This one contains MAJOR LIGHTNING RETURNS SPOILERS!

obsession; LR universe

No matter what sort it was, Lightning had never been the sort to back down from a fight. Whether it was with the weakest of monsters or the strongest of beings, she would never back down.

Even if she happened to be battling with God.

The fight had to be on its last legs now. Bhunivelze was dishing out what were no doubt his strongest attacks; ones that left her incredibly weak until she took a precious moment to heal herself. No monster - nothing did that until they knew it was nearly the end. They wanted to save themselves by going all out.

It wasn't going to work. Lightning was determined.

"Now!" she cried to no one as she hacked at Bhunivelze. It was the finishing blow, if the absolutely deafening roar he let out was any indication. She reared backwards, trying to get out of the way of the blinding light in front of her.

Bhunivelze was screaming, and it was a sound no human should have ever had the privilege of hearing.

She knew what she had to do.

And yet, as she steeled herself to banish him to the Chaos, to remain there and become his goddess of death, she realized that the light had simply been concealing something.

No…!

"You can't still live," she said with a gasp. Her resources were limited and everything about this battle was draining her. Would she survive yet one more form of the Almighty God?

"My Goddess…"

The voice instantly had her on guard. It was so...strange; like the grating, desperate tone of Bhunivelze's, and yet there was something oddly…human about it. It sounded familiar and yet not.

"My Goddess…my goddess…"

She did not bother to correct him. In fact, any words she had for him instantly died in her throat when the light dimmed and dissipated, leaving another form of the god in its place.

Or…was it really…?

Lightning could not stop the next thing that escaped her. "…Hope?"

The chuckle that came from him was downright bone-chilling. It was the laughter of a madman, of something that only a psychotic mind could ever hope to create.

He didn't answer her, but only kept echoing his earlier words. "My goddess…" Finally, he lifted his head with an equally psychotic grin, one that held no trace of amusement.

She stared at him. For the most part, his body looked to be of her dear friend - except as he'd been when he looked older, over 169 years ago. The crystals jutting out from his skin and the wings that dramatically unfurled from his back were no doubt from the god.

There was no doubt in mind what had happened. Despite her fighting, despite all of her effort…

…Bhunivelze and Hope had merged into one being.

Lightning immediately raised her weapon, shoving aside all of her pain and exhaustion. "Give him back!"

Apparently, the new body gave Bhunivelze - or was it really Hope? - more power than ever before. He literally stopped her in her tracks with a mere snap of his fingers and she gasped as she was frozen in place with her weapon drawn.

"My goddess…" he murmured, bringing her closer to him with a quick gesture of his hand. She was helpless to do anything but follow. "Shouldn't you know by now? It is impossible to defeat your almighty god. You should cease this…ideal you have. Become my goddess. My goddess."

"I'll only become your goddess of death!" she cried out, but it was still difficult to move with the grip his magic had on her.

He easily ignored her as though she'd merely whispered the words. "I've been watching you for quite some time," he continued, and she shivered at the voice. If she closed her eyes, she could easily imagine it was simply Hope. She couldn't escape the look in his blazing green eyes, though. The way he was staring at her was somewhat unsettling.

"You were worthy of being Etro's knight," he continued, his gaze unblinking. "And yet…you were meant to be much more. Your fire, your beauty, your strength - " and it was here that his voice became a little less psychotic, " - your compassion, your determination, your smile…"

Lightning gasped again, but this one was merely from surprise. No matter what was happening, she could tell that Hope's mind was still in there. Somewhere.

With strength she didn't even know she was capable of, she managed to break her arm free of the invisible force that was keeping her still, her hand reaching upwards. The back of her fingers grazed his face. "Hope…? Please, I know you're in there."

A dozen of emotions seemed to flicker in his eyes in all but a second. Shock, fury, need, desire, love - but it didn't seem to have any effect. He only seemed to grow more frustrated and suddenly gripped her wrist, pulling her closer against him.

Now she was the one who was frustrated. The crystals scaling over his skin and the wings that fluttered from his back made it all too clear that he wasn't completely human, but the heat from his skin and his rapid heartbeat seemed to suggest that he was.

Who would win? The god or the human?

His fingertips grazed her arm, trailing along her shoulder and the side of her neck. She shivered reflexively, which seemed to garner some kind of desirable reaction from him, since his voice was smoother when he next spoke.

"My goddess…" he murmured. Was that the only phrase he was capable of? And yet, when he said it now, it invoked a feeling of need rather than disgust. Perhaps because it was coming from Hope's lips.

Bhunivelze could not feel desire, or any emotions that came from a human soul. She was all too aware of that, because for the longest time, she couldn't feel such things, either.

And yet, the Hope she knew would have never yanked her close enough to crush their lips together in an almost possessive manner.

For an instant, she remained where she was, completely frozen not from his powers holding her there, but simply from utter shock. She'd never really thought about what Hope's lips would feel like on hers, but she would have imagined it'd be…softer than this. This kiss was fiery and demanding and everything she never would have thought Hope was capable of.

Still, there was a strange sort of tenderness behind it. No malevolent god could feel desire, nor would they wind their crystal-studded arms around her as fingers threaded in her hair.

But she knew that Hope would.

Perhaps that was why she found herself kissing him back, her own arms circling around his neck as she fell under the spell of his desire, his possession…his obsession.

Vaguely, she could sense his wings fluttering and curling around the two of them, hiding them from the destruction that was no doubt happening around them. The world was ending, but that hardly mattered because she would be his.

"My goddess…" he murmured out of the corner of his lips, the voice mostly Hope's. "My goddess…"

The words affected her now more than ever as those lips drifted over her skin, possessing her with their desire. Yes…

She would become his goddess.