"Stare into the abyss, and the abyss stares back."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

The Dark Hour descended, and the normally innocuous form of Gekkoukan High School transformed into the intimidating, grotesque form of Tartarus. The members of SEES - Mitsuru Kirijo, Yukari Takeba, and Akihiko Sanada stood at the gates, staring up at the tower that was Tartarus.

"We took quite a bit of time to prepare tonight," said Mitsuru. "We won't have much time to explore."

"That's fine," Akihiko said, winding his arm. "We're only remaining in the lower floors, at least until we get a bit more powerful. We're not planning to go higher, at least."

"Why does it have to change its layout every time, though?" Yukari muttered. "It just makes things much more confusing for us.

Akihiko shrugged. "We'll just have to deal with it. Come on, let-"

They were interrupted by the sound of an explosion, and something crumbling. Immediately the three students' heads jerked upwards, and they saw a sight more unusual than anything they'd seen - a large hole punched through the wall of the middle floors of Tartarus, and 3 figures falling from it. 2 of them, which Mitsuru saw were large, beast-like Shadows, dug their claws into the wall and burst back into Tartarus' lower floors. The third figure, however, just kept falling.

"Get back!" Akihiko shouted, and SEES retreated to behind the gates as the figure collided with the ground. The impact was so great that it created a large cloud of dust and when it cleared SEES saw, to their shock, in the middle of the crater of impact...a person. A girl with long brown hair and pale skin, wearing a black, long-sleeved dress, somewhat Gothic-Lolita-ish.

The three quickly ran over to the girl. "Hey!" Yukari cried. "Are you okay!?"

"Does she look okay to you?" Akihiko said. "She just fell off the halfway point of Tartarus! No normal person would be okay after that!"

"A normal person would never be able to get to the halfway point of Tartarus." Mitsuru pointed out.

Akihiko and Yukari turned around and stared at her for a moment, then realized she was right. Akihiko pressed his hand to the girl's neck to feel her pulse. His eyes widened. "She's alive. I don't believe it, but there's a pulse."

"Forget Tartarus tonight!" Mitsuru exclaimed. "Bring her back to the dorms!"

"You are one of us."

"No."

"Then what are you?"

"I don't know."

"Then what can you be?"

"I don't know."

"What else can you be, except one of our kind?"

"I don't know. But I know I'm not one of you."

"But people change. Could you have been one of us before? Will you become one of us in the future?"

"...I don't know.

I don't know anything. But I want to know."

An hour later, lying on the sofa, the girl woke up. "Hey, she's stirring," Akihiko said when he saw the girl's eyes open.

The girl looked around and saw 4 people: A mature-looking girl with fiery red hair, a girl with light brown hair and a pink sweater, a silver-haired boy, and a man with glasses. "Are you alright?" Yukari said.

The girl froze, turned pale, and quickly dove behind the sofa out of sight, surprising the others. "Uh...is something wrong?" Mitsuru asked.

The girl didn't answer. "It's alright," said Shuji Ikutsuki. "You're safe here. You don't have to worry about us."

"B-b-but other people are scary…" They heard her mutter and exchanged looks.

"Um, you're…" Yukari said, trying to break the ice. "Who are you? You're a Persona-user too, right?"

No response.

"I think we should leave her for now," Mitsuru suggested. "Let her sleep here, and we'll come back and try to talk to her again in the morning." The others nodded, but as they prepared to walk away the girl said, "Wait...where am I?"

Akihiko turned around. "You're in...Iwatodai Dormitory. In Tatsumi Port Island."

There didn't seem to be any sign of recognition on the girl's face. Mitsuru sighed. "You can sleep here, on the couches. Please don't run away, we really need to talk to you when the sun rises. I promise we don't mean any harm."

The girl nodded timidly, and SEES left her alone in the common room.

"Just who was that?" Yukari asked as SEES gathered in the control room.

"I don't know," Ikutsuki replied. "I've never seen her, or anyone like her. Her refusal to open up to us could be a big problem for us trying to find out who she is. All we know is that she has a Persona."

"A strong one at that," Akihiko added. "Strong enough, at least, to let her fight her way up to the middle floors by herself."

Mitsuru shook her head. "We're not sure about that. She could have been traveling with someone else. But it seems reasonable to conclude that she is a Persona-user of considerable power."

"How did she even get up there, anyway?" Yukari asked. "What was she doing up there? Why was she even in Tartarus, and how did we never know about her?"

"Again, we have no idea," Mitsuru replied. "We have no other way but to talk to her tomorrow, try to get her to open up."

The conversation did not go anywhere else of particular note, and soon SEES went their separate ways. None of them could anticipate the impact that this mysterious girl was about to have on their journey, and how much their course would have differed if she had never existed.

The girl woke up again, and sat up. She looked around. She was in some sort of large room, with sofas, chairs, and a coffee table. Several doors were around her, and there was a staircase going both vertical directions.

She stared at her hand. She'd made a mistake then, allowed those Shadows to blast her out of Tartarus, and because of the resulting distance she was unable to pull out her post-mortem power. Her summons, she assumed, were also gone. At least she was still alive. Somehow, she always survived even the most fatal of blows.

Footsteps. She turned and saw the red-haired girl from last night. "Oh, you're up," she said, and sat down opposite her. "I'm sorry if I scared you last night. I just want to talk to you. I have a lot of questions and I hope you can answer them."

"Who are you?" The girl asked.

"Well, I suppose we can start with myself first. I am Mitsuru Kirijo, leader of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES for short." Mitsuru indicated the red band on her arm, which had the letters "SEES" written on it. "I'm a Persona-user."

"You...too?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Yes, me too. What about you? You can tell me your name, first."

The girl remained silent for a while. She looked down at her hands on her lap. Then she looked up, made eye contact with Mitsuru and muttered, "...Haruno. Haruno Seika."

"That's a beautiful name," Mitsuru smiled. "Haruno. And how old are you?" Haruno looked her age, only a bit younger, like a high school first-year.

"I don't remember."

That took Mitsuru aback. "You...don't remember? Not your birthday? The year you were born?"

Haruno shook her head. Mitsuru sighed. "OK...what about your past? What happened before you got here?"

Again, Haruno shook her head. "I don't remember much about it. I only remember that the Dark Hour existed, and I needed to get to the top of Tartarus."

"By yourself?" Mitsuru asked, slowly becoming more bewildered by Haruno's apparent amnesia.

"Yes. By myself. There was no one else with me."

Mitsuru pinched the bridge of her nose. Haruno was becoming more and more perplexing the more she spoke. She'd have to look her up later, see what she could find. "How did you come to learn about the Dark Hour, then?"

"I don't know. I just...knew about it," Haruno said.

Mitsuru decided it was time to switch gears - interrogating her on her past didn't seem like it'd go anywhere. "You have a Persona, right? Can you describe it?"

Haruno paused for a bit before answering. "Her name is...Andromeda."

"Andromeda…" Mitsuru repeated. The wife of Perseus in Greek mythology, most well known for being one of the first known to be "chained to a rock awaiting her death by dragon, only to be saved by a handsome hero".

At that point, Akihiko walked in. "Good morning. Mitsuru, and...the girl from yesterday."

Mitsuru stood up. "Sorry for bothering you, Haruno, but that's all I need to know. Thank you." She walked towards Akihiko. "Gather everyone in the control room."

"Let's summarize what I've learned," Mitsuru said. "The girl's name is Haruno Seika, she is indeed a Persona-user, and her Persona is called Andromeda. That's it."

The others' jaws dropped. "That's it?" Yukari asked, incredulous. "She didn't say anything else?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "She doesn't remember her birthday, her past, not even how she learned about the Dark Hour and Tartarus. She just came to know about it, apparently."

"Amnesia…" Ikutsuki muttered beneath his breath. "Still, that complicates things. We might not be able to learn much about her if even she doesn't know much about herself."

"Let's try looking her up on the Internet," Akihiko suggested. "Maybe we could find something about her."

But to SEES' utter shock and disbelief, their Internet search on "Haruno Seika" turned up...absolutely nothing. Zip. It was as if Haruno did not even exist.

"Just who is this girl…?" Akihiko thought.

Gekkoukan High's school year was starting in a few weeks, so the school grounds were relatively empty. SEES saw it as the perfect opportunity to introduce (or re-introduce) Haruno to society, by taking her to the place where they decided she should spend the next year - Gekkoukan. Mitsuru had already decided for her to live in Iwatodai Dormitory, since there wasn't anywhere else for her to go, due to her foggy past. To close the package she thought Haruno should go to Gekkoukan as well.

Surprisingly, Haruno wasn't opposed to the academic aspect of being a student. There seemed to be some curiosity burning inside her, some desire to learn more and more about the world, and she was a fast learner, as Akihiko had learned when he explained to her about Tatsumi Port Island, and what they knew about the Dark Hour.

There was just one problem.

Though Haruno had grown accustomed to the other members of SEES, she was still shy and reserved around them, not speaking much and preferring to remain within her room alone. And when Mitsuru did finally manage to coax her out, Haruno flinched, sometimes panicked, at the sight of any person that wasn't Mitsuru, Yukari, or Akihiko. Even Ikutsuki couldn't make headway with the hopelessly shy girl. Mitsuru could hardly imagine how she'd deal with the mass of students in Gekkoukan once the school year started. "One of us is going to have to stick by her," she thought. That would be a tall order since Haruno was enrolled as a first-year, and Yukari, the youngest person in the group, was a second-year.

Mitsuru prayed that Haruno wasn't too socially inept.

"We're going to Tartarus tonight," Mitsuru announced to the SEES members gathered in the common room, "and as you will have likely expected, we're taking Haruno with us. We still don't know what exactly she can do, so we have to find out. Going into Tartarus may also help her remember something. Any questions?"

None. Mitsuru turned to Haruno and drew out a pistol-like object. "Do you know what this is?"

Haruno shook her head, which surprised everyone present. "This is an Evoker," Mitsuru explained. "We use it to summon our Personas. You point it at your own head, and pull the trigger."

"You summon your Persona...by shooting yourself?" Haruno tilted her head to the side.

"It's not a real gun, merely a device," Mitsuru said. "Don't you use anything like these?"

Again, Haruno shook her head. Akihiko stood up from his seat suddenly. "You're telling me that you just went up half of Tartarus without an Evoker?"

Headshake. "I just think of wanting to summon Andromeda, and she comes out."

Akihiko frowned. "Yet another minor mystery in a giant pile of mysteries."

Mitsuru opened a box that was apparently filled with Evokers and gave one to Haruno. "Take one, just in case. Anyways, like last time, we're planning to explore the lower floors. It's still a safe bet to remain there until we grow in power, even now that we have Haruno, who managed to make it up to the middle of Tartarus' floors all by herself. Haruno, please refrain from engaging in combat too actively, the others need the experience. As always, I'll stay outside and provide navigation and support with my Persona, Penthesilea."

Haruno nodded. However, she noticed Yukari turn away, a hint of contempt barely visible on her face.

The Cowardly Maya disappeared in a puff of black smoke, with the arrow embedded into it falling into the ground. "Clear," Yukari said, retrieving her arrow.

To SEES' surprise, Haruno's Persona was apparently able to analyze Shadows better than Mitsuru could. The group decided to leave navigation to Mitsuru and battle analysis to Haruno. However, it turned out that Haruno did not have any actual combat capabilities - at least, none she was able to display. When Akihiko asked her about it, she simply said, "I lost them when I fell off Tartarus." Mystified, the team pressed on.

"She's definitely got something else up her sleeve," said Akihiko. "Otherwise, her managing to explore Tartarus by herself makes no sense."

Then they heard a...roar? Yes, a roar. Two roars. Haruno's eyes widened. "It's them!"

"It's who!?" Yukari tried to ask, but then 2 large Shadows rounded the corner in front of SEES - the same Shadows that had fallen out of Tartarus with Haruno, which had managed to claw their way back inside rather than fall to their death.

"Run!" Haruno grimaced. "They're too powerful for you two! You'll never be able to fight them!"

"What about you?!" Akihiko yelled.

"I'll handle them!" She pulled out her Evoker and walked slowly towards the Shadows.

"Haruno!" Yukari cried.

Haruno pointed the Evoker to her head, and without a shred of hesitation, pulled the trigger. "Andromeda, to me."

Behind Haruno, the figure of a pale lady in a white cloak and chains around her arms and legs emerged - Andromeda.

"Haruno's right!" They heard Mitsuru say. "Akihiko, Yukari, get out of there! Leave it to Haruno!"

"But what is she going to do?!" Yukari exclaimed.

Haruno, her Persona out, continued to calmly walk towards the two Shadows. One of them roared, raised its spear-like arm and lunged.

In moments, the Shadow pierced through Haruno's chest.

"Haruno!" Yukari, Akihiko and Yukari cried out in alarm.

What they did not see was Haruno raising her own arm to rest on the sharp appendage that had penetrated through her torso. She looked the Shadow in the eyes, smiled manically, and said,

"You're mine now."

Suddenly, as if assaulted by some invisible force, the Shadow shrieked in agony, and flailed about, in the process tossing Haruno's limp body towards Akihiko and Yukari. Then it stopped, stood up...and lunged toward its kindred.

The other members of SEES stood agape as Haruno's apparent assailant began to fight the other Shadow, not just with the berserk vigor typical of Shadows, but also with calculated movement and strikes. In a flash, both Shadows lunged at each other, but the one which had apparently killed Haruno quickly sidestepped and drove its piercing arm through the other Shadow's chest. The latter roared weakly, then collapsed and disappeared. Then, as if on cue, the remaining Shadow also let out a howl, and fell, vanishing in black smoke.

"W-w-what was that?!" Yukari finally managed to babble after a moment of stunned silence. "That Shadow that had just killed Haruno! It just turned on its friend and then died with it!"

"Haruno's not dead," Akihiko said suddenly, cradling Haruno's body. Yukari turned to look at him in surprise. The gaping hole that had been left in her chest had somehow closed itself. "I don't believe it. She just recovered from that like it was nothing. What was that, anyway? Did she just brainwash the Shadow while dying?!"

"She didn't just brainwash it…" Mitsuru said, sounding equally stunned. "I was able to analyze the status effects that the rogue Shadow was suffering from. Brainwashing means temporarily wiping or modifying its memory, and it can be shaken out of with a shock. But...no, what Haruno did was completely different. A brainwashed Shadow could not have fought so intelligently."

"So...what did she do?" Yukari asked.

"I still don't understand. But I think I can now see a part of the reason why Haruno was able to make it so far into Tartarus by herself. When the Shadow "killed" her...Haruno took complete control of the Shadow. That's the only explanation I can come up with."

Both Yukari and Akihiko's eyes widened. "Complete control-?"

Mitsuru sighed. Haruno Seika was proving to be one big enigma. "Bring her back," she said. "We're done for the night."

"Haruno," Mitsuru said once SEES had returned to their dormitory, and Haruno had woken up. "I'm sorry for disturbing you again, but I really need you to answer this question. Just one. What can your Persona do?"

Haruno paused. She looked around at the four members of SEES in front of her. "I...don't want to tell."

"Please," Akihiko said. "We need to know what you're capable of, so we can adjust to your strengths. You want to get to the top of Tartarus, right? So do we."

"But I'm not used to fighting with others…"

Mitsuru thought for a moment. "Just tell us, and then if you want us to, we could stay out of your way."

Haruno remained silent for a while. She looked around again. "...Fine."

She took a deep breath. "Andromeda...I don't know how I can do this, or why. I just know that when I touch and hold on to a Shadow that I've analyzed for a period of time, I can...dominate it. Control it. After I've touched it, I can tell it what I want it to do in my mind, and it will do exactly that. But I can't control Shadows that are too strong compared to me. The stronger the Shadow, the harder it is for me to dominate it."

Mitsuru, Akihiko, Yukari and Ikutsuki stared at each other. Mitsuru was right - complete control of Shadows. The notion itself was terrifying, but to think that this girl, who was scared of people and barely remembered anything about herself, was capable of doing it…

"I can also, um, "store" Shadows I've taken control of," Haruno continued, "and I can summon them later, though once they die I can't summon them again. I can also heal myself using the life force of Shadows that I'm controlling. And...I don't know why, but I can't die. Whenever a Shadow does something to me that would kill me, I can dominate it, and it isn't as hard as usual. It feels like I'm injecting some of myself into the Shadow when I'm doing so."

Haruno looked up and saw utter shock in the faces of the other SEES members. Finally, Mitsuru stood up. "Thank you, Haruno. You can rest now."

"That girl is imbalanced," Ikutsuki said matter-of-factly.

"To think that Haruno can just outright control Shadows like a puppeteer…" Akihiko shook his head. "I feel glad she's on our side."

"Her power does rely quite a bit on her environment, though," Mitsuru said. "I think the power of Shadows she dominates remains the same, so how strong Haruno is depends on what Shadows are around her."

"Do you think we should let her fight alone, then?" Yukari suggested.

"No, she said she apparently lost her "stored" Shadows when she fell off Tartarus," Mitsuru explained. "Perhaps she loses all her summonable Shadows whenever she dies. No, "dying" isn't a good word. Haruno said she can't die."

"That's insane," Akihiko said, "but I can't not believe it. We both saw her fall from Tartarus' middle floors, and take a big Shadow drill to her chest, yet she recovered from both."

"There's a lot we still don't know about Haruno," Mitsuru said. "There likely will be much we will never find out about her. But it's worth trying. In any case, I think, for now, we should let her travel with the party, at least in order to let her control a few Shadows and see how she does it."

The others nodded. "By the way," Ikutsuki interjected, "apparently, next week we're going to get another student. He'll be staying here in Iwatodai and going to Gekkoukan, like the rest of us. I think his name was…"

"Makoto Yuki," Mitsuru answered for him.

Can I be completely honest? I barely have any idea what I'm doing with Haruno.

It's funny, because the moment I managed to get a clear, sharp picture of one of my Persona OCs (Saya Anakuzen in "Faith for the People"), I immediately come with another OC whose character details are somehow even foggier than Saya's during the latter's inception. I think the amnesia was just an excuse for me to delay detailing Haruno.

Anyways, this is my idea for a Persona 3 OC fic, and unfortunately I have nowhere near as many prospects for this as I do for Faith for the People. But hey, writers gotta write. I'm gonna plow ahead and see what comes out of this idea.

Stay tuned! (I forgot what my new end-of-chapter catchphrase was.)