Tainted fal'Cie

A/N: And I present to you another exciting Shadowed Four filled chapter! Bwhahaha! Thanks everyone for your patience, reviews and support.

I have posted up a new multichapter one-shot involving Fang and Light. Yes ladies and gents, it's a Flight story for all you fans out there. It's called Some Things You Just Do. You can find it here: www[dot]fanfiction[dot]net/s/7468798/1/

For those of you who have left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:

black. dot – Thanks for the comment! One of the things I really work at is to keep everyone in character. It's not always easy, but I do what I can. About the weekly updates, I was excited for that as well. I know a lot of you have been waiting for a while for it, so it's always nice when I can deliver that. ^^ Fear not, every chapter will retain its quality. The only reason I can release them faster is because I've stockpiled a few chapters (as mentioned in my previous chapter Author's Notes). XD I don't forsee any need to stretch out the posting schedule again to two weeks, but if something were to come up again, I'd let you all know. Yes, mwhahaha. The 2nd one appears. Enjoy the chapter! XD

Chocobo ProdoCo – I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. ^^ If you thought the last one was scary, read the one below. Hehehe. Enjoy! :3

Riku91 – I'm glad you enjoyed your early birthday present. XD I so knew it was coming up and wanted to do something for ya. *cough* I had absolutely no clue but happy birthday! *cough* Hehe. Have an awesome time with the game, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. ^^ And with FFXIII-2 coming out in the next few months, you'll be keeping busy. :P Will there be other moments between Light and Serah? I can only tell you to read on. Lol. I had a lot of fun with the whole sixth sense thing and Light's fear of spiders. It was fun to write that section. ^^ Poor Light indeed. Fang really needs to control her teasing 'Light urges'. Rofl. As for the second of the Shadowed Four, you know it won't be a good thing. Read on my friend! XD

Enjoy!

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 28: The Destroyer of Forgotten Knowledge ~ ***

Six would rise to the Goddess Etro's call,

A seventh lay sleeping, to wake when six fall.

Perfect beings to balance imperfect mortal halves,

In time of raised swords and magically infused staves.

- the Tablet of the Eidolons


A loud rumbling. And muffled sounds.

"… hear… me… ?"

The thumping of giant footsteps. A yell.

"… wake… up…!"

The breaking of crystallized stone. And an anger filled roar.

"… Fang!"

Vanille squeaked when jagged pieces of broken Cie'th stones tumbled past her, narrowly missing her and the semi conscious Fang.

"You alright Vanille!" Snow held his ground, in Steelguard mode, deflecting as much flying debris away as possible from the two Pulsians and Serah. The fight ahead of him increased in ferocity again. Snow looked back over his shoulder.

"D-don't mind me!" Vanille said, casting yet another Curaga on her partner. Fang's eyelids started to flutter.

"Snow! Look out!" Serah cried, eyes going wide.

"Huh? Oh shi-" The moment Snow turned his gaze forward again, all that filled his vision was a Cie'th stone hurtling in his direction. Digging his heels into the stone floor the best he could, Snow braced himself for the impact. He would not falter. His family's lives were at stake.

"Va…nille…?" Fang croaked. Half hooded emerald eyes stared dazedly up at the redhead. Fang tasted copper. And everything ached.

"Stay with me Fang," Vanille said, hastily casting another Curaga. Her small hands hovered back and forth over Fang's body, stitching flesh together and mending bone.

Fang's mind lingered in a heavy fog. The things happening around her were nothing more than a blur. Vanille looked at her so scared. But why? And why did everything sound like it was coming through an insanely long tunnel? A yelp to her left drew Fang's gaze to the other person at her side. One with pink hair.

"L-Light?" Fang blinked then bolted upright. "LIGHT!"

The huntress immediately regretted that decision and collapsed onto her back again. Fang's most recent memories came back to her in a rush of sights and sounds. They were in Darda, looking for some clue on how to stop the Tainted. Serah had just skewered a large spider, revealing that Lightning was squeamish around the eight legged critters. Fang snatched the kill from Serah and shoved it into the soldier's face. Lightning tripped over her own feet in absolute horror to get away from it. Fang couldn't but burst out laughing at that. Then Lightning disappeared down a hidden passageway and Fang thought she'd lost her best friend, and sister, all over again.

"Will she be okay?" Serah bit her lip, looking from Fang to Vanille. Both girls had startled when Fang sat up so abruptly.

"Keep her talking," Vanille said, continuing to mend the warrior's broken body. She'd been at it for the past five minutes, yet it felt like she had made no progress at all. Fang was alive at least. That was something. "I'm almost done."

"W-where's Light?" Fang struggled to rise again, only to be held down by the youngest of the Farron sisters.

"She's…" Serah pressed her lips into a fine line and looked past Snow. "Umm…"

Seconds after Lightning fell through the secret trap door, Fang leapt down into the hole after her. A sense of déjà vu washed over the huntress as she fell down the fifty foot stone shaft. It reminded her of the first time they arrived on Gran Pulse after their trek through the Fifth Arc. Since turning back to flesh and bone, Fang and Vanille couldn't wait to return home. It was rather exhilarating to know Lightning was with her back then, even after both of them jumped out of the broken Pulse airship after nearly becoming Cie food as Sazh had coined the phrase. The only difference between then and now was that Bahumut couldn't fit in here. And it was Fang following after Lightning.

Fang braced her booted feet along the sides of the walls as hard as she could to slow her descent. The wooden ladder nailed to the side of the shaft was too old and rotten, and couldn't handle her sudden weight when she grabbed at it. Lightning had tried it, Fang noting the broken rungs of the ladder whiz past her as she slid down the stone shaft. The Pulsian warrior had never been so scared in her entire life, seeing Lightning disappear right before her eyes like that. It was worse than when they all had turned into Cie'th in Orphan's Cradle.

Thankfully, once she hit the bottom (quite jarring on the knees might she add), Fang found Lightning alive and breathing. The soldier was dazed, but seemed no worse for wear. How Lightning survived the fall unscathed, only the Maker knew. She never got the chance to find out, for in that very moment, the source of the dark pulse from earlier made itself known. A mammoth beast covered in metallic spikes emerged from the shadows of the underground cavern with its teeth bared at the pair. Kerberos, the shatterer of steel and shadow, and the second of the Shadowed Four, was now on the loose.

"Serah?"

Serah jumped when she felt a hand wrap around her arm. Fang, by now, had regained much of her colour the younger girl noted. When they first found her, she looked so pale. And all the blood everywhere wasn't helping either.

"Where's Lightnin'?"

Fang recognized Kerberos the moment she saw light reflect off of its wicked metal spikes. It looked Megistotherian in origin, its size rivalling that of a Behemoth King, like Kokko did. Blank white eyes peered at them from underneath twisted stone flesh. Not much of the tainted flesh showed, most of Kerberos' form being covered in the extremely sharp metallic spikes coating its body. It looked very much like a puffer fish or porcupine.

The second of the Shadowed Four charged at the pair without hesitation. Lightning struggled to rise, but was still too out of it to react quickly enough. Gripping her spear in white knuckled fists, Fang did the only thing she could do. Stand protectively in front of the soldier, calling forth her strongest Steelguard ever. But it wasn't enough. And, for the first time in her entire life, her Steelguard did not hold.

Fang opened her mouth to speak again, but was quickly cut off when tainted Thunder ripped through the underground cavern, shaking everything. All those who were upright stumbled to keep their balance. Fang's breath caught in her throat, goosebumps running up her arms. Hastily pushing herself to sit up, despite Vanille's protests, Fang felt her heart stop as she took in the scene. "No…"

A multitude of broken Cie'th stones lay scattered across the cavern floor. Craters dotted the far end of the large cave, pieces of fallen stalagmites also littering the area. Not even twenty feet away was Sazh, firing off his guns at Kerberos, dodging loose chunks of grey rock the Shadowed Four tossed in his direction. Sazh's attacks had no effect on the armoured beast, his bullets acting no more threatening than pea shooters. Hope was with the old man, buffing him and doing his best to debuff Kerberos in the process. But Fang's focus was not on them. No, Fang's gaze was on the one she almost died protecting, the one who was now casting another dark Thundaga, openly roaring in defiance at the Shadowed Four in front of her. The one whose blue eyes had gone black. Again.

"How could ya let her do that!" Fang gripped a fist full of Serah's sweater tightly, growling at the girl and shaking with rage. Emerald eyes were wild, teeth were bared and muscles were coiled. "How could ya let her go that far when ya know she's branded!"

"It wasn't her fault!" Vanille exclaimed, trying to separate Fang from Serah. In the end, it was Snow who did it, Vanille having been drained of most of her strength as she put everything she had into healing the huntress. "By the time we all got down here, she was already going berserk!"

"Why haven't ya turned her back then!" Fang staggered to her feet snarling, roughly shoving Snow's helping hand away despite her legs threatening to crumble underneath her. She snatched her spear off the ground.

"None of us have been able to get close to her!" Serah shouted in her defense. Snow wrapped an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm soothingly. "Those two have been at each other's throats the entire time!"

"You're the only one who has a chance to reach her Fang," Vanille said, her voice cracking. She put a hand on Fang's back, infusing her with another Curaga.

Fang stood up straighter, her strength almost back to normal with that latest spell. Her eyes narrowed, red filling her vision as she watched Kerberos swipe at the pink haired sergeant. Lightning leapt backwards in time to avoid a fatal slash. Fang's head snapped to the side when she felt a pair of hands squeeze her wrist.

"Please Fang," Serah pleaded with her. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "Save my sister. Save Claire."

A tanned hand covered Serah's. "I'll tear down the sky if it'll save her."


It was dead. It was dead! She was going to kill it. Yes. She was going to kill it. She was going to skewer it. To shred it. To slice it. Decapitate it. Mutilate it. Whatever it was. Tainted. Tainted's l'Cie. Shadowed Four. It didn't matter. Maker be damned she was going to END ITS MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR AN EXISTENCE!


Another dark Thundaga ripped through the area forcing both Hope and Sazh backwards to avoid being caught in the blast. Sazh dropped to his knees panting, sweat rolling down his face from exertion. Hope wasn't in any better shape, yet he sent a Cure in Sazh's direction. His hands were starting to feel numb. Both of them paused just over ten feet behind tainted Lightning.

"I don't think she even realizes we're here," the old man said in exasperation.

Sazh could do little more than watch as Lightning and the tainted beast clashed over and over and over again. The soldier was relentless, slicing at everything within reach – the creature's legs, sides, back, face, tail even – but had yet to strike a wounding blow. Sword met armoured claws and jagged fur each time, unable to penetrate surface. Lightning's gunblade barely even left a scratch. But she kept fighting.

"Where's its eye?" Hope said after regaining some of his breath.

"If it's anything like those tainted Gorgonopsids, which I'm hoping it is, it's probably on the stomach."

Sazh frowned. They had yet to see a visible eye and magic did barely anything to Kerberos. Lightning's corrupted Thundagas made it flinch, but nothing further. Watergas did nothing more than splash it harmlessly and Firagas took too long to charge before releasing. The Shadowed Four always jumped out of the way before any of them hit, leaving Hope utterly frustrated.

Quake shook the area, Hope tripping backwards over a fallen stalagmite in the process. Sazh stumbled off to the left, almost losing the grip on his twin guns as he frantically tried to remain upright. Movement in his periphery caught his attention, Sazh hastily dropping to the ground onto his stomach to narrowly dodge a flying Cie'th stone with a staggered Lightning tangled in it.

"Light!"

Hope watched in helpless horror as Lightning crashed to the ground hard, just short of taking Sazh with her. The Cie'th stone which tumbled with her exploded in a hail of rock and dust forcing the silver haired boy to throw up his hands to shield his face. Hope scrambled over to tainted Lightning's fallen form moments later, just barely making out her outline through all the dust. Fumbling to form a Cure in his hand, he froze in his spot upon closer inspection of the soldier.

Titanium-like claws had torn through the flesh in tainted Lightning's arm, leaving behind a mangled and bloodied mess. Hope bit his tongue hard to stop himself from retching at the sight. Getting his wits about him, Hope threw his hand forward, ready to cast Curaga over Lightning. But the taint within the sergeant beat him to it.

The flesh on tainted Lightning's arm re-knit itself within seconds, leaving no scar or hint that she was even wounded in the first place. The only tell tale sign was the blackened, stone-like flesh left in its wake. Black eyes shot open, tainted Lightning springing to her feet immediately, searching for her fallen gunblade. Hope dropped to his knees feeling faint.

"Light! Hope! Look out!"

Hope looked up in time to see a Cie'th stone bouncing in their direction, broken fragments flying everywhere as it barrelled towards him. Too exhausted to cast a Protect on himself, Hope ducked his head and crossed his arms over his face hoping he'd make it out alive in one piece.

SLASH!

The silver haired boy flinched at the sound of breaking glass. Cracking open his green-blue eyes, Hope stared in astonishment at tainted Lightning, who was standing directly in front of him protectively. Turning his gaze sideways, he was startled to see pieces of crystallized stone on either side of him, the Cie'th stone itself having been cleaved cleanly down the middle. Lightning brought up her battered gunblade defensively in front of her and looked over her shoulder at him.

"L-Light?" Hope could have sworn black eyes swirled blue for a second. Then a distorted howl shattered the air and Lightning was off vainly slashing at Kerberos again. "Light!"

"You alright Hope?" Sazh stumbled up to him, collapsing on his knees breathing hard.

"She saved me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Light is still in there," Hope said, his tone brightening. "She saved me Sazh! She's still in there! We have to help her!" Hope half jumped to his feet and took off after the possessed soldier, buffing her the best he could while keeping out of the way.

"O-Oye! Hope!"

"C'mon Light! You can do it!" Hope buffed tainted Lightning again.

Sazh sighed, knowing all too well how futile that was. Slowly, he rose to his feet and trotted after the lad. "I'm getting too old for this."


A/N: This has to be the shortest chapter I've written so far. Hehe. Unfortunately I couldn't divide this chapter and the next in any other way, so this one ended up rather short. Chapter 29 will be much longer, I promise! So stay tuned!

Kerberos (Greek) also known as Cerberus, is the three headed dog often depicted in Greek and Roman mythology guarding the gates of The Underworld. Most depictions have Cerberus with three heads, though there are a few where it has only one head. For the purposes of this story, I have chosen to stick to the one headed version.