A/N: Finally! I'm sorry for making you wait. I'm dealing with finals in university and I'm overloaded by work. But I managed to finish this at last! In the next chapters more mysteries will start to reach the surface, though I'm hinting at some stuff already in this one. I also wanted to work in Serah and Hope's interactions so this chapter gave me lots of room for it.

As always, all reviews are highly welcome! I'll try to make your reading as entertaining as I'm able to! ;D


Wings of Light


| VIII |

Threat


The pub known as "The Farseer's Rest" was located in the outskirts of Luxerion, not far from where the Farron sisters lived. It was a small, gloomy place compared to the inns of the capital.

But it was a discreet place, and that was actually the role the pub had to play.

"Hey, Lightning!", Noel Kreiss, the owner and bartender, greeted when Lightning entered the pub. "You've come so early. Fang told me we weren't expecting you until the afternoon."

"Well, yeah", she growled and sat at the bar. "I didn't really want to stay at home."

Noel looked at her suspiciously, while looking behind the bar a large glass and a couple of bottles.

"Fang told me a bit about it. Something about a wounded guy you found in the street and you're looking after him. Does it have to do with it, or Snow's the problem again?"

Lightning huffed. Not even going to the pub she could get rid of that damn angel.

"Why are you making that face?", Noel raised an eyebrow, and filled the glass with banaberry liquor before handing it to the young woman. "Don't tell me he's troubling you."

"Specify what you mean. If you're hinting at anything, I'll make you swallow that bottle."

"I didn't mean that! Though, wow, look at how quickly you snapped out", Noel laughed. Lightning frowned, annoyed, and sipped her drink. "That's no small feat, considering how hard is to make you lose control…"

"Shut up, Noel."

Noel knew well Lightning's temper and preferred not commenting anything, but he kept a little smile that the young woman didn't like at all. What in the world he would be thinking about now?

"How's Serah doing?", he asked after a while, washing some glasses. "It's been a long time since the last time she came here. Since, you know…"

"She's better", Lightning sighed. "If we're a bit lucky, it'll no longer be active soon. But you know that in her case it's more usual it reactivates again."

"Yeah, I know", Noel frowned. "Tell me about it, at this point."

Since they were children, Noel and Serah had been best friends, almost like siblings, so the young man knew very well the particular ability of the youngest Farron sister. And now his love interest had the same gift, or rather curse, something that had him constantly in worry, plus the fact he hardly could meet her.

"Look who's here", Fang's voice suddenly weighed in; Lightning turned, and of course saw her best friend entering the pub. "You've come a lot early than usual for ya."

"That's what I was telling her", Noel said, smiling, and he took another liquor bottle for Fang. "Looks like that guy she has at home is giving her some serious trouble."

"Oh, really? I told ya, boy, this was gonna be promising", Fang smiled mischievously, raising her eyebrows and elbowing Lightning. She huffed, highly irritated.

"This is the last thing I had left to hear", she thought holding back the urge to punch them both.

"I told you it's not like that. I wouldn't get closer than three meters to that being."

Fang and Noel exchanged a puzzled look.

"That 'being'? You're kidding, or you really mean he's not human?", Noel asked.

"That's what I mean. And you don't know how much I want to get rid of him."

"Oh, so I was right then?", Fang said. "He's not human? Now this is promising. Spill it, sunshine."

Lightning didn't want to talk about the angel. She had gone to the pub to relax and stop thinking about him, but apparently Fang and Noel weren't of the same opinion.

And she also knew them well enough to know they wouldn't leave her alone until she told them.

Though, who knows? Maybe she could convince them to kill the angel once she told them what he was.


The touch of strange hands on the sore skin of his back made Hope wake up from his sleep. He weakly opened his eyes and shivered, trying to move away from whoever was touching him.

"Easy", Serah's reassuring voice said. "I'm only going to heal your wounds, okay?"

Hope turned between the sheets, and saw Serah there, sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands giving off the soft bluish glow Lightning's also did when she healed him.

"… Where is Lightning?", the young angel asked, looking around with effort. Since he had regained consciousness, it had always been her who had healed him. Perhaps that's why he reacted that way with Serah.

"She's gone… She'll be back for dinner, but in the meantime I'll have to change your bandages and heal you in her place", Serah smiled sweetly. "Is it that you want my sister to do it?"

Hope frowned slightly. He didn't know if he wanted or not, but maybe by habit, he felt more comfortable when Lightning was the one who took care of him.

"She always does it… She doesn't hurt me. Though I know she doesn't want to heal me."

Serah sighed.

"I won't hurt you, I promise. I know it's not the same for you, but if I leave you with the same bandages for the next hours until she comes back, your wounds could be infected. I'll do it as quickly as possible to not bother you, okay?"

It seemed he had no choice. Hope said nothing, but sat up slowly to let Serah heal him, not without reluctance. He felt his body tensing up when the young woman brushed his back with her fingers again when she started taking away his bandages.

"Sorry…", Serah muttered, trying to touch him the least possible. "Did I hurt you?"

"It is not hurt", Hope said quietly. "I don't like it when humans touch me."

She tilted her head while she took away the first layer of those thick bandages. Despite the days that had passed, they were still stained with blood, which meant Hope's wounds were still bleeding.

"I guess it's normal, if you're not used to physical contact. It has to be hard for you, now that you're stuck with us…"

"You respect enough my personal space", Hope held back a wince when Serah retired the next layer of bandages, closer to his wounds. "Which I appreciate… Yet you affect me."

"We affect you? What do you mean?", Serah looked worried.

Hope took a deep breath before answering. He had regained some of his strength thanks to the care of the Farron sisters, but for a couple of days now he had noticed he was feeling more and more exhausted.

"I sense the energy that all entities give off", the young angel explained. "Both positive and negative. Through this power, I can know when the world is in balance or is threatened by the concentration of energy… But they also affect me. Positive energy strengthens my life force, while negative energy weakens it."

Serah's eyes widened in surprise. She began to understand why Hope slept so much lately and why he was getting that thinner.

"You mean we're making your life force… to be consumed?"

"Not exactly", Hope said, taking a deep breath. "It is true that in your realm your combined energy affects me more, but you emanate both positive and negative energy, which should leave me in a neutral state. However…", he paused. "When this energy is projected straight at me, then it is when it has direct consequences over my life force."

He said nothing more, but it wasn't necessary. Serah understood immediately what was leaving Hope without energy, and narrowed her eyes sadly.

"It's my sister, isn't it? You're sensing all the negativity she feels towards you, and it's draining your life force."

Hope didn't reply. He had his back to Serah, but she didn't have to see his face to know the answer. Specially since his expression wouldn't have changed much.

"I'm sorry, Hope", she muttered, sighing. "Please forgive my sister. I know it's not your fault to be what you are, but I'm afraid Lightning doesn't think like me…"

"I have no reason to demand her any apology. She's in her right to hate me, and I cannot do anything about it."

Finally, Serah removed the last bandage layer, leaving those two horrible wounds exposed to the air. As she feared, they still bled, but not so abundantly as before. Hope shivered when he felt the pain of his torn up back.

"Relax, it'll hurt less", Serah kindly said; the young angel took a deep breath and tried to relax the muscles of his back. The pain subsided a bit. "I think they're better… My sister is the one that knows about this type of wound, but they look better than before."

He preferred not to say anything. He wasn't that sure. In the case his wounds would ever completely heal, he had no guarantee that his wings would grow back but Bhunivelze's word. And his master had abandoned him in the human world to his fate. Did he really had a reason to trust him?

At once, his brand of servitude started to burn, making him wince. He brought a hand to the scar that covered his left eye: a reminder that despite his punishment and having lost his wings, he still was a servant of God, and he wasn't allowed to doubt him.

"What's wrong?", Serah asked worriedly.

"Nothing that should worry you", Hope muttered, lowering his hand. Serah frowned, but made no comment: she kept healing the wounds of the young angel with her Cure spells.

For a few minutes they were silent. Hope tried to relax his back, feeling a little more energy thanks to Serah's healing magic, but exhaustion was still weighing on him.

"My sister doesn't hate you in particular", Serah said gently, withdrawing her hands from Hope's back. "It's what you represent. She considers you a threat, in many ways."

"I won't hurt you", Hope murmured. "I don't understand why I should. You are human, but I don't have anything against you. You have taken me into your house and saved my life."

Serah smiled sadly.

"That's a relief to hear… But you don't know anything about us, Hope… And I'm sure you wouldn't think the same if you knew certain things."

Hope frowned slightly. Certain "things"? He would've asked with more interest if he had been anyone else, but he was an angel and his curiosity was very limited.

"If you fear that I will not think the same and I would hurt you if you tell me, I don't understand why you mention it."

She let out a short laugh, taking the bandages beside her and she began bandaging again Hope's back.

"Seen this way, it's absurd, I know… I don't know why I've told you. It's not that I distrust you, but we have our reasons to keep some secrets from you."

"I should suppose you are probing me then."

Serah half-smiled.

"For not knowing how humans feel, the truth is you're quite sharp."

"It is not a question of sharpness", Hope replied, tilting his head. "Like I said, I can feel the energy that all living things give off. I sense negativity from you. It is not aggressive like Lightning's, thus I guess it can be fear."

There was silence. Serah kept bandaging the young angel's back, but her hands were shaking slightly.

"I don't know if it's fear… Perhaps it's suspicion", she muttered after a couple of minutes. "You don't look capable of hurting us, Hope, but I don't know to what extent you're responsible for the Order's tyranny, as everyone says. And their treatment to those who are like my sister, my friends and me."

Hope said nothing, but he was intrigued by Serah's words. What kind of people they would be, that the Order seemed to treat so badly? He had already sensed something about the energy that the sisters emanated, something that other humans lacked. But he couldn't tell what it was.

"It is much more intense in Lightning…", the young angel thought, squinting. "I wonder if it is her aura what draws me to her like this… But her negativity doesn't let me delve into her."

"There", Serah said as she finished bandaging his back, smiling. "I hope I've not bothered you much, Hope. I'll try to ensure my sister does it tomorrow."

"Don't worry. I appreciate that you healed me", he said, resting his head on the pillow. Despite he had regained some energy, he felt exhausted in general. "It is just… I feel more comfortable when Lightning does it."

Serah looked at him with a strange sparkle in her blue eyes. She smiled in a way Hope didn't quite identify. It was as if she kept some sort of secret.

"But you say that being close to my sister drains your life force away, and you can't say she treats you nicely."

"That is right."

"And you still want her to heal you? Why?"

"I don't know…", Hope closed his eyes, confused. "I only know I do. Maybe it is because I am used to it."

Serah's smile slightly widened. But she said nothing more about it; she got up from the bed with the dirty, bloodied bandages on her hands and covered Hope with the blanket.

"Tonight my fiancé will come and he'll stay a few days with us", she told him. Hope half-opened his eyes in a reaction Serah identified as alarm. "Don't worry, he's such a good man. A little plain at times, but he won't do anything to you, I promise. He was who brought you home, though maybe you don't remember."

He didn't look convinced, but he simply nodded weakly. He didn't remember meeting Serah's fiancé, but the prospect of having more humans around worried him. He knew he wasn't very welcome in general, and having to endure more negative energy besides Lightning's towards him didn't particularly please him.

"What I am supposed to have done to earn the hatred of all these humans? Do all of them hate me, or only people like Lightning and Serah do, whatever they are?"

It shouldn't, but the idea made him feel strangely empty on the inside. Very slightly, of course, but for a being that was supposed to have no emotions, a complete wonder.

"Now rest, Hope", Serah interrupted the course of his thoughts. "I'll leave you some food if you're still asleep when we have dinner, if you wake up while we're sleeping and you're hungry, okay?"

He nodded again, already crushed under the exhaustion that always took over him whenever confusion struck him. He'd only take a few seconds to fall asleep, something that the Farron sisters had already learnt to anticipate.

When Serah left the room and closed the door behind her, she half-smiled and put a hand to her heart. She couldn't help but wonder if the angel had anything to do with what she had seen many years ago… and what had been guiding her sister's motivation during all that time.

Maybe, just maybe… Lightning had gone astray on her pursue.

Or maybe that was what she, Serah, wanted to believe. Perhaps Hope represented a different threat that her sister could ever begin to imagine.