Chapter 7
Planeptune/Virtua Forest/???
Planeptune. This was the first nation he decided to travel to – though calling it a nation was an over exaggeration and likening it to a country should've been more suitable – and it was here that he found a persona that seemed to be a literal god-send.
It was just recently that he decided to resort to crime to power himself up – something he would usually have no qualms in doing so – however, to pry off his guilt – if only marginally – when in doing so he also began giving frequent donations to charity and orphanages that actually did their job.
As an orphan himself, he would do at least this.
He obtained a sense of 'justice' from the people who took him in and raised him. Then, he proceeded to twist and skewer the 'justice' to make it suitable for him to carry the burdens whilst forming a suitable path towards his goal, originally.
However, now he has no excuse except that he's doing this because he's selfish. Because he wants power. Because he's greedy. Because he's slothful.
He was originally scared about what would happen if the persona rejected him for diverting off his original goal, but what he found was understanding. He had already completed his objective, and then he was supposed to live an afterstory filled with happiness right? Wrong. He no longer felt suited to his surroundings, he no longer could feel a place he was suited to. That was the same with the persona. The persona did merely what he considered what was 'right', they merely did what they considered 'right', and at the end of the 'road' they had completed what they had set out to do.
Messiah had brought the path to salvation, even if it was at the cost of both himself and the person he held most dear.
Sean Lupin had brought retribution and a pathway to reformation, even if it was at the cost of self-fulfilment and the care of the people he was surrounded by.
They were similar but also not so. Contradictory. One brought peace and salvation to save all. One brought chaos and retribution to save all. One held the people he held dear tenderly, the other held the people he held dear with distance. One was graceful and never lost sight of his goal, the other was spiteful at the people who wronged him and his kin to the point he lost sight of his goal multiple times when others also suffered from the same circumstances in front of him.
One chose to save, the other decided to reform.
To save or to reform?
Both they would answer, for they held one concept they would never forget nor attempt to do so.
They will never forsake their own justice.
It is through this understanding that 'he' decided to 'save' 'him', and 'him' unknowingly 'reformed' 'he'.
Hence why when he was asked by this particular Wildcard – a long time after the loss of his most dear Wildcard, to normal human standards – requesting salvation from him, he decided to reform. He turned Picaro. He would bring salvation and retribution, he would bring peace and chaos, to save a fellow saviour no matter how long it takes.
Picaro. A phrase he once overheard from Philemon, signifies when a being from the Sea of Souls – a place which immortalised the nature of both people, animals, monster and creature alike after death – simply changes or shifts which is generally thought to be impossible.
But truly.
Truly, he has changed. For the better.
So when asked by the Wildcard he was fated to assist, what answer could he respond with but a confirmation?
He may not be able to contain his sins, but he could at least remind him of one thing. His justice. Though, it was actually made easier with the reliability of his original persona, who happened to be the Pillager Of Twilight himself.
So when he was attacked by a young woman with resemblance to that of Chinese descent and featured bright red colours, he did not assist him. For her eyes were full of good 'pure' intentions, if only they were slightly lustful.
"WIFEY GET!" The depraved woman declared in the vibrant forest.
"OH HELL NO!" His current vessel exclaimed.
Also, because this would be entertaining.
†
Planeptune/Train/Morning
"Hnnghh..." Sean groaned as he awoke from the depths of his sleep.
Loud train noises rung in his ears as he opened his eyes and observed his surroundings.
He was currently sitting down on a seat as he shifted his perception around to view his surroundings. However, he noticed something as his poker face nearly fell off. The detective Ranpo Edogawa was right in front of him.
'OH SHIT!!!!' He couldn't help but inwardly exclaim as he woke his personas from their slumber.
'SHUT UP!' They all chirped from the depths of their sleep.
Messiah Picaro then turned his attention to the new resident of the Trickster's mind scape.
'Was that dream your doing?' Messiah Picaro asked the demon who used to be Eve before she got NTR'd.
'Whatever could you mean~?' She teased the saviour.
'..Nothing people would consider important.' He dodged around the question.
Sean eventually calmed down and noticed the young detective was also dozing off.
'Heh, great minds think alike.' Sean chuckled inside.
BZZT BZZT
BZZT
My phone vibrated and so did his; nothing uncommon.
◇◇◇
Chian: GUESS WHAT?
The Fool: Your panties need cleaning again? Did you wet the bed? Or did you finally get a boyfriend?
Chian: Why are those your guesses?!
Chian: Also, who are you? My mother?
The Fool: I could be if you want.
Chian: Ew no thanks; you would probably be a good parent given by your coffee skills but I'm still not getting a boyfriend anytime soon, when I can still make stuff.
The Fool: Oof, my non-existent feelings have transcended the borders of death. Also why 'parent' and not 'dad'.
Chian: You might switch, who knows?
The Fool: No thanks, I'm satisfied being a male.
The Fool: Anyway, what'd you want?
Chian: Oh yeah... SHE'S BACK!!!!
The Fool: Who?
Chian: The CPU Black Heart!
The Fool: Ahh, you mean the Goddess?
Chian: Yeah! She appeared in a beam of light right atop the Basilicom!
Chian: And then she came to my shop asking for assistance, along with some local alchemist, to help her develop the nation back into its former glory.
The Fool: Wonder how she feels about the cards on the streets.
Chian: Oh, that... She has... complex feelings on it.
The Fool: Complex?
Chian: She's grateful towards the Phantom Thief for cleaning up the trash in her stead, but she's also pissed that he's a criminal who happens to be a thief and said thief stole a treasured item a short while after helping her.
Chian: According to her it's as if the thief is mocking her at her job because he managed to do what she could not, help her people.
The Fool: Surprisingly a lot of information.
Chian: She's currently stuffing her cute face at my cafeteria as she vents.
Chian has sent a picture.
The Fool: That's cute and wholesome at the same time.
Chian: I know right~ Also, she seems injured from the Console War; I do hope the other CPUs still live though.
The Fool: I see. Well, I gotta go, bye.
Chian: Okay, bye!
◇◇◇
The picture Chian sent depicted a young woman with red eyes stuffing a multitude of foods in her face with some stuff on her face.
'It draws near... and the plot has officially diverged.' Sean Lupin announced as his determination grew strong 'And I'll take responsibility for it; I'm not naive enough to think there won't be some sort of butterfly effect.'
'Do you regret it?' Arsène asked.
'No. After all, I may not know much but I know for a fact that the people suffer in the games; in the games, the main focus is the goddesses themselves so it takes a lighter tone whilst in actuality there are a lot of messed up things like that time when Uzume had to literally seal herself so she stopped destroying places and massacring people. Also, the fact that on wikipedia the bad ending is the worst considering that one of the goddesses – not sure which one – unifies the world after killing all the other goddeses but then turns her own sword on her people after being basically left behind by the few people she placed her trust in.' He denied 'I may not have the full context because there seems to be more than I initially thought of this world, but I know enough to know that the people suffer; that's good enough for me. The nation of Tari is proof of that.'
'You would abandon a certain future for a future with a possibly worse end?' Messiah Picaro asked him.
'I would abandon a certain future of suffering for a future with a possibly better end.' Sean replied.
'I see.' Messiah Picaro muttered 'I'm glad, I think?'
'What do you mean "I think"?' Succubus spoke up whilst Lilith merely chuckled as she observed 'Its either you do or you don't!'
'To deny fate is to deny the world, which is why I'm... confused, in a sense. However, I am gratified to know you value the people.' Messiah Picaro explained.
'Even if I'm a criminal or monster or whatever people want to depict myself as, I refuse to abandon my morals for an ending that isn't to my liking.' Sean stated.
'But remember Trickster, never forget thy justice.' Messiah Picaro reminded.
Sean inwardly smirked.
'My morals is my justice.'
BZZT BZZT
◇◇◇
Normal Alchemist: Guess what?!
The Fool: Congratulations for being hired to work with Black Heart.
Normal Alchemist: How did you know already?!
The Fool: I'm a psychic.
Normal Alchemist: Really..?
The Fool: No, I'm actually a friend to the other person your working with; she already sent the message.
Normal Alchemist: Aww, that's not fair...
The Fool: Oh, I am so surprised?!
Normal Alchemist: Muu~, now that just makes me seem pitiful.
The Fool: Anyway I gotta go.
Normal Alchemist: K bye...
The Fool: Cya.
◇◇◇
'She seems to be doing fine.' Sean spoke he looked down in his bag, only to see Morgana still sleeping 'And Mona still seems knackered from fighting a super-assassin.'
The Fool shook his head.
'Anyway it seems that no one else will call.' He thought as he instantly regretted incurring Murphy.
BZZT BZZT
'Its IF.' He commented.
◇◇◇
Wind Walker1: When are you coming here?
The Fool: In around a day or so.
Wind Walker1: Okay that's good.
The Fool: Oh yeah, apparently CPU Black Heart came back from Celestia today; I heard from a friend.
Wind Walker1: Yeah, I heard from a contact of mine about it.
Wind Walker1: Lowee's CPU came back but she also seems... strange. She also didn't come back with a beam of light like Lastation.
The Fool: Think that Lowee's CPU is fake?
Wind Walker1: I guess we can look into it later.
The Fool: Anyway, see you tomorrow.
Wind Walker1: Yeah, see you.
◇◇◇
'Hmm... She's gathering lots of info.' Sean muttered.
'Also, seems like Jack's not high enough for him to message me about this, or he thought I already knew.' Sean muttered inwardly.
He took a moment's rest.
"Oh yeah..." He muttered as he looked into his bag and saw the gift that Chian gave him a while ago. It was a small decorative golden box, but knowing this world a small box could probably contain a mansion.
'Over-exaggeration.' Succubus commented.
'How disappointing...' Sean and his personas shook their heads towards Succubus.
'Oh come on!' Succubus complained.
"Might as well..." He picked up the package and opened it. Inside there was some sort of gold bracelet with intricate designs that represent some sort of rain on a big treasure chest. "Interesting..."
Sean used his Neptunia system to observe that it added 50 intelligence and 100 agility. The bracelet was called: "The Hunter's Treasure Trove" which seems low-key edgy; instead of equipping it he decided to place it in his inventory for use one day.
"PLANEPTUNE HANEDA STATION... PLANEPTUNE HANEDA STATION...." He had finally arrived at Planeptune.
He stood up and approached the door to the train whilst also noticing through his natural awareness that Ranpo Edogawa was right next to him.
After they exited the train they both went to a map on a board.
'Is he following me?' The paranoid thief asked with good reason.
'No, it seems he is generally just going the same direction as you.' Arsène informed which calmed his nerves.
Sean checked the map and saw that the next station he needed was going to come tomorrow.
"Guess I got some free time." Sean muttered.
"It can't be...!" Ranpo exclaimed near Sean which prompted the thief to shift his attention towards the detective.
"How did I end up in an entirely different city?!" Ranpo exclaimed like a madman.
Sean approached him.
"Need any help?" He asked which caused the detective to nearly shed tears through his squinted eyes.
"Ah yes... Planeptunian citizens are noted to help each other out..." He muttered as he rubbed the tears out of his eyes.
"You see, I was supposed to go to Eresthian City but I somehow ended up taking the train to Haneda City." He informed Sean which made him nod in understanding.
"Oh, then you just need to take the train to Eresthian. Plus, you came from the Lastation train which doesn't go to Eresthian so you wouldn't have been able to go anyway." Sean informed.
"Oh..." He muttered "As expected of my genius! There's no way I would get lost again!" He stated aloud.
"Again?" Sean raised an eyebrow which then involuntarily made the detective seem as if someone decked him in the stomach.
"Well... I'm not really good with directions, but I'm really good at my job!" He seemed prideful.
"What's your job?" Sean asked to not make himself seem overly suspicious.
"I'm a detective of the Armed Detective Agency!" His head's posture was raised in pride.
Sean blinked twice.
"Okay..." He faintly nodded as he muttered which made Ranpo seem as if someone shot him in the stomach.
'How... expressive.' Arsène muttered to which Sean agreed.
"You have no idea what that entails, do you?" Ranpo asked to which Sean nodded.
"Basically, dangerous and expensive jobs." He clarified as Sean nodded in understanding.
"You sure your alright with telling me this?" Sean asked.
"Meh, even if you could do something I doubt you would succeed with it considering who my boss is." Ranpo waved off and Sean knew he wouldn't talk more.
"Anyway, the Eresthian City train is going to come tomorrow so it would be better if you found a hotel or someplace to wait for it." Sean stated to which the detective seemed nervous.
"Ugh, I only have enough money for the train to Eresthian; guess I'll stake out." He decided but was soon interrupted by Sean who seemed awkward.
"I don't think you'll be able to stake out here considering that they kick people out of the station at night." He stated to which Ranpo muttered something.
"What's with the travelling service in this nation..." He muttered.
"Meh, Planeptunians generally navigate in the day whilst at night they generally all just rest in their homes; and there aren't many tourists that come around here so they generally don't have much reservations or luxuries for tourists." Sean explained.
"But this place is known as the nation with the most advanced technology." He protested to which Sean shook his head.
"That may be one of the things that it's known for but it's also known for its lazy residents." He explained "They would just treat tourists as the same as any other citizen."
Ranpo seemed downcasted as he looked down.
"What am I supposed to do now?" He muttered to which Sean seemed uncomfortable as he finally relented.
"..I would let you stay at my hotel reservation under the condition that you don't do anything funny." Sean seemed stern as he said so to which the detective's expression brightened.
"Thank you! But why?" He asked as the detective was beginning to get cautious and Sean noticed that his guard was raised under his playful mask.
"It's not wrong to help another." Sean stated go which the detective visibly relaxed.
'That was quick.' Sean muttered inwardly.
'He could see the conviction in your eyes when you stated that.' Messiah Picaro spoke up.
'Is that so..?' Sean stated unsure.
"Anyway, give me your phone number so I can send you the location." Sean stated as he slipped his phone out.
"Your not coming?" The detective asked as he also slipped his phone out.
"Got something to do." He replied as he recorded his phone number and sent him the location.
"Anyway, bye." Sean waved his hand as he began to walk away.
"Was that a wise decision?" Morgana asked from his bag.
"Probably not, but I don't regret it." Sean replied.
Planeptune/Haneda City/Morning
"So... what should I do?" Sean muttered as he wandered around the city.
'Casino.' Arsène stated.
'Checking the orphanages you donate to.' Messiah Picaro offered.
'Red-light District.' Succubus asked even though it was morning.
'He~ Game shop Ho~" Jack Frost suggested.
'Ho~ Manga shop He~" Jack O' Lantern suggested.
'A library would do just fine.' Lilith stated.
Sean took a moment to contemplate his options.
'Not going to a Casino because I want to hold onto my money just in case, the orphanages seem like a reasonable choice, I'm not losing my virginity in the red-light district, game shops don't seem that bad, I'm not feeling for manga right now and that's the same with the library.' He used the process of elimination 'So it's either the Arcade or the Orphanage.'
He took a moment.
"Guess I'll go to the Arcade."
Planeptune/Arcade/Morning
Sean walked through the Arcade as he pushed up his glasses – his mask outside of his Phantom Thief job – and continued to observe his surroundings.
He saw that it was a standard arcade that could be found anywhere, but he also noticed that through the corner of his eyes that there was a crowd around a certain fighting game.
Sean approached it and he saw something which interested him. A pair of siblings – which look nothing alike – were playing against some self-proclaimed champion as they proceeded to win in just 40 seconds straight.
"K.O!" The machine exclaimed as the duo won.
"That's not fair! It's two on one!" The loser protested.
The young man who had his little sister sitting on top of his knees scowled as Sean noticed that she was nervous, her pulling on his yellow shirt was proof.
Before the annoyed – but nervous – man spoke up Sean intervened.
"It was actually one on one with the main player being the dude." Sean spoke up which drew attention to him as he turned to the loser "In other words, stop being a sore loser."
Sean saw the duo who he defended clearly. The male of the duo had brown hair with a tint of natural pink, he wore a yellow shirt which had the words "I <3 humanity" over his long-sleeved blue T-shirt and he also wore blue jeans and white shoes. The female of the duo wore a black sailor uniform with orange – instead of blue – highlights knee-high black socks and standard brown shoes, she also had silver hair and amber eyes which was the same as her brother.
"Why you!" The loser then proceeded to launch a fist towards Sean who promptly dodged it and gripped his hand as he dodged and put it behind his waist.
"I may be a pacifist, but I'm also an advocate of self-defense." Sean stated as he glared at him revealing a little of his battle-spirit "So don't use violence on people who have no serious bad intention, got it?" Sean threatened as he began to nod quickly.
"Good, now piss off; I'll write this off as just being overheated from gaming." Sean released him as he began to walk away along with what seems to be his friends.
Sean then turned to the duo.
"Fancy a game?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as Morgana peaked at them throughout his bag.
For some reason their eyes were sparkling.
'Hold on, they got isekai'd in the anime. They were from modern Japan... which means they may know of persona. Fuck, I'll try to lead them away.' Sean reaffirmed as he began to speak "I'm Sean Lupin, you can call me anything you want." and then he proceeded to sit down in front of them.
"Right, then we'll call you Joker!" They both stated which made Sean act as if he didn't know why as he raised an eyebrow "Huh, why?"
They both then glanced at each other.
"I think he just looks like him." The brother stated.
"Yeah, they also have different names." The sister stated.
"He's different." They both decided.
They then turned to Sean as they introduced themselves.
"I'm Sora and this is my little sister Shiro." The brother introduced himself whilst the sister merely nodded. "And sure, we wouldn't mind playing a game with you."
They – Sora, Shiro and Sean – then proceeded to enter the character selection screen.
'What's these character selections? Oh hey, they even have you Arsène.' Sean commented.
'It seems that the person from before played as 'me', will you do me justice Trickster?' Arsène asked to which the thief mentally affirmed.
'Yeah, I'll try.' Sean responded as he clicked the thief and they... picked Sherlock Holmes. 'What irony; two people renown as being the best at their jobs on the opposite spectrums finally having the showdown everyone wanted.'
"Huh, so you picked that character?" Sora asked while his sister merely listened in.
"Yeah, he seems interesting." Sean responded.
"You haven't played this before?" Sora asked in surprise.
"I'll learn as I go." Sean replied.
"Suit yourself." Sora shrugged.
"GAME START!" The machine exclaimed as there was some sort of cut-scene.
"So you've finally caught up to me O' Great Detective of the Abyss, Sherlock Holmes?" Arsène greeted in his gentleman attire, he looked like an old businessman.
"It took a long time, but it was worth it to find the Pillager Of Twilight himself." Sherlock Holmes a man in standard detective attire approached Arsène.
"Hoho! Your approaching me? Instead of running away your coming right to me?" Arsène stated.
'Is this...' Sean muttered inwardly.
"Of course! I can't arrest you without coming closer!" Sherlock responded.
"A..." Sora stated.
"Hoho In that case come as close as you'd like!" Arsène replied with his arms back.
"Jojo reference." Shiro squeaked out.
"FIRST ROUND START!" The machine exclaimed as both competitors scrambled to their controls.
The first round was fairly simple and expected considering that they already knew the controls whilst the first round Sean – the fucking casual – was merely identifying all the controls whilst getting his ass handed to him.
"Easy." Sora stated whilst Shiro already realised he was getting used to the controls.
"Next round is going to be very different." Sean replied with a smirk.
"SECOND ROUND START!"
This round was fairly complex as they were both unleashing combos after combos upon each other, consuming items when possible, throwing items when possible, blocking when possible and grabbing when possible.
It took multiple hours, surprisingly, and even Shiro chipped in helping Sora which Sean allowed.
However, unsurprisingly the hard-core gamers beat the filthy casual.
"K.O!" Hence the winner was the duo.
"That was fun." Sean smiled as the duo agreed with nods.
"Yeah, we haven't had that much of a challenge in a long time since we got 'here'." Sean could feel the emphasis on "here" but he didn't comment.
"Would you mind having a game once in a while with us?" Shiro – who had been silent for most of the time – asked out of the blue.
Sean smiled at this.
"Sure."
Sora and Shiro slipped their phones out as they asked for his number.
◇◇◇
[ ]A: This you?
The Fool: Yeah, which one am I typing to though?
[ ]O: Your talking to my big brother, the 'A' stands for the 'a' in Sora whilst for me the 'O' stands for the 'o' in Shiro.
The Fool: Huh, neat.
◇◇◇
CRACKLE CRACK
I AM THOU... THOU ART I...
THOU HAST ACQUIRED A NEW VOW...
IT SHALL BE THE WINGS OF REBELLION THAT BREAKETH THY CHAINS OF SUBMISSION.
WITH THE BIRTH OF THE MAGICIAN ARCANA THOU HAST OBTAINED THE WINDS OF BLESSING THAT SHALL LEAD TO FREEDOM AND NEW POWER...
'New Arcana get.' Sean inwardly muttered as he began walk off.
"Well then see you." He waved his hand as they were in a daze for some reason.
"You really got into that Sean." Morgana noted as she peaked out of his bag.
"I don't usually have the much fun Mona." Sean replied.
Planeptune/Hotel Room/Evening
On his way to the Hotel Sean met up with Ranpo who was outside looking for the right hotel.
"Oh! Mr Lupin!" Ranpo waved his hand as Sean approached and greeted.
"Hey, Mr Edogawa." Sean responded.
"No need to refer to me with my family-name~ just call me Ranpo." He asked Sean to which Sean nodded.
"Sure, only if you call me Sean." Sean offered back as the detective nodded.
"Then it's a deal Sean." They both shook hands for a brief moment.
They then proceeded to go to reception and head upstairs to their room. They got a weird look from the receptionist though.
"So who's sleeping where?" Ranpo asked as he sat down on the couch.
"I'll sleep on the couch." Sean stated as Ranpo simply nodded.
"Heh, did you think I would disagree?" Ranpo asked.
"It would be a lie to say I didn't think that partially but I'm also not that fussed about it." Sean honestly replied.
"Huh, that so?" Ranpo questioned as he jumped onto the bed from the couch and threw Sean a pillow which he caught.
"Though, I do wonder why wouldn't you." Sean asked to which Ranpo responded.
"Well, you see if someone gives me something for free then it's only logical that I take it and embrace it." Ranpo explained a tad-bit nervous
"I see..." Sean muttered which increased Ranpo's nervousness by a small amount "That's reasonable."
"Huh it is?" The super detective questioned.
"Yeah." He tilted his head "Why wouldn't it be?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Its just that a lot of people who hear this from me usually look at me with either disgust or anger." Ranpo explained.
"That doesn't sound fair, people do the same all the time whether they realise it or not." Sean muttered which made Ranpo widen his eyes momentarily.
Ranpo smiled mischievously.
"Rejoice, for you have become my first friend!" He exclaimed dramatically to which Sean decided to play along.
"I am blessed with thy friendship!" Sean bowed.
They both chuckled soon after.
CRACKLE CRACK
I AM THOU... THOU ART I...
THOU HAST ACQUIRED A NEW VOW...
IT SHALL BE THE WINGS OF REBELLION THAT BREAKETH THY CHAINS OF SUBMISSION.
WITH THE BIRTH OF THE DEVIL ARCANA THOU HAST OBTAINED THE WINDS OF BLESSING THAT SHALL LEAD TO FREEDOM AND NEW POWER...
'New Arcana... Sweet.' Sean muttered inwardly.
He suddenly stopped laughing.
"Dude," Ranpo called out to the thief which incurred a raised eyebrow.
"Hmm?" Sean murmured.
"I just got a new skill." Ranpo stated.
"Okay? Congratulations." Sean congratulated.
"It's called 'The Devil 15-XV' and it's description says that I'll get a reward bonus the more my friendship increases with 'a certain someone,' ring any bells?" Ranpo stated.
There was a moment silence as Sean and all his personas said one thing collectively.
'Fuck.'
Now Sora and Shiro's momentary silence at the Arcade makes sense.
Planeptune/Road/Evening
"Big bro it really was him!" Shiro exclaimed towards her brother as they both got the skill 'Magician 1-I' which increased their general magic potential.
"I know right?!" They clapped each other's hands together.
"You think we'll also get stands?" Sora asked.
"Its personas not stands." Shiro corrected.
"They're basically the same thing." Sora stated to which Shiro nodded.
"Eh, true."