Disclaimer: I in no shape or form own the settings or characters of Devil May Cry or Final Fantasy XIII

to spencerlonewolf: Really? lol thanks man! appreciate it! :D thank you so much for your review! and don't worry your gonna see him using both rebellion and yamato, I just completely forgot about Force Edge when I wrote this lol...i always liked Rebellion better

to KuroseiRyuu: - _ - hah! it's not like Trish is going to kill me or anything :p anyway thank you so much for the review! hope you continue to read it! thanks for your support! I guess the next chapter will deal with their meeting :P or not bwhahahaha

to JinzoMask656: Thank you so much for your review! appreciate it! :D

to RevolverBobcat: If your reading this, I have no problem with you criticizing the story or insulting me but I will not tolerate you going and calling other reviewers "idiot". It's for that reason that I deleted your previous review. They have a right to have their own opinion.

Chapter 21: Confrontation

Fifth Ark, Eden

"Where are we?"

Lightning's voice resounded wihtin the confines below Eden, they had escaped on an airship and had supposedly 'crashed' into the ark. Though they had avoided all their captors, they were now lost and without hope to what to do next. The group examined the area they were currently in, the room was one of a subway platform with small grenn lights glittering on the ground near the tracks. Snow was off to the side leaning against a support post shaken by what the primarch had informed him of his beloved's focus. Vanille walked next to Lightning, examining the area as well; her voice echoed in the room making her opinion known.

"It...look's like a piece of Pulse."

"Pulse?" Sazh's questioning voice rang out to her, unsure of the what the girl was telling him "What, you mean like the Bodhum Vestige?" He then drew away from the group musing to his own thoughts "Something like that...this close to Eden"

"Yeah, well, what I don't understand is, after that Purge and the l'Cie paranoia...why keep a chunk of Pulse under the floorboards?" questioned Fang, her thoughts more jumbled than ever before. Hope let out a "hmm" and looked to the Pulsian woman "Is this what the primarch wanted us to see?"

"A place for l'Cie to accept their fate" stated a motionless Lightning.

"Do you really think our focus is what Dysley really said it is?" questioned Hope to the group. Vanille looked back at him stating her own question "You mean? become Ragnarok"

"Destroy the fal'Cie Eden, and shatter Cocoon" stated Sazh."That's what the visions tellin' us more...or less. So we're back to square one, out of luck."

"It's almost if Dysley wants it to come true" stated Hope. Sazh looked to him once more and placed his arms on his hips, nodding his head he replied "Seems that way...He sure didn't mind explaining it "Here's your focus on a silver platter"

"But that doesn't make sense" stated a confused Vanille "I don't get it...why does a Cocoon fal'Cie want to destroy Cocoon?"

"Maybe it's a fal'Cie thing, part of some rand design, we just don't understand" voiced Hope. Fang slowly looked to Snow who was in the corner to his own thoughts. "Hey Snow!" she called out ot him but to no avail "Nothing from you?" Fang glanced back to Lightning who let out an audible sigh. The group then decided to move forward leaving both Lightning and Snow behind.

Lightning took this opputunity to walk up to the troubled man. She stoped to his side and folded her arms over her chest and looked to him. Seeing no reaction from him, she decided to move forward as well; his voice then rang out to her at that moment.

"Hey, uh...guess I've gotta apologise.."

Lightning looked back to him and placed her left hand on her hip "About Serah's focus?...not like you to second guess yourself"

Snow rubbed the back of his head and fidgeted "Well...even heroes make mistakes..". Lightning gaze softened as Snow bowed his head down.

"What about your plan to protect Cocoon?" asked a now surprised Lightning. "Either way, your faith in Serah was strong...that strength got you this far."

"It was all wrong" whispered Snow. Lightning snapped back at him "Yeah, you tried so hard to convince us that you even fooled yourself..you've been a total idiot...but then..." she reacalled fighting with Dante and seeing him bleeding "So have I..."

"It saved me" she smiled as she looked to him "Let that faith drive you...it even made me want to believe" and then she walked away laeving Snow to his own thoughts. Snow slowly got up and stood to his full height, he pulled out his crystal and watched it shine in the darkness.

"Serah...talk to me, baby.."

And then in an instant, he was reminded of his promises.

Ice cream bar, Bodhum

"You'll keep in touch right? promise me you will!" stated a defiant Serah. Dante closed his eyes as he let out an audible sigh. And when he opened his eyes, the sight startled him; Serah was holding up her right arm and her little finger pointed out while the rest of his fingers were closed.

"Heh...We're not kids anymore y'know?" asked the devil hunter but Serah didn't let up and Dante was forced to be embarassed when he let out an audible sigh and brought up his left arm and his little finger as well and wrapped it around her's.

"Promise"

Serah let out a smile and Snow chuckled, Dante glared at him "You tell anyone about this and I'll send your ass flying, you get me?"

Snow let out another chuckle as Dante looked to the two of them once more, he looked to Snow "Take care of her al'ight? I'm leavin' her in your hands"

"Yeah, I definetly will" answered a smiling Snow as he placed an arm around Serah's neck, they watched as he walked out of the NORA bar and into the vast expanse of the night.

"Do me a favor...don't get killed alright? Serah would never forgive me if you did" answered Snow as he glanced to the devil hunter who let out an audible sigh at him.

"Whatever man...speakin' of favors I have one too" answered Dante. Snow shot him a confused look "Yeah? what is it?"

The Lindblum

"If you meet Clai-" Dante stopped, Snow face scrunched up in confusion at the sudden stop in mid sentence. "Dante?.." Dante hesitated a bit and then let out an audible sigh, his blue eyes looking to Snow.

"If you meet Lightning, make sure you get her and Serah out of this...think you can do that?" asked Dante. Snow looked on, his gaze softened onto the form of the devil hunter, he nodded his head "Count on it...I promise"

"Heh.." Dante closed his eyes and looked away from Snow, the latter who in turn held a determined gaze "The last time you said somethin' like tha-"

"I screwed up, I know; but count me on this" answered a determined Snow. Dante examined the man infront of him. his blue eyes met Snow's hazel eyes and a minute of silence passed between them. A small smirk plastered itself on Dante's face not one that Snow could see; he nodded his head and without another word; he let one of the soldiers of the calvary escort him. Snow let out an audible sigh and looked to the outer rim of the Lindblum, the sky was clear and beautiful. He couldn't help but think of the responsibility etched onto his shoulders.

"Serah...I'll get you back; count on me"

Snow shook his head and then looked upwards "Yeah...I definetly will and you too, Dante.." He walked forward hoping to catch up with the group.

With Lady

*BOOM*

Lady skidded out of the smoke from an explosion, she let out a grunt as she began firing her guns. Dodging scythes that was aimed at her; she flipped abckwars and let out a barrage of bullets hit the demons infront of her and then at the same moment threw a grenade to them. With precise aim, she shot the grenade with a bullet and jumped back avoiding the explsion. Once it cleared, she stood up to her full height and let out an audible sigh. Slowly she placed her guns in her holster. And examined the blood red room she was in. It stunk of blood; she saw human corpses lodged in and around the room.

"This is the third floor I had to deal with...it's like an all you can kill demon fest. The lower I go, the more they come at me; just what the hell was Dante thinking when he came here..." muttered a weary Lady.

She watched as a door opened before her, she let out another audible sigh "Better find him before even more come at me" muttered Lady, she then walked forward once more and into the door, she walked downawards step by step, she quickly drew out another gun and shot down a demon that appeared to her side. As she climbed down the stairs, more and more of the hell vanguard appeared before her. She smirked and using them as platforms jumped on top of them and then jumped to the floor. A red demonic barrier was set up and she knew that she couldn't proceed further. She smirked once more and began her ballad of her guns again. Taking down the hell prides one by one while effortlessly dodging their attacks. She fliiped back and held her gun in her mouth, inbetween her lips.

"Even though, this is a good workout; they're ruining my dress! they cost a lot, eat this you asshole!" shouted an angered Lady. For emphasis she shot another hell pride right in the head effortlessly taking it down. it turned to dust right before her. Her gaze softened as she thought back to the devil hunter.

"I hope your still alive...you lazy bastard..."

Fifth Ark

"Raines?"

Snow and the group stopped as they came face to face with the next primarch. Cid Raines walked forward determination set forth in his eyes, his right hand was folded to his stomach and his cape fluttered in the small breeze that resonated in the fifth ark. The group stopped infront of him and Fang drew a curious expression as she voiced her own question. "What?..why is he.."

Snow stopped and looked back to the group to defuse the tension between them "Woah...easy guys, It's all right...Raines is a Sanctum officer, he's been helping us out-"

"Ah!" Fang however placed a hand before Snow and stopped him from going forward. She posed her question to the Sanctum officer "Why are you here?"

Snow let out a disgruntled scoff as he looked to Fang who stopped him from moving forward. HIs question was however answered when Lightning blurted out his name in anger "Raines!" she moved past the group with swift speed and with her gunblade drawn. She raised her gunblade up to strike him down "You traitor!" . The one swipe she ushered was dodged swiftly with ease. She stopped and looked to her side and raised her gunblade once more. The next one was blocked with a steel guard that was fit onto his right hand. Lightning turned around completely and moved to strike him down with a final strike to slice his head off. He caught her wrist effortlessly and twisted it and the threw her aside back to the group.

"Ahh!" her shout of pain was heard well and clear by the rest of the group, she rolled away and slowly got up kneeling on her right leg. Raines had now disarmed her and was holding her gunblade. He aimed it towards the group and began to speak.

"I put you on the path, that was my focus"

A gasp was emitted from the group. However Fang was unfazed and posed her question to him "Your a l'Cie!?"

"Since long before we met" stated a defiant Raines "I did my best to assist you as bid by the Sanctum fal'Cie...Now do you understand?..The fal'Cie have watched over you, guided your every step, the luck that saved you time and again was a deliberate machination...Why? you may ask? The primarch or should I say Barthandelus is crafting you into the instruments of Cocoon's demise..."

"Tch..." grunted an irritated Fang "We've been played for fools..." Sazh walked forward questioning the man infront of him "A Cocoon fal'Cie? why?"

Raines raised Lightning's gunblade and let out a small smirk "Why?... To restore the maker or rather to call him back..."

Hope blinked in surprise as he moved to question the older man "The maker? I've...heard that befor-"

"Yes, you would have; as I recall all of you were present when the savior fought the sons of Sparda" answered Raines. Sazh blinked in surprise and then looked to Raines once more "Savior?...you mean that big flying statue?"

"Exactly...for lack of a better term, yes that would be what you would call it. The savior was brought here from the thrid world; Earth...by the previous primarch using a portal" explained Raines. Snow's eyes widened as he looked to Raines "Earth?..."

"Yes Snow, as the legend goes; the maker created universes and overseed everything that happened on and around them. He made the fal'Cie for Pulse and Cocoon and then he made Earth without the fal'Cie for the independence of humans but earth was also a direct mirror to the demon world...there are countless other universes' that are present with humans, each with their own way of survival. We however, are unable to reach that because as you can see only those from Earth can...the legend goes that Earth is the centre of these multitude of universe. And it serves as a portal to all these world-"

"Cut the crap!" shouted an irritated Snow"What does that have to do with u-"

"Nothing for the moment, however" Raines then turned to Lightning and threw back her gunblade, she caught it effortlessly and looked to him as he spoke "It does affect your loved one, Lightning Farron." answered a stoic Raines. Lightning's face scrunched up in surprise as she heard Raines speak to her. "Loved one?.."

"The demon hunter, Dante...is from earth. The only reason he was present on Cocoon thirteen years ago was because of his mother who wanted to protect both him and his twin...sadly even she could not escape the clutches of the demons. And hence murdered in cold blood..." explained Raines. Lightning's eyes widened as she recalled the report of the murder, it was said that the culprit was never caught.

"The culprit was a demon, and as a last resort to protect her children; she sent the two of them to earth; their amulets served as a portal to them and hence why they left Cocoon...it was tied to different timings; one to send them early..the other, a year later." explained Raines. Cold sweat hit Lightning as she staggered and looked to Raines once more. "So they didn't run-"

"No...they were forced to leave Cocoon; but now how that affects you l'Cie is due to the Cocoon fal'Cie...some of them had also a hand in her murder due to the command of the demon emperor who you saw was defeated at the cost of the life of the eldest son of Sparda...a tragic tale" expalined Raines.

"Dante's still alive!?" asked a shocked Snow. Raines jsut let out a small smile towards him

"Indeed he still is..." answered Raines while nodding his head "You will see him soon enough, worry not; which brings us to all of you now...a long time ago, the creator departed the universe's, leaving humans and the fal'Cie alone...In a sense, the two of them are brothers, orphaned by the same parent...but on the creator leaving the worlds. Earth moved to become the centre of the vast exapnse of the universe. And hence the unseen worlds of the demons and angels became visible...there are higher beings of angels yes, who serve the creator but the Fal'Cie in a sense are demi-gods...or rather false ones. Their sole purpose is to call back the maker and return..this is the heart of all their actions and calling back the maker requires a fitting sacrifice..." explained Raines.

Lightning slowly got up, anger and irritation etched in her face and her voice "Yeah...we've heard, the destruction of Cocoon"

"The lives of this world's entire populace in bloody tribute.." stated a regretful Raines. Sazh bowed his head down as the words hit him "No...that's crazy talk"

"I don't get it...why do they need us to destroy Cocoon, can't they just end Cocoon with just a thought?" asked a curious Hope.

"Their very existence is bound to creation and maintenance of this shell, their very nature keeps them in check" answered Raines. Hope stood in thought as he understood the words he was given "So...Cocoon fal'Cie can't destroy Cocoon...they needed tools"

Vanille stepped forward and began to voice her own thougths "If we can stop this by doing nothing, we'll do nothing"

"Noble...I expected that much" stated a smiling Raines as he looked to Vanille.

Mallet island, Earth

"Did he...defeat Mundus?"

Trish's voice rang out as she looked to the portal above her, it was brimming with blood. She had been imprisoned when Mundus had captured her during the battle. She let out a gasp and lept back as a liquid of blackness fell front he portal onto the porcelain statue of Mundus. Her eyes widened as she heard a growl of frustration. It didn't take her a second guess to know who it was. The black liquid fell into the statue and with a bright flash of light, Mundus was returned back to the statue. The portal above them closed as he let out a huge bellow.

"Damn him! Dante! you will pay...atleast Vergil is dead now." came his voice. He wasn't aware that Trish was infront of him as he mused on. "My power is diminished, it will take another eight years for it to fully return...that however won't stop me from making you into my pawn again, Trish.."

Trish's eyes widened looking to the statue, it let out a laugh as a black ball of energy captured her once more. Her screams were confounded as she slipped into unconsciousness Mundus rested as he mused ot his own thoughts. "I cannot return there again...not until another eight years have passed. You are safe for now, Dante...my time will come and then you will suffer..."

Fifth Ark, Eden, Cocoon

"You...lied to us!" shouted an angered Snow looking to Raines, he clenched his right fist and looked to Raines questioning him "What happened to your dream of rebuilding Cocoon for the people?! was that a lie as well?!"

"A shadow of a dream from when I was human" answered Raines "It was change I craved, and once I'd built the influence to make things happen; there was change...I gained all the power I could hope for but I was but a puppet with no will of my own to use it..." he brought up his right hand and the group watched a blue light shone from his wrist "It wasn't the fal'Cie who changed...it was me."

"You were...made a l'Cie?!" asked a concerned Vanille.

"A l'Cie...tied to an inescapable focus- a slave of destiny" answered Raines "I'd lost hope, I had given up on all dreams of freedom but then..."

"What are you saying!?" asked a confused Sazh.

"I am not here of my own accord, not by Fal'Cie order..." a small smile played out on Raines face as he looked to the group "Seeing the devil hunter fight...of how one could fight after going through that much sorrow and still keep fighting, brought it all back. It brought back that future I once strove for...I too, like you will no challenge my fate." and then with a burst of power, a barrier surrounded the group. Raines' l'Cie mark grew and with a bllue flash of light, it erupted.

"If I defeat you here and now, the fal'Cie plan will fail..." stated a defiant Raines.

"Don't do this, Raines!" shouted a concerned Fang.

"I will use my remaining power and..." with another burst of power, Raines was now transformed into a semi crystla like Cie'th state. "I will set you free!"

The group let out a gasp as they examined his new form, he was now taller than everyone and crystal covered his body, crystal horns covered his head and his eyes glowed in a greenish light. Fang stepped back as she looked to him in concern. Crystals wings protruded from his back as he looked to the group.

"We're not gonna fight you, Raines!" shouted a defiant Fang.

"Amusing...however you will" answered Raines, he slowly snapped his fingers and then next to him a blue electric ball appeared before the group. Snow shouted in rage as he charged forward "You bastard!"

"Stop!" called out Fang, she held out an arm and stopped Snow from moving forward. Snow let out a grunt of annoyance as he looked to her "Fang..he has-"

"I know he does, charging on head on like that won't get him back!" answered a serious Fang. There before them in an electric ball was Dante, still unconscious and bleeding from his previous battle. Lightning stood soundlessly and in shock, she brought her hand up and with force she let it down shouting at him. "Let him go, Raines!"

"You will fight me! this magic was used to contain demons and slowly kill them, if you don't fight me then Dante will die" stated a serious Raines. Lightning charged forward once more with her gunblade drawn.

"Lightning!" called out Snow, he raced forward as well, with the group behind him. Fang let out a grunt "She's blinded by rage...Sazh! you, Vanille and hope, stay back! me and Snow will handle it.."

"Got it, Vanille, Hope; you heard the lady" said Sazh.

"I said...let him go!" shouted an enraged Lightning. Raines let out a grunt and took up a fighting stance

"Come and make me then!"

AN: Whew and done! hope ya liked it, and also yay! go Lightning :P save Dante! lol and *gasp* Mundus is alive!? how'd that happen!?

Trish: You know damn well how it happened!

Beyondmymask: I have no idea what your talking abo-GAAAAAH!

Trish: Say that again, I dare you.

BeyondmyMask (electrocuted) : I...have...n-no idea what your talkin- owwwww!

Trish (smirking): Kill him

BeyondmyMask: What?! no! I need him for the sequel!

Trish: Screw your sequel, kill him or I kill your computer..

BeyondmyMask: B-but!

Trish: To late..

BeyondmyMask: My..my computer! Trish! your evil.

Vergil: It took you this long to realise that? pathetic human..

BeyondmyMask: Shut up Vergil! i hope Dante comes back and sends all of you on a one way trip to he-OOOOWWW!"

Trish: He's no problem anymore, you can read the story peacefully; oh and don't forget to leave a review!