Persona 3: For Every Soul

by sykotiksonik

Minato Arisato arrives in Port Island; the site of his family's gruesome murder. Once he learns the cause of the paradox that did them in, he vows to destroy it for his them. Along the way he becomes friends with the rest of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, who each have their own reason for fighting. Will Minato become the hero his family deserves? (CANCELLED)

10. Chapter 10: The Magician Lives

Author's Note: Yeah I know normally I wait until the end of the chapter to do these, but this is important so listen up.

I've had some writer's block lately, and I'll tell you why. I've got the ideas in my head, I've got the script for the bare basics, but I'm having a hard time putting it into third person. I know, how silly, right? Well, the problem is I've never been much for third person anyways. My two favorite Persona fics, A Fool Named Fortune Reshuffled and Fairly English Story do first person, and I find reading first much more engaging than I do third. I find writing first person easier and overall more fun as well. But because of the advice I was given, I decided to keep going with third person after my experimental 6th chapter. Personally, I was proud of that chapter because of how easily and naturally everything flowed to me. So that's why, after thinking about it and getting some advice from a dear friend outside this story, I'm permanently changing For Every Soul to first person. This is why I put the author's note up front, because I knew readers would get confused, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I wanted to put a quick little warning here letting everyone know that this is what's happening now. I want to write something while I enjoy writing it, not churn things out because people enjoy it, when I'm having a hard time happily writing it, you know what I mean?

Also a quick little superfluos thing but I'm no longer titling chapters because I'm also having a hard time thinking of interesting names. I mean really, "The Tower of Demise" has little to do with Tarturus until near the end, and "The First Night" does not do the first foray into Tarturus justice. I'm also no longer going to be italicizing Minato's thoughts. I feel it's no longer necessary,

I hope you guys get where I'm coming from. I'm proud of the fairly positive reception this story has gotten, and I thank all of you for your follows and reviews and favorites, but I'd be prouder if I got a positive reception with a style I enjoy writing.

Now, with that out of the way, ONTO THE CHAPTER!

"Hey, Minato-kun!"

I turned my head as I walked through the school gate to find Kenji running up to me. "Hey Kenji." I greeted with a wave.

"Hey, tell me: how is it living in the dorm with Yukari-san and Mitsuru-senpai?" He asked with a toothy grin on his face.

Damn dude, don't you think about anything other than women?

"Like I told you before, Kenji, it's really no big deal. They aren't really my type."

"Oh..." He looked sad. I grinned.

"With Junpei and Akihiko-senpai though, it's a blast! Akihiko-senpai is just like me, and Junpei's a fun guy to be around." My grin slowly faded away though as we walked into the school lobby. "But I kinda said something to Junpei that really bothered him, and I'm wondering how to make it up to him."

"Well what'd you say?"

Oh, I only implied that he didn't care about a life threatening situation. No big deal.

"S.E.E.S. club business. Mitsuru-senpai told us we aren't allowed to talk about it to people not in the club."

"Oh, well I don't know if I can help you much, Minato, but try telling him about the baseball club opening up soon. Honestly, he's my best friend and all, but man he never pays attention to anything outside manga or video games."

I noticed that we had reached our class. "Looks like we'll continue this later. How about after school?"

"Yeah man." Kenji grinned. "How about Hagakure?"

"Hell yeah, dude. The ramen is pretty sick."

Kenji laughed. "Alright man, I'll see you later!" And with that we walked into class.

Nothing terribly interesting happened during any classes, except for when Toriumi-sensei asked Junpei who her favorite author was, and he had to ask me for help. I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the double irony: one because he was asking me, and two because I had no fucking idea: I was sleeping at the time. Luckily, I blurted out the first author that came to mind and somehow that happened to be the correct answer. Toriumi-sensei either didn't notice I gave Junpei the answer or just didn't care, and after that I went straight back to sleep, though I could overhear my fellow classmates buzzing about how impressed they were that I gave Junpei the right answer while still half asleep. I gotta admit, I was impressed too.

Me and Kenji decided to walk to Hagakure instead of just meeting each other there. As we walked out through the exit, he gave me his number, and I gave him mine. We were greeted by an interesting sight, or rather, scream.

"LOOK, IT'S AKIHIKO-SENPAI!"

"Where!? Oh, there he is!"

"SENPAI!"

As we watched Akihiko attempt to just walk straight through the horde of female students, Junpei walked up beside us and gave his thoughts on the scene.

"Man, can you believe that? You only see chicks flock like that in some sort of anime."

"Yeah, dude." Kenji agreed.

"Akihiko-san would be the perfect Shonen anime protaganist. I mean look at him, silver hair, champion boxer, calm and cool attitude, he SCREAMS anime." Junpei replied.

"It looks like Akihiko-senpai is in his own little harem anime." Kenji chuckled.

I had to laugh at the image of Akihiko in a harem anime, which apparently got Akihiko's attention, as he quickly walked over to us.

"Hey, are you two free this afternoon?" He asked.

"I have plans with Kenji, but what do you need?"

"I'd like you two to meet me at the police station, if you could."

"T-the police station?" Junpei asked, surprised. "You mean we're not gonna hang out with your friends there?"

"Who, these girls?" Akihiko responded, not even glancing in the group's direction. "I don't even know their names." Junpei's jaw drop was hilarious to see. "They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyways, if you aren't too busy don't forget to stop by the station." He jogged off, with the horde of fangirls screaming after him

I gave Kenji a small nod. "We'll hang out later. Say, Sunday?"

"Heh, I'll hold you to that Minato! And you're paying next time!"

"Alright, later Kenji." I waved before turning to Junpei. "Alright let's go."

"Huh?"

"Akihiko-senpai said to meet him at the police station and I don't know where that is, so come on."

"Alright, fine, Mr. Leader. Let's go." He grumbled some more, but I wasn't able to make out much of anything.

As we began walking, Junpei suddenly blurted out "How can he not know their names! I mean seriously, those were some smokin' hot babes, and he just acted like they were a minor annoyance!"

"Maybe they were to him." I pointed out.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Think about it, dude. I don't really pay much attention to Yukari or Mitsuru-senpai because they aren't my type. Maybe none of those girls were Akihiko-senpai's type."

"He's gotta have some unrealistic standards then."

"Maybe he's gay?"

"PFFT, WHAT!?" Junpei did a spit take with the can of Dr. Salt he was drinking at the time. "There's no way!"

"I don't know the guy well enough, so it's just a wild swing in the dark." I shrugged.

"That would be a shock to find out though." Junpei muttered.

"Say, Junpei, how about a challenge?" I asked.

"Huh? What kind of challenge?" Junpei responded, slightly wary.

"Kenji told me a secret this morning he said you might be interested in." I continued, a small grin growing. "So how about we play a game for it. You win, I'll tell you. I win, I won't. Fair?"

"What kinda game?"

"Me and you in Guilty Gear X." I gave an evil grin.

"Heh, you're on!" Junpei exclaimed, confidence radiating in his voice.

We continued small talk, surprised the Social Link didn't fix itself, but I guess he's just being friendly and not my friend, which was disappointing, but oh well. What do I have to do, save his life or something?

Anyway, we walked into Paulownia Mall, where Junpei escorted me to the police station I somehow didn't notice the last time I was here. We walked in to find Akihiko conversing with a stern faced officer., who both turned to face us as we entered.

"Ah, right on time." Akihiko commented, before turning back to the officer. "These are the two I was talking about." Akihiko turned back to us as we walked over to him. "Minato, Junpei, this is Officer Kurosawa, and he helps us out by supplying weapons and armor."

"No kidding? Couldn't that get you in some trouble?" I asked.

"Yeah, it could." He gruffly replied. "But I'm only doing what I think is right. It doesn't take a genius to know something supernatural is going on, and this is my way of helping out."

"But of course..." Akihiko interjected, handing us each some yen. "It doesn't come free."

"Of course not." Kurosawa replied. "Nothing in life comes free."

"I understand." All three of us replied.

"Well, I'm off. Thanks again, Kurosawa-san. Minato, Junpei, catch you guys back at the dorm."

"Hey, Akihiko-senpai, shouldn't we all have each other's numbers in case something comes up?" I asked. You could practically hear the mental facepalming Akihiko was giving himself for not thinking of it sooner. The three of us exchanged numbers, and Akihiko jogged out of the station. I browsed the gear avaliable, while Junpei complained about something I wasn't able to make out before saying he'd see me back at the dorm. I stopped at some brass knuckles, in excellent condition, and an armored camo shirt.

"Do you take in weapons and stuff I already have?"

"Yes, for a reduced income."

"Well, I have these metal gloves and this shortsword."

"I can give you 550 yen."

"550!? I've been taking care of these gloves for years, and they're in about the same condition as the gloves you have for sale at 1200 yen! I say 600 for the gloves and 250 for the shortsword!"

"Hmph, deal."

"Now, do you have a pair of elbow pads and knee pads?"

All in all, I spent about 2500 yen on the gear I bought for myself, and the rest of my money on gear for Junpei and Yukari. For some reason, I was able to see some little bonuses these items gave, so I emailed Akihiko and he told me that Persona users are able to see things like that. My brass knuckles did extra damage against Priestess type Shadows, Junpei's new Gladius somehow increased his ability to take damage, and Yukari's new bow that I already forgot the name of had a small chance of inflicting Fear. No idea what that meant, but sounds helpful. Anyways, Kurosawa said he'd mail the gear to the dorm and it would arrive withing 2-3 days. I thanked him and walked out of the station, only for my eyes to catch an illuminating blue coming from an alleyway to my left. It couldn't be...

Sure enough, as I went to investigate, it was. Another door to the Velvet Room. I sighed, wondering how they got outside of Tarturus, before finally accepting that I should probably investigate. So I walked through the door, and found myself face to nose with Igor.

"Ah, we've been expecting you." Igor said in that Igor voice of his. "The time has now come for me to reveal my true role to you."

"It's about time. I hate being kept in the dark."

Igor chuckled. Everything is so funny to him, isn't it? "My role is to provide you with brand new Personas through Persona Fusion."

And my eyebrow, and intrigue, both go up at the same time.

"Yes, by providing me at least two Personas, I can fuse them to create a brand new Persona for you." Igor smiled widely.

"And what are the advantages and disadvantages of this process?" I asked, still intrigued.

"Not many think to ask that, my young friend." Igor respoded. "Very well. The advantages are that the new Persona tends to come out stronger than the two used to perform the Fusion. Plus, you may wish to inherit some skills from your two Personas into the new Persona. Some Personas can only learn certain skills this way."

I smiled at the idea of it all.

"The disadvantages of this process are that you will forever lose the two Personas you used to perform the Fusion. There's also the slim chance of a Fusion Accident occuring."

"Fusion Accident?"

"Even with my great power, I'm not perfect. Persona Fusion requires immense concentration, and if I were to lose focus for even a fraction of a second, a Fusion Accident would occur. In that case, you may end up with an amazingly powerful Persona, or a pathetically weak Persona, I cannot control the outcome. As I said, however, it's incredibly slim."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, Igor." I continued to smile at the thought of gaining new Personas. "Can I fuse Orpheus and Pixie?"

"Hmm, not yet. The resulting Persona would be a little too strong for you at the moment. If I were to rank you in a leveling system, I would put you at a level 3 while the resulting Persona, Alp, would be a level 6."

So I'm living in an RPG. "That's disappointing, then. Anyways, I have a question, actually."

Igor smiled, as he tends to do. "Well then, by all means, ask away."

"I need to know: These sudden timestops and some voice in my head... are they Social Links?"

"Yes, my master will stop time to inform you of a Social Link upgrade, whether positive or negative."

"Well can you tell your master to at least turn the volume down? It's been giving me headaches. And what do these Social Links even do, anyways?"

"Ah, the bonds you form with others provide power for me to implement during the Fusion process. For example, if you were to fuse Alp, and you had started the Lovers Social Link, I could infuse a small bit of extra power into Alp. And if you were to max the Lovers Link, I could infuse enough power to grant it five extra levels of strength."

"So basically, without my Social Links, it'd be harder for my Personas to become stronger. I imagine they can become stronger through battle?"

"Yes, both of your suspicions are true."

I sighed. "So now I'm going to become a parasite, just using my friends for power. Wonderful."

"Master Igor, may I interrupt for a moment?"

"Feel free, Elizabeth." Igor responded politely.

"I'd like to ask you, Master Minato, if you would partake on a list of requests for me. I will reward you for your efforts, though they are optional of course."

"May I see the list?"

"Of course."

I read over the list and found myself intrigued by some of the requests avaliable to me.

"Who is 'The Ultimate Opponent'?" I asked.

"They've informed both myself and Master Igor they wish to remain anonymous until the time for battle has come."

"Hmm, and why do you want to visit Paulownia Mall?"

"I wish to endulge myself on the learning opportunity that presents itself studying your human world, partaking in your culture and rituals and-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. And I assume you can only do this with your guest of the Velvet Room? Not by yourself?"

"That is correct."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. How's Monday sound to you?"

"I'll look forward to it, Master Minato."

"Alrighty then. Igor, Elizabeth, thank you and I'll see you later." I shook Igor's and Elizabeth's hands.

"We will eagerly await your return, Master Minato." Elizabeth bowed.

And with that I walked out of the Velvet Room.

I walked back to the dorm at a fairly slow pace, a cool breeze hitting my face despite being late April, and took in the sight of a shrine as I was fairly close to the dorm. I had never taken this route, so this was my first time seeing it. I made a mental note to check it out later, and walked into the dorm.

"Oh, hey." Yukari greeted.

"Junpei, meet me up in my room in about 10 minutes."

"Oh, yeah, the challenge!" Junpei exclaimed, suddenly eating his dinner like a man possesed.

"Wait, what's going on?" Yukari asked.

"Junpei, chill dude, you'll choke like that." I said. "Anyways, I challenged Junpei to a game. If he wins, I have to tell him my secret that Kenji told me, and if I win I don't. I'll be in my room, Junpei." I said as I grabbed a Cielo Mist out of the fridge.

Within a minute of me arriving at my room, Junpei was there as well. I hooked the PS2 up, grabbed my controller, and Junpei grabbed his. The game booted up, and we chose our characters, Millia Rage for me and Sol Badguy for Junpei.

To make a long story short I got my ass kicked. Granted, I've never been good against Sol Badguy, but Junpei was almost at a pro level, he was that good. I got one hit in the entire fight, and I'm pretty good with Millia if I do say so myself.

"Have you ever entered any tournaments, Junpei? You're scary good."

"Heh, nah, never been into that kind of stuff. I just like to play and have fun. But I won, and you lost, so cough it up!"

I sighed in an overdramatic way, because regardless if I had won or lost I still would've told Junpei. "Fine. I heard from Kenji that Gekkoukan will be starting up a baseball club soon."

Junpei jumped to his feet in excitement. "Are you serious!? Oh man, that's so awesome! Dude!" He high fived me. He was smiling so widely it was fairly contagious. "...But what if he's lying?" Junpei angrily realized.

"Dude, if Kenji's lying I'll hold him while you beat the hell out of him. After seeing you this happy, I'd be pissed too."

Junpei laughed. "Yeah, I'll take you up on that."

Before I could think of what to say next, Junpei suddenly stood in front of me.

"Look, Minato? I'm sorry about what happened a few days ago. To be honest, I was pretty scared, I was just trying to keep it in, y'know? Seeing you smash your elbow against that Shadow made me realize just what we're up against. This ain't a game, and I should never have taken it lightly." He place a hand on my shoulder. "Friends?"

I looked Junpei right in the eye. "Nah. We're bros."

*CRASH*

And just like that the moment is ruined as the Magician card flips itself into the upright position.

"Thou hast righted the Magician Social Link

Go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide

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

And all is right with the world. "Come on, let's go. I'm hungry."

"So am I."

"You just ate something with Sonic Speed." I laughed. Junpei laughed. Everything felt right.