Chapter 11: Sulyya Springs and the Proposal.

We were finally in a mood of relaxation by the time Fang wanted to get on with what we needed to do. After collecting sheep fur and fighting larger than life cactuars and tonberries we were prepared to make our way through the untamed wilderness of Pulse.

Djos caught my shoulder as I went to speak with Hope who'd been talking with Vanille about me. His dark skin contrasted the blue skies. "Can I speak with you?" He told with that thick Pulsian accent. I wasn't sure what to think, feeling the necklace he gave me becoming weighted underneath Hope's spare bandanna about my neck. I gulped and took a lock of short blonde hair, flitting my eyes to the matching stone he wore. Slowly I nodded.

For good measures Snow was standing behind us as we spoke in a semi-private enclosure of a Cliffside. The view was spectacular, steppes and mountains forming in the vast land beyond. Critters ran up and down every part of the earth and flitted about in the skies. Djos continued to meet my emerald eyes with his maroon beauties until her tore off the necklace and threw it to my feet. "I need to tell you something." He addressed and adjusted himself to me trying to hide the shiny new golden bracelet on his wrist.

At first I eyed it but watched his lips as he began to speak, "If I had been fully aware of my situation when I first woke up on Cocoon I would have never come to Palumpolem. Chrome, everything I did was under the Sanctum's influence. They were the ones controlling me. They made me teach you to become a thief, they made me sleep with you. It was for the sole purpose of information collection. They had plans to turn you into a l'cie for experiments but you foiled it by turning me in so to speak."

I felt my eyebrows crossing and my heart begin to beat fast. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

My lowered his eyes and fully faced me, "The man you first fell for does not and will never exist again."

I felt a cold rush through my body. Sure Hope and I were now going out. But…now…a whole portion of my life meant nothing. He had been my teacher, the one who changed me in body, mind and spirit. I threw back a fist and punched him hard. My eyes refused to spill tears, I felt way too sick to even think about crying. "You…you…" I couldn't spit out any words until he embraced me. "I'm so sorry…please Chrome I'm sorry. I never meant to do any of those things. It wasn't me. I swear. Please, forgive me?"

How could I say no? This man was the father figure to Vanille, a hero of Pulse, and Fang's lover. Saying no would be denying my connections to them. And now that I looked at it from a deeper perspective, I knew what he said was true. On Cocoon before the removal of his control chip from the Sanctum, he had been a violent, sex-driven creature. Now he was charismatic, a bit stubborn but overall a loving and caring man. One little chip had been the thing that shifted him into a monster. I stared at the brand on his navel, watching his thief clothing flap about in the wind. I had severed all ties from him as a lover but perhaps we could start over as friends. I stuck my hand out, "Alright then…I guess I forgive you."

He gently shook it giving me a wide grin. "Alright then." He repeated and nodded slowly.
He twisted about leaving me a little numb and shaken. He followed close behind Fang as she directed the group towards the place where we started. A bit confused, we tailed her through the dreaded fruit forest where I had carried Hope back to camp.

When passing the fields where we admitted our love for one another, I paused staring into it. It had only been a week ago. Hope found himself stopping too, staring with a red face and wide eyes. Snow ruffled our hair; he was the only one who knew we slept beside one another that evening. Vanille noticed me still with a bit of shock in my system and took my hand.

"Do you want to know about Djos?"

"It would be nice."

She gave a solemn nod and took me into the field. She sat in the grass with me as we watched the Long Gui stomping in packs off in the distance. She played about with a pink curl and carefully stared to me, "Djos's full name is Oerba Don Djos. He hails from a clan that was fading and so they sent a young boy to continue their line. The Don clan was a pack of thieves that stole from the vast number of clans in our world. So naturally he had the tendency to go off and steal things. Fang, the woman he was chosen to continue the Don clan with, tried to keep him in line. At first they hated one another but eventually fell in love. A lot of his scars are from her fighting with him. Especially that one on his cheek. Djos…though…a doctor told me he wouldn't be able to carry on any lineage."

"He's sterile?" I questioned and my ears burned. No wonder I hadn't gotten pregnant when he had sex with my numerous times. She nodded softly, "He's always dreamed of starting a family. I think that's why he and Fang regard me as their child…"

"Well you've got a good set of parents." I told with a brief almost fake smile, standing up. "Now I…I need to think okay?"

She understood and let me on my own.

We finally came onto some strange looking ruins. At first I asked if it was Oerba but Djos shook his head. "We're nowhere near it. This is a very ancient place."

Fang glanced into the majesty of the ruins, the white against the green of the plants and the brown of the earth made it very otherworldly. Her hands were set against her hips like always as she spoke very softly, "You know, I've got to say.
This is really weird. When we were young, all three of us were told that one day we would be attacked by Cocoon monsters. And now look at us."

Djos snickered and spat out a ball of mucus. I wondered if he had some sort of strange sickness, he was always doing that. "Yeah now look at us. We're waltzing back home with the very people we were chosen to take arms against."

Vanille sighed, "Back then we would have never helped you guys." She stared back to

Sazh and held her mouth shut. He smirked, "Well that sounds right. Back then you guys got your first Focus too!"

She gave an apologetic, "Right." And the two gave warm glances to one another, letting each other be told that all was well. She cleared her throat, "We already talked about that, huh?"

"Little bit." He shrugged towards me. I adjusted myself and gave him a tiny tap with my fist. Vanille twisted back to see the ruins fully, "Must've been centuries ago when Fang, Djos and I joined the battle against Cocoon. During the fight, I became
Ragnarok and cracked Cocoon's shell." Something about this statement made the two older Pulsians flinch slightly. I had a feeling by the tone in her voice that this was not one hundred percent true.

Snow tried to lighten the mood, "That uhh, must've been hard on you, going through that."

"It doesn't add up to all the suffering each one of you has gone through." Djos muttered. He and Fang crossed their arms glancing at one another with confusion.

Vanille hummed, "My memories of the event are pretty fuzzy."

"The whole War of Transgression must've built because of you three." Hope decided as Djos cursed silently. He slammed his fist against the cliffs, "Dammit. We didn't do anything. Fang and I…we just became crystal and we're not even sure how it happened!"

"Nope." Fang told, taking his bloody knuckles and rubbing them down with a rag. "We don't have a memory of anything." Vanille looked more and more blameworthy as the conversation wore on. "It's all my fault! So many people died because of me!" Lightning stood to the three. Fang continued to tend to his wounds, his eyebrows stuck towards his eyes as Fang looked lost. "Those souls can rest now." She assured.

The place was too heavy with feeling. We had to leave soon after the conversation had ended. Many of us remained silent as we stuck to the path we had been following.

The tunnel before us was extended into the bowels of the earth. "We're close." Fang assured, "I can smell it. Right through these tunnels, we'll reach the Sulyya Springs. Right after that is the Taejin's Tower and then bam! We hit Oerba."

"It'll be nice to see home again." Djos told with bliss on his face.

"Well better get tracking in then!" Sazh told spinning his guns with his fingers. "I am so ready to get the hell…"

"Don't you dare make another joke!" Vanille told ready to push him, "Fang will have your head!"

As the group chuckled going into the tunnels, Djos pulled Snow to his side. "Hey buddy." He whispered, "Can I get some advice Snow?"
"Yeah sure, what do you need to know?"

Without being a busy-body I continued to follow Hope along, fighting robots and blobs all through the way. "Why is it always that we find these stupid things in dark tunnels?" I questioned with an annoyed tone. "Maybe they can't stand the light." He suggested, "Subterranean aliens from Pulse. Sounds like a bad movie title." I smirked, "I'd like to see a movie when we get back."
"I'm still not sure what to do when I get back home and all this settles down. I hope…no I shouldn't say that."

"Say what?"

"That I hope we'll be alive."

The light before us hit the insides of the tunnels, showing us the careful curvature of its innards. Fang nodded as she swept her hand across some of the terrain, pointing to the gems that were exposed. "A Gran Pulse fal'cie built made this path."

Vanille hummed as she walked beside us, "Yep, I bet it's off digging more tunnels right now."

"How sucky of a job would that be?" I shrugged at the notion. Hope gave a stern and thoughtful expression at this, "They seem so much different from the fal'cie we see on Cocoon you know? They plow on through without caring."

"That's true." Fang told still staring into the carvings of the earth. "We've lived along the savage beasts, just as you lived with the simple ones on Cocoon."

Sazh huffed at her remark, "Yeah like this is JUST like Cocoon!" He rolled his eyes, scoffing at her.

"In a world this big, who knows what we'll find." I was shocked at how Lightning said this, she seemed so unusually optimistic about the situation at hand. Everyone was acting as if there was not a care in the world. Even the usually heavy-mind of my boyfriend was calmed and I noticed his hands set more between my fingers than in his pockets. The path was metallic, boasting of mines that had once been here. We stuck together in the darkness of the long trail, the echoing sounds of our steps into the udder silence of this place. Without warning the bridge started to shake, making us latch onto the closest solid thing. Snow took a stance, preparing himself.

"Woah guys, heads up!"

From the darkness of the tunnel came a large rolling ball making a strange slicing sound. Its spines were glowing bright red, digging and caressing the earth violently. "Look at that thing!" He told in surprise.

I set my hand on my forehead watching it roll past with ease, "Another beautiful fal'cie! Is that the Atmos you guys were talking about!"

"Yep, busy carving new tunnels!" Vanille told giving a wagged finger. Snow fist-jabbed the air, "Making tunnels roads where it ain't supposed to go? Sounds just like us. Alright Chrome, Hope I've got a mission for you two. Go and fetch that roly-poly for us?"

The task didn't scare us whatsoever. But how would Hope be of use? My mind was swimming until I remembered those giant robots. "Ah!" A memory of the past filled my eyes, "Hope go get on one of those! I'll grab onto you and we can head into the tunnel and stop it!"

His eyes nearly popped from his skull at my idea, "What the hell Chrome are you trying to get us killed!"

"Hey it was just a thought." I opened my palms and set them at my shoulders to stretch. "I mean unless you've got a better idea."
His gaped mouth shut in embarrassment and sighed. "Alright as soon as we can find one, I will okay?"

"Yeah." I kissed his cheek, "Good you."

"Why did I say I love you?"

"Cause you meant it. I know you did." I winked and ruffled his hair, "Come on. I can hear you thinking it's so loud. Why don't you put that heat going to your head and use it for your feet? If you want I can give you a piggy back and activate my levitating skates."

"Nah." He told, "We'll save that for another day."

I snickered and began to laugh. He followed and neither of us knew why we were chuckling so hard. Maybe the laughter would help the fear and uncertainty of everything melt away.

The light was approaching us soon at the end of the tunnel. We were only half way through the path and this was just a refreshing break from the norms. The sun, which had only begun rising when we entered was already at the center of the skies. Vanille eyed some very lovely, almost glowing pink and white flowers, mewing and stooping next to them. She deeply inhaled as Djos and Fang stood behind her. "Do you remember these flowers?"

"Yeah." Djos responded right away, "They grew in Oerba. Everywhere. But that didn't stop me from admitting my feelings for Fang with them when we were little."

"We aren't far now." Fang told starting to pluck one from the soil, deeply smelling its intoxicating scent. She stared at it as Djos was about to take her hand. But instead his hands found their way about her hip. Fang stared at him with sadness,

"It's our fault isn't it Djos darling?"

"Our fault about what?"

"That Gran Pulse is like this."

"Yeah…" He told softly, "You remember too huh?"

"Yes, we became Ragnarok together and scarred Cocoon. We left Gran Pulse in this mess."

"W…what are you talking about?" Vanille begged as she put her knuckles to her breast. Djos stared, "It came back to us. Everything about our Focus. All of it."

"You're lying." The two set their fists to their side, refusing to look at her.

"It's the truth." Fang told with tears accumulating at her eyes. "It's all our fault."

Vanille shouted with fists pounding at her sides, "Don't say that you two! I'd never let that…" Her voice was cut off by that familiar glowing. She was the last to see her Eidolon.

And as the light shot into the skies, the circles and squares spreading from her feet we prepared for the worst. When the light evaporated, a tall male Eidolon stood before us. It was completely green, having multiple tentacle-like arms that were groping the air, crossing its two main ones. It had an array of braids that covered its cloth-concealed face. Fang prepared her weapon, "The Eidolon knows the truth!"

"So we were right!" Djos smirked. Vanille was confused, "You were lying to me!"

"No more than you were darling," Fang told staring to her with crossed eyebrows,

"Admit it, you remember everything!"

"It wasn't your fault…" She tried to argue but Djos cut her off, "This isn't the time to speak ladies. We've got this damn thing to get into submission."

We let the Pulsians defeat the strange Eidolon of earth by themselves, figuring this was an affair for them to figure out. Vanille finally managed to command it, connecting to it. She watched as it transformed into an odd two-legged creature bearing large guns for arms. She dismounted with guilt on her face, trying to look at her parent figures with dry eyes.

Fang bit her lip, "I knew something was off. You've been shying away from your Focus since we woke up on Cocoon."

"I was afraid. And Djos wasn't with us."

"There's no excuse there." He told reaching at the base of his skull and feeling the scar where Vanille had carved in to pull the mind-control chip from. She shut her lips tightly, crossing her fingers in front of her stomach, "I…I couldn't figure it out. But it all made sense after hearing that story from Raines."

"You knew." Fang told pointing at her with anger, "You knew Ragnarok was the name of destruction. Equal to the word of hell."

Vanille began to whine, sniffling. "It wasn't fair. You had to do all that horrible stuff and I didn't have anything to do with…"

Djos growled, "That's no reason to lie to us!"

"You think that's what we want?" Fang barked, "You of all people?" She drew a fist back and Vanille prepared for the worst. But instead the two gave her a large hug, all their arms caressing one another. "Poor baby's had it rough." Djos told softly, petting down Vanille's hair. He felt her tears starting to melt through his shirt and drew her back. Fang wiped them away, "Oh darling don't do that. You'll have us all crying if you keep it up." After long moments of their family reunion, the hugging and the sniffling from Vanille the tension once again died. "We have a new family now. It's not just us anymore." Djos told. Fang nodded and pushed Vanille softly, "we stick together you hear me?"

"Y…Yeah…" She nodded, holding up her pinkie. "I…I promise I'll keep us together. I won't ever cry again. I swear."

"That's our girl." Djos told softly petting her hair down again. "Now go on and wash up dearest."

After everything was said and done we had to part ways with the clearing and leave the sunshine once again. The cavern was getting chunkier, less smooth in many parts.

As we continued across, the rumbling of the fal'cie started to come back. It was traveling below us, tossing back and forth with such incredible speed. When we came to a dead end, Hope glanced up to see the trailblazer robots we had controlled together at Vile Peaks. "Alright, now's the time to shine darling." I told as I swiftly climbed atop one, patting the seat in front of me, "Take the wheel, it's all yours."

Sazh was shaking his head at the dead end, "This close to Oerba? Man, that fal'cie must be slacking!"

"Ah Chrome!" Hope shouted as the machine kicked on and began toppling towards the fal'cie's ditch, "Get me off of this thing! Stop it already!"
Lightning stared at us, an unimpressed expression pasted on her face. "It's Vile Peaks all over again."

We jumped off the bot before it collapsed into the ditch, my fall being once again stopped by my levitating boots. "Chrome, Hope you two get out of there!" Lightning demanded. The fal'cie's machine-like crunching was heard coming straight towards us.

The others were prepared to leap to our rescue until the robot we had controlled stuck its thick arms out and rammed into Atmos. It continued to spin but it began to slow. "Wh…What?" Hope asked patting himself down to make sure he was still in one piece. Slowly other robots of equal size and weight began to gather around us. I reached for my whip but they were docile and began to help the smaller one.

Eventually with enough strength, the team of bots stopped Atmos. Snow whistled from the bridge above and chuckled. "That was cool! Go robot guys!"

"There's a lesson for us." Sazh told with all his aged wisdom, "Not even a mighty fal'cie has the power to overcome teamwork."

Fang gave me a click, letting me know to keep things under control. The bots stepped back when I got out my whip and started to climb the beast and make sure it stayed down, "We better get on Trailblazer here while we still got the chance." She told softly.

"Road trip." Djos snickered, "Next stop the Springs."

"yeah then we can get some shut-eye." Lightning told. I could imagine she of all people would be very tired at this point.

The inside of the fal'cie was strangely comfortable. It was just a small room with a control panel, no windows or anything. We set a course straight for the springs and held on tightly as it began to roll away. In a sense it was a very cute fal'cie, having its own unique charm. When we disembarked, I stared back at it sadly. I knew we may not see it again for quite some time. I gave a tiny wave, "See ya later bud."

Snow had advanced far beyond us, staring into the crystal tear I had once tried to steal while holding it up to Cocoon. He claimed to be speaking with Serah. Lightning rolled her eyes and pushed him to the ground. She pinned a foot on him, "You need to get some rest. All of us are really tired."

I finally got a chance to stop and look at my surroundings. The springs were littered in beauty. The flora was colored with such perfection, the water steaming and hot. The scent was overwhelmingly pleasant, and the temperature was so wonderfully warm after being in the dank, coldness of the caverns. "Alright."

Lightning told us with a concerned face, "We'll have to rest for now. We need as much strength if we can muster to continue the journey."

"Yeah. That Tower ain't no joke." Fang scoffed, "But she's right. We probably really should get rest. Just grab a comfy rock and lie yer heads down."

The others began to find places to rest, trying to stay in close proximity to one another. Even though Hope was close by, I had this urging need. It was like an itch
I couldn't quite reach. I stood up silently as the minutes ticked on by, making sure nobody saw me. Slowly I examined the area again, spotting a hot waterfall flowing in a niche high and behind a slight crevice. There no one would search me out.

I had to clean myself of the blood, dirt and grime I had accumulated. It had been a tradition to shower every evening when I had lived back on the farm to rid myself of the work's show. Now that my hair was shorter it wasn't such a hassle to clean anymore. Cautiously I climbed up the stone wall, making sure not to cause any loud noises. After double checking that everyone was still asleep I began to slowly take off my clothes. How long had it been since I stood nude? It felt like forever. My fingers barely inched over the fabrics, taking them down with loving strokes. I was sure to caress my soft skin, watching as my pants dropped to my ankles. I was relieved to find no blood there. A cycle now would be murder on me. Critters could sniff that out from miles about. My stomach was slightly pudgy, the way it had always been since birth. I traced the line of muscle to my shirt and started to detach from it. After unclasping my bra, my breasts almost breathed a sigh of relief from being stuck inside that damn thing for so long. Gently with a wrist, I tested the water. It wasn't completely scorching or too cold so with ease I stepped inside.

At first I tensed, the heat flowing into my open wounds made them hiss. But eventually the pain ebbed away and feverishly I scrubbed away any dirt, blood and oil I had that stuck to my skin. I started to trail my fingers along the wall, watching as the water caressed my body in its grasp. Standing there, I began to think…I hadn't seen Hope without his shirt. I'd felt his chest but never had I seen it. I chuckled at what he might do if he happened to wake up and see me. I let my body go into a numb stasis, trying not to fall completely asleep standing up.

Just as I was getting accumulated to the relaxation, I heard voices below. I gasped and hid myself behind the stone wall, staring down silently. It was Djos and Fang, standing next to one another.

His shirt was off and hers was in the process. She giggled as he took her neck in his mouth and I nearly gagged with the display of affection. I could hear their whispers even up here. After taking a few mouthfuls of her skin and raging his fingers across her body, he separated the two of them. Fang looked to him almost disappointed. "What's wrong with ya?"

"What's wrong Fang?" He gave a smirk, "It's you. It's you I'm madly, strongly in love with. I'm so addicted to you and no matter how much I get it's never enough."

He softly strung his fingers through her hair and stared her in the eyes. "I love you so much. And I am so sorry if I ever left you alone. But I swear to the heavens above, take my name and shove me into the underworld that will never happen again. On my word." He placed her fingers about his bracelet, "You see this?"

"Yeah what about it?"

"I got you one just like it." The one he pulled out was littered with jewels that had been in the tunnels. It was plated in silver and gold, shining in the light of the lunar body above us. She stared to him with wide eyes, "Djos…why? What's this for?"

He went on one knee as he slipped it on and looked up to her with the biggest smile he could muster. "Fang," He told with a low tone, "I should've done this years ago. I'll be damned if I can't be man enough to do it now. Maker, I am so nervous. I can do this though. Because looking at you right now, it gives me strength. I can move on from the horrible things the Sanctum made me do because I have you. Because you are what I am. You are everything I could ever be. Fang…will you…" He gave a few gulps and with sweat plastering his face he jutted up and gripped her shoulders,

"For the love of Gran Pulse marry me!"

"Why didn't you just say so?" Fang told with a loving grip back. "Of course I will."

And somehow I couldn't help but cry tears of joy. He had moved on. And now I was free. I stared to the necklace, contemplating what to do with it. Instead of tossing it like he had I stuffed it into the deepest caress of my pockets. I stepped back into the waterfall, staring up towards the skies. My mouth formed a smile, "Thank you." I told silently to whoever may have been listening.

I crawled back under Hope's arms after I had been fully clenched. He poked an eye open smirking at my wet hair, "What were you doing?"

"Taking a shower." I hummed holding his chest tightly as if it were a pillow, "I would've invited you but you were asleep."

"I couldn't do that without you." He sincerely told me, "But thank you for letting me."

"It wasn't a big deal."

"You seem happier."

"Is that a problem?" I pouted, "Should I be more sad?"

"No…it's a great thing. I love seeing you smile. You're just so…awesome when you smile."

"You are too. You're the best when you smile." We found our mouths perking up at the corniness of it all. He held me tight, setting his lips to my forehead. "I'm so tired. Let's just sleep."

"Yeah…" I whispered, almost crying. Once upon a time I was sleeping with a man possessed by the Sanctum. I wouldn't have been satisfied with just holding each other. But with Hope, I didn't care. I didn't want anything but him. I felt safe, protected there. With heavy eyelids I lifted my chin high and gave him one final kiss smack dab on the lips. "Good night my king."

"Good night my queen." He smirked and we finally found bliss in the suction of slumber.