Of Phantoms and Thieves

One's Palace is One's Mind

"So, a play is what he said..." Makoto whispered. "Do you think his palace could be, like, a play house?"

"Dude, no," Ryuji whispered back. "It's got to be, like, a theater or something!"

"Match found," the Nav stated.

"Alright," Haru breathed, "we need to figure out who the new temporary leader will be."

Everyone turned to Makoto.

"Oh, uh, you all expect me to do it...?" Makoto asked, blushing and putting her hands up.

"Makoto, you'd make a great leader!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Shh!" Ann hushed him.

"Uh, Makoto doesn't look comfortable, though," Morgana sighed.

"What? No, it's not that at all!" Makoto waved her hands. "It's just, that... uh..."

"Admit it, you're not comfortable," Ryuji pointed out, grinning.

"I..." Makoto covered her face. "I'm sorry, it's a really big responsibility..."

"I think I could do it," Ann offered. "Or someone like Haru or Futaba?"

"Nope," Futaba told them. "I'm the navigator."

"I don't think my skills would be up to it," Haru whispered. "I might just get carried away."

"You'd be perfect," Ryuji said to Ann. "We need a strong girl like you."

Ann blushed. "So, uh... does everyone agree?"

"I agree," Yusuke replied, framing Ann with his fingers. "And I think I can safely speak for everyone else as well."

"Alright," Ann spoke. "Let's put this all in the Nav."

"We must be cautious as we enter," Morgana warned them. "Who knows what it will be like in there? His desires might be evil, but we can't be sure. It might be like nothing we've experienced before. And we don't know what shadows may lurk. Are you guys sure about this?"

"We have to save him, just like we did with Futaba," Yusuke pointed out. "I see that their situations are similar. But then again, we can't expect a thing."

"Right," Ann agreed. "We have to take away the pain he's feeling. We can't leave him to suffer!"

"Then we're going," Makoto concluded.

"Alright," Morgana piped up. "Let's enter the palace!"

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Ann took a sharp breath as she took in the view. The building in front of them was ginormous. Spotlights outside pointed at the sky. Many tall windows lined the walls; from the inside a soft orange glow illuminated the place. Ann's eyes slowly moved down. There was the front entrance, no one there but a woman in the ticket booth.

The Phantom Thieves were still in their normal clothing, and this wasn't the first time that this had happened. It had been like this at Futaba's palace. Which meant that they weren't seen as a threat... yet.

"Alright," Ann exclaimed. "We're here."

"Why don't we go ask the woman at the ticket booth what's going on here?" Yusuke suggested. "Perhaps we can try and find a point of entry?"

"I'm with Inari on this one," Futaba said, raising her hand.

"We should still be cautious," Morgana reminded them, now in his Metaverse form.

"Right," Haru replied. "We can't let our guard down, even if something seems friendly."

Ann took the lead and she strolled up to the woman.