*This story is cross-posted on AO3 (under the same username)! I'm more likely to respond to comments there since I can actually get proper notifications for them and I'm on ffnet sporadically these days.

I had written the first version of this as a Christmas gift back in 2015. I've practically rewritten it since then, but editing, school and my laziness made me delay posting it. Then I realized that today is March 5th and basically skyrocketed finishing the final tweaks.
A big thanks to Yummychii, the lovely person I originally wrote this for and my beta for the new version!

This story is my headcanon of how Minato and Nyx could co-exist and a bit of a character study on Nyx, and it might feel a bit heavy at times, but judge for yourself!
Please note that it might not fit Answer canon or the Arena games, since I haven't played any of that.

The sea of unconsciousness, home to everyone's souls.

It was a place that hosted infinite possibilities - as long as many hearts thought alike, new phenomenons would occur and be born. Be they positive or negative, as long as both good and bad happened side by side, the sea would continue to prosper and keep on existing in peaceful balance. There were beings that oversaw the stability of the sea, and beings that threatened to endanger it. Most of the latter wished for some sort of change, be it enlightenment or destruction.

Nyx wanted only one thing. That was, to paint the sea of souls a beautiful midnight blue.

The sea itself was a dark void, lit up by the lights each soul emanated. After eons of time, she had grown bored of the sight and wondered how to create the perfect night sky out of it. Getting rid of the lights would be an easy task for her, as she was Death itself. A simple touch was enough for a soul to fade out into nothingness. She could achieve eternal darkness if she wished to do so.

However, the colour she wanted was not black, but a shade of blue as close to black as possible.

That proved to be a very difficult task for Nyx. She could do fatal damage, create a zero out of a one. Weakening her powers to create something not quite a zero was practically impossible.

And so she had no choice but to go about her wish in an indirect way - slowly shroud the human world itself in darkness and bring despair into the hearts of humanity. With enough negative feelings, a soul's light would dim. Therefore, she would bring humanity utter despair, and then engulf their realm to freeze the deep blue sight before it could turn black. Then, she would enjoy the spectacular view for all eternity.

For the longest while, she waited to be awoken from her slumber and execute her plan. But when it was finally time to make her wish come true, he came and stood in her way.

He and his friends, a bunch of fools thinking they could oppose fate.

She didn't despise them. Firstly, a human feeling such as hate was something that was below her. If she had to describe the persona users in some way, she would label them as a good way to kill time. Their struggle was something new to revel in, and they had entertained her Avatar as well. But alas, as soon as she unleashed a speck of her true power, they were all bathed in despair. She saw it in their eyes, and it filled her with delight to watch the final act of her spectacular play wrap up.

It would have been perfect if it weren't for him. The Messiah that gained the power of Universe at the last moment.

Even with that, he was but a single light in a sea of others - not someone that could hope to beat her. Once she'd come into touch with his soul, the blue-hued light would fade away just like any other.

.

.

What she didn't expect was that the boy never wanted to beat her in the first place.

.

.Who would have thought that he would actually manage to seal her? But here she was, confined within a single space, unable to reach out to the sea of souls. The place her body was in was something akin to a room - a blank space, that if she tried to leave, she would hit some sort of a wall in every direction.

The inability to leave wasn't the strangest thing to her, though. It was the fact that her space was limited. She was used to not having any sort of form, being able to be anywhere she pleased, becoming anything she wished to be. But now, she existed only to a certain extent. Even though she was still a mighty and wise being, her finite state, one where she could be defined by human words and numbers, was the same to her as being powerless.

Rather than wanting to bring wrath upon the one that sealed her, Nyx found it to be yet another interesting variety in her ceaseless lifespan. Even more so because she wasn't serving her prison sentence alone.

One of the walls that shaped her assumed cell was in fact a steel elevator cage, secured tightly by chains, that lead into a velvet blue elevator space. It was a large room that could hardly be called a proper elevator, but she knew that it had served such purpose once before. Opposite the elevator door was a golden majestic doorway, the last barrier isolating both her and her sole company from the rest of humanity.

Inside the room connected to her prison sat her warden himself. The chains that sealed her away ended at his hands, a pair of cuffs tightly embracing his wrists. He was currently the main source of her entertainment - the only decent source of entertainment around.

"Hey, Minato," she called out to him sweetly. He barely turned his head, clearly unamused.

As soon as he did, Nyx focused her consciousness on a spot in the velvet room and formed herself a body. While Minato's seal prevented her from affecting the outside world, he was bound to her along with the spell, meaning that she could somewhat influence him. Harmless illusions inside the room were the extent of it, though.

The form she now took with him resembled one of the human's oldest depictions of her - black, wavy hair that was so soft it floated in the air even if she didn't move, pale white skin, and a face with soft, doll-like features. Her lips were an unearthly shade of blue, and her eyes were deep violet. The black dress she had on looked like it was made of scarves, flowing along with her every move like a living shadow.

She had tried to appease him by using the looks of her Avatar before - he had regarded her with disgust and ignored her vehemently, and she had grown bored of that attitude of his pretty quickly, which is why she began taking on this form instead.

"Beautiful, right?" she prompted as he had watched her appear in front of him.

He huffed. "Who knows? I don't care."

.

.

Minato had an inkling that Nyx was trying to start something again, and that was never a good thing.

"Don't be so cold. Think about the centuries you'll spend with me. Do you really want to have this attitude the whole time?" she teased, revelling in the reminder of their mutual sentence. The difference was that Minato was a mortal, and his flame would burn out one day, while she would continue on like nothing happened.

"I'm not here to entertain you," he replied with apathy. At this point, he found her constant attempts to find something to do (read - screw with him) annoying. Couldn't she just lay low and hibernate, like she'd been doing for millenia? What was another hundred or thousand years spent that way? It might have sounded devastatingly long to him, but to her it was nothing unusual. Besides, were gods supposed to be this hyper and… mischievous?

There were moments where Nyx seemed to act almost human to him, and it disturbed him to his core. He guessed it might have been a side effect of the seal. Like it or not, they were bound now. Just like he had lost a part of his humanity by locking himself inside this realm of a room with her, she might have gained a semblance of it by being chained to him.

"I have a really nice idea." she said with a sharp smile on her lips.

Minato didn't even bother to ask and frowned as he remembered how her 'nice ideas' had played out before. They ranged from her trying to tickle him to death to making him relive his year at Port Island in his dreams. Twice. He had died a horrible death a few months in during both of those, and since the second one, he resolved he would not take naps anymore. He didn't really require sleep, as he didn't have a real body that needed to rest in here, but having to deal with a fickle yet ominous goddess took a lot out of him mentally.

(Un)fortunately, Minato was getting used to her unpredictability.

"Don't look at me like that! You know you enjoyed the distraction as much as I did!" she spoke up, knowing exactly what was on his mind.

"Yeaah, getting pierced in the stomach by a bufu spike felt just awesome."

She giggled at the memory and then sat down onto the velvet blue couch next to him. He still found it odd, sitting where Igor used to, fusing and guiding him.

Minato raised his hand, planning to point at her with his index finger to dismiss her illusion. He wasn't in the mood for her games… not like he ever particularly was, but he didn't like her increasingly frequent milling about like she owned the place.

However, he was startled by her cold hand catching his. He found himself looking up at her face, that was now wearing a serious expression. There was no hostility in her body language - on the contrary, she looked terribly calm. Minato couldn't help but fear her slightly at that moment. The being in front of him was ominous, but somehow comforting as well. Maybe this was what staring death in the face truly felt like.

"Do you really despise me that much?" she asked, her voice cold but tender at the same time.

"Well, you're the enemy of all of humanity, so I guess I should." Minato answered vaguely after a pause.

"But?"

He sighed.

"It's just too hard to take in. I didn't even believe supernatural stuff a year ago. Then I'm fighting these magical blobs and sealing away a goddess. I'm adaptable, but I don't think this is something any human can just suddenly understand."

"So you might come to like me?" Her eyes weren't smiling, but her voice segwayed into the annoying teasy tone he didn't like.

"Can any human actually like Death?" He frowned at her, deflecting her question.

"Most people do, eventually." Nyx replied, her gaze wandering off to the distance. "I am a merciful god, you know? I bring people ultimate peace and satisfaction. It's something you all need, even if you might not know of it. Some simply die too early to understand."

Like his parents. Or Shinji-senpai, Minato thought bitterly.

"But there are also many who accept me and wish for my descent," she turned to him with a knowing look. "Weren't you one of them before?"

"I just didn't care then. It was wrong."

Before he came to Port Island, he didn't really give a second thought to anything. Because nobody really cared about him either - he went from orphanage to orphanage, knowing only shallow bonds that broke off easily. He had been living in apathy, throwing his life away, sometimes literally. There were many times where he had thought back on all the dares and dangerous things he had gone through, getting goosebumps because he realized how close he was to ending up in Nyx's embrace.

"Hmm."

He had no clue what that knowing hum from her signified, and wasn't really curious about it either, so he decided to change the topic. There was that one question nagging him ever since she had started talking to him. The one thing to ask the catalyst of death herself.

"What happens to people after they die?"

"Souls constantly die and are reborn, experiencing heaven and hell alike." she answered blandly. As a whole, she seemed to be more interested in her blackened nails than the query.

"So there is an afterlife?" he pressed on, confused by her vague answer.

"All I do is cause death." Nyx added, her eyes growing darker than they already were. "I'm not the one who gets to meddle with whatever comes before and after, so I don't really care about that."

As Minato stared at her, she began to look a little frustrated, but added, "Heaven and hell are concepts that exist. Don't you know that already, as someone who has evoked demons and angels from within yourself?"

"Are you implying my personas are actual angels and demons?" he asked, flabbergasted. Nyx threw her hands out in exasperation.

"How can humans function while being so clueless is beyond me. Just how did you manage to seal me again with that feeble mind of yours?"

He wasn't really sure if he should be upset, getting insulted by an omnipotent being. Filing that thought away so he could consider it later, he decided to try one more time.

"So, one day, I'll also end up in heaven or hell… or something?"

Nyx's annoyance perished as she gave him one of those looks of undetermined meaning. Minato felt like she was looking right at his soul... which she technically was, since his body here was nothing but a manifestation of his mind.

"Where you will end up… I can't even begin to guess."

The words were pronounced slowly and softly, as if she were talking to herself rather than him. Unlike her previous off-handed remarks, she sounded genuinely invested then.

Silence befell the room. If he could, Minato would probably be feeling sick at that moment. His mind whirred with thoughts about himself and the goddess, the seal, and what she had just told him. He was fully aware that thinking about it wouldn't change anything, as he would never allow himself to waver from his decision. Still, he wished for some peace of mind. Who'd want to spend half an eternity with an ominous god as their only companion, bothered by his own thoughts and uncertainties?

He wasn't sure how much time he spent trying to sort his thoughts out, but at some point, Nyx grew bored and stood up before him. He looked up at her, only to be greeted with her lips shaped into a devious V.

"I didn't tell you what my nice idea was," she announced before waltzing away and stopping before one of the doors stationed by the wall, seemingly leading nowhere. Back when the Velvet Room hosted Igor and Elizabeth, they used to be exits to the outside world. Now, they were passages linked to parts of Minato's mind. He wasn't sure why his psyche divided itself like that, but he suspected that his subconscious had created the separate rooms as fail-safes for the seal. They were all entwined by chains, preventing Nyx from reaching them. This particular one was...

"Behold, the entrance to your imagination! A gate of dreams and fantasy!" Nyx marveled. She almost sounded like Elizabeth… a dead-inside Elizabeth. He snorted at the thought, earning him a look from the goddess. It wasn't enough to break her momentum though, as she continued. "Come, let's have some fun!"

Minato barely spared her a look. He could remove the chains on the door easily, as they weren't a key part of the seal, just an append of sorts. To be honest, letting her go inside wouldn't likely cause him any harm. The power she could harness now was only a tiny speck of dust in comparison to her true abilities. A few illusions and twisted dreams, able to give Minato irritated headaches at most. Going inside of one of those rooms was pretty much the same as what she was doing now - talking to a manifestation of his consciousness, a part of his mind like any other. Still, he really didn't like her going wherever she wanted.

Besides, even if he was a bit bored and considered visiting his imagination realm, Nyx would surely find a way to screw with him just like she did with his dreams. It was for the best to just wait until she decided to drop the idea.

Meanwhile, the goddess was tugging on the chains, trying to tear them off. To no avail, of course. It was impossible for Nyx to break them and they both knew it. But she kept going on for a while, possibly minutes if Minato's perception of time was still working properly, and the human warden ended up getting up from his seat. She was being so ridiculous he couldn't keep ignoring her anymore, especially since she was vocally grunting in anguish.

"Just give it up," he said, hands in his pockets.

"Like… hell I... would!" she opposed with a strained voice. He watched her snow white hands turn red at the palms and felt queasy as the sight, perhaps because her body resembled a fragile young woman. Or maybe because ever since he had become a leader of a monster-fighting group, he just really disliked seeing people get hurt. For no reason, no less.

He reminded himself that this entity wasn't a person, but it did little to the unease he felt watching her. In the end, he resorted to taking hold of one of her wrists.

"Stop," he tried to persuade her, but she didn't listen, still fighting with the chains and groaning. Tired of this charade, he tried to pull her hand away by force, but he couldn't. How was she holding on so tight with such a petite body?

He reached for the chain so he could yank her off of it, but as he touched the cold steel it suddenly cracked and broke off.

"Shit… " he cursed, realizing too late what he had just done. Since it wasn't a part of the main seal, it took no conscious effort to perish it - a touch of the creator was sufficient enough. Thankfully, it was as easy to reinstate the seal as it was to break it, and he immediately focused on doing so.

But Nyx was faster than him. She slipped out of his hold while he struggled to concentrate on the seal and not his own mistake, threw the white sheet off the door and ran inside.

Minato let out a very frustrated groan, grabbing at his hair before following after her.

The world beyond the door made Minato stop and stare in surprise. A sparse forest spread all around him. The trees were lifeless, pitch black from bark to branch with no foliage growing from their dry crowns. The ground below Minato's feet wasn't any better, grey-brown and barren. What really took his breath away was the sky above, though.

It was dyed into a colour he had never seen before. So dark that at first glance, he'd think of it as black, yet with a hint of deep blue that convinced him it was not. It was captivating, like an optical illusion he couldn't take his eyes off of.

This enchanting sky was not something he could think of, he was certain of it. But then what was it doing inside his imagination?

He knew the answer to that question, and he didn't like it one bit. Biting his lip, he began walking through the forest in search of the owner of this deep blue sky.

It took him a while to get out of the desolate forest. Halfway through his trek, the surroundings gradually became lighter. Following the light, he had reached a clearing that opened to a narrow cliff.

Nyx stood far away from him at the edge of it. The light he had seen belonged to the luminescent mass behind her - a giant moon looming on the sky behind her. It was dominating the sky like a solitary queen, devoid of any stars. He could faintly see the reflection of it ripple on the ocean waves below the cliff. The water mirrored the colour of the sky, endlessly stretching off into the distance.

"Beautiful, right?" Nyx spoke up calmly. She was facing him and had a little knowing smile on her face. Lifting her hands, she went on. "This was what I wished for. To create a blue so dark and magnificent nothing would rival it, with the sea of souls as my canvas."

In hindsight, Minato should have feared her aspirations and outright rejected them. But now, all he could think of how breathtaking the scenery before him was. The midnight blue of the sky, the cold white of the moon, they made his mind stop. And, more than anything else, the person bathing in the moonlight…

Nyx was beautiful.

Her hair swayed, each of her strands shining against the moonlight as it did, looking like a river of black and silver. Even though she was facing him, the moon at her back, she seemed to glow as a whole, both her pale skin and her bottomless violet eyes. And beyond that, the smile she wore was different. It was devoid of teases and fake sympathies. It was an all-knowing, wise smile of a goddess as old as time itself.

Minato would have loved to avoid such sentiments, but he couldn't. Nyx's beauty was supernatural, irrefutable. A queen of the night through and through.

But the awe he felt for the sight in front of him didn't stop him from feeling a bit bitter.

What was a queen good for if she had no kingdom below her? What was a moon for if there was nobody who needed its light? What was a beautiful blue if you could never share it with anyone?

"It's lonely," he breathed out.

Nyx gave him a puzzled look.

"It's so lonely. Everything around is dead."

"Something like that doesn't matter." she objected.

"It does." he refuted and took a small step towards her. Around them, light blue saplings began crawling out of the ground and the trees enveloped their branches in leaves of the same hue. Soon, both the trees and flowers ripened into silvery white blossoms, resembling the shine of the moon mirrored in Nyx's hair.

"Sure, the sky is great and all, but does the colour really matter? Usually when you look up at the sky, you watch the things on it. And even though there's the stars, you… you always shine the brightest anyway. So, uh..."

Minato stumbled over the words and looked down at his feet, feeling really self-conscious all of a sudden. What was he doing, complimenting her like that?

It was true, though. He looked back up in a wish to finish his thought. His eyes met Nyx's. The goddess was looking at him with surprise.

"Why would you go and destroy the sea of souls? The souls in it all adore you, you know. And I think they can offer you so much more than a single view would."

He felt off. Giving a heartfelt speech like that was completely unlike him, and it was kind of embarrassing. Nyx was frozen in her surprised expression, until her shoulders began trembling. A few moments later, she burst into laughter. It made Minato a bit upset. Were his thoughts just mockery to her?

"You really are something else," she said as she finally gathered herself, still a bit out of breath. She looked amused, but there was no malice on her lips. With that expression, she relaxed her posture and then began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Minato asked.

"Back," she said simply, waving her hand in dismissal. "Looks like this will be more fun than I'd have ever expected."

"...What do you mean by that?" he questioned, feeling utterly lost about her change of heart.

"Not much." she answered nonchalantly. "Come on, let's go."

He didn't really have a reason to refuse, since that had been his main objective right from the beginning, and so he ran after her.

Be it a whim or something else, the words Minato uttered prompted Nyx to think about many things. There was only one of those thoughts that was on the forefront of her mind as they walked back to their shared prison, though.

If all humans adore me, does that mean that He does too?

Wow, you got to the end! That means you probably finished reading it, right? Did you like it? Whether you did or didn't, if you have any lingering thoughts, please leave a comment below! I'll love you forever.

For those interested in some more philosophical musings concerning Nyx, I have made some comments on how I view her godly status:

It isn't easy to define this Nyx - as a god, she was something absolute, unchanging. She could be defined by any word you'd like, and it would be correct. A being with many forms, but none, something that is everywhere but out of our reach. But now, her link to Minato completely changed that. She had become something dynamic, a being with her own story and characteristics. From here on, she will keep changing, whether she wants to or not.

It could be thought of as the day Nyx began to 'age' and change - but one can't put an age on something that didn't begin existing with the concept of time in mind. Nyx has no starting point, but she is moving in time now. It's a paradox among paradoxes.