NOTE: I recommend listening to any of the FINAL FANTASY XIII battle themes, but particularly Desperate Struggle. Like I've said before, the song sets the mood of the story. You could also listen to Devil May Cry by Montek (DMC3), though Desperate Struggle is (I think) the more fitting choice at the beginning of the story. Towards the end when the group enters the Faultwarrens, it would be appropriate to play Game Over, Dust to Dust, and Separate Paths. These are merely suggestions that I think would help with the emotion of the story.
This story was inspired by the song, Devil May Cry by Montek (and from Dead Fantasy III). If you have any questions, ask as a review. I will answer in my Profile. (No PM. Sorry!) I hope you enjoy what I think is one of my best works!
Enjoy and please review.
We Are Falling
Part 1
"Odin!"
Lightning's magnificent Eidolon erupted in the air, surrounded by red rose petals and running fast to his owner's aid. Its gleaming pink eyes scanned the enemy, sizing it up as he galloped. As he reached Lightning, she slung her arm around his neck and swung onto his back, grabbing Odin's massive swords by the handles and facing her opponent.
Attacus, the Soulless.
Lightning had never faced so fierce a beast as this one, yet she was unwilling to back down. Whether she lived or died, she would slay this beast.
Lightning nudged Odin and they surged towards Attacus. Attacus was a gruesome, human-like Cie'th. An Undying at that. Between Lightning and Attacus, the battle had been even, but Attacus had a higher threshold for pain, and he had begun to wear her down. Her clothes now bloodied and ripped, she was determined to show Titan that l'Cie are powerful, though they may be humans.
Yes, Attacus will fall.
At the last moment, Odin feinted right, and Lightning dipped down and slashed Attacus, ripping his Peerless Blade from his grasp, and flinging it into the canyon below them. As a last attempt at victory, Attacus grabbed Lightning's boot, and let him be dragged while Lightning slashed at his hand. Odin lashed out a hoof and caught Attacus in the face, sending him flying, where he hit a boulder and crumpled. Lightning smirked and Odin nickered, for they both knew the end was rapidly approaching for this Cie'th.
It was only a matter of Time.
Titan watched the battle from afar as Lightning leaped straight up from Odin and began spinning 360 degrees, dealing massive damage to Attacus as Thundaga bolts struck him time and time again. Then, Lightning flung Odin's blades at the monster, striking its heart and killing it instantly.
Lightning landed with a light thump and turned to Odin, who returned her gaze with his pink eyes. Titan began to walk towards Lightning and Odin, his footsteps sending trees crashing to the ground and even causing the Archylte Steppe to shake.
"Well done," Lightning whispered to Odin, stroking his cold steel head.
Titan came to stop in front of Lightning, his head towering over hers by about two hundred feet. Titan was made of solid Pulsian rock, trees, grass…anything. The mighty fal'Cie regulated Gran Pulse's ecosystem, balancing the things like predation all over the planet. Titan was enormous, weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds so that he had become the largest fal'Cie on Pulse. No one knew exactly when Titan was born, but ancient records of the planet's history state that he was born at the same time Gran Pulse was. Ever since the dawn of Time he has almost completely controlled the going-ons of Pulse.
And now, he towered over Lightning Farron, slayer of the Soulless, Pulsian Ravager. And now, Lightning stood proudly before him.
"You have completed all of my trials within a single day. I underestimated the power of a l'Cie, and I will not do it again. However, just how powerful are you? Will you accept my last trial?"
Snow may have run from Vercingetorix, but Lightning had stood strong against Attacus, and she felt she could defeat anything. This last trial should be no sweat, but Lightning was no fool.
"What is the trial?" Lightning asked suspiciously.
"That is for you to figure out," Titan replied in a rumbling voice that shook the canyon.
Lightning thought about it. If she accepted, she could be putting her Life and Odin's Life in danger. If she did not accept, though, Titan would assume she was afraid, and she was anything but. Lightning would love to see the look on Titan's face when she defeated the mission and survived!
"I accept," Lightning answered, readying herself by climbing onto Odin's back and wielding Odin's massive swords.
The sky darkened (Lightning wasn't surprised; it had happened before) into a misty and dark sky, and distant thunder clouds cracked.
Without a word, Titan waved his Bodhum-sized hand over Lightning and Odin and a purple bubble formed over them. He was transporting them to a location, but it was only a matter of where.
Suddenly, Lightning and her Eidolon arrived at the bluff that homed the first Cie'th Stone for Titan's Trials. Now, Lightning was confused, and Odin nickered uncertainly, his glowing eyes flicking everywhere, his white tail swishing. Titan appeared around the corner of the bluff, and he targeted Lightning, gesturing towards her with his hand.
An invisible force slammed into Lightning and Odin, knocking Lightning to the ground and Odin to his knees. White hot pain overcame Lightning, and she cried out, clutching her lightning pendant. Odin fell over with his legs thrashing about, shooting dust in the air.
Titan's voice rumbled menacingly, "You l'Cie may conquer monsters with your powers, but without them, you are nothing! By accepting my last trial, Lightning, you have created your own end!"
As Lightning lay on the ground, swirls of black magic shot over to her, and clamped onto her, seeping into her body and sucking the strength from her. Lightning began to slowly feel weaker, and she realized with horror that her magic was being drained too, and saw it leave her body as pink swirls, then turning to white dust that dissipated.
A sharp pain stabbed her through her heart, and she screamed as she felt the first streams of her Life drain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the black magic had now found Odin, and was draining his powers, too. The mighty Eidolon was pinned to the ground so that he could not fight. Lightning could hardly breathe, let alone struggle against the magic that overcame her. Her l'Cie brand flashed a violent red, showing that it had progressed a great deal in the last couple of minutes.
Lightning had to do something before this trial killed her or turned her into a Cie'th.
While her arms and legs were useless, and her strength and magic nearly gone, there was only one thing left to do, but it was dangerous and could result in her death. The thing that could save her required magic, and quite a bit. Lightning didn't know exactly how much she had left in her, but if she was going to live, she needed to do it now.
Lightning would have to Call them.
With the pain tearing at her like a horde of wasps, Lightning began to chant softly:
"We are falling, the light is Calling. Tears inside me, Call me now."
And then, as her voice rang out from the canyon and rippled across Gran Pulse, her eyes fluttered closed and she passed out, her body aching and dying, the blue in her eyes fading.
"We are falling, the light is Calling. Tears inside me, Call me now."
Hope stopped short, and snatched Vanille's wrist. He turned to her, his blue eyes dark and his face pale.
"Lightning is falling," he whispered, and Vanille covered her mouth with her hand.
Hope shielded his eyes and tried to peer over the mountains and look for Titan. Deep in his heart, he knew that Light was close to death.
It was only a matter of Time.
"Where is she?" Vanille asked him, her green eyes afraid.
"The Faultwarrens. We need to find her immediately, before she..."
"We'll never make it in Time!"
"Not on feet," Hope answered as he Summoned his mighty and stout Eidolon, Alexander.
Vanille followed Hope's lead and began to Summon Hecatoncheir.
"Alexander!"
A tunnel of green light exploded around Hope, and he cast his eyes to the sky, where Alexander now hurtled towards them.
Vanille caught the crystal that appeared from her l'Cie brand and held it, then shattered it on the ground, where gleaming patterns materialized. Eerie voices chanted as Hecatoncheir appeared with two of his arms folded and his many other arms flailing around. He picked up Vanille and lightly danced out of the way as Alexander landed, whose great mass created a small crater in the grass.
He unfolded into a giant Eidolon and pinched Hope's shirt and lifted him onto his shoulder.
"To the Faultwarrens as fast as you go!" Hope and Vanille cried out in unison.
The Eidolons began to climb over the mountains towards the Steppe, while Hope and Vanille readied their Medic abilities.
A spark of magic remained in Lightning, but she did not know this, for she was in a dark land, floating aimlessly. Her eyes were open, yet she saw nothing, but felt the pure pain she was enduring back in the Faultwarrens's entrance. She felt herself writhe and buck unsuccessfully to rid herself of the black magic. Odin was not as close to death, and also floating alongside Lightning. Dark clouds merged over them as they reached the last stage of Life…
"We are falling, the light is Calling. Tears inside me, Call me now."
Lightning's voice rang out across the Archylte Steppe and reached Fang's ears. Fang jackknifed into a sitting position and cast her eyes to the horizon in the south, where the direction of the Faultwarrens was. Dark thunderstorms had formed over the canyon so that it was difficult to see if Titan was around.
From where she sat, at the edge of a cliff in the Northern Highplain, she couldn't see much, but she knew Lightning was in trouble.
"She is falling."
Fang jumped up and snapped open her red Bladed Lance, making haste to find Lightning, though she knew the Faultwarrens were dangerous. When Lightning had offered to explore over by Aggra's Pasture, Fang had known she would be drawn to the scent of the Faultwarrens, where battles awaited.
Her brand gleamed and Bahamut's crystal house emerged. Fang grabbed it and flung it into the air, waiting for it to explode. As it reached the clouds, it shattered, and purple rings lined up and pointed to the Steppe, where Fang awaited her Eidolon. The Steppe rumbled as Bahamut snapped his wings out and flew through the rings at light speed.
Fang crouched and sprang into the air, landing on Bahamut's back. Bahamut roared and stretched his orange claws out.
"We fly to the Faultwarrens with speed, my friend!" Fang shouted, her blue outfit rippling in the wind.
Eidolons are strong, fast, and powerful.
Odin was no exception.
Eidolons are indebted to their masters, and they deeply respect them.
As his own master began to slip into the darkness, he made one last effort to save her. As Lightning's pink hair took on a black sheen of death, Odin painfully forced a spark of healing magic to travel over to her.
As it sank in, some of the black magic hissed and backed away, and the darkness that had began to turn Lightning's clothes to black slowed, giving Lightning more Time.
Odin passed out and sank back into the shadow again.
"We are falling, the light is Calling. Tears inside me, Call me now."
Snow stumbled as he heard Lightning's voice on the wind where he was on the Eastern Tors. A dragon-like shadow passed over him and he looked up to see Bahamut flying fast towards the Faultwarrens. Far away, near the Yaschas Massif, he spotted Alexander and Hecatoncheir. He turned his head and saw clouds over the Faultwarrens.
Fear sank in Snow's heart. His step sister was in there, and he felt somehow that she was dying. He couldn't let Serah down by letting Lightning die.
"Ayea!"
A sharp pain stabbed Snow's side just as he saw a green blur zoom off to the Central Expanse.
Cactaur.
Snow shook his fist at the retreating Cactuar as he Summoned the Shiva Sisters. His crystal formed in an icy ball, sprinkling twinkling stars on the ground. Snow kicked it, and it grew bigger and bigger until he could clearly see the two Eidolons inside the transparent ice. Nix slashed at the crystal and it shattered, revealing a forming motorcycle. The Sisters twisted until they formed Snow's blue and incredibly fast motorcycle.
Feeling sick for Lightning but confident, he hopped on the Sister-made motorcycle and revved the engine and shot off towards the Faultwarrens, leaving gleaming tire tracks in the Eastern Tors.
Titan watched from afar as the once-powerful l'Cie and her Eidolon became overcame with darkness: the very last stages of Life where Death herself came knocking at their doors. Lightning's boots first turned pitch black, then her red pack that was strapped to her thigh.. Titan saw with delight as the black creeped up to her turtleneck, where the brown became dark. Lightning was still, and Titan knew she was in her land.
He shivered slightly. That land was no place for a fal'Cie that was for sure.
Then, Lightning's pink hair began to morph into a dark black color, and even her blue eyes were now a black, so black, you couldn't see the pupils anymore. Interestingly, though, Lightning's pendant that tied around her pale neck still held on to its pink and gold color.
Like his master, Odin was now a dark horse, ready to become hers, though he knew she did not want Lightning to die yet.
Even so, how could a l'Cie that weak even stand a chance?
"We are falling, the light is Calling. Tears inside me, Call me now."
Sazh's dark forehead crinkled in confusion as he heard the Call of Lightning. He didn't understand how he knew what her Call was, but he would heed it. But maybe…he was finally going crazy?
"Hey, little bird, did you hear what I heard?" Sazh asked, and poked his afro, where the golden Chocobo chick had nestled in.
"Kwehhhhh!" chirped the chick.
"I'll take that as a 'yes' then!"
Sazh couldn't see the Steppe, and he was worried for the leader of the group. He knew (though he didn't know why) that Lightning was extremely and uncomfortably close to death. He looked around at what may be his last view of the Font of Namva and wiped his brow of sweat as his fiery Eidolon came into view. Sazh's Eidolon was different in the fact that it refused to listen to Sazh and appear only when it wanted to.
Sazh decided that he would let it slide this time. After all, how was he supposed to get to the Faultwarrens quickly? The walk to the Font had about killed Sazh's back, and he was in no mood to hike to the Faultwarrens.
The adult Chocobos screeched in fright as they trotted away to a small rock island surrounded by water at the end of the Font. Water was lifted from the ponds that dotted the Font of Namva and soaked Sazh, much to his annoyance.
"Would you hurry up already?" Sazh shouted at his Eidolon.
Heeding Sazh's command, the Eidolon twisted, cranked, and jotted itself into a car for Sazh. Sazh hopped in and took the wheel in his gloved hands, ready for a ride to the Faultwarrens.
"Come on! To the Faultwarrens! Though she may be grumpy sometimes, she's saved my butt more than once!"
Then, they shot off through the small path that led to the Steppe.
"What are you doing? Stop this! You do not want to make me come down there!"
Titan listened to her plea with no interest. He didn't care if she did come down and killed him. That fool of a l'Cie had completed his trials and thought she was powerful. Well, how about now?
"Titan! I will end Gran Pulse if you do not stop!"
"Oh, but you do not want Lightning with you?" Titan shouted in his booming voice.
"Not now, and not for a long Time. Release her, now!"
Titan could feel her anger, and he became a little nervous.
Shielding his thoughts from her, he continued watching the show. Lightning's entire outfit was a black color scheme, and she indeed looked like her d-
"Chaos will take you down, Titan! You know I am stronger than you."
Titan laughed.
"If it means saving her, I will end Pulse in a second, and keep her here until I can take her somewhere else!"
"I am old. My death does not frighten me anymore! Do what you may!" Titan answered.
All was quiet.
Fang and Bahamut had reached the abandoned sister-city of the Paddraean Archaeopolis: the Haerii Oldroad. Here, Fang would have to continue on foot. She thanked Bahamut for the ride with a, "What a sweetheart!" and climbed up the fallen pillars that blocked the path to the Faultwarrens. When they had arrived, Bahamut had blasted every Cie'th and Goblin out of the Oldroad, clearing the way for Fang.
Fang then sprinted past a red Cie'th Stone, all the while feeling worried for her friend who may be – if not already – dead.
Behind her she picked up the sound of Snow's motorcycle roaring through Aggra's Pasture, no doubt he had heard Lightning's Call as well.
But how in the world did we hear her? Fang thought.
Fang was no healer by any means, but she would help her companion in any way possible.
"Look! There's Sazh!" Vanille cried out and pointed at the red car that flew through the Steppe.
She urged Hecaton to move faster, and Hope did the same with his Eidolon. They had finally reached the edge of the Steppe where the Vallis Media opening was, and now they raced with all speed to Lightning's aid.
Hope reached out as far as he could with his healing magic, but he didn't know where Lightning was in the Faultwarrens. Not even his magic could reach her from that kind of distance!
The only thing he could do was hope.
Lightning?
A voice broke into Lightning's muddled and broken brain, but only served to cause her more pain. She felt like she had been shot with a hundred arrows, all tipped with poison and created with serrated edges.
Wake up.
In that dark land Lightning slowly came to enough to see a hazy figure floating alongside her, but this beautiful woman was not minutes away from death like Lightning. Something familiar, something rang a bell in Lightning's almost-dead brain. The figure was a woman with…pink hair? Lightning's eyes strained to see the woman more clearly, but her vision was fast becoming nothing more than a dark tunnel.
You will live.
"Come on, Twin Sisters, let's move!" Snow shouted as they raced through the tight path that led to the Haerii Oldroad Lightning. Snow's motorcycle's tires screeched in protest, but still Snow pressed for more speed. He couldn't let Lightning die. Serah would never face him again if he left Lightning to fall. Snow wondered what type of trouble Lightning had had to cause her fatal damage.
Surely nothing from the Steppe could have done this to her. Amidst the group, Lightning was the strongest, much to Fang's annoyance. Where the group stumbled in battle Lightning was one step ahead, whether it was blocking an unexpected attack or healing a wounded member of the group, Lightning was their most valuable fighter. She was an impeccable leader too, leading them through the most dangerous situations and leaving alive and well.
CRUNCH!
Snow whipped his head back in surprise to see had had ran straight into a Goblin, which was now smashed in the Haerii's ancient dirt.
Wasting no time, Snow thanked the Sisters for the ride and let them return to their crystal houses, where they would be safe until he defeated whatever monster had (possibly) killed Lightning. Until then, he would have to hope she was alive. Snow turned towards a set of fallen pillars and climbed up them and arrived at red Cie'th Stone, whose mission must have been completed by Lightning, and Lightning alone.
Lightning! Can you hear me? Speak!
The woman shouted at Lightning's limp body, but received no response from the darkened Lightning.
You cannot be gone yet! Fight it!
Even as she spoke, the pink-haired woman knew in her heart that Lightning was beyond her reach of rescue.
Hecatoncheir surpassed Alexander in speed, and soon Vanille was far ahead of Hope, much to his annoyance, who would be more of a help if Lightning was unable to heal herself.
Vanille was afraid at what they would find.
Why hadn't she told Lightning who Titan was? How dangerous his trials were?
"I just need to find her," Vanille whispered so faintly that Hecaton could not even hear her.
"Lightning! Lightning!"
Fang call her friend's name, hoping she would hear a response. The air in the Faultwarrens was musty and smelled of…fal'Cie. Vibrant plants that would likely eat l'Cie rather than be inhaled lined the edges of the path where Fang ran. One even tried to nip Fang on the leg, but with her mind on edge already, Fang angrily swatted it aside with her lance.
Fresh air hit her as she rounded the last corner to the open bluff that showed a clear view of the Faultwarrens.
Then she saw two dark figures crumpled near the middle of the area.
"Lightning!" Fang shouted as she sprinted to her friend.
Lightning was lying on her side, so Fang rolled her over on her back. As she did, she snatched her hands away and grabbed her weapon to aim it at the figure on the floor. Fang's forehead crinkled in confusion at Lightning's now black hair and clothes. Though her hairdo was the same spiky do, it was pitch black and spotted with blood. Her GC uniform was tattered in many places and had a black color scheme, where it had been lighter hours ago.
Then, Fang looked at Lightning's face and saw it was the same as it had always been, minus the black eyes and unnaturally pale skin.
Fang lowered her lance and tossed it aside. She felt Lightning's forehead.
Ice cold.
Fang felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
"Oh no. No…" Fang whispered as she felt for a pulse on Lightning's neck, then her wrist.
Silence.
Her companion lay silent and unmoving.
Fang did not bother to examine Odin, for she knew in her heart he had suffered the same fate as his master. Fang's mind went back to all the fun times the group had had together, when Lightning was leading the conversations for once. She had them all laughing, and her she was now.
Far away, in a dark land, where Lightning now was, she faintly heard the dry sob of a friend she might never see again.
"Fang! Is she…" Snow trailed off as he saw Fang kneeled next to a darker version of Lightning.
His fists clenched as he stood over Lightning and Fang, and saw for himself Lightning's still form and darkened features. He had failed Serah. Even as he stood there, far away from where Serah's crystal sat, he clearly heard the sound of her weeping.
"I'm so sorry."
As soon as Sazh's Eidolon reached the Oldroad, he dumped him off (literally) and screeched away. Sazh commanded his Chocobo chick to stay put and continued past the glowing red Cie'th Stone.
What Sazh would find, he did not want to know.
Hope pushed Alexander to run faster, though he knew he was tiring. When they arrived at Aggra's Pasture, he Summoned his large Eidolon away and ran to the Faultwarrens on foot. Ahead of him, was Vanille, who had just entered the entrance of the Faultwarrens, right behind Sazh.
Hope was close to fainting, but he remained strong for Light's sake.
He was worried sick that he would not arrive in Time to save Light, though she was close now. He had lost his mother, but he would not lose the one who taught him how to survive.
Not today.
He raced through the small village of Haerii and up the pillars and past the Cie'th Stone that had once guarded the Faultwarrens. Hope's hands began to glow with blue healing magic as he sprinted on the dusty path carved by erosion. Overhead, the thunderclouds now covered the entire Archylte Steppe where even the Chocobos had become nervous.
Hope's shoes carried him quickly to the bluff that overlooked the canyon below, and what he saw made him want to die.
Snow, Fang, Vanille, and Sazh all sat with their back s against the rock that Hope now passed. Their faces were downcast, and they never acknowledged his presence. Snow had his head in his hands as he shook it angrily. Vanille sat next to Fang and silently cried, her tears creating wet tracks down her cheeks. Sazh, well he merely stared at the ground, his brown eyes glazed. Fang had leaned her head against the rock wall and closed her eyes, though Hope could see the faint track of tears that had traveled down her face.
Ignoring the rest of the group, Hope slowly kneeled next to Lightning. He saw how her hair had change color to black, and he knew it was the sign of death. Hopelessly, he waved a swirl of Raise magic over her, but to no avail. The feathers that usually appeared after a successful Raise spell did not materialize, as did Hope's…hope.
"I want to find the hope you were named for. Fighting without hope is no way to live."
Hope had no hope. It was gone. Dead. Dead like Lightning.
Their leader from the beginning was dead. They had raced to her aid, but they were too late, and her Life had been taken. It was over.
"Lightning…has fallen," Hope whispered, and stiffly stood to join the others against the wall in mourning.
In another Time and world, a woman spoke to her brother urgently. Her blue eyes flashed as her brother declined.
"You can undo this, can you not?" she asked.
"Yes."
"This is all I ask of you. Please, Chaos, please! She must live!"
Even farther away, a dead Lightning floated in that dark world with her dead Eidolon. Confused, Lightning watched as random pictures flashed in her brain.
She wore strange armor, and she kneeled before a blue crystal-like form. Pure-white feathers fell from the sky and gently settled on the marble floor…
The pink-haired woman from before stood before her, with the same spiky hair do, but some streaks of black in it. She also wore silver solid armor, though her weapon was a simple crossbow…
Then, everything went black again.
Hope glanced up at Lightning's still form, and as quickly as he looked, he looked down again. He still couldn't grasp the fact that Lightning was gone. There would be no jokes from her anymore. The rest of the group would never see her brilliant Ravaging skills.
Slowly, Snow stood and began to exit the Faultwarrens. With his fists clenched and his back stiff, he left behind the group, and Lightning. Hope chose not to say anything, even though he seethed with rage on the fact that Snow was leaving.
"We can't just leave her here," Vanille whispered.
Sazh shook his head and answered, "I can't do it."
"None of us can," Fang answered.
Hope understood what they were not saying. Would they have to…bury her? The thought made them all sick with grief. Hope glanced at Sazh, Fang, and Vanille.
"No. Not yet we won't."
.:NOT THE END:.
Part 1 of a Pulsian Chronicle