The Kingdom of Etro
A/N: And another chapter is up!
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 21: Rage of the Broken ~ ***
Blue eyes fluttered open, unfocused and hazy. The first thing they saw was a matching pair of blue eyes, albeit smaller ones, ones so full of curiosity and wonder.
A squeak.
Fingers twitched, the larger pair of blue eyes blinking slowly as coherence came back to them. It was subtle at first, Claire taking a full minute to realize what she was looking at. Or rather, who. White, angelic winged-like hair framed a small face, Siren blinking at her before squeaking again. Claire stared at the little one.
The Eidolon was asking a question.
Are you alright?
Groaning, Claire turned her head to the right, to inspect the scenery nearby. She was lying down on the floor, on a mat, in a darkened room of some sort. The greyed out walls had cracks in them, the ceiling in similar disrepair. There was a set of double doors to her right, closed. There were no windows. Glancing down at herself, Claire quickly found what appeared to be a grey emergency thermal blanket covering her. Siren, the smallest of the Eidolons, sat on top of the blanket on the pinkette's stomach, looking down at her worriedly. Claire turned back to the tiny Eidolon in confusion.
"What-"
Claire moved to sit up, the soldier immediately biting her lip to stifle another groan. A hand immediately went up to her head, the movement, despite it being slow, bringing to light the immense aching throb pulsing between her ears. A small hand touched her forehead, releasing a cooling sensation of blue light, Claire's migraine quickly dulling down to a mild headache.
A huff. And a nudge.
Claire blinked, turning her head to the left, the pinkette having felt something prod her shoulder. To her surprise, her gaze met Odin's, the larger Eidolon sitting down next to her on her left side. He was almost flush against her.
So that's why I felt so warm...
As good as emergency thermal blankets were, reflecting the user's own body heat back to them to keep them warmer, there was nothing quite like having another warm body nearby to keep one feeling... comfortable.
Odin huffed again, nuzzling Siren's cheek. The little one let out a giggle, hugging her brother's muzzle before crawling off of Claire and walking over to the door. The water Eidolon turned back just as she opened the right most door, Odin giving her a nod before Siren disappeared into the brightly lit hallway outside. After watching the smallest of the Eidolons vanish, Claire turned back to the hoofed Eidolon. Eight multi-coloured eyes blinked at her. Blue eyes fell upon the Eidolon's marred white coat.
"You look horrible," Claire said, her voice hoarse. She swallowed, her throat feeling like sandpaper right now.
Odin rolled his eyes before snorting at her.
Claire chuckled at his rebuttal, the Eidolon's words venturing along the lines of 'Well you look like crap too.'
For the next few seconds, they enjoyed each other's company in silence, Claire soon after shifting her gaze to the ceiling. As she searched her jumbled memories trying to piece together how she ended up here, fragments of the previous fight flickered into her mind's eye almost instantly.
Soldiers screaming.
Gunfire.
An Undying.
Too many bloody, lifeless bodies to count.
Odin nuzzled Claire in the cheek, as if sensing her confusion and disarray. Turning to the Eidolon, Claire patted his muzzle, a silent thank you for the comforting gesture. A soft sound came from Odin, reassurance, Claire breathing in relief to know the Undying was dead. How they defeated it, she couldn't remember. What she did remember however, was flying face first into one of the supporting pillars in Edenhall's Atrium before everything went black.
Thankfully the injuries which stemmed from that battle were not life threatening. At least, that's what Claire figured considering she was still alive and could still move all of her extremities including her fingers and toes. Claire's body ached terribly, as if she'd been trampled by the very fal'Cie of myth and legend, but that was to be expected. She did go crashing head first into stone post after all.
Claire blinked a few times, her eyes starting to droop as fatigue clawed at her consciousness. As much as she wanted to get up, to find out what had happened, and how much time had passed while she was out, Claire didn't. She was still recovering, and no matter how much she fought against it, exhaustion won out in the end. Odin rumbled softly, the sound lulling the pinkette to sleep again. He promised to watch over her while she rested, Claire murmuring a soft thanks before succumbing to darkness again.
"Claire!"
Claire would sleep for two and a half hours before she was awakened by the call of her name. The thumping of booted feet accompanied that shout, that and a whoosh of displaced air. The moment Claire groggily opened her eyes for the second time on this day, she was immediately met with the crying face of Serah staring down at her.
"Serah." Claire smiled sleepily.
Small arms immediately wrapped around Claire's shoulders, Serah burying her face in the soldier's shoulder. The smallest pinkette sobbed loudly.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Serah said in between her hiccuping gasps.
Claire closed her eyes, stiffly bringing up her arms to hug her sister back. "Serah, I'm sorry," Claire murmured.
Serah opened her mouth to say something, anything, but instead of words, all that came out were more sobs. She wanted to say it was alright, that she was not mad at Claire for pulling a stunt like that, one which almost killed her. But that would have been a lie. Serah had never been so terrified in her life, including all the really bad times before now. That Undying, that Vercingetorix, was nothing like they had ever faced before. It killed over a hundred elite Imperial Soldiers, and left Claire and the two Eidolons fighting with her nearly dead before it was finally destroyed. So Serah clung to her sister tightly, whimpering and sobbing, all the while Claire gently rubbing her back.
"Easy now," Medical Officer Torreno said, helping Claire sit upright against Odin.
Once Serah had settled down, the Primarch immediately called for a medic to examine her sister. Claire protested, stating that she was fine, but Serah would listen to none of it. It had been a day and a half since the fight with the Undying Vercingetorix (Claire would learn as they waited for the medic), Serah quickly filling them in on what happened after that.
The Eidolons suffered mild injuries from that bout, but Siren easily took care of her siblings' wounds, the little one attending to Claire's injuries as well. While the l'Cies escaped the battle with no more than a few lacerations, bumps and bruises, and a mild concussion and broken arm in Claire's case, the Imperial Soldiers assisting them in the fight weren't so fortunate. Most of them didn't survive the battle, and the few that did, were in critical condition. Healing magics could only do so much.
Claire squinted as a flash light was shone into her eyes, the medical officer checking her pupils as he went about his work. Nodding to himself, Torreno quickly went on to scan the older pinkette over twice before turning back to the Primarch.
"She's good to go, Primarch," Medical Officer Torreno said. He straightened out his scuffed and dusty white and yellow uniform. "I would recommend some more bed rest-"
Claire gave the soldier a look, causing him to chuckle.
"But I don't think that's going to happen, given all that's been going on."
Serah smirked at this. "Probably not."
"In that case," Torreno said, pulling out a steel canteen from his fraying medical supplies backpack. It was a brown canvas side bag with a faded red emblem on the top. "I would recommend drinking this," he said, handing the bottle to Claire who looked at it curiously.
"It's not the greatest tasting stuff," Torreno continued. "But it should help get your energy levels back up faster."
"Thank you Officer Torreno," Claire said, giving the man a small nod.
"Your welcome, Ma'am," Torreno replied, quickly packing up his tools. Slinging his medical bag over his shoulder, he paused in the doorway on his way out, looking back at the group. Dark green eyes were barely seen through the eye holes of his white full face helmet.
"For what it's worth," Torreno said, drawing all of their gazes. "We're glad to have you back. All of you."
Serah smiled slightly, nodding. "Dismissed soldier."
"Ma'am." Medical Officer Torreno bowed his head before leaving the room to make his rounds.
Serah, Claire and Odin stared at the open doorway to the room in silence.
"Has there been any word from Fang?"
Serah continued to stare at the open door, pursing her lips and frowning. She knew this question was coming. She had been expecting it since the fight yesterday, but still hadn't been able to come up with a decent answer. Too late for apologies now.
Serah shook her head, turning back to look at her sister. "Nothing yet," she said. "We've detected seismic activity from Gran Pulse over the past few hours, but it's hard to tell if that's a natural occurrence or-"
"Or something stemming from a fight," Claire finished for her sister.
Serah nodded solemnly.
Claire looked down at her left arm. "I see..."
Before the group of l'Cies separated in Valhalla, Claire had given Fang her communications device to keep in touch. It was one of the few comm devices which had a direct link to Serah's comm device. While all comm devices had the ability to link to the Primarch directly, only a select few had the access codes to do such a thing.
A hand on her shoulder had Claire raising her gaze.
"I'm sure she's alright," Serah said, giving the soldier a small smile.
Claire forced a smile back, though it didn't reach her eyes. "You're probably right."
With a tired sigh, Claire unscrewed the cap of the steel canteen in her hand and took a gulp. A split second later, she sputtered, coughing violently, nearly spitting her drink all over the floor.
"Woah!" Serah said, instinctively smacking her sister on the back.
Odin, who was acting as Claire's backrest at the time, leaned over the pinkette and took a sniff at the bottle still in Claire's hand. He immediately wrenched his face away, snorting and shaking his head the moment he did. Serah blinked at the Eidolon's actions, before laughing out loud.
"He wasn't kidding when he said it tasted bad, did he?"
Claire opened her mouth to say something, but only coughed more, nearly dropping the canteen. Serah quickly took the steel canister from her sister, continuing to thump on the soldier on the back. "Breathe Claire, don't forget to breathe."
Curiosity getting the better of her, Serah herself dared a sniff of the supposedly foul concoction. The pinkette nearly threw up on the spot when she did.
"Oh my word!" Serah said, flinging her head away and holding the offending item as far away as she possibly could from her face. "Just what is that!?"
"Look at you."
Claire and Serah tensed at the voice, both of them quickly turning to face the speaker a second later.
"Foolishly fighting against what cannot be fought."
Odin reared to his feet, multicoloured eyes glaring as a portal of purple sigils dissipated in a black cloud of Chaos, leaving one sole figure behind.
"How pathetic," Caius Ballad said, grinning.
Serah stared at the man, her eyes wide with horror. She unconsciously took a step backwards when violet coloured eyes turned to sneer at her. The steel canteen in her hand fell to the ground with a noisy clunk, spilling its contents all over the floor between them.
"Primarch?" queried another voice. An Imperial Soldier standing guard outside of the room stuck his head in the open door. "I heard a noise and-"
Caius turned to look at the intrusion, snarling.
"Intruder!" the soldier exclaimed. "We have an intruder! Protect the Pri-"
A sphere of condensed Chaos was flung at the door, exploding outwards in a blast of air and darkness. Serah cried out in surprise when Claire grabbed her and pulled her inwards, using her body to protect Serah from the blast. Odin leaped into action, sending a bolt of Thundaga towards the blackness racing towards them, cancelling it out. He stood on guard to the pair's left.
"H-how-" Serah stuttered, staring wide eyed in wake of the devastation.
The Imperial Soldiers – for there were always two standing on guard at any given time – were nowhere to be seen. And there was now a large hole and crater in the walls, floor and ceiling where the double doors to this particular room used to be.
"Were you really so naive to believe you were the only ones who knew about the portals?" Caius questioned. "Did you truly think there was no one else who knew how to use them?"
Claire gritted her teeth, glaring at the man in black. Blazefire Saber was just out of reach behind her, next to the blanket on the floor where she previously rested. It was still damaged, unable to switch back to its rifle form, but that was better than nothing. Serah didn't have her Starseeker with her right now, probably having left it in another room while she attended to Primarch related duties earlier.
"All of this struggling, and for what?" Caius' face twisted in disgust. "You have already lost, yet you continue to fight as if you still have a chance."
There was a crackle of sound to their left before another Thundaga struck the spot where Caius stood. Concrete caved to the sound of a sonic boom, burning black before melting. Dust and grit went airborne as the ground shook underneath their feet, the rest of the floor cracking and shifting.
Then all was silent and still again.
A haughty laugh sounded amongst the cloud of destruction, a sole purple light shining from within. There was a whoosh of air and the dust cloud scattered, revealing an untouched Caius Ballad, protected by a bubble of Chaos. The warrior held his massive blade in front of him, at a diagonal in the air. The purple jewel on the hilt of the sword was glowing.
"You cannot kill me," Caius grinned. "Not now."
Claire pulled Serah behind her, standing protectively in front of her sister. Her eyes never left their enemy. "You were stopped before," Claire said defiantly. "We will stop you again."
Caius laughed. "You? With what army? Your new allies from Gran Pulse?"
Serah held onto Claire's arm, squeezing tightly.
Caius shook his head. "They will not come."
"Why not?" Serah dared to ask. She swallowed thickly when Caius met her gaze.
"Fang is dead."
Blue eyes went wide.
"I watched it happen before my very eyes."
Suddenly it became hard to breathe for Claire, the very world feeling as if it was being turned on its head. It was like she'd been punched in the gut, at the same time, having had her throat ripped out.
"W-what...?" Serah was gawking.
"You're lying," Claire growled, her jaw clenched. Fists were clenched at her sides tightly, shaking.
"Only a fool would leave their enemy's ally unchecked," Caius said. His left hand moved to the back of his belt. "But words are words. They are hollow and meaningless. If you are to believe them, you'll need proof."
Claire, Serah and Odin flinched when something was thrown at them, something blue and nearly feather-like in weight. The said item flopped to the ground in front of the trio at their feet, barely making a sound as it did so. Claire's eyes widened at the sight of it. It was a scrap of blue silk, bloodied and shredded around the edges. Oerban characters threaded in gold marked the corner of the ripped fabric, most of it black. The scrap itself double the area of Claire's hand.
"She was a worthy opponent," Caius said, not skipping a beat. "But even l'Cies are not immortal."
Serah's hands went up to her mouth. "Impossible..." she gasped.
Caius reached back again. "No," he said, tossing something else at their feet.
Claire's gaze locked onto the small object as it bounced twice across the floor, before rolling to a stop on top of the scrap of blue silk.
"Just inevitable."
The second object was the scorched remains of a necklace. Half of the black cord which made up the chain was missing, the cord singed at the edges. The silver adornments were black and half melted, most of the amethyst pendant scorched as well. There was also a chip taken out of the pendant, leaving once smooth stone jagged and incomplete. Claire would recognize it anywhere, no matter the condition. It was the same necklace she had given to Fang all those years ago when they were children.
"The last word she spoke was a name," Caius said, drawing attention back onto himself again.
Claire's eyes rose to meet Caius'.
"Do you know which name it was?"
No one said anything.
Caius smirked. "It was Claire."
The eldest Farron collapsed to her hands and knees.
"Claire!"
Serah was at her sister's side in an instant. Odin threw yet another Thundaga at the other l'Cie, the attack having no more effect than the one before it. By now, imperial reinforcements were heard in the distance, the sounds of their booted feet echoing through the various corridors as they raced towards the trio. It would still be another minute before they arrived, but that provided little solace to the devastated pinkette.
"Promise you'll come after me," the pinkette said, her voice sounding so small.
"Claire!" Serah exclaimed again, her hands on her sister's shoulders, shaking her. "Snap out of it! He's lying! That can't be true! Fang's alive! I know it!"
But Claire could not hear her.
Bringing up her hands to Lightning's face, she brushed away the soldier's tears with her thumb. "I promise ya, Claire," Fang said, her voice unwavering.
"Primarch!" came the booming voice of Captain Snow Villiers. Seconds after the shout, the blonde man darted through the gaping hole in the wall, where the double doors used to be. Upon sight of Caius, he skidded to a halt near Serah.
"You!" Snow exclaimed, snarling like a behemoth. The Imperial soldiers with him flanked him on either side. All weapons were pointed at Caius. Brynhildr was with them, the fire Eidolon immediately hissing upon sight of their enemy.
A lone tear streaked Claire's cheek, dulled blue eyes staring down at blue silk and the scorched pendant before closing shortly afterwards. Claire's head drooped forward.
"I promise ta come after ya."
Agony bubbled up from within, threatening to bring madness with it. All was held back through the clenching of her jaw, however. Teeth were gritted, fists balled against the broken concrete floor as a sole word was whispered on a breathless utterance.
"Liar."
Sitting back on her heels for a moment, shoulders were straightened and fists uncurled before the Primarch's personal bodyguard rose to her feet, hollow blue eyes opening at the same time.
"C-Claire?" Serah said, looking hesitantly at her sister.
There was no emotion in the soldier's eyes now. There was no smile, no life. Just emptiness. And anger.
"No Claire..." the Primarch said, despair clearly heard in her voice.
This was not her sister anymore. This was not Claire.
Now there was only Lightning.
Caius took one look at Lightning and laughed hard.
"You finally understand now, don't you?" the black garbed warrior said.
Mechanically, Lightning bent over and picked up Fang's ruined necklace from the floor. She tucked it inside of her pocket before she then turned around, walked a few steps away from Caius, and retrieved Blazefire Saber from the ground. Turning back to face the other swordsman, Lightning brandished her sword and waited.
"So be it."
Caius smirked, raising his sword again, the purple jewel on the hilt glowing.
"Husk of the Wandering Comet."
There was an explosion of purple.
"Lose yourself in battle and rejoice!"
Edenhall collapsed in on itself, Caius' attack sending a pillar of violet energy shooting up from the centre of the building into the sky. Massive sigils of purple, wider than the entirety of Edenhall itself glowed in the clouds above. At the centre of them, a meteor-like mass of rock peered down through the magical circles. Smaller meteorites, ones glowing with light blue fire, filled the air around the larger meteor, momentarily suspended high in the sky. Then gravity took hold and they came down in a hail of flaming rocks. Everything around Eden hall was torn asunder.
"Tch."
A wave of purple energy raced towards her, Lightning rolling to the right, just barely missing the corrupted Chaos. Darting around her opponent to the right, two hasty Blizzaras were shot at Caius from Lightning's fingertips, the brand on her chest of glowing brightly. Steel blue eyes narrowed, the pinkette's lips pulled back into a snarl as the first of the two attacks hit Caius in the leg, encasing his lower body in jagged shards of ice. The second attack caught him in the chest, freezing his torso and part of his face and right arm, trapping his sword arm close to his body.
Seeing an opening, Lightning recklessly raced towards the prone man, leaping high into the air with a roar, Blazefire Saber held above her head. Seconds later, she came down upon him with a two handed strike. Before Lightning's attack connected, Caius' left arm shot out towards her, shattering his icy prison. Fragments of ice went flying outwards in a circle away from him, Lightning instinctively jerking her face back and crossing her arms in front of her to deflect the smaller particles away harmlessly. That was a mistake on her part, for no sooner had Lightning done that, a strong hand shot between her arms and clamped down over her mouth, nearly snapping her neck in that movement.
"Embrace the terror," Caius said, holding Lightning by the jaw two and a half feet above the ground.
With her free hand clutching at Caius' wrist, Lightning jerked her right hand up, bringing down Blazefire Saber shakily. The blade would not connect however, Caius throwing Lightning backwards away from him before she could complete her sloppy strike. Lightning let out a yelp when she crashed to the stoney, uneven ground hard on her back, the force of the throw sending her flipping head over heels across the rock. Fingers snapped somewhere in between, a light purple glow covering Lightning's form as her anti-gravity unit came online, immediately changing her momentum. A second later, Lightning landed in a crouch at the edge of the floating rock island they fought upon, scratched, bruised and slightly bloody. A gash over her right eyebrow bled freely, crimson running down the right side of her face as a result.
Caius laughed.
Upon the near total destruction of Edenhall, broken pieces of the once magnificent cultural centre floated up into the air, drawn towards the sky by Caius' chaotic magic. Rocks, chunks of dirt and Edenhall debris froze mid air at different heights, becoming mini floating islands littering the once clear Cocoon sky. Atop the largest piece of rubble, which floated just under the massive meteor threatening to purge the mountain kingdom once and for all, was where Lightning and Caius faced off. Hundreds of feet below, Cocoon citizens fled for their lives, waves shambling Cie'th chasing after them without mercy.
A growl.
Soft blue light flowed from Lightning's free hand, spreading across her body. The Curara knitted skin back together in mere seconds. Once the bleeding above her eye stopped, the pinkette stood, Lightning taking a moment to rub away the blood with her sleeve. Turning back to her opponent, Lightning became a blur of motion again, taking to the sky. Blazefire Saber was a streak of light at her side as she flew towards the darkly clad man.
"Caius Ballad!"
With a grunt, Caius' glowing purple blade slashed diagonally through the air in front of him, sending a blast of purple Chaos at the free falling pinkette. The attack was met by Lightning's sword, the soldier's brand pulsing brighter, a white light making her blade glow. Spinning to the left in mid air, Lightning deflected the bolt of darkness away from her, sending it careening harmlessly into another smaller floating island nearby. The black rock exploded into dust, Lightning landing in a crouch behind Caius at the same time, her back facing him.
"Impressive," Caius said, glancing back over his shoulder at the .
Gritting her teeth, Lightning looked over her left shoulder to the man at her back. "Save it," she snarled.
For a moment, all they did was glare at each. Who moved first, whether it was Caius or Lightning was hard to say. In the end, they both spun around in less than a second to face one another, their blades crossing in a flash of sparks and the clanking of metal. Lightning was the first of the two to push back, the soldier leaping backwards to put some distance between them. She landed ten feet away from the black clad warrior, immediately bringing up Blazefire Saber defensively in front of her the moment her feet touched rock. Ice blue eyes glared daggers at the man known as Caius Ballad.
Lightning was going to kill him.
For the death of her father.
For the death of her mother.
For Amodar.
For Fang.
Caius Ballad was going to die by her blade!
Caius took one step towards Lightning, the l'Cie freezing in place with a look of surprise when both he and the soldier was suddenly illuminated by a massive blur of heat and power. A chunk of rock, just a bit smaller than the floating island they stood upon, hurtled passed them, heading straight towards the violet magical glyphs above. The projectile was on fire and crackling with white lightning, a snake of water swirling around it near the front protectively. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Lightning's attention, the soldier momentarily shifting her gaze towards the source.
Amongst the chaos below, four Eidolons were clearly seen, the quartet combining their powers in one massive attack against the meteor above. The sounds of breaking glass drew Lightning's attention upwards again, just in time to see the magical missile bulldoze through the violet glyphs overhead, shattering them. The looming meteor overhead immediately ceased to be once the magical circles were broken, the hail of blue fire also dying with it. Caius snarled as the sky cleared up and fell calm once again.
Not wasting any time, Lightning took to the air again, her weapon held high. She quickly closed in on her opponent, using gravity to empower her strike. At the last moment, as if sensing her in spite of his distraction, Caius leaped away, Blazefire Saber missing him by a hair's breadth. The damaged blade struck stoney ground instead. Fluidly pivoting on his heel, Caius brought down his massive weapon in a diagonal slash. Lightning rolled to the right, just barely avoiding the counter attack before thrusting her sword at the opening that was Caius' stomach.
Caius lurched backwards a few steps, nearly stumbling, to avoid being gutted. A split second later, Lightning was forced to flip backwards through the air to avoid the mammoth sword slashing downwards at her. The moment she landed on the ground again, she slashed horizontally from left to right at Caius, only for him to catch the tip of her blade in his hand, stopping it from cutting into his chest.
"Damn you!" Lightning growled, unable to wrench her weapon free from Caius' hold.
Caius smirked. "Enough," he said, lowering the tip of Blazefire Saber to point directly at his heart. There was only three inches of clearance.
"Let's end this."
Blue eyes widened as the area over Caius' heart glowed red.
"You-"
Caius eyes' glowed crimson. "Cast your shadow over all."
Sparks of purple energy crackled off of his form, Caius bringing his glowing sword up in front of him. The jewel on his blade was scorched with blackness.
"Wings of night!"
Black fire blazed outwards in rings, throwing Lightning backwards and off her feet with a sonic boom. Lightning's arms instinctively came up in front of her face as she was tossed, a metallic roar reverberating in her ears at the same time. As she fell off the floating island, dazed, the black fires receded, leaving a terrifyingly familiar figure behind.
A giant, metallic dragon now stood in Caius' place, silver claws adorning its hands, a helm of silver also reinforcing its head. Armor as black as night made up of the rest of its body, with various divine markings imprinted in silver on its chest and back. Standing on two feet, the monstrosity's head nearly touched the clouds in the sky above. Chaos Bahamut reared back its head and let loose a mighty roar.
Lightning gritted her teeth, the soldier scrambling to right herself in the air. After locking eyes with her, Chaos Bahamut leaped off of the floating island and zipped towards Lightning in pursuit. Snapping her fingers, Lightning activated her anti-gravity unit again to slow her fall. There would be no way to avoid a fight in the air, Chaos Bahamut guaranteed to intercept the soldier before she hit the ground due to his aerial superiority. But Lightning wasn't done yet. The goddess had chosen her for a reason, and Lightning would be damned if she fell so easily.
The hairs on the back of Lightning's neck raised suddenly, the soldier looking over her shoulder just as a bolt of Thundaga shot past her on the right. It hit Chaos Bahamut squarely in the chest, momentarily staggering the abomination in the air. Chaos Bahamut howled in fury, temporarily veering off to the side.
"Odin!" Lightning exclaimed, the Eidolon darting under her. He caught the pinkette on his back mid air, Lightning switching off her anti-gravity unit at the same time.
Odin's hooves hit the dirt below seconds later, the Eidolon immediately swerving to the right, forcing Lightning to clutch at his mane to stay on his back. A whoosh of air rocketed by them as Chaos Bahamut shot passed the pair, the corrupted beast chomping down on air where the pair previously resided. Having missed its target, Chaos Bahamut pulled a hard turn upwards, to avoid a crash with the ground. With a split second reprieve, Odin took off in the opposite direction of the turning Chaos Bahamut, Lightning forced to readjust her seating position on the Eidolon's back again as he did so.
With the magical glyphs above now gone, so too was the gravity defying pull which held debris and rock alike hostage in the air. Rubble left over from Edenhall came crashing down to the ground all around them, Odin deftly swerving between boulders and all forms of debris as it happened. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Lightning's attention, the soldier twisting her head to the side and just barely making out fleeing forms closer to the remnants of Edenhall. Imperial Soldiers and the other Eidolons were cutting a path through waves of Cie'th, on occasion, blasting falling rocks out of the sky as they protected a mass of civilians with them. Spotting pink hair amongst the crowd, Lightning gritted her teeth. The grip on Blazefire Saber when knuckle white.
Serah.
A twisted roar made Lightning jump, the soldier's gaze quickly darting behind them. She watched incredulously as Chaos Bahamut barrelled through the falling rubble after them, at times tearing through chunks of rock in its way with its large claws with little to no effort at all.
"Odin!" Lightning exclaimed, seizing the Eidolon's attention.
Odin swivelled his head to the left, four of his eight multi-coloured eyes narrowing in on the monstrosity trailing behind them. Locking eyes with the pinkette, the Eidolon quickly followed Lightning's line of sight, Odin snorting in understanding before changing course to head towards the path Lightning directed him to. Blue eyes cast in the direction of the Imperial Palace, in the opposite direction to the youngest Farron and the survivors of Edenhall. As much as it bothered Lightning, to not be with her sister during this time, this had to be done. This was where Lightning was going to make her final stand.
The soldier gritted her teeth.
Whether or not she was going to win the actual fight was besides the point. Lightning had lost so many people by this point, but she wasn't about to lose her sister too. Not if she had any say in the matter. Caius may have taken over the palace for a time, but Lightning was almost certain he had yet to discover the many secrets of the place. Hopefully those same secrets would give her an edge in the battle to come. If not, Lightning took some solace in knowing that could bury him with her there, when the time came.
A/N: While I know some of you were expecting an epic fight against Vercingetorix, I decided against doing one. For those of you who have played FFXIII and battled against him, you'll understand why. Simply put, it wouldn't have made a great battle. More often than not, I draw on actual battles in game as inspiration for my own combat scenes. And Vercingetorix's fight was the longest most boring battle ever. It was pretty much doing a certain sequence of moves and then repeat them, over and over again. With the Undying's stupidly high HP, the battle dragged on and on and on. There was no way for me to write something like that out without making it as boring as heck. So I skipped it. There were other more exciting battles later on in the chapter anyhow. :P
Torreno is a member of the Blitz Squadron, a soldier once colleagues with Lightning when she was part of the Bodhum Security Regiment of the Guardian Corps. He makes an appearance along with a few other colleagues in FFXIII-2. I don't think he was an actual medic in the game, but for the purposes of this story, he is. You can find more information about him here: finalfantasy[insertperiod]wikia[insertperiod]com/wiki/Blitz_Squadron
The fight between Lightning and Caius at the end is heavily based on a combination of fights she has with Caius in FFXIII-2 right at the beginning. Some of the dialogue lines have been taken from there as well.