Hope played with the corner of his cowl as they waited to be let into the emperor's room. Larsa spoke with some politician and knew better than to let him and the others barge in immediately. At least, that's what he told himself because Sazh said it was a much better way to think than to assume Larsa turned antagonistic.
He still missed memories from his time here, holes in his recollection that never filled. He wondered why Bhunivelze took those.
"His Imperial Excellency will see you now," said a fancy servant by the door.
Sazh led the rest of them into Larsa's large office. The window overlooking the city didn't give him vertigo anymore.
Gabranth—Basch?—stood sentry by Larsa's desk and didn't react to their entrance. Hope knew better than to expect kindness from him, though he couldn't wishing otherwise.
Hope pulled his robe in tighter and stared at a bookshelf against the wall that held titles familiar to him. Did he read those?
"I'm glad to see you all well again," Larsa said. "Or I should say, better than when I last saw you at the luncheon. A day's rest has seen its impact, I imagine."
"I'd say so," Sazh said. "Arc here says you wanted to see us again before we go."
"Yes. I've arranged a room of armaments, clothing, and items from which you may take all you can carry. My array of potions should prove useful as well"
"Potions sound amazing," Arc said.
"We can't thank you enough," Ellone said.
Sazh put a hand on Hope's shoulder. "Go on, kid."
"Go on, what?" Hope asked.
"You two were friends, weren't you?"
"Not 'were,' Larsa said. "'Are.'"
Hope wrenched away from the bookshelf. "We are?"
"Don't you remember? You spent months training as my personal medic before serving for another month. Bhunivelze took you then, but not before you saved my life twice."
"From trouble he brought to you," Basch said.
Larsa said slowly, "That I brought upon myself. I know now not to walk the halls at night, Gabranth. I'll bring a torch next time."
"Months?" Hope asked. "Seven stayed that long?"
"Time flowed differently for her."
"That's why you grew faster than me."
"You grew as well."
Hope looked toward his feet. "Yet I've lost the progress."
"As Bhunivelze is keen to do. I lost something as well, so we're kindred spirits again."
"We're headed back to my world," Arc said. "I wish I could promise that we'd take care of him, but given that it's next on Bhunivelze's list…"
Larsa stiffened. "You know that? How?"
"We've received reports of his influence coming our way," Arc said. "Will come—oh, forget it. He's working his way through space and time to reach it and the time he's estimated to arrive is during the time shortly after I left, I think. The worlds appear to be linked in one era, but I don't know how that works. I really want to, but Snow said—"
"—It's complicated," Sazh said. "I don't want to put my head in a twist again."
"I wish I could fight alongside you," Larsa said. "But alas. It seems I'm destined never to leave my office."
"Then I'll fight in your place," Ellone said.
Sazh turned to her. "You just said you wanted to go home?"
"I changed my mind. I think I can use my powers with you after all. Hope, perhaps I can restore some of your memories by connecting you with Larsa."
"You can do that?" Arc asked.
"Painful as this possession's been, it's taught me a few things. For one, I thought I knew my powers and that they were set. But as it turns out, it's something I can keep learning for the rest of eternity and I'm not restricted to showing friends my father's life."
Hope stepped away from her. "What do you mean?"
"If you don't remember Larsa, then I can—"
"I remember Larsa."
"You spoke of memory loss," Larsa said. "I imagine Bhunivelze took away some of the most pleasant recollections to keep you unstable and shapeable."
Ellone's hands looked slim and pale, like skeleton fingers. "I can also save it for later. There's a chance you're repressing trauma and are better off waiting to go back. I want to figure out repression, but it'll take time."
Those hands looked like the same ones that held him in the Ark and covered his eyes and pulled at his hair and ripped at his skin. The smell of blood and roses. His stomach churned.
"Hey, hey." Strong hands pulled him back and Hope barely registered Sazh's cuffs. "Hope, get a hold of yourself. You look like you've seen a ghost."
The room tilted and Hope reached to steady himself. Sazh held him secure and Hope felt a cold weight on his chest before…
He woke up on a couch, head pounding. Larsa and the others spoke by the desk, worried whispers forming a low cacophony of secrets. Something foul tainted his mouth and he was covered in blankets with a damp cloth on his forehead. The blankets felt like weights over him and he forced one trembling hand out to find the receding purple marks of the Void in his wrist.
His robes hid most of it, but he still felt the sickening withdrawal of tendrils that retreated from him over the course of forever, like tiny snakes that moved through his veins.
But he couldn't focus enough to find the trademarked eyes inside that he knew stared back. Couldn't blink the bleariness away.
His mouth tasted like old parchment. Heat prickled his spine, yet his fingers and toes were so cold he felt them through the blankets.
"Rise and shine," whispered Sazh. Hope didn't notice him approach and slipped his hand behind the blankets to hide the tendrils. "You made quite the mess there. I had no idea you found time for a meal."
Hope forced a breath through his nose and found it swollen. "He didn't let me starve."
"How kind of him."
"If I starved, it would end Him and me together. He wouldn't have it. Couldn't have it. I couldn't get out. It tasted awful and it hurt to swallow and—"
"Hey, hey. You're safe here." Sazh kneeled beside him and his low voice rumbled close to Hope's ear and he found it… relaxing. Reminded him of summer evenings in Palompolum, listening to his father mutter confusion and profanity at the desk while Hope studied. He thought it weird that his father used the living room instead of the office when Bartholomew found every other chance to get away from Hope and Mom.
"We can use that," Hope said, though he barely heard the words. "You can kill me."
"We're not doing that."
"Don't leave."
"He's ready for another potion," Larsa said before joining Sazh. "Will he take better from you?"
"I doubt it matters." Sazh took a vial from Larsa and popped the lid. "You kept down the last one all dandy. Ready for round two?"
Hope didn't remember round one, but the swirling blue liquid in that vial brought the nausea back. He shook his head and remembered his headache.
"Mm. That's too bad." Sazh set the vial down. "We'll give it a few more minutes, then. How about water?"
Larsa appeared with a glass and Hope wondered when he found the time to get that before reaching out to take it.
"I don't know about that," Sazh said. "You don't look like you could hold a feather."
Hope gave up and let Sazh help him sip at it. The water washed his throat and made it easier to swallow.
"Wait," Arc said before approaching. "I think I know how to use magic here."
"White magic would be a miracle right about now," Sazh said.
Arc took Sazh's place and kneeled by Hope. "Tell me if this hurts, okay?"
Hope remembered the mist. Remembered sucking it in and reviving flesh and bone. But his body protested the idea and reminded him of painful spasms when he pushed himself too far. … How often did he do that?
Arc summoned a cooling wash that reduced the heat pricking at his back and burning his front. The ice at his toes and fingers warmed. Arc said, "Guess I'm returning the favor. If it wasn't for you, Palom and the rest of us would have died on Seven."
"Seven." Hope tested the sound. "Gaia. Gaia VII."
"You don't remember."
"… I do. It just—glitched out."
"After we supply up," Sazh said, "and after you rest, then we hit III. Best planet in the system, I'll tell you that."
"I don't know about that," Arc said.
"I'd love to see it," Ellone said.
Hope glanced to Larsa, who showed no expression at the group before turning back to his desk. A shadow followed Larsa, carrying the weight of one burdened with confusion and loss. A shadow that dissipated within seconds of Hope catching it.
He didn't realize how much he missed insanity.
"Sazh is on his way," Lightning said to King and Queen. They gathered in the wooden airship that Ingus called the Invincible. She wasn't thrilled about flying a boat but teleporting this many people would be a headache and use power that they needed elsewhere. Though for now they remained grounded.
King and Queen stood together against one wall, with Ace near Firion, and Baralai closer to the wheel. Firion wouldn't stop looking her way and she felt a strange flutter at the realization that she'd inevitably fail her excuse. Vaan, Penelo, and Maria gathered on the floor, with the Onion Knight standing nearby. Balthier and Fran kept by the door. Rikku, Shinra, and Rufus stood with Ingus. Faris and Setzer stood side by side, and Lenna by herself.
"He's moving," Noel said. "Let's speed things up and send out their defenses within an hour. Lightning, do you want me there?"
Queen snapped to attention and addressed the room. "My side claimed Bhunivelze's arrival. Lightning, does Noel confirm?"
"Yeah."
"Good," Iris said. "We're ready for him."
Balthier leaned against the wall. "Not to offend, but a brash head will bring failure faster than the god could."
"Better than waiting about," Gladiolus said.
"We've got one set of reinforcements coming now," Ace said. "They're escorting other possessees."
"Do you believe other broken souls serve our purposes?" Lenna asked.
"Focus," Baralai said. "We'll take what we can."
The door opened and the room tensed. Leonora appeared. "Everyone's in here?" she asked.
Refia rushed to her side. "Just you?"
Leonora nodded and let Refia guide her to a seat. Her robes were all but shredded and she lost at least one layer since Lightning last saw her. "Is, uh, is Palom back? Porom? Or Arc?"
Queen said, "Arc will arrive shortly. The other two, last we heard, are safe. You've traveled the Lifestream to get here?"
Leonora swallowed hard and gathered her ruined robe about her. What skin she showed pulsed green and what cloth wasn't dirtied betrayed a dimmer shade than Lightning knew in Valhalla.
Leonora updated them on what she knew from Gaia VII, though she was shaken enough to make details difficult. Queen relented and insisted she rest in what time they had left before leaving.
Minutes passed before Sazh arrived with Arc, Ellone, and Hope behind him. Leonora deflated at the sight of them.
Queen greeted them and prepared to talk strategy before Refia shoved past her. "Arc! You're alive! How are you? Did you learn anything?"
"I wish I had more, to be honest."
"I've got a lot of stuff to tell you about." Refia pushed Arc out. "Ingus, meet us outside after!"
Sazh shifted after they left and asked, "And what about the rest of us? Where are we going?"
Hope refused to meet Lightning's eye, but she took his subdued demeanor as an improvement to the tantrums.
"These newcomers," Lenna said. "Who vouches for them? After all, his very chosen stands among them."
Hope flinched and Lightning took to his side, hand on her sword.
Sazh spoke first. "This is Ellone and Hope. They're as free as any of you and I'll stake my life on their behalf."
"Haven't we already decided that we've nothing to fear from such?" Balthier asked. "The possessed lost their chains when we lost the first Gaia."
Ellone said, "Though that might not stop all from following him."
"Hey Hope," Vaan said. "Did you ever get better at your swords?"
"I haven't had the time to practice."
Baralai cleared his throat. "Bhunivelze approaches. And with our new recruits here, we need to re-evaluate positions and groupings."
"Is fighting our only recourse?" Maria asked. "He seeks order. If he succeeds…"
Firion rested a hand on her shoulder and Lightning smothered that flutter again. "These are the doubts he leaves, aren't they?"
"Fynn burnt in chaos under Mateus's mad rule."
"Mateus knew what he wrought. He fought for his own sense of order and sacrificed our homes for it. Bhunivelze would do the same."
The Onion Knight said, "Firion and I will be on separate teams."
"Refia, Arc, Luneth, and I will still head teams," Ingus said. "We are the servants of these crystals and we will take the responsibility They lay on us."
Sazh pursed his lips as he maneuvered towards Lightning, Hope trailing. "Arc isn't fully recovered yet. You better make sure that he's got backup."
Hope looked around with dampened curiosity. Up until he caught sight of Baralai and glued his eyes to the floor.
"Of course," Ingus said. "I will head the Earth Team. Refia will take Water, Luneth Wind, and Arc will take Fire. Wind and Fire are on the floating continent, while Earth and Water are easier to reach from here."
"We still need more," Lightning said. "Noel, taking you up on the offer. Bring your party ASAP."
"Will do. Expect us soon."
"That's another five on their way." Lightning caught Queen's eye. "Any options on your end?"
"You've summoned two of ours already from that," Queen said.
Baralai cast them a short glance. "I'll go with Refia to the Water crystal. Faris and Setzer, I'll assume you're still with me?"
Lenna hesitated. "I thought Water as well."
Faris looked her way. "Someone ought stay with Krile."
"Krile's not going anywhere."
"Precisely. Aye, mayhaps it is time."
Lenna shrunk back. "You ask me to return to Tycoon? I won't insult Krile by implying I would make this journey alone, but do you not intend to return?"
"I've not made up my mind, Lenna, but I don't care to return to our world now. One day, perhaps."
"How could you say that? The crystals chose you!"
"Aye, and they bound me as well. An individual, locked away for the whim of another cannot claim themselves much of a pirate, can they?"
"You had no qualms with that before! Is this gambler worth so much to you?"
Setzer looked to disagree, but Faris spoke first. "I had not an idea as to what they kept me for before all this. Look around you, Lenna. There is nothing you can do here that cannot be done by another, yet on our planet, there is. Take Krile home. Give her to a sun dappled rest with Galuf, beneath the old tree until she wakes."
"I am no Baldesion! How am I fit to return the last of their line to the Valley of Bal? What if she stays as she is for the rest of her life?"
"You were her friend. As well as Queen of Tycoon. If you are not fit, then none are. Take her home, sister."
"I would wish you come with me, Faris, though I am sure nothing I say will persuade you."
"A good bet."
Lenna gathered herself, then looked to Baralai and Firion. "Then I will return. I wish the grace of the gods that remain good to guide you in the restoration of our greater cosmos."
Queen let her go before continuing. "We still need more for the Water crystal. Fran and Balthier, will you switch to that one? And I'll finish the party?"
"Agreed," Fran said.
Rikku said, "I'd like Earth. And this Shinra's coming with me."
Shinra grumbled to himself.
The Onion Knight, King, and Lightning placed themselves with Earth. Firion, Maria, Gladiolus, Iris, Sazh, and Ellone volunteered for the Fire.
Sazh shook his head at Ellone's decision and muttered, "Kids desperate to get themselves killed."
"You'll be there for her, too," Lightning whispered.
The room quieted. Firion looked around. "Any others?"
"Me." Leonora raised a hand. "I'd like to join Fire."
Ace, Vaan, Penelo, and Rufus were then noted part of the Wind team.
"How are we supposed to get there?" Penelo asked.
Ingus said, "Saronia has airships."
They talked trajectory. Baralai spoke with Hope off to the side and Lightning wondered when the boy left Sazh's side. She didn't remember them meeting each other, so it seemed a strange mix, but—
Hope went stiff. Baralai leaned away, looking all too business-like despite the fear palpable in Hope's posture.
Lightning joined them. "What do you think you're doing?"
Baralai looked at her and said, "He remembers."
"He remembers what, you little—"
"Don't," Hope said. "He's right. I held stuff back. I'm still holding stuff back."
"We should pull him aside," Baralai said. "With the right triggers, we could find valuable information."
Lightning took Hope by the arm and pulled him away from Baralai. Everyone else got to breaking into teams.
Lightning moved to join the gathering Earth group, only for Sazh to grab her arm. "Hey, hey. What's that that just happened?"
"Everyone wants a piece of this kid," Lightning said. "We should put him somewhere safe before he gets torn to bits."
"You don't have to protect me," Hope said.
Sazh said, "I beg to differ. How about you just take him with you?"
"That's not a good idea." Lightning looked for Queen. She could take him.
"The two of you have some things to work out. The sooner the better."
"Battlefield's a terrible place for that."
"Will you go with her?" Sazh asked Hope.
"I… can do that."
"That's a good way to get us both killed," Lightning said.
"Unless you want to leave him with Baralai?"
Lightning groaned and looked at Hope, who trembled in her grip. She held him too tight. "You sure?" Lightning asked.
"… Yeah."
"Fine. Then let's go."
"But Lightning." Hope pulled back. "Baralai's also right. We might get something out of it if I…" He kept swallowing. "I can remember. Some things. What if it's important?"
"Then we'll use it later," Sazh said. "If someone taps you now, you'd enter another coma. It took ages to get you out of your last one, and we can't risk losing you again. I'll talk to Baralai about leaving him alone. Lightning, you just keep him safe, got me?"
"Yeah."
"Great. Then I'll see you both on the other side."
Lightning watched him join his team and loosened her grip on Hope. It felt unreal to work with both like this again. Their days on Cocoon felt like a distant dream now.
Arc didn't fight Refia as she dragged him toward the cabin. He stopped short at the same time as her and waited for her to stop looking him up and down. She yanked him into a hug.
"You're alive!" Her voice muffled in his shoulder. "You don't even need that much healing, do you? Did you do that yourself, or did you not need any to begin with, or maybe someone else did, or has it been long enough you healed on your own?"
Refia kept talking and Arc meant to answer, but she kept going. Until she cut herself off mid-sentence and yelled, "He's here!"
Luneth barreled into Arc and tackled him to the ground. "Hey, you're alive!" Luneth dropped to a crouch beside Arc and helped him into a sitting position.
"That's what I said," Refia said.
Arc groaned at the pain in his back. "Sorry."
"Sorry?" Refia scoffed. "Luneth sent you crashing, shouldn't you be asking for an apology right now?"
Luneth didn't stop smiling. "How'd you disconnect from the crystals?"
"I thought I told you," Refia said. "It wasn't him that did that, he was forced out of the connection."
"But do you think you can reproduce it?"
"Luneth!" Ingus called. He joined the three and he folded his arms with marked disappointment. "Even you should know better than to attempt to disconnect yourself from the crystals."
"Yeah, yeah." Luneth scowled before getting distracted again. "So, we're running missions out to the crystals, huh?"
"Sounds like it, but we should probably get Arc reconnected," Refia said.
His insides twisted at the thought of normalcy. "How?"
"Like this." Luneth took Arc's hand. Refia rested hers on Luneth's, and finally Ingus joined them after removing a gauntlet.
Something sparked and Arc jumped back with a yelp. His skin seared where they touched him, then itched with healing energy. He breathed hard and it occurred to him that maybe this was normal. It would smooth over with time like all things.
A yawning rumble tore through him and echoes of monstrous tones sounded.
Arc screamed. Voices cut through him and he put hands to his head, there had to be a way to get it out—
"Arc?"
It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! It swallowed him whole and something cavernous reached for him despite the grass at his feet!
A chill hand on his shoulder, the cold cut through his sleeve. It felt like the proximity of the crystals, like their serene rays, once so comforting, came to push him down.
Arc said, "Get it out… please!"
Rustling of skirts over the grass and the hushed murmurs of a crowd of dozens to hundreds. It went on forever. Arc squinted his eyes shut to block out the sight of whatever it was that came to claim him for the Void.
"I'm sorry, Warrior. This horror will numb with time, yet you are still Crystalchosen, with responsibilities to fill. This fight will not wait for you, lest this become the Void Beyond. As yet, you are no prisoner of eternity."
The agony in his head faded and Arc risked blinking. Ingus had a hand on Arc's shoulder. Refia held white magic in her hands. Luneth stood near him, expression worried.
He remembered Nina's face after he came back muddy and bruised from days spent exploring with Luneth, or when the other kids got too rowdy. That look that reminded him that he wasn't strong like them. "I… I'm sorry."
"What just happened?" Ingus asked.
"The Crystals. They sound… the way they talk hurts. Like… rocks in my head."
"Maybe it takes time for the voices to line up," Refia said.
More rumbling and Arc shut his eyes.
"I find it confusing," Ingus said. "Given the Crystals have never spoken such to disturb."
Arc reached for the ground and settled himself to kneel. Pressure hit him, like a great maw sucking him into nothingness. He pressed his hands to the ground without looking. It didn't make him feel better. "They're not speaking. It's just terrible sounds."
"A filter?" Refia asked.
Luneth asked what it mattered and Ingus argued with him over Arc's usability. "I'm sorry," he choked, "this is my fault. I should have listened!"
"There is nothing you will gain by burying yourself in the mistakes of the past. We need you in the present and your focus on the future."
"No! I'm just deadweight like this. You should go without me."
"I don't think we have the time to figure out how to be in two places at once. Do you think that's possible?"
"If we were saved into the depths as gestalts, then perhaps the crystals could replicate us more than once?"
Luneth cursed under his breath. "Only one at a time."
"Arc, the Crystals need you just as much as they need us."
"You won't be alone. Baralai, Firion, and Ace went through the work of creating four teams by means of volunteers."
Arc sniffled and someone put an arm around his shoulder. Luneth. A sob escaped him, and Arc shrank into himself.
Another warm arm wrapped around him and he smelled Refia's rust and powder. "Come on, Ingus, get in here!"
Arc didn't feel Ingus' arms but couldn't miss the added weight of his armor. It dampened his pain and he hiccupped out quieter sobs.
The others didn't say anything. The terrible echoes quieted, and the pressure lifted. Arc opened his eyes to blinding sun and felt a portal rip open.
Leonora felt the surge of magic from inside the ship. She didn't need to look outside to know someone stepped onto their world. But she only ever saw portals done with the guild or Mysidia or gods.
She shoved past those gathered and pushed through the door. She scrambled down the ladder only to trip on her torn hems halfway down and hit the ground. She used what white magic she had left to heal herself and find the portal-maker—
Palom. Her breath caught.
He stumbled in place but looked better than she'd seen him in forever. Clean clothes, tidied braid, discolored skin… He found her and betrayed his surprise before she threw her arms around his neck.
"I've been looking for you!" she cried. "I found you only for you to disappear again! How could you leave me like that?"
He didn't say anything. Only hugged her back.
"Maybe we should go," Refia said.
"Leonora." He said her name the same way she prayed in the shrines. She gripped him tighter and breathed in the faintest smell of herbs.
"Our time is short." King Cecil, clad in his adventuring armor, joined them and Leonora blanked. "Let's meet with the others."
She couldn't think of anything to say to Cecil, so she just held Palom tight and wished she could live forever in his arms. Eventually, he pulled back and met her eyes.
She froze at the sight of his implant. The metal was twisted and warped, the jewel a new one. "You went back to Mysidia?"
Cecil cleared his throat and said, "We went through Mysidia on our way here."
Palom looked at the orphans. "What next?"
"Bhunivelze's coming," Leonora said. "To keep him from infecting this planet, we'll split up and move to the Crystals across the world."
Light shifted in his headjewel, not unlike the way light moved in the Lifestream. It looked almost viscous, and quite sentient, but Leonora saw no magic to accompany it.
"I've volunteered to join the team headed to the Fire Crystal," she said. "You remember when you first taught me fire?"
Palom looked away and Leonora's heart dropped.
"Fire? That's where I'm going, right?" Arc asked the others.
Refia nodded.
"I'll go where needed," Cecil said. "Where's the rest of your guild?"
"I'm sure they'll have a spot for you." Refia gestured. "I'll introduce you."
"Don't worry yourself. I'll not burden you unnecessarily."
Refia looked grateful for the excuse to stay with her brothers and continued in hushed whispers with Arc.
Leonora turned back to Palom. "Why won't you talk to me? You've never had trouble with words before."
Palom shook his head and left to join Cecil. Leonora tried to tell herself he was just tired, but it didn't work.
"I gotta say," Luneth said. "Pretty sure Refia should be Fire, and Arc should be Water. Shouldn't we switch it up?"
Refia gave him an incredulous look. "Why?"
"You're fiery."
"You're one to talk."
"What matters," Ingus said, "is that we have duties to fill. Let's not get distracted."
"Arc?" Leonora asked. "Would you prefer Fire or Water?"
Arc hesitated. "I trust Ingus to make better decisions than me."
"But," Leonora said, "you've been to all of them in the past, right? Which was your favorite?"
"… Earth. But it really doesn't matter."
Ingus folded his arms. "Of course, the decision means little outside of fighting ground. As such, I would have no qualms with switching roles."
"No, it's fine. I think maybe it's better I don't go to Earth anyway."
"Why say that?" Refia asked. "I want to go to the water crystal. I think I'm best suited to it."
Arc pulled himself to his feet. "I don't think we should hold onto little things like this."
"What do you mean?" Luneth asked.
Arc shook his head and walked towards the cottage. "I'm going to rest while waiting. Let me know when we need to leave."
"Perhaps he should not go alone," Ingus said.
"If it helps, I'll keep an eye on him," Leonora said.
"Thank you," Refia said. "Maybe the trip will help him break out from that dark cloud that's hanging over him."
Luneth scoffed. "He's gotta do that himself."
Leonora had problems of her own she would have to work out, after the Lifestream. She'd crawled out to find the universe much the same as it was before, if a little more… understandable. There were things not meant to be seen by human eyes. Maybe Arc felt the same thing.
She could be patient a little longer. Wait for the right time to resolve the problem. Though she couldn't say she wouldn't pen a strongly worded letter to the Elder in the meantime.
Terra stifled the pain of leaving Ruin again. She returned to Blue Terra inside the cottage. And found herself face-to-face with a young man, in red with armor. Beads adorned his hair like dewdrops on grass.
"Terra?" he asked.
She looked around the cottage and found only Vaan, Firion, and another man in armor she didn't recognize, accompanying the young man that upon her approach looked closer to a child. "Did someone tell you about me?"
Vaan caught her eyes. "Hey, Terra!"
"We did no such thing," Firion said. "You and he have a connection the rest of us share."
"I don't understand." Terra looked back at the child. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"You and I have met in a stolen life," he said. "This other man is Cecil, and I am called the Onion Knight."
A sharpness in her head and memories of death. Dying. Loss, control, powerlessness, and blood on her hands. Escape and acceptance and change that lasted. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then let me explain. There was a shadow world, molded by the beings Cosmos and Chaos—"
"No, no! I'm not—I don't need to know."
"I had no easy time of it," Firion said. "A spirit did what she could to guide me through the buried memories. Let's not force such memories on anyone else."
The Onion Knight frowned. "I just… expected her to remember faster than the rest of you, I suppose."
A small house, with her mother and her father. Whipping winds and ripped away. Taken and molded to become something else. A weapon for a crazed and delusional mind who convinced an emperor: she belonged to Chaos.
"Terra, it's okay." Through her fingers, she saw Vaan. The Onion Knight kept his distance. Firion and Cecil made no move to approach.
She felt so keenly the loss of her esper side. She wanted the skies.
Vaan said, "Hey, Onion, you started it. Get over here and deal with it."
Terra gripped her temples. "Stop."
"She doesn't want to, Vaan. Let's leave her alone."
"Yeah, but if we leave her, she'll just get stuck hurting. If we extract the memories now, it'll stop the pain for good."
Terra knew he was right. Something deep inside her yearned to know despite the throbbing in her head. "Then just tell me.
"If you're sure." Light armor clanked. "Terra, do you remember walking in twisted versions of your world?"
"The World of Ruin is a twisted and disturbed version of the world I used to know."
"No. I'm not talking about the world you come from. This one is emptier. You met people there. Some of them were friends and others were enemies, all sent by another power to fight."
Cosmos. A woman in a dress like wispy clouds, hair full and metallic-gold. Or… was it pink? Was the dress yellow? White? Horned headdress, or a tiara?
"I remembered that name, just like I remembered some… faces." Including that of a boy with watery beads in his hair. "The Drawn of this planet directed me to them and brought back murky images."
"They would know?" Firion asked.
The Onion Knight frowned. "I'm not sure. There were summons in the shadow world, but I thought them manakins."
"Maybe they remember the same way we do," Vaan said.
"I don't think so." It helped to talk through it. The pain subsided. "Even if they were manakins, they would have Drawn all the same, using the same power source as the rest."
"Drawn?" Cecil asked.
"You remember that much already?" The Onion Knight asked.
Terra hesitated. "The terms you used are familiar, but it's still unclear to me. I'm sorry."
"Hey, no need." Vaan clapped a hand on her back. "It's just cool that we get to have reunions with friends we don't even remember."
She never knew Firion or Cecil, but she was still happy to see them well. Vaan helped her. She couldn't remember how, or with what, but she looked up to him. The Onion Knight… she felt that same feeling around him that she felt with her kids back home.
"I didn't mean to hurt you," Onion said. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"No, I prefer to remember."
He looked at her, confusion in his face. Vaan reached out with his free arm and pulled Onion into his arms.
Terra held onto both, even as Firion explained the mission to the crystals. Even as she decided to join the excursion to Fire.
They'd leave in minutes. She was just glad to catch them.
Shinra didn't like being back on an airship, flying off on the mission Rikku volunteered him for. But he felt worse in the dark cave they entered after disembarking. She vibrated now with excitement.
Ingus led the party ahead, chatting with the Onion Knight and showing as much emotion as the stones around them. Lightning, Hope, and King were behind Shinra, taking the rear and keeping conversation.
That left him with Rikku, who grinned too wide. It looked eerie in the dim light. "Chin up," she said in Al Bhed. "You and I are old hands at fighting in caves, right?"
He responded likewise. "You and I are thinking of different events. I don't recall winning while trapped underground."
This time, it'll be different. We're taking the big one this time. For Yunie and everyone else back home."
"You keep saying home, but Home is gone."
"We don't have that one, but we got some new places we can go."
"We're here." Ingus pushed through a door and led them to a room with a shining light that emanated from the tall, amber-brown crystal floating in the center of the room. Dirt walls turned to granite and the room shimmered with the prismatic light of the crystal. He wondered if he'd get a chance to study this place later.
"Ingus," Lightning said. "Is the door the only entrance?"
"Barring teleportation. The Crystals have no defense against that one."
Onion unsheathed a sword. "Only outside of fifteen feet of the crystals. There's too much power if you get closer."
"We'll place ourselves in a circle, then," King said.
Hope hesitated. "Power won't stop him."
"Shinra isn't a fighter," Rikku said. "But we brought some scraps we can make traps out of. Go ahead, Shinra."
He gave her a flat look. "I'd be happy to collapse this, but I assume none of us want to bring the cavern down on ourselves. That'll limit our options when it comes to explosives."
Lightning quirked a smile.
"Something funny?" Shinra asked.
"Reminds me of someone I know," she said, sharing a look with Hope, who raised his brow in return.
"Don't collapse the cave." Ingus looked at the crystal. "If we bury it, we can't protect it."
"Got it." Shinra tuned out the rest of the planning and got to work rigging some traps. Rikku helped him and the others settled into position.
Sazh whistled when they finally arrived at the Fire Crystal. It was no small trek getting here and the thing looked good enough to make up for it.
Arc avoided looking at the crystal. Palom and Leonora kept inching closer together before realizing their proximity and backing off again. Terra fidgeted and kept jerking out of whatever headspace she wandered to. Gladiolus and Iris stretched and readied. Firion and Maria kept side-by-side the whole time and remained tense.
It was nice to get down to a simple fight instead of dealing with all the kids' issues for once..
The heat of the Crystal caused a shimmer in the air. Sazh felt the raw power of concentrated Fire waiting in the depths of a living being. "Ellone," Sazh said, "you should keep close to the crystal itself—it's safer there. And your power probably works better that way."
Ellone nodded and moved as suggested.
Terra asked, "How are we supposed to defend the crystal from something without physical form?"
"Magic," Arc said. "Probably. One force against another makes our best hope of dissuading an incoming soul."
"We anticipate other obstacles as well," Firion said.
Maria unlatched her bow from her back and set her stance with arrow notched. "We can't expect this thing to act like any common beast. Be ready to fight even if it uses illusions to distract you."
Palom grimaced. "We'll eviscerate whatever. What comes."
"So long as we keep our heads," Sazh warned. "And not take each others', kids."
Firion nodded. "Adrenaline is a double-edged sword."
"No semantics," Gladiolus said.
Palom ripped his arms back and summoned a shield of ice. He worked his jaw as if to speak, but no words came. The lava bubbled and churned.
Sazh flipped out his pistols. Figures formed from the Crystal's light, morphing patterns from thin, sheening lines to distorted checkers.
The Crystal ripped the heat in the room to itself, cooling lava to stone and darkening the cave.
Leonora threw a hand up and lit her own fire for light. The forming monsters turned from the Crystal to her.
Palom jumped to her side and blew out dark energy in a consuming mist towards the growing horde, enveloping them in the black. Sazh felt some pop out of existence, but not enough to combat the rising numbers.
Firion and Maria moved, placing themselves at opposite ends of the Crystal. Sazh felt at the air and rose heat as a shield around it. Palom's dark energy kept it dim.
Ellone opened a channel from the Crystal to the room and spiked its energy.
Terra stomped and cracked the ground with tongues of fire that leapt up and bit at the creatures as they grew physical.
Gladiolus and Iris spread to opposite ends of the room.
Maria shot through three forms in a row. They fell as a gangling mess with unnatural, two-toned screams that pierced the darkness.
Sazh loaded his guns and shot through the things with magic and fire, careful to aim away from the kids. His shards warned him of the presence of their originator. Bhunivelze's being seeped through the ground beneath and felt nothing to the deaths of the shambling forms he sent to do his bidding.
With four mortal allies in the vicinity, Queen wasn't going to risk losing it and taking out everything in the area. She trusted her saber and used it to rend the creatures split from Bhunivelze's power in half.
Setzer took a slice to his arm, spraying red blood over the blue-touched stone beneath. Refia focused on channeling directly into the crystal, leaving Baralai to unleash white that descended like a chill mist over the chamber, knitting flesh back together and cooling blood.
Faris fell. Queen heard a crack, but Faris rolled onto her feet and commanded the water beneath to rise and flood the Crystal's platform and knock their foes off balance. Alongside allies. Queen held her ground against the torrent but came out of it soaked to the bone.
Fran looked barely touched and Balthier held his own, coming out of it with a shot that tore through a few creatures.
"Faris!" Refia yelled.
Setzer rushed to Faris, arm still oozing. Faris spit out a tooth before splitting a grin, blood on her teeth. She said, "Better days, lass, but this jolly pirate ain't going down that easy!"
"I don't expect you to," Setzer said.
Queen bit back a curse as a twisted creature came at her and pierced it straight through.
Cater connected. "Hey, Queen. Where do you want us?"
Queen shed water as she spun through a few more of the monstrosities. "Water and Wind are hit hardest. Split up and head to those two."
"Roger that."
Ace tossed cards through the hordes approaching Wind. Vaan and Penelo dispatched Voidsent side-by-side. Rufus kept by the Crystal and Cecil fought alongside him. And, of course, Luneth delivered all kinds of death from above with that fae-magic of his.
Ace ached to get out of this place as that font of shards forced its way into the planet.
A growl sounded below his feet. Ace flitted out of reach as a horde formed where he was. Dripping, snarling, and angry. Twisted monsters of twisted space come to feast on a healthy and thriving world.
Luneth stumbled and fell to his knees. Then rubbed at his eyes that shone red in the light.
…That wasn't just the light.
"Hey, I might have to bow out," Luneth said. Crawled backward on his hands. "This isn't good."
Snapping jaws approached Luneth and Ace's heart stopped.
Rufus shot the encroaching beast down and took to Luneth's side. Cecil kept the Crystal in Rufus' absence. Luneth just dropped his head into his hands with a groan.
The door they secured earlier kicked open and attracted the monsters.
"Do we have them on the run?" Vaan asked.
A dark blur sped through the room and Sice cut dozens to pieces in one fell swoop. Noel and Yeul arrived after.
Ace breathed easier. "You here to stay?"
Sice emanated a dark red glow. "Is there somewhere else the fighting's better? I'll go there, instead."
"What's wrong with the Crystal?" Penelo asked.
"I'm keeping it only half in phase with our location," Noel said. "Should make it harder to touch. Didn't see anything else beyond that door so I assume this is a focused attack."
Vaan cut through three more. "So, these freaks only care about the Crystals?"
"I thought we covered that," Rufus said. "We need to get him out of here."
"Lightning called you in, didn't she?" Ace asked.
Sice cut through another half-dozen. "Figured you guys needed help. Huge surprise, there."
Despite Sice's bravado, they barely kept up with the numbers. And then Luneth shuddered and screamed.
"We've gathered all citizens to their homes," said Alus' general, a tough woman with a low voice. "Soldiers patrol the streets, but we've not seen anything abnormal. Our moogles heard from Sasune this morning and their land is also protected."
Alus stared at the war map, but none of his lessons yet made it clear what pieces meant what and who moved whom. "What of the city gates? There's a delay between us, is there not?"
"Right," said his advisor. "But it's not so great a delay. Within ten minutes, we'd hear if someone breached."
The door burst open and his guards mobilized. A man in black and white and sporting daemon-esque marks blasted his men with dark magic. Alus startled and drew his sword, but the man took him by the throat and lifted him above the war map.
"Your side won't win," he hissed, black-stained eyes wide. "Tell these pesky children of yours to call off their assault or we will tear your fae realms to shreds!"
Alus clawed at the man's hands but found no give. Cries and groans from the others muffled in his ears. He couldn't speak past the constriction of his throat. The man threw him to the side and Alus rolled.
He landed near his advisor and he reached for his advisor. Her chest barely moved, and her eyes flickered back and forth like she didn't see him.
Lightning never saw monsters like this before and she wished, for once in her life, that these "we're all gonna die if we don't win against impossible odds" circumstances weren't so frequent!
"Looks like he still hasn't figured out what a living creature looks like," Lightning said. Shinra still wired his traps and Rikku kept those things off him. Ingus and the Onion Knight focused on the Crystal itself. Hope kept to white magic. Lightning and King hit wherever these things cropped up in their biggest numbers.
"If he hasn't at this point, I'd guess he never will," King said.
"That's a surprise, given he's spent so much time figuring it out."
"Right. We should be more worried with his specific brand of imagination." King fired more shots, eviscerating a group as they formed. "Though perhaps we should blame the Void for this one."
"Aren't you worried he'll hear you?" Shinra asked.
Rikku slammed a knife through an encroaching monster. "Hey! You're focusing on those wires!"
"If he doesn't know what I think of him at this point, then I've given him too much credit." Lightning sucked in the electricity left in the stale air. "You're only paranoid because he possessed you."
"We should discuss this later!" Onion called as he drilled through a handful that got too close to the Crystal. Ingus agreed with him.
A small ache woke in her heart. She found herself missing times long lost. When under stress, her crew grew dry wits and quick quips. She even saw it in her old Guardian Corps colleagues.
Ingus froze and Onion jumped in front of him to deflect incoming attacks. It took another moment for Ingus to force himself back to action.
"The corruption has reached far enough to awaken the fae," Ingus said.
The Onion grimaced. "Crystals."
"It gets better and better," Hope said.
"Okay, but what does it mean?" Rikku asked. "Someone's gonna say it eventually, right?"
"It'll agitate the fae," Onion said. "The best we can do from here is hope there's no one out in their realms right now."
Lightning shot more. "Sazh, you got an extra pistol? These blades are pathetic next to Cocoon's."
"Shouldn't you have figured that out before all this?"
"I'll be there in a minute to pick it up."
The dark of the chamber felt oppressive, even though Sazh felt everything in the room. Crystal, still in the center, various members of the team scattered here and there. Monsters, constantly cropping up in numbers that threatened to overwhelm.
Fire broiled in his veins and begged for release on the horde. He missed familiar bodies at his side, the people he trusted implicitly to have his back.
Lightning blinked into being and slammed down a thunderous stomp. She sent electricity crackling up the walls. Firion slowed at the sight.
She lifted a hand towards Sazh. "My gun."
"Lightning?" Firion asked.
She cast him a glance. "Head in the game."
Sazh passed her one of his own and pulled the extra from his side. "Treat it well."
Lightning nodded and winked out again. Firion stumbled and took a hit. Maria covered him.
Sazh threw fire and joined it with Palom's spell paths. If he went for a wider range, he would hit more at once. But he could also hit one of his friends.
"I'm here!" a new voice called. Sazh burnt a path through to the entrance, allowing the new girl to come in.
"Rydia!" Terra landed in a crouch. "Careful!"
"I've brought help!"
Sazh felt a massive breakage of power. This Rydia was a summoner, and not a fresh one. And Ellone's power helped her.
"There isn't room to summon in here!" Arc called.
Leonora choked. "Summon?"
"What does that mean?" Iris asked.
Palom hissed, "Too late."
Rydia unleashed her army and Gladiolus yelled for everyone to make way.
The room flickered and Sazh glimpsed other dimensions. Lindzei and Pulse and the end of all things, he felt the rage of these summons from across the universe shared and it burned. Straight through the monsters, the barriers keeping them from Bhunivelze himself.
The maddened echo of an enraged scream bored straight through him. Surprise at the resistance, the promise of vengeance, and the remaining plan that Sazh and his fellows played a part in here.
The world cleared and Sazh blinked stinging eyes to find the Crystal's chamber emptied of monsters.
Rydia fell.
The man moved toward Alus again. His limbs felt stiff and hard to move. Blood stained the floor and walls. His general still breathed, but she couldn't move. Her legs looked broken. Alus moved to cast white magic, but the intruder kicked him aside.
His stomach churned and his chest burned. Alus choked. "I'll not negotiate," he managed past the terrible throbbing. "Not until you remember your manners."
"We do not follow your mortal customs, fool." He snatched Alus' collar and hissed, "You do not know the forces you've involved yourself in."
He reminded Alus of the Cloud that threatened them not so long ago. He reminded Alus of his father's maddened eyes. "I think I might."
"Seda!" A man in orange and green barreled into the white-and-black man and they engaged swords.
Queen felt a change.
"Fire's safe!" Refia yelled. "They've secured it for now!"
"That's not ours," Balthier said.
"Geez, this is out of the way!" Cater burst in, firing in a regular pattern
Baralai said at Nine's entrance, "Oh. You."
Nine didn't seem to hear Baralai's comment before he cut straight through three cie'th-like creatures.
"The two of you?" Queen asked. "Sice went to the Wind Crystal?"
"Yeah," Nine said.
"Charming." Setzer pulled off some maneuver with Faris that looked like it belonged in an art show. "Reinforcements help, but we need a way to strike at the heart. Thoughts?"
"This fight will end once Bhunivelze decides that it isn't worth keeping it up," Queen said. "He has to give up on all four crystals. If Fire is safe, then our odds look good."
Balthier hissed at a raking on his leg and shot the culprit down.
"I'm coming!" Refia pulled power to her and Queen felt the world shift with it. "I'm coming, don't die!"
Fran kicked out with a low growl and Queen felt her rage as an invitation. With Cater and Nine here, she had people who could pull her out.
Queen uncapped that latent energy that ever broiled at the lid, waiting for a moment such as this. It surged through her as waves crashed on the shore and drove her to rip and tear.
Fran borrowed her energy.
Luneth flung himself from Rufus, shifting crystal power from fighter to mage. Took straight from the crystal and blasted the chamber with heavy winds.
Ace caught himself on stone and stood despite the outburst. A critter crawled to him, body pressed low to the ground. Ace threw a card, only for it to get ripped away by the windspeeds. He summoned the rogue card back and flicked it into holding.
Luneth tore through the horde and ripped any that got close. Ace moved closer, glad that the rest acted wise enough to stay back.
Noel stumbled in his swing. Yeul knife the things. The numbers were thinning—whatever happened at the Fire Crystal must have spread here.
Noel shook his arms and reset his stance. "I felt him."
"You did?" Yeul asked.
They cut the numbers far enough that Rufus hesitated in his aim. Cecil, Vaan, and Penelo dispatched remnants with ease and Ace forced himself to remain alert until the rest were gone.
And with Luneth tearing them all to shreds, this wouldn't last long.
"Got it handled?" Rikku asked Lightning.
She fought with the pealing ring of anger and boiling blood. She stifled the scream of rage.
Hope fell back and hyperventilated. King took to him and fought off the encroaching monsters.
"For now." Lightning gathered electric energy in her fingers, opening a channel in her head. "Sazh, Noel, Yeul, you feel that?"
Sazh responded first. "Wondered if it was just me."
"I did, but Yeul didn't," Noel said.
Shinra clicked a button.
Tiny sparks lit the chamber and blew half the horde into the ceiling. Rikku clicked another button and triggered a follow-up. But the numbers kept growing.
Lightning inched closer to the crystal. She wasn't the only one, either. Hope and Shinra were already there. Rikku, Onion, Ingus, and King tightened formation with her.
"We're losing ground." She released more energy. "One hell of a last-ditch effort."
Hope gripped his collar. Lightning's heart stopped as one of those monsters laid its eyes on him. Lightning threw herself at them and released more electricity, but too late.
Her fingers twitched and a burst of light shone as she threw her sword arm out to catch the chomping maw. Its teeth pierced straight through her arm.
The light cleared and Lightning shot the thing down.
Another took Onion and he jammed a sword through its skull.
A flash of metal. A knife flew by her and embedded itself in the eye of one. She turned to see Hope had pulled himself to his knees, and she caught anger in his eyes.
Noel's voice came in. "Sounds like everywhere else is empty, Lightning, you guys must be seeing the end of it."
"Good. We've got wounded."
They worked through the rest of the monsters as Ingus managed white magic for Onion.
They got down to the last few and Lightning decided to let King and the others handle it.
She knelt beside Hope. He watched her bleeding arm. He cast white. Lightning held her good hand towards him. He didn't act like he saw it.
"We're clear, Lightning," King said. "We should regroup and move on to the next target."
"We must return to Saronia as soon as possible." Ingus kept beside Onion, still doing what he could to heal him.
"We'll portal," Lightning said. "King, take them back."
Shinra inched away, eyeing the two of them, before he relented and joined the others around King. They made for the exit.
"Hope."
He kept healing.
"I'll be fine, you know."
Hope flickered with the cave. The world around them came back as Valhallan stone. Hope returned as himself, only with twisted checkers stretching up his skin, and a crystal-clear image of wings circling about in his eyes. She knew that symbol.
Lightning forced herself out of it. She couldn't afford hallucinations now.
She put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched but didn't pull away. She said, "We just won. And we're going to keep winning battles until he goes away."
Hope looked away and his breath hitched. Lightning remembered nights so long ago, when Serah was smaller. Nights when her sister couldn't sleep after their parents died. She'd sob and barely speak on the best of those nights. Lightning could only hug her and hope she would be okay.
Lightning wrapped her arms around Hope and pulled him close. He gripped her back.
"I'm sorry," he managed, muffled by her shoulder. "You got hurt because of me. I should be better than this."
"Don't worry about that."
"… You summoned your sword."
"Yeah."
"It felt like he has a plan. … It's new. When he left, he said I would die. But now he knows I'm alive and I'm not sure when he figured that out, and maybe I'm remembering wrong, but—"
"Slow down. He left you for dead?"
"Well, yeah. I—I didn't know about these shards until after. Bhunivelze must have forgotten them, or something. He wouldn't leave them behind, not deliberately. And—and I should have died. It's only his power that keeps me from dying. Is—is something wrong?"
"… No." She helped him back, though not without him watching her hand like it would turn into a flan and devour him. "Come on. We're not done yet."
"Toan?" Alus asked.
The intruder struggled with Toan before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Toan cursed and straightened. Alus was struck by his plain farmer's clothes. "How did you get here?" Alus asked. "When did you leave? How did—?" He lost his breath and his head turned light.
"You're in shock." Toan rushed to his side and pulled his knees up. "Put your head down."
"My people." Alus summoned white magic again, though he struggled to hold it. "General. Regent."
"I'll handle it." Toan left him and tended to the other two. While he worked, he explained, "The Fairy King's been talking to me a lot lately. Got a new map. It was harder to come here than some of the closer areas, but the King made sure I had places like this recorded."
"He knows what's happening on other worlds." Alus moved to join him, though his limbs felt weak and he stumbled. He finally got a hold of white magic. "The fae realms?"
"Lost. The King did something to make himself scarce, but not without telling me to come here."
"Who is this Fairy King?"
"Master of all fae."
"Yes, I gathered, but who is he?"
"He knows a lot of things and plays mediator between us and the fae. Honestly, for how much he talks, you'd think we'd know more."
Alus tasted bile when he moved on to one of the guards and found them with a bone sticking out of their leg.
"What about Arc?" Toan asked. "Where's he?"
"This Fairy King didn't tell you?"
"Only that he was working with everyone else."
Alus gestured for him to help with the bone and Toan did so. They reset it with a scream from the fallen guard. "I'll tell you after we get done here. I have some people you should meet."
Someone hit him from behind. Alus' shoulder cracked against the ground and he lost his breath.
A flash of purple and Luneth stumbled back from him with a short apology.
Toan scrambled back, fear in his face. Luneth made hasty explanations while Alus tried to heal himself.
Eventually they got each other updated, and not too long after, help arrived. By then, Alus let them take him back to his room to rest.
There was much to process.
