A/N- Sinclair here, randomly decided to write a Persona 3 fanfiction.

He had long grown used to the emptiness of the void around him, the lack of sound and of anything interesting to look at had long grown old. The only thing in this gigantic space was the gleaming golden door that he would make sure never opened, no matter how much it had cost him. He was the only thing preventing the stupidity of humanity from killing itself, no matter how sick of it he grew. It was a job only he could do, and would do, not for humanity; but for those few he had come to love and respect on his journey here.

He had been cold and apathetic at the beginning of said journey, letting the world rush by him as he kept his own world, safe behind his headphones. Junpei Iori, no matter how stupid or jealous he got, was the man he would always consider to be his best friend, because Junpei was the first person to go out of his way to crack open his outer shell. Mitsuru Kirijo, Yukari Takeba, and Akihiko Sanada all might have gone out of their way to befriend him, but that was only to try and get him to work with them during the dark hour. At first anyway.

Between trying to manage social links and work together with everyone in SEES, he was suddenly interacting in a world he had wanted no place in, and he was loving it. The world that his friends were living in was the one he would always protect, no matter how stupid the others in it were, because it was also his world.

He only wished had had more time in it now, having felt like he had wasted all the years in his life aside from his last one. Having had one last glance at his friends as they appeared in front of him, he knew that they would be okay without him.

The trashing they gave Erebus seemed to indicate that anyway.

A roar in the distance caught his attention, as he noticed the giant, mutilated hand of Erebus reach for him once again. Beginning to brace himself for the power struggle, he stopped when he noticed the small figure standing fearlessly before the giant beast.

A blue stewardess dress and hair that was a shade too disgustingly bright- Elizabeth, he realized.

He heard her demure voice over Erebus's roar, the beast clearly agitated for being challenged yet again,"Again you rise to try and break the seal, and again I shall utterly destroy you for trying to do so, Thanatos!" Elizabeth yelled, snapping open her compendium and summoning his persona. Thanatos came forth with a challenging roar, that same roar he remembered hearing on the rooftop, all those years ago.

Elizabeth raised her hand again and he blinked as all three of his guests disappeared, only to frown as he felt the sheer power of the spell used to destroy Erebus, it's energy rippling through the air even where he was.

She reappeared in front of him again, smiling in satisfaction as Thanatos let out a roar of victory.

Elizabeth turned to face him, her smile growing even broader as she approached the seal, closing the compendium with a snap, making Thanatos disappear mid-roar.

It's roar echoed around the silent void.

"Minato-sama, I do believe I have found a way to free you from the seal!" Elizabeth crowned, jumping into the air in excitement.

Minato himself let out a shocked gasp, having thought it impossible to be free of his duty.

"It may not work, so I do apologize if I got your hopes up for no reason," She continued, making Minato frown irritation at the woman, before he just shrugged and continued to watch her.

Elizabeth nodded to herself in self-confidence before flicking open the compendium again, "Norn!" She intoned this time, a blue aura spiking up around her.

As a giant clock surrounded by three goddesses appeared in front of the seal, Minato remembered Norn, the persona he had obtained for maximizing his social link with Keisuke.

"You see, Norn is responsible for weaving fates, and controlling destiny. Now then.. Norn, free Minato-sama from his fate of being the seal that prevents Nyx from destroying humanity!" Commanded Elizabeth, pointing the compendium toward the seal and looking as authoritative as Minato had ever seen her.

Norn floated still for a moment, before a green aura burst around it and the distinct sound of three women singing came forward. What Minato thought looked like an ethereal blue thread appeared before Norn, wiggling in front of Norn until it connected to the seal.

For an eternity, Minato held his breath.

'As we bring forth hope, we bring forth toil' The three women seemed to sing, as the thread attached to the seal went stiff. A red thread, seeming of almost an opposite color to his blue appeared next to his thread, wrapping around it.

'We alter fate, we cheat destiny. Be free from yours, and let those unknown to you bear it so' The three women sung yet again, as the two threads severed suddenly. The severed ends connected to opposite colors, with the red thread now connecting to the seal and the blue thread floating free.

Minato felt himself begin to float free, and darkness began to override his vision.

'Beware now, lest you become connected once more' The three women's voices sang before fading out.

While wondering exactly what the warning the three had given him meant, Minato heard Elizabeth call out ,"See you on the otherside, as I do believe they say, Minato-sama,"

And then everything went dark.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"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. The next stop is Iwatodai..."

Minato Arisato awoke with a startled gasp,blinking as the familiar sounds of 'Burn my Dread' registered on his ears. Gasping air down greedily, he realized he was back on a train, with his headphones on.

Barely able to register that Elizabeth's plan had worked, he gingerly took his headphones off, clicked his media player to check the time, then froze at what it said.

-4/06/09 11:45 pm-

Unable to comprehend this new information, Minato relaxed back into his seat and tried to figure out what was going on. Clearly Elizabeth's plan had worked and he had been freed from the seal, but he was sent back in time!? He almost wrote the idea off as ridiculous, but upon the thought that he summoned monsters from his head by shooting himself in the head with a fake gun, he figured anything could happen.

Upon further reflection, he realized that this was actually a great thing. He would be able to fix all of the mistakes he had made his first time around, like letting Shinji die. So wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't notice the finger aiming to poke him in his forehead until after it did.

Minato wasn't proud, but he jumped, badly.

Hearing the sound of a woman's laugh in front of him, he quickly trained his vision on the culprit in order to find out who had poked him, but stopped in surprise when he did.

A young woman with the reddest eyes stared back into his cobalt ones, and like him, she was wearing the Gekkoukan uniform.

Surprised that he was unable to remember her despite living through an entire year at said school, he couldn't help but stare at her in shock.

"You know, I thought you looked pretty sharp since you shared my taste in headphones, but I'm beginning to wonder if that's true," The auburn haired woman teased, a grin splitting her face at his dumbfounded look.

Snapping his thoughts back into place, Minato bit back ,"Sorry, wasn't expecting to be bothered the very moment I woke up from my deep sleep. Didn't know anyone so rude would be on the train."

Blushing a little, the girl frowned ,"You sure did sleep plenty! You were asleep so long I was beginning to think you were dead, so it was only friendly concern! Not rude!"

Minato snorted, "I was breathing, right?" he asked, enjoying the irritated look on her face.

"Well, maybe you got apathy syndrome or something! How would I know!" The girl practically shouted, causing a few other people to stare at them

Her declaration stopped Minato short, as he remembered all of the people he had seen fall victim to apathy syndrome. Unable to contain the bitter thoughts that came from such thoughts, he couldn't help but start to wonder if he would end up in the seal again, and if he really would be able to stop all of the bad things from happening again. As Minato wondered on again, he again did not notice the finger that was about to poke him in the forehead, again.

Minato jumped badly. Again.

"Goddamnit woman don't do that!" Minato yelled, unable to handle the surprise with the stress he had been feeling.

Instead of looking sorry, the girl only smirked, "You didn't even notice the train stop, did you?" She asked, gesturing to the open doors.

"I've got a lot on my mind is all," Said Minato, ignoring the girl and standing up, walking towards the doors. He couldn't help but groan a little as she started following him though.

"Oh, it shows," She replied, grinning as she danced past him, "Where are you heading now anyway?"

"Iwatodai Dorm, I'll be attending Gekkoukan, obviously," Minato answered blithely, trying to walk ahead of her.

"Iwatodai, huh? That's where I'm going!" She replied excitedly, getting to the exit before him and stopping, "Wow, the moon sure is big!"

"You're going to Iwatodai?" Minato asked, barely noticing the moon as he began to wonder what was going on.

"Yea! I'm an only child so-"

-12:00 am-

The auburn haired girl stopped and let out a shriek as the world around them changed. Humans all around them became coffins as the sky turned green, and the water all around changed into blood.

In the distance Minato could see Tartarus rise against the skyline, taking it's place as the tower of demise.

"C'mon, let's get to dorm." Said Minato suddenly, grabbing the girl by the arm and cutting her off mid-sentence.

"But, the coffins and the blood!" She protested suddenly, letting herself be dragged by him.

"What are you talking about?" Minato feigned confusion, not wanting anyone to know about his knowledge of the dark hour, especially someone he didn't know.

"I-" She started, before falling silent. He released her arm and she followed behind him silently, clicking her dead media player.

Intentionally going the long way to dorm, Minato stopped as it came into view,"There, Iwatodai dorm," He said, looking back at her for the first time.

She looked utterly confused.

"Let's go inside, right?" He asked, getting a nod out of her.

As he walked in he saw the 'contract' he had signed on the counter exactly where it was the first time, and froze, suddenly worried he might not be able to escape his destiny after all.

"Welcome." Came a young boy's voice, one Minato knew too well.

Pharos had appeared behind the counter, putting both arms on it next to the contract and pouting, "You're late. I've been waiting a long time"

"S-sorry, I didn't notice you there," Said the auburn, clearly having jumped badly at Pharos's sudden voice.

Minato narrowed his eyes.

"If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract. There's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions." Said Pharos, his pout becoming an eerie smile.

"I refuse," Said Minato calmly, knowing he didn't need to sign the contract this time around, already having his own powers and having no interest in becoming the seal a second time.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not for you, it's for her!" Crowned Pharos, freezing Minato's blood and thought process.

"Oh, where do I sign?" Asked the girl, clearly not noticing the dark atmosphere.

As the girl moved forward and signed her name on the contract, Minato helplessly looked on, and was shocked again.

Hamuko Arisato

And suddenly Minato realized why he no longer was bound to become the great seal.

Hamuko Arisato, not Minato Arisato, was now bound to become the great seal. With this realization came a terrible twisting feeling upon his heart- he had damned her with his freedom.

"...Very well. Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same
end. Wishing won't make it go away. And so it begins.." said Pharos, winking at Minato before fading away.

"Where'd he-" Began Hamuko, looking over the desk for Pharos before being cut off.

"Who's there!? How can you be... But it's...! Don't tell me..." Came a voice Minato instantly recognized as Yukari's.

"Is that a gun!" Asked Hamuko in shock, staring at Yukari's sudden appearance from the shadows in fear.

Minato was still too caught up in realization to care.

"Takeba, wait!" Came another voice Minato recognized as Mitsuru's.

At that moment the dark hour ended, light suddenly flickering back on in the dorm exposing everyone.

"I didn't think you two would arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." Said Mitsuru, pushing Yukari's evoker downwards in an obvious attempt to calm the girl down.

"And they are?" Asked Yukari, looking annoyed as she put the evoker back in it's holster.

"Transfer students. It was a last minute decision to move them in here. Surprisingly they both share the same surname, Arisato, but have no relation to each other, right?" Asked Mitsuru in, what was to Minato, an obvious attempt to move the conversation away from Yukari's evoker.

"Your last name it Arisato too?" Asked Hamuko excitedly, twisting the knife in his heart deeper.

"Minato Arisato," He answered, refusing to look her in the eyes as he ground the words out, "I'm tired, second floor, last door on the right, right?" Minato asked Yukari, confusing her as he already began to walk in the direction of the stairs.

Mitsuru came to Yukari's rescue, "Yes, last door on the right. Though I must ask how you know that, as these room assignments were rather last minute," Said Mitsuru, a hint of suspicion lacing her words.

Without acknowledging that he had heard her, Minato raised his left arm over his shoulder, "Goodnight," He said, heading up the stairs and out of sight.

As he walked down the darkened hallway towards his room, he was totally silent, not allowing himself to think.

As he walked into the room he knew so well, he moved his chair towards his mirror, climbed on top of it, and grabbed the small camera that was installed there. Without a thought he tossed it onto his desk before climbing down.

Now in total privacy, he slammed his right fist down onto the desk in anger.

Minato couldn't help but be happy he was free from the seal, but how was it fair for another person to be damned to take his place in it! It wasn't, and he knew that.

In the darkness of his room he swore then and there that he would do everything in his power to keep her safe, and to prevent her from becoming the seal.

No matter the cost.

A/N- So yea, took all of three hours to write this.

If I do more, I'll make the next chapters much bigger.

Anyway, leave a review if you'd like to see more