A/N: Thank you to Lotusbitch and an anonymous folk for the wonderful review :) I had issues writing this chapter since I didn't know what to do, lol. Of course that is when a dream struck me like a ton of bricks! It's quite long though, this chapter xD I'm not sure where I'm going with this since I did say before: my dreams dictate everything. I hope you folks like it! Stay tuned for the next chapter of Heir to Chaos! Don't forget to review lovies; you words will always be appreciated!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: A dark fantasy that will never taste the light within a darkened realm, harbored by black hearted beasts. May she be the one to rise above it for freedom all with a blood stained sacrifice.
Chapter 3: Memories of Oerba
Lightning sat by the window constantly cursing each crystallized shard embedded deep in her palm. Counting to an annoying thirty-two, now thirty-three crystal shards, Lightning momentarily pondered if all the pain was worth every single crystal shard deeply embedded into her skin. Pulling out another shard with tweezers, Lightning could barely move her crimson stained hand. The rug beneath her displayed signs of crimson spots and stray crystal shards. Placing another shard onto the pile, Lightning bit her lip digging the tweezers a little too deep into the center of her palm.
Good morning, Lightning narrowed her eyes pulling the last (or so she believed) shard out of her palm. Some way to spend my morning; a stupid crystal shard pulling session…
Placing down the silver tweezers beside the pile of red crystal shards, Lightning was quite astonished at the pile before her amusement was killed by pain pulsing from her hand. Moving her fingers, feelings returned to each of her fingers which were good news. The bad news was the center of her palm. The last shard she pulled out dug quite deeply into her flesh. Touching the center of her palm, Lightning felt the bump of an embedded shard. Narrowing her eyes, she thought she was able to remove the accursed shard but no, the shard broke in half leaving the other half in her hand.
Curse you.
Blinking, her next task was cleansing alcohol. Moving her left hand to the bottle, she managed to uncap it. Now she was tasked with two decisions: pour the damn liquid on her right hand or try to somehow maneuver the cotton in such a way it would remain on the bottle's lips while she tipped the bottle. The former option seemed like the best choice. Taking in deep breaths, she was going to pour the bottle until she heard the sound of the door knob turning. Slightly startled, Lightning dropped the cleansing alcohol, now soaking the rug. Shooting an icily glare at the door, she was reminded of something—someone worse than any bottle of cleansing alcohol. Lightning stood up quickly shielding her hands and kicking the glass bottle behind her.
Caius entered fixing his eyes upon Lightning. Slightly suspicious, he watched her shift closer to the table keeping her hands away from his sight. Closing the distance between them, Lightning's beautiful eyes never broke eye contact.
"What were you doing in the Hall of Haunt?" Caius questioned.
"None of your business," Lightning replied dryly. "What I do own my own is none of your business as far as I'm concerned."
"I will speak this to you once, Lightning. The Halls of Haunt do not welcome you. Do not wander to places you do not know of,"
"And who's going to stop me?" Lightning raised her voice. "You? And who are you to tell me where to go or what to do?"
Pushing her to sit onto the table, Lightning involuntarily used her right hand to brace herself. Shocks slipped up her arm prompting Lightning to quickly cradle her hands, exposing its bloodied mess. Caius snatched her hand, tightly gripping onto her wrist. Eyes trailed from the tips of her fingers down into the center of her palm.
"Unhand me, Ballad," Lightning hissed.
"What have you done to yourself?" Squeezing her wrist, Lightning bit her lip battling the surging pain. Haunting memories resurfaced; she did not want her hands to be crippled, twice.
"Let… me go."
"Answer me."
"I cut myself." Lightning shot. "There, happy?"
"You are a poor liar, my bride,"
Reaching to the table, he picked up the tweezers holding the silver object in front of Lightning's cobalt colored eyes. Coming in contact with her skin, Lightning bit her lip enduring the pain of tweezers drilling into her skin. Pools of blood oozed out from the center of her palm and slipped onto the rug below. One by one, Lightning counted the excess shards from her skin totaling around fifty shards. Throwing another shard into the bloodied red pile, Lightning narrowed her eyes and winced at another extracted shard. And to think; she was going to train with more crystallized roses. Oh, joy. Caius placed down the tweezers and examined her hand once again. No shards remained.
Lifting her hand to his lips, he spoke quietly, "Beautiful hands stained with blood… Do you wish for my death that badly, Lightning? Do you wish to have your hands stained with blood which will never be washed away?"
"Damn right," Lightning shot. Managing to pull away her hand, she cradled the bloodied mess against her heart. "I'll do anything it takes to rip out your heart and escape from this misery you placed me in."
Unable to read his stoic expression, Lightning was slightly alarmed. Trying to move past Caius, he pushed her down onto the table and onto her back forcing her to look at him.
"Get off me!" Lightning hissed.
Whispering into her ear, he spoke quietly, "I must depart for a few days, Lightning. I expect you to behave during my absence."
Abruptly stealing a kiss, he immediately pushed off her and left without speaking another word. Lightning quickly scrambled back up clutching her fists as tightly as she could, demonstrating her anger. Quite frankly, she did not care if her right hand gushed out murderous red streams. At least, she thought, with him out of the picture for a few days she would get some alone time to herself. Heading over to the drawer, Lightning pulled out a roll of bandage and quickly wrapped her hand. There was no time to waste; she needed to practice as often as she could.
As swiftly as her feet took her, Lightning rushed down the hallways. Her destination: The Hall of Haunt. Slipping around a corner, the mist around Lightning swirled madly taking shape of the mist maiden. With hollow eyes, she looked down at Etro's fallen champion and at her evident weakness. Lightning stormed to the mist maiden, eyes reflecting the determination boiling within. She did not need to hear venom dripped words reminding of Lightning's own weakness; she understood she was weak, she admits. Bringing an uninvited hand to Lightning's face, the mist maiden took notice of the bride's perfection. Slipping a finger across Lightning's lush lips, the mist maiden landed a finger on Lightning's forehead.
You can hear me now, weakling.
Undeterred, Lightning responded, "Cut the crap. Teach me how to—"
Perform a sword dance so you can kill your beloved Caius?
"Shut it," Lightning scowled. "Now tell me what to do and do as you're told."
The mist maiden was amused by Lightning's aggression. Swaying from side to side, the mist maiden lowered her face grinning widely. Or what? She asked without a voice.
Lightning narrowed her eyes: the mist maiden made a very good point. Mist could not be harmed. Snapping her head to the side, the mist maiden gently gripped Lightning's face turning her face to the side. She wanted to look into her deep blue eyes; the eyes that only witnessed death and destruction. But yet, there was something about Lightning's eyes the mist maiden did not like. They were eyes which could enchant men, trapping them into a void of lust and desire. Removing her fingers, the mist maiden slid away from Lightning with crossed arms. Perhaps it was time to teach Lightning a thing or two about her. She did not care if Lightning's priorities was to once again wield a sword.
Let's play a game, shall we?
Shifting from side to side, mist rolled across Lightning's feet, drowning them in cold, unforgiving sensations. Whipping her arm to the right, mist exploded out of her flowing gown, consuming Lightning. Quickly covering her face, Lightning cursed at the mist maiden. Her lips suddenly were unable to speak and her voice refused to leave her throat. Feeling her body suspended in midair, Lightning's body grew lighter and lighter… The last thing she saw was the mist maiden's grin until both were consumed by light.
Her fingers suddenly twitched, her breathing returned to its normal pace while her mind continued to spin from recent events. The sounds of sudden chirping birds echoed around her singing their songs to those unaware of their presence. Feeling a breeze graze over her body, Lightning slowly opened her eyes trying to focus on blurry images swaying left to right. Blinking several times, Lightning breathed in deeply then accessing her situation. Sitting in an upright position, she looked around; all she saw were white covered mountains in every direction. From first impressions the mountains seemed to be covered in a thin layer of snow suggesting snow had recently fell into this land. Tilting her head up, she abruptly covered her eyes; the sun shone brightly into her eyes. Shaking her head, Lightning diverted her eyes back onto her gown.
"Ughhh… The hell…" Lightning mumbled holding the side of her throbbing head. "Did that mist maiden do… And where the hell am I?"
Running her hand across the ground, her fingers came to a sudden halt; Lightning glanced down spotting nothing but white salt sands between her fingers. Then it dawned on her: she knew exactly where she was.
"Oerba," The word slipped out of her lips.
In the far distance, there was a small village as far as the eye could see. She spotted several villagers walking in and out of the town minding their own business carrying baskets overflowing with produce. Lightning's first course of action was to gather intel. She huffed and pushed herself off the salt sands b-lining to the village. Yet, Lightning had to wonder: did she just travel back in time? It was a possibility yet it was an impossibility. Regardless if she was in the past or not, she had to figure out what year this was. The last time she was in Oerba was several years ago, one which was nothing but a ghost town filled with Cie'th. Entering the village, all eyes fell suddenly on her. Lightning stopped in her tracks, summoning her voice yet no sound was heard. She watched as women gossiped with each other cupping their hand around their moving lips and the men continued to stare at her. Feeling far from being welcomed, Lightning shook her head, moving her feet as fast as she could. Heading over to a stack of small buildings, she turned a corner and slammed into a solid mass.
"Why in a hurry, my bride?"
Lightning's heart skipped a beat. Tilting her head up, she never expected to see Caius standing in front of her. Quickly taking several steps away from him, she instinctively hugged herself. Her sudden gestures baffled him as he approached her, lifting up her chin with the tip of his finger.
"Something the matter?" he spoke close to a whisper.
"You," Lightning hissed. "What are you doing here?"
There was something off with him, Lightning thought gazing into amethyst gems. They were eyes of a man completely different from the ones she knew and saw every night. The bastard she knew craved bloodlust and unfulfilled desires only she could give. Was this the same Caius Ballad or someone completely different? Taking no chances, Lightning eyed him wearily.
After a moment of silence, Caius spoke, "You should not be here," Taking a step toward her she was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace. "Did you not hear what the elders said?"
Elders? Lightning questioned. Replying with silence, he continued.
"We are to be wed in three days," Caius pushed her away and held her shoulders at arm's length. "Do you remember what the elders told us? I should not be in your presence until the day of the wedding as it may bring bad luck extending across countless eternities."
W…Wed? Lightning's mind spun a one-eighty. Did she just hear right? Were they to be wed? Wed? Wedding? Slightly panicking, her body involuntarily shivered. Not from the sudden breeze caressing her exposed skin but his haunting words of affection.
Once again diverting her eyes, Lightning was close to hysterics once she caught a glimpse of her reflection on a nearby silvery surface. Instead of pink hair, Lightning had golden blonde hair adorned with multicolored tribal glass beads and feathers hanging off leather strings. What… What was this? This was not her! This was someone else! A sudden realization dawned on Lightning: Was this the maiden Lightning saw in the Hall of Portraits? It could be. There was absolutely no possibility it was the mist maiden then again, anything was possible in the Unseen Realm shrouded in trickery.
Lightning instantly stiffened feeling Caius's embrace. She listened to his low voice whispering words into her ear.
"Yet it is difficult for me to not see you for three days."
Unhand me! Lightning squirmed.
"I understand if you feel nervous about our union, my bride."
Summoning her voice, Lightning spoke, "I-I'm not your bride,"
He tightened the embrace. "Not yet but you will be."
With those quiet words slipped out of his lips, his fingers trailed down her arms grasping her left hand. Placing a kiss on them, he bid farewell to his beautiful bride-to-be. Turning around, Lightning watched him walk away leaving her to feel a turbulent of emotions ramming into her.
"This has to be a paradox," Lightning muttered, quickly wiping her hands.
This was not the Caius she despised. With annoyance eating at her nerves, Lightning focused her attention on another problem: her. Extending out a hand, she touched her reflection. It bothered her to no end looking at herself reflecting another woman's body. Lightning touched her own hair and it was pink but in the reflection she was blonde. Pursing her lips, she took notice of the gown she wore which was not the same one she wore in Valhalla. Her gown was made out of the purest silk caterpillars could spin shimmering under the shining sun and gracefully moving upon the wind's touch. Turquoise stone beads were sown into the gown lining across her breast. Wrapped tightly around her midsection were leather strings threaded through various colored glass beads tied with feathers hanging on her right side. Lifting her gown slightly, Lighting caught a glimpse of her sandals and they too had beads and feathers on them.
"This is too much…" Lightning mumbled.
Lightning did not know much about Pulsian culture and traditions but this? This was new.
"Ah there you are!"
She turned around spotting a group of middle aged women approaching her. Not quite sure what to do, Lightning faked a smile. One of the slightly round women examined Lightning from head to toe crossing her arms. Her face was scrunched up and presumably this woman did not like Lightning. Why? Lightning would never know.
"What is Caius's future bride gawking at?" she asked in a raspy voice. "Shouldn't you be at the altar praying?"
Lightning blinked. "Praying?"
The woman's eyes narrowed into slits. "You did remember to pray to the Gods, didn't you?"
And the woman released a sigh. Lightning did not like this woman but she understood if she kept her mouth shut information would be given to her on a silver platter without even asking.
"Young maidens these days," The woman began. "Always forgetting their duties blissfully unaware of what they must do. Even if you are given to us, I still expect you to pray to the Gods."
Given? I was given? Given? What the hell? What is this? Am I some kind of slave?
"Cease your gawking this instant," The woman raised her voice. Yanking Lightning's arm, she grunted. "You are to come with us for the ceremonial cleansing. None of us wants to see you filthy on the day of your union."
Yeah, sure.
Pushed by the other women, Lightning's feet took control of her walking through the streets with the crowd. Everybody made eye contact with her. Feeling uneasy, Lightning straightened her back and blocked everybody out. They were not real, Lightning recited. This place was not real. All she could do was follow these women to the ceremonial cleansing area, wherever it may be and hopefully, just hopefully she could finally understand where she was, who she was or when she could finally wake up from this terrible nightmare.
