Chapter 2: Chain-link Bonds


"Thou art I… And I am thou. Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana."

That sound. The one that preluded that voice in his head. It caused Minato to shake, to shudder. If he were human, he'd have been sweating or hyper-ventilating, but no discernible expression crossed his steel visage as he was led out of the room by a scientist. That sound was the most horrible thing he'd ever heard. It was the sound of his parents' car crashing. Yet strangely, he felt relieved when the sound happened. Afterwards, he felt more human, more alive, after he created the bond. It was as if something was now anchoring him to his current path, where that path leads he did not know, and beyond that it was indescribable. He had decided to touch his fingers together and he swore for the barest of moments he felt the fabric of the glove. The feeling was quick and happened so fast he might have imagined it, but he knew he did not. It was too real.

He followed the scientist down the hall. She'd given her name earlier, but he didn't find it important enough to remember for some odd reason. Finally, he arrived at a large grey door with a red number 1 imprinted upon. The scientist started speaking in a monotone, boring voice. Like a teacher.

"You will be fighting enemies of the lowest difficulty in order to get a sense of where your skills and specialties lay. You will be fighting replications of the Shadows from the first floor of Tartarus. We'd have more models, but regrettably we have very few that possess the Persona and those few aren't mature enough for battle yet. You will have 5 minutes to defeat the enemies with any means necessary, understood?"

Tartarus. That was where he was going to eventually explore. It was just like the movie he saw with his parents. Before they died, of course. For some odd reason he couldn't remember the exact plot. Philemon might have preserved his memory, but it was still the memory of a child. He decided to ask the question that had been nagging at him.

"What are Shadows?" Minato asked as he tilted his head to the side quizzically. It just felt so natural to do that expression. The scientist looked flabbergasted.

"Are you telling me you never fought them before? Ever? And you don't even know what Shadows are?" The scientist was very much surprised. She wondered what his programming must contain if it lacked information on Shadows. She sighed, "Shadows are monsters that come out in the Dark Hour, the 25th hour in which the world turns green. Only those with the Potential can experience the Dark Hour without being enclosed in a protective coffin. This," she handed him a golden lyre, "Is your weapon. It can imitate any weapon, save for the color. You should know this. The lyre was on your back when we found you. Now, touch it to this." She pulled a short sword off a rack on the wall. Minato, gripping the lyre tightly, gently touched it to the sword. Instantly a golden light consumed the instrument and the sound of the instrument being strummed rang out. In his hand was now an exact replica of the short sword. He raised it to eye level, turning it as he took in all the details.

"So I use… this and Persona to fight the monsters?" The scientist nodded. Minato decided not to mention he didn't know how to use his Persona powers. He had a sword. He'd just do what all the characters in his videogames would do. Horizontal slash, vertical slash, spin attack. He was fairly certain he had the basics down at least. His body didn't need to train to use a sword. He didn't have muscles. That was a plus. Metal hit harder.

The door opened and Minato walked through. It was a large circular room. The floor was checkered with black and white. The walls eerily glowed green, making the area seem all the more otherworldly. The ceiling was very high up, making the room appear as if it were prepared to house large enemies. In the very center of the room were five masked masses of black sludge. The door shut behind Minato, the loud slamming alerting the creatures to his presence. 'I just realized something. I have no clue how to fight.' Minato raised his sword and charged in. He moved way faster than he'd ever moved before and charged right past them. He was not used to running or jumping or doing anything in this new body. The monsters turned once more to face him. One charged at him, intending to swipe at him with its shadowy hand. Minato was faster. He swung his sword and sliced the hand off before driving his sword into the mask of the creature. He could do it! Four more to go. He wasn't ready to run again. It would be better if they all charged at him like the previous one.

The monsters stayed still, wary. One raised its hands, an aura enveloping it as it did so, but nothing happened.

[Jump, young one!]

Minato heeded the strange voice and leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the spike of ice that had just sprung up on the spot where he was standing earlier. Minato, too concerned with fighting these things and the voice in his head, didn't notice he had jumped 30 feet into the air, nearly touching the high ceiling. He crashed back down through the spike of ice, destroying the ice without harming his metal body. Minato still wondered who that voice was.

[Thou art I and I am thou. My name is Orpheus. Our bodies are one, thus connecting us even further. We are one. As such, I will bestow upon you knowledge of our power.] Information flooded into Minato's head. He knew his powers, he knew how to fight. He knew his strengths and weaknesses in an instant. It was odd. Orpheus, the Persona that took the place of his body, talked to him. And gave him knowledge on how to use his Persona abilities... But wait…

'Wait. Why did you wait until now to tell me?' Minato asked Orpheus. He didn't know how to speak to others in his mind. To be honest, the thought of others in his mind was concerning and uncomfortable. Would this be something he would have to get used to? He hoped not. A crowded head sounded painful and uncomfortable for all parties involved. He wasn't sure if he got the message across to Orp-

[I wished to see how you would respond to the sudden rush of battle, young one. You made a valiant effort on your, but it will not be enough. We fight together. The knowledge transfer I just did was only possible due to how in-sync we are during battle. I doubt you will be able to do such a thing with other Personae.] He got the message.

'Jerk. Everyone keeps mentioning multiple Personae. Where do I get other Personae? Do I create them? How?' Minato was thirsting for knowledge. He hadn't heard anything about the attainment of new Persona at all. It seemed like a good time to learn. After all, who would know more about Persona than a Persona?

[We are still in a fight, are we not?]

Right. Minato had not moved ever since he landed. Questions could come later. The fake Shadows rushed at him, intent on turning him into scrap metal. Minato held his right hand out, palm facing the incoming monsters, and aimed at the nearest one.

"AGI!" A fireball shot out of Minato's hand as he shouted the name of the attack. The flames easily consumed the monster, effectively destroying it. 3 left. The child inside him felt like a superhero at the sight of such power. The new side of him, the robotic and mature side, aimed at the next monster, the previous one having been destroyed in a single explosion caused by the fireball. The monsters were stunned for a moment, giving him a chance to fire a second attack.

"AGI!" Another one was destroyed. This time, however, the fireball was a bit low and blew pieces of the monster away and into a wall. The wall was smeared with the black grease of oil from the fabricated Shadow. Two left. The other ones seemed more determined now and raced toward him faster than before. Minato jumped again, fearing for the ice attack from below again. He looked down as he rose, wondering where the ice was coming from.

Crack!

He was knocked down to the floor by a sudden force from above. Lying on his back, he saw that the ice spike had sprung downwards from the ceiling. He didn't know they could do that! A picture of him appeared off to the side of his vision. The two bars below it were slightly empty. 'Health? Like a video game? And the other must be magic power. This makes life so much easier.' He now knew how much he could take and how much he could dish out. This was incredibly helpful.

Standing up and pulling his sword from the ground where it had landed after his fall, he once more charged the monsters, no, they were Shadows. He was going to use the other move Orpheus uploaded into him. He jumped in the air and his sword glowed gold as it expanded. A beautiful note rang out, as if played on the lyre itself. He hefted the new shape above his head effortlessly. It was a giant, golden lyre. He was going to take them both out at once. Minato smiled as his eyes radiated a fierce red light before calling out the name of his attack.

"BASH!" A loud boom sounded out as he smashed his large instrument into the ground, creating a crater as he smashed the Shadows into oblivion. The lyre then shrunk into its normal state, no longer a sword, but an instrument once more. An engraving of a short sword on the side of it was the only evidence it has transformed at all. Minato bowed towards the camera in the room expressionlessly and walked out.

[Excellent performance, young one.]


Mitsuru had been watching it. She was in awe. She was certain her father was as well. She was also certain her father was thinking things like, "Now I don't have to send my daughter into battle", but that wouldn't do. She would protect her father with this ASW. This being that could use his Persona's powers as if he was one. She wanted to meet him. He was powerful and noble in her eyes. He was like a real superhero. Not that Mitsuru read any of those manga. No, really. Honestly, she didn't. She didn't even watch shows about magical girls. Especially not when there weren't any people around. She looked back toward the screen in the observation, the one replaying the fight. That smile he did before he attacked was the best part. It showed something that would not be normally seen from a machine. He was an odd ASW, but a good one.

"Tres bien." She whispered, using the new compliment she learned from her French tutor, as she smiled slightly. Maybe this ASW liked to watch shows about magical girls…


Minato was questioned by the Kirijo Group. It was to be expected. He was different. He didn't "summon" a Persona, but used their powers directly. He stayed as the machine during the questioning. When asked as to how he got his powers, he merely stated, "My creators made me this way" and they left him well enough alone. They recognized that he was more than just a machine as well. If he had to venture a guess, it had something to do with the various comments of "He smiled!" that the various scientists were uttering in groups as he walked by them in the hallway. Apparently not many ASWs smiled or if they did, did not come from outside the company know for making them. He was given a room as well. It was full of machine parts and maintenance equipment. There was no bed. He asked for one. Then there was a bed. Although, it broke when he tried to sleep on it. No more bed. So he asked for a sturdier one. Yay. New bed. It broke again. The scientists then devoted a small team to creating a bed able to be used by him. The thought that an ASW doesn't sleep never occurred to them.

Minato was assigned to be Mitsuru Kirijo's bodyguard for the time being and was to watch over her to make sure she didn't use her powers wrong and blow herself up into small heiress bits. He was the only other Persona user on the base after all. His duty would start the next day, and he was given a pass to all levels of the base. They seemed quick to trust him. What Minato didn't know, however, was that they had run tests during his sleep in which he dreamed of Philemon. Those tests didn't require him to be "powered on" and were meant to determine how he would react if he was awakened. The results were interesting, but Minato didn't need to know them. Not yet, at least.

As it turned out, they were at the underground Kirijo HQ located at Yakushima. Where on Yakushima they were, Minato did not know. Port Island was the location of Tartarus. Takeharu and Mitsuru were taking a short "vacation" away from Port Island until they were sure that they could defend themselves. Mitsuru would most likely be the only one going back; she had a bodyguard for a reason. Minato was bored, so he decided to explore.

"M1N470?" A soft, feminine voice called out to him. He turned around to face Mitsuru Kirijo, heiress of the Kirijo Group, and also another child that was pulled into this mess, just like him. He had no idea how to guard anybody's body and even less of an idea how to act around girls. When he decided not to be close to anyone (an idea promptly shot down by Philemon) he had forgotten about girls. If he was in his old body, he was sure she would be at least a year older than him. It was amusing how much bigger he was given the age difference. He cast a glance at the sign on the hallway. B11. Was she supposed to be this far down?

"My name is Minato." He deadpanned. Why did they call him M1N470? He didn't really like that name. He didn't seem to mind it due to how much it seemed to... match him, but it made him feel less... human. Not that he minded it.

"Right… Sorry." She blushed in embarrassment a little before continuing, "I would like to congratulate you on the position father has granted you. This is not a job he would give to anyone. He is putting a lot of faith in you. ASWs don't lie, but to be trusted like that is a great honor nevertheless. He must feel some sort of connection with you. You are truly remarkable." She smiled at him, but certain things about what she said stuck out to him. Did he lie? He didn't tell the entire truth. Why? It felt like he couldn't tell them that he was human. It was as if some force was stopping him dead in his tracks. Perhaps it was himself. He didn't feel that human at all. He felt like what they called him. An Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon.

"Thank you for the coming down here to tell me. Was there anything else you wanted?" Minato tried to work some gratitude into his voice. By the way her expression changed, it seemed to work. Then she started blushing and fidgeting. 'What's she going to say? Is this a confession? I'm too young to get married!' The child in Minato seemed panicked, but his was not the voice outside. Minato gave her another stoic look with a little bit of interest seeping in this time. If it wasn't marriage... then what was it?

"W-w-what d-d-do y-y-you think of magical girl shows?!" She stammered out before quickly shouting out the last part. Minato pondered that. He was more into anime like Dragon Ball Z. Action was good. His sister had loved "Magical Detective Loveline" and adored the main character, Loveline. His sister… she had died just a year before the accident in a fit of illness. His grandfather buried his sister on his estate. He wasn't allowed to go or even see her body. Would he defile his sister's love of magical girls? No way. Magical girls… watch out! Minato is not going to defile the memory of his sister by turning you away, damn it! He turned his head away, thinking of the careful wording he would have to use. She was nervous. Did she want to watch with him?

"They're okay. Also, with your Persona powers, aren't you technically a magical girl as well?" He internally snickered at her expression before continuing, "I wouldn't mind watching them with you if you let me watch Dragon Ball Z." He turned to face her once more after saying it. Mitsuru looked like Christmas had come early. And she didn't get clothes this time. Why were Minato's clothes he got for Christmas always blue? Just because of one little mutation when he was born everything had to be BLUE of all things! He didn't really even like blue. He liked red, like his scarf. It was cool. He looked like a ninja or superhero. Mitsuru beamed at him, nodded, and ran away as a bright light flashed and time stopped for the second time that day.


A single thought played in her head besides the glee she felt at someone willing to watch anime with her (for she was about to give it up), 'He watches Dragon Ball Z?' The thought was quickly discarded and forgotten. Mitsuru felt like a little girl for the first time since they discovered her Persona powers. She felt… connected to M1N47- Minato. And it was wonderful.


"Thou art I… And I am thou. Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Empress Arcana."

Where was the "CRASH!"?


Minato kept exploring, this time heading down to the lowest level. B50. It was well underwater at this point. He observed his surroundings. He was in a large storage area. There were boxes of all shapes and sizes, some were on shelves, and others were stacked and forming mountains. He weaved through the labyrinth of boxes until he reached the wall on the far side. So far there was nothing of interest. Minato sighed. He felt it again. That feeling of him becoming more human along with the sensation of touch appeared once more. Did that mean that his bonds could turn him human? It was a long-shot, but at the very least he felt he could eventually have a feeling of touch or taste. He started walking towards the farthest corner of the storage area. Then something odd happened.

There was a large box in the form of a coffin. It emitted a blue glow. This wasn't the Dark Hour. Why was there a coffin? Steadily growing more curious, he approached the coffin. On the side was an incredibly complex array of buttons and a screen that was asking for a password. Why would something this secure be down here? Minato then realized this place was an utter mess and humongous. Hiding something in a place like this would mean it would take years for it to be found. Luckily, he had an advantage. Finding his way around had appeared easy for him because of the map that had spontaneously appeared in the bottom left corner and was being filled out as he explored. It was very hard to get lost with that. Minato then, in a fit of childishness he no longer knew he had, fired an Agi at the coffin's locks. Would he get in trouble? Probably, but there wasn't anything they could do to hurt him anyway. He slightly loved being a metal man at that thought.

The coffin hissed as it opened up. Lying in the coffin with her arms crossed over an axe lying on her chest was a teenage girl. Except she had metal parts. Girls didn't ordinarily have those, right? She had pale skin and bluish gray hair. Her eyes were closed. She wore a helmet, one that reminded Minato of one of those knights in the stories he read about, that had red headphone like things on it that were over her ears and she wore what appeared to be a white, sleeveless jumpsuit that went up to her neck and had thin yellow stripes. Metal covered her sides and met at her waist, cutting off the jumpsuit. Her arms were metal and she had the appearance of wearing red metal gauntlets with grey fingers. Her legs were also metal. Her hair was in the style of a long ponytail. Minato thought she looked beautiful, the giant axe just made her look more powerful and awesome. She was... pretty, but it was weird thatshe chose this place to nap. Minato knocked on her head. She shouldn't be sleeping here! Minato felt as if a portion of his power suddenly left him when he touched her. He checked the newly dubbed "HP and SP Bars" and noticed his SP was a little bit less. Weird.

Red eyes fluttered open. The girl sat up at lightning speed and looked at her savior. Then she noticed the metal on his body. She grabbed her axe and swung at Minato, who was able to dodge. She was slow from just waking up. She jumped out of the coffin and faced Minato, weapon drawn. She charged him and did a vertical slash, trying to cut him in half. He side-stepped and barely avoid losing an arm. She swung horizontally and Minato jumped into the air and landed right in front of her. Minato took the opportunity between axe swings to flick her on the forehead. Minato had seen something in her eyes that piqued his interest. 'Fear?' She suddenly seemed to snap out of it when Minato had flicked her. She looked at him confusedly, as if she had been under a spell.

"Do you swing an axe at everybody who tries to help you? Or am I just the exception?" Minato said, hoping to get her to drop her weapon. She looked at him suspiciously, searching his face for expression and watching his arms and legs in case he moved to attack.

"Help me? Who are you? Your design is very different than the others." She said, still holding her axe ready. She had a Kansai accent. Odd. Minato sighed, and put on a weary smile. He seemed to be "putting on" more expressions than actually feeling them. He had a feeling it would become a habit. How many more times would he have to introduce himself in the span of one day? It was getting tiring. The girl looked surprised at his expression; as if it was a sight she wasn't used to.

"Call me Minato. And yes, look where we are. I found you here and woke you up. This place doesn't seem like a good place to rest, does it? As for my design… don't ask me. I didn't create myself. And isn't it proper to introduce yourself first?" Minato answered, still hoping she would drop the deadly weapon. She searched his face one more time before…

THUNK! She did.

"Right. I'm Labrys. Thank you for… helping me. Where are we exactly?" Labrys asked. She was shorter than Minato. He didn't realize that at first. The axe seemed to… add to her height. Without it, she seemed so small, so frail. Harmless, even. But harmless people didn't carry a giant axe. They also didn't swing at people to say hello. Unless it's a new trendy way of meeting someone. But even then that's kind of pushing it.

"Kirijo Group HQ. Yakushima." Minato replied, almost robotically. Labrys looked hurt at that, like the name held some bad memories behind it. She had been traumatized by some event, some horrible, horrible, event, pertaining to the location. She reminded him of when he lost his parents. That day seemed so far way, yet he had only been awake for a single day since they died. Labrys had lost those closest to her as well. It may be even worse than that. It was apparent on her face. She was very expressive for a robotic girl. Yet, there was also a righteous fury hidden deep in her expressive, crimson eyes. Eyes that were much like his own. She looked like she needed a hug.

CLANK!

Minato embraced her without hesitation, without thoughts. She hugged him back. Two people who couldn't feel, hugged. Minato didn't know why he did it, why he hugged her. He wasn't human anymore. He couldn't feel. The closer he got, the more it would hurt. The only pain he could now feel was caused by things like this. Bonds. Yet why did this hug make him feel so much better? Why did the pain seem to go away? A bright flash of light heralded a new Social Link.

"Thou art I… And I am thou. Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fortune Arcana."

This time, the time when he was able to feel for an instant, he found he didn't mind getting close to people. Minato felt a need to reaffirm his beliefs. He was a hero. A hero would ensure a happy ending for everyone. All the people close to him would be saved by his hands. Nobody would ever have to go through the same pain as him. The pain of losing those closest to you. That would mean that if he started getting close to people, then he would have to work his hardest not to die, not to fall, not to break. He would start combat practice even more intensely tomorrow. He would stop the Dark Hour.

"Thanks", she said, breaking off the hug. "I... I needed that. They can't find me, not now." She looked around the area, taking in the size and surroundings. "I'll hide out down here. I was deactivated after all. With my scanners, I'll be fine. Just... um... Make sure to visit me sometime. Us ASWs have to stick together." She grimaced at that, as if another bad memory had popped up. She smiled at him, the first of which he had seen from her, and waved goodbye before she vanished in the mountains of boxes.

Minato waved goodbye. He was left with many questions. What happened to her? What was happening to him? Why was she deactivated? Who was searching for her? Minato had a lot of questions for Takeharu Kirijo. He would make sure to get his answers. After all, nobody could hurt him. He was metal. And metal didn't feel pain.


Aigis woke up. It was the same dream. She was older and fighting a demon. That part was always cool, but there was the second part. The part where her older-self messed up. A boy suffered tremendously for it. Who was he? Aigis shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything. She pushed her pink covers off and walked over to turn the lights on. Once the lights were on, she walked over to her CD player, her small feet creating a padded rhythm on the carpet, and put on her favorite red headphones. She was listening to more music than usual tonight.


That night a voice greeted Minato.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, young man. The VIP Treatment is already set aside for you. Right through that door."

Why do all these strange things keep happening to him?


A/N: This chapter is a bit more lighthearted at parts than the prologue. It should get a little more lighthearted as time goes on, but that doesn't mean the darkness will go away. Persona 3 is great because it manages to capture both and turn it to an ultimately uplifting theme. Okay so here we have Labrys being introduced here. When I found out her back story, I just had to put her in. She fits in so well to the current world and her Social Link will give Minato the view of another mechanical being, something he kind of needs. And yes, Mitsuru watches magical girl shows. She's only had the future of mankind on her shoulders for a few months, so she isn't fully the Mitsuru we know yet. But she will be, except her interactions with Minato may lead to her being slightly more girlish in at least one regard. Also, Social Links have finally arrived. I probably won't go too into detail on the less significant ones (I'm trying to rearrange the Social Links in order to get Links that will have the most impact on Minato, so I don't know how well that will turn out) Next chapter is Velvet Room, a little more of the past, and then a timeskip to Akihiko because, let's face it, Persona 3 is a looooong game and I'm not even started. Now...

REVIEW REPLY TIME!:

HolyMage Mouto: Glad you liked it. I'm going to continue this. Your review made me happy enough to keep writing and get this chapter out faster than expected.

Anon: I will take your suggestion and keep going, good sir or madam!

Twin Judge of Gemini: The pairing is still undecided, but a MitsuruxMinatoxAigis pairing is entirely possible. And cute. I'll be posting a poll for the pairing on my profile after the Chapter 4 update to see what you guys what.

The Heartless Wanderer: Yay! Constructive Criticism! Okay, as you see here in this chapter, this was part of my plan for the use of the word CRASH! It won't be repetitive and there's a reason why it only happened once. As for the bolded words, they are terms or names that Minato finds important, much like how certain words would be in a different color in the game. They aren't as random as they seem. I'll use them to show the importance of certain terms or maybe even distract the reader from the importance of things Minato doesn't find important. It will make plot twists much more fun. You know the name of that one scientist in the beginning? No? Well, Minato didn't find her important. She didn't get bold.

Blackfang27: Thanks for the compliment. I don't want to spoil too much, but right now Minato doesn't have enough of his own life essence/soul to seal a puppy. A reaaally evil puppy. He'll need an alternate solution when NYX comes around and I'm currently playing around with a few of them in my head.

Yuuji Narukami: Yu Narukami? The Persona 4 protag?! Oh my, it is an honor for you to read my story. As for this being MitsuruxMinato. It's possible. And also incredibly cute. I'm undecided for a reason. Each pairing could very well have a huge impact on the story and the ending. I don't want to pair it off yet until I establish a base from which to branch off of... but if you think about... maxing all the Social Links would automatically give Minato a Harem... DARN IT! If you want MitsuruxMinato then vote when I put the poll up after Chapter 4. :D

Okay, those are the reviews. Now here is the question: Who do you want to pair Minato up with?

REVIEW. Pwease?