But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most, our one fellow and brother who most needed a friend yet had not a single one, the one sinner among us all who had the highest and clearest right to every Christian's daily and nightly prayers, for the plain and unassailable reason that his was the first and greatest need, he being among sinners the supremest?-Mark Twain

"Times are gone for honest men
And sometimes far too long for snakes
In my shoes, a walking sleep
And my youth I pray to keep
Heaven sent hell away
No one sings like you anymore"
-"Black Hole Sun" Soundgarden

"Ellie? Ellie, wake up. Wake up!"

Elpis woke with a gasp, sitting upright too quickly and banging her head against something hard. That something yelped as Elpis cursed, her eyes watering.

"Shit, Laelia, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No," Laelia said, putting a hand to her nose which was quickly reddening. Her hazel eyes were bright with concern. "You were crying in your sleep again. Were you having a nightmare?"

"Uh," Elpis said, rubbing forehead and trying to wipe the hazy sleepiness from her eyes. Her other hand fumbled for the clock she knew was somewhere on her bedside table. "Can't remember."

Which was the truth, whether Laelia believed her or not. All that remained of her dreams-or nightmares-was a sense of unease deep inside her mind.

Through her window, the early morning sun shone through slanted blinds. Already, Elpis could hear the noise of Insomnia through the apartment walls. The sound of engines came and went as cars passed by their building on the street below.

Laelia sighed and picked up Elpis' clock from where it lay on the floor. "You're going to be late," she said, showing her the hour.

"Shit!" Elpis leapt out of her bed and rushed past Laelia into their shared bathroom. She nearly tripped over her housemate's discarded clothes that laid on the floor, right next to the clothes hamper.

"I'm gonna murder Alexus." She picked up the clothes and tossed them aside. "Okay, okay - your school uniform. I hung it up on the back of the bedroom door. Did you-"

"Yes, I'm wearing it now." Laelia stepped into the doorway and leaned on her cane, peering at Elpis curiously. "I don't think you washed anything of yours, though."

Hadn't she? Elpis looked to the hamper and saw that most of her clothes were still crumpled inside. Well shit, she thought. Now that she thought on it, she could remember getting home the night before and being so bloody exhausted that she had made certain both of Laelia's school uniforms were clean, then dropped into bed.

With one hand-the other was hurriedly brushing her teeth-Elpis dug out a black shirt and jeans that lay on top. They were wrinkled, but they didn't smell. At least, not too badly.

Twenty-nine years old, Elpis thought, and I do not have a single fucking thing together. Amazing.

Spitting out her toothpaste, Elpis began pulling off her night tank and shorts. "Have you eaten?" she asked Laelia.

"Yeah, I had cereal," Laelia said. A guilty look flashed across her face. "There wasn't enough left over for you, though."

"Don't worry about it," Elpis said as she clasped on her bra and pulled on new knickers. Those, at least, she'd had the presence of mind to wash. Mentally, she added going to the store to her to-do list. "Go get your books together, I'll be out in a second."

Laelia left and Elpis finished dressing in record time. The only thing she spent a careful amount of time on was putting on her eye patch over her right eye. After making certain it was secure, Elpis hurried out into the living room. The door to their roommate's bedroom was closed-no surprise there-as Elpis rushed past it. She grabbed a breakfast bar from a cupboard and met Laelia at the front door, shoving on her sneakers.

"Right," Elpis said, "have we got everything?"

Laelia nodded, her bookbag swinging in her hand. Elpis took her yellow jacket down from a hook next to the door. As she was locking the front door behind them, Laelia said, "I'm sorry, I should have woken you up sooner, but you were so tired last night..."

"Hey, no," Elpis said, shaking her head firmly. She turned to face Laelia and gave her a level look. "It's not your job to look after me like that, okay? Don't even think about it."

Laelia scrunched up her mouth in the stubborn way she always had, but mercifully any retort she could have made was pushed aside in favor of hurrying to the elevator and then to the bike rack outside their apartment building. They paused briefly while Laelia fed the stray orange tabby cat that hung around their apartment building.

Elpis unchained her bike, handed Laelia's helmet to her, then put on her own. The roar of the engine was her greeting to the city as she took off.

Even early in the morning, Insomnia was already busy. People packed the sidewalks, all caught up in getting to their own destinations-men and women in suits, others in more casual gear, some looking at their phones or yelling into it. Cars honked and raced by everyone, the smell of gas thick in the air. It made Elpis long for the quiet mornings of her little town, where the loudest thing that might be heard before ten AM was a bird.

But then, a person could disappear in Insomnia. They couldn't do that in her hometown. Not unless they died.

As they neared Laelia's school, the people in business suits gave way to other children Laelia's age in their uniforms, laughing and shouting and taking selfies. Elpis stopped at the ramp up to the front doors and helped Laelia off the back of her bike.

"You've got your meds?" Elpis asked, kicking herself for not doing so before they'd left.

"Yes," Laelia said with a note of exasperation. She took her cane from Elpis and set it under her arm. Her stockings hid the long scar on her leg from her other classmates-and Elpis had had to fight the administration to get them to bend the dress code enough to allow it-but she couldn't walk without her cane. The bones and muscles simply never healed as they should have. "Stop worrying. Mr. Erastus is going to yell at you again if you're late."

"Yeah, and then he won't do anything else about it, because I'm the best he's got," Elpis said, waving her hand dismissively. She smiled at Laelia and playfully, gently, shoved her shoulder. "Alright, I'll let you go. See you back here this afternoon."

"Bye." Laelia set off up the ramp, quickly finding her group of friends and joining them. Elpis watched for a minute, still smiling to herself, before she glanced at her watch and cursed under her breath.

Erastus was definitely going to yell at her.

Elpis shoved in her earbuds and took off on her bike once more, dodging cars. She knew the city and her own routes through it so well that she let her mind wander as she rode. What had she been dreaming about? In the rush of getting ready, she'd completely forgotten the unease she'd woken with. It crept back now that she thought about it, gathering between her tense shoulders.

She rolled them and shook her head. It was probably a nightmare about her life before Insomnia. No need to go back over it.

At a stoplight, Elpis found herself studying one of the statues of a former Lucian King. She didn't know all of them by name nor title, unlike Laelia, but she did know the one before her: the Mystic. It was an imposing figure, even more so than the others. Elpis figured it was probably the massive horns on his head that lent him an air of danger.

The long scar on her chest twinged painfully and she winced, rubbing at it. A car behind her honked loudly, scaring the hell out of her, and Elpis realized the stoplight was green.

I need to get my head out of the clouds, Elpis thought.

She stopped in front of Erastus' Galahdian cuisine restaurant. It was empty as the breakfast rush had died down, but Erastus would be inside getting ready for the lunch rush. As she walked in the door, she saw a hand reach for her and felt one of her earbuds be pulled out from her ear.

"Hey!"

Crispin smirked at her, crossing his arms over his chest. His white cook's apron hung from the back pocket of his jeans. "You're late. Again."

"No shit," Elpis mumbled, going behind the counter and digging through the pockets of her yellow jacket for her employee ID card. Once she found it, it took several swipes for the tablet to read it and punch her in.

"I had to cover for you while Erastus cooked," Crispin said from behind her. "I've got your tips."

Elpis took a deep breath. She would not show him how much she needed those tips. "Yeah? Keep 'em."

"Nah, I'm doing fine on my own," Crispin said, pulling them out of his other pocket and waving the gil in her face. He smiled. "I'll give them to you, free of charge."

"Uh huh," Elpis said, heading into the kitchen in an attempt to put some space between them. "Hey, Erastus! I'm here."

She heard a clang from somewhere in the depths, then saw Erastus' bald head pop up from behind the pass through. His white skin was red from the heat of the kitchen. "Elpis Maialen! That's the third time this week, you dumbass. I'm not going to put up with your lazy ass much longer."

Yeah, that's what you always say, Elpis thought to herself. She put on a look of contrition and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Erastus. I had to help Laelia with her homework. What is it with those academies? They give kids like six hours worth of homework every day."

Erastus softened slightly, though he still looked grumpy. It wasn't technically a lie-she sometimes helped Laelia with some stuff-but Elpis felt no guilt in appealing to Erastus' softer side. As a single father of four, he knew how difficult it was to take care of kids.

"Whatever," Erastus said, jabbing a finger at some full bags. "Get those out before I change my mind and fire you."

"Sir, yessir," Elpis said. She grabbed up the bags and turned, only to nearly run into Crispin. He'd put on his apron and hairnet, and it said something about his vanity that he thought he looked good in both. She supposed he was handsome to some people. He had ruddy skin, blond hair, and grey eyes. He worked out often enough to give him good muscle definition but not to be obsessed with it.

Too bad his personality didn't match up with his looks.

"So, about your tips-"

"I said keep them." Elpis shoved past him and left the kitchen.

"C'mon, Maialen! All I want is one date."

"What happened to free of charge, huh?"

Crispin shrugged. He checked out his reflection in the restaurant windows, messing with his hairnet. "I'd pay for dinner. I think that's fair."

Elpis sighed as she got the food secured in her bike's basket. "The answer is no. Like it was the other hundred times you've asked. Seriously, leave me alone about it."

"Aw, come on." Crispin grabbed the handles of her bike before she could escape. Elpis briefly pictured hitting him in the face with something nice and hard-a stave, maybe.

Stave? she thought distantly. The hell is a stave?

"How can you know you wouldn't like it if you don't give it a try?"

Elpis smiled sweetly. "Because I'm a grown ass woman who knows what she wants out of a relationship, and you're not it. You're the kind of guy who wouldn't make sure a woman orgasms before he did. Now get out of my way."

She made to run him over and he yelped, jumping out of the way. Rolling her eye, Elpis kicked off and made her escape. The first few times Crispin hadn't taken no for an answer, she had fumed for hours. Now, she was only annoyed. It was sad, the things a person could get used to when they had no choice.

And she'd lied, sort of. Elpis had no idea what she wanted out of a relationship. She hadn't been on a date in years. Still, she was pretty sure it wasn't Crispin.

She let the city swallow her whole and pushed Crispin out of her mind. Erastus was popular enough to keep her keep the entire day. She even got to deliver to some Glaives near the palace. Elpis took a minute to admire a close up view of the palace before she got shooed away by the guards.

Her last stop of the day were regulars, Minerva and Ennius. Both were disabled from when Niflheim invaded their hometown, so they ordered from Erastus often. They'd taken to her as soon as she'd first shown up on their doorstep. It was sort of like having grandparents, which Elpis secretly liked. Her only family now was Laelia.

Elpis let herself in, as she'd had since the second time she'd delivered to them. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Albescu."

Minerva's brown eyes lit up at seeing Elpis. Her kinky hair had long since turned white, but her cool brown skin still looked almost flawless. Elpis could only hope she aged half as well.

"Good morning, Ellie. Ennius," Minerva said, patting her husband's arm as he slept in his wheelchair, "wake up, little Ellie is here with our breakfast."

"And lunch, and dinner," Elpis said with a smile. She set the bags down on their rickety table, untying it and taking out the boxes of their breakfast. "Let me put these others away and get your plates and silverware."

"You're not a maid," Ennius said with intense disapproval. He turned down the volume on their television, which was set to some news channel. "You better not let other people treat you like one."

"No, sir," Elpis said. "I'm doing this because I like you both."

Their apartment was small and cozy. Minerva had waged a long war with the manager in order to paint the walls whatever she wanted. The kitchen was a bright, cheerful yellow; the living room was a light green. Pictures of their family were scattered about. Their daughter had been killed during Niflheim's invasion, so now it was only them. More than once, Minerva had invited Elpis to rest for a bit and showed her the contents of four separate photobooks.

Minerva rolled over to the dining table. "And how is Laelia? Does she have a boyfriend yet? Girlfriend?"

"Ah, no," Elpis said with a small laugh. She pulled out some plates and set them down on the table with the silverware. "She's focusing on her studies."

"Smart girl," Ennius said. He unfolded a napkin and set it on his lap.

Minerva nodded in agreement. "There's always time for romance later. What about you, Ellie?"

Wow, Elpis thought, everyone is overinvested in my romantic life. Or lack thereof.

"No, ma'am," Elpis said, firmly. "Too busy. In fact, I better get going. Enjoy your meals."

"Look what you did," Ennius said to Minerva, "you scared her off!"

"I did not," Minerva said regally. "If she doesn't want to talk about it, that's her choice." She looked worriedly at Elpis, her gaze lingering over the eyepatch she wore. "But you'll find someone some day, won't you? I worry about you. You need someone to take care of you, too, when you're done taking care of everyone else."

For some reason, the words hit her hard. Elpis stopped, her hand on the doorknob of their entrance, and a wave of familiarity came over her. Gods, yes, she wanted someone she could lean on. More than anything.

Something took form in her mind-a shape, maybe, of a man-but it was gone before she could think on it too hard.

Shaking off the weird mood, Elpis smiled broadly at the older couple. They'd been together since they were children. It would have been nice to have something similar, but her childhood friends had drifted away even before she'd left town. Never mind any kind of romance.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said respectfully, bowing her head. "Have a good day, you two. Take care."

Elpis sighed as she count the last of her gil. She swept it all into her bag and hoped she'd make some better tips at the bar later that night. Otherwise, it was going to be a tight two weeks once she'd paid the rent.

Erastus frowned at her, which she didn't immediately take note of. He was always frowning at something, especially her. "You can't complain about the rent since you didn't take up the King's offer of housing."

"Yeah, I know." Elpis took a long drink of her soda, hoping it would wake her up enough to get her through the rest of her day. "But I couldn't be a Glaive. And I didn't have any other skills they could make use of."

The lie slipped from her tongue so easily she barely noticed it. She didn't know whether or not she could be a Glaive, actually - but it was safer to stay out of the King's notice. She wanted a quiet, normal life with Laelia. They both deserved that. Working for King Regis and the Lucian kingdom wouldn't be the way to do it.

Erastus wandered over to the television he had hanging on the wall, distracted by something. Elpis used his distraction to scratch at the skin under her eyepatch. Just a few more hours and she could go home and take it off. Until tomorrow.

"-Things were hectic in the capitol today as the Lucian government announced full acceptance of what some are criticizing as the unilateral peace terms proposed by Chancellor Izunia of Niflheim."

Elpis blinked slowly, then looked up to the television. Izunia, she thought idly as she sat back in her chair. Why do I know that name?

"Son of a bitch," Erastus said.

"The signing of the truce will see governing power over all Lucian territories transferred to the Empire, with the sole exception of Insomnia. In return, Niflheim guarantees the continued safety of Insomnia and its citizenry, as well as cessation to all hostilities, bringing a decisive end to this long and bitter war."

Elpis motioned to the TV. "When the hell did the Empire pull this stunt?"

Erastus stared at her as if she'd grown a second head. "Maybe if you took your fucking earbuds out every now and then, you'd know this shit. The Chancellor was in the capitol yesterday. It's been all over the news for the last twenty-four hours."

"Yeah, well," Elpis said, getting up from her chair and shrugging her jacket back on. "I don't have a TV at home. And I don't watch the news, anyway."

The newscaster continued, "While Chancellor Izunia denied our request for an on-air interview, his office did release a statement-"

Erastus shut the TV off with a sound of disgust. "Don't you give a damn about this, dumbass? You're a refugee, same as most everyone else in this part of the city. The Empire took your home too, didn't they? And now the King is just gonna roll over and let them keep it."

Elpis finished off her soda and threw the can into a recycling bin. "Niflheim wasn't the reason I left my hometown. They had already invaded when Laelia and I left."

There was an awkward silence before Erastus glowered at her. "So because it doesn't affect you, you don't care? Real nice, dumbass."

"That isn't what I said," Elpis snapped. Gods, this man tried her patience sometimes. "Yeah, it sucks. It's not fair. But I can't do a damn thing about it, now can I? So why should I waste energy getting upset about it when I still have another job to go to and Laelia to take care of?" Elpis shook her head. "King Regis will do whatever he wants, as will the Empire. The rest of us are just battle fodder."

She slammed the front door behind her, unwilling to admit how much Erastus' words had gotten to her. Of course she didn't want the Empire to claim control over all of Eos. And she wasn't stupid: Despite their words now, it was only a matter of time before they took Insomnia, too. Maybe not yet, and maybe not even in the next ten years, but one day they would.

All she could do was hope that when they did, enough of Insomnia would be left standing that she and Laelia could continue their lives.

Izunia, Elpis thought once more as she got her helmet on. What an unusual name.

Everything was going exactly as planned. Of course, how could it not, when it was not his plan that was being put into motion, but the Crystal's?

Ardyn smirked to himself, rubbing a finger along his top lip. The city of Insomnia passed him by outside the car window as his escort drove him back to the hotel, the greys of the buildings broken up by the colorful ad boards. Truly, the city was a marvel that outshone Solheim itself. Somnus had created something precious, certainly.

He couldn't wait to see it all burn. He fully planned on dancing in the ashes, once it was all over.

It didn't even matter that the city-the kingdom-should have been his. If he'd wanted to rule something, he could have easily manipulated Iedolaus into giving him control of the Niflheim Empire. So much about him had changed in the last two thousand years except this: He had no interest in being a king. Far easier to work in the shadows, anyway, instead of from a throne.

The car came to a stop before a red light, and a flash of yellow caught Ardyn's eye. It was hard for it not to-the people of Insomnia dressed as poorly as Somnus had, in dreary colors and dull patterns. Something so bright stood out immediately.

And yellow had been Elpis' color.

The yellow belonged to a jacket a woman on a motorcycle was wearing. Ardyn stared, uncertain as to why his gaze was drawn to her.

And then the woman wearing the yellow jacket glanced over, as if she could sense she was being stared at, and Ardyn's lifeless heart jumped into his throat.

Elpis stared back at him.

The daemons in his head screamed, causing him to wince. When he'd looked up again, the car had moved away from her. Ardyn wanted to snap the driver's neck and escape from the blasted metal cage, but instead clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. Slowly, the daemons in his soul rested once more, but Ardyn could not do the same so easily.

As the car drove on, Ardyn shook his head. It couldn't have been Elpis. She was dead, and her soul had moved on. He hadn't seen her since the day Verstael had come into his prison. And this woman, now that Ardyn could think clearly, differed from Elpis. Her right eye had been covered by an eyepatch.

It couldn't have been she.

Unless she has been brought back, a quiet voice said in his mind. It took Ardyn far too long to recognize it as his own.

Fury seized him, and with it, the darkness almost escaped his control. He took a deep breath to calm himself, biting his tongue until the foul, rotten taste of the Starscourge slid down the back of his tongue like phlegm. The taste had long since lost its ability to make him gag.

No. He wouldn't allow it. He wouldn't even humor the very thought that the Astrals, in their infinite cruelty, would bring Elpis back from the dead. Ardyn wasn't even certain it could be done, though when he'd looked at Lunafreya, he could not deny she looked almost exactly like Eida. And if Noctis, from the few pictures Ardyn had seen, looked anywhere near as much as Somnus...

"No," Ardyn hissed to himself.

He was already playing along to one game set in motion long before Noctis had been born. Whatever this new game was that the Crystal and the Astrals had created and brought Elpis into - no. He would not allow it. Elpis was meant to be resting peacefully. She was meant to be with her mother and sister and niece now.

That woman, whoever she was, was not Elpis. Ardyn refused to consider it.

And yet, deep inside his soul, a feeling long forgotten stirred once more: Fear.