The members of SEES found themselves standing space, literally, in an endless stream of stars. A part of them were confused as hell while the other part was shit terrified…. Minato hadn't returned.

"Where are we?" Yukari said in awe as she stared at her surroundings.

"Did Nyx create this place? Or was it Minato?" Mitsuru's heart did a somersault at Minato's name.

"Is he alright Fuuka? What happened?" Akihiko frantically asked, turning to the teal haired girl.

"Everything was engulfed by a bright light….. I don't sense him." Fuuka choked out. The same conclusion came to everyone's mind.

"Don't tell me he…." Ken could feel his eyes water.

"He's gone?" Sakura looked around frantically as tears started flowing down.

"No that can't be!" Junpei shouted at the two of them in desperation, "Try again Fuuka."

"…" Fuuka was silent as tears started dripping down her cheek as well.

"No way….." Junpei whispered, feeling his eyes sting.

"Dammit! Not again." Akihiko yelled out in anger, "How could I have let this happen?"

Mitsuru was silent, a part of her was desperately praying that Minato was safe.

"How could I be so powerless?" Aigis spoke, "This is what I was trying to prevent."

Yukari was having none of that, "You're there aren't you? Minnie?" She cried out to the stars…. There was no answer. "I know you are."

"I refuse to believe that you're gone." She yelled out, "Answer me! I know you can hear me." Again, there was no answer.

"We're here. Please let us hear your voice." Aigis pleaded and this time, a voice answered them.

"Don't worry." A soothing voice answered them. The voice made everyone jump from surprise.

"That voice." Akihiko said in disbelief.

"I will sleep once again." Ryoji spoke through space, "Normal days will return for this universe and for him."

"Normal days?" Sakura asked.

"He's found the answer to life greatest question." Ryoji declared somewhat proudly.

"Life's greatest question?" Aigis repeated.

"Aigis…" Ryoji spoke, catching her attention, "You will end that answer one day as well. You too are a precious living thing, you just need to realize how the bonds of friendship have changed you."

"The bonds of friendship?" Aigis repeated.

"The Dark Hour will soon vanish from this world. All will truly be relinquished from its dominion and the legacy of life will continue." Ryoji continued, "Congratulations, you have the miracle that you sought….. We shall meet again someday." As Ryoji finished, a brilliant light shone at the plane on which SEES were standing.

….

"That was a fancy speech, Death." Minato chuckled at Ryoji who rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, it suited the situation." Ryoji smiled.

"Shut up."

"You shut up." Ryoji answered playfully. Minato laughed but ended up coughing. Ryoji placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, just having no soul and all." Minato replied, standing up.

"…. Can you really live through it?" Ryoji played with his scarf nervously.

"Yeah, I can." Minato patted him on the back, "You know, as much as I hated you during a time…. I'm glad I met you." Ryoji perked up.

"Hahaha, same here, I know you couldn't hate me, you love me don't you Minato-kun?" Ryoji smiled.

"Gay…" Minato muttered as the two laughed.

….

Yukari groaned and opened her eyes. She opened them wide in the next second, seeing as she and her friends were standing at the entrance to Tartarus.

"Huh, the entrance to Tartarus?" Yukari spoke, breaking the silence.

"The hell is happening?" Junpei yelped as he stared at the tower which was breaking apart. The green hell began crumbling in front of their eyes.

Tartarus was breaking apart all the while the bells chimed again. The structure disintegrated and formed a black mist which was strangely being sucked up by the yellow moon which was flashing white and yellow.

"It's disintegrating into the sky." Mitsuru mused as everyone felt a shiver up their spine….. Was it really ending? It truly felt unreal to them.

The last bit of Taratrus finally disappeared or more appropriately got sucked into the moon which glowed, for perhaps the final time, a sickly yellow before it returned to the pale color….. The Dark Hour had ended.

"At last….. the school is finally gonna be back to normal." Yukari spoke first.

"It's over." Mitsuru sighed in relief, the sins of her grandfather were finally vanquished all thanks to Minato…. Speaking of the Messiah.

"Everyone!" Aigis pointed towards the school, "Look!" A vortex of sorts was still in the school. SEES ran towards it, opening the school gate. They stopped in front of it….. What on earth could be left?

Everyone, one by one, smiled at Minato who emerged from the vortex which was slowly closing. Minato smiled at his team mates, hands stuffed into his pockets like usual. A gentle smile on his face.

Minato smiled wider and Aigis began tearing up. Tears began flowing through her artificial eyes. She was surprised herself, robots couldn't cry… but she was.

Soon, everyone began tearing up. Minato walked down the stairs and gave them a thumbs up, they finally did it, at last.

SEES ran towards Minato, grabbing him and tossing him up into the sky. Minato laughed as everyone cried in joy, they had finally won.

"You bastard! You were sure playing us along." Junpei grinned.

"You scared me. I thought we might never see you again." Ken sobbed but Akihiko smacked him on the back.

"This isn't something we should be crying about." Akihiko sniffed, of all people.

"These just won't stop." Aigis tried to clean her tears but more just kept flowing.

Minato looked towards the sky and a tear dripped down his cheek, he had limited time, "Just a month to spend with them?" He asked himself, trying to stop himself from tearing up.

"I'll make the most of it." He smiled to himself as SEES still holding onto him, walked out of the school, ignoring everyone staring at them.

….

The season changed.

Minato coughed and walked towards the school. The winter was chilling. He rubbed his hands to provide some warmth, and then continued marching on.

"Hey." Junpei waved at him and ran towards him from the gates. Minato smiled at his best friend.

"Damn it's cold, but of course, you never miss a day of school." Junpei grinned.

"That's me." Minato pointed to himself.

"Can you believe this year is already over?" Junpei sighed, "We're practically seniors now." Minato nodded.

"Yep, don't worry. I'm sure something interesting will happen." Junpei's eyes widened slightly at Minato's word.

"You answered my question. Are you psychic?" Minato nodded.

"Yeah, right." Junpei laughed as he looked around. He let out some sort of a excited noise as he stared at a certain blonde haired transfer student.

"Man she's totally cute." Aigis was standing there, looking at the two of them. Minato passed her a smile.

"How come I haven't noticed her before?" Junpei muttered. Just then, a brunette in pink came walking towards the two. Yukari gave a warm smile to Minato who returned it.

She rolled her eyes at Junpei, "What are you talking about? She lives in the same dorm as us?" Just as the two started to argue, Minato coughed rather violently, his vision blurred a bit, he grabbed a hold of Yukari's shoulder to stand still.

"Dude?"

"Minato." Yukari asked worriedly. Minato regained control of his vision and smiled at them, "Don't worry. I'm just tired, or maybe, a flu or something."

"Flu? The perfection is suffering from flu?" Junpei blew a raspberry, "I mean you totally kicked ass all the time." He suddenly stopped, "Kicked ass?" A bit of headache began to creep into his skull.

Just then, the bell rang, snapping Junpei out of his stupor, "Crap, let's go." Minato and Yukari nodded, they quickly ran towards the class, or in Minato's case, he kinda limped, greatly worrying Yukari.

"Hey, Arisato!" Minato cringed at the obnoxious voice. He turned around to see Kyle, the guy he had owned numerous time, glaring at him. It was almost like Kyle could sense that Minato was probably at his weakest right now.

"A few months ago, I could have turned him into my personal bitch." Minato smirked to himself, "But, right now, I'm not too sure." Minato was always in pain, it took a lot of effort for him to even breathe.

"Alright, I might get pummeled but I'll hit back." Just as Kyle was about to smash Minato on the face, he was slammed into the lockers by a certain silver haired senpai.

"The hell are you doing?" Akihiko snarled.

"Nothing. Champion Sanada." Kyle muttered. Akihiko jerked his head away and Kyle quickly skedaddled away. Minato faced Akihiko with a smile.

"Hey, senpai." Akihiko's scowl transformed into a smile.

"Hey." He gave a bro fist to Minato who returned it. They began to walk and talk about all sorts of things, ignoring the states of everyone else.

Mitsuru yelped as someone hugged her waist from behind. She quickly turned around to execute it but stopped and blushed as she stared at her blue haired boyfriend.

"Honestly, you could have at least told me." Mitsuru sighed. Minato chuckled and let go, he hugged her again.

"What's up senpai?" Minato asked.

"I'll be moving out." Mitsuru sighed. Minato broke the hug, Mitsuru grabbed a hold of Minato's tie and fixed it.

"Take care of yourself, will you? You honestly act like a baby sometimes." Mitsuru sighed. Minato gave a tired smile.

"I'm just tired…" He muttered.

…..

Minato walked around the Mall. This could be his last days here. His body was tired and begging to shut down, but he desperately held on.

"The promise." Minato opened the door to the back alley and found it empty, instead of the usual blue door.

"Elizabeth." Minato teared up, remembering Elizabeth. He sighed and turned around, walking back to the dorm.

"I miss you." Minato muttered.

"I'll miss you too." He painfully turned around at the voice. He saw Elizabeth standing there, she sent a flying kiss at Minato, and then, disappeared into thin air.

"Just a few days left." Minato walked away, using the wall for support.

…..

"Hey, Minato." Minato groaned as he lifted his head from the table on the second floor. He gave a smile to Sakura who bounced her way towards her.

She instantly stopped as she observed the dark circles beneath Minato's eyes and his tired face, drained of color.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah, just tired." Minato patted her on the back and stood up. He nearly collapsed from the strain but Sakura caught him.

"What happened?" She frantically asked, "Should I call the doctor?" Minato used her shoulders as support and stood up.

"No, I just need to sleep." He smiled at her, "Tomorrow is graduation day." He whispered into her year, "Please remember." With that, he walked towards his room.

"Today's the day." Minato whispered to himself, he looked at himself in the mirror. His hair were a mess, dark circles were under his eyes, he looked so fragile that a punch could totally shatter him, his face was drained from color.

Someone knocked on his door. Minato sighed and opened it to see Aigis. The mechanical maiden instantly hugged Minato tightly, causing him to cough.

"Aigis?" Minato asked.

"I remember everything." Was Aigis's only reply. She started sobbing.

"The battle….. The miracle….." Minato smiled and petted her on the head.

"I'm glad you remembered." Minato whispered.

"You're not going away, right?" Aigis demanded, "Like at the last battle?" Minato's heart clenched but he managed a smile.

"I'm not going anywhere." He told a white lie. Aigis calmed down and wiped her tears away.

"Today's the day…. Do you remember the promise we made?" Minato nodded, "Let's wait at the roof for them."

Minato sighed in peace as the chill wind ghosted against his skin. He was lying on Aigis's lap, on the rooftop, waiting for his friends. He could barely keep his eyes open, his body was drained more than ever.

Aigis played with Minato's blue hair as the Messiah sighed again, watching over the city and world that he protected.

"The wind feels so nice." Aigis smiled, "This is my first time experiencing spring." She looked towards the ground sadly, "After fighting alongside you, and facing the world's end... I finally began to understand... what it means to live... "

"Thinking for yourself... Not running away... Accepting the inevitable... All things eventually come to an end... Every living thing will one day disappear... Only by accepting this can one discover what they truly want... What the meaning of their life will be..." Minato smiled at her. The wind was starting to get to him, his memories began flashing inside of his mind.

"I understand now why I was so tormented by my lack of strength. Protecting others became more than just an order I had to obey. I wanted to do it for my own reasons... I realized this once I decided to try and prevent the Fall. When I thought I might never see you again, something else became clear to me-what I wanted most. And so, I made up my mind. I decided that I would continue to protect you. I want to be your strength. I know I'm not the only one who can do this... but that's okay. My life will be worth living if it's for this reason..." Minato smiled wider, and coughed again. The sunlight warmed Minato's body who felt his eyelids getting heavy.

"Thank you…." Aigis sobbed as her tears stained Minato's cheek. The Messiah painfully raised his hand and wiped them away.

"Don't cry." Minato whispered.

"You're right! What am I doing? I should be happy." Aigis gave a weak smile.

"Hey!" Minato smiled as he heard Junpei's voice…. "They remembered." He choked out.

"They will be beside you soon." Aigis played with Minato's blue hair.

"You know what Aigis?" Minato asked.

"Yes?"

He let out one of his last breaths, "I never felt this tired." His eyes were begging to be closed.

"You can close your eyes….. I'll be right here." Minato gave a last smile and closed his eyes…. He felt so tired and now, he would get the rest.

Minato's life flashed before him, one last time, the Messiah slowly closed his eyes with a smile on his face. His vision was greeted by a blue butterfly fluttering.

"….. I'll always protect you." Aigis sobbed.

The door to the rooftop slammed open. SEES along with Sakura hurriedly dashed in to find out their leader, their best friend….. Lying on Aigis's lap. He had a gentle smile on his face.

Yukari and Mitsuru dropped to the ground, screaming their lungs out. Junpei was shaking, he lowered his cap. Akihiko dropped to his knees and continually pounded the ground, until his knuckles bled. Fuuka passed out and Sakura sobbed…. They thought they had won… but at a terrible price.

….

The Messiah had served his purpose. Minato had finally died the day after that slipping into a coma. He didn't regret his life after meeting his invaluable friends. He had changed, from a cold, anti-social person to a Messiah who eventually scarified his life for his friends and humanity.

….

Minato gritted his teeth and absorbed Erebus's blow. The monster backed away, "Come on, is that all?" Minato mocked, "You two headed shit."

The collective malice was about to attack again but this time, a bright purple ball of energy blasted the monstrosity, sending the beast fly away. Among the smoke, Elizabeth walked, he gave a sad smile to Minato's statue which was wrapped up in chains.

She eventually settled a cold glare at Erebus who was struggling to get up. Elizabeth summoned her compendium, "Like I'll let you touch him." She summoned Thanatos who gave a roar. Erebus roared in pain as the blue clad girl annihilated him.

Minato smiled as he felt his pain lessen. He was the Great Seal, he would suffer this for eternity… But he didn't regret it a bit. He closed his eyes and remembered his friends, his parents who he could finally remember….. Hiss Nee-san.

"Thank you." A tear dripped down his stony form, "This is my answer to life….. I don't regret it…. I'll protect humanity through eternity."

"I love you all." Minato smiled as he closed his eyes in fond remembrance.


This it it... damn it... this is disheartening... shit, I feel weird *deep breath* I finally ended my first fic and probably my longest ever. I truly hoped you guys enjoyed it. I never thought of myself as a grammar perfectionist or a writer who can write some awe inspiring sentence... But I truly do hope, that you liked the story, the added twist and arc, the battles and all. Kinda feels along with Minato... A journey of my own ended *sniff*

Anyway, last chapter for Death and Chaos. I would like to thank all of those who faved, followed and reviewd. You guys are seriously awesome =D. Remember guys, do good, help ease Minato's burden. God bless!

See ya later in other fics. Take care.