AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tried this three years ago and I shall try it again, armed with much better writing and voice. Hopefully this goes well. After all, a novelization is supposed to be the game in fictional form...this might take a while. Reviews are welcome! Constructive criticism is really appreciated!
The parts of the chapter are divided up into the segments of the game. Since Chapter One has eight parts, each part will start like so: "Defiers of Fate," "Fields of War," "Another Rebellion," and so on and so forth.
Some chapters will be split into two parts or more simply because of the length. Chapters 9 and onward, for example, will be split up into multiple parts, but there will be 13 chapters nonetheless. This way I can get chapters updated faster.
Write on,
WriteFF13
.:FINAL FANTASY XIII:.
Novelization
Chapter 1 – The Hanging Edge Part 1
Prologue
Cocoon – a utopia in the sky.
Its inhabitants believed their world a paradise. Under the Sanctum's rule, Cocoon had long known peace and prosperity.
Mankind was blessed by its protectors, the benevolent fal'Cie, and believed that tranquil days would continue forever.
Their tranquility was shattered with the discovery of one hostile fal'Cie.
The moment that fal'Cie from Pulse – the feared and detested lowerworld – awoke from its slumber, peace on Cocoon came to an end.
Fal'Cie curse humans, turning them into magic-wielding servants.
They become l'Cie – chosen of the fal'Cie.
Those branded with the mark of a l'Cie carry the burden of either fulfilling their Focus or facing a fate harsher than death itself.
A prayer for redemption.
A wish to protect the world.
A promise to challenge destiny.
After thirteen days of fates intertwined,
the battle within begins.
Purge Train
The Hanging Edge
Defiers of Fate
The thirteen days after we awoke...were the beginning of the end.
Barren wastelands and hot, crisp desert flashed by, occasionally swapped with lush foliage that clung to the walls of the canyon. Although it was dry, peace reigned and silence was normal. Any sound immediately shook up the entire environment as rocks crumbled and the swift fall of water changed briefly and the air vibrated. The skies overhead were a light blue but clouded with an eerie cast of mystery.
On this day, the canyon was disturbed again as a sleek, futuristic train – cylindrical in shape and rounded to allow for aerodynamic travel – bolted through, hugging the one-way track beneath it as it swerved and ducked through the canyon, cutting close edges to possibly fatal collisions and taking shortcuts under waterfalls. Each time they went under the gallons of water that fell, the inside of the cab was obliterated with sound as water pounded the roof, until a second later they were gone. Inside, startled gasps were met with the harsh voice of a patrol unit, tasked with guarding the passengers and also to prevent any sort of violence on the citizens' parts.
The passengers' trip had been long and tiring, beginning from the seaside recreational town of Bodhum and still ongoing. They expected to land somewhere on the lowerworld – it brought shivers to even think about it – in two days.
Everyone knew not to make any sudden movements or talk out of turn. PSICOM's soldiers were allowed to carry guns and even allowed to fire on civilians if necessary. The way his bright – yellow eyes alit behind a mask – regarded them as if they were underworld scum, there was no need to make things any worse than they already were. So the trip was spent in absolute silence, bar the occasional whimper from a child and the steady comfort of a mother's voice a second later.
And every time they swerved around a particularly sharp corner or water crashed onto the roof, the crowd inside sucked in their breath. Several were reduced to the point of nervous shaking, their bodies a constant twitch.
One particular passenger remained calm though.
She wore a Purge uniform just like the other passengers, even with the same device that bound her hands together to make escape more difficult. Yet unlike the others, this woman's head was low, and although only a small piece of pale pink hair could be seen, trailing out of the uniform hood, her bright blue eyes were regarding the PSICOM officer on duty very carefully. Occasionally her gaze was met from the officer, but she was smart enough to avert it long enough to avoid suspicion.
A man to her right glanced over, catching her eyes dart over to the door, as if she were planning something. He shook his head, but said nothing.
The train rattled ever close to a wall of rock. Only a small hole outlined with purple barriers that stopped any unknown machines from trespassing was evidence that the train wasn't going to collide with the rock. They came closer and closer to the first purple ring. It was dotted with codes in the Cocoon alphabet, though to any regular citizen, they meant nothing.
The middle-aged man sitting to the woman's right was Sazh Katzroy.
Sitting to his left was Lightning. That's all he had gotten out of her when they met just a few hours ago. Then, he had watched as she willingly volunteered to board the Purge train despite her status as a Guardian Corps soldier. Her shoulder pauldron signified that at least. All he knew was that she had something up her sleeve, and he wasn't about to miss it.
He just didn't know if that plan would work.
Sazh glanced up to find the officer's gun barrel pointed in his face, his eyes staring down a very lethal weapon. The the officer was only running a scan for weapons and anything metal, so he moved on quickly, making his way down the aisle and back to the front again, standing guard.
The officer was momentarily distracted with a particularly whimpering mother, so Sazh took the chance to speak, his voice hardly more than a whisper.
"You serious?"
His question was met with an impatient hiss. "Bequiet."
Sazh glanced at the officer's laser. That man could probably hit a target from four hundred yards, easy.
"Best of luck."
His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly felt the woman – Lightning – tense, but any thought was shattered a second later as the Purge train collided with the first barrier, lurching forward as a result of the enormous impact. The officer up front lost his balance and nearly fell, cries of surprise and fright erupting in the cabin.
Immediately, the woman bolted from her seat, sprinting in the middle of the aisle as the PSICOM soldier struggled to stand upright. He raised his gun to open fire, but she leapt into the hair, using her bound hands to wrap underneath his chin and twist his neck around, killing him instantly. Screams followed in her wake. Yet the woman blocked out everything, focusing on her one goal and shutting out everything else – escape.
From the soldier's hands fell a black and blue device...the remote that turned the passengers' binds on and off. In her landing she made sure to crush it, grinding the circuits inside to nothing more than sparks and dust.
"She did it!" Sazh exclaimed, his hands now free.
"What's happening?!"
"What's she doing?!"
The door to the end of the aisle that led to the next part of the train, the luggage storage, hissed open to reveal two more PSICOM soldiers. They didn't even hesitate to raise their weapons, charging in to the chaos.
"Hands up!" one shouted, "freeze!"
The men and woman screamed as bullets shot from their guns, following a fast-moving blur that had hurtled into the air once more, shedding her Purge uniform and landing in front of the soldiers, twisting and turning to avoid their fire. The fire ceased for just a moment, but it was plenty of time to allow the woman to lash out with her foot, catching the officer in green in the temple, knocking him out cold. Even the thick material of their masks didn't help against her solid-toed boot.
The soldier standing next to her stood in shock, remembering her face from the Bodhum station earlier in the morning. That woman, dressed in a Guardian Corps uniform and donning the rank of sergeant on her left shoulder, had demanded for admittance on the Purge train, disregarding the fact he knew – that they were all to be killed in the Hanging Edge anyways, their present location now. The woman had worn something of a half-red cape that was tucked under a flap beneath her shoulder. Her boots were stiff leather brown, but the bottoms were a hard silver, hence why his comrade was knocked out to his right. Her uniform was white with light brown sections highlighted by the outline of pockets. Two bronze magnets were attached to the ends in order to close the uniform up, but she kept it open, most likely for easier movement. A holster was wrapped around her waist and attached by buckles, all dark leather. Even her miniskirt was a special type of leather, as was her navy gloves. In the ceiling light, the golden casings on the back of her gloves revealed extra bullets tucked away. The color of the gloves nearly matched her bright, blue eyes that coldly regarded him as she righted herself, hardly breathing hard.
The last thing he remembered was a flash of pink, spiky hair and the back of her hand as she tore the gun away from his grip, spinning and using the momentum to pound him on the side of the head.
He collapsed in an instant.
The people behind her were swiftly casting aside their uniforms, hastily gathering together. She entered into the next room, taking a stand in the crook of the door, gun clenched firmly in her right hand. She pounded the switch open with her fist, holding her breath.
As soon as it slid open she jumped out, unloading a clip of bullets into the next room. She immediately spotted a pair of yellow eyes in the darkness of the next cabin and aimed there. He reached her before she did, though, forcing her to duck to avoid taking a bullet in the face. The woman felt hot steel whip through her hair, just missing her head.
Once more she pivoted on one leg, using the momentum of the turn to catch him full-force in the stomach. Her kick knocked him backwards a few feet, though not dead. A second green soldier ran out behind him, and the last bullets in her gun were fired in his chest.
She breathed out, the first wave of adrenaline nearly making her dizzy.
Casting the empty gun away, she swiftly armed herself with the fallen guards' weapons and continued on, heart pounding wildly.
Back in the passenger cabin, chaos was everywhere. One man had taken a bullet to the shoulder while one was dead from the soldiers' erratic fire. Children were taken into the arms of their parents, but one boy was huddled in a corner, his head tucked between his knees. In between ordering citizens around and tossing leftover guns to brave passengers, Sazh kneeled down to the boy.
He announced his presence with a hand to the shoulder. Something nudged at the top of his head. "Hey. You all right?" he asked, concerned. Where were the boy's parents?
Seeing his worried eyes, he quickly added, "Don't worry; I'm not a l'Cie."
Suddenly a small, golden chocobo chick popped out of his afro, peering over the edge of his brown hair and chirping at the boy. The latter was surprised at first, but a smile came over his face, and he stood to rejoin his parents.
Sazh sighed in relief and began to lead the second wave of rebels.
Lightning was surrounded.
Two PSICOM elites stood between her and the next cabin, while two on opposite diagonal sides and one behind her made progression impossible while remaining alive. One step forward and she would have a hundred holes in her head.
"Put your hands in the hair and the weapons down!" a soldier commanded, waving his gun for emphasis. She glanced at him, and did drop the guns. Both clattered to the floor.
"Now hands in the air!" he barked, beginning to walk slowly towards her, cautious. When she didn't comply, he grew angry. "Now!"
Before he could hit her with the butt of his gun, she raised her left hand.
All the while she watched him as she snapped her index and thumb together, triggering the anti-gravity device all GC soldiers at or above the rank of sergeant had engraved in the tips of their fingers – the Grav-con Unit. It broke the bonds between gravity and the matter inside one's body in order to wield a sort of ability close to magic, but not quite. It gave the user an aversion to gravity and incredible speed. This was what Lightning triggered with a snap of her fingers.
Immediately, a wave of energy erupted over her body, growing until her body was covered in purple, metallic sparks. Her body glowed a strange, purple hue as time seemed to slow down, though in reality, it hadn't. Only she had sped up.
Leaving that officer in surprise, she arched backwards, sailing over the floor with her fist guiding the way. She spun to face the officer behind her and used the force of her movement to slam him against the sliding door as a shockwave erupted from under them; bruising his ribs with a knee to the stomach. His yellow eyes faded and she ripped his gun away, twisting on the door and propelling off of it again with no more than a determined glance upwards.
By now they had opened fire, but they were too slow. Much too slow.
Lightning twisted her body so that she was flying feet-first and curled her knees to her chest, building strength in her legs. Just two feet away, she struck out, catching him in the chest. She didn't stop to analyze the damage before she unloaded all the bullets in her two guns on the soldiers diagonal to the aisle. Her body seemed to float in midair before she flipped onto the ceiling, her head upside down. One soldier remained standing.
He shook but raised his gun anyways, trying to pinpoint the laser beam to her forehead. In his sights, she was an easy target, but her trigger finger was generous.
His life ended in a second. She could at least grant him that.
She dug her gunblade out – buried in a pile of luggage, weapons, and other odds and ends just as the mechanical door behind her slid open. Sazh emerged, followed by a trio of grim-faced rebels armed with guns they had looted from the fallen bodies no doubt. She didn't cast a look at them and instead loaded her gunblade once again.
"So far so good," Sazh said, doing a headcount. There were at least twenty others who had wanted to help lead the rebellion against the Purge train. "They all want to fight."
Looking out the windows, they saw flashes of green and airships colliding, smoke billowing as bullets and lasers flew everywhere. The sky was dark and dotted with illuminating beasts, commanded by the government. Each of them recognized this place – the Hanging Edge. It had donned on them since Lightning's rebellious fight that the Purge train had never intended to even come close to the lowerworld...they were being taken to the Hanging Edge...to be killed.
Lightning hefted her gunblade, swinging the point in front of Sazh, who stepped back in surprise. She didn't travel light; that was for sure. The woman sighed in impatience – she didn't have time to order around a group of newbies to war.
"Good for them."
They had fully entered into the Hanging Edge, a complete and utter warzone.
Outside, war rocked the skies. The noise was so loud it would seem the world were ending out there. And maybe it was.
Lightning found an emergency hatch blocked off by storage units. She pushed them aside and flipped it up. Immediately a rush of air swept in, nearly knocking her off her feet. But she stepped into it anyways, resisting the amount of force that threatened to suck her outside. Keeping a hand steady on the handle she leaned out, breathing in deeply. At any moment a stray attack could find its way to her, but she never faltered and instead surveyed the world around here. She had done it. She had stopped the Purge.
Yet there was still one thing she had yet to accomplish.
The train went deeper into the Hanging Edge. No going back now. She turned and gazed upon the Hanging Edge, though unlike so long ago, she wasn't afraid anymore. Now, hanging out of a Purge train in the midst of a battlefield, she knew no fear.
There was nothing but determination in her eyes.
A spray of high-powered bullets and rocket-propelled grenades were suddenly fired at the train as reports were received of a rebellion. The plan before was to simply murder the deportees in the Hanging Edge...and that plan was still going to be enacted. Nonetheless, the train gunned on, slicing a path through the carnage. A fatal hit from a high-powered rocket, or perhaps a kamikaze PSICOM-controlled beast to crash into the engine, and Lightning's plans would come screeching to a halt. One was heading for the train right now, a dragon-type machina that fired bolts of electricity. Not only were its attacks weakening the support stilts of the tracks, but it could potentially derail another train car. One had already fallen into the abyss, but Lightning couldn't have predicted its attack then.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a missile launcher in Sazh' hands. Perfect.
"Give me that," she demanded, but before he could protest, she had taken it from his grasp and hefted it onto her shoulder, leaning against the frame for balance. She peered through the scope and closed her left eye, focusing on the monster in the crosshairs. She could see it, blue illuminating its wings. The weapon locked on, signaling a bright red hue. She held her breath and squeezed the trigger, feeling the painful kick as the missile was launched, heading for the beast. It hit its target, exploding on impact. Parts rained down on the train as they passed through.
She fired another missile, gritting her teeth when it missed its target.
That missfire cost another train car as another enemy rained down upon them, firing a slew of bolts that derailed the car, sending it careening into Lake Bresha below the Hanging Edge. Following was a much bigger threat.
The woman's eyes widened as a scorpion-like monster took up the chase, clamping down on the back of the train and sending it screeching to a halt, sparks shooting from beneath the train. The sudden halt of momentum sent Lightning stumbling back into the cabin, where she dropped the missile launcher in favor of her own gunblade. The train car was ripped off leading to the front, leaving a gaping hole where the machine's tail hung. Through it she watched as the monster brought its tail hard on the train, whipping it back and forth in an attempt to simply knock it into the abyss. The impact rocked the entire train, shoving Sazh to the floor.
When it ceased its attack, Sazh began to have doubts. "Run!" he shouted, abandoning all reason. After all, where was he going to run...out into open space? The thought of running away was ludicrous to Lightning. She righted herself and headed for a hole in the roof, jumping through with no problems.
Sazh gaped at her in disbelief before toting his own dual-wielded guns and going after her. What the hell was she doing?
"I meant away!"
Aerorail Trussway 13-E
The Hanging Edge
Fields of War
Lightning's impressive display of acrobatics proved to be much harder to replicate than Sazh had originally thought. She had merely leaped upwards. Sazh, not exactly the spring chicken he used to be, had to find a foothold to climb up, hauling himself out of the serrated-edged hole with effort. Thankfully his gloves gave him protection when gripping the sharp edges. He crawled out and looked up, immediately wishing he hadn't.
The crazy lady – Lightning – was facing off against a huge scorpion-like beast that bore two revolving saws on the end of each hand. She fearlessly raised her sword against it, hefting it in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, making sure the monster knew who its opponent was.
In response the machine leaped into the air several stories high, its spotlights blinding them both before it came crashing back down on the train, shaking Sazh to the bones.
"Hey, hey, hey! Let's be rational now! No need to get ourselves killed!"
"A Manasvin Warmech," she suddenly said, remembering this PSICOM-controlled war machine from her studies in the military academy.
As long as she kept her guard up and –
Before she could finish her thoughts, the Warmech darted forward, slicing the air in front of her before she was airborne, leaping backwards and out of harm's way. Her cold eyes regarded it carefully, but she was confident she could beat it nonetheless.
Sazh, however, was hell-bent on escaping as soon as possible.
"They're sending in the big guns now..." he trailed off. No response. She had every intention of fighting the Warmech. "What do we do?"
Irritated she snapped, "Watch and learn. Just don't get in my way."
Sazh nodded, sure that wouldn't be a problem with that long blade that she had flicked out since the beginning of the fight. Friendly fire wasn't exactly an option right now.
The Warmech raised an arm to attack. Lightning's muscles tensed on instinct, dodging once again before it could tear her to ribbons. This time, its rotators were powered up with electricity, no doubt bolts upon bolts stored in the Warmech, perfect for frying any Purge deportee into a crisp. Sazh shook, visibly nervous.
"We're not actually going to...fight that thing, right?" he asked.
"What do you think?"
Sazh shook his head and gripped his own dual pistols, sleek and obsidian in color. They'd never been used before; pilots that were unfortunate enough to crash in some hostile place like the Vile Peaks were given some amount of protection with the handguns, but Sazh had never encountered an issue like that. This time, he was going to put all of that training with the pistols to work.
"I've got these...hope they're good enough," he said, and braced himself.
Lightning resumed a strong stance, her blade gripped tightly in her right hand and her arm guarding against her chest. Her blue eyes watched every movement of the Warmech, watching for any sort of unpredictability. Any sudden moves and she'd dodge out of the way.
"Right."
With a twitch of her eye she leapt into battle, sprinting straight for its head, gleamed in all of the lights of the Hanging Edge. The Warmech was startled, but mechanically switched to defense, locking its two arms together to form a barrier on top of the train. It dug the serrated chains into the chipped paint of the orange, keeping them in place.
She smirked and just as she reached the arms, vaulted over them and struck the head with her gunblade. She got off another stab, sinking it to the hilt, when sparks showered from the wound and she was forced to backflip out of harm's way. But she knew every move was being analyzed. Every second longer it took to fight the Warmech meant the machine was gathering more data on her abilities and measure of power. She knew now that she'd have to be much careful when delving in to avoid its painful reach.
She tested this theory by feigning an attack. It immediately raised its arms to cut her down, but she jumped back, bouncing lightly on the tip of her toes to retain balance.
"It's gathering data on everything we do."
"What?" he said, surprised. He had been in the middle of firing a round of bullets in its face, hoping none ricocheted.
She shook her head, annoyed.
"You mean that thing learns more about us the longer we fight?! Great!"
"It has the ability to self-destruct, too," she said, before flicking her gunblade into a gun, firing a round before transforming it back.
"...Fantastic!"
Dispatch it quickly, and the Manasvin Warmech falls easily.
That's what she was taught in the event of an encounter with a rogue monster. This time, this wasn't necessarily a rogue Warmech, but it was actually focused on killing her...from the orders of its creators.
One more strike and she was sure it would go down. The problem was getting to it before it did.
The Warmech had different ideas.
It leapt backwards onto the last train car and dug its arms into the sides of the train, rotators slicing firmly into the thick metal. It began shaking the train, tossing the two from side to side.
Lightning lowered her weapon. "Fall back!" she commanded, before racing to the edge of the train car. From there their feet were steadier, but not for long.
Sazh waved a hand, sure they were out of harm's way. Lightning rolled her eyes at his cockiness. Cockiness could get you killed.
"Not so tough now, huh?" he taunted, but was cut short when a burst of light erupted from the crook of its arms, charging a boost.
"Hey, that wasn't like a challenge now, all right?" he said, trying to reassure the Warmech. It was pointless.
"He's tearing the entire train off the tracks!" Lightning said in surprise, before turning and running.
Sazh glanced at her, then back at the Warmech, unsure of what to do. There was no telling as to what it was going to do, and he wasn't sticking around to find out.
"Time to go!"
In one swift movement, the two train cars were ripped from their tracks and into the air, creating a near vertical roof. Sazh and Lightning fell, beginning to slide into the abyss, but she used her gunblade to right herself, balancing on it before sprinting for the edge of the car. She spotted a rail lining the edge just before the space dropped into darkness. Reaching out, her hand gripped the rail and she swung her body onto it, wedging the edge in the space between the soles of her boots and the arch of her foot. The slickness allowed her to skate down the edge, gaining time. Just before dropping off she jumped, twisting her body to face the Warmech when she landed once again.
This was all impressive and whatnot, but certainly nothing Sazh could do at the present moment.
Sazh's face was nothing but terror as she slid closer and closer to death. His boots provided no traction. "I'm coming!" he shouted.
Lightning gritted her teeth. "Just jump!"
Every fiber of his will fed into that leap of faith, his body completely under the control of gravity. His life flashes before his eyes, but fate had other plans, and he landed safely – if a bit bruised – beside Lightning, wrenching an awful crick in his back when doing so. The chocobo zoomed out, chirping for moral support.
"Heads up," Lightning warned, before the Warmech landed on the train car. All orders were focused on annihilating them, self-destruction or not.
"This thing...won't give up," Sazh panted, rubbing his shoulder in pain. He was getting too old for this.
"Cover me," she commanded, and sprinted forward again, raising her arm and guarding her face. Her movements were fluid and the Warmech was unable to reach her in time before she leapt into the air, gripping the handle with both hands and bringing the blade hard onto its outer surface.
She squeezed her eyes shut for the sparks that blinded her vision, and yanked her blade out. Using its head as a launchpad, she shot off from it, safely twisting in midair to avoid its rotators.
"Hey, look out!" Sazh shouted.
Lightning turned her head midair to find the Warmech's head opening into two panels, giving way to a burst of light. It shot forward, barely giving her enough time to raise her sword and shield herself against it. The impact knocked her to her knees, but she popped back up in no time.
But the move shed some light on the creature's inner weakness. Whenever the front of its head split open into two segments, its inside circuits were revealed alongside the opening that fired the cannon of energy. If she could anger it to open up again and distract it, then maybe...
"Shoot its head when it opens up again," she commanded, steadily moving forward.
Sazh had the easy part. She had to dodge its serrated rotators, and those things just kept getting faster and faster.
"But that cannon thing...!" he said.
"Just do it!"
Sazh breathed – rather shakily – and prepared his guns, keeping them aimed at its head. His nerves were getting to him as he bounced in place.
Agitated, the Warmech ceased trying to hit Lightning and opened up for another cannon attack. She leapt out of the way, holding her blade parallel to her face.
"Now!"
"Okay!"
He fired. The cannon's release came to a halt as the bullets ricocheted inside of its head, hitting circuits and shorting its functions. As if a robot, its movements became jerky...its body twitched, and the light in the Warmech's eyes faded. Weight and gravity collided, sending the Warmech collapsing over the side. No one ever saw it again.
Sazh looked at the space the Warmech had occupied just a second ago. They'd done it.
"Whew!" He fell to the ground tiredly, but with a slight grin on his face. "Oh, goodness...we're alive."
He watched Lightning stride to the edge of the train, her blade still firmly clasped in her hand. Her movements were quick. He could tell she was in the military, and not just because of her glowing shoulder pauldron.
"We did it – " a horde of warships flew by, their machine guns going off in rapid-fire succession as they battled an unknown enemy. Ahead of them, another part of the Purge train had stopped, but rebels had already spilled out, armed with fallen soldiers' guns and taking a stand. All around them, Cocoon civilians and the government clashed.
Just a few days ago, this never would have been thought possible.
Lightning stood and flicked her wrist, folding the blade into a gun and tucking it into the holster hanging from her waist. That's right, Sazh thought. She's a soldier...
"Aren't you supposed to protect civilians, Soldier?" he slowly got to his feet, wincing at the new ache in his knees. He could thank his not-so-graceful landing earlier for that. She stopped, tense. "I mean, you are Sanctum, aren't you? What're you doin' trying to stop the Purge? Why don't you tell me that?" His tone was suspicious.
"I was a soldier," she snapped, before diving off the end of the train, landing somewhere on the tracks below. Sazh could vaguely hear the click of her boots as she walked off...she was leaving him!
Disgruntled, the old man hurried to the edge. "Hey!" he called, "where do you think you're going?!"
No reply.
He sighed, feeling a nudge in his hair. The chocobo chick he owned burst out from his dark afro, chirping merrily. At least someone was having a blast, because he sure wasn't. He held out his hand; the chocobo chick flew in the air before its wings tired, and he landed on his palm, pecking at his wings to scratch an itch. Sazh smiled. At least he had this little guy.
"Chocobo, we just can't catch a break, can we?"
The bird chirped in agreement, taking flight once more.
"Yeah, that's a good question," Sazh mused to himself, and hurried after Lightning, carefully climbing over the edge. "Well...better follow her. Hopefully she knows where she's going, 'cause we don't."
The Purge train had stopped in the middle of a warzone, and Sazh was caught right in the middle of it all. He didn't yet know that five others in the exact same location were about to be brought together by fate.
Nah. His mindset was simpler than that.
"I'm getting' too old for this..."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you enjoyed this first part of Chapter 01: The Hanging Edge of my FINAL FANTASY XIII Novelization. I'm hoping it gets better. Some parts I will have to add of course to make it more of a narrative, but a lot of dialogue will stay the same with my add-ons, of course. Hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to review!
-WriteFF13