Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3—or any version of the Persona series, really. I just own this rather shameless piece of work.

Other Notes: Fun Fact: Much of the Arcana Magician encounter last chapter was inspired and influenced by the Jurassic World soundtrack piece "Our Rex is Bigger Than Yours". Very dramatic!

Symbiosis

Chapter Six

The next thing Minato knew, he was in the Velvet Room.

Shocked, he looked around at the blue everything, trying to make sense of what happened and why he was there. All he could remember was running, a pain at his back, and then an even sharper pain in his head. Tamamo had done something, but he didn't know what.

His eyes widened. Tamamo!

There was no answer.

Heart pounding, his fingers clenched the fabric of his pants as he called her again and again. Tamamo? Tamamo, answer me! Tama—!

Across the table, Igor gave a creaky laugh. "Settle down. Your partner is fine… She is simply recovering, as you are right now. It seems that was quite the ordeal you went through."

Minato, feeling drained, slumped in his seat. "Ordeal…? That was… more than that." Whatever it was, it had been a disaster.

Igor hummed. "It will not be the last, nor the most difficult."

Looking up, Minato found that the old man looked… not serious, but certainly more aware. He was smiling in a disquieting way. "Those things… the thing that came out of me… what were they?"

"That, my boy, was the power known as Persona," Igor explained, looking pleased to do so. "It is a manifestation of your psyche. And you, or rather, your partner awakened this power within you."

Minato frowned. "Persona?"

That earned a nod. "A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli… Normally, at any rate." Igor chuckled. "You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

A mask…

Minato swore he'd heard something similar before, lost amidst the various lectures and small wisdoms Tamamo had imparted to him while growing up.

"Using your Persona ability forces you to channel your inner strength, and evolves as you develop your Social Links—the emotional ties that bind you with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please… remember that."

Ah.

So the stronger the bonds one had with others, the stronger the Persona? And if a Persona was a manifestation of the psyche…

Minato snorted quietly. What a way to say that building strong (and hopefully healthy) relationships with others led to a strong (and maybe even stable) mind. Yes, he'd heard such things numerous times while growing up from his Other when she believed he was being too solitary. She had stopped eventually, seeing that he was quite content with the way he was and did not suffer unduly from the lack of relationships he had. Not that his life would have allowed for any meaningful bonds to be established at the time anyway. "I see."

Igor nodded, apparently satisfied. "Now, then. Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord."

Distantly, Minato remembered the key Igor gave him. He couldn't remember it appearing when he woke up. Was it only meant to appear when it was needed?

"Until then, farewell."

He supposed he would find out.

Despite Igor's dismissal and the Velvet Room fading all around him, Minato didn't find himself returning to reality just yet. Instead, he found himself materialized in front of the blue door in the depths of his own mind.

Minato took in the familiar star-like barrier that shimmered around his mindscape before looking around, trying to find Tamamo. Whenever he made a dive he was usually able to pinpoint her location and use that as a guide, but this trip hadn't quite been made of his own volition.

Venturing forward a few steps, he tentatively called out, "Tamamo?"

"Ah… Minato…" Tamamo's voice responded, but she didn't step into view.

That was strange. "Where are you?" He took another few steps forward, looking around. She wasn't anywhere nearby him, he could sense. She was somewhere… to his right?

Turning, he paused at the sight of heavy blue curtains (the same blue as the Velvet Room, he noted) drawn over a section of his mind. A quick trace of his mental map from past dives told him that it was the little corner she usually occupied. The one she had been asleep in before and lingered around even after awakening.

He took a few steps toward it, curious.

"W—Wait! Please, stop!"

His steps halted and he cocked his head to the side. "Tamamo? What's going on?" Suspicion began to wind its way through him, his mindscape reflecting the emotion with a white mist. "Why're you hiding?"

She didn't reply.

She also didn't stop him again as he continued forward, approaching the curtain and grasping the edge. It was only when he began to lift it that she pleaded, "Don't…"

He stopped, curtain lifted up to his waist. Looking down, he could just barely make out the outline of her feet, where she stood just beyond. "Why? What happened?"

"I…" her voice faltered. "That night, against the Shadow… I interfered. You know that. I pulled your Persona out from the depths of your soul to try to help you and… something else happened. I was… damaged."

Damaged?

Without warning, Minato flung the curtain up—then stared, horrified, at the image of his Other.

She was in pieces. Had it not been for the fact that they were within his mind, he doubted she would even be standing. Numerous parts of her body were scrapped away, some limbs torn at joints and revealing the dark matter that made up her body beneath the skin. Her torso was nearly gone in the same manner, as if something had taken a bite out of her.

Even the pieces that remained intact were marked in some way. The skin of her remaining human hand looked as if it were made of glass, dark cracks webbing out against the pale skin. Her face was in the same condition, a gaping hole where her right eye used to be with one long fissure extending across her nose to the other side of her face like a scar.

Tamamo didn't meet his eyes, focusing somewhere around his chest as she attempted to smile and shrug. "It… looks a lot worse than it is…?"

Minato opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came to him immediately. His eyes traced over the wounds continuously, refusing to look away.

Eventually, he managed, "You must be in agony, then."

She did look up then, if only to give him a wry smile. "Gee, thanks." She backed away, however, allowing him to step forward in the new space she created for herself. It was a small lounge, obviously Velvet Room-inspired by all the deep blue hues and elegant furniture, and she dropped herself on the lone chaise longue that was there.

After taking a moment to observe her, he dropped the curtain behind him and sat at an open space by her legs.

"…What happened, exactly?" he asked, eyeing the dark limbs that were once covered by her human shell.

Tamamo apparently felt safe in the closed-off room because she was more forthcoming than usual. She shrugged. "When I saw you in danger, I panicked and decided to try something a little crazy. So I dug around, reached deep into your mind or, rather, your soul. I pleaded for a Persona to answer and save you and pulled up Orpheus…"

She looked up then, staring at the curtain. For a moment, Minato thought she was staring off into space, maybe recalling what happened, only for her to ask him a strange question. "You've seen the door, haven't you? The black one with the Roman numeral for thirteen?"

"The one with the chains? Yeah." He had been mildly curious about it for a time, but it gave off the distinct feeling of "keep away" that Minato abided by his instincts.

"When I pulled Orpheus out, the being that sleeps behind that door woke up," Tamamo said with certainty. She was not guessing or grasping at straws—she had known it for what it was. "Your power to wield Personas was fully awakened and it was attracted to that power… Suffice to say, it went berserk. I was caught up in the reaction and this was the result."

Minato looked in the same direction she was staring, apprehension filling him. "So that thing was a Persona, too?"

He could remember bits and pieces of what happened, fuzzy as his mind had been from the pain. He vaguely remembered the first shining figure that appeared before it was ripped apart from the inside, a black monster breaking free and brutally destroying the other monster.

"In a sense," Tamamo replied.

"And using the power of my Persona did this to you," Minato concluded, grim.

Tamamo shook her head. "No. When Orpheus went out to protect you, I was fine. It was the other… Thanatos. Its power was too strong. We're lucky that it's kept behind a seal, which keeps it under control to an extent… Your awakening just caused a power surge that allowed it to temporarily overpower that seal, but once it faded it had to return."

Then, she lowered her head, looking down at her lap. "And… I was counting on it to go berserk so it could destroy that Shadow. I knew I would get caught up in the reaction, but not quite like this."

Minato's gaze snapped to her. With difficulty, he bit out, "What…?"

"Minato…"

"No, tell me. What did you just say?"

His Other sighed. "It was the only thing I could think of. Yukari and the others were severely unprepared and I knew that Thanatos's power, even for a short time, would be more than enough to defeat the Shadow instead. I didn't expect this result, but I still don't regret it."

He slumped forward, all but burying his head in his knees as he groaned. "Tamamo… that's so… you're so…" He groaned again. "…stupid!"

"You're alive," she retorted. "Your classmates are alive. It worked. I've no regrets."

Minato shot her a scathing look. "Because you did it accepting you would probably die!"

He remembered that accidental thought she'd sent him in the midst of her fear. Confused as he was by the wording, it was clear what she had meant to say now. That his life was more important. That she would gladly die, again(?), if it meant he was safe and sound. Even if being "safe" did not always coincide with being "happy".

Which he certainly would not have been, if what she had planned went as she'd expected.

When he looked her way, he found Tamamo sending him a sad look, which still managed to be effective despite the fact that practically half of her face was missing. In fact, the broken doll look probably enhanced the expression.

He shook his head roughly. He was still mad. Would probably be for a while. So he changed the subject before the familiar fear that rose whenever he thought of his Other disappearing on him could fuel his ire. "You knew about all of this before, didn't you? The Personas and the… Shadows? It's how you knew what to look for, right?"

Tamamo confirmed his thoughts, accepting the slide in topics. "I do know some things—maybe even a lot of things—that are currently beyond your knowledge. I don't mean to keep so many secrets, but I also don't want to just dump all the information on your head. I do promise to share them with you one day, though."

Minato nodded. That was a much easier fact to swallow. She had been doing it since he was a kid and, more importantly, was open about what information she could share and what she decided to withhold. Mostly in regards to how relevant it was for him to know. As he had not known about Personas and Shadows or had cause to believe in them, he could accept why she never brought it up.

He stood up, then, deciding that he'd hung around for long enough and that it was about time for him to wake up. Tamamo followed.

"Minato," she said as he ducked under the curtains.

He paused.

"For what it's worth, while I may have no regrets on the outcome, I am sorry for all of this." Tamamo gestured to herself somewhat sheepishly. "I know it was reckless, but it really was the only solution I could think of at the time."

Minato sighed. "I know." That was partly why he was so angry. He had promised to do his part to protect them both, but she had gone ahead and chosen to do something to save him, without his input. And it had ended with severe consequences on her part.

He had to work harder. To prove he could be relied upon to pull his own weight so she wouldn't have to make such a decision again.

"…Are you okay?" he asked eventually, unwilling to leave before he had a concrete answer. "You said it's not as bad as it looks, but it looks really bad. Is there a reason why you haven't reconstructed your body?"

"I'm still recovering," Tamamo admitted. "It took a lot out of me to separate myself from, er, Thanatos's stronger will. So I guess you could say I'm tired, which hinders my ability to construct things properly. I should be back to normal before long, though."

Minato dipped his head in acknowledgement before continuing on his way, feigning nonchalance despite the way the image of her appearance now haunted him. With barely a blink, he focused his mind outward and disappeared from his mindscape, finally jumping back to the real world.

When he woke up, he was very groggy and in the hospital, which instantly put him in a bad mood. Unfortunately, Yukari was sitting by his bedside, forcing him to rein in his ill temper to avoid lashing out at her for no reason.

She was still his odd classmate who had a habit of running her mouth at times, but she was a fellow survivor of a supernatural monster attack. He could afford to be more polite with her.

(He didn't think he would ever forget the fact that she pulled a gun on him when they first met, though. Even the fact that it wasn't a real gun didn't excuse anything. In fact, after he learned what said guns—Evokers—were for, he would realize that she probably might have summoned her Persona on him. Which was arguably worse than any possible gun wound.)

According to Yukari, a full week had passed since that night, where he collapsed after displaying a tremendous amount of power. She then shared with him a bit of her past, having felt guilty for apparently knowing his own without his permission.

He didn't quite understand that, but it seemed to make her feel better about herself and the situation, so he held his tongue.

She left before long and Minato rested a little more, trying to wake his body up enough from its lingering weariness so he could leave the hospital. By the time he was signed out and released, it was evening. Trudging his way to the dorm, he barely responded to his dormmates' greetings as he entered and instead shuffled up to his room where he fell asleep.

Minato took his time going to school the next day, slowly going through the motions of getting ready and leisurely making his way to the train and then to campus. He was nearly late when he finally arrived at the school gate, where Junpei was just crossing.

The baseball-capped teen blinked as he looked over, then lifted a hand in greeting. Minato nodded in return and their paths converged, deciding without words to walk the way to class together.

"Sup, dude? You were out for a while," Junpei commented. "You get a stomachache or flu or something?"

Minato shrugged. "Or something."

"Must've been bad."

They continued chatting idly as they made their way into the school, switching out their shoes and heading on to the second floor where their class was. As they entered, Junpei was greeted by their other classmates and went over to join them. Minato went straight to his seat.

Yukari turned around in her seat as he sat down. "Morning. You seem to be looking better."

"More or less," he replied, pulling out his notebook and other supplies. He'd actually started feeling better sometime during the night, which he suspected was Tamamo's doing. He didn't have the time to confirm this or check on her own recovery, however, in an effort to both not be late to school and not collapse unexpectedly on the way there.

"I'm doing better," Tamamo piped up helpfully. "I've started reconstructing my body again, though it's slow-going."

Yukari hummed. "That's good, then. Oh, and sorry to just spring this on you right now, but Ikutsuki-san said that he wants to talk to you later today… Come to the fourth floor of the dorm after school, okay?"

He nodded and then Ms. Toriumi strolled into class, effectively ending all conversation.

Tamamo was glad that the phrase "doing better" was relative. And that Minato had believed her when she'd told him that she was fine.

Because, relatively speaking, she wasn't lying.

When she had first woken up again after passing out from the Arcana Magician fight (though it was less of a fight and more of a beat-down), she had hurt. Honestly speaking, she had reawakened not because she was recovered enough, but rather the act of recovery was just so painful she could not ignore it by sleeping.

Everywhere that she had been torn, the areas of her body where pieces had been ripped away by Death's passing, pulsed with sharp pains. She had once had an infected cut a lifetime ago that had become so sensitive that even leaving it exposed to the air had made her hard-pressed to not cry out. These felt the same—so raw and open that she wished she could pass out again to escape the sensations.

These were purely mental wounds, the scars left behind when she tore what she could of herself away from Death's grip and possession. Judging by the state of her "body", she had left pieces of herself behind in her desperation to get away and not be similarly absorbed like the Arcana Magician Shadow. It scared her to know that she had lost something, but didn't know what yet. Just as it scared her that she had been so utterly ravaged by a single encounter.

And Death was not even whole yet. Had only just absorbed one of the other twelve Shadows that comprised its completed form.

It took Tamamo a long while to pull herself together after that, realizing how close she had been to being consumed by the incomplete Death. She had begun to heal when Minato called out to her, his own consciousness reawakened in the Velvet Room.

Knowing that she could not repair her body in time, she had tried to hide, but Minato was truly stubborn when he wanted to be and made the effort moot. Thankfully, the pain had dulled somewhat to more of an aching throb by then, and she could stand before him for long enough before it piled up and forced her to rest halfway through their conversation. By the time he went to class the next day, it was more like she was heavily sore than anything.

So, in all, she had been fine and was doing significantly better, especially in comparison to how it had been like before. But Minato wouldn't appreciate that line of reasoning, so she had to carefully rearrange the barrier of his mind between them, enclosing what she felt in what was essentially a mental steel trap. Thankfully, what he felt from her was already greatly less than what she felt from him, so it didn't take much of her reduced power to set it up.

She felt she was justified in doing so. These early days of adjustment were vital and Minato needed to join SEES—any discomfort on her part had to be ignored for the sake of preventing the Fall.

And so, she hung back as Minato headed back to the dorm, watching distantly as he made his way to the fourth floor and found the other members of SEES waiting for him.

There were many mixed feelings she had when she saw Ikutsuki. The characterization of him in the game during the reveal had been so very abrupt that she hadn't known quite what to think the first time around on the original game—which she supposed was the point. But when she played the game again, through FES, she had felt very angry. The fiery sort of anger that burned so hot that it broke through the opposite end of the spectrum and turned positively glacial.

Thanks to certain "real life" hardships she'd been going through at the time, she'd had no tolerance for manipulative bastards the second play-through on. At all.

Still, she knew that Ikutsuki's misleading SEES to be necessary. The Shadows had to be reunited in order to summon Nyx, so they could fight and set up the Great Seal… If SEES did not, it was an eventual fact of the game that humanity's collective subconscious would call to Nyx inevitably. And simply refusing to fight the twelve Arcana Shadows would be of little use—they were awakened the moment Minato set foot in Iwatodai again and would seek him out in their wish to be one again.

It was a dangerous gamble, especially now that Tamamo was more or less living through it herself. The stakes were so high, but they would all have to bet on it in order to succeed.

So regardless of how bitter she felt to see Ikutsuki and to let him manipulate SEES to his desires, regardless of how sick at heart it made her feel to know the path ahead, she had to let it happen.

Tamamo watched as Mitsuru stood, walking to the table to open the briefcase that sat on the surface. It clicked and she pulled it open, turning it so that it faced Minato. Inside, a brand new Evoker sat, accompanied by the SEES brassard.

"We want you to join us," Mitsuru said as she sat back down. She nodded to the open briefcase. "We've prepared an Evoker for you. We'd like you to lend us your strength."

Minato felt a spike of trepidation as he looked at the Evoker and armband.

My strength…

It hadn't even been his strength, though. Not really. The one to manage to summon his Persona had been Tamamo. Sure, she had meant to wake up the thing behind the door, but it didn't change the fact that it had been her to do so rather than himself. He had no part in that fight besides running away.

"I…" He cleared his throat. "I'm not sure I'm… ready…"

The gray-haired upperclassman from before, formally introduced as Akihiko Sanada, leaned forward. "Don't think about it too much. You can just hang out with us for a while. See how it is."

Mitsuru nodded. "Please. We need your help."

Yukari glanced between the upperclassmen, expression perturbed. "H—Hey, wait, you can't just ask him like that!" Her brows furrowed as she muttered, "Who could say no to something like that…?" Then, louder, "I mean, it'd be nice if he joined, but…"

Their voices tapered off into silence before looking to him. Even the chairman remained silent, seemingly content to let them talk it out.

"Minato…" Tamamo spoke, "It might've been me that brought Orpheus out, but his power is yours and yours alone."

Not that he did much, Minato thought sardonically. That other one—Thanatos, right? That's the one that tore the Shadow apart. That's the thing that impressed them.

"Minato…" she repeated with a sigh.

Tamamo… he mimicked.

"It'll be fine."

You can't promise that.

"…No. I can't," she agreed."But they do need you. Shadows are a menace right now and things will only get worse the longer they're left to do as they please. If anything, just do as Akihiko suggests and take some time to get a feel for things."

Minato grimaced. "…All right."

There was visible relief on the other teenagers' faces. Ikutsuki sat back, looking pleased.

"Thank you," Mitsuru said. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

Minato nodded absently, tuning Ikutsuki out as he said something about his dorm assignment. The group was dismissed soon after, with Akihiko and Yukari taking the time to give him their separate thanks and "welcome aboard" messages on their way out. He followed them after sparing a nod to Mitsuru and Ikutsuki.

"…Oh!" Tamamo exclaimed. "Minato, come in here and take a look at this!"

Bewildered, Minato hastened to his room, making sure to lock the door behind him before going to sit on his bed. A quick second of concentration later, he was drawn into his mind.

"What happened?" he asked, careful to not let his eyes linger on his Other's still unrepaired body.

Tamamo gestured for him to come closer and he did. When he approached, he noticed that she was holding something in her hands. It looked like… a glowing string?

"A Social Link!" Tamamo proclaimed. "It's so interesting that it takes this sort of shape. I guess it'll get brighter and stronger as your bonds grow deeper."

Social Link… Oh.

Minato took in the faintly glowing string with renewed interest. So that was the thing Igor had told him to cultivate in order to develop his Persona abilities further… It didn't look like much, but he supposed it was just a fledgling bond.

He hummed. "It's convenient to know that I can just check on them like this."

Tamamo nodded. "I'll help monitor whatever ones that appear and let you know about any changes. Just thought that you'd like to know they were there—and that they weren't part of anything I made so you don't tear them by accident."

Despite himself, Minato chuckled. "Thanks, Tamamo."