Chapter 1

The blue-haired boy couldn't breath.

Well, technically, he hadn't been able to breath for many, many years. But he still froze and stared at the smirking figure in front of him, stunned beyond comprehension. He realized that his mouth was hanging open, his visible left eye had widened almost comically, and that he probably looked very stupid, but he couldn't help himself because…

"What did you say?" the boy asked weakly.

The silver haired girl's smirk just grew wider. "Oh, I think you heard me perfectly well, Minato."

Yeah, "Minato" had heard. But he couldn't wrap his head around what the girl hovering above him had said. He slightly dropped his head in shock, resting his gaze on one of the stars surrounding the duo in the black ether, while he slowly digested the girl's words. After who-knows-how-many years of watching the world, hanging by his chains, and after ten years of his living life without her… He'd finally be able to see…

"How?" he croaked out, his "voice" having not been used for several years. "How's she there? That's not possible, it's been so long, and she's…"

"Has it? Has it really been that long? And Minato, surely you do not believe that your universe is unique?"

"Maybe. Something tells me I thought wrong."

The girl in front of him snorted. "Indeed. It was… just a wish upon a star."

"…That was terrible, Elizabeth."

"But you liked it," Elizabeth noted with a grin, while Minato fought the small smile playing on his lips.

"Perhaps," he replied. "But you didn't answer my question."

"As they say on Earth, 'ditto.' If I gave you the chance, would you return?"

"Do you need to ask?" Minato replied matter-of-factly. "Of course I would, especially if I can see her again."

Elizabeth's smile faded at that last comment. "…Minato, she is a wildcard. I am sure you know what that means."

The boy jerked his head up at that statement. "Two wildcards? That's possible?"

The girl cocked her head as she looked at him, her smile returning. "Are you alright, Minato? This is the most emotion I've ever seen out of you."

Minato narrowed his eyes. That smile was forced, she had avoided the question, and the joke was totally untrue and barely funny. "Elizabeth."

Elizabeth sighed and looked away from the flickering boy sitting against the bottom of the golden gate, below his chained ashen body. "There is only one wildcard for this incident, Minato. It belongs to Arisato Hamuko."

"…And I don't suppose you could sneak it to me instead?" The boy closed his eyes while his companion slumped a little and flashed him an apologetic smile. "Hm. Then I'll just have to stop Ikutski and Strega before she has to make that decision. At least it's her, I couldn't think of someone more worthy to hold it."

"I do not believe you are being fair to yourself, Minato."

The boy lightly scoffed, the movement barely shifting his head. "Please. Don't you remember how much I relied on my personas for social links?"

"Everyone could use some help."

"And I needed all of it. Trust me, Hamu's much better suited for it." His face shifted into a very soft smile, one that he hadn't worn in many years. "She'll be a better leader than me, too."

The silver-haired girl tilted her head and raised one eyebrow at him. "Now that, I'll have to completely disagree with."

"Nope, you're wrong," Minato replied with a smirk.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and sighed fondly at the boy's insistence. "Perhaps. I'll look forward to seeing if you're right."

She raised her hand up to snap her fingers, but stopped before she did anything, a morose expression slowly twisting her face.

"Minato," she said quietly, yellow eyes slightly scrunched in sympathetic pain, "I know you said you want to do this, but… do you really want to?"

After a moment of eye contact, Minato broke his gaze away, looking down and letting his blue locks cover both eyes. He knew exactly what she was referring to.

The first few years after his semi-apotheosis had been pure hell. Part of the curse of being the seal was the ability to watch over the world indefinitely, but the inability to interfere. He'd been tortured by watching his friends suffer, especially in the first few months after his death, but even after that it had been hard to watch everyone live their lives without him. Being able to go back and fix his past mistakes was exactly what he wanted to do, but he wouldn't be able to stay there forever. One way or another, he'd have to return back here, but… that would mean leaving them again, too.

The boy stared impassively at the stars. Seconds ticked by.

"Minato…?" Elizabeth asked.

"…zzzzzz…"

"Minato!"

The boy smirked at the girl's exasperated noise as he feigned sleep, although there was a different shape to his lips. She'd really developed more of a personality over the years, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud that it was he who had helped shape it. That pride seeped its way into his smile.

After a moment, he donned a more serious look. "I know what you're thinking, Elizabeth. But nothing's going to stop me from helping them. And saving her." He gazed up at the girl levitating above him, fixing her with a look of determination. "I will do this."

Elizabeth smiled down at him, with just a tinge of sadness, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Right. Well, if that is your decision, then let us get started, shall we?"

She snapped her fingers, and a dark hole opened several feet away from the boy, its appearance causing the surrounding area to shake for a second.

Glancing around, Minato asked, "Elizabeth? You never told me, but how exactly is this supposed to work? How will I get there?"

"Oh, I will explain," the girl assured her old friend, "but I would like to do so only once, so I shall wait for the other one to come."

Minato raised an eyebrow. "The other one…?"

"Yes. Although you are not a wildcard, you are still our valued guest in the velvet room, and I must therefore be your attendant. Sadly, this means that I am unable to take your place here. And surely you did not think we would leave this gate unattended while you were away?"

"Wait, Elizabeth! You know I won't place this burden on anyone else's-!"

Ignoring the boy's complaints, the girl dressed in blue clapped her hands, and a figure stepped out of the hole, glancing around in surprise at the new surroundings.

Minato's eyes widened and his words died in his throat. He knew that person well.

"Well then," Elizabeth said with her trademark smile, now morphing into a smug grin at the others' shock. "Shall we begin?"

AN: Uh... I dunno what exactly happened the first time I uploaded this, but hopefully its fixed now...?

Anyways, thanks for reading! This chapter is more of a prologue, so I'm uploading this and chapter 2 at the same time. I'll see you in the next part!