Lightning ran across the field, before she leapt to sit upon a hilltop, gazing down at the highway below. Ears twitching, she mostly ignored the sound of rapid footfalls behind her.
Fang paused a short distance away, and she lowered her voice to a near whisper. "Light."
Lightning kept silent.
Fang narrowed her eyes. "Light."
"What?" Her tone was cold, yet calm.
Fang took a slow step forward, before she walked over the grass to sit down beside Lightning. "I thought we were making progress..." Fang sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "You said that One agreed to let go, wouldn't that make it easier?"
Lightning kept her gaze on the highway. "That's the point... One did let go." She narrowed her eyes. "She letgo, but I still feel it... It's even stronger, now." Lightning raised an arm, pointing at the distant cars. "You don't feel that?"
Fang shook her head after a moment, carefully biting her bottom lip. "You really don't think you can control yourself anymore?"
Lightning shrugged. "I don't think it's able to be controlled."
"Well... We'll just keep taking it slow, then." Fang stood up after a moment, offering her arm to Lightning. "The only human you'll have to be around is Serah, right? You've managed that before."
Lightning accepted the gesture, but her eyes remained distant. "Our house is in a neighborhood..." She stood up, quickly letting go of Fang's arm. "If I start to slip... I'm going to get myself out of there."
Fang nodded. "And I'll be there, if you need me."
Lightning closed her eyes, silent for a while. "I think One was scared of me."
Fang froze, before she lowered her voice. "Well... You're one tough cookie, Light... I think I can understand why." She tried to smile as she turned to walk down the hill. "The kids are waiting; we should get going... Hope saw a sign up ahead, and he says Bodhum's not too far off."
Lightning opened her eyes, before she slowly followed after Fang.
Noel pulled up along the driveway, but the trailer was unable to completely fit into the garage. He parked after a moment of maneuvering, leaning over to rummage for his house keys and laptop, before swinging his cane over his lap to exit the car.
Snow already stood out upon the drive, and he gazed around at the field, turning around look up at the house. "So... We're just going to stay here for a while?"
Noel walked up to the front door, quickly unlocking it. "That's the plan, at least until I can find everyone..." He nudged open the door, before stepping inside. "I have some calls to make, at the very least."
Caius began to walk up the front steps, but he suddenly turned around within the doorway, blocking Snow from the house. "Push-ups." Caius pointed at the front porch.
Snow sighed and narrowed his eyes, but he walked over to start the exercise without so much as a grumble. Caius bit back a chuckle, closing the door behind him. Noel walked through the front hall to enter the computer room, Caius following him from behind.
Caius stood tall beside Noel, his horns nearly scraping the ceiling. "What can I do to help?"
Noel began to start up his main computer while setting his laptop down on his desk. "Nothing at the moment; I'm going to try and see if I can find everyone."
Caius sat down on the floor, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Always at the computer."
Noel narrowed his eyes at the screen. "And just look how useful it's been for us..." He swiveled around to face Caius. "I wouldn't have met Serah without it; without Serah, I'd probably have died back in Palumpolum..." Noel turned back to the keyboard. "She took out a security guard quicker than I could pull the trigger."
"That's the sister..." Caius thought back. "The one I met... Lightning, she mentioned a sister."
Noel nodded. "She's tougher than she looks, reminds me of Yeul."
Caius tensed, tightening his fingers upon his knees. "When are we leaving to find her?"
Noel sighed. "I have a contact who claims to know exactly where she is... But we're going to need more than just a few of us to get in."
Caius tilted his head to the side. "It's well protected?"
Noel exhaled, running his hands through his hair, before he continued to type. "It's a damn vault."
Caius narrowed his eyes. "We have weapons, at least."
Noel glanced over at Cauis, examining his hands. "Not sure if you can hold anything, like that." He looked back at the screen. "You're already pretty much bulletproof, and you have those claws... It's a good start."
Caius flexed his fingers. "A very good start... You'll be coming along, as well?"
Noel stopped typing for a moment. "I can still shoot."
Caius nodded. "Well, as for help... Do you think that Lightning will be willing?"
Noel shrugged. "I've never met her... But I know the rest of them."
Caius paused. "The rest of them..?" His eyes widened. "Six."
"There were five, before you." Noel squinted at the screen, opening an email. "Lightning and Snow, two kids named Hope and Vanille, and Fang."
"Children?" Caius grit his teeth. "They brought children into this..."
Noel sighed. "It's hard to tell just how old they are, but they seemed happy, for the most part... I think the others protected them in there, as much as they could."
"They aren't coming with us, though?" Caius leaned back against the wall. "Or are they as resilient as the rest?"
Noel shrugged. "We'll have to see... If they do, that makes seven, plus my contact, which makes eight. If Serah's up to it, we have nine."
"Your contact..." Caius paused. "How much do you know about them?"
Noel let out a short laugh. "They have more information on PSICOM than I could ever hope to find..." He sat back after a moment, his gaze distant. "I owe them my leg." Noel pointed down at the twisted muscle. "I'm betting they were part of PSICOM, at some point."
Caius narrowed his eyes. "And you trust them?"
Noel snorted. "I hardly trust anyone... But they went out of their way to help me, and Serah claims the same."
"You said they have information on PSICOM..." Caius thought for a moment. "I would like to meet this person."
Noel rolled his eyes, returning to the keyboard. "Good luck... I can barely get them to answer my questions, much less meet up in person." He paused for a moment to think back. "But they did say they'd be around once we kicked down the doors."
Caius closed his eyes. "I'll wait to speak with them, then."
Noel pulled out his cellphone, dialing a number. "I'm going to try and reach Serah; she's not answering me online."
Serah woke to the sound of the house phone, and she stood up from the couch to answer it. "Hello?"
"Serah, hey."
Serah mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Noel... Is everything alright?"
"For the time being, yeah... How much do you know about the situation, again? Has Adam told you about 'the seventh'? My sister?"
Serah's eyes widened. "Adam... You mean Anima. Yeah, she explained a lot about it."
Noel kept silent for a moment. "That... Explains a lot, actually."
Serah laughed under her breath. "That's right, you haven't met her... She's nice, for ex-PSICOM."
Noel laughed as well. "I knew it. Have you met up with everyone else, yet?"
Serah frowned, and she sat back down on the couch. "No, I'm hoping they'll get here by tonight... I think they're fast enough to make it in a few days, so they could be back as early as today."
"That's good..." Noel paused, a quiet laugh to his voice. "Snow's still with us, but I think Caius is making him do pushups."
Serah blushed, giggling a little. "Remind me to thank him, then..."
Noel stammered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. "Anyways... We're safe, and I'm hoping that once everyone else has met up with you, we can get us all together in one place and plan this out." Noel thought for a moment. "I'll find a way to get another cipher out to you, if I can find the means..." He pulled out a pen and paper from his desk. "I'll start working on it, now."
Serah smiled. "Alright, keep safe, and tell Snow that I said hello..." She giggled. "And good luck with the pushups!"
Noel chuckled under his breath. "You stay safe, too. I'll call you later if anything comes up."
The line clicked, and Serah put down the phone. She stretched out her arms, before startling slightly at the doorbell. Serah stood up from the couch to pull on a robe, concealing her pistol beneath the sleeve. She crept down the hall, carefully opening the door.
Anima smiled from the doorstep. "Hello, Serah. Mister Kreiss sounds well."
Serah froze, her heart racing. "Don't you know how creepy that is?!"
Anima frowned. "The both of you readily suspected 'bugs'... How does this surprise you?"
Serah covered her face with her free hand. "Please stop listening to my phone calls..."
Anima rolled her eyes. "If I may come inside, I'll remove it."
Serah sighed, and she stepped aside to let Anima pass. "How did you bug my phone in the first place?"
Anima let out a soft laugh. "Do you really want to know?"
Serah hesitated a moment, but she nodded while leading the way into the living room.
Anima smiled. "You and Noel... Quite craftily 'acquired' a wealth of information from Palumpolum." She muttered for a moment. "I told them not to leave the files on public access, but did they listen..?" Anima paused, she and sat down upon the sofa across from Serah. "I have an informant in that particular location, and I suspected that your next move would be the opposite lab... Which is unfortunately used primarily for storage purposes."
Serah nodded, her hand relaxing against the pistol beneath her sleeve.
Anima's gaze flicked over to Serah's arm. "I hope you haven't forgotten who gave you that."
Serah blushed. "I didn't know it was you, at first..!" She shook her head. "You were saying about my phone?"
"Right..." Anima thought back. "You left your car very unguarded, mobile phones included." She gestured at the room around them. "Your contacts had this location listed, and I was able to stand there for a good minute or so, transferring the information; your dog was quite friendly, as well... Not cut out to be a guard animal, for sure."
Serah's eyes widened. "You met Mog?"
Anima frowned. "An unfortunate casualty."
Serah frowned as well, hugging herself. "He was Noel's; I couldn't help but get attached..."
Anima kept silent for a moment. "Have you ever had a dog, yourself?"
"Back when Lightning and I were kids, yeah." Serah's gaze was distant. "Mog was easy to look after, because of it..."
Anima reached for her pocket. "I have something to show you, then."
Serah raised an eyebrow.
Lightning looked out over the city, a gentle wind ruffling her hair. Fang rested in the tree beside her, and she followed her gaze.
"You seem alright..." Fang peeked out from the branches, watching as a group of humans walked along the sidewalk below them.
Lightning grit her teeth. "That's because I'm holding back as best I can..." Her eyes tracked the movement before her, every breath, each tiny action echoing in her ears, and Lightning's jaw tensed. "Let's just keep moving."
Fang nodded as she crawled down through the branches. "Should I call the kids?"
Lightning nodded as well, before dropping to the ground, ignoring the stares and exclamation that they received.
Fang tipped her head back, whistling through her teeth, before she followed after Lightning.
Lightning looked around, her nostrils clamped shut. "I think I know this park..."
Fang glanced around as well. "I don't recognize the area... Are we anywhere near your home?" She narrowed her eyes at the horizon, although it was mostly hidden by buildings. "It's gonna get dark, soon."
Lightning swiveled her ears around. "Wait..." She closed her eyes. "I hear a river, over there; I think our house is close." Lightning froze, her jaw flexing when a human coughed in the distance. "Let's get moving."
Fang paused and she shifted her face back to smile when Hope and Vanille ran up to them. "Hey, kiddos."
Vanille grinned, hopping up to hug Fang.
Hope glanced around at the park, and he gave the surrounding humans a nervous wave. "We're just letting them see us..?"
Lightning nodded as she walked up to an iron-wrought fence, quickly leaping over it. Fang followed after her, and Vanille jumped up to cross it as well. Hope stared up at the fence, before backing up to take a running start, his claws soon snagging against the metal. Clamping the book in his teeth, Hope climbed over the fence, falling to the opposite side with a thud.
Fang looked out at the street before them. "If the media tries to bother us again..." She grinned, revealing her teeth. "I've got a few choice words for them."
Vanille giggled at that as she broke into a run, soon leaping up to stand upon a nearby bridge, climbing along the railing. Lightning quickened her pace as well, lowering to all fours. Fang and Hope copied the motion, and they all crossed over to the other side of the river.
Lightning stood up, gazing about the area. "We're..." She flicked her ears. "We're close."
Serah stifled a laugh at the photograph in her hand. "They have spikes, too?"
Anima shrugged. "The organism augments most of the hosts in similar ways..." She pulled out another picture from her wallet, it held the image of a tiny orange dog, which ran across a tile floor. "This one..." Anima handed the photograph to Serah. "Extremely intelligent, especially for its breed."
Serah giggled. "A poodle with spikes..?"
Anima nodded. "His name is Bhakti... I only named them afterwards, and only those that survived to eventually calm down."
Serah calmed, a slight frown tugging on her lips. "But you kept them?"
"Well, I couldn't exactly place a spiked dog in a shelter." Anima paused, leaning back on the couch. "They had nowhere else... So yes, I kept them."
Serah looked back at the pictures. "What's this one's name?"
Anima leaned over to look. "Bismarck."
Serah smiled. "It's a good name, for a bulldog..." She jumped at a knock on the door, before standing with her pistol in hand.
Anima watched as Serah approached the door, opening it carefully.
Serah's eyes suddenly widened. "Light!" She rushed forward to wrap Lightning in a hug.
Lightning sucked in a breath as her pupils dilated, but she grit her teeth and returned the hug.
Fang chuckled from the front steps, her gaze lingering on the pistol that still lay gripped in Serah's hand.
Serah pulled back, and she smiled up at Lightning. "You're here!"
Lightning nodded, lowering her hands to her sides, her fingers twitching of their own volition. "I'm here..."
