Chapter Text
They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. All eight were shocked and saddened into silence, suddenly feeling so small and unsure. Their wide eyes stared up at the flashy, towering walls.
“What the hell…” The boy in front of the group breathed, his head shaking as if trying to clear any fog.
“I thought you said Persona users couldn’t have a palace.” The brown-haired girl’s voice was sharp and strict as she glanced down at a small black and white feline.
“I didn’t think they could.!” The cat meows hollowly, “Akechi didn’t have one so I assumed my beliefs were right… but…”
Silence fell over the tense group.
“He doesn’t see us as a threat.” The smallest girl stepped closer to the tall artist. “So that means he doesn’t suspect anything?”
“Right.” The artist nodded, “It seems you have done an excellent job, Futaba… Let us hope Boss can continue to support us.”
The group shuddered.
Ren had been acting strange for a while now.
He was never at his part time jobs, he was always distant and sleepy at school. Sojiro and Futaba only saw him once in a while to force him to actually eat something. None of the friends had really seen much of him either.
Ren was always on the move, always giving an excuse of being busy though with what they did not know.
The Phantom Thieves had defeated Shido, they brought down a god shortly after. They thought it was the end of their adventures in the Metaverse, the end of their Persona wielding and, soon, it would be time for their leader to head back home.
But, the friends got together only a couple of days ago. They wished to discuss their leader’s behaviour and what to do.
Morgana had a bad feeling deep in his fur and had requested Futaba try to find the MetaNav, to check if Ren was on there.
Sure enough, it was back on their phones. It didn’t take much guessing before they paled at the results.
Their leader had a palace of his own. His heart had become distorted and dark without them even realising it.
They quickly informed Sojiro and requested he get the distant boy to work all day in the café so they could investigate.
Of course, he agreed.
Now though, standing in front of the regal and impressive Theatre, the group felt unsure.
They had never been in the Metaverse without their leader. They were all so terrified of the consequences should they make a mistake.
They couldn’t kill Joker, they just couldn’t.
For now, it was just an infiltration.
None of them wanted to think about sending their friend a calling card.
“I can’t believe this… how did this happen?” Ann sighed as she shuffled nervously. “Is Joker… evil?”
“No!” Ryuji snapped, “Something’s happened but our Joker is not evil or a bad guy. There’s no way.”
They fell into silence once more, none of them wanted to enter.
…
Sojiro watched as his ward scrubbed the dishes. The boy had that stern frown on his face, the same one he had when they first met. Only, this time, his eyes were slightly glazed.
The man wondered what had caused such a drastic change.
He didn’t pretend to understand all the Phantom Thief stuff, but he understood enough to know a Palace is not a good thing.
“Sorry for making you work all day.” The man ventured, testing the waters. “Just haven’t seen much of you and it’s not long ‘til you head home.”
Ren dried his hands and turned to face his mentor with a sad smile, the boy shuffled over and leant heavily against the bar.
“Yeah… Sorry.” He shrugged sheepishly.
He didn’t offer any kind of excuse.
“Your friends seem to be missin’ you too.” Sojiro continued gently, “Your time together is limited, I thought you all would be livin’ in each other’s pockets at this point.”
Ren smirked weakly.
“I mean… Yeah…” He played with his bangs, “I just… I don’t really wanna hang out with them, I don’t want to get into anything and end up heading home and just… leaving them.”
“I get it but… It’s not like you’ll never see them again, right?” Sojiro smirked softly, “I’m kinda hoping you’ll be here for a few more summers.”
Ren looked up at his mentor in surprise.
“You’d really let me stay in the attic again?” He asked, almost hopeful.
“Of course.” Sojiro chuckled. “As long as you help out down here.”
The kid smiled gratefully before hurrying off as a customer requested a refill.
Sojiro sighed solemnly.
How did his kid end up with a palace of all things?
Even now, as he watched the boy help the customers, he could see he was paler and more worn out than usual.
He could see the stiffness to his shoulders, the steel in his eyes.
He wasn’t far off from being that delinquent he took in and shoved up in the dirty attic.
It was like everything that happened these last few months were all for nothing. All the hard work undone and no one had even noticed until now.
…
The theatre may have looked impressive on the outside, with its old ornate walls and bright lights, but inside?
The foyer was dusty and cold, cobwebs hung from the ceiling and it had a musty scent – like an old book.
It was as if it had been abandoned for centuries.
The group walked through stiffly, noting the lack of shadows as they moved.
They walked down the stairs and through the doors leading to the stalls.
Every purple velvet seat sat empty but the seats were down as if weighed by an invisible body, the beautiful intricate ceiling was greyed with age and it’s paint peeling. The carvings of birds and flora looking lifeless and rather sad.
Yet, despite the emptiness, the sounds were deafening,
A laugh track played on repeat along with booing, clapping and groans of sympathy.
All echoing around as if there were ghosts in every seat.
“This is…” Makoto shuddered, stepping closer to Ryuji in fear.
The group faced the stage, a single spotlight focused on the centre of the chipped and worn wooden boards. A red velvet curtain stayed closed and was oddly the cleanest part of the whole production.
The group looked around, trying to work out what to do next.
The sounds cut off so suddenly it made the group jump.
They spun round as they heard footsteps behind them but, there was no one there. Makoto let out a whimper of fear as Futaba latched onto her side.
“Welcome.” Came a familiar voice from behind.
The Thieves turned back to the stage to find a single rusted metal stool with Ren perched upon it.
He was pale, his hair greasy and limp, huge bruises shone from under bloodshot eyes. He wore a grubby prison jumpsuit, all torn and stained. His fingernails were black with dirt and his figure was stiff as if nursing an injury. He had handcuffs around his red raw wrists but with an incredibly long chain which was spread along the floor like a metallic snake.
Yet, his mouth was turned up in a kind smile – one the Thieves knew so well and put them at ease immediately.
“Ren.” Ryuji breathed in relief, visibly relaxing. “Are you ok? What is this?”
“Yeah… This is kind of unexpected hmm?” Ren nodded as he too looked around, seeming almost as new to this as the rest of them. “I guess this is my Palace… Do I have yellow eyes like the other rulers?”
“Yeah! You look so freaky!” Futaba nodded hurriedly, stepping more to the front and towards her friend.
“Thanks.” Ren chuckled dryly, his eyes shining with amusement.
“Why do you have a palace?” Morgana demanded almost angrily, Futaba tapped the cat gently with her foot.
“I let you all down.” Ren admitted, his smile turning sad as his eyes softened. “I chose to let myself become distorted… I didn’t really mean to… But here we are.”
“You could never let us down.” Haru insisted gently, a frown creasing her pretty face. “You’re our leader.”
“Not anymore. I’m not even Joker here… just Ren.” Ren shrugged half-heartedly, “You guys are barely Phantom Thieves… I could never view you as a threat.”
“That’s why there are no shadows.” Yusuke mused, glancing around with curiosity. “Am I correct?”
“Aren’t you always?” Ren smirked fondly.
“Show us to your treasure.” Morgana huffed impatiently, “We’ll fix this mess, and you can explain what happened to you.”
The others watched as Ren’s smirk turned into an apologetic smile, he dipped his eyes downwards as if unable to look at his friends. He sighed and slowly shook his head before finally making eye contact once again.
“Sorry Morgana but… No.” Ren replied, his voice strong and certain.
“C’mon man, you know it’s the only way.” Ryuji pleaded, “We need to fix this, we’re not even supposed to have Personas anymore.”
“I know… but there are only two ways this can end.” Ren explained quietly, “I am still a prisoner of fate. You can either let Dr Maruki and I sort all this out or… You’ll have to kill me… this version of me anyway.”
Silence consumed the group as the laugh track started up again.
“W-we can’t.” Futaba stuttered, stepping back in horror at the very thought.
“Quit playing around!” Ann scolded as tears filled her eyes, “Just show us how to help you!”
“I’ve already explained the two choices.” Ren insisted, his eyes focusing on Ryuji as the boy stepped closer.
“We’re not fighting you.” His eyes connected with Ren’s.
“No. I won’t fight any of you either.” Ren nodded in understanding, “When you return, I’ll know which choice you’ve made. I will be sat here with the treasure and, once you’ve disposed of me you can simply take it and leave through the front door – a nice straight path for you to get out safely.”
The Thieves couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“You want us to kill you?” Haru squeaked fearfully, clutching her hands to her chest.
“In a way…” Ren cringed almost as if embarrassed, “It’s hard to explain.”
A siren began to sound from somewhere backstage, their leader simply looked at them with a strange kind of acceptance.
“I have to go.” He nodded as he slowly stood from the stool. “You all know how Palaces work, you’ve successfully found the treasure room, your route is secure. However,…”
The group watched as their leader seemed to war with himself.
“If you head back out to the foyer… you’ll see a door for staff only, it leads to the dressing rooms.” He explained with a strained voice, wincing in pain as he spoke.
It became harder to hear him as all the sounds came back tenfold, the Thieves noticed the seats were now filling up with all the different Personas Joker had obtained through their adventures.
“The dressing rooms have numbers on them, enter them one by one and then… Then, everything will make sense – you’ll be able to make your choice more clearly.” Ren now had to shout to be heard but it seemed like it was draining him of energy, his skin turning almost grey now. “I’m sorry you’re having to do this… I’m sorry I’m not there to lead you through… I just hope… by the end of the rooms… You’ll be able to forgive me for everything…”
The boy was now swaying in place.
With one last look at his friends, he hummed in thought.
“Don’t you think the past few days have lasted an awfully long time?”
And with that, he crumpled to the floor with a harsh bang.
“REN!” Ryuji screamed as he leapt up onto the stage, he made to grab at his friend but paused. The boy was slowly disappearing just like they had after beating Shido as the god took over.
Ryuji simply watched numbly until there was no trace of his friend left. He looked back at the others who were all stood with various expressions of shock, sadness and anger.
The Personas in the audience began laughing again, this time more loudly and far more hysterical.
The Thieves flinched as the curtains opened to reveal a giant cinema screen, they blanched as the memory of Akechi disappearing behind that metal door played over and over on a loop, the gunshot getting unbearably louder each time.