The first thing he'd noticed had been the velvet.

It took shape slowly at first. Rich, blue shades blending together to cut through the nothingness. Then, more colors appeared. Snowy whites; vibrant yellows. Groggily, he made a move to blink, certain that some part of him should have found what he was looking at unmistakable. Yet despite all instinct, he only managed to stare dumbfounded, too disoriented to determine who or what to place it to.

Then, without warning, it hit him.

"E-Elizabeth?"

Dazedly, he noted that his voice was shaky. Unnaturally so. He imagined it was due, in part, to the unnaturalness of the void he found himself in and the agony of his current migraine. Too many memories were coming back all at once. The fight with Nyx. The emergence of Erebus. The formation of the Seal.

Wait.

The Seal.

"Elizabeth… what did you–"

"Everything's alright Master Minato. You don't need to worry anymore."

The voice was as lighthearted as he remembered, and he paused, momentarily considering sinking back into the bliss of unconsciousness. Yet the yellowness of her eyes was too soft. Her smile, too sad. And, as his eyes sifted through his surroundings, he couldn't help but notice that the Seal that had restrained Erebus for so long had no soul left to bear.

"But… the seal–"

"Will remain intact so long as I'm here."

Her smile only grew more wistful with each passing word, and he stared, frozen with shock, as the elevator attendant's arms began to tremble slightly. Never in his life had he seen Elizabeth without her characteristic aloofness. And, while her tone remained resolute, he knew he was witnessing an absolute display of uncertainty. And it frightened him. Frightened him more than even–

"raaaAAaaAaAGH!"

–Erebus.

He tried his best to act quickly – or as quickly as his groggy state would allow. His Evoker still lay at his side, and he ventured to sit up past Elizabeth's looming frame to draw it–

–Only for a soft, plaintive hand to push him back down again.

"Elizabeth… what are you–"

"Don't push yourself, Minato." He paused, dumbstruck, even as a small part of him realized that it marked the first time his name had been said without its formal precedent. "We're running out of time as it is, and I need all my power to complete the exchange."

The peculiar choice of words wasn't lost to him, and he had a sinking feeling that Elizabeth was about to do something incredibly foolish. Then, not a second later, realization hit, and that feeling became an all-consuming debilitation.

"No… you can't–"

"I can, and I must, Minato."

She cocked her head to the side, gazing pensively at the broken barrier across from them. "Do you have any idea how long I searched for a way to free you from that? Countless years of study and research – all without the aid of the Velvet Room. And yet the solution was as simple as offering an equally steadfast soul as a substitute." Her chuckle was full of genuine mirth, then, and it pained him all the more to hear it. "Honestly, it was as if fate was mocking me and inviting me all at the same time!"

A myriad of protests bubbled to the tip of his tongue, just waiting to be given voice. It was he that was content with giving his life for a world that gave him so much. It was he that was at peace knowing that his friends would live their lives without worry. For her to shoulder the burden – the sacrifice – that was only his to bear, he almost felt the need to lash out in anguish.

But instead, he only had the strength to offer up a raspy plea.

"Please… why can't you just let yourself live on?"

He watched desperately, then, as her yellow orbs shifted back and forth from feelings of resolution to regret. Yet just as they began a complete transition, they reverted, and suddenly, it became clear that any other attempt at dissuasion would prove ultimately fruitless.

"No… It's far too late for that." The smile she sent his way was less sad than it was pained. "I had quite a fine life, after all. A couple hundred years has been more than enough for me to feel genuinely alive." Her next words were quieter, yet they carried no less gravity. "Besides, I've always told you, didn't I? You deserve a second chance. Even if it's in a world different from the one you–"

"raAaAAaAggGHhHH!"

In an instant, the attendant whipped her head around, lips drawn into a thin line.

"Ah… So he's nearly here, isn't he?"

He watched helplessly as Elizabeth rose to her feet unwavering, Persona Compendium appearing instantly at her side.

"Well then… I imagine that this will be our last meeting together, Minato." The smile she offered was bitterly genuine, and he nearly didn't realize that it marked the first time he'd seen her cry. "For what it's worth… I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you for longer. I'm sorry I couldn't fix everything perfectly. But, as long as you live out the second chance you deserved, I know it'll all be worth it."

Slowly, Elizabeth turned her back to him – an action born not just out of necessity, but for the sake of maintaining composure. He'd tried to raise a hand to stop her – to save her from fate. But a jolt of pain stopped him. It was the headache.

The damn headache.

"Wait… Elizabeth."

He could see the faintest outline of Erebus now. The menacing form that had taken the whole of his soul to stop. But even as it made its presence known amongst the void, Elizabeth stood unshakable – her figure taking a slight glow of its own.

"Elizabeth…"

The pain of his voice was audible now, and black spots danced in his vision as the migraine continued to rear its head. Yet just before the agony rendered him unconscious, he made out the trace of reassuring smile as Elizabeth turned back to him one last time.

"Goodbye… Minato."

He awoke incredulously to velvet pillows, azure sheets, and the incessant ringing of an alarm clock.

A reasonable excuse to panic, given that he shouldn't have been alive, much less able to check into an upscale apartment of any sort.

Immediately, he began searching for her within the hour. Feverishly. Desperately. But the Velvet Room had kept its silence. He sought the whereabouts of SEES as well, but like Elizabeth, they too remained out of his grasp. It was almost as though they had never existed in the first place. With no traces of their presence – not even Mitsuru's conglomerate, the Kirijo Group – even remaining.

'You deserve a second chance. Even if it's in a world different from the one you–

–Know.'

Her last few words rang like an omen, and with them held a dangerous implication. Steadily, he came to recognize that the world he knew – the world that he had died to protect – had been lost. That his release from the seal – and his subsequent replacement – had been no mere construct from his nightmares. It had been a bitter pill to swallow; made only more so by causation. Few could offer better candidates than himself to shoulder the burden of Erebus. To make the same sacrifice that was defending the world by coming to terms with fate. No one – especially not Elizabeth – deserved to take on that responsibility. Much less offer him another chance at life.

A rational part of him still remained, however. One that knew that sullen brooding was unlike what the attendant had hoped for. And, to that end, he was able to hold off the worst of his darker thoughts. He would call to him when he needed deliverance; shattering his mind with the Evoker and waiting for the skulled helm to bow in deference. And, when he wasn't enough, others would come to his aid. Drawn by the strength of his Arcana, they would offer their support, wisdom, and guidance. Reminding him of what he was – what he had been – before it all.

But, ultimately, even they were limited in number.

The signs themselves had crept up on him slowly. Perhaps three to four months into his arrival. Money and other materials, at the time, had still been nothing of a problem. The apartment he had arisen in had contained all the necessary comforts – courtesy, he imagined, of the magics Elizabeth possessed. It had been boredom – in all of its aimless glory – that had been the different story.

Initially, he had surmised that Elizabeth had some task she needed him to perform. Some mission in which he needed to partake. Yet several months in, and what he'd found instead were a slew of part-time jobs; occupations taken up for the sake keeping his thoughts off the past life he led. It was a delicate balancing act. One that juggled his sanity between lines of distraction and past demons. It was only natural that he would slip up eventually.

And, nearly six months after he was revived, he did.

The change had been abrupt. Nearly instantaneous. One moment, a cup of tea had been gently poured, ready to be fitted to his lips; the next, a crash of china and a clenched fist yielded the first traces of blood he'd seen in weeks. To say he had been shocked would have been an understatement. For someone who prided himself for his apathy, such an occurrence should have been nigh impossible.

But his hands were shaking. His legs were trembling. And a single tear had slid down his eye.

"Elizabeth…"

You idiot.

Remarkably, he had never been to church before.

The irony of not having done so sooner wasn't lost to him; though, in his defense, he was slightly more self-assured in the past. Now, however, his emotions were wounded enough that it wouldn't hurt to humor some of the more heavenly attuned parts of his mind. Or so he reasoned.

It had taken a prolonged period of hesitation, nevertheless, before he finally grasped the door handle. Somehow, he'd found himself at a loss. Rationally, it should have been impossible. Being intimidated by a place of worship was almost laughable, given his past experiences. Yet here he was, shaken by the weight of a past that he never realized could be so heavy.

"Um… Excuse me. Would you be here to worship as well?"

The voice nearly caught him off guard, but he managed to turn around evenly enough. There, facing him with curious green eyes, lay a blonde girl of childlike stature. Clothed in nun's garbs and wrapped in a pure sort of innocence, she seemed to have much more of a reason to be here than he had. In fact, he told the imploring girl as much.

"Oh, nonsense." The girl giggled slightly, even as a smile lit up her face. "God's love shows no prejudice toward its recipients." Suddenly, the girl's features flickered with self-doubt, only to revert back just as quickly. "At least, that's what I believe."

He chose to remain respectfully silent, even as the girl gently nudged him aside to grasp the handle's entrance herself. Still, she remained unperturbed, and turned to cheerfully meet his gaze as the door swung open on its hinges.

"My name is Asia, by the way. Would you like to take a look around?"

His response, despite his reservations, lay in the affirmative, and he soon found himself making steps across the marble nave, taking in the neatly arranged pews on either side. Asia, for her part, hadn't seemed to catch onto his reluctance, electing instead to gaze wistfully at the mosaics and stained-glass windows along the walls.

"You know, despite how it looks, this church was actually abandoned until recently."

That caught him by surprise. Even though he'd never entered, the church had still been a frequent landmark that he'd passed on the way to work. Its appearance had been nothing but pristine in all the times he'd seen it. So, he argued in its defense.

"Pristine, hmm? Why thank you." She giggled again, and the sound rang sweetly like bells. "I actually did most of the renovations myself. After flying into Japan just a few months ago, I couldn't believe the condition of this place. The church should be a sanctuary, and here it was, lying around like a mere garbage dump!"

The passion in her voice was genuine, and he couldn't help but smile gently in appreciation. Then, Asia lifted her hand to her face in a display of bashful innocence, and that appreciation soon turned into mirthful amusement.

"I-I'm sorry. That was a bit brazen, wasn't it?"

He quickly replied in the contrary. He'd simply found her honest fervor one of the more refreshing things he'd felt in months.

"Ah, I see." She smiled, then. A brilliant smile full of childish understanding. "Well, in that case, thank you."

They engaged in spurts of small talk, soon after. Bits of conversation interlaced between periods of silence and respectful meditation. To his remarks, she'd grin and laugh, and on occasion, he'd nod or smile in return.

It was only an hour later that Asia's face adopted an expression of pure embarrassment.

"Oh my! I almost forgot! You had a reason to be here other than talking to me, didn't you?"

He did. But the conversation they had shared had been enough to appease his conscience for one day. As for tomorrow, and the weeks after that, however, he had no idea. But he didn't tell her that. Instead, he opted to remain silent, unsure of just how to proceed.

"You don't have to tell me, of course. Everyone has their own stories. Their own secrets. I have some of my own as well."

He stared mutely, genuinely impressed by how quickly the girl had taken his silence in stride.

"But if there ever comes a time when you want to talk, I'll be here to listen." Asia's voice dropped to a whisper, and her brow furrowed in concentration. "Sometimes, the best thing you can do is face your problems while not alone."

The words struck him to the core, and a small part of him wondered just how much there was about Asia that he didn't know. But in the same instant, Asia's voice, as well as her demeanor, turned back to its jubilant self, and he tucked those thoughts away to the side.

"Thank you, for that."

The girl's smile was gentle but sympathetic, and for a moment, he was reminded of one of Elizabeth's own expressions.

"No problem. Come back any time, okay?"

He didn't, though. Not for a while, at least.

Elizabeth's money had run low on supply in the following weeks, and part-time jobs soon became full-time to meet his needs. But, after a month of reprieve, he gathered the courage to come back to the same church. The church where he marveled at stainless walls. Where he took in manicured gardens.

Where he managed to meet her.

He only got as far as the door handle, however, before he heard the sounds. Initially, he'd pinned it to imagination. A church, he reasoned, would've hardly be the place for such a thing, if his suspicions were to be believed. But then he heard them again. And again. And again.

The unmistakable sounds of struggle.

He lay frozen for a moment. Two. And only snapped from his stupor when a piercing cry of pain was heard from within.

Grimacing, he jerked the door open. And after a quiet glance of his surroundings, his impressions were proven correct.

An all too unfortunate chaos lay before him. Formerly arranged wooden pews lay scattered across the nave. Toppled religious sacraments found themselves littered along the antechamber. Yet what truly caught his eye was the scene at the altar.

Asia, garbed in the robes of a priestess, chained to a crucifix in helpless surrender.

And four figures, unidentified by their black robes and turned backs, yet no doubt responsible for her condition.

He took another, almost vengeful step into the chamber. This time, it did not go unnoticed.

"I-Issei? Is that–" The girl's whisper cut off as she stared at him in disbelief. "No, it can't be… It's you?"

Her voice must have carried in volume, for the other four, too, jerked around in apparent shock. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, they only smiled crudely once they met his eyes.

"A human, hmm? I must say, we were expecting someone else, but this happenstance is equally delightful."

The three stepped back in disinterest once the fourth raised her voice. A bearded man lounged against the altar's walls, arms across his chest. A blonde girl, seemingly no more than eleven, took a seat playfully on one of the upturned pews. A brunette woman, expression set in boredom, draped her arms over a chair.

Of course, he knew what they were. The black wings. The tainted auras. They gave everything away.

But it still didn't stop the speaker, with a smile as wide as it was perverse, from catching him by surprise.

"You can die as well."

The light had manifested in her hand so suddenly, so quickly, that even his heightened alertness had trouble following the impending strike. But he dodged the projected spear nonetheless, rolling swiftly to the side while grunting slightly at the exertion.

"My, my. Not bad."

The compliment hardly invited reprieve, and he was met with two more weaponized constructs, pointed squarely at his person. He managed to shrug off one – the spear having been released sloppily and with contempt – but the second had more focus. More precision to its trajectory.

His shoulder certainly paid the price for it.

"Stop it Raynare!" Asia gasped, even as her bounds held her in place. "He's just an ordinary human! He's not involved with me, with Issei, or with any of this!

He would have been inclined to agree with the comment, if the searing pain across his arm had held any weight in his decision making. But, of course, he knew Asia. He knew of the supernatural. And while the name Issei held little weight for him, he was hardly one to reject those in need. So, he resolved to remain defiant.

"Oh? You're implying that I should care?" The woman's face stretched into a leer. "Very well. Then let me offer you a piece of advice, human." Spiked heels clicked across marble as Raynare grew closer. "Interfering with us. Trying to save her. It's all in quite bad taste. So, I'll offer you a deal."

He stood unwavering, even as Raynare's eyes grew within mere inches away from his own.

"Leave now. This girl – this sorry excuse for a priest – is no angel. No saint. She's not worth the time or trouble. So why don't you leave her to us, and forget all about what happened here?"

He dared a glance toward Asia and confirmed what he suspected. The fear. The shame. They were plastered all over the young girl's face. He supposed, mutely, that this was what she meant by hiding secrets.

But, after another moment, he remembered that he also knew the Fallen. And – Raynare, was it? – certainly didn't appear to be the type that had her heart aligned with honest intention.

"No."

He watched as Asia's face broke out in disbelief, and as Raynare jumped back and snarled with a ferocious intensity.

"So be it."

The assault was renewed, and he hissed again as another spear grazed his cheek. Finding cover now, he realized, was an absolute necessity. But a suitable candidate? Pews had no stopping power against projections. Nor did the chunks of marble that had fallen during combat. Realistically, the only thing left was something entirely more soulful in nature.

The childish blonde was closest, and he ran behind her person even as the volley of spears gained its ground. For a second, the girl's eyes were graced with bewilderment, even as he stopped catch his breath. But, not a moment later, the spear hit its mark, and he saw Raynare wince in aversion as her compatriot lit up with fury.

"Ow, ow, ow! Watch where you're aiming, Raynare!"

"I-it's not like I meant to hit you, Mittelt!"

Mittelt. Yet another piece of information that had proven superfluous. He sported another glance at the battered girl still lying confined to his left. It appeared that her verdant eyes were glittering with an appreciation and hope that defied all danger.

"T-thank you. Thank you for–"

The grateful words were silenced by a spiked heel and a swift kick, and he watched helplessly as the girl coughed blood and nearly grew still.

"Arghhh! That's. Enough!"

The two unmolested observers rose quietly then, zeroing in coldly at the blue of his eyes. Mittelt, too, gave him the whole of her gaze, even as Raynare rose high on feathered wings.

"It appears my thrill for a good chase let you run free for too long, boy." Suddenly, the coldness of her demeanor opened up to reveal a sadistic smile. "Good thing I can still play with a mouse that doesn't have the strength to flee."

Eight projections – two for each Fallen – manifested themselves then, each yielding a different variation of the same serrated spear. Curiously, he noted that three of his attackers maintained the slightest degree of sympathy for his circumstance. But, unfortunately, sympathy had never been the best of help when it came to evasion.

Still, he managed to dodge four of them. One aimed at his head, two for his chest, and another at his hip. The others, however, hit their mark. An ankle, a thigh, a bicep, and the same damn shoulder. He would have cursed his luck if his vision hadn't been swimming in agony.

"Ah, yes. Now this is how it should be." Slowly, Raynare descended from her perch, hand reaching out to mockingly caress his cheek. "Lesser beings like you had no right to be crafted by Father. We are gods compared to you. Gods. Please, remember that when we judge you for your crime of existing."

He jerked his head promptly, and the Fallen nearly recoiled in surprise. He had been judged before. When he faced the decrepit, decayed form of Nyx, he'd been found sorely lacking. When he attempted to stay resilient in the face of Erebus, he'd nearly buckled under the pressure.

When he saw the pained smile of Elizabeth for the last time, he'd nearly screamed defiantly against the second chance that shouldn't have been his.

Frankly, he did not like being judged.

"Oh? So, you have some fight left in you." Raynare whispered, her smirk never leaving her face. "How perfect."

He felt another sudden stab of pain, and looked down at his stomach, where a new hole had been created. The hiss he made was more out of reflex than of agony.

"I guess that means that I have all the more time to break you."

The overwhelming numbness from his body told him that he was all that tethered him to consciousness. But, that was fine. Despite having not trained seriously for months, this was still no Tartarus. He had strength left to spare.

A hand reached out; pulling the spear from his left bicep with a sickening squelch. Aloofly, he watched as some of his assailants took an instinctive step back, while Raynare simply stood, appraising him in seeming approval. That, too, was fine. For far too long he'd been deprived of the feeling of adrenaline. And while a more rational part of him questioned just how and why the supernatural existed so freely in this world – especially without him having noticed for so long – his reservations were overshadowed by fervor. By passion.

By purpose.

"Yes, yes! Keep going!" Raynare's cackle reverberated about the chamber. "Show me man's tenacity. Their spirit. It'll be all the more amusing when I crush it under foot."

His response was of action, not of words, and he used his one free arm to deliver it. Around the back of his waistband he reached, fingers digging until they wrapped around a cool grip and comforting hold.

He pulled it out. The responses were varying mixes of contempt and incredulity. For his closest assailant, her purple eyes bled both.

"A gun? A gun?" The woman's lips curled ever higher. "You think a mere firearm could defeat me? A weapon of negligible proportions? Now you're just trying to make me laugh."

He looked up at her with all his focus, then. And a creature of otherworldly beauty – with the traces of God's craftsmanship still apparent – looked back at him, unaware of her current distortion.

He lifted the Evoker to the side of his head, and silently marveled at how comforting the barrel was to his skin.

"No, don't do it!" Asia barely managed to choke out the words, even as she struggled to resist her bonds. "Don't give up! You, who had the strength to believe in me, know that you aren't weak! I believe in–"

Whatever words of motivation she had were silenced by Mittelt, who smashed viciously into her side with another kick. He looked on with what was becoming dangerously close to rage before finally clamping down. Soon after, he realized he'd never given the girl his name.

"Now, now. Don't mind her." Raynare's gaze hadn't swayed at all, having remained immune to the commotion behind her. "If that's your end game, I invite you to do it. Try and kill yourself out of fear. Know that matching my power is an impossibility."

He continued staring defiantly, index finger grazing the trigger. He had the one he wanted in mind. They were Fallen. Beings that, while flawed, were no guiltier that humanity. All they needed was a righteous kind of Salvation. One that he had the faculty to provide.

"After all, it's all you humans can do. Dying without being able to protect a thing."

Or, at least that's what he'd felt before he heard those words.

In that moment, something inside him broke. Suddenly he was back, staring at the corrupted visage of Nyx, as he realized it was humanity that had encouraged its own destruction. Suddenly he was back, glaring wearily at the monstrous form of Erebus, as he lacked the means to truly dispel him.

Suddenly he was back, pleading with the selfless form of Elizabeth as she took on the sacrifice that was his to bear.

She was right. He hadn't been able to protect her, had he?

Slowly he watched as Raynare took it all in. His trembling fingers. His eyes flickering uncharacteristically in indecision. It was enough to make her lick her lips to savor each passing second, and he just nearly felt powerless to stop her.

"Now then, would you please die for me?"

But it was only just, though.

A new persona answered his call in his moment of weakness. An all too different manifestation of the soul that bred a much more sinister intent. But he paid the particulars little heed. By then, his gaze had hardened over; back to the characteristic steadiness it once had.

He pulled the trigger, and hesitation became nonexistent.

There was an instant sense of weightlessness when he felt it. The sudden splash of liquid chill entering his mind. He welcomed it. Invited it. And then turned the power bubbling for release into a tidal wave.

I am Thou, and Thou art I.

Her childish, almost fairy like voice rose from the nothingness, and a blue dress draped itself to the edges of her knees.

I am the revenant of fables. Insanity, born from the power of imagination.

Her bleached blonde locks burst into existence, and even Raynare – along with the rest – took a step back in trepidation.

From the Rabbit Hole, I come. From the Looking Glass, I see.

Tendrils of magic twisted around her ankles, while red eyes stared with seeming innocence at the crowd of attackers.

I am Alice of Wonder and Madness.

Slowly, ruby eyes turned to appraise him – his beaten and bloodied condition – only to whip around with more hardness than a child should have been capable of mustering.

And it appears that you have just injured Minato.

Without warning, three tendrils of darkness violently ripped out the spears that had kept him bound in place. Then, two more appeared, steadying his person as he readjusted to standing on his own two feet.

He noticed, for their part, that Raynare and her Fallen had become considerably more terrified.

Now then, would you please die for me?

Yet despite himself, he couldn't help but laugh slightly at her ironic choice of words.

Author's Note

It's hard, I believe, to compare anything to greatness. A Demon Among Devils has set the standard for all Persona and DxD crossover fics, and rightfully so. Its prose is brilliant. Its characters are masterfully crafted. Its plot is expertly designed.

But all the same, I believe that new ideas with Minato and the DxD Universe are still possible to cultivate.

I suppose, then, if I were to describe this fic, I would say that it answers a question. What if, instead of remaining completely apathetic and accepting of his surroundings, Minato acts… human? What if he remains vulnerable to the demons that had consumed his past self for so long, even after being transplanted to a crossover scenario such as this?

The possibilities, I believe, are more interesting than you might think.

Revised: 6/12/19