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thewake
Personal Information
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Age: 22
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ubinunc
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ubinunc
email: thanks.dear.mun(at)gmail.com
AIM: InfiniteMasks
Current Character(s): N/A
Character Information
Character Name: Minako Arisato
Fandom: Persona 3 Portable
Source: Persona 3 and P3P
Character History: (reused from Gargleblasted app)
In April 2009, Minako moved to Iwatodai to enroll at Gekkoukan High School. When she arrived, it was late, close to midnight. As soon as the clock struck twelve, the world changed- electronics went out, coffins appeared everywhere, water turned into blood. There was an eerie green light cast over everything… But none of this phased Minako for long. She merely paused for a moment, before she continued on her way to the dorms, (which raised the possibility that she's either extremely adaptable, or has experienced this event on a regular basis). After she reached the dorms, the teen signed a contract given to her by a mysterious boy and accepted that she would "take full responsibility for her actions" for the coming year. The strange boy offered her some cryptic words and faded out of existence; shortly after, two other females (one named Yukari Takeba, the other Mitsuru Kirijo) confronted her, both armed with what appear to be guns- supposedly, Minako's move to the dorms was rather last minute, and they hadn't expected her. Regardless, they showed her to her room and helped her get settled in.
After a few days, desperate knocks in the middle of the night awaken Minako, during that strange time with blood and green light. Apparently the dorms were under attack and Yukari, one of the girls present at Minako's arrival, handed her a naginata to defend herself with. The pair attempted to retreat and leave the dorms, but their escape route was cut off. The girls fled to the roof, but ultimately only succeeded in boxing themselves in. A multi-limbed, black creature that wielded multiple swords climbed up the side of the building and cornered them. Attacked and disarmed of her gun, the creature turned its attention to Yukari and ignored Minako, whom the weapon had landed by. She picked it up and considered it for a moment, before she closed her eyes and raised it to her head. This once again prompted the creature to shift its attention and attack her, but it was too late- mere feet out of range, Minako whispered a word ("Per-so-na."), and pulled the trigger.
With the sound of shattering glass, a gold-colored, harp wielding humanoid appeared, and briefly spoke to her. However, something went wrong and the harp-wielder turned inside out, ripped to shreds. From the wreckage emerged a darkly-clad, sword-and-coffin toting being that, with a roar, launched itself at other monster and tore it limb from limb. The dismembered creature faded away into black smoke, and the violent being vanished without a trace. However, the creature left behind a few companions that Minako, who until that moment had been writhing in agony, barely managed to dispatch before she collapsed.
She awoke in a strange elevator, a place she vaguely remembered from another dream- the Velvet Room. A strange man named Igor and his assistant Theodore approach her, and Igor explained that the being she summoned was called a Persona, a manifestation of her psyche. Regrettably, her power over her Persona was still weak, as her inner strength was weak. In order to become stronger, she needed to develop her emotional ties with others, her Social Links. Shortly after, Igor bid her farewell, with the promise that they would soon meet of Minako's own will, and shooed her away.
The next time she opened her eyes, she truly woke up. A short glance around revealed she wasn't in her room at the dorms, but somewhere else instead. Yukari, who had waited right beside her bed, informed her that she was in the hospital, as she had fallen into coma for seven days. After a moment, Yukari came clean, and explained that she actually already knew about Minako's past, that they had been watching her in the dorms. To even the score though, she told Minako more about her past- why Yukari was in Iwatodai, what she hoped to achieve. She then apologized for being unable to protect Minako, that it was her fault the girl was in this mess. Minako reassured the other, and told her that truthfully? She'd been terrified on the roof as well. Worries laid to rest, Yukari bid the girl farewell, and left.
That night, Minako heard the whole story from one of the main backers of SEES, Shuji Ikutsuki. It turned out that there were more then 24 hours in a day, but that one extra hour, the time when all those coffins and blood were everywhere, was hidden between one day and the next. It was known as the Dark Hour. Normal people had no idea any of this occurred, as they were transformed into aforementioned coffins and put to sleep. Also, Shadows, the creatures that had attacked Minako and Yukari on the roof, roamed the streets only during the Dark Hour, never any other time. It was the responsibility of the group SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad) to exterminate the Shadows, as the Shadows fed on the minds of the rare humans that, for whatever reason, were not transformed into a coffin. Even rarer were people that could fight back against the Shadows with a special power- the power to summon and command a Persona. Minako was then recruited to SEES and given her own Evoker (the gun shaped object Yukari had). The Fool Social Link awoke after her acceptance of the position and caused her inner strength to begin to grow.
Things got pretty busy after that; Minako not only juggled her schoolwork and midnight SEES operations (exploring Tartarus [the giant tower Gekkoukan transformed into during the Dark Hour], training, etc), but she joined a sports team (after Junpei and Akihiko recommended them to her), helped out an old couple who ran a used bookstore, joined the library committee, became a member of the student government thanks to Mitsuru, and devoted afternoons to spending with friends. SEES grew when Junpei joined the group, and the trio (Minako, Junpei, and Yukari) got their first taste of team combat in Tartarus, followed by an encounter with their first abnormal Shadow, a stronger than average Shadow that escaped Tartarus which possessed a monorail train. Later, she received a visit from the strange boy who had given her the contract to sign- apparently his name was Pharos.
Midterms came and went, and Akihiko was declared well enough to join the squad, while Mitsuru continued to support the group. Eventually, the team discovered a girl named Fuuka Yamagishi, who not only vanished from Iwatodai, but managed to make her way into Tartarus. She manifested a Persona that specialized in scanning enemies and areas ahead of the team, which allowed Fuuka to take over the role of spotter and let Mitsuru return to the battlefield. Around this time, the group realized that the abnormal Shadows appear once a month, on the night of the full moon. No one was entirely certain what that meant, only that it meant something, and that now they had a timetable for their training.
One day, a few months after Minako moved to Port Island, the group gathered with Ikutsuki for a group meeting. However, before they began, Yukari confronted Mitsuru and claimed that the older woman knew much more then what she told everyone else. Mitsuru reluctantly came clean; 10 years ago, the Kirijo Group (the organization that build Gekkoukan High School) had been interested in Shadows, as certain research suggested that Shadows were able to affect time and space. Under the direction of Mitsuru's grandfather, the Kirijo Group decided to harness those powers, and began to collect a large number of Shadows to study and experiment on. However, during the final stages of the main experiment, control over the Shadows was lost, and the nature of the world was altered; the Dark Hour was born, and Tartarus rose. The collected Shadows reformed and split into several distinct, separate ones and vanished- the same ones that appeared whenever the moon was full. However, the recent battles the team had fought now raised the possibility that if the original Shadows from the experiment were eliminated, then the Dark Hour would be eliminated as well. There was an end in sight! If the group could survive their Final Exams.
At last, summer break had arrived! The group managed to snag some vacation time on the beaches of Yakushima thanks to Mitsuru's family connections. However, there was another reason why Ikutsuki pushed for a break; Mitsuru's father (Takeharu Kirijo) was the only surviving eyewitness of the experiment 10 years ago. He was also in Yakushima during their vacation. During their stay, he told them the truth. His grandfather had been searching for a way to create a device that could manipulate time and make it possible to alter past and future events. Takeharu then showed the group of a video recorded by one of the experiment's top researchers in his final moments.
It was recorded by Yukari's father.
In the video, Yukari's father explained what happened, how he knew the experiment had been dangerous, but had been blinded by his goals. Now, the only way to end the Dark Hour was to destroy the twelve Shadows that escaped from the facility. This information crushed Yukari; she believed that her father had been blameless for a very long time, and with that belief ripped from her, she didn't know what to fight for. Yukari ran off, devastated, and Minako chased after her, with the intent of offering the girl a shoulder to lean on. Desperate, she asked what she was supposed to do now, and Minako told her she should keep believing in her father, no matter what happened. This encouraged Yukari, and after a short discussion with Junpei, they all headed back inside.
The next day, the girls of the group abandoned Junpei and Akihiko. Apparently some of the comments Junpei made the previous day were not appreciated, and the ladies left to hike in the woods. Unfortunately, they received a call from Ikutsuki- apparently an anti-Shadow weapon had escaped from a lab. He wanted them to find it, which meant they had to go find the boys. Of course, neither of them answered their cellphones, and left the girls at an impasse. Fortunately, their problem solved itself; a strange girl approached the group and proclaimed she would never leave Minako. The guys showed up right around that moment, and things were rather awkward until Ikutsuki arrived on the scene. Later, Minako and the team discovered the girl was the escaped anti-Shadow weapon (a robot) named Aigis, and Ikutsuki ordered her to assist SEES in the elimination of the Shadows.
The party returned to Port Island and was forced into summer school, while Minako also attended the volleyball team's sports retreat. The retreat took place in a sleepy town called Inaba, and the team stayed at the local Amagi Inn, where she briefly met the owner's daughter, one Yukiko Amagi. Shortly after she returned home, SEES discovered yet another party member, a dog named Koromaru who was known guard the local shrine.
(At this point, Minako is Awakened and brought to Nautilus.)
Following the addition of Koromaru to the team, another Persona user was introduced- a boy that had been living in the dorms for a few months, a child named Ken Amada. No one was happy about that, though Akihiko seemed particularly horrified for some reason…
Later, Akihiko approached Minako and requested her presence somewhere after school. Though somewhat confused by this uncharacteristic behavior, Minako agreed, and they headed to the Iwatodai Station. There, they ran into a semi-familiar figure, Aragaki Shinjiro, who had previously aided the SEES team when they investigated Fuuka's disappearance. Akihiko revealed that Shinjiro was also a Persona user, though he had left the first SEES team (originally composed of Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Shinjiro). Minako and Akihiko had approached the other male with the intent to recruit him for the reformed SEES squad. Initially, Shinjiro resisted, until Akihiko mentioned that Ken had joined the team. Shinjiro gave in easily after that conspicuous name drop, a highly suspicious reaction that Minako, admittedly, didn't think much of at the time. Either way, they had added another team member- the Twelve Shadows didn't stand a chance.
Too bad things weren't meant to last.
As the season slid towards fall, the group was confronted by an odd group of people by the name of Strega, who also had Persona and Evokers. Strega had no desire to return to the ordinary lifestyles they led outside of the Dark Hour, and were prepared to stop SEES at any cost. Around that time, Junpei met an artist named Chidori and began to befriend her, though friendship swiftly turned to love. The night of the September full moon, Junpei vanished right when the team needed to take care of the Shadow of the month. Unable to wait while the Shadow was on the loose, the team headed out to deal with the monster, though they promised to look for Junpei after the battle. As it turned out, Junpei had been kidnapped by Chidori, who was actually a member of Strega, and she threatened to kill him unless he called off the full-moon operation. Thankfully, the team burst onto the scene when things got dicy and managed to disarm Chidori. She was then hospitalized under close supervision. During her hospitalization, things began to come to light. The reason why Strega had Personae was the result of an old experiment; however, they were unable to control their Persona like the rest of the SEES team. Chidori also became rather close to Junpei, something that terrified her. She continued to struggle with her emotions as time passed.
During this time, Minako was still busy with school, training, and her friends. She also began the process of befriending Shinjiro, and gradually encouraged him to open up to her and the rest of the team. Everyone grew closer- until October, that is. That month, on the night of the full moon, Ken called Shinjiro while the rest of the team was occupied with battling the monthly Shadow. Ken revealed that two years ago, on that exact day, his mother had been killed by none other then Shinjiro. He was determined to claim revenge by killing the other with his own two hands. However, the two were confronted by Takaya, the leader of Strega, who, after his initial threats, shot at them. Wounded, Shinjiro collapsed, but when Takaya turned his gun at Ken to kill the boy-
-Shinjiro jumped in front of Ken and shielded him from the bullet. The SEES team turned up on the scene, thanks to Fuuka's tracking abilities, and forced Takaya to retreat. Shinjiro gave the group his final words and passed out. As Minako did not return Shinjiro's pocket watch to him, the older Persona user died. Devastated, Ken vanished for a time, though Akihiko managed to track him down and return him to the dorm. Things moved on. Exams came and went, Minako became even closer to with the SEES team and her classmates, and the group trained for November, the final showdown with the last Full Moon Shadow. Pharos appeared once again, though his words were even vaguer than before, with a slight ominous tone to them.
The team headed to the Moonlight Bridge, and, after they forced Strega to retreat again, killed the last Shadow. It was over. The Dark Hour was finished. Pharos left one final message, and said his farewells. It was officially time to kick back and chill out. The next night, Aigis was taken in for some repairs, while Mitsuru ordered sushi. Her father came to celebrate with the team as well. They even managed to get a (horrible) group photo taken.
And then the Dark Hour came. No one understood what was going on, much less why there were bells tolling in the distance. It was an ominous sign- that sound had never occurred during the Dark Hour before. Takeharu raised an important point though, where was Ikutsuki? After all, he was the one who said that defeating all twelve Shadows would end the Dark Hour. Everyone headed for Tartarus, and the answers that awaited them there.
Ikutsuki had strung them along from the beginning. He knew that defeating the 12 Shadows wouldn't end the Dark Hour, as he had actually been one of the original Kirijo Group scientists from the experiments ten years ago, but would instead force them to merge into Death, who would bring about the Fall. The Dark Hour was intentional, and came about as a part of the method to call the Fall. The only hope of salvation for the world... lay in the ruin (and death) of everything in the world.
It was clear the Ikutsuki was insane. However, for an insane man, he retained a remarkable amount of planning skills, and, in anticipation of their confrontation, had Aigis reprogrammed. He ordered her to capture the SEES team to sacrifice them, so he could bring about the Fall. She obeyed, and knocked everyone unconscious. When the team woke up, they were near the top of Tartarus, strapped to crosses. Takeharu was restrained by Aigis, and after a few bitter words, Ikutsuki ordered Aigis to kill him. However, she hesitated and struggled to break free of her programming. This infuriated Ikutsuki, who drew his gun and prompted Mitsuru's father to do the same. The two men shot each other, though Ikutsuki was the one left standing. He turned his attention back to Aigis, and demanded that she sacrifice the SEES team. Thankfully, Aigis resisted again, and destroyed their restraints. Ikutsuki attempted to regain control over Aigis one last time via remote transmitter, but Koromaru jumped in and snatched the control from the insane man. As he bled out, Ikutsuki laughed, and staggered back off the edge of the platform, falling to his death. Shortly after, Takeharu succumbed to his gun shot wound, and died in his daughter's arms.
The next few days were difficult for everyone. Mitsuru had to manage the Kirijo Group, and Aigis was to restore her to her original state, pre-reprogramming. The team had no idea what they were up against, much less how to stop it. Things looked grim, but life went on... for now.
Several days later, after Aigis was declared restored, Junpei pulled Minako aside at the end of school to introduce her to a new transfer student, Ryoji Mochizuki. He was... odd. He flirted with our protagonist right off the bat, though his word choice was slightly stilted, and Aigis seemed to despise him, claiming he was "bad". The robot was determined to keep them as far away from each other as possible, an effort that proved futile. Minako kept running into Ryoji on the way to school or during the weekends, and was more then happy to talk with him- he was strange, and at the same time very familiar.
The second-year and third-year students all headed to Kyoto for a school trip- it was a chance to take a step back, relax and unwind. It was one of the last they would get, too. Shortly after the trip, Jin and Takaya, the two other members of Strega, broke Chidori out of the hospital she had been kept in. That night, Fuuka contacted Minako during the Dark Hour, because she had sensed a Persona outside of Tartarus, and Strega were the only other people with Personae. The team met up in the communications room, where Fuuka searched for the presence she had sensed. However, something strange occurred, and Fuuka was possessed by Chidori and her Persona (Medea). Chidori claimed that she was tired of seeing them, and had decided to do something about it. She challenged them to a battle in front of Tartarus, and released her hold on Fuuka's mind. Junpei ran off, and Minako prepared the team for battle, with full knowledge they were walking into a trap.
When the SEES team caught up with Junpei, he had already confronted Chidori. Thanks to Fuuka's warning, Junpei was able to dodge her sudden attack, and the others engaged her in battle. It was a difficult battle, but Minako and her friends managed to prevail. Junpei demanded an answer to why Chidori had turned on them. Overwrought, she revealed that she had lashed out in an attempt to distance herself from Junpei. Takaya and Jin both showed up on the scene shortly after this revelation, and, after a bit of conversation, and shot Junpei. Chidori, however, was not willing to let him die. The red-head sprung into action, and used her Persona's life emitting ability to revive Junpei. However, this came at the cost of her own life; after she told Junpei she loved him, Chidori died in Junpei's arms. The Strega leader, who had watched the proceedings, merely scoffed, and deemed the female's death meaningless. This enraged Junpei, and he attacked the two remaining Strega members in blind rage. Strega was forced to retreat, and, after he initially attempted to pursue them, Junpei was reminded that it's not just his life he's living now, but his and Chidori's. Subdued, he reluctantly returned with the rest of SEES to the dorms.
During the next full moon, the entire situation changed rapidly, in a way no one expected. During the Dark Hour, Fuuka woke Minako to inform her of a strange situation. Aigis's Persona had briefly appeared, before it vanished somewhere near Moonlight Bridge. Worried, the team headed out to find their friend, and stumbled upon her heavily damaged form. Aigis managed a few words of apology, and claimed she remembered why she wanted to stay near Minako's side, before the robot shut down. After this, a familiar face approached the group, with strange words on his lips- Ryoji. As he was the only being around, the logical conclusion was that he was the one who harmed Aigis, but how could a human damage a robot? Mitsuru demanded an answer.
"I am the same as the beings you call Shadows," Ryoji claimed. He went on to explain that he was the "Appriser", the embodiment of all 12 Arcana, the one who will call the maternal being known as Nyx to the world and bring about the Fall. Ryoji had been born 10 years ago, during the experiment that brought about the Dark Hour, as the Arcana, Death. However, after the experiment went awry, Death was fragmented and forced to flee. Aigis had pursued him, and they fought on Moonlight Bridge, inadvertently causing several car accidents. However, Aigis had realized she would be unable to completely defeat him, and instead sealed him away in a little girl nearby. That child recalled nothing of what had happened to her, and instead grew up with Death contained within her. But one day, in a startling twist of fate, the girl returned to the Iwatodai area, to Tatsumi Port Island as a transfer student. That girl… was Minako. After Minako awakened her first Persona, and consequently awoke the form of Death sealed within her (the coffin toting being), the other 12 Full Moon Shadows stirred in a desire to become one with Death again. One by one, they were reunited, and after the final Full Moon Shadow was defeated, when Pharos (the Death Social Link, hence the Death Arcana, therefore the form of Death sealed inside of her) said goodbye, the final fragment of Death was unsealed and joined the other fragments. But the fragment of Death that had lived within Minako was different from the others; thanks to it's exposure to our protagonist's soul, it had developed it's own equivalent of a soul, a human side. This human side became the dominate personality of the Shadow mishmash, which ultimately gave birth to the being known as Ryoji. However, he unconsciously surpressed his memories of being Death, and of his true Shadow nature, which resulted in his odd interactions with the rest of the world and other people. Unfortunately, just because Ryoji didn't remember his nature doesn't mean it changed what he was. The entire time he existed, he unconsciously called Nyx to Earth, in order for her to bestow death upon everything. There was no way to prevent it- Ryoji's existence guaranteed the Fall. Humanity would not live to see spring. Nyx could not be defeated, because she was death itself, something no one can avoid. But there was another choice. If Minako killed Ryoji, then the SEES team would forget everything about the Dark Hour and Nyx. They would be able to live in peace until Nyx came, and would experience a painless end. No one was happy with this choice, and expressed their frustration. However, Ryoji persuaded them to consider their options and make their choice on December 31st, the last day Ryoji would still be himself. He then left.
Things were tense, for a while. During a short group meeting, Junpei blew up and blamed Minako for Nyx's coming, and the others still were uncertain of what they wanted to do. The rest of the world had no idea what awaited them in the near future, though things were getting worse. More and more people fell ill due to the effects of the Dark Hour. But time went on, and the rest of the team gradually made their decisions. Christmas came and went.
Aigis returned to the dorms on December 30th, and after everyone explained their position, she despaired. She had come to believe that there was no possible way to defeat Nyx, and that it would be better to forget the entire situation. However, the truth was that she felt lost- Aigis had, in her eyes, failed to protect the others, which was the only purpose she felt her existence had. The members of the SEES team managed to persuade her to believe that she had a purpose- whatever she decided for herself. But she really wouldn't be able to decide unless she kept living, would she? Aigis rediscovered her resolve, and also agreed that she didn't want to forget her time with everyone.
The next day, Ryoji reappeared at the dorm, and quietly informed the assembled group that at midnight, he would no longer be Ryoji Mochizuki , but some other unrecognizable form. Until the group made their decision, he would wait in Minako's room, but he left them with one last piece of advice. Don't let the fact that they would have to kill Ryoji influence their decision; after all, he would die either way. Ryoji left the room, and Mitsuru asked if everyone had made their choice. It seemed everyone was unanimous in their decision- they would against Nyx and refused to kill Ryoji. Minako left to inform Ryoji of their decision.
Despite the SEES decision, Ryoji urged Minako to choose whatever she wanted, as ultimately, it was her decision. Only Minako had the ability to kill Ryoji, which meant that no matter what the rest of SEES believed, if Minako wanted to forget, they could all forget. She refused. He urged her to consider, to recall that fighting against Nyx was a futile endeavor that could only end in anguish. Minako refused again, and, in a last ditch attempt to persuade her, Ryoji revealed his true form, Thanatos (that monster that appeared the first time Minako summoned her Persona), and demonstrated how inhuman he was.
Minako repeated her decision- she would not kill him. Unhappily, Ryoji finally acknowledged her choice, and returned to his human appearance. Somewhat wistfully, he told her how grateful he was to have known her. He would die, but as long as Minako remembered him, Ryoji felt some part of him would endure. For the last time, he bid her farewell, and returned to the main entrance. After a moment, Minako followed him downstairs, where Ryoji had begun to tell the rest of SEES the little information on Nyx that he knew. His last request of the team was that they remember him as he was at that moment, human, a friend. Then, he walked out of the dorm for the last time.
The team frequently trained in Tartarus, to prepare for their final battle. Minako led them up and up through the tower, and into the hidden depths of Monad, a basement area of Tartarus. They prepared for the fights to come in every way possible. All too soon, it was January 31st. Together, they made one last vow to meet on Graduation Day on the school's rooftop, and headed towards the top of the tower. On the way, the SEES members battled Jin and Takaya, one last time. Takaya attempted to sway them, and told them that Nyx's summoning was not the result of one person's wish, but all of humanity's. Humanity had lost sight of its desire for life, and so it called out for Nyx to end everything. This end was the will of the people.
His attempt failed. SEES was unmoved, and after they defeated the leader of Strega, continued on towards the top of Tartarus, where Ny was predicted to arrive. At the top, something waited for them- Ryoji. Or rather, Nyx's Avatar, as the personality known as Ryoji had vanished into Nyx. He had become Death, the end all beings feared, the end that awaited everything since the moment of birth. But they would defy him. They wanted to live. They would fight for their right to life. The battle was long and arduous, as Death seemed to have an infinite amount of energy. The team continued to fight though, and eventually, managed to topple Nyx's Avatar. It wasn't the end though, as the being slowly ascended into the night air. He congratulated the group for their persistence, their willingness to fight against fate, and lamented the fact that there were not more people like them. If there had been, perhaps the Fall could have been prevented. It was too late though. Nyx... had arrived.
From the moon emerged an ominous, webbed sphere that vaguely resembled an eye. It attached itself to its avatar, and began its descent upon humanity. Wave upon wave of pressure pressed down on the SEES members, though the team refused to submit, and barely managed to stay on their feet. But Death was unstoppable. It unleashed another, heavier wave of energy, and forced everyone to their knees. Minako resisted for as long as possible, before she too fell to the ground and passed out.
The SEES leader was once again summoned to the Velvet Room, where Igor and Theodore waited. Igor soothed her worries and assured her that she was still alive. He then reminded her of one of his earliest pieces of advice. that her Social Links determined her strength and potential, and told her to listen for the many voices of her friends as they called out to her. Minako closed her eyes and waited. One by one, each of her friend's voice echoed in her mind and encouraged her not to give up. Igor informed her that now was the time to draw upon all of their strength, as he facilitated the fusion of Links she had into a single Arcana. This was the last power Minako would create in the Velvet Room, a power to bring about an final end or a fresh beginning- the power of the Universe Arcana. With this power in hand, Minako had the ability to do anything, nothing was impossible for her. Theodore announced that they were approaching Minako's destination, while Igor mused about the hand Fate had dealt the girl (Death, the wild card, and the Universe). With this last service, and Minako's arrival at her destination, the contract between them was now fulfilled. The room finally slowed, stopped its ascent, and the elevator doors rattled open. Minako opened her eyes to the scene on the roof of Tartarus, as her friends still struggled to stand. Easily, with no hesitation, the girl climbed to her feet and faced Nyx without flinching. She gently leapt into the air, and soared towards Nyx's main form, floating high above them.
It was strange inside of the mother of all Shadows. There was light, followed by absolute darkness, and at the center of it all lay... a glowing egg. This had to be Nyx. Minako landed on the floor and faced off against the Bringer of Death, one on one. The first blast of energy Nyx released should have killed her, but somehow, Minako resisted. Faintly, she heard the voices of the SEES team as they all shouted encouragement and drew strength from their support, to the point that none of Nyx's attacks affected her. When she was at full strength, Minako straightened and called upon every last drop of her power to cast the Great Seal.
And so, Nyx was banished, and Tartarus vanished into the sky. Minako reunited with her team in front of the now normal Gekkoukan High. It was over. The Dark Hour had ended. The team became normal high school students desperate to finish out their school year, and, as a side effect of the disappearance of the Dark Hour, forgot everything they had been through. Their SEES armbands vanished, as their owners most likely thought they were pieces of scrap material, as did their Evokers. Their friendship dwindled into mere acquaintances in the dorms, faceless people to gossip about instead of friends forged through battle and blood.
Minako remembered though, and watched and waited as Graduation Day approached, as she slowly became more and more weary. The days sped by, and soon, it was March 3rd. Exams had finished, and there were two days left before the school year would end. Minako spent those two days around various parts of the city and visited all the friends she had made. Some were still around, others had left for far-away places. All the fun times, the daily hang-outs had come to an end, but they still thought of her, whether they were near or far. It was truly touching.
March 5th dawned bright and cheerful, when someone knocked at her door. It was Aigis. Minako let her robotic friend into her room, and agreed to speak with her, as something was clearly on her mind.
Aigis... remembered everything. The battles, the heartache, the laughter, everything. She had been worried to the point of tears because once she had remembered, Aigis had been terrified that Minako was going to vanish, like she had during the final confrontation with Nyx. However, with the SEES leader in front of her, Aigis was reassured and asked the girl if she would like to wait on the school rooftop for their friends. The teen agreed and together, they departed for their last day of school. On the school's roof, Aigis noticed our hero's fatigue, and persuaded her friend to lie down. As they waited, they spoke of friendship, individual needs, and how people find meaning in their life. They could faintly hear Junpei and the rest of SEES in the distance, and though she wanted to be awake to see the others arrive, Minako was so tired… Aigis told her it would be alright for her to rest. Her friends would be there soon, and Aigis would stay with her for for forever, protecting her. Minako smiled, and closed her eyes.
Character Personality:
Given Minako's status as a silent protagonist, her personality is generally shaped by the actions the player makes for her. However, that doesn't mean she's a completely blank slate- her dialogue choices give us a decent idea of who she is. From the beginning of the game, it's clear Minako is a very friendly person. When she first meets Yukari, the other girl nearly pulls a "gun" on her. Despite this, one of Minako's first choices when speaking to Yukari is, "Nice to meet you!" A day later, Minako finds out she and Yukari are the same homeroom, and tell the other girl she's glad she gets to have classes with a friend. She can be very enthusiastic too- when Minako meets one of her teachers for the first time, she can either respond calmly and politely ("I'm pleased to meet you.") or in a much more chipper manner ("Nice to meet you!"). This enthusiasm isn't just limited to her social interactions with others though. It manifests itself in her daily life in a variety ways, such as in the variety of recipes she tries out in the cooking club (a new one every day!), the way she bounces back from terrifying events, or just how energetic she behaves. Minako wants to do as much as possible as quickly as possible, and this desire, while admirable, is a double edged sword. If Minako pushes herself to do too much without rest (which is very easy to do in P3P), she gets sick, and becomes unable to do anything except take it easy for several days.
Once you get to know her better though, it becomes clear Minako has a silly side too. Yukari and Junpei have a disagreement about how safe it is to visit the back-alleys if Port Island Station at night; Yukari claims the outing could be an adventure, while Junpei insists it's much more dangerous than that. Our protagonist can make the comment that it's "Adventure time!" before heading out into the night. In the drama CDs, she teases Junpei after he tries to get the others interested in another trip to the beach. After they all respond negatively to the idea, Minako declares that it's "GAAAAAME SET!" and match, with Junpei as the loser. Unfortunately, there are times when Minako's sense of humor comes across as a bit warped and inappropriate for the situation. After the team is forced to break into the school at night, they need to find the keys to the gym, which should be located in the faculty office. Yukari manages to find a set of keys but due to the lack of light, cannot read them. Minako can claim the keys say "Morgue," even though she knows perfectly well that such a response would freak the other girl out. When a young child named Maiko asks Minako why her parents are getting a divorce, Minako has the option to tell the Maiko her parents are separating because she was a bad girl.
Quirks aside, our protagonist has several other (glaring) flaws. The teen can be rather pushy, and she butts into a number of situations uninvited. For example, when Akihiko asks Junpei to do him a favor, Minako invites herself on the errand. At other times, her friends will ask to be left alone, and Minako will simply ignore their request. This reaction is a mixture of her intrusiveness and her tendency towards action instead of words; unfortunately, this tendency has resulted in a fair number of problems on its own. When people Minako cares about are insulted or demeaned in front of her, she immediately jumps in, sometimes with words, more often with physical retaliation without considering the consequences. If someone is in danger, she'll push them out of the way, regardless of her own safety. In other words, while Minako may mean well, she's reckless, and doesn't think things through, which can result in all kinds of unpleasant situations.
Minako can be very oblivious about the emotions or situations. She's more than capable of saying the wrong thing (see divorce situation above), and sometimes just doesn't get it. There are times when she completely misses the way people feel about her unless they deliberately spell it out. She doesn't question any of the information she learns about the Dark Hour, and even thinks that wandering into a dark alley late at night to question a group of delinquents will turn out okay, despite Junpei repeatedly telling her otherwise.
Despite of all the mistakes and misunderstandings Minako can cause, she truly values her friends. She would do almost anything for them, and is highly offended whenever she feels someone is mistreating the people she cares about. She can forgive them for many things too; Minako easily forgives the 10,000 yen Tanaka scams her out of, and welcomes Ken back to the team despite his role in Shinjiro's injury. Without the support of her friends, Minako herself is diminished- it's highly unlikely she would have survived the year without her companions, and without their friendship she could never reach her maximum potential. The bonds she makes allow her overcome the final challenge of the year.
Powers and Abilities:
Minako is a natural Persona user, which means she can summon a power born from her soul, and shaped by her personality. On top of that, she has the power of a Wild Card, which means she a) has more than one Persona and b) can freely switch between them during battle. This ability means Minako can fit any and every role in battle. Want more attackers? Done. Need to break the enemy down, or build up the team? She can do it. In dire need of healing? No worries, Minako's got your back.
There are a few conditions though- despite the wide variety of Persona Minako can use, she can only maintain at most twelve Persona in her mind. If she wants to use a different one, Minako would have to visit the Velvet Room to summon or create a new Persona. Using a Persona is no cakewalk either! It takes a great deal of concentration and will-power to summon a Persona. If this concentration is broken, the summoning will not take place. As a Persona 3 protagonist, Minako also requires an Evoker to complete the summoning; theoretically, she could learn how to summon a Persona without her Evoker, but that would take an extraordinary amount of time and practice.
So what exactly can a Persona do? A Persona is capable of many things, such as healing wounds, casting magic (attack spells, buffs, debuffs, status-altering spells), or physically attacking an enemy in a variety of ways. Casting spells requires SP, or Spirit Points, while physical attacks require HP, Health Points. A person cannot cast a spell or use an attack that calls for more SP/HP than the person has.
Persona also have their own characteristics. Some Persona are better physical attackers (i.e., they have a higher Strength stat), while others are better spell casters. Some learn lots of fire spells, others learn light/dark spells (insta-kill moves, provided they hit). They all have things they're strong or weak against as well- Pyro Jack, a fire type Persona, can Nullify fire-based attacks (the attacks cause no harm to Minako), but is Weak against ice moves (ice attacks cause extra damage and result in a knocked down status). Since Minako's abilities are based on what her equipped Persona can do (the Persona at the forefront of her mind), that also means her strengths and weaknesses are based on that Persona. Literally speaking, if her equipped Persona has lots of Strength, Minako is a strong physical attacker. If they have a lot of Luck, Minako is very lucky. If they're weak to wind spells, Minako gets topped by a breeze.
Magical Mind Monsters aside, Minako is fairly light on her feet. At school, Minako is part of the volleyball team, meaning she's physically fit, and used to maintaining that level of fitness. In battle, Minako is capable of jumping fairly high in the air and landing on her feet. She knows her way around a naginata, and is capable of repurposing other items for battle, such as a hockey stick. But most importantly, Minako is a leader- she knows how to win a fight, and she can do it efficiently. She knows how to make use of her teammates' strengths, and how to compensate for their weaknesses.
Samples
Network:
[ the video opens with not an image, but the sound of screams and battle cries echo in the background. 'I'm not leavin' him behind!' 'You can't save him, Joe, he's already gone!'
then something clatters, and finally the screen flickers to the sight of Minako, smiling and waving for the camera. ] Hey, everyone! I've been exploring the Southern District today, and I just happened to stumble across… This!
[ the teen shifts the camera so all the viewers can finally get a glimpse of what she's been standing in front of. there's a large, brick building looming against the skyline, and an EXTREME PIZZA sign flashes boldly high above a set of doors, with a hastily "and Laser Tag" painted below it. the camera shifts back to Minako, who's practically vibrating in place. ]
So come on, get down here and we'll get some games going! The first few rounds can be team matches, or a tournament or something, and after that we let loose with a Take-No-Prisoners, Accept-No-Quarter free for all! Losers have to pay for dinner, and winners get free food and bragging rights!
Third Person:
It was a nice day. Clear skies, a gentle breeze- if she closed her eyes, Minako could almost pretend she was back home. Almost. The air in the Eastern District lacked a certain bite present in Iwatodai's atmosphere. It was such a small difference, but was more than enough to shatter any wistful daydreams the teen might have lured herself into.
Minako sighed, and flopped backwards into a careless sprawl. She stared up at the sky, idly tracked the movements of a few odd looking clouds as her fingertips splashed in the creek next to her. Distantly, she could hear the shouts of a few daring Wakened as they leapt from the bridge. Bungee jumping… the mere thought of such an activity sent shivers down her spine, her stomach swooping in anticipation of the plunge.
Snorting, Minako slapped her hand against the water. "'The mere thought'…? I'm starting to sound like Theo," she muttered, and grinned wryly. Wow, was she getting so homesick she felt the need to emulate Velvet Room attendants in her head? That was just sad. Though she couldn't deny the faint longing to see someone from home, to speak to someone who understood the world she came from, and all the the trials present there. Too bad she couldn't just summon up a Velvet Door whenever or wherever she felt like.
The thought made her blink, as she mentally turned the idea over in her head. Maybe she couldn't call up a Door back in Iwatodai, but the teen wasn't anywhere near the man-made city. She was in Nautilus, a land where belief could Bend reality to its whims. So maybe, if she believed hard enough-
Of course, there was the issue of her Beginner's Bending status…
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Minako told herself firmly as she fished out a familiar key from her pocket. The water droplets that had clung to her fingers transferred to the Velvet Key, and when she held it up to the sun, sparkled. Using bits and pieces she associated with her goal as focuses to sharpen her mind's image of the product- it was concrete, and it felt like it gave her an anchor in a sea of uncertainty. The instructors all assured her that with a bit more practice she wouldn't need trinkets, that she was only stunting her own ability using crutches, but Minako liked Bending like this. Maybe it was different from how other Wakened used their powers, but the SEES leader didn't really care about being different. What mattered was that it worked- so far, at least.
With her eyes shut, Minako traced the shape of the Velvet Key in her palm, and recalled the image of the Door in Tartarus' first floor. The color, the height, the presence it had. She held that picture in her mind and traced the memory of opening the door, passing through to the strange room beyond. The carpet, the doors that lined the walls, and the table Igor presided over. It took a while, but eventually she had the entire set up clearly pictured in her mind. Finally, she tried to Bend it into existence. The first time, she knew it didn't work. The second went the same as the first. Somewhere after the fifth try, she track of time, lost count of her attempts, and instead focused all her concentration on believing that the Velvet Door was right there. Maybe just a little further away from the water's edge, but definitely, solidly present, something she could reach out and touch.
Minako opened her eyes and glanced over. There was nothing there.
For a long moment, the teen just stared at the spot, as still as a statue. Then, she groaned, and covered her eyes with the back of her arm, "I guess I'll need to learn the 'right way' after all…" Minako lay there for a few more minutes, before she clambered to her feet and dusted off her clothes. She would drop by the Bending School later in the week, and if the instructors couldn't help her, she could always ask the other residents of Nautilus for tips. But right now, she was going to find those Wakened she heard earlier and see if they would let her take a jump. She could do with an adrenaline rush right about now.
Name: tropical
Age: 22
Personal Journal:
ubinuncEmail / AIM / MSN / Plurk:
plurk:
email: thanks.dear.mun(at)gmail.com
AIM: InfiniteMasks
Current Character(s): N/A
Character Information
Character Name: Minako Arisato
Fandom: Persona 3 Portable
Source: Persona 3 and P3P
Character History: (reused from Gargleblasted app)
In April 2009, Minako moved to Iwatodai to enroll at Gekkoukan High School. When she arrived, it was late, close to midnight. As soon as the clock struck twelve, the world changed- electronics went out, coffins appeared everywhere, water turned into blood. There was an eerie green light cast over everything… But none of this phased Minako for long. She merely paused for a moment, before she continued on her way to the dorms, (which raised the possibility that she's either extremely adaptable, or has experienced this event on a regular basis). After she reached the dorms, the teen signed a contract given to her by a mysterious boy and accepted that she would "take full responsibility for her actions" for the coming year. The strange boy offered her some cryptic words and faded out of existence; shortly after, two other females (one named Yukari Takeba, the other Mitsuru Kirijo) confronted her, both armed with what appear to be guns- supposedly, Minako's move to the dorms was rather last minute, and they hadn't expected her. Regardless, they showed her to her room and helped her get settled in.
After a few days, desperate knocks in the middle of the night awaken Minako, during that strange time with blood and green light. Apparently the dorms were under attack and Yukari, one of the girls present at Minako's arrival, handed her a naginata to defend herself with. The pair attempted to retreat and leave the dorms, but their escape route was cut off. The girls fled to the roof, but ultimately only succeeded in boxing themselves in. A multi-limbed, black creature that wielded multiple swords climbed up the side of the building and cornered them. Attacked and disarmed of her gun, the creature turned its attention to Yukari and ignored Minako, whom the weapon had landed by. She picked it up and considered it for a moment, before she closed her eyes and raised it to her head. This once again prompted the creature to shift its attention and attack her, but it was too late- mere feet out of range, Minako whispered a word ("Per-so-na."), and pulled the trigger.
With the sound of shattering glass, a gold-colored, harp wielding humanoid appeared, and briefly spoke to her. However, something went wrong and the harp-wielder turned inside out, ripped to shreds. From the wreckage emerged a darkly-clad, sword-and-coffin toting being that, with a roar, launched itself at other monster and tore it limb from limb. The dismembered creature faded away into black smoke, and the violent being vanished without a trace. However, the creature left behind a few companions that Minako, who until that moment had been writhing in agony, barely managed to dispatch before she collapsed.
She awoke in a strange elevator, a place she vaguely remembered from another dream- the Velvet Room. A strange man named Igor and his assistant Theodore approach her, and Igor explained that the being she summoned was called a Persona, a manifestation of her psyche. Regrettably, her power over her Persona was still weak, as her inner strength was weak. In order to become stronger, she needed to develop her emotional ties with others, her Social Links. Shortly after, Igor bid her farewell, with the promise that they would soon meet of Minako's own will, and shooed her away.
The next time she opened her eyes, she truly woke up. A short glance around revealed she wasn't in her room at the dorms, but somewhere else instead. Yukari, who had waited right beside her bed, informed her that she was in the hospital, as she had fallen into coma for seven days. After a moment, Yukari came clean, and explained that she actually already knew about Minako's past, that they had been watching her in the dorms. To even the score though, she told Minako more about her past- why Yukari was in Iwatodai, what she hoped to achieve. She then apologized for being unable to protect Minako, that it was her fault the girl was in this mess. Minako reassured the other, and told her that truthfully? She'd been terrified on the roof as well. Worries laid to rest, Yukari bid the girl farewell, and left.
That night, Minako heard the whole story from one of the main backers of SEES, Shuji Ikutsuki. It turned out that there were more then 24 hours in a day, but that one extra hour, the time when all those coffins and blood were everywhere, was hidden between one day and the next. It was known as the Dark Hour. Normal people had no idea any of this occurred, as they were transformed into aforementioned coffins and put to sleep. Also, Shadows, the creatures that had attacked Minako and Yukari on the roof, roamed the streets only during the Dark Hour, never any other time. It was the responsibility of the group SEES (Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad) to exterminate the Shadows, as the Shadows fed on the minds of the rare humans that, for whatever reason, were not transformed into a coffin. Even rarer were people that could fight back against the Shadows with a special power- the power to summon and command a Persona. Minako was then recruited to SEES and given her own Evoker (the gun shaped object Yukari had). The Fool Social Link awoke after her acceptance of the position and caused her inner strength to begin to grow.
Things got pretty busy after that; Minako not only juggled her schoolwork and midnight SEES operations (exploring Tartarus [the giant tower Gekkoukan transformed into during the Dark Hour], training, etc), but she joined a sports team (after Junpei and Akihiko recommended them to her), helped out an old couple who ran a used bookstore, joined the library committee, became a member of the student government thanks to Mitsuru, and devoted afternoons to spending with friends. SEES grew when Junpei joined the group, and the trio (Minako, Junpei, and Yukari) got their first taste of team combat in Tartarus, followed by an encounter with their first abnormal Shadow, a stronger than average Shadow that escaped Tartarus which possessed a monorail train. Later, she received a visit from the strange boy who had given her the contract to sign- apparently his name was Pharos.
Midterms came and went, and Akihiko was declared well enough to join the squad, while Mitsuru continued to support the group. Eventually, the team discovered a girl named Fuuka Yamagishi, who not only vanished from Iwatodai, but managed to make her way into Tartarus. She manifested a Persona that specialized in scanning enemies and areas ahead of the team, which allowed Fuuka to take over the role of spotter and let Mitsuru return to the battlefield. Around this time, the group realized that the abnormal Shadows appear once a month, on the night of the full moon. No one was entirely certain what that meant, only that it meant something, and that now they had a timetable for their training.
One day, a few months after Minako moved to Port Island, the group gathered with Ikutsuki for a group meeting. However, before they began, Yukari confronted Mitsuru and claimed that the older woman knew much more then what she told everyone else. Mitsuru reluctantly came clean; 10 years ago, the Kirijo Group (the organization that build Gekkoukan High School) had been interested in Shadows, as certain research suggested that Shadows were able to affect time and space. Under the direction of Mitsuru's grandfather, the Kirijo Group decided to harness those powers, and began to collect a large number of Shadows to study and experiment on. However, during the final stages of the main experiment, control over the Shadows was lost, and the nature of the world was altered; the Dark Hour was born, and Tartarus rose. The collected Shadows reformed and split into several distinct, separate ones and vanished- the same ones that appeared whenever the moon was full. However, the recent battles the team had fought now raised the possibility that if the original Shadows from the experiment were eliminated, then the Dark Hour would be eliminated as well. There was an end in sight! If the group could survive their Final Exams.
At last, summer break had arrived! The group managed to snag some vacation time on the beaches of Yakushima thanks to Mitsuru's family connections. However, there was another reason why Ikutsuki pushed for a break; Mitsuru's father (Takeharu Kirijo) was the only surviving eyewitness of the experiment 10 years ago. He was also in Yakushima during their vacation. During their stay, he told them the truth. His grandfather had been searching for a way to create a device that could manipulate time and make it possible to alter past and future events. Takeharu then showed the group of a video recorded by one of the experiment's top researchers in his final moments.
It was recorded by Yukari's father.
In the video, Yukari's father explained what happened, how he knew the experiment had been dangerous, but had been blinded by his goals. Now, the only way to end the Dark Hour was to destroy the twelve Shadows that escaped from the facility. This information crushed Yukari; she believed that her father had been blameless for a very long time, and with that belief ripped from her, she didn't know what to fight for. Yukari ran off, devastated, and Minako chased after her, with the intent of offering the girl a shoulder to lean on. Desperate, she asked what she was supposed to do now, and Minako told her she should keep believing in her father, no matter what happened. This encouraged Yukari, and after a short discussion with Junpei, they all headed back inside.
The next day, the girls of the group abandoned Junpei and Akihiko. Apparently some of the comments Junpei made the previous day were not appreciated, and the ladies left to hike in the woods. Unfortunately, they received a call from Ikutsuki- apparently an anti-Shadow weapon had escaped from a lab. He wanted them to find it, which meant they had to go find the boys. Of course, neither of them answered their cellphones, and left the girls at an impasse. Fortunately, their problem solved itself; a strange girl approached the group and proclaimed she would never leave Minako. The guys showed up right around that moment, and things were rather awkward until Ikutsuki arrived on the scene. Later, Minako and the team discovered the girl was the escaped anti-Shadow weapon (a robot) named Aigis, and Ikutsuki ordered her to assist SEES in the elimination of the Shadows.
The party returned to Port Island and was forced into summer school, while Minako also attended the volleyball team's sports retreat. The retreat took place in a sleepy town called Inaba, and the team stayed at the local Amagi Inn, where she briefly met the owner's daughter, one Yukiko Amagi. Shortly after she returned home, SEES discovered yet another party member, a dog named Koromaru who was known guard the local shrine.
(At this point, Minako is Awakened and brought to Nautilus.)
Following the addition of Koromaru to the team, another Persona user was introduced- a boy that had been living in the dorms for a few months, a child named Ken Amada. No one was happy about that, though Akihiko seemed particularly horrified for some reason…
Later, Akihiko approached Minako and requested her presence somewhere after school. Though somewhat confused by this uncharacteristic behavior, Minako agreed, and they headed to the Iwatodai Station. There, they ran into a semi-familiar figure, Aragaki Shinjiro, who had previously aided the SEES team when they investigated Fuuka's disappearance. Akihiko revealed that Shinjiro was also a Persona user, though he had left the first SEES team (originally composed of Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Shinjiro). Minako and Akihiko had approached the other male with the intent to recruit him for the reformed SEES squad. Initially, Shinjiro resisted, until Akihiko mentioned that Ken had joined the team. Shinjiro gave in easily after that conspicuous name drop, a highly suspicious reaction that Minako, admittedly, didn't think much of at the time. Either way, they had added another team member- the Twelve Shadows didn't stand a chance.
Too bad things weren't meant to last.
As the season slid towards fall, the group was confronted by an odd group of people by the name of Strega, who also had Persona and Evokers. Strega had no desire to return to the ordinary lifestyles they led outside of the Dark Hour, and were prepared to stop SEES at any cost. Around that time, Junpei met an artist named Chidori and began to befriend her, though friendship swiftly turned to love. The night of the September full moon, Junpei vanished right when the team needed to take care of the Shadow of the month. Unable to wait while the Shadow was on the loose, the team headed out to deal with the monster, though they promised to look for Junpei after the battle. As it turned out, Junpei had been kidnapped by Chidori, who was actually a member of Strega, and she threatened to kill him unless he called off the full-moon operation. Thankfully, the team burst onto the scene when things got dicy and managed to disarm Chidori. She was then hospitalized under close supervision. During her hospitalization, things began to come to light. The reason why Strega had Personae was the result of an old experiment; however, they were unable to control their Persona like the rest of the SEES team. Chidori also became rather close to Junpei, something that terrified her. She continued to struggle with her emotions as time passed.
During this time, Minako was still busy with school, training, and her friends. She also began the process of befriending Shinjiro, and gradually encouraged him to open up to her and the rest of the team. Everyone grew closer- until October, that is. That month, on the night of the full moon, Ken called Shinjiro while the rest of the team was occupied with battling the monthly Shadow. Ken revealed that two years ago, on that exact day, his mother had been killed by none other then Shinjiro. He was determined to claim revenge by killing the other with his own two hands. However, the two were confronted by Takaya, the leader of Strega, who, after his initial threats, shot at them. Wounded, Shinjiro collapsed, but when Takaya turned his gun at Ken to kill the boy-
-Shinjiro jumped in front of Ken and shielded him from the bullet. The SEES team turned up on the scene, thanks to Fuuka's tracking abilities, and forced Takaya to retreat. Shinjiro gave the group his final words and passed out. As Minako did not return Shinjiro's pocket watch to him, the older Persona user died. Devastated, Ken vanished for a time, though Akihiko managed to track him down and return him to the dorm. Things moved on. Exams came and went, Minako became even closer to with the SEES team and her classmates, and the group trained for November, the final showdown with the last Full Moon Shadow. Pharos appeared once again, though his words were even vaguer than before, with a slight ominous tone to them.
The team headed to the Moonlight Bridge, and, after they forced Strega to retreat again, killed the last Shadow. It was over. The Dark Hour was finished. Pharos left one final message, and said his farewells. It was officially time to kick back and chill out. The next night, Aigis was taken in for some repairs, while Mitsuru ordered sushi. Her father came to celebrate with the team as well. They even managed to get a (horrible) group photo taken.
And then the Dark Hour came. No one understood what was going on, much less why there were bells tolling in the distance. It was an ominous sign- that sound had never occurred during the Dark Hour before. Takeharu raised an important point though, where was Ikutsuki? After all, he was the one who said that defeating all twelve Shadows would end the Dark Hour. Everyone headed for Tartarus, and the answers that awaited them there.
Ikutsuki had strung them along from the beginning. He knew that defeating the 12 Shadows wouldn't end the Dark Hour, as he had actually been one of the original Kirijo Group scientists from the experiments ten years ago, but would instead force them to merge into Death, who would bring about the Fall. The Dark Hour was intentional, and came about as a part of the method to call the Fall. The only hope of salvation for the world... lay in the ruin (and death) of everything in the world.
It was clear the Ikutsuki was insane. However, for an insane man, he retained a remarkable amount of planning skills, and, in anticipation of their confrontation, had Aigis reprogrammed. He ordered her to capture the SEES team to sacrifice them, so he could bring about the Fall. She obeyed, and knocked everyone unconscious. When the team woke up, they were near the top of Tartarus, strapped to crosses. Takeharu was restrained by Aigis, and after a few bitter words, Ikutsuki ordered Aigis to kill him. However, she hesitated and struggled to break free of her programming. This infuriated Ikutsuki, who drew his gun and prompted Mitsuru's father to do the same. The two men shot each other, though Ikutsuki was the one left standing. He turned his attention back to Aigis, and demanded that she sacrifice the SEES team. Thankfully, Aigis resisted again, and destroyed their restraints. Ikutsuki attempted to regain control over Aigis one last time via remote transmitter, but Koromaru jumped in and snatched the control from the insane man. As he bled out, Ikutsuki laughed, and staggered back off the edge of the platform, falling to his death. Shortly after, Takeharu succumbed to his gun shot wound, and died in his daughter's arms.
The next few days were difficult for everyone. Mitsuru had to manage the Kirijo Group, and Aigis was to restore her to her original state, pre-reprogramming. The team had no idea what they were up against, much less how to stop it. Things looked grim, but life went on... for now.
Several days later, after Aigis was declared restored, Junpei pulled Minako aside at the end of school to introduce her to a new transfer student, Ryoji Mochizuki. He was... odd. He flirted with our protagonist right off the bat, though his word choice was slightly stilted, and Aigis seemed to despise him, claiming he was "bad". The robot was determined to keep them as far away from each other as possible, an effort that proved futile. Minako kept running into Ryoji on the way to school or during the weekends, and was more then happy to talk with him- he was strange, and at the same time very familiar.
The second-year and third-year students all headed to Kyoto for a school trip- it was a chance to take a step back, relax and unwind. It was one of the last they would get, too. Shortly after the trip, Jin and Takaya, the two other members of Strega, broke Chidori out of the hospital she had been kept in. That night, Fuuka contacted Minako during the Dark Hour, because she had sensed a Persona outside of Tartarus, and Strega were the only other people with Personae. The team met up in the communications room, where Fuuka searched for the presence she had sensed. However, something strange occurred, and Fuuka was possessed by Chidori and her Persona (Medea). Chidori claimed that she was tired of seeing them, and had decided to do something about it. She challenged them to a battle in front of Tartarus, and released her hold on Fuuka's mind. Junpei ran off, and Minako prepared the team for battle, with full knowledge they were walking into a trap.
When the SEES team caught up with Junpei, he had already confronted Chidori. Thanks to Fuuka's warning, Junpei was able to dodge her sudden attack, and the others engaged her in battle. It was a difficult battle, but Minako and her friends managed to prevail. Junpei demanded an answer to why Chidori had turned on them. Overwrought, she revealed that she had lashed out in an attempt to distance herself from Junpei. Takaya and Jin both showed up on the scene shortly after this revelation, and, after a bit of conversation, and shot Junpei. Chidori, however, was not willing to let him die. The red-head sprung into action, and used her Persona's life emitting ability to revive Junpei. However, this came at the cost of her own life; after she told Junpei she loved him, Chidori died in Junpei's arms. The Strega leader, who had watched the proceedings, merely scoffed, and deemed the female's death meaningless. This enraged Junpei, and he attacked the two remaining Strega members in blind rage. Strega was forced to retreat, and, after he initially attempted to pursue them, Junpei was reminded that it's not just his life he's living now, but his and Chidori's. Subdued, he reluctantly returned with the rest of SEES to the dorms.
During the next full moon, the entire situation changed rapidly, in a way no one expected. During the Dark Hour, Fuuka woke Minako to inform her of a strange situation. Aigis's Persona had briefly appeared, before it vanished somewhere near Moonlight Bridge. Worried, the team headed out to find their friend, and stumbled upon her heavily damaged form. Aigis managed a few words of apology, and claimed she remembered why she wanted to stay near Minako's side, before the robot shut down. After this, a familiar face approached the group, with strange words on his lips- Ryoji. As he was the only being around, the logical conclusion was that he was the one who harmed Aigis, but how could a human damage a robot? Mitsuru demanded an answer.
"I am the same as the beings you call Shadows," Ryoji claimed. He went on to explain that he was the "Appriser", the embodiment of all 12 Arcana, the one who will call the maternal being known as Nyx to the world and bring about the Fall. Ryoji had been born 10 years ago, during the experiment that brought about the Dark Hour, as the Arcana, Death. However, after the experiment went awry, Death was fragmented and forced to flee. Aigis had pursued him, and they fought on Moonlight Bridge, inadvertently causing several car accidents. However, Aigis had realized she would be unable to completely defeat him, and instead sealed him away in a little girl nearby. That child recalled nothing of what had happened to her, and instead grew up with Death contained within her. But one day, in a startling twist of fate, the girl returned to the Iwatodai area, to Tatsumi Port Island as a transfer student. That girl… was Minako. After Minako awakened her first Persona, and consequently awoke the form of Death sealed within her (the coffin toting being), the other 12 Full Moon Shadows stirred in a desire to become one with Death again. One by one, they were reunited, and after the final Full Moon Shadow was defeated, when Pharos (the Death Social Link, hence the Death Arcana, therefore the form of Death sealed inside of her) said goodbye, the final fragment of Death was unsealed and joined the other fragments. But the fragment of Death that had lived within Minako was different from the others; thanks to it's exposure to our protagonist's soul, it had developed it's own equivalent of a soul, a human side. This human side became the dominate personality of the Shadow mishmash, which ultimately gave birth to the being known as Ryoji. However, he unconsciously surpressed his memories of being Death, and of his true Shadow nature, which resulted in his odd interactions with the rest of the world and other people. Unfortunately, just because Ryoji didn't remember his nature doesn't mean it changed what he was. The entire time he existed, he unconsciously called Nyx to Earth, in order for her to bestow death upon everything. There was no way to prevent it- Ryoji's existence guaranteed the Fall. Humanity would not live to see spring. Nyx could not be defeated, because she was death itself, something no one can avoid. But there was another choice. If Minako killed Ryoji, then the SEES team would forget everything about the Dark Hour and Nyx. They would be able to live in peace until Nyx came, and would experience a painless end. No one was happy with this choice, and expressed their frustration. However, Ryoji persuaded them to consider their options and make their choice on December 31st, the last day Ryoji would still be himself. He then left.
Things were tense, for a while. During a short group meeting, Junpei blew up and blamed Minako for Nyx's coming, and the others still were uncertain of what they wanted to do. The rest of the world had no idea what awaited them in the near future, though things were getting worse. More and more people fell ill due to the effects of the Dark Hour. But time went on, and the rest of the team gradually made their decisions. Christmas came and went.
Aigis returned to the dorms on December 30th, and after everyone explained their position, she despaired. She had come to believe that there was no possible way to defeat Nyx, and that it would be better to forget the entire situation. However, the truth was that she felt lost- Aigis had, in her eyes, failed to protect the others, which was the only purpose she felt her existence had. The members of the SEES team managed to persuade her to believe that she had a purpose- whatever she decided for herself. But she really wouldn't be able to decide unless she kept living, would she? Aigis rediscovered her resolve, and also agreed that she didn't want to forget her time with everyone.
The next day, Ryoji reappeared at the dorm, and quietly informed the assembled group that at midnight, he would no longer be Ryoji Mochizuki , but some other unrecognizable form. Until the group made their decision, he would wait in Minako's room, but he left them with one last piece of advice. Don't let the fact that they would have to kill Ryoji influence their decision; after all, he would die either way. Ryoji left the room, and Mitsuru asked if everyone had made their choice. It seemed everyone was unanimous in their decision- they would against Nyx and refused to kill Ryoji. Minako left to inform Ryoji of their decision.
Despite the SEES decision, Ryoji urged Minako to choose whatever she wanted, as ultimately, it was her decision. Only Minako had the ability to kill Ryoji, which meant that no matter what the rest of SEES believed, if Minako wanted to forget, they could all forget. She refused. He urged her to consider, to recall that fighting against Nyx was a futile endeavor that could only end in anguish. Minako refused again, and, in a last ditch attempt to persuade her, Ryoji revealed his true form, Thanatos (that monster that appeared the first time Minako summoned her Persona), and demonstrated how inhuman he was.
Minako repeated her decision- she would not kill him. Unhappily, Ryoji finally acknowledged her choice, and returned to his human appearance. Somewhat wistfully, he told her how grateful he was to have known her. He would die, but as long as Minako remembered him, Ryoji felt some part of him would endure. For the last time, he bid her farewell, and returned to the main entrance. After a moment, Minako followed him downstairs, where Ryoji had begun to tell the rest of SEES the little information on Nyx that he knew. His last request of the team was that they remember him as he was at that moment, human, a friend. Then, he walked out of the dorm for the last time.
The team frequently trained in Tartarus, to prepare for their final battle. Minako led them up and up through the tower, and into the hidden depths of Monad, a basement area of Tartarus. They prepared for the fights to come in every way possible. All too soon, it was January 31st. Together, they made one last vow to meet on Graduation Day on the school's rooftop, and headed towards the top of the tower. On the way, the SEES members battled Jin and Takaya, one last time. Takaya attempted to sway them, and told them that Nyx's summoning was not the result of one person's wish, but all of humanity's. Humanity had lost sight of its desire for life, and so it called out for Nyx to end everything. This end was the will of the people.
His attempt failed. SEES was unmoved, and after they defeated the leader of Strega, continued on towards the top of Tartarus, where Ny was predicted to arrive. At the top, something waited for them- Ryoji. Or rather, Nyx's Avatar, as the personality known as Ryoji had vanished into Nyx. He had become Death, the end all beings feared, the end that awaited everything since the moment of birth. But they would defy him. They wanted to live. They would fight for their right to life. The battle was long and arduous, as Death seemed to have an infinite amount of energy. The team continued to fight though, and eventually, managed to topple Nyx's Avatar. It wasn't the end though, as the being slowly ascended into the night air. He congratulated the group for their persistence, their willingness to fight against fate, and lamented the fact that there were not more people like them. If there had been, perhaps the Fall could have been prevented. It was too late though. Nyx... had arrived.
From the moon emerged an ominous, webbed sphere that vaguely resembled an eye. It attached itself to its avatar, and began its descent upon humanity. Wave upon wave of pressure pressed down on the SEES members, though the team refused to submit, and barely managed to stay on their feet. But Death was unstoppable. It unleashed another, heavier wave of energy, and forced everyone to their knees. Minako resisted for as long as possible, before she too fell to the ground and passed out.
The SEES leader was once again summoned to the Velvet Room, where Igor and Theodore waited. Igor soothed her worries and assured her that she was still alive. He then reminded her of one of his earliest pieces of advice. that her Social Links determined her strength and potential, and told her to listen for the many voices of her friends as they called out to her. Minako closed her eyes and waited. One by one, each of her friend's voice echoed in her mind and encouraged her not to give up. Igor informed her that now was the time to draw upon all of their strength, as he facilitated the fusion of Links she had into a single Arcana. This was the last power Minako would create in the Velvet Room, a power to bring about an final end or a fresh beginning- the power of the Universe Arcana. With this power in hand, Minako had the ability to do anything, nothing was impossible for her. Theodore announced that they were approaching Minako's destination, while Igor mused about the hand Fate had dealt the girl (Death, the wild card, and the Universe). With this last service, and Minako's arrival at her destination, the contract between them was now fulfilled. The room finally slowed, stopped its ascent, and the elevator doors rattled open. Minako opened her eyes to the scene on the roof of Tartarus, as her friends still struggled to stand. Easily, with no hesitation, the girl climbed to her feet and faced Nyx without flinching. She gently leapt into the air, and soared towards Nyx's main form, floating high above them.
It was strange inside of the mother of all Shadows. There was light, followed by absolute darkness, and at the center of it all lay... a glowing egg. This had to be Nyx. Minako landed on the floor and faced off against the Bringer of Death, one on one. The first blast of energy Nyx released should have killed her, but somehow, Minako resisted. Faintly, she heard the voices of the SEES team as they all shouted encouragement and drew strength from their support, to the point that none of Nyx's attacks affected her. When she was at full strength, Minako straightened and called upon every last drop of her power to cast the Great Seal.
And so, Nyx was banished, and Tartarus vanished into the sky. Minako reunited with her team in front of the now normal Gekkoukan High. It was over. The Dark Hour had ended. The team became normal high school students desperate to finish out their school year, and, as a side effect of the disappearance of the Dark Hour, forgot everything they had been through. Their SEES armbands vanished, as their owners most likely thought they were pieces of scrap material, as did their Evokers. Their friendship dwindled into mere acquaintances in the dorms, faceless people to gossip about instead of friends forged through battle and blood.
Minako remembered though, and watched and waited as Graduation Day approached, as she slowly became more and more weary. The days sped by, and soon, it was March 3rd. Exams had finished, and there were two days left before the school year would end. Minako spent those two days around various parts of the city and visited all the friends she had made. Some were still around, others had left for far-away places. All the fun times, the daily hang-outs had come to an end, but they still thought of her, whether they were near or far. It was truly touching.
March 5th dawned bright and cheerful, when someone knocked at her door. It was Aigis. Minako let her robotic friend into her room, and agreed to speak with her, as something was clearly on her mind.
Aigis... remembered everything. The battles, the heartache, the laughter, everything. She had been worried to the point of tears because once she had remembered, Aigis had been terrified that Minako was going to vanish, like she had during the final confrontation with Nyx. However, with the SEES leader in front of her, Aigis was reassured and asked the girl if she would like to wait on the school rooftop for their friends. The teen agreed and together, they departed for their last day of school. On the school's roof, Aigis noticed our hero's fatigue, and persuaded her friend to lie down. As they waited, they spoke of friendship, individual needs, and how people find meaning in their life. They could faintly hear Junpei and the rest of SEES in the distance, and though she wanted to be awake to see the others arrive, Minako was so tired… Aigis told her it would be alright for her to rest. Her friends would be there soon, and Aigis would stay with her for for forever, protecting her. Minako smiled, and closed her eyes.
Character Personality:
Given Minako's status as a silent protagonist, her personality is generally shaped by the actions the player makes for her. However, that doesn't mean she's a completely blank slate- her dialogue choices give us a decent idea of who she is. From the beginning of the game, it's clear Minako is a very friendly person. When she first meets Yukari, the other girl nearly pulls a "gun" on her. Despite this, one of Minako's first choices when speaking to Yukari is, "Nice to meet you!" A day later, Minako finds out she and Yukari are the same homeroom, and tell the other girl she's glad she gets to have classes with a friend. She can be very enthusiastic too- when Minako meets one of her teachers for the first time, she can either respond calmly and politely ("I'm pleased to meet you.") or in a much more chipper manner ("Nice to meet you!"). This enthusiasm isn't just limited to her social interactions with others though. It manifests itself in her daily life in a variety ways, such as in the variety of recipes she tries out in the cooking club (a new one every day!), the way she bounces back from terrifying events, or just how energetic she behaves. Minako wants to do as much as possible as quickly as possible, and this desire, while admirable, is a double edged sword. If Minako pushes herself to do too much without rest (which is very easy to do in P3P), she gets sick, and becomes unable to do anything except take it easy for several days.
Once you get to know her better though, it becomes clear Minako has a silly side too. Yukari and Junpei have a disagreement about how safe it is to visit the back-alleys if Port Island Station at night; Yukari claims the outing could be an adventure, while Junpei insists it's much more dangerous than that. Our protagonist can make the comment that it's "Adventure time!" before heading out into the night. In the drama CDs, she teases Junpei after he tries to get the others interested in another trip to the beach. After they all respond negatively to the idea, Minako declares that it's "GAAAAAME SET!" and match, with Junpei as the loser. Unfortunately, there are times when Minako's sense of humor comes across as a bit warped and inappropriate for the situation. After the team is forced to break into the school at night, they need to find the keys to the gym, which should be located in the faculty office. Yukari manages to find a set of keys but due to the lack of light, cannot read them. Minako can claim the keys say "Morgue," even though she knows perfectly well that such a response would freak the other girl out. When a young child named Maiko asks Minako why her parents are getting a divorce, Minako has the option to tell the Maiko her parents are separating because she was a bad girl.
Quirks aside, our protagonist has several other (glaring) flaws. The teen can be rather pushy, and she butts into a number of situations uninvited. For example, when Akihiko asks Junpei to do him a favor, Minako invites herself on the errand. At other times, her friends will ask to be left alone, and Minako will simply ignore their request. This reaction is a mixture of her intrusiveness and her tendency towards action instead of words; unfortunately, this tendency has resulted in a fair number of problems on its own. When people Minako cares about are insulted or demeaned in front of her, she immediately jumps in, sometimes with words, more often with physical retaliation without considering the consequences. If someone is in danger, she'll push them out of the way, regardless of her own safety. In other words, while Minako may mean well, she's reckless, and doesn't think things through, which can result in all kinds of unpleasant situations.
Minako can be very oblivious about the emotions or situations. She's more than capable of saying the wrong thing (see divorce situation above), and sometimes just doesn't get it. There are times when she completely misses the way people feel about her unless they deliberately spell it out. She doesn't question any of the information she learns about the Dark Hour, and even thinks that wandering into a dark alley late at night to question a group of delinquents will turn out okay, despite Junpei repeatedly telling her otherwise.
Despite of all the mistakes and misunderstandings Minako can cause, she truly values her friends. She would do almost anything for them, and is highly offended whenever she feels someone is mistreating the people she cares about. She can forgive them for many things too; Minako easily forgives the 10,000 yen Tanaka scams her out of, and welcomes Ken back to the team despite his role in Shinjiro's injury. Without the support of her friends, Minako herself is diminished- it's highly unlikely she would have survived the year without her companions, and without their friendship she could never reach her maximum potential. The bonds she makes allow her overcome the final challenge of the year.
Powers and Abilities:
Minako is a natural Persona user, which means she can summon a power born from her soul, and shaped by her personality. On top of that, she has the power of a Wild Card, which means she a) has more than one Persona and b) can freely switch between them during battle. This ability means Minako can fit any and every role in battle. Want more attackers? Done. Need to break the enemy down, or build up the team? She can do it. In dire need of healing? No worries, Minako's got your back.
There are a few conditions though- despite the wide variety of Persona Minako can use, she can only maintain at most twelve Persona in her mind. If she wants to use a different one, Minako would have to visit the Velvet Room to summon or create a new Persona. Using a Persona is no cakewalk either! It takes a great deal of concentration and will-power to summon a Persona. If this concentration is broken, the summoning will not take place. As a Persona 3 protagonist, Minako also requires an Evoker to complete the summoning; theoretically, she could learn how to summon a Persona without her Evoker, but that would take an extraordinary amount of time and practice.
So what exactly can a Persona do? A Persona is capable of many things, such as healing wounds, casting magic (attack spells, buffs, debuffs, status-altering spells), or physically attacking an enemy in a variety of ways. Casting spells requires SP, or Spirit Points, while physical attacks require HP, Health Points. A person cannot cast a spell or use an attack that calls for more SP/HP than the person has.
Persona also have their own characteristics. Some Persona are better physical attackers (i.e., they have a higher Strength stat), while others are better spell casters. Some learn lots of fire spells, others learn light/dark spells (insta-kill moves, provided they hit). They all have things they're strong or weak against as well- Pyro Jack, a fire type Persona, can Nullify fire-based attacks (the attacks cause no harm to Minako), but is Weak against ice moves (ice attacks cause extra damage and result in a knocked down status). Since Minako's abilities are based on what her equipped Persona can do (the Persona at the forefront of her mind), that also means her strengths and weaknesses are based on that Persona. Literally speaking, if her equipped Persona has lots of Strength, Minako is a strong physical attacker. If they have a lot of Luck, Minako is very lucky. If they're weak to wind spells, Minako gets topped by a breeze.
Magical Mind Monsters aside, Minako is fairly light on her feet. At school, Minako is part of the volleyball team, meaning she's physically fit, and used to maintaining that level of fitness. In battle, Minako is capable of jumping fairly high in the air and landing on her feet. She knows her way around a naginata, and is capable of repurposing other items for battle, such as a hockey stick. But most importantly, Minako is a leader- she knows how to win a fight, and she can do it efficiently. She knows how to make use of her teammates' strengths, and how to compensate for their weaknesses.
Samples
Network:
[ the video opens with not an image, but the sound of screams and battle cries echo in the background. 'I'm not leavin' him behind!' 'You can't save him, Joe, he's already gone!'
then something clatters, and finally the screen flickers to the sight of Minako, smiling and waving for the camera. ] Hey, everyone! I've been exploring the Southern District today, and I just happened to stumble across… This!
[ the teen shifts the camera so all the viewers can finally get a glimpse of what she's been standing in front of. there's a large, brick building looming against the skyline, and an EXTREME PIZZA sign flashes boldly high above a set of doors, with a hastily "and Laser Tag" painted below it. the camera shifts back to Minako, who's practically vibrating in place. ]
So come on, get down here and we'll get some games going! The first few rounds can be team matches, or a tournament or something, and after that we let loose with a Take-No-Prisoners, Accept-No-Quarter free for all! Losers have to pay for dinner, and winners get free food and bragging rights!
Third Person:
It was a nice day. Clear skies, a gentle breeze- if she closed her eyes, Minako could almost pretend she was back home. Almost. The air in the Eastern District lacked a certain bite present in Iwatodai's atmosphere. It was such a small difference, but was more than enough to shatter any wistful daydreams the teen might have lured herself into.
Minako sighed, and flopped backwards into a careless sprawl. She stared up at the sky, idly tracked the movements of a few odd looking clouds as her fingertips splashed in the creek next to her. Distantly, she could hear the shouts of a few daring Wakened as they leapt from the bridge. Bungee jumping… the mere thought of such an activity sent shivers down her spine, her stomach swooping in anticipation of the plunge.
Snorting, Minako slapped her hand against the water. "'The mere thought'…? I'm starting to sound like Theo," she muttered, and grinned wryly. Wow, was she getting so homesick she felt the need to emulate Velvet Room attendants in her head? That was just sad. Though she couldn't deny the faint longing to see someone from home, to speak to someone who understood the world she came from, and all the the trials present there. Too bad she couldn't just summon up a Velvet Door whenever or wherever she felt like.
The thought made her blink, as she mentally turned the idea over in her head. Maybe she couldn't call up a Door back in Iwatodai, but the teen wasn't anywhere near the man-made city. She was in Nautilus, a land where belief could Bend reality to its whims. So maybe, if she believed hard enough-
Of course, there was the issue of her Beginner's Bending status…
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Minako told herself firmly as she fished out a familiar key from her pocket. The water droplets that had clung to her fingers transferred to the Velvet Key, and when she held it up to the sun, sparkled. Using bits and pieces she associated with her goal as focuses to sharpen her mind's image of the product- it was concrete, and it felt like it gave her an anchor in a sea of uncertainty. The instructors all assured her that with a bit more practice she wouldn't need trinkets, that she was only stunting her own ability using crutches, but Minako liked Bending like this. Maybe it was different from how other Wakened used their powers, but the SEES leader didn't really care about being different. What mattered was that it worked- so far, at least.
With her eyes shut, Minako traced the shape of the Velvet Key in her palm, and recalled the image of the Door in Tartarus' first floor. The color, the height, the presence it had. She held that picture in her mind and traced the memory of opening the door, passing through to the strange room beyond. The carpet, the doors that lined the walls, and the table Igor presided over. It took a while, but eventually she had the entire set up clearly pictured in her mind. Finally, she tried to Bend it into existence. The first time, she knew it didn't work. The second went the same as the first. Somewhere after the fifth try, she track of time, lost count of her attempts, and instead focused all her concentration on believing that the Velvet Door was right there. Maybe just a little further away from the water's edge, but definitely, solidly present, something she could reach out and touch.
Minako opened her eyes and glanced over. There was nothing there.
For a long moment, the teen just stared at the spot, as still as a statue. Then, she groaned, and covered her eyes with the back of her arm, "I guess I'll need to learn the 'right way' after all…" Minako lay there for a few more minutes, before she clambered to her feet and dusted off her clothes. She would drop by the Bending School later in the week, and if the instructors couldn't help her, she could always ask the other residents of Nautilus for tips. But right now, she was going to find those Wakened she heard earlier and see if they would let her take a jump. She could do with an adrenaline rush right about now.