1 Prologue: Endwalker

[BGM: Endwalker - Footfalls]

"The Final Days were upon us.

The fabric of the star had begun to fray.

Its lands wrent by tooth and claw.

As the chaos spread, the stars seemed doomed to unravel.

And yet, there were those who stood in defiance of that fate.

Past the far edge of fate…rings blade dark and light…

Telling the coming of the end."

- From the excerpts of Urianger Augurelt's "End of the Path"

.....

Two beings stand against another, here in the edge of all creation.

One was he who is known as the Warrior of Light, Hero of Eorzea, Eikon Slayer, Slayer of Gods, Khagan of the Azim Steppe, Bringer of Light, Liberator, the Warrior of Darkness, Hydaelyn's Chosen, and in the long-forgotten past that has since faded into obscurity before the present, the holder of the forgotten office of the 14th Seat of Amaurot's Convocation of Fourteen, Azem, for he was the Shepherd to the Stars in the Dark, the one who wanders the world as the sole representative of the Convocation of Fourteen in the ages of yore. His name be Josua Kurenai, originally Shugo Kurenai, hailed as the fourth son of the Kurenai Clan, one of the Nobility from the isolated nation of the Far East, Hingashi.

The other, he who was one of the Harbingers of the End, Viceroy of Doma and Ala Mhigo, Commander of the XIIth Imperial Legion, Resonant Bearer, and the traitor Crown Prince of Garlemald, who destroyed his own nation by committing patricide-regicide against the Emperor of Garlemald. His name be Zenos viator Galvus, bearing the name viator for his role in the destruction of Garlemald and the murder of his own father, the Emperor Varis zos Galvus.

The sunrise being the only witness to this historic clash.

But ere we proceed with the present, let us turn back time. A step back, if you will, and give you all the story so far.

[BGM Pause]

.....

Initially, stopping Fandaniel was the objective of the Scions and the Warrior of Light. Going to Old Sharlayan was but one step in the direction, for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn knew of the severity of the threat, and the initial rebuke of the scholar nation was baffling to many in the rest of the world.

But as the journey progressed on, it swelled and became much more difficult to accomplish. Secrets held by the Forum, the leadership of Sharlayan, did naught but baffle the Scions, as they were essentially on tight ropes, following the investigation into the Forum's activities. With this, the Scions had to switch gears and look for other leads. This would take them to Thavnair, home of the famous native alchemy that greatly differs from their counterparts in Thanalan. It was here the means to combat primal corruption: warding scales. 'Twas an enchanted talisman of sorts, made with the dragonscale from supposedly the dragon ally of the nation.

What follows next was, suffice it to say, a mixture of myriad of events, all due to the sundered Ascian's meddling. Coupled with the deployment of the Ilsabard Contigent into Garlemald to confront the Ascian, 'twas not easy to say the least. Dealing with the surviving populace in the region was no trifling matter, not to say of having to deal with the remnants of the 1st Legion there, even though they did come around in the end. Still, 'twas no small feat to reach such a state.

This was not to mention the troubles that Fandaniel had caused. Given his craftiness in the art of escape, not to mention the sheer cunningness and madness the Ascian possessed, 'twas not easy contending such a foe. This was not to mention of the fact that the mad sundered Ascian managed to take control of Zodiark for himself. For being sundered, Zodiark was by no means a simple primal. He is, after all, the eldest and most powerful of primals, save for Hydaelyn being His only equal, if barely at that. Meanwhile, his erstwhile collaborator, Zenos, only stood and watch, as his prey faced off against the mighty Zodiark. The man couldn't care less of the Ascian.

Defeating the Fandaniel-possessed Zodiark, it was about to be sealed when Fandaniel instead killed Zodiark (ergo he killed himself). This shocked the Warrior of Light, as it would resume the Final Days once more. In an ironic twist of fate, the savior of the old world had been eliminated by one of the people that helped in its creation. He watched in horror as the Primal's aether spills forth into the Sea of Stars, signaling the beginning of the end once mor. Zenos then would make himself known to the hero, and reminding him that if Zodiark would not suffice to earn his ire, then perhaps pure, unadulterated despair would do.

Thus, did the Final Days dawn upon the world once more. But like all things in life, there's a twist.

In the wake of it all, it was revealed that Hydaelyn had foreseen of this possibility, and ensured that the star's inhabitants will not perish, by means of star travel, with the moon as the vessel. Indeed, the moon was not only the prison of Zodiark, but 'twas also the vessel that will ferry as many people as it could to the relative safety of a new star, that would be selected at a later point in time. As for the crew, it is crewed by Hydaelyn's creations, the Loporrits, a bunny-like beastman race.

But of course, the Scions and Kurenai would not have it. Why simply give up and flee? The star is their home, and fleeing would be a last resort. And 'twas with this resolve they braved themselves, as the Final Days shows it's rear at the region of Thavnair. Unlike the original Final Days, however, 'twas not their magicks that were bent into manifesting abominations. Nay, 'twas much, much worse. People themselves began to turn into these abominations. Twisted beyond any recognition, these beasts would in turn either consume any survivors or convert others into becoming abominations as well, through the very emotion of despair and/or extreme negative emotions in general.

A grieving mother would turn into a giant Terminus beast as Kurenai would call it, and wreak havoc amongst the populace. 'Twas of nightmarish proportions, and not even the satrap of Radz-at-Han, Ahewaan, was spared of the terror. Though, it should be said in context that the satrap defended a father who saw his son turned into one of those Terminus beasts, and in the process perished as the beast quite literally swallowed him hole. This was all while the skies above Thavnair burned, with fire raining down from the skies. In the end, though, thanks to the efforts of the Warrior of Light and his fellow Scions, they've managed to stop the terror from fermenting further, thus halting Thavnair's doom for the time being.

The Scions labored for answers, trying to find the source of the whole matter. But 'twas decided that the Warrior of Light would attempt to search from another angle, by asking one of the few people that may hold the answers: Elidibus, the primal and former Emissary of Amaurot's Convocation of Fourteen. Since he's still in the First, or rather, within the Crystal Tower at the First to be precise, only the Warrior of Light may journey there. Meeting Ryne there was of joy to him, since the lass was worried, from what he heard of from Lyna. After explaining the reason for his visit to her and then meeting more acquaintances near the Cabinet of Curiosity while in wait, he finally went up the tower and into the Ocular, wherein he entered G'raha's old room, the Umbilicus.

Using the spirit vessel the former Exarch lent, he activated the console within the room and began his brief consultation with the sealed former Emissary. Pointing towards the past, where the answers may be found, Elidibus would cast the magick at the cost of his remaining essence, and allows for a portal to hurtle Kurenai into the distant past, alongside with the brief warning of the state Kurenai might find himself in and of the consequences that might occur if a split in the timeline occurred and 'twas beyond reproach.

With that, Kurenai journeyed into the period long-since forgotten, the unsundered world. To be precise, 'twas where Elidibus said he'd find the lead, a place called Elpis. 'Twas a facility for the evaluation of creations of the ancients, and the lead he must needs find being Hermes, or ironically, Fandaniel, since the former Emissary revealed that Fandaniel was the one who found the phenomena preceding the Final Days and devising the countermeasure against it. On arrival, however, after a bit of time, and no small amount of frustration due to him unable to interact with anything there, he met two rather familiar people. Of whom, like the others there, were at least three times as large as Kurenai was at the moment.

Of course, 'twas none other than Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch (or Hades). Being these two having the ability to see souls, they were able to spot the supposedly-ethereal Kurenai. At his companion's insistence, Emet would augment Kurenai's aether and adjust the hero's size, albeit reluctantly. Revealing his purpose of being there, the two ancients were surprised that they were wanting to seek the same man, with Hythlodaeus offering to be the guide, while Emet was not enthusiastic about the matter, given Shugo's reluctance to explain of his origins. Said reluctance was due to the warning Elidibus gave him, in that he could not interact with anything there. However, Hythlodaeus came up with quite the excuse, should people ask of Shugo: he's Azem's familiar.

Ironically, the very reason he was even noticed by the two was due to him being the current incarnation of Azem after the sundering, as in his soul is only 9th out of 14 at the time and that soul originally was Azem, thus possessing Azem's soul, albeit yet to be whole still.

Hythlodaeus would then lead them outside, and Shugo was greeted with an impossibly beautiful sight. The entire facility, the very reason he came to this time period... The testing grounds of creation at heavens' edge: Elpis. Thus began Shugo's journey in the past, attempting to find answers within this place. Little did he know, however, another two would notice his presence.

Before the group proceeded farther into the facility, Hythlodaeus had Shugo gather some Petalouda, or butterflies for a grossly-simplified categorization, from the two species available nearby. Due to his weaker aetheric nature when compared to the ancients, Shugo had to strong-arm the Petalouda before subsequently capturing them, and bringing them to Hythlodaeus. The man then fashioned a robe that most ancients wore as a means of disguise, since Shugo's outfit was simply too eye-catching. After glamouring his armor, he was robed in the Sophist clothing made by Hythlodaeus and was camouflaged enough not to have others at the facility to question him.

After proceeding further, the group arrived at the first facility near Propylaion called Anagnorisis. They would ask one of the available staff members of Hermes' location, and be pointed towards one of the ponds, since the man in question was supposedly conducting observations. Splitting up to find the elusive overseer, he found Hermes looking after some axolotl, or as they call it in this time period, the ambystoma. Accompanying the man was a bird-like girl, whose feathers and hair color was blue, even applying to her clothing as well. After conversing with said girl, whose name is Meteion, they got into a mishap involving one of the ambystoma running away, and apparently was on a tree, which also caused quite the trouble for the chief overseer, to the point that he got himself tangled on the tree, much to his chagrin, and to the amusement of Shugo and Meteion.

When said mishap was taken cared of, he helped around the facility's many staff members, his façade as Azem's familiar was believable enough for them to accept. After that, it was time for Hermes and Emet-Selch to discuss the reason for his presence: Hermes was invited to take over the Seat of Fandaniel, since the previous one has stated their intention to step down from their post and "return to the aetherial sea". The meeting was held within one of the buildings within the facility known as The Twelve Wonders, some distance away at the southwest of Anagnorisis.

In essence, returning to the aetherial sea meant that the person chooses to die, since the Ancients were ageless and they never had any violent conflict within their history, thus being the sole way to achieve "death" in a sense, making it quite the honor to do so, because those that chose to do that usually have fulfilled their supposed purpose in life. This was the reason why Hermes was rather hesitant to accept the offer, since it would be akin to signing the previous Fandaniel's, who was the previous Chief Overseer, death warrant.

This topic however upsets Meteion, and Hermes had Shugo bring her outside to keep her from getting even sadder. While walking around with Meteion and helping the staff members present, she would try to find some flowers to help cheer up Hermes. While looking around, she would reveal that she could feel the emotions of others, and interact with others through feelings (or a form of telepathy). It was also revealed that she had yet to form her own moral compass or her own personality. Though, it was clear that she cares for Hermes.

Failing in finding one that suits her creator and master, Meteion was at a loss before Shugo spotted a patch of Elpis flowers. Deciding it was the perfect fit, she was now calm enough to return back to the meeting place. After that, they would observe Hermes doing his work, while Meteion would later bring the group to the aforementioned Elpis flower patch. Showing how it could be influenced by emotions, Hermes would then remark that the flower was influenced by an energy known as Dynamis, which was different than Aether. Hermes also revealed that Meteion could draw upon Dynamis as her primary source, explaining her susceptibility to other's emotions.

After that, they went on to observe Hermes' work, which also involved Emet-Selch since one of the duties required his help while in the meantime, Hythlodaeus would spare the tale of how Emet-Selch came to join the Convocation, and how Azem had influenced the man in his ways, causing him to also be lauded amongst the populace for being generous and helpful, despite being rather dour to everyone, even to both Azem and Hythlodaeus.

Following another round of observing Hermes' work, Shugo was baffled by his observation so far on Hermes. The man simply wasn't the kind to cause the Final Days, very unlike his modern incarnation, Amon. After that, the original trio would separate from Hermes and Meteion, leaving them to finish their work for the time being. They would then travel to the next island, towards the facility known as Poieten Oikos.

During the journey there, however, they met Venat. Greeting her former coworker and his colleague, she would then look upon Shugo. She then recognized the Blessing of Light within him, identifying her handywork. And, fortunately or not, she would deduce of his nature, being a time traveler from the future, much to the surprise of Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch, of which the latter was not very happy about it. Bidding them to join her at her temporary abode within the facility, the group would travel there. It was also revealed that Venat was the previous holder of the Seat of Azem, before the current one took to office.

Once arriving, the trio ancients would bid Shugo to tell his tale. With a hot cup of tea served for each of them, they would began to listen to his story. Frankly, Shugo was conflicted on whether he should tell them or not. But given that Venat, or Hydaelyn as she would later become, had already outed his nature, there was no other choice. Forcing himself to break whatever warning Elidibus had said to him before, he began his tale of the Final Days. Of how it afflicted the world, the summoning of Zodiark, the Sundering... And of course, of what became of the trio ancients: Emet-Selch reconstituting the souls of the dead to fill his recreation of Amaurot in the First, Hythlodaeus' shade giving the Azem crystal and calling him his new old friend, Venat becoming Hydaelyn...

After that, the group only discussed for a few moments before Emet-Selch stormed out of the building, unable to believe of what he became in the future, of what he did. The very notion of sacrificing half of the world's population to summon Zodiark, not to mention more to restore the world, abhorred him. The last straw was him reconstructing Amaurot and the dead within it, which utterly offended him. Hythlodaeus would go after the disturbed ancient, leaving Shugo and Venat alone. Because of this, Venat would propose that the two remaining would continue the investigation, pertaining to how Hermes and Meteion are connected to the Final Days.

Helping around the facility while asking relevant questions, Venat and Shugo would come to find that Hermes had released Meteion's sisters to space from a small island nearby. During the duration of their investigation, Venat would ask him of the adventures Shugo had. Listening to the many things he had experienced over the course of of his journey so far, she laughed and relished at the many joys and silliness that occurred, while acknowledging and taking in the sorrows he had to experience at the same time. At the end of it all, she asked if the journey was worth it. Before he could give her his answer, however, they had to continue their investigation as the person they waited for had arrived.

Following the lead, they'd travel to the small island, with the help of Argos as their mount, where Hermes had supposedly launched Meteion's sisters into space. This also answered on why Argos in the future was more than willing to help Shugo when he encountered it for the first time. It was here that Venat helped Shugo in utilizing the Echo in a different manner to view memories: by using the aether in the local area and viewing their memories, unlike the normal way in which it's spontaneous and only to another person. By viewing into the memories of the island, they saw Hermes sending off Meteion's sisters into space, in search of other life for the sake of seeing how other societies are and answering if there was a meaning to life.

Later on, they met with Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch, with the latter calming down after his outburst from earlier. Discussing on what they should do next, they eventually agreed that it may be best to bring in Hermes as well to the fold. Thus they went towards the man in question, and brought all of the facts to the table for the overseer to digest himself. Spending some time, Hermes would then deduce that the reason for the occurrence of the Final Days, both first and second, from the description he heard, was indeed caused by Dynamis. But as to why and what was the source of the two apocalyptic event still eluded him. He reasoned that given the influence of emotion on Dynamis, it stands to reason that it must not have come from the citizens of Etheirys, but rather an outside influence.

In the midst of the brainstorming, however, Meteion began to act weird, as her sisters contacted her and bombarded Meteion with the negative emotions the hivemind felt after completing their task, overwhelming the avian girl. She then ran away from the group, begging for them to stay away from her. This caused the group instead to chase after her. Following two attempts in cornering her, they succeeded in the third attempt. However, the hivemind superseded her individuality, taking over her body as they gave the report to task Hermes gave to them. Much to the horror of Hermes, the reports painted many of the designated planets to be devoid of life, either because of conflict or other causes that led to the extinction of life there. It was at that point that Emet-Selch pointed out that Hermes had gave them a flawed question to seek answers for, reasoning that if they couldn't find a planet with life on it, they'd deem life isn't worth living, and this was on top of the planet still quenched in massive negative emotions due to Dynamis. Then, he proposed that they use Meteion to bring back her sisters to Etheirys so that they may dispose of them. However, Hermes denied the request, stating he wished to hear the full report first, before whisking the entelechy away to Ktisis Hyperborea, a facility located on the next island.

This act forced the group of four to pursue Hermes towards the facility. Fighting through the numerous creatures within the facility that has been released by Hermes (and the staff within vacated due to the false alarm Hermes activated), the group would arrive at the top level of the facility and confronted Hermes. It was a tempestuous battle, but in the end, the group prevailed over the chief overseer. Meteion would then step forward, being silent until the battle had ended. She began monologuing the numerous amount of races she encountered, and of their anguished desperation, before declaring her intent to relieve all life of the burden of existence. Hermes would, after binding Shugo and the trio ancients with aetherical chains, declare Meteion's ultimatum as a challenge to prove mankind's worthiness. In seeking to do so, however, he summoned Kairos and plans to wipe the memories of everyone who was present of the memories of the past week, starting from Shugo's arrival onto Elpis up to this point.

Before the process begins, however, Hermes bid Meteion to escape, and whilst she does so, Venat would break her shackles and give chase to the entelechy into the sky. Likewise freed of his bonds, both Shugo and Hythlodaeus distracts Hermes while Emet-Selch tears a hole in the spatial confluence to afford Shugo an escape route. Venat returned just in time to have Argos bear Shugo through the portal and evade the effects of the Kairos' memory alteration. Hythlodaeus and Emet-Selch were not so fortunate. The overseer and the two ancients would only recall upon the memories of the past week, and of Shugo, once they've died.

After ensuring that things were going as it were with the three ancients back at Ktisis Hyperboreas, Venat would escort Shugo back to the Propylaion, with the two making a promise of doing what they can to safeguard their respective futures however they can. As Shugo bid her farewell, and the doors of the Propylaion closed, he traversed once more through the familiar stream of memories. However, he then chanced upon the memories of Hydaelyn, after their separation. In the end, the Final Days still occurred for the ancients, and how history played its course as it should, much to Shugo's sadness. The sacrifice she made to help him in the future... It was something that has been in the making for twelve millennias. He couldn't help but grimace at the passage of history unfolding in front of him. But seeing Venat's determination, inspired by his tales, reaffirmed him that he could only move forward, regardless of what had transpired.

Once returning back to the present, he would go back to the Source and was informed of the emergence of the Final Days in Garlemald. There, he and the Scions, along with the Ilsabard Contigent and the remnants of Garlemald's 1st Legion, would contend with the blasphemies, as they'd call the terminus beasts, as they attacked the convoy of civilians that were heading to the transportation gate within Garlemald that goes to the moon. After the battle ended, Forchenault would offer the Scions a ride back to Camp Broken Glass. Once back to relative safety, Alphinaud would broker a deal with his father, in which the Scions would stop interfering with the Forum's plans, in exchange for the Forum to explain everything about their sacred duty and plans.

Coinciding with the deal's acceptance, Urianger would arrive, bringing along some of the Loporrits with him that wished to come down to Etheirys to help and learn about the world. Then, the group would return to Sharlayan, with Shugo then briefing the Scions of what he had learned during his investigation in Elpis. The problem, however, is how to find Meteion and reaching her location. When they were still brainstorming about this, however, they were notified that the Forum had summoned them. Going into the chamber, they would listen to the Forum's explanations of their plans and sacred duty. However, they would learn of the issue regarding the ship that was supposed to ferry people to and from the moon: it did not meet the requirements set to ensure that the evacuation would proceed as planned. With this as a chance, Alphinaud stroke another deal with the Forum: the Scions would get to use the ship and meet Hydaelyn, in exchange for their help in resolving the issues with the ship's less-than-optimal performance. The Forum accepted the deal and had Forchenault take them to meet with the head engineer of the ship: Kokkol Dankkol. The Lalafell explained that he needs a very specific type of refined adamantite, which could be only found on Ragnarok-class internment hulks, famously used for the Allagan-made moon, Dalamud. Alphinaud would then call upon the allies of the Scions throughout the world to help secure and transport the necessary materials to Sharlayan.

While waiting for their allies to bring the materials over, the Scions would go around and help the local researchers in their subjects with various means. One of the most impactful ones was the introduction of the Loporrits, by Urianger, to the researchers that helped in brainstorming and solving the various problems they faced in optimizing the ship. Though it should be noted that the Elezen was made to meet with the two people he had been putting off from meeting despite being in Sharlayan in an unexpected way: Wilfsunn and Bloewyda, the parents of the late Moenbryda Wilfsunnwyn. This would eventually bring closure for both parties, following the unfortunate, but voluntary sacrifice of Moenbryda in dealing with Nabriales almost five years prior.

Some time later, the Scions received word that their allies had brought their requested materials, but in doing so alarmed those in Sharlayan that did not expect such an arrival. Mustered from Eorzea to the Far East, be it from the Eorzean Alliance to even smaller groups like the Sky Pirates and the Auspices, all of them gathered to answer the call of the Scions. This also served as a show of force, of the impact the Scions had to the rest of the world for the Sharlayans, shattering whatever negative belief they held of the group. Seeing this, Forchenault, who had been opposing the group from the start of their arrival in Sharlayan, finally gave his full support, and reasoning as to why he was so hellbent on opposing the Scions. A father will always be a father, as they say, but in the end, he finally realized that his children, Alisaie and Alphinaud, had grown up from being mere children into full-fledged adults.

Later, Forchenault invited the Scions to the Central Circuit, the most secretive location of the entire Labyrinthos. It was there they witnessed the ship the Forum had been laboring to improve. And also, it was there that the Elezen revealed to be where they housed the Aitiascope, a device constructed by the Sharlayans to observe the aetherial sea to replace the one they had to abandon in the Dravanian Hinterlands. Through the Aitiascope, the Scions would delve into the aetherial sea, encountering familiar faces, both friendly and foe. And in the end, they reached Hydaelyn, or as Shugo knew her, Venat. In the conversation with her, she answered the question as to why she built the moon ark: to give mankind another option, so they may choose to either flee or bring the fight to Meteion. Giving her their answer, Hydaelyn would give them a trial of measure in combat. Should they win, she will help them in a way to reach Meteion. But if it's the opposite, then they must flee, never to return.

After a lengthy, and frankly arduous combat, Shugo and the Scions emerged victorious. She expressed her approval, and gave them the crystal containing the logs of Meteion's travel through the universe. Not only that, she also presents the Mothercrystal as a means to help propel them towards Meteion's location, once it's confirmed. Later, she imbued the crystal of Azem that Shugo held with the power to weave the fabric of reality, but she warned him to use it wisely, as it was finite. With her work finished, Venat bids a teary farewell to Shugo and the Scions, and thus, the last of the Ancients had finally perished, returning to the aetherial sea.

Following this, the Scions took a brief respite, while waiting for the Loporrits to secure the coordinates of Meteion's location. After that, they departed from Etheirys with the Sharlayan-made starship Ragnarok, powered by the summoned Primals (minus the corrupting influence). However, just before they arrived at their destination, called Ultima Thule, they and the Loporrit crew were assaulted by Meteion, causing most of the crew to faint, but not before Shugo saw Thancred managing to stand upright and was about to bring down his gunblade. When they wake up later though, the man was nowhere to be found aboard. And to their surprise, they could land and even breath in Ultima Thule, since it was said that Ultima Thule was supposed to be an empty space in the void. Instead, there were patchworks of landmasses.

As the Scions explored the area, Meteion confronted them once more, explaining that it was through Thancred's sacrifice that they could even land there, let alone breath, and preventing Meteion and her sisters from unmaking the Scions in the literal sense. Through this, they deduced that they must confront the greatest form of despair within each area to be able to press onward to the final area. But this would require the sacrifice of their physical body, starting with Estinien becoming the wind in dealing with the leader of the remnants of the First Brood, followed by Y'shtola and Urianger with the Ea in restoring function to the inactive teleporter, then goes G'raha Tia with Stigma-1 (leader of the Omicrons) bringing about the crystal path towards the last area, and lastly, the twins Alphinaud and Alisaie with Meteion becoming a stairway of light. With each sacrifice, the more the burden weighted heavily on Shugo. His friends, his comrades... They all gave their all so he could keep going on.

Gazing upon the empty city, Shugo noticed the presence of another. The sorrow of a thousand thousand world weighed heavily on his shoulders. Yet, he kept walking on. Every step he took, it felt heavy for him. However, a reminder of those he met in his journey would echo their words unto him, encouraging his every step. Of those whose lives he had touched. He could even feel beyond the aether, the soul he had been fortunate to know of could also feel the weight of the steps. But both Shugo and him knows that they could only press onwards. For them. For all he holds dear. For those he lost, and those he can yet save. He must keep going onwards.

Arriving at the Absolute Horizon, Shugo encountered Meteion. She tried to convince him to give up, since there was no path towards the source of the despair for all of Ultima Thule, to where Meteion's sister resides, which was the dead star hovering above their heads. However, he sternly refused her. Giving up was not an option, not when he's this far. He won't forsake their cause. And so, he used the crystal of Azem, summoning Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus with the imbued power from Venat. The former was rather displeased with being summoned back from the aetherial sea, though the latter commented he didn't mind. Still, the two ancients would assist Shugo in blooming a field of Elpis flowers, showing Meteion that there is still hope, even in the place where only despair was supposed to exist, the universe still held hope. This would allow Meteion to break away from her sisters' hivemind and the despair they've gathered. Meanwhile, Emet-Selch would remind Shugo to summon back his Scion comrades, since they no longer need fight their fight. Using the imbued power once more, he summoned them back, giving them back their physical bodies, but with it, the last vestiges of the power imbued by Venat faded, and she gave him her parting words. With that, Shugo would then invite Meteion back, knowing that she's simply, in essence, a child, and that she thought that this was the best way. She then would beg him and the Scions to stop her sisters, to silence their song of oblivion.

The dead star above them would crack, and lower a portion of it, giving them the means to reach Meteion's sisters. Seeing that their role was done, Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus would bid them farewell and return back to the aetherial sea. Upon the saddened Shugo, Emet sighed and reminded him of the places he had yet been to, of the secrets still laying within even Eorzea. Essentially, he was making Shugo the successor to Azem by telling him to assume his duty. Then, and only then they returned to the aetherial sea, with Hythlodaeus remarking that he'd look forward to their reunion.

With them gone, it was up to Shugo and the Scions to follow Meteion in her wake, diving into the numerous visions of the civilizations that her sisters had encountered before. One was a world that was marred with muck, poison and sludge, due to their thirst for expansion throughout their planet. Another was a world where diseases were eradicated, yet would take the very life they saved, culminating in creating a flawed machine that would also eliminate them as well. The last was a world where there was no strife, but none remembered life's trials nor its joys. In the end, they reached the end and finally meet the Endsinger, the amalgamation of Meteion's sisters, the souls of the dead and the Dynamis they've generated. She overwhelmed the rest of the Scions, forcing Shugo to sending them away with the portable teleporter gifted before their departure to Ultima Thule in order to fight her alone. At least, that was until Zenos unexpectedly came, in the form of Shinryuu no less. The traitor prince said that he made a deal with Krile, in which he'd assist the Scions in exchange for the remnants of the Mothercrystal and Shugo's location.

Riding on dragonback, Shugo used the Crystal of Azem to summon his allies from the remaining shards in a showdown against the Endsinger. Very nearly they were defeated, but because of the prayers from the Scions aboard the Ragnarok, the Dynamis around the Warriors of Light would empower them, allowing them to defeat the Endsinger and end their song of oblivion.

Following the defeat of the Endsinger, Shugo would approach Meteion, and share the memories of his journey so far. In doing so, she came to the realization that the answer Hermes had been looking for had always been on Etheirys, and that there never was a single, correct answer. That life was worth living, even if 'twas fleeting. This would give rise to joy within her, inspiring her to sing a song of hope by using the powers of worlds lost to sorrow to bring life back to the universe, and that Hermes will one day see it and smile. She then would lead him back to the Ragnarok, but there was still one problem remaining.

Zenos still remains.

The prince would confront Shugo, and shared with him the revelations he found of himself after reflecting for some time. Treading on the precipice of life and death, such was the sole pleasure Zenos knew. Different to Shugo, who doesn't kill needlessly, valuing life, and will not risk his own unless it's for the right reasons, or so he says. Then he would claim that Shugo as well enjoyed the thrill of battle, treading on the precipice of life and death in facing ever mightier foes. In that Shugo seeks them for his own sake and none other, he claims.

In another life, he won't deny it. Because he does enjoy such fights, from time to time. But nay.

In yet another one, he could care less for Zenos or what he desires. But nay, not this time.

This time, he just wished to kill Zenos, for the sake of vengeance. Vengeance for Yotsuyu's suffering and corrupting her personality. Burning with a controlled, seething anger in his eyes, he would say the following quite spitefully: "I've had enough of you. It ends here."

"Hah! Finally mustered the desire to kill me, have you?" The prince chuckled in glee. "Go on, then. Try and strike me down in this forsaken place. I shall return the favor."

The traitor prince had a mad look on his face, savoring Shugo's anger, and proclaimed with the following: "Aye, let us indulge in the only worthwhile pursuit, and burn our lives to their ends!"

And from there, the two would prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.

.....

[Resume BGM: Endwalker - Footfalls]

Thus do we return back to the present.

Zenos drew his scythe from his back, swirling it upwards and then extends it in taunt, pointing towards Shugo before getting into his stance.

"Come, then!" The prince shouted, gleaming joy and killing intent in his eyes.

Shugo scowled for a moment, before drawing his blade, Murasame, from its sheath and readied himself in stance to fight the bastard. As Zenos' soul was set ablaze with passion, the place would come alive with Dynamis as Shugo's spirit burns in kind, shaped by the memories of his journey and exceeding his own limits.

"Hold nothing back!" Zenos declared. "Push yourself to your limit, and me to mine!"

The two dashed towards each other as they brought their weapons to bear. Bringing down their blades upon each other, scythe and sword clashed against one another.

BOOM! CLANG!

Their battle became a blur, as each of them unleashed all they have to offer. Shugo using multitudes of Samurai techniques, layers upon layers of techniques, collecting Setsu, Getsu and Ka before unleashing numerous Iaidos and even the hidden move known only to a few of the masters in Iaijutsu: Ogi Namikiri. But still, it's not enough to simply use them one time. Nay, this beast will not be slain simply with that. He must go beyond, pushing ever to his limits to reap the beast's life.

Zenos, meanwhile, noticeably used techniques that were not only known to Reapers, he also used skills that Shugo only saw used by Primals, or beings like Nidhogg. Akh Morn, Tidal Waves, Hellfire, Judgement Bolt... Mayhaps 'twas due to the prince gorging on the remaining Mothercrystal, and clearly it didn't just merely grant the man the ability to transform into Shinryuu. Their bodies became a blur as Shugo used his Echo to its fullest extent, foreseeing the attacks that Zenos would use on him and evading them, while also paying attention to the remaining lifeforce that the beast had.

Blitzing through the battlefield, their movements were nigh invisible to mere mortals, and only those who are of the same level as these two would be able to follow their movements. Each stroke, each step... None were wasted. Not much can be said, the author simply lacks the necessary vocabulary to explain the exact events during the battle.

'!' Shugo was alarmed as Zenos prepared to unleash Tidal Wave, a spell known to belong to Leviathan.

He immediately dashed towards near the wave's source, as on the opposite end of the source was five rows of Megaflare that were about to be casted once Tidal Wave comes into effect.

FWHOOOM!

Shugo got blown off by the wave, but nowhere near the radius of the Megaflare. Patches of water from the Tidal Wave spell remains.

"Is this truly the best Hydaelyn's Chosen can muster?" Zenos mockingly asked.

Shugo grits his teeth as he could feel the aether surging around Zenos. The man is about to cast Judgement Bolt, a spell known to be used by Ramuh, the Lord of Levin. He avoided the patches of water in order to lessen the damage he might suffer from the lightning spell.

Crackle... BOOM!

Thunder roared as the spell unleashed its potency, damaging Shugo as the lightning coursed through his body. Still, lesser than what it could be if he was standing in one of the patches of water.

'Just keep this up...' He chanted in his mind as he kept pressing on his attack.

'!' He was alarmed yet again, as he could feel Zenos was about to cast Hellfire, infamously known to be used by Ifrit, Lord of the Inferno.

He immediately positioned himself towards the nearest patch of water that would still allow him to attack Zenos. He remained within the patch as the spell was casted.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Fiery explosions bloomed across the area, vaporizing the water patches and burning the ground to char before subsiding. Being in one of the water patches, the damage to Shugo was less than it could've been. Still, it hurts like bleeding hell, yet he kept attacking the traitor prince.

"Show me your vaunted fortitude!" Zenos mockingly demands as he prepares to unleash Akh Morn.

Shugo continued to grit his teeth as he continued to blasting the man with everything he had, all the while preparing to endure the dragon spell's barrage.

BOOM!

Another set of Hakaze and Yukikaze descended on Zenos, but it did not faze the beast. Setsu achieved, yet...

BOOM!

Hakaze...

BOOM!

Shifu...

BOOM!

Kasha... Ka achieved.

BOOM!

Not enough. Hakaze!

BOOM!

'Now!' Shugo thought as he slammed Jinpu and Gekko onto the beast of a man.

Just as Shugo landed Gekko unto the man, the prince jumped back to the center of the battlefield and prepared to call forth his voidsent avatar to the battlefield.

"Soon you will know the full extent of my power." Zenos proclaimed as his avatar came into being from the World of Darkness.

Shugo's Echo would alarm him once more, when Zenos was about to use an extremely wide attack that spanned the whole battlefield. Sliding to the second row where the second wave of his attack would commence, and also avoiding the center of the field due to the avatar about to enact its move, he need only wait for a few moments before the Reaper unleashed the Star Beyond Stars skill, no doubt a development of his own making, given that Shugo didn't recognize the skill from the knowledge he got from his own Reaper Soul Crystal.

The blast waves of the first attack would engulf at least half of the battlefield when combined, though it didn't affect Shugo since he was on the path of of one of the second wave of blasts that was yet to be brought forth. He side-stepped to the area of the first blast now that it was cleared, and given that he wasn't near the center, he was not affected by the attack from the avatar, thus making the second wave of blast irrelevant for himself.

"Mine for the taking!" Zenos shouted as he would then close in unto Shugo, and unleash a rapid multiple slashes in a conical form overall, which Shugo managed to avoid at the last second, before Zenos jumped back.

SHING SHING SHING SHING SHING!

He would pull another two more of such attack on the Warrior of Light and fail to land a single hit on the man on both counts. In the meantime, Shugo would bring his counterattack to bear. Hissatsu: Kaiten, followed by a Midare Setsugekka and Kaeshi: Setsugekka, cutting into the man with each slash.

SHUNG... CLING SHING! CLING SHING!

Zenos then brought back his avatar onto the center of the field, as it then began to cast a spell called Nine Nights, in which nine circle of the same size in radius would appear, starting from the center, then to the north and then clockwise until it has formed the total of nine circles, with its edges overlapping with each other. Shugo reacted by placing himself at the sixth circle, located at the south in direction, planning to go for the first circle, which is at the center, after the spell was activated and it would impact each circle in an order. What he predicted came to fruition, as the first circle indeed exploded before going into the expected order, and thus, he went to the center of the battlefield making the spell's further attacks ineffective.

This was all the while he made another combo of Setsu, Getsu, and Ka of his Sen with the use of Meikyo Shisui and then of each Sen's corresponding skills. He was preparing to unleash another Midare Setsugekka, having readied Hissatsu: Kaiten, when Zenos would attempt to pull a fast one.

"A test of your reflexes!" Zenos proclaimed as he twirled his scythe, before jumping and unleashed Veil Unleashed, a skill most likely derived from Communio, Reaper skill known to be used by those few who have achieved high attainment in the field, where three aetheric scythe blades would emerge from the ground on the opponent and essentially trisecting them if hit.

Unfortunately for the prince, Shugo pulled back with Yaten, avoiding damage as he then sent Enpi after stopping. Zenos would then do another Veil Unleashed, and failed to hit again, before summoning the avatar back to the battlefield, and had it cast Mortal Coil, a wide attack with the area of effect being in the shape of a donut. At the same time, Zenos also casted Exaflare, a variant of spell known to be used by Bahamut, causing pillars of fire to emerge from the ground and it would move forward, with three on the right and two on the left of the battlefield as their starting position.

SWISH! SLASH SLASH SLASH!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Geh!" Shugo grunted as he placed himself just outside of the donut of Mortal Coil, while also being between the two pillars area of effect as they were about to make their appearance.

Pillars of fire rose as it moved forward, with the avatar casting Mortal Coil, causing windy gales in the donut area and no doubt numerous slashes that would prove fatal, even if he was empowered by Dynamis. As the pillars met at the middle of the battle field, Shugo would go to the back of one from the east and go around to evade the ones from the west. Zenos would then do another of those conical attack, and fail to hit Shugo again, before preparing to cast Diamond Dust, a spell known to be used by Saint Shiva, Lady of Frost that would freeze the entire battlefield, making it impossible to walk without it getting slippery.

As the ground became covered in thin ice, the avatar was summoned back at mid-south of the battlefield, preparing to utilize what seemed to be a gaze attack of some sorts called Dead Gaze, while Zenos would go to the center and prepares to unleash another Star Beyond Stars. Making sure that he himself was facing away from the avatar, Shugo carefully slides forward to the north, placing himself right where the empty area that would be one of the area of effect of the second wave blast.

Successfully avoiding both attacks, Shugo would continue his counterattack against Zenos, before the madman used another Veil Unleashed, only to fail again. The prince would bring back his avatar again, having it cast another Nine Nights. Following the pattern from earlier, Shugo easily evaded the attack from the avatar while dealing with Zenos in front of him. Continuing to rain down slashes upon Zenos, it was only a bit before the madman summoned his avatar yet again, only to have it instead use Star Beyond Stars instead of himself, preferring to go after Shugo for the moment.

The Warrior of Light could feel it. Zenos' Lifeforce is almost depleted. 'A few more...' Shugo thought.

Another conical attack by Zenos... It failed...

Summoning back his avatar, he'd have it cast Mortal Coil, while he himself casted Exaflare yet again. Shugo saw this attempt by Zenos and proceeded to commit the strategy from before. In essence, it's about to be a repeat. The senses within his mind still warned him of what might happen once Zenos' Lifeforce was down to zero, which was "It's not the end.".

Avoiding those two attacks, he kept going on and on with his combos, even managing to eke out another Ogi Namikiri, coupled with Shoha, Hissatsu: Shinten and Hissatsu: Kyuten. However, Zenos still had enough Lifeforce to bring back his avatar, have it use Dead Gaze, while he himself casted Diamond Dust before using Star Beyond Stars. Shugo still managed to evade the Dead Gaze, but he failed on one of the waves of Star Beyond Stars.

"Urk!" Shugo grits as he got hit by that wave of blast.

He could feel his own Lifeforce impacted by at least a third. But no matter. Zenos didn't have enough to stop Shugo from depleting the madman's Lifeforce, only able to eke out one more Veil Unleashed that was easily dodged and countered.

And then, he finally managed to down Zenos. Or so it seems...

.....

As Zenos dropped onto one knee, he was smiling from end to end.

"Ah, my soul...how it burns!" He exclaimed in ecstasy.

He then stood up and casted Tidal Wave, which was too fast for Shugo to respond. The Warrior of Light would get pushed to the edge of the battlefield and was forced on his knees.

"Guh!" Shugo grunted, on his knees.

Zenos would go to the center of the battlefield and summon his avatar. Raising one hand, he signaled it to prepare to Enshroud himself.

"I know you feel it, too. The swirling inferno swelling within you." Zenos proclaims as the avatar circled around the man, before merging with its host.

SWIRL... THOOM! SHWOOM SHWOOM!

Zenos would have another burst of aether coursing through his body, becoming powerful once more. His arm glowed red, and a cyclone of red-black aether swirled around him, no doubt due to the Enshroud effect of his avatar.

"Come! Let all creation be consumed by our ravenous fervor!" He proclaimed, as his eyes glowed red and he swung his scythe in motion.

Before Shugo could do anything as he just managed to stand up, the madman was upon him via Swift as Shadow, dealing damage to a third of his Lifeforce, and then using Thorns to lift him up and slash him multiple time in the air, depleting Shugo's Lifeforce with an attack at least more than twice his Lifeforce that he had at the start of the battle. Shugo dropped onto the ground, he could feel his Lifeforce only one step before his grave.

"Do not tell me your life's fire is already spent..." Zenos half-asking, half-mocking.

Shugo grinds his teeth, standing up even though he could feel the flame of his life was spent. He was not about to perish in this place, especially not to that bastard. He roared with vigor, as he could feel the Dynamis coursing through his body, nourishing his Lifeforce back to full strength. This only served to make the madman have a gleeful smile on his face.

"Yes, yes! Rise once more! It mustn't end yet!" Zenos yelled in maddening approval.

Before Zenos could charge in, Shugo switched to his Paladin job. Light shrouded him for a blink of an eye, before revealing the hero once more. Upon him were the Reverence armor set, courtesy of Tataru (to be precise, both his Samurai and Paladin equipment that he had just obtained prior to the Scion's departure to Ultima Thule was courtesy of Tataru, only minus the accessories. With Lightbringer on his right hand, and Hero's Shield on his left, he readied himself to face the beast once more.

"Ah, a change of discipline? I'm truly pleased to see your not a single-minded man!" Zenos exclaimed, almost mockingly.

Zenos would then begun casting another spell, Aetherial Ray, as his Echo warned him, just as he rushed in to the man with Intervene, slamming his shield that barely did anything to faze the enshrouded Reaper. Deciding against building up the normal way he would build the combination attack, he opted instead to use Requiescat and then Confiteor, along with the follow-up spells of it, Blade of Faith, Blade of Truth, and Blade of Valor.

CLICK! SHRRING!

The telltale crack from Requiescat could be heard as he landed Confiteor on the man before having to keep himself on the move, as the Aetherial Ray was unleashed on him.

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

Four columns of green energy beams coursed through the air in a straight manner as it spawned in a circle surrounding the entire battlefield. This made it hard for Shugo to defend himself, prompting him to instead soak the damage while casting the follow-up spells for Confiteor.

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

Blade of Faith.

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

Blade of Truth.

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

And lastly, Blade of Valor!

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

"Hurk!" Shugo held himself together, as that five barrage depleted half his Lifeforce.

Again, Zenos tried to get him off-guard with another Veil Unleashed, yet only to be easily avoided by Shugo. He then noticed Zenos was preparing to use another skill, something his Echo called as Swift As Shadow. The area of attack was literally a straight line, which for Shugo was easy to avoid. Side-stepping to Zenos' back, he barraged him with a flurry of attacks, finally having the chance to build his combination attack. However, just as he managed to land both Fast Blade and Riot Blade, the skill Zenos used activated and the prince rushed to the direction he was aiming for, which was completely the opposite of where Shugo is, thus missing his mark entirely. Though, this did prevent Shugo from completing his combination attack.

The Warrior of Light would then rush in with another Intervene, slamming his shield against the prince before finally using Goring Blade, causing the man to suffer a continuous damage. And to end that particular combination, Shugo used Circle of Scorn as the finisher of the entire set. He also noticed the nature of Swift As Shadow, which was a vertically bisecting upwards slash with his Scythe. Rather straightforward, but a bit slow in execution, even for Shugo.

Zenos would then begin to cast Candlewick. And as before, Shugo deliberately remained in the second circle from the epicenter, before moving in after the center had turned into a field of Void slashes when the spell was casted as the second circle he left behind would erupt with balls of explosions on the air within the circle. A flurry of Fast Blade, Riot Blade and Royal Authority landed upon the prince, before it was complimented with three jabs Atonement and lastly Expiacion. He could feel the aether he spent on casting the Confiteor combination being replenished, with the additional help owing to his already empowered Dynamis regeneration.

Failing to catch the Warrior of Light off-guard with another Veil Unleashed, Zenos would then unleash Exconcetravity, which was a further development of his previous skill, Concetravity, which would send out a massive pulse of energy blast that not only would've knocked back anyone within the immediate vicinity, it was also highly damaging. But to Shugo, it was no different than a blast of air that he could weather through, unlike the first time he fought against the Mad Prince.

Seeing this, Zenos would then cast Akh Morn, something that's tried and this, Shugo would use Holy Sheltron, in conjunction with Sentinel to withstand the damage. True enough, an Akh Morn casted by the beast in his current state was much more powerful, thus making Shugo's usage of those two skills very helpful in mitigating the damage he must endure. However, while Shugo was being blasted five times by the pillars of Akh Morn, Zenos would add another ability into the twist: Extinguishment. Seeing the area of effect being rather similar to that of Candlewick, only minus the center, Shugo easily used the empty center and avoided the spell, while trying to outlast the Akh Morn.

It wasn't easy. Half of his Lifeforce had been depleted when the last blast had played its course. And this was him having at least fifty percent more Lifeforce compared to earlier when he was still in his Samurai attire. However, now that he had outlasted it, he immediately used Divine Veil, before casting Clemency to replenish his Lifeforce. Thanks to that, he recovered to ninety percent of his full capacity. However, he had to move out quickly as Zenos jumped in to ambush him with a Veil Unleashed. He managed to narrowly dodge the attack, before deftly avoiding the projected attack of Swift As Shadow.

Shugo rushed in with Intervene, and slapped the man with another set of the Goring Blade combination attack. However, just as he did this, he noticed Zenos was about to unleash another ability that his Echo flagged as Unmoving Dvenadkatika. He wasn't familiar with that ability, but his Echo did show him the area of effect that's conical, but it forms into a full circle as numerous narrow cones formed around the man in sequential order. Moving himself to the last cone that appeared, Shugo braced himself as Zenos unleashed the blast of black-red wave within each cones, which he then used as cue as he waited for the first three cones to clear their attacks before moving towards them, thus avoiding the rather devastating attack. For context, this was much faster, and if it was anyone else but Shugo, they would've died almost immediately without the help of the Echo and Shugo's experience.

CLICK! SHRRING!

After avoiding another wide conical attack from Zenos, Shugo got close to the prince and used Requiescat, before casting the Confiteor combo intermittently.

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

TRIIING TRIIING TRIING TRIIIING!

While having just casted Blade of Faith, Zenos casted Aetherial Ray, forcing Shugo to try and stay on the move as he activated Holy Sheltron along with Rampart to lessen the damage from the energy rays, before continuing his casting of the remaining two follow-up spells of Confiteor, Blade of Truth and Blade of Valor. However, he barely managed to dodge one of the three edges of Silvered Edge from Zenos that was casted while he was busy avoiding the rays and casting the two spells.

Yet another Communio was avoided, followed with another Swift As Shadow that was also avoided. Then another Candlewick was handled, all while smiting with combos upon combos, be it ones that ends with Goring Blade, or the ones with Royal Authority. It all serves to build up more damage to the mad prince. Another Communio avoided, followed with a counter attack to deplete the Lifeforce of the prince. The end was fast approaching. Shugo could almost feel it. He moved in quickly to dish out damage as fast as he could, while Zenos was still casting Akh Morn. Perhaps, due to a coincidence, Shugo depleted Zenos' Lifeforce just as the man finished casting Akh Morn.

"Ah!" Zenos yelled. "No, not yet! Not until the last of me is spent!"

"Burn, burn!" He continued as he rushed towards Shugo with Swift As Shadow, catching him unawares, and gave him an uppercut slash, stunning the hero before pulling the man in with a gravity spell towards the lower half of the middle of the battlefield.

"Now fall!" He yelled as he unleashed Thorn unto the Warrior of Light, very much depleting whatever Lifeforce the man had, before jumping towards the upper half of the middle of the battlefield.

.....

Shugo dropped onto his knees, panting as he felt himself literally on the edge between life and death once more.

"This is my moment! Our moment!" Zenos proclaimed, while Shugo struggled to get himself upwards once more.

As Zenos readied himself for the final attack, Shugo got himself up and roared, with Dynamis once more coursing through his body, filling his depleted Lifeforce. His power swelling, he turned around and raised his shield as Zenos launched himself into the air. The two forces clashed against each other, the unstoppable attack against the immovable fortress, or so one would think if they were present to see this scene. A giant aetherical scythe clashed against the proverbial aetherical shield, sparking ever so slightly from the clash between the two undisputedly most powerful warriors alive. Shugo clenched his teeth, stood his ground, and mustered every mote of power within his being to push back the attack.

He could feel his body screaming in pain, but his soul roared equally in defiance. He is NOT going to fall here.

Like hells he'll allow this madman to live a second time!

"HRRRGGGHHHH...!" Shugo growled, before the status quo broke after several moments and yelling: "HYARRRGGGHHH!"

Pushing back, he glared as he finally deflected the attack, though in the process, he lost his grip on his shield and sword, while Zenos' Scythe got flung off his grip, the man was still in the air. Both were unarmed at this point, as their choice of arms were flung outside of their immediate vicinity. The mad prince stopped himself from being flung further in the air and hovered, while Shugo, who was knocked back quite the distance away, managed to stand up once more.

"Hrrgghh..." Zenos coughed out a mouthful of blood as he hovered in the air.

He then spawned a spell circle under just behind his feet, and used it to launch himself towards Shugo back at the ground. The hero would respond in kind, as he ran forward and met the fallen prince in the middle, both bringing about their fists against each other.

BLAM!

Their fists meet in collision, pushing them back respectively. Shugo swung his armored gauntlet towards Zenos in an uppercut, hitting the chin and flinching the prince backwards.

BLAM!

In response, Zenos gave a heavy right punch, breaking through Shugo's cross guard, flinching a bit and made him spurt out some blood.

BLAM!

Gasping for breath, Shugo returned with his own heavy left jab at the madman, causing the prince to spurt out another mouthful of blood.

KABLAM!

Zenos kicked Shugo in the sternum with his right leg, causing the hero to get pushed back quite the distance before dropping on one knee and spurting a mouthful of blood.

Like the hero, the mad prince too dropped onto his knees, coughing a mouthful of blood yet again. His red eyes glowed as he looked at his equal... His friend... Before he dashed forward.

Shugo, in kind, would also dash forward.

Both knew that this would decide this fight.

Both readied their fists as they prepared to land their final blow.

"HYEEARRRGGHHH!" Zenos yelled as he brought his enshrouded left fist to bear, glowing incandescently in red.

"HHRRAAAGGGHH!" Shugo also yelled in kind, bringing his armored right fist to bear, also glowing incandescently, albeit in blue.

KABLAM!

The final punch landed, and Zenos was flung into the air, spurting out his final mouthful of blood before dropping onto the ground, his face facing the ground, weak and battered. Shugo, in the meantime, pulled back his arm and gasped for air heavily. That punch took everything he had.

It was finally done...

It was over.

.....

[BGM Switch: Answers - FFXIV: A Realm Reborn OST]

Zenos tried to stand up, but he only got on his knees, before strength left him and he dropped on his back, his scythe stabbed onto the ground. His avatar's possession was undone, and he was back to his more human form. He gazed upon the sky.

"That I should lose again..." He muttered, his voice weak, bereft of any of the strength he had prior.

Meanwhile, Shugo was still breathing heavily, his body barely able to remain standing, craving for air to replenish those he had spent within.

"Hahaha..." Zenos chuckled in depriciation. "How disappointing."

Shugo stood upwards for a few moment before he dropped on his back. He was far too exhausted, mentally and physically.

As witnessed by the sun in the far distance, there was Zenos to the left, and Shugo to the right.

"Never have I understood those around me. Understood their obsessions." The prince closed his eyes in remembrance and muttered. "Besieged by their banality, the world was a mire of tedium and trivialities."

"But in these fleeting moments, there is...a spark. Blinding, brilliant..." He opened his eyes and continued. "Gone...too soon..."

He closed his eyes again, before opening them again and posed his question, raising his left arm in askance towards Shugo. "What of you, my mirror? Born into this world, bestowed name, bid to seek out strife and adventure..."

Staring at the Sea of Stars in the sky, Shugo felt his eyes heavy as life slowly ebbed away from him. Ever so slightly, his eyelids tried to keep itself open, yet failing and ever inching towards closing forever. In that moment, he began to reminisce.

.....

Of the forest of the Twelveswood in the Black Shroud...

Of one of the windmill near the coast of La Noscea...

Of Vesper Bay and the Waking Sands...

.....

"Was this life a gift...or a burden?" Zenos asked further.

Shugo's mind flashed to other memories. His eyelids growing heavier...

.....

Of the grave of Haurchefant, with a bouquet of flowers and the cracked shield by the Elezen's gravestone, and the Holy See in the background...

Of Kugane, and his return to his homeland, yet as an Ijin...

Of the Royal Menagerie on top of the Royal Palace in Ala Mhigo...

.....

"Did you find...fulfillment?" Zenos continued with his questions.

As if in response, Shugo's mind continue to move through the many places throughout his journey. All while his eyelids, becoming ever more narrower, closer to closing itself.

.....

Of the Crystarium in The First, and of the night sky that has been restored to the Shard...

Of his and the Scions' arrival at Old Sharlayan...

.....

"I..." Zenos weakly said, before he breathed his last.

There was mayhaps a tinge of regret in the man's last words, knowing that he won't be able to say what he wished to say. Thus end the life of Zenos viator Galvus, here at the edge of all creation.

Meanwhile, Shugo felt at peace. His vengeance had been fulfilled. After going through so much, he was finally able to just stop and look back on everything. For the first time, in perhaps forever, he had all the moment to himself.

'Was it worth it all...' Shugo asked himself, as he felt his eyelids slowly closing, unable to stem them any longer. 'Meeting the Scions... Experiencing it all... Finding the strength I seek for her salvation, yet only to fail twice...'

He chuckled ruefully in his mind, though he grinned a little. 'Still, 'twas worth it. I've learned love, loss, and seen much of what mankind has to offer...'

'To answer your question, and Venat's...' He thought as his eyelids closed completely, though not before spying a curious glint from the edge of his eyelids.

His mouth uttered the answer, ending with him miming her name.

"Tsuyu..."

And then there was only silence and darkness. Yet he welcomed it all the same, with acceptance and joy. His eyes forever closed, his smile remained on his face.

.....

[BGM Switch: Flow - FFXIV: Endwalker OST]

In the silent dark, there he was. Floating. However...

"...-go..."

"Shugo..."

"Kurenai Shugo!" A familiar voice called out to the slumbering hero.

His eyes were heavy. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself within her presence.

'Impossible.' He first thought.

In front of him was a face he yearned to save, yet failed twice in doing so. Yotsuyu.

His heart quaked, his lips trembled. The shaking on his hand never stopped as he lifted his hand and touched her face.

Her ethereal beauty never faded, even after her passing. He felt it. Her warmth.

He felt his eyes wet as he looked upon her face, with a lace of worry on her.

"'Tis not your time yet, love." She smiled, as she wiped away the tear bubbling from his eyes.

"T-Tsuyu..." His voice croaked, his mouth gaped. "I-I..."

He tried to find the words, yet it escaped him when it was about to come out from his mouth, by the tip of his tongue.

"Your friends await for your return." She said calmly, trying to comfort him. "Your time has yet to come."

He pulled her into his embrace. "J-just...let me have this, I beg of you."

He hugged her tightly, unwilling to leave her like this. She only smiled. Her ever loving, beautiful smile that was kind and caring, wholly unlike how last he encountered her.

"I tried... So damned hard..." His voice broke. "Yet..."

"Hush now." She caressed him. "I know. I've been watching over you."

"I-I... I just..." He stuttered, pulling back a bit. "I know not if I have the heart to leave your side again..."

"If things were different, then I would've welcomed you with open arms." She shook her head. "But nay. Your time has yet to come."

She then looked to the right. "Can you hear it?"

He blinked, before he listened in, closing his eyes.

"Can you hear... Say..." A familiar voice tried to call out to him.

She then pulled away from him. He opened his eyes and tried to go back to her, but she shook her head.

"...must tend to..." Another familiar voice could be heard.

"Your comrades awaits your return." She said with a smile. "Return to them."

"Open your... ...please!" The first familiar voice called out again.

"B-But..." He tried to retort, but stopped when she raised her index finger.

"Someone...hand..." Another familiar voice could be heard.

"Fret not." She reassured him. "I shall wait 'til 'tis your time."

"Please..." Another familiar voice begged.

"And then," She smiled. "you may regale me with the stories of your adventure."

Seeing her like this, he could not help but smile wryly. She was as stubborn, and steadfast as he remembered. When she's like this, she won't budge. And this was why he loved her so.

The voice of someone crying could be heard. Someone that Shugo was familiar with.

"You can't leave us...Not like this..."The voice could be heard clearly, in which Shugo recognized to whom it belonged.

"Alisaie..." He muttered.

"If you do, I'll never forgive you...So, come on! Open your eyes and get up!" Alisaie's voice begged.

Yotsuyu kept her smile, as she slowly turns into motes of blue aether, starting from her feet.

"Go." She said. "Know that you have my love, now and always."

It broke his heart, to part away with her like this. Nay, he wasn't about to leave it just like that. If he was to leave, then he'd rather ensure that he'd have no lingering regrets.

He ran up to her, and locked his lips to hers, for perhaps the second and final time.

"And you have my heart." He muttered closely to her ear.

As they parted from each other, she gave him a smile that would remain with him for the rest of his life. She then finally disappeared, as a bright light shone in the dark emptiness, bringing him back to the world of the living.

[BGM End.]

[End of Chapter 1]