The Hidden Thief

Chapter Four: The Prison of Misery

The next day after school, Akira calls the group to the cafe for a Phantom Thieves meeting.

"Alright everyone, Futaba and I have a recording that could possibly contain or lead us to finding the other keywords." He looks over at Futaba, who grins and pulls out her phone. "Tristin and Akechi came over and had a little argument, and Akechi explained what happened to him after he left. Futaba, play the video." Futaba moves her finger towards her phone and hits "play".

The video played, and the group listened to the two boys argue, Tristin's voice loud and enraged, and Akechi's voice soft and desperate sounding. After the argument broke apart, they then heard Akechi's explanation of Tristin's backstory.

"How horrible!" Cried Haru.

"How on Earth could people treat someone like that..?" Questioned Yusuke.

"Wait, did he just call him 'cute'?" Asked Ryuji.

Futaba turns off her phone once the video ends, and Morgana begins to speak.

"Well, since we're looking for a location and a distortion, one that stood out to me was 'alleyway'. Akechi mentioned something about Tristin staying in an alley instead of a house, so that must be where he lives." The group looks at each other and nods in agreement.

"That brings us down to one more." Ryuji says. "Since we have a name and location, as well as a little more information in Tristin, couldn't we just guess what the distortion could be?"

"Hmm, that seems to be alright. I mean, we did it with Madarame and Kaneshiro, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem." Morgana replies. The group stays quiet, and then Akira speaks up.

"What about... A prison?" The Nav. beeps in confirmation, indicating he was correct.

"It seems that was correct.." Makoto says, slightly surprised.

"Dude, how did you figure that out so quickly??" Ryuji questions his friend.

"I remembered a conversation Tristin and I had a few days ago. He said that he wishes that life didn't feel like living in a prison for him."

"Well let's get going! We have a new target to change the heart of!" Ryuji smiles in excitement. The group agrees, and they pulled out their phones and warp into the Metaverse.

          The Phantom Thieves found themselves outside of a giant gray building. There were barbed wire fences surrounding the perimeter of the building, with guard towers and lights at each corner, and dark clouds covering the gloomy dark red sky.

          "Damn, look at this place.." Skull says, looking around the area.

          "It's so big and dull.. It's the opposite of what the previous palaces have been.." Panther mutters.

          "That's not what we should be worrying about right now. We have a heist to make!" Commanded Mona.

          "Right. C'mon everyone, let's go." Joker instructed, and they sneak into the palace.

The inside of the prison mainly consisted of prison cells, some several stories stacked above, and others directly next to each one. The cells contained lots of cognitive beings, all seeming to ignore the intruding thieves. Long hallways seemed to be everywhere, with guard shadows patrolling around every corner.

The thieves managed to avoid as much trouble as possible while infiltrating through and scouting out for the treasure. The deeper they went, the more rooms cells they passed. Every now and then they passed by different rooms, such as a cafeteria or a shower room, but the amount of cells seemed to be endless.