CONTENT WARNING: So much body horror. We're talking things getting ripped out of people. Please take care.

I have lost the path before me
The one behind will lead me

Take me, cure me, kill me, bring me home
Every way, every day
I keep on watching us sleep

Redeem me into childhood
Show me myself without the shell
-Ghost Love Score, Nightwish

"Ardyn," Elpis said, stepping away from a tendril of Starscourge. "Listen to me. Don't let it control you."

Ardyn snarled. Elpis raised her stave to protect herself, mind whirring. She had just done this. She had just called him back from the brink, from the induced madness Bahamut had put him in. She could do it again.

She had to do it again.

The Starscourge shot out, hitting her square in the chest. Elpis fell back, her skin burning as the Starscourge ate away at it, causing her to cry out. Ardyn didn't respond to her voice, only summoning his Rakshaka blade and moving faster than her eye could track, appearing in front of her, raising his blade-

It struck her stave as Elpis blocked him at the last possible second. Ardyn pulled away and swung again, again, again, and Elpis blocked him each time, trying to hold on to her stave and the Crystal shards at once. Every time she caught a glance of his eyes, there was nothing left of Ardyn in them. The only thing that remained was the Starscourge.

"Ardyn, please-"

Another stream of Starscourge hit her, singeing her shoulder. Her stave fell away from her into the vast nothingness of the Beyond. With a roar, Ardyn sent a river of Starscourge at her, neverending.

Elpis lifted her free hand, closed her eyes, and prayed.

The Starscourge hit her palm, rebounding off in a circle. Elpis gritted her teeth and kept her hand raised. Slowly, though, the Starscourge began to inch up her wrist, to her arm, pulling itself up her body. Her knees bending under the assault, Elpis whimpered.

She couldn't stop it. She couldn't hold out.

The Starscourge swallowed her whole.

Elpis' last thought was of her mother.

Elpis opened her eyes.

All around her was darkness. Slowly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, her limbs feeling strange and formless. Between one blink and the next, light appeared around her, and she felt more solid. Her fingers found crevasses in the dirt beneath her. When she looked, she saw the Sun sigil, and the next she glanced up, she was once more in the cavern in Somnus' tomb.

She could not remember how she came to be there. Hesitantly, Elpis stood. She looked down at her hands. They were hers and not hers, just as she was there and not there, just as she existed and did not exist at the same moment. Nothing around her felt substantial. If she pressed too hard, it might disappear.

In the distance, she heard a bark. Elpis slowly lifted her head. Something about it tugged on a memory, but it was gone before she could grab it.

Then, much softer, so quiet she could barely make it out, she heard crying. A doorway full of darkness was off to the side of the cavern wall, the crying echoing out from it.

How strange, Elpis thought even as she stepped forward, I don't remember there being a doorway here.

Through the darkness, she walked. She did not fear tripping or falling; somehow, she knew she would always find her footing. She followed the sound of the crying as it grew louder. Then, between steps, a child appeared before her. They were curled up, their face hidden in their knees, as they cried.

Idly, Elpis recognized that this child didn't look like other children. Their skin was a blue of the deepest ocean, their curly hair longer than their body and the color of dirt. The child was barefoot and wearing nothing.

Elpis took off her yellow jacket and approached them. "Hey," she said, her voice distant and soft and loud all at once. "You okay?"

The child-the girl-sniffed and looked up, and one of her eyes was like a night sky, darkness with pinpricks of light and a swirl of a galaxy, and the other was the bright blue of a midday sky with the sun blazing in the middle.

"I'm scared," the girl said, and her body changed, her skin going from blue to lava red, her hair becoming like clouds. Her eyes stayed the same.

"Of the dark, right?" Elpis said as she placed her jacket over the girl's shoulders. It was big enough to cover her properly. "The dark isn't so scary, if you make friends with the things that live in it. If one of them loves you."

The girl tilted her head. "There isn't anything else. Just me. There's only ever been me. I'm alone."

"Oh," Elpis said. "I'm sorry. I've been alone before, too. I think it's scary, too. But look-" Elpis held a hand out to the girl and smiled. "You're not alone anymore. You've got me."

The girl stared at Elpis' hand before taking it. She was both cold and scorching all at once, and she changed again-this time her hair was made up of vines with small flowers, and her skin was the dark of solidified lava. Elpis stood and, together, they made their way back the path Elpis had taken to her. Soon, they came upon another cavern. The girl winced at the light, holding an arm up to block it.

"I'm Elpis. Elpis Maialen-no," Elpis frowned, "Maelen. Or... or was it Izunia? Elpis Izunia. Or..." She shook her head.

"What does that mean? What does Elpis mean?" the girl asked.

Elpis thought hard. "It means... I think it means hope. I was named for hope. My mother named me for hope."

"What is hope?"

"I..." Elpis shook her head and pressed a hand to her forehead. Then she smiled down at the girl. "Call me Ellie. What's your name?"

"Eos."

Elpis blinked, and the girl was gone. She felt her stomach lurch as if she'd fallen from a great height. The world around her rearranged itself into a blue-green mist. A girl stood with her back to Elpis, her hair falling past her feet in white waves.

"I don't want to be alone anymore," the girl-as old as Laelia had been, before Insomnia fell-said.

Laelia? Insomnia? Elpis wondered. The words felt familiar and unknown to her.

Eos turned to Elpis but appeared not to see her at first. She held a small orb in her fingers, studying it. Behind her, darkness began to form, long fingers reaching out for the goddess.

"Hey," Elpis said, catching Eos' attention.

"Are you hope?" Eos asked, floating over to Elpis until they were inches apart. The darkness behind her vanished. She held the orb up, and so close, Elpis could see a galaxy lay inside. "I do not know what hope is. Will you tell me?"

"I-I don't know what it is, either," Elpis said. She nodded to the orb. "What is that?"

Eos turned her attention back to the orb. If she was disappointed that Elpis couldn't answer her question, she didn't linger on it. "Life," Eos said. "Imperfect, but life."

"All life is imperfect," Elpis said. "Humans are imperfect."

Eos stared at her, uncomprehending. Then she frowned. "I do not know humans," Eos said. "Why do you know things I do not?"

The goddess turned away from her before she could answer. "I don't want to be alone," Eos repeated, then tore one of her eyes out.

Elpis pressed a hand to her mouth to contain her scream. Sand fell from Eos' eye socket as she considered her eyeball. In an instant, Eos' eyeball began to change form, becoming more human, until it took the shape of a child. He wailed and it crashed like thunder. Then he grew, becoming older and older, until he was an old man, one that Elpis thought she recognized.

Eos, however, wasn't impressed. She tore out her other eye, and from it came another child, another man, with eyes that burned like lava. Then Eos ripped her tongue from her mouth, and it thrashed as it grew, becoming part woman, part fish. Eos sighed, and from her breath came a chill in the air, and another child took shape from the mist and grew into a woman with pale blue skin. Then Eos slit her throat, and from her blood came a boy with horns and fire in his gaze.

The goddess considered all of these creations. Then she said, "Will you stay with me?"

"Where?" asked Ramuh.

"Here," Eos replied.

"Here is nowhere," said Leviathan.

Eos considered this reply. Elpis realized her body had healed, as if she'd never injured herself at all, but it had changed again: Now her skin was a dark, cool brown, her hair tightly coiled curls, her eyes a shining gold.

"I will create us somewhere, then," Eos said, and Elpis' feet found solid ground once more. A desert rose up around her, achingly familiar. She watched as Eos and her creations played in this world of theirs, creating islands, mountains, forests, oceans, clouds, storms, snow. They created until they could create nothing else, and as Elpis watched, they grew bored.

"Are you not happy?" Eos asked. "I have given you everything I could. Is this not perfect?"

"But we are alone," Titan said.

"We have each other," said Eos.

Ifrit said, "It is not enough."

Eos cringed away from him, then screamed. She plunged her hand into her chest and pulled out her heart, which beat steadily in her palm. From it, a man grew, covered in Eos' blood, and so was Bahamut born from the turmoil and pain and anger in Eos' heart.

"It is not enough," Shiva sighed.

Crying, Eos turned away from them, and then she was a middle-aged woman. From her tears came a single, shining blue Crystal. She cast it aside with a scowl. As her foot fell on the world, she left behind darkness which swelled and pulsed like a living thing. The sight struck fear into Elpis' heart, though she could not remember why she should feel that way.

"They want more, always more," Eos said. "What else can I give?"

In an effort to please her children, her siblings, her family, Eos looked upon the world they had all created. Humans appeared in the world, first small bands, then growing into something bigger, something greater. Eos sat and watched impassively as humans created civilization; as her children grew to love the humans and decided to stay in their world, as they began to have children of their own; as an asteroid rammed into the world, almost killing humans entirely, only for them to be saved by the Astrals. Bahamut roamed the world after, and laid with a woman, who gave birth to a daughter with black hair and blue eyes.

Eos watched as Solheim rose and fell, her children fighting against one another, until they slept, save for Bahamut. She watched as a thick darkness began to grow, stretching over the land and taking root in the hearts of humans. Without once asking her, Bahamut gave the gift of light to two humans, one of the desert, one of Solheim.

Finally, the darkness' tendrils reached Eos. They trailed up her body until they found her heart. Eos struggled briefly, then her shoulders sagged as the darkness came to rest inside her.

Then she hung her head and wept.

"Eos," Elpis said, finally making herself move once again. She approached the goddess. "Don't cry."

"I must," Eos said. "I am alone and unloved."

"No," Elpis said. "That's not true."

"Is it not?" Eos asked. "The humans only remember me as a name. And I do not love them. I did, once. But they are selfish, arrogant creatures, who hurt each other for power. Why do my children love them and not me?"

"Sometimes," Elpis said slowly, "children have to make their own choices, and live their own lives. They grow up. They do things you don't like. It doesn't mean they don't love you."

Eos clutched a hand to her chest. "Is this pain?" she wondered. "Why do I hurt?"

"Because you're alone," Elpis said. She took Eos' hand and saw the darkness thriving inside her. "Because you love them. But you don't have to be. You can start again."

Eos' lip trembled. "I do not think I can. I am too old."

"El."

Elpis slowly turned until she caught sight of the man who'd spoken. His brown hair and blue eyes were known to her, and his smile made her heart ache. The man kissed a woman who straddled his lap, both of them naked beside a fire, one of his hands at the back of her neck and the other on her hip. Outside the building they were in, rain fell.

"I love you," the man murmured against the woman's skin. "Stay with me."

"I will," the woman said quietly, pressing her forehead to his. "I'll always be with you, Ardyn."

Ardyn.

Her memories came back to her in a rush, and Elpis found herself clutching a seashell at the end of a chain.

Beside her, Eos' body shuddered with the Starscourge. Elpis turned away from the image of herself and Ardyn and knew what she had to do.

Quietly, she held her hand out to Eos.

The goddess stared at it, expression going from confusion to rage to disgust to terror to heartbreak-

And finally, Eos' eyes lit with wonder.

"That's what hope is," Elpis said as Eos took her hand. A light burst forth from Elpis and enveloped them both, scorching away the darkness.

In a wheat field, far away, Alexus smiled to themselves. Rohit's gaze snapped to the distance as he, and the Astrals, and all their many Messengers felt it: The birth of something different, something new, that blazed like a star in the dark.

Power flooded through Elpis. It was the power of a million people, of a million humans, who had all come to know Elpis through the Long Night. They had come to know her as the Lady of Hope. They had known her once as the Oracle, as the woman who stayed by Ardyn Lucis Caelum's side, who could heal the Starscourge. They knew her as the one who helped bring back the light.

Their belief, their hope, filled her veins until she thought she might overflow. It was the hope of Noctis and his friends; of Stella and Sunniva and Cora and Crispin; of Laelia and Ravus and Charis and her mother.

She was Elpis Maialen of the Izunia tribe, wayward daughter; she was Elpis Maelen, who defied death and gods alike for the man she loved. Who would put an end to prophecies and fates.

She was the Goddess of Hope, of the Sun.

When the light faded away, the Goddess stood with a baby in her arms. Eos slept peacefully, no sign the Starscourge had ever touched her. She deserved a second chance as much as Ardyn did, if not more. Perhaps she would grow up once more to hate humans. Maybe one day she would have to be fought again.

Or maybe not. The Goddess could not guess. All she could do was give Eos the best chance at a different path, the same as the Goddess had given the healer she loved and the Prince who had become a King.

A room appeared around the Goddess, a small nursery, and she set the baby down in a crib. A mobile hung above the crib, with stars and a moon and a sun hanging from it. The Goddess lightly touched it so it spun slowly. The room was cozy, with a rocking chair in a corner, and a soft rug to place her feet.

It would do well, the Goddess thought.

An orange cat watched from the windowsill before jumping off into the shadows with a plaintive meow.

Azar was right. There was still more for the Goddess to do. She closed her eyes, holding the seashell charm in her hand, and whisked herself away from the nursery, promising to return.

The Starscourge burst away from her as she emerged from the pool of it. It slid off her blazing skin, sizzling with a sound like a shriek.

Ardyn looked up briefly before cringing and putting a hand up to protect his eyes. The Goddess raised her stave and, briefly, saw herself as the Starscourge must have: Her hair turned golden, her eyes shining with the light of the Sun, a yellow circle behind her head. Sigils written in an old language known only by the Astrals decorated her brown skin. She blazed like the Sun itself.

Starscourge reached for her with inky tendrils, trying to grab her, but they all dissolved before they could even touch her.

"Ardyn," the Goddess said, her tone full of love.

The monster paused. It knew that voice, had always known that voice, but now it could reach his heart once more.

The Starscourge screamed, and the Goddess dove for Ardyn, her stave going through his chest. The sickness fought her, grabbing hold of her stave, but the Goddess shone brighter than the darkness. She burned it all away from Ardyn's soul, until his body again resembled a human's, until his hair faded from magenta to brown, his eyes turning blue. She scorched every last bit of Starscourge from his soul and from the Beyond, feeling every single daemon on Eos die.

She could not save all of them. She could only save Ardyn. It was a burden she was willing to bear.

Finally, she pulled her stave free, and caught Ardyn as he fell. His soul disappeared slowly until nothing remained but his soul's crystal, just like everyone else's. It was cloudy and chipped in places, but the red color was vibrant once more, the color of a King with no crown and no throne, who had only ever wanted to heal people.

The Goddess held it close.

Behind her, someone clapped.

The Goddess did not look up. "Azar."

"Please," Azar said as they approached, "none of that. Just Alexus."

The Beyond disappeared around them until they both came to stand in the throne room of Insomnia once more. The Goddess' feet did not touch the marble floor, where the blood had long since dried. Her reflection was a bright shine.

"You planned this," the Goddess said evenly. She floated up to Noctis first, removing the Sword of the Father from his body and healing his wounds. His soul's crystal sank into his chest before disappearing, and the Goddess felt his heart begin to beat. The Lucis King lived once more.

"I mean, some of it was improvised," Alexus said. "Saying I planned it makes it sound like I cast a prophecy. Nah. But did I bet on you eventually becoming this? Yep."

The Goddess was silent as she went around healing everyone's wounds and returning their soul crystals. She placed a hand on Laelia's cheek, watching as the girl began to breathe again. From further away, she drew Lunafreya's spirit to her, her soul crystal appearing in her hand. It was a bit harder to bring back someone who had been dead for five years. But eventually, Lunafreya's body rested beside Noctis'.

Last, she approached Ardyn. He still held her mortal body, even in death.

"You risked much on a guess," the Goddess said, and it sounded like an accusation.

"Yeah, but if it failed, no one would be alive long enough to hate me for it," Alexus said. "In fairness to me, I did leave you some pretty big hints. And Ardyn always called you his Sun. Human belief is a pretty powerful thing. Even if it didn't make you into a Goddess, I knew it would give you enough power to heal Ardyn once and for all."

"I see it now," the Goddess said. "I see that we would not have won without you manipulating the strings. Without you finding a way past destiny."

"No need to thank me," Alexus said, gleefully.

The Goddess considered this as she studied Ardyn's face. He truly was healed. And yet...

"His body," the Goddess said, "it will always be immortal, will it not?"

Alexus scratched the back of their head. "Well, yeah," they said. "He spent two thousand years corrupted with Starscourge. It would be enough to twist anyone's body beyond human. So, he's cured, but he's still not mortal. And he'll always have some powers in him, since the Lucis Caelums are descended from Bahamut."

Ardyn's soul crystal was cool in the Goddess' palm. Like Noctis', it glowed just a little brighter than everyone else's.

"I could make him mortal," the Goddess said.

Alexus paused. "Sure," they said slowly. "But you're immortal now, too. Bahamut isn't really dead; gods don't die. They just sleep. He'll be back one day, and when he is, you need to be ready."

The Goddess saw the truth in their words. Even now, she could feel Bahamut sleeping, same as Ifrit, their power slowly growing once more. But it would be a long while before either of them was ready to rise.

"So!" Alexus said. "Goddess of Hope and the Sun. A pretty fitting ending for the girl the gods once claimed was forsaken."

With one last glance at the soul crystal, the Goddess placed it back into Ardyn's body, letting her hand linger on his chest. It took a few moments, but his heart began to beat, his chest to rise, and the Goddess smiled. She kissed his forehead and rose with a sigh.

"Your silence is starting to make me nervous," Alexus said.

"It should," the Goddess said. "I have never wished for divinity. You, who claimed to love me, should have known that."

"Yeeees," Alexus drew the word out uncertainly, "but it was the only way."

"I know that," the Goddess said. "Just as I know that you hope I will protect you from the other gods when they come to punish you for your actions. I will not. Just as Ardyn must atone for his choices, so too must you, Wild Flame."

With a wave of her hand, the Goddess sent Alexus away into the realm where all gods resided. Let the others figure out what to do with them. The Goddess was done with gods. She reached into her chest and found her soul crystal, now blazing like a miniature Sun. She held it in her palm and wondered.

Alexus was right. Bahamut would return one day. And despite her claims, the Goddess was uncertain of what would happen if she tried to change Ardyn's body back into a fully mortal one. There was a chance he could simply die, his body unable to handle two thousand years of existence.

"So not a perfect ending, then," the Goddess murmured to herself. A perfect ending would have been she and Ardyn growing old together and one day dying, as all mortals must. A perfect ending would have happened two thousand years before, with them as King and Queen of Lucis, with Aurea one day taking up the crown. It would have meant that the Lucis Caelums wouldn't have suffered under the gods for millennia.

The Goddess of Hope couldn't know what the future would bring. She and Ardyn would be something new to the world - not quite gods, not quite mortals. There would undoubtedly be more challenges ahead.

Purely happy endings only belonged in fairytales.

Well. She had never wished for divinity. But if there was someone she had to choose to spend an immortal life with, it was Ardyn.

Her soul crystal cracked, then shattered, and the Goddess felt her power leaving her.

That was what Alexus didn't understand about hope: It belonged to all beings, not just a Goddess. She did not want to be the carrier of hope for all humanity. She had only ever wanted to live with her husband. Believing only one person should be the savior of all humanity was part of what had gotten them into this bloody mess in the first place.

If humanity wanted to save itself and the world, they all had to fight for it. It could not be the burden of one person's shoulders alone.

Elpis picked up one of the pieces of her soul crystal. It was a dull gold now. She felt it in her soul: She was immortal, and she still had some of the powers she had been given. She wasn't an idiot. Bahamut would return. And when he did, she and Ardyn would be waiting for him.

Her soul crystal sank back into her body, and Elpis smiled.

A/N: We still have just a little ways to go, my friends. Stay with the story just a little longer.