Take your time or I'll take your Heart

Chapter 17

"I can't do it."

"What? Why not?"

"I can't risk harming her."

"I know, but this will be a good thing for her."

"How? How is this going to be a good thing for her?"

"If it wasn't a big deal, then why did it come into the metaverse in the first place?"

"If she is dealing with internal struggles, then she can talk about them. I won't go into places like that. Especially if it's for Y/N."

The bathroom door opened up and she came in. I was petting Morgana and Scarlet was lying on the bed. She put the towel into the laundry room and went into the kitchen.

"Just think about it for now. You'll be helping her out," Morgana said.

"Fine. I'll think about it."

A week had passed and I finally made my decision. I made it after what I had experienced in that week. Y/N had changed. It wasn't a drastic change. It was slowly building. She wasn't as stressed and worrisome as she once was. Now, she's super stressed and worrying her ass off. I knew this had something to do with the shadow version of herself. When Y/N was out getting some groceries, I had told Morgana my decision.

"I'll do it," I said.

"Good! We're going to have to tell the others and arrange a time and place to meet."

"Shouldn't it be here?"

"Not exactly. The house resembled her house. The house she was living in before she moved into the apartment."

"I see. We're going to have to be near her house."

"Yes. With the navigation app, we can arrive there."

"What is it that we need to do?"

"We need to take down the shadow version of her so she can hopefully turn back to normal."

"That's the keyword: hopefully."

"I hope this doesn't harm her."

"The others are not going to like this. Especially if it's with Y/N. I know how much Ryuji likes her as a friend."

"They have been getting along pretty well together."

"When should we do it?"

"I say in a week. Let everyone know. I say Saturday around noon?"

"Sounds good," I said and pulled out my phone. I opened up the group chat and texted them. "Been a while since I talked to them."

"Hey, Phantom Thieves. I've got a new mission for us."

"Are you for real?" Ryuji responded.

"I am."

"Are we seriously going to do this? I thought the Phantom Thieves disbanded about a few months ago," Makoto said.

"We did, but something had come up and I think we need to take care of it."

"What's this mission?" Yusuke asked.

"Another palace."

"The last time we had a run in with a palace, you were forced to go to prison," Futaba said.

"Believe me this time, guys. We're not going to get caught."

"Who's palace are we going to?" Haru asked.

"Y/N's."

"Since when did she get a shadow version? I always thought she would be the last person on the planet to get a shadow version," Ryuji said.

"You never know who can end up like this. Anyway, if you're in or not, we're meeting at our apartment. Here's the address. At noon a week from now."

"I'm in," Ryuji said.

"Might as well try to help her," Futaba said.

"I think we should at least try," Haru said.

"Sounds ideal," Yusuke replied.

"Count me in I guess," Makoto said.

"Did you hear from Ann?" Morgana asked.

"Not yet," I said.

"Sorry, got the messages a little bit a go. Sounds like there's a lot going on. But I think we can help her. Count me in!" Ann replied.

"Heard from Ann. We're all in," I said.

"Good! All we need to do now is wait."

A week had passed and Y/N was out around noon. She didn't really say goodbye to me, which usually never happens. She walked out and I was left alone in the apartment.

"Now's our chance!" Morgana said.

I walked out of the room, locked the door, and headed downstairs. Morgana was on my shoulder as we headed downstairs. I walked through the lobby doors and saw Ryuji, Yusuke, Ann, Futaba, Makoto, and Haru.

"It's time for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts to do one last mission," I said.

"Is everyone ready?" Ann asked.

"I think so," Futaba said.

"Alright then," I said. "We need to head over to her house since it's her house in the metaverse."

I showed them the way to Y/N's house and when we got there, I opened up the navigation app and said the words that were needed. I waited for a few seconds and walked up towards the house. It changed into the metaverse. I saw it was just her house and there was no one else's. I looked at the others and saw they were in their other outfits. The outfits I haven't seen in such a long time. Morgana was there and he was ready for action.

"Finally! It feels so good to be out of that body," he said as he stretched.

"Alright, we don't have much time. We need to get in there, defeat the shadow, and head back. If something does happen, I need to be there for Y/N," I said.

"Then we better hurry," Ryuji said.

We walked up the steps to her house and opened the door. Inside was huge. It was like a maze. Actually, it was a maze. It was just a maze.

"What's on the other side?" Ryuji asked.

The door slammed closed and we all turned around. There were two people coming out of the shadows and another person walked in front of us.

"Welcome," said the person in front of us.

We turned and faced the person. It was the shadow.

"Welcome to my home," said the shadow.

"This is nothing like a home," Ryuji said.

"You're right. It's not a home. It's a game. Because life is a game," said the shadow.

"If this is a game, then what are the rules?" I asked.

"Oh, I like you. You seem to be ahead of the others. Let's see. There are eight of you. I think we need to even it out." The shadow raised its hand and a wall of the maze sprung up from the ground, splitting the team into two groups. "Let's start the game."