A/N: Man, you guys review fast! Thanks for helping by reviewing!

Also, I'd like to extend my apologies to those who are irked by Minato's dreams. Do realize that it's to imply Elder's rise to power. Its the main theme, and will be extremely important in the latter chapters, very pivotal, so no complaining! Also, Minato and Minako will have a moment. I guarantee that, since Minako will be soon involved, and they'll do it to relieve stress. Soon.

Also, there is a possibility Minato's life may or may not end soon depending on the storyline... Should that be a poll question or something?

(1/17/11)

Thursday...

Today had been quite uneventful, although Minako was being really secretive...

We held the final meeting of the Sports club, wherein several members forced me to make a speech, and said their farewells. Ms. Toriumi actually cried, gave us all hugs, and showed us the new office of the Badminton Club, a lavish office. That had a wall dedicated to pictures of us, promoting Minako to quip, "You guys act like we died in a car crash and you never got over it."

When we finally went back home, Minako excitedly showed me a pair bracelets. It was a gold rope, with an M pendant.

"M, for Minako and Minato?" I asked.

"Huh? No, that's-"

"Minako, I know we're best friends and all, but this is ridiculous!"

"Fool, that stands for Morpheus, God of Dreams. It's a Dream Charm, that allows us to synchronize our dreams." Minako said, "Unbelievable, I know... But it works."

"'Dream Charms'?" I said, trying not to laugh, "Is that what you've been so secretive of? Some charm you bought from some charlatan gypsy?"

"It's not a sham!" Minako cried, "I'll show you!" She made me sit cross-legged on the floor of Narda and we wore the bracelets.

"We're supposed to hold hands." Minako said. I blushed red when I felt her soft hands, "And close our eyes."

"This is safe, right?" I asked tentatively.

"It should be," Minako shrugged, "Besides, it wouldn't really hurt if I see it myself, right? I mean, it can't be pure dumb luck that you keep getting them dreams. Maybe I can even help you understand them."

I nodded

"Concentrate," Minako commanded, "On what you want to see..."

I did that and the world dissolved.

I came into the dreamscape. I wasn't that surprised, except it was set in a freezing forest, and that Elder wasn't there at first. Minako was also beside me, but we couldn't speak out, for some reason. We instinctively held our hands. It was really cold though, and the landscape didn't resemble that of any Japanese countryside.

A man was running away from someone, or something. I assumed it was wolves. The man looked no older than 19, having messy hair and wore a fur coat, but his eyes held wisdom of, literally, a thousand years. He took a rest near a giant rock.

"Well, well," A proud voice sneered, "Hello, Kø-ril Sorensen. Or should I say Lord Sorensen, Lord of Space."

"Elder!" Sorensen snarled, "Why don't you just give up, boy? Killing one Lord of the Dark Arts is impossible, let alone all four of us!"

Minako mouthed, 'Elder' with a raised brow. I nodded. I then noticed Minako mouthing something along the lines of 'fucking bastard', but I didn't pay attention.

"Au contraire." Elder said silkily, "I already killed Isil-Dûr."

Sorensen's eyes sparked, "No!" Minako also mouthed it, as if she was watching a soap opera.

"Yes,"

"Why?!" Sorensen cried, "Why are you doing this? This is folly!"

"Because," Elder said deliberately, "I want to take over Heaven and make my enemies pay."

"Even we Dark Lords have bounds," Sorensen said, spitting at Elder's feet, "This isn't right, and nothing good shall come from it!"

"Never forgive, Never forget," Elder said, "That is my creed. My oath. I want to have your powers, and you will yield to me."

"Hmph. It doesn't matter if I do! Good luck finding me, because I'll never be where you want me to be!"

"Actually," Elder said, "I got you right where I want you. Anywhere. You cannot hope to escape the Elder."

"Kiss my arse!" Sorensen flipped his middle finger, "Your powers of teleportation are inadequate to pursue me, the Master of Space." He laughed and disappeared. I managed to hold on to the hem of his cloak, grabbed Minako, and teleported with him.

I always was fascinated with Teleportation, and always wonder what it felt like. It turned out to be awful.

My vision went black. I felt my body become pressurized from all directions. Breathing became almost impossible because I felt an invisible rope tightening over my chest. My eyeballs popped in and out, and my eardrums were pushed back into my brains. My insides were thrown around. At one point, I felt my kidneys going to where my lungs were. I probably vomited twice, and that wasn't pretty doing that while travelling a billion miles a second. Minako looked like she enjoyed it, though.

Finally, we came into a lush, snowy, forested hillside, with a river flowing beside it.

Sorensen took a rest at the riverbank and drank some of the driven snow.

"Took you long enough." Said a voice from the trees, "I nearly fell asleep waiting for you."

Sorensen jumped back and surveyed the grove, "Who goes there?"

"'Who goes there,' he says," the cold voice mocked, "How rude. I waited for you and this is the thanks I get...?" He said with a sarcastic voice.

"Show yourself!" Sorensen cried loudly.

"Don't delude yourself," the voice spat, "You know you're gonna die."

"Where the hell are you?!" Sorensen shouted wildly.

"I'm over here." The voice said from one of the trees. Sorensen looked wildly around, "Over here!" Said the voice behind him. Sorensen looked everywhere.

"Where are you?!" He growled.

"I'm here... I'm there... I'm EVERYWHERE." The voice mocked.

"Where are you?! Tell me!" Sorensen repeated loudly, "Show yourself this instant!"

"You're no fun," The voice sighed, "Follow the cold shiver down your spine..."

Sorensen looked wildly around the boughs, until we both looked at a shadow of a man resting in a branch, drinking a gourd of sake, "You in the mood for some hakárl?" Elder offered a cube to him.

"Elder!" Sorensen said with shock.

"Yeah, I know, this stuff is nasty." Elder muttered, flinging the fermented shark meat in the river.

"How is this possible?! We were in Norway and I teleported to Iceland! How did you get here?!" Sorensen cried.

Elder sighed, "I used the powers of time to run all the way here. It was more like a stroll, actually."

"I mean how did you know where I was?" Sorensen cried exasperatedly.

"Another trick of God. We Dark Lords know where other Dark Lords are, if we meet. Magnetism, if you will." Elder took another swig and threw the gourd away before leaping down the tree, "We're practically brothers, you and I."

"We are NOT brothers!" Sorensen spat.

"Whatever." Elder said, "At any rate, I don't want to shed any more blood. How about you tell me where to find Lord Creation? I don't want to cross the Lord of Weather without his powers."

"I will never speak." Sorensen said, clenching his fist, which caused twin double-scythes to retract from the top of his hand, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." With that, he charged.

Elder sighed, "If you wish." Elder opened his cloak, revealing several sharp and intimidating array of darts, knives, stilettos and needles. He took some and skillfully threw it at Sorensen, who teleported behind Elder. He succeeded in knocking him down.

'Holy shit!' Minako mouthed, as I took a few steps back with her.

Elder threw a needle as Sorensen deflected it with a swipe and teleported behind Elder, materializing behind him and knocking him down again. His trick was quite underhanded, but clever. He was trying to wear Elder down, and it was clearly working.

With a roar, Elder unleashed his sword and brandished it around, flailing like a madman, trying to strike, but Sorensen was cunning. He teleported to a tree and sniped at Elder with his spring-loaded four-shot stiletto shooter concealed in his sleeves.

Elder deflected three strikes, but was hit by one in the chest.

With a cry of pure anger, he swung his sword and hewed the tree in half. Sorensen merely teleported from harm's way, much to Elder's dismay.

Elder unsheathed a long, curved knife and threw it at the now grinning Sorensen. He walked calmly towards Elder, and to everyone, except Sorensen's, shock, his form quivered like a bowstring and the blade passed through him and embedded itself to the tree, as if he bended space itself.

"You'll find I'm going to be much harder to kill than feeble old Isil." Sorensen said with a smile, "If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best."

"Indeed..." Elder panted and grabbed the stiletto and roughly pulled it out, before healing instantly, "I fully intend to harvest your soul, Old one."

"Impressive." Sorensen mused, "If you like harvesting souls, you'll love harvesting pain just as well!"

Sorensen jumped and teleported. Elder was looking around him. Sorensen materialized above him and did a jump attack, downing Elder, who crumpled into the ground.

"Amateur." Sorensen said smugly.

Elder roared and swung his blade to Sorensen's neck, who teleported away.

"Stand and fight!" Elder bellowed.

"Against you?" Sorensen, who was hanging in a tree, said, "No way. We all know I'd lose if that happens... Hey, that's a nice cloak you have there... Did your husband make it for you?" He jeered.

Elder hurled his sword like a boomerang, slicing the tree in half, but Sorensen swiftly teleported away, reappeared behind Elder, slashed him four times with his claws and teleported away.

"Coward!" Elder bellowed and took his sword, "Show yourself!"

Four whistling stilettos answered Elder's cry as he deflected two, and got the remaining stilettos in his shoulder. Sorensen deftly reloaded and got four into Elder's chest, who was now critically injured.

"Come, Guardian!" Elder cried feebly.

Sorensen was about to reload and finish Elder off, when a giant Shadow shook the tree Sorensen was in. He teleported five feet away from the tree.

"A Guardian..." He mused and shot Guardian instead.

The darts hit Guardian's bulging muscles, yet he cried out in pain.

"Those darts are poisoned, you fools." Sorensen said coldly, "They'll sap your energy until you wither away."

Guardian charged at Sorensen, who did another jump attack, somersaulted and teleported again, this time, right in front of Elder.

"Grab him!" Elder commanded. Guardian rushed and grabbed Sorensen.

"Die!" Elder cried as he weakly stood up, about to run Sorensen through.

He teleported again, and he hit Guardian instead.

"Ow." Guardian said with barely a flinch.

"Sorry," Elder mumbled, "Sorensen, come out!"

A volley of darts were shot as the evil duo ducked for cover, "Why?" Sorensen cried out, "Why should I?"

"Because we know when we've lost." Elder said. Another volley of darts were shot, one hitting Guardian in the arms.

"You're not fit to be called a Dark Lord, maggot." Sorensen said coldly.

"That's why we've come to yield to your might!" Elder cried.

After a few seconds, he got down from his hiding spot to subjugate the two. Immediately, Guardian rushed for him. Sorensen swiped him eight times, scarring his chest and arms, before being subdued. Even then, he struggled and managed kick him four times in the face, and teleport away to a short distance. Guardian caught him by the feet, and Sorensen managed a few clean swipes to the face, cutting a double X in his face before Guardian dug his claws in Sorensen's neck.

"I dare you... Teleport." Guardian said.

Minako and I knew that if he did teleport, Guardian would be brought with him. There was no escape.

"Impressive." Elder said, limping to Sorensen's side, "I have never been pushed back that far, with exceptions to the Messiah."

"You've met the Messiah?!" Sorensen managed, "Did he... Is he... Is he as great as they say?"

"Minato? He is as great as they say." Elder said with reverence. Minako elbowed me in the ribs and winked.

"That is, however, beside the point. To honor you, Sorensen, I will bring you back to life if I defeat him."

Sorensen laughed, "The Messiah will stop you."

Elder pretended to be shock, "Stop me? He invited me." He absorbed Sorensen's powers and Guardian threw him down, "Go! Warn Zythos Menethil that I seek him! And that I'm ready." Elder demanded whilst pointing his sword at him.

Sorensen cursed him and teleported away.

"Hmph." Elder mumbled, "He was actually good."

"Tell me about it." Guardian said, taking the stilettos and pocketing them.

"Let's go back." Elder said. I grabbed Minako and held on to Guardian, who carried Elder on his massive back.

He ran and time and space seemed to bend. Trees, buildings, people, cars and everything else went by in a blur. Before we knew it, we were in the Astronomy Tower.

Sensei was on the very top.

"Another step to killing the Messiah." Elder said triumphantly.

"I found out something..." Sensei said stoically, "The Messiah holds two powers... To save the world..."

"Obviously." Guardian grumbled.

"Or to destroy it." Sensei finished.

"What?" Elder said with curiosity.

"Yes. Which is why it would be wiser... and safer, to allow him to join us." Sensei said, "He, of course, holds the Universe Arcana."

"That will depend on the manner of his acceptance." Elder said as the dream finished.

I opened my eyes to see Minako looking like she had the time of her life.

"That was... AMAZING!" She yelled out.

"Amazing?! My rival just got the powers of space!" I cried in exasperation.

"Well, except that part." Minako said sheepishly, "That was some pure Ninja-Samurai-Dragoon-Jedi moment!"

"Minako... Focus." I said.

"Sorry." Minako mumbled, "But Minato, these dreams are actually helping. Elder uncovers the weakness, and you can exploit it! You now know how to beat Elder with Time!"

"But he beat Sorensen using Sorensen's Hubris..."

"And he wants you to join him." She said with a wink.

"You're not seriously expecting me to-" then, I got her meaning.

"Yeaaaah." She nodded and stood up, "I better get going... Also, when you have lucid dreams, include me in them. These Dream Charms would mean we can go out on a date in Mount Everest or in Olympus Mons or something."

"That sounds great." I said with a smile.

She winked and left my room. Since I already saw today's dream, my sleep was a rare one... It was peaceful.

(1/18/11)

Friday...

Today was filled with debilitating reviews. But luckily, the day did end.

Minako was rubbing her temples while sipping on frappe. Ten her eyes lit up as if she thought of something clever, "A day in Venus takes up 243 days here on Earth... Which means it has the same time as a Monday."

Minako and I laughed so hard at her joke. Everyone else looked at us as if we lost our minds.

"Say what?" Lee said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it IS a bit hard to understand... Bazinga, it's not!" I joked. Minako was the only one who laughed.

"Bazinga. It's from a TV show." I said.

"Finally... Those two finally lost their minds..." Quan mumbled.

"Really?" Junpei said, "I thought that was lost a long time ago?" Everyone, except Minako and I, laughed at that. Shrugging, I decided to go to the bathroom to freshen up, when I noticed something really wierd. It wasn't blood in my urethra or anything, but I heard something in the alley adjacent to the bathroom. I finished my business and went out through the kitchen and hid behind a dumpster.

It was Naoto and Cato. Naoto grabbed a frightened Cato by the collar, "Look, you do not want me as your enemy, Cato-san." Naoto said silkily, "I may be small, but I've done things that will surprise the lot of you. Now tell me... Where is he?"

"I... I don't know what you're talking about..." Cato struggled to say.

"Don't... lie... to me..." Naoto said through her teeth, "I know you're hiding something... You know something... Something I really, really want to know."

"I really don't know what you're talking about..." Cato said, "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you! Why would I become a turncoat and betray Minato-san?!"

"You will tell me, or something bad is going to happen to him." Naoto warned. I almost scoffed, but reminded myself it was very true that something bad could happen to me. In fact, lots of bad stuff already happened.

"I..." Cato stammered, "I know you're after Minato-san!"

Naoto's eyes lit up, "What...?"

"That's right." Cato spat, "I know all about your business. Your client 'The Elder'? I know you're working for him!"

"Where's your evidence?" Naoto demanded.

"My evidence?" Cato said incredulously, "Where do you keep getting those injuries, Naoto? Tell me, did you get that from investigating all those files about a Tibetian Monk? or that Norse man? Or that Greek dude recently. Or are you just a bad cook, getting all those stab and slash wounds?"

"How... how did you-"

"I've sent some people to keep an eye on you." Cato said, "I don't like the way you keep snooping around."

"I AM a Detective, you spoiled prat!" Naoto cried, "Why do you care anyway?"

"I owe Minato a debt." Cato said proudly.

Naoto pulled out her gun, "You see this? This is an Athena KISS-R, the best handgun of its model. It can fire 12 rounds of armor-piercing bullets. It's so destructive, it can pierce a bulletproof window, yet so accurate, it can tear the wings off a fly a hundred yards away... Without killing it." Naoto warned, making Cato sweat, "If I see you, or anyone else for that matter, it would be bad for your health. You will literally kiss your debt goodbye. Only for 54,000¥ on Daidara."

"I will never!" Cato said proudly, "Especially if you try to hurt my friends."

"I suppose it is a bit costly- ah...Friends huh?"

"That's right!" Cato said, "Unlike you, I balance my social life and my career!"

"Hold your tongue." Naoto said angrily, "Including my personal life is very low-"

I accidentally hit the dumpster. Naoto looked around.

"We shall just have to postpone this chat for now," Naoto said silkily, "At least... Until you know where my true loyalties lie." Naoto then fled rather quickly. Cato straightened his form and walked calmly away.

I went in to find him drinking some tea. I had a seat with him as he greeted me warmly.

"Wotcher, friend?" Cato greeted warmly as his hands shook from the earlier confrontation.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

Cato looked hesitant, "Oh, uh..." He looked outside, "A certain muckracker NOT named Naoto Shirogane, that's who."

"What happened?" I asked politely.

"You tell me. He has his nose on everything I'm doing. I can't even void my bowels without her snooping. Thinks I'm Prime Minister or something. But I never squealed. For me, it's all about my best mate, Minato." He raised a hand as I clapped it.

"Yeah, whatever dude." I said, "Anyways, you be careful now..."

"I shall remain vigilant, dear friend." Cato said.

Later, when we went home, I decided to Skype Yukari.

She was a bit haggard, but still looked as pretty as a princess. She was singing a lullaby to Hikari.

"Hey Minato!" She tried valiantly to sound cheerful, but her eyes really brightened up.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked cheerily, "Is your mom fine?"

Yukari did a halfsmile, as if conflicted with her feelings, "Mmmmm... No, not really." She said admittedly, "But I'm really glad you called today. I miss you."

"I miss you too." I said. True that Yukari did put me through a lot, but in my heart, she's still very dear to me, "Exams are coming. I might be able to visit after exams."

"Promise?" Yukari asked.

"I promise." I said, "So, uh, you know, Koromaru's back."

Her eyes lit up, "Oh? That's good!"

I would offer to bring Koromaru up to see her, but he was probably being taught how to sniff bombs by Leah.

"Just exactly what happened since I was gone?" Yukari asked with mock anger.

"Things you wouldn't believe." I embarked on a long anecdote on everything that happened since her departure. I related about the important events, omitting my nightly ghastly encounters with The Elder.

"Sounds like I missed a lot." Yukari said mournfully, "I'm doing tons of homework to compensate, but it doesn't feel right without you guys."

"I know... I know..." I said.

"I mean, it's not like I deserve this... My mom wasn't even there when I contracted Malaria. She was out on her 7th wedding... And she missed a lot of my birthdays... I don't owe her anything..." She said bitterly, "I don't deseve this... I don't deserve being separated from the people who I love most in this world, Minato. And... I don't deserve being away from you."

"Yukari... I miss you too... But she's still your mother. And she needs you." I said, "You're lucky you still have one."

She nodded, "Right. You're always right, Minato..." She said, "I'm really glad you're... you're my special friend."

I smiled, "Yukari... Be safe. And I hope your mom recovers."

"So do I. I'll hold you to your word about visiting." She teased.

"Hey, don't you worry, I'll visit you in, like, a few days or so." I said with a wink.

"Bye... Oh, yeah, Minato... Before you go, I need to ask something..."

"Yes?"

"Um... Do you love me, Minato? Will you protect me from anyone? Will you forgive me for anything I've did wrong to you?" She asked.

I, on the other hand, was taken aback, "Where's this coming from? I mean, the last time you talked like this is when we played in your room and had that rest before fighting Nyx."

"I'm just asking... I might have done a little something..." Yukari mumbled.

"Well, to err is human... To forgive is Divine." I said sagely, "At any rate, we can discuss it soon."

"Oh, okay... Goodbye..."

I said goodbye and hung up.

One question lingered with me...

Just what did Yukari do...?

A/N: Well, any questions, feel free to ask! Sorry if it seemed too rushed!

Q/A: (Disclaimer: Aigis lovers may ot agree with a few of my statements, so I apologize...)

Vince: Well, petrified means 'to be scared so badly, one cannot move,'

Kronos: they did. But not the entire bru-ha-ha, so Minato completes it for Minako.

Night: Yup. He tricked a mob of people into joining him. Plus, he *might* have a web designer as his friend.

Bla: Nearly 3500+ words and that's all you notice? I sometimes wonder upon the conditions of your mental facilities... Also, watch your language, dude. You could lose your account with that language of yours. Vlacas.

Ohyea, what you say is what you are. xD

Fake Bla: Well, 'fake' blah, you seem much more original than that other blah! Lol

Radaketor: thanks. I think they represent some split personality of someone I know. I digress.

Minako joining the cult...? Hm, that would be interesting... She could have told Minato and tried to convince him to join it, then Minato shows her the Personas... Such a pity, that could've been gold!

Well, Sports Clubs generally end after Sports Week, but I formally ended it on this chapter, today.

Oh yeah... And let me tell you this much... It will be filled with a lot of emotions.

As long as I want it to be. That's really up to me.

TBA on the Cult name.

No worries. I like answering review-questions fron readers. It's a bit of a treat for us authors.

Aaron: Oh, me too... They will eventually do it, but it will take some time before they actually become a thing... Even then, it'll be a teail of tears, sorrow and heartbreak.

Also... Minato already lost his virginity, many times. Just maximize all the girl's S-Links... The euphemisms are pretty obscure, but you'll see...

Anika: Oh, my bad. I guess we're all humans. But he did die on the 31st. His soul just held on long enough to die on that day, so technically, he did die on that day.

I don't usually answer anything that has no relation to the story, but just this once... 'Aigis' is a robot designed to fight shadows. Its is designed to fight shadows, analyze their battle style, assess their strength and exploit their weaknesses. As such, she should have done the tactical thing and fought Death at an advantage... With numbers and tactical precision, as it was designed to do. Let me say: if it knew it couldn't defeat Death, then why did it seal Death in an innocent boy? Seems inhumane, isn't it? In my opinion, I would've done a kamikaze banzai charge and at least do a part of my duty. It was still weakened, and even a level 99 Protag could die from a Last Resort, why not a Level 70 shadow? And besides, it doesn't necessarily mean that the world will end if Death runs rampant. It only gave Ikusuki more time to plot and plot. See my point? Maybe not. In this case, just PM it, okay? I'd love to debate it with you.

But take heart, she will appear in DoW, albeit not a nonsense 'robot'.

Blue: Yup. And you have a sharp nose, Blue. Minako will be put in the line of fire.

Lollipop: Nope. Not the only Messiah. Minako will be his Messiah too... Gah, I'm so corny. Nevertheless, it will get more awesome soon.

Hoshi: Thanks. And you'll never translate what I said. It's a dialect from the Middle region.

Yup! More descriptions!

Iron Wasp: Yup. Aigis will make an appearance in DoW, soon.

Ah, yes... The cult... The cult follows Elder because he's willing to do anything for power, and they'll follow him to greatness, wether good or bad, they want a piece of the pie, which is why they'll risk death just to join the ranks. And he has a person in his group who is... Popular among the netizens... His plans are obscure, but its mostly trying to take over the earth, switch it with shadows and so on. But it might be more sinister than that.

Well, that's the price of having something that fits with the story, but if you feel slighted by it then I'm sorry.

I never explicitedly stated that I never played The Answer, I've seen the clips about it and its as obsolete to me as a bag of dung, game wise, but the scenes are splendid, actually. Not half bad. It would've been nice IF there were S-Links and things to do other than to kill shadows... Aigis as a protag killed the game as it has an annoying soundtrack and it also had an annoying sister, with the same useless Orgia mode, or whatever it's called. So yeah, I know what happened during that time and Minato sill is basically dead, since his physical body has been practically buried and is returning to the dust from whence it came.

True, Messiah is kinda scary, but Thanatos is pretty hair raising... Also, everyone does have a Persona, but so few could wield it...

Also, Naoto doesn't actually leave on that date, you know... She leaves quite soon after the first two killings, or after the two kidnappings. Depends, but she doesn't leave in that date, sharp.

And no one knows Naoto is a girl yet, since only Minato knows. Well, Fuuka isn't important to the story inasmuch as Minako or Yukari are, but she'll be involved in heavy stuff sooner.

I'm not mad! I love long reviews!

Gin: I might have been wrong about that... I know... That is annoying when it spans out to many chapters...

Thanks! Lots of stress lately though,...

Destroooyah: to avoid spoilers... They're humans. One is a visionary, one is the muscle and one is a former enemy of SEES. I'm not telling who though.