Persona 5 x persona 4

chapter 30

December 6th Tuesday

Crow stared up at the 'pleasure dome.' The phallic tower cast an ominous shadow over the current group. He hated this place the most out of the 60 or so palaces he had entered as his father's attack dog. The fact he was standing here right now preparing to enter it once again; put him on edge. The adults were exhausted from the fight with his father the other day. Crow didn't blame them, he would have liked nothing more than to curl up in a warm bed with some heavy painkillers and sleep both his fatigue and pain away. His shoulder wasn't any better after all.

However, this was more important than any of that. If Shido required justice than the man known as Hirokazu Temko needed it just as much. Crow would forgo his comfort to make sure this depravity of a man got the justice he so desperately had earned. Gripping his laser saber, Crow looked towards the adults as they got ready. Yu, Naoto, Rise, Chie, and Kanji were all getting ready not more than a foot from him.

The other thieves had no clue what the adults and Crow were doing. They didn't need to know, they didn't need to see the sick stuff that the outside of the tower shielded them from currently. Crow knew and had heard the screams. He didn't wish that fate of exploring this tower of pornography on anyone. Not that Crow had a choice now, Yu and the other adults wouldn't let this one go either. Crow felt almost sorry for them but appreciated the help none the less.

A calling card had been sent to Hirokazu's e-mail this morning to a secret account the detective prince knew he would check. Hirokazu kept many things about himself private so that e-mail was the prime way of contacting him. The tension that hung in the air around the tower was enough of a reason to know that the e-mail had worked. Hirokazu was aware his treasure could be taken.

It might have been risky to send a calling card before everyone had a chance to infiltrate the palace but Crow already knew his way around. All of the doors were unlocked for him and he had access to Temko's inter-chamber at the top of the tower. Even if Yu and his group were adults, he wished to conceal at least some of the utter immorality and sickness this seemingly benign tower contained within its walls.

"Crow, are you alright?" The voice of Naoto drew Crow out of his introspecting.

"Yeah, I'm quite fine." The boy detective announced to his sister, even if his statement was a lie.

Naoto's lips pressed into a thin line as she gave him a look. "You're a little pale in the face, are you sure you don't need some more painkillers?"

Naoto was sharp, Crow knew that. The thing was, it wasn't the injury that was making him feel uneasy. It was the memories of what the tower held. Sure his shoulder held a small explosion of pain every time he remotely tried to move it, but that was physical pain. That pain wasn't a problem. That pain he could ignore if he tried hard enough. The memories were a different story altogether. Taking a deep breath, he banished the recollections to the back of his mind as his eyes settled on Naoto.

"I'll live," Crow informed Naoto with a wave of his good arm before he looked to the collection of adults. "Are you all ready to enter this palace?"

"I think we are." Yu cast one final look around his group looking for any dissidence but finding none. "Crow you're on point, I'll follow your lead."

"Good, follow me. Princess I'd suggest not scanning this place. I already know the layout." Crow turned and headed towards the entrance of the tower.

One deep breath was all the comfort the boy would give himself to steel his resolve. Crow put away his saber in favor of his actual pistol. One thing he realized coming to the cognitive world with an actual gun with actual bullets, is that it worked more like Naoto's gun than the thieves' weapons. Something about having an honest weapon rather than manufactured fake meant it also had the same infinite ammo property that Naoto's had but seemed to have a slight decrease in power.