AN- A nice decent sized update for you lot in the closing days of Fangrai Feb. Comment! Subscribe! etc! Hoorayimuseful on tumblr for renderings and general Fangrai obsessiveness.
Cold air. The silence. Lightning slowly opened her eyes and felt the granules of sand against her cheek. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the roiling dark clouds in the sky in confusion. She was… Where was she? She was standing on the fields of Gran Pulse. She was… looking for answers. Searching for a way to rescue Fang and Vanille from crystal… But now…
Lightning sat up, feeling groggy. The black sand beneath her shifted under her weight and she glanced down, trailing her fingers through it. "Where am I?" She asked aloud, her voice sounding dull on the vacuous expanse of the black coastline. Luminescent waves idly lapped at the shore, but there was no sound. It felt like she was caught in a void.
As Lightning got to her feet, she turned to find a city beyond the beach, one like she had never seen before. Yet it felt familiar to her, as if she was looking upon her home. It was an odd feeling that clashed with her consciousness as she began a slow walk up the shoreline to the looming buildings in the distance.
Hitting the main streets, Lightning was unsettled. It was devastatingly quiet, her own footsteps deafening. Was this some perfectly preserved Pulsian city? A relic lost to time? The sandstone buildings that lined the narrow road were immaculate and… If Lightning was being honest, untouched. It reminded her of a museum. A monument. A tomb. Ghosts of movement flitted past her peripherals, flashes of pink hair. It was as if she were seeing mists of her own reflection as she explored the silent streets.
The path led to the city centre, an incredible castle with spires that stretched up to touch the clouds. The peak was surrounded by green illuminated glass, wrapped about the architecture like ribbons. A gift to the gods, as it were, Lightning thought to herself with a huff.
There was still no evidence of any civilisation, any signs of life, in this silent city. But Lightning kept searching for hours as she made her way to the centre, drawn to the massive structure like a beacon. She idly pondered on the fact that she wasn't thirsty or hungry, even though she felt like some time had passed. Signs of a concussion? Or something worse?
The steps leading up to the monolith were lined with statues, the two largest carved with stone robes capping either side at the base of the stairs. There was something about them that looked familiar, or felt familiar, but Lightning couldn't place it. Though unmoving it still felt like she was being watched by them as she ascended the stairs.
Pushing the massive ornate door open, it slowly creaked open to an intricately designed hall, decorated with rich fabrics and dark steel braziers, a white flame idly flickering.
"Hello?" Lightning called out, slowly reaching for her weapon. She was getting fed up with the lack of answers to far too many questions. "I'm starting to get real tired of the silence, it'd be nice if someone fucking answered."
"You're tired of the silence? It has been hours for you, child. It has been lifetimes for me."
The answer was startling after fearing Lightning was alone in the city. The voice was everywhere. Surrounding her. Within her. Lightning whirled around, blade drawn and at the ready. The flames flared in the darkened steel braziers, and the pinkette scanned the hall, looking for the source of the voice.
"Well how about you make yourself known, and we'll talk." Lightning called out, slowly inching her way down the hall. She turned and let out a cry of fright when an ethereal woman stood in front of her, draped in a flowing white robe. Her hair was white and tied into a bun, her silver illuminated eyes seemingly piercing into Lightning's soul.
"Hm. You look like her." The woman mused, once again her voice deafening Lightning from the inside out. The pinkette winced and dropped her blade, clutching at her head.
"Hnngh… Look like who? Who are you? What is this place? Where is this place?"
The woman smiled, turning away and walking up the stairs, pausing until Lightning got the hint and reluctantly followed. There was something about the woman who felt familiar, looked familiar, like she had seen her somewhere before. There was a strange pressure, a fog over her vision, a constant persisting déjà vu. Lightning thought she was seeing ghosts of the past, or possibly shades of the future as she ascended the stairs. She couldn't tell. The only way she could describe it was.. Memories of the future.
Her mind throbbed with seeing glimpses of events to come, pasts passed, timelines lived and not-lived. "This is impossible…" Lightning grimaced, feeling weighted down with every step she took. With each foot in front of the other, she could feel every step already taken countless times over, and every step to come in every possible reality. The perception was disorientating, and she stumbled forward, landing on her knees at the top of the staircase.
The woman looked back briefly before closing her eyes and moving on. "It gets easier with time." She paused, laughing quietly to herself at some inside joke that was lost on Lightning. The pinkette staggered to her feet and growled, reaching for a weapon that was no longer there. But was there. Will be there.
"Dammit what is this place?" Lighting demanded, her voice echoing off the sandstone and marble pillars that led out to a balcony. Everything was echoes. Lightning looked out at the city, the vast vacant streets and empty buildings feeling more like a necropolis. "Please… I just want to go home." The woman huffed quietly, still staring out at the seas beyond the city.
"Once you have seen through the eyes of the Goddess, you will understand."
Lightning blinked, and suddenly she found herself before a great crystal throne, in a room devoid of life. She reached up with her hand towards the throne and suddenly clutched at her chest. There was a vibrancy of light she hadn't noticed before that passed before her vision. Lightning saw countless lives and deaths, the destruction of gods that had come before, the birth of the world, the death of the world that had yet to pass. She saw and felt her heart ache at every soul dragged through the gates from war and strife, right up to the Fal'cie plans and her along with her friends being dragged into the thick of it.
Lightning witnessed the screams of every life she took while trying to survive while on the run. The… sin of taking life. She was no goddess who got to bestow judgement on the souls on the other side, yet she was the executioner's blade all the same. But the woman standing next to her… She was a goddess. Lightning glanced over at her as she came back to herself, the whispers and fragments of other lives and timelines edging in on her peripherals. A single tear slipped down her cheek as she opened her eyes, faced with a presence that filled her entire being.
"Etro."
Lightning reached with her mind and saw everything that had happened to the goddess of death, the sacrifices she made for human kind, the love she held for every soul. When information across all of time poured through this place as a constant flow, there would be no way for the goddess to discern, or to care, about the weight of one soul over another. To her they were all the same. Lightning felt her uniform fade away, replaced with steel and pristine white feathers. She brought her hand close to her, observing the gauntlet that now adorned her fingers.
"Why am I here?" Lightning asked quietly, looking out across the city and across all time to glean the answers herself. A tall, menacing man filled her awareness, seeking destruction, feeling pain, clashing with duty and insanity, honour and grief. He tore down the city, or will tear it down. It was hard to tell. The buildings still stood, so maybe it hadn't happened yet. Time seemed to lose all meaning here, in this place.
"Our lives are a culmination of mistakes from you who came before. You will never walk into the sea with the other fragments of your soul, but you can protect them from oblivion. You have sinned in this life, taking the lives of so many with the fall of Cocoon. There must be recompense. There must be balance. "
Etro's soundless voice washed over Lightning as she fell to one knee. The words were cryptic, as she expected from a goddess that understood far higher planes of existence that she was now privy to.
Lightning bowed her head as she, a mortal soul, attempted to come to terms with an eternity of grief. The goddess pointed out to the sea, while imperceptible to the naked eye, Lightning wasn't looking with her own. She watched as the tall black-armoured man slowly lowered a young woman into the seas, like Lightning knew he had done countless times before, and would do countless times again.
"His life is the culmination of my mistake. To give him a gift of love that has unwittingly become his curse. I am weakened and cannot hope to stop him while holding the chaos at bay that seeks to devour all life. He seeks to end it all, and you, as the incarnation of the goddess, cannot allow this."
Lightning was suddenly pulled in a million different directions, seeing a million different lifetimes. Everything swirled in darkness around her and she fell back, hitting the marble floor hard. Before she could catch her breath, the imposing man she had seen countless times stood over her on the balcony. He wore a malicious sneer, staring down at her as she struggled to stand.
"You have been given the power of Valhalla, Warrior Goddess. Use it to go home and be with your family. It will be hundreds of years from then when everything will be destroyed. You won't be around to see it. There won't be even a memory of you to mourn my destruction. I will free the world from their pain by ending everything."
As tempting as it was, Lightning was seeing the world through the Goddess' eyes now. She could see across all time, and what would take hundreds of years to enact was already happening in front of her. If everything was destroyed, all time would cease to exist. She knew he was lying. Her heart reached out to Fang, still encased in crystal, still fighting alongside her in Palumpolum, still battling back in the War of Transgressions, yet to fight alongside her again at the end of the world.
"Who are you?" She asked, though her mind already knew the answer from the countless battles against him she had already fought. Time flowed differently here. The disorientating paradoxes that caused strange phenomena throughout the city meant Etro was both still standing on the balcony and already gone all the same.
"I am Caius, and I am your end."
Lightning growled and threw her hand out, a brilliant steel blade materialising in her hand. "Not if I have anything to say about it." She snapped and lurched forward, preparing to strike.
Lashing out with a yell, her blade didn't connect with the menacing chaos blade Caius wielded, but her fist certainly connected with Fang's jaw as she was knocked off the bed. Lightning sat bolt upright with a start, covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat.
"Fang!" She gasped, clutching at her chest as the Pulsian groaned on the carpet, sprawled on the floor. Lightning looked down at her, caught somewhere between concern and outrage. "What were you doing on top of me like that?"
"Ow. Fuck me running, Farron. I thought the days of clocking my face were done back in Palumpolum?" Fang complained, rubbing her jaw. "Still got that perfect right hook I see…" She slowly sat up, resting her weight on her hands.
Lightning was hyperventilating, her eyes darting wildly about as she came to grips with her surroundings. She wasn't in Valhalla, fighting for her life anymore, fighting for the fate of the world. Pushing her shaking hands against her temples, Lightning bit back a sob and clenched her jaw.
"Hey, hey sweetie it's ok. It's alright. Gonna need more than a good solid punch to the face to take me down darling." Fang assured her, climbing up onto the bed and bundling Lightning's trembling form into her arms. "Bad dream I gather?" There was only a soft nod as Lightning burrowed into the crook of Fang's neck and clutched at her shirt. The Pulsian rocked her gently, humming quietly in an attempt to soothe her. "It's ok. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, ok?"
"It's not ok." Lightning answered, her voice strained and tired. She pulled back to give herself some breathing room. "I was back there, in Valhalla while you still slept. Fighting Caius. Fighting to save everything. And for what? We're back here again, still fighting, still risking our damn lives for a populous that doesn't care who gets caught in the crossfire."
The sudden shift in perspective worried Fang, considering everything Lightning had already risked to be there. "If you don't want to do this, Light, we can tell them all to stick it and leave. We can go anywhere you want. I'm only here because you asked me to be." Fang said firmly, taking her jaw gently and guiding her eyes towards her.
Lightning swallowed hard. Her family was there because she had simply requested it of them. Again. The last time she had asked someone to help her with a near impossible task… It had cost them their lives. Back then it was Serah. Now, who will pay the price? Fang was only there because she had asked. She remembered their conversation back in Fang's home, where the Pulsian begged her not to get involved. But she threw herself into the fire head first, and brought everyone with her. Risking their lives on her say so. "You'd do that? Just up and leave in the midst of all of this?"
Fang nodded. "I'm tired of fighting, Light. I've fought in three wars now, and none of them are getting any easier. I told you back in Guneda. These ungrateful arseholes can burn. But if you want to finish this, I'll stay."
Lightning took a deep breath and held it. She was the one that dragged everyone into this, it would be wrong to bow out now. As tempting as it was. "I can't. I can't leave." She sighed, forcefully exhaling and running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm herself.
"I know, I just wanted you to come to that conclusion on your own."
A quiet laugh was shared between them as Lightning leant forward and kissed Fang gently on the jaw. "I'm sorry about your face." Lightning murmured, running her fingers through Fang's dark, wild hair. "How do you do it? You've been through three wars now, as you say. How do you stay strong in the face of so much loss?"
Fang wondered what Lightning had gone through in Valhalla, the things she had witnessed and whether it would be... appropriate to ask her one day. "There was this soldier I knew back in the war. A real hard arse like you. Knew how to throw a punch like you too." She answered with a thoughtful hum and rubbed her jaw, still tender from the unexpected right hook. "She said once, when I was going through a similar crisis of conscience, to find the reason that brought you here and hold onto it like your grip were unbendable steel. Who are you here to fight for? To protect? To avenge? Find that reason and let it fuel the fires of your resolve and overcome."
The answer made sense, and Lightning sighed loudly as Fang pulled her back into bed. She snuggled into the brunette's side and kissed her neck. "I love you."
"And I love you, Light. We will get through this, and finally book that trip to Iemen, yeah?" Fang answered, softly stroking Lightning's hair and holding her close. The pinkette grumbled and shook her head.
"No. Just somewhere nice. And safe. And private. No more life-risking. I just want my time with you. Uninterrupted, while we have it."
They lay there quietly, just taking in each other's presence in this brief reprieve of peace they were given. Right now in this room, there were no wars to fight, no lives to risk. Lightning glanced up at Fang as the brunette leant over and pulled the covers over them. While serving as the goddess' champion, Lightning had seen everything of Fang's life, and then some. In her quiet moments while Caius went off to lick his wounds, she would often find her thoughts drifting to the Pulsian, her heart going out to her with every memory witnessed. Lightning leant up and kissed Fang, revelling in the one thing she wasn't able to do while stuck in the empty city.
"In Valhalla, time had no meaning. Not in the way you and I would experience it. I was there for centuries, lifetimes, eternities, hours, moments. It felt like I was watching countless lifetimes pass in a moment. But I just want this life. With you."
"And you'll get it, Light. I promise you, we will have our time."
Fang fiddled with the buttons on her jacket, opening the dinner coat up for what appeared to be the fifteenth time. She leant against the pillar in the dining hall and grumbled at the amount of elitist politicians and representatives milling about. "New World, same old bullshit."
"Now now darling, it's all for the sake of appearances." Lightning said with an easy smile, reaching over and buttoning up the jacket. "We don't want to cause a panic if someone spies your gun in your holster."
The pinkette gave a small squeak as Fang pulled her in close, her hand resting at the small of her back. "I'd like to know where you're keeping your piece, Sunshine." She murmured in Lightning's ear, kissing the outer edges and making her shiver. Fang leant back to admire the short blue dress, the sleek material hugging every curve and sending her imagination into overdrive.
"You can find out later." Lightning replied with a quirk of her eyebrow. "Or sooner, if Neo Sanctum is still insistent on making their move tonight."
"How can you even move in that if something does happen?" Fang asked, bewildered but not complaining about Lightning's choice of attire. The pinkette flashed her a brilliant smile that made her heart flutter as she slowly turned to walk away.
"I'm a professional, Fang. I know how to work to the conditions. If you'd like to watch me work..."
Fang didn't get a chance to respond before Lightning walked off with as sultry glance over her shoulder. She laughed and folded her arms, watching the pinkette mingle with the various diplomats with an ease she didn't expect to see from the often aloof woman.
"So... You two seem to be enjoying the evening, all things considered." Snow mused as he came to a stop alongside her. Fang gave him a shrug and fought not to fiddle with the jacket again. Catching Lightning's side-long glance at the buttons, as if sensing Fang's restlessness, the brunette lowered her hands to the sides and sighed.
"You gotta take the moments you can, Snow. Never know when it's going to be your last. Even though the world is falling down around you, there's still time to grab those fleeting moments of happiness. To seize them."
Snow nodded thoughtfully, watching his sister-in-law amongst the diplomats. His eyebrows raised when he witnessed her face light up in laughter. "Damn, I never would have expected she'd be into this."
"She's not. She's hating every minute of it." Fang observed, tilting her head curiously.
"How can you tell?"
Fang hummed, scratching her jaw for a moment. "The tone of her laugh is forced, for one. There's the slightest hint of an edge to it that tells me the diplomat has just made a really stupid comment. Her genuine laughter is much quieter. And see the posture? She's always usually so bloody rigid to begin with but she's slightly turned away, like she's ready to make an exit at the nearest opportunity. Lightning is very good at keeping up appearances. Just not with me."
Snow smiled at Fang's observant explanations, gently bumping her with his shoulder. "You know, you'd be the only person to see that side of her to know that. It makes me happy that you two have found each other. I always figured Light was so stressful when it came to anything concerning Serah. But I realised it was because Serah's all she had. Light was scared I was going to take her sister away from her, and she'd have nobody." He explained, watching Fang's stern but curious eyes on him as he spoke.
"I never wanted to do that of course," Snow continued, waving down a server to pinch a few hors d'oeuvres. "I never had a family, grew up in an orphanage like you did, Fang. I never wanted Claire to feel the way I did, to have nobody. I always hoped she'd accept me, and make me a part of her own family. Snow Farron has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
Fang swallowed a lump in her throat and clapped him on the back. "You big ol' softie. Have you told her any of this?" She asked, feeling a little taken aback by his words. When Snow shook his head she sighed. "I'd put you in a headlock if there wasn't at least thirty diplomats watching us. You should tell her this, Snow. Light isn't as big of an ice queen as everyone assumes she is. She went through hell and back to give us all the chance at a normal life, she knows the value of family."
Snow nodded and smiled warmly, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I know. It's why I'm here after all. Fighting for what's right, and fighting for my family. That includes you as well, Fang. All of you." He answered, glancing back over at Lightning and the intrigued expression on her face as she spoke with the diplomat that was allegedly the target. Now he understood. Everyone the pinkette had been schmoozing with was standing close by to Ambassador Vogel. She had been remaining nearby him all night without looking conspicuous.
"Hey, Fang?" He asked, getting her attention quietly. "Speaking of all… That… At the breakfast the other day. You seemed a little cagey about this potential attack. I trust sis and her skills but… You've seen more war than we have. It seemed like you aren't certain of Neo-Sanctum's plans. I get the feeling that you don't think this is their play."
Fang frowned, folding her arms and pressing her back against the pillar to stretch it out. The pieces fell into place well enough, but it was the well enough that bothered her. There was a straight path from start to finish in the intel they'd received. It was clean cut, precise, but also intentionally vague. There was nothing to suggest a backup plan, no word of contingency… Either the terrorists were very confident in their ability to follow through or… "We're the diversion." She said suddenly, her spine straightening. She tapped the earpiece to connect to the comms channel. "Rygdea. How many people do we have stationed here tonight?"
"Hey Fang, as many as we could. Snipers on the rooftops, aerial patrols, high security patrols, out-of-uniform agents for crowd blending, roads blocked off. Nobody is getting in."
"But has anyone actually tried?" Fang pressed, her urgency catching Lightning's eye. The pinkette walked over, looking concerned. "Has there been anyone reporting in anything even remotely out of the ordinary?"
"Not yet, girly. But the night is still young." Rygdea replied with a laugh, switching off the comms to go silent again. Fang hissed through her teeth as her partner approached. Taking her hand, Lightning leant in close to give her a comforting, chaste kiss on the lips.
"Everything alright?"
Fang shook her head, worrying her lip with her teeth. "No. Something's real off, darlin'. They've diverted as many resources as they could to tonight. We did something similar back in the War of Transgressions. My squad and I fed Cocoon soldiers fake intel, funnelled their resources into one area while we struck another. Gods. No wonder this feels so off. We're just a fucking diversion."
Lightning paled, looking around for where the Ambassador was. "If he's not the target, then what the hell is?" She took Fang's hand and held it tightly, suddenly very aware of the mistake they'd made. "Vanille is running intel with Serah and Rygdea isn't she? Tell her to send the data collected from that base to your phone, and get Serah to start scanning the channels for other attacks."
Fang quickly and diligently complied, speaking the orders in hushed tones so as not to draw attention. This could all be in vain, and the Ambassador could still be the target. But as the night dragged on and nothing at all transpired, Fang grew more and more nervous about the outcome. Speeches were given, awards were handed out, meals were had all without incident. Vanille and Serah received no reports of anything suspicious as they monitored other channels.
The Ambassador was ushered from the hall at the end of the evening into a bulletproof van driven by Noel, someone they could trust. All in all, a perfect night that went to plan for the diplomats, and that should have made Lightning happy. Instead it just filled her with dread.
"I don't get it." Snow said with a huff, still standing with the others in the empty hall. He'd grabbed a couple of beers and had handed them to the others now that they were officially off the clock. "I was expecting explosions and fighting and possible invasions but this was… Just boring. I mean… I want it to be boring. Boring is good. Boring means no fighting and everyone… Stays alive… Ah, I'm just going to shut up."
"An excellent idea." Lightning drawled, taking a sip of the beer. Rygdea entered into the hall looking frustrated, Vanille and Serah close behind. "So that was a bust. Is it too much to hope that they got scared and cancelled their plans after we hit their base?"
"God, I sure as shit hope so, Farron." Rygdea sighed, snatching the beer from Fang's hand and taking a long drink. "Maybe the precautions we took meant their plan wouldn't have worked. We couldn't get them to cancel the dinner but we could at least get them to cancel the press. Nothing televised, no message to get out."
A good a deterrent as any, Lightning supposed. Rygdea's phone rang and he excused himself to go answer it, Serah stepping over to snuggle into Snow's side. He kissed the top of her head and gave her a tight squeeze, just happy to be with her. Fang was right. He had to take the moments of happiness where he could.
Lightning watched her sister with a smile on her face, content with how happy Serah looked. Snow too. He had come a long way since the cocky NORA leader with the hero complex when she had first met him. He had grown a lot, and Lightning was proud to call him a part of her family. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud growl from behind her, turning to find Rygdea throwing his bottle of beer at the nearby pillar in a rage.
"Fuck!"
"Oi! That was perfectly good alcohol you wasted there, mate. What gives?" Fang demanded, lamenting the destruction of her stolen drink. Rygdea paced, throwing his phone to the ground and running his fingers through his hair. Lightning stepped over to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, leading him over to a nearby table and motioning for a waiter.
"Whiskey please." She said quietly, the server nodding and running off to fetch it from the bar. Lightning turned back to Rygdea, the concern on her face obvious. "What's happened?"
Rygdea suddenly started laughing before choking on his breath. He buried his head in his hands with a shuddering exhale. "The plan was executed perfectly. Neo-Sanctum got what they wanted."
"What? How? We were here the whole night! Is Vogel dead?" Fang demanded, stepping forward in a panic. Rygdea leant back with a sigh and shook his head.
"He's fine. He wasn't the target. Only made to look like one. I just received a report that one of the bases in the far west of Alemanya has been infiltrated and raided. The name of the base?" He paused, snatching the whiskey out of the waiter's hand and downed it in one hit. "Fucking Vogelsang."
Fang sat down in the seat opposite, her lip twisting in an angry snarl. "You've gotta be kidding me. So it was right under our noses the entire time? We just got the wrong fucking bird? Is everyone alright? What's the status of the base?"
Rygdea motioned for the waiter to refill the glass, downing it quickly to calm his nerves. Lightning saw how much his hands were shaking, and sat down next to him. She placed her hands over his with a solemn look. "How many?"
"Everyone. No survivors. The base checked in and then we presume the attack happened straight afterwards."
Lightning sighed, hanging her head. No matter how hard she fought, it still wasn't enough. Still more innocent lives would be lost, still humanity would fight. Was she trapped in an endless cycle of death and destruction? "I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as you're going to be if we don't stop them after that attack."
"I'm almost afraid to ask why…" Fang muttered, Rygdea giving her a sad look and wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked nervous, more nervous than she'd ever remembered seeing him, even when they were going up against Orphan and staging the coup on Eden.
"They hit Vogelsang for a reason, Fang. They stole a goddamn nuke."