3 days remaining; daytime

Arsene woke up for the second time in a row with someone in his room.

He snapped himself out of his waking dreams and felt blindly for the Persona's emotions. Their shuffling footsteps sounded male and definitely hostile, but Arsene decided it didn't matter if he got up or not. His room was soundproofed- he had broken a lot of furniture in his room before he'd gotten used to both his forms- so no one would hear him if he screamed for help. And the emotions felt hostile, yes. Angry, absolutely. But certainly not murderous, and the most obvious hint was the touch of mischief.

The shuffling steps stopped by his bed. "I know you're awake."

Well, wasn't he a smart one.

Arsene opened his eyes and took in the Persona leaning over him. "Fenrir."

"You remember." The silver-eyed, pale heather-haired boy took a step back. He didn't look any older than ten, strangely. "I'm astonished."

"You don't plan on cutting me up, do you?" He sat up, feeling more tired than before he teleported back to the Mansion and passed out. Every time he fell asleep, he was sure it was only a few seconds before he woke up again, but it was likely he was just a light sleeper.

"As of this moment, I have no reason to. I have a new master, remember?"

Arsene thought about it. "Akechi?"

He shook his head. "Trae. First time I've had a female master."

"Those sexist views won't serve you well if you want to survive here," he warned. Arsene had seen Captain Kidd slip up a few times, and the results weren't pretty. It didn't help he'd been born in the same age as William, but at least the Thief could read the room better.

"That's not what I meant. Trae is a cunning demon." He assumed that was a compliment. "But I do have an issue with-"

On cue, the door slammed open again. Fenrir whined like a puppy and shrank against Arsene, who jumped in surprise. Chrysopelia hurtled in, followed by Carmen and Necronomicon.

"Fenrir!" the dryad sang. "I wanna touch your hair!"

Fenrir immediately hid his waist-length silver-purple hair under the cover. "Save me!"

The Thief turned towards his bed, feeling mildly affronted. "Do you even know my name?"

"It's... uhh..." The wolf coughed a few times. "I..."

"Get him!" Necronoicon yelled, almost knocking over the desk in her haste. Papers spilled on the ground, but thankfully, the compartment with the gun stayed shut. "He took the only working Sharpie!"

"Go away," Arsene said loudly. Everyone ignored him.

Carmen lunged and Fenrir shrieked as she started tickling him. He growled angrily and swiped at her from under the blankets. "Stop it, puppet lady!"

"Puppet lady?" She repeated, offended.

"Puppet lady!" Chrysopelia laughed. The lovely dryad jumped on Arsene's nice pillows and started throwing them at the other woman. "He's so different from before, can I adopt him?"

"I'll gladly be an orphan!" he howled, wriggling away and falling on the floor with the grace of an earthquake. "Lemealone!"

"Never!"

"Please," Arsene tried again, "Leave."

The only response he got was a stray pillow to the face. The four started chasing Fenrir around the room, throwing pillows and a few strange items of Necronoicon's, including a sketchy-looking manga. "You can't run forever!" Chrysopelia laughed.

"Neither can you!" he growled back, hurling a pillow behind him. It hit the desk and exploded into a shower of feathers.

Arsene slammed his fist against the ground. A Maeigeaon wave rippled outward, toppling everyone but him and shoving them against the walls. "My room is not a zoo," he said with fatal calm. "Leave. Now."

When no one moved, he summoned another Maeigaon spell to his fingertips and pinned Chrysopelia with an angry stare. She blushed and looked away.

He would never know how a woman's mind worked.

"Out," he warned. If they didn't leave in the next half-minute, he would drag them out himself and tie them upside-down over the pool.

In about four seconds, everyone but Fenrir had all but vanished. The little boy sighed and collapsed on Arsene's now-bare mattress. "Thank you," he sighed.

Arsene had meant for everyone to leave him alone, but despite the fact Fenrir had been his enemy just a few hours ago, he didn't have the heart to kick a child out. "Sure." He flicked his fingers and a simple Eiha spell incinerated the feathers, leaving his messy desk alone. "Did you come here for any other reason than to bother me and hide?"

"Oh-right!" Fenrir blinked a few times. "How many floors does this place have?"

"You've been here before, right?"

The child shook his head. "I always lived in my master's head." He looked wistfully out Arsene's window, which overlooked the vine-covered wall and the darkness beyond. "This is a nice change."

The Thief tossed the rest of the bedding over Fenrir, who growled his protest. A bit of his purple-silver hair peeked out of the covers. "Four floors. Three usable ones, and one I-" He coughed. "Ah... one that... was destroyed."

Convincing. Very convincing.

Fenrir hesitated a beat before saying, "Okay," in the most suspicious tone Arsene had ever heard. "But I think you're wrong. I found a trapdoor in the kitchen. Is there a basement here?"

"Not that I know of," Arsene said distantly. His mind was still on the previous night's revelations. He'd found the mastermind, certainly, and it was only a matter of time until they hunted him down. Fate. He shook his head; what a fool he'd been! How had he not understood sooner?

"Something smelled gross down there. I was curious, so I opened it. I saw nothing, but whatever it was smelled nasty. Like rot, shit, and blood," he added. "Should I...?"

Fenrir was like an excited puppy. Was that what most ten-year-olds were like, Arsene wondered. He had been far from what the Thief had considered "normal," clearly, but no one else in the Mansion fit the description either. "It's likely haunted," Arsene said on a whim.

Translucent, purple-white fur that he hadn't noticed before stood up on his pale arms. His silver eyes slitted, and the Thief fought back a laugh. "G-ghosts?" he stammered out.

"Ghosts." He nodded sagely. "And zombies. Big, nasty zombies. With chainsaws."

Fenrir whined quietly to himself. "W-what else?"

"Oh, probably banshees," he practically sang, knowing how sensitive dog ears were. "With megaphones."

He howled and ran out of Arsene's room as fast as he could, screaming something about wanting to live. Which he thought was rather stupid, considering they had, firstly, already died, and secondly, they were technically ghosts themselves.

Arsene laughed to himself, but it was short-lived. He sensed something behind him and, on instinct, slipped the knife out of his sleeve and whipped around. He found himself pinning a rather obnoxious snake to the wall.

Python's gold-black eyes shone with amusement. "Well, aren't you direct?"

Arsene ignored that. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I was bored," he yawned, pushing the tip of the dagger away from his exposed throat. Not like that would help. Arsene had two more hidden in his jacket, a gun strapped to his calf and other arm, and sharp canines if it came down to that. "And you slept in too long."

The last thing he remembered was crash-landing through his window. "What time is it?"

"Time doesn't work well here, remember?"

"Usually I would have a pocket-watch, but no one here seems to have one."

Python raised a brow. "You mean you steal them."

"Precisely."

Python gave a half-laugh and pushed Arsene away from him. "It's about an hour to sunset."

An hour. Arsene was sure he hadn't slept that much. He frowned, pieces click-clacking together in his mind. "Are you sure?"

"It's pretty close," he shrugged. "Hey, did you know Milady's priceless jewelry is missing?"

Just then, the door slammed open. Again.

---

3 days remaining: nighttime

"Arsene."

The Persona turned around, the chains on his wings beginning to draw blood. They were on day and night, which was incredibly humiliating, not to mention painful.

"Arsene."

Oh. Of course. He was in the middle of speaking to Akechi.

"Did I miss something?" the Thief asked, pretending like he'd been paying attention the entire time. It wasn't a necessary thing, but being humiliated even more would be absolutely miserable.

"I believe you were just about to tell me about the person controlling everything?"

"That doesn't sound right."

"You didn't say it," Akechi admitted. "But I'm sure you were thinking that. I'd be insulted if you weren't."

His blue eyes narrowed behind the mask. "I'm positive I wasn't going to say that."

Akechi crossed his arms, looking annoyed behind the jagged mask. "You could always tell me. Whatever comes after me, it'll be cakewalk."

"The Thieves weren't cakewalk, were they?" he pointed out.

The Black Mask was silent for a moment. "They didn't kill me."

Arsene would have enjoyed teasing him with the fact that his Shadow had been the one to take the final kill, but just then, Trae screamed. They both spun around, Arsene's arms wreathed in black and red sparks, the assassin aiming a fire spell between a tiny wolf-pup's eyes.

"Who are you?" Dryad shrieked, "And where's Chrysopelia?"

"You summoned a Persona," Fenrir said, ignoring Arsene's sudden bout of laughter. Akechi shot a glare at him, but he couldn't help himself. Just a day ago, there was an enormous wolf practically designed to strike fear in his enemy's hearts, but this? He was adorable! "I appeared." His tiny snout wrinkled at Trae, and for an instant, Arsene felt furious enough to destroy the Palace and everything in it.

"You look like that crazy dryad-nymph."

"She's my Persona," she said, her voice calming. "Who are you?"

"I'm Fenrir!" he barked. "Who else would I be?"

Trae frowned. "But Fenrir was... oh. I understand. But the assassin killed Reug."

"You defeated him, did you not? That snake only delivered the final blow."

"Snake?" Akechi demanded, sounding affronted. Personally, Arsene thought it was a fair comparison.

"Who're you talking to?" Skull asked. When everyone but Dryad glared at him, he put his hands up innocently. "Hey, I was just askin'!"

Arsene looked back at Trae and her fluffy Persona, who was curled up by her side, his tail touching her foot. She idly patted his head. "He's weird," she said.

"I can hear you, you realize!"

"But I think everyone here is weird," Trae added. Before anyone could yell- possibly involving some strangling- she said quickly, "What does this... Palace? What does this Palace look like?"

Oracle jumped up from where she'd been conversing with a human Necronomicon. "I got you!" She tapped the side of her goggle-mask twice and a holographic image glitched into existence. He was half-tempted to cry "SORCERY" and see where that led, but being a supernatural being himself, thought better of it.

The map she pulled up looked a bit like a toddler's idea of a dead tree: a single line winding up the screen; thin, straight lines branching off. Arsene, having seen a birds-eye view of the Wish Palace, understood that the "trunk" of the tree was Yongen-Jaya, and the "branches" were the different areas in Shibuya that Ren frequented. His memories of them were hazy. He was only a part of Ren, after all.

Sure enough, Oracle said as much about the trunk, then gestured to the first branch. "This is Shinjuku. There are only two minibosses there, Ohya and Chihiya. The map calls them Devil and Fortune."

"Let's avoid those," Noir suggested. No one contradicted her.

"Second, the town square, where we fought..." Oracle trailed off. "Yoshida, or Sun."

"Avoid that as well." Akechi raised a brow, daring anyone to argue. "He's a politician," he justified, defending himself against their doubtful silence.

"All...rightey!" Oracle marked something with a swipe of her fingers. "Okay, I'll keep going, but we could just go through Yongen-Jaya if you think we should, Fox. The issue with that... is it's swarmed with Shadows. We'd barely make it a hundred yards."

Fox only frowned slightly at that. "And the side-lanes?"

"You got it!" she announced. "Each sidelane has a passage to the Final Dead Room-" Necronimcon laughed at that, but Arsene wasn't entirely sure what was so funny "-but it's just a matter of choosing which one."

"Do any of them not have Shadows?" Skull suggested. At the glares and shouts of, "It's a Palace, idiot!" he yelled, "Obviously ones without minibosses!"

"No can do." Oracle frowned at the map. "Best there would be Nishima and Temperance."

"Mishima," Panther corrected.

"Close enough. Ren calls him the... moon arcana. Seems accurate. He's at the school, four streets down, to the left."

Skull and Panther shook their heads in unison, but it was Mona who spoke up. "It feels wrong to pick on him."

"I didn't take you for the sentimental type," Akechi snapped. "Perhaps you'd like to try for the Sun instead, hmm? See how well that turns out."

"I agree with them," Fox said quietly, but it drew the assassin and his silver tongue's attention. "Have you heard the expression 'to shoot for the moon?'"

Arsene knew it. It was a Hearts term, used to describe receiving all twenty-six points and, instead of losing, giving each player excepting the shooter twenty-six points. It was difficult to accomplish, nearly impossible with experienced players.

"Go on," Queen said.

"I have no proof, but do you truly believe our leader would leave such an obvious gap in his defenses?" Fox shook his head. "No, I believe Joker placed some sort of trap around the school. After all, I'm sure he thought of it as a confining place."

"I disagree," Arsene said, although no one but Trae and Akechi could hear him. "When I was alive, school was a proving ground for the cunning, backstabbing leaders and the simpleminded followers."

"Which were you?" Trae asked, beating Akechi to it by seconds.

"I was no one," he said quietly. "I only hid." By hid, he meant he hid a priceless, jeweled necklace in his desk where no one would think to look. School was- and still, he thought, most likely was- a viper's nest full of fangs and an unhealthy amount of disappointment.

She rolled a pretty gold bracelet from out of her sleeve. "Me too." Trae offered a tiny smile.

"I suggest we stay away from the Moon and Temperance," Akechi suggested warily. "And most definitely stay away from the Sun."

"Well...." Oracle drew out the last letter. "There are two others. One of them is Sojibro-"

"Sojibro?" Skull sputtered. "What the hell!"

"And the other is Star, Hifumi Toga. She goes to Inari's school, so she's gotta be weird." Before Fox could protest how unfair that was- or possibly fair, as Fox was about as strange as strange could be- she nodded. "It's at a church, third alley to the right. That one it is!"

From the general assent, Trae's annoyed expression would probably be overlooked. Arsene shook his head. Without Joker, the Thieves were either too confident or too unsure. There was no balance, not like before. Even then, they had been dancing on the tip of a blade. Sooner or later, one of them was bound to get cut.

"Onwards, minions!" Oracle cheered, vanishing with Necronomicon again.

---

He wasn't entirely sure of the time, but it took the group the better part of an hour to reach Hifumi Toga. The church looked suspiciously normal. The enormous, gilded doors were pasted open and the inside was devoid of Shadows, save for two small figures hunched over a board. Arsene dimly recalled battling a woman with the same last name somewhere in Mementos. Yet, he thought as he looked at the ground... something felt off. Maybe it was the deserted area or the feeling of other here, but Arsene had his guard up in an instant.

"I don't like this place," Trae whispered. Arsene offered a shrug. He didn't like it, either.

When the Thieves finally reached the church, it only took the Navi a second to yell what Arsene had already sensed.

"Watch out, Leader! The ground's-"

Fox stilled, but Skull, just a step ahead, was too late. With a vicious cracking sound loud enough to make his bones shudder and high enough to split his head open, red geysered into the air. Arsene reeled as the copper-smelling liquid spattered his mask. A few droplets touched bare skin, sizzling violently.

Shit.

The ground exploded open under Skull and he vanished into the bloody water.

"Skull!" Fox cried. He lunged forward, but Goemon appeared in a flash and hauled him backwards.

"Do you have a death wish?" he roared, a rare show of anger for him. "Are you planning to leave the team leaderless?"

The other Thieves gave startled shouts as the rest of their Personas manifested, save for William. Fox slammed his fists against Goemon's arms to little effect, yelling himself hoarse despite his Persona's insistence. "Let go! Let go!"

The blonde's head popped above the water, and Arsene dove, but the instant he touched the blood, pain lashed through his claws. He hissed and recoiled from the surface just before Skull glanced down. "WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE?!"

"Giant, prehistoric sharks," Fox said, managing to get his Persona to back off for a minute. His eyes widened comically. "Giant... Skull, run! Hurry!" He gestured frantically at the others. "Run! Oracle, lead everyone to the passage! Go, go, go!"

"Got it!" Oracle waved an arm. "Follow me, people! Time to make like a tree and leave!"

"But-" Panther started.

"We can help!" Mona finished.

"Run!" Trae yelled, grabbing the cat's tail and running after her wolf-pup. "Leader can do it!"

"Go!" Fox screamed, his voice rasping at the end. Without waiting to see if they complied- they did, after a single, stunned moment- he threw his attention back to the problem at hand. "Goemon, free him!"

He did his best, yet the instant Goemon's fingertips touched the water, he jumped back with a startled cry. The droplets bubbled viciously. Fox growled- actually growled- in frustration. "Skull, hold on!"

"Try-" Skull's desperate flailing threw a wave of water at them, which Arsene hastily avoided. Goemon's quick step back sent cracks spider webbing under his platform sandals. "Trying!"

"Arsene!" Fox cried, his voice getting weak from yelling."No, that still would not..." He started running for the hole. "Damn it all!"

"No, you fool!"

Skull flailed for a moment before going under, and Arsene was reminded that most pirates couldn't actually swim. And he was wearing so much metal... but the water was like acid to Personas! How was he to save him?

Fox dove into the blood-water and came up a second later with the coughing pirate. "Skull, look at me!" He tilted his head up at his Persona and Arsene. "Please, pull us up!"

Bracing himself for the inevitable agony, Arsene grabbed hold of Fox's open palm. Pain seared his own hand, but he remained in the air, flapping his wings as fast as they would move. He had never been the strongest, not when he was alive, and certainly not now. How was he to pull up two humans?

Granted, it was more like one and a half. The blue-haired artist was incredibly light, and Arsene could feel his bones through the fabric.

"Help," he gasped to Goemon, who nodded and took hold of his master's other arm. Now Skull had his arms wrapped just under his friend's chest, looking barely cognisant of the fact there were-

Why are there so many sharks?

Skull let out a cry of pain. Arsene felt the thief's fear spike, and Skull let go of Fox. Both Personas and the kitsune hurtled backwards and hit a wall.

"Captain Ki-!" he hollered through a mouthful of water. Fox lunged for the blonde's hand, but he slipped under the surface again, and the kitsune came up with nothing but air.

"No," he mumbled. Then louder, "Captain Kidd!"

It had no effect, of course, since it was Skull's Persona and only he had the power to summon him. But a few seconds later, when Skull came up again frantically paddling for the edge of the rapidly growing pool, the brazen pirate appeared in all his glory. "You seem to be in a bit of a predicament," the Persona said dryly.

"Wild Thunder!" Skull roared.

"You'll-" Goemon sputtered. "You'll electrocute yourself!"

"I'll grab him," Arsene said, already dreading the backlash he'd receive for this. "Hold off on hitting the sharks for as long as possible; blood conducts electricity rather well."

William only hesitated a breath, and in that breath, three enormous sharks exploded from the water, their bodies glistening black-red. Skull's chocolate eyes widened at the sight, and his masked face drained of color.

"JUST DO IT!" he screamed.

William fired the spell into the air, and lightning rained down around them. Arsene flinched away from a flash that struck too close to him, then realized his chains were sparking. Shit. He dove again, this time grabbing the back of the pirate's ascot and lifting him out of the water. A second later, snapping jaws twice his height close around where they'd just been, and Skull coughed in relief. Bloodred water dripped off his clothes.

Arsene let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, too relieved to feel the shock echoing through his bones. He did, however, feel the blood-water-thing burn his hands black.

They dropped several feet, nearly skimming the fragile ground before Arsene had control of himself again. Merciless gods above, devils or angels, why did it hurt so much?

That was because it was like acid, he reminded himself, and he was the only one foolish enough to do this.

Behind him, the lightning strikes seemed to fall a little slower. The crashing sound was accompanied by some unpleasant sizzling and inhuman screeches before disgusting-sounding splashes or thuds.

"Man," Skull gasped out, coughing water from his lungs. "That- That's the second time you've saved me. Thanks, Arsene."

"Please try not to place yourself in mortal danger again," Arsene managed through clenched teeth. Maybe it was only in his head, and the burns didn't hurt that much-

Oh, no, it most certainly did hurt that much.

A flash exploded in front of him, crushing the church's arched roof and setting the rest on fire. There was nothing but fire moving inside the church, and if Arsene looked carefully enough, he could see Hifumi and the priest still playing shoji.

He lost his grip, the cloth rubbing skin into the burns before sliding out of his hands. Arsene just barely managed to catch him.

"What the hell was-" He broke off, coughing painfully. "I hate this effin' Palace."

"I agree," Arsene muttered, scanning the area for the secret passage. It was an alley with a church! There were only so many places it could be!

Oh. There it was.

The church's doors crumpled to the ground and disintegrated silently, and the stained-glass windows exploded outwards, and Arsene hastily avoided the glittering shards.

"Holy shit!" Skull swore. "Why aren't the Shadows running?" He struggled in Arsene's claws, making the Persona panic and almost drop him. Arsene dug his claws into the pirate's shoulders with an angry, warning sound.

"I like this as much as you. Hold still."

Skull relaxed slightly, then craned his neck up to look at his masked face. Those dark brown eyes seemed to stare right through it. "We have to go back."

He shook his head. "Fox already arrived. He's fine- Johanna!"

Arsene alighted next to the motorcycle and set Skull next to the temporary leader. Fox looked frozen in shock.

"You actually..." Suddenly, his face split into a wide smile. "I am in your debt, Arsene."

While the other Thieves yelled at him for being so reckless, then hugging him so tightly his face turned purple, The motorcycle vanished, replaced by a lovely, dark-haired girl. She frowned at the way his wings were drooping. "What did you do...this time?"

He tilted his masked head towards Skull, who was coughing the last of the water from his lungs. "I have a good reason?"

"I suppose that's fair. Heal?"

"Please do."

She placed her hands over his, and his knees almost buckled at the cold sweeping through him, mending various burns and the places under the chains where the skin had all but rubbed off. He leaned against the wall and let her manually heal the skin on his wings, which felt blistered and sore. "Better?"

"Much," he sighed, closing his eyes. He was already so tired, and the Thief hadn't slept well for days. No one would notice if he was out for a few minutes...

"Perfect. Now help me get to the church!"

Arsene's eyes popped open in surprise. "Why?"

"Would you just leave someone to die in fire?" The determined look she was giving him meant he would be going no matter what he thought. Johanna was a force of nature and she certainly wouldn't back down for some weak reasoning.

"Hold on," was the only warning the Thief bothered to give before taking off, arms around her waist.

"Arsene!"

"Unless you'd prefer to break my wings, there aren't many ways to carry you," he said hastily. The look she was giving him hinted at a lot of pain in his near future. He hovered over the now half-burnt church, hesitant about diving into flames to rescue a Shadow. "Now..."

"Do it!"

The order was so absolute that Arsene complied instinctively. The chandelier crashed down at the same time, and he banked left, somehow dodging the explosion of gold and glass. "Where are they?" he gasped to her. The smoke was thicker the closer they got- shockingly- and smelled acrid. "Can't see-"

"Cast Curse," she said, calm for someone dangling inches from white-hot fire. "There! To your left!"

Arsene dropped Johanna and alighted on a pew. A green-eyed girl with hair the color of ashes glanced up at him tiredly. The priest looked up as well, and his eyes widened. "Demon!" he shrieked.

He choked down his laughter, reminding himself it was a fair assumption. Arsene had been called worse in the nineteen-hundreds.

"Which one of you is the Star?"

"I am," the girl said promptly, glancing back at the shoji board. "I win," she added as an afterthought, nodding politely to the priest.

The old man took a fearful step back, his robes scraping the flames in his distraction. "You are not welcome in the house of God, you demon!"

"Johanna, may I leave him here?"

"Arsene," she warned.

The Star's eyes widened. "Arsene..." she whispered in horror, saying his name like he pronounced Yaldabaoth. "He told us to destroy you on the spot!"

This time, he couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled up in his chest. Oh, this was too funny! "Of course he did," he chuckled. "He'd do anything to kill me, now that I know." Arsene took a smoke-filled breath. "I'm sure, in that case, you already know what he wants."

"Arsene, what are you talking about?" the priestess asked, returning from saving that rude old man. Johanna's dark eyes looked scared.

"He wants what everyone wants; control." She stared at the ground. "Mother wanted control, he wants control, the False God wanted control... every move on this board is control, too." The Star looked up at him, flames licking the pew next to them. "The Thieves have already passed this point, haven't they?"

"They have," Arsene said.

"Then I have given up control," she said to the board.

A sudden terror swept over Arsene, and despite the flames devouring the walls around them, he found himself rooted to the spot. "What are you-"

She smiled as she stood. "You have no control anymore. I need not do a thing; you'll destroy yourself."

Without hesitation, she fell backwards into the fire.

Arsene felt himself drop to his knees, only able to stare as the girl dissolved into a mess of charred skin and bone. Her haunting laughter still echoed in his ears.

Why would she-There was no point! He was going to drag her out of the church, dammit! He felt sick. Why?

She was only a Shadow, part of him said. She was useless to them.

That just made it worse.

"Arsene, we have to leave!" Johanna tugged at his arm. "Arsene!"

He didn't remember returning, nor how they got to Leblanc, nor storming up the many floors. All he remembered was the Star's face laughing-laughing-laughing as she fell backwards like a toppled chess piece, and so many Curse spells as he destroyed Shadow after Shadow.

Perhaps that wasn't the mastermind's trap after all, Arsene thought, remembering an afternoon in filtered gold light, rustic booths, a dark king in a ghost-white hand. No, he decided, that was certainly Ren's doing.

You'll destroy yourself, the Star had said. Had that been derisive last words... or a hint?

Arsene knew what to do.

---

Gonna be totally honest, I really hope I spelled the title right. It would be really embarassing if I spelled it wrong. 

Anyhowwwwwwwww i know I'm a bit late today, BUT I HAVE A GOOD REASON I SWEAR! which i wont be telling. 

Anyways, about this chapter: First, the Final Dead Room reference: daganronpa two. And the Shoot for the Moon thing, i already explained it, but if you look close enough, Queen was the one to ask Yusuke to continue, which was part of a joke. See, the Queen of Spades is worth thirteen points, half of what's needed to shoot. So I thought it'd be amusing to have her say somethign during this time.

And yes, choosing hifumi was necessary for the plot. You'll get it in... oh, two chapters, if you haven't already figured it out. 

Since I'm a nice author who carefuly considers absolutely nothing, I'll say one more thing about the mastermind, although i think ive already said too much. Names and appearances are easily changed. And only one out of everyone in these chapters has seen the mastermind's true form, like how they actually look.

That should be enough, I think.

Welp, that was fun! Time to regret life and work on the next chapters! Thank you so much for reading!

Words: 4600

Robin out!