A/N: hey all, here's another installment to my series of bhunirai oneshots. once again, I'd like to thank those who reviewed and/or favorited and/or followed this story, I really appreciate it! anyway, here you go!
It had been centuries- hundreds and hundreds of centuries- since the day she had sacrificed herself, her very humanity, for the sake of her loved ones. It had been a spectacular battle, everything the God of Light had hoped it would be and then some. The savior had grown strong through his influence, her persistence and determination worthy of holding the title as the new Goddess of Death; a title oh so fitting for a warrior with as much blood on her hands as this rose-haired woman.
He recalled having mixed feelings at the sight of the savior finally falling to her knees; her body exhausted and scarred, her schema reduced to bloody tatters, and her weapon long gone from her now shaking hands. A surprising amount of panic, shock, and desperation flooded through the divine god upon seeing the mighty savior look so utterly broken and defeated with the glowing orb of the new world behind her, but he did his best to repress it.
He remembered wanting nothing more than to rush to her side and cure her wounds- wounds that he had inflicted- and fight by her side to defeat himself. It seemed like a natural instinct of his to want to run to the woman and support her in anyway possible- but it was an instinct belonging to his human captive. The weak, pathetic part of him he had only embraced out of pure necessity to meet his needs. And now that human could only watch in pure agony as the savior struggled to stand on her feet again, her arms completely unable to support her body as she ended up crumbling to the floor once more.
His tiny, sorrowful wails were drowned out by the thunderous laughter of the god, who was beyond pleased to view this side of the mighty savior. To know that he had built her up into the most powerful warrior in creation only to tear her right back down just as easily into a raw, shaking wreck sent delightful shivers down his spine.
It seemed she had finally stopped trying to rise again, the effort it took just to lift herself onto her hands and knees costing her too much energy, too much blood loss. She wearily lifted her head as a blinding light engulfed her field of vision, his laughter devolving into screams of agony, human agony, as the god transformed into his final form.
She couldn't handle fighting him for a fifth time, not in her condition. Yet she found herself struggling to stand to meet him yet again.
But when the light and screams died down, she ceased her struggle.
She couldn't handle fighting him for a fifth time, not in his condition.
Instead of another giant metal death trap of a form, she was met with a being no taller than herself with skin as smooth as porcelain and silver hair that seemed so soft and…. fluffy? Completely unfitting for such a vile and despicable god. Yet completely fitting for a certain man she knew.
The savior was rendered speechless- whether from her injuries and their inability to let her breath or her swirling build up of emotions, she couldn't tell. The being before her couldn't be him, but at the same time he was. The same soft face, the same build she had watched him grow into while she was trapped in Valhalla, the same damn green eyes that could always read her so well…
His eyes.
While still green and still possessing the ability to read directly through to her core- knowing her every emotion and thought as if they were his own- his eyes held an unearthly glow to them, with thick black markings trailing all the way down to the corners of his lips. The exact markings of Bhunivelze himself. He had donned the god's checkered robes, his unclothed chest bearing the god's intricate designs and his arms discolored to the same black as well.
A perfect matrimony between Human and God.
Bhunivelze had finally succeeded in his mission.
Lightning could only watch in shock and horror as the remolded man admired his new form, holding his darkened arms up and examining the flesh. She cringed when those bright eyes traveled from his arm to her face, the love and pity reflected in them feeling like a betrayal to her. That-that isn't Hope. It can't be. This wasn't supposed to happen. I've failed him, I've failed dammit!
He made his way towards her and crouched down to her level, reaching out a hand to cup her chin. The action caused his robes to lightly fall around him, landing in her small puddles of blood, soaking the cloth in sheer humanity. Lightning, for all her inner distress and turmoil, had no energy left to turn away. Even her voice seemed to have left, her lungs too battered and still rattling frantically in her rib cage from his relentless attacks earlier to give her thoughts any say.
"Oh, my Light…." he murmured, tracing a particularly large gash across her cheek, "my goddess. Look at how far you've fallen, all for the sake of mere, pathetic humans," he said, as though not understanding why she'd go to such lengths for such pitiful creatures. She quickly jerked her face away from his hand, the sudden movement causing her to go light-headed.
You'd understand why I fought so hard, wouldn't you, Hope? You were the leader of humanity, the one who loved and served with all your heart until you had no more to give. You know the strength of humanity, our strength, our friends…
She yearned to plead with the god, to find that glimmer of Hope within him, but only managed a ragged exhale instead. He chuckled and firmly grasped her chin once more.
"Ah, but that's just it. Mere, pathetic humans, right? The beings that we fought so desperately for, remember? My, how long has it been since we began this momentous journey? Five hundred years? A thousand?" he removed his hand then, her head briefly dropping from the sudden lack of support before she quickly recovered. She watched him with uneasy eyes as he rose to his full height and faced his shining new world.
The souls of humanity floated around the planet like a barrier, unable to grace its surface without a divine being to give them new life. Crackling red bolts interrupted the silence and scattered across the planet's surface at random intervals, illuminating the god's features in a crimson flash.
Lightning hated how those familiar features were now fused with Him.
He should be here with her, gazing at the new world with pride and awe in his humble way, admiring the souls of those being reborn. He should be among those souls right now…
"But you see, savior," he began, gazing at the new world with that same pride- no a different kind of pride, with certain smugness, "I too, am still fighting for humanity. Such resilient people, they are. No matter how many times they're crushed, no matter how many centuries wither them away, they still stand strong. Really, they're quite extraordinary," he turned back to face her, an excited gleam to his eyes, the same gleam of the excited Academy leader making a new discovery. It was almost comforting to her to see that familiar gleam.
A bittersweet comfort.
"Which is why I'll strike a deal with you," he continued, his tone becoming increasingly excited as he crouched back down to her. "I will save humanity, allow their souls to be reborn as is, so long as there is a goddess to monitor the cycle of rebirth. You can be that goddess, Light. You can make sure Serah and the others are reborn safe and sound in the new world."
The excitement lighting up his eyes dimmed as he took on a more threatening tone, the face she had come to know and love twisting into something evil and foreign to his features. "If you refuse, then humanity shall be purified and brought under my direct control- your sister, your friends, all of them becoming empty shells of their old selves- without the faintest memory of you."
She began coughing from the sudden gasp of air she had inhaled in horror. He placed a pitying hand on her shoulder, the savior too beat and emotionally spent to try and shrug him off.
"You see, with the condition you're in, I'm afraid your soul can't be reborn with the others. Someone has to take Etro's place and continue the cycle of rebirth. You're the only one who fits the job description. Should you refuse me, then all the souls of humanity will simply sit in the Chaos. They'll be unable to be reborn and eventually over time the Chaos will rot them away until there's nothing left. Why, there wouldn't even be a humanity left to protect should you refuse."
Suddenly his tone became pleasant again, her already pounding head becoming even more frenzied trying to decipher this moods swings of his. Just what was Hope and what was Bhunivelze?
"Either you become the new Goddess of Death or condemn the entire planet to oblivion," he stated simply.
Her eyes traveled back to the souls waiting just beyond the planet.
l could… still save Serah. Save Snow and Sazh… Vanille and Fang…everyone…
But what about you, Hope? Is this it? Are you really gone forever, or are you hiding somewhere in there? Can I defeat this form and somehow save you from Bhunivelze's clutches? Or would that risk destroying you along with him? Would that risk dooming all of humanity? Can I even fight you like this?
No. I can't refuse. I have to save Serah, I have to…
"…I-I'll do it."
The words barely left her lips but the god seemed to have heard them all the same- that, or he had already known she would choose self-sacrifice over dooming her family in an instant.
"Excellent! Quite excellent. I'm so glad you made the right decision, my new goddess. With your valiant sacrifice, everyone will be able to be reborn with the memories of…" but his voice, that voice that had been her constant companion for the last thirteen days, became smothered and hard to make out as she finally gave in to surrender.
The last thing Lightning Farron remembered was watching the souls of humanity scatter across the newly created planet before a pair of dark arms gently scooped up her broken body and her vision became clouded by the sudden winds of Chaos engulfing them.
And then, light disappeared.
Forever.