PROTECT

Prompt: "Protection"

"Are you sure about this?" Hope's assistant asked him, nervously typing on her computer. "The chaos readings are off the charts in there. This place… It's not from this world."

"I think it's from Valhalla," Hope said, barely believing his own eyes. He'd had his suspicions when they'd noticed the strange readings from within a deep cave on Pulse, but he hadn't dared begin to hope. Lightning, are you in there? he thought, staring at the ruins in front of him.

Centuries ago, Lightning had visited him in a dream. He could still remember every little detail from it. The picture of her in her Valkyrie armor had haunted him ever since, flashing before him every time he closed his eyes. Hope didn't know how it had happened, but Lightning had somehow become the knight of a goddess. Glowing with divine powers and clad in steel and feathers, Lightning had looked like a goddess herself.

Hope's heart was pounding in his chest. In the vision Hope had seen Valhalla, and the ruins in front of him definitely resembled the temple that used belong to the other realm.

"I'm going in alone," he stated, pulling out his airwing from its case.

"Are you insane?" his assistant exclaimed, looking up from the computer screen. "What if something happens to you? We have no idea what's in there!"

"I have an idea. Do not follow me. That's an order," Hope said and stepped into the pulsating cloud of chaos.

Hope had never encountered chaos so intense before. It was clouding his vision and making it hard to breathe, but he pressed on anyway, forcing his body to move forward. He slowly entered the temple ruins, his steps echoing against the thick walls of stone.

Hope looked around, trying to see through the chaos. He fixed his gaze on an object in the middle of the temple, and his heart nearly stopped when he recognized the crystal throne.

"Light," he breathed, hurrying towards it. The throne was drenched in the obscuring chaos, but even though Hope could barely see a thing he could somehow sense that someone was waiting for him up there. The throne was several meters tall, but a set of stairs materialized in front of him as he approached it. He could feel the familiar presence calling out to him, and he just knew it was her.

"Light!" he exclaimed, running up the stairs. "I finally found you. I finally-"

Hope reached the final step, finally seeing through the darkness. "No," he whispered, a sharp pain piercing his chest. "No, no, no, not like this…"

Lightning was sitting on the throne, looking just as goddess-like as in his dream. Hope reached out a trembling hand, confirming what he in his heart already knew was true. She was crystal; lifeless, impenetrable crystal.

"I'm here now, Light, I'm finally here… Please wake up. Please," he begged, cupping her cold, crystalized cheeks in his hands. He could sense her essence imprisoned inside the statue. He could feel her despair, her loneliness and her fear – and there was nothing he could do to help her. He wanted to comfort her, to hold her, to save her, but he couldn't.

"Damn it, Light," he whispered, a single tear escaping from the corner of his eye. He could feel her silent cries echo through his body, and it was breaking his heart into pieces.

Hope took a deep breath. He made a decision; a vow to himself and to the love of his life.

"I will protect you," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "Until the day you wake up, and every day after that. Even if I have to wait a thousand lifetimes, I swear on my life that I'll protect you."

He pressed his lips against hers, another tear rolling down his cheek. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. You're not alone. I will protect you."

Somewhere, deep in his heart, he knew he'd reached her. The inner turmoil in her soul was slightly less chaotic, the cries a little less frantic. He caressed her cheek one last time before leaving, wading through the chaos with determined steps.

"Listen carefully," he said to his assistant as he emerged from the ruins. "I want you to remove this place from every single database. This place doesn't exist. Don't ever tell anyone about it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," his assistant said, looking confused and a bit frightened by his behavior. "May I… May I ask what you found in there?"

"No."

Hope left the cave without looking back. He would later visit the temple on his own, never telling anyone where he'd go. He would do so for centuries, keeping his promise until the end of time.

I will protect her.