|| 4/18 Monday ||
|| Morning ||

Mikono scribbled doodles in the corners of her notebook as she listened to the teacher drone on about the basics of the English language. Thanks to her father and mother, she was fluent in English and excelled in the class. She unconsciously sighed when she felt her phone, which rested on her thigh under her desk, vibrate. Discreetly, she glanced down and saw Ryuji's name. She unlocked her phone and accessed the group chat, reading the message the blonde just sent.

Ryuji: So I saw Kamoshida at the school gate this morning.

Ryuji: He was just standing there looking at me with this shit-eating grin on his face.

Then, Takamaki joined the chat.

Ann: Ugh, that's annoying... He was probably mocking you.

Mikono: Akira and I saw him too. He was grinning like a moron and taunting us.

Ryuji: Honestly, seeing that got me even more fired up about this.

Ann: Yeah. I'm worried about Shiho, but I want to concentrate on our operation too.

Ann: And I won't let myself get exhausted like last time.

Mikono: It would be a catastrophe if the two of us were to keel over inside the Palace like last time. We'll have to be extra careful.

Akira: I was able to secure us some medicine from a clinic in case we need first aid.

Mikono: That...actually makes me feel better. I'm glad we're more prepared than last time.

Ryuji: Same here.

Ryuji: The board meeting's May 2nd, right?

Ryuji: We just gotta take care of him before then.

Akira: I'm ready for this.

Ryuji: Same goes for me.

Ann: Me too!

Ann: I'll do my best.

Mikono: Count me in. We're doing this-together.

Ann: No going in without us, okay?

Ryuji: Yeah. You two better let us know if you're going into the Palace.

Ryuji: Wait, do you even have the app on your phone, Mikky?

Mikono: Oh, yeah. It appeared on my phone when we left the Palace on Friday.

Mikono: Don't worry. I don't plan on using it without you guys around. Now focus on class. I'm not getting my phone taken away.

|| 4/18 Monday ||
|| After School ||

Mikono gathered her belongings, putting everything in her school bag. She glanced up at Akira as she zipped up her bag. She spotted Morgana's head peeking from over his left shoulder. "What do we do now?"

"It's finally time to set this plan in motion," the feline replied, determination prominent in its tone. "I bet the others are ready to go and waiting on the signal."

"You're the leader, Akira," Mikono smiled up at him. "Just give us the word and we'll follow you anywhere."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I'm still not sure if I'm really the leader type."

"Stop doubting yourself." She stood up from her desk and lightly punched his arm. "You're doing pretty good so far. Besides, there's no way Ryuji could be the leader and I definitely don't want the position. And Takamaki-chan... I doubt she'd want to be the leader."

"I can hear you..." Said girl grumbled. "But Tsutsui-chan's right. There's no way I want to be the leader. I'll leave that to you, Kurusu-kun."

Akira glances between the two females before sighing in defeat. "All right. Guess we better head to the rooftop."

"I'll text Ryuji," Mikono said.

Once the blonde was informed of their meeting, Akira, Mikono, Takamaki, and Morgana shuffle out of the classroom and to the rooftop. There, Ryuji was already waiting for them. They took their seats and listened as Morgana said, "I hope you all understand that our time limit is May 2nd."

Takamaki crosses her legs while glancing at the animal in Mikono's lap. "We basically just have to go to that castle and steal the treasure from Kamoshida, right?"

"If only it was that easy..." Mikono muttered.

"But wait, what even is a treasure?" Ryuji pondered. "I wanna know that before we doing anything."

"A treasure is the physical form of the Palace ruler's distorted desires," it explained. "In other words, it's the core of the Palace."

"And once we get our hands on it, the plane which the Palace resides on will shatter and disappear. Right, Morgana?" Mikono deducted.

"Exactly!" The cat nudged its nose against her palm, prompting her to stroke the top of its head. "Unfortunately, even I don't know what Kamoshida's treasure is going to be."

"I could care less about what the treasure is. All that matters is we get our hands on it and Kamoshida confesses his wrongdoings."

"Where can we find it?" Takamaki asked.

"There's no way of knowing that until we go in and find out. But if I had to guess, I'd say he has it locked up somewhere in the depths of the Palace," Morgana answered.

Ryuji leaned back in his seat, causing the metal to creak slightly. "Eh, I think I get it now. We just gotta find the treasure, yeah?"

"Pretty much. There's just a lot we won't know until we go in..." Morgana adjusted itself in Mikono's lap before continuing. "In any case, our objective is to find the treasure's location somewhere in the Palace. Make sure we go about this with time to spare so we avoid any unforeseen circumstances. I expect great things from you guys."

Mikono cupped Morgana's cheeks in her hands and rubbed them gently with her thumbs. She listened to it purr at her ministrations. "We won't let you down, Morgana."

<------<<<<<

The four teens and feline found themselves standing in front of Kamoshida's Palace. While Takamaki and Mikono chatted, they became unaware of the two boys eyeing them. Akira and Ryuji found themselves admiring the girls' outfits and didn't realize they were staring.

Unconsciously, Ryuji's thoughts turned into words. "But daaamn..." He smirked as he analyzed the curves of his female companions.

Mikono crosses her arms when she caught him redhanded. "What're you looking at, huh?" Her eyes then trailed over to Akira and noticed he was also staring at her. She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Are you're just as guilty!"

"W-We weren't-!" Akira tried to come up with an excuse on the spot.

"We weren't starin' at anything! You're just paranoid!" Ryuji bellowed. "I was just thinkin' we should choose a code name for you-know-who!"

Mikono didn't buy his lie for a second. "Uh-huh. Sure." She knew there were more important matters to tend to and decided to let their obvious staring go unpunished this time. She glanced toward the girl standing beside her. "Anyway, what would you like your code name to be?"

Takamaki blinked owlishly at her. "A code name?"

"I'm Skull, he's Joker, she's Sphinx, and that's Mona," Ryuji pointed to each respected teammate as he told their new companion their code names.

"Judging by your costume..." Morgana tapped its chin with its white paw as it tried to formulate a code name for Takamaki.

"I mean, she's got that tail and stuff, so..." Ryuji looked at their leader. "What do you think, Akira?"

The messy-haired teen fell into deep thought. He tried to think of good a code name for their new member, but he couldn't think of any. Luckily, Mikono spoke up and shared the code names she came up with. "Oh! I've a couple of suggestions! What about "Leopard" or "Tiger"?"

Takamaki shook her head. "But I don't have spots or stripes."

"What do you wanna be called, then?" Ryuji questioned.

"Tsutsui-chan's on the right track. Let's see..." She hummed to herself as she tried to think of other species of cats. "Maybe... "Panther"? That sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"I think it suits you," Mikono said. "It does sound better than "Leopard" or "Tiger", and panthers don't have stripes or spots."

Morgana sighed dreamily. "She's a cougar...!"

Takamaki stomped her foot, placing her hands on her hips and casting a glare downward at the cat. "Don't call me that!" She sighed and her gaze softened. "More importantly, Kamoshida...!"

"Oh, right. Let's go!" Ryuji shouted, tugging on the collar of his outfit. He then cracked his knuckles with a smirk. "All right, let's start fresh and get goin'!"

"It's game time from this point forward." Morgana faced the four teen with a serious expression. "I'll teach you guys the basics of infiltrating a Palace as we go."

Ryuji, Takamaki, and Morgana strut forth and head to the ventilation shaft. Akira and Mikono went to follow, but their attention was grabbed when they heard a strange noise from behind them. Turning around, they spotted a doorway leading to the Velvet Room.

Akira glances at Mikono, wondering if she was able to see the doorway. "Do you...?"

"See it? Yes. By the looks of it, it's a doorway to the Velvet Room," she replied.

"Wait..." Akira turned his entire body to face her. "You know about the Velvet Room, Mikono?"

"Yeah. And I'm guessing you know about it too from your reaction." She glanced at the ornate door before her eyes trailed over to Theodore, who was standing beside it. She leaned toward her friend and whispered, "I'm surprised I'm not the only one who knows about Igor and Theodore. It actually makes me feel better because I thought I was going crazy and hallucinating."

"Who's Theodore?" Akira asked.

"The man standing next to the door."

"I don't know anybody by that name. Justine's the one standing by the door."

Mikono thought they were both insane before her eyes widen in realization. "We're seeing two different people. Wh-What does the doorway look like to you?"

"A cell door. What about you?" He inquired.

"It's a wooden door with hieroglyphics etched into the grain." She stared at the doorway, tilting her head slightly. "This is quite fascinating, I must say."

Theodore placed his hand on his chest and bowed politely. "Miss Mikono, my master wishes to have a word with you."

"Ah, yes. I understand, Theodore." She walked toward the door but stopped before she entered the Velvet Room. She glanced back at Akira, who was still contemplating whether he should enter or not. "I'll be back shortly." With that, she stepped through the door and immediately found herself sitting on a familiar plush couch in a white dress that reached just above her knees.

"Welcome back, Puppeteer," Igor greeted her.

"I've been wanting to speak with you again, Igor. There's been a question on my mind ever since Sekhmet appeared in the real world and explained the Eye of Horus to me."

"Ask away," he grinned.

Mikono stared into the man's eyes before asking her question. "She said the Eye would help me locate the paths leading to the other parts of my heart. What did she mean by that?"

Igor did not hesitate to answer her question. "The true being that dwells within your heart has been severed into five shards. You've found one, but four still remain. Once all the pieces are assembled will only then mark the awakening of your true personality."

"What are these"pieces" you speak of? And how will I know when I've found one?"

"I'm afraid those questions are ones I cannot answer."

She crossed her arms with a sigh. "Of course..."

Igor suddenly sat up in his chair. "It seems your friend has concluded business. Return anytime, Puppeteer, for I shall be waiting."

She sighed, knowing when she was not wanted any longer. "Maybe the next time I visit will be the time all my questions will be answered."

<------<<<<<

"You think they're okay?" Skull inquired as he stared worriedly at the petrified Joker and Sphinx.

"No idea," Panther said. "They're just...standing there." She went to touch their leader's shoulder, but she jumped backward when he suddenly spun around and faced them.

"Dude, you okay?" The bleach blonde asked. "You were just standin' there, like Sphinx is."

Joker glances toward said girl just as she blinked a few times. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine." She noticed the others eyeing her with concern. "What's wrong? Why're you three looking at me like that?"

"We should be askin' you that question," Skull retorts. "You and Joker were just starin' off into space like you guys were in some weird trance."

Sphinx and Joker exchange glances. They could tell what the other was thinking by simply glancing into each other's eyes. They both were in agreement and faced their friends.

"We thought we saw something. It was nothing, unfortunately," Mikono explained.

"Well then, let's get moving," Panther said.

"So, where do we start?" Skull asked, the question directed toward Mona.

"Let's head to the safe room we found last time. It's on the first floor of the west building. That's pretty close to our usual entrance. It should be a pretty decent starting point," it exclaimed.

"Safe room...?" Panther reiterated with furrowed brows.

"It'll make sense when you see it," the fake blonde stated. "Welp, let's head out!"

<------<<<<<

(A/n: I won't go into too much detail during Palace explorations since I've a tenancy to add too many smaller and unnecessary details.)

After ten minutes of exploring the Palace, the companions stumbled upon a room. Bars protected the innermost of the room and everyone was unsure of how to raise them to reach the inside. Fortunately, Joker was able to solve a puzzle with the pull chains attached to rams' heads on the sides of the archways. They watched the bars raise before stepping inside.

Sphinx stalked toward a table when something caught her eye. When she realized what it was, she picked it up and examined it. "What a strange place to keep a map. What's even weirder was the security system he had in place..."

"What the hell?" Skull cursed, examining the deteriorating map. "He had it all locked up and shit, but it was just some old map...?"

"You're hopeless..." Mona groaned in disbelief. "Don't you realize how vital a map is? Having this will give us a better grasp of the topography of the Palace. It's a true necessity for a phantom thief. This should make securing a route much easier."

"Unless you prefer wandering around aimlessly," Sphinx said with a snarky undertone.

"Like hell I do!" He bellowed. "I just wanna find this treasure and make Kamoshida pay..."

"Wait," Panther stepped forward at the mention of the object they were searching for. "Does it say where the treasure is on there?"

The shorter girl examined the map closer and shook her head. "There're no marks indicating anything. By the looks of it, this map has missing pieces."

"Mkay, let's start checkin' what we can. We'll prolly find another map along the way somewhere," Skull said.

"Wow," Sphinx gasped in shock. "Look at you. Negative Nancy has turned into Pollyanna."

"Shuddup...!"

The group grabbed the map and took it with them. They weaved through the hallways and rooms of the Palace in search of the treasure or anything that could help them. They fought Shadow after Shadow, clearing a path forward as they ascended the castle. While scavenging a few rooms, they discovered books and Joker decided to take them along. He felt as if they were important and couldn't bring himself to leave them behind.

When the group opened one of the many doors within the castle, they were greeted with bookshelves brimming with books. Sphinx was captivated by the vast amount of books, but she wasn't too eager to find what was written on the pages due to their current location. She walked toward a golden globe in the center of the room, watching it spin as she approached. While the others examined the bookshelves, she placed her hand on the globe and traced her thumb over her home country of Egypt. Images of her home flashed through her mind as she traced the outline of Africa with her index finger.

"Hey, Sphinx, you listenin'?" Skull asked.

The inky-haired girl blinked a few times before facing her friends. "Sorry, I was distracted. What did you say?"

"We need your help placing these books," Joker said, holding the three books he collected throughout the castle over the past hour toward her.

"Oh, sure." She stepped away from the globe and took the books from him. "Let's see..." She walked over to a shelf of books with Kamoshida's name engraved down the spines. She placed the king book in the slot and heard it click in place. Moving on to the next section of books, she saw the numerous female names scrolled across the spines of the books and found her name beside Panther's.

Mikono Tsutsui: The Alluring Goddess

She cringed at reading the title of the book and quickly shoved the queen book into the empty slot. She moved on to the last slot and didn't hesitate to place the slave book in the section pertaining to boys volleyball team.

Three clicks were heard simultaneously. The group looked around and noticed the bookcase located on the far wall retract, revealing a hidden room. When they saw what was inside, they gasped in horror.