A/N: So... I haven't truly completed P3P yet, and I haven't played the original PS2 version or the FES version, so please don't hit me. /hides

The combat system used here will be a mix-and-match between all the P3 games, so it might get a little confusing. And I know that there are already a lot of new game plus fanfics out there and I hate to contribute to the pile, but... I simply can't resist. I'm sorry.

I will probably rewrite this when I finish the story.

01/18/2015: This chapter got a tiny edit. And by that I mean I added more transitions, so there's no story line change. The other chapters might get the same treatment if I feel like they need it.

Disclaimer: P3 belongs to Atlus.

Chapter 1

Erebus let out a low growl, and the sound resonated throughout the Abyss of Time.

It was full moon once again, and as human grief and sorrow reached another peak, the body of Erebus recovered, restoring the monster to its full form. It stood in front of the statue of the crucified savior, preparing its assault. Fortunately, the woman in blue uniform was not here, leaving it with a higher chance of removing the seal without interruption.

It attacked the seal without any hesitation; pulling it, punching it, setting it on fire, slashing it.

Many blows at the statue made Erebus realize that attacking will only waste its time. The power of the Universe Arcana made the statue indestructible.

But Erebus would not give up until it can reach Nyx again.

An idea struck Erebus. No matter how much power the seal received from his arcana, he was still a human soul, limited by the capabilities of human potential.

The location was in Erebus's favor, and the woman who destroyed Erebus before was still nowhere in sight. Erebus summoned all of his power, and pulled away the lingering soul that was on the seal.

Erebus sent its enemy back in time, long before he ever received his power. It would follow him back in time, killing him before he became a hindrance.

When Minato Arisato was conscious again, he found himself in the Velvet Room. Just as always, Igor was sitting there and smiling ominously with Elizabeth standing right next to him.

Minato had no idea how long it had been since he last saw this room. A pang of nostalgia struck him along with a foreboding sense of danger.

He still remembered everything. The contract, Pharos, joining SEES, fighting Shadows, Tartarus, Ryoji, Nyx...

His head felt clouded with memories.

"Ah, it seems that your journey has not yet ended," said Igor, "and an unusual way to start a journey it is! Not many people get second chances."

Minato was not sure what Igor meant. He, who dedicated his life to keep the Great Seal intact, should not receive a second chance. He did not expect to get more chances, either. When he offered himself as the Great Seal, he knew he would never see his friends again after graduation.

Just as he was about to ask, he felt a large tremor in the forever-ascending Velvet Room.

"Master," Elizabeth said, "it would seem that Erebus has arrived as well."

"I see. Well then, I shall not keep you here any longer," Igor said with a grin that reminded Minato of their first meeting, "When you come back on your own accord, I will explain your situation to you. Until then, farewell."

Minato blacked out.

Once his vision returned, he barely dodged a fatal attack from the two-headed shadow in front of him. A tremor similar to the one he experienced in the Velvel Room moments ago caused him to kneel down and regain balance. He reached for his sword and was almost instantly relieved when he found that the Lucifer's blade he took so long to fuse was still with him conveniently with his evoker. He blocked another strike from Erebus, raised his evoker towards his head, and fired.

He heard a click, then nothing. No persona appeared.

Quickly realizing that this was not the time to be shocked, Minato parried and saved himself from another swift strike. He fired his evoker again.

Nothing happened.

The battles turned into a one-sided assault. Erebus began to use magic, creating fire with Agidyne and ice with Bufudyne. The Omnipotent Orb in Minato's pocket glowed as it blocked all magic damage for him, keeping him alive.

But physical attacks were not efficient in a solo battle like this. Elizabeth had taught him that. He needed his persona. Multiple of them if possible.

Desperately, he aimed the evoker at his head again. Erebus, on the other hand, prepared for an Almighty Attack after finding all of its elemental spells blocked. He was running out of time. In his mind, he reached out to his persona.

He shot, and this time, he felt his persona coming back.

Thanatos emerged with a roar and shredded Erebus apart, destroying Erebus as if it was just another wimpy shadow. Minato winced at the similarity of this situation with the night he first summoned Orpheus. When Thanatos disappeared, he thought that someone was talking to him.

You're back.

It was Ryoji's voice.

Apparently. It took you a while to appear, though. Where were you? Minato asked.

I was here all along, but it was you who took a while to adjust. Man, I was worried that you wouldn't summon me in time!

Minato felt glad that at least Ryoji had not changed, although he could only speak to Minato in his head. Soon, Minato felt the rest of his personas return; Orpheus first, then Messiah, and the rest in a few seconds. He was relieved that he did not lose his personas, but the new surroundings in which he was fighting Erebus baffled him.

Okay. So where are we?

Minato did not have time to observe his surroundings before, but once he did, he noticed something that stood out to him. The moon was not eerily gigantic, and the lamp posts were still functioning normally at night, which means...

I just summoned you without being in the Dark Hour.

Yeah, I'm not sure why that worked.

There was no one around them, luckily, which means the exchange between Minato and Erebus went unseen. Minato realized that he was standing in the Iwatodai Strip Mall, which was possibly why no one was there at night. However, the strip mall itself felt different somehow. Minato could not pinpoint the exact difference though.

Ryoji, does the mall look strange to you?

I don't know. I haven't been here a lot.

Minato decided to walk around. The mall, he thought, looked older than he remembered. The Bookworms that he regularly visited could not be seen, and the same with the Iwatodai branch of Wild-Duck Burger. Just outside the mall, fences with the signs 'Do Not Enter' were blocking its entrance.

Times sure have changed, Minato thought to himself, I thought the strip mall just finished its renovations when I left.

He gave Paulownia Mall a visit next. Some of the facilities still exist, in fact, most of them look newer than before. He snuck a peek at the back alley, making sure that the door to the Velvet Room was there, before leaving to visit the SEES dorm. Except, there was no dorm to be visited. There was no trace of the dorm to show it even existed in the first place. Standing in front of where the dorm was supposed to be, Minato could feel Ryoji's shock even more than his own.

They demolished the dorm? Aww, but we had so many beautiful memories here, Ryoji lamented.

Well, I guess I've been a statue long enough, Minato sighed.

But you haven't! It's only been five years!

A lot can happen in five years.

But the last time I checked, Ken-kun was still in Gekkoukan Middle and stayed in the dorm. There is no way Misturu-san will allow anyone to demolish it if that's the case, Ryoji argued, unwilling to believe what he was seeing.

We can visit the school. I'm sure they couldn't have demoli- Minato stopped thinking when he turned around and saw the railroad towards Gekkoukan High.

The railroad was not connected, and it looked like it was undergoing a major repair process. Minato looked down onto the floor, feeling a little disappointed that he could not visit the school. He began to walk back to Paulownia Mall; maybe Igor could give him some insight to what was happening.

But as he returned to the mall, a newspaper stand that happened to be there gave him an idea. Reading the newspaper would tell him what happened around here more than asking Igor, since that bastard is always so cryptic and Minato never really understood what he says anyway.

"100 yen for the newspaper," the old storekeeper said when he saw Minato walking closer. Minato reached for his wallet, and surprise! His money was still intact. Exchanging a 100-yen piece for the newspaper, Minato groaned when he saw the date.

"Seriously, old man? You could at least give me a copy that's more recent," this copy was from 1995, dammit. It's ancient, "Go put it in a museum on display or something."

The old man glared at Minato. "Ooooh, I get it! You are here to trick me for a refund, aren't ya? Well, you can't fool me!" he grabbed Minato's copy of newspaper and pointed at the date, "This is today's issue! Now leave! I swear, youngsters nowadays..." He mumbled the last part of the sentence and stomped off.

Minato stood there in shock.

Ryoji, The Fall happened in 2010, right?

Ryoji stayed silent, and Minato took that as a yes. Suddenly, Minato felt as if every piece of the puzzle fell into place.

The SEES dorm was not demolished; it was not built yet. The railroad was not under repair; it was under construction. The Iwatodai Strip Mall was not renovated yet, and so Bookworms and Wild-Duck did not exist at this time. And most of all, the Dark Hour did not exist during this year.

Erebus sent Minato back way too far.

Time to go pay Igor a visit.

Minato found the purple, glowing door in the back alley. He opened the door and found the familiar Velvet Room meeting him like always.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Elizabeth greeted, "It is such a pleasant surprise to see you back."

"It's more like a terrible surprise," Minato answered, "So, Igor, what is happening?"

The man who was sitting in front of Minato grinned in an awfully creepy manner and said, "You see, you have been sent back into the past, way before the beginning of your first journey, in order to reset you."

"I realized that."

"Erebus attempted to send both you and itself back prior to your signing of the contract, which should have robbed you of your powers and made the seal vulnerable. However, Erebus did not realize that you and the seal were one, almost inseparable by force. As it teared you from the seal, part of you lingered and maintained the seal, and the other was sent back in time, creating a paradoxical effect."

"What paradoxical effect?"

"Have you noticed that all of your memories, powers, as well as your close belongings were all retained? That was the paradox. Erebus's attempt to reset you should have wiped everything, and I am sure that this is not the end of the paradox."

"What do you mean?"

Igor only grinned and ignored his question. "Do you feel the connection you still have with the seal? Even through this turn of events, you are still connected to your original timeline. Now then, I believe time is running short. If you are ever in need of assistance, please feel free to stop by again. Until then, farewell."

Minato blinked, and he returned to the back alley.

He gained even more questions than answers from his visit to the Velvet Room. Igor was cryptic as always, leaving the most important details for Minato to figure out for himself. Just as he was pondering what he could possibly do, he heard footsteps behind him. He was surprised when he saw Elizabeth, the elevator attendant who almost never leaves the Velvet Room.

"I was wondering if I can follow you on your exciting adventures," she said, and sure enough, she looked excited.

"Why? I thought you weren't allowed to leave?" Minato asked.

"My previous quest for power is not yet complete. As time marches on, it is possible that the same chain of events that happened in your time will happen once again, and I must do everything it takes to prevent that from happening," she answered easily, "I have permission from my master to leave, and until my return, my brother will take my place."

A dull pain surged through Minato as he understood what Elizabeth was talking about. If Minato lives on and continues to do nothing, then The Fall would happen once again, and he would become the Great Seal that blocks Erebus from Nyx again.

This time, he was not so sure if he was ready to make that kind of sacrifice. And to prevent that, he would need all the help he could get.

"I would appreciate it," Minato said, and yawned.

"Oh, my! It would seem that you are very tired. Perhaps we should find a place to rest? After all, fighting while being tired is very troubling," Elizabeth suggested.

Ryoji just had to contribute during this moment, Y'know, I've heard that there is this hotel in Shirakawa Boule-

"No," Minato interrupted Ryoji before he could continue.

"No?" Elizabeth asked in confusion, "I thought you would know very well that fighting while tired is very troubling."

"Sorry, I was just talking to myself. We'll find a place to rest. An inn or something around here."

Aww, Ryoji complained, But I want to-

Just shut up, Minato thought in his mind, this is going to be a long day.

A/N: Wow, that was short. Next chapter will be longer I promise.