So hey guys, and thanks for tuning into the next chapter of Revenant Wings!

For once in my life, I'm early—I've been working on this chapter since Sunday evening and I'm pretty proud; though I have to admit that it all came down to inspiration. *nods* I assume you can only imagine what kind of inspiration this amounted to, but we'll leave the chapter to do the talking, mmhm? That being said, you may or may not have noticed that there is a "Part 1" to the title—yeah, you read right, I had to split this chapter for length. I'm not quite done Part 2 as of yet, but at the rate I'm going, it won't take me long. ^^;;

Much love goes to: LawMan (I so totally agree—I've decided a light blue bucket would suit his looks best, you know?), Mylaervain (you know, that's what my BF said: "any guy who can fight with a jacket can totally kick ass with a bucket"), That One Reviewee (n_n I was going for creepy with that scene; glad you thought it was!), GKMader (haha, YES. :D And buckets. I can't say that word without laughing now, did you know that?), and Jack Hargreave (the soldier was actually, well, you'll see. He was there for a reason, though I'm glad you picked up on that! :p). Thank you all again—seriously, it makes this fic worth writing (not that it wasn't to begin with) and they make my day.

Anyways, since I've split this chapter into half, there will be no closing A/N at the end (just as there will not be an opening one for the next half). Leave some love if you so desire by the time you're done, and I promise I'll make it count for something in the following chapter—hopefully it won't take me a week to write, haha. Just a warning though, this fic is rated M for a reason—if you thought the last chapter was gory, well... hold onto your stomachs is all I can say. Despite that, though, I was almost in tears by the end. I think you'll see why. :)

Enjoy as always!

Chapter 36: Waiting for Time –Part 1–

Metal scraped against flesh and solid rock, sending sparks and tears of grey-brown flesh into the air as Lightning slashed the closest Cie'th with her weapon. Reserves of strength running on empty, it was like someone had taken metal elastics and bound them underneath her lungs; trying to pull erratic breaths into them was hard enough without the burning scrape of the oxygen-deprived air against the back of her throat. Coughing, the effort it took to raise her weapon to shoulder height was terrifying in its draining power. Just… how many more are there?

Half-chased, half chasing hordes of Cie'th, there seemed to be no end to the wailing monsters. The blind monsters weren't dangerous in themselves—it didn't take much effort to rip away the life that it had once housed, but it was their utter capacity to destroy that made them deadly. Blind and moving with sporadic, twitching movements, it didn't matter if the target they picked was Cie'th or human—the clawed arms tore away at it all, sending chilling wails echoing painfully in the empty cavern they'd fallen into.

The tentacled Cie'th had disappeared; whether it had sensed a new target, or whether it was honestly still looking for them—a possibility Lightning highly doubted—she didn't know. But I'm not about… to complain. There's enough to deal with as it is… Back-to-back with Hope, trying to keep him out of reach, she was fairly sure that being able to hear his hoarse gasps for breath meant that he could hear hers. Heartbeat hammering in her throat, the effort it took to keep her senses on alert for the possibility of an attack scared her. Get a grip—you're not going to give up now, right?

Fighting the urge to make things easier for her body by collapsing to her knees, she edged forward again; pulse elevating in the anticipation of what rounding the next corner could mean, even the brush of Hope's shoulder against hers couldn't assuage that apprehension. They'd already lost sight of Snow—the big man had eagerly leapt straight into the action despite her order to stay together, and in the ensuing chaos that had instantly engulfed them, by the time she'd cleared enough of a space around them to allow for the fraction of a breather, Snow had already disappeared. Idiot.

There was only one way forward though—littered with the ash grey remains of Cie'th and the subsequent blood smears that streaked the worn stone, he couldn't have gotten lost; even Snow was smarter than that. "You okay?" The hitch in breathing behind the concerned tones was clearly audible as Lightning turned her head.

Dark scarlet streaks still visible on his skin, the platinum bangs were matted together with sweat and crimson liquid alike—the only comfort she could find in that was that she knew the latter wasn't his. But still… Boomerang clutched tight in one hand, the exertion of their endeavor into the ruins wasn't lost on him. "I'll live." Raking dirty, sweat drenched hair out of her face, the tips of her fingers came away bloody. Shaking her head, trying to dislodge the images from her mind, the fingers of her right hand tightened around her weapon. "But we'll take five."

But those three hundred seconds seemed hardly enough—even though no one spoke, she felt no better than before when Lightning forced her body into motion again, pressing her right shoulder against the next bend in the hallway, weapon cocked at her shoulder.

When there was no sound that indicated that an enemy was near, Hope followed her automatically; completely trusting her instincts like the way he'd done so many years previously. But they'd barely stepped around them bend when an ear splitting shriek sounded painfully close. "Light!" Recoiling backwards instantly, clawed hands swiped over her head; leaping forward with an almost accidental grace, the Cie'th brought its limbs down in a crushing motion. Swiping upwards with the weapon the moment her mind had processed what it was going for, the first slash of the omega weapon didn't quite kill it.

It let out another wail that instantly made every single muscle she owned tense; severed arm still clinging to its shoulder by the last few sinews of flesh, the Cie'th suddenly shuffled away from her, lurching unsteadily towards the only other target in the vicinity. No! Chasing after it with a renewed burst of energy, she caught it in the neck, splitting it open down its back. The downward motion of her gunblade bringing her to the ground along with it, the tip of it stabbed into the stone the same moment her left knee touched the ground. Damn it!

Head bowed, pink bangs falling into her eyes, the floor wasn't a better place than standing up had been—if anything, it emphasized the effort she needed to breathe properly; emphasized the way her limbs no longer wanted to willingly respond to the commands her brain was giving them. "Light!" Hands caught her before her entire body could pitch towards the ground, trying to hold her upright. "You said… you were okay," came the slightly reproachful chide that didn't hide the concern in Hope's voice at all.

Brushing his hand off of her upper arm, but allowing him to cling to her fingers, she met his anxious green gaze equally. "I… am," she tried to retort, the broken breath in between the syllables giving away her exhaustion.

"No… you're not," he countered, the darkened platinum locks still smeared with faint streaks of dark crimson only adding to the fact that she knew he had to be as exhausted as she was. There was only a little reassurance in that fact - knowing it wasn't his didn't mean that it was hard to imagine, but that didn't make the fatigue he was trying just as hard to hide from her any less evident.

Shaking her head, trying to dislodge the images from her mind, Lightning made a motion to push herself back onto her feet, vision swaying dangerously as the blood rushed from her head. "I don't have time… to argue with you about this," she panted between the effort her lungs were making to draw adequate air into them. "We have… to keep moving." Hope had been about to open his mouth to argue—she could tell by the indignant flare that lighted in his verdant gaze, only to be smouldered by the glare she was attempting. "Besides," she continued, glad for the fact that the spots were beginning to fade from her vision, "you're just as tired as I am. So…"

Closing his lips firmly, he seemed to get the message—that she wasn't going to allow any dissents for the moment being, even though the concern didn't leave his gaze. Stumbling slightly on her first step forwards, Lightning cursed herself before forcing herself to remain steady; remembering the imminent danger that they were both still in helped.

Muffled footsteps muted by the echoing wails of distant Cie'th, a faint tunnel breeze tugged at her hair, pushing the unruly cherry-coloured curls against her collarbone and throat and giving the worn crimson cape over her shoulder life. The passageway before them was surprisingly short; it wasn't long before Lightning found herself looking over the edge of the stone that formed the boundary of it, looking down onto an open expanse of space.

Scanning her eyes over the structures spread loosely beneath them, it wasn't hard to spot the distinctive trench coat in the middle of a horde of Cie'th—though Snow didn't appear to need any help, she could make out more in the distance. Her stomach churned at the thought of more fighting—fights that she wasn't sure she still had the strength to win—but there was something else glimmering in the distance that she'd also noticed. "Hey." Stopping Hope with an arm, he followed her gaze curiously until it came to rest on what she was looking at: something small and glimmering that managed to catch the reflective surface of even the dim light that managed to penetrate the gaps in the roof.

He jerked his head up almost instantly, the realization dimming the exhaustion in his viridian gaze. "You think that's—?"

"Yeah," she breathed out, tightening her fingers on the handle of her weapon. "What else could it be?" Giving the terrain underneath them another cursory glance, Lightning tried to work out the best way to reach the small circle in the distance that was relatively free of Cie'th. She didn't see a way around the fight itself—But maybe… "Hope." Keeping her gaze on the battlefield before them, she was afraid to turn to face him, already knowing that he wouldn't like the idea that was forming in her mind. Pointing her finger downwards, tracing the subtle path formed by the trail of uneven rock that veered away from flattened stone, she tried to stop the subtle tremble of the hand clenched around her gunblade. "Do you think you can make it over that?"

He exhaled sharply; out of the corner of her eye, Lightning saw the questioning look in his green eyes. "What—No." The low growl that accompanied the lone syllable was so unlike him—so utterly unlike the nature she always associated with Hope—that it stopped her for a moment. A hand suddenly closed on her left arm, just above the black sleeve that ended below the pauldron; the firmness of the grip instantly making her want to jerk her arm away. "You're not."

This time, there was no pleading quality to it; the certainty in his voice held none of the fear it had had four years previously—Hope had none of the lingering hesitation he'd had to choose between what was 'right' and what she'd ordered him to do. A stab of guilt spearing through her chest when Lightning moved her fingers to cover his, curling her nails underneath his to pry his grip off of her arm, she tried to push it back. I have to do this, even if— "You promised me," she began in a low voice, "that you'd do what it took. To get that," underlining the pronoun by pointing her finger in its direction. "You told me that you knew the difference between what was important… and what you thought was right. And right now, I think we both know what's important here."

"But—"

"Stop arguing with me!" The sudden harshness of her tone making him flinch back for the fraction of a heartbeat before a spark of repressed temper flared in his viridian gaze; pushing back against the grip of her fingers, the force he was using was anything but gentle. Before he could open his mouth, she pressed their conjoined fingers into the ground, trapping his hand underneath hers, the suddenness of her motion momentarily surprising him. "You promised," she repeated quietly, trying to control her voice—but whether she was trying to control her anger or the anguish inside that she had to argue with him like this, Lightning didn't know. "Or have you forgotten that?"

"I haven't," he countered quietly, the blaze in his emerald gaze no less intense than it had been before. "But you said you wouldn't—"

She cut him off before he could continue. "I know what I said," she clarified. "I'm not going to go back on my word. But we have to do this. You know that." The sentences she spoke seemed to assuage some of the indignation and frustration in his eyes; expression softening just slightly as she finished, Hope remained still for a few moments, the hand pinned underneath hers trembling ever so slightly. Maybe I shouldn't have been…

"Promise?" The quavering quality to the one word sentence surprising her in its sudden vulnerability and doubt, it pulled at her own grievances Lightning was struggling to hide underneath the calm and in-control exterior she was trying to maintain. I can't. He knows it's a promise I can't guarantee. Because there was no guarantee—just as she couldn't be sure that the path she'd picked was the right way to keep going, she couldn't guarantee that what they were doing now had no risks posed to either of them. But what Lightning was sure about was that there was no other way to the future she could admit she wanted now—that there was no other way out of this without putting their lives on the line somewhere down the road.

But Hope had long since grown out of the naivety of doing as she told him without question—he'd seen her at her very worst and it had instilled in him the desire to protect, to shield what he thought was right. And I can't—that's something I can't change now. Fear of getting hurt—of pain in general— and of dying no longer scared him from wandering down into the face of danger—he'd seen both and somewhere down that line, 'death' had become something more than taking away what he cared about; she'd unwittingly taught him that there were things worth dying for.

"I can't." The truth slipped out from her mouth before Lightning could stop it; she'd anticipated the flash of fear that she couldn't guarantee it, and that made his hand jerk from underneath hers with a strength she didn't know he held. Fingers moving to her face, the painful vulnerability and the desire for reassurance was blatantly obvious in his expression, the earlier anger falling away to reveal the uncertainty that had fueled it. And for a moment, she wanted to give in to it—steeling the will that she'd known she would have to exercise sooner or later, Lightning pulled his fingers free of her cheekbone, gripping them tightly. "But I promised something else. There's a difference."

Please.

Feeling both their erratic, uncontrolled heartbeats under their clenched fingers, it was a few long moments before Hope nodded. "We'll survive."

Straightening up, pulling him up along with her, she reached behind her legs for the gunblade stowed there. "Then let's go."

Dropping to the ground on his knees, Hope tried to keep the rising panic and fear of what was to come suppressed in his chest—arguing wouldn't get him anywhere further with Lightning and he knew that. But that doesn't mean… Fear and the desire to drag her back by the cape combined, inside, deep down, he knew she was right: that there was no future for them if they didn't do this. But she doesn't have to do this… put herself on the line because there's no other way. Inwardly, he knew that it was the only option; that somehow, by attracting the mutant Cie'th attention along with Snow, it would allow him to reach the small, glimmering thing in the distance.

But what Hope also couldn't get out of his head was the image of the soldier's death; the sensation of warm, sticky blood peppering his skin and hair was hard to forget and it wasn't hard to twine those memories with the fears he held inside. I have to do this. Trying to tell himself that; trying to ingrain that particular concept into his head was hard when Lightning drew ahead of him, short, even breaths betraying the exhaustion that had been present earlier.

Weapon already held in attack position, she flicked her gaze back at him, the calm teal gaze somehow unnerving him even further—she was totally prepared for what was happening; totally prepared for what she knew she had to do. I wish— Hope cut himself off before he could complete that thought. How does she do it? Focus on only the goal she has in mind—and shut out everything else? It was a trait he both admired and hated; it made her determination to do things right the quality that stood out above everything else… and it made her frustratingly stubborn to a fault. When things come down to times like this; where she threw herself into danger without thinking of the consequences—almost Snow-like, in a sense.

Wails and screeches, combined with the distant shouts of Snow crashed in his eardrums; raising the barrel of her omega weapon, Lightning met his eyes. For the span of a heartbeat, they held each other's gazes; frozen into being and the expression in her eyes only made him want to run towards her and shake her. But he didn't have time to contemplate this newest idea before she mouthed "Go," at him, dashing around the rock she had concealed herself behind in the next moment.

Floundering for a moment, the sharp sound of gunshots hitting both stone and flesh jerked him back into painful reality; clambering over stones and crumbled walls alike took more effort from his limbs than he thought possible, the tight skin on his side stretching almost painfully as it tried to accommodate the pace he was forcing his body to take. Ducking under a fallen archway, trying to keep his balance as the lumps of stone and earth tried their best to trip him, Hope stumbled back against a fallen stone when grey-brown skin launched itself at him, claws outstretched in a position to attack.

Back hitting the wall behind him painfully, the weapon in his right hand collided with mottled flesh, driving the Cie'th away from him with the momentum the throw provided. It wasn't by any stretch of the imagination enough, but in the long moments it took the monster to recover, he'd already scrambled away, trusting that its uncontrolled, jerky movements wouldn't provide it with the agility necessary to chase after him.

Fingers scrabbling at smooth rock worn with cracks, he tried to gauge how much further there was to go—the general chaos around him gave him no indication of distance and the sounds of fighting didn't stop. Continuous gunshots were like the strands of comfort he clung to; the last few beads in a broken pearl necklace that he could hold in the palm of his hand—they reassured him that she was still alive.

Pushing his body over the next boulder, slipping down onto the other side, Hope felt his limbs seize in both exhaustion and apprehension when he saw the distance he still had yet to cover. Maker, we're not going to make it! The area in question was still at least five hundred meters from where he was standing; raised on a small incline guarded by a horde of Cie'th, his heart seized at the prospect of Lightning fighting her way to reach it. Snow's shouts broke over the sound of unearthly screeches, the triumphant sound an anesthetic to the rising sense of futility in his chest.

The blond brawler was huddled in the centre of a ring of Cie'th, fists raised in his standard posture of attack. Tattered trench coat torn and speckled with dirt and blood, it was like he was the killer himself—none of the Cie'th wanted to get close to him, the ash-grey residue of dead monsters around him tantamount to the fact that Snow wasn't taking the fight lightly. The big man didn't seem to have noticed him, and for a moment, Hope direly wished he wouldn't—there was no need to attract undue attention and while Snow held theirs, he could slip by unnoticed.

Broken archways and structures less concentrated nearer to the raised incline, the going was a little easier; there wasn't anything he had to actually climb over and things proved to be a little easier on his side… though the skin there felt tight and inflamed, a deeper pain that wasn't associated with the wound itself. Rasp making its way up his chest, it was getting harder to breathe, the inner pain tearing his diaphragm with every breath he tried to pull into his lungs. I can't… give up now. Knowing that she'd put her faith in him, the thought of failure was something that was almost as terrifying as his fears itself.

"I want to know that I can rely on you." A faith that he'd always unconsciously craved, the trust that she didn't hand out to just anyone, felt like the weight of the world. I can't… let her down. That thought was enough to drive him forwards; ignoring the flash of pain with every harried breath drawn in, stumbling up the low slope was took effort he didn't think he could maintain. Breathing was hard enough as it was—the extra exertion put on exhausted limbs by the elevation didn't make things easier and introduced a burn to the back of his calves.

Gripping the stone at the very top of the, Hope somehow ended up on his knees, one arm wrapped around his middle in an attempt to make breathing easier, the other precariously holding onto the weapon whose handle was slick with sweat—whether it had been out of nerves or simply because of physical exertion, he didn't know.

A screech sounded painfully close to his head; looking up through platinum bangs scratching his face, green eyes widened at the sight of two Cie'th, their silhouettes dangerously close to him. Pushing himself upright proved to be more of a struggle than he thought; spots swam in his vision as he did so and his limbs felt like rubber; drained of any strength he might've still had and altogether unwilling to respond to the signals his brain wanted to give them. Move… move!

Setting his gaze only on the small, glimmering thing now barely ten feet away from him, Hope stumbled forwards, trying to assimilate Lightning's focus into his consciousness. Only focus on what you have to do; shut everything unimportant out, nothing else matters at this point—

Pain tore through his lower leg like a flash, warmth running down the torn cloth and skin in thin rivulets. Hooked claws scraped the stone floor behind him, drawing an eerie noise akin to fingernails on chalkboards. Harried thumping combined with the sound of impact, he couldn't even be sure of who—or what—that was. "Hope, behind you!" The screech was undoubtedly Lightning's, its pitch urgent and commanding, but he couldn't turn around now—the thing was within his reach and if he could only take a couple more steps forward, he could grasp in in his fingers.

"Sis, I got this!" Unable to turn around for the fear that if he did, he would somehow lose his sense of direction in the disorder around him, Hope could only rely on his sense of hearing to tell him what happened next. Gunshots mingled with the sound of a fist on sickly flesh, creating a discordant sound that consisted of both screeches and yells; sounds he wasn't sure he wanted to pick out individually. But whether Snow had really successfully gone after the Cie'th after him or not, Hope would never know—his fingers curled around the bluish object; slick with sweat and sticky blood he wasn't sure where it was from, the sudden coldness of the glass object underneath his palm felt off. Surprisingly cold, it was like it was freezing every muscle he owned, tendrils of icy fog seeping through his veins like some sort of tenuous poison.

Body instantly rejecting the touch of the glass, there was the overwhelming urge to throw it away from him as fast as possible; spots swirling in his vision along with a rising sense of nausea, Hope had a feeling he wouldn't be able to physically hold onto it for much longer. "Hope!" The desperate cry came again, but his posture was already faltering and no matter how fast she could run—if she still could at this point—she wouldn't be able to reach him in time. The sound of metal grating against flesh somehow stood out amongst the unholy cacophony of sound… one that was joined by the sound of collapse.

Fighting the discomfort threading unbridled through his body, starting from where his fingers were still somehow clenched tightly around the glass sphere, the command reached his foggy brain, sharp and distinct. "Hope! Let go of it!" The pain in the yell blatantly obvious, he tried to do what she was telling him to do—forcing his fingers to let go of the small thing, the icy rigidity of his limbs seemed to evaporate the moment it left his palm.

Trying to stand, the flare of radiant, infectious pain spreading upwards from his calf as he did so, he could only kneel there helplessly; finally, it seemed that he was able to look back in the direction of the battle; the sight rooting him to the spot.

Ringed by Cie'th that seemed to have no limit to their numbers, no matter how many they killed, there seemed to be more. Ash grey remains were littered down the stone pathway, more than he could count at the moment. Maker, she— Pink hair streaked with blood and sweat, the tension and exertion in every muscle was obvious; fighting to keep upright and her weapon in hand, it wasn't a battle they could win.

Shifting stone coupled with the hideous scream of some distant Cie'th making him look up, scaly tentacles suddenly pierced the air above them, threading through the dusty air like monstrous thread meant to stitch the stone walls together. Collapse imminent, particulates and bigger pieces of rock began to fall from the ceiling. "It's gonna cave!" Snow's yell was accented by the sound of fists on flesh, as the blond took a step backwards, foot unconsciously crushing the small blue orb underneath it. Surprised at the object under his foot, Snow looked down the moment the grating, guttural shriek of the many-tentacled Cie'th knifed the air, the sound putting the battle to an inevitable standstill, paralyzing the Cie'th and their muscles alike.

Falling backwards, Snow's fingers closed around the blue sphere just as Lightning turned to check on him, sudden panic flickering across her features. "Snow, leave—" But it was too late; the burly blond already held the flickering orb aloft in thick fingers before an explosion rocked the earth underneath them. Chains that held the ledges in the air shaking madly, links snapping under both weight and pressure, the sound of metal clinking against stone created an erratic, irregular rhythm that underlined the sound of combat.

The roar of a dragon—much, much louder than the Cie'th it dwarfed—pierced the air like a blade; twisted tendrils, scales ripped free from their purchase on the thick skin, rained down on them in clumps, quickly shriveling into ash-grey tears, falling harmlessly to the collapsing stone ledge in soft thumps. Shielding his head and eyes with one hand, Hope tried to cling to the boulder behind him with the other; the sensation of illness was fading from his limbs—he could breathe as normally as the dust-choked, metallic scented air around him allowed him to and the swirling vision was rapidly fading. Light! Panic gripped his recently liberated chest like elastic bands; finding the flash of pastel pink some few feet away from him, the shaking ledge underneath didn't allow him to stand up to find her.

Crawling forwards on hands and knees, the throbbing pain in his right calf preventing any thoughts of fast movement, he kept his eyes on her hair as he tried to dodge the flailing limbs of faltering Cie'th alike. Wind and ice suddenly tore through the air; claws and wings descended upon the remaining Cie'th that hadn't been knocked away by the first shockwave. Limbs suddenly frozen in place, Hope could only stare at the sight of the dragon before him; maroon-and-purple wings outstretched, head crested with a magnificent scarlet mane as it let out another shriek, hind talons creating sparks against falling rock as it dived for the remaining Cie'th, emitting another shockwave from its mouth.

His hand brushed against cloth and skin; slipping sideways on smooth stone tipping dangerously downward, Hope looked back to find himself face to face with her; cherry coloured bangs streaked with sweat and scarlet stains, the sight of jagged tears on her arms that had no doubt been created by Cie'th claws gave his heart a painful squeeze. She opened her mouth to say something—her lips had just formed the first syllable of his name when the dragon's steely wings snapped the remaining chains that held the ledge aloft, sending them both plunging into the darkness beneath.

Body momentarily weightless in free fall, there was no way to tell where the bottom was. Thrown against the wind, it took the breath from her lungs in one fell swoop, claiming all other abilities it held but the one that allowed her to gasp for breath. Impact driving rivets of pain through limbs and muscles; the only thing she could be thankful for was that her gunblade had gotten caught in the crook of her elbow—any other position and it would've broken her arm.

Fighting the increasing heaviness rested on her chest and the debilitating exhaustion in her arms, it was hard not to just give up. Head resting on the joint between her arm and shoulder, Lightning wanted to lie there—the distant screeches of battle seemed far away just now. Only the sensation of wetness underneath her fingertips provided the painful reality check; pushing herself into a sitting position, it didn't take the training of a soldier to realize what, exactly, the wetness smeared along her hands and arms were.

Nausea rising in the back of her throat, the dim lighting made it impossible to see; trying to stand proved to be a feat that she couldn't complete. Reduced to crawling on her hands and knees, she tried to ignore the pressure put on the still-bleeding gashes that decorated her arms; blood that was definitely her own seeped into the sleeve pulled up her left arm, running freely only to be stopped by the armband she wore on her right. Hope… Hope, where are you?

Guilt and frustration combined, it was hard to not just scream out his name. Why was I so stupid? Why didn't I— She should've known it was dangerous; should've known that it wasn't something he could've done on his own without getting hurt. I'm sorry… I'm sorry. Her hands bumped against something cold and stiff; backing away quickly, fighting the urge to retch, she realized what it was in a heartbeat. I… Eyes still struggling to adjust to the new darkness, it didn't take her long to realize what she was looking at.

They're all dead. The half-mask of the soldiers in front of her lay askew, its owner no longer breathing; the only light was provided by the dim light of their pauldrons. Torn limbs lay scattered in unmoving piles, Lightning tilted her head back, closing her eyes to avoid looking at the carnage in front of her. Maker, please… So this is where he… The fear in the mud-brown gaze of the soldier wasn't easily forgotten, and it was that - the pained terror in those eyes, the one look she hoped would never be replicated in his - precisely, that pushed her to keep going. I have to… I have to find him. He couldn't have fallen far from her, but the broken bricks that had formed the ledge they'd been standing on impeded her progress; groping blindly in the almost complete darkness, her fingers brushed against something smooth.

Heartbeat wild in her throat, it was a few seconds before Lightning forced herself to calm down enough to realize that the smooth texture underneath her fingers was his boomerang. Almost afraid of what she would—or would not—find, her fingers travelled to the inner curve of his wrist tentatively, the faint, regular pulse underneath the skin eliciting a soft cry of anguished relief from her lips. Reaching across to his shoulders, she shook him gently. Wake up… wake up! A whimper came from the back of his throat, fingers seizing hers in a gentle grip that made her feel guilty that she'd ever pried them away from her. "Hope, I—" Her words were cut off by a guttural screech, the sound of it making both of them flinch. In the dimness around them, she couldn't be sure where it had come from, much less who'd created it. Where… The same shriek came again, louder this time; recognition threaded through her muddled senses and the exhaustion coating her limbs. It's that Cie'th, but I— It was a painful reality that slammed her in the chest like a physical blow: she didn't have the strength to beat it.

Trying to keep her breathing calm for his sake rather than her own, he sensed her elevated heartbeat anyways. "Light…" Retracting her arms, reaching for her weapon seemed a motion done more out of habit than out of necessity; it wasn't a battle either of them could win and she knew he knew that. "Don't go," he begged her, pushing his body into a half-raised position in which he could look at her from.

Giving her head a shake, Lightning sat back on her knees, finding that her fingers were trembling. I promised I'd look after you—and me. And I can't even… The sense of defeat imminent, she couldn't help the next few thoughts. Serah, I let someone else down again… because I wasn't strong enough; I didn't realize—

Writhing tentacles suddenly obstructed the last few vestiges of glowing light from the soldiers' pauldrons as the grey-skinned Cie'th dropped to the ground barely ten feet away from her. It was hurt; severely—its fight with the dragon abovehead had robbed it of most of its tentacles and had ripped scales from its body, exposing the wine-coloured flesh underneath. Nonetheless, it let out a piteous shriek as scaly appendages whipped towards them, lashing in the still air.

Closing her eyes, Lightning waited for the moment of impact; one that would no doubt be powerful enough to sever the remaining threads of faltering life from them both. I'm sorry—

Heat suddenly expanded from her leg; a pounding, throbbing heat that reached through every pore of her limbs from where it had begun; seeping through the cloth of the red pack. Time seemed to slow down, her fingers had barely brushed the surface of the red orb she carried before it disappeared. Flame and light erupted in the space around them, enclosing them both in a flash that could've rivalled the sun as another shriek filled the air—but this time, it was a cry she recognized.

Blazing feathers melted through the scaly tendrils stretched towards them; recoiling from the heat as though it was poison, it occurred to her that it might very well be. The fiery phoenix extended its claws in a downward plunge, talons ripping for the very heart of the mutant Cie'th only to be battered back by lashing tentacles many times their width. Unable to help, unable to move, she could only watch desperately as the bird fought against their strangling grips, trying to free itself from the many armed tentacles wrapped around its wings and feathers. We're not… going to make it!

It was like sudden clarity that sliced through her thoughts—words spoken by someone else. You have to. But no one else had spoken; apart from her broken, ragged panting, there was only Hope, whose laboured gasps for air spoke only to the fact that he was worse off than her. For you… and for him.

Right… because I promised.

I promised.

Raising her head off her chest, the scrape of the metal gunblade against the slick floor sounded too loud against her ears. The phoenix seemed to have sensed her renewed determination to fight; its screeches becoming louder and more insistent as it fought to free itself. The fire and heat in the air around them seemed charged; she had no strength for fueling her own magic—a control over the situation she would've liked.

Growing flames licked at scalded flesh; with an angry screech, the phoenix tore itself free. Each flap of its wings sent a wall of dry heat hitting the ground; the severed tentacles quickly drying out to ash-grey remains that fell to dust. Closing her eyes, Lightning gripped the handle of her omega weapon, feeling the draining strength in her limbs give way to some form of imcomplete numbness.

The flaming bird slammed its body into that of the Cie'th, the flames consuming them both in one final burst of light and heat. Darkness and silence consuming the air around them, it was the sound of dripping water—or was it blood?—that she registered last. Unable to sustain the kneeling position she was currently in, she could sense the floor coming up to meet her as she slipped sideways.

Only it didn't; head coming to rest against the hollow of his throat, the slow rise and fall of his chest reassured her that he was okay. Lightning refused to let herself consider the alternative. Right hand limp against the ground, something was reforming underneath it; cold and smooth, she knew what it was. Thank you.

Eyelids slipping shut, the slow, regular rhythm of his heartbeat brought her back to another time in which she'd heard it just as clearly; darkness highlighted with silver moonlight made its way into her muddled memories. "I love you." The three words she had wholeheartedly unexpected, she'd been unprepared for the moment and equally unsure of how to react. But what she couldn't deny was that they were the truth—an inexplicable truth that she hadn't had the courage to return.

Heaviness weighing down on her limbs like unforgiving gravity, the fingers of her left hand came to rest on his chest; feeling the faint flutterings of his heart underneath, it was a tenuous comfort she could hold; warming and altogether irrepressible. I... love you too.

Always.