Authors note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong to their owners.

Ch.4 Into the Vestige

The wind rushed through my ears, the ground far, far below came closer toward, me, and screams of other people filled the air around me, and yet none of that mattered.

I had failed. Failed

I had tried to change things, save Hope's mother and, through that, save Hope from a world of grief and vengeance. And I had failed. Now Hope truly was going to be wrapped in revenge, and would hate Snow with a fury. Speaking of Snow… I looked to my side and down to see him heading for the ground a little ahead of me. I looked down, and saw the ground was a lot closer to me than it was a few seconds ago. Then it hit me. Unlike Snow, my body wasn't made of next to armor, and I wasn't going to survive the fall. Even if I had failed to save Nora, I had to help Hope get through this.

I saw a silver light from under my sleeve, and pulled it up to see my mark glowing. "Please," I thought. "I have to help Hope. Save me!" My mark flashed bright, and suddenly I was wrapped in shadows, even though it still felt like it was falling. Then the darkness faded, and I saw a different ground not too far below me. Crying out in surprise, I had just enough time to do that before I hit the ground. "Are you okay?!" I heard a young female voice ask. I groaned in pain; none of my bones were broken, but my side still hurt something fierce.

"Ohh, I think I'm alright," I said, ever so slightly dazed. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, wincing as I felt bruises already forming along the right side of my chest, arm and leg. I looked up to see a young girl looking down at me. My breath caught in my throat. She had pink-ish hair done up in pigtails, she had on a short skirt with a pink halter top, and over the skirt she had on a pelt of fur, with brown ankle-high boots. Her eyes were green as grass, and she was wore a huge amount of jewelry, with necklaces, bracelets and a pair of silver hoop earrings.

I looked over to see another person looking at me. He had short platinum hair and blue-green eyes. He was wearing an orange and yellow jacket with short sleeves over a black shirt, with black gloves and a green handkerchief and dark green cargo pants. So quietly that the two of them couldn't hear me, I whispered "Hope and Vanille. It is you." Vanille sighed in relief and stood up. "Good. I was beginning to think that you were really hurt. Where did you just fall from anyway?" I blinked and could feel a bead of sweat forming on my brow. I had to come up with something, fast.

I looked up and saw a ledge a fair distance up, one that would have been wide enough for me to lie on. I pointed. "I was… uh... up there. I was staying up there, trying to hide from the Sanctum, when I… fell. Yeah! I saw the bridge collapse and fell from up there." She looked at me for a moment, and I hoped and prayed that she couldn't see right through me. Then she offered me a hand and helped me up. She turned around and went over to Hope. He didn't look at her until she shook his shoulders. "Come on! We have to move!" she said. He nodded and faintly said "Okay."

The two of them ran off, and I stood to follow them, when suddenly we all turned and saw something, something that would change our fates forever.

An entire fleet of airships were lowering in the air. Another was carrying a monolithic structure by using energy beams. A voice could be heard over a speaker. "Attention Purge deportees. Attention Purge deportees. Cease hostilities and surrender at once. Your removal is for the sake of the people of Cocoon. This land is no longer you're your home. Cease hostilities and surrender at once." We all looked at the structure as it passed by us, and I could almost see Snow, Lightning and Sazh looking at it as well.

The Pulse Vestige.

xxx

After our little pause to look at the source of our futures, Hope, Vanille and I walked for a while, a few pleasantries exchanged between us. While we were walking, it amazed me that absolutely no PSICOM soldiers attacked us. Then again, I suppose that Lightning and NORA were doing a good job of keeping them occupied. Eventually I saw a pair of Velocycles fly overhead, and land a little ahead of us. Hope stepped forward and pointed at Snow. "There. That's the one." Vanille stepped forward and asked "Wasn't there something that you needed to ask him?" I chuckled humorlessly. Not ask, kill.

"But… nothing I say will change what happened," Hope said. "You can do it," Vanille said confidently. She leaned down to look up in Hope's eyes. "I'll go with you." Hope looked at her, surprised, and did the same to me when I added "I'll go too." He looked at us both, and then nodded… just as Snow rose up in his Velocycle and flew off towards the Vestige. Vanille ran forward, yelling "Wait! Come back!" I looked forward to see the unused Velocycle and tapped Hope and the shoulder. I nodded at it. "Hey, you think you could drive that?" He looked unsure for a second, and then said "Yeah, I think so."

I looked over at Vanille, who was still waving her arms even though Snow was long gone. "Hey! We're going to go after him! Come on!" She turned to look at me, but Hope and I were already walking towards the Velocycle. "Hey! Wait up!" she called. Once we got on, with Hope in front, Vanille in the middle and me in the back. She leaned over and pointed at the Vestige. "That way." Hope shook his head, muttering "No, no, no…. If we go in there, that thing… it could make us l'Cie."

"Yeah, it could," I agree. "But then again, do you want to give up finding him just because that might happen?" I ask. Hope looked at me, surprised, but before I had a chance to respond I heard Gadot yell "What are you doing?!" We all look to see him running towards us. Not giving him the chance, I slammed on the ignition and yell "DRIVE!" Hope does it without protest, but on the way up we clipped the side of the Velocycle on a pole and spun around for a moment before stabilizing. "You kids come back here! Do you have any idea what you're doing? Hey!"

Not giving him a response, I told Hope to gun the engine. He did, and we sped off toward the Vestige.

xxx

All three of us screamed as the Velocycle hurled towards the ground, ending in a crash that sent Hope flying a few feet and Vanille landing on top of him, while I was catapulted ten feet away and landing on my backside. Not even going my body the chance to get new bruises, I looked over to see Hope and Vanille were unconscious. Good, now was my chance to cast some magic while they weren't looking. I willed my power to awaken, and sighed in relief as I felt my bruises heal and fade, along with any minor cuts I may have gotten from that crash.

I looked around. The Pulse Vestige looked the same way it did in the game. And that meant that there would be Cie'th too. Channeling my powers, I closed my eyes and focused on my sword. I had lost Indomitus when the bridge fell and Nora died, but if I concentrated hard enough I might be able to summon it back. I stood up, pulled back my sleeve and held out my hand, visualizing my sword in my hand. My mark began to glow, and a small fire began to form in my hand. I concentrated harder, and the flames grew. Growing slightly irritated, I focused all my concentration on summoning my sword. The flames suddenly grew five feet long, and when they faded Indomitus was back in my hand.

I smiled, and strapped my sword back onto my back. Walking over, I looked behind a pillar to see Vanille's Binding rod lying against a wall. I grabbed it and walked back to her and Hope, who were beginning to wake up. "What happened?" she asked. "Long story short, we crashed," I stated simply. I pulled her up and handed her the Binding Rod. "Here, use this," I said. She looked at it, then tightened her grip on it and said "I will." It was a good thing too, because at that moment a trio of Panthernons decided to make their appearance.

I pulled Indomitus off my back, Vanille readied her rod and Hope pulled out his Airwing boomerang. One of them ran forward and slashed at me, and I stepped back and swung my sword in a wide arc. The Panthernon was cut in half, and disintegrated from the power of my sword. That was another power my sword had; any enemy I killed with Indomitus crumbled to dust and disappeared. Another was knocked out by Hope's boomerang, and Vanille trapped the last one in a tangle of her rods wires. Walking forward, I stabbed the sword into the monsters side. It struggled for a second, before it went limp and crumpled to dust.

"Well, that was easy," I said. Then I heard a series of growls and saw a few more Panthernons appear, along with some Zwerg Scandroids. "Maybe I spoke too soon." "Don't worry; we can take 'em!" Vanille said confidently. "We should turn back. That fal'Cie could turn us into l'Cie. If we become l'Cie, we're finished," Hope said. Vanille narrowed her eyes at him and asked "What do you mean by 'finished'?" He sighed. "You don't get it, do you Miss-" "Vanille," she interrupted. He looked confused for a moment, until she explained.

"My name. And yours?" she asked. "Hope," he replied. Then Vanille turned to me. "So what's your name?" "Deiru. Deiru Tamashi," I said. I looked around. "Well, we might end up l'Cie, but as long as we keep clear of the fal'Cie, that won't happen. So let's keep looking for the guy you need to talk to, huh?" Hope looked at me, but then he nodded and said "Alright, let's go." At the moment he said that, the Panthernons charged at us.

Not giving one the chance to strike, I charged and brought Indomitus down, slamming the flat of the blade against its head. It staggered back, dazed, while Vanille tangled another in her rods wires while Hope hit the same one with his boomerang. I stabbed into the third one, leaving it to disintegrate, and then swung at the trapped one with enough force to cut it in half horizontally. I smiled but then I was hit in the back hard enough to send me staggering, while another hit sent me to the floor.

I turned over on the ground to see a total of five Zwerg Scandroids gaining up on me. I balled my fist up and pouched another right in the front, where its line of sight would be. It fell back, and I kicked hard at another two. It was then that the forth one was knocked away by Hope's boomerang and the last was pulled back by Vanille. I stood up hefted Indomitus up and gave a wide sweeping cut at the three I had knocked back, destroying them all in one swing, while Hope and Vanille took care of the other two.

I smiled. "Hey, we make a good team." Vanille nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's go find your guy," I said to Hope.

xxx

Well, well, Hope, Vanille, and Snow have all made their appearance. Just who will appear next?

Please review!