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Azem's crystal felt hot in her hands as she clutched it and prayed. Maya could sense more than see the pillars of light blooming around her, evidence of her own summoning coming to fruition. Elidibus shouted something to her, but she turned and took in the heroes her heart had whispered into being. As she had hoped, the Gyome from another world had arrived, once again coming to her aid.
A flicker of recognition played across his face as he caught her staring. She gave a toothy grin and waved him forward. As he passed her, unsheathing his sword, she nudged his arm.
"Let's finish this, friend."
Elidibus gave the Lalafell no time to respond to her words. The creature, imbued with light, raised his sword and dashed towards them.
All they could do was fight.
-----
Being dead was nice, all things considered. No other voice in his consciousness aside from his own and even that was becoming rarer to hear. Zodiark’s whispers had been purged from his spirit. He had been able to rest and flow along with the rest of the lifestream. Billions of lives coalescing into a river of warm existence. To be a part of that mass of aether was to be unalone. So he lost himself to it. At first there had been a reason, but he could not recall. As he allowed himself to be formless, all he knew was fluidity.
There was comfort in the unchanging. Less to focus on, more time to sleep. The sleep had been divine. To truly turn off every sense was a luxury. He had simply let go without a care for where he might end up. What would it matter? In the end, he would still be dead either way.
Time was of little import. How long he had been there or how long he would remain were meaningless questions. Like the aether he mingled with, past, present, and future were one and the same. Still, in his addled half-senses, he could comprehend that something was interrupting his current wading.
A flicker of recognition swam through the crowd of aether, but dissipated as quickly as it came. It soaked through him as well, pulling him, but exiting his being as swiftly as it appeared. What was it?
It was meaningless to wonder. Right as he was about to drift away again, something pierced through the darkness.
A bright blue light.
He wanted to flee from it, too harsh and hot. A hum filled the space between. He suddenly was aware of a new sensation. Something new - no, familiar . It would be so easy to slip back into the stream, to ignore the feeling creeping through him, but it was strong.
Curiosity.
The light was pulling him in and he made no effort to avoid it. What was it? What would happen? He slipped closer and closer, the light filling his senses.
Suddenly, it became a single shape. A hand. Before he could think, a sound interrupted him. A voice.
"Emet...Selch…?"
Familiar...So very familiar. Whatever the voice was saying felt like it was important. Regardless of that, the aether in the outstretched hand was exceedingly beautiful. The raw power and unfettered energy threatened to swallow him up. Had there ever been a being as lovely as this?
“Emet-Selch…!”
Oh, the tone of the voice had changed to one of...recognition? He could feel the waves of emotion pulsing through the light. There was a strong twinge of sorrow that stirred something in his aether. A desire - another new feeling - to soothe overcame him. The ghostly hand groped around. He drew closer. More of the form came into focus. A slender arm, a bare shoulder, white hair…
Suddenly, the hand surged forward. It clenched at his aether and seemed to force him to knit himself into physicality. He tried to resist, but the pull was far too strong. The fingers were tugging at what looked like black cloth, dragging him closer. Perhaps he should not have strayed so near-
“ Hades! ”
…
Oh.
All at once his sense of self returned to him. All at once he came into being. All his memories, all his emotions, all this need for-
“Persephone?”
A face came into view. Oh, she was as breathtakingly gorgeous as the day he left her. A smug satisfaction crashed through him seeing her with one of his golden eyes, staring at him in wonder. It seemed she was looking over his appearance as well. Her hand drifted up to tug playfully on his bangs.
"White hair suits you," she whispered.
He brought a hand up to touch her face and she leaned into it. His soul sang in delight. How could he have forgotten this? Forgotten her? To be reunited so soon with his beloved was a blessing.
But it was much too soon.
“What are you doing here?”
"Elidibus," she hissed. "He's become a Warrior of Light. He cast us out here into the void."
Bringing her into an embrace, he suddenly was aware of seven other forms close at hand. All of their aether was incredibly powerful, but alien. Another batch of otherworldly heroes brought to the First to prevent calamity. Hades became acutely aware of their wavering aether. Looking down at the Miqo'te in his arms, he could see her form losing clarity at the edges. There was a rising panic in her spirit that he could tell she was trying to shove back down.
"Please...send us back, Hades. I must stop him!"
In the face of seeing her again, holding her again, the request dumbfounded him. Greed shot through him. He clasped her to his chest roughly, a hand at her back and the other twisted into her hair.
"I will send back the others, but I'm keeping you," he rasped.
"Maya!" one of the forms called out, a Lalafell man with his face twisted in fear. Maya wriggled in Hades's grip.
"I need to go back!"
"There are plenty of other heroes here to kill him, you can stay here."
"I will never forgive you!"
"You've forgiven me for worse!"
They were both shuddering, clinging to the other. He could feel her slowly starting to disperse into aether, but it would be an easy thing to call her to his side once that was done. Eternal bliss was within their grasp, together without fear. They deserved happiness. They deserved rest. He would have her!
His resolve wavered when she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Hades, please…"
There were too many emotions all at once after so long without them. He could not control his anger.
"Why must it always be you?!" Hades bellowed. His hands were tightening ever harder on her. "You are always the one who has to go and do it all! Save the world! Who is saving you?! "
He was spitting back all the private conversations and worries she had ever shared with him. It was clear the words were coming from somewhere deep within him, too. Maya was sure Hades had said all this before, time and again, to her in her many lifetimes. The deep well of her true self’s soul, that age old “Persephone” that was a part of her, ached for him. Even so…
“If the only one who can save me is me, so be it,” Maya managed to say. “I don’t know why I was chosen. I don’t know why it has to be me, but it is and I cannot forsake it. Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I wish I had died instead of so many other people who went to the grave for my sake, doing things I could not do. But I am alive and if I can make this star and every star it touches better for it, I will do what I must .”
Hades’s gaze remained hard, but she could see the resignation slipping into his frame. He had been so patient for millennia and all she could do was ask him to wait once more. It was not fair, she knew, but she also knew there was nothing she could do. Not yet. Instead, she kissed him, firm and tender and true. It seemed to surprise him, much like it did the day he died, but the familiar rhythm of her mouth on his soothed him where her words could not. When she pulled away, he had finally relaxed his hold on her.
“I love you, Hades,” she whispered through shaky breaths. “Just because I’m asking you to send me away doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. You and I have both only ever wanted to save our world. Let me go and do that for us.” As one final push, she tried to smile at him. She could feel herself fading faster and she needed him to decide. “Who will remember you if I do not live?”
Her words soaked into him. He could almost taste the truth to them and he hated it. Hated how good she was, far better than him. If there was even an onze of doubt in her heart, he would have held her until she was but a cloud of beautiful aether. Unfortunately for him, she was steadfast. Resolute.
“Godsdamn it all,” Hades breathed, but with the devotion of a man long possessed. He indulged in one last kiss, hungrier than hers. “Do not come back so soon, but please...do not make me wait long, hero.”
Maya beamed.
“Do not make me call out for you more than once when I return.”