So hey guys, and thanks for tuning into the next chapter of NR! (:

Once again, thanks to all the love: H-thar, Lightarcana (and don't worry about it, your support is always greatly appreciated), Erifrats101, That One Reviewee, thewhitespirit, GCFarron, Mylaervain, OscarMerrinoz96, and Zapper90! As always, hearts to LadyAlaska. You guys are so awesome! 8D

Yes, we are coming up into the end here, and wow, kudos to me that this chapter has the distinction of being the longest chapter in the fic! So, lots of awesomeness ahead, as Light moves into her solo mission. *cackles* Anyways, a bit of credit here - I did use the theme of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-'s theme song Redemption by Gackt, and well, obviously I don't own it.

Enjoy as always!

Chapter 57: In the Promised Land

Lightning felt nothing but a slight static brush her skin when she passed through the barrier, her foot instantly sinking into an ankle high pool of water. The landscape beyond the barrier was unfamiliar and strange - twisted shapes of crystal intertwined with a spiralling flight of uneven steps that led to someplace she couldn't see. Forcing away her thoughts and emotions, Lightning pushed away all thoughts of Serah and Hope. I can't let... No. I have to finish this... and this is something I do alone.

She couldn't fathom what Hope and Snow's reactions would be when they woke up to find her gone, but she couldn't think about that now. "You can't get dragged down because of me," she whispered quietly to herself, willing the words to be true and to wipe away all other emotions apart from icy determination inside. Tightening her hold on her omega weapon, she began to follow the stepping stones, her footsteps echoing ominously in the thick silence that pressed down on her from all sides.

The only other sound that was present was the sound of dripping water as she followed the path up. Unable to see anything but shapes only a few feet in front of her, Lightning realized that her hearing was quite possibly more important than her sight at the moment. There was a spot of something bright far, far above her head, and instinct told her that was the place she needed to go. Stilling all other thoughts, she let her instinct guide her; pressing silent footfalls onto the smooth, somewhat water slicked steps, she let the cold, still air fill her lungs. I have to finish this. For Serah, for Hope... for everything we've ever fought for in the past. I have to see that his future isn't the one that is written down in history.

She let those thoughts guide her actions, blocking out all other emotion as she climbed further, setting her eyes only on the bright spot in the distance.

Your form quietly returns to space
What else can I do but avenge you?
I stared forever, until my tears withered away.

My overflowing sadness doesn't disappear with your footprints
I swore that I would never forget.

"Hope! Hope, get up!" Snow's loud words disrupted the blackness that enveloped him as Hope struggled to dispel the rest of the darkness, letting the big man shake the rest of unconsciousness from him; he found himself staring into the panicked ocean blue eyes of the blond brawler as he let Snow pull him up. "Have you seen Sis?"

What? "S-She's not here?" he stammered, unable to comprehend what Snow was trying to say.

"Can you see her here?" Snow threw up his hands in frustration and what he suspected was anger. "She didn't... No... Fuck, Sis, why do you do these things?" The big man let go of him, stomping off into the pools of water left by the backlash of the lagoon in the megaflare's wake. Hope didn't even know where to begin thinking - he wasn't sure whether the thought that Lightning had left him behind again hurt more than the fact that it seemed she'd abandoned him completely.

Light... why? Why do you have to... Why did you have to go? Why do you always insist on doing things by yourself? Hope didn't realize he'd shrunk into a curled ball on the wet floor of the exposed Sunleth Waterscape until he could hear small waves wash against his shoes. "Light..." Her name came in the form of hoarse whisper. "Please don't tell me..."

A rough pull on his jacket made him look up. "Don't do that, aight kid? Come on, what are you waiting for, we gotta go find her!" Hope remained in the position for a few moments longer as he watched Snow dash off in the direction of the dark blue, translucent barrier, unable to find the strength to keep going. She's left me behind again. The thought was so forlorn that all he wanted to do was remain there, forever, until she came back. What if... what if she never comes back?

The terrifying tone of that thought was what drove him up in the end, to chase after Snow, his feet splashing in the puddles that kicked up droplets of water in his desperation to catch up with her. She can't fight him alone! His instinct and emotions told him that was exactly what she was planning, and Maker knew that was the kind of person she was. If there was any aspect of the old Lightning that remained after Serah's death, it was that she still didn't want people to get hurt because of her. It was that she still cared, in her silent, discreet way, for the people she loved.

For the people she loves. Was that what he was to her? Hope didn't know, but at the moment, he didn't care anymore. All I want... all I want is a future where both of us exist, where she's actually happy. The second thought was wistful, ludicrous, in fact, because he'd never seen her smile in a genuine way since Serah's death. Still, selfish and childish the thought was, it was an undeniable truth.

Snow's loud curse just ahead made him stop short - the big man was standing in front of the translucent surface, clearly agitated about something. No... don't tell me... Hope caught the furious, frustrated look in the burly blond's eyes the moment he was able to clearly made out Snow's expression. "What?" he croaked, afraid of what he was going to find out.

"We can't get in. It's a barrier. How she got in, Maker knows, but we can't follow her." Snow's voice was a deadly, lifeless whisper that instantly sent icy claws of terror and apprehension down his back. Experimentally touching his hand to the barrier's exterior, he was instantly pushed back by a repellent force that bounced his hand at least half a foot back in his direction. No! Light-

He didn't get a chance to finish his thought before a shadow swept over the moonlit Sunleth Waterscape, clouding out the light and plunging them both into near darkness. Snow whipped around - the big man hissed something he didn't quite catch as Hope turned around. Not only had a disk begun to eat into the full moon that was directly overhead, a very familiar set of mismatched wings was prominent against the lightness of the Waterscape's forest.

"I've been waiting for my rematch."

Lightning found that she wasn't out of breath at all when she scaled the last few stepping stones, leaping lightly over the slick puddles on the ground and the jags of crystal that decorated the environment, even here. Holding her left forearm in front of her face to shield her eyes from the brilliant glow just up ahead until her eyes grew used to the lightness, she felt something tug at her carefully controlled emotional landscape when she saw who was waiting for her.

"You made it," Yorun remarked smoothly to her. "To be honest, I wasn't sure if you would come, but it appears you always surprise me, Lightning. How did it feel to leave your friends behind?"

The mere mention of Hope and Snow triggered at a spark of anger. "Shut up."

He laughed at her. "Angry now, are we? You didn't look so confident when I mentioned your sister. Forgotten her already?" Even in her current state, the words sent a stab of pain through her as Lightning tried to keep her exterior calm and in control. No... I'd never forget Serah. Ever. Even when she's gone... forever. "Don't forget that you killed her," he finished, clearly relishing the effect his words were having on her.

She wanted to sink to the ground then and there, pain and emptiness eating away at her interior at the thought. For some reason, Snow's voice came echoing back to her the moment she tried to push away the doubt and despair. "She loved you as much as you loved her." Clinging to his claim, Lightning raised her eyes to the strange golden ones, locking her gaze with his.

"No. I didn't kill her." She was surprised at how strong the words sounded when she felt like such a wasteland inside. "You did." She saw him let out a disbelieving snort at her, before half turning to face what was in front of them - two pedestals with the crystals that he'd gotten before they did settled in them, some sort of energy fueling both the barrier and from what she could see, a projection of just how far the umbra of the Eclipse would reach.

"Regardless," he mused quietly, "We're close to the end... the Eclipse is about to begin. Why don't you join me, Lightning? It's a same to waste so much l'Cie power because you decided to oppose me. We can rule the new world together, you and I."

Lightning felt a rush of anger that pushed away some of the void of pain that had resettled itself inside her at his words. "In your dreams," she snarled slowly. "First, you try to kill us, end up killing my sister... and now you want me to join you?" Again, the words sounded much stronger than she felt as she grappled with the complex web of emotions inside, fighting to keep her voice steady. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Her last sentence made him snap as he whipped back around; she found anger in his golden gaze for the first time. "You don't want a part of this future, Lightning? Tell me... what do you do with this world, this one that lives on greed and feeds off others' pain? Don't you want to see it change? You should know this better than anyone. You saved the world... and yet you see nothing for it. Is that fair?"

As she slowly processed his words, Lightning realized, that perhaps, there was a pigment of truth in them, as crazy as they were. Forcing her own insecurities back down her throat, she let out a soft retort. "It doesn't matter if it's fair or not... You still stand to gain the most from this." He smiled again, shaking his head at her as if he was explaining that one-plus-one-equaled-two to a little kid... like she didn't understand what he was saying.

"You deserved so much better... and in this new world, everyone will get what is fair for them. Everyone will do what they were most suited for... there will be no more inequality."

Does he... really think people are that simple? The thought crowded through her thorny mental condition, weaving between her pain and anger to reach her higher mental functions as she stared at him for a moment, unable to think of a coherent reply. "People... are not your tools," she said slowly, swallowing against the burn against the back of her throat. "You don't dictate someone's life for them. Maybe... maybe there is greed and anger, but it's because we decide our own fates that makes life worth living." That much, she could allow herself to feel - it was what had driven her the first time, that she decided her own fate and that no one else could stop what she wanted to achieve that had allowed her to reunite with Serah. Serah...

"You're foolishly deluded, Lightning, for someone who supposedly saved the world from fal'Cie rule. You might be noble and not care about equality, but what about those who are less inhibited than you? Humanity is destined to consume itself, and here you are, advocating it."

This time, no hesitation held her back as she slowly approached the man. "I'm not... advocating it. You just don't get it... People don't live to be told what to do; they live their lives as they see fit." She paused, taking a steadying breath as she swallowed again, surprised to find that this time, it was easier. "Sure, there are people out there... who want to benefit from others' losses, but... But humanity has survived for this long, and the future is not yours to dictate...People aren't born to be told how to live. People are born to create their own futures." And there's one future I want... above all else.

He gave her a long searching look, trying to find and expose the weaknesses she was struggling so hard to hide. Lightning felt her fingers close tighter than ever on the handle of her gunblade as he searched her expression for the insecurities and pain that she wanted to bury deep down again, before he gave a resigned sigh. "Then you leave me no choice, Lightning. You will die here, tonight. You will be absorbed into Alomere, who is currently fighting your friends. Would you like to place a dying bet on how long they'll last?" He smiled again at her as he summoned his spear. "No? Well, then, let my spear be the beginning of your end!"

For a moment, all she could comprehend was that somewhere out there, Snow and Hope were fighting too. Somewhere out there, she might lose him still, even though she had tried so hard to keep him out of all of this. No... I can't... I can't lose it now. I have to keep going... like I promised. There was no other way forward, no room for her to leave herself any doubt. The moment I give in... I'll lose. I can't... I have to believe that if I win, the future I want will exist. The moment her decision crystallized in her mind, Lightning felt an impossible warmth spread to the fingers of her left hand as something heavy formed in her palm. The pink rose crystal caught the light in front of her as she held it up, fingers curling into a tight fist around her Eidolith.

I traced my bloody tears with my trembling fingers
I had nothing to lose, nothing truth
My fleeting memories will fall into darkness
Your last smile comes into my mind, and disappears
Leaving behind only warmth.

Snow held up his fists to absorb the last of the wave attack with his Steelguard, before lowering his arms to take a hesitant step back. He knew from the previous time they'd fought that Alomere's weakness was his wings, but it seemed that they couldn't land a hit on them now, and he let out a growl of frustration. "Slash and Burn!"

His Ruin was deflected by the tip of the war scythe, sending the grey ball of light into a crystal tree that exploded into thousands upon thousands of shards, spraying the steadily darkening landscape with bluish fragments as both he and Hope dodged backwards out of the range of another shockwave. Both of them were rapidly tiring - he knew they couldn't keep up with just attacking like this for much longer. Soon he'd have to call some recovery paradigm and that would give Alomere a chance to retaliate without hinderance while they were licking their wounds, so to speak. Casting another Ruin over his shoulder, Snow whipped around to block a scythe blow with his fist, trying to grip the shaft of the weapon so that the creature couldn't attack. "Hope! Arcane Defence!"

Steeling himself with a Mediguard, Snow raised his hands, beckoning the creature closer with one hand, flexing the fingers of the other. "Bring it, creep," he muttered under his breath. He saw the light catch in Alomere's eyes as the creature's attention was directed away from Hope and to him as it swooped towards him, mismatched wings creating uneven, inefficient eddies in the still air as shadow began sweeping over them, dimming the bright moonlight and wiping the distinct shapes of the landscape away; melding shadows and darkness together into one.

The first shockwave was majorly deflected by his guard, but the man launched another before Snow could reprepare himself for a second attack. This time, the attack slammed into him before he had set up his guard, knocking him back several paces as he stumbled back. Snow saw the tentacle whip out to grip him, catching the last of the moon's light before the last slice of the orb was consumed by the darkness. It pulled tight around one of his arms, slightly weakened by the guard he'd managed to half set up, but Snow could feel his strength being quickly sapped by the tentacle.

He'd been about to crash to the ground before a brilliant orange flare lit up his vision as Hope's Fira finally slammed into a wing. Recoiling the appendage, it was a few moments before Snow found the strength to clear the cotton balls from his head and the darker spots from his vision as Hope sent another Aeroga at the thing as it recoiled back from their attacks, launching itself up into the air above their heads.

"Nice work, kid," he managed to get out, giving Hope a weak thumbs up as the creature struggled to keep itself aloft in the air, struggling with the loss of two and a half of its wings as Hope gave him a shaky smile.

"You think this is over?" The guttural voice was strong as if it had been mocking them as Alomere brandished his war scythe back at them. "This is... far from over! Soon, the Eclipse will begin... and you will be absorbed, like it or not. Your little l'Cie friend won't win against our new future ruler, and you will all cave to the unrelenting darkness of the Eclipse!"

Sis! Snow pushed away the panic that arose the moment the thing mentioned Lightning. They knew perfectly well who she'd gone after, and now, they could only fervently hope that she could win. In her mental condition... Snow shoved the thought angrily away. She knows what's at stake. What Serah fought for, who she's fighting for now. You'd have to be blind not to see how much the kid means to her.

"She'll make it," he growled out. "For sure." It was more to reassure Hope than himself - he'd seen the platinum haired teenager flinch at the mere mention of Lightning - but Snow breathed in, steeling his own words inside him, willing them to be true. It's gotta be.

"Yeah." Hope's quiet assertion of his comment made him more sure that he'd done the right thing, as they both moved forward again, a Thundara catching the wings that were still in flight. The creature staggered, and Snow took the opportunity to leap up into the air, sinking a fist into the thing, pummeling it over and over as his last Blindside sent it sprawling onto the ground. It fell still, unmoving, on the damp ground of the Waterscape as he landed, boots splashing in the puddles left on the earthern landscape.

As he warily approached it -Hope just behind him- it made no move to get up, no move to defend itself. When he came within arm's reach of it, suddenly, it flashed its arm out, missing him by barely a few inches as he staggered to the side, almost crashing into Hope. Slowly, Alomere lifted itself up from the ground, eyes flashing in anger.

"You thought you could win. Even if I lose here... the Eclipse is about to begin. If your friend can't stop Yorun, all of you will be consumed by the darkness. I-" Snow didn't let the thing finish its sentence, sending an Aquastrike into its chest, flinging it away from them and into the trees, the war scythe clattering to the ground uselessly.

It was awhile before anyone else spoke; both of them were breathing hard as the shadows lengthened, blotting out the last traces of the moonlight as the moon was eaten by the darkness sweeping over the landscape. "Snow?"

He felt Hope back into him as he whipped around, about to ask what was the matter when he saw what the teenager was looking at. The shadows were beginning to clump together into definite forms, red eyes slowly gleaming to life in the gloom as choking purplish-black smoke swirled around the legs that touched the ground.

What are... these things?

Meeting the blade of the spear with her omega weapon, Lightning dodged to one side, sweeping the weapon away from her so that it pinned into the ground, clutching tightly to her Eidolith with her left. Her decision removing all other emotional attachments to the situation, it was infinitely easier to move on instinct and not think about anything else but coming out from the battle alive. Hope... Snow... you have to be alright. I have to believe that. Throwing the crystal a few feet into the air, the blade of her gunblade sliced cleanly through it, sending a flurry of rose petals through the air. The future I want... will exist!

You told me
To live as if you were to die tomorrow
Feel as if you were to be reborn now
Face as if you were to live forever.

Catching the gust of wind that Odin's arrival, she landed cleanly on her feet as her Eidolon plunged its bladed weapon into the ground, knocking the one-winged man away from her. "Come on," she hissed, moving forward in one movement with Odin as she used its force to push herself forward again, intending to take full advantage of the momentary staggering movement her Eidolon provided. She saw him narrow his eyes at her, and instantly, Lightning tensed her muscles. He's got something up his sleeve. I know it. She didn't catch the shape of the bright red crystal as it was flashed into the air before a sonicwave destroyed it.

Ullr's Shield defended her from the aftereffects of the attack and she straightened behind her Eidolon's defensive posture, narrowing her eyes as flames consumed the rose petals that had swirled around them when she'd moved forwards to attack. Gripping her gunblade, Lightning saw the figure of a scarlet beast rise several yards away from her.

"Burn them to ashes... Ifrit!" The beast like summon clawed against the shield, large talon like hands raking parallel lines through the ground, leaving scorched marble behind. Thinking fast, moving out of range from the next claw attack, Lightning sent a Ruin at Yorun, not intending it to hit, but instead, to have him use his summon to defend himself; she took the moment that Ifrit moved away from her to push herself into a run, getting as far away from the summon as possible. I have to be far enough... to use Sleipnir!

Pushing herself into the air, sending another Thundara crashing into the ground in her wake, she cast a glance at Odin. "Let's go," she huffed, using the momentum of Odin's transformation to slip onto its back, gripping its blades tightly in both hands. From her higher perspective, she could see the area more clearly around them: the place was in a rough circular area, two of the four directions dropping off sharply into sheer cliffs - she was quite sure that if any of them fell over that, there would be no point of return. A surge of doubt twisted her stomach when she saw that Yorun was still looking in her direction with an expression of something close to amusement. Hope... Pushing away her insecurities, Lightning tried to focus once again on the battle awaiting her; doubt and anguish would only serve to cloud her judgment and she knew that, only, this time, she could not let it take over again. No matter what the man said, no matter what he did, she could only focus on one thing.

"You still want to fight?" He gave a dramatic sigh, raising a hand to still his summon beside him. "Why can't you see that people will never make the right choices? You live in a world that is ready to embrace its mistakes... for now. But people forget... They make the wrong choices all over again. They say they'll never let things happen again... but there is always someone waiting in the shadows to take advantage of that. People can only understand what they've experienced - and in a world where no one's experienced pain, how will you say that no one wants to step in to take power?"

"We don't," she responded quietly. "No one... can say that. But... humanity should live in a world where we're free to make those choices, whether they're the wrong ones or not." Fighting to keep her voice steady, Lightning tried to take as little breath as possible between her words. I know... I know what he's trying to say. But it's not right... we live to control our own fates. No one else's.

"Really," he smirked at her, voice drawing out into a long hiss. "And what will you do if someone else saunters in to take power once again? What will you do then, Lightning?"

That was the one question she had an answer to. Perhaps it had been there all along, perhaps it had been ingrained into her for the whole time, and perhaps it had been weakened in the weeks since Serah's death, but Lightning knew there was only one response to that. Whether she had wanted it to be a part of her answer, whether it had been something she'd always known, she didn't know. But it was the irrevocable truth, the one thing she knew she could do. She wasn't like Serah, or even Snow... they could move people with their words: there was only one way, there had only ever been one way, for her to keep going, to keep living.

"I'll fight," she hissed back, raising Odin's blades as she nudged the metallic horse into motion, setting her eyes on the scarlet beast just in front of Yorun. The moment the short sentence left her lips, Lightning knew that it was, in some way, a truth that had existed her entire life. Ever since her parents' deaths, all it seemed was that she was fighting... in one way or another. Fighting to protect Serah, fighting for Cocoon... even now, she was still fighting to see past Serah's death... And... and him. I'm still fighting to see that future.

Meeting Ifrit's claws head on with the scythe blades, she shoved aside the long talons that left gouges in the earth, flinging the spare blade in her left hand upwards, slicing with an uppercut. The beast reared back, large arms flailing as she cut into it, leaving black trails of smoke where the wounds should have been. A large hand slammed onto her back when Sleipnir backed away a few steps, thrusting her forward into the Eidolon's metal neck as the impact drove the breath from her lungs. Whipping around the moment she could breathe again, Lightning used the blade to press a Thunderfall into the summon as Odin leapt away from the crevices her attack had formed.

Feeling the Eidolon's gallop jostle her up and down as it took her out of range again, she took the moment to blink sweaty tendrils of pink hair out of her eyes as the wind blew back the rest of the tangled cherry coloured locks of hair. Seeing Ifrit drop to one knee on the ground after her last attack, she moved as Yorun sent a shockwave her way, leaping off Odin to avoid it. Jumping again to avoid the second sweep, she gripped Odin's blades to her the same moment the man raised his hand, as they locked eyes.

"Hellfire!"

"The storm is here!"

As both flames and roses suddenly choked the air, splitting the silence of the interior of the barrier as several million crystal tendrils that had reached their way through the barrier, Lightning glanced up. For a brief fraction of a heartbeat, the world outside the barrier was visible as the force of the attacks slammed into the roof of the barrier, revealing the moon's hazy silhouette.. Just before darkness and crystal fragments alike clouded all view of the world above, she found a filament of light from the dying moon, like the thinnest tendril of down from an angel's wings.

Right now, I can't be cured by words
That are only gentle -
I'm just going to give my everything
To the battle that rages on until the end of time.

They all heard the shriek of glass and stone as it shattered under impact from inside the barrier. Hope found himself instinctively clutching Nue tighter in his right hand; back to back with Snow as they fought the shadow creatures that had emerged from the Eclipse. The gloom that swirled around them made them harder to see in the darkness, and he could tell that Snow was also getting tired. If this keeps up, soon... soon even cure spells won't be enough.

He could not let himself think about Lightning. Hope knew that the moment he did, the moment he even let so much as a fraction of his attention drift to her, he wouldn't be able to continue, that all he would be able to think about would be that she had to be okay. The sound of splitting glass had been unnerving, but it was better than the one scream he knew he never wanted to hear again. Light, you have to be okay, you have to be!

"Hope," he heard Snow huff behind him. "Let's try to find the barrier again, aight? Maybe it'll be weakened after that." He didn't think so, but it was better than standing here, away from it, to take on the army of shadow creatures that seemed to have no end. Every time they took one out, ten more rushed in to take its place - what was frustrating wasn't that they were difficult in any way to kill, it was that in the end, Hope knew they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers as claws and fangs tore from a million different places in the creatures' fight to maim and kill anything that was not their own.

Going by sheer memory and instinct alone, Hope didn't know how many creatures his one Thundaga took out, but there was no end to the tidal wave of red eyes that glowed eerily in the darkness and the claws that seemed to reach from nowhere, hooking at anything that moved. The wraiths weren't sentient - he'd seen plenty of them claw apart their own kind, but it was their overwhelming instinct to utterly destroy that was their asset. He had no idea how the army down on Gran Pulse was faring... if, indeed, there was still a chance that they would win, but a rough shove from Snow took that thought away. It was probably for the better anyways - he couldn't imagine that the army, exhausted from battling clones, would fare well enough to stop enough deaths to prevent the Door of Souls from opening wide enough to create the new world.

Hope knew they had reached the barrier when something not solid, but repellent enough to be, bounced him back from where he was going. He'd been right - it was no less forceful than it had been earlier, and only the Maker knew what was going on inside. Try as he might, Hope couldn't keep the thoughts from cascading down on him as the barrier pushed his hand back.

Light, please... I just want you to be alright. I just want there to be a future... for 'us'.

Landing on one knee as her rose shaped Eidolith slowly dissolved into the palm of her left hand, Lightning tightened her grip on her omega weapon as she rose to her feet, hoisting the weapon to shoulder height again. The conglomeration of their attacks had rendered the area almost unrecognizable as cracks and scorches lined the landscape, crystal fragments scattered across the surface of the now fractured marble. Holding her left hand up to her chest for a moment to calm her ragged breathing, she saw Yorun stand in the dust that had settled across the place.

Slowly, not lowering her weapon, she walked towards him, footsteps echoing in the renewed silence of the interior of the barrier, occasionally stepping in the shallowest of puddles, the splash sounding ominously loud in the disquiet as she made her way towards him. He glanced up as she came into view, one hand gripping a knee, the wing bent in several places. She knew she had to look just as bad - there was a painful line down her back and she could the feel sting of several burns grazed across her right arm, but at least she was standing. I can't waste... more time trying to cure myself. Not only might her dwindling reserves of magic be the one thing that would save her later, she also didn't know what he could be hiding up his sleeve. It's not... that bad.

The spear grazed her side before she even had time to react to it; letting out a small hiss of pain, Lightning kicked away the weapon before he could reach out for it again, bringing her omega weapon back down on the arm that had launched it. Greeted with a satisfactory amount of what she could only assume was actually blood, she held her weapon up into his face, the tip of the blade aimed at his forehead.

"You still haven't won," he remarked quietly, glancing at the spot on her side where his weapon had grazed her. Fear froze her to the spot for a moment as she watched him begin to grasp the familiar photons in his remaining hand, all the while giving her a very icy smile. "You can't win now."

She wasn't going to give him that chance.

Running forwards, ignoring the flash of pain that tore at her side, Lightning raised the gunblade to attack position, keeping her eyes on him when confusion swept across his gaze: clearly, he hadn't expected her to go for him. "I control my own fate!"

She kicked his legs out from underneath him, slashing away with the omega weapon, but he didn't make a move to stop her. She knew that he was concentrating his remaining energy on focussing the one attack that could save him - she couldn't give him the time to launch it. Sweeping the area in front of her with the gunblade, he still wasn't backing down, trying to extend the single wing in an effort to take flight so she couldn't reach him. Knocking the wing with a kick, she saw him stagger as she brought down the blade just as he looked up.

The weapon first met resistance other than air as it sank into flesh, then bone. That was also the moment the megaflare was pushed into the space, illuminating the darkness with its fiery blaze. Her own Thundaga left her hand, but she wasn't aiming for the flare. Lightning could only make sure her thunder attack crashed into the pedestals with the crystals, shattering both them and the umbra's projection, before the force of the megaflare slammed her onto her back.

Just before darkness crashed down on her like a tsunami, she saw the barrier begin to dissipate as the first edge of the moon began to flood back, touching silver highlights to the surroundings around her.

Hope...

Letting my broken wings flap,
I tried to erase everything.
Someday, we all will meet our demise
But until the final bell stops tolling...

*wiggles fingers*

Well, I'll leave all interpretation up to you guys... haha. *shuts mouth*

Leave love as always, and I'll see you guys tomorrow with the next chapter (no, we're not done yet! D:)!

Hearts!