A/N: I live! I got some inspiration to write this story again, I have an idea in my head now I just need to surge forward and grasp it. Now, I apologise for the massive delay on this. For those who don't know, I'm a student and the since March my schedule was massively full no time to really move and inspiration for writing fell to exhaustion. As of right now, this story will enter back into my schedule of...nothing. It's difficult to promise when I don't have a plan so please be patient for the next chapter. Now onto the reviews:

Guest 1: An idea like this was just something I had on the fly. XIII was what got me back into Final Fantasy, I didn't grow up with RPG's, racing games was my thing and getting games was a rare occurrence for me anyway.

Guest 2: Just wait and see. *Taps finger to nose*.

ARSLOTHES: All caps name, I like. I thank you.

Guest 3: Here you good sir.

TempestLaw: Yeah the prologue was rushed. But material for the FFXIII is severely lacking.

Guest 4: It's here...It's finally here!

Now I have an idea for the pairing for this story now for Robin, however I still want your guys opinions. It probably wont change my opinion since its pretty much set in stone, but I still want to here your thoughts. I'll announce the pairing on the next chapter. Now on with the story!


Chapter 1- Purge

The train ride was quiet, the armed guards patrolled up and down the whole train. Most of the other deportees were crying silently, hushed hiccups the only noises they made, while others seemed to have accepted their fate. The pair that sat next to Robin and Vanille were a mother and son duo, the mother doing her best to keep him calm, clearly propaganda had affected him a lot while growing up.

Apparently, they were moving quite quickly, but the dark room and lack of windows prevented the tactician from knowing it, the metal jail carriage, as Robin liked to call it, barely moved and kept his central gravity normal, maybe his home world could learn something from the technology. That was until the whole thing jerked as they crashed through barrier.

"Wahh!" Vanille cried as she jerked forward, barely keeping herself from falling off of the seat, Robin himself kept from exclaiming, but the sudden change in force was a surprise for him as well.

"Back in your seats!" The guard shouted, violently picking one of the exiled up from the floor. So much for protectors of the people.

Robin growled from underneath his cloaks, as a soldier and leader, the harming of his own charges, especially by his own men, would have been enough to call for a dishonourable discharge from the forces, had it not been for the cuffs on his wrists he would have reached for his tome, his sword having been confiscated by the soldiers when he was forced onto the train. A whimper to his side brought back his attention though.

"Are you alright Vanille?" Robin asked he younger girl.

"I dunno, I'm happy and excited that we're going to Pulse, but I'm scared at the same time." She admitted in a hushed whisper, while the tactician knew that the girl normally hid her pain behind a smile, like a certain flirt he knew, scared wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"Hopefully it's not much longer." Robin replied, not soon after he said that the train started slowing down, before it finally halted. "Speak of the devil."

"Deportees, single file, make your way off of the train." The armed guard announced, his voice muffled by his helmet.

Everyone on the train stood up, the boy that sat next to Robin seemed to grow even more fearful, his mother being the only thing calming him down, he was even shorter than Vanille was, and about the same height as Morgan, though the hood of the cloak they were forced to wear obscured his height a bit.

The line of people started moving, though it was going slowly, scared to leave the confines of their last form of safety.

"What's the hold up?! Get Moving!" The guard shouted, aiming his weapon, making sure the idea of being killed early was evident to them if they didn't start going quicker. To say it worked was an understatement.

They did indeed start to move faster, though it was clumsy, fear driving them forward. Stepping outside, Robin noticed that they were being corralled together, a line of soldiers standing in front of them receiving some orders. The guard from the train moved to the one that was giving the instructions.

"That's all of them, what happens next?" The soldier asked his commanding officer.

"Orders are to execute all prisoners, no survivors." The man answered, before being interrupted by an explosion behind them. "Rebels. This will have to wait, firing squad on me!" He commanded, motioning for his men to follow. "You! Summon a Pantheron to help guard them till we get back!"

"Yes sir!" The guard saluted, before using his fingers to work a keypad on his left arm, a portal like device behind him whirled to life, spinning and rotating, before a mechanical quadrupedal creature jumped out of it, growling at the group.

Now even Robin was worried, this wasn't an exile, it was a purge. Similar to the religious crusade Chrom's father led so long ago, this was a way of extermination, removing a threat before it could grow. The populace of Cocoon would only know it as a relocation, the truth dying with those who knew of it.

"This isn't good, we need to get out of here." Robin whispered to himself, the sounds of explosions and gunfire ripping him from his thoughts. A creaking sound drew his attention, and he noticed a mechanical scorpion creature falling into the abyss below, somehow some of the rebels were winning, but without a true weapon he could do nothing to help.

Vanille had taken to sitting on the floor, clearly not having heard the conversation from the before. Having been left to themselves, some of the group had taken to removing the heavy ceremonial robes that they had been forced into, Robin himself proceeded to do the same, wearing two forms of heavy clothing takes its toll on his body. Running a hand through his silver hair, he noticed that most of the gunfire had stopped for the time being, but had been replaced by the sound of feet hitting metal.

Looking forward, the tactician noticed a small group of people running towards, at the lead was the same man he had seen the day before who was buying the necklaces at the stall, his fist was reared back as he charged at the man that had been watching over them, socking him in the helmet with enough force that it shattered the visor, his strength rivalling that of a blonde Robin knew. Some of the others Robin recognised as the people who ran the restaurant he had been to the previous day.

The panther like creature moved to retaliate against his fallen master, but was quickly felled by gunfire from the rest of the party. Realising that there were no more hostiles in the vicinity, the rebels dropped their guard, one of them, with spiky blonde hair and a pair of goggles on his head, moved to the front carrying a large array of rifles, before promptly tripping.

"Hey, careful with those." The leader reprimanded, playfully. "Listen up, we're going home together!" He cried, raising his fist in the air, hoping for a response. As far as rousing speeches went, Robin cringed at how corny it sounded.

"Ooookayyyy, alright, lay low. We're gonna clear out the last of the PSCICOM forces, then we're-" The leader tried to say.

"Wait I want to help." One of the refugees voiced.

"Yeah you can't expect us to just sit here." Another shouted.

The blonde man seemed to be debating with himself about a response, he couldn't really argue against people actively volunteering. "Alright, all volunteer's front and centre, we'll give you a quick rundown on how to use the guns."

Men and women marched forward, eager to help the cause the rebels were giving them. Robin debated joining them, the need to protect Vanille aiding him, but also holding him back, if he died what would happen to her. Before long there were only two rifles left, finally relenting, he was just about to join them when a woman picked up one of them.

"You sure?" The blonde leader asked, the look on his face unsure about letting her go through with her decision.

"Yeah, moms are tough." She voiced with determination.

Relenting, the white cloaked man walked forward and picked up the last rifle. "Alright, last one, somebody take it." He announced, presenting the handle of the rifle to boy that had been sitting next to Vanille.

"No, no…I can't." The boy whispered, shuffling backwards.

"I'll take it." Robin said, walking towards him.

"Right, they'll be counting on you to help them." The man said towards him, showing him how the weapon worked.

'First impressions of Snow, a lot of hidden potential, he just needed to find a way to release it. Others would say, that he would be all talk.'

"Come on, everybody up." The woman of the group called, motioning for everybody to rise.

A blue haired boy with a yellow shirt and black trousers, also walked towards them, holding his own rifle. "We'll get you somewhere safe, away from all of this." He announced, walking onwards.

Robin watched as the group of rebel's and volunteers made their way back down the path they came from, while his group made their way towards the safe zone. He walked towards Vanille, who had engaged in conversation with the boy from earlier.

"Why did she do that?" He asked her, still unsure of his mother's decision.

"Sometimes you just feel the need to do something, whether it's to protect something or someone." The tactician answered the boy.

"But still, its that's guy's words that got to her." The boy argued resolutely.

"Words can only do so much, it's the people that listen that decide what to do with them." Robin replied to him.

"Besides, there isn't anything we can do about it now, for now we need to just keep on smiling." Vanille added, spinning around with a big grin plastered on her face, Robin chuckled at her sudden attitude change.

"I…I guess you're right." The boy relented with a sigh. They continued walking, but having fallen behind the rest of the group, they had to run to catch up, which ended with them having to cross a bridge to another suspended road.

That was until the sounds of a giant airship drew their attention to the bridgeway across from them. A large mechanical beast loomed over the bridge, then a large protrusion appeared beneath it, energy building into it as it prepared its massive weapon. When all hope seemed lost, a lone missile impacted against its hull, destroying its engine. But even then, the massive beast was able to fire its weapon, completely destroying the bridge.

Even with how far they were away, Robin, Vanille and the boy could see as the men and women on the other side struggled to find purchase on the collapsing road, slipping down into the abyss below. Two figures could be seen hanging from the edge.

"Gods, this is madness." Robin whispered, even throughout two wars and the apocalypse, he had never seen such cruelty to a state's own people. In the distance, one of the figures fell.

"Nooo!" The boy cried in anguish, watching as the body of his mother fell into the darkness, weakly reaching out in hope, completely stunned by what he had witnessed.

"We need to get out of here." The tactician instructed. Vanille tried to drag the boy, but he wouldn't budge. Until she slapped him in the face, a good one always wakes someone up, whether be it a punch or not.

"We have to move." She cried, shaking his arms.

"R-right." He managed, not all there.


They continued on their way, finally catching back up to the group of refugees, they had boarded another type of bridge, suspensions on either side kept it strong, debris acting as barricades on either side which they had been forced to climb over. Finally, being in a place of somewhat safety, Robin let loose a breath that he had been holding in brushing a hand through his hair and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Made it, I think it's safe to take off those uncomfortable cloaks now." Robin advised, remembering how stuffy he felt wearing it, then again, he himself had been wearing another heavy piece of clothing underneath it.

"Right" Vanille replied cheerfully, as the boy just nodded.

Disrobing themselves, Vanille moved her hands through her hair, before straightening out her clothes trying to remove any ruffles from it. The boy, they were finally able to see what he looked like. His hair was silver, similar to Robin's but not near as white, he had a light blue bandana scarf around his neck with black markings. The boy wore a yellow and orange jacket which stopped before his elbow with a black shirt underneath, he wore three-quarter, light brown jeans with a blue pouch on the side and similarly coloured boots. On his hands, he wore blue and white gloves while having a yellow scarf like object at the end of each. The poor lad still seemed dazed and in shock after what happened before, and Robin couldn't blame him.

Vanille seemed to catch on as well as she wrapped her arms around him to give him some form of comfort. "It's too much, isn't it?" She asked, receiving a quick nod. Robin couldn't help but chuckle at how uncomfortable the boy looked at that time. "Sometimes the best thing to do is to keep your chin up, yeah! Ciao!" The pink haired girl spoke passionately, before jogging away, leaving Robin and the boy in her dust. How Vanille, or any female he had met for that matter, could run in heels is something he would never understand.

Chuckling, he turned back to the boy, the teens awkwardness and pain made Robin think twice of leaving him, looking after a hyper active, and possibly bipolar girl like Vanille was enough of a hassle already, but he couldn't leave the boy by himself.

"C'mon, no point in leaving you with strangers." The former tactician spoke, putting his arm on the boy's shoulder.

"R-right." He replied.

"It's a bit late to ask, but what's your name?" Robin asked.

"Hope. Hope Estheim." The boy answered.

"Well Hope, my name is Robin, and the girl before was Vanille, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The white haired man held out his hand.

"Yeah, same." Hope said, shaking it. "We should probably catch up to her though."

"Probably for the best." Robin chuckled.

Finding Vanille was easy, she stuck out like a saw thumb with her bright colours and Hope reintroduced himself to her. But Robin could see that the boy was not in the right place, he was angry, and Robin knew that the object of hate was to the blonde man that helped them before. Robin had been I that position, both the object of hate, and the one to hate another. He had hated Gangrel for what he had done to Emmeryn, and he had been hated by the nobles of Ylisse for failing her. Holding in that anger is never good for anyone, but being the object of that hate was just as bad. That was when the roaring of sounds he had never heard before, alerting everyone around him. The members of the vigilante group raised their weapons, but stood down once they saw who was there.

Looking up, he saw two vehicles that released green energy behind them. What created the energy he did not know, but then again, he was severely out of place and time. As they descended, he noticed that riding them was the bandana wearing blonde and a friend of his. The friend dismounted from his vehicle but the cloaked man stayed on his.

"Don't you want to talk to him?" Vanille asked Hope, the boy nodded hesitantly, wanting too, but unable to find the courage. Taking the initiative, the pinkette pushed Hope forward to urge him on.

"No-no, I-I can't." The boy mumbled, his nerves getting the better of him.

Feeling a bit fed up, Robin understanding why, Vanille took the initiative once more. "Hey!" She yelled, in an attempt to get their attention. Her answer was that of the same sound roaring to life again.

"When's the wedding lover boy?" The orange haired man asked.

"Don't worry, none of you are invited!" The bandana wearing man shouted back, pointing to the group surrounding him, as he rose into the air.

As the group complained, he accelerated off, heading towards the fal'cie.

"Hey, wait!" Vanille cried in a vain attempt to get his attention.

"There goes your chance, any ideas?" Robin asked Hope.

"Why don't we use that to follow him?" The pulsian girl suggested, pointing toward the left over vehicle.

Robin walked towards it, with Vanille and Hope in tow. It was pretty small, no bigger than a carriage, yet the inside was much smaller, barely looking as though it could fit two of them let alone three. It would probably be the best opportunity to get to the fal'cie, but it may be a bit too reckless.

"Alley Oop." Vanille said as she jumped in, having already deposited Hope into it. The poor Cocoonian was struggling to resist his teenage hormones as Vanille pressed against his back pointing towards the fal'cie. "That way!"

"No-no…we can't." Hope mumbled again. Robin sighed, a boy his age would have grown up around anti-Pulse propaganda, the fear of being exiled to Pulse alone was enough to put him in silence, being close to something from there would drive the poor lad into a panic attack.

"Hey what do think you're doing?!" The orange haired man from before yelled, running towards them.

"Time to go!" Robin shouted doing his best to squeeze into the small vehicle. Hope started it up and they rose slowly, the boy not having any experience with it. They rockily moved forward before suddenly dropping down.

Thinking quickly, Hope was able to regain control of the vehicle, allowing them to rise back into the air steadily.

"Hey, get back down here?!" The man shouted, making a vain attempt to jump at them. Ignoring him, the group started making their way towards the fal'cie.


The landing was not soft. When they had entered the giant mechanical structure, the insides were just too tight to make it through safely, banging against the sides, they ended up crash landing all sprewn about the floor. Groaning as he tried to sit up, Robin started rubbing his head, thanking whatever gods existed that he was still alive.

Looking towards the two children, Vanille seemed to be moving fine on her own, but with a slight limp in her step. Making sure Hope was still on the ground and not paying, she used some of the white magic she had from being a l'cie to heal the small injury she had, before doing the same to Robin and then Hope. Nodding his thanks towards her, Robin went to check on the youngest of the group.

"Hope, you alright?" He asked the still prone boy.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." Hope groaned out, before sitting up. "I'm surprised we're not that injured from that.

"Sheer dumb luck I guess." Robin chuckled. Funny, he had always been the unlucky one, being injured one way or another, his skill with magic however compensate a lot for it though.

Vanille decided to look around, making a show of being unsure of where they were supposed to go, she walked around one of the pillars, before reappearing with her Binding Rod drawn. Deciding to go along with it, Robin did his best to look impressed at the discovery.

"Not a bad find, it should be able to help." Robin spoke up, as she started going through the motions she normally did when attacking.

A growl, however, drew their attention. In front of them were two quadrupedal creatures, coloured red and white. They looked like they had no eyes and merely sat there growling at them. Robin glared at them, they were similar to some of the creatures they had fought during the days when they were on their way to Euride Gorge, but they seemed more passive, less aggressive. If anything, they seemed venerable.

"Pantherons!" Hope cried. "Domesticated peace keepers commanded by the military. They're docile when no humans are around to guide them though." He explained, apparently, school did something good for him.

"They seem easily confused, it we focus on just one at a time we'll be able to beat both in no time." Robin commented, his tacticians brain taking over. Vanille already had her Rod drawn, Hope opened the pouch on his shorts and pulled out a boomerang. Robin thought his ideas through, magic was still a no go, but a plain sword might be a bit too little for these things.

In the end, he drew his other sword, a crackled with energy as he wielded it, a zig zag pattern for the blade made it less effective for striking enemies, rather the blade was used for parrying. Not even Fang or Vanille had seen it before, as he followed the rule of no magic, but with the new knowledge he had acquired, why not abuse it? The sight of the blade, however, made Hope to stare at it in fear.

"Is that you doing that?" The boy asked.

"No, the sword is infused with a manadrive to let it channel lighting magic." Robin explained. To be honest, Robin only knew what a mandrive was from the books he had read while in jail, explaining about how while humans couldn't channel magic normally. They had been able to engineer artificial magic called manadrives to keep up with l'cie threats from Pulse, as well as for everyday life.

"Oh, alright." Hope relented, instead turning his focus to the battle.

The pantherons were easily dealt with, proving no threat to the trio. They encountered more of the creatures as well as some others, these ones being more imp like, exceptionally weak, they tried using numbers to overpower them, it laughably failed.

"HE came through here." Hope commented, emphasising the 'he'. They were still in the room but had come across the other vehicle that the other man had. "He shouldn't have come here. WE shouldn't have come here."

"How do you mean?" Robin asked, he wanted to know more of the boy's paranoia.

"This thing, it's from Pulse. Pulse is hell on Earth." Hope explained.

"What's so wrong with Pulse?" Vanille asked, walking forward.

"You really don't get it, do you?" The boy groaned.

Letting out a 'hmmph'. Vanille marched forward and began explaining everything she had come across about Cocoon's propaganda. Robin felt a little impressed at how she was able to recite that much.

"Hope." Robin sighed quietly, getting through to the boy would be almost impossible.

"Hold on Serah. Your heroes on the way!" A voice from above echoed through the room.

"That's him. Calling himself a hero." Hope growled out in rage.

Vanille looked towards Robin in worry. Hope's trauma was starting to affect him even worse. He had found a person to blame for something that someone else had done. Robin could understand why he does, but at the same time Robin sympathised with the rebel's leader. Hope's mother had made the decision to go with them, the blonde even double checking with her. Yes, the bandanna wearing man was a bit of an idealistic idiot, but Robin couldn't help but feel that the anger was being severely misplaced.

"Let's just continue. The doors down so let's go." Robin sighed out, he may have been a part time psychologist, but he never had to deal with misplaced anger.

Receiving some nods, he took the lead and moved through the newly opened path. Ahead of them were a set of stairs, not that big, but it was going to be a bit tiresome after the fighting they had done.

Trudging up them, the top was a square, acting like a pyramid, as the other paths went down similar sets of stares. Looking around, Robin was trying to decide the best way to go, that was until a strange groaning sound drew his attention. Setting his gaze down the stairs, he looked down in horror as creatures of strange crystal walked towards them. They were purple in colour and had claws that could cut through anything. Their heads were completely covered in crystals rendering them blind to their surrounding, as they shambled towards them, at the centre was an eye, the last stage of a Pulsian l'cie mark.

"C'ieth. If a l'cie fails their focus, they become c'ieth, a husk of what they once were, forced to walk the Earth in constant regret of failing their mission given to them by a fal'cie." Vanille explained.

"Gods." Robin whispered. They were completely surrounded and outnumbered, as one swiped at him, he jumped back barely avoiding the desperate attack. "Be careful, they're unpredictable."

Suddenly, the sound of fists impacting on a hard object grew the groups attention. Punching his way through the crowd of monstrosity's, the rebel leader stood in front of them protectively.

"Stay back, kids." He said, before looking at Robin. "Could use your help hear bud."

"Right." The tactician replied, drawing his blade. He rose it above his head and carefully channelled his magic into the sword, it crackled with energy before striking down in a mass thunder clap, eliminating a majority of the creatures.

Hiding his fatigue, he groaned as the blade stopped its crackling. The stone that gave it its ability had run dry and now it was just a regular blade, only good dealing glancing blows. He could still use it with magic, but that would take a lot of energy on his part.

"Damn dude. That was one heck of an attack." The blonde man whistled. "But I think you overcharged the drive on it."

"Yeah." Robin replied, looking for an opening. "There!" He announced, making sure to signal the rebel to move.

"Gotcha." He grinned, striking the nearest C'ieth. Robin's attack had gotten rid of most of the crystal creatures. The two struck down the last of the creatures, with the help of Vanille and Hope, and Robin groaned, exhausted.

"Yeah!" The rebel celebrated, raising his fist in the air. Not noticing the glare that was being sent at the back of his head.

"Thanks for the help. But what are you even doing here?" Robin asked.

"My fiancé." The man replied. "She's a Pulse l'cie."

"Why?" Hope whispered. Robin looked towards the boy, he was looking at the ground, shaking. "Why are you helping a Pulse l'cie?! They're the enemy?!" He shouted out.

"Because I want to save the woman I love." The rebel replied, with a smile. "I need to help her."

Robin appreciated that, many of the Shepherds had been adamant about keeping with loved ones, and Robin always let them. He was brought out of his reminiscing as the platform they were standing on shifted and started rising them up. Robin looked towards Hope, the boy had flinched back when the rebel gave his answer, clearly distraught and angered by his carefree attitude.

Vanille moved towards him, Robin was starting to understand some of her mannerisms. She actively sought companionship when feeling lonely or sad. If she was unsure, she would march ahead unafraid, but only because she was afraid.

"You okay?" Robin asked her.

"Do you think…that the girl is the one from before?" Vanille replied.

"I think so." He answered, receiving a whimper from the innocent girl. "Shhh, it's okay. You couldn't have done anything." Robin whispered, trying to calm her down.

She wrapped her arms around him, dug her face into his arm, trying to hide the tears. Robin could feel his arm getting wet, but he said nothing, he instead rubbed her back, just signalling for her to let it out. After a little bit, she withdrew, her normal bright smile back on her face. A smile that Robin wished was as bright as it should be, but clearly wasn't.

"Thanks." Vanille said, before letting go of him.

"No problem." Robin replied, before setting his gaze on the rebel. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced. My name is Robin." The tactician smiled.

The rebel grinned back slapping him on the back. "Snow Villiers." He replied, wrapping his arm around Robin's back. "Good job before, gotta keep the kids safe."

"Definitely." Robin spoke back, feeling a little uncomfortable at the close contact. Earning a giggle from Vanille as Hope just ignored everyone.


Continuing their journey, they rose further up on the elevator, until they reached their destination. In front of them, a pink haired girl in a white vest and shirt with a red and black plaid skirt lay on the floor, while the officer that arrested Robin sat next to her, a look of worry on her face. Off to the side was a man with black hair in the shape of an afro. He wore green cargo trousers and jacket with black boots and a black shirt. In his hair was a small, yellow creature that resembled a bird.

"Serah!" Snow cried, running off the platform towards the prone girl.

"You came." She smiled, but her voice was weak. Her hand came up and Snow gripped it tightly.

Robin could hear Vanille gasp quietly, he didn't understand why, but it was clear that she had met with her during the time when he was in the slammer.

The tearful reunion was ruined however as the girl started rising into the air, white crystals starting to appear on her body. Serah put her hands together, giving a silent pray, a single tear falling down the side of her face, as a burst of light blinded all around, the tear dropping into Snow's hand. Crystallised.

Regaining his vision, Robin looked on as the girl was now completely encased in crystal, elegant waves and spikes jutting out as she slowly fell to the ground. Putting his hand to hers, Snow looked on sadly.

"Sweet dreams, Serah." He whispered, before receiving a strong punch to his jaw.

"Sweet dreams?!" Lightning yelled. "Because of you…" She gritted her teeth, unwilling to accept it.

"The legend, remember the legend." Snow replied, standing up. "When a l'cie completes their focus, they enter a crystal sleep and gain eternal life." He explained, hope evident in his voice. "Don't you see, she's still alive."

"That doesn't matter, Serah's gone…and it's all your fault!" The officer yelled again, moving to deliver another swift strike to his jaw, before a large rocking disrupted her balance.

"The Sanctum, their attacking." The black haired man announced.

Suddenly, red tubes came through the sides of the Fal'cie, rubble tumbling down, luckily none close to any of the group, but still enough to strike fear into the youngest member of the group.

Hope crouched in a ball close to the floor, holding his hands to his head. Soon enough the quaking stopped, Robin helping the boy to his feet.

"I need to do something." Snow spoke up. Walking ahead.

"Hey, hey. Where are you going?" The green clad man asked.

"I've got a date with the fal'cie." The blonde spoke back.

"Are you crazy son! That thing wants to chew us up and spit us out. And you want try and negotiate with it?" The man asked back, feeling as though he had made his point.

"What other choice do we have?" Lightning asked, following him.

"You two." He spoke, before letting out a sigh.

"Best follow them, don't know what's ahead." Robin commented, before walking ahead, Vanille following close behind in a skip.

Relenting, the man held it his hands as the bird flew into them. "Looks like we can't catch a break Chocobo." He sighed. Looking up he saw that Hope was now following the others and was forced to follow as well.

They encountered some more c'ieth as they drew closer to the fal'cie. They encountered some different types, a new flying type of crystal creature that moved incredible erratically and was difficult to hit. While a blue c'ieth that resembled the original's but seemed to have much more control, even using magic effectively which forced the group to dodge the fire balls.

As they made it to the top of the stares, they entered a dimly lit hallway that led them to the chamber of the fal'cie. Inside was a plating and some mechanical arm like armaments. It didn't seem away that some humans had entered its abode.

Snow walked forward, before kneeling down. "Serah completed her focus. Please release her…I'll be your l'cie instead." He foolishly negotiated. He received no reply.

"Say all you want, the only thing that this thing understands is fighting." Lightning yelled, drawing her sword. She struck at the metal plates, but was repelled every time. Growling she went to attack once more, but the fal'cie seemed to finally come to life.

The two arms rose up and started turning, acting like a drill. The plating opened up revealing what looked like a heart, with a crystal in the centre. An arm like appendage in the shape of a claw acting as a form of offense and defence.

Looking around, Robin gazed as Hope took off running in fear, only to be blocked by a red barrier with the mark of Pulse on it, trapped. Vanille looked on unsure of what to do as Lightning and Snow entered into a battle stance. The man to the side also seemed unsure.

"If you want to help, then do it now." Lighting spoke.

The man looked down, before whispering something unclear to Robin, he then raised his head. "I'm in." He said resolutely. "I've got these things, might as well use them." He continued raising a pair of handguns.

"I'll help too." Robin added, moving beside them, making sure that Vanille wouldn't be in any danger.

The fal'cie let out a roar, the drill like arms stabbing into the ground, marks being left from where it struck. Lightning surged forwards towards the heart, but as she struck the claw around it swiped at her, keeping her away.

"Aim for the arms, that's the main threat right now." Robin announced. "You…er?" He tried to ask the black haired man, but he hadn't gotten his name yet.

"Sazh." He replied.

"Sazh, can you shoot at the heart, your range would stop it from hitting you." Robin advised, receiving a nod.

As Sazh started letting loose round after round at the fal'cie's heart. Robin joined Snow and Lightning in striking the armaments. The first went down easily, not having much resilience, the second one falling not so soon after. After the second one fell, the heart seemed to enter a venerable state.

"Strike the heart, its venerable!" Robin shouted, as Snow surged forward delivering a flurry of blows. The claw not reacting. "Keep going." He added joining the rebel in attacking the heart. Not so long after though, it seemed to come out of the state it was in. The armaments growing back.

"Retreat from it, aim for the armaments again, it can't fight without them." The tactician was getting back into his groove, hopefully it won't take too long.

This continued for a few more rotations, the armaments being destroyed, then focusing the attack on the heart, before the armaments grew back. Before finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they heart finally groaned out in defeat. But it still had one trump card left to play. Letting out another roar, there was a great burst of light, Robin had to draw his arm across his face to shield his eyes.

As the light faded, however, he was somewhere else entirely, around him the rest of them were with him, floating in a blue, ethereal space. In front of them was a giant creature, resembling that of a fal'cie, bells chimed as tendrils shot towards them. Robin found some locking his arms and feet in place as another found its way to his left hand. The creature let loose a roar as the bells grew louder electricity came down the tendril shocking him, before letting him go, leaving him to fall.

In his mind's eye, he could see fuzzy images. A giant creature, a falling planet, a molten substance surrounding the planet. Then nothing, as he fell into unconsciousness.


A/N: Boom, done. Hopefully the next chapter doesn't take three months to get out. All criticism is welcome, so don't forget the reviews. Now QOTD: Who is your favourite character in FFXIII? Answers in the reviews and I'll see you all next time.