Turn me into someone like you
Find a place that we can go to
Run away and take me with you
Don't let go I need your rescue - Save Me by Muse
"It is time, child."
Elpis paused in her observation of the chains that held her husband in his prison and turned towards the sound of the whisper-thin voice. She managed to quell her first reaction at the sight of the thing before her, but only just. It had eyes on its wings and limbs that were too long, like a spider's. It carried a scythe in one hand.
And next to it stood Bahamut in his human aspect. His wings were folded against his back in the small space.
He regarded her impassively. Elpis returned his stare with a cool one of her own. For a moment, she entertained the thought of seeing Bahamut cast in chains and made to hang from the walls for two millennia. Then again, two millennia was likely merely a few minutes to beings like the Astrals. It was a satisfying mental image, nonetheless.
Elpis' gaze slid over to the other being. She didn't know it by name, but she could guess what they were there for, and she had only one answer for them:
"No."
The Messenger cocked its head to the side and said nothing. It took Elpis a second to realize it was waiting for Bahamut to do something.
Bahamut approached slowly, his blue eyes cold in the dim light of the cell. "You have been too long on this star already," he said. "And your duty is fulfilled. The Accursed-"
"Do not call him that."
The Draconian paused briefly before continuing, "The Accursed is free from the chains you destroyed. You have let an unspeakable evil wander Eos once more."
Elpis smiled thinly. "And yet you never tried to stop me before now. Because you needed him to become your villain, did you not? You think it is his destiny." She sneered at the word before turning her back on the two divine beings. "My duty is not done. It has merely changed. I will not go into the Beyond, not while Ardyn still lives. We will go together or not at all."
"You are an unnatural creature," the Messenger whispered.
"No," Elpis said sharply. "You tried to make me into something, 'tis true. An Oracle for a King. And for a time, I played along. But I am an Oracle no longer, thanks to you. There is one thing you cannot take away from me: My love for Ardyn. That is who and what I am. That is who I choose to be. And I choose to stay by his side. There is nothing more natural than what I feel for him."
Her voice broke and she hated herself for it, for showing weakness in front of the two Astrals. "If I cannot change the prophecy, I can at least see him through it. I can at least be there to greet him on the other side and hold his hand into the Beyond. Don't you dare try to take this from me as well."
She spun around suddenly, feeling the tears on her cheeks. How could a spirit still cry? She didn't know and didn't care. "You've taken everything already! My husband, my children, my life. Leave me this one thing."
If she'd thought her emotional appeal would work, she was wrong. The two divine beings stared at her without emotion. They couldn't comprehend human emotions. Or, perhaps, they didn't simply care about hers.
Whatever the reason, Bahamut nodded once to the creature beside him, who lifted its scythe and approached Elpis. She tried to scramble away, but found the walls solid and unyielding to her touch. They had not been so before. She could have left any time she wished, but had stayed with Ardyn for two millennia. Bahamut must have been keeping her confined.
The Messenger lifted its scythe as Elpis tried to push past the stone. "No!"
"Well, well," a new voice drawled. A person with long bright red hair and luminescent green eyes lounged on some stones. Their skin was a light brown, and their smile was somehow both lazy and all too sharp. "This is all a little melodramatic, isn't it?"
The look on Bahamut's face could have frozen lava. "You are not needed here, Wild Flame. Leave."
"Nah," they said, hopping to their feet with a feline grace. "See, I like this little Oracle. She's got a fire in her, y'know? I always thought that was weird, since she was Chosen by you and her birth is ruled by Titan. But it's there, and not even death could put it out. That's interesting. To me, anyway."
Elpis eyed the newcomer, then looked to the Messenger. Its attention was on the other person. From the twist in its mouth, Elpis could guess neither the Astral nor the Messenger had any warm feelings towards the redheaded person. Frankly, Elpis didn't care who or what they were. Carefully, she began to edge away from the Messenger's blade. Maybe if Bahamut was distracted enough, she could break through the barriers.
"Ah ah," the redhead said as they appeared beside her suddenly. They grinned and grabbed her chin, lifting her face up towards theirs. "Don't leave just yet, little bird. I'm not done."
Elpis recoiled, pulling her face out of their grasp. That had been something only Ardyn was ever allowed to do. He had loved to tilt her face up just so before kissing her.
The Messenger that Bahamut had brought gave a shrill cry that went like a dagger through Elpis' head. She covered her ears with a cry. The redheaded looked unimpressed and, with a yawn, waved a hand. A wall of fire sprang up between them and the other two beings, and soon Elpis couldn't see past the flames. Only darkness lay beyond.
"It won't hold dear Uncle Baha for long," they said, "but we don't need long to do what we need to do. So, hey. What's up. You can call me Alexus."
Elpis spit in their face.
Instead of being angry, they laughed. "See! This is what I meant. You have something of my father in you." Alexus peered at her face. "Though you're not a child of his. Pity. I could use a sister I actually like."
"Whatever it is you want, I will not give it."
Alexus raised a brow. "Oh, but I'm here to help. I don't want you to go into the Beyond either. In fact, I want to do the reverse."
Elpis paused. "What... do you mean?"
"Death is boring," Alexus said. "And there's so much left for you to do. Tell me, little bird, how do you feel about saving the world? Ah, no," they said suddenly, noting how Elpis' expression darkened. "No, you've already done that, and look where it's gotten you. I understand. In that case, how do you feel about saving your husband?"
Elpis could only stare. She was starting to get an idea of what this Messenger might mean. The question was, did she even dare to hope? Alexus put her in mind of the wildfires that would break out in the summer months in the desert. As a child, Elpis used to go up onto the tallest hill and watch the far-off flames from her vantage point. The smoke had climbed so high into the sky she thought it must have been able to touch the other stars.
One year, her entire tribe had had to fight against the flames to protect their campsite. It had been a long, hard battle, but they had survived. Charis had been young when it had happened and had come away with a fear of fire.
"Fire is not evil," their mother, Drusa, had told them one night. "It is not good, either. It merely is, like everything else in the world. You cannot blame it for burning when that is what it was made to do. It is our light in the darkness, our warmth against the cold, the weapon against hunger."
She had run her fingers through Charis' hair and smiled softly, a rare thing for her. Elpis could only remember her mother smiling in such a way a handful of times. "And think of this: Without the wildfire, there could be no new growth. The old and dead brush would strangle whatever new life tried to take hold. Wildfire destroys in order to create. It is chaos in that way, and chaos is merely another word for change."
When she'd told Ardyn of that, he had smiled and said, "Your mother is wise in that regard. You take after her."
She had loved him fiercely in that moment. He'd always known how much she'd wanted to be just like her mother: a strong, capable leader. But he had not wanted her to be so. He'd wanted her to be herself, always. And she was herself, with him. She was imperfect, maybe not as strong as her mother, maybe not as willing to blindly follow old rules and traditions. She had failed her family, but she had not failed in Ardyn's eyes.
Elpis shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I don't-"
Something slammed against the fire and Elpis cringed. Alexus rolled their eyes. "Ugh, this is why I never hang out with family." They turned to Elpis. Their expression turned serious. "Listen to me. I can give you life once more. Trust me, because I mean you no harm. I want you to be reunited with your husband. I want you to defy destiny."
"I-" Elpis shook her head again, more vehemently this time. "I can't trust you. I trusted in divinity before and it ruined everything."
Alexus nodded. "So you did. But ask yourself this: If I truly meant you harm, do you think Bahamut and Senka would be trying so hard to get you away from me now?"
Another slam against the fire proved their point.
"Why would you do this? Why would you do this now?"
Alexus stared for a long beat before leaning in close and kissing her forehead. "Because once, you saved me," they said softly. "And I have loved you for it ever since. Let me save you this time, Elpis Maelen."
She was so taken aback that she didn't immediately notice that Alexus had not answered her second question. Nor did they have time, for then, Senka's scythe cut through the fire. It wavered, trying to build itself up once more.
"You must choose, Elpis," Alexus said firmly. "Do you choose life and fighting once more for those you love, or do you choose death, not only for yourself, but the man you love more than the world itself?"
It wasn't a hard choice at all, once it was put like that.
"Do it," Elpis said. "I choose life."
Alexus grinned and reached for her just as Senka's scythe once more cut through the flames and connected with Elpis' head. She screamed, putting a hand to her right eye, and then realized she felt no pain.
Instead, she felt an unraveling of herself, as a piece of thread is pulled from fabric to destroy an embroidery pattern. The first to go was her mother, her sister, her tribe. Then Solheim and everyone in it. Somnus, her life blood on his blade, went after.
And last, though she tried to hold on as tightly as she could, went Ardyn. Elpis fell into the dark as his smile faded from her memory and she knew nothing else.
It was easy to say one could set aside vengeance and hatred for a new life. It was harder to actually do so.
For two thousand years, Ardyn had had nothing else. In the utter blackness of his prison, with only the daemons and their demented visions to keep him company, Ardyn had let his anger and hatred fester. He imagined Somnus getting to live everything he and Elpis should've had: Marriage, children, waking up next to each other every morning and being the last person the other saw before they fell asleep. Somnus could have kept the throne for all Ardyn cared.
He had only ever wanted Elpis. He'd only wanted a cure for the Starscourge.
With every passing moment, his anger had grown, and the daemons had encouraged it. Logically, Ardyn knew they tormented him because even as infected and corrupted as he was, he still fought them. He would not give control of his body, of his soul, over so willingly. They'd wanted to break him.
It took them nearly the entire two thousand years before they succeeded. They had used a vision of Elpis to do it.
Ardyn watched Elpis sleep, her face content and peaceful. He wondered how she could set aside her anger and still fight for the world. He wondered how she could still fight for him, even after everything. Then again, that had always been Elpis' nature; even in absolute darkness, she could set the world ablaze with her hope and desire for justice.
He had always been the weaker of them both.
Elpis made a small sound in her sleep and shifted, moving closer to him. Ardyn set an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head, inhaling the scent of soap and shampoo from the shower she'd taken earlier. She no longer smelled like seawater, a fact for which they were both grateful.
His fingers slid up underneath his shirt that she was wearing. It was nearly a dress on her. He'd forgotten how much taller he was than she. He'd forgotten so much over the millennia.
The smoothness of Elpis' skin gave way to a hard line between her shoulder blades. The daemons in his mind shifted with fury, but Ardyn paid them no mind as his fingers traced the scar Somnus had left when he killed her. It was an ugly thing, a reminder of a time he wished had never happened.
No, vengeance was not so easily set aside.
"What future do you see for us, El?" Ardyn whispered against her hair. "I see one for you. A bright future, after the Starscourge is gone, after I am gone. You will have a husband who was never a monster. You will have children who will be free of the Astrals. You will have your sister. I cannot see it for myself. All I see is darkness."
She'd said she wanted to end destiny, but that required a fight that Ardyn wasn't sure he had the strength for. He had been all too willing to let the prophecy play out as it should because, in the end, he had wanted the peace that only death could bring. He was over two thousand years old, physically stuck at the age he'd been when he was executed. Emotionally, he felt older than even Eos itself. Next to Elpis' vibrancy, he was a dark shadow indeed.
But what if, Ardyn mused, she could do the impossible and banish the daemons without killing me?
Ardyn tried to imagine it. A life free of the shadows that haunted his mind and his every waking step. To once again be the man that Elpis had loved so dearly, the compassionate man who gladly took the daemons into his own body to save people, the man who had loved his brother instead of seeking to destroy everything he had ever created. To be human again. Would he be able to give Elpis the life she deserved?
If she were awake, she'd frown at him and say he was being stupid, because the life she chose was better than the one he thought she deserved. The one he imagined for her did not have him in it. Elpis would never accept that. She had defied the grip of Death itself to once again be with him.
"I am not worth this," Ardyn murmured as he closed his eyes and pulled her closer to him. Elpis shifted once again before settling. He sighed as he felt the dawn arrive. He had his window blocked to keep the sun out, but nonetheless, he knew when the morning came once again. It was a subtle shift in the air that only a daemon could feel. Soon, Elpis would wake, and he would have to take the first step on a journey that terrified him.
Hadn't he told her once that it was easy to hurt people, and that the true challenge was to be kind and gentle in a world full of pain and misery? Ardyn was ashamed that he had let himself break so easily and turned himself into a monster for the Astrals' prophecy.
For a time, the only sounds were of his and Elpis' breathing. He'd forgotten how calming it had been to simply lie with her and breathe with her. If he were still capable of sleeping, it would have lulled him into it quickly.
Elpis woke far too fast for his liking. She was running herself ragged, and had even argued against resting again after her shower. Ardyn had prevailed in the end. Her breathing quickened and he felt her body tense momentarily before she remembered where she was. She let out a quiet sigh and melted against him, burying her face into his chest.
"Good morning," Ardyn said quietly.
"Mmmph," Elpis replied, causing him to smile. She pulled away to yawn, then gazed up at him with eyes that were still heavy with sleep. This close, Ardyn could see that her yellow eye had flecks of brown and gold in it. He still wasn't quite used to seeing the color on her.
Elpis' brow furrowed. Before he could ask what was wrong, she pressed a finger to the place between his eyebrows. "What are you thinking about that's causing such a heavy line here, husband?"
His heart would have skipped a beat if it could. Husband. They'd never had a chance to marry, but to Elpis, that didn't matter. For all intents and purposes, he was her husband, and she was his wife. Simply because they'd never had a ceremony declaring as much did not change that fact.
(Would he ever get to see her in a wedding gown? Ardyn found himself desperately wishing so.)
Instead of deflecting, Ardyn decided to be honest. "I was thinking of the future," he said. "And how easily you can see one where I cannot."
Elpis' frown deepened. He immediately wished he hadn't said anything. He hated causing her to frown.
"I must admit," she said softly, "that from where I stand right now, the future is murky. I do not know everything this will entail, and that makes me nervous. I know that Alexus has a plan."
The Messenger. Ardyn wondered briefly if they had survived Altissia. Likely not, or else they would have already come to find Elpis. With their death, was everything doomed to failure?
Elpis put a hand on his cheek. "I also know that my fears can't control me. Not when there's so much riding on what I must do. A part of me doesn't care what happens to the world so long as you live. Another part-I suppose the part that has grown up all over again in this time-does care, and cares deeply. I want there to be a world for Laelia to live in. I want all the death and despair to stop."
Ardyn smiled sadly for her and ran a hand through her soft hair. "There's my girl," he said. "Always carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders."
"Maybe so," she said, "but at least you will be there waiting for me when I set it down."
Ardyn kissed her briefly. "Not just then," he said against her lips, "I will help you carry it."
Elpis kissed him hungrily, and his shirt exposed her thighs in a way that would have done things to him if his body could still properly, physically respond. She had been embarrassed the night before over her plain white knickers-apparently they were not fit for his eyes-but Ardyn had quickly reassured her that, as little as she'd be wearing them when he was done with her, she had no need to feel embarrassed. They could have been an old pair full of holes and falling apart and he still would have found her gorgeous in them.
"Okay," Elpis breathed when they parted. "Okay, no, I can't let myself get distracted again. I've wasted too much time already. Who knows where the Prince may be now?"
"In Tenebrae," Ardyn answered immediately. Elpis paused, raising an eyebrow at him. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course I'm having them followed, El. How else could I mysteriously turn up at all the right times?"
She tried to hide her smile and failed. Shaking her head, Elpis stood and stretched while Ardyn watched the muscles under her skin move in appreciation. When she returned from the bathroom from getting ready, he had laid out new clothes for her to wear. She would have to make do with her old black jeans and shoes, but he found a shirt that hopefully wouldn't swallow her whole.
Elpis got dressed and looked at herself in the mirror as she fussed with the black shirt. Noting Ardyn's frown in the reflection, she said, "Is something wrong?"
"Mm," he said, toying with the hem of the shirt. "I dislike seeing you in black."
She rolled up the sleeves and pinned them in place, then put on her jacket. The splash of yellow was a welcome relief against the constant black. Why had he chosen to continue wearing it after all this time? Ardyn could not remember his reasons now, years later.
"It was the color of your House, was it not?" Elpis asked, studying herself in the mirror. She met his gaze. "I want to wear your colors. I am not ashamed to be claimed by you."
Ardyn swallowed thickly. He was torn between extreme emotion at her declaration and wishing he could push her up against the wall to show his appreciation. Finally, he settled on, "I'd rather wear your colors one day."
She laughed. "Oh, darling," she said, placing a hand on his cheek once again. "I love you, but you'd look terrible in yellow."
He joined her in her laughter and pulled her close for another kiss. When they broke apart, Elpis glanced once more at the mirror and frowned. She pulled at the end of the braid she'd put her hair in.
"What's wrong?" he asked, finding nothing to disapprove of on her person. Then again, he wouldn't.
"Ah..." she hesitated, then said, "do you have something I could wear on my hair?"
Realization followed a moment later. Ardyn thought for a second before picking up his red and orange scarf. He handed it to her almost shyly, something he hadn't been in millennia. She brought out the softest sides of him. "Is this long enough?"
Elpis smiled, and it was like the sun rising after the darkest, longest night. She took it from him and, after some playing around with it, managed to get it into a similar style that she had worn when they'd first met. Ardyn drank her in. She looked so different in his clothes, and wearing a scarf over her hair in a way no one else in Eos did. She looked out of place.
So had he, ever since he'd been dragged from the prison. It didn't matter if they didn't fit in with the rest of the world; they fit together, and that was all he cared about.
"Where will you go?" Ardyn asked, though he had an idea.
"To speak with Noctis," Elpis said.
His hackles rose as he imagined Noctis anywhere near Elpis. "I'll go with you-"
"Ardyn," she said, placing a hand on his chest. "I know you are immortal now, but I have no wish to see you get killed. That is exactly what would happen if you were to meet with Noctis right now. You just killed Lunafreya; he will not take to you kindly."
"Is this meant to dissuade me from accompanying you? Because it's doing the opposite, El."
Sighing affectionately, Elpis stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "That's why I must go alone. I need to make certain he won't kill you when next you two meet. I need him to see a different future."
Ardyn tilted his head as he considered her. "A future that will lack his bride. You would be asking him to ally with you in order to save me, and he will not do such a thing."
"Maybe not," Elpis agreed. "I have to try, nonetheless. If he disagrees, it changes nothing. I will save you, Ardyn. The darkness cannot have you."
The ferocity of her voice left no room for doubt. He let out a shallow chuckle and ran a hand down his face. "Only you would still carry hope for one such as I."
"I will always pray for you." Elpis kissed his palm and smiled up at him.
For two thousand years, Ardyn had not felt anything beside despair, anger, hatred, and a need for vengeance. They had been his constant companions.
Now, in Elpis' light, he felt something he had long forgotten: Love. Bright, burning, consuming love.
And a fear that he could lose it all over again to a boy who looked like Somnus.
"Take a weapon with you, at least," Ardyn said. "I'm sorry that I didn't remember to bring your stave with us from Altissia."
Elpis seemed to consider it momentarily before shaking her head. "If I go with a weapon, they won't trust me. Please, Ardyn, trust that I know what I'm doing. I will not let myself get hurt." She smirked. "Besides, they're babies. We would have eaten them alive in my tribe. I don't need a weapon in order to fight them."
He didn't like it, but he could see the logic behind her decision. Moreover, Ardyn knew that in this, she would not budge. He might be able to get her to change her mind eventually, but that was time they didn't have.
Sighing, Ardyn nodded. He looked towards the window. "And what role do you see for me in this new plot?"
"The Emperor of Niflheim," Elpis said, and Ardyn looked at her in stark surprise. She met his gaze levelly. "May I presume that you've infected him and were waiting to turn him?"
"Ah... yes." Ardyn felt no guilt for Iedolaus' fate. The man would have fallen to his own greed for glory in one way or another. Ardyn had simply sped fate along.
No, he felt no guilt for Iedolaus. But he was beginning to feel some remorse for Lunafreya. Even if it had been necessary for the prophecy to be fulfilled.
He gave Elpis a dubious look. "Do you wish for me to spare him?"
"No," she said with a shake of her head. To his shock, Elpis said, "I want you to kill him."
Ardyn waited for the punchline. When it didn't come, he said, "Are you... certain?"
Elpis sighed. "I wish I didn't have to ask this of you," she said. "I wasn't lying when I said I'm tired of death. But there has always been something rotten in the Emperor; you merely took advantage of that fact. If he survives whatever comes next, he will never give up his lust for the Crystal and for absolute power over all of Eos. If he lives, everyone else will be in danger."
Ardyn considered this before nodding. Iedolaus would die before he let go of his desire to be the True King. "He has heirs," he pointed out.
"Stay your blade from them," Elpis said firmly. "Perhaps it's a mistake, but I would see blood shed from no other but the Emperor. We will deal with his heirs once this madness with the Crystal and Eos is finished."
She seemed so certain of their future. She seemed so certain that he would be her future.
Ardyn tried to cast aside his doubt. He would place his faith in Elpis. All others had turned their backs on him save her. He would not reward her constancy with his fears and self-doubt.
He pulled her into another kiss, this one longer, lingering. He did it more for her than himself, as he could not feel anything save pressure against his skin. When they broke apart, Ardyn pressed his forehead to hers. "For two thousand years, I thought I would only ever see you again in the Beyond, if I should be so lucky as to die. This... has been more than I could have ever dared hope for. Please forgive me for fearing that it may be all we ever have."
Elpis placed a steadying hand on his still heart. "I understand," she whispered. "But I will not allow it to be. I refuse to accept anything less than both of us living the lives we should have lived two thousand years ago. I refuse to let Eos play out this twisted story."
He smiled. "I love you, wife."
Elpis blinked in surprise, then grinned broadly as tears shone in her eyes. She rubbed at them with a quick laugh. "No more crying. And no more stalling. I have to go."
"Then go," Ardyn said, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss upon it, as if they still lived in the time when men did that with regularity. He held on as she walked away, both of them staring at each other, until finally his hand fell from hers. Elpis bit her lip, then turned away and let the bedroom door open for her. Then she was gone.
Ardyn closed his eyes and tried to dislodge the heaviness in his chest with a sigh. He didn't immediately recognize it as anxiety. He set a hand upon the place where Elpis had touched him just moments before, wondering.
"I feel almost human again, El," he said to himself. The daemons hissed in his mind. "You make me feel human."
And then, he smiled.