Commander and Chief
Eve snapped her hand back as the cable she was working on spat sparks of electricity in her drcetion. Sighing heavily, she dropped the cable and stood, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She'd been working for a good few hours setting up the equipment as Lightning had ordered. She'd occasionally check on Alva. Her sister's fever hadn't completely gone and she'd started coughing, groaning quietly when she thought Eve wasn't looking or listening.
"If you want to stay with her, I can probably finish up here." Sazh's voice brought her gaze back towards the mass of equipment in the middle of the large room. She hadn't noticed her eyes drift in the direction of the bedroom. She cleared her throat, shaking her head while moving to grab another tool, "Go on, we've only got one more console to hook up." Sazh motioned toward the bedroom as he stood, folding the tool in his hand, "Better yet, you could head over to Serah's, she could probably whip something up something similar to what Vanille gave you. She's learned quite a bit about the healing properties of the plant life around the village."
Eve didn't respond right away. She fiddled with the tool in her hands. She couldn't deny Alva's condition greatly concerned her. And she knew it was affecting her work. The strange remedy Vanille had given her for Alva was down to the last sip. And while it had helped the fever, Eve could tell Alva was still in pain.
"Serah?"
"Oh... she's..." Sazh trailed off for a moment, considering the best introduction, "Snow's wife. Her house is farther down the hill, nearer the lake. One of the largest, bright red roof." Sazh motioned towards the door. Eve didn't moved, still contemplating the suggestion, "Go on, I'll keep an eye on your sister." Still, Eve remained in place. The man had an honest face and trustworthy eyes but her protectiveness towards Alva ran deep, "I understand your hesitation to leave her in the care of a stranger but I have a son—who wasn't always nineteen. I can take care of your sister for a few minutes, which is really all it should take." He assured the Lance Corporal.
Glancing one last time towards the spare bedroom of the house, Eve set the tool in her hand back down and nodded, making her way around the equipment toward the front door.
"Thank you." She mumbled before exiting the house and following the path down the hill towards the lake. Stretching as she walked, Eve allowed herself to take in the surroundings. She'd never seen so much greenery. Granted Crystallinus wasn't exactly void of nature but where Crystallinus was carved from the crystal from Cocoon, Oerba Neo seemed to be built up from the ground of Gran Pulse. Both were spectacular in vastly different ways.
Eve only had a minute or so to take in the beauty for before long, she'd reached the large house Sazh had mentioned with the bright red roof. Slowly making her way around the front, she straightened out her uniform and knocked on the door. There was no answer for quite a while but as she raised her hand to knock again, the door was pulled open. She blinked at the woman that stood in the doorway. The first thought crossing her mind was of the Commander who should have been far, far from the village.
"Hi... you must be..." The pink-haired woman spoke first, "Fang?" Eve was snapped out of her trance at the name of the first stranger she'd met back in the city.
"Uh, no, I'm... my name is Eve- uh, Lance Corporal Eve DeFluo." She saluted out of reflex, then mentally kicked herself at the stupidity of her actions, "I, I work with Commander Lightning Fa-"
"Oh, you work with my sister!" The woman reacted excitedly, stepping into the house and waving Eve in. Sister? "Please, come in." Eve obeyed awkwardly, noticing the coziness of the house as the woman shut the door behind her, "I'm Serah, Serah Farron." The pinkette smiled as she extended a hand which Eve barely hesitated to take, "Cla-Lightning is my older sister." Eve merely nodded in acknowledgment as she was guided into the kitchen. The resemblance was so uncanny, she thought for a moment they may have been twins. But there were subtle differences she noticed that told her that wasn't quite right.
"I was told by Snow that she'd arrived with company and were setting up at her place but every time I set out to head up there to greet you guys, something came up." Again, Eve merely nodded, "Besides I'd heard you all went out on the shuttle earlier—would you like some tea?"
"No, thank you," Eve raised a hand as Serah lifted a pot off the stove, "I'm fine." The Lance Corporal was keen to get to the main reason for her visit but found it very hard to interrupt the pinkette's welcoming.
"So how do you know Claire?"
"Claire?" Eve asked, eyebrow raised. A flash of regret crossed Serah's face before she sighed, shaking her head.
"Lightning, Claire is her real name. I'm sorry she insisted I never use it in and or around her job but her job's rarely found itself in the village so..." The younger Farron explained, "I still don't know why she doesn't use it, it's such a pretty name." Serah motioned with her hand towards Eve who found it hard not to nod her head in agreement, "Please uh, do me a favor and maybe not mention I told you?" As she nodded once more, Eve's underlying concern for Alva broke through.
"I apologize for cutting the pleasantries short but I came at the suggestion of Mr. Katzroy," She began, "My sister is sick and he suggested I come to you, told me you may be able to help-"
"Right, right, of course, I'm sorry it's just... Claire's never brought anyone from work back to the village before—well, unless you count Hope... and perhaps Dajh now, I suppose—but they don't really count." Once again, Eve found it difficult to interrupt the pinkette as she began pondering aloud, "Oh and it's not 'Mr. Katzroy', it's Sazh—he hears you call him that, he may have one of his chocobos chase you around the village." Serah said through a laugh.
"R-Right."
"You said you're sister's sick?" Serah began to move toward the door leading out of the kicked toward the back of the house, motioning for Eve to follow, "What are her symptoms?" Eve followed the pinkette, listing off the things Alva had admit she felt, along with the few her younger sister thought she hadn't noticed. When she'd finished, they'd arrived in a small but vibrantly flourishing garden.
"That's... quite the list." Serah began, "The herbs and flowers I have here may not be enough to make a salve strong enough to completely cure her but I can at least give you a few things that may ease the pain."
"Anything you could offer would be greatly appreciated, ma'am."
"Ooooh no you don't." Serah frowned at the Lance Corporal, "There will be no military mannerism in my house, I'm Serah, you're Eve. There will be no 'ma'am's, no ranks and if I see a salute, you'll wish it was a chocobo chasing you around the village." Blinking through a feeling akin to fear, Eve nodded in understanding.
This was Commander Farron's younger sister. Despite the distinct difference in personalities, she could see the family resemblance clear as day. She briefly considered which of the Farrons' personality was stronger. It'd seem natural to her that Lightning would have been the leader or 'chief' of the village so to speak, but now Eve was reconsidering the candidate for that particular role.
"So how long have you been working with Claire?" Serah's question ended Eve's metal contemplation while picking a selection of different flowers.
"Only for a few days, actually." Eve admit, "I transferred into her training unit as an assistant."
"Interesting." The surprise in the pinkette's voice piqued the Lance Corporal's curiosity.
"Is it?"
"Well, for a couple of reasons." Serah began to explain, moving around to a different section of the garden to continue picking out plants, "One is that Claire still hasn't quite learned how to play well with others and two..." The younger Farron trailed off, her eyes now on Eve—studying her almost, "You remind me of her, I'm not quite sure how so I chalked it up to you having worked with her for long enough to have picked up a few of her mannerisms." Eve wasn't entirely sure what to think of Serah's admission, "I'm sorry, I just-"
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
"Moooooom!" Two voices caused Eve to jump. Before she could even begin to contemplate what had just happened, something brush past her to practically tackle the pinkette in front of her.
"Boys! Boys!" Serah gently calmed the boys, throwing an apologetic look at Eve, "Why are you screaming? Can't you see we have a guest?" Eve looked between the twin boys that clung to their mother's blouse, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Hello-"
"You're with CRYSIS, right!"
"Do you have a gunblade?"
"Do you have an AMP device?"
"Do you work with Auntie Claire-?"
"Syd! Noah!" Serah pulled the two before they could pounce on the young officer, "Come on now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Even Eve had to hold back a smirk as the two boys began talking at once, "Okay, stop." The twins immediately did as told, "Syd, then Noah."
"But he got to go first last time."
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Do you want me to take away the AMP devices again." Serah warned.
"Auntie Claire came back with Hope and a funny dressed lady. We saw them when Dad came to pick us up-" Syd began.
"But they looked hurt so he told us to come get you and tell you to meet them at Auntie Claire's house." Noah finished.
Serah looked up at Eve, whose face was full of apprehension again, "Alright, we'll head there right now, okay? Did daddy tell you to bring anything?" She received two shaking heads in response, "Okay, I want you two to go to Renee's alright?"
"What?"
"But we wanna see Auntie Light!"
"And the new lady!"
"You'll see them both soon enough boys, now come on, off you go." She gently urged the boys back towards the house. They pouted but eventually turned and left as quickly as they'd appeared. The pinkette handed Eve the herbs and flowers she'd gathered and led her back through the house and up towards Lightning's.
When they got there, Hope was lying on the couch—Sazh next to it, examining the soldier's head. Fang was leaning against the kitchen counter soaking a towel. Snow was trying to calm Lightning down, who was pacing back and forth by the windows. Eve noticed that Vanille and Dajh had not yet returned. Placing the bundle of herbs on the counter, she slipped into the guest bedroom to check on Alva.
"What's going on?"
"I for one would sure as hell love to know." Lightning muttered. Seeing the raised eyebrow from her sister, she sighed and stopped her pacing, "Hi Serah."
"Nice to see you too, Sis." The younger Farron smirked. Snow left Lightning's side to walk over and plant a small kiss on Serah's forehead.
"The boys?"
"At Lebreau's."
"Anyone seen Vanille?" Fang spoke up from where she was standing, poking at the greenery on the counter, "She hasn't gotten back yet?" Her eyes shifted to Sazh who shook his head.
"You must be Fang." Serah turned to the taller woman. Fang, too distracted to notice when the younger pinkette had first arrived, got her first good look at the other Farron.
"And you must be Serah." She looked between Serah and Lightning, "Nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise."
"Pity we didn't sooner, kept missing each other, bloody crystal sleep and all." Serah smirked at the raven-haired Oerban.
"Right, I wake up, you go to into stasis—funny how that worked out-"
"Alright, could we focus?" Lightning interrupted the friendly yet exceedingly bizarre exchange between the two, "Please?"
"Well, what exactly happened, Light?" Snow asked. The majority of the people in the room continued to watch the elder Farron for the few seconds of silence before she began pacing again.
"We don't know exactly."
"We know taking the shuttle anywhere near the storm is a bad idea," Hope spoke up, pulling himself up slowly from his lying position on the couch, "It interferes with the systems on board. Also we got word from the city; anything powered by or linked to the energy in the Crystal Pillar is either malfunctioning or not working at all." The First Lieutenant continued, "We were lucky, we barely managed to fly the shuttle out of there and back here in one piece."
"Barely one piece." Fang muttered. Hope shot her a brief look, somewhat thankful Lightning hadn't seemed to have heard.
"It's safe to say the distance from the Pillar could've also had a part in the crash-"
"Hold on, the crash?" Serah put a hand up to stop Hope. She turned to her sister, "You crashed?"
"We didn't crash-" Lightning began to argue.
"We crashed." Fang stated, earning her a glare from the Commander.
"Look we're all fine, we're all here, okay?" Lightning refused to argue in circles. She cleared her throat before continuing, "We reached the edge of the storm and got... sucked into a cloud wall." She began to pace again, "We all had a... memory—a flashback—only we weren't just seeing it."
"We were reliving it." Hope clarified, "We were there... somehow."
"What, like the cloud brought you all back in time?" Snow chuckled at his verbal thought. The others looked between each other. Fang was particularly impressed at how Snow's outrageous suggestions or explanations—rarely intended to be taken seriously—still somehow managed to be the best one for certain situations. The room was filled with a rather uneasy silence, broken only when the front door was opened and closed, revealing a beaming Vanille and out-of-breath Dajh.
"We're home!" The bright-eyed woman exclaimed, revealing her rather gorged gathering pouch, not quite reading the mood, "Now I'm pretty sure I got all the ingredients for most of the salves I could think of-" She stopped as Dajh put a hand on her shoulder, noticing the intense atmosphere. She also noticed the younger Farron standing a few feet away. She perked up, remaining quiet but waving excitedly receiving a warm smile from Serah in return.
"What did we miss?" Dajh questioned eventually.
"We've gotta go back." Lightning decided, no longer having the patience to be talking in circles.
"Wait, hang on, go back?" Serah moved to block Lightning's path to the door, "You just got back—barely." The elder Farron sighed, opening her mouth to reason with Serah but the younger pinkette didn't give her a chance, "You arrive in the village, the first thing you do is go flying off into a storm; you come back worse for wear after experiencing something none of you can explain; and your first reaction is to go back?"
"Serah-"
"No, don't 'Serah' me, Lightning." A new feeling of unease began to spread through the room—in most cases. For the newer guests of the house, it was more a feeling of slight amusement, "Your investigation can wait a night, you should all rest and recuperate before you decide to play storm catchers again." Again, Lightning opened her mouth to protest but ended up just sighing, shaking her head and turning back toward the windows. Grinning victoriously, the younger of the two turned to the rest of the people in the room who just stared in subtle awe and wonder—including a half-hidden Eve at the entrance of the small hall that led to the spare bedroom.
The Lance Corporal had heard Vanille's arrival and had made her way back to the living room area to report on the situation with Alva. She caught the tail-end of the group discussion, meaning she's witnessed the Commander completely defeated by her sister. The question regarding the Farron sisters' personalities she'd asked herself earlier was most thoroughly answered.
"Eve." Serah spied the young officer at the edge of the room.
"Eve!" Vanille all but bounded over, "How Alva?" The Lance Corporal forced her eyes from the Farron sisters to meet the Oerban's questioning eyes.
"She's... I'm... I'm not sure," Eve stammered slightly, "I think there's something really wrong with her." The young officer almost lost her footing as Vanille bolted past her. She caught Lightning's gaze for a short second before turning and following. Serah moved toward the hall as well. But not before also glancing at her sister, giving her a look that reinforced the decision that'd been made for them to remain in Oerba Neo for the time being.
As the younger Farron left the room, Lightning—despite her intense desire not to—eventually caught Fang's eyes. The thoroughly gratified grin on the Oerban's face caused her heart to skip a beat and her temper to flare. And once again she was brought back to feelings of ten years ago—no storm cloud needed.
A/N:
Goodness gracious me that took FOREVER to finish =_=;;;
Serah Farron. Like Lightning, only scarier o_0
Another slow-ish one, sry peeps.
The action will come, worry not. I just didn't plan Chps 25-30 very well.
...well, more like didn't plan on them needing to be SO DAMN LOOOONG =\
ANYway, I gotta get ready for work.
UGH, work =[