Ultimecia's Castle

It turned out that his opponent had gotten away. Kefka, Exdeath, and Kuja had somehow left the warrior alone. At the moment, the three were being punished by Garland for being careless. In the time they were gone, she, at least Kefka reported that the opponent was a she before he skipped out to work on his little pet project, had vanished. The three claimed Golbez had promised to watch her. But somehow, she had knocked the armored man unconscious and had escaped.

Noctis had a hard time believing that Golbez was telling the truth. From what he had gathered, Golbez was very much still a supporter of Cosmos, but had done some actions between wars in Dissidia that he felt were unfitting of a Warrior of Cosmos. He truly believed that Golbez had helped the girl escape. Unfortunately, he was in hot water for getting in the way of Sephiroth's opponent.

Trying to plan his next steps, Noctis decided it was best to let the other warriors fight with his opponent. That way, he could prepare for the fight with her. He also contemplated the thought of just going directly to Cosmos. It was still an option, but he would wait until the opportune and last moment to do that. In the mean time, he would patently wait.

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World of Darkness

Lightning had jumped out of Golbez's portal to find herself in a world dominated by purple pillars and matching tiled floors. A quick sweep of the area revealed no one else there. Relieved, she found a pillar and sat on the ground. Realizing that she had not slept since she was at Cosmos' Shrine, Lightning closed her eyes, and quickly fell into a deep slumber, her scarlet cape as a makeshift blanket, her gunblade right above her head in reach of her hands.

Her dreams were peaceful. It was filled with images of Pulse, of Snow and the rest of team Nora, and of the Forest in Pulse, where there was an actual sun and moon. Suddenly, a loud and scary laugh interrupted Lightning's sleep. She jumped to her feet, grabbed her weapon, ran to one of the nearby stone pillars and hid behind it.

"That was quite a show you put on!"

Lightning peered behind the pillar to see two people, a woman and a little boy. She could not make out the details of their outfits or faces because she was viewing them from behind. And they were talking with…Kefka!

What is he doing here?

"As expected of my bestest buddy. What magnificent destruction!" the clown spoke.

"Kefka...!" replied the woman, "What are you scheming?"

"Why, I came to get your strength. Dearie, you're much more suited to serve under Chaos than that measly little Cosmos, aren't ya?"

This information seemed to confuse the woman. "What do you mean?"

"What's this? You don't remember a thing! All right, all right I'll tell you! With that amazing power you possess, why, you hurt your precious..."

"Stop it!" The voice of the third person spoke.

I wonder if the other two are Warriors of Cosmos.

"Huh? What does the poor baby victim want to say?" replied the clown. "Such a beautiful friendship... Please stop. It's making me want to vomit!"

"What are you talking about?" said the woman. She then paused as though realizing something horrible "It can't be..."

"BINGO! It can be! You really tore into your little friend over there. Ha! You looked like you were having so much fun, too! And you here went and forgot the whole thing! What a dangerous being you are! Fighting for the sake of fighting, unable to control your power. Running wild like a crazy beast, your power is the very epitome of destruction!"

His words made Lightning shiver.

"You're lying..."

""Lying" my but! You did something like this."

Lightning watched as Kefka created a tiny fireball, which then exploded in front of the two fighters. The screams of surprise were muffled by another cracking laugh.

"How was that? I'll show you more of the power of destruction! Your enemies, your allies, the world. Let's destroy, no, massacre EVERYTHING! Together!"

Another light appeared. Lightning shielded her eyes. Kefka was laughing like an insane man. The light soon disappeared; she hoped that Kefka was gone as well. Her wish came true when she saw that the clown was gone, but so was the young boy. Only the woman remained. Then the woman began to speak.

"Where did they go? I have to go find them, but...I don't want to be alone... Without him, I'm helpless..." she then began to sniff her nose, as though she were beginning to cry.

Lightning rushed out from her hiding place and ran toward the woman. She had apparently heard the footsteps and turned around to see Lightning.

"Please…don't hurt me." She timidly spoke, placing her palms in the air, as though she would attack Lightning with some sort of spell.

"Calm down. I'm not here to fight you. I recently escaped that freaky clown's grasp." Lightning had put her gunblade in its holster and was trying her best to show the stranger that she had no intention of battling her. She finally saw what the woman looked like. She was young, perhaps a few years older than Lightning, with light blond wavy hair that was tied in a single ponytail. The woman wore a red halter dress, that was decorated with flower details. Her boots and gloves matched the dress. Around her waist were multiple sashes and cloth belts of various yellows and purples. Her eyes contrasted the ensemble by being a light, gentle blue.

"Are…are you for Cosmos."

"Yes." Lightning walked over to the woman, who began to smile.

"I'm Lightning."

"Terra Branford."

Lightning smiled. She was happy to meet another Warrior of Cosmos. But she also remembered that Kefka would be after them now.

"We should probably get out of here before someone else comes along." Terra nodded in agreement and the two began to walk out of the area.

"So, Terra, where are you from?"

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