[Trapped by the world … yes, that’s an accurate description of how he felt on arrival in Tokyo. Powerless, before he found his new power and put it to use. He nods, and nudges his glasses closer to his face.]
I think it’s pretty common to feel that way sometimes, especially when you’re younger.
[Teenagers have very little power and social standing. If not for his Personas and his friends, Ren would likely still feel trapped, lacking agency in his own life.]
I did meet the real Igor, after I restored Lavenza. It’s … kind of a long story.
[But he’s more than willing to tell it to her.]
Let me start at the beginning.
[He takes a breath and begins to recount the events of the past year. Accidentally stumbling into the Metaverse with Ryuji on his first day at Shujin, awakening to his power, meeting Morgana. Ann joining their team, the official forming of the Phantom Thieves. Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba joining them, the Palaces they stormed their way through to victory. Mementos and the Phan-site.
A somber cast settles over Ren when speaking about Haru and her father’s Palace, his televised death and how it was blamed on the Phantom Thieves. How they didn’t realize they’d been set up until it was too late.
Throughout the story, he’s careful never to mention Akechi by name, only referring to him in vague terms like “the celebrity teen detective” who chased after him, and his code name, Crow, when he strongarmed his way into working with the Thieves in Sae’s Palace. Ren omits any reference to the time they spent getting to know each other before that, their rivalry, or the depth of his feelings for Akechi both then and now. No mention of Akechi being here in Revan too, of course. Ren knows better than anyone how it feels to have a criminal reputation follow you when you’re trying to turn your life around, and he would never endanger Akechi’s opportunity for that here by sharing his secrets.
He doesn’t dwell on Akechi’s betrayal and attempted murder, only noting that his team knew about it and was prepared to outwit him to make sure Ren survived his capture so the Thieves could continue their work. He rubs idly at his wrist while recounting this part, though, and if Kotone looks closely, she’ll be able to spot the faint circles of healed scars around his wrists under his sleeves, lingering reminders of the handcuffs carved into his skin.
Ren sobers again when he reaches the near end of Shido’s Palace, meeting Akechi again in the engine room, facing off to fight him to the death in his furious desperation. How they’d tried to convince him to join their fight and work together, and how he’d sacrificed himself to save the Thieves, entrusting them to complete the mission of changing Shido’s heart and ending his crimes. Ren only mentions that Akechi had been working with Shido as the Black Mask in order to get close and eventually betray him, but says nothing about the fact that Shido was the reprehensible father who abandoned Akechi and his mother. That part of the story is not his to tell.
The regret Ren still carries for how things ended in the engine room is evident in the tone his words take, the flatness of his expression, the deepened slouch in his posture. But the story doesn’t end here.
He continues with the fight against Shido and how his change of heart failed to make a difference to society. How he and his friends literally vanished from reality, and Ren found himself in the Velvet Room, condemned as a failure and sentenced to immediate execution. Only then did Yaldabaoth’s deception begin to unravel, with Justine and Caroline entreating Ren to fuse them into Lavenza, and Yaldabaoth finally relinquishing his hold on the Velvet Room.]
And that, [Ren concludes, with a light shrug,] is how I met the real Igor.
no subject
I think it’s pretty common to feel that way sometimes, especially when you’re younger.
[Teenagers have very little power and social standing. If not for his Personas and his friends, Ren would likely still feel trapped, lacking agency in his own life.]
I did meet the real Igor, after I restored Lavenza. It’s … kind of a long story.
[But he’s more than willing to tell it to her.]
Let me start at the beginning.
[He takes a breath and begins to recount the events of the past year. Accidentally stumbling into the Metaverse with Ryuji on his first day at Shujin, awakening to his power, meeting Morgana. Ann joining their team, the official forming of the Phantom Thieves. Yusuke, Makoto, and Futaba joining them, the Palaces they stormed their way through to victory. Mementos and the Phan-site.
A somber cast settles over Ren when speaking about Haru and her father’s Palace, his televised death and how it was blamed on the Phantom Thieves. How they didn’t realize they’d been set up until it was too late.
Throughout the story, he’s careful never to mention Akechi by name, only referring to him in vague terms like “the celebrity teen detective” who chased after him, and his code name, Crow, when he strongarmed his way into working with the Thieves in Sae’s Palace. Ren omits any reference to the time they spent getting to know each other before that, their rivalry, or the depth of his feelings for Akechi both then and now. No mention of Akechi being here in Revan too, of course. Ren knows better than anyone how it feels to have a criminal reputation follow you when you’re trying to turn your life around, and he would never endanger Akechi’s opportunity for that here by sharing his secrets.
He doesn’t dwell on Akechi’s betrayal and attempted murder, only noting that his team knew about it and was prepared to outwit him to make sure Ren survived his capture so the Thieves could continue their work. He rubs idly at his wrist while recounting this part, though, and if Kotone looks closely, she’ll be able to spot the faint circles of healed scars around his wrists under his sleeves, lingering reminders of the handcuffs carved into his skin.
Ren sobers again when he reaches the near end of Shido’s Palace, meeting Akechi again in the engine room, facing off to fight him to the death in his furious desperation. How they’d tried to convince him to join their fight and work together, and how he’d sacrificed himself to save the Thieves, entrusting them to complete the mission of changing Shido’s heart and ending his crimes. Ren only mentions that Akechi had been working with Shido as the Black Mask in order to get close and eventually betray him, but says nothing about the fact that Shido was the reprehensible father who abandoned Akechi and his mother. That part of the story is not his to tell.
The regret Ren still carries for how things ended in the engine room is evident in the tone his words take, the flatness of his expression, the deepened slouch in his posture. But the story doesn’t end here.
He continues with the fight against Shido and how his change of heart failed to make a difference to society. How he and his friends literally vanished from reality, and Ren found himself in the Velvet Room, condemned as a failure and sentenced to immediate execution. Only then did Yaldabaoth’s deception begin to unravel, with Justine and Caroline entreating Ren to fuse them into Lavenza, and Yaldabaoth finally relinquishing his hold on the Velvet Room.]
And that, [Ren concludes, with a light shrug,] is how I met the real Igor.