[FFXIII/FE:A] Awakening (13501words)

[shamera]

Title: Awakening
Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII series / Fire Emblem: Awakening
Character/Pairing(s): Noel/Hope, Noel, Hope, Lightning, Yeul
Rating: PG-13
Warning: FE:A spoilers? And dubious death scene.
Summary: PROMPT: Awakening-inspired AU where Noel is Chrom, Hope is the tactician (who is also the vessel for Bhunivelze) and Yeul is future!daughter Lucina to Noel.




“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself.”

Noel startled from his thoughts, tensing for a split second before the familiarity of the voice slid through his defenses. He raised his head slightly from where he was sprawled out across the grass, seeking shelter from the sunlight in the shade of an old oak tree.

“What if something happens to you here while you’re away from everyone else?” A white haired man in a mage robe was reprimanding him, leaning above him and blocking his sight of the oak tree. Noel squinted, the sunlight causing his eyes to hurt until he could adjust again, and then decided to grin at the man rather than address that worry.

“Then I’ll take care of it.” Noel responded with a shrug, feeling the back of his shirt scrape against rough roots and dirt. “Geez, Hope, I’m not as helpless as you think. You’ve seen me fight.”

The man sighed, and then moved over a step to sit cross-legged beside Noel, the latter scooting over to make room for him between the larger roots. “Assassins wouldn’t give you time to fight. How would you defend yourself if you can’t hear me coming? I didn’t exactly sneak up to you.”

“Yeah, but it’s you.” Noel told him, and cushioned his head against his linked fingers as he closed his eyes again to enjoy the warmth of sunlight on his face. “I trust you.”

The words prompted an exasperated noise from the other man, which caused Noel to grin. Honestly, for someone so supposedly calm and collected and smart, Hope was really easy to rile up.

“You trust far too easily.” Hope told him, echoing words that Noel had heard dozens of times already from his tactician. “You need to be more careful. What will we do if something happens to you? What would Yeul do?”

“Isn’t she proof enough that nothing happens to me long enough for me to have a daughter?” Noel asked cheekily.

He peeked open an eye to see the other glare down at him for his nonchalance.

It was taking him longer than he hoped to wrap his mind around the fact that he had a daughter, and that she traveled from a distant future to come back and change things; to save his life and prevent the dark future she knew about from ever occurring. And Yeul — sweet girl, she looked just like his late sister. Named after her as well. Noel might have as easily believed her from the past rather than the future.

His daughter Yeul, like the late sister she had been named after, was not a fighter, but was accompanied in her journeys by a warrior who hid his face and sneered at anyone who dared to look at Yeul for too long. Caius, Yeul had introduced, guarded her in the future after the death of her father.

It was a future Noel was determined to never allow to pass, if only because he couldn’t stand to see the haunted look in Yeul’s eyes. His troops whispered about her, calling her the Seeress with knowledge of the future, saying that Etro herself had blessed her and Caius. Sometimes they looked at her with awe in their eyes and would turn away to weep for their late queen.

“Light says we’re ready to go. Etro’s throne is not that much further, and we’ll all need our strength to wake the sleeping Goddess when we get there.”

Noel breathed in the last of the peaceful afternoon, and sat up fluidly. “Then we should get going. What are we waiting for?”

“You, apparently.” Hope said dryly, giving him a flat look.

“Well, it’s nice to know that the group isn’t going to leave me behind.” Noel didn’t bother to hide his grin as he sat up, tempted to instead pull Hope down with him rather than get up. They had very little time to spare, but he wanted to make the most of it.

Because there was a very good chance that…

“Of course not.” Hope responded, and then added, “If we could have, we would have already done so long ago.”

Noel snorted, and leaned over to bump his shoulder against Hope, making his tactician turn his head to smile at him.

The day was beautiful. It would have been perfect for a picnic, perhaps preceded by a good hunt. Noel could imagine their group stopping for longer, laughing, Serah and Snow flirting together as multiple game was brought in, and how Yeul would make a face at the taste of stringy meat, but still smile for him. Caius would scoff but sit next to Yeul, and Lightning would hover protectively by her sister, glaring at Snow the entire time.

He couldn’t understand why The Order would summon Bhunivelze; never could. Sure, Etro was the Goddess of Death and Bhunivelze was the God of Life… but it was Bhunivelze who would destroy the world, while Etro strove to keep the balance. But more than that, he couldn’t understand why—

“Stop overthinking things.” Hope told him. “That’s my job, and you’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Are you saying I’m dumb?” Noel retorted, happy to banter with him. “You’re not supposed to call your prince dumb.”

“I never said that.” Hope denied. “You get this… forlorn look when you overthink things.”

“You pay that much attention to me?” Noel grinned.

“Like a puppy.” Hope concluded, looking away. “Begging for attention.”

Noel leaned back onto his hands, smiling even as he looked up at the blue sky. “Yeah, yeah… I’m not exactly ruling material. I get it. Too trusting and all that.”

“You may have your charms.” Hope grudgingly admitted, and then pushed back against Noel’s shoulder as the prince barked out a laugh. “No more loitering. We need to get going.”

Right. Bhunivelze had his host, which meant that he was going to wake soon and the world would be destroyed. The only way to stop him might be to call upon Etro and ask her for help. They were long out of time, especially for him to be daydreaming like this, but… He didn’t want the journey to be over. It had been years in the making, years of marching and fighting this terrible war, but Noel could remember all the good that came out of it as well. The friends made, the allies he met, the good they did across the land.

And the bonds forged.

“...Alright.” Noel finally agreed, enjoying for just another second the warmth of the air and the warmth against his shoulder, “let’s get going.”

.
.

“Fall back!” Noel ordered, voice hoarse and nearly lost in the cacophony of battle. The enemy soldiers kept coming, wave after wave, despite their win each time. At this rate, it didn’t matter if Hope was the most brilliant tactician ever to live, their side would fall from sheer exhaustion and the disadvantage of being outnumbered and flanked by all sides. “Fall back! Regroup around the door to the shrine!”

He was interrupted by a beast, a soldier atop of wyvern who had gotten through their hasty barricade, and he drew up his sword as the wyvern dived at him, shrieking loudly all the way down. Noel gritted his teeth and braced his feet against the earth before racing forward to meet the attack full on, separating his swords and then slashing at the talons which came at him before jumping up to attack the beast directly, aiming for its throat.

The monster shrieked again as its attack was deflected, and beat powerful wings to lift itself back up out of Noel’s reach before his strike could land. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to land any hits if the creature continued to stay out of range.

“Serah!” He shouted, dodging as the wyvern came in for a second attack. He could see the pink-haired woman turn from her own battle with several of the undead, having been sniping them off from afar. “Bring it down!”

Serah aimed her Starseeker and with seasoned experience loosed three arrows, one at a time, first at a wing to bring down the wyvern and then two more aimed at the creature’s head. Her attention returned to thinning out the hordes of undead immediately after that without waiting for confirmation whether the beast was dead or not.

It didn’t matter, though. Her aim was always true, and the moment the monster was struck and falling, Noel was already running toward the rider, swinging his swords with deadly accuracy.

He barely had a chance to breathe before another creature attacked him.

“Let nothing pass through the doors of the shrine!” Hope called out from a ways away, voice still clear and ringing over the battle like a bell. Somehow, he didn’t have to be loud in order to be heard clearly by everything. Perhaps it was one of his magics. “We must give Lightning time to commune with the Goddess!”

It was a stark reminder for why they were fighting, and reminded Noel of the reason for their battle.

“Fall back!” He called out once again, this time louder and with more energy behind the words. “Surround the temple doors! Let nothing through, but don’t forfeit your lives for nothing! Attack in groups and stay together!”

The soldiers around them moved to follow his orders, slowly allowing the enemy to gain ground but at the same time forming a tighter defense.

Great idea, Noel thought as he slashed through another Behemoth which had been charging at him. He could barely breathe, and his muscles were screaming at him as sweat poured from his skin. It made him glad for the gloves he wore, as he was sure his grip on his weapons would have slipped by now. It must have been hours since the battle started, and yet they were making no progress. No dent in the enemy. He could see many of his soldiers take up enemy swords when their own steel gave out, and archers searching for unbroken arrows in the bodies of the monsters strewn around them. Maybe he should follow his oh so great great idea about falling back.

(Somehow, that last thought sound a lot like Hope’s tone whenever he berated Noel about doing something stupid.)

Right behind the Behemoth were two chimeras, side by side and looking downright nasty. The others were already busy with their own enemies, and Noel grunted heavily as he jerked his sword from the dead Behemoth and steadied his posture once more. It couldn’t be too much longer. Just a little bit, and Lightning would be done. Either Etro would wake from her slumber and strike down all their enemies, or at least they would be done with this place and could flee once the ritual was over.

Until then, they had to stand their ground.

The first of the chimeras hissed at him like a snake, revealing a wicked row of teeth as it slowly stalked it’s way around him, forcing Noel to tilt his swords down in defense. With two of them, he would be vulnerable attacking one, and therefore would have to wait until one of them made the first move. He couldn’t let one in his blind side.

The second chimera struck as the first made its way around, and Noel brought up his sword to defend himself as a claw came down at him, bracing under the weight of the creature even as he swung his second sword at the leg, slicing deeply into its flesh. He could hear the creature howl as it stepped back, surprised a thing so small could actually do it any damage.

But as the second drew back, the first came to attack, leaving Noel with no time to brace, only to do his best to duck out of the way until he could regain his footing and move to strike. By then, he was too slow to dodge the second swipe at his back, gritting his teeth tightly as he felt armor give way under the claws and the sharp pain in his back as flesh tore just as easily as the armor did. He rolled a distance away, and then pushed himself to his feet as deftly as possible with the help of his sword in the dirt once he was far enough out of their range.

He could feel the blood run down his skin, but didn’t allow that to deter him. Due to that injury, his range of mobility would be severely impaired: no sharp turns, no quick movements, and no swinging of his sword. It was amazing how many actions required back movement, and his back was screaming at him to drop and heal himself.

He’d do just that… if he had been given the time. For right now, he could ignore it. That wasn’t a life-threatening injury despite his lowered mobility.

He should fall back and wait for a another group to finish their battle before taking them on. But Noel wasn’t so willing to quit that easily. He had good healers. Whatever damage he did could be repaired after the battle.

Twisting his sword in his hand and ignoring the slick feel of blood down his back, he charged forward again, willing his legs to carry him fast enough past the monsters’ defenses, each running step bringing screaming protests from torn muscles that was ignored as he dodged another one of the creature’s swipes and jumped up to use to claws as a launch pad, the momentum pushing him up into the air where he flipped (and boy did his back hate him for that one) to avoid the dangerous tail before he brought both swords down, the larger one to pin down into the creature’s flesh and the shorter one to stab directly into the monster’s neck as he landed atop it.

There was the shriek of pain, and violent jerks as the chimera struggling to throw Noel off him and fell to one side just as the other chimera came back for an attack, this time with its teeth rather than claws.

Noel swung himself to the other side of his sword and let go, leaving himself weaponless and falling back down to the ground as the other chimera attacked where he was at, instead sinking its teeth into the area between neck and shoulder on its comrade, bringing the first creature down sharply as it screamed and thrashed before going still.

The prince hit the ground and rolled to disperse the impact, crying out as his back finally gave out on him from pain. This was bad; bad, bad, bad, but he could always call on someone to help him with the last chimera— he was a dumb mistake on his part to leave himself so unguarded, but he could easily get his weapons back and continue. It wasn’t as if this would be the last of him—

A brilliant streak of fire magic flashed by him, and Noel looked up to see the second chimera, jaws still dripping blood, shriek as it caught on fire, jerking itself around in a violent attempt to douse the flames somehow. Dark boots ran past him, soon revealing Lightning’s form as she jumped and twisted in the air, avoiding the dying chimera’s claws as she landed atop the one he killed, somehow more graceful than he could hope to be. She reached and pulled first at his short sword, the blood spurting out to splatter her armor as it came from the wound easily, and then braced her feet against yielding flesh to yank his second, larger sword out in one smooth motion.

The sounds of rapid footfalls caught Noel’s attention, and he hissed as he felt a cool hand hover over the injuries on his back, before a steady stream of healing magic made him sigh in relief.

“You idiot,” Hope hissed near him, and Noel winced as the healing flow was disrupted just slightly before it continued again, possibly mirroring Hope’s emotional control. “Stay in groups, you said. Don’t forfeit your lives to this, you said! Maybe you should heed your own advice for once and not be so dumb!”

“You can’t call your prince dumb,” Noel protested weakly even as he watched Lightning use his swords to bring down the second chimera, the creature crying out once more before falling heavily to the ground, unmoving.

“I’ll call you whatever I like if you’re going to be dumb,” Hope hissed at him, even as Noel felt the rest of his wounds close over and the slight haze that slowed his thoughts thanks to the faint poison on the claws lift. “The ritual’s over. Yeul’s already sounded the bell for retreat, which you might have heard if you weren’t so caught up in your dumb fight!”

He could tell that the ritual was over, especially with Lightning in front of him decimating the enemy forces.

He pushed himself up to his feet wearily, ignoring Hope’s protesting sounds. “Did we do it? Did we summon Etro?”

He looked over to his friend, noting Hope’s dirtied appearance, white hair smeared in blood and dirt and other substances, and skin pale and drawn. Tired. Overused his magic, likely. Just like everyone else.

His tactician frowned, his eyes darting over to Lightning for a moment before he moved to help Noel stay standing, slinging the brunet’s arm over his shoulders to help him move out.

“She’ll tell us afterward, I’m sure. Right now, we need to get out safely. This area has been taken.”

.
.

“Father!”

Yeul’s long silver hair lifted behind her as she raced and threw herself at Noel, who had his arms open to receive her, picking her up and spinning her around even as she clung tightly to his neck, her fingers digging into the skin of his shoulders.

“Yeul,” He breathed out against her hair, crushing his future daughter to him. “I’m glad to see you safe.”

“You’re the one who wasn’t safe!” she protested, voice muffled against his neck and her fingers tightening on him. “Caius made sure none of those creature came close to me, but I could see the battle from atop the hill and it was horrible—”

“But over now.” Noel told her. “And everyone’s fine. We got through it, and Lightning completed the ritual. The future you came from won’t exist anymore.”

Yeul didn’t respond, but she also didn’t let go of him, burying her face against the skin of his neck. Noel didn’t let go of her either, glad just to feel the warmth of her. Her presence brought all sorts of questions, and the future she spoke of was dark and grim, but right here and right now he was glad to have her with him.

She made him miss his late sister so much, but at the same time her presence was a balm on his soul.

Who is your mother? He wanted to ask so desperately. Were we happy together?

He could see Hope whispering to several other soldiers just a few steps away from them, giving them a little privacy. Yeul’s hair was only several shades darker than Hope’s own, and if Noel tried hard enough, he could imagine that—

But that didn’t matter. The most important thing right now was to prevent Yeul’s dark prophecy from coming to pass.

“So?” He asked Lightning as she stepped forward, his daughter still in his arms even as he pried at her fingers slightly to readjust her grip, her arms sliding automatically around his chest instead. Caius stood just steps from them, ever the dark sentinel to Yeul. The others around them hushed as well, voices faltering as everyone came to a halt now that they were at a safe distance and Lightning was standing before them, blood splattered and tall. “What do we do? What did Etro say?”

“There is a way to defeat Bhunivelze.” Lightning told him, not bothering with petty platitudes or ceremony. Her pink hair was dripping with blood, making it look a dark red instead, and her skin even paler thanks to the vicious color to contrast. “But you will not like it.”

“It doesn’t matter if I like it or not.” Noel said, hardening his voice. He stood taller, a hand still resting on Yeul’s back as her arms tightened around his waist. He couldn’t forget her words, foretelling a future gone wrong, of death and destruction and the end of all things. He didn’t want to see the haunted look in her green eyes anymore. If there was a chance to change everything, no matter how much he might not like it, he would have to take that chance. “So?”

They had fought for hours and hours without end, and then sounded the retreat and fled for several miles before they settled down a brief camp, finally safe from the enemy hordes. But now, Etro’s champion stood motionless as if she expected Noel to order them further away before she disclosed what she learned, if her expression was anything to go by. He waited her out patiently, knowing that the audience would force her to tell eventually.

She wanted to speak to him in private, but his people deserved to hear the truth.

“Bhunivelze is currently weak.” Lightning told him, and the people around her were hushed as they stared wide-eyed at Etro’s knight as she spoke the Goddess’s words. “He merged with a human host, and therefore has a human weakness. Kill the host, and he will die as well.”

The flash of teeth under a sneer. Pale green eyes narrowed as they watched him. Silver-white hair gleaming under the light of an inferno, and laughter echoing past the screams of thousands perishing in flames as a nation fell as sacrifice to summon a God.

“But how are we supposed to do that?” And this time, it was Snow who called out, frustrated. Noel could see Serah standing next to the blond, a hand on his arm to calm him down. “He’s invincible! We can’t so much as get near him, much less cut him down.”

“You’re right.” Lightning agreed readily, expression unchanging. “None of us can do it. Due to the host merging with a God, there is no one who can kill him. The only way he can be killed…”

Her words drifted off, and she looked away. Finally, she looked uncomfortable and reluctant to tell her tale despite the anxious waiting for the crowd around her.

“Is if he killed himself, is that correct?” Hope spoke up. He was standing a little off to Lightning’s side and had wiped the blood off his face, although it lingered on his hair even as he calmly worked a towel through his pale locks at the moment, unflinching as the attention of everyone turned to him. “That’s the only way to kill Bhunivelze. If his host kills himself.”

Lightning didn’t answer, but inclined her head his direction in agreement.

“What, so we’re going to have to convince that psycho to kill himself?” Noel’s expression was dark. “That doesn’t seem likely.”

That laughter haunted him, familiar and yet so strange at the same time.

“You don’t have to.” Hope told him, the tactician as calm as ever. “You just need to get me close enough. I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“No way!”

“Are you serious?”

“Could that work?”

Yeul was suspiciously silent in his arms, listening intently.

“As smart as ever.” Lightning praised, a rare hint of fondness in her voice. “But you do know what that means.”

“What does it mean?” Noel interjected, surprisingly vehement. He could feel Yeul breathe against his collarbone, could feel the smooth strands of her hair under his fingers, and it should have calmed him. Instead, there was a stirring suspicion growing in his heart about how he wasn’t going to like the situation at all.

You will not like it.

“Bhunivelze’s host is me.” Hope told him calmly. “From the future that Yeul came from. Yes, I do know what that means. I would be a fool not to.”

“And still you’re willing to take on this task?” Lightning asked him.

“Yes.” Hope responded simply.

“Stop.” Noel insisted, feeling like he didn’t want to know where that conversation was going. But he needed to. As he said before, it was more than just want he wanted. This was about the future of the world. Of his daughter’s future. “What do you mean?”

Lightning turned her head to face him, and her lips thinned in thought for a moment before deciding to tell him. “Bhunivelze’s host is Hope. It has always been Hope. You quest to save the future would have succeeded the moment Hope refused to do as the God of Light bid, yet due to Yeul bid from the future to change the past, she unintentionally brought along the Hope of her future with her. Because of that, the same catastrophe is happening because the Hope of that timeline agreed to take on Bhunivelze.

“That should have triggered everything to spiral into the future Yeul predicted, except there was another thing we have that Bhunivelze never predicted — we have the original Hope. And since the only way for the God to be killed is if his host kills him… that means we can still kill him. Hope needs to kill the host, and then Bhunivelze would die.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Noel asked, tightening his grip on Yeul. “He dies, and we’re good, right? We just need to get Hope to him! I know it’s a hard task, but we’ve taken on impossible quests before and come out victorious. You’re making this sound like a sure chance of failure for some reason. I don’t like it.”

“Noel…”

Hope’s tone was quiet; defeated. Noel hated it.

“If Hope kills Bhunivelze’s host,” Lightning spoke for him. “Then it will be as good as killing himself. Coming back to the past means that they share one life force. The only one who can kill Bhunivelze is Hope, and the only way to kill the God means that Hope will die as well.”

Noel was silent.

Yeul finally looked up after the silence, still clutching onto him. Her eyes were concerned, brows furrowed as she asked, “Father?”

He— he was the prince of Paddra. Going to be king. He had an obligation to his people. To the whole world, even. Paddra was blessed by Etro, and Etro was the only one with knowledge of how to defeat Bhunivelze, the creator and destroyer of worlds. The great God feared by all other gods. If Bhunivelze willed the destruction of this world, then it would happen no matter how many died in the process. And Bhunivelze had willed it.

Noel had an obligation. He had to put the world, put his people, first before everything else. He had to put his daughter first, even. The daughter from the future he didn’t yet have. He had to put everyone first, had to be the one to make the sacrifices, just like his sister had. She died to keep peace between the people. Noel would do the same.

This wasn’t just peace. This was about the lives of everyone in the entire world. The future of mankind. One sacrifice to prevent the world from falling. Just one.

“No.”

Everyone looked taken aback, and Noel couldn’t understand why. Not until he registered the amount of rage in his own denial. That wasn’t like him at all. He didn’t like getting angry. He was never really angry. That couldn’t really be his voice, could it? It couldn’t be. He didn’t sound like that.

“I refuse.”

Serah was shuffling off in the background, one arm across Snow’s as she shook her head and smiled reassuringly at her fiance, ushering him and those around him, the mischievous Team NORA, away. Distantly, he could see Sazh doing the same, speaking with others as the crowd slowly left despite the curious eyes that lingered on them.

Caius stayed, and Yeul stayed. Lightning and Hope also stayed.

“Noel,” and Hope’s voice was deathly calm, the smile on his lips empty and somehow furious. “Can I talk to you? Alone, please?”

“No!” And this time, it was Yeul who spoke out, objecting vehemently. She was glaring out from the folds of Noel’s shirt, green eyes watching Hope’s every movement. At her outburst, Caius tensed as well, one hand already on his weapon and ready to draw. “Why do you need to speak with him alone? Why can’t you just say it in front of the rest of us? Why does it always need to be so secret?”

Noel patted his daughter’s hair absentmindedly, reminded again that she was still only a child, even if he wasn’t all that much older than her at the moment.

“Princess…” Hope looked taken aback.

“You needn’t worry, Princess.” Lightning reassured her, finally moving forward to draw Yeul away from him. She pried gently at the grip Yeul had on Noel’s clean shirt, pulling her away and nodding at Caius to follow them. “It’ll just be for a minute. I have more to tell the prince yet.”

As they walked away, Noel watched Hope sighed quietly, and pulled the stained towel from his hair, wiping down his robes quickly before giving up entirely as the tactician nodded toward the glade just a bit away. Noel took the cue and walked forward, one foot in front of the other, feeling the dewy grass underneath each step.

They stared at each other as everyone else was now safely out of sight and hearing distance. It was only there that Noel felt the full force of his previous fury, the same anger that he could hear in his tone earlier, but hadn’t been able to feel thanks to a strange disconnect. But now, in this peaceful area with no one other than Hope in sight, now he could feel the rage running through his veins at the mere suggestion...

“You can’t make my decisions for me.” Hope broke through his thoughts, pale green eyes staring intently at him. “If this is the only way to destroy Bhunivelze, and I’m the only one who can, then it’s my choice. You can’t tell me no when you would do exactly the same thing in my shoes.”

“But I’m not in your shoes.” Noel hissed, suddenly inflamed by those words. Perhaps by the truth of them. He took a step closer to his too calm tactician, and then backed up in fear that he would do something he might later regret. “Maybe you should consider it from my point of view— if I offered myself up, wouldn’t you be there to stop me? To— I don’t know, to offer another choice?”

“You’re the prince of Paddra.” Hope argued, still calm and collected and it made Noel furious to see him like that. Hope should be angry as well, should be furious and Noel couldn’t understand just how his tactician could stay so untouched by the situation. “There’s a difference. Your people depend on you. Your daughter needs you — she won’t even exist if you die. You’re too important to offer up your life, and I—”

“And you what?” Noel interjected quickly. “You’re not important somehow? Like you haven’t helped me win every single battle we’ve been in the past years we’ve been together? Like I don’t need you here with me?”

He didn’t know what to do with his hands, whether he should reach for his tactician and shake the man who was normally so smart but at times so dense about things, or to just reach out and never let go again. Noel curled his hands into fists instead, and stubbornly kept his arms at his sides.

“This is happening because of me.” Hope told him, even as Noel huffed a disgusted breath at that and stepped away, pacing the area in agitation. “So I’m going to take care of it. I would prefer if you would support my decision, but I understand if you will not.”

The man stood up straighter as he said his last line, as if preparing himself for inevitable disappointment. It made Noel mad just seeing it.

Mad because every logical reasoning told him that Hope was doing the right thing, that Noel should support him in that decision. If this was truly Etro’s conclusion, then there was nothing that Noel could do about it. He should be happy there was even a way to defeat Bhunivelze. He should be, but he wasn’t. He was the furthest from happy he could be. He had been happier than this in battle just an hour earlier when there was a great chance of dying in combat. He had been happier even when he thought they could all be defeated than now where there was finally a real chance to defeat Bhunivelze.

He had been so much happier just that morning, lying in the shade of an oak tree and enjoying the weather. He had been happiest sitting next to Hope that morning, joking around as they bumped shoulders.

How quickly their fortunes changed. Now, mere hours later, here in this glade and the two of them angry at each other for things beyond their personal reckoning.

Noel didn’t know what he could say here to make Hope change his mind. He shouldn’t even be trying to change the other man’s mind, and yet… and yet.

“I can’t accept that as the only solution.” Noel admitted, one hand pushed against his forehead, willing his brain to come up with some alternate way. A method that wouldn’t ensure Hope’s death. Not when— not when—

They might have only known each other two years, but it felt like an eternity. Hope had been there before his sister Yeul had been killed. Had been there at the very beginning of it all, when The Order was just starting to gain prominence and send troops to attack the borders of Paddra. Hope had fought with him, beside him, helped him win every battle.

But his tactician was more than just a sure-fire way to win fights. He was…

“There has to be another way.” Noel concluded, ending that line of thought.

“There is.”

The answer was a shock to both of them as Lightning walked up once more, looking rather unimpressed with the way their conversation was going. She gave Noel a hard stare, never one to be overly impressed with titles.

“You never gave me the chance to finish. Knowing our prince, I already asked Etro for an alternative. She has been asleep far too long and can not help our fight the way you might want her to, but she does have a little power left. Just enough to seal Bhunivelze away for a thousand years should you choose that option. It will not, however, destroy him. Within a millenia, that generation will have to face the problem of the God rising once more.”

“That would work,” Noel breathed out, grasping onto the alternative. He took a step forward, but then stopped himself even as he ran over the solution in his head again and again, each iteration looking more and more appealing. “By then, I’m sure people will have figured out another way of destroying him.”

Hope didn’t look as convinced, pale green eyes narrowing as he considered the suggestion. “But will they? He’s already been sealed thousands of years, and no one has come up with a method of defeating him. What would one more millenia do?”

“It would save your life.”

“We’d be leaving the burden on future generations.” Hope objected, unmoved by Noel’s protest. “And if there is no real solution, we’d be leaving them to die. We would be using Etro’s last strength to seal him now so that the future generations would not even be able to rely on the Goddess’s help when they need it most. We’d only be delaying the inevitable unless we take action now. Right now, we have a sure chance of destroying him. Of saving the world!”

“Or they’ll come up with a simple way of getting it all done right. I believe in the future generations! Don’t you?”

Hope stepped back, although he didn’t look convinced in the slightest. The white haired man look contemplative, actually, and slightly suspicious.

“Why are you so against this?” Hope asked, this time more calm and collected. Noel didn’t like that tone. It meant that Hope was starting to figure things through, starting to think unaffected by his own emotions. It was a good thing to see when the man was planning strategies for battle, but not when they were speaking on a more intimate basis. “It’s my decision to make. And it all makes sense. I know you value every life, but it’s not like you to risk the future of your people, of the world, just because of one person who was meant to destroy this world anyway.”

Is that how you see yourself? Noel snapped his jaw shut and didn’t voice the question. Instead, he stepped forward, ignoring Lightning’s quiet presence. Hope’s eyes widened for a split second as Noel moved close, looking like he was going to take a step backward before thinking better of it and squaring his jaw, standing straighter even as Noel leaned closer. The two of them were close to an even height, Hope barely shorter than Noel thanks to the boots he preferred.

Stubborn. But that was fine. Two could play that game.

“If I ordered you,” Noel asked quietly, “would you take the other option?”

Hope didn’t look impressed, narrowing pale green eyes. “Is that an order, then?”

He thought about it. He could, being the prince of Paddra, order Hope to stand down from the last battle. If there was another method of defeating Bhunivelze, then Noel was all for it. He’d still be able to save his citizens, still be able to breathe the air of this world, and more than that, he’d be able to see Hope still, after that battle. When the war was finally over, they would have time to think about other things. Yeul would be able to live in peace.

“...No.” Noel finally breathed out, and then looked away, turning his attention to the pink-haired knight. “Lightning. What’s the other option?”

She raised a brow, but otherwise didn’t share her opinion on the matter. Instead, she unsheathed the large black and red sword on her back, presenting it to her prince. “This sword has been infused with what power Etro can spare. Cut through Bhunivelze’s host, and the God will be sealed once more until such a time the seal breaks.”

Noel stepped to examine the sword, feeling Hope’s gaze on his back.

“And this will work?” He questioned again, needing the confirmation despite Lightning’s glare.

“Yes.” She told him. “Not for long, but a millenia amounts to many generations for mankind. It will pass in a blink of an eye to the divine, yet we may still have time to prepare.”

He took the sword, turning it in his grasp to feel the weight and balance of it. It was lighter than what he was used to, but then again, it was Lightning’s sword. Noel swung in a downward arc, feeling the air sing in the wake of the blade. The grip was good, steady, and the balance was impeccable. Noel felt like he could throw the large sword a good distance away and make his target.

“Thank you, Lightning.” He told her, knowing that she had a large repertoire of swords to use despite giving this one away. She nodded in acknowledgment of his gratitude.

“Bhunivelze will not allow us close to him knowing that this power comes his way.” Lightning warned him. “Our final battle will not be an easy one. The two of you must decide on a plan together rather than dividing the troops. We need both our prince and our tactician working together, or else all might be lost.”

Noel could hear Hope breathe out audibly behind him.

“We will,” Hope told Lightning, sounding a bit remorseful that she heard their argument. “I promise.”

Noel swung the sword, flipping it in his grasp to test how it handled, and stayed silent.

.
.

It took the ravens and spymasters three days to track down Bhunivelze’s location, in which the Paddrean troops stayed in one area and rested, fending of various small groups of bandits and monsters in the vicinity.

Noel spent that time with Yeul, learning more about her and teaching her various things, much to his delight. She was the sweetest child he could hope for, taking after his sister entirely but still retaining his optimism and determination. He still couldn’t find the courage to ask about her mother, but instead learned what made her laugh and all about her favourite childhood habits and games.

At times, he would watch through the tent opening as Lightning tutored Hope on his sword stances, listening to her bark directions at him and Snow laughing good naturedly in the background, shouting his encouragement. He would watch as Hope, hair slick against his face from sweat, got up again and again from being knocked over, bruises on his hands and wrists where the sword had been knocked from his grasp multiple times, all the more determined despite what must have been a painful training session.

He watched as Lightning would gentle her words, a rare fondness shining through as she slowed her movements to allow Hope to see where she might strike next and slowly gain the sort of anticipation that was second nature to most warriors. Noel would watch them from time to time, trying to find the perfect moment to speak to his tactician, his friend, again.

Serah would report to him on the location of ground troops across the land, and where the fightest was thickest. She’d state the list of casualties and sometimes hesitate as Noel lost himself in imagining who those soldiers might have been, and who they might be leaving behind. Did they all think the sacrifice of their lives worth it? Were they leaving families behind, content in knowing that they died fighting an evil so their loved ones might live?

Did they have children as well, or were they young and naive, barely having lived at all?

“Noel,” Serah told him after she was done speaking, coming up to place a hand upon his on the strategy table. Her skin was warm and soft, fragile atop his. “You need to talk to Hope.”

Of course he needed to, but the timing just wasn’t right when the both of them were still stubbornly clinging to their own solutions and Noel wasn’t ready to give a single inch yet. He needed the time to himself before the next battle, need to calm his nerves with Yeul’s sweet laughter and her childhood stories before he could steel himself enough to take on Hope’s legendary ways of getting people to do as he wanted. Noel didn’t mind letting Hope lead or begrudge the loyalty of his men to his tactician, but he was not willing to conceded on this point. Not if it meant that he would actually lose the other man.

But it had been three days and soon they would have to leave and march upon the place Bhunivelze had chosen as base.

“I will.” He assured her, listening to the quiet and soothing breathing as Yeul napped in the tent behind him. Three days spent completely with his daughter, and it wasn’t enough. It might never be enough. “Now we need to inform the soldiers to get ready. We leave within the day.”

That had been the plan, anyway, except the forerunning group, which mostly consisted of the team Noel trusted the most in battle with him, ended up encountering bandit after bandit, as well as monster after monster. It was like the entire journey was trying to throw more obstacles in their path before they could get to Bhunivelze.

“Or maybe,” Caius suggested darkly to him as the others charged into battle with a group of undead, “The fates want us to survive, and that means you and our tactician needs to come up with a solid plan before we face down a God.”

The knight gave him a disapproving frown before he moved away, shepherding the princess to a much safer location.

It was the final straw, and Noel charged into battle with his swords drawn, the divine sword that Lightning had given him still strapped to his back. At least the undead they encountered on the road were easy pickings, tending to be shambling formations of rage rather than the well oiled machines that living soldiers with good commanders were. Still, they were a pain mostly because the undead seemed to retain their skills from when they were alive, meaning they were still swordsmen and archers and spellcasters.

He found Hope in the midst of the frey exactly where he shouldn’t be, a sword in hand and fighting rather than using his magic from the safety of the rearguard. Noel supposed if there was a good place to practice sword skills, though, undead bandits would probably be it.

“We need to talk!” He shouted as he cut down one, two simple undead swordsmen. He flipped the short sword in his hand, and whirled around to stab soldier behind him, hearing the crunch of bone and squish of decayed flesh falling apart. Noel made a disgusted noise even as he withdrew the sword from the enemy corpse; fighting against the undead never seemed to get any better. He just couldn’t get used to the overwhelming decayed stench.

For a moment, he wondered if he managed to get Hope’s attention at all. The sounds of battle were loud, swords clashing and the sound of mages shouting spells in the background made for a cacophony that could easily be drowned in.

But then Hope sunk his sword down the neck of one of the undead (and his grip was far too sloppy, the thrust would have gotten him in trouble with Lightning since it would have been far too easy to lose his grip on the handle of the sword when trying to pull out, but Noel didn’t feel he should get into the specifics of that with his tactician at the moment), splaying the stench of half-decayed flesh as the undead soldier collapsed with half its neck, bleeding out a thick blackish-red blood slowly as near skeletal fingers continued to twitch around its weapon despite having already fallen.

“What?” Hope demanded, spinning around. He looked irritated, which Noel attributed to the constant battles that day the moment the group tried to get going. Despite that, though, as well as the blood and stench of battle, he looked quite clean. His eyes were clear, his hair reflecting the rays of the sun, and his cheeks were flushed from the exertion of combat.

Noel didn’t let himself get distracted by that.

“I said: we need to talk!” Noel shouted again, even as he dodged an attack from another swordsman, using his shortsword to knock away an arrow from an overzealous archer. “You know, about our plan to defeat Bhunivelze!”

“I have a plan; you don’t.” Hope told him succinctly, turning back to a spellcaster who had gotten too close to the fray of battle and was therefore vulnerable enough for Hope to knock the staff out of his hands with his sword.

“Really?” Noel sliced through the arm of an oncoming attacker, glad now that he had a way to vent during this conversation. It was obvious that Hope was going to be stubborn about it, and Noel’s frustration regarding that was perhaps best channeled into battle right now. “You’re going to do this now?”

“And you’re not?” Hope huffed heavily as he pulled his sword from the defeated spellcaster, using one foot the brace against the corpse as the steel came free with a disgustingly wet sound. He turned to face Noel, and lifted up both arms in a defeated gesture, bloodied sword barely dangling from his fingers. “Alright; fine. Let’s do this right now.”

“Wait—” Noel whirled around and cut down two arrows from the archers shooting at them. “Don’t stop fighting! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“No.” Hope emphasized, still standing with his back entirely open to enemies. “Although according to you, I am.”

Noel’s sword knocked away another arrow, and he could feel his panic rising as Hope continued to leave himself defenseless with his sword lowered like that. He pushed past his tactician to thrust his short sword through the ribcage of one enemy who had been coming to attack Hope’s back while simultaneously slashing at another with his primary sword, leaving the second enemy gurgling as the undead creature fell to the ground.

He swerved to deflect another enemy that came charging at them, twisting to block with his broadsword while he ducked down onto one knee to stab his shortsword underneath into the attacker’s abdomen.

“I don’t think that!” He gritted out, pulling out his sword. This was harder than fighting by himself when his heart was pounding harder than usual, doubly paranoid that he would miss an attack on his friend from a direction he couldn’t see. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you!”

“I can take care of myself.” Hope protested, eyes narrowed although he still didn’t move to attack. “Have I let you down before?”

Noel growled in frustration as he moved to attack another of the undead. What could he say? He suspected the answer the other wished to hear was ‘no’, yet Hope’s current actions were certainly contrary to what he wanted to accomplish, especially if that goal was to not give Noel a heart attack during this battle. For one moment, he wondered at being selfish enough to claim that their argument was a result of Hope letting him down… but of course that wasn’t true. It never was, and he had better sense than to accuse him of that. “Of course not.”

“You don’t step in when Serah makes a decision.” Hope told him, arms down by his side even though he was still holding tight to the sword. His tone was calm and casual, and could barely be heard over the clash of swords, despite how close Noel was. They were barely standing a foot apart, Noel refusing to step further away while the other was unprotected. “You don’t even tell Yeul what she can and can’t do. You’ve never objected to her being in battle, even though I know you want to.”

It was true. A bitter and painful statement, but Noel never had the heart to keep his loved ones away from the front lines. He trusted Caius to protect Yeul, and understood that Serah had enough experience to stay safe — if she was targeted, Lightning and Snow would be close enough at hand to ensure nothing happened to her.

But then, Hope understood how to fight as well. They had fought together many times the past years, after all, and the white-haired man had never shied away from the battlefield. In this, Noel also did not object. He felt better knowing that Hope was there to cover his back, and to have him close enough to know others would watch over him as well. But this last battle, this last one had nothing to do with fighting or how Hope could take care of himself.

“That’s different!” Noel protested, voice higher as he both dodged an enemy attack and moved to push Hope out of the way as well, the latter unprotesting about being manhandled. He ended up with a hand clasped tightly on Hope’s arm, the other gripping his main sword so hard his knuckles were white, pulling the other man close enough that their noses were barely centimeters apart. “Fighting is one thing — a suicide mission is something else entirely. Don’t make this a suicide mission.”

Hope stared at him for a long moment, pale green gaze sharp, before he finally nodded in agreement. It was only then that Noel backed up an inch or so, and loosened his bruising grip on Hope’s arm. It felt like the sounds of battle were fading away as he breathed out, heavy and hot with his pulse pounding in his ears.

“Lightning told me something else.” Hope told him, voice quiet enough that Noel shouldn’t have possibly heard the words over the background noise. “She mentioned that there’s a chance to survive my other self dying. If my bonds to other people are stronger than my bond to that future self, then there’s a chance. And I have to believe in that because I can’t be—” He broke off suddenly, looking frustrated at his inability to convey this thoughts properly. Two of the enemy closest to them were shot down by Serah’s arrows in the duration. “I have to believe my bonds here are strong enough to withstand whatever that last battle throws at me. It’s not a suicide mission. We’re all going to make it out alive, and change the future that Yeul sees. I know what I’m doing, Noel. I need you to believe in me.”

At that, Hope’s attention was diverted and he finally brought a hand up, although it wasn’t to attack with his sword and instead summoning a powerful fire spell which incinerated the oncoming undead, three of them at once, who writhed and shrieked as they fell to the ground.

Noel could feel the heat of the ashes left over curling against his armor, the spell leaving a gap in the fighting like a bubble around them free of enemies.

“Three years ago,” Hope reminded him with wisps of magic still curling around his fingers, “you found and trusted a stranger who couldn’t remember anything about his past. You helped someone who could have been an assassin sent for your head for all you knew, and yet... You saved my life back then. Trust me again — this time, as a friend instead of a stranger.”

.
.

“Is it true?” Noel demanded, marching up to Lightning after the battle was over and every settled down to catch their breaths before they continued on the road. He didn’t bother to so much as clean his blades from the battle, his clothes still splattered with gore and possibly looking quite crazed. Hope followed behind him, although this time the tactician was silent. “That Hope would be fine if he takes out Bhunivelze?”

The knight of Etro was resting at the edge of the camp where no others would hear them, a ways away from her sister, having been watching over the younger pink-haired archer clean herself up. She turned her attention to the prince now, arms crossed under her chest as she leaned against a tree splattered with the blood of the undead.

“I take it the two of you finally spoke.” She observed. “I told him there was a slim chance, yes.”

“How slim?” Noel pressed.

“Slim enough that I didn’t want to get your hopes up.” She told him.

“But still a chance.” Hope spoke up stubbornly from behind Noel, drawing their attention to his presence. “And that chance may be more than what future generations would get against Bhunivelze. Slim as the chance may be, I believe it can be accomplished.”

Noel’s jaw tightened in thought, and he rubbed at the back of his head. “...What does the chance entail?”

“That the Hope who is host to Bhunivelze has less pull over the Hope we know than we do.” Lightning answered. She frowned. “Which would be near impossible, seeing as they share the same blood. But they do share a different history and have lived different lives the past few years. That’s where our chance comes in. Bhunivelze will be in full control of the host, and therefore when Hope kills him, he will drag what he recognizes as his enemy down with him, rather successfully since that very same blood will be what connects them. But if he somehow does not recognize our Hope due to differences that we have incurred, then we might be able to pull him back.”

“That’s a good chance.” Noel dared to surmise.

“It’s not.” Lightning cut that down immediately.

Noel sighed, and closed his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose and grimacing as his bare fingers scraped against dried blood. “Right. Can you give me a moment?”

Lightning acknowledged that request with a brisk nod, and pushed herself away from the tree to walk toward where Serah was laughing at something Snow said a ways away.

“I know it doesn't sound good when Light says it like that." Hope objected quickly before Noel could voice his protest, “But I know that—"

“Hope." Noel interrupted him, feeling like he had to get the words out for once. He turned to face his tactician and grasped gently at the other’s shoulders, feeling the steady and reassuring warmth of life under thick robes. It was a common tactic noted would have Hope still and pay attention, and one he tried not to use too often because it was distracting for himself in ways.

He spent so long waiting for the right moment and trying to come up with the right words to say, he wondered if somehow he made the situation worse. Maybe he should have blurted everything out at first chance rather than try to come up with the perfect scenario like the ones that Hope always managed to find. Noel looked skyward a moment, at the perfect day with blue skies and the sun shining down on them. It was funny, he felt that the skies should be cloudy and heavy with rain to match the dread settling in the pit of his stomach.

There were too many things he didn’t want to think about, or didn’t have the time to properly process. But time was not going to be gentle to them, especially not with his people suffering every minute of his inaction under the very same bright blue skies.

On the one hand, if Bhunivelze reigned, that perfect sky would be gone. Everything would be gone and fallen into shadows. But if Hope managed to kill the host, and he failed to— to create the miracle that Lightning would not bank on… then the sky still wouldn’t be the same for Noel. Not ever. He didn’t quite understand how, whether it would be because blue skies would cease to exist or another reason entirely, but he knew in his heart that it would never be the same again.

He had so much he had yet to work through, because despite the war he always thought he would have the time to find those words which might make Hope laugh in delight. If they died, it would have been together in a blaze of glory. They would have gone down fighting having done everything they could possibly do. Noel had never imagined a scenario where one of them might be left behind. Why not? He… he almost didn’t know. Maybe he did. Maybe it was one of those thoughts he had yet to work through.

I don’t want to be left behind.

He didn’t remember his parents, and his grandmother passed too long ago for the pain to still be strong, but his sister Yeul’s death was still fresh on his mind. Serah and Hope had been there for him then when he lost the last of his family and took on responsibilities he felt far too inadequate for. There had been the years of war, and of celebrating with Serah when she announced her engagement to Snow and slowly pulled away from the comfort Noel had taken for granted all his life. She had other things to think about, to worry about, now.

It was Hope who griped with him on Snow’s suitability to Serah, Hope whom he spent countless hours with in the dead of night when sleep eluded him and he found his tactician up burning the midnight oil over maps and thick tomes on strategy. They would talk of war and plans of battle, of the future and of dreams that kept him awake, and there were times when Noel would be mesmerized by the reflection of candlelight on Hope’s hair and the stray strands that might be carelessly tucked into his collar around his neck.

Times like that, Noel had been certain of his life and his place in the world. For brief moments during sleepless nights, he would think all is well and be content to know he had those he cared about with him.

But he was out of time now if things didn’t work out perfectly. He would have no more time to work through his questions or those warm feelings of contentment. Work through who Yeul’s mother could possibly be when Noel was —

“You’re too… self-sacrificial, you know?” Noel huffed, and then tore his eyes away from the sky. Just like his sister who had sacrificed herself for her people. It made him bitter at the thought of someone else he cared for throwing their lives away again, too much for him to handle, and Noel didn’t want to go through that again. He couldn’t go through it. Maybe it was entirely selfish of him, but… “You’re— you’re really smart. I know that. You know that. Everyone knows that. You keep talking about how I need to survive this war because people need me, but have you ever thought about how the people might need you as well?

“I know… I know you want to keep everyone safe. I do as well. I want us all to walk out of this alive and well, and maybe that’s unrealistic of me, but I want to believe we can do it. We’ve done it so far, and that’s a miracle in and of itself. You might think the only way to destroy Bhunivelze means that you have to offer up your life for the fates to decide whether you die or not, but I don’t think so.”

Hope looked about to protest, but Noel shook his head.

“Let me seal Bhunivelze away.” He said plaintively. “Let’s all come home afterward, and spend the rest of our lives finding a way to destroy him for good. You’re smart — in two years you’ve already done so much! What can you do in two more years? In two decades? And I’ll help. Let me help you.” Noel took a deep breath, unable to rid himself of the heavy lump in his chest twisting up his insides. “Please. You ask me to trust you, and I do. Stay with me. I… I’m going to need your help with all the changes after the war.” I’m going to need you there.

He fell silent after that last plea, shifting awkwardly as he waited for Hope’s response. The pleading was selfish, especially when there were so many others who supported him. None of that felt relevant right now, because if he lost Hope, he would…

“I—” The other man flushed and stuttered to a halt, looking away. In that single moment, Hope seemed to curl in on himself in a way Noel hadn’t seen before from his normally confident tactician. He looked uncertain and sad, gaze falling to the ground even as he insisted, “I believe our bond is strong enough to get through this.”

The hesitation in Hope’s voice gave Noel the courage to reach out and grasp onto Hope’s hands, tangling gloved fingers together. “So do I. But I don’t want to take that chance when we don’t have to. I believe just as strongly that together we can find a way to defeat Bhunivelze for good… after he’s already sealed.”

Hope looked down at their clasped hands, gaze lingering for several seconds before he met Noel’s eyes again.

“...Alright. Let’s do this your way.”

.
.

Noel had long decided that the God Bhunivelze had to be some kind of pervert, sitting atop his white and gold throne on the battlefield in a host who looked barely out of boyhood at all. Hope, his Hope, was tall and strong and fully grown, and yet the enemy before them was definitely older yet younger at the same time. He came from the future, and yet looked so small and fragile that it almost made Noel hesitate to attack.

Almost.

“Now, that’s not very nice.” The boyish voice taunted him, the child finally pushing himself to stand from the throne as Noel was knocked away nearly a dozen feet from the force field around him when he tried to attack with the divine sword. Even the voice sounded exactly like Hope, albeit a younger one. But while the Hope he knew would smile sheepishly or look away in embarrassment, the host of Bhunivelze had a muted, cruel smile that curved up on a too sweet face with cheeks still rounded by youth. “Noel Kreiss… did you really think you could defeat me? Etro does not have the power to kill me.”

“She sealed you away before.” Noel hissed, using the sword to push himself to his feet once again and steadying himself for the next attack. “We can do it again.”

“And to what end?” The child stepped down from the raised dais of the throne, coming forward curiously. His feet never seemed to touch the ground, rather floating somewhere above in the air. “You cannot defeat me, Noel Kreiss of Paddra. Even if you had the strength to strike, you do not have the heart. I am not the God of Destruction you play me out to be, but the God of Creation. This world is a failed one, and from death comes new life. From the ashes of this world, I will create something anew. Better. Your weaknesses will be erased, and your hearts made strong.”

Noel didn’t bother to respond, but instead charged once more, this time bracing as the invisible shield came to life again, the sparks telling him just how far it extended.

“Foolish.” The child-God told him, unphased. “To think that all your friends are fighting hard right now, just to get you to this point. Perhaps I should put you out of your misery.”

It was true that most of the others were fighting hard to hold their position outside and ensure no back-up could be given to the God, and that Noel worried for them intensely. The battle was a fierce one, but it would be a decisive failure if he could not accomplish his task here.

Noel attacked the shield once more, watching as the sparks traveled. “Now!”

Bhunivelze’s eyes widened in surprise as Hope, the adult Hope, charged in from behind Noel where he had been lurking in the shadows of the room, a wicked thunder spell sparking on the blade of his sword, which before the battle had been blessed by Lightning to cut through the God of Light’s defenses.

A slice of the sword tore through the sparking shield, and Noel didn’t waste a second to throw himself past the already healing barrier, bringing the divine sword up to strike and ignoring the familiar wide pale green eyes as he brought his weapon down with all his strength.

Seal him. Seal him and come up with a way to destroy him when he’s not wreaking havoc on the world.

The blade slid easily through flesh in a sickening sound, but the God had already backed up enough that Noel couldn’t change his aim mid-swing, the child-Hope voice crying out in pain of a manner that made Noel’s heart clench in sympathy and guilt. Thick rivulets of blood escaped from behind the child Hope’s shaking fingers clasped tightly against the wound on his chest, contrasting with the pale pale skin as Bhunivelze fell to his knees, silver-white hair covering his expression.

“It’s over.” Noel stated, adjusting his grip on the divine sword. He stood up straight over the small figure, pushing back his uncertainty. Perhaps Bhunivelze had a point in picking a child form after all, seeing as it was hard enough to aim his blade at Hope, but to see a defeated child who had to be around his daughter Yeul’s age…

His raised his sword once more, grip steady.

Bhunivelze, using Hope’s expression, finally looked up at him, eyes wide and skin sickly pale. It was only for a split second, but Noel hesitated just long enough for the pleading expression to twist into something unfamiliar and hateful, one blood splattered hand raised to cast a powerful wind spell that toppled him over and flung his sword hard enough that the blade embedded itself deep into a wall on the opposite side of the room.

“Noel!”

“Foolish.” Bhunivelze hissed, slowly pushing himself up to his feet, although he shook and staggered under the wound, blood dripping onto the ground. The child host was pale and weak, yet there was no denying the rolling waves of pure power that emanated from the small form. Noel could feel his skin prickling, warning him to run now now now but the world felt like molasses with how fast he could move. “How dare… how dare you strike me. Did you think you could truly overpower me? A God? I am creation. I am destruction. I am the beginning and end of all things, and I will scatter the atoms of your existence into the four winds where no one will ever find the memories of your existence ever again.”

It was pitiful how short the fight would be, and Noel despaired for the future as he watched his own limbs slip and fall back down, lacking the strength and agility he trained into himself all his life. The air was so thick, so heavy he could barely breathe, like a giant weight pushing down on every inch of him and forcing him to exert tremendous force just to raise his head up from the ground and look at the form slowly coming closer.

He had barely gotten one hit on the God, had barely damaged the child host at all despite the rivers of blood running down a pale, fragile chest. It wasn’t enough, and Noel had gotten sloppy because he imagined himself the victor already, had been so excited about finally ending the war, about finally ending this cruel being once and for all and he hadn’t remembered that he was weak to the host, and that—

He struggled with his arms to push his torso up, yet there was something too sluggish still about his movements like his body not entirely being his own. He couldn’t give up. Could not fail. If he did...

No.

No.

He had to break out of this spell somehow, had to get to the sword on the other side of the room!

Boots small and fit for a child stopped before him, and the God brought up a pale arm stained dark with blood, eyes blazing as the magic between his fingers sizzled in preparation to attack. As he brought his arm to strike, three balls of magic passed by Noel to strike the God in the chest, right at the wound Noel had struck. It was close enough that Noel could feel the singeing heat and smell the magic in the air like tasting blood on his tongue.

There was a pained scream, and Noel scrambled to look back and see the once again healing shield struck open, the sparking sword dropped next to Hope’s feet and his tactician standing with a clenched fist in front of his chest, the powerful magic he had cast still clinging to his form and a grim expression on his face.

“No…” Noel couldn’t hear his own utterance, words jumbled up together as he struggled harder to stand. “No, no, no, no—”

“We did it your way.” Hope told him, jaw tight. “Mine is just back-up. Good thing we had that plan B.”

There was another pained scream behind him, and a screeching. “How dare you! How dare you!”

“Noel.” And he had to tear his eyes away from the slowly spreading wound across Hope’s chest, an exact mirror of the one he had struck on the God, looking up slowly, slowly, to see Hope smiling at him. His tactician didn’t look like he was in pain, his gaze fond. “We’ll meet again. I promise.”

If the bond is strong enough…

There was still too much he had to say yet, things he planned on spacing out through the years and questions Noel wanted to ask. There was so much he had yet to say—

Stay with me!

The world flashed a brilliant white, and when Noel opened his eyes again, the room was empty.

He was the only one left in the large room, bruised and battered with the weight on his person finally gone and his sword still embedded into a wall on the other side of the room. There was nothing left that might have hinted at anyone else having been there except for the simple steel sword that lie where Hope had stood just moments ago; the Hope he knew, the one who stayed with him and had dealt the final blow to Bhunivelze.

Nothing but an empty room.

As if on cue, the large doors to the throne room burst open to admit Serah, bow and arrow out at the ready just waiting for her to aim and fire. Noel barely took notice of her torn and blood splattered clothing, of the way she shouted in alarm and raced to him, dropping to her knees heavily and her bow clanging to the floor as she tried to catch his attention.

For a long, long moment that felt like all of eternity, all Noel could see was the simple steel sword, now devoid of all magic, clattered onto the ground with no one left to claim it.

And then the rest of the world started to filter through his senses.

“—happened? Noel!”

She was shaking at his shoulder, in turns gentle and then desperate, and Noel turned his gaze toward Serah, only now noting just how pale she looked, how tired and drawn she was with dark smudges under her eyes and her lips near bloodless pale with how tense her jaw was.

He tried to think about it and respond, but found his words stuck in his throat. Did he tell her that they succeeded? That the world was now safe and even the future generations a thousand years from now would be safe from Bhunivelze’s wrath? His mouth felt so dry.

There was a clatter of armored footfalls running into the room, the ringing so loud echoed against the stone walls and high ceilings. Lightning had arrived as well, although her expression was grim as she took in the scene.

“We’re winning.” She told the two of them there on the ground, sword lowered at her side. Her eyes met Noel’s, and he looked away at the sympathy and understanding he found there. “The others are clearing out the rest of the forces outside. The fell beasts have fallen, and the tide is turning to our favor. The war is won.”

“Then…” Serah sounded hopeful. “It’s over? Bhunivelze is gone?”

Noel didn’t respond, and it was Lightning who managed a brief nod for her sister.

Serah sat back on her heels, looking dazed. “It’s over…”

It didn’t occur to her until a moment later when she frowned and asked, “Where’s Hope?”

Lightning was the one who didn’t respond this time, and Noel curled his hands into fists before pushing himself to stand and ignoring the aches and pains that were incurred during the last fight. It was nothing life threatening, and a pain he was more than willing to trade for the sudden emptiness in his heart. His legs trembled underneath him, although there was no good reason as to why now that the battle was over.

“He’s gone.” Lightning said, voice far too flat to be natural.

The words were false in his head, despite the truth before his eyes. Something about the statement wasn’t just— too hard to accept, but actually rang false to him. It wasn’t true. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it, but he just couldn’t believe it.

I need you to believe in me.

He stumbled over to the simple steel sword, entirely unadorned and unbefitting of someone in Hope’s renown position. Or at least, it would be unbefitting if he hadn’t still been learning with it. Noel leaned to pick up the sword, feeling the smooth grip and light weight against his palm. It was little more than a practice sword still. After all, Hope’s strengths had always lain with magic and strategy, not close combat and blades.

He would still need to retrieve the divine sword. What power was bestowed by Etro still resided within the blade, and could possibly be given back or put to better use. It would be important.

Noel slipped the simple steel sword (no more than a regular sword given to anyone in the army) into a loop on his belt, and straightened up. He turned to face the two sisters, who were both watching him carefully, although Serah looked devastated and was eying him wearily as if she were expecting him to snap at any moment.

Right now, all he wanted— he wanted…

It wouldn’t take long for the final bits of fighting to be over, and Noel planned to spend the rest of the day holding on to his daughter.

“Hope ensured that this will never happen again.” Noel told them, feeling as if he were speaking from far away. His hand tightened on the grip of the steel sword, too light and too unadorned. “But he’s not gone. I believe in him. He’ll be back.”

Three years ago, he had been out hunting with his sister when they found someone passed out on the grass under the sun in a wide open field. Yeul had insisted that the two of them help him, and Noel hadn’t the heart to ever refuse his sister. Not that he would have walked away when someone needed help, but… It was one of the best decisions he had ever made, to stop and help the disoriented young man that day, the very same man who later helped him take down bandits and eventually planned the way his battles would go.

Until Hope returned, Noel would keep his sword for him. Because he still needed practice, with the way the white-haired man still swung too wildly and heavily.

Lightning’s expression had smoothed out under the streaks of ash and blood smeared over her skin, and she gave something as close to a smile as she ever directed at him.

“You’re right.” Serah was smiling as well, albeit tearily. She stood, picking up her bow. “He wouldn’t dare miss my wedding.”

Noel could hear a resounding cheer from outside the large throne room, where a great number of soldiers were finally defeating the last of the enemy. This was the last battle they would have to fight if he had any say about it. After this, everyone would return to their families and go on with their lives, safe in the knowledge that their world wouldn’t suddenly be torn out from under them.

Until the day Hope returned, Noel would keep this world safe. And in the meanwhile, he would have to the time to sort out all those questions and words unspoken in his mind so that when the other man did come back… Noel would be ready.

There was no way Bhunivelze could have taken Hope from them for long. Even a God didn’t have that kind of power.

“Okay.” Noel breathed out, mostly to himself. He nodded in affirmation. “Let’s let everyone know the war’s over.”

The sky would still be blue outside, and Noel would wait for that perfect moment.