[Final Fantasy XIII] Crystal Dreams of Eternity
Chapter 8: (III.4) The Door of Souls
A Final Fantasy XIII Fanfic
By jen-chan
January 26 - February 22, 2011
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS: Postgame. Lightning and Fang find themselves at the Door of Souls. The quest to save Fang and Vanille begins.
Lightning and Fang whirled around to face the direction of the voice that had 'spoken', but there was no one else in the ruined temple with them.
'CLAIRE, PLEASE, USE YOUR WILL. SHAPE ME.'
Shape? Oh, Right. Recalling her actions from the crystal cavern, Lightning did as asked, closing her eyes. This time, however, the image of the woman she knew as Etro did not appear in her mind's eye. Instead, upon hearing Fang give a short 'huh?' of surprise, Lightning opened her eyes to see a crystal statue of Etro before her.
The statue was steadily crumbling, even as Lightning looked at it.
"... Etro?" Lightning tried, hesitantly, addressing the statue. "Is that you?"
'Yes.' The Goddess's voice emanated from the statue, though it seemed softer and weaker than it had been in the crystal cavern. 'I apologize for the confusion, but I cannot accompany you into Buniberzei's dream, as I am not welcome here. Time grows short, and you must begin your quest now to retrieve your friends from the chaos.'
Lightning was stunned. "Wait. Who is Buniberzie? You said we were at the Door of souls? This... place..." Lightning gestured at the remains of the temple around her, "this place is the Door of Souls?"
'Door of Souls', was definitely something Lightning recalled from the events that led up to the fall of Cocoon. It had been what Barthandelus had been trying to open through the genocide of Cocoon's people.
This could *not* be a good place to be.
If a statue could sigh, Lightning figured that this one was doing it.
'No, this *world* is the Door of Souls. This temple is a portal to the Door of Souls, and the only place where I may exercise my influence, though not for much longer.' The crystal statue crumbled further, losing part of its face.
Lightning could hear Fang speaking up beside her, the confusion in Fang's voice as clear as it had been in Lightning's own. "Wait, do you mean to say that this whole world is a door?"
'In a sense. The Door of Souls is not an actual place. It is a metaphor denoting the passage from the visible world, your world, into the invisible world, also known as the chaos: that which does not exist. However, the Maker, Buniberzei, seeks the Door of Souls, even as he slumbers, and we are in his dream. So, the door is given a manifestation in his dream: this world. Because, as Buniberzei is the Maker, if he dreams that it exists, then, it exists.'
"The Maker?" There were so many questions in Lightning's head. Portions of ruined analects she'd once read so long ago sprung to her mind. "Wait, isn't the Maker referring to the Gods, Pulse and Lindzei? The creators of Gran Pulse and Cocoon?"
'No.' The rest of Etro's face crumbled to the ground, followed shortly by her entire head thereafter. 'Pulse and Lindzei may have the power of gods, but they are bound to Focus, tasks that Buniberzei left for them, and so they are Fal'Cie.'
"Fal'Cie?" Fang's face darkened. "Like Anima? And Orphan?"
'To compare Anima and Orphan to Pulse and Lindzei is to compare a matchstick to a volcano.'
The statue continued to the detriment of its continued existence. 'Buniberzei left Pulse and Lindzei several tasks. They were to expand the visible world, seek the Door of Souls, and open it. When it was ready to be opened, Buniberzei was to be awakened, so that he may pass through it. Lindzei was to protect him while he slept.'
It was getting more difficult to hear Etro now, though the pain in her voice was plain enough. 'Such an endless cycle of regret. What Buniberzei did not know, is that he himself would find the Door of Souls, and that Pulse and Lindzei never would, so long as they labored to. Only when they ended, and entered their own eternal slumber, would they arrive here, where Buniberzei himself already is.
'Pulse and Lindzei, searching to complete their own focus, created their own Fal'Cie and L'Cie, tasking them with the same contradictory tasks, knowing, or not knowing, that for their Fal'Cie to complete the task, they too would have to end.'
Right, Lightning thought darkly. Destroying Orphan before he was born, and taking the rest of humanity and Cocoon with him. And he would have succeeded too, if not for...
Evidently, Fang was having the same sorts of thoughts, for she touched her own right shoulder then, where her scorched L'Cie brand was. "That's why you helped us." Fang finally said. "Twice. Because you knew there was no point to killing millions. Cocoon may have had to be destroyed, but the people, they didn't have to die."
'It was not just I, who leant a hand.' The statue replied. 'In the visible world, Buniberzei's body sleeps as a crystal. This crystal, raised by Ragnarok, is now being used to support Cocoon.'
That information struck Lightning like a thunderbolt, and for a while, she was not able to fully comprehend the significance of that revelation. A look in Fang's direction found the hunter with an expression of flabbergast on her face also. Stunned silence loomed in the ruined temple, before Etro's voice could be heard again.
'Please, ask your questions now,' the statue implored. 'My time is almost at an end.'
There were so many questions swimming in Lightning's head though, she wasn't quite sure where to begin. Opening and closing her mouth a few times, she finally managed to struggle out the most important one. "So what is our mission? Our target?" She blurted. She was a soldier after all. "How do we rescue Fang and Vanille?"
The statue had crumbled down to mid chest. Etro's voice grew further away, ever more difficult to hear.
'Buniberzei's mind created this world as the door between the visible world and the invisible world. When humans die, their souls come through here en route to the chaos. And, similarly, when humans are born, their souls come through here en route to the visible world.
'A God cannot die. A Fal'Cie cannot die. But they can come close; they can become trapped in crystal sleep. When that happens, they can come here, or their minds can come here, as well. Therefore, Buniberzei is here. And Lindzei came here when Cocoon fell as well.
'But it is not only those from the visible world who can visit here. Those from the chaos can visit here too. And there are many things from the chaos what wish to come here, for they wish to destroy Buniberzei and take his place as God of the visible world.
'In your case, Lightning, you are still alive. Your body has entered into this realm, for I have transported you here. If you can open this place, this 'Door of Souls', you will have the choice to either return back to the visible world, or you can go into the chaos.
'Your friends are in crystal sleep. It is like death. And so their circumstances are reversed. In their case, their souls remained in the visible world, for they wished to stay with their friends, but their bodies had already gone onto the chaos. As you, Lightning, have bodily come into this place, their souls have followed you here, and are given physical manifestation here. If this place, the Door of Souls, is open, they can go into the chaos to retrieve their bodies, then follow you back to the visible world. That is what you must do.'
By the end of the long explanation, only the bottom portion of Etro's dress remained, the rest of her had already crumbled to the ground.
"Wait!" Lightning cried, urgency overtaking her. There was still so much she didn't know! "How do we do that?"
'You must wake Buniberzei. He dreamed this realm into existence. If he wakes, this realm will cease to exist. It is in that nothingness that there is freedom to move between worlds.'
Lightning blinked, then widened her eyes as realization hit her. "Wait, if Buniberzei wakes up... wouldn't his body be free from the crystal? Wouldn't that destroy Cocoon AND Gran Pulse?"
But by then, the Goddess had crumbled to nothing, and there would be no more answers from her. Etro's parting words were so soft, Lightning had to strain to hear, and even then, she couldn't quite catch it all.
'... extend ... my influence... seek... he may assist... he is... close.'
"Etro, wait! Wait!" Lightning shouted, reaching for the statue.
Her hand reached only the pile of fine crystal dust the statue had become. Lightning lifted a handful of it up and watched as the grains slipped through her fingers, cursing softly. "Great," she muttered. She looked over at Fang. "Any ideas?"
The hunter had a faraway look in her eyes, and didn't answer Lightning right away.
Lightning frowned. "Fang?" She repeated.
That faraway look didn't leave the hunter's eyes, even though she spoke. "Etro said, 'their souls have followed you here, and are given physical manifestation here'... she means Vanille and I, yeah?"
And then Lightning realized the problem: if both Fang and Vanille were here, then where the hell was Vanille? Concern filled her heart. "Fang, can you feel her?"
Fang didn't answer right away, the look of concentration on her face growing more intense. And then, finally, she nodded, and the faraway look left her eyes. "Yeah." She determined. "I can. It's pretty weak, but I think I can feel her," she pointed to her left, "that way."
Lightning nodded, feeling a hint of relief creeping into her heart. Though her head was still full of questions, at least they had something to work towards, a goal to focus on. "Okay then. First things first, we find Vanille."
Lightning turned to head in the direction Fang had pointed before she felt the hunter's grip on her wrist, and found herself pulled back towards the other woman.
"No, first things first," Fang replied, even as she spun Lightning around.
Suddenly, Lightning felt hands cupping the sides of her face and lips upon her own as Fang kissed her, long and deep.
It only took Lightning a fraction of a moment to respond. She closed her eyes and eagerly returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around Fang's waist. Fang tasted exactly as Lightning remembered, and something inside her rejoiced and sang with glory at finally, *finally* being able to embrace with the other woman once more. Fang was warm and sweet and all manner of soft. They kissed, and kissed, and kissed...
Eventually, they broke apart, though not very far. Fang was reluctant to release Lightning's face, as Lightning was reluctant to unhand the other woman's waist. They stood, foreheads and noses touching, cheeks flushed and chests heaving. Lightning kept her eyes closed, savoring the sensation of Fang's body pressed so close against hers. She felt maybe a little dizzy from the exhilaration of it all- Goddess, but it had been so *long* - but eventually, when she opened her eyes, she could vaguely make out the twinkle in the other woman's beautiful jade eyes.
Fang sighed, removing a hand from Lightning's face, but only to run her fingers gently through Lightning's soft, pink locks. "Sorry, Sunshine, but that was long overdue."
Lightning couldn't help but agree with Fang's sentiment with another soft peck on her mouth.
The Door of Souls was *huge*. Fang wasn't sure if it was bigger than Gran Pulse or not, but the landscape seemed to stretch on forever and ever as far as her eyes could see.
The landscape was certainly reminiscent of Gran Pulse, and the Archylte Steppe in particular. Fang supposed that wasn't too much of a surprise as Buniberzei made both these worlds after all. Maybe he didn't have a very robust imagination.
As Fang and Lightning stepped out of the temple, Fang absently felt Lightning touch her upper arm, where her brand was. She looked over at the woman and found her pretty features crinkled with thought.
"... was this always here?" Lightning asked.
Fang nodded. She realized that the other members of their L'Cie family had lost their brands, thankfully, upon the fall of Cocoon, but hers and Vanille's brands had remained. Vanille's, like Fang's own, had become scorched white. They had theorized at the time that it might have been a symbol of Etro's touch, though they hadn't been able to confirm it.
Then Lightning and Fang appeared to come to the same thought. They both looked down at Lightning's chest at the same time. The soldier gingerly touched her left breast, over top of her heart. Then Lightning looked back up at Fang, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes and the slightest of twitches at the corner of her lips.
There was no way Fang could miss the invitation in Lightning's eyes.
"... don't be shy?" Fang repeated some of her earliest words to the soldier, grinning at the fond memory.
Lightning smirked. "Like there's anything to be shy about anymore." She pulled the zipper of her top down and lifted the left lapel of her jacket, exposing her chest. Fang bent down to examine the skin, and sure enough, just overtop of Lightning's heart, was a white scorched brand, similar to Fang's own. Fang couldn't help but realize that against Lightning's snowy pale skin, the brand was not quite as noticeable as it was against Fang's own tanned skin.
"What do you think this means?" Lightning asked.
Fang could only shrug; damned if she knew. But a thought did occur to her. "Try a spell?"
Lightning nodded. Looking down at her hand - the one she'd bloodied so badly against the floor of the crystal cavern (funny, that seemed so long ago), Lightning muttered 'cure' softly, and was rewarded when familiar strands of greenish light emanated from her body, then dissipated. She smiled as she was then able to open and close her fist with little difficulty. "Huh." She looked over at Fang. "Well, look at that. Guess I'm L'Cie again. Think it might be Etro's doing?"
"That would be my guess." Fang agreed. "I think I like her more than Anima. At least she doesn't threaten you with Cie'th-hood if you don't do what she wants." She paused. "I think."
With that they ventured off in the general direction Fang was feeling Vanille's pull from. Fang thanked Etro silently that she was able to feel her oldest friend. She wasn't sure what kind of state she'd be in right now if she couldn't. At least last time she'd been separated from Vanille, they'd been on *earth*. Who knew what this realm was like.
Still, it was worrisome that the direction Fang felt Vanille from seemed to stretch on and on. The redhead was definitely *not* close by.
They travelled at a brisk jog, not quite sure what sort of dangers may be awaiting them. The land was hilly, with various plateaus and dips dotting the landscape. Overtop, there was a sky, clouds, and a sun that seemed to be moving across the sky. It really *did* look a lot like Gran Pulse. Had she not known better, Fang really would have thought she was back on the Archylte Steppe...
... until they ran into their first local.
"Fang, do you see that?" Lightning asked softly, pointing up ahead.
Fang scanned the distance and frowned. There appeared to be an old man wearing what could only be a hospital gown walking slowly and aimlessly just in front of them, but even as Fang looked at him, he faded out of existence. A short while later, he reappeared several meters away from them, still walking slowly, though in a different direction from before. He only managed to walk several steps before he faded from view once again, only to show up to Fang's far right, this time, walking towards them. Then he disappeared again.
Fang blinked several times and rubbed her face. "Damn eyes are playing tricks on me," she muttered. "Do you see an old bloke disappearing and reappearing?"
Lightning nodded warily.
Suddenly, the old man popped up right in front of them. Fang barely had time to give an undignified yelp of surprise as the old man walked right *through* her, as though she wasn't even there. "What the hell!" Fang cried, as the old man disappeared again. She stared incredulously at Lightning.
The size of the pink haired soldier's eyes showed she was just as surprised as Fang was.
They scanned the horizon for any sign of the man; he now appeared to be several dozen feet away from them.
Suddenly, as they watched, a second figure appeared behind the old man, and put a hand on the old man's shoulder.
The figure appeared to be a winged person, and reminded Fang a little of Etro in that it was roughly seven feet tall and willowy thin. Fang couldn't help but feel a sense of strange tranquility wash over her as she gazed at the creature.
It had four wings which appeared to be made of blue-tinged light. The wings weren't quite attached to the figure, but rather, seemed to emanating from its back. Two of them were larger, and were positioned to be coming out of its shoulder blades while two smaller ones seemed to come from the small of it back.
Its face was roughly human-like, though its mouth seemed a bit small for the size of its head, while its eyes were slightly larger than expected and had no irises. As it touched the old man's shoulder, the fellow turned to face it with surprise, but no fear.
Its hair was bluish-white in color, and seemed to stand on end, defying gravity, and waving gently in non-existent wind. It wore bluish-white armor that seemed to be a mix of clothing and metal, and was of a design Fang could not place.
"Oh, hello," the old man said to the creature. "Can you help me? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing now. Might you know?"
The Pulsian native couldn't hear the winged creature's response, but evidently it was communicating with the old man somehow, for the old man then said, "oh, that would be lovely. Thank you! Thank you!"
Fang wasn't quite sure what happened next.
The winged creature put its hands gently on the sides of the old man's face, and closed its eyes. As Fang watched, the old man's form grew blurry, and then seem to evaporate into thin air entirely. All that remained in his place was a glowing ball of bluish light, which was now being cradled gently in the winged creature's palms.
When the winged creature opened its eyes, it lifted the ball of light up, as though in offering, and then the ball of light faded away.
Its task done, the winged creature then regarded Fang and Lightning, cocking its head to the side quizzically.
Not letting her eyes leave the creature for a moment, Fang leaned over towards Lightning and muttered softly under her breathe, "what do you think it is?"
"How should I know?" Lightning responded, bewilderment equally evident in her words as they had been in Fang's.
Still, the soldier went a step further and cleared her throat. "Um... can you understand me?" She spoke loudly to the creature.
The creature frowned. It gave a little jump into the air, and promptly disappeared.
"Wait!" Lighting called, taking a step forward.
But the creature had gone.
As they continued to travel, they tried to make sense of the encounter they just had with the... whatever the heck it was.
They didn't have much luck. Their attention was stolen however, as they made their way around the foot of a plateau.
Fang could hear sounds of a battle coming from just up ahead. She traded a worried glance with Lightning; why would there be battle here?
Cautiously, they rounded the land structure to see what was making the ruckus.
A winged creature - similar to the one they had seen earlier, with just enough minor difference to show it was not the same individual - was fighting against what looked like a pissed off cloud of smoke.
The cloud was approximately the size and shape of a behemoth, though that was where the similarity ended. It was difficult to describe because it appeared to be made of dark, dense smoke. Fang could not really make out any individual features, as the smoke appeared to obscure everything, but it appeared to be solid and probably did have limbs, as a section of smoke was extended out from the smoke's main mass and was swatting at the winged figure. From where they stood, Fang could *feel* the malevolent intent emanating from the thing.
The winged creature, for its part, did not appear to be doing very well against the monster. All it could really do was dodge and screech in animal fury at the monster.
Fang glanced at Lightning out of the corner of her eyes, and noticed that the soldier had her hand on her gunblade. Fang felt a grim smile come to her face as she reached for her own weapon.
They might not have been able to tell head from tail, but there was no way the malice coming from the 'cloud' could make it the 'good guy' in this situation.
Suddenly, a second 'limb' extended from the main mass of the formless monster, and struck the winged figure head on. It gave a distinct grunt of pain as it was smashed into the ground.
That sealed the verdict.
Running from their place of cover, Fang and Lightning rushed the smoke cloud.
Lightning unleashed a series of magical spells against it, even as Fang launched high into the air to execute Highwind; if the smoke cloud was solid enough to hit, Fang reasoned, then it would be solid enough to *be hit*.
The result was more than a little embarrassing for Fang as she unexpected went right through the thing. Caught completely by surprise when her lance hit absolutely nothing at all instead of something solid, Fang quickly found herself *inside* her target.
It was an absolutely unholy experience.
Fang couldn't help it; she screamed.
"Fang!" Lightning cried in shock when the high flying woman disappeared into their enemy. She quickly cancelled the spell she had been ready to unleash, unsure if it would hit Fang as well.
A split second later, Lightning could hear Fang screaming, and then the woman came tumbling out of the side of the cloud, still hollering as though she were on fire, and scrambling madly to get away from the thing.
Seeing the other woman safely away from the creature, Lighting saw an opportunity and unloaded a series of fire and thunder at the target.
She seemed to have a bit more luck than Fang did as the smoke cloud gave a deep howl and appeared to writhe in pain.
Lightning noted that only magic should be used against this enemy and quickly tossed a few more spells at the creature, quickly getting its undivided attention.
Several large tendrils of spoke shot out from the creature's main body at Lightning, and the soldier had to execute several backward flips in quick succession to avoid being hit, firing off more spells at the creature as she did so.
It took several more rounds of this before the creature gave a howl of pain, and dissipated into nothing.
Not wasting a second, Lightning quickly rushed to Fang's side. The other woman had a wild look of madness in her eyes and was clutching at her head while sprouting gibberish.
"Fang!" Lightning cried, grabbing the Pulsian native, even as she cast several cures on her. "Calm down! Calm down!"
But Fang would not. She struggled against Lightning's grip, all the while uttering nonsense.
"Fang! FANG!" Lightning continued to cry the other woman's name, refusing to let go of the Pulsian and taking a pummeling for her trouble. She barely even felt the strikes over the horror that was roiling in her heart.
What the hell had happened to Fang?
Suddenly, Lightning felt herself being pulled away from Fang, and realized it was the winged creature doing so. As Lightning watched in horrific fascination, it placed its hands around Fang's head. A blue light emanated from its palms, and Fang instantly calmed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
When the winged creature removed its hands, Fang's eyes fluttered opened and she blinked confusedly at the figure, confusion and then alarm clearly evident in her gaze. Her eyes searched for Lightning and it wasn't until their gazes locked that Fang calmed again. Her eyes darted back and forth between Lightning and the winged figure. "What... happened?" Fang finally asked.
The answer came to Lightning's mind, though it certainly didn't originate there.
'You jumped into a Chaotic Beast. That was, without a doubt, the most fantastic display of utter idiocy I have ever witnessed.'
It didn't take long for them to realize that it was the winged person who had spoken, directly into their heads.
Lightning couldn't help but feel weary. Why did it suddenly seem like everyone and their dog could perform telepathy? But even as she wondered if her thoughts were safe, she heard Fang speak up, annoyance clear as day in her voice, "hey, where do you get off calling me an idiot, you overgrown dragonfly! We just saved your neck!"
'And *I* just saved *your* sanity,' the winged figure replied coolly. 'That beast came to the Door of Souls from the chaos. To jump into it is to jump into the chaos itself, and human minds are not mean to comprehend such enormity.' But then she cocked her head as she looked between Fang and Lightning. 'But then again... you two are not merely Etro's children, are you?' She pointed at Fang's arm, at the white scorched brand. 'You are Etro's Champions, are you not? Why did you not invoke her gifts prior to challenging the Chaotic Beast?'
Fang gave the winged creature a hooded glare. "Because I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."
The winged figure frowned. 'Do you not carry Etro's talismans?'
Fang looked over at Lightning, who suddenly felt something click in her mind. Silently, she put her hand over her breast overtop of her brand, and thought about Odin. As she did so, she felt her Eidolon Crystal materialize into her palm. Opening her hand, she showed it to Fang and the creature. "Are you talking about this?" Lightning asked.
The creature nodded. 'Yes. That is proof that you have received Etro's gifts. You should invoke them. Humans could not hope to challenge creatures from the chaos without the support of Gods.'
Fang placed her hand over her other shoulder. There was a brief glow, and when she opened her palm, she too had called up her Eidolon Crystal. She looked over at Lightning, as if to say, 'what do you think'?
Hearing Fang's unspoken question, Lightning couldn't help but shrug. What could it hurt?
They tossed their crystals up into the air. Lightning quickly turned her weapon into gun mode and let a single shot fly at her crystal, shattering it, even as Fang smashed her crystal to shards with the sharp end of her lance.
The two women waited for Odin and Bahamut to arrive, but the Eidolons never showed. Instead, summoning circles appeared on the ground beneath their very feet, bathing everything in light.
It was so bright, Lightning had to close her eyes.
She only opened them again, when she heard Fang give a low whistle of appreciation.
Cracking her eyes open, the first thing Lightning saw was Fang as she'd never seen her before.
The Pulsian hunter's regular clothing had been replaced with ornately patterned black armor across her chest, one shoulder, forearms and hands up to her knuckles, half her hips, as well as her legs from her knees down to her feet. The patterns engraved into the armor reminded Lightning a bit of the Menhirrim in Taejin's Tower.
Fang's weapon - her Kain Lance - had also changed, and appeared to now be made from the same substance as the black armor. Something told Lightning that Fang would have no problem executing physical attacks against any Chaotic Beasts in the future with that thing.
A war-like 'mask' framed the edges of Fang's face. It was more for decoration than actual protection, as it didn't really cover the woman's head or face very much, save for her forehead and the sides of her face; two pieces of the mask extended down from her temples to her jaw, roughly an inch and a half in width. Fearsome twin horns stuck out from the mask just above each of Fang's eyes, roughly four inches in length each.
The flesh around Fang's mid-drift and one shoulder continued to be exposed, as did both of her upper arms. Lightning could still clearly see Fang's tattoo on one bicep with her scorched brand on the other.
The armor around Fang's hips appeared to be made of several different parts to allow for movement. The armor was short, and reached down to mid-thigh on one of Fang's legs. The other leg did not appear to be covered in armor; instead, Lightning could recognize the 'dress' part of Fang's old blue sari. The twin animal pelts Fang wore from her belt were still present.
All in all, Lightning couldn't help but think Fang looked quite dashing.
For her part, the Pulsian native didn't appear to be looking at herself though. Her gaze was firmly on Lightning's body, and the soldier realized that this mean that her own outfit had likely changed as well.
Looking down at herself, Lightning found that she too, was now adorned in armor, though hers was silver in color and had a different design from Fang's.
Her guardian corp jacket was gone, as was her regular clothing. She wore a fitted black body suit underneath silver armor which stretched across her chest and shoulders. Whilst Fang's armor was etched with archaic patterns, Lightning's own was smoother, with simpler lines and crests in the metal. A circular shield was attached to her right elbow.
Her gunblade, now in blade form, was barely recognizable to her, seeming to be at half again as big as her omega was in width and length. Fortunately, it didn't seem to weigh anymore though.
Her leg armor reached up to the middle of her thighs, with impressive spikes at the knees.
Perhaps the most outlandish part of her outfit was a half-skirt which covering her left side, from the hip down, and was made of white feathers.
Lighting looked back over at Fang. Many thoughts crowded her mind, but she couldn't help but voice her most immediate concern.
"... well, this can't be practical."
Author's Notes & Omake:
Yay! Finally getting to plot! ^_^ My apologies about the massive amount of exposition in the first scene...
I understand that FFXIII-2 is supposed to take place in an entirely different world from Gran Pulse & Cocoon, so I'm trying to build an interesting one. I know I'm not doing so very gracefully, and this chapter has a lot more 'tell' than 'show' in it, but I thought it was important to set out some basic mechanics.
So far, I have to admit that I'm really not a fan of Lightning's new look as per the FFXIII-2 trailer, so please don't expect them to be in the new clothes very much. :( Maybe it'll grow on me...
Please let me know what you think so far, and if there's anything that doesn't make sense or requires further explanation!
(As a heads up, explanations about the winged figure, and the fact that Muin was the Maker rather than Buniberzei, are forthcoming).
Next chapter will either be pre-game or during-game! Haven't decided yet!
Cheers,
jen-chan
OMAKE 1: It's Homage! Really!
[LIGHTNING and FANG find themselves in the temple]
FANG: I think we're in a dream.
LIGHTING: Who's dream?
ETRO: The Maker's. Buniberzie. Welcome to the Door of Souls.
LIGHTING: I'm in a god's dream?
ETRO: Yes.
LIGHTING: Wait... this sounds kinda familiar... Wasn't that the plot of FFX?
ETRO: [Sweatdrop] Uh... maybe...?
OMAKE 2: Shinigami by Any Other Name
[FANG and LIGHTNING watch as the WINGED CREATURE taps the OLD MAN on the shoulder]
OLD MAN: Oh, hello. Can you help me? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing now. Might you know?
WINGED CREATURE: Yeah. You're dead. I'm here to take your soul to the other world.
FANG: [taps WINGED CREATURE on the shoulder] You know what? Sorry mate, but you look *nothing* like death should. Shouldn't you look more like this? [Shows a picture of a SKELETON with a SCYTHE]
LIGHTNING: Or something like this? [Shows a picture of RYUK from DEATH NOTE]
FANG: Or like this? [Shows a picture of BOTAN from YU YU HAKUSHO]
LIGHTING: Or this? [Shows a picture of RUKIA from BLEACH]
FANG: Or this? [Shows a picture of SHINIGAMI-SAMA from SOUL EATER)
LIGHTNING: Or this? [Shows a picture of ENMA from DRAGON BALL Z]
FANG: Or-
WINGED CREATURE: Okay, seriously? You guys watch waaay too much anime.
OMAKE 3: New Clothes!
LIGHTING: [Eyes twitching as she looks down at her armor. Looks at Fang] Well, what do you think?
FANG: I like it!
LIGHTNING: I don't know... [twirls around] It's kinda drafty. I feel like I'm showing a lot of ass in this outfit!
FANG: ... why do you think I like it?