Hello, and welcome to the world of Persona 3: Forever Bonds. I wanted to write a story that features both the male and female protagonist, but I didn't want to just copy the Nyx story. So instead, I made my own original plotline. This story takes place in the world of Persona 3 and 4. The members of S.E.E.S. will remain the same, and just about all of the original characters will appear. And of course, because it's a new story, it'll also have new characters (about 25). Oh, and one more thing. I've decided to give my story opening and ending songs. The opening is Wildfang by Janne Da Arc and the ending is Aoi Sora by Aqua Timez.

Note: Bold- Electronic Voices

Italics- Character's thoughts

Last names go first, like in Japan

Now, without further ado, let's get to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Start of a new Journey

- Monday, April 6, 2009 -

"Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. We will soon be arriving at Iwatodai Station."

The announcement echoed loudly over the PA system on the train.

Hearing the announcement, a young girl got up from her seat. She had long auburn hair which was kept in a single ponytail, along with barrettes which formed the roman numeral XXII. Her eyes were an unusual crimson red. She was wearing a red scarf, a light orange sweater, a red checker skirt, black leggings, and red boots. She also had an MP3 player hung around her neck. As she turned down the volume, she looked at the boy who was peacefully sleeping next to her.

He had dark blue hair with long bangs which completely covered his right eye. His visible eye was of a greyish-blue color, with the pupil hardly visible. He was wearing a light grey double-breasted jacket, dark pants, a khaki turtleneck sweater and blue boots. Just like the girl, he had an MP3 player hung around his neck.

As the train slowly approached the station, the girl started shaking the boy, trying to wake him up.

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! C'mon, wake up, Minato Onii-chan!"

"Mmm? Augh? Wha?" the boy, now identified as Minato, groaned as he opened his eyes to find himself face to face with the smiling girl.

"Good morning!" the girl cheerfully greeted the now half-awake Minato.

"Good night!" he sleepily answered, turning away from the girl.

"Onii-chan, wake up already! We're almost there!" the girl said while shaking him again.

"I need more sleep." Minato responded yawning.

"If you don't get up, I'll tell Naoto that you're goofing of again." the girl smiled.

Hearing these words, Minato quickly sat up, a hint of dread in his eyes.

"Oh, no! Please, don't do that! I don't want to be lectured again! I'll get up, I promise." Minato sighed.

"Iwatodai. This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please take care to board before our departure." the PA system echoed on the train as it screeched to a halt. The doors opened wide, ready to let the passengers out.

"Alright!" Minato said while yawning again. "Let's go, Hamuko!"

"Yeah!" Hamuko happily nodded.

The two of them took their bags and quickly left the train, just before the doors closed.

The moment they left the train, a dark silence fell upon the two of them. After about three minutes of standing in one place, they reluctantly put on their headphones and headed out of the station. Before they could leave, however, the electronics and the lights in the building suddenly cut off and the music from their headphones was silenced. The night sky, as well as the moon, assumed an eerie green color and small puddles of blood appeared all over the place.

"So, it's midnight already? Let's hurry! It was safe at home, but we don't know what may be lurking around here!" Minato told Hamuko.

"Right!" Hamuko responded. " Where do we have to go again?"

"Iwatodai Dorm. You know, the Old Dorm." Minato answered.

And with that, the two left the station.

As expected, the streets were no less creepy than the station. The streets were literally overflowing with blood, and the sickly green moon illuminated the sky. It was like a scene from a horror movie. The scariest though, were probably the dozens and dozens of black, blood covered coffins that appeared all over the place. " As creepy as ever, I see." Minato remarked.

"You're right. Even after seeing it hundreds of times already, it's still shocking. Probably... probably because of what happened back then." Hamuko frowned.

"Let's not talk about that now." said Minato. " We're almost there."

Surely enough, after another five minutes of walking, they finally arrived at their destination. "So, this is the Old Dorm now." Minato said.

"Looks pretty cool!" Hamuko smiled happily.

"Yeah! But let's hurry! I want to finally get some sleep!" Minato started complaining.

"What? You've already slept six hours on the plane and one hour on the train! Don't tell me you're still tired!" Hamuko stated, slightly annoyed.

"I need at least thirteen hours of sleep a day to be active." Minato answered, clearly amused.

The two kept arguing as they entered the dorm. Upon entering, they couldn't help but look around a little. They were surprised to see that the place was just like a hotels lobby. There was a table, chairs, several comfortable looking couches, and a T.V. There was even a counter, which probably served as the check-in desk. Beyond the lobby was the kitchen area. To the left of the kitchen were the restrooms and the stairs. " Wow! They really did a good job renovating the Old Dorm, didn't they!" said Hamuko. "And to think this place was considered a danger zone now ten years ago!"

"It was probably a lot of work, but I think it was worth it." Minato answered. " What should we do now? Even if anybody was awake, they probably turned into a Coffin."

"I guess we'll just have to wait here until it's over then." Hamuko sighed.

The two removed their headphones from their ears and were about to explore their surroundings, when a creepy voice suddenly called out to them.

"You're late." the voice said. Minato turned around to see that a strange young boy in prison wear-like clothes was at the counter. The boy was really creepy and was giving off a vibe of mystery and dread. "I've been waiting a long time."

'Waiting? Is this creepy little boy supposed to be our welcoming committee?' Minato thought. 'More importantly though, how come he didn't turn into a Coffin?'

"If you want to proceed..." the boy continued, handing a piece of paper to Minato "Then please sign here. It's a contract."

"A contract?" Minato asked, slightly unnerved.

"There's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions." the boy assured Minato.

'A contract? A dorm contract maybe?' Minato asked himself.

"Alright." Minato said, taking the quill pen from the counter in his hand. He quickly signed the name 'Arisato Minato' on the line. "Does my sister have to sign it too, or is my signature enough?"

"Don't worry, yours will suffice." the boy smiled. "At least, for now." With that the boy took the paper from the counter and slowly walked backwards into the shadows. "Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing won't make it go away." he said, taking one step back at a time. "And so it begins..." the boy uttered, finally fading into the darkness.

'Okay...that was creepy.' Minato thought.

"Onii-chan! Wake up!" his sister yelled while shaking him. "C'mon, snap out of it!"

"What? What's the matter?" Minato asked confused. "Hey, stop shaking me already! I'm awake!"

Hamuko slowly let go of him. "What happened?" she asked, still worrying for her brother. "You suddenly started talking to yourself about contracts and signatures."

'What? Talking to myself? Does that mean she didn't see or hear the boy? What the hell is going on here?' Minato worried. "I was...uh...dreaming!" he said laughing. "I...uh...probably fell asleep and started acting all crazy again!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hamuko asked skeptically.

"Yeah, of course!" Minato assured her. "You know how I am when sleepwalking! Remember last year when I broke into the neighbors house and stole all their sweets?"

They both started laughing at this, recalling the hilarious events of that night.

"...Who's there!" a voice suddenly shouted out, startling the siblings. They quickly looked around and sure enough, they found the owner of the voice: a young girl standing near the stairs. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a pink sweater with a red bow, a black skirt and brown loafers. She also wore black knee-highs and had a choker around her neck. On her left arm was a red armband with the initials 'S.E.E.S.' on it. She had a gun holster on her right thigh with a silver gun inside. The girl quickly drew her gun and took aim. Minato instinctively stepped in front of Hamuko, trying to keep her out of harms way.

"Are you one of them?" the girl asked the twins in a scared voice.

Luckily, before she could pull the trigger, yet another voice shouted out:

"Wait!"

The gun-wielding girl turned around to see another young woman descending the stairs. She had violet eyes and long dark red hair which partly covered her left eye. She was wearing a white blouse with a red ribbon, a long black skirt and black knee-high heeled boots. Just like the other girl, she had a 'S.E.E.S.' armband on her left arm. As soon as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, the eerie green light slowly faded away and the power cut back on. The siblings turned off their MP3 players which were working again. The brunette smiled in relief and put her gun away while the other girl approached them.

"I didn't think you two would arrive so late. My name is Kirijo Mitsuru. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." she introduced herself.

"...Who're they?" the brunette asked Mitsuru.

"They're transfer students and fraternal twins. It was a last minute decision to assign them here. They'll eventually be moved to the right dorms." Mitsuru answered.

"...Is it okay for them to be here?" the brunette asked.

"I guess we'll see..." Mitsuru said. "This is Takeba Yukari. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you two."

"Hi, I'm Yukari." the girl shyly introduced herself.

Hamuko quickly looked at her brother, as if asking him how they should react. The older brother just nodded once, before turning back to the two girls."

"Hi, I'm Arisato Minato. It's nice to meet you." Minato greeted.

"And I'm Arisato Hamuko, but you can just call me Hamuko. It's very nice to meet you two! I hope we can be friends!" Hamuko smiled.

"Um...yeah. It's nice to meet the two of you, too." Yukari said, slightly embarrassed. "Mitsuru-senpai, it's getting late. We should show them to their rooms so they could get some rest."

"You're right, Takeba. All right!Arisato's room is on the second floor and Hamuko-san's room is on the third floor. Your things should already be there." Mitsuru explained.

"Oh...I'll show Minato-san the way." Yukari said.

"Okay, then I'll take Hamuko-san to her room." Mitsuru replied. "Good night, Arisato and Takeba."

"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow! Good night, Yukari-san! Good night, Onii-chan!" Hamuko waved as the two girls went upstairs.

"Yeah. Night." Minato waved back.

"C'mon, let's go." Yukari said to Minato. She took him up to the second floor and then led him to the end of the hallway.

"This is it..." Yukari announced. "Pretty easy to remember, since it's at the end of the hall. Oh, and here's your key. Make sure you don't lose it, or you'll never hear the end of it." she warned Minato while giving him the key. "So, any questions?"

'Hmm... Time to gather some info.' Minato thought to himself. 'There are a couple of things I still don't get. Like that boy and that contract.'

"Yeah, two." Minato answered. "First of all, I'd like to know if I'll have to sign a dorm contract or something like that?

"A contract? No, I don't think so. At least, I didn't need to sign anything." Yukari said.

"I see. My other question: How many students are staying at the dorm right now?" Minato asked.

"Well, let's see. There's you and your sister, me, Mitsuru-senpai and then there's one more senior. That would make five of us." she answered.

'So, according to Yukari-san, there are no prison escapee children staying at the dorm who make people sign weird contracts. But then who, or what, was that kid?' Minato pondered.

"Okay. Thanks." said Minato.

"Sure, no problem." Yukari smiled. "Um... Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay? Did anything weird happen?"

"That depends. What do you mean by weird? " Minato answered.

"You know what I..." Yukari started but quickly caught herself. "Never mind. It seems like you're alright. Well, I'd better get going. Good night. Oh, and I'm sure you still have some questions, but let's leave them for some other time, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. See you tomorrow." Minato responded.

Minato opened his door and walked inside his room. His new room was nice and fairly simple. It had a small closet, some bookshelves, a table with a chair, a sink and a mirror, a mini refrigerator, a stand with a T.V., and, of course, Minato's favorite type of furniture: a large and comfortable bed. He quickly threw himself on the bed, not even paying attention to the many boxes waiting to be unpacked.

"Ah, yes! Bed!" Minato exclaimed. "I'm going to sleep really well tonight! After all that craziness, I'm really tired!" He happily rolled all over his bed, then looked around his new room. "So, this is my new home, huh? It's really nice." he remarked. "I wonder how much the city has changed since we were last here? It's been ten years already since...that day."

Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Minato got up from bed and answered the door. It was Hamuko, a stern expression on her face.

"I'm here." she said.

"Yeah." Minato answered stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Hamuko asked curiously.

"Just a short briefing." said Minato. "We were right. There's definitely something going on in this city. Let's see what we've got: Now twenty years ago, a lot of people disappeared without a trace, and were never seen again. Then, ten years ago, a large-scale experiment goes out of control and the laboratory was destroyed. It happened the same day we had that car accident, and Mom and Dad went missing. Also, ever since that day, the world changes when the clock hits midnight. And then, there's what we've witnessed today. Yukari and Mitsuru didn't turn into Coffins. Furthermore, Yukari had a gun, and seemed more then ready to use it, as if she were afraid of something. Something other than us, I mean. There's definitely a connection between all these, but I don't know what it is yet."

"Don't worry, Onii-chan. We'll figure things out." Hamuko comforted her brother.

"Yeah. We're lucky we ended up in this dorm. It's obvious that the girls are hiding something. All we have to do is play along for now." Minato stated.

"Okay." Hamuko agreed. "Well, then! It's about time we go to bed! We've got school tomorrow."

"Yeah. Good night. See you tomorrow." Minato waved and entered his room.

"Good night!" Hamuko waved back and took off toward her room with a smile on her face.

Back in his room, Minato didn't even mind to change his clothes. He turned off the lights and collapsed on his bed, ready to sleep.

'Heh. Things are going pretty well. At the very least, we've found some leads we can follow.' Minato thought. He then took something out of his pocket and held it up in front of him. It was a ring, with a large crimson red gemstone decorating it. "Mom. Dad. We'll find out what happened. I promise." Saying these final words, Minato fell asleep, looking forward to the next day.

Meanwhile...

- Monday, April 6, 2009 -

- Iwatodai Maximum Security Prison -

-23:55 PM-

As the moon finally came out from behind the clouds and shined its light through the barred window of a cell, the cells sole inmate got up from his bed and looked out towards the moon. As time passed and midnight approached, the prisoner couldn't help but smile. Sure enough, the moment the clock hit midnight, the world changed. The moon took on a sickly green color, and blood-like liquid started oozing out of the walls and the floor. After a short time, the captive heard a growling noise coming from behind him, along with the sound of his cells door opening.

"You're early." the man said in a cold voice, turning around. "It's been a while since I've last seen you." he continued, now looking at the weird monster that was before him. The creature resembled a black blob with no legs and two long arms, which seemed to end in claws. It had a white mask on its face, with a 0 engraved on its forehead. "Go tell the others I'll be back in a day or two." the man ordered. As the creature quickly left to carry out its assignment, the man took one more look at the moon. A sinister smile spread across his face and his unusual crimson red eyes started glowing, as if from excitement.

"And so it begins..." he finally uttered, and then left his cell.

Well, that's it for this chapter. I give my thanks to anyone who read it. Things might be a little slow and boring in the beginning, but I promise it'll get interesting soon enough. If you have any time, please comment. I'll try to finish the next chapter as soon as possible.