Fipp: And here is chapter FIFTY!

Yah~

Purgatory: The Lost Sister

Barthandelus laughed a deep, metallic chuckle as the smoke cleared.

"And so the sheep returns to its flock, unable to stand separation."

Lightning waved a hand, creating an Aero spell to scatter the smoke, and clear the area. She looked up to one of the broken archways, and saw the third person to enter their fight.

It was a young girl, who wore a pink and white dress with sections cut out over the hips, and fingerless gloves that reached mid-bicep, pink and white stockings, and sneakers to match the whole color scheme. In her hands was a compliantly designed bow, with the string pulled fully back.

Her hair was pink, tied into a side-ponytail that fell over her left shoulder, and her eyes were blue.

She didn't know why, but Lightning felt something she…

The girl let loose the arrow, a streaming bolt of energy, aiming at Barthandelus, but the fal'Cie erected a shield,

She suddenly leapt from the column, and landed on the ground. From there, she ran up to Lightning's side, and pointed the weapon at Barthandelus.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked looking over to Lightning.

Lightning didn't respond, but only tried to figure out this feeling.

"Hey!" the girl called, snapping Lightning to attention. "Are you paying attention?"

Lightning blinked, and shook her head. Flicking her wrist, her gunblade fluently shifted from sword to gun. Holding it straight in one hand, she pointed it directly at the beast before them.

"How interesting," Barthandelus laughed. "This world is truly a place of cruelty to allow such people to be summoned."

"What are you talking about?" the girl asked, slightly narrowing her eyes.

Barthandelus continued, "But I suppose these things are unimportant. As tools to the gods, who you are has no bearing. It is now time to follow in the wills of the gods, and lose yourself into endless combat!"

"Don't you ever shut up?" Lightning sneered.

"Such insolence you have." Barthandelus shook his massive head. "But there is no escape from your Focus!"

As energy charged around the fal'Cie, both Lightning and the girl prepared themselves.

000

Barthandelus groaned and he arms and head flailed uselessly before collapsing on the ground.

"This is the end," he said turning his large eyes to the two Warriors of Cosmos. "Defeat is but a meaningless thing in this world, and the only thing I have lost some pride." The metal of his body groaned as he lifted his massive head. "When my body is reborn again, I shall return to only further engage in these games."

Hallowed laughs were let loose as the shadows took him, creating a large cloud of darkness before it dissipated into nothing.

Then, as the final strands of shadows vanished, a bright light shined through, and a small solid object appeared in the air above them.

"What is that?" the girl asked, looking at the shining object as it began to lower to the ground.

"Is that…" Lightning began, walking towards the item, holding her hand out, and it gently placed itself into her palm.

It was a Crystal, in both the shape and color of a rose. "Figures," Lightning said, staring at the Crystal in her palm. "We finally get them, but they're of no use here." Closing her hand, the Crystal vanished in a red glow.

She turned back to the girl.

"Hey, thanks," Lightning said, turning to the girl who had saved her life. "I don't think I've met you, but I'm Lightning." Normally, she tried to avoid any and all form of social interaction but in this case Lightning felt she just had to make an exception. That feeling, the one she couldn't explain, nor ignore, had returned.

"Lightning?" the girl said, turning to her. She flicked her wrist, and weapon vanished. "I'm Serah, or that's at least what Auron told me."

"Auron?" Lightning remember briefly encountering a man in red that matched the description of someone Yuna had once spoke about. Maybe that was him? "Wait," she said after a moment's thought. "Why did he have to tell you your name? Don't you know it?"

The girl, Serah, shook her head. "I actually don't remember my name. Auron appeared with me when our Cycle was done with. I guess we served together, but I honestly don't remember him." Sighing, she looked away, and to the abyss that lay within the Cradle. "Actually, I don't remember anything. Not the Cycle I fought him, nothing from my life, not even my own name."

"Why don't you remember anything?" Lightning asked, concerned. The feeling was growing stronger, and now she was feeling herself very concerned. "From what I've heard, that when you die in battle after a certain number of times, you lose all the memories of the Cycles you fought in, but keep the ones of your home."

Serah looked back to Lightning. "I don't know. From what Auron told me, I did have my memories when we fought together, but we were never close so he doesn't know much about what those memories were." She raised a hand, and began to gently play with the necklace around her neck. "All he knew that that there were people I wanted to help back home, as well as the fact that my name is Serah."

"They how exactly did you lose your memory then?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't know that either. He wasn't with me when I was killed, he can't tell me what exactly happened to me."

"What about other friends? Surely you knew more people than Auron?"

"Yeah, a few. Auron and I weren't the only people to show up here when our Cycle ended, but none of them were traveled with me for most of the Cycle, so none of them have any clues what happened either."

"Have you tried to remember?" Lightning asked.

Serah shot her a glare. "Yeah, I have been trying to remember who I am, but every time I try and recall something, all I get is a headache!" Her expression softened, turning into a face of sadness. "Nothing I do has helped me in anyway. I don't know who I am, where I'm from, what kind of friends and family I have waiting back home for me, or what it was that allowed me to be selected to fight in the first place."

Lightning crossed her arms, annoyed. "I don't think you should be here anyway." None of us should.

"Anyway, what are you doing all the way out here?" Serah asked, changing the subject.

"I'm looking for a way out of this world." Normally, she would have replied with some sort of sarcasm, or at least be a little annoyed, but she didn't feel like doing that.

"That's not going to happen," Serah said, shaking her head. "We've all tried, but no one's managed to find anything. We've all looked across every square inch of this world, and through every Gateway. No one has ever found anything."

"Well I just can't sit around and do nothing, can I?"

Serah looked to the ground. "I suppose so. Everyone needs something to keep them busy, so I guess this'll just be your thing." The girl turned around. "I hope you find something." She then began to walk away.

Lightning watched Serah go, that unknown feeling kept bubbling beneath the surface. That strange, but not unfamiliar, feeling that tore and twisted her insides as she watched the girl go.

"Hey!" Lightning called, causing Serah to stop and turn around.

"Yes?" Serah asked.

"I was thinking…" She turned her view to the ground. "Maybe I do need to take a break. I really haven't had any chances to relax since this whole thing started. I think maybe it would do me a world of good if I took a few days off."

Serah stared at Lightning for several moments before smiling. "That sounds rather nice."

Lightning nodded, and giving her own small smile. "Yeah, a vacation does sound nice."

As Lightning followed Serah, that feeling began to lessen, and she soon found herself oddly happy.

000

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Mrfipp