Spectra (Ryuji x OC)

33 • Mementos

12/24 After School

We kept going down and down, we even ran into the Shadow versions of those we defeated, all of them locked in a cage with many others we had never seen before.

But what caught my attention the most was a door behind a cage. There was nothing special about it, except it meant everything. I just didn't know it.

"Doesn't that cell seem... different from the others?" Noir asks.

"Wait... could this be that Quarantine Cell?" Queen asks.

"Supposedly the most sinful, most dangerous inmate is held within..." Fox said.

"This... this place smells familiar for some reason..." Mona says. "There's no mistake. This is it. I... was born here"

"Born? Inside the prison?" Noir asks in shock.

"Wait, then are you the dangerous inmate!?" Panther asks.

"No... the inmate wasn't me..." Mona said.

I glanced over at Joker, realizing that this place was a door to the Velvet Room. Joker was the dangerous prisoner meant to be locked behind that door. Possibly. Unless the dangerous prisoner was Igor.

"But I remember this place. Someone created me here... to guide all of you," Mona responds.

"Guide? And who is this someone?" Noir asks.

"I can't remember... damn it. I'm so close, but my memory is too foggy"

"Y'know, hearin' all this just makes me wanna know what's inside," Skull says.

"We found them! The escapees are in front of the isolated cell!" A Shadow Guard says. "Alert! Alert! Capture them at once!"

The Shadows attacked but we quickly took them out, continuing on, hoping that if we got further down maybe Mona's memories would return. When we did finally make it down to the depths, to the end of the road, we found a giant chalice in the middle of a room full of people in cages.

"The hell?" Skull asks.

"Look at how many there are... are these all prison cells?" Fox asks.

"And... what's that thing in the middle?" Oracle asks.

"Whatever it is it looks disgustingly grand..." Panther says.

"There are no other passages leading out of this room. It appears this is our final destination... the depths of Mementos," Fox says.

"In that case, is the Treasure of Mementos somewhere in here?" Noir asks.

"That should be the case," Joker says.

"I think you're right," Mona says. "I've never been here... but I can sense it. There's no mistaking that presence. If we get rid of it... if we get rid of it the public should come to its senses!"

"But something that large will be impossible to carry out of here," Fox says.

"We just gotta make it disappear, right? If we can't move it, then we'll just halfta destroy it!" Skull suggests.

"Of course you automatically think of destruction," I say with a sigh. "But, in this case, it may be our only way of stopping this"

"Once we do that, the entire Metaverse is going to disappear, right? This is finally it..." Panther says.

Lights shone out of the giant chalice and the gears that surrounded it started to move.

"Oh, I guess it's no surprise we've been discovered," Oracle says. "That thing isn't gonna sit back and let itself get destroyed"

"Even the inmates are starting to liven up. How eerie... are they planning something?" Fox asks.

"That must mean this thing's gotta be the Treasure. They saved us the trouble of checkin'" Skull says.

"Hold on. Something's off," Queen says. "Shido said the masses are allowing themselves to be held captive here. Could they truly be operating this gigantic system that eliminates intruders on its own? The prison guards and soldiers were very organized too"

"Are you trying to say that someone else rules this place? Is it not the public?" Fox asks.

There was a loud and deep chuckle that came from seemingly nowhere. But we ignored it, focusing on destroying the Treasure. As we fought, the inmates gave it their strength, allowing it to heal.

"Dammit! This is never gonna end!" Skull shouts.

"It seems hopeless if there are this many inmates supporting it," Fox says.

"You fools. Human, yet wishing to eradicate the desires of humanity..." a godlike voice said.

"Who's that!?" Panther asks.

"The Holy Grail," I answer, looking at the Treasure.

"Repent," the voice said. "I am revered as the granter of dreams for all who behold me. A being most commonly known as the Holy Grail. The Prison of Regression is representative of the collective desires of humanity. They wish to be chained down, surrender their cognition, and neglect the world around them. These feeble minded common folk will make your social reform all for naught. The shared heart of the masses has fallen into an excess of indolence and transformed into a prison"

"Dammit... they're worshipin' that thing!" Skull grumbled.

"Thus... the only suitable end for them is to perish within the prison they wished for themselves"

The Holy Grail attacked again, but we continued fighting. Yet it was the same result as the first time we tried destroying it, the prisoners healed it. No matter what we did we couldn't beat it.

Then the people started chanting for us to get out of there. The Holy Grail changed from its dark and dirty look to a shiny gold.

"You imbeciles are intoxicated by an undesired justice. This is the world of the children of man who have fallen into sloth. My shine is proof that they desire my existence. As long as humanity yearns for me, I shall not perish"

"Is this really what everyone wants? To stop thinking and be guided by the Holy Grail?" Queen asks.

"We can't accept that," Joker says.

"Yes... it's so frustrating it makes me want to cry. But I... I will never agree!"

"The humans I look up to aren't like that. No matter how painful reality is, it's all over if you don't try to change how things are!" Mona says. "I'm not the only one who believes that. Everyone here agrees. We don't want to turn back into the people we used to be! That's why we risked our lives coming here!"

"He's right!" Panther says.

"Humanity already wishes for their distortions to be actualized. I am merely the being that will ultimately grant those wishes. Now, it is time I refrain from my place in this world, and begin to encroach upon reality itself," the Holy Grail said.

"That's a load of shit!" Skull shouts.

"Encroach? What is it gonna do?" Queen asks.

"Mona, what should we do?" Fox asks.

"I don't know what you are, but you can't keep arbitrarily deciding all this on your own," Mona said to the Holy Grail. "Humans aren't all stupid like you say they are!"

"Hmph. Indolent, foolish humans. You shall offer your hearts to me," the Holy Grail said as it shot a laser at us. "Now, the time for the fusion has come"