A/N: Okay, I know some of you are going to be overwhelmed by this chapter if you aren't aware of the mythology behind it. At the end of the chapter is another a/n which will give you some background (I didn't do it before so you wouldn't get spoilers). One thing to know straight off – the word Elpis is Greek for 'Hope'.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or stories from The Southern Vampire series. I can only hope that Ms. Harris does not mind me taking them out to play with.

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I remember this feeling. Floating... drifting... fog rolling. No sight... no sound... no touch. However, the space is not infinite this time. I feel... contained... cradled... as if in Mother's arms... or womb. I am consciousness, free from the confines of a physical shell. This is as I was in the bond... yet, different. I am not inside the bond, for there is nothing left to tether. Something else is different, too... I am a singular being... but I am not alone.

There is no beginning and no end. It is not merely that we are wrapped in each other... we are fused... we are whole... merged as one. Our memories, our knowledge, indeed our very thoughts... they are not separate... there is no distinction. I speak as her... as him... as one mind and one soul. One consciousness.

I am at rest inside this safe place. The core of me has always lived here and will always stay. This sacred space is my birthplace... my home... the source from which I release my energy to the physical realm.

Elpis. Elpis, you must awaken.

I have been asleep for so long, it is difficult to recall any other state. The tiny sparks released from me before the last time I went to rest have been wandering the physical plane, preparing for the moment I would re-emerge. The mortal realm has grown bleak... smothered under the weight of so much despair and grief. I grew weary with them... as vampire... as human... as fae... as telepath. The more weary those sparks of myself became, the more the whole of me began to waken, calling them back home. Without their knowledge I would be lost upon my return, unable to manifest myself into the Earthly realm and send my brothers and sisters home. It is their turn to rest now.

Elpis, the world has survived on only your glimmer for long enough. You must awaken.

The call of the voice is a pull like none I have experienced, at least, not that I remember. The call of my maker when I was vampire pales in comparison. It is beautiful... terrifying... comforting. I want nothing more than to answer Her. She is creator... She is destroyer... She is Mother.

I have learned the mortals call Her Pandora, though I am dismayed at the twisting of Her image in their stories. She would tell me this is not relevant, but I am hurt by it nonetheless. It is a sign... a symptom... of the greater ills suffered by all who dwell in that plane. But, then again, if it were not for them, I would not exist. I am born and re-born from them, and thus we are harmonious.

It is time for me to go forth from Her embrace, that which the Earthly myths call Her box. If they had not warped Her... forgotten Her... then they would know She is Earth, and thus my siblings and I live inside of Her and inside of them, as they are part of Her. The planes are not separate, physical places... they are layers fused to each other. We all occupy the same space and time, which is wholly infinite and cyclical, not limited nor linear. It is what we choose to see and experience that separates us.

Apate has been particularly prolific this go around. Indeed it is her influence that has warped Mother's presence, and driven many of her children into hiding. Apate finds the humans easy prey, and they are her weapon against all other truths. She has wrought herself upon their minds, making them forget and deny so much. It is that sister which I must send home first. The veil of deception will lift from humanity, and they shall remember all of their brethren, the many creatures which share their plane. This will draw out the others... and war will rage once more.

Your vessels await you, Elpis. You must come out now.

This time around I was most intrigued by Khonsu's form, so I have chosen to follow his example. It seems appropriate for the current state of things in the Earthly realm. The shells I occupied during my slumber were so cleverly devised by the Divine to provide me with all the tools necessary to maintain my presence, while blending in with the mortal creatures. Their blood holds the keys to all the Earthly races, and I can call upon their abilities with merely a thought. To seek out my siblings, I must find the places in which they dwell, and their presence is always most powerful among those beings in which their personifications manifest. Apate made herself an easy target, the rest will undoubtedly prove more difficult.

However, I hold a weapon this time that was previously unknown to me. I have no doubt the Divine have reason for this, but it is unknown to me. Never before have I occupied more than one vessel upon my rebirth. This time shall be different. I am uncertain what effect this will have on me, but I look forward to the new experience, and in particular, to come to know love while in full awareness. While it is true that the core of my being never leaves this place, the essence I release to these vessels is still me. They are my manifestations, forever guided by that which I am. Khonsu will help guide them in their realm, for they will believe themselves reborn as his kind – this is the choice I have made, and the example I will follow.

Khonsu is already fighting Apate, but I know that without me he cannot win. He has bought me time. The mortals fight amongst themselves. The fae prince knows not what he does, his arrogance has allowed for Apate's dominance. He fights a battle he cannot win. Soon they will be exposed... they all will. It seems an extreme measure... but these are extreme times.

I am amazed by my friends. My vessels have inspired unusual loyalty from such mortal creatures. They are all mortal, despite their belief to the contrary. If one can die, one is mortal, it is that simple. The cause of death, be it first or final, is irrelevant. However, I believe this group... they are special... and the Divine clearly have more in mind for them than a typical mortal existence. Their outcome should be most intriguing. I shall keep them close, for I wonder if they are the reason for my dual vessels... or, at least, some part of it.

Elpis, it is time.

Indeed. Khonsu and Apate draw close to my vessels, and I must release my awakened essence into them. I will send the first of my sisters home... and the re-birth shall begin. It is now the moment I return myself to the physical plane... to bring hope... to bring light... to revive myself in the hearts and minds of all creatures... before all is lost.

*~*~*

The moment Eric and I merged, I felt our physical bodies peel away... and watched them disappear. Our combined energies glowed a brilliant blue... like the color of our eyes... and we flew together as one. One mind... one soul... like a collective consciousness. Our thoughts, our memories, our knowledge... there was no distinction between them.

As the green and black energies of Khonsu and Apate tore through the sky, our blue joined them in that instant. It was not a plan, nor knowledge of a task that compelled us... it simply... happened. Like the instinct for a human to breathe, or a vampire to feed, we hurled ourselves toward them. The power that flowed and cracked from within our consciousness lit up the world in an explosion of pure energy and magick that defies description. The world was rendered silent... in every plane... in every realm... there was stillness. Layers upon layers of fog we'd never known existed were swept away... swallowed into the blackness that was Apate... smothered by the brilliant blue... of us.

She had been sent away... sent home... sent back to the Divine. And with her... all the barriers. Portals tore through the fabric of the Earth, opening and flooding, cleansing our mortal world from the fog... the veil of deception. Creatures long forgotten were exposed... the truth of their existence restored to the minds of humanity... as if they'd never left. This was no Great Revelation... it was a Great Remembering. Magick... the supernatural... those long banished and those long in hiding... had returned.

Eric and I... finally understood.

When the fog cleared, we drifted down... floated back to the Earth. As we descended, the waves of our energy once again found form... and molded to the familiar... the comfortable.

Now, we sit atop a sand dune with Avel; for that is who he is to me when he takes physical form. We are like him now. As energy... his true form... he is Khonsu. We are something unnamed... something unknown. But as this... some physical form... we are Eric and Sookie. For all most will know, we are vampire... human... fae... telepath. Just as we thought Avel was Victor... or Preston... or any number of other creatures. They will see us as we wish them to... as they need to.

But, we will be forever one in all ways that matter. Our souls can no longer be separated... and when we join in our true forms... we are again of one mind.

I sit nestled between Eric's legs, his arms wrapped around me from behind. Our friends have all been returned to their usual places in the Earthly realm. None of them, including the fae, will remember what happened here. It is better that way... for this is only the beginning... the first spark of war, and they will know enough suffering by its end. For now, we are all allowed a few moments of calm... a few moments to just... exist.

And Eric is reveling in his first sunrise in a millennia. He holds me tighter as the sun creeps up over the desert. We have shifted ourselves from the forever preserved crossroads, to the ruins of the Oasis as it stands in what was once our world. It still is our world... only now we have many others.

"Is it what you remember?" Avel asks of Eric, all traces of his usual disdain gone from his voice.

"It is one thing that no memory, no matter how perfect, can truly capture."

I stroke my fingertips along his forearms, and he gently kisses the top of my head. This is a moment neither of us ever dreamed of, and though we will now have many more of them, this first shall always be sacred. I watch as he looks down at his hand in the glow of the sun... feeling the churning of emotions inside of him as he realizes he no longer dwells in darkness.

Avel has risen to his feet and smiles down at both of us. "Enjoy it while you can. The tide will not be held back for long, but the gods are gracious... they will give us time to adjust... and to rest." We nod to our friend... our brother, and as he takes to the sky and disappears, we know we will see him soon. We are only at the beginning of a long road, but at least now, we know the path.

I turn in Eric's lap, gazing up into his beautiful, glowing blue eyes still fixed to the horizon. My fingers lace softly through his hair, which somehow feels even softer now. I know my senses are well beyond what they were as a human, but that does not lessen the wonder of it. I am suddenly glad for the respite Avel spoke of, knowing I will need time to fully adjust to this new existence.

"You kept your promise," I whisper.

Eric turns his gaze down to mine, and I delight in seeing the familiar, questioning arched brow. It comforts me to know that we are not so different from what we were as to be unrecognizable. He is still Eric. I am still me.

"You promised we wouldn't be parted," I reply to his silent question.

He chuckles, "Yes, Dear One, and perhaps now you have learned to listen to me once in awhile."

"Don't count on it, Viking," I joke, slugging his shoulder.

He leers down at me, eyes smoldering with blue fire, and I instantly find myself pinned beneath him on the sand. "Well, it is true we must keep up appearances, after all," he smirks, baring fang.

My eyes light up mischievously, and before he knows what's hit him, the tables have turned. Concentrating for the slightest moment, I will the powers I seek to the front of my mind. As I pin him down with a flash of vampire-like speed, I return his grin, fangs sliding down. "Watch it, Northman. Two can now play at this game."

TBC

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It is important to understand that the mythology behind Pandora (and her box – which contained evils to be unleashed on mankind - ills, toils and sickness – but also contained hope) at work in this story is based on the pre-Hesiodic mythology, and much more in-keeping with interpretations by those such as M.L. West and Jane Ellen Harrison. As a very brief explanation (quoted from Wikipedia) "Pandora was a manifestation of the Great Goddess (provider of the gifts that made life and culture possible) and Hesiod's tale can be seen as part of a propaganda campaign to demote her from her previously revered status. The Hesiodic myth's misogyny is apparent in the transformation from a goddess to a man who gives all good things to mankind into a mortal woman created as a punishment who introduces all evils to mankind." I highly suggest, for anyone interested, to do some further research on the topic – I wish I could provide it all here, but that simply isn't feasible. Hope this helps you understand the chapter!