Blessings of Eos

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy

It was shortly after the start of his second year of high school that Prompto realize the truth about Miss Aerith. He was in the mythology class he had agreed to take with Noct in exchange for Noct taking photography with him. Thankfully the times didn't clash. Noct had to be at some sort of function, so he wasn't in school that day.

"Okay, last time we covered Etro and Her death; today will be about the goddess Eos." The teacher, Miss O as she told everyone to call her, said as she started class.

"Eos brought the first dawn to humanity, shortly after the first humans were created from Etro's blood. Becoming a mother to them, She gained the title of the Dawn Mother, and taught the first humans every skill needed to survive in the world. She stayed among them for ten generations, until all the lands of the planet were settled. At that time She left, bidding people to remember Her teachings, and to think of Her every time they saw the dawn. Since the Astrals descended shortly after Her departure, there is some debate as to if the Astrals were sent to take Her place." The lecture started. "The handout I'm passing out has various artwork of Eos throughout the ages."

"This first one is really ugly." One of the girls two rows down commented.

"That's by the Amano, considered to be one of the best artists in history. I will agree, though, that the style is not for everyone." Miss O replied.

"If She left after the first ten generations of humans passed, how can anyone do artwork for Her?" The guy three seats up asked.

"There's conflict as to whether writing and the arts were one of Her teachings or gifts from Ramuh, but there are descriptions handed down from that time which form the basis for artwork of Her. In general, the descriptions speak of 'hair of the earth, eyes of the leaves, garbed in shades of Dawn and in the prime of Life.'" Miss O paused here as the class erupted into laughter. "I am not making this up; those of you who actually did the assigned reading can attest to that." Not long out of school herself, she had no illusions on how many of the students actually did the assigned reading. "Basically, it means that Eos appears as a young woman, dressed in pinks, with brown hair and green eyes."

"So if Eos has been gone for so long, how come there's stories of Her answering prayers and helping people?" The girl who sat by the window in the first row asked. "I mean, they sound like those urban legend chains, where it's always heard from a friend's friend's cousin's violin teacher or something."

"Some people believe that Eos did not really depart, but instead stepped out of the spotlight, to allow humanity to grow. Unlike the rest of the Creators, She just appears, complete package as it were. A handful of texts suggest that eons ago, Eos had been a normal woman, who upon ascending vowed to never forget Her origins, and how it is the 'little people' who suffer the most in conflicts between great powers. The most famous story of an answered prayer is that of the consort of the seventy seventh king of Lucis, who in desperation prayed to Her for a child after all other avenues of help, mundane and divine, had been consulted and exhausted. Nine months after her prayer she bore twins, and the date of her prayer, February 7th, has since been celebrated as a holy day, especially coming so close to Lover's Day, given the tradition of how your love will stay true if you gift them with Eos blooms on that day." Continued the lecture.

"Where do you even find Eos blooms? Mom's family has handed down the same group of blooms for five generations, and everyone swears that they're the original ones, but they've never withered." The boy with the coveted spot next to the door spoke up.

"Stories speak of a ruined church appearing at dawn with Eos blooms inside, or of a flower seller matching descriptions of Eos bestowing them on people for a token amount of money. As to how the flowers never wither…frankly, it's not something that can be measured by science, since no one has been willing to submit Eos blooms to any sort of tests, for fear of giving offense." Miss O shrugged. "There's been talk in some circles that She will return should the fate of the planet and humanity is threatened, but ultimately, much like Life itself, the goddess Eos just is."

Sitting on his bed at home, Prompto felt distracted by something. It had been bothering him since the mythology class. Thankfully, that had been the last class of the day, so he just had to worry about getting home in one piece.

His eyes fell on a picture of Miss Aerith at Galdin Quay, in profile watching the sunrise. He reached for the picture handout from class, flipping through it. He stopped at a comparatively recent (as in the last four hundred years) watercolor sketch of Eos in profile. His heart in his throat, Prompto stood up, and held the handout image next to the photo.

They matched.

The transition to the field of Eos blooms was instantaneous. He was his actual age, standing up, though with the handout no longer in his hand he felt like an idiot with his arm up. Lowering his arm, Prompto became aware of a presence behind him, standing back to back. A very familiar presence.

"So then, you've figured it out." Her voice seemed to have a trace of sadness. "What I am, and what they call me."

"Yeah…the goddess Eos, the Dawn Mother." He answer softly. "You wouldn't call Yourself that?"

"'Goddess' is about the last word I would use to describe Myself." The infinite mist disappeared, revealing what could best be described as rivers of green light, flowing through space. It should have felt weird, to suddenly be standing on nothing, yet it wasn't.

"This is the Lifestream." She answered his unspoken question. "The source of all Life. Infinite worlds have received its Blessing before this one, and infinite more will receive It after this one. From My perspective, I am a kind of avatar, an instrument through which the Lifestream can affect the world more directly."

The rivers of green light changed, forming an image of a world that Prompto instantly realized wasn't his own. Somehow. "You've asked to see My Story, and that time has come.

"My first world, the world where I was born, and where I lived and died, was simply known as the Planet. The Lifestream flowed near the surface, manifesting at various points, much as a river of water.

"There was a race of people who could hear the voices of the Planet, the voices within the Lifestream. They called themselves Cetra, but in time they would become known as the Ancients. Regular humans were cousins to the Cetra, having left their ways behind and losing the ability to hear the Planet."

The image shifted, a meteor impacting the Planet.

"Two thousand years before My time, a meteor fell, bearing with it a different kind of scourge. It was called the Calamity from the Skies. The Cetra, despite being greatly affected by the Calamity, managed to seal it away, in the place where it arrived. But the cost was high, and the Cetra slowly died out. In the end, it was only My mother left."

A woman who looked like Miss Aerith appeared, followed by a group of people working at some sort of cave. "The Calamity did not remain undisturbed. Men discovered it, and one of them drew the conclusion that it was a Cetra, and gave it the name 'JENOVA'. While the body had indeed once been a Cetra, the Calamity had so changed it that this was no longer the case. This man was my father. When he realized the truth, he left Shinra, taking with him my mother, who had been captured by Shinra, hoping she would lead them to an infinite source of mako."

All of the stories She had told him, and shown him, had been leading to this, Prompto realized. None of the terms She was using were unfamiliar to him.

"As my mother shared her knowledge with my father, who recorded their conversations, they fell in love, and I was born. I was twenty days old when Shinra found us. My father was killed trying to protect us, and my mother and I were taken back into custody.

"As first an infant, then a child, I was useless to Hojo, at least until I reached 'breeding age', so most of the efforts were directed at my mother. He tried through various means to have her conceive another child, but as it turns out, Cetra could only conceive naturally. By the time he reached this conclusion, my mother had become barren from his efforts, which meant I would be the focus once old enough.

"I don't know how my mother convinced the one guard to help us, but I think she used the only thing she had to offer. It was not enough, and she was wounded in our escape. We reached the Sector Seven Slums train station when her strength failed her. Elmyra Gainsborough had received word her husband was coming home on leave, and so she went to the station every day to wait for him. Coming across us in my mother's last moments, she took me in and raised me as her own. While those in Shinra were aware of my general location, other events meant that I was left alone. Despite the mako reactors having drained the Lifestream in the area of Midgar, I was able to grow flowers in an abandoned church and outside my home.

"I met Zack as a teenager, and he was My first love. My only love, perhaps. He gave Me My hair ribbon, and told me I'd look good in pink. After he left for Nibelheim, I put together a pink outfit, to surprise him when he returned, but he never did. One rainy day, I just knew. I knew he was gone. I met Cloud some time later. I was intrigued, mostly because he acted a lot like him, and was swept up in the events involving JENOVA and Sephiroth.

"It was after we had retrieved the Black Materia that I realized what I had to do. It wasn't a question of if Sephiroth would obtain it, but when. My mother had given Me the White Materia as a child, and that was the only power that could counter Meteor."

An image of Her walking through a confusing forest appeared.

"I knew I was going to My death. Whether summoning Holy would kill Me, or Sephiroth would strike Me down in the process of the summoning…it was never a choice, whether or not to do it. It was the only choice open, and I was the only one left who could perform the summoning.

"I'm not sure how long I prayed, but eventually I was aware the others had arrived. Sephiroth tried to make Cloud strike Me down, but he failed…and so chose to do it himself."

Prompto watched as Sephiroth lunged down, piercing Her body from behind.

"It had been in that instant before the blow came that I succeeded. But without its counterpart active, Holy had no target, and so could do nothing. When Meteor fell, Holy's activation was doing as much damage to the Planet as Meteor. I was able to direct the Lifestream to rise up and push Meteor away, allowing Holy to do its work. For whatever reason, the Lifestream gave humanity another chance, and was open to being directed in such a way.

"As time passed, my friends joined Me in the Lifestream, and eventually faded away. When a person returned to the Lifestream, sooner or later their sense of self becomes sublimed into the Lifestream. Maybe it was because I had died the instant after Holy activated, but I never faded away.

"The ages past, and the Planet's life came to an end. I thought I would fade then. To My surprise, I opened My eyes to a new world. It was then that I learned of how the Lifestream cycles, bestowing its Blessing onto a world, letting that world run its course, and leaving at that world's end, to find a new world to Bless. With each new world, I found Myself more willing to explore it, watching the struggles of higher powers, acted out by people. The names and reasons shifted, but the pattern never changed. I watched four worlds in this way."

Images of the worlds She had seen flashed through, different groups of people joining together to fight those seeking destruction.

"The Blessing of the Lifestream, this time, has been split between three worlds, forged by the same Creators and set on different paths. I'm vaguely aware of the other two worlds, but this one was where I opened My eyes. I found Myself bringing the dawn to the first humans, and raising them as the children I never had a chance to have. I grew uncomfortable, as each successive generation worshiped Me more and more, until I decided to step back, and let the Astrals descend in My place. In life, they had impressed the Creators and were so rewarded with ascension.

"I couldn't bring Myself to completely abandon humanity, and chose to walk the Planet that now bore the name they had given Me. Eos. Helping the ones often forgotten in conflicts of the great. Bringing a little light and happiness to the world, if only a person at a time.

"At first, I thought the Scourge was just another squabble of the Astrals. As time passed, and the prophecy was made after the failed attempt to combat the Scourge, I realized it was something more serious. Perhaps, if I had acted sooner, it would not have reached this point. Prophecy exists in order to bring about an event. But now…the costs of failure…are too high. At current rates…maybe a hundred years? Until the Lifestream is corrupted. Darkness is rising, and…"

Unable to just stand there and listen any longer, the tears becoming more evident in Her voice, Prompto whirled around, hugging Her from behind. She clung to him as the tears fell silently, turning to bury Her head in his chest, much as he had done when She held him during his tears.

After a few minutes, sensing the tears stopping, he finally asked what had been on his mind. "When'd you get so short?"

She laughed, pulling back as She wiped Her eyes. "Well when did you, mister, get so tall? You're the one who's grown; I haven't shrunk."

It was a strange feeling, having to look down a little to see Her face, Miss Aerith being five or six inches shorter then him, now that he was fully grown. Height-wise, anyway. From this perspective, She seemed more like a big sister. "You were telling the truth, when you said you were saving the best story for last. It kinda fills in the holes in the others." Prompto told. "It was worth waiting for." He scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "Uh…sorry I took so long to realize?"

Smiling slightly, She just shook Her head. "There was never a time table on you realizing it; it was just a matter of getting the right pieces of information to make that leap. For the most part, I only ever confirm what I am called when asked directly, so there's probably many people who have realized the truth, but never seek confirmation." She looked down. "I can't deny that saving you was motivated in part by events to come, for reasons that are selfish on My end."

"When you say darkness is rising, what exactly do you mean? Is the Scourge getting worse?" He asked

"Yes. I can't say much, but daemons are becoming harder to kill, and more capable of spreading the infection. What is being done, with the units…is speeding up the process. Before the production of magitek troopers began, things could have continued as they were indefinitely. Now…sooner or later the corruption will be more than the Lifestream can handle. What would happen, in that event, I don't know. The possibility exists, but it's still faint, and I've never been brave enough to try Looking closer." She told him, still avoiding his eyes.

"Y'know, I'm not sure I get how saving me was selfish." She met his gaze at that, surprised. "If it was purely selfish, you'd have just taken me straight to Insomnia and left me to whatever fate would bring. But you didn't. You helped me get used to the Outside, learning how people are supposed to interact. Nothing that You've done for me, all those good memories You gave me, both on the trip to Insomnia and when we'd meet here…You didn't have to do any of it. I mean, yeah, You're hoping for some sort of…reward? Gain? From helping me. But that's never been the driving reason. I just hope that I can do whatever You wanted me to do after You saved me." Prompto told Her honestly.

"You have been already." Aerith answered with a smile.

"How soon before we can meet again? I mean, in person-person, not dream-person." He asked. Realizing how it could be taken, he started waving his hands. "Not that these meetings aren't great! And there's a bunch of cool stuff we can do here! But…"

"You want to spend time together again, like when we traveled together." She finished. "I do too. But it's not time yet. I can't really See the future, but I can See Chances, and what leads to those outcomes. For events to come…for them to have the best outcome, for everyone, not just a few…a real world meeting has to wait."

He groaned. "I hate waiting."

"Good things come to those who wait. You said as much in regards to My story." She reminded him. "I suppose I should send you back; you still have to copy the notes for Noctis."

"At least Iggy showed me good note-taking tips. Math is still evil, no matter how good my notes are." Prompto made a face.

"Prompto?" Aerith said before She sent him back. "…thank you."

He blinked at Her. "Why? It's not like knowing what You are changes who You are. You're still the person who fought me with spoons over ice cream, took me to the beach, and accidently made a chocobo able to turn invisible at will." He beamed at Her. "Nothing changes that!"

She looked at the spot where he had stood for a long while after She sent him. "…if only you could keep in mind…that those words apply as much to you as to Me…"

Eleanore groaned as she rubbed her eyes. It was near midnight; Prompto was at His High-Noctis's-apartment (again), while she had chased Michael out to meet up with his fraternity brothers for a change, leaving her home alone.

While most of Prompto's file she was able to easily 'translate' within the few days she'd promised, there were still items giving her trouble. With the conjoined twin separation a success beyond their most optimistic projections, she had taken three months off, with dire warnings about disturbing her. She was still technically on call for Crownsguard (not that she was ever off call), but aside from that she was free. No one protested her decision; she had more than enough leave, and confiding to her immediate superior that she really wanted to spend time with her son, in a way she hadn't been able to since the adoption meant she could take her three months all at once.

Privately, she was sure that the insistence of the twins' mother on waiting until February 7th to have the surgery, starting right when the sun peeked over the horizon, had much to do with the success they had. "Of course it did, she had been one of Mine."

Jumping, Eleanore hit her head on the edge of the shelf above her desk. "Oww…" Rubbing her head, she turned her chair to look at her guest.

Aerith, at least, was able to keep Herself from laughing.

"I saved Yuna Spira from the daemons that killed her father." She sat down in the arm chair in the corner. "Even without that, I try to help every child facing health problems. However…there are those I can't help."

Eleanore didn't need to ask what She meant; she knew. She and Michael had a daughter, born in her last year of medical school. She had been born very ill, and barely lived six months. In the house's fireproof safe, she kept a video of their daughter, on a rare day where she was strong to smile and laugh. Unfortunately, she died soon after that video was shot. After the funeral, she had immediately gone to the medical school's administration offices and demanded to change her specialty, from cardiology to pediatric surgery. She didn't care that it meant repeating a fair portion of medical school, delaying her career and doubling her Crownsguard's commitment term. She never regretted it either.

They had tried a few more times to have children, despite the knowledge that it was highly likely that any child they had would suffer from the same problems that had plagued their daughter. Her last miscarriage nearly killed her, and the efforts made to save her life meant that there would be no other chances. It was a couple months afterwards, halfway drunk, that Michael had suggested praying to Eos for a child, since the next day was Prayer Day. She had done so, praying at dawn as the stories suggested. They had debated adoption, but had scarcely decided against it when Prompto entered their lives. His operation had been hard, emotionally, since her last miscarriage occurred after she was far enough along to have learned it was a boy.

"The medical files still giving you trouble?" Aerith asked.

"I was able to 'translate' most of it, but the neurological notes are still giving me trouble. Half the terms I can't find anywhere, even with discreet inquiries to neurologists. Seeing the magitek trooper process file might help, but I have no reason to access it. At least, none that would permit me access." Eleanore admitted.

Somehow, over the years, Aerith-as She insisted on being called- had become one of her closest friends. While Her visits with Prompto stayed in the dream world, She had readily visited Eleanore in the waking world, and not just to discuss Prompto. It was hard to maintain a sense of awe over the presence of the divine after having the divine seek her out specifically in order to have a girls' night out, as She had when Prompto was nine, shortly after the incident with the TV dinner and the oven.

"That's not the only reason though." Aerith said. "You're curious."

"Yeah…" Eleanore shifted in her seat. "…maybe it's morbid, but I don't get how the units evidently don't remember anything before the final transition, given the genetic manipulation that winds up strengthening neural connections in the brain."

"It's the trauma." Eleanore looked directly at Aerith with that, meeting Her eyes. "Technically speaking, the rapidity of the final transition means that something in the body has to give, and for reasons of survival the frontal lobes suffer the most damage, as their loss would not impede the spread of the Scourge. In reality…the psychic trauma is such that the soul cannot cope, and so attacks itself. Normal daemons are still alive in the sense that the soul of the person remains, but the MTs…they are literally dead men walking, for the damage to the soul is such that without the Scourge, they would be dead. These souls cannot cross Etro's Gate; the connection to the body, although slight, is still enough to prevent the journey."

"So the only way to help the soul find rest is to kill the MT."

Aerith just nodded.

The silence stretched between them, as Eleanore absorbed this knowledge.

"Are we related?" Eleanore finally asked. "I know he's mine in all the ways that matter, but…"

"You still wonder about the father you never knew." Aerith's gaze was kind.

"I never really wondered before, but then Mom died, and I realized that any chance to learn more about him was gone. I only have his name because it's on my birth certificate, and since his surname is the same as hers…I can't help wondering." Eleanore idly spun her chair. "Why would she agree to donate? I would think they'd have screened out anyone likely to become attached."

"She could never have a child in the usual way; an assault in her youth made her damaged goods in the eyes of those with the power to decide such things. Given how any unit could end up as an officer and a person…it was a way to continue her line, even if unknown. Prompto…he draws people to him. Between that and his will being too strong to be suppressed by chemical means, she became attached." Aerith told her. "I was curious Myself, and Looked. What led to her being changed…one of the guards had been molesting the units in their sleep. The complicity of others meant the guard had access to drugs that made sure they couldn't wake up and realize what was happening. She happened on him, Prompto his latest target, and killed him. Being from a family of some influence meant that his death could not be covered up. It had been the chancellor's idea to change her, instead of sentencing her to become target practice."

"…that doesn't answer my real question." Eleanore had to stop spinning her chair before she got too dizzy.

"Like you don't know the answer already." Aerith told her. Stretching, She asked, "Prompto at Noctis's?"

"Does he go anywhere else? I'd tease Prom about being his boyfriend, but I do like my son enough to not kill him through embarrassment." Eleanore cracked her neck. "I mean, I know two people can be that close without there being romance."

"It's not our fault they're so cute together." Aerith finished with a giggle. "But boys will be boys, and since neither one of them is quite willing to admit to the attraction between them, we're stuck rolling our eyes. Should they ever admit to it, the only question from any of the 'parents' would be why it took so long."

"I don't know; I'm sure about Prom's end, but he's convinced Noctis is in love with Lady Lunafreya. I don't think Prom will admit to it, out loud or to himself, unless he manages to tell Noctis about his file. And he won't do that without outside forces." Eleanore reached for her long-forgotten tea, completely unsurprised that it went from cold to steaming between picking it up and taking a sip.

Aerith sipped Her own cup, before saying, "Barring a situation where there'd be no choice in the matter, it would be all up to Noctis catching Prompto at the right time. Naturally, admitting to the attraction, even if only to himself, would depend on Noctis's reaction, but events have shown it would not be an adverse reaction, as it were."

"…something's going to happen soon, isn't it?" Eleanore eyed Aerith suspiciously. Aerith blinked, the picture of innocence.

Shaking her head, Eleanore just said, "How did You get a reputation of pure innocence?"

"In this world? Probably because no one wants to think of their Mother as anything but. People forget that teaching the first humans to survive also meant covering reproduction. As generations passed and the knowledge became more removed from the source, things got dropped. I would be lying to say that such a reputation has been a burden. Makes it easier to tell, between 'Aerith' and 'Eos'."

"Please just tell me that you don't actively imagine them together." Eleanore begged.

Aerith just smirked. "That's Luna's job."

Eleanore found herself coughing, the tea going down wrong at that statement. Aerith didn't bother hiding Her laughter this time.

The worlds between that of FFVII and FFXV are those of FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, and FFXII. Aerith actually is a Goddess; She's mostly in denial, having never tapped Her power base enough at one time to realize it.