AN - Happy weekend! Well, early. It's the missus' birthday tomorrow, so I figure an early update is in order because if I'm anywhere near a computer this weekend she's going to kill me. SO HOORAY EARLY UPDATES. Comment! Like, subscribe, favourite, what the heck ever! You guys are great. As per usual, hoorayimuseful dot tumblr dot com for updates, art and renderings related to the fic and ongoing project. I believe I'm even answering people's questions with renderings on there! (Muhammad I'm looking at you..)
"Vanille is going to kill us."
"Probably, but at least we'll go out with a nice view." Lightning replied, looking out over the broken bridge to the other side of Oerba. She'd parked the hoverbike by the edge, for them to scope out the path into the rest of the ancient city. "How many Cie'th do you think are going to be in there?" She asked, regretting the question when she saw the Pulsian wince.
"Likely too many. We'll take it easy, go in prepared. Get out before the sun dips below the mountains. I wonder if…" Fang trailed off with a frown, stepping back from the edge of the bridge. She walked back over to the bike and pulled out her pack from the storage compartment. Rifling through its contents, she found her notebook and pulled it out, furiously scribbling on a blank page as she leant against the vehicle. Lightning didn't bother to suppress the smile on her face when she saw the tongue peek out from Fang's lips, always a sign she was concentrating. The breeze blew the dark, wild hair around and jade eyes glanced up from her work.
"Here, if everything is still where it was, mostly… The central point of the town is where the vestige was, and everything was built around it. There were a few temples and archives on the western side, which… If still intact, could hold some clues to this bloody artefact."
Looking at the markings on the paper, Lightning realised it was a crude city map. She checked her ammunition in her gunblade and moved around to the bike. "Let's go then."
They both soared over the city ruins, doing well to keep their distance from anything that could be an ambush point for Cie'th. The pinkette felt Fang grip her a little tighter on occasion, and any questions thrown her way were merely answered with monosyllabic clips or grunts. Lightning pursed her lips and looked for a safe place to land. She found a building that still looked relatively intact. She killed the engine and leapt off the bike, giving the Pulsian a stern gaze. When there wasn't any reaction, Lightning gently took Fang by the jaw and tilted her head in her direction.
"Hey, where you at right now?" She asked quietly, watching the focus slowly shift back into the green-eyed gaze.
"Oh. Sorry. I… It's so quiet." The Pulsian whispered, looking out over the half-destroyed buildings. A distant roar echoed across the city, making Lightning pull out her weapon and bring it around at the ready.
"Not quiet enough. Fang, I'm going to need you to mind your head here. If you're not ready for this we will turn around and go back. I'm not going to pressure you, but I'm also not putting either of us at risk if you slip into a dissociative state."
The scowl she received in response was intense, and with a set jaw Fang got off the bike. She adjusted the lance on her belt and snarled. "This was a populated, bustling metropolis the last time I was here. So excuse me if I need a bloody moment after setting foot in my home city for the first time in half a century. Excuse me if I need a couple of minutes to come to terms with the fact that the city I grew up in is in ruins and there isn't a single soul for miles."
Fang stormed off without another word, and Lightning kicked herself for her insensitivity. "Nice going, Farron…" She muttered to herself and chased after her friend. The Pulsian's shoulders were hunched as she peered over the edge of the building. Spying a few wayward Cie'th in the street below, Fang growled and leapt off the roof, activating the gravity generator that Lightning had grabbed from her office before they set out. With a loud cry, she whipped through the air and pulled out her lance, bringing it down on the Cie'th as she landed. It let out an unholy shriek as it was split in two from the force, collapsing in two places.
Lightning landed effortlessly beside the huntress and glared. "Sure Fang, let's just alert every damn vampire, taxim and ghoul in the vicinity that we're here. Just great."
Gritting her teeth, Fang ignored the comment and continued on through the broken street. They moved slowly and cautiously through the deserted city, the ghosts of memory tickling at the edges of the brunette's awareness.
"Hey! Lucyn! Faaaaang! Come back!"
"Hurry up 'Nille, you're gonna miss the launch of the warships!"
Fang's gaze turned towards a ruined spire and smiled sadly, leaning on her lance. The pinkette caught the expression and hesitantly approached her friend. "Hey. I'm sorry. About earlier. It was insensitive of me." She said quietly, with her head bowed. Lightning couldn't begin to imagine what Fang was going through and felt guilty that her words caused unnecessary hurt. She thought about what would have happened if she woke up from a crystal slumber to find that half a millennium had passed and everything she knew was gone. It would feel like the end of the world. She looked back towards Fang and saw a distance in her eyes.
"We watched a bunch of warships launch from that spire. Me, Vanille and Lucyn. Snuck out of the orphanage and took a train across the bridge to see them off. Had a good vantage point up there, could see for miles around. It even had a good view of the…" Fang trailed off, her expression turning grim. A loud roar sounded in the direction she was looking and immediately grabbed Lightning by the wrist. She pulled her into a ruined building and down behind a wall.
"Fang, what-" The pinkette was cut off by a tanned hand over her mouth. An enormous shadow suddenly blacked out the streets, a loud guttural growl making the walls shake dangerously. The Pulsian shook her head while still covering Lightning's mouth, not even daring to take a breath until the light started to return to the street. She slowly took her hand away and leant out from their hiding place, wincing as she saw the tips of a tail the size of a train disappear around the corner.
"Shit. Shit shit shit. Was too much to hope that he wasn't still around.." Fang muttered as Lightning stared at her.
"What the hell was that? Dahaka?" The pinkette demanded, looking nervous. Another roar had them ducking back behind the wall in the half-destroyed building. They moved further into the building to get away from the street, Fang's jaw set and clenching tight.
"Fuuuuck." She groaned, shrugging at the soldier's pointed stare beside her. "Sorry. It's the Fal'Cie, Yama. Another flyer like our old mate Dahaka. We'd best steer clear of him, we don't want to wind up dead or branded. Come on. If there's another way out of here we'll be able to head down towards the archives."
They found a hole in the side of the building and escaped into an alley, moving quietly through the city. Caution was the running theme, both choosing to avoid any conflict with the Cie'th if they could manage it. Any sound from the ghouls seemed to draw Yama in to investigate, so they progressed slowly, silently and carefully through the rubble until they reached the archives.
Fang's breath caught in her throat at the sight of the halls beyond the broken doors. A good portion of the building was missing in its entirety, presumably destroyed from both Cocoon and the passage of time. She frowned to herself as they made their way through the doorway, gripping her lance tighter as they climbed over the broken concrete. "If they knew Cocoon was coming, hopefully, they took some pre-emptive measures and locked up the archives in one of the underground bunkers." She said quietly, keeping her voice low so as not to attract attention from the nearby taxims in the street outside.
The Pulsian gestured for them to move forward, Lightning looking around in quiet fascination at the architecture. The tall ceilings were carved stone, and while most were eroded from being exposed to the elements for centuries, but from what she could make out she admired the artistry of the work. They came across great steel doors at the end of the hall and Fang stuck her blade in to pry it open. It was rusted shut but with a bit of force and assistance, the duo managed to rip it open. A concrete staircase led down into the darkness, and Lightning sighed.
"Well, this isn't creepy at all…" She muttered, pulling out a light bar and handing it to the brunette. They slowly moved down the stairs with weapons drawn, the light bars dangling from their respective belts. The Pulsian was breathing slowly and forcefully. the confined space making her uneasy and claustrophobic. Lightning spied a light ahead and moved quickly to get to it, ready to do anything to stop the constant feeling of being watched.
The tunnel opened up into a great domed room, stacked high with crates, shelving, statues and all kinds of artefacts. Both jaws dropped at the sight, the room dimly lit from a few cracks in the ceiling high above them.
"Etro… It could take months to sift through all of this…" Lightning trailed off as she saw the Pulsian's shoulders shaking. She moved around to see the tears on Fang's face and immediately moved close to hold her. "I'm so sorry…"
Stifling a sob, Fang sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "My entire culture, history, anything resembling my people... Stuffed into a bunker." The reality was crushing. Her memories assaulted her from every angle, and she closed her eyes to try to block them out. It was a clamour in her head, and the only thing that broke through was Lightning's arms around her neck.
"Come on Fang. Ride through it. You're ok. I'm here." She heard the pinkette whisper in her ear, staying close. They parted once the Pulsian had her breathing under control and she nodded slowly. Lightning's hand lingered a little too long on her neck and Fang felt a blush creeping across her face.
"Light… I…"
"Don't worry about it. It's a lot to take in. We'll just take our time." The soldier replied, smiling gently and taking a step back. She gestured to Fang to keep moving, and they wandered through the bunker trying to find anything of significance. Lightning wasn't really sure what to look for, so settled for idly browsing the artefacts and artworks. She took a few photos for Vanille and punched in coordinates to send back to Academia. Within seconds of her sending the data her phone rang. She hesitantly answered it, immediately pulling it away from her ear from the shriek that came down the phone.
"WHERE. ARE. YOU."
"Vanille. We're in Oerba. Looking for something to decipher the map. You may want to send a team here once it's safe." Lightning drawled, watching Fang as she crouched in front of a chest on a short pedestal, rifling through it. The brunette turned to peer at her and she shrugged. "Your sister is having a fit." There was a roll of her green eyes and the Pulsian resumed her search, pocketing something small in her hand.
"Is Yama still around? Watch out for him, he's dangerous."
"We noticed. Anything I should be looking for? Without being able to read Pulsian I can't really help much."
She heard Vanille hum then start typing furiously away in the background. "Look for something that has a Zirnitra carving. That was the Rayn clan's patron. And Light? I'm going to kill you both for going there without me."
"Got it." She drawled, hanging up on the redhead. The two spent hours trawling through the bunker and noting down anything of interest. Fang even managed to come across an oracle drive, which they put in Lightning's satchel for later unlocking.
"We better book love. Any longer and it'll be dark before we get back to the bike and then we'll really be screwed." Fang called out while packing up a number of things and pushing them to a corner for cataloguing later. As she stood, the hairs on the back of her neck raised and she gripped her lance tightly. "Light?"
"What is it?" the pinkette replied, moving close and unsheathing her own weapon.
"We need to run. Now."
Concrete exploded in every direction from above them. Yama broke through the Bunker with a terrifying shriek. "Go!" Fang yelled and took off like a shot. They both sprinted from the bunker and through the archives as the Fal'Cie gave chase. The duo made it to the street and raced back in the direction of the building where the bike was parked. Rasping Cie'th moaned as they sped past, neither Fang nor Lightning slowing down to deal with them.
"Fang, there's the building we left the bike on! We've gotta climb!" Lightning called out. They ran into the nearest opening and ran up the broken flight of stairs. They made it to the roof in record time, the bike thankfully still in one piece. "Come on F-gck!" the pinkette was cut off by a wiry tendril wrapping around her throat and yanking her backwards.
"No!" Fang cried out, reaching for her as Yama came into view. Its enormous clawed arms swiped at the air as its cables reeled the pinkette in. Its long serpent-like body wrapped around the building, crushing it in its grip and causing the roof to buck and crumble. It held several faces atop its skull, and all twisted in unnatural rage at the two interlopers in its territory. Across its body it had adorned itself with various Cie'th stones, wearing them like trophies. It was the first time in half a millennium the Pulsian was getting a sight of the monstrosity, and it was currently taking away one of the few things in her life that held any meaning. She screamed in anger and pain, and her arm burnt where her brand once resided.
Lightning struggled as she was dragged closer to the Fal'Cie, the tendrils wrapping around her wrists and torso to imprison her. She panicked, if it was anything like Animal and Pulse, she knew what was coming next. Lightning braced herself for the pain, silently crying for her sorrow of losing her life to become a slave to a Fal'Cie delusion once more. Her nerve endings lit up like a live wire as Yama moved to brand her. Visions of Cocoon's destruction started flooding her head, but were suddenly ripped from her mind with a mighty roar and a flash of blue and orange.
She fell to the ground, desperate for breath. Lightning frantically looked around for Fang and was instead met with the terrifying sight of Ragnarok as it stood before her, shielding her from the Fal'Cie. The beast let out a terrifying roar and leapt up, slashing at Yama's face with deadly sharp claws. Lightning's earlier theory that it wouldn't have been possible to draw enough energy to summon Ragnarok proven incorrect.
The Fal'Cie bellowed in agony and clutched at its face with its huge hands. Ragnarok wasn't finished, and leapt for Yama's eyes, gouging them with dangerous ferocity. The Fal'Cie roared and got a hold of her, throwing her from his face and onto the roof with a crunch of concrete. Lightning staggered to her feet, her rage at seeing Fang hurt driving her own strength. She instinctively reached out and her namesake exploded from her hand, white light stripping across the sky and electrifying Yama's chest. Lightning stared at her palm while the Fal'Cie shrieked with pain. This time the magic flowed like she remembered, not anywhere near as difficult as it was to heal the small cut on Fang's hand a few days earlier. She threw bolt after bolt into the Pulse Fal'Cie, charring its flesh with her fury.
While Yama reeled from its injuries, she dropped to her knees in a panic and clutched at her chest. Quickly checking herself over, she couldn't see any marks anywhere on her. Did Fang get to her in time and interrupt the branding? Looking up towards the Fal'Cie again, she gasped as Ragnarok leapt high into the air. The beast twisted and shot down towards Yama, using all the momentum she could muster to dig her claws into his throat and tore with all her might. Black coloured blood spilt forth from the wound left in her wake, drenching the ground in the last of its life. Dark crystals began jutting forth from Yama's throat, and it fell back onto the street below.
Lightning slowly stood, breathing heavily and looked around for any sign of Fang, or the bike. Ragnarok landed hard on the roof in front of her, straightening up and looming over the pinkette with a guttural rumble from low in her throat. "Easy now, Fang…" She said, holding her hands palms outwards. Carefully taking a few steps back as the beast advanced on her with a snarl, Lightning tripped on a crack in the concrete roof and went tumbling backwards to the ground. Ragnarok flexed her claws and moved closer with a growl, baring her teeth close to the pale face. "Fang… Please…"
Suddenly the growling stopped and Ragnarok reared back, staring at her hands. Lightning lowered her hands and leant forward a little, looking at the contorted form of her friend. "Fang? Are you still in there? Come back to me, please… I need you… " She implored, tears pricking at her eyes. The beast suddenly fell back and in a flash of bright light, her friend was back. Fang panted, fearful and breathless. She scrambled back away out of reach.
"No no no no no…" She repeated over and over while clutching at her hair, looking panicked and lost. Lightning crawled over to her and slumped down beside her. Exhausted from the fight and too many close calls for one day, she laid down on the roof and nuzzles into Fang with a groan. "Etro… Light… Light!" The Pulsian suddenly cried out, recalling what had happened in the lead up to her turning into Ragnarok. She frantically began to check the pale skin for marks, not even hesitating for the sake of modesty when unzipping the turtleneck to check where the former brand once resided. Lightning wearily batted her hands away with a short laugh.
"I'm fine, you… You got to me just in time. Yama didn't have a chance to brand me."
Fang cried with relief, not even bothering to fight the tears. "Gods… I am so sorry I… Etro…" She trailed off, burying her head in her hands. "I could've killed you. I… I could have…"
"Fang… It's ok really." The pinkette replied, trailing her hand along her companion's face. Suddenly all those pretences and awkward glances they gave each other made more sense, and Lightning began to realise the true depth of her feelings. Life was too short for the unspoken. Even though she was shaking like a leaf, Fang was so beautiful to her in that moment. She was alive, and with her. She smiled and drew the jade eyes back to her.
"I'm alright, Fang. So are you."
The huntress couldn't stop her shaking hands. She felt sick to her stomach. The revelation that Ragnarok was still present and strong within her terrified her. Losing herself to the world ending beast again scared her. She didn't want to hurt anyone, especially Lightning. She certainly didn't want to lose herself to the mindless rage and never see the pink-haired woman again. "But I- I nearly… Gods… I could have…"
Lightning rolled her eyes. It seemed Fang was caught in a loop, and needed to snapped out of it. "Oh for Etro's sake," she cut the Pulsian off, pulling her down onto her lips. The kiss managed to startle Fang into shutting up and served its intended purpose. After being brought back to reality, she finally returned the affections, cupping her hands around the pale jaw and deepening the kiss. They broke apart, breathing heavily and both wide-eyed with the realisation of what they'd just done. Suddenly Lightning started laughing and ran her fingers through the dark hair.
"I suppose this was only a matter of time," She said with a wry grin. Fang chuckled, though the tone was slightly bitter.
"Both the kiss and not escaping Ragnarok, I guess." Fang replied. Lightning pulled her back against her, kissing her gently. She finally broke off and looked at the brunette firmly.
"You became Ragnarok to save me. You saved me. Ok?" She replied, intending every layer of her statement to be heard.
Fang looked up and smiled softly, running a trembling hand across Lightning's face.
"You saved me too, Light."
They sat on the roof for a while in silence, just holding onto one another while they both got their bearings. The pinkette finally sat up and gave Fang a squeeze. "Let's get on the phone to Vanille, cop the lecture we both know we're going to receive and order a transport now that my bike is trashed."
After making the phone call, Lightning sighed and leant up against the wall, feeling Fang press into her as well. The Pulsian took a shaky breath and stared at her hands. "So much for not having enough energy, hey Sunshine?" She muttered sadly to herself. It was loud enough for Lightning to hear and she took Fang by the hand, holding it tight.
"I realised something. It's not about energy. It's about will. It was my will to heal that cut on your hand that night in the bar. It was your will was to keep me safe and stop Yama from harming me. There wouldn't have been anything that would have kept you from accomplishing that end. It's about will. It's… About love."
Fang felt her cheeks redden under the pinkette's lidded gaze, finding all sorts of new meaning behind every glance, every syllable that left Lightning's mouth. "It's that simple huh?" She said, nuzzling into the soldier's neck and feeling more at home than she ever had. Lightning leant down pressed her lips against Fang's once more, this time far more gentle and caring than the heated moment they shared earlier. They broke apart when they both heard the roar of the aircraft in the distance, smiling at the familiar logo that came into view.
"Heard you ladies needed a ride?" Sazh's welcoming voice drawled over the loudspeaker. The pinkette gave a lazy salute as he landed and she stood, dusting herself off. She turned to the huntress with a brilliant smile and held out her hand.
"Come on Fang. Let's go home."
The Pulsian nodded with a gulp and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. Even though the sun was setting in the west, the huntress felt like it was a new day all the same.