92 Now we can summon Satan.
"Don't stay up too late. You need to be in good form if we are to get into Kaneshiro's Palace." said Morgana.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." said Ryuji. "See you guys tomorrow, then."
And with that, the Phantom Thieves, minus Shin and Morgana, left for their homes. Afterwards, Shin went and did his usual routine while Morgana, who was for whatever reason very pumped that night, tried to go along with him in his training.
Most of the exercises had to be adapted on the spot by him to make them more efficient. In the end, they didn't do much to help him, but it was quite amusing for Shin to see Morgana try to do squats while supporting himself on the wall.
-INTERMISSION-
For the first time in a long while, Shin woke up to the sound of Caroline's baton hitting the cell door.
"The prisoner Shin Yuuta has returned." announced Justine.
"You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!" said Caroline.
"Oh how am I dying to meet an old man with a long nose I see every other day." commented Shin.
"Don't get cocky, inmate!" said Caroline, snapping the baton on the cell's bars, electricity crackling around.
"I must say, the bonds that you have reeled in are quite intriguing. Most of them have been unfairly labeled by society and are fighting against such fates. There are some that are... odd in their own right. Regardless, you need to continue deepening the bonds with these peculiar members of society, as they will become the strength behind your rehabilitation... I look forwards to it." said Igor.
Justine frowned and quickly moved her gaze back and forth between Caroline and Shin. The other warden didn't notice, but Shin did.
"I shall grant you an ability befitting your newfound power. Consider it a gift. May you continue to devote yourself to further rehabilitation."
Shin could feel something... indescribable inside him, which most likely meant the number of Personas he could hold increased by 2.
"If I might add, I'm sure you've noticed by now that you have bonds with people who are similar in a way. Sadly, this won't bring more power to your Personas. But I don't discourage you from making more bonds. When one of these bonds becomes unbreakable, I shall disclose the details to you."
Then, Igor looked around the Velvet Room, somewhat miffed.
"It seems to be about time..."
He waited a few more seconds, tapping his fingers on the desk.
"Caroline, Justine. Do you have something to say to the Trickster?" he asked.
The wardens looked at each other, confused. But then Justine slowly opened her mouth to speak.
"I must admit, I feel that there's something I've forgotten for some time now."
"Yeah. Maybe there's a note in your clipboard, Justine." said Caroline.
Justine went through the pages on the clipboard, with Caroline peering over her shoulder.
"What's that?" asked Caroline, stopping Justine. "Oh, it's just the inmate's special tasks."
"Wait." started Justine, who turned to look at Caroline. "Did you... tell him about these tasks?"
"..."
"Unbelievable..." muttered Justine. "Come here, Trickster."
The short warden raised the clipboard so Shin could take a look at it.
"I need you to make a Jack Frost who can freeze a wide area."
She looked at Shin for a second, before going and crossing out the first task.
"It seems rather obvious to have a Persona that specializes in ice that can do that." commented Justine.
Meanwhile, Caroline was ashamedly looking at the floor.
"Now, you'll have to make a Ame-no-Uzume who can use the Nuclear element."
She once again looked at Shin, and went to cross the second line.
"Having a variety of attacks on a single Persona seems rather convenient, Trickster." she said. "You must make a Flauros that can make itself stronger."
"Alright, then. How do I make him." said Shin.
"As a reward for finishing two of your tasks, you now have access to the Group Guillotine."
Apparently, Caroline managed to gather herself, as she spoke up at that moment.
"Rejoice, inmate, for this will allow you to fuse new Personas."
"That's neat." said Shin, and he immediately summoned Berith, Eligor and Orobas from the registry.
The twins immediately went to execute the Personas, and soon enough, Flauros could be seen standing on his own two legs.
"Very good, Trickster. You must show us a Phoenix that can reflect physical attacks." said Justine, crossing out the 3rd task.
Both wardens took a long look at Shin, and Caroline leaned towards Justine.
"Should we just cross more of them at once?" she asked.
The other warden nodded, and proceeded to cross out two more lines.
"Good news, inmate. Now that you've done 5 task, not only did you unlock the Lockdown, but you can now pay to fuse Personas that are more powerful than what you can fuse now." said Caroline.
"The Lockdown allows a Persona that you currently hold to null their weaknesses by sitting alone in a cell for a prolonged amount of time. Only one Persona can be placed in Lockdown at a time, and only one weakness can be nulled for every period of incarceration." explained Justine.
"Oh. That's going to be so useful. So, what's next on the list?" asked Shin, excitedly.
After that, Shin did complete 4 more tasks before running out of the money he had on him, both from summoning Personas from the registry and from paying to fuse the last 2 Personas, so he had to leave the Velvet Room.
"What do you think, Justine?" asked Caroline.
"I'm... amazed. I didn't expect him to have such an insight in the abilities of his Personas to just know what was required to summon to complete the tasks. And not to say the ones that he had done just right for the tasks and somehow were on him now."
The wardens stood there in silence for a few more moments, before Caroline spoke up.
"The inmate... he's pretty cool, isn't he?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Confidants:
0. Igor (The Fool) - Rank 2
I. Morgana (The Magician) - Rank 3
1. Takuto Maruki (The Councillor) - Rank 1
II. Makoto Niijima (The Priestess) - Rank 2
IV. Yusuke Kitagawa (The Emperor) - Rank 3
Odd man - Rank 1
V. Sojiro Sakura (The Hierophant) - Rank 3
VI. Ann Takamaki (The Lovers) - Rank 7
VII. Ryuji Sakamoto (The Chariot) - Rank 7
VIII. Goro Akechi (The Justice) - Rank 1
IX. Futaba Sakura (The Hermit) - Rank 3
XI. Caroline & Justine (The Strength) - Rank 9
XIII. Tae Takemi (The Death) - Rank 5
XIV. Sadayo Kawakami (The Temperance) - Rank 3
XVIII. Saki Yoshiko (The Moon) - Rank 2
XIX. Sho Minazuki (The Sun) - Rank 2
Toranosuke Yoshida - Rank 1
XX. Sae Niijima (The Judgement) - Rank 1
Shiho Suzui (The Hope) - Rank 8
