Could it be? An update for Memoirs of a l'Cie? IMPOSSIBLE!
Seriously though, it's been so long between chapters for this thing. Think about it. Since my last update, FF lets you assign pairings in the blurb AND there's an OC option for characters. So…yeah, I need to update that too so it's Lightning and OC, not Lightning and the ever-catchy 'unknown'.
Anyway, have Chapter 11.
Every one of us that had been involved in the events in Palumpolum was here, in the same room. Snow had his jacket draped over his bare shoulders, his chest covered only by the bandages that covered his injuries. I stood not far from him, my arms crossed. Lightning and Hope were both sitting down; the former soldier was ramrod straight, her legs together and hands in her lap, just like she'd (probably) been trained, while Hope sat as relaxed as anyone could under the circumstances.
Bartholomew Estheim sat beside his son, his chin resting on his hands. Looking at him now, I noticed finally that Hope resembled his mother rather than his father. Bartholomew had spiky, dirty blonde hair that was beginning to recede, and thin-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.
Snow stood from his seat and dropped to his knees, hands resting on the carpet of the house. "It was my fault. Your wife didn't come back because I asked them to fight…"
I sighed behind him and bowed to Bartholomew. "Mine too. I was the one who let her follow us."
The widower just looked at us before pinching his brow. "Did Nora…did she say anything to you?"
Snow looked up at him and replied simply, "She said to get him home. Hope."
The boy in question let his eyes widen. Clearly he'd somewhat forgiven Snow, but this was obviously news to him.
Bartholomew let those words sink into all of us before nodding and letting a kind smile form on his face. "And you did just that."
Everyone relaxed visibly, even Lightning, who let an indulgent smile rise on her face.
"Face to face like this," the man continued, "it's hard to believe you're all…dangerous fugitives."
I smiled slightly. "The Sanctum always told us that the threat from Pulse was monsters. Turns out…" I let my eyes fall on Fang as I said this. "They're even more human than we are."
If Fang had a reaction to this, she didn't let it show on her face, though I could have sworn I saw the twinges of a smile grace her lips.
"What do you all plan to do now?" Bartholomew asked us. "You can't run forever."
"We're going to Eden," Hope answered him. "Though…what we're gonna do there is anyone's guess, really."
"The whole Sanctum is scared to death of l'Cie. You especially."
"Rightfully," I added grimly. "We've been screwed around by them for too long."
The power suddenly cut off, the lights dimming to black, and the news report on the battle silencing.
"They've found us," Lightning reported.
"Why are things never easy?" Fang drawled.
A massive explosion rang out nearby, causing Hope and I to block Bartholomew from falling debris.
"They sure know how to make an entrance!" I shouted.
"Snow!" Hope called. "Fall back and take care of my dad!"
The order hung there for a moment, and in that moment I saw the significance of it. The whole time I'd known Hope, from inside the Pulse Vestige at Hanging Edge to our trials in the Vile Peaks, he'd been hell-bent on only one thing: punishing Snow for his mother's death. But now, even after all that, Hope was putting the life of his remaining parent in Snow's hands.
The kid really had grown up.
Snow nodded and escorted Bartholomew to another part of the house, one that probably wouldn't get stormed by PSICOM.
And, speak of the devils, and they shall appear. Several PSICOM troopers roped in from a dropship wielding batons, rifles and – problematically – rocket launchers. One of them, who carried a large bazooka, pointed at us. "Kill the l'Cie! Open fire!"
The ground troops shot at us immediately, without hesitation. Fang and I tipped the steel coffee table onto its side for some impromptu cover, which the two of us hung behind.
"Now what do we do, genius?" Fang asked over the gunfire.
"Leave that to the three of us. Hang back." I ran beyond the table to meet up with Lightning and Hope, who were fighting back with bursts of magic, a tactic I adopted as well, mostly launching shards of ice and bursts of water at the enemies.
Master, I heard Cagnazzo's booming voice in my mind. Mayhap thou might attempt stronger magic.
And how exactly am I gonna do that? I replied, the snark obvious in my tone.
Simply think it and it shall appear.
Alright, but you'd better be right about this. I closed my eyes and thought of a stronger torrent of water before lashing out with my hand.
Sure enough, a large ball of water launched at two of the grunts, sending them reeling long enough for Lightning to shock them, ending it.
I could have sworn I felt Cagnazzo's smugness, but I ignored it.
Once the house was cleared, I saw Snow and Bartholomew returning even as I heard more troops dropping. Snow looked at me. "My turn now." Breathing heavily, he pulled his coat off and hid himself behind the door. Sighing, he held the coat up to the shattered window.
Inevitably, the soldiers turned the coat into cheese, putting thousands of holes in it. Snow let the coat fall. "You want a l'Cie? I'll show you what a l'Cie looks like!" And with that, he stepped out with his hands in the air. Though the soldiers didn't open fire like I'd privately feared, they did train laser sights on his chest and forehead. "Yeah. I'm a l'Cie. But I was born on Cocoon, the same as all of you. Were you expecting some sort of monster?"
The soldiers hesitated visibly.
"Up until I got this…" Snow showed his brand, which made the troops shift. "…I was a normal guy, living in a beachside town with my brother. Same as some of you might have been."
A strong voice interrupted Snow's speech. "You must be Snow Villiers."
The voice's owner stepped through the ranks of soldiers. His coat vaguely resembled the one Raines wore, but it was dark and had no cape. A scimitar was belted at his waist, and it seemed that he knew how to use it. His face looked slightly battered not by war, but by life itself, and his hair was an iron grey. "Yaag Rosch. PSICOM Division."
My eyes widened, and I heard Lightning's gasp. "Colonel…"
"I understand your plight, Mr Villiers. Truly I do. But the people of Cocoon are afraid. Afraid of Pulse. And so we had to take measures."
"What, by slaughtering innocents in the Purge?" Snow lashed out. "How does that make any damn sense at all?"
Rosch's calm demeanour fell immediately. "Do you think we wanted to Purge our own people? It was the mob mentality. The people are so afraid of Pulse that if we hadn't done it, they would have done it themselves!" He calmed down visibly. "I am sorry that it had to be this way, Mr Villiers. For you and your friends."
Clang!
Everyone looked for the source of the noise. It was a smoke grenade.
"What?" Rosch cried. "Who threw that? I gave no order to fire!"
Gunfire suddenly roared out – from a few of the PSICOM soldiers, aimed at the others.
"No!" I heard the Director of PSICOM shout before a groan of pain and a clattering as he fell. Was he dead?
Had he been killed by his own men?
A shuddering noise interrupted my thoughts. The engine of a dropship. "Nowhere to run, l'Cie!" a voice broadcast over the ship's PA.
Lightning, Hope, Fang and I stepped forward, moving in front of Snow. "Our turn, hero," the soldier smirked, drawing her gunblade.
I drew my swords and looked at him. "Go back in and tie Bartholomew up. Tell him that if anyone asks, we forced him to help us."
Snow gaped at me for a moment before nodding and heading back inside.
Lightning then turned her gaze to me. "Can you summon him? Your Eidolon?"
"Me? I think so, why?"
She smirked at me. "Just trust me."
"Okay," I breathed as I reached for my brand to grab the crystal. "Cagnazzo!" I called, shattering it with my sword. Within moments, the Eidolon was at my side.
You called, Master?
Lightning's got a plan. I don't know what it is yet. Just…trust me, OK?
It shall be done.
I felt a pressure build nearby and saw Lightning being surrounded by glyphs herself, though hers were accompanied by rose petals. From the glyphs spawned a majestic-looking thing, humanoid save for how metallic he looked, wielding a twin-sided scythe and a shield on his arm.
I felt Cagnazzo tense slightly as my Eidolon faced Lightning's. I could tell that they were conversing in some way I could never comprehend. Eventually, Lightning's Eidolon nodded and they adopted battle stances, facing the dropship.
"Get your Eidolon to throw mine!" Lightning cried suddenly, jumping up onto her Eidolon's shoulder.
"What?" I shouted, barely comprehending.
"Just do it!"
You heard that, right? I sent the thought to him.
Yea, though methinks thine damsel is somewhat deranged.
She's not 'my damsel', but yeah, I think you might be right.
Cagnazzo didn't respond, instead planting his sword into the ground and grabbing the other Eidolon by the waist before hurling it – and Lightning – at the ship.
"Odin!" I heard her shout as they flew upwards, and with that, the Eidolon entered what I presumed was its Gestalt form, seeing as that's what Cagnazzo had called it when he became a jet. Oddly enough, Odin's form was that of a white horse; Lightning grabbed the twin-sided scythe and split it into two, creating two separate weapons for herself.
I felt the power surge more than I saw it. I felt the static electricity build until a blue bolt crashed into the cockpit of the ship – a strike so powerful that it immediately overloaded and began to fall in a ball of fire.
Lightning and Odin landed, and the Eidolon was dismissed. The pink-haired soldier looked at me, clearly expecting me to make a comment.
"You know how I said how I used an Eidolon was the way to do it?" I complied. "I lied. That is."
Lightning smirked, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately.
Then another dropship appeared, ready to open fire on us.
"Not again!" Hope whined, and this time I agreed with him.
"Do these guys never give up?" Fang demanded.
The ship suddenly exploded into a ball of flames. We blinked.
Then a third dropship landed on the platform, with several guards hopping out, including one who literally swaggered his way towards us, his gun on his shoulder. He reached up and pulled off his helmet. There was the shock of brown hair.
No freaking way.
"Heya, Fang," Rygdea smirked at us. "Need a ride?"
And there was the cowboy drawl.
"Don't get cute," Fang smiled, sheathing her spear. "Relax, guys, he's with us."
Lightning looked at me and I nodded. "He's Cavalry. One of the good guys."
Relenting, Lightning sheathed her gunblade, while Hope collapsed his boomerang and slipped it into his pocket.
"Those PSICOM soldiers who opened fire…were they yours?" I demanded of the Cavalry Captain.
"I mighta had somethin' to do with it," Rygdea smiled innocently.
I shook my head. "You're one conniving SOB."
"I know. But that's why Cid likes me so much." His smile became an indulgent grin. "And why Fang loves me so much." He looked at the woman in question. "Ain't that right, sweetie?"
Fang scoffed. "If I swung that way, maybe. As it is, no."
"Every time," Rygdea lamented. "Oh, well. I can live with it."
"C'mon, everyone. Hop on!" Fang ordered us all.
From the corner of my eye I saw Lightning blushing deeply. "Something up?" I asked her as we walked to the ship.
"Fang…she's…"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"She…she saw my brand…"
"And it's where again?"
Lightning sighed somewhat angrily and stopped walking before spinning around. After the disguised Cavalry troopers helped pull Snow into the ship, she unzipped the top of her brown vest to reveal where her brand was: smack-dab in the middle of her breasts.
"Oh…" It dawned on me then. "So you're a little worried that Fang might have just used looking at your brand as an excuse to…"
"Don't. Say. It," she ground out, hiding her brand again.
"Okay, okay, silent as the grave, I got it." I grinned as we kept walking.
Yes, I out and out confirmed Fang is a lesbian. Not bi. Not pansexual. A lesbian.
Of course, that's only in my story, and also because I want a non-competitive love triangle with her, Vanille and Hope.
Also I had to add a little fluff-ish thing between Remus and Light at the end. A little reference to FangRai there too.
Anyway, REVIEW please!