Chapter Text
“Good morning, my dear trickster.”
Akira shifted, the gentle voice rousing him from his admittedly shitty slumber. The crinkles of his school uniform he didn’t bother to take off the night before were showing themselves like badges of shame, and a part of him winced when he realized someone else had seen him like this.
Turning his head to face the voice, his eyes met a pair of piercing golden ones, their brilliant shine befitting of their otherworldly owner. She smiled when they made contact, taking a bow with her compendium in hand.
“Forgive my early arrival, I found myself rather restless as I awaited our meeting.”
She turned to face Morgana, who nodded in response.
”Always a pleasure, lady Lavenza. Akira, show some decorum fitting for a thief of your caliber! You’re in the presence of a velvet attendant you know.”
Grumbling, the teen sat up.
“You’re asking for too much, but I’ll bite. Definitely need to shower first though, so give me a second you two.”
Without another word, he quickly grabbed a change of clothes and slipped on his shoes before heading downstairs, completely ignoring the “Mom says breakfast is ready! Sojiro’s out right now!” from Futaba, who happened to be already in a booth chowing down.
Lavenza sighed, sitting on the bed and holding the compendium on her lap. Opening a page, intangible Tarot cards flew out akin to a hologram, with 23 smaller cards surrounding the Fool in the middle. Morgana watched in earnest, taking in the sight as she began speaking to herself aloud.
“Trickster… I admire your tenacity and dauntlessness, but I just… I can’t… I don’t want to lose you. I’ve seen what losing a guest does to an attendant. There’s a pull I feel when you’re around, and I happen to catch myself smiling more than I ever have before. Master told me this was a normal occurrence in the bond between attendant and their guest, so I know if something happens to you, I’ll… I’ll do something rash.”
The majority of the arcana once again lost their luster and reversed, aside from a few including her own. The world Arcana, ever elusive, remained unchanged, and strayed a bit away from the rest of the set.
The Empress sparking just a bit before fading and reversing caught her attention, and she couldn’t hold back a relieved grin at the sight. Already changing his fate, this was definitely her trickster.
“As the one who rules over power however, it wouldn’t be fitting of me to give into fear…”
Closing the book with newfound resolve, she stood up and stretched.
“And I suppose in a way, going against my worries and pressing on is my own little rebellion. He’s influenced me more than I thought…”
She smiled at that, liking the idea and turning to Morgana.
“I must thank you for everything you’ve done, and I’m sorry to ask more of you. Please continue to aid him in my stead, and I’ll do what I can.”
Forming an expression as close to a grin as a cat could possibly make, he nodded.
“Definitely don’t have to ask me that! I would never abandon him.”
Akira’s phone buzzed under his pillow, making Morgana jump a bit and catching Lavenza’s gaze. Picking it up, she touched the screen and watched it unlock. Her eyes darted around the multitude of apps and at the colorful background, and she tapped one randomly out of curiosity.
Whimsical Music blared, and a game started up.
“Angry Birds? What do these colorful creatures have to be wrathful about? And are these said birds? They seem to only vaguely resemble the one’s I’ve studied…”
Morgana tried not to laugh and potentially sound disrespectful, as the all-powerful Velvet attendant became enamored with human technology.
Wait a minute, no phone lock? Ah geez, I forget how reckless he is when it comes to his own safety. We need to have a discussion one of these nights about this.
Surprisingly, she didn’t peruse it any further, opting instead to suddenly hold a hand to her chest and steady her breathing.
“Lady Lavenza? Is something wrong?”
She nodded slowly, taking her time before explaining.
“It is extremely difficult to stave off exhaustion maintaining this form while Maruki controls this reality. However, the cognition of this place, one of safety and “home”, makes it easier to combat. Though I’d still appreciate it if his allies arrived quickly despite that, it’s quite strenuous to hold it together…”
Sitting on the bed, the attendant clutched the compendium tight and focused on relaxing her body as much as possible. Footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs, and Akira’s hair poked out from under the floor until he was completely in view.
“Sorry about that, I’m good to go now. Wait, why is my phone open? And is that- is that Angry birds? You better not have used my mighty eagle items.”
Swiping his phone, he closed the app as another pair of footsteps creaked up the attic, this time the sound belonging to Akechi.
The former detective took in the sight of the room… And smirked. Air even blew out of his nostrils in amusement. Akira tried not to give this man any more ammunition then he already had, but god was he tempted to start a shit show over it. He knew better though. Lavenza came all this way for them after all, and he was forever a gentleman at heart.
“Is this all, dear trickster?”
Akechi raised a brow at the shorter girl, having never seen her a day in his life. Her attire was… ethereal, to say the least.
”And who may this be?”
The one being addressed stood up from the bed, the light pitter of her steps lasting a second before closing the distance between them. She stuck her hand out, giving a gentle smile.
”You’re the other wildcard, I sense it. Akechi was your name… You may call me Lavenza, our mutual friend’s assistant.”
Taking her hand which was much smaller than his into a shake, he answered politely back.
“I’d hesitate to call he and I friends, but for the sake of my sanity I’ll say yes and not risk a potential hour long debate.”
Chuckling, she let go, quickly sitting on the couch and clearing her throat as a way of gathering attention. All in attendance gave it to her in full, and so she began.
“Now, you’re all very observant individuals, so I’ll keep this brief. I’m certain you’re aware of how that man’s power can rewrite reality, but it is actually not a total-wipe like one may believe. He can rewrite an individuals’ cognition, so combining that with access to mementos, it’s not unreasonable to assume he can sort of ’take root’ in the masses overall cognition, and through there manipulate reality. It’s more than likely this power is unique to a persona, as if that false god you defeated had this ability, I’m certain it would’ve been used by him.”
Akechi put’s a hand to his chin, giving his input.
”I’ve never heard of a persona user and a palace co-existing within an individual… However, I’ve only ever met this one’s group besides myself & Yoshizawa who possess that power. And speaking of her, it must mean he used that power to alter her cognition then. Using a persona in the real world…”
Lavenza nodded, clasping her hands together as her compendium wobbled on her lap.
”Indeed! You’re quite bright Akechi, it’s a marvel to see your mind at work. For this power, I’ve dubbed it ‘actualization’, to refer to it easier.”
Continuing, she placed her hands back on the large book.
”Now, you may ask yourselves ‘how did one man, a mortal man at that, change everyone’s cognition?’. For this, think back to the last large battle you faced.”
Morgana spoke up next, eyes widening as much as they could in his cat form.
”Did we do this? Give him that power? When we defeated Yaldabaoth?”
Lavenza nodded.
“Not intentionally… And not exactly, either. It was the phantom thieves, excluding yourself Morgana, and you too Akechi. The seeds of desire for a world without the strife they endured must have occurred through separate conversations each member who came into contact with him must’ve had.”
Akira added the missing detail in himself.
”Through the counseling… It had to have been then. This is our fault.”
Lavenza nodded again, a empathetic smile on her lips.
“Do not blame yourself, nor your fellow thieves. Now is the time for action, as you’ve taught me.”
Standing up, a faint glow enveloped her, signaling her weakening grip on this plane.
“I’ll conclude with the most important detail: Maruki is influencing this world through the blurred boundaries not yet fully detached from the fusion with mementos, steadily actualizing the world of the masses as a whole. If he continues on this way, the cognitive world and reality will fuse once more, and anyone currently caught in the actualization will be trapped in their fabricated life and may never awaken to the true world. Should you stand any chance of winning, you MUST defeat him before the fusion fully occurs and he has total control over all. You have about 1 month’s time to do so, and again, I will help in any w-way I can.”
Stuttering on that last bit, she gave one final look at her trickster, and mustered a thumbs up before her form began fading away.
“Good luck, Akira.”
A flash, and then, nothing.
Akechi chuckled, making his rival raise a brow.
“Something you find amusing about this situation?”
He smirked… Akira registered it as a shit-eating grin.
“We’re cleaning up the mess of people who don’t even realize they’ve made one. Never took you for the nanny type, is all.”
His teeth grit, blood beginning to simmer.
”And yet you’re helping.”
”I refuse to live in a world ruled by anyone is all. I’m done with that. I’d have died trying by myself if you hadn’t wised up and avoided the actualization and Morgana was indulging himself like the rest. They had their uses, but they didn’t command real willpower like us it seems.”
Simmering? Now it was hitting a boil. Akechi’s word’s weren’t an issue, surprisingly, as much of a smug asshole he was being.
It’s that some small, ugly part of Akira found himself agreeing with him. And it scared him half to death. Advancing forward and getting in his face, he readied a retort. Morgana stood on his legs, a battle stance of sorts to assist if things got bad.
“Then why don’t you go-“
A creek was heard from the steps. Akira’s attention was grabbed, witnessing a slice of red from the halfway point of the steps. There’s nobody else he’s known or seen with hair that deep a shade the color.
“Sumire?”
Meekly, she poked her head up further, the girl’s spectacled gaze meeting his own.
“Um… Hello, Senpai… Or… Senpai’s, rather… It’s nice to see you Akechi, and Morgana. I’m not interrupting, am I?”
Akechi pushed him off, albeit not as roughly as one might’ve expected him to, and looked at her with a very real smile for all the wrong reasons.
“Interrupting? Oh no no, we were just having a jovial exchange of dialogue as you can clearly see by your friends demeanor.”
She nodded back, relieved and walked the rest of the way up. Akechi looked her over with curiosity at her appearance being so different, but made no comment.
“I guess I should just say it then… I heard everything. I’m sorry for eavesdropping, really, I was coming here so early to hopefully talk to Senpai and Morgana a bit more before class but I ended up being late anyway so I decided I might as well just come here and do what I set out to do regardless since it’s not like it matters… Apparently? I’m not 100% clear on our current situation, but I think we don’t necessarily have to worry about attendance… At least I hope so.”
She took a breath after that long winded explanation, adjusting her glasses. Akira sighed, giving her a weak smile he didn’t have the energy to expend on to reassure her.
“Let’s just go get sushi.”
Morgana perked up.
“You mean now? It’s early… though who am I to question our leader? Onward!”
He jumped into the bag laying beside the bed and poked his head out. Akechi just kept on smirking, but he didn’t protest as he headed downstairs.
“I’ll brief you a little more on the way there Yoshizawa, let’s get moving.”
Sumire, still a bit bewildered at the sudden declaration of getting food, just did as she was told, headed down the stairs behind him.
Akira took Morgana in his bag and wordlessly followed. There was a perfectly good plate of slightly cold curry waiting for him as he passed by a surprisingly empty Leblanc, but he knew eating it would feel as hollow as the currently vacant establishment.
One month. All I got is one month. Just 30 or so days…
Well. Here goes nothing.
Morgana gazed up at his stern expression, and steeled his resolve. It was time for him to step up, as humanity, and his best friend’s, hope.