Despite the Third Eye, Ren Lacks Foresight

The first time Ryuji noticed anything odd about Ren was when they were in the first palace—Kamoshida's palace. Just after their powers began developing for real, he noticed Ren would wince more and more throughout their journey.

When Ren pinched his nose and scrunched his eyes, Ryuji had had enough.

"Hey, you feelin' OK, man?" he asked Ren. Morgana stopped in his tracks and turned around, hurrying back to the other two.

"Yeah. My new power—it's called Third Eye—helps me see enemies and treasure. Been using it too much, I guess." Ren sighed through gritted teeth. He rubbed his forehead with his hand.

"I saw a safe room up ahead. We'll go there and let you rest a bit," Morgana supplied, pointing down a hallway.

"Can you walk alright?" Ryuji asked, ready to help.

Ren nodded, and they followed Morgana without incident.

Upon entering the safe room, Ryuji nudged Ren into a chair. "That Third Eye or whatever, you should probably use it only when you need to instead of all the time. That's gotta be a strain on your head, man."

Morgana toddled up, passing Ren bottled water. "What Skull said. All things in moderation."

Ryuji snapped his fingers. "That's what I was trying to remember! But anyway," he sat on the ground next to the head of the bench. "Lie down, dude. You'll feel better soon."

Ren took one more sip of water before passing it off and swinging his legs up on the bench to lie down. He covered his eyes with his arm. "Thanks."

"Of course, Joker."

"Anytime."

Ryuji hated Sae Niijima's palace. It was way too bright and flashy, the other "workers" were assholes, and the damn building felt like a maze.

Just imagine how happy he was to find there was an actual maze on the high limit floor.

"Gahh!" Ryuji yelled in the safe room, grabbing what he could of his hair with his gloved fingers. "We didn't come here to play carnival games! Is there some other way?"

Futaba glanced up from her laptop. "I'm not seeing anything else on this floor aside from the battle arena thing, but that costs what we'll get from this challenge. Sorry, Skull." She gave a small grin.

"It shouldn't take long," Akechi added. He splayed his hands out, shrugging. "Should only take an hour or two, at most. Think you're up to it?"

Ryuji scowled at him. Fuck you , he thought, wishing he could voice his feelings to the traitor.

Makoto, graceful as ever, took notice of the situation and stood up with an air of finality. "I agree, Akechi. Let's get this over with so it won't be on our minds anymore. Ready, everyone? Joker?"

Ren looked up from his notebook, seeming to come out of a light stupor. He nodded as he stood. "Let's go."

After making the payment, they made it to the door of the maze. "This feels suspicious," Yusuke thought aloud. "I feel like there's going to be some catch, more than just shadows around corners."

Ann stepped forward, reaching for the door. "Well, only one way to find out!"

It opened into darkness. A pure black void.

"For real?" Ryuji moaned, slumping where he stood. "You've gotta be kiddin' me."

"Hold on," Ren said, stepping forward into the darkness. Ryuji was confused for a moment as he straightened up, but then he knew what he was trying--Third Eye. It was kinda freaky looking, to be honest. His pupils went large like a cat's eyes. Ryuji shuddered.