The next day, real world, Raiden residence.
"Ren, are you alright? You look like you didn't sleep well..." Raiden Mei placed the steaming, fragrant breakfast dishes onto the table one by one. Seeing Ren sitting absently at the table, his eyes bloodshot, a worried expression clouded her delicate face.
"Did you have nightmares and couldn't sleep?" Bronya tilted her head slightly, spreading strawberry jam onto a slice of bread. "Bronya can teach you methods to fall asleep quickly, and ways to make your sleep more efficient. Just an hour or so of catch-up sleep is enough to provide energy for the entire day," she suggested proactively in her usual cool tone.
"I'm fine, just didn't sleep well last night," Ren waved distractedly at Mei and Bronya, mechanically eating the breakfast Mei had carefully prepared. The dishes, usually perfectly suited to his taste, seemed bland now due to his extremely complicated mood.
The information obtained in Mementos the previous night had kept Ren tossing and turning all night long. He even had nightmares, dreaming that Yaldabaoth, Demiurge, Takuto Maruki, and the unnamed evil god from P5T teamed up, ganged up on him, disregarding all rules of engagement.
It all started because of that...
"Bronya, have you ever heard of a religion called Christianity?" Ren drained the coffee milk Mei had thoughtfully prepared and placed beside him, but his thoughts remained chaotic. He put the empty cup back on the table. Though he already knew the answer, he couldn't help but ask the silver-grey haired twin-tailed girl across the table.
"Christianity? Do you mean Jesus Christ?" Bronya's flawless face showed no ripple of emotion. She extended her small pink tongue, licking the residual strawberry jam from her fingertip like a kitten.
"Search complete..." she replied calmly after a moment. "Bronya has never heard of Christianity. Project Bunny hasn't found any special religion named Christianity either. If the Christ you refer to is Jesus Christ, then the religion you might be searching for is Schicksal."
Before Ren could even grasp a sliver of hope, Bronya summoned Project Bunny 19C from its quantum state, used its quantum computer to perform an instant search, and delivered the negative confirmation.
"I see. You don't know either, Bronya." Ren sighed softly, rubbing his temples. Faced with the expected answer, he could only accept it.
After returning from Mementos the previous night, Ren had searched online for information about Schicksal and Christianity. Comparing the Schicksal data gathered online with his own memories of Christianity, Ren discovered that the so-called Schicksal organization was essentially Christianity itself.
Their religious stories were almost identical; mythical figures like the Messiah and Lucifer still existed, just recontextualized within Schicksal's cultural narrative. Schicksal's historical development also mirrored Christianity's... until five hundred years ago.
Five hundred years ago, an ancient figure named Otto Apocalypse ascended to the rank of Schicksal Overseer and drastically reformed the organization.
Today, Schicksal had transformed from a purely religious power into a semi-religious, semi-corporate entity with significant global influence. As Schicksal's supreme authority, the Overseer wielded immense power, capable of easily influencing global affairs if he wished.
And for the past five hundred years, the Overseer of Schicksal had always borne the same name—Otto Apocalypse. While it was common for Westerners to inherit names from deceased elders, Ren would bet his life the title wasn't passed down through generations of Otto I, Otto II, etc.
Drawing parallels from a certain magus family's history in another universe, Ren concluded that the Otto Apocalypse of the past five hundred years was the same, original individual.
He rewrote the history of Christianity, renaming it Schicksal, and built it into a behemoth capable of shaking the world. This Overseer Otto Apocalypse was undoubtedly a powerful entity, at least pseudo-god level!! He even possessed the power to rewrite the world!!
Ren knew this world incorporated the worldview of Devil Survivor, having undergone cycles and resets. But Devil Survivor's resets were based on backups; the world shouldn't diverge drastically from previous iterations. This meant another powerful force had rewritten this world.
Just like Yaldabaoth erasing the Phantom Thieves from the world, or Maruki reviving the dead and creating a world fulfilling everyone's wishes, Christianity had been erased by Otto Apocalypse and replaced by Schicksal.
Ren wondered which god from which pantheon Otto Apocalypse truly was. But regardless of his identity, Overseer Otto was not an opponent Ren could defeat currently.
Level up... I really need to grind hard!!
Ren had hoped Bronya, being different from ordinary humans due to experiments and modifications, might retain some fragmented information from before the world rewrite. But it seemed her memories had been completely altered too. Only Ren, the true Trickster, retained memories of the old world.
...No, considering Lavenza also retained her memories, perhaps Seele might remember Christianity's existence too. Kaslana, as a resident of Mementos and a collective consciousness, should also possess complete memories of the past.
Yesterday, burdened by heavy thoughts, Ren hadn't visited Kaslana, instead returning directly to the real world with Mei. Today, when entering the Kaslana Palace, Ren resolved to have a proper talk with Kaslana.
Seele's unique life form resulted from human modification; the probability of her remembering the pre-rewrite world was low.
Currently, the only entity Ren could access who definitely retained memories of the original world was Yaldabaoth himself. But Yaldabaoth hadn't pulled Ren from his dreams into the Velvet Room since their last encounter. Seeking confirmation from the false god was risky. Kaslana seemed the most friendly option.
"Ren, I made plans to go shopping with Kiana this morning," Mei said after finishing her breakfast, elegantly dabbing her lips with a napkin. An apologetic look crossed her face. "I'll try to find out the details about her dream from her. So, I won't be able to dive into Mementos with you this morning." She formally requested leave from Ren, the Phantom Thieves' leader.
"It's fine. I have some things I want to do today too," Ren replied, his mind clearing slightly, perhaps due to the coffee kicking in. His spirits gradually lifted. "I'll let Seele and Hare know. Mei, you focus on figuring things out with Kiana. If the morning isn't enough, take the afternoon too, no problem."
He nodded, readily approving Mei's leave request, even considerately adding extra time.
The Phantom Thieves had no urgent goals requiring immediate completion. While the Herrscher of the Void's Palace wasn't fully conquered, the Shadow herself was already wavering. Giving her more time to think and decide was beneficial.
Although Hare and Seele were in the Kaslana Palace in another world, unreachable by normal communication, Ren held both Kallen Kaslana and Dark Seele's Personas. By asking his Personas to relay messages, contacting Seele and Hare was far more convenient than using any communication device.
After requesting Dark Seele's help, she complained impatiently but still dutifully relayed the message to Seele, informing them the Phantom Thieves were taking a day off.
"...What are you planning to do, Ren? Do you need my help?" Hearing Ren wasn't planning to dive into Mementos either but had something to do in the real world, Mei hesitated, then asked. Since returning from Mementos last night, Ren had clearly been troubled, his mental state slightly off.
While Mei cared about Kiana, she was currently more worried about Ren. Kiana always seemed energetic, like a husky full of beans, while Ren was only just starting to perk up.
"Mei, you just focus on Kiana's situation," Ren shook his head, declining Mei's offer to accompany him. "I just want to go verify a few things. There won't be any fighting. I'll be fine on my own."
"Mei-neechan is going to meet that Kiana woman and can't go with Ren..." Bronya's gaze flickered between Ren and Mei before settling firmly on Ren. "Does Ren need Bronya to accompany him?" she asked naturally, seamlessly joining the conversation.
"You want to come with me, Bronya?" Ren was surprised by her proactive offer. After a brief pause, he nodded slowly, accepting her request. "Okay. It's too harsh keeping you cooped up at home maintaining the website all the time. Let's go out together today, clear our heads, have a change of scenery."
"Bronya has finished eating. Ready to leave anytime..." Bronya hopped lightly off her chair. She stopped Mei, who was about to clear the dishes. "Mei-neechan is meeting that Kiana woman, right? Don't worry about the dishes today. Leave them for Mama Cocolia. Can't let her keep eating for free without doing anything."
Bronya then gently nudged Mei towards the door.
After successfully delegating the dishwashing duty to the self-isolating Cocolia in her room, Mei bid farewell to Ren and Bronya at the entrance. The three then headed off in different directions.
"Ren, where are we going next?" Bronya asked, keeping pace beside Ren.
A taxi approached slowly from down the road. Though more expensive than the subway, Ren wasn't short on cash. He simply raised his hand, hailing the passing cab.
"Sir, Cafe Leblanc in Yongen-Jaya, please." Ren opened the taxi door, let Bronya get in first, then gave the destination to the driver in the front seat, simultaneously answering Bronya's earlier question.
"Cafe Leblanc, I know it," the driver, clearly experienced and familiar with Tokyo's layout, chuckled. "But you got the place name wrong, kiddo. It's not Yongen-Jaya, it's Sangen-Jaya." He knew exactly where Ren wanted to go just by hearing the cafe's name and cheerfully corrected him.
"Yongen-Jaya... Sangen-Jaya?" Ren frowned slightly. He clearly remembered the name Cafe Leblanc, but whether it was in Yongen or Sangen-Jaya, he wasn't sure. He hadn't deliberately memorized that part; recalling the "-gen-Jaya" part was already pretty good. "Anyway, please take us there, sir. Faster if possible."
The taxi drove off with Ren and Bronya inside. As time passed and the taxi entered the Sangen-Jaya area of Setagaya Ward, the scenery outside the window began to look increasingly familiar to Ren.
"Sir, stop here, please. We'll get out here."