Eternal Bonds.

Summary: Minato died in order to seal Nyx. He sacrificed his life to become the Great Seal, to become a barrier between Nyx and Erebus, the manifestation of humanity's negative will and grief. He fulfilled his promise with his friends. Everything was over. But, after forging countless and precious bonds with others, he, for the first time in a long time, felt lonely

Warning: Contain spoilers.

I do not own Persona 3

The picture is not mine, credits to the original owner

EDIT: Tweaked the story a bit. There's some major changes, so it's advisable to read it again.

A large golden door with eyes all over its surface stood in a place where human's consciousness was connected, the sea of soul. The eyes moved rapidly as if it was trying to see something in that endless darkness. A small human sized statue with arms spread hung in the middle of the door. It was hanging merely by the small chains attached to the door. The statue, evidently a male, held a slight melancholy in its expression. It was the guardian of that door.

Golden trails of unidentified substance similar to those of sands' surrounded the door. It circled around the door like a protective barrier, although it could do nothing of the sort. However, the golden substance did a remarkable job of shining in dark, making the door appear almost bright and majestic.

The deafening silence was disturbed when out of nowhere a large quantity of black liquid began to appear near the door. The liquid gradually began to take shape. It took the form of a large dual faced monster resembling that of a goats'. The creature, Erebus, reached towards the statue. It stated to claw and pull at the human shaped stone. Its effort was in vain as the statue did not budge.

Erebus growled, the sound echoing throughout the place. It kept its effort in trying to remove the statue, the seal, which was blocking its way to the Great Being behind the door. However, it stopped its movement when it sensed something.

"Veeelvet, oh velvet. " A beautiful young woman sang.

The woman stared at the enormous creature with her bright yellow eyes. She wore a blue hat and held a thick leather bound compendium. The blue dress that she wore swayed slightly at her movements. The woman oozed power from her very being, making it clear that she was not someone to be trifled with.

"…Elizabeth…"

"My maaaster has a laaarge nose…" Elizabeth sang the rest of the song. The woman then smiled at creature in front of her. Even though Erebus was ten times bigger than her, the white haired woman appeared completely relaxed and unafraid.

Erebus seemed to sense the woman's power and it growled at her. It tensed up and waited for the right moment to attack. When the woman sighed at it, the creature got the impression that it was the right time to attack. It growled loudly and lunged at the woman with such ferocity that the ground shook.

"My, what an ugly little thing you are." She said and sidestepped the attack. Then, with her surprisingly enormous strength, she flipped the creature. The creature howled in agony. Seeing that the creature was distracted, she opened her book. A large magic circle appeared in the air. It shined brightly and when the glow subsided, Elizabeth and Erebus was nowhere to be seen.

A few moments passed by before another magic circle appeared. This time, the only being that had been transported was Elizabeth. She closed the compendium and the circle vanished. She glanced at the area and smile, seemingly satisfied.

"Changing the scenery without doubt is the correct idea. I certainly cannot damage the sea of everyone's soul by fighting that foul creature here." She nodded to herself. Then, her expression became troubled and she sighed again.

"That foul thing will surely resurrect within the year again." Elizabeth whispered.

The white haired woman looked up and stared at the large golden door in front of her. Her attention however, was focused on the statue that hung in the middle of the door. She smiled sadly.

"It's been awhile." She paused as if she was unsure what to say next.

"…I am no longer a resident of Velvet room. I left my post in order to see through a desire of mine. I am searching for a way to free a special soul. A way to free you" She said.

"My sister, Margaret, will take on my role as Master's assistant until this quest of mine is fulfilled. She's very reliable. Furthermore, her strength is nothing to laugh at. Even I have difficulties fighting her!" Elizabeth laughed quietly as she remembered the fight before her leaving of velvet room.

'…I shouldn't remain here any longer without any objective, after all I'm not a resident of this place.' The once resident of Velvet room thought. She gazed at that single statue that hung in the middle of that golden door.

"I may not know the way to accomplish my goal now but I will surely find it. I promise you that."She said at last, her bright yellow eyes narrowed in determination. Then, she relaxed and allowed a small smile to play at her lips.

"I'll be taking my leave now, Minato."

"…Farewell…"

Elizabeth turned and walked away from the door. She opened her book and a large magic circle appeared again. She stepped through the glowing circle. It then disappeared and the place went back to its original deafening silence.

Everything was blurry. It was hard to concentrate. It felt as if something was blocking his senses. He tried to focus on his surroundings. But, black edges began to appear from each corners of his vision as soon as he tried. He attempted to shake his head to clear the black edges, but found himself unable to move. It quickly got worse, the black tendrils crept closer and closer, almost covering his vision with black. Before losing consciousness, he dimly heard something.

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When he regained consciousness, he felt slightly dazed. Furthermore, he felt really odd, as if he was in a dream and yet at the same time it felt like reality. 'Did that even make any sense?' He thought absentmindedly. His head suddenly throbbed painfully. It was hard to think so he tried not to think. He closed my eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that it would at least lessen the pain. It surprisingly worked. With that gone, he felt unexpectedly tired and without him realizing it, he soon fell asleep.

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This time when he woke up, he felt surprisingly more aware. Feeling calmer than he should be, he glanced around the area and was slightly surprised by the endless darkness that he saw. Wondering if he had somehow became blind, he glanced at his hands. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them. Soon he realized however that those hands of his were really pale and appeared to be glowing?

"This is strange."He mumbled.

Upon hearing his own voice, he was taken aback. When did his voice turn like that? His voice…It sounded ethereal. Unearthly. Otherworldly. He didn't let himself dwell too much on it however. Instead he tried to remember what happened. But somehow, he found it hard. Nothing came to mind. It was as if his memories were blocked. He tried harder and a single word form in his mind, 'Persona'. A sudden wave of sleepiness hit him and he found his eyes drooping. Not long after that, he was asleep.

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He woke up a few times after that, each time becoming more and more lucid until he was fully alert. He never tried to find a way out of the place since somehow deep inside him, he knew that it would be useless. Even so, he felt insecure with how little he remembered. So, he devoted himself to remembering, perhaps that may solve his dilemma and answer his questions. Through sheer determination, he managed to collect fragment upon fragment of his memories. But even those were still too random for him to understand. He just couldn't connect them at all!

He sighed and flopped down on the dark surface, sitting cross-legged. The darkness didn't bother him much anymore and after staring at the never ending darkness for awhile, he had become used to it. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, he didn't know and have no intention of knowing. Almost like a routine now, he closed his eyes and concentrated to remember at least a little before that thing arrived, the thing that makes him all sleepy and sometimes dazed.

It was always particularly hard to remember. Each time, something would block him and try to keep him out but he would manage to slip through it. With no little amount of surprise, he reached to the deepest part of his memories, something that had never happened before since he would always fall unconscious before it could happen. Knowing that there may not be another chance, he reached deeper and deeper. Upon reaching the end, a word flowed into his mind.

'THE GREAT SEAL'

As if Pandora box was opened, immeasurable amount of memories began to flow into him, drowning him in seas of memories. He clutched his head, his breathing became shallow. A few drops of sweat rolled down from this forehead.

"Ugh." He groaned.

The feeling gradually faded away until he couldn't feel anything. It seemed like eternity before, his breathing returned to normal and opening his eyes became much easier. Widening those eyes slowly beneath his bangs and he gazed at the darkness in front of him with dawning comprehension.

"I remember now." He whispered.

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Ever since then he never slept, simply because he never had the urge. The thing never hit him after that. He figured that the wave of sleepiness was simply one of the methods to prevent him from remembering. Just like the thing that blocked him. Now that he remembered almost everything, that defense mechanism simply ceased to function. Unfortunately, he never figured out why it wanted to prevent him from remembering. He never gave it much thought to be honest since it didn't matter much and in the end he remembered.

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Time slowly passed.

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He sat with his head between his knees in the darkness. He had his hands on his chest and his expression unreadable. His chest hurt for some reason but it was not caused by anything physical, he knew that at least. So what was this emotion he's feeling? It felt …nostalgic.

'But why does it hurt so much?' he thought.

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The emotion he's feeling, could it be…?

'But that's not possible!' He furiously thought. It couldn't be! It just can't be that emotion! He can't be feeling this, that's just not-!

He took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself down. That was weird, how could the mere idea of feeling that emotion made him lose his temper. He rarely lost his temper and besides, he was used to feeling it. At that thought, he grimaced.

No matter how many times he denied it, he knew it would not change.

The bonds he made during that year made him forgot the emotion called loneliness.

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A slight presence in the darkness made him lift his head from its position on his knees and he glanced around the area. Even though he could sense it, he couldn't see anything in the sea of darkness. He stood up cautiously, and he narrowed his eyes when he felt that presence getting stronger and stronger. When he felt it getting closer to him, he tensed up.

Suddenly, an invisible force slammed into him knocking him onto the ground. He coughed and tried to stand up but the invisible force pinned him to the ground. He struggled against the grip but it was pointless. He stilled when he heard a growl and that growl…seemed to come from in front of him? But there was nothing there! In the corner of his mind, he wondered if he finally snapped from all that time alone.

At that moment, he sensed another presence. A presence that seemed very familiar.

"…Elizabeth…" He breathed out in realization.

After that he felt the grip around him disappeared. He took this chance to stand up and then he focused on the presences. However, they were no longer there. He frowned, wondering if all of these was his mind was playing a trick on him. However, that doesn't explain the pain and supposedly Elizabeth's presence.

After a moment, he felt a presence returning. It was the presence similar to Elizabeth's. But he was still doubtful. Were the things that were happening real or just a figment of his imagination? He sincerely hoped it was the former.

"It's been awhile."

He widened his eyes and inhaled sharply. That's her voice! He stood motionlessly as he listened to her next words.

"…I am no longer a resident of Velvet room. I left my post in order to see through a desire of mine. I am searching for a way to free a special soul. A way to free you."

He lowered his head with his bangs covering his eyes. He closed his eyes, 'You know that it's impossible, if I'm free so will Nyx.'

"My sister, Margaret, will take on my role as Master's assistant until this quest of mine is fulfilled. She's very reliable. Furthermore, her strength is nothing to laugh at. Even I have difficulties fighting her!"

He smiled slightly.

"I may not know the way to accomplish my goal now but I will surely find it. I promise you that."

He opened his eyes and stared at the darkness in front of him, his expression devoid of any emotion.

"I'll be taking my leave now, Minato."

It had been so long since someone said his name. And it had been even longer since he heard someone else's voice. He didn't want her to leave. But, no matter how much he wanted it, he knew it wouldn't be possible.

"…Farewell…"

And he was alone again.

The mist appeared out of nowhere. In that darkness, it twirled around uselessly, seemingly insignificant with its current state. However, bit by bit it started to shift. The shifting went so slowly that one would assume it would never finish what it had wanted to do. Nevertheless, it was not impossible.

After some time, the mist had turned into a shape resembling that of a human's. Inside the shape, something seemed to grow. It grew faster this time. Within minutes, the shape that originally was a mist, became a being.

Minato, who had not been paying attention to his surrounding, snapped his head up when he felt a slight pressure to his right. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes. Something was walking towards his direction. Upon closer inspection, the being, he realized, seemed to be waving at him? Imagining the worse, he immediately tensed up.

"MINATO-KUN!" It shouted happily, when he came into hearing range.

He heard that voice before. It couldn't be who he's thinking, could it?

"Ryoji?" he said in disbelief.

Ryoji came to a halt in front of Minato. He grinned at the blue haired teen but upon noticing the suspicion in those eyes, it turned into a nervous smile. Was there something wrong with his appearance? He looked down and deemed nothing was wrong.

"Is there something wrong, Minato-kun?" He asked and tried to reach for Minato. He widened his eyes in surprise when the latter took a step back.

"Who are you?" Minato's voice was as cold as ice.

"Don't you recognize me? I'm Ryoji!" The avatar of Nyx felt a twinge of pain in his chest. They had been friends, even if it was just a little while. Was their short but wonderful friendship so insignificant to the teen that it was easily forgotten? His heart sank.

"Stop lying!" Minato growled, "You couldn't be him. The real Ryoji is currently sealed. He couldn't be here!"

Ryoji blinked and then chuckled. Oh, it was all just a misunderstanding, both on his and Minato's part. Why did he even doubt his friend? What was he thinking? He smiled while wiping his tears of mirth.

"There's an explanation! Stop giving me that look Minato-kun! I am Ryoji. I am here for a reason and… you still don't believe me, do you? What should I do for you to believe me? "

"…"

"Stop giving me that look! Well, if I tell you the things that only we know, will you believe me? I used to be called Pharos and I was trapped in your body for 10 year before-"

Ryoji's explanation was interrupted when Minato grabbed his wrists and pulled him into a tight hug. Ryoji froze for a second in surprise before gently patting Minato on the back, all while smiling. After a few seconds, the blue haired teen pulled back, letting go of his grasp on the other's wrist. Ryoji didn't mention the fact that his friend's eyes seemed suspiciously wet.

"It really is you, Ryoji. I thought we'd never meet again," Minato whispered as different kinds of emotions raced through him, mainly happiness and confusion with no small amount of dread. Minato was no fool, he knew something was wrong.

"That's what I've been trying to say from the start." Ryoji pouted.

"But how?" he asked.

"Before that, y-you're looking kinda pale there, Minato-kun…" Ryoji trailed off uncertainly.

"Ryoji," Minato said, "You're outside the seal." As the seriousness of the situation seemed to sink in, the teen could feel dread rising and he struggled to breathe. He tried to calm down but found it to be futile. Possibilities of what might have happened swirled around his head.

"That's because-," Ryoji stopped when he noticed his friend's face turning paler and paler. With growing realization, he grabbed Minato's arms and shook him.

"Minato-kun, breathe! Nothing happened to the seal!" The avatar of Nyx yelled in fright.

That got Minato's attention and he finally gasped, taking in big gulps of air. Feeling his panic subsiding, he looked at Ryoji, his gaze was questioning.

"Right now, what you are seeing is just my essence; my real body is behind the door safely sealed away." Ryoji explained slowly, "This space is connected to where I was sealed and thus enabling me to come here."

Minato nodded at the explanation. However, there was something that bothered him in that explanation.

"Why are you here in your essence then?"

Ryoji frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. He seemed to be thinking about the question and Minato waited patiently. After a moment, Ryoji titled his head slightly; his expression was of puzzlement. The blue hair teen raised an eyebrow at the expression.

"You're not hurt are you?"

"No. Why do you ask that?" The blue haired teen hadn't been hurt with the exception of one time when he was knocked down by the invisible force. Even that didn't hurt much.

"To be honest, I'm not supposed to be here or awake at all. The seal not only confined me, it also forced me into a slumber."

"But you're awake now."

"Exactly my thoughts, I assumed something happened to you so I came here to check. But nothing seemed to be amiss. So what disturbed the sleep?"

They both fell silent, each deep in thoughts. Something had managed to disturb the sleeping essence of Nyx, slipping past the Seal's defenses. This was no laughing matter. Whatever this was, they had to eliminate it before it become really difficult. However, no matter how much Minato tried to think about it, no explanation or solution came into his mind. Maybe he's thinking this in a wrong way.

What if, the problem didn't come from outside but actually from the inside? It's not for certain yet; nevertheless, it was still a possibility as much as he wanted to deny it. If it was coming from the inside then there were two possibilities of where it was coming from. Ryoji and himself.

It couldn't be Ryoji. That he was sure. Otherwise, why would he come to notify the blue haired teen?

All that's left was him, the Seal itself. He hadn't felt any different since he woken up. Sure, there had been a few headaches but nothing too bad. The thing that had slammed him hadn't left permanent damage either. Even right now, he couldn't feel much difference. Minato blinked slowly and touched his chest. There had been a slight difference since he woken up, he realized. He had forgotten about that. There had been a reason on why he forgotten that as he looked at Ryoji.

In the corner of his mind, he wondered if this emotion could've anything to do with Ryoji's awakening. The guardian of the seal decided to mention this. After all, it may be important. Anything, even trivial things might be useful.

"Ryoji, there's this thing I've been feeling for awhile now." Minato started, drawing Ryoji's attention to him.

"What is it, Minato-kun?"

Usually, it would've been embarrassing for him to admit it to other people. But, the past year had been a big change for him, not to mention Ryoji was different. He had been with Minato for ten years (even if he had only properly met him for a year), there was this feeling of trust that seemed natural. Even when he first met him as Pharos, there had been this feeling that pushed him to sign that contract. Otherwise, why should he sign something given to him by a creepy kid wearing prison clothes?

"Ever since I woken up, this emotion kept plaguing me. I've been feeling…"Minato paused, "lonely."

Ryoji stared at him in surprised expression. He was no stranger to loneliness himself, so he could sympathize with the blue haired teen. However, hearing that sentence triggered something in his memory.

"OH, THAT'S IT! I understand now!"Ryoji shouted suddenly. Minato jumped in shock, looking at him in surprise.

"The seal's power, in other words your resolve, is affected by emotions or at least a part of it!" Ryoji explained quickly.

"Then that means…"Minato whispered. It was true, he realized. His emotions had played a big part. He remembered many of them. He had been determined to protect his dear ones. The sadness when Ryoji vanished. He had been fearless while facing Nyx and so much more.

"While positive emotions help you, Negative emotions do the opposite thing! That must be the reason why I'm awake, I'm sure of it! But that also means that the seal is weakening…"

From the beginning, all of this had been his entire fault. It was his fault that the seal was weakening. It was his fault for the awakening of Ryoji's slumber and for almost endangering his friends. For a second, Minato could feel despair washing through him. He couldn't wallow up in self pity. He knew better than that. If there was something wrong then you fix it.

"But you're here now with me, aren't you?" Minato asked as he looked at Ryoji.

"Well, I'm still here. It's just a guess, but that emotion of yours probably needs something more than just me, probably," Ryoji pondered while stroking his chin.

"…" Minato clenched his hands. What was he doing? If only he wasn't so weak.

"I know what you're thinking Minato-kun and you'd better stop now. We can solve this together. C'mon, let's just think ok? With your smart brain and my creativity, I'm sure we'll find a solution!" The avatar of Nyx grinned.

Minato snorted but nodded nonetheless. They needed to stop the seal from weakening and to do that they need to get rid of his loneliness. However, if even Ryoji can't get rid of it, who can?

His friends.

They needed them in order to find a solution to the problem. The question was how. He was only a soul right now, his body either been buried deep underneath the earth or burned. He couldn't just appear in front of them and expect them to see him, well maybe Koromaru could. Either way that plan was flawed in every single way. He couldn't just barge into their lives when they had (hopefully) moved on. In addition, he couldn't even leave in the first place.

"Minato-kun…"

"Have you found a solution?"

"Well, I have something in mind, but I'm not sure whether you'll like it or not." Ryoji's voice sounded hesitant.

"Tell me."

"Since I couldn't think of a way for you to meet your friends in this world, maybe we should try our luck in the others?" Ryoji suggested meekly.

The gears in Minato's mind started to work at the implication. As he stared at Ryoji, the avatar seemed to shrink in every second. Finally, it clicked.

"Do you mean Parallel worlds?" he said in shock.

"Is that what you call it?"

"It really exists?" Minato had read books about them but all of them had only been theories.

"Does that mean you disapprove?" Ryoji looked down.

"I'm just surprised. But Ryoji, what about the door? And how are we going to get there in the first place?"

"Don't worry about a thing, my dear friend!"The black haired teen exclaimed.

"If you say so…"

"Everything will going to be fine, just trust me! After all, this is for the sake of the world!"

"You owe me an explanation," Minato muttered.

Ryoji gave a smile.

Author's note: Whoop! Finally finished! Haha, this is longer than what I had originally wanted. I always loved Persona 3 and I always wanted a fanfic about it! So I did! I hope to answer some more questions in the next chapter

Special thanks to Ulquii-sama! Thank you for your suggestions and constants motivating! Hope you post your fic soon!

And last but not least, please leave a review when you're done! Like all other authors out there, reviews are our fuel!