Cold.

That was the first impression Joker had of Jeanne Alter’s Palace. It wasn’t the kind of cold he felt from the winters back in Japan, where he could just bundle up. It seemed to seep right through his clothes and skin and into his bones, leaving him shivering. His breath became puffs of white mist. Even though his Phantom Thief gear covered almost all his skin save for his head, it did nothing to hinder the unnatural cold of the Palace.

Ahead of them lay a medieval city – or rather, the ruins of one. The buildings and streets were completely frozen over, the ice clinging heavily to walls or standing tall in pillars lining the roads. The sounds of distant roars and screeches echoed throughout the Palace, the ringing ice giving them an almost ethereal quality. The sky itself was completely black, not even a moon or stars, yet for some reason, the ground was illuminated enough for them to see.

“Achoo!” Morgana sneezed, rubbing his paws. “Jeez! You think for someone whose Palace is Hell, it’d be a bit warmer than this! Some flames right now would be nice!”

The other Servants could only look about in awe, shock, and horror. “Is this… truly what my doppelganger thinks of Orleans?” Jeanne breathed, her eyes wide. “This… twisted, frozen land? This is her image of Hell?”

“ Mon dieu , I do love winter wonderlands, but this is far too grotesque,” Marie sniffed. “Nothing about this place feels friendly or cheery, not even the ice has that purity it normally comes with. And this air feels… wrong. I don’t know how to put my finger on it, but even that seems repulsive as opposed to clean winter air.”

Joker turned around to look at the group. He quickly noted that only he and Morgana seemed to be the only ones feeling the temperature. Even the more lightly dressed Servants like Mash, Marie, and Siegfried, didn’t seem to be bothered whatsoever. “Right, this is a Palace, guys,” he explained, quickly grabbing everyone’s attention. “As we told you, this is a cognitive world formed when someone views a location with a twisted desire and distortion. Be careful of what you see here. None of it is actually real – it's all cognition. Put in another way, this is all in her mind. But if there’s shadows or enemies, they can still very much harm us.”

“Putting that aside, puppy, when did you get a wardrobe change like that?!” Elizabeth demanded. “And who’s your tailor?! I need them to make outfits for me, ASAP!”

Joker blinked and glanced down at his Phantom Thief uniform. He chuckled. Right, he had forgotten after seeing the Palace. “This is what I end up wearing whenever I enter a Palace,” he explained. “The clothes symbolize my ‘will of rebellion’ so no tailor, Elizabeth. Sorry.”

Elizabeth pouted. “Figures it wouldn’t be that easy,” she grumbled.

“I don’t see anyone around us at the moment,” Archer noted, checking the area. “I’ll head to the rooftop and check the area.” So saying, he vanished into spiritual form, leaving the group on the ground.

The leader of the Phantom Thieves looked over to Jeanne, who was still reeling from the sight. “Are you alright, Jeanne?” he called out concernedly.

Jeanne blinked, her expression a morass of emotions. “Yes – well, no,” she admitted (missing the very dangerous glare Kiyohime shot her). “This city is the heart of where I dedicated myself to my trials from the Lord. It symbolized to me what French freedom from the English should be. This…” She gestured to the city. “This looks like a scene from my greatest nightmares,” she whispered. “My beloved city, dead and frozen like… this. This truly is a scene from Hell.”

Joker glanced back at the city, nodding sympathetically. “Yeah, it doesn’t get much easier, seeing a familiar environment twisted like this,” he murmured.

The Saint looked back at Ren. “You’ve had experience with this, I take it?” she asked.

“Yep,” he confirmed. “First ever Palace I went to was my own high school. The target was my gym teacher who thought of the place as his own castle.” Joker’s hands tightened into fists as he remembered their target. “He was a creep who abused his own volleyball team and molested the girls. One of the girls tried to commit suicide because of it. Me and my friends took him down. Even after, I still occasionally saw the halls of that castle in the school.”

He blinked and realized that he had talked too much. He always felt far more comfortable talking about his adventures as a Phantom Thief while dressed as one – often because they were in a Palace when he brought any new members up to speed on what was going on. It must have been a subconscious reaction. Still, nothing he could do about it now. It wasn’t like he was pretending he didn’t have experience.

As he turned back to the group, he noticed that everyone besides Mona was staring at him with a mixture of aghast or awestruck expressions. “I… am truly horrified you had to go through such an experience,” Jeanne murmured. “I offer my sincerest condolences.”

“You speak no lies when you told us of your experience,” Kiyohime murmured, her gaze inscrutable. “I am beginning to see how you became the way you did: Out of necessity, not out of evil. Tread lightly, however. The path you walk is a thin one – one where you can easily be led astray.”

“Hey, a little more faith here, will you?” Mona snapped. “Joker here is one of the finest Phantom Thieves I’ve ever seen, and he came far with my tutelage! And remember, we’re the ones who are leading you into the Palace, so watch your step!”

“A… Thief?” Siegfried inquired, looking at the two Masters. “Your garb is a bit too garish for thievery. And why are you referred to as a jester of sorts?”

Joker blinked, then chuckled. “No, me and Morgana go by code names inside Palaces,” he explained. “We don’t know how saying our real names in a cognitive world might affect a person, so we try not to use them. I go by Joker. In playing cards, the Joker card is often the unpredictable one, with lots of roles it can play. Morgana here goes by Mona – for the Mona Lisa.”

“The most infamous painting of them all!” Mona proudly declared.

The Servants blinked at the explanation, looking between the two of them when Archer reappeared. “I see wyverns and some form of monsters about,” Archer said. “However, no sign of the doppelganger or any Servants so far. The city outline looks similar to the real world Orleans at the very least. So, Masters, this is your battleground. What’s our plan?”

Joker nodded. “Right, our objective in a Palace boils down to one thing: Stealing the Treasure,” he explained. “Our first course of action is to figure out a route to the Treasure. However, even if we do that, the Treasure will be intangible. To manifest it properly, we send a calling card, letting our target know that we’ll be taking it. After that, we get back in, make our way to the Treasure, and steal it.”

“A calling card, huh?” Elizabeth purred, a grin on her face. “You two certainly know how to do things with style!”

“Quite,” Mozart agreed. “This will be quite an exhilarating composition!”

The other Servants didn’t look as taken by the idea, however. “Forgive me, but what is the point of stealing riches within a cognitive world?” Georgios asked, frowning. “Many of us aren’t known to be thieves – in fact, no small number of us repudiate them – and we wonder how that will help us.”

“Also, warning an enemy that we are broaching their defenses?” Saber added. “I can see some strategical value in that. However, it is generally unwise for one to notify their opponent where and when they plan to strike.”

“Right, first things first,” Mona said. “The Treasures we steal aren’t ‘riches’ or things like that. It’s what caused the distortion in the target to begin with. For example, the Treasure of the gym teacher we told you guys about was his Olympic gold medal.” He nodded to Joker.

“That medal was the root of his distortion,” he continued. “Once it was removed, his Palace collapsed, and he had a change of heart. Unable to bear the weight of his sins, he confessed everything publicly. Not even the other adults supporting him could cover THAT up.” Mona smirked at the end of that explanation. The Servants’ eyes widened at that explanation, trying to comprehend it.

“As for the calling card, it’s the only way to manifest the Treasure properly,” Joker jumped in. “By making them aware that we’re coming for their heart or their Treasure, they will focus on that Treasure, manifesting it in the cognitive world. However, the impact of a calling card is short lived. It only lasts a day and sending another one after that will likely be dismissed by the target as an inconsequential threat. Once we’ve sent the card, we only have that one chance to seize the Treasure.”

Saber crossed her arms. “Using a diversion to manifest a Treasure to bring it out into the open,” she mused. “I can see how that would be valuable. I assume this is why we need a route to the Treasure planned beforehand; as soon as the target reads it, they will be on their guard?”

Mona grinned. “Right in one, Saber!” he replied. “The Palace will be on full alert once the target knows we’re coming for them, so having an infiltration and exfiltration out is essential!”

“W-wait,” Mash stammered out. “You said this is the doppelganger’s mind, right? Is there any chance we would encounter her here? Would she know of our presence?”

Joker frowned. This was where they were getting into dangerous territory. “The doppelganger won’t know we’re here, no matter what we do,” he reassured them. “As for whether we encounter her here or not… we might encounter her Shadow – her subconscious self. If the Shadow is killed, the person will also be killed as well. No one can survive without their subconscious, after all. It will induce a mental shutdown. Death often follows after that.”

Archer smirked. “Well, sounds perfect for us,” he replied. “It’s very rare we have conditions where we can pull off an assassination from an angle that no target could possibly expect. We’ll be able to take her out without anyone the wiser here. Clean and quick.” The other Servants nodded in approval.

“No.”

They all turned to Joker, who glared at everyone. “We are not killing her Shadow and that’s final,” he growled out.

Siegfried frowned. “I do not understand your hesitation,” he said. “If we are in battle, then we are to cut down our foes, are we not? How is this situation much different?”

“We’re Phantom Thieves,” Joker snapped back. “Phantom Thieves don’t kill people. We steal the Treasure and make them confess their crimes and sins. That’s it . Otherwise, we’re no better than our targets.”

“ Excusez-moi ,” Marie gently interjected. “But if that is the case… what ultimately is the difference then in killing a Servant here than killing them in the real world?”

They all turned to Joker, whose mouth opened, then closed as he blinked furiously. He tried to come up with an answer to refute them, but any words he could muster died in his throat. The realization of what was truly going on had crashed into his mind now, and it left him reeling.

He had been treating fighting Servants as the same as fighting humanoid shadows back in the Metaverse. They talked and acted, sure, but ultimately they were still just more ethereal beings than actual people. However, there was one key difference: Shadows didn’t have Palaces of their own. People were the ones who had them. And the fact that Servants had Palaces meant only one conclusion: Servants were people.

Neither he nor Morgana could say anything. They had already killed. Sure, they never landed the killing blow, but that hardly mattered. They were still responsible for the death of various Servants regardless. And that very thought dried his mouth and left him unable to respond.

“You have never killed before, have you, Master?” Saber asked softly, very quickly coming to the realization. “Whatever battles you had, you either were able to defeat beings whose deaths didn’t matter or resolved the situation without killing. You are experienced to your own methods, not the viciousness of a battlefield.”

Joker gulped and turned away. He couldn’t answer, but that was as good as confirmation to the others. The paradox in their Master was clear: He was skilled and experienced, a capable tactician and diplomat, as well as a brave and cunning fighter. Yet up until he had reached Chaldea, there had never been a reason to take a life.

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Jeanne stepped forward. “Still, for now, I agree with you, Ren Amamiya,” she said. Everyone looked at her in surprise. “If there is a method to get my doppelganger to repent without her being killed, then it is worth trying.”

“It will be much harder to go through with that method than simply killing her outright,” Archer pointed out with a frown.

Jeanne smiled. “The Lord bestows many trials upon us,” Jeanne answered simply. “And His way is not always the simplest one. I refuse to believe that a doppelganger of mine is irredeemable and wish to at least try by removing the core of her sins.”

Marie clapped her hands together. “ Tres bien ! Spoken like a true saint!” she chirped. “After all, what was that old saying? ‘To err is to be human, to forgive, divine’? If we can lead a doppelganger back to the path of righteousness, then all the better, non ?”

Saber looked between the two Frenchwomen, then sighed. “Very well, we shall attempt Joker’s method,” she stated, resigned. “However, if that method becomes untenable, then we shall not hesitate. Are we agreed on this front?”

The Servants all nodded while Joker and Mona stood there silent. There was nothing they could say here. They long knew the Metaverse could be used to kill – after all, that was how Akechi facilitated many of his assassinations and killings – but they had vowed they would never take a life as a distinction from their targets. Shido in particular had used the Metaverse to further his own agenda by killing off people or driving them psychotic.

Georgios turned towards the Masters. “Amamiya, Morgana, I recognize you two are not comfortable with this,” he began. “However, when in a war, there is little option but to use every option we can get, even if it’s unpalatable. A battlefield may be cruel and unforgiving, but sometimes it is the lesser evil compared to what would happen if the opposition gains victory.” He stepped forward and placed a gauntleted hand on Joker’s shoulder. “I ask you, Amamiya – no, Joker – to see us through. We will fight by your side and help restore humanity, however we can.”

Joker looked up at the dragonslaying saint’s eyes then turned to the others. Though they were all sympathetic, they weren’t going to yield. At the very least, they were willing to go with their regular methods thanks to Jeanne, but the fact that both he and Mona killed people formed a hard pit in his stomach. Despite Georgios’s reassurances, he didn’t feel much better about the whole situation, but he was right about one thing: One way or another, they needed to get moving, or humanity would be lost.

He shoved aside his discomfort for now, allowing his metaphorical mask to slide back on. “Right, first we need the lay of the land,” he explained to the others. “Usually, Palaces have some sort of map that we can utilize. Schematics, pamphlets, things of that ilk. They’re usually in security stations or more protected areas overall if they’re not nearby. Once we have that, we can scout out a route to the Treasure and confirm it.”

Archer nodded. “I saw a guard outpost a few miles to the north of us,” he provided. “It’s possible there will be a map there. We’ll make our way through the streets. Moving by rooftops will give us away far too quickly.”

“That’s probably the best chance we’re going to get,” Mona replied, his expression determined though uneasy. “Everyone, move out. And watch out for your movements – stealth is paramount, unless we wanna get dogpiled by everything and everyone.”

With that, they began quickly and carefully traversing the frozen streets. Joker and Mona having their Phantom Thief regalia and abilities allowed them to move much faster, keeping pace with the other Servants, to the surprise of everyone who hadn’t entered Archer’s reality marble. However, any questions were forestalled by being in the open with their mission in mind. They had a long way to go, after all.

As they passed the streets, Jeanne stopped at one of the crosses lining the streets – and gasped. Hearing this, everyone else stopped as well. “Something the matter… Jeanne…” Joker asked, trailing off as he followed her gaze up the cross.

On it was a man crucified, his expressions twisted in agony, his blank eyes staring out into nothing. Ice and snow had fallen around them, making the corpse look even more wizened and gaunt. Frozen blood lined the wounds where his limbs had been nailed to the cross. Joker took a step back in horror, then looked about. There were plenty more crosses lining the streets – and all of them had people crucified on them.

“What a ghastly sight,” Mozart muttered. Marie’s normally cheerful features were pale and blank, with Elizabeth and Kiyohime looking aghast as well. Jeanne and Georgios clasped their hands together in a quiet prayer for the victims as Saber, Archer, and Siegfried looked on grimly.

“We must press forward,” Saber urged, wrenching her eyes away from the sight. “Joker, come. There’s nothing we can do for these people now.”

Joker mutely shook his head. “They’re… they’re not people,” he responded. His voice was hollow, sounding like he was reciting something more than simply talking. “These are just cognitions. They’re just facsimiles. But the fact they’re in the cognition here means that the doppelganger has seen these people and…”

“Likely killed them too,” Mona stated, his tone also hollow. “Her distortion is Hell, after all. She had no doubt they would come here.”

Saber glanced up at the cognitive victims. “Nevertheless, we cannot tarry here,” she replied. Though her words were stern, they carried a tone of softness with them. “Please, Masters. We must continue our mission, if only so her victims have some measure of peace in the end.”

Joker blinked, then nodded absentmindedly. “Right, right,” he murmured. He wrenched his eyes away from the sight as he walked forward again. The sight of the victim was burnt into his mind, however. He wasn’t about to forget that anytime soon. Mona followed close behind, shivering, though this time not from cold. They needed to continue onward.

“SOMEBODY HELP! LORD, PLEASE HAVE MERCY!”

A woman’s screech pierced the air. Archer rounded on Joker and Mona. “Could someone else have gotten in?” he asked hurriedly.

Mona shook his head. “That’s impossible!” Mona quickly replied. “No one can access the Metaverse without the app or special abilities – Joker?!”

Before anyone could say anything, Joker had already taken off down the streets toward the source of the sound. He knew it was probably just a cognition and it was probably better that they ignored it and continued on their way, but with everything that was going on, he needed to know he could save someone – anyone . Something to justify the fact that he had killed! Rounding a corner, he turned - and froze, eyes widening with horror as a splatter of blood landed on his boot.

The woman’s screams had long since gone silent, her eyes blank and unseeing, remnants of tears and recently shed blood stained her face. Three grotesque creatures feasting on the mangled remnants of her corpse, tearing into her warm almost steaming flesh, claws dripping with carnage, jaws smeared with oozing red blood and chunks of glistening yellow fat.

Joker could only back away as one tore her left arm from her torso with a fleshy snap, gnawing on it like one would a leg of chicken, audible crackling permeated the air as its maw crushed bone. Another tore open her abdomen with a sickening squelch, savoring the glistening viscera beneath. The creatures were gaunt and long, slightly larger than a person, with coal black skin mottled with red. They had sharp horns and as they feasted, their spade-like tails lashed about. Whatever they were, they didn’t resemble humans in the slightest.

As he backed away, he trod on a loose piece of ice which crunched underneath his boots. The creatures started at the noise, rapidly turning their heads toward Joker. Their yellow eyes gleamed with sadistic bloodlust as they moved toward him in anticipation of a fresher meal. Their fangs gleamed in the unnatural illumination, dripping with blood, as their claws left dark red trails on the ice underneath. Slowly, the group broke off, one in front of Joker as the other two circled to his flanks to surround him.

Gritting his teeth, he drew out his knife. His grip was tight and his limbs were shaky. Though he tore his gaze from the corpse, his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn towards the carnage in front of him. Even so, he had to focus. If he wasn’t careful here, these creatures could easily murder him. The creature on his left darted forward, much faster than he expected. He nimbly dodged to the side, the creature’s claw barely missing carving a slash on his stomach. Backflipping away, his hand moved to his mask, which burned away.

“Metatron!”

The great metal angel appeared right behind him, its holy presence immediately getting the creatures to back away. Raising its hands, beams of light shone down from above the creatures, causing them to shriek in pain and terror. Encouraged, Joker switched his knife into its gun form and took aim. With a burst of shots, the bullets found their marks in their heads and limbs, hurting and crippling them. One of them hissed in rage and charged anyway, leaping at Joker. Joker’s eyes widened. He wouldn’t have time to raise his gun –

A round of pellets struck hard at the creature’s skull, sending it flying back. Mona raced up beside Joker, his slingshot in hand. “Diego!” he cried. The blue musketeer sprang up and, tracing a pattern with his rapier, a windstorm blew up, cutting up the creatures. They turned to flee before a hailstorm of arrows thudded down, turning them into pincushions. With a gurgle, they fell still and vanished into black dust.

Mona rounded on Joker. “Joker, you should know more than any of us not to run off like that!” he yelled. “That could’ve been a dangerous situation! Just what… were you…” His eyes moved past Joker to the maimed corpse of the woman and fell silent in horror. The rest of the Servants had arrived just as the corpse also disappeared into black dust as well. “What… were they doing to her?” Mona whispered.

“They were eating her,” Joker growled, putting the gun away. “I was too late. Those creatures got to her before I did. Just what creatures were those anyway?”

“Most likely demons,” Jeanne answered, staring at the spot where the woman’s corpse was. Despite the disappearance of her body, blood still stained the ice where it had laid. “If this is Hell like my doppelganger – like I – envisioned it, then there would undoubtedly be demons here tormenting the wicked and the sinners that were cast down here.” She quietly clasped her hands and murmured a prayer for the fallen woman.

Mona looked at Joker. “Those weren’t shadows, were they?” he asked.

Joker nodded in confirmation. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Those were cognitions. No masks or anything.” He turned to Archer. “Did you see any masks on those wyverns you saw earlier?” he asked.

Archer blinked in surprise, then shook his head. “No masks,” he replied. “They were more or less like the wyverns we’ve been seeing all throughout France. Is something the matter?”

The leader of the Phantom Thieves ran a hand through his hair. “Normally, shadows manifest in Palaces,” he explained. “They take whatever form is fitting for the Palace, like those demons for example. They all usually wear some sort of mask. If you can tear off their masks, you can catch them by surprise when they take their true shape: Jack-o-lanterns, pixies, even angels or knights or other beings, depending.”

Kiyohime frowned. “Then these aren’t the same enemies you have faced before?” she asked. “What does that mean for us, then? Is it pertinent to our situation?”

Mona shook his head. “Honestly, we don’t know,” he replied worriedly. “This is the first time we’ve infiltrated a Servant’s Palace, and the outside world is way different than what we’re used to. There’s a lot of factors and considerations that honestly, neither of us have dealt with. Frankly, this Palace is almost as unfamiliar to us as it is to you guys.”

Saber frowned. “Then for the moment, our plans have not changed,” she stated. “We’ll make our way to the guard outpost and see if there’s a map we can utilize. From there, we will be able to plan our next step.” Everyone nodded. With that, they began moving again. Occasionally they came across demons, but most of them either ran or were quickly felled by the Servants as they moved.

Joker and Mona were once more reminded that Servants were just on another degree entirely. Even Mash, who was the closest to them in terms of ability, was able to maneuver and dispatch the demons with relative ease in comparison. The former had to wonder – what would this Palace be like if the other Phantom Thieves were here?

Then he thought back to the demons devouring that woman and shook the idea out of his head. He wasn’t about to subject his friends to that kind of fate, no matter what. He wouldn’t take that chance.

The guard outpost was a single, solitary tower sitting among the wooden houses. It was completely iced over, save for a single door that led inside, with a clockwise winding staircase all the way to the top. Siegfried and Georgios stood guard outside as Joker, Mona, and the rest of the Servants traversed up. The top of the tower was relatively bare. It was dimly illuminated by the outside, with frozen racks of weapons lining the walls. In the middle was a simple wooden table with a map spread out.

“Ugh, wish there was some better lighting,” Mona complained as he hopped on the table to look at the map. “Looks like this map is just for part of the city,” he stated. “It also covers part of the castle here, but not enough for us to get a clear view of where to go.” He pointed out to the corner of the map, where the outline of the walls and keep were. “From the looks of it, there’s two more guard outposts, one a couple miles to the east of us and the other to the northeast. If we get them both, we should have enough of a map to work with.”

Nodding, Joker took the map, rolling it up and tucking it into his coat pocket. There were certain items from Palaces that seemed to maintain themselves back in reality. A good portion of them was junk that he would sell to Iwai. He had no doubt the man undercut him considerably, but he also never asked questions and was the only one who would buy the items. Plus, the prices he bought the items for never varied nor did he ever demand more. And besides, the model gun seller more than paid dividends with his customization skills and his stock of weapons, which proved more than useful as equipment for Palace infiltrations.

Joker’s mind wandered for a bit. He wondered how he and Kaoru were doing. They definitely seemed a lot closer than before. The gecko pin he had given to Joker was back home in the closet – a proof that they were essentially family in all but blood. Yet another thing he wished he brought with him.

“Master, we should get moving,” Archer pointed out. Joker blinked before nodding. Right. They still had a mission to accomplish. Descending the stairs with everyone else, they stepped out back onto the streets – when a loud roar echoed throughout the city. Everyone stopped, summoning their respective weapons.

Further down the street, several demons and wyverns scampered around a corner, obviously terrified. Something massive crashed through the buildings instead. Through the cloud of ice, snow, and debris, claws shot out and snatched them. The creatures could only yelp and shriek helplessly as they were dragged in, where sounds of flesh ripping and bones breaking echoed throughout the streets.

As the cloud settled, the group could more clearly see the monstrosity. It bit into a demon, tearing it in half and devouring it in a single gulp before shoving the rest into its mouth. Fresh blood dripped from its fangs and maw as it ate, its claws bloody as well. However, as horrifying as it was, that wasn’t what got their attention. It was the creature’s appearance.

It looked exactly like Joker’s Satan persona.

The cognitive Satan looked up after finishing its meal and laid its eyes on the group. Its baleful gaze bore down on them, sending chills up Joker and Morgana’s spine. Then it roared and began slithering towards them on its serpentine body, clawing at the streets to gain more speed and ground. Archer loosed an explosive arrow. The explosion sent a shockwave through the air as it collided with the monstrosity… and didn’t slow it down even an inch.

Joker paled. They were in no way, shape, or form to fight a cognitive creature like THAT right now! Their formation and battleground were all wrong. There was only one option.

“Everyone, RUN!”