The Long Road

Act 1: Ashes
Chapter 1: Instrument of Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Final Fantasy related!!!
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7 years ago, six unsuspecting people were joined together branded and destined to destroy Cocoon. We became l'Cie our Focus was to destroy Orphan a fal'Cie who controlled the entirety of the utopian world called Cocoon. On our journey we figure out that not only were the people of Cocoon being fooled, we were also being led on and as well helped by the very fal'Cie we were sent to destroy.

At the end of the Journey Vanille and Fang had turned into Ragnarok not to destroy Cocoon but to save it, as it was there original Focus hundreds of years ago in the war between Pulse and Cocoon. In there sacrificed they stopped Cocoon from colliding with Pulse, crystallizing it and with it Vanille and Fang were crystallized as well.


That was 7 years ago… Now Cocoonians live in Pulse or Gran Pulse as Fang and Vanille will refer to it. Since Cocoon was completely crystallized settlement was technically impossible, so we all just tried to settle in a world vastly mysterious and wild that is Pulse.

Well at first it was chaos, since in Cocoon fal'Cie pretty much did everything, people were used to mostly care free days. In Pulse on the other hand… the fal'Cie did what ever they please in that sense sometimes caused problems even deaths to couple of thousands. Eventually Scientist from the Biology and Research of Sanctum Weapons they had figure out ways in to "tricking" the fal'Cie to do jobs by using some sort of distorted signals, though I don't know much but it was Lightning who told me so it must be true.

Though everything was good from then, in five years there were already a good fifty large and sprawling cities on Pulse. Large transportation networks and highways were scattered throughout Pulse as well. In true we were back to the Utopia we were used to back on Cocoon… so we thought. 3 years ago an incident occur that shattered the utopian dream all cocoonians had, all of the leaders in the Sanctum Parliament were murder in the Grand Hall of Order. That was when the greed for power arose; heated rallies turned into riots eventually even the very people who were to protect use from Pulsian wild life or rebel l'Cie started to fight for power. In all sense right now Pulse is in a Cocoonian Civil War… nothing like this has happened to us before, what the future holds Is very uncertain now.

Finally me, Hope Estheim I have been coming ever month to the very site I was crystallized with the others to talk with Vanille and Fang. In another ironic twist of fate… the day we saved Cocoon was also my birthday.
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There in the same plains that the rest used to be crystallized, the now grown Hope who wore a blue jacket with several pockets and a high collar, he also wore blue cargo pants with blue sneakers. As well as the same gloves he wore before except these were blue with black palms and he had a blue wrist band on his left hand.

He looked out in the distance towards the crystal world of Cocoon. It seemed he was talking to him self, but in truth he was trying to communicate with his two friends he had visited every month for the past 7 years. The problem was they were not responding to him today, he thought it might have been due to the fact it was five O'clock in the morning since he couldn't sleep last night due to nightmares.

"Maybe I should come back later," quietly said Hope to none in particular.

"Hey stranger what cha doing so early in the morning?" cheerful girly voice came from behind Hope, though he did not turn around.

"Oh, uh just looking at the sun rising…" Hope mutter to the person behind him, he was still the socially awkward kid from 7 years ago. Unless he was talking to people he is now close to, he was usually terrible in conversation with complete strangers.

"Well it kinda looked like you were talking to yourself for a while" The voice came closer; he could hear the footsteps coming closer towards him. Hope just tense up, in-case he had to fight even though he hated the fact the he will be fighting a girl.

" Well yeah, I am just here waiting for two people," he responded back coolly, even though he was getting more and more nervous as the footsteps came closer.

"Oh were you suppose to meet a date of yours or some friends…?" the same voice gleefully asked Hope casually.
Hope blushed at the thought of a date. "Uh no, actually just two friends they should be here in an hour or two," he responded back without showing any nervousness in his voice.

"Waiting an hour or two for some two friends, well that will only conclude that they are girlfriends," the last word was stretch purposely for Hope to hear, in which he sat up straight from the somewhat casually position on the ground.

Now Hope's cheeks were turning a slight darker shade of red as he responded back. "Uh, no they are girls but they are just friends!" Hope really restraining himself from turning around but he found the voice oddly familiar.

"Are they beautifully girls?!" thrilled is the word that can and should be described with the high pitch of that one sentenced.

"Yeah…" is all that Hope could mutter out, he was terribly embarrassed.

"Well it's a nice feeling to be called beautiful by a young handsome man," that last voice was from a more mature woman, and carried a heavy accent as well as a jokingly tone, Hope couldn't help but look behind him.

What his eyes saw, made them widen to the point they looked like dinner plates. His wish for a miracle became true…
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New Square City, Square Plaza.

A bloody conflict was going on as two giant Capital airships were going at it on the sky above New Square City, where the City's main plaza was turned into a war zone between the two factions PSICOM and The Cavalry. The battle was raging on as Snow Villiers the new General of the Cavalry, wearing Cavalry standardized military uniform without the helmet as he led on his troops on the ground, now why was a General in the combat zone? The answer is simple; it's the knucklehead of Snow…

"Alpha and Bravo team cover the flank of Delta team towards your right!" shouted Snow on his radio, as the hail of bullets and rockets being shot at by the two opposing factions made it hard to hear anything.

"Roger sir!" responded the sergeants of Alpha and Bravo team.

Snow was crouched behind miniature wall that sustained the soil of what used to be a tree. Bullets chipped away and there were some close calls when Snow tried to take a peek at the battlefield, behind him was Lebreau one of his former teammates that used to be a part of NORA after in which Snow left to join the Cavalry. She was a brilliant sniper; she wore a more camouflage, body tight armor that went with her feminine body.

She shot six times as it was the limit in her clip, she got a one-hit shot from every shot fired not a single on was wasted. "Hate to get on your bad side with that gun on your hands" mildly joked Snow to ease off his stressed as he tried to bark more orders through his radio.

"No time for jokes…" she shot twice "…Mr. General we have to hulled your ass out of here…" she shot three times "…the rest of the team is waiting to pick you up at the rendezvous…" she shot the remaining ammo in her clip, again not a single shot was wasted.

"Well better start running; I have what we came for. PSICOM is going to be pissed when they figure out what we stole from them… wished we could do it with less life loss…" As Snow was saying this he took out what seemed like a suitcase, Lebreau kept shooting at enemy snipers or any other enemy unit that attempted to attack Snow while he was running from cover to cover.

On a skyscraper at the north end of the plaza where PSICOM had set up its defensive perimeter, a warlord was giving orders for jet pack troopers to fly off and he gave commands for snipers to take more tactical positions. The troopers jump of the tall building an began to fly and patrol to find their target as their intelligence recalls is Snow Velliers who is the acting commander of the Cavalry. Though that wasn't the only thing that was after Snow, they also sent two Behemoths after him.

New Square City, Alleyway.

Snow and Lebreau covered some ground rather quickly, to the dismay of Lebreau she did not like it, while Snow on the other hand was a little to excited that they were walking right under PSICOM's noses like it was no big deal. They small alley they were in opened into a bigger alley that separated towards their left and right, they took to their left as it was the correct route to the rendezvous.

"Two clicks from here and we should see the airship pads," pointed out Lebreau to Snow as she checked all windows and possible hiding points on the buildings with her scope.

"Now that we have taken most of this city and this suitcase PSICOM has no reason to keep defending it, but for us it is a tactical advantage over them," Snow contemplated out loud as to what is going on around them.

There was a huge shake on the ground, in which a giant mechanical behemoth appear right in front of them, that lifted up dust particles and creating paw dents in where it landed. Snow stumbled backwards but stood up quickly to run the opposite direction as Lebreau wasted no time shooting at the beast turned machine, again another explosion of dust blasted Snow of his feet as another behemoth appeared.

"Oh, this is bad, this is very bad" Snow mumble to himself, he knew he could not face these things unless he were a l'Cie but since he isn't, one blow from these things could instantly kill him.

That was until they started to alter their form, from four legged beasts to standing on twos and taking out the spikes on their backs to use as weapons, the difference from these behemoths from other behemoths was that instead of one chainsaw they had two chainsaws in both hands!

"Fuck my luck," was all that snow could say until, a teal-colored substance fell on his left shoulder pad he looked up at the behemoths head and the one person he never expected to see was stabbing her gun-blade all over the behemoths face causing its synthetic blood to splatter or sometimes even "sprinkle" the area around them, that is where Snow was standing…
One Final stab from her gun blade in which she emphasis the stabbing by also kicking both of her legs forward to stab the blade deeper into the beast's cranium. As the beast fell faced forward, Snow dodged the giant body from it mashing him; the women just position herself on top of her gun-blade and stood their even when the beast fell down with a huge thud sound. The other behemoth as he watched his companion die it responded by roaring in which the woman quickly took out a grenade and threw it at the behemoths mouth, where it accidentally swallowed it causing its stomach to explode and all of its synthetic organs and blood splatter across the small alleyway cover whoever and whatever in its path. That is Snow because Lebreau was quick enough to dodge it.

"Thanks for saving"-"Snow you are coming with me" glared the woman at Snow, he as well as Lebreau were terribly confused at her demand.
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On a private Airship, towards the Estheim private residence.

"Wow you can afford your own private airship!" exclaimed Vanille towards Hope, where he sat in the co-pilot seat as his own personal pilot drove the ship.

"Well it really is nothing…" shyly Hope responded to Vanille as he hated to show how rich his family was, afraid to be treated differently because he was a "Rich Kid".

"Hey Hope don't yer think it's a tad bit dangerous up here with the Civil War going on and everything?!" worriedly asked Fang as she quite wells know certain dangerous experiences from the War of Transgression has made her fear and respect air space itself.

"Don't worry I am not stupid enough to try and kill us all for just some convenient travel. The Civil War is mostly taking place in the Core cities, for example New Square City, Rabanastre, Midgar, Edge, Archades, and Dalaran," to Vanille and Fang those names were so foreign they barely understood half the names he just mentioned.

"In other sense we are safe, so don't worry we are going to the reconstructed Oerba though its name is not really Oerba anymore, but um New Palumpolum," Hope mutter the last part quickly, fearing he was going to get angry glares and yells, though instead he heard nothing he turned his head towards them… and they were smiling?!?
In the horizon a small city could be seen appearing through the snowy mountains.

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Author's note: No it's not a cross-over of other Final Fantasies! I just used the names of some cities and/or Towns from other Final Fantasies, except for Dalaran which belongs to Blizzard Entertainment. This is strictly Final Fantasy XIII people!
Next: Act 1: Ashes, Chapter 2: Instrument of Fate.