Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
The filler chapters for the Wildlands are over! Now we can finally get the Angel and Demon of Valhalla fully healed, and set off for Poltae! Hope you all enjoy that, to go with the latest replies to those who reviewed!
Rsdk525: The scars in people's hearts will eventually heal. It will just take time. And yes, soon we reach the very center of it all.
SolidSamurai223: Thank you for the kind words. And yes, I have some good stuff planned for the Dead Dunes.
Devil-l'Cie: Considering the constant drain effect the temple had, yeah, it would be annoying. And we are getting close to it's end.
Ch.29 Poltae
When Lightning and I reappeared in the Ark it was empty again. However, that didn't last long, as in the center was a bright pinkish light. The closer we got to the light, the brighter it grew, until it resolved into an image... of Serah. Lightning's eyes widened, and she said "Serah?" The image smiled. "It won;t be long now. I'm coming home soon, aren't I?" she asked, and vanished. "No, wait!" Lightning called, but she was already gone.
I narrowed my eyes at the scene. "A reminder from God," I said aloud. Within me, Etro snorted. "Of course. My father wouldn't want you to forget the bait dangled in front of you both when he asked Lightning to be the Savior, and for you to be her Protector," she said. Looking over at Lightning, I could see that she was coming to the same conclusion. Yet I noticed the faintest amount of confusion in her expression. "What is it?" I asked. Lightning blinked, looking up. "It's just... When I looked at Serah's face, when I heard her voice... I should have felt something. A surge of joy or warmth," she said.
I raise an eyebrow. "Should have felt?" I asked. Lightning nodded. "Right. But instead, I felt nothing inside. And strangely, I didn't care," she said, looking down at her heart. I frowned in concern. "Nothing at all?" I questioned, and she nodded again. That confused me greatly. To not feel joy, sadness or even anything that was either positive or negative. To just be blank. That sounded... frightening.
While I was enveloped in my thoughts, Lightning had walked past me and offered her Eradia to the Yggdrasil tree. Unfortunately, as we had not saved anyone major or done enough side quests, a fourth fruit was not borne. That meant that there were only five days left to the end now, rather than six. Lightning sighed, but there was nothing to do. We'd just have to try harder today.
"Are you okay?" we heard Hope say. Spinning around, we saw him standing by the monitors, as if he had always been there. When had he shown up though? Lightning shook her head. "It was just for a moment, but I saw Serah. I guess we must be doing something right. God decided to give me a little taste of the final reward," she said. Even Hope picked up on her monotone, noting "You don't sound very pleased." Lightning sighed. "Ever since I woke as the Savior, I haven't felt much of anything," she said.
Hope put a hand to his chin. "I think it's because you've been made into something more than human. Something almost divine," he theorized. I looked at him in alarm. "And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked, worried about Light. Hope replied "The Savior is God's chosen servant. The Eradia is your life force now. It's the light of God himself, inside very cell of your being, Light. What I'm saying is... It's as if you're turning into a god yourself," he said.
Lightning looked at him. "And when does that stop? When the end comes, will I be sitting up there in heaven with Bhunivelze himself? Not the future I want," she commented. Etro nodded within me. "Indeed. Whenever my father made a god, he did so because he wanted them to do something. Pulse, Lindzei, even myself... we were all originally tasked with finding a way into the land of the dead, so that Bhunivelze could find and destroy the original goddess Mwynn. If he want's to make a Lightning into another god, what is he planning?" she asked.
'I have no idea. But it's something to keep an eye out for,' I mentally told her. After that, there was not much else to be done in the Ark. We obtained a power in the form of Esunada, but beyond that there was nothing. We restocked our items with Hope, and then teleported back down to the world below.
Day 5
When we reappeared in Nova Chrysalia, we chose to do so on the outskirts of Aryas Farms. We hadn't done much here the previous day, and there were potentially more souls to gather. Indeed, we were proven right when so sooner than we entered the village that we had to move to the side to avoid another stampede of sheep. Only this time, there were even more of them.
As expected, Dr Sheep was standing right in the middle, and working himself into a tizzy. "Another disaster! Oh, those wooly-headed ovine have done it again! What goes on in those tiny heads of theirs? Why do hey do this?" he called. I couldn't resist smirking, and commented "Sounds like you have more trouble with your sheep." "I'd say I do! The Fuzzy Sheep have effected a mass escape. Not just three, but every single one of them- gone!" he exclaimed.
But then a woman, one wearing a blue dress and a cowboy hat, said "Doctor, you must calm down!" Dr Sheep blinked and looked at her. "What? Oh, sorry. You could hear me from over there?" he asked. Lightning decided to add her two cents as well, saying "They could hear you back in Luxerion, I'd say." The doctor sighed and crossed his arms. "Oh, it's just that I'm so upset. Anyway, this young lady is Millie, a good friend of mine. Now, Millie, did you need something?" he asked.
Millie hesitated for a second. "Nothing... It's just that... well, I think I know why the sheep ran away," she admitted. Dr Sheep's eyes bugged behind his glasses. "You-you do?! Pray tell, please," he said. Millie nodded. "Last night, I heard some kind of ruckus around the pens. I couldn't tell what it was, but it must have out the sheep into a panic. Maybe it was some kind of monster, and it tried to get at the sheep?" she suggested.
Dr Sheep looked away, pensive. "Hm, I see. So the sheep were terrorized by the occurrences of the night. Something reminded them of it, and the bolted off en masse. Well, that would certainly explain their behavior- but I'm no closer to getting them back. It is near impossible to herd a whole flock of panicked sheep," he said. Then I noticed him slowly turning towards us, and I got a bad feeling. The only thing that could drive them back is something bigger and scarier than what they saw last night. Something... like a chocobo. Or better yet, two!" he finished.
I groaned. "I can already see where this is going. You want us to use our chocobos to herd your sheep back, right?" I asked. Dr Sheep nodded. "if you would be so kind, yes. And like before, there's a special reward for it," he said. Lightning rolled her eyes but complied, and we got on the backs of Odin and Regnuma. We split up to each take care of a flock on opposite ends of the village, and slowly guided them back to them pen. We took care of the third one together, and once it was done we spoke to Dr Sheep again.
"Oh, you did it! You brought back every last one of my sheep! Words are not enough to express the depth of my gratitude- but thank you!" he said, smiling happily. "Just don't lose them again," Lightning warned him. He nodded. "Indeed. That mystery remains unsolved. Why did they flee in the first place? Millie did suggested that a monster put a scare into them. Hm..." he said, looking around for Millie.
The he blinked, ad we looked as well. "She's nowhere to be seen. That's not like her," he noted. I shrugged. "Maybe she had things to do?" I said. "Yes, perhaps. But I'm a bit worried- she seemed... a little troubled in recent day," he said. Seeing his concern so soon after mine for Lightning, I said "If we see her, we'll talk to her." Dr Sheep smiled. "Thank you. Oh! I almost forgot the most important thing of all! I must present you with your just reward," he told us.
With that he handed us each a bottle of Creamy Sheep Milk. We thanked the doctor and left, ready to feed this to our chocobos. But before we could, we saw Millie herself standing near another of the pens. "What was I thinking! I'm a fool!" she told herself. I tilted my head to he side, intrigued. We came closer, and Lightning asked "What are you talking about?" Millie saw us, and looked away.
"Oh... er... well... All right, I'll confess! It was me who did it. I was the one who made all the sheep run away like that! There was no monster, there never was. In the dead of night, I saddled up a chocobo and rode around the pens whooping and shouting," she declared. I blinked. "And that's what frightened all the sheep? Why do that?" I asked. "Well, it's complicated. You see, I really wanted to give Dr Sheep a reason to talk to you," he said.
I frowned further at that. "Meet him... in the romantic sense?" I asked, gripping Treasure Hold a little too tightly. I wasn't particularly possessive or anything, but I had nearly given life and limb for Lightning's sake several times over. And even then, it was only after saving the world the first time that I had hoped to be together with her.
Millie saw and waved her hands. "Oh, no, nothing like that! I just wanted him to meet you two! Both of you!" she assured me. I released Treasure Hold at that, and Lightning smiled slightly at the scene of my jealousy. Refocusing on Millie, she said "So that's what this has all been about. Wouldn't it have been easier to just introduce us? Like normal people do?" But Millie shook her head. "he's been excited ever since he heard about your arrival in the Wildlands.
"But he's terribly shy, the doctor. He'd never be able to just approach a stranger, no matter how much I prodded him. Not it normal circumstances, at least. So I came up with a plan. I had to make him desperate enough that he'd totally need your help. Then he'd have to talk to you," she told us. I grunted. "So you chases away all the sheep. That threw the doctor into a total panic. You figured that in his desperation, he'd forget his shyness and talk to us," I summarized.
Millie rubbed the back of her head, laughing in embarrassment. "It does sound crazy, looking back on it- but it worked! Except that since then, the sheep have been incredibly nervous and high-strung. Any little thing is enough to send them stampeding out of their pens and off into the wilderness," he said. "Cannot be good for them," Lightning said. Millie lowered her head. "I know! I feel terrible about the whole thing. All I wanted to do was help the doctor, but instead I've made him worried sick. Not to mention, years of research almost went down the toilet," she said, ashamed.
"If you're really sorry about the whole thing, then you should tell Dr Sheep the truth," I told her. She shook her head. "Nooo, I couldn't! What if he ended up hating me?" she said. Lightning crossed her arms. "If you don't, he's going to keep worrying about what scared his sheep in the first place. Are you okay with that? You care for each other, don't you? Tell him the truth," she said.
Millie cheeks dusted. "C-care for each other? What do you mean? That is to say, yes, we do, but..." she stuttered. I smiled. "It's like you said, he's a shy guy. But he talks to you easily enough. From the way I see it, he thinks more of you than just a fellow researcher. Just talk to him. He'll understand," I said. Millie was silent for a moment, before smiling. "All right, I will! Thank you so much! You've been so kind to be, despite all this trouble I caused you," she said.
She ran off to talk to Dr Sheep, and as she ran her soul emerged and flew into Lightning. One more down. We got off our chocobos and fed them the Creamy Sheep's Milk. They swallowed it all, an then Odin called "Kweh kweh kweh kweeeh!" "What is it?" Lightning asked. Both of them glowed with light, and when it faded Regnuma jumped straight into air, flapping her wings happily. "Kweeeh!" she called.
I smiled. "Oh, is that it, huh? Feeling all the way back to normal?" I asked. Both chocobos nodded, and Lightning said "Glad to hear it." Hope came onto the comm link then. "They've made a complete recovery. Well done Lightning, Deiru. The Angel and Demon of Valhalla are fit and ready to fight again. It's all thanks to you two," he congratulated. Lightning shook her head. "Dr Gysahl had more to do with it than anyone- he's been learning about the chocobos for more than a century. It's a good reminder of what people can do when they care enough, and work together," she said.
"Yes.. if you say so," Hope said. I paused for a moment. Huh? But then Hope pressed on, saying "But there's still one mystery. Who was the young woman? The one that spoke to you two and Dr Gysahl?" I shrugged. "That's a good question. But if we follow the way the legend goes and ride our steeds to the temple, maybe we'll find out. If so, I want to thank her for bringing us and these chocobos together," I said. Lightning nodded in agreement, and we got on Odin and Regnuma.
We began heading southwest for the entrance to the wood. Before we left we spoke to Chef Aryas and handed him a pair of Rocky Crag Moles and Aryas Apples for a recipe his master taught him- the NORA special. It was amazing to think that single dish would have still survived and continued to be made even a thousand years after it was invented. Lebreau had truly been an amazing cook. We also spoke to Claudia at Canopus Farms, letting her know that the dog she had helped was safe and sound.
We even used Teleport and returned said dog to its owner- the woman Brella, who had first explained to us the way of life in the Wildlands.
As we moved farther into the fores though, the thick trees and wildlife began to give way to rock formations and monsters such as the Aster Protoflorian. We were able to defeat them- having fought beasts of their kind so many years ago- and eventually made it into Poltae, the village of Etro's disciples.
The building were all made from the same red-brown stone as the ground, and looked almost as if they had been carved out rather than built. It was an interesting sense of architecture. The more noticeable aspect though, was that every single resident there wore robes similar to that of the Children of Etro. However, rather than stark white, theirs were the same shade as the rock around them, and their general demeanor was much less hostile.
We met with one of the, a man called Professor Lathom. "Tell me. Do you know of the grail of Valhalla?" he asked us. "It is a most holy treasure,that lies hidden somewhere within the temple of Valhalla," he said. Lightning raised an eyebrow. "And why are you asking us?" she asked. "Because I sense that you may have been touched by the Chaos, which means that you may have some kind of connection to the vessel. It is filled with the divine grace of the goddess herself," the professor replied.
Both Etro and myself were interested in this. I myself had the real goddess inside me, so if this grail was filled with her essence... it could have many potential uses. 'Do you remember such a thing, Your Grace?' I asked. Etro shook her head. "I vaguely remember the phrase 'Grail of Valhalla', but it's been so long that I contemplated it that it is difficult for me to remember," she admitted. Lightning asked aloud "Vessel? So this grail- is it like a flask, or a casket?"
Professor Lathom shrugged. "No one had laid eyes upon it. But, if you are indeed the chosen ones spoken of in the legends, then the angle and demon will take you both to the temple- and there you may set eyes upon it," he said. We left him after that, and began riding our chocobos to the highest elevated spot in the village. Once there, we could see a series of cliff and rooftops that we could move across to reach the temple.
I noticed the distance between each one, and noted that it was a good thing that we healed our chocobos. Otherwise, they would never never made some of the jumps. Near the edge of the first platform was a man, who gasped when he saw us. "Could that be...? Are those the demon and angel of legends? The black and white chocobos! I-I am one of the believers, awaiting the world's end. And you... you two are the bringers of the end. Those creatures, with feathers of white and black, will lead you towards your destined path. Now is the time. You must make your way to the temple. I will stand right here, praying for your safety, and your souls," he said.
We nodded and I ripped Regnuma's reigns. "You ready?" I asked, and she nodded. Lightning held tight onto Odin, and with a caw they sped forward. The end of the platform came closer... closer... and they jumped. Both of them spread their wings and glided through the air, landing safely on the next platform. Then they turned and ran to next edge, before doing so again and again. Below, residents of Poltae look up as they saw a shadow pass overhead, and looked with shock and joy to see the birds of legend fly to the goddess's holy land.
It was an exhilarating experience for us too, and when Odin and Regnuma jumped onto the final cliff I was a little disappointed that it ended. The Man Awaiting the End watched us, and called "Look at the angel and demon soar!" His soul left his body and flew across the village, entering Lightning. Another soul brought to salvation.
With reluctance, we got off our steeds, and looked up at them. "Your mission was to bring us here, to the gates of the temple. And you've completed that task," she told them. "Kweh!" both Odin and Regnuma called. I shook my head. "From this point on, we got at it with just the two of us. What happens now is a job for the Savior and her Protector," I said. "Kweh!" they called sadly, but they relented.
Hope spoke up on the comm link. "The temple of the goddess. It was not originally a part of this world, but was left here when Valhalla fell. Legends tell us that the 'great Chaos' sleeps within this building's walls. It would most likely refer to the power that destroyed this world, and continues to do so," he said. I nodded. "The Unseen Chaos, which had the power to consume even gods. And it was all unleashed by one man, for the girl he loved and was charged with," I said. Lightning nodded grimly. "Caius Ballad. If only we could have stopped him earlier... But we didn't," she stated.
We climbed the ladder that led to the temple, and it was separated from the village by a giant canyon that reached down an untold number of feet. The cliff were connected by a single wooden bridge, built by unknown hands with wood and metals that had somehow lasted these five centuries. We walked along the that bridge, and the closer we came to the the temple we once lived in for a time, the more we were reminded of its truly monolithic size.
There was no door for us to open, and simply walked inside. In the temple the temperature was noticeably cooler, and the wall were a dark green stone that seemed to glow. Hope came onto the comm ones more time, saying "A presence appeared in the temple... and the Chaos reacted to it. Is someone manipulating the Chaos... or does it have a will of it's own? The Chaos in that temple is not the normal kind. That much is obvious."
I grunted in agreement with Hope, and inside my mind I could hear Etro. "Be careful, Deiru. I called this temple my home for eons. But now... now it feels completely different. This place is not what it was when I lived there, and when you and Lightning watched over me," she warned.
Just as she said that, we exited the hall, and came out into room known as War's Cage.
And... CLIFFHANGER! But some good stuff happened this chapter. The Fifth Day has begun, the chocobos were fully healed, and we have entered the Temple of the Goddess! What shall occur inside though? Find out next chapter!
