Let's answer some reviews!

IzanagiOmega: I'm glad you think so! I'm currently working through some more ideas in my head for the entire story, so I hope when we get there you enjoy it!

Nightlyy: 1) As I told Dad of War, I can see how Minato being pals with S.E.E.S. pretty quickly can be offputting. Obviously once I read your review and read the last chapters over, I realized I was not a fan of making Mitsuru really friendly. I mean, a little bit friendly, I could see, but you're absolutely right: she's the Ice Queen, and smiling warmly and holding back laughs and giggles so early on is absolutely not in character, and I apologize. I'll work on that in these next chapters and try to find a reason for Mitsuru to not be so social or friendly with Minato. Any ideas would be appreciated, but I've got a couple in mind already.

2) In terms of typos and shit, I try my best, but if something slips in after the fact, I let it go. I'm currently using Wordpad to write, and it doesn't have a spellcheck feature. I don't have Word, so that's a bit of difficulty there. I hope I'll get better as I write as well.

3) Minato losing his cool over Social Links was actually an idea I got from A Fool Named Fortune and it's sequel Persona 4: Golden Moon, as well as Persona 3 Remix. Roy seemed apprehensive about using Social Links as a means to gain more power, while Rusei flat out refused the power of Social Links. I liked that aspect of these two, because honestly I don't like how the games basically give you no chance to actively question the Social Link aspect, instead just making you go along like it's completely normal. With Persona 3 Remix however, that Minato actively admits to the reader that he's using the Social Links for power and nothing more, and that's something I wasn't cool with, so I want Minato to actually question his morality with the Social Links.

4) I'll still be switching to first person chapters, but no longer in "filler", rather only during extremely big moments where I don't think my third person writing could do it justice (examples being the Hierophant/Lovers battle, 10/4, 11/4, the summer tournament, and the final battle are just the ideas I have right now), but we will get first person thoughts of Minato every now and then.

5) Once again, Minato being an amateur Mixed Martial Artist comes from A Fool Named Fortune (if you guys haven't read that yet, go do that now!) I actually never had Minato throw on some gloves, but I might for this story (I preferred one handed swords: his ultimate weapon WILL be a certain one hander, if you can guess), but no, Minato's not UFC material. And remember, this is Japan, just a few years after PRIDE, so he's probably still a big fan of them. With the Dark Hour and Shadows, he'd probably be UFC champ material, but if it was a completely fair fight, I'd have to say, if I was going to rate him with a pro record (just for example), he'd be the kind of guy that would have a 12-5 record. Pretty good, but not unbeatable. His offensive submission skills are really slick, and just for you I'll have Minato lock a Gigas in a heel hook or something, while his submission defense is lacking, which is why he lost the tournament, but his real power is in his kickboxing. You won't see who Minato lost to in that amateur England tournament coming, but they're coming back for the summer tournament. And it will be glorious. I'm actually going to make up an excuse that the gang has the option of not using their Persona's power, especially outside the Dark Hour, just to have the excuse of making that a completely fair fight. :D And that Minato vs Akihiko spar? Might not be as one sided as you think. Who said it would even be a spar? *chuckles maniacally* Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing!

Chapter 7: Death Is A Magician

After that excellent bit of news from Mitsuru drowned out the somber mood set earlier in the night, Minato decided to head off to his room. He was obviously unable to sleep, so he decided to fire up his PS2 and play some Guilty Gear X. Minato loved video games, the only problem was that he was, admittedly terrible at most of them, fighting games being no exception. But Minato believed that despite his awful skill, the art style and music was absolutely worth continuing to play. As he continuously got his ass kicked by Testament, the Dark Hour hit, shutting off his PS2 for the next hour. Minato sighed.

I had him that time, dammit.

As he sat in silence, with nothing but the sickening, yet oddly calming green sky, his thoughts eventually turned towards the "Open Mic Night" at Escapade next week, and then towards Mitsuru.

I had heard rumors of her ice cold demeanor... that's not what I saw tonight. Wonder why?

"Hi, how are you?" a voice suddenly rang out.

Minato's eyes jumped towards the edge of his bed. He found the young boy he saw on his arrival, casually sitting on his bed, staring at him with a quizzical expression on his face.

"How did you get in here?"

The boy seemed hurt at the question. "I'm always with you..." he said with sadness in his voice.

Minato felt bad. He could never ignore a child who was upset, though he could never understand why either. He knew this boy was a hallucination, but there was something about this child that felt strangely... familar.

"Sorry about that, then." Minato apologized sincerely.

The boy's eyes lit up, almost like if you were to meet your favorite celebrity. With childlike joy in his eyes, he continued to speak.

"I've come to tell you something important."

"Oh?" Minato's eyebrows cocked.

"Yes, soon, The End will come."

Minato's eyes widened, just a bit. After all the shit I've been through these past few days, should I really be surprised?

"I'm afraid I don't know much more than that." The boy seemed disappointed.

"The fact that you know that much is enough for me, pal." Minato reassured. Sure, knowing the world's gonna end soon is a bummer, but at least he let me know.

The boy smiled softly. "Well, I must be going now. Remember: I'm always with you."

"I'd like to talk to you again sometime, kid."

The boy stopped, before nodding and then disappearing into the shadows.

Hm, that kid is weird. Nice company though.

*CRASH*

AHH, FUCK!

"Thou art I."

Oh, this shit again.

"And I am thou."

Do you have to give me a headache everytime!?

"Thou hast established a new bond."

Do you have to speak in riddles?

"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Death Arcana."

...

That doesn't sound good.


The next day was fairly uneventful, though Minato was made aware of the fact that the day after tomorrow, sports clubs would be taking tryouts for members. Minato already decided he'd either join the amateur MMA club or the amateur boxing club. None of the other clubs seemed interesting enough in his opinion.

Minato began packing up to leave, when he was stopped by a familar face.

"'Sup dude?"

"Hey, Junpei." Minato greeted. "Not much, what's up with you?"

"You free today, Minato?" Junpei asked. "Wanna hit up Wild Duck Burger?"

I did promise him I'd hang out with him. "Yeah man, sure."

And so Junpei and Minato made their way to Wild Duck Burger, each ordering a simple cheeseburger and small fry. Junpei decided to strike up a conversation.

"So man, the rumors about you and Yuka-tan... are they true?"

Minato sighed. Of course he'd ask that. "What rumors exactly?"

Junpei smirked. "Well, the student message boards say that you and her are hooked up. She did visit you in the hospital every day, you know."

Minato's eyes widened. "No, I didn't. I was unconcious."

Junpei began chuckling. "Yeah man, you should've seen it! Every day, as soon as school was over, she'd rush out and go to the hospital, without fail!" His chuckles soon became uproarious laughs, while Minato just shrank in his seat.

Junpei noticed the discomfort Minato was showing and slowly stopped laughing. "Hey man, don't worry about it. No one believes in rumors anyways."

"You clearly do..."

Junpei frowned. "Nah, dude, I'm just messing with you. Yuka-tan's my friend, and I know she wouldn't get into a relationship this fast with somebody she just met."

"You and Yukari are friends?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but yeah. She really helped me out when I transferred, and I sorta developed a little crush on her." Junpei sheepishly smiled. "She denied me of course, but we've been good friends since." His face suddenly became serious. "I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, y'know? If these rumors really bother you guys, I can go after them for you, man. It's what real bros do for each other." Junpei extended his fist. "We're bros, right?" Minato calmly returned the gesture.

"Absolutely, bro."

*CRASH*

AGAIN!?

"Thou art I.

And I am thou."

Blah blah blah new bond blah.

"Thou hast established a new bond.

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana."

How many times is this gonna happen?

As time returned to normal, Junpei either didn't see the minor annoyance on Minato's face, or didn't care, as he spoke up.

"Dude, listen to this! But you gotta promise not to tell Yuka-tan, alright?"

"I promise."


With Junpei's secret firmly tucked behind his lips, Minato headed back to the dorm after recieving a text from Yukari.

Senpai is calling a meeting tonight. Get back here ASAP.

Minato walked through the door, where he found Akihiko and Yukari waiting for him.

"Alright senpai, he's here now. So what's this meeting about?"

"Hold on just a minute, Yukari." Akihiko responded.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

As a smile stealthfully creeped up on Minato's face, Akihiko turned towards the door, opening it, revealing a huge suitcase standing there, with two smaller ones beside it.

"There's someone I want you to meet. Come on in."

"Hold your horses." The person grunted out. "This is freakin' heavy."

Yukari slowly grew an expression of realization.

"Is that...?"

And who should step from behind the suitcase but one Junpei Iori.

"JUNPEI!?" Yukari screamed out, while Junpei's trademark smile grew even larger.

"Minato, Yukari, this is Junpei Iori from class 2-F. He'll be staying here from now on."

As Minato and Junpei shared a knowing smile, Yukari simply stammered in shock. "HE'S STAYING HERE!?" Suddenly, horror grew on her face. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"He has the Potential." Akihiko confirmed.

"He found me crying in the corner of a convience store surronded by a bunch of coffins."

And you're bragging about that why?

"I don't remember much," he continued "but damn was I happy to hear about you guys. I was honestly pretty scared of being the only one, so I bet you're pretty stoked I'm joining up." He walked over to Yukari. "Right, Yuka-tan?"

Yukari could only stare in continuous shock.

"She looks happy to see you, Junpei." Minato teased. "Well I for one am very excited to hear this news." He extended a hand towards his friend. "Welcome to the team, bro."

Junpei eagerly accepted. "Thanks for having me! Let's kick some ass together!"

Akihiko decided that very moment would be perfect to remind the three why they were there, with a quick clearing of his throat, and a simple "Let's go."

A quick climb up the stairs, and the group of four had arrived at the Command Room, as Akihiko had called it. Yukari slowly took her seat in a chair, while Minato and Junpei sat next to each other on one of the couches.

"Alright Mitsuru," Akihiko turned to the redhead "they're here. Where's the chairman?"

"He said he's running a few minutes late, so he should be here right about-"

"Now." Ikutsuki said as he walked in, surprising everyone in the room. He chuckled to himself at the situation, then continued. "I have a very important announcement to make, but first- Junpei Iori."

"Y-yes sir?" Junpei stood up.

"I'd like to formally welcome you to S.E.E.S. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki, and I'm the club advisor, while Mitsuru is the leader." He motioned to Mitsuru as he spoke.

Junpei, a little nervous after being put on the spot like that, simply responded with "Thank you, Ikutsuki-san."

"Now then, back to business." He spoke with a serious tone. "Originally, it was just Akihiko and Mitsuru that made up the team, but recently" he said with a knowing smirk "that number has jumped to 5. So..." he paused for dramatic effect, which seemed to be working on Junpei and Yukari, while Minato just sat and watched with slight intrest.

"Starting tomorrow night, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tarturus."

While Junpei and Yukari simply sat confused, Minato's eyes had widened.

Tarturus!? What the fuck is Tarturus doing in Japan!?

"'Tarturus'? What's that, some kind of toothpaste?" Junpei asked. Akihiko chuckled, and Yukari just sighed.

"You haven't seen it, Junpei?"

"I'm not too surprised." Ikutsuki began. "After all, Tarturus is only avaliable during the Dark Hour.

"You're sending us to Tarturus..." Minato spoke up.

"Hm? Is there a problem?"

"Minato, dude, you alright? You look pissed."

"You guys know what Tarturus is, right?"

"Apparently it's not a toothpaste. What's so bad about Tarturus, Minato?"

These fools. These absolute fools. Did no one pay attention during Greek Mythology!?"

Minato stood and sighed. "Ikutsuki-san, you're sending us to Tarturus."

"Yes, I've made that abundantly clear, Arisato."

"And, pray tell, what is this 'Tarturus' you're speaking of tonight?"

Mitsuru decided to take control of the conversation. "Tarturus is a giant labyrinth-like tower that appears only during the Dark Hour."

"You can think of it as the Shadow's nest." Akihiko said.

Junpei was getting excited at the idea. "Ooh, their nest, huh? Heh, that'll be fun as hell!"

"I don't know if we're ready." Yukari quietly said, no one hearing her concerns.

"What is your concern, Arisato?"

Whoever named this tower, they knew. They fucking knew...

"Nothing..." Minato solemnly responded. "I was just concerned with the name."

"What's so bad about the name, dude?" Junpei questioned. "Tarturus sounds like an awesome name."

"It's the Greek version of Hell. Tomorrow night, Junpei, we're stepping into Hell."


Author's Note: Cliffhanger! So, Minato's not super knowledgeable on his Greek mythology (mainly because I've forgotten most of the stuff I was taught in middle school history. Shame, that was the last time I really enjoyed learning in school), but he knows of Tarturus. And he's not happy about the name. I've decided to actually start incorperating Minato's thoughts into the story, mainly because I felt conversation scenese would be boring without the extra fluff. And hey, he likes video games, he's just terrible at most of them! Can you see Junpei vs Minato in Smash Bros? Next chapter, we start the Chariot Link (originally was going to include that in this and call this chapter "Death is a Magician riding a Chariot" but decided to wait.) We'll also be going to Tarturus next time, which should be fun! See ya next time, peoples!