Final Fantasy XIII:

Fabula Nova Crystallis

(The New Tale of the Crystals)

Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy, only a couple characters and names.

CHAPTER ONE

Cocoon. The city of peace, of harmony. All the humans showed kindness and love towards one another, helping those in need. There were many things that happened in the city, from the gardeners, who grew flowers and crops in small fields, to the Prime Minister, who did his best to keep the city in it's best shape. Everyone helped out and did their part to keep up the city that kept them so safe, away from Pulse, the tainted world below.

Pulse. A place of pure evil. Or so the history books said. It was said to be full of evil creatures that feasted on the flesh of humans, creatures that hungered for whatever they could get a hold of. The world was controlled by a single dark crystal, the one that tainted Pulse, that made all the creatures run mad. It was similar to the crystal that had created Cocoon. It made a world where humans could run free and stay safe.

Cocoon was protected, but the humans took precautions. They set up a very complicated and detailed military force, one that could fight off the army's of Pulse. In it, many young men, and even women, sacrificed their free lives to dedicate their lives to their world. There were many respected men and women who had risen in rank, who had spent years protecting. The head of the group was a man named Roi. His pencil straight posture and muscular arms had kept him alive through many battles. His eyes darted cautiously side to side, up and down, while he was walking, taking extra precautions in keeping the world safe. His black hair, which was cut so that it was out of his eyes, was slicked back in a very professional manner. His left eye, the one that searched carefully for every little flaw, stayed uncovered, while his right eye was shielded with an eye patch that he was given after he lost it in a battle against Pulse. On his coat was a badge that signified his loss in the battle, a veterans badge. A purple heart.

Roi's right hand man was a woman named Lightning. She was strict, to say the least. She ruled her troop with an iron fist, fixing every flaw. In a way, you could say she was not a very sweet person. She had no tolerance for whiners, and dealt with them very quickly. Her face was very soft, the only soft thing about her. Her strawberry pink hair was long and wavy, her nose long bangs hanging to the right of her face, and her ice blue eyes were almost always squinted to see through the sun. When she stared, it felt as if she were staring into your very soul, searching you for your weakness, so she could use it to break you down. Her arms were toned, but not muscular. Never the less, she was one person you would not want to mangle with. She could take almost any opponent down with a swipe of her modernized gun blade. Her clothes were light and comfortable, the armor on her shoulder containing two thin yellow stripes, signifying her occupation.

Together they ruled their section of the army with a tight grip. Once in, you couldn't back out. They ran their men through a harsh series of training exercises, anywhere from grueling obstacle courses to mental training such as tests and tutorials on their fighting abilities. They were well known and respected in the large, floating city of Cocoon, and no one got in their way.

Their law was strict on the people who lived there. There were many rules, but the two that were heavily followed through with were that they were not to attack one another, and two, anyone seen with members of Pulse were banished to the tainted world below. And that was the

truth. Everyone kept an eye out for suspicious acts, and if they saw anything, they rushed to a nearby soldier (able to be found by the gray, yellow and black armor they wore) and told them every bit of information they had on that person.

Yes, things were rough, but as long as they obeyed the rules, no harm was sent to them. Unfortunately, many people did not listen, and were banished. No one ever heard from them again, and the banished ones hardly ever survived the punishment.

In the military arena, Lightning patrolled her troops progresses, tested them, asked them to show her their gun from the inside, then put it back together. She walked along the line of men and women who served under her, checking on them. As she walked, one man along the line whispered to another: "I'm so tired. She should really let us rest."

At hearing those words, Lightning spun around, her eyes narrowed in on the man who said that and walked sternly over to him. "We don't rest until we are on the ground, unable to move. Do you understand?" She asked coldly. He moved his body back a little bit, but nodded, his head bobbing up and down. She turned to continue her patrol, leaving the man frightened. His mind raged, screaming 'You shouldn't have joined'. He returned to his training, going as quickly as he could to keep out of trouble.

Lightning stood in front of her troops' training grounds, watching them carefully. She knew that they had a problem with being under her, but they were out of order. She needed to talk to Roi about this, see what he had to say. So many men and women had died in their past battles that she wanted them to be as strong as possible. They had no right to judge her the way they did.

Her thoughts ceased as a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned her head to face behind her, her bright eyes coming in contact with Roi's. She looked back to her troop, crossing her arms. "What do you want?" She asked, annoyance in her voice. Though she needed to talk to him, she didn't want to admit that she was having trouble controlling her men.

He laughed a little, then moved to stand next to her. "I saw the little episode that occurred a minute ago." He scratched his arm with his gloved hand. Since he and Lightning were higher ranked, they were not permitted to wear the armor that normal soldiers were forced to. They were able to wear their own clothing, if they wished, but were required to wear a small metal shoulder pad with the two yellow stripes that signified their rank in the military force.

Taking advantage of that luxury, Roi and Lightning wore their average clothing, Roi in a black, sleeveless, turtleneck vest that zipped up, black dress pants, and his army boots, and Lightning in her brown turtleneck vest, a sleeveless white, longer vest that was unzipped to her chest, revealing the brown turtleneck, and a brown skirt, with tall tan boots. They both wore the shoulder armor in exchange for their uniform.

She sighed. "He wished to rest before completing the training day." She told him. He chuckled, causing Lightning to flare up.

"What's so funny about that?" She asked rudely. "There's nothing funny about not listening to your commanding officer." She burst. A large smile spread across his face, only making her temper worse.

"I know you mean well, but you need to lighten up. If you don't, no one will join us again. You're well respected, but you work them too hard." He stated. She calmed down a little.

"You've seen it. Too many people died in our last battle. That can't happen again, and if I release them just a little, I'll lose men and women who weren't meant to die so early." She explained. He glanced at her. Even though she seemed cruel, and maybe she was a bit too strict, she cared about those under her. She was not a very kind person, but he figured that somewhere underneath that tough skin of hatred was a solid coating of care, of love. He knew that something had happened long ago to harden her, but he could never find out what it was.

He cleared his throat. "You have a point, but you need to understand a large part of battle is losing lives. There's no way that you can get away from that. No matter what you do, someone is going to be killed, and with you controlling them like this, they'll have no joy in their life before they die."

The strawberry haired woman turned to face him. "You train your troop the way you think is right, and I'll train mine the way I think is right." She scoffed, then walked toward them. "Take a break. Ten minutes." She said, then left to go to her quarters.

Roi watched her for a moment, then shook his head, his black hair bobbing with it, turned to leave back to his men. He grabbed his water bottle and chugged down a large gulp, then removed the bottle from his mouth, using his hand to wipe the excess water off. He stared at his group of soldiers for a minute, pulled over the ice chest from the corner near him, and opened the lid, dropping it right beside the chest. He blew the whistle, signaling them to pay attention.

"Water break." He announced, then sat down to talk with his soldiers, creating a stronger bond with each of them.

A young boy that had joined not even a week ago came over to him. His hands were shaking, and his face was filled with worry. He looked at Roi, trying to make eye contact with him, his eyes continually getting shy and looking away quickly. "Sir?" He finally said. "When are we going to battle?"

Roi smiled and shrugged. "Don't know. Pulse is staying pretty calm right now. Whenever they start acting strange, I'll let you know, alright?" He assured him. The boy nodded, then saluted, heading back to his post. Roi closed his eyes and thought. Pulse was closer than everyone thought. The Admiral was on his way, but he didn't want to create and aura of chaos just yet. Not until they were ready for it. His eyes opened again and he continued to watch them.

Inside her quarters, Lightning sat on her bed, her head in her hands, thoughts raging through her mind. She didn't used to be like this, and sometimes she missed her old self. She used to be kind, nice. She had no clue what the big deal was with the army, until her best friend was taken…

"No!" She yelled at herself. "Wipe it out of your mind." She stood up and looked around. She couldn't be reminded of it. Just a bad memory that would pass soon enough. Besides, if he hadn't have left, then she wouldn't be where she was now, a respected commander.

She sat back down and thought for a moment, her mind arguing with it's alter ego. 'Think of it.' A side yelled. 'You need to get it off your chest.'

'No, it'll only bring un-needed hurt back.' The other screamed. Her mind was in pain, her head ached with all the confusion. Eventually, she pulled out a folder containing photos of family. She opened it up slowly, as if she were unsure of what she wanted to do. She carefully flipped the pages, acting as if she expected something to jump out at her.

Finally, she found the page. A picture from long ago. It was taken somewhere around eight or nine years ago, when she was sixteen. Next to her stood a boy the same age, maybe a year older, with blond hair and blue eyes. They both looked happy as ever. She remembered that day very well. It was one of the best days of her life. They were the best of friends, but one day he disappeared. She never found out what happened to him, but her parents said that he was murdered by those of Pulse. That's how she ended up signing up for the military. To avenge her friend.

She quickly put the picture away, feeling a large, powerful surge of sadness sweep over her body. The bed creaked as she stood again, this time heading out the door, slamming it shut. The doorframe shook from the force, and many people looked over at her in curiosity. She ignored them and went on to end the break.

Two hours had passed, and Lightning was now in the exercise room, working extra hard. She always did this when she suffered a weak moment, whether it be physically or mentally. She forced herself to keep going on the running machine, making her body outdo itself. Her lungs screamed for air, her heart felt as if it were going to burst from all the blood flowing frequently through it. Her legs ached, the bones feeling as if they would snap in half. Anger surged inside of her, fueling her workout. Her face was concentrated, her eyes gazing off into the distance. She was angry at how weak she had been. She wasn't strong enough, not if she wanted to avenge her friend.

The anger released itself as she picked up her water bottle and shot it across the room, slamming her fist into the machine, hitting the off button. She got off of it, watching as the now empty bottle of water rolled across the ground, the water now dripping down the walls. She heard a soft clapping behind her and turned around, annoyed to see Roi standing against the door.

"Nice job. You sure showed it who's boss." He laughed. She glared at him, giving him a silent message to back down. He took the hint and wiped the grin off of his face. "What's on your mind?" He asked, concerned. His eyes were dim with worry, the shine faded.

Lightning looked back at the water dripping down the wall. She closed her eyes. "Nothing." She replied. Roi shook his head.

"Nobody takes their anger out on a water bottle and a running machine." He stated plainly, his voice giving off a know-it-all aura. She glanced over at him, only moving her eyes.

"When I say nothing, it means nothing you need to know." She said, then went over to the bottle and picked it up, tossing it over her shoulder to the trash can. As she left, Roi looked down.

"It's about him, isn't it." He said. She stopped at the door and looked back.

"How do you know about it?" She turned her body around 180 degrees to face him again, to look him in the eye.

He held out a folder, the one from her room. He put it in her hands, expecting a smack to the face. He braced himself, giving his face time to prepare it's nerves. It never came. He sighed. Instead, she glared a death glare at him, making him wish that he had been slapped.

"Who let you into my room?" She asked, putting the folder under her arm.

He held up a lock pick. "Me."

This time she did slap him, hard, right across the left cheek. It felt like someone had taken millions of needles and stabbed them into his cheek. He faced her again, only to see the back of her.

"If you ever get into my room again, I'll make sure you end up down in Pulse for the rest of your pathetic life, do you understand?" She threatened. He sighed, irritated.

"You cant do that." He informed her. "Not unless I'm disobeying the rules."

She turned her head to the side, peering at him through the corner of one eye. "Then I'll make sure you disobey the rules." She said as she left the room. Roi watched her suspiciously as she walked away, a small smirk crossing his face. "Not if I get around to it first."

He took out com link and pressed a button. He waited for an answer, going over the results he had found in her folder. After two or so minutes, someone picked up.

"Hello?" A man's voice called. Roi smiled.

"Admiral? It's Roi, military leader 23. I have a traitor to announce." He told him. There was an amused breath on the other end. "I'd like you to meet her in a meeting, though. I have evidence."

"Very well." The Admiral said, clicking a pen. "When?"

"Tomorrow at nine."