4 days remaining; nighttime

Even asleep, Arsene sensed the door open.

The Thief chose the room farthest down the hall for that particular reason. His instincts woke him whenever a threat was nearby, honed from a lifetime of distrust. Even Milady swirling down the hall like a sort of spectre- granted, they were all spectres- forced him out of bed and next to the door with a blade in his hand. So he'd taken this room, if not for his safety, for his sanity.

Sure enough, Arsene's crystal blue eyes snapped open at the near-silent footsteps. He laid still, only letting his fingers curl up his sleeve and grab hold of his knife. In this vulnerable human form, made more vulnerable by the chains wrapping his wrists and arms, there was every chance a Shadow could be after him.

The door creaked open, and he slit his eyes open. A gauzy white dress floated in his vision, footsteps barely registering. His hold on the knife tightened. She was six steps away; five, four...

She paused at a trapped display of Milady's jewelry and William Kidd's feathered hats. "Wow," she whispered. Arsene didn't detect a single emotion from her, unlike all the female Personas at the mansion. The only option was...

Two steps away. A slight spike in excitement.

"But... don't I know him?"

Her voice was right over him. Arsene struck.

He sat bolt upright and flicked the knife at her, making her panic. Naturally, it soared past her and embedded itself in the wall of Arsene's room- he wanted answers, not a corpse. In the split second her attention was diverted, he backstepped and looped his chains around her so she was bound in front of him.

He took in the plain day dress, the shiny blue-black hair, the grass-green eyes, and understood.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, and Arsene released her. She stumbled back in confusion and tripped over his bed. The pointy-eared woman winced and rubbed her head.

Dryad, or some sort of nature spirit. Arsene played a hunch. "Chri- Chrys- Chrysopelea?"

She glanced up in surprise. "Chrysopelia," the nymph-dryad corrected in a lilting accent. "Do I...?"

He gave a sweeping bow. Now that he was sure she wasn't an enemy- little Trae's Persona certainly wasn't- it would be best to correct that first impression. "Arsene Lupin, at your service."

She giggled. "What a strange name."

He felt mildly offended at that. "Could I remind you that your name-"

Chrysopelia was already jumping off the bed and walking freely around the room. "Where are we? I woke up in a garden and walked inside and found the stairs and this door was the only unlocked one and then-"

"This is the Persona's world," he said, mostly to get her to stop. The flood of words, mercifully, went quiet and Arsene continued. "Awakened Personas live here, at least, the ones we know about."

"If you don't know about a Persona, can you see them?" She pressed a button on his desk and a panel opened. Chrysopelia picked up the gun and examined it with interest. "Do they exist in another dimension? If you can't see them, can they see you?" She gasped. "Arsene, are we being watched? Are there gods in this world?"

There she went again.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Personas are called from here when our masters enter the Metaverse, and we appear to them when they summon us."

"That sounds lonely." Chrysopelia turned the gun in her pale hands. "What's this world called?"

Arsene gave her a blank look. "Everyone here calls it the mansion. If this parallel dimension ever had a true name, it was lost since before we arrived."

"Does someone own the world? Master Igor owns the Velvet Room, Yaldabaoth owned the Metaverse, the gods owned Earth...?"

The gods? Arsene could fake his faith if needed, but he put his trust in his wits and deceptions rather than a being he would never meet. After all, he'd expected to be thrown to the demons when he died. It was rather ironic that he'd become one.

"I don't know," he repeated instead. "And I don't believe in gods."

Her head tilted, sheets of blue-black hair flowing across her shoulder. "I was born from a god's blood," Chrysopelia said. "Every dryad was. But maybe we were wrong. This doesn't look like Hades." She frowned, her emotions suddenly going still. Arsene only detected small waves, to his discomfort. "You're chained up."

"I am?" Arsene glanced down at himself and jumped in mock surprise. The black metal clanged roughly. "I suppose I am."

Chrysopelia set the gun down and picked up the dangling ends. "They're still handcuffed to you, but why? What's the use of broken chains?"

His instincts pinged, and he swiveled towards the door and retrieved his knife. Chrysopelia looked at him curiously, but didn't ask. "I think," Arsene said, "that their use lies in not tying me up, but weighing me down."

Her green eyes narrowed. "Then take it off."

It was at that moment that two human Personas stormed into his room; Carmen and a beautiful, dark-skinned male with shining gold-black eyes and a dark green hoodie, which was most likely Python. The former choked on her laughter at both the dryad's startled expression and the last spoken words.

Python was more reserved, but only slightly. "Did we walk in on something?"

"We heard noises, so we came to check on you," Carmen supplied.

Arsene folded his arms and narrowed his crystal-blue eyes. His anger spiked. "No," he said slowly, enunciating every letter. "You're not. I'd appreciate if you didn't spread your wild fantasies-"

"HEY, GUYS!" Python hollered. "ARSENE'S IN HERE WITH A GIRL!"

"Thank you, snake," Arsene muttered. He glanced at Chrysopelia. "Sorry."

She smiled innocently. "For what? You showed me a good time," she added to everyone else's oooooohhhh's in the background.

"Dryad," Arsene warned.

"He pinned me to him with his own chains, you know," she added.

"Stop-"

"He's very charming, not that you can tell."

Now that was just insulting. Arsene was very charming, thank you.

"This is your last warning," he threatened.

"Punish me, please-"

It ended in a squeal as Chrysopelia dove away from a burst of Eiha. Arsene, scowl fully visible, stormed out. Of course innocent Trae's Persona would be this devious little dryad. Woman were always like this. Maybe he should follow his master and stick with males. At least he could tell what other men were thinking.

"Hey-wait!" William Kidd grabbed his arm, which was brave of him. In the mansion, it was well-known that Arsene's rare anger could destroy everything. There was once a fourth floor, which might've been able to attest to his violent power... if a shred of it still remained.

"What?" Arsene spoke as calmly as he could, willing the sharp spikes to slow.

"We were just messing around. There's actually somethin' important we wanted to talk about," the captain said cheerfully, without a hint of fear.

"Depends on what it is," the Thief said, turning back around and folding his arms.

"Well..." Will grinned at him, and Arsene's senses pinged just before the captain lunged at him. He prepared to defend himself, but the English Persona just tagged him on the arm and raced away."You're it!"

It took every ounce of self-control Arsene possesed to not hunt him down that very second and slaughter him. Actually, he thought the Megidolaon that hit Captain Kidd in the back was rather restrained.

"You're it," he muttered as William toppled over.

Python laughed. "He looks so sad!" He tilted his head. "I can taste his disappointment. It's almost as good as Shadows."

Goemon edged away from him. Milady looked at him with new interest. "Taste, you say? A form of synthesia, perhaps? Or do your instincts carry over from your other form?" Her eyes lit up. "You must tell me!"

He looked taken aback by the questions, but before he could answer, Johanna cut in. "Perhaps we could move to a lounge? We have something to talk about." At Milady's somewhat petulant look, she added, "Important things."

Arsene wouldn't be any happier destroying a fluffy couch than the utterly ruined fourth floor, so he shrugged and went along with it. He settled himself on the seat farthest away from everyone and started taking slow breaths. The Thief needed time to sort out his thoughts. It wasn't that he was easily angered- in fact, control was something he had in abundance- but something had been gnawing at him...

"I wanted to ask everyone what they thought about the Wish Palaces," Johanna started, leaning forward. Next to her, Carmen flicked some cards out of her sleeve like Arsene had taught her and started trying to drop one down the back of her neck. "The place feels unlike anything I've ever found. I don't understand it." She swatted at the gypsie's hand. "Please don't do that."

"There are three things to consider about the Palaces," Goemon supplied. "First, how do the Palaces work and correspond to one another? The maps Akechi retrieved and our experiences in the Hope Palace answer that well enough. The park connects all the worlds, but unless you feel hope or despair to Komaeda level-" here Necrinomicon gasped, her form shifting from Futaba's to the said male's. He's so cultured!- "Then you must start in the Wish Palace. The Despair Palace is currently unknown, but I would assume it connects the same way, if not in the park." He pushed Carmen's hand away from his neck. "Enough."

"The maps say the Despair Palace connects in two places," Python added, patting a sad Carmen's head. "The second one just says, 'follow the smoke,' so who knows how useful that is?"

There was some murmuring at that. Arsene didn't see the point in wondering, as they could just ask their masters when they were summoned.

"It ends at the location of the office building," Chrysopelia said suddenly. "I smelled smoke that way. Trae confirmed it."

Johanna nodded. "That's one mystery solved. Now... the other question?"

Goemon didn't look happy. "The second question would be about the creation of the Palaces. We've never seen interconnected ones like this. In addition, how would a Palace be built when the Thieves destroyed the foundation for it before?"

"Only Mementos was destroyed," Carmen pointed out. "Palaces can still be created, since Palaces were still around."

"That could be," the gentleman thief mused. "However, after all that effort, can you imagine Joker forming a Palace from distorted desires?" He tilted his head at Arsene in Fox's way. "Arsene, did you notice anything unusual before Kronos appeared?"

Arsene pulled himself together, told his spiking anger that it could burn in hell, and nodded back. "He was on edge, but Jamestown... Trae is the best part of Jamestown, even after knowing how dangerous she is."

"That's an understatement," Chrysopelia added.

"That said, he..." he murdered his own parents out of fury from the past seventeen and a half years seemed too personal to share with the others. "He burned down his house and was jumped two days prior to it. He had some... extreme reactions in the week and a half in Jamestown."

Carmen coughed. "Burning down a house isn't extreme-"

"They're humans," Necronoicon-Komaeda said.

"It's extreme," she admitted. "Still, it's not something he'd do."

"Maybe if I turned him psycho?" Python suggested.

"NO!"

Arsene sighed and closed his eyes again, seeing that this was going nowhere. After a few minutes of what he decided was useless chat, Goemon coughed into his fist. "Back to the subject at hand," he said pointedly. The others quieted. "The last question to keep in mind is, if Ren didn't form a Palace and- hypothetically- the Metaverse dimension is shattered- then-"

"Then who created this one?" Arsene finished. Python yelped and jumped out of his seat as his crystal eyes snapped open.

"You were awake?" he shrieked.

"Of course." He allowed himself a smirk. "It's unwise to sleep in the company of thieves."

"Says you!" Python countered.

"I'm special."

"Half of us aren't even thieves!" Carmen protested.

"It's unwise to sleep in the company of traitors," Arsene amended. "Johanna excepted." Johanna's only crime was rising to a status a female wasn't allowed to attain.

"Thank you," Johanna said, her voice perfectly clear through everyone's protesting. "Excepting Chrysopelia too?"

The Thief considered the Persona. "No, I don't think so."

The dryad-nymph puffed her cheeks out in a chibi-like manner and crossed her arms. "You're so mean, niichan," she sulked.

Goemon choked at that. "Niichan?"

Arsene was blissfully spared a response when his vision warped to rings of black and red. He hissed at the sharp burst of pain. Every time he traveled to the new Palaces, this happened, and he could only cross over at night. Therefore, sunset had just ended.

"Arsene?" Chrysopelia looked confused, but another flash of red and black turned her to distorted rings of brown and gold and white. "Is he alright? Does this happen often-en-en-en..." His sharp hearing was next, twisting the words into something unrecognizable.

"You're going to Wish soon," the Thief said quickly. He shut his eyes, bracing himself for the dizzy rush. "Zorro, you're in charge. Johanna, make sure Chrysopelia knows where to-"

Everything went dark. Arsene had the uncomfortable feeling of being pushed backwards into open air. His chains wrapped his body and squeezed, making him choke. Was it only him who felt like this every time he went to Palaces? Ren never complained about it, but he rarely complained at all.

Green spots flickered in and out of focus above him. Arsene squinted for a moment before the coffee-scented world went into focus. Full branches danced over him. A curry breeze flicked a few emerald leaves into the air, spinning them out of his view. Feather-light grass blades tickled his wings.

Arsene sat up, brushing leaves and the painful, heavy chains off him. The lake reflected rippling shards of cold moonlight- why did Ren prefer the full moon? So far, only the Wish Palace had the constant backdrop of midnight (Hope was in eternal sunshine, but after the Thieves tore out of that Palace while it crumbled behind them, he didn't think the sun would smile on it anymore.) It had to be Ren's world.

No, not Ren's world, he corrected himself as he paced the grassy clearing. I only need to hold it for a week, his master had said. But why did he need to keep the Palace for a week? Why did it coincide with the deadline to save Ren? And why hadn't he asked himself this question earlier-

Wait.

What if- What if it was Trae who created it? She awakened to a Persona at a rather convenient time. She had a motive: escaping Jamestown. If she got rid of Ren, she would have nothing tying her down, and she could leave.

No, that didn't make sense. She displayed too much weakness in her Palace. Trae's utopia hadn't revolved around death, although her power had affected them in a very not-utopian way. She might be able to manipulate people by playing the victim (like Chrysopelia had) but killing wasn't something she would do. The handful of memories Ren shared confirmed it. And although it might not help her case, Arsene couldn't see her manipulating Ren, of all people.

Of course, that just proved that he was a sucker for a pretty face and a kind word. Damn him for keeping the nineteen-hundreds mentality.

Arsene shook his head. "What am I forgetting?" he mumbled to the untouched nature around him. The answer felt so close! Maybe he should review his clues again...

Oh! "Motive," Arsene hissed. "Ren's motive..." What would convince Ren to kill his own mother, burn down a house, and go against the very justice that made his master who he was? Not to mention, where had he gotten the power to block Lady Lavenza's contact with Morgana?

Whoever had created the world had given him that power, or simply done it themselves.

Who had that sort of powe-

"That's quite a face you're making," Akechi said from behind him.

When had he come in? Irritated, Arsene whipped around. "You're unable to even see my face, mortal!"

The traitor clicked his tongue reprimanding, only feeding his anger. "Ah-ah-ah!" he singsonged. "Perhaps you remember a certain incident from last night's battle?"

Oops. He'd somehow changed into his human form, and Akechi had dragged him out of the way. "I'll sew that mouth shut if you can't close it yourself," he threatened.

"Relax. I'm just-" here he broke into a maniacal grin- "yanking your chain."

With effort, Arsene resisted smiting him on the spot. Mostly because an enormous snake appeared behind him, smiling as only an overconfident reptile could. "Has anyone told you that you talk too much?"

"Oh, Shido told me that all the time," Akechi said airly, waving a hand. "I cut his throat, though, so he won't be saying that again."

Arsene winced, feeling a phantom blade at his neck. "Where are the other Thieves?"

"Uncomfortable?" Akechi's sharp teeth shone in the moonlight. "Not to worry, they'll be along shortly. Actually, I wanted to speak to you."

"What a coincidence," Arsene said levely. "Because I didn't."

Python snickered and a wide grin split his master's face. "Bold of you to assume I care."

"Imagine caring."

"Imagine having to say 'imagine' to make a point."

"Imagine having to say 'ima-'" Arsene scrunched his brow under the mask and paused dramatically. "Wait..."

The traitor pretended that hadn't happened. "Swear that you'll keep this to yourself." He gestured for Python to leave, which the snake did with an annoyed huff. How he could even huff out of his snakey nostrils was a mystery.

Whatever it was, to make Arsene swear secrecy meant it had to be important. It also meant that Akechi trusted him- at least, more than the other Thieves. Or "imbeciles," depending on who's opinion was asked. "Fine."

"I was pulled to the Wish Palace this morning."

"You what?!"

Akechi growled angrily. "That bastard Ren had the guts to pull me to his world somehow! He was talking to me so suddenly, and I was already dizzy and damn tired, and I didn't know what to do!" He slammed his fist against a tree, his emotions spiking. What was this one, Arsene wondered absently, examining the pulsing waves. Anger? No, anger was always sharp. This felt colder, somehow. "He just kept talking, flirting with me and said he'd see me later, then I panicked! I had the perfect oppurtunity to kill him, but I was too weak and stupid and goddamn useless!"

"Akechi."

"That piece of shit got the drop on me again," he snarled to the tree, blood leaking down his knuckles. "It had to be Futaba's work. She's the only one who knows how the Metaverse works, and I saw that fucker around Ren. You goddamn fool!" Akechi punched the tree again, his fire reducing it to smoking ashes.

"Akechi," Arsene warned. He knew exactly what it was, the materials Ren had collected twisting in his mind. With Oracle's genius, even a Shadow of her, it would be simple enough to...

"And how did he even know? Damned fool, I should be able to figure it out!"

"Stand still."

Akechi did the exact opposite. He noticed Arsene getting closer and jumped back, waving his wicked-looking sword madly. "Hold on, Persona, what the hell are you- gaah!"

With an easy motion, he batted the sword out of the way and sidestepped the blast of fire. Arsene carefully cupped his hand behind Akechi's neck. "Trust me."

"Since when would I- hey, stop, damn you!"

Ren had only touched the traitor once; during the battle, when he'd been pinned down and Akechi was running his mouth about the Velvet Room. If he'd put something on Akechi that forced him to the Wish Palace, like the Metaverse app, but tweaked, then would be the time to have done so.

The Thief examined the base of Akechi's skull and frowned at the tiny metal blip there. "I was right."

"About what?" The traitor was shaking, perhaps from the close proximity- this Akechi didn't seem to be a people person- or anger. Most likely anger.

"Hey, Akechi."

"What?"

"How do you feel about Ren?"

As Akechi opened his mouth to deliver what would've been a particularly violent response, Arsene summoned Eiha to his claw tip. He leaned forward and poked the very edge of the blip. The traitor howled and threw himself forward, but the Persona sensed two wires fry.

He was glad it worked, or there would have been hell to pay from Python.

"What the hell?" Akechi roared.

Or hell to pay from Akechi.

"You're quite welcome," Arsene muttered. "I found the implanted bug and removed the video functions. You may thank me now," he added.

The traitor relaxed, but only slightly. "I was bugged?"

"Did you have any sensitive conversations since last night?"

He shook his head.

"You can speak freely now," Arsene said. "Now, we've solved how Ren pulled you here. I suggest you exploit it as best you can. His desires should override his caution, so expect to be pulled in tomorrow."

"And how would I exploit it, as you say?" he snapped. "Ren likes me, but he wouldn't abandon the Palaces for me? Hell, he thinks I'm a Shadow!"

"Why?"

"Because he's an idiot, that's why."

An idea struck Arsene like a flash of lightning. "Find out. It'll be in your best interest."

"Does it have anything to do with this?" Akechi withdrew a small, white roll from his utility belt. Arsene carefully opened it, mindful of his sharp claws and jagged chains, only to see a realistic sketch of Akechi staring back at him.

"This isn't..." It had certainly been made by Ren. Yusuke's style was clear in it, but- no, Arsene had been talking to Ren while he drew this. The first day they'd arrived in Jamestown- yes, that had to be it!

"Did he mention anything else? Anything important, that is."

"Maybe, maybe not." The traitor had the audacity to give Arsene the sort of look that suggested he would hold that information until he was given something else.

"I need you to do something very simple," Arsene decided, holding the drawing out with sharp claws

"Depend on what it is," Akechi said levely, examining his equally sharp claws.

"I want you to get Ren to give you his Treasure."

The results were instantaneous. Akechi's emotions exploded as he jumped up and snarled, "IDIOT! What Ruler would do that, you fool? Or are you stupid?"

Arsene swallowed his own anger and closed his eyes. "He's in love with you. Humans are foolish about love."

"And you'd know," he quipped. "How many times were you blindsided?"

"...Unimportant."

Akechi sighed, the sharp spikes calming to slow, tempered waves. "Fine. What Treasure am I looking for?"

"A stack of letters, either in a backpack or-"

"Or a cardboard box."

Arsene, his patience already at its end, exploded, "Will you be silent for once and let me explain?"

The traitor didn't look pleased with that. "I didn't say that!"

"My apologies," he said sarcastically. "It must have been another Goro Akechi from another dimension, who arrived just in time to save your sorry ass!"

"Precisely, Arsene."

This time, he was alert and ready. The moment the second voice said his name, Arsene whipped toward the sound and threw Maeiga. There was a sharp cry of pain and a dark form fell out of the tree next to the one Akechi burned.

"That was rather cold," said Goro Akechi.

He sauntered over to a stunned Arsene and tapped his chest- the exact same place Ren had been slapped with Diamond Dust. "Especially for you." Akechi removed his hand and winked at the frozen Persona- no pun intended.

Oh, Arsene thought miserably. This had to be a joke. One Akechi was bad enough. Why were there two?

Goro Akechi swore viciously. "Why the fuck are you here?"

"Such bad manners," Goro Akechi scolded. Then he grinned widely. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Arsene just barely restrained Akechi- the angrier and therefore real Akechi- as he went for the other one with murder in his eyes. "Calm down," he said. "They're only words."

"Only," Akechi panted, struggling to get the chains off him, "is not how I would describe it."

"I know mom taught us better," Akechi goaded.

"You bastard!"

"Is it insulting yourself," Akechi wondered, pacing closer. Arsene mouthed the next words along with him. "If you insult your own Shadow?"

"You almost got all of us killed!" Akechi yelled. Arsene winced at the spike of anger and took a hasty step away at the red shifting in his clawed palms. "You never told me about the fog!"

"Us?" Akechi asked. "Don't tell me the great Assassin has fallen so far as to collaborate with lowlifes like them." He winked at Arsene, who stared stonily back. "Present company excepted."

This time, it was the Persona who lashed out. The Shadow danced back, barely avoiding a badly aimed Dream Needle. "What a temper you have," he said.

He would show this foolish Shadow how much of a temper had had when he blew the entire Palace into next week.

"I believe you told me something like 'calm down?'" the real Akechi purred.

"I believe I also told you I'd sew that mouth shut," Arsene purred back. "It's a good thing you don't listen to me... right?"

The menace behind that could be heard by a deaf man. Having enough sense- or perhaps survival instincts, because he'd already proven his cracked sanity- Akechi went quiet. For a moment. Then he asked: "So why are you here?"

"I came to offer a deal."

"Really?" Arsene couldn't resist adding. "I assumed you were spying for Ren."

"I am not his tool!" A flash of fury distorted the Shadow's uncannily accurate features. "I was used my entire life. I will not be anyone's puppet!"

Akechi finally succeeded in unraveling the chains. He threw them at Arsene, who let the infernal things clang against the ground. "Depends on the offer."

"Am I part of this?" the Thief muttered. Neither Akechi seemed to care, a fact that aligned them in terms of his hatred. Almost. He could appreciate the Shadow's vicious words.

"The Hope and Despair Rulers had two keys that supposedly connect to the outside world, but there's always several uses for a key in a Palace. I saw Ren give one to Reug before he sent him there. "

"Thank you," the traitor said, and Arsene blinked at the words. "Now since you've given me that, I suppose I can kill you."

Ah. There it was.

"I'm not foolish enough to make myself worthless," the Shadow told him scoldingly. "I know plenty of secrets about the Wish Palace. For example, the park isn't the only entrance."

"I've seen the other one," Akechi huffed. He snapped his fingers and sparks jumped to the ground, pouncing on grassblade after grassblade. In seconds, he was surrounded by an inferno. "Now, would you prefer to be lightly toasted or charbroiled?"

"What about the third one?"

The white flames dipped a little lower. "What third one?"

The Shadow winked. "Exactly."

He growled. "Fine, what do you want?" Arsene would have snickered at that, but the raging flames twice his size convinced him otherwise. Neither being "lightly toasted" nor "charbroiled" appealed to him.

"Rescue Reug. He was captured and placed there against his will, but he's far more dangerous than Trae- at least, by physical standards. Get him back to the real world, and I'll give you more information."

Akechi clearly didn't see anything wrong with it, but Arsene had lifetimes of experience, and skepticism kept him alive and out of jail. The Shadow's reactions and mannerisms were on point. Which meant he had strong self-preservation instincts (unless he was based off Loki-Akechi.) Why would he assist someone who'd dramatically decrease his life expectancy?

"Because," he replied to the Persona's query, "that's what I am."

That's what I am.

Self-destructive? Backstabbing? Insane? (That was a given.)

That's what I am.

Irritating beyond belief? Ren's (although Arsene couldn't understand it) one true love (or something)? No, none of those sounded right.

That's what I am.

Worthless?

The Shadow blinked up at him like he could hear his thoughts. His chin dipped down and he looked away. "Come back tonight with him and I'll give you the third location."

Then he was gone.

"That," Python remarked, his enormous bulk emerging from the bushes, "was quite strange. Care to share the details?"

"You'll be caught up later, Venom," Akechi teased.

Arsene's biting response was cut short by the appearance of the other Personas. And that was the end of his quality time with a serial killer.

---

Hewo!

So, I might want to take the time to point out some references I made here. First, the reference to Daganronpa v2; nagito komaeda. Uhhhhh.... he's kinda hard to explain... but long story short, he's connected to the Hope and Despair theme in daganronpa, and i liked the theme, so i stuck it in here. plz no judging

Okay, so the second one; captain kidd's first name is william, I had a podcast on that, but I dont remember everything. It was useful tho.

Now, the first half of this chapter were to summarize what's been going on from Arsene's perspective. Don't put anyhting in the comments yet, just... think about it. keep the ideas going or dm me ^^ i like getting dmed.

As for the two AKechis, I just had to include Arsene, it just made everything better. Just akechi and akechi would've been boring, but this is Arsene trying not to kill everyone, so its cool

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask in the chat

Than kyou for reading! If you feel something was incorrectly done or the grammar's bad (apart from a/ns) please let me know.

now im up at 2 finishing this and my computers about to die, so thank you all! Please consider leaving a comment just saying hi! I appreciate you all and your help to get to 1k views!

Robin out!