So hi guys, and thanks for tuning into the next chapter of NR!

And I begin as always, with all the love I got: GCFarron, (Yes! You share my obsession with nice numbers!) Whistlewind Wolf, Mylaervain, OscarMerrinoz96, and Zapper90. Thank you guys very much for the compliments and words of encouragement! I'm glad you guys seem to find Snow likeable - I totally agree that he got on my nerves a LOT in the original XIII but I thought the love story being played out was well done. 8D

As for LightxHope, I'm glad you guys found them believable and that the scene was done okay! I stressed a LOT about that particular part, trying to get it right. I'm happy you guys enjoyed it!

To Whistlewind Wolf - haha, well, most of my exams are over now so I have quite some time on my hands. (Plus, the PS3 got packed away in a box so I can't really play right now; relying on my PSP for entertainment) But I think the main motivation is my own desire to write well, and the love I have for the XIII characters and plot - they're highly inspiring, and that makes me want to write! It takes about 2-3 hours for me to write a chapter, and well, my RL friends are fine with me bothering them, ha!

Anyways, I'll be quiet now and let you guys in on the next chapter. Enjoy as always! (:

Chapter 34: Aegis

Something rattled in the dense bushes as Serah followed Snow upwards on the dark bluff. She backed away quickly, not wanting to disturb whatever was in there. Snow held her close, eying the bushes suspiciously. Nothing sprang out at them, though, and she felt him relax.

"It's okay, baby. There's nothing there." His reassuring voice calmed her a bit. Suddenly, he stopped walking, pulling her to him. Serah observed the tense stances of her sister and Hope. There's something up ahead... isn't there?

They hadn't even gotten to the castle yet and the place was teeming with monsters. Serah found herself wistfully wishing for the monster-free cathedral of Tythell; at least there, there hadn't been so many...creepy crawlies. This next one was slowly approaching them in the faint light provided by the sliver of moon above their heads – it looked like some form of a Gorgonopsid. She heard the unsheathing of a weapon.

But the monster wasn't aiming for Lightning even though her sister was much closer to the beast - Serah realized with a start that it was going for her. Somehow, it had sensed that she was the weakest one here. Snow instantly barreled into her side, pushing her out of the way. The monster landed several feet to their right; snarling as it skidded on the wet grass.

"Get it, Sis!" he yelled back.

A storm of spells rained down on the thing, but even from behind Snow, Serah could see they weren't having that much of an effect. As the Aeroga blew her hair out behind her, Serah felt the comforting pressure of Snow's body leave her side.No! she wanted to shout for him, wanted him to come back, but fear held her in its grip. She could only watch as they tried to take on the monster.

The thing was decidedly avoiding the swipes of Lightning's gunblade, rearing up every time she tried to slash it with the metal. Serah could hear her sister's furious growl as the monster dodged the length of the weapon. It was getting slammed with spells otherwise, but even from here Serah could tell it knew, somehow, that the weapon was going to do more harm than the spells would.

They were forcing it away from her, though, and Serah found herself biting her nails before she told herself to stop. A loud squeal grated through her eardrums - her sister had managed to bury several bullets into its shoulder and it had hit the floor. Another punch from Snow launched it up into the air.

"Aggression!" It only took a few more swipes before the monster's body hit the ground. Snow returned to her side, breathing hard, but grinning.

"See, baby, told you there was nothing to it." Serah allowed herself to smile back, but it was more for him than her actual happiness. I hate it when I'm so useless.

His hand found hers again as they climbed the soft incline together. Feeling the rapid thump of his heartbeat when she rested her head on his shoulder, Serah permitted herself to feel a little better. They were fine...no one had been hurt... But I still wish...I could do more.

Her boot chipped a piece of broken tile as it scuffed across the rough stone surface; Lightning muttered a curse under her breath as the force sent the small shard of stone spinning into the darkness beneath the bridge. I sound as discreet as Snow. She looked up at the looming stillness of the castle; it gave off a misleading vibe of peace - the place was probably a monster breeding ground, judging by what they'd already seen.

The bridge ahead was flooded with moonlight, though, and there were no monsters in sight. Resting her back against a column, she waited for everyone else to catch up. The soft footsteps grew closer as Hope, Serah, and Snow came into her view, Hope looking at her quizzically.

"Do we want to wait for morning, or do we charge in?" she asked quietly.

Snow looked thoughtful, for a change. "Well, I don't mind resting up, but let's say we wait till tomorrow evening."

She looked at him suspiciously, not sure why he wanted to wait until it was dark. "Why?"

He held up a finger. "Let's think about it. They probably know we're headed here, and they've probably figured out that this place was Lindzei's Ascension. We'll have a better chance of sneaking up on them if it's dark."

"But there's also more monsters when it's dark," Hope put in, looking from Snow to her. Lightning crossed her arms - she could see Snow's point of view, and logically, it made sense, but it was true more monsters lurked around at night.

"But that'll keep them busier as well. It's a win-win situation," finished Snow. He looked proud of himself, and she let out a snort.

It's been awhile since one of Snow's plans hasn't been 'charge right in like idiots and worry about everything when we get there.' She realized that everyone else was looking at her for approval. Uncrossing her arms, she turned around. "I don't see why not." Sitting down against the column, she watched Snow play with Serah's hair, the act culminating into a fit of giggles and a game of tag. Those two...they will never grow up, will they? And maybe that's what she liked about them - they were unaffected by whatever life decided to throw their way.

Unlike her. She knew she was a mental and emotional mess at the moment, and it was only because the Maker had been so gracious that there hadn't been time for Serah to nitpick it out of her. Huh. I don't think I've been as carefree as that since...Since her mother had died, really. And in a way, she was almost jealous of their happiness - she was quite sure it would be something she'd never experience.

I'm being stupid. Shaking her head, she forced the emotions out of her mind. She was glad Serah was happy, who was she trying to fool? Lightning found her slender fingers curling into a fist again when the now old thoughts of the prophecy wormed into her brain. And I will not let anything take that away.

Closing her eyes to shut out everything else, she tried to clear her mind, the way she'd been taught. And this time, when there was no one trying to kill them, no one trying to make her summon something she didn't want to, she found it easier. Emptying her thoughts, she focused on her breathing, trying to relax the tension in her muscles.

"Claire?" Lightning groaned inwardly at the sound of her sister's voice. She didn't want to deal with whatever Serah wanted this time, didn't want to hear Serah obsess over her current well being.

"What?"

She felt Serah sit down beside her, finding her fingers. And instantly, Lightning was reminded of the moment in the cave, with Hope. Shaking her head slightly to dislodge her embarrassment at the memory, she trailed her other hand down her neck, feeling an unfamiliar flush creep up it. "Claire, are you okay?"

She was about to open her mouth to say something snappish, catching herself at the last moment. Taking a breath before replying, she tried to control her shaky breathing. "Serah, I told you to stop worrying. I'm fine."

Her sister's blue eyes met hers, and Lightning noticed Serah's I-don't-believe-you look in them. "You still haven't told us...you know. Have you thought about it?"

Figures for her to ask for the one thing I can't tell her in her first sentence. "I have...sort of." She paused, hoping Serah would get the hint. But she didn't - Serah just looked at her expectantly. How can I tell you...without..."Serah, I don't think-"

"You're hiding stuff again, aren't you?" Her sister's voice was unusually curt; removing her hands from Lightning's, she clenched them into fists at her sides. "Claire, I told you-"

She didn't let Serah finish. "I know, okay? Serah, I-" She couldn't continue. Moving a hand to her mouth, she tried to stop herself from choking on her own words, but it didn't work; she couldn't stop the pained whimper that escaped past her lips. She felt Serah grasp her shoulders roughly, shaking her. Shit, why...

"What is it? Claire, talk to me!" Feeling her heartbeat accelerate, Lightning took deep breaths, trying to calm down before she snapped. Pressing the back of her hand to her mouth again, she closed her eyes, trying to find the inner equilibrium she'd had all of five minutes ago. A spark of appreciation flared when Serah didn't press her; just waiting for her to speak.

"Serah...it's just...a lot of stuff has happened, okay? And a lot of stuff I don't want to think about...okay?"

"Claire, don't you trust me?"

It was spoken with a gentle, appeasing tone, but for some reason, those words hurt the most. It was exactly same...Once, I hated myself for pushing her away, for feeling that she didn't trust me. I...

"No!" She sounded as desperate as she felt. "It's not that..."

"Then... what is it?" The deep breaths weren't helping her calm down, and Lightning realized how utterly pathetic I must look right now. She could only thank her rare lucky stars Hope and Snow were asleep and they hadn't woken them. Her throat felt unusually tight and it was hard to get words out without feeling them rake her lungs in the effort it took to speak.

A small sniffle interrupted her thoughts. No, Maker, please...I promised...Automatically moving to Serah, she tried to reach out to her. But her sister backed away from her, and Lightning realized that...

I can't...

"Serah...please?" She was stuck. Stuck between somewhere painful and absolute hell. Her own pain, and watching Serah crying in front of her, unable to speak the words she wanted to hear. The next words came like a slap on the face.

"Claire, you told me... back in Tythell... there was something you wanted to ask me. Something you said you were afraid of my response to. Is this it?" The expression in Serah's eyes was determined. "What are you afraid of? Aren't you not scared of anything? Why are you hiding stuff from me? What could be possibly so important you can't tell your own sister? I told you my secrets, right? I was afraid of how you'd react, right? But I still did it. What happened to you?"

Please...no. Serah, stop...

Unable to voice a coherent reply, Lightning just stood there, half in shock, half trying to suppress the storm of pain threatening to rip her apart. But Serah didn't take her silence that way, as she saw the blue eyes flare with an anger in them she hadn't seen for a very long time.

"Fine, Claire, if you want to hide stuff from me, then do it." Turning, Serah walked the few feet away to rest beside Snow, snuggling against him, pointedly turning her back. Even in sleep, the big man instinctively wrapped an arm around her.

The urge to run to Serah, to apologize, was strong. It was so tempting...to just give in and tell her. So they wouldn't be arguing, so Serah wouldn't be mad at her. But I swore...no matter how much it hurt, I wouldn't dump this on her. That I wanted her to be happy, to be the childlike, happy person I saw just today. And this...I can't do it. Even if it means she'll be angry at me for Maker knows how long.

Her back to the column, she really didn't have anywhere to run. And there was nothing to run from.Going somewhere else wasn't going to change anything. There would only be the one thing she could do, and that was to suppress her own emotions as well as she could, to steel her own will that she wouldn't tell Serah, and to hope that...

That everything will be okay.

Snow carefully observed Serah as she walked beside him, pink hair glistening in the moonlight; bright against the dark path that led to the castle's interior, absent mindedly humming to herself. His wife hadn't seemed like her usual cheerful self this morning, and Lightning was acting odd too. I wonder if...

He pushed the thought away. He'd never actually seen them fight before, as close as things had gotten that one night back at home. They're probably just...tired .He shrugged to himself, his thoughts confirmed as Serah rested her head against his shoulder.

"Something up, baby?" Not that he really expected her to say anything about it. To his surprise, she fixed a serious blue gaze on him.

"Just Claire..."

Uh oh. He pulled an arm around her. "What's wrong this time?"

"I think she's hiding something from us." The words were slow, but there was no uncertainty in them. "She keeps refusing to tell me, well, whatever it was she promised to tell me. And you know what I told you she said."

He hugged her tighter. "I know, I know...but maybe you should give her some time." If he was honest, he didn't really see why it was such a big deal. It wasn't like Lightning hadn't hidden stuff before.

"But I have...Snow, I don't think she trusts me."

Bull If there was one thing I know about Sis, it's that she cares about Serah more than anything in the world. Nobody voluntarily Purges themselves otherwise, and no one takes on the whole frickin' world for one person if they didn't.

Before Snow had a chance to reply to her statement, the shifting of rock in the somewhat crumbling castle sounded above his head. Pushing Serah in front of him, Snow covered his head with one hand while urging her onward with the other.

"Run!" he shouted in front of him. His feet slipped a little on the cold stone of the spiral staircase, but he didn't stop. One glance behind him told him whole sections of the wall were coming down, and he did not want to be buried underneath it. Someone's here for sure. No way does the wall come down like that unless someone..or something...has stomped on it. A faint sliver of moonlight peeked through the window at the end of the hallway they were standing in. Snow could see the hallway opened onto a courtyard flooded with silver - but there was no one else but them in sight. Hustling Serah in front of him, he fixed his gaze on Lightning's cape as she walked. Is this what's got to her too? He couldn't control the errant thought that crossed his mind.

Stepping out onto the wet grass of the courtyard, Snow looked up. The spires of the towers loomed above them, but he couldn't see anything except the silhouettes that defined them. The sudden flap of wings interrupted his thoughts, and he whipped around.

A lone figure with a solitary wing. Feathers drifted before his face, momentarily obstructing his view of the figure. But he would recognize those golden eyes anywhere, as Yorun landed lightly in front of them. Snow heard the unsheathing of a weapon behind him, and he readied his own gloves, curling his hands into fists. The cat-like smile was prominent on the man's face.

"Look who's made it here...though we don't seem all that happy...what's with the long faces?" Snow felt Serah tense beside him as the man's eyes lingered on her. He felt icy cold creepers crawl up the back of his neck at the sight of the strange and yet now familiar golden orbs But the man swept on, clearly undaunted by the silence that met his words.

"Ah well. I guess we're not ones to talk today. A little too bad, but can't have you four disrupting my plans for this place." The man waved a hand behind him, before flapping the single wing, showering them with ragged, long feathers again. "Maybe we'll meet soon enough...if you survive, that is."

Snow backed away, pulling Serah by the back of the shirt, when he heard the snarls coming from the untrimmed and untamed hedges that hugged the side of the bright courtyard. He felt the press of Hope's back against his as they formed a tight triangle in the middle of the dew splattered grass, Snow shoving Serah roughly behind him.

"Don't spread out," he heard Lightning hiss from his other side. "They're coming – Snow, Relentless Assault!" Snow bunched his fingers into an even tighter fist before he realized that the monster pack had paused just outside of his striking range.Like they're taunting me. Well, eat this!

"Ruin!" The ball of silver smashed into the ground, scattering the silence of the fight so far and sending several flying into the air. He heard other spells crash into the ground. One came in range of his blows and he sent it flying into a column with one blow – it squealed sharply before falling still on the ground next to it.

Snow cracked his knuckles.Bring it on.

Several more made the mistake of coming into his range – Snow decapitated them before they knew what hit them. A nag of doubt started to eat at him – this was too easy; the monsters barely put up much of a resistance before a blow dealt with them. And he knew Yorun had other forces, whether it was those manadrive wielding red-eyed clones, or those lab bred genetically enhanced monsters – so why send these after them when it was so blindingly obvious they were too weak to even be a match?

The one word Hope hissed was all Snow needed to know. "Distraction."

That's it! He's buying time...goddammit! With a renewed fury, he moved forwards to take out three with one swipe – the sooner these were dispatched with the sooner they could catch up to the one winged freak.

"Snow, don't move-" But Lightning didn't have time to finish the reprimand before he heard Serah shriek. Swinging around, he saw Lightning and Hope backing away from one of the biggest creeps he'd seen yet – one of the scythe swinging hooded things that they'd fought in the Farseer initiation cavern.

This one was just as ugly as Snow remembered it before he ran to them, bringing his fists up to shoulder height. A spear of shock shot through him when it spoke.

"Looks like we're all together, aren't we?" He hissed a curse under his breath – the thing had Yorun's disgusting tones embedded in its voice and somehow, he knew that somewhere, the bastard was controlling it. "Why don't I tell you a little secret? One I know my dearLightninghas been hiding."

Snow whipped around – her blue eyes were wide with shock, and then as sudden pain filled them, he saw her raise her weapon.

"No!"

The word sounded like she was denying everything that had ever existed.

What the hell...is going on? Why...what the hell are they talking about?

Lightning felt the denial rip through her entire body as the thing mentioned the 'secret'. It couldn't...she couldn't... She felt Hope's gaze rest on her, but she tried to ignore it. She knew he knew the reason why Serah had been angry with her without her saying a thing. Pushing Snow roughly out of the way, she held up her omega weapon at the place where the thing's forehead should have been. There was no way...

A small chuckle emanated from it. "Don't try to hide it... Xue predicted that you would lose something dear, wouldn't you?" There was a pause that seemed to last both a heartbeat and an eternity. "And how tragic would it be if it happened tonight?"

She heard the collective intake of breath behind her. Not trusting herself to look at Serah...at any of them, she fired the bullet, trying to suppress the tidal wave of pain and guilt that threatened to swamp her, and trying to channel those same emotions into anger. The projectile bounced uselessly off the large curved weapon, as the thing let out an insane laugh. "This is what you were scared of? I didn't know you were so naive, Lightning. I thought you trusted your friends." She couldn't help it anymore – trying to fight was useless and she knew it.

Turning around for the span of a single heartbeat, she saw shock – and only shock – reflected in the eyes of her sister and Snow, and something akin to pity in Hope's. Stop it! She wanted to shout at them, but her limbs wouldn't let her move in their direction. Forcing herself to look at Serah, forcing herself to remember what had transpired between them last night, she wanted to find some sort of solace in the blue eyes – belief? Acceptance? Lightning had no idea what would make her feel better at the moment, but the sharp shock and denial she saw in her sister's eyes was not what she wanted to see.

Something sliced into her back – the moment she'd taken to gauge their reaction had rooted her to the spot, making her an easy target. The breath was driven from her chest as she was forced to her knees, before the thing kicked her away roughly, quickly moving towards Serah and Snow. Grasping the weapon she'd managed to keep in her right hand, Lightning tried to cast something...anything. But there was nothing. Even if she wasn't so drained by the emotional strain of the entire situation, she couldn't concentrate, her fingers wound tightly into the long unkempt grass as she tried not to cry out. A Cure spell washed over her, momentarily wiping away the pain, but it wasn't enough. And Hope didn't have time to cast another as she watched, helplessly, as the thing swung the scythe in Serah's direction and Hope's attention was diverted back to the battle.

Snow was moving away from it fairly well; his utter determination to protect Serah was fueling his strength at the moment. But Hope's eyes flickered back to her more than once.

Concentrate!She would have shouted it at him if she had the energy to do so. But all of her strength was currently being used to pull herself into a standing position. There was nothing to hold onto except her knees – stabbing the tip of the omega weapon into the ground, Lightning tried to push herself up, ignoring the deep line of pain down her lower back. Trying once again, unsuccessfully, to cast her own Cura, she heard her own whimper of pain and frustration escape her lips as she sank to her knees, both hands gripping the handle of the gunblade.

Why am I so useless? Why couldn't I stop him from telling...and now she knows. And it wasn't even in the way Iwouldhave told her. Fuck...why...

"Snow!"Serah's screech forced her to look up again. The thing had caught Snow in the chest as the big man had tried to cast a Blizzaga. She heard his grunt of effort as he hit the ground, but he didn't seem badly hurt. Lightning tried to get up again. She couldn't let the thing hurt Serah...couldn't let the thing touch Hope.

A silver gleam caught her eye – the clone, or whatever it was supposed to be, was moving slowly towards her. And even at the cost of what could very well be her own life, she was glad, momentarily, for the chance that would give it for Serah and Hope to run.

Serah watched as the figure advanced towards her injured sister. There hadn't been an opportunity to heal her, and no spell would reach her in time to heal the wound and for her to get up and get away. And Snow was lying several feet away – he was getting up, but he wouldn't make it in time either.

She had never felt so useless.

The anger over their argument last time had all but evaporated when she knew...when she saw the look in her sister's eyes.You wanted to protect me all along, didn't you?And now there wouldn't be any time to even apologize. Serah found herself squeezing her eyes shut.Please Maker no...!

If there ever was a time she wished miracles existed more, than this was it.

Anything to save her sister.

"You called for a miracle?"Suddenly, she wasn't standing in the middle of a grass courtyard, stained in blood and moonlight. She was somewhere else. Different, but safe. She felt something heavy drop into her hand.

"Well?"the voice asked her. "You gotta make up your mind sometime, you know. Do youwantto save her, or shall I just take my leave?"

There was a pause."You do want my power, correct?"

Power. The one thing she needed above all. And she never needed it more than now. She held up her hand, opening the fingers of the fist that held whatever had formed in it.

It was a crystal. And not just any crystal –her crystal. The one that Snow had said kept him going. The pale blue teardrop sparkled innocently in front of her. Serah closed her eyes, willing for it to give her something...anything.The surge of strength that flowed from it channeled like a lightning bolt to her brand.

"Excellent choice, my dear Serah. Your wish for a miracle is my command."

Serah couldn't hold back a shriek as a white blue summon circle appeared beneath her feet in the shape of the moon. Instinctively, she held up the teardrop shaped crystal, watching as it dissolved into the moonlight and darkness, leaving no trace that it had existed in her palm afterwards. She saw the weapon rise up in front of her sister, and a sudden lurch of fear gripped her.Did it...work?

The sudden blinding flash of light was so strong she had to cover her eyes with one forearm as a sudden gust of wind blew her hair back.

Please...save Claire!

So ha. *cackles wildly*

Well, I'm pretty sure you guys all know what that means. And that means there's a free for all guessing game as to what said summon was. Getting it right means a special shoutout for you!

And I do hope the Eidolon speech was believable – I don't think I've done any yet, and since Light, Snow and Hope already had their Eidolons I didn't think a conversation was necessary. I tried to make the Eidolon's speech pattern suiting for the summon I picked, hope that's some sort of a hint for you all.

Edit April 17th, 2012: Yay, this chapter has now been updated/changed/fixed! 8D Thanks again to Haruka and my Beta, Wings of Avalon!

Yorun's new 'design' of a single wing was inspired by Genesis from Crisis Core, but I suppose you could say Sephiroth as well. Either way, I think it's a nice touch, and the wing will for sure be a major motif later.

Rather busy with the move back to Japan - packing up, and such, so next chapter will be up on Saturday. Leave love as always in reviews, and I'll see you guys then!

Hearts!