Far above the perilous skies, in a starlit void that overlooks the many firmaments; 13 Constellations held the upmost silence.

"N-No way... There is no way!" stated the Valorous.

"No no no no!" shouted the Magnanimous.

The Stars of Zeal burned with rage, and shone brightly amongst the others. He then cried aloud, "Lady Hope! You better have a damn good solution to this! Do you have any idea of what just happened!"

The Stars of Hope answered nothing, instead her radiance slightly dimmed with grief. All the Constellations looked upon Hope to see how she would answer for this.

Suddenly though, Wisdom spoke out in her defense, "Stand down Zeal! You have no right to speak to her that way, she is in no way at fault of this! We all need to calm down and just think for a moment!"

Zeal's wrath was fueled even more at this response, "Calm down!? What do you mean calm down!? Do you not realize the situation we're currently in!?"

She fired back, "I do realize! However we simply can't change the past! We need to figure out what we're going to do next!"

Zeal responded back in an infuriated tone, "What? Do you propose we sweep this sin under the rug and find a new Hero to sacrifice!? We're already stained with blood, must there be more bloodshed!?"

The other Constellations all erupted in clamoring responses to this, some agreed while others rejected.

"We can't sacrifice someone else, we have no authority or power to do so!", "We must break the Laws of Serendipity once more!", "It's for the greater good!", "I cannot bear the shame of sacrifice, for one to bear such a burden is too much for even me!", "The people need a Hero, we can't leave them to die again!", "We've committed too many sins to atone for, we cannot add onto our iniquity by sacrificing another!"

They made good points, however a decisive solution couldn't be found amongst them. Lady Hope however knew there was just one thing to do. However she wasn't sure if she had the strength to do it.

Even in the midst of all the commotion, Wisdom looked and perceived that Hope had something in mind, she just didn't have the courage or the dignity to voice it out. Wisdom soon sounded a loud piercing shout that broke through the Heavens, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

All the Constellations quickly went silent, not a single sound was made. Wisdom turned her focus towards Hope, and in a gentle tone she asked her, "Hope... I feel as though you want to say something, but you're wavering. What is stopping you? Please do not hide your wisdom from me."

Hope was reluctant to answer, and so Wisdom asked again, "Please Lady Hope, whatever it is, please tell me."

Lady Hope soon budged, all the other Stars tuned their focus unto her. Lady Hope gathered her thoughts and soon placed them into words, "Over the last few Songs, all I've done was mask rivers of iniquity under the guise of Hope, but that Hope has also birthed eternal emptiness and broken dreams."

The Stars of Discipline chimed in on this, "But Hope has always been the greatest light to shine on the world. Emptiness and Broken dreams were only brought by undisciplined minds, and wild imaginations!"

Hope responded to his rebuttal, "What's hope if it brings sorrows and madness? Isn't Hope only supposed to bring gladness and joy, why then does it bring such distasteful fruit? That's the question I've asked myself for a very long time, and I've never been able to bring a fortunate answer, however something always nudged me that there was never a fortunate answer to begin with."

The Heart of Love grew dim, "Why are you saying such unpleasant things, you know this isn't true..? Right? You are the Light of Hope, and you only bring Light! Your Light shines like a candle in the dark, how could you ever say otherwise."

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"Oh blessed Heart, such a pure and pristine answer. How I wish it was so, but even you know I've committed many sins. And for what? The Future of Humanity? The promise of a better tomorrow? Do you believe that these things didn't have a price on them?"

The Stars of Love spoke no more, and so Hope asked them something that would cause a ripple in the cosmos.

"Everyone here me today, what is Hope if the fate of the future has already been predetermined? No matter what we do, we cannot change the inevitable. The Darkness already looms over face of the Deep, and we are now only spectators to this unfortunate end."

The Constellations didn't know what say back, each one waited for another to answer but an answer didn't come right away. So one Constellation decided to voice themselves, even if they were wrong.

"Fate isn't something you can just determine through previous failures and shortcomings, it's something you have to grab onto and mold into your own. Even you should know that!"

Lady Hope commended the answer given, and so she replied, "I knew you'd say that Keeper of Fate, and because of that answer I can finally tell you the solution I made for this unforeseen development."

The Gem of Wisdom and all her infinite knowledge finally understood what Hope was saying, and she also knew the path that Hope intended to take. And so Wisdom replied back with grief, "Oh Light of Hope, blessed Stars of the North, and Keeper of Serenity! Is this truly the path you are choosing to walk? Is there truly no other way than this?!"

The Stars of Hope took a moment to respond, she knew that Wisdom finally understood. However it was already too late, because Hope had already made her decision.

The other Constellations became anxious and didn't know where this was all going, however they all stayed quiet to hear the conclusive words.

The Stars of Hope finally declared to them, "Oh my Blessed Brethren, All the veils will be torn up whenever this choice is made. Every living soul striving for their own safe place. Everyone has their own desires, and it leads to their ultimate fate."

Lady Hope illuminated her Stars more bright than any cosmic entity in the entire universe. In a loud and proud voice, she declared, "I don't have much time and so I say to you all that I, The Constellation of Hope and Light, will embrace the wretched fate that we've drawn many to. I will be reborn, but wearing the flesh of man!"

The other 12 Constellations were in upmost shock after hearing this declaration. A dead silence filled the void, and sorrow bound them like a thief in the night.

The Stars of Ambition soon spoke up, "Lady Hope, what are you talking about? What do you mean by that? Reborn in the flesh of man? That's insane!? And what about the people of Aria!? All hell will break loose if you vanished!"

Lady Hope spoke in haste, "I cannot explain it to you all now, I must act quickly or else it would be too late. However I trust that Wisdom would enlighten you all in what I'm about to do."

The Stars of Patience finally spoke up after a long silence, "You aren't even going to give an explanation on what you're about to do!? How are we supposed to know what to do when you don't even explain yourself!"

Lady Hope reasoned with her concern, "You have to trust me! Please just trust me!"

The Stars of Unbending Willpower suddenly voiced themselves too, "Lady Hope, all these years you've given humanity a future to look forward to. Even if it meant at the cost of your own radiance. I know your intentions are true, and your heart is willing. Therefore I shall not stop you in this endeavor, whatever your plans are. I trust that you will continue to fulfill your role as the Aspect of Hope! Even if it's not in the Celestial Realm."

All the other Stars were caught off guard at this response, Lady Hope spoke once more to them to ensure them that this was the right decision, "I am only going away for a moment, however I will leave you all a gift! When you see the gift, then do everything in your power to preserve it! For that Gift will go onto becoming the Light of this World!"

Lady Hope's stars began to dim, "Farewell my brethren! I will see you all again someday! Just remember to search for the Gift, and cherish it! Goodbye!"

And in a fleeting moment, it happened. The Light of Hope soon vanished from the firmament, leaving nothing behind. The Stars that once brought hope to all below were seen no more, and the pending turmoil was about to begin.

This wasn't the first time that a Constellation dimmed it light, but the other Stars still felt the anxiety and grief. It was then that all hell broke loose in the Cosmos, without the Light of Hope, and imbalance tore a chasm inside the order that was once faithful and true!

The Brilliant Gem of Wisdom looked upon all the distressed Constellations and said, "My Brothers and Sisters fret not at this! For this is Lady Hope's resolve! Instead let us make sure her sacrifice wasn't in vain!"

Much work was needed to be done, and so the Constellations decided to work hastily. They followed after the Gem of Wisdom steadfastly, and heeded every instruction. Time felt as though it was at a standstill, especially since Hope had vanished.

Soon the Perseverant One made a very unsettling observation, "Everyone have you noticed it yet... Take a look down on Aria, it's already starting..."