"It's been refined into something more than mere hurt, now. It's made of your strength, too, and the way you've grown beyond the pain. I wonder what's inside?"

"Only one way to find out." 

Akira raps the geode once on the edge of the pool, like she's cracking an egg into a saucepan. It fissures in her hand, and she lets the halves separate.

Inside, the walls of the geode are covered in jagged spikes of glittering black crystals, thrumming with hints of hidden power and glowing internally with red light. In the center of one side, there's a bit of a divot in the crystals, dipping down into an odd hole, and a strip of leather poking out.

Something about the leather feels like care, like fondness, like protective affection... And it feels an awful lot like Ann, Ryuji, and Shiho.

"Ooh. Trés belle, moitié. The crystals look as though they're made of your growing strength of heart. I suspect they can be used to improve various things, like perhaps your dagger. More uses will need some investigation, however. The leather strip looks fascinating."

"Useful crystals are nice. But I'm more interested in whatever this thing is..."

Akira carefully fishes out the strip of leather.

As she pulls it out, it turns out to be longer, and longer, and longer than she expects. Eventually, after more than two feet of leather have pulled free, she finds the other end. It's smooth, soft, and a deep, orchid tone of violet.

"What do you make of this?" Akira passes it over to Joker.

Joker feels it in her hands, the sense of warmth that radiates from it, the comfort of it...

"I think it's a wrap for the hilt of my dagger," she says. "To make it easier to wield."

Akira smiles. "Awwwwww... That's kind of adorable." 

She takes the leather again and holds it just to feel the comfort that radiates from it. 

"... Yeah, I think you're right. It's made from... being accepted. That feeling we get from the Phantom Thieves."

Joker smiles and claps her hand on Akira's shoulder. "Good job."

"... Thanks." Akira passes the wrap back to Joker. "Here, you can keep this for now." 

She picks up the tongs again, and fishes out the second small geode. It cracks satisfyingly on the edge of the pool, but inside are only the same rows of glittering crystals as the first. 

Akira looks at the big, melon-sized geode. 

"I'm going to try for the big one, now. I don't think I'll be able to get it with the tongs. I'll need both hands. Again, be ready to grab me." 

She reaches in to lay her hands firmly on either end of the larger geode, and pulls.

The sludge flows a bit quicker, this time, managing to stretch just barely far enough to brush against one of Akira's knuckles as she grabs the big geode.

A shock of visceral terror flashes through her like a lightning strike, briefly filling her entire focus with crushing misery and the need to escape. Her heart pounds, her breath quickens, her skin turns clammy, her palms sweat.

She jerks away on instinct, and the geode flies from her hands to shatter on the basement floor. 

Her breath rushes and her heart thuds. She feels like she's dying. She's going to die she's going to die —

Joker grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her away. With her gloved hand she brushes the small amount of oil on Akira's hand off her skin, then extends her tainted glove towards Julie for her to burn away with cursefire.

The unnatural panic subsides as quickly as it came. Akira feels like she just ran a marathon, but she's okay. She's intact. She's alive.

"Fuck," she swears.

Julie glares at the goop and snaps her fingers. Cursefire quickly consumes it in a blue-black burst, leaving nothing behind.

Then she wraps her arms tightly around Akira and Joker, crushing them both to her chest, with Akira in the middle. 

"Oh mon cœur. I'm here. Désolée, ma chérie. pauvre chérie, that looked like it felt awful."

Akira breathes slowly, taking a moment to process. 

"That... we just got very lucky. If such a small amount did that..." 

She hugs Joker and Julie as close as she can.

"Next time, let the girl with gloves do that. Or at least wear some yourself." 

Joker hugs Akira close. "I was really worried for a moment."

Julie is in no hurry to separate after that. She holds her moitiés close and strokes Akira's hair and whispers soft reassurances.

"Joker is correct. We will have to do better, next time."

Akira exhales. "Yeah. We can consider that a lesson learned, I guess." 

She lays her head against Julie's shoulder and breathes. 

After a few moments her gaze goes to the shattered geode on the floor. 

"... Let's clean up that mess," she says after a moment. "It'll help me focus."

Joker rolls her eyes. "You stay and hug Julie, I'll sort through the mess." 

She goes and crouches by the shattered stone and starts gathering up the shards. 

There are quite a lot of loose crystals revealed, and two big chunks of geode, each with a similar distorted hole to what the leather strip came from. One seems to have a piece of tech, maybe about the size of a large smartphone, just barely poking out. The other has a slim wooden box.