach my dreams"
The two opponents were two close to each others in term of powers, none of them backed down , both very determinated to win
"This is the wrong way to help people with , destruction of the world to rebuild it ? Who do you think you are?" End up Ryuji saying
"He is right, one person cannot do everything , and you can definitely improve things without destruction" Backed him up Ann
"No way that's true , the perfect world I will achieve it no matter what"
"You sure ? Without Momoka ?"
"?"
"I am not sure I understand but if your goal is to make the world better let me help you out , I want to be by your side , I have always believed in you and I still believe in your even now so please stop this madness and accept my help"
Kaede hesitated for a second, he become conflicted because it's Momoka , the one person he care about the most , he didn't expect when he came to this random village he will become friend with such a bubbly person or even fall in love with her but he did , she brightened his world and made him believe there is definitely hope , his orginal plan was to include her with him but he had to threaten her against his judgement because he knew she will not agree to his plan , if he have to get rid of her he will but that will hurt him for a long time , normally he doesn't care about others lives but Momoka was an exception , she was the first person since his parents death who he cared about
Meanwhile The blondes took their chance as Kaede was conflicted and had their move hit Fenghuang directly since Kaede distraction meant Fenghuang distraction too
"This is for your sake"
"Take this you bastard"
"Oh shit"
The blondes were barely able to defeat Fenghuang but they succeeded in doing so after a very taxing , difficult and exhausting
"I am so tired , hardest battle ever"
"I agree but we finally did it ! .... omg look !"
Ann pointed at the village that was burning for a while now
Ann and Ryuji may have won the battle it costed them the destruction of the village
"I got distracted and you won fair and square I suppose , congrats" Said Kaede as he was clapping non chalantly
"Too dry he is too dry" Complained Ryuji
"Ah the villagers is everyone okey ?"
Momoka started to panic and worried sick about the villagers
"Don't worry we evacuated them in the village next door, there was not many people living her in first place so it was easy" Reassured Ann
"Oh that's good to hear , Kaede you done a lot of chaos"
"Momoka , you serious ? after everything that I done , you just only scold me ?"
"Well we can rebuilt the village but humans are irreplaceable"
Kaede face palmed , sighed but smiled at her
"It's amazing how you can be such an idiotic optimistic person"
"As long as all my friends and loved one are okey , first step to help people is atoning your sins by rebuilding the village"
"Haha is that so ? Sure I guess , athought the villagers probably hate me by now"
"I will try to convince them , if it doesn't work and they kick you out I will go with you in your travels instead"
"You will actuelly do that? Why are you being that nice to me?"
"Because I simply like being around you"
"Ugh is that a sign or am i being too hopeful ?"
"What do you mean ?"
"Nothing ..... absolutely nothing"
"Tell me what do you mean !"
"I said nothing , forget about it"
Ann and Ryuji with a smile on face looking at them
"Haha look at them , Momoka don't get it"
"So at the end of the day the power of friendship and love won the day , this is too manga-ish"
"What's wrong with that? All well that end well Ryuji"
"Sure I guess"
Ryuji sighs but his smile make it obvious he was glad that they got a happy ending
"Now if we can only find a way to go back home"
"Oh you want to go home?"
Momoka said as she toke Kaede (that no longer hide behind fake princely smiles and politeness) by the hand and come to Ryuji and Ann direction
"Kaede since you are an inventor can you create some sort of portal to get them home"
"Momoka ? How did you know I was an inventor?"
"Before I showed myself to you guys , i was hiding not too far away because the battle was too dangerous for me to get out and i was waiting for a good time to show myself so I heard you when you were telling your backstory"
"Ugh that's the worst , I didn't want you to know"
"So tell me can you make the portal ?"
"I can try but I am not going to promise you anything"
"Cool I don't expect anything anyway"
"Ryuji !"
Everyone laughed togather at how things became , sure Kaede is not pretending anymore and definitely not nice as he was trying to appear like but he is not completely lost , deep down it's still the same Kaede and after what happend to the village it was werid they were laughing togather after all , maybe they still get along ?
"Give me time , I won't be able to get to work that easily, I need a place first so I have to go through the villagers wrath before anything"
"Come with us and don't worry I will try my best to help"
Ryuji and Ann looked at each others for a second and nodded in unison , decided to go with them
If Kaede succeed in creating the portal they have no reason to travel from place to place
"So how did we even end up being here in first place?"
"Ah that ? It's kind of my fault"
Everyone looked at Kaede direction confused
"How do?"
"Well as I was trying to summon a persona and fuse souls with it , the summoning ritual went out of hand and a black like core came out of nowhere , nothing came out of it so I thought nothing of it , I didn't knew it will reach Ryuji and Ann them toss them in our world"
Everyone was silent
"*sigh* what the hell"
"What did I just hear"
Both blondes face palmed
"I mean technically speaking Kaede is trying to correct what he did wrong with the made up portal" said Momoka trying to cheer both up
"Not really , I just did it because you asked"
"You bastard"
"Ryuji please no violence"
Maybe saying they were still friends is an overstatement, Kaede non chalant behavior doesn't help anyone
Despite the minor problem the duo faced , they went to village next door with Kaede and Momoka , stayed there for a bit , of course people were really hostile torward Kaede , and it took a week to make everyone actuelly calm down and not throw forks down his throat , Momoka bubbly personnality made the villagers trust her so despite everything they agree to let Kaede with them but only temporarily until the village reconstruct
"Look like I will have to leave once everything is returned to normal , that's quite expected , didn't think Momoka will be able to help this much at the end of the day *chuckle*"
"Ugh this dude"
"Ryuji please stop complaining"
"Hehe I will continue to help obviously , I did say I will help you to the end"
"Ugh my heart ... too pure ..."
Ann was laughing her heart out, Ryuji slightly pissed off because of the one sided romantic tension in the air
"Momoka is too clueless I cannot even, am I being not obvious or something?"
"No you good dude, she just doesn't get it .... now that we secured your stay in the village it's time you start on those portal thingy"
"*sigh* stop pestering me , Ryuji , complaining won't make me work faster, be patient like Ann"
"What did you just said ?"
"Calm down Ryuji please , just give him a bit more time"
Seeing how sincere Ann is , Ryuji stopped complaining .... just for a bit for the time being
And as he promised , once he secured a place to stay in , Kaede started working on the portal , he would spend days on end to it and even stay up for it
Momoka coming checking on him most of the time , came everyday aith supplies he would use and food so she decided to ask him once a question she had in mind all this time
"Why are you helping them , you know you can say no , it's not like you are forced to create this portal , you even stay up as if it's like you are determinated to finish it"
"It's not what you think it is , Momoka , I want to see how far I go with this thing and I am simply just a perfectionist , if we can send them back this mean it's an other step further in my researches and my goals , that's about it"
"I see but do you really not care about Ryuji and Ann ? It's just us here you can tell me the truth"
"They are .... not bad I guess , I don't mind them as I thought I did .... that's about it"
"Ok I understand, then I will leave you be , I will come back later ok ?"
"Sure , watch over yourself as you going back, it would be bad.... if you get hurt or something"
"Hehe got it , you are quite the protective person when it needed"
Kaede looked away to hide his embarassed face , he is not like this with anyone, only Momoka which she is not catching on
Kaede sighed and continued with his work
Fast forward to when Kaede finished his creation , the portal was situated somewhere outside the burned village
"It's more open here and easy to work with then making a portal in a closed room , here try this one out , if it work then good if not I will have to do adjustments to it"
Momoka looked at the two blonds a bit sad because this time they will actuelly go
"I will miss you" she end up saying
"We will miss you too" answered Ann
"I won't forget about you ever"
"Same here"
"Ok enough good bye , go thought the portal" Kaede said as he interrupted them
He clicked on a switch in his hand to turn on the portal
"I used similar thing for a persona creation and I don't mean souls I meant the basic techniques because essentially this portal or the persona are supernatural creations after all , they are not just mere technologies"
Ann and Ryuji looked at each others and advanced further to the door, they are not sure if the portal will bring them back or not , for all they know it could at best bring them in a random country or very far away in Japan then their houses, this risk was always present but getting scared is not a quality phantom thief possess, the two teenagers remembered their adventures with the others phantom thieves
"It's time to go back I guess"
"Yeah"
"Bye Ryuji , bye Ann , I hope to see you one day"
"Yeah bye"
"That's kinda cold Kaede , here wave at them *wave enthusiastically"
"S-sure *wave hesitantly*
Ann and Ryuji waved at the other two and entered the portal , hoping it will work
Suddenly Everything turned black around them , they could see nothing in front of them
"Takamaki-san ! Sakamoto-san ! Wake up !"
"Hmmm ?"
Ann opened her eyes little by little , she was almost blinded by the brightness in front of her , she was in her work uniform
"Where am I?"
"You are still in the coffee shop , are you perhaps tired ?"
Ann rubbed her eyes and looked around her , she was sitting in a chair and her head was on the table, it's like she woke up from long slamber
"Was I in middle of work and pass out ?"
She looked up and saw the manager staring at her
"Are you okey ?"
"Yes thank you for asking , I am just a bit tired"
"You should perhaps go home early today, you don't look good enough to serve people today"
"Perhaps you right"
"Oh could you please wake up Sakamoto-san too ?"
Ann looked next to her, she found Ryuji lying his head on the table just like her minute ago except he is not awake yet , like her he was in his work uniform
"Ryuji !" Ann Screamed at him
He didn't answer her so she screamed at him couple more times until he woke up surprised
"Omg what the hell ? Why are you screaming at me ?"
"You were sleeping , how else could I wake you up ?"
"Hmm I have this werid feeling I am not supposed to be here in first place"
"Yes we were .... in an other world"
"That is true, I think ? Were we ?"
"Manager told me we were sleeping here in our lunch break just now , so I am not sure anymore"
"Was that a dream ?"
"I like to think it's not but we also have nothing to prove it anyway"
Ryuji rubbed his eye and shoke his head to wake up meanwhile Ann was thinking about the whole thing
"This is confusing"
"Let's not think about it anymore , maybe it was a dream after all"
"It make me uneasy but for time being let's focus on our work, I am going to talk with the manager"
Ann excused herself and left the workers room that they stay in to take break between shifts
Ryuji continued to ponder by himself still not whiling to stand up yet
"Those people sound too real to be a part of my imagination but I am not sure , what we gone through and all that , I refuse to believe this was fake , after all Ann remember it too , why would she remember it if it was a dream ? Can people even share dreams ?"
"Kaede and Momoka were real , those emotions too are real"
Ryuji put his hand on his chest and closed his eyes for a short amount of time
"This adventure didn't help make those feelings disappear but they did accent it , it was hard acting normal in front of Ann"
"This sure helped us get closer at least no ? One way to find out is to talk to Ann directly like usual"
Ryuji opened his eyes and nodded to himself then procced to get up from his seat
"*sigh* What complicated feelings I have , I need to ask Ren about it later , maybe he will give me pointers , he seem popular in a way with ladies"
"Anyway let's put that aside and go to work"
Ryuji gave a slap to himself with both of his hands and decided to go see the manager as well
He found Ann standing in middle of the coffee , waiting for him
"Ryuji where have you been , we should go back to work !"
"Yes coming"