Cloud barely kept his arms up. Everything hurt and the sword felt heavier than a sack of bricks. But the monsters kept coming and he couldn't let them keep coming. They overran Cosmo Canyon and Red's old home sounded no resistance. Cloud could only hope the villagers abandoned the place before these things arrived.
The ground rumbled and the sky shook. He lost his footing and took a hit for it.
He slashed down snakes, wolves, and bird-like creatures that came at him. No matter how many he hit, more took their places. This felt familiar but he couldn't say why he… missed this.
His foot caught and Cloud cut back another mannequin. Malboro. That was a malboro. A small one, but it fell. He couldn't afford to face a bigger one of those, but he also couldn't pick his battles with so many coming at him!
The dead kept gathering and Cloud moved to keep from tripping over bodies. He felt stronger than before, but he couldn't say why. He should have worn out ages ago.
But then he thought of Tifa and her nervous humming when the door opened. Marlene rushing to join them in frosting the cookies. Denzel keeping to himself and his projects except when they brought out tokens of their adventures.
Cloud cut through twisted bodies and blackened faces. Dark blood stained his black clothes darker, and oil seeped through his gloves. He dropped his sword and blasted back enough creatures to reach it again.
How long would it take for Tifa to see his dead body? What would she tell the kids? The kids that seemed at times to understand death better than he did…
He fooled himself to think they'd lose themselves over him so quick. They suffered the death of greater people before him.
Claws caught him in the shoulder and Cloud threw a spell behind him. Shrieks sounded at the explosion and Cloud cleared enough ground to heal the gash. A big bird flew in and Cloud threw a sword into its stomach.
Fire that way, sword this way… it was all he could do not to let them push him back into the Lifestream.
His foot caught and Cloud hit the ground. Panic overwhelmed him and something shut down at the prospect of getting torn to shreds.
An explosion sounded and the shockwave rattled his bones. Cloud clenched his teeth against the pain and hauled himself to his feet, ready for the inevitable kill strike.
But the monsters were all distracted with the flames rising from gathered corpses. And the helicopter whirring ten feet above them.
Tseng leaned out of the door and held a hand to his headset. He said something and more ammo dropped.
Cloud's ears rang from the explosions and he stumbled away. After they exhausted their ammo—Cloud assumed that was what happened—then a lady dressed like the Turks jumped from the helicopter and took on the horde with a giant shuriken.
Red leaped after her. They helped mow through the endless swarm and Cloud's vision blurred from the pain catching up to him.
Cloud barely walked, balance lost to him. Then someone said, "Don't forget—"
Zack. Zack stood with him. He didn't radiate Lifestream energy like he should—was he a dream?
"You have more than one place," Zack said. "We'll handle things here. You should find your Cosmos friends."
"My—"
"You'll get there." Zack ruffled Cloud's hair and he felt it. "Now get going—the sooner you leave this place, the sooner Cosmo will calm down. You badness magnet."
The words swam in his ears and he felt like he would topple over with the smallest wind.
"Fine, I'll get you a heal first. Except I don't think any of these guys know white magic."
"No need." Cloud pulled his last potion and downed it. It took the edge off the pain.
"Oh, why didn't you mention that? Never mind, let's get you far away from here." Zack signaled Tseng and they picked up Cloud while the others exhausted the army here. Cloud resisted, not wanting to abandon so few people to such a mob, but Zack insisted.
"Will they get more help?" Cloud asked.
"They'll get what they need. Promise. The world's in trouble, but we're not alone this time."
Aerith left Tifa, Denzel, and Prompto to Snow's capable hands. He insisted on finding someone better suited to taking care of them, but Aerith knew Snow. There was no mistaking that clear, shining kindness of his that seemed too much for even his big body.
"Take them to the Turks' hideout," she told him. "They'll know what to do once I get this taken care of."
He couldn't protest before she gave him a salute and leapt into the Lifestream.
Toan left Arc with his old black dagger and left. The roughened metal still glistened in the shifting light of their flickering sun. Toan said it would keep the memories fresh.
The memories of mixing blood, oil, and blackened tissue. He stung with ghostly reminders of jagged bone and messy stitching. And he felt a rush at the thought of something new rising from the merged remains. Black magic in his fingers, made murky by white infusions. Twisted, terrible magic that no one knew in this generation.
Refia, Luneth, and Ingus coordinated helping Sazh get Dajh back, but Arc couldn't look away from his hands. By Luneth's memories, he once created something horrible like those monsters. And if he made them once, could it be his fault that they existed now? Did he give these things power or vice versa? Or could the timelines have merged in some way?
He clenched his fists as if he could trap the memories there. He knew dead things. And if these were the same dead things, he might find the same hold on them.
The ground shifted and he felt something squirm beneath the dirt. A tug from the right, like someone pulled on his sleeve. With a tug back, he found a hold and pulled.
A long bone popped out of the ground and glowed with purple energy. The feel of it reminded him of raising bodies from the bloodied grounds of war. It reminded him of carrying used bodies back in carts before getting locked away again.
He infused the bone with energy and it swung about, confused. Bones by themselves had no purpose. He needed souls to infuse the bodies with. At the thought, something tugged at him again, this time from further away. From the northeast.
"I have to go," he told the others. Luneth and Refia argued about how it changed their numbers, but then Arc flew.
He took off at an angle. Winds guided him toward that distant light and he found the sickly lines of merged foreign terrain. Something joined them.
Arc left. Luneth and Refia complained together.
Sazh waited for Dajh. He waited because Dajh was a smart kid that survived a thousand years of everything trying to kill him. He waited because he raised Dajh to be good. He waited because despite his effort to teach him otherwise, Dajh was still a wanderer at heart and would seek out the slightest hint of curiosity.
And if Sazh could catch Bhunivelze's attention, then he could attract Dajh first.
His boy broke through space and landed beside him, face bright. "I got distracted by a shooting star, Daddy!"
Sazh reached for him. "You didn't let it hurt you, did you?"
"No, Daddy!"
Dajh collapsed against him and Sazh caught him. Luneth stood nearby, one hand out and eyes closed. Sazh saw him as the Fairy King that he was, but he still barely understood his power. Bhunivelze didn't have time to enlighten Sazh that far. Or maybe Sazh's memory already faded from his time possessed.
Sazh stayed quiet and lowered Dajh to sleep. So long as Luneth did it right, by the time Dajh woke, they'd have one more of them back.
Refia joined him, hands colored pink. "I'm ready when you are."
Sazh closed his eyes and put his forehead against Dajh's. Whatever magic Luneth used connected and Sazh pulled into something noncorporeal.
He fell through darkness before finding form and gathering in a sunlit patch of grass. Luneth and Dajh spoke there in hushed whispers and Sazh forced himself closer. Something resisted his approach.
"Oh, Daddy!" The resistance faded and Dajh reached for him.
Sazh joined them. Luneth cast him a knowing look. Dajh still looked thrilled. "What am I missing?" Sazh asked.
"He's already loose," Luneth said. "Dajh never connected the second time."
Sazh cooled with alarm. Could Dajh take control of a scape like this? Could—?
Dajh took his hand. "Now that you're free, too, we can save everyone!"
Luneth said, "Don't worry. He doesn't have the awareness to change this place."
"… Then let's get started," Sazh said.
Lenna focused on her tea. She savored its earthy taste and warming steam. It calmed her nerves and reminded her of kinder times.
Bartz paced the room, like he had an explosion contained within that he couldn't vent. Like it drew him to madness.
But they waited. They kept their patience because they were smart people. And relaxed people. Lenna felt no rush of anger or sudden fear. She was just a queen at her table, sipping tea.
Until the door burst open and a man in torn and dark clothing entered, styled like no madman she met. He bore a wild grin full of uneasy giddiness and said, "Name's Tidus! Where's my Cosmos warriors at?"
"Not here, yet," Bartz said. "I think Firion's got them."
Lenna watched them, more focused on the tells of this newcomer than in what she already knew from Bartz's side. So long as he distracted their guests, she'd find plenty of time to evaluate potential traitors.
"Where's the rest?" she asked the Crystals. "Do we have time to wait?"
"Time dwindles. The merging has begun as the Void's appetite rages, but the heroes gather."
"Then we should begin our work."
"It will be long and your bodies may not last."
"And yet I'm not doing anything else with my time. How might we hold it off?"
"By calling on the powers of Cosmos and Chaos."
"We have only Cosmos."
"False."
The tea turned too sweet. "What?"
"Chaos' warriors have not forgotten their charge. Some lost themselves to the Void, but not all. Those have found a way to gather with you."
Yeul thought of plenty of reasons to go back to her new world. They might need her knowledge of Gaia IV. Maybe the Void would target this location and she would join the others fighting it. Or as bait?
The heat of the Damcyan desert sun beat against her and Yeul missed the relief of Valhalla's clouded shores.
"Stop," Trey said. She, Ace, and Jack did so. "This is as far from civilization as we are likely to get. Yeul, are you ready?"
"I am as I must be."
Ace said. "Though, I... never mind."
Yeul swallowed her argument. Zero was convinced that it was worth the extra risk of having them along to ensure some degree of safety against the corrupted Cie.
"They're looking for you," Jack said. "Deep down, I think it's kind of even for the right reasons."
Yeul said, "If that were the case, it would still be overruled by what Bhunivelze has planned for them and myself."
"But hey, maybe it'll help."
"And our relationship with Zero? I wouldn't think that it would be so easy for any of us to fight yours."
Jack shook his head. "It shouldn't be so easy for any of us to kill each other. But I guess that's what happens when you're raised as a soldier."
"I doubt that was the problem."
"… You're right. Honestly, it was probably more a life-or-death thing, but I haven't gotten close enough to Snow to figure it out."
"Then let me be the one to apologize. I'm sorry. I hope King and Eight… I hope they're okay."
Jack shrugged. "Not your fault."
"My peers—"
"Not theirs, either. We keep having this conversation, but the actions of the possessed are not their fault—all of that lies on Bhunivelze. He's the one who's going to answer for all this blood and pain."
Trey said, "Jack is right; there is no meaningful way to place blame on the possessed."
"If we're going to take over as the next generation of gods," Ace said, "we can't let petty emotions rule our decisions. And we've seen enough to know the difference between sanity and possession."
Trey raised a hand to cut them off. "Target incoming. Prepare yourselves."
Yeul readied her dagger and looked for what triggered Trey. The sky blackened. Midday turned to starry night as the horizon drew closer. Winds died and the sands stilled. An unnatural, bright orange light cast itself over the desert. Shadows moved just beyond that light.
Trey took careful aim. "Noel."
Jack and Ace placed themselves to form a triangle with Trey, Yeul in the center. She gripped the dagger hard enough her knuckles went white, and her fingers numbed.
"Noel, you do not approve of bloodshed," Yeul said. "You know what it means when death has taken all but one."
Trey fired. Silence before something ripped. Trey teleported away.
Jack tossed away his sword and moved towards Yeul. She felt his pain at failing a loved one.
Ace appeared beside Yeul and threw cards. Noel dodged as a blur. Jack moved to flank him, but Noel threw away from Yeul.
A card ripped at Noel's wrist and red splattered sand.
A brand showed bright on his neck, golden and bright. Her leg seized.
They fought on, Ace and Jack against Noel. Noel held his own despite the disadvantage, but he struggled. He resorted to such brutality as she hadn't seen since their days together on Pulse.
Until Noel hit Jack and sent him away. Ace engaged him alone.
"Wait," Yeul said. "Noel will listen to me."
They paused. Ace gave himself distance and waited seconds before saying, "He'll kill you."
"He can't." Yeul approached Noel and he stared at her, eyes glinting gold. "I have all my shards. He doesn't."
Noel's face twisted in something between pain and relief. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came.
Yeul put a hand on his cheek. "You still suffer, even now. And the thought of hurting me is more than you can bear. Ace, return to your work."
"Yeul—"
"Go!"
She felt his reluctance before he disappeared after Jack.
Trey reoriented and found himself in the glades near Baron. Sunlight filtered through a canopy of leaves and branches. It provided a stark contrast against dark, growling Voidsent.
Trey steadied himself and shot them down.
Jack pinged him and asked for a status.
Trey said, "Voidsent have intermittently appeared since the incident with the gate. Unfortunately, it appears our arrival, or the use of breaks in space, have increased their frequency." He couldn't find information regarding the pact between Bhunivelze and the Void. Both remained dark to him. "Either they come to assist Noel, or to kill him. Jack, you are near Damcyan. Return to the space-break and wait for sign of Yeul and Noel."
"Sounds good to me."
"Ace." Trey waited for him to confirm reception. "Your closest neighbor is Fabul. King Yang Fang Leiden is a world savior, yet our existence will draw the Voidsent. If you deem it safe, speak with him. Otherwise, search out Voidtears and eliminate them."
"Got it."
"How is Luck?" Trey asked.
"Yeul stands the best chance of getting Noel to listen to her if we're not there. This problem with the Void is an opportunity to strengthen one more planet against it."
"So… good?" Jack asked.
"Very."
"Jack," Trey said. "You sound unwell."
"I'll deal. You guys go on ahead." Jack cut his link.
Trey steadied himself. He had to find Jack
Even if she couldn't die at Noel's hand, he might still take her to Valhalla where that changed. Ace sent a warning message to Queen.
He felt the gathering Void as a pull on his shoulders and he followed that pull to a broken field of shattered trees and strewn rocks.
He threw cards at an imitation of a cockatrice that stomped the ground and roared. A girl in red about his own age faced it alone. She threw herself into a slide and punched it with metal claws.
Three more crawled out of the tall grass and flanked the girl. Ace stopped beside her and sliced the heads from two while she took the third.
The girl showed more grace than Eight and she rivaled him in strength.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Ace. You?"
"Ursula. Monk of Fabul. You know what these creatures are?"
"You should return to your people and warn them that the Void has arrived and must be stopped."
"Then let me go with you to destroy them. I'm supposed to be spent training right now and I don't plan to go back before I'm done."
"Your world hasn't encountered the Void before, has it?"
"… No."
"Strange monsters show up on your doorstep and you're not worried?"
"Don't you know who I am?" She flashed him a confident smile. "Even if this is the third time Zeromus shows up, we'll beat him again."
"You're a world savior?"
"Only once, though. My father's done it twice. You're not from around here, are you?"
"Looks like it's my turn to be embarrassed." Ace caught on another group of Voidsent coalescing nearby. "I know Palom, Porom, Rydia, Luca, Cecil… but not well."
"Are they okay?"
"They're alive."
"Cecil's my godfather, and the others are my friends. If you know anything about them, tell me. Please."
"… It's been a while since I've seen them. All I can say is that, last I knew, they were together."
"Then, do you know what's happened to King Edward?"
"Someone wanted to make sure that an evil god doesn't get certain shards. So, they scattered them."
"How does that affect Edward?"
He meant again to send her away, but the words caught in his throat. "… Come on, there are more over here."
Ursula followed him with a spring to her step. Ace wished he shared her optimism.
"I didn't know who would come," Yeul said. "But I hoped you would reach your senses on your own. You know that Ace, Trey, and Jack are here to protect me from you?"
"You don't need them. There's nothing you have to fear if you go to Valhalla."
"Not even pain?"
Silence.
"He needs Death. I know he'll torture me until I do not remember myself. Or he will kill me and give my shards to one he trusts better."
"It's not as bad as all that."
"You say, even as your own self has been stripped away and buried beneath what he wants of you." Yeul brought bone dust from the sands and formed three images. "You recall his plan to destroy the dead? You could not save them from death, but you can save them from oblivion."
She showed Rigo first, his body crushed beneath an Adamantoise he hunted on his own. Noel stiffened. Yeul said, "He was headstrong. He didn't want to die. He doesn't want to disappear."
Yanny, next. A vision of anger, the last either she or Noel saw of him. She never heard if they found the body. "You two argued, then he died. Do you think he could have asked for help?"
Noel looked away, allowing his brand into full view.
Yeul let Yanny go and brought back Natarle. Natarle's illness wracked her body. Despite Noel's best efforts, she died, emaciated and cold. "She clung to life, even after everyone else left." Yeul let the bone dust drift. "That future was locked into being, even if Time never found it. You wanted to help because of them, didn't you?"
"Not just them."
"But they don't have to be gone forever. Not unless Bhunivelze gets the new start that he wants. You're stronger than he is. You always have been."
"I shouldn't be." Noel choked and grit his teeth. Inky fluid stained the hand against his brand. "The Void."
"You know its intentions?"
"It's active. Here."
"Thank you." Yeul took his hand and held it tight. "Can you resist your commands? He makes you not think about the future, but you need to. Think of what it will mean to fulfil his orders."
"I can't."
Yeul tightened her hold. "Try and you'll see."
"He's not killing everyone. He's not—"
"Isn't he?"
"We're—saving—people! We're—"
She wished she had the humanity to feel what he felt. "You think you're helping them now, but it won't last. You'll wake up and—"
"You'll not take this one from me." Noel teleported and took Yeul with him.
They crashed into sand. Jack, struggling to stand, cast them a hopeful glance.
"Noel!" Yeul scrambled to get him. "Don't!"
Trey appeared and shot Noel through the shoulder. Jack fell into stance, but he looked haggard. That wound of his drained his lifeforce. He'd die soon. And if Noel killed him first…
Yeul grabbed Jack's life. Everyone froze.
Yeul whispered an apology and ripped Jack free. He fell and dissipated.
Trey yelled and aimed for Yeul. Noel chopped his bow and dispersed it. Trey tackled Noel. Yeul watched where Jack disappeared and searched for his trajectory—he returned in Valhalla.
Noel argued with Trey, broken free of his influence. It could take years for her to regain Trey's trust.
"He would have died eventually," she told Trey. "Now, perhaps he can fight with Eight and King."
"Eight and King went silent!" Trey struggled against Noel. "We've lost them! Don't try to tell me you've sent them anywhere better!"
"They're not gone," Noel said.
"Not yet! Bhunivelze will only hold them forever! And in the meantime, he'll torture them for information or worse! What else has he done with his vessels? And who will you sacrifice for Fang, Yeul? Will you give us all up for your friends?"
"We're not… friends," Yeul said. "But this is a digression. We'll retrieve the others once we regather. Eventually, we must invade Valhalla itself and take everything Bhunivelze owns."
Trey wrestled free of Noel. "How?"
Noel wheezed and collapsed with a hand on his brand. His arms shook and he wobbled in place. "The poison's started faster. Bhunivelze's weakened and desperate."
"Ace," Trey said, "it's time to regroup."
Yeul dropped to Noel's side and examined the irritated brand. Dark veins branched from the center. "Can you still fight?" she asked.
"I'll fight just fine."
She worked with Ace and Trey to help him up, though Trey wouldn't come near her.
Thin air wisped over dry grass and teased Fang's hems. Dark skies hung over this struggling world as its defining feature. Eos. And Vanille chose this place of all places.
Fang struck off and read the planet through the wind patterns. Their eyes had some telling features, but Vanille gravitated to people.
Knowing she was on her own didn't bother her—she made sure that Light and the rest knew where she was going—but being invisible out here made her tingle.
She reached and found two bodies with Bhunivelze's shards. They should know better than to run.
She leapt and guided the winds to take her miles over this lightless planet. From there, she found them.
Fang slammed into the ground and met Vanille's eye.
Vanille and Hope dropped to a half-crouch, wary eyes locked onto Fang, but… checkers stretched over their exposed flesh. Their brands remained the same.
Vanille grabbed Hope's wrist and ran.
"I'm here for your own good, you know!" She jumped again. "Sheesh, what's gotten into you two?"
Vanille ran, but Fang caught her with ease. Bhunivelze must've locked their power when they ran.
Vanille released Hope and yelled, "Run!"
Fang grabbed his arm. "You're coming, too."
"Let us go," Hope managed between breaths.
Vanille pried at Fang's fingers. "Fang, you wouldn't!"
Fang summoned Light and tried to teleport away. It fizzled. Damned night must've weakened the Light. "Guess we're taking a gate."
"I can't do it again!" Vanille said. "I can't go back!"
"Nearest gate isn't too far. Now, stop fighting or we'll take the sky."
"He's lying to you, Fang, it's what he does." Hope's voice cracked. "He lied to Lightning and he told her he could bring Serah back, but he couldn't. His people lied to Vanille and told her that the souls wanted to be destroyed, but they didn't! He's telling you that this is what you want, but it's not, you—"
Fang cut him off, "You think you know me, kid?"
"You want what we all want," Vanille said. "You want all of us to be together and safe! You want all this pain to stop!"
"Together, Vanille. I want us together. Thought we had that, until you two decided to run off. Not to mention those other brain-dead idiots I've gotta find after you're back."
"But—"
"You two are going back. You're going to apologize, accept what He has in store for you, and stop. Pushing. Him."
"Hope is his weakness! Only one of them are vulnerable at a time, and Bhunivelze shields himself because he knows we won't kill Hope! He's been using us from the beginning!"
Hope fell. The checkers snaked up his neck, and down towards his ankle. He breathed shallow. His free hand rested on her arm, weak fingers shaking, trying to grip her wrist.
Vanille gasped, face twisting in pain. She gripped her shoulder with her free hand as the mark expanded onto her arms. It bled, slicing up the skin as it moved.
She pulled her hand away, wet with inky blood as the mark stabilized.
Footsteps. Fang let go and turned to find a force of bloody Red approaching. "Well, well," she said. "Here we go again."
"Fang… be safe," Vanille whispered. She and Hope struggled to their feet and moved.
Fang summoned her spear in a shower of light and flipped it behind her. She'd retrieve those two if she didn't die here.
Seven, Cinque, Cater. Cinque wasn't a problem, Seven was avoidable. Cater was the main headache with her range, and the other two were probably her defense.
"Hey, Fang!" Cinque called. "How are you?"
"Was that Hope and Vanille?" Cater asked.
"You bet it was," Cinque said. "They ran for it, too. Bet they were trying to get away from you."
"If they're running, then their brands are progressing," Seven said. Like Fang expected, Seven and Cinque kept by Cater's side.
"Guess I couldn't convince you to just kill yourselves here? Go to Valhalla? Get all that over with?"
Cater waved a hand. "Kind of like you, when you have a brain of your own."
Fang checked the lights moving away from her. They didn't get far enough. "You really find this worth it?" she asked.
"I'm kind of tired," Cinque said, "but I don't want my friends to hurt, so I'm not gonna stop."
Fang stopped. "Look at this place, they tried to stop this night from settling, and look how well that went. Same with Ruin. Can't forget Chrysalia, either. They all failed. At least Bhunivelze had a plan to move forward from that one."
"Without any regard to the souls lost," Seven said. "Or have you forgotten that he planned to kill Vanille? Hope, too."
Fang screamed and launched.
Cater jumped away and Seven lashed. Fang shoved herself away, but not quick enough. The whip caught her leg and tore.
Fang landed with a hiss and caught the whip with her spear. "You know our history, not who we are."
Seven tugged back, but Fang held fast. "Tell me, Fang, you know what that curse is, right? The checkers?"
The image bit her of Vanille's skin splitting. "It's a brand."
Cinque whistled.
"Bhunivelze didn't tell you about that, did he?" Cater asked. "About the system he set up to make sure everyone stays in line. So, if someone leaves, it won't be long until they end up back in Valhalla. Going by your memory, those two don't have long."
"Get out of my head."
"It progressed when you threatened them, right? When you told them to go ahead and accept whatever their torturer is gonna do to them next."
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
She summoned winds and blasted Seven and Cinque away from Cater. Then Fang launched and angled to kill.
"They're hurting," Cinque said. "They need help!"
Fang threw at Cater, but Seven intercepted. The mix of ranged and melee made it impossible to focus on a single person.
Vanille had seen Fang and ran. Fang hadn't noticed that limp, favoring her brandless leg. Checkers. Blood on Vanille's hands that seeped into her dress. Hope stumbling behind.
Fang came back to. Dismissed her spear and re-summoned it. She didn't have time to deal with this smoke and mirrors bulls—
Cinque crashed into her with a mace and knocked Fang off-balance. Cater shot out her spear arm and Seven ripped her spear free.
Cinque threw the spear back to Fang. "This is for protecting the people you care about, don't you think?"
Seven readied her whip again. "Give it up!"
"I'll take them back!" Fang said.
"You didn't know about the brand. Bhunivelze didn't tell you," Seven said. "Are you sure that there's no other critical information that he left out?"
"She's lying to you, Fang," Hope was supposed to say.
Fang straightened. Sharp pain stabbed at her shoulder. She hissed and gripped her brand. She knew that pain. Remembered it from long before she ever met Light, Snow, or the others. Years before she woke up on Cocoon.
Inky, bloodlike substance stained her hand. Checkers stretched over her arm.
Rage filled her and Fang blasted wind. The Reds fell and Fang went after Cinque with a storm. Debris filled the air and nicked her exposed skin.
The three struggled to keep up. The clouds danced and tornados formed. Cater cursed and hit Fang in the shoulder and thigh. One bullet tore through her middle.
She itched to turn, run to Valhalla, but Vanille was here. Hope, too. If she died here and went to confront Bhunivelze, she couldn't protect the kids. There was no telling what Lightning would do to them after getting split.
Fang rolled to a halt and screamed. The wind died and the tornados stopped. The three tackled her to the ground and Fang struggled against them before giving up.
"Back with us?" Seven asked.
Fang's muscles weakened and she felt faint. Her body, though strengthened with eternal power, still felt useless with so many bullets poisoning her blood. "I can't run very well like this."
"Got it!" Cinque backpedaled. "Now we can—!"
"Wait," Seven said.
"The gold is gone," Cater said way too close to Fang's face. She smelled like smoke and blood. "She's clean."
Fang shoved her off and stood despite a tremor in her legs. "Damn you. I'll find Vanille and Hope."
"Yay!" Cinque joined her,
"Whatever makes you feel better," Cater grumbled. She and Seven fell in beside Fang and Cinque.
She already lost the power to jump. This brand would kill them and would send them straight back to Bhunivelze.
Fang reached out to find those pinpricks of light, traveling away, only to find the map dead. But she could still find them.
Eos drifted to join the merge. Tenebrae, once a center of wisdom and education, now dwindled in the fading darkness. They followed the Guild through twisting cliffs and forests while towns and palaces formed shadows below.
Hope swallowed at the gathering of travelers across a gap of Tenebrae's cliffs. If someone got violent and he died, Vanille would follow him back to Valhalla and get caught again. And if she got caught, then—
"Come on." She tugged at his arm. "We've got a better chance here than back there."
Someone yelled at their approach and the guild mobilized. Vanille paused. Hope moved to retreat behind her before catching himself.
Shells and protects flew about the frontline of travelers as they formed positions. Melee fighters took the front row, and casters maneuvered with ranged onto the cliff face behind them.
"We come in peace!" Vanille yelled across the chasm separating them and the travelers.
"Then prove it!" The tough-robed man in the middle stepped forward.
"The worlds are merging!" Hope yelled. "Bhunivelze's allowed the Void free reign!"
"Vanille?" A tailed man stepped forward and lowered his daggers. "You're one of them?"
Vanille pushed Hope back. "No! I never was!"
"Wait!" called a purple woman beside the first man. "They'll have lost their brands if they were untaken!"
Vanille's breath hitched and Hope felt a tingle in his back at the reminder.
A pink lady with flowing fair tied back in a tail leaped over the chasm and landed beside Vanille. "May I see?" she asked.
Vanille wouldn't move. She kept glancing to Hope and his thoughts raced. "We were never disconnected," he blurted. "But we're both immune."
Alarm flashed in the pink lady's face and she stepped back. "What other tokens are there?"
"You were one of us," Hope said. "You know how we would act if we were still possessed."
"I did once."
The air split and Hope felt Lightning's arrival. A thrill of panic shuddered through him. He tried to push Vanille away. "Don't—!"
Lightning stabbed him.
Hope went numb, caught by that blade sticking through him. "Lightning, stop—"
She flung him off the edge.
Vanille shrieked and tackled Lightning. Pink lady flew back to join her friends. Lightning disarmed Vanille and slammed her into the cliff face.
Someone landed behind them and Vanille craned to see Snow holding a dying Hope. They spoke in hushed whispers before Hope went still. It took ages for him to fade back to Valhalla.
Lightning had the decency to hesitate. Vanille shoved her back and asked, "Do you see what you've done? Do you have any idea what you just—?"
Lightning reached for her. Vanille rebuffed her with white magic barriers.
"You know this is a waste of time," Lightning said. Then she screamed and collapsed. Her form wavered with a sickly yellow light.
Fang, bloodied and faint, joined them and took to Vanille's side. "What's happened?"
"Lightning just sent Hope back to Valhalla!"
Fang readied herself against Lightning. "She was changed to not listen like us."
"I was made perfect," Lightning said and stood with visible difficulty. "Cleansed of your hesitance and stupidity."
"Sanitized," Snow muttered before standing. He was so weakened already by Bhunivelze's poison trap.
"You're all gonna fight me, now?" Lightning asked. "About time. Not matter what Lumina does to herself, I can still take you all on."
Vanille pulled her dagger free. "Not me."
Fang yelled and reached to stop her too late. Vanille stabbed herself in the heart.
Serah rushed through space. Her siblings fell apart at the seams. At this rate, they'd all die back to Valhalla, but they weren't supposed to need refreshing so soon.
Mog remained cold.
Serah touched down on Eos and stumbled through darkness before latching onto Lightning's signal and warping there. Lightning fought against Fang and Snow. The Guild moved on before she arrived. Lightning stuttered in odd intervals and Serah felt the rippling disturbances of Lumina's work.
She moved to take Lightning's side. Yet when she faced Snow, she couldn't bring herself to fire. Mog felt dead and cold. Snow yelled and drew up short before hitting her. He stared at her in shock.
"This isn't right," Serah said.
Snow stilled. Something went unsaid before Lightning stabbed him in the back.
"No!" Serah rushed to Snow's side. "Stop!"
Fang struck Lightning through the chest and whipped her spear free. Lightning fell. "Looks like we're going back one way or the other," Fang said.
"Traitors," Lightning hissed.
Serah cradled Snow to her as he faded. Words failed her and she could only watch Lightning struggle to stand. Fang dealt the killing blow and Lightning also faded.
"Now what?" Serah asked past the shock. "Fang, what happened?"
"Bhunivelze made a mistake. And we woke up. Same way that Lumina and Lightning aren't fully separated."
"So, what, we'll stage a raid on Valhalla?"
"That's what the Reds are planning, and they've already left. Come on. We might even beat them at this point if we take the same way as the others."
Serah felt cold without Snow. Wind battered her hair and clothes. The decrepit buildings in this once-city looked barren. She dismissed Mog and stood. "What's happening to this place?"
"It's merging with the rest of the planets."
"Will we undo it?"
"No clue. But if we do this right, I imagine we'll have a chance."
Serah nodded and turned to Fang. "Let's get it done, then."
Vanille found Bhunivelze's avatar on Etro's throne. He grew too big and messy to contain himself to such a small form, but it represented the center of his consciousness. Frosty light cast him in perfect brightness against the abyss below. "Release him," she said.
"In exchange for what?"
"I'll give you Mwynn's knowledge."
"I've racked your body and shredded your mind. How do you keep it from me?"
"A lot of practice."
Bhunivelze twisted about, face set into hard lines. Behind him, the sky crashed about with the flying debris of conflicting worlds. "I won't kill him."
"You can't kill him."
"Then I'll make him wish for death."
"I'll give you all you want if you don't do that."
He hated her. She felt it through his puppet-string connection and in the intensity of his glare. But he'd also never admit to feeling bested by a mortal. "I can still tear it from you."
"Can you? I may be good at lying, but Mwynn Herself arranged this lock. You may have killed her, but you'll never beat her."
Bhunivelze swelled in size and leapt from his throne. He landed before her with such weight the stones cracked. "I can still kill you, wretch."
"Then you'd lose my secrets forever. But I'll gladly trade with you! I'll take Hope and the both of us will leave you! With your power and my protection, he'll never die, and you'll keep your palace!"
"The plaything of a child. I'll yet sculpt it into something worth my time."
"You used to be great." Vanille watched him, taken by the defensive twitches that betrayed him. "You've merged so completely with a human heart that it's ruined your glory. What if we restored that for you?"
"I gave you other priorities."
"Yes, but Mwynn forced my mind. I'll always retain loyalty to you, but I also see what distresses you. If Your Divinity would allow it, we might find ways to separate you from Hope. Your true potential restored. Think of it!"
She flew and hit the wall. Her head cracked and healed as fast. "You forget your place in my sight, child. I'll not have you manipulate me."
She blinked away stars and stood. "Then what? You'll keep throwing us about like rag dolls? You can only get so far without a plan, you know. But if you let us work—"
She flew again. Her heart stopped at the thought of getting tossed into the abyss. But then she hit another wall.
Another presence entered Valhalla. Vanille forced back the building panic and stood again. "It doesn't have to be this way!"
He took her again and she waited for something like death. Instead, he held her steady. "And you would teach me how it does?"
"I can teach you mortality!"
"I know better than you, child."
Another presence entered. Vanille fought her restraint. This went nowhere, but there had to be a way to convince him. If she found the right words, maybe, or if she showed something. If they couldn't beat him, then she could work him over to their side.
Another presence joined and the air rumbled. The floor shook.
"You've arranged a coup?" asked Bhunivelze. "Very well. My patience may be vast, but not unlimited."
He released her and Vanille found her footing. Bhunivelze took to his throne again and slithered his control into the foundations of this realm. He changed Valhalla to remove the pristine shores and glittering palaces. Vanille watched buildings crumble from view, and she moved to take a closer look. The illusion of water and sand faded to show the endless expanse of the Historia Crux and the intertwined Void Beyond. The sky broke and revealed twisting channels and pathways that connected the affected worlds.
"I've tried your playing field," Bhunivelze said, voice warping with the shifting space. "And it's time we reverted to the realm of gods. You will know true enlightenment."
Stone crumbled away and twisting metal yanked the mutilated bodies of King, Eight, and Jack close. Hope appeared in a burst of gold and joined Bhunivelze. More people connected to Valhalla.
Vanille yelped as the ground dissipated and she moved to find a hold in the dancing space.
"Hey, bastard!" King summoned his gun and shot Bhunivelze in the head. It went clean through.
Bhunivelze jerked free of the throne and flicked King free of the wire. Eight came next. They healed slowly. "Your petty tricks do nothing to me."
"Then try this on for size!" Eight kicked at the throne and it cracked.
Then the rest of the Reds and Cie joined them and attacked the throne as one.
Lumina broke a long time ago. But her spirit wouldn't merge with Lightning's until Lightning, too, was freed.
Now Lumina spun about in the dancing colors of Valhalla as it fell. Reality shattered and time splintered. Lumina reveled in the chaos, chest fluttering at seeing it all go. The walls of her prison snapped and disintegrated. And she faded with it.
Lightning, in her wary wisdom, knew the keys of this place better than anyone else. She knew the weakness and she instructed everyone to aim for the Heart of Time. And now they could become one again. Lumina would remember caution and maturity. But that was later. For now, she reveled in the Twisting of Time. And yet, there was no later and there was no now.
Lumina fell still and turned to face Lightning. They fought Bhunivelze and they didn't. They would. Lightning took her back and Lumina took Lightning. Broken pieces made whole. Functions previously broken resumed themselves and Lumina remembered how to feel and understand. She remembered taking care of people and the joy of wholesome connections.
Lightning revived herself.
Years and space fell away from him. Light and darkness, war and peace, trial and rest… it all peeled back like layers from a fresh onion. He approached the core of a matter spanning not only years but feeling and space. He remembered himself.
Lush grass and towering trees filled his view. A grand and decorated castle met him. The Crystal-blessed land stretched out to show a bustling village and hushed guards. The sun was blocked by bushy trees and dancing clouds.
The Warrior of Light looked to Squall, Firion, Zidane, and Cecil. "Sarah has landed us close to the Void's entrance. We must find Bartz, for he'll know the location of this castle."
"Got it!" Tidus ran and the others followed. "Let's start with this castle right here!"
The Warrior of Light wished more than anything to feel what they felt. But his artificial parts only knew to move as directed.
He would fulfil his purpose at last.