Twilight – Shinjuku Backstreets
Chihaya Mifune sat alone in her quiet stall, tarot cards spread before her in a half-completed reading. The city was buzzing with rumors of the latest Phantom Thief surge—but here, under the flickering light of a red lantern, she trembled.
The cards had changed.
Her deck, once familiar and obedient, now twisted of its own accord. Cards flipped face-down even as she reached for them. Symbols blurred. The Star—her guiding arcana—vanished completely.
"What... are you trying to show me?"
Then came the whisper.
Not from her cards. Not from within her.
"Fate was once your mirror. Now you walk its shattered edge."
Chihaya jolted upright. The voice was feminine, deep, echoing from the marrow of her bones. She clutched her temple, gasping.
LeBlanc – Emergency Gathering
Chihaya's distress brought the team together.
"So the cards are talking now?" Ryuji asked, half-joking, until he saw Chihaya's shaking hands.
"They're not just talking," Futaba said. "They're... corrupted. I scanned her aura—something's spliced into her resonance."
Ren nodded slowly. "She's hearing someone beyond Mementos."
Makoto crossed her arms. "A divine entity?"
"No." Chihaya finally spoke, voice distant. "Older. Colder. She calls herself Veluria."
Yusuke paused, tilting his head. "That name... appears in old occult literature. A goddess of veiled destinies. Suppressed by the cognitive sun itself."
Kawakami paled. "A goddess trying to awaken through Chihaya?"
"I don't think she wants control," Chihaya whispered. "I think she wants us to see something. Something beneath Mementos."
Mementos – Descent to the Forgotten Gallery
The team gathered that night, diving deeper into Mementos than they'd ever gone before. Guided by Chihaya's dreams and tarot glows, they bypassed multiple locked gates. The shadows here didn't attack—they watched, silent and twisted.
At the bottom: a cathedral of fog and broken mirrors. Reflections drifted freely through the air like lost souls.
Chihaya's Persona, Sibyl Fortuna, shimmered—but seemed drawn to a cracked stone altar.
And at its base…
A shard of light. Pulsing.
Futaba gasped. "This… isn't normal cognitive matter. It's a divine fragment. Not from the real world. Not from the Metaverse."
Yusuke stared. "It's a memory from before belief. Before the gods we know."
And then Chihaya collapsed—eyes glowing silver.
Veluria Speaks
The world froze. Shadows halted mid-sway. Time cracked like glass.
And through Chihaya's lips, Veluria whispered:
"I am the Veil between Knowing and Becoming.You seek to awaken truth, but truth requires sacrifice.Gather my fragments, and I shall open the path...To the end of prophecy."
Ren stepped forward, breath caught.
"And if we don't?"
"Then your kind will drown in fates they never chose."
When Time Resumes
Chihaya awoke, eyes wide. "She's… inviting us. But it's not just to help her. If we follow this thread, we change everything."
Ann looked around nervously. "Do we really want to invite another divine being into the mix?"
Ren met her eyes. "We don't have a choice."
Makoto nodded grimly. "This is bigger than the Phantom Thieves now."