A/N: How ironic, isn't it? A soldier from the military force getting involved in a criminal town, huh? That flashback was nuts-oh? But enough of that, how about that little LightningxHope moment? How touching that someone as tough and cold as Lightning to have a soft side for a little boy.
NOVEMBER 4TH, 2022. FLOOR 1, DAWNS BLOSSOM
During that night, my mind drifts off into a peaceful slumber. How could this be? I'm nothing but virtual data inside a game. How could I possibly dream?
I dreamt about that night the three of us had in Nautilus. We played games, got on a ton of rides, viewed the parade. Hope even won me a Carbuncle doll. That was very sweet of him too. My favorite moment that night was the fireworks. The three of us, watching the exploding colors dancing in the skies, with the best view spot. Hope even made a wish on those fireworks. The funniest part about that is that these aren't wish-granting fireworks we had back in Bodhum. But still, his wish is always to be with me and Serah. The both of us couldn't help but feel happy hearing that.
All of that really did happen five years ago in the real world.
My mind slowly starts to awaken, as my health bar and time returns to my vision. Other than that, there's nothing but darkness. One highlight to this is that I can see what time it is without having to wake up.
'Nov 4th, 22 - 6:03 AM'
I open my eyes, my vision of the world is blurry, then start to adjust. Sunlight seeps through the windows. I look at the windows to see the beautiful morning. I still can't believe a scenery like this could happen in a virtual world.
I look at my other side, noticing Hope is laying in the same position it was before I fell asleep. In each other's arms, his head on my shoulder. I notice the calm, innocent child face he has. Serah's right, he does look adorable asleep. He looks just like that nine-year-old I rescued from the accident.
I give him a gentle shake. "Hope...Hope." Hope moans, eyes twitching a little. "Wake up." Hopes eyes start to open, but only ever so slightly.
"Light...?" Hope mutters.
"It's time to get up. We need to get ready for the dungeon." I tell him.
I was about to get up from bed, but Hope grabs my arm pulling me back. I just sit in bed looking back at the tired boy. "Don't go...just a little longer." He wants to stay in bed. I was about to protest but he kept speaking. "Please, Light?"
There's only a moment of silence. I would probably just drag him out of bed like a mother would do to a stubborn teenager. But instead, I give in. I lay back down in bed, holding onto Hope with one arm.
"Five minutes. That's all you're getting." I tell him.
Hope nods then he lays his head on my shoulder. As we lay here, I just watch time slowly ticking away. I'll admit, this is nice. I remember doing this with Serah when we were little before Hope came into our lives.
Only three minutes to go...
"I wish we could stay like this forever." I look down at Hope, giving him a soft 'hmm?' for a response. "I just wish we could stay this way. I feel safe and warm. All of my worries can just...disappear."
It's funny for him to say that. Serah said the exact same thing when we laid together. He's not wrong, I do feel the same way. "You know..." I move my hand to Hope's hair, gently stroking him. "I do too."
Two minutes left of this.
"You feeling any better?" I ask.
"A little," Hope says. "I'm still afraid of dying."
"Everyone is Hope," I say. "Let me tell you something: When I first joined the military, I was afraid. Being out on the battlefield, I was worried about what'll happen out there. What if I die? Who would take care of Serah? But, I learned that fear is something that makes you try harder. If you let it devour you, doubt and despair will cripple you. Do you understand?" Hope slowly nods. "Hey...would it make you feel better if I told you my real name?" Hope's face lightens up a bit, he smiles then nods. "It's Claire...I'm Claire Farron."
"Claire...that's a pretty name," Hope says. Hearing that made me laugh a little. That is sweet of him to say through.
"How about I make you a deal? Whenever we're alone together, we'll call each other by our real names. Sounds good?" I ask.
"It's a deal," Hope says.
My eyes are on the clock in my vision. It's now 6:08 AM. I sit up in bed. "All right. The five minutes are up. Come on."
I'm out of bed, Hope sits up, stretching his arms in the air yawning. We get dressed and went to a restaurant for some breakfast since apparently, it requires a cooking skill to make food. And I'm not talking about having the knowledge or the skills, Hope explained to me in this game, there are 'Professions' where you can make stuff. From what he describes, it sounds like a couch potato can be really skilled with a cooking knife or a blacksmith's hammer in no time.
After breakfast, we only have half an hour until the raid, so we end to the stores for better equipment. I have over 5000 Krystal's and Hope only has 2000, so we decided to mix our earnings and split the gears. I got a new shoulder piece just for the left shoulder, boots, gloves, and Hope got a new chest, waist, and weapon.
It's time to set ourselves for the raid. We meet up with Leafa on the post board. "Leafa!"
Leafa turns to face us. "Lightning! Espeon! I see you're doing better, Espeon. Anyways, I got us some members for our party." Leafa stands aside, showing us two people. One is a male Assassin with black hair and the other is a female Swordsman with long orange-brownish chestnut hair. "This is my big brother, Kirito, and his friend, Asuna."
Asuna holds her hand out offering us to shake it. "Please to meet you." I shake Asuna's hand, then she turns her attention to Hope. "You seem a little young to be dating her aren't you?"
Me and Hope are completely shocked hearing that, then we both spoke in unison. "He's/She's not my Boyfriend/Girlfriend!"
Asuna chuckles. This girl has a silly thought about me and Hope. She reminds me of Vanille, except she's not as energetic and free-spirited as she is. Kirito faces me. "So you're the one who rescued my little sister. Thanks a ton."
"It...was nothing," I say to him.
Kirito smiles a little, patting his hand on Leafa's head. "Leafa has a habit of driving into dangers. I keep reminding her to be careful, but I always have to dive in to save her."
Leafa gasps then slaps her brother at the back of his head. "Shut up, big brother! I can take care of myself! I don't need you to baby me!"
"Hey. In case you're forgetting, we're in a death game! The moment our HP drops to zero, our brains in the real world-"
Leafa turns her back on Kirito, arms crossed. "I already know that!"
Seeing these two reminds me of my arguments with Serah when I keep telling her to stop dating Snow.
FLOOR 1, ELITE DUNGEON
With me as the leader, the five of us raid the Elite Dungeon with a group of twenty players. We are fighting behind the front line of Crusaders. The enemies we fight are strange crawly black and white creatures known as 'Seeds of Doubt' The Elite Dungeon looks just like a stone tower only there are these spots on the floor and walls tainted with the black and whiteness of these creatures.
Me, Kirito, and Asuna fight the creatures on the front lines. These things fight hard. I constantly see our health bars draining then restoring from Hope's healing. Leafa stands back close to Hope to either help healing or uses her offensive magic.
Seeds of Doubt aren't the only ones we face. There's also the black and white creatures who are in the form of a hideous skeleton with only the spine, ribs, arms and three claws, two fronts, and a thumb, in each hand. They're known as the Black Manifestation. those creatures have two health bars, and they attack so fierce, only the Crusaders could hold them off.
We only faced one Black Manifestation without a Crusader and we struggled to face it. Kirito was able to help out by using his illusion abilities, black smoke to blind the enemy, or using Decoy to display holograms of himself all around the field to confuse them.
He's pretty skillful, I should have chosen Assassin.
We all made it to the end of the dungeon, in front of the large double doors. Everyone believes this must be the boss room. We all take a moment to rest up, restore our health and mana. I've earned some decent Krystal's and EXP in this dungeon. I didn't level up, but Hope sure did make two levels. Now he's level 6. Kirito is level 13 with 800 HP and Asuna is level 10 with 692 HP.
After a moment of rest, we all stand in line in front of the door. I'm right next to Hope, so I can see his nerves. "Espeon, are you scared?" I ask him.
Hope looks up at me. "Ye-yeah. I'm terrified. But I'll be okay." Hope grabs hold of my arm. "Because I'm with you."
I smile a little then I flick him on the forehead. Jude stands in front of all of us making an announcement.
"After two long weeks, we have finally reached the first-floor boss. A thousand lives were taken just to get us this far! Their sacrifice will not be forgotten! Whatever is behind this door is waiting for us! We will take on this boss and give him a taste of justice!"
Everyone cheers at Jude's speech. I'm the only one who isn't cheering. Not cause I'm not pleased but I'm just not a cheerful kind of girl. Jude turns to face the door and opens it. We all take out our weapons arming ourselves. When the door fully opens, we walk right in. There's nothing but darkness. Once everyone's in, we just stand in place alert with our surroundings.
The door closes shut on us darkening the room even more. Up ahead, we see dots of light. It seems strange cause they're in the form of two triangles and they're awfully close...almost like they're eyes. Torches on the walls light up with green fire. The environment we're in is some Chinese temple made of emerald. Up ahead is the boss.
The boss is a twenty feet monster that's just like the Black Manifestations we were facing in the dungeon, only bigger with four legs, its entire body is black and the spikes on its legs, hands, elbows, shoulders, chin, and spine are white. It also has black and white horns with shadow smoke coming out of its body spreading around its legs. This is one dangerous scary-looking monster. Five health bars appear along with a red cursor and its name:
The Faithless One
The Faithless One raises its head and roars so fierce the whole room shakes. We all staggered from the rumbling. Only good thing is that we didn't lose any of our HP. After roaring, the Faithless One summons five Black Manifestations in front of it, in the form of an arrow.
"All right! Let's do this! No backing out!" Jude says. "Everyone! Charge!"
We all attack. Three Crusaders hold off the Faithless One along with six or seven damagers attacking it, while the rest of us handles the Black Manifestations. Hope and the other three Clerics focus on healing, up until a few players' health dangerously enters a red zone and then Leafa and half the Dreamers help out with the healing.
Some of Hope's and Leafa's healing has gathered the Black Manifestations attacks, they switch targets on them, so me and Kirito stay by them and attack the monsters that come close to them.
The fight goes on for minutes. Nobody dies thank goodness. The Faithless One is now down to its last health bar, which makes it enter a red zone. The Faithless One steps back a little, softly growling. We all stand tall and proud against the creature. "It's weakening! Finish it!" Jude orders.
The Faithless One must have understood him, for the monster roars loudly. Its roar unleashes a large dense of black smoke, which covers the entire room. I cannot see anything past my own nose, I start coughing for the smoke makes it hard to breathe. At least I can still see my health bar along with my entire party's bar as clear as day. I'll be able to know they're still alive.
"Espeon! Leafa! Where are you?" I shout.
There was no response, but what I do receive is a sharp pain in my back. I see my HP go down to 70%. I turn around, only to see nothing. Whatever hit me must be gone, or perhaps I can't see it. But what I do see is Asuna's HP going down, then Kirito, Leafa, and Espeon. Leafa and Kirito are in a yellow zone.
I hear voices. They're faint but I can make out what they're saying.
"It's everywhere!"
"What's going on?"
"Is this part of the fight?"
"Enough!"
The last voice, I hear chanting. When it's done, a powerful gust of wind blows, clearing the smoke in the air. The black smoke reminds on the ground. In the center of that burst of wind is an Avatar.
I look around, the Faithless One is gone. I stand, armed and ready to attack only I was prepared for a sneak attack. I hear the monster roar right behind me. I turn to see it's positioned to strike.
"Look out!" I turn to see Jude rushing towards me. He shoves me out of the way and took the blow.
I am completely shocked to see Jude knocked back in the air. He crashes to the ground, away from the group. "Jude!" I get on my feet and rush towards him. Hope also rushes to his side. I stand on my knees and hold Jude in my arms, his HP is draining severely. In a yellow zone and soon enough a red zone.
"Hang on," I say as Hope chants a spell. He starts healing Jude, but it only slows the draining. He's now down to 20 HP, then 15.
Jude weakly looks up at me.
5...4...3...2...1...
Zero.
Jude starts to glow just like the monsters did before they die. "S-save...save everyone..." Those are his last words before his body shatters.
I'm speechless, I don't even pay attention to the shards of light that use to be his body. Jude saved my life...He could have left me there to die, but instead, he pushed me out of the way and took the blow. That's a debt I can never repay now that he's gone.
People scream and crashing sounds returns me to reality. Players are knocked back at the Faithless One smashes its hand to the ground. I view all of the players, they are all in a red to low yellow zone. When the dust clears, Leafa is unconscious right in front of the boss.
"Leafa!" Kirito rushes right in to help his little sister. Leafa starts to wake up, on her hands and knees. The Faithless One notices them and softly growls.
The Faithless One raises its fist above it and roars. "NO!" I yell as I rush towards the monster with my blade hold right out. The Faithless One makes it strike, just when I leap towards it, my blade pulled back charging. I deliver swift impale strikes, causing the Faithless One to cancel its attack, then I give a powerful swing that causes the boss to stumble back.
The Faithless One stands in place, recovering from the stagger then roars. My attacks took out half of its remaining HP. "Kirito! Asuna! To me! We'll finish this!" I say.
"Right!" They both say.
Kirito and Asuna each stand by my sides. We face the Faithless One, charging towards it. The Faithless One makes an attack. I parry that attack with my weapon while Asuna and Kirito keep going. Asuna makes the first move, delivering charged strikes at the Faithless One. When she's done, Kirito jumps from behind the boss with a charged attack, doing an X strike downwards, then a second X strike upwards right behind the boss.
I charge towards the Faithless One shouting, impaled my sword directly at it from the bottom then I cut right up until I reach the end of its head.
The Faithless One roars and its body collapses, then glows and shatters. It's done...
A large "Congratulations" appears at the spot where the Faithless One appeared and everybody cheers, all except me. We all earned our results. There's no EXP, but some crystals. I earned a heavy one-handed sword: Serpent Blade. I access my menu to equip the blade. It's a large emerald-colored sword with black lining on the edges and a serpent dragon's head on the bottom of the hilt.
"We did it, Light!" Hope cheers.
I turn towards him. "Don't get too cocky, kid." I turn, facing forward to the stairs that lead to the next floor. "It's just beginning." So we finally defeated a floor boss.
One down. Forty-nine to go...
[Flashback - Day 13]
When Serah found out what Lightning plans to do, she's not very pleased. A mix of worry, scared, mad, and broken. When Snow found out, his words were 'and you call me the idiot' which earns him a beat down from Lightning.
The box Lightning earned from Xever and Fang was a Nervegear helmet and a copy of Warlords Wrath Online. Since the news got out, the Sanctum has been cleansing Cocoon of the Nervegears the dead players had and destroying any remaining copies of the game. The players who are still alive and trapped in the game are left alone. Lightning's been searching tirelessly to find one. Without any other choice, she went to Xever to make a deal.
Lightning is now in the Bodhum hospital where Hope is being kept at. Only she's not here to visit him. She's actually here to enter Warlords Wrath Online. When the doctors heard of Lightning's plan, they claim it to be suicide to enter a death game just to help a friend.
Lightning, Serah, and Snow are all in the same hospital room. The doctors are setting up downloading the Warlords Wrath Online account for Lightning. Lightning also tells the doctors that she would like to have something from the real world in the game: The family picture of her, Serah, and Hope.
Lightning's in a simple white short-sleeve shirt that goes down to her upper legs. "Lightning! You don't have to do this." Serah says.
"I have to. Hope's trapped in the game and there's nothing I can do to help him in the real world here." Lightning says.
"He'll be fine, Light. Don't worry. He can take care of himself." Snow says. "You should really worry about yourself. You've never played a single video game in your entire life and you're about to enter this death game."
"I made a promise to both Hope and his mother that I would keep him safe. I can't keep him safe in this world while he's trapped inside the game!" Lightning says. Serah and Snow are silent. They realize they're not going to talk Lightning out of this. "If it were me trapped in the game...he would have done the same wouldn't he?"
The doctors turn to Lightning. "Okay. You're all set, Ms. Farron. This is however your last chance to turn back." Lightning doesn't say anything, just gives the doctor the look. "Okay then...well, that photo is all set up. It should be in your item storage once you enter the game."
"Got it. Thanks." Lightning turns her attention to Serah. "I have to do this, Serah."
Serah nods a little. "I know."
Lightning turns her attention to Snow, giving him a cold attitude. "You better take care of my sister."
"I will." Snow says.
"No! I mean it! I don't know how long I'll be trapped in this game or I'll survive to the end! Our parents are already gone, so if I'm gone, she'll have no one left. If she's ever hurt or sad, you have to be there for her the whole time!" Lightning closes in on Snow. "If I do manage to escape the game and if I found out you didn't take care of her, so help me I will hunt you down and put you into a coma ten times as long as the one I was in! Got it?"
"I swear, Lightning. I will take care of Serah even if it's the last thing I'll ever do." Snow vows.
"Okay...I believe you." Lightning returns her attention to Serah, who's even sadder. Lightning puts her hands on Serah's shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
"I know, it's just...You're going to a completely different world, Claire. I know you're a strong soldier, but none of that is going to matter in the game." Serah looks down in sorrow. "I just can't...can't bear the thought...of you..." Serah couldn't finish her words. Lightning decided to finish her words by giving her a hug. Serah was surprised, then she hugs her sister back laying her head on her shoulder. "Promise me you'll be careful."
"I'll be careful. Don't worry." Lightning says. "I love you, Serah."
"I love you too, Claire." Lightning and Serah end their hug. Serah wipes away her tears and offers a smile. "Say...hi to Hope for us."
Lightning smiles and nods.
Lightning now lays on the bed, putting on the Nervegear laying down while the doctors hock her up to the heart monitor and the liquid beg. Lightning lays in bed, facing at the ceiling. She takes a breath deep as she takes one last look at the real world before saying her final words.
"Link start!"
