Hi Everyone! I'm seeing a lot of hits on the last chapter. Thanks so much! Hope you are ok with where it's going and that it may be a "long haul" story. Anyways, here is a fresh batch of next chapter. Hope you like and thanks for reading. Comments/feedback always appreciated.

It was dark when Noctis awoke. The only light to be seen was a crackling torch hanging from a sconce to his left. He stood up, only to collapse suddenly as he felt the weight on his leg. He glanced down and saw he had a metal cuff on his ankle. He followed the cuff to a chain, then to ball. He had a ball and chain on his leg, he realized with a flash of horror.

He rose again. Now that he had a better idea of how to accommodate the weight, he was able to limp to the sconce and pull out the torch to get a better look at his surroundings. At least it wasn't a jail cell, he thought. It was much too big for that. It looked more like a great hall of a palace. The walls, at least from what he could tell from his limited mobility and light, were black marble, lined with pillars. Between each pillar was a niche, but it was too dark to see what they contained.

The floor was red and black tiled marble. Of furniture or additional light sources, he could not determine. How had he ended up here? He dredged his memories. The last thing he remembered was commanding his ancestors to come to him. Each had run him through, culminating with his father. There had been momentary darkness, then he was in a realm of light where he had finished off Ardyn once and for all. So, he was done then? He had slain Ardyn and saved the world.

So, this was it? He hadn't expected any rewards for his service, but it still seemed that eternity should have included more than this.

He didn't know how he knew he wasn't alone. All he had was a prickling on the back of his neck that alerted him. He clumsily leaped aside just as a sword rasped past his head so closely that a chunk of his hair was cropped off. If he hadn't moved, he would have been sliced through.

"So, you do possess warrior's instincts," a booming voice intoned from, above him?

Noctis waved his torch towards the voice. His courage shriveled a bit when he saw the being. It was a heavily armored masculine figure on horseback. The horse was obviously a warhorse. The rider was every inch a warrior, from the soles of his metal booted greaves to the top of the antlers on his helmet.

"Who are you," Noctis called out imperiously.

"You will know soon enough," the being replied, voice oozing malice. "Now, draw your sword."

Noctis attempted to summon his sword, just to come up with nothing. He tried a polearm, just to experience the same thing.

His foe sighed with annoyance and dismounted. With an impatient wave of his arm the entire room was illuminated. Noctis had to shield his eyes for a moment to adjust from the darkness. If the armored being had been intent on killing him, Noctis would have been easy pickings.

That did not seem to be his aim though. Once Noctis's eyes adjusted, he saw the man was standing before him, looking down at him with an inscrutable gaze behind his helmet. He was sizing him up as a foe, Noctis realized. And without a weapon, and with a chain on his leg, he was screwed. Or was he?

In an under the circumstances fluid movement, Noctis grabbed the chain on his leg, set to use the ball as a ball and chain to bash his foe. It might have worked. His potential opponent stepped back to avoid a strike at the same time Noctis ran out of chain and tripped himself, falling flat on his face. He braced himself for, death? But he was already dead, right?

Instead the being laughed, muffled a bit through his armor. "Not bad. Looks like my sister got you good, but not that good. You've still got the instincts of a fighter in you. If you didn't, my first blow would have destroyed you."

"I thought I'm already dead," Noctis replied.

"Nope," his companion replied brusquely but unhelpfully.

"Just tell me who you are and what you want," Noctis demanded in frustrated annoyance.

"I stand corrected. That sister of mine must have wiped more of your memories than I thought. I'm Odin. God of Combat. I was going to play with you, but seems like my sister has stolen all the toys. Guess that means I have to go talk to that idiot," he griped with annoyance.

"I'll be back," he said, striding back to his horse and remounting. "There's a bathroom and some food that way," he added, gesturing towards the back of the room. "When I slay you, I don't want you using the excuse that you were starved or had to take a leak," he added crassly.

Before Noctis could reply, Odin and his horse galloped down the length of the room and out the front doors. Front doors meant escape, Noctis thought, limping towards where Odin had departed from. The doors were unlocked, which gave him his first warning. He stopped short when he saw there was nothing beyond the doors except an endless expanse of cosmic sky. There was no ground, just an endless abyss of stars.

It was a jail cell then, Noctis realized. He was trapped and at the mercy of a God who wanted to kill him. After he spoke to his sister, evidently a Goddess of some sort. A Goddess who had sent Noctis here in the first place. Why couldn't he remember? He couldn't wrap his head around this—perhaps food and a bathroom break would help put this into perspective. He limped his way back to the other end of the hall to attend to his creature comforts, keeping a wary eye for Odin's return.

Cosmos hated sleeping. When she slept, nightmares came. They were more than nightmares—they were her past. Of her existence with Chaos. Eons of torture that she never wanted to endure again. The past 2000 years free of him had not even been a respite since she had slept and dreamed of him the whole time.

Now that she was awake, and Chaos was gone, she never wanted to sleep again. However, she was still too weak. She needed to keep her strength up to keep fighting for the light. So, she had forced herself to rest, voluntarily putting herself into the prison of her nightmares once more, all for the goal of more power. "Lie back and think of the light," she had recited to herself—the same mantra she used every time Chaos had come for her.

She was about to find out if it was worth it. It was time to recruit a powerful ally to her cause.

Ramuh always was humble, Cosmos thought as she approached his cave. There was nothing special about it—it wasn't a palace or temple. It was just a mundane cave. She strode in as though she owned the place.

She saw the child goddess first. Agneya—the goddess born to Shiva and Ifrit quite recently. The embodiment of fire and ice, and the single hope of keeping temperatures from becoming too extreme. The child was currently focused on knitting an ice scarf, which gave Cosmos time to study her.

She had never met the child. She had been born while Cosmos was locked away. However, the resemblance to both Shiva and Ifrit was uncanny. Agneya had her mother's pale blue flesh, and her father's fiery red hair. The shawl she was knitting was largely identical to the filmy scarf her mother had worn. She wore a pale lavender dress that was much more modest than anything that mother of hers had ever worn. Its color reflected the mix of red and ice blue that was her genetic history.

Cosmos could use a girl like her in her army. She plastered a serene maternal smile on her face as she approached. Ramuh stepped between them.

"Hi, Ramuh," Cosmos stated brightly. "I had wondered when you would show up."

"Thundersnow! It's you," Ramuh commented with a significant glance to Agneya.

Agneya lurched up and retreated further into the cave.

Cosmos gave a sad smile. "You didn't need to use an under duress code word with the dear child. At least, that is what I assume it was."

Ramuh ignored that. "I have heard of your return. Tell me, do you still wish to turn this planet into a fireball?"

"Fireball? Of course not, silly," Cosmos made a brittle laugh in conjunction to the comment. "I could never seek to emulate Ifrit or his daughter's prowess there."

"Light and heat go hand in hand, as I well know," Ramuh returned gravely.

"I guess we just have to agree to disagree," Cosmos stated with tolerant amusement that set Ramuh on edge.

"If you still seek to turn the planet back into a star, you are no better than Chaos," Ramuh stated.

Cosmos hissed. "I am nothing like that dark monster! I only seek to ensure the planet is never buried in darkness again!"

"At the expense of all life on the planet," Ramuh returned.

"Not anymore," Cosmos stated. "I've changed. It's so much better to be revered than feared. I have quite the army of followers now worshiping my every move. Why would I want to destroy them?"

"I hope you're right," Ramuh replied gravely. "However, I know where the quest for power can lead."

Cosmos pouted. "Here I hoped I could convince you to help me. Lightning and Light go together so well after all."

Ramuh refused to be drawn into her games. "It isn't that," he stated. "I am raising Agneya. I fear I do not have time for much else."

"Oh! I understand! I'm so glad you have taken that poor orphan in. I certainly don't need much from you. All I need you to do is continue keeping my existence a secret from anyone who may drop by."

"I seriously doubt anyone will," Ramuh returned.

"Promise me? Pretty please," she returned, batting her eyelashes for good measure.

Enough was enough, Ramuh thought to himself. He had been trying to stay out of all this in an attempt to give Cosmos a chance to prove herself. He could only guess at what had happened to her. But it seemed like she had learned way too much at her consort's hands. His fingers twitched to generate a single spark in preparation for striking. Then he remembered Agneya. If he fought Cosmos and lost, what would happen to his adopted daughter?

Unfortunately, he couldn't fight Cosmos. His best bet was appease her, for now.

"I promise," he stated, words wrung from him.

Cosmos laughed in good humor. "Thanks so much," she stated, and leaned forward to give him a daughterly kiss on his cheek. At the same time, she struck, driving an orb of light into his chest.

He doubled over in pain for a moment, then stared at her blankly.

"I learned from my esteemed consort to never trust anyone's word," Cosmos stated, voice sweet but hard. "Please forgive me for providing myself with some, insurance."

"What do you wish of me," Ramuh returned, voice flat, hypnotized, fully under her will.

"If anyone comes and asks about me, kill them. It's all I ask."

"It shall be done," Ramuh stated with conviction, patting her on the head.

Cosmos smiled serenely, then left the room. As soon as she was out of sight, she collapsed to her knees. Forcing him to her will had taken too much out of her. She was still too weak, it seemed. If she had been at her full strength, she could have recruited Agneya too. No matter. Agneya was just a child. She would be much easier to turn than Ramuh was. Just a little more rest was all Cosmos needed.

First, she had to escape from the darkened cave. She had to crawl out. Her legs were not taking her weight to stand. She winced as the dirt and shadows stained her beautiful dress at the knees. The light at the entrance of the cave gave her hope, and the will to keep moving.

As soon as she felt the rays of light on her face, she knew she was safe. She fell asleep in the bushes right outside the entrance of the cave, knowing she would dream again, but knowing there was power beyond it.

In order to reach the mountains where the fabled black chocobos were said to dwell, Ardyn had to go through the Nebulawood—a narrow labyrinth of trees and military ruins. It was said there was still potentially live ordinance here, a legacy from the site having long ago been a location for military training.

Ardyn hated being bottlenecked. In his experience, that was a surefire way of being ambushed. And on foot, alone, nothing with him besides the meager backpack of supplies Wiz Junior had given him, the clothes on his back, and the weapons he could summon, he was on his own.

And as Wiz Junior had said, there were beasts here that had slain everyone sent to dispatch them.

Visibility was poor here. Yesterday's rainstorm had let up, leaving a humid mist in its wake. A mist that closed in on the already narrow pathways. His hands were slick on the handle of his sword, from moisture, not sweat, he told himself, as he made his way through.

The remains of the armory loomed before him. The skeletal appendages of the crumbling brick walls came into view. Ardyn's boots rattled the piles of bricks on the ground that had once belonged to the walls as he entered the roofless space.

Visibility improved here, showing him the fate of the previous hunters. The body that lay before him was evidently a relatively recent kill as it still had decaying flesh hanging from its bones. The state of the flesh made determining its gender and age impossible, but the unnatural angle of how its head was attached to its neck showed that its neck had been broken at some point, perhaps as cause of death or after.

There were other bodies in the room-piles of bones this time. They had been picked clean, obviously by the sleeping creature that dominated the room. The gigantic gray, furry, horned creature filled the space. The Behemoth Tyrant, Ardyn thought to himself with awe twinged with fear. How this creature had survived the darkness was a mystery. Yet it had. The number of daemons it must have taken down in its lifetime had to be staggering.

Its tail alone was as big as Ardyn. He had his answer for how the hapless hunter's neck had been broken—a swipe in the neck with that thing would snap anyone's neck in one blow.

Ardyn had no interest in slaying it though. He was not a hunter who collected rewards for slaying said creatures. He couldn't care less about the fate of the earlier hunters either. His goal was obtaining a black male chocobo. And he didn't relish fighting the Behemoth Tyrant alone. Now, if Ardyn had still been immortal, it would have been quite an enjoyable challenge. Alas, he had to play it safe. And that meant sneaking past it.

He was lucky his rattling of the bricks had not awakened it. He could not count on his good fortune again though—he had to warp past it. Would the rush of air Ardyn generated from the warp wake it up? He spied a metal catwalk sticking out of the corner wall past the creature. Would it hold his weight? It would be far safer to warp there than at ground level, in case it awakened.

The same rapid fire instincts that allowed him to warp at will alerted him. He turned sharply to face the threat the split second before he heard the crack of the whip. Being able to face his foe though was the only benefit his instincts gave him. He felt the brutal leather strip bind around his neck. He realized that this was probably the actual cause of the recent victim's broken neck.

Ardyn dropped to his knees gasping for air. Through the red haze that formed around his vision, he saw the woman who literally had him by the throat. She was young, probably no more than twenty. She would have been pretty, he supposed, if her cat like green gaze was not staring at him in hatred. Her features, peeking out from her shaggy green hair, were pale, delicate, almost elfin. He would never have thought such a woman would strangle people with a whip, but he had learned long ago that appearances were deceiving.

"I won't let you kill her," the woman stated firmly, her voice as delicate as her appearance. Except that it was instilled with the steel of conviction.

Ardyn didn't have time to figure out what she was talking about, or even provide much of an answer one way or the other to her statement. He didn't have long until he passed out. The red haze was fading to the blackness of unconsciousness. He had one shot at this. He summoned his royal arms—the array of swords radiating around him to impale the assailant before him.

His aim was off in his near unconsciousness. Most flung wide. Only one connected. He dimly heard a feminine cry a second before the tension on his neck was released. He stayed on his knees, coughing as he recovered his air. He heard the thuds beside him—the thuds of something big. The Behemoth Tyrant, he remembered belatedly. He looked up, sharply, to see it plodding past him, hurrying towards the woman.

Ardyn had wounded the woman. He could see the blood oozing from her shoulder, staining her pale green gauzy dress. It reminded him of another time he had made a woman bleed. It was not a memory he wanted to face, or experience again. Still, the woman before him had deserved it.

She was currently cuddled between the Behemoth Tyrant's front feet as it licked the bloody wound on her shoulder, like a dog would its human companion. The beast was totally ignoring Ardyn, focusing on the woman. Ardyn couldn't tell how much damage he had done, or how deep the wound was, but he took no chances. He picked up the now temporarily discarded whip from the ground and held it up for examination.

It was plain brown leather—nothing to write home about, but all the more deadly in its simplicity.

"Who, what are you," the woman finally spoke. Her voice was high, thin, evidently terrified. Although why she should be scared of him when she had a powerful hellbeast on her side was a mystery.

"Oh, I'm just a man of no consequence," Ardyn returned smoothly, still fingering the whip. "A man who is still figuring out whether he should finish the job of killing you or simply question you. So I do recommend you choose your words and behavior carefully," he chided mockingly, albeit a bit hoarsely due to the recent damage to his throat.

His deadliness was obvious though. She bit her lip, now looking like a child who had been caught in a transgression.

"I, have never seen such weapons before," she ventured.

"I have never been attacked with a whip before," Ardyn returned, telling her nothing. "Who are you and why did you attempt to kill me? If I like your answers enough I just might spare you."

The woman pondered for a moment, absently petting the Behemoth Tyrant. It was lying there peacefully, now sniffing her wound in concern.

"My name is Rila," she finally said, words wrung out of her. "I thought you were going to kill her like all the others, so of course I had to stop you."

"Her as in, the Behemoth Tyrant," Ardyn clarified, the woman's words from earlier starting to make sense. The animal turned to look his way and snorted as though confirming. "I suppose negotiation was out of the question," he added mockingly.

"You had your sword out. I saw you sizing her up. I had no choice," Rila said, pleadingly. "I, only meant to strangle you just enough to knock you unconscious so we could leave."

"Just as you did the one over there," he glanced significantly at the remains with the obviously snapped neck.

Rila turned even more pale. Ardyn thought for a moment she would faint.

"I, didn't mean to. It was, an accident. The whip got tangled and I, couldn't get it off in time. I panicked and pulled too hard," she replied, desperate for somebody to believe her.

Ardyn sneered. "I supposed it was an 'accident' for the pile of others here," Ardyn replied darkly, gesturing to the piles of bones.

Rila gasped. "I, swear the only one I, killed is, over there," she said, pointing with a shaking hand to the recent remains. "The piles of bones have been here for years. Bea, likes to play with them, so I have kept them here."

"Bea, the Behemoth," Ardyn asked, smirking with amusement. "How do you know she didn't kill them herself?"

"She would never! I raised her from a pup. She only eats other animals! Never humans!"

"She is still a wild animal," Ardyn replied darkly. "They can turn at any time. It is not really my problem though. I am merely passing through."

"You mean, you don't want to kill her," Rila asked hopefully.

"Unless she tries to kill me," Ardyn returned. "I have other pressing business. Stabbing animals has nothing to do with it."

"Oh," Rila replied, wind taken out of her sails. She glanced at the body of the person she had killed, back to Bea, then back to Ardyn. She seemed to make up her mind, gave her beloved pet a farewell pat, emerged from its protective paws, and knelt before Ardyn.

"I, have wronged you, it seems, and the one over there," she stated firmly. "I, must atone. If you wish to kill me in revenge, I, shall not resist."

Ardyn stared down at her. She was pale, trembling. Her lips were quivering. She was doing her best not to cry. The cynical part of him wanted to call it crocodile tears—or the tears a woman used to manipulate a man into doing her bidding. The other part of him, the part that was tired of the cynicism and darkness, wanted to believe her. The latter won out.

"I rather think revenge is overkill here, my dear," Ardyn finally replied. "I'm sure the other one deserved it too. Stand up. I do not wish to shed more female blood today."

Rila stood up, staring at him in astonishment. "I. Thank you. Blood is blood in battle though. Woman or man, it doesn't matter."

Ardyn smiled ruefully. "Chivalry is dead, it seems. You do understand if I take your weapon with me. I do not relish granting mercy just to be stabbed, or strangled in this case from behind."

"Take it," she replied with alacrity. "As long as you spare Bea I shall grant you safe passage through. But, why are you here if not to hunt?"

I am on my way to tame a black male chocobo in the mountains," Ardyn replied.

Rila's eyes widened. "There is nobody left who can tame one of those! It is said you need a mix of kindness and darkness to tame one. There is no darkness left in the world. And, I am not sure if you have enough kindness to be able to do it."

Ardyn sighed, raking his hand through his hair. "I know. I can only try." He glanced down at her wound. His healer's instincts showed him that the bleeding had stopped, but the infection risk was quite high. Especially with an animal licking it. "Do you have bandages and antiseptic for your wound," he asked her.

She glanced down at it as though noticing it for the first time. "I can handle it. It's not so bad, considering," she said musingly. "You were, unlucky in your strike I guess," she said.

"Or you were lucky. I attacked you almost blindly after all. You were so close, by the way. Another few seconds, and I rather believe you would have vanquished me. Although, you would have been foolish to leave me alive after that. I am not a man who likes to be bested," Ardyn concluded darkly.

Rila merely stared back, gaze telling him nothing. "That is, if you could find me," she returned. "I know these woods like the back of my hand. And it is never prudent to beard an antlion in its den, you know," she returned matter of factly.

Ardyn smirked. "I suppose we will never know how that would turn out," Ardyn replied with mock regret. "As charmed as I am to meet you, Rila, I fear I must be going."

"Wait! One moment," she said, hurrying to her backpack. Ardyn watched warily as she rifled through it. She pulled out what appeared to be vegetables, and held them out to him, keeping her hands where he could see them so he knew she wasn't pulling a weapon. "These are gysahl greens. Chocobos love them. If you give these to the chocobo you seek, it may make taming easier."

"I, thank you," Ardyn replied, surprised that someone was giving him a gift.

"It's the least I can do," she replied. "There are potentially hostile beasts on your way. They, have harmed the other hunters who have come through. I will make sure they give you safe passage though."

"You, can do that," Ardyn asked in surprise.

"Of course I can! I'm a summoner," Rila said in bold pride.

Ardyn had never met one of the beast tamer/summoners, but he had heard some existed. He took her revelation in stride. "I sure would appreciate it," he stated, warping to the other side of the room to make his way out.

"You never told me who you were," Rila called out, watching his move in awe.

"I have never been one to stand on ceremony. Call me, Ardyn," he said smoothly, leaving his mostly peacefully vanquished foe behind.