"I told you you weren't going to get the humans to follow you forever. What good is a great mind if terror and incoherent clues are the only voices it can use to convey its ideas?
—"You were right. I apologize for ignoring your advice, my other half."
"Well, now that they've taken us for false gods and rebelled against us, do you have any alternate strategies?"
—"I hope to recruit another human to our cause, this time with your assistance. This person would have a more direct role in issuing my will compared to what I usually call for."
"Did you have someone in mind?"
—"Of course. She's been... touched by the fal'Cie previously, and she's one of the few in any condition to remember it. She's not as strong as that sister of hers, but she possesses a certain charm and would become a reliable asset if we gave her the proper tools. I would like to have her company."
"The Farron girl."
—"Indeed."
"So you're going to give her another Focus?"
—"Calling it a Focus would imply I plan on blessing her with my power for only a short time. I had something different in mind. A much more eternal relationship. I wish for her to become my avatar of sorts. In human custom, you could say the two of us would be husband and wife."
"There's a slight problem there. She's already supposed to marry another human."
—"I'll have to persuade her to break the engagement."
"How do you plan on doing that?"
—"You mustn't concern yourself with such things. I have my ways. The only thing I ask of you is to present the proposal in some fashion that will earn me her attention."
"I suppose there's one thing I could try."
"Let me help you! Kupo!"
Serah's day was becoming more bizarre by the minute. Without warning, thousands of ferocious beasts had attacked the NORA complex that dawn, shredding through anyone in their way with no sign of stopping. Soldiers tried hold back the onslaught in disorganized flanks, but escape had become an impossibility and annihilation was imminent. Then, in the middle of the hopelessness, this strange little white furball of a thing appeared to Serah almost out of thin air. The creature had a red button nose and what appeared to be a dark pink jewel growing out of a single antenna on its head, and the surprise of hearing it speak in something reminiscent of a young child's voice was enough to distract Serah from the circle of chaos surrounding her.
She was seated on her knees when she replied to her odd visitor. The fighting that surrounded them was too thick for anyone to pay much notice to a frightened young woman and her tiny pet.
"Who are you?"
It hovered in the air to meet Serah at eye level. Stubby arms flailed as it answered in its high-pitched voice. If these had been brighter times, she may have contemplated how cute it appeared.
"I'm Mog! I want you to help you save your people. I can give you the power to stop these monsters from hurting Snow. We might even be able to find Lightning together! Kupo!"
Strange monsters. Even stranger messengers. Serah could only gather the senses to quirk her eyebrow at Mog's unusual dialect and question him again with a look of doubt on her face. She didn't think to ask him how he knew the name of her dear fiancée, or what he knew of her missing sister.
"Why are you talking like that?"
Mog curiously tilted his head, causing his antenna to bob from side to side. He had a certain uplifting spirit in his voice when he spoke, and it never changed even with the sounds of war and misery closing in around them.
"Like what? Kupo!"
After a short moment of hesitation, Serah peered downward and shook her head back to awareness. When she gazed up again, she could see her fiancée in the crowded distance leading his men and defending against the invasion. He fought valiantly, but the numbers against him were just too great and he was losing troops by the dozen. She knew he needed all the help he could get no matter what absurd form it came in.
Serah turned her attention back to Mog. A determined look was growing on her face as the doubt faded from her voice.
"Nevermind. What do I need to do?"
In response, Mog's fur began to shine in a brilliant light that forced Serah to shield her eyes. When she was able to see to again, he was gone. In his place, floating just over her head, was a sword with a silver blade and a purple hilt. The hilt was decorated with a jewel identical to the one that had sat atop Mog's head. Once she overcome her astonishment, she pushed herself to her feet so the blade was within arm's reach in the air in front of her. Her eyes shifted from the sword, to the nearby carnage, and back to the sword. She spoke seemingly to herself, hoping Mog would be able to hear her.
"What is this?"
His echoing voice chimed in to reply. The sword swayed and bounced in the air in the same rhythm as his words.
"It's for you, kupo! It will stop the monsters for sure. Go ahead, take it. Kupo!"
The screams of battle were growing closer now. An arch of blood and what may have been a mutilated hand flew barely a few meters past Serah's head. On the opposite side of the battlefield, Snow was all the closer to defeat. She had no choice. After a brief final moment of hesitation, Serah reached forward and nervously wrapped her fingers around the weapon's handle.
The blade released a vibrant shockwave the instant it was in its new owner's grasp. The military base's human occupants were left untouched by the mysterious spell, but each one of the monsters was mystically erased from existence as the circle of energy expanded and violently cut through them. The invading force was vaporized in mere seconds, and all surviving parties turned their baffled faces toward Serah when the dust settled.
Serah's feelings of relief were quickly cut short. The moment the murderous beasts were gone, she could feel her toes begin to grow cold and numb. She didn't have to look down to recognize the sensation: It was the same thing she felt years ago, when she was being turned to crystal after completing the Focus Anima had given her.
Looking downward, she saw her bare, glassy feet were pinned to the ground in a crust of translucent rock. She tried desperately to throw her blade to the ground, but discovered it was somehow locked in her already paralyzed hand. Her clothes gave way as the curse continued to spread toward her head and turned her entire body to clear crystal. Her shoes were already gone; her stockings dissolved next, then her blouse and jacket. The only article of clothing still acknowledged by her increasingly ice sculpture-like form was the knot that kept a single wavy braid of hair dangling over her left ear.
She could see Snow run out of the crowd of onlookers and frantically scream something toward her, but her ears had gone deaf and she could not to decipher what he was saying. Her horrified eyes were forced shut just as her shoulders and head changed into crystal. At the final moment of her transformation, an outer layer of crystal swirled around her petrified body and sealed over her like a cocoon.
Serah opened her eyes to blackness. She found herself drifting in a void, surrounded by infinite empty space. The sword Mog had given her was gone. She was tortured by the sensation of invisible ice pressing against her bare skin, and she would have crossed her arms to warm herself and preserve her modesty if she hadn't discovered she was paralyzed. When she felt the most uncomfortable and lonely, she heard the voice.
"Welcome back, Serah."
It was a low, masculine voice and it came from seemingly every direction at once. The words conveyed no emotion other than perhaps a slight tinge of anticipation. Something about it sounded familiar, as if she had heard it before in one of her past crystal dreams.
But Anima never spoke, she thought to herself.
Overcoming her shock, she devoted what little energy she could gather to raise her voice and nervously answer the greeting.
"What's going on?"
Serah still couldn't see anything but empty space, but for a second she thought she felt a warm hand tenderly rest on her cheek. The voice was much closer now, somewhere in the air just beside her.
"Do not fear, my sweet. You have a great deal of work ahead of you and I have no desire to harm you."
She wanted to argue with the speaker, she wanted to resist, but the cold was getting to her. She shivered as her strength rapidly faded, and her eyelids grew heavy as her mind demanded her to fall asleep. The voice grew gentle as it instructed her to do likewise.
"Yes. Close your eyes and rest. I'll awaken you only when you're ready."
Despite her resentment, her eyes dropped the rest of the way. Numb from the cold and in a deep sleep, she felt no pain as a small portion of her brain permanently crystallized. Her mysterious captor began chiseling away her current identity and remodeling it however he saw fit.
Cracks began to appear on Serah's crystal prison moments after it finished forming. It gradually crumbled away and released its slender captive. Hard translucent rock turned back into soft pink flesh. Some of the crystal melted into a silver, satin-like material that floated over Serah before shrinking and wrapping around her curves. With a sudden flash, it took the form of a short, white and dark pink combat dress that left the skin along Serah's hips exposed. Pink stockings extended from her ankles to her thighs, replacing the darker pair she originally wore. Light violet gloves and boots covered her hands and feet. The front of her outfit was emblazoned with a golden crest written in an obscure script. When her eyes opened, tiny bolts of electricity swam in her blue irises.
Snow stood at the front of the spectators, clearly in awe of everything he had seen. The first thing he noticed about Serah's new attire was her engagement necklace was missing, but this would prove to be the least of his worries.
Remaining silent, Serah narrowed her eyes and readied the sword Mog had given her for battle, then dashed toward the nearest wing of NORA soldiers. Caught unawares and overwhelmed by a much more agile opponent, they were swiftly cut down by the girl's fierce strikes. These one-sided skirmishes continued each time Serah found another group of soldiers waiting to be ambushed.
Snow watched it all with a look of disbelief on his face. Despite his frantic commands to do otherwise, a group of gunners pointed their weapons to Serah's back as she was distracted by her grisly venture. As if she had sensed their intent, however, she propelled herself from the ground and twirled through the air in their direction. As she evaded their aim, her sword unexpectedly unfolded into a large bow and allowed her to load her would-be attackers with deadly sparkling arrows in short time. The weapon converted back into its close-range blade form when she landed on her feet.
Few of the soldiers remained, and Snow was still dumbfounded where he stood. Serah lowered her weapon back to her side and seemed notably calmer as she approached her fiancée. There was a troubled look on her face when she stopped just in front of him.
"Se-... Serah?"
The NORA leader could hardly bring himself to speak. The fact his bubbly wife-to-be had suddenly appeared with the skill of a veteran warrior was enough to leave him senseless, and that wasn't even considering it was his forces she had attacked.
As the same conflicted expression remained on her face, Serah reached with her free hand and lightly stoked his cheek. Her response was filled with subtle sadness.
"I'm sorry, Snow. I still love you, but this just isn't going to work out."
She stood on the toes of her short boots so she could lightly kiss the same spot on his face. When she descended back to her heels, she forced herself to smile for his benefit.
"I guess this is goodbye."
Serah's peculiar embrace did nothing to explain her earlier actions to Snow, and he sounded just as puzzled as before.
"What are you talking about, Serah?"
His eyes then went wide from sudden agony. He looked down to see Serah had sharply moved her arm so the tip of her sword impaled him through the bowels. In his final moments, his bulging eyes returned to her face to see her expression had twisted into a mischievous grin. The last thing he heard was her surprisingly boastful answer.
"I found someone else."
Serah removed her weapon from the gaping wound and pushed Snow's corpse to the ground with one arm.
When she turned toward what little remained of NORA's personnel, something began to materialize just in the space behind her. The ghostly shape protectively loomed over Serah, appearing as a nightmarish abomination of writhing wires and twisted machinery, and it stayed in this position as she began to speak. The command that came from her lips was short, but it was more than enough to convey the will of a living war goddess and her incorporeal husband.
"Surrender or perish."
It didn't take long for the entire crew to throw their weapons to Serah's feet. They then knelt to the ground for the sake of their lives.
A few days and several bloody conquests later, Serah was seated on a ledge overlooking a scene of destruction. It turned out not all of the world was ready to return to the old ways of the fal'Cie, but nothing had been able to get in the way of her newfound power. Her legs swayed in the open air as her eyes contently studied her latest handiwork from afar, the glow of fire reflecting off her skirt and stockings. Mog was perched on her bare shoulder, making no attempt to hide his natural voice when he spoke.
"Thank you, Serah. You've become the good shepherd these people needed."
She leaned her head so her temple lightly pressed against her companion's fur. A shy smile crossed her lips.
"I'm just trying to make you proud."
Mog lingered on the same static emotion he usually conveyed. His response was short, but it was all she needed to hear.
"And you have. I would wish for no other to entrust with this task."
When she turned her head toward Mog, a look of curiosity overcame her features.
"Do you really think we'll be able to find Lightning?"
He continued to look down toward the carnage below, but his words were slightly more thoughtful when he answered.
"It's inevitable. Her sense of justice is strong enough to be her undoing. Do you foster any regrets toward becoming her enemy?"
Serah playfully giggled at the question.
"Of course not."
Mog shifted his gaze, finally making eye contact with her. His teddy bear eyes blinked before he spoke.
"Then why do you worry yourself so?"
Serah's smile turned into a soft sneer as her words warped into a sinister tone.
"I can't wait to rip her guts out when she tries to stop us."
Mog's attention turned back toward the ruins. He extended his arm from his side so his paw could pet Serah's braided hair and gently brush her cheek.
"Be patient, my dear. You'll get your chance."