I said I would do it, and I did it. Here it is, the Crossover between, Persona 3 and Sword Art Online: The Masked Swordsman.

Alright, I know that some people will say that the Nerve Gear hadn't been invented until much later on, but for the sake of the story, I'm going to say it was invented much earlier.

Minato will interact with the characters with SOA here, but just so you guys know, I will not be making this a MinatoxAsuna fic. Sorry for those who wanted this, but I rather like KiritoxAsuna.

I'm thinking of adding one, maybe two characters from the Persona 3 world, but am still not sure.

And have you heard! 4 new Persona games have been announced! I'm really excited about them. Especially Persona Q, and Persona 5.

Anyway, I'm taking too much of your time. On with the story!

Minato blinked, and blinked once more, just to be sure he had blinked. Was that truly the sky he was staring at right now? He wasn't dreaming, right? Can you even dream when you are a Great Seal? He sat up slowly, taking everything in. The long meadow of grass, flower beds springing every here and there. Mountains upon mountains off in the distance. Behind him, stood what seemed like a castle. He turned his head to the right to see floating islands, waterfalls pouring off the edge of those islands. A river, just a few yards away, runs for as far as he can see. It was quiet and peaceful enough to hear the wind blowing.

That settled it….He was in heaven. There was no other explanation. He had been taken out of the Seal, and sent to heaven….Right?

He looked down at what he was currently wearing. He had expected to see something akin to a white robe, but found himself wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt, with a protector on top, and pants, with leather knee pads on them. A sword had been strapped on his back with its sheath. It was as if he was dressed to fight. He hoped that was not the case. He had already done his fair share of fighting.

He stood up, a little shakily at first, and proceeded to walk in no particular direction. Was he truly free from the Seal? If so, where was he? This wasn't Earth, he knew that much. Earth wasn't this beautiful, and Earth was much more advanced. And why is it that he had a sword?

Minato looks around, hoping to see someone, but the ocean of grass is devoid of life. Not a single person here. Minato looks up into the sky and sighs, but then quickly smiles. What was he complaining about? He was free of the Seal wasn't he? He could walk, run, hell, maybe he could even start a new life in this new world. Isn't that what he deserved?

Resolved to figure out what he needed to do next, Minato starts to walk in no particular direction, hoping to find a clue on his whereabouts. Maybe even a town for info, but before he could more that a few yards though, he is stopped by something.

"Minato…?" A voice with much emotion says.

Minato, recognizing the voice, turns around and stares at a blonde girl. He knows this girl well…He passed away on her lap. Aegis. Tears were welling up in her eyes, her hands raised to her mouth, covering a smile. She looks shocked, but happy at the same time. The wind blows her blonde hair back, and Minato notices that Aegis is devoid of her mechanical gear. It's as if she's human…

"Aegis? Is that you?" Minato questions, taking a few steps in her direction.

Aegis, once hearing her name being called by the person she cares about most, runs to him, as fast as her legs could carry her, and even then, she could run fast enough. Once she gets near enough, she jumps at him, effectively knocking them both down. Minato, though hurt, hugs the crying girl, as she sob in his chest. He calmly rubs her hair, waiting for her to calm down. She continues to cry for a few more seconds and then pulls back, allowing them to sit up.

"I'm not dreaming, am I? It really is you?" Aegis asks, smiling, her tears running down her cheeks.

"Yeah, it's me, Aegis. No dream here." Minato says.

Aegis hugs him once more and Minato hugs back. They break apart, and stand up. Before they go on though, Minato wanted some answers.

"Aegis, do you know exactly what's going on? I'm supposed to be guarding the Earth from Nyx. I shouldn't even be alive." Minato asks.

Minato wasn't blind to the events that took place during his time in the Seal. He saw how his friends braved the Abyss of Time, and learned to let go of their regrets. He saw another ancient being try to turn the world into shadows, but were stopped by another group who sought the truth. He saw how some person was trying to get his friends and the other group to fight each other, just to turn their Personas back into shadows. He saw all this, but could do nothing but hope that his friends would come out on top. Luckily, they did.

Aegis looked at Minato, debating whether or not to tell him the truth. She looked into his eyes, and she was reminded of the friend she made in the TV world. Minato had the same eyes he had, eyes that sought the truth.

Aegis looked directly into his eyes and began to explain what she knew. "We saw what happened to you, what you did to protect this world, when we entered an area called the Abyss of Time."

Minato nodded, remembering the trials his friends had to go through. "Yeah, I may not have been conscious during the time in the Seal, but I still saw a few things, kind of like a dream. The Abyss of Time was one of them."

Aegis nodded. This would make it easier to explain. "When we realized what you had done, it brought up an important question to us."

"Why had your body, having had the soul leave it, not passed away?" Aegis said.

She saw his eyes widen at the news. Had he not known this? She was sure that he would if the experiment worked.

Minato, on the other hand, was confused. His body should have stopped functioning as soon as his soul left it, but even then, his body persisted to operate, just so he could keep his promise to his friends. After falling asleep in Aegis's arms, he was sure that his body would pass, but maybe he wanted to keep living those days with his friends. Had that wish somehow allowed his body to stave off death? It was possible, seeing as how his wish to keep his promise to his friends allowed him to stay conscious in his body well after it should have died.

"I'm going to assume that my body was in some form of coma then?" Minato asked.

"You are guess is correct, but at the same time, incorrect. Your body is still in a coma…and is in some form of stasis." Aegis said.

"…You lost me. If it's still in a coma, how is it I'm moving right now?" Minato asked, unsure about what she meant.

Aegis bit her lip, hesitating, then began to explain once more. "The reason you are able to function, is due to a machine called Nerve Gear."

"Nerve Gear?" Minato repeated.

"Nerve Gear, is the product of recent research in Virtual Reality." Aegis said.

Minato then started connecting the dots. He looked around again and understood why the place looked like it was. Why he had a sword strapped on his back, and why Aegis didn't have any mechanical parts whatsoever. Virtual Reality, add that with some of the factors he just named, and you get…a video game.

That would explain the fact that he was asked to name himself, create his physical appearance among other things video games make you do. He swore that part was a dream though…

"I see. So we're in a video game." Minato said, still looking around. "That would explain why you're not a mechanical maiden anymore."

Aegis's eyes widened, and she looks down at herself. Minato sweat dropped as she looked at herself. Had she really not known…He hadn't had the time to fully look at her, considering the circumstances. She looked somewhat the same, her height the same, only her facial features were a little off here and there such as the shape of her eyes and nose. Her hair was longer, shoulder length. This he had noticed, but decided to put off on asking. He guessed the fact that she looked fully human was due to the fact they were in virtual reality.

"I don't…I look like a human." Aegis said, turning her hands over.

Minato smiled at her. During that fateful year in Tatsumi port, Aegis had been trying to figure out what it meant to be human. By the end of her own journey, she had finally attained it. Now that she looked like a human in here, he could only guess what she was thinking.

"So, what exactly is Nerve Gear?" Minato asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

Aegis turned back to Minato and explained."The Nerve Gear is helmet that cuts the transmissions from the brain to the body, and sends it directly to the Nerve Gear, allowing the movement of the virtual bodies here. Likewise, it cuts every transmission from the body to the brain, so the user of a Nerve Gear would be completely insensate in the real world."

"I see, but how does that explain the reason it worked for me? Being comatose means my brain isn't sending signals to my body right?" Minato asks, as he takes out his sword and swings it around.

"Yes, we thought that at first, but when we scanned your brain, we found that it was still functioning, trying to send signals to the body, but the body wasn't responding. It was as if you were awake mentally, but your body was asleep. We presumed it was a side effect from the Seal, but we were ecstatic. We finally had a way to reach you again." Aegis explained.

After swinging his sword a few times, Minato sheathed it, and looked back to Aegis. Wait…How is Aegis using a Nerve Gear if she's not even human? Minato asked his question and Aegis answered.

"Fuuka tinkered with the Nerve Gear after it was decided that I would be the one to use it, to see if you were able to function here." She said.

Minato nodded, but then curiously asked. "How was it decided? Drawing straws?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." She answered.

Minato sweat dropped. "It was Junpei's idea wasn't it?"

"Yes. It was also his idea to use the Nerve Gear on you. It was just a comment he made, but Mitsuru and the others jumped in and decided to test it. I'm glad it worked." Aegis said, smiling at him.

"Why didn't you all come?" Minato asked.

He was sure Mitsuru could get enough of those Nerve Gears for everyone with her connections.

"Unfortunately, we were only able to acquire two. The Nerve Gears are still new and they're not even on the market yet." Minato gave her a questioning look. "The only way we received these Nerve Gears, was because we signed up to be beta-testers for the game Sword Art Online." She explained.

"I see." Minato said, taking all the info in. "You mentioned my body was in a stasis. Does that mean that there nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Ordinary is not a word I would use to describe it." Aegis said, then looked away from Minato's stare. "Your body has not changed, in the slightest, since you fell into a coma. It hasn't aged, your hair hasn't grown, your body stays lean and fit without exercise. It's as if your body has been frozen in time."

Minato's eyes widened once more. "Hasn't changed? How is that possible?"

Aegis shakes her head. "We are not sure. We believe it to be another form of side effect of being the Great Seal."

"How long has it been since I've been comatose?" Minato asked her.

"It's been three years, since then."

Minato sighed and looked up to the sky. "That's a lot to take in."

"Are you..alright?" Aegis asked, a little worried.

"I'll be fine. As long as I stay logged on here, I basically have my life back., right" Minato then smiled and looked back to Aegis. "At the very least, it means I can have fun in this world, plus I don't have to do any annoying homework."

Aegis smiled at his humor. Despite the aura of silence he gave off, he always looked on the brighter side of things. She then lost her smile when she remembered what she had to do next.

"Come on, Aegis. Let's go exploring. It will be like exploring Tarturus, except without all the blood on the walls, and shadows trying to kill you." Minato said, already starting to walk, again, in no particular direction.

In truth, he was kind of excited to see how virtual reality worked. This place seemed so real. He already had some fighting experience thanks to the shadows, he figured that whatever monsters they got in her wouldn't be any worse.

"I'm sorry, but I have to return and inform everyone that it worked…But, I'll be right back! We can explore then." Aegis said, excitedly.

Minato looked back to her, smiled, and nodded. "I'll be waiting then."

Aegis nodded, then brought her hand up, then down, in front of her. A screen popped out in front of her and then she moved her finger through the screen, navigating for the log out button. She gave one last look at Minato, then she logged out.

Minato smiled at the place she was just in. He hoped that he would be able to see his friends soon, and the fact that his body hadn't died, only renewed his hope to be able to live back in the real world again. Minato closed his eyes, still smiling, and let the wind flow through him.

When he opened his eyes again, he turned around, and proceeded to walk again. He was too excited to wait for Aegis's return, so he would scout the area and return here. He hoped that she would return by then.

Before he could take another step though, he heard the voice of someone new.

"Huh? Are you a new beta-tester?" Minato turned around and stared at the face of a young man.

The young man had some armor on him, but still had the same, generic clothes that he had himself. He had long black hair that went down to his neck, but parted at his forehead. His face was undoubtedly handsome and his dark eyes bore down at him.

Even then, Minato stared back at the young man, unfazed by his stare. "Yeah, I guess you can say that."

The young man smiled and pointed at himself. "The name's Kirito, what's yours?"

"Minato. Nice to meet you Kirito." Minato said offering his hand for a handshake.

Kirito took the hand and shook it. "I'm feeling nice today, so I'll help you out. Make you learn the ropes."

Minato looked surprised for a second, then smiled and nodded. "Alright, let's go."

So how was it? Did it live up to your expectations? I hope so. If not, tell me what I can do to make it better, leave suggestions, and tell me your overall thoughts in your reviews.

The next chapter might be released soon, but don't hold me to it. I stayed up until 1 to finish this, so it may not be very good at first.

-Starnightking.