Archive of Our Own

Ren found out that Goro Akechi was alive when the MetaNav was activated in the middle of Shujin's library. Looking back on it, it was stupid, wholly an accident, and then Ren was reminded of the fact that he and Ryuji had stumbled into the Metaverse the exact same way - simply by talking.

He'd plucked The Odyssey off the shelf on a whim, remembering that Akechi had mentioned reading it for one of the courses he was taking for college credits. He knew now that the detective had had no interest in pursuing any sort of post-secondary education, that those courses had purely been for show. Still, the recognition he'd had when he picked it up, however bitter it was, intrigued him enough to keep it in his pile of books to potentially check out. He'd been meaning to read it regardless of its connection, and Morgana asking questions about it had led to Ren nearly throwing said book across the room at the sound of the Nav going off.

Pacing back and forth in the middle of Leblanc, he kept his head down to avoid the gazes of his team, letting the news of his discovery sink in.

"I mean," Ryuji said slowly. "It's Akechi. He always hated the change of hearts. Won't he just kick our asses and tell us to leave?"

"We kicked his ass before," Futaba pointed out. "If anyone's getting kicked out of the Palace, it's him."

"No one's kicking anyone's ass," Ren said sternly. "Akechi's too stubborn not to be backseat...Metaversing? Backseat Metaversing the entire time we're in his Palace. He'll find a way in with or without a Persona."

"Morgana." Ann turned to their trust guide. "I thought Persona-users couldn't have Palaces."

"That's what I thought," the cat sighed. "But Maruki still had a Palace. I'm not so sure anymore."

"Maruki was the exception," Yusuke mused, "not the rule. But perhaps because the Metaverse was off-limits to us as it began to reshape itself after it collapsed, and his Personas could not manifest, he developed a Shadow?"

They all stared at him.

"What?" He asked. "I thought it was a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"Whatever the reason," Haru said, breezing past the awkwardness. "He still has a Palace. Our job as Phantom Thieves should be to clear it, no?"

"You want to help him?" Ryuji asked, looking at her in shock. "Even after-"

"I..." She hung her head. "It's complicated. I want to hate him, I really do, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that if things were different, I could have ended up like him. I am like him, in a sense. His father used him too. And he was one of us at one point, and he sacrificed himself for us. I see no reason to be that spiteful and let him stew in his own hatred."

"Here's the thing," Ren said, continuing to pace. "Akechi acknowledges that what he did was horrible. His Palace wouldn't be centred around being Black Mask. I don't want to make the comparison, considering, well, everything , but I think it would be less like Shido and more like Futaba."

The silence hung in the air.

He paused his anxious walking, sighing. "When Maruki revealed that Akechi was going to die, or thought he was going to die, Akechi did everything to convince me that he wasn't worth it. I...I wasn't going to do anything other than challenge Maruki, but with the readiness he was to throw his life away, I- I fought with him. He kept saying that his life was nothing, that he was already dead and it didn't matter. And I did think he was going to die- die again, but- but he kept trying to convince me he deserved it."

"I want to help Goro-senpai," Sumire said firmly. "He helped save me. I want to do the same for him."

"It would be hypocritical of us to leave it as it lay," Yusuke added.

Murmurs of agreement began to flow, a familiar spark catching.

Ren turned to his sister. "How do you feel about this?"

"You're leaving it up to me?! "

"No," he promised. "We're gonna put it to a vote like we always do, but I want to hear your thoughts."

She stared at her hands in her lap, her fingers laced together. "I...I'm angry at him. But what happened to me...I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

It was unanimous.

The ride to Kichijoji was a long and uncomfortable one.

"So it's based off a book, yeah?" Ryuji asked, arm hooked around the pole of the subway. "One you haven't read?"

"I meant to," Ren argued. "That's why I picked it up from the library."

"I've read it," Makoto sighed. "It's not exactly happy, although Odysseus does pull through in the end. It's definitely going to be tough."

"Do you mind...?"

"It's a journey. Odysseus, after winning the war against the city of Troy, embarks home with his crew, but everything on the way home is dead set against him. Monsters, gods, every obstacle you can think of. There's a reason long voyages are called odysseys."

"Do you think it'll follow the book exactly?"

She shrugged. "That depends on Akechi."

"You really think he'll be in there?" Ann asked, looking back and forth down the subway car as if the boy in question would materialize if they talked about him too much.

"Akechi is stubborn," Ren said after a moment. Thinking about the boy made him on edge. Had these distortions of his been present when they had faced each other before? Did he truly know Akechi? Or had they only recently begun to surface? What would they really find in that Palace? "If he had the means to clear his own Palace, I think he would have out of spite alone."

"Really?"

"He doesn't want anyone else to be in control of him. What better way to do that than to beat his own Shadow?"

Stepping out onto the familiar streets without looking for the familiar mop of brown hair was strange, to say the least. Coming here without him felt almost blasphemous.

"Still no phone signal," Futaba confirmed after a moment. "But that doesn't mean he's in there. He could have lost it and gotten a new one. His other one could be shattered into a million pieces. Maybe it's just dead."

"He's in there," Ren said firmly. "And we're going to get him. Everyone ready? Then let's go."

He tried to keep his voice steady. "Goro Akechi. Jazz Jin. Odyssey."

The world pitched to the left and the busy sounds of the street were replaced with the gentle lapping of ocean waves. The sea breeze was heavy on the senses, the smell of salt thick in the air.

Standing outside the walls of a decimated Troy, the thieves took in the sights around them. The gates to the city, flung open, the insides of it barren, was their exit. The glow of the door to the Velvet Room was standing on the shore just a few feet from them. A large wooden boat was moored along the coast, rocking slightly with the waves.

"Not bad," Ryuji commented, looking around. His smile immediately dropped as his foot landed in a puddle, his boot drawing back covered in a thick, sticky red. "Fuck!"

Blood mixed into the sand, giving it a pink-tinged hue. Further down the surf were thicker pools of it, slowly either drying up in the sun or being washed away by the tide. The metallic scent was now thicker, only just masked by the smell of the landscape itself.

Thankfully, no bodies were to be found, whatever gore that was meant to be here was kept contained to the walls of the city. The boat was the only place to go, and Ren saw a slight movement on the deck, trying not to get his hopes up, trying not to seem desperate to rush ahead before Akechi could once again slip from his fingers.

The Shadow sat in the empty boat, back up against the side. It was dressed in ancient Greek armour, the metal the colour of night, its helmet - looking much like the helm of his Black Mask costume - resting in his lap. Standing next to it was Akechi himself, still the same as he was when Ren had last seen him months ago.

He tried not to let his breath catch in his throat, instead turning his attention back to the Shadow. Vines were wrapped around its legs, pinning it to the floor. They were glowing like the strange red of the veins of Mementos, thrumming with the same sort of heartbeat.

"What's the point?" It sighed. "The war is over, and blood stains my hands. There's nothing I can do to fix it. There's nothing for me back there. I've fulfilled my purpose. I've lost everything."

Akechi stared down at it. Not a single flicker of emotion crossed his face, and Ren realized, with a sickening turn of his stomach, that Akechi agreed with him.

He grabbed Akechi by the collar and slammed him against the side of the ship. "Did you come here to kill your Shadow?!"

"Joker!" Someone shouted, but his head was filled with roaring waves and he couldn't tell who it was. How dare he- How dare he-

"What?! No!"

"Then why are you here?!" He couldn't stop his hands from shaking. "If you're not going to change your own heart, and you're not going to kill it-"

"I don't know!" He pushed Ren away, shoving him away. "I don't fucking know!"

He took a shaky breath. "I just needed a space to think, somewhere I was alone."

"How long have you had a Palace for?"

"It only appeared recently. I didn't have it when I had my Personas, though I suspect if I didn't, it might have manifested earlier."

The thieves looked at Yusuke.

"What?" He asked. "I made an educated guess."

"Why are you here?" Akechi asked. "How did you find me?"

"We found your Palace first," Ann said gently. "Completely on accident."

"Of course," he huffed. He stalked off away from all of them, away from his Shadow. "Well, which is it? Am I yet another villain for you to change the heart of and add as a notch in your belts, or am I a charity case for you to pity?"

"Neither," Futaba sputtered. "We're here to help you!"

"Charity case, then."

Her hands shook, balling into fists at her sides. It wasn't often that Futaba was angry, so it was a shock when she lunged forward, a furious yell on her lips and fist aimed at his face.

Akechi, usually so quick to dodge any blow, clearly wasn't expecting it either, eyes wide as red blossomed against his cheek.

"You asshole!" Futaba screeched, and Ren watched as Ryuji prepared to hold her back. He put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, shaking his head. Ryuji looked back at him, concerned, but stayed put. "You piece of shit! How dare you?!"

Akechi stayed silent, rubbing at the slowly forming bruise.

"You're not a charity case! I wasn't one either!" Something strange flickered across his face. "After everything you've done, after all the shit you put us through, you don't get to say that it's better that you leave! We thought you were dead! We thought you were dead and here you are, saying that none of it matters?! What kind of half-assed answer is that? We didn't want you dead! We wanted to work with you-"

"I don't need your second chances," he spat. "I don't need your permission- "

"Then fight me! Fight me, you coward!" Ren let his hand drop from Ryuji's shoulder and he darted forward as she tried to lunge again, squirming in Skull's hold. "You don't get to run away from your problems. You don't get to run away from Ren, you don't get to run away from Haru, and you definitely don't get to run away from me. "

Akechi's hand twitched, as if he wanted to reach for a weapon.

"You don't have permission," she spat back. "If any of what you did for us on Shido's ship or in Maruki's Palace mattered, if you actually meant it, then you'd fucking do something, not lay down and die, not run and hide like a coward."

"What the hell is wrong with you? You can't possibly be serious? Helping me?" He scoffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "What a joke. What are you expecting out of this? An apology? Me, grovelling at your feet, whining that I'm sorry? You're out of luck."

"I don't want your damn apology!" She screamed. "You killed my mom! And she's never coming back! The least you could do is stop your little pity party about how bad it makes you feel and own up to it! I don't give a shit about how guilty you feel - do something about it instead of just running away!"

Futaba was shaking, leaning on Ryuji for support as he gently guided her to a sitting position, Ren next to her almost instantly.

"Better?" He whispered.

"Yeah," she whispered back. She pushed her goggles away, rubbing at her eyes. "Yeah. I'm okay."

"It's fine if you're not."

She weakly punched him in the shoulder, smirking.

"-is bullshit," Akechi was saying. "Absolutely insane. You're willing to go out of your way to do this? For what? Out of the goodness of your hearts? Disgusting. The real world doesn't work like that."

"If you're Odysseus," Makoto hummed thoughtfully, ignoring him, "then there must be something waiting for you at the centre of this Palace. Your Treasure must be in Ithaca. Your Penelope, I suppose."

"Who's Penelope?" Ryuji asked. "Have we met her?"

"Odysseus' wife. When he left for war, he left behind his wife and newborn son. The point of the Odyssey is his journey home. But if he doesn't want to..."

"I can't," he scoffed. "I don't have a home to go back to. Why my Palace chose to pick such an asinine form is beyond me."

"I believe your appreciation for fine literature may have some influence in this case," Yusuke piped up. "But your Palace did not choose its shape. This is how you see the state of the world. You have your journey, but you are unwilling to start it."

"I don't know how I can make it any clearer that there is nothing for me on the other side of this damned ocean."

"It can't be nothing. That's not how these places work-"

"Everyone dies!" He shouted. "Everyone but Odysseus! You're only dooming yourselves for a worthless nobody! Is that really how you want to die?!"

His voice rang out against the gentle lapping of the waves, reverberating as if there were walls to echo off of.

Ren chewed on his bottom lip, then spoke. "Awww, it's cute that you care about our safety when you can't even defend yourself right now."

Akechi's head violently snapped in his direction. "What the fuck did you say to me?"

"Joker-senpai-" Sumire stepped forward, arms out as if she were talking to wild animals who needed to be tamed.

"You heard me. Is that what this is?" He gestured to the vines, to the red flower petals in his lap, the Shadow slowly, methodically, shoving them into his mouth, eyes straight ahead and dull. "You're worried you'll hurt someone again. You know there has to be some Treasure in this Palace. You know there's something waiting for you. You're just too scared to face it, too scared that you'll just end up fucking everything up and hurt someone in the process. Or that it'll hurt you."

"You have some nerve-"

"Really?" Ren huffed, grabbing Akechi by the tie and pulling him close. "Because if it was me sitting there you'd drag me up by the throat, call me pathetic and tell me to get moving. You'd read my every weakness and tell me everything I don't want to hear. And don't tell me I'm wrong because if I was, you wouldn't have bothered rescuing Sumire from Maruki. You wouldn't have told her to fight. Why is it different now that it's you? So get up, you pathetic waste, and get moving. "

He looked flustered as Ren let him go, and the thief stepped back, trying to quiet the frantic beating of his heart. No one else needed to hear that.

"What's it going to be?" Ren asked, not daring to turn back toward his team. He hadn't wanted to call Akechi out like that, already feeling the brimming anger wafting off of him, but it was necessary - a challenge, one that would hopefully provoke him into moving.

Akechi said nothing, but the vines wrapped around his Shadow began to wither. It shook its head, snapping itself out of its trance, rising to its feet.

"We could just continuously decrease our number," Haru suggested. "If each obstacle requires sacrifice, I highly doubt it would be actual death, even considering the nature of your distortion. If we drop our number, we still meet the requirements to press forward, as long as you're the only one left by the end of it."

Ren nodded. "I have a few Goho-Ms stocked up. We can use those as we need to. Hey, Skull, do you think your Persona knows how to-"

He was cut off by the ship lurching forward. The Shadow - he supposed this was meant to be Loki - was at the helm, hands firmly on the wheel.

"No need," Akechi said plainly. "He knows where he has to go."

" The Odyssey starts with the council of the gods," Niijima told them once the ship was well away from land. If they ignored the entire context of this journey, Goro supposed that it was somewhat of a pleasant view and probably one of the better Palaces he'd been in. Definitely better than his father's ship and the sunken Tokyo, and he didn't want to think about what that disgusting Castle of Lust that Sakamoto had once mentioned looked like. Open sea was nothing to gawk at and yet he felt that it was too empty, but he supposed that his distortions would take shape once they hit the right story beats.

" The Odyssey is also not in chronological order," he pointed out. "If I am Odysseus in this situation, then we're following the journey as he experienced it. Polyphemus should be first."

"This ship is quite odd," Kitagawa remarked, running his hands along the wooden sides. "None of us have to steer it and yet it continues on."

Loki had unmoored the ship and had gotten them into the water, but besides that, he hadn't actually done anything by way of navigation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sakamoto scoffed. "Metaverse magic, whatever - what's this polyamory business?"

"Polyphemus," he corrected, trying not to sound irritated, but he saw Niijima roll her eyes. He didn't want to be here, he certainly didn't want any of them to be here. It was ridiculous. "The cyclops."

How miserable of an existence to be relying on them. He had entrusted Shido's change of heart to them, but that had been in extreme circumstances, when he thought he was going to die. Now...

It was hopeless, thinking that there was something for him at the other end of this, somewhere he could rest and live peacefully and be happy. He didn't deserve any of that, and yet Sakura was right.

And maybe he did want that place to exist, to know that there was just something that would have made this all worth it- no, nothing could make his failed plans worth it now. He just needed something there to tell him that it was worth continuing onward. But Amamiya was half right. He wasn't scared that he didn't have that something. He knew he didn't. What waited for him at the other end of this was just a pipe dream. It would only manifest because that's how this place worked - it was a source of desire, ergo, it would manifest even if the real-world version of him couldn't have it. And was it really worth all the effort to reaffirm what he already knew?

At least if he did this, he wouldn't be a coward. At least if he did this, he could rid himself of these conflicting feelings and start anew.

"Would it be better if Loki stays on the ship?" Takamaki asked. "If something happens to him, Akechi could die."

"If something happens to Akechi," Sakura pointed out, "Akechi could still die."

"Well, we need one of them to do it," Amamiya said, looking between the two of them, "and I doubt either of them want to stay behind."

"I want to do it," Loki said, eyes flickering over to him. "We want to. But is it really worth it? Does it matter if we're here or there? Does it matter going back there if they don't want us? We're so much different than we were before."

"You got up, didn't you?" Goro wanted to hurt his Shadow at that moment. "You got up because you thought it would be worth trying."

Loki shrugged. "We were angered and we acted so. That does not necessarily mean that it was a good idea."

"How is it that we made Shadows cower and now you're acting like a child?"

"Strange that you're at odds with your Shadow," Okumura hummed thoughtfully.

"That's how Futaba's Shadow was," Amamiya pointed out, and Goro tried not to stiffen. He had heard the girl's Palace mentioned in passing before, but he didn't know all the details. "She tried to turn us away and cut us off when we tried to help, but Futaba made it so that we were allowed further in - she wanted her heart changed."

He didn't like being compared to her, didn't like that they were treating him as some sort of victim and not like the monster he was.

"I'm going," he hissed with certainty. "There is nothing on the other side of this sea. I hate every single second of this. But Sakura is right, and I shouldn't be running, even though I want to. And if I have to tear through this damned place to make sure I don't, then I will, because I'm not pathetic. "

He said that, very pointedly, while looking at Amamiya, who had the nerve to duck his head and play with his bangs.

"I have a spare sword you can use," the leader of the Phantom Thieves said, and that seemed to be the end of that. Goro didn't comment that it was one of the ones Amamiya had previously bought for him during their stint in Sae's Palace, one that he'd swapped out once Amamiya had gotten him a better one. He always wondered why the thief had wasted his money on him, but he supposed it had been part of the ruse to ensure that he thought the group trusted him. He supposed Amamiya's penchant for hoarding Metaverse supplies was useful in certain situations.

"So," Amamiya said, still not quite looking at him. "Cyclops?"

"Odysseus and his men are looking for food when they stumble upon Polyphemus' lair. When the cyclops returns, he attacks the men and eats some of them."

"Gross," Takamaki mumbled.

"If this is going to work, I'll most likely have to talk to him. Odysseus manages to outwit him by playing into his gluttony." Goro thought for a moment. "I'll need some coffee and a Sleep Vial."

"Good thinking," Niijima agreed, "but we still don't know if this will follow the story exactly."

"Better safe than sorry. We'll also need a volunteer to drop out once the fight ensues."

"Well, if you have to follow a specific route, I doubt you'll need your trusty Navi for that." Sakura shot him a pair of finger guns. It seemed that she had mostly recovered from her earlier outburst, but unlike the others, who were more relaxed as the ship set sail, she kept her goggles on. "Not that I don't want to help the goober out or anything like that but I'm not exactly built for combat and if we gotta head to Splitsville eventually, I should probably head on out."

She took a Goho-M from Joker as he dug through his pockets to find the items Goro had requested.

"Wise choice," Goro commended. It would also be good for her if she didn't see any cognitions of her mother, but he didn't mention that.

"Don't think this means I'm done with you. We'll talk in the real world, Crow. If my readings are correct - which they always are - these islands become Safe Rooms once you defeat the obstacle. Don't waste all your lives in a single run."

She nodded to her brother.

"You'll have to be on the ground for this," Joker told her as the ship came to rest against the sands of an island that had materialized out of nowhere. "And you'll have to move fast. The second you're in danger, set it off."

He handed a second GoHo-m to Goro. "Same for you. You don't have a Persona to protect yourself."

"Don't coddle me." He took it anyway.

The caverns were on the far side of the island, the rest of the land mass eerily still and silent save for the occasional roaming Shadow - all of them in the form of prey animals, none of them obedient to him despite being this place's ruler, but that made sense, as Odysseus only ruled Ithaca after all. They made quick work of the meagre underlings, not much of a fight and yet Goro was itching to join in, to do something, to tear something apart even if it was with his bare hands. He was angry that Amamiya wouldn't let him on the front lines, angry at himself for being so weak. He understood why he needed to be treated like this, but that didn't tamper his feelings in the slightest. If you didn't have a Persona while you were in this place, you were weak.

Amamiya's hand landed on his shoulder - his uncanny sixth sense for distress must have kicked in. Goro shrugged him off. He was not a coward. This inability to fight did not make him a coward.

And yet you keep running, a voice whispered inside his mind. Why did it take him to get you to act? To save yourself?

Goro didn't have a response to it.

"Stay silent," he ordered once they reached the cave's opening. He didn't care about Joker's sputtering half-protest about his authority. "Do not give any indication that you're here until the fight begins."

"Do you remember what to say?" Niijima pointlessly asked, but he nodded anyway. Now was not the time for squabbling.

The cyclops towered above him as he approached, its singular eye fixed on him and Goro was reminded of cameras at the TV station.

It looked like Okumura, minus his glasses. So this was going to be like his father's Palace where cognitions were hostile? Great. Perfect. As if he needed more reasons to hate that damned ship.

"Ah," he said as he saw Goro approach. "Akechi. How good to see my most valuable servant. Does Shido require something from me? I'm quite sure I've paid him for my last request."

"This visit is much less formal, Okumura-san. I have a token of my- no, of our appreciation for your continued patronage." He smiled pleasantly. It still felt as disgusting as it had months ago. "Shido is thankful for the most generous support you have shown these past few years."

"Of course, boy! The work that you and your master do is vital to my success. We support each other after all. What sort of token? Wine, perhaps?"

"Nothing so delicate, but I have heard that such a businessman like yourself would be fond of some fine coffee." He raised the poisoned thermos, tensing as the creature drew near. Instinctively, his hand went to his face. Realizing his mistake, he combed his fingers through his hair, trying to make the gesture look natural.

The cyclops took the thermos, studying it for a moment before raising it above his head and dropping it, metal container and all, into his awaiting maw.

Goro heard a small protest of "My thermos!" from somewhere behind him and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Idiot.

"Delicious," the monster said, licking his lips. "As your benefactor's most prominent client, I appreciate being finally recognized for my contributions to your master's empire."

Good. Now he just needed to wait until he fell-

"However," the monster purred, and Goro strained his neck upwards to look at him. "I do think that perhaps I am being treated rather unfairly."

"Unfairly?" Goro asked, knowing that Okumura's power trip at having someone else's hitman at his beck and call was the reason he was set up to take the fall. He would have been the bait regardless - he was Shido's best customer. No loyalty would have protected him from the minuscule chance that he would become a liability. Biting the hand that fed them and the Phantom Thieves problem only expedited his demise.

"Of course. Is it not I who is the reason for Shido's success? Is it not my continued support that keeps his campaign funded? When shall I see the benefits of my contribution? My respect? My rewards?"

Goro had heard Shido complain many times about Okumura's selfishness, the entire conversation tone deaf and self-patronizing. The man had gone on and on about how hard it had been playing nice with Okumura as his numbered days ticked down.

"We have eliminated many of your competitors and company whistleblowers. Your support goes directly to benefiting you, sir."

"Hmph. Clearly Shido has not taught you the art of business, but I suppose that I cannot fault you if the man is lacking in his duties towards his supporters. You are nothing without those who you depend on."

Goro wondered what his daughter would have to say about that.

"Sir, if I may, we have been committed to honouring our end of the agreement-"

"And I say it isn't enough."

"You are overestimating your worth. What makes you different from all the other clientele?"

"As I said, boy," he snarled. "I am your most valued client! Shido should respect me, as should you! You would be nothing without him! You are nobody!"

Goro scoffed, hand on his sword. "Respect? For what? I am the one who did all the work. What does Shido have to say for himself? I didn't need him to accomplish what I did. I chose to do so because he was nothing more than a stepping stone for me. He would be nothing without me. You, however, are nothing more than a spoiled child."

"How dare you?! You ungrateful brat! You should know how to respect your betters!"

Green filled his vision as one of Oracle's shields surrounded him. Okumura roared, recoiling in pain. His head whipped around to find the source as the rest of the thieves charged out of their hiding spots.

There was the sound of a gunshot - Oracle had set off her GoHo-M and Goro watched her vanish right before his eyes just as the cyclops' hand slammed the empty space where she had just been. The small flash that emanated from the device temporarily blinded the foe, but it quickly dissolved into ink, reforming into smaller Shadows, all taking battle formations as the rest of the thieves emerged from their hiding places, yet again forming an honour guard around him.

Angels. By all accounts, they should have been weaklings, but of course nothing was ever simple, and Goro had to resign himself to using the rest of the Persona-users as willing human shields.

Pathetic.

Loki should have been able to wipe them out with a single spell, and yet, they persisted despite how weak they were meant to be. Through Joker's shouts and Mona's side comments, he could discern that these Angels weren't at the expected level.

Goro could theorize about it. Maybe it was because of his past with the Metaverse that his Palace was stronger than most. Maybe it was because his cognition was dedicated to the impossibility of getting to the end of this maze and strengthened enemies accordingly, none of them speaking about him as a glorious ruler but intent on striking him down as an interloper. He had the time to think on it, delegated to stand there and watch other people fight his battles for him. It wasn't important at all. It might have intrigued him if they were inside of someone else's heart. He didn't need to know his own any more than he already did.

Regardless, Goro could only sit and watch, an itch to kill something buzzing under his skin. Everything ached. Relief was necessary and he was being denied even that.

The cognition didn't die once the Shadows disappeared. Instead, they reformed, Okumura Sr. screaming and clutching his face, a large piece of wood sticking out from where his eye should have been. Blood poured down his face as the cavern shook with violent anger.

"Move!" Goro shouted. "The trial is passed, we can leave! Get to the ship!"

It took a moment for his words to register, everything seemingly moving at half-speed as the thieves kicked into gear, all of them scrambling towards the exit. The trees seemed denser as they all ran away from the wailing pain, of Okumura calling out for his daughter, for someone to answer him, for someone to save him. Goro knew that hadn't been what happened, that Okumura's Shadow had died blubbering about his stupid spaceship, his crumbling empire of corporate greed that would soon be in his daughter's hands.

The ship was still standing, untouched, unaware of anything that had just happened, Loki bored looking out over the bow as they all made their way to safety.

"Okumura!" He shouted as the ship sank back into the surf, cast off back into the sea. "Tell Shido his bastard son wants an audience with him!"

Only a deafening roar answered back.

"The location's off my Nav," Sakura confirmed the second she saw him. "Looks like we're sticking with the death thing. Hopefully Loki's willing to cooperate once you get to the BBEG."

"Do you always speak like that?"

She shrugged. "Easier for me."

Akihabara was not a place he frequented often. Occasionally he could find someone that sold scrap that he could use to make Metaverse tools, but he wasn't the most tech savvy person. Sakura's technobabble wasn't too hard to follow but it also wasn't something he liked to decipher. Then again, he was the last person to talk about speech patterns when he spent most of his childhood metaphorically reprogramming the way he spoke in order to appear more mature and intelligent than his peers.

Sakura had asked to meet him on her familiar grounds, and Goro was a little surprised that he didn't see Amamiya loitering around nearby, her so-called Key Item. She was, however, currently picking at a comically large ice cream sundae, had been since he'd seen her from down the way, sitting at one of the outdoor tables of a nearby cafe. It reminded Goro how ridiculous this whole situation was. The Phantom Thieves, Sakura and Okumura included, were helping him steal his heart. They wanted him to live a good life.

What the hell was this? How did it come down to this, sitting in front of an ex-shut-in who was perched on her chair like a strange bird.

"I'm sorry for hitting you," she said, and she sounded somewhat genuine.

"No, you're not."

She huffed. "You could have at least pretended for like, thirty seconds, that I was trying to be nice to you!"

"You have no reason to be nice to me."

"I guess..."

"What do you want? You said your piece."

"I had my own Palace," she said, and Goro's blood ran cold. "Shido's men forged a suicide note for my mom and blamed me for her death. I thought it was my fault. I met Ren because I asked him to steal my heart."

"This is why I should just stay away," he huffed. "It's clear that I only make things worse."

"What? No, you loser!" She wasn't that intimidating, but Goro still felt that he was in danger. "I'm not telling you because I want you to feel sorry, god. I know what it's like to not feel in control of yourself. I thought it would be better if I just rotted away. My house became my tomb. I wasn't a charity case. I was just someone who needed to remember the truth. My mom loved me and she wouldn't have said those awful things about me. You need to see that just because you're an idiot who doesn't know how caring about people works."

"I didn't know about the suicide note," he said quietly, and Sakura flinched. "I was under the impression they said she had collapsed due to work-related stress. I knew she left you behind, but I...I didn't-"

She picked at her ice cream, jabbing it with her spoon as if it had offended her. "I don't know why I feel relieved at that. I think when Ren told me who you were, I kinda imagined you helping write it, like some sort of villain."

"I am a villain."

"If you say so." She leaned back in her chair. "It makes me feel a bit better that you didn't know about the note. But I also kinda wished that maybe she left something for me. A bit of her research, a goodbye, something."

"I...don't think I'd want that."

"You wouldn't want something left behind from someone who loved you?"

Goro snickered. "My mother never loved me."

He expected false platitudes. Of course she loved you. That's what people always said, empty promises to make someone feel better.

She didn't. "Can I ask you something?"

"If it's why-"

"No." She shook her head. "I know why...what did her Shadow say to you?"

Goro took a deep breath and shut his eyes. "Don't hurt Futaba. Do whatever you want to me, just leave my daughter alone."

There was a long stretch of silence. He could have recited those words in his sleep.

"Was it a Palace?"

"Mementos. Almost a Palace. If given time...I couldn't discern the shape of it, but if it was left as it was..."

Sakura made a noise. He didn't know what it meant.

"I know Okumura won't like me saying this," he continued, "but Isshiki was the only one I regretted. She was a good woman, and I admit that when I confronted her, a small part of me was jealous. Even in her own descent into madness, she cared about her child. A part of me wonders if I was able to pull the trigger because I was jealous. I didn't think of what it would do to you. I didn't think that I was doing the exact same thing that bastard did to me. She was the only one of my targets that I believed shouldn't have been on that list...Doesn't that make you angry? Everyone I've killed, and there was only one I ever felt sorry for? Even if we ignore all of Shido's corrupt accomplices, I derailed a subway. I caused incidents with my powers. Not all of those people were guilty."

"I mean, yeah. I do feel sorry for them. I feel sorry that they're dead, or got hurt, but I don't think about them at all other than my mom. Maybe Haru's dad, but that's only when Haru's not feeling great. Yeah, sure, you killed them, and maybe they deserved it, maybe they didn't, but only one of those people was my mom. Not that I don't care about the others, but...Mom." She looked into his eyes. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Goro rolled his eyes. "Don't try to use that as a way to make me seem better than I am. You didn't kill those people. I did. Not caring about horrible people you never met doesn't make you evil. But...I know it's not worth anything, but I truly am sorry about your mother."

"I don't forgive you."

"Good."

"But I don't hate you."

"You should."

She punched him in the shoulder. He didn't grace it with a response.

"I don't want to hate you," she said. "You really want to fix this - I can tell. But running away from us isn't the right way to do it."

"What do you want from me, exactly?"

"Dunno." She shuffled a little, adjusting herself.

"I...what?"

"Why do I have to tell you what to do?" She whined, mouth full of ice cream. "Aren't you supposed to be smart or something? Figure it out, dummy!"

"All of that," Goro said through gritted, "about how much of a coward I was, and you can't even give me an answer?!"

"Why should I? It's your life. The only thing I don't want you to do is run away. You kept saying that it would be better for everyone if you left, but you're just doing it to avoid responsibility, like I said. Do you really want to live some miserable life god-knows-where because you think it's a good punishment?"

"Again, what do you want from me?"

"Do something worth living. I don't want this to be a thing where you think you have to give up your life for my mom's sake, or mine, even. I don't want you to run. I don't want you falling all over yourself to make you happy. Just...live. Like I did, like we're all doing after everything. Be a person, for starters. Find your Key Item or borrow mine - we both know Ren would help you out."

"He shouldn't."

"Probably, but you know he will."

"That was...another reason why I didn't want him to find me."

Sakura blew a strand of hair out of her face. "He missed you."

"This conversation was about you."

"And I want you to live. For you. Don't go off somewhere to be all miserable. It's literally helping nobody. Do you want ice cream?"

"...cherry, if you insist."

"Did you speak to my father directly?"

Goro was nearly startled out of the crow's nest. The others poked fun at his preference for staying up high, given his namesake, but it was the only way he could avoid talking to anyone, or so he'd thought. Even the coming rains and darkened skies hadn't done anything to deter him from his not-quite-a-hiding spot.

Okumura looked down at him with hard eyes.

"No," he muttered once he'd settled back down. "My identity was kept a secret for the most part and my orders came directly from Shido. Only a handful of people knew of my involvement, and most of those people were researchers, scientists who wanted to monitor the effects of the Metaverse on my person. While I lamented that fact as I...worked, seeing as no one took me seriously outside of Shido's bribery, it's beneficial to me now. Anyone who knows to look for me would be too scared to do so. But that show was apt enough. He was getting too heavy-handed using Shido's reach, my powers. Shido didn't see the need to keep him around any longer now that he was as established as he was, and he would set an example for his other clients who were getting too greedy for his tastes."

She sat next to him. "I'm going to speak and you will listen."

"Okumura-"

"Haru, please," she said. "Okumura was my father."

He almost felt guilty until he saw her smile. "You're sadistic."

"Just figuring that out now?" She seemed...somewhat placated. This couldn't end here, they both knew that, but it seemed like a start. "Goro-kun, I feel that you should know that I do not feel inconvenienced by having to help you. I do not feel that this is something I am being forced to do, nor is it something that I feel angry about contributing to. I am angry at you, of course, but not because I am helping the person who killed my father. It took all my strength to go against him, to betray him like I did, because I did see that as a betrayal. He had cared for me all my life, and I was returning it by ruining him. But it was necessary and I had to in order to be me, to take back my life. I cannot fault you for trying to take back yours."

"I wasn't trying to take back mine. I was trying to crash and burn."

"I'm not talking about then." She leaned back against the mast. "I am talking about now. You want control, you want a place for yourself. I want to be angry at you for that sometimes, for trying to move past it, but at the same time, there's nothing I can demand from you that would bring my father back, and it would be hypocritical of me to deny you the opportunity to find what you're searching for - that's what my friends are to me. They are my Ithaca. I had to betray my father to find it, but they are my family. I...I miss him, I do, and I wish I had at least had time to speak with him before...anyway, he wouldn't have been in my life. He would have gone straight to jail. I'm not- I'm not glad you did what you did, but the outcome would have been more or less the same. I would have been on my own."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm angry I never got to hear him say he was sorry, that what he did to me was disgusting and horrific." She hissed, her gaze hardening at an imaginary enemy in front of her. "He arranged a press conference to speak about his company before he thought about speaking with me. He pushed me aside in his frantic state and he kept saying that we would speak later, and later never came. I wanted my father back, and he still considered his company, his work, before he considered me. I would have had to speak with him from prison if you hadn't killed him. I would have had to arrange with police and lawyers and I still would have ended up as CEO. The only difference would have been that I would have gotten my sorry, but I don't even know if it would have been worth it. Perhaps our fathers were much more alike than I cared to think about. I considered it in terms of mine having once loved me, but how can I know for sure? Maybe it was decided I would be a dowry when I was born. Would I have been placed in your position had I been born a man, given up to Shido as an offering of hired help?”

She shut her eyes. "Perhaps I would have been content with that, with a halfhearted apology and a promise to do better. Perhaps I wouldn't have even noticed how unfair it was. I feel so much and not enough and I don't know where to direct any of it. At Shido, obviously. At you. At Father. At my ex-fiance. Everywhere. Nowhere. I don't know. But I don't want to stop you from finding a place to belong, Goro-kun. Your Ithaca, your Penelope - it will be worth it."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Not for killing him, but because his death hurt you in the process."

"Is that what you told Futaba-chan?"

“She didn’t want the apology,” he huffed, “and unlike your father, Wakaba Isshiki was a good person."

"Hm." It wasn't judgemental.

"How do you know?" He asked, more like blurted out. "How did you know siding with the Phantom Thieves would be worth it? How do I know that finding my Penelope would be worth it? How do I know that-"

He faltered. This was much too vulnerable, much too open for him to handle. He hated these sorts of things, but here she was, Oku- Haru, barring out her soul to him, and he felt that maybe he needed to do the same.

Goro's mouth became dry. "How do I know that he'll be worth it?"

This Palace was messing with his head. It couldn't be anything else. Maybe it was the faux-heat of the illusionary sun. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't been in the Metaverse this long without his Personas since he awakened to them. Regardless, there was that truth, that truth he just admitted to someone who had every right to ruin him. She should have. How dare he even think about his happiness after what he'd done to Amamiya? How dare he think about coveting the boy he'd set out to kill?

It was a truth that he had come to realize much too late, after he thought he was dead and gone and buried. After his betrayal, after his sacrifice. And then suddenly there had been a third chance, one he was undeserving of, and even after everything, after coming to terms with his continuing existence, with the way his heart couldn't seem to stop aching at the thought of his rival.

Goro hated it. He'd denied it for so long but there wasn't any point anymore. That was the truth, a few of them, in fact - he had... affections for Amamiya, he did not deserve such affections in return, and it would neither be fair nor possible for Amamiya to feel the same way about him. Perhaps it would be worth it to just play one more game of chess. Perhaps he could handle this feeling and tamper it down until there was nothing left but ashes.

How could he know if it was worth it?

"You don't." She smiled at him much too sweetly. "We will talk once we deal with your Palace. I want us to speak clearly, once you have nothing clouding your judgment."

He nodded, forgoing any response he had.

And with that, she stood, then climbed back down the mast. He waited, feeling sick. What was the point of this? What was the point of reassuring him and telling him that they weren't angry and he needed to stay and, and, and-

He climbed down the mast before his thoughts could spiral any worse than they already were. Amamiya seemed to notice his discomfort, studying him a touch too long before spinning on his heel and going to talk to Okum- Haru. Loki slid up next to him.

"It's not worth it," he said. Goro pretended not to hear him despite the fact that he was right.

"What's next?" Kitagawa asked as something began to appear on the horizon.

"The god Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag of winds," Niijima cited when he didn't answer. "The storm is trapped inside, providing a safe way home."

"Any surprises we can expect?"

"You're not coming," Goro clarified. "He's alone when he gets the bag. The point is that the crew doesn't know what's inside."

"Well, we can't just let ya go alone."

"I'll go with him," Amamiya volunteered, and Goro tuned out the rest of that conversation.

The gentle breeze of this island was warm, almost comforting, Goro well aware that Amamiya was looking at him intently even though he hadn't turned around to check, the thief letting him strike on ahead.

"What did Haru say to you?"

Goro was silent for a long time. "That she doesn't want me to suffer."

"She's a good person. She had every reason to hate us when it looked like we killed her father, but she didn't, even when we couldn't prove it otherwise. She...she's understanding."

"She also said it would be hypocritical of her to deny me my happiness when she has found hers, or so she says, ignoring the fact that I have been nothing but hypocritical. What? Are we now supposed to have some heart-to-heart now too?"

"I forgave you, you know."

Goro stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"I never said it," Amamiya hummed as he passed Goro, leaving him to trail after him. "But I forgive you. We overheard your plan, when you meant to kill me. I didn't know the situation and of course I felt betrayed - I did genuinely think you were my friend before blackmailing us - but you proved you didn't mean it. You sacrificed yourself twice over. You made a promise with me, called me your rival. And you still spent time with me even though you really didn't have to, especially in Maruki's reality when you thought you were running out of time. So I forgive you, because you are my friend. Not for what you did to Futaba or Haru, because I don't have the right to do that, but for what you tried to do to me."

The winds picked up and then suddenly Arsène was standing in front of them, but Joker's mask hadn't left his face.

"You seek an audience with me?"

It was only now that Goro noticed that the storm hadn't touched this island. "We need a way to get back home."

The cognition raised an eyebrow. "Not going to argue?"

Goro scoffed. "Only because I know you'll say something insufferably optimistic and force it upon me."

Arsène laughed. "You know that's not how this works. You have to want it."

"It's not a matter of want. I know what I want. Acquiring it is a whole other issue."

"Then you are lucky that this is a place of desire and not a place of acquisition." Arsène was the carefree parts of Amamiya, his unburdened self, and he acted like it, lazily floating in front of them, his posture perfectly poised like the gentleman he was. While his real world counterpart occasionally had two left feet, Arsène was nothing but composed. That wasn't to say that Amamiya was different from his Persona, that Arsène was wholly the ideal, it was just that Arsène didn't have any inhibitions, no hesitation. Goro would have loved to have lived as such, to have nothing stopping him from moving forward, to have the same drive as his Personas without fear of being denied of the things he wanted.

He remembered how despondent Loki had looked, vines wrapped around his legs, and decided otherwise. Arsène was, for all of Amamiya's foolhardiness and stubborn persistence, easygoing and unbothered. And while Goro would much prefer to be prepared, he had the slightest bit of admiration for his confidence, brainless as it was.

"Don't be cocky," Goro chided. "You might not be my Persona but you are a part of me. You know what we want."

Right, because Amamiya wanted him to come home. What would happen after his Palace collapsed? After their rematch? Would he just leave? Would they be even? Would he owe Amamiya for saving him?

"I may be a part of your cognition," Arsène said, poking Goro in the middle of his forward. "But I don't quite know what you're thinking. Although it's clear whatever it is that you're overthinking it."

Goro swatted him away. Amamiya was still oddly quiet.

"Well?" Arsène chuckled. "I have to hear you say it."

"We-" He stopped. " I would like some assistance in getting home."

“I would like some assistance in getting home, what?”

Goro huffed. “Please.”

"The first step is admitting it." The demon snapped his fingers and the bag appeared out of thin air, long, sharp fingers catching it without looking.

"I'm still only doing this to clear my head. I still stand by the fact that there's nothing for me there."

"Of course!" He said, sounding like he didn't believe Goro in the slightest. "But you might be surprised. Or perhaps with the clearing of your mind, you can start your search for something more substantial. You do have options, you know."

"Thank you for giving me the advice of a high school career counsellor," he answered dryly, causing Arsène to laugh boisterously.

"Someone has to say it, but I think we both know you already have a more realistic goal in mind. One more game, right?" The Persona handed him the bag. "You know what to do with it."

Amamiya nudged him in the side.

"Thank you," he spat, and Arsène had the audacity to wink at him before disappearing into the aether from whence he came.

Takamaki was using her lower-level fire spells to dry out the rest of them. Goro had half a mind to knock her down.

"Are you out of your mind?! This is a wooden ship!"

She grumbled something under her breath but put out her fires, much to the objection of the others.

"Hey, you're the ones who wanted to go on this quest," he growled. "You want to try it after burning the ship to the ground?"

"You want this too," Amamiya corrected, and Goro, not for the first time and certainly not the last, wanted to strangle him. He did not want this. He was being forced to do this, if just to prove them wrong. No matter how much they pretended to like him, no matter how much they spouted nonsense about wanting to settle things with him, nothing would change the fact that there was nothing left for him.

Nothing he deserved, anyway. Getting to the end of this journey would only prove him right.

"Did you get the bag?" Nijima asked, and Goro held it up as the boat again disembarked. The island of the wind god vanished and Ithaca (or what he supposed was Ithaca) appeared on the horizon.

He almost tossed the bag to Okumura, then considered otherwise. After what she'd told him up in the crow's nest, after everything she'd spilled to him while he hadn't said much at all. She was expecting him to make it to the end, trusting that he would make good on his promise that he wouldn't run anymore.

Haru Okumura would not forgive him. Neither would Futaba Sakura. But both of them believed that he would make it to the end of this journey, something that he didn't deserve and least of all from them.

He tossed the bag to Sakamoto. "Open it."

"But you said there's a storm in there?"

"It's one of the obstacles. Odysseus' men think he's hiding treasure in the bag despite his warnings. Their trust in him is beginning to wane. The bag opens and the ship is propelled back to where they started. I already opened it, and nothing happened. It has to be someone that doesn't trust me."

"Ah, jeez." He uncomfortably tugged at his collar. "Dude, it's not like that. You're on our side now, and you sacrificed yourself and junk for our sake and the entire effin' world, and it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that-"

"You still think I'm an asshole."

"You're the one that said it, not me!" He shrugged. "Sorry dude, but you're kind of a prick, and I didn't even like you before we found out about all the murder biz. But you ain't all that bad. We could get ramen or something after?"

"Don't try to bribe me after insulting me to my face."

"Akechi, he's asking you to hang out. As a friend." Amamiya said, trying to stifle his laughter behind a gloved hand. When had his gloves changed to black? Or, no, it was just-

Goro stopped his train of thought there and turned his head away. "I...suppose."

"Alright! Cool! Renren, you, uh, good to buffer-"

"Stop yammering and open the bag! Everyone else hang on to something!"

"Right, right."

The second the winds began to die down, a large rock smashed into the deck. The boat heaved to one side, Morgana being flung into the air only to be caught by Joker, the cat yowling as he did so. Another projectile came sailing after the first, an inhuman wailing rising up around them.

Malformed Shadows on the nearby shores and rocks were being thrown at their ship. There was too much going on at once between the still-dying storm winds and the sudden assault. They'd progressed without losing another member of their team and Goro wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"No time to fight, just move! Cat!" He shouted, the creature's ears perking up. "Get some wind in our sails! The rest of you, protect the ship!"

Archangels and Principalities. "Violet, focus on healing and support. Conserve your SP. Queen, Skull, blast those rocks out of the sky! Panther, Fox see if you can combine your attacks to add to the wind pressure! Joker, help Mona! Don't try to take out the enemies, just get the sails going!"

"On it!"

"Let's go!"

"The sails aren't budging!"

"Make them budge!" He shouted, realizing that he hadn't seen his Shadow in quite some time. Goro wouldn't be any good with long range attacks, so he weaved between projectiles and thieves alike, trying to find Loki to make sure he stayed safe.

The ship had an area below deck that was meant to be for storage and where the crew slept. It wasn't anything grand, but it made good for refuge away from the sun and salty air for a time. Loki was lying in one of the hammocks, not quite asleep and not quite awake.

"Weren't you the one that started this whole mess?" Goro sneered, looking down at himself with disdain. "Weren't you the one that had the ship embark? Why are you down here?"

"You are leading them on a quest that you know you must accomplish but to no end result," he said, shutting his eyes and lying back down. "Why should I put in the effort when we both know that you are only playing the part? I am your desire, and you desire to not be here."

"Only more of an incentive to get through this quicker. Don't you at least want to find Robin?"

Loki glared at him. Was that what he looked like when he was pissed? "While Robin and I usually have an understanding of each other, this is where we differ. He's given in to the delusions that we deserve the attention of him. He ignores all that we have done, acts as if we are meant to have some sort of happy ending. He's become naïve, the part of you that has been deceived into believing that this journey will bear fruit. He needs to come to his senses - that, and he is not in any danger, so I'm not overly concerned."

"Where is he?"

"Ithaca, acting as our Telemachus." Loki huffed in indignation. "Like a pampered, spoiled brat."

Goro wanted to ask more, feeling something uncomfortable in his chest. Was he so conflicted because he had two Personas or were the other Palace Rulers always in this much turmoil? But what he wanted to say was cut off by the boat lurching forward once more, footsteps approaching and the distant sound of cheering.

Amamiya looked relieved to see him. Goro hated how he always looked so concerned when looking at him, pity written across his face as if he were something to be protected, something weak and damaged.

"I got nervous when I couldn't find you. We had to drop someone to get the ship moving," the thief informed him. "Fox is back home."

Goro simply nodded. He was tired. He wasn't close to collapsing or anything like that, but this was definitely taking its toll on him. He half wished he could just lie down in one of the unoccupied hammocks like Loki and sleep the rest of the way, but that would leave the others fighting on his behalf, and he disliked that even more than being dragged through this mess.

"You okay?"

"Got any coffee?" Goro couldn't help it. He missed good coffee. He wouldn't admit it, but nothing would ever come as close to Leblanc's brew. "It won't have any of its usual effects, but I'm a little tired."

"We can't stop for today-"

"No, I think I just need a proverbial pick-me-up."

He watched Joker dig through his pockets, producing yet another identical thermos to the last one. "Don't feed this one to a monster."

"Give," Loki demanded, lazily reaching toward him.

Goro stepped away from him, holding it slightly out of reach, which was enough to deter him. "You heard him - monsters don't get coffee."

"I am thou-"

"Shut it."

Something flickered across Amamiya's face, too quick for him to register what. The coffee tasted just as fresh as it would have been when it was first brewed. It tasted amazing, especially after persisting on shitty instant coffee for the last few months. He sat on one of the crates in the corner, taking his time to savour it. He chose not to comment that it was exactly how he liked it.

"Can I ask you something? Why Arsène? Why not just me?"

Goro cracked open an eye, and Amamiya was now sitting next to him, and he just barely stopped himself from jumping up in alarm.

You're elsewhere. Of course he didn't say it out loud. To speak it into existence more than once would just be foolish. To have spoken it at all had been foolish. He hoped Okumura hadn't read into that too much but he assumed that was too much to hope for. She wasn't stupid.

"Aeolus is neither an ally nor an enemy," he said, trying to think of something he could say that sounded like a good enough excuse. "I suppose that is how I subconsciously viewed you, with your Persona being your honest self."

A thief, his opposite. Friendly and yet ready to take him on if necessary. A whirlwind of a person that kept him from his original goals, that he found himself cursing for taking part in this ridiculous game of cat and mouse. Goro had thought he would come out the victor and yet the bag of winds had sent him to a place where his plans had failed. Everything he'd worked for had been for nothing. Shido was a husk of his former self rotting away in prison. Goro hadn't taken the satisfaction in ending his life, had found out that the sobbing wimp of a pathetic excuse had seen right through him from the very beginning.

Amamiya had been a turning point in his life, for better or for worse. The bag of winds stayed open and it was all Joker's fault. Yet he could never be fully mad at him for it. It was in the thief's nature to help, to make everything his problem, to bring people into his orbit, to collect them as one of his precious friends.

He wasn't going to say any of that out loud because then Amamiya would get all mopey and then he'd be even more insufferable.

"Why aren't you angry I'm doing your job?"

"I don't mind. It's your Palace, after all, and I don't know how this story goes."

Goro's eye twitched. "You told me you read it."

"I meant to," he promised. "It was on my list."

"So you don't know what happens?"

He smiled. "Well, only what we've gone through, and you said Odysseus is the only one who gets back home?"

"It's a tragedy. He spends so long trying to keep his men alive after a decade of war and it is the journey home that kills them. His men become frustrated with him over the course of the journey and distrust him to the extent of mutiny at the risk of angering the gods."

"You would think that the Greeks would have had more respect with their gods considering they keep causing problems for them."

"Says the man who shot god in the face. Twice."

Amamiya laughed. It was a sound that was full of mirth, of such pure joy. Goro was so used to polite chuckles and canned laughter. High society demanded a sort of presence. Laughter was not a part of that presence, and yet Amamiya laughed so freely, unaware and unashamed. "Those weren't gods."

"Of course, but still, you aren't the type to instill authority. Again, what do you accomplish by letting me do this?"

"The mark of a great leader is knowing when others are needed."

"Oh fuck off with that." Goro shoved him.

Joker didn't even stumble, hands stuffed into his pockets. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to not make up grand conspiracies about everyone's intentions."

"I'm not making up grand conspiracies. " He swivelled his head from side to side as he mocked the other.

"I just thought you'd appreciate having control of this. It is your Palace after all. I know if I were in your position I'd want to know what's going on."

"Knowing you, your distortion would be your damned saviour complex."

"It's not a complex. I just like helping people. Last time I checked, you were also people. " He leaned against Goro slightly, and Goro was careful not to spill his coffee. "You're my friend. I'd do anything for my friends."

"And how far would you take that? Could that not be considered a distorted desire?"

"It can," Amamiya conceded. "But I don't do anything I don't want to do."

"That's not all it is. You think you have to take everything on by yourself. You think everything in this game of Personas and Shadows is your fault somehow. You tell yourself that you are the reason I died."

Amamiya's breath hitched.

"Don't take me for a fool. I can read the guilt clearly on your face. I know you think that you could have saved me. I know you think that my blood is on your hands. I know you hesitated with Maruki. And I'm...sorry for putting that decision on your shoulders, but you must understand that you were the only one who could make it."

"I know," he said quietly.

"I am alive. Even if I weren't, it was never your fault. I made my choices, both times. Allow me to be responsible for my own actions, as I have asked of you before."

"I-...okay."

"Don't lie," Goro snickered, still drinking his coffee. If he didn't know about the existence of the Metaverse, he might still have thought this coffee to have restorative properties. "You're still going to be thinking about it because you're obsessive."

"Being told you're special and meant to save the world at sixteen will do that to you. I'm the leader. I'm responsible for them."

"Not for me."

"You're still my friend, and my teammate. I know you can take care of yourself, but while you're on my team, I have to look out for you too."

I'm not on your team. I was never meant to be on your team. This is temporary.

"The coffee's brilliant, as always."

A small smile graced the thief's lips, an understanding between them. "I'm glad."

"How story-accurate do you think this'll be?"

"I hope not much," Niijima winced. "We'd spend a year as pigs."

"Or contracted prostitutes," Goro added.

"This is where the phrase men are pigs originates, yes?" Haru asked.

"It's unclear, but believed to be."

"Okay, I know this one." Amamiya said, smiling as if that was something to be proud of.

"Don't say anything untoward," Goro huffed. "With your mouth, you'll be the first one to be turned into a pig and I might be more inclined to turn you into bacon."

"So you're saying I'm a sna-"

"If you finish that sentence I am dumping you in the ocean. "

"Has anyone ever told you that you two have a very strange relationship?" Nijima asked flatly.

"Maruki did, actually." Amamiya seemed nonchalant about bringing that up. "But he was being weird about it and avoiding the whole attempted murder thing. The thing he picked out was that we were strange because we were a detective and a thief."

"His ideal reality for you would have erased everything Crow-senpai had done," Sumire agreed. "So that was probably why he chose that angle. But Senpais would be different people if what happened to them hadn't happened."

"And as I've said, I'd rather die than live someone else's truth. I can't change the past."

Sakamoto coughed. "Who do you think would make the cutest pig?"

They stared at him. "What? You guys were getting too heavy!"

"Anyway," Goro sighed, and he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "If this follows the story, Circe should offer us food and drink. If you want to rest, take the offer, and I'll bargain for your freedom. It won't make a difference to me anyway in this state."

"So you want us to turn into pigs?"

"We might have to in order to let this progress." Goro felt a headache coming on. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a minute before we actually go through this one?"

Amamiya nodded. "The last one was rough, we should take our time. Oracle also said that we can leave if we need to and come back later."

"How about we get to the next island and then call it for a day?" Niijima suggested.

"That..." Goro frowned, trying to recall what came next. "The Underworld, is it? We should take every opportunity to rest before then. Even if I am the Palace Ruler and it would affect me the most, it's probably not the most pleasant experience. We'll break for a moment now and then resume until we get through this task."

The beach was nice. Goro remembered wanting to go to a real one when he was younger. He knocked the sand out of his shoes. Perhaps it had been a bit hasty to make that claim. This wasn't fun at all, but that might have just been because of the journey that still was ahead of them.

"It's not exactly a task, is it?"
Sumire said, coming to sit next to him.

"The sand can't be comfortable in that outfit of yours."

"Oh, I don't feel it. It's like how yours and Ann-senpai's costumes don't cause chaffing even though they're made of leather."

"Something I didn't realize I'd taken for granted. I have sand everywhere, it's annoying."

She giggled a little, then schooled her face into something more serious. It was clear she was trying to copy his expressions, his mannerisms, and Goro might have felt touched if she didn't just come back from a mental break about wanting to be someone else.

"Stop copying me. It won't do you any good in the long run."

"I don't have a good poker face," she said, almost as if she were ashamed. "So I have to copy someone else for that. I'm not- this isn't like it was with Kasumi."

"Good. What were you saying about it not being a task?"

"A task implies you're just doing it because it's on your list, right?" She started to draw patterns in the sand. "Um, for me, my chores are tasks. Cleaning is a task. Homework is a task. This seems too important to just be called a task."

"Let me guess, you're going to get all philosophical on me about how I don't see this as important." He thought about the mess it would be to clean sand out of his hair. He thought about what would happen if someone saw him, then stopped himself. Goro Akechi, the Detective Prince, had been missing from the public eye for months now. The media had probably gotten over him in the wake of Shido's scandal and moved on to the next fad. He leaned back until he was completely lying down, looking up at the stars. The island was an eternal night, always dark, always bathed in moonlight. It fit the approaching feast, the drunken indulgences that would await them. He wondered, if neither he nor Niijima were here, if they would have realized the trap or would have trusted Circe. Maybe it depended on what form she took. Would she even be a she at all?

There was indeed sand in his hair. Metaverse sand wouldn't stick in the real world. None of it mattered.

"I think you know it's important," she corrected. Sumire was interesting in the fact that Goro didn't really know her. He knew Kasumi, and even then, it was Sumire pretending to be Kasumi. However, he didn't see it fit to call her by her family name when her identity was important. "I just think you don't want to think about it being important."

"I wouldn't necessarily call this one a fight," he explained. "So it's a task, like the bag of winds."

"You can tell yourself that. Crow-senpai, do you really think you're not important enough for us to help you?"

"Of course I'm important," he snickered. "I was at the centre of a government conspiracy. I killed an upwards of a hundred people for incredibly selfish reasons. I was the media's darling for the past three years. I know I'm important. That's not the problem. The problem is all of you helping someone like me, someone who has absolutely nothing to call my own. I have no one, I have nothing but my rage and my revenge plans and look how well those turned out. Everything I desire is out of my reach because of what I did while working with Shido. I am important, but I am nobody."

"Even after you stopped pretending, you weren't cruel to me. Even if it seemed like it, it was because I was still insisting I was Kasumi. You and Senpai helped me. I don't see that person as someone who has nothing. You have me, at least. You have Senpai too. And the others...I know you don't know them that well, but we've all come all this way for you."

"And you'll realize it was a mistake eventually." He stood, brushed himself off, combed his fingers through his hair. The salt water and the humidity was making it all frizzy and dried out. None of it mattered.

The rest of the group was debating on the next person to drop out when he returned to the front of the grand palace (lowercase). Takamaki seemed to be the volunteer while Nijima was trying to tell her that this wasn't the place for a death.

"Well," Sakamoto began, "you could always jump off the-"

"I'd rather not," Takamaki said flatly.

"You and Shiho could match," he snickered, and Goro's jaw dropped, rounding on the boy in question but Takamaki got to him first.

"You asshole!" She didn't seem all that upset by it.

Sakamoto was too busy ducking away from her fists. "Oh come on, Shiho would have laughed!"

"You're both terrible!" She scowled, stalking off in front of them and into the palace.

He hadn't been expecting that, especially from Sakamoto of all people. The boy was clearly inept at keeping his mouth shut but never did Goro think he would ever say something so purposefully insensitive. And yet no one was getting mad at him, the only thing amiss was Goro's shock and a mirrored look on Sumire.

He turned to Amamiya. "Is that-"

"Normal for them," he confirmed. "Shiho would have laughed. Don't worry, he doesn't make those sorts of comments to just anyone. He, Ann, and Shiho have been friends since middle school and they have a specific brand of humour. Ann's not that mad."

"Hm. I mean...he's not exactly wrong, either. One of the men dies from drunkenly falling off of the roof."

"You're making that up," Amamiya huffed.

"No," Nijima agreed. "He's right - thank you for reminding me. Before turning the crew into pigs, Circe placates them with food and wine."

"Hey, Ryuji, going forward, do you mind?" Amamiya didn't really get angry. That was what had surprised Goro at the beginning of this whole mess. Even now, when he clearly had something important to say, he kept himself calm and level-headed. "Goro's not used to those kinds of jokes. He's a bit uncomfortable."

"It's...fine."

"Nah, dude, don't worry about it." Sakamoto smiled. "I get it. I know it's not cool for everyone. Shiho's cool with it. I mean, you either gotta laugh about it or cry, right?"

"I...suppose that's one way of looking at it." Not his way, at least.

"Thank you." He said quietly, for only Joker to hear him as the others went on ahead. "For not saying what you clearly wanted to."

"You only told them she died," he answered. "Wasn't something for me to share. And...thank you for trusting me with that information."

"I was the one that found her." He saw it when he tried to sleep at night. It was forever burned into his mind. To this day, he didn't know if his mother hadn't realized he would see her first or if it had been done with that intention.

"I'm sorry."

Goro shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It happened. It's done. I'm happy Suzui is still with you."

"But you wish it was her instead."

He did, sometimes. He didn't know if that would have made his life better. Maybe he would have starved to death or succumbed to illness if she had lived, too poor to properly take care of him. Maybe she would have taken poorly after the attempt and would have been worse. Maybe she would then have openly begun to hate him.

"Not instead. I wouldn't wish that upon Suzui. Most likely, if she had lived, I still would have been taken away from her and she would have been hospitalized. I still would have been placed in the system and I wouldn’t have seen her again. Who knows if she would have ever gotten better? Who knows that she wouldn't have tried again? It's best not to think about it. Suzui is alive, and she's doing better. That doesn't affect me."

"Goro, whenever I see a cop, no matter how nice to me they are, I still flinch." There was a hand on his back. He didn't know if he wanted it there. "It's fine if you don't feel comfortable with any of this, but you have to know when to step away. Don't punish yourself with this."

"If she touches you," Takamaki's voice suddenly replaced Amamiya's. Goro hadn't seen her come up beside him, too busy watching their leader walk away. "I don't care if I'm a pig, I'm ripping her to pieces."

He was very familiar with the Kamoshida case. He hadn't been directly assigned to it, but he had access to the files because of the Phantom Thieves' involvement. He knew too much about the girl standing next to him, about her friend who had thrown herself from a rooftop just to ease the pain.

Goro didn't know if his mother would have liked her for her persistence in dealing with horrible men and the sting of her whip or if she would have despised her at seeing her junior give the fight she never had. He decided to like her in spite of it. Takamaki was someone he could easily relate to and had no direct conflict with him. She, like him, knew when it was time to put on a smile for the cameras and when it was time to bare her teeth.

So instead of a belittling dismissal, he replied, "Pigs have been known to eat human flesh. They can also eat bones without complications."

Apparently she hadn't been expecting that, her eyes widening a fraction before she seemingly realized that it was his way of approval. She grinned something vicious, a bright fire in her eyes. That also seemed to have been interpreted as we're friends now and she pulled him into a hug. It was a quick thing, but unexpected, Goro letting out a strangled noise which drew the attention of the others.

"Awwww," came Amamiya's voice again. "Look at you making friends!"

"Shut up," he snapped. "I'll kill you!"

Joker had the audacity to laugh at him, bordering on a cackle, Goro's heart skipping a traitorous beat. He looked so pretty in the moonlight, the silvery lighting making his eyes almost glow.

"Try," he said, practically purring.

Whatever retort he had died on his lips. He hated feeling like this, brittle at the smallest of actions. He could never place when this feeling started, when he started to consider Amamiya as more than a nuisance. It might have been when he decided the other boy was his rival, but he couldn't be too sure. All he knew was that now that he was aware of it, he couldn't make it go away.

Wakaba Isshiki looked the same as she had three years ago, her face at least. Dressed in white and gold, she looked regal, bands around her neck like chokers and down her arms like restraints. A cognition of Futaba hid behind her, peeking out from her shoulder.

"We don't get visitors often," she said, a stiff smile affixed in place. "What brings you by?"

"We're just travelling," Goro answered, not quite meeting her gaze. "We were taking a moment of reprieve when we came across your palace. I hope you do excuse our impoliteness for trespassing."

"All transgressions are forgiven." Her voice kept that same monotonous lilt to it, a complete contrast to the frantic way her Shadow had, yelling at him to go away so she could finish her work, unintelligibly muttering under her breath about cognition. "Please, come in. We were just about to have dinner, and I would be a terrible host if I let you and your crew starve."

It happened similarly to turning into mice in Shido's Palace - instantaneous and without much fanfare. The pigs were almost cartoonish, something inoffensive and clean, each wearing their masks, huddled around each other and squealing, having some sort of conversation only the afflicted could understand.

"I don't understand your place here," Goro mused, watching Isshiki with interest.

"You know what you did to me."

"No, I understand that. I don't know what price I pay for our freedom."

She angled her head ever so slightly, high and mighty, amused at his apparently bold accusation.

"I was the first, was I not? At least, I was the first with intention. And you hesitated. Don't you remember?"

Of course he did. He couldn't forget.

"You crossed the line," Isshiki said mirthfully. "You proved yourself just as capable as those you wanted to ruin. A loss of innocence, of purity, and you prove yourself to be nothing more than the vile men that do nothing but take. That is your price - you will forfeit what you have once given up before."

"And what exactly is this meant to prove? As you've said, my innocence was already given up."

"But can you stand to do it again, now that everything has changed? Can you bear to repeat that action while you know how much pain it has caused?"

"What does it matter? She's already dead."

"So sure of yourself. Then I will tell you again what I told you the last time - don't hurt Futaba. Do whatever you want to me, just leave my daughter alone."

Goro shut his eyes for a moment, his sword in hand. "I truly am sorry."

Isshiki laughed. "It makes no difference now, does it?"

The pig wearing Joker's mask lightly headbutted him in the leg.

The first time he had done this, it had been with a bullet piercing through her heart. The first time he'd done this, he'd felt bile rise in his throat, something he'd had to swallow down until he was back in the safety of his apartment. His hands had been shaking and he'd had to convince himself that this would all be worth it.

His hands did not shake now as he plunged his sword into her heart. Maybe it was supposed to be comforting that she wasn't a person, that there was no mental shutdown to wait for.

It still felt sickening.

He watched her form dissolve, heard the cognition of Futaba begin to wail, to shout, to scream.

Takamaki stood next to him, hand hovering over his shoulder, unsure of what she should do.

"The roof," she finally said, taking hold of his arm. "This way."

The view was truly beautiful, oblivious to the tragedy that was happening on its shore. They all stood in silence, an odd, wordless respite between them. It was still calm, the cognition's mournful cries having faded into the distance. Goro didn't know how long they stood there until Takamaki stepped forward toward the ledge. When she had one foot slightly off the edge, she turned back.

"Hey, Mona, you gotta be ready to catch me in case something goes wrong, alright?"

"I've got Bugs on standby," Amamiya said, making a cross over his heart as he walked over to hand her a Goho-M.

Takamaki punched him in the shoulder. "Idiots. My idiots."

She hugged him, then Goro. "Don't die!"

He felt his lips loosen of their own accord. "Do a flip!"

She didn't, but she did flip him off as she vanished from view.

"She's strange," he remarked to Amamiya once he heard the Goho-M go off.

"She's Ann," he answered, as if that explained everything.

If he were being honest, the wails of the damned sounded like the death calls of dissolving Shadows. It was a sound that he had become accustomed to by this point, and yet it unnerved him. If he focused, he could make out specific faces - his victims, as well as the visages of the thieves that had already left this journey.

Isshiki's face was thankfully omitted.

Amamiya placed a hand on his shoulder. "They're alive. They're back home and Futaba's probably making them all watch shitty anime together."

He wasn't worried about the other thieves. He knew that they were fine, knew that this was just a part of the story. Of course Odysseus would see the faces of his crew, people he'd known. There was one in particular he was dreading the most.

"Odysseus passes through the underworld and sees the faces of his crew that have died on his journey home. He comes face to face with his mother, who died while he was away at war. He tries to hug her three times, but is unable to because she's only a spirit."

"You gonna be okay?" Amamiya asked quietly.

"I...don't see her," he admitted, furrowing his brow. He wasn't sure if that was better or worse. Even if she was a cognition, wouldn't he want to see her, just once after all this time?

He wasn't too sure of that answer. The little boy he once was would have given anything to have that chance, but he wasn't so stupid and naïve anymore.

His attention was drawn to a familiar-looking scene on the shores, blood mixing with familiar dark curls and dripping into gunmetal grey eyes, the matching pair - full of life, not dead, not dead, not dead - next to him.

"Hm." Amamiya looked oddly unfazed. "Right through the forehead? Not exactly compelling evidence for a suicide."

He made an L-shape with his right hand, with the black glove that was most definitely not his own, pressing his pointer finger to the underside of his jaw. "Under the chin would have made it more convincing, don't you think?"

"You're insane," Goro scowled. How could he joke about something like that?

"Someone's a little upset that we outsmarted him."

"No, you're literally insane."

He smiled, and Goro saw something flicker under his mask for a moment. "That's what makes us a good pair, doesn't it?"

He was so stupid, but he made for a good distraction as the ship docked in the land of the dead, dark sands beneath their shoes.

Goro couldn't quite remember her face. Surely, it must have looked something like his, because while his existence might have been a curse, the only positive was that he looked nothing like his damn bastard father. It was going to bother him now. He wondered if he could pull up any sort of records of her just to see a picture, just to confirm that the spirit in front of him was close to the real thing, that he had some grasp of her left in his mind.

She looked as she had in the days leading up to her death. Pale, tired, cheeks hollow and eyes sunken with bruise-like circles underneath them. That was what stuck out in his mind, not any of her specific features but just how dreadful she had looked. Bandages were wrapped around her eyes and he remembered that they were the exact same as his, that he used to tell people that he got his eyes from his mother, how they were like rubies, how they were special.

"Goro?" She gurgled, her voice sounding as if she were speaking from underwater. He swallowed uneasily, remembering how he'd wrenched her body from blood-red water, how he'd pleaded with her to wake up, please wake up. "Is that my Goro?"

Her steps didn't quite touch the ground, much too light. He didn't pull away as she approached, rooted to the ground, his limbs seizing up.

She's not real.

"Looks like my Goro," she placed her hands on either side of his face, both cold as ice. "Feels like my Goro."

Her breath smelt like blood. Why was she breathing? She shouldn't have been breathing, why was she breathing, why did it smell like blood? She moved even closer, pressing their foreheads together ever so gently, Goro feeling his heart quicken with each passing second.

He couldn't even be so sure if it was her face.

"But you're not my Goro, are you?" She sounded so disappointed, and something inside him broke. "I need to take him home."

"I am, Mama," he said. "I'm right here. I'll come home."

Her thumb stroked across his cheek, still cold but somehow reassuring. He forgot where he was, he forgot why he was here. It was just him and his mother - why did his heart feel like it was about to rip itself out of his chest?

"Silly boy." She was using the tone of voice she used to do when she was about to scold him. "You're not my Goro. My Goro was kind. My Goro was so sweet. You're not him."

"I am," he insisted.

"So silly," she said again, a bright smile on her face. "You did love to play pretend with me. Do you still play hero? Do you pretend to be a good little boy?"

This wasn't his mother. His mother had never said anything cruel to him. She'd held herself high and only cursed and screamed when she thought he was asleep and couldn't hear her through the walls. And yet he couldn't help but take in the features of her bandaged face, wondering how much of it was real and how much of it was his memory. Had she still looked this beautiful in her torment, or was it simply a trick of the mind? Had her touch always been this gentle or was it the pain of grief making it softer?

"Do you really think you can escape your fate so easily, my little crow?" He tensed at her old nickname for him.

"Mama, I want to go home."

"Do you think you can escape?" She asked again. "Look at yourself. You're not my little boy. My little boy wanted to be a hero. Are you a hero? Who have you saved? What have you done that wasn't selfish?"

"Mama?" He looked up at her, wanting to look into her eyes but only finding those bandages in the way, now red with blood.

"Where exactly do you think you're going, little crow? Back to our apartment that doesn't exist anymore? Or how about the one where you were constantly being watched and monitored the entire time? Where can you go that won't be a reminder of your sins? Do you really think you can escape what you are? There's only one way out of this, and you're not worthy of it. You blame your father for your problems, but even before you met him, you weren't anything special. A useless little brat that only existed to make my life miserable. Don't you agree with Mama, Goro? You're nothing but my little waste of space."

Hands grabbed his shoulders and yanked him away from her. "Enough."

"Niijima?"

She readied her gauntlets, pushing herself in front of him. "We were children. We are children. You might not have had him in favourable circumstances, but what exactly did you expect him to do? Was he supposed to come up with a solution for all your problems? Was he supposed to fix your life for you? You were supposed to be the one to take care of him, not the other way around, and you failed. You don't have any right to talk about the worthiness of your child when you couldn't even cut it as a parent."

"That doesn't change anything. He made his choices. Can't go around blaming Mommy and Daddy forever, now can he?" She let out a bark of laughter. Goro had never heard a sound like that before, and that seemed to ground him, to anchor him back to himself. This whole time he'd been standing here, he'd felt like he'd been walking on air, not quite inside his own body. "You'll never be able to go home. You have no home to go back to! You've ruined it all! Torn it to pieces without a second thought! You'll never get home! You'll never get home! YOU'LL NEVER GET HOME!"

The winds began to pick up, his mother's shouting becoming louder and louder, and Goro could see through the blinding lights that the bandages had fallen from her face, eye sockets empty and bleeding as she clawed at her face.

When he could see again, blinking the blinding flash out of his eyes, they were back on the boat.

Loki was eying him with a look he couldn't quite figure out. It was bothering him, staring at his own face and looking for a way to decode his own thoughts.

"Akechi?"

Niijima's hand was again on his shoulder and even through layers of fabric, it was making his skin crawl. He didn't answer her as he made his way below deck, shoving her off of him.

"Tie me to the mast and find a way to plug your ears."

"Kinky," Amamiya commented and Goro reflexively slapped him in the back of the head. "Sorry."

"Don't be stupid."

Amamiya just shot him a grin and a wink and wandered off, presumably to find some supplies to follow his orders. Goro felt tired with all of this. With each obstacle they came across - could they even really be called obstacles if they were doing the bare minimum to get through them? - it only soured his mood even further, and this one was definitely one that was already grating on his nerves.

In a place meant to represent your greatest desires, what was the point of trying to lure you with more?

"There should be candles below deck. We can use the wax to plug our ears. Get Loki too - tie him to the steering wheel."

Goro always sympathized with this version of Odysseus because it was a very interesting opportunity. Although it could be argued that both he and the King of Ithaca both knew what they wanted, to go home, to end this journey, it was always the sheer curiosity of the situation that had appealed to him. If you had a once in a lifetime opportunity, why not take it?

"Say anything," Goro hissed as Amamiya bound his hands, "and I'll gut you."

"I didn't say anything."

"You were clearly thinking it."

Amamiya shot him another wink, and for a moment Goro thought he was going to do something that would earn the thief a swift knee to the crotch, but he pulled away before he could follow through on whatever he'd been thinking of.

Goro tried to let himself relax, trying not to physically brace himself for what was coming. It made him anxious to know that his guard would be down, that this was something he couldn't - wouldn't be able to - control himself over. Brainwashing ailments were always the worst, when his body went slack and his head filled with fog and he could do nothing but watch as he was unable to obey himself, at the mercy of someone else, of something else.

The melody washed over him, and all the tension left his body, all of his worries melting away.

He hated it.

He couldn't describe it even if he tried. It was a song that didn't exist, that was simultaneously the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard and the most confounding. He was sure if a musician ever heard a piece such as this that they would never be able to replicate it. Maybe there was a voice, maybe there were instruments - he couldn't tell. It was music, it was captivating, and he felt a need to follow it, to find its source, to break free and jump right into the water.

He had never wanted anything else more in his entire life.

He could see Loki, tied up in a similar fashion, pulling against his restraints, snapping and gnashing his teeth as he writhed, but it was not the same desire that Goro felt in his snarl. He followed his heart's gaze, watching the cognition sitting upon the rocks, and he hated this even more than he thought possible.

Maruki's reality had only been tempting in that Goro had wished he'd had more time, but he had been ready to die at that moment. He hadn't faltered in that regard. To have his own mind betray him like this, to have him succumb to that madman's ramblings when he hadn't even considered them in the first place, it felt like a failure.

Loki's screams of rage did nothing to dull the music, but there was a sudden splash of water and it abruptly stopped.

"She didn't even take the wax outta her ears," Sakamoto said in disbelief as Goro was untied, looking in the direction Sumire had disappeared off the side of the boat.

There was something in his pocket - a folded piece of paper.

Crow-senpai,

I'm fine! Please don't worry about me! I want you to know that this was my decision, because you're my friend, even if you don't believe it. I heard about the sirens in English class while we were watching a movie. I guessed what was up ahead and I thought it would be better to just get it over with. I know Dr. Maruki didn't sway you, but I know it probably wouldn't be the best for you to deal with that after what we all went through. I also realized that after what you said to Skull-senpai about the bag of winds, I was probably going to be the best option for this "task."

Goro scoffed. Cheeky brat. Some of Amamiya's snark must have rubbed off on her.

I want you to know that I'm not offended by it. I know I was a lot of trouble for you and Senpai back then, so I figured I would have to be the trigger to get you to go on ahead. But I am my own person, and so are you. Even if I live for Kasumi, I firstly live for myself. It might have been our dream, but it is my dream - I wouldn't be doing it if my heart wasn't in it, if it wasn't something I want.

You can live for yourself and work with other people. You can do what you want and fit other people into your life. It's not one or the other. You can live for yourself without being isolated from everyone. I blamed myself for my sister's death, and I can already hear you telling me that it's not the same thing as with Futaba and Haru-senpai, but it's similar. I still hate myself for what happened to Kasumi, though my parents don't blame me for it. I know everyone else has said something like this, but you're allowed to continue to live. You shouldn't be punishing yourself - it won't bring them back. It'll only make you miserable.

And not that this will surprise you, but it's hurting Senpai as well to see you do this to yourself. We want to help you, we all do. So I need you to stop being so stubborn and start taking this seriously!

Please.

"I wonder what happens if we pick Charybdis."

Goro felt his eye twitch. He was sure that Niijima was doing this to get a rise out of him. She'd been weirdly saying things like that, implying that she was going to steer the story off course in an attempt to get him to talk to her, to talk about what had happened back in the Underworld.

He would have liked to have said that he stood his ground and hadn't given in, but Amamiya had to ask him to talk to her and had given him those stupid, goddamn puppy eyes-

Below deck, Goro could feel his headache coming back.

"Your mother was very pretty." Oh, how he hated these attempts at pleasantries.

"Don't try to force yourself."

"She..." Niijima paused, looking for the right words to say. "She looked young."

"She got pregnant at sixteen." He didn't know that until recently. She'd always looked so much older to him.

"Then I apologize for what I said. About her not taking care of you. She was a kid too."

"Both statements are equally true. She shouldn't have had to take care of me but that was her job as my parent." He'd always known he'd cursed his mother. What little she'd said about her life, plus what his classmates and their parents would whisper just loud enough for them to hear, perhaps wishing for him to hate his mother just as much as they did. "But what's done is done, and I can't go back in time and make her care about me. Why do you care so much? From what I understand, your father loved you and Sae very much despite his commitment to his work."

Her hands tightened into fists and Goro thought he'd crossed a line. Perhaps the elder Niijima had been just like every other cop out there.

Some of the tension in her body eased, and she shut her eyes for a moment, almost as if bracing herself. "My sister spoke highly of you before we met. She disliked you at first. She didn't want to waste her time mentoring anyone, but her comments quickly turned to praise. I thought it was good the two of you were getting along. And then I met you and I..."

She scoffed, clicking her tongue, voice dripping with venom. It was no secret that she had always disliked him. The younger Niijima sister had always considered herself his rival, which was ridiculous for a number of reasons, the most ridiculous of all being that she believed cram school was important enough for a rivalry and that it was entirely one-sided. Goro couldn't have cared any less about her being a few points behind him in test scores.

"I didn't understand why she praised you and berated me when we were exactly the same." She practically spat out the words, hissing through her teeth. "We both wanted to work with the police, we were both top of our classes. All Sis told me was that I needed to focus on college entrance exams, so it couldn't have been that you were famous, or that you had an internship with the police. I never understood why she liked you so much, and all it did was make me want to be better than you. But it was pointless. To her, I was just a leech, eating away at her life. Her baby sister, the person she was meant to care for and the entire time she considered me useless because I did nothing for her and she saw all my accomplishments as something handed to me on a silver platter because of all her hard work."

Goro figured that Sae's distortion had caused her to neglect her sister. He'd watched her spend more and more time at the office, especially when it came to Phantom Thief matters.

"You're better off directing your misguided sympathies elsewhere."

"It's not sympathy. It's not empathy, either." There was that fire again, the one he saw every time she wanted to challenge him on something, the fury of someone scorned. It was different from Amamiya's fire. Niijima wanted something to take her anger out on, wanted to be better than her opponent, wanted absolute victory. With Amamiya, he would meet him blow for blow. That was a mutual assurance that they would match each other's steps and let the cards lay where they fell. Niijima couldn't see the nuance of that, didn't want to acknowledge that whoever she went up against had - him, in this instance - could stand on the same ground as her.

That was one of the reasons she was not his rival.

"It's selfish. If you're worthless, then what am I?"

"We are two very different people, Niijima." Goro never really liked her. He'd seen her as someone who sucked up to authority, disliked her even more as she was clearly trying to break out of that mould but at the same time still clinging to that clear-cut, good girl image by essentially becoming the Phantom Thieves' handler, chastising them for their behaviour. "Our goals in law enforcement may align, but we have two very different approaches to justice. We are not the same. The reason your sister resented you was not because of your moral failings - you even acknowledged that. So there is no need for you to compare yourself to me. My worth is not tied to yours and vice versa. You've tied your worth to your academic standards, and congratulations, you got what you wanted. You're going to college to study law enforcement and I didn't even graduate high school."

She scoffed. "That's not the point and you know it."

"Still stands. I don't give a shit about you or your sister. The sooner you realize that and stop comparing yourself to a cowardly murderer-"

"That's not the point either."

"Then what? What was the point in making a fool out of me back there?!"

"I hate you!" She screeched, and Goro again thought she was going to strike him. "I hate you so goddamn much! You're a piece of shit who tried to kill my friends! You're a horrible person who thinks he's better than everyone but can't shut up for two seconds about how much of a terrible bastard you are! You're a stupid, contradictory bitch who can't fucking stand up for himself despite the fact you think you're the smartest person in the room and I hate everything that comes out of your stupid mouth!"

He watched her seethe, watched spit go flying out of her mouth as she shouted, watched as she tried to control her breathing.

"I hate you," she rasped. "I hate you but I can't stand to think that you'd lay down and die like this. I've had enough of people looking down on me for who they think I am. The least you could do is do the same and act like the person my sister thought you were instead of being a miserable piece of shit rotting away because of what you think someone else thinks about you. Sae was wrong about me. She was also wrong about you and I selfishly want her to see that. I want her to look at you and tell me that she was out of her mind for even thinking that you were anything but despicable."

Goro couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Finally," he breathed. "Some fucking honesty."

"The others are honest. I just hate you."

"And I never gave a shit about you, like I said. You were out there calculating test scores and trying to grab my attention and I couldn't have cared less about it." He gave her his best Detective Prince smile. "So it's in your best interests to let it go, Niijima-san. All that stress can't be good for your health."

"You're the fucking worst."

"If you two are done murdering each other," came Amamiya's voice from above, "we need someone to tell us what we're supposed to do!"

"Don't equate whatever bullshit the two of you have going on with this!" Niijima fired back as she stomped off to go see what he was talking about. Goro followed as a particularly large wave caused the ship to shudder.

He could see the edges of Charybdis drawing closer, the rocks that both entrenched those dangerous waters and the hunting grounds of her sister, Scylla. A flash of white between the twisting waters caught his eye, and he could see the golden crest of Robin's sigil before it vanished back beneath the waters.

"Towards the rocks," Goro murmured out, no one to hear him, but Loki at the helm began to steer the ship regardless. He thought, for a moment, of telling the others to get below deck, but the whole point of these monsters, this pair, was that there was a sacrifice - a choice between the many or the few. Risk sinking the entire ship to the whirling tides to get out unscathed or going through the rocks knowing that you were sealing the fates of the men that would have been a distraction for Scylla, a feast, a tribute.

Goro didn't need to make the choice. By the nature of this place, it had already been made for him.

There's only one way out of this.

Even now, even inside his own heart, he wasn't making his own choices.

The boat almost moored itself against the rocks as something crashed into its side. Large, jagged red claws dug into the wooden frame, Loki's - inhuman, godly, maddening - shape towering over them, maw split open to reveal multiple rows of blood-coloured, twisted pointed fangs as he roared. His wilder Persona had always been hard to look at, the patterns across its body headache-inducing to anyone that wasn't him. Powerless, he was getting the full force of it now, his mind not quite comprehending the shape in front of him, hungry and animalistic. Loki had always been in love with the hunt, with the chase. Robin liked to call him uncivilized, but that was only partially true. Loki was primal instinct, the desire to stay alive, to fight back. If that made him an animal, then so be it.

In any other situation, it would have made him proud, but Goro could only feel some sort of burning sense of betrayal as he watched the copy of his Persona, one half of his being, snap their hungry jaws at him as they clawed at him, trying to grab at the scrambling thieves, all firing off and array of spells and bullets alike.

Loki's braids seemed to have minds of their own, uncoiling like snakes and lashing at the moving fighters. Goro was glad that his instincts and physical capabilities hadn't lessened as he dodged, still cursing for his lack of usefulness.

"I've got this one!" Niijima darted forward, avoiding strike after strike. She was fast, an unstoppable force as she met with Loki's attempts to restrain her.

She stopped next to Goro, driving a spiked fist into a braid that had been just a hair's breadth away from grazing him.

"I've always wanted to punch you in the face," she admitted gleefully. She placed the pin of the Goho-M between her teeth, rolling her wrists before launching herself into the air. A braid snagged her around the waist, yanking her towards those hideous teeth. She got her punch in, Loki roaring and Goro wincing in sympathy. With a bang and a flash, she was gone, and the ship sailed quietly out of danger.

Goro's head was pounding.

"Oh! Mister, your eyes are open!"

Blearily, he sat up, groaning. Rubbing his eyes, he took in his surroundings. They were in a large sort of tent. He was lying down on a bed, more like a cot, Loki watching him closely from the cot next to him. Jose was standing next to him, a small hand on his as he cocked his head to the side. He'd forgone his usual attire for something to match the aesthetics of the Palace, a Greek tunic fastened in place by a golden star clasp, a familiar star pattern across his clothes.

Somehow, Goro knew this was not a cognition.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, Mementos is gone," he said, shrugging. "I had to go somewhere and it's very pretty here. Lots of stars at night."

"How long..." He trailed off, knowing it was probably pointless to ask. "Did the others make it out okay?"

He'd never hear the end of it if something happened to them because of him.

Jose nodded. "The Other Mister has been asleep for a while, but Kitty once told me that was normal. Do humans usually sleep that much?"

"No, Amamiya is- still here?"

Jose pointed across the room, where one of the other cots was occupied by Joker's sleeping figure.

"How...?" The idiot wasn't supposed to be here! He was supposed to go home!

Jose shrugged. "Don't know. Found you both hurt, but you're not dead. Good job!"

Amamiya looked fine from what Goro could see, standing over him. He looked oddly peaceful even with the multitude of bandages wrapped around him. They didn't seem to actually be covering anything, Jose's lack of human understanding shining through. They seemed to be plastered onto the thief in a nonsensical manner, but given how Metaverse items worked it probably didn't matter where Jose put them.

Zeus kills the entire crew once they mutiny for killing the sacred cattle. You'll have to time this just right. He'd given them direct instructions to be prepared. There was no way that Joker could have stayed behind when they'd been warned beforehand, even more so considering the requirements to move forward in this Palace. But if any of them were going to pull off some asinine bullshit like this, of course it was going to be him.

Saint Joker. Ever so special.

Like Goro, he rose slowly, disoriented and sluggish.

"I swear this wasn't on purpose," was the first thing he said once he got his bearings. "I set off my Goho-M. I know I did."

The lack of amusement in his eyes, the small bit of confusion - he really didn't do this out of spite or any misguided attempts to protect him from his own anger and misery. Goro loathed to think of the alternative, that this was his subconscious wanted him here, wanted him to see these ugly parts of him. Disgusting - that couldn't have possibly been it.

"I don't have a Persona at the moment, it's likely this is some sort of failsafe." He was not going to suddenly turn into Amamiya and become horribly sentimental.

"Probably. What point in the story is this, anyway?"

"Calypso's island." Definitely far from the worst thing in The Odyssey but still something to be wary of in regard to time. "Odyssey is washed up on the shore after Zeus kills the crew. She tends to his wounds and nurses him back to health. Jose seems to have patched you up thoroughly."

"You're not dead!" The small boy repeated, this time to Joker, beaming. "Good job!"

"When do you want to head out?"

"The point of this place is to rest-" Ignoring the fact that Odysseus is kept here against his will "-we can stay a little longer."

Amamiya's eyebrows raised in surprise but didn't argue. Goro would admit that he wasn't partial to wasting time. Efficiency was of the utmost importance, especially with the type of life he'd lived before his presumed passing. But they needed a breather. He felt drained, and while Amamiya had his Personas to protect him, it would be wise to take whatever stops they could.

Loki scowled at him once Joker was out of earshot. "You are giving in to weakness."

"No." Goro watched Amamiya carefully. He'd knelt down to Jose's height to speak clearly with him, engaged in whatever conversation they were having. "I'll make the right choice. But for now, I can indulge in something I know will have to end. That's all we ever wanted. Just a little more time."

His Shadow narrowed his eyes but nodded in understanding. "Just a little longer."

Goro had debated with himself if it would have been worth it to have visited his father after everything. He still had his connections and could have pulled a few strings to make it happen. He'd decided against it in that he didn't think it was worth it when the man apparently couldn't string more than a few words together whenever he wasn't being interrogated. When he was younger, when his mother would speak of what a horrible person he was, Goro had always imagined him as someone that would strike fear into anyone he came across. And that was true, in a sense, that anyone he had under his thumb was fearful of having their very existence ruined.

Goro didn't have that fear. It had dissipated once he'd met his father. There had been initial nerves when he'd walked into his office for the first time for that confrontation, the proposal of their partnership. Once he saw that Masayoshi Shido was nothing but a man with an inflated ego and a belief he was the second coming of Christ, Goro did not fear him.

Make no mistake, Goro knew Shido was dangerous. He understood what would happen if he ever displeased him. But he did not fear him.

Standing before the thing wearing Shido's face, knowing that this was nothing compared to the real thing, Goro wanted to laugh in his face. Trident in one hand, larger than life, dressed in the stupid military regalia his Shadow wore, Shido looked like an idiot with his posturing. Any threat he made was absolutely nothing to him, knowing that his real world counterpart was suffering.

"You will listen to me, boy!" The cognition demanded. "I have dominion here! I am above you! Do you really think you can escape your punishment?! You must answer for your crimes, you worthless piece of scum!"

Goro only laughed harder.

"How dare you-"

"I still regret that I didn't get to kill you," he said proudly. "I still regret that I wasn't there to see you suffer, to see you drown in your own pride and guilt. But there is something truly special watching you rot and squirm under the weight of your own sins. You will never know peace. You will never be able to get anything you want and you will have to live with the fact that you are nothing. "

Goro, standing on the small, makeshift raft, watched as the grand form of Masayoshi Shido began to shrink.

He scoffed as the cognition continued to seethe, unaware of his current plight.

"I was wrong. A swift death once you have gotten everything you wanted would not be the perfect vengeance. Watching you wallow and beg for forgiveness that will never come to you will be sweet, even sweeter to know that I will never give you the closure you want and that I am living a life free of you. I can escape you. I will live. I will live and you will be nothing more than a bad memory. And I will cherish the thought that I will haunt you until the end of your days, and all you'll be able to do is wonder if my death is on your conscience."

They were now eye to eye, the cognition much more similar to real life in stature, its eyes a burning red of fire and anger.

"You piece of shit! You worthless brat!"

"Enough!" Another figure was now standing over Shido's diminished form, a clawed hand wrapped around his arm to keep him from escaping. Sae stood with narrowed eyes, her gaze sharp, a white and brown wing pressed against his neck as if it were the sharp edge of a blade. "The gods have spoken. He shall pass. You, on the other hand, will be coming with me."

"Wait! Wait, I-" She didn't let him finish, both of them vanishing in a shower of sparks.

The wood of the ship began to creak as it finally, finally, finally, docked on the shores of Ithaca.

Both surprisingly and not entirely so, a cognition of Muhen was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps of the Palace. Goro supposed it was only fitting, seeing where his Palace had grown roots was the man's place of business. This was a place of safety and comfort for Goro, and its owner looked genuinely happy to see them.

"It's good to see you," he said, beaming. "Glad you're back. It's been a mess without you. The suitors in the front hall keep getting more and more impatient, and there's only so long he can keep them occupied with that burial shroud ruse. There's supposed to be an archery contest for his hand."

"Who?" Amamiya asked and Muhen's eyes went wide, Goro pushing past him before the cognition could say anything.

"Odysseus was away from home for twenty years," he explained. "When the news of the war ending broke and he and his men hadn't returned home, many men tried to convince his wife, the queen, to remarry, saying that he must have perished. Because of the times, Penelope doesn't have much power on her own - all the power is with the king, and the queen is suddenly available. In a bid to hold them off, Penelope tells him that she would choose one of them once she is finished weaving a burial shroud for her husband. She weaves all day and takes apart her work in the middle of the night so it's never complete."

"And no one catches on?"

"Never specified. But the process for the dead in Ancient Greece was sacred. You had to be buried properly with the toll to pay the ferryman to get into the Underworld. Regardless, the suitors become horribly impatient and have been occupying the Palace for years. There's a shooting contest for Penelope's hand, which Odysseus enters in disguise."

"Did she believe he was alive? Or did she just not want to remarry?"

"Scholars differ in that regard." Goro felt his breath catch. "Regardless, she remains faithful to her husband despite the fact that Odysseus, forced into sexual acts in exchange for his freedom, cannot do so. Many adaptations get it wrong and say he gave in willingly to desire, but it's not true. Both Circe and Calypso hold his freedom over his head, the promise of returning home, and both of these women were much more powerful than a mere mortal man."

He didn't know why he was still talking about this instead of just opening the door and getting this over with. Nothing of the sort had happened to him. Power had always been held over him, but nothing so gratuitous in nature. There had been rumours though, of how he'd gotten his position in the SIU and with the police, about how his pretty face did a lot more than smile for the cameras. Maybe he did agree with Circe after all that men were truly pigs.

"So he was always going to be the only one who made it home?" Amamiya's question snapped him out of his thoughts.

"It always was, and always will be, a tragedy. It hadn't been planned, but yes. Odysseus wanted to bring his men home. He tried what he thought was best and was thwarted by gods, monsters, and his own hubris. I told you at the beginning of this that this was a journey meant for myself and myself alone."

"I'm not complaining," Amamiya said slowly, "but if only Odysseus is supposed to make it home, why am I still here? This is Ithaca."

"Technically, you were supposed to leave after the cattle, like I told you to."

"And again, as much as I want to say that it was some grand plan of mine, I don't know how I'm still here."

"Joker-"

"No. Don't." He sighed. "I...as much as this is your Palace, none of us have faced off against a Shadow alone. You should have someone here with you, and I think that's why I'm here, because you want me to be."

"You should leave. I- I don't understand." He looked back and forth between Amamiya and Loki, hands shaking. "I can't even begin to fathom how you've made it this far. You shouldn't be here, and yet here you are, still following me to a place you physically shouldn't be in. Why do you bother? Why do you care?!"

"You're my friend-"

"Don't give me that bullshit! This isn't some fucking fairytale where you get to have everything you want because you choose to be kind! The real world is cruel and disgusting and vile! You think this little trip accomplished anything? You think it'll somehow make everything I've done vanish into thin air?"

"Of course not," Loki scoffed. "But that doesn't change the fact that we persist."

"Were you not the one that was against this in the first place? Why are we even bothering with this charade? We knew it was always going to turn out the same.

"You know why," the Shadow said haughtily. "You know exactly why."

"Shut up! Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about! You've been unhelpful and difficult this entire time - what right do you have to preach to me?!"

"It's been the same as it always has been. I am you. A part of you, at least. You've always known the truth of the matter, that they are selfless as much as you are selfish, that they are willing to help you because they wish to. They don't hate you as you assume, especially not him."

He nodded towards Amamiya, who returned the gesture.

"It has taken this journey for me to realize, liten ulv. You realize it too, and yet you continue to deny it because it is the path of least resistance, the path of less pain, less heartache. We can start again. There is nothing to stop us. We are but making excuses."

He looked toward the steps of the palace. "Your Penelope awaits for you. We don't know what to expect of him. Either way, if we are spurned or if we are accepted, this is a new life. We don't forget, and we certainly don't forgive, but would it not be worth a try? Is that not why we went along with this foolish plan?"

"So what?" He scowled. "I'm just supposed to sit here and accept that I'm meant to be coddled by idiots whose lives I've ruined? That I won't be burdening them just by existing?"

"No. We live. We learn. We do not let what he did to us happen again. We make our life useful. We find our purpose. We stop wallowing like the coward that we are and we do something for ourselves. Is that not why we accepted Hereward in the first place? Is that not why we denounced that false reality?"

Loki stepped forward, taking Goro's hands in his.

"I- I-..." Goro swallowed nervously. "I'm tired. I'm so tired."

"Our journey is almost done," Loki assured.

"I'm scared," he admitted, leaning into his Shadow's space, his legs suddenly feeling weak. The half of his heart took him in his arms, cradling him gently.

"We can do this. We have suffered through worse. Would it be so horrible to become something better?"

"Goro?" Amamiya's voice was soft, much too gentle. "It'll be okay."

"And if it isn't, we will get up again. That is what we always do. What is the difference between then and now? Do you not feel angry at the life stolen from you? Have you not always wanted something more than being a pawn in someone else's game? I am you. I have always been you. I am your anger, your hatred, your vengeance, but I am your driving force. I am your will to live. I am your stubbornness, your persistence, your heart. You have conflicted me for much too long. End this. Call to me."

"You're me," he said, swallowing uneasily. "You've always been me, but I don't know what I am without my anger. I don't know what I am without the need to hunt and kill and hurt everything I touch. I don't know what I am beyond my revenge. And I don't know how I'm going to carry on."

There was a flash, and then Loki was gone.

Something inside him settled, and he was now very aware of much of an absence his Personas had been, able to feel the gaping void left where Robin should have been next to where Loki yet again occupied.

Let us find our other halves.

"Are you okay?"

Goro glanced down at his Metaverse outfit, back in its usual place, feeling like it was a second skin. "I'll live."

"You don't have to have everything figured out right this second. Please tell me you know that."

"I'm tired," he said again. "Let's finish this fucking Palace so I can take a damn nap. What the hell are you smiling at?"

"I'm happy for you?"

"Don't phrase it as a question."

"I am happy for you." Goro couldn't help but think that there was love in his voice, delusional as it might have been.

"Let's keep moving before your sentimentality makes me sick."

Amamiya's smile was blindingly stupid, a grin that could blot out the faux sun of the faux Greek coastline.

You put that smile there, you know.

Quiet, he mentally chided.

Stop lying to yourself.

I'm not lying. I just don't need your commentary right now.

You've missed me.

It felt awkward with only one half of his heart in place. He'd never only had one of them present before, and he was quite aware of the void that Robin was leaving. Loki seemed distraught by this as well, having awakened at the same time and never having been apart since.

This journey had been hell. He'd hated every single moment of it. But at least he could enjoy the fact that he had outstanding taste in architecture and that it was historically accurate. That at least made this a bit more palpable. If it had been nonsensical, it would have been bothering him the entire time, a small pet peeve that would have whittled away at his ever-dwindling patience.

Robin looked younger than Loki. His robes were accompanied by a worn, red cape wrapped around his shoulders, a wreath of laurels in his hair. He looked so innocent, untouched by any of the hardships that Goro had been out through. In his hands, he held a bow and arrow.

The small child looked up at him, golden eyes zeroing in on his appearance. It cocked its head to the side. "Who are you?"

Goro frowned. If this was Robin, shouldn't he have recognized him? Perhaps this was a trick, and Robin was being held elsewhere. But Loki had said that he had taken the place of Telemachus, so this should have been him, waiting for Odysseus to return and-

Oh.

"I'm you," he said, and the boy looked insulted.

"Are you sure?"

Goro reached a hand up, pulling off his mask. "I am."

"I don't recognize you."

"Robin-" He didn't like the way his voice sounded so small. "Robin, please."

" Please what?"

"I'm done playing games. I want to go home."

"Say sorry."

Goro swallowed. "For what, exactly?"

The boy took the arrow and set the bow down by his feet. Turning it in his hands, he pressed the point to his neck.

"You tell yourself that you're the villain," the boy smirked. "You tell yourself that you deserve every horrible thing that happens to you. Why?"

"I-" He sucked in a deep breath. "I-"

"Would you have come all this way if you really, truly believed you deserved it?"

"You're well aware of what we've done."

"But we never deserved it. Why do you draw this line? Why do you decide to cut yourself off when we know it's not what we want, not what we deserve?"

The Shadow pulled the arrow away from itself, its arm resting by its side, a small trickle of blood dripping from the shallow line it left. "She didn't kill herself because of me."

Behind him, Amamiya took a shaky breath.

"Of course she did," Goro seethed, and he felt Loki beginning to stir, wishing for a fight.

"I am you," the boy said. "Another you. You know this to be true. You know I am the other half of your heart, so why do you defy me?"

"You are idealistic, even more so than Loki." His hands curled into fists, shaking by his sides. "I'm willing to believe that I can start over, but to go as far to say that we can just ignore everything that happened, that we weren't cursed from the beginning-"

"She loved me," the Shadow insisted. "She was hurt and scared but she loved me."

"We were unwanted. She wanted to be rid of us. She wanted us gone."

"She could have gotten rid of me," the Shadow argued. "She had the opportunity to. She could have killed me. She could have given me away. She refused until she died."

"I-"

"What does it matter?" Robin seethed. "What does it matter if we were cursed or not? What does it matter if we were born this way or made this way?"

"It's everything! We can't just ignore-"

"We were children. Even if she did it because of us, who was she to place the blame on her own child? What right did she have to do so? I deserve to be loved!" The Shadow screamed. "I deserve to be seen! Why don't you love me?!"

"You know what we've-"

"Who fucking cares?!" The Shadow raised the arrow again, this time pointing it at Akechi like it were a knife. "I was a child! I was a child and I deserved to be happy! I still deserve to be happy! Who cares what waits for us?! Why should that stop us from being happy?! Why does it have to be all or nothing?!"

Its hands shook, and for a moment, Goro believed that it was going to transform, that it would attack. But its gaze simply dropped to the floor, tears streaking down its face.

"I deserved more than this," it said quietly. "I deserved more than being manipulated and used and controlled. I deserved love and attention. I deserve to have good things in life. I deserve to start over. I want to start over. I don't care if there's nothing. I don't care if I have to claw my way out of hell. I want my life back. I want to live, and I want to live happily. I don't care if I don't know how to do that. I don't care if it's not him. We deserved to be safe. We deserved to be happy. We were denied, over and over again. That doesn't mean we don't deserve it."

It looked at Amamiya with fear in its eyes. "And I don't want to kill you. I never did."

Goro dropped to his knees, shaking. It took him a moment before he realized that he was silently sobbing.

"I am you. I have always been you. I am your justice, your purpose, your love, but I am your desire. I am your will to live. I am your judgment, your rule, your heart. My other half yearns for me, for our union once more. We are neither one nor the other, not lies and hatred but pride and cunning. We are more than what we are branded as. Let us release these shackles. End this. Call to me."

Goro couldn't speak.

The Shadow stepped forward, past Goro kneeling on the ground, and stood facing Amamiya.

It bowed deeply. "Please take care of me."

"I will," came the quiet answer. "I will."

And then it vanished.

Goro took deep, shaky breaths as he tried to control himself. Amamiya's hands were at his back, rubbing slow, soothing circles. Robin settled next to Loki as if he hadn't left at all, as if they'd been here this whole time.

"Breathe. It's okay. I'll be here."

I know.

It was like everything had come crashing down on him at once, a tidal wave that had missed him once before and had come back for more. It was a cacophony of sensations, his mind and heart both racing, out of sync and overlapping, voices and feelings trying to pull him in different directions, all so loud, loud, loud-

The smell of coffee and spices snapped him out of it. When his senses returned to normal, his head was being cradled against Amamiya's chest, being held close, soft words whispered but he wasn't sure what was being said. Amamiya had a nice voice, its low tones a lovely melody for him to latch onto. How long they stayed like that...Goro wasn't sure.

"Come on, up we go." Amamiya helped him to his feet. Goro didn't thank him but didn't push him away either. That was what he liked about him - there was an understanding between them of what was necessary. "We just need to get to the Treasure now."

The hallways were eerily silent except for the lapping of the ocean waves. Coming to the doors of the throne room, Goro had to pause.

"I'm not going to suddenly be weak now. This changes nothing."

Joker rolled his eyes. "You weren't weak, Crow. Asking for help doesn't make you weak either. And knowing you, you're still going to be your grouchy old self when asking for help anyways and confuse the crap out of everyone."

"And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"Oh, you know. I suppose if it doesn't trouble you, I could accept your assistance. "

"I do not sound like that."

"You do," he said, poking Goro in the cheek. "You always say things in a weird roundabout way and never put anything on yourself. It always has to be someone else."

"I do not-"

"Well, Amamiya, it is late, but if you must insist on another game of darts, then I suppose I must comply-"

"Shut up."

"Same old Goro."

Let him in, Robin chided. He wants to care for you.

He came all this way to help you. He deserves to know why you tried at all.

"The grand hall is filled with suitors."

"How do you want to do this?"

Goro unsheathed his own sword, the familiar weight of the serrated blade comforting. "Why don't we see who can kill more?"

A fiendish smile spread across Joker's face. Beautiful. "Oh, you're on. "

The doors creaked open mercilessly slow. All eyes turned to them, and Goro's mind went into autopilot, seeing the faces of men that he'd been forced to nod and exchange pleasantries with while they all spoke down to him, while they all spoke so carelessly about the people they believed to be beneath them.

He didn't even summon his Persona, darting forward, sword drawn. He could see Joker matching his pace, no Persona in sight, just the two of them.

Faux blood and Shadow matter splattered across his face, his weapon sinking into cognition after cognition. It was so satisfying to be able to do this again, to be back in the Metaverse, to have Joker next to him once more. This was where they were meant to be, side by side, competing with each other until the end of time.

Again, Loki growled. Please.

How did we ever think we would be able to live without this?

Goro could have kept going just like that, and finally he let his halves loose, one final burst of bloodlust to let them settle back where they needed to be, where they belonged.

Chaos subsided as the last body fell.

"I think you win," Joker said, panting. The bodies of the suitors lingered, both of them sweaty and covered in blood and muck that was slowly evaporating off of them. Goro realized then that he hadn't actually been counting, revelling in the pure joy of ripping these mindless copies of human pieces of shit, at watching Joker move with his usual grace and finesse.

"Of course I did," he said rather than admit he'd gotten distracted. "I won't lose to you."

Amamiya wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I won't lose next time, I promise."

"I'll hold you to it." He sheathed his sword, wondering where the one Amamiya had given him went. Regardless, he didn't need it for the next, and final, obstacle.

Soft music began to play, weaving through the halls of the grand palace, tugging at Goro's heart and leading them where they needed to go. Joker was at his heels, and he could almost be convinced that this was a chase, a hunt.

The figure sat at the loom, hands slowly, delicately working to finish the tapestry. Across the fabric were depictions of their voyage, or each obstacle they'd faced. It was clear who this was as their back was turned, the mop of black curls nothing to be mistaken for anyone else. The dress he wore was like Robin's robes, except his were black, sweeping like the thief’s coat with details of red, more laurels to be found. He was covered in head to toe with sparkling golden jewelry that stood out in stark contrast against his eyes. Watching him work was mesmerizing, and Goro wondered if he worked just as intently on his thief tools, if he had such precision, such focus.

The sight was no surprise to Goro, but he heard Amamiya's surprised gasp all the same, his heart slamming into his stomach.

The noise drew the cognition's attention, finally realizing that it wasn't alone in the room. When it saw the two of them, its face lit up in such a way that made Goro's heart burn.

"You're back!" There was so much love in his voice, so much affection, that it almost made Goro sick to realize that the real Amamiya spoke to him with the same amount of tenderness, of care. The cognition rushed over to hug them both fiercely, nearly knocking the wind out of him. "I was starting to think you wouldn't show!"

Its eyes landed on its real world counterpart, sizing him up. It sighed, saddened, yet still smiling.

"I was hoping for a bit more time together, but I know you came here for something, so I won't keep you. I don’t think I could compare to the real thing, either." The cognition held out its hands in front of it, plucking one of the many rings off of its finger, holding it out to Goro. It was a simple, gold band. The implications made Goro's entire body flush, ducking his head and hoping that Amamiya was minding his own business.

He wouldn't, but it would have been a nice thought.

Goro slipped the ring around his finger and the cognition gave each of them one last hug. The moment they left the main chambers, the entire Palace began to shake. With a shared look, they began to run back to the boat.

"Hey! Misters!" Jose's car came zooming out from somewhere Goro couldn't quite see. "Get in!"

Jose was actually a very decent driver, all things considered, but smacking head first into the sidewalk outside of the Jazz Jin made him wish for the smoother landings of simply popping in and out of Mementos.

"I hope he's okay," Amamiya said sheepishly after they'd untangled themselves from the pile of limbs the two of them had found themselves in. Thankfully, the street was mostly empty, no one to witness them seemingly appear out of thin air.

"I think he's immortal, so he should be fine."

"Yeah, but still." Amamiya shrugged.

Goro took a moment to process. It was done. His heart had been changed. His Palace had collapsed. It was...very strange to consider, especially with how much he despised the lack of agency the process usually gave a target.

"How long does it take?" He asked. "For it to kick in. Will I faint? Will it happen all at once?"

"We haven't actually witnessed the immediate change before, but it varies how long it takes. A few days, at least. How do you feel?"

"Tired," he answered truthfully. "But what else is new? I'm not going to start sobbing at your feet and grovelling about the time I shot you, if that's what you're asking."

"That's not how that works and you know it." Amamiya nudged him with his elbow. "That wasn't your distortion at all."

Goro sighed. "I just...don't know what to expect."

"You're worried you won't be the same once it hits." The thief nodded sagely, wholly correct despite the fact that hadn't been what Goro had said at all. "Don't worry. You'll still be you. Futaba's still herself. It'll be fine."

"Sure," he said, because he didn't know what else to say. What was the best way to leave this conversation? Thanks for looking at the innermost parts of my being against my wishes, now goodbye.

"So," Amamiya said slowly before he had a chance to escape, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Goro hated that smug look, hated the way he smiled, hated the way he could be so- so- "I'm your home?"

"You're getting on my nerves, is what you are," he scowled, but there was no real bite in it. He ducked his head, too ashamed to look at him. He expected his Palace to flay him open like this, to make his desires open and ooze into everything, to make him vulnerable and honest without his consent. He hated it, hated how this was just something for Amamiya to lord over him now.

The thief's laughter filled the air. Robin and Loki stirred where they sat, once again nestled where they were supposed to be, next to his heart.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Amamiya said, and when Goro steeled himself to look up at the other boy, he was smiling broadly, nothing but sincerity and affection in his eyes.

He should probably say something. "You're the only person who knows the real me. It would make sense for you to be in there somewhere, and you are still the only person truly happy to see that I'm still alive. You're the one that made it all the way to the centre of the Palace with me, the one who encouraged me to start again, to take the chance."

"Sumire's your friend too, you know." The thief clicked his tongue. "And I know you probably wouldn't call the others friends just yet, but they didn't want you to die."

It was all avoiding the subject, and both of them knew it and were aware the other knew as well.

This was embarrassing. Disgusting, even, how sentimental it was, how much it was putting him on display, how much Amamiya was watching him. He braced himself for some insult - no, Amamiya was too nice for something like that - some sort of dismissal. It would be kind, too, and that would be worse. Honeyed words that were meant to soften the blow of rejection, much too sweet for him to ever be rightfully angry at it, at him.

It was in his nature to deny the feeling existed, even after what he just saw, but he'd known he'd been lying to himself for far longer than his Palace had existed.

"Drinks?" Amamiya asked instead. "Or are you too tired? I told Muhen the last time I saw him that I'd bring you around again."

Goro looked at him incredulously. "Drinks? Now?"

After what you just saw? Or is this a peace offering to soften the blow?

Something warm was pressed against his cheek. It took Goro a moment to register that Amamiya had leaned into his space. It only lasted for a moment, but Goro immediately felt his face flush upon realizing that he'd been kissed. On the cheek, but it had been a kiss nonetheless.

"I missed you," Amamiya said sheepishly, a hand reaching up to play with his bangs.

Goro opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. He wasn't even sure what he was going to say, but he was pissed. How could this be the same boy that had yanked him around by the tie?

"I'm sorry if I overstepped. I will always be here for you, Goro, even if you don't have the will to come home. Nothing will ever change that. You're my rival, and I know how much that means to you and I am sorry if I've made this strange, but I just- don't leave? Please? I can help you, you know I want to. I don't even need for you to feel the same, I just-"

Goro hadn't even meant to lean forward, much less kiss him. He'd only been intending to get him to stop talking, to shut up, to - for once - stop being the one with the upper hand here. He'd had a whole speech brewing inside his head about how self-gratifying he must have felt with that little confession of his, about how he must have felt so superior to make him falter, to break him so thoroughly that he had been rendered speechless. Because how dare he steal something so precious as that?

Goro would have the last laugh regardless, taking pleasure in the surprised squeak that Amamiya let out.

Amamiya's lips were soft and warm and if this was coming home then he never wanted to leave. He tasted like lingering sea salt and old coffee and Goro didn't care. It felt like relief, like something inside him finally settling into the proper place, like this had been a long time coming.

"You're stupid," he scowled. "You're a complete and utter idiot. You just saw-"

Amamiya was flushed with such a pleasant shade of red. "I didn't want to assume."

"Penelope is Odysseus' wife, you dumb bastard." Goro kissed him again, yanking him down by the collar, growling against his lips. "You're lucky I like you."

"Very much so." Amamiya draped his arms over Goro's shoulders, leaning in so that they were nose to nose. "So what was it?"

"Hm?" He watched the way the younger boy's mouth formed words, now quite aware of how they tasted.

"Your Treasure. The ring." Both of them blushed. "What was it?"

He still had it in his hand, he realized as he pulled away from Amamiya. It had been years since he'd seen it, surprised he still remembered what it looked like.

"Red Hawk's signature weapon," he said, holding up the toy gun with a foreign fondness in his voice. It looked brand new. "I always wanted this when I was little. We couldn't afford it, so I remember my mother buying a cheap set of paints from a discount store so we could make a secondhand toy gun look the same."

"Proof of Justice," Amamiya said quietly.

"I'm surprised you know it. I took Sakura to be more familiar with Featherman than you."

His face turned red at that and suddenly he couldn't meet Goro's eyes. "There was a recent rerelease at the end of last year because of the reboot. I, uh, might have...boughtoneforyou."

It took a moment for the words to register. "I don't recall ever telling you about this specific toy before."

"You didn't, or at least, not directly." Amamiya's face was quite a lovely shade of red. "You left a note. That's all it said. I thought that maybe- I thought it was a puzzle or something. Something for me to figure out. I didn't think I was prying or anything-"

"I hate you so much," Goro said, no bite in his voice as he felt tears prick his eyes.

Amamiya's arms wrapped around him, warm hands rubbing circles into his back. He was getting much too familiar with the feeling.

"I don't have much to offer with this...whatever it is."

"Just your beautiful self," Amamiya teased. "I...I can step back from this. If you want- if you need time. After that Palace and everything else-"

"Hm. If you are suggesting rest, then you are coming too. The way you run yourself ragged trying to help people...I'm again surprised you don't have a Palace."

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"Amamiya," he mumbled into the thief's chest. "I have wanted some sense of normalcy for some time now. I have wanted control of myself and I have wanted to make choices. That includes having you in my life, something that I had believed, up until very recently, was impossible. So much so that I denied any possible way for me to reach you, to reach for a new start that included you, that made good on our promise. Do not ask me if this is okay."

"So that's a yes to the drinks?" Amamiya said with a cheeky smile.

"See if you can convince me."

"Oh, I intend to!"

They were interrupted by Amamiya's phone going off and Goro scowled as he pulled away to check it.

"Futaba," he said by way of answering. "We should probably let the others know we're not dead."

"Fuck that," Goro scoffed. "Tell them we're going out for drinks."

"You sure? You said you were tired-"

"It was your suggestion, you fool! Make up your damn mind!" He scowled, lightly pushing Amamiya. "I want to spend time with you without guilt - no murder plots, no dying days. Just the two of us. It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."

"Why do I feel like you have something else you want to say?"

Damn him and his perceptiveness.

"I want to be aware of it when it happens," Goro admitted. "I don't want to consider it happening while I sleep or anything like that. I want to feel it happen."

"Hm."

Goro scrunched up his nose. "What was that for?"

"I think it might have happened already."

"What?!"

"Would you have confessed to me otherwise, or would you have walked away when I kissed you?" His breath tickled Goro's ear as he leaned in and it took all of Goro's willpower not to fling himself as far away from him as possible.

"Don't do that! I'm in a vulnerable state right now," he insisted. "I'm not in control of my actions! This is-"

"Calm down, honey." Goro sputtered in protest. How could he be so- so-

Cute!

Adorable!

"You're excited, and we just went through a lot. You just went through a lot. You're still you, I promise."

"How do you know that?"

"Only you would call me a bitch and then kiss me."

"I did not call you a bitch, I called you a bastard."

"My point still stands. You're still your old, pedantic, grumpy self, like I said." He pinched Goro's cheek as he said this. "And still so cute when you're angry."

"Drinks," Goro insisted, pushing him away again. "Now. Before I change my mind."

Muhen was so happy to see him that Goro thought the man was going to burst into tears, resigning himself to be pulled into a hug, mortified as the bartender led them to what he called their table.

"He was very worried about you."

"I can see that." It felt good to know that. The Jazz Jin had been a place of comfort for him for years now, Muhen someone he considered a good friend. To know that the man looked out for him and had missed him made him feel wanted.

Hearing the familiar music seemed to wash everything away. There was nothing else to worry about - it was just the two of them in their own little world. Amamiya was so touchy. Goro didn't think his hand left his for very long over the course of the evening. Each touch, even dulled through his gloves, made little sparks run through him.

He needed this more than he'd ever thought. Coming here has been a good choice, even if he could feel the exhaustion weighing him down. The visit was both too long and too short, both of them emerging back out onto the street just as the sun began to set.

Amamiya still hadn't let go of his hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss it gently.

"Can you just stay with me?" He asked. "Just for tonight? You said you wanted us to rest..."

"I..." Everything was happening so fast. Never in a million years could he have pictured this outcome. Perhaps he was dreaming, about to wake up, bleeding out down in the bowels of his father's ship or on the sands of Ithaca. It sounded too good to be true, the way this had ended. But here was Amamiya - Ren, he supposed - right in front of him, asking for them to be together.

It was everything he ever wanted and for once in his life he felt like he didn't need to deny himself.

Goro felt like he hadn't been in his apartment in years, but it was the same place he'd left just that morning, everything exactly as he had been. He dropped his jacket onto the couch, going to rifle through his drawers, finding some loungewear he threw at Amamiya without a second thought, disappearing into the bathroom. Locking the door, he sat next to the sink, taking a moment to process everything that had just happened in the last few hours.

His heart was changed. His Palace had collapsed. Ren Amamiya was in his bedroom undressing for the night after they'd gone out for drinks.

It was surreal. Everything seemed too sharp, too intense, like a hyper-realistic dream. He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts as he changed into his pyjamas. All those thoughts went out the window when he saw Amamiya, no, Ren, sprawled out on his bed, bundled up in blankets. Goro's clothes fit nicely on him, the sight something so precious. Ren perked up the second he heard the door open, his eyes barely half open as he diverted all of his attention to Goro.

Goro, in turn, steeled himself and crawled in under the covers next to him. Almost instinctively, Ren moved closer.

He's just a cat.

Something about that revelation was just too fond for him to comprehend at the moment. He was sleep-deprived, exhausted. Now was not the time to get all blubbery and horrendously affectionate - it was unbecoming of him. That was what Ren was for.

"Ren?" Ren. Ren. He'd said it before. It sounded much more official now, strange in his mouth.

"Mn?" He further nuzzled into Goro, nearly giving him a heart attack. This was a lot to take in!

"Thank you."

A sleepy smile spread across the thief's face. His thief. His. How the hell did he get here?! "No pr'b'em."

Already dead to the world, Ren pressed one more - sloppy, horrible, absolutely perfect - kiss to his lips before he slumped against Goro, snoring lightly.

For the first time in what felt like years, Goro slept peacefully.