Ren took a deep breath as he stared at the massive tower rising from the depths of Mementos, surrounded by a wave of spiraling, crimson dust. Massive veins rose from around the tower and through the center, each stretched taught and pumping what appeared to be blood from the central point of the tower.
The feelings of dread and hopelessness grew stronger the closer the group of teenagers walked to the massive tower, causing their hearts to pound in their throats as their nervousness skyrocketed.
Coming to a halt before the edge of the long pathway leading to their final destination, the leader of the group of rebellious teenagers couldn't help but stare downwards at the massive rib-cage-like set of stairs that would lead them into the strange temple.
While he could certainly admire avant garde artwork, such as the pieces created by his friend Yusuke, something about Mementos was just too disgusting and twisted for Ren to find any sort of beauty within its depths. Everything was either mechanical, demonic or even organic in nature, with structures created with materials that shouldn't, and couldn't, exist within the real world.
Far past the Path of Iweleth, the Phantom Thieves had fought their way through the depths, dealing with powerful enemies, imprisoned souls and mind-numbing puzzles alike until they reached their final destination. Ren couldn't help but feel a bit sad, knowing that this was the final time the Phantom Thieves would be needed before their jobs were officially done.
Here soon, he would be nothing more than just a normal kid in a normal world with normal friends, living a dull, normal life with a dull, normal job. The thought of having to go back to being a nobody, a nameless face in the crowd made his stomach clench in the most unpleasant way possible, though he knew that it was a needed sacrifice.
Glancing over his shoulder, Ren made eye contact with his comrades one final time, judging their reactions to the strange, temple-like structure that contained the Treasure of Everyone's Hearts.
"The hell is this?!" Ryuji shouted in shock, taking a singular step backwards as he reached up to remove his skull mask. Rubbing his eyes with his sleeves, the former track star couldn't seem to force his jaw to snap shut as he continued to stare at the massive tower before them in disgust, "Holy shit, dude, this… is this place Hell?"
"No, but it may as well be… It's so big! I can't believe there is something like this all the way down here…" Makoto trailed off as she took a step forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ren, "Do… do you think this is it?"
"Yeah, that should be the case," Morgana placed his small arms against his waist as he waddled to stand behind Ren, a fierce look on his otherwise adorable face, "This has to be it."
"How ominous… it could almost be likened to a temple of sorts…" Yusuke spoke lowly, an uneasy expression crossing his fox masked face as he continued to stare, "I can't even find inspiration in this, it's so grotesque."
"There's no damn point in freakin' out now! C'mon, let's go!" Ryuji decided he was sick and tired of waiting, stepping forward to swipe his hand through the air before clenching said fist tightly, "We're gonna snatch that treasure and get home before dinner!"
"Calm down, Ryuji," Morgana attempted to calm down the fiery pirate themed member of the Phantom Thieves, only for his words to fall on deaf ears as Ryuji bolted down the strange set of stairs leading to the temple, "Good grief, I swear he has attention deficit disorder."
"I think you might be onto something, Mona," Makoto giggled lightly at the exasperation of the cat-boy, "Either way, Ryuji is right. Let's go steal that Treasure!"
"You know it, Queen." Ann took a step forward to walk beside Makoto and Haru while Yusuke, Morgana, Ren and Ryuji took the lead, "So, what do you think the Treasure is going to look like?"
"Something as twisted as the rest of this place, most likely," Ren spoke up from his spot near the front of the group, "I can't be sure, though. What do you think, Mona?"
"… I don't know," The sad expression that crossed the face of the humanoid cat was strangely out of place for the situation they found themselves in, "I can only guess until we actually get there. This is different from the rest of the Treasures we've stolen."
"I guess we'll find out," Ren assured his smaller friend while reaching out to place a crimson gloved palm atop his head, "Don't worry, we got this."
"Yeah, I guess so," Morgana trailed off, the uneasy feeling crushing down on his body only growing stronger the closer the Phantom Thieves got to the massive shrine, "I… I don't know, I just can't shake this feeling."
"We have your back, Mona," Ann sped up her gait to come to walk beside the smaller being, "Thick through thin."
"Thanks… you're the best, Ann!"
Ren didn't say it, but Morgana wasn't the only one with the sickening feeling of dread forming a bottomless pit in his stomach.
***
Entering through the strange, escalating gap in the shrine's walls, Ren was the first to walk towards the edge. As he stared into the depths, he could make out what appeared to be a massive cauldron with pulsating, crimson veins hanging from the ceiling and into the device. Around either side of the massive, veined machine, two hands of stone were carved and placed.
Lining the walls around the entire shrine were prison cells, filled with victims that had grown to love being entrapped within the structure known as Mementos.
"Is that the bottom?" Ryuji leaned over the edge slightly to get a better look, his face set into a firm, yet tense scowl, "This place really puts me on edge."
"Yeah, me too," Morgana replied almost sadly as he continued to glance around, "This has to be it, let's go."
"Yeah, let's." Ren was the first to take the leap unto the next level, leaving the people in the cages where they sat. He knew it would just be the same type of rhetoric, should he try to speak with them.
'Please… Save us all… Make all our dreams reality…'
'It will grant all our wishes… We'll be free from everything…'
'Just give me what I want… Just end it all…'
'My wish is actually going to come true… I can finally… Be happy…'
Their voices, so listless and hollow, followed them as they passed. It was the same for every being they had come across, including those whose Hearts had been stolen prior to their incursion into Mementos.
Haru was the most visibly bothered, being the most affectionate member of their entourage by far. It hurt her to hear the apathy in their voices, or their desires to be enslaved and thrown into a cell. None of it made sense to her, nor any other member of their merry band of thieves.
No one attempted to comfort her as they descended, because despite their stony faces, they felt the same. That was the meaning behind their presence so far into the Palace created by the Will of the People.
It was hard to comprehend just how disgustingly twisted everything was the further they traveled into the physical representation of the mental state of the people.
Level by level, the group descended until they came to the ground floor. Despite how ornate the massive chamber appeared, it was far more eerie than grand due to the prison cells lining every section of the spire.
"The hell am I looking at?!" Ryuji was as eloquent as always as he squatted forward to get a better look, unable to comprehend just how large and complicated the mechanical looking chalice in the center of the room really was.
"What is that thing, Joker?" Came the voice of Futaba from just beyond their range of sight, having been watching their backs from the entrance through her own means, "I can't understand what this thing is trying to tell me!"
"I don't know, Futaba, but I want to deface it before we leave, if this isn't our last stop." Ren admitted, disliking how grand the disgustingly complex chalice was. The pulsating veins ending inside of the bowl of the chalice made for a disgusting image, and Ren wasn't sure any amount of brain bleach would ever remove this scenery from his memory.
"Whatever it is, it's disgustingly grand…" Ann trailed off while taking an involuntary step back away from the monstrosity in the center of the room, the feeling of dread around it being almost too much to bear, "Is… is this what we're here for, Mona?"
"Yeah…" Morgana shook his head to clear away whatever was plaguing his mind, his eyes opening with determination, "There's no mistaking this presence. If we get rid of this thing, the public will come to its senses!"
"Something that large will be impossible to carry out of here ourselves…" Yusuke lamented in his usual fashion, easily one of the most emotional people that Ren had even encountered in his life, "What do you propose we do?"
Ryuji stepped forward with a large smile on his face, seemingly ready for war with the way Megido Fire was held in his hands. "We just gotta make it disappear, right? If we can't move it, we destroy it!"
"Of course you would suggest that." Ann rolled her eyes while resting her weight on one leg, "I don't see any other way, though."
"Yeah, that will work…" Morgana nodded his head firmly, seemingly intent in the same thing Ren and Ryuji had settled their minds upon.
"But… if we destroy that thing, won't the entire Metaverse collapse or something?" Ann was not exactly keen on trying to destroy the massive structure if it would destroy the parallel dimension they were dwelling upon at the moment, "Do you think we would have enough time to get out of this place?"
As Ann spoke, the sound of an ominous, blaring siren that sounded suspiciously like chanting choirs erupted from far above, echoing downwards and reverberating within their minds.
The voice of Futaba once more cracked into existence as she forced her way into the network of the Metaverse to impose her will around her party. "It's no surprise that we've been discovered, so there's no need for me to state the obvious here. That thing isn't going to sit back and let itself get destroyed."
Yusuke spun around slowly, peering through the cages around him as the inmates within the cells began to try and rise from their seated positions. The veins that had pierced the necks of those trapped within the cells began to pulsate with a glowing, eerie yellow light, moving away from the cellmates and towards the massive chalice the Phantom Thieves stood before.
"The inmates are even starting to liven up… How eerie, are they planning something?" The fox masked thief questioned, one hand resting upon his sheathed katana while the other held his assault rifle at the ready, "Let's not get caught flat footed here."
The sirens continued to blare and only seemed to grow louder and louder as the light shining through the massive hole in the tower bled an angry crimson, bathing the occupants of the massive temple structure in its glow.
"That must mean this things the Treasure, they just saved us the trouble of checkin'." Ryuji was rearing to get the whole ordeal over with, putting on a face of strength to hide just how unnerved he was by the entire situation.
"Hold on, something's off…" Makoto spoke loudly to get her friends's attention over the blaring speakers and chanting voices, "Shido said that the masses were allowing themselves to be held captive here… could they really be operating this entire system that eliminates intruders all on its own?"
"The prison guards and soldiers were very organized, too…" Makoto couldn't think of the words to finish what she was saying, allowing her sentence to die on her lips.
"Are you trying to say that someone else rules this place?" Yusuke turned his attention away from the grotesque chalice that took up a large portion of the room and towards his teammate, "Is it not the public?"
An ominous laughter rang out, easily heard above their voices and those of the crowds of inmates, cutting them off from further speculation. It continued for all of a few seconds before disappearing, falling silent once more.
"This is it," Ren shouted to his teammates, "No holding back, we're going to free those people whether they like it or not!"
"Right!" Haru was quick to agree with her leader, feeling that the best course of action was to use violence. She liked it when the best course of action was violence and this time was no different.
The group quickly scattered from their positions, slowly circling the massive chalice while preparing their melee weapons and ranged weapons alike. Haru was the first to start, firing a round from her grenade launcher, causing an explosion to slam into the structure before them.
It did nothing but scuff the surface, not even chipping the material it was crafted from. The feather-like appendages that curled around one another beneath the metal bands surrounding the chalice bound tighter, preparing for an attack. The massive jewel in the center of the metal band glowed white before firing a blast of light towards Haru in response, which she dodged just in the nick of time.
"Good shot, Noir," Ren called out while pulling his own firearm from his inner coat, firing three shots at the jewel in response, "Can we get another?"
"Coming right up, Joker!" Haru had certainly cheered up upon entering combat, blasting the jewel targeted by Joker with another explosion, "Ah, how therapeutic."
Ignoring the battle-lust that their fluffy haired teammate seemed to fall into, Ryuji and Ann were side by side as they unleashed their own spray of bullets as they circled wide around the chalice. The buckshot rounds used by Ryuji were known to shred most beings they ended up fighting within a few rounds, but the strange Treasure they fought ate them like they were nothing. Ann had the same problem with the weaker rounds her Chicago Typewriter used, not dealing enough damage to be noticeable.
"This isn't working, hit it harder!" Ren called out as he put his firearm away before reaching deep within the pool of energy hiding within his body, "Come, Kaguya!"
Behind him, a semi-mechanical woman formed from blue flames, becoming something more than a phantasm as she drew upon his internal strength. A set of ornate robes covered her lithe frame, while a trailing set of sleeves hovered around her body while being connected to her headdress. Her hands fit through large holes in the sleeves with slender fingers meant for finer things in life than combat.
From her fingertips, glistening blades of light were flung, piercing the central portion of the chalice deeply. After firing off her attack, Kaguya faded once more, leaving Ren to dodge to the left of the counterattack of the Treasure.
"This is pretty crazy looking on my end, guys, how are you holding up?" Futaba's voice crackled into existence, dripping with worry so thick they could feel it from where they fought, "Everyone doing okay?"
"Yeah, so far so good," Ryuji was the one to answer her as he drew his large staff, Ruyi Jingu Bang, backwards before slamming it into the base of the Treasure, "This thing is made of damn strong stuff, jeez!"
"Just keep it up!" Ren shouted as he once more called upon Kaguya, allowing her ethereal body to manifest into reality behind him. Her shining arrows of light were once more flung from her fingertips, piercing the chalice in the same spot Ren kept targeting while chipping the white jewel severely, "Finally!"
'No, take my strength…'
'Not… don't touch my Holy Grail!'
'That's right, the Holy Grail shall never perish!'
The voices of the inmates grew louder and louder, chanting their discontent with the treatment of their Treasure. A low, moaning voice was heard over the din of their voices, drawing the attention of Ren back towards his opponent and not those he was trying to save from themselves.
Golden light began to travel down the grotesque veins pooling into the chalice, flooding their sights with light as all of the damage incurred by their opponent was healed instantly by overwhelming healing spells.
"No way… what the heck?!" Futaba was more upset with their opponent healing than the rest expressed, though the sentiment was silently shared, "What was that?!"
'What are you doing to our Holy Grail?!'
"Don't tell me… are the inmates giving it their strength?!" Futaba seemed to figure out just how their opponent had healed, "That.. That's cheating!"
"Damnit! This is never gonna end!" Ryuji seemed tired of wacking away at the mighty Treasure, his arms having finally given out after a good five minutes of constant swinging.
"It seems hopeless if there are this many inmates supporting it…" Yusuke was quick to point out, sheathing his blade and straightening his stance to conserve his energy, "How bleak."
"You fools. Human, yet wishing to eradicate the desires of Humanity. Repent."
"What was that?!" Ann was the first to speak after the booming voice echoed out, taking over the chamber completely with its sound, "No way!"
"The Treasures talking?" Makoto was incredulous, aiming her revolver at the massive construction representing Humanities Heart, "How?!"
"I am revered as the Granter of Dreams for all who behold me. This Prison of Regression, my prison, is representative of the collective desires of Humanity."
The voice once more spoke, drowning out the noise created by the riled up inmates as they slammed into their bars violently.
Ren couldn't help but take a step away from the massive structure, the ominous feeling that settled upon his shoulders upon reaching the depths of Mementos only growing stronger.
"They wish to be chained down, to surrender their cognition and neglect the world around them… These feeble minded commonfolk will make your so-called 'social reform' all for naught."
The Phantom Thieves all gathered behind Ren as he took a step forward while swiping his hand through the air.
"Be silent! They have lost their way, but we can show them how to live for their selves again! Release them!" Ren shouted, his voice carrying over the din just as easily as the godlike voice that emanated from the Holy Grail.
"The shared heart of the masses has fallen into an excess of indolence and thus, transformed into what you see before you. Thus, the only suitable option is to allow them to perish in this prison they have created for themselves!"
"Get ready, here it comes again!" Morgana shouted while calling upon the abilities of his Persona, Mercurius, "Garudyne!"
A pillar of wind began to churn around the chalice, cutting miniscule grooves into the surface of the now glistening, golden Holy Grail. It was not enough to make a noticeable dent, but they could all feel the presence diminish ever so slightly.
Ren dashed to the side of his feline partner and shoved him out of the way of a blast of light that he almost didn't notice, too busy celebrating a good hit on his opponent. "Pay attention, Mona!"
"Sorry, Joker," Morgana sounded displeased, but it was to be expected after being admonished, "I'll keep a better eye out, thanks."
A tree began to sprout from beneath the chalice, curling around the chains attached to the bottom before shattering, courtesy of a magic spell by Yusuke. Ann quickly followed it up, calling upon her Persona, Hecate, before blasting the Holy Grail with a surge of fire by using an Agidyne spell.
The rapid attacks accumulated quickly and soon, the Holy Grail was forced to heal once more.
"It healed again?!" Futaba growled, her voice as static-filled as always from the confines of her Persona, "Darn it… try this out for size!"
Hacking through the network of the Metaverse, Futaba was able to increase the strength, defense and agility of her teammates using her ultra charge skill, allowing them to attack harder than before.
"Thanks, Futaba," Ren called out as he once more called upon Kaguya to stab the Holy Grail with her light arrows, "We wouldn't be able to do this without you."
"Aww, stop, you're making me blush," Futaba drawled without missing a beat, having grown used to Ren and his way of keeping morale, "Just keep trying to crush this oversized sippie cup so we can get this over with!"
"Yes ma'am!" Ryuji grinned as he called upon Son Goku before the two were barreling towards the Holy Grail, each smacking the massive chalice with their staves as hard as they could.
After a few more minutes of fighting and dodging around beams of light, the Holy Grail healed itself for the final time.
"This is quickly getting old." Yusuke seemed to be losing his patience, if the strange grin on his face was to go by, "I say we go for one last all out attack."
"Oh, man, Inari is getting his panties in a bunch," Futaba called out, already knowing that Yusuke was a better fighter when mad, "We better watch out!"
Their banter was cut short as once more, the crowds of inmates began to chant, this time louder than ever before.
'Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here.'
The droning chanting continued on and on with what sounded like hundreds of voices chiming in.
"If this is how the people really feel, we'll never be able to steal their Hearts…" Morgana lamented lowly, glancing downwards as he tried to ignore the chanting voices, "Did we come all this way… for nothing?"
"This is horrible…" Haru brought a hand to her mouth to stifle the sound of her sorrow, knowing that they continued to fight a losing battle, "What do we do?"
"You imbeciles, drunk on your perverted, so called 'Justice', this is the will of the Children of Man who have fallen into spiritual decay. My lustrous shine is proof of their worship of my image, and as long as Humanity yearns for me, I shall never perish."
"Is this what everyone really wants?!" Makoto shouted while rising her head to stare upwards at the inmates around her, "To give up control so badly that they would throw away everything we have done, all to stop thinking for themselves?!"
"We all know we can't accept that," Ren called out while jabbing a finger towards the Holy Grail, "To do so now, after everything we've done, would be spitting on the graves of those we've lost. We promised a change, and I'll be damned if we can't deliver."
The Phantom Thieves knew he wasn't just speaking of their failure to prevent the death of Kunikazu Okumura, but the very man who caused the death of their target in the first place.
"I know… I'm just so frustrated I feel like I'm going to cry…" Makoto trailed off as she continued to glance around the room, the feeling of hopelessness only growing as the chanting grew louder.
"The humans I look up to aren't like that!" Morgana shouted, drawing attention back to himself as he tried to lift the spirits of his squad, "No matter how painful reality is, it's only over if you don't try and change how things are! You taught me that, Ren, and it's a lesson that I'll take with me everywhere I go!"
The noises of agreement made by his team allowed Morgana to continue, stopping even the Holy Grail from speaking until he was done.
"We don't want to turn back into the people we used to be," Morgana waddled forward to stand toe to toe with Ren in staring upwards at the Holy Grail in defiance, "That's why we risked our lives coming here!"
"Mona…" Haru came to stand beside Morgana while placing a hand upon his masked head, drawing his attention towards the fluffy haired axe wielder before he gave her a pleased smile, "You've always had a way with words."
"He's right!" Ann piped up as she and Ryuji stepped forward as well, "We've come too far to just give up now!"
"Humanities desires have already started to actualize, I am merely the focal point for their distortions to bleed into the Real World. Now, behold as I take my place as God of the World and encroach upon Reality itself!"
A massive, blue aura of strength began to flow outwards from the towering, golden chalice, causing the ground beneath them to rumble strongly. The tower around them, too, began to shake and sway under the intense wave of pressure pressing outwards against the prison cells.
"What a load of shit!" Ryuji reached out and grabbed ahold of Ann before spinning his back to the Holy Grail, preventing his childhood friend from being buffered by the forces of gravity baring sideways upon them, "Gah!"
"Ryuji!" Ann shouted in worry, watching as quite a few stones of stray rubble from the fighting impacted his back, "Are you alright?!"
"This is nothin', don't worry about me," Ryuji gave her a weak grin, though the wince on his face did little to ease her worries, "Mind patching me up?"
"Of course not, you idiot…" Ann whispered under her breath as a glowing, green light washed over his body thanks to a Media spell cast by the blond whip wielder, "There, that should do it."
The gears on the face of the Holy Grail began to spin around the structure faster on their tracks while swirling, white energy bled from the ground and added to the glowing, blue aura around it. The pressure once more increased as the Phantom Thieves were pushed back further and further from the strange increase in strength of their opponent.
"I don't know what you are, but you can't keep arbitrarily deciding things on your own," Morgana grit his teeth and attempted to move forward against the pressure, once more grabbing onto the coat tail of Ren as if flapped before him, "The humans I know aren't as stupid as you make them out to be!"
"Hmph. Indolent, foolish Humans… You shall offer your Hearts to me."
A beam of light tore from the center of the glistening Holy Grail and traced along the ground before them. Everything faded to white for Ren as he heard the pained cries of his teammates fill his ears.