The Forgotten Legacies
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own any aspect of the Final Fantasy series.
Author's Notes:
And so it begins. With the widely regarded dissatisfying canon ending to FFXIII-2, I decided to write a follow-up story to it, if only to provide me personally with some better resolution on the question of Lightning, as well as to tie together all of the loose ends that were left hanging (I do so enjoy tying up loose ends).
I still don't have an ending for this fully fleshed out (trying to put together everything left by the series in a manner that is both satisfying and doesn't pull a total deus ex machina is not an easy task—though of course now that I've said that I should prepare to eat my own words), but I thought I would go ahead and get started on this beast of a post-ending story.
As a reminder to what is stated in the overall summary, while this story will contain eventual Fang/Lightning, the keyword in the aforesaid phrase is "eventual". I am not a fan of rushing things, and believe that development is crucial, not to mention that the event resolution is central to the story itself. In other words, be patient. It will come along eventually, I promise.
Enough of my banter, though. It is with great pleasure that I present the first chapter of The Forgotten Legacies. Please read and enjoy!
~Logos Minus Pity
p.s. This is now Ch. 1 version 2.0. I have made significant modifications and additions in order to better fit the scenes as released in the Requiem of the Goddess DLC.
Ch. 1. Eternal Oath [Prologue]
Lightning was in the throne room of Etro again, and though she knelt on the tiled floor before the gargantuan crystalline throne, she did not kneel toward the throne. That would be pointless now. No longer would she be saluting the slumbering majesty of the Divine Goddess; the throne was merely a throne now, beautiful, yes, but bereft of its Lady. Etro was dead, slain along with her Heart of Chaos that had resided in Caius. It seemed that, at long last, Lightning's forever-war with the Guardian of the Heart was over, though not for reasons of celebration.
To say that Lightning was kneeling was not entirely correct. She crouched, really, huddled and fallen over the one thing that had always mattered the most to her, and that, like everything else, it seemed she was unable to protect. Serah lay on the ground before her, as lifeless as in the prior vision she had been shown. Whether it was real or another chaos illusion did not matter; she knew the truth either way. Though she may have defeated Caius, Lightning knew she had lost. Death was beyond her ability to save.
Serah, her dear younger sister. She had been the one truly chosen and marked by Etro, with eyes that saw through time and death itself. Any visions Lightning had seen was only through the timeless nature of the Valhalla, not through any gift given to her. She was only that which she had always been—a soldier. Etro had given her more tools to meet her ends, but she had never been among the chosen like Serah, or Yeul, or even Caius or Noel. She would have gladly taken the burden and price of a seer's eyes from Serah in a heartbeat, but things did not work that way. The Eyes of Etro, like all gifts from the Goddess, were arguably a mixed blessing and curse, but also could not be taken back once received. Though the visions would shorten the seer's lifeline, Lightning had been confident that with the timeline restored, Serah would be relatively safe. She was certain her sister still had many years left to live out and enjoy. She had been so sure, so confident in what little she actually knew. With the death of the Goddess and the dissolution of time itself commencing as the realms overlapped, the seer's eyes had exacted their final and ultimate price. Serah had been the one to pay for Lightning's folly. In her mind, all she heard was the certain and crushing pronouncement from Yeul.
"Serah's death is your doing. At your bidding she began her journey, and thus her life was lost."
"I'm so s-sorry…Serah," she whispered. Her heart felt like it was splitting as a few tears finally broke free and trailed down her face, and she wept unashamedly.
"Don't be sorry. And forget your tears—you don't need them."
Startled by the all too familiar voice, Lightning looked up to see Serah sitting casually atop the Throne of Etro. Her eyes were soft and intent on Light.
"No matter what future is waiting for us, I'll have no regrets. And no matter what end we see coming, I won't change my mind."
This was the real Serah, Lightning realized abruptly. Not some cruel mimicry made from shadows and illusions, but the true last vestige of her sister as she passed between worlds and her spirit moved on. At the same time, Lightning quickly pieced a few things together.
"You knew," her voice was low with grief still, and half accusatory as much as understanding. "You knew what would happen." She didn't need to say what.
Serah did not directly answer, which was answer enough in itself. The illusion figure of Serah that lay before Lightning faded into nothing as the real Serah continued. "You taught me how to live my life. No matter what, we shouldn't give up hope."
Lightning stood upright. She unthinkingly reached out with her hand toward her sister. There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn't know how. "Serah…"
"I believe in you. You'll keep the future of this world safe." The younger Farron shook her head with acceptance. "So it's okay. I don't mind if I'm gone."
Then she smiled softly, and vanished into streams of chaos and white light. Lightning yelled her name and reached out desperately, but to no avail. She was not fast enough. She could not touch her sister. It made her want to scream with helplessness.
Not yet! Please not yet!
Perhaps some greater power heard her. Perhaps it was one last gift from Etro. Either way, as the light exploded outward, it enveloped Lightning, too, and for a brief second she was with Serah in world that had no beginning and no end. She held her sister close and hugged her, internally begging for her not to leave even as Serah's spirit journeyed onward.
"Promise me, Claire. Promise me you'll remember me."
Lightning found herself blinking back dots of white from her vision as the warmth of her sister slowly left her again. Though she was now stranded and standing alone back in the temple, Serah's final parting words stayed. They had given her one last beacon of light and hope in a world surrounded by total darkness. Her battle was over, her war arguably lost, but she was not yet finished. It seemed that at long last, this was her end of line. Over five hundred years ago by the time of the Mortal World, Etro had saved her from a death by chaos. It was time to repay the favor.
I promise, Serah. For an eternity, I promise.
A shining stairway of crystal materialized before Lightning, leading a clear path up toward the massive Throne of Etro. She placed a boot on the first step, cautiously, and then with increasing purpose. Her footfalls were the only sound as chaos silently twisted and warped the world around her.
And suddenly, she stood in front of the throne, the steps she had ascended now gone and disappeared again.
Lightning brushed her fingers delicately over the armrest of the throne. Even now the normally bright and glowing crystal was dimming, its inner light fading and with it the all too fragile gate that separated the realms. But the crystal itself remained, physically unchanged and indestructible. Valhalla had altered the meaning of the word eternity for her, had changed her understanding of what forever meant. But there was one thing that Lightning knew was synonymous with eternal.
She could see now the vision of her way, her Focus, of her final act bequeathed upon her by the Goddess and unveiled to her by Serah. It was too late to save either Serah or the Goddess now, but her last act might help to stave off the encroaching destruction for the rest of mankind. It might maintain the hope that the Goddess had so loved in her children, and that Serah had so strongly lived by.
Bowing her head, she turned and sat upon the Throne of the Goddess, crossing one leg atop the other and laying her gunblade heavily upon her lap. The whole of the world weighed on her shoulders, and despair born from past deeds, greater than what she had ever known or imagined, threatened to consume her. But she would not fall to it. She would not give into the end. Not now.
In her heart, as much as her head, she needed to remember and to hold a wish.
It was more than a wish: it was a promise, a hope. Even with Etro gone, even with Serah…that promise always remained: the promise to protect, to atone, and to remember forever, no matter what. In her heart, Serah's words held. She clutched onto them with all her will and might.
The familiar rush of burning cold emanated out from over her heart, from where her old l'Cie brand, now blazing and complete, lay. Her legs grew numb and still as the crystallization quickly took effect. She had only seconds before she succumbed to full stasis. Lightning turned her head to the side, willing away her doubts, and hanging onto that small but persistent hope for the future. Her time was over now. But at least she could end it with some last gesture for those who were still left. She thought of Vanille, of Fang suddenly—she never would get that chance to rescue and see them again now—of all of her old friends and family. She might not be able to restore all of time, but she hoped that she could give them enough.
As her last breath passed through her stiffening lips, it sounded not like sigh of air, but like the mournful echo of Etro's Lament.