Disclaimer: I do not own Persona. The characters and story belong to Altus, the amazing company that brought us the games.

Spoiler: I do not recommend reading this if you haven't completed Persona 3, Persona 4 or Persona Arena as it contains spoilers of these video games.

Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I'm trying to keep good on my word of updating this story monthly at the minimum, but it's difficult finding the time with responsibilties and such. It's probably my fault since I can't sit still and have to involve myself in a dozen personal projects. Anyways, please Follow, Favorite and Review. It really motivates me and helps me understand what you guys are thinking. Any feedback is highly encouraged as well. Please point out something odd or perhaps something that I could improve on. While I do enjoy writing this story, the main reason I got into it was to improve my writing skills.

Comment To Reviews:

MegaPotato: Thank you so much for your feedback and continuing to read my story. You've been with me on this fun, sometimes frustating journey to create something out of nothing and it really motivates me to continue to write at my very best. I hope this chapter and ones coming meet your expectations!

April 7 (Tuesday), Late Night

Cloudy

Burn My Dread

Time never waits.

It delivers all equally to the same end.

You, who wishes to safeguard the future,

however, limited it may be…

You will be given one year;

Go forth without falter,

With your heart as your guide

Burn my dread….

The boy maneuvered through the busy streets as the day yielded to the night. He reached his destination: the train station.

Burn my dread….

The station was barren, and he entered the train to find that it was equally as still and quiet.

Burn my dread….

The train began to move, rousing the boy to raise his head. Outside the moving train, flying by at its own pace, ignoring common sense, was a blue butterfly.

There's no man's land

No man ever survived

With a blink of an eye, the butterfly was gone, leaving the boy to wonder if it was just his imagination. The boy shook his head and decided to stand, the duffel bag on his shoulder a welcoming discomfort. Outside, the walls seemed to suck him in, growing darker and darker, with no end in sight. Until, it did and the voice over the train intercom repeated his destination multiple times: Iwatodai! Iwatodai!

Burn my dread…

Burn my dread…

The boy began his lonely journey, passing a few checks. To the boy's displeasure, the path was slightly populated with other pedestrians. The boy stopped and reached into his pocket, producing a folded sheet of paper: a map. In the end, he knew exactly where his destination was located, and he knew exactly how to get there. He just needed a distraction. Something to take his mind away from the nightmare that was once again going consume the world as it always did. The seconds ticked away and then it became midnight.

Just like every midnight since the boy could remember, the world was consumed in a haze of vibrant, nauseating colors: black, green, yellow, and red. The two-some that had been walking a few paces ahead of the boy were gone. Two black marble coffins replaced them.

Burn my dread…

Despite being at a half-charged battery, the boy's music player died. He sighed. Being accustomed to the bizarre occurrence that happened at midnight for so many years, made the boy numb to the changes. The temporary loss of his music was the most hindering aspect of it nowadays. The boy continued his lonely journey.

The town looked insufferable. Coffins were littered everywhere in sight. The moon was the color of old, moldy cheese. The street and sidewalk was the color of blood. Just a typical night, the boy thought. The boy reached his destination without incident: a tall, timeless dormitory. Stone steps lead to well-maintained doors bordered by opaque windows. There was light inside.

The boy didn't hesitate to grab the door handle and enter. The interior decor of the dormitory was retro. The carpet underneath was a lime-green with dark, forest green squares scattered around. Two sofas and two armchairs circled a glass table. Further ahead was a dining table with chairs and an empty liquor bar attached to the wall.

It's nice, the boy thought, and very expensive.

He grounded his duffel bag and removed the headphones from his ears.

"You're late," said a figure to his left. "I wonder why?"

The boy turned. Behind the counter, resting on his knuckles, was a pale child with sapphire eyes.

"I've been waiting a long time for you." The child snapped his fingers. "Now if you want to proceed," the child said, materializing in front of the boy, "please sign your name there."

A red folder appeared where the boy once was and flipped open. "It's a contract. Don't worry. All it says is that you will accept all responsibilities for your actions. You know. The usual stuff."

And so, the boy signed the contract. He signed "Arisato Minato" in his best handwriting. Minato turned toward the child as he began to speak again. The child spoke of time and the end but all Minato noticed was his unusual stripped garments and how the child himself looked like a prisoner of sorts.

Date Unknown, Time Unknown

Weather Unknown

Death is a pitiful existence. Yes, Death, the natural phenomenon, the ultimate equalizer, and the supposed ban of all human existence is pitiful. It might be difficult to imagine but, in reality, Death is a prisinor. A janitor imposed on by all living things. Every second he appeared somewhere in the world and stole away a soul from a body. It cannot truly be considered stealing as it was his natural duty and a soul without a functioning physical body cannot truly be alive, but he considered it stealing nonetheless. It didn't matter if the soul in question was an elderly person, a child, or someone truly beckoning his appearance; Death felt like a thief nonetheless. Because, what else could you call a being that robbed the light from someone's eyes forever.

As strange as it is to consider, Death is also a slave. No other being, other than Time, was required to be constantly on the move, committing one vile act after another without rest. At least school janitors could go home after work. For Death, there was no home or off time.

Sometimes, it became too much for Death and the lonely soul would pause after ransacking a soul and disposing it in the ever-growing sea of unconsciousness. Death would float in the black and starlit domain and find a pair of golden doors where his best friend rested. Death had met, handled, and disposed of many souls, but the soul held frozen by the golden doors was the soul belonging to the greatest person Death had ever had the pleasure to meet. He was by far Death's most favorite human and soul and that was saying a lot. Death had the pleasure, or agony, of meeting many humans and souls.

Whenever the burden of his duties became too much, Death would float to the side of his greatest friend. Death would remove the hood he was so commonly associated with, and smile. Another puzzling thing to consider is that Death wasn't boney underneath his garments. No, he had long developed a human body. Death had long black hair that he kept swept back, sapphire eyes, and a beauty mark under his left eye. He was very handsome. If one looked close enough, they could see the resemblance between Death and the soul of the chained young man.

Lastly, just one more thing to consider, Death wasn't his only name, neglecting the many humanity had bestowed upon him. No, he had another name that he referred to himself as in the presence of his most favorite soul.

"Hi Minato. It's me again, Ryoji Mochizuki."

Ryoji would speak for hours, partly because he wanted to ignore his duties, but mostly because he loved speaking to Minato. He loved being around him. Ryoji really just loved everything about Minato. The blue-haired young man simply possessed a certain feeling that made him feel protected internally and externally. Naturally, there was nothing that could hurt Ryoji externally but, internally, he was quite vulnerable. Around Minato though, his interior vulnerabilities were safely sheltered and comforted. That wasn't to say that Minato couldn't be harsh from time to time. When the situation demanded it, the blue-haired boy could be quite ruthless with his grievances. It was just that Minato really cared and caring unconditionally was truly a rarity for human beings when it came to strangers.

Of course, Ryoji was anything but a stranger to the blue-haired boy. At one point, it wouldn't be an understatement to say that the two of them were closer than conjoined twins. Maybe that was why Ryoji couldn't do without the young man's presence for a long duration of time.

It wasn't uncommon for beings of his nature to take a special interest in humans, human in his case, despite their obvious differences. Some deities went as far as to pursue romantic and intimate relations with the same human beings they looked down on. Those incidents were few in between but they did happen and the results were always interesting to say the least. Perhaps it wasn't so questioning.

By far, of all the creatures on earth, humans were the most complex, destructive, and captivating. Even though the majority were like livestock, foolishly following like the herd, there were a select few that could shake the foundations of the world of both consciousness and unconsciousness. The realms of man and god. Minato was one of them and by far Ryoji's favorite.

"The girls of this generation just keep getting prettier and prettier," Ryoji said, lightly elbowing Minato's soul. "Since humans are living longer and making so many advances in science and health, people in developed worlds are dying less too. Heck, maybe that'll make my job easier. Now if only the entire world can follow suit and then...heck I might be out of a job."

On this particular day, Ryoji was especially in need of someone to talk to. Thankfully, Minato was always available. A young girl of roughly seven years, human age determination was so confusing to Ryoji, had died in a vehicle accident. The parents had survived and there weren't any other fatalities but the event had left a heavy weight on the Ryoji's mind. The girl's soul, in actuality as light as feather, felt like bricks. He could still hear the parent's desperate wails as he carried their daughter's soul away. The loss of life was always a tragedy but the death of children was especially painful to bear.

It didn't help that vehicles were involved. Minato's parents had died and burned in a vehicle. It was before Ryoji was a person and was nothing more than the entity, Death. On that fateful day, Ryoji didn't take the souls of Minato's parents away. They found their own way to the sea of unconsciousness. Instead, Ryoji was sealed away inside of Minato, and the events that followed were something even the most prophetic entities couldn't predict.

Ryoji kept the event about the little girl to himself. To Minato, he discussed more pleasant and worldly matters, while actively ignoring the growing number of souls awaiting his arrival. He continued his banter until he felt something different. A soul, no, a living human being had somehow found himself in the sea of unconsciousness and, in turn, found the pair of golden doors. Cloaking himself, Ryoji hid behind the doors. He watched the human in quiet fascination. And when the domain shook and the monstrosity that was humanity's grief and negative emotion appeared, Ryoji erased his presence completely.

Physically, the monstrosity could do no harm to Ryoji. Mentally, the desires it was composed of could taint Ryoji, forcing him to lash out in an indiscriminate slaughter against humans of the world. The end result would be hundreds, maybe even thousands, of untimely deaths. Such was the power of humanity's will, and what was Ryoji than a slave to that will.

So, Ryoji hid and passively observed the impossibility unfolding before him. He watched the human who had no business in the collective unconsciousness, and he watched the monstrosity itself. The events unfolded like the beginnings of a tragedy, and Ryoji had witnessed enough tragedies over the course of his existence; he was usually a main character. The poor man was squeezed to death in the monster's tar-like hand.

In a horrific display, the creature absorbed the man's soul and all of its essence. Ryoji held his breath. He could no longer feel the man's presence anywhere, and it pained him to imagine where his consciousness might have disappeared to. Delivering souls to their next destination was the entirety of Ryoji's existence and right before his eyes he had failed. Ryoji wasn't allowed much time to grieve or despair though. The creature began to wildly thrash about and roar inhumanly.

Right before his eyes, the creature underwent a drastic transformation. Two additional tar-like limbs formed from its sides, and its eyes changed to a gentle blue. Like a malformed spider, it cantered to the golden doors and Minato. As Ryoji watched the events unfold in front of him, anxiety boomed in his gut. He repeated quiet reassurances, knowing that despite its sudden change, the creature was powerless against the pair of golden doors and the soul acting as its seal.

Ryoji couldn't be more wrong. The creature touched Minato and the vines holding him in place came undone. A lone figure fell from the doors, and Ryoji despaired.

He flew to Minato's soul and guided it to the foot of the doors. A manifested soul took the appearance of the flames from a lighter. That was the only part of death and the soul that mankind had depicted right. The brightness and color of the flame represented the caliber of the soul and for Minato, his soul was too bright to see clearly and transitioned between blue and grey.

There was so much to do and so much to say, but Ryoji had no idea where to begin. In a matter of minutes, humanity had been doomed. Even worse, his friend's soul was beginning to fade, dissolving into the starlit domain around it. Once the transition was complete, Minato's soul would forever be out of his reach, disappearing somewhere beyond his understanding. Ryoji wailed at the unfairness of it all.

Shielding Minato's soul, the pitiful being that was Death cried a hopeless plea to anyone who would listen. In his desperation, he recited the names of every entity that he had ever encountered. It was a foolish notion. As the reaper of human souls, he was seen as some unpleasant vermin in the eyes of the divine community, because every deity, no matter their origins has had an interest in a human being at one point. And at one point that human died and Death was there to take them away regardless of the pleas and cries against it.

No one would help Death. Heck, he imagined that if some deity did appear, they would happily take a front row seat and watch him in his frenzied panic not bothering to spare a glance at the soul belonging to the best human in the world. Ryoji knew this but still he cradled his best friend's soul like it was a child and silently prayed for a miracle of some sorts.

His prayers were answered in the form of an angel, materializing from thin air in a flash of blue. The angel was as pale as him, with golden eyes, and attired in a blue elevator uniform. Secured in her hands was a thick brown book, laced in leather.

"Hello world, Elizabeth has arrived," said the resident from the Velvet Room. Elizabeth wasted no time twirling around and taking in everything going on around her. When her eyes landed on Ryoji and the soul in his arms, her mouth opened slightly.

"Is that…"

A thunderous roar from the creature silenced her. Elizabeth turned with a scowl then smiled at the embodiment of grief and negativity. "Oh, doggie…my, you have undergone such a transformation."

The monstrosity roared once again and ready itself to charge. Elizabeth's smile widened.

"To think that human fortune teller would be right when she said my dreams would be actualized by a monster. She might be more reliable than my Master Igor. I must thank her whenever we next meet. What was her name? Chihca…. Chiho…. perhaps Chihaya? Regardless –"

Erebus leaped in the air, intending to flatten the resident. Elizabeth's laughter carried itself throughout the domain as she danced around in random directions. Ryoji, in the meantime, used the entirety of his cloak to protect Minato and himself.

"My, it seems that your power output has increased immensely since our last encounter," Elizabeth said.

The creature roared and pillars of fire shot out underneath Elizabeth. Like a skilled ballerina, she evaded with grace.

"Hmm, you might prove be a challenge now. Well, I, Elizabeth, happily accept this trial of endurance. Please try to keep up."

The book in her hands flew open. Elizabeth smiled wickedly. "Trumpeter, Debilitate!"

Three spheres of varying colors faded into the monstrosity, visually weakening it. This served to only anger it further as the creature bellowed and a bolt of electricity fell down and struck the resident. A cloud of smoke veiled the area. For a moment, Ryoji felt fear for the resident's life until he heard quiet snickering to the center of smoke. The smoke soon dispersed, revealing the resident without as much as a hair out of place. Her persona overhead was visually unaffected as well.

"Come now…" Elizabeth said in a chastising tone. "Everyone knows that Trumpeter is immune to electricity."

The creature roared, summoning numerous chucks of ice. In retaliation, Elizabeth evoked another persona while evading the creature's latest assault.

"Metatron, Heat raiser!"

Three pillars of light of different colors washed over the resident, greatly amplifying her already otherworldly abilities. Once more a pillar of flames erupted underneath her feet but when it made contact with her, the flames were reflected and crashed into Erebus. The creature momentarily staggered then steadied itself with its four hands. Releasing another inhuman roar, the creature bowed both of its heads as a sphere of concentrated darkness began to swell above it.

Instinctually, Ryoji tensed and gripped his cloak tighter around himself. As he did, he spared a glance at Minato's soul and felt his spirts plummet. Minato's soul, originally his height, roughly reached his shoulders now. He was running out of time.

Quite a distance away, Elizabeth was staring at the monster's pending attack with an expression that one could only describe as amusement. "What an astounding show of power," she mused. "I fear even I wouldn't be able to withstand such a blow without ruffling my feathers."

Worryingly, she touched the tips of her hair. "Also, if I continue to damage my hair I will be, what did the lady at the salon say, unappealing? That is unacceptable!"

As if sensing her determination, the book in Elizabeth's hand flew open then stopped on a particular page. "Alice, mind charge!"

A wave of power washed over the resident's petite form, and, if possible, doubled her current strength. Across from her, Erebus was done accumulating power for its next attack and rose to the met the resident's challenge. The sphere over the monstrosity's head was growing more unstable by the second, vibrating in place.

As always, Elizabeth smiled. The book in her hands wisped through pages until stopping on the one she most desired. "Thanatos," she said. "Megidolaon."

Before the creature could release its dark embrace, three snow white orbs formed in the air. The three orbs circled around each other once then twice until fusing together and crashing down on the embodiment of grief and negativity like the hammer of god. Ryoji couldn't have done better if he tried. In the human world, the aftermath of such a conflict would have been the annihilation of a neighborhood or two. Here, in the collective unconsciousness, where nothing was technically physical, the end result was a stadiums worth of smoke. Oh, and the complete and utter decimation of Erebus.

Ryoji didn't realize that Elizabeth was standing in front of him until she, quite roughly, yanked his cloak off. How she managed to detect him while was he was concealing his presence was matter for another time. Hurriedly, he fell to his knees and begged.

"Please, please, please, help him!"

Behind Ryoji was Minato's soul, now the size and length of his forearm. If there was any indication that Elizabeth heard Ryoji, she didn't show it. Instead, she just looked longingly, intimately at the ghost of her lover and master. Something within buzzed and wreaked havoc in her chest. It was the same feeling she felt whenever she visited Minato when he was bound to the golden doors only much, much stronger.

"H-he needs a vessel," Ryoji hastily explained to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth snapped out of her stupor. "A vessel you say?"

"Yes, yes but he needs it now! Or else…or else!" Damn these human emotions, Ryoji thought. The severity of situation was enough for his legs to buckle and tears and snot to run freely from his face. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was more composed.

"A vessel…yes," she sighed. If only her Master Igor was here. He could simply craft an empty doll as a vessel. Alas, extracting him from the Velvet Room would take too much time. "A worthy vessel," Elizabeth mused.

She looked down at herself but then immediately disregarded the idea. Despite her affection for the young man, she knew her love could not bridge the huge gap of compatibility between them. No, what she needed was a vessel that she could shove her lover's soul into without failure.

"W-what should we do?" Ryoji panicked as Minato's soul shrunk once again. Elizabeth snapped her head in his direction so quickly that he flinched.

"Of course," she said. "Oh, my sister would chastise me for not having considered this sooner."

"W-what? Did you figure something out?"

Elizabeth silenced him with a wave of her hand then glanced at the pair of golden doors. By January next year, the manifestation of grief and negativity would reform. Without intervention, now that there was no seal, Nyx would be summoned and humanity as a whole would die. It was not something Elizabeth could allow to happen, but without another guest acting as a replacement seal, death would eventually reign. Elizabeth sighed. A problem for another time, she decided. For now, she turned to Death and smiled at him cryptically.

"Mr. Death," she said. "I have a solution in mind, but it will require your exclusive assistance."

"Call me Ryoji," Ryoji said. "And I'll do anything. Anything at all if you can help him."

Elizabeth's smile widened, revealing teeth.