I do not own Final Fantasy 13 or any of the characters.
Angel of Valhalla
Daniel looked around at the darkness around them. He could see the grey floor reminiscent of the Ark, and the silhouettes in the distance looked like it might also be the Ark, but the only thing that really stood out was the massive chunk of crystal with Etro's throne before them.
"Where are we?" Lightning breathed.
"Hey Savior," Lumina's voice said as she appeared in the throne. "What's going on?"
Darkness was curling of of her as she sat there, smiling and kicking her legs.
"You again," Lightning growled.
"Lumina?" Daniel asked. "Where'd you bring us?"
"Light, can you hear me?" Hope asked over the intercom. "Are you alright? Where are you?"
"What's the problem?" Lightning asked. "Equipment trouble?"
"I don't know," Hope said. "I'm getting crazy readings. The coordinates make no sense. I can't pinpoint your position."
Then, it went to static.
"Hope, are you there?" Lightning asked.
"No no no," Lumina said, waving a finger at Lightning. "Hope can't hear you or see you. You're invisible. Do you know why? Because we're inside you. Spooky huh?"
"We're inside of Lightning's mind?" Daniel blinked. "Alright, I'll admit. That's a new one. Nice trick. Why here?"
"It's a safe place that God can't see," Lumina said. "You could almost say it's like, oh I don't know, an unseen realm."
"Thank God," Daniel sighed. "I hated watching what I say with that monster watching me. I can't wait until I find him."
"If this is my head, what the hell are you doing in here?" Lightning asked.
"You need my advice," Lumina said, teleporting to the bottom of the chunk of crystal. "And in here we can talk about anything we want, safe from prying eyes."
"Prying eyes?" Lightning asked. "You mean Hope?"
"Yep," Lumina said. "He might not realize it, but everything he learns gets passed straight on to God."
"I figured that might be the case," Daniel said. "Why?"
"Can't tell you that," Lumina said. "You'll see soon enough."
"Why bother coming here?" Lightning asked. "I don't have any secrets to hide."
"Oh right," Lumina said. "You're the loyal servant aren't you? You wouldn't dream of betraying him. And don't worry. Even if I know otherwise, my lips are sealed."
"I have no reason to betray him," Lightning said.
"I do," Daniel snorted. "Once I find him I'm going to destroy him. I hope. I really hope I inherited enough of my father's power for that."
"You didn't," Lumina said. "You'd put up a good fight, but it wouldn't be enough. As for you, Lightning, keep those feelings hidden inside. You want to be as cold as the steel in your sword. If you do that, no one can see what's inside. It's true. God can't see into human hearts. But he can read your face and tone like anyone, and make his own guesses."
"Like I said, I don't have anything to hide," Lightning said. "I'm atoning for my sins."
"Are you still in there Lightning?" Lumina asked. "Don't you get it? We're inside your head, where God can't hear or see you. If you can't be true to yourself here, where can you?"
She walked over to Daniel, giving him a hug. Then, she teleported to the throne.
"I know you haven't changed, because you can't," Lumina said. "Oh, and Daniel, I'm really really sorry about how I'm going to be acting when we're in the real world. I'll explain eventually. But for now, you'll just have to trust me."
"I do," Daniel said.
"What the hell are you?" Lightning demanded.
"Let's just say, you know me very, very well," Lumina said. "And yet, we've never actually met before. Anyway, I'm going to have to go now. You're almost back. See you around Lightning, Daniel."
And then, she was gone. Daniel opened his eyes, finding himself flying through the Historia Crux again, his hand holding onto Lightning's as she stared blankly ahead.
"What is she?" Lightning muttered.
"I don't know," Daniel said. "But either way, we'll find out eventually. Is that really all he promised you, though? Forgiveness? For sins you never committed?"
"I nearly killed Serah," Lightning said. "I set her and Noel on the path that led to Etro's death. I ended the world. Every death that has happened since Serah and Noel started their journey is my fault."
"Lightning," Daniel sighed. "You didn't kill Etro. She sacrificed herself. She could have lived by taking my heart."
"You offered Etro your life to save hers?" Lightning snapped, staring at him incredulously.
Daniel felt hope begin to bloom in his chest. It was the first time since they had been reunited that she had showed emotion.
"Yes," Daniel nodded. "But instead she chose to give me control of my dark powers."
Light blinded them and they were suddenly on a train again. They sat in a nearly empty car and spoke quietly, but they didn't drop the subject.
"Why the hell would you do something so stupid?" Lightning demanded. "Do you have any idea how I would have felt if you died?"
"Yes," Daniel said. "But I knew that Etro needed to be saved. If she wasn't, the world would turn into this. I tried to stop it."
"I know," Lightning sighed before the emotion slowly drained from her face. "You did well. But only God can truly save humanity."
Daniel sighed, shaking his head slowly.
"Yeah," Daniel sighed. "I suppose you're right."
"Finally," Hope's voice suddenly said. "I found you two. Light, what just happened."
Lightning stared at Daniel for a moment before responding.
"We were talking to Lumina," Lightning said.
"Lumina, that girl?" Hope asked. "What did she want? Where is she now?"
"She's gone," Daniel said. "But you seriously didn't hear any of it? Nothing. At all."
"No," Hope said. "My sensors didn't pick up a thing. And they couldn't find you until just now."
Daniel looked around instinctively, but there was no sign of Lumina.
"Maybe it was just a dream," Hope said.
"Maybe," Lightning said, also looking around.
Finally the train stopped and they stepped off, the train taking off again, allowing them to stare out at the wilderness before them, rolling hills of green, trees in the distance, nature everywhere, including monsters.
"The Wildlands," Daniel said, sensing something familiar nearby, but only weakly. "There's something here."
"What?" Lightning asked.
"I'm not sure," Daniel said.
Just then, Lightning gasped, eyes glazing over. Then, they focused again, Lightning breathing hard for a moment.
"Light?" Hope asked. "What just happened?"
"I heard a voice," Lightning said. "It said that I've been led here. And that I'm supposed to meet someone. The Angel of Valhalla."
"Angel of Valhalla?" Daniel asked. "I've never heard of them. Maybe it's another surviving Eidolon."
"That would be very helpful," Lightning nodded. "How's Bahamut?"
"He's alright," Daniel said, summoning Bahamut the blade glowing faintly for a moment. "Hasn't stretched his wings for a while though."
"It would be faster than walking," Lightning said.
"It's hard for him to shift," Daniel said. "Maybe another time, but for now he wants to stay as a gunblade."
He dismissed Bahamut and they left the station.
"This Angel of Valhalla has to be what I sense," Daniel said. "I think it's this way."
They left the train station, jogging down the road and through the wide open grasslands, looking around as they did. All around them, chocobo riders and monsters roamed, all ignoring Daniel and Lightning.
"So this is the last wild land in existence?" Lightning mused.
"The people here still worship Etro," Daniel said. "They don't know that Etro's gone, and they all pray to one day join her side. For them, the end of the world is a kind of salvation, because this endless stagnant life will end, and they think they can be with Etro again."
"They'd probably all kill themselves if they knew Etro was dead," Lightning said.
"Probably," Daniel nodded.
After a while of traveling in silence, they passed through a village where several people greeted Daniel happily, Daniel smiling and waving before they passed on, heading for a ruin in the distance. As they arrived, a pair of chocobo riders were trying to fight off a small swarm of mini-flans. Daniel summoned his gunblade and shot forward, shooting two as he approached before slashing a third, Lightning slashing two as well. Daniel spun, stabbing the last as Lightning sheered off the top right side of its head. All of the monsters faded into chaos and disappeared and Daniel stood, letting his gunblade disappear and smiling up at one of the two.
"Hello Daniel," he smiled. "Been a long time since you were out here."
"I know," Daniel nodded. "Any chaos problems?"
"Usual monsters," the man shrugged. "Except for there being a Chocobo Eater to the east of here. We saw its tracks, as well as some pure white feathers that were stained with blood."
"Pure white...what, like a white chocobo?" Daniel asked.
"You don't know the legend?" the guy asked. "The white chocobo is a harbinger of the end of the world."
"Oh yeah," Daniel said. "I think I did hear about that once. Alright. We'll deal with the chocobo eater. You guys go back to doing...whatever you guys were doing."
The man chuckled and nodded. Daniel and Lightning turned, jogging off toward the east, deeper into the ruin.
"You know him?" Lightning asked.
"I saved him from a bunch of behemoths once," Daniel shrugged.
They jogged around a corner and stopped, staring at the massive green chocobo eater standing over a white chocobo, which was either dead or unconscious. It opened its mouth and Daniel began to fire both his gunblade and Bahamut down its throat, the creature roaring in pain, backing away from the chocobo, which Lightning grabbed and leapt to safety, before turning and drawing her sword, Daniel switching both of his weapons to sword mode. Both charged the chocobo eater, stepping around its first strike before slashing its sides. The chocobo eater roared in pain, its tail smashing Daniel away. Lightning spun, leaping backward and swiping an arm, bolts of lightning blasting down on the monster's back. It roared in pain, reaching up and exposing its second mouth, along with its core, on its stomach. Daniel darted forward, driving both gunblades through it before leaping backward, blasting it rapidly with them as he did.
Then, the chocobo eater roared, streaking toward him. As it lunged to bit him, Lightning stepped in the way, holding up her shield, the creature's jaw slamming into it, its teeth against the top and bottom of it. Daniel stepped around her, his gunblade shining as the light formed his Beast Form's blade over the gunblade's, and he slashed the chocobo eater in an uppercut, the blade exploding into a wave of light that shot through the monster, splitting it wide open between its right leg and its head. It flipped backward, crashing down on its back before fading into chaos. Daniel turned to look at the white chocobo, the chocobo lowering its head in a bow, lying on its left side as its legs and right side were torn apart. Daniel walked over, kneeling and stroking the chocobo's head and neck.
"Look at you," he sighed. "Lightning, can you heal him?"
Lightning was staring at the chocobo. He looked over at her, seeing the look of surprise on her face. She walked over, kneeling as Daniel moved aside, and pressed her forehead to the chocobo's. After a moment, she pulled back, staring again.
"It's Odin," she breathed. "We need to get him help, now!"
Just then, several chocobo riders arrived, stopping.
"What happened here?" one of them asked.
"Chocobo eater," Daniel said. "Is Dr. Gysahl still here?"
"Yes," the rider that had spoken before nodded.
Daniel nodded, entering his Beast Form and picking up both Lightning and the chocobo before turning and sprinting along the road, heading back to the village. He reached it in mere minutes, setting Lightning down before gently setting the chocobo down and transforming back.
"Dr. Gysahl!" Daniel shouted, an older man running out of a nearby house instantly, staring at the chocobo before running back inside.
After a moment, he came out with medical supplies and began to tend to the bird's wounds. They moved it to an area where hay covered the ground, and several others from the village ran over, helping Dr. Gysahl as he tended to the animal, the treatment turning into a surgery when he saw how badly injured the bird really was. Daniel and Lightning waited off to the side, Lightning watching the bird, a desperation in her eyes. Daniel felt a touch of hope, but also a pang of jealousy. She was showing emotions, which was good. But it was over a bird. Granted, if it really was Odin, he would understand, but still. She felt no emotions for him, and yet did for something they just found? He hated how unfair life could be at times.
Finally, Dr. Gysahl walked over, sighing.
"It's finished," Dr. Gysahl said. "You can come and see it now, if you want."
Both nodded, walking over with him, finding the bird with its head on the ground, cooing miserably. As they knelt beside it, it looked up at them, cooing a little louder and reaching around, setting its head on Lightning's shoe.
"Odin?" Daniel asked, the bird looking up at him before bowing its head, as it had done before. "So it is you. I'm sorry I left you in Valhalla."
It made a noise at the back of its throat, something between a squawk and a chirp, then set its head back on Lightning's foot.
Daniel smiled, stroking its feathers. "You look hungry."
It cooed miserably and Daniel pulled out some gysahl greens, holding them out for him. He ate them greedily as Lightning held out more, Odin eating those as well. Daniel pulled out some meat and other kinds of vegetables as well, all of this having been in his pocket since he always fed chocobos if he found them, which was rather frequent since his job had him moving around a lot.
After a few minutes, Odin set his head back down, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep. Daniel stood and sighed.
"Can you heal him?" Daniel asked.
"No," Lightning said. "Come on. We should keep moving. We can come back tomorrow."
"Just a moment," Dr. Gysahl said. "Some of the monsters around here have healing properties for chocobos. One of the hunters may have some of their meat."
Daniel nodded, looking around. He looked to Lightning who nodded and they split up, talking to all of the hunters they could find. Finally, they met back up, both shaking their heads. Just then, a boy on a chocobo rode over, dropping down.
"Uh, hi," the boy said. "Um, Mr. Daniel, sir, I was wondering if you could help me."
"First, don't call me Mr.," Daniel said. "Secondly, absolutely. What do you need?"
"I'm supposed to bring proof of a monster I killed back to the other hunters, to prove my worth to them," the boy said. "But...well...I can't kill anything."
"I see," Daniel nodded. "Sure, I'll grab you something. But the first thing you need to do is get them to train you to fight better. Okay?"
"Absolutely!" the boy nodded.
"Isn't that cheating?" Lightning asked.
"In the wild lands, brains are just as important as brawn," Daniel said. "There's no rule against getting help. How many times have you tried this anyway?"
"A hundred and one," the boy said.
"Wow," Lightning said. "That's...actually impressive. You've got more perseverance than I do. To keep trying that many times despite failing is amazing."
"Thanks," the boy beamed.
"Here," Daniel said, fishing a claw out of his pocket and holding it out. "It's only a silver lobo, so it's nothing too impressive, but it should be enough."
"Thank you so much!" the boy exclaimed, Daniel seeing a ball of light leaving his body, floating into Lightning's chest, the boy not having noticed. "I'm going to go and show them right now! Here. This is the least I can do."
He handed Daniel some meat before running off and Daniel shrugged to Lightning, both walking back to Dr. Gysahl.
"Is this what you were talking about?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, that's it," Dr. Gysahl nodded.
Daniel knelt in front of Odin, gently stroking his neck and he chirped quietly, opening his eyes and sniffing the meat, eating it. Light enveloped him instantly, his wounds fading as he stood, the bandages falling off.
"Oh my god!" Dr. Gysahl exclaimed, staring. "I don't believe it. I've never seen anything like this."
"He's a bit special," Daniel smiled, patting Odin's side. "All better boy?"
Odin released a shrill call and extended his wings, his body shaking in a wave from head to tail before he folded his wings again and turned to Daniel. His right leg lifted folding under him as he reached his head down to the ground, bowing.
"Well, it looks like you're his master," Dr. Gysahl said.
"Oh no," Daniel chuckled. "That's Lightning. I'm just an old friend."
Odin straightened, walking forward and wrapping his head over Lightning's shoulder, Lightning hugging him.
"He really is a remarkable specimen," Dr. Gysahl said, beginning to glow. "I've spent a hundred years studying chocobos. I feel as if it was all preparing me for this moment. Thank you."
The light formed a sphere, much larger than the one the boy had given, and floated into Lightning's chest, Lightning and Daniel once again being the only ones to see it. Lightning nodded to the doctor, climbing onto Odin's back, Daniel climbing up behind her.
"Alright Odin," Lightning said. "Let's have a test run, shall we? I hope you haven't lost a step."
Odin looked back at her, his eyes seeming to sparkle with mischief, then turned to the front, taking off at a sprint, nearly throwing them both off. Daniel laughed. He had missed Odin. He was glad Odin was back.
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