Arsene woke up and found that he could barely breathe. Stones prickled at his back and wings, which felt trapped and, in several places, painfully sharp. He shut his eyes again, feeling ice-cold blood pool under his claws. What had happened? Why was he still in this form?

"Ah, the Sleeping Beauty awakens."

The already-loud voice reverberated through his skull, seeming to do its best to smash it to pieces. Arsene swore and pressed a clawed hand to his head, doing his best to sit up without triggering a reaction. His wings were definitely trapped. Moving was painful.

A sigh. "Are you going to speak to me?"

That voice. Sharp and smooth like a biting knife and as cold as blood. Arsene cracked his eyes open, just enough to register the blurry image in front of him. When he did, he swore again, throwing out his hand and summoning Eiha. Even that, embarrassingly, was enough to make his vision splinter and nearly drag him down.

"I wouldn't try it," Goro Akechi yawned. "You'll make it twenty seconds at best before you're out of SP."

He was right, of course, but that didn't stop Arsene from lobbing the spell at him. The traitor didn't even bother dodging as it spattered harmlessly across his chest. He raised an eyebrow silently, and Arsene sensed he was being tested.

Damn the tests, how was Akechi alive? Was this even Akechi? He could barely see, let alone check to see if it was his Shadow. Then again, he reasoned, why would a fake Akechi be camped out on the road to Jamestown?

Why was he on the road, for that matter?

That was easy. If he knew himself, he either encountered trouble and crash-landed, or he'd blacked out while in the air... and still crash-landed.

He examined Akechi, who crossed his arms at the attention, eyes as dark as always in the brightening sky. He didn't have a scratch on him.

"Well? Are you going to speak to me?" Akechi demanded. "I've been waiting for a while, you know." He narrowed his eyes.

It took Arsene a few tries to say anything. "Get lost," he rasped.

Akechi smirked. "Oh, but why would I do that? There's still plenty to be done before you go."

Arsene's vision was suddenly tinged blue with fury, and he launched himself to his feet. A warning in the back of his mind about his spiking anger was quickly dismissed. "What right do you have to demand something from me?" he snarled. "You tried to kill Ren, you tried to kill all of us! Loki tried to poison Milady! You killed Haru's father and Futaba's mother, and how many other people? You called Ren attic trash, but what the hell does that make you?" Arsene was vaguely aware that his accented Japanese had shifted to his native language, and he consciously changed it back. "And now you think you could make me willingly give you something, just because you found me here? Who died and made you king?"

"Loki!" Akechi suddenly screamed. Arsene's mind flashed another warning, something or other about spiking energy which he batted aside. If he was going to summon Loki, he'd fight him, right here, right now, damn the consequences.

But no Persona came.

Arsene scoffed. "Even your own Persona's left you alone, just where-" He stopped himself.

Oh.

Oh.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU FILTHY SHADOW, AND USE YOUR EARS FOR TWO SECONDS!"

Loki wasn't coming because he was dead. Either out of habit or an answer to his question, the traitor had slipped. Out of mercy, Arsene didn't press further, although his initial hatred of him softened.

But only a little.

"Just listen," Akechi bit out. Arsene growled, sensing something dangerous. A second later, red wisps floated off his arms, tendrils stretching for his midnight wings before the traitor swatted them away. "How I'm alive has little consequence. For now, we're at something of a standstill. I have no way of injuring you. If you try," here he smirked, and Arsene resisted the urge to shove a few of his teeth down his throat. He reminded himself that he was incorporeal, so it wouldn't help in the slightest unless he was a Shadow. And this Akechi certainly wasn't. "Maybe you'd get out of this crater. You might even get a couple feet. But you'll never make it back to Jamestown."

"Your point?" Arsene snapped. The traitor ignored him, either because he was speaking in French or he didn't care.

"I propose a truce," Akechi said calmly. Only Arsene's senses betrayed his underlying fury. Most likely from his rant earlier, which he didn't regret in the slightest. "I assume you know little about this Metaverse-"

"Illusion-"

"See?" He gave a charming smile. Arsene glared to the side and damned Ren for his taste in men. Now his morals wouldn't let him kill Akechi. "You're teaching me already."

You're the luckiest human in the world, traitor.

Arsene raised his eyebrow behind the mask. "What do I get?"

"I'll tell you everything I've deduced about the Metaverse." Akechi smiled again, only it was more of a wicked smirk. "After all, you're far younger than I."

How he knew that little bit of information was another question entirely, one he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. As for his 'truce,' it was severely one-sided, and he was about to say so when Akechi started talking with that snake-charmer voice again.

"I also have a peace offering." He held out his hand, palm-up and rolled his sleeve up to his elbow. "This is how you recover power quickly, yes?"

Arsene felt his face flush blue under the mask. His vampiric nature was a closely guarded secret. As he could act as a separate unit from Ren instead of a tool, he had the option of using his own SP. From there, he preferred to drain Shadow's SP and let Ren kill them when he was drained.

Of course, he realized, Loki had likely been the same way. Akechi was used to this by now. But he wasn't going to even touch the traitor, much less trust him.

"Absolutely not." Arsene made sure his hands were behind him, even as his legs wobbled. "I want nothing of yours, traitor."

Akechi just smiled. "That's water under the bridge at this point. I have no reason to kill you... not that I could."

He was referring to his lack of a Persona, wasn't he? Arsene decided to twist the knife in the wound a bit. It was the least he deserved after what he'd put Ren through. "Where's Loki?"

"He's dead, Arsene," Akechi snapped, only confirming what Arsene already knew. "And if you ask me one more question about it, I'll drag your carcass to Ren and see if he wants your head on a spike." More red mist bled around his fingers.

Despite their mutual hatred, he still noted the shiver in his voice. It made the Black Mask seem a bit more human... although not by much. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

Akechi rolled his shoulders and pinned him with a stare. "Did I, or did I not warn you-"

"Fine, fine," Arsene huffed. He needed the SP either way, and it was unlikely he'd make it back in time the way he was. If worst came to worst- no, he decided. This was the worst-case scenario. "However, I'd like to know just how you survived."

"I'm sure Ren would be interested to know," the traitor snorted. "I suppose you can hear about it... after I ensure your information is good."

"You expect me to go first?" the Persona growled. He was in no mood to deal with the Black Mask's bullshit, especially now. The moon was setting, and while it felt as if he'd set down weights, Ren would wake up soon. If he realized something was wrong, he'd likely find his illusion, which would almost certainly make said illusion unstable. Not to mention he had no weapons other than his bare hands, and Arsene hadn't seen a whisper of his other Personas. As far as he knew, he was the only one left.

Akechi sighed, and his vision blurred again. Arsene tried to lean against the wall without appearing weak, which was working out badly. "You're no use to me dead," the traitor said, likely taking notice. He gestured at his arm. "Bite me or whatever, just hurry up so we can talk."

At his hesitation, Akechi tapped his foot against the ground. He was far more restless than before, he noticed. "I don't have all night. Obviously, neither do you."

"Do you plan on turning me psychotic?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a fool. Stop wasting my time." Akechi glared at him, just daring him to step away and be a scared little child.

He wasn't a child.

Arsene placed his hand over Akechi's and let the glowing blue claws sink through his flesh. He relaxed as energy swept over him, stilling his shivering wings and making the chains a little more bearable. The Persona heard Akechi laugh softly. "How tame, Arsene."

"Why's that?" he asked, slipping his eyes shut.

"Loki always bit me."

"Kinky," Arsene singsonged. His head finally stopped spinning, and he felt his SP begin to recover. If he'd had any doubts before about the authenticity of the traitor, they were gone. After Arsene drained them, Shadows didn't even fight back, and Akechi was definitely still fighting.

Akechi ripped his hand away from Arsene and retreated, wrapping his arms around himself and gulping down breaths. He looked pale, but Arsene was in much higher spirits. His vision cleared and he sensed his wings mending. Besides, seeing him borderline scared was amusing.

He glared up at him. "Laugh. I dare you."

Arsene couldn't help snickering at the moon-pale sheen on him.

"Do you have a death wish?" Akechi hissed, standing straight again.

"Yes?" Arsene tried. At his scowl, he tried again. "Yes." At the furious look he received, he amended, "I could always bite you, if you'd prefer."

"Forget it, Persona." He regained his composure quickly, too quickly to satisfy Arsene. "It doesn't matter. What does matter, however, is any information you have on this... illusion, you called it?"

"Just so we're clear," Arsene said, keeping one eye on the moon, "Betray me, and I'll hang you by your intestines."

"Duly noted. Now hurry, I don't have all night." Akechi jumped out of the crater and started pacing. He certainly was more restless. "Well?"

"First,"Arsene ghosted behind Akechi for the hell of it. "Personas and Shadows manifest here, as you've already seen. There are three illusions, and it's unclear which one stretches farthest, or how far they go."

"I assume you mean the illusion of the ocean and the bridge," Akechi said, pivoting. "Don't do that."

He tilted his head. "I have no idea what you mean," he replied innocently, doing his best to keep a straight face. "There are three illusions. I didn't get a good look before I left, but each puts Jamestown on an island. The first is a sortof kaleidoscope light, which covers the entire island. The rest of Jamestown looks the same.

"The second are ruins of some sort. The buildings are grey and broken-down. Wolves are everywhere. The office building bleeds, and it smells like rot. It's the only one with obvious Shadows.

"The final one," he said, hesitating, "is Shibuya. A strange version of it, but the towers and different locations are perfectly recognizable. The locations are odd. There's a park of sorts, the tall apartment buildings in Shibuya, a movie theatre next to a bar, a school, and in the center, a shop." Perhaps this had been a bad decision. The traitor, unfortunately, was quite smart. He'd likely already deduced that it was Ren's illusion. "They seem to appear and vanish randomly, but I attribute it to spikes in emotion. From who, I'm still not entirely sure, but that's most of-"

The traitor held out a hand, stopping him there. "Tell me about the people in the town."

"Why?"

Akechi rolled his neck. "Must I explain everything? We made a deal, so I hold you to your part of it."

Arsene reminded himself yet again that killing Ren's crush would be bad for everyone. "Will you be telling me what you're thinking, or will you be keeping it to yourself?"

He gave an infuriating smile that Arsene just knew would make Ren faint. Arsene cursed himself for being foolish enough to make the deal in the first place. He may have been a thief, but he still had a code of honor- albeit a strange one. "The little ones, the demons, or the mundane ones?"

"You can begin with the mundane ones," Akechi said.

He resisted the urge to throw a punch at his smug face. "I haven't met many adults. Ren goes out of his way to avoid them. His mother's cold and demanding and certainly not faithful." He noted how Akechi's gaze started to burn with a cold sort of fury. Perhaps he could use that later. "The only man I met is extremely strong, but I don't know how strong he is." He sighed dramatically. "Is there anything else His Highness would like?"

The traitor smirked at that. "I like that. Feel free to call me Your Highness from now on."

Arsene's patience was at its limits. "I'm leaving."

"No-don't!"

The sheer panic in his voice made Arsene turn back. The traitor froze with his hand outstretched. A red flush crept up his neck, and Arsene couldn't stop himself from laughing.

Akechi lunged at him, but passed through his chest and hit the ground hard. "Stop laughing, dammit!"

Arsene didn't even try. "Who knew," he managed between breaths, "that His Highness had separation anxiety?"

Red mist curled off his skin and coiled into his palms. The traitor snarled viciously and took a step forward. Arsene took a step back. He was proud, not stupid, and only an idiot would want to be within firing range of his psychotic power. 

"Akechi," he warned. He didn't want to kill his only source of information- at least, not until they'd completed their deal- but this was turning out badly.

Akechi shut his eyes. The red mist receded and he glared up at Arsene again. "Enough. Just-" He exhaled, digging one of his fingernails into his palms. "Please," Akechi said, wincing at the word. "Don't leave yet."

"Is there something I should know?" Arsene asked.

Akechi bit his lip. "Just- just finish the deal. Then you can go. I'll... I'll make it quick. Tell me what Ren thought of the people my age, and the children."

There was no harm in that, and he really needed to hurry. The last thing Arsene needed was Ren walking into an invisible barrier or being trapped by the wolf pack again. "The little ones adore Ren-"

"Can't see why," Akechi muttered.

"-but they woke him up early the first time. He'll perform for them sometimes, mostly for one of them, and the kid's always in the crowd."

"How precious," the traitor sneered.

Arsene broke off. "Shall I continue, or is there something else you want to say?" At his silence- he was capable of silence? Incredible- he continued. "They happen to be fully trained in combat. The pack and Ren hate each other. Ren told me very little beyond that. Now explain how you're still alive, and what you make of this, if you would."

The traitor paced, utterly ignoring him. He was absolutely silent, which surprised Arsene more than what he said next. "I have a few theories, but nothing will be concrete unless I investigate further."

"You're going to Jamestown?"

"Most likely," Akechi said. "Let me address a few things; first, your theory about the fluctuating illusions is incorrect. It's true... at least in the daytime. You said all three were present at night, but it's unlikely the people controlling the illusions will have many emotions at night."

He was infuriatingly correct, as always.

"Second, the ones who control the illusions. At first," he said, more to himself than the Persona, "I thought it was a sort of Mementos, but if there's two, I highly doubt it. I've concluded that more than one person owns the illusions, possibly the entire town."

Hadn't Zorro said something like that? He thinks this place... is the town's Palace. He'd dismissed it as his usual chatty self, but it seemed to have some truth to it, at the very least.

"They're how people view the town?"

"Isn't that how the Metaverse works?" Akechi asked with a shrug. "The people, if they look up to someone like Ren, they're deprived of excitement. So they desire their own rainbow world. Of course," he added with a closed-eyes smile that reeked of practiced charm, "this is all purely hypothetical. As for the illusion we're in at the moment, I'd guess it's the ruins or Shibuya. The latter I know the least about, so it's best not to assume for now."

Arsene took it to mean take this with a grain of salt. The theories, at least, were more than he had, and he could always run it by Morgana and Zorro later. His opinion of the traitor had improved, too, but not that much. Probably. "And how did you survive?"

"Put it together," Akechi sighed. 

Arsene did his best not to roll his eyes. He understood well enough that Loki was part of the reason, but not everything was obvious. "Spell it out for me."

With a dramatic groan, Akechi looked at the sky.

Shit.

Sunrise.

Well, he was already in trouble. He could stay a little longer, but if the illusion turned off before he got back, he'd be stuck.

"I'll hurry this up for you. Loki died saving me from my own Shadow and did the cliche, shoved me out of the way and took the bullet. Then some girl in a blue world healed me." He waved a hand, turning away and facing some sort of machine with chains, pedals, and wheels. A vehicle of sorts. "Done. Happy? Now swear that you won't tell anyone that I'm headed to Jamestown."

If he told Ren that Akechi was alive, he'd would want to see Akechi, which would put everyone in a heap of trouble, especially him. Akira alone would be absolute agony to get past. Besides, after hearing the sacrifice Loki had made- his life for Akechi's, and with the other Shadows, Arsene thought, it wasn't even a certain trade- he really didn't have the right to kill him. "Deal."

Blue world? He had to mean the Velvet Room, which confirmed Akechi was a Wildcard, and it wasn't Loki's shapeshifting. Lavenza must have healed him... but for what reason?

Akechi raised his eyebrow. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Persona?"

In a rush of feathers, the traitor was reduced to a dot on a sad, lonely road. A gold sun, far brighter than the others he'd seen, rose above the black water, lightening the dark color to a bold, bloody red.

---

And complete!

I swear Wattpad didn't save this chapter, I had to find it in my gdocs. Eh, that's why it pays to havve backups. I would've had to spend days on a redo. Doesn't matter now, cause I finished!

I hope...

Note after publishing: sorry bout that, google docs added some stuff like extra words and weird stuff. If you catch anything else, please tell me. I need to fix it.

Anyways, thank you to everyone who reads this story! Please drop a comment if you like something, or if I could do something better. Grammar's okay too.

Thank you for reading!

Word count: 3330

Robin out!