The sun slowly made its way below the hills and dusk has finally fallen on the Farron estate. Lightning hadn't left her room since Vanille had left earlier. She sat by her window, leaning her head on the cool surface. Blue and red eyes gazed out the window listlessly.
Then in the distance, she saw the faint glow of flames. Her heart beat slightly quickened and her fist tightened for a second, but she did not move. She only watched quietly as the flames marched closer and closer.
Hurried footsteps up the stairs and a knock at the door interrupted her. Elmyra, hearing no response, decided to open the door. "Master. There are soldiers coming up the hills. What should we do?"
Soldiers, thought Lightning. So they're finally here. Her voice held no emotions. "Let them come. It doesn't matter anymore."
-xiii-
Pushing past the gates, the calvary treaded past the garden, letting their boots crush the roses beneath them. Led by Rosch, the army was dressed in fine shining armor that gleamed in the moon light. Torches hot, weapons ready, Rosch waved his hand and in an instant, the soldiers behind him came forward and broke through the front door.
With a huge slam, the doors opened and the finely armored soldiers poured into the main hall., only to be greeted by the calm and collected Elmyra who stood in the middle ready to face the uninvited guests of the Farron household. The soldiers parted ways for their leader to walk through, bowing in respect during the process.
Saber in hand, Rosch peered down at Elmyra. "Where is General Farron?"
Unintimidated, Elmyra looked up at the silver haired man and spoke in a soft but firm voice. "The master does not wish to be disturbed at the moment."
"I'm afraid she does not have a choice." Rosch said coldly. "If she does not come out, I will be forced to use arms..." At that, the surrounding men raised their weapons at the older woman.
Elmyra stood unmoving, ready for anything that may come.
"Very well," said Rosch in a low voice. His hand tightened on his weapon.
"General!" A strong voice echoed into the hall causing everybody to turn their head to the figure dressed in a black hooded cape at the top of the stairs.
"Farron..." Muttered Rosch under his breath as he watched Lightning closely.
The black hood shielded her face from everybody, the only thing that could be seen are her pink bangs that peeked out. Putting a hand to her mouth, Lightning coughed. "I'm afraid I've developed something..." She started to descend the staircase, only to trip the first few steps. Catching the railing in time, she continued. "Quite contagious." She lied carefully. "So I apologize if I am... out of sorts."
The men closest to the stairs took a cowardly step back as if believing her for a second. Elmyra took this chance to excuse herself, but stayed close to watch the situation closely.
Each step down echoed in the room. All eyes were on Lightning. The sound of heartbeats and breathing amplified.
When Lightning arrived at the bottom of the stairs, the room was suddenly dead silent. If someone were to drop a pin, that high pitched twang would be the only sound.
The soldier's breathed. The General breathed. Lightning breathed.
Swallowing, General Rosch was the first to speak. "No more games, Farron." Grabbing Lightning's broken saber, he tossed it to the ground in front of her. "I know what you are."
No movement. Lightning was prepared for this, she was prepared to face her end, but she was never prepared for what happened next.
"I knew that you were no ordinary person when you came back with Barthandelus' head. Every movement you made, I watched closely. I knew it was a matter of time before you reveal your true self." He took out Vanille's letter to Snow. "Of course... I did have little bit of help."
Lightning looked up, her eyes widened as she saw Vanille's signature on the letter. "Vanille..." She whispered.
"No..." Elmyra sighed as she saw Lightning twitch slightly at the mention of Vanille's letter.
Allowing the letter fall to the floor, Rosch continued to stare Lightning down. "Don't take it personaly. But... no one life is worth the lives of millions of our Kingdom's people."
Rosch continued to speak, but Lightning's attention was elsewhere. Lightning's eyes burned onto the fallen letter. Her bi colored eyes stared at Vanille's name as well as Snow's seal. Quietly she dug into her pocket.
"And it is them that wish..."
Lightning had managed to fish out the ripped up piece of paper that she had found on the floor earlier in the maid's quarters. Looking at the shredded paper, her lips started to tremble as she saw the lines that formed a corner of Snow's seal.
Holding up his saber, Rosch continued. "For you to die."
Flames started to burst at the corners of the ripped up shred. Lightning's one blue eye was slowly filled with scarlet red.
"You will become Ragnarok, L'cie. And no one will ever love a beast." Barthandelus lived in Lightning and manifested himself as the beast.
Rosch glared at Lightning. "Ragnarok."
Then in a flash, Lightning held on to the top of her hooded cape and threw it up into the air to reveal her marked face. Eyes closed, she let the soldiers lay eyes on her full fledge L'cie mark.
The troops took a step back in fear. Unflinching, Rosch raised his saber at Lightning signaling the attack.
Letting a loud battle cry, the soldiers raised their lances and headed towards Lightning at all sides. The world stood still. The cry was silenced in Lightning's mind, the only thing she could hear was her breathing and the drone that was Barthandelus' voice.
As the sharp points of the lances were inches away from her body, her eyes opened.
No trace of blue was found in either of her eyes, only red. Blood red.
With a boom, the soldiers were sent flying away by an invisible force. Even Rosch who was far from Lightning was lying on the ground. In horror, the men watched as Lightning lifted off the ground in a blinding flare. As she let out a terrifying scream, her voice was shadowed over by a lower one, the voice of Barthandelus.
Glowing red eyes, sharp devil horns, an impenetrable body, the beast spread its black wings. Ragnarok was finally at its full form. Raising a claw towards Rosch, the beast spoke. "Destruction will reign..."
Standing up on his feet again, Rosch pointed towards the beast and spoke to his frightened troops. "This will be our final battle! We must fight with no hesitation! If we fail, the kingdom, our families we fought so hard to protect will pay the price." Turning towards Ragnarok again, Rosch signaled them forward. "All units, attack!"
Roaring with morale, the troops raced to their final battle.
"Pathetic humans!" The beast charged towards them.
-xiii-
Vanille watched in horror as Ragnarok tore apart buildings and set the village on fire. The beast flew through the city, swooped down, and devoured men, women, and children.
Falling on her knees, the red head looked up at the beast begging it to stop. "Lightning... please stop!"
Roaring the beast charged towards her with its claws raised.
"Vanille!"
Vanille bounced awake at the sound of her name. "Lightning!" She shouted. Getting up too quickly, she winced when she felt the pain on the back of her head. She felt someone's hands supporting her to sit up. Opening her eyes, she looked into the light blue-green eyes of Hope.
"Vanille... it's okay. It's me, Hope!" The silver haired boy in front of her called to her, hoping to calm her down.
"Hope...? Where are the others?" She said worriedly.
"Don't worry, they're safe." He said reassuring her.
Still dazed, Vanille looked around her and realized she was still at her house. Then she remembered, that's right... she was here because of the General...
The General, she thought.
The General is going to kill Lightning! "I- I have to go! I have to get to Lightning!" She said worriedly then started to push herself up. As she got up, she heard the sound of clothes shuffling behind her. Turning around, she quickly made her way to Fang who was still lying still on the ground. "Fang!" Both Vanille and Hope started to help her up.
Holding a hand to her head, Fang groaned. "Ugh... my head..." Looking at Vanille, she instantly felt guilty. "Ah... Vanille... I'm so sorry. I had no idea- I came back one day and the kids were gone, he told me that you were in trouble... and that-"
"It's ok, Fang." The red head said softly.
The sound of footsteps approached them alerting everybody to turn their attention towards the blonde attractive man.
"Everything alright?" The Duke, Snow Villiers said in his familiar nonchalant way as he sauntered in.
"Duke?" The red head didn't know whether to be happy or scared to see him.
"Duke!?" Fang said with a surprising expression. "This idiot comes by sometimes to visit the kids... This guy is a duke?!"
"When I saw the soldiers in front of the house, I ran to find help and... I found him." Hope explained.
Snow nodded. "What's going on? Where is the General?"
"The General!" Vanille started to panic. "We need to get to Lightning, now! She's- she's in trouble!" She started to walk towards the door, but Snow held onto her wrist stopping her.
"Whoa whoa- slow down... Why is sis-?"
Looking at Snow, Vanille confessed. "Snow!" Her eyes burned onto his. "I know where Serah is."
-xiii-
Back at the Farron household, it was a complete war zone. Shards of glass and broken wood shattered everywhere and Rosch's attempts in keeping the beast at bay were almost for naught. Strong soldiers were brought to their knees like ants.
"Don't let it leave this place!" Commanded Rosch.
Soldiers rushed behind him carrying chains and hooks, hoping to subdue the powerful Ragnarok. With the other soldiers distracting the beast, they waited for the right moment to strike.
"Now!" Yelled Rosch.
Hooking onto the flesh of the beast on each side, Ragnarok let out a bone chilling cry. With the strength of five men on each side, they pulled the beast down into submission with a heave. Another chain with spikes was thrown around the neck of the beast dragging it down closer to the floor.
Finally a steel net was placed over Ragnarok. With a final heave and a ho, the soldiers forced the beast onto the floor. Rosch held his breath, hoping that this was enough to contain the beast.
Roaring, the beast clawed onto the floor and glared into the General's eyes. "You think this is enough..." Despite the amount of weight that was pulling the beast down, it managed to slowly stand up. "To contain me?!" The men heaved again, pulling the rope tighter. Holding up its claws, the beast then gripped onto the chains that restrained it and with a roar, pulled upward causing a ripple down to the soldiers holding it and effectively threw them all off.
The soldiers who held the chain and spike collar around its neck pulled backwards, hoping to gain the upper hand again, but Ragnarok only allowed them to pull. It didn't care that the spikes were digging into its neck, scarring and cutting into black flesh. The tension soon became too much for the chains and they snapped, unleashing bright sparks as it happened.
Now almost completely free, the beast threw away the net and flew upward. All this happened in less than three minutes. And three minutes did not allow enough time for anyone to escape, but Ragnarok only had vengeful eyes for one person, sparing the rest.
Three seconds, not three minutes, not even a minute, was all it took for Ragnarok to fly into Rosch's direction, delivering an attack that left the General bleeding on the ground and gasping for air. With the fall of the brave General, the soldiers saw the mark of the end. With a boom, the beast broke through the walls and flew into the night sky.
"General!" One of his men flew to his aid, while the rest gathered the less injured troops to chase after the beast.
Grasping onto the soldier's collar, Rosch gave his command in a broken voice. "Do not let... it out of your sight." His other hand held onto his wounds as he stared into the eyes of the soldier. "Use the weapons."
"But sir, we haven't figured out how to use-"
"Just do it!" Commanded Rosch as he spat out blood.
Nodding, the soldier left him on the ground and hurried to the others.
-xiii-
Vanille's heart raced to the sound of horses thumping loudly against the ground. A light drizzle had started and she felt it on her shoulders. Her arms were held tightly against the Duke as they rode towards the Estate. Behind her Gadot, Fang, and Hope followed closely on horseback. While it was quite uncomfortable sitting with the Duke, a man that she was still quite fearful of, she knew she had to sit with him in order to tell him everything she knew about the Farron sisters. She knew when she mentioned Serah in pain and as a L'cie, she had struck a core. Even when riding a horse in high speed, she could feel his body tense at the sound of Serah's name, to which she responded by holding onto him tighter, wanting to comfort him. She knew exactly what it was like to have someone you love in pain and struggling.
As they neared the Estate, she saw that the big front gates were already torn down by the soldiers.
They didn't need to go far. Blasting out of the mansion came the flying beast, Ragnarok. The horse neighed loudly as Snow pulled on the reigns hard stopping the horse and pulling it back until it was on its hind legs. Vanille almost fell but she clutched onto Snow's jacket in time. When the horse had calmed down, Vanille could see the scene clearly ahead of her.
Ragnarok swooped down from the skies to attack the soldiers. The common lances and swords, even arrows did nothing to pierce to thick armor of the mighty Ragnarok. The rain now transformed from a drizzle to a drumming thunder storm. The monster lit the night with its magic making it a brilliant yet terrifying spectacle.
"Incredible..." Fang said in awe. "How the hell are we supposed to take that down?"
Snapping out of her daze, Vanille turned to Snow. "We can't let it reach the village!"
Snow nodded then turned around to look at Gadot who was still on horseback. "Gadot, we'll see what we can do to help out!"
Nodding, Gadot and Snow rode off.
After the had left, Vanille reached into her bag to bring out the rose Lightning had given her before she left. Holding it gently in her palm, she looked at the slightly glowing rose one last time, before ripping the head from the stem.
Hope who was watching curiously asked her. "What are you doing?"
With a bunch of petals in hand, she turned to Hope and Fang. "We need to get this out to the wounded soldiers."
Looking at each other, Fang and Hope thought Vanille was acting crazy. Regardless, Fang nodded. "Alright. Let's go."
-xiii-
Placing the petal into the mouth of the soldier, Vanille coached the soldier into eating it. She sighed in relief as she watched the soldier's face regain color. Ragnarok was not far away and she was in great danger, but she can't just let these men die.
"Vanille!"
Turning to the voice, she saw Elmyra running towards her. "Elmyra!" She held onto woman's hands. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
"Oh Vanille..." The older woman shook her head. "The master- Lightning is gone."
Vanille shook her head, her hair was wet and her hair ties had fallen out letting her hair fall freely. "No. I will get her back, Elmyra!" Then she placed the petals in Elmyra's hands, all but one. "Give these to the fallen soldiers..." Looking at the beast up ahead in the sky. "I will bring her back!" With that, she turned and ran towards Ragnarok.
"Vanille!" Elmyra shouted.
-xiii-
All the soldiers had retreated from the Farron mansion. The last one, the one who aided Rosch, became temporary commander. Raising Rosch's fallen saber, the soldier yelled. "Bring out the weapons from the Ark!"
Snow and Gadot arrived at the front lines and watched them bring out crates filled with weapons. The weapons were long and made of metal. Each had some sort of latch on the side.
The soldiers who held the weapons were confused until one decided to pull the trigger. A bang was unleashed and thankfully shot to the floor.
Raising it to the air, the others followed suit taking the new weapons to face the beast. The Fifth Ark weapons responded to some but to others were useless. Regardless, the soldiers, morale was raised and the beast was now facing a new kind of fire power.
Roaring, Ragnarok fought fire against fire, unleashing its fire magic against the earth and scorching it into black ashes.
One more weapon remained in the crate. "Ahhh- Sir it's too heavy to use!" Said the soldier struggling to take the heavy weapon.
The soldier felt a hand on his shoulder, turning he was face to face with Gadot. Stepping aside, the soldier let Gadot take the weapon and watched in awe as the one armed man lifted the weapon into his left hand.
"Alright... now lets see what this baby can do." Arriving at the front lines, Gadot aimed the weapon up into the sky at Ragnarok. Even with the beast's speed, its size made it an easy target. Taking a deep breath, Gadot prepared for the shot then pulled the trigger.
The bullet that came out wasn't a bullet, but a rocket. The power of the rocket sent Gadot back a few steps but he was able to regain his footing. Gun shots stopped and everybody had their attention on the rocket, everybody except the unsuspecting Ragnarok.
Lightning flashed in the sky behind Ragnarok as its red eyes widened looking at the rocket closing in. Quickly the beast tried to fly away, but as it dodged to the right, the rocket smashed into its left wing, tearing it down.
It let out a terrifying wail. No longer able to stay in the air, the beast smashed back into the mansion.
-xiii-
"Lightning!" Yelled Vanille, as she quickly made her way inside the building. Once in, she saw Rosch by the front still on the floor. She glanced at the giant hole that Ragnarok had made in the staircase then back at Rosch. With the last petal in her hand, she bit her lip and thought. Rosch was still human... he won't survive. Quickly she ran to his side. He was weak, but still alive. "Hey... it's going to be okay."
Rosch just looked at her unmoving.
Vanille assumed that he was too weak to talk. Placing the petal in his hand, she spoke carefully. "Just put it in your mouth, okay?"
Still no answer. Wasting no time, she proceeded to run to the hole where Ragnarok laid. "Lightning!" She screamed hoping that that big impact was enough for Lightning to transform back.
But as she finally arrived to the smashed staircase and the dust had finally cleared, she realized that Ragnarok was still at full form. Still, she didn't stop. "Lightning please, I know you hear me!" She cried. "Come back!"
Scarlet eyes opened and looked deep into Vanille's soul. Claws reached the edge of the giant hole and with one push Ragnarok was on its feet again.
Not moving, the red head stood her ground and threw her hands out to block Ragnarok from leaving. "I won't have you hurting anymore people!"
The beast stood quietly.
"You have to kill me first." Vanille looked down scared of what would happen next.
"Insolent girl..." He said followed by his laugh. Ragnarok raised its claw at Vanille, ready to deliver its final blow.
Closing her eyes, Vanille waited for her death, but nothing came. When she looked up, she could see the internal struggle within Ragnarok's red eyes.
"Van- nille..." Ragnarok spoke her name, no, not Ragnarok, it was Lightning. Lightning was in there, thought Vanille. "Foolish L'cie!" Ragnarok said again. The beast started to move backwards its arm struggling to stay up.
Walking closer, Vanille did not care what would happen to her, she needed to bring Lightning back. "Lightning!"
But as she got closer to the struggling Ragnarok, the fallen Rosch behind them was slowly getting up. Despite coughing out blood and bleeding from his forehead, Rosch who was a brilliant and fearless general, still got up on his two feet. He was a man that believed fully that the end justified the means, so if there were some sacrifices along the way, then so be it. It would be worth it.
Time stopped.
Lightning who was deep within Ragnarok could see it all.
Vanille, the girl whom she knew for sure that she... loves was coming towards her.
Rosch had a bomb in his hands, ready to throw it.
The soldiers were almost at the door.
When time began again, pure chaos would happen and Lightning knew this so she breathed and willed her body to take control.
-xiii-
It happened all too fast. Vanille barely had any time to process what happened. One second Ragnarok was about to kill her. One second she was running towards Ragnarok, then another second, she saw Ragnarok run pass her then it spun her around and held her against its armored body.
Then she heard a terrifying boom. That sound that was so loud it left her ears ringing.
Everything was surrounded by a cloud of dust. She felt the building crumble. She felt the earth move beneath her, but what she felt even more was the familiar warmth that surrounded her.
That warmth was enough to block out all the chaos that happened. When she tilted her head up and opened her eyes, she was not met with the blood red eyes of Ragnarok, but Lightning's radiant blue ones.
For a split second everything around her was a brilliant white light and all she could see was Lightning looking down at her. Even with her ringing ears, she could make out the movement of Lightning's lips. She said.
"I love you."
Then time began again, almost too fast. Dust surrounded them and the building seemed to be stable now, at least she thought so. Until all of a sudden Lightning shoved the red head away from her. As Vanille landed on the floor, she witnessed in horror as a wooden beam from the ceiling fell down and cut into Lightning's body . With the strong beam broken, rubble and broken wood followed falling on top of her beaten body.
"Lightning!" She screamed then ran towards the pile of rubble. "No..." Using her bare hands, she started to dig her way through to Lightning. "Lightning- Ahh!" Her hands were cut in the process, but she didn't care, her bloody hands continued to dig. "Please... Lightning!"
At that point, Snow and the others have finally arrived at the scene. They had taken cover when the bomb erupt, when they arrived, they were too late. They watched as the young girl struggled with the heavy pieces of wood and rubble. "Everybody start digging!" Snow commanded.
Snow, Gadot, Fang, Hope, and the soldiers all helped. They had found Rosch not too far away, but unfortunately, he was gone.
When the last piece of fallen beam was lifted, Lightning's body was carefully lifted to a clear area by the stairs. Vanille ran to her side and brushed the dirt away from Lightning's face. "No... Lightning please... Please..." Blood poured from Lightning's stomach, the wooden beam had splintered into sharp edges and had left her with serious wounds. Turning towards the others. "Please somebody help!" Fang, Hope, and Elmyra had already passed out all the petals, none were left. The last one, Vanille had given to Rosch.
Lightning grabbed her hand. "No- it's too late..."
Vanille held Lightning's hand to her face. She let her tears fall freely. "No... no its not... you can heal yourself right? Please, you can do it."
Slowly Lightning used her other hand to unbutton her collar. There was no mark, nothing, only bruised skin."Don't you see..." She smiled. "I'm... free."
"No... no... You can't! You can't die!" Vanille cried as she felt Lightning weakly brush her tears away.
Turning slightly towards Snow, Lightning tried to speak up. "Snow..." Snow quickly ran to her side. "Serah's room- there's a hidden passage. Go to her."
Snow nodded silently and left.
Turning back to Vanille, Lightning smiled. "You came for me..."
Vanille nodded, unable to say anymore.
"That's what matters." Lightning forced a pained yet genuine smile. Looking into her green eyes, she whispered gently. "I'm glad..." Then Lightning closed her eyes. Her hand that was on Vanille's cheek slacked and fell to the side.
"No...no..." Shaking her head, Vanille held onto her body. "No! Please... don't leave me..." The room was silent and her crying was the only thing that could be heard. "Please..." She held her closer so she could whisper into her ear. "I love you. Please... please... don't go..."
Everybody hung their head in sorrow and the room was completely silent.
Even though it was probably only minutes that passed by, it seemed like hours. Then all of a sudden the voice of a young soldier broke the silence. "Miss Vanille!" Everybody turned towards the soldier. In his hand was one single petal. "I found this here by the floor."
One petal? Vanille thought. Did Rosch not use it? The soldier hurriedly ran up to her and place it in her shaking hands. "I hope... this helps." The soldier said kindly.
"Thank you." She said to the soldier then looked back at Lightning. The petal in her hands though slightly covered in dirt still glowed with subtle warmth. Crying, she brushed the dirt away from the red velvet petal then placed it into her mouth. She bent down to Lightning's lips and brushed her cheeks gently. "Please..." She leaned in closer. "Come back to me."
Then she sealed their fate with a kiss.
Ok Ok so I know it's been like a month. Sorry.
But the finale Finale FINALE chapter will be updated tomorrow and that is a promise.
I want to shout out to all of the readers who stuck by me for so long. I really hope you like this story. And to ClaireFarron13, a shout out to your story One Winged Angel, I hope this shout out motivates you to write. Never give up!
Thank you everyone who enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please share with me once more your thoughts and comments. With one more chapter to go, let me know what you all think about it. Like it, hate it? Please let me know.
Read, Review, and Junk. Enjoy the chapter.