Fang could feel the dream seeping into her mind before she had even settled herself down against the sheets. She nearly tried to fight it off, just to try and stay awake for a short while longer, but the warmth at her side, the soft sounds of the sleeping hunters, even the candlelit darkness, it all soon lulled her to sleep.

"This isn't the safest place to be in." Fang recognized her own voice, even if it seemed so very distant at first. "Bandits, wild animals... All sorts of dangerous terrain."

The drumming sound of hoofbeats echoed out into her mind, and when she opened her eyes again, gazing out at the wide golden plains and the long dirt road ahead of her, she only had to look forward to see who was riding sidesaddle right in front of her, gently resting against her chest.

Lightning looked rather uninterested in the area around them, but she still seemed to keep a sharp eye out on whatever movement she could spot. Those keen blue eyes, a far softer shade than one might expect, they were just as perceptive as those of any watchful predator, even Bahamut, who still flew so far above them.

"We can outrun most animals on horseback." Fang could feel how Lightning's chin was resting against the front of her shoulder, and she wondered if such positions were more normal back wherever Lightning came from, an almost intimate way of sitting. "But bandits, they're a whole other story."

Lightning's voice was just loud enough to rise above the sound of hoofbeats. "Bandits?"

"Bad people." Fang tightened her grip on the reins. "People who kill and steal, even from their own kind... A bunch of wild animals."

Lightning's nose slowly twitched at the scent of the dusty fields. "Not real animals..."

"No, just in their nature." Fang glanced back at the saddlebags just to make sure that everything was still in place, before she looked up at the spear on her back, which was sheathed to a long leather strap on her belt and shoulder, her chosen weapon for both hunting and self-defense. "You're a smart one, you know; you understand metaphors pretty quickly."

Lightning shrugged. "It's simple."

Fang tried not to chuckle. "Not to everyone."

They rode on with the gentle winds of the grasslands, beneath the warm sunlight from up above, past the rolling fields of wild wheat and lavender. They moved up and over hills that sloped right back down into small valleys of their own, and through the terrain that ranged from lowland plains to the distant forests, up until the afternoon was well on its way into evening.

"You hungry?" Fang glanced around at the fields of heather and bristly grass. "We could look around for something to hunt, maybe a rabbit." She almost wanted to smile at the way Lightning's ears perked up at such a word. "You like rabbits, don't you?"

Lightning glanced away to hide the look in her eyes. "The fuzzy ones..? They taste good."

"Yeah, just as long as the meat's fresh." Fang tugged on the reins to direct their horse towards a stray tree near the side of the road. "I'll take a look around for any signs of them."

Lightning soon moved to slip away from the saddle, landing quietly on her feet, before she pulled the fur cloak down and off from atop her shoulders.

"It's much warmer tonight." Fang dismounted as well, and she quickly looped the reins around a low, yet sturdy branch of the tree. "You might not need much more than your normal clothes."

Lightning reached up to tuck the folded pelt away into one of the saddlebags. "We'd hunt back home." She leaned away from the horse, staring rather pointedly at such an unusual animal. "There were... Places with trees, with animals to catch."

"Places for hunting?" Fang started to rummage around in one of the saddlebags for a very small, yet formidable shortbow. "I've been to other towns, other villages, and some of them have rules about hunting... But our place, we've got more than enough game out there to cull in the first place."

Lightning turned to peer at the colorful plains, and she slowly stretched out her arms, almost as if to catch as much of the sunlight against herself as she could.

"You want to stay here with the horse?" Fang reached out to gently pat the creature in question. "What was his name again..?"

Lightning shook her head. "I want to go with you."

"You sure about that?" Fang stroked her fingertips against the soft, fuzzy hide of the horse. "You've gotten better now, I can tell... But this could still be pushing it."

Lightning narrowed her eyes, as if to try and think of the right words to say. "I got sick when I was young." She slowly pointed at the center of her chest, slightly offset to gesture at her heart. "Blazefire... I used fire to make it leave." Lightning took another step towards the sprawling fields. "But our fire is special."

"Special?" Fang followed after her. "What do you mean?"

Lightning seemed at a loss for a brief moment, before she looked back over her shoulder and pointed up at the sky. "It hurts to look at." She gestured at the long rays of the sun. "You can't touch it for long, but you'd still die without it."

"Your fire..." Fang started to hook her bow down against one of the straps on her belt. "You're saying it's like the sun?"

Lightning shrugged again. "It's... Energy." She tried to remember a few of the words that Fang had taught her, spoken out loud over the many days of traveling in such a strange new land. "It's like a heartbeat near mine; it's stronger, strong enough to kill bad things, but it can hurt me if I use it inside."

"I think I get it." Fang remembered the way that she once assumed such things were just as outlandish as an extraterrestrial crashing to earth within a crystal, but she knew how to keep an open mind. "But your electricity, that doesn't hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Lightning suddenly snapped her fingers, and a small spark flickered right between them, quite faint beneath the rays of the afternoon sun. "It's not fire, but it can start a fire."

"Okay..." Fang watched the way that Lightning stepped over the patches of prickly grass, still as barefoot as the day she had walked away from the massive crystal. "I could get you a pair of sandals, you know."

Lightning glanced back over her shoulder again. "Sandals?"

Fang pointed down at her own feet, at the thick leather shoes that she wore. "They keep them from getting scratched up."

Lightning's nose wrinkled slightly in distaste. "But you can't feel the ground."

"It's better than stepping on a bristle branch." Fang kept walking on across the wide field of heather flowers. "You don't have shoes where you're from?"

Lightning shook her head. "No, the ground was mostly grass or metal." She looked back up at the sky, before she spoke a word that Fang didn't recognize, something just as cold and smooth as the surface of any blade. "It wasn't like this... So many things on the ground."

Fang glanced at the feathers on Lightning's ankles. "Maybe we can find something you like."

Lightning took a deep breath of the fresh, floral air, still gazing out over the fields, before she looked up to see Bahamut flying far above. "Serah used to tie ribbons around her feet."

Fang watched as the strong winds pushed the soft purple flowers all to one side, almost like the ripples of a mighty ocean. "Why did she do that?"

"They looked nice whenever she flew." Lightning looked up to see the rolling clouds, the puffy white streaks that traveled on within the wind. "...I want to fly."

It was a moment when Fang wasn't sure if she should protest or not, just in case Lightning might have hurt herself from such early exertion, in case her muscles hadn't yet grown strong enough to lift herself off of the ground, but a sudden flash of white feathers and the flapping rush of wind, it stole the very words from against her lips.

Lightning didn't get far, but her wings caught the strong breeze for a while, almost as if to sail across the sprawling fields, a white sail within the sprawling sea of heather. And Fang just stood there, watching the way that she circled around, before Lightning landed rather gracefully within the grass again.

"Light." Fang slowly walked forward, gazing down at a falcon in the field of flowers, a pale phoenix who peered right back at her, still so fierce and proud. "Don't push yourself, okay? It's alright to take it easy."

Lightning spoke in her own language again, and her tone didn't sound argumentative, merely a counterpoint, something that Fang only understood within the context of a dream. "Serah's out there... The rest of my friends are out there." Her words were all strung together like the feathers on her wings, smooth, fluid, and utterly fast. "Most of my people didn't know death before we left home... But my family, we didn't panic when the air started to go bad."

Fang remembered feeling so helpless at such foreign words, at the strange voice of a person from a whole other world, a different planet, lost beyond the stars.

"They went mad, they scratched and leapt at anyone with an advanced boarding pass..." Lightning's eyes darkened at such a memory. "Do you have space shuttles here? Ships that can fly between the planets..? We thought ours was enough to get us somewhere better, but it wasn't." She kept speaking, and her pale feathers slowly began to recede once more. "When you're doomed to die... You can either lay down and take it or fight your way back out." Her voice grew rather fierce, yet still so very quiet. "They all choked on their own breath... I just had to drag us away from it."

Fang felt the dream swirl with Lightning's words, mixing with a memory that wasn't one of her own, of a motley group of travelers all running so very fast along the smooth corridors, the halls of somewhere far away. It had been a massive craft beside the stars, deep within the void of space, all beneath the blare of sirens and the hushed sound of their own ragged breaths, struggling just to stay alive.

There was the sudden vision of a younger girl, the way her face looked when Lightning swiftly activated the stasis field, how her eyes fluttered shut while her entire body swiftly turned to crystal, encased within the very structure of the escape mechanism. And there was the memory of someone else, someone who pressed his hands so firmly against the glass of the outer chamber, quietly vowing under his breath that they would someday meet again, that they wouldn't stray very far from each other in the deep, dark expanse of space.

They merely stood there, ripped and blooded by the talons of their people, a few of the last who ever lived, before the shimmering tethering field reached out towards the other stasis chambers.

"We made it out." Lightning's eyes flickered in the memory. "We survived."

Fang felt herself standing on the edge of one world and another, within the field of flowers and those later days of the very same journey, when the two of them happened upon an old, crumbling ruin near the edge of the road.

Lightning had been sitting there in the dark, covered up in the pelt that Fang had given her, slowly stroking her fingertips against the pale blue crystal in her hands. The scents of both times swirled and mixed in together, the aromatic flowers and the comforting smell of a campfire, the ashes and dust, the embers and those hardy wildflowers. And Fang felt that it was almost strange to have known what Lightning was thinking, to have the memory twist itself out into both of their minds, to feel the first few blossoms of trust and friendship, slowly fostered by the way Fang herself had gone to such lengths over the weeks.

And in the shadow of the night, slowly skinning the hare that she had shot with an arrow, Fang felt her own mind take the forefront. The kill had been clean, quite humane, an instant death, and she would likely be able to sell the pelt and the more useful of the bones to any villages they might find. But the meat itself, it would be cooked above their fire, used to feed both of them for yet another day, and it would strengthen them should any trouble happen across their path.

The first whispering sounds of a song filled her ears, even if she didn't quite react to it. The noise of hoofbeats in the swirling dream caught her attention yet again, until a deep flicker of fear suddenly crossed her heart.

There would be blood, she remembered that much, watching the memory play out in the sounds of a rainy night, in screeching horses and then the dull thud of a blunt weapon against her own chest, before she herself was swinging back into the fray, keeping her spear out at the ready to deflect any weapons that made themselves known. She moved herself so swiftly, standing there to watch Lightning's back, to keep her safe, away from those who sought both their supplies and the value of their very lives, yet there was also a sight there that she would have never, ever expected.

Lightning was just as swift, a blade in the windy rain, rapid strikes of crackling, whiplike energy within the unsheathed weapon from her hip, a blade of something utterly ethereal, something beyond anything else that Fang had ever seen, drawing out the blood and frightened cries of a bandit clan in a spray of scarlet and a sharp, keening voice.

Yet when it was finally over, when they were galloping away on a different horse than before, one who hadn't been cut right out from under them and killed within the road, when they were fleeing with the same supplies that they had brought with them, salvaged from beside the fallen horse, only then did Fang tighten one arm around Lightning's waist, all while gripping at the reins with her other.

She remembered those bleeding cuts that had been scattered over both of them, how they decided to stop and rest beneath a low stone alcove in the forest, for the rain had grown much too strong to keep traveling in such a state.

The horse whickered into the night, pacing as much as it could. It wasn't nearly as well-trained as the buckskin steed that had been loaned to them, but at least it didn't try to free itself from where Fang had tied the reins against a tree trunk, even while the steed still carried the extra saddlebags.

"Damn it." Fang whispered the words under her breath, though she spoke without much anger. She slowly began to wash the wounds on Lightning's arms, even when she was given a look of protest for her efforts. "Light, come on."

Lightning was still gripping tightly at the handle of her weapon, the metal device that could summon such strange swirls of energy, but she soon let herself relax, yet only ever so slightly.

"You're more vulnerable to things like this." Fang pointed at the open cuts, still washing them out and spreading ointment into the wounds. "Can't let them get infected."

Lightning slowly leaned back against the wall of the cave. She turned her head to look out at the pattering rain, and at the poor horse who seemed to be scared right out of his wits. "Are we keeping that one?"

Fang shrugged, and she reached up to bandage one of the wounds near Lightning's shoulder. "Who knows how loyal he'd be... I'd say we should sell him off once we reach a town, buy a decent traveling horse." She frowned at one of the bruises that was already starting to form along Lightning's arm. "I'm sorry I didn't react quick enough."

Lightning took a moment to remember more of her newfound words. "The rain... They snuck up on us."

"They did." Fang could still feel the deep aches from toppling down to the ground, the pain that came from wrenching her leg out from beneath the panicking horse, before she'd suddenly realized that Lightning was already standing there, lashing out with every last inch of her strength. "But you're a fighter, aren't you?"

Lightning slowly released her grip from the handle of her weapon. "I can fight."

"Not just that." Fang moved to bandage up another wound. "You fight like you've done it before, like it's an instinct..." She leaned away, glancing around to check if she'd missed any injuries. "You're as strong as I thought."

Lightning's gaze drifted up towards one of the tiny wounds near the edge of Fang's forehead, just a scratch from where she'd fallen against the dusty road.

"But we should be done with this neck of the woods soon enough." Fang reached for the canteen of water, but she paused when Lightning gently took it right out of her grasp. "Light?"

Lightning didn't say a word. She merely poured a bit of water upon her hands to wash them, before she reached up to dab a bit of the liquid against Fang's forehead wound, cleaning the bits of grit away.

"Light." Fang's gaze began to soften despite the pain. "You don't have to."

Lightning still didn't speak. She just reached for the bottle of ointment as well, but not before she had cleaned out the cuts on Fang's shoulder, the wounds inflicted by the edge of a sword.

"It's nice of you." Fang tried not to wince at the sting of the antibiotic cream. "How are you feeling, though? Looked like you put a lot of effort into it, back there."

Lightning glanced down at the soil beneath her bare feet, the floor of the narrow alcove. "I'm okay."

"That's good." Fang tried her best to relax again, though she perked up at the sound of rustling feathers from out in the downpour. "Bahamut?"

Bahamut landed quite close beside them, gripping something between his talons.

"Come here, you." Fang leaned away from where Lightning was bandaging up one of her wounds, before she lifted the scrap of blooded cloth that Bahamut had offered her. "Chased after those bastards, did you?"

Bahamut merely ruffled his feathers, shaking them out from the rain.

Fang went still when Lightning tried to keep bandaging the cut. "If this was our land, I'd say we should track them down and get rid of the damn problem... But we're strangers here, and I don't know the terrain like back home."

Bahamut called out with a soft sound, a rather low, whispery whistle, before he walked over to scrape at the soft dirt of the alcove, scratching out a shallow shelter for himself.

Lightning only spoke again once she'd finished treating the cuts on Fang's shoulder. "I don't want to kill anyone else, not unless I need to."

"Yeah." Fang reached up to rub at the bandage on her forehead. "Kill or be killed... But don't go out looking for trouble." She drew in a deep breath of the damp, misty air, before she stood back up to start unsaddling the 'commandeered' horse. "And you, your master's dead now... You'd better not act up on us." She started to unbuckle the saddle itself. "What a night, eh?"

Lightning watched the way that Bahamut settled himself down in the loamy soil, and she slowly reached out to pet the feathers of his neck.

"We've still got some food left." Fang carried the saddle down beneath the shelter of the overhang, before she knelt against the earth to spread out a few of their blankets. "But we'd better find a town soon, I'll tell you that much."

Lightning looked up from the ground, and she blinked when Fang offered her a few of the dry biscuits.

"I know it's not ideal." Fang settled herself down on one of the blankets. "But you know, rough times..."

Lightning nodded her thanks, accepting the food from Fang's hand.

"What a mess that was." Fang crossed her legs, and she leaned back against the wall of the shallow cave. "They're getting more and more clever... Bolder, too. The world's never been very safe, Light, but it's not getting any safer these days."

"Yes it is." Lightning took a moment to chew on one of the flat biscuits. "I found you."

Fang's gaze traveled over to peer at the look on Lightning's face, one that seemed dead serious, without any hint of sarcasm or amusement.

"You're... Nice to me." Lightning glanced down where one of her own bandages was starting to turn dark with residual bloodshed. "You don't have to be, but you are."

Fang slowly turned to peer out at the rain. "Would you call me crazy if I said you remind me of someone? Someone... Someone who doesn't exist."

Lightning's ears twitched in thought. "That doesn't make sense."

"That's why it's so crazy." Fang took out her own handful of biscuits from the box. "Never mind... I've just got a few strings loose, that's all."

Lightning pondered over what such a metaphor could possibly mean, though she wasn't quite versed enough in Fang's language to know what it meant.

"I, uh... I don't have many friends these days." Fang munched on one of the biscuits. "Not sure if you understood everything I said before, but that's the gist of it."

Lightning reached over to pet Bahamut again. "You have him and Vanille."

Fang nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't trade them for anything, but it does get a little lonely." She moved to briefly pet Bahamut as well. "Vanille loves going for walks in the woods, but she's not always so keen on what I do, bringing in food and supplies." Fang slowly wiped the biscuit crumbs from her mouth. "And there's only so much conversation you can get out of a bird."

Bahamut didn't seem to take much offense, but he did gently nibble at Fang's fingertips, at least until she reached into one of the saddlebags to feed him a tidbit of dried meat.

Lightning glanced back at the ground. "I never had many friends." She could feel how Fang looked at her from the warm prickle of her gaze, almost like the feeling of a slightly itchy pin feather. "Serah tried to help, but... You know."

Fang soon offered Lightning a bit of the dried meat as well, while she took a single strip of it for herself.

"We were alone a lot." Lightning sniffed at the strong spices on the meat strip, and she took a tiny bite of it. "She met someone she really liked, and then I felt even more alone."

Fang tried not to frown.

"...I'm not proud of everything." Lightning slowly hugged her knees against her chest, and the feathers on her ankles began to ruffle in the rainy breeze. "I did some things I wish I didn't." Her ears twitched at the many sounds of the forest, the creaking of the trees, the rustle of the damp grass and the undergrowth, the gentle sounds of the rain. "It's hard to translate this."

"I know." Fang leaned back against the wall of the cave again, slightly closer to where Lightning was sitting. "But you're doing just fine."

Lightning felt the faintest hint of a smile twitch on her lips. "They had... Other tongues, back home, I knew a few of them." She started to speak briefly in a very different dialect, one that sounded much slower, more gradual than her native language, rather like the sound of a cooing dove instead of the quick screeches, clicks and chirps of a falcon.

And Fang listened for a moment, before she steeled herself to ask a certain question, one that had been lingering in the back of her mind for quite a long while. "Your people, are they all... Like you?" She slowly pointed at Lightning's feathers. "You're all like birds?"

Lightning reached up to touch one of her ears. "They're different, sometimes." She glanced at the feathers on her ankles, and then at the places where they would sometimes appear whenever she was agitated, just a threat display, such as her shoulders and wrists. "Serah looks a lot like me."

"Well, yeah... Family." Fang tossed Bahamut a bit more of the dried meat. "But you can all fly, right?"

"Yes." Lightning's eyebrows began to furrow at such a question. "What else would we do?"

"You could walk?" Fang just smiled to herself, and she picked up one of the fur blankets from within the saddlebags. "We don't really have shapeshifters here... They're more of an imaginary thing."

Lightning almost smiled when Fang handed her a blanket as well.

"So you see why I've got to keep you safe?" Fang waited for Lightning to drape the blanket over her shoulders. "You're something special... Something that doesn't even exist here, so if you're going to make it, you'll need all the friends you can get."

Lightning's eyes suddenly betrayed the passive look on her face. "And are we... Friends?"

Fang felt the very same smile cross her face that had once been there countless times, the same creases and subtle lines, the very same feeling that flickered deep within her chest. "Only if you want to be."

There was a shadow in the air, she knew it by the sight of her peers. Lightning stayed awake long into the night, thinking over the sudden loss of her fellow hunter, the display of power and capability from one who seemed to bend the very rules of the world to his whim, faster than any mortal being had any right to be. How sudden it was, just a seemingly routine procedure, mere information gathering, but the cost of such things was paid in far more than bloodshed.

She glanced down at the wristband that held so many of her charms, stored safely beside the bed. Lightning let her mind wander off to the thoughts of her brothers and sisters, to the kinship of their faith, and she felt the emotions simmering in herself. The shock had since dulled the disbelief that such a person could easily kill one of her own, that he could take that life in one fell swoop, like a knife in the dark, talons in the night, and she began to feel a strong urge to keep her own weapons a bit closer.

Rest was very elusive. Most of her peers were either laying awake or sleeping in low murmurs, for it seemed as if such a thing affected both houses of the compound rather equally. Noel had disappeared for most of the evening, only returning to speak a few brief words over dinner, and an air of unease swiftly fell upon the hearts of Etro's followers, while silence had ruled without challenge within the lofty dining hall.

But was it true that such a pursuit had turned futile? Lightning slowly pulled one of the blankets a bit tighter around herself, though she made sure not to steal any of the covers from Fang. The seeds of doubt had already sprouted right up into such untouchable thorns, snaking their way around her mind and choking it, forcing her thoughts to battle between the possibility of just fleeing away in that very instant with Fang, that very night, never to return again... But there was still her loyalty, the blood oath to her goddess that couldn't be forsaken, and if her siblings were truly in such peril, she could hardly live with herself otherwise.

Lightning suddenly covered her ears with her hands, trying to block out the deafening silence. She curled closer to where Fang was resting, just to seek out the comfort of her presence. A deep buzzing sensation kept echoing around in her mind, but when she slowly leaned in to listen to the gentle pulse of Fang's throat, to the heartbeat that she knew could thrum so much louder, could beat with the fire of a mighty dragon, it was just enough to drown out almost anything else. She scarcely even realized that the sound was lulling her to sleep, for her own thoughts were still clashing and racing all around in her head, and her last waking notion was just a simple, tiny wish.

If the gods were truly still present, still a force within their world, even if it was true that their powers had waned, couldn't her own goddess lend her such aid when she really needed it? She wished for the same influence that had once driven her to drag Serah towards the safety within the sea, the same brave heart that beat so soundly in the sight of the rising waves, the same strength in her limbs when she had to struggle and swim for her life within the ocean storms, the very same one that had carried Serah towards the home of a follower of Etro's path, deep within the dark of night.

"You are vermin to them."

Lightning blinked from her place in the dream, and she realized that there was another figure there in the darkness, one who stood so tall beside her.

"Will you lay down and die?" Such cold eyes, they were so utterly frigid, sharp as a jagged length of glass. "They slay your very kin and you do nothing to retaliate? 'Tis nature of mice, girl, not a hunter."

"You... Aren't real." Lightning stood there within the darkness, in the very depths of her own dreaming mind. "You're a memory."

The old woman rapped her cane against the ground, even if there was no actual ground to speak of. "You call out for help and then spurn it as it is offered?"

"No-" Lightning's eyes began to flicker in realization. "I'm sorry."

"Apologies won't save your kin." The old woman narrowed her eyes at something that Lightning couldn't see. "But there is truth to what you say... I am only a memory."

"Am I just dreaming to myself?" Lightning peered around at the darkness. "There's nobody else here, is there?"

"You are only realizing what you already know." The old woman pulled her shawl down from atop her pale gray hair, revealing the face that looked so much like the gnarled knots of a tree, wrinkled and wise. "Perhaps you simply chose a memory you wish to emulate."

Lightning felt a slight bit of acceptance towards that statement, for it was true that she often tried to appear just as impassive and stalwart.

"You have a choice ahead of you... Two separate paths."

The translucent shade of an animal suddenly sauntered out from the shadows, baring her teeth at something else that Lightning couldn't see.

"Fight or flee? Run or protect?"

Lightning felt herself start to move, to walk along with the clawprints in the shadows, following them towards wherever they turned.

"Would you choose a life of stability if it meant your heart was never free?" The voice kept swirling all around her, shifting in with the echoes of the dream. "Or would you fight to save the ones you love, no matter the consequence?"

Lightning turned to search for the source of the voice, but there was nothing there that she could find, all except for that very same trail of prints from a wolf. And there, drifting right above a single knot of rope, she caught sight of the palest feather that she had ever seen.

In the following hours of the day, as Fang went about the early routines, she noticed that while the air of mourning still lingered in the people around her, there was also something that she couldn't quite pin down. A push for retaliation, perhaps? Many of the hunters looked far more agitated than sullen, at least from those who she could see from her seat in the dining hall. It also seemed that Noel hadn't yet returned from wherever he'd gone off to, and Fang almost found herself searching the crowd for Tipur himself, for they were never very far from each other during a phase of planning, before she realized how futile that was.

He'd likely bled out right where they left him, she knew that much, and even if the servants there were willing to try and revive him, there was still the matter of the guardsmen. And that wasn't to mention the actual deadliness of such a wound, a strike straight through the chest, so close to the heart itself. She knew that it had to be somewhat personal then, a stab in the back, more of a twisted public display than the mere removal of a threat, for the old man had left everyone else alive, likely intending for them to tell the tale.

And Fang knew very well that the air of doubt and fear could spread just as quickly as any disease, even among the steady minds of Etro's followers. The younger children in particular seemed so very confused, and they were glancing all around with hushed whispers and nervous fidgeting, as if something could happen at any moment.

Fang slowly closed her eyes, inwardly bracing herself for the rest of the day, but she looked out again when a gentle touch brushed against the bare skin of her hand.

You feel it too, don't you? Lightning looked straight ahead, but her inner voice spoke clearly between them. I think we all do.

Fang let her eyes slip shut again. Do you have a plan?

Lightning's fingertips tightened slightly, squeezing the top of Fang's hand. Not yet... Maybe. We talked strategy a few days ago, but the situation's changed a lot since then.

Fang nodded at nothing in particular. The priority is that artifact, isn't it?

Yes. Lightning's grip tightened even further. We might have to make this up as we go along, but we still have a few tricks up our sleeves.

Fang opened her eyes once more, and the very slightest of smiles crossed her lips.

Noel proved to be just as elusive as his title suggested, but they finally found him back out in the gardens during midday, resting beside the humble grave.

Lightning knelt down as well, and she waited in silence for a while. Fang moved to sit on a nearby bench, where she listened to the soft sounds of the leaves, to the sway of the tropical trees, even the gentle flutter of insects and hummingbirds, still so very active and alive.

"I met him in a village overseas." Noel was kneeling beside the stone marker, one that had been placed there later on, after they had all buried the mask. "He was right, you know... He was a coward, not even a real hunter, really, just someone who brought back game for his village." Noel leaned away, gazing up at the sky from between the fronds of the trees. "He seemed to be in it for the thrill, but the danger wasn't part of it."

Lightning nodded to herself. "There's a difference between those who hunt monsters and simple game."

"Yeah." Noel peered up at the flowering trees. "In that region, there was a pretty notorious wyvern known as 'Faeryl', a real firebrand of a wyrm... Caius brought me there with him to take it out, and that's when we met Tipur."

Lightning looked back down at the grave. "Did he have a change of heart?"

Noel nodded. "Some of his close friends had been killed by it... You could tell that he was fed up with the whole thing, and he insisted on following us out there to kill it." The cool ocean breeze made his short hair sweep gently to the side. "I guess Caius was impressed... We booked the trip back with Tipur, and had him initiated before we even hit shore again."

Lightning knew from Noel's tone that the two of them had grown rather close, and from her own memories of their teamwork, she knew it was likely a very strong friendship.

"When-" Noel tried to steel himself. "When Caius was gone, it was a lot like this." He gestured at the entire compound, from the housing spaces to the tall stone walls, to the training grounds and the sprawling gardens, but his meaning extended into the sudden silence that had spread itself out into almost everything. "We work with death... We live with death, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with."

Lightning waited for a long moment, before she began to speak in the most gentle voice she could muster. "You know we need to move past it... He said to make them pay."

"Oh, they're gonna pay." Noel's tone barely changed, but there was a certain spark in his eyes, gleaming beneath the sunlight. "I didn't avenge Caius for his own sake, but now that they have the artifact-" He suddenly rose to his feet. "...Teleportation is impossible."

Fang spoke up from where she was sitting nearby. "Sure is."

Noel's eyes narrowed at nothing in particular, as if he was scrutinizing something off in the distance. "Impossible... Galenth Dysley achieved the impossible." His hands slowly tightened into fists. "Then he's already figured it out."

Lightning stood up as well. "You think the crown can let him teleport?"

Noel's gaze slowly began to focus on his surroundings again, and he waved for them both to follow. "I can only hope that's all it can do..." He strode off towards the front buildings, the offices, still gesturing for them to walk with him. "We're talking about a relic of the gods, an artifact of untold capabilities." Noel soon approached the doorway of the tall clay building. "I think it's time to look further into what Caius left behind."

They found themselves within what looked like a small library, a room with many desks and public sitting areas. It was where Noel brought out a wide array of textbooks and scientific journals, some of which looked to be bound in rather unusual leather.

Lightning peered down at what seemed like the scales of a wyrm, and she nearly gave Fang an apologetic look, but she soon just opened up the book instead. There was little to be said about the introductory material, by which there was almost none of it; it was clearly a personal recollection of various artifacts and legends, even a few fabled creatures that were said to have once been crafted by the gods themselves.

A few of the other high-ranking infiltration specialists joined in with the research, many of which Fang recognized from back before they had donned their masks, searching the palaces with them on the previous day. She peered at how gloomy their eyes and faces appeared, somewhat sullen and drained, yet most of them moved right into the reading material without pause, clearly more than ready to avenge their fallen brother.

Lightning kept reading over the texts and gazing at various sketches, but it was only when she reached a relevant passage that she paused to read it over twice.

Our brothers to the north report that they've found a promising site, one that has no traces of the Order's presence. It's an ancient place, one that spans far beneath the earth, so deep that the walls are said to feel warm from the pressure of the earth, and what I can only assume is molten rock. It is impossible to tell at this point if such a site could truly hold one of Mwynn's crowns, but every other lead that we've tracked points to them being stored in a place of the gods themselves, perhaps even right under our noses, in the Temple of Etro... But that's merely speculation, and if such an artifact was truly so close, I daresay that our own eyes would have spotted it already.

The old texts are rather tedious and difficult to translate, but I believe that my work will be of some worth to whoever decides to read what I've written; the crowns must be secured, and if possible, destroyed, such is the will of the goddess herself, long decreed by the mandated balance.

Lightning glanced back up from the pages of the book, for she noticed that Noel was carrying in even more research materials to the library.

"Alright." Noel knelt down to set a stack of tomes and various scrolls against one of the low tables. "If Caius left anything useful in these... We're going to need every advantage we can get." He sat down on one of the nearby chairs, slowly leafing through one of the leather-bound books. "Let's see what we can find."

Lightning looked back at the pages of her own tome, and she soon found more information on the pursuits that Caius underwent to secure the crown.

My independent contact in the north, a local woman who I will henceforth refer to as 'Frost', in order to protect her identity, she has reported much push-back from the other locals of the territory, namely bandits and tribal nomads, and perhaps the various forms of wildlife. I've sent another missive to our brothers, but the last letter that I received from them brought grim tidings. It seems as if a certain section of the tunnel collapsed after their last venture, and the reliability of the structure itself has come into question.

Frost writes to me that she isn't fearful of the old caverns, but that they display unusual architecture, namely in the lower chambers. She claims that a local folktale tells of the crown being buried there, a heavenly shard of sunlight beneath the deep snow, but we are both aware that such things are often heavy with conjecture.

Lightning turned the page, and she noticed that there was a much later date at the top of the new paragraph.

We've found it, if such reports are to be taken at face value. A perfect ring of unworldly light, sighted from the depths of an ancient cavern, beneath the untapped rock and seemingly endless slopes of ice, if I might allow myself a moment to be poetic... Sadly, we have little time for trivialities. But I pray that we will soon be rid of this entire affair, goddess be willing.

I received another letter from Frost, one that she claims will be her last message to me. My brothers write that she disappeared into the north itself with an object from the ruins, not the crown, of course, but equally as troubling. They say that it was a bit of rubble from within the main room, a piece of unusual metal, something that should not have been disturbed, and that it was gone just as soon as she left without a word. There will be time later to concern ourselves with such things, and she likely won't stray far from her homeland, provided that she wasn't deceitful on such matters as well. She seemed knowledgeable when we first wrote to each other, merely a scholar at the right time and place, but it appears as if our trust was taken advantage of.

No matter. The crown will be carefully excavated and then eventually, perhaps over the years, or even as few as many months, transported here in utter secrecy; our cipher code is virtually unbreakable, and again, goddess willing, we will soon have this affair over and done with.

Lightning slowly turned the page, but she almost frowned when the next one was utterly blank, as well as the next, and then even the next. It would have been around the time when he stopped writing, she knew it from what Noel had said, yet it still made her mind feel just as empty as the page, no longer in the presence of recorded thought.

It was a brief while before Fang spoke up from the book she was reading. "I've heard of this expression, it's one of my favorites, but it's been a while..." She almost looked disappointed with herself for not fully remembering it. "Where did 'cutting the knot' come from, exactly?"

Noel smiled sadly at such a phrase. "There's an old legend, many variations on the same theme... But the basic tale is that there was once a massive length of rope, a cord that was tied down in such a way that it was seemingly impossible to untie." He held up his hands to show the looping design that it might have once had. "It held a great chariot in its grasp, and there were many who tried to claim such a prize, but none of them could figure out how to untie it." Noel's smile seemed to grow a bit warmer as he continued with the tale. "Surely you've heard of the great hero Alexander?"

Lightning thought back to the first horse that she had ever owned, the steed she was planning to officially give to Hope once he was older, perhaps when he became a bit more proficient with riding.

"Yeah." Fang leaned forward in her seat. "I think I can guess what he did."

Noel mimicked the strike of a sword with his fingertips. "He decided to just... Cut the knot."

Fang smiled at such cleverness. "Cheating, isn't it?"

Noel shrugged. "Is it cheating if there are no rules in the first place?"

Lightning spoke up. "Is that how you broke the cipher?" She tapped at the page of the book where Caius mentioned it. "Sounds like the only way to crack something like that is to translate it directly."

Noel glanced off into the distance again, before he slowly began to nod. "Caius left a lot of his belongings behind, for all of us... But the cipher itself was well-hidden."

Lightning reached out to place the book back down on one of the low tables. "If we're looking for information on the crown itself... Do you think Caius really would have written something like that down?"

One of the other hunters began to speak. "Perhaps, but Caius himself was a descendant of the Paddran lineage of monster slayers, a more secretive group than our own."

Noel nodded again. "Caius used to talk about their stories... The great culling of beasts." He reached out for another of the books. "He'd say that his heritage wasn't important anymore, but you could always tell just how different he really was... It's a diverse culture, for sure."

Fang turned back to her own book. "Looks like we have some digging to do."

"Yup." Noel slowly opened the tome that he had reached for. "Helps the urge to go running in there again, killing every damn Order solider you see..."

The response was quiet, a brief moment of somewhat understanding laughter, but the gathered hunters still remained somewhat silent.

"Busy work." Noel closed his eyes for just a moment or two. "Caius was always a big fan of busy work... He said it kept us all in balance."

It was only later on in the afternoon that they found something of greater promise, after a quick midday meal, of course. They had eaten it in the front offices, where a bit of a commotion actually occurred; one of the scouting parties returned with news for Noel's ears alone, and he left the compound shortly after, donning his mask with the promise that he would return as soon as he could. And what they found within those mountains of weight books and endless scrolls, it was a plain little historical document, though the contents themselves were anything but mundane. After Fang had read it twice to herself, she started to read the passage aloud.

Artifacts of the early ages are often quite misunderstood, and are easily taken at face value to be a source of great power, or even divine right, but most assumptions of that caliber lead only to misfortune. There is indeed a mighty strength within this world, in the lifeblood of the gods themselves, but such things can often be just as damaging to the wielder as they are to the target of influence, itself.

One will often hear local folktales in coastal cities and trade hubs, places of great exchange and the site of many actual historical objects, due to the great flux of currency transfer and passing hands. One such tale states that a great artifact was once given as a gift to a great king of eastern Gran Pulse, sparking a war that lasted for countless centuries, and eventually led to the destruction of the entire regional empire. It gave way to both disease and famine, to a mass exodus of millions, and to the deaths of far greater numbers.

It is often said that the Black Crown, that fabled gift given to the sun himself, Lord Bhunivelze, was used to manipulate the outcome of many battles and smaller skirmishes, leading to the eventual collapse of both mighty armies.

While there truly is no way to differentiate between historical fact and mere folklore, at least at such times, it is clear that the fall of an empire can be attributed to the influence of greed and the lust for such grand strength, even if the 'crown' itself could merely be a metaphor for the deadly power of human weaknesses.

And from her seat in the library, Fang cleared her throat, before she slowly closed the book. "So, if this thing really can change reality..."

One of the hunters spoke. "That was the Black Crown, it could be vastly different from the one we're after."

Fang nodded. "True... But if they're similar enough, then I'd bet we can assume that's about as much as what we're up against."

Lightning glanced at the sound of footsteps near the front of the library, before her eyes slightly widened at the sight of an entire regiment of robed hunters, led by none other than Noel himself.

He was still wearing his mask, the visage of the Shadow Hunter. "We have... A situation on our hands."

Lightning found herself perched atop the edge of a rooftop within the Warren outskirts. She peered down at the alleyway where her fellow hunters were standing guard, all circled around a single figure, a rather mighty man in polished armor. Noel was lingering back in the opposite street, saving his appearance for later on, for after his infiltration specialists had finished questioning the lone guardian of the Order, the esteemed Captain Aland, the very same guardsman who they had forced to retreat from the statue of Etro.

And from her own post atop the building, watching for any threats in the darkness of the evening, Lightning listened to the quiet conversation that went on from below, from the soft murmurs of the patrolling hunters to those who questioned the captain himself.

"I don't think I have to tell you that you'd be executed for this." It was someone who Lightning didn't recognize, a hunter who was quite a bit older than herself. "Why, then? What do you have to gain by telling us this? From such treason?"

The captain spoke from beneath his shining metal helm, though his words were just as clear as any other. "There is something truly rotten at the heart of this new movement... My duty is to protect Luxerion, and I am no turncoat!" He still stood so tall and proud, gazing straight into the eyes of the predatory masks. "And if Luxerion... If her own leaders have turned to witchcraft and murder, then there is a sickness here that we must all purge from the city itself."

Lightning's gaze flickered down to the way Noel approached from beyond the alley walls, and she listened to the sudden silence that filled the entire lonely street.

"Where is the crown?" Noel had his blade unsheathed, but he kept it low, a mere defensive measure, a symbol to show that his presence was no idle threat. "Tell us, and we'll help you destroy it."

"That is impossible." Captain Aland's voice grew just as sharp as the sword that Noel carried. "I myself haven't even seen it... It's too well-hidden to confiscate, and the way they speak about it, about what it can do-" He paused, gazing out at the dozens of armed hunters around him. "What it did do, there is nothing of that nature that we can attempt without detection."

"Why are you here, then?" Noel circled around the captain, likely watching his every move from beneath the avian mask. "Why put yourself in danger for a futile cause?"

The captain's laugh echoed out from beneath his helmet, beneath the symbol of the 'Lion Guard', an affectionate moniker of the high guard, visible by the checkered crest beneath the thick golden plume of his helmet. "I am in little danger from you, 'Shadow Hunter'... You think that I do not understand your unwillingness to kill?"

Lightning watched the way Noel didn't even pause, still circling like a wolf beside a cornered, yet steadfast stag.

"You've mistaken our restraint for unwillingness." Noel's voice began to take on a darker quality, a tone of thinly-veiled anger and unrest. "Our goddess might not promote the death of humans... But if they were to upset the balance in such a way, we have free-reign."

The captain didn't budge an inch, no matter how many times Noel slowly circled him. "I came here to invoke the old covenant."

Noel's blade hovered in the air beside him. "The damn covenant was broken years ago, before either of us were born... When our people were slain in the streets." His voice grew sharper and sharper. "When the Order decided their own word was worth less than sewage."

"The Order of Salvation is a collective, not an individual." Captain Aland still kept himself motionless, but he did slowly tip his chin when Noel finally paused before him, standing face to face. "I serve only Luxerion... And if the Order is a threat to Luxerion, I think you can see how that would become a conflict of interest."

Noel took a long moment to think over such things. "Then what do you suggest?"

"An alliance." The captain's armor glinted when he took a single pace forward. "The old covenant of the gods, the four houses, Lindzei and Pulse, of Etro and Bhunivelze... Forged together again by the threat to our own very city."

Noel's voice almost sounded uncertain. "Lindzei and Pulse? Their churches aren't militaristic."

"They still hold the faith." Captain Aland gestured at the city around them. "A battle may be won by soldiers, but a war... The war is won by minds and numbers, by strategy."

"It's war, then..." Noel's grip tightened against the handle of his sword. "Then I have one more question for you."

The captain waited expectantly.

"What exactly is going to happen on the solstice?" Noel slowly gestured up at the sky. "What does the old man have planned? Why did he 'invite' us there?"

And in the dusky light of the evening, within the cold air of the rolling ocean, Captain Aland slowly bowed his head.

It was hours after the meeting in the streets, far later that Lightning found herself eating a quick dinner in the dining hall, but she paused when a certain voice caught her attention, only a whisper.

"Hey."

Lightning looked back over her shoulder. "Beryl."

She stood there, still in her mask, for it seemed as if she was rather loathe to ever be without it. "Word travels fast... Have you spoken to Noel?"

Lightning glanced around at the people eating their meals at her own table, as well as Fang, who pretended not to notice that she hadn't quite been invited to the current conversation. "No, you know how things have been."

"And you don't think that this is the most perfect time?" Beryl's mask hid the fact that her gaze was darting around at the people beside them. "Ah... Just meet me in the same place in the gardens, after dinner."

Fang looked back over her shoulder with a rather nonplussed look on her face. "Am I invited to the party?"

Beryl started to wander away. "...Only if you bring refreshments."

And after a moment or two, Fang just chuckled low in her throat, before she turned back towards her own plate of dinner. "I feel so loved."

Lightning bit back a smile. "I think you've already got enough love to go around."

And from beneath the table, Fang moved to squeeze Lightning's hand, just for the comfort it might bring, before she slowly went back to her meal.

It was later in the evening, when Fang and Lightning were both waiting there in the gardens, it was then that Beryl appeared, though she seemed to be coaxing someone else along with her.

"Okay... You want to tell me what this is about?" Noel looked at the three of them without his mask, and he almost seemed confused by the fact that Beryl was wearing her own. "Not to be rude, I'm just a little busy with preparations..."

"You'll have something else to factor in, now." Beryl moved to sit down against one of the smooth stone benches. "We have a certain trick up our sleeves that we want to share with you."

Lightning waited for Noel to sit down as well. "Beryl's shown us a... Secret weapon."

"A secret weapon?" Noel slowly reached up to massage his forehead, as if a rather stubborn headache was bothering him. "Again, not to be blunt, but could we cut to the chase? I've been looking over what this ceremony could possibly mean-"

"Cut to the chase, I can do that." Beryl cleared her throat. "The three of us can attest to the fact that the catacombs of Luxerion hold an incredible amount of ghostly presences, the likes of which can become corporeal, just as long as the spirit of Luxerion itself can be given enough strength to manifest."

Noel blinked once, and then twice, before he slowly released a sigh, and leaned back against the bench. "You're always too fast for me, Beryl."

Lightning spoke up again. "Long story short, we have an entire army... Just as long as we can give it enough willpower to fight." She stood up from the bench that she had been resting against. "Beryl, have you spoken with the other mages?"

Beryl nodded. "We can all agree that the scientific facts are basically unknown at this day and age, but I've shown them the spirit itself... We'll be able to summon it for just as much strength as we put in." She paused for a moment, before she turned to face Lightning herself. "You've met Holly, haven't you? She was actually able to fortify it even further by means of a reinforcement spell."

Noel spoke again. "So, they're phantoms..? Even corporeally, you think they can fight for us?"

"They're warriors." Beryl stood up as well. "They're the ancient ones who once fought for their city, all those years ago... We can harness that power for the good of Luxerion itself."

Noel took a few more moments to think. "Alright... I believe you, Beryl, but I'll still need to see this for myself before taking it to heart."

Beryl sounded as if she was trying not to hiss in frustration. "I brought the two of them there to see it, I thought they would be enough to vouch..."

Noel shook his head. "It's not about that." He rose back up to his feet as well. "I have a responsibility to everyone here, you know that; I can't incorporate numbers into our plans unless I've seen them for myself."

"...Alright." Beryl started off into the gardens again, quietly muttering under her breath. "I'll get the incense ready again, we can go tomorrow when it's light out."

And Noel just stood there for a while, waiting beside Fang and Lightning, before he slowly turned to face them. "She's... Always been a bit eccentric, but her heart's in the right place." He glanced over at Lightning in particular. "She doesn't always hunt like us, but the charms work for her whenever she gets her hands on a material sample."

"She doesn't hunt..?" Lightning glanced down at the leather wristband with her own charms. "She seemed pretty keen on knowing if I was trustworthy or not."

"She does hunt, it's just more of a supporting role." Noel peered up at the city walls, and at the first few hints of starlight, faintly glimmering out there in the darkness. "Mages often aren't as physically resilient as those who live by the sword... I suppose that makes you an even rarer case, Fang."

Fang looked up from where she was still lounging against a garden bench. "I think it depends on physical discipline."

"That's probably true." Noel turned back to face the main offices. "And to be honest, this was a welcome break from the sort of stuff I've been dealing with... You remember the man I told you about, on cleaning day?"

Lightning thought back to the robed figure who she had seen in the front gardens, the man who'd been kneeling and praying to the small statue of Etro. "What's happened to him?"

Noel started to grit his teeth, before he motioned for them both to follow. "It's more complicated than we first thought."

The main offices were rather plain and orderly, compromised of wooden desks and cushioned chairs for various meetings, and it was in a rather small corner of the room that Noel sat down again, facing the man who held a single silver charm within his grasp.

"Are you ready to tell us what happened?" Noel spoke rather quietly, just enough for Fang and Lightning to hear from across the room. "The priory, what happened back there?"

The man began to speak in a low tone, somewhat ragged and hoarse. "Our contact... He said the deal was finished."

Noel leaned forward in his chair. "And do you know why he said that?"

"It was getting 'risky'." The robed man looked down at his feet, facing anywhere else but Noel. "I told him to grow a pair and tough it out for us... That cutting ties would only mean he was alone in there, no one to back him up."

"But he's not one of us." Noel gestured at the room around them. "The people here, they're us... You can't just take your frustration out on someone like that."

"He said it was ending, I already told you..." The man shook his head back and forth. "They all had this look in their eyes, like they were mad." His fingertips tightened even further against the charm, almost to the point of activating it. "I've made my peace with Etro, and I know it was wrong, but I had to try and knock some sense into him... Before he did something he'd regret."

Noel narrowed his eyes at such a statement. "What were they going to do, exactly?"

"I don't know exactly, he just kept saying his own life wasn't important anymore, that they would all cleanse themselves 'in service of Bhunivelze'..." The hunter slowly leaned away, still gripping the charm in his hands. "That when the sun god finally rose up to the very height of the sky, and when the moon was absent from the night... They would all give up their lives and grow pure of the darkness." He suddenly peered right at Noel. "So yeah, I knocked his goddamn teeth in... Gave him something to actually think about." That same fire that burned in all of them, it flared so brightly in the eyes of the disgraced hunter. "Kicked him in the ribs, tried to set his mind straight... Maybe it worked, maybe it didn't."

Noel slowly shook his head. "You should have told us this right away."

"Would you have listened?" The hunter leaned forward in his chair. "Shadow Hunter, Shadow Hunter... They don't call you that because you hunt shadows." He grinned to himself, almost crazed upon the knowledge that he held on to, clutching it just as tightly as the charm. "We're all in for it, aren't we? They've got that damn thing you were hunting for, enough for you to go and do exactly what I did..."

"You did so under a different context." Noel narrowed his eyes again. "You drew the blood of an innocent."

The hunter kept silent for a long moment, before he spoke in a softer, more solemn tone than before. "I doubt any of us will be so innocent for much longer."

The solstice grew even nearer on the next day, and the scouting patrols brought news of great preparations within the public quarters, of banquet tables and a mighty amount of luxurious goods, of wine casks and foreign delicacies that had been brought in by freight ships, one of which Lightning soon caught sight of, herself.

She stood there, watching the clear water of the canal as it started to ripple beneath the weight of the massive barge, and she slowly pulled at her hood, drawing it closer towards her eyes.

Fang whistled from where she was wandering out through the crowded street. "One heck of a party favor..."

Lightning tried to swallow away the apprehension that had been building itself up ever since she learned of such things, and she put on the strongest face that she could muster. "Look at the name on the crates."

"Yusnaan." Fang nodded at the massive freight ship. "Makes sense to bring it in locally... That much stuff would probably spoil overseas or cost a fortune in cooling magic."

"We should get back to the others." Lightning looked around for a familiar face in the crowd, and when she caught sight of Holly, she started to walk forward again. "If there's work to be done..."

Fang followed on after her. "How many days was it until the solstice?"

"Two." Lightning tried to steel herself again. "Including today."

Fang took a very deep breath of the ocean breeze. "Then we'd better get a move on."

Their own patrol was assigned to the process of bringing in reinforcements, and while their peers were sent out to approach the various local churches of the gods of earth and sea, Fang and Lightning found themselves traveling away from Luxerion itself, in search of help from Poltae and other such settlements.

Lightning peered out over the familiar forest path, no longer feeling the same sort of clinginess that Fang always seemed to have on horseback, though the trip itself felt much faster than before.

They approached the wide fields of wheat and tropical vegetables, following on after a few other riders, Holly included, who seemed to have taken the very forefront of intelligence operations in place of Tipur.

"Hold, there." Holly herself called out from horseback to one of the distant workers in the fields. "Do you know where the professor is?"

The farmhand waved at them all, before he gestured at the village itself.

"Good..." Holly urged her horse forward again. "We won't have to look very far; he often wanders away from home, poking around the ruins or whatever else he can find in the crags."

Fang spoke from atop her own horse, one of the calmer steeds, perfect for an inexperienced rider. "He's not in charge of the hunters here, is he?"

Holly shook her head. "No, but he organizes the day to day operations... He's the man to inform when we need reinforcements for Luxerion."

Lightning peered out at the dusty little village, still so lively and welcoming, but she soon turned her own horse towards the empty fields beside the cropland, for she knew that she was only there to help stand watch, to protect her fellows.

Fang soon approached her on the back of her own horse. They waited there in silence for a long moment, just letting the pair of steeds graze at the wild grasslands.

"You once said you wanted to take me to Yusnaan, didn't you? That it would blow my mind?" Lightning stared at the distant forest. "But we're not going there for fun."

"Maybe someday." Fang reached out to pat the shoulders of the horse she was riding. "I think we've already had enough on our minds, lately..."

"We're going to fight them." Lightning narrowed her eyes at the open air, at the way the sun was approaching the very heights of the deep blue sky. "Nobody says it out loud, but this war of ours... We should really get in some sparring practice tomorrow."

"I'm sure we can use the training equipment." Fang lowered her voice to a soft murmur. "And who knows, a thing like this could really help with the other 'war' we're waging."

Lightning let her horse walk forward to graze at a patch of wild clover. "Do you always look on the bright side of things?"

"I look on the real side." Fang's mind wandered back to the promise they had once made, the journey to rescue Vanille, and while she had harbored her own doubts about such a detour, the possibility that there was a fal'Cie in Luxerion, one who she could both eliminate and possibly learn from, that was enough to erase any reluctance. "A week or so, maybe even more than that, it doesn't matter... All that matters is that we learn about this threat, or that we walk away from the place knowing more about how to get Vanille out of there."

Lightning felt a flicker of guilt cross her mind. "I wish we already had our answers for her."

"Hey, don't you worry." Fang gestured for her horse to ride up beside Lightning's own steed. "We'll have plenty of time to spoil Vanille once this is over... Maybe we can even all take a trip to Yusnaan."

Lightning tried not to let herself smile, though she knew that Fang had caught it anyway. "Sure... Just as soon as they've got monsters to slay."

Later in the afternoon, they approached the wide gates on horseback, gazing out at the sights and sounds of the city of earthly indulgence, a haven for those who sought the finer things in life. Fang pointed out the various quarters as they rode through the main promenade of Yusnaan, the places dedicated for different types of both work and play alike, from grand banquet halls to shops and entertainment centers, even towards the gladiatorial arenas, which was actually where Holly began to lead their little group.

"Now, this..." Holly squinted at the distant structure, one that looked rather like a raised amphitheater from ancient times. "It's affectionately known as the 'Slaughterhouse'."

Fang thought back to the times when she and Vanille had visited Yusnaan, and while the more violent sorts of entertainment were always a bit much for Vanille herself, neither of them couldn't deny the artful sort of grace that went into the ancient sport of combat.

"You won't find a tougher bunch of gladiators anywhere..." Holly rode up along the path that led towards the front outposts, where she began to approach a certain wide window in the main building, one that had quite a large number of people loitering outside of it. "But the thing is, this group, they're all like us."

"Really?" Lightning watched a brief scuffle between two of the raucously laughing men, those who looked a bit flushed, likely from some form of alcohol on the nearby tables. "Then they know how to fight..."

Holly dismounted and unsheathed her staff, using it as a walking stick as she approached the open window. "You louts awake in there, or what?!"

Lightning couldn't ever remember hearing a stronger chorus of voices, and she almost blinked in surprise when another woman suddenly sidled right out from the window to gently cuff at Holly's shoulder, calling out her greeting in a rather brash, rowdy sort of way.

"And where the hell have you been, girl?" The woman knocked the end of Holly's staff with her knuckles. "No fun out there in Luxerion, I've told you a million times..."

It was one of the first times that Lightning had ever seen Holly smile, and the long scar on her chin, likely from some form of hunting, was all the more prominent when she did so.

"You... Haven't heard, then?" Holly's face still flickered with the sadness of such recent events. "The solstice, something huge is going down, Zoe; we're in need of all the help we can get."

The brash woman, Zoe, she immediately clapped Holly's shoulder. "Well... If we're what you need, count us in."

"Thank you." Holly turned back to glance at her fellow hunters, those who were still waiting there on horseback. "I feel as if you should hear this in person..." Her smile swiftly fell away, and she looked back at the expectant faces of her friends. "Tipur, he's been-"

The group of gladiators went absolutely silent at her words, and it almost felt like more than a few minutes had passed by, before Zoe reached out to squeeze Holly's shoulder.

"His last wish." Holly's voice went very quiet. "He wanted us to make them pay."

And as the day stretched on into the early evening, their own group of hunters joined with a small army of at least three dozen armored gladiators, all with a multitude of weapons sheathed upon their backs, riding on out towards Luxerion.

Night fell with the sounds of the distant ocean, and Fang waited long into the darkness, sitting near a window that faced the vibrant gardens. The bunkroom was much more lively with the new additions from both Poltae and the other villages of the Wildlands, along with those from Yusnaan; Holly had spoken of a missive being sent to the desert towns beyond the mountains, but it was unlikely that their allies of the Dead Dunes could arrive in time to lend their aid. And of the assembled reinforcements, the gladiators were definitely the most boisterous of the bunch, but they were still rather easy to get along with. Fang had spoken to many of them about current events on the way back towards Luxerion, as well as what had been going on within Yusnaan itself, and she wasn't quite sure whether to feel relived or not at the news that nothing much there had changed.

With a scattered mind, Fang peered up at the stars above the buildings of the compound, gazing at the shadows of the night, before she closed her eyes at a gentle touch between her shoulder blades.

"We should get some rest." Lightning moved to stand beside the window as well. "They've been talking about practice, tomorrow... We'll need all of our strength."

Fang hummed quietly in agreement.

"I don't usually feel nervous about things like this." Lightning's words were just as steady as they ever were, but she spoke very quietly, just enough for Fang to hear. "But... Suppressing fear isn't really the same as it not being there in the first place."

"Everyone has their fears." Fang slowly opened her eyes to peer at Lightning's face, at the soft curves of her chin and cheekbones, and then at her eyes, still just as fierce as always. "We're in this together, Light."

Lightning looked out at the shadows in the garden, and at the faint sliver of moonlight, growing ever more distant with each passing day. "What are you afraid of?"

Fang didn't need to think about it, but she paused for a moment, regardless. "Losing the ones I love... Failure."

Lightning slowly leaned her arms against the windowsill. "Are you ever afraid of yourself?" She watched how her own reflection looked upon the translucent glass, the pale color of her skin and the slightly darker shade of her hair, even the cool blue tone of her irises. "Of what you might be capable of?"

Fang blinked once, before she slowly closed her eyes. "All the time."

In the darkness of another dream, those hoofbeats echoed into her mind yet again, and the sounds of wind brushed up against her ears, before she took a moment to look back over her shoulder.

There it was, a village with the people who spoke of a falling star, of a meteor from far beyond the world they knew, a streak of brilliant fire in the night. When Lightning learned of such things, it was incredibly difficult to convince her into waiting around to trade their horse for a more reliable steed, but Fang managed to do so a brief amount of time, even if it cost her a bit of her own money.

And there they were, riding off in search of the blinking signal, the beacon that Lightning said would lead them to one of her friends. The horse they rode on was a bit smaller than the buckskin who'd been slain, but it was of a sturdier breed, one who could navigate harsher terrain if such things were needed.

Fang peered at the way Lightning rode in front of her, still sitting sidesaddle. The pallor of her limbs was much less noticeable from how it had looked over the past weeks, no longer so feeble from her time within the fire.

"We should reach it soon, shouldn't we?" Fang tugged at the reins to guide the horse closer towards the signal. "Does that thing say how far it is?"

Lightning looked down at the metal device in her hands. "Won't be long."

"That's good." Fang almost smiled when Lightning tried to relax, to not fidget in anticipation. "You think it's Serah, out there?"

Lightning shrugged. "Could be anyone. It doesn't track names or numbers." She tapped at the edge of the device. "We were... Tied like rope, all of the crystals." Lightning pointed at the weapon on her belt. "Invisible things, hard to translate."

Fang nodded. "Okay." She kept quiet for a long while, listening to the sound of the wind in the hills, to the way the horse's hooves climbed so high across the earthen terrain, before her heart suddenly fluttered when Lightning leaned even further against her. "You alright?"

Lightning nodded. "Just tired."

"...I know." Fang tried to make her voice sound as gentle as she could. "It's been a long trip."

"I keep thinking about home." Lightning stared at the tall grass in the rolling fields, at the color of the sky, and she slowly closed her eyes. "It's not there anymore, but I can't stop thinking."

Fang moved one of her arms in a makeshift hug, praying that Lightning wouldn't mind it, and that the gesture might bring her some form of comfort.

"We had to move when we were young." Lightning opened her eyes again, before she carefully brushed her fingertips against Fang's arm, against where it was resting beside her waist. "When we were alone..." She looked back at Fang, who was sitting just a bit taller on her part of the saddle. "We could move again."

"Well... You know what they say about home." Fang hugged Lightning for a moment longer, before she moved back to hold the reins. "It's not always a place, it's the people in it."

They both kept quiet for a while, riding across the endless plains, before a certain plume of vapor off in the distance, a streak of billowing smoke, it suddenly caught Fang's attention.

"Light..." Fang glanced down at the tracking device, still blinking as steadily as before. "You think that's it?"

But Lightning was already moving away from the saddle, even when Fang spoke out in protest; she merely stepped down towards the earth and started off into the plains, before she tossed the device up into the air, and then swiftly caught it again in her talons.

Fang urged the horse to run after her, following on after the rising falcon, beneath the wings that flapped just strongly enough to keep her aloft for a while, at least for the time being.

"Lightning!" Fang rode up in a gallop, trailing on beneath the shadow that Lightning cast, the sharp outline of a predatory bird. "You sure you can handle this?"

Those speckled wings still weren't quite as powerful as they once looked, but Lightning merely called back to Fang, still flying within the warm winds of the grassland.

"No convincing you otherwise, eh?" Fang gently pressed her heels against the horse's sides, spurring it into an even quicker pace, until a certain shape became visible on the horizon. "Not when there's something like that out there..."

Lightning soon called out again, carrying the device between her talons, before she tucked in her wings to dive down, where the wind rushed so very quickly against her feathers, so swift within the air, and it was only a matter of moments before she landed once again.

Fang reined in the horse, peering up at the humanoid figure who appeared where a falcon once stood, far up atop a massive chunk of crystal. She watched the way that Lightning summoned a brief spark of electricity, the only signal that the craft truly needed, before a hiss of compressed air began to leak out from a previously invisible hatch in the escape pod.

"Look." Lightning jumped down from the edge to point at what looked like merely a natural design within the crystal, but upon closer examination, it became clear that it was some sort of runic language, almost like the sharp lines of talon marks. "Hope."

Fang started to dismount from the saddle, and she led the horse over with her, gazing down at the marks in the crystal. "Yeah, it looks almost exactly like the one I found you in."

Lightning shook her head. "Hope... The numbers, that's who they mean."

Fang paused, before she glanced up at the slowly moving crystal, seemingly activated by the energy that Lightning had summoned. "What do you mean?"

Lightning had a rather odd look on her face for a moment, before she pointed back at Fang. "You have teeth, but you're not a fang... And I can make lightning, but that's not what I am."

Fang tried her very best not to look confused.

Lightning pointed at the marks again. "Hope, his name."

"Oh." Fang almost wanted to laugh at herself, but she merely watched the way that Lightning moved back up to make sure the crystal was opening properly, listening to the sharp hiss of air and the sudden glow from deep within it, before she caught sight of the sleeping form inside. Lightning gently knelt down, lifting what looked like a child into her arms, but when Fang took a closer look at him, he seemed to be somewhere more in his teens, perhaps a bit younger than Vanille.

Lightning suddenly spoke in her own language, carrying the young man down from the crystal surface, before she helped him sit up within the haze of reawakening. And he soon spoke the same language as well, a bit slurred and slightly hoarse, before his eyes suddenly widened at the sight of the world around him.

"Well then..." Fang glanced at one of the saddlebags near the upper flank of the horse. "Don't want him getting that stuff started in his lungs, do you?"

Lightning spoke again, and it sounded as if she was trying her best to sound soothing, before she stood up to retrieve the small medical box from the saddlebags. And within the realm of a dream, even if her past life didn't understand it, Fang slowly began to hear their words for what they truly were.

"No, I have no idea where it is." Lightning carried the box over to where Hope was sitting. "I think the guidance system just detected that this place had oxygen and decided to dump us here... I'll need to check if your tether was still operational at that point; I could have been sitting out there for days, maybe weeks, the awakening protocol didn't activate on its own... It's probably only a matter of time before the others start showing up."

Hope's ears, which were just as feathered and pointy as Lightning's, they slowly drooped against his pale silver hair. "Light... How long were we in stasis?"

Lightning almost seemed to pause in place, holding a small patch of gauze between her fingertips. "My craft was damaged, I couldn't check the deployment gauge."

Hope nearly winced at the sight of a syringe. "What's that for..?"

"So you won't end up like I did." Lightning copied the way that she had seen Fang take out the medicine, only she drew out a dose of the same antibiotic medication that she had first taken in the clinic, instead of any vaccine. "There are things in the air here, germs our bodies can't fight back against... I had to burn it out of me."

If Hope's eyes hadn't been quite misty before, they slowly began to well up with unshed tears, but he held them back, even when Lightning swiped the gauze that held the antibacterial liquid against his upper arm.

"It's okay." Lightning's voice went rather soft again. "Just a pinch... Be brave for me, okay?"

Hope nodded, yet he didn't make a sound when Lightning injected the first dose of medication, likely halting an infection before it could even begin.

"This is Fang." Lightning nodded at her while cleaning off the syringe. "She's... Not to be judgmental, but the place looked pretty primitive."

Hope glanced up at Fang, though he was still a bit wobbly and disoriented from being woken out of stasis, and he didn't speak again for a very long while. "She's friendly?"

"Yeah, don't mind the teeth." Lightning looked over at the items in question, the hunting trophies that dangled from the neckline of Fang's shirt, and even the jewelry at her throat. "They have some of the same words that we do, as weird as it sounds."

Hope glanced at the tiny bandage that Lightning had started to place on his upper arm. "That is weird..."

"I've stopped worrying about it." Lightning looked down at Hope from where she was kneeling beside him, before she gently ruffled his hair. "We have to find the others."

"Let me just check the tether-" Hope tried to stand up, but the dizziness still made him stumble a bit, at least until Lightning caught one of his elbows, holding him upright. "Thanks, Light."

"No problem, kid... I'll check it for you." Lightning helped him over towards where Fang was sitting in the grass, before she switched over to the other language, the one that she was still learning. "Fang, this is Hope."

Fang waved at him with her fingertips, and she almost chuckled at the sheer look of apprehension on Hope's face. "Hey, kiddo."

His face went rather blank at the foreign words, but he settled there quickly enough, waiting for Lightning to inspect the inner mechanisms of the crystal spacecraft.

"Is he your brother or something?" Fang peered at the way that Lightning was clambering up towards the hatch of the craft itself. "You look a little young for kids."

Lightning paused to narrow her eyes at Fang, for even with her basic knowledge of the language, she knew what those words meant. "He's not my kid... I don't have kids."

"Just checking." Fang looked back to watch the way that Hope was staring in awe of the saddled horse. "A brother, then?"

"No." Lightning started to rummage through the inner chamber of the device, sending streaks of electricity into the various translucent mechanisms, testing for something inside. "Not exactly... Not by blood."

"Ah." Fang reached into her satchel for something that she had been saving for herself, but it seemed like the perfect time to share it. "Like me and Vanille?"

Hope looked at the object that Fang offered him, a bit of soft material that was wrapped up in wax paper, and he slowly accepted it from her hand.

"Yeah." Lightning soon moved back from the hatch of the massive crystal. "Like you and Vanille."

Hope spoke again, the same language as before. "What did she give me?"

"It's something sweet, like candy." Lightning soon sat down beside the two of them, resting there in the grass. "To be honest, I usually only understand about half of what she says... She's been very helpful, though."

"Okay." Hope sounded more than a little winded, but he started to open the wrapper and take a taste, just to be polite. "It all just feels so distant..."

"I know." Lightning spoke very softly again. "But you're not alone, okay?"

Hope tried to keep his eyes from going misty again, and he silently nodded at her.

"Just wait until you fly here." Lightning reached over to briefly hug Hope's shoulders. "It's like nothing back home... This place is incredible."

And Fang remembered the slow retreat from the fallen crystal, how Hope walked along at Lightning's side, not quite acclimated enough to try riding horseback, but it took only a few hours for him to try flying, as Lightning had suggested. And as Fang watched them both climb into the afternoon sky, she felt a familiar weight settling upon her shoulder, the presence of her own feathered companion.

Hope's birdlike form was far smaller than Lightning's, and his features were more reminiscent of a sparrowhawk than any type of falcon. While his own flight was still unsteady, it was just stable enough to keep up with Lightning, following her off into the air.

As Fang watched them dance through the sky, waiting with Bahamut on her shoulder, she gradually started to smile. Lightning still flapped a bit slower than she had once done those many days ago, likely not strong enough to beat her wings quite as rapidly, and she soon returned to the earth again, though not without a bright air of satisfaction about her.

"Had a good time?" Fang rode on up from the back of the horse, and she smiled again when Lightning changed forms, reappearing as a human again. "We should find somewhere to rest until that little tracker of yours starts blinking again."

Lightning nodded, and she glanced back up at Hope, who quickly copied her descent. "We're going to find them, aren't we?"

Fang gently tugged on the reins, before she felt Bahamut flap away from her with a flurry of sound. "I think so."

A strange sort of look crossed Lightning's gaze, and she turned to gesture towards Hope, signaling for him to stay in flight. "Then let's go."

Fang reached down to help Lightning climb up towards the saddle, before she gently urged the horse forward again, riding off beneath the shadows of a flying pair.

Lightning leaned her cheek against Fang's shoulder again. "Thank you."

"It's no problem." Fang looked up at Bahamut, who had almost as large a wingspan as Hope's, but not by much. "It's my job back at home to keep people safe... I guess you'd fall into that category, crashing on our land, and all."

Lightning watched as the shadows drifted all around them, and even though she knew that Hope had the sense to follow them, she couldn't help but signal at him again.

"And we'll both keep kiddo safe, okay?" Fang guided the horse back down across the rocky plains, through the wild fields of grass and faintly scattered flowers. "We've got more than enough here to keep him from getting sick."

Lightning nodded. "He's tougher than he looks... And I don't usually like kids." She closed her eyes for a while. "But he's almost like a little brother."

"You're getting good at this, Light." Fang peered out over the horizon, at the first few hints of a distant road. "You know how much those books have helped?"

Lightning opened her eyes again, trying to keep herself from looking too tired due to flying around. "You're a good teacher."

"Hey, don't make me blush..." Fang smirked to herself. "But it might get tougher from here on out; not everyone here speaks this language."

Lightning fought back a sigh. "I think I'll stick with this one."

Fang smiled again, grinning against the gentle wind. "You do that, Light... I'll translate for you."

They rode on throughout the daylight hours, across the plains, but it was after a short time that Hope tried to land upon the saddle of the horse, and he soon managed to perch himself there atop the cantle, the part that rose up behind the main seat.

Lightning looked back at him, speaking in a soft tone again. "Are you feeling okay?"

Hope nodded, still in the form of a rather large hawk, before he slowly closed his eyes to rest.

She could feel it blooming around her like the steady tap of raindrops, silent and yet so loud at all the same time. It was a storm without such rain or thunder, whirling and moving around without pause, like a whirlwind of formless waves.

There were others, so many that she had never seen before, so many minds, all called there by something that waited in the darkness, within a realm unseen. She walked beside those who moved near to her, a lone solider in the line, yet they still moved more like the droplets of falling water than any true procession.

Maybe it was all just in her head, a mind bearing the weight of so many things, too many for her to properly take in. Perhaps it had grown to be so much that she had to deflect them, to let them wash off of her skin like the rain, like the flecks of seawater that shone brightly beneath the moonlight. She could see those eyes in the dark, glittering there beside her own, fellow hunters, her faithful kin. For what felt like the first time that night, she slowly felt herself start to grow at ease, trusting in the bonds of her brethren.

It felt like a second heartbeat inside of her own, such a thrumming, stable rhythm. The waves of the ocean kept lapping there at the shore, at the sandy expanse of the dream, and she opened her eyes just in time to see the algae begin to glimmer.

A white circle appeared there within the darkness, directly above, and Lightning felt herself look up with so many others at her side, gazing back at it without fear.

The morning dawned without more than a slight twinge of excitement, but when the breakfast hours drew to a close, the training yard became louder than it had likely ever been before.

There were those of the forest settlements, firing arrows with pinpoint precision at the targets of the archery range, while over in the sparring pits, gladiators of all kinds began to test their mettle against their siblings of Luxerion and the wilderness alike, bringing just a bit of levity to the fog of anticipation within the compound.

Lightning found herself focusing a certain match, a duel between the woman who seemed to be a leader of sorts among the gladiators, Zoe, and a tall figure in full armor, wielding a rather massive, yet padded hammer, meant for non-lethal practice. And as it progressed with graceful leaps and the crash of blunted weapons, she knew it was truly a dance of sorts, a balance between each savage strike and parry, of each clashing sound of the training weapons, nearly as loud as steel itself.

But then, a certain voice piped up from somewhere behind her. "Are you gonna get in the ring, too?"

Lightning looked back over her shoulder, and she quickly recognized the young girl from a few days before, Sibyl. "Yeah, just as soon as there's an open spot."

Sibyl soon knelt down next to the sparring arena. "I wish they'd let me try it." She watched the mighty swings of the padded hammer, and her eyes widened when the swift blow of a blunted glaive sent the strike off course, but only by mere inches. "I only get to train with wooden weapons, and that's whenever someone can put up with a kid like me."

"Just be patient." Lightning glanced over at where Fang was examining some of the training equipment. "Combat is nothing to rush right into... You have to start with the basics."

Sibyl tried to keep herself from fidgeting. "I already know the basics; they just say I'm too young to do any more."

Lightning took a very deep breath, for she knew that the effects of impatient children always grew much too tiresome upon her nerves, but a certain idea crossed her mind, something that likely wouldn't get either of them in trouble. "Then you can show me the basics."

Sibyl's eyes widened slightly. "Really..? You're just teasing me."

"I don't tease." Lightning turned away from the sparring ring. "Get two of those swords, the wrapped wooden ones."

Sibyl scurried off without delay, and she soon followed after Lightning towards one of the empty parts of the training yard, where she offered her one of the blunt wooden swords.

"Better balanced than I'd expect..." Lightning tested the way the weapon weighed against her wrist, and she slowly eased herself down into the basic motions of combat, the stance of her legs and waist, the way she moved her arms to anticipate whatever the next approaching action would be. "Alright, take your best shot."

Sibyl went a little bit pale. "Serious?"

Lightning nodded without saying a word.

"Um..." Sibyl tried not let out a nervous laugh. "You sure?"

"Don't hesitate." Lightning's eyes went a bit sharper than before. "You hesitate in a real fight, and you die... Simple as that."

"Okay." Sibyl adjusted her grip on the wooden sword, before she also lowered herself into a combat stance, readying herself to find an opening in Lightning's own form of standing. "They said you're a master."

Lightning suddenly leaned to the side from a forward swipe by her opponent, gazing out with a bright glint in her eyes. "Only because I was taught by a master." And she struck true to her namesake, crashing back against the wooden sword with her own training blade, a steady blow that brought the handle right out from Sibyl's grip. "Pick it up."

Sibyl tried not to let herself look too embarrassed, and she knelt down to retrieve her sword from the ground. "That's never happened before..."

"Because they've gone easy on you." Lightning circled back around, keeping her weapon at the ready. "To tell you the truth, I don't agree with every method they use here... If you want to learn how to defend yourself, a real threat isn't going to hold back." She paused, waiting there with her sword held towards the front. "Do it again."

Sibyl took a very deep breath, steadying herself, before she lunged back out with her practice sword, briefly striking at the exposed part of Lightning's stance, but it was swiftly parried yet again, though not enough to fully knock it out of her hands.

"Good." Lightning stepped on towards the side, blocking yet another strike. "Adapt to failure and it won't happen again... Learn from it." She brought her sword down to knock against the padded blade, before she swiped out with one of her legs, tripping her opponent to the ground. "They won't fight cleanly in real combat."

Sibyl quickly righted herself, and though she almost started to protest at such an unfair attack, she kept silent, for it was exactly the sort of training she'd been hoping for in the first place.

"The world isn't fair." Lightning watched that faint spark of life in the eyes of her opponent, something she herself had once mirrored at such an age. "Better to learn that early."

And Sibyl leapt forward again, lashing at Lightning's shoulder, but another block met her blade just as quickly as any other strike, pushing her away, before she lashed again, and then dodged a sharp kick of Lightning's leg.

"There it is..." Lightning's eyes went steely, yet somehow warm. "Don't stop to complain about things, just learn to avoid them in the first place." She swung her sword back around to block yet another blow, before she swept forward without warning, grazing the edge of Sibyl's arm with the padded blade. "But don't get so wrapped up in it that you forget to protect yourself..."

Sibyl nodded, and she readied her sword again.

"I'm going to do that again, and I want you to block it." Lightning gave Sibyl a stern, yet expectant look. "Put your weight into the parry, but not so much that your opponent can use it to their advantage."

And just like that, she lunged out again, demonstrating the sheer speed that a sword could cover in just a short amount of time, and Lightning nearly smiled when Sibyl blocked both that attack and the ensuing one, even though the parries weren't quite up to the highest standard.

Yet when they moved into the next form, and then the next, a familiar voice suddenly called out from nearby. "If you're teaching her how to block, Light..." Fang soon strolled up with a long practice spear resting against one of her shoulders, almost casual in stance. "Swords are for close quarters, right?"

Lightning held up her hand to pause their spar, before she turned to face Fang directly. "They're for close quarters and swift maneuvers... You can't usually roll to the side with a spear."

"But they're much better for blocking." Fang flashed a clever grin. "How about it, Light? We could show her what a real defensive stance looks like."

Lightning tried her best to look unimpressed, and she merely nodded, waving Fang into the training yard.

"Just following up on your little challenge, sweetheart." Fang spoke just quietly enough that Sibyl wouldn't hear it from the sidelines. "And I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a better time for practice."

Lightning glanced at the blunt spear that Fang was carrying. "Alright... Settle down."

Fang's smiled only widened, and they could both feel the carefully hidden flame, merely resting there behind such ironclad control. "But we haven't even started..."

Lightning held her sword off to the side, slowly circling out towards the opposite edge of the rectangular yard. She tried to ignore the fact that a few of her fellow hunters had walked over to watch the pair of them, two strangers among those who fought with such passion, eager to see if their combat styles were any different from the local fare.

"You ready, Light?" Fang stood tall and proud, wielding the long spear with a grip that looked strong enough to break the ground apart. "Round two, eh?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes beside just the smallest smirk she could muster. "Round two."

The silence fell upon their ears, before the keening cry of blades struck out into the very air of the compound, two forces locked in sudden battle, the strain of muscle against muscle. Fang breathed out an almost silent, whispering laugh, before she swung right around to strike yet again. Lightning moved just as fluidly, so spontaneous, enough to whip back and clash against the other end of the spear, a weapon that could likely force her to fight at long range, to Fang's advantage, but she was wise enough not to let her have it.

"Oh, I knew there was a reason you got to me..." Fang swung with every ounce of her human strength, bashing against the padded sword in Lightning's hands, forcing her back a single pace, before she was hit by a sudden counterattack to the middle of her spear. "Look at you, just as strong as me."

Lightning swung her blade to try and catch Fang unaware, a swift feint to the side, but the range of that spear was just too great, quickly blocking her away.

"And I mean it." Fang's voice hissed with the impact of the next blow, a strike to the center of her spear, where she braced back against the steady edge of Lightning's padded sword. "It'd be a lie to call us equals... But you're still a perfect match to me."

Lightning narrowed her eyes, still glinting with such subtle fire, before she kicked back against both of Fang's knees, trying to topple her, but the force merely sent her away from the reach of that spear, before she rolled off to the side to avoid another merciless blow.

"Fancy." Fang whistled through her teeth, feeling the roaring rush in her ears, the blood in her veins, the hot sweat that began to drip down across her forehead. "Keep that up and you might not get hit at all..." She lifted the long spear to fend off yet another attack, before Fang leaned in to whisper close to Lightning's ear. "But you also won't land a hit on me."

"You sure about that?" Lightning whirled away again, another step in the dance, another beat of her rapidly racing heart. "Maybe you're underestimating me."

The small crowd that had gathered began to murmur in approval at the way Lightning paced to the side, circling Fang like a true predator, so watchful and keen.

"It's just the facts, Light." Fang turned in place, all while she held her spear at the ready. "Fancy won't win you any points in a real fight... I think you're just putting on a show, here." Her eyes glinted with untold strength. "Show me what you can really do."

Lightning slowly tipped her head to the side. "You want a real duel?"

"We're perfectly capable." Fang nodded at the sheathed sword on Lightning's belt. "Let's give your Overture a chance to really shine..."

Lightning felt her heart twinge at the way Fang spoke of such things, and she leaned away to signal a brief truce, before she walked over to place the practice sword outside of the training yard boundaries. Fang did the same with her spear, before she held her hands together with just the slightest spark of heat, and then drew her fiery lance out of seemingly nothing.

"You ready?" Lightning's blade began to gleam beneath the sunlight, clean of all the blood it had ever drawn, and she had little intention for it to taste any more than it needed to. "No going easy on me."

"Wouldn't dream of it..." Fang watched the way that the hunters around her peered at the bright magic of her spear; some spoke out loud of it, some merely watched in hushed silence, but she could see the many eyes that followed the crackling line of magic, perhaps in awe of a mage who preferred solid weaponry over fleeting bursts of energy. "You first, Light."

Lightning broke into a run, and she leapt up with her blade out to the side, fending off the inevitable strike of fire, of the inferno that rippled down against her steel, not enough to damage it, but it still struck with the force of any solid material.

"That's it..." Fang swung back around to block the very next strike, before she lashed out on her own, thrusting off into the space where Lightning had been mere milliseconds ago. "I've never seen anyone quicker."

Lightning darted back around, feeling the sheer heat of that brilliant weapon, but she still leapt out towards the space it wasn't occupying, at least until Fang reacted. They struck each other again, and the sparks of such fire flew right out from Fang's lance, screeching and hissing and resisting the pressure of such deadly steel, a duel of both metal and flame, of the fluid muscles behind the strike, strong as the swift crash of a roaring waterfall.

And they both moved, swinging out into the next step, the next cry of whistling blades, a dance of their thrumming hearts and the look upon both of their faces. It joined in each breath that they took, the blood rushing within their limbs, and in that moment, that perfect moment when Lightning's sword brushed so soundlessly against the haft of the blazing spear, aimed at the very center of Fang's chest, it was all they could both do just to make everything go perfectly still once again.

Overture hovered there, a mere hairsbreadth away from drawing blood, the scarlet life force of Fang's very being, yet it was both the love Lightning held and the honored rules of any duel that stayed the blade itself.

"Look at you, Light..." Fang's eyes grew as warm as the flame of her spear, and her smile spoke of a gentleness far greater than her own sheer strength. "Just as strong as I knew you were."

Lightning felt a thin droplet of sweat trickling down her cheek, and she could tell that the very same thing was happening upon her arms, beneath the silver garb, the protection that Fang herself had insisted upon. And she slowly withdrew her blade, sheathing it back against her belt, before she tugged her hood down to reveal her whole face again.

Fang did the same with her spear, tossing it aside into nothingness, not even a spark. "How about that, eh?"

Lightning gently bit at her bottom lip, and she leaned away again. "A good demonstration."

Fang smirked at the way Lightning walked towards the edge of the yard, likely to retrieve the practice weapon again, as well as to speak with Sibyl. The girl looked more excited than Fang had ever seen her, almost like a far younger child who had just seen one of her favorite stories unfold, or perhaps something rare enough to fill her eyes with such excitement. Yet when Fang herself began to approach them, when she was just about to speak, a different voice called out from the sidelines.

"A beautiful duel... We'll need such strength tomorrow." It was a kindly tone, one that Lightning immediately recognized, even if it was slightly muffled beneath the thick metal surface of a helmet. "The two of you will be joining us, won't you?"

Lightning's gaze softened when she caught sight of the warrior who carried that mighty hammer, the one who opened her helmet to reveal the gentle face of Heloise.

"It's good to see you can both protect yourself with a blade." Heloise approached the low fence of the training yard, before she gestured for them both to walk a bit closer. "But there's always the chance in open battle of a strike you can't anticipate... And for that, we use armor."

Later in the day, within the low candlelight of the evening, Lightning found herself trying on a set of thick chainmail that stood beneath a slender metal breastplate, making sure that it could rest comfortably under her normal garb.

"You'll want something for your waist, too." Heloise carried over a set of lightweight metal faulds, along with a different hauberk, as well as a padded arming doublet, or gambeson, that would rest beneath. "Call me overprotective, but these days..."

Fang spoke up from the opposite side of the armory. "It's not overprotective."

"Ah, but not everyone sees it that way." Heloise sat down beside Lightning with the other pieces of armor. "Pride is integral to most hunters... They often see plated armor as unnatural, in a sense, a disrespectful aspect of the hunt." She slowly shook her head. "But this is no hunt, this is war."

Lightning accepted the different bits of metal garb. "You think more bloodshed is inevitable, then?"

Heloise glanced over at where she had since taken off her own set of full platemail, which was resting on a stand near the doors of the armory. "I believe that what happened to Tipur was only a taste of what's to come." She closed her eyes to keep herself from seeming out of ease. "And Noel knows what a lure looks like... He know whenever we're being baited into a full fight, but I also know that he thinks the battle he's leading us into is unavoidable." Heloise sighed again, before she slowly rose back up to her feet. "And I can't say that I disagree... What this artifact can do-" She paused and shook her head. "We have a duty to retrieve it, or at least do whatever we can to make sure that it never harms any others."

Lightning pulled her sleeker garb on over the armor, somewhat satisfied with how it didn't fully reveal what was beneath it. "I'm glad you'll be there with us."

Heloise gave her a worn, almost weary smile. "I only wish we didn't have to."

Fang felt it running in her veins, moving all throughout her mind, all while she waited there within the darkness, resting beside the rest of the night patrol. The plaza grounds beneath them were utterly aglow with lanterns and mighty festival preparations, the goods that would soon be used to celebrate the solstice in style and lofty grace. By morning, the luxurious streets would be filled with the performers and dancers alike, firebreathers and those who carried instruments of their own design, those who still practiced their music long into the midnight hours, preparing for the day to come.

Lightning peered down as well, hidden there in the shadows. She looked back over to her brothers, to her sisters, to those who were there on patrol just to take a rough count of the guardsmen on the ground.

One of the hunters spoke in a faint, almost voiceless whisper. "You think we can trust what the turncoat said?"

"He hasn't really turned." Another of them hissed silently into the night. "But I can't say it won't be interesting to see what he has in mind..."

Lightning leaned in slightly to gaze down at the ground below, for she herself was so high upon the roof of the spire. "What else would he have to gain by reaching out to us?"

The first hunter who had spoken, he began to speak again. "Nothing, really... But you were there, weren't you? The old man just likes screwing with us; he could be sending out the captain to line us up all nice for the taking."

"Then we won't go down quietly." Lightning narrowed her eyes at the brilliantly lit streets. "No matter what happens, we'll do whatever we possibly can." She soon slipped away from the edge of the roof, silently walking back towards the height of the spire, before she dropped down to a lower platform.

A single set of footsteps followed after her, and Lightning glanced back to see Fang, who was wearing the dark blue shawl against her hair again.

"You know that I feel it too." Fang lowered her voice, whispering just beneath the faint roar of the ocean winds. "It's here, Light... Just have to wait for the sunrise."

Lightning closed her eyes to stifle that instinctual swell of fear, the natural reaction to such a looming threat. She slowly held out her hand, not in the least bit surprised when Fang took a firm hold of it.

"We'll have our answers soon enough." Fang leaned in to gently kiss Lightning's cheek, brief and chaste. "Let's just try to rest until then."

Within the deep, dark night, Lightning dreamt of the verdant woodlands, of her home back in Sunleth, yet when she looked out from the speckled panes of her window, she realized that it was awash in a deep storm of flickering dust. And out there, in the midst of it, there was the carpenter's family; she could see them struggling to find shelter, anything to keep the storm away. She couldn't even stop herself from rushing out through the hall, over towards the door, reaching for the metal handle, and it was only the voice that called to her that made her suddenly pause.

"Light." A gentle hand touched her shoulder. "You don't have to."

Lightning's voice nearly broke in her throat. "Serah?"

"We're safe here." Serah's hand drifted away, moving to trace against the edge of the doorframe. "You know you put your life at risk every time you go out and hunt... Are we not enough for you?"

Lightning felt her heart freeze right there within her chest. "Serah..?"

"Who do you really care about, Light?" Serah's voice drifted in from somewhere that she just couldn't see. "You really love a bunch of people you've only met more than yourself? More than your own family?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "They are my family."

"Not by blood." Serah's voice grew more and more distant, choked by the swirling, roaring rust. "What good is your faith if you'll only die for a lost cause? You think that the gods care about us any more than what we can do for them?"

"That's... Not true." Lightning felt her grip tighten against the door handle. "Etro cares, I've felt it; she might not be omnipotent, but she cares."

"She cares for your death." The voice grew so distorted, crackling like brittle bones beneath the pressure of such mighty jaws. "How you spend your life isn't important to her... Only the fact that you are doomed to die."

Lightning slowly turned to face the darkness, that storm of rust and such sharply bladed metal, before she realized that Serah hadn't ever been there at all.

"But you've cheated that too, haven't you..?" It was as thick and as coarse as burning sand, yet just as soft as silk at the very same time. "You've slipped the clutches of death, all due to that cursed heart of yours."

Lightning felt herself grow transfixed within the rhythm of the dancing voice, the claws that grew closer and closer to the bounds of her own body, threatening the very same death that it spoke of, but for some reason, a reason that she couldn't even think of, her legs just wouldn't start to move.

"But there are worse fates than death, are there not?" The voice rumbled beneath the whirling rust. "There is suffering... There is unending pain, life tethered to the bonds of immortality, forgotten by those 'great' creators." Golden eyes burned into her like boiling fire. "There is so much to the capability, to the intricacies of flesh, and yet so very, very little..."

And Lightning felt those claws brushing against her arms, against the very boundaries of her soul, but when the coiling metal suddenly tensed up to strike, her own vision flashed with a sheer streak of steely blue, of golden horns tipped in pure molten silver, before she was roughly pushed aside, out of reach from those massive, deadly claws.

"Steady, hunter!" There was a new voice, Lightning realized, a voice that sounded so very desperate and emotionless all at once, fending off the talons that grasped out for both of them. "Go to them!"

Lightning staggered back up to her feet, reaching for a blade that wasn't there, before she backed herself up toward the doorway, and then she pushed her way out into the raging storm. Yet when she finally looked back, gazing out at the small figure who stood so steadfast against the creature of jagged blades and rust, the only sight she could catch was the mask of a barn owl, gazing back at her from within a barrier of burning energy.

And she moved, racing out to those who struggled to reach their own homes, and Lightning found herself dragging them all away from the thick smog of weightlessly drifting metal, from the rot and the decay that plagued the very air, back into the shelter of their own little house. She nearly joined them, for they called for her to find safety as well, yet she just couldn't help but turn her head towards another sound, before she moved off to try and find it, deep within the blinding haze.

"Where are you?!" Lightning squinted as much as she could, covering her eyes with her fingertips, but it all still stung like wildfire, and her heart began to race even faster than before. "Hello?!"

Another call, so much fainter than before, and Lightning fell to her knees within the shards of metal that chipped against her skin, made it bleed without pause, and she let her head fall back to gaze at the distant eye of the storm, mocking her from so very high above.

"Where are you..?" Lightning lowered her arms down, holding them against herself, until the blood began to seep from there as well. She squeezed her eyes shut, caught between her own stubborn will and the need to call out for help, for something far more resilient than herself, yet as the moments passed by in both pain and the deafening howls of the storm, she found only that a single name left her lips. "Odin..."

Within the darkest depths of the dream, Lightning sagged against the cold, bitter surface of the ground, and her eyes didn't even flicker when the distant beat of four limbs echoed out into the void. Yet before long, a pair of mighty arms suddenly lifted her to stand upright, prompting her to walk again.

Lightning's face still bled with a thousand scratches, but she forced herself to step forward, one foot after another, no matter how great the pain. When she finally looked back over her shoulder, she knew for certain that she was dreaming; the face there was far paler than her own, so very unearthly, a tall phantom within the murky dream. It was a face that somehow reminded her of her own father, yet it was far too different for such things to be true.

"I need to find them." Lightning felt her fingertips tighten against the strong hands beside her wrists, supporting her from below. "My friends... I heard them calling."

He didn't speak. After a moment, he merely moved his grip away, before the visage of a horse with countless eyes appeared, glowing like the pale petals of a rose, he knelt down to take Lightning upon his back, carrying her throughout the storm.

"Thank you." Lightning spoke in a soft slur, still bleeding, still alive, still strong enough to keep on speaking. "This is just a dream, isn't it? Odin's still back at home... Probably warm and safe in the stables."

The horse moved on within the swirl of rust and endless decay, yet his own metal limbs didn't even show the slightest hint of such afflictions.

"I miss him." Lightning let her eyes slip shut for a moment, before she forced them to drift back open again. "And I miss Serah... I miss them all." She grit her teeth and exhaled, shivering beneath the deep chill of the darkened dream. "What if I can't come home to them?"

Her steed quickened his pace, tossing his proud head up against the raging elements, carrying her on towards their destination, before he let his eyes shine even brighter, just to point out the way.

Lightning lowered her voice to a breathless whisper. "What if I die out there? In the real world?" Yet she was brought back towards the ground again, and then sheltered by a blade that ended in feathered edges, deceptively soft. "You want me to keep going?"

He peered at her from far above, so tall, a gentle giant, and he began to move his sword along once she started to walk ahead, keeping the whirling shards of rust from touching most of her skin. She could hear the subtle hiss and creaks of his long metal limbs, and while they were lithe enough to move like real bones and muscles, she could tell by the sound of his clockwork heartbeat that he was anything but organically alive.

"You're not actually Odin, are you?" Lightning tried to keep moving, to push on throughout the stormy dream. "Or are you..? It's hard to tell what's real and what isn't." She paused when she felt him touch the top of her head, gently ruffling her hair, before he lifted his hand back up to point at something off in the distance, far from the realm of her own little village.

And she saw it, slowly moving through the mist, the one she had found in the wilderness itself, had brought back from the very brink of despair, a sibling of bonds far different than blood, a kinship forged in both patience and mutual respect.

"Light?" He spoke in an odd tone she had never heard from him before, somehow so knowing of the world around him. "You've got to trust yourself, Light... Just wake up."

Lightning found herself speaking without even thinking of the words. "But how will you find your way home?"

"I'll just have to do it on my own." Hope smiled softly, before he turned to gaze up at Odin. "Come on, Light, you yourself taught me that... You've got your own battles to fight, now."

Lightning felt the blood on her skin start to trickle less and less, clotting up, but her wounds still stood where they were.

"You know you're just talking to yourself." Hope peered out at the aura of light that swirled all around them, cutting right through the haze of rot and rust. "Your mind is just trying to work out what's happening right now in the way of a dream... I'm just what you think of Hope."

Lightning felt her own thought process rebel against such things, even if she knew deep down that it was true.

"You always think of yourself as a wolf, even if you don't want to be one... Not really." Hope's pale hair kept drifting on beneath the mighty winds. "Be brave for us, okay? Remember who you're fighting for... You've got the heart of a lion, and you know it."

Lightning closed her eyes to block out a sudden swell of emotion, and she nodded silently, kneeling there against the ground.

Hope knelt down beside her. "You're remembering your other pasts, now... You remember what you once told me?"

Lightning slowly shook her head, even if was just another lie.

"Your subconscious always knows, your heart knows." Hope's voice drifted off into the distance, into the silence left in the wake of the storm. "It's right there... You just have to remember it."

Lightning felt herself start to sink, yet she didn't struggle, not even when she felt a gentle touch upon one of her hands. The cool, smooth metal felt so very familiar, even if she had never felt such a thing before. She opened her eyes, gazing up at Odin, though she didn't move, not even when he drew away from her, fading out into the dream.

"You aren't alone, Light."

Lightning closed her eyes again, gripping to that faith she held so tight within her heart, to the hopes that drove her onward.

"You're never alone."

They moved swiftly in the morning light, so many hunters in the guise of civilians, thinking and plotting over the plans that they'd been assigned, the routes to cover in the festival streets. Lightning walked closely at Fang's side, traveling throughout the din of so much sound and motion, of faces lit by the heavy sunlight and the fires that burned away into the late morning air, by the colorful banners and bright strips of ribbon that celebrated the solstice itself.

Fang glanced up at the sound of such jovial music, at the beat of drums and the rhythm of a metallic instrument, before she turned to face Lightning again.

"No better time for a party, right?" Lightning's tone was even dryer than usual. "But when do you think the main event is starting?"

Fang fought the urge to narrow her eyes in understanding, in recognition of the code they'd been issued, a way to keep them concealed within the crowds. "I'd think the afternoon... When the sun is highest."

"Then we have time to kill." Lightning watched the sudden flash of color from a person up on stilts, a costumed street performer with ribbons of every shade and hue. "Time to kill."

Fang walked on through the bustling crowds, and she locked eyes with another face in the masses, one who she recognized, but she didn't let her gaze linger for long. They were on the move, predators in wait, and she knew better than to engage with any of them before the time was right, before their plans could be set into motion, before the old man finally made his grand appearance. Fang tried not to grit her teeth in frustration, for as much as she knew that there was something eluding her, she just couldn't seem to fully catch it.

It was only when the day drew later into the noon, further and further with the steadily rising sun, only then did the two of them pause before the grandest of the decorated plazas, a stage with both skilled performers and monks in ceremonial robes, along with more priestly figures than they could ever possibly count.

"Well..." Fang felt her breath quicken at the sight of the brilliant sun, almost directly above them. "You think this is it?"

Lightning didn't even move when a drifting ribbon floated on within the flurry of paper confetti, a single strip of fabric with a distinct silver hue, but when it disappeared into the crowd, she slowly turned her head towards the stage. "You think they'll put on a show?"

Fang peered out into the masses, at people with eyes that once seemed so hollow, yet the very same emptiness had suddenly been filled with such fire, excitement for the approaching event, and it was enough to make her blood prickle beneath her skin. "Definitely."

And there he was, right on cue, not Galenth Dysley himself, but the head of the city watchmen, the high guard of the Order of Salvation, saluting the crowd from his place upon the stage.

"Here we go..." Fang felt as her breath grew even more shallow and faint, though she knew better than anyone that it was more than ready to roar and burn again. "Time to see if we've been duped."

Lightning slowly reached down to grip at the hilt of her sword.

"Luxerion!" Captain Aland led a group of at least a dozen armored guardsmen, and at the very end of the procession, there he was, Galenth Dysley, but the captain just kept calling out to the raucous masses. "People of Luxerion, your loyal servants call for your attention!"

It wasn't very easy for a crowd of that size to grow silent, but within the passing minutes, in the time that approached the true height of noon, the people grew more and more quiet, until those upon the stage could be heard above any other.

"Your high guard, and the Order of Salvation itself, salutes you." The captain stood there within his armor, with his shield held out to the side, symbolic of a trusting stance. "We gather upon this day to salute the sun itself, the god of life and fire... The same fire that burns inside the hearts of each and every one of you."

Within the crowd, Fang listened to the murmurs that followed, but she only had ears for what was being spoken upon the stage.

"And the very regent of the Order of Salvation, our newly named Primarch..." The captain stepped aside with a flash of his pale white cape, signaling for his charge to approach the center of the stage. "I beg that you welcome him with open arms."

Lightning felt a sudden swell of bitterness within her stomach, gazing up at those docile little eyes, the perfect visage of a gentle old man, the softened skin of a viper, mere moments from shedding away.

Galenth Dysley stood upon the very height of the stage, beneath the thin veil of translucent cloth, within the same ceremonial garb that the others all wore, pure white with a pale purple sash. "We devote ourselves in the service of the almighty..." His voice echoed out, still so strong at such a great age. "We give our very lives to the divine, to the one who has given us such gifts long before we ever realized them!"

It was only then that Lightning's eyes widened, when her lips moved with a sharp intake of air, noticing the long coil of cloth that was being passed between each of the gathered clerics, shimmering with the pungent oil of the ceremony.

"We give ourselves to the fire." Dysley knelt down at the tallest point of the stage, upon the high platform, and he took the last two ends of the cloth into his own wrinkled hands. "We offer ourselves-"

Yet as a single flame was lit, a lone candle within the hands of a young attendant, Captain Aland suddenly lunged from his post, knocking it away to be snuffed against the ground, before he unsheathed his sword along with his fellow guards, swiftly circling the single figure at the end of the cloth, all to the sudden sheer panic of the crowd.

"You would inflict your own death in service to the god of life?!" The captain's voice grew to a veritable roar. "What demon of a man would do such a thing?! What could possess each of you, the purity of our house of light..."

Yet in a single gleam of motion, the Primarch stood, raising his voice even louder than the one with a sword drawn before his chest. "What demon would turn his blade upon his own?! On those he has sworn to protect?!"

The crowd grew even more frantic, no longer keeping to such hushed tones, clamoring to escape the confines of the grand plaza, and both Fang and Lightning lurched into motion as well, running towards the silent signal that suddenly flickered there, off in the distance.

"You fool..." Dysley's rage suddenly morphed to a wide, twisted smile, and his arm leapt out, gripping at the very sharpest point of the sword, even when his flesh swiftly bled. "Do you not realize what you have strolled right into?"

Captain Aland's eyes went so very wide, and he let out a ragged cry when Dysley kept clawing at the blade, yet it wasn't for that reason that he screamed. No, it was the deep, crackling burn that suddenly boiled beneath his own flesh, starting right there upon his arm, where the sword was swiftly sinking down into the flesh of Dysley himself.

"You fool of a man." Dysley's mouth dripped with scarlet blood, and he turned his gaze towards the empty eyes of the gathered clerics, before a single, glimmering spark flickered down from the end of his tongue with only a whisper of sound. "Fool of a human."

There was the great clap of rushing air, the crack of flesh beneath an armored surface, the crystalline spines that suddenly jutted out in great waves of scarlet blood, within the roaring flame, among the screams and wailing pain of those within the crowd, before those who lingered there, once merely human... A single, red eye flickered to life beneath where a shining helmet still stood, though it was ripped apart by twisted rock and the shimmer of fresh blood, a beast of crystal and gradually writhing flesh.

And at the sight of it, a different voice whispered out from beneath the burning sun. "What the hell..?" Noel's eyes widened beneath his mask, within the whirling crowds of screeching panic, and he swiftly drew his sword. "Cie'th?!"

"How is this possible?" Holly's breath caught when she blocked the sudden savage blow of a freshly transformed creature, and she swiftly began to cast out a brief barrier spell around them, just to keep the Cie'th from advancing. "Without a brand..?! How could anyone not notice it beforehand?"

"I'm afraid we don't have time for this!" It was a voice from beneath the mask of a bay owl, from Beryl herself, who rode up upon one of the swiftest horses that the hunters possessed. "You want ours, Noel?" She tried not to curse at the Cie'th who began to crawl up towards the steed she was riding upon, and she reined her horse away from it. "This sure looks like an army to me..."

Noel was already swinging his sword down to halt the anguished cries of a crystal monstrosity, and he shouted back at Beryl through the fearful din. "Ride fast! Bring them here!"

So Beryl rode, galloping out on upon the back of her horse, leaping above the twisted piles of deformed Cie'th, which began to grow more and more numerous with each and every passing second.

"Lightning!" Noel called out to where he spotted that same silver sword hacking down into a bubbling hide of molten crystal. "Light, Fang, with us! Don't go off alone!"

Fang peered out above the frenzied din of fleeing civilians and the hordes of shambling Cie'th, before she swiftly yanked back at the haft of her fiery spear, dragging it out from one of the monstrous forms, one who still wore the remains of his polished armor. "Yeah, but if you want to keep breathing, these need to go!"

Noel gestured in between strikes of his sword, and he narrowly dodged a clumsy, yet massive strike of a nearby Cie'th, one that thundered against the ground beside him. "Safety in numbers!"

"Well, yeah..." Fang ran over with her spear in hand, glancing back to make sure that Lightning had followed. "But I think they've got the very same idea!"

And Noel's stance went so very rigid at the sight of the advancing guards, the full brunt of the Order's main battalion, yet when most of them caught wind of the crystalline monstrosities, one of which was still shambling and bellowing from the height of the stage, burning within an endless plume of fire, they either turned to retreat or forged on ahead, yet not before they slowly fell to their knees as well.

"How is this happening?!" Holly struck one of the Cie'th on the strange brand it bore, a single circle of red, not even showing the small white pupil of an eye. "They're just turning and turning... No brand, not really, just the mark inside!"

"Holly, we need to focus!" Noel kept swinging his blade out to crash against the gathering crystals, and he started to thrust his bladed shield out to deflect a blow away from his own group. "We've got to find the others... Figure out what the hell we're supposed to do; this blew the damn plan right out of the water!"

Through the din of voices and deafening screams, between strike after strike of her sword, Lightning herself kept utterly silent. Her eyes quickly honed in upon the fiery stage, at the rampant inferno that burned beneath the howls of the Cie'th. And from within the crackling flame, the embers that drifted down beneath the glow of the sun, she caught sight of those slowly rotating irises, along with a wrinkled, blooded hand, the one that lifted itself up so far above the fire, holding an impossible ring of light.

"We're on!" Beryl skidded to a halt at the end of the catacombs, praying that her horse had the sense to remain still within the entrance of the crypt. "Everyone, now!"

The mages swiftly gathered around the recently prepared incense, and with hands all aglow in the light of such magic, the prayers of hope that they brought on into the circle of flame, they slowly began to bow their heads.

And it began in a swift crackle of dust and embers, where the beast rose up again, roaring out from the sheer pain that he felt within the hearts of those in Luxerion itself. He clawed his way out from mere nothingness, off into the dark depths of the catacombs.

The phantoms rose up as well, following on behind the bellow of the mighty beast, so much more frenzied then before, the lion who crashed out towards the winding stairs of the catacombs, intent on ending the pain.

Beryl clambered to her own feet, racing out within the crowd, where she soon found her horse panicking at the sheer sight of so many ghosts. "Easy!" She reached up in one swift motion to hold the steed still, before she swung herself atop and kicked beneath the saddle, spurring the horse along with the army of rushing phantoms. "We're coming, Noel... Just hold on."

The wails of the Cie'th bore down on them from every possible angle, upon the gathering of hunters that stood within the city streets, those who lashed out and fought against onslaught of such monstrosities, against the crystal shards that cut so deeply, the red brands that burned so very brightly beneath the high heat of the sun.

"Together!" Noel shouted above the utter clamor, shielding his fellows as best as he could, but the Cie'th grew more and more resilient the longer their glimmering hides stayed untouched, enough to harden out into solid crystal. "Stay together!"

Lightning struck her blade down against the reddened eye of a cursed brand, standing back to back with Fang, who swiftly jutted her spear to crack open the spiked shell of a Cie'th with the sheer power of her fire, attempting to keep the monsters away from the rest of their motley group, despite the growing numbers.

"Damn it all..." Noel swung strike after strike, bringing down Cie'th after Cie'th, but it almost seemed as if the creatures were unending. "Been played right into it again, haven't we?!"

Yet one of the Yusnaan gladiators suddenly burst out from within a shambling pile of the creatures, and he called out with an almost drunken roar of his own, before he struck his twin blades back down against the crystal spikes of the nearby Cie'th.

"Light..." Fang tried to call above the clamor of shouting and bellowing beasts. "Stand back for a second, Light!"

Lightning shook her head, standing even closer, still fighting back to back.

"Lightning..!" Fang sighed, and she thrust her spear down against one of the rapidly twitching Cie'th. "You stubborn girl!"

"Would you have it any other way?" Lightning dodged a fierce swipe from the side, before she quickly swung her blade up into the bleeding torso of yet another monster. "Just keep fighting... Keep going, and don't ever stop!"

Fang felt the way that her arms felt heavier and heavier with each thrust of her spear, and she tried to keep her head up and above the haze of blood and clouded dust, gazing out at the Cie'th that were bordering upon hundreds, if not thousands in numbers. "Light!" Yet her voice was lost to the sudden sounds off in the distance, the thunderous din within the hordes of writhing, clacking Cie'th, before Fang's eyes went so very, very wide.

It was a brilliant lance that suddenly cut straight through the masses, a weapon tipped with bright golden filigree, a lone rider who carried a pale helmet atop his head, one which bore the checkered symbol, the pale lion of Luxerion, one of the mounted guardsmen of the Order itself.

Noel called out again above the din. "Just our luck..!"

They rode in like the crashing waves of the sea, upon massive armored horses who squealed and lifted their heads at the sight of the Cie'th, awash with the cries of the beasts that they began to trod upon. It was a rush of gold and shimmering white, bearing the very teeth of ivory that gleamed just as sharply as the steel of any blade, mammoth tusks that had been carved down to a point, enough to topple over the massive mountains of Cie'th.

And the hunters moved closer upon their own ranks, still fighting on as well, but they watched the mounted soldiers with a sense of deep wariness, for their own allies within the Order had all since morphed into the very Cie'th they fought, all that was left of the higher guard. Yet the pale helms merely turned to face the monsters in the streets, and their horses galloped on out to crush the crystalline threats beneath their heavy hooves, purging them beneath the light of the sun.

Darkness melded in with the pale golden glow, masks upon both sides, slowly joining together to eliminate the threat of such monstrosities, yet neither group regarded one another for more than a mere moment of time.

"Why haven't they turned, too?" Holly only spoke when the masses of Cie'th grew small enough for them to rest for a moment, if only a brief instant. "The other guards..."

"Questions for later!" Noel kept striding forward, and he thrust his blade yet again into the bleeding wounds of a Cie'th. "Right now we need to take advantage of the moment and go after the crown-" But as soon as the words left his lips, as soon as he lifted his sword up towards the glaring sun, he narrowed his eyes at the sudden flash of movement, at the screeching, instantaneous strike of a sharp blade against his own. And in that moment, he locked eyes with the mighty mask that peered down at him, fixed in the moment when the horse galloped on beside him, an enemy rider, just a glancing blow, before the mounted guardsman rushed back out into the fray.

Noel stood there, almost expecting the soldier to race back around and engage him in further combat, but the rider merely disappeared along a different street, off in search of more Cie'th to slay.

Fang walked up with her spear braced against the ground, panting slightly. "A warning, you think?"

Noel shrugged. "We don't have the time to think... It's time to act." He moved on between the piles of twitching Cie'th, gazing down at the sheer horror of the twisted flesh, the mutations of bone and brittle crystal, before he stepped up towards the fractured stairwells of the stage. "Holly... The fire."

Holly moved up as well, and a quick barrier spell began to smother out the crackling flame, but even that was not enough to extinguish all of it.

The captain still stood there with a gleaming sword in his blistered hand, swollen and cracked by the crystal, yet his armor had been scattered all around him, shards of scorched metal and the glassy remnants of his shield.

"I'm sorry." Noel peered out into the unseeing eye of the wounded Cie'th. "You... You were true to your word." He lifted his own blade within the embers, and in a sharp single stroke, the broken creature slumped down to the floor of the stage, a blooded heap of crystal. "May you return to Etro's arms... May the goddess watch over your soul."

Fang watched the flames flicker on from against hardened skin of the corpse, and she felt her own stomach twist with what felt like an unknown sadness.

"Noel, they're different from the others." Holly knelt down to examine the smaller Cie'th, those of the high guard, already deceased by the flame. "They look more... Human."

Noel turned his gaze towards where he had last seen Galenth Dysley himself, standing there at the very top of the stage. "I wish we had the time to figure it out." He slowly approached the source of the fire itself, long since barren of any life, not even the remains of the Primarch. "I saw him grab the sword..."

Lightning spoke from where she was standing on the stairs. "I saw him after that." She narrowed her eyes at where it had been shining from, that place within the fire, at the very front of the entire spectacle, seemingly immune to the flames. "He had it... A ring of light."

Noel's voice grew even more urgent than before. "And where did he go?" He approached the edge of the stairs. "Lightning, where did he take it?"

Lightning stared out into those gleaming eyes, into the sight of the wild mask, the owl who still laughed on despite the utter tragedy all around them. "I didn't see it, there were too many Cie'th to fend off... But if you're willing to trust a gut instinct-"

Noel stood up straighter, taller. "What sort of instinct?"

Lightning felt it even then, the subtle tug in her heart that felt much too sharp for comfort. "A dream about the fal'Cie."

The lion leapt into the sheer walls of writhing crystal, and his own sudden roar echoed out beyond the heights of the city, fueled by the desperate prayers of the survivors, those with enough of a spark left in their hearts to hide themselves away, not to succumb to the curse that plagued the very lifeblood of Luxerion. And the phantoms rushed on to meet the beasts as well, ignoring the civilians that ran for their lives; they only had eyes for the threat itself, not for those who merely fled.

Beryl peered out from beneath her mask, and she began to cast spell after spell into the streets, halting and pushing the Cie'th out of her way, before she urged her horse to ride on towards where she had last left Noel's side, yet it was only moments before she spotted him.

"Beryl!" Noel turned from where Lightning was leading their group into the city. "You came through for us, did you?"

Beryl nodded, but her next few words were rather breathless. "I'll try to keep the numbers down... What's the plan?"

Noel kept very silent for what felt far longer than it actually was. "To trust in the words of our seeress... To follow the newcomer wherever she leads."

Lightning's gaze moved to peer at Noel, right above where her mask still covered her mouth and nose.

"A better plan than nothing at all." Beryl tried to keep her horse calm, despite the wailing shrieks of the Cie'th. "I'll keep an eye on the spirit."

Noel nodded. "You do that, try to find the others, too; Heloise, Zoe, all the rest... Godspeed, Beryl." He turned back to his own group, a dozen or so local hunters, along with a few of their kin from the Wildlands, as well as those of Yusnaan. "Come on... We've got an artifact to get back."

She still remembered her first dream of Luxerion, of the tall, noble buildings and the shadows that seemed to cling against them, a thick shade of darkness between the lines of black and white. Lightning scarcely even knew what she had been looking at, those sprawling gardens and the deep blue sky, then the sudden flicker of something that made her tense up from the threat of danger, of a beast beneath the splendor of the city.

Was it fate, she wondered, that her path had led her on to meet those of her fellow faith, those who sought to slay the monsters in the world, to destroy those who threatened to unleash such utter havoc? Was it fate that she'd caught those eyes again, deep within a metal structure at the very heart of the Order's grand gardens?

Lightning could see the Hall of Devotion looming so far above, and she remembered that sudden crash of a blade against her own, the brief friendship forged from the heat of bloodshed, and then the life taken away in the pursuit of their own safety. She might have lingered there to think on such things, if only her friends weren't waiting for her to reveal what she had once dreamed about, to show them the way towards the crown.

There were eyes there, between the leaves, a mural of welded metal and so many faded gemstones. Lightning knelt down against the soft soil of the garden, before she lifted her hand to trace over the very sigil of the beast.

And after a long moment of silence, Noel spoke again. "What is this?"

"...I saw a fal'Cie when I was here in a dream." Lightning peered at the rusted hatch near the bottom of the statue. "This leads to something."

Noel tried not to sigh, but he knelt down beside Lightning, regardless. "You know how crazy this sounds?"

Lightning moved to touch one of the hidden handles near the lower base of metal structure. "Do you have a better idea?"

Noel was likely frowning from beneath his mask, but he only shrugged, reaching to pull at the handle on the opposite side.

It was grueling work, the combined effort of every hunter, every tracker, every fighter and bloodstained gladiator, but they soon hauled the entire tall monolith away, revealing a pitch black tunnel that ran right down beneath the waiting earth.

Lightning blinked at the sight of it, and she slowly leaned in to peer at the darkness. "This feels like an ambush... I don't want to lead you into something like that."

Noel looked back at his fellows, those of Etro's faith, still just as brave as they ever were, whether it was a mere man they were facing, or even the monstrous Cie'th. "Do we have any better ideas?"

Lightning shared a glance with Fang, a long, lingering look, a look that told of more than they could ever possibly speak within such a brief time. It was after mere moments that they followed on after their assembled companions, slowly descending into the deep, silent darkness, moving on without a trace of fear.