Guest review replies:

Elendyr – Good memory! We're definitely heading into the search. Is it wrong that I like writing confrontational scenes? Making characters face their mistakes and emotions is so satisfying, especially when it leads to character development. Thanks for reviewing!

Maqui couldn't get through. He hopped from foot to foot, dancing in place as he listened to the ringer until he got Hope's voicemail again. "Dammit!" Maqui kicked at one of the books at his feet, the binding smacking against the couch. "Answer, will you?"

"Yeah. That's the information we've found for now. I'll call back later." Maqui turned to watch Cass hang up his phone. Cass closed his fist around it, his eyes filled with a panic that Maqui could feel. "Still can't get an answer?" Cass asked.

"No. Who was that?"

Cass shook his head in a dismissive gesture. "Representative Hildough."

"Why? Since when do you call him?"

"Since this is a matter that he will have to deal with when facing the Sanctum. Since Hope, the fucking director, isn't answering. Why are you questioning me? Keep calling! Call Alyssa if you have to."

Maqui jumped to do just that, but the cell flew from his hand, a bullet piercing through the device and sending it flying against a bookcase. Maqui barely had time to secure his hand against his chest, to wonder What the fucking hell? before a voice echoed through the library.

"Sorry, boys," came a gruff female voice from the entrance. A woman stood there, armed with a blade and accompanied by an equally armed man. Both were enshrouded in familiar black cloaks.

"No…" Maqui whispered through quivering lips.

Cass moved forward, golden triple barrel revolver aimed toward the two. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The woman didn't blink at the question, just moved forward, uninhibited by the threat. Before she could take three steps, Cass pulled the trigger twice, aiming right between her eyes. A hefty blade swung through the air, blocking the bullets from their target and causing them to ricochet away. Cass had to duck one of his own bullets as it came back at him.

"I don't think so, little man." The grey-haired man accompanying the woman pulled his sword back at his side as he gained a fighting stance.

Maqui stood still, wincing as one of the blocked bullets whizzed past his ear. He could feel his heart pulsing with a jackrabbit fervor in his chest. He held his hand over it, squeezing the fabric of his shirt. Trying to contain it, quell it, before he died right there of a heart attack. Those robes. Those faces. Maqui was useless, his hands empty. Not like Cass. The teen was ready and willing to fight, courage in his stance and the heft of his stare.

"They're Castea's men," Cass whispered quickly. "We're no match for them. You're unarmed and I have a limited stock of bullets on me. We have to get out of here."

Maqui's fists tightened. These were the people that stole his friends, beat him until he couldn't move, and laughed at his helplessness.

I will not run and hide this time.

"Oi!" Two chakrams swung out from the direction of the call. The woman ducked the curved arc of the first one. The man batted the second away as if it were a fly. "Need a little assistance?" Zalera jumped to catch her chakrams as they returned. She came to stand before Cass and Maqui, and Maqui would never admit how relieved he felt to be facing her back.

Hope jerked awake. His body spasmed, air dragging through his lungs like he had returned from the desert during a sandstorm. His chest burned in a raw, bruised way, and he felt along his cold skin, gaze meeting Lightning's panicked expression. He was laid out in bed, Lightning leaned over him with her hands balled up over his chest.

It had been dream. Or some projection of one.

Castea hadn't been lying about her construct.

"As you wish."

A foreboding feeling sunk inside of him, because Castea wasn't known for lies.

"For the love of Etro, Hope." Lightning fell against him, her forehead dropping against his clavicle as she breathed a ragged, "One minute. Is one minute for a reprieve too much to ask for?"

"Probably."

Lightning surfaced, giving him a deadpan stare before her hand pressed against his ribcage. "What happened?"

"I- I don't-" Lightning's frenzied concern and searching grasp confused him. "Are you okay?" If everything with Castea had occurred within his head, then why did Lightning look like she did when he woke in the hospital. He was still at home, right?

"Me? You were the one that didn't have a pulse a minute ago. I was performing CPR when you nearly threw me from the bed."

That explained the forceful, throbbing feeling of his chest. Hope rubbed his knuckles against his chest, wide-eyed, unblinking. He could only wonder if that was what the abducted crew had endured in their time-stopped sleep. "We don't have time for this," Hope decided, sitting up and reaching for his comm. "Listen, Light. Castea's coming. She plans on attacking the city with everything she's got. We have to-"

The first strike hit with a thunderous blast that shook the room. Hope's bed rumbled, his body falling over into Lightning as his furniture shook and his belonging's crashed to the ground. A bright streak lit across the sky outside of his window, and Hope's eyes barely had time to trace the smoke trail before there was another explosion and the shaking continued.

It was already starting.

Pyres of smoke rose into the sky. Explosions rocked the city, one earth-shaking, bone-quaking boom after another. Screams pierced through the air, shouts cut off as bullets struck and bodies fell to the ground. Blood streaked the streets as missiles streaked the skies. Buildings toppled into each other. Inhabited structures crumbled above, leaving the city in a fiery, dust-fogged haze. Bodies of civilians and soldiers alike laid in the streets, their blood mixing on the pavement. Havoc and turmoil ruled Academia, and it had only been twenty minutes.

"You shouldn't be out here, Gadot!" Yuj shoved against the man's massive chest, stumbling over rubble and hands of the dead. "Get back to your room until the hospital is evac'ed."

"I'm not going to watch our home fall," Gadot yelled, grabbing hold of Yuj's wrists and swinging him effortlessly out of the way of falling glass as windows shattered above. "This can't be happening."

Dozens of ships hovered in the sky. Men dropped down, falling into the puddle of purple sparks that their grav-con units activated. The soldiers held their guns to their chest, shooting down any Academia citizen and soldier that their sights found. It was like the hanging edge all over again. Yuj took an involuntary step back, his body numbly finding Gadot's. The screams of the dying purge victims filled his ears once again, the event still existing as a traumatic stain on his psyche. NORA banned together to save those people, filled them with hope of survival and freedom just to watch them fall into a pit of darkness. Yuj hated how the mistakes of the past seemed doomed to repeat.

"Watch out!"

Yuj found himself eating dirt as he was shoved to the ground. With a cough, Yuj batted his eyelashes against the fuzz of gray to find Gadot standing against an enemy. A mark stood out on the unidentified man's chest, peeking out above the buttons of his shirt.

"You bastards," Gadot growled, his fists balled, but he wasn't' the brawler of their group. He snagged an assault rifle from one of the dead by his feet. "I'm not letting you get away with what you've done." Bullets tore from Gadot's gun, but they didn't get far. They ricocheted off of the man's protect barrier.

"I think I liked you better asleep," the man replied, leveling his own gun at Gadot.

Yuj moved on instinct. Scrambling up from the dirt, he pulled a knife from his boot and thrust it into the back of the l'Cie's skull before he could be noticed. Yuj yanked the knife back out with a firm tug, watching the man fall to the ground. "Are you just going to stand there?" Yuj cried.

"Yuj! Gadot!" Both turned to spot Nivien, Olly, and a handful of GC officers and operatives approaching. "Those are Sanctum ships," Nivien shouted over the roar of explosions and the whirr of engines overhead. "Are we now at war with Sanctum City?"

Yuj's gaze fell to the man that he had just slain. "I think this is the same war that we've been fighting for a while now." He knelt down, using the tip of his bloodied knife to pull open the man's shirt and reveal more of his brand. "That's a l'Cie."

"They're working with them?" Olly's eyes went wide as he ducked a shot. The bullet struck the soldier behind him, the back of the woman's head exploding with blood and brain matter before she fell.

Nivien took aim and gunned the shooter down with her gunblade, bullets pocking the ground through the man's body long after he was dead. She gave a satisfied grunt before dropping her sight. "Appears so. Orders were to get all civilians and injured to the bunker and try to drive these guys out. There was nothing about who the enemy was, but that doesn't seem hard to deduce." Her gaze swiveled around their group in a cursory check before she dropped her weapon just enough to grip Olly's shoulder. "You okay, little brother?"

Olly's grip tightened on his weapon, stilling the shake of his hands. "All good, Lieutenant. Ready and willing to shoot."

Nivien blinked back. "But. You-"

"That's right, soldier," Gadot laughed, raising his gun in the air as he came to the center of the group. "Let's give these guys hell. We aren't gonna sit back and take it, right?"

"Right," Olly confirmed with a determined smile, his stiff, concrete frame loosening.

"Anyone hear a status on the director?" Nivien asked.

"I wouldn't worry about Hope too much," Yuj replied with a chuckle. "Lightning's got him."

A ship pulled up over the groups' heads, its massive body blocking out the sun as its engine roared. A few dozen men rained down upon them.

And like that, another battle began.

Hope could feel his heart beat with every blast that tore apart the city. Strained, slow, agonized beats. Struggling more with each blow. Devastation pulsed within his body, curdling his bloodstream.

Catching his Airwing as it swung back towards him, Hope watched his faceless, nameless opponent fall to the ground. Lightning finished him off before he could stand, skewering him in the chest with her gunblade. With that, the last of the group that had ascended upon them from the skies were neutralized. Hope's eyes trailed across the bodies, to the blood dripping from Lightning's blade, to the smear of blood and hair left on his boomerang from that last attack. There were grunts and groans at his back. Hope turned, watching as the survivors of his assigned guard were being treated.

Another boom rocked the earth, and Hope felt it marrow-deep. A building not three blocks away succumbed to its injuries as it crumbled, piece by piece, until the entire structure fell to the ground, a waterfall of stone and glass cascading down as smoke whooshed up. Hope couldn't see the wreckage below, but he could hear the screams, horns honking, the sounds of tires screeching and cars crunching together. The sight sunk Hope to his knees, his boomerang falling from his grasp.

Castea's words howled back at him as vengeful as gunfire. This was his choice. A burning, bleeding city. He smacked Castea's hand away, denied her cease-fire proposal. Castea remained true to her words.

He regretted his decision.

Lightning's calls broke him out of his spiraling thoughts. He pulled his gunblade just in time to defend himself against an oncoming attacker. As he dodged a fire spell and shoved back against the l'Cie's blade, Hope centered himself. He clipped himself free of his emotional ties to his city, cauterized the wound, and focused on staying alive. Lightning wasn't far, utilizing the smashed hood of a car as a springboard as she shot up into the air, shooting down one, two, three heads before she landed. Her fighting spirit burned strong. Hope felt his own ignite in kind. He tore a page from Rygdea's book, taking a stance as the l'Cie came at him. Hope waited until the blade came down, ready to split open the crown of his skull before he moved, jamming the butt of his gunblade into the l'Cie's sternum. It stopped his attacker cold. She wheezed, trying to take in loud, stuttering airfuls. Hope pierced her in her side as she staggered. She dropped. Hope fell with her, following his blade until he could rip it out. He ignored the cracking of her ribs, the way her mouth still guppied until it slowed to a stop.

A soft drop on his cheek distracted Hope from his mounting sense of disquiet. For a moment, he thought of rain, a downpour washing away the flames and conflict. Hope swiped at the spot with his gloved finger, looked down upon the smeared gray sheen left behind. More soft drops landed, light as snow on his face, tangling in his lashes. Hope's eyes searched the skies, watching as powdery flakes drifted in the air. Ashes. They fell from the burning buildings, tiny fragments dropping from the billowing, black smoke.

Hope had to center himself again, stop his heart from reacting as he thought of the ash being from more than just burnt structures. Burnt skin. Burnt hair. Bones burning like kindling. Hands reaching out-

Lightning was standing atop a pile of rubble, bright blues searching. Hope approached, taking Lightning's free hand to pull her away. The sudden recoil of her touch offset Hope, and he fell back down the few steps from the pile.

Lightning's gaze turned glacial, looking at him.

"S-sorry," Lightning said, her eyes blinking rapidly as she shifted in her stance. "Got to keep sharp out here."

Hope nodded, swallowing against that feeling inside of him. The one that lingered, reminding him of how small he once was at her feet. A burden in combat.

There was a muffled shout from nearby, and Hope ran toward it, diving into a plume of white smoke. The shouts continued, a series of tumps following. Hope struggled forward, listening. Within the cloud of smoke was an overturned car. A little girl was in the back, beating her hands against the window.

"Back up from the glass!" Hope shooed the girl to the other side of the car with his hand. She responded with a frantic nod, scooting herself across the bent up metal of the roof as far as she could. "Cover your eyes!" Hope waited until she did just that before slamming the hilt of his gunblade into the window. The glass cracked. Another slam saw that it shattered. Hope carefully maneuvered himself inside. He could feel the sting as a piece of protruding glass nicked his ear, but he kept his face clear of pain, annihilating any traces of fear as he held out his arms toward this tiny girl. She jumped into his arms, and Hope tucked her against his chest.

Hope pulled her away from the site, already calculating the fastest route to safety. There was an adamant tug on his Academy coat. The girl squirmed in his hold, drawing Hope's attention to her plight. "What is it? Are you okay?" Hope set the girl down to check her for injuries, but she bolted back to the car, returning to tug fervently on the driver's side door. A man was in the front seat, smashed between the steering wheel and the roof of the car, unmoving.

Hope could see the fear in her eyes. The distress. He remembered reaching out a hand, grasping into the dark.

The door was dented in. Hope tried to pry the door open, pulling with every ounce of his strength. The girl was trying too, at his side, her little fingers turning purple with the tension. With a groan of protest, the door sprang open. Hope panted, wiping at his brow. The girl wasted no time, running to the man, pulling on his arm. She shoved herself in the car, putting her arms around his waist as she attempted to pull the upside down man out.

"Please! Please, Daddy, c'mon! We gotta get outta here!" She pulled so hard on him that she fell backwards, the strap to her overalls snapping as she rolled onto her backside. She sat up with clenched fists and teary eyes. She looked at Hope with those eyes. "You gotta help him!"

The man was beyond saving, but how could he tell that to a child? Hope pushed himself up, praying as he yanked off his fraying glove to feel for a pulse in his neck, then his wrist. When there was no response, Hope sat back on his heels, waiting for the man to cough, breathe, move, something. There were no signs of life. "I'm sorry, but..."

"No!" she screamed, pushing him away and lying beside her father, embracing his body against hers as she sobbed into his shirt. "Not daddy, too..."

Another orphan.

Hope let the girl have her moment, one he had with his own father, one that was stolen from him with his mother. Another blast caused the ground to shift beneath his feet, the pavement cracking. Time was up. Hope trudged forward. He reached for the girl who swatted at his hands, shrieking at him, holding onto her father's arm with bruised fingers. Hope fought against his nature, tugging the girl free as he disentangled her fingers and forced her away. She kicked and hit Hope, biting his hand, his chin as she struggled to get back to the car.

"He's gone, okay? We have to get you out of here."

She stilled in his hold, her teeth pulling free from his chin as her tears ran fierce. "I just want my daddy," she cried.

"I know. I want mine, too."

She sobbed in his arms, looking back as Hope walked away. She clung to him. He could feel her shaking with the force of her grief. She wiped her nose on the front of her shirt before she asked, quietly, heartbreakingly, "You lost your daddy, too?"

Hope had to breathe through that one.

"Yes. I lost my daddy, too. I know you're sad and I know you don't want to leave him, but what was your daddy doing before you... got in an accident?"

"...He said he had to get me to a safe place."

Smiling warmly at the girl, Hope pushed a lock of her wavy violet hair from her wet and sticky face. "Right. Your daddy wanted you safe, so that's what we're going to do. Get you someplace safe."

She accepted with a slow nod. "What about daddy?"

"He's..."

Dead. But what about the body? Hope would have given anything to find his mother's remains. To have a burial. Put her to rest with the rest of the fallen. Hope couldn't give this girl that. He couldn't carry a body, or preserve it until the battle was over. This could be her final goodbye.

"I-"

"He's already safe," the girl mumbled.

"What?"

Her chapped lips cracked into a small, subdued smile. "Daddy's with mommy now. They're both safe. They're both together. That's just his body. Daddy doesn't need it anymore."

Hope stared down at the child in his arms, astonished and dumbfounded and stupefied. "Where did you learn that?"

"Daddy told me that when mommy died," she said in a forced, disapproving tone, as if Hope should have known that. "Daddy told me mommy died in the fall... and even though we didn't have her body to bury, that that was all right. It was just a body. She doesn't need it anymore. Mommy's spirit is free and her soul is safe. She's in Etro's land with grandpa and grams."

Taking in a sharp breath, Hope wrestled with his own thoughts about death, wishing he could reconcile his feelings as easily as she. Was it that simple? Death was like giving your loved ones over to Etro?

"What's your name?"

"Hope. My name's Hope."

The girl then held her hand out timidly. "Emilina."

With a chuckle, Hope grasped her hand and shook it, carefully handling the swollen digits. "How old are you, Emilina?"

"I'm nine." Emilina watched, amazement sparkling in her eyes as Hope held her hand in his, a green glow emanating from his skin. The red and purple color faded away, the swelling of her fingers receding. Every visible bump and scrape that she had disappeared, and Hope could breathe a little easier. "Wow..." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

"Let's get you out of here, okay?" Before Emilina could reply, a charged laser blast hit the ground a few feet from them. Hope saw the strike coming, had just enough time to shield Emilina, before he was thrown from his feet by the impact. His body landed harshly against the concrete, bits of asphalt raining around him as a streetlamp went down in a shower of sparks.

There was silence as Hope blinked against his disorientation. He padded his hands along himself, his head, in a quick rundown for injuries. His head swam, and his glove came back from his brow with a smear of blood. His ears popped and there was a ringing sound that made his head throb worse. He looked back down at his hand. It felt lighter.

Emilina.

She was no longer in his arms. Hope spun around, looking, looking, looking, but not finding. Bullets rang out. Buildings toppled into each other. A hoverbike flew over his head in an arc before slamming into a parked van. This was no place for her to be, lost and grieving. An urgency to find her skyrocketed through him, but the throbbing brought him back down to the ground.

He couldn't find her.

Emilina.

Lightning.

"Mom…"

Hope blacked out.

Lightning flinched at the contact. A touch. Warm and human in the middle of carnage. It was unexpected, Hope at her back out of nowhere, "S-sorry," she heard herself say, and something else as she steeled herself on the field. She had almost forgotten what this was like.

Cocoon was ripping itself apart around them as they ran through the streets. There were wounded all around them. People she ignored because they weren't important.

Lightning felt cold all of a sudden, staring down at the lingering warmth on her fingertips.

"Feeling self-conscious?"

Stiffening at the words, Lightning's blood crackled with adrenaline. This confrontation would not end like the last - with Lightning on the floor, brain riddled with images that she could never erase.

Since when do you invade my mind?

"I've been in here for a while, darling. You didn't know?"

Lightning snarled as she twisted around to catch sight of the enemy.

"How could I have ever gotten something past you?"

Lightning stopped. Castea was in her sights, the woman standing inside the bottom floor of a ten-story hotel that lost eight floors against the parking garage next door.

"You going to fight me this time?"

Lightning ran for her, ready to do more than make her bleed. She would make her scream and beg. She would rip out any light that remained in the dark pit that was her soul. Glass crunched beneath her boots as Lightning flew through the shattered entryway doors. The room was abandoned, floors and ceilings cracked, a lone escalator struggling through its motions. There was a muted quality to it all. As if the outside world faded into nothing when Lightning entered. Castea stood there, staring, grinning with that smug grin of hers. That smirk made Lightning sick. She wanted nothing more than to knock that air of pride and control out with Castea's teeth.

Reigning in her violent impulses, Lightning halted in her pursuit. The soldier took control with its discerning eye that knew that there was more to this lure as Castea effortlessly reeled her in.

"Acting cowardly now, are we? I thought you were going to... What was it? Ah, yes... 'See if this ghost could bleed.'"

Lightning's muscles jerked in Castea's direction, but Lightning was not going to be elicited into making the first move. No, she was going to take back some of the control that Castea thrived on.

"No?" Castea shrugged. "That's quite all right, really. We'll just stay here and stare at each other. Academia will fall. Your friends will die. But we'll keep on standing here... staring... wasting time..."

Easing the wound tension from her body, Lightning cocked her hip, leaning it on a hand and stood unimpressed by the charade. "When Hope said that you could talk, he wasn't kidding. You love the sound of your own voice, don't you? You're just another egotistical psycho on a power trip. I've dealt with your type before. You're a dime a dozen."

"Trying to ruffle my feathers. Bravo." Castea applauded Lightning with a slow golf clap. She lowered her hands to her sides as she stared Lightning down, steel grey eyes boring into icy blue.

Something changed in the air, a crackling as if the space between them grew charged. Lightning sensed the shift, swinging her gunblade up to parry the icicles that formed out of thin air and shot in her direction. The ice shattered against her blade, bits ricocheting to nick along her limbs. Then Castea was in front of her. An arm's reach away with that unbearable smirk. Lightning lunged for her before being blown back by the blast of a water spell. The water engulfed her, filling her lungs, stinging her eyes. She thought to fight against the force, twist herself out of its pull, but her body was slammed back against something so hard that she felt every bone in her body tingle, the pain a half step behind as she grit her teeth against it. She forced her arm to move, hand wiping at the water that glossed her eyes, looking to find Castea still standing there, watching with amusement. Lightning had been flung across the room by her spell. Lightning stood, leaning her water-logged weight against the concrete wall that she had been pushed against.

"Determination may be your finest quality," Castea remarked, "but that dogged nature will no doubt be your downfall."

Lightning shook out her limbs, bounced on her toes. Tucking the pain into the back of her mind, Lightning faced her opponent. She could deal with the consequences of this battle later. For now, she needed to win this. After drawing in a deep breath, Lightning sped towards her target, head on.

Lightning closed in, but Castea drew up a hand, passing it before the approaching Lightning slowly. Recognizing the spell for what it was, Lightning pushed herself harder. If she could just outrun the spell, attack the caster before it was complete, she would have her.

Too late.

The air crackled around her. A chill slithered down Lightning's spine as her body involuntarily slowed. Her body fell into an alraune's pace despite the drive of her attack. Recognizing it as a slow spell, Lightning cursed. Running into a battle with a l'Cie on her own had not been the wisest of moves. It took all six of their gang and their powers to take down Raines.

As Lightning felt the crunch of power on her body as it was forced to submit, she had to face the fact that this wasn't an average l'Cie that she was facing, either. Castea's magic was more potent than Raines' best.

Panic seized Lightning's chest. The futility of her efforts wore down on her.

It hardly seemed worth the fight.

A sharp pain burned through her side. Then another. And another. She was being stabbed repeatedly while she was helpless to react.

I can't do a thing.

Lightning countered that thought, pulling herself up out of that consuming quicksand that was her doubts.

I need to win this. There is no other option. Not today.

The only way that she could get out of her predicament was to counteract the slow spell. There was a way to free a person from it from within, but it took immense concentration. She had to slow her body down faster than the spell, regain control of her own actions. It was a technique that Amodar taught her when facing an opponent with a manadrive that inflicted slow.

Panic was the first thing that needed to go. Ignoring another stab to her body, Lightning calmed her mind, releasing her emotions, untethering her mind from the city being obliterated outside. Once her mind was at peace, her pulse began to slow. Her heartbeat became a low thrum. Her breathing stopped. Her body went limp for just a moment, Castea's slow spell creeping to consumption, before Lightning jolted herself free. With one precise movement, time was restored around her. Before Castea could react, Lightning thrust her blade in her direction, aim directed at the woman's heart.

Castea turned, taking a slice to the bicep. Castea stumbled back, blinking back her consternation and Lightning devoured that look. She wanted to savor the woman's confusion, slice it up and preserve some for leftovers. Lightning took advantage of Castea's stun, heaving her blade up and driving it down upon the woman. Castea caught the descending blade between her hands.

Lightning grunted as she tried to push against Castea, her weapon slipping further down through Castea's palms with every shove of her weight. Lightning had no way to compete with Castea's magic, but she knew that she could best Castea in a competition of physical strength.

"I have to say that I'm impressed. My magic is not easily parried. Again, I applaud you." Castea's gaze left the saber and its wavering descent as she looked into Lightning's face. "You are a marvelous fighter. You have a steel drive and an unwavering determination to save those that you care for. I was doubtful, at first. I mean," the blade slipped further, and Castea struggled against Lightning's assault, her palms turning slick against the metal, her words breathy, but relentless, "you didn't come for him. You didn't even try."

Lightning couldn't stop herself from reacting.

She recoiled from the assertion, her weight lifting from Castea briefly.

Hope.

He was bound. Struggling. Bleeding.

Lightning recovered, pushing back harder. But she knew by Castea's pinched, tired smile that a door had been opened just wide enough for the conniving l'Cie to slip through.

"At some point, he started screaming for you. You were never going to come... were you, Light?"

Lightning hated Castea. Despised her. Abhorred her.

Lightning thought she knew hatred. When her mother called her sister an imposter. When staring Anima down with a band of misfits. When facing Raines as he blocked their path to freedom. As she listened to the high-pitched giggling of Orphan as he snubbed their defiance.

But this.

This was a burning, festering hatred that spread within her. Its toxins polluted her insides, driving her weight down harder upon Castea.

Hope's torture was in the rear-view mirror. The two of them were working past those events, forgiving each other for their own mistakes and burdens. Yet Castea swung them around, pulling Lightning into a U-turn that put his captivity firmly in her headlights. Lightning hated it, hated Castea.

Hated herself.

"I won't let you do this. I won't let you haunt us this way!" Lightning yelled.

"I am not a ghost stalking you, child. I am simply acting as your mirror. I reflect what you already feel."

Lightning refused to buckle in the face of her words, as her wounds stretched and bled under the strain. Lightning kept pushing forward, the muscles in her biceps, her thighs, her core, everything straining. Castea held her own, but her frame shook against the onslaught, skin shining with sweat as it dribbled down the sides of her face.

A little more.

There was a hitch in Castea's breath.

It alerted the nerves in Lightning's body.

Stalling. Castea was stalling.

With a swift spin, Lightning turned and stabbed Castea in the gut. Her gunblade firmly pierced a new Castea that had been lurking behind Lightning. The other faded into a mist in the air. Shock split open Castea's expression as she was hunched over the weapon within her abdomen. Eyes wide and mouth agape, Castea's breath was a mere squeak from her mouth as blood dribbled forth instead of air.

Not allowing the opportunity to pass, Lightning withdrew her gunblade from Castea and swung to finish this once and for all. A deafening clang rang through the room as her blade passed through air and slammed against the ground. The impact reverberated through Lightning's arm, up into her chest. There was no one there. Nothing.

Castea had vanished.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuck!" Lightning yelled out into the air, a groan of jumbled consonants following as she felt everything unfurl from her control. "Where did she go now?!"

A chuckle sounded around her.

Suffocating her.

"Was I ever even there in the first place?"

A resonating blast shook the area. Gadot struggled to keep his footing, his hand shooting out to hold another soldier up as others in their group tumbled to the ground. He kept his eye on Olly, his fellow survivor who held his gun like a shield against his bruised chest. The kid was covered by his sister as the shaking continued. A loud screech of metal came from up above, followed by a bellowing groan. Gadot looked up, listening to the Academy building's death throes as it began to cave into itself. The upper floors collapsed into the lower half of the building. It looked as though it was the end for the Academy base, the debris flooding out the sides, until its unbalanced descent toppled it sideways.

"Maqui!"

Gadot swiveled around as he heard Yuj scream. Yuj ran from the safety of their team, scrambling toward the building, arms out, as if his meager strength would be enough to heave the building back up.

"Cover me," Gadot ordered as he gunned it after Yuj. Yuj ran through smoke and gunfire and the spray of an obliterated fire hydrant. Dust and smoke puffed out of the building in an enormous cloud that swallowed everything and Yuj dove right into it. Gadot had no choice but to follow. He coughed and choked as he plunged in, his eyes stinging and he had to continuously wipe them as he kept Yuj in his sight. As they closed in on the Academy, it was like the eye of a storm, the perimeter clear enough to breathe. A chunk of the building broke off, descending down upon an unknowing Yuj. "Heads up!" Gadot dove for him, caught him by the hips and pulled them both out of the debris' path. They landed on their sides, his arms clamped around Yuj. "You need to watch yourself, Yuj."

"You don't understand. Maqui is-" Before the words could make it out, the Academy Base's front doors swung open to reveal a battered Maqui, Cass and who Gadot assumed was Zalera, the Pulsian wrapped in a striking green. He had heard about her from his team. The three ran out of the building, huffing as the structure continued to groan in its demise. "Maqui!" Yuj pulled himself free, Gadot understanding Yuj's desperation as he let go. Had he known that Maqui was in that building, Gadot would have beaten Yuj to it.

"You guys are okay," Maqui replied, though his expression seemed to retract that statement as he looked them over.

"Dude!" Yuj grabbed Maqui and pulled him in for a hug, clapping him on the back as he pulled away. "I thought you were a goner."

"Heh, so did I."

"What's going on?" Zalera asked. She held chakrams in each hand, and Gadot's eyes lingered on the blood stains.

"Castea's attacked," Nivien replied as she retracted her blade into gun mode, "and she's working with Sanctum City."

"So you know?" Maqui's face pinched, the way it did back when they were in the orphanage and an older kid would beat him to an answer.

Gadot picked himself up from the ground, retrieving his rifle. "It hasn't been confirmed. Wait- How'd you know that?"

Another explosion bellowed from East Academia followed by another in the west. Cass sucked in a breath and holstered his weapon as he fished his phone from his pocket. "It doesn't matter now. We know. I have to call Kori."

They came under another barrage of gunfire, and an ally soldier at Olly's side went down. More Sanctum soldiers were charging toward them. The group huddled around Cass, circling him in protection as he made his call. Whipping his pistol back out, Cass shot at the enemy as he put his phone on speaker.

"Call Hope and Lightning when you're done," Nivien shouted as she struggled with an enemy, his blade nearly catching her throat.

Gadot kept Yuj and Maqui at his sides, shooting any person that dared approach. His back was at Cass', his shoulder blades bumping into the middle of Gadot's back. He could hear the burst of static preceding a girl's voice.

"Cass! Oh my Etro, are you all right?!"

Gadot could feel Cass' relieved sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

Kori sniffled back, screams and explosions loud around her. "Dad's bleeding and-and we... I-I don't think I can f-find him anywhere he-he-I got separated from him on our way to the bunker and-"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the square, by that commemorative statue. The ugly one with the- Oh Maker, Cass-" Kori coughed and coughed and coughed. There was what sounded like an engine near her before another blast. "-there's so much smoke..."

"Kori, I'll-" A high-pitched shriek crackled through the speaker before the line went dead. "Kori! Kori!"

Frantic hands pushed at Gadot's back, and he turned, letting Cass through. Cass sprang free, dashing out in Kori's direction. Gadot thought to stop him, to offer assistance, but he had Maqui and Yuj to think about.

"What are you doing?" Olly cried.

"I have to find my sister!"

"But-"

"He'll be just fine," Nivien assured.

Gadot hoped so. As the white stripes of his shirt disappeared into the pandemonium of war, Gadot found himself sending out prayers to the kid and his sister.

"Guh!"

Zalera took an elbow to the face before she was kicked in the gut. She stumbled back, her heel catching the edge of a mangled table and she fell. Her attacker had brutal-looking slashes in his chest from what Gadot assumed was Zalera's weapon of choice. The glow of a cure surrounded the Sanctum soldier as he advanced on her, tossing his manadrive aside as he held up his baton. He was on her in the next second, his baton at her throat, choking her.

Gadot lifted his rifle, aimed and shot. The l'Cie took two shots in the back of his head, Zalera scooting out of the path of his fall as he went down. She held her throat, coughing as she swatted the baton away. Gadot's eyes looked over the woman, her tribal clothes, the beads in her hair, then at the jagged tears in the front of the fallen soldier's armor that signified a deathblow for any normal, non-manadrive wielding civilian. Gadot held out a hand. Zalera took it, muttering a rasped thanks.

"No problem."

"That girl said something about a bunker," Zalera said distractedly, rushing to acquire her tossed weapons. "What's that?"

"The underground bunker was only supposed to be for an emergency," Gadot explained as he kept an eye out and his finger on the trigger. "I suppose that's where everyone's going for shelter. It won't be able to hold this whole city, though."

Zalera clicked her tongue as emerald eyes glanced out. "There isn't a whole city to keep safe anymore."

Gadot could only grunt back an affirmative. He turned back, his eyes lighting on an incoming man in the distance. The guy was shooting enemies left and right as he ran toward them.

"Sazh?"

He was a man on a mission as he shot any l'Cie that dared to get in his way. Gadot was prepared for him to join their team, but he passed right by, his eye on the base behind them.

Grabbing his jacket, Gadot held him back. "No. Sazh. What do you think you're doing?"

Sazh struggled. Pulling himself forward to get out of Gadot's hold, he panted and flung himself around wildly. "I have to get to Dajh!"

"And get yourself killed?" Zalera retorted.

"Daaaaaajh! I gotta get to my son." Gadot continued to pull him back, dodging a fist to the cheek until Sazh had enough. Sazh pulled his pistol and aimed it at Gadot's face. "You better back off, now. I have to get to my son."

Gadot let him go, growling as he did so. He doubted Sazh had it in him. It wasn't fear that loosened Gadot's grip. It was empathy. A part of Gadot wanted to tear in there after Snow, too.

With swift and precise movement, Zalera kicked the gun from Sazh's hand before kneeing him in the stomach. It was a hard enough blow that Gadot winced, the sound loud even in the cacophony of chaos. Sazh fell to his knees as he stared up in anger at the woman. She scowled back at him just as fiercely. "Dajh is fine. Nothing is getting through that crystal."

"Believe me," Maqui said as he skirted close, "I don't like leaving Snow in there either, but she's right. This is where being stuck in crystal is good for them."

"For now, we need to focus on finding the director," Nivien urged, a hint of exasperation in her tone.

"Hope's missing again?" Sazh asked, leaping into panic.

"Not like that," Gadot replied, holding his hand out for Sazh this time. "At least I hope not. He's MIA, for now. No one can seem to locate him in this mess."

"Honestly. What were those uniforms for?" Nivien grumbled before speaking up. "The unit guarding him went dark. He was last seen with Sergeant Farron."

"We should call them both," Zalera recommended.

"And catch a bullet for our troubles?" Sazh remarked. "Have you seen the mess we're standing in right now?"

"NORA's got you. We'll cover." Gadot gave them a nod and an awkward salute with his too-long rifle. "A city without its leader is no city at all."

Castea held her stomach, hands full of blood and failure. She couldn't get herself to heal the wound, only feel it in every stretch of torn skin and sliced vein. The girl had overwhelmed her. She leapt far over Castea's estimations, and left her with this.

An uncertainty that Castea swore she would never feel again.

Barsilisk approached from where he stood on their hilltop overseeing the battle. She fell into his outstretched arms, allowing herself as much comfort as she could extract.

"What happened with the Farron girl?" Barsilisk asked, sounding just as dumbfounded by Castea's state as she was.

Castea hissed at Lightning's surname, baring teeth and peeling herself from her husband's hold. "They're not supposed to be this strong," she snarled.

Understanding swept over his features, along with a tiredness that was always present. He tried to bat her hands away from her injury, but Castea held onto it, curling her fingers in like it was her lone consolation prize. "You knew this would happen," he reminded her, his hands slipping beneath hers as he brushed against her abdomen as if in caress. She felt the wound closing, sealing shut with the small hitch of his finger as it remained in the hole. Castea gasped, ripping herself away.

His face took on that of apology, but she knew that it had hardly been an accident. "You should have anticipated this."

Castea narrowed her eyes at him. She took the liberty of curing the rest herself. "I knew the boy would progress, gain strength. He had to have been chosen for a reason. But this soon? You should have seen-" Castea raised a hand to her neck, imagining if the whip of water had hit its target. "As far as Lightning is concerned, she should have cracked by now. Maybe we need to give her another push. Her sister should do nicely."

"We won't have to resort to that." Barsilisk took Castea by the shoulders, rubbing them soothingly before he turned her around to face the destruction. She lifted her head, taking in the scene greedily as if it were a festival going on below. "Once both she and Hope realize what this means and their part in it, we won't have to worry."

"This world must burn." Castea looked up at the crystalized Cocoon in the sky, then down, out past Academia, toward the smoky haze of the horizon. "But he will never give in, will he?"

"When has your persistence never paid off? Give it time, my dear."

She nodded in his arms. Castea turned back toward him, lifting herself on her toes to peck him on the lips. "You'll stay by my side, right? When I stand and lead the new world?"

"Of course."

Dull. His face was always masked in such dullness when speaking of her, to her.

Castea's smile faltered, her lips pursing. She gave his cheek a pat before removing herself from his hold. "Of course you will. You have to."

Barsilisk came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I want to."

They kept fighting. Their group remained huddled together, growing as they collected more people, shrinking as more were shot down. Sazh just kept firing, kept moving, grateful that he had already stowed the chocobo away in the bunker and that Dajh was enclosed in a crystal that would protect him.

Their group found some cover for a brief reprieve. Sazh sat squatted against a wall, still dialing for Lightning and Hope, but not receiving an answer.

"I'm achy and dirty and now I'm wet," Yuj complained, ringing his hair of the water that had blasted him in their last hiding place. "I just had to duck under a leaky pipe before it burst. This sucks."

"Achy, dirty, wet, and alive," Sazh added. "Can't forget that."

"Thanks. Just what I needed. A healthy dose of the bright side." Yuj practically threw himself to the ground as another explosion rocked the building overhead. "Just how many of these freaks are there?"

Maqui collapsed beside him, limp-limbed with exhaustion. "A lot."

"Yo, this ain't no time for naps," Gadot chided. "Get your asses in gear."

Yuj nodded quickly, pushing a deflated Maqui off of his side and grabbing Olly's outstretched hand. "Hey," Yuj said as he was pulled up, suddenly looking nervous, "has anyone heard from Lebreau?"

Maqui's head shot up. "Crap!" Frantic hands scrambled for his cell. "When was the last time anyone saw her? She's safe, right? She's gotta be safe."

"Shit." Yuj swallowed, muttering, "I had to watch out for Gadot. She told me to watch Gadot. And then Maqui. I had to get him. I had to keep him safe because he's the baby and Snow always, always told me to look out for the baby of our group. I needed to keep going. I had to."

"Yuj." Sazh put a hand on Yuj's back, attempting to pull him out of his spiral. "She'll be okay."

Yuj pressed his lips together, biting down hard enough that they were enflamed when he spoke. "Last I knew she was at the cafe."

"I was there for a bit," Sazh said, keeping his words calm, teetering on unconcerned like he wasn't. "Rygdea was there, too."

"Good. Rygdea was there," Yuj repeated. "Rygdea will take care of her."

"You kidding? That girl would kick anyone's ass if they dared to touch her or her restaurant," Sazh assured.

Maqui groaned, hanging up only to dial again. "Dammit. Pick up, Lebreau!" When she didn't answer after yet another call, Maqui about lost it. "Why doesn't anyone answer, for Etro's sake?!"

"All right, to NORA it is," Gadot announced. "We gotta make sure she's safe. Then we'll get to the bunker."

"Right," Yuj agreed, giving Sazh a grateful, but still unconvinced grimace and pulling Maqui along by the collar of his coveralls.

"We're coming, too." Nivien and her brother jogged towards the departing group. "The general set up a command post near there."

"You guys go on," Zalera hollered. "We're going to find Hope and Lightning."

Sazh watched their group head off without them, feeling more than a little exposed and unprotected with the loss. Zalera was about to head off in the other direction, but Sazh snagged her shoulder. "Hold on a minute. We should get to my ship."

"What? Why?"

"These people are after Hope, right? All of this is about Hope?"

Zalera nodded with a hesitant bob of her head.

"So if we get him out of Academia, they'll follow, right?"

"Right. But we don't have Hope. Getting to the ship and leaving without him won't do a thing. Unless we're creating a diversion."

Sazh dragged a hand down his face, a sense of urgency licking his heels. "Follow me. We got no clue where Hope and soldier girl are. Searching for them ain't goin' to cut it. We should call until we get ahold of one of them and have them meet us there."

"Neither of them have picked up so far."

"It's the best option we have."

"I like the diversion idea better," Zalera grumbled, but didn't protest. "All right. Call as you run. I'll call Lightning. You call Hope." Zalera began shoving him forward, pushing him and pushing him and Sazh didn't understand why. Her eyes were locked on another group heading towards them. "And stay alive."

"Something I should know?"

"It's Sebastian."

Lightning fell back into the wall behind her, sinking to the ground as her body went limp. The shift in position rushed the blood in her body. Vomit tumbled from her lips as she jerked her head to the side. The foamy yellow contents splattered across a plaque that said 'reception'. She stared at the word, blinking away double images. She sat back up, drawing a hand across her forehead. Her face flamed with a feverish heat. Her skin crawled with an oiliness and god dammit did she hate this. Sitting there, victory torn from her fingers and that woman free to do as she pleased.

What had it all been? Another distraction? A fun game for Castea?

Lightning looked down upon her gunblade, eyes tracing the smear of blood. It happened, Lightning could say that for sure. She had to pry her fingers loose from her gunblade. The digits had ground against the hilt with such force while holding down Castea that they were stiff claws around the thing. Wiggling her fingers, Lightning attempted to loosen her hand before taking stock of her body.

The wounds she had taken burned. Slices and cuts from icicles burdened her body. One icicle remained lodged in her thigh. Its coldness singed deep into her flesh, the skin around it already purpling. Lightning eyed it, reluctant to do what she needed to. Her hand grasped around the icicle's body that was about as thick as Snow's arm, her other holding her leg steady. She ripped it free with one sharp inhale, restraining a cry in her throat. She threw the thing away from her with vicious contempt. It bounced against the jerky escalator stairs and thunked to a stop on the floor.

Lightning clenched her teeth, shaking as she held her leg, her body hunched over the hole in her thigh. It stung and burned and hurt. She took advantage of the lull in fighting, knowing that she needed to heal up, get over her bruised ego, and get back out there. The silence was stifling until another blast outside rocked the building, the ground beneath her rumbling. She pulled two potions from her pouch, tossing back the bittersweet green liquid and cringing as it slid down her throat. She could feel it numbing her wounds, watched as it shifted and wound her skin back together. The spark of life died out within half a second as usual, healing her lesser injuries and partially healing the more significant one in her thigh. Lightning reserved her last two potions for later, choosing to tear the bottom of her cape and wrap it around what was left of the seeping wound.

Her comm rang. She fumbled for it, her fingers still stiff and sore. "Farron, here."

"Lightning?! Do you know how long we've been trying to call you? Are you with Hope?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Sazh and I are on his ship in the hangar. You have to get him here. We need to get Hope out of Academia."

Lightning looked back down at her leg, listening to Zalera's ragged breaths. She gave her leg a last smack and lifted herself up. "All right."

"Hurry."

The call clicked quiet, and by the time Lightning nestled her comm back into her pack, she realized the flaw in her response.

She wasn't actually with Hope.

Shit! Where is he?!

"There she is!"

Lightning emerged from the blasted out doors to find a group of people staring her down. There were Guardian Corps soldiers, Academy uniforms and a few civilians mixed in. Closing in. A sea of fury and fear raised their weapons against her and Lightning's mind shifted into high alert.

"His guard," one of the GC sneered.

"Where is he?!" a man asked, desperate and wild-eyed. He was dressed in a torn and dirty Academy uniform, clutching an arm to his chest. "Where is Director Estheim?"

That's what I'd like to know.

Lightning's gaze swung over the crowd. A mob, her mind corrected. "And what exactly are you planning on doing with this information?"

"Just making sure he's safe, Sergeant," the GC replied, but Lightning hardly felt reassured.

Another GC held her fist up in the air, halting any more words from the people behind her. Her pauldron glowed with a rank that was a step higher than Lightning's. "We want to end this," the staff sergeant asserted. "No more pussyfooting around the problem. He needs to go. We've fought hard for peace, to make this slice of hell our own."

"We aren't going to let a l'Cie take it from us!" came a shout from the back.

"Yeah!" a civilian agreed.

The staff sergeant took a step closer. "We'll propose a trade. Him," she said, and Lightning's hand went to her blade as the woman's chin jutted out toward the chaos outside, "for our city."

There was a tugging. A tiny, distant voice.

Hope looked through squinted eyes to find vermilion irises piercing into him. Small hands. Purple waves.

An orphan that needed him.

Hope sat up, groaning at the crackling in his skull. Her hands had the gentle flutteriness of butterfly wings as she inspected his oozing temple. He grasped her hands gingerly, pulling them away as he gave her a look.

I'm all right. I'm still here. You aren't alone.

Not yet.

Hope adjusted himself off of his hip, turning his legs so he could sit properly. He laughed as Emilina moved behind him, pushing his back up to help him stay. "There," she said, her chin out and smile proud. "See? I can help."

"You can?" Hope teased, before pretending to fall backward and making Emilina catch him. She struggled to keep him up. "Oh no! Hurry! I need my backrest to keep me sitting."

"I'm not a backrest!" Emilina cried, giggling.

A volley of gunshots in the distance silenced her, drawing her smile into a trembly line.

Hope didn't waste any more time. He held a hand over his head wound, quietly casting a cure. Emilina leaned in, staring too close as she watched it disappear. Her little face scrunched up, the skin of her button nose turning squiggly and Hope thought that she would be disgusted. Instead she said, "You're a l'Cie?"

Hope bristled at the question. He clenched his hands around the cuffs of his jacket, suddenly apprehensive. It wasn't surprising that the girl knew about l'Cie. Even on Pulse, l'Cie were still made out to be an enemy, a boogeyman that could infect a person with a life-altering disease, despite the fact that l'Cie hardly had that type of power. Hope knew that the respect some people showed him and his new l'Cie status was only out of fear.

Would Emilina be afraid of him? Hate him?

"Yes," he stated numbly.

"You're Hope, our leader. Daddy said that you were…" she paused, lips moving as she tapped a finger against her nose, thinking, "the key to our future."

"He said that?"

"Yeah. He said that there was finally a powerful being to stand for us, not against us." She latched onto his hand as if he were the last tangible thing she had to hang onto.

People do believe in me, after all.

"Arden! Ardeeeeeeen! ARDEN!"

"Jun," Hope whispered as he recognized the voice of the howling nearby. Hope grasped Emilina's hand tightly in his and pulled her along, following the voice. When he found her, Hope found himself choking on her state. "Jun..." Her arm was mangled, bruises reddening her skin as her forearm dangled from her elbow in an unnatural fashion. A jagged gash ran vertically down from her eyebrow to her chin. It cut through her eye and lips, the wound bleeding trails down her face and chest. A flap of skin on her cheek moved every time she cried out, but she didn't stop. She was laying in the dirt, hands scrabbling against the ground.

"Jun. Be careful. You aren't-" She swiped at him, waving around a blade defensively. Hope caught it, her swings too wild and sightless to do damage. "Jun. Jun, it's me. It's Hope. Let's put this down."

"Hope?" He cringed as her cheek moved around his name. "Oh, my sweet Hope." She reached for him, and Hope ducked into her arms.

"Maker, Jun. What happened to you?" he muttered while trying to heal her injuries.

His help was denied as she shook off his hands, pulling her face back. "Some bastard came at us and I just barely got us away. I had to fight back. I let go of his hand for only a moment." Hope turned the weapon over in his hand before he set it to the side. "I snatched that from some poor soldier who was far too green for this." She held her arm, yelping as Hope tried to touch it. Again, his healing was stopped by her desperation. "Please find Arden. I can't believe I lost him. He needs you. Please."

"I will. I will find Arden, but I have to help you."

"No, Hope-"

"I'm getting you out of here." Hope made quick work of healing her wounds, wincing as Jun screamed. The bones of her arm made snapping and crackling sounds that had Emilina gasping and holding hands over her ears. The healing of her face drew Jun into unconsciousness. With a glance, Hope noticed a squad of G.C. officers heading off. He stood and shouted towards them until one took notice.

"Director," a soldier addressed with a quick salute. "Thank the Maker, we thought that you were dead."

"Please, I need you to help her. Get her to the bunker."

The man furrowed his brow as he looked at the woman before turning back to Hope. "Our orders were-"

Hope pulled the man in by the front of his armor so that they were face to face. "Your orders are to take this woman and this girl and get them safely to the bunker. They are your first and only priority. Understood?"

The man steeled his features and agreed, signaling the officers of his squad with a point of two fingers. Two soldiers carefully extracted Jun from the ground while another grabbed onto Emilina, lifting her up.

Emilina struggled with the solider, kicking and flailing in his arms. "No! Let me go!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and bit the man until he dropped her. She fell to the ground, tumbling in the dirt.

"Fuck!" the soldier shouted, and Emilina ran away.

"Don't leave me!" She ran straight into Hope's middle, hugging him with all of her might.

"Just take Jun," Hope said, waving them off. "I'll take care of her." He patted Emilina on her back, looking down at her and brushing her waves from her face. "We have to find my friend, okay? He's about your age. I need you to listen for him."

"Okay."

Hope was going to call Lightning, already far out of his depth as he looked for one child while holding onto another in the middle of a war zone. His comm was nowhere to be found, however, so he settled for yelling out for both Arden and Lightning.

A l'Cie came at the two, wielding a ball of water between his hands. Hope pushed Emilina behind him, gaze catching on other enemies as they approached. There were seven men, and Hope told himself that he was screwed, so totally screwed, but he took on them all. He slashed at the first and as the enemy ducked it, the man was hit with a firaga from below, blasting him back.

Emilina screamed as l'Cie charged her from behind. A protective instinct flared within Hope and a blizzard spell whirled in his hand. He threw it toward the man and woman that were threatening her. The spell flew towards them like snowballs that splatted against the man's chest and the blade of the woman as she tried to parry his attack. Hope smirked, because there was no swiping away his spell. The ice climbed up the man's body until he was frozen solid. The woman watched as it did the same to her blade, freezing her weapon to her hands before encompassing her as well.

The next handful of minutes were a blur as all he focused on was taking out the enemy. "Get away from her!" he shouted over and over with every slash and spell until they were all dead. He stood, blood-splattered and panting, before he fell to one knee. He felt numb. Uncomfortably numb.

"We have to find your friends, Hope," Emilina insisted as she came to stand before him. She tugged the sleeves of her shirt over her hands and used them to wipe at his face. Seeing the gore stained on her as she pulled back brought Hope to his senses.

He rose, calling back out to Arden and Lightning.

"Hope!" Arden came into sight. He rounded the side of a building, jumping and waving an arm. "Hope, is that-" The boy was jolted out of his sentence as he was roughly grabbed by another of Castea's men, a gun being held to Arden's temple. Arden whimpered and fought before being rendered still with a slap across the face. The boy fell silent, looking desperately at Hope.

Hope stepped towards the man, only for the l'Cie to raise his brow and push the gun closer to Arden's face. "What are you going to do, Director?"

"Not a damn thing." A blade jutted through the man's chest, inches away from Arden who screamed. The man fell as the weapon was pulled back, limp hands freeing Arden. "He doesn't have to." Lightning stood in the man's place, swinging her gunblade free of the blood.

Arden ran to Hope, his face burying into his stomach. "What about Nana?" he whimpered, words squished into Hope's abdomen.

"Jun's safe, Arden. She's safe." Hope wrapped an arm around Arden as he stared at Lightning. Their eyes met, and Hope felt himself ease. A moment stretched too long between them, a private, protracted moment as they held each other's gazes.

"Collecting kids now?" Lightning asked with a lift of her brow.

Hope smiled as he ran his fingers through both Arden's and Emilina's hair. "I'm glad you're okay, Light."

"Zalera called. She's with Sazh. They think we need to get you out of here and I agree."

"What about everyone else? I won't run away."

Lightning rolled her eyes and Hope expected a reprimand, some speech about his safety and importance. Instead she kissed him, square on the lips, in public. "You're getting these monsters away from them." Lightning glanced down, leading Hope to look at the two growths on his sides. "They want you or they want you to go after the crystals. Either way, you're giving them what they want. They'll leave this city in favor of following us."

"All right, let's get you two safe," Hope suggested, rubbing the two kids' backs.

"Wait, she's hurt!" Arden sprang away from Hope, running back the way he came. "We have to help her!"

"Who's hurt?" Hope tugged Emilina forward, following the dust kicked off of Arden's heels. "Wait, Arden!" Hope couldn't lose sight of him, keeping his eyes peeled for his ash-spotted hair and bright yellow shirt. Emilina was getting tired, he could feel it in the drag of her feet, how she was tripping over the debris easier and pulling him back. Lightning jogged ahead of him, only to stop abruptly and Hope almost rammed them both into her.

Arden was kneeling over a woman, her body battered and torn up beyond repair. Her Academy uniform was soaked with blood, half of her jacket torn and missing. Her choppy brown hair was a sweaty, bloody mess, and Hope almost didn't recognize her.

It was Officer Mires.

She smiled lazily as they joined her, choking out a horse cough. Her voice was raspy, breaths thin, but she was as quiet as ever. "I t-tried to protect him."

Hope nodded with a strained smile as he slid off his tie and tied it around her thigh. Her left leg, from the knee down, was gone. It was in such a horrid state that it looked like it had been blown off, the wound fleshy and the blood near black. He held eye contact with Mires through his movements, keeping her attention from the injury in fear that she would slip into shock.

She let out a light, bitter laugh. "We all know I was never a very good soldier in the field."

"You're going to be fine, Georgina."

Another chuckle fell from her before she coughed and sputtered, blood trickling down her lips. "You're not a very good liar, Director." The humor in her eyes held a solemn sort of knowing that terrified Hope.

He shook his head, hands working faster. "It's Hope, Georgina. I think we've known each other long enough to omit the formalities." He remembered her from their days in the lecture halls of the Academy, her nervous laugh and the way she used to dot her 'I's with stars. "I mean it. We're going to get you out of this and to the bunker."

Hope pulled his tie tight around her leg. He could feel the phantom pains of his own lost leg seizing his limbs, his cells remembering what his mind always tried to forget. He wondered if he could heal her leg, gift the limb back to her. His hands stilled as he remembered how he felt staring at this imposter attached to his body. He remembered the agony, the black veins.

"This is going to hurt, but bear with me." Hope made his decision. He would save her no matter what. This beautiful, quiet and unassuming soul.

"No," Georgina said before a coughing fit assailed her. She fell back against the building when it was over, panting as glossy eyes stared up into the sky. "Everyone I've ever cared for has been out of my reach for so long." She raised her arm up, her fingers stretching towards the crystallized Cocoon, before it fell back to her side. "It's been so lonely down here." She sighed as Hope pushed her bangs from her eyes, his fingers plucking ashes and bits of bloodied skin from her hair. He felt for a fever, finding only cold, scaly skin. "It's fine, Hope."

He bit his cheek as his eyes watered. She was welcoming death. It went against everything in him to watch her do this, to do nothing. "You have to fight this."

"I know that I don't understand much of this, but I know that you have to keep fighting. For us." She reached for him, nails scratching against his thigh until he took her hand. Her grip was strong, stronger than her high school nickname of Mousy Mires gave her credit for. "We're rooting for you." Slowly, and with much effort, Georgina brought her arm against her chest and saluted him. "You're our director. Our hope." Her body jerked roughly against the building as she struggled to breathe. Hope held on to her hand, struggling not to cry like the children behind him. He could hear their whimpers and sniffles. He hoped that Lightning would shade their eyes from this death. They had seen too much already, and no one needed to see this.

Georgina finally stopped, her chest stilling as one last exhale drifted out, her golden eyes open and staring at Cocoon as the life left her.

Hope trembled. He held her limp hand between both of his, holding her fingers to his mouth, his forehead as he grieved.

This is my fault.

There was a crater growing inside of him, deep and wide and yawning, stretching with each new death. His chest was cracking as he thought of all of the others like Georgina, laying down their lives to save others, believing in him and his leadership. Like Jun and Emilina's father, good people that just wanted to protect their families. Hope couldn't look back at the city, a land growing desolate, streets filled with the dead, people who lost their lives because of his actions.

"Hope."

He had to fight this. Just as Georgina said, he had to fight for them.

"Hope. She's gone." Lightning jostled him with a hand. Her eyes left his for a moment, warily looking over their surroundings, ever vigilant, before snapping back to him. "We have to go."

He nodded and stood, his gaze never looking back on the woman at their feet. Arden and Emilina stood at Hope's hip, holding each other's hands. Hope smiled at them and took Arden's outstretched hand.

Lightning's comm went off, startling all in its proximity. She answered, relief in her exhalation and the closing of her eyes. "General Amodar, sir."

"Farron, you all right?" Hope could hear Amodar's shouts, Rygdea's commands in the background.

"All good, sir."

"And Estheim?"

"I have him. We have Arden Rosch and a little girl, too."

"Can you get them to the NORA cafe? Karsten's collecting some last survivors before leading them to the bunker. DeWald has some news to brief you on as well."

"Yes, sir."

"You think they need help, too?" Emilina asked, and Hope looked to see a group of soldiers and civilians huddled together, some sluggishly moving forward with injured in their arms. Hope was ready to flag them down, raising a hand.

Lightning snagged his arm and wrenched it back. "The hell, Light?" he managed as he broke from her hold.

"Don't trust them."

"They're soldiers-"

"And not all of them are like Mires."

Hope resisted the urge to look back down at her body.

"I was attacked by some of your soldiers when I was looking for you, Hope. Not all of them are looking to you to save them. Some of them are placing blame on you for this. We have to be careful."

Arden shook Hope's hand, drawing his attention as he bounced in place. "It was another officer that hurt the lady that saved me. He was wearing the same clothes as her and everything! He said that you were bad and she called him a traitor before... before…"

Before he killed her.

The sight of NORA caused Hope to clench his hand around little Arden's. The café that once stood as their slice of Cocoon, their safe haven, their home on foreign soil, had crumbled to the ground. The NORA crew and a few Academy officers were digging through the rubble. Yuj was using the butt of his gun to dig through the debris, eventually giving that up to scrape and claw his hands into the dirt and rock.

"Farron," Amodar called, waving them over.

Rygdea was by his side, a stern set to his jaw and eyes weary. He brightened when he caught sight of their group. He wasted no time in pulling Hope into an embrace. "Knew you couldn't have gotten yourself into too much trouble."

Hope shrugged, his smile barely a lift of his lips. "Worried you missed out on the fun?"

"As if. I've been dealing with my own slice of hell over here." Rygdea released him, looking down at the children at his side. "Maker, Arden, you're okay." Arden gave an enthusiastic nod, still holding tight to Emilina's hand. "What about...?" Rygdea asked Hope, glancing in Arden's direction.

"I had some soldiers escort her to the bunker."

"Right. Right, okay." Rygdea clapped his hands. "Who's this little gal, here? You got a girlfriend, Arden?"

Emilina giggled as a blush rushed to Arden's cheeks. "Rygdea," he whined.

The man cackled before straightening up. "Okay, say your temporary goodbyes, kiddos. We're going to get you both to safety."

Both sets of eyes landed on Hope. Uncertain, lost eyes as the two kids held onto each other. "Go on, Arden. Em. I'll see you later. We have some last monsters to beat before we can join you."

Rygdea led the kids over to the departing group, waving over his shoulder. "Watch yourself, Hope."

"Always, Rygdea."

Lightning saluted Amodar, the man nodding back before she eased. "You said that there was new information?"

"Mr. DeWald…" Amodar gestured toward Maqui. He was sitting on his knees in the dirt, fists clenched, his face twisted with anguish.

"Maq? Maq, what's wrong?" Hope asked, sitting down at his side.

"Hope, we don't have time for this. If he has something to say…"

"Just one second, Light."

"Lebreau's stuck in the basement," Maqui said, wiping a hand beneath his nose, "underneath... all of that. We had her on her cell, but... we think she passed out. That or-"

Hope paled at the news. His hand remained just shy of touching Maqui's shoulder, unsure if his shaky touch would be a comfort or a damning sign of his own uncertainty. He could hear Lightning's sigh, felt her ease off of his back as she gave them space.

"Nivien was shot in the shoulder twice. She's getting stitched up by a field medic, but they aren't sure if she'll be able to use her arm. We got a call from Alyssa. She and Hildough are trapped in the Academy base. In one of the upper floors, no less. And no one's heard from Cass since he took off after his sister. There are hundreds of dead people and-" Maqui threw his goggles across the ground. Hope watched them spin out among the rocks. "What is happening? Just yesterday, the city was fine."

"It will be fine again," Hope said, trying not to think of his friends being hurt. Alone. Wandering. Dying. "We survived the fall. We will survive this, too."

Maqui made a little twisted nose in the back of his throat, a hopeful whine like he wanted to believe. "That's why you're the leader, huh?"

Right. That's why I'm doing this.

"I'm leaving. Castea's disciples should follow us out. You'll be able to focus on saving people when they're gone."

Maqui gulped in a breath to calm himself, clasping his hands together as he held them in front of his face. He whispered something that Hope didn't quite catch before dropping his hands and standing. "Belphagor is Castea's fal'Cie."

"I… guess I shouldn't be surprised. If the Sanctum is working with Castea, then it makes sense that the Sanctum's fal'Cie is the mastermind."

"Castea is a lot older than we thought, too. Like, hundreds of years older. It's no wonder that everything about them was buried in such ancient Pulsian that even Zalera couldn't decipher it. Her and her group are like an extension of Belphagor. His power- Small parts of his being are inside of them."

"Maq, how'd you figure-"

"I deciphered it all in a-"

Hope was shoved back as Olly pushed his way between them. He supposed he should have expected the punch to the face. But he didn't.

It sent Hope to the ground. He held his face, wincing at the throb in his jaw.

"This is all your fault! Look at what you've done!" Olly cocked back another fist, but Lightning kicked him to the ground.

She pressed her boot onto his chest to keep him there. "I suggest you shut your mouth, Private."

Olly glared back as he spat on her shoe. "I don't take orders from a l'Cie's whore."

The next second Olly was being lifted from the ground, Lightning's own fist ready to swing.

"Please take it easy, Sergeant." Nivien grasped onto Lightning's balled-up fist, eyes imploring. She extracted her brother from Lightning's grip and thwacked him upside the head. "Shut it," Nivien demanded, adjusting her arm in her sling. "Never say such things again, Olly. You got me?"

"Tch. Rotten little- Let me see." Lightning's hand held his face, turning it up so she could examine the injury.

"Light. Light. It's fine. What were you saying, Maq?"

Glaring at Olly's back as the two La Salles retreated, Maqui went on. "It doesn't matter. All you need to know right now is the origin of their supposed invincibility. The book said that Belphagor's l'Cie are only as vulnerable as their fal'Cie allows them to be."

"So Belphagor brings them back to life," Lightning surmised. "If he wanted, they could die."

"But it also means-"

"That if we kill Belphagor," Hope said, "we take away their invulnerability to death."

"Exactly."

Hope grabbed Maqui's shoulders, talking in the lowest tone he could manage. "Have you told anyone else?"

"I told the general that I had important news for you. The only other person who knows is Cass. Ah! Cass called Rep. Hildough. Told him about it. But he's…"

"You guys have to keep this to yourselves. I don't want anyone getting the idea to go after the Sanctum's fal'Cie without us, got it? That's an order, Maq." Maqui stared back, bewildered by the command. It wasn't often that Hope got all 'commander in chief' with Maqui, as he called it, and the stun left the man blank. "You hear me?"

"Yup! Yes, sir." Maqui nodded then, reaching for his goggles that were no longer there.

"As soon as we're out and the ships are gone from the city, I want you to put the shields up."

Maqui's nod turned into an adamant shake of the head. "What about the problems? We still haven't worked all of the kinks out. We don't know how to cut the power once they're up."

"Just do it."

"How will I know when to turn them on? The comm system's down."

"Like I said, when all of the ships follow us out."

"But-!"

"Maqui."

"You won't be able to come back…"

Hope's grip tightened on Maqui's shoulders. "I'm not coming back."

Lightning kept shoving him forward as they ran. Pushing and shoving. Pushing and shoving. She told him to focus on running. To get to the airship. She would handle the shooting. But he kept finding himself looking back, at his city, at his friends, at people who littered the ground, crying out for help.

Bullets shot into a wall ahead of them, causing Hope to turn and take a side alley. Hands grabbed him from behind, dragging him to the ground and Lightning was on top of him, shielding him. Fire whooshed overhead.

"This isn't working." Lightning jolted, as if struck, and Hope could see smoke wafting off of her back as her face pinched. "You keep going. I'll finish them off and meet you there."

"No." Hope pushed Lightning aside, firing off a thunder spell that roared toward its target. "I'm not leaving you."

"Yes, you are."

"No." Hope kissed her, letting a cure spell seep from his lips to hers. "I'm not."

Lightning's jaw tightened, gaze searching before she kissed him hard and shoved him towards the hangar. "Go. I'll be right there."

Lightning pushed herself to her feet and ran towards the group on their heels. Hope hesitated. There was no point in separating. He wasn't leaving the city without Lightning. They would still have to wait for her when he got to the ship. But Hope wondered if his presence wasn't making a bigger target of Lightning. How many grunts on the ground new to look out for her when not at his side?

"I swear, if you don't get your ass in gear, I'll shoot you myself."

Hope turned and gunned it inside. She was right behind him. She would finish those guys off and be right behind him. He told himself that as he kept moving toward where Sazh's ship was docked. He told himself that this was what he had to do to protect everyone.

The whole of Academia.

The hangar was quiet as he blew through, just the sounds of his shoes slapping against the pavement. The absence of sound was weird, he thought, wondering if he could hear a pin drop despite the war-torn world outside. There was nothing. No people. No sounds. Nothing but the click of the safety of a gun and Hope slowed to a stop. A person emerged from the shadows behind Sazh's ship, aiming a triple-barreled pistol in his direction.

"Cass."