This was a random idea I had of what would've happened if Minato was perfectly aware of the Dark Hour and his gift/curse.

I don't own Persona.

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Persona 3

Tale of the Demonic Compendium

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Demonic/Persona Compendium- A seemingly harmless book that stores Personas that are not in use/summoned at the moment. It records the imprint of the spiritual level, strengths, weaknesses, skills and arcane of the Persona as well as the card that the creature resides in. Only accessible to Summoners (See summoners).

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It was an ethereal night. No. More like an ethereal nightmare.

There was no way it could be comforting or serene to any normal person. The sheer depravity and twisted nature of the bloodstained night could shatter a lesser man's sanity with a glance.

Blood stained the streets, pooling on the side walk in grotesque puddles. A sickly green glow lit up the surroundings giving it a haunting and eerie look. The near full moon hung forbiddingly in the sky casting fearsome shadows onto coffins. Twisted shadows roiled in the heavy darkness-

- glimpses of yellow eyes flashing.

Impossible shapes of monsters born straight out of any nightmare lurked in the darkness. Faint growls echoed across the city at intervals. This indeed was a macabre setting.

It would take a certain kind of person to walk among this blood spattered and twisted world without surrendering to the monsters.

A person with a certain kind of...potential, you might say.

A blue haired boy walked unconcerned among the towering coffins in the street. There was no hurry in his motions or even fear at the strange and otherworldly surroundings. He walked slouched and relaxed, as if going on a sunday stroll. The shadows fled before him. Pools of blood that thickened the air with a heavy iron smell, were habitually avoided with ease. He didn't even need to pay attention to where he put his feet.

This was a person who walked among monsters.

Despite the relaxation, the boy remained perfectly balanced on the balls of his feet, easily able to spring into action at the slightest hint of hostilities. He moved lightly, like a dancer, with a smooth and predatory gait. This was one that was not unfamiliar with violence.

His dark school uniform was rumpled due to his very long train trip but he didn't seem very concerned about it. A well worn pair of silver headphones covered his ears, playing his favourite song, Burn my Dread. A slight breeze ruffled his bangs that normally blocked his right eye. A duffel bag was slung easily over his shoulder but it had nothing on the large book clasped in one of his hands.

A rather thick old tome, It looked as though it could be classified as a weapon simply due to its massive weight. Not that he would dare to use it as such, it simply meant too much to him for him to dirty with blood.

The cover was a modest brown, perhaps one could mistake it for a large dictionary if it were not for the aura it gave off. It radiated immense power, saturating the air and warning off the monsters of the night. It was held, almost lovingly, close to his chest.

The other hand held a rather mundane sheet of directions. To the new dorm he would be living in for the next year, to be precise.

Gekkoukan High, huh...

He eyed the large doom building with unease. Only four floors, thank goodness. He didn't think he could deal with any more people living in close quaters. Even four entire floors of people might be pushing it. Hopefully the dorm had empty rooms or he'd go insane and kill somebody.

Just to be clear, he didn't particularly like people.

He was a loner, plain and simple. Content with his own independence, he didn't really like to reach out with others. Combined with his frequent moving, it made for a decidedly friendless childhood. Not that he'd ever needed any human friends...

With a suffering sigh he adjusted his grip on his bag and stared at the steps. He was ridiculously tired and it had nothing to do with his current surroundings. Traveling for nearly twelve hours left him in a near state of collapse that hadn't been apparent in his movements. With another groan he realized that the dorm members wouldn't be awake and he'd have to wait for the night to return to normal before getting a room. Silently, he mustered energy to pull himself up the stairs and shove open the door.

The lobby was dark, also lit by the green glow that he knew so well. The bluenette surveyed his surroundings with approval. It was a rather well off setting with tasteful and expensive furniture and decorations. To his great relief he noted that there were no coffins in the Lobby. There would be no need to hatch together a pack of lies to cover his sudden appearance at the hour's end.

"You're late. I've been waiting a long time for you."

The young man turned around to face the desk, not even jumping in surprise at the suddenness of the voice. The new tenant let out another sigh before dropping his bags with a dull thud. The appearance of a strange child in prison clothes now smiling behind the reception desk didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. In fact, from his yawn, he seemed to be more concerned with finding a bed to sleep in. Dual otherworldly blue eyes met unshakable silver.

"Sure you have Pharos." the boy responded easily, trying to blink away his weariness.

Pharos pouted. "You were taking forever to walk here, Minato."

The student, now labeled Minato, just shrugged noncommittally.

"Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff. "

Minato shuffled closer to the desk to stare at the deceptive single slip of paper. A single line to seal his fate. He nearly snorted at the contract before him.

"A Velvet Room Contract? How redundant..."

After a few minutes of digging in pockets while Pharos watched in amusement, he managed to procure a pen. With another scan of the sentence to make sure he wasn't selling his soul to the devil, he signed Minato Arisato as neat as he could manage on the dotted line. Which is to say, it was polite chicken scratch.

Pharos smiled cryptically. "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes."

He picked up the contract and closed the binder. Turning it to the side, it vanished from from his grip. Once again Minato hardly seemed fazed by the sudden disappearance of the contract. He did tilt his head briefly to acknowledge the boy however. The simple motion caused the boy's slightly creepy grin to evolve into a full fledged beaming smile.

"And so it begins."

Cheerfully saying his farewell with an ominous statement, the boy faded away into the shadows leaving no trace of his existence. For the first time since arriving Minato showed a sliver of emotion in a fond smile twitching his lips.

"Always the dramatic one, aren't you?"

He shuffled back to his bags to drag them over to the couch. With no residents around he planned on crashing for the night on the extremely comfortable looking couch. In his state he was willing to sleep on the floor. Suddenly his plans for sleep were once again shattered when a voice broke the night's silence.

"Who's there?!"

Minato whirled with an irritated growl, his book snapping open and an almost feral gleam appearing in his eyes. That was the second interruption that night and he was beginning to get annoyed. While he might tolerate it from Pharos, someone else was another matter. A girl in a pink sweater was standing on the stairs looking scared out of her wits at his quick reaction. The young man's eyes narrowed briefly, sizing her up.

She looked around his age, with short brown hair and pretty brown eyes. The gun on her thigh looked incredibly out of place on her. She had the air of a popular gossip girl, not a fighter. This was further enforced by the extremely short skirt and stylish pink jacket.

Persona user? Hmm...only freshly awakened...

With a dismissive snort he snapped his tome shut and relaxed. As much as he was annoyed at another interrupter of his plans to collapse into a puddle and sleep for four days, he might get an actual bed now.

The girl spluttered some nonsense before reaching for her evoker. Just to be sure, even though it was unlikely she could even pull the trigger, he quickly switched to a wind resistant Persona. Being cautious had saved his life before and he wasn't going to stop now. Before she could do anything a voice called out.

"Takeba, Wait!"

and the Dark Hour vanished.

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Its just an idea but I've done other chapters.

Right now its not in chronological order but I will post if I get a favourable response.