Bloodthirsty (Persona 5 AU)

Chapter Six: Carmen

We headed for the window we got in through last time. Mona and Skull were the first to get in, followed by me. With no problem at all, I jumped in and looked around. 

"Looks like they don't know 'bout this way in yet," Skull said.

"Joker, Skull... Are you ready? Let's go!" Mona said and we headed to the hall. As we were about to enter one door, we heard a voice from the armored guard. "Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!"

"Wh-What the hell?!" Skull whisper shouted behind me. We looked at where the voice came from. "Hey, look! Ain't that..."

We came closer and saw Kamoshida standing on the top of the staircase. "Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining. However, I can't allow that trash to ransack my castle! Strengthen the security! Kill them on sight! I'll reward whoever brings me their heads."

The guards in the main hall cheered. "Praise be to King Kamoshida! Death to the intruders!"

"Hey, Mona. Can't we just beat the crap outta him and call it a day?" Skull asked.

"Look at those soldiers, idiot! It'd be suicide. And I'm sure you don't want a repeat of last time. Besides, don't you want him to confess his sins? There's no point beating him up. We need to steal his materialized desires... The Treasure." Mona answered. 

"Fiiiine. So, where is it?" the boy asked.

"It has to be somewhere in the depths of this castle. Let's infiltrate further in while he's out here!" Mona said. We both nodded and headed back to the door we were about to enter.

I slowly opened the door, yet immediately jumped back. Standing in the middle of the room was another Shadow. Reflexes having kicked in, I move to the side as to not get spotted. The guard turned around and looked, confused as to not see anyone there.

"Dammit, there's a guard over here too... Whaddya wanna do? Should we kick its ass?" Skull asked me.

"Hold on." the cat-like creature spoke, "Hmmm... This might be a good opportunity to teach you something... Alright, Joker! Are you ready to take it down?"

I nod and run towards it before slashing my dagger at it. Immediately, it turns into its true form, a small fairy.

"Remember how I taught you Hold Ups and All-out Attacks? I'll teach you their practical use now. There's another use for Hold Ups besides simply defending enemies." Mona spoke. "Shadows are beings born from peoples hearts, so naturally, they can talk too. In other words, you can communicate with them. Get it?" I nod and he continues. "If you talk to them when they're cornered, they might offer money or items since they don't want to die. In fact, talking has a better chance of scoring something great, as opposed to just offing them. Well then, let's do the first step: Knock all the enemies down and do a Hold Up!"

Smirking, I get out my gun and fire it at the poor thing, knocking it down just like Mona said. We surround it and point our guns at it. Then, it starts talking.

"Seriously?! You guys are the intruders that King Kamoshida was talking about...? It can't get worse than this... What are you going to do with me?!" the Shadow cries out.

"Give me some money," I say simply.

"Huh? So you'll let me live if I just give you money?" it asks, seemingly confused.

"Well, something along those lines... Now let it be money or items. Just cough it up!" Mona says with a proud smirk.

"But, this happened so suddenly... I actually don't have anything on me... I-I usually do though, you know?!"