The Kingdom of Etro
A/N: Another chapter is up! As romance is not my strong suit, expect some character OOCness.
For those of you who left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:
megamar – Thanks for the comment. ^^ I'm glad you liked the chapter. I have to admit, after writing Lightning being all cold and bad ass, I felt another type of chapter was needed, one which showed her softer, shyer side. I think this worked out well, no? XD
Guest – Thanks for the review. ^^ I'm flattered to know you've read all of my fics, and some of them more than once. I know the feeling of boredom, it's not a nice one, that's for sure. :P Yep, romance is definitely not my usual style, but I wanted to try something different and expand my repertoire as a writer. So far so good I think. :) As for Lightning's cat outfit, ugh. Oh the brutality of it all! Gah! (Let's just say I'm not a fan. XD I like bad ass Lightning best. :P)
Guest – Thanks for the review. ^^ A fan of Kain Highwind I take it? :) The plot thickens indeed. Wait until you see what happens next. Hehe.
Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.
*** ~ Chapter 14: Regaining Trust ~ ***
Time moved faster in Valhalla.
The clash of steel. And a roar of fury.
What was a nearly two weeks in the cursed forest of the ancients, was no more than a day on the surface.
A swooping tail. And the rush of wind.
The Wanderer Amodar had said it was a lasting side effect from the war with Chaos centuries ago, some sort of temporal distortion, a rip in the fabric of space and time. If the Goddess Etro was still in her prime, this sort of thing would have been an easy fix. But as things were, Etro was barely present in the world, the only evidence she even existed to begin with being her l'Cies. They were too far, too few however, only a handful of them still remaining, including the Eidolons. Most of them currently resided in Valhalla, trying to make peace with each other. Well, half was trying. The other half didn't want anything to do with the first half.
"Fang watch out!"
Lightning tackled Fang to the ground, both of them just barely evading the large, black and scaly spiked tail. A split second later, they were on their feet again, running for cover amongst the stone trees and houses carved of rock. While the petrified trees covered most of Valhalla, they were the thickest towards the southern part of the forest. The trees to the north thinned out more and more the closer one got to the Door of Souls. Apparently, that's where the worst of the fighting took place all those years ago.
It was in that direction which Fang and Lightning retreated to, north, their substantially large pursuer hot on their heels. They were followed quite a distance, before their attacker realized they weren't going to stop any time soon. With its annoyances successful chased away, the massive creature turned around and retreated back to its sanctuary on the other side of the stone forest. Running just a bit farther to ensure they still weren't being hunted, the pair eventually slowed to a halt amongst the trees, the Cocoon soldier being the first one to speak between them.
"Really, Fang?" Lightning scoffed, breathless. "A frontal assault? Points for originality."
A huff.
"What?" Fang said, equally out of breath. She currently sat on her haunches, her back flush against the tree to Lightning's right. Lightning remained standing, hunched over, her forearm horizontal against the tree in front of her, propping her up.
"Like yer plan was any better. Talk ta them face ta face an' hope for the best?"
"It's called negotiating, I'll have you know," Lightning said a bit testy. She glared at Fang, still red faced and breathing hard.
"Yeah?" Fang rebutted, not looking all that pleased with her companion. "I was negotiatin' tuh! Wit' mah spear!
Lightning had the strongest urge to slap the Pulsian right now. Scratch that. Slapping Fang would do them very little good at the moment. Maybe she should try convincing Fang to dance for the Eidolons, and in their distraction, she could sneak around and knock them all out...
The soldier snorted. Like that would ever happen.
On the other side of Valhalla, Oerba Dia Vanille and Cocoon Primarch Serah Farron sat in silence at their temporary base camp. It was set up days ago, when they first got here, after their tense first meeting with the Eidolons. Having witnessed their sisters' failure for the umpteenth time today, the pair couldn't but sigh in unison.
This was the afternoon of the thirteenth day, and they still hadn't made any progress. Initially, it was only because Amodar that they were even able to set up a base camp as far (or as close, depending on how you saw it) as they were to the bitter Guardians of the Goddess. Had it just been the four of them originally, Serah was sure the Eidolons would have run them out a long time ago. Or killed them. If only the Wanderer was still here (Maker knows where he disappeared to this time), maybe, just maybe they wouldn't still be butting heads with the stubborn l'Cies these thirteen days later.
Thump.
The Primarch startled out of her thoughts when Vanille flopped to the ground on her back.
"Dia Vanille?"
The redhead let out a long sigh. "I'm so borrrrrrred," Vanille moaned, the Pulsian resting an arm across her eyes huffing. "There's nothing to do here aside from sit and wait! Where's the excitement?! Where's the adventure!?"
The healer flailed for a few seconds on the ground, like a child throwing a tantrum, before giving up and sprawling out on the ground motionless once again.
Serah chuckled, understanding her companion's restlessness. "You could always see if Yun Fang needs a hand," she offered.
"Yeah, right," Vanille snorted. "Like that would ever happen."
Serah's smile quickly faded.
The quartet learned very early on just how... bitter... the Eidolons were. While the Eidolons just barely tolerated Lightning and Fang's presence, the absolutely loathed Serah and Vanille's.
Why?
They weren't l'Cies. It was as simple as that. Not awakened ones, at least.
Any attempts the younger siblings made to make peace with the mythical beasts were met with extreme prejudice, at times the quartet just barely escaping from the Eidolons rage before they were severely wounded, or worse, decapitated. After three consecutive near fatal moments, it was decided (or rather, Lightning and Fang demanded) that Serah and Vanille remain at base camp. That left matters in Fang and Lightning's hands, the two older siblings not making a great deal of progress since then.
Blasted older sisters and their over protectiveness.
Shouts in the distance made both women look back in the direction of their older siblings. Lightning came flipping out of the thick part of the forest, in the middle of one of her many aerial evasions, narrowly dodging a blast of Thunder which disintegrated the tree next to her. Fang on the other hand, somersaulted between two trees, just barely dodging a jet of white hot flames. The trees behind the lancer melted into a pile of grey goop.
Vanille shook her head, rolling her eyes.
Serves them right for stranding her and the Primarch here with nothing to do! Lightning and Fang weren't the true negotiators after all. Not in this group. Funny how things worked out in the end. Ironic really.
After catching their breaths, Lightning and Fang stubbornly ventured deeper into the stone forest again to have yet another word with the warring Eidolons.
A blur of movement between the trees.
Jade coloured eyes darted towards the motion, behind the leader of Cocoon.
"Primarch," Vanille said in a low voice, her eyes sliding over to her weapon next to her.
Serah's hand slowly stretched towards Starseeker, the weapon in sword form on her right. "There's something behind me, isn't there?" the Primarch whispered, just barely loud enough for Vanille hear.
Vanille nodded slightly, masking that action with a yawn and a stretch. Her hand now rested on her Binding Rod limply. At a moment's notice it could be drawn and used.
"How far?"
The Primarch reached up and pushed the stray hairs in her eyes to the side, using that motion to hide her exploratory gaze over her shoulder. Vanille sat up, her free hand scratching her back, the redhead acting as if that's all she was doing.
Another glance behind the Primarch.
"Five lengths, at least," the healer murmured.
Five lengths, huh? Serah Farron did a quick calculation in her head, converting metrics. Ten feet. Taking a deep breath, the Primarch put on her biggest smile ever. "Hey Vanille!" she said, making the Pulsian jump.
"Y-yes Primarch?" Vanille looked at her in bewilderment.
"How about we play a game?"
"A game?"
When the pinkette's gaze darted over her shoulder for a split second, Vanille quickly caught onto the Primarch's ploy.
"Yep!" Serah continued. "A game, to pass the time. You know?"
"Okay!" Vanille replied, as equally bubbly. "What kind of game?"
Serah's fingers slowly tightened around Starseeker's pummel. "It's a numbers game," the Primarch continued. "It goes like this. One..."
Vanille's grip tightened around her Binding Rod.
"Two..."
Serah's leg muscles tensed in anticipation. Vanille put her free hand on the ground in front of her, ready to propel herself to her feet in an instant.
"THREE!"
Serah lurched forward to her knees, spinning around one hundred and eighty degrees at the same time. In that motion, Starseeker morphed from sword form into bow form, a bolt of charged energy already condensed in her hand by the time her eyes locked onto her target. In tandem with the Primarch, Oerba Dia Vanille leapt to her feet, her Binding Rod unfolding in sync with her movements, the redhead quickly holding it in front of her defensively. With her free hand, a Fira flamed to life over her open palm and sizzled.
"Show yourself!" the Cocoon Primarch demanded, her expression fierce. "We know you're there!"
Silence was all that met them. That and the petrified trees with their shadows.
"We don't want to hurt you!" Vanille shouted, her heart nosily beating in her chest. "But if you've any ill will towards us, we will defend ourselves!"
To show just how serious they were, Vanille flung her Fira between the nearest trees, those being just under ten feet away. It acted as a flare of sorts, almost instantly illuminating the shadowed ground. A small squeak sounded at that turn of events, the blur darting between trees again.
Fzzzt! CRACK!
Serah's bolt sailed true, exploding against the tree the shadow was running to for cover. While the attack was not strong enough to do any real damage, it made the shadow slide to a halt, out in the open.
"The next one won't miss," the Primarch stated, her voice hard. Vanille couldn't but glance over at the pinkette, silently noting how frightfully similar she was to Lightning when like this.
Seconds turned into minutes, and just when the pair thought they'd need to demonstrate their intentions again, the shadow stepped out of the darkness and into the light.
Serah's aim wavered instantly. "A... child...?"
Standing in front of them, just seven feet away was what looked to be a small child. Garbed in baby blue, their hands held tightly to their chest, this child had the biggest, most adorable, teary blue eyes Serah had ever seen.
"W-what...?" Vanille immediately stifled the second Fira in her free hand. They were shooting at a child? The redhead felt sick to her stomach.
Why was she here? How did she get here? What-
Vanille yelped in surprise when something sticky attached itself to her Binding Rod and yanked upwards.
"Vanille!"
The child forgotten, the Primarch's gaze quickly turned to the white bindings which held her companion hostage. Long strands of what appeared to be silk clung tightly to the redhead's staff, Serah's eyes following the lengths upwards. Her eyes widened in surprise when she caught sight of a massive, multi-legged creature coloured green and red, perfectly balanced atop of one of the petrified trees nearby. Reacting on instinct, Serah raised Starseeker at the attacker, pulling back on the bowstring. But before she could properly condense a bolt of energy in her hand, she was bowled over and sent skidding across the ground by something which could be best described as a watery missile.
"Primarch!"
Vanille gritted her teeth, playing tug of war with her Binding Rod and this second creature. Pull as she might, the grip the blasted thing had on her weapon was unforgiving. While she could have easily let go of the weapon, and try a new tactic, the redhead refused. If she dropped her weapon, she'd lose her ability to wield magic. And that was not a risk she was willing to take right now. The creature tugged hard, this time, her Binding Rod almost being pulled free from her grip.
"Not you've made me mad," Vanille said, almost growling. If this thing, whatever it was, thought she was going to let it get away with stealing her weapon, it thought wrong.
"I'm not all smiles and sunshine!"
Gathering what magic she could without losing her balance or being yanked into the air along with her weapon, Vanille fired a Fira upwards in the general direction of her attacker hoping to spook it. It did the job, Vanille's magical attack sailing just a foot wide of the multi-legged creature, enough to make it snap its bindings and leap to another tree top.
"Dia Vanille! Stop!"
The healer froze in her movements, just moments before firing yet another bolt of magic (this time a Blizzara) at the intruder who clearly had a height advantage over them both. Looking back to the Cocoon Primarch, Vanille was left torn and confused.
The child, which she could clearly see now was not a child, at least not a human child (the biggest hint being the little one's angelic wing-like hair), practically sat on top of the Primarch, the pinkette half lying, half sitting up on the ground. Serah still maintained her grip on her weapon, but she clearly didn't have the angle or flexibility to use it. Even if she did, Vanille knew both of them would be hard pressed to raise a hand against the little one.
"They don't mean us any harm," Serah said, a weary smile stretched across her lips. "At least, I don't think they mean any harm."
As if to concur with the Primarch's assessment, the child-like creature warbled. A curious sound, if the youngest Farron could say so herself. The little one then turned to the other creature in the trees, making another sound, one akin to a babbling toddler. The other creature replied with chittering and clicks.
Vanille looked back to their tree top attacker. Surprisingly it remained still and docile, this whole time just staring at them with its many eyes. It looked to have the same number of eyes as it did legs. Vanille shivered slightly. Creepy...
A tiny hand touched Serah's cheek, making the Cocoon Primarch turn back to the one on top of her. The child-like creature, an Eidolon Serah came to realize, looked at her with such curiosity, one not unlike a young human child looking at the world for the first time. Soon, another hand touched her other cheek and the Primarch found herself holding her breath as the little one leaned in. The small Eidolon stopped just a couple inches away from Serah's face, staring at her. For whatever reason, these two Eidolons didn't seem as hostile as the others their sisters were currently trying to negotiate with. Was it because they were younger?
"Your eyes," Vanille said in realization. "She's looking at your eyes... Because they're the same colour as hers..."
Serah's eyes darted to her redhead companion for a moment before looking back to the child Eidolon on top of her. The little one continued to look at her with awe, the Cocoon Primarch fighting the urge to squeal. She was so cute! Without thinking, Serah reached up and stroked the little Eidolon's hair. Ever since the moment she saw it, she wanted to touch it. And so she did.
A giggle erupted from the little one's lips, the child Eidolon leaning into Serah's touch, murmuring happily. The Primarch quickly found herself speechless. The feathers were so soft! It was almost... ethereal...
Vanille had been so enraptured by the scene between the Cocoon Primarch and the little Eidolon that she didn't realize the other larger Eidolon had started to move until its shadow flitted over her. It was headed straight for the pinkette.
"Primarch!" Vanille called out in warning, immediately thinking Serah had somehow enraged the other Eidolon through her actions. Eidolons or not, while she had no qualms against the Eidolons, if she had to fight against them to protect her new found friends and allies, she would.
Raising her hand, to call forth an Aerora, Vanille quickly froze when she realized the other Eidolon's true target. To her surprise, it was not the Cocoon Primarch, but the one that now stood over the pinkette and the little Eidolon. How this new... thing... snuck up on them without her even knowing, Vanille hadn't a clue. But even as a horrifying wail shattered the quiet air, making her blood run cold, Vanille still found herself squeaking in surprise.
"Cie'th!?" the redhead said, gawking as the corrupted creature howled.
"Here?!"
A/N: In this story, time follows FFXIII-2 format. There are 24 hours in a day instead of 26.
A length, in terms of this story is two feet. Think of an 'arm length' per say. Consider it part of the Gran Pulse measuring system.