♫ And I'm the Ace
APPLICATION & CONTACT
[ PLAYER INFORMATION ]
Player Name: FM
Age: 27
Timezone: +8 GMT
Personal Journal: flintlock
Contact Information:
Instant Messenger: AIM (serpentinelock)
Email: gunsmithprince@gmail
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Arisato Minato
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
Timeline: 31st January, 2010. Aftermath.
History: I will never leave you~
Minato is a veteran of Death City who will retain all memories of his time there. His return to Iwatodai allowed him to fulfil his final promise-to meet his friends on the roof of the dorm on Graduation Day. With that obligation kept, Minato finally allowed himself to drift away and die, thus completing the Soul Seal protecting Nyx. It is at this point that BREW returns Minato to Death City to fight with full resolve.
Character Personality:
First impressions can be tricky; an initial glance won't tell you much about Arisato Minato other than the most cursory of details. What you'll see is a calm, laid-back, and easy-going teenage boy who doesn't look to be unhappy where he's standing, but would probably be happier in a nice, warm bed. He'll look like almost everyone else, blending easily into the background, but there will also be a sense of 'otherness'-some unseen, but not unfelt, indication that there's something more. Mining out those details, however, is more difficult. As the Silent Protagonist, the majority of Minato's personality traits are left to player choice and action. Yet despite this hurdle, the game (and manga adaptation) reveals certain truths.
Reserved and even-tempered, Minato never says much and never loses his cool. When other characters are panicking, he holds his composure, considers his options, chooses one from the deck, and plays his hand. He thinks on his feet, and there is very little hesitation once a decision is made, only action. When Minato decides, he follows through and hopes for the best. This calm decisiveness is what draws people to him, and what lets him guide a team effectively through the Tartarus dungeon. Not the material for high-level strategies, Minato leads from the front and leads by example. As a leader, Minato makes up for a lack of passion with quiet intensity; an anchor more than a banner, Minato uses his blithe confidence, both in himself and in his friends, to push forward into even the most hopeless of situations. When victory is achieved, it is always a team effort: Minato has no need or use for accolades or glory, just the knowledge that everyone is safe.
His ability to find openings and opportunities extends beyond mission time. Being someone that people find easy to talk to means being an accomplished information gatherer. It also means getting to know people's problems. Minato uses this knowledge for good, not for personal gain: information useful to S.E.E.S. goes to S.E.E.S., while information pertinent to people's issues go towards helping them with those issues. Most of the time, though, all he really has to be is a friend that can understand and is willing to put in the time to listen. Minato gives his time to people, putting their needs above his desires (to go to sleep). He does what they like to do and he connects by evoking that sense of commonality, whether it be love of arcades, love of gourmet, or just love of life. He doesn't judge, and he doesn't exploit. Even if exploited himself, he won't give up on people, instead giving them the chances that they may not deserve.
He's not all complicated stoicisms; there is a quirky and simple side to Minato as well. He enjoys spending time with his friends, dozing off during school hours, goofing off after school hours, and sleeping early when he has the chance. His thoughts paint a vastly different picture than his reputation, revealing all the chinks in his armour -from the contrary and distracted introspections during conversations to the stunned and disbelieving sighs of relief made after a risky manoeuvre on a mission. (He does experience fear, but pushes it aside to do what needs to be done.) The contrast between what Minato says and thinks can be comical at times, but don't change his altruistic leanings. If anything, his uncomplicated view of the world is what lends him the strength to do what must be done, and to do so with an untainted understanding of what is truly important.
Defending what is truly important, however, can come with a price. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to protect the ones you love, sometimes you have to cross uncomfortable lines. Minato knows those lines: he throws himself into danger for other people, taking hits, falling ill, and losing sleep just to see them safe. Still, there are circumstances where that just isn't enough. To give up something of yourself takes great inner strength, but to give up everything takes immense resolve and fortitude. It's beyond most people to make a sacrifice that great, but not Minato. He'd take measure of the options, he'd think of all the people he'd gotten to know, and then he'd realize that what he'd need to do was impossible, so he'd stack the deck and change the rules. He'd give it all away. All of it. All of himself. He'd give his very soul to protect everyone-those he loved, those he didn't, and those he never got to-and that is a quality that no first impression, none, will ever tell you.
Character Abilities:
Minato's Statistics include Good Academics, Exceptional Charm, and Extraordinary Courage.
Minato is the Wild Card, and his talent with Persona and weaponry is as impressive as his rapport with people. Able to juggle the delicate balancing act that are Arcana strengths and weaknesses, he intuitively navigates through his repertoire of Persona to take on whatever role the mission calls for. Instead of just sticking with that role, however, Minato shuffles the decks, maintaining his hard-to-read exterior and gaining a harder-to-predict style. His diverse and intuitive proficiency with weapons follow the same pattern; Minato takes equally to swordplay, axe swinging, spear jabbing, gunslinging, and brawling. People, Persona, or Weapons, the Wild Card is the surprise of the deck, and versatile.
Off the battlefield, Minato's main expertise rests in the kitchen... or rather in what emerges from the kitchens. His appetite and stomach capacity are truly beyond human comprehension, and his escapades in the octopia eating contest and with the peta-wac (1,00,000,000,000,000 patty burger) are the stuff of high school legend. While this impressive record isn't undefeated (Elizabeth's ability to eat being much mightier), it has put him on par with other culinary food legends, such as the Gourmet King of Gekkoukan High.
Minato is also the king of monorail control, but doesn't do well with trains.
In the final confrontation with Nyx, Minato-with the aid of Igor- gained the ability to forge the Universe Tarot, allowing him to do the impossible (see the invisible). Achieving this skill was a catalyst for apotheosis, and Minato sacrificed his own soul to defeat the odds and save the world, establishing the Great Seal that now keeps Nyx safe from humanity's growing despair and world-weariness. This, of course, was only a one-time deal.
Character Weaknesses:
With every strength gained comes a weakness; such is the delicate balance of Persona control. Minato is beholden to the limitations of his currently equipped Persona, just as he is augmented by its power. Bringing the wrong tool to the fight usually means trouble -unless you also have the proper tool stashed away somewhere. Minato does not always have that foresight.
This principle also applies to his physical arsenal. You don't bring a knife to a sword fight, or a sword to a gun fight, and you definitely don't bring handgun to a fight with grenade launchers and large-caliber rifles. Bring the wrong weapon, even if you're a pro, and you're pooched. Minato, while proficient in a vast array of weaponry, is not a pro. He picks the weapon he feels is best, and makes the best of it. If a good weapon isn't around, whatever's in the area will do, and that's an even worse situation. Any swordsman will beat him with a sword, and any professional gunslinger will likely shoot him full of holes in a straight out fight. Skill against skill, Minato isn't much. Even with all the weapons training Tartarus afforded him, he's still a regular high schooler, not a hitman.
Being flexible doesn't only cause problems on the battlefront. Being flexible means lacking a firm plan, which is essential on the front lines, but not in the war room. Though Minato always follows through with his decisions, he's no large-scale strategist. He'll get the job done, but someone else needs to make the overall mission goals, or he'll stay as aimless as a blade without a holder. Someone else needs to be there also to pick up the pieces when he gets hurt -the main problem with acting on instinct and intuition alone. He needs people to cover his flanks and to patch him up after a risky maneuverer, or else he might not come back from it. Like Yukari says, "I can't heal you if you're dead."
His naivete and trusting nature are another liability. Minato tends to take people at face value, not questioning motives or seeking out falsehoods in what people say. He doesn't look for danger in people, only for people in danger, which relates to an even bigger problem.
Minato's greatest weakness is related to his greatest strength: people. Minato will give anything-has given everything-to help others. He'll put their needs above his own, ignoring his own problems and even his health. Emotional concerns aren't too great for Minato, but his physical condition is always under attack between the late nights and the injuries. His protectiveness isn't emotional, more instinctive than passionate, but no less dedicated and intense. The easiest way to affect Minato is to hurt the people around him.
[ MEISTER SECTION ]
Why your character should be a Meister:
Minato never asked to be a leader, and he never asked to be the anchor of his team. That he became the glue that held S.E.E.S. together was purely incidental, a fluke designed by fate. The only decision in the whole process that Minato ever made for himself was the simplest, but most important, choice of all: he wanted to protect the people he loved, the people he didn't, and the people he was never going to meet. Minato is not an instrument of harm; he lacks the edge necessary to be a Weapon. What he does have is the resolve required in taking a Weapon and turning it to a greater purpose-protecting those around him.
Meister Ability:
Soul Seal (below) is the ability I’ve been gunning for since I first applied for Minato back in early 2010. (In those days, there was no choice for abilities, only arbitration.) Calming Wavelength and Soul ZZZ are other options, though I would prefer if he graduated from Soul ZZZ to something more active.
SOUL SEAL: An alternate version of Soul Siege, Soul Seal is the ability to surround others with the shape of the casting Meister’s soul. This shell then hardens into an impenetrable form, disallowing attacks from without and within. The purpose of this ability is to force opponents to deal with the casting Meister first before they can attack the protected subject.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]
Soul Description: Selfless, Devoted, Intuitive, Unflappable, Adaptable, Decisive
Soul Appearance: Minato’s soul is dark blue in colour and features his characteristic hairstyle and neutral facial expression. It looks like it is wearing headphones.
[ SAMPLES ]
First Person:
[The video feed kicks in with a meandering view of Death City from a high-up balcony.]
So this is America. There sure are a lot of skulls...
[The camera pans to Shibusen's massive facade, a giant skull. It then flips around to catch Minato, busy looking distractedly out into the city, in its sights. He looks sleepy, as always.]
... It must be Halloween.
[His attention is now to the camera. His smile is easy and carefree.]
Nice to meet you. I wonder if I'm here because...
[He falls silent. The camera pans again, but this time it points into the dormitory, showing the standard issue furniture for newcomers.]
This looks a lot like where I used to live. The food here is just as interesting.
[A small mound of brown paper bags and wrappers are in the rubbish bin. An array of brochures are set on the desk. The logos can be seen clearly. Deathdonalds, Deathbucks, Burger Death, Taco Death... all the logos have skulls.]
... Skulls again.
[His hand comes into focus, blurred at first. He takes one of the brochures and the camera returns to showing his face.]
I'm not hungry right now, but if you want to eat...
[Again the smile.]
... Let me know.
[The recording ends here...]
Third Person: [Original App]
There was no pain. Even in this certainty of dying-this absolute knowledge that death waited at the end of every pathway to be lived over and over again-there could be no room for doubt or hesitation. There was no great weight, no sadness or regret; there was only an incredible lightness of being and a moment of clarity that seemed to decide everything.
There was a miracle, and then there was nothing. It was like going to sleep forever.
When Minato woke, he was greeted everywhere by images of death. The dim hall was dark and cool, lit only by stagnant flames burning on low candles set against the far wall. The dotted points of light were small and distant like the fading memory of stars, but were sufficient enough to illuminate the skulls and bones that decorated the chamber in deliberate iconography.
This place...
Where was he? Everything here was unfamiliar. Everything, from the surroundings to the sensation. The air, though cool, had a rancid flavour to it that was both sickening and oppressive, a gross energy that emanated from the walls, though seemed to be shielded by them also. From the outside then? If there was an outside...
I don't feel my Persona. I feel weak... I want to sleep.
Standing, he staggered to the nearest pillar, almost throwing himself towards its stability. Minato was breathing heavily, sucking in that ill air that made him dizzy. How closely he hugged the support betrayed his exhaustion and his light-headedness.
I must be dead.
Yet, for all his discomfort now, he didn't feel dead. He didn't mind the idea, and entertained it's implications for a few moments before deciding he wasn't dead, just transposed elsewhere to a place where death was popular. He was alive, he felt alive, but he was also alone, cut away from all the voices and all the strength those voices had given to him. Rather like he had taken that energy and given it back...
He did. He remembered Nyx and the Great Seal, the Dark Hour, SEES. The memories swam in his mind, calming him from the growing nausea.
So it worked... is that why...
His attention fell to a table on the far end of the room. Simple, black, and imposing. There were no seats, no other people, just a sheaf of papers set in a leather holder. It's familiarity struck Minato, so he braved the unsteady walk towards it, recognizing it for what it was as he got closer and closer.
Another contract?
It was. The contract had more skulls, but it also promised an explanation. He began to skim the document, then blithely skipped to the end. Something about it felt right, and that was good enough for him. This wouldn't be the first contract he had signed without reading.
In the space at the end, then: Arisato Minato.
The room changed: the lights moved closer, the walls turned red, and the skulls became prayer slips and seals. The contract, much like the one Pharos had offered him before, vanished.
On the walls, three large skull-shaped screens flickered to life...
Third Person: [Return App]
Minato... Minato... Hey, Minato...
Gekkoukan High. It's third period and the teacher just left. Junpei and Yukari stand over him, shaking him awake. Yukari groans and tells him that falling asleep during class isn't like him. Junpei laughs and welcomes him to the slacker brigade--just in time for senior year! Although they wear their masks well, Minato can see the worry in their eyes.
This isn't the first time. Since the end of January, he had been feeling sleepier and sleepier. The reason was not one he could explain to his friends--he could not tell them of the inevitable end awaiting him, or how he hung on merely to fulfill one last promise. There was nothing they could do, so why ruin this time together? Besides, there still existed a chance that they would meet again...
Death City. Minato's dreams led him back to that strange world when he drifted away. He remembered the hope he had for that nexus of worlds, for that place where the dead could reunite with their loved ones and forge new bonds of friendship. To him, it was the closest he had found to a plausable and pleasant afterlife, but it was also a paradise under siege. His friends existed, through inexplicable means, in both Death City and Iwatodai simultaneously, and although his friends here did not know it, both versions of their selves were in grave danger.
That's why he came back; that's why, by that same paradoxical logic which allows a being to exist in two places simultaneously, he had to go back. With the Universe Arcana, he understood such difficult concepts and knew them to be possible.
No longer Gekkoukan or Death City, but a space between worlds. Minato is a statue, a warden facing out towards the collective suffering and grief of the world. Behind him is Nyx, slumbering, asleep, whose awakening will bring about the Fall. In front of him is Erebus, feral, canine, the manifestation of mankind's nihilistic sorrow. It is another difficult concept he has learned since becoming the universe.
Erebus' ebony talons rake in his direction, attempting to shatter his stone form. The assault is unsuccessful, but a few chips float away in the space. Like the Sphinx in the desert wind, he is eroding slowly. Like his final month at Gekkoukan, it is only a matter of time. Erebus knows this, and so continues to vent his fury at Minato, for until he is dealt with, Nyx is safe and so too is humanity. Until Minato is removed, the world can continue, and people can still have that chance to find the happiness and friendship that previously eluded them. In time, he hoped, they would discover, as he discovered, that life is worth living. It is a realization that would banish Erebus, but it was still long in the coming.
Another attack. Another heavy impact against a swatted paw. Another mangling as the jaws of the creature clench around him. Erebus is relentless, and Minato is faltering. His soul is faltering, the shield is cracking...
The paradox is necessary; his soul must grow stronger, and so Minato opens his eyes.
The Kishin Chamber. This time, it isn't just a wistful dream. He limbers up, his unused muscles stiff as a rock for good reason, and moves past the tour to stare at the sky--at the sun as it laughs down at him. No, there's no need to ask for directions here: in a way, Minato has come home.
[ PLAYER INFORMATION ]
Player Name: FM
Age: 27
Timezone: +8 GMT
Personal Journal: flintlock
Contact Information:
Instant Messenger: AIM (serpentinelock)
Email: gunsmithprince@gmail
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Arisato Minato
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Fandom: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
Timeline: 31st January, 2010. Aftermath.
History: I will never leave you~
Minato is a veteran of Death City who will retain all memories of his time there. His return to Iwatodai allowed him to fulfil his final promise-to meet his friends on the roof of the dorm on Graduation Day. With that obligation kept, Minato finally allowed himself to drift away and die, thus completing the Soul Seal protecting Nyx. It is at this point that BREW returns Minato to Death City to fight with full resolve.
Character Personality:
First impressions can be tricky; an initial glance won't tell you much about Arisato Minato other than the most cursory of details. What you'll see is a calm, laid-back, and easy-going teenage boy who doesn't look to be unhappy where he's standing, but would probably be happier in a nice, warm bed. He'll look like almost everyone else, blending easily into the background, but there will also be a sense of 'otherness'-some unseen, but not unfelt, indication that there's something more. Mining out those details, however, is more difficult. As the Silent Protagonist, the majority of Minato's personality traits are left to player choice and action. Yet despite this hurdle, the game (and manga adaptation) reveals certain truths.
Reserved and even-tempered, Minato never says much and never loses his cool. When other characters are panicking, he holds his composure, considers his options, chooses one from the deck, and plays his hand. He thinks on his feet, and there is very little hesitation once a decision is made, only action. When Minato decides, he follows through and hopes for the best. This calm decisiveness is what draws people to him, and what lets him guide a team effectively through the Tartarus dungeon. Not the material for high-level strategies, Minato leads from the front and leads by example. As a leader, Minato makes up for a lack of passion with quiet intensity; an anchor more than a banner, Minato uses his blithe confidence, both in himself and in his friends, to push forward into even the most hopeless of situations. When victory is achieved, it is always a team effort: Minato has no need or use for accolades or glory, just the knowledge that everyone is safe.
His ability to find openings and opportunities extends beyond mission time. Being someone that people find easy to talk to means being an accomplished information gatherer. It also means getting to know people's problems. Minato uses this knowledge for good, not for personal gain: information useful to S.E.E.S. goes to S.E.E.S., while information pertinent to people's issues go towards helping them with those issues. Most of the time, though, all he really has to be is a friend that can understand and is willing to put in the time to listen. Minato gives his time to people, putting their needs above his desires (to go to sleep). He does what they like to do and he connects by evoking that sense of commonality, whether it be love of arcades, love of gourmet, or just love of life. He doesn't judge, and he doesn't exploit. Even if exploited himself, he won't give up on people, instead giving them the chances that they may not deserve.
He's not all complicated stoicisms; there is a quirky and simple side to Minato as well. He enjoys spending time with his friends, dozing off during school hours, goofing off after school hours, and sleeping early when he has the chance. His thoughts paint a vastly different picture than his reputation, revealing all the chinks in his armour -from the contrary and distracted introspections during conversations to the stunned and disbelieving sighs of relief made after a risky manoeuvre on a mission. (He does experience fear, but pushes it aside to do what needs to be done.) The contrast between what Minato says and thinks can be comical at times, but don't change his altruistic leanings. If anything, his uncomplicated view of the world is what lends him the strength to do what must be done, and to do so with an untainted understanding of what is truly important.
Defending what is truly important, however, can come with a price. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to protect the ones you love, sometimes you have to cross uncomfortable lines. Minato knows those lines: he throws himself into danger for other people, taking hits, falling ill, and losing sleep just to see them safe. Still, there are circumstances where that just isn't enough. To give up something of yourself takes great inner strength, but to give up everything takes immense resolve and fortitude. It's beyond most people to make a sacrifice that great, but not Minato. He'd take measure of the options, he'd think of all the people he'd gotten to know, and then he'd realize that what he'd need to do was impossible, so he'd stack the deck and change the rules. He'd give it all away. All of it. All of himself. He'd give his very soul to protect everyone-those he loved, those he didn't, and those he never got to-and that is a quality that no first impression, none, will ever tell you.
Character Abilities:
Minato's Statistics include Good Academics, Exceptional Charm, and Extraordinary Courage.
Minato is the Wild Card, and his talent with Persona and weaponry is as impressive as his rapport with people. Able to juggle the delicate balancing act that are Arcana strengths and weaknesses, he intuitively navigates through his repertoire of Persona to take on whatever role the mission calls for. Instead of just sticking with that role, however, Minato shuffles the decks, maintaining his hard-to-read exterior and gaining a harder-to-predict style. His diverse and intuitive proficiency with weapons follow the same pattern; Minato takes equally to swordplay, axe swinging, spear jabbing, gunslinging, and brawling. People, Persona, or Weapons, the Wild Card is the surprise of the deck, and versatile.
Off the battlefield, Minato's main expertise rests in the kitchen... or rather in what emerges from the kitchens. His appetite and stomach capacity are truly beyond human comprehension, and his escapades in the octopia eating contest and with the peta-wac (1,00,000,000,000,000 patty burger) are the stuff of high school legend. While this impressive record isn't undefeated (Elizabeth's ability to eat being much mightier), it has put him on par with other culinary food legends, such as the Gourmet King of Gekkoukan High.
Minato is also the king of monorail control, but doesn't do well with trains.
In the final confrontation with Nyx, Minato-with the aid of Igor- gained the ability to forge the Universe Tarot, allowing him to do the impossible (see the invisible). Achieving this skill was a catalyst for apotheosis, and Minato sacrificed his own soul to defeat the odds and save the world, establishing the Great Seal that now keeps Nyx safe from humanity's growing despair and world-weariness. This, of course, was only a one-time deal.
Character Weaknesses:
With every strength gained comes a weakness; such is the delicate balance of Persona control. Minato is beholden to the limitations of his currently equipped Persona, just as he is augmented by its power. Bringing the wrong tool to the fight usually means trouble -unless you also have the proper tool stashed away somewhere. Minato does not always have that foresight.
This principle also applies to his physical arsenal. You don't bring a knife to a sword fight, or a sword to a gun fight, and you definitely don't bring handgun to a fight with grenade launchers and large-caliber rifles. Bring the wrong weapon, even if you're a pro, and you're pooched. Minato, while proficient in a vast array of weaponry, is not a pro. He picks the weapon he feels is best, and makes the best of it. If a good weapon isn't around, whatever's in the area will do, and that's an even worse situation. Any swordsman will beat him with a sword, and any professional gunslinger will likely shoot him full of holes in a straight out fight. Skill against skill, Minato isn't much. Even with all the weapons training Tartarus afforded him, he's still a regular high schooler, not a hitman.
Being flexible doesn't only cause problems on the battlefront. Being flexible means lacking a firm plan, which is essential on the front lines, but not in the war room. Though Minato always follows through with his decisions, he's no large-scale strategist. He'll get the job done, but someone else needs to make the overall mission goals, or he'll stay as aimless as a blade without a holder. Someone else needs to be there also to pick up the pieces when he gets hurt -the main problem with acting on instinct and intuition alone. He needs people to cover his flanks and to patch him up after a risky maneuverer, or else he might not come back from it. Like Yukari says, "I can't heal you if you're dead."
His naivete and trusting nature are another liability. Minato tends to take people at face value, not questioning motives or seeking out falsehoods in what people say. He doesn't look for danger in people, only for people in danger, which relates to an even bigger problem.
Minato's greatest weakness is related to his greatest strength: people. Minato will give anything-has given everything-to help others. He'll put their needs above his own, ignoring his own problems and even his health. Emotional concerns aren't too great for Minato, but his physical condition is always under attack between the late nights and the injuries. His protectiveness isn't emotional, more instinctive than passionate, but no less dedicated and intense. The easiest way to affect Minato is to hurt the people around him.
[ MEISTER SECTION ]
Why your character should be a Meister:
Minato never asked to be a leader, and he never asked to be the anchor of his team. That he became the glue that held S.E.E.S. together was purely incidental, a fluke designed by fate. The only decision in the whole process that Minato ever made for himself was the simplest, but most important, choice of all: he wanted to protect the people he loved, the people he didn't, and the people he was never going to meet. Minato is not an instrument of harm; he lacks the edge necessary to be a Weapon. What he does have is the resolve required in taking a Weapon and turning it to a greater purpose-protecting those around him.
Meister Ability:
Soul Seal (below) is the ability I’ve been gunning for since I first applied for Minato back in early 2010. (In those days, there was no choice for abilities, only arbitration.) Calming Wavelength and Soul ZZZ are other options, though I would prefer if he graduated from Soul ZZZ to something more active.
SOUL SEAL: An alternate version of Soul Siege, Soul Seal is the ability to surround others with the shape of the casting Meister’s soul. This shell then hardens into an impenetrable form, disallowing attacks from without and within. The purpose of this ability is to force opponents to deal with the casting Meister first before they can attack the protected subject.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]
Soul Description: Selfless, Devoted, Intuitive, Unflappable, Adaptable, Decisive
Soul Appearance: Minato’s soul is dark blue in colour and features his characteristic hairstyle and neutral facial expression. It looks like it is wearing headphones.
[ SAMPLES ]
First Person:
[The video feed kicks in with a meandering view of Death City from a high-up balcony.]
So this is America. There sure are a lot of skulls...
[The camera pans to Shibusen's massive facade, a giant skull. It then flips around to catch Minato, busy looking distractedly out into the city, in its sights. He looks sleepy, as always.]
... It must be Halloween.
[His attention is now to the camera. His smile is easy and carefree.]
Nice to meet you. I wonder if I'm here because...
[He falls silent. The camera pans again, but this time it points into the dormitory, showing the standard issue furniture for newcomers.]
This looks a lot like where I used to live. The food here is just as interesting.
[A small mound of brown paper bags and wrappers are in the rubbish bin. An array of brochures are set on the desk. The logos can be seen clearly. Deathdonalds, Deathbucks, Burger Death, Taco Death... all the logos have skulls.]
... Skulls again.
[His hand comes into focus, blurred at first. He takes one of the brochures and the camera returns to showing his face.]
I'm not hungry right now, but if you want to eat...
[Again the smile.]
... Let me know.
[The recording ends here...]
Third Person: [Original App]
There was no pain. Even in this certainty of dying-this absolute knowledge that death waited at the end of every pathway to be lived over and over again-there could be no room for doubt or hesitation. There was no great weight, no sadness or regret; there was only an incredible lightness of being and a moment of clarity that seemed to decide everything.
There was a miracle, and then there was nothing. It was like going to sleep forever.
When Minato woke, he was greeted everywhere by images of death. The dim hall was dark and cool, lit only by stagnant flames burning on low candles set against the far wall. The dotted points of light were small and distant like the fading memory of stars, but were sufficient enough to illuminate the skulls and bones that decorated the chamber in deliberate iconography.
This place...
Where was he? Everything here was unfamiliar. Everything, from the surroundings to the sensation. The air, though cool, had a rancid flavour to it that was both sickening and oppressive, a gross energy that emanated from the walls, though seemed to be shielded by them also. From the outside then? If there was an outside...
I don't feel my Persona. I feel weak... I want to sleep.
Standing, he staggered to the nearest pillar, almost throwing himself towards its stability. Minato was breathing heavily, sucking in that ill air that made him dizzy. How closely he hugged the support betrayed his exhaustion and his light-headedness.
I must be dead.
Yet, for all his discomfort now, he didn't feel dead. He didn't mind the idea, and entertained it's implications for a few moments before deciding he wasn't dead, just transposed elsewhere to a place where death was popular. He was alive, he felt alive, but he was also alone, cut away from all the voices and all the strength those voices had given to him. Rather like he had taken that energy and given it back...
He did. He remembered Nyx and the Great Seal, the Dark Hour, SEES. The memories swam in his mind, calming him from the growing nausea.
So it worked... is that why...
His attention fell to a table on the far end of the room. Simple, black, and imposing. There were no seats, no other people, just a sheaf of papers set in a leather holder. It's familiarity struck Minato, so he braved the unsteady walk towards it, recognizing it for what it was as he got closer and closer.
Another contract?
It was. The contract had more skulls, but it also promised an explanation. He began to skim the document, then blithely skipped to the end. Something about it felt right, and that was good enough for him. This wouldn't be the first contract he had signed without reading.
In the space at the end, then: Arisato Minato.
The room changed: the lights moved closer, the walls turned red, and the skulls became prayer slips and seals. The contract, much like the one Pharos had offered him before, vanished.
On the walls, three large skull-shaped screens flickered to life...
Third Person: [Return App]
Minato... Minato... Hey, Minato...
Gekkoukan High. It's third period and the teacher just left. Junpei and Yukari stand over him, shaking him awake. Yukari groans and tells him that falling asleep during class isn't like him. Junpei laughs and welcomes him to the slacker brigade--just in time for senior year! Although they wear their masks well, Minato can see the worry in their eyes.
This isn't the first time. Since the end of January, he had been feeling sleepier and sleepier. The reason was not one he could explain to his friends--he could not tell them of the inevitable end awaiting him, or how he hung on merely to fulfill one last promise. There was nothing they could do, so why ruin this time together? Besides, there still existed a chance that they would meet again...
Death City. Minato's dreams led him back to that strange world when he drifted away. He remembered the hope he had for that nexus of worlds, for that place where the dead could reunite with their loved ones and forge new bonds of friendship. To him, it was the closest he had found to a plausable and pleasant afterlife, but it was also a paradise under siege. His friends existed, through inexplicable means, in both Death City and Iwatodai simultaneously, and although his friends here did not know it, both versions of their selves were in grave danger.
That's why he came back; that's why, by that same paradoxical logic which allows a being to exist in two places simultaneously, he had to go back. With the Universe Arcana, he understood such difficult concepts and knew them to be possible.
No longer Gekkoukan or Death City, but a space between worlds. Minato is a statue, a warden facing out towards the collective suffering and grief of the world. Behind him is Nyx, slumbering, asleep, whose awakening will bring about the Fall. In front of him is Erebus, feral, canine, the manifestation of mankind's nihilistic sorrow. It is another difficult concept he has learned since becoming the universe.
Erebus' ebony talons rake in his direction, attempting to shatter his stone form. The assault is unsuccessful, but a few chips float away in the space. Like the Sphinx in the desert wind, he is eroding slowly. Like his final month at Gekkoukan, it is only a matter of time. Erebus knows this, and so continues to vent his fury at Minato, for until he is dealt with, Nyx is safe and so too is humanity. Until Minato is removed, the world can continue, and people can still have that chance to find the happiness and friendship that previously eluded them. In time, he hoped, they would discover, as he discovered, that life is worth living. It is a realization that would banish Erebus, but it was still long in the coming.
Another attack. Another heavy impact against a swatted paw. Another mangling as the jaws of the creature clench around him. Erebus is relentless, and Minato is faltering. His soul is faltering, the shield is cracking...
The paradox is necessary; his soul must grow stronger, and so Minato opens his eyes.
The Kishin Chamber. This time, it isn't just a wistful dream. He limbers up, his unused muscles stiff as a rock for good reason, and moves past the tour to stare at the sky--at the sun as it laughs down at him. No, there's no need to ask for directions here: in a way, Minato has come home.