So first off, if you're looking for a nice, happy story, stop reading now. Also, if you haven't finished Final Fantasy XIII-2, stop read as well. The following is essentially a novelization of "Requiem of the Goddess," Lightning's Story. I highly recommend you watch this as well: I really do not give it any justice.
Most of the script is straight out of the game. I do not own FFXIII-2 or Square Enix.
Dedicated to my own angel, Katie. I still love you, Katy Did.
Seraph's Tears
Out of the rift, I stepped forward, my body slowly piecing itself together as I passed between the ages of time. Noel, the young man that had appeared in Valhalla, along with Mog, the good luck charm I'd given to him to pass onto Serah, stood beside my sister.
"Lightning!" she says, her eyes full of shock. "What are you doing here!?"
Looking at her, I can't help but feel slightly guilty. How much pain had I put her through in asking her to take up this quest? "This is a future I could not save."
"Is it really you, Lightning?"
I look at her, refraining surprise. "Do you doubt me?" Serah lowers her head, embarrassed, and for a minute, I see the little girl I once knew so long ago. How long was it? It seems like an eternity since I'd lived that life. "No," I say, reassuringly, "it's good to doubt. You're growing up."
"I knew it," she says, the desperation growing in her voice, like she's on the verge of tears. "It is you, isn't it?" A stream of questions comes from my sister. I wish I could answer them, to reassure her everything would be alright, but this is neither the time nor the place to do that.
"Just listen, Serah," I say, putting my hand on her shoulder, cutting off her questions. "I'll explain everything…"
"We have to face Caius on two fronts: in Valhalla, and in the world of humans. If we don't…we won't be able to change the future. I can't do it on my own. I need your help."
The words put a bitter taste in my mouth; asking for help had never been easy, but I knew it had to be done if Cocoon was to survive. I tell them the events of the future and how Caius would bring an end to it all. Both grasp what has to be done, and reaffirm their thoughts by having me clarify.
"Yes," I nod. "Everything will depend on you. I have to go to Valhalla and stop Caius there." Serah takes a step forward; I see her fade as a memory takes hold.
"Please don't leave, Claire," a younger version of my sister pleads, refusing to let go of my waist.
I choke back the memory. "Can you do it?"
Serah stands there, realizing the inevitable, wanting to stop it from coming, but have no idea how to. "We can do it," Noel says for the both of them.
"Right," I nod. "Your good luck charm will show the way." The small moogle flies up into the air, opening a path that leads to another gate. I take my cue and start back to the rift.
"Hey Lightning," Serah says, her sadness poisoning her tone. "We'll be able to be together again, right? When all this is over?"
I look back at her. I'd love nothing more than to tell her yes, to take her in my arms like I did on the day we were saved from a l'Cie's fate and tell her everything will be alright. But I know I can't lie to her like that. While I may know what the future holds, it's constantly changing. Nothing is ever the same as it once was.
"One thing at a time, Serah," I say as the rift absorbs me and pulls me through time.
My battle with him was endless, having neither beginning nor end, as far as I knew. Still, every time I encountered him, my hatred for him grew. He sought to destroy everything I stood for…and to know he'd tried to kill Serah…he had to die now.
My little sister was constantly on my mind in battle…she was the reason I was here: so that one day, she and I could be together again in the future we'd both helped to secure. Her final question to me still loomed over my head, though. Would I ever get to see her again? Could I fix what Caius was keen on breaking?
Our weapons lock again, the eidolith eye on his blade glowing. I push back with my own gunblade, propel myself back a short distance to go in for an attack.
"Pointless," he says. "The time measured by Etro will cease to exist." I take a leap further back, to prepare for a long distance approach as well as catch my breath. "All potential and possibilities will collapse. Time will end, and the future will fade."
"You'll have to kill me first," I scream, running into the attack. He counters me with perfect precision, knows my every move, never seems surprised by what I do. It irritates me to no end that I can't catch him of his guard. I cast Thundaga at him, hoping to do some damage, but the man seems to escape unfazed. "Caius Ballad," I scream, plunging my gunblade towards his chest. He disappears into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind an illusion…of Serah!
"What the…" An image appears in my sister's eyes and an expression of pain comes over her. "Serah!"
The world around me blurred as Etro allowed me to see the timeline. Noel and Serah stood atop a ship as the new Cocoon rose into the air. As the gates closed behind them, my sister reacted in pain. Noel screams, trying to bring her out of it. The images fade, and she collapses into his arms, dead.
My mind wanders to long gone memories: my mother stands at the door as a man in uniform addresses her. I hold Serah, still in preschool, and watch as my mother collapses from grief. Another memory takes its place…
Mom's lying on the bed, pale as death, with Serah gently sleeping beside her. The doctor told me neither of us could get what my mother has, but also that there was no way to stop the decline in her health.
"Claire, I need you to be brave for me now," she struggles to say. "Just like you promised Daddy, alright."
"Mom, please," I cry out, taking her frail hand in mine. "Don't leave us. Serah needs you…I need you."
She brushes a piece of hair away from my face. "I wish I could stay." She takes a sharp breath. "I love you both so much. Take care of each other."
I raise my head, the weight of what's just happened hitting me with full force. "It can't be." I struggle towards my sister, each step like lead. "Serah," I say, my voice starting to go.
Suddenly, my instincts kick in and I turn only to be hit by Cauis. I'm flung across the field and slam into the ground. I try to get up, to go protect my sister, but I can't find the strength. I drop my head to the ground, exhausted. I feel something like ice lace itself around my body and I go unconscious.
My head ached, swimming with memories I wish I could have forgotten. All of them, laced with pain, adding to that which is already in my heart. I wake, trying to focus on my surroundings. I know the area: I'm at the foot of Etro's throne. I raise myself up, shaking my head, trying to clear it so I can focus. I raise my head, and instantly, my breath is stolen away. Serah is floating mid-air in front of the throne, her body held in place by swirls of darkness. I walk towards her, cautious, but still, she's my little sister. I have to help her somehow. As I move closer, more dark swirls appear and begin to envelope me as well. Cold air whips my exposed flesh; I set myself in a half battle stance, sensing something is wrong.
"Your sister," the voice of the seeress says. Though I've never met her, Etro's knowledge allows me to know that much. Something else tells me that this isn't her, though. "She is the same as us. And so she is with us. Always with us." Her voice echoes eerily across the empty space, sending chills up my spine. "Until time is destroyed, she will sleep with us." Serah's arms raise slowly until they are held over her head. "When the world ends, she will end with us."
"Let her go," I shout, pointing my gunblade towards the unseen threat. I will not have anyone take her from me.
Serah's head rolls back and inky, black tears roll down her face. What the heck is going on? What is she doing to my sister? I take my stance again; show yourself, you coward, I think to myself.
"She will melt into darkness. As we all will. Yes, you will share her fate." The air and everything around me begins to shake as the seeress' possessed laughter rings out across the throne room. I watch as my sister is further enveloped in darkness.
"Serah!"
Serah's body explodes into a huge cloud of darkness, and an all too familiar silhouette slowly sinks to the ground. I step back, coming out of shock and wanting to get far away from this man.
"Let's end this," Caius says, raising his sword, the eidolith glowing brightly as he does so.
He's crossed the line now, perverted the one thing I hold sacred anymore. "I won't let you have her!" For this, I will make him pay.
Was this battle a dream? Or was it reality? Would a victory here even help to set you free? I didn't know what would happen, and when the end finally came…I had none of the answers I needed. But I had no choice—all I could do was fight. One thing was certain. This was the war that would decide the future.
I had won; Caius was defeated, at least for now. One thing occupied my mind: find the seeress and get my sister back.
My eidolith glowed as I summoned Odin, and like an old friend, he nuzzled me. I patted the side of his neck. "I need your help, my friend," I whisper in his ear before mounting. Knowing my desire, he took off.
"Serah," I call out, my voice echoing in the memory. "Where are you?" Lightning cracks outside, shaking the house. I jump, turning around, half expecting something to be there. I hear a small whimper from further down the hall. Slowly, I head towards it, searching all the while, my eyes not quite accustomed to the dark. A small, pitiful cry sounds as I pass the table in the hall. I kneel down and find myself eye to terrified eye with my sister. "There you are," I say, my voice calm and quiet. "Mom and I were looking everywhere for you. Why didn't you answer?"
Just then, the thunder and lightning clash outside, and my terrified sister leaps towards me. It takes everything in me to keep from losing my balance.
"Don't let it get me, Claire." She clutches me, her small fingernails breaking my skin.
"What are you talking about, Serah? What's going to get you?"
"The monster…the monster that got Daddy."
I take a deep breath; it had been months since Dad had died, nearly a year, but even I was still haunted by nightmares of watching whatever beast my mind could conjure up kill him. I hold my sister a bit tighter, running my fingers though her hair.
"Serah, I promise you…I will not let him get you."
"Really?" she whimpers, looking up at me with wet eyes.
"Yes," I say, wiping away a stray tear. "Nothing will ever take you away from me."
I grip Odin tighter. I'd long ago failed to keep that promise: first with Snow, then the l'Cie, and now this hell I called life. I'd let her down, and now all I wanted to do was right the wrong I'd done to her.
Off at a distance, a black swirl of darkness resembling a young girl stands in the dilapidated courtyard. I pull up on Odin, forcing him into a rear, his whinny ringing out over the empty air.
"Let my sister go!" I order, pointing my gunblade towards the seeress' shadowy shape.
"By what right do you demand her release?" her voice echoes. Black tendrils of darkness begin to gather around Odin's legs, forming a black hole beneath him, slowly sucking him down. I find I cannot move as well, my own body frozen in place. The darkness drags us down faster, it's cold embrace greedy for new flesh to feed on. "Serah's death is your doing." I reach up, trying to grab the light, and scream as the darkness overtakes me.
I sat in my father's lap, watching Mom play with Serah on the floor. "You were very brave today, Claire, keeping your sister out of danger like that." We had all gone shopping earlier and Serah had wandered off. I'd found her near the road, and grabbed her hand before she walked out into the street just as a car came roaring past. Mommy had cried, scolding her, but still hugged the life out of both of us soon afterward.
"Thanks Daddy," I blush.
Daddy and I sit there quietly for a moment, his ice blue eyes looking over his family. Suddenly, he takes me in his arms and carries me into the kitchen, setting me down on the counter. "Claire, sweetie, I won't always be around to take care of you and your sister. So I need you to promise me that no matter what, you will always protect her."
I look up at him, the weight of those words not quite understood, but I knew they were important. "I promise."
He smiles down at me, brushing a piece of hair out of my face before reaching for his necklace. He takes it off and places it in my hand. "To remind you…"
Even now, the cool metal touches my skin, reminding me of how I've failed him, failed my sister…
"Please don't leave, Claire," a younger version of my sister pleads, refusing to let go of my waist.
I look down at her, annoyance evident. "Let go of me, Serah! I have to go!" Now that I was old enough to work, the community wouldn't be so generous in providing for a pair of orphans.
"I won't let you!" she cries. "Mom told us to stay together."
I bite my lip to keep from crying. I turn my body and let my sister cry for a few moments. "Serah," I whisper, "I have to do this."
"No you don't!" she shouts. "You don't have to join the Guardian Corps! I won't lose you too!"
This time, I grab hold of her, pulling her close. "I told you, Serah, nothing will ever take me away from you."
"But Claire…"
"Serah, don't." I start to walk away, leaving her depressed. As much as I hate it, I can't be late. "And I've asked you to call me Lightning."
I had needed her, I thought, holding her head to my chest. Because of my own inability to change the future, I'd requested her help. I needed her to find the hope for a better future and bring it to light. Hope was denied to me; I couldn't do anything to change the past I had helped bring about. The seeress' words echoed in my head, an endless loop of condemnation: Serah's death is your doing. At your bidding, she began her journey…and thus her life was lost. It was you. You are to blame for this doom.
"I'm so sorry," I muster, crying openly over her lifeless form. "Oh, Serah…" Tears roll down my face before falling down.
"Don't be sorry." I gasp, shocked to not only to hear her, but to see my sister sitting on Etro's throne. "And forget your tears—you don't need them." Seeing her, alive, takes my breath away, even though she's semi-translucent. "No matter what future is waiting for us, I have no regrets. No matter what end we see coming, I won't change my mind."
"You knew…you knew what would happen." Serah's body begins to fade away; I reach out, trying to hold on to all I have left of her.
"You taught me how to live my life. No matter what, we shouldn't give up hope."
"Serah…"
She looks up at the sky. "I believe in you. You'll keep the future of this world safe." Her voice is sad, like when she had to tell me something she knew would break my heart. "So it's okay. I don't mind if I'm gone…" A flash comes from Serah, and black tendrils of darkness begin to swirl around her.
"Serah!" I scream. All of world slows to a crawl. My only focus is getting to my sister. The darkness swirls around her and myself, threatening to whisk her away from me.
"I have no regrets. None at all. I choose to start my journey because I wanted to see you again. But there was a reason I decided to keep going. It was a promise I made to myself. It's okay, Lightning."
The world fades away around us and I find myself holding my sister in my arms, the both of us floating in some sort of limbo. Serah's talking to me, but her lips don't move: she's talking to my heart.
"Don't forget me." "How could I ever forget you, Serah? You're my sister. I love you." She holds me tighter.
"When Cocoon fell, and you seemed to just disappear…Everyone was so sure. They said that you were gone. That you were dead. But not me. I just knew. I knew that you were alive somewhere, and I'd find you eventually. I never gave up hope…and now here we are."
"Didn't I tell you nothing could take you away from me? I won't let you go, not ever."
She starts to pull away from me, tear brimming in her eyes. "Just keep me in your thoughts. Remember me, and we'll see each other again."
"Serah," I reach up and touch her face, "don't...please."
"No matter what happens to me…Even if I vanish from this world. Promise me, Lightning. Promise you'll remember me."
A single tear slips down her cheek, her ice blue eyes pleading up at me. "I promise…" The tear falls, landing on her pendant, causing it to glow. She pulls away from me, tears gathering in my own eyes, as I'm forced to let her go.
I find myself at the base of Etro's throne, the memory of my sister already slipping away. I would not forget her. I'd already broken so many promises in my life, I was not about to break this one. Ethereal steps appear in front of the throne. There's one way I know for certain that will work in preserving my memory: crystal stasis. The memories of my mother and father were sparse, brief moments I somehow managed to remember. I'd already forgotten them…I was not about to forget Serah as well. I will preserve what is left of her inside my heart, keeping her alive through my most precious memories. If they can one day be the light that guides Serah's soul back to me…If we can laugh together just one more time…Well…then I have nothing left to wish for.
Thanks for reading. Please review.
Also, if anyone need the script for Requiem, let me know. I've got it.
~Ami