The Aeon Arcana

Nightmare

Thursday, November 24. After School.

After a couple of days of rest and recovery, Ren finally called the Thieves together. Hifumi and the others were beside themselves with worry for you, asking nonstop questions about if you were okay. You tried to be as vague as possible about your experiences being trapped in a facility, as you didn't want to cause unnecessary worry. The other thieves were also filled in on your visions, which made you feel so relieved. You were tired of keeping it from them, but your experience at the lab made you fully understand why Akechi had been so adamant about you not telling anyone.

A group of high schoolers was bound to look suspicious standing outside the Diet building. The Thieves hatched a plan to stagger into the palace, instructed by Akechi where the security footage had blind spots. Ren and Akechi obscured their faces to not gain unwanted attention; Ren with a hoodie, and Akechi with a medical mask and ponytail (a hairstyle he rarely wore in public, unless you had forced it upon him).

You had already been inside Shido's Palace, so the shock and wonder of it being a ship had already worn off. To the others, though, they were stunned for quite a few moments by the bizarre yet beautiful view of Tokyo drowning beneath you.

"Let's get a move on!" Akechi said impatiently. He was already in his Black Mask attire. "This will be the easiest heist of your life! Everyone here is scared shitless of me, they'll let me right through."

You happily followed your boyfriend inside the palace. This was the only palace you bizarrely felt safe in, but it probably was because Akechi was the Enforcer.

"What an elegant lobby," said Hifumi, looking around. 

"It's too bad this place belongs to that–" Ryuji started to say.

"'effing bastard'?" Akechi finished. "Would it kill you to say fuck?"

"I like to save that for special occasions!" Ryuji protested. "Unlike you, I have some finesse."

Everyone was shocked for several seconds as they realized Ryuji had just burned Akechi to a crisp.

"Congratulations, Skull, you're now on my shitlist," Akechi growled after he had to recover.

"Can we just go grab the treasure?" Makoto asked, exasperated.

"Right! I can sense it this way!" Morgana said, leading the group.

Akechi walked alongside Morgana, finding the terrified looks on the cognitive people's faces in the lobby amusing.

You were suddenly stopped by a shadow. "Intruders!" It screamed.

"Would you shut up?!" Akechi yelled. "I'm here on business!"

The shadow didn't seem to be listening. It lunged at Akechi, who deflected its blow with his sword.

The group made quick work of the shadow, but Akechi seemed confused. "That's strange, they never dare attack me, especially not in the main lobby where the passengers are."

"Maybe we make them nervous," suggested Haru.

You stuck closer to Akechi after this battle. Your leg pain has significantly gotten worse, but a quick healing spell helped manage it. He was walking at a fast pace, and you were trying to hide that you were having trouble keeping up with him. You just wanted to be near him, instead of stuck in the back like you always were.

You hadn't thought about what your friends thought of you until now. You were in Shido's Palace, walking alongside the murderous Black Mask. You had done this many times before, but this time felt different. You felt…exposed. Like you had just been caught doing something dirty or obscene. You had been silently by Akechi's side through everything, even keeping things from your friends for the longest time. You felt strange being here, and you weren't certain how it was going to end.