Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.


Notice: Not even ten chapters in and I've already gotten fifty reviews! Total awesomeness! Thank you all for reading my work and leaving those reviews, and so I shall now reply to the latest of them!

SolidSamuria223: Thank you for the kinds words, and here's the next chapter to sate your curiosity.

Devil-l'Cie: Well, just know that they will be epic.

Guest: Hmm, that's a very good question. Read this and you shall have your answer.

Rsdk525: Yes, it will.

And now, here is the ninth and latest chapter for you all!


Ch.9 The Goddess's Grace

When the Children of Etro charged at me and Lightning I quickly discovered two things. One: despite their enthusiasm they were poor fighters compared to us. Two: what they lacked in strength and skill they made up for in numbers. The heretics overwhelmed us and Lightning and I were forced apart, each of us surrounded. I could see that some of them were trying to make it for the gate, probably to go on ahead and wreak havoc on the city. "Oh no, you don't!" I called, and I cast Blizzard at the lever which would lower the gate. The block of ice hit the lever hard enough to turn it, and the gate thundered down with a groan. It slammed shut and I cast a trio of Fire spells on the base of the lever, melting it in place. Once that was done I turned back to the heretics around, dodging a jab from a spear.

I raised Omnes high into the air and used Blitz, spinning in a circle to try and hit all of them at once. While I cut through their robs they were wearing armor beneath, obviously ready for a fight. I frowned and cast Thunder at one of them, blasting him with a bolt of electricity. As he screamed and writhed in pain my eyes met Lightning's on the other side of the plaza. She had one of the heretics on the ground with her sword raised high, and we came to an agreement. These mighty be a band of overzealous lunatics, but they were still human. We couldn't kill them. Lightning released the heretic and knocked him out with a blow to the head, while I stopped the Thunder spell before it could kill the one I was targeting. He slumped to the ground, unconscious, but his place was quickly taken by another Child.

One of them to my right, a young red-headed woman with a sickle, swung at me and I spun around, kicking the weapon out of her hand. Hey eyes widened but I didn't give her a chance to pick it up, kicking her with my other foot in the solar plexus hard enough to drive the wind out of her. She fell down and one of the Children behind me had a sword, which he used to successfully slash me across the back. I cried out in pain and spun around, stabbing my sword into the ground. I cupped my hands and slammed them over both of his ears at the same time, knocking him out. Before any other the other heretics could attack I grabbed my sword and smiled, getting an idea. I had seen this done in The Matrix Reloaded, and had always wanted to try it. Keeping Omnes in place I grabbed the handle with both hands and kicked my feet into the air, turning so that I was parallel to the ground, and began running across the tops of the chests of the heretic's around me, moving in a circle and kicking my feet out as hard as I could with each step.

While I was doing that Lightning sidestepped a swing from an ax and blocked a pitchfork from another heretic, responding by jabbing the end of Crimson Blitz into their stomach. The fact that Lumina had broken the blade was actually coming in handy now- it made her sword the perfect blunt weapon to knock people out. Lightning proved that when she slammed the sword into the side of another heretic's head, knocking him out. Another heretic, one of the few holding torches, tried swinging at her and burning her, but she blocked with her Pendragon shield and delivered a job to the neck, causing that heretic to black out. Unlike with me not a single one of them had managed to hurt her, but still Lightning frowned. Both of us had seen Uried at the front lines during the initial charge, but after that he seemed to fade away. Where we he now?

As if to answer her question he heard a shout from above, and looked to see Uried with his double-ended scythe coming down from above. He swung as she blocked, sparks rising from her shield where they met. The other heretics moved back to make room for him, and he grinned ferally. "I can still remember the last time you and I clashed blades, can you?" he asked. Lightning gritted her teeth and said "Yeah." It had been over a thousand years ago, back when Lightning and Deiru were both still l'Cie. Uried had originally been an alter ego of Deiru's meant to appear in time of great danger, and that time they had fought had been one of those situations. Uried grinned ever wider, showing that not just his fangs but all of his teeth were pointed. "Yes. Had Deiru not fought to regain control of his body back then, I would have killed."

"But now I have my own body, and can do as I please!" he said. With that he disengaged and moved back, casting Hell Firaga. A ball of black and red flames shot from his palm and at her, and Lightning jumped backwards, landing on her hands and leaping even farther. The fireball hit the ground and exploded, unleashing an explosion of dark flames. The Children of Etro were quick to back away to avoid being hurt, and Lightning just barely got away from it as well. Uried didn't even wait for the flames to die out and charged again, spinning his scythe in a circle as he came close. I continued my work of kicking every heretic that close in the chest, but eventually stopped and landed on the ground, pulling Omnes back out and slamming the flat of it against the top of another heretic's head

It staggered back drunkenly and was pushed aside to make room, the other Children of Etro crowding in. "You'll never when. We will defeat you, and bring the light of the goddess to the people of Luxerion!" an old man called, swinging an ax. I changed into my Dark Muse outfit and blocked with an ax of my won, saying "Sorry to disappoint, but I won't be beaten!" I said, blocking his ax with mine. I pushed and he fell back, and a blond-haired man with a set of brass knuckles came at me, swinging. I ducked and grabbed his arm , using his momentum against him and throwing him into the heretics behind me. They crumbled into a pile of tangled limbs and pointed objects, and I cast Blizzard on the elderly man from before. I dropped the ice block on him head and knocked him out, turning to the other heretics.

They just kept coming and one tried jabbing me with a simple pole of metal, which I yanked out of her hand and slammed the end of onto her foot. The woman shouted and hopped on one foot, holding her other and inevitably falling over. Had I not been focused on fighting I would have laughed, and would do so later. Uried cast Poisonga on Lightning and the spell failed to stick, so instead he cast Toxic Aero. A wave of poisonous wind flew forth and Lightning held her breath, moving through it and kicking away a heretic that came took close, swinging at Uried. He blocked her and shoved, sending Lightning faltering back. He grinned. "You'll never make it out of this plaza alive," he declared, before raising his scythe. A red smoke trailed from the points of it, and he said "Children of Etro, feel the power of raw strength as I enchant you with my Bloodlust!"

The red mist burst apart and spread in every direction, the Children of Etro unknowingly breathing it in. They all went still for a second before crouching, their eyes glowing red with rage as they turned to either Lightning or me. Lightning's eyes widened; she recalled that spell all too well, having been hit with it herself. The spell did grant whoever it affected Bravery and Faith, but put them in a berserk-like state where all they cared about was attacking, no matter what they had to do or how hurt they were. "Die!" one of them called, swinging at Lightning with a large club. She dodged and watched as Uried snapped his fingers, the Chaos enveloping him. "No!" Lightning called, jumping over the crowd of enraged heretics and running for him. But by the time Lightning got there she was too late; the Chaos faded away to reveal that Uried was gone.

The heretics were still there though, and one them kicked her in the back of the knees. Instantly she faltered and the crowd swarmed around her, swinging kicking or even scratching with their nails. Now that they were under Uried's spell they were barely even human, reduced to simple rage and instincts. On the other side I was having the same problem, switching back to my Equilibrium garb and blocking a series of blows from hammers and swords. The heretics behind me rushed to simply tackle me down and and it worked, the sheer number of them overcoming me. I landed on my chest and struggled to get up, crushed under the weight of all the people on top of me. The heretics closed in and began piling on top of each other hoping to crush me and keep me from breathing. It was working- what air I was getting was coming in gasps now.

Before he jumped on one of the heretics kicked me in the side of the head, causing my ears to ring. Deprived of air my vision was getting blurry, but I could see Lightning shove an angry woman away with her shield before another heretics actually bit her on the arm, pulling her down. The others helped and I saw her go down as well, prompting me to call "Lightning!" Spots of color began to dance in front of me, and I could hear Etro in the back of my mind. "Deiru! This is too much for you! Let me help!" she called. I gritted my teeth, finding the strength to reply "How?" "It's simple. Let me take over from here," the goddess replied. Everything round me was starting to turn black, and just before I passed out a said "Fine."

And then everything was no more.


(Point of View Change: Lightning)

I watched Deiru go under as he was pulled down by the possessed Children of Etro, and soon after I met the same fate. I grabbed the one that was biting my arm and pulled him off, punching him in the nose for good measure. I kicked, struggled and slammed my shield against more than a few of the heretics, trying to rise back up so I could help him. But there were just too many of them, and one of the grabbed my shield, using his increased strength to pull it away from me. Two of them grabbed my right arm and held it down, and before I could hit them another two did the same with my left. More of them pinned each of my legs, and now the only thing I could do was move my head from side to side. I could see one of them walk up with a large hatchet in hand, ready to chop of my head and end this.

I struggled harder but the Children of Etro held me down, while the one with the hatchet raised it up high. I looked over to see Deiru had disappeared under a pile of the other heretics, until it was just a single hand that was visible. For an instant I felt a pang of sorrow, even though all of my emotions were supposed to be gone. I was going to die here, I would have at least wanted Deiru to survive. Maybe he could have becoming the savior in my place, and possibly even brought Serah back. If the cost of that was my life, I would have gladly accepted it. But no, we were both about to die, here, in the middle of damn plaza in front of train station because of a bunch of heretics dumb enough to follow Uried? Fuck that. I struggled with all my might and managed to free my right arm, punching a heretic that was holding my left arm.

But then two more came and grabbed that arm, pinning to again. Now that I was once more immobilized, the heretic with the hatchet swung it down. I watched as it came closer to my neck, waiting for the blood to stain the blade... and it stopped. I blinked looking with confusion as all of there heretics froze as one, unmoving. Then I could feel a pulse o power, slow but strong. That power pulse again, and then a third time, like the tide of the ocean. Out of all the frozen limbs I could see one hand, Deiru's move and clench his fist. A golden-yellow aura surrounded that hand, and a light of the same color shined from within the pile of bodies. The power I was sensing grew dramatically, and I heard a high-pitched keening before suddenly the light exploded.

All of the heretics in the pile were sent flying, some only going a few feet while other crashed against something when they landed. Standing there was Deiru, his whole body enveloped in the same golden aura as his hand had been. "Deiru...?" I called. He turned to look at me and I gasped. It had been a shock after I first became the Savior and had seen him with not just his regular blue eye, but a gold one too. Now both of his eyes were gold, and they seemed to give him an otherworldly appearance. He turned away from me and looked at all of the heretics, raising a hand. "White Wind," he said, but his voice was splintered, both his and another voice, a female one, coming out. I gasped, realizing what was going on. It was Etro- she was acting from within Deiru. At the goddess's command a wave of white mist billowed outwards in all directions, hitting the heretics.

When it did each one gasped, the red in their eyes fading away. The ones holding me were affected as well, blinking and looked around. When they saw Deiru though they stopped, also sensing who was controlling his body, and shaking. He looked straight at the one holding the hatchet, and Etro said "Drop it." The heretics instantly did and the weapon landed on the ground next to me, while the other Children quickly released me and stood. All of the others did as well, gazing at him. "Your Grace... is that you?" one of them, a young man, asked. Etro-Deiru slowly looked at him and raised their hand, the crest of Etro appearing on their palm. The young man gasped again, and dropped to his knees, bowing in respect. "The goddess... she stands before us!" he called.

The other heretics also got on their knees, pressing their heads against the ground in total subservience. Now that I was free I stood up and dusted myself off, picking up my sword and shield and walking next to Deiru. "Nice work," I complimented. They smirked, and it was just Deiru's voice that came out when he said "It was nothing. Thank the goddess if she ever gets her own body." I grunted and smirked, saying "Right." The other heretics were watching horror though, and the same young man as before asked "Your Prominence, why are you allying yourself with the Savior? She is Bhunivelze's pawn; the bringer of the world's destruction!" Etro-Deiru turned to him and regarded him impassively, saying "The Savior is indeed the signal of the world's end. But let me ask this: If every end brings about a new beginning, would the Savior not also be the one who brings about a new world after this?"

The Children of Etro all froze again, processing their words. Etro-Deiru continued, saying "And her Protector is the one who has agreed to house my soul. By attempting to bring about his death, you also attempted to slay me." The young man was shaking, the full scope of what they could have done now dawning on the heretics. Not only could they have killed the one who would have brought them a new world, but in the process they would have also killed the goddess herself. "Your Grace..." the young man began, before pressing his head against the ground again. "Please! Forgive us!" he yelled. "Forgive us, goddess!" the other Children called, pleading. I watched them beg and wondered what would happen now, turning. "Well?" I asked. Etro-Deiru was silent, thinking.

Eventually they raised their hand to the sky and fired a ball of fire, which burst into a shining light. "There. The Order of Salvation shall be here soon, and in force. Do not resist, accept the punishment for your crimes, and then, when the world ends, those of you who have done as I have said will be redeemed," they said. Not even thinking about how much being in the Order's custody was going to be unpleasant, they all nodded and thanked Etro over and over for her kindness. Etro-Deiru sighed and closed their eyes, the golden aura around Deiru fading. After a few seconds he opened his eyes, the blue in one of Deiru's returning as he went back to his old self. He groaned and placed a hand against the side of his head. "Okay, now I've got a killer headache. Let's get out of here, Lightning," he said.

I nodded, and we both walked out, casting a spell and repairing the gate so it could be opened before we left. Once we were beyond the plaza though, we saw Noel standing right in front of us, arms crossed. We stared at each other for a moment, before he turned and ran off. I looked at Deiru and he looked at me, both of us nodding. Without a word, we followed Noel.


With the help of Etro the Children have been stopped, but what about Noel? What will happen next chapter with him?

Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)