Chapter 40 Jihl's Prisoners
Author note: Chapter 40 is like chapter 39, a bit more violent; if this deserves to be rated M, let me know, but I hate hurting these characters I love so much. While this chapter deals with the aftermath of what happened in 39, chapter 40 is more like a TV-14 rating, kupo
"Lightning and Fang will be extremely happy to see you both." Serah smiled, "Those two haven't really done much since Light came home when she got the bad news."
Hope smiled, "Well, Amodar's willing to work with her, and I'm excited. She was one of his best Sergeants, and I think he felt worse firing her. Amodar realized his mistake. Everyone hated that she got fired, and we all petitioned to get Lightning back."
"I'm surprised she was let go for that silly problem. Having a summon isn't really all that bad. I'd know, I have one too," Vanille sighed. "It's not easy. Especially when it could appear anytime, you feel you're worthless. They act like protectors almost."
"Really? Why have you never shared this before?" Snow asked, "Not that I'm complaining, that's actually pretty awesome."
"I don't know," Vanille said, fixing a crease in her blouse. "Fang always told me to be careful, so my binding rod and even my eidolon remain hidden from view. It's probably safer that way."
"Well, you're probably right, Van," Serah sighed. "I think Lightning needs to relax; she's running herself—."
Vanille had placed a hand over her mouth, gasping loudly.
Serah followed her view, as her face turned pale like she saw a ghost, "Ragged…."
Snow and Hope both noticed it too, "That's not good…"
Snow was pulling into the driveway; everyone looked stunned at the condition of the house. Serah was out of the car before Snow fully came to a stop, as she ended up on her knees, hand over her mouth in shock as the tears slid down her face.
The front door had been knocked from its hinges, and several windows were shattered. On the garage door spray-painted in red were the words TRAITORS, ABOMINATIONS, BEWARE, and DANGER. The Farron household had never been damaged like this before. Once in a while, they'd have silly pranks from teenagers, but Serah didn't know how someone could do this, target her and her family.
"Who could do something like this?" Serah muttered, "Why… who… what?"
Vanille was quickly by Serah's side as the pinkette continued to mumble to herself, feeling rather faint at that moment. Vanille was worried that Serah would faint, "I'm here, Serah…"
Snow and Hope were quick to enter the house to assess the damage.
"Lightning?!" Snow called, to no avail.
"Fang?!" Hope called, the upstairs checking each room, finding no one.
The guys were starting to fear the worst, this was an attack, and whoever did this they just missed. Checking every room for a sign of intruders, Snow noticed the study door had been kicked in. To Snow, the study was not to be touched. However, with the door kicked open, Snow was inside investigating.
"Something's seriously wrong," Hope said, walking around the room, careful of broken glass from the windows and everything else that had been broken inside the house. As Hope stepped, he noticed he was stepping on a glass Moogle that had been destroyed as he quickly recovered his foot before stepping on it further.
"Hope?" Snow called from the study.
"I'll be there in a second."
Serah felt tears starting to slide down her face, "Who could've done this? Our house! All this destruction…"
"I know Serah…" Vanille knelt down beside her friend and pulled her into a hug, as she had a sudden feeling of dread, "Lightning and Fang are probably on their way home…Should we ask your neighbors? They might've seen who did this."
"Might be a good idea…" Serah muttered, "Can you help me up? I'm feeling rather faint."
Vanille helped her up, "Careful Serah. One foot after the other. Plus, during your doctor's appointment, I remember Dr. Harvey said too much stress can be bad for your baby. We're going to breathe; the boys will check to see what's wrong."
"Yeah… You're right, Van."
"If Lightning and Fang are out, they're going to be just as shocked. However, Lightning will get to the bottom of this; she's pretty smart. She could probably solve who did this."
Hope joined Snow in the study as he knelt down as he grabbed the broken red band that had belonged to the PSICOM Commander, as well as a discarded syringe.
"Someone was here," Snow said.
"That band… It belongs to a Commander in either the Guardian Corps or PSICOM," Hope said, looking at Snow.
"Well, whoever it was, left this syringe. If there was all this damage, I think this was a raid."
Snow pulled out his phone, dialing Lightning, surprised that his phone went straight to voicemail. Lightning's voicemail message started playing. "I'm not available. If this is a Guardian Corps emergency, please call their hotline. If this is a personal matter, please leave a message. If this is my beautiful girlfriend, please leave me a message. If this is Snow, just hang up." Trying Fang, too, he was surprised it rang but then went straight to voicemail. Trying their phones once more, Snow was starting to feel worse.
"I fear something bad happened here. My gut instinct tells me, Lightning and Fang were taken. We need to tell the girls."
The room was dark and cold, but seated and tied to a chair in the center of the room was Lightning Farron. Her wrists were tied behind her. Her ankles were tied to the legs, but she let out a small moan as she jerked slightly. With her senses still a bit jumbled, she was still uncertain of her situation.
After a while, Lightning was starting to come to her senses as she recognized she was being held, prisoner. The room spun from her blurry eyes as the sedative wore off slowly. Squeezing her eyes shut to keep the ongoing dizzy spell, the feeling started to subside. Her eyes opened once more, looking around, trying to gain a view of her surroundings.
Though dimly lit, her eyes scanned over a stairwell that went up, from Lightning's guess, she was in the basement. There were bookcases crammed full of books, and the portraits on the wall were familiar. A family portrait of Jihl Nabaat and her family (the same picture Zelda had.)
A sound entered Lightning's ears as her eyes went in the direction of the noise. A man was bound to a chair. Though a bit skinnier than she had remembered, with messy hair, and looking a bit scraggly, it had, in fact, been Cid Raines!
"I was waiting for you to wake up, Lightning," Cid kept his voice low.
"What are you doing here?" Lightning asked, trying to find wiggle room in her bonds, to no avail.
"I was approached by a man on my trip… Said he needed help… I decided to help him, but it was a trap. I was held hostage, ended up here. I tried sending letters, but they clearly didn't get to you, especially if you're this confused. They brought you here with another woman…"
Lightning was doing her best to remain calm, "A man? And which woman?! Was she a brunette? Tattoos?"
"Yeah, a man who paid my ransom only for them to take me hostage next. As for the woman, yes."
"That's Fang… What happened to her?!"
"She was awake, Jihl had her men take her upstairs, and I don't know what they did to her, but she was fighting pretty hard."
"She's going to get herself killed… Fang is way too stubborn… She's the woman I asked you for the favor… She's the love of my life… and weird thing… someone came into work disguised as you, only to flirt with me…"
Raines sighed, "Should've known, my captor can use disguise AMP tech… He can do a lot with both AMP, magic and more. He's smart, strong, and cunning."
A scream brought was brought to both Lightning and Raines as they looked at each other.
Lightning knew it was Fang, and she knew that the Oerban was clearly distressed, something she never really heard from Fang before.
Struggling once more, Lightning felt hopeless. Each struggling motion only caused her to become more exhausted.
"There's nothing we can do; if you keep struggling, you're gonna exhaust yourself. Preserve your energy, Farron."
Lightning felt worse, knowing she couldn't do anything. Yet, Fang's screams grew until she heard heavy footfalls down the stairs.
Two armored men entered, dragging Fang, who was trying to break free from their grasps. "You won't get away with this, you assholes!"
Upon further inspection, Lightning was horrified to see that Fang had a swollen black eye, a split lip, and blood dribbling down her forehead. Fang had been roughed up, and eventually, she was sat down as they quickly bound her to the chair, as she tried to thrash against them, only to get another hit, this time in the gut. Fang was overpowered, and one of the men cupped her cheek once she was secured.
"You're like a sexy little flame. Surprised Jihl wouldn't let us play with you more. That's about all you're worth, a miserable little pity party."
"I have plenty worth!" Fang barked. "I'm not some cheap whore you can have your way with."
"I like this one; she's fierce. Her viridian green eyes tell a story. To PSICOM, she's a slippery little thief, but I could make her happy until her execution. I'll break you, and then I'll be praised a hero. Jihl said I could do whatever I wanted, and there's nothing you can do."
"I'm in love with another. You're not my type." Fang spit in his face, but the man ignored her, only for him to take a piece of tape to silence her. Fang thrashed in an attempt to free herself to no avail.
The men left laughing, leaving the three prisoners alone. However, the man who silenced Fang smirked, "Jihl will be back to see all three of you soon, so goodbye beautiful," he said, cupping her face roughly once more, looking into Fang's fearful eyes before her chair ended up falling onto her side.
Lightning found herself look down; she couldn't protect her girlfriend, she couldn't save her former mentor. They were trapped, and Lightning knew she needed something sharp. If she could find something, she knew that would be her way of escaping.
Looking over at Fang, she heard Fang sniffle. It was rare that she saw Fang cry, and it hurt Lightning's heart. Her girlfriend was pretty roughed up, and Lightning felt like it was her fault. However, Jihl basically kidnapped them only proved Lightning's theory that Jihl wanted them for something sinister, but she couldn't tell right now.
One guard entered the room, bringing Fang's chair into its upright position, as she didn't pay him any attention. Fang could only let out muffled grunts of frustration as the guard left to return to his guard position.
Lightning wondered how Serah and the others were doing. Serah was probably frantic, Vanille would be worried, and Hope would probably be disappointed, though Snow probably was in the range of not caring or at least putting on his stupid hero charade.
When Lightning thought about Snow, she felt angrier, as her mind went to their wedding day and even the day that he asked Serah to marry him. Snow was a crowd-pleaser, irresponsible, but ever since Serah got pregnant, he started to come around. Even if Lightning didn't say it, she was just happy that Snow was beginning to grow up a bit more and actually proved to Serah he could change.
Fang glanced up at Lightning, trying to find solace but knew the pinkette felt even worse. Each minute that passed made everyone paranoid.
Jihl was down, only to make sure that each was given water, "I got someone special for you to meet Farron, it'll be a real treat."
Lightning didn't care; all she could do was try to plan an escape.
Jihl was a sadist, and it was a matter before the colonel snapped. She'd come off as overly flirtatious towards Raines, and it made Lightning glare. Fang, however, Jihl was left alone for the time being.
Lightning knew Fang didn't deserve this. She felt even worse for having Fang go through this entire thing with her. Seeing her girlfriend in pain and even being hurt made her want to push the Oerban away so Fang could escape and never look back. Her entire world was shattering, and she didn't deserve Fang; she'd rather die so the Oerban could live to see another day.
Serah would be happier with the birth of her baby. She'd be free to marry Snow without interference, and Fang would probably go away with Vanille, Rowan, and Zelda. Her mind swarmed as she felt a single tear roll down her face once more.
Snow and Hope explained the situation to Serah and Vanille, explaining their theory.
"Does anyone know who we can contact, or have any ideas?
Serah sighed, looking down.
"Maybe we could call Amodar?"
"Do you think that's a wise choice, Hope?"
Serah looked down, "I have a suggestion…"
"You want to tell us, babe?"
"There's a number Lightning gave me… I was told not to call it unless something dire came up."
"Then call it. If it's one of Lightning's clients, that'd be extremely helpful right now."
"I don't think it's one of her clients, but a couple she knows, Snow, could you call and get the reservation canceled? We're going to the café for the time being. Hope, can you call Amodar and ask him if he can help?"
"Yes, Serah, "both Hope and Snow replied.
Serah dialed the number that Lightning had trusted her with. She was surprised it rang once, twice, and picked up.
A feminine voice picked up, "Hello? State your purpose for calling."
"My name is Serah Farron. I am the sister of Lightning Farron, something bad happened to both of them, and I was told to only call this number in case of emergency. The house was ransacked, and I'm scared… I need your help, and Lightning trusted me enough to give me this number…"
Serah heard the woman gasp. "Well, Serah, we'll be glad to help you. Can your party meet us in Eden? We'll go from there. Not every day, I meet another Farron. However, it's going to be very important that you guys get here soon. We have something important to share with you, and it'll be crucial that you're here for it."
"How will I know it's you?"
"My sweet girl, all you must say is the password, 'Oerba didn't fall, ' and we'll know."
"Just hit the call button, repeat the password, and you'll be down? Can I have a name at least?"
"No name, my sweetness, especially over the phone. Come meet us soon, and make sure you aren't followed" the phone went dead.
Serah looked at Snow, "We need to get to Starsky apartments in Eden. We'll stop for sandwiches at Moogle Works on the way, but we need to get moving. Also, we'll be taking another ride once we get to Eden."
"I'll take my motorcycle there; we might need extra room in the car."
"Thank you, Hero. We'll meet you there," Serah gave a weak smile.
"Serah, are you sure you should coming too? I'm just worried about your condition…"
"Yes, I'm absolutely certain, Snow. Plus, I can be careful. I'm not nine months pregnant, so I think I'm fine."
"Alright, but I just want to make sure you know this won't be no field trip…"
"Snow, like I told Lightning in the past, stop treating me like a child. I might be pregnant, but I'm not big enough that it'll be a problem."
"I trust you, baby," Snow said, pulling Serah closer towards him.
Lightning had found herself dozing off slightly; better to be quiet than not. However, she heard the stairs once more. Raines had fallen asleep, and Fang struggled a bit but eventually stopped only because her shoulder was bothering her.
Ever since Jihl had checked on them, Lightning knew Jihl had plans for all of them. She was scared but tried her best not to show it. With Fang looking at her, she could only hang her head in shame; she didn't want to cause Fang to panic because she didn't have an answer or escape plan. That was unless she could nab something sharp.
Raines could keep a cool head and has. She even wondered how long he's been held here.
The footfall sounded like boots clunking, and eventually, Lightning's attention went towards the stairwell. Two people entered, Lightning noticed Jihl Nabaat first and foremost. The Lieutenant colonel smirked, looking into the fearful blue eyes.
However, the other person was still in disguise, as Lightning noticed it was the Cid Raines double. However, seeing this one dressed in the commander's uniform, she knew it was AMP Technology.
With the quick hit of a button, her eyes widened in fear. "You!" she snarled.
As the disguise left, a man stood in his place. The man was slender but muscular. However, his long hair was purple. Adorning his headband was feathers and tribal beads. The commander's costume left, as she noticed the armor that reminded her of Fang's eidolon Bahamut. The script on his armor reading Undying Witness of Infinite Fate had a giant sword attached to his back, which opened an eye.
As he finally opened his eyes, he took several steps closer towards Lightning, as she looked into purple eyes. "Hello Claire," his monotonous voice said.
At that moment, Lightning felt years of anguish, anger, and betrayal surface. "I can't believe you're alive after all this time. Especially after you murdered my parents!" Lightning snarled once more, "I knew you were still alive, Caius Ballad! When I get out of this, I'm going to make sure you wish you hadn't betrayed my family!"
Caius started to laugh, "I'm afraid you won't be leaving here. This is your final stop, Claire."
At that moment, Jihl walked towards Lightning as well, "You know, Caius didn't kill them; I'll tell you a little secret." Jihl leaned down towards the ex-soldier's ear, "I did."
Lightning felt faint, "Bullshit!"
"No, it's true, and I'm going to tell you the entire truth. Then we're going to play a little game."
Lightning noticed her knife in Jihl's hand and knew she needed to escape. She thought about Fang, Raines, Serah, Snow, Vanille, and Hope. Tears started to form in the blue eyes, but they didn't fall, as her blood boiled. How would she get out of this alive?
Author note: Up next, we learn the truth from Jihl. Will Lightning and Fang get out of this? Will Serah and the others meet up with the mysterious number in time? Find out in the next batch of Reclaiming Light Kupo.
