One minute she was in the heat of battle, shooting a PSICOM gunner between the eyes and sliding the blazefire into its sabre form to slash an oncoming mech. The next, everything faded into a sort of hazy slow motion and all sound was drowned in a deafening silence. Sumi fell from the ledge above with the wind punched out of him and a bullet through his chest, and Lightning stared in horror as his body punched the ground and lay lifeless, with his left leg sprawled at an unnatural angle.
Hacking a myrmidon into submission and launching a ruin spell at a mounted turret, Lightning leapt acrobatically across the raging battlefield, blocking bullets with her sabre. She crouched over the body, with tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes for the first time in as long as she could remember. Although the others had guessed at her feelings for Sumi, they could never really figure her out. With her wild mood swings and tendency to keep her feelings to herself unless she was angry, for the most part they avoided such topics.
As the last few drones fell to the ground, Sazh and Vanille hastened to where the lifeless body lay. Lightning brushed off the tears before they could leak onto her pretty face and turned away. Hope soon arrived and began to ask what was wrong, but stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Lightning striding purposefully away. He couldn't tell if she was shaking in anger or sadness; it troubled the young boy, for he knew her best out of all of them, and she was never quick to let her emotions show.
"Now that's just not fair," said Sazh as he slowly shook his head from side to side. "Even a l'Cie doesn't deserve to die like this." Vanille gave him a dirty look, and he hastily corrected himself. "Not that l'Cie deserve to die, of course. Hey, we're all in the same boat, right?"
"We should give him a proper funeral service," said Vanille. "It's the least we can do."
"But PSICOM are tracking us," Hope interjected. "If we don't keep moving-"
"You've been listening to Lightning too much. Who cares about PSICOM? Not me." Vanille turned to Sazh for support. Finding none, she turned to call to Lightning and saw her sitting on a large rock in the distance, staring at the ground.
"Hmm, and we didn't even get to see his Eidolon," said Sazh thoughtfully.
"Maybe he didn't have one yet?" suggested Hope. Vanille looked at them disapprovingly and skipped off toward Lightning. "You would have thought, if he had one, he would have used it now."
"That's true," said Sazh. "There were more troops in this ambush than any we've ever fought before. It must have been too much for even five l'Cie this time. Sadly, one of us couldn't make it. The mechs too… how did they get their hands on that? It's Pulse technology, PSICOM can't be that clever."
"I manned one of those once," Hope boasted. "It took out loads of soldiers with just one sweep! Although maybe it takes a l'Cie to work one…"
Just then, the brand on Sumi's chest began to glow. A bright light erupted from it, and it seemed as though he was either going to become crystal or the process of becoming a Cie'th was beginning. Then a series of rings expanded in the air and locked into position, forming a summoning eidolith. Sazh and Hope looked on in wonder as a beautiful red-haired woman clad in thick armour and scarlet and gold robes appeared before them. She wielded a long, thin blade that was carved into the shape of a wing, with supernatural feather-like appendages stemming from it at odd angles.
The event caused Lightning to look up, as the others gathered around the lifeless form and the strange being now rising above it. Vanille had stopped in her tracks and turned in awe. The woman brandished the blade and began to swing it in a wide circle, causing the others to step back. It began to blaze with a kind of mystical flame, and then it was directed at Sumi. In a blinding flash of light, the mighty Eidolon transformed before their eyes.
Soon there was no longer a woman standing before them, but a strange bird-like creature that was part organic and part machine. Flames erupted from what could only be described as exhausts and the gestalt being rocketed skyward to explode in a huge ball of fire. A wisp of smoke escaped and sparks began to fall. Sazh put out his hand do catch one, which dissipated instantly.
Then Sumi's body was lifted into the air and stood erect, as if he were alive. His head lolled back and suddenly the eyes opened. An eerie crimson glow shone within the sockets, and the sky seemed to become dark. The body shook violently in rapid convulsions, as if it was having a fit. Then massive scarlet wings broke forth from just below the shoulders, with golden-tipped primary feathers. They flapped twice, lifting the body higher, and then one by one the feathers detached themselves and rose into the air, disappearing in a swirl of red and yellow. At the same time, flames appeared at Sumi's feet and swept up through the whole body to dissolve into nothing. As soon as it had begun, it ended, and the body fell to the ground once more.
After moments of shocked silence, the rings unhinged themselves and then the light faded back into the l'Cie brand. Coughing lightly, Sumi's eyes opened and were no longer glowing red. It seemed he was alive after all.
Much to the others' surprise, Lightning immediately ran over and knelt by the once dead body, planting a kiss upon his lips. "Don't ever do that again," she whispered, and then strode off toward the rock. Sumi sat up and rolled his tongue across his teeth in mild surprise. Sazh whistled, and Hope spoke up.
"So that was your Eidolon?"
"Phoenix," said Sumi. "Supposedly, the phoenix bird never dies because whenever it is time to depart from this world, it burns to ash and is reborn. Phoenix saved my life soon after I became a l'Cie. I was being hunted by soldiers, and didn't know what to do. She just appeared and killed them all before my eyes. Then she transformed and carried me to safety. She's been with me ever since."
"So does that mean you can never die?"
"I don't really know. This is the first time I've actually, y'know, died. So whether I'm cursed to live forever or not, I have no idea."
"That's some story," said Sazh. "But how is eternal life a curse?"
"Well, if I can't ever really die, I'll have to see everyone I love die and still live on. That would be too painful to endure. I don't think I could ever live after that."
"And with Lightning…" Sazh stopped himself. There was no need to confront this now. "Welcome back, anyway. Just use Phoenix before you die next time, OK?"