Persona 3 Crimson Wings: Chapter 1

"I promise..."

Those words sounded so familiar... and yet distant...

How? When?
Why did all of this happen?

Perhaps it was also where it ended...

Chapter 1: Twin Memories

'Where's everyone...?

Why do I feel strange...?

This breeze... it's something I haven't felt for a long time...

Why is that so?

How long has it been?'

The girl slowly opened her blood-red eyes as it glistened under the light of the bright moon up the starry sky. 'Ugh... What's...?' She shielded her eyes from the light with her hand, closing them and slowly breathed in the cool air. It was a peaceful night. Insects were chirping, while the wind blew softly as it whispered to her ears and touched her pale, white skin. It was quite cold, and yet, she felt a strange warmth within her. She attempted to utter a sound, but a strange bitterness lingered inside her mouth as if she hadn't opened it for years. It was a strange sensation... Her senses were quite dull, and yet she could taste, feel, see, hear and smell ... Was it a sign of life?

'Life?

What was that word again?

Where have I heard that before?'

The young woman suddenly shot up from the bench she laid on. It was a familiar place, white tilings, dark, skies, beautiful island views... Yes, it was an open space, the rooftop of Gekkoukan High to be exact. The same place where she spent her final moments with her friends... The girl blinked twice, rubbed her eyes, and roughly massaged her forehead with both of her hands. Pulling back her reddish-brown bangs, her calm-demeanor immediately turned into confusion. She shifted her view from the sky to the city below.

''Shouldn't I be... dead...?' For a moment she paused at the thought and shook her head. 'That sounded wrong... Though... Ah! Right!'

The girl stood up, unfortunately, her knees immediately weakened causing her to topple down. She grunted and attempted to stand again, but to no avail. Her body felt strangely numb, and yet, she had no wounds, scars or anything of the like. In fact... she had no recollection of how she got there. After several attempts, she tried to stand again, this time, she supported herself by holding on to the bench. Her knees were shaking as if she hasn't moved for years. Speaking of which, could it be possible that years have passed and she was just released from her duty? Duty as the Great Seal? Then again, everything looked the way it used to be. She was even wearing her uniform.

Those were her thoughts before finally reaching the bottom of the stairs. She was now in the corridors. The girl slowly moved away from the wall which supported her. For a moment, she swayed around after finally being able to keep her balance. She smiled in her victory.

"Yes!" She shouted in accomplishment. In a split second, she began racing through the familiar hallway. The potted plants, the windows, even the cracks in the walls were nostalgic. This can't possibly be the future. After reaching a turning point, she stopped in front of a door and took a deep breath. The girl locked her sight on the sign on top – 2-F.

As expected, there was no one inside. Just an ordinary, neat, classroom. In fact, it doesn't seem like anyone had been inside for some time. She walked around, touching some of the tables and chairs, reminiscing all her experiences during her past year.

"Who's there?" A voice called out from the classroom's door. The red-eyed girl turned around at the familiar voice. It was a woman who looked like she was around her 20's. Her hair was short with a light shade of brown and she had charcoal-black eyes.

"M-ms. Toriumi?" She gasped in surprise after seeing her adviser. "She looks young..." The girl muttered under her breath as she blankly stared at the adult. The teacher indeed looked young, so that means, it really wasn't the future. Maybe just a few years or months had passed...? Then again... It could be possible that humans had discovered eternal youth potions. But what if she's just an evil twin? Or the clichéd great grand daughter or relative who happened to look like a Ms. Toriumi clone... As those thoughts clouded the girl's mind, the adult smiled and began to speak.

"Ah. You must be the new student. I've seen your picture, Minako Arisato. Am I correct?" The girl snapped out of her wild imaginations and mindlessly nodded, slowly approaching the teacher. She wanted to clear things out. Not that she'd expect much from the woman, but it might just put light into things. "You must have been the cause of the disturbance earlier..." she added with a sigh. Minako tilted her head and finally shrugged.

The adult pulled her hand, leading her to a familiar path – the faculty room. "It's too late for you to come to school. The opening ceremony is still for tomorrow, so I assume you're here for clarifications on requirements and such, yes? You were lucky I stayed in for tomorrow's preparations. I was just about to close up too..." Ms. Toriumi spoke without once glancing back to her. 'Clarifications is what I need alright...' She simply nodded. It's best to get on with the flow.

'I'm glad I'm not here for detention though... But Junpei's the one who's more prone to that' The girl chuckled at the thought as she waited for her teacher to return. The adult was rummaging through her drawers filled with documents. Lots of them. Some of the papers filed in were old test answers, others were student records, while some were confiscated doodles.

"Ah, here it is. Minako Arisato... 11th grade correct...? Wow... You've been to a lot of places..."

'… Wow ... This feels... Creepily familiar...' Minako thought as she rubbed her arms as if feeling cold, despite the warm uniform. It was like a chill suddenly ran down her spine.

"Let's see... In 1999... That was what, ten years ago..." At those words Minako began processing her mind. She didn't even bother listening to the rest of her teacher's words. '10 years ago means... It's... 2009? But that means...!'

"... two, welcome to our school"

"What date is it?" Those words gave the teacher a puzzled look. It felt quite off, considering their conversation was about welcoming and all, but now was not the time to think about that. After all, didn't she just... Die...?

"6th of April... Is there something wrong?" The teacher raised an eyebrow at the troubled girl.

"...2009...?" She gulped, her bright-red eyes widened at the suspense her teacher was putting her in.

"Why yes. It is..." Those words shook the red-eyed girl, she almost collapsed if not for the teacher who caught her.

"Are you alright? Should I call the doctor?" the teacher furrowed her brows in worry.

"N-no thanks... I'm fine" Minako smiled. She looked pale indeed, but it wasn't because of a headache or anything of such... To think that it was April 6th... 2009 no less... It was the past. She's not a ghost is she? Not a dream? It all felt real...

"Are you sure?" The teacher added. The girl just nodded and waved at the teacher, expressing her gratitude before leaving the school building. The Dark Hour... Tartarus... Shadows... S.E.E.S... They were not just part of a crazy dream right?

'Cool your head Minako~! FOCUS!' She continuously slapped her face which almost became as red as her eyes. People stared at her while she hurt herself. Some guys blushed, others shrugged, but Minako didn't care. She was always a carefree-type to begin with. The girl brushed her auburn hair with her hand trying to figure things out, gather the facts and understand the situation.

"Alright... let's get this all together... Fact one. It's 6th of April 2009. Ms. Toriumi might be wrong... But she has no reason to lie or anything..." She sighed at the thought. 'I can't possibly be in some sort of time loop caused by a demon who wants to prevent my death right...? That's too bizarre...' She sighed again feeling hopeless.

tick... tick... tick...

A sudden sensation of fear crawled upon her body. The pools of blood, the sickly colored moon, and most of all the coffins.

'What the-! It must really be 6th of April... t-that means I should...' She stood in the middle of the road in shock.

It was already late, the dormitory was quite far from where Minako was. Plus, running around school tired her out. She glanced at her watch to see the time. 12:00AM, and it stopped moving from there. It really was the Dark Hour she's experiencing, no doubt, but wasn't the Dark Hour vanquished along with the sealing of Nyx...? Then again, the so-called 'Great Seal' was walking around the city, was laying around in school and was standing right there. The girl clenched her fist and ran back to the dorms as fast as she can to get to the bottom of things.

4/6/09-Monday, Dark Hour?

Finally, it came to her sight. The ever-so familiar dorms she used to live in. Something was different in this scene, the door was open and someone was standing in front. Strange. For some reason, it felt like she should be the one standing there that very night... No... She should be the one standing in that place. Well, either way, she'd figure it out once she gets there. Just a little more and she'd make it...

That was until the Dark Hour suddenly ended.

Everything returned to how it was, the moon, the skies and the people, they all reverted back to their original states.

The young woman slowed down, seeing that it couldn't possibly change anything. Upon reaching the door, she saw him. He was the one who stood in the same spot she used to when she first arrived. He had dark blue hair and was wearing the usual Gekkoukan High uniform for males. She could tell even though all she could see was his back.

"Uh... What's happening...?" She uttered behind the boy mindlessly. He turned around revealing calm silver eyes which was almost covered up by his bangs. Silver headphones, the same model as hers, rested around his neck. The two of them stared at each other without speaking...

...

'What is the meaning of this...?' she thought, however, before the girl could speak of another word, the boy suddenly wrapped his arms around her.

"H-hey...!" she blushed from the turn of events.

The female was sure she didn't know him, yet she felt at ease in his presence, and because of this, the peculiar situation continued on for some time before she realized what he just did. The auburn-haired girl pushed him away, it wasn't strong, but it was enough to make him back off. As he stepped back a little further, he saw that she was left flustered.

"Sorry... I couldn't help myself..." He looked straight at her with a sorry expression. The young woman was left speechless. A random guy suddenly hugged her. That was the only thing buzzing on her mind.

"Um... Excuse me... You know each other?" With that, the girl snapped back to her senses. She peeked behind him to see who spoke, although she had an idea who it was, since it was a familiar voice. There were two of them standing there. The one who spoke had short brown hair, and an even darker eyes. She was wearing the usual pink sweater and for some reason, her black miniskirt which she wears for school. The other one seemed like an elegant and mature young lady. She had long, red, hair which almost covered her right eye, and just like the first girl, she was also wearing her school outfit.

'Yukari and... Mitsuru-Senpai!' She smiled in delight. The girl was about to step in front when she stopped herself. She mustn't do anything reckless... It would be better to understand the whole situation first. Before the confused teenager was given a chance to speak, the boy cut in and opened up his mouth first.

"She's Minako. My twin." he answered with a gentle smile.

"Twin? Oh, so you arrived together?" The brown haired girl asked curiously.

"No. We were separated after our parents died. We just re-united today" He answered with a rather straight face.

Minako was dumbfounded. She had a brother? And a twin at that... They don't even resemble each other! At least that what she thought.

"Ah. So you were the other one? Well, this is quite a surprise" The red head smiled as she examined the new arrival. "This was really a last minute decision, just as what I was telling your brother here" She paused to turn to the blue-haired boy who was rather indifferent. "Again, my name is Mitsuru Kirijo and I'm one of the students living here"

Yukari smiled, although she was rather hesitant at the boy's story. He seemed rather sure that Minako was his sister, considering the fact that they had just re-united. Plus, Minako looked the most surprised.

"Hi, I'm Yukari Takeba" She stared at the auburn-haired girl suspiciously, to which Minako just smiled.

"Just as what I was saying..." Mitsuru spoke, breaking the silence. "You should tuck in for the night" She turned to Yukari who signaled them to follow her.

Tension filled the air as Yukari led them to our respective rooms, with Minako glancing at the boy from time to time. The hallway was well lit, unlike during the Dark Hour where everything appeared like it came out of a horror movie.

'Is he really my brother...? But...' As the girl contemplated on the situation, the boy suddenly turned to her.

"Keep this..." He whispered, shoving something in her hand. Her face flushed, which made her turn away from the boy.

'W-what's happening to me...?' She shook her head, trying to figure him out.

"Well... This is your room. Pretty easy to remember huh? Since it's at the end of the hall" These words shook her back to reality. In front of them was a door. Well, almost every door looked the same anyway. Yukari gave her a quick glance before turning back to the silver-eyed boy. "So, any questions?"

"I signed a contract..." the boy spoke. Minako turned to him with a pale face.

'Don't tell me he's...?' Yukari and her 'brother' noticed her sudden reaction, and after noticing their reaction on her reaction, she immediately shook her head and flung her arms.

"A-ah... D-don't mind me! That just surprised me..." Minako forced a smiled.

"Okaay... Well... In any case, I don't really know what you're talking about... Sorry..." Yukari answered.

The boy just retained his expressionless face. He hesitated to enter his room, turning to Minako, staring at her before he finally entered. She glanced at the hallway before continuing.

"On your way here, was everything okay?" The girl asked, her brown eyes locked on to the auburn-haired girl. Minako shook her head. It was quite true, since the Dark Hour was kind of a no biggie anymore, though, this time, it was wrong for a different reason. It's not supposed to exist anymore, just like Minako herself.

"... Never mind. It seems like you're alright"

"Um... Do you know his name?" Her red-eyes widened, waiting for the answer in anticipation.

"... You two have a complicated relationship huh? Anyway, he said he's Minato Arisato. I think you should clear everything up in the morning" Yukari left for her room after waving good-bye.

"... Just what the hell is happening here?" Minako muttered under her breath as she watched her companion's back disappear in the dark... It was one hell of a night indeed.

4/7/09-Tuesday

"... And that's all that happened. Then that 'Minato' showed up then..." she said to herself while sitting on top of her bed with her legs crossed together. Minako paused for a moment and thought back. Finally, she groaned and scratched her head in frustration which somehow messed up her hair. She sighed and dropped her head on the pillow. "None of this makes sense!" she roared.

The girl turned, shifted her lying position, and yet, she still couldn't sleep. The pillow was soft and fluffy, the mattress was as good. Not too soft, not too hard, just right. The bed had a checkered pink blanket which was right beside the window. There was also a rather large television in the room and close to it was the desk where Minako usually slaved away to study. Beside the bed was a small drawer. There lamp and her trusty alarm clock was sat there innocently.

She examined a round object which was resting on her hand. It was the trinket her so-called 'brother' gave to her earlier, a golden locket about twice the size of a thumb. It was rather simple, just had a butterfly carved in front and that's it. She opened it revealing a family picture. It was taken in a park, at least that's what it looked like. On the left was a handsome, tall man bearing ruby-red eyes. He had blue hair the shade like Minato's. Beside him was a woman with long, reddish-brown hair and beautiful silver eyes. She was holding the hand of a child with auburn hair. She seemed happy. Of course, Minako should know, after all, that girl was her. She doesn't remember that though, but deep-inside, she knew it happened. The girl sighed turning to the final figure in the picture. The little girl had her left arm wrapped around a boy's arm. He had blue hair and silver eyes. He resembled 'Minato' very much. No... He was surely him. A blue-haired, silver-eyed boy was not so common after all. The only different thing, other than 'age appearance' was the child's expression. He actually freely showed his emotions. It was evident in that single picture.

She sighed again and closed it, pulling it close to her chest. 'I don't remember... I really don't remember him...' She shifted her position again and placed the small trinket beside the lamp. '... My memories ARE fuzzy... Especially those before mom and dad's death...' She closed her eyes in an attempt to sleep...