A/N: Haha, whoops, I forgot to save the doc properly and accidentally published the story prematurely. I hope no one read it by accident. Anyway, I wrote all of this on a whim and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
The coffee in Palumpolum was amazing. Nothing short of fantastic, really. Finely roasted beans from the tropical regions of Pulse were ground up using a mortar and pestle in this very establishment and brewed to perfection in small batches. Each cup was about 50 gil but cream, sugar, and milk were free of charge. Fang loved the rich scent and strong taste of good coffee but at the moment she couldn't enjoy this wonderful cup of joe.
There was a giant Cie'th, specifically a Vampire, creating chaos in the streets outside, flinging magic in all directions. Its massive bulk was carried on two thin ebony legs and it hummed with power. The mask affixed to its upper body was stuck in a permanent scream of despair and the Pulsian runes on its arms glowed with magic. Not exactly the shining example of a good citizen.
Fang, on the other hand, was hiding behind a table, cursing herself for forgetting her bladed lance at home. "Dammit all, why does a Cie'th have to attack when I have no weapon..." she thought. Months after becoming a Meister with the mark of the l'Cie, she'd expected a Weapon with a similar mark to waltz into her life but nooooo, everyone at the Academy was incompatible with her wavelength. And Fang just had to slack off on her training, knowing full well that having a healthy stock of paradigms was a huge part of taking down Cie'th of all forms.
And so, she was Weaponless and weaponless. It wasn't like her great strength could do much to a Vampire. She recalled a certain textbook entry stating that magic was the most effective weapon against a Vampire and the raw power of a Meister wasn't enough to defeat one. The other patrons in the cafe recognized her l'Cie brand but must have come to the conclusion that she was either a very useless Weapon or a Meister. Either way, they were all screwed and were going to be slapped into a wall by a three ton monster and/or blasted to pieces with magic.
Then, there was the sound of metal hitting crystal and a yell of frustration. Fang peeked out from over the table and was astonished to see a young woman with pink hair fighting the Cie'th. The woman's left hand was a rich red... blade?! There was a Meister-less Weapon fighting outside and Fang was cowering like an idiot. "Maker help me, what I'm about to do is stupid..." The brunette got up and ran out of the cafe to a nearby stop sign, wrenching it out of the ground with ease. Such a feat of strength was nothing for a l'Cie.
"Hey, ugly!" Both the pink haired woman and the Cie'th turned to look at her. "Come and get some!" Fang swung the stop sign, the red octagon snapping off from the impact against the Vampire's giant red eye at the center of its body. No reaction. The brunette felt a chill run down her spine but stood her ground, her makeshift spear held in a defensive position.
Suddenly, the Weapon was dragging her into an alleyway, a great fiery explosion appearing where Fang once stood. Before she could even comprehend her would-be fate, she was pulled down more and more of the winding alleyways of Palumpolum. Upon knocking over a pile of trash, Fang put her foot down. Literally. The woman stopped pulling her and Fang finally got a better look.
The Weapon had piercing blue eyes that complimented her light pink hair. She wore a sleeveless sweater under an equally sleeveless white vest and a rather short skirt. A long, scarf was wrapped around her neck and nearly reached her knee. Her boots looked worn and scuffed but otherwise were in good condition. However, the most important part of this woman's image was that she looked incredibly pissed off. "What the hell were you thinking back there, charging in like that? Normal objects can't hurt a Cie'th!"
Fang huffed as the pink haired woman glared at her. "I couldn't have just left ya there! I'm just a Meister 'n all but I've got the bloody decency to try," she retorted. The Gran Pulsian glanced down at the red blade coming out of the Weapon's arm. Her mistake, two red blades. The blades were flush against each other and seemed to resemble a broken claw. "What's your form?"
"Isn't it more polite to ask for my name first?" she asked dryly, the blades shifting into a gloved hand. "I swear, all you Meisters are the same..." The sound of ice forming on a brick wall broke through their conversation. "Or perhaps we could forgo the introductions." A nearby trashcan combusted as the Cie'th approached. They both shared a panicked expression. "Run!"
Fang jumped onto a fire escape ladder just above their heads, and the Weapon followed suit, reaching the center of an apartment building roof in a few seconds. "Okay, that sucker can't reach us up here!" the brunette declared. But she spoke too soon as a great vacuum of wind shot the Vampire up into the sky and it landed just a few feet away from the pair. "Maker help us, it even knows Aeroga?!" It approached them slowly, likely exhausted from having to expend so much energy on that powerful spell.
"You ever use a Weapon, Meister?" the pink haired woman asked, glancing over at Fang. The brunette shook her head. "Too incompatible, huh? Maybe we'll end up a good match if we survive this encounter." The Weapon held out her right hand. "My name is Lightning. What's yours, Meister?"
Fang grasped the hand and shook it firmly. "Oerba Yun Fang. You wouldn't happen to be a bladed lance, would you?" she asked, keeping an eye on the exhausted Vampire ambling towards them.
"Good eye. You specialize in pole arms?" Lightning tightened her grip on Fang's hand. She could feel their souls harmonizing and the l'Cie brand on her chest felt unusually warm.
"You're damn right I do." In an instant, Lightning's body became an amorphous bolt of energy, reshaping with the sound of thunder to a red bladed lance in Fang's hands. The brunette was too focused on how incredibly light (no pun intended) Lightning felt in her hands to notice the Vampire lifting up its massive crystalline arm.
"Move!" Lightning's echoed voice yelled from the lance, springing the Meister into action. Fang narrowly avoided becoming a pancake as she leapt to the side. The Vampire turned to face her and let out a horrifying screech as it prepared a Blizzara. "Your magics are so weak..." the Weapon mumbled, sending a disapproving vibe through the handle of the lance. It burst with electrical power, surprising Fang. "This should be enough to let us hold some ground against it."
Fang dashed forward, sweeping the Vampire off its feet with a quick swipe against the side of its left knee. Quickly changing her grip, the Meister launched the Vampire into the air while it was still falling with the front tip of the lance, the roof caving in slightly from the combined weight of the Cie'th and the force of the launch. Lightning watched from the darkness of the weapon's inner space in amazement as the brunette jumped dozens of feet into the air to crack the lance against the Vampire's side, launching it into an abandoned building several blocks away. She'd never seen a Meister with such raw power and she had a feeling this was just a fraction of what Fang was capable of.
The Meister landed back on the roof and cast Haste, surprised to feel a great rush of energy in her legs. "You specialize in Ravager-type paradigms, Lightning?" Fang asked as she leapt across rooftops. "Kinda unusual since you're a lance and all. Ain't insulting you or anything. My Synergist spells work for the first time. Then again, it's the only Synergist spell I ever practiced." An amused grunt came from the Weapon.
"Commando, Ravager, and Medic paradigms specifically. I'm teaching myself Sentinel and Synergist, however." Fang let out a low whistle as she slid under a clothesline and over the edge of the roof. She pulled her legs behind her body, pushing against the building to dart to the next one. The Meister landed on the edge of a smaller building and continued to run. "Versatility is key in battle. You never know what will be useful."
"That's what my teachers always say. Really should've listened to 'em..." The two reached the giant hole the Vampire had made in the abandoned building and Fang peered inside. The ceiling was moldy and rusted pipes were sticking out of it, dripping unpleasant green liquid on the rotten floorboards. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, searching for the Vampire in the darkness.
It emerged, shaking bits of concrete and brick off of itself. The bright red eye below its mask was slightly cracked and a large chunk had been taken out of its left arm, leaking dark fumes. The Cie'th roared and charged at Fang, who, in turn, began to bide her time. Her body emitted a lilac glow and she took the attack full force with the lance; despite this, she hadn't moved an inch and the Vampire made a high-pitched noise of confusion.
"That all you got?" Fang taunted, peeking out from behind the lance. Another crystalline smack and the Cie'th even threw a Fira, setting the rotten wood around the Meister on fire. "Seems like just enough. Lightning, get ready for a lil' buzz."
"A wha-" The Weapon was cut short as the absorbed energy from all the attacks was channeled between their souls. Fang bashed the flat of the lance's blade against the Cie'th's mask with such force that it broke the rotten floorboards under them and sent all three crashing down. She instinctively knew to twist and pull the opposite ends of the lance as she fell, an endless length of chain connecting all three sections. Fang threw one of the detached blades at the Vampire, anchoring it firmly in the red eye. It screeched in pain, writhing just mere inches away from the Meister.
The Vampire broke through floor after floor, its velocity only increasing with the pair assaulting it with Aero after Aero. Finally, Fang threw the other end of the lance straight up into the air, lodging it deep into the building's roof. "Lightning! Stop our descent!" she yelled over the Cie'th's high pitched screeching. The Weapon halted the chains immediately and the core of the Vampire was dislodged. The Vampire let out one last wail before crashing into the basement level.
Fang, on the other hand, had wrapped her whole body around the midsection of the bladed lance and was holding on for dear life. The lower blade was reeled in, lodged deep into the Cie'th's core. Fang reached down and removed the dark red orb. "... so, should we check the body?" Lightning asked, sounding a bit muffled.
"Great idea. Lemme just pull you out of the roof first." Without warning, the other end of the bladed lance came free and Fang was sent into free fall again. She managed to clumsily land on her feet just next to the crumbling carcass. The dark, imposing crystal was becoming crumbling gray dust, fading away into the darkness of the basement. Lightning morphed back into her human form next to Fang, breathing out a tired sigh. She approached the crumbling Vampire and began to examine the Pulsian runes all over its body with a pocket flashlight.
"Archylte Steppe. Aggra's Pasture..." the pink haired woman mumbled, translating the fading writing. "Fang, do you know what this is?" The Meister stepped forward and squinted where Lightning pointed.
"'Ochu.' It's a plant-based Cie'th that can make more little Cie'ths from plants. He was probably marked by a fal'Cie down in Gran Pulse to kill an Ochu. He likely ran away from his Focus and ended up going Cie'th," Fang explained, feeling sympathetic. "Can't blame him though. Ochu are something I'd have trouble picking a fight with." Her mouth became a grim line as she recalled the various other Focuses she'd heard of in stories of failed l'Cies. "A shame we don't know his name. I'd have liked to give this to his family at least."
The Meister reached into the dust and pulled out a sky blue crystal that fit in her palm. It was in the shape of a tear drop and it glowed gently in the darkness. Lightning stared at the crystal in Fang's palm and then looked over at the core in the other hand. "May I?" She gestured to the core. It was dropped into the woman's gloved hand.
Lightning closed her eyes and the room was filled with light from the Cie'th core. Very slowly, she pushed the light into her chest (Fang safely assumed that was where Lightning's brand was) and the rotting basement returned to its previous darkness. She exhaled quietly, looking like she'd just finished a satisfying meal.
"So, Lightning..."
"Light." The Weapon's gaze was filled with trust. "Call me Light."