Hey there, guys. An update at last.

I would like to point out one small thing - I don't remember the exact quotes so I hope you don't mind if some scenes are different than in the game. Though that's expected...

Chapter 3

To Be a Leader

-On the train to Hanging Edge-

"You serious?" Sazh nervously asked his newly met, pink haired companion as the train entered the tunnel. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Be quiet!" Lightning harshly whispered back. And the black afro man shut his mouth with a snap.

But the question made Lightning to think.

"Is really the right choice? I had such a good career, being a Lieutenant in Guardian Corps at such an age. The pay was good, the job was appealing and I could keep people safe which was my dream. Was it the right choice to resign from Guardian Corps and throw all my life's accomplishments away? Is it right to fight and kill the very people I swore to protect? Yes, they are soldiers but they are citizens of Cocoon too. I promised Etro I will keep Cocoon safe yet now I'm one of the people who will cause mayhem."

Lightning shook her head and banished these thoughts out of her mind.

"I'm doing it for Serah; I must save her! And it is my fault this happened in the first place! I should've listened to her, I shouldn't have been so harsh on her. But that damn Snow! Ugh... he annoys me so much I couldn't control my temper and hear Serah out."

She sighed.

"It is the right choice, Claire," Lightning told herself "I know what this 'Purge' is in reality - a slaughter and murder of people who were nearby the Pulse Vestige. The government is corrupt, even I know that; Being a Lieutenant has it's perks even if it's just in Guardian Corps. If protecting Cocoon means fighting my own, then so be it."

And it was true. Since Lightning became Lieutenant in Guardian Corps she was privy to some sensitive information and, in her opinion, Sanctum were a bunch of corrupt hypocrites. C'mon - 'purging' ordinary civillians who were near Pulse Vestige because of the fear of some kind of infection, yet the soldiers who were in the same place as the civilians get away with it and no one ever questions that. Sure, Lightning understood why it was done - to keep the civilians happy and their panic contained. But, Lightning thought, there are different ways of doing this rather than murdering innocent people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Best of luck!" Sazh sighed. He couldn't believe he joined her even if he had very valid reasons to do so. Sazh prayed that he would survive this day. "Dajh..."

"I'm coming, Serah," with fierce determination set in her mind, Lightning sprung into action.

"Mom! Don't!" young man's voice rang out from within the crowd.

"Don't worry. I'll be alright. I want to fight too," a middle aged woman answered.

"Mom..."

"Hope, you're very precious to me. I want to protect you and if it means doing something like this..." she hesitated a she looked at the leader of, what seemed, rebels.

The guy had light blond hair, blue eyes, and a stubble beard. He wore a black bandanna, black gloves, large gray boots, a light blue vest over a black shirt, and a striped blue scarf hanging from a belt. He also wore a beige trench coat with frayed hems and a cat pendant

Finally making up her mind, she said "Don't worry."

The woman left her son's side and approached the tall, muscular blonde man.

"You sure?" He asked as he eyed the kid she was talking to a minute ago and gave the woman a weapon.

"Yeah. Moms are tough."

The man grinned "Okay, then. What's your name?"

"Nora."

The man looked at once again - Nora had green eyes and shoulder-length silvery-blonde hair. She wore a simple brown necklace under an ivory wraparound sweater with off-shoulder sleeves and a hood-like neck. She also wore cream capris and brown wedge sandals. Even if she was middle aged, Snow had to admit that she looked young, energetic and beautiful.

"You'll fit with us perfectly," the man laughed "Our little group is called NORA as well. I'm Snow, by the way. Snow Villiers. "

Nora nodded.

"Alright guys, let's move out!"

-Later-

"Nora!" Snow bellowed as he held the woman's hand in one hand while holding onto bridge with another. But he saw before it happened - all the fight and hope in Nora's eyes dimmed as she uttered her last words.

"Protect Hope. Protect him, Snow. Keep him safe."

And then her hand slipped from his and Snow couldn't do anything but watch her fall into the abyss.

"NO!"

-Pulse Vestige-

"I guess it's just us..." a girl said within the Vestige, her high voice resonating and traveling withing the area.

Said girl had bright red hair which was tied in curled pigtails. She has green eyes, and pierced ears with silver hoop earrings. She wears a light pink halter top, an orange and yellow skirt, and beige boots and also a fur pelt around her waist. The girls also wears numerous bracelets, three beaded necklaces, and an assortment of beads attached to various parts of her clothing.

"What did you expect?" young man's voice rang behind her "Even soldiers know not to go near the Fal'Cie - if you become a Pulse l'Cie, you're finished."

The young man had medium length silver hair and light blue-green eyes. He wears a short-sleeved orange and yellow jacket with a detailed green neckerchief over a black shirt, and black gloves with white palms. He wears green cargo pants with a black storage pack hanging from a black belt over his left leg, and green boots. He also had a yellow wristband. Despite the guy's age, the attire made him look innocent.

"What do you mean 'finished'?" the girl asked.

"Haven't you heard, Ms..."

"Vanille. My name. And yours?"

"Hope." he said timidly as he stood up. He was actually slightly taller than the girl was "What we were thinking? It was very foolish to come here..."

"Well, since we're here, let's look around." Vanille cheerfully said as if they were in a flower shop instead of a Pulse Vestige.

"Aren't you scared?" Hope incredulously asked the girl. He started to think this girl was nuts.

"Not so much," came the reply.

"You really don't get, do you?" he deadpanned.

Vanille sighed.

"Pulse Fal'Cie and l'Cie are bad news that's why Cocoon kicked them out. If you're too close to Fal'Cie, it's one way ticket to Pulse. That's the Purge in the nutshell."

"If they catch us here, they'll purge us too and then-" Hope was cut off by slightly annoyed Vanille.

"What's your problem?" Vanille sighed "How old are you?"

Hope raised an elegant silver eyebrow in response. "What's my problem? Pulse is hell on earth! And I'm 17."

"17? Really? Then start to act like 17 because right now you're acting like a crybaby. Besides, have you ever been on Pulse?" Vanille said a bit more harshly than she intended to.

"Wha- erh.. No?"

"Then don't judge," Vanille said, then her mood completely changed - she smiled and skipped away while saying over her shoulder "Now, back to exploring! We've got a date with that blonde guy. C'mon!"

"H-hey! Wait up!" Hope yelled and run after the weird girl.

"Thank you..." Serah whispered as her whole body began to glow.

Everyone gasped at the sight. Bright tendrils of light escaped from Serah's l'Cie brand on her arm as she slowly began to raise into the air, away from Snow's and Lightning's arms. The tendrils quickly traveled across Serah's body, around and through her slowly crystallizing the poor girl. As she rose into the air Serah brought her arms in front oh her heart and muttered the last "Thank you," before in another flash of light she completely turned into the crystal.

The group were left speechless. It was both horrifying and beautiful at the same time.

"Did she complete her focus?" Sazh asked?

Lightning lowered her head and, despite her control, a single tear escaped her amethyst purple eye.

"It's a goodbye then, Serah," she whispered. But even if it was just a whisper it resonated within the chamber and everyone heard that.

"Don't say that, sis!" Snow desperately said "She is still alive! And... And... Don't you remember what she said? Protect Cocoon! That must've been her focus! She is still alive, sis!"

Before Snow could react Lightning was next to him in a flash and she punched him so hard he actually skidded a bit on the floor as he fell. If the situation wouldn't be so tense, Sazh would've whistled at Lightning's strength.

"Open your eyes! Serah is gone. She is-" she was cut of by Snow.

"Don't say that!"

"She is gone. There is no saving her!"

Before Snow could reply the entire building violently shook as giant harpoons and ropes tore through the Vestige's walls and pierced the ground. It shook again as the army from the outside blasted their weapons against the Pulsian thing.

Both Snow and Lightning held their hands above Serah's crystallized form, protecting it from the falling debris while Sazh, Vanille and Hope just grasped anything that was in their arms length to keep their balance.

After some while the shaking ceased and the group managed to regain their footing.

Before anyone could say anything, Snow already opened his mouth "You know how the legend goes - 'l'Cie who fulfill their focus are granted with eternal life'. She is alive, Light, we just need to figure out how to bring her back and protect Cocoon while doing it!"

Another punch and "Tch!" from Lightning.

But despite knowing that those legends are just that - legends, Lightning couldn't help but cling onto hope that maybe Snow is right.

"So what do we do now?" Sazh asked the question which was almost on everyone's mind "If we go back, we will get Purged; or worse - killed," Lightning couldn't help but let out a huff - she knew that the Purging and killing is one and the same thing. Sazh weirdly looked at Lightning before continuing "If we march forwards... Well who know what might happen."

An ultimatum of sorts.

After a tense silence Snow spoke up "I'm going to meet the Fal'Cie. I will ask it to bring Serah back."

Sazh let out very dry laugh "Are you nuts, kid? You've got plenty of bravery but, it seems, zero brain."

"I've always told the same thing to Serah," Lightning said. Despite the situation, the corners of her lips twitched almost making a smile. Finally someone agreed with her.

Snow couldn't help but scowl at Sazh and Light.

"We better stay away from Fal'Cie," Sazh concluded.

"Whatever. I know that I can save Serah and if it means asking Fal'Cie, then so be it," Snow looked at Lightning "I know that you want to do something as well, Light," and with those words he stormed of.

Lightning 'Tch'ed' and ran after Snow. She had to admit that she did want to help Serah.

Sazh couldn't help but sigh. Chocobo flew from his afro and landed and Sazh outstretched arm "What do we do?" the chick happily chirped few times before flying back into his nest in Sazh's afro. "Dajh..." he muttered "Oh well, I just can't catch a break." and with those words he too run towards where Snow and Lightning were, completely forgetting about kids he left behind.

"Hey, wait up!" Vanille shouted and turned to Hope "Come, Hope."

"No! I don't want to! I don't want to come nowhere near the Fal'Cie!" Hope answered as he backed away from the girl.

"Don't worry! I'll be there and the others too. We'll be alright. Besides, it's not like we have anything else to do right now rather than to stick with the others," Vanille reasoned.

Hope sighed. Vanille had a fair point. He there was nothing else to do but to stick with the others. He doesn't want to be left here where some gruesome Cie'th might ambush him.

"Alright, let's go before they're gone," Hope said and both he and Vanille ran after the others.

"You can beg all you want but it seems that begging won't help!" Lightning shouted as she unsheathed her gunblade in a sword form and rushed the sleeping Fal'Cie "It seems I'll have to do it the rough way."

Clink! Clink. CLINK!

"Give. Serah. BACK!" Lightning shouted and with each word another clink echoed throughout the room.

Everyone looked at the scene and could clearly see that Lightning got even more desperate after each swing of her yellow Axis Blade which rebounded from Fal'Cie's armor.

Lightning became so desperate for any kind of response that she was about to use magic in front of the others. She already collected energy in her left hand, her palm cracking with electrical torrents which, from this angle, no one could see. But before Lightning could unleash a bolt of lightning at the Fal'Cie, the room suddenly became 'alive' - various pumps in the room started pumping something, some lights made the room even lighter and crystal particles materialized in the air making the Fal'Cie's resting place look even more mysterious and tranquil than it was before. And from another side, it was even beautiful.

Hope couldn't take this anymore and he ran away. He knew he shouldn't have gone with Vanille; he should've stayed behind and maybe wait for some army soldiers to rescue him. He suddenly crashed into a red barrier and with a yelp collapsed on the ground. Vanille was there, next to him, in an instant, hugging Hope as he was quietly sobbing.

The shell that was Fal'Cie suddenly opened revealing a metallic being that looked barely humanoid, with a massive claw like hand coming from the right side. In Fal'Cie's center there was a massive chunk of crystal which resonated with godly power. It flashed and in a burst of magic two drill like weapons materialized in front of the being.

Vanille gasped "Anima!" but no one heard her, even Hope in her arms didn't pay attention to what she was saying as he was staring at the metallic being.

"Finally showing your face?!" Lightning shouted as she prepared for a battle "Get up, Snow, it doesn't look like it wants to negotiate. If you value your pathetic life you might as well get up and face it in battle."

They were harsh words from Lightning but Snow knew that she spoke the truth. He got up and prepared for the fight which he knew is going to be his toughest one.

"Hey, old man," Snow addressed Sazh as he eyed the menacing Fal'Cie "Are you in this?"

After very brief debate in his and a final thought about his son, Dajh, he pulled out his two Vega 42s pistols and said "As long you don't mind an amateur."

As if Sazh's last words were a trigger, Anima made the first move. It swung it's claw-like arm towards the group of three, intending to rip them at least in half.

"Look out!" Lightning shouted, her soldier instincts once again working overdrive.

She leapt into the air just in time as the deadly claw passed where she was just a second ago. Snow and Sazh avoided being ripped in shred by making a huge jump backwards.

While still in the air Lightning flipped midair, over the arm, landed with a thud and rushed towards the Fal'Cie. As she approached it she once again jumped, then using the bulging crystal in the Fal'Cie as a stepping platform she performed another jump and was right in front of Fal'Cie's head. Without even thinking she performed a series of incredibly fast slashes with her Axis Blade barely even leaving any scratches before gravity finally took over and she began to descent. As she dropped she kicked the Fal'Cie and, while still in midair, back-flipped while changing her blade into gun mode letting loose some bullets aiming at the head. She landed next to Sazh and Snow. It all happened so fast that the Fal'Cie retreated his arm just now.

"Tch," Lightning huffed "It's no use. The Fal'Cie, basically, is a scrap of metal-gone-alive, my attacks were useless and barely left any scratch marks on his head. We have to treat this one differently than other beings we fought here - severing the head won't kill it as it would an ordinary monster."

"What do you propose?" Sazh asked.

She had to think fast as Anima again prepared to slash them.

"Sazh, use your guns and try to find a weakness. Snow, you come with me - we will need to keep it busy and protect Sazh."

"On it!" Snow replied and rushed towards the Anima hitting its' body with his AMP enhanced punches.

Lightning was right next to him, slashing with her gunblade and shooting at Fal'Cie's head, successfully distracting the being while Sazh just randomly shot trying to find some kind of reaction while also trying not to injure his teammates.

Snow and Lightning dodged another swipe from the Anima and continued their assault on the Fal'Cie not noticing that the drills, which they foolishly discarded as Fal'Cie's fancy accessories, began to spin faster and gather energy in them thus becoming brighter.

"BACK AWAY!" Sazh shouted as he, unlike the other, recognised as to what is about to happen.

Snow and Lightning, relying on their instincts, jumped away from the Fal'Cie the moment words left Sazh's mouth, but it was a bit too late. The two drills slammed into the ground releasing all the pent up energy in a violent magical explosion injuring and throwing both Snow and Lightning away. Snow hit the wall with a thud and slumped on the ground with a loud 'omph' while Lightning managed to twist midair and expertly cushion her fall with planting her feet on the wall and then jumping off and landing on the floor, standing straight as if nothing happened. She ignored the trickle of blood on her cheek.

Sazh quickly dug in his pockets and took out two potions and threw them to both Snow and Light.

"It's a potion, drink it - it will stop the blood and will heighten the regenerative abilities of the cells."

Without comment they drank it and threw now empty bottles away, immediately feeling better.

"Found anything?" Lightning asked Sazh as they cautiously watched Anima for other aggressive movements.

"Yes. Those drills respond with a small flash every time I hit it with bullets; same with that crystal over there," Sazh pointed at the crystal in the middle of Fal'Cie's body.

Snow nodded "Yeah, the crystal certainly responded more to my attacks than the metal."

"Okay," Lightning said as she quickly formulated strategy "Snow, we will attack the crystal with all we've got; Sazh, since we don't want you to harm us with your bullets, try to distract the Fal'Cie so that he doesn't swing his deadly claw at us too much. Both of you - keep a watch at those drills."

Two "Got it!" shouts from men and they sprung into action again.

Snow and Lightning avoided the claw again and hit the crystal with all they've got, noticing that the drills started to gather the energy again, while Sazh successfully distracted the Fal'Cie by aiming at where he thought the being's eyes were.

"Snow, back away - another explosion." Lightning shouted as she back-flipped and shot some bullets at the crystal which successfully embedded themselves in the stone.

Another explosion and thought it didn't harm them it still made them lose their balance. Lightning quickly got out new ammo from her pouch, which was secured on her left leg, and reloaded her gunblade, Sazh following her suit and did the same with his pistols.

"Repeat!" Lightning shouted as they repeated what they did.

Hope and Vanille watched in awe as the trio faced the Pulse Fal'Cie and still survived for so long. They even found it's weakness! Maybe they won't die her today, Hope thought. It was really inspiring for the seventeen year old to watch such performance of skill and team play.

After another explosion from the drills and backing away, Lightning was getting frustrated thought she kept her head cool. It will be no good to get angry - emotions always cloud the judgment and someone on high emotion, especially anger and frustration, will only make more mistakes.

"Change of tactics!" Lightning shouted "Those drills are charging energy too fast and we don't have much time to do any damage! We will be exhausted if this carries on. Snow, take care of the drill on the left; me ans Sazh will take care of the on the right. After they're dealt with hit the crystal with all you've got! be mindful of its' hand!"

Without waiting for a reply she rushed forward. And slashed the drill with all she had while Sazh assisted her. Every time something physical hit the drill it flashed bright white. After some time Sazh and Lightning finally managed to destroy the drill which dissipated into crystal particles. Lightning chanced a look at Snow to see how he was doing.

Snow relentlessly attacked the drill with all he had with the thought of Serah. Feeling that the drill is close to destruction and wanting to converse some energy he quickly dug into on of his pockets and took out his last grenade. He put it into the drill and jumped backwards as the grenade exploded turning the drill into the crystal particles.

That done, the trio unleashed all their attacks on the crystal, Sazh being very mindful of where his teammates were. They saw some cracks appear on the crystal and they all renewed their attacks with vigor seeing that they were able to actually do something.

Something hummed behind them and Sazh shouted "Oh no! The drills are reforming!"

"Damn it!" Snow shouted as he hit even harder, his knuckles actually starting to bleed from the force of his attacks against the sturdy stone.

Lightning had enough. Just like many times before, she discretely channeled her electric powers into her left arm collecting it all in her left palm. When her palm started to crack with electricity she made a fist and, with a furious battle cry, hit the crystal with all her strength releasing the power of thunder dead point in the crystal resulting a loud, booming noise which resonated withing the chamber which was accompanied with Anima's painful cry.

The party heard as the crystal cracked and they saw how half of the crystal fell on the floor. But before they could celebrate the half victory, the reality around them shifted - they suddenly found themselves floating in a space where it seemed that the gravity didn't exist their clothes and hair whipping in invisible, nonexistent breeze. This entire place gave away a feeling of something unearthly, of something divine and above human's comprehension.

"Not again!" Vanille thought.

Then they heard a distant bell chimes which grew louder and louder with each passing second. They all looked in the direction of the sounds and they all as one gasped at the sight.

The... being was enormous, easily dwarfing them and making them feel like ants. But they all saw that half broken crystal in the middle of the being.

"So that's what the Fal'Cie really looks like... is it really the same though? It gives a Godlike feeling to me... No, it's not the same Fal'Cie we fought earlier. What is this?" Lightning thought "And where are we?"

Before any of them could comprehend where were they and how did they got there there was a definite, loud bell chime and the Fal'Cie extended his arm letting out numerous tendrils of light out of it which sped towards the group with blinding speeds quickly wrapping around their wrists, ankles, chests and everywhere else, restraining them from movement. Resistance, as it proved just now, was futile. No one could break away from the hold.

Then the crystal flashed and huge, bright green tendril rushed from it towards the party and hit them in various locations on their bodies - Lightning and Sazh on their chest, Vanille on her thigh, Hope and Snow on their wrists. Then, with another pulse from the crystal, they all screamed as one as the fresh l'Cie brand was embedded on them and an eidolith inserted.

Lightning, she had the worst. The pain was unbearable and she was screaming all that she was worth for. She felt as if thousand upon thousands of white hot knifes were pierced in her. The most pain was on her neck and chest.

Her Etro mark on her neck glowed bright purple, her Pulse l'Cie mark glowed red and her eyes glowed in the combination of both. If one would look at the woman right now they would see she was encased in a violent burst of purple and red lights. In the next second the glowing stopped and the pain was gone as if it was never there.

Unbeknownst to Lightning, two eidoliths now resided within her.

Then she saw it almost like she was transported to a different dimension - Cocoon in the sky. The next second, a massive, gruesome beast with strong legs, long arms and numerous tentacles emerged from below the Cocoon in a burst of smoke and lava, creating a huge rift in Cocoons outer rim.

"Ragnarok..." Lightning whispered as she watched the scene unfold.

The beast growled and it was so loud an entire world could hear it; Ragnarok was tearing the Cocoon apart like hot knife through butter, spitting lava from it's mouth and shooting magic left and right from it's arms and tentacles. The destruction of Cocoon.

And then the Cocoon exploded and with it there was a bright flash of light in the sky and it seemed like some kind of sigil appeared in the sky as millions over million of something rushed towards it from the destroyed Cocoon. As the sigil absorbed the things, something else left the bright sigil in the sky. Something dark and divine.

-Lake Bresha-

Lightning opened her eyes with a loud gasp. "What was that just now?"

She looked around and gaped at what she saw. Ice? No... Crystal all around her, miles and miles away, formed in a wave shape. Wave? Lightning looked up and gasped - the Hanging Edge was up there which meant they fell all the way down here, right into lake of Bresha. But why? Why did they fall? Lightning turned her head and saw the fallen and crystallized Pulse Vestige and the memory rushed back to her. She quickly unzipped her shirt and looked at her chest and saw a Pulse l'Cie mark.

Lightning sighed "The Fal'Cie must've used all its' last power to turn us after we manged to shatter the crystal and it fell. It must've released all the remaining energy when it crashed into lake, turning everything to crystal." she mused as she got up.

She heard some groans and saw the others waking up as well.

"Was that my focus I just saw?" she asked herself.

For some reason it didn't bother that she became a l'Cie, she had some kind of tranquility with it. She knew that her focus now was to destroy Cocoon and with it bring something into this world but she also knew and remembered the promise she made to Etro. And, to be honest, she considered herself Etro's l'Cie, a third party of sorts in this mess of Sanctum and Pulse, and her focus being Etro's l'Cie was to protect Cocoon. It was her very first order, so to speak, so it overrules the focus Pulse Fal'Cie gave her. In her opinion anyway which was justified just fine, after all the same happened when she met Etro - tendrils of light surrounded her, the pain, the mark/tattoo and the magic and inhuman abilities. Lightning mused what will become with her being unofficial Etro's and Pulse l'Cie.

"What happened?" Snow asked.

"We fell," came short reply from Lightning as she observed her surroundings for any danger. Who knows what Lake Bresha held in it.

"Fell?" came the intelligent reply from Snow and then the memory came back "Oh."

"I do wonder how we survived from that fall," Sazh said as he got up and cleaned his clothes from some dust. He looked at Hope and Vanille and asked "You kids alright?"

Two youngest people of the group nodded.

"So, any ideas how we survived?" Sazh repeated his question.

"The Fal'Cie," Lightning replied and seeing the confused looks she decided to elaborate "Most likely the Fal'Cie saved us. Or else what purpose would it be to brand us only for us to die in the next minute."

"Brand us?" Hope asked, terrified "W-What do you mean?"

"I mean-" Lightning started but was cut of by Snow who rushed past her.

"Look out!"

There was a massive Cie'th, slightly bigger than anything they've seen so far and one of its' grotesque arm was already mid-swing. Suddenly, as Snow shielded Lightning, his brand (which was unnoticed the entire time) glowed yellow and a protective aura of the same colour encased Snow. As the Cie'th struck Snow, it's ugly arm rebounded from the aura. Snow was left completely unharmed if only a bit winded out as if someone just put something very heavy on his back.

He dumbly looked at his arms.

"W-What? What just happened?"

"Magic!" Hope shouted "You just used magic! We're cursed! We're l'Cie now!"

While the Cie'th was in a confused state, Lightning quickly observed her companions - Sazh was in some kind of semi shock, Hope was hyperventilating and Vanille looked oddly determined and shocked at the same time and it looked like Snow finally came back to his senses.

Snow quickly composed to himself and said "So what? At least now we have powers to protect Cocoon. And we might as well use our new found abilities to deal with this Cie'th."

The Cie'th finally regained it's senses and wailed in agonizing voice rushing towards Snow.

Lightning, being quick on the feet, rushed towards the Cie'th and slashed with her Axis Blade leaving a small wound on the creature's chest. She back-flipped, shot from her gunblade and when she landed she unleashed a single thunder bolt from her arm aimed at the Cie'th. As the lightning struck the Cie'th the creature let out a scream of pain as it was pushed back.

In her peripheral vision she saw some firebolts coming from her right and chancing a quick glance she saw Vanille preparing a spell and firing again.

Snow rushed towards the Cie'th intending to smash it into pieces, or something, and occasionally, to his wonder, managing to infuse his punches with some ice magic.

"How do you actually cast spells?" he asked no one in particular as he dodged another wild swing from Cie'th's huge arm which slightly resembled a hammer.

"It comes from your l'Cie mark. Imagine you taking power from it, from somewhere deep inside you, visualize what you want to do, add some intent to the energy and then let it out through your arms!" Lightning shouted as she too re-engaged into the battle "Sever the huge arm and we will weaken it!"

Snow nodded and did just like Lightning instructed (he didn't even think twice as to how Lightning knew this) - he found the source of power within him, something that has never been there, he drew some energy from it, guided it to his right fist, visualized it being all frosty and cold, and then gave it the intent to harm and freeze.

Then he felt that it was ready - white glow surrounded his right fist and let out a steam of coldness. He dodged a fire spell from the Cie'th and struck Cie'th's left should where the massive arm was. All the ice power was released from his fist and he saw how the Cie'th's shoulder and half of the arm got encased in the ice.

Seeing what they want to do, Vanille did the same though she didn't need Lightning's explanation. She did wonder, however, how Lightning knew the exact way of how to channel l'Cie's power. Vanille, she was a l'Cie before so she knew what she is doing but she got really curious as to what Lightning's excuse was.

Vanille channeled the ice magic into her arms and shot three ice spikes towards the Cie'th half frozen arm. Two spikes embedded themselves in the arm completely freezing the creature's massive arm while the third one missed and hit the Cie'th into the body without doing much harm.

Seeing that the arm is completely frozen, Lightning made some distance and channeled a bit more magic, thankful that Snow distracted the creature.

"Thundara!" she shouted in her mind as she swung her left arm forward releasing multiple lightning blots, which were a bit thicker than the normal lightning bolts, from her palm.

She focused and aimed the attack at the frozen arm and all the lightning bolts struck it, shattering the arm into thousands of ice peaces.

The massive Cie'th let out another scream of pain and Snow actually noticed that his punches does a lot more damage than it did before.

"It's weakened!" Snow shouted to his companions "It looks like severing the arm destroyed any defenses it had!"

Vanille's eyebrows disappeared behind her hairline as she saw what Lightning did "That was an advanced form of Thunder. It took me some weeks to master it, yet Lightning casted it so effortlessly. I wonder..."

Putting these thoughts to some other time, she focused on the task at hand.

In less than few seconds after the arm was destroyed, the Cie'th finally died.

Snow was panting from all the energy he used, his face all sweaty. Lightning didn't look exhausted at all while Vanille looked just slightly winded out.

Hope and Sazh were looking at the display in awe. This was the power which was now at their fingertips. Hope already calmed down, though he still was in a state of shock.

Light, Sazh and Snow approached the two.

"You alright?" Lightning asked.

"Yes," Sazh replied "Thanks."

Lightning turned to Snow and couldn't believe what she was about to do "Yeah, thanks Snow."

"Huh?"

"If it wouldn't be for you I would've had a nasty wound from that Cie'th," Lightning said and her face clearly showed that she was very displeased saying that out loud.

Snow couldn't help but grin "No worries, sis."

Lightning narrowed her yes "I'm not your sister," and before Snow could open his mouth Lightning threateningly stepped towards him "And don't you start with Serah and saving Cocoon thing right now. Don't destroy what little respect you just got from me."

Snow gulped and nodded. After seeing Lightning in battle, throwing all those spells and swinging her gunblade as if there was no tomorrow and as if it was just an ordinary everyday thing without even batting an eyelash, he decided it would be unwise to start anything right now. Then Snow blinked. And again. Wow, I actually thought before doing anything. And it seems the way to gain Lightning's trust and respect was through the battle.

Seeing that Snow is not going to say anything, at least not now, she turned towards Hope and Sazh.

"We-" Lightning started but was cut of by Hope.

"It's all your fault!" he sobbed "Nothing would've happened if it wasn't for you and Serah! She would've been still alive," he whispered the last part quietly and no one heard that.

Vanille was quickly by his side hugging him and consoling him.

"Watch what you say, kid," Lightning growled and Hope scooted away in fear "I, for one, didn't made you come with us. It was your choice so stop blaming others. Even if you look like you're 17 or 18, you still act like a kid. Instead of crying here and blaming others you could think about what options you have available in the current situation."

After a tense silence Lightning took command of the whole group and ordered "We should move out, we don't want any soldiers to catch us, especially now when we're a l'Cie."

Without waiting for anyone's answer she marched forward without any destination in mind. It was the only path, anyway.

Sazh was quick to follow her before saying "You know, although the scary woman said it more harshly than necessary, she still has a point." He patted Hope's shoulder and quickly followed Lightning "Come on, let's go."

"Come," Snow said as he offered an arm to Hope. Hope batted the arm away before standing up by himself and storming off in Lightning's direction.

"Where have I seen him?" Snow asked himself as he looked at Hope's back. He looked at Vanille, who just shrugged some shoulders, before both of them quickly caught up to everyone else.

After walking for an hour or so and fighting some Sanctum's mechanical beasts and what looked Lake Bresha's inhabitants (a mix between a frog and a fish and a lizard. Curious creatures, Sazh mused) it was already nightfall.

"We need to rest," Sazh said as he approached Lightning "Unlike you, Lieutenant, we don't have soldier training and are exhausted after the long day. Especially the kids."

Lightning stopped and looked behind her and saw that, indeed, Vanille and Hope were barely keeping themselves awake.

Lightning nodded "Okay, we stop and make a camp over there for a night," she pointed towards a place where there was a massive wave like shape, resembling a small cave "We will sleep there - it will keep us out of sight from monsters and possible soldiers."

Everyone nodded and approached the cave-like place.

As they came closer to it they saw that there was a sphere floating midair. Lightning narrowed her eyes as she had already seen a similar item somewhere, though she couldn't place where. She cautiously approached the sphere, everyone else curiously looking, and touched it.

There was a circular flash of light and the sphere opened revealing everything they will need for the night - blankets, pillows and food.

Lightning narrowed her eyes even further but didn't say anything. While it was suspicious as hell she was not about to discard so much needed items.

"Grab a blanket here," Lightning commanded "And some food. There will be enough for everyone. Find a place to sleep, but not outside this crystallized wave. Me, Sazh and Snow will keep a watch. Rest - we have a long day tomorrow."

Lightning inwardly smiled - after being promoted she got much more missions which required leading a squad. It was invaluable experience as she learned how to efficiently command a squad as well as giving off an authoritative aura. There should be someone leading them and she was not about to give that role to Snow who was, in her opinion, an idiot. She didn't know much about Sazh but no one could argue that she has the most experience in this field so everyone followed her unconditionally.

They all ate in silence and as everyone departed to sleep, Lightning took the first shift to watch our for enemies.

Yes, tomorrow is going to be a long day indeed.

GOD! Finally after such a long time I posted the third chapter.

Keep faith in me! I haven't abandoned it.

By the way, characters will be OOC with, in my opinion, huge character development (I mean, Snow is not going to remain an idiot and Hope is not going to remain a crybaby. Just like in game).

And another thing I want to note - Yes, Hope's age in this story is 17, as opposed to 14. The reason as to why... well. You'll need to read and find out ;)

Tell me what you thought of this; especially the battle scenes.