Chapter Text
A quiet snow had overtaken Tokyo, muting most of the city with a thin blanket of cold. Sojiro usually liked the cold, but something felt different about this snowstorm. Something felt different about everything. Ever since the new year started, things have been just slightly wrong. Wrong in the kind of way that made your hair stand on end in the quiet moments, wondering if you were truly alone. Wrong enough to cause alarm, but not wrong enough to demand action.
Sojiro knew that the kid he let live in the space above his restaurant probably had something to do with it. Trouble always seemed to find the young man, despite Sojiro’s recent efforts to keep him safe.
This time was different, however.
The air seemed charged with energy, and despite the muted looks of the world outside, Sojiro knew that something was very, very wrong.
The ring of the bell at the door to Leblanc woke Sojiro from his stupor.
“Ah, you’re ba–” Sojiro started, anticipating his pupil would be the one walking in, yet when his eyes met those of the person who walked through the door, the rest of his words caught in his throat.
The figure was wearing all blue, an impossible amount of blue: a blue dress that best resembled a stewardess’ outfit, blue gloves, blue knee-length boots, and even a small blue hat. But what caught Sojiro’s attention was the person’s eyes.
To call them a person's eyes would make him a liar. Their piercing yellow seemed to bore through his skin, through his flesh and bones, and look directly upon his soul. Yet, Sojiro knew that this was not the first time he had seen those kinds of eyes. He recalled that Ren had brought two young girls who looked eerily similar to the woman standing before him into the café once, and their outfits were equally as drowned in the color blue as hers.
“Is this the Café known as Leblanc?” The woman asked, breaking her stare at Sojiro to glance around.
Sojiro was too stunned by his look into her eyes to answer, so she spoke up again.
“I do not see any location here that would make for a satisfactory place to sleep,” she remarked, before studying the booths a little more. “Unless one would sleep upon one of these large chairs? It seems rather uncomfortable…”
“Excuse me…” Sojiro said, his voice finally returning to him. “Would you like to order something? If not, I’m going to have to kindly ask you to leave.” How was she sharp enough to know someone lived here, yet not intelligent enough to understand the concept of a second floor?
“One must pay tribute to receive shelter at this establishment?” She asked, whirling to face him and looking him in the eye again. “I will not be within the locale for long. I just wish to know if Ren Amamiya lives somewhere within the perimeter known locally as Yongen-Jaya.”
Her manner of speech was seriously throwing Sojiro off. He had seen many unusual people in Tokyo, but never anyone like this. His train of thought was completely derailed, yet that intense stare forced him to respond.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about. I think you should go; it’s clear you’ve had too much… something,” he sighed, trying his best to hide his unnerved state by taking control of the conversation. “I need to close for the night anyway, so you’re gonna need to leave regardless of whether you’re ordering anything. Sorry, but please get out.”
She continued to stare at him for a little longer, the glow of her unnatural yellow eyes never diminishing. Eventually realizing he wouldn’t budge on this, she strode to the door. The ring of the bell on the top of the doorframe synchronized perfectly with her pause in the doorway. She turned and looked at him one more time.
“You are a true Hierophant,” she stated matter-of-factly, a slight smirk growing on her face. She turned back to the man and walked out; the sound of her boots on the light layer of snow outside could still be heard for a moment before the door shut completely.
The Phantom Thieves had returned to reality, exhausted.
Well, reality was a strong word, considering the current state of everything. Maruki’s ideals and plans had taken a real, tangible toll on the way the world felt. It was impossible for any Phantom Thief not to feel it. The ambient distortion, the mechanisms that had guided the world, twisted to a new and unnatural purpose.
“What happens now?” One of them asked, twirling a blond pigtail with her right hand, a little confused as to why reality wasn’t back to normal yet. They had won; they had beaten another seemingly impossible challenge by being true to who they were and what they stood for. They had done it, together.
“The only thing we can do is wait for tomorrow,” Ren responded, looking at the group assembled before him. It was strange to think that none of the people here before him, nor the dozens of others in other parts of the city, would have ever met him if it weren’t for that fateful encounter that night. Despite everything that had happened- the pain, the disaster, and the torment he faced- he had no regrets. He wouldn’t change anything about where he was right now for the world. Especially when he looked into her eyes and the entire world solved itself for him. He knew exactly what he wanted his future to be.
“Alrighty then,” a blond boy said after a quiet moment. “I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow. I’m gonna go check on my ma.”
Slowly, they all broke formation and went home, all of them except for the fluffy-haired woman still standing beside him.
“Would you like to…” he starts, turning to look at her face. “Would you like to come to Leblanc for a little while with me?”
She turns to look at him, her face glowing at the proposition.
“I’d love to,” she responds, elegantly linking her arm with his as the two begin walking through the quickly forming winterscape.
The two talk as they travel; they talk about the snow outside, what they plan on eating for a rather late dinner, and other relatively mundane subjects. It’s an oddly light conversation, considering what they were doing less than an hour ago. Ren still remembers hearing her voice, screaming out over the maelstrom of noise as she and all of their friends pushed back against the fist of a giant.
“If I run now, I know I’ll regret it!”
At that moment, in the Palace of a gentle madman, Ren made up his mind. After reality returned to normal tomorrow, Ren held no illusions that he’d wake up anywhere other than prison. But that was a price he was willing to pay. If that was in store for him, he wouldn’t run from it, because he had done what he needed to do.
That, and between him going to prison or the love of his life potentially being harmed, the choice was simple, really.
The two arrive at Yongen-Jaya and begin walking down the empty street towards Leblanc. The sounds of their breath and their crunchy footfalls were the only things gracing their ears. In their tired, almost trance-like state, neither of them noticed the woman in blue staring at them from in front of the long-empty theater.
Elizabeth had been waiting for this moment.
Waiting was not an accurate description of what Elizabeth had been doing.
Elizabeth had been acting for this moment.
Since that fateful day in March of 2010, Elizabeth had been plotting and working towards one simple goal: find a way to bring back Makoto Yuki.
She could not deny now that the boy who saved all of life had changed her irreparably. She knew his teammates felt the same, but she wasn’t doing all of this for them. She was doing this
for herself.
They had found a way to move on despite the loss, but she hadn’t. Stuck in the past was not an apt description because right now, Elizabeth was sure she was very much in the present. She simply was the kind of person who coped with loss by giving herself an objective. She had originally thought it was impossible, but her time on earth had taught her that the impossible happened far more often than one would initially think.
She left the Velvet Room, something she never thought possible before he walked into it. She traveled around Japan, learning all that she could about Persona, the nature of the world, and the fabric of reality. Her brief stint in Inaba was rather enlightening. Witnessing the Shadow activity and the birth of a new Wild Card gave her an idea—one she couldn’t act on until all the chaos subsided, but an idea nonetheless.
She knew it was inevitable that another Wild Card would appear. The world would always be challenged, and beings of higher power would get bored and fancy themselves a game. So she would lie low for a while, steeling herself and biding her time. It was a big gamble, one that she would have no control over, but one she had faith would work out.
It had to, or what was she working towards all these years?
Time passed, and the inevitable occurred: the Phantom Thieves appeared in Japan. All that Elizabeth needed then was a spark, a catalyst. A power so great that it made more impossibilities possible.
So when Elizabeth woke up on Christmas Day and felt the all-too-familiar feeling in her stomach that someone had been messing with the fabric of reality, she knew that this was the moment she had been waiting for, for six years. She gathered everything she needed and began work. It took longer than she anticipated; it was a much closer call than she wanted, but it was done just in time.
She did feel a little bad for springing all of this on him. Just a little. Her resolve quickly overcame any sort of sentiment she felt for the Wild Card she had never met. He had beaten the odds before. She was confident that he could do it again. The question of what would happen if he were to fail briefly crossed her mind, but she pushed that question away. Failure was not a possibility.
Regardless of her thoughts, all that was left for her now was to place all her faith in this Wild Card and complete the spell. He would have to handle the rest.
The clear chime of the bell above Leblanc’s door announced the arrival of Ren and Haru. Sojiro greeted them with the same “Ah, you’re back” as he always did, but this time it felt like so much more. It was a declaration of their victory, an announcement that Ren had returned to where he felt most at home. It was also the last time Ren thought he would ever hear those words. Tomorrow, he would wake up in prison, and the rules that had governed Maruki’s reality would be turned to ash and scattered to the wind.
But Ren no longer feared that scenario, no longer dreaded waking up alone in a cold cell. He would choose that scenario 100 times in a row rather than see the friends he made come to harm. He would protect them just as they always protected him.
Haru’s voice in his ear returned him from his train of thought as she ordered food for both of them and guided Ren toward one of the empty booths. Ren paused a moment to let Morgana out of his bag, and then slid into the seat, Haru sliding in right next to him a moment after.
The two began talking again, the natural ambiance of Leblanc soothing them like a balm on a wound. Sojiro delivered their food to them, catching snippets of the conversation at hand. Haru wanted to open a café, and Ren just wanted to make her happy. Sojiro smiled to himself. He had an odd sense of pride, looking at Ren. Just a few months ago, the boy was quiet, restrained, almost gray, in a sense. Sojiro used to think that was a good thing, but now it seemed so wrong for Ren to be anything other than full of life. He had his whole future ahead of him, and Sojiro knew that he would excel in whatever he did.
He watched the pair wander upstairs, and he shared a knowing look with the cat that he still couldn’t believe could talk. The two of them needed some time alone to be affectionate with each other. Hopefully not too affectionate. He put on his hat and opened the door to the frigid February air, flipping the sign to “closed” as he did. Morgana meowed once at him and followed him out, trying to touch as little of the snow as possible. The two of them wandered down the street of Yongen-Jaya together to where the Sakura residence was located.
Morgana noted the odd smattering of footprints in the snow around Leblanc, yet thought nothing of it. Just another stranger among millions in Tokyo.
Ren and Haru heard Morgana call goodnight to the two of them, and subsequently, the ring of the doorbell as Sojiro and Morgana gave them some space. The two of them were thankful that they were granted a little more time to be together before Haru inevitably had to head back home. There were times in the past when she had stayed the night, but after defeating a powerful foe, it was hard for them to recover their strength when the bed barely fit Ren by himself.
The two of them sat down on the couch and drank in the feeling of being together. Haru looked over at her boyfriend, the warm lighting of his room casting a soft glow on his face as he turned and smiled at her. She leaned into his shoulder and sighed happily when she felt him wrap his arm around her waist.
“This year has already been so crazy, and it’s barely been a month,” Ren’s voice trickled to her, and she turned and looked up at him from her perch on his shoulder in response.
“I never thought I would get to see my father again…” She responds. The memories she had of her father still stung from time to time, but Haru had come to terms with what had happened. She wouldn’t deny that she wished things had worked out differently, but life doesn’t often give you a choice in such matters. She chose instead to focus on what she had gained during her tenure with the Phantom Thieves: a partner for life. Ren takes a moment to study her face for any indication of hurt or sadness. When he finds none, he speaks up again.
“I’m just glad your ‘ideal reality’ was introducing me to your father,” he mutters, his cheeks gaining a light pink hue in time with hers. He was so confident and decisive in front of their friends that it would be hard for them to imagine the look on their leader’s face at the current moment. This was the side of Ren that only she got to see, and she treasured it every chance she could.
“Every second with you already felt like a dream, even before Maruki made some of them a reality,” she replied in kind. Giggling a little as she watched his eyes widen while she spoke.
Ren strengthened his grip on her waist, pulling her softly towards him and into a shy kiss. Haru knew he loved it when she talked like that. The feeling of his lips on hers was all the proof she needed. He had fallen for her just as hard as she had fallen for him.
After a few more minutes of the two of them talking and simply being together, Haru decided that, as much as it pained her to do so, it was time for her to go home and get some rest. Tomorrow, they would wake up, and Haru would begin the rest of her life with Ren. No more Phantom Thievery, no more danger, her perfect happy ending.
Even so, she could tell something was on Ren’s mind. Something was bothering him. The face he made when he thought she wasn’t looking scared her a little. She was tempted to ask what it was, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment. She committed the detail to memory and reminded herself to bring it up in a future conversation. They had all the time in the world after all.
Ren, ever the gentleman, offered to walk her to the train station. It was pretty late at night, so Haru graciously accepted. The two put on their jackets and walked towards the door of Leblanc. Ren opened the front door and turned to motion that she should go out first, but something made him freeze in place, goosebumps rolling over his skin.
The doorbell had made no noise.
Haru was busy adjusting her white cap; she looked so unaware of the oddity that had just occurred that Ren nearly thought he had simply not heard it or misremembered it.
He closed the door and reopened it. Still no bell. By this point, Haru looked over at him, the smile leaving her face as she noticed his demeanor and odd behavior. Ren opened his mouth to point out the oddity to her when suddenly, all of the lights went out. The two were on edge now. During Ren’s entire stay in Tokyo, not once had there ever been a power outage like this. Ren didn’t even know if it was an outage or if someone was messing with the breaker. Regardless of what it was, something was exceedingly wrong.
The light trickling into Leblanc became tinted with the faintest color of green as an ear-splitting crack pierced the air. Ren and Haru both looked around for a moment, Haru taking a small step towards her lover.
Ren tried to take a step towards her, but his foot wouldn’t budge. He looked down and saw that a rift of pure darkness had opened beneath him, trapping his feet. He looked back over at Haru. He could see the look of panic on her face, see her mouth moving, but he couldn’t hear her. An ethereal buzzing had set in, inhibiting his sense of hearing. The only thing he could feel was the sickening sense of himself sinking into the abyss below. He tried to stay calm as he watched Haru desperately pull on him. He tried to speak to her, pull with her, do anything, but his body simply would not respond. He was simply a spectator in what he could only assume was his death at the hands of… someone. Was Maruki behind this? Was Yaldabaoth? Someone else?
The rift was up to his torso now. He watched the tears stream down Haru’s face as she called out to him, desperately pulling at him, but he couldn’t answer. He couldn’t do anything but watch. At least it was just him, just like his deal with Sae. She would be able to go on and live life, and he would gladly take the fall for not only her but all of his friends. Ren could feel the cold tendrils of apathy setting in. What was the difference between this and prison anyway? He’d be gone for a long time regardless of whether this freak event had happened to him or not.
The rift had swallowed everything but his head and the hand Haru was still desperately pulling. The last thing he saw before his head went under was her tear-stricken face.
And then everything was a brilliant blue, a blue so pure it reminded him of the Velvet Room. He felt Haru let go of his hand as he slipped into the rift in space and began to fall.
Haru stared dumbfounded at the space where her boyfriend had just stood less than a minute ago. Her throat burned from her desperate calls to him, her eyes partially clouded with pain and tears. The rift in the ground slowly began to seal up behind him. A small voice in her head told her that if it closed, he would be gone.
Trying to wipe the tears from her face, she thought back to her last moments with her father. How she had been so cocksure that everything would work out all right, and how quickly she had been proven wrong. She had learned in that theme park that nothing in life was set in stone. Fate could change at the snap of your fingers.
The rift was getting smaller now. Anguish and panic seared through her veins as her body was momentarily paralyzed. She had a choice. Stay here and let the rift close, like whoever had done this intended, or take a leap of faith to try and save the love of her life.
Feeling a surge of adrenaline reanimate her frozen body, the choice that was the easiest she had ever made.