Chapter 22: The Hall of Devotion

Day 3, 12:30 AM

The massive cathedral stretched out before Lightning as she entered the main gate. Even at night it shone with a radiant white gleam that seemed to penetrate all darkness. The marble and crystalwork bridge stretching across a vast galley of pews led to an altar at the end of the stretch.

A familiar face awaited her at the end. Her strawberry hair was still in neat ponytails, but her head was now covered in an ornate head dress with a fine veil. Something seemed forced in her chipper smile, and her energy that had once carried her through the darkest times (motivated by sorrow and loss though it was) was now all but absent.

Some of the spark seemed to return as Vanille turned to see her old comrade. With a start she rushed towards her, arms outstretched.

"Lightning!"

Lightning nodded, encouraging any return to her chipper self. "Long time, no see Vanille. You look well." She thought this seemed a bit weak, so she added. "And you haven't changed- you're just as I remember."

This was a lie, but a pleasant one.

Vanille gave a sort of sad giggle and bowed her head. "Me and everyone else- but you don't mean it like that, do you?"

This was her all right. The same Vanille. They'd fought together once, a long time ago. They were comrades in arms in a battle against gods who toyed with human destiny. And, at the end of that battle, she sacrificed herself. She turned into a great crystal pillar rising from the plains of Pulse, holding a world full of people safe in the sky.

"But then thirteen years ago, she came back," came a familiar childish voice from behind Lightning. The vexing presence of Lumina strolled up to the two of them, hands behind her back and her doll's face - ever the mirror of Serah's - hiding a hint of malice.

Lightning sighed. "You again?"

Lumina didn't respond, but she grinned wide and pulled Vanille into a close hug around her waist. The gesture seemed genuine, but Lightning had always been wary of whatever Lumina was.

"So you two know each other," Lightning said.

Vanille nodded. "Oh, yes. We've been together ever since I woke up."

"Right!" Lumina grinned, looking into Vanille's eyes. "Thick as thieves."

Lightning wondered what Fang would think about this. But then it occurred to her. "But Fang's not around."

Vanille's head bowed once more. "Well. We woke up at the same time, and we were together for a while… but she left."

"And you decided to stay behind under the protection of the Order? You must have a reason." Lightning prodded.

Two Order knights drew in close and began whispering to one another conspiratorially. Vanille took notice of them and then nodded to Lightning. "Uh-huh. There's something I have to do. It has to be me… and it has to happen right here."

She'd been holding Lumina's hand but let go as she turned around and walked towards the back of the Cathedral, between the guards. She turned and favored Lightning with a half-hearted head bob that indicated she was to follow. Lightning sighed and did so.

They entered a massive circular room with five doors, including the one they'd entered from, arranged in pentacle. The four other doors were lined with statues and in the center lay a great altar within a marble gazebo. Lightning could barely observe these features for the darkness that wove and twisted throughout the room, permeating every inch of it.

"There's a lot of Chaos swirling around in here. I'd have thought the Order's cathedral at least would still be clear," Lightning observed.

Vanille paid no mind to this but ascended the stairs to the altar, talking to the Chaos with the comforting, nurtuting tone of a mother.

"Yes, yes. I know. It hurts terribly. I understand." Vanille reached the top and tried to remain confident. "But it won't be long now. You'll be free soon."

"Vanille?" Lightning asked. "Who are you talking to? What is this stuff?"

Lumina chose to answer instead, skipping up the stairs to stand beside the two, though her voice was a dark and gravelly stage-whisper. "A wind of sorrow, the lament of the dead. Can't you hear their voices? Lost souls, crying out in pain and suffering."

Lightning felt a chill brush past her as the darkness seemed to draw ever closer. "You mean this wind… is the dead?"

"Yeah," Vanille answered. "They've been drawn here, one after another. All the people who died after the Chaos poured through the gate. They've been swallowed by the Chaos, and now they're trapped inside. I can feel it. All their sadness… All their grief. They're swirling around me. Every single cry feels like a dagger… right in my heart."

The darkness grew thicker still, Lightning was given the uneasy realization that with each passing moment - with each passing death - more Chaos was being gathered here.

"There must be so many millions of souls. And you feel all their pain?" Lightning asked. "That can't be."

Vanille sighed as she reached out seeing to stroke the darkness. "Our world is being destroyed. There's no place for them to come back to. And there's no way for them to be reborn anymore." She set her hand down, and grief overcame her. "So they're caught in the Chaos with their pain. They just can't escape it."

Lumina offered some elaboration. "The Order believes that the souls have to be saved from their sorrow. They say that the only way to do that is to offer them to oblivion. Vanille's job is to call them to her so that can happen."

Lightning took a moment to feel uneasy - it was nice to be feeling something at the moment, unfortunate that it had to be that- that the quest to heal the suffering of souls was a quest that she shared.

"All of those souls, at the same time," Lightning said. "But, Vanille, will you be able to handle all that?"

There was a defeated tone in her next words so uncharacteristic of the Vanille that Lightning had known that she wondered if her friend wasn't truly already dead. "I don't have any choice."

Vanille began to walk down the stairs approaching the exit. Lumina piped in again.

"Besides, if she doesn't can you guess what will happen? This wind has been building for years. Layers of souls, a black hole of pain. Try and imagine how much energy is inside."

Lightning nodded. "If it ever got out all at once…"

She couldn't finish and chose to walk away as well. Lumina thought the point was better spoken however and finished her thought.

"It'd be the end of this world - and the future as well."