#yeeeeeahhhhhhh

“You’re not there,” he said to no one. It was simply himself and empty space. Anything more was surely a trick on his mind; just some kind of effect from being cooped up here for so long.

They did not listen, however, and continued to play their little tricks. He could have sworn he kept seeing a flash of rose-colored hair over and over.

But surely his mind wouldn’t be that cruel.

“Lightning,” he murmured, daring the name to pass his lips after all these centuries. “How long has it been? I thought you’d return to us. I was sure Noel and Serah would bring you back to me.”

The figures grew a little more solid, perhaps because he was speaking out loud. Maybe they responded to his voice. Perhaps it was the Chaos, or maybe it was just all in his head.

Probably the latter.

“That’s all I wanted, Light.” His voice was trembling. “I just wanted all of us to be happy. That was the future we all envisioned. What changed? Why…”

Hope fell to his knees in the middle of a long, white hallway, squeezing his eyes shut as though that would keep the visions away. But they continued to trickle in through the depths of his mind and the cracks in his heart.

“Please,” he whispered desperately, but that wasn’t enough to stop it. Before he even opened his eyes, he knew she was there - he could feel her, trying to soothe him and lead him to salvation.

Except, of course, there was no true salvation for him.

Not anymore.

“Don’t do this,” he all but begged, but the phantom’s curse was already distracting him with her promises. They would be happy. In fact, they already were. Her lips and hands traced his skin as though they had many times before, though he was quite sure she’d never touched him like that.

Or had she?

It was difficult to believe anything else other than what she was telling him. She wasn’t speaking in any language an outside could understand, yet every word felt like a dangerous spell only he could fall for.

Every time he opened his eyes, she was there - but it was never really her; the phantom was missing the spark he’d loved for all these centuries. In fact, this….this fake was nothing but a pale imitation.

But he could not help but follow and believe, even though he knew it was all a lie.

She would save him. She would save them all, even if he was too pathetic to save himself. Which was why, she murmured, that he needed to leave it up to god.

Yes. Perhaps that was the answer.

Hope knew he was in shambles. The rose-haired phantom had taken him; mind, body, and heart. As he fell into a darkness blacker than Chaos, he realized that this had all been god’s will.