Chapter 20: Luxerion Aftermath

Author's Note: It's been a long time since I updated this and my other novelization. But for the Summer Extravaganza I have made sure to add a chapter to these with the hope that they kick-start my drive to finish them.

Day 3, 10:15 AM

Lightning had returned once more to Luxerion. News of the Shadow Hunter's defeat traveled fast and the mood seemed considerably lighter. Lightning still had a day to kill until the Saint would be ready to see her, so she chose to take this opportunity to make sure everything was fine throughout the city. There were no more Heretics wandering about, which was good enough, and there didn't seem to be as many Chaos readings (though naturally they were still present in small doses).

She saw Armand out and about once more and chose to take this time to speak with him once more. She wanted to learn more about his reporter friend.

"Hey," she began. "Are you ready to tell me more about your friend? His story's pretty intriguing."

Armand seemed to have been expecting her. "You're back! I knew you couldn't stay away forever. I wager you're dying to hear the rest of my friend's story. Now where were we…?" He took a moment to think. "Oh, right!"

Armand pulled out the portfolio once more and sat down. Lightning sat down with him.

"He'd gotten transferred to a department that handled big stories, and was given a huge one himself. It was a bribery case in Yusnaan. The woman suspected of the crime held quite a high position in the Order."

Armand knew how to tell a story. Emotions or no, Lightning was enthralled and encouraged him to continue. "Corruption at the very top of the church hierarchy, huh? Sounds like a pretty big story, all right."

"It was indeed," Armand nodded. "Quite scandalous, actually. My friend pursued the case with a vengeance, and published articles about it every day to keep the public informed of the facts. The woman was subjected to heavy criticism. A little too much, in fact."

Armand turned his head and rubbed his neck. Lightning could see his pain, certainly. But she could feel it as well. No wonder she had been drawn to him.

"Turns out," Armand sighed. "My friend was right about one thing- the saying is true: the pen is mightier than the sword. Unable to cope, she killed herself."

His head was now bowed in regret, the sorrow palpable. Lightning took his silence as a chance to offer consolation. "That must've been tragic for your friend, but he simply told the truth, that's all. "

Armand shook his head. "Well, the real tragedy is what followed. Shortly after her death, a document was uncovered. This document provided invaluable evidence in the case. It exonerated her of her crime. She was innocent. "

"So the articles written by your friend drove an innocent person to take her own life?" Lightning pondered how somebody could deal with that burden. To know that their actions had indirectly ended a life. Of course, she had directly ended several herself. Questions about her innocence were always fresh in her mind.

"Yes, and he couldn't bear such a burden. I mean, who could?" Armand asked.

Me, probably, Lightning thought. She wasn't truly human anymore. She was always reminded of that.

"I'll… have to tell you the rest of the story at another time," Armand finished.

Lightning didn't blame him. This was a lot to bear. She patted his shoulder as a sign of comfort and then continued on her way. She made her way to the entrance of the Warrens. She knew she wouldn't be able to get in this time of day but she had to check it out.

The crumbling north end of the city seemed to be busy in the early morning. She looked about the markets and everything seemed fine.

You'd never know a great battle took place last night.

She tripped over a crack in the foundation and crashed through a small collection of boxes.

"Light? Are you okay?" Hope asked.

"I just tripped it's not a big de-" she turned and saw a small gold shimmer on the ground next to her. An elaborate quill pen was resting in the wreckage. She felt oddly compelled to take it.

"Clumsy and now pilfering. This isn't like you, Light," Hope chuckled.

"Everything happens for a reason, right?" Lightning asked.

"That's true. Trust your instinct, Lightning," Hope added.

The rest of Luxerion was the same as what she had seen. In the six hours she'd searched, the only noticeable change seen was the Causeway was slightly closer to being repaired and the cheerier mood of the people. At the South Station, Luka was still out and about selling tears. Her was another of her follow-ups just waiting for her.

"You're back! Do you want to buy some tears? I should warn you, though, I had to raise the price a little," she said, pointing to her sign where "10 Gil" had been crossed out and "50 Gil" had been written next to it.

"Explain to me why I should have to pay more than before," Lightning asked. Hope's original comment of 'Con Artist' echoed through her mind.

"Are you questioning the market value of my tears? They're special!" Luka insisted, with an offended tone. "Only for special people."

Suckers, Lightning thought. But she pressed on. "All right. You've talked yourself up quite a bit. Well, show me what you've got."

Luka tried for a few moments until finally reaching a similar conclusion. "…No, I can't. Not for you."

Lightning scoffed. "You've certainly got a knack for testing my patience."

Luka put her hands up in a defensive posture. "Since you already gave me your money, I'll tell you a big secret instead. Do you know how I cry for people? Can you imagine the things of think of?"

What you're going to spend my money on. Her actual commentary wasn't much nicer. "Something sad? Like your pointless existence?"

"No, Miss Smartypants!" Luka shot back. "I don't think of anything. I just… empty my head. Then, like magic, the tears come. "

"So, you're a born fraud."

"You mean actress," Luka snapped back. "I had a great mentor. "

"Who was that?" Lightning asked, folding her arms. Now they were getting to the heart of it.

"My acting coach. He's the one who taught me to become one with my role. Without him, I'd have gone nowhere," Luka explained. "Master that, and the acting would come naturally. He taught me everything I know. This might seem silly, but I kept acting to spend time with him."

Just like with Armand, Lightning could now feel the pain in Luka. Whatever other devious game she might be playing this much was sincere. No actor could hide their soul from Lightning. She decided to prod a bit further.

"You really cared for him."

Luka nodded. "I loved him. I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life" Luka gestured to herself. "But look at me. Even though we spent decades together, he never stopped treating me like a child. Who can blame him, really?"

If Luka was going to cry it would have been now, but as stoic as anything she pressed on with her sad story.

"He died some time ago in an accident," Luka said. "I didn't have the heart to keep acting after that, I just couldn't. Without him watching my performance, it all seemed so pointless. "

"So that's why you quit," Lightning said.

It had been a rough trip for her. Two sad stories in one day. Neither had touched her nonexistent emotions, but logically she knew they should. The feeling of emptiness grew vaster.

Luka nodded. "I thought it was time. I went through a few things after that, nothing I'll bore you with. And now I'm here, selling my tears. So this is my calling."

"That's an optimistic way to look at things," Lightning replied. "But I have to ask… Doesn't the past make you cry?"

Luka shrugged. "Tears dry up, you know. I cried every day for a hundred years after he passed away, but not anymore. I can cry to keep my business going, but that's something completely different." Luka looked towards the nearby clock atop the South Station, which now read 4:35 PM. "And that's enough talk for today."

Luka turned away towards the next customer approaching her. Lightning made her way towards the Cathedral.

"She's awfully cheerful for somebody who cries for a living, don't you think?" Hope asked.

"She does seem happy, at least on the surface," Lightning nodded. "But sometimes people laugh when they're crying on the inside."

Her mind went to Snow.