Eight hours, daytime

Jamestown was awake, and it was angry. She could feel it.

"Trae?"

Trae blinked. Had she been standing still for so long? There had been a sudden silence, like everything had stopped breathing, and the rain had stilled. Then a long, slow breath from what felt like the ground itself. Maybe she had just dreamed it, but Trae wasn't dreaming the frown plastered on Ryuji's face.

"Hey, y'kay?"

They hadn't felt it. Of course they hadn't. "Yes." She regained her pace, gesturing and adopting a grown-up voice like Mama's voice. "To our right is part of Reug's gang headed for the truck, most likely to kidnap my lying little brother and waste our time. Morgana, do you want to...?"

"I'll take care of it." If it was possible, the kitty-cat smirked. "Don't worry about it."

"And to our left," Trae said, "Are the homes. As you can see, Ren burned down the nicest one-"

Ryuji coughed a laugh. "Dude, my room looks better than that sh-" He was forcibly cut off by the assassin.

"Language," he hissed, and Trae beamed. He really was a good person! She always knew it, even when he slaughtered wolves in front of her and said bad words. He was really sweet and didn't really deserve Ren, the lying trickster.

"P-Place," he corrected himself.

"Good job, Ryu-kun," Mister Akechi said with exaggerated sweetness. She heard Arsene chuckle in his low voice and giggled again. Trae looked back to the elegant Persona tailing her.

"You look better," she said.

He hesitated. "Thank you, little miss." Arsene paused again. "If I may ask... you seem uneducated about the outside world. Furthermore, Jamestown is named for an American town. May I ask how you knew my name?"

Loki tilted his head curiously.

"Well," she said, "I speak a lot of different stuff."

"Oh? That seems a strange skill. Jamestown appears to be isolated from... well, from everything, and we've been told this town is relatively new." He paused. "Ah, but I'm sure it does not matter. But lying is a good skill to have, I might add, as good a skill as being truthful. Please remember that."

For an instant, the elegant Persona faded out and a boy with crystal eyes and expressive lips smiled at her, tipping his hat with a gloved hand.

Her face felt red. She turned away, but could still hear Loki snickering.

"Now, in front of us-"

Makoto interjected. "Trae," she said, "Where is the school?"

"School?" What was a school? Some big books mentioned it. She thought one of them might have called it a... jail? Yes, Jamestown had one of those on the very edges, but it was difficult to remember. Her head felt a little fuzzier than usual.

"Oh! Maybe Ren was homeschooled?"

The girl with the headband-braid frowned more. "No..."

"Queen, watch out!" Yusuke suddenly backstepped and pulled her backwards. She looked at him in confusion, but he was absolutely focused on the ground.

"What?" Ryuji teased. "You're bein' para-"

The square of concrete exploded. Arsene threw a wing out, shielding her from most of it. Trae yelped and covered her ears. Her head rang. Pebbles rained down from the sky, then everything was quiet.

Except for the ringing. She whined, rubbing circles in her head. That hurt...

The assassin snarled. Half-melted rock laid around him, Loki hovering nonchalantly behind him. The remains of dying embers fluttered around their feet. "What the fuck was that!"

"Dude," Ryuji chirped. "Language."

"I swear to the stars, Sakamoto, I will crush your face into another bomb. And speaking of bombs." Now he was glaring at her. Meanie! "Care to tell us why you lead us into a lethal minefield?"

"It's not lethal," she said. Akechi rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something mean, but she was always fast at talking. It was something most people at Jamestown were. "It's not! Everyone walks over them all the time and they never go off."

"Well, they just did!" Futaba commed down from Necronomicon- flying metal, she marveled, wondering if the world had become so advanced it was a fairytale without any magic- and added, "You're standing in the middle of a minefield!"

"Kronos." Akechi spat the name like a bad word. Arsene's feathers rustled and Loki's braids lashed at the air like she imagined snakes would. They seemed on edge. "He activated them, didn't he?"

"As the Treasure, he likely did." Makoto chimed in. Yusuke was silently watching them.

Trae had noticed that a lot. During the daytime, while the others plotted different ways to take down the Palaces and seemingly unpredictable twists and turns, the temporary leader- dubbed Fox for his mask- only offered occasional thoughts. He was usually quiet, and when she turned around, she was always surprised to see him. Fox flitted from corners of her mind like a shadow, slipping away just as she thought she knew something about him.

Was that what it was like to learn about people?

"Then I'll burn this fucking place to the ground!" the assassin snarled, Arsene nodding in agreement.

"Dude," Ryuji smirked. "Language."

"Shut your fu-" With what looked like a lot of effort, he took a slow breath. "Forget it, Sakamoto. I'll have Python set off the bombs-"

"Are you forgetting?" Loki purred, clamping a hand down on Akechi's shoulder. His claws looked like they were digging into his skin. She thought they looked a little redder, but Akechi's costume was pretty dark, so she couldn't really tell. "You do not need that slithering liability anymore."

Arsene coughed and looked away, but not before she saw his silent laughter.

Chrsopelia hummed her amusement. "He is trying far too hard. It's adorable."

Fenrir appeared at her feet in a swirl of blue embers. "Yea," he barked. "Get a life, Loki!"

"I shall pretend you did not say that." He unslung his broadsword and sized up the seemingly innocuous concrete in front of him. "Shall I roast any of these mortals, too?"

He was definitely being sarcastic, because that's what Mama called it when she said something funny. "That's mean," she said.

Loki's clear blue eyes shifted towards Arsene and narrowed. He tilted his head just slightly at her, and Trae thought he was asking who she was. What she was, actually. She wasn't very old, but she definitely knew the difference between who and what. Mostly because she'd once called mister Wolf a what, and she got in a lot of trouble for that.

"He is mean," Arsene agreed in a more... oh, what was it called? Seductive? Yes, he agreed in a more seductive voice. "But he's quite the softie-"

"Do not call me that!" Loki snarled in a voice that was even sharper than Mama's and cut twice as deep. She winced. He regained his calm quickly. "Say that again, and I will be sure the outcome of our battle will be different than before."

Arsene's crystal eyes glittered before his Persona form overtook them. "It would be amusing to dance with you again-" and here Akechi and Loki gave each other exasperated looks- "but if I remember correctly, we have a tower to take and only eight hours to do it."

"Hey!" Ryuji complained. "We can't effin' hear ya!" His Persona, a skeleton (she noticed an underlying human form, but it was too indistinct for her to tell) chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

"He said that it's time to hurry up."

"Time is money," Milady agreed. Trae took a slow step back at the unnerving Persona. She smiled at her, and for an instant, her human form flashed before her eyes: brilliant eyes, pale skin, ebony hair, She looked just like a princess, if Trae didn't know she was a spy, criminal, and otherwise really scary.

Loki shrugged, and with a snap of his fingers, a roiling heatwave swept through them. Trae yelped, dropping to the ground like she'd seen the boys in combat training do. The heat seared at her eyes, but she kept them wide open as fire incinerated the concrete in front of her. It was so vibrant, so pretty, she thought. How could something so bold not be alive?

And just as quickly, as all beautiful things are, it vanished. Trae felt cold without it, vulnerable in Loki's scorching gaze. "Our way is clear," he said stiffly, and vanished.

No one asked anymore questions.

-

"This place looks like it's from an effin horror movie," Ryuji huffed, scrutinizing the dirty windows and old double doors. He kicked at the ground, which was more ashy than the area around where Trae lived. She shivered. She never went over here, not ever. In any other situation, Trae would rather die.

Actually, there was a good chance of that happening, Kronos's protection or not.

"It's scary," Trae agreed. Fenrir whined and nosed her ankle. He'd shown up in a flurry of sparks right after the land mine-thingies.

"It's ugly!" he whined. "So much grey! Even my prison wasn't like this!"

"I, for one, think it's boring," said Haru. She frowned, leaning closer into the walls. "Hmm... I would assume there should be vines or weeds here."

Trae tilted her head, and Haru gestured towards a crack running from the ground up. "Ah, but the cognitive realm usually does not focus on such small details." She blinked at Trae and suddenly changed the subject. "You believe this is where the Treasure is, correct?"

"Probably. The office is unavoidable... except for me... so everyone always ends up here." Trae reached into her pocket, where she could feel two keys. One silver and smooth, the other, rusty and heavy. She'd lifted it off mister Assassin easily; he'd been so distracted in his bloodlust in Wish. Easy target. Arsene would approve. "You guys have a lineup thingy, right?"

Yusuke glanced up from where he'd been examining the ground. "Correct. Hmm... Queen, do you think Personas should count as one of the four?"

Arsene indignantly stepped forward, probably to say how he was human or something, but Makoto was faster. "It'll be too difficult to coordinate attacks with more than four people."

"We shall split into teams of four," Yusuke decided. "Arsene, Loki, Crow, and Dryad." There were angry exclamations from Akechi and Loki, but he put a hand up. "It is most logical to place the Wildcard Personas with people who can hear their speech. You will ensure nothing ambushes us."

For such a quiet person, he was absolutely merciless. This was the first time Trae had heard him speak this much or show any sort of character, and she was surprised. No wonder Yusuke was the temporary leader.

She caught Arsene's fading smile and how his eyes settled on the top of the building.

"That's opped," Futaba said. "You sure stacking's a good idea?"

Yusuke only raised an eyebrow at her strange statement. "Oracle, Panther, Queen.You'll be scouting. Retreat from any battle you do not think you can win."

"Why'm I not on that team?" Ryuji protested. "I'm a fast runner!"

"You attack everything," Yusuke said bluntly, which shut him up."Panther, myself, Noir. We will act as a strike team. And no matter what happens, no killing. Does everyone understand?"

No one spoke. Fox nodded, satisfied.

Arsene and Trae glanced at each other, and the former shook his head slightly. No, that was not everything, he was saying.

Trae agreed. "There's something else I didn't say yet." Everyone suddenly zeroed in on her, which was scary, but she continued. Arsene was right. This was important. "You all know about Kronos, right?"

"Queen explained this shi- uhhh, stuff to us," Ryuji said. "We know."

"Then I hope you understand that this is not like fighting your False God," Trae said seriously. "Kronos is not the Treasure, nor will he take lightly to our stealing it. Kronos is a vicious monster who sees humans as slaves... or corpses." As she said that, she sensed Jamestown rumble beneath her feet. "My lying little brother is not here, nor is your secondary healer and his Persona, meaning Satanael will not put a bullet through Kronos for us."

"Even if I could transform at will," Arsene murmured, more to himself than her, "I might as well have been turned psychotic for all the control I have over him..."

Loki's mouth quirked upwards into something like a smile, only with more fangs than amusement.

The mood had turned somber. Trae didn't mean to make everyone feel bad, though! But she didn't think they realized this before she'd pointed it out: their Wildcard was out of commission, and they had very few advantages and even less miracles. "That said... a few of us have faced Kronos before. We'd better wait to say what they are," Trae added hastily as she saw mister assassin react. "But with this in mind, are you still sure you want to do this? We're all probably going to die."

"You won't," the Thief whispered. She swatted her hand through his wings, and he laughed his sultry laugh and patted her head.

The Thieves nodded at her.

"Good." Trae brushed off her ninja costume. She bowed to Yusuke theatrically and gestured to the door (maybe she learned a few dramatics from Ren...) "After you, Leader."

A rare smile flitted across his face. He unsheathed his katana and glanced at the others, who formed their teams. "It's showtime," he breathed into the silent air. And then he slammed his heeled boot into the old door, and the splintered wood burst apart.

Twenty seven people looked up from their desks. Trae shivered at the dimly lit office: the bare-wire bulbs, the old desks, the neat way the papers were stacked. Everything was so plain and organized and enforced. It was... She wrinkled her nose.

"Let's go around the side," Futaba hissed into their comms. Necronomicon, invisible except for a ripple in the air, went right. Makoto followed, sticking to the Shadows.

One woman in particular caught her eyes: the same pale skin as everyone else, the same grey eyes and red lips, but her hair shone with too much grease and hung as flat as the paper between her hands. "You!" she barked. Her harsh voice wasn't one Trae had every been able to forget, even after Papa had died.

Beside her, Fenrir barked back, and she was comforted by it.

"Mama," she said.

"How dare you come in here with those- those intruders!" she screamed. Suddenly, the woman had two butcher knives in hand. "Our master wants them dead, and you have the gall to sneak off behind my back and cavort with them? Your father would be so mad at you! You're lucky I'm lenient! I'll let you off with a couple of cuts!"

Trae could only see the back of Ryuji's head, but she could tell how pale he was. "Y-you can't do that!" He stumbled over his word. The twenty-six other people began to pull weapons out from their sleeves. "That's-that's child abuse!"

Captain Kidd laid a silver-clawed hand on his shoulder. "You will have your chance to bring this place to the ground," he whispered. "But let our Dryad find her own justice first. Surely, you know what it feels like..."

Ryuji fell silent.

"My father," Trae said, "Was a good man, killed by Kronos." She had put up with fury for a long time. It made everyone human, after all. But no one would desecrate Papa's name, not while she still drew breath.

Trae did not look at Mama again. She faced the suddenly angry mob, most of whom looked to be targeting her. Probably because she had crushed the natural order of things underfoot with that declaration. "You have been manipulated for a long time- oh, forget the drama."

"Ah, but is the drama not the most important part?" Loki pointed out. Akechi glared at him.

"I'll make this quick and simple, just as the people of Jamestown like it. Get out of my way, or I'll ensure you're turned to ash and dust." The assassin seemed all too happy to back that statement up. He drew his shortsword and grinned wickedly.

They did nothing but settle into a fighting stance.

Trae gestured for Akechi to put away the sword. He did so with a huff. "Have it your way," she said. She smiled.

And suddenly the first ten were encased in ice.

Yusuke.

With a battle cry, the remaining seventeen shot for the strike team. They were fast, and Trae was barely able to parry a furious barrage with her butcher's knife. She dropped to her knees and lashed out at someone's ankles, and a man went down hard. "Chrysopelia! Mabufudyne!"

Her second Persona flashed to life in a flurry of blue embers. With a wave of her hand, three more were encased in ice. Fourteen left.

"Move!" Haru yelled, shoving her back to the door. "Milady! Mapsi!" Trae watched the psychic spell wash over them, and more dropped to the ground. Eight.

Six.

Five.

Three.

And... Mama. She hissed with rage and shot forward, faster than Haru could swing her axe or Yusuke could freeze her, and looked Trae dead in the eyes. Akechi roared in anger, but his voice sounded so far away. Loki's eyes were narrowed, but Arsene's were wide in horror. He lunged at her in a desperate, desperate act, his wings flared out, but he would never reach her in time. Trae knew it.

She was going to die.

And suddenly Mama's legs were frozen, rooted to the ground. With a flash, a hooded, cloaked god appeared. He casually fished out a pocket watch with one pale hand and grasped Mama's chin with the other.

"Trae," he said with perfect calm, "Is under my protection."

"I-I-" Mama blubbered apologies. The knives clattered on the floor and Trae sucked in a breath. "I am so sorry, master!"

"Humans," Kronos said. "So very...worthless."

Mama screamed, and Trae closed her eyes. When she opened them, Kronos peered at her curiously, his dark, soulless eyes inches from her own. With exaggeratedly slow movements, he tilted her head down so she could see her mother. There was no blood, no limbs missing, but her face was trapped in agony. "What did you do?" Trae asked, but she didn't feel very violent.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kronos said lightly. She glared at him and he put a hand to his chest, pretending to be insulted. "A thank you would be nice. I did just save you from your mother."

Trae was silent, too busy trying to put a lid on her boiling pot of rage before it spilled over. Ryuji was shaking, and she didn't think he was containing his own rage very well. "You bastard!" he roared.

Language.

"If you're the god of this shitthole-"

Language.

"Then why the eff would you let someone get effin abused?"

"I will tell you. Consider this a favor to my future subjects," Kronos decided. "Suffering builds character and destroys the weak."

"YOU-" Ryuji swung at him, but Captain Kidd was there, pulling him back and whispering something to him.

Kronos smiled, a disgusting thing with his cracked, ugly face and even uglier scythe. "As for what I came here for," he said. "I will not give this world up so easily."

A shadow fell over Trae. She looked behind her and saw Arsene. His wings were spread to their full length, his chains whipping around him, Eiga sparks snapping up his wrists. He was furious. "And why is that?" he growled.

"Make your way up to the roof. If you succeed, you will have earned the right to question me-perhaps."

Faster than Trae could see, Arsene was holding Kronos by the throat. "I will cut you open right here," said the Thief. "I will forgo Zeus's mistake and turn you to ash instead."

Kronos chuckled and suddenly the Persona slammed against the wall. He landed hard on his feet and looked up with a very un-Arsene-like snarl. "Do not touch me, worthless scum." He suddenly threw his hand out and Loki and Akechi froze halfway into an attack. The gold pocketwatch shone brightly in his hand. Shiny. "I would suggest not trying to attack me," he added, and the other Thieves stilled.

Smart Thieves.

Arsene rolled his shoulders. "You will regret that."

"No, I do not think I will." Kronos tilted his head and smiled his cruel smile. "I think I will enjoy this."

And he vanished.

Loki and his master fell to the floor, the latter spitting out chunks of ice. Ryuji sat down hard in one of the desk chair, his face ghostly pale.

Akechi looked up and spat out another ice cube. "I'm going to slaughter them."

Trae giggled, but her smile faded when she glanced back at Skull. He was speaking quietly with Captain Kidd, so quietly that she could barely hear him. Captain Kidd mumbled something to him involving justice, and he sighed heavily. "But-"

"You will have your revenge," Captain Kidd promised. Ryuji was silent for a moment, staring at the boring desk.

"Dad used to... well, you know. Can't believe she's dealt with that shit too." He huffed an angry breath. "Part of me wants to thank Kronos for that, and part of me wants to crush him."

Captain Kidd shrugged. "Kronos is on the roof. You can decide when the time comes."

Ryuji gave him a bright smile and stood up, slinging his weapon across his shoulder. Yusuke gestured to him. "Are you ready to proceed?"

"Course!"

"Oracle, have you scouted the next floor?"

The response crackled in their comms. "Yep!" the orange-haired girl said cheerfully. "Less people, maybe twenty? Lotsa desks."

Yusuke nodded to hte others, who fell in line and went for the elevator.

"The elevator's not real, by the way," Futaba added seconds before Trae. "It's trapped."

"It's meant to be that way," Trae explained. Papa had described the workplace thoroughly, and she knew that despite its broken look, it was a deathtrap to anyone who didn't know their way around. "The stairs are only big enough for one person at a time. Reug's gang could storm this place and all be killed there."

Yusuke frowned and squinted at the doors. He was silent for nearly a minute. The other Phantom Thieves glanced at each other, looking unsure, and Trae was beginning to wonder if this was normal behavior or not. Akechi rolled his eyes and brushed the last of the ice off himself.

"Crow. Loki," Fox finally said. "Can Loki shapeshift from his current form into something smaller?"

The white-slashed Persona laughed. "Of course I ca-"

"Python will take care of it."

Loki turned on Akechi, fury brimming in his blue eyes. "Excuse me?" he demanded.

"I am thou, thou art I," Arsene drawled. He stared down his mask at the assassin, who glared back. "Would you really fail to reach Kronos because of some petty argument?"

"It's not petty," he hissed.

"Please, spare me. It's the very definition of petty." His mask flashed angrily and he pointed at the stairwell door with one claw. "Go. Now."

Trae giggled. "You're scary." But not as scary as the stairwell, she thought as Yusuke opened it. The closed-in space looked like it meant to crush the first person who walked in, all shadowy and dark. Like a pair of greedy hands about to squeeze the life out of something.

Akechi scowled at her, but marched over to the stairs anyways. He gave a mock bow to the mischief god, who breezed past him without a word. As he set his fiery foot on the staircase, his skin rippled, as if fog was escaping from it, and began to shrink. The black and white bled together and shifted into something greyish. The fog completely covered him as his head began to round out and horns vanished, and uncovered him as... some sort of big white bear thingy.

"You chose a polar bear," Akechi said.

While he sounded disdainful, Yusuke had his sketchbook out in a flash. "What a fantastic creature!" he exclaimed, his pencil moving quickly.

"What is wrong with a polar bear?" Loki sounded almost embarrassed, if a god could even be embarrassed. Trae decided some were just more human.

"Just go," Arsene sighed. He leaned against the wall, fidgeting with his manacles. Loki vanished, and Trae heard the thump of flesh hitting the ground.

"What the hell is that thing! It's unnatural!"

"Get it off! Get it off!"

"Kill it!"

Fog flooded down the stairs.

"What the- wings?"

"Watch out for its tail- AAH!"

Akechi started laughing. Without pausing to collect himself, he charged up the stairs, and the screaming doubled. Yusuke sighed and gestured for the strike team to go up. Trae distinctly heard him call, "No killing," before another noise that sounded suspiciously squishy (like metal in skin...)

Arsene stretched lazily. "I suppose we should try and establish some order to that chaos."

Trae giggled. "Maybe. Hey, Oracle, do they have things handled in that floor?"

"Yep! There are five more floors, though!" Her cheerful voice suddenly died away. "I... oh no. We need backup! WE NEED BACKUP, GET MOVING!"

The stairs smelled like mold and cobwebs and sadness. Twice, she swore she felt something creeping up her arms and hurriedly brushed at them. There was nothing there.

"Is something wrong?" Arsene asked. She glanced behind her to see him hunched over, his wings uncomfortably cramped. He looked like he was seconds away from burning the building down.

She tried not to laugh, but a little snort escaped. "Nothing."

All the same, Trae darted up the rest of the moldy, scary stairs.

The second floor looked a lot like the first floor, but the windows weren't cracked and partially boarded up. The desks were slightly better quality and the floor was smooth concrete- or was, had an enormous bird-lion not crushed several weapons into it. The incriminating flames wreathing Akechi's hands scorched the walls and some of the windows seemed really melted.

Yusuke sighed as the last person collapsed. "That was suspiciously easy."

"That's cuz there's a ton more floors left," Futaba said from Necronomicon. "And- oh, sorry Wildcard team. I thought the griffin was an enemy."

So that was the bird-lion. A griffin. Trae thought that sounded really cool.

"I believe they know we're coming," Yusuke said. "They're not incomptent. Noir, Trae, Fenrir. Clear the next floor."

-

Five floors later, there was still no glimpse of the roof, and Trae was getting irritated. Obviously Kronos wasn't going to let them up so easily, and if she had to guess, he'd probably looped where the stairs went. She knew some parts of Jamestown were looped like that, because when she tried to leave Jamestown, she found herself back at the park. It was annoying, but even more annoying that the Thieves weren't doing much about it.

Fine. She'd do it herself.

"Oracle, are we any closer to the top yet?"

"Actually..." She heard a sigh. "No. I don't know why."

Yusuke frowned. "We have been going up the same way. It should be fine."

"Clearly it's not, Inari!"

Ann coiled her whip back at her side. She squinted up the stairs and declared, "There's no way we're doing another one of these. Why don't we just cheat the system? We're Thieves, aren't we?"

"Won't Kronos do something about it?" Noir checked.

"No." That god had been lording over the town for a long time, and even if she'd only seen him recently, Trae had a good feeling about how he'd react. "He only told us to meet him at the roof. Who cares how we do it?"

Arsene nodded to her. She'd noticed Arsene exploring each floor a little more, probably trying to find a secret passage, to no avail. "Perhaps if we just skip this building entirely?"

Loki's smirk looked terrifying on a griffin. "Going up?"

"Going up," Akechi agreed. "Queen, you're with Oracle?"

"Correct. However, it's a bit of a tight fit in here, and I've almost broken a few things... I wouldn't suggest adding anyone else."

"Everyone on Loki, then," Akechi decided. Loki growled, and he smiled charmingly. "He doesn't mind... right?"

"I do!"

Arsene laughed and offered Trae his hand. "It will be easier if I carry you instead," he insisted. Trae suddenly saw his human form. His crystal eyes narrowed, and she knew it was important. "I will not drop you, I promise."

She nodded, and a second later they were soaring through the air. Trae gazed at the slabs of concrete and dully glinting windows that towered into the clouds. Kronos hadn't looped the stairs after all. The tower was just really, really big. Trae shivered. Creepy thing.

"We need to talk about a few things," Arsene said. They stopped rising sharply, and now they were gliding just below the cloudline. "The most important part being how to beat Kronos, but I have one question about you."

She gulped. Trae didn't like questions about her. They were personal and scary.

"Do you prioritize leaving Jamestown or killing Kronos?" He looked at her solemnly, and when she laughed, he huffed an angry breath. "Dryad, I'm serious."

"Killing Kronos, obviously," she said. It was a really easy question. "Why?"

"Because that means, as morbid as it is, we have one last-ditch plan. I'd rather not disclose all of it, but I'm sure you get the idea." His claws tightened around her. "But under no circumstances will you go through with the bluff."

She felt herself go still. He knew who she was and why Kronos wouldn't kill her. She wondered why he hadn't killed her yet. It would be difficult, but if he was careful, Trae would burn and the Thieves' problems would be over.

Trae shivered. "Arsene, you're scaring me."

He chuckled softly. "I'm very sorry. Shall we move on?" She nodded sharply. "Those keys we found in the Hope and Despair Palaces. Allegedly, Crow has them, but hypothetically speaking, if you had them, are they of any use for this battle?"

"I haven't seen any chains other than yours, mister thief," she said. Trae felt the rusted and silver keys in her pocket and sensed Arsene's smile. "But if I figure it out, you'll be the first to know. Interesting, though... I was given my key by my lying little brother, but they were basically useless. And he has a plan for everything." She frowned. "I don't know what it's for."

He sighed, the sound rushed away by the clouds and the steady beat of his wings. "Of course... I believe Morgana and Zorro would know what to make of those."

Below them, angry griffin cries sounded.

"One more thing," Arsene said. "It has to do with our particular skill set as thieves..."

-

"You actually arrived." Kronos didn't bother turning around. He stood on the very edge of the roof, which overlooked the entirety of Jamestown. "I suppose you have earned the right to a few questions before your demise."

Trae didn't like it much up here, not that she'd ever had the guts to stand on the roof before. She didn't like how sour the air smelled, and it would be easy- oh so easy- to push all the Thieves off. Kronos had an advantage. This was a bad place to be.

The Thieves glanced at each other uncertainly. Trae decided to start asking questions before Kronos got impatient and stabby. "Why can't I leave?"

"I have answered this question time and time again. You cannot leave." Kronos sighed and turned around, his one eye glaring at them.

She saw the assassin grin maniacally, then ask, "Who put out your eye?"

A blue flush, barely noticeable. "I presume you already know this-"

"Was it Arsene?" He pointed, and Arsene started laughing. He slipped a gun out of his sleeve with a smirk.

"I made him pay for it," Kronos said lightly, and the winged thief went very still. Trae could almost feel his rage, like it was a cloud around him. "Anything else, or may I slaughter you?"

"How polite," the Thief quipped. "Riddle me this, Odin-" at that, Loki snickered, but Trae didn't really get the joke- "What is your problem with the Moirai?" Kronos growled at the name. "You surely wouldn't have such a vengeance over them just because they control parts of time. Do tell."

His claws tapped Trae's shoulder. This is important, he was saying.

"Fate," Kronos hissed, like that one word was to blame for everything. "Fucking tyrants. They control everything."

"Oh?" said Arsene, who was pretending to examine his claws, but actually fiddling with his chains. "And if that's so, what is the fate of this battle?"

"I was not given that information..."

"So you lost," Arsene said bluntly. After a few seconds of silence, he grinned wickedly, and Noir and Milady followed suit.

"Why bother fighting us if you will only lose?" Noir asked, slinging her axe across her shoulders like Kronos did his axe. "Is the future not absolute?"

"You foolish mortals should know this better than anyone- fates can be changed." Kronos scowled. "The Fates tampered with that which should never be tapered with!"

"He knows he said tampered with twice, right?" Trae whispered to Fenrir, who barked his amusement.

"Oh, my little creation," Kronos sighed. "I have given you the world, only for you to stay at my side, and yet you ally with this... scum?" He shook his head. "Not only that, but you have dared to raise a hand against me."

Trae knew the punishment for that was usually death. Plenty of people she'd known had toppled off the roof to their doom. Papa had gone to work one day with a smile and a pat on the head, and the last she'd seen of him was his mangled body. But she... he couldn't kill or imprison her. What was he going to do?

"There are six hours until I have established a hold over Shibuya," Kronos said, "and I can let go of Jamestown. Six hours until I can kill you. So I suppose the best option is to throw you to the wolves- quite literally."

"What are you talking about?" Yusuke asked. Dang it, his one failing (that Trae had seen) was his neverending curiosity. Queen always swore it would get him killed. Trae was pretty sure this was it.

"You have a choice," Kronos said. "Attempt to kill me-" which was met with Fenrir's growl of agreement- "or destroy Jamestown, and thereby, my control of Shibuya."

"Well," Noir said, "That sounds like an easy choice, and I'm sure whatever catch there is, we can handle it." The other Thieves nodded in assent.

"You would have to steal the Treasure, would you not?" Kronos asked lightly. "And I presume she would not die willingly."

"She...?" Panther gasped. In a flash, she was lunging for Kronos, but batted aside like an irritating fly. "Dryad, look out!"

"You've made your choice," Kronos laughed. And faster than she could react, she was falling, a single world launched to her as a lifeline.

"Catch!"

Arsene dove off the roof, his wings tucked in as he plummeted, his chains click-clacking behind him. She dimly heard him scream something at her, but the rushing wind blocked out his words.

This was the view that Papa had seen seconds before dying, wasn't it? Was he scared? Was he sad that he was going to die? Did he ever think of her before he hit the ground? He was probably brave. He probably smiled in the face of death.

Trae hoped she was like her father, but she knew she wouldn't die so easily.

And when she flew back up to the roof, Arsene a breath behind her, she looked Kronos dead in the eyes and announced, "Now you've fucking done it."

----

Ayoooooo our girl finally learned to curse!!

Late? I'm not late, YOU'RE late!

Words: 5796

It took me ages because NO IM NOT LAZY i was working onchristmas presents and I didn't like a few scenes. I think I'm happy with this version, though!

Now, let's talk about Trae being the freaking Treasure. I mainly dropped hints in the beginning with Ren's afterthoughts about Trae, and how she was, like, the light of Jamestown. I'll explain more about how her attitude and personality reflects Jamestown later, but lemme just clear up a potential issue: If she dies, then Kronos dies because the town is gone. If she leaves the town, she has been "stolen" and Kronos dies because teh town is gone. The only ways Kronos can avoid this is keeping her alive and in Jamestown, or assigning his new headquarters to Shibuya, making himself the Treasure. 

Any other questions or comments, please comment!

You all are great!!!!

I'll definitely be late on the next one, i need to scrape together more christmas presents and pretend  I had them forever. 

Happy holidays!

Robin out!