We weren't the only ones to find Serah. When we reached her at the head of a long staircase, she was already in the arms of a pink-haired woman, with a dark-skinned man with a puffy afro watched on, his face a mixture of sadness and confusion.
Of course, Snow reacted instantly. "Serah!" he shouted, running to her side.
The woman, who was obviously Lightning, tensed visibly. She'd made it clear on numerous occasions that she didn't like Snow, and clearly her opinion hadn't changed.
Vanille hovered over them, while Hope kept his glare up, boring into Snow's bandanna-clad head. I, on the other hand, stood next to the dark-skinned man. He wore a standard-issue pilot's jacket, and he had twin pistols – Vega 42s, I think they were – in holsters on his pants. "When did you two get here?"
"Not too long ago," he replied. "You know Madam Soldier there?" He pointed at Lightning.
I nodded. "All too well."
The man raised an eyebrow.
"Not like that!" I denied.
He smirked. "Sure you didn't. Well, she's dragged me along on a hare-brained scheme to kill the Pulse fal'Cie."
I looked at him. "Something tells me you didn't need much dragging."
His fist clenched. "We all have our reasons to hate the fal'Cie."
Clearly something was on his mind, so I changed the subject by sticking my hand out. "Not the best place to make introductions, but I'm Remus Cole."
The man smiled and shook my hand firmly. "Sazh Katzroy."
"Serah!" Snow cried out suddenly, and Sazh and I moved forward slightly.
Serah was looking up at Snow and Lightning, her expression hard to decipher. "Please… Save…Cocoon…"
Snow nodded vehemently. "I will. I'll save you and Cocoon."
Lightning remained silent.
Serah smiled weakly. "Thank you." She started to glow with an ethereal light. Slowly, from her feet up, she began to transform, crystallising. Her body rose from the ground, her transformation still going. A single tear started to fall from her eye as her hands came closer together in a gesture of prayer, or maybe supplication. A crystal base formed around her, and the tear, now crystal, fell at Snow's feet.
"Serah…" One hand picked up the crystal tear, while the other held onto hers. "I'll save you. I'll save you and Cocoon, I promise!"
Lightning moved quickly to his side and punched him in the face.
"Light!" I shouted, grabbing her waist.
She wriggled around in my grip, turning. "Let go!" She punched me, but unlike Snow, I didn't go down.
Snow looked up at the soldier. "What the hell? I'm trying to help your sister! She's my wife-to-be. I promised to be hers forever. No matter what! I'll help her!"
"Don't you think she's beyond your help?!" Lightning snapped.
I let her go and she gave me a parting hit on the chin. My head spun from the blow, and I massaged my chin with one hand. "Can we move on from this?"
Without another word, Snow started walking towards the nearby staircase, which led to a long hallway. That hallway, in turn, led to the chamber of the Pulse fal'Cie Anima.
"Hey, Trench Coat!" Sazh yelled to the departing Snow. "Where do you think you're going?"
My 'brother' stopped in his tracks and looked back. "Date with the fal'Cie. Got some things to talk about."
"Do you seriously think that you can talk it into saving Serah?" Lightning sneered. "You're out of your mind."
"Lightning!" I snapped at her.
She gave me a glare and I shut up.
Sazh sighed. "You two…" He started to follow Snow.
"What are you doing?" Hope snarled. He clearly didn't like anyone who followed Snow around.
"Makin' sure this guy doesn't get himself killed," the pilot replied.
I smiled. "That's my job, too." I walked into step with the two men.
A sudden rush of footsteps came from behind us; Lightning bolted straight past us and ran up the stairs.
"Hey!" I shouted, drawing my swords and running after her. Behind me, Snow raised his fists while Sazh pulled his guns out of his leg-holster; the two of them followed me and Lightning.
Hope was clenching his fists when he finally decided to chase us. Well, chase Snow. Vanille gave him a worried look before following.
The six of us left behind Serah's crystallised form. If we'd stayed, maybe we would have heard her voice call, "Snow…"
When we reached the final stretch between us and the Pulse fal'Cie, it was covered in Cie'th. Some shambled along the floor, while others flew over the walkway.
I sighed. "Shoulda expected this. A fal'Cie always creates Cie'th when it feels threatened."
"I couldn't care less about the legends right now," Lightning muttered in her husky voice, drawing her gunblade from the holster hanging behind her legs. She ran at the nearest Cie'th, cutting it down almost instantly. Once that was done, she moved on to the next one. She was a good fighter to begin with, but her rage had made her almost unstoppable.
Sazh started strafing the Cie'th with his guns, jumping awkwardly when the massive Ghasts swung their club-like arms at him.
Snow, meanwhile, was fighting like a man possessed, throwing hand grenades from his pockets and using the smoke they created to cloak his movements.
A flying Cie'th suddenly floated in front of me, shrieking horribly. Worst thing was that, in my mind, I could hear a human voice, sobbing. Help me, it said.
I nodded and ran towards an archway, running up it for a brief moment before gravity started to take control back and I couldn't go any higher; at that point I sprang off the arch and slashed at the Cie'th with my two swords. The monster went down and started to fade into blackness. The voice then spoke in my head again, sounding relieved. Thank you.
Within moments, the way was clear. Without another word, Lightning started running into the hallway that led to the fal'Cie's chamber. Snow was close behind, followed by me. Sazh stayed back slightly to guard Hope and Vanille as they came behind us.
The chamber of the fal'Cie was dark, and at the centre of it was a large steel dome with marks all over it. Screens adorned the many wires that protruded the dome. A recurring theme was the shield-like black mark with a red centre. The brand of the Pulse fal'Cie.
"This thing…is the Pulse fal'Cie?" Sazh asked, unimpressed.
Snow stood in front of it. "Hey! Serah completed her Focus! You told her what to do, and she did it! Are you happy now? Please! Just let her go."
The silence was oppressive.
My brother sank to his knees and shouted in a broken voice. "I'll be your l'Cie instead!"
"Snow!" I barked, grabbing his shoulder.
He shrugged me off. "No, Remus. I promised I'd do anything for Serah. Anything at all."
Lightning walked past us all, her gunblade still in her hand; she suddenly whacked the dome with her weapon.
"What the hell are you doin'?!" Sazh demanded.
"Serah told us to save Cocoon," she replied, looking balefully at Snow. "And as far as I'm concerned, the fal'Cie are Cocoon's problem! That means this thing has to die!" She swung again.
This time the blade bounced off the steel and out of Lightning's hand; she herself was blown back by an invisible force. A bright light suddenly emanated from the dome as it opened; nearby, two portals in the floor opened to reveal large, cylindrical appendages.
"Uh, Light?" I said, worried. "I think you pissed it off."
The dome opened fully to reveal the Pulse fal'Cie in all its horrible glory. The thing was metallic, a mixture of golden and silver hues, except for the pale purple crystals it had for a face. On one side it had a metal rod sticking out; a rod that could only be an arm.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sazh shouted, backing off. "This is bad, real bad!"
I gave him a look. "Trust me, when you hang out with Lightning, 'bad' is par for the course!" I drew my swords.
"What, are you nuts?" he roared. "You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?"
"No," I replied. "But Light seems to think she can. And I am not letting her do this alone and get herself killed!"
Snow stood up slowly and let out an animalistic roar, raising his gloved fists.
Sazh looked down slightly, lost in thought. "Dajh…" he muttered. Then he looked up and drew his pistols. "Hope you three don't mind an amateur."
"Thanks," Lightning muttered.
Behind us, I heard Hope yell in shock and pain. The fal'Cie had placed a barrier on the doorway. No backing down now.
One of the cylindrical appendages suddenly drilled into the ground, sending sparks flying. We all cried out as the sparks hit us.
"We gotta take down those manipulator things!" I shouted the obvious.
Lightning silently nodded and attacked the one on our left. Following her lead, Snow, Sazh and I did the same.
After one of Sazh's bullets hit a circuit, the manipulator shuddered and fell, sparks shooting off it every once in a while. This drew our attention to the second one, which we all attacked at the same time, causing it to go down quickly as well.
My grip on my swords tightened as I looked at the fal'Cie. "Now it's your turn," I muttered.
It wasn't.
A bright light suddenly shone and blinded us.
The six of us were floating in some dark expanse, surrounded by green tendrils of light. "What the…" Sazh marvelled. "Where the hell are we?"
I looked above me to spy something terrible. "Uh…I have a few ideas."
The Pulse fal'Cie had shown us its true form. With a wave of one mechanical arm, the tendrils suddenly latched on to us. We all struggled, of course, but it didn't help.
The fal'Cie waved its hand again and another set of tendrils rushed at us. I saw two of them hit Sazh and Lightning in the chest, while another hit Snow's arm.
I heard Hope cry out in pain as he was hit as well, but, oddly, I didn't hear Vanille scream.
A tendril snaked over my chest before snapping into the back of my neck. I roared in pain.
The tendrils suddenly let us go and we fell.
In my mind, I saw blurry, grey-scale images. Waves, screaming people, a horrible beast roaring. Fire. Death.
It was then that I blacked out.