Running to the hospital would be no small feat for human endurance. She could probably do it. But would she be able to outrun this thing? If she couldn't she had to at least lead it away. Likely it was one of the things that attacked Snow... maybe. Normally, they'd be no issue. She'd dispatch of them... but she no longer had her weapons.
The Anubys charges with its axe. She jumps deftly out of the way as it cleaves down a streetlight. An idea pops into her head and she darts back for the fallen light. She grabs the metal pole, straining slightly. With a swing of gusto, she slams the entire length into the Anubys. The force was considerable, but the beast merely takes a few steps back. It roars.
"Dammit..." It was going to take more than some streetlight to kick this thing's ass. But there were no blades or anything really to use around here.
The beast charges once more and she tosses the light aside, skirting back a few. It ended up crashing into the car wreck, sending that careening into the roadside. Among the litter of glass and metal shards on the ground, Lightning espied a certain folded knife...
"...!"
She makes a dodge roll for the weapon as the Anubys makes a low sweep with its blade. Its edge missed her by mere millimeters as she slid under the blade, nabbing the familiar folded tool. Serah's gift to her, the survival knife, and her gift to Hope…
She flicks out that blade by the ring seamlessly. After all this time even… she thought she'd lost it when she pierced Bhunivelze's crown. But that it's here again…
"It really is the beginning…" She mutters under her breath.
But she can't afford to finish her thought as the monster now turns around for a second go. It runs towards her, bearing down with its weapon once more, jaws opened in a snarl.
She rolls to the side and stabs the creature's forearm. It is tough as nails, but the weapon luckily holds. A typical knife from the new world would have snapped, much less even scratched the Anubys' tough, leathery skin. They don't make weapons like they used to on Cocoon.
"Haaah!" Lightning darts forward, slashing a gash along the monster's arm. It gives a yowl as darkness pours from the wound instead of normal blood. It splatters onto the ground. That's a little new.
The beast seemed to have been caught unawares from the strike. Perhaps it thought her helpless. Big mistake. But even with the knife, the odds were slim in actually taking down this thing. It was so big in comparison to the knife after all. She'd have to strike their head or heart head on to kill them. Otherwise, the wounds would be mere annoyances.
She steels herself and charges in. The Anubys rears to face her, now incensed. It bares its fangs and roars, swinging its weapon once more. But she was just a bit faster, and she jumps, using the blade underfoot as a launchpad. She arcs over the beast's head and makes a stab.
The beast howls once more. Lightning lands behind it as it thrashes and strikes blindly at the air.
"Tsk…" She had hit one of its eyes and gouged it out. But that wasn't enough.
"HRRROOAARRR!"
The enraged axe comes bearing again. It was faster and stronger, but the thing was half blind now. The blade narrowly misses her as she vaults backward with some graceful flips. She feels the pole of a streetlight on her back. Gripping the knife, she presses her legs on the base and kicks off just as the Anubys cleaves the pole in two.
Again, she makes the same movements to try for its head as she arcs over. But the beast had seen it before. It swats its arm upwards and catches her in midair before she could dig the knife into its brain. The strike sends her flying several meters, crashing into the street guardrail and then a nearby tree.
"NGH!"
That familiar pain of battle was stronger than she remembered. Probably because she lacked her original armor. But she felt nothing was terribly fractured. She hadn't slacked so bad after all.
"Hff..."
As she picks herself up, the Anubys is already bearing upon her once more. It makes a vicious kick at her rather stupidly before it brings its axe down again. The kick knocks her through the tree, far from the axe cleave. Now she feels that pain of a broken rib as she skids across the sidewalk. But it hadn't caught her so unaware as the initial fling, and she springs to get a grip and stand. Her arms sting from having half-blocked the kick.
The big half-blind beast now charges towards her. She braces and meets it head on. It was probably aware of her aerial flip by now. So, she'll have to feign it...
Instead of leaping off the blade like she did before, she gets a good grip with her shoe on the axe hand and steps up. With a single thrust, she digs the knife into the beast's sinewy chest. She pushes it all the way in, until only the hilt protrudes from the creature's pecs.
"Hrrgh!"
"RAAAGH!" The Anubys instantly begins to flail like possessed, throwing her off. Its tail lashes and downs another tree as it digs at its chest blindly.
Lightning hops back a few paces before jumping back right at the creature, foot aimed at the blade hilt. With the push, she knocks the creature on its back as its roars became garbled with dark ichor spilling out from it. Within a few moments, the Anubys' body dissolves to darkness, and the knife clatters to the floor.
Panting, Lightning picks the weapon back up. There is not a stain on it at all. She tosses a tired glance at her wreck of a car now. The urgent matter at the hospital resurfaces. Her fatigue vanishes as the thought of Serah, without protection, arises in her mind.
"Dammit...!"
She sprints on into the night, ignoring her stinging bruises.
…
Luna's dreams were plagued with those whispers. The same which she'd heard in the omen foretold by the crystal. They sung of destruction, death... and betrayal. Fear rose in her, an uncontrollable eruption roiling in her being as she saw Noctis, with his eyes afire like a daemon, run her through with her own trident. The landscape was hellish, and the daemons were dark shadows at the dying horizon light. What loomed above them all was a titanic shape like that of man, with great wings. Bhunivelze?
But the image suddenly was changed. It was no longer Noctis amid the charred wasteland.
It was her.
Robed in a tattered black dress, with fiery scars of daemonification running through her skin, trident clasped in hand… and those red eyes...
Her evil twin's lips moved slightly. A shot of light fires from the heavens. It was cold and hard. Holy.
"AHH!"
The oracle sits up suddenly from her slumber with a slight cry. There is a chill from the air-conditioned unit, coupled with the sweat plastered on her skin. Her breath is uneven as she is overcome by this new omen. In the dark, she makes out the shape of Yeul-Etro sitting on a chair provided for their room in the apartment by Hope. Her eyes were glowing a strange pale yellow.
"...Y... Yeul?"
"You had a nightmare," The goddess says without moving a muscle, "Rightfully so. There seems to be something that entered after us into this realm. I felt the presence of something like a crux pry open... but it was much smaller."
"...I suppose it would be too hopeful to think it was Noctis..." Luna sighs, shakily regathering herself.
"You need to rid yourself of such thoughts about him. You do realize this is all partially his fault. I don't think he is an ally at this time any longer."
"... I have waited... walked across the planet … just to have the end … at the very least! Just the end... I would have been fine with. But I can't even have that," Luna sighs and wipes her face a bit, "I trust he is still alive... and he hasn't betrayed us."
I have done it for so long before after all. It is not a new feeling… But… Is it all I can do?
Yeul-Etro says nothing until there is a sudden ring of the doorbell. Luna goes to timidly check. It's Hope. Luna takes note of his rather perturbed expression.
"Mr. Estheim…" Luna opens the door, "What is it?"
"Sorry about the disturbance. I got a weird message from Light just now about something. We need to move."
"What has happened?"
"Bhunivelze's soldiers are here."
The nightmare and now this. Luna swallows hard.
"I'll just be a moment to change."
She hastily retreats back into the bedroom. Yeul-Etro had already dressed immaculately the same, even for bed… Her clothes, despite having been worn all this time, were like new. Hope had luckily prepared some clothing from this world for them. Luna dons a simple black dress shirt, leggings and a khaki skirt. She grabs the coat provided with a scarf before heading out the door to where Hope and Yeul are waiting. They go to descend the building via elevator.
"So, Hope," Luna pipes up as they await arrival to the lobby, "What is happening? The god has found us?"
"Most likely…" Hope grits his teeth in visible despair, "This world… Is it destined to be destroyed too…?"
"You mustn't think that sort of thing too much… And have hope," Luna says with unease. She remembered staving off despair on those nights as she agonized over their future. How she felt so alone as she traveled to perform the Communion with the gods, never seeing Noctis… Hope was all she could have for the stars to be purged of their blight.
"… That's … kinda funny," Hope chuckles a bit out of turn, "Li-"
He is cut off suddenly as the contraption rattles violently. There is a loud crash and creaking from the elevator and the shaft enclosure.
"W-WHA- Ahh!" Hope lunges and grabs the door for support.
"Uh- Aah!" Luna drops to her knees, clutching the banister on the side, "W-what is…?!"
Yeul-Etro floats slightly above the floor of the elevator floor as the entire device seems to rattle and shake with frightening vibrations. Her eyes are focused at the ceiling.
"They are here."
Before Luna can express any disbelief, there is a sudden roar echoing from outside. It sounded very close. There is another horrific sound; a groan. Luna could feel her stomach flop with the motion from the elevator swaying. Then her heart leapt into her throat as gravity seemed to disappear with a loud snap. They suddenly were weightless. The floor display on the elevator screen suddenly begins rapidly counting down. The elevator was falling.
"AAAH- H-HOLD ON!" Hope shouts.
Luna clenched her eyes shut, braced for impact. She didn't see Hope fumble to grab at a hidden panel near the floor of the elevator. He pops it open and yanks hard at the emergency lever inside.
There is a sudden continuous screech, like that of metal grating on metal. The force of the sudden slowing down presses down hard on them, but Yeul-Etro remains floating. The elevator grinds for a few long seconds before it finally seems to stop. The number on the dial stops now at 2.
"Uh…guh…" Hope groans, the adrenaline coursing, "E-Everyone… ok?"
"Unh…" Luna felt her legs give away as she tries to stand in vain a few times.
"It's still there," Yeul-Etro says impassively, like Hope didn't ask at all, "We should go."
They hastily get the door open and run out of the elevator onto the second floor. There is luckily no one out at this hour, and seemingly no other tenants noticed the roar or elevator just now.
"T-the stairs… hurry…!"
Following Hope, they scramble for the stairs nearby. Over the pounding of her own heart, Luna became frightfully aware of the sound of something heavy outside. It reminded her too much of the thundering soldiers and the daemons of Niflheim…
They ran out into the open street in the night. On the side of the road, Hope's car is parked, with the engine running. Hope hurriedly gets in via the passenger side and slides into the driver's seat. Luna follows, after getting Yeul-Etro in the back. Not a second after Hope shifts the gears to drive, there is a heavy thud behind the car. As the tires squeal and Hope puts his pedal to the metal, Luna looks back and sees the horrid creature give a howl as they drive away.
It was a jackal headed being, with a great axe like weapon and narrow face. The creature was getting smaller at first as they made their escape. But not for long.
It begins to sprint for them before they got even down the street. Hope makes a sharp turn for the freeway.
"Is it following?! It's following isn't it?!"
"Y-yes...!" Luna watches worriedly at the creature which was somehow keeping up with the car. The freeway had few cars at this time, but many were obviously surprised, veering out of control or being crushed underfoot by the monster's rampage.
"Where are we going?" Yeul asks in the most neutral of tones in the situation, as though the wild wheels weren't bothering her.
"To the hospital. Light said she'd meet us there..." Hope's eyes are fiercely focused on the road. But occasionally, they would flicker to the side, where his rearview mirror reflected that monstrosity barreling for them.
The creature suddenly spoke with a growling, throaty voice. It seemed to almost emanate over the distance into their own heads. Luna vaguely recognized the voice as what she heard before Etro's Gate when all hell broke loose.
"You cannot escape me... This world... all of you ingrates... are doomed!"
The beast makes a huge jump into the air, lunging for them from afar.
"Here it comes!" Hope flips a switch on his dashboard and Luna feels the vehicle lurch with a sudden burst of speed.
The beast crashes down mere feet behind them, smashing the asphalt and concrete. The elevated road crumbles, and she doesn't see the beast's pursuit resume, much to her relief.
"Did we lose it?"
"Yes... Though I fear how long it may last..."
Hope nods silently. His mach infusion for the car was used up for the day. They'd have to go back to his industrial garage to repair that. But there was no time. They drive to the hospital in uneasy silence, expecting another beast to jump out at them at any given moment. Upon entering the local road again, he sees to his surprise, Lightning running down the street, looking a bit like hell, with scuffled clothes and streaks of dust on her skin. He stops the vehicle promptly and calls out to her, a little breathless himself.
"Need a ride?"
…
The hospital slowly comes into view just down the street. But something was wrong. Hope hit the brakes to slow to a stop before they even reached the grounds. It seemed as though there was a translucent checkered curtain fluttering, shrouding the entire building. Against the night, lit with dimness from light pollution and the surrounding city, they could see strange dark shapes flowing around the building.
"Serah..." Lightning grits her teeth. Her small injuries no longer hurt. Without a second to waste, she runs for the hospital.
"L-Light!" Hope sighs and runs after her.
Luna looks to Yeul briefly. The other's eyes were transfixed on the curtain. But her lips move and say, "They'll be coming regardless..."
With that, the two of them run after Hope and Lightning. Closer to the hospital, a small group of people run away from the curtain perimeter. While Lightning runs ahead, Hope goes to stop one of the runners.
"What happened?!"
"I-I dunno!" The man in scrubs blubbers, "M-my colleague... she just sudden got grabbed by something and... v-vanished!"
A look of frustration crosses Hope's face and he lets the man resume his hysterical escape. He makes a sound with his teeth before running again after Lightning. They entered the main courtyard, now empty of people. But just before Lightning entered the curtain, her body lunges backward from a lash of red flame aimed at her midriff. She skirts back to the others, who now all pause to see a new enemy emerge. Luna's eyes widen.
It was her.
That image of herself, with those fiery red eyes from her dreams. She wasn't wearing a black dress, instead having a large black cape and boots on. In her right hand was a black blade with a red edge. Her other arm was smoking with blistering fires and the dark miasma characteristic of daemon influence. But her face, it was like looking into a mirror, with some dirt and grime, bringing forth her nightmares into reality.
It was her, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, in the flesh.
"W... What...?!" The oracle says with a fearful whisper.
"Who the hell..." Lightning growls at the seeming double, "Get out of my way!"
She lunges again, with the knife out this time. Her initial slash is fended off by the blade, but her subsequent quick kick sends the stranger Luna back a few paces with a grunt. The double makes another fiery slash at Lightning, which she dodges, frustration showing on her features.
"How is this possible... that's... you're … me...!" Luna utters with disbelief.
Her darker double gingerly wipes her jaw where Lightning's kick connected. Her piercing eyes fix on Luna through the others, and she raises her blade in solemn declaration, a grim look on her face. Despite the sudden howl of a distant deity in the air, and the sound of a clock tolling, Luna heard her next words loud and clear.
"There should only be one."
I'm still alive. Late Happy Holidays.