Chapter 4

The gift of eternity

Lightning was trying to get rid of Sazh, but the man kept following her despite her snide remarks and quick movements. He had apologized to her multiple times and though she had told him she accepted the apology, this was still something she had to do alone. She only wished Serah could accept her apology so easily.

She climbed one last pair of stairs in the central chamber and gasped. "Serah!"

Nothing had prepared her for the sight that lay before her. Serah lay unconscious in the center of the floor. Her arms and legs were covered in bruises and scratches. Her hair tangled and matted as it lay sprawled upon the floor. Her left arm had a dingy bandage wrapped around it. Her white blouse and red skirt were stained with blood and torn. How long had Serah been in this state?

Lighting ran to her sister's side and cradled her head in her lap. "Serah please wake up."

Sazh inched up behind her and felt his own heart clench. "That poor girl" he whispered.

Lightning untied the bandage around her sister's arm to reveal the brand of a pulse l'Cie. This confirmed it. Serah really was a l'Cie, and even worse, the brand was different from when her sister showed it to her yesterday. More complex looking perhaps. "Okay, let's go! Before the soldiers figure out we've got her." Lighting called but when she looked at Sazh she stopped. "What's wrong?"

Sazh took a fearful step back. "That girl….she's a l'Cie"

"I told you that already" Lightning snapped.

"I didn't really believe you then. She's dangerous. An enemy of Cocoon." Sazh said voice quivering slightly.

"So you think that I should just kill her out of love?" Lightning retorted.

"Well…yeah if it means…" Sazh began, but was cut off by the chime of Serah's soft voice.

"Sis?"

Lightning looked at her sister. "Serah!"

Serah's eyes fluttered open to reveal eyes the color of soft grey clouds.

"Serah!" Snow's voice cut through the air as he raced into the room. "Serah I'm coming!"

Serah smiled. "My hero is here….?"

Snow ran up to his future wife and began to lift her into his arms. "Lets all go home together." He was so over joyed to be holding the love of his life he didn't realize Hope and Vanille had joined them. Vanille was wearing an expression of shock.

"Let go of her!" Lighting screamed.

"Sis, what's this all about" Snow replied with a shocked voice. "I'm her hero, I can save her."

"Sis" she yelled. "You're delusional! You haven't even married her yet. And don't tell me this hero stuff, you couldn't even protect her from the fal'Cie taking her captive. You're the reason she's in this state! You're the reason that we're here at all!"

"But sis," Serah replied weakly. "He can protect me. Promise me, promise me that you will all protect Cocoon."

"Serah what is this all about?" Lightning asked but Snow was holding her close and telling her "Of course I'll protect Coccon, just like I am going to protect you now."

Lightning's eyes were filled with fear. "Serah is that your focus? Is that what the fal'Cie told you to do, protect Cocoon?"

"You don't need to worry about that Serah" Snow assured her. "You, Cocoon, I'll protect everyone. We can do it together."

Serah smiled. "Thank you."

Her body grew light as she began to levitate out of Snow's grasp. She began to emit a cerulean glow as she was pulled into the air. Vanille watched in horror as Serah gave into the legendary eternal slumber known as crystal stasis. Slowly starting from her feet upward her body began to crystalize until her entire being was encased in a crystalline statue. Before she was entirely encased, she let a single tear slide down her cheek. As it fell from her chin, it too was caught up in the process of crystallization.

Slowly, the now crystalline Serah floated back downward and landed softly upon the stone floor. The crystal tear landed in Snow's outstretched hand. He stood there shifting his gaze from Serah to the crystal tear in terror.

"Why" was all Vanille could whisper. She wore the same expression of horror as Snow and Lightning.

"If a l'Cie completes their focus, they become crystalized and are granted eternal life" Hope said softly remembering the legends his mother often told him as bedtime stories. "So its true."

Snow swallowed and said "Serah, you did your best."

Lighting clenched her fist and before she could think she punched him….hard. "You did your best? Don't even screw with me like that."

"Serah's alive!" he replied "The l'Cie legend states that if she completes her focus she's crystalized given eternal life. It must be true. Serah is in there somewhere! She's alive! I am her fiancé and I promised that I would always protect her." His voice was beginning to shake. It was beginning to crack.

"Guys, I hate to break this party up, but I think the sanctum is going to act." Sazh cried. No sooner had the words left his lips the entire Vestige began to grumble. Stone was being bent upon itself and the distinct crack of falling walls filled the air.

"This isn't good" Vanille yelled as she struggled to keep her balance. Hope had already fallen to his knees and grasped onto Vanille's arm as he cowered. "What's going on?"

. "They're gonna blow these ruins to pieces. We need to move, and quickly." Sazh informed her as he took her hand.

"Why don't they just return it to Pulse?" Vanille asked.

"And give Pulse another weapon to fight Cocoon with? That's not the point of the Purge." Sazh snapped. "The fal'Cie in here is gonna have something to say about them blowing this place to bits"

As if the fal'Cie had heard Sazh's words, the Vestige ceased its shaking. A mark, the same that was upon Serah's arm pulsed from upon a wall and the entrance to the final chamber where the fal'Cie slept was revealed.

Snow's eyes lit up. "That's it! The fal'Cie! I'm gonna ask it to release Serah. Then I'm gonna ask it to get us out of here safely."

Sazh looked at Snow like he had lost whatever sanity he was still gripping so dearly onto. "You're gonna ask the fal'Cie for a favor? I got news for you man, fal'Cie don't do anything for humans. At least Pulse fal'Cie don't."

"It's worth asking" Snow retorted as he ran deeper into the chamber.

"We need to move" Lightning said finally. "Talking with the fal'Cie can buy us time from PSICOM at least." She followed Snow without even as much as a glance back at her crystalized sister.

Hope couldn't breathe. He had never really felt afraid of anything in his life before, but that was before he had lost his mother, was forced to dodge bullets and thrust himself into a personal family affair where he could potentially come in contact with the very thing that poisoned Cocoon and started this whole mess. He had calculated in whatever part of his brain that was still functioning rationally that someone who had a phobia felt exactly what he was feeling now.

Why he had continued to follow this group of seemingly mindless idiots deeper and deeper into the vestige he couldn't fathom. He should have stayed with Lebrau and Gadot. With the forces they had, weapons and willpower of those who wanted to survive it was likely that they would find a rabbit hole and escape back to the civilization of Cocoon. He could have been with them too, but he had let his anger over Snow get to him and Vanille was able to talk him into this mess. Why he didn't just turn and run was something Hope would be asking himself for the rest of his life… that is if he had much of his life left to live.

He followed Snow, Vanille, Serah's sister, and the chocobo man as they silently made their way down the final corridor that would either kill them, or buy them enough time to get out of the Vestige before it finally crumbled.

He was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly slammed into Vanille's back. The silly girl had stopped walking. He was about to ask her what was wrong when he realized that she ceased her movement because they stood in the same room as the fal'Cie.

"So" he whispered. "This is the fal'Cie." Before him stood what looked to be an ordinary machine in the dim lighting of the room. But upon closer look, it seemed as if each of the parts were moving…almost as if it was breathing.

"Serah is a Crystal now!" Snow yelled slicing through the silence. "You gave her a focus, she did it. You got what you wanted so let her go!

The fal'Cie remained silent. There was no movement. There was no communication. It just sat there, silently in the darkness observing the humans that stood before it. Snow fell to his knees. He pleaded with it, asked it multiple times to change her back. With each plea, his hope became replaced with anger. How could he have let this happen to his beloved Serah. If he had only been with her the day she wandered into the Vestige. If he had not let her be taken by the fal'Cie and held captive in this horrid prison. The regret and remorse filled his heart to the point where he thought of one last idea. "I'll do it! I'll be your precious l'Cie instead."

Lighting stood there, watching him break. She had enough. His tactic wasn't working and if she didn't step in and do some coercing, not only was Serah going to remain a crystalline statue, but they were all going to perish when the Sanctum finally did take the Vestige down. "Fine!" she screamed as she pulled out her sword. "You go on begging. Like this thing gives a damn what we want." Mustering up all her strength she swung the sword until it hit the metal body of the fal'Cie.

There was a blood curdling screech of metal scraping metal but the fal'Cie remained undamaged. Lighting grunted and swung again, and again. Each time with more force than the last, her anger was her only fuel. "Its this things fault!" she screamed "This thing is the reason why the purge was created and why so many people are dying. Its this thing's fault Serah is a statue outside that door! Serah asked us to save Cocoon…that means that this thing has to die!"

A deep growl could be heard as lights shimmered and illuminated the room. The metal body of the fal'Cie began to stir. It moved slowly, but unfurled itself from its sleeping position to reveal a horrid looking monster made of metal. Its arms were made of twisted turbines, while its body was a jumble of what looked to be electrical circuts with a crystal at its center. Vanille screamed as one of the arms swung across the room barely missing Snow.

"Come on now" Sazh yelled above the screeching of the metal. "You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?"

Lightning raised her sword "I'm doing this for Serah!"

Lighting was about to attack the fal'Cie when a blinding light exploded from the crystalline core. She couldn't see, but she could hear. The Vestige was being attacked again and this time she knew it wasn't going to last. She could hear Vanille and Hope scream in terror, but couldn't see them. It felt as if she were floating, floating through space, at time. Before her, the light from the fal'Cie's crystalline core dimmed and she could make out the outline of the monster before her. Her companions were floating like she was off in the distance.

"Where are we?" she asked. Part of her felt her body was still in the Vestige, but the other part felt her mind was in a completely different dimension and time. It was a dimension where the fal'Cie could exist, free from the bounds of their own world.

Before anyone could respond, strands of light shot from the crystal and snaked themselves around the humans that floated in this mysterious territory. Lightning found her arms being bound to her sides and her legs became immobile. The same was happening to the rest of her companions. The light ropes pulled them closer to the fal'Cie's body as it began to move even more fluidly now. Its arms moving like it was beckoning them to come closer.

Lighting tried to wriggle her way from the fal'Cie's grip but found it nearly impossible to command her own body to even move just a little. The light from the crystal pulsed brighter and brighter until another wave of energy shot from its core. It slammed directly into Lightning's chest, and this time she could feel the pain. White and hot, it burned through her, starting from her chest and moving throughout her body. The pain was too much and she found it too difficult to even take in a breath.

With as much energy as she could muster she turned her head and saw Snow and Sazh in the same predicament. Both their faces contorted in pain. Her head hurt, her body ached, and she didn't know how much longer she could go without oxygen. Just when it seemed like the pain was too much to bear…it stopped. With one more thrust the fal'Cie pushed them away letting them slip through the ropes of light and they were sent falling through an inky void not knowing when they would finally hit the ground.

Lighting tried to fight to keep her eyes open, but as she saw the light from the fal'Cie's crystal core grow farther and farther, her body collapsed and she gave into the slumber that was calling her.

In it's last attempt to save itself from total destruction the fal'Cie began to turn itself into crystal like Serah was just outside. As the fal'Cie fell into crystal stasis as it had been in for so long prior to these chain of events it sent out a shockwave of energy strong enough to break through the Sanctum's hold.

The vestige itself had turned to crystal along with the fal'Cie that slumbered within it and the structure plummeted to the lake that lay resting below the "Hanging Edge". Upon contact with the still waters, the lake too turned to a crystalline masterpiece, depicting a land frozen in time.