She opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of the Ark. The contrast from the darkness to this overwhelming light caused her pupils to constrict painfully.

She squinted and, out of habit, immediately went for the Yggdrasil.

"There you are." Hope said, sounding irritated.

Fake Hope..

Lightning kept her eyes trained on the tree, not wanting to alert 'Hope' to the change in her mentality. She offered the three souls she'd managed to save in the Dead Dunes to the Yggdrasil but it hardly made a difference.

"It's becoming more frequent." Hope said.

"What is?" Lightning asked, heading to her kiosk. It was pretty evident she wasn't up for small talk with Hope after everything she'd just learned.

"You disappearing off the radar."

Lightning shrugged. "I don't see how I can control it."

"Even so, we both know that you could have teleported out of those ruins when those doors shut on you."

"And?"

"And why didn't you? You've nearly wasted an entire hour."

"We both agreed that we wanted to know Fang's real motivation for the Clavis, right?" Lightning lied.

"You barely even talked about the Clavis.. Have you decided what you're going to do with her?" Hope asked.

"Do with her?" Lightning asked and then couldn't help smirking to herself. She was grateful her back was to Hope.

"She's against the ritual and she'll probably take the Clavis for herself."

"It seems to me that she has a pretty good reason to be against the ritual." Lightning said.

"Seems pretty selfish to me. All those souls in exchange for one life.." Hope started. "And it goes against the will of God, Light."

"Well, I don't think Vanille deserves to die." Lightning said.

And to think, once upon a time she'd thought that Hope actually had a soft spot for Vanille. From back in the day.. Perhaps even a crush..

"Are you feeling okay?" Hope asked. "Would you really want to turn on God after the promise he made you?"

Lightning glanced backwards into Hope's dim eyes and remembered a time when the boy she once knew wasn't a religious robot. A wild thought occurred to her then. If this was indeed a fake, and she was pretty sure this was the case even on her own suspicions alone, who was she actually talking to? Her stomach lurched uncomfortably when she realized it could be that this was the voice of God himself.

"I never said anything about turning on God, Hope." Lightning said, slowly. "I just want to see everything from every angle before I make a decision."

He seemed appeased by this admission and took a more relaxed stance.

"Well, whatever you decide, you know I'm on your side, right Light?" Hope asked.

Oh, sure.

"Right." Lightning said, using all of her restraint to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Her eyes landed on the image of Fang frozen on the monitor above Hope's head. Her face softened as she remembered the last plea Fang had made to her.

Lightning felt her insides doused in warmth thinking about everything the hunter had gone through. Strong enough to collapse and catch worlds at her will, her determination powerful enough to accidentally break time itself if it got in her way; Fang was an example of the shear strength of the human spirit. A poster child for the power of love.

Lightning found herself so inspired.

"I'm sure you'll end up making the right decision, anyway." Hope said, turning his back on Lightning. "...If you ever want to see Serah again."

Lightning inhaled deeply and initiated reentry, excitement flooding her eyes. That thinly veiled threat was all the confirmation she needed to tell her that her trajectory was dead on. Hope is a fake and God is playing a much heavier hand in the end days than she'd previously thought. Now it was only a matter of treading lightly and alerting her allies to the cause without drawing too much attention to her intentions.

"I'm sure I will, too." Lightning said.

Because if Fang was beside her, any outcome was possible. Even if that meant winning a holy war.


"Fang." Lightning gasped the exact moment she came back into being.

Fang jumped from the sudden change in Lightning's thoughtful pose. Something wasn't quite right about how the last few seconds in time progressed, like Lightning had moved unnaturally. Like the position she was sitting in shifted without her moving at all. Fang was about to bring her hand away when the Lightning's hand came to rest on top of hers.

Lightning leaned in closer to the bars, her face literally inches from Fang's. Fang's eyes widened infinitesimally.

"Uh." Fang choked, feeling her palm becoming sweaty.

"I can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved." Lightning said softly. "There's nothing I can do.."

Fang sighed in discontent, arching her neck backwards to rest against the sandstone.

"Fang.." Lightning breathed.

Fang dropped her eyes from the ceiling to peer sideways at Lightning.

"There's nothing I can do." Lightning enunciated every word slowly. The corner of her mouth curled slightly.

Fang blinked, trying to scrutinize Lightning's features to be sure she'd actually seen the hint in the message. Was this the Savior's way of saying she wouldn't stand in her way?

As if confirming the unasked question, Lightning squeezed Fang's hand before standing up. Fang rose slowly after her.

"Hasn't it been an hour yet?" Lightning asked.

"Nearly." Fang guessed.

Fang pressed her face between the bars and watched Lightning pace around her enclosure, her curiosity piqued by the sudden change in Lightning's mood. The lone torch in dark room gave Lightning the appearance that she was blonde haired rather than rose tinted. It gave Lightning almost a eerie glow, like an iridescent aura of you would expect an angel to have.

That was it. Lightning was a living breathing angel. But Fang was running out of time, and her questions might remain unanswered forever if she didn't act soon.

"Lightning.." Fang beckoned.

Lightning looked up from where she was trying to rid her cape of dust and approached the gate where Fang was gazing at her.

"You.. you do remember, right?" Fang asked.

"Remember what?" Lightning asked.

Fang's jaw jutted to one side in thought as she struggled for the correct way to approach this.

"Do you remember what it felt like?" Fang asked.

Lightning pursed her lips and smiled apologetically. "I don't know.."

Fang sighed and slumped against the bars. "I should have known."

"No, I mean I have no idea what you're talking about. You'll have to be more specific." Lightning said, encouragingly.

She was brought up short when Fang's hands came through the bars and gripped her belt, pulling her closer until her hips were pressed against the metal.

"I mean us." Fang said. "Do you remember.. what we had?"

Lightning stared into Fang's deep green expanse, mapping out the urgency behind her request. Every familiar detail on Fang's face was a friendly reminder of how much devotion was still evident. From the shape of Fang's naturally arrogant lips tense enough to rupture, to the desperation that could Lightning could feel penetrating her deep within her bones.

Even after all these centuries, she still had ownership over this tribal goddess. Just as Lumina had said, as if it all happened yesterday. Fang was still hers.

"I remember more than you do." Lightning said softly.

Fang pulled back from the bars looking momentarily dizzy. "I'm so glad.." She muttered.

Lightning sighed and reached her own hand through the bar, because when Fang moved it was revealed that the grimy bars she was leaning on left two parallel lines of filth down her face. Fang stiffened at her touch but relaxed as Lightning's thumb worked to erase the dirt from her cheeks. During this, their eyes never left each others, though Fang found it hard to keep hers open. She steadily moved closer as if Lightning's touch was magnetic.

"Do.. you still f-" Fang was interrupted by Lightning's finger being pushed against her lips.

"Shh." Lightning whispered.

Not now.

Lightning was hyper aware that Hope was likely hanging on every single word and movement that was being exchanged between them right now. At the same time she also wanted to do whatever she could to comfort Fang's concerns but that in itself was difficult. In this state, what could she really do? She could feel the nagging pull in Fang's direction. She could think about how lovely Fang's lips must feel and remember exactly what they tasted like, but it was like she was a prisoner in her own body.

In a moment of self indulgence, Lightning dragged her fingertip gently down Fang's bottom lip, watching the elastic skin react to her touch. Soft, supple and inviting. Fang's breath caught unexpectedly which brought Lightning back to reality. She laughed nervously.

But Fang looked deadly serious.

Lightning spun around, her smile erased immediately when she heard rumbling behind her. Instantly her sword was pointing towards the source. She lowered it slowly when she realized it was just the doors opening.

"Right," Lightning said, shaking her hair out of her eyes when she looked back to Fang. "Where were we?"

"You're asking me? "Fang laughed, shaking her head groggily. "You'll have to excuse me, I can't even remember what my name is right now."

Lightning shook her head. "I'm coming around."

Only when Lightning disappeared around the corner did Fang let her most sincere smile free. Despite all the odds she managed to crack the woman's extra thick exterior once again, though she had no idea how it happened this time. What had she done to make such a drastic change? Thoughtfully, Fang brought her hand up to where Lightning had just touched her lips. She straightened up quickly and tried to compose herself before Lightning came around.

Coming around, yes. Lightning was definitely coming around in more ways than one.


Thirteen years of her life were culminating at this very moment in front of Fang's eyes as the intricate steel door rose and disappeared into the ceiling. She followed the Savior into a room that looked appropriately decorated by the gods. Many different pathways leading to the ornate alter in the distance, arcane torches spouting never ending blue flames. Stairs formed leading to the alter when they reached the middle of the room. And all the while, Fang's eyes remained trained on the back of Lightning's head, waiting for any sign of duplicity, her stomach turning at an even rate with anticipation.

After reaching the apex of the alter, a platform lowered before them. Upon it, a small artifact resembling a golden pyramid.

"Is that it?" Lightning asked.

Fang stepped closer.

"Oh god, yeah it must be. Can you feel that?" Fang winced.

Lightning mimicked the action when she drew parallel with Fang.

"This power.."

"It feels like it's going to crush my chest." Fang said.

Lightning got closer and it was evident that it wasn't effecting her as much as it was effecting Fang. She wondered if this object, created by God himself, was actually capable of crushing Fang's chest.

"Maybe you should back up Fang, I don't want you to get-"

Perhaps it was a shift in the air, but Lightning turned just in time to see Fang's lance coming down to connect with the Clavis. She didn't even have enough time to to yell, instead she threw her arms around Fang's waist to try and hold her down. When the lance connected, it was like a bomb went off. Their bodies flew together halfway across the room.

Lightning managed to land on her feet.

Fang landed hard on her shoulder in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Lightning knelt beside Fang.

Fang grunted and got to her feet without taking the offered help. They both gazed back up to the alter where the Clavis remained, seemingly unscathed.

"Well, I guess that would have been too easy." Fang said, clutching at her arm. "Do you have any ideas?"

"What if we just... took it with us?" Lightning asked.

"Not a chance." Fang said. "If anything were to happen to us and the Order took it I'd never forgive myself. It has to be destroyed."

Fang took a step back towards the artifact when she heard strangled yells coming from a few rooms away.

Frozen in time, they waited as one by one, the soldiers fell into line in front of them. Secutors, the armed guard of the Order of Salvation, had their rifles pointing at the two women.

Lightning would have been able to take care of this no problem if she were by herself, but she looked to the hunter who she once thought was so inhumanly powerful. The hunter without l'Cie powers was just that now, a hunter, frail and entirely too vulnerable to bullets. Lightning had the overwhelming urge to stand in front of her but things got worse before she could react.

She could feel the vibrations run through her feet sending chills up her bodies. The Order weren't alone..

The source of the commotion erupted from a cloud of chaos behind the Secutors and came into being, shaking the entire room under its weight as it landed between the guards and the women, rearing it's head clenching its multiple jaws. Fang ran forward out of instinct but found herself staring in awe of the creature, unable to place it's origin. It was rare occasion that Fang didn't recognize a monster.

Was it reptilian? It didn't seem to have any legs...

"Fang, look out!"

Two seconds too late, Fang saw the beasts claw coming down to swipe at her. She only had enough time to brace herself for impact. When the blow came, she was flying through the air again. Her face felt like it was on fire and then she was sliding against the cool tile.

She gasped back into consciousness and sat up. She tried to get up but her vision was focusing in and out of blurred colors. The beast was advancing on her again but she couldn't stand. She had no idea where her lance was and no matter what she did, she couldn't see straight. She reached up gingerly to touch her eye and found that the entire side of her face was warm and wet.

The claw was raised again, and she waited for sweet oblivion when Lightning appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Or so she thought. She tried desperately to see what was happening but she found her muscles growing weak again. Slowly, she sunk back against the floor, her face against the tile. The last thing she heard was boots running past her on either side.

Secutors.

"Lightning. Don't let them... please, Lightning." She pleaded, but her voice was fading away and she couldn't muster the strength to yell.

In no time at all, the sound stopped. The monsters cries were no longer shaking her existence. The pool of liquid her face was partially submerged in was now less than room temperature. She opened her eyes and could see the blue flames reflecting off of the crimson pool of her own blood. Slowly, sound started returning to her.

Footsteps were approaching at a brisk pace.

Fang groaned and rolled onto her back and the footsteps came closer. A pink blur was staring down at her. Fang blinked several times until Lightning's face came into focus.

"You're awake." Lightning exhaled, dropping to her knee beside Fang.

Fang couldn't be sure, but she thought Lightning looked more pale than usual. She tried to sit up but Lightning held her down by her shoulder.

"Don't move right now." Lightning said. The Savior used moved Fang's face to the side by her chin to get a better look at the wound. "I don't think you're bleeding anymore."

Fang sighed and closed her eyes. "What happened?"

"You got caught off guard, that's all. You'll be okay. Some of your men are coming to get you, we're gonna bring you back to Ruffian and patch you up."

Fang let her head fall to the side and she squinted trying to see through the blur up at the alter.

She had to blink several times to realize that the alter was empty. The Clavis was missing.

Everything came into focus at once and she sat bolt upright.

Lightning shoved her back down against the ground hard.

"Light! It's gone!" Fang yelled.

"I know. I'm sorry, Fang. That monster would have killed you.."

"No!" Fang screamed. Even in her injured state, she was able to sit back up against Lightning's weight.

Lightning had to physically crawl on top of Fang to keep her down, using her shins to pin the hunter.

"You're going to hurt yourself more, you need to stay down." Lightning said, softly.

Fang continued thrashing against the weight.

"She's going to die! Dammit!" Fang growled. "And all those souls will be destroyed!"

"..Destroyed? You said it would bring comfort to the souls. Vanille said she'd be saving those souls." Lightning said, her eyes widening.

"Yeah. Comfort. In other words, non-existence. Saving them from their despair." Fang said, defeated.

Lightning sat back, mystified as she watched Fang stumbled to her feet and look around for her lance, which she found several feet away from her blood pool.

"Does Vanille know?" Lightning asked.

Fang stopped and stared at Lightning. "They sugar coated it for her. She doesn't know they'll be obliterated, she thinks she's doing them a favor."

"It's true you know."

Lightning and Fang both looked up to the alter to see the childlike form of Lumina sitting there casually.

"All those filthy souls will be purged. It's the will of the Order." Lumina said. She hopped off the alter and made her way down the stairs to kneel in front of Lightning. "And you know what else? It's what God wants, too."

"But why?" Lightning asked.

Lumina sat next to the Savior thoughtfully and stared into her face.

"A brand new world, built to be perfect. Why would he want to stain it with tortured souls, Lightning? He's got you running around trying to save as many as you can, but surely you notice you can't save everyone, right? You have to set things in their life right before they can be saved, because a tortured soul becomes chaotic."

"So, some people aren't worthy of the new world?" Lightning asked, her teeth clenching together. "They're just going to pick and choose who gets to live again?"

"That's not all." Lumina said. "If Vanille performs the Soulsong, those souls will be gone forever. They can never be reborn and nobody will even remember them."

Looking dizzy again, Fang slumped back onto the ground, laying beside Lightning. The savior bent over her and watch Fang slip back into unconsciousness.

"I can see you're busy now, but we need to talk soon about Serah's soul before Vanille wipes her away, too."

Alarmed, Lightning turned to look Lumina in the face, but the girl was gone.


Fang flinched wildly, the feeling of warm water dribbling down her front making her gasp.

"Sorry! That was an accident." Lightning said, easing Fang back onto the bed.

As Fang relaxed, she adjusted to the sudden change of scenery. She was in her bed back in Ruffian. Lightning was now squeezing water from a rag into a bowl beside her. She looked different and it took Fang a minute to realize that Lightning removed most of her armor. She could see them all sitting on a table behind her. Cape, collar, gloves, arm guards and what looked like a stray earpiece...

In just her vest and skirt, Lightning looked gentler. She almost looked normal if she wasn't so inhumanly beautiful.

"Bend your head this way." Lightning demonstrated and Fang complied.

Lightning brought the rag to Fang's face and began to rub away the flecks of dried blood. Fang groaned as the warm water soothed the laceration. Fang studied Lightning's concentrated face as she worked before noticing that without her cloak, Lightning's entire side was bare and exposed from her waist up. Her skin, milky white and perfect. It looked like perhaps Lightning had put on a few more pounds of pure muscle. Fang felt her face go red and quickly diverted her eyes.

"Damn it, you're bleeding again." Lightning sighed.

"Oh, Uh. Is it that bad?" Fang asked.

Lightning shook her head. "It's not much and it's even that deep. I guess you just bleed a lot."

Fang smiled as Lightning held the rag in place, applying pressure.

"Do you think it'll leave a scar?" Fang asked.

"Maybe."

"I heard girls like scars." Fang said, smirking up into Lightnings face.

Lightning shook her head, containing her smile as she brought the rag back to the bowl, purging the blood from the rag. She looked up at Fang with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure they'll be lining up, Fang."

"They'll be wasting their time." Fang chuckled and then winced because she found it was painful to chuckle.

"I'm sorry." Lightning apologized, squeezing out the rag again and returning it to Fang's face which immediately relaxed at the touch.

A long silence passed as Fang enjoyed being able to stare while the soldier's gentle hands cleaned her.

"You know, I don't usually get injured this often. It only seems to happen when you're around."

Lightning smiled to herself, remembering a similar position they were in back in Oerba. She set the rag back in the bowl when she was done and examined the wound. The swelling had recessed dramatically but the area around the cut and the cut itself would be purple in mere hours, surely. Lightning traced a tender finger along the gash.

"Lucky I've got you to take care of me." Fang said, blinking slowly at Lightning's touch. Fang brought her own hand up to the Savior's face and hesitated before drawing her thumb across Lightning's powerful jaw, studying her face as she allowed her other fingers to fan out and caress her cheek.

Lightning's hand dropped and she felt all her muscles tense at once. Something from deep within her was burning, clawing at her insides to be allowed out. She gritted her teeth in concentration as she fought hard to maintain eye contact with Fang.

"It's still there." Fang said, softly. "You can still feel it, can't you?"

Lightning nodded stiffly and sighed, finally looking away. "It's... powerful and very frustrating."

Fang frowned. How very cruel it was to be presented with Lightning again only to find half of her missing. Now a powerful demigod empty of emotion, but not completely empty. It might have been less cruel if Lightning felt nothing at all, Fang thought, for Lightning anyway. Her soldier, turned savior. Typical of her to put others ahead of her own needs, especially when it came to Serah..

Fang blinked.

"Wait a minute." Fang sat up. "What are you doing?"

"Um, well Fang I just cleaned your wounds, and now I'm hanging around to make sure that blow to your head didn't give you brain damage." A smile came to Lightning's lips. "I'm starting to think otherwise now..."

"No, I mean, aren't you on a tight schedule? Saving souls and all that?" Fang asked. "What time is it?"

"A little after eleven." Lightning said.

"And you're still here?" Fang asked.

"You should really lay down." Lightning said softly, standing up to ease Fang back down against the bed by her shoulder.

"You're avoiding my question." Fang stated.

Lightning sunk back into the chair and stared at Fang. "Lumina said that the Soulsong will make Serah disappear."

Fang nodded slowly as she processed this. A smile came to her face.

"You won't let it happen." Fang said.

"No, I won't." Lightning agreed.

"Finally." Fang said, relief her most prominent feature. "So, you're done playing his little game?"

Lightning nodded.

Fang beamed and fluidly got to her feet. Lightning watched warily as Fang stretched her arm over her head and winced, clutching her right shoulder.

"Be careful, you dislocated that." Lightning said. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

Fang crossed to the other side of her room and began rifling through her belongings.

"Luxerion." Fang said.

"Now?" Lightning asked sharply.

"Why? How much time do we have left?" Fang asked.

"About two days." Lightning said.

Fang nodded and walked up to a mirror to examine her face.

"Might as well get there early. If I can find a way in and talk to Vanille, we might be able to avoid the whole thing."

"And if you get caught?" Lightning asked.

"I won't." Fang said, as if this ended the discussion. "What will you do?"

Lightning mutely starting collecting her possessions and rearming. What she hadn't expected was Fang leaping from bed still bleeding to run to Vanille's side but she supposed time was of the essence, or whatever. A familiar scowl returned to her face.

"I've got some things to wrap up." Lightning said, pulling her collar straight.

"I will see you there, right?" Fang asked.

"Yes." Lightning said, pulling her gloves on. She could feel Fang staring at her, but she only had eyes for the guards she was securing to her arms now.

And then she was thrown off balance, and then enclosed. And it was warm. It took her a moment to realize that these were Fang's arms around her. She was being hugged and Fang's face was in her hair, she could feel the woman breathing down her neck.

She reacted slowly at first, turning into the hug and returning it halfheartedly expecting to be over quickly, but Fang didn't let go and the longer they stood there like that, the more Lightning realized she didn't want Fang to let go. She let her arms snake around the back of the taller woman's neck, rolling up onto her toes to be held closer.

Fang obliged eagerly, pulling the slender body tightly against her own.

"You know, we're not just after Vanille and Serah. We're gonna get you back, too." Fang spoke, muffled against Lightning's head."If I have to, I'll break God in half and take you back myself.

A thrill ran through Lightnings body because while other people might make colorful statements like that, Fang would only say such a thing if she absolutely meant it. Her track record proved that.

"I might not be a demigod, but I'm going to fight too, you know? You aren't alone."

Fang pulled away and Lightning nodded working hard to hide her disappointment at being let go.

"It's a date right?" Fang asked.

Lightning lifted an eyebrow.

"You, me. Last day of the world..." Fang smirked.

Lightning genuinely smiled now, because if there was anyone in the world that could find romantic possibilities in the apocalypse, she was standing directly in front of her.

"It's a date." Lightning agreed.

Fang used her finger to lift Lightning's eyes to meet her own.

"Don't be late." Fang smiled.

Lightning nodded softly and watched Fang walk to the door.

The hunter stopped, and they shared one last smile before she disappeared down the hall.

Lightning brought her palms to her cheeks and closed her eyes.

Of course, it wasn't a real date, but just the thought of it made her aware of the blood running through her veins propelled by the throbbing muscle in her chest that beat faster whenever Fang was around.

She let her hair fall over her eyes while she secured the last of her belongings when her eye fell upon the earpiece on the desk.

She picked up the piece of plastic and turned it in her fingers gingerly before flipping the switch to the on position. A visual spark appeared before a thin wisp of smoke emitted from the device.

Lightning's mouth twitched.

"That's just too bad." She whispered to herself.

She let the broken object fall out of her hand to the floor as she closed her eyes.

And in the next moment, she was gone.