Chapter 2: Hope

The centuries had changed them, Snow and Lightning. Once they fought desperately against their fates. Now he was the Patron of a never-ending revel, presiding over a banquet at the end of the world. And she had become, "the Savior"; a servant of God, sent to a world that was being consumed by Chaos.

Tell me Snow, Lightning thought. Does a day pass when you don't think about Serah? The girl you loved? My younger sister?

How long had she been gone now? She had brought them together; made them allies and friends. Lightning couldn't give Serah back to him. But she could save his soul and free him from his long torment. It would be her first act as Savior.

Lightning looked around the now deserted ballroom. The shrill wailing outside told her that security could not be far off now.

"All right Mr. Hope Estheim," Lightning said, speaking into her earpiece. "Any ideas? What do I do next?"

"Light, come on," Hope replied in her ear. "Just call me 'Hope' okay? Right now your number one priority is Snow."

"Help me track him," Lightning replied.

There was brief delay on the other end of the line.

"Got him. Head towards the palace center," Hope replied.

Lightning ran up the stairwell along the side of the ballroom, hopping over the debris from their earlier engagement. The two of them had really done a number on this place, and it was amazing that any columns holding up the second floor awning still stood.

The more private areas of the palace were mere yards away from the ballroom. The magnificent marble tile covered in beautiful carpets, the elaborate lighting and beautiful décor; all of this seemed to melt away as Lightning progressed further into the palace. It was replaced with steel, drab minimalistic lighting and the unmistakable ever-present vibration of Chaos. This was less a palace and more of a tomb.

"What is Snow up to anyways? Where's he going?" Lightning asked.

"I'm getting powerful Chaos readings from inside the palace," Hope replied.

That much she did not need to be told. It was even difficult for her to breathe now in the all-consuming miasma that surrounded her. If she was not careful she would stumble upon a monster at any moment.

"And that's exactly where he seems to be heading," Hope replied.

Snow was heading into the Chaos? The fact that he'd seemed to absorb the Chaos into his very essence before could have led to only a few conclusions about his intent.

"What the hell is he thinking?" Lightning asked. "Running straight into the Chaos? Is he going there to try and stop it or-"

If that means I have to fight the Savior, then I will.

"Is he aiming to use it against us somehow?" She finished.

Hope didn't seem to have an answer for this. Lightning continued to make her way through the labyrinthine passages that made up this palace. With each hallway she would reach a different barricade of some kind. The defenses were more than tight, they were excessive. What the hell were they trying to keep out?

"Light, did you notice how people here call Snow 'The Patron'?" Hope asked. "He's in charge of this city and has been for a long time."

"I don't see it," Lightning replied, shaking her head. "Sure he liked to look after people, but lording it over an entire city?"

"Well it wasn't his choice," Hope explained. "He started out just trying to help everyone, and eventually he became ruler by popular acclaim. Although I'm not no sure he actually 'rules' anything anymore. He doesn't do much these days except preside over the nightly revelry. Lord of the Feast Hall."

"Doesn't look like he's enjoying it much though. When I looked into his eyes, I didn't see much of the old Snow."

Lightning stopped at yet another barricade. This time it was a simple metal doorway. Lightning pushed it open and felt a rush of blackness seep through the entire room.

"Easy does it, Lightning. When that door opened, Chaos readings in the whole area spiked."

"The source of the Chaos is in the middle of the palace-"

There was a beeping in her ear and a pulsing of static. She was beginning to lose her signal to Hope.

"Light, can you hear me? The Chaos is powerful in this are-"

The connection dropped altogether and suddenly all of the remaining light in the room was extinguished. Lightning raised her sword, expecting an attack. She heard a soft and familiar giggle from mere feet in front of her. As her eyes adjusted to the dim, she made out the figure of the girl who'd she'd seen before. What was it Snow had called her? Lumina?

"What the-!? Who are you? And what are you doing here? If you're playing around in the middle of this Chaos, I'm guessing you're not human."

Lumina giggled again and smiled at Lightning. "You can see inside this stuff? Hm, then you can't be one of God's regular lackeys, can you?"

With a wide stretch of her arms, the girl disappeared and in her place stood an enormous Chaos beast. It stood much taller than the previous pests she and Snow had dispatched so easily. It had the body of a lizard, but with an absurdly long neck which led to the snout and twin horns. Lightning had read somewhere of a dragon with similar features known as the Zaltys. She'd just never thought she'd have the chance to see one in person. There was another beep in her ear, the connection having returned.

"Light, who are you talking to? The enemy! Focus on the enemy!" Hope shouted.

The beast charged her, but even with her broken sword she was more than a match for the giant monstrosity. While it snapped at her with its iron-like fangs, she leapt out of the way, sliding towards the soft-underbelly of the beast.

A quick jab with her sword toppled the beast onto its side. It retaliated by swiping at her with its up-raised claws, but Lightning already had all the advantage she needed. With a final thrust, she dug the blunt edge of her sword into the monster's skull and it vanished, leaving behind only the glowing aura of its soul.

"Light, are you okay?" Hope asked.

"Listen, Hope. I need more info. Can you analyze this Chaos matter for me?"

Hope seemed a bit exasperated as he replied, as though he felt the request was redundant. "I've been trying to do just that, but... it's no good. None of my instruments will tell me anything. It's just too hard to see."

Lightning was a bit perplexed now. She'd only been with Hope for a matter of hours now, from the point when she'd awoken on the Ark this morning, but it seemed like there wasn't anything he couldn't accomplish. With a technical setup to rival the old Guardian Corps security detail from all those years ago, he'd been able to plan this entire entrance even up to finding out exactly when to get it in, where to find Snow and how to engage. And now there was something that even he couldn't do?

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. The sensors know it's there alright, but when they actually look into it they can't pick up anything at all. Sometimes it's so thick my monitors go completely blank. Sorry, Light. I'll try to feed you as much info as possible, but with this Chaos I'm not much help. "

As she rounded the next corner, pondering what could possibly be keeping something from even Hope, she spotted her road block. The barricades up to this point had been child's play. This was a double-layered reinforced steel door with an ID access. She prayed that Hope would have a solution to at least this problem.

"It's locked. Can I force it?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"That might be beyond even you. Hold on a second. I'll see what I can do from here," Hope replied.

As Lightning looked over the door she saw that more than mere steel was blocking her path. She could perhaps, with some patience, bludgeon her way through that. But a Chaos field rippled along the surface of the door like a pond disturbed by a falling pebble. Whether it was being held back, or merely maintaining its position by will, Lightning could not be entirely sure. She touched it just briefly and instantly felt her hand repelled with the sharp twinge that only highly concentrated amounts of energy could instill.

"There's a lot of Chaos building up back there," she said. It was more to herself than to Hope, but he replied anyways.

"Yes indeed. And Snow's inside. Or whatever's left of him."

"Well, he has been living without hope for centuries. Now the world's about to end. He might have lost his mind entirely."

Lightning reflected back to the hopeless look in his eyes when they'd crossed blades. How he had practically begged her to kill him right there in the middle of the ballroom. She was supposed to save his soul, not murder him. But would he even give her the chance?

"If it were anyone else," she added. "I'd say that was a given."

"Do you think it could have gotten to him though? Broken even his spirit?"

"I hope not, but..."

She couldn't bring herself to say it.

Nor did she have the time. The alarms were growing closer now and at the far end of the long hallway, she heard a security guard shout.

"There! It's her!"

"Light, you've been spotted! You have to get out of there, now!" Hope ordered.

"After coming all this way?" She protested. "I'm his last chance, damn it. I know what he's going through. The pain of losing Serah."

"That's true. If there is anything left of Snow, as the Savior, you're the only one who can rescue him." Hope spoke calmly, trying to comfort Lightning. In truth, it made her feel a bit like she was being babied, but she understood what he was trying to do. "That's why you have to protect yourself! If you're killed, it really will mean the end of the world. And then who can you save?"

Lightning sighed. He was right. "All right, fine. Take me back to the Ark."

"Hold on!" Hope said.

Lightning felt the surge of light within her chest that slowly consumed her entire body. The room around her faded away into white, and she felt herself flying upwards through a tear in the fabric of time and space, towards the Ark.

"So she'll understand his pain?" Lumina cackled, pacing about the hallway that Lightning had just vacated. "She thinks she's going to save his soul? Would you listen to this nonsense? Ugh, God turns her into 'the Savior' and it all goes straight to her head."