Author's note: … Well, hiya folks! I highly doubt that people read these blurbs, but for those who do (all one of you!), I might as well apologize for my totally unexpected absence. The first chapter has been changed (particularly regarding the Velvet Room scene) so that a certain tarot reading scene doesn't exist. It occurs to me that I probably shouldn't shove a reading in when I have no idea how to word them properly.

Oh, and I should probably re-iterate that this will contain *~SPOILERS~* for the 'True endings' of Persona 3 FES, P3P and Persona 4 only (considering the fact that a certain fighting game spin-off still hasn't reached this part of the world…) while probably following some events of the Zero no Tsukaima light novel series (they are likely to diverge as I have an atrocious memory). You have been warned.

5:45PM, March 20, 2012. On this particular afternoon, in the quiet town of Yasoinaba, a group of friends return from their adventure in a bizarre parallel world (found inside television sets, no less), each of them exhausted, but equally proud of their teammates and themselves for having Saved the World From Destruction. The friends are especially proud of the one they look up to as their leader: the oddly gray-haired Yu Narukami, who bravely faced off against the Shinto Goddess of Creation and Death… and won. For a brief moment, the entire world was at peace.

This is not his story.

Saito Hiraga is seventeen years of age and in his second year of high school.

Athletic ability: normal. Grades: average. Duration without a girlfriend: seventeen years. Overall: no positives or negatives. At the same time as Yu's return from the TV World, Saito is happily walking down a bustling street in Tokyo, Japan, clutching his prize: a repaired laptop computer. He is on his way home, where he thinks to himself that he can finally get a girlfriend with the help of the dating website he signed up to.

This is also not his story.

Instead, our story takes place somewhere at the ends of the world, where a golden door of gargantuan proportions stand. Chained to the centre of this door is our hero of this story: the young man who selflessly died for our sins and conquered Death itself, only to triumphantly return on the third day as foretold by the-

… Oh wait, wrong Messianic figure. Ahem.

This Messianic figure gave his life to prevent the meeting between the embodiment of the world's sorrow and the personification of death. It is believed that even the mere contact between the two entities would cause the destruction of the world.

It was during that aforementioned moment of peace caused by the Wild Card in Yasoinaba that two particular figures were able to change the fate of this young man-turned statue.

That statue's name… is Minato Arisato.

This is his story.

(Scene Break!)

When Minato had resolved to save the world from Nyx by becoming the Great Seal between destruction and humanity's desires for it, he expected his imprisonment to last for quite some time – perhaps a millennium or two, if not for eternity.

He did not expect it to only last for less than two years. Blue eyes met yellow as Minato stared at his savior in equal parts of awe and disbelief.

"Elizabeth… how…?"

The Velvet Room attendant smiled gently as she responded. "Your successor had enacted a miracle. Much like in your case, his bonds with his friends created a force powerful enough to overcome a Goddess of the Underworld. In that short moment of peace after the battle, I was able to replace your soul for another willing to take your place."

"Willing to take my… you don't mean…" Frantically, he turned his gaze towards where he once stood as the seal…

… Only to see a statue resembling his once friend-turned Harbinger of Death entwined with chains in the same manner as he once did. After a moment of silence, Elizabeth spoke. "It appears that your friend being sealed into you affected more than his outlook in humanity. His bond with your soul allowed him to possess the power necessary to act as the Great Seal."

Minato quietly muttered to himself in disbelief as he placed his palm on his face. "The 'Appriser of Nyx' is now acting as the seal to prevent Her arrival to Earth. This… this is ironic, isn't it?"

Elizabeth chuckled in response, before continuing on with her explanation. "There was a small price for this switch… one being the gift of ultimate power I had once given you for fulfilling my request." Upon checking his belongings, Minato noticed that Elizabeth was correct – the Omnipotent Orb, once warm and faintly glowing with protective power had lost its warmth and glowing sheen. He slowly traced the large crack that ran along the orb before pocketing it once more.

"Does this mean that I can go back to Tatsumi Port Island? Back to where my friends are?"

He briefly closed his eyes as he remembered the voice of the one he particularly wanted to see.

"Give him strength! Take my life if you must!"

"Come what may… We'll always be together."

Elizabeth gave him a small smile. "Perhaps. My Master should know the answer to your queries. Now, shall we return to the Velvet Room?" She indicated to the faintly glowing blue door that Minato was certain did not exist mere moments before. He nodded and moved to follow her through the door, but not before giving one last look at the new Great Seal and smiling in gratitude.

'I don't know if you'll be able to hear this, but thanks, Ryoji.'

(Scene Break!)

The Velvet Room had changed since Minato's last visit. No longer was it an ever ascending elevator, nor did it look like the interior of a limousine (Minato blinked in confusion. A limousine? Where did that come from?). Instead, it had transformed into what he could only describe as a classy jazz bar. To his left he saw a silver haired man calmly polishing away at a glass tumbler behind the counter of the bar.

Close to the bar a familiar long-nosed hunchbacked man with bloodshot eyes was seated at a table, while Elizabeth and another silver haired woman who Minato recognized as Margaret stood beside him. As he approached the old man grinned toothily and gestured for him to sit down.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, my esteemed guest. I must say, I commend you for your integrity to uphold your end of the contract… and congratulate you and Elizabeth for succeeding at changing your destiny. Ah, but where are my manners… allow me to introduce to you the other residents of the Velvet Room. This is my other assistant, Margaret... Although it appears that you two already know each other." The one called Margaret gave a small smile as she replied.

"We met in the Desert of Doors." Minato nodded in response.

"The one tending the bar is yet another one of my assistants, Theodore." The silver haired man politely dipped his head in acknowledgement before resuming his task. "Well then… I assume you have come here to discuss what you plan to do from now onwards." Once more, the teen nodded in the affirmative.

"Will I be able to return to Tatsumi Port Island?"

"Unfortunately, not at this current moment in time," replied Igor. "You are aware that right now, your physical body is nothing but an empty vessel. However, due to your… unusual condition as the Seal, the vessel itself has been almost perfectly preserved, waiting for your return." At these words one of Minato's eyebrows raised in question.

"… Almost?"

"While your muscles and flesh may not have decayed from death nor atrophied due to disuse, your body was not immune to the effects of time… In essence, your current body is that of a nineteen year old human rather than seventeen. It was fortunate that Elizabeth had managed to save you in this era."

That… wasn't too bad a deal. "What's the catch?" Somehow, Igor's toothy smile managed to grow even wider.

"You will not be able to stay in your body for long if you stay in that world… new unbreakable bonds must be created in another so that your soul is able to properly anchor itself back in your body." Minato stared blankly at him, as if thinking that the grinning old man had finally lost his sanity.

"What."

"I assure you, this is not a joke. You must enter another world and develop your social links… With the exception of certain arcana – 'The Fool', 'Death', 'Judgment' and 'The World', you are to forge new bonds associated with the remaining ones… Of course, you can choose not to do so and instead re-enter the cycle of reincarnation in the following months." The blue-haired young man quietly groaned as he rubbed his temples in order to relieve the headache that was beginning to form.

"You already know my answer to that. It's just… This just sounds like a poorly-contrived excuse for me to go to another world. How will I be able to get to this other world, then? For another matter, how will I be able to come back?" Igor chuckled in response.

"You will know in due time… as for the matter of coming back…" The old man snapped his fingers and a familiar red booklet appeared. Minato did not need to open it to know what it said.

I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.

- Arisato Minato.

"As you have decided to continue to uphold your end of the contract, you are always welcome in the Velvet Room. When you have completed your social links and are ready to return to your original world, you only need to ask."

"One more question. Will I be able to summon my Persona in this other world?"

Igor grinned. "But of course, dear boy. Now then, I shall send you back to your world. Until we meet again, my esteemed guest…"

The room slowly faded as the blue haired youth lost consciousness.

(Scene Break!)

10:50PM, March 20, 2012. Inside the private Kirijo-owned clinic in Tatsumi Port Island, Doctor Tomoe Ishikawa yawned as she stretched to get rid of the kinks in her body. Idly, she stared at the clock on the wall. Ten more minutes, and her shift would finally be over. Like most days she found her thoughts drifting towards the corpse that she had found herself attending to for almost two years.

It was a very unusual case – a casual observer would think that the handsome young man occupying the bed in room 103 was merely sleeping, and indeed even some of the doctor's staff had commented to her that it was strange for him to be in the clinic instead of a hospital as a long-term coma patient. It was hard not to see why: the corpse was so well-preserved that it appeared as if it had not aged a day since the patient's death, and all of its organs remained perfectly functional…

… If it wasn't for the fact that they weren't doing so, no matter what she or her colleagues had attempted to do to get them going again.

It was only due to its strange nature that the current chairman of the Kirijo group had insisted that the body be stored here and kept watch for any signs of change.

It was also rumored that the deceased patient and the chairman used to be lovers. Perhaps the chairman still held a faint hope for the corpse to suddenly come to life. Tomoe snorted. As if something so stupid like that could ever-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud thump, followed by a steady stream of muffled curses in the direction of where the subject of her thoughts rested. Or rather, had. "It… It was just the wind," she muttered to herself as she cautiously approached room 103, scalpel grasped tightly in her hands, "A wind… that apparently knows how to swear and can read my mind oh God I am going to be killed by a mind-reading zombie."

Tomoe paused, and then shook her head. Now wasn't the time to panic. She was a doctor, for goodness sake! A professional!

"A-and besides," she muttered, "The dead can't come back to life."

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the door…

To see the (former) corpse sitting upright on the floor, using the bed for support with one hand while rubbing his arm with the other, still quietly talking to himself.

"… Forgot that hospital beds have side rails…" Seeing that he was no longer alone, the (former) corpse looked up at Tomoe, who froze in surprise. He gave her a charming smile, as if he didn't somehow just re-animate himself and cursed like a sailor mere moments before. "I don't suppose you happen to know someone named Mitsuru Kirijo, would you? Or at least know someone who could contact her? I need to tell her that I'm back."

The scalpel fell with a clatter as Tomoe continued to stare wide-eyed. Minato paused, before briefly looking down over his current attire.

"… Do you also happen to have a change of clothes? These hospital gowns are quite breezy."

The doctor could only respond by nodding dumbly and turned around to find the nearest phone.

Twenty minutes later, the two heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle grow louder until it screeched to a halt, followed by the rapid clacks of high heeled boots and another pair of footsteps that Tomoe could not recognize approaching the room. The first to enter was a beautiful blond haired woman, who smiled at the young man next to the doctor as tears streamed down her cheeks. The young man, who had introduced himself as Minato, gently smiled back at her.

"You have returned…"

"Hello, Aigis-san. It's been a while."

No sooner had he finished his sentence did the second visitor, who Tomoe had recognized as the chairman of the Kirijo group herself, arrive; face flushed and breathing audibly from her haste to reach her destination. She made a visible effort to compose herself as Minato spoke again. "Hello… Mitsuru-senpai, I'm back."

The woman sighed, before crossing her arms and replying in an almost casual manner, "It seems you beat me to it… Welcome back, Minato-kun." She then abandoned all pretences and almost toppled the young man over with a tight hug.

Having seen enough, Tomoe decided to give the three their moment of privacy and quietly left the room.

(Scene Break!)

11:50PM, March 20, 2012. The red haired woman known as Mitsuru sighed in irritation as she began to massage her temples to relieve the headache that had begun to form and continued to grow as Minato explained his situation.

"So what you are saying… Is you are going to travel to another world, where you will form these 'Social Links' with others… And this is the only method for you to be able to fully return to life?"

Minato nodded.

"That… has to be one of the most poorly-conceived excuse I have ever heard for someone to set you off on another adventure. And you are sure you can trust this Igor person?"

"He was the one who helped me develop my Persona. Plus, his assistant was the one who helped rescue me."

"I can also vouch for the trustworthiness of this man," said Aigis. "During the brief moment when I had Minato-san's powers, I also entered the Velvet Room." Minato turned to the blonde in surprise, before remembering the events of the previous year, when the constant brutal assault of Erebus had lessened. He then remembered something.

"Does one of you still have my Evoker? I want to test something out." Wordlessly, Aigis withdrew the silver gun from her person and handed it to him.

He calmly raised the gun to his head, and then pulled the trigger as he smirked and said one word.

"Persona."

A sound not dissimilar to shattering glass echoed in the room, and behind Minato floated a familiar white haired figure holding a lyre.

"Thou art I… and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I have returned. I am Orpheus, master of strings…"

The entity briefly shimmered before fading away to settle back into Minato's mind. Evidently, he was still able to summon Personae, like Igor had said.

"I'm glad that Thanatos didn't try to rip out of his skull this time around," he quipped dryly. Mitsuru winced at the memory of the night when he first summoned his Persona.

'That happened only once,' grumbled a voice Minato recognized as belonging to the Greek god of death. 'And yet no one lets me live it down.'

'I am hardly surprised to hear that, son of Nyx,' replied Orpheus, 'I am still yet to forgive you for taking my wife away.'

'It wasn't my fault you chose to ignore Lord Hades' order and turned around before you reached the surface.'

'And had you not chosen on a whim to take my beloved Eurydice away, I would not have needed to enter the Underworld in the first place.'

'Why don't you just take that little harp of yours and shove it up your-'

"… And it seems that the voices in my head are back," groaned Minato as he brought his hand to his face.

Having experienced the same thing during her brief stint as the Wild Card, Aigis could sympathize with Minato completely.

It was then, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a strange green ovaloid shimmering next to where Mitsuru and Aigis stood.

"Would I be right in assuming that you two don't see that floating mirror-like thing next to you?" Mitsuru gave a small start in surprise and turned left and right only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Aigis tilted her head in confusion. Minato shook his head.

"Never mind… I guess it's time for me to go." With no small amount of trepidation, he approached the portal. In panic, Mitsuru tried to reach out to her lover.

"Wait! Y-you're leaving? So soon?" Minato nodded and gave her a gentle smile, before wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah. Will you wait for me?"

"O-of course. I told you last year… that I have no intention of letting you go, did I not?"

He chuckled in response. "Thank you." Letting go of Mitsuru, he turned his attention to the portal once again. "Aigis-san, please continue to take care of Mitsuru-senpai and my friends for me." Seeing her nod in assent he resumed his approach to the portal.

"Minato…"

He paused to turn back to Mitsuru. She stared into his eyes before smiling sweetly.

"If I ever find out that you have been cheating on me in this other world… You will be executed. Do I make myself clear?"

"…"

"… Well?"

"… Yeah. Well then, I'm off." He waved, before disappearing from sight as he entered the portal.

"W-wait! What was with that lackluster response? Be more serious about this, Arisato-kun! And take care of yourself!"

12 AM, March 21, 2012. The former Great Seal known as Minato Arisato had left planet Earth and arrived in the magical continent of Halkeginia.