[Closed] A Gathering of Thieves

[nuclearpowered]

Who: The Phantom Thieves and their Shinki
What: Information Sharing.
Where: The Far Shore, the Park
When: July 26th, Late Afternoon
Summary: 3 new gods arrive to find that 2 of their closest friends are dead, and they are responsible
for two other people as well. A talk is needed.

Warnings: Major Persona 5 Spoilers in comments, also probably language.



[Arriving here with little warning had been jarring enough, but when the Phantom Thieves realized that they weren't alone, and that two of their number had no memories, it was time to confer somewhere. Temples and the like had felt a little raw, and not wanting to stray too far from the Far Shore until they had their bearings, the group had gathered in the park. Akira, Ann, Futaba, Makoto, and Ryuji, along with the shinki that had unwittingly become part of their circle, all standing around in a small clearing, talking. It should've been a positive occasion, but there was no denying the shroud that hung over the group. There was a lot to talk about, and things that needed to be agreed upon.

The question was...how to even start?]

Comments

[herecomethebuffs]

[Futaba just barely resisted taking a step backwards at that look from Makoto. She was always a bit intimidated by the older girl, really. She was nearly as smart as Futaba was, except she was also pretty and strong and dangerous as all heck. But she was also, usually, the rational one of them.]

Maybe.

[She finally said, standing up on her tiptoes to make herself feel a little taller.]

Unless you're gonna hit me or something. I'm not as sturdy as a tree.

[It wasn't a serious concern, mostly meant to try and yank Makoto out of her moment.]

[nuclearpowered]

[Makoto met Futaba's gaze levelly, angry but not...unkind. And unlike with Ryuji, the younger girl didn't respond in anger, so there was no energy for her to feed off of, to veer this off the rails into dangerous territory.]

Futaba. I'm not going to hit you.

[She'd crush you with just a whiff. You are a small thing, even on tiptoe. Heat and red light surge as she considers just what to say next. Angry doesn't even begin to describe her mood.]

But God...I wish I could hit something. Anything. Especially a Crow. I can't calm down...even if I know I should.

[herecomethebuffs]

Well you can't. I mean, aside from the tree, and that doesn't seem to be satisfying, huh?

[Futaba shrugged, her eyes narrow, considering the glow. Makoto was a god of war, right? That was clearly having an effect of some kind or another. Even if none of this made sense. Why a...Hmm...]

A crow. [Like Adechi...] Why? He's dead.

[And not here-dead. Dead-dead.]

[nuclearpowered]

[War. Rage. Both?]

It's better than nothing.

[Clenching her jaw, she jerks her attention back towards the group of Shinki standing off doing their own thing. Zeroing in on Him. Akira.]

And why? Because that's how he died. Every time I close my eyes...I see his last moments. In...November. The plot failed, for Akira. That's why. I want to make him pay.

[herecomethebuffs]

What?

[Futaba's voice went up three octaves at that, eyes wide, falling back onto the balls of her feet and nearly dropping her laptop.]

No it didn't. It went perfectly. It couldn't have gone more perfectly if we'd had time to practice!

[nuclearpowered]

No.

[Makoto's tone dropped to something dull, flat. Still angry, but not directed at Futaba. Looking away, jaw set belligerently, Makoto's knuckles pop audibly.]

Not for him. I...saw him die. Ryuji saw Ann die. I don't know if you got to see what happened to your Soulless, but I saw that girl die too. Mabel. It's a part of the relationship I think.

[Practically growling, Makoto adds:]

...Alternate timelines I guess. Only possible explanation, but it's no less infuriating, seeing Akechi's face...

[And that gun.]

[herecomethebuffs]

[Futaba was quiet as she processed this, her weight shifting from her toes to her heels and back. Alternate timelines. That was a whole new set of variables she hadn't really ever considered before. Frankly, handling one timeline full of people was usually more than enough for her!]

[And yet...]

So. Akira isn't dead. [She said this quietly, and there was guilty relief in her voice.] I mean, yes, this Akira is...but back home. When we figure out how to get back home.

He's not dead.

[nuclearpowered]

[The relief Futaba's expressing actually...bothers Makoto a little. It's good to know that yes, their Akira is fine, but it's no less jarring or unfair to see visions of what might have been. What very nearly was, if not for a ridiculous gambit.]

That doesn't mean he's any less Akira, Futaba.

[The light is at least beginning to recede, slow and sure.]

We still owe him the same things we owe ours.

[herecomethebuffs]

Well, yeah. I mean, we'd still help him of course. He's Akira.

small>[But that meant somewhere out there guy she thought of as her brother now wasn't dead. She needed that, probably?]

So you saw it, huh? What happened to him. And the girl...Mabel? Who would kill a little kid?

[She's only three years younger than you, Futaba...]

[nuclearpowered]

He was shot. Akechi killed him in cold blood in the interrogation room, just like he did with the cognitive one in our timeline.

[She growls again, staring hard at the ground, but goes on to the other question.]

Mabel...choked to death. She wasn't killed, she just...ate some candy too quickly and nobody around her noticed in time. Poor thing.

[herecomethebuffs]

[Futaba finally did take a step back at this descriptions, her eyes shifting away, glancing over to the where the people they were discussing were, then just off into the distance.]

What a way to go.

[Said mostly to herself. And then she hesitated before turning back.]

So how do we help them?

[Said, not quite in ernest but close. Futaba needed a goal, something to focus on. She floundered when she was left to do nothing.]

[nuclearpowered]

[Makoto leaned in a little, putting a tentative hand on Futaba's shoulder as the last of the red light winked out. With no anger to feed off of, and a goal that didn't involve violence in mind, it was a little easier.]

We...I guess we learn everything we can about what's going on. We...fight the monsters they want us to fight, and we take care of them. Like...they are still people, and I get the impression that gods don't always treat shinki like anything more than a tool. I can't and won't abide that.

[herecomethebuffs]

[Futaba didn't pull away, so that was something. It was a short list of people who got to touch her.]

Okay. That makes sense, sure. I mean, even my soulless one needs a place to sleep...I think...But okay.

Let's say we figure out how to get home. [She hesitates, before looking up at the older girl.] They can't leave.

[nuclearpowered]

[That does mean something, and Makoto nods her head in assent.]

Temples. We'll use those. [They aren't all that far apart anyway.]

And as for the Shinki, I don't have an answer for that yet. We say they can't leave, but do we really know that? They're clearly functioning just fine right now, memory loss aside. Sudden miraculous recovery isn't exactly the most far fetched thing in our lives anymore, is it?

[herecomethebuffs]

Mine had a bunch of spare rooms. Assuming my shinki sleeps, anyway...

[She really needed to look into this soulless thing.]

Well, there's a pretty huge distance between what we do and coming back from the dead...probably...but I guess not.

Can't hurt to try.

[nuclearpowered]

Mine did too. It looked a little large for one person. Almost like a Palace, but not quite.

[Still, it did pretty clearly fit her vision of what a temple home should be. So something...cognitive?]

What god were you even assigned, Futaba?

[herecomethebuffs]

Theia. She's Greek. Titan of Sight, apparently. [Futaba shrugged, shifting her laptop in her hands.] Don't know much about her yet. But you ever seen those pictures of what like, the Oracle of Delphi looked like?

[Futaba spends way too much time getting lost in wiki dives.]

My temple preeeeeeeetty much looks exactly like that. [She tilted her head to the side.] 'cept for all the video screens.

[nuclearpowered]

Theia is one of the Titans. Zeus's sister, I think. [If she remembers her mythology correctly. Admittedly the Titanomachy isn't really her area of primary interest though.]

And I have, yes. That sounds fitting for you.

[Tapping her fingers against her chin, she considers how best to describe her own.]

I'm...Bellona, like I said. Roman Goddess of War and Rage. She...didn't actually have temples outside of one near the Roman capital that was used for an important ritual I'm told. But my temple looks like you'd expect from a Roman one. But inside is a big library and living space. So, I guess it also has aspects of me too.

[herecomethebuffs]

War. [Futaba laughed softly.] Because what you need to be is even stronger.

[It was a joke, really, but Makoto could be pretty scary-strong and scary-intimidating when she wanted to be.]

It sounds nice. The library bits and the...okay so juuuust the library bits but hey, work with what you've got right? [She swayed back and forth a bit.]

It is really weird right? Being gods? Having temples? I mean, not that I wasn't already a goddess on the internet buuuuut slightly different.

[nuclearpowered]

The rest of it's just a temple I guess. There are some interesting statues, too.

[Of Romulus and Remus, she thinks, but it's hard to tell. Her Roman knowledge is scattered.]

But yes, this is...really strange. Almost as strange as being Persona users and the cognitive world. Honestly it feels a little like an extension of the cognitive world.

[She frowns, something that came up troubling her still.]

I met someone who's assigned "god" was Raphael the Archangel. And another who's assigned "god" was Michael. I don't think it's limited to just gods, but I'm not exactly thrilled by stand-ins for beings we fought in the cognitive world.

[herecomethebuffs]

Huh. [Futaba had thought the whole Angel thing had been pretty weird to begin with and now they were here.]

Maybe they're...different angels? I mean, there's a different Akira so. Could be different.

[Hm.]

Or at least, they won't attack us right? No that wouldn't make sense. Since they're not actually the first gods any more than I'm actually Theia...ugh. This is all kinda dumb.

[nuclearpowered]

Oh, they are. They're people like us. It was disorienting at first, but Raphael seemed pleasant. Honestly, I...really don't even know why the Cognitive World had us fight against the Archangels.

[But they'd done it. and won. so whatever.]

Any intel you've found so far, on our situation?

[herecomethebuffs]

So you don't think they were really the angels?

[Futaba didn't even know if she really believed in angels, but they'd been convincing enough. And snooty enough, anyway.]

Mm. Not really. Most of the people I talked to talked about normal things. Like how life is here. Or Tv shows from the 'near shore.' Which means Japan, mostly.

[nuclearpowered]

Michael and the others? Honestly, no. From what I know of Christian cosmology, angels cannot directly interfere with humankind. Now, the world's cognitive perception of that is different, of course. Michael, the Wrath of God with his flaming sword, and Gabriel with his trumpet, and the others? They're a powerful image, so...why not?

[Makoto doesn't really know what to believe either but...]

At least we're in Japan. That'll make communication easier, since my English still isn't where I'd want it to be. I did hear we can go wherever we want though, and instantly, so sometime this summer I'd like to do a trip somewhere nice. Maybe Canada. Or somewhere exotic. It'd be good for morale.

[herecomethebuffs]

I can read English. A lot of it, anyway. [She spent way too much time online.] But speaking it, nope.

[Futaba paused suddenly, as if she had thought of something. Several somethings, judging by the way her eyes shifted about for several seconds as she thought them over.]

We can go to Greece. Through our shrines. And we're Greek gods. Think we speak Greek now? [A pause.] And have you noticed everybody is speaking Japanese even if they aren't Japanese?

[Or at least, Futaba had understood everything so far.]