Hi all,

I've decided to start on something that I came up with my sister and friend. (It was originally an rp, but the story line - and details were too good to ignore.) This story takes place in olden times, when there was still countries which had their kings and queens. Though, some things may be different, as this is AU, ages might be different, but most of them are generally the same as the games.

The prologue mostly centers around Claire, (Soon to be Lightning. Read and you'll see. c: ) but there is a good amount of Serah. But the story will generally be set around all the characters, though the main characters of the story is Claire/Lightning, Serah, Hope, and Snow (and some of the villans), while Fang and Vanille won't be mentioned as much (they're still a favorite of mine though).

Well, without further ado. Enjoy!

The young and nimble girl brushed down the long corridor, her brand new flats barely making noise as she moved with speed. The light blue dress she wore seemed to slow her down as she rounded a corner, nearly bumping into a few armored knights. Apologizing silently, the young girl slowed her pace as she came to her destination. She raised a small hand to a door and knocked twice, swallowing away any fears. "Claire?" When there was no answer to the girl, she knocked again, hoping to get Claire's attention. "Claire, please open the door."

After a moment, the door finally opened and a eleven year old girl stood in the doorway. Her carnation pink hair sticking up at all ends, as if she had just gotten out of bed at the sound of her voice. Her aquamarine eyes looked over the younger girl in curiosity. "Yeah, Serah?"

A large smile grew on the younger girl's face, giggling quietly and wrapping her fragile arms around Claire. "Hi sis." Was her response, cushioning her head into Claire's chest. Serah was three years younger than Claire, and it was quite obvious by the size of the young girl. While Claire stood at 4'10", Serah was a mere 4'1". A whole nine inches shorter than her elder sister.

"Hey, Serah." Claire responded dully, carefully putting her arms around her younger sister. The younger girl looked up with her white teeth showing. "What are you doing up so late, Serah?"

"Grandma's here!" Serah exclaimed, bouncing up and down in Claire's arms. The eight year old then managed to escape the hug and gripped onto elder girl's wrist. "She wants to see you, Claire!"

Claire pondered over this for a few moments, it was currently way past Serah's bed time, which could mean two things; a) Grandma really did want to see Claire, or b) Serah reaaaalllllly wanted to see Grandma and used Claire as an excuse. "Surely I can see her tomorrow morning, Serah. It's far too late to be speaking with Grandma. I'll stop b-"

"But Claire!" Whined Serah, tugging on the elder sister's wrist. She gave Claire her best pout, whimpering a bit. "We- You haven't seen her in forever! I mi- She misses you!"

Just as I thought, Claire mentally noted as she stared Serah down. The young girl seemed like she was about to cry, and if she started to cry then Claire would be the one take care of the tears. She shuddered at that thought. "Serah, you can see her tomorrow morning. Okay?"

Then Serah burst into tears, causing a scene. A few of the knights turned the corner to see what was wrong, praying that the younger girl wasn't hurt at all. Claire glanced at the knights and then sighed loudly. This happened every time Serah wanted something. "B-b-b-b-b-but.. Claiiire..."

"Fine. We'll see Grandma." Caved Claire, holding onto Serah's wrist and started to walk down the hall. The sniffling of Serah started to subside after a few moments of silently walking.

Eventually, the younger sibling took Claire's hand and squeezed it gently. Serah looked up into her aquamarine eyes, a fragile smile on the adolescent face. "My friend wasn't around today, sis."

Claire blinked, she didn't remember Serah mentioning any friends to her. Their parents generally didn't let them bond with much of the children around the castle, as they were afraid that they'd cause trouble. So, Claire often spent her time reading in the library or secretly training herself with spare gunblades that she found left behind by soldiers. She had grown too mature (as her mother liked to put it) to play with Serah after she turned eleven.

And well, she wasn't sure of this friend that Serah was mentioning. "Your friend...?" Claire asked, turning her head to look in front of her. She had lived in the castle all of her life, and there was still times that she had gotten lost.

"Yeah, my friend!" Serah giggled and held Claire's hand tighter. "Don't tell Mommy or Daddy about her though.."

Claire would definitely not tattle on her younger sibling. "What's your friend like, Serah?" She inquired, passing a few knights that stood guard by the dinning hall. They visibly stiffened as the two girls passed, trying to show that they were still awake and doing their job. Though, neither of the two young girls cared and quickly passed them.

"Well, she's really pretty, Claire!" Serah gushed, quickening her pace so that she was walking side by side with her older sister. "But she's also really sick. I feel bad for her."

Perhaps she was just an imaginary friend, Claire thought to herself as she nodded to Serah.

As the two young girls closed in on the room that Claire assumed their grandmother was staying, she could hear shouting coming from the room. Curiosity stroke Claire as she approached the door, her father wasn't one to usually argue with his own mother, so surely something was going on. Serah sensed something too, and her grip on Claire's hand tightened.

"What's going on Claire?" She asked, her dark blue eyes wide. "Is Grandma okay?"

Muffled voices still were casted from the room, and Claire tried to pick up what they were saying. Aquamarine looked down at the lavender pink haired girl, whose eyes were large with curiosity and fear. "I think so, Serah." Replied Claire, her tone gentle. "I don't we'll be able to see Grandma tonight though."

"They're a threat to this country, Norman! First they start small, but then they'll get bigger and bigger! Eventually they'll just kill you and your family off! Get rid of them at once!"

The two young girls jumped at the sudden yell, hearts beating fast. They had never heard their grandmother yell before, and they never planned on it. Though, the words that their grandmother roared made Claire wonder who exactly they were talking about.

Serah suddenly brought herself closer to her older sister, wrapping her small arms around Claire. The young girl started to quietly cry into the elder's nightgown, shaking from fear and perhaps exhaustion. Claire however, tugged the smaller girl with her as she got herself closer to the door. Brushing strands of carnation pink aside, she placed her ear against the wooden door and tried to listen in to what the adults were saying.

Though, she didn't listen for long as yawns started to escape her lips. She also wasn't aware that her younger sister had nearly fell asleep in her arms, her tears had run dry and a broken smile was on her face. Claire sighed slightly and ruffled her sister's hair, before kissing the top of her head.

"Let's get you back to bed, Serah." Claire whispered and started to stand up. Though her support against the door was gone as it was opened with a sudden strong force. She fell backwards and Serah falling on top of her.

Three gasps were heard, which then was followed by a grunt, which she assumed was her father. "Claire, you should know very well that it's your bed time."

Claire sat up, still holding Serah in her arms. She blinked a few times, then looked up at her father who had a distressed look on her face. Her grandmother seemed distressed as well, and looked away from the young girls, though her mother had a different expression on her face, which Claire couldn't describe.

"Sorry father," she muttered and looked down at Serah. As much as this was technically her sister's fault, she would never put the blame on her kid sister. "I wanted to see Grandma, but I should have waited until the morning. I'll bring Serah to bed now."

Promptly standing up, Claire woke up the now sleeping younger Serah and explained to her that it was bed time. Serah nodded lightly, leaning in Claire's arms. Glancing back at her distressed father, Claire gave her a childish smile and managed to carry her younger sister back to her room.

x- Four Years Later -x

As the rain poured down on the fields just outside the walls of the castle, Claire watched from her windowsill. She had just returned from dinner, which was a bit eerie, as her father was missing from the dining room. Perhaps he had some meetings to attend that he did not warn his family about, but that was highly unlike him.

Something about this night seemed off to Claire, but she couldn't quite but her finger on it.

The rain came down hard, as if it was almost hail. If one were to go outside for the slightest second, they would be drenched from the water that emerged from the sky above. Though, off in the distance Claire could hardly see strong bolts of lightning crashing down, destroying anything that it dared to land on. These bolts fascinated her, something about their vicious colors struck an interest to the fifteen year old girl.

And as a bolt struck a tree, tearing it in half and causing it to erupt in flames, Claire couldn't pull her attention elsewhere. Continuous bolts of lightning struck around the field, each gradually getting closer to the castle where she stood. Thunder roared through the the sky, causing Claire to jump a bit.

The storm had made it's roundabouts near the mid afternoon, causing any further outdoor activities the two Farron sisters had to be canceled. Claire was a bit relieved of this, as she wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of her afternoon in town. There was always something strange and off about the place, and people would always stare at Claire and her family. Staring was impolite, her father always told her.

Visits to the town were long and dreadful to Claire, and most of the time something went wrong. Whether a wheel broke to their wagon, or a horse got terribly sick. Claire had seen it all, and wanted nothing else to do with it. Her mother told her it had to do with her growing up and her 'teenage hormones'.

Once they had returned to the castle, King Norman disappeared into the depths of the castle, saying he had unfinished business to attend to. Claire and Serah shrugged this off and went their separate ways, not aware of what he was exactly talking about.

But now, Claire had a damn good idea of what he was talking about. Though her memories were a bit fogged, as it was about four years ago, she knew that her father was talking about the people who stole from the castle. He finally decided to listen to what his mother said and get the job done. Perhaps it was in act of protection to his daughters.

So Claire wasn't too startled when her bedroom door was opened with a such force a gust of wind brushed by her. She casually looked over her shoulder at her younger sister, whose eyes were once again wide with fear. The cold air from the storm reached Serah quickly, and she shivered. "Claire, it's an emergency!"

That however, caught Claire completely off guard. Turning herself to face Serah, Claire blinked twice. "What's wrong?" She asked, but then continued to throw questions at her younger sister. "Is Father okay? What about Mom? She's not sick is she?"

Serah swallowed thickly, looking down at her feet. Her small hands in front of her, thumbs twirling over each other. It was clear that something was wrong. "Dad's..."

Claire stiffened at her one word, looking back over her shoulder and at the window. The storm continued on, and lightning crashed down outside the castle walls as it dared to cause destruction. "What's wrong with Father, Serah?"

"He's dead, Claire! Somebody killed dad!" Serah finally choked out, raising her head hesitantly to see Claire's reaction.

Claire's face fell, and any emotion aside from hurt was swept away from her. While her shoulders dropped, her lips quivered as sorrow flowed throughout her body. She was not expecting this at all, if anything she was expecting Serah to tell her that their father was going to host another one of those extremely annoying balls that Claire always had to attend.

Though, this was much worse. It was something that she never wanted to happen, or hear. As much as her father irked her at times, Claire still loved him dearly. And to hear that someone had murdered her father, well, she didn't want to accept this quite yet.

"You're just playing around... right?" Claire asked unsurely, taking a shaky deep breath as she tries to keep her cool. Crying in front of her younger sister was something that she hated to do.

Serah stomped her foot and then proceeded to shake her head. "I wouldn't joke about this, Claire!" The younger Farron snapped at Claire, racing over to the elder girl and wrapped her small arms around her. "Dad's dead, Claire. And he's not coming back!"

"Shut up!" Claire yelled at Serah, pushing the younger girl away from her. She wasn't able to grasp the idea of her own father being dead, it couldn't be true to her. "Stop it! He's not dead Serah!"

Finally letting a tear slither down her cheek, Serah tugged at Claire's arm. "No! You listen Claire!" Continuing to tug on her arm, Serah pulled the elder Farron out of her room. She then proceeded to take the sibling down to the main corridor, where the atmosphere changed dramatically, Claire could sense that there was something was off. "Father is dead!"

"... No!" Claire shouted. Moving her arm quickly, she finally got Serah to let go. Taking a few steps back, Claire looked around the corridor, her eyes wide in shock and recognition. Trailing the floor to a limp body at the other end of the hall was a liquid of crimson red, which after a few minutes, Claire figured it to be blood. And the limp body at the end of the hall was indeed, her father's. "How.."

Claire started to cry as well, her whole body shaking as she let go of her emotions. Serah moved slowly to her elder sister, hugging her gently as the two of them cried in each other's arms. Their not so muffled sobs were heard by the nearby knights, who turned the corner of the corridor and let out gasp at the sight of the dead king. One quickly moved to the king as the other closed in on the young girls.

"My ladies, are you alright?" He asked in a light voice, kneeling down so he was eye level with Serah. He raised his head up slowly to look at the elder Farron, whose aquamarine orbs were dark. "Did you two happen to see who did this to your father?"

Claire simply stared at the knight for a moment, words caught on her tongue. "No. I was in my room."

"Ah, I suppose that's a good thing." The knight mumbled to himself as he nodded slowly. He then looked down at Serah who continued to cry into her sister's nightgown, clutching onto the long sleeves and pulling them down gently. "Though, I suggest you two should leave. This is awfully traumatizing to two young girls."

Claire turned her head away from the knight, staring at her decapitated father. The thunder boomed in the background, causing Serah to jump slightly at the sound. Raising her hand, Claire placed it on Serah's head and ruffled the pink hair slowly. An awkward cough came out of the knight's mouth, trying to indicate that Claire and Serah should leave. "Fine."

Serah looked up at Claire, her head going up and down slowly. The two Farrons looked at the man, while Claire's eyes showed no emotion, Serah's were filled with uncertainty. Though, the elder sister tugged on her younger sister's wrist and slowly walked her down the hall. Each step away from their father was like stepping on needles; the pain knowing that their dad was dead wouldn't subside.

Serah's cries weren't silent, either, and they filled each hallway and corridor. And it seemed the farther they were away from their father, the louder her sobs became. Claire wasn't quite sure how to console Serah, as her mother was the one who let the girls use her shoulder to cry on. Their mother was presumably sleeping at this hour, as it was after all, quite late at night.

Thunder boomed, but neither sister jumped at the sound. Their heads were hanging low, as reality was striking both of them right in the face. If their father wasn't dead this exact moment, would the two sisters be giggling late at night in one of their rooms discussing their trip they took earlier? Or would Claire be sitting in her room, continuing to watch the storm that encompassed the castle?

"Claire...?" Serah suddenly asked when the two siblings finally reached the young Farron's door. The twelve year old girl reached out to touch her sister's face, but frowned when the older girl created a gap between the two. The elder sibling stared off in the distance, something clearly on her mind. "Claire, I know that you're sad..."

"Go to bed, Serah."

"Why?" Retorted Serah, putting her hands on her undeveloped hips. "I'm not tired and I want to see mom!"

Claire took a deep breath and brought her cold stare onto Serah. The smaller girl gulped quietly and reached for the handle to her door. "You can see her tomorrow, it's too dangerous for you to be hanging outside of your room."

"But you're in danger too..!" Serah gasped, tugging on Claire's arm. "You can sleep in my room tonight! I can't loose you as well, Claire... I can't."

Disregarding the entire situation that was happening, Claire couldn't help but smile. It was nice to know that her sister cared so deeply for her. "Don't worry about me, Serah." Facing her younger sibling, Claire put her hands on Serah's shoulders. "I'll be safe. Now you go to bed, alright? We'll mourn about father then."

Nodding slowly, Serah gazed up at her older sister. Unsure of whether or not to believe that Claire was going to go to her room and be safe. Raising a shaky hand, Serah extended her pinky out to Claire. "You have to pinky promise."

"Serah, I'm too old to be pinky promising." Claire replied bluntly, glancing down at the pinky before her.

"Please sis? I want to know that you're going to be safe."

It wasn't until after a whole moment of contemplating when Claire finally wrapped her pinky around Serah's. "Fine, I pinky promise." She whispered, squeezing slightly and then quickly pulling her hand away. After all, she was too old be doing such things. "Now go to bed, I'll be by in the morning."

The younger girl smiled faintly, opening her door and proceeded to enter it swiftly. Listening to the door close, Claire turned around and glanced both ways of the hallway. Knowing that the coast was clear, she then crept down past her own bedroom and to the main hall. Barely opening the castle doors, she slipped past them and exited to the storm where lightning danced across the fields.

She had already broken the promise she had made with her sister. But if Serah knew nothing about what happened, then well, she would never know that Claire broke the promise.

Cold raindrops poured onto the teenager's head, wetting her carnation hair. She walked at a slow pace, aware of the lightning that stuck around the field. It was indeed, completely crazy for the girl to be walking out in such a storm, but something seemed to be calling her out. It wasn't long before her nightgown was soaked and clung to her maturing body.

Lightning struck down near a tree, which then proceeded to catch on fire. Not too long after the bolt, thunder roared above her. Claire looked back over her shoulder at the castle, she could turn around now and hide in the depths of her room, or she could proceeded up ahead where a tall figure stood by the gates.

Her body acted on its own, legs moving at a fast pace. She approached the figure quietly, unsure of who they were. For all she knew, this man could be the man that killed her father.

"Lightning," they spoke clearly, gyrating slightly. "it flashes bright, then fades away."

Claire jumped back a bit at the sound of the person's voice. It was deep, and she could tell that something was off about them. "What are you talking about?"

A bolt of lightning struck nearby, lighting up the person's face. It was a man, whose age Claire couldn't figure out. Long locks of what she decided to name dark violet, stuck close to the sides of his face and lumped against his back and neck. And thought she saw a few feathers sticking out of his hair, but she wasn't so sure.

"It can destroy, but can it protect?"

Maybe the man was just crazy, Claire thought as she took a step back. Perhaps she still had time to escape before the man made a decision to close in on her. "Who are you?"

The man snorted, raising a hand to his face. It was hard to see his movements, as it seemed the storm started to cease. "My name isn't important here, Claire."

"But you know mine." She replied cautiously, taking three large steps back. There was something about this man that was off, and Claire didn't want to be around him any longer. "A-.. and it's Lady Claire to you."

"I am not one of this country," he replied simply. "At least, not anymore. You see, your father.. well, let's not elaborate on that."

"You know of my father?!" Claire generally wouldn't be so surprised by this, he was Bodhum's king just hours earlier.

The man snickered at her words, pointing a finger at Claire. "Of course I do, he was the king, after all."

"So you know he's dead," she spoke to herself more than the man. A hand rose to her chin, pondering over this. Words did get around quickly at the castle, though this man didn't even live in the country.

And it clicked.

"Were you the one that murdered him?"

The man grunted, turning his palm so it faced the sky. "You think on the spot Claire, perhaps one day you will be ready enough to lead this country. Your father's death might be of my doing, but what will I get from telling you? After all, isn't a mystery something you've always enjoyed?"

Run, screamed Claire's mind. She could escape this man now, and bring herself into safety enclosed from the castle walls. Something however, kept her standing there talking to the man. And as he gradually approached Claire, fear started to grow viciously, and her body seemed to freeze. "Perhaps yes, I've always enjoyed a good mystery, but that is when it's written down on parchment. This is no time for games, sir."

The castle doors shot open suddenly, and five knights sprinted out. Each one of them shouting at the princess to get back inside. Though, as she stood paralyzed with fear watching the man before her, her mind raced with thoughts of who he was, and what he was assumably going to do with her. Lady Luck must have been on her side for the first time that day, as the man moved with sudden speed.

And he was gone before Claire could ask once again for his name.

A strong grip wrapped around her arm, pulling her back. "What in Etro are you doing out here? Are you trying to get yourself killed, Lady Claire?"

Reality smacked her in the face once again, but her walls grew higher. Moving her arm, she got the knight to release his death grip. Turning around promptly, Claire walked at a face pace to inside the castle. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, but it wasn't a good thing at all.

"Lady Claire answer me!"

Halting, Claire let a long breath exit through her nose. The man's words that he spoke about lightning rummaging through her mind. Could lightning actually protect? Or was he just fooling around with her mind?

"Lady Cl-"

"Don't call me that!" She snapped, turning her head to look at the knight. He had removed his helmet in the process, perhaps to get a more stern look across the the teenager. "You, and everyone else in this castle will call me "Lightning". Is that understood?"

"Lady Claire, surely you're not going to change your name." Shaking his head, the knight took ahold of the young girl's hand. "You should think this over, my lady."

"What I say is final. I must protect my family." Her aquamarine eyes glazed over the man before turning her head away in disgust. "Replace your helmet, knight. As it's disrespectful to take it off around the royal family."

He was done questioning the princess, and he assumed that she'd ask to be called Claire by the next morning. "I.. yes, Lady C-.. Lightning."