Chapter 1

Seasons

Lightning sagged in her cell as she heard the door clang shut and the tell-tale sign of a bolt sliding home echoed around her. It was a blessing to have these five minutes of peace as the guards exchanged the dayshift to the nightshift. Inhaling a deep breath, she allowed her eyes to slide shut and relax the tired muscles in her neck and shoulders. The season was turning again. She could feel it in the air and in her bones. She shivered as the cruel east wind enveloped her in its icy embrace.

The cycle of autumn to winter was the cruellest stretch to endure, with no cloak or blanket to comfort her. They had taken all those benefits away when she used the material to strangle a man that had become too friendly with her. Her cellmate's lustful gaze she had accepted as the norm, but she ended him when he tried to force himself on her. She supposed that the guards feared she would murder any other that shared her quarters, because she had the cell to herself from that day on. It saddened her to see how far she had fallen.

Each day that passed chipped into her and left her feeling emptier than she ever had in her life. Her body might be in relatively good health, but her mind was fading after four winters of confinement. The only thing she could do was act defiant in front of her captors even though she could not muster up the emotion in reality. It was the only way to keep the self-pity from overwhelming her.

Lightning was not nearly this complacent in the early stages of imprisonment. The steel bars had chafe marks where she had worn them down with fabric of her sheets. Holes were dug in the ground as she tried to burrow herself out. She had even made alliances with other prisoners in her attempts to win her freedom. But she sealed her fate as soon as she snuffed the live out of some bastard.

As a chilling breeze came up she opened her eyes. I'm growing older, she thought.

Slowly Lightning's determination dwindled into nothingness. The future she had imagined for herself in Guardian Corps was stolen from her. She would never see her friends again. But worst of all, she would never see Serah again.

An image of her sister came to mind. The shared pink hair and matching blue eyes and almost identical facial features hurt her more than she could have thought. She could hardly look at her own reflection in the puddles of water around her without being reminded of what she lost.

White fog escaped Lightning's lips in thick panicked puffs as overwhelming sadness surged in her chest. Her eyes shot around frantically as she tried to focus on something, anything to go back to the numbness that had become her friend.

It didn't work. Thoughts of Hope now ravaged her. The boy still needed her, he still had so much to learn about the world and she wouldn't be able to teach him now. She trusted that Snow, Serah and Sazh would take him under their wings. But what if they didn't? What if he had refused them and left to go on his own adventures?

Lightning wondered if her friends were looking for her, but it was hard to imagine. It had been too long, they must think that she had been killed by some beast or even exposure. The macabre thoughts were interrupted when the door clanged open yet again, signalling the night shift.

"Hello Lightning." the guard said. "Looking for some company."

She glanced at him. This guard she remembers, Silas he was called, man with the hard face and the glassy lust filled eyes. He wasn't that bad, to be honest. The guard had never tried to force himself on her as she had expected the first night and he stayed his distance. It was always just the same question and that was that.

"I think we both know the answer to that."

He smiled and made himself at home behind the desk to the right side of the room. "All right then. But if you ever need company…"

"You'll be here. I know." She murmured.