Disclaimer: If I owned Final Fantasy XIII or FOZ id be one happy as mother-
LISTEN because I removed the poll chapters the reviews will be messed up for many people UNTIL CHAPTER 5 so if you want to tell me how the story is going please PM me or use a guest account until chapter 5
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Chapter 2: Derflinger: Blade of Sorrow
-Forest Clearing-
Siesta watched with wide-eyes a Lightning, for lack of a better word, beat the shit out of Louise across the forest floor. Lightning had said that she wanted to test a theory after she tried to use her magic with the young noble's wand; only for a tree to explode as soon as she said the word "Blizzaga"
"Get up maggot!" Lightning bit out as Louise struggled to stand only to get kicked down again. "Is that the best you've got? Get up and attack me!"
"How do you expect me to fight you!?" Louise shouted out as angry tears fell from her eyes while blood came from her lips. "You broke my wand, and are stronger than me in every way! I can't fight you! I can't."
"It's not a question of can or can't, there are some things you just have to do." Lightning told her with a glare as her hand began to crackle with lightning.
"Please Miss Lightning stop, you're going to kill her!" Siesta cried out as Louise looked at her familiar in disbelief.
"This is it…I'm actually about to be killed by my own familiar and there's nothing I can do about it." The realization that she was going to die a failure shook the young noble to her core as she watched her familiar raise her hand towards her. "I...don't want to die!" Louise thought in horror as she clenched her hands in anger. "Please founder, if there was ever a time that I needed my magic to work for me it's now…I can't die her…no I refuse to die here!" Louise glared at Lightning, who smirked at her.
"Thundaga." Lightning said simply as a wave of lightning released from her hands. As if on instinct, Louise raised her hands towards Lightning as if she was going to catch the magic. Louise screwed her eyes shut as the electricity arched towards her.
*BOOOM*
*CRASH*
"Well done." Lightning complimented making the young noble open her eyes in surprise, there were ice crystals on the ground, and looking up Louise could see that lightning's right arm was frozen.
"What-"Louise asked startled as Lightning slammed her arm against a tree to free it from its cold prison.
"When I casted my spell using your wand it failed, but it got me thinking what exactly was void magic anyway? Sure I may not be your correct familiar but I'm obviously a match if the portal accepted me anyway." Lightning began as she walked towards the younger pinkette with a small smile. "I am your elemental match, yet I have no real element. So I decided to see if "Void Magic" was really just the same as my own, but to test that you'd have to stop using your wand."
"Why didn't you just tell me that!?" Louise asked in righteous fury.
"Because to use my magic you have to truly believe that the results are possible. If I had told you beforehand you would have simply told yourself that it wasn't possible so that you wouldn't get your hopes up, thus making you fail before you even tried." Lightning said as she ruffled her master's hair. "Congratulations Louise, you just did magic."
"Oh founder…"Louise muttered as the realization sat in. In all honesty she had been hoping that her being a Void mage was still a mistake, but now the proof was there she just performed her familiar's magic, which was apparently Void magic. Louise got dizzy for a second before passing out.
Bronze Trophy: I'll make a mage out of you: Unlocked (Teach Louise magic.)
+ 200 gold
Lightning picked up the petite girl and began walking back to their room with a wide-eyed siesta following them.
"Her magic is incredible, despite being the first time she actively used magic she managed to perform Blizzaga…even if it was unintentional. She has promise that's for sure, but I have to make her see it." Lightning thought to herself with a frown. Meanwhile siesta was having her own thoughts.
"This woman is insane." Siesta thought bluntly. They continued to walk in silence until they reached Louise's room.
"Siesta, do you think you could take me into town later I need to find a weapon." Lightning asked as she glanced back at the maid, startling her from her thoughts.
"Y-yes miss Lightning." Siesta stuttered out as she watched the woman place the pinkette back into her bed.
"Good." Lightning said simply as she exited the room without looking back, which Siesta found out was Lightning speak for: Follow me now or die.
-A few Hours Later: Weapon shop-
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Lightning resisted the urge to face-palm as she attempted to look for a nice sturdy blade. She had told Siesta to wait outside for her, because she had planned it to be a quick trip, but so far she had found nothing but weak swords or just plain decorations.
"Wow aren't you a good looking blade, if your owner buys me we can have lots of fun together. I like a sword with a nice…edge." Turning to the voice Lightning widened her eyes a bit as she stared at a rusty looking blade.
That was talking.
"What the hell?" Lightning muttered as the shop keeper glared at it.
"Hey quit hitting on this lady's sword! It's bad for business damn it!" The shopkeeper yelled as Lightning frowned. She picked it up and gave it a few practice swings.
"Good weight, length, and a durable blade. Just have to teach Louise how to clean a weapon when we get back and it should be perfect." Lightning set the blade on the counter and gave the gaping man a hand full of gold coins. Honestly she had no idea how the economy worked her, shed ask Louise about it later, and just gave what she felt would be enough.
So far it hadn't went wrong yet.
"W-wait!" The shop keeper called out, making her glance back at him. "Don't you want the sheath at least?" Lightning thought about it for a second, before the image of Louise dying because she couldn't remove the long blade effectively flashed in her mind.
"No, I'll make do with this."
"You made a good choice partner!" The sword said happily. "The name's Derflinger, but you can call me Derf. You won't regret buying me I can guarantee you that."
"Sorry but you're not for me, which is a good thing because I probably would throw you away after a week if you keep babbling. You're a sword, shut up and kill things." Lightning said coolly making the blade flinch.
"C-Cold."
Lightning frowned when she realized that the maid was nowhere to be found. She widened her eyes when she heard someone screaming and quickly darted towards a nearby ally. However when she reached it she actually had to do a double take.
"Well damn." The sword said awkwardly.
"Guess "Commoners" aren't as defenseless as people think." Lightning said simply as she was greeted by the sight of Siesta clenching her fists, as a would-be mugger lay in front of her unconscious. "You okay?" Lightning asked gaining her attention.
"Ah!" Siesta yelped in surprise. "Please Miss Lightning you can't tell anyone about this! If people know I can protect myself I might never get a job off of the school." Honestly Lightning had no intention of doing so either way, but the puppy dog look she was given that reminded her of Serah's made her look away with a grimace.
"Fine." Lightning consented, before a thought occurred to her. "As long as you promise to sell your contract to Louise as soon as you can. You're a good influence on her and she needs a friend right now." Siesta, who was going to try to sell it to the young noble anyway, had to stop herself from shouting in victory and settled for nodding.
"Alright let's get back." Lightning said as she walked passed Siesta and continued on her way.
-Dormitories: Evening-
By the time they had made it back to Louise's room it was getting dark, but when they entered they saw that the girl was missing.
"Where the hell did that brat go?" Lightning muttered with a face-palm.
"Maybe she went back to the clearing." Siesta said unsurely
"What?"
"Being on the cleaning staff means you tend to hear a lot of rumors and as the school's "failure" it's safe to say that Louise has been in a lot of them." Siesta began with a frown. "Anyway Louise may not have been good at magic, but she was always a great student she loved to research things, so I'm guessing she went to explore her magic ability's after she woke up."
"Damn it. If she strains herself she could end up dead, we have to hurry." Lightning bit out in concern as she ran down the hallway with the maid hurrying behind her.
-Clearing-
BGM: Sustained by Hate- Final Fantasy XIII
When they made it to the clearing, they watched silently as Louise fell to her hands and knees, panting heavily.
"It's no use…" They hear Louise mutter. "I get a wave of something but the desired effects still don't happen." Louise spoke with narrowed eyes. "Fire ball!" Louise shouted as a small flare sparked in front of her before fizzing out. "*Gasp* Why won't it work?" Lightning sighed and walked into the clearing with Siesta behind her.
"Stop the word at Fire and picture a flame shooting out." Lightning said simply making Louise snap her heads toward her in surprise.
"L-Lightning?"
"Try it, trust me." Lightning said simply. Louise turned around and raised her hand.
"Fire!" Louise said, and sure enough a blast of fire erupted from her fingertips. Louise could also tell that the spell took a lot less magic than her previous attempts. "How-"
"I said you needed the right intention when using a spell, how could you do that if you don't know the right incantation or the effects of the spell?" Lightning said with narrowed eyes. "You are trying to force your magic out! You do realize that could kill you right?" Lightning growled out as she towered over the petite girl, who shrunk back in fear. "Why are you training, with forces you don't understand, without my permission?"
"I-I just wanted to see what I could do, I finally can do magic and prove I'm not a failure!" Louise tried to defend herself. "I figured I could just figure out how it works considering that I managed to use it earlier." Lightning released a sigh and rubbed her temples.
"Your first spell was due to pure reflex, you did the exact same spell I had attempted with your wand because you heard the word. If I hadn't attempted it first you would have died from my attack." Lightning revealed making the girl step back in shock. "Your intentions were good, but you need patience, or is my training not good enough for you?"
"No, it's not like that! I appreciate what you're trying to do for me believe me." Louise said as she looked down ashamed. It was a weird feeling being scolded like this by Lightning. When her mom did it she felt terrified, but when her familiar did it she felt regret. Siesta watched the exchange with wide eyes; the maid could have sworn that the terrifying woman was concerned for her hopefully future boss.
"We all do stupid things Louise, but that's just it I now it's unfair, however you can't afford to. Your purpose in this world won't allow you to." Lighting said sympathetically making the younger look up at her in surprise.
"But what is my purpose?"
"That's something you need to have patience and figure out for yourself." Lightning said as she pulled out the rust form of Derflinger and stabbed it into the ground.
BGM: END
"What's with the rusty sword?" Louise questioned as she looked at it awkwardly.
"This is how I'm going to teach you how to be patient, I will train you in magic and combat only if you can make this thing presentable."
"I'll have you know that I am the great Derflinger!" The sword said with a boisterous voice.
"Did that sword just talk?" Louise asked with wide eyes as the sword continued to talk animatedly.
"Young girl! It's been for ever since I've seen such a basic yet perfect fire spell like that! If I didn't know any better I'd think you would have learned it from that jackass Brimir, but that's impossible because he only cared about his incredibly long, but flash spells." The sword continued as it praised the young noble.
"As you can see he talks…a lot. And is very dirty, if you can actually clean this I will continue my lessons. Throwing it in a lake in anger will cause you to fail." Lightning said simply as the girl gaped at her. "Siesta, go get these supplies and bring them back as fast as you can." Lightening told the maid what she needed and Siesta ran off as quickly as she could as Louise continued to gape at the babbling blade.
"Wait, were doing this now!?"Louise asked when she finally found her voice.
"Of course. This is training and you obviously don't care about training at night so were going to start now. Don't worry I'll tell you how to clean it." Lightning said, not even trying to keep the smirk of her face.
-30 minutes later-
We now find the group sitting by a creek as Louise furiously rubbed the blade down with a cloth. Siesta had decided to stay and keep the girl some company, while Lightning wondered how long it'd be until the girl cracked.
"You know being cleaned like this under the moon-light is bringing back memories of my time with Sasha." Derflinger sighed sadly. "She was a lovely woman."
"Sasha?" Louise asked in confusion as she wiped Derflinger.
BGM: This is your Home-Finally Fantasy XIII
"She was my first wielder, a lovely girl…it must have been at least six thousand years since we first met, after that bastard Brimir forced her to be his familiar." Derflinger said wistfully as Siesta and Louise looked at the blade in shock. The blade was no longer talking to them though, no he had inadvertently slipped back in to his memories that were long forgotten and continued his sad tale.
"The founder?" Louise asked in shock.
"It's sad really, these nobles worship the very ground he walks on yet nobody knows the truth…he started off as a nice boy but he was a monster let me tell you that." Derflinger said angrily.
"What! How dare you talk about Brimir that way-"
"Listen girly." Derflinger interrupted her. "I was there personally; I was the cause of his death. Don't you dare sit there and tell me I'm wrong when all you have to back your opinions up is hearsay." Derflinger said coldly. Louise nearly dropped the weapon in shock and even Lightning began to listen to the sword.
"What did he do?" Lightning said as Louise continued to wipe the blade distractedly as she was enthralled in his tale.
"Sasha was a lovely elf woman who made a pact with Brimir to experiment on her, but she ended up being made in to his familiar. Of course this was before he turned into the monster he became so there truly were no ill intentions on his part." Derflinger said with a sigh as he continued to tell his stories. Something about a gentle girl cleaning him just forced them back out.
"Wait! The founder's familiar was an elf." Louise asked in fear making Lightning frown at her slightly.
"Yep and one of the best there was." Derflinger said fondly. "Anyway you all know how humans are. I don't even have to know you to assume that you've all faced your own adversities against the members of your own race." Lightning thought of all of the PSICOM soldiers she had slaughtered, Siesta thought of all the abuse the less powerful were given, and Louise thought back to the teasing she had endured. "They had conflict with the elves, but they refused to talk it out with them so they were banished from the holy land." Derflinger said angrily.
"But it didn't stop there did it?" Lightning said as the younger girls looked at her with wide eyes. "It never fails; humans make the same mistakes over and over."
"I can tell you are one of the good ones." Derflinger said simply before sighing. "You're right, Sasha even followed him. The Humans believed that they were entitled to the land and a war broke out between the Humans and elves." Louise remembered this much from her texts.
"And Brimir won…" Louise said with practiced ease, she had remembered the feeling of pride she had whenever she was told the story but now it was beginning to make her feel sick. If the humans were truly the ones at fault and there are very few Elves that still exist…
Louise shuddered at the implications.
"The war continued and Brimir was forced to become a leader. I still remember the look of joy on Sasha's face; she had finally thought the war could end. She was branded a traitor by her own people for sticking with him." Derflinger said angrily and Lightning knew that if Derf had a body he would have punched something at that point. "The war had gone too far and Brimir had decided that his people must live. Sasha begged and begged, but he said there was no choice."
"So he had no choice-"Louise stopped at the glare she received from Lightning.
"There is always a choice girl, remember that." Derflinger said icily. "He slaughters as many elves as he could, it was genocide. Elves of all ages were completely wiped out every time he casted a spell and Sasha had to helplessly watch. I still remember the suffering she went through. Finally Sasha decided to end it." Derflinger said before going quiet for a bit. Louise and Siesta had tears in their eyes at this point.
"She finally realized that she had a choice as well, didn't she?" Lightning said while giving the sword a knowing look.
"She realized that she had a powerful blade that she poured her heart and soul into creating and used that." Derflinger said with pride. "She picked me up and walked right up to him and rammed me through his heart."
"Good riddance." Siesta said coldly Louise looked at her in shock.
"Siesta's right Louise." Lightning said gaining her attention. "The world isn't black and white and only seeing it that way leads to nothing but suffering. I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that if you don't figure that out…' Lightning trailed off as she aimed her blade at the young noble. "History is going to repeat itself, and trust me I know my choices." Louise paled at the promise because she knew.
Lightning would kill her instantly.
BGM: END
"D-don't worry I don't plan to, in fact I'm looking for a new role model now…" Louise said with a cold sweat.
"What are you two talking about?" The sword questioned
"Louise is a Void mage and I was forced to be her familiar, and I am currently trying to make sure she doesn't turn out like the first one." Lightning said as she slowly sheathed her blade. "Your story has motivated me to try to remove that stick from her ass much faster."
"It's gone its gone!" Louise said frantically as she held up her hands, making Derflinger fall from her grip and stab into the ground. The sun's light reflected off of the blade and shined into her eyes making Louise stumble back and fall into the creek. "We were talking all night, the sun is coming up!" Louise sputtered in disbelief before stepping from the water.
Wait a minute.
Replaying the past few minutes in her head, Louise ran forward with a grin and picked the sword up before showing it to a wide-eyed Lightning.
"I did it!" Louise said happily and sure enough Derflinger was in mint condition.
"Well I'll be damned I haven't felt this good since Sasha made me eat one of Brimir's explosion spells." Derflinger said absentmindedly as the three humans looked at the sword in their own versions of surprise. Which meant Siesta and Louise gaped while Lightning raised an eyebrow. "Did I forget to mention that I can absorb spells? I had forgotten a lot of things, but it all came back to me thanks to the little lady."
"Maybe you should go over your abilities with Louise later, if she's going to use you she needs know what you can do." Lightning said as Siesta released a yawn. "Siesta, you go take a nap under the tree, if anyone asks where you were, tell them you were cleaning something for Louise." Siesta nodded and Louise looked at her familiar in disbelief.
"Wait what's going on?"
"Your patience training is over, now you need to start on your stamina and sword play." Lightning said as she pulled out her blade. "Magic comes later."
"Wait! I'm using Derflinger? I can't swing this thing effectively." Lightning just looked at her blankly and Louise gasped in fear as Lightning's words rang through her head.
"It's not a question of can or can't, there are some things you just have to do."
"Oh foun-err I'm going to need a new deity." Louise thought with a sweat drop. However that very thought struck a chord in Louise, it was then that she had realized that if she truly was his second coming; she'd have to do her best to not become like him and treat all forms of life with respect.
"Are you ready?" Lightning asked testily, but frowned further when Louise shook her head.
"Not yet."
*SHTCK*
Louise stabbed the sword ground and frowned at it while shaking her head.
"Never in a million years would I think that I'd do what I'm about to…but I'm getting an idea of how Lightning thinks now, I know for a fact she's going to keep one hand on her blade after that story, but I refuse to be treated differently for something I didn't do. I need to prove to her that I'm different, I need to prove to Derflinger that I'm different, but most importantly I need to prove to myself." Louise took a steadying breath before kneeling in front of the blade.
"Whatcha' doing Little Lady?" Derf asked in confusion as Lightning continued to frown.
"Derflinger, you may be a sword, but you are still a sentient being…I want to show you that just because I'm a Void Mage that doesn't mean I'll end up like Brimir, so asking you out of respect…" Louise trailed off as Lightning widened her eyes. "Please let me wield you." The blade was silent for a bit before it started laughing.
"AHAHAHA, no need to get formal! Let's show ice Queen what we can do, partner." Louise grinned at it.
-Insert Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time - Opening a large treasure chest-
Louise Slowly removed the sword from the ground before raising it up in victory. As she did, she idly mused about how being called an equal by a sword didn't faze her as much as it should have.
Brone Trophy Unlocked: The Key to Victory! (Find a key item.)
+220 Gold
"Louise…" Lightning began as she closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. Very few people had ever seen her do what she was about to. It's been rumored in the Guardian Corps for years, but there had never been any solid evidence of this monumental event occurring. What was this strange phenomenon?
Lightning was about to force back her pride for an instant.
"…I'm proud of you." Lightning said before dashing at the shell shocked girl. "Don't keep yourself open!"
"AHHHH!" Louise shrieked in fear as she closed her eyes.
*CLANG*
Lightning watched in disbelief as Louise parried her strike nearly effortlessly. Louise looked back at the woman with bright blue eyes before they turned back to normal.
"W-what?" Louise stuttered out as she was suddenly forced to use both hands to hold back Lightning's blade.
"I took over your body so you wouldn't die; you have to keep your head in the game Partner! I can only do it for so long until my own reserves are depleted! So until you feed me try not to leave yourself open."
"Glad to know that I can fight harder." Lightning smirked as Louise was beginning to get forced to her knees by Lightning's blade.
"Oh…uh…Magic? Yes Magic will do for now. Magic help me!" Louise thought with anime tears.
PAUSE
To be continued…
Next Chapter: This is your Home.
To those who might not know Derflinger's passed and all of his abilities are canon. It was in the light novel. I may have had to infer on some parts however.
Sasha DID kill Brimir with Derflinger.
However the reasons why were never stated, but it is highly implied that it was to stoop the elven genocide.
Alright now for those new to my series let me start off by saying this. In LIAG I and those who help me with their own additions to my series, with my permission of course, do our absolute BEST to change the events in canon as EXTREMELY as possible WHILE staying in cannon. What does this mean?
For example in my Naruto fic, I NEVER changed how a jutsu worked OR added my own Jutsu/ used powers from other media.
So for example: Naruto never got an ability to use anything BUT chakra and his Jutsu stayed limited to those he actually had in cannon.
If you read any of my other stories you would see that adding a single new variable in the story at the very start of the fic will have a butterfly effect that will change the canon drastically while staying believable.
Examples of this are.
Ichigo having the knowledge of the future in Bakudo X
Red taking Ash's places in RLIAG
Naruto given ten extra minutes with the forbidden scroll in NLIAG
Shepard's new CANON crew member in Mass Effect: LIAG (On 117Jorn's page)
Spider-Man's life when making Marvel vs. Capcom 3 canon
Natsu going training before canon events in FAO
And now Lightning becoming Louise's familiar
These simple changes will make an entire new story that's enjoyable to read, will take you by surprise, and not be cliché.
Seriously I do my best to prevent cliché's that have been in other fanfics
In fact I CREATED new pairings for Naruto just for the lulz
So trust me I'll do my best to LISTEN to you all and let you add your input so that this story can be one of a kind. Hell my OC's presence is pretty much nonexistent for the rest of the story. He just needed to set some things in motion.
Now if you are a veteran reader of my stories, let me know if there has been any improvement since NLIAG (Which I have to rewrite later, but don't worry I'm just cleaning it up events a pairings will be the same.)
~OMAKE TIME~
-Serah and Snow's House-
The gang was all sitting at Serah's kitchen table silently when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get guys." Serah said as she answered the door. Serah gaped as she saw a purple haired man with a petite woman standing at her door. "What the hell? Caius, Yeul what do you two want."
"May we please come in? We mean no harm." Caius said softly. Serah looked at them for a second before nodding her head. When the three entered Noel looked up in disbelief.
"What the hell?"
"We mean no harm young Noel." Caius began before he looked at the assembled heroes. "I guess it's safe to assume that you all sensed the disturbance earlier today?" Caius questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, what of it?" Hope asked hesitantly as Caius closed his eyes with a sigh.
"I know what happened. You see an event happened earlier today that caused hell itself to freeze over, resulting in a cosmic imbalance that caused the powerful earthquake you all felt." Caius said as Snow gaped at him.
"What the hell happened!?" Snow asked with wide eyes.
"All I know is what took place, but not the cause I was hoping you could tell me." Caius said as Serah suddenly raised her hand.
"I know what happened." Serah said with a horrified whisper. "It happened once before, Lightning set aside her pride." Everyone turned to her in shock.
"Babe, you're joking…right?" Snow said unsurely making his wife shake her head.
"Think about it, it's why Cocoon fell." Serah said seriously as Fang raised her hand.
"Umm Cocoon fell because of us, remember it was our focus….you got turned in to a crystal we all killed a lot of PSICOM officers…Hope here became the youngest mass murderer ever. He dropped hundreds of men before his balls dropped." Fang said with her thick Australian accent while pointing at an offended Hope.
"Excuse me?" Hope began but was cut off by Serah.
"That's what happens when you leave an impressionable teen with my sister, but know think about it…you completed your focus…" Serah began as she looked at them all. "But to do that, Lightning had to set aside her pride and do what a fal'cie told her too. She had to obey someone else." Serah said as the room got quiet.
"Holy-*BOOOOM*"
"Damn it Hope! I told you to stop saying Holy if you aren't paying attention to your magic! You owe me a new kitchen." Snow growled out making Hope roll his eyes.
"And you owe me a mother."
"Low blow man, not cool." Snow said as he looked away.
"Don't worry, I'm rich I'll have it fixed in three days." Hope shrugged as Snow glared at him with mock anger as he thought about Hope's unreasonably high pay check. "That's right Snow, get on my level."
"Screw you."
END
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Always keepin', it real
~RebuekeX7