The name I call you by

Seperation and departure (13)

POV: Futaba
A few moments passed before the wobbly, blurry world view stabilized again. My skin tight thief costume was in the place of my normal casuals for the season, not sure which one I prefer though. There were walls on two sides of me, covered windows, a dead end ahead and open space behind me. I could hear water dripping from somewhere nearby, but...
Where are the other thieves at?
The only reading was mine in the immediate area, and a few weak shadows, but that was it. No Panther, and no Violet. Maybe they got lost in transit... I hope not.
The lighting in the alleyway was pretty dim, but there were signs of life here; I exited the alleyway out to the street, glancing both ways. There were a few broken windows, the glass still lying on the concrete; some of the shards where broken. It seems like they were broken from the outside, meaning someone else must've been here before; either that, or the shadows here did it.
The in-tact windows were lit for the most part, despite no one being inside. Talk about wasting power...
This place was a pretty close replica of the real world though, give and take a few things. The distortion out here wasn't too bad either, so the normality of this place is just speculation; there's no telling what it's going to be like further in. If I hadn't come in from the MetaNav and had an outfit change, I doubt I would've realized I left the real world.
For now though... it's best to just wait until someone else gets here. Going in solo doesn't sound like that much fun, I'd rather not. This place is waaay to creepy for my liking...
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A bit of time passed, I'm not exactly sure how much, before I detected another reading. Someone else walked into the palace, and I recognized the signal.
"Yusuke-?" Where's the rest of his team?
"Ah- Futaba. Where's everyone else?" See, that's a pretty good question.
"No clue, I ended up here alone. I could ask you the same though; where's Ryuji and Morgana?" Being split up like this isn't a good sign...
"Well... the strangest thing happened." I'm not sure I like the sound of that.
"I ended up in a replica of the museum before coming here, and there was a shadow version of myself in there." That... doesn't make much sense, actually.
"..a replica-? And a shadow? Are you sure?" It doesn't sound too believable, but this is the metaverse we're talking about.
"But I thought persona users couldn't have shadows..? Isn't that what Morgana told us?"
A nod from Yusuke followed my question; I'm remembered that right, good.
"I know it doesn't sound very believable, but I promise it happened." Being distrusting won't get me anywhere right now, and I have no reason to doubt him.
"I believe you." I kept my answer simple before continuing on.
"This place really doesn't seem like the metaverse; it's too real. Other than our clothes changing, there's no obvious shout out."
"Meaning anyone could stumble into here on accident." Yusuke finished my thought for me.
"Exactly, but only hypothetically speaking. The shadow readings going forward have been pretty weak, but it seems like the entire city is covered by some level of distortion. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of gateway other than the metaverse, just because of how widespread it is." That's something I want to ask Morgana about.
"So... tell me more about the museum; what was it like?" The next while, maybe 30-45 minutes passed without a hitch, Yusuke telling me the story of his palace, and letting me add comments here and there. He explained the differences between the first time and now as well; I had a pretty clear picture by the time he was finished.
"So you basically fought a shadow version of yourself?" Yusuke nodded once more to confirm my statement before adding to it.
"And this shadow went after past weaknesses." I'd already taken note of how he uses the word "past" lightly. It's probably not a past thing entirely, instead things that he's working through in the present. I've never asked about everyone's emotional baggage, but I'm not about to assume that he doesn't have it. I've heard snip-bits every so often, after all, from select individuals.
"It's best to sit in waiting for the rest of the team here, do you agree?" Despite his position of leadership, Yusuke has taken to confirming things with me as well; I could get behind that.
"Mhm. If everyone else is dropped in the same way you were, it's best to stick around and wait."
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"Alright, is everyone here?" As we thought, the other Phantom Thieves were dropped into the palace around the same area, no issue. The weird thing are the stories they came here with; each ended up in one of the palaces, more specifically the first one they experienced, and had to fight a shadow version of themself. What makes it worse is Morgana not being able to explain it; there's too many things out in the open for my liking right now... but it confirms what Yusuke told me.
"Looks like it, take it away Senpai." Sumire answered the question from where she sat on the couch; at the moment, we're using the empty apartments as safe rooms. A lucky score having one so soon, even more so because there's so many. It's a bit too convenient, actually, worryingly so.
"Why do I have to do it-? Inari, you start."
"Huh-? Ah- alright." Yusuke glanced around the room at everyone in turn, they weren't looking too good. Ann and Ryuji looked to have the most energy as well as Morgana, but they didn't have to solo a palace; they had one another.
"What we know due to Futaba is the distortion out here is weak, and there aren't many shadows. The area is safe, but we don't know what lies ahead or really anything about what we're walking into." The MetaNav already had its key words in, but I wouldnt call them much of keywords; random letters don't tell us very much.
"This place is basically a replica of Shibuya, ain't it? What about the surrounding area?" Ryuji spoke up next.
"I didn't wander too much while waiting for everyone, though taking a look around is high priority." I answered this question, as it seemed more directed at me.
"It's stressful going into a palace like this..." Ann especially looks tired, she must've had a rough time earlier; noted.
"We're doing this for Akira's sake though, stopping here won't do us any good." Morgana paused, taking a moment to think most likely, and then moved on.
"For now, I think we should split back into our groups and take a look around. We can reconvene here when we're done." He glanced at Yusuke, our temporary leader, for approval.
"That sounds like a plan." He answered from the far wall, glancing back out at the window.
"This place is truly fascinating... I wonder what could lie in its depths." And... cue the weird artist instinct thing he does.
"Hey! Focus Inari."
"Do we want to get going now? The sooner we can get through, the better, right?" Ann picked up where I left off, steering the conversation back on topic.
"That would be a good idea, what do you say Fox?" Ryuji was the next to pick up the conversation baton.
"Yes, let's get going in our groups. My group can take a look around the outskirts since we have Morgana with us. You girls can see what's going on here, and Futaba can survey what types of shadows we may be up against. My group will do the same if we run into any." The room split back into our groups, Ann and Sumire joining me while Ryuji and Morgana joined Yusuke.
"We should try to avoid fights for the time being; everyone is pretty low on energy after the initial palace, so both team leaders should take that into consideration before engaging in any form of combat." Morganas warning reached the entire room, and it made sense. Someone had to say it, and I'm glad it was him.
"Alright, sounds good." Ann spoke first.
"Mhm, understood." Yusuke followed.
"With that out of the way, let's get going. No need to waste time, after all." Ann spoke again, stretching her arms above her head when she finished. With that being said, both my group and Yusuke's made their way out.
"Be safe everyone!" Morgana was the last one I heard from the other group before departing.
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