NOTE: I recommend listening to the song Dust to Dust from the FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Soundtrack. Seriously…just do it.
Dust to Dust
The wheel-shaped elevator rumbled along the ground, and groaned to a stop, spraying white sand everywhere. On one side, a smooth door spiraled open from the middle, revealing six l'Cie to a strange land. Lightning slowly stepped down (she was still sore from her near-death experience), her brown boots sinking an inch into the ground. Behind her came Snow and Sazh, the Chocobo chick chirping softly and Snow's blue eyes widening. Hope jumped down, and gasped as he took in the glistening white sand that covered the area around them. Then came Fang and Vanille, breathlessly hoping they would find the land of Oerba untouched since the War of Transgression.
Fang stepped out first, and scanned the dusty mountains and hills. She felt puzzled, for she knew Oerba had never had white sand on the small mountains surrounding it. Where had it come from? Well, surely they would find out when the group arrived at the village. Vanille stood next to Fang, also shocked at what she saw. The once-brown mountains were smothered with a layer of white sand. At the foot of some of the mountains, a cluster of blue-white crystal emerged, throwing sunlight off of it and creating a rainbow of colors on the ground.
Vanille slowly walked towards a crystal cluster, and kneeled before it. The others watched curiously as she ran her finger down a tall crystal.
"Vanille?"
Vanille jumped, and noticed the group watching her. She gestured towards the crystal, her red hair swaying in the breeze, and whispered, "I hear…voices coming from the crystals. They all try to talk at once, but it hurts…their pain…"
Sazh patted her pig-tailed head and placed his Chocobo chick on her shoulder, which made her giggle despite the eerie voices that had frightened her. Fang knew who the voices were. Who the voices had belonged to. Where they had come from.
Fang knew deep in her heart that those voices were from the people of her home. Oerba. When the War of Transgression was concluded, Pulse had been supposedly wiped of citizens. Oerba had been hit the hardest with the affects of the War because the small town was placed almost directly under Cocoon.
Fang also knew deep in her heart that Cocoon was part of the blame, along with Lindzei. Fang loathed Lindzei to the deepest kind of hate. That viper of a fal'Cie had torn Gran Pulse apart, leaving it with remains and in ruins. What was left of Pulse was now a planet of towns without population and a fierce wilderness of untamable animals.
Lightning's voice broke into Fang's thoughts, and Fang turned her blue eyes to the leader of the group. "Should we continue?" Lightning asked. Her blue eyes still had black specks in them from when she was darkened a few days ago, and they now saddened at her friends' loss, and the dark color in her eyes reflected Fang and Vanille's mood.
The group nodded, and they all moved to climb up the hill that separated the Ashensand from Oerba's Village Proper. The path was surrounded by small mountains, each homing human-like Taxim and Vampires. As Fang followed Lightning silently, she noticed the Taxims and Vampires slink away into the dark shadows of the mountains. All but Fang and Vanille scanned the mountains around the path, the rest awed by the amount of sand.
Fang glanced at Vanille, and saw that her friend's grass-green eyes were blurry with tears. To reassure her Pulsian friend, Fang patted her friend on the back, and bumped their wrists together, signalizing that she was in pain too. Before Vanille could respond, the sound of Lightning's footsteps on the sand stopped altogether, and the group slowed, holding their breath, for they knew what lie over the small hill. Fang and Vanille looked up, and continued walking, their backs rigid with fear. Lightning, Snow, Sazh, and Hope stepped back to allow the Pulse-born l'Cie to enter Oerba first.
Snow played with his black gloves as he waited for a response from Fang or Vanille, telling them that Oerba was fine…Oerba was alive. Sazh felt himself age from the emotion that poured from this event. Hope himself felt fearful at what they would find over the hill. Lightning loosened her Blazefire Saber from the holster that hung from her waist, expecting Oerba to be filled to the brim with monsters looking for a place to hunker down and wait.
Wait for what, exactly?
Only Time will tell…
Lightning indeed felt as if her heart was torn to shreds and kicked in the corner. She hated it all. She hated the War of Transgression, and the pain it had placed on her companions.
But most of all, she hated the fact that she could not help carry Fang and Vanille's burden of pain. Sure, they were close friends, but they didn't have to face the world alone. But finding your hometown in ruins from a war they caused was not something she could help them with.
Finally, Lightning couldn't stand it any longer. She quietly walked behind the silent women and peered around their heads.
Fang faintly noticed Lightning had joined them as she scanned the desolate horizon.
Oerba…was no more.
What used to be a bustling and beautiful village was now a ruined town infested with Pulsian monsters that lurked in dark corners. The road that led to Oerba was almost covered in a fine layer of crystalline sand, as was the rest of the Village Proper. Small and pathetic trees loomed out of cracks in the cement road, casting shadows on the already darkened town.
A breeze swept Fang's wily black hair around, and she noticed the metal windmill that towered over the Village Proper from a corner of the plaza. An old Treasure Sphere hovered an inch above the road by a tree, evidence of a once populated town. Large cracks in the road looked like spider webs of evil.
Lady Luck had failed.
"What are you-" came Vanille's cry as Fang suddenly jumped down from the road and onto the Proper below. Scanning the Proper, Fang saw her old home that she had shared with many other Oerba clans, now just a broken down building. The setting sun cast a shadow, reflecting Fang's mood.
With her heart in her throat, Fang climbed the rusty stairs that led to her old home. At the door, Fang's dark eyebrow arched at the sight of an old and tattered sign that hung by a nail on the door.
BEWARE!
DO NOT ENTER, OR FACE THE MIGHT OF THE CLANS OF OERBA!
A strangled laugh came from Fang, even as her heart was breaking. Setting her shoulders back, she pushed open the door, and entered the small home.
It was almost as she had seen it so long ago, with the large cooking pans fit for an army, the Chocobo dolls that were held together by crooked stitches, the table at the end of the room that homed…Vanille's beaded necklaces? Fang walked over to the old table and lifted the dusty necklace, peering at the familiar blue and orange beads that adorned the necklace. She pocketed it, meaning to return it to Vanille.
Suddenly, she saw a lance…her oldlance! The pure silver and black lance leaned like an old man on his cane against a bed. She fingered the paint, and a rush of memories overpowered her.
"So, Miss. What can I do for you today?"
"My Dragoon's Lance is looking a little on the rusty side, so I'm here to ask you to make me a new lance. Can you do that?"
"Course I can! I ain't working here for nothin'!"
"Well, I'd like a new one. Different color, different feel, stronger attacking power."
His face darkened.
"And why would you need such a powerful weapon, Fang? Goin' on some kind of trip?"
"Heh. I wish. To tell you the truth, I'm in need of a new weapon for the War that's comin'. And you know it's soon."
"Well, I can't argue with that, but why you of all people? I know you're a darn good fighter, but many lives will be lost. Why take the risk?"
"For the Yun and Dia clan. Now, back to business!"
"Ah yes…I have just the plan for a lance that I think you might like!"
The blacksmith rummaged in a shelf, and retrieved a tattered paper, full of scribbles and complex drawings. Fang's eyes glittered with approval, already tasting the feeling of victory.
"Now this…this is a beauty! I call her the Bladed Lance. Been workin' on her for about two years now, readyin' it for the right customer!"
The blacksmith winked at Fang.
"She relies mostly on a strong owner, such as you, but also had some good magic stats. The beauty is what you could call strength-biased, I suppose. I did the paint myself, and she's a nice dark red color, with tones of blue, yellow, and black. The tip of the Lance is sharp as a Behemoth's tooth, and just about as dangerous."
"Perfect! Can I upgrade her?"
"Oh yes, yes! You can upgrade her to her maximum level…Kain's Lance. As for how powerful that Lance will be…that's for you to find out. If ya got the Gil!"
The old man laughed heartily.
"It looks like a real winner, sir. How much are you asking for it?"
"Since you're my most frequent customer, I'll give you a discount of forty-five percent. That leaves the ending price of twelve thousand Gil. Quite a deal I must say!"
Fang thought long and hard about it. She would need a new lance, that was clear. No sane l'Cie fought without a weapon on Gran Pulse. The Bladed Lance sure had caught Fang's eye, and she wanted it badly. She had enough Gil, but it would be about half of her savings. If the lance lasted her years, then it would be well worth the Gil though…
Fang reached a decision and looked up at the patient man.
"I'll take it! You do have the lance finished, right?"
"Of course, of course! Now, would you like to see the lance first?"
Fang thought perhaps she was drooling at the mouth, she was so excited. She clenched her fists to keep from smacking the man and yelling, "Of course I want to see it! Quit hangin' the lance in front of me!"
Calmly, she replied, "Sure thing."
Her friend and blacksmith reached under his desk and pulled out a long package covered in rough paper. Slowly, to annoy Fang, he unwrapped the package to reveal a gleaming-magnificent-incredible-possibly-better-than-hunting- weapon perfect for the Pulsian woman!
Fang grabbed the Bladed Lance, her lance, and twirled it over her head, causing the man to duck. The feel of the lance was perfect, like it was synced just for Fang. The shining silver and red was like the blood of an animal.
Fang slammed twelve thousand Gil (half of what she had been saving all her life) on the table and sprinted outside, carrying her Bladed Lance to test her new weapon out on an unwary enemy on the Steppe. She sprung high into the air, the sunlight reflecting off of the gleaming paint of the Lance...
Fang's eyes snapped open, and she saw with astonishment that she was trembling, and sweat dripped from her forehead.
That memory…it's been gone for hundreds of years. I thought I would never remember anything… she thought.
Fang stood shakily to her feet and walked to the rusty sink by the window. Surprisingly, when she turned the cold water knob, some-what clean water came gushing out of the faucet. She splashed some on her face and exited the home, which had become haunted with old memories that should never resurface. She silently went down the stairs and peered around the corner, scanning the Proper for her companions.
She spotted them by the Cie'th Stone that hovered by a now dead Vampire.
She had Time.
Her brown open-toed boots clicked slightly as she sprinted down the paved road to a very familiar child-hood building. She refused to look at what she passed, and everything became a blur until she arrived at her destination.
Oerba's Schoolhouse.
Fang entered the door-less doorway and into the empty classroom. The desks were splintered and strewn about, as well as the chairs. Fang could still faintly make out the math problem on the chalkboard. Next to it, a proud child's drawing of a Chocobo was tacked to the wall, hanging by a sliver of paper. However, this was not what Fang had come to see.
The Schoolhouse was placed over the water, so Fang could hear waves gently lapping the sides. She climbed the stairs on the side of the building, emerging on a large rooftop patio, filled with colorful flowers in planters, a fountain with still running water, and white dust…again.
"How did these flowers survive, and not the people?" Fang muttered.
A bright purple flower caught her eye and she turned to it, inhaling its Perfume-like scent. Then, sadness overtook her once again, and she was close to screaming at the sky. Clamping her mouth shut, she clambered on to the edge of the roof, where she sat on the edge that overlooked the blue water that stretched to the horizon. Almost directly above her, Cocoon hovered over Pulse, like a king in the throne.
"How did this happen? It's all gone," Fang whispered, and tried to fight the oncoming tears that threatened to fall.
"Every last trace of color. Gone."
Fang had been strong emotionally and physically her whole life. But this…this was devastating. Her family, her clan and Vanille's clan were dead. Never had she thought that she wouldn't get to tell her family goodbye. She would never see them again. That fateful day when she left for the War, proudly carrying her new lance, she never knew she wouldn't see her family again.
Her village she had once been proud of was nothing now but a home for monsters of darkness and evil. Oerba, the mighty village closest to Cocoon was no more. She would never live to see it bustling with playing children and scolding mothers. Working men and street vendors.
The only thing that remained unchanged was the blue water that lay a few feet under her feet. The flowers were unchanged. The windmills.
The water.
The flowers.
The windmills.
A sob chocked her throat and her chest constricted painfully. "Windmills, flowers, and water can't bring back lives! It won't bring back my family, my mother...No one. They're all gone, and I'll never see them again," Fang choked out, and stood up quickly.
She closed her blue-green eyes.
Fang had been strong her whole Life…
And only then did she allow a single tear to fall into the water.
.:END:.
A Pulsian Chronicle
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sad, ain't it? I really wanted to write about the gang's arrival in Oerba. In the game, it wasn't very emotional or sad, and I wanted my own version. So, here it is. If you want to give me any tips on how to make it more of a tear-jerker, feel free to review. I'm writing this as I'm listening to Final Fantasy Type-0 's theme by Bump of Chicken.
Write on,
WriteFF13