Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or FF13.

She heard the rumors first, circulating through the base like dreadful gossip of hushed talk. There was no need to whisper, yet everyone still did so as if it were forbidden admissions of dark omens. It wasn't an omen though, because it was here, and there was nowhere to turn away to. People were rushing to the nearest windows and doors to catch a glimpse of hell's arrival, and Tifa too, made her way in hopes that she could confirm reality. When she turned the corner, she nearly crashed into another soldier that seemed in just as a rush as she was, and so her apology that she had gasped went either unheard or ignored. It had been her intention to track down Cloud or Aerith, but at this rate, everyone seemed to be rushing to the same place. She didn't need to see the sky before her fears were confirmed and the alert calling all soldiers to arms blared loudly on the intercom for all the hear. Finding her way to the nearest emergency exit, Tifa stumbled out and looked up at the sky and quickly felt the wave of suffocating heat greet her. It was horribly dry. She froze, seeing the flames seemingly suspended in the air, dancing as it cascaded over the sky and continued to spread its reach further and further with every passing second. Everything originated from the center circle, which was strangely void of fire, and thus Meteor's close descent was clearly visible. Frantically digging her phone out of her pocket, she dialed Lightning's number and tried her best to keep her hand from trembling. "Light? Light!" Tifa called into the phone once it was connected, "Look at the sky-"

She was cut short promptly, "Find Aerith and Cloud."

"Light, where are you?" Tifa asked, choosing to ignore Lightning's demands and it appeared as if she wasn't giving orders out to Tifa only. "Light!"

"Front entrance."

Tifa immediately began her sprint to the front entrance, "I'm coming."

"No, go find Aerith and Cloud-"

"I'm coming to you and that's final." Tifa interrupted, and then cut the line before Lightning could protest. When she made it out front, the grounds were already storming with activity. She could see rows and rows of soldiers lined up, guns readied in their hands or at their side. The airships were all buzzing, yet none have taken off yet. They had no target in sight yet; no enemy that their guns could harm. Tracking Lightning down was surprisingly easy in the throngs of people rushing about; her silvery pink hair was a burst of color amongst the crowd of blues and whites of GC activity. Tifa slowed her sprint as she neared, listening to Lightning hark out commands left and right in attempts to organize the people around them, and also to keep them calm yet readily on their toes. "Light!" Tifa called out to her, and the demanded attention was immediately hers. She could already guess what was happening, but she still needed Lightning to confirm it for her just so that it might make the situation at hand easier to believe. "What's happening? Meteor's-"

"Going to make contact soon – or it's already made contact." Lightning finished the sentence for her. "I don't know how long until it'll reach the ground." Then, in a lower voice so that only Tifa could hear, Lightning continued in a bleak voice, "But it'll probably burn everything to a crisp first before that happens." As much as Tifa didn't want to see the world burn like how Nibelhiem had burned. Maybe when Lightning hadn't directly meant an actual fire, but she could feel the heat begin to cook the grounds as if they all suddenly found themselves in an oven. Tifa pursed her lips and idly realized that she never really liked baking.

"I hate to ask this, but what now?" Tifa grasped Lightning's hand and tugged.

"You won't be the only one asking." Lightning murmured and both women looked to see that Rygdea had located them.

He approached breathless as if he had sprinted non-stop for thirty minutes, or that the sight in the sky had effectively stole his breath entirely. "The General wants to see-" Rygdea started, but Lightning shook her head and interrupted.

"No time." Lightning suddenly began striding through the base, leaving Tifa and Rygdea to follow after her. "Tell Raines to keep his men and women calm. Don't attack the WEAPONS; it'll agitate them."

"Then when-"

"You'll know when." The Goddess stated.

"But-"

"Meteor has just hit the atmosphere. I don't know when it'll hit ground and getting rid of it before it does that is my first priority right now." Lightning narrowed her swift stride towards an AVALANCHE soldier prepping his military bike, "I'm going to head to the Sister Ray first and check how the construction is going. I may have lead the PSICOM to believe that it would be able to counter Meteor so I have to make sure things don't get out of hand there."

"What do we have to fight against Meteor?" Rygdea huffed, jogging so that he could intercept Lightning, "Or are we really just banking on Holy-"

"I trust Aerith."

"That doesn't mean that Holy will come-"

"If it comes to that, then I'll do something about it even if it costs me my life!" Lightning suddenly snapped harshly, shoving Rygdea's shoulder so that she could charge straight through.

"H-Hey!" Rygdea called after her, but the pink haired woman was already halfway through commandeering the motorcycle she had her eyes set on. Tifa glanced back at Rygdea, met his eyes, but gave no indication that she would help his situation. Seeing that he wouldn't get anymore out of Lightning, Rygdea gave Tifa a small nod before he ran back the direction he came.

She stepped up to the vehicle, her hand resting against the rumbling engine while Lightning threw her leg over the machine and settled, "Tifa, find Cloud and Aerith. Stay with them." Lightning's demanding tone from before dropped, and in its place was a much softer plea. "I wouldn't be surprised if Sephiroth decides to attack soon."

"Who's to say he won't sit back and watch? He's only done that so far."

"Highly unlikely." Lightning shook her head firmly, "Things… aren't going to work out well for me."

"Light-" Tifa began, but the pink haired woman shook her head again.

"This is reality." Lightning stated, her tone almost breathless with resignation, "I know that you're trying to help me, but things are going to get worse before they get better – if it gets better."

"It will." It was swift, and Tifa would've thought that she had imagined it when Lightning's hand reached up and ghosted over her cheek the moment those two words fell. There was the softest brush of their lips, but Lightning had pulled back before it could come to mean anything more than the goodbye that it was supposed to represent – temporary or not, that was not for Lightning to say. It certainly meant no promise. Tifa swallowed thickly, and forced herself to nod that the solemn look Lightning gave her. The fighter couldn't say that she appreciated Lightning's penchant for realism that bordered on pessimism, but she couldn't decide if she was grateful for the morbid honesty that Lightning hid from less trusted eyes.

The bike revved, and darted forward out of the base. Tifa watched Lightning go, and held onto the last words Lightning whispered to her, "I hope." She stood rooted to the place, the ghost of the contact that could hardly be considered a kiss still fresh and tingling against her skin. Pursing her lips, as if to prolong it, Tifa ran back into the base to do exactly as Lightning said. Amongst the scattered people, Tifa searched for the tell-tale head of spiky blond hair and breathed a quick breath of relief upon seeing Cloud standing by the entrance of the AVALANCHE base with Barret and Aerith beside him. When she got closer, she realized that Fang and the rest of the Nova Chrysalia gang was close behind them; stepping out of the double glass pane doors.

"Tifa!" Aerith notices her first, waving at the black haired woman and everyone else immediately looks to her as well.

"Lightning's not with you?" Serah is the first to ask, the concern clearly visible in her stormy blue eyes.

"She was." Tifa breathed, hoping to ease her worries, "She went to the Sister Ray to make sure things don't get out of hand there."

"How is the Sister Ray the first priority?" Barret huffed, thrusting a finger up to the sinking Meteor, "Look at that!"

"Holy's coming so-" Tifa heart skipped a beat seeing the most minute flinch cross Aerith's features but didn't let it stop her, "we don't have to worry about that." Tifa finished nearly flawlessly, and the only other person who seemed to notice was Aerith herself. A guilty look crossed her expression for only Tifa to see.

"We don't even know for sure if Holy's coming!" Barret refuted, echoing Rygdea's sentiments perfectly and Tifa wouldn't be surprised if everyone actually felt the same.

"Look, if Holy doesn't come… Light said she would take care of it."

"How?" Serah spoke up, reasonably concerned about the wellbeing of her sister. "I know she's- but she can't-" All Tifa could do was duck her head because she had no answer. She had no idea what Lightning was going to do, but she could only hope that it wouldn't be anything self-destructive.

"So we focus on the WEAPONS." Cloud finally commented, his tone of voice surprisingly calm and his resolute faith in everyone and their abilities was something Tifa took comfort. During these times, it was obvious that the real leader was Cloud who could be the pillar of strength and resolution while Lightning could be so fleeting.

"Take out those badasses?" Fang asked, pointing the tip of her already unsheathed spear towards the distance where the WEAPONS should be.

"Yes." Tifa nodded, but made sure she was clear on Lightning's directive before Fang would go sprinting into a fight, "Light said not to strike first."

"What?" Fang looked equally appalled and confused, "So we're just sitting ducks?"

"She said that we would know when-"

"Now." Cloud muttered, but that was all that was needed to be heard. Everyone followed his line of sight and Tifa felt her stomach drop the moment she saw the Guardian Corps ships begin to sortie.

The spear wielder slapped herself in the face, "What the hell do they think they're doing?"

"Exactly what you wanted to do a second ago." Tifa whispered, her eyes immediately searching the grounds for Rygdea. A part of her hoped that he merely didn't understand what Lightning had said to him because acting out at a time like this, even if he had everyone's best interest in mind, wasn't something that should be done. She understood why it was hard for them to trust Lightning, especially in a life or death situation. In any normal situation, it would be crazy to blindly believe in a woman claiming to be a Goddess with no real cement proof.

Amongst the chaos, it was obvious that the AVALANCHE soldiers were growing restless and many turned to Barret for instruction. "The GC are going to need as much support as possible." Cloud said to the AVALANCHE leader, "Hell's going to break loose before we know it."

"I can't believe Raines…" Barret ran a hand through his short hair and began breaking away from the group, "I'm going to find him and tell him not to fuck this up before it's too late." He ran off, leaving the group behind.

"What do we do now?" The brown haired man Tifa remembered as Noel asked, glancing at the group, "What can we do?"

"What Sunshine would want us to do." Fang huffed, resting her red spear over her shoulder, "If the GC wants to pick a fight and throw the first punch in against something they can't handle, they're gonna need people who can pick up their slack. And I mean us." Nodding her head towards the direction of the fleet of airships that now populated the sky like silver birds, the Oerban left and it was almost natural that Vanillle and Sazh followed. Tifa shifted uncomfortably when she noticed the silver haired boy that had remained eerily quiet the entire time take one last look at her before he left after Fang. For unknown reasons, he almost appeared uncaring of the WEAPONS or at the possibility of mass casualty. Instead Tifa found his silence rather unnerving, especially when all he has seemed to do ever since meeting with them was to glare at her. A part of her reasoned that he was Hope, for he had the same hair and eyes, but never once had she approached him or had he approached her to clarify whatever tension between them. She tore her eyes away from his small back when she unintentionally took notice of the surprising farewell between Serah and Snow.

"Be careful."

"You don't need to worry about me. You stay safe too, or else Sis is going to have my head if something happens to you." Snow said before he leaned down to peck Serah on the lips. He held her cheek firmly, yet tenderly, and their eyes seem to communicate more than their words ever will. Sharing only a nod afterwards, Snow dashed off to join the rest of the group that had departed and thus left Noel, Serah and Red XIII with them.

Aerith craned her head up, her eyes searching the sky in almost a silent plea. She didn't look like she was praying, and it made it more obvious that none of them ever seem to have a clear idea as to what Aerith is thinking. Grabbing her hand, Tifa dragged the Cetra away from the group and much to her relief, no one followed. They didn't stray far, but Tifa made sure that they didn't run the chance of being overheard. Tifa was straight to the point, afraid that if she was anything less, Aerith would somehow lose her in unnecessary verbose. "What did you do?"

"Tifa, I-"

"What did you do?" Tifa repeated the question, enunciating each word clearly. Aerith bit her lip, her eyes stormed, and she looked genuinely torn.

"I…" She released a heavy and tense breath," I summoned Holy so you don't need to worry."

"Then why did you have that look?"

"What look-"

"Aerith, please. Be honest with me. I stopped asking you about Cloud, I stopped asking you about… him; about…" Shaking her head, Tifa grasped Aerith's shoulders and forced the Cetra to look at her in the eyes, "This is about Holy. This is about Light and I… I can't lose her again. I can't."

"Then you should've realized that there's no guarantee that it will choose to counter Meteor over attacking Light." Aerith responded, "Light won't survive that."

"Aerith-"

Aerith revealed in a short exhalation, "I know. I summoned it, but… I can't let it arrive before Meteor does – I mean, not too late, but not too soon… I can't control Holy, but I can try to make it come when there are more threats to this Planet and hope that it sees that Light isn't a danger."

"How would you do that?"

"I don't know." Aerith dug her hand into her pocket and revealed the white materia sitting in the center of her palm, "I've tried praying but… I don't even know if my prayers are heard. We can only hope for the best." Hope. Tifa hated how the only thing she could do was depend on something so unpromising as hope. Releasing Aerith, Tifa looked towards the direction of the ruins of Midgar. She had to learn the hard way in the past that she couldn't trust in hope.

…

The wind whistled in her ears as the bike flew down the highway, taking the turns sharply before the engine roared loudly. Like a bullet, she ripped down the road towards Midgar. The sky was growing dim and dark as Meteor partially eclipsed the sun. For the sun's rays that did reach the surface of the Planet, it was filtered through the crimson ring where Meteor was now penetrating the atmosphere. Fire broke across the sky like how glass would crack. Her grip tightened against the leather steering, twisting the throttle until she couldn't go any faster. Her surroundings passed her in a blur, her mind whirling with the complications and acceptance that her time has ran out. This was the beginning of the end. First Meteor would arrive, then Holy would follow after, the WEAPONS are bound to react to this, and she still had no idea where Sephiroth is. She knew that this day would come, but the knowledge brought no ease. It was impossible to prepare for a situation like this, and she talked herself into believing that she could grab this situation by its horns and hopefully subdue it before too much is lost. Lightning's eyes narrowed on the telltale signs of danger; dark misty clouds that hovered over the surface of the road before her. Holding her hand out, a streak of light flashed from her palm, solidifying into her trusted crimson blade. It sang in a high pitched ring, slicing through the air as she approached.

The moment she braved the darkness, she was no longer alone. Black shadows leapt out, bearing fangs and large splintered claws. The screeching howl marked the beginning of the pursuit. Taking a split second to scour the sky, the Goddess lowered her body in preparation for anything, knowing that Sephiroth was close and watching. Shadow Creepers sprinted after her, and she swerved left and right, stealing glances behind her to mark the numerous beasts chasing after her. Five in total as of now, with more to come. The first one that took a swipe at her lost that very leg to a swift arc of her blade, crashing into it's demise against the hard cement floor. The howls of the black monsters deafened her hearing, surrounding her until she could hear nothing else at first until she caught the buzz that cleared into the sounds of blades chopping through the air in a repetitive beat. Suddenly hitting the breaks, Lightning forcefully twisted her body and machine, forcing the bike completely sideways to give her the room to slice the Shadow Creeper that lunged at her directly from behind completely in half vertically, and the ones that ran past her and couldn't stop fast enough were met with a grenade. Steering the bike straight again, she drove straight into the dust covering brought about by the explosion, and burst through it just in time to see Reno flash her a grin and a thumbs up from where he was kneeling in the helicopter that was now rising up towards the Sister Ray. A smirk found its way onto her lips only temporarily because unwelcomed company was soon upon her again. Shadow Creepers stalked her every move, and Lightning spent half her time disposing of them and the other half tracking down the summoner. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen though, and not even a trace of his presence could be detected, but she could feel him; feel the creeping shadows, feel him prowling about – slit eyes focused like a snake prepared to strike. The fangs of the Shadow Creepers were like his fangs, bared while a forked tongue slithered amongst the deadly hiss.

The resistance hit her blade as it shredded through the skin, muscles and bones with a sickening squelch and crack, and when she rips the blade away, the beast all but disappears in a burst of darkness that flutters and gives birth to another Shadow Creeper to replace it. Slipping in and out of the monsters pouncing and escaping every swipe of their claws or snap of their jaws, Lightning picks up even more speed and watched as the speed dials fluctuated – dancing around the highest speeds possible. Her only moment of inattention was when a loud, piercing howl of beasts cracked through the air like a whip. It shook the ground, the volume was great and it resonated painfully in her ear canals. Horror dawned as she caught glimpses of the WEAPONS suddenly approach in the distance, all of them migrating towards Edge, and her mind raced to come up with explanations as to why. She had no time with her thoughts and panic, because a Shadow Creeper lunged at her and successfully caught her arm in it's jaw. It ripped away at her flesh, gnawing and biting before Lightning slammed the hilt of her blade against its skull. It released her mangled arm and crashed against the ground, and swinging the horrible wounded arm back, she unleased a large burst of fire to give herself more time. The bike swerved dangerously, nearly losing all control, and her hand now slick with blood and burning with pain managed to steer the vehicle back on track straight down the highway.

Further down the path, a humanoid figure stood right at the center. He's here. Tightening her grip on her sword, Lightning lowered her body closer against the rumble of her bike. No sword. No face. The closer she got, she realized that this person before her wasn't Sephiroth at all. They stood there, clad in black robes with a large hood obscuring their face. In her mind, she ran possibilities of who it could be, but ultimately decided that no one sane would be standing in the middle of the highway where she was speeding down with a little less than a dozen Shadow Creepers giving chase. The company she had here was far from friendly. She had no time for hesitations. Yet, that person didn't attack and just stood there. Her heart thundered in her chest, her knuckles turned white from how hard she was grasping her weapon as she prepared for retaliation. The bike went right past the person, as did her blade. Lightning braked hard, her bike skidding to a stop. She looked back, watching as the Shadow Creepers all burst into a dance of black mist only to fade into nothingness. The person that stood there fell – head only, colliding with the cement and lulling to the side before the body followed. Revving her vehicle again, Lightning steered it back to the decapitated corpse. It was a young man, one she couldn't recognize, but when her eyes fell onto the tattooed number on his hand, the pink haired woman hurriedly turned the bike back to the direction she was going and continued on her way.

A clone summoned the Shadow Creepers, and that meant Sephiroth wasn't here... but that he was here somewhere in the shadows. She had thought that as long as she kept a lid on her powers, the WEAPONS would hopefully remain complacent. Seeing that the WEAPONS were now mobile and heading to Edge, Lightning put two and two together. The rest of her drive to Midgar, and into the construction area of the Sister Ray was without interruption. Workers were rushing back and forth, and she craned her head up the large weapon to see sparks erupting all over as metal and steel were welded together. A quick cure fixed the damaged state of her arm, but she could still feel the residual stinging pain. Despite that though, the blood certainly drew attention from everyone. She tracked Rufus and the Turks down in the control room of the Sister Ray, busy directing people to their jobs and helping with the computer system. "You're late." Rufus commented as she neared without even turning to see that it was she who had approached.

"We're out of time." Lightning began by stating the obvious, moving to stand beside the blond haired man who was leaning over the blue prints of the Sister Ray, "What's the status here?"

"Like you've said: out of time." Rufus answered succinctly, "One shot. Two, if lucky. Progress of construction is hardly where I want it to be in order for it to be safe."

"One will be all that we need." Both turned to see Yaag Rosche stride in as if he owned the place, flanked with PSICOM soldiers who already had their guns raised and pointed at the Turks. "Fire the Sister Ray at Meteor and blow that damn rock from the sky. We have no other option."

Lightning's eyes narrowed dangerously as she stepped up in front of Rufus. She didn't miss the ex-president's telltale look of annoyance, but what he felt hardly rivaled the frustration that was boiling in her blood. "Lower your guns and remove yourself."

"Read the situation." Yaag huffed, motioning to all of his soldiers and guns.

"You're the one that hasn't read the situation." Lightning hissed lowly.

"Firing the Sister Ray at Meteor does not guarantee that it'll stop it." Rufus spoke up, surprisingly resting a calming hand on the Goddess' soldier as if to reign her in. "In fact, it could splinter chunks from the main body itself and send it hailing down onto the surface of the Planet."

"Then what would you have me do?" Yaag responded irately, "Meteor is upon us."

"We let Holy deal with it."

"Holy?" Yaag rolled his eyes, "We don't even know if its coming and you want us to put all of our hopes- That's it. I'm taking charge here." He gave his orders to the PSICOM soldiers no-so-gently rounded all of the Turks, Rufus and even Lightning up and sequestered them near the back of the room. They took over their place at the computers and controls, and the first mistake they made was turning their backs to them.

Lightning shared a look with Rufus, "Something is happening in Edge. I think it's Sephiroth…"

"Explains the movements of the WEAPONS."

She nodded, he then motioned to Yaag and the rest of the PSICOM and she just shook her head uncaringly. Then, she abruptly turned on her heels and left the room with no protest. The PSICOM didn't come chasing after her, but she already left Rufus to deal with the situation with his own means. The only thing she did was seal the door to the control room with magic so that people can leave, but cannot enter. Jogging back to reclaim her bike, Lightning revved the engine and began her return back towards the city, but she can already see the Guardian Corps and AVALANCHE fleets rally and airships zooming through the sky like bees around the hive. Explosions littered the sky, lighting it with ephemeral bursts of fire and flames. It was accompanied by a cacophony of booms that rippled through the air. Behind it all, and serving as a large backdrop in the sky towards the direction of Academia was the Lindblum about to enter Edge airspace.

Sorry folks! I know I disappeared... and to top it all off, I'm posting such a short chapter... May has been a busy month for me, plus it just feels as if I'm not at the top of my game right now. Hopefully that didn't show in the quality of this chapter. Anyways, the action begins! Welcome, to the last arc of Lucem Dei!