Part 2, published concurrently with part 1. I do hope people like this. I suffer from the 'I think everything I write sucks' syndrome. Read and review, please!
He brought his blade up in an arc just in time.
Lightning looked almost exhausted, yet her swing was as true as it ever was- the shining tip of the gunblade coming uncomfortably close to his chest before impacting with the battle-scarred steel of his greatsword. In her left hand was a tiny orb of silver light that expanded, striking Caius in the chest with ruinous force.
He fell back and stepped slightly to the right, pivoting on his left leg to present less of a target; her strike this time was far less accurate than the previous, and the bolt of her namesake energy almost pathetically weak in comparison to that which he knew she could command.
What was going on here? Did he even need to fight, with Etro gone?
"The cause for which you fought is over, Lightning Farron." he said, locking his eyes to hers.
"You're a lying bastard!" she cried, bringing the gunblade up to strike at Caius once more. Her accuracy was somewhat off, though, and the blade went wide of its target.
"Open your mind to what is... and what is not, around you. Do you sense Her presence? Do you sense anything at all, besides myself? I would think that you would at least look before you strike." His tone was almost mild, and he found that he could hold her weakened strikes off without even trying very hard.
Lightning breathed in, her lungs burning. She'd been dreaming, and then suddenly she was awake. It felt as though something had torn away half her power- she knew she couldn't defeat him like this. Etro had touched her, granted her ability beyond a normal human... and some of that remained. Most of it didn't, and her adversary looked to be in perfect form.
I won't give up, though. she thought, taking the hilt of her weapon in both hands to shove back against the larger warrior.
A flash above her caught her attention, and Lightning looked up for just a moment. What she saw almost made her drop her blade.
Rifts, in and of themselves, weren't out of the ordinary. The shimmering golden light that led to other places in space-time had almost become comforting; their existence visible proof that Time wasn't going to end just yet.
She couldn't count the number of rifts that flickered in and out of reality above them. Lightning frowned; now that wasn't normal, not in the least. She leapt back, away from Caius, and slid on loose rock, barely able to catch herself and remain upright.
"It's falling apart." she breathed, almost whispering. She lowered her gaze to the warrior before her, blade held before her almost challengingly.
"What did you do." It wasn't a question; the accusation in her voice was plain.
"I did nothing. You might thank your goddess for this one." Caius said flatly.
The tip of Lightning's gunblade dipped slightly. "Oh, I don't believe that for a second."
"To see is to believe. Look around you, 'warrior of Etro'." Caius gestured to the skies. "This realm is falling apart, because Etro is dead!"
"Then why are you alive?" Lightning asked, rapier-quick.
Caius stopped, almost seeming to consider his answer. He shrugged slightly. "Perhaps I'm just too stubborn to die."
"Enough of your sarcasm!" she yelled, taking a single step forward. "You carried within you the heart of a goddess. If she were to be destroyed, you would also die. Wasn't that your aim? Isn't that what you wanted? As you live, so does she!"
He honestly didn't know; from all he'd learned, what Lightning said was what was supposed to happen. He shouldn't be alive right now. Yet he was, and so was Lightning. "Paradox." he replied, knowing it was a weak answer.
Lightning resisted the urge to scream in frustration. "No kidding, paradox. This whole thing has been nothing but one giant paradox. Tell me something I don't know."
Any number of flippant answers came to mind, but Caius saw something behind Lightning that was a bit more important.
"There's something very large and very...otherworldy coming up behind you." he informed her, planting his blade in the ground.
Lightning snorted. "As if I'd fall for that-" A bright flash of light interrupted her, and she turned to look, hand still gripping her gumblade as if it were something vital, a tangible representation of sanity in a world gone completely insane.
"By the gods." Caius swore, looking up.
The rifts flashed in and out of time, and some of them gave birth to figures that neither warrior had ever seen. Some seemed to be fusions of fiends they'd both battled in the past; others had no resemblance to anything found on Cocoon or Gran Pulse.
The shining light, though- its nature was clear enough. Though neither could quite make out the form, instincts older than memory attenuated their senses and put them on guard.
Power.
Grace.
Indifference.
Fal'cie.