A.N. This chapter will have a more darker side of it. Note: "This is regular speech" *This is thought* This is dream sequence/dream conversation This is to emphasize something in the text

Dark's P.O.V.

I led the party back to the airship, after Terra was done fluffing the Moogle's pompoms at the orphanage, that is. Upon getting to the airship, I produced a few chips of Gil that represented a million, and said, "Just shut up and drive." and threw them in Balthier's direction. I watched as he caught the chips, then ran off into the cockpit. I turned to Cloud and said, "We need to start looking for Caius. We'll head to Alexandria first." "What? We're going to ask the monkey kid?" He asked me. "Something like that. I'll be in my room." I told him. I then proceeded to walk away from where he was and entered the sanctity of my room. I left the lock at half closed, where no one could tell if I had locked it or not. I laid back on my hammock, and dived into my thoughts. *Well, now that the party has been formed, it is time for the Fellowship to find their quarry. I must keep myself at full fighting capacity. I can't let my guard down, until the Focus has been completed. This is going to be tough, especially since...* I thought to myself while I reclined. After a few minutes, I fell asleep.

I looked around to see the others that I travel with. Balthier, Fran, Cloud, Terra, Squall.

Lightning...

They all looked at me from large white pillars, and when I tried to approach them, I noticed something terribly wrong. Balthier's face was swollen, and he was holding his chest, directly over his heart. Fran was holding on to her arm, as if it were broken, and looked as if she was about to double over from the pain. Squall had his normal sour look on him, but I saw that the collar of his coat had been stained with something Red. Terra looked as if she had suffered an all consuming burn. Cloud looked the same, except for the fact that all of his Fusion Swords that he had brought were sheathed in his stomach. They were actually propping him up, like a bicycle kickstand. Of course, then I saw what had happened to Lightning.

Her vest had been ripped in multiple places, starting to show off her bra, which miraculously was unscathed. Her jeans were nothing more than floss for her ass, her underwear acting as replacement pants for her. Her boots had sections missing from them, and I could not see where her Gunblade holster was. I looked over her heart, and saw a small hole in the center, in front of her heart, where blood was slowly seeping out. "No... No..." I said to myself, backing away from the pillars.

"What's the matter? Afraid of what will happen to your friends once I kill you?" I heard boasted from behind me. I knew who it was already, but I had to make sure. I turned, and indeed saw Caius Ballad, smirking at me. "What did you do to them? Don't fucking lie!" I demanded. "Why, isn't it obvious? After you died, I killed them as well. Spike-haired guy first, then the lady with the green hair and magic. Then the guy with fur, and then your pilots. Once they were all dead, and I had made sure that the bitch known as 'Lightning' knows that no one opposes me." He gloated. "SHUT UP!" I yelled trying to get my Gunblade to summon, but see the sparks fizzle out as quickly as they appeared. Caius laughed at this, and said, "What's the matter? Scared of the truth? If you take my Ultimate Attack, then you'll die. There is no other excuse for it. You won't be saved by your precious Crystal Stasis, and I don't think that you want to be a Cie'th. Terrible life, that is. So, come to me, alone, and I will end your suffering, and I won't harm them. I promise." Caius started walking away, but then turned back and said, "Oh, and enjoy the rest of your nightmare."

As soon as he left, I heard groaning from behind me. I turned to see my former friends shuffling towards me. I ran over to Cloud, and pulled out one of his smaller Fusion Swords, holding it to try and keep them from coming closer. "Stay back! I don't want to hurt you!" I yelled to them. I walked back as they were shuffling towards me, until I bumped into something. I turned to see Lightning, who said, "You killed us. You will now suffer." She then attacked me, knocking the sword from my hands. I managed to keep her a few inches from my face, which she was trying to bite at, and I tried to reach for the blade. I almost had my hand on it when I felt Terra's hands clamp around my wrist, and her mouth starting to go to the skin in between. I could feel her ripping the flesh from my body, which caused me to both scream, and lose my control over Lightning, who sunk her teeth into my neck...

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" I yelled, snapping awake, summoning my Gunblade, and stabbing it through the nearest thing, pulling the trigger until I kept hearing the hammer click. "DARK!" I heard from my side, and when I turned my head, I felt a slap come across my face. I looked at who it was that slapped me, afterwards, to see Lightning, perfectly normal and alive, but with a concerned look in her eyes. "Dark, what the hell is wrong with you?" She asked me, staring into my eyes. I felt my eyes water, and I quickly pulled her close, making sure that she didn't see me cry. "Thank the Gods you're safe, Lightning." I said to her. She slowly moved her hands to my back, and held me in the hug that had formed. "Dark, what happened?" She asked me, being concerned. I pulled myself away from beside her shoulder, and started to tell what happened.

Light's P.O.V.

"It was Caius." Dark told me, "He created a parallel dimension upon which my subconscious mind was forced to enter. I had a terrible nightmare, where I saw all of our...friends...murdered. You were amongst them. After Caius basically told me to come to him to die with dignity, he had your corpses...eat me. Terra dug into my wrist, then you started munching on my neck." "Oh, shit." I replied to him, pulling him back into another hug, our ears bumping together. I held onto him for a while, and I believe that I heard him cry. I started rubbing his back, trying to calm him down, when he started to break down more. "It's alright, Dark. I'm fine. The group's fine. You just had a bad dream." I told him. I felt my shoulder get colder and wetter, his tears finally going through my vest and bra strap. I ignored the feeling, and kept rubbing his back, the both of us sitting down onto the hammock in his room.

"I...I don't know if I want to take Caius up on his offer or not. If it will keep all of you alive, then..." He started to say, before I slapped him upside the back of his head. "No way. I'm not gonna lose you that easily. You are going to stay alive as long as you can, then take that Ultimate Attack, then rebound and kick his ass with all of your strength. I don't want to hear any more fucking bitching about how you just want to help us. We came with you of our own choosing. You don't need to feel ashamed of it. We are going to stick by your side until the very end. And you don't get one fucking word against it." I sternly told him. I heard him chuckle, then he said, "I thought that you might have said that. Thanks, Lightning."

"Claire." I told him. "What?" He responded. "My real name is Claire. I changed it to Lightning when Serah and I lost our parents, and I joined the army. I was trying to not show weakness." I explained. "Huh. Claire. That's got a nice ring to it." He said. "It's just a name!" I said, pulling away from him and giving him a playful slap on his chest region, over where his brand was. He took this, and did nothing back. "What, afraid that I'll get hurt by your next hit?" I taunted him. "No, it's not that. I don't hit girls. It's my personal rule." He replied. I started laughing, then ruffled his short, messy black hair. "Well, that's good to know. Anyway, let's get up to the cockpit. We're almost to Alexandria." I told him, standing up and going over to the Gunblade stuck in the wall. Dark came up behind me and pulled the Gunblade from its holster that had just been made. He pulled out the empty shell casings in his sword, then replaced them with new ones. "Well, let's go." He said, sending his Gunblade away.

"Well, we're almost at Alexandria. What are we looking for anyway?" Balthier asked Dark. "Information on any weaknesses that Caius may have. If we're going up against him, then I suppose that we should try to find anything helpful." Dark explained. "Ah. Well, I don't know about that, but you could try to look in the castle. I heard that there's a man with a tail that knows everything." Balthier replied. "A tail? He sounds like he would look funny!" Terra said from behind Balthier, in what was once Dark's seat. "Trust me. Zidane doesn't look funny. But you should still watch your back." Squall told Terra. "What kind of name is 'Zidane'?" She asked him. "That's the guy with the tail's name. Zidane Tribal." Squall replied. "Oh. Do you think he has any moogles around him?" She asked. "I'm not sure." Squall replied.

We managed to get to the castle with relative ease, where we heard no sounds. We walked in, and the main lobby held a large table, littered to the brim with treasures. I proceeded to walk around the table, looking at the large bounty, when Dark said to all of us, "Don't touch anything in here unless you've brought it with you, or it's been handed to you." I nodded to him, and continued to look. "MOOGLE!" I heard Terra exclaim. I turned to her to see her running to a large moogle within a glass case. "No! Terra, don't!" I yelled at her, starting to run to her to try to cut her off, when Dark came up to her in a flash and pulled her away. "No, it's all booby trapped." He told her once he pulled her to a safe distance away. "Even the Moogle?" She asked. "Yes. The Moogle too." He told her. She frowned, and her face turned to that of a sour one, one that I would have never expected from her.

"Wow. Seriously? I thought that I had made sure that she wouldn't be able to resist the Moogle, just by having its Pompom exposed." I heard from behind me. I turned, my Gunblade in sword mode, and saw a Teenager, with blonde hair, and a long, slender, blonde furred tail. "Zidane! I can't believe that's you." Squall said to him. "Squall? Awesome! Hey, have you seen Bartz? The guy owes me, since I beat him in our competition for treasure." Zidane asked him. "Sorry, but I haven't seen him. Anyway, we need your help." Squall replied to him. "Okay, what do you need?" Zidane asked us, taking a seat at the table, knocking over some of the treasures to rest his feet upon the table. "We need any and all information about Caius Ballad that you have." Dark asked him, sitting down near him, attempting to see him over the treasures. Zidane nearly fell out of his seat as soon as he heard the nature of our quest, and asked us, "Caius Ballad? Are you guys crazy? The guy's invincible! No weaknesses, all resistances to every kind of Magic, and have you seen what he does to people who oppose him?" Zidane asked him. "Yes. Yes I have. And that's another reason that I have to kill him. That, and this." Dark said, unzipping the coat that he was wearing, and moved the cloth over his brand, showing all of us it, but also showing me that it had gotten bigger. The eye on it was opening, and it was happening fast. He was running out of time.

"Oh, I see now. The last I heard, he traveled from Besaid Village to Tycoon. After that, I don't know." He said to us. Dark fixed his outfit to the way it was, and replied, "Thank you, Zidane." As we were leaving, I pulled Dark aside, and slammed him against the wall. "What the hell-?" He started to ask me, but I stopped him. "Shut up! Why didn't you tell me that it grew?!" I demanded to know. "Wait, grew?" He asked me. "Yes, dumbass! The brand grows after a while! When the eye on it opens completely, then you turn into a Cie'th. Now, why didn't you tell me it grew!?" I asked him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know..." He said to me, putting his hands on my shoulders. I loosened my grip on his coat, and fell into his arms, not caring about anything. "Don't do this to me. I'm going to get you to kill Caius, even if that means I have to drag your big, monstery ass all the way to him." I said to him. Dark chuckled, and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." I looked up at him, and I think I could feel his smile through his cloth. Which was in the exact same position as it was yesterday. With no fucking changes whatsoever.