"That person is me. He wants to sacrifice me." Lightning looked around to see the group's reactions. Serah's eyes were filled with tears. Hope was looking grimly homicidal, though not very surprised. Snow, on the other hand, looked completely flabbergasted.
"Wait, what? Caius thinks you're Etro?"
"No, he thinks Etro is inside me," Lightning explained patiently. "Caius believes that the last piece of the goddess is hidden within my body, and that that piece is what's keeping the world from falling apart."
"But that's bullshi-"
"Language," Serah interrupted by habit, using her school teacher voice.
"That's bullcrap," Snow exclaimed instead. "Right?" None of the other three said a word. "Right?"
"I honestly don't know. I can do… things. Weird things. Things that humans shouldn't be able to do."
"Like what?" Serah asked, voice filled with worry.
"Yeah, Light, like what?" Hope gave her an intense stare, filled with worry, anger, and fiery determination. "What is it that you're not telling us?"
I have to tell them, Lightning thought, shivering on the inside. She really didn't want to say it out loud. If she kept it all to herself, she could pretend it never happened. She swallowed hard. They'll think I'm a freak.
"Icanturnpeopletocrystalwithmymind." She had to physically force the words out. The confused looks on the others' faces told her that they hadn't been able to decipher her mumbling. She tried again. "I can turn people to crystal. With my mind."
"No way! That's like, the coolest super power ever." Snow almost sounded jealous.
"That explains things," Hope mumbled to himself.
"But how?" Serah asked.
"I'm not sure… I've only done it once. Caius touched me, and I panicked. Suddenly, he was crystal." Lightning was over-simplifying it, but she didn't know how to otherwise explain her out-of-body experience. "I've been thinking about it, and the only explanation I can come up with is that Caius is right; I do carry a piece of Etro inside me."
"In a strange kind of way, it actually makes sense," Hope said thoughtfully. "Etro named you her knight and protector in Valhalla. If she had to manifest in someone, you would probably be her first choice."
"So, what do we do now? If Lightning does carry the last piece of Etro, Caius will never stop hunting her." Serah squeezed Lightning's hand again. "We won't let him have you, sis. We'll come up with something." Snow and Hope nodded affirmatively. Lightning felt one of her many layers of anxiety lift from her heart. Of course they'd be there for her. She felt stupid for thinking otherwise.
"Thank you," she said, giving them a small smile. "We'll come up with a plan."

They decided that the plan making had to wait to tomorrow. The clock was way past midnight when Lightning finally lay down on the bed in Serah's and Snow's guestroom. She'd borrowed one of Snow's old t-shirts to sleep in, since all of Serah's pajamas were too small for Lightning's muscular body. And way too frilly. She crawled under the covers of the soft king-sized bed.
"Goodnight, Light," she heard a voice call out through the slightly opened door. Hope was sleeping on the couch right outside the guestroom. She'd tried to convince him to take the bed, but the "you haven't slept in a bed for millennia" argument was pretty bulletproof.
"Goodnight, Hope."
She closed her eyes, and fell asleep instantly.

Etro's crystal throne stood empty in the Void Beyond. Lightning could feel herself being pulled towards it, an almighty power forcing her to kneel before it.
"Etro," she whispered, voice echoing through the ruins. "What do you want from me?"
The fal'Cie goddess filled Lightning's mind with sounds and images, her only way of communication. It was a painful procedure, and for a moment Lightning thought the crackling sounds and flickering lights were going to make her head explode. She fell to the floor, tears flowing from her eyes, trying to catch her breath. The images kept playing in her mind.
Every single vision showed Caius dying. In one image he was decapitated, his head violently separated from the body by a familiar gunblade. In another image, he was pierced through the heart, also by the same blade. Drowned. Poisoned. Shot. Stabbed.
"I get it! Please, stop!" Lightning yelled. The images disappeared. "You want me to kill Caius." She could feel Etro's approval. "But how do I kill him, without killing Noel?" She immediately regretted the question when images once again filled her already battered brain. She gasped.
"No… No. No! It's not fair! Why must I always be the one to… to…" She tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't hold her weight. She sank down on her knees again. "I served you for thousands of years. How can you demand this from me? Haven't I done enough?"
Etro disagreed. She filled Lightning's mind with visions for the third time, this time in an even grander scale. She showed Lightning why she could never escape her retribution, why her sins could never be atoned for. She lined up every death Lightning had ever caused, intentional or unintentional, direct or indirect. Every dead PSICOM soldier, every slain ci'eth. Everyone who's blood was on her hands.
"Please stop," Lightning begged, but Etro would not listen to her plea. Blood started to flow from her nose and ears, leaving red spots on the stone floor. The visions continued on and on, like a never ending movie of Lightning's sins. Etro was right. She could never atone for all of them. "I'll do it. I'll serve you. I'll kill Caius." The images stopped, and a wind of harmony caressed Lightning's skin. "Good girl," Etro whispered, and released Lightning from her dream.

Lightning woke up with a sharp intake of breath and a small cry that sounded suspiciously like a sob. She sat up, slightly disoriented.
"Light? Are you okay?" Hope rushed into the room. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of oversized pajama pants. His silvery hair was pointing in every direction. "… Are you crying?"
"No, I'm not." Yes, she was. "Don't look at me. Go away." She couldn't stop her tears from falling. The visions were still haunting her. There was so much blood on her hands. Too much blood.
"But…"
"Go. Away." Hope turned around and left the room. Another sob escaped from her lips. She didn't want to fulfill Etro's wish, but the goddess' demands were unconditional. It's not fair…
Hope suddenly stormed into the room again.
"I can hear you through the wall. I can't sleep when… when I know you're…" He sat down next to her. "It just hurts, you know? Being far away, when you're like this." He looked at her with pain in his eyes, and brushed away a tear from her wet cheek. She quickly turned her face away.
"Don't look at me."
"I won't." Before she could react, he pulled her into his arms. She instinctively tried to push him away, but wasn't sure he even noticed. "I promise, I won't look. I won't ask, either. Just please… let me stay." Hope's nearness had already started to calm the violent storm raging inside her. I don't deserve him, she thought, but nodded anyway. Hope lay down on his back and pulled her down next to him, so her head could rest on his shoulder. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his chest, making her lie almost on top of him. She could feel his steady heartbeat through his bare skin. Her whole body was trembling, and her breaths consisted of quiet sobs.
"I'm pathetic," she whispered, still unable to stop crying.
"No, you're not." Hope kissed her on the forehead and started to run his fingers through her hair. Lightning felt small, encircled in Hope's arms. Usually, that would have made her uncomfortable, but with Hope it wasn't so bad. It was even kind of nice. Their bodies fit together perfectly. She felt… safe. Am I allowed to be weak for just one night?
She decided that yes, she was. Tomorrow, she would be a soldier. Tomorrow, she would save the world. But tonight? Tonight, she would cry over the life she'd never get to live.
Hope continued to soothingly stroke Lightning's hair. She could feel her body slowly relaxing. It took somewhere between a long time and an eternity for her tears to dry up, but in the end, they finally petered out.
"I'm fine, now. You can go back to sleep." She felt a bit embarrassed. She'd never cried like that in front of anyone before. I'm getting soft. "I can take the couch, if you want the bed." Hope didn't release his grip around her waist, nor did he try to move from the bed. "Hope?" The man beneath her remained unreactive, breathing heavy breaths. She let out a short snorting laugh. "I know you're not sleeping. You're still playing with my hair." The hand playing with a strand from her bangs stopped for a moment, and then continued its movement. A quiet laugh rumbled through his chest. Lightning smiled and closed her eyes. Only for tonight.

"What are they doing up there?" Serah whispered, suppressing a giggle.
"Do we really wanna know?" Snow answered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Serah gave him a small punch.
"I'll go and check." She gave Snow a quick kiss and climbed out of the bed. They'd been awakened by the sound of someone running around upstairs. Then there had been silence. Then, there had been some more running around going on up there. The house had been silent for quite a while now, so she believed it was probably safe to take a look. She carefully walked up the stairs, skipping the steps she knew might squeak. The first thing that struck her was that the couch outside the guestroom was empty. She giggled a little. I really shouldn't look, she thought as she stalked towards the open door, but I have to see this.
Hope lay on his back in the middle of the bed with Lightning draped on top of him, their limbs completely entangled. Serah felt like doing a victory dance. She'd been worried about Lightning's tendencies to isolate herself from the world. But, here she was, sleeping on another person's chest. Not on just any person's chest, no, she was sleeping on Hope's chest. Serah sighed happily. Hope had always been a good influence on her sister. And they look adorable together. She absentmindedly placed her hand on her stomach. Like a big family.

Hello, your friendly neighborhood writer Cia here again. I hope you were in the need for some hopurai fluff. I know I was. (Aren't we all always in the need for hopurai fluff?)
… I'm not even going to start with the dick jokes on this one. I could go on forever. Please stay in touch, my lovely readers. Every comment makes my day.
- Cia