The air tasted salty. The thin canopies of trees showed deep green. The humidity was so dense, Arc squinted to see a fine mist. The natural beauty of this world rivaled his home.

The crystals stopped talking to him so long ago, replaced by one who Held grander purpose and higher expectations. If only he still had the power of the crystals to fight for Bhunivelze. But then, they were the ones holding him back from seeing such alien sights and dipping into such otherworldly scenes; the giant palace of Bevelle stood tall enough to be seen even from his distance.

"This place is full of people claiming to be scholars," Palom said. "Stuffy halfwits with less than half an idea of what real magic looks like."

Arc said, "If it helps, they'll recognize that soon enough."

Palom grunted and summoned a portal. He leaped through and fire rained where he touched down.

Arc ignored the nagging fear in his stomach and ported himself to a similar spot. Wind ripped at his jacket, even as he summoned stiffening ice across the balconies he fell toward. He whispered incantations.

The nearest balcony exploded as Palom hit it again and sent shrapnel flying.

Arc deflected shards and paused his descent, floating in the air while he surveyed the damage. Palom took out a few balconies, but he saw no people down there. True chaos would not be wrought by architectural destruction alone.

Arc threw his next volley of ice to the walls of the palace. Surely they'd find people inside.

Palom waited for the damage of the ice to set in before hitting it with fire. Metal exploded. Distant screams pierced the air.

Arc grit his teeth, reminding himself to keep his eye on the future. He swept his hands across each other, summoning more ice. He readied to jump.

Thunder rumbled across the sky. Storm clouds gathered with unnatural speed.

He saw light and it slammed into him. The world went dark. Sound crackled about him. Palom threw more fire spells, but none of them hit.

Arc fell.

He fought the fuzziness in his head and angled himself to land. He slammed into a red piece of metal.

His head buzzed. Thoughts of late nights and too much reliance on the power of the crystals to keep him awake so that he could read one more chapter—

No. He shoved those tainted thoughts away. Arc served as a servant of the True Light now and he had work to do.

The power inside him smoothed over his disorientation, like resin filling cracks in an old table.

Palom flipped through the air below. Arc jumped off the hunk of metal and fell. He finally found them. The l'Cie that Bhunivelze Despised.

Arc targeted Sazh and flung a lance of ice at him.

Sazh shattered it in a blast of fire. Arc hit the ground in a crouch and Palom joined him.

Even in his heightened state, Arc wouldn't last long against five gods. Storm, Fire, Life, Devotion, and Guidance. "You could change your mind!" Arc called out. "He may yet Forgive you!"

Devotion said, "You know that Bhunivelze is evil!"

Arc remembered his friends on Blue Terra and pointless arguments with Luneth. Then meeting Krile and Rufus. But that was wrong. He chose rage instead.

Palom landed on the ground beside Arc and flung up a wall of ice. Lightning shattered it with a bolt and Dajh sent sharp vines their way.

Guidance caught Arc's coat with her metal whip and yanked him down. Arc burned the hem and broke free.

Vines ripped up from below and wrapped around his ankles. The fire wouldn't catch this time.


Dajh didn't mean to bring Arc down that fast and now Arc bled. The shards within Arc worked desperately to heal him. Dajh could stop them. But those checkers once forced him to hurt people.

Dajh drew a painful breath and banished his vines.

Arc stumbled to his feet and backed away, holding his shoulder, the part of him that hit the ground first. His sunken eyes locked onto Dajh.

Lightning, Seven, and Jack chased Arc back.

"Hey, hey!" Daddy put a hand on Dajh's shoulder. "You alright?"

Dajh was Dajh. He wasn't dying. And… and he didn't think he was being possessed. If he was, he'd want to run, go find Krile, or… or hurt someone. "I made Arc bleed." He made the man on Ivalice bleed, too. And that blood pooled in checkers.

"You can go back to Valhalla anytime, son."

Dajh looked up and caught his father's sad eyes. "I can do this."


Arc flew. His broken bones reset and repaired as he moved and the wind dried his bloodied clothes.

He wasn't sure where Palom went, but it looked like only Devotion kept chasing him, which meant the other two must have found Palom.

Stabs of wrong thoughts pierced his skull. Was Refia okay after what happened? Would Luneth and Ingus get involved?

He kept telling himself that it didn't matter, that it wasn't his problem, that he needed to focus. He shouldn't struggle so hard to focus.

Stupid Devotion.

Arc lit the area around him with a blinding light, then flew away from the palace to the streets below.

The world darkened. How did he end up back on one of the islands surrounding the place?

Gritting his teeth, he kicked back up off the ground—

Something wrapped around his arm and ripped him back down. He slammed into the sand and his head rang. He was still healing.

"We can't save everyone." He didn't recognize the voice, but something about it sparked red. Guidance. "There are only so many times we'll repeat the same thing."

Guidance and the Storm.

"I don't understand." His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. "You know how important it is that this gets done, why won't you join His side? He's offered it to you, hasn't He?"

"Where is he, kid?" Storm asked.

"I'm not a kid." Guilt prickled his skin. He didn't know why. He couldn't answer the question, and they knew that. "I… am a Warrior of the Light!"

Arc vented power and disrupted them enough to kick out with more energy and portal to the second target.

He stumbled to his feet and found himself face-to-face with a chaotic, ravaged town. Palom got here first.

He stood inches from waves that rolled against the scorched dock he stood on. Sunlight sparkled in the water, showing no sign of the destruction occurring behind him.

A dizziness swept over him, knocking him to his knees. Screams. Arc was Chosen. A portal opened beneath him and Arc fell onto his back.

Palom kicked him. "Come on, we've got places to be."

"Did you kill anyone?" Arc asked.

"Don't think I'm stupid. I did what I had to."

Arc blotted out the doubt as Palom dragged him through another portal. They had more work to do.