The Eidolon
The following morning did little to ease their nerves, though they kept their cool heads with the hope of solving the ordeal together. Beautiful sunlight and breathtaking scenery may have encased them in mindless peace for a few minutes, but reality still hung in the air, and time continued ticking.
As Tifa stirred from her slumber, she saw Lightning and Snow approach from the path leading into Vallis Media. A limp Gorgonopsid was thrown lifelessly across Snow's shoulders, the added weight barely breaking his stride. They continuously tossed bits of banter to each other, unfazed by their plight in the least. In another direction, Serah was helping Cloud and Vincent adjust to calling upon natural magic from within, as well as showing them the kinds of offensive and defensive spells they could cast depending on any situation they would find themselves in.
Without wasting time, the group started preparing for breakfast, only to quietly eat amongst each other as the journey ahead weighed on their minds. This tiny reprieve was well worth it, if they wanted to keep their humanity for the near future. No one let out much of a smile or a light tone of conversation, but it was more than enough to grasp on to the string of hope that kept them going.
Just before they set out, Snow meandered into a small part of the camp. Looking down at his brand, he quietly prayed and watched it glow in a bright hue before streams of light rushed out. A bulky ice shard materialized out of thin air, condensing until crack echoed across the mass. Finally, the bulk shattered into flying pieces, revealing Stiria and Nix accompanied with a strong pang of nostalgia.
A smile of relief appeared on Snow's face. "Hey," he greeted with a casual wave. "Long time no see." In return, the Twin Sisters answered with pleasant gestures, content with being called upon once more to give aid.
Footsteps drew closer from behind him; Snow through a glance over his shoulder to find Serah with folded arms and a dubious look. "These are your Eidolons?" She eyed the sisters warily. As a somewhat extension of Snow himself, Stiria and Nix were more than willing to show courtesy to Serah by bowing their heads and regarding her with innocent pleasantries. Still, Serah's first reaction was understandable. "Did they have to be girls?"
Snow couldn't hold back a knowing smirk. He slid an arm around Serah's waist before kissing the top of her head. "Am I sensing some jealousy here?" he teased.
It didn't take long for her to give in and stifle a laugh. She should have known better than to doubt Snow, who readily stood by her side even when she revealed her first l'Cie brand.
As she turned up to gaze toward Snow, something caught her eye upon his black bandanna. At first, she assumed the strange coloring she saw was due to the sun's glare obstructing her vision…but even after blinking, the red dot remained fixated on his head, clear as the sky.
Serah's heart stopped in an instant just as she whipped her head to the side, instantly finding a small shrubbery deep in the shadows. A similar red dot shot out through the darkness, and she could make out the silhouette of a man in familiar armor.
"Snow, get DOWN!"
Lunging toward her fiancé, she drove enough force to knock him out of the way before his stumbled footing caused the both of them to fall. Before they even hit the ground, the ear-splitting crack of gunfire echoed throughout the gorge, alerting the others with a jolt as they jumped to their feet.
"Serah!" Lightning cried out as she searched the area. Stiria and Nix immediately turned vigilant and pursued the attacker in the shadows. Leaving nothing to chance, Cloud and Tifa followed the Eidolons at the ready. As they took off, Lightning and Vincent caught the sound of mechanical whirring growing steadily louder above their heads. Casting their stares toward the skies, they noticed an immense airship descending upon them, ropes shooting toward them as more soldiers slid down. Lightning growled at the craft she easily recognized. "PSICOM!" Together, she and Vincent whipped out their guns and took out as many grunts as they could before the enemies retaliated with their own bullets. Before the PSICOM soldiers touched ground, Lightning and Vincent flew for cover and continued their assault, hoping to draw fire from the others.
Approaching Serah and Snow, Tifa got down to their level as they came up in knelt positions. "Are you hurt?!" she asked nervously.
Serah shook her head as she pulled the bow over her head and readied an arrow. "No, we're good."
"Those bastards!" Snow rushed to his feet before taking off after his Eidolons and Cloud. Bitter frost emanated from his fingertips, turning even the air around him frigid as the l'Cie power burst forth. Swinging his arm in a wide arc, Snow sent razor-tipped shards across the field, and they sped past Cloud and the Eidolons in no time at all. They caught many of the frontline soldiers in their throats, blood immediately flooding their lungs as their windpipes were crushed.
Cloud whipped the main blade from the holster and cut through a row of soldiers in a single motion, effortlessly knocking them down in time for the Eidolons to encase them in icy prisons. Raising his free arm, he quickly shot up to slam the butt of his palm into a soldier's lower jaw, and his opponent was thrown back with incredible force.
A second wave of PSICOM brutes was ready to fire, but Cloud instantly rushed forward to wrap his fingers around one of the assault rifle's muzzles. Yanking it to the side, he forced the soldier holding it to jerk along with it, meeting Cloud's other hand as it brought a swift chop to the grunt's neck. Once his first target was incapacitated, he immediately tore the gun free and raised it high in the air; it flew down to smash into another PSICOM grunt's shoulder to send him down.
Looking ahead, Snow noticed the long line of soldiers Cloud was bound to face and became certain he wouldn't come away from them unscathed. He scooped up a forgotten assault rifle before waving to one of his Eidolons.
"Nix!"
The younger Shiva sister complied quick enough while Snow ran back a few feet to get a good start. Stiria released blankets of frostbiting mist with a wave of her hand, hoping to slow down pursuit and give Cloud the upper hand.
Once Nix prepared herself, Snow rushed back toward the fight, going into a sprint before stomping a boot on Nix's outstretched palms. He was instantly launched into the air, soaring over Cloud and their adversaries with one of his smug grins. With carefree aim, he unleashed a round of bullets from the gun's muzzle; a good line of PSICOM's forces instantly dropped dead, even taking some of their allies by surprise in time for Cloud to get the jump. After Snow's gigantic feet hit the ground on the other side of the soldiers, he swung a full roundhouse kick to knock them aside, giving him and Cloud the advantage of striking from two fronts.
When she was sure Serah could execute long range attacks without much risk of being ambushed, Tifa rushed to take care of any strays Cloud had missed on his end of the fight. Stiria and Nix flung PSICOM grunts everywhere as swirls of ice surrounded their vicinities. As she shot past, Tifa made sure to avoid the trash they took out, but it was inevitable of her to run into some soldiers that managed to slip past. The soldiers caught sight of her oncoming form, and they retaliated by rushing forward as well.
Tifa dropped to the ground, sliding with her feet forward in time to avoid the muzzles aimed in her direction. As she drew closer, she came back up on her feet to swing a backhanded fist across their heads, and they easily tumbled to the side like dominos. In a quick follow-up, she brought her fist forward and covered it with her other hand before raising it high above her head to smash down on an unfortunate soldier's helmet.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another grunt hoping to catch her off guard. She gave a swift jab to his gut with her foot before the brand on her ankle began to vaguely illuminate. Brief sparks thrashed around her foot as she slightly crouched. Tifa wasted no time in reeling her leg back and sweeping it across in a bright flash to send electric shocks through the soldier's being.
Meanwhile, Serah did her best to cut the enemies' numbers on either end of the battlefield, working from a distance without drawing too much attention upon her. Despite the effort, PSICOM soldiers continued to pour, and it was a long while before they saw their chances at victory.
As she concentrated on helping the others, she failed to notice the lone soldier lurking in the shadows, drawing closer at a frightening pace. It was only when he was right behind her did he cock his gun free of the empty shells, preparing for his final strike. Serah spun on her heel with a pale face; her few yet intensive training sessions with Lightning taught her that it would be too difficult to protect herself from a gun at this point. The bow and fitted arrow slipped from her trembling fingers as she watched the soldier take aim.
Before his finger could pull the trigger, a tight fist smashed into the side of his head. Something gripped his arm and violently pulled him back in the opposite direction, giving his neck an unbearable whiplash. His vision blurred immensely, but the soldier was able to make out a flash of pink surrounding fiery aqua eyes, glaring at him with outrage. The visage was familiar, but he had no time to think of it as a firm elbow came down upon his shoulder, adding up the damage to his upper body. Bones shifted and cracked; a great tremor ran down to his legs as he fell to his knees. The soldier gasped weakly as the pain took control, and all he could do was watch the woman before him turn with a kick to send him flying back.
"What are you doing?!" the soldier screeched at the top of his lungs. As he worked to prop himself up on his elbows, he could only watch as Lightning aimed the muzzle of her Blazefire Saber at his forehead. An icy chill seeped out to her surroundings as she looked down at the soldier with contempt.
Vincent watched their little exchange almost passively, expecting to see Lightning pop the man's head with a single bullet in the blink of an eye…but the subtlest hesitation was caught by his quick eye. The man's tone sounded too informal to see Lightning as a complete stranger, almost as if he had known her – his mortal enemy.
Or so she was supposed to be.
Before anyone could say another word, Lightning pulled the trigger and wasted him, but not without betraying the smallest grimace on her face. Vincent was sure it wasn't due to this ambush, which was handled relatively well. He carefully observed her expression, which remained heavily guarded even after stillness fell upon the battlefield.
Soon enough, Snow returned to Serah's side with a look of relief. As Tifa and Cloud arrived to regroup, Lightning approached one of the corpses and picked up a sword that was broad at the hilt, but quickly slimmed down to a razor tip. She observed its condition before approaching Serah.
"Here," she said, offering the weapon to her curious sister. "It's a bowsword. The latest in the arsenal, right after my gunblade." Before Serah stretched her hand out toward it, Lightning quickly pulled it back to twirl the handle in her palm. The blade split in half and eased back toward the hilt while the handle extended, changing its appearance in no time flat. A rod of electric blue energy extended across the original handle to the apex of the curve.
Serah watched with awe as the bowsword fell into her hands. It was lighter than she expected, probably due to the flexibility it needed to have in order to be used to its full potential.
"Spinning it in your palm recharges it," Lightning explained.
As Cloud watched Lightning interact with Serah, he finally saw how she could balance such a dangerous career with the task of caring for her only family. If it weren't for Serah, none of them would have gotten Lightning to open up upon her arrival on the Planet.
Before he could move, Vincent came up from behind Lightning, his face hard and keen.
"Looked like they were with you," he spoke with full skepticism. Lightning and the others turned toward him taken aback, but Lightning's face didn't make him falter. Vincent knew what he saw – that PSICOM soldier was expecting Lightning to be fighting with them, not against. "You're a – what – a Sanctum l'Cie, right?"
Snow understood his implication as fast as his face turned dark. He gently pushed Serah back as he trudged up to stand behind Lightning. "Watch it," he growled threateningly, his eyes glaring at Vincent with resentment.
Watching the escalation, Tifa hurried to stand between Vincent and Lightning. "Just because she's branded by them—"
"It makes her their slave," he stated matter-of-factly. Throwing their own words back at them would have been a low blow, but the truth rang clear. Unlike Serah and the others, Lightning was a Sanctum l'Cie this time. Even if she truly wanted to help them complete their Focus, she was putting her own fate on the line, and knowing what was to come couldn't have allowed for a clear mind and judgment.
Cloud watched Lightning absorb the accusation. Being ostracized by citizens she barely knew was one thing, but to be held accountable by allies was too debilitating. Vincent's words made sense, and Cloud felt the mysteries behind their Focus tauntingly clear up.
As similar enlightenment darkened the others' faces, Vincent regretted finding what was right in front of them. "I don't like the idea, either," he tried to amend. "…But it's possible."
Lightning's expression was pained, but still guarded. "You think I'd turn against you?"
"Sanctum l'Cie are enemies of Pulse," he reiterated without a twinge of doubt. The Cocoon and Pulse regulations were getting clearer as he thought about it, and he was getting the hang of this l'Cie business. It was kill or be killed, and most of it relied on who to trust. Choosing the wrong path could turn so many things wrong – a risk Vincent wasn't very willing to take, even if Lightning was his friend.
The reality was easily mapped out in Cloud's mind, though he had wished it didn't make sense. Ignorance truly was bliss in a way, for he wouldn't be too discouraged to continue on their mission. The brand on his arm blazed with irritation, forcing him to choose a side. Vincent wasn't far off in his accusation...
But was he ready to stand against Lightning so early?
With a fervent shake of his head, Cloud stepped forward, his face hard. "That's enough, Vincent. It doesn't mean we have to turn against her—"
A harsh memory decided to prove him wrong at that point – a vivid dream that was forever etched into his mind. The look in Lightning's eyes was something to look out for…or something he had to make sure didn't come to fruition.
But that was their task – strike Lightning down or damn their own existence to become cie'th. Could he really abandon all conscience, all his feelings, just to keep himself and the others from their fate?
The burden weighed heavily in his chest, but that wasn't the only place where pain blossomed. With every passing second, the brand on his bicep burned hotter, faster than any fire being sparked to life. Cloud ground his teeth as his muscles on the left side of his body convulsed, refusing to follow his will and forcing him down on one knee.
"Cloud?!" Tifa whipped her head to his direction, and everyone soon turned to see his agitated form. His right hand flew to the burning l'Cie brand, but it didn't stop the sensation on his skin, almost as if it was being flayed right then and there. A mako-colored gleam emanated through his hand, along with an enlarged projection of the brand. Underneath, a large intricate pattern illuminated the ground, surrounding him like a force field.
The others staggered back at the sight, the sea green glow lighting up their bewildered expressions. "Is this-?!" Serah had imagined for so long, wondering how a l'Cie could reach pit bottom for this intervention to occur.
"Cloud!" Snow beckoned him to their direction. "Get out of there!"
The glyph beneath him began turning in a mechanical fashion, the ground trembling in its wake. Cloud got to his feet and staggered toward the others before a glance over his shoulder revealed a crystalline sphere taking his place on the glyph. Dark clouds formulated in the sky, and strong winds struck them without warning.
"What's happening?!" Tifa asked just before a gust of wind enveloped the sphere, ultimately revealing an aerial creature spinning in place. Its speed accelerated greatly until the navy blue wings finally expanded a great length, a little past the boundaries of the dissipating glyph. The underbelly was covered with leather-like substance until it reached the tail, where it was decorated in albino scales. After craning its neck toward the group, the creature revealed its oddly bent break, though it was still sharp enough to pierce the toughest of metals.
Cloud watch as the glowing eye sockets rested upon him, filled with a strange conviction that he felt was interpretable. However, his mind was still lost amidst the chaos surrounding them.
Lightning pulled out the Blazefire Saber and extended it into its sword mode. "It's an Eidolon," she explained over the ear-splitting flapping of the creature's wings. "They come to l'Cie when they need them the most." She then turned to Cloud, her eyes looking upon him with uncertainty and fear. "And you need to fight her."
"What?!" Cloud stared at her incredulously, waiting for a cracked smile and the creature to vanish into thin air…But everything remained, and the Eidolon began growing impatient. Opening its beak, it let out a shrill cry; the group clasped the sides of their heads to block out the sound, but it was futile.
With a mighty swing of its tail, the Eidolon whipped Tifa and Lightning away like flies, distancing them from its prey. Serah acted fast, spinning the bowsword in her hand until an arrow became visible at the apex, and took aim at the Eidolon. However, she couldn't react to its mighty recoil; the tail instantly lashed out in her direction, soon to strike her down.
Luckily, Snow intercepted to take the brute of the force. They fell back simultaneously, thrown farther than Lightning and Tifa. Vincent leveled his Cerberus gun with the creature's face, hoping to take a precise shot, but it instantly zoomed toward the sky, a bright glow emanating from its beak. Even with the distance between them, Vincent could sense the intense energy waiting to be released. Without hesitation, he leapt for cover just as a bright beam shot out of the Eidolon's beak, carving a fissure in the ground and wall like a deadly laser.
Cloud fell to his knees as the ground trembled even more. With the creature out of reach, it was impossible to make an effective strike. Were they even supposed to kill it? Lightning and the others still hadn't told them everything about their l'Cie potential, and he was sure this was going to be a rough lesson. What irked him the most was how it unevenly divided its attention amongst the party – the feral strikes seemed to be aimed at everyone else more than him, the sole source of this creature. Despite his wish to save everyone, the Eidolon looked to test his wish…to see if his conviction would stand even with all the others' lives depended on him at once.
Close to the base camp, Lightning ran out of her cache and aimed her Blazefire Saber at the Eidolon, unleashing bullet after bullet in hopes of even scratching it. The Eidolon screeched at her fruitless attempts before taking a nosedive with her at the dead center. Anticipating its goal, Lightning ran back, dashing for any cover that wouldn't put the others in danger…
But the creature proved to be wicked fast and relentless. Its claws suddenly swooped down and latched tightly onto her shoulder, digging through to try and pierce the skin. Lightning cried out just before she was lifted off her feet, taken into the air like a worm on a hook. The gunblade slipped from her fingers, leaving her with nothing but her hands to fend for herself.
It happened so slowly in his eyes, yet Cloud still couldn't do anything as the Eidolon swooped in menacing circles, swinging Lightning in its grasp like a rag doll. Rage found its way up his throat, his fist shaking immensely at his side. The l'Cie brand glowed just as a sphere of flames burst to life in his palm, the heat even making Cloud himself sweat at its intensity.
As the creature swung back around in his direction, he reeled his arm back to throw the fire in an arcing motion, the sphere sailing through the air. It erupted upon contact with the creature's underbelly, and the scorch elicited a cry of pain.
While it lurched with fatigue, the grip on Lightning's shoulder slackened, leaving her to plummet to the ground with no preparation. Cloud darted toward her destination, leaping at the last moment to catch her in his arms before sliding across the grass and dirt. He clutched her tightly to his chest, only loosening when his back ran into the stacks lining the camp.
Carefully setting her against the stacks, Cloud observed the red streaks lining her bare shoulder; he let out a sigh of relief when he found that the skin wasn't broken. Lightning took the good handful of seconds to catch her breath, but it stuck in her throat when her eyes widened at a sight behind Cloud.
"Watch out!"
He already knew without her warning – the furious beating of the wind on his back alerted him of just how close the Eidolon was. Even when he stood in its path, it was intent on hurting Lightning, on proving to him exactly how feeble his attempts were to save her. Cloud never hoped it would happen this way – to lose her right in front of his eyes.
It wasn't going to happen today.
He heard the creature crow lowly, as if to persuade him to move aside. The flutter of wings indicated that it moved back, preparing itself for the final strike once he was out of harm's way. Restless, the Eidolon let out a final screech, its bloodthirsty eyes settling on Lightning before the lunge. The razor sharp beak was aimed at Cloud's back, giving him no time to think…He just acted.
"NO!"
Reaching for the main blade, he spun on his heel, extending the sword before him as the Eidolon's outstretched beak collided with it. The blade couldn't cut through the hardy scales and steel-like cartilage, but it was enough to hold it back. The gleaming tip of the beak hovered just before Cloud's face, tempting to carve his flesh like butter. His feet were planted firmly on the ground, only sliding a few inches when the Eidolon wrestled to break free. Cloud's mako eyes sent the deadliest of glares at the Eidolon, daring it to try and push him down just to get to Lightning.
When it felt like the struggle would become endless, the creature suddenly pulled back and hovered in the air, its screeches slowly weakening in ferocity. Cloud held the main blade before him at the ready, though he wondered how long he could remain standing if the Eidolon became vigilant again.
To his and Lightning's surprise, it perched itself on the edge of the cliff, the great wings furling in as its head bowed low before Cloud. The bloodlust in the Eidolon's eyes faded away, leaving only obedience and tamed yielding. What was feral and wild just a minute ago was now docile and compliant.
He wasn't sure how, but Cloud knew he could trust the creature's subordination. As he looked upon the Eidolon, he met its eye in the most trusting gaze, and a strong tether bound his entire being to it.
"By the grace of Etro, may the winds bow to your power. Come forth, priestess of the skies.
A name in blood, a pact of tempest. She shall rise, her bond eternal and unyielding.
Blinding light.
Stifling flurry."
The words echoed in the recesses of his mind, as if a woman was communicating with him telepathically. Cloud watched the Eidolon carefully, and the look on its face was a knowing one; in an instant, a name came to him, his eyes widening with enlightenment.
"Valefor."
As soon as her name passed his lips, the Eidolon dissipated in a flash of light, the only traces of her presence being the ravaged field and tainted air filled with smoke and ash. Lightning got up on her feet while the others finally emerged, reeling at the chaos littering Vallis Media. The fallen PSICOM soldiers were forgotten among the dirt and debris strewn about by Valefor.
"Where did it go?" Tifa asked nervously. By instinct, she turned her gaze to the skies, expecting the Eidolon to come crashing down for round two.
But Lightning merely nodded toward Cloud's brand as he remained speechless. "It's his Eidolon now, to help him whenever he calls."
Now that he thought about it, Cloud could feel a new strain of power flowing beneath his skin, melding with the one already there to offer courage and morale. If he was strong enough to protect Lightning from his own Eidolon, perhaps he was already on the way to stop this Focus once and for all.
"Well," Snow boomed a little too cheerfully. He stretched his arms above his head as if to get rid some knots in his back. "Back to the original plan, I guess?"
"Plan?" Serah asked in a blend of skepticism and curiosity.
He nodded. "Yep. Getting rid of these brands."
In spite of his positive outlook, Tifa remained troubled as she folded her arms across her chest. "Didn't you say yesterday that we would need a miracle to get them off?"
Snow smirked. "We can find a way," he answered simply. Though they were given a Focus, their actions from this point on were up to them. "Those so-called gods don't control us."
"He's right."
The others turned to see Lightning search one of the PSICOM's corpses, rising to her feet with a blinking intercom in hand. Immediately, the first assumption ran through their heads – this assault wasn't going to be undetected back on Cocoon. More units would turn up against them, stealthier and deadlier than this time
But the occurrence didn't faze Lightning in the least. Dropping the intercom, she ground it with her heel, tiny sparks and smoke erupting from the scraps. She turned back to the others with the determined face they knew all too well.
"I'm tired of being their damn slave," she said like poison. "They want a fight? We'll give them one." Fate and destiny no longer meant anything to the re-branded l'Cie. Even when all hope was lost, and they were suspended in darkness, they held on to the light of hope that burned brightly in their hearts, creating a new world that they now had to save once again.
Cloud could see how set they were in freeing them from the shackles. It was this very determination that he couldn't help but admire in Lightning. Despite having the world against her, she was able to ignite a spark to carry them on, and she wasn't going to stop until she reached her goal.
But even then, where would they be when it was all over? Before the others noticed, Cloud turned away as his expression darkened, haunted by the conviction he almost let slip away. This was sure to be their greatest challenge yet – one where they wouldn't get out unscathed. He had to figure out where to go soon, before Lightning's life was endangered even more.
They were determined to see this adventure through until the end…but could they avoid the fatal outcome that awaited Lightning?
"Right," he said listlessly before walking past the others toward the Archylte Steppe, setting the village named Oerba as their destination. Tifa followed with Serah and Snow with renewed hope; meanwhile, Vincent hesitated for the quickest moment before silently trailing behind, his thoughts locked securely to himself.
Lightning lingered in the rear, watching the others begin the quest to free themselves of their Focus…until her chest burned reprimandingly. Stifling a cry, she fell to one knee, clutching her chest with aggravation. Her torso felt like exploding from the pain, but instead the pain lingered as torture, as if to teach her a lesson for her defiance. She gritted her teeth while her hand grabbed a fistful of dirt, waiting for the worst of it to dissipate.
Once she tiredly got back up to her feet, Lightning slowly made her way to following the others, her expression callous and undecipherable. She fought the urge to check the mark with every step, intent on fixing this accursed twist of fate till her last breath.