Hello everyone, AgentZwolf here with a new story.

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Yay. Cue confetti

For those of you familiar with the stories i write, i have one thing to say.

No, i have not abandoned my other story "The Einzbern Famillia", i just hit a bit of a roadblock for an undertermined amount of time, but don't worry. As soon as i get the section of my brain devoted to that story up and running again, i'll post it.

Anyways, that's all i have to say. Enjoy my new story, "Messiah of the Holy Grail"

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Messiah of the Holy Grail

Chapter 1: He Who Saved the World

The Velvet Room

It is a place between reality and dreams, consciousness and unconsciousness. It is a place where only those with high spiritual sensitivity can see, but only those with a contract can enter. As the room lies between reality and dreams, it is constantly changing, but only to accommodate for the guests that are allowed into the room. Those who reside here are those either created by Philemon, a being who resides within both consciousness and unconsciousness of all souls, or simply serve him.

There are few residents, but each play a different role to each guest that visit the Velvet Room. There is Belladonna and Nameless, who were present during the first two batches of guests in the Velvet Room, there's the Demon Painter, who is able to change card of one arcana into one of a different arcana, there are the Rulers of Power, four siblings – five if you consider Caroline and Justine rather than their combined personality, Lavenza (By the way, I'm not going to have Lavenza in this story, only Justine and Caroline. I just like the two of them rather than their combined alter ego) – capable of using persona, and even without them, they are still very powerful. The Rulers of Power are all created by Igor with the sole purpose of being his assistants in the Velvet Room.

In recent years there are currently only 4 Rulers of Power, it's not because one died – because let's be real here. These guys are way too f#cking OP – It's because one left. And contrary to popular belief, there are multiple rooms in the Velvet Room, though it's all just residential areas aside from the main room where Igor resides.

"Ah, it seems you've finished your first time aiding a guest. How was it for you, Caroline? Justine?" The eldest of the 5 siblings, Margaret asked her youngest siblings. Sitting down on a chair, whilst reading a book. The siblings had their own residential area within the Velvet Room as all residents do.

The twins, Caroline and Justine had just returned from aiding their newest guest by the name of Shuujin – though Justine often refer to him as Joker, Caroline on the other hand refers to Shuujin as 'Inmate'. The twins wore a blue velvet prison guard uniform, and have eyepatches on their left and right eye respectively. Caroline had her hair in a bun while Justine had her in a braid.

"Yeah, the Inmate finally left." Caroline said.

"Caroline, you shouldn't keep calling him that. He's our friend remember?" Justine said, trying to persuade her twin to start calling Shuujin by either his real name, or as Joker at the very least. Caroline merely huffed.

Margaret laughed seeing her younger sister's antics. "Well, I'm glad to see the two of you are getting along with your guest." Caroline was about to retort when a man wearing an attendant's uniform came into the room.

"Ah, I see you two have returned." Theodore greeted his younger siblings.

"Hey, Theo." The twins greeted back, though Justine was happier to see him than Caroline was. Though that's mostly because Caroline looked up to her other older sister compared to Theo.

Caroline gripper her arm, remembering when her sister Elizabeth, the sister she looked up to, resigned from the Velvet Room and left, all because of a single boy. As much as she respected Shuujin as a friend, Caroline was always wary of any male guests coming into the velvet room, worried they might get Margaret to leave, or worse, Justine.

Caroline looked up to Elizabeth for many things, her beauty, her strength, and the fact that she was the first of them to be able to aid a guest in their journey. Because up until that point, Igor pretty much aided the guests single-handedly. So in a way, the only reason Caroline and her other sister were able to even have this job was because of Elizabeth.

"Margaret." Caroline spoke up, earning Margaret's attention. "Any word from Elizabeth?" It was a relatively frequent question since Elizabeth left. It's not that Caroline was worried about Elizabeth – actually, she's more worried about the world rather than Elizabeth herself.

Margaret adopts a thoughtful look. "Last I heard, she was off to the Great Seal to fight off Erebus as usual." Ah, the Great Seal. The product of a boy's wishes to prevent the destruction of the world. Up until its creation, Caroline never thought humans could be so… selfless. It's a pretty touching story, even at first glance. A boy who has lost everything, gained everything, and sacrificed himself to protect the people who gave him everything.

"So She'll be coming back?" It was no surprise to the siblings that Caroline was excited to see her elder sister again.

"Like she does every time." It's been like this since Elizabeth left to free the boy in the Great Seal. She goes off to fight Erebus, and every time afterwards, she comes back to visit. She was dedicated to him, but not overly so as to forget about her own family.

Meanwhile, Igor was sitting patiently where he usually is in the Velvet Room, when he received a message from his master, Philemon in his Blue Butterfly form.

"Ah, Master. I'm glad you have come to visit. Is there something you need from this humble servant?"

"…."

"Oh? Is that so? Elizabeth will be thrilled; she's been looking for ways to free the boy for the past three years."

"…."

"I've noticed, Master. While Margaret's relationship with her guest is more on a professional level, and Theodore, Caroline and Justine's relationship with their guests are more friendly. Elizabeth's relationship with hers is much more… intimate."

"…."

"Of course I am aware, Master. Try to hide it as much as she can, but I can clearly see Elizabeth's signs of affection towards the boy. Should I contact her?"

"…."

"Oh, you've contacted her already? Should I inform her siblings of this development?"

"…."

"I see; Caroline will be most displeased to see her favourite elder sister leave. But it's a fitting reward for the boy, he has done much for everyone. And I believe Elizabeth deserves to be happy with the ones she loves."

"…."

"Well of course, Master. I created them after all, and that makes me a father to them. Is it wrong for a father to want their children to be happy?" That master and servant was interrupted by the doors of the Velvet Room opened, revealing Elizabeth looking just slightly tired. She hid it well, but a bead if sweat trickling down from her brow to her cheek gave her slight fatigue away.

"I have responded to the call, Master Igor. I heard you have something to tell me?" Elizabeth asked.

"There is, but I will not be the one to tell you." Suddenly a flock of blue butterflies converge into a single point, and as they dispersed, they revealed a man with a mask depicting a violet butterfly wing in the right side of his face and the eyeholes do not show his pupils. He also wears a suit consisting of a black shirt and tie, a white blazer and white pants with black dress shoes. He also has long, black hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Greetings, Elizabeth. I assume you know who I am?" The butterfly masked man spoke.

"Of course, you are Philemon. Creator of the Velvet Room and master to all who reside in it."

"Good, this makes it easier then. I have some good news for you. I have found a way to free the boy from the great seal without allowing Erebus to reach Nyx." Elizabeth was surprised. Three years, that was how much time she has spent to search for ways to free him. Normally she'd be happy, ecstatic even. But thought plagued her mind.

"What took you so long?" Elizabeth's tone was even, eerily so.

"Elizabeth, I suggest you watch you tone." Igor warned her.

"No, it's fine Igor. Let her speak."

"I assume a being of your stature have more than enough power to do what you suggest the moment he became the Great Seal. So I ask again, what took you so long?" Elizabeth didn't care if she died then and there, if Philemon knows of a way to free Minato from the Great Seal, then why not do so earlier?

Philemon stared at Elizabeth, this woman had the gall to interrogate someone who could erase her existence in a heartbeat. His gaze seemed to burn into Elizabeth, but she didn't even flinch. Then, a soft smile appeared on his face.

"You truly love him, don't you?"

"More than anything." Was Elizabeth's reply.

"Then let us depart. The sooner we reach the seal, the better." Philemon assumed his butterfly form and left the room with Elizabeth in tow.

"Yes, your call was rather surprising as I have yet to subdue Erebus as I normally would. So we should make haste."

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The Great Seal

A gigantic golden gate, standing tall, the only thing preventing the destruction of the world. Created by the wishes of a boy to save his comrades, it shall stand, preventing Erebus – Humanity's desire to die, given form – from reaching Nyx till the end of time, as the boy had wished for it.

The Sea of Souls, the Collective Unconscious, it goes by many names, but it's purpose is the same. It is the place where souls are from and return to when the person it belongs to, dies. The Great Seal stand in the center, and guarding it, is a young man with blue hair, surrounded by creatures of all shapes and sizes, from regular humans, to monsters, demons, angels, and even gods, but they weren't his opponents.

No, they were his comrades.

The small army stood in a formation, with the young man in the center of it, blocking the Great Seal as they waited for their opponent to arrive, obviously he couldn't be constantly fighting Erebus, so he was glad that Elizabeth came from time to time to lighten his load. But Elizabeth wasn't here at the moment, and Minato figured she was busy with something, so he was on his own right now.

Right on cue, a large, dual-faced monstrosity, with two goat heads. Its body was skinny, almost skeletal in appearance. A pool of darkness surrounds it as it moves towards them. Erebus, the manifestation of humanity's desire to die, its sole purpose is to reach Nyx and bring about the end of the world.

Erebus stopped in front of Minato and his army of personas, and Erebus stared in an attempt to break Minato's mental fortitude, but he knew it was for naught. A man willing to sacrifice himself to save the world would not crumble at the sight of him.

"Why do you fight against me, boy? Why do you struggle to prevent the inevitable? I only work to bring humanities wishes a realty, so why do you deny me my sole duty?" Erebus' distorted voice echoed across the Sea of Souls.

"It's simple really. With you around, my friends are in danger. So I have to stop you." Minato said in an almost monotone voice.

"You would condemn yourself to face me, until the end of time?" Erebus asked.

"For the ones who gave me everything? Anything." He took up a battle stance, as did all the persona under his command.

"So be it." Erebus roared, and the battle begins.

While under normal circumstances, Minato is only able to summon only one persona at a time, and even then the persona at his disposal is only about 200, but after creating the Universe Arcana, his personae grew in number, and was around 1000 in number. Minato thinks there's a benefit to this, as he would not get rusty since he had Erebus to keep him from being so. And since Elizabeth helped, there was little chance that Minato would be fighting Erebus in a slightly fatigued state.

He couldn't afford to be fighting Erebus in a weakened state, even if he's only a little bit fatigued, he needed to be in top form to fight Erebus. He could've just sat back and let Elizabeth deal with Erebus every year, but that just wouldn't be him if he did.

If there were any spectators watching, they would say that the fight between Minato and his persona against Erebus. They would say the fight is the stuff of legends. Gods, angels, demons, monsters, heroes off all shapes and sizes working together to suppress the embodiment of humanities desire to perish. Fire, water, wind, lightning, light, darkness, almighty; the elements raged as the various personae unleashed a flurry of attacks, both elemental and non-elemental.

Erebus roared as the attacks impacted him; fire burned its skin, and the wind spells fueled the flame, burning its skin more, lightning bolts struck his body, and several limbs were encased in ice, only to shatter to pieces. Blades tore at its skin, hammers smashed against its bones, and arrows pierced its flesh, but Erebus stood strong, fully intent on fulfilling its duty to grant humanities wish, just as Minato is as determined to fulfill his wish, to protect the ones he cared about.

Minato honestly did not care for the people of the world, heck the only reason he saved the world was because his friends happened to live in that world. He had lived a life without meaning until he met them, and they have given him everything. And Minato was more than willing to return the favor.

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He didn't know how long he'd been fighting for.

Blow, after blow, explosion, after explosion, Erebus took the hits like a champ, and kept on fighting. Meanwhile on Minato's side some of his personae have gotten tired and retreated to the rear, where they are healed by the more support oriented persona before heading out to the front lines once more.

Minato's persona was busy weakening Erebus, meanwhile Minato, along with two of his persona; Helel, and Satan were charging up to finish this, for now at least.

Just as they finished charging up, Helel and Satan waited for the signal. "Hold…" Minato held his hand, telling the two persona to wait. "Hold…" He waited for the right moment as he watched Erebus being bombarded with attacks from the other persona. "Now! Armageddon!" Minato yelled to the heavens, and Helel and Satan unleashed the fusion spell.

Then all hell broke loose.

A scene that can only be described as the end of the world unfolded right in front of their eyes. Minato may have liked this spell, but he only used it when he knew it would be a killing blow, he used the same tactic when fighting against The Reaper, and even Elizabeth one time.

As the fusion spell subsided, it revealed the remains of Erebus as it faded into dust, to reform in a year's time.

"See you next year, damn goat demon." The persona cheered, they had won this day. Some – read: most – of the gods, demons, and heroes got themselves cocky saying they would always win. Minato's persona has been a lot more…. Chatty than when he was alive, and has had more than enough time to get used to their antics.

He was brought out of from his musings when Elizabeth finally came, with a man wearing a butterfly mask.

"Elizabeth, you're late."

"Forgive me, Minato-sama. But I was summoned by my master." Elizabeth gestured to the man wearing the butterfly mask.

"Greetings, Minato-san. My name is Philemon, creator of the Velvet Room." Philemon greeted with a small bow.

"It's nice to meet you, Philemon-san." Minato walked over to Philemon and they shook hands. "It must be something important if the creator of the Velvet Room decided to visit me personally, as I never even heard neither Igor or Elizabeth mention you."

Philemon smiled at Minato's deduction. "Yes, it is rather important. It concerns the Great Seal itself after all." If Philemon wanted Minato's attention, then he has all of it.

Minato's expression turned stone cold, his hands clenched tightly. "Talk."

"Calm yourself, Minato. It's nothing that endangers the seal, I simply have a means of releasing you from your current occupation of guardian of the seal, without endangering it."

"And how, would you do that?"

"It's simple really, I just need to shrink the Great Seal into something for you to have or wear at all times. There are two outcomes to this, both coinciding with one another; one, you would be able to live another life, in another place, another world; two, since you would have the Great Seal with you at all times, you would not have to fight Erebus every year."

"So basically, my life turned from 'constantly fighting', to 'constantly running'. Is that it?"

"If you wish to put it that way."

Minato pondered on this. Personally, he would love to have another life, and with the Great Seal with him at all times, he wouldn't have to fight Erebus as much. He gave a subtle glance at Elizabeth, who showed a face that said 'Take the offer'. Minato smiled, he knows just how devoted Elizabeth can be towards himself.

"What's the catch? This kind of thing always has a catch." He asked Philemon, knowing that when someone gives you exactly what you want, there is always a catch to it, no matter how insignificant said catch is.

"Ah, the catch would be that you would no longer be human, not in body, or soul. You would need to become something else."

"There it is." Minato shook his head at the sheer predictability of the situation. "What would I become?"

Philemon put his hand on his chin in a thinking pose. "Well, the only thing that you can become is death, due to your long term exposure to its personification."

"So I will become like Thanatos?" He spared a glance towards his most loyal persona. Thanatos has been with him for ten years, and he has been a stalwart comrade ever since Minato was able to fully summon him. Thanatos as his go-to summon in battles, only just below Orpheus Telos, and Messiah – though honestly that was only because those two were technically his Ultimate Personas.

"Not Thanatos. More your friend… Ryoji, was it?" Minato's eyes widened when he realized the implications. He would be more than the personification of death; he'd be…

"I would become Nyx's avatar."

"Yes, ironic is it not? Becoming the one thing you fought so hard to defeat. But not all will be lost. With you being originally human, you have what all humans do, the ability of choice. It may not sound like much, but with it you will be able to deny the urges to become a harbinger of the fall." Philemon assured him. Minato let out a sigh of relief, knowing he would be able to at least resist the central duty of being Nyx's avatar.

"I see. Then, when can we start the process?"