Whispers of the Gods

by Raziel12

Centuries ago, the Gods cast Cocoon from heaven into the hell of Gran Pulse. There, its people turned not only on the natives but on each other. Few still believe in the Gods, but they still whisper to those who would listen. Serah Farron has heard them.

6. Chapter 6

The First Time, the Wind and the Lightning

Fang felt a harsh mountain gale slip past and smirked. Perhaps she had been just a little obnoxious in sending Bhakti directly to Vanille, but she just hadn't been able to help herself. There was something about the red haired young woman that seemed to bring out both her protective side and her mischievous side. Besides, her chosen had worked herself to the bone over the past few weeks and so a reward was certainly in order. It would also be for the best if Vanille and Bhakti had a chance to get properly acquainted as soon as possible.

Letting another one of the swift mountain winds carry her gaze down to the village, Fang's smirk widened even further as Vanille opened her door only to come face to face with Bhakti. The dragon was a pale metallic red and still quite young – he measured a mere twenty feet long. Still, his youth was a good thing. Most dragons were too proud to let anyone except her ride them. Vanille's ride back to the village had been something of an exception. Of all dragon's, Bahamut was closest to Fang so once Fang had given Vanille her approval, Bahamut's had not been far behind.

Bhakti, however, was still young enough that he hadn't yet developed the fierce pride that was so common amongst the older dragons. More than that, he'd always been quite easygoing for a dragon, and he had a definite curiosity toward humans, a curiosity that did not extend to what they tasted like. Fang had seen him flying close to human settlements on many occasions. He even had a collection of human knickknacks in his cave, things like old spears and clothes. Fang thought it was quite endearing, although the other dragons didn't seem to think too much of it.

A chuckle left Fang's lips as down in the village, Bhakti ambled over to Vanille and gave her face a long lick. The young woman squeaked and would have tripped over in surprise, but Bhakti's tail swung out to catch her. The whole thing drew a cry of disbelief from the assembled Yun, most of who were armed to the teeth. Just like Fang had expected though, Vanille was quick to gather her courage. A little gingerly, she reached over to give Bhakti a gentle pat on the head. The dragon made a happy sound and leaned into her touch. Good, Fang thought. It wasn't perfect, but it was definitely a start.

As the young woman and the dragon continued to get better acquainted under the watchful eyes of almost the entire village, Fang found her mind drawn back to days long past. Long ago, long before Cocoon became the False Paradise and was torn from the sky, things had been very different. She hadn't spent almost all of her time on her mountain. Instead, she had served the High Mother faithfully, using her skills as one of the finest warriors amongst the gods to deal with any problems that required divine intervention. However, not all of her duties had been so unpleasant. In particular, she had often found herself tasked with looking after some of the younger gods and goddesses that hadn't yet grown powerful enough to look after themselves.

X X X

"Fang, you said you were going to play with me!"

Fang looked up at the young goddess glaring down at her and grinned lazily. Aerith might only look like a girl of seven or eight, but she was still a goddess, and an angry goddess was not something to be trifled with – unless of course the person doing the trifling was Fang. No one short of the High Mother could order her around, and even the High Mother had come to realise that Fang was not someone who took well to orders. It made her… rebellious.

"No, I didn't, Aerith." Fang made a show of looking sleepy and moved one arm out from under her head to cover her face. The ground beneath her was soft and covered with lush grass and flowers. "What I said was that I would watch over you so that you could come here and play." She faked a yawn. "Now, go off and play. I am going to have a nap."

Aerith sank onto her knees beside Fang's head and poked her in the cheek. Few gods would have dared to do such a thing, but Aerith had no such reservations. Fang had always been very nice to her, and she wasn't boring or stuffy like so many of the other gods. "Please, Fang. You know that the High Mother doesn't let me off Cocoon very much. You have to come and play with me!"

Fang moved her arm off her face and gave a melodramatic sigh. "The High Mother doesn't let you off Cocoon very much, Aerith, because you have a knack for finding trouble. What's more, your ability to find trouble far exceeds your ability to get out of it." She grinned. "Remember what happened the last time you snuck off Cocoon?"

The young goddess actually winced and Fang snickered. "It wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know that the desert was supposed to be there? It looked really sad with nothing but sand everywhere. I thought some flowers and a forest might make things prettier."

Fang smiled. As a young goddess, Aerith was still coming to terms with her powers and when it was appropriate to use them. "Things are the way they are for a reason. There are some animals, Aerith, that can only live in a desert. If you take the desert away, then all of those animals will die." She gave Aerith a gentle pat on the leg as the young goddess's features fell. "Don't worry too much about it. The High Mother was able to fix things, so nothing too bad happened. And you aren't the first goddess to make a mistake like that. I still remember the time I created a hurricane by accident. The High Mother was not pleased."

Aerith giggled. "A hurricane?" Her eyes lit up and she reached into the pockets of her pink dress and pulled out a red rose. "Here, Fang, look at what I can do!"

Fang sat up a little as Aerith's brows furrowed in concentration. Unlike most of the other gods and goddesses, Aerith hadn't been created by the High Mother and High Father. Instead, she had been found washed up on the banks of the Lifestream, a river that was said to be made of the very blood of Pulse, a titanic slumbering god whose body had been used to make the entire world. Of all beings in creation, Pulse was the only that Fang had ever heard of whose powers might rival those of the High Mother and High Father. Needless to say, the High Mother had been most curious to know what Aerith was capable of, and thus far the young goddess had not disappointed. There were things that she could do that not even the High Mother and High Father could.

"Well?" Fang asked, a hint of amusement in her voice as several moments passed. "What exactly am I supposed to be seeing?"

Aerith pouted adorably, but did not look away from the rose she held in her hands. "Don't rush me, I only just worked out how to do this."

A white glow filled the young goddess's hands and Fang's eyes widened as the beautiful red rose lit up like a small sun. As the glow faded, the rose's petals changed from a dark red, to a deep, sapphire blue.

Aerith giggled. "Look, a blue rose, Fang!" Grinning she poked the stem of the rose back into the ground and almost immediately a whole bush of blue roses sprang up. "I asked the High Mother if there was such a thing as a blue rose and she said there wasn't so I thought it would nice to make some."

"I see." Fang stood up to examine the bush of blue roses more closely. Creating something new, actually altering life – that wasn't something that just any god could do. She gave Aerith a cheerful grin. "Well, I have to admit, they do look very beautiful." She smirked. "Now how about some roses with stripes? Do you think you can do that?"

"Stripes?" Aerith made a face. "I only just worked out how to make them blue! And why would you want a rose with stripes anyway?"

"It was just a thought." Fang stretched her arms and the wind around them kicked up a fraction in response. A gentle breeze from the east whispered something in her ear and she turned to Aerith. "You like chocobos, don't you?"

Aerith nodded instantly. "They're so pretty."

"Then come with me." Fang took the younger goddess by the hand and the two of them vanished in a swirl of flower petals as a sudden gale swept through the meadow. They reappeared in a nearby field where a flock of chocobos had stopped do drink from a large pond. The big, golden-feathered birds startled a little at their appearance and then turned back to the water.

"Wow." Aerith's green eyes widened almost comically. "How did you know there were chocobos here?"

Fang smirked. "A little bird told me."

Aerith frowned. "That can't be right. I was right next to you and I didn't see a bird." She caught the grin on Fang's lips and gave the other goddess a punch in the leg. "Oh, you're making fun of me aren't you? Tell me, how did you know?"

Fang caught Aerith's fists before she could throw another punch. It wasn't that the blows hurt, but it wouldn't do for Aerith to get used to doing such things. Other gods might not take so kindly to her antics, adorable as they were. "Well, if you really want to know… I am the goddess of the wind, Aerith. I have but to listen and the wind will tell me all of its secrets." She waved one hand at the chocobos. "Why don't you go say hello?"

Aerith reached out to clasp Fang's hand. "But I don't want to scare them away…"

Fang shook her head. The gods carried a divine aura about them that tended to both awe and terrify mortal beings, but Fang was also the goddess of the hunt, and she had always had a special connection with animals. She had a feeling too that Aerith's kind and gentle nature would definitely win the chocobos over. "You will be fine if you're with me. Just make sure that you keep a close watch on your powers." She smiled. "And don't even think of trying to turn any of them blue."

"I wouldn't do that," Aerith replied. She looked away. "But I think it would be kind of nice to have silver and gold chocobos…"

"Really?" Fang gave Aerith's hand a reassuring squeeze. "Just don't tell them that."

Slowly, Fang led Aerith toward the chocobos. The birds startled once again as they drew closer, but little by little they calmed as it became obvious that neither of the goddesses meant any harm. Eventually, a little chocobo chick even wandered over to Aerith and pecked at her feet. The young goddess gave a cry of delight and reached down to pick the little bird up.

"Are you hungry?" Aerith asked. The chick gave a quiet cheep and Aerith giggled. Gently, she plucked a blade of grass from the ground. "Here, have some grass."

The chocobo gave Aerith a quizzical look and Fang chuckled. "They prefer seeds, Aerith." She bent down and gathered several from the ground. "Here."

They stayed with the chocobos for a little while longer until the birds decided to move on, most likely toward the broad, open plains to the east.

"I wish I could come out here more often," Aerith said with a sigh as she sank down by the edge of the pond. "But even if I didn't cause trouble, I don't think the High Mother would let me."

Fang sat down beside her. "There are things out here that can hurt or even kill a god, Aerith. The High Mother simply wants you to be safe."

In that respect, Fang had been entirely too busy for her liking. Something had been happening to the gods that embodied the mountains. Colossal beings of rock and snow and iron, they were, like Aerith, born not of the High Mother and High Father but of Pulse. Normally, they were content to sleep away the ages, but as of late they had grown restless, hostile even. Fang might have relished the challenge of facing a living mountain in battle, but she derived no joy at all in having to kill one.

"What's wrong, Fang?" Aerith asked. "You're not smiling anymore."

Fang shook herself and grinned. "Don't worry about it. I was just thinking about some work I've had to do recently." She made a face. "You know how busy I am sometimes. Now, how about you tell about some of your friends on Cocoon? I don't like spending much time up there, but I'm sure you must have made lots of friends."

Aerith nodded eagerly. "I have. Everyone has been really kind to me." She tilted her head to one side. "Fang, have you met Lightning?"

Fang grinned. "No, I haven't met her, but I've certainly heard a lot." Her lips curled. It wasn't everyday that she heard about a goddess who might actually be a match for her in battle.

Aerith smiled. "Then you just have to meet her. She watched over me the last time I got off Cocoon since you were busy." She sighed. "She's so beautiful, but she's really quiet. She's strong though, really, really strong. A hydra tried to attack me and she just…" Aerith threw her hands up in the air. "Blew it to bits."

"A hydra?" Fang had dealt with hydras before. They were nasty creatures, supposedly born from the blood of Pulse, although she had a hard time believing that the same entity that created Aerith could have created something like a hydra. Then again, Pulse had been asleep for as long as almost anyone could remember. Perhaps hydras were simply a twisted reflection of its dreams. In any case, hydras were tough, nasty creatures. They could grow to be as big as dragons and they had a knack for regeneration. Killing a hydra was the opposite of easy. "Really? She just blew it to its? Maybe I should pay Cocoon another visit. It might be fun to spar someone like that."

Aerith opened her mouth to reply, but the words were lost to Fang as her head was suddenly filled with frantic cries for help. She clenched her jaw and shook her head to clear it. The prayers had come from the Yun. She was their patron goddess so their prayers had always been particularly easy for her to hear. They were a proud clan of warriors, so for them to call out to her like this something terrible must have happened. Ignoring the look of concern on Aerith's face, she reached out to the winds, let them become her eyes and ears.

What she heard and saw did not please her. A sibilant hiss, one of the tearing winds that rushed down the mountains of the Yun out onto the open plains, spoke of a mountain come to life. It was one of Pulse's children, a titan of rock and ice gone mad.

"Aerith," Fang murmured. "I need to go." She whistled and mere moments later, the air was torn apart by the might wing beats of Bahamut. "Bahamut can take you back to Cocoon."

"Fang, what's wrong?" Aerith asked even as Bahamut reached down to pick her up in one enormous claw.

Fang smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle. Just go with Bahamut."

As soon as Bahamut was airborne again, Fang let the winds sweep her up and carry her to where she needed to be. She arrived in a whirlwind, blasting ice and snow outward in all directions as she settled in the air over one of the Yun's villages. The terrified villagers looked up at her in a mix of awe and relief, but her gaze was not on them, but to the east, to the thing that had driven them from their homes and onto the streets.

One of the mountains, a great peak of ice, and rock, and snow, had begun to crack. Crevasses spread out from the summit as banks of snow and ice tumbled free. There was a sound like the ending of the world as the entire mountaintop split apart. One arm appeared from within the maelstrom of broken stone and ice and then another, each of them too large for anything but a god to comprehend.

"Go," Fang growled to the Yun beneath her. "Leave your things. Flee while you still can."

In the distance, several dragons swooped down on the mountaintop and bathed it in fire. But almost as soon as they had started, they fell, frozen solid in midair. Her eyes narrowed. The gods of the mountains moved now and then, but only recently had they begun to move in so violent a fashion. More than one god had already died trying to reason with them, but Fang still felt obligated to try.

"Brother!" Fang bellowed, voice carrying over the winds. "Stay your hand."

The response she received was swift and unmistakable. A wave of malice rolled off the mountain along with a bitter cold so intense that even she was hard-pressed to shake it off. Thankfully, the villagers had used the few moments after her arrival to flee for their lives for the unnatural wave of cold had already begun to create a thin layer of ice over all of the houses. She pursed her lips. The mountain god was still several miles away. For the cold to be this bad at this distance, it must have been angry indeed. Not even the High Mother knew what had caused the recent changes in their behaviour, but it was Fang's duty to prevent any further harm, even if it meant killing the errant mountain god.

With a roar that shook the sky, the mountain god tore its way free of the mountain. It was a titan, a vaguely humanoid colossus that towered over everything. It had to be at least a mile tall, so enormous that its head was wreathed in the thin clouds that ringed the mountains. Great banks of ice and snow clung to its rocky form, and as its eyes fell upon Fang, it let loose another deep, bass bellow.

Fang met the mountain god's eyes evenly despite the great distance between them. Those eyes were larger than houses and filled with madness so complete that Fang felt a surge of pity sweep through her. Then the cold came, even stronger than it had been before, and Fang was forced to gather the winds to her, to thrust them out like a spear to turn the cold aside. Even so, she was hard-pressed to remain in the air and the sky shuddered. Below her, the Yun village was frozen beneath a layer of ice several feet thick.

There would be no reasoning with this mountain god, just as there had been no reasoning with the ones that she'd been forced to deal with before. There would be only battle. Slowly, she raised one hand and the winds surged, building and building until, with a howl, her lance appeared. It was a simple but elegant weapon, but the unearthly gleam of its edge left no doubt at all about its divine origins.

"What are you waiting for?" Fang growled as she levelled the lance at the mountain god's heart. "Let us settle this."

The mountain god's answer did not come in words. It stooped down and flung a chunk of rock the size of the village at Fang. Her eyes widened and she flicked her lance up and back. Immediately, the weapon's form shifted from that of a lance to something far closer to a whip. She lashed the weapon forward and it became a mile-long whip of almost impossible sharpness. There was a shriek as the lance bit into the chunk of rock and then a howl as she sliced the rock in two. The two halves crashed into the mountains on either side of her and she lifted her chin defiantly.

Incensed, the mountain god let loose another roar of fury and took first one step forward and then another. The ground trembled and snow tumbled loose on all the mountains around them. The mountain god drew one arm back and flung it forward. House sized shards of ice and stone ripped free and hurtled toward Fang. Her lips curled and she let the winds carry her up and then sideways to avoid the first few shards. Her blue sari flapped madly in the gale she'd summoned, and she drew her lance back into its original form. There were too many shards to dodge. She'd simply have to cut her way through.

A shard of ice rushed toward her and she brought her lance around to cut the shard in half. Sparks flew and ice went everywhere as the shards came apart all around her. She used the winds to fling the debris away and then spun to knock away another shard. A third closed in, even larger than the others and she let the winds carry her just high enough for it to pass beneath her. But rather than let it continue on its trajectory, she drove her lance deep into the surface of the slab of ice and rock. With a growl of effort, she levered the whole slab around and hurled it back at the mountain god.

The slab was easily a hundred feet long and it caught the mountain god squarely in the chest. Yet the titan never paused, if anything, it barely even seemed to notice that it had been struck. With a speed that nothing its size should possess, the mountain god rumbled forward and drove one enormous fist toward Fang. Fang cursed and surged upward as the mountain god's fist passed beneath her. It struck the Yun village and the sheer force of the impact sent a shudder through the mountain the village was on, and reduced the village itself to little more than a crater. Yet she had precious little time to wonder how the Yun would feel about losing their village, for only moments later, that same fist ripped out of the ground and swung her way again.

She was too close to the dodge the blow, so instead, she caught it on her lance. The raw power of it sent her tumbling through the sky, end over end. She hit a nearby mountain and hissed as her body carved a trench several hundred feet long before she finally managed to find her feet again. Shaking her head to clear it, she batted a tree off her body and took to the air once more. She was strong, stronger than almost any god, but against something the size of a mountain, even that strength would be outmatched.

The mountain god threw another punch, but this time, she managed to get clear. As she dove to the side, she let her lance extend once again and wrapped it around the mountain god's wrist. The weapon bit into the mountain god's flesh and she grit her teeth and yanked as hard as she could. The mountain god howled in pain as its hand tumbled to the ground, kicking up a spray of snow and rock. Almost immediately, however, the wound began to heal as fresh rock rippled up from the mountainside to replace the mountain god's severed hand.

Fang bit back a curse. The mountain god was in its element here. It must have watched over these mountains for countless ages, drawing strength from them. As long as it was here, it would be able to use the mountains to regenerate. In that case, she would simply have to inflict damage faster than it could regenerate.

Well aware of the danger, Fang streaked forward and drove her lance right into the titan's chest. The blow gouged a crater nearly a hundred feet wide and she dodged out of the way as the mountain god tried to crush her with its hands. Airborne again, she let her lance extend and carved a gash out of the mountain god's body that went almost the whole way from its hip to its shoulder. But as much as she wanted to stay in close, she could not. It was cold there, bitterly cold, and even with her winds there to help ward it off, her teeth had already begun to chatter.

Easing back, Fang put distance between herself and the mountain god. It growled and flung great chunks of rock up after her, but she dodged back and forth between them with an agility that no dragon could ever hope to match. With a growl of her own, she gathered the winds to her. They came at once, howling, screaming, roaring until the whole sky was torn with the force of them, and then she flung them at the mountain god. The attack actually forced the giant back, and the wind carved vast canyons all along the mountain god's body. Yet no sooner had the winds begun to ebb than the wounds began to heal. She scowled. Despite her previous success, her powers were ill suited for dealing with mountain gods. Something made of fire or water would have been far easier to deal with. Mountains, as a general rule, did not bow easily to the wind.

She was contemplating her next action when she felt a shift in the wind. Something was coming toward her and the mountain god at an unbelievable speed. Thunder rolled over her and there was a flash of light from the horizon. A bolt of lightning sizzled toward the mountain god and struck it in the shoulder. Fresh thunder rang out from the impact and the mountain god reeled back, its entire shoulder melted from the attack. Ice and snow rained down and Fang turned to regard the newcomer.

The newcomer was a goddess, but not one that Fang had ever seen before. A cloak the colour of freshly split blood covered most of the goddess's form, but the hood had been pulled back so that her face was clearly visible. Pink hair was the most obvious feature, a shade that Fang had only ever seen in the first, fleeting moments of the dawn. But her face… it was a face that was at once strong yet utterly feminine, a face that seemed to hold only the finest features of the High Mother. The goddess's full lips were drawn into a firm line, and her eyes, each of them the colour of the clear, summer sky, were narrowed in concentration.

This, Fang realised, must be Lightning. Yet even as she stared, the other goddess took a position on a neighbouring mountaintop and glared defiantly at the mountain god. And what a glare it was, enough to give even a dragon pause, or so Fang thought. The mountain god bellowed and still nursing its wounded shoulder, it began to stride toward Lightning. But Lightning, it seemed, had no intention at all of allowing it to get any closer.

With an almost casual gesture, the pink haired goddess seized her red cloak and tossed it aside. The wind caught it and swept it away, revealing the crystal armour than Lightning wore beneath it. Once again, Fang found herself staring, for Lightning's body was slim and toned, and her armour itself was magnificent. It shone in the cold rays of the sun, made of seemingly the same crystal as Cocoon itself. As the mountain god drew closer, Lightning lifted one hand. Crackling electricity gathered, and with a wordless cry, she flung it at the mountain god.

There was thunder and the scent of melted rock, and the mountain god reeled away again. But it would not be deterred so easily. Again, it strode forward, and again Lightning drove it back with a thunderbolt that seemed to split the very skies. Great chunks of melted rock slewed off the mountain god's form, but still, it pressed on, relentless. But Lightning refused to be moved. She hammered the mountain god with attack after attack, utterly magnificent in the light of her own power, her lithe form wreathed in a halo of electricity. No wonderful Aerith liked her, Fang thought, for there was a beauty to the way the other goddess wielded her power, a simply honesty in the raw force of each attack. And there was beauty too in the way that Lightning's hair looked as the wind caught it, in the determined set of her jaw, and in the defiance that blazed in her eyes.

But the mountain god would not be stopped. Finally, it towered over Lightning and it raised one titanic fist to crush the goddess in a single devastating blow. Fang moved, ready to pull Lightning clear of the attack, but she needn't have bothered. Lightning tossed her head back, hair billowing in the wind, and lifted both hands. A great crack split the sky and jagged forks of lightning raced down to gather in Lightning's hands.

As the mountain god's fist hurtled down, Lightning unleashed the power she'd gathered. That fist, that enormous fist that seemed to fill the whole sky above the goddess, came apart in a shower of blasted stone and steam. Fragments the size of boulders hurtled through the air as Lightning glared up at the mountain god and for a moment the mountain god actually wavered. And then finally, finally, Lightning was forced to give ground and abandon the mountaintop as the mountain god simply threw its entire body down upon the mountain to try and crush her.

Lightning reappeared next to Fang – by the High Mother, Fang thought, the other goddess was fast – and Fang immediately found herself the subject of a ferocious scowl.

"Why were you simply watching?" Lightning's voice came out in a furious, but beautiful, growl.

Fang grinned and took a casual pose. "I've heard a great deal about you. I assumed you could manage." Her grin widened. "Was I wrong?"

Lightning's scowl deepened. "The High Mother sent me to aid you when she sensed the mountain god's awakening." Her lips curled. "From what I saw, she was right to send me."

Fang's lips twitched. Good. She would have been so very disappointed if Lightning had simply allowed her to get away with her taunts. "I was doing perfectly fine, actually."

Lightning met Fang's gaze evenly. "It did not seem that way."

"Yes, well, you didn't exactly do much better." Fang pointed to the mountain god that had once more gotten to its feet. Already, the wounds that Lightning had inflicted were almost healed. "See."

Lightning's eyes narrowed ominously and Fang could almost feel the storm gathering on the horizon. "Then what would you suggest?"

"We need to hit it with something bigger. Something large enough that it cannot regenerate from it." Fang smirked. "Or hadn't you thought of that." Lightning opened her mouth to reply, but Fang put one finger on her lips to stop her. The other goddess's eyes widened for a moment before they filled with fury, and Fang had to bite back a laugh. Lightning was far more fun to tease that Aerith. "I will distract it. Your lightning is better suited to dealing with it than my wind. Summon something bigger than what you've been using so far." She tilted her head to one side. "And really, what kind of name is Lightning? Couldn't you think of anything better?"

Lightning shoved Fang away. "You are hardly one to talk, oh Fang of the Heavens."

Fang had never heard her name spoken so sarcastically before – no one had ever dared – yet somehow she found that she quite liked the sound of it on Lightning's lips. "Clever. Now, go prepare your attack. I will distract it."

Fang waved cheerfully as Lightning flew to one of the adjacent mountaintops. Whatever the goddess was going to do, it had better be good. Mindful of the need to distract the mountain god, Fang shifted her attention back to the massive creature. Its features were twisted into a mask of fury, and she could feel the temperature of the air drop even further. With a deep breath, she glided forward. It was time to draw the mountain god's attention.

She shifted her lance into its whip-like form once more and launched it at the mountain god's head. There was a crunch before the blade caught and then carved a huge furrow across the mountain god's brow. Slabs of rock and ice tumbled down and the mountain god let loose a roar of outrage as it turned its attention to her.

With a howl, the mountain god ripped another chunk out of the mountain beside it and hurled it at Fang. She dove for the ground, letting the projectile thunder through the air above her and crash into another mountain. Hopefully, there wasn't anything important on that mountain. As she rose back up into the air, she drew the winds to her again, not to try and drive the mountain god back, but to try and blind it. The mountain god reeled away, one hand raised over its face as it tried to swat her out of the sky with the other. She dodged back and then threw her lance. It shot right through the mountain god's palm and she banked sharply away as she called the weapon back to her hands.

"Hurry up," she shouted at Lightning.

The other goddess glared at Fang and then lifted one hand. "To me, my sword."

The words were spoken in something barely more than a whisper, but the response seemed to shatter the whole sky. A great lightning bolt ripped through the air from the direction of Cocoon. It howled toward Lightning and struck her outstretched palm. When the light faded, Lightning's hand was no longer empty. There was a sword there, and not just any sword. The hilt was simple and without ornamentation, functional really, but the blade… the metal was unlike anything Fang had seen before. It was like the surface of a cloudy mirror, but within it were great jagged forks of lightning, as though someone had managed to capture a storm and trap it within the sword.

It was the Sword of Gathering Storms, a weapon that, by all accounts, Lightning had forged out of her own being. It was also one of the few weapons that Fang suspected might be able to rival her own God-Slaying Spear – Kain's Lance – in terms of raw power. Her lips curled. She was half-tempted to call down Kain's Lance just to see how closely the two weapons really compared, but that was not a weapon she could call down without consequences. Its name, after all, gave away its purpose, and it was never to be used unless she had no alternative. Still, she had asked Lightning to hit the mountain god with something big and the Sword of Gathering Storms more than qualified.

The mountain god seemed to recognise the danger as well, for it turned toward Lightning again, but Fang had no intention of letting it reach the other goddess. With a cry, she darted forward and drove her lance right into the middle of the mountain god's back. It bellowed and tried to crush her, but she slipped away just in time to avoid its grasp.

"Are you simply going to pose with that thing?" Fang asked. "Hurry up and use it."

Lightning gave Fang a scowl and then lifted her sword skyward. The clouds above them darkened almost immediately and the crack and boom of thunder filled the air. A funnel of black clouds tore down from the sky, wreathed with lightning, and wrapped around the blade. In Lighting's hands, the sword began to hum, a sound that seemed to echo through every point of the sky. As the clouds grew blacker, the blade itself grew brighter and brighter, the storm contained within it gathering force as the cloudy mirror of its surface grew clearer and clearer.

The mountain god tried once again to move toward Lightning, but Fang was there, once again, to stop it.

"Not so fast!" Fang growled as she thrust her lance out. The weapon extended and wrapped around one of the mountain god's ankles. With a groan of effort, she yanked the weapon back as hard as she could. For a split-second, the mountain god stopped, and then, with a ponderous groan, it toppled to its knees. The whole mountain range shook, but that hardly mattered. She had, at least for a few moments, stopped a living mountain.

The blade of Lightning's sword grew brighter still and then with a sound like a clear, silver bell, it shattered apart. The storm inside it came to life, forged into a blade of pure electricity, one that seemed to hold the fury of every storm the world had ever seen. The sky shook, trembled, and screamed, torn apart by a single, unending peal of thunder.

"This is the sword that tears the clouds asunder," Lightning growled. "The sword that shatters the sky." She shifted her stance and put both hands on the weapon. Vaguely, Fang realised that Lightning's armour had begun to smoulder, along with the gloves that she wore. "Against it, even a mountain would break!"

With those words, Lightning exploded forward, her whole form wreathed in her namesake. Barely able to make out Lightning's form past the glow of her attack, Fang put one hand up to shield her eyes. The mountain god swung one hand out, but Lightning dodged beneath it. Shards of ice and rock hurtled toward her, but she wove her way past those as well. One particularly huge slab of rock flew toward her, and she landed on its surface, sprinting across it with an agility that left even Fang in awe. In Lightning's wake, the slab of rock came apart, sundered by the force of the blade in her hands. Magnificent, Fang thought, absolutely magnificent.

Lightning closed in on the mountain god, her blade aimed squarely at its chest and in that instant, Fang could only stare. Lightning's whole being was there, laid bare in that single moment of impossible speed and absolute resolution. Her whole face shone with unshakable determination. Lightning was someone who would never give up, never give in, never show weakness. No wonder Aerith liked her so much.

The blade struck the centre of the mountain god's chest, and for an instant there was nothing. And then there was the explosion, a blast of white-hot force and raw electricity that seemed to fill the whole world. The mountain god screamed, but the cry was drowned out by the sudden, insurmountable boom of a billion thunderbolts rolled into one.

And then the mountain god was toppling back, its entire body blown apart, every rock, every shard of ice, every flake of snow turned into a molten slag of ruined material. It rained down on the mountainside, destroyed utterly. Fang had to call a wind up to shield herself from the hail of debris, and then she swiftly called another, stronger wind to ensure that none of the debris reached any of the Yun's settlements.

Lightning stood alone on the mountainside, atop a slab of what had once been part of the mountain god. The slab was melted into glass, but she stood there motionless and unyielding as the ice and snow of the mountain washed over the slab and spread a fine spider's web of cracks across it. She flicked her sword to one side, almost as though she were clearing it of blood, and then she turned to Fang.

"You are staring."

Fang chuckled and landed next to Lightning. She had indeed been staring. Watching Lightning made her blood sing. "You know, I find myself wondering which of us would win if I were to call down the God-Slaying Spear."

For a moment, Lightning's eyes widened, and in that moment Fang saw a host of emotions before the other goddess clamped down on them. There had been surprise at first, then curiosity, anger, and most of all passion. No doubt Lightning also wanted to know which one of them would win.

"This is not the time." Lightning turned her gaze toward Cocoon. "We must report what happened to the High Mother."

Fang grinned. "You can do that. I need to check on the Yun."

Lightning's gaze sharpened for a moment and Fang found herself suddenly looking down the length of the Sword of Gathering Storms. "Very well. But you should give the High Mother your report as well. Perhaps we may even find the time to see which one of us is stronger, though I doubt even your God-Slaying Spear will help you much against me."

"Is that a challenge?" Fang asked, grinning.

Lightning smiled coldly. "A challenge? That would imply that we are equals." And then, before Fang could reply, she was gone with only the ring of thunder and the scent of ozone to signal her departure.

Fang stared in the direction of Cocoon for a moment and then burst out laughing. She would have to make sure that the Yun were all right, but then she might just pay a visit to Cocoon to take Lightning up on her challenge. Win or lose – and for the first time in an age, Fang wasn't sure which one it would be – she would certainly enjoy herself.

X X X

Fang sighed and turned her eyes back to Vanille and Bhakti. Her memories of the past were, as always, bittersweet. She chuckled softly. Lightning had always inspired such feelings in her. There was joy, yes, but there were dark emotions too. Lightning had, in many ways, been both the best and worst thing in Fang's life. Still, her feelings were not one sided, for she knew that Lightning's feelings for her were every bit as convoluted.

Perhaps that was why they had ended up floating in the skies over a battle-scarred Cocoon with the clamour of divine battle all around them. Lightning with her Sword of Gathering Storms, and Fang with her God-Slaying Spear and both of them with so much blood on their hands. What a mess that had been, what an absolute, unmitigated disaster.

Fang closed her eyes. There hadn't been time then to… well, not apologise, but at least talk. Explain. There had been only the shock of discovery, of understanding what Cocoon had truly become and then… the Fall. She sighed. Well, perhaps she would have her chance to talk, to explain. But not yet. She wasn't sure if either of them were ready for something like that – if they ever would be. Besides, she still had watch over Vanille, just as Lightning had to watch over her own chosen.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy nor am I making any money off of this.

Okay… so, I couldn't help myself. I wasn't sure whether I would put the second half of Vanille's chapter here or the next part of Serah's adventure here, but this sort of popped into my head while writing the last chapter and I just couldn't stop myself. I know people have been curious about just how Fang and Lightning know each other, and this goes some way to answering those questions while at the same time raising even more.

You'll notice too that I included Pulse as a third sort of major figure, along with the High Mother and High Father. The whole thing about the Lifestream being thought of as Pulse's blood just sort of made sense to me. After all, the world is called Gran Pulse, what better set up than for it to literally be Pulse. And if Pulse is the world, then that makes it the planet and as anyone who has played Final Fantasy VII can tell you, the Planet and the Lifestream are pretty closely connected… and speaking of Planets and Lifestreams… we all know how closely Aerith is connected to all of that. Hence, Aerith's position as a goddess born not of the High Mother and High Father (whose identities should be getting fairly clear by now), but of Pulse. Oh, and she happens to be good with plants – just like you'd expect from a flower girl.

As a sidenote, I should probably mention that Aerith is from Final Fantasy VII. On a similar, but slightly different note, Fujin, who appeared in the last chapter, is from Final Fantasy VIII.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.