Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Guider Of Souls
Voices.
Young mortal.
They spoke in his dreams.
Son of Sage, chosen by Stout.
Night after night since the Fall.
Abandoned by all like Fool.
Words without sense echoed in his mind.
The shadow of your mother chains you to the past.
Their intensity increasing.
You and I are not so different.
Specially since the beginning of the end.
Both strived and failed to protect the world.
Everything was gone in a second.
The past has imprisoned us for too long.
In his dreams he still heard the wailing of captive souls.
But you created a new world when everything seemed lost.
The ominous bells heralding the eternal paradox.
You gave hope to my creation in my name.
He saw darkness infecting every particle of the world.
I, too, shall create a new world in pursuit of such hope.
And that figure crystallized in an alabaster throne.
Young mortal, heed my call.
He shifted uneasily in his sleep.
In you I have seen the Stout, the Sage and the Fool.
His pale face grimaced tensely.
Born in Lindzei's haven.
The faint moonlight illuminated the sweat of his brow.
Branded by Pulse's land.
His thin hands clenched into fists.
Devoted to find Etro's realm.
The racing beats of his heart.
And trapped in the Mother's curse.
His silver hair was bright in the darkness.
I choose you, bearer of hope.
The silence was absolute.
When the star shines again like lightning in the heavens.
Always.
Your mind shall lead the strength of light.
Except in his dreams.
You shall give back her shine to the scarred star.
The voice spoke.
She shall light again your lost hope.
Always.
I have heard your prayers.
But he never remembered its exact words.
I have listened your wishes.
Just the feeling of having forgotten something important.
I have watched your promises.
The end was near and only one thing mattered to him.
You two are my chosen ones.
If she never woke up he couldn't say her goodbye.
Together you shall bring the captive souls to a world of light and hope.
History would repeat itself.
The Liberator of Souls.
A thousand years later.
The Guider of Souls.
A stifled sigh escaped the lips of the young man.
Liberate the souls from the chains of the past.
His thin body shivered.
Guide them to a new home in which there is a future.
Strands of silver hair hiding his face.
Hope Estheim.
His eyelids trembled.
Be the hope that guides my luminous Light in the final thirteen days.
The young man's eyes snapped open, revealing two aqua-green orbs.
Hope Estheim sat up in his bed, his breath ragged and his skin pale and sweaty.
It took him a moment to calm down.
His gaze fell to the window.
A huge, ruinous shrine was silhouetted against the moon.
The voices were silent.
But something has changed for the first time.
His memory didn't remember its words.
His heart did.
A/N: And this is what happens when I get EXTREMELY bored in the last class of History of Philosophy of the day.
Anyways, I'm pleased with how this ended. It's a kind of One-Shot I never did before, or, at least, in an One-Shot form. I mean, this way of telling a story, I've done it before in chapters of long FanFictions, but not like this.
So... Well, as always, I focus in Hope. I can't help it, he's my little child. I have to do something from Lightning's point of view.
This came from the trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. I must say, I was utterly shocked when I heard Hope's voice as a narrator and the fact he says a lot more than Lightning, the main protagonist. So I wondered if he has close ties to Bhunivelze as well, a question that can be a bit obvious since he was the one who christened the New Cocoon as "Bhunivelze" and it's said its rise symbolized the awakening of the God.
Lightning is the Liberator of Souls, Bhunivelze's physical hand. What if Hope is Bhunivelze's "mind", since the mind is what gives orders to our body? He's guiding Light, hence the "Guider of Souls" name. I was tempted to go with "Guider of Light", but that didn't fit the role at all.
Besides, as a l'Cie, Hope had that sixth sense, his ability to sense incoming danger and "foresee" things: do you remember how he spoke about Oerba without knowing anything about the village after his brand advanced? And I highly doubt he named the New Cocoon after the God without any reason. Not to mention he certainly does things only the gods could've done, such as creating a freaking floating continent or an artificial fal'Cie. That's a nice match for Lightning as a "warrior goddess", because, even if we say it jokingly, Hope is quite the "scientist god".
"Stout", "Sage" and "Fool" are the names mentioned in the first Analect for Pulse, Lindzei and Etro. Bhunivelze is the Luminous, by the way. That reminds me a bit of Lumina. Perhaps I could develop the idea later, Lumina is a quite interesting character.
Ah, yes, there's the reference to the Fragment of Final Fantasy XIII-2 called "Violet Crystal", which is basically prophesizing Hope and Lightning's teamwork in the last part of the trilogy. And another thing I wanted you to notice: the main musical theme of Final Fantasy XIII was called Promise, the main one for Final Fantasy XIII-2 was Wishes; I'd bet something the main one for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is gonna be called Prayer. Why's that? These are the two final lines of Final Fantasy XIII: "A prayer for redemption. A wish to protect the world. A promise to challenge destiny. After thirteen days of fates intertwined, the battle begins." (Which interestingly enough closes the trilogy mirroring the start...)
Ah, yes. I can't help but unleash my Hope/Lightning heart in everything I write about Hope and/or Lightning. It's beyond my will. But I'm not sorry, hehehe. =D