CHAPTER 2 / First Ordeal

February 6th, 2010

Dear Yukari,

I don't even know how to properly describe what my power was. It was referred to as the power of the wild card. The ability to wield multiple personas. Now that I look back at it, I wonder if I gained it because when I first arrived I was never really sure who I was. I spent my life being shuffled place to place as an orphan, so most of my energy was spent on trying to just get by without bothering anyone. I became whoever I needed to be to get by. And because I had such a wide array of talents it had always been easy for me.

Then I moved that final time. Gekkoukan was finally going to be a piece of freedom for me. I could spend my last two years of high school in one place. And then I would no longer have to worry about moving around. That's what I thought any way. Really it was the only thing I ever cared about. But I spent my life having people tell me where to go and what to do. I did what I had to, but I never enjoyed it. It wasn't until I arrived at the dorm.

I met a young boy named Pharos when I first arrived at the dorm. He had me sign a contract. It was simple, it said: I choose this fate of my own free will. Well, I'm paraphrasing; it was pretty close to that. I didn't even hesitate to sign it. Maybe I thought it was a regulation of the dorm or something at the time, but I knew that there was something bigger at play. Still it was the first time I was given a choice. I knew that this time I would be the one in control. Out of everyone, I know you can understand that feeling. To be constantly pulled along, doing what you're told. You know how it felt to finally take control.

Everything happened so quickly. And before I could take it all in, I was a part of SEES and our lives become more inexplicitly linked together. But I had to master my new abilities and deal with everything that came along with it. I wasn't sure how to do it at first but I was determined to get stronger in every way I could. I wasn't about to be helpless. This time I wanted to be the one in control.

Love Always,

Arisato Minato

March 6th, 2011 / Early Morning

Light from the rising sun peaked through the window and forced Yukari to move as it shined on her face. She shielded her eyes and rolled over to the edge of the bed. She reached over to the night stand and grabbed her cell phone and flipped it open. It was 8am and the sun was already high in the sky. She put the cell phone back, but her hand stumbled a bit and it fell off to the ground. Her hand resting on the journal she left on the night stand. She had read a little before she had gone to sleep, and because of that her dreams had been of him. Able to feel him next to her, his arms surrounding her like he had on numerous occasions before. It hurt to think about it. She missed it more than anything. The safest place in the world had been in his arms. Nothing else mattered. But now, those same arms are what stand between humanity's desire for death and the being capable of granting that horrible wish. So he would always be needed. Needed until humanity stopped wishing for it.

He had to be so alone. His power and soul was what created that seal, so did that mean somewhere within it he was still conscious in some form? Was he able to see the world?

"Are you able to see me, Minato?" Yukari felt her heart pick up its beat as she pulled the leather bound journal close to her.

A gentle knock on her door stopped her thoughts. "Yukari? Are you awake?"

It was Fuuka. Yukari put the journal down and crossed over to the door and opened it. "Good morning, Fuuka. Is it time for breakfast already?" She tried to repress a yawn but it came out anyway. "Can you wait a moment? I'll grab my robe."

"Um, Yukari," Fuuka seemed to be looking around the room.

Yukari quickly pulled a robe on from the closet and wrapped it around herself. She offered a smile to Fuuka. "Something wrong?"

"I wanted to offer you congratulations for graduation, but yesterday was busy for you and…"

"Thanks, Fuuka. I'll apologize in advance. I never thought Minato would leave me something like this," She looked down at the journal she had pressed against her. Yukari was not about to let go of it any time soon. "I can't help but only think about him right now."

"Can I ask, what he wrote in the journal?" Fuuka eyed the journal.

"He wrote about everything that happened," Yukari spoke softly.

"Everything?" she definitely looked surprised.

"I think there is a part I should read for everyone. I think maybe then all of us might understand a little more of what he was going through at the beginning. And everything he dealt with, that most of us had no idea about," Yukari whispered.

"I think that's a good idea. You don't have to go through it all alone," Fuuka took her hand. "Part of the reason we are here is for you, Yukari."

May 9th, 2009 / Dark Hour

Minato sat against the stair railing that went up to the monorail station. Junpei was drinking a bottle of water as Yukari stood at the base of the stairs either nervous or impatient. He wasn't exactly sure which one made more sense. He got to his feet and pulled out the short sword he had with him. He also pulled out a sharpening stone and began running the blade along it.

Figuring battles would only become more frequent he had taken the time to read a couple books in relation to keeping a sword and how to properly sharpen it. It was a minor thing in reality, the real power was persona. But Minato wasn't naïve to think he could get by with his persona alone. Summoning was dependent on using the evoker, and without it one would be effectively unarmed. That was why it was imperative to have a weapon, in case the evoker was somehow knocked away from him. And even though he was in the kendo club, fighting with an actual sword…and against shadows was a whole different kind of battle.

Yukari was taking a moment to double check her bow. With his suggestion she had gotten a different bow for fighting. It wasn't like the bow she used for archery. This one had less resistance and made it easier for her to draw the arrow into place. But at the same time actually had a higher tension behind it giving it more force upon impact. He had taken the time to do some research on bows to see if anything could be done to make it easier on her and maybe even quicken her reload time. He still remembered Yukari catching him as he was pouring over books on archery and next to him an ordering catalog that had an assortment of hunting bows. He was glad that in the end they had hopefully bonded a little bit over the whole thing.

Bond…the whole deal with social links had made him have to plan his days carefully. At the same time he still needed to keep up his grades and his training. He would need stamina more than anything else. If he didn't start gaining a lot more quickly there was no way he was going to be able to maintain the pace he was at. And he could not afford to ever slip up during the dark hour. Igor had told him that his power was essentially proportional to his social links and was the only way his personas would be able to truly get stronger.

However, he was incredibly conflicted by it. Having experienced the kind of boost it gave to his personas when fusing he could not deny the advantage it gave. But would he have developed these bonds without that incentive to do so? What about Kenji? He was what gave him the bond linked to the Magician Arcana. There was also Kaz in the kendo club that gave him the bond linked to the Chariot Arcana. Then the clubs manager Yuko was linked to the Strength Arcana. And all of this had only happened in the last couple weeks. Just how many more of these social links would he create? Would he always feel like he was lying to them in some fashion? He always was able to easily read the flow of conversation and take what he considered to be the easiest and best route. But…

If he were to somehow make one with someone like Yukari…what would that mean? How could he deal with that? He had to keep himself in check. Just because he needed the powers gained from the social link didn't mean that he didn't care about the people. As a matter of fact, maybe he just needed to put in more effort to care for every single bond he had to make.

"Where is she?" Yukari pulled her bow over her shoulder and crossed her arms.

"Relax, Takeba-san. We need to keep our heads clear for the upcoming battle," Minato ran his blade a final time along the sharping stone and then sheathed the blade before returning the sharpening stone to his belt. He did notice Yukari take a deep breath.

"There's a full moon tonight. But, it looks even creepier during the dark hour," Yukari was looking up into the sky, but Minato had his eyes only on her. The dark hour was an ugly stain on the real world. A dangerous time and something that threatened all of humankind. In the midst of it, even with Yukari dressed for battle, she truly looked beautiful to him.

Suddenly an oddly normal sound came roaring up to the base of the stairs of the monorail station. Junpei was a bit shocked but Minato merely observed what he could. It was Mitsuru driving up on a motorcycle. She looked like she was all business and with the time of the Dark Hour slowly marching on, it was time for him to do the same.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Listen carefully. Tonight, I'll be providing support from here. Everything else is the same. The Shadow is currently located inside a monorail, not far from the station. To get there, you'll have to walk on the tracks," Mitsuru quickly explained. Obviously she had committed not to waste any time. Minato couldn't agree more.

"Are you serious? Isn't that dangerous?" Junpei was obviously skeptical about the idea. Minato understood that, you get told a lot of things you shouldn't do growing up. Walking on monorail tracks was definitely on the do not do category.

"Don't worry, no electrical equipment is operable during the dark hour, including the monorails," she assured him.

"But, your bike…"

Mitsuru grinned slightly at Junpei's inquiry, "It's special. Now, if circumstances change, I'll notify you immediately."

"We don't have time for this. We need to move. Junpei-kun, Takeba-san, let's head out," Minato finally spoke. Honestly he might be curious as to why her motorcycle could work but for some reason he wasn't surprised about it. Obviously the Kirijo Group knew about Shadows and Personas. So the Dark Hour had to be in their research scope as well. It wouldn't be out of believability that they had figured a way to get things to work. But that would have to wait when he had time to research such things.

"L-let's do this!" Junpei seemed still hesitant but Minato didn't.

He ran up the stairs with Junpei and Yukari behind him. His hand on the hilt of his sword but he didn't draw it. He jumped off the boarding platform and down onto the tracks as he jogged down the track. They didn't have any time to waste but he couldn't afford to waste all his energy at the beginning. Especially when he wasn't sure what was going to happen.

"The monorail is about 200 meters ahead. You have to stop the Shadow before they harm the passengers, hurry!" Mitsuru's voice came to his head. Her persona gave her a useful telepathy power. Plus although her ability to scan seemed somewhat limited it had been invaluable to their exploration of Tartarus.

That looming tower was off in the distance and could be easily seen from the monorail tracks. Still he only gave it a side glance and didn't bother to respond to Mitsuru. The monorail was quickly coming up. But he didn't see anything. Something about this whole thing seemed off to him.

Minato stopped once they got to the monorail, and looking up at an open door. Why would the door be open? It isn't like monorails run with doors open.

"This is it, right?" Yukari was the first to speak.

"Can you all hear me?" Mitsuru spoke through their minds.

"Yes, I can hear you clearly. We just got here but I don't see anything out of the ordinary…"

"The readings are definitely coming from the inside of that monorail. Proceed with caution and stay together," Mitsuru quickly interrupted Yukari.

Minato glanced over to Yukari in her pink cardigan sweater. She looked like she wanted to be irritated. No it was something else, and it was an obvious answer to him. Yukari had already told him before about when her Father had died. He had been working in a lab owned by the Kirijo group. It was resentment. Minato was left again with not enough information, but he knew that this was definitely one thing worth looking in to.

"Got it," Yukari confirmed.

"Man, my persona is just begging to be used!" Junpei laughed. Minato didn't care for Junpei making light of this but he also knew it was how he coped with the battle.

"You guys head up first," Minato stated simply as he unsheathed his sword and turned away from the monorail to survey the surroundings.

"There isn't anything out here, dude," Junpei seemed confused.

"He's being cautious. I'll head up first," Yukari was the first; Minato heard her take a couple steps up the ladder and then stopped. Curious he glanced over his shoulder. "…Don't look up!"

Junpei had obviously had the thought on his mind but had quickly looked away, probably so he wouldn't receive any punishment from Yukari. Minato had actually gotten a full view of it, completely by accident. He had to wager a guess if pink was her favorite color. However he had quickly turned away to hide the fact that his cheeks were starting to warm up. Plus he had a mission to concentrate on; there was no time to think about if her bra was the same color. Or what she looked like with none of her clothes in the way. What was he thinking? He mentally slapped himself and focused on the surroundings.

After a moment he heard Junpei follow behind and into the monorail. Minato quickly made his way and followed behind. The coffins lined the car of the monorail.

"This poor stiff passenger. He's been transmogged, huh? Creepy. So…guys like him don't remember a thing, right? It's probably better that way," Junpei commented.

Hadn't he seen them before? Well, Minato could wager he hadn't seen them since his awakening. After that they were all in the dorm unless they were going to Tartarus. And if that was the case there was never any body around. However, it was hardly the time for idle observations.

"Wait a minute. We're not at a station, but the doors are wide…"

Just as Yukari voiced it all the doors slammed shut. Minato was hardly surprised with this. This whole thing had screamed trap to him. But they had to defeat the shadow and the only real way to find it was to spring the trap. That had been his plan all along. He merely wanted to make sure that there hadn't been a sneak attack initially. No, this was simple and effective. Control their movements; there was only one way they could go now.

"Damn, it won't open! Ow, my fingers! Will you look at them! They're all jacked up!" Junpei must have pinched his fingers trying to keep one of the doors open.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Mitsuru's voice nearly broke Minato's concentration on his surroundings. Luckily Yukari took it upon herself to answer.

"It looks like we're trapped inside."

"It must be the Shadow. It knows you're there. Be ready for anything. Exercise extreme caution," Mitsuru warned.

"Let's get moving. Be mindful of your position. It's cramped and fighting can get tricky," Minato voiced eyeing Junpei in particular. He must have realized that Minato was referring to the large sword that he was using. The room in the monorail would make it hard for Junpei to use his weapon.

Taking the lead he scanned the car and then opened the door that led to the next car. If need be he could cut through the material that connected the cars to escape, but only if needed. He moved up cautiously holding his sword ready to strike.

"What the heck? I don't see any shadows," Junpei was louder than Minato cared to be, but chastising him would only add to the noise.

He moved further down the car, but still nothing. Still everything in his body was telling him to be ready and had him looking all around in full alarm. Minato proceeded slower than he had which seemed to put Yukari more on edge but made Junpei more impatient.

Entering the next car he could hear it before it happened. Suddenly a shadow dropped from the ceiling and then quickly headed towards the back of the car. Junpei took two steps to move past Minato.

"Stop Junpei!" Minato glared at him.

"It's right there, man!" he actually looked confused at Minato's hesitation.

"Do you really think that's normal behavior for a shadow? This was a trap from the beginning and running after it is just playing right into their hands!" Minato didn't bother staying quiet, he couldn't have Junpei going solo.

"I agree, it would be foolish to blindly chase after it," Mitsuru added her support in favor of Minato. He frowned though, because it was enough to push Junpei in the other direction.

"Who needs your advice? We can beat that thing no problem. Hell, I'll do it myself," Junpei pushed Minato away and bolted down the car and into the next, disappearing from Minato's view.

Yukari helped Minato back up, "Come on, if we hurry we can catch up."

Two shadows dropped down in front of them, blocking their path. They were moving in close and fast. Switching his sword to his off hand, Minato ran forward. He veered to his left and jumped over one of the seats and his right hand grabbing one of the poles. Using his momentum and power in his legs he whipped around the pole fast and connected his left foot directly in the shadows center of mass and sent him back into the next car. Not stopping his spin, he landed and flipped around switching the sword back to his right hand and slicing right through the second. Not missing a beat and arrow traveled right by his shoulder and pierced straight into the first shadow he had attacked. Both Shadows disappeared.

"Dammit, Stupei! What are you thinking?" Yukari annoyed moved up to Minato.

"He's a few cars ahead," Mitsuru informed.

"No time to waste, Takeba-san," Minato rushed forward but came to a stop when two Shadows came in from the car in front.

"Get out of the way!" Yukari fired off an arrow, connecting with one but only grazing it. Minato didn't have time to have Mitsuru scan it.

Reaching down to the holster he pulled out the evoker, "Orpheus!" His persona came out of him like a gun shot and bashed the first Shadow into nothing. But Minato was already moving forward right behind his persona as it disappeared and pierced straight into the other that Yukari had previously injured. With no time to waste he kicked the shadow off his blade and went through the door that was open and into the next car.

He heard Yukari following right behind him as Minato sprinted through the next car before Shadows had a chance to even react to their presence. They moved through the next door and into the next car of the monorail.

"There he is! Shoot! He's surrounded! We gotta help him," Yukari came to a stop and drew back her first arrow as Minato moved towards the fight.

He cycled through the persona in his mind until he could grasp the one he wanted. Still running he put the evoker up to his temple, "Ara Mitama! Rakukaja!" The appearance of the red colored persona made Minato feel better as he could see that Junpei's defenses suddenly were stronger and fewer attacks were getting through to him. Minato jumped right into the battle.

Sliding under one Shadows attack he came up slicing it open. An arrow whizzed by him as it pierced straight into the opening he had created, killing the shadow nearly instantly. His persona shifted again, "Alp!" While this persona was small, and also offered little in the way of clothing it came forward with a fire spell knocking a shadow away from Junpei. Junpei turned and took full advantage of it and swung his blade hard at the Shadow. He sliced clean through it this time and after only a few moments the battle had been finished.

Minato felt like punching Junpei for his stupidity and their focus on getting to him might have led them into a different trap. He had to keep his emotions in check, he was leading them. He felt himself settle back on Orpheus in his mind. For some reason it helped him think. Aside Yukari was pissed off enough for the both of them and had started verbally chastising Junpei, but he was far too focused on something he was feeling. What was it that he felt?

Almost as if on cue, "Be careful, you three. I don't detect any movement, but stay alert." Mitsuru must have felt something similar to what Minato had. But any warning would have been too late regardless.

The whole place shifted and then, the monorail began moving. Minato knew that this could only get worse from here.

"Whoa, what the? Why are we moving?"

"The Shadow must be able to manipulate the train somehow. It has to be in the driver car in the front," Minato reported. "Kirijo-san, how far away is the next monorail?"

"The next monorail?" Yukari looked confused only for a moment. Minato saw the alarm rush across her face when it hit her. "What? Oh, God! What are we going to do?"

"Calm down and listen," Mitsuru's voice thankfully did get both Junpei and Yukari to stop and take a couple of deep breaths. "I sense a strong presence in the front car. That must be the one we are after as Arisato presumed. You'll have to defeat it to stop the train. But you don't have much time, so hurry."

"What kind of messed up ride is this?" Junpei muttered as he and Minato cut down two shadows as they fell from the ceiling. Not even giving them enough time to hit the ground.

Minato started moving with Junpei and Yukari following in step behind him. This was only going to get worse the more time he allowed to go on. Maybe Junpei's foolish action might have been a blessing in disguise. With the trap unable to do as intended it was beginning to panic. Wrecking the train was a foolish and desperate action of a coward. The Shadow would die just as much as they would. Why would a Shadow go to such extreme measures to ensure they had died?

"We're gaining speed!" Yukari said but Minato stayed focused as he pushed open the next door and jumped into the next and final car. What lay before them was something that Minato had never seen before. The difference between this and any Shadows they had faced before was different. He could somehow sense how more powerful this Shadow was. Wait, how could he determine that? Was it one of the personas that he had with him?

"What the hell? Is this the friggin' boss?" Junpei spouted from Minato's right.

"We're in front car. It has to be," Yukari added but obviously all of them were shaken by the appearance of this shadow.

The Shadow looked nothing like the ones they had faced so far. Even compared to the bigger Shadows in Tartarus. Something about this Shadow had a sense of purpose. It was definitely much more intelligent than the others. But what did that mean? The shadow set straight in the monochrome scale. Half of her a pure white and the other a pitch black. Curious was why the letters B and J were printed on each of her breast. Then there was something that spread out from her, Minato couldn't wager a guess what it was. But considering how much this object was coming from this Shadow…he would say that it had something to do with the Shadows ability to use the monorail.

"Hurry!" Mitsuru was quick to remind that there was no time for observation.

"No time, huh?" Minato switched his sword to his off hand as he pulled out his evoker. The Shadow went on the attack. Several large tentacle like appendages came towards the three of them. Yukari rolled off to the left and Junpei to the right. Minato didn't move and instead jumped forward over the first one and landed on top of it. Now that he had a better look…it wasn't an appendage but more like a scroll. It had writing on it. He spring boarded off as two more of the scrolls came launching at him. He was going to land on one of the windows…at least until the Shadow shattered the window. With his momentum there would be no way he could change direction. Having only a split second to react he shifted his weight and brought his sword around. His feet went straight through the window but his weapon pierced through the side stopping him. Using all he could he propelled himself back in through the broken window, managing to only cut a part of his left leg as he did so.

Yukari was next to him, casting a quick healing spell that stopped the pain. He didn't have time to thank her as the Shadow pressed the attack with the scrolls. Minato put the evoker quickly to his head, "Nekomata! Cleave!" His persona flew forward cutting through the attack. Pushing himself forward he could still feel the sting in his leg. It must have cut him deeper then he thought. Gaining speed fast he saw Junpei going in for the attack as well. Hermes hit it with fire and Minato let Nekomata loose again to add her own flame to the mix. The scrolls tried to fend off the attack and then directed all their attention to Minato.

He got to as close to full speed as he could as he saw no less than six of these scrolls flying towards him. As they got closer he couldn't tell if he was heading the right direction or not because the scrolls were blocking his vision.

"Arisato!" Yukari yelled.

Minato hit the ground hard as he went into a full slide, and the scrolls barely passed over him. The Shadow coming into full view, he noticed that the mask on the Shadow was a vibrant pink. It was hardly a time for that as the Shadow launched forward to attack him. The right hand came down to attack him but was suddenly sliced off by Junpei's persona. Minato launched himself up, right towards the Shadow. He was exposed like this and the Shadow drew back to swipe at him…but was met with an arrow slicing through the air and hitting the Shadows hand.

The Shadow only had a few seconds to comprehend what had just happened. Minato summoned Nekomata mid-air hitting it in the face with fire. Then discarding the evoker he gripped his sword with both hands and let out the most menacing growl he could manage before bringing his blade down onto the Shadow and slicing clean through it. The Shadow disappeared and Minato tumbled to the ground.

"Arisato? Arisato, are you okay?" a worried Yukari was by his side in mere seconds.

"Hey! Why're we still moving?" Junpei was incredibly panicked. And that panic was quick to spread to Yukari.

"We're going too fast! We have to put the brakes on or…"

"What are you waiting for!? There is a train up ahead!" Mitsuru yelled through the connection.

"Dammit! I don't know how to stop this thing," Junpei is yelling. Yukari has started screaming.

Minato is already diving into the drivers' compartment and pulls whatever he can reach. The brakes screech as they come on all at once. The sudden stop in motion hurls Minato forward hitting his head on the control panel and then tumbling backwards out the door and collapsing on the ground.

"Ah hell, that hurt," Minato grumbled. He didn't really care at this moment what Junpei and Yukari were saying.

"Is everybody alright?" asked Mitsuru.

"A little banged up, myself, but no worse for wear," Minato informed her.

"Ha, haa…my knees won't stop shaking," Yukari admitted.

"Dude, I'm like drenched in sweat," Junpei added.

"Arisato, are you okay?" Yukari knelt down next to him surveying his injuries.

"I think that cut on my leg is a little deeper than I thought," Minato said as he could feel that his leg was definitely still bleeding. He sat up and pulled up the leg and sure enough was quite a deep gash.

"Damn man, that looks painful," Junpei laughed. "Still you gotta admit our last move on that Shadow was pretty awesome."

"Yeah, thanks for the backup you two," Minato smiled.

"You are way too reckless. Thankfully I brought some bandage with me, just in case," Yukari shook her head as she sat by his leg and rolled up her sleeve on her right arm. She had the bandage wrapped around her upper arm. She quickly started to bandage up his leg.

"I'll get a doctor to check it out properly when we get back to the dorm. I'm so glad all of you are safe. I'm sorry I couldn't do more on my end. I don't detect any more Shadows. You guys did a great job. As soon as Arisato is able to move, come on home." Mitsuru seemed to be further concerned but all of them had a high stress night.

"Does that hurt, Arisato?" Yukari had her hands over the bandage where the wound was.

"Well it doesn't feel good. It stings like hell, but I think I'll manage till we get back to the dorm," Minato gave an amused chuckle.

"So, how did you know which one was the brakes?" Yukari asked. Maybe she was trying not to think about the fact that she had quite a bit of his blood on her hands.

"I just trusted my instincts. Didn't really have any time to think about it," Minato shrugged.

"You saved me again, thanks. Arisato," Yukari blushed.

"You're welcome, Takeba-san," Minato smiled and was definitely a nice moment, even if he had to nearly die by being thrown out of the train to get to it. Oh and almost die from a collision with another train. On second thought maybe it wasn't worth that much, but he'd take it as it came anyway.

"Hey now, I'm here to ya know. And I'm friggin' hungry," Junpei said as he helped Minato to his feet. "You gonna be okay to walk, dude?"

"Yeah, I don't think I lost that much blood. It's not like I'm anemic," Minato still felt like maybe he shouldn't sound so confident. "But maybe I don't want to push my luck." Junpei grabbed one side as Yukari quickly moved to grab his other. "Thanks guys. Let's go home."

March 6th, 2011 / Afternoon

"Man, I remember that!" Junpei was the first one to speak. "To think he saved our lives with just a wild guess." He shook his head, "He could never do things the easy way. That Shadow tried to fling him out the window but boy did we get payback."

"I agree that Arisato was definitely ready to use all options in front of him, even if they weren't the most…easiest routes," Mitsuru added with an amused grin.

"He was one hell of a fighter," Akihiko added.

Yukari felt at ease for once. Somehow by reading it she felt like she was experiencing it all again for the first time. That he was still here and sitting next to her as she read his journal. Everyone was here, all the ones that had in reality been the closest to Minato. All of them had struggled and fought together. After such a time, how could any of them not grow close to each other?

So even back then when she was presented with a choice, it had scared her just how easy of a decision it had been. She easily decided to go against all of them for just a chance to see Minato again. To hear his soothing voice, look into those eyes that had brought peace to her in a way no one ever had before. Those doors of time had given her that option. But the truth they found at the end…it was so horrible. She was naïve to think that she would be able to just continue on with her life. In the end all it did was confirm something for her. She missed Minato more and more each day.

Why? Why did he have to be the one to sacrifice his life? To save her? To save the others? To save the world? She wanted it to be a simple answer. To say Minato had found his answer to life by facing not only death but the end of existence and stare into it with confidence and without hesitation. How could he? Wasn't he scared? What about her? She was being selfish…but she felt like that right was reserved for her.

"Yukari," Mitsuru had put her arms around her shoulders. She hadn't even realized she had broken down into tears once again. "Take the time you need. It's why we're here."

"Thank you, Mitsuru," Yukari could not stop the flow of tears. Time may continue on, but Yukari still felt frozen in her past. No matter how hard she tried, she always ended up in the same place. How was she ever going to keep going?

Author's Note:

This fan fiction mostly focuses on Minato and Yukari. After all there is only one other character I will use as a point of view character and she won't be introduced for a few chapters. So don't expect other characters to get much screen time unless it is related to Minato or Yukari.

We cover the Priestess fight in this chapter and I think you can start the small differences from the game and here. I should mention that Yukari and company remember the events as you know it from the game. Essentially with a bored Minato with little to no personality of his own. And as they continue to read the journal...they'll start to realize something is wrong with what they remember. I'm hoping you'll enjoy how all of this goes.

Anyway, Chapter 3 will be up soon as it is incredibly short. So that will be up later today. Chapter 4 will be up tomorrow and is quite huge. You'll see.

You know the drill, leave a review, tell me its good, bad, or meh. Or leave a question and I'll make sure to get back to you.