Chapter 22: Turning Point

Minato Arisato

Rainy – Morning – 17/11/2012(Saturday) – Iwatodai New Dorm, Tatsumi Port Island

The last thing that she remembered was Takaya invading their dorm and she was taken away. Everything else seems blurred to her. Until she open her eye to see she was safe in her room, facing the ceiling.

Yukari turned to her right and saw a young man sitting next to her bed, playing his mp3 player. He didn't seem to notice her at first, but he eventually turned off his mp3 player and smiled when he saw Yukari opened her eyes. "You awake, Yukari."

"Mi…Minato?" Yukari stuttered. Slowly, she forced herself to lift her head and find herself very weak to do so. Not like she cared anymore, as she tried to confirm the man in front of her. Indeed, it really was her Minato, smiling gently as he held her hand to make sure she was able to sit.

"Am I dreaming?..." Yukari touched Minato's hand, still confused between dream and reality.

"No you're not, Yukari. See? I'm real." Minato lead her hand to his cheek. Yukari rubbed his cheek, his hair and finally his lips. Her eyes began to tear up. Sobbing, she stretched her arm around his waist and cried on his shoulder, hugging as tight as she could.

"*sob*… You're real, you're here."

"Yeah, I'm here." Minato hugged her back gently. They continued to hug, letting Yukari to enjoy her moment with Minato. Yukari was of course, one of the closest to Minato, yet she was the one who refuse to accept his death in the past. This could be her finest moment to say she was satisfied after waiting for him for all these years.

5 minutes later…

…At least, a bit too fine. Minato could feel the pain on his ribs."…Yukari, I think that's enough. We're late for breakfast, everyone else are waiting for you." Minato said, sweat dropping. 'Aigis wasn't kidding about Yukari not wanting to let me go.' He thought.

"Arisato, is Yukari awake-" Just then, Mitsuru entered the room fully dressed. Her word was cut off midway when she saw their position. "Am I disturbing something?" Minato heard Mitsuru's voice turned cold, almost with a bit of jealousy.

"Ah, no." Minato quickly released himself from Yukari's hug and proceed to lend Yukari a hand to stand up.

"Please take care of Yukari while I go to meet Yu." Minato said to Mitsuru. She nodded and Minato walked to the door before turned to Yukari, "Today is important. I better get ready."

As he left, Yukari asked everything about what happened while she was unconscious. Mitsuru, taking her time, explained every detail including yesterday's battle, and today's important meeting.

Yes, today. The day all four leaders gathered at Velvet room to meet Igor and decide what to do from today onward.

Yu Narukami

Iwatodai New Dorm, Tatsumi Port Island

The investigation Team gathered at the lounge after a great breakfast made by none other than their great leader. Besides them were Aigis, Labrys, Akihiko, Fuuka, Junpei, Ken and Koromaru. Investigation Team originally intended to return to Inaba by now, but what Yu said this morning about Margaret held them back. They're now waiting for Minato and the others to join them.

"So, what are we suppose to do now?" Kanji directed the question to everyone in presence.

"Investigate more about the Arcana shadow and search for our possible insider in Kirijo's Group. That's the main objective for now." Akihiko replied.

"For us, we'll be searching for Adachi and our friends." Chie said.

"Well, as for me, I'll be going to Toudou-san's hometown." Another presence coming from the main door answered them. They all turned to see Ryoji by the door.

"Ryoji?!" The member of Shadow Operative roused in shock. "He's not an enemy!" Aigis quickly dashed between them and stopped them before anything worse. She gave a brief explanation before the atmosphere returned calm.

"Relax, I'm a persona of Arisato, Ryoji Mochizuki. I just want to talk." Ryoji said, focusing his eyes on Yu. "About your friends, I might have a clue where she is."

This time, the Investigation Team was the one to rouse from their seat. "You do?!" Yosuke asked.

"She's in Yomi, but you can't go in there unless it's Dark Hour. It's somewhere… in the TV world at the place resemble old japan temple."

"Yomotsu Hirasaka?" An answer clicked in Yu's mind.

"Bingo!" Ryoji raised a finger at Yu as a correct answer.

"Woah, she's that close?" Yukiko interjected.

"That's good to hear! Thanks, Ryo-chan!" Teddie thanked him.

"Well, glad to hear that. Which leave us to worry about Yukari." Akihiko said.

"What about her?" Junpei asked concernedly.

"About the drug that was used on her these past few days. I check the remains of the drug and the effects are far stronger than what Takaya used previously. It can completely stop the mind from thinking and remove strong emotion in order to lock one inner self." Fuuka deduced.

"In other word, she can't use persona." Ken turned to Fuuka. She slowly nodded before adding.

"Even now, the effect will take a few more days before it wears off. She will have to rest from this war of is such a powerful drug."

"I can't accept that." A familiar voice was heard from the stairs. Everyone turned to see Yukari fully dressed along with Mitsuru behind her. "I have been nothing but burden when I was kidnapped, I can't just stay here while everyone else is struggling."

"You do realize that our enemy this time is not like what we faced before?" Mitsuru interrupted by touching her shoulder.

"I don't care! I don't need a persona to face some shadows! I'm fine by myself-"

"Yukari…" Minato's voice stopped Yukari midway as he slowly walked down the stairs. "That's not what she meant. You do know that we worry about you."

"Minato…" Yukari's rage slowly disappeared as she looked into his blue eyes. Just then she noticed that his eyes were blue; probably since she was too focused on his face before. Seeing into his cold eyes, she eventually lowered her voice, "Alright."

"Don't worry Yukari-san, we'll be needing you after you have completely healed." Aigis encouraged her.

"A'right. So, what's this about Margaret again?" Kanji asked.

"You'll see." Minato said, giving a small grin.

As if on cue, Margaret appeared from the entrance door near Ryoji. Those who haven't seen her gasped in surprise. Margaret closed the door behind her and turned to Minato and Yu.

"Master Igor would like to speak with you." Margaret said, "which include you too, Ryoji and Aigis-sama. Please follow me to the outside to the Velvet door."

Aigis wasn't surprised, considering that she did inherited Minato's Wild Card. Slowly, she walked forward besides Ryoji, Yu and Minato, who were already walking towards the door.

In order, Ryoji, Aigis, Yu and Minato entered the door and Margaret bowed slightly towards the others and closed the door. The others just stood there in silence. Rise was the one who broke the ice. "Where're they going? How come Yu-senpai are so familiar with her?"

No one knew the answer. Well, at least some of them may have a clue.

Tatsuya Suou

Windy – Morning – Suou Residence, Konan, Sumaru City

"Wake up, dear." Maya whispered, waking up her son. Matsuya seems tired, but since he had no memory of Ameno Torifune, it should be a relief. There was no school for today, so Maya purposely woke him up late in the morning. The others resumed their daily routine for today, waiting for Tatsuya's order for the next move.

"Maya." Tatsuya, fully dressed, called her from the door of their son's room. He gave a smile, and slowly walked towards Matsuya's bed and stroked his brown hair.

Now that was odd for Maya, it's rare for Tatsuya to do those kinds of fatherly things before. He's usually busy with his work except during weekends and holidays. No, that's not it. It was his eyes, too sorrowful when he stared at Matsuya. As if…

"Let him sleep for a while. It's time for us to enter the Velvet Room. Naoya's probably waiting in there." Tatsuya suddenly spoke, which startled Maya.

"Y-Yeah, of course." Maya replied. Indeed, something was really wrong with him.

They walked to the hall to find a velvet door was already there, greeted by Nameless. "Master Igor need both of you in the room."

Gladly, Nameless opened the door for Maya to enter first before Tatsuya.

Uneasiness sparked as Tatsuya remembered vividly yesterday's conversation.

'Tch, why does it have to be her?' Tatsuya tightened his fist as he recalled Jun's last word.

Four Man of Prophecy

Velvet Room

Naoya was already at his seat at the left most chairs among 6 others. Igor, Theodore, Demon Painter and Belladonna were all in presence on the opposite side of the chairs. Naoya sensed Igor was glaring at him, but he chose to shift sideway, avoiding contact.

A second after, Tatsuya and Maya entered the room accompanied by Nameless to their seat. "Good to see you, Tatsuya." Naoya greeted the seemly stress Tatsuya, but he paid no attention as he took a seat at the rightmost chairs with Maya on his left.

Another door appeared; where Yu, Minato, Aigis and Ryoji entered the room tagging along with Margaret.

"Please have a seat." Margaret gestured them to the last four chairs in the middle. In the order from left to right, Naoya, Ryoji, Aigis, Minato, Yu, Maya and Tatsuya adjusted their seat to face Igor. 'They prepared the chair well.' Yu thought.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. I am delightful to see all my important guests are here today." Igor began, and everyone started to pay attention. "Your destiny from this moment will be in your absolute possession. Your destiny before the prophecy day is severe, but only one may lead to your victory in the battle with the Four Horsemen, while the aftermath is limitless."

"Hold it, where's Philemon?" Naoya suddenly disturbed Igor's word. Theodore was seen hissing at Naoya's rudeness while the others were probably already used to his attitude. Igor glanced at Naoya, "He will not be here today."

Naoya's face hardened, Tatsuya growled, Minato was rather relaxed while Yu and Aigis were a little disappointed as they were the last not able to see Philemon's nature. However, Igor continued, "So we have brought his replacement." Everyone's face lightened up.

The large window behind Igor and the rest was suddenly brightened white, blinding everyone's vision. When they reopened their eyes, Father Time was the one to appear besides Igor."Hello everyone."

"You keep appearing now and then, we need Philemon." Tatsuya said.

"Perhaps I forgot to mention, I owned half of Philemon's power." All guests face changed, increasing question. "So it will be my right to represent him as well."

A moment of silence was given to the guests before they eventually nodded.

"As you know, this week will be granted to the first rider, Conquest to awaken. You will have to undertake this task, Naoya Toudou." Father Time shifted his eyes towards Naoya. Naoya seemingly understand the meaning behind his words while on the other hand, one can see Tatsuya and Yu making their own deduction on Naoya's agreement.

"Thanatos, your lead to find the Pandora's Box will be on the same path as Naoya." Ryoji nodded.

"I'll be glad, if Minato would allow me." Ryoji turned to Minato. He nodded without a second thought.

"I still have Orpheus Telos and Messiah with me. Don't worry." Ryoji smiled upon his words.

"Tatsuya and Maya Suou, your task will be on hold for now, but during this time, finding Tatsuya Sudou is an optional choice. I'll be staying in Sumaru City for a while, so you won't miss anything out."

They both were surprised by his words. It should be mean for them to rest in a good way, yet they felt powerless if nothing they could do.

"I said on hold for now, your time will be arriving another week later." Father Time rephrased his words, as if he was able to read their worries.

"As for you, Yu Narukami, you need to find your dear wife, Marie is it?" Father Time continued.

"Yes, I know I must find Marie- *cough* What?!" Yu coughed when he heard the word 'wife'. The others on his left and right stared at him with different expression.

"*sigh*…, kids these days. That's very bold of you." Naoya gave a side smirk with his dotted eyes.

"Such a young husband!" Maya impressed. Tatsuya was not pleased.

"Did you do 'it' on the bed yet?" Ryoji's said, his eyes sparkling stars. Yu turned slightly red by those words. "That's wrong! I'm-"

"Do you have a child? Because, you know, your title is 'father'. So…" Minato held a poker face as he said that. Theodore and Margaret, including Belladonna, Nameless and Demon Painter leaned closer in curiosity while Igor kept his posture.

"She's not my wife! Besides, she was Izanami! She belongs to Izanagi!" Yu enhanced his voice.

"But Izanagi is your inner self, am I wrong?" Father Time explained, Yu slowly calming down. Father Time steeled his expression, and slowly smiled as if holding a laugher.

"You really have no idea why you are named 'Father' in the prophecy, do you?" His word stunned Yu, before continuing to Aigis, leaving Yu with puzzled face.

"Aigis, as Igor warned you before. Since you have been extracted from your Archetype, or you may call it 'butterfly', never let Nyarlathotep put the Archetype within you again. Just so you won't misunderstand, he needs your other self, Metis as a sacrifice, not yourself."

"Why Metis?" Aigis asked, surprised.

"Listen, Archetype was a power that was never meant to be within human, not even weak shadow or persona will be able to hold the power. Since it's a true power to control your inner self and emotion, unable to control the power will result in your inner self separate from your own." Father Time answered before Aigis could even ask.

"In other word, Archetype user will develop split personality and self. Like how in the case of Thanatos to have Ryoji and Pharos form, Metis was born from Aigis after she received her Archetype, Izanami and Izanagi having multiple self that each serve different purpose. Full control of the Archetype will merge all your alternate self and gain full power. For us god and you human, it will take at least one year for the Archetype to fully mature." He continued.

"The Four Horsemen required the 'vessel' to be a former Archetype user. On the other hand, the 'sacrifices' required a 'separated self' of Archetype user who have not fully control it. Ryoji's Archetype has been extract from him to Nyx which make him a perfect vessel, while if you, Aigis, reclaim the Archetype, your unstable form will once again create Metis and become a suitable sacrifice for the last rider. Beware, Nyarlathotep is powerful enough to extract the Archetype from the user's body by using the power lead to Philemon even by force, which is the main reason behind Margaret's stolen compendium book."

Margaret frowned as she faced away. Aigis was able to understand Father Time's word. Tatsuya clenched his teeth upon the word sacrifice.

"If Izanagi have an Archetype, do I have it too?" Yu asked curiously. Father Time's expression remained still.

"You may find out yourself." Yu's curiosity paused.

"But what about Minato? He just receive his Archetype yesterday, there's no way he can reach full power in less than TWO MONTHS. What if Nyarlathotep steal the compendium book again and bring out his inner self and used it for the sacrifice?" Naoya asked thoughtfully.

Again, that face he made, like he already heard this explanation before and just finding something odd to himself. This time, Minato and Yu themselves finally agreed with Tatsuya of how suspicious he was.

"About the time limit and a safe place, that will be the last mission for you, Minato Arisato." Father Time smiled again, this time it's creepier. Minato raised his brows, waiting for his task.

"You must maximize your Archetype again, the same way you formed your bond with your friends."

Everyone looked rather confused, even for the member of the Velvet Room. Father Time smirked, as if waiting for this moment from the time Minato entered the room. He reached for something behind his suit and took out something familiar to him.

"…A student ID?" Minato said, although it was already obvious that it was Gekkoukan High School's student ID.

"Your 'alternate' ID. You will once again repeat your second year in another world."

Everyone looked shocked. Another world?

"What do you mean?" Aigis asked.

"What I mean is, I will send you back in time to the moment when you first arrive Tatsumi Port Island in the alternate past to repeat your bonds with your friends again." He handed Minato the student ID.

"Sent me back in time again? To relive my second year and fight Nyx again?" Minato took the student ID.

"I will send you through the Abyss of Time, please follow me there as soon as possible."

Minato only understand half of it. But the question was starting to piece together when he glanced at his 'new' ID. How shocking was he when he recognized the name written for him.

Makoto Yuki

'It's the name that girl use to call me…' Minato thought.

"That concludes today's discussion. You know the rest and Minato, let's not delay your 'travel' any further." Father Time smiled.

They all went and continued their separated mission as they left the room.

Minato Arisato

Afternoon - Abyss of Time

There, in the middle of the sand-made space, stood a door similar to the one SEES used to peek into Minato's true sacrifice. In front of the door there stood Father Time, facing Minato and the Shadow Operative. Since everyone gathered here, everyone has already informed of Minato's departure to the past. Of course, some of them were going to miss him again but this is for the best. Maybe they could truly welcome him again when the prophecy day end.

"Don't forget, your current power remains strong even if your Archetype is still half of it." Father Time said which Minato nodded before he slowly walked closer to the door. Just then, Father Time stopped him and spoke close to his ear.

"Remember, the alternate world I will send you to, is very close to this world. So I remind you that do not change that world's past too much or I'll have the risk to 'find' that alternate world again to bring you back to this world."

Minato glanced at him before he continued.

"It is only possible for me to send you to the alternate world because it has slightly different scenario than this world, making it 'closer'. But by changing that world's past, it will drift away from this world, making it harder for me to find you."

"I promise." Minato replied, but Father Time's face darkened as he was still not convinced.

"When will he return?" Mitsuru asked. Her expression was sad.

"For Minato, it will be a year, but in this world, it might be before Death's awakening, perhaps earlier if you're in luck." Father Time gestured his hand to the handle, "Go, the longer you stay, the harder you want to leave."

Minato nodded, and he reached for the handle and turned it.

A burst of light blinded him from the inside before everything sank back to darkness as he lost consciousness.

Yu Narukami

Foggy – Afternoon – Train station, Inaba

As soon as Yu exited the Velvet Room, the Investigation Team made their way back to Inaba shortly after. Now that they knew Marie's location, they could finally take a breather as they exit the train at Inaba's train station.

…How could they know how wrong were they?

"…What just happened?" Kanji said as they all observed their surrounding.

"Is it… Marie-chan's doing?" Teddie suggested, but no one wanted to confirm it.

Yu widened his eyes on the greenish and foggy environment, feeling some déjà vu moment, or was it him? Yu's chest tightened by sudden pressure, like something or someone was forcing out of his body.

'Izanagi…'

"We should all rest at home for now, we're still tired from yesterday's battle. Let's not rush about rescuing Marie." Naoto suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. How about we go on Monday then?" Yosuke gave another suggestion.

"Got it, we'll meet again at Junes on Monday." Everyone nodded on Yu's word. Though one will certainly wonder how they should rest with the new environment around them.

They parted at the train station heading their home. Yu had to take the riverbed path to reach his house. A stranger will certainly get lost in this situation, considering all the fog. Yu reached for something in his bag, and slowly placed the glass on between his eyes.

The image of bamboo tree and tall grass on the river side become clear to him without the fog. One can see the river became so clean that all the fish and stone in the water became visible. Yu knew he could get a better view, but not from here. He increased his pace and marched towards the highest point of the town.

He took a deep breath upon reaching the top of the hill and once again observed the town. It has turned into ancient-looking, green covered a quarter of the house field. Yu could see crowded resident chatting by the house full of cracks and rusts. It left an impression of an abandoned city by the forest.

"How in the world did this happen?"

Minato Arisato

? - ?/?/? – Train?

He felt like he had been sleeping for more than a day, his eyes felt extremely heavy. He could feel like he's moving in a car. Gaining some strength to lift his hand and wiped his eyes, Minato realized that he was in a train.

Fully awake, he glanced at his surrounding, Gekkoukan High uniform, mp3 player,… and a new ID card. He realized that he is sitting near the train door, with his mp3 player still playing 'Burn My Dread'. He closed the player and checked the windows and the other seats.

He's almost speechless by the presence of a girl across his seat. Listening to the same mp3 player as him, she closed her eyes, immerse in the song. Minato leaned closer to look at her face if he could recognize her.

It's the auburn-haired girl, the girl that he met on the rooftop. That girl...

She opened her eyes, as if she just awoken from a strange dream. At the same time, a blue butterfly flew across the window, leaving her questioning its appearance. She quickly paid no attention to it and continued with her music.

"Attention passengers, we sincerely apologies for any inconvenience caused by our delay. The next stop is Iwatodai. I repeat, the next stop is Iwatodai."

The signal for the station to arrive shortly warned Minato of the time.

11:59…

He quickly packed his stuff, and the auburn-haired girl did the same. It was then the girl finally noticed his presence and smiled at him. 'She looks friendly.' Minato commented as he followed her outside as the train stopped.

Still with the mp3 player on, the girl stopped suddenly, so did Minato who was silently following her.

3…2…1…

Dark Hour – 07/04/2009 – Iwatodai station, Tatsumi Port Island

The Dark Hour arrived just as predicted, and so the year began again for the second time.

A/N: From this chapter, the story will break into two part, the 'Paradox(P)' arc and 'Conquest(C)' arc. 'Paradox' will focus on Minato as he repeated his past while 'Conquest' will focus on present time of all three other protagonists, mainly Naoya. I will began with a few chapter of 'Paradox' arc before I'll continue with the present time, so please be patient with me.