A/N: Hi guys, I've returned! Sorry about the exceedingly long wait; I was supposed to have this up a week ago. But I got a friend of mine, CrayonCalendar, to look it over before posting. He's agreed to lend a hand with anything Final Fantasy XIII-related. So...I guess that makes him my BETA-reader? Yay!
He's pointed some things out to me that make a lot of sense. So, this story may or may not go through a re-working process (yes, yes, another one. But this one should be the last.) I'll hopefully attain his help with that, as well, when I get around to asking him and if he ends up saying yes. :P
That probably won't happen for a little while, yet, but when it does, I'll give you guys ample notice. I might even pull this down and re-post, for the sake of simplicity, since it'll be cut down a few chapters. Not to worry, however, the overall progress in the story won't be changed. There'll just be BIGGER chapters, to accommodate more detail in scenes and to make it flow smoothly.
Anyway! We'll get to that when I end up scheduling it. This story is my baby, and I want to please as many of you as possible, since, especially with the characters, I toe a VERY fine line between too little change and too much. It's definitely a challenge, but one I relish.
Story time!
Chapter 21 – A Brief Respite
Far across the other side of the Vile Peaks were Sazh, Vanille and Galen, having managed to avoid any kind of soldier detection whatsoever. Making their way down a steep incline, they were faced with what looked to be an old working mine, still inhabited by Pulsian menaces and the occasional gremlin.
"No sign of soldiers," remarked Vanille, making an adorable saluting gesture that made Galen smile.
"Guess Lightning got their attention," said Sazh.
"…I wonder how Hope's doing." Vanille's face pinched in worry.
"He's being toughened up by a ruthless ex-soldier," said Galen. "He's probably doing about as well as expected."
"They were heading towards Palumpolum," said Sazh. "Kid's on his way home. You can bet on it."
"Good for him!" said Vanille, expression clearing as her arms folded in a subconscious gesture. Silence reigned for a short moment as Sazh looked away, his own expression fogging with another kind of worry. Both the teens noticed this, but it was Vanille who walked into the older male's line of sight, bending her back so her face was in line with his. "What's wrong?"
"It's good," murmured Sazh as his arms folded. "If they manage to slip in quietly. All of Cocoon is in the grip of Pulse-phobia. If a l'Cie pops up on the radar, all hell will break loose."
Damn, but he's right. Look at what their crackpot government has done already.
"They don't even know why they're scared," said Vanille quietly.
"Afraid of what they don't know. Afraid to find out more." He snorted. "Gets worse the older you get. I'm terrified of what'll happen." A pause, and then, "The world probably would be better off without Pulse l'Cie."
Both Vanille and Galen looked away.
"I-I mean, most of 'em," said Sazh quickly.
Galen almost laughed at that. He sobered quickly when he realised that if he knew where they were really from, he wouldn't be so quick to backpedal.
Vanille only smiled. "Gee, thanks. Let's go!" And with a simultaneous push to both males, they set off through the mines.
As they walked under a large circular mechanism fitted with equally-large shovels, they discussed what could possibly have been mined there, and that passed some of the time. There were plenty of enemies to battle in order to get past, which included a hexagonal-shaped metal creature that jumped from place to place. As soon as it saw the renegade l'Cie, its smooth carapace erupted into bright orange spikes, and it floated menacingly towards them.
The "bomb", as they called it, attacked by rolling about on itself, producing fire that burned them when touched. If not stopped or killed in time, it would explode, dealing serious fire-based damage only mitigated by Vanille's healing spells.
Among these strange new enemies were a mixture of Pulsework soldiers and gremlins, which by themselves were not much of a threat, but when approached in groups could be a hassle, as the gremlins constantly bombarding them with magic spells.
As if it wasn't hard enough to get around, there were control panels set up all throughout the mines that needed to be fiddled with in order to move on. The greater majority of these control panels seemed to be dormant.
"Oh well," lamented Vanille as they found one of them. "Looks like it doesn't work."
Sazh tapped a few keys. The machine didn't respond.
"I wonder if it just needs power," she mused.
"I'd rather not stick around and find out," said Galen. "We're pressed for time as it is."
"I guess you're right…" Vanille looked disappointed. Galen sighed and tried not to cave at the adorably sad face she made at him.
"Sazh?"
"Sorry kids, no exploration today."
"I told you."
Vanille pouted, but pressed on along with the two males as the terrain underneath them flowed from metal to rock.
Through a cavern in the rock and out the other side, they saw it. An impressive-looking structure, rusted from neglect, with four terminals stationed around it in what appeared to be an oval shape and dormant lights interspersed. Only the four terminals had a light source.
And that light had attracted monsters.
"Oh, wow!" Vanille ran forward, stopping a bare second later to stare in awe. "Look at that! I wonder what it's for."
"Maybe it's the power source for the mines?" mused Galen.
"Could be."
"You're good with machines, aren't you, Sazh? Wanna take a look?" Vanille looked at him curiously.
"Might as well," said Sazh. "Knowin' our luck, the thing's probably sealed the way outta here somewhere."
"Don't jinx it," groaned Galen. "I mean, please."
"'Ey, I'm a realist," argued Sazh. "'Sides, there's a good chance."
"Only one way to find out!" And with that, Vanille ran ahead. Again.
"Stay still, would ya…" grumbled Sazh as the two males trailed after her.
As there seemed to be a way around directly next to the large power structure, Galen decided to check. And was promptly disappointed. The structure itself cut the walkway off, leaving no room to sidle around – unless he wanted to fall an unknown distance to his doom.
The only safe way around was via the four terminals, surrounded by monsters. Of course, being supernaturally powerful with elemental magic gave them much leeway, and soon, Sazh was able to operate the first terminal without too much of a fuss. It began to hum to life, and a few seconds later, a loud snapping noise drew their attention to the power source, where a spotlight had been activated. The second terminal yielded similar results.
By this time, they had found themselves on the other side of the power source, where an opening of a cave greeted them. One with a gate blocking their way.
"What'd I tell you," said Sazh, shrugging.
"That's…not fair," said Vanille, disappointed.
"I really hope these terminals will open up that gate," said Galen. "Otherwise, we're doomed to stay here and starve."
Looping around, the three l'Cie made short work of both the terminals and the monsters guarding them, and the third and fourth spotlights switched on.
With the last terminal activated, the power source lifted from its base, extending several meters taller with a rusty-sounding heave. As it began to light itself up, they could see it in more detail, and noticed two arms of sorts, with a battery connected to each. These two batteries lit up, and the arms began to spin around the structure.
"Aha! It's alive!" exclaimed Sazh.
"Way to go!" cheered Vanille.
Galen laughed and slapped a hand to the old man's shoulder. "Not bad, for an older guy."
Sazh 'harrumph'ed, but a smile was visible.
That smile faded as they made their way back to the gate, which was now open. But that wasn't what tore the smile from his face.
It seemed the sound and light had attracted more robots and bombs. Three of each had since assembled at the closed gate, and once it had opened, they streamed through and blocked the l'Cie's path.
"Not the only thing we woke up, huh?" Sazh looked annoyed as he reached for his pistols.
"We can take 'em," said Vanille, her enthusiasm diminished not a whit at the sight of this potentially problematic encounter.
Galen struggled to swallow. They were outnumbered two to one. How was Vanille so calm?
Thankfully, they were able to get through the fight, albeit a little bruised and tired. Able to breathe a little easier, the l'Cie slowly entered the dark cavern, and as the terrain shifted to an incline, began to climb.
"Ah, we finally made it!" Vanille began to jog her way up the incline.
Where on Gran Pulse did she get all this energy? Thought Galen. "Um, made it where?"
Vanille shrugged. "Hopefully, somewhere we can rest and eat."
At that notion, Galen's stomach let out a terrifying growling sound. He blinked. She giggled.
"You guys must be tired, right? So, let's take a break."
Eventually, they made it up and out of the cavern, and ended up facing the sky – or, what counted as the sky on Cocoon. The 'stars' that blinked down at them were in actuality other cities sitting on the shell of the fal'Cie-made 'paradise'. Right in the middle, sitting patiently up above them, was Eden, the capital city. It seemed to stare disdainfully down on their forms as they faced the sky once again. On their right, they could hear running water, plummeting down the cliff-side in waterfalls. On their left sat a pile of detritus, and next to that, a path leading back down, and out of the Vile Peaks.
I was here that the trio decided it was time to eat.
"You kids got your IDs on you?" asked Sazh.
Galen paused. ID? What was that?
Vanille shook her head. "I lost mine."
Galen didn't know whether she was lying or not, but he decided to follow her lead. "I, uh…I lost mine, too," he said, feigning sheepishness. "It musta been during the chaos in the Hanging Edge."
Sazh looked at him for a little while, and Galen figuratively sweated under his gaze. Finally, he shrugged and murmured, "Well, nothin' we can do about that now. I'll pay for a meal for you two."
"It's all right," said Galen quickly. "I have stuff on me. They'll do for the night." With that, he pulled two muesli bars from his pocket and unwrapped them, beginning to eat.
"What about you?" asked Sazh, turning his attention to Vanille.
"I'm covered, too," said Vanille. "Don't you worry about me!" She gave a cheery smile.
"Suit yourselves," said Sazh. He pulled out his ID and credit card and, using some kind of other device he took from his pack, he began to tap at something in the air that only he could see. After some time, he then traced a line between his ID and credit card, linking it to something that, again, only he could see. Once this was done, he sat back, seemingly waiting for something. Approximately thirty seconds later, a soft blue light appeared before them.
As the light dissipated, Galen was shocked to see a white bag sitting innocently on the ground. Sazh opened it, and fished out a Ready-2-Eat meal for himself, several bags of trail mix, and three bottles of water. "For tomorrow," he said, as he gave a bag and bottle each to Vanille and Galen, who murmured their thanks.
After they had eaten their fill, they decided it was finally time to rest.
"Well, we've gotta sleep somewhere," said Sazh. "This look okay?"
The sky was clear, and if it did come to that, they had the cavern behind them. It seemed a reasonable plan.
"Uh – yeah!" By this point, Vanille had walked over to the pile of random stuff they had noticed on arrival. "Fine by me!"
"Better than nothin'," said Galen.
The sound of material unfurling drew the males' attention again to the red-headed young woman, who had, it seemed, found a large piece of cloth among the detritus, and laid it out onto the ground. "There, all set!"
They both blinked at her.
She giggled. "Okay, good night!" With that, she laid herself down onto the material and curled up in preparation to sleep.
"Not a care in the world," murmured Sazh. As he and Galen began to lay themselves out beside her, she suddenly sat upright again, seemingly forgetting something. She hunted around for something on the ground, then with an exclamation of triumph – she had picked up a stick – she proceeded to gouge a line in the rocky dirt ten centimetres from herself, spanning the length of her cloth-bed.
"What?" Sazh did not look amused.
"Do not cross this line. Understood?"
Galen blinked. "What?"
Sazh snorted. "Grow up."
Their reactions made her laugh. "And good night again!"
Sazh continued to stare down at her. "Would you just go to sleep, a'ready?"
"Good night, I guess?" Galen just looked confused. Wasn't that only something little girls did to keep cooties at bay? This whole thing seemed ridiculous.
Regardless, this was what she had done, and neither male really wanted to test the line – Sazh because he just didn't care, and Galen because he didn't want to chance her wrath.
Laying himself on the dirt below him, Galen placed an arm below his head as a sort of pillow, and within moments, he had fallen asleep.
Sometime during the night, however, something woke him. As he came to, he noticed a warmth against his back that wasn't there before, and heard little whimpers coming from behind him.
As it turned out, Vanille had ignored her own line entirely in her sleep, and sidled up against the nearest warm body, seeking comfort.
Galen looked toward where Sazh had made his own space. From memory, he was facing the cavern, but when he looked, the old man had sat up to face them. He must have heard the commotion as well. He shook his head.
"Still a kid…" he muttered to himself, face pinched slightly in worry, as he turned around and laid down once more.
What could he do? Galen didn't want to chance turning over to put his arm over her, lest she wake up. Stomach churning, he stayed still, letting her push herself against him. Perhaps she would awaken by herself, and move away?
After heavy deliberation, torn between his desire to pull her close and give her comfort, or to refrain from doing so, and let her rest, Galen finally fell back into sleep, dreaming that he had made the decision to pull Vanille into his arms after all, and give her comfort.
A/N: Aww, small amounts of fluff! About damn time. I'm still not sure whether Glaens little crush will be reciprocated, since...I DO ship Fanille hardcore. I mean, it's heavily implied that they're VERY close. Either way, I'm sure Galen will survive. A little heartbreak is good for building character. Hehe...
Anyway, that's me for now. Like I said, I'll keep you guys posted on my plans to rework this. Don't worry! I'll let you guys know in an all-AN chapter, then when I'm done planning and stuffs, I'll post the finished product separately first, THEN, when the move is complete, pull this one down. I will NEVER abandon this story, or any other for that matter (except that crack-Twili fic I wrote when I was...still in high school. Cute, right?)
I'll keep you guys informed. Leave love in a review please!
Fang out.