This Chapter is once again dedicated to my really good friend Sheldon Yeung without him this story would not be able to continue.
Sisterly Love Chapter 18: Fortitude
"I know of no higher fortitude than stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds."
Serah climbed to her feet, slowly wiping her eyes as she tried in vain to control her emotions. Lightning was gone, for the third time in her life her older sister was kidnapped. She found it
strange how the Sanctum had managed to do so three times now but she could tell that this would be the last. Claire wouldn't allow herself to be caught anymore although she couldn't
blame herself from falling to the large group of PSICOM soldiers. She wore casts on both of her arms there was no way she would be able to retain her regular fighting form in such a
condition with the big blocks of black cast inhibiting her movements that would be normally so crisp and sharp that even the fastest person would fail when trying to duck under her sister's
blade. Regaining her composure Serah took a few careful steps to make sure her legs would not fall out from under herself. The young girl slowly made her way back down to the waters
edge to gather the things that Lightning and herself had brought for what they had expected to be a pleasant evening at the normally peaceful lake. Puling a phone from the bag, Serah
quickly dialed a number that was on Lightning's speed dial it took a couple of moments before a deep older voice answered.
"Hello?" Sazh asked rather sleepily on the other end of the line. It was two o'clock in the evening he was with no doubt asleep moments prior to the call.
"Um Sazh?" Serah asked her voice was both tired and sad as she sniffed a few times.
"Yeah Serah? what's going? damn girl what are you calling at this hour for?" Sazh asked jokingly but received no reply save for the shaky breathing of the younger girl at the other end of
the line. "Serah!" Sazh asked again when he heard a crashing sound resonate from the phone in his hand. "Shit!" He growled quickly climbing from his bed and hastily getting dressed.
Serah's grip loosened on the small phone as it slid from her already slick palm. She stared fixated as a bright orange glow opened up in the shape of a circle. Moments later a bright
pillar of light pushed forth from the static circle of light stretching across the vast lake. Two dark silhouettes appeared in the center of the pillar and dropped to the ground roughly ten
feet in front of Serah. As soon as the light vanished the figures began visible which revealed a red-eyed Fang and a very grotesque looking Cid. Serah gasped upon seeing the look in the
tan woman's eyes, one of incomprehensible hollow looking with a mix of an evil glare in them. Serah swallowed nervously as she turned her attention to the man who stood beside the
oddly different Fang. Her eyes widened upon seeing what had happened to Cid's body as it now had many crystal fragments all over it. The two started taking small steps towards the
strawberry blond girl, which caused Serah's fear to spike drastically as her heart began pumping out blood twice as fast.
"Serah?" Fang asked sounding like her normal accented voice but that didn't seem to calm the girl down in the slightest.
"Y-yeah?" Serah replied her voice barely above a whisper and cracking audibly.
"Where's Lightning?" Fang asked looking around the desolate landscape save for the wild crashing of the aggravated waves splashing into the rocky cliff side.
"Um I don't know." Serah admitted but something about the look in Fang's eyes told her that the older woman thought she was lying.
"Come on Serah it's not like you to lie." Fang stated taking a few more steps towards the girl.
"I'm not, I honestly have no idea where Lightning went." Serah defended herself as anger rose into her voice from the depths of her being.
"Do you?" Fang asked as the two continued to approach the defenseless girl.
"Mmmm." Lightning moaned instinctively bringing a hand to her head as the pounding set in. It seemed that she had been experiencing this feeling plenty a time lately since that day when
Jihl had kidnapped her. Since then things seemed to keep going more and more downhill, such as the dreams...no nightmares she had been having of the fal'Cie that took the shape of a
monstrous spider that sent chills up her spine. As she brought her hand to her forehead the clanking sound of the handcuffs she wore on both of her wrists registered into her mind and
her eyes shot open. The young woman's piercing blue eyes darted from object to object as they quickly surveyed the room and her surroundings. Quickly noticing that she was laying on
a shabby mattresswhich to her great relief was relatively clean. The room that held her was a pure metallic white with nothing on the walls save for a thin window that that exposed the
cloudy evening sky of the capital of Cocoon known as Eden. "Dammit." Lightning muttered as she clambered to her feet, her toned legs feeling as though they would fall out from under
her at any given moment. The young strawberry blond soldier stumbled over to the window, resting her cuffed hands against the wall to support herself as she gazed out of the reinforced
glass and over the city of Eden where the civilians of Cocoon's capital went to work on living their day-to-day lives completely unaware of the many conspiracies and secrets being kept
from them by the Sanctum and their Primarch. Lightning rested her head against the metallic wall as her pulsing mind continued to run through the current emotions that overwhelmed
her normally stoic nature. Serah was all that was on her mind as she closed her eyes as sorrow overtook her in this moment where her defenses crumbled into a pile of smoking ash.
Her eyes dampening Lightning swiped angrily at the moist tears that had overtaken and clouded her vision as a whimper escaped her lips. Hearing the door to her own personal hell
open, the young woman took in a deep breath before turning to face the PSICOM elite who stood in the doorway making a point of how he held his gun to his chest protectively thinking
that somehow it intimidated the broken soldier before him. Lightning quickly glanced down to confirm her suspicion that her Blazefire Saber was missing from it's leather sheath which was
also missing. Looking over the soldier's shoulder Lightning confirmed that there were one more soldier with the man charged with bringing her wherever she was to go.
"Turn around and put your hands on the wall and spread your legs." The elite ordered firmly trying hard to keep his voice from wavering. In truth he was slightly afraid of the leader of the
group of Pulse l'Cie who were threatening the citizens of their homeland. Lightning sighed sadly and did as told awaiting further instruction although she knew what was coming next.
Lightning couldn't help but squeal as her head was roughly pulled back and a thick black bag was placed over it to inhibit her vision. The young woman was roughly pulled away from the
wall by the elite as the other one came and took hold of her upper right bicep. The pair began leading their prisoner away from her cell with the one holding her arm and the other with
his gun readied at her back in case she made a move for freedom. As they continued to walk down the hall Lightning couldn't help but wish she were still unconscious.
"Shit!" Fang swore under her breath as bullets rained down upon herself and Cid as gunshots rang out clear in the still night air. Sazh jumped from his still hovering airship with his Vega
42's already drawn and firing down on the pair who were advancing upon the helpless Serah. The young eighteen year old had taken the opportunity and bolted behind the airship which
was now landed and revealing a rather angry Amodar as he stepped out of the vehicle. Fang dropped back so she was just standing in front of the half Cie'th Cid who wrapped his crystalline
wings around the two of them to repel the gunfire from both Sazh and Amodar. The two older men continued to fire upon the blue crystal wings until Serah had safely gotten into the airship.
As soon as she did Sazh and Amodar jumped in after her and quickly took off. Serah sat in the cabin of the luxurious ship trembling slightly as Amodar came over to comfort her.
"So what did those two goons want?" He asked in his deep heart warming voice that calmed the young girl down considerably.
"Um they wanted to know where Lightning went." Serah told the older man looking up into his warm welcoming dark eyes. "One of them was Fang." She whispered shorty after.
"Your and Lightning's friend?" He asked frowning at the thought of why one of Lightning's closest friends would be advancing upon her little sister like that.
"Yeah." Serah whimpered as Amodar wrapped his large arms around the small girl.
"So.....where's Lightning?" The older man by several decades asked after a few moments of Serah's soft sobbing.
"She was taken away by the Sanctum." Serah explained trying hard not to break down into tears again.
"Ah crap." Sazh said from the front of the ship. "That girl just doesn't know how to stay out of trouble."
Lightning heard a metallic door open before she was roughly shoved through the opening and moments later she was pushed down so she rested on her knees.
"Hello Miss Farron." An elderly voice spoke from about fifteen feet in front of the blinded woman. Lightning raised her head to the voice, and seconds later the bag was removed from her head.
Lightning took in a deep breath of fresh air as she was released from the stuffy bag. The young woman gazed up at the throne that sat before her as she realized that it was the Sanctum
Primarch who had addressed her. "D-Dysley?" Lightning asked surprised that she had been brought straight to the Primarch and not someone like Yaag who was in control of the division
hunting her and her friends. "Yes that is right." Dysley said simply as he made a wave with his hand to dismiss the guards who stood by the prisoner's side. Lightning sighed and rested back
on her haunches. "How do you know me?" The blue eyed woman snapped with bite evident in her voice.
"Ha ha ha come on miss Farron use that mind of yours. Do you really believe that I the Primarch of the Sanctum would not know of the leader of the Pulse l'Cie who have been threatening the
whole of Cocoon lately?" Dysley asked his voice held a some what mocking tone to it as Lightning's anger began to bubble. The young woman made no move to respond for a few moments.
"We haven't done anything to threaten Cocoon! if anything we've helped you and your lazy excuses for soldiers what with killing Jihl and all." Lightning snarled not feeling intimidated by the
much older man. "Of course and I am grateful for that act of heroism on your behalf." Dysley spoke without any indication to whether he was being sarcastic or not.
"Huh then why don't you let me go as a reward?" Lightning asked but not with the intention of bargaining but rather to get under the Primarch's skin if that was even possible she did not
know. "Heh I like you miss Farron, your a feisty one." Dysley let out a small chuckle at the young woman.
"Tch." Was Lightning's only reply as she became increasingly more irritated wth the elderly man.
"But now let's get down to business." Dysley started as he leaned forward in his throne. "I want you to run an errand for me." He stated wanting Lightning to take the bait.
"Ha what are you a fal'Cie now? believe me when I say that you don't have that much power. If my hands weren't cuffed behind my back I'd rip you to shreds right now." Lightning said with
a cold look in her eyes. "Huh if only you knew." Dysley replied monotone showing no emotion in both his voice and face. "Come." The older man said simply beckoning the young woman to
come closer. "I'm not a dog." Lightning said not wanting to obey the man's command but also knowing that she had no say in whether or not she could choose not too.
"But your my prisoner now come." He repeated with a little bit of anger seeping into his voice, albeit not much but it was present. Lightning sighed, bit her lip lightly and then did what the
man had commanded as she walked up until she was three feet away from the man. The young strawberry blond stared into Dysley's eyes with venomous intent and she scowled when she
saw his eyes flick down and gaze at her legs lustfully. Lightning knew that her coming actions were stupid but she failed when it came to controlling her anger as she stepped forward
and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the Primarch's head. Dysley's head flew up in an instant as he glared at the young woman who dared to physically hit him.
Thrusting his right arm out quickly a strong gust of wind sent Lightning flying off of the stairs to the floor below. Landing painfully Lightning rolled several feet before stopping and laying still.
"Hmm the leader of the Pulse l'Cie dares to hit such a high political figure without hesitation you will surely be punished for such an act miss Farron." Hearing his voice Lightning dazedly
looked up at the Primarch. Her eyes instantly widened as she saw the man now floating in the air holding his staff out which was now surrounded by medium sized glowing purple spheres.
"Now show me your true strength." The man shouted as he swiftly swung his staff and sent a single orb towards the grounded woman. Lightning climbed to her knees and gasped once
she saw the sphere flying at her. Shutting her eyes tightly she winced as the sphere bit into the cuffs that still held her hands together effectively freeing them. Lightning opened her eyes
to see Dysley holding her Blazefire Saber in his hand as he slowly touched down onto the floor. The primarch threw the blade roughly to the floor, the force of the throw causing to stand
upright while embedded into the metallic surface. Lightning took in a deep breath before stepping up to her blade. Deep within her mind the young woman knew she had made a mistake
by striking the Primarch while she was consumed by rage. With one swift motion she pulled her sword from it's makeshift pedestal and readied herself for the ensuing combat.
The ex-Sergeant made the first move as she switched her sword to gun-mode and opened fire upon the political figure. Lightning's eyes widened as the bullets she fired did not reach the
old man as he brought up a shield stopping them in their tracks as the lead burnt to crisp ashes.
"What are you?" Lightning breathed, gazing up at the floating man.
"Kneel down l'Cie and I may just forgive you."
Snow shot up from his place on the couch. Frantic footsteps caught his attention as he turned to face the doorway which led to the front door. Normally the rather tall shadow that was
present in the doorway would have frightened the large man. But the very recognizable afro instantly gave away who the man was.
"What do you want Sazh? come on man it's three in the morning." Snow whined as he slowly climbed to his feet and flipped the light switch on.
"Sorry bro, but we got a problem." Sazh told him as he hastily made himself a sandwich in the kitchen.
"Evidently not as big as you think it is since your making yourself a sandwich." Snow said flatly looking down at Sazh's sandwich which was rather large and full of many ingredients.
"Come on Frosty a brother's gotta eat right?" Sazh asked, his voice travelling upwards a couple of octaves.
"Right right, so what's the big deal?" Snow asked seating himself down onto the closest bar stool as he waited for Sazh to swallow the bite of his sandwich that he just took a bite of.
"Lightning was kidnapped by the Sanctum again." Sazh answered as he cracked open a beer.
"Sazh! what the hell are you doing having lunch at a time like this!" Snow asked quickly jumping to his feet and placing his bandanna on his head before running out of the door.
Snow rushed into the small airship quickly as he worried for Serah's mental state, the events of the last view days are sure to have taken a toll upon the small girl and Snow feared for
his fiance. Bursting through the door to the ship, he found Serah sitting on the small couch with what looked like Amodar comforting her.
"I'll take it from here." Snow told Amodar who in turn nodded before making his departure to the front of the ship.
"How many times must this happen?" Serah whispered softly as the large blond took the now vacant seat beside the small girl.
"This will be the last. I swear to you." Snow whispered back just as softly as his lover did.
"All I wanted was to spend some time with her while she recovered. I should have known that the Sanctum was following us." Serah berated herself.
"Don't worry we'll get her back. The heroes never die." Snow smirked as Sazh fired up the engine before taking off.
"Sazh man you shouldn't drink and drive."
Lightning jumped off to the side as yet another blue sphere sped towards her at blinding speeds. With a crisp cut of her blade, the next sphere in line was cut in half causing the powerful
magic to miss her. Before Lightning could shift onto the offensive, Dysley was in her face forcing the young woman to stay on the defensive as she blocked his staff which was aimed for
her head. For an old man, Dysley was strong as he effortlessly pushed the young woman over, tossing her off to the side.
"Yield?" He smirked as he slowly walked over to the grounded l'Cie who was struggling to climb to her feet.
"Never." Came Lightning's cliche answer as she swiped at the Primarch with her sword as her anger made it impossible to land a hit on the man.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Dysleycooed as he kneeled before the strawberry blond and lifted her chin with his finger. With a swift motion he chopped down on her neck knocking the young woman
unconscious.
"Alright you chumps, where are we headed?" Sazh asked as he looked over his shoulder to the other occupants of the flying vehicle. But his attention was trained on Amodar the only one to
have a single idea as to where they would be holding Lightning. "Huh, just go fly near the fal'Cie Pheonix. You'll see a very large airship called the Palamecia. That's where they'll be keeping
her until they get to the Doppelganger. Once they get her there it will even be more difficult to break her out." Amodar explained as he rested his face on his fist.
"Alright then we got ourselves a game plan!" Sazh exclaimed as he gazed around the ship in excitement. "But I swear once we get her out of there I'm gonna beat that girl's ass for putting
us through this again." Sazh added on as his thoughts drifted to the beautiful young woman whom they were heading to rescue yet again.
"What are you now Sazh? her sugar daddy?" Snow asked from the back.
"Ha your funny broski. But I wouldn't mind being if you know what I mean." Sazh said with wink.
"Sazh!" Serah squeaked from the back.
"Alright alright, I;m just kidding." Sazh said holding his hands up as in defense.
"Damn Sazh keep your hands on the controls!" Amodar yelled as the airship started to spiral out of control.
"Got it got it!" The old man yelled out as he resumed control of the flying vehicle making everyone breath a sigh of relief.
"Hey why'd we even bring her?" Serah asked motioning to the sleeping Vanille who was snoring loudly on the couch opposite of Serah and Snow's.
"For her healing magic." Snow answered pointing at the Vanille. The rest of the remaining ride would be best described as uneventful until the Palamecia came into view with all it's glory.
"Okay here we go." Snow whispered under his breath as he stood and prepared himself for the coming assault upon the Sanctum fortress. Serah stood and shook Vanille awake who
followed suit as their small airship flew towards the sharp contrast which was known as the Palamecia.
Lightning awoke to the loud buzzing sound of the many alarms aboard the miniature fortress that she was being held on. Shaking her head a few times to help clear her blurry vision, she
saw that her wrists were once more cuffed together and this irritated her as she was now once more unarmed. The young woman sat up so her legs were hanging off of the bed, she
rested her head in her hands as the persistent buzzing was starting to escalate her already pounding headache. Her heart fluttered as the idea of Serah being part of the group mounting
the assault on the Palameciascared her to death. Sure she knew that Snow was already very capable of protecting her but still the possibility of harm being done to her baby sister was
nearly to much for for the young woman to handle. Lightning stood on shaky legs and made her way back over to the window, where she had been before the guards had come to retrieve
her before. And sure enough the doors opened again to reveal the same guards from before. Lightning took in a deep breath, should she try to escape now? or trust her very capable
friends to get the job done themselves this time?
"It looks like someone already beat us to the party." Sazh said as fighting could be heard off in the distance.
"You think maybe Farron started her jailbreak without us?" Amodar asked as he drew his fire arm and shot down the PSICOM enforcer who had charged towards the group.
"I don't let's go find out." Snow replied as the group started making their way deeper into the depths of the Palamecia. It wasn't long before they encountered there first mob of enemies.
Snow punched a lowly grunt in the face as Amodar and Sazh fired at the group from a distance as Vanille provided support and curative magic from afar. The mob went down quickly as the
party's strength and power was too much for the small group of soldiers to handle.
"Snow I don't see why I can't fight with the rest of us." Serah stated as she approached the large man after the battle had reached it's conclusion.
"Oh come on babe, you know I just don't want to see you getting hurt." The large blond replied making Serah cross her arms stubbornly.
"And you don't mind them getting hurt?" The young girl asked motioning towards their friends.
"You know what I mean Serah." Snow put an end to their argument before the group headed off down a series of halls which in turn led to a large grand hall which was fit for a king.
"You know what this means." Sazh started flicking his afro towards the door at the end of the numerous long ramps that led downward. "Dysley's down there."
"And so is Lightning so let's go." Serah said as she eagerly took the lead from the older man who had seemed content with leading the party in Lightning's absence.
"Damn girl wait up!" Sazh called after the eighteen year old as the rest of the party struggled to keep up with the strawberry blond girl. Just as Serah crossed the final bridge that led to the
door, the metallic board exploded to a mix of ash and flame. Serah was now separated from Snow, Sazh, Amodar, and Vanille.
"Came back for some more huh?" Sazh called out as he started opening fire on the floating figures of both Cid and Fang.
"Serah run!" Snow yelled as he brought his forearms up to his face to block the incoming attack from Cid. Serah did as she was told and ran through the large ominous door.
Serah walked slowly down the ramp that led to the large room. She could see that it was vacant save for two shadows. Suddenly Serah became painfully aware of the fact that she was
unarmed and useless in a battle without a weapon, no wonder Snow wouldn't let her fight. It's not like she was strong enough to use her fists like he is.
"And the younger Farron makes her entrance." A deep voice boomed from the throne atop the platform which sat in the middle of the room. Upon closer inspection Serah was able to
identify the two figures as Galenth Dysley and her sister. "Lightning!" She called out, fear evident in her voice as it wavered quite noticeably.
"Serah!" Lightning called back, Dysley stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, Lightning's hands were still cuffed together and she was unarmed as the empty leather sheath
which hung at the back of her thighs indicated. "How sweet. I suppose I'll allow you two to be reunited." Dysley spoke as he turned Lightning to face him. Bringing her Blazefire Saber from
his side, the man cut the chain that held her wrists together in half so they were free but the cuffs still clung to her wrists. Lightning took the opportunity and back flipped so that she was
at Serah's side. The two shared a brief hug before Dysley interrupted them as he tossed Lightning's sword at her feet so it embedded into the metallic surface.
"I have something to show you two." He stated as he brought his staff high above his head, the head of the staff began to glow a dark purple color and static electricity began flicking
across the surface of it. Lightning pulled her sword from the floor and stepped in front of Serah protectively.
"Claire." Serah whispered as she saw Lightning tug something from the bag on her left thigh and shove it into her hand without even turning to face her. Serah looked down to see that it
was the survival knife she had gotten for her sister's birthday. "Right." She whispered concealing the knife from view. Meanwhile up at the throne a dark figure began to emerge from the
purple substance. The figure fell from the staff and landed on it's feet, still blanketed in shadow. Lightning stomach fluttered as her nervousness set in at the fear of the unknown.
Both Farron's eyes widened as the shadow cleared from the feminine figure to reveal the middle-aged face of their strawberry blond mother.
"Mom." Lightning and Serah whispered at the same time as they felt tears begin to well up in their eyes. Serah repeated the word that she hadn't said in so long as she began to take careful
steady steps towards the two's smiling and welcoming mother. "No." Lightning muttered as she held her hand out in an attempt to grasp Serah's shirt from behind, but the younger girl was
already out of reach. "Serah your stronger than this." She whispered in an attempt to stop her sister's now steady footsteps. Lightning closed her eyes in pain as Serah didn't listen, looking
down at her Blazefire Saber the young woman took a breath to calm herself before switching it into it's gun mode. Lightning opened her eyes and raised her gun and pointed it at her sister's
exposed back. Lightning found it extremely difficult to do so, but her training as a soldier helped her persevere. Serah was now six feet away from their mother when the gunshot rang out
and echoed across the large room.
"Shit what was that?" Sazh asked before being kicked in the face by Fang who then started approaching Vanille who cowered and turned away from her friend. Before Fang could attack the
young girl, Snow jumped on her back and started pounding away at her skull in an attempt to knock the young woman out cold. Cid threw Snow from Fang's back effortlessly as Amodar's
bullets seemed to have no effect on the monster of a man. Sazh himself jumped onto Cid's back and started pistol whipping the man in that back of his head as Vanille lashed out at him
withher binding rod, the small sharp ends digging into his skin before pulling back out taking small chunks of flesh with them. Cid cried out before grabbing at the spots where the flesh
was just brutally ripped from. "Night night." Cid's head snapped up at the sound of Sazh's voice and it was met with a lead bullet between the eyes. Snow jumped up into the air and came
down with such force that Fang was knocked out cold the instant his fist came into contact with her face.
"I heard a gun shot. We'd better get in there, and quick." Amodar said as the three looked towards the destroyed bridge.
"Aaaah!" Serah cried out as the searing pain that erupted within her right ankle flared up even more. The young girl looked over her shoulder as tears flowed from her eyes, and she saw
Lightning lower her gun with a guilty expression on her face. "Claire how could you do that to your sister!" Their mother yelled as she kneeled at Serah's side and instantly began stroking
her hair. "Get away from her." Lightning snapped taking a few steps towards the duo yet safely keeping her distance.
"Come closer Claire." Lightning obeyed slightly taking a few steps forward. "My you've grown into a gorgeous young woman." Her mother complimented, smiling warmly at her daughter.
"Just.....stop." Lightning whispered clenching her fists before turning to Dysley. "What is it that you wish to achieve from this? just leave us alone!" She yelled up to the old man who sat
in his throne smirking. "Claire, come give your mother a hug." Her mother spoke softly, Lightning turned to face her. Somewhere within the deepest depths of her mind Lightning was reluctant
to do so. But the thought that this could be the last time she would ever get the chance to overwhelmed her. For the past six years she had wanted, longed for one last hug from her mother
and now was her final chance. Taking cautious steps forward Lightning dropped to her knees and stared into her mother's piercing blue eyes, just like her own.
"She's real Claire." Dysley spoke from his throne, but Lightning ignored him she simply reached out with her hand and grazed her mother's cheek. Feeling the soft slightly wrinkled skin helped
relax the young woman a little as she turned to Serah. "Serah...I'm sorry." She whispered as a few tears fell from her face.
"It's okay." Serah replied wincing in pain as Lightning cast a quick cure spell over the wound effectively healing it. Turning back to her mother, Lightning gave her a tight hug as the tears
flowed freely from her light blue eyes. Her mother returned the gesture with her own before bringing Serah into it as well. The three sat there hugging each other for a whole minute.
"I missed you." Lightning and Serah whispered as their mother kissed them on the forehead one at a time.
"I missed you girls too. my lovely beautiful daughters." She smiled warmly, Dysley smirked before raising his staff above his head causing the young Farron's mother to start to fade away.
"Good bye mom. I love you." Lightning said as Serah repeated the same sentence. Dysley frowned upon not receiving the reaction which he was hoping for. So the old bitter man decided
to take the more painful. Suddenly the older Farron's body erupted into flames making the old woman cry out in pain and causing Lightning's anger to bubble and Serah's sadness to surface.
"You bastard!" Lightning screamed whirling around to glare at the old butter man with anger and determination blazing in her light blue eyes. The Primarch had re-lit her inner flame that
had been extinguished for the past many years since her mother's death, the reason for her many lost battles were easily traced back to her lack of an inner flame but now that it is
back the young woman won't go down easily. Little did Dysley know that he had made a big mistake as rekindling such a flame is a very hazardous thing to do especially with the young
Farron, who's eyes resembled more of a beast then that of a human being at the moment.
"Ha ha ha." Dysley chuckled as he turned to leave the two Farron's behind, one broken while the other furious. "I'll leave you girl's to play. Enjoy."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lightning frowned looking back down at Serah who was holding her left arm which was glowing a brilliant light blue as her l'Cie brand became visible
through the think fabric she used to conceal it. Serah cried out loudly prompting Lightning to hurry to her side, dropping to her knees, Lightning wrapped her arms around her sister in
an attempt to comfort her. "Come on Serah be strong." She whispered leaning back and gripping her sister's shoulders as Serah continued to scream, Lightning knew how she felt.
A large wall of water encircled the two sisters before spilling out over the room like an overflowing glass, leaving the two girls dry. Above the Farron sisters an entity hovered in the air,
Lightning grabbed Serah and jumped out of the way as it came back down onto the floor, Lightning shoved Serah to the floor and stepped in front of her protectively as she gazed up
at the monstrous sea serpent that stood before her. "Leviathan." Lightning whispered as Serah stood at her side.
"W-what is that sis?" Serah whispered not straying far from her sister.
"It's your Eidolon Serah." Lightning whispered taking her survival knife that had fallen to the floor and firmly placing it in Serah's hand before she brought her Blazefire Saber up to her chest.
Serah looked up at the beast with fearful eyes as she couldn't help but admire the beauty of the metallic creature. The beast was a light blue color with some red mixed in. Leviathan stood
with it's tail bent back like a snake ready to strike. The Eidolon had two wings on it's back that went out on each of it's sides, it's head was a metallic silver with three horns protruding from
the back of it and it's eyes were silver in color. The sea serpent charged at the two and Lightning swiped at it two times with her sword before jumping off to the side. Serah was in a daze
how the hell was she supposed to fight this thing with nothing but a small knife? She hadn't even noticed that Leviathan was standing tall above her preparing to attack but Lightning got it's
attention by firing a few shots at the summon. Lightning tossed a thundara spell at the Eidolon before she quickly ran to Serah's side.
"What do we do?" Serah asked frightened as her eyes frantically looked at the beast.
"You have to fight back if this thing is going to yield." Lightning told her calmly. "Now it's easy, just think of the element you want to cast and throw your arm out at the thing." Lightning
explained as Serah nodded and successfully casted a small thunder spell. "Hey I got it!" Serah piped up happily.
"Good. I'll draw it's attention and you pummel it with your magic." Lightning said before turning back to the Eidolon, and firing a few more shots at it. Leviathan recovered from the earlier
attack and charged at Lightning who blocked it's attack with ease before flipping away once more as Serah casted a fire spell on the thing. Lightning knew that this would take some time
sense all Serah could cast was small beginner's spells but at least it will work. Leviathan's tail caught Lightning off guard as it smacked into her side and sent the young woman into the
wall of the room. Lightning shook her head to ward off the impending grogginess and looked up and saw the water summon coming towards her, she managed to get her legs up in time
and use them to push the beast away as Serah casted another thunder spell. Leviathan turned around to face the younger Farron, giving Lightning the opportunity to jump onto it's back
and dig her sword into it's metallic scales. Leviathan bucked wildly as he threw Lightning from his back, the young woman was able to regain her balance in mid-air as she flipped backwards
and landed on her feet and slashed at the beast as it charged at her again. No matter how hard the eidolon tried it could not land a hit on the young woman as Serah continued to assault
it with low level magic spells. Lightning could tell that the beast was close to yielding and it would only take a little longer. Leviathan took another bull rush towards the young woman,
Lightning snapped her fingers and flew at the being at blinding speeds, she expertly stabbed her sword into the summon's eyes as Serah finished it off with a barrage of spells.
Lightning pulled her sword free before pushing off the beast and back flipping next to her sister. With a wave of Serah's hand, the Eidolon began making it's transformation. It was a short
one as the wings on it's back folded backwards and the head shifted position to create a barrel and the serpents tail shifted to form a submarine body.
"Well Serah, I don't know if this will ever come in handy but congrats I guess." Lightning said resting a hand on her hip after sheathing her Blazefire Saber.
"Ha thanks sis!" Serah said happily as she jumped up into her new eidolon, after a few minutes of checking it out, Serah jumped back out as Leviathan was dismissed. The Eidolon
disintegrated as a single tear fell from Serah's eyes at the thought of her mother and it formed a small cobalt crystal tear as it hovered above Serah's cupped hands before evaporating into
her l'Cie brand. "How are you holding up?" Lightning asked placing a hand on her sister's shoulder as soon as she saw Serah's features take on a look of sorrow.
"I don't know. It was nice seeing mom again yet sad at the same time." Serah explained burying her head in her sister's shoulder.
"I know." Lightning whispered wrapping her arms around her baby sister. "But it was nice to say our final goodbyes." Lightning lifted Serah's chin with her finger. "And don't worry Dysley
will pay." She finished will a look of a feral animal once more consuming her eyes for just a moment.
"I'll help." Serah whispered.
"Hey you two!" Vanille called from behind them waving her arms trying frantically to get the sisters attention.
"Vanille!" Serahexclaimed giving the older yet more immature girl a hug as she skipped over to the two with great speed and a happy expression on her face.
"Damn girl, how many times are you gonna get caught?" Sazh asked clapping Lightning on the shoulder.
"Last time I promise." Lightning smiled as Amodar finished carrying an unconscious Fang over to the group. "What's up with her?" Lightning asked frowning at Fang's body.
"She was being controlled so I had to knock some sense into her." Snow smirked confidently.
"Oh please you couldn't knock her out if you tried." Lightning rolled her eyes at Snow's bold claims.
"What? oh come on Light I so did, look she's laying right there!" Snow said pointing at the unconscious warrior woman.
"Doesn't mean you did it." Lightning pointed out as Snow gave up trying to argue his case.
"So how did you guys get over the broken bridge?" Serah asked the thought just hitting her.
"Oh we used Snow's lesbian Eidolon." Sazh answered chuckling at the thought. "They did this hot thing where they stretched and-"
"Don't want to hear it Sazh." Lightning said shaking her head at the perverted man.
"Easy Farron, you gotta know that he thinks those things about you as well." Amodar joked but realized he was right when Sazh went silent and averted his gaze. "Whoa I was right."
"Thanks Amodar, that's one thing I could have gone my whole life without knowing and not regret it." Lightning shook her head. "He's twice my age."
"Anyways." Serah started turning the tension away from poor old Sazh. "I got an Eidolon Snow!" She said happily as Vanille continued to stare at Sazh with a slightly disturbed expression.
"She's way younger than you Sazh." She whispered mortified but knowing that it's actually quite common.
"Really!" Snow yelled also extremely happy for his fiance.
"Yeah and Light taught me how to use magic too!" The young girl continued on jumping up and down slightly resembling an excited Vanille.
"That's great! what Eidolon did you get?" Snow asked clearly intrigued that Serah had managed to tame one of the legendary summons. Serah turned to Lightning not remembering her
Eidolon's name. "Leviathan." Lightning supplied simply. "And I did all the work." She said playfully pushing Serah's forehead back with her finger.
"Thanks Light." Serah smiled brightly. "But Snow, I told you I could fight." She turned her attention back to Lightning and handing her survival knife back to her sister. Lightning took the object
from her sister before giving some thought and handing it back to her. "You keep it Serah." She told her with a smile.
"But it's to keep you safe." Serah replied frowning.
"And I would keep it...but were not going to be separated anymore I promise." Lightning told her seriously taking Serah's hand and forcing her fingers to close around the hilt.
"Thanks Claire." Serah whispered as she leaned into Lightning's ear so no one else could hear her sister's real name. Pulling away Serah gave Lightning a soft kiss on the cheek before smiling
again. "You know what I just noticed guys?" Sazh started turning the attention away from Lightning as she blushed slightly.
"What Sazh?" Amodar asked knowing that the man would not continue until someone said those words.
"We forgot Hope." He answered. "Remember we told him to wait out on the sidewalk? while the poor kid is probably still waiting there for us."
"Ah well, we should get going." Amodar said waving his hand not concerned for the boy in the slightest.
"Yeah standing around and talking in a Sanctum airship doesn't sound like the smartest idea in the world." Lightning rolled her eyes as the group started making their way to one of the exits.
"Shit!" Lightning swore as she quickly drew her Blazefire Saber and blocked an incoming attack of purple spheres.
"No one's going anywhere." Dysley stated with a smirk as the party before him drew their weapons. "Glad to see that I'll have something to do for the next few minutes."
"Step down old man, there's no way you can beat all of us." Lightning spoke as the feral look returned to her eyes as they began to glow a pulsating light blue color.
"Oh please child, parish the thought. You have yet to know my true power." Dysley grinned as he took flight into the sky once more. Sazh fired a few rounds off at the Primarch but as usual
the lead bullets had no effect. "You guys we should just get out of here." Vanille said looking back at the exit.
"Yeah come on Lightning." Serah said tugging on her older sister's arm, but she didn't budge. She kept her gaze locked on Dysley.
"No Serah, this bastard is gonna get it." Lightning snarled angrily towards the floating Primarch.
"No were leaving." Snow said taking his future sister-in-law's arm in his and pulling her away from the coming fight.
"Snow let go!" Lightning shouted but was ignored as the party hastily made their exit without hesitation. "You moron." Lightning hissed as she punched Snow in the face as soon as they left
the room. As she went in for another strike Snow caught her fist and roughly slammed the young woman against the cold metallic wall. He held the struggling strawberry blond there until
her eyes returned to their normal piercing light blue color as opposed to the pulsating glow that had acquired earlier.
"Snow?" Lightning blinked as if she hadn't realized or remembered how she had got to where she was currently standing.
"Light?" Snow asked just as bewildered as her reaction had caught him off guard.
"How did we get here?" Lightning asked trying to get a hold of her senses again.
"Well I dragged you here? are you alright Lightning?" The large man asked the young woman whom he stood well above.
"I'm fine I guess, must have blacked out for just a second." She concluded waving the incident off. Snow decided against telling her that she had punched and so did the rest of their friends.
"So how do we get across this chasm?" Lightning asked motioning to the destroyed bridge which sat in ruin.
"Here I'll do it!" Serah jumped on the opportunity to use her summon for the first time as she called forth her crystal tear as it appeared and hovered before her for a few seconds before the
young girl threw it up in the air and tossed Lightning's survival knife up after it. The knife pierced the tear's surface and as it did so, a wall of water encircled her now summoned Leviathan
as it hovered up in the air. Serah pointed her finger towards the large gap and her summon obeyed the command as it stretched it's long body across it, creating a makeshift bridge for the
party to cross, which they did quickly. "Hey where did Cid go?" Sazh asked looking around the empty platform where they had fought both Cid and Fang.
"Cid? what are you talking about Sazh?" Lightning asked as she registered his words.
"Yeah he was with Fang when we fought her. I shot that fool right between the eyes." Sazh explained taking out one of his Vega 42's and mimicking the action.
"Yeah he was being controlled like Fang here." Vanille pitched in motioning to her unconscious friend who was in the arms of Amodar.
"Yeah only he was kind of like a hybrid Cie'th." Amodar said as Serah dismissed Leviathan.
"Oh." Lightning replied softly not knowing how to react. She had thought that he was dead but the fact being confirmed made her mind go blank.
"Let's go Claire." Serah whispered into her ear as Lightning nodded in agreement. They managed to get back to the hangar of the Palamecia with little to no difficulty only running into a couple
mobs of low ranking PSICOM enforcers who went down in a matter of seconds.
"Alright let's get out of this ugly place." Sazh grinned as he fired up their small airship before taking flight with it.
"So where too now?" Snow asked looking around at the airship's occupants. "You figure we should go get Hope?" He asked.
""Naw leave him be." Sazh shook his head at Snow.
"I want to go see Rosch." Lightning spoke up from her seat on the couch of the cabin.
"And for what reason may that be Farron?" Amodar questioned turning to face the former Sergeant who had been under his command.
"I want to know where the current location of the Doppelganger is." Lightning clarified looking towards her former superior.
"I don't know what your up to, but I'll have to trust you. Sazh take us to go see Rosch." Amodar spoke, his eyes not leaving Lightning's for a moment.
"And make sure she's sane before she wakes up." Lightning said motioning towards Fang's unconscious form.
"Yeah hopefully she is sane when she wakes up. I don't wanna have to fight her again." Snow said fearing a close quarters battle with the warrior woman.
"Speaking of the devil I call friend." Vanille said as Fang began to stir beside her on the couch opposite of Lightning and Serah.
"Damn girl, I wouldn't get that close to her." Sazh shouted back as Vanille scooted away, Lightning stood and drew her Blazefire Saber pointing the point of the sword at Fang's neck.
"Whoa whoa damn Light!" Fang shouted raising her hands up into the air as an act of surrender.
"Don't move." Lightning ordered firmly keeping her sword in place at the lethal position.
"Alright Light. Geez what crawled up your skirt?" Fang asked confused why Lightning was acting in such a manner.
"Are you sane?" Snow asked flicking Fang's forehead.
"Yes I'm sane. And what the hell did you do that for? you moron." Fang yelled at Snow who started chuckling.
"Don't worry Light she's back to normal." He laughed clapping Fang on the shoulder as she sat up on the couch. Lightning sighed before sheathing her Blazefire Saber.
"Sorry Fag. Ooops I mean Fang. Sorry." Lightning muttered sitting back down onto the couch as Fang gave her a blank stare.
"Since when did you get so funny?" She asked sarcastically rolling her eyes at the younger girl.
"Always have been. I just rarely show it." Lightning shrugged at the question.
"It's true." Serah said happily giving her sister a hug.
"So Fag. Ugh I mean Fang why were you all messed up back there?" Sazh asked as he put the airship on auto-pilot and went to back of the cabin where the others were located.
"Okay everybody stop calling me Fag alright? next person who does is getting a beating." Fang said sternly looking each of the occupants in the eye.
"Answer Sazh's question Fag." Vanille said but quickly covered her mouth afterwards with a fearful expression evident in her innocent green eyes.
"Aww you know I can't hurt you Vanille." Fang laughed before turning back to the rest of the party. "I don't exactly remember why I was messed up. It's all like a blur, a bad dream if you will."
Fang explained. "Do you remember anything?" Amodar asked giving her a very scholar like expression.
"I remember only a little." Fang started. "You know that fal'Cie you've been seeing Light? well I had the pleasure of seeing it first hand and in person."
"What happened?" Lightning asked, her fists subconsciously clenching at her sides.
"Well the beginning is a blur, I remember someone dying but not who exactly. Then it called forth Cid from god knows where and we fought. I lost and was brought under the fal'Cie's control."
"What fal'Cie is it?" Lightning asked as she crossed her legs with a yawn.
"I don't know, it never said it's name." Fang answered quickly.
"Hey wait a minute." Vanille interrupted Fang's vivid story telling. "Where's Cloud? last I remember you had run off after him like a love sick puppy." She gave Fang a playful nudge to her ribs.
"I have no idea where that loner is." The raven haired Oerba gave a shrug not remembering what had happened to the man.
"He'll turn up. Just like those people who always do." Sazh said optimistically.
"Wow Sazh your a real wizard with words you know." Snow joked, which earned him nothing but a slap to the back of the head by Serah. Not a bunch of laughs like he had hoped for.
"Let Fang finish her story." Serah reprimanded the man as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"And then me and Cid were sent to go and bring Lightning to this fal'Cie for a reason I was not told." Fang concluded the end of her story with a bow.
"I think I know what it wants." Lightning muttered clenching her fists again.
"Yeah?" Fang asked quirking a brow.
"It probably wants that crystal that it's been demanding for a while now." Lightning explained shrugging.
"But you don't have it." Fang pointed out quickly. Lightning let out a sigh before answering.
"That's right, Cloud took it wherever he went." She muttered mentally cursing herself for letting him do so.
"Alright Light. Were at Yaag's office." Sazh called to them as he looked out the window at the PSICOM building that stood tall in the sky.
"Alright I'll be back in a sec." She replied as Sazh expertly landed the small airship which didn't draw the attention of anyone due to it's size.
"Sis wait." Serah whispered to get her attention.
"What is it Serah?" Lightning asked turning to face her baby sister.
"I'm coming with you." She replied just as quiet as before, Lightning didn't say anything she only nodded her approval in response. The two sisters exited the airship and entered the official
PSICOM building. After a short stop at the reception desk they were on their way up to Yaag's office, alone in the elevator.
"So what do you want to ask Yaag?" Serah asked nervously intertwining her hands together, playing with her engagmentpendant Snow got her, and playing with the edge of her skirt.
Anything to help calm her nerves. "You didn't have to come Serah. But I know why you did and I appreciate it." Lightning smiled warmly at her sister. "But don't worry I'm not hear to do
anything stupid or reckless." Lightning comforted her with a squeeze on the small girl's shoulder.
"I know. I just wanted to be with you. Emotional support you know, so you don't feel alone." Serah explained with a smile of her own.
"I appreciate it too." Lightning answered as the doors to the elevator opened with a ding sound. "Here we are, just follow me and keep quiet okay?" Lightning asked softly as Serah began
to shake a little. She didn't reply only with a shake of her head. "Hey it's only Yaag, he helped us remember things will be alright." The young woman comforted her sister as Serah visibly
relaxed. "Greeting young Farrons." Yaag greeted as the two sisters entered his office a few minutes later.
"Yeah yeah." Lightning replied impatiently walking up to his desk and placing her hands on it, leaning over to get closer to Yaag's face. "I have a favor to ask you." She told him.
"Go on." was Rosch's simple reply with a wave of his hand.
"All's I need to know is where the current coordinates of the Doppelganger are, no questions asked." Lightning told him sternly.
"I'm afraid I can't disclose such information Lightning." Yaag spoke, his tone turning dead serious.
"Well you better." Lightning gritted her teeth growing quite impatient with the man.
"You better learn your place and who's calling the shots here." Rosch spoke confidently leaning back in his chair.
"Listen Yaag just tell us where it is and we'll be on our merry little way alright?" Lightning said trying to convince the man.
"I'm not telling you Lightning." Yaag leaned forwards in his chair and pressed the button on the intercom. "Send in security, we got a few renegade l'Cie in here." Yaag smirked as he looked
up at Lightning. The young woman growled before drawing her Blazefire Saber and pointing it at the Colonel in it's gun mode.
"I didn't want it to come to this Rosch."