Hello readers.

I must apologise for so long between updates, though I have many reasons at least for why I haven't updated. At first it was just because my epilepsy started acting up real bad which lasted a while. Then I went on holidays for shy on two weeks. Then I read through the last two books of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series, which kind of absorbed my life for a good three weeks. My obsession with it got to the point that I quite literally read the last book, an eight hundred and fifty paged book mind you, in five days. I was also delightfully enough, interrupted by my father as the main evil was dying and he wouldn't leave me alone no matter what I told him because he wanted me to hang clothes out. He has a problem with not being very considerate to what people are doing when he asks them to do things. To him if he asks you to do something he expects you to start doing it right away, even if the thing you're doing happens to be getting up off the lounge. No joke, he's done that to me a million times.

And I just got really sidetracked.

Anyway, my only other excuse is neglecting to write, for which I'm sorry. Also just another note before I go, I must warn that I wrote this while reading the second Tarzan book so there may be some old language in it, though I think I got most of it out in editing. The weird way I'm talking in this authors note is to be put down to that just before writing this I read I book based in medieval England and Ireland, and the old language in it has taken over my mind. So I'm not talking strangely on purpose I quite literally can do nothing to stop myself speaking like this no matter what I try.

With nothing else to say now, I guess on with the chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does.

A girl named Fate

Serah crawled up in a fetal ball as the car drove along, the bumps along the road acting as a bizarre rocking lullaby.

She didn't know what to think anymore. Too much had happened for her to hope to even put this day into words.

'This couldn't be real.' She tried to assure herself only to fail. Because it was real. As real as the leather seat that she felt beneath her and the presence of the three only people in the car.

There were two things she'd been told since leaving the school. Her true name, the one that she'd always guessed at because it no longer existed in her memories. It was Serah, they told her. Lebreau had chatted on about how a pretty name it was in an effort to cheer her up. It was nice of her to do so, but It didn't work.

The second was a confirmation on what she had already figured out. That Atla was not Atla, that in fact her name was Fang. Throw away all that had happened to the wind, it was that that made her see that the woman was an entirely different person from what she had been led to believe.

There were tears forming at the edge of her eyes, but she blinked so not to let them fall. They made her feel weak, and she didn't want to feel like that right now. It was hard to explain why, even to herself. Perhaps it was because she felt like if she gave into her incredible want to cry, she'd be unable to still the fall of tears for an unendingly long time.

Looking up, Serah let her gaze scan the interior of the car. It was all black, and created a very dark aura that scared in a weird sort of way. There was a man she had never seen before up front driving. She paid him little mind for he was not important to her at the moment.

Beside her on the far left side of the car sat Lebreau. She could feel the black haired girl casting her worried and sympathetic looks every now and then. She felt somewhat better to know that at least someone was caring enough to worry about her right now.

Because, though she wasn't sure if it was the case, from her point of view, Fang wasn't.

The elder woman sat up front by the driver's left side, stoic and seemingly ignorant of Serah's mental panic. What's more was that somehow, the dark aura she possessed, the one that Serah had been exposed to that day she had visited her at her apartment, had become impossibly darker. How that was even possible, was beyond comprehension.

With that thought Serah ended her look about the car and returned to looking down at her feet.

She felt Lebreau's eyes on her once again, but made no move to respond in any way or even show that she knew she was being looked at.

With nothing else to do, Serah let her body fall to the side slightly so that she was lying against the door. Holding back a sob, she closed her eyes and tried to block out the memories of the day gone past.

How horrible it had been.

'What a way to turn someone's life around.' She thought with a derisive mental laugh. It was like something out of a movie. Which of course, was a circumstance only ever fun to watch, not experience.

No. To experience it was hell and the fires that threatened to engulf her if she stepped tooclose to them scared the life out of her. More sobs tried to come to life in her throat but she denied them that right by biting down on her lip. The pain kept her focusedon the present for but a few more seconds, as in no time at all, remembrance of what had happened to her resurfaced in her mind to become dominant once more. And this time she couldn't stop the frightened tears from trailing down her face.

In the morning all had been normal, and the start of school no different. The only mars in her life were the non-existent memories of her life before a couple of months ago, which could easily be put down to amnesia. And the knowledge of Fang's problem, and while she didn't know their cause, she could think up many provocations that could have created them.

But then it all changed in the timespan of one bloody hour!

Rosch, who she had thought of as harmless, albeit annoying, not so long before turned into a dangerous enemy. In a flurry of guns and confusion her simple life had been shattered.

And she was whisked away from the danger zone and forced to sit by obediently as they drove away, onwards to Pulse's HQ. The only comfort offered to her was the promise of a full explanation when they got to their destination. What awaited her scared her, because if the past half hour was anything to go by, it wasn't good.

Closing her eyes tight, she wished herself away. If only for a little while, she wanted to fly away from here to somewhere safe and known. It didn't matter if it was imaginary.

Opening her eyes as the car came to a stop; Serah looked up and uncurled out of a ball, relaxing her limbs. Through the windows she could see the shape of the great looming structure that was Pulse's headquarters. Gulping, she made no attempt to fight against Lebreau when she opened the door for her and helped her outside. There was no fighting now, only acceptance of what was to come.

The grand metallic building that stood before them climbed many stories into the sky, more than she had ever bothered to count. Casting one last fearful glance along its colossal length, Serah followed along as the others began to walk forward to the doors.

The twin glass doors loomed closer with each step, each one filling Serah with more and more dread. What was going to happen to her once she walked through them? Part of her wished she knew, the other just wanted to run far away, curl up in little ball and never come out.

Shaking now, she let Lebreau's hand that laygently about her shoulders guide her on her way towards the doors.

And before she knew it she stood before them. And all too quickly, they were pushed open. It wasn't like she thought that the others would have afforded her the comfort of readying herself, it was just a selfish desire to prolong whatever it was that fate had in store for her as long as she could.

Inwards the doors went and they along with them. The inside, much to Serah's surprise, hadn't been what she had anticipated. Though it wasn't like many people would have anticipated the gigantic metal doors that were but a few metres from the doorway.

Blinking in surprise at the two metal monsters, Serah's startled observation was cut short by a curt pull on her arm on Fang's part. The woman let go quickly and walked past the group to a small section of the wall to what Serah noticed to be a camera. Fang held up what Serah thought must have been an ID of sorts, an action that was soon copied by Lebreau.

A couple of seconds later and the two huge doors began to creak inwards. They were slow going but eventually opened, exposing beyond them a short hallway that led into a large metallic chamber.

Though to the chamber they went, and there they stopped. In the corner of her eye, Serah saw Lebreau stiffen, but for what reason she did not know. So too, did she see that upon entering the chamber, that no small number of people left it once they had sighted them. Both actions made her curious.

Their reason for stopping soon became apparent as a man stepped forward from the swiftly dispersing crowd. He greeted them curtly and made no attempt at introductions, instead he got right on to why he was here.

Directing his attention to Serah alone he said "The higher ups have ordered to speak with you; I am to take you to them. The two behind you may go now."

He faced no argument from Lebreau at the request, if anything she backed off like a cowered dog. But Fang was a different story.

Directing her stone cold glare at the man she told him flatly "No, I'm going with her."

Much to Serah surprise he made no move to sway her decision. In fact he looked to be scared of the women beside her, like she was something dangerous that would tear him apart at a moment's notice.

"As you wish." He replied, cowering back from her, failing in his attempt to hide his fear from them.

From there he led them to one of three elevators that stood side by side up against the far wall of the chamber. Pressing the button for up, they waited for a time till the elevator opened its doors.

Serah gulped again as they walked inside, for whatever awaited her in her talk with the higher ups was beyond her grasp of knowledge. The only thing she knew for trueright now, was that it felt like she was walking into hell.

"It's good to see you again Serah, though I would have preferred it if it had been under different circumstances." A man with a stubble beard and dark hair greeted her as she was led into a large rectangular room somewhere on the higher levels of the building. He kept his voice jovial, but there was a note in it that even she could recognise, that said he was speaking lies.

Fang stood against the wall behind her in silence. Serah noticed that at least once, all of the men in the room threw her a distasteful look, except for one with longish black hair who sat in the far corner. Obviously, they did not want her to be here, which Serah had an inkling that she would have known beforehand, but decided to come despite it.

The man continued on, in his light but lying voice. "We have much to tell you. But I assure you we will tell you as much as possible."

Behind her Fang snorted. The sound invoked a look of anger on the man's face, but he quickly smoothed it over and chose to ignore her. Serah wondered what part of the man's words exactly had provoked her.

"As I said, there is much to tell you, but if you merely take a seat we shall begin."

Nodding, she did as he asked, and took a seat down at one of the tables in the room. The man sat on the side opposite her. She knew she should have been giving him her full attention but as she sat down she felt herself fall into a daze. His words drifted over her ears. They were heard, just not processed by her mind.

"Now, for starters" he said "you must know our 'secrets' so to speak." Casting a furtive glance at Fang, wishing for her not to interrupt, he turned his attention back to Serah.

"Pulse and Cocoon, as I'm sure you've had a taste of already, are not what we pretend to be to the public. We are two super powers as you know, but our fight for power over the other isn't quite so, usual. To be true it's quite a tale of sabotage and espionage. We use agents against each other to fight. They are our swords in this battle and we are the arms and body that guide them. They do missions for us; take out any of Cocoon's cronies that need taking care of. Gather information for us that will help us to better grasp worldly control off Cocoon. Anything that they are told to do."

"You are one such agent. You were undoubtedly the best spy in our number in the short time you were with us. But unfortunately, for both the both of us, you were discovered after infiltrating Cocoon's inner sanctum. You would have been killed, had it not been for the woman behind you."

That sentence brought her out of her daze. Snapping her head up, she twisted it backwards so that she could see Fang. Suddenly, her view of the woman utterly changed for what had to be the third time in the last few weeks. It was a peculiar thought to know that she owed the woman her life. And it made her entirely rethink what her connection to her was. Perhaps it was more than she had originally thought.

Her stare was not returned by Fang as the woman kept her head down, but it was obvious that she could feel all the eyes looking her way.

Turning back around, she directed her attention wholly at the conversation. Out of her daze, the man's past words began to sink and she began to finally realise the true gravity of her situation. Now she wanted to know all that had happened to her.

Her voice sounding small, she asked inquisitively "So what happened to me then?"

"After the whole fiasco with Cocoon, we could not direct their attention away from you. Bluntly, they wanted you dead; it was as simple as that. So in an attempt to hide you for as long a time as they gave up searching for you, our scientists inserted a chip into your brain that would release a drug into your system that would suppress your memory, making it seem as if you had amnesia. That way it would seem as if you were just a normal girl, even to yourself. Unfortunately, Cocoon did not stop searching. It got to the point that we had to place shadow agents on you to keep you monitored day and night. Which as you should know, were the two agents who brought you here. There was as well of course, the woman who looked after you. She was also an agent, but alas she was never a very loyal woman by nature, and turned tail last night and came back here saying that she no longer cared what happened to you.."

"Anna?" Serah murmured shocked. The man confirmed her with a nod . The knowledge was like an arrow through the heart. She thought so highly of Anna, and had truly cared for her. Knowing that her feelings weren't returned in the least was very harsh.

Feeling truly sad, Serah asked the man "What else?"

His reply was curt.

"There is nothing else I have to tell you. You are to go now to the 42nd floor to the room marked 48. It is a vacant room that shall now be yours to use. The chip in your brain will be removed at a date we decide, we will inform you when. Whatever more you wish to know, you can find out for yourself. We have no obligation to tell you."

For a moment Serah did nothing more than stare at the man. Then finally she exclaimed "What!"

Her expression turned sour as she continued to stare at the man. Now she understood why Fang had snorted at his words. It was so rude. To put her through so much and give her no more than basic fact.

"Are you serious!? I go through all this and that's all you're going to tell me. For the love of god! I don't even know who I am other than that I was an agent working for Pulse! Can't you give me anything else?"

For the first time since stepping into this place she was feeling an emotion other than overwhelming fear and sadness. And it was anger.

"I have no reason to give you any more than I have; there are plenty of people who will be willing to tell you more, but we do not have to tell you more that isn't of utmost importance."

Glaring at the man, she stood up angrily ready to argue further, but was stopped when a hand touched her shoulder. Looking up she saw the black haired man she had observed earlier sitting in the corner standing above her. He didn't seem mad at her outburst, instead he was calm.

Looking back, he grabbed her shoulder and pushed her in Fang's direction.

"Get her out of here." He told her, sounding as calm as his visage made him appear to be. So Serah couldn't figure out whathis reasons were for what he was doing.

Fang nodded at him and took Serah's arm and left through the door with her without argument.

Once outside, the two walked in silence for a time. Serah keeping pace behind Fang with crossed arms, upset over the rudeness of the higher ups. Once they reached the elevator, she made a note on it.

"They're certainly rude aren't they.

Fang let out a unfriendly laugh "You haven't even scratched the surface." Was her dark reply.

After that they fell silent again. The elevator took them down to the floor the executives had directed her to go to and Fang stepped out with her. By an unspoken agreement to lead her to her room.

The silence continued as they weaved their way through the agents that were scattered here and there along the winding hallways till Serah spoke up again.

"Who was that black haired man?"

"Cid. He's technically not one of the top dogs but they tend to keep him up there with them."

Her tone made it clear she didn't want to talk any more than that but Serah didn't want to elapse into silence again. So she continued to talk. Or rather tried to, but she couldn't think of a subject. So no one made a noise up until her thoughts began to stray to wonderings of the woman in front of her. There were many things she wanted to know about her after all that had happened. Though she was pretty sure given the woman's personality that any questions wouldn't be well received. Still, that didn't stop the question slipping unbidden from her lips.

"Fang why do you hate people so much?" Serah herself blinked in half surprise when she'd realised she'd actually voiced the question. She had thought Fang would ignore it,since she thought it wasn't a big deal, but instead the woman stopped dead in her tracks.

Fang held her silence for a moment, then said while pointing ahead of them "Follow the numbers, you'll find 48." Then she turned back around and walked past Serah.

Confused by the woman's response to what she had thought was a harmless question, Serah twirled around and called back to her retreating figure.

"Fang?!"

Her yell made Fang stop, but only long enough for her to say "Serah, do well to listen to people when they tell you to stay away from the black cat." Then she was lost down the long hallway filled with loitering Agents.

Serah kept staring down the hallway for a few moments more, then, knowing nothing would come of it, turned back around and walked on to the room marked with the number 48.

After finding the room in question, Serah walked inside. It was sparsely furnished, with no more than a bed, a wardrobe and a bedside table. As well as a wooden desk and chair on the far side of the room. Clutching her hands together at her sides in a nervous action, Serah closed the door behind her.

With nothing else to do she lay on the bed and thought. Thought about today, the past week, the past few months, everything. Anything in fact that came to her mind. She contemplated what her future would be from now on and what her past may have contained. She thought for so long, that she fell into a dream like trance looking at the room's right wall. She was about to fall victim to sleep's waiting embrace when a knock on the door awoke her.

Snapping up, she lifted herself into a sitting position and asked anxiously "W-who's there?"

There was no answer. Instead whoever was outside opened the door and let themselves in without permission. Serah made a metal note to lock the door next time.

From the door, a little girl walked into the room. Her hair was a strange array of shades of purple and she wore a sleeveless black dress that fell about her ankles. She couldn't have been more than five or six. She looked up at Serah and smiled.

"It's good to see you again." She said and Serah was struck by how eloquently she spoke for her age, so much so that it was even a little creepy.

"You know me?"

The girl nodded "Before you left, yes."

Taking in that knowledge Serah did a little nod of her head "Well?" she inquired.

"I'd like to think so." The girl replied.

Staring at the girl as she walked over andpulled the wooden chair away from the table and sat on it, Serah asked her "Why are you here?"

"To tell you things I guess. I'd be an idiot to think that the higher ups would tell you everything you need to know and you certainly won't be getting an explanation from Fang if I think I know her half as well as I do."

Gnawing on her lip curiously as she stared at her, Serah posed her one last question "Who are you?"

The girl gave her a soft smile and held out her hand in greeting.

"I am Fate."

It only strikes me lately just how strange a girl Fate is. Though it's to be expected of her, considering that the way she has grown up has denied her a proper childhood. Also, like how Serah says in the chapter, the way she speaks is actually legitimately creepy. It's like hearing an adult's voice from a child, and yet it still being a child's voice. It you get what that means. And love her name, I can't remember exactly what made me come up with that name anymore but I love it, and it fits her, as you'll see in later chapters.

And completely irrelevant, but I came up with a line while making a cup of tea but neglected to write it down right away so I've forgotten some of it, so I want your opinion on which of these sounds better.

It started with "He's a good man" and the rest was either of these three lines.

"your story paints him foul." "your story fouls him." or "your story does him foul."

I want to have the best one before I decide to write in it down. I have a book of quotes you see, some I've stolen (My language for took) and others I created myself, like the line above. I put them in my stories where I see fit and I hate when forget a really awesome quote because I forgot to write it down. And I really don't want to lose the quote above because I really like it and I came so close to doing so.

This was rather irrelevant to the story I know but I have really bad habit of getting off track.

So I'd love it if someone could give a review telling me which line they prefer and a word or two of the chapter I hope.

~Sayonara (Note of uselessness: I've learnt how to write in Japanese.)