Gran Pulse, The Archylte Steppe
Midday
Gran Pulse. Once described as a place ruled by the brutal struggle to survive. Vanille called this place a world wild and fragile, vibrant and untamed. The six of us had once set foot here, living the lives of criminals, of warriors, of l'Cie, but most of all, as a group whose bonds became stronger than those of blood. We were family on a spiritual level, although we did not start off that way. When I think of how I used to be, it makes me smile. Even a chuckle, albeit a small one. I was angry, limited, and despite the incredible power the fal'Cie had given me, I was set on seeing the world in merely black and white. Three years had passed since those days.
My birth name is Claire Farron, but everyone I know calls me Lightning. I was once a member of the Guardian Corps, as I was once a l'Cie, but now I am a Protector. After the defeat of Orphan and the fall of Cocoon, many humans took to Gran Pulse, seeking to tame the wildlands. However, this entailed many dangers. The settlers needed protection. That is how Snow and I found work. We were no longer l'Cie, but we were capable fighters regardless. Serah chose to join the settlers, and by her desire to remain close to me, she and Snow joined the Sturmwell settling group, the group I had joined as Protector. As disdainful as I acted to be working so closely with Snow, in actuality, I couldn't have been happier.
Despite his name, Snow had a warmth I could never hope to match.
I suppose at some point he must have found out that I was glad to work with him. Maybe he caught the small smiles that would cross my lips whenever he called me "sis." I always had been short on family members, Serah being my only one for a long time.
She and Snow had delayed their marriage. As much as they loved each other I could see it in the way their eyes met. They weren't in love. It didn't make sense when put into words, but their bond was closer to guardian and his ward than a soon to be married couple. But Snow was stubborn. He was always reminding himself of his promises, to her, to me. He was a good man, a good man who was dealt a terrible hand. On that level, I felt for him.
But enough of that.
Lightning stepped out of her personal tent, shielding her blue eyes from the bright, almost white rays from the midday sun. She was dressed not for battle, but clearing for sparring, garbed in a loose-fitting navy blue tank top, baggy gray sweat pants, red sparring gloves and black combat boots. Around her neck were two necklaces. One, a locket, containing a photo of herself, Snow, Serah, Hope, and Sazh, all standing before the crystal Vanille and Fang were imprisoned in. The other was a small silver chain, holding a rose-shaped crystal. Odin's crystal. It had long since lost its bright pink glow, and now was a gloomy gray. However, in the center of the jewel there was a tiny pink light. She believed that was proof that Odin would never truly leave her side. Sazh, Snow, and Hope also kept their Eidolon crystals, if for nothing other than nostalgia. Hope's sat on his desk, having become a young business man. Last time he and Lightning had spoken he had told her of his project, something called Academia. He had told her of it a month ago. Sazh had sewn his into the stomach of his son Dajh's stuffed bunny. Only Snow and Lightning kept them on their person, his being crafted into the buckle of his belt.
She made my way to the edge of the settlement, where a large tent served as the entrance to a cavern. Snow and Lightning had cleared this place of monsters, and the settlers placed lanterns throughout the entirety. Once the settlers had scoured it for artifacts and other items of value, the two of them unofficially made this their sparring area. She walked into the cave, following the lanterns to the center, which opened out into a very large room. In the center of the room, a large mat had been artificially inserted into the ground. There she saw Snow. He had his back to her, removing his own boots and sliding kick pads onto his shins. He was shirtless, showing all of his accumulated scars, and was wearing torn pants, clearly from a karate gi. He had on a pair of dark, forest green sparring gloves as well, his hair long and falling freely to just below his shoulders. She cleared her throat.
Snow turned to face her. "Light, you're here. Glad ya came." At this Lightning gave a tiny smirk.
"Of course. I'm on a seventeen-win streak, afterall. I have to defend it, don't it." At this it was Snow's turn to smirk. He stepped onto the mat, walking while keeping his gaze on her. "Someone's gotten cocky, huh?" When he got to the center of the mat he folded his arms. Lightning walked to the left of the mat where there were shelves. On the bottom shelf, Snow's boots sat, tossed onto their side haphazardly. Lightning removed her own boots and placed them on the top shelf with a bit more care. Next to them sat red kick pads. She put them on and stepped onto the mat. "So Snow, you think you'll win this time?"
He responded with a chuckle. He took off at a sprint toward her, aiming a right hook toward her face. She spun her body, moving as if the strike had hit and matching Snow's speed. She flowed like water, avoiding his attack and spinning around to his exposed back. She rose her foot to aim a kick between his shoulders when he leapt several feet into the air, spinning one hundred and eighty degrees so that he was facing her. He brought down both of his fists toward her head, forcing her to roll to her left to avoid taking damage. She was crouched low after her roll, right knee on the ground when he kept on her. He gripped the front of her shirt, forcing her to her feet, before unleashing a flurry of punches. She narrowly wove through them, avoiding each fist masterfully, before sweeping low and throwing out her leg, tripping Snow up. He fell hard to his back, but kipped up with trained ease. As he got back to his feet, Lightning threw out a jab which he blocked with his forearm. They jumped backwards, putting some distance between them.
"A little slow today, Light?"
Lightning rose her fists. "It's too early to get overconfident, Snow!" She was openly smiling now, her nostrils flaring slightly as she took in more air to compensate for their physical exertion. They sprinted forward, running at each other when a bellowing, fear-inducing roar echoed the cave. They froze, looking back toward the cave entrance. Without waiting a second they both sprinted down the hall, their hearts pounding. Lightning swallowed hard. No, anything but that.
They reached the cave exit, sprinting out into the settlement to see a Behemoth King ripping through their meager village. Dangling from its mighty jaw were torn cloth and broken wood from tents. It was still down on all fours. Lightning finally found her voice. "Everyone, get out of here! This thing is beyond all of you!" Her cries fell on deaf ears as settlers raised firearms and poured bullets into the creature, not even scratching its flesh. It gave a mighty paw swipe and ended the lives of a group of men in one go. Now Snow roared out. "Serah! Where are you?! SERAH!"
"Snow, I'm here!" Lightning and Snow's eyes fell upon Serah, standing near the edge of the settlement, gathering children and getting them into a large vehicle. It was box-shaped, like a van, but narrowed in the front and rode on three wheels, one under the driver's seat and two in the back. Snow took a step toward her and froze as a dark shadow loomed over him. The Behemoth had taken notice of the two of them. They both leaped away, avoiding its downward paw strike. Lightning took off toward her tent at full tilt while Snow jumped toward the beast. He landed a strong blow to its nose and it roared at him, stepping backward away from the only human to harm it since its arrival.
"Hey! Over here!"
Lightning's voice called out from the beast's left and it turned to see what the commotion was. A gunshot fired and a bullet embedded itself into one of the Behemoth's eyes, causing it to roar in pain. It swiped blindly at her and she jumped avoiding the strike and flipping her gunblade into its sword form. She landed on the other side of the beast, next to Snow. She looked over at him and he nodded. They both leapt at the beast. They needed to kill it quickly before it decided to change form. Lightning slashed across its face, from above the left eye all the way to the right side of its snout. While it reeled from the slash, Snow pounded the bottom jaw with an uppercut, forcing it to look up. It rose a paw to strike Snow with a backhand swipe, only to have Lightning rush toward the appendage, nothing more than a blur. In a single swipe, she cut clean through the paw at the ankle, removing it from the beast. Snow took advantage of the Behemoth's weakened state by slamming a falling strike down on it's head, slamming the beast onto its stomach.
Both monster hunters landed next to each other, hoping the monster would stay down. But, with a mighty roar, it rose and stood on its hind legs, retrieving its spinning, circular blade. It bellowed out a roar and its hand, eyes, and face regenerated. It was as if it hadn't even been scratched. It rose the sword and swung down toward Lightning. Before she could react, she was roughly thrown to the side by Snow. He emitted his own roar, cocking back a fist. Lightning's eyes widened. "No! SNOW, DON'T!" He threw a mighty punch at the blade of the beast and Lightning couldn't help but turn away. She refused to see him be killed. She could feel tears rising to her eyes and bile to her mouth. However, there was no sound of rending flesh and spilling blood. Only a strange, comforting cold. When she willed her eyes to open and look at what became of the man she held dearest to her heart, she felt shock overcome every other feeling. He was glowing with a bright blue light and the sword of the Behemoth King had frozen over. With another punch he shattered the iced weapon into many pieces, a magnificent shower of ice. He was too preoccupied with killing this thing to wonder about his returned magic. He merely jumped away from the beast, raising a hand. He gathered icy blue magic in his hand, his whole body glowing with power. "Graahh! Froststrike!" He landed on the ground, holding his fist out at his side, before rushing toward the beast. He rained punch after punch upon the monster, freezing over every single spot he hit, until with a final predatory scream of triumph, he slammed a fist into the center of the Behemoth's chest, causing it to shatter into many frozen pieces. As he landed his glow faded, but the glow of his belt buckle, his l'Cie crystal, went on strong. Lightning scanned his arm for the mark of a l'Cie, but found none.
She blinked as the villagers cheered and roared with happiness rushing toward their hero. Snow didn't even notice as they patted his back and children hugged his legs. His hand was gripping his belt buckle as he stared wide-eyed down upon it. He looked up to see Lightning looking at him, before finally responding to the settlers. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck, trying to brush them off so he could go back to trying to figure out how his powers had returned to him. Serah cut through the crowd and leapt at him, tears streaming down her face. Her arms wrapped around her neck and she cried into his shoulder as his arms met her waist. Lightning rose from the ground and folded her weapon closed, gripping Odin's crystal in her hand. She looked down to see that its glow hadn't even grown in brightness. Her warrior was still in a deep slumber. She looked up at Snow's belt buckle, whose bright glow hadn't let up at all.
Odin… are… are you there?
Silence. She gripped the crystal tighter and looked to the sky. Just what was happening? She needed to get a hold of Sazh and Hope. Soon.
Unknown
"Looks like the big man is waking his powers faster than the others. Just like Snow."
"Wow, in only three years? Do you remember how long it took the others? They were so old when they finally got back in touch with the Eidolons!"
The dark-haired woman smirked and nodded at the redhead to her right. "Our friends always were an interesting bunch, eh Vanille?" Vanille nodded vigorously at the other woman. Her smile soon faded, however. "But… Fang. They aren't ready yet. It will happen soon. He's coming and… I don't think he can be stopped…" Fang turned to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Don't worry, Vanille. You remember what Yeul told us. He will be stopped by the heroes closest to us. Who's closer than these four?"
Gran Pulse, The Archylte Steppe
Sunset
The party in Snow's name raged for sometime. It was a time of much merriment, and despite herself, Lightning was absorbed into the celebrations as well. By sunset she had found herself tipsy, despite her limited alcohol intake. Snow sat next to her at their table, and Serah next to him. "Yer a real lightweight, Light!" He gave a booming laugh and Lightning's eyes fell to the his portion of the table.
Littered with various bottles.
She hid a small laugh and flushed cheeks behind a hand. "Glass houses, Snow." This only caused him to laugh louder. Lightning and Serah shared a knowing smile and gave small laughs. They swallowed down a few more sips of alcohol, enjoying the music and dancing. The Behemoth had been thawed out and there were men who had already set to skinning it and slicing up the meat. The meat would sustain them for a while longer, and the hide would sell for a good amount of gil. While Lightning was enjoying herself, her thoughts were a swirling mess. She wasn't jealous of Snow's victory, he had earned it. But where was her Eidolon? Where was Odin? She couldn't feel his power, hear his voice. She closed her eyes.
Where was her own magic?
As hard as it had been being a l'Cie, she couldn't say she didn't miss the power. She wasn't an egomaniac, nor was she a power-hungry fiend, but the ability to easily defeat monsters, to defend herself and her loved ones… it was hard to have had it for what felt like an entirely different lifetime and to suddenly not. Seeing Snow reach within himself and resurface with his magic in hand had instilled a sense of hopefulness, but also impatience. She wanted her own abilities back.
She looked up from her musings when Snow nudged her, his face serious, minus the redness across his cheeks and nose.
"Listen, Light. I'm sure you'll get your powers back, too. You, Hope, and Sazh. We need to talk to them." Normally Lightning would have shrugged him off with a "don't you think I know that?" But this time she just nodded. He wasn't wrong. He wasn't wrong at all. She smiled at him. "Later, Hero. For now, let's just celebrate a decisive victory over the Behemoth, huh?"
Snow returned with his own smiled. "Alllright! Let's have another round of drinks, huh?!" The settlers cheered at his call, lifting their bottles, glasses, mugs, and cans to the sky.
Lightning smiled at her younger sister, watching the woman sleep peacefully. Snow stood next to her, staring up at the night sky. She turned to face him, sitting down next to him unceremoniously. A sigh slipped from her lips. "We need to talk." Snow didn't look at her. "About?" Her eyes flicked over to him. "You and Serah." His own eyes widened in surprise and he looked over at her. "What do you-" "I know you two have been having… issues. You're poor at hiding it." His face drew a somber expression and he looked down. "Light, I… I tried. Hell, I'm still trying, but… She and I, we're… Neither of us is the same as we were before she was frozen. I don't know if we can really keep this up." Lightning was surprised. Snow was never the type to give up on anything, least of all Serah. These three years must have been tough on them. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "If she means a lot to you, Snow, and I know she does, then tell her. Letting it end peacefully is a better alternative than dragging it out and ending it with tears and anger." She rose to her feet and gave him a light punch. "Because if you make my sister hate you, I'll kick your ass, Snow."
Lightning turned to walk away, leaving a pondering Snow behind. He looked back ot the sky, deep in thought. She returned to her tent and removed her boots, which she had retrieved from the cave sometime after the death of the Behemoth King. She sat on her bed, looking toward the wall, before laying down. It was a warm night, so she just laid on top of her blankets, staring at the ceiling of her tent. One hand lay draped over her stomach while her other hand gripped her l'Cie crystal.
She awoke naked, laying in a plush, four poster bed. She quickly sat up, in an unfamiliar room. It was regal, covered in expensive furniture. Large cloth posters hung from the walls, bearing an unfamiliar crest.
"Where am I?"