[ ↔ | Detail o2: The Seal, Shards, and Moon Cycles | & ]
The Shards of the Seal: Those of you who've played Persona 3 (and/or FES, but you must know about The Answer, the second chapter/continuation, in order to understand this AU) recognize the significance during the beginning of the game of the moon's cycles: attacks can be affected by it, but more importantly...
... one of the 12 Shadows that are used to complete Death, the Appriser (Ryoji Mochizuki), show up monthly during these times.
In Persona 4, the weather matters more--Inaba has a very strange fog that, when it covers the town, Shadows inside of the Television World there (which is the world inside people's own consciousness, I suppose) go berserk, as the fog THERE lifts. It comes after rainy days. During rainy days you can watch the Midnight Channel (though the mun likes to call it Mayonaka TV ♥), and see about the person who's been forced into the Television next.
I won't explain further--if you need information, Wiki one or the other. Basically, what changes here, is that the cycle of the Moon matters again.
There are exactly 24 pieces to the Seal holding back Nyx, the Maternal Being, which is supposed to come and bring destruction to all. Since the seal is broken, there's a piece for EACH Arcana, more or less, even the minor ones... Naoto got the first right off the bat when it pegged her right through the heart--the one literally containing the soul of the young man who'd made himself the Seal: Minato Arisato. As such, his spirit inhabits her body.
This piece was of the World Arcana. Aeon does not count, as Aigis holds his last piece--which was the Key found in The Answer--and she used it. It is forever binding the dorm and keeping things there as they should be.
The pieces themselves can possess anything, but they like living hosts, depending on which arcana it is: if it's Fortune, it might go after someone who likes to gamble or try their luck, etc.* You get the idea. Much like producing someone's shadow self, the pieces mutate the worst out of their owners, and they manifest as Monsters.
Once the Shadow is defeated, the piece can be obtained. They cannot be taken back, as Minato uses each piece to slowly unbind himself from Naoto--basically, the more he gets, the more freedom he can have, the more he can hold back Erebus, etc. Naoto is now the leader--with her Senpai gone, it's her job, as the one with Minato's Wildcard ability, to lead the Investigation Team and regather what's been lost.
If she can manage to recreate the Seal like it was in it's original state, it will prevent Nyx from coming back, though Minato will once again be forced into an eternal sleep, by his lonesome. He has chosen not to tell Naoto about Aigis and the others--he knows they've moved on with their lives, and wouldn't wish to bring them back into a mess like this.
The return of the Dark Hour and Apathy Syndrome: Seeing as most of the Seal's residual (that is, most of Minato's physical body and half his soul) power is still holding Erebus back, the Dark Hour and Apathy Syndrome haven't spread throughout Japan, and Tartarus hasn't reestablished itself.
... However, the Dark Hour is now occurring in Inaba. At first, it was once a week. Then, a month later, twice. The longer it takes, the more often it will reappear. When the Dark Hour reaches it's original state, Tartarus will reappear, and the residual energy of the seal will be entirely used up--Minato's soul will all but cease to exist, and Nyx will descend upon the planet.
... Naoto and the rest of the Investigation Team are determined to not allow this to happen.
*Mun has almost no real knowledge of Tarot, so she's... uh, basing this from ONE SITE and this 'on the fly' kinda approach. Please forgive any mistakes; help would be greeeaaat. *___*;
... one of the 12 Shadows that are used to complete Death, the Appriser (Ryoji Mochizuki), show up monthly during these times.
In Persona 4, the weather matters more--Inaba has a very strange fog that, when it covers the town, Shadows inside of the Television World there (which is the world inside people's own consciousness, I suppose) go berserk, as the fog THERE lifts. It comes after rainy days. During rainy days you can watch the Midnight Channel (though the mun likes to call it Mayonaka TV ♥), and see about the person who's been forced into the Television next.
I won't explain further--if you need information, Wiki one or the other. Basically, what changes here, is that the cycle of the Moon matters again.
There are exactly 24 pieces to the Seal holding back Nyx, the Maternal Being, which is supposed to come and bring destruction to all. Since the seal is broken, there's a piece for EACH Arcana, more or less, even the minor ones... Naoto got the first right off the bat when it pegged her right through the heart--the one literally containing the soul of the young man who'd made himself the Seal: Minato Arisato. As such, his spirit inhabits her body.
This piece was of the World Arcana. Aeon does not count, as Aigis holds his last piece--which was the Key found in The Answer--and she used it. It is forever binding the dorm and keeping things there as they should be.
The pieces themselves can possess anything, but they like living hosts, depending on which arcana it is: if it's Fortune, it might go after someone who likes to gamble or try their luck, etc.* You get the idea. Much like producing someone's shadow self, the pieces mutate the worst out of their owners, and they manifest as Monsters.
Once the Shadow is defeated, the piece can be obtained. They cannot be taken back, as Minato uses each piece to slowly unbind himself from Naoto--basically, the more he gets, the more freedom he can have, the more he can hold back Erebus, etc. Naoto is now the leader--with her Senpai gone, it's her job, as the one with Minato's Wildcard ability, to lead the Investigation Team and regather what's been lost.
If she can manage to recreate the Seal like it was in it's original state, it will prevent Nyx from coming back, though Minato will once again be forced into an eternal sleep, by his lonesome. He has chosen not to tell Naoto about Aigis and the others--he knows they've moved on with their lives, and wouldn't wish to bring them back into a mess like this.
The return of the Dark Hour and Apathy Syndrome: Seeing as most of the Seal's residual (that is, most of Minato's physical body and half his soul) power is still holding Erebus back, the Dark Hour and Apathy Syndrome haven't spread throughout Japan, and Tartarus hasn't reestablished itself.
... However, the Dark Hour is now occurring in Inaba. At first, it was once a week. Then, a month later, twice. The longer it takes, the more often it will reappear. When the Dark Hour reaches it's original state, Tartarus will reappear, and the residual energy of the seal will be entirely used up--Minato's soul will all but cease to exist, and Nyx will descend upon the planet.
... Naoto and the rest of the Investigation Team are determined to not allow this to happen.
*Mun has almost no real knowledge of Tarot, so she's... uh, basing this from ONE SITE and this 'on the fly' kinda approach. Please forgive any mistakes; help would be greeeaaat. *___*;