"Yay, yute cookies!" Dajh clutched a few of the chocolate-covered treats to his chest, a grin splitting his face near in two. "And you said there wouldn't be any more yute cookies, Dad!"

Sazh glared at his own yute cookie, as if to chastise it for existing. "Yeah, well, because I said something, something else had to come along and prove me wrong. That's just how the universe works for me."

"There's so many amazing fal'Cie here," Dajh said, looking all around. "I can sense all of them."

"Yeah, real amazing," Sazh said as he took a bite from his yute cookie.

Dajh's response was inaudible, since he had four cookies in his mouth at once. Lightning just shook her head. She still had not eaten-or even ordered-dinner yet. She paced around the dining room like a sentry making her rounds.

"I still don't like this," she muttered as she passed Hope and Sazh. "I explored as much as I could, and I saw nothing, but it still seems wrong."

Sazh glanced up at her. "I know it's suspicious, but so was Barthandelus' tale of making Raines the Primarch. I mean, if the fal'Cie could just control us, all of us-Raines included-would never have been able to think for ourselves. I can buy Raines' story. Besides-" Sazh gestured at the fal'Cie dumbwaiter. "-it makes senses there's other fal'Cie from the lower hierarchy on Gran Pulse. Cocoon couldn't have had them all."

"You really think Raines is setting us up?" Hope asked her. He took a bite of his own yute cookie. He welcomed the sweet, rich taste as it crumbled in his mouth. Four years was a long time to go without one.

"Not exactly. It's just-" Lightning sighed and paused by Hope's chair. "I don't know what to feel after everything that happened. He did set us up once. And tried to kill us. Damn near succeeded, too."

"But if you were him, wouldn't you have tried to kill us, too?"

Lighting turned her face. "I guess I would have, then. He had no way of knowing how it would turn out. None of us did." She sighed. "Just be careful. This doesn't feel quite right."

"Fair enough," Raines said as he walked into the room. Hope jumped and, though he had said little, felt guilty as he wondered how much Raines had heard.

Lightning, however, did not look guilty at all. She just crossed her arms.

Raines glanced at Hope. "I trust you're all eating well?"

Dajh tried to say something, but instead sent cookie crumbles spraying across the table. Sazh sighed and wiped them from his face. "Dajh, I told you not to talk with your mouth full!"

Hope laughed. "I think Dajh wanted to thank you for the yute cookies."

"Don't thank me." Raines gestured at the dumbwaiter. "Thank it."

Lightning scowled, giving the impression she would like to thank the fal'Cie with a gunblade buried in its metallic face.

"Anyways, I've seen to your rooms. I'm afraid the décor is a bit lacking, but the beds are still quite comfortable, and the linens fresh. There's a bath in each one-just ask the faucet display for hot water, and the pipe fal'Cie shall provide."

Sazh grinned. "A real hot bath. I'm so tired of the best springs being guarded by crazy fal'Cie like Bismarck. Cold rivers have their uses-" He gave Lightning a sour look. "-but this old man needs a hot bath."

Dajh swallowed the last of his cookies. "Aw, man. I knew that bath stuff was gonna catch up to me," he said mournfully.

Raines blinked at both the Katzroys. "I, ah, see. Also, since I presume you'll want something to change into, just tell the closet fal'Cie your size and preferred colors, and they'll provide outfits when you open the door."

"So the fal'Cie all respond to our verbal commands?" Lightning asked.

Raines folded his hands behind his back and regarded Lightning. "Yes. It is as if this tower is the reverse of Cocoon."

"Hmm." The furrow on Lightning's brow deepened. A silence fell over the room, except for the sound of Dajh munching on his beloved yute cookies.

Not knowing what else to think or say, Hope stood. "I'd like to see my room, if you don't mind."

Raines nodded. "Follow me. When I return, I'll show the rest of you to your rooms." He spun on his heel and headed out.

Hope glanced back at his friends. "Light, please eat something."

"Don't worry," Sazh told Hope. "I'll get her to eat. I'll use logic and reason, and when that inevitably fails, Old Sazh will just have Dajh pester her all night." He smirked at Lightning.

Lightning's eyebrow quirked.

"I'm very good at pestering," Dajh said with redoubtable authority. "Mister Snow taught me everything about it."

"Yes, he certainly has been a bad influence on you," Lightning observed with a sigh. "Fine. You win." She stalked over to the dumbwaiter.

Hope laughed. "Enjoy dinner. I'm going to see about a bath and some sleep in a real bed. Good night, everyone." He headed out to find Raines standing in the hall, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Raines' expression seemed almost as dark as his hair, brows furrowed and lips pinched.

"For a guy who was supposed to be lonely, you're awful quiet," Hope said, coming to a stop a few feet from him. "You didn't even stay to have dinner with us."

Raines looked up and studied Hope. His gaze was as intent and warm as it was earlier. "I've always found people overwhelming. And yet, when I am alone, I crave their company. It's a strange condition, I suppose."

"Maybe, but I can understand."

"Can you?" Raines tilted his head and pushed himself off the wall. "Perhaps you can. Tell me, Hope, where is Snow Villiers?"

"Oh, he's back at our base camp with Team NORA and Serah. He married Serah right after Cocoonfall. They would have come with us, but Serah is pregnant and should rest."

"So they have a child? I never considered that we l'Cie could have children."

"Oh, well." Hope stared down at his shoes. "We're not sure if it's her or being a l'Cie, but she's miscarried a few times before. She's made it to her ninth month this time, though. That's much farther than before. We think this one will make it."

Hope wondered if Serah was still doing all right. When they were at camp, they all took to crowding around Serah and her growing belly, hoping this baby would make it. Her and Snow's child somehow felt like everyone's. It would prove that l'Cie were no different from other humans in the way that mattered. That they were part of the world and would leave their mark on it as people, not as tools of the fal'Cie. They all wanted that baby to live as much as Snow and Serah did.

"How remarkable," Raines commented. "And what of Sazh Katzroy's son? Why do you bring him out with you on these missions?"

"Oh, well, we don't always. But if we're not sure if something is dangerous or not, Sazh will wait with him on our airship until we give the all clear. But, you know, Sazh doesn't like leaving him behind, either. He misses him too much. Besides, he's kinda rambunctious, and that's a little too much for Serah right now."

"Of course." Raines nodded and beckoned with Hope. "Come, I'll show you to your room. It's the one next to mine, actually."

"Oh." Something about that statement made Hope stumble a bit, but he followed Raines down the winding hallway. Torchlight flickered over Raines as he walked, making him seem like an opera hero with his black cloak billowing behind him. Raines was tall-almost as tall as Snow, but far more compact. There was something neat and crisp about Raines, and his sharp features cut a fine profile. The contrast of his dark hair and clothes against his white skin struck Hope as rather alluring.

Hope blushed and looked down at his feet. As beautiful as Lightning, Serah, and Lebreau were, none captivated him. Men had always captured his imagination more than women, but he had few men to appreciate. Sazh's fatherly air left Hope cold. While Snow sometimes made his pulse race, he derailed all trains of thought in that direction, since Snow's affections obviously lay with Serah. For all their attractiveness, Yuj and Gadot were obviously more interested in Lightning and Lebreau than him. Cid Raines, however, had yet to present any obstacles to Hope's admiration.

"Here," Raines said, gesturing at a door. It creaked when he opened it, and he lit the torches in a room with a quick Fira spell. "I hope you find it comfortable."

Hope stepped in and looked around. Directly across the entrance stood a glass wall, which offered a spectacular view of the valley below, where Nenvan Wode's luminescent trees glittered under the moonlight. Against the glass wall, a stone bed lay low, covered in thick bedding and blankets. The room was not spacious, with low ceilings and limited floor space, but Hope could see a clean bathroom through an arched door. He also noticed the fal'Cie closet door Raines had mentioned. Like the dumbwaiter, the outer door was ornate, but rusted. Hope imagined its face was inside, as with the dumbwaiter. While the stones bore the stain of time, the room seemed far more comfortable than the log houses they lived in back at the base camp.

"It's really nice," Hope said, turning back to Raines. "I like it. Thank you."

Raines smiled. "Good." He paused and glanced away, then back at Hope. His hazel eyes picked up the fire light, appearing made of molten golden. The more he studied Hope, the more Hope felt like a piece of burning charcoal wrapped in skin. "How old are you now? You cannot be as young as you seem."

"I'm eighteen."

"I see." Raines paused and glanced to the side. His brow creased, as if considering something. Then he smiled a bit and took a step backwards. "I should show the others to their rooms."

Hope blinked as Raines abruptly walked out of the room, his booted heels clicking smartly on the stone floors. Then he sighed. He should have known better than to think that Raines might be interested in him. Even if he was an adult now-if only barely-men who preferred other men for companions were rare, at least in his experience. Hope wondered if his sexual preferences had doomed him to an unfulfilled existence. It was just as well, he supposed-sex was not a topic he cared to discuss with his friends.

With another sigh, Hope sat on the bed and peered out of the window. The canyon valley stretched as far as the eye could see on either side of the tower, glittering where the luminescent trees clustered above the canopy. Hope wondered why they had not noticed glass on the tower before, but concluded it might have been disguised. He wondered why fal'Cie had built this place, and then it occurred to him to ask the fal'Cie still present.

The bathroom's air seemed a little warmer than his room. Hope peered at the metal display by the tub. "Hot water, please," he said, as Raines had instructed.

With a groaning creak that sounded suspiciously like straining pipes, a rounded, genderless face appeared on the metal display. Within a second, it spat out hot water. This was certainly a lot more personal than the fal'Cie who had generated and pumped water through a pipes system on Cocoon.

"Hello, excuse me?" Hope said.

The fal'Cie glanced at him after it had filled the tub. In a bubbly voice, it asked, "Yes?"

"Um." Hope suddenly felt his knees wobble, and so he sat on the edge of the tub. Steam rose around him as he pondered the fal'Cie's face. The last fal'Cie he had spoken to was Barthandelus-or the part of Barthandelus that became Orphan. Hope still had nightmares where that powerful, metal grin would split open to rain punishment on him for his human impudence. "You're a fal'Cie."

"Yes," the fal'Cie responded, without noticeable sarcasm-or any emotion at all.

"I am a-or I was, a l'Cie."

The fal'Cie did not respond, and it blinked at Hope, metal eyes glittering under the torchlight of the bathroom.

"Why-why are you here?"

"To provide water to the tower's occupants."

"Yes, but why?"

"Because that is what I do."

"But why?" Hope insisted. This fal'Cie did not seem quite so clever as the others he had encountered. But then, aside from Barthandelus, he could not recall ever having a conversation with a fal'Cie. Did they all think like him? Or was the lower heirarchy different?

"Because the tower's occupants need water."

"That's it?" Hope stared at the fal'Cie. "Don't you know why you are here?"

"Yes."

"Oh, good. Why are you are here?"

"Because I produce the water that the tower's occupants require."

Hope blinked. "Um." This conversation seemed to be approaching nowhere at a considerable velocity. "But who put you here?"

"My master."

Hope did not like the sound of that. Was this some larger, smarter fal'Cie with an ulterior motive? "And who is your master?"

"The one who gives me orders."

"Okay, who do you take orders from?"

"Those who ask for water."

"What about fal'Cie?"

"When fal'Cie require water, I provide it."

"Why?"

"Because I provide the water for the tower's occupants."

Hope suddenly realized that he had just talked himself into a circle. The fal'Cie continued to stare at him. He rubbed his face. "Thank you for the water," he mumbled.

The fal'Cie's face disappeared without comment, leaving Hope alone. He stripped his clothing off and scrubbed himself clean with the soap provided on a little dish, then sat in the hot water to soak. It stung his skin and relaxed him, reminding him of a simpler, more luxurious time.

Hope realized, though he hated to admit it, that he had missed fal'Cie caring for him.

...

Hope opened his eyes, though he could not say what woke him. Aside from ambient starlight, his room remained dark and empty. He crept out of bed, wearing the soft pajamas the closet fal'Cie had made him, and to the door. When he peeked out, only a few burning torches lit the empty hall.

Wary, Hope stepped out into the hall. The torchfire flickered and jumped from one unlit torch to another, as if running down the hall towards the end. Was this some function of the tower that Raines had failed to explain? Hope headed to Raines' door-after all, he owed them an explanation for strange activity, no matter what time of night.

When Hope knocked on the door, it fell open. Raines' room stood empty. Sheets lay rumpled on his bed. Hope backed up, alarmed. Was Raines up to something? Perhaps Hope had been wrong-perhaps Raines really was still their enemy. He raced down the hall, knocking on Lightning's, Sazh's, and Dajh's doors, but they all fell open to reveal empty rooms. Even the dining room appeared empty. Nothing moved, except for the torchfire.

"Hello?" Hope called. He called again and again, louder and louder.

Only silence replied to him. Hope wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly afraid. He had not been alone in years, and it was not a feeling he enjoyed. Knowing that he had friends-no, a family-helped make everything that had happened to him bearable. Without them, he felt just like the frightened boy who had watched his mother fall to her death four years ago.

Hope took a deep breath. He could not let despair conquer him again. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. The torchfire still ran towards the end of the hall, as if playing leapfrog upon the torches. Hope padded down the hallway, hoping the others had merely followed the torchlight, too. The stone felt cold beneath his bare feet, but his blood ran even colder. The moment he thought of blood, he started to choke on its heady and coppery scent.

The hallway opened up into a large room with vaulted ceilings and ornate metalwork laid across the stone. In the center of the room, each on a separate examining table, lay the bloody corpses of Lightning, Sazh, Dajh, and Cid. Their skin had been flayed, their organs exposed, their bodies dismembered. It seemed as if someone had used them for some depraved anatomy lesson. On each of their faces-or what remained of their faces-was a look of agony.

Hope stood in the doorway, gasping for breath, unable to move. "No. Please, no. No." A scream caught in his throat. Horror filled him like a living thing, twisting around his insides, coiling around his heart, and squeezing tight. His left wrist burned, and a strange l'Cie brand lit upon it, its design as ornate as the metalwork of the room.

"Welcome home, slave," boomed Barthandelus' voice.

Hope woke up, and the scream that had been caught in his throat burst out of him. He floundered in his sheets until he sat up. His scream faded as he stared around his dark and empty room. When he lifted his arm, his left wrist revealed only smooth human flesh.

The door banged open, and Hope screamed again, this time in surprise. Lightning glared at him from the doorway, fully dressed. "What happened?" she demanded, her gunblade in hand.

Dajh's face appeared behind her. "Hope, are you okay?"

"The hell was all that racket about?" Sazh demanded from over Lightning's shoulder. "Can't an old man get his beauty rest?"

Another voice joined the fray. "Did I hear someone screaming?" asked Raines, peering into Hope's room.

Hope smiled, and the unsettling memories of the dream faded. His blood warmed, and the vice around his heart loosened. He was not really alone-he had his family and friends around him the whole time. "I was-it was just a bad dream. Sorry for the noise. I'm fine now."

"I had a bad dream, too. You guys were gone, and there was only that Nabaat lady, yanking me along a white hallway for more tests," Dajh said with a yawn. He rubbed his eyes. "But I didn't scream like a girl."

Hope felt his face heat. Did Dajh have to be so honest all the time?

"There's no use rubbing it in." Sazh frowned. "I was having a really awful dream, too, until I heard you scream. I was watching-" He tilted his head back. "Never mind what I was watching. It was a nightmare, all right."

Lightning glared at Raines. "Why are they all having nightmares?"

Raines kept his gaze on Hope. "I think we're all quite wound up and traumatized enough to have stressful dreams. It's understandable."

"It's fine," Hope insisted. "I have nightmares all the time. We all do. This one was just-it felt more real. But I guess they all feel real when you have them."

Lightning frowned, but she knew it to be true-every one of them had nightmares more frequently than they cared to admit. "Would you like me to stay with you, Hope?" she asked, more gently than usual.

"Lucky Hope," Sazh quipped. "Maybe I should have screamed, too."

Lightning gave him a fierce glare that quickly silenced him.

Hope smiled. "It's really okay. Thank you, though."

Lighting took a break from glaring at Sazh to nod at Hope, then returned to glaring at Sazh.

"Well," Raines said, "we should all likely go back to sleep." He nodded at Hope. "Please, I'm right next door. Don't hesitate to wake me if you have another nightmare." He dipped his head, then headed back towards his room.

"Let us know first, Hope," Lightning said, keeping her gaze in the direction Raines headed. "I still don't like this place. I was exploring again, and I still saw nothing, but-"

"You haven't slept yet?" Hope asked. He sighed. Lightning was often so stubborn that she forgot to look after her health. "Please get some rest, Light. You need it as much as the rest of us."

Sazh took Dajh's hand. "Look, empty places always feel creepy to people. We should give it another couple of days, let Raines show us around, then head back to base camp to discuss our options with everyone else."

"And what if we get murdered in our sleep?"

"If you really think Raines is going to smother us with pillows while we're sleeping, why even stay?"

Lightning just frowned.

"Because," Sazh explained, "you want this to be as real as we do. We all took hope-no pun intended, Hope-from his crystallization. He made us believe we could be humans, not l'Cie-and he was right. He's free now, and so are we. Living here isn't so bad. There's nothing here but lower fal'Cie who are as dumb as Snow in a strategy meeting-"

"Almost as dumb," Lightning quipped. "At least these do as they're told."

"-almost as dumb as Snow, then, bless his simple heart. If we distrust everyone, we're going to be as miserable as the other Cocoon survivors. We have to move past that."

"And what if trusting people gets us dead?"

Sazh smirked. "I don't know about you, Lightning, but I haven't forgotten how to defend myself."

"Cheh."

Hope sighed. "Are you two going to flirt all night, or can I go back to sleep?"

That gave them pause, and Lightning and Sazh both glared back at Hope.

"We weren't flirting!" Lightning barked.

Sazh rolled his eyes.

Dajh yawned. "Can we go back to sleep? I need lots of rest for all the yute cookies I plan to eat tomorrow."

"At least he's honest." Lightning shook her head. "Good night, gentleman." She marched back off to her room.

"Sleep better, Hope." Sazh smiled and closed the door to Hope's room.

Hope sighed and lay back down on his sweat-soaked pillows. His nightmare had felt so real. He had smelt the blood, felt the cold stone beneath his feet. But a nightmare it had been, same as all the others. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep, forcing himself to think of nothing. Sleep did not come to him easily, but it eventually came.

This time, Hope dreamt he was submerged in darkness. Only the echoes of a lullaby filled his space, a clockwork lullaby sung by moving gears and pistons. The machine parts moved pointlessly, offering no mobility or momentum. Their only purpose was to provide a metallic lullaby that underscored his loneliness. There was no one to hear him, no one to see him, no one to speak to him. It was an unbearable existence, to be imprisoned in a darkness that stretched towards eternity. There would be no reprieve, no mercy, no reincarnation. He had done nothing to deserve this fate, yet it was thrust upon him all the same. This was a hell born not of sin, but of his very nature.

When Hope awoke to sunlight streaming in through his window, the memory of being abandoned in the dark, with nothing left to do but dream, remained fresh on his mind. And when he felt his cheeks, his tears were still wet upon them.

...

To be continued...