Thankyou to Eistee for beta'ing and thankyou to all of you who keep reading this.
If you're a new reader, welcome and I hope you are all enjoying the story so far.
When The Glass Shatters
Binder of Winds
The light surrounding Freya was burning bright; it was almost too bright for Vogh and Lightning to look at.
Yet all of a sudden it split into two, one section shooting down into the earth and the other fading away in the sky to reveal the body of Freya, still very much alive.
She twisted in mid-air, softening her landing and as soon as her feet touched the ground the green light emerged.
It came up and out of the ground fast, yet when it faded away there stood next to Freya a young girl.
She had short light green hair, cut just below her shoulders and she wore a simple forest-green dress patterned with gold which complimented her dark green eyes.
Vogh and Lightning didn't know what to make of the little girl.
She looked so innocent and even Freya was taken aback by the product of the Key.
Was this little girl really capable of violence?
Freya had little time for thoughts as Lightning slowly walked up to the little girl.
Bending down, Lightning spoke to the girl.
"Hello, I'm Lightning. What's your name?"
"I'm Sylph. Are you an Eidolon too?"
The little girl spoke softly without any harm in her voice.
"Ei-Eidolon? N-No I'm not an Eidolon"
Lightning looked at Freya.
"How is this even possible? You're not a L'Cie. You shouldn't be able to summon an Eidolon"
Freya merely laughed.
"The Key is the power given to humans to combat you L'Cie"
Lightning took a step back; she had fear in her voice for she knew what true powers the Eidolons can muster.
She reached for her gunblade, but before she could unsheathe it the little girl spoke again.
"Oh, that's a shame. I'm meant to kill everyone who isn't one"
Panic came over her and Lightning quickly grabbed the Blaze Edge and was just about to fire before she felt her feet lift off the ground.
A second later gale winds had surrounded her and were pushing her, fast, into the direction of a rock.
To Lightning this all seemed slow, yet Vogh and Freya had seen Lightning be thrown rapidly against the rock.
Lightning fell hard, and she did not get up for a while.
Vogh didn't want to get up close so he summoned the ethereal blades and threw one, then two and finally all three at Sylph.
Sylph just stood there, almost vacant in her thoughts and expressions.
She did not need to dodge or weave; she merely stood there and summoned wind to surround her.
The gusts of wind deflected the swords in every direction and they were returned to Vogh as soon as they hit the ground.
"Damn, that didn't work either"
Vogh tried a different strategy, he dragged his swords along the ground, kicking up dirt and flung it towards Sylph, hoping to blind her.
This also did not work; she merely sent another gust of wind to part the airborne earth and then sent the gust straight for Vogh.
Vogh stood and watched the dirt part in front of his eyes.
He didn't have the acrobatics to dodge the whirlwind and so like Lightning, was swept away at a blindingly fast pace, smashing against a rock in the process.
He groaned before fainting.
Although he had mastered his ethereal blades, summoning them had taken a large portion of his strength and he had not been in such an unwinnable fight the previous time he fought with them.
Freya had unsheathed her pure white sword and used the power of the Key to transform it into a replica of her sword again.
She laughed maliciously. Freya couldn't believe how well this was going, and how powerful Sylph was.
While Vogh was down Lightning had managed to get up onto her feet.
She shakily stood up, trying to stop her knees from buckling.
Lightning knew there was only one way to fight fire; with fire.
She clutched her heart, thought of Vanille's smile and withdrew the crystal from it.
Just as Lightning was about to throw the crystal in the air Freya had slashed at her with her right sword, while following through with a lunge with her left.
Lightning had to immediately jump back to avoid the slash, but then roll to her side to dodge the lunge.
She swung her sword in response and attempted to combat the now relentless soldier.
With Vogh still down Lightning was left stranded fighting off not only a stronger opponent but an Eidolon too.
If I let Sylph lift me into the air I can summon Odin.
Lightning's plan was vague and half-baked.
Yet at a time where she was a man down and was hurt herself, this was her only option.
Lightning rushed straight at Sylph and jumped into the air over her.
As predicted the little Eidolon girl emitted a tornado which threw Lightning up high into the air.
Lightning clicked her fingers which activated the gravity field, slowing her descent into the earth below.
She pressed her hand against her chest, withdrawing the pink crystal once again.
Throwing it into the air, she transformed her weapon into the gun and shot the crystal.
A pink glyph tattooed the sky and from that glyph sprung Odin.
Lightning landed on top of Odin's Gestalt mode and she landed safely.
Riding astride the white horse she spun the massive blades around, creating a vortex which pulled in Freya and flung her against a cliff-face.
Sylph however stood still, she was unfazed by another Eidolon's power.
Odin transformed back into the warrior and stood opposite the little Eidolon, staring each other down.
What would seem to be an obvious choice for winner, it was far from it.
Both summons stood there, unmoving and unwavering.
Odin quickly leapt forwards, swinging his mighty blades near Sylph.
She could not repel the attack of another Eidolon.
Sylph had to roll to avoid one blade, and jump to avoid the other.
An angry expression came across her face.
"You just made my clothes dirty. I'm going to have to kill you now"
She braced herself and created an enormous tornado, then another and finally a third.
Sylph pushed her hand out from her body and the first tornado swept forward.
Odin readied himself and performed 'Zantetsuken' on the tornado.
It seemed to hit him, yet Odin was unaffected as the tornado split in half as soon as it touched him.
Sylph flung the second tornado at him, Odin could not perform the skill again, and so although he attacked it he took heavy damage.
The third tornado was already close to Odin and he had neither the strength to attack nor the acrobatics to dodge it.
It hit him, and Odin knelt to the floor. He made no sound, yet Lightning felt the knight's pain.
The bond between Eidolon and L'Cie is made of heart and when Odin vanished, defeated, a portion of Lightning's strength left her.
Freya, who had been knocked unconscious, awoke and Sylph immediately threw a green orb of Curaga at her, before Freya dismissed the Eidolon.
The woman rushed at the weak Lightning.
She jumped in mid-air and kicked Lightning in the chest.
The pink-haired soldier, sapped of strength and of energy could not move let alone fight.
Freya held up her sword to Lightning's neck, running it slowly along the neckline.
"Goodbye little soldier. That man over there will follow you shortly"
Lifting up her sword and thrusting it at the woman's neck Freya felt her sharp weapon pierce the skin and saw blood trickle down the wound she had made.
As she drew blood she saw a strange light emanating from her arm.
Pressing deeper into the neck she looked and saw it was her tattoo.
Then she saw the wrist of Lightning emit a faint light, she looked over at Vogh and saw a shimmer coming from him too.
Before she had chance to say anything she felt an orange light wrap around her and felt the same feeling she had while teleporting.
This same light covered Lightning and Vogh although they were hurt and knocked out.
Freya, who was conscious, saw where they had been transported to; the outskirts of the place where she had just come from; the city of Eden.
The bag had been ripped off of Snow's head.
He tugged and felt himself bound to the chair he was sitting on.
Snow had full motion of his hands though so he tried to conjure a Blizzard spell, but it fizzled out as soon as it left his hands.
"You don't think we'd allow L'Cie magic in here do you?"
A soft-toned male voice spoke to him.
The room was dark, but Snow was able to make out the shape of a thin, blond-haired man.
"What the hell do you want with me? Lemme go already"
"Now now Mr. Villiers, you have been quite useful so far. A portion of your power is currently helping one of our agents destroy your other L'Cie friends"
That paralysing pulse I felt a day ago… it was the same as how Sazh had described it.
Damn. They made me touch that damn orb!
"No! You bastard!"
Snow attempted to struggle in anger, and although he was strong he was powerless in this room.
"Look who's recovered their strength already, very impressive. You'll be done soon I promise. I just need one more little thing from you"
The blond man picked up a needle from the table in the corner of the room.
He walked over to Snow, and without getting too close to his face rolled up his left sleeve.
Injecting the needle into Snow's skin the man siphoned out quite a large portion of his blood.
He injected it into a glass container which filled up completely.
"The blood of a L'Cie, a most valuable substance"
He placed the container into his jacket pocket and his piercing green eyes sparkled with a hint of malice.
"Thank you Mr. Villiers. You are all done"
A knock came at the door and a Sergeant walked in.
"Director, we've picked up three heat signatures on the outskirts of the city. We're sending a team of Retrievals there immediately"
"Excellent news Sergeant. Any identification of the subjects?"
"We believe it to be two L'Cie and Agent Freya"
The Director smiled.
The stage is set, and the actors are all here.
It's time for the final act of the plan to come together.