2026-04-11: Raiders of the Lost Pyramid
- Log: 2026-04-11 Raiders of the Lost Pyramid
- Cast: Futaba Sakura, Ren Amamiya, Ichika Kawase, Tsubasa Seki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Haru Okumura
- Where: Yongen-Jaya - Back Alleys
- OOC Date: April 11, 2026
- IC Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2012
- Summary: Futaba (fu-ta-ba, Heisei 9-Heisei 24) was the second pharaoh of the fourth dynasty of the New Era, with a brief and unhappy reign. An accursed and morbid ruler, her tomb is abandoned and forgotten to the point of semi-mythicality, despite some minor achievements in mathematics, cultural developments, and the adoration of the Featherman priesthood. Well-meaning advisors prolonged the reign for some time, but the desert claims all the works of humanity in the end.
The Phantom Thieves raid the Sakura residence to gain entrance to Futaba Sakura's Palace for the first time. An excurson with action, adventure, and stifling heat!
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
The Sakura household.
Once again, it's not inhabited. Perhaps nobody wanted to give Sojiro the full explanation. He's a busy man in a range of ways, and it's not hard to go around his back. It helps, of course, when the target is well outlined.
Everyone knows exactly where Futaba Sakura is.
CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION
PRIVATE
DO NOT ENTER
CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION
The air is thick. The house doesn't get aired out as much as it could. This door must always be closed. A part of the flow of qi throughout the residence, dammed and stopped. An injury that isn't fatal right away. A withering sort of doom.
Here, loyal Phantom Thieves, is where the mystery can be commenced. All you'd have to do is kick down this door and you could confront Futaba Sakura. The results are highly likely to be disastrous. None of that caution tape is actually occluding the door; like the imitative pigment of an insect freeloading on a neighboring species' reputation for toxicity, it is only a statement.
It's not even a very thick door.
Which is probably why as soon as everyone is in the general vicinity - or indeed more than one person is in that vicinity - a phone buzzes abruptly, loud and clear and easily audible despite the hushed gloom of the dark hallway.
It is a text message. It is sent to the phone of Ren Amamiya.
Perhaps their number is the only one Futaba had.
They can show the phone around, read aloud, whatever. It seems to be the line of communication.
> You woke me up hold on
A few moments later. The texts come in rapid sequence.
> It sounds like a crowd... how many of you are there?
> I guess this is what you meant...
> So. The reason for the visitation.
> It's about 'what I see this house as' as I recall.
> I couldn't figure it out...
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren sure wasn't going to give Sojiro the full explanation. Once again: they're pretty okay with keeping secrets from others in their life.
Knowing that Sojiro was going to go out to pick up a new shipment of beans today, Ren made sure to send word to everyone in the Phantoms group chat to get them to walk into the Sakura household. It's not a lot of time after giving Futaba--or rather, Alibaba--fair warning, but opportunities must be seized when they're in hand's reach.
Morgana guides everyone upstairs from atop Ren's shoulder; he was the one who actually went up there and IDed which room is hers. Ren, for their part, takes their shoes off at the foyer. It's a school day, so they are naturally in their school uniform. Their winter uniform, it must be noted for no particular reason. With hands in their pockets like usual, they observe the caution tape that runs over Futaba's door. Yeah, that seems right for a hikikomori...
They aren't going to kick down the door, though. They don't even test if the door is locked. This is someone they're trying to save, who is emotionally and mentally fragile. Ren doesn't want to cause her any more distress than absolutely necessary. Anyone who might try will get blocked by an arm and a firm headshake.
A phone buzzes. It's Ren's phone. They pull it out of their pocket and look around at everyone, then nod once, holding it out so everyone can lean in to read.
There are subtle noises within the room. Ren waits patiently. Eventually there are more texts.
"We should respond to her out loud. It might help her get more used to all of us," Morgana opines from Ren's shoulder. (Of course, to Futaba, this just sounds like The Kitty meowing a bunch. Ren even brought their cat along?)
Ren nods. They frown thoughtfully at the news that Futaba couldn't figure out her own distortion. For now, though, they say to the door, "There's nine of us. Including me."
They look at the others. "I already explained what a distortion is to her, but maybe I didn't make it clear enough. Does anyone have any thoughts?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Private... Well, that's one way to keep your own space sacrosanct.
Ichika Kawase is here, dressed in a Kasugayama girls' uniform for the winter, with heavy boots instead of regular shoes. Her skirt is nearly floor length; her midriff is bare even in the winter! ...She's going to get noticed by Futaba, probably. Probably.
Ichika doesn't go for the door either. But she does say, "Uhhh, do we know if she's..." Buzzzzz.
Morana responds that they should talk out loud. Hmmm.
"Hey," Ichika says. "Ichika here."
Pause. A disortion...
She considers. "A... fortress?"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Closed doors give Tsubasa the creeps.
... well, it's more about the things which happen behind them.
That's not the situation here, at least; still, the stagnation of this place has them a touch on edge, shifting from foot to foot. They've come here after school, so they're in their Kasugayama boy's uniform -- their jacket unbuttoned and the lower half of their shirt unbuttoned, too, the latter tied around their waist, showing some of the green and black binder beneath it. (They fixed it, after Shiryuu cut it open.) Their pants sit a touch low on their hips, as teenage boys tend to do when they're rebelling; their shoes are colourful high-tops with several patches sewn into them, which absolutely aren't regulation, but of course they took them off at the threshold just like Ren.
It wouldn't be respectful to track mud into Sojiro's house.
Buzz, buzz...
"Yo," Tsubasa calls out, when Ren shows them what she's said -- and Morgana encourages them to respond to her out loud. "Name's Seki. Tsubasa." They can at least identify themself in the crowd! "... you like textin', huh? I'll leave my number for ya. You can, uh, come grab it later." Don't do it, Futaba, it's a trap, TSUBASA'S TEXTS ARE FUCKING ILLEGIBLE --
But how to explain the distortion? "Maybe, like... how's it feel livin' like this? I dunno..."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji stares at the sign, blinking as he tries to take it in. "Wow. you weren't kidding. She's really in there." Ryuji says putting his hands behind his head as he looks to Ichika. "Uhhh I'm kinda unsure of what to do here...never dealt with someone like this."
I mean he has experience with the clientele at work but those were outgoing nerds. Ryuji isn't even sure what "Futaba's" deal is besides what he's read in the messages threads.
"Uhh...Hey...It's a me, Ryuji Sakamoto!" He laughs nervously as he tries to how not to make this any worse. There is a long beat of silence from the blonde before he just asks "Uhhh you like Ramen?"
Ryuji sighs and finds a wall to lean on, looking between Ichika and Tsubasa. "So uhhhh how about a shrine? Maybe she has one of those creepy idol ones...errrr not creepy idol ones?"
<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.
"Mm. She really doesn't want people around, huh..."
This is the quiet observation of one Ann Takamaki as she stands outside the door to Futaba Sakura's heavily (figuratively) (maybe literally?) barricaded bedroom. Having come here straight from school much like Ren and the others, her - heavily personalized - winter uniform, hands tucked into the pockets of her hoodie as she stares at that caution tape.
Even as much as she yearns for connections to others, well. Ann can't say she doesn't understand the need to isolate. She spent much of her high school life up until recently doing the same. But this is...
... this is a whole other level. Is it because of her mother...?
Pale brows furrow as the others try to reach out past that door, through voice and text, to find out just how to get into Futaba's palace. Chewing the inside of her cheek, Ann looks lost in thought for a few seconds longer, before that pale blue stare falls on Tsubasa as they try their own angle. She blinks, and then she wonders, tentatively,
"Have you ever thought about... leaving this place?
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
In deference to propriety, Yusuke also removes his shoes at the threshold of the Sakura residence, before following the others up the stairs towards Futaba Sakura's room.
He takes in the decoration of the girl's door, tilting his head. The tape is well-placed, neatly dividing the door into surprisingly pleasing shapes given that it is intended to be a ward against outsiders - a great 'X' to prohibit the dangers of the outside from encroaching...
Ren's phone beeps, and Yusuke turns to look at their leader, squinting at the screen's glare in the dim light of the hallway. "Yusuke Kitagawa," he introduces himself, stoic as always. Alibaba - that is, Futaba - seems uncertain as to what they mean by the distortion. He opens his mouth to contribute.
In a rare moment of self-awareness, he realises that perhaps the words 'passionate madness' are ill-suited to this situation.
He closes his mouth, instead folding his arms and leaning a little away from the screen glare.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto is a lot more prepared for a discussion with Futaba this time. The weather is confirmed safe and the sun is still up and this time she brought an actual torch, accessible easily in her school bag. Just in case. Fortunately, no one needs to say anything about what happened last time to those who weren't here.
"...She's really barred herself in, hasn't she?" Makoto says quietly, looking at Futaba's door. Caution tape sure paints a scene.
Still, Morgana maybe has the right idea. It's worth trying. "I'm Makoto Niijima," she says, as the round of introductions begins. "I'm sorry for scaring you last time, Alibaba." Sure, Ren told her Futaba had said it was okay, but she still has to apologize! And this apology cleanly glosses over what actually happened.
Still, solving the mystery of the form of Futaba's palace. "A distortion can be a place that might not make sense immediately, and maybe outlandish. Like Kaneshiro's was a bank, because he saw all of Shibuya's people as walking ATMs. Does that make any sense?" Makoto frowns for a moment. "Did you use caution tape on your door for a reason? Or just because you like the look?" It's an odd choice but... it might give them some clue.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ichika suggests a fortress; Ryuji suggests a shrine. Tsubasa asks how it feels to live here, and Ann asks if she's ever thought about leaving. Makoto gives another explanation and asks about the caution tape. Yusuke, perhaps wisely, decides to keep his mouth shut, and Haru follows his lead.
Ren, too, thinks back to what Alibaba told them before--she said she was going to die here. And, of course, her mother committed suicide in front of her...
"Alibaba. You told me before that you're going to die here," Ren says quietly. "How literally did you mean that?"
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
Haru Okumura ooc hug
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Futaba can hear mutterings.
She has her headphones on, as is usual, but they are noise-cancelling headphones, and those are configured in such a way that the sounds of the human voice are preferentially carried through -- and what appears to be the -- is that a meowing? Her brow furrows, but she deals with it by pushing her headphones off. She breathes in hugely. Breathes out. Breathes in. Breathes out.
She can hear Ren but they're muffled by the wall and the electronics. Someone else speaks. Loosely familiar - one of the people who came before. Futaba turns in her seat for a moment. Come on, she tells herself.
so close so close so close!!
Come on, just try to listen. Tsubasa speaks up.
Futaba turns to her computer and the phone emulator.
> Pleased to meet you, Tsubasa Seki
A hopeful sign?
> Yakisoba > *
That comes after Ryuji speaks.
Futaba's hands shake. She curls up and hugs her knees. The quaver of adrenaline catches up with her.
Another voice comes out. This one is sweeter, but Ann's register is near enough to -- ? Futaba hugs her knees tighter. Deep breath. In. Out. In. Out. They're not coming in. What if they do come in? Her eyes turn around the room. She could put the chair in -- no, it's the wrong shape, that's something from old books. Back when chairs were wood and had hard backs. The fridge...? It doesn't weigh that much, Futaba thinks, and they'd hear and --
It's not like I could tell them to leave now, Futaba thinks, and her head droops and her chin rests on her knees. Other voices speak, muffled. Some are clearer than others. When one of them - Kitagawa - simply lapses into silence, she is thankful. The thankfulness hurts. I'm the worst, Futaba thinks, for the 2,309th time.
The silence extends for an uncomfortably long time. If anyone is counting it off, or watching the seconds field of their phone, or just has a good sense of time and meter, it's nearly fifteen seconds before Alibaba replies.
> i think i heard everyone but um...
> Please tell Niijimasan it's ok.
> I'm sorry I was rude
Beat. Beat.
> this place isn't a shrine. it's impure.
> I put up the caution tape to scare people off.
> I thought it was cute at first kinda but...
Silence stretches. (Though, is there a sort of skeletal noise coming from within the room? What does she even have in there?)
> fortress doesn't feel right.
> there's no enemy outside.
> I'm the enemy.
> Or...
Another beat.
> ... I can't...
> I cant go outside.
> I just
> Wasn't I clear?
> I'm going to die in here.
> This place is my tomb.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
This place is my tomb.
Ren shoots everyone another knowing look. In a flash, they switch apps and pull up the Meta-Nav. They tap the partial entry for Futaba, then state: "A tomb."
Ping. "Hit found," the cool, robotic female voice states.
All that needs to happen now is for them to confirm and begin navigation. But considering they're inside the place that's distorted, they really ought to leave first.
Morgana opens his furry mouth to say as much when--
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji is looking at his phone as they try to guess the keywords.
Error after error.
Until suddenly, there's a hit!
"Oh hey. The Navigator app confirmed it." Ryuji grins as goes for phone, almost pressing the button without really thinking about it. "Let's go!"
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
"I can understand Futaba-chan's desire to be away from people... but I don't want to just leave her like this, either." Haru frowns, quietly appending onto Ann's own observation. Personally, she's not sure how uncomfortable she is entering the girl's room with this many numbers, but she felt she couldn't just stand by, either. Futaba is hurting, and if there's anything Haru can do to help another girl in need... she'll do it, no matter how isolated she is.
For the most part, though, she sticks to the back of the group, making it a point not to draw too much attention to herself. Many of the others take a much more direct approach to conversing with Futaba - while Tsubasa makes the wise decision to leave Futaba their number.
Futaba said she was going to die here. There's no doubt about it... there's a distortion surrounding this place - and Ren raises the possibility of a tomb. Haru's eyes widen, and shift down. "Alibaba-chan..." Haru says softly. "You must be terribly lonely, aren't you?"
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Someone with a sweet voice says she must be terribly lonely. Futaba shivers. But then -
The button is pushed.
The light changes--
What hits the Phantom Thieves first is the *brightness*. The sun! The sun is up, whatever time of day or weather condition it is outside. It is *glaring* hot, not a friendly white-yellow warming presence but an intense, palpable beat-down, the disapproval of solar radiation smashing down upon you. Four billion years of nuclear fusion and this is what you get! It's a sun that wants to turn you into a dried and leathery mummy - as soon as possible.
What hits the Phantom Thieves second is the *heat*. Ovens might not be universal in households in Japan, but the heat is much like that - the air billows out, hot and dry, wafting against innocent skin and flesh. And of course, against those cozy uniforms made to compliment one's image as a student while also keeping the intensity of the chill of the autumn and winter off of one's growing body.
Well, that's a problem.
Once the initial disorientation wears off... deep yellow-beige sand, hard-packed but friable, rests underneath everyone's feet. Sand dunes - sand dunes! - rise and ripple; the group has arrived in a small valley. Doubtless, there's a technical term for this.
There are some gaps in the dunes, but nothing is in sight...
Though, there is something that glitters, a bright mirror-twinkle of reflection, to the west.
Far to the west.
One might estimate something like - thirty kilometers to the west.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPWHcW_rQu0
Welcome to the Desert of the Heart.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Giving her number might've been a good idea. Ichika is not entirely sure what to do with this; when she was isolating, it felt like her own spaces were kind of a fortress, a way to be safe...
But Futaba doesn't feel safe. "I'm sorry," the tall girl says. "...I guess not..."
Ichika pulls up her app. The meta-nav...
"Whoa--"
Ryuji says let's go. Welp.
"Fuck!" Ichika lets out a very ladylike refrain as she feels the baking heat of the sun all of a sudden. "It's bright..." Luckily, she's got a little ventilation by way of her midriff... but that just means she doesn't have protection from the sun there, too.
She turns around, looking all over. Nothing in sight... Except--
"Ah...?"
She looks down, and sighs. "Is this normal?" she asks. "Or did we screw up?" She doesn't get on Ryuji about it. He's fine. But still...
"...A tomb, huh...? That's brutal."
She looks down at her lack of shoes. ".."
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
'This place will be my tomb.'
Yusuke meets Ren's eyes, meeting the same conclusion, but before they can reach any consensus on action, or even thank Futaba -
that grey-purple flicker of light, that red ripple in the air -
- that change in perception, the twinging headache -
... and they are no longer within the Sakura residence.
They are no longer inside.
From screen glare to sand glare, the dusty reflection makes Yusuke shield his eyes as the beating of the sun immediately has him buckle as though under a tremendous weight. The heat, of course, is only worsened by the realisation that only socks guard his feet from the sand beneath them.
"... This is decidedly unpleasant!" He remarks, voice taking on an uncharacteristic quaver.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji is reconsidering his life choices almost immediately. Why did bad things happen to really awesome people?!
The heat is scorching and brings out Ryuji's whiniest mood. His pale skin is gonna fry right off his bones. "Damnit, what kind of Palace has a fuckin' desert?!" He sighs as looks around, thinking he spots something......over there.
"So uhhh Mona can ride on sand, right?" Ryuji pulls at his collar, wishing he had some shade because holy crap is it hoooooot.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"A shrine, huh..." Tsubasa looks to Ryuji, with a thoughtful frown. "Worth a shot. Yo, Alibaba, you got somethin' you big into in there?"
Voice lowering, they add, to their metamour: "It's cool, man. Jus', like, be cool. She's still jus' like Ann-chan or Haru-chan or Makoto-chan or Ichika... like, she's still a girl. Jus'... treat her normal."
They do appreciate hearing Ann try to ask Futaba about her experience, directly. And when Makoto apologises, Tsubasa realises that's actually a great idea, and adds (at a more normal volume): "Yeah, man, sorry 'bout that." ... they had to be prompted, but they got there!
Seeing Yusuke firmly clamp his mouth shut, they nod, firmly, to him. ... yeah, they kinda get it.
But Futaba -- Alibaba -- she insists that the enemy is from within, and what's within is defiled. When Ren connects the dots, Tsubasa pulls their phone out -- but Ryuji already has his out, which means, thankfully, they can all blame him for what happens next.
Even though Tsubasa was totally about to do the same damn thing.
Flash--!!
"Well... this sure is lonely," Tsubasa remarks, reflecting Haru's concern, as they look out over the sands. "And fuckin' hot, man. What th' fuck. Do they not have air con or somethin'...?" NOT THE POINT, TSUBASA.
They shrug off their Kasugayama jacket, tying it around their midsection, as they add: "Fuck this." Their feet are absolutely starting to boil, too, just like Ichika's noticing.
Ryuji has a great idea, though, and -- "Yeah, man!" They add, wheeling on Mona. "Bus us up, Mona! We're dyin' out here!" Just as Yusuke says: UNPLEASANT!
<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.
She can't go outside.
She's going to die here.
This place is...
"... your... tomb?"
Ann Takamaki's big blue eyes flutter out a startled blink as she reads that last line. And when it pings on the Nav? It just makes her that much more alarmed, head swinging from the phone to the door to the phone to the door with a rapid bounce of platinum pigtails.
"No way... Y-you can't really believe that, Futaba-chan--" Ann begins, barely catching herself as she realizes she's using the other girl's real name. But still, she can't help it; there's already so many physical and figurative barriers between them, and right now, she feels compelled to do something about it. But...
... that's why they're here, right?
And so Ann draws back, frowning a little as she does. "... Fine. I guess we should--"
she begins,
right before Ryuji swipes the phone and triumphantly presses the button.
Ann's eyes fly wide.
"W-wait--!"
But it's too late;
the LEEROY JENKINS is upon them.
In one minute, they're in the blissful, airconditioned comforts of Boss' household. In the next, scarlet wobble of seconds--
Ann Takamaki feels the blistering heat of an unforgiving desert sun battering at her in all her suffering, winter-worn glory.
"Blegh! My eyes!" is Ann's first exclamation as the OPPRESSIVE DAYSTAR JAMS UV RAYS DIRECTLY INTO HER EYEBALLS. Her next cogent thought is, of course,
"Ryuji, if I'm blind, you're dead!!"
because it's obligatory.
The next few seconds sees Ann rubbing her watery gaze with a whining "why is it so hoooooot" before she finally adjusts to the sudden change of light; Ann turns her attention towards the vast swaths of the desert beyond... and she blinks.
"Um. Is this the Palace?" she wonders, blankly, trying to ignore the dry heat cratering into her like an oppressive battering ram of sunlight. "That can't be right, right? Deserts aren't tombs. ... a-are they?"
look she was blinded by the light and can't see civilization right now so
shut up.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
And now Makoto is being the good example for Tsubasa. How the tables have turned, even if it is something that Makoto totally fails to realize. Sometimes, the last thing you want to hear is that confirmation sound. That's twice now for Makoto, who winces as she hears the noise. Haru puts it more succinctly, and directly, than Makoto ever could.
"That's..."
Unfortunately, the moroseness that comes over her means she's too late for her Responsible Adult* Brain to kick in. "Ryuji, wait-"
*THAT'S* what gets her to use yobisute for once?? Makoto......
And now they are in the middle of a desert. What.
Makoto stares a bit at the outcome, once her eyes adapt to the horrible, blinding light.
"Is everyone okay?" Now that she is in Responsible Adult* Brain, she may as well follow through. "...I don't think so. We're still in our uniforms, and this is... well, a desert." Still, that does imply what sort of tomb, doesn't it? "...not that we have any lead on where to go right now." She lets out a long, long sigh. Others ask for Monabus to the rescue. "...It's probably our best bet," Makoto says. "Still, driving on sand is different... Maybe Ogre and I should be the ones to drive. I'll take first shift."
It's far, far too hot to be immediately mad at Ryuji, who took the bullet for Tsubasa. "...We're going to have to cram in with this many of us. Is anyone particularly heat sensitive? They should probably take the front seat for what little Mona's air conditioning can do."
Fun fact! Above certain temperatures, the air con does nothing! "...did anyone bring water?" Makoto asks, cautiously. She's got *her* water bottle, but it's only partially full and that won't supply a whole bus.
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
Having settled into the pleasant, air-conditioned darkness of Futaba's home, something feels glaringly wrong when the cool atmosphere shifts into a sweltering heat wave - and Haru finds herself just as disoriented as everyone else. "My... how oppressive." She winces, snapping her eyes shut, only for them to open to the bright view of the desert sands.
It's so... empty." Haru frowns, when she finally feels adjusted enough to actually take in her surroundings for what they are. Lonely, as Tsubasa puts it, is exactly what it feels like. "Hunting for treasure in a tomb in the middle of the desert would normally be quite exciting..." She starts.
"But considering what we're here for, it's more sad than anything, isn't it?" She frowns, when Ichika notes the brutality of it.
"All we can do now is brave the heat as best we can... perhaps we'll find an oasis?" She nods to Makoto, who instantly jumps into the practicals on surviving the desert heat. "Thank you, Mako-chan. I'm afraid you'd be in for quite the rough ride if I were driving in these conditions." She manages a smile.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren looks over at Haru with the same sort of concern she has for Futaba. Lonely, huh... Yeah, that's only natural for someone in Futaba's position, even if it's something she chose for herself. People don't always choose what's in their best interest.
"Wait, don't hit that--!" But Morgana's too late; Ryuji's already activated the Meta-Nav. Reality distorts, and suddenly they're all in the middle of an incandescent desert in their winter uniforms and stocking feet...
Ren is momentarily blinded. Those non-prescription glasses are like headlamps as they waver from the intense, overbearing heat. Morgana will take over for a minute.
Ichika asks if this is normal. "No! It isn't!" Morgana, in his bobble-headed Metaverse form, glares at Ryuji from his perch on Ren's shoulder. "You idiot! You activated the Meta-Nav while we were inside the place of Alibaba's distortion! What'd you think was gonna happen?!"
Ryuji at least brings up a good suggestion. "Oh, yeah--my tires ought to run on sand just fine. ...Probably," he says with the confidence of having no idea if that's true or not. Also, of still being perched on Ren's shoulder and so not having to have contact with that hot, hot sand with his paws.
He shakes his head when Ann asks about the desert vs. the tomb. "Tombs are usually found inside the desert, right? I bet if we ride around, we'll be able to find it. Since SOMEONE activated the Meta-Nav TOO SOON--" another glare at Ryuji, "we landed out here instead of in front of the entrance, like usual. And without any enemies around, we don't register as threats yet." Voice turning cloying, he adds, "Good thing I'm here to save the day, Lady Ann!!"
Tsubasa doesn't need to tell him twice. He jumps into the air, POOFS--and down comes the Monabus. "All aboard!" he announces, headlights peeking towards Makoto. "Makoto, the wheel's yours!"
...
...
...unfortunately, the Monabus does not have sufficiently robust air conditioning either. Back to you, Ren.
"You're telling me," Ren tells Yusuke, already wiping sweat off their brow. "Let's get inside, quick." They look over at Haru. "...Yeah. It is sad." They look back around at the desert. "Like you said... it's lonely out here."
Once everyone's loaded up in the Monabus, they'll take a cue from Tsubasa and tie their jacket around their waist, too. It doesn't help much with that long-sleeved turtleneck, but it's something.
~ * ~
Out in the hallway outside Futaba's room, there are several alarmed shouts and meows; then, an abrupt silence.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
It is pretty brutal, Ichika. Especially the sand. Because the sand - in addition to being coarse, and getting everywhere - is itself warm. Hot, almost. The insulation of wintertime socks is keeping it from being too bad... for now.
Shade would be extremely helpful.
There is no shade.
The sun emanates down on the others. If you glance upwards you can see it, a white-hot presence. Is this what it's like in space? It is no mystery how solar panels can get energy from THIS, it feels like it could fry an egg!
If only they had transportation.
If only they had shelter.
If only they had air conditioning.
If only they had beverages.
-=-=-=-
In the physical realm, Futaba feels her anxious terrors resolve into something simpler. It is in its strange way a relief even if that something is sudden horror. It got quiet out there all of a sudden; none of the subtle murmuring, the introductions, the caring words. Even that girl with the voice she liked...
She looks back to her screen.
> Did you all leave?
< ERROR: message could not be sent.
Futaba stares at the screen.
There is a strange serenity in this moment. No unquiet shades or bitter memories. No building grinding agonies she can only evade with distractions or exhaustion. No hope, perhaps, but she hadn't had hope for a while.
> Hello?
< ERROR: message could not be sent.
> test
< ERROR: message could not be sent.
Futaba blinks several times. Her head turns. She looks towards the door. For the first time in two days, she speaks beyond a vague 'mmh' or 'ngh'.
"... wha...?"
-=-=-=-
Two out of four ain't bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmfQQC1bsf4
The sand is not the best surface for driving, but it's hard packed enough that Makoto can figure out a proper way to roll along. It's going to take a little while to get to wherever-it-is, but that gleaming and glittering point on the western horizon is not going away. It wasn't a trick, or a mirage -
-- though there is a heat-haze flicker towards the dunes on the north, if anyone has the attention span to appreciate it. Sadly, despite his presence, there is no fata morgana to be seen.
Keep driving steadily. That twinkling-glittering turns into a steady shine after what Morgana's nyachometer estimates at about five km. Maybe another twenty or twenty-five to go? It has to go somewhere... They won't have to explore the entire vast expanse, will they?
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I'm fine," Ichika answers Makoto. "Works for me. I'll take second shift, then."
In the meantime... cramming in is going to make them hotter, not less hot. The AC probably isn't going to be very helpful. Still, Haru comments empty; Tsubasa lonely. "...It would be," she says to Haru, exciting. "An oasis... That's be nice."
She says, "Actually I'm kind of..." She considers it.
And then she's distracted by Mona. "so it's not normal..." Hmm. "It's fine," Ichika says of yelling at Ryuji. "We're here now; let's just make the best of it."
She gets into the car, in the back with Tsubasa and Ryuji. "I'd appreciate it up here," she says. "It's uh... Yeah."
Unpleasant is right, Yusuke, but--
"OK," she asys to Makoto. "We're in your hands!"
As they ride through the desert, she does have the attention span; heat-haze flicker of the dunes...
"It's sad," Ichika agrees. "But there's something..."
Almost beautiful, in how stark it is. Ichika is kind of a goth.
"...uuuugh," she says, and like Tsubasa, eventually sheds her outer top in favor of the underlayer, sweat-dripping from her hair.
"It's so hot..."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji groans as Mona begins to unload on him. He keeps his face stiff since he can even admit that wasn't the best result. Still, he isn't going to give that feline the satisfaction. He just looks over at Ichika and gives her a wink.
Right before going back to doubling over and whining about the heat. "Ugh...why can't this be a beach. Plenty of oppressive sand on a beach but at least there's some water!"
The Bus ride is almost worse? The heat is just cooking Ryuji alive. He pulls at his collar and throws his head backward in the bench next to Ichika and Tsubasa. When Ichika's outer top comes off, Ryuji's head jerks up ever so slightly. "Nice."
Then the heat smacks Ryuji and he wilts yet again. "Ugh It's so hot."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Ann wants to help, and Tsubasa appreciates hearing that, but first: desert.
Sorry, bro. They can't save you from Ann's wrath.
"Uh. Yeah, an' like... I got some marble soda in me bag?" Tsubasa offers, when Makoto asks whether anyone has water.
"But if it's a tomb in the middle a th' desert... uh... we prolly lookin' for some sorta burial mound, or... like... a pyramid?" Tsubasa has actually read their history books, despite not looking the part.
The Monabus might not have air con, but Tsubasa piles into the back, anyway. "I'm cool," they insist, to Makoto. "I'll tough it out." Ryuji and Yusuke and everyone else crammed in here will just have to tough it out, too, because the trick about testosterone and sweating is...
Well, look, at least it's not JUST them.
Makoto, take the wheel; Tsubasa sags forward, elbows resting on their knees, as they groan, glancing aside to Ryuji. "Don't drink salt water, dude... it fucks with ya body. Hang on --"
They dig that soda out of their bag, crack the top, and chug half of it before handing it over Ichika's top to Ryuji. And what about Ichika?!
... Ichika gets their other bottle of soda all to herself, duh.
<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.
Normally - normally - Ann's vast powers of filtering out Mona's infatuation with her would have rendered his cloying call to her utterly and bleakly mute. However, this time--
THIS time--
there is one critical piece of implied information that changes everything:
"Oh my gosh, shelter!!"
yes.
"Heehee, you're the best, Mona~!"
it's really that simple.
And so this is Ann, suddenly at Maximum Cheer once again, pumping a fist before she sheds her uniform coat and marches Monabus-wards, tossing a cheeky v-sign and wink Makoto's way as she goes.
"Yep! I brought mineral water!" she answers, brightly. "And, um -- I actually have some sunscreen on me if anyone needs it. Do cognitive suns give you sunburn...? Anyway -- I call shotgun~!"
And off Ann zips, eager to experience the life-breathing glories of protection from the sun and AC which will surely help th--
L A T E R
"waaaaahhh it's tooo hoooooootttt"
I T D I D N ' T H E L P
Ann Takamaki slumps lifelessly against the Monabus dashboard, her hoodie having joined her student jacket in draping the back of her seat to leave her in that stylish-if-simple low-cut undershirt for the sake of not suffocating in the swelter that is 'nine people stuffed inside a sardine can masquerading as bus in the middle of a shut-in's oppressive mind-desert'.
"And it's so stuffy, too..."
Sweat rolling its angry little beads down the pale stretch of her neck, Ann heaves a long-suffering sigh as she flops backwards into her seat. She tugs on the neckline of her shirt in the vain hope of achieving some sort of relieving airflow.
It is all for naught. The sun hates thee all the same, Ann Takamaki.
"A pyramid..." Ann echoes Tsubasa's words, thoughtfully. "Like in that American movie, The Mummy? It's not gonna be cursed, is it...?"
She'd fret over this some more, but the temperature of the bus starts to melt her once more and so her heat-addled brain can think only of one thing as she desperately fans at her sweat-slicked skin.
"Makotooo... Do tombs have good airflow? I don't care if it's cursed, I'd really like to live in the tomb right now..."
Don't ask about the mineral waters.
The mineral waters aren't a thing anymore.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
Once they've piled into the Monabus... he's never been bothered by how cramped it is before.
Yusuke somehow manages to draw his thin, lanky frame in to less space than usual, doing his best to tough it out in his own way.
"We were right outside the door, and now we are so far from the Palace... is her desire to push the outside away truly so strong?"
He hunches in as best he can, letting his head roll forwards a little. Between the heat, the sense of being crowded in, and the sweating... There is far too much sensory stimulus. His eyes lid a little, gaze going distant and blank.
In this way, he misses Ichika being a menace, but appears, seated directly behind Makoto as he is, to become captivated by something else entirely.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Haru points out that she might be a dangerous driver, and Makoto makes a wrong assumption. "Fortunately, Ichika and I have our licenses, at least. And the Monabus isn't too hard to drive. A real car requires way more attention. Still, if you want to get your license soon, I'd be happy to help teach you."
Forgive her, she knows not what she offers.
Thank goodness for Mona being able to be angry at Ryuji when everyone else is dying of the heat, and give them a warning for the future. More importantly, Mona is more than able to handle being a bus. "Got it. Everyone buckle up, who knows what hazards we'll run into!"
Unfortunately, despite Morgana's affinity for wind... it's not enough- and Makoto is wearing layers in the form of a vest and turtleneck. At least they have a point to aim it, with that glint on the horizon. It's something, at least. "Thanks, Ichika. We don't know how long this will take."
Fortunately, the front seat isn't too crowded, with Ichika, Ryuji and Tsubasa in back, that leaves enough for the middle row to take three, and Ann in shotgun. Unfortunately, Makoto is going to die of heat. Her face is red, and she's definitely struggling. With effort, she manages to work her school vest off and throw it on the seat next to her. She's still stuck with a turtleneck though.
"...Soda's better that nothing," Makoto murmurs, as she's already grabbing her water bottle. ...She's already draining what's left in her water bottle.
Makoto by this point is all but leaning on the steering wheel, relying on the Mona Assist function. "Who knows," Makoto murmurs to Yusuke. "Hopefully it's just an accident... I don't want to have to do this every time."
Makoto lets out a long, tired exhalation. "Someone tell me if they see a shadow and I'll swerve to hit it. That way Yusuke can hit us all with Mabufu..."
Ann, however, invokes horror movies and suddenly Makoto is upright again. "...Don't even joke about that. I've had enough of haunted places..."
What could she possibly mean?
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
"Hmm... I may just have to take you up on that offer.~" Haru chimes, when Makoto offers to help teach her to drive. "It'd be nice to have the freedom to get around without a chauffeur..." Unfortunately, that freedom just feels so good it's almost dangerous....
Cramped into the Monabus as they are, Haru can hardly call herself comfortable...but for some reason, despite how brutal the heat is, Haru doesn't utter a single complaint, as much as she'd really like to.
"A pyramid? You might be on the right track..." Haru replies to Tsubasa, as they make their suggestion. "It would hardly be out of place for a heist, after all." That's one thing all the previous Palaces had in common.
"Ehehe... a curse is probably the least of our worries right now." She adds, when Ann brings up The Mummy. It certainly sounds a lot more fun than dealing with heatstroke to Haru. She glances over to Makoto, then, who firmly shuts down that line of conversation, for a reason Haru understands but won't divulge. She shoots a knowing look that states 'I won't tell'. "Even if it is haunted, we're plenty strong enough to overcome Curse attacks, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
A beach would be nice.
Ren has a feeling they aren't going to find one.
Seated in between Yusuke and Haru, they've pulled their glasses off and hooked them on their breast pocket to give them a little something less to sweat on. Mineral water would've been nice, but the mineral waters aren't a thing anymore.
"It might be cursed. Definitely sounds like Alibaba thinks of herself as cursed..." they comment wearily from the backseat to Ann, too tired to think of how Makoto will take it until after she reacts.
Fortunately, Haru comes to the rescue there by pointing they're strong enough to handle ghosts. "Yeah..." A pyramid would be an interesting place for a heist--but as long as this heat is melting everyone, Ren can't get up the interest. Besides, as Haru also said... it's hard to get excited like they usually do for this mission.
Yusuke wonders about her desire to push the outside away. "Mmm..." Ren mumbles in what is meant to be agreement. This is partially due to being brain-fried and partially because they're shutting up after Makoto freaks about the suggestion of horror, but also partially due to this feeling like a rhetorical question. As a metaphor, it's not subtle.
At least Ryuji, Ichika, and Tsubasa are making do for themselves in the backmost backseat. Soda would be nice, but they're all used up before Ren can even try to ask for a drink.
...The view from here of Makoto's back is very nice though... Ren is hard-pressed to blame Yusuke for seeming to stare, but they reach out and shake his shoulder all the same.
They don't laser-lock a stare on Ann's back. They're dating Makoto, for crying out loud.
Hopefully they all make it to that tomb sooner rather than later... There still aren't any Shadows out here to run over and give Yusuke the chance to Mabufu everyone.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
There is a certain stark beauty in this land. The Empty Quarter, it is often called; the portions of land that in the mundane realm are owned by the nation called Egypt, the successor to the legacy of the Nile.
The problem is that it's not like, ironically named. There is nothing out here but sand, sun, and -- maybe that's a bird in the sky? Or is it just a little dit on Morgana's windows? He doesn't have fleas, does he? (The very idea.)
It's nothing. There aren't any Shadows out here. Well... maybe they've ended up in the 'background.' Other Palaces had places you could see in the distance, right?
Tsubasa raises an excellent point. This is the kind of place where you'd find a pyramid, or at least a tomb or a sphinx or something. But...
Thus far...
Wait. Wait, despite the heat and everyone's advancing dehydration. (Can the cognitive sun harm you? It certainly seems angry.)
That shining light.
It seems to be more specific. It's above something.
A beautiful sight stretches out a kilometer later. A dark stain around...
Another 500 meters and it's visible. It could be a lonely isolated mountain somewhere around which a town accreted -- because that stain is looking an awful lot like buildings, even if they're really low to the ground and tiny compared to...
Another 500 meters.
It's definitely a pyramid.
https:'cdn.imgchest.comfilesbb0fa25c332b.jpg
The town around the pyramid seems typically Middle Eastern if in an old-fashioned kind of way. The Phantom Thieves may not be devotees of Islamic or pre-Islamic architecture, but it is the sort of place you would see in the backdrop of realistic films such as The Mummy or Aladdin. Light-colored buildings, often of reinforced mud and brick construction. The town seems curiously uninhabited.
Though the buildings doubtless hold myriad interests, grand avenues lead steadily closer to the pyramid, and the nearest one brings Mona and his precious cargo nearer to the great construction. It looms, titanic and massive both, the gleam revealed to be coming from shinier material towards its top. The exterior, up close, has that giant's-staircase step-stone, just as the authentic Pyramids do. Soon enough that glittering apex becomes less apparent, hidden from sight by raw size taking it out of the field of Mona's front windshield and side windows.
And soon enough, a grand entranceway is revealed. There's also a bright patch of greenery surrounding an open pool of water that, though dusty and on the warm side - the sun's shining on it, and there is a little wind, after all - is drinkable. Oh, so drinkable. So good. Such water must surely be the sweetest blessing one could imagine.
Flanked by stone columns inscribed with cryptic glyphs that are surely not hieroglyphs, an unadorned staircase - cut to the scale of human feet and human legs - rises up what must be nearly six stories to a great shady open portico. The stark brightness of the sun veils what is beyond, besides of a suggestion of great doors -- and if they are reached, and tried, they are not sealed.
Indeed, something far more precious emanates from them, even before they are opened -- though it is subtle then.
Cool air. It almost feels air conditioned. And if someone bold should open the door, it *IS* airconditioned!
There are also stairs.
There are pillars over what seems to be a pit of turgid and quiescent lava, burbling with earthen fumes and intense heat, but other than the fact that you don't want to fall into that - it's easy jumps. And while they may not be in their garb as ones who bear the Mask of Rebellion, these are pretty simple jumps to make.
But mostly, there are stairs.
A lot of stairs.
At least it's cooler inside.
And yet... no Shadows. No cognitions. Just...
A tomb.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I'll take the sunscreen," Ichika says to Ann. "Better not to risk it."
But Tsubasa has marble soda! Ichika accepts the entire bottle for herself as is perhaps her due, it would seem. And when Ryuji says nice she lets out a low laugh. "If it weren't so hot I'd like hearing that," she says, and closes her eyes to lean back her sweaty head. Because everything is sweaty.
But the Mummy...? "I haven't seen it," Ichika says. Then, "I would love a curse instead of this heat. I will kick that curse's ass. ...Do curses have asses...?"
Tomb airflow is very important. Yusuke though--
"...To push away the outside, huh..."
Ichika is buckled up. "...Uhhhh," she startss, looking ahead at Makoto. "Are you..."
Before she gets to asking, there's finally the sight of the rest. The stark beauty of this land will be more beautiful when they aren't so hot.
"Whoaaaa," Ichika starts. Ichika... is stuck between Tsubasa and Ryuji, so she can't rush out of the bus first.
"Whoa," she says again. "This place is... amazing."
"It really is like a tomb, though..."
She glances at the oasis, sorely tempted. "...Uhhhh Mona. Is this water OK to drink...? Or is it some kind of weird Shadow water?"
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"Man I know you can't drink Salt water...ugh I meant we could swim and feel that cool breeze instead of...this hell." Ryuji says with little convictions. He thinks he is going to be a baked Ryuji if this keeps going.
The blonde looks up to see a soda being passed over Ichika's boobs, which bring Ryuji's attention momentarily before he reaches for the drink. He doesn't complain that his girlfriend gets a full one. He just takes a sip and passes it back over to them.
"Pyramid?" Ryuji looks up, blinking for a moment. "You think we're going to be dealing with Mummies?!"
Then the Monavan has it's accident and Ryuji is flipped over on top of someone. (Likely Ichika or Tsubasa.) The delinquent groans as he feels discomfort from the body and environmental heat, making him let out a groan. "Lemme out of here!"
Once outside, Ryuji just makes a beeline for the water and just dunks his head in. He doesn't even wait to confirm it's Shadowless...or non-evil.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
"Hmm?" Yusuke blinks three times as Ren nudges him, turning to look at his friend in bewilderment. "Sorry, I was... " He trails off, finding it uncomfortable to explain what just happened.
Fortunately, the golden gleam ahead of them interrupts him, and his gaze, now focused, is drawn to the pyramid rising out of the empty town. "... Magnificent," he breathes.
He will be the last to leave the Mona-bus, taking a long moment to collect himself and disembark into the street by the oasis, taking a moment to quench his thirst before following the others into the pyramid proper, where inexplicable yet blessed air conditioning awaits.
"... We're inside the Palace, and still not changed..." He looks around. "It's too quiet here."
And that's a lot of stairs to climb...
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Uh." Tsubasa pauses, looking to Ann. "Yeah, man. Prolly cursed. You heard how she was self-talkin'. Full a mummies," they add, to Ryuji. Another beat, and they aside, to Makoto: "Sorry."
They can't even imagine what it's like having a chauffeur, though.
"Man, raidin' a pyramid would be cool... like some kinda Indiana Joe..."
The cognitive sun can definitely harm Tsubasa, but they've already got so many products on their skin, man. What if the sunscreen fucks with their concealer!
They slouch forward, their wig sagging a little further forward than the rest of them. (Perhaps until Ichika thinks to reach over and fix it, anyway.) "Uuuuugh..."
... ... ...
"Yeah... pushin' us away..."
It took Tsubasa's overheated brain that long to catch up with Yusuke.
And then -- civilisation, and --!!
Tsubasa piles out of the Monabus. "Man, who cares if it's Shadow water?!" They demand, and cooler heads may have to prevail. Weren't they just saying salt water was bad?! SHADOW WATER IS PROBABLY WORSE TSUBASA!
<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.
I haven't seen it.
"It's sooooo good," proclaims a heat-beaten Ann Takamaki to Ichika, finding solace in cinematic distraction. She even manages a bright, beaming smile about it! "We have to watch it! Now I'm totally thinking about it again. O'Connell and Evy were so dreamy..."
Ann Takamaki -- all hotness is equal in her wise and mighty gaze.
"... ugh, now I'm thinking about how hot it is again..."
except. y'know. literal heat. that's the worst.
That said: sunscreen was in fact distributed to those who wanted it; Ann even had instructions for those she feels might be unfamiliar with using it (Ichika's gets no instruction. Ann knows: Ichika's got game). And thus, all that's left when the last drop of her precious mineral water is spent is languishing. And thinking about The Mummy. But mostly, languishing.
She does pause said languishing for a moment to peer Makoto's way as she sits upright, brows lifting fractionally. "Enough of haunted places...? Um...?"
A second passes in which Ann is left to wonder what that means before she feels it important to aside: "You'd love the movie though. It's more like, um. Action-adventure! And romance~. And... aaaand... ugh it's too hot I can't even think straight! Mona!!"
Sorry Mona. It's not your fault eight people can't be properly conditioned against the desert heat.
She's just -- it's just so hot.
Which is why, when they finally reach their destination? Ann is one of the first all but spilling out of the car like liquid Phantom Thief with a cry of, "lemme out lemme out lemme out!" to perfectly echo in the wake of Ryuji's own until she actually gets outside whereupon she is assaulted directly by the sun once more.
"Ugh, I can't tell if it's worse or better outside than in," complains Ann with a sad grimace; she takes the opportunity to stretch out all the same, arms lifting high overhead and lifting herself up, up, up onto her tiptoes with a sigh. "Mmf."
And then a pause.
"--Wait. Is that how curses work?" she asks Haru, blinking once as she looks her way. Haru, of course, as a third year, must be wise and more experienced with these kinds of things, and Ichika even backs it up! And so--
"Hee hee, no problem then! Don't worry, Makoto! If any curses show up, I'll just blast 'em! Like O'Connell blasted the mummy!"
she pauses. squints.
"Umm. Then again, that didn't really work, did.. it... ... oh, wow."
And this cheek scratching detour is brought to a trailing end as Ann turns around and finally beholds--
the PYRAMID.
"It really is like in the movie..." she wonders, awe-struck. She does know pyramids are a real thing. It's not her fault The Mummy is seared into her brain more than basic world history; if world history wanted to be more memorable it'd have more Brendan Frasers and Rachel Weiszes in it.
And so, her baking brain beholding the behemothic birth of Futaba's Palace, Ann manages to crack a delighted little smile, swinging her arms back and forth eagerly as she does.
"'You must not read from the book!' Hee. ... Wait, okay, everyone -- if you find any books, don't read them!"
Finally, something she has academic knowledge about. (??)
"W-wait, don't drink from the water, Shadows are probably, like, so unhygienic!! It's probably got sulfates! Tsubasa--! --Ryuji! Ugh!"
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
If Makoto weren't too hot and dense to realize that her partner was in fact staring at her back, she might be flattered- and then maybe a bit self conscious about the thought that her back is attractive. But that's a problem for another day.
Haru's concern makes sense, after what Makoto told her- but given the way other people shut up about the curse after Makoto's involuntary complaint, it is possible that Makoto has gotten better about sharing parts of herself!
(She has not. Indeed, there's still only one other person in this van who knows why she is like this.)
"...I don't mind a good action movie," Makoto admits, as Ann explains and it's nice to have a distraction. "Maybe a movie night wouldn't hurt." It's a distraction from the heat and the curse and Makoto loves distractions!! "It *is* nearly Halloween..."
Makoto takes the reassurance about curse attacks as well as she cane, and Ann reassures her that she'll blast the mummies away and Makoto blinks a few times. Right.
Tsubasa's apologies and Ichika's concern come roughly at the same time. "It's fine. I'm fine." Makoto says, in that way people who are not fine and don't want to show weakness do. Fortunately, a destination emerges and thank goodness for that. "Is that a town, maybe?"
No. It's a pyramid. That's... definitely it, isn't it. The tomb. The Palace. More importantly: an Oasis. Makoto is not the first one out, she has to unbuckle, and grab her vest. Cats shouldn't eat clothes, even not cats like Morgana.
There is wonderful cold air and that's a desperate relief, but she's much like Ryuji and Tsubasa this time- but she doesn't drink it, instead shoving her vest into the water, letting it absorb some liquid, and slinging it over her shoulders.
Basic evaporative cooling techniques!!
Now she can think, though- she finally stands up. "...Pyramids are where pharaohs were buried in Egypt, too." Makoto says, her academics score finally activating. "We're just going to... have to get up there. I almost wish Futaba-chan saw us as a threat right now, I could ride Johanna up..." ...that doesn't help the rest of them. "Ann, do you still have any mineral water?" ...yes, she IS conscious of the dangers of drinking random water in the wild. "I don't think we have time to boil that and wait for it to cool."
<Pose Tracker> Haru Okumura has posed.
If they'd spent even a minute longer in the Monabus than they had, it'd probably be over for the Phantom Thieves before they even stepped foot into the Palace. Nonetheless, Tsubasa's prediction appears to be true as the pyramid reveals itself like a mirage in the desert.
"Incredible... is this truly real?" Haru stares out at the pyramid in awe, much like Ichika does. "I think even if it is Shadow water... we might be in even more trouble if we don't drink it." Haru suggests, really thirsty.
"I wonder..." Haru muses, when Yusuke points out that they still haven't transformed. "Is it because Futaba-chan hasn't registered us as a threat just yet?." And quiet... Haru's expecting something to jump out at them at any second now.
But as she reminded Makoto, they're strong enough to fight through anything! "I'm sure of it!" She replies to Ann, to alleviate any worries. "At least... I'm sure it'll be different than it is in the movie.~" She giggles, feeling in a better mood now that they have some actual water in their systems. "A Halloween movie night would be fun~" She nods, as Ann and Makoto float the idea.
"But for now... we should consider how we want to approach this. Perhaps your grappling hook could come in handy, Ren?" Haru suggests, staring down the sheer scale of the pyramid. "Perhaps it would be best to have some of us stand watch near the entrance so we know how to get back, too..." She taps her cheek.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ann yells again about how diabolically hot it is. "I'm sorry, Lady Ann!! My air conditioning just isn't strong enough against this heat! I've failed you......" he laments. Fortunately, this doesn't affect his speed over the dunes any. And he DOESN'T have fleas! The VERY idea!!
Yusuke seems to come out of a trance when Ren touches his shoulder. Ren leans forward, concerned; it seems like he wasn't staring after all. That doesn't seem in character for him anyway. "Are you okay?" they murmur. A beat as more sweat streaks down their face. "...I guess the answer to that is obvious, huh..."
Halloween, huh... Ren gazes into the distance for a moment, and not just because of the scorching heat.
At least their destination is soon in sight. With the end near, Ren can lean forward and admire that magnificent view with Yusuke. Soon enough, they've all reached the pyramid itself--as well as that tiny oasis near the entrance. Once everyone's piled out, the Monabus POOFs and returns to being their lovable cat burglar companion.
"It's drinkable," Mona reassures Ichika and everyone. To Ann in particular, he adds, "Not to worry, Lady Ann! It won't quench your thirst--food and drink inside Palaces won't satisfy you--but it'll at least cool you guys down! For once, that monkey has the right idea," he jabs at Ryuji, fortunately right while he's got his head dunked in the water. Even with that, a glare or word from Ichika or Tsubasa will get him to back down.
(Obviously one has to be gentlemanly to ladies like Ichika, but why Tsubasa? Easy: they're an animal lover. Mona's partial to those.)
For Ren, that news about Palace water is worth its weight in gold. Even if the inside of the pyramid is air-conditioned, it still takes a while to cool down; getting wet first will make the process much faster. Ren will splash water on their face and over their hair too.
They don't acknowledge Ann's warning to not read any books. They refuse to stop reading. They do look at Makoto when she laments about Johanna. "At least this way we all stick together," they offer.
They crook a smile at Haru as she chats with Makoto and Ann and add, "Count me in on that movie night." That smile fades at the suggestion of the grappling hook. "Good thought, but unfortunately, I've only got that while transformed. Let's get up to those doors and see what the place looks like from the inside first." With that, they head up the stairs and through those doors inside with the others.
Yusuke's right; it is awfully quiet. It's also blessedly cool, so that's a vast improvement already. Still, Ren frowns as they slip their glasses back on and look around. "She might be hiding from us," they remark as they slip their hands in their pockets.
"Hmmm... I don't sense any Shadows," Mona notes, arms folded as he narrows his massive blue eyes. "Let's try heading deeper inside."
Across the pillars over the near-dead lava and up and up and up more stairs they all go... Though Haru's suggestion that a couple of them stay near the entrance is a sensible one. Perhaps she and Ryuji do precisely that, to make sure they don't get back-attacked--just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
The water is Fine. At worst it's a little alkaline, either from whatever cognitive spring is supporting it and the half-dozen date palms nearby, or from desert dust getting into it. Maybe this spring's going to dry up eventually.
It's the only water visible.
But there's plenty to drink; just don't fill your swimming pool.
Actually there might be sulfates. That's a good point, Ann. Still, a little sulfate probably won't kill you.
It might permanently impair your beauty.
Or damage your glycogen.
Or turn you into a mummy.
Then again they might not!
But leaving aside the question of sulfates in the water supply: The stairs continue to lead up, and it seems for a moment as though it might be endless. It can't actually be endless, right? Were the real Pyramids like this? Climbing up like this is exhausting. Count your steps - each step is exactly as high as the standard Japanese home staircase step - and estimate how many floors you've ascended.
It's hard to tell, but at least you have each other. And periodically there are landings; open spaces, great stone doors leading off to the side. Towards god-knows-what.
Then, suddenly:
There's a girl there. Just standing in front of the staircase. Was she even there a moment ago? (Well, it's hard to say. After each landing you get a pretty good look, but she could have positioned herself there. It's also possible that she simply appeared out of nowhere.)
A thin girl, Japanese, wearing round glasses. She looks like she would be a somewhat reedy first-year, or maybe an eighth grader on the cusp of graduation. She wears a jeweled headdress of gold, a ruby-eyed dragon curved as if emerging from her third eye. Around her throat are tight-wound bandages. On her shoulders a jeweled adornment: a bandeau top and armlets of copper and gold. Bare belly, golden belt, and a plain linen skirt long enough to hide her ankles. Her eyes are gold. Of course, only one member of their group has actually seen the mysterious Futaba Sakura in anything like good light... although Makoto and Ren, along with Ichika and Tsubasa, have at least gotten a *glimpse*.
But who has seen her face in clear light? Morgana. (He is very clever.)
She doesn't move.
People might be wondering -- is this a statue? -- but after a space that just lets people get a question or a word or a comment in, she speaks:
"Those who plunder my tomb. Why have you come?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
They climb and climb and climb--and then, all of a sudden, there is a diminutive girl there, dressed in the manner of a pharaoh. Ren does think she looks a little familiar, but it's Morgana who recognizes her outright.
"Futaba Sakura... or rather, her Shadow," he announces, just before she herself speaks.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Movie night? Attractive actors? "Count me in, too."
Then later, "That 'monkey' is my boyfriend," Ichika points out disapprovingly to Mona--which, if that's all that has to be said, she'll forgive the bus-cat soon enough. "But thanks." About the water. But Ryuji does kind of have the right idea--even if Makoto's more dignified approach gets Ichika to dunk her uniform shirt in the water and put it back on for the moment.... which is probably best, since the undershirt is soaked with sweat anyway.
But she goes up the steps... "hiding... Maybe."
She looks to Haru. "Yeah, some of us should hold back. That's a good idea."
She looks with some concern at Yusuke, remembering th way he totally spaced out earlier. But up they go, until--
Shadow Futaba...
"Uh," Ichika starts. Plundering her tomb? "That's, uh..."
She's kind of alarmed, actually.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Whoa, hold on, sulfates?!" Tsubasa pulls their face out of the water. "Fuck that!!!" Even if it is drinkable, there are some things that just shouldn't be put in your body! They don't know that you're supposed to boil wild water, as a city slicker, but they sure do know that sulfates are the devil.
"Hey, dude, lay off Ryuji, wouldja?" Tsubasa adds, to Mona, "he's cooked jus' like the rest a us." Mona is, of course, a dude, because Tsubasa has always treated him as the young human man he insists he is. ... though they'd still love him if he was a cat...
"Hell yeah, Halloween movie night," they add. "I'll bring some Tarasino over." Quinton Tarasino, they mean, the foreign filmmaker they got nuts over.
(They don't know about how he treats his actresses...)
Though... Tsubasa frowns. "Uh, what're they countin' as books? Dunno if I can avoid readin' anythin'..." Tsubasa, don't admit you're a huge nerd like that!
But inside the pyramid -- "It's cool! We're fuckin' saved, man!" Tsubasa exclaims, rolling their shoulders back. "Pheww...!!"
Before they start up the stairs, though, they look back. "We're countin' on ya," they say, to Haru and Ryuji. "Watch our backs."
They're stopped by the Phaorah, though -- by Futaba's Shadow, as Morgana confirms. "Whoa," they remark, having never seen a Shadow who wasn't an asshole. "Uh... you asked us to come, remember?" They ask, putting their foot RIGHT in their mouth, which is really a public service given how Ryuji stayed back to watch the exit.
It's slipped Tsubasa's mind how she probably doesn't remember. They're still new to this.
<Pose Tracker> Ann Takamaki has posed.
"Oo! Halloween movie night! Yesss!"
This is Ann, briefly forgetting the oppressive heat to pump her fist in excited anticipation.
"... If we don't die of heat stroke first..."
This is Ann, reminded of the bullying sun scorching the skies above them.
After this is settled, though? Ann firstly: lets out a sigh of relief as Tsubasa sees the light and clearly knows the risk of satanish sulfates. And then Ann secondly: just sort of stares at Ryuji as he dunks his head into the water with a blanched face that just screams the 'yuck' she does not verbalize. Ultimately, she just sighs and shakes her head, turning away to face the pyramid once more.
"Don't come complaining to me when all your essential oils are stripped off and you start breaking out," she grumbles.
Still. Ann's got her eye on the prize now that they're here: she ties her hoodie around her waist, claps her cheeks with her palms once, twice to re-alert herself against the oppressive heat, and proclaims,
"Okay! Shade, here we come!!"
...
look, that's the priority right now.
So when they get there, and it is nice and cool? Ann let's out a palpably relieved sigh, wafting her palms towards her face to get as much of that cool air directly onto her flushed face as humanly possible.
"Oh my god, this is such a relief," Ann sighs out in full-bodied bliss. "Tombs really do have good airflow!" A second passes. Her brows furrow. Her lips purse. "... But... why does it feel like air conditioning? That's not a thing for pyramids, is it...??"
She knows she shouldn't question a gift horse, but honestly, that's weird!!
Regardless, her attention peels away as Makoto asks after the mineral water: Ann grimaces an apologetic grimace to the student council president, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. "I drank what was left on the ride over," she confesses, and while she feels zero regret, she offers all the same: "Sorry...!"
Talk on how safe but unnourishing the water is, now that they're free and clear of it, makes Ann blink. "Oh, right. Cognitive stuff is imaginary, isn't it..." She considers, and then just waves off Morgana's assurances with a firm shake of her head. "Mm-mm! Some things you just don't risk!"
And she so she carries on, starting to warn Tsubasa with a, "Just don't read anything! That's how the mummy sucks out your organs!"
... when that girl, dressed like an Egyptian queen, appears.
"Wh--" Ann takes a sudden step back, eyes widening in alarm. And when the girl doesn't move? ... she takes a step forward, squinting. "That's... Futaba-chan?" she asks Morgana, frowning. She has yellow eyes like a Shadow, but she's so still...
"Is it like... a statue of her, or--"
Those who plunder my tomb. Why have you come?
"--gah!"
And then Ann takes two hops back, hands snapping at her sides palms down in alarm.
"We didn't plunder anything yet!!"
probably not the best way to introduce yourself. Especially as Ann squints, afterward.
"... But Phoenix is right. You asked us to come here. Don't you remember...?" She frowns, faintly. Something about this feels... off, but she isn't sure what. Something about Futaba and this Palace feels so... feels so...
... resigned?
"... Um..." Ann chews her lower lip. She hasn't dealt with a Shadow like this before. Tsubasa's right: they're usually assholes. So, she tries a cunning trick:
"So... could you maybe, y'know, take us to the Treasure--?"
Look. She's gotta shoot that shot.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Haru and Ryuji watching their backs is a good idea- the two work well together and if anyone does try to ambush them, well... they both make a lot of noise when they fight. It's almost like shotguns and grenade launchers aren't quiet... "We'll leave it to you two. Yell if there's trouble."
When Morgana does confirm the water is safe, if not thirst quenching, Makoto does in fact scoop up some more to wet down her hair and shirt. That's a little better... "I'm gonna have to do extra laundry when I get home," she mutters, but that's not that bad a burden, for what else could be in the palace. "Lead the way," she says to Ren, as the group makes their way up too many goddamn stairs.
At least no one is skipping leg day.
"Tarasino?" Makoto asks, to Tsubasa. She's never heard of him, but Tsubasa and her share some taste in movies, even if Makoto can be more secretive about it. "What are those like?"
Makoto also remains baffled that Tsubasa is hiding that they're a huge nerd. Wasn't that obvious to everyone else? (No Makoto, not everyone knows that you and Tsubasa used to compete for top of the class in exams.)
Makoto lets out another sigh, but she understands. "That's okay. We'll just have to deal for now..." Then she has to stare at Ann's important statement about how mummies operate. "...What." A pause. "Nevermind. I don't think I want to know."
And then the girl arrives in front of them. Futaba's shadow. "...The shadow won't know exactly what Futaba-chan does," Makoto says, quietly, even as Ann tries to ask nicely. It would be nice, wouldn't it?
"You're the ruler of this place, aren't you?" Makoto asks, to confirm. It's Futaba's Palace, therefore the shadow in charge would be Futaba... wouldn't it?
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Halloween movie night! Ren's already looking forward to it. It's becoming clearer to them by the minute that this mummy movie in particular has been very formative to Ann. They shoot her an amused smile at her insistence on the correlation between mummies and books. They're not familiar with Tarasino either, but Tsubasa's recommendation means they're interested in his movies too.
Haru and Ryuji will no doubt do well in making sure they don't get jumped--and perhaps Yusuke too. Ren gives them all a confident nod before they and the others move on. Hopefully they themselves won't need to jump to avoid, say, a sudden boulder...
"The real-life Futaba's bedroom is air-conditioned--I snuck in before, so I know. No doubt this tomb is a reflection of that," Mona tells Ann.
In other words, the tomb is the room.
Ren eyes Shadow Futaba warily. Mona confirmed it's her, but... there's something off. Ichika's alarm is well-deserved. Tsubasa bluntly points out her other self asked them to come here.
Which is the crux of the matter. To Ren's understanding, even if a person doesn't know what goes on in their Palace, their Shadow should know what goes on in real life--otherwise, a change in the cognition of that person wouldn't affect their Palace. Why would she call them plunderers and ask them why they've come?
They glance over their shoulder at Makoto. It's true there might be a mismatch of information between Shadow and surface self. Futaba's situation is clearly different from other Palace Holders they've encountered. As Makoto attempts to confirm she's the Ruler, Ren looks back at Shadow Futaba.
"We came to save you--as your other self requested," they tell her, gesturing with one hand.
So can she show them to the Treasure? ...Ren, as always, has to respect Ann's sheer audacity.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
The Shadow Futaba gazes impassively at them all. She has a very regal expression. It doesn't really match her face which is definitely landing in the 'cute' quadrant of the various indexes, but the *expression.* And you don't want to underestimate Shadows.
Still, it's not aggressive.
Shadow Futaba's head turns to look towards Tsubasa first. The Shadow's brow creases, just a bit. Peering at them. Are her glasses not fully compensating for her vision? They don't look that thick. There is a sound kind of like a breeze somewhere.
"If you believe that you can steal it, then try as you might." Perhaps Tsubasa's judgment was premature... though they might just need to grade on a curve, given the behavior of other Shadows.
Still, the sound. There shouldn't be a breeze in here? There's no real way wind could get into approximately ten zillion gigatons of rocks. It's just a sound.
The Shadow's eyes turn to Ann. She keeps talking. Now that she's said more than six words it's easier to read tone into her voice: there's that weird distortion that comes with Shadows, but beneath it there's a sort of animation. Relish? Is she mean? It seems more ambiguous than that. Ann might think of the more morbid girls from films, but this is not dramatic performance.
"Considering the state that my Palace is in... there is no way that you can steal it."
The Shadow has to turn slightly to face Makoto, apparently unwilling to turn her head more than the little bit. Maybe it's the neck-dress. "It is as you say. I am the ruler of this Palace," the Shadow states. "This is to be my eternal resting place. The treasures within will never be seen again. Neither gold, nor jewels, nor the complete set of Featherman Neo figures. The Featherman R posters shall be concealed; so too the inherited tomes and the information gained in this accursed incarnation. The myriad files shall rest, unaccessed."
The Shadow seems done. When Ren speaks, she turns again to face them directly, although if eyes are watching her face, the Shadow looks momentarily at Mona before resting on Ren themselves. Perhaps she is considering this. It's a considering sort of look on her face, or it seems to be, but...
The sounds become voices. It's not that they're distant, it's like they're quiet and someone somewhere is slowly turning up the volume. They're really rather noisy. Indeed they sound like shouting.
Words begin to resolve as the Shadow stands there.
creepy child...
you killed her!
you're a plague!
Where are they coming from? Hidden speakers? It's the solution you'd think of in real life, but this is a Palace. Is something coming? The Shadow clutches at her head and falls to her knees in a bloom of fabric.
murderer!
Why don't you say something?
You're the one that killed her!
Stay away!
The Shadow fades, becomes translucent. There isn't any flash; it's more that the stairs behind her become more visible, first a faint suggestion and then clearly outlined.
murderer!
Don't just stand there!
"... That's right," Shadow Futaba says. "I did it."
She straightens, first her back, then rising upright. It's poised. Perfect posture. She is moving like a doll, or a posable model. "I am the one who killed my mother."
The stairwell behind the Shadow is growing more and more visible. Her voice isn't weakening, though. Maybe she's joining that invisible chorus. The accusations become sonic wallpaper, the familiar statements repeating and mashing together.
"She's here," says the Shadow, her arms spreading. "I will remain here," the Shadow says as a rumbling sound and several distant but LOUD mechanical noises CHUNK into place. "I will do so until I die."
Violet flames flicker suddenly. The flames of rebellion roar to life! And everyone is in their Phantom Thief garb.
=-=-=-=-=
"Hm?" says Futaba, who had squatted down to peek under her door but saw zero feet - not proof of absence, but absence of proof. She dares to hope as she straightens up, actually bouncing on her heels.
Is this really gonna work?
except
those voices
saying all those
horrible things
even if they're true
Are inside of Futaba's head.
She sags forwards, ending up on her knees, her upper body face down on her bed. The headphones fall off of her ears in a spill of orange hair.
"that's right," Futaba says, and the rest of it, but then she squeezes her eyes shut behind her askew glasses and whines in the back of her thoat, "No...! Someone..."
-=-=-=-=-=-
The ground keeps shaking.
The group had gotten high enough that there was what looked like a vertical section at the top of the staircase. Call it 'two thirds of the way up,' although it is likely that the Thieves expect there's going to be *something* in the way - people don't exactly have Palaces if they're the sort to just say 'come up to my boss room, Mega Thieves!' -- convenient though it might be.
That luminous teal green space, almost evocative of the front of a PC, is suddenly occluded as something falls with a THUMP. It's a large black object, inscribed with glowing green runes.
It's also round.
And based on its width...
And how it's turning...
It's rolling downhill. But wait - YOU'RE downhill!
YOU BETTER RUN!
Now, there is the advantage that you just walked up a huge staircase and know exactly where you're going to go. The downside is that the great black stone that's rolling down towards you with no intention of gathering moss is just exactly wide enough to match the stairway. By the time it reaches the little landings the group has found here and there, it has so much inertia from its mass that it doesn't deviate enough to grind. It just keeps going. It just keeps accelerating. An inevitable discharge of the potential energy of gravitation.
At the end, as the Thieves reach those pillars, that moat of lava, the opening had narrowed slightly - the stone keeps rolling. But the portico's columns slow it *just* a little, and it tumbles over the irregular bulge to roll forwards and bounce, just a bit to the side, and *into* that enormous gap -- just as stone SLAMS down, immaculately copper-green doors smashing into place with building-breaking sounds. First high up, coming down, and then finally with a vast slamming that throws a wind through everyone's hair, right here.
But then it is quiet.
While there isn't the objective and enormous obstacle of that great stone sphere (which is currently sinking into the lava at a rate suggesting you won't have to worry about it in a couple of hours), the door is the sort of thing that could survive a nuclear attack. There are pillars to the left side, and so exit will be simple, if somewhat more annoying.
It is, at least, silent again.
There are no new Shadows or cognitions out there, and the group can, of course, simply peace out with the Meta-Nav, at least once they're out in the open. The stone plaza where the Monabus was briefly parked before resuming the form of Mon(a) has sagged very slightly.
And now, looking around, some things are clearer. The pyramid may have a completed shape and was clearly well appointed -- with both furnishings and death traps for tomb robbers -- but there was still construction going on. Scaffolding. Crates that could be smashed asunder.
There's got to be another way in than that grand staircase.