CHAPTER 14 / Untethered

February 18th, 2010

Dear Yukari,

I should really be sleeping right now. However I'm having a rare moment of restlessness and so I'm taking advantage of it. Although I'll probably sleep through a couple classes tomorrow as a result. To be honest I couldn't help but think about the last couple entries that I have made. I feel like I might give off a wrong impression over my feelings when it comes to my fate. I think I mentioned it previously but when I first arrived at the dorm I was welcomed by a boy named Pharos. That would later be known as Ryoji. But he had me sign a contract that day and in it was a very clear sentence.

'I choose this fate of my own free will.'

Well I'm sure it wasn't worded exactly like that. I'm sure Igor could perfectly recite it or even Elizabeth. Actually probably not Elizabeth she tends to be forgetful and mixes up a lot of phrases.

The main point is that I had already decided that whatever happened to me would be a result of a choice that I had made, not because of anything else. Ultimately because it was my choice after all. And I would make the same choice over and over again, I know it. I made the right choice. It's so comforting to know that my actions have saved the world. Maybe not in a conventional way. Usually in most stories the hero defeats the dragon and goes home to marry the princess or something like that. Real life is never so kind. No, in this story, the dragon can never be defeated...so instead the hero makes it so he can never be defeated too. Then he stays in a eternal stalemate so that his princess can live without worry. That is the truth of this life.

How many people get to say that they saved the world? Not that many, I'm guessing. But none of it would have been possible without all of my friends, and especially you, Yukari. Your love gave me strength in a way I had never known or felt before in my life. I only hope that one day you can see just how much I loved you.

Love Always,
Arisato Minato

March 13th, 2011 / Evening

Yukari was sure that things could have gone smoother when they had arrived in Inoto. For one thing, the fact they had stumbled into an incident with an object capable of projecting a pseudo Dark Hour was a disturbing thought. Mitsuru had been brooding about its discovery for some time now. Most likely there was research that her Grandfather had kept "off the books" as it were. That could mean there was still more they hadn't found yet. No doubt delving into the past of the Kirijo Group would bring up painful truths about how far the Kirijo Group would go for its research. Despite her Fathers good nature, even he had been deceived and used to further the Kirijo Groups objectives. The news that Minato's Family had been used to an even greater extent was still fresh in her mind.

Actually the term 'used' in regards to the Arisato's might have been putting it lightly. Their family had been torn apart without them knowing. They were told a lie that the girl they had wanted to name Arisato Minako had died at birth. The truth was they had sent that girl to another facility to be a part of a separate experiment. One that no parent would ever approve of and the Kirijo Group knew that. Ten children total had been separated from their parents at birth to be given to the experiment. All of them were taken from families with members employed by the Kirijo Group. Yukari could scarcely imagine the tough decision that would have to be made on whether to disclose that information to those children that were all now around their age.

Naturally, there was a lot of risk in disclosing the truth to them. For one, if any of them went to the media about it the Kirijo Group could get significant bad press. Although Mitsuru wanted to clear the dark past of the company she certainly didn't want to start by damaging its reputation further. Yukari knew that the road ahead was going to be especially hard for Mitsuru.

Yukari herself wouldn't know the amount of help she would be able to be as Kokoro got older. She didn't want to rely on Mitsuru and her maids forever. Although it would be unavoidable in some form because she would need a job and therefore a babysitter was required. At the very least the money she had saved for college had certainly helped with the sudden expenses that came with having a baby. She had her own apartment in Iwatodai but the part time job at the café wasn't going to keep her afloat for too much longer.

She wasn't expected back at work for quite some time now that she thought about it. She didn't go back to work until the eighteenth. Actually that wasn't that far off…there was no way that things could be resolved in that time. There wasn't much Yukari could do about it though. She'd just have to deal with it when the time came.

She sat in the lounge of the Inoto Inn with Kokoro in her lap. Next to her on the couch she was on was the blue leather bound journal that was written by Minato. To think that what he had written would conjure up a new investigation. One that would lead them to his twin sister and a discovery that there was probably a lot more that they didn't know about the history of the Kirijo Group.

On her left was Hamuko, Minato's twin, and seemed to be looking a lot better than she had from when they first met. Then again even a Pseudo Dark Hour had negative effects on people that weren't used to it. Although it had been over a year since SEES had experienced the Dark Hour, it wasn't something you forgot, and it seemed like their bodies hadn't forgotten either. Across from them, opposite of the small table in front of them, Mitsuru was looking through a stack of papers brought in earlier by someone of the Kirijo Group. She had said it was important data relevant to the research being run in the area. The same research that Hamuko had been a key specimen.

"It seems that there was quite a bit of activity in this area. They were trying to determine if given the right circumstances they could make someone acquire the potential to use Persona. To do so they introduced the test subjects to…" Mitsuru stopped her eyes raced along the document. Yukari knew something horrifying had been thrust among those kids. "They were thrown into rooms with Shadows."

"So I was too?" Hamuko's voice was a whisper but could be heard by everyone.

"The documents here seem to support that, yes," Mitsuru confirmed. Yukari couldn't even fathom what kind of long term damage that had on them.

"I occasionally have nightmares about a creeping darkness. I guess that it was a Shadow all along," Hamuko shook her head. "No forget that. I recently had a dream I think I should tell you about."

Yukari was surprised for a moment when she realized that Hamuko was looking at her. "A dream? About what?"

"I saw the Great Seal. Actually I saw my brother, Minato." Hamuko's words just about made Yukari's heart do a flip. "I think it was really him. He said it was a place known as the Sea of Unconscious. That it was a realm of dreams and nightmares, as well as the birthplace of Shadows."

Yukari said nothing for a long moment; she had to take a moment to gather her thoughts. "Does that mean that the Abyss of Time connected us to that plane for a brief moment? Did he see us?"

Hamuko shook her head, "I don't know, he seemed like he wasn't aware about certain things but he pieced things together rather quick when I told him I was his twin sister."

"How did he react?" Yukari asked. Although she was sure she already knew the answer to that.

"He got angry at himself," Hamuko sighed. "I had to explain to him there was no way he could have found out because it had taken the efforts of both Mitsuru-san and Fuuka-san to dig up the information. He stayed rather…hmm what would be a good word…"

"He went into info gathering mode. Don't bother trying to get an emotional response when he does that. It's like he puts up a gigantic steel wall around his heart so his brain can work without being influenced by it," Yukari couldn't help but complain. "Then again it was because of his ability to switch to reason made him such a good leader even in the most horrible of situations."

"Yes, he was quite an enigmatic individual," Mitsuru smiled to herself. No doubt thinking of a memory she shared with Minato. "Still was there anything in particular he told you in the dream?"

"Only that my meeting him was most likely a fated encounter. Which makes me think that this is only the start of something," Hamuko jumped up to her feet. "All of this makes me restless though. I can't stand it since it feels like there is somewhere I'm supposed to be."

"Unfortunately all we can do now is look through the information we have and see if we can find any more leads. I've also looked into the Arisato family line…if you perhaps wanted to contact any of them," Mitsuru said, but was certainly unsure of how that would go over.

"I'll think about it," Hamuko said. The crimson eyed girl took a few steps away from them. "Say…did my brother ever go to school in this area?"

Mitsuru shifted through the stack of papers and pulled a folder from the bottom of the stack. Yukari realized that it was the one that had all the files and information they had on Minato that they were able to pull. The size of it was actually quite big. Mostly because it had records of all the families he had been adopted into and school transfer paperwork and other information that was in the system. Mitsuru opened it and skimmed through a paper that Fuuka had created as a quick reference. "It appears he did. He went to the elementary school, but looks like he was only here for a couple months before he left to Tokyo."

"So I might have known him before," Hamuko shook her head. "I was lucky, I know I was. Even after I was abandoned I was shuffled around from family to family but it never took me very far away from this area. But Onii-chan, he was sent all over the place…never being able to settle in one place. I wonder how many times he had to say goodbye to people he cared for. Or maybe he did his best to not be attached to anyone."

Yukari couldn't imagine it either. Meanwhile Yukari had been so focused on finding out the truth on what happened to her Father that she rarely ever noticed the fact she had been fortunate herself. She had been able to live around the same area her whole life despite being alone. The difference was that she had known her Mother and during all that time Yukari had chosen to hate her Mother. So she stayed away from her, instead moving in to the dorms for school and pretty much living in dorms her whole life. Minato had said it best to her. That the reality was she had been running away from the truth. That her Father was dead. She knew now that she did what she had because she didn't accept that fact. It took ten years for all of it to come to a head and she finally faced that painful truth. Her Father had died and that had been what drove both her and her Mother apart. That was the simple truth of it.

"The truth is that Minato didn't like to worry people," Yukari finally spoke. Hamuko turning back towards her. "For the longest time he felt like he was an overwhelming burden to people. The way he was sent from family to family made him think that he was the problem. But I don't believe that at all."

"Yukari-san, you knew my brother the best. Was he happy, at the end…" Hamuko asked in a whisper.

"Honestly, I'm sure he was. Even though he was probably scared and maybe angry that things had to end as they did but I know beyond all of that, he was happy. It's all right here, in this journal," Yukari ran her hand over the blue leather bound book. "He said he finally got to experience what it was like to have a family, even if we weren't a real one, it was real to him. That despite all the trouble and drama we faced…it was the best time he had known in his life. Minato had no regrets about his choice because he would do anything to protect us."

Hamuko smiled and sat back down next to Yukari, "He shouldn't have had to go through all that to finally find happiness."

"I agree," Yukari sighed. "Then again he never liked doing things the easy way."

Fuuka came rushing up to the group; she stopped and took a moment to catch her breath.

"Fuuka? What's wrong?" Yukari asked.

"There's trouble. I sense Shadows. It's coming from the Inoto High School dormitory, but I sense Ishide-san and Fujihara-san is there," Fuuka's information invoked an immediate response from Hamuko.

Yukari couldn't do anything, "Wait, Hamuko!" The girl was on her feet, and was already rushing out of the door.

"Yamagishi, call the others. I'll gather the equipment. Takeba I'll…"

"I'm going Mitsuru. I'm not about to let Hamuko run off by herself," Yukari juggled Kokoro in her arms and got to her feet. "Is Kaede still around?"

"I am here Yukari-sama," As if sensing the situation she was there to step in. "You have no time to waste."

"I am grateful, Kaede-san," Yukari gave a quick kiss to Kokoro's forehead before handing her to Kaede. "I have to go help your aunt, I'll be back soon."

"The others are on their way," Fuuka informed.

"Let's move out," Mitsuru quickly made her way towards the exit of the Inn. Yukari followed closely behind. There was no way to know what exactly was going on in this town but there was a small possibility creeping up in the back of her mind. Someone may be responsible for it.

September 5th, 2009 / Dark Hour

"Tonight marks the sixth full moon. Do you detect a Shadow?" Ikutsuki was quick to point out a well-known fact among SEES. He seemed eager to Minato. Then again maybe Minato was too conscious of Ikutsuki because of how untrusting he seemed to be to him.

"Yes. It's near Paulownia Mall," Fuuka paused. "I think."

Minato found it somewhat amusing how accustomed they all were for how Fuuka could communicate telepathically with SEES while she was using her Persona. Then again her Persona was fundamentally different than all of theirs was. Still what if she had awoken to her Persona but had no one to protect her? She had no means of defending herself against Shadows if they somehow got to her. It was one of the reasons why Minato always assigned people to protect her.

The sudden influx of new members had made that task easier but the halls of Tartarus were narrow and did now really allow for all of them to go in. Plus Fuuka was more than capable of providing support from the ground floor even if they were over eighty floors up now.

He ignored the conversation for now and instead found himself standing against the wall by the door to the command room. Junpei had for some reason never came back to the dorm. At least as far as he could tell. As a matter of fact Junpei had seemed practically occupied in his thoughts as of late. It was out of character for Junpei, but obviously there was something that Minato was missing. It wasn't like he spent an exorbitant amount of time with him. Although people assumed that Junpei and him were best pals or something. Well he was certainly good friends with Junpei but not that close.

"Did you find Iori?" Mitsuru's question made Minato aware of Ken entering the room.

Regardless of how capable Ken had proven himself to be he was still wary of having him as a part of SEES. It didn't matter how mature Ken was, it was just the fact that he was a kid. In no way should someone that young have to be involved with a fight like this. Then again from what he had hear he was sure that Mitsuru had been even younger than Ken when awakening to her Persona. Minato sighed, again he was lacking in information but not all of it was really prudent to the situation.

"I can't find him anywhere. His backpack isn't here, so I don't think he's been home yet," Ken was definitely concerned. Junpei and Ken had bonded a bit although it seemed like Ken tried not to.

"That idiot. He knows tonight's the night," Yukari was most likely worried about him, not really angry.

"I don't sense him anywhere nearby. Should I take more time to look for him, just in case?" Fuuka asked.

"No, it's okay. You're all young; sometimes you just get in one of those moods. Anyway, we should focus on the task at hand," Ikutsuki interjected.

Minato glared daggers at Ikutsuki but he didn't even notice. They were short on time…they needed to get to the Shadow quickly but if Fuuka couldn't even sense Junpei then that were a problem.

"We can't afford to waste any more time. Let's go," Mitsuru quickly took charge and left. Everyone else was quick to follow. Minato hung out until Ikutsuki had left the room as well.

"Arisato," Shinjiro said as he approached him. "Did he say anything to you earlier?"

"No, nothing. He should have been here. But he has been acting odd lately," Minato shook his head.

"Well you would know him better than me," Shinjiro shrugged.

"Just watch out for Ikutsuki," Minato looked at his senpai with a stern look.

"You don't trust him. Neither do I," Shinjiro looked at Minato for a moment. "Let get going for now."

Minato didn't say anything else to Shinjiro, instead the two of them left to catch up to the others. Still it was comforting to know that Shinjiro felt the same way he did towards Ikutsuki. Not that it would change much considering all he had against the man was a gut feeling.

The whole of SEES arrived at Paulownia Mall as quickly as they could. Seeing the fountain just made it sink in further that the Dark Hour was so unnatural. It looked like a fountain of blood. Minato walked up to it and looked into the fountain. There had to be some reason why the Dark Hour appeared the way it did. What was it that caused only some people to experience it? Why did everyone else turn into coffins? And why did water become blood? The only thing that seemed to relate to it was one of the Egyptian plagues that turned water to blood. But that didn't make any more sense of anything. Being in the Dark Hour was like being surrounded by Death. Blood, coffins, and a bleak world where a tower named after a part of the Greek underworld watched over all of it.

"Detect anything?" Mitsuru asked Fuuka. Minato glanced over his shoulder.

"Only a faint presence, it seems so close but…why?" Fuuka looked confused but focused. Her Persona Lucia standing tall with Fuuka standing inside it. Minato couldn't help but be curious what information gathering was like to Fuuka.

"Alright, let's split up and search for it. There is no time to lose; hurry," Mitsuru urged everyone but Minato simply returned his attention to the fountain. He knew Fuuka could find it.

"Wait, please give me a moment," Fuuka pleaded. "This is my responsibility."

Minato knew without looking that Fuuka had doubled her concentration. Fuuka spoke trying harder to focus her efforts, "Tell me, Lucia. What is this thing that deceives me? Hear the wind's answer in your ear, touch the earths answer with your fingertips, taste the water's answer with your lips."

"Hey, is she okay?" Akihiko stepped forward but Minato turned his head to see Mitsuru stopping him.

"Don't break her concentration," Mitsuru said.

"Right beneath our feet, some kind of," Fuuka seemed perplexed. "Webbing?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the old power cables underground. They were just left there when the islands construction was completed," Aigis provided information from her database.

"Power cables?" Mitsuru obviously wanted some clarification.

"Yes, they run underground in many directions, like a web," Aigis confirmed.

"Thank you, Aigis. I understand now. Interference isn't the problem. The cables themselves have been possessed by the Shadow," Fuuka's voice was more confident than before, Minato was glad about that.

"They what?" Yukari shook her head. "So it's underneath this whole area?"

"Now it all makes sense," Akihiko said to himself.

"How are we supposed to beat something like that?" Ken spoke up.

"This is a problem, we have no means of attacking it," Mitsuru thought out loud.

"In your notes from previous battles, it said there was a Shadow that took control of a monorail. Just like that one, this Shadow must have its own body. Let me see if I can find it," Fuuka refocused on her task. Minato turned and walked over to Yukari in the meantime.

"You okay?" Minato asked.

"I think I should be asking you that. You seem quieter than even what is normal for you," Yukari put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't bare everything on your own."

"I know." Minato sighed. "I don't think you should go this time."

She blinked a couple times then a smile appeared across her face. "If it attached itself to power cables then you think electricity is its main attack?"

"So you were thinking it too then," Minato sighed. "I just don't want to risk you…"

Yukari put her hand to his mouth and forced him to look at her, "I know but you can't take all the risk either. But I agree with you, plus…" She wrapped her arms around his neck as they spoke.

"You're worried about where Junpei is," Minato voiced both of their concerns. "It bothers me that the Chairman wrote it off like Junpei was pulling some stupid teenage drama crap. Regardless of his feelings to any of us he would have been here. Fighting is the one thing he feels he excels at. And I know he would have been an ideal choice to bring into this fight considering what we know."

"Forget about that," Yukari pulled him close. "I'll worry about Junpei, you go beat this Shadow."

"Alright, deal," Minato breathed and took a moment to gather himself before finally pulling away from Yukari.

"Fuuka?" Yukari took a step away from Minato, which caused him to look over to Fuuka as well. She looked like she was struggling with something.

She was breathing heavily, "I found it. It's close by. In this mall." She was out of breath, had she maybe been overdoing it? Regardless she had succeeded. Now it was time for Minato to get to work.

"In here?" Yukari looked around.

"It's in a small chamber underground. It's rectangular, so I assume it's man-made." Fuuka replied seemingly regaining a bit of her strength and composure.

"Wait a minute. I overheard the manager of Escapade. He was saying that the power's been acting up lately. They had to cancel an important show because of it," Shinjiro certainly knew a lot. "He said the control panel is located beneath the club. Maybe we should take a look."

"That's it!" Fuuka confirmed.

"Good job, Yamagishi. Arisato, since space to fight is probably limited keep it in mind while picking the team. We should hurry and move out soon," Mitsuru was quick to move to the assault.

"Right," he nodded. "Shinjiro-senpai, Akihiko-senpai and Ken-kun are coming." Minato walked over and bent down to where Koromaru was. He petted him, "Watch them for me, okay?"

Koromaru barked and wagged his tail as if confirming his order. Minato smiled and got back to his feet. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He was now using the katana he had acquired exclusively now. He was able to use it on or two handed depending on the situation. It had felt a lot better to him

They all gathered in front of Escapade. Minato turned to Ken. "Ken-kun, I want you to focus on healing, okay? Akihiko-senpai and Shinjiro-senpai will be the main attackers. I'll run support and fill the gaps where it's needed. He probably uses zio type attacks. So stick with physical attacks."

"Makes sense why you chose us then," Akihiko fitted on his last glove. "Let's get moving."

Shinjiro and Akihiko took the lead this time and entered Escapade. Minato followed behind Ken and they made their way through the club. Shinjiro led them to a door in the back. Soon they were downstairs, and they heard the Shadow before they even could see it.

"That's the source! It's connected to all those cables, so be careful you don't get shocked," Fuuka's voice said as the Shadow came into full view.

This Shadow was incredibly connected to the cables. Minato ran forward as Akihiko and Shinjiro moved to attack. Minato pulled out his evoker and the familiar feeling. "Oumitsunu! Rakunda!" He threw on a defensive debuff as Akihiko and Shinjiro closed in on the target. Both of them summoned their persona and it quickly converged on the Shadow, hitting it from either side.

It recoiled and fell back.

"Alright, let's kick some ass," Shinjiro brought up his axe and charged in with Akihiko following behind. Minato was quick to follow as well. Minato unsheathed the katana and came in attempting to sever some of the cable connections. He cut through a number of them before all three of them were launched away as a large electrical charge moved up the cables to main body of the Shadow.

"The Shadow has a lot of electricity charged up. Please be careful you four," Fuuka quickly informed.

A charge attack? A few of the newer Shadows in Tartarus had also been able to charge there attacks and those had served a very considerable punch. If there was any indicator using that…no doubt this attack would be even more powerful.

"Be careful guys, those cables are probably electrically charged. Avoid hitting them until after he's discharged. Then let's focus on severing them," Minato yelled out. Then something new happened. Suddenly a few of the cables sprung out of nowhere and began flying straight towards Minato. "What the hell?"

"Move it!" Shinjiro yelled.

Minato rolled off but the cables quickly changed direction heading back towards him. He sprinted off towards the side of the room as fast as he could. He had no room to maneuver, and he was running right towards a wall. He swore under his breath but as he did switched to a new Persona. Take-mikazuchi, at the very least he had some resistance to electricity this way. Minato flipped the katana around so that the blade was like a knife and he jumped at the wall. His jump was higher than he could usually do so because of the strength of his Persona. He shifted himself so he would land against the wall with his legs and took less than a second for him to flip around. The cables were coming in from six places at once. His momentum pressed him close against the wall making it easy for him to springboard off and in to the only gap he had. Reinforcing his grip on the sword he flipped around and cut through the cables.

Landing on his feet he only felt a minor shock from cutting through the cables. Luckily they had stopped.

"It's going to discharge!" Fuuka warned.

Minato looked at his feet, the cables he had cut. His eyes grew wide, he made a horrible mistake. A blinding blue light poured from all around him and he was hit hard, sending him flying through the air and towards a different wall. Minato was disoriented unable to tell what direction he was even facing. His head hit the wall hard. Finally he stopped moving but it was replaced with lots and lots of pain.

"Senpai!" Ken was next to him. "Nemesis! Diarama!"

He felt a little better but Minato doubted healing spells could completely heal that damage. Still it was enough to help him to his feet. He was light headed…no it was more than that…he probably had a concussion. He tried to focus again. He saw Shinjiro and Akihiko were on the offensive again.

"Thanks Ken-kun." Minato picked up his sword, which he hadn't even realized he had dropped. He took a few steps forward. Minato knew this needed to end. He couldn't afford for that charge move to happen again. The next time it might now be aimed at him. Despite his head he took step after step towards the Shadow…his stumbling turned into a walk…then a jog and finally to a full out sprint.

This time he would have to rely on the strength of his Persona. More cables were now headed straight towards him. Minato expertly slid under them and popped back up to his feet and jumped into the air as more cables tried to attack him. He came down slicing through at least half a dozen but didn't stop his momentum towards the main Shadow. As soon as his feet hit the ground his run towards the Shadow continued. Keeping his katana in his main hand he used his off hand to pull out his evoker.

"Take-mikazuchi! Tarakaja!" He boosted his own attack power as more cables came towards him. But it never reached him. Shinjiro's axe cut them like butter and then his Persona Castor sliced through another mess of it. It gave Minato a clear lane, and he ran by Shinjiro. Akihiko stopped the next attempt at Minato and smashed the cables into the ground with Polydeuces. Both Akihiko and Shinjiro with their Persona's left the Shadow no way to attack Minato.

He charged evoker to his head. "Getsu-ei!" His Persona came forward and split the Shadow open causing it to hunch over. Holstering the evoker he jumped. Using both hands on his katana he sliced up cutting clean through the mask. The Shadow shrieked and collapsed beginning to disappear. But it made one final attack. A cable came directly from it straight at Minato. He couldn't dodge, he was in mid-air. Minato could only watch in horror as he realized that this attack would kill him.

Or it would have. Ken hit the cable hard causing it to veer off, but it still hit Minato.

It pierced right through his left shoulder, Minato yelled in pain as he hit the ground. Automatically his hand went to the cable and pulled it out. The Shadow finally disappeared and the power in the cables disappeared. The whole in Minato's left shoulder remained.

"Shit," Minato cursed and collapsed on the ground. He gritted his teeth trying to keep his need to scream to a minimum.

"Guys come in. We finished the Shadow but Minato is hurt badly. Hurry up," Akihiko was the one speaking.

Minato was bleeding for sure.

"Diarama!" Ken cast the spell multiple times on Minato. Some of the wound healed. But the hole was still there.

"It's no good the wound is too severe for that to work," Shinjiro said. Taking a more proactive stance Shinjiro took out a package of gauze and bandages and was on the ground forcing Minato's jacket off and ripping his school shirt open that had been stained with blood. Luckily the whole was not that big, but it was enough to cause problems. Shinjiro had it bandaged and wrapped in record time. "That should hold it for now."

"Minato!" It was Yukari's voice. She was by his side in an instant. "Oh my god. Senpai is he…"

"He'll be fine," Shinjiro spoke, attempting to sound like he didn't care. "He lost a lot of blood, but he'll be okay. He just needs to go to the hospital as soon as the Dark Hour is over."

"Yukari?" Minato finally got a grip on the pain and refocused.

"You're so reckless. You're such an idiot," Yukari sounded angry but she grabbed Minato's hand. She was shaking.

"What happened?" Mitsuru was the new voice.

"It's just like the last Shadow. It seemed like it was aiming specifically for Arisato," Akihiko shook his head. "It's like Shinji and I were just annoyances getting in his way."

"We can talk about that later," Shinjiro interrupted. "We're we able to find that Iori kid?"

"Yes, I found him. He seems to be back at the dorm, but something seems strange," Fuuka said.

"Then we should hurry back," Shinjiro was quick to make the decision.

Minato felt he could pass out right there but knew that would not be a good thing. He was worried about Junpei and was sure that he himself was going to be in great need of help himself. Still he forced himself to sit up. He was dizzy, he knew he more than likely had a concussion. He had a few in the past thanks to his Kendo club, and luckily the wound on his arm wasn't as bad as it could have been if Shinjiro hadn't acted so quickly in bandaging him up. When Shinjiro said he had Minato's back he didn't realize how all-encompassing that had been. He had a new respect for the power and quick thinking of his Senpai. It was no wonder why Akihiko had been so adamant about getting him back. He was a powerful ally to have.

"Can you stand?" Yukari asked, and Minato knew something was up with the way she spoke. She was upset.

"Yeah help me up, just not with my left side obviously," Minato muttered, and Yukari helped him to his feet. He was dizzy…and a little nauseous. Yeah he definitely had a concussion. He felt Yukari shaking next to him. "Yukari, we'll talk later okay? First we need to make sure Junpei is okay."

She nodded.

Minato unconsciously switched his persona to Oumitsunu which he had somehow managed to fuse with a regenerate ability. Despite the thought that it would not have an effect on his present condition he tried anyway. To his surprise by the time they had made it back to the dorm his head felt significantly better. When they all arrived at the dorm, Fuuka froze at the entrance.

"Junpei, he's on the roof, but…I think there is someone else there, but…"

"Alright move!" Minato's voice got everyone going. They rushed into the dorm and all raced up the stairs. Yukari took the charge and opened the door to the roof.

"Junpei!" Yukari yelled.

"Tch, they're back already?" an unknown individual stood there. She had red hair, a more vibrant shade than Mitsuru's. And she had on a very elaborate outfit. It was gothic lolita in style…it was something Minato had only seen in magazines. But she pulled out a very familiar item. An evoker.

"She's a Persona-user?" Mitsuru as well as most of the others were surprised.

Minato had figured something like this could have happened. She was likely apart of the group Strega. And more than likely part of the reason Takaya and Jin had been able to go unnoticed by Fuuka.

"Come Medea," the girl spoke putting the evoker up to her head.

"Chidori, stop!" Junpei suddenly broke free from whatever had been binding him and tackled the girl named Chidori to the ground.

There was too much to this situation Minato didn't know about but as he saw Akihiko pick up her evoker and Junpei had the girl pinned down, the worst of it was over. He stumbled backwards and leaned against the door as he saw that Ikutsuki had come up as well. Minato's eyes flickered close for a moment and he forced them open. Yukari was next to him the next instant.

"You can't go to sleep yet. As soon as the Dark Hour is over, I'm taking you to the hospital," Yukari said grabbing his hand. "We'll let our Senpai take care of this."

Yukari dragged him back inside and carefully down the stairs until they were finally in the lounge. It was quiet by comparison to the rest of the night.

"I'm sorry, Yukari," Minato said in a whisper as he allowed her to drag him onto the couch. She forced him to lay down with his head in her lap. Yet despite his own condition he hoped Junpei was okay. It must have been her...this Chidori girl that had made a change in Junpei as of late. He had been more focused in Tartarus and had been...overall happier. Junpei had usually been the one to cheer up the team to begin with but he had been even more upbeat. The implication was not lost on Minato. And he also realized that Junpei was going to go through some trouble because of what more than likely his feelings were for her. Yukari's voice broke through his thoughts and made him realize how affected she was by what had happened to him tonight. Well...it wasn't every day you get skewered by a large ass shadow.

"Minato, that Shadow was targeting you. It almost killed you," her voice was full of frustration. "It could have killed you."

"I don't know why it was. I'm just as clueless as you," Minato brought his hand up to Yukari's cheek, and he realized that she was in tears. There was more to this than just the attack on him.

"You can't do this to me. I don't want to lose anyone else, ever again," Yukari cried. Had Minato become important enough for her to make a comparison to losing him to be like losing her Father? Because that was exactly the underlining tone she was giving here.

Minato said nothing as Yukari cried. She was frustrated over what happened but Minato knew he couldn't make a promise so lightly. Especially when he wasn't sure that one of these times he may make a really bad decision, and that would be the day he wouldn't come back.

The Velvet Room

Date Unknown

"Welcome to the Velvet Room my dear young friend," a strange old man spoke as Hamuko opened her eyes. She couldn't help but notice the very long nose on him first off. It was just something your eye naturally was drawn to . But what was this Velvet Room? She was running off towards the Inoto Dorms and then…her mind went blank after that. "I am delighted to meet your acquaintance. My name is Igor, and my assistant here is named Theodore."

"Good Evening," the voice brought Hamuko's eyes to a silver hair and golden eyed man that stood next to Igor. Igor himself sat comfortably in a lush velvet covered chair.

"Now, why don't you introduce yourself?" Igor smiled.

"Takahashi Hamuko…or Arisato Minako…although to be honest I have only know myself as Takahashi Hamuko," Hamuko for some reason oddly wanting to divulge information to Igor. She wasn't sure why but it felt necessary to do so.

"You are right to question yourself," Igor had an amused look on his face, seemingly observing Hamuko's reaction.

"What is this place?" Hamuko asked. "Wait this is the place my brother described in his journal. A place decorated in blue velvet and looks as if it is an elevator. But how am I here?"

"Recently you have awakened to your power. And just as your brother before you was, you have the rare gift of the wild card. It seems that sometime in the near future you will enter into a contract, but before that you will require my help. I am capable of fusing the Personae within you to create new and more powerful ones. This will surely be of help in your journey," Igor enigmatic smile felt oddly comforting despite her previous rush to get to the dorm. "Do not be alarmed, time does not progress normally while you are within the Velvet Room. So please, relax."

The man named Theodore held up a book. No it was a grimoire. "I also may provide assistance in recording your current Persona. You may also retrieve them at any time from me for a small fee."

"The Persona Compendium and Fusion will be a valuable weapon in your fight to come. Do not despair, be confident in your abilities as you face these trials and tribulations," Igor's words did put Hamuko at ease.

So just like her Brother she was going to face a difficult time. A difficulty that could not be fought by normal means. The power of Persona…an aspect of the psyche that manifested itself as a means to face the darkness of humanity, Shadows. Maybe this way she would better understand her brother.

"Igor-sama, I want to fuse," Hamuko went right to business.

Igor simply smiled and waved his hand on the table in front of him, "Then let us see the possibilities within you."

Author's Note:

A somewhat short chapter...but more transitional. Some more reveals about certain things is coming...and well...things to look forward to as well. I don't have much to say other than thank you. Thanks for taking time to read this fan fiction and I'm hoping you've enjoyed it so far. I hope it stays entertaining up until the end. See you tomorrow with Chapter 15.