Sooo... I guess my AU is getting more fleshed out than I expected b/c now I'm gonna consider incorporating P3/P4 Arena/Ultimax elements into it! Namely the Shadow Ops and some of the lore. Buckle up guys! Also I can't thank @dancingpurge enough for giving me insights whenever I have questions since my knowledge on P3 is slim and very rusty admittedly!
So... Here's what I was thinking:
Jayce starts to grow worried when he notices that Viktor's health gets bad when he uses his Arcane abilities too much. Especially when he slowly stops resting in-between.
Part of the reason for lack of rest is primarily being him secretly exploring Maruki's Palace after first encountering it and his powers were his best form of defense. Even before that though, he has slowly started getting excessive with it (especially upon discovering that he CAN use it in the real world and not just limited to the Metaverse like they initially thought).
While Viktor gets more invested in Cognitive Psience (especially after he starts regularly meeting Maruki), Jayce starts to dive into more about the Metaverse and any other forms of research involving it in a bid to find a way to help him.
This rabbit hole leads to him discovering info about the Kirijo Group and rumors about human experimentation along with the Dark Hour. As horrified as he feels about that, he thinks the current head (Mitsuru) is his best lead to maybe helping Viktor.
He was able to arrange a meeting after some hurdles (basically proving that he's trustworthy enough). He explains his situation, already prepared to be called crazy but she was thankfully able to somewhat understand. She also does confirm the rumors after a couple more meetings with bit of hesitation and making it clear that it's the greatest shame within her family name. But she's slowly taking things in a better direction and even acts as a leader of the Shadow Ops.
They then make an exchange: Jayce gives her the notes he secretly took regarding Viktor's powers so that she can commission a dampener to be made so that Vik can better control his abilities without the risk of death while she hands him some of the research she was able to find so that he can better understand things a bit even though the setting of P3 is much different from P5.
She does warn him about one thing: With what he has told her, there's a possibility that if further used too much then Vik's powers could actually make his own Persona go berserk and out of control. While it won't kill him, it WILL accelerate the deterioration of his life partially b/c of his past frail health.
That being said, she offers both of them a spot in the Shadow Ops. Complete with accommodations such as a better home and pay. The downside being they'd have to move away if they accepted. She allows Jayce time to think about it and talk to Viktor since she can see potential in both of them and can even help Viktor better hone his abilities.
Part of the later conflicts is Viktor misunderstanding things and his old feelings of resentment, insecurities, and even abandonment start to resurface as a result (Maruki's machinations was not helping either). Kind of a deconstruction of their dynamic which I have read some occasional small analysis on how it can border on co-dependent and Viktor still having immature tendencies (at least compared to Jayce which again, is something I've observed a bit after looking back at some scenes).
The thing is that Jayce wanted to talk to him about it but ended up getting too caught up with everything to find the right moment to do so. Especially with Shido later looming over them which then culminates into a raid into their home and getting attacked when they walk in after that televised calling card. Viktor, of course, was also very stubborn too.
This conflict was also kinda inspired by a question I saw on my Twitter TL once that's best summarized as: Would Viktor (if fully) be forgiving of Jayce should they survive and just be teleported somewhere? Which was a very interesting question to me because on one hand, probably. Just wouldn't be willing to forgive himself for a while if anything. BUT on the other hand, I feel like he probably would bottle up a lot of negative feelings when you think about what things were like in his perspective. He wouldn't HATE Jayce but I can imagine some resentment for a while too so why not a mix of both in the case of this AU? His general conflict is his inner negative feelings regarding Jayce despite loving and caring about him still along with his unwillingness to forgive himself for what he did as the Herald.
They do accept Mitsuru's offer after resolving things and are much happier after joining. Basically tying into 3rd Semester's main themes regarding healing and moving on with your life and starting over.
Not sure about having Evokers involved or not since I vaguely remember reading an old fic where there was a moment where Joker uses one and gains a different Persona though not in a good state of mind. I'm not sure for certain how using an Evoker could effect someone who already awakened in P5's setting and method.
I guess if they are then Jayce finds one in the case Mitsuru gave him. Probably for him to study and maybe take apart for a closer look. Viktor unfortunately ends up finding it the night before his own boss fight ("Herald of Eden") and takes it while Jayce was sleeping along with the notes on how it's used... You do the math on what he would try to do out of desperation if that makes sense. Like I said, I'm not sure about including the Evokers yet so that could be scrapped.
Although, the Evoker idea does sound like an interesting deep dive admittedly as that could be the final nail on the coffin to Viktor losing full control of himself and his Persona as he could only handle so much.
That's about it so far! I'm on a roll guys! 😄
