Sumire's Phantom Sweets

(Girls to chocolate eggs TF)

(Persona 5 Royal)


Finally, it was easter!

While the holiday wasn’t nearly as big or important in Japan as in Europe or America, the now-disbanded Phantom Thieves decided to celebrate it this year per Ann’s request (something about trying to reconnect with her American roots). It all seemed good, however… they soon realized that barely any shops in Tokyo sold any sort of easter merchandise, and the few that did, did so for a rather steep price, especially for a bunch of high-schoolers…

Coloring eggs was easy enough, they didn’t really need anything special for that, but all the chocolate eggs and bunnies? Well, they couldn’t exactly make those themselves, so the girls were more than happy to see that Futaba found some rather cheaply priced chocolate goods online, with very quick delivery time as well, apparently!

Well… it was all a teeny tiny bit sketchy if one were to look at the site more closely, true, but it was far from the hacker’s first time doing shady business online, and as such, she paid it no mind as she added a whole bag of them into the virtual shopping cart.

“I got some! It says it’ll be delivered in less than an hour!” Futaba shouted from her laptop as Makoto, Haru and Ann were busy painting real eggs on the couch.

“Less than an hour? That’s… surprisingly short? Well, you’re the computer wiz here, so I’ll trust you it’s not a scam…” Makoto sighed as she cleaned her hands with a wet tissue.

“Oh, Sumire sent a message in the group chat! Uh… apparently her ballet lessons ended later and that’s why she’s late, but she sent me a pic of the Shibuya station, so she should be here in a few mins!” Ann cheered before texting Sumire back and putting her phone to the side to aid Haru’s… less than stellar painting job.

“Aaand, bought–?!” Futaba clicked enter to complete the purchase, but midway through said click, a wave of dizziness hit her along with the other ex-Phantom Thieves but before they could react (or do anything at all), the quartet lost their consciousness all at once…

*

U-Um, is everyone okay, what happened…? The hacker extraordinaire awoke in a daze, feeling off, to say the least… D-Did she download some sort of virus that made her screen flash or something…?

Futaba?!

F-Futaba…?

…Futaba?

Three voices all at once rung in the computer wiz’s ears, and for them to all be her own name…? And it also was in her…?

Are we… talking with headsets or something…? That was the only explanation thinkable for Futaba, yet it felt even closer, like they were in her ears, not pushed up next to it…

N-No, I think it’s… It’s some sort of ’telepathy’, if I had to guess… Ann, Haru, can you hear me as well? Makoto could barely believe what was going on either, but she had recalled the manner of communication once before, when she first heard her Persona’s voice, it felt this exact same way. But they weren’t in the Metaverse, so how could this be possible?

Y-Yeah, I hear you, Makoto… But it's so dark, I can't see anything, it’s all black… A nervously panicky Haru chimed out and soon after was followed by…

Same here, just what is happening…? Ann’s voice, in more of a depressed yet serious-sounding tone, still baffled by what was going on… Though little did she know, her question was about to be answered by…

’Cognitive Distortion Detected’ The message called out, though it made no sense, weren’t they in the normal world? Not to mention, didn't the metaverse stop existing months ago…?

"Ann? Futaba? Haru? Makoto?! Where are you all…?" Though slightly muffled, a new voice called out, one that didn’t seem to use this whole telepathy schtick… Wait, was Sumire finally here?! She could help them!

"Huh, nobody's here… did they already leave?" The redhead mused as she reached the cafeteria's attic. "But there's some paints and unfinished eggs, they probably left to get some supplies… It's a bit risky to leave the building open though, considering Sojiro isn't here… Guess I'll just wait then?"

E-empty?' The blindfolded girls screeched in unison at the revelation. What did she mean it was empty, they were right there!

"Oh, they bought some sweets though! A whole bag of chocolate eggs… Huh? There are a few outside… Well, they're not gonna be mad if I try one, yeah?”

Eggs? But they haven't been delivered yet, so what are you– agh! Ann's question stopped midway through as she felt herself being grabbed and… lifted up?! She still couldn’t see, but the feeling of the ground beneath her disappearing was undeniable!

Panther?! What's happening?! Makoto cried out, using Ann's codename by accident, despite their days as Phantom Thieves being over.

I'm not sure! I think… w-wait, some light's coming in! I can see!

See what? Futaba inaudibly gulped.

H-huh?! It's Sumire, and she's giant! Her face is so big! The blonde replied, changing her focus from the trio to the new arrival. Sumire? Please, you have to help! Something happened and… and… h-hey, why are you licking your lips?! Can you hear me?!

Unfortunately, she got no response, instead, the kouhai's face got closer to Ann's seemingly minuscule form… No, that wasn’t quite right… It was Ann who was getting closer to Sumire's now terrifyingly open jaw and…

*plop!*

Ann was effortlessly thrown inside said jaw.

What the… N-no! You can't do this, you… I don't wanna end like this, please, spit me out, please, please, please!!

Ann?! What do you mean?!

G-guys…? I think we've become…

*chomp!*

Ann didn’t finish the sentence, nor did any of the girls hear a single word from her past that point.

Ann?! They cried in unison but the only response they got was not from Ann herself, but from Sumire.

"Hmm… Cherry flavor, that's a good one…" The girl swallowed something. "It’s so good… They definitely won't mind one more, right…?" Even Sumire herself felt it was wrong to eat these without permission, but they were so sweet and tasty, not to mention the others still had the whole bag to eat later!

With barely any hesitation, she set her sight on a different treat, this one with a blue wrapper all around, and the cycle repeated itself.

O-oh no! Now I'm being picked up! Makoto shouted at Haru and Futaba. She wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but if it was anything like Ann's situation, she definitely wasn’t looking forward to it.

The other two girls waited in silence, too scared to utter even a single scream or something to calm Makoto but… they couldn’t. With what happened to their blonde friend, things were looking grimmer than ever.

I can see again, just like… like… Oh no… Queen started out somewhat hopeful but soon went back down to being depressed the second the girl noticed it.

Besides the giant Sumire, there was an empty, discarded, red wrapper - one very similar to the ones used to cover chocolate eggs.

Suddenly, everything clicked. Yet instead of it feeling like a eureka moment, Makoto realized the true despair of their situation…

F-Futaba…? H-Haru…? What Ann was trying to say… I think… we all turned into chocolate eggs…

*chomp!*

And just as Ann fell silent, so did Makoto. Yet this time, there was no confusion, just a cold understanding of what just occurred.

Their friend has been eaten, and so was Panther a moment prior.

Both Haru and Futaba wanted to rebel, to do anything, but as literal chocolate sweets, they were completely inanimate, completely unable to do anything against this cruel fate! If only… if only Futaba hadn't clicked on that stupid site! It was all her fault!

Haru felt quite guilty too. Considering her late father's riches, she could've just bought those eggs at a higher price, then nothing would've happened! Hell, she did want to do it, but was quickly shot down. If only she was a bit more assertive!

"Hmmm… this one's blueberry I think…? Very good as well… agh, I just can't stop myself! They're too good! B-but I need to show restraint, or else my figure will… O-okay, those two are seriously the last!"

Sumire quickly got to unwrapping the last two eggs left outside the bag. If she were to guess by their color… maybe mint and strawberry-flavored..?

Haru and Futaba just watched, no sounds of rebelling being heard inside of their weird telepathic link… Even if they did survive, Ann and Makoto were already gone, so what was the point…? Plus, it didn’t seem likely that they'd be turned back anytime soon.

When they got uncomfortably close to the still-human girl's mouth, all they could mutter was a weak chain of 'please, no's but as with every attempt to communicate before, they were completely ignored, and soon, they found themselves inside the mouth of the giant, Sumire's teeth grinding them to a pulp before swallowing.

"Ah, guessed the flavors correctly~"

~

Co-written by Hannah!

(Writing burnout's mean, so drew a pic to go along with the story, hopefully you all enjoy~!)