How did one approach the True King of Eos and convince him to ally with the man who'd killed his fiance and quite possibly doomed the world?

Elpis could almost hear Alexus say, "You don't." Unfortunately, that wasn't an option.

Thanks to Ardyn's tracking of them, Elpis knew which train they had gotten on. She'd bought a ticket for a different car on the same ride and used the time to try and strategize her approach. She'd deliberately made herself as non-threatening as possible, but the fact of the matter was, she knew they'd see her as an enemy.

And frankly, if her plan failed, maybe she would become their enemy.

Outside the train car's window, Elpis watched the desert pass by. It was different from the desert of modern-day Lucis, the one she had been born in. This continent's desert was more sand than dry rock and golden ground. The leaves on the trees were yellow instead of green. Still, there was a familiar dry heat in the air that made Elpis' heart ache. She longed to merely lie down in the sand and let the sun warm her skin.

Perhaps one day, she could. Today wouldn't be that day.

Without thinking, Elpis reached into her pocket for the phone that she no longer had. Coming up empty handed, she sighed. She should have asked Ardyn for one before leaving the airship. Though now that she thought on it, he didn't have one, either. The thought caused her to smile slightly. He was something of an old man in some ways.

Then again, Elpis was something of an old woman, if she were being entirely fair. They both should have been past their middle ages. Hell, they both should have long since been dust.

Still, she resolved to buy them new phones when she got the chance. And to call Laelia as soon as she thought it safe.

Ahead, the door connecting to the next car in the train opened, and a familiar bulk lumbered through. Elpis kept her expression calm even as a spike of fear went through her.

Gladiolus, the Prince's Shield, had just entered her car.

Casually, Elpis took a sip of her drink and turned her face towards the window. In all her thoughts of how this might go, one of Noctis' friends finding her had not played into any of them. She wasn't ready. She still needed time to figure out her words-

A shadow fell over her. Elpis sighed internally.

"If it isn't the woman from Lestallum."

"Fantastic," she muttered to herself as she set her cup down. She was torn between wishing Alexus were with her and hoping they stayed away. The back up would have been nice, but more often than not, Alexus was the reason Elpis needed back up in the first place.

She managed a tight smile to Gladiolus. "And if it isn't the Shield."

Gladiolus crossed his arms over his chest and regarded her with cool distrust. "Funny that you should be on the same train as us. Almost like you're following us. Reminds me of a certain Chancellor."

This is off to a great start, Elpis thought.

"Okay, yes, I'll admit to following you," Elpis said bluntly. "But I mean no harm. If I did, I would have already done so."

"Yeah, you're gonna have to excuse me if I don't really buy it."

She couldn't stop from rolling her eyes. Elpis slid out of her booth and stood, facing Gladiolus. He towered over her, but she wasn't put off by that. She had been dealing with men twice her size all her life, and all of them had ended up on the ground in one way or another.

For all her faults, Elpis' mother had not taught her daughter to cower before mountains or Gods. Elpis had been taught to consider herself their equal and demand to be treated as such.

"I wish to speak with Prince Noctis," Elpis said, keeping her voice down. The Prince and his friends had distinctive looks, so she wasn't entirely sure they were trying to keep low profiles, but it was better not to draw extra attention where it wasn't wanted.

Gladiolus looked amused by her request. "Not gonna happen. You're still an unknown entity, remember? And now you're wearing something of the Chancellor's."

Elpis paused. "In fairness to me," she said, "he wears so many patterns at one time, I didn't think you'd be able to recognize one when it was by itself."

That earned her a slight smirk. Maybe he was warming up to her?

He closed some of the distance between them. "You're getting off at the next stop."

Or maybe not.

"Listen to me," Elpis said, "I need to speak to Noctis. There's so much more going on than what he realizes. I know of a way to defeat the daemons."

Her voice lowered again but did not lose its urgency. "I want nothing more than to stop the darkness. Soon, the nights will be growing longer, far sooner than they should at this time of year. In only a short while, daylight won't exist at all. It's happened before and it will happen again if you don't listen to me."

Gladiolus considered her for a long, drawn out moment, and Elpis feared she would have to use force to convince him. Something in her expression must have convinced him, though, for he finally frowned and lowered his arms.

"Try anything and you answer to me."

That's not much of a threat, Elpis thought. She smiled politely and said, "Of course."

He led her through several cars before she finally caught sight of Noctis' hair. Ignis noticed her first; she could see his shoulders tense from where she was standing. Noctis noticed as well and followed his gaze, his expression darkening when he saw her.

Elpis found herself wishing Prompto were with them. At least he had usually been rather friendly.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Noctis asked when they had reached his booth.

"Says she wants to help," Gladiolus said, and his tone belied his doubt in that theory.

Elpis bowed her head respectfully. "I'm glad to see you all made it out of Altissia unharmed," she said.

It was the wrong thing to say. Noctis glared at her. "Except for Luna. Thanks to-"

"Ardyn. Yes, I know," Elpis said. "I assure you I make no excuses for his actions. What he's done is wrong, and I won't argue that. I will say there's a larger story you don't know about that... at least sheds some light on how we came to this point."

Noctis stood suddenly and was on her. "I don't care about his story! If I ever see that bastard again, I'm going to kill him."

Elpis stayed her ground. "You can do that," she said calmly, "but as he's immortal, it wouldn't do you much good."

That took some of the wind out of his sails. Noctis pulled back slightly, blinking in surprise. Ignis put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from throwing himself back into the fray he craved.

"There's a different cadence to your voice," Ignis noted as he looked Elpis over. "And a difference in your bearing. Clearly, something has happened since Lestallum."

"I'm... not entirely sure if I should be flattered or creeped out, but honestly, if it gets you to listen to what I have to say, I'll take it."

Ignis looked to Noctis, whose body language said he was not in the mood to listen. "We should hear her out, Noct," he said quietly. "I understand your anger, but she is not the right target for it."

Noctis took a deep breath and looked away, struggling with something unseen, before he nodded. "Yeah."

It was the best she was going to get, so Elpis accepted it gracefully. At that moment, the train door opened and a familiar, skinny blond-haired boy ran in.

"Guys! Have you looked out-uh," Prompto said, coming to a sudden stop before them. He looked between Noctis and Elpis uncertainly. "Er... hi?"

Elpis smiled. "Hello. I take it you were about to point out the strange weather?"

Prompto looked uneasy. "You can't read minds, can you?"

"No, thankfully." She tilted her head down until she could see out the window while the others followed her lead. Nearby, the sand gave way to snow, and low clouds hung over the land. Even here, Elpis could begin to feel a slight chill in the air. "We're coming to where the Empire killed Shiva. Her body still rests here and exudes her magic over the land. Forgive me, I assumed you knew what you were stepping into, and that you were coming to forge a covenant with the Glacian."

"Wait," Prompto said, "if her body is, uh, dead, then how is it all snowy out there? And if she's dead, how can Noct make a covenant with her?"

Elpis sat in the booth Noctis and Ignis had been in before she arrived. The boys exchanged looks before Ignis and Noctis sat opposite her, Gladiolus remained standing, and Prompto sat on a chair on the opposite of the aisle.

"They only killed an aspect of her," Elpis said, studying the clouds. "That was her true Astral form. She lost a good measure of her power when it died, but there exists other versions of her."

She turned her attention to Noctis. "You've met her already, in fact."

Noctis seemed surprised to learn this. "I-have?"

"Lunafreya's companion, Gentiana," Elpis said. "She's Shiva's human aspect. All the Astrals have human forms they can wear if they wish to move about Eos unseen. Shiva has merely been kept in that form since she died."

Gladiolus seemed to accept her explanation without much fuss, which she appreciated. He moved on to another point. "Speaking of Astrals, where's your friend?"

The look on her face must have explained some of it, because Ignis said, "Ah. My apologies for your loss."

Elpis shook her head. "I don't know for certain that they're dead. Ardyn-ah... he told me that they were dragged away by a Messenger of Leviathan's after pulling me out of the sea in Altissia." She paused again. "But I suppose they must be, since they haven't joined back up with me."

"And... your sister," Prompto said, and Elpis found it sweet that he remembered. "Is she okay?"

"Safe in Lestallum, still."

"You said you were in Altissia," Noctis said, his voice tight. "Why? If you were there, why didn't you help Luna? Or-"

She can see him finish the thought without saying it: Did you help Ardyn kill her?

Elpis sighed and glanced around the car. It was mostly empty. "I was in Altissia, yes," she said. "And I was there to meet Ardyn, it's true. But I had nothing to do with Lady Lunafreya's death. I would have stopped it, had I known."

Noctis clenched his jaw and looked away out the window, as if he couldn't stand to look at her. Honestly, she couldn't entirely blame him.

"You said you had a story to tell," Ignis said. His tone was mostly neutral, and he seemed to be reserving judgment on her until he knew the entire picture. She could respect him for that. "I suggest you tell it."

"Well," Elpis said slowly, "then I need to start at the very beginning-"

She felt the shift in the air before it became apparent. Everything around her fell silent and the light in the cabin darkened as if clouds had blocked the sun. She risked a look outside the window and saw that they were no longer moving, but frozen in place, the land outside the window blurred from paused movement.

"What the hell?" Noctis said, standing. His friends were under whatever spell had befallen the rest of the cabin. He turned to her, narrowing his eyes. "What's going on? What did you do?"

Elpis' voice was tense when she answered. "I'm not the one doing this."

"Aren't you?"

The familiar voice caused Elpis to spin on her heel. Ardyn stood at the end of the cabin, leaning against the door as if he had not a care in the world. He met her gaze and gave her a slow smirk as he came to stand straight.

"I must thank you for keeping the boy company for me, Elpis."

Elpis heard Noctis growl behind her and summon his weapon. Before he could so much as move, though, Elpis was running towards Ardyn. He didn't move, and his expression registered only a brief second of surprise before she kicked his head. His body flew to the side and hit the window, cracking it, and black blood ran from his forehead.

"How dare you!" Elpis said. "Whoever you are, lose his form right now. Did you truly think you could fool me?"

The thing with Ardyn's shape looked at her in confusion. "El-"

"Enough of this," Noctis yelled, and Elpis saw his blade come down on the fake Ardyn. Black blood stained the walls and floor, dotting the window, and Ardyn let out a pathetic groan. Then, before Noctis could bring his sword down again, he was gone. Noctis cursed before turning his blade on Elpis.

Suddenly, all she saw was Somnus. Fear lurched in her heart as she stepped back. Elpis raised her trembling hands and felt Somnus' blade run through her heart once more, felt herself fall to the floor of Ardyn's prison, felt her life end to the sound of Ardyn's anguished, furious screams.

"Your Highness," Elpis said, a quiver in her voice, "please. That wasn't Ardyn. I don't know-"

"Shut up!" Noctis held his sword up to her, but didn't seem to want to actually use it on her. She didn't want to try her luck, though. The last time she had, she'd ended up dead. "What sick game are you two playing? Isn't it enough that you killed Luna? Why can't you just leave me the hell alone?"

The train lurched with a horrible, shrill cry of metal grinding on metal. Elpis lost her footing with a shout and landed hard, her head hitting the edge of a booth. Stars exploded in her vision even as she tried to regain her footing as the train came to sudden, stomach-flipping stop. She was halfway down the car before Noctis saw that she was running.

She wasn't the only one. The door opened to people running in the opposite direction, crying with alarm and fear. Some of them were bleeding. Elpis heard Noctis' friends exclaim before she slammed the door shut behind her and made for the next car.

"I had to be the bigger person and come without any weapons or armor," Elpis muttered. "What a bloody idiot."

She opened the door of the next car and ran right into a firm body. Elpis gasped as Ardyn's hands clasped on her arms and held her in place. He grinned down at her, no love in his expression.

"Elpis," he purred. "Still trying to win the boy's trust? It'll take much more than our sad story to do so."

Her skin crawled where he touched her. Elpis tried to pull away, only to find that whatever this thing was, its strength was more than she could shake off. "Who are you?"

The false Ardyn pulled her close. "Have you hurt your head again? It's me."

Elpis spit in its face. "You lie," she snarled. "Whatever you are, you are not Ardyn. I know that man's soul. You can look exactly like him and still you will never be able to fool me."

He tilted his head, a curious expression on his face. "Do you truly know me so well?"

Suddenly, the false Ardyn threw her away from him hard. Her back smashed into a window and she felt shards cut into her skin. Elpis gasped and fell to the floor, her feet sliding on pieces of glass. Ardyn grabbed her face, his fingers digging into her muscles painfully.

"All that hope that I could be a better man," the creature tsked, shaking its head. "And for what? Because you still believe in a fairytale ending? You're old enough now to know such things don't exist. Especially not for the villains."

Then, horrifyingly, the creature wearing Ardyn's form leaned forward and licked the blood dripping down her face. Almost as if it were claiming her. Elpis reared back as far as she could and kicked the thing square in the chest, its nails tearing her cheeks as it fell away.

"Okay, first of all: Ew." Elpis gagged as she pulled herself back up to her feet. The scent of decaying earth and dead things lingered at the back of her throat. "Second of all, fuck you. I am sick and tired of being told that I'm stupid for daring to want better for myself and the people I love."

Ardyn smiled at her. "If you were so powerful, why not come back to life sooner? Why not save me from the prison yourself instead of letting the Empire take me? You could have saved everyone so much grief, El. You could have saved me. Instead, you let me linger and rot in the darkness, and I lost faith in you. You left me in a world without the sun. Everything that has happened since then has been your fault."

Elpis stared. All she could do was stare, it seemed, until the fury igniting in her chest finally took hold.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her tone deceptively quiet and calm. She felt... dangerous. She had passed anger and found herself instead in some place of complete and utter wrath. But it did not show itself as a gnashing of teeth or wildly flailing limbs. Elpis felt still, and in that stillness, she found deadliness.

"None of this is my fault," Elpis said, enunciating each word. "How dare you to try to lay the blame for the world's sorrows at my feet, when the one to blame is you, Eos."

Ardyn blinked, then snarled and lunged for her. Elpis brought up the large shard of glass she'd picked up on the floor and drove it into Ardyn's neck, cringing even as she knew this was not her Ardyn. This was not the man for whom she'd defied death.

The facade fell away and, in its place, a daemon writhed in agony underneath the glass shard. It pulled away from her and clawed at its neck, then disappeared in a pool of black. Elpis tried to catch her breath, only to be flung forward as an explosion tore away the wall of the train behind her. Debris struck her back and stunned her.

She heard a door open, hurried footsteps following. Elpis managed to get herself to her knees and wiped away the blood on her face.

"Whoa." Prompto nearly slipped on some of the debris as Noctis stood by, then caught himself and came to kneel next to Elpis. "You okay?"

"I'll live," Elpis said without much humor. She leaned against the wall to pull herself up to her feet and caught Noctis' glare. "You can blame me later, Your Highness, but right now you need to save the passengers. What's happening?"

"The Empire is attacking the train," Prompto said.

"They must have found out we were on board," Noctis said, pinning Elpis with a look that said he knew who to blame for that.

"If you believe nothing else of me, Noctis, believe that I wouldn't put innocent people in harm's way. And I would never, ever work for the Empire," Elpis said. "Where are Ignis and Gladiolus?"

Prompto aimed his gun out the opening and fired at an MT that was climbing aboard. "They're checking on the engine," he said. "Trying to get us running again so we can lose these guys."

A sudden array of gunshots sent all three of them to the floor, covering their heads. Elpis looked to Noctis. "You handle the re-enforcements in the sky and I'll handle the ones on the ground."

"Like hell I will-"

Noctis let out a pained yell as an MT found them and shot at him. Elpis could see a red line appear on his arm before he turned and threw his sword at the MT. The soldier crumpled to its knees, electricity sparking from its core, and Elpis had only a moment to throw up her shield before it exploded. The force reverberated against the light she'd let loose.

Elpis gave Noctis a dry look. "You're welcome."

"There are way too many of them," Prompto said, daring a peek outside, "and-ohhhhh boy. They've brought out the big guns!"

"I don't wanna find out what that means," Elpis said.

Suddenly, the speakers crackled with a high cry of frequency, then cleared as the notes of an old song played over them.

Forget the hearse, 'cause I'll never die

I got nine lives, cat's eyes

Abusing every one of them and running wild

Noctis and Prompto looked to Elpis as she let out a shaky laugh. "Oh, you're joking," she managed.

Fire swept past the opening to the train and the MTS were consumed. Then it landed on top of the tanks Prompto had mentioned and, with a wild roar, enveloped the machinery in flames until it exploded. A bright flame jumped away from the explosion and came to land on the edge of the opening, just as the train began moving again. The fire took shape of a person and Alexus grinned at them, long red hair blowing in the wind.

"Miss me, kids?"


Bellona Aldercapt, daughter of Imperator Iedolas, was bored.

She picked at her box of chocolates as the commanders of the Army continued yelling at each other. She held one up and examined it before tossing it, and the box, aside. Yet another suitor doomed to disappointment. Either because she had rejected his gift or because she hadn't eaten of it. Poison was such a dreadfully slow way to go.

"The Fleuret boy has taken to hiding in Tenebrae," one of the commanders said. Bellona had forgotten his name, if she'd ever bothered to learn it in the first place. "I say we attack and bring him back in chains. His mission in Altissia cost us much."

Bellona heard a slow sigh from beside her. She slid her gaze over to her twin brother, Nikolaos. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his brow furrowed with exhaustion. She hoped she never aged as badly as he had in the last year. Though he was only in his late thirties, with his greying hair and deep lines, he looked to be nearing his late fifties.

That's what happened when you cared too much. Bellona had never been cursed with such an affliction.

"The army is already stretched thin," Nikolaos said. "We've no resources to send to Tenebrae. Besithia has slowed the production of the soldiers in favor of other experiments."

Another of the commanders pinned Nikolaos with a look. Bellona thought that if she were Imperator, she'd have the man's eyes plucked out and fed to dogs as punishment for glaring at his liege.

But then, Bellona was not Imperator, and no one asked for her opinion.

"If it's justification you're worried about, Your Highness," the commander said coolly, "we simply say he's been charged with treason. Say he meant for the mission to fail."

"You cast doubt on Imperator Iedolas," another commander, differentiated only by his blond hair, said. "It was his decision to place the Fleuret boy in charge. If we say he betrayed us, it would make the Imperator look weak."

"Isn't he?" the other commander asked with a mild tone. He cut a glance at Nikolaos. "How is your father, Your Highness?"

Underneath the council table, Bellona saw Nikolaos' hands clench into fists. She watched his face with a vague sense of curiousity. Bellona had heard two of the servants gossiping about her father having contracted the Starscourge. She'd sent their bodies out of the palace in pieces.

It was true that her father had the Starscourge. But that had not been made known to any of the council or his commanding officers. All they knew was that he had taken sick to his bed and, of course due to his old age and the stress of the siege on Insomnia, was struggling to recover. The fact that two servants had spoken freely about it meant there was a leak somewhere. And it seemed at least one officer had found it.

How would her twin play this now, she wondered? If he was smart, he would confirm their father was on his deathbed and had been for some time. The choice to make an outsider-a Fleuret born, no less-a High Commander could be waved away as a poor decision brought about by illness. It would pave the way for Nikolaos to take the crown from their father all while keeping his own hands clean.

"He is stable," Nikolaos said at length. Bellona resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

How typical, she thought. I was the only one of us born with any balls.

"And his health is beside the point now," Nikolaos continued. "He would not order an attack on Tenebrae now were he well. Nor shall I. We must focus instead on the main threat: Prince Noctis and his comrades."

A grumble of disapproval rose from the commanders. Bellona decided she'd had enough of their presence for one day and stood, leaving the table without making any excuses for herself. No one stopped her. She wasn't truly necessary for the conversation in the first place. The thought caused her to clench her fists until her nails broke the skin.

The corridors of the palace were empty as Bellona made her way from the council room. Far too many servants had taken her father's illness as a chance to escape Gralea. If they were at the height of their power, they could have had them hunted down and dragged back for execution. As it was, her brother was too tied up in other matters to care much about the household staff.

Bellona slowly made her way towards her father's rooms. As the first daughter, it fell to her to take care of him in his illness. She had shrugged the responsibility off on a servant, but today she found herself curious as to how close the old bastard was to dying. Her footsteps echoed on the marble floors and walls.

She came to the door to her father's rooms and found it locked. Not unusual, certainly, and not a problem for her. She'd learned how to open doors closed to her when she was eight. Bellona took some pins from her hair and set to work on the lock. In short order, she heard the satisfying click and pushed the door open as she repinned her hair.

A strange gurgling sound greeted her as she stepped into the first of her father's rooms, the sitting chamber. Bellona paused, then very quietly closed the door behind her. She slipped off her shoes and, on quiet feet, padded past his large, dark wood desk to peer into his bedroom.

Iedolas writhed in his bed, black blood pouring from his mouth as he choked on it. Dark trails dripped from his eyes and Bellona realized it was blood as well. His bones broke and bent backwards, the muscles twisting underneath his paper thin skin.

And above him, with an impassive expression as if he saw this happen every day, stood Ardyn Izunia. Purple darkness seemed to emanate from him, and his skin was the pallor only the dead had.

Bellona watched as her father slowly died, then stepped away from the door and considered her options.

She was not particularly close to her father. He'd had no use for a daughter, not when Nikolaos existed. The most thought he ever gave her was when he'd begun accepting suitors for her hand, and after the fifth one had died, Iedolas had stopped giving her even that consideration. In Niflheim, women were meant to be silent, marry, bear and raise children, then die somewhere they couldn't bother anyone with the trouble of their decaying bodies. Bellona did not think of her mother often. She had died giving birth to another daughter, one Bellona wished had died as well.

It was with those thoughts in mind that Bellona silently made her way out of her father's rooms. It was only after the door closed behind her that she slowly let herself smile. If Ardyn killed her father-and she had no doubt that was what the Chancellor was doing-then Nikolaos would finally take the throne. In the middle of a war that, instead of coming to a close, was quickly spiralling out of Niflheim's control, it would be an awful time for Nikolaos to come to power. There were so many ways things could fall to chaos.

Giddy, Bellona turned from the door and walked away. Why not? she thought. There hadn't been any good plays since Insomnia had fallen. She was in dire need of amusement.

She would see how this played out. If nothing else, it might prove entertaining.


The halls of Fenestala Manor were silent. So they had been for twelve years, but gods, the silence had never felt so damnably empty before.

Ravus opened the door to Lunafreya's bedroom and stood in the doorway for a long moment. Everything was exactly as she'd left it only months before, when she'd left for the final time to Lucis. The only thing missing was her wedding dress. Ravus did not miss it.

Everything he'd worked so hard to avoid had come to pass after all. Luna was dead. The world was falling to darkness. And its salvation rested on the shoulders of a boy Ravus had no faith in whatsoever.

Feeling decades older than his twenty-eight years, Ravus lowered himself into a chair he'd often sat in while spending time with Luna. Her empty one mocked him from across a low table.

He knew he couldn't stay long-the Empire would be after him, he presumed, for the failure in Altissia that was in no way his doing-but Ravus lingered nonetheless. His gaze rose to the ceiling, painted to look like the night sky. Lunafreya had fallen asleep every night to the faint light of the stars, as a reminder to herself of her calling as Oracle: To never let the light of Eos dim.

Tears fell down his cheeks. Ravus let them for a time. Then, with careful movements, he wiped them away and once more pulled out a tablet from his coat.

Once more, he played the video taken by a magitek near the Altar, that he'd managed to send to his personal drive before cutting ties with the Empire.

And once more, Ravus Nox Fleuret watched as a woman with brown skin and mismatched eyes communed with Titan, then summoned a light that should have only belonged to Lunafreya. He watched as Ardyn, Lunafreya's murderer, held the woman's unconscious body and healed her, then gently carried her away.

Ravus stopped the video and set the tablet down on the table.

He rose from his chair and gave Lunafreya's dark, empty room one last look. Then he turned and left. It couldn't stay in Tenebrae long.

He had a woman to find. And he knew exactly where to start: Lestallum.


NOTES: "Back in Black" is owned by AC/DC, of course.

And so we keep chugging, rather like a train. And our journey still has a ways to go.

Thanks for staying with it this far, friends, and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.