"A lot is changing on Port Island. And with change, comes forgetting the past. Though we must carry on, we must never forget. If I learned anything growing up, it's that. Almost thirty years ago, there was the first epidemic of Apathy Syndrome, along with the rise of the Cult of Nyx. Port Island recovered from both, but now… they plague us once more.”
— Minato "MJ" Arisato
Following her outburst during her appearance at Good Morning Japan, famed idol Sonomi Arisato has gone on break and moved to Tatsumi Port Island to spend some time as a normal high school student at Gekkoukan High School. Aside from being bombarded with questions from fans and the nuisance that is Akio Amamiya, Sonomi doesn't expect anything more than a normal, if rather long, school year.
But after awakening to a strange power called Persona, Sonomi finds herself confronted with new revelations about her family, particularly her long-dead father, as well as the return of the Dark Hour and Cult of Nyx.
By exploring the mysterious tower Asphodel and the various Crypts with a new generation of Persona users by her side, Sonomi must not only find out just why this is all happening but the reason for her existence.
Papillion Hearts is a Persona fanfic written by Kittyfae/Lunnaire. It is a rewrite of her previous fic Reaching Zenith.
It can be read on Fanfiction.net
and Archive of our Own.
Tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The fanfic takes place in 2039, 16 years after its first chapter was published.
- Achey Scars: Sonomi has a mysterious butterfly-shaped scar on her chest, which starts hurting from time to time, particularly when she encounters something related to the past. During the first full moon, the pain grows more intense, culminating in Thanatos emerging from it.
- Adaptational Badass: In Reaching Zenith, while Sonomi was a prominent character, she only had one Persona to rely on and remained on the sidelines as ANKH's Sensor Character. Here, she possesses a more combat-oriented Persona as well as the Wild Card, allowing her to use multiple Personas.
- Adaptation Name Change: While both the male and female protagonists could both be named by the player, their canon names have been established as Makoto Yuki and Kotone Shiomi respectively. Here, the former is given the name Minato Arisato from the manga adaptation, while the latter is named Minako to match.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The events of Persona 3 involved both protagonists rather than either of them, with the male protagonist becoming the Great Seal as per canon. Naoto Shirogane is also their younger sister.
- Apocalypse Cult: The Cult of Nyx makes their return, once again preaching about the end of the world.
- Big Brother Instinct: Akio cares a lot for his little sister Suzu, to the point where he beat up an upperclassman for groping her butt when he was showing her around Shujin Academy.
- Chest Burster: Thanatos makes his first appearance in this fashion, crawling out from Sonomi's scar when she encounters the Magician Shadow. He gets a taste of it not too long after from Jeanne d'Arc.
- Continuity Nod: Sonomi's manager prior to her break was Alice Hiiragi, who became an idol manager following the events of Persona 5 Strikers.
- Contractual Purity: In-Universe example. This is established to be a major issue in the idol industry as early as the first chapter, with Sora's idol group reeling from a recent scandal where it was discovered their previous leader Hiroyuki Mikami was married and had at least one child at the time of his death. Sonomi also ran into trouble when she yelled at a TV host for bringing up the trouble her mother Yukari went through for having three illegitimate children. She mentions that her manager Alice had to convince Takura Productions to let her go on break rather than letting her go entirely, with Rise even pitching in.
- Dead Guy Junior: Sonomi's older brother is named Minato after their father. He was given the nickname "MJ" (short for "Minato Junior") by his aunt to distinguish him from his namesake.
- Disappeared Dad: Sonomi’s father Minato died back in 2010, which makes her birth over a decade later a mystery compared to her older siblings, who were conceived prior to his death.
- Driven to Suicide: Hiroyuki Mikami, the former leader of Yuukan, hung himself shortly after he was kicked out of the group for getting married and having a child. Sora, his successor, was the one to find his body.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Just like her father 30 years ago, Hotaru finds herself surrounded by female students fawning up over her. She finds it rather frustrating because she believes none of their adoration is actually genuine, instead being part of a Gay Romantic Phase they'll inevitably grow out of after high school.
- Exact Words: In the second chapter, Sonomi tells Akio not to call her by her first name. Rather than switching to her surname, Akio decides to call her Sonomin, since she didn’t tell him not to give her a nickname.
- Flash Forward Fic: The story is set almost 30 years after the events of Persona 3, focusing on the daughter of its male protagonist.
- Generation Xerox:
- Sonomi's arrival in the first chapters mirrors that of her father's 30 years ago, with her experiencing the Dark Hour soon after she arrives and meeting two dormmates of the opposite sex upon reaching the Iwatodai Dorm. The only difference is that she isn't told to sign a contract like Pharos did with Minato.
- Just like his mother Rise, Sora has become an idol at Takura Productions and gets involved with Personas while on break.
- According to MJ, Akio was expelled from his previous school after being arrested for assault, just as his father had been about 20 years ago. Though in his case, he had genuinely assaulted someone while his father was falsely accused, though both involved a corrupt politician.
- Hotaru has taken up boxing and has a group of fangirls like her dad, but she isn't a part of the boxing club because they only accept male members. Instead, she is the captain of the volleyball team.
- Idol Singer: Sonomi Arisato and Sora Narukami are both idols employed by Takura Productions, known to the public as Tsuki and Sorata of the idol group Yuukan respectively. Coincidentally, both have decided to take a break from their careers around the same time, Sonomi because of her outburst and Sora because of health reasons.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Sonomi, Sora, and Akio are all unaware of the Dark Hour, as they express confusion at the green hue their surroundings took at midnight.
- Loved by All: Minato was beloved by all of Gekkoukan by the time of his death, to the point where he has a memorial dedicated to him on the school rooftop. They’re also willing to overlook him impregnating Yukari, something that would otherwise taint his reputation.
- Luminescent Blush: Sonomi has one after seeing Sora, feeling her cheeks heat up "for some reason".
- Memorial Photo: There's one for Minato on the rooftop of Gekkoukan High, which was where he died.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: MJ appears to have this mentality, telling his sister Sonomi to be careful around Akio because of his record. His wife Airi calls him out about it, to which he can only weakly respond he doesn't have that attitude and that he only told her Sora was a good kid.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Akio was on the giving end of one, pummeling an upperclassman of his when he saw him sexually harassing his younger sister Suzu. He mentioned that he had to be admitted to the hospital.
- Practically Different Generations: There’s over a decade separating Sonomi and her older siblings, due to the peculiar circumstances of her birth. By the time Sonomi is in her second year of high school, her older brother is old enough to be her homeroom teacher, as well as married and having a family of his own. Despite this, they appear to have a good relationship.
- Related in the Adaptation: Naoto Shirogane is the Arisato twins' younger sister, having been taken in by their grandfather after their parents' passing.
- Same Plot Sequel: While the fic features characters and elements of Hashino-era games, it appears to have been written as a sequel to Persona 3 specifically. The Dark Hour and Apathy Syndrome have returned, with the Cult of Nyx having a larger presence compared to 30 years ago. Gekkoukan once again turns into a giant tower during the Dark Hour, though this time it is called Asphodel rather than Tartarus.
- Significant Birth Date: According to the author, Sonomi was born on the same day the fic was published, January 31st, 2023. This marks the 13th anniversary of SEES' battle against Nyx, which the author references by wishing the readers a 'happy P3 Doomsday’.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In regards to the Persona 3 cast, thanks to being an Alternate Universe Fic:
- Minako gets to live past the events of The Journey, with her twin brother Minato becoming the Great Seal in her stead. Canonically, she would have died on March 5th just as he did.
- Due to Minako's involvement, Shinjiro also survives his canonical encounter with Takaya and has opened a restaurant in Iwatodai by the time the story begins.
- In the FES and Portable releases of the game, it was possible to revive Chidori by triggering a series of event flags when talking to Junpei. Canon has been inconsistent on whether or not this has actually happened, but this fic decides to run with it.
- Spin-Offspring: The main characters are the children of SEES, the Investigation Team, and the Phantom Thieves, led by the daughter of Minato Arisato.
- Teen Pregnancy: Yukari discovered she was pregnant with MJ and Miyako sometime before the events of the Answer, giving birth to them in September 2010. Sonomi notes that while she and her siblings had pretty rough childhoods due to their status as bastard children, MJ and Miyako had it much worse due to being born while their mother was still in high school.
- Theme Naming: Sonomi's Velvet Room attendant Lacey continues the usual Frankenstein name theme, being named after the DeLaceys, the family of the old man the monster meets.
- Wacky Cravings: Mentioned by MJ in Chapter 2, where he tells Sonomi that his wife Airi has had some "crazy-ass" cravings during her pregnancy, but doesn’t go into any detail further than that.
- You Didn't Ask: When Sonomi finds out that MJ is her homeroom teacher, she asks him why he didn't tell her that his new job was at Gekkoukan. MJ answers that she had never asked him in the first place.
