Long time no see, uh.
First of all, sorry. Sorry to keep you waiting. School was sure on the way, but it seems that this fandom cursed all of its writer to be doomed with personal problems by the end of the year. Mine was the girl I used to (still do) crush. We had ups and downs, that cost me like, 5 straight bottles of vodka to forget even my name. My thoughts still run to her every time, but I trust they'll forget their way eventually. Still hope she's well.
Oh, anyway. Personal procrastination was also in the way, sorry. And the newest Hot Pursuit, also. And Gabriel Márquez's 'One Hundred Years Of Solitude'. This chapter's title comes from me playing way too much Need4Speed, the older ones you don't probably even know about. It's so old it has about 5 tracks that are played repeatedly and in the same order, and one of those is Rush's One Little Victory.
Enjoy and review, if you can. I was soooo rusted when I put my mind back into this, really doubt it turned out ok. Do tell, I guess.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Square. If I did, I would actually make a decent Kingdom Hearts with Sora in it for a change.
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Chapter 10 ~ One Little Victory
A silent, almost gentle rain befell the desolated town of Oerba as the Farron sisters stood face to face, staring at each other; the younger one particularly calm, with an easy smile on her lips, while the older, slightly darker haired one was visibly shocked beyond words. Lightning found it hard to focus on anything else as her sister's familiar voice rang through the air, sending hollow chills down her spine. She could loosely recognize the tall figure of Snow, brought to his knees, along with whom she assumed Hope and the others. The constant warmth from Fang's body, which was gently pressed against her back, was miles and miles away; the only movement she could acknowledge was the ever-present chilling rain, that seemed to craw beneath her skin and into her blood, freezing her body into place and robbing her of all logic.
Only the soldier's icy blue eyes had the strength to follow the petite form of the younger girl, who was happily giggling in her ever characteristic way in a complete contrast to the background and atmosphere.
"Why the long face, Sis?", Serah asked in a way that cut right through Lightning's emotions and brought her back to the warm sun of Bodhum's afternoons and barefooted walks on the beach. The light pink haired girl put her hand behind her back and smiled broadly as her sister slightly turned her face sideways and closed her eyes, trying to keep her memories at bay.
She just had to be rational. There was no logical reason for Serah to be in a place like this; she was carved in crystal, for Etro's sake. Something wasn't right, she knew it. But just the presence of her, standing there before her after what seemed like years… Those eyes; they had no soul to them.
"Claire, it's me…", her sister's sweet melodic voice rescued her from the chaotic chain of thoughts, forcing her deep blue eyes to meet their twins. She noticed Serah had begun taking small, tempting steps towards her, almost standing at sword's reach. The younger girl stretched out her hand to Lightning, nearly hypnotizing her with her gaze.
However, long before Serah could even get close enough to reach out to the troubled-looking soldier, Fang had already stabbed her spear in the young girl's direction, superficially cutting her cheek. Lightning could barely register her hair stirring on the left side of her face when Fang's voice came from behind her, low and menacing.
"Don't you dare get near her", the huntress threatened while taking a step forward, surrounding Light and standing between the two sisters. She was so focused on protecting the soldier behind her that Snow's anger yelling didn't even stir her eyes; nothing in the world mattered more.
"What do you think you're doing?", Lightning heard the blonde's angry protests, causing her to turn towards him. Quicker than she ever thought him to be, he was already on his feet and dashing towards Fang with infuriated eyes. Almost on instinct, she stepped forward and stood besides Fang, unsheathing her Blazefire Saber in its full extension and aimed it at Snow's, causing him to stop rashly.
They both shared a surprised look for a few seconds, taken aback by their respective reaction before Snow's anger came rising once again, this time through clenched teeth and white knuckles.
"What the hell? Lightning!" Before the strawberry blonde could answer they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Oh…My, oh, my…. What do we have here?" Serah mused at the scene unfolded before her eyes, pacing slowly forward and back, followed by Fang's ever present weapon. Snow turned his attention to her, confused by the fact that the two persons she loved most in the world were about to bite their heads off and she was taking her time to contemplate it.
"What a great sister you claim yourself to be, uh…", she spoke her slowly, almost mockingly so. "You know, this is all happening because of you… Why weren't you there to protect me when I needed you the most? Why did you turn your back on me?"
Her words hit the soldier as heavy as bricks, and she could only stare with dead eyes back into her sister. The truth she had been trying to run away from, to entirely dismiss from her depths of her soul, it had been vigorously thrown at her. She noticed Fang's body tense on account of the anger and the grips on her spear tighten up; still, the huntress didn't move from her spot next to Light, her eyes focused on the younger version of her lover.
The soldier lowered her weapon from Snow's shocked face and slowly turned it towards her sister, trying to gather the strength and determination to point a sword to the only family she had left. Sure, she was guilty of the accusations Serah blamed her with. But she Serah better than this; she would never blame her for anything.
The young girl laughed loudly at her reaction, tauntingly moving closer towards the tip of the blade pointed in her direction and forcing her older sister to lower her sword in order not to harm her. "It doesn't matter; you aren't able to harm much as this fake exterior". Serah smiled in a wicked way upon the sight of her sister's helpless weakness. "You love her too much don't you, Claire?"
"Well, I don't!", Fang yelled as she launched herself in the younger girl's direction, no longer trying to keep her anger at bay. Her lance struck the ground where the blond figure once stood mere seconds before the impact and violently shattered the pavement. Serah was gone, and the same familiar laughter ran throughout the ruins of Oerba, now in a much deeper and serious voice.
"Fang, child… after five hundred years of raising your weapon against our kind, you still haven't given up?" The huntress briefly exchanged glances with the younger Farron sister that magically now stood a few feet away and rushed menacingly towards her, leaving her spear stuck next to the soldier's feet.
In a swift movement, Fang grabbed the collar of her plain white shirt and held the girl above the ground. "We can see past your tricks, fal'Cie", she shouted straight into disturbingly well-known blue eyes. "Show yourself, Barthandelus!"
Fang saw a brief smile on Serah's face before being launched back with extraordinary force by a white, blinding flash. Still stunned from the impact, the huntress felt strong arms break her fall, probably Snow's, due to their size. She could sense Lightning was close to her by the smell of her hair, and she could hear the soldier's voice echoing in her head, apparently meaningless. The strong flash gave away to Lightning's blurred features, which slowly made themselves clear as Fang recovered her senses.
"Are you alright?", she finally identified Light's worried voice. Fang looked past her to see that Sazh, Hope and Vanille were hopelessly trying to have a fair enough fight with the bronze god-like creature. The soldier seemed to notice the situation as well, muttering a curse under her breath and turning to Snow.
"Go, now!", she commanded, leaving him no room to hesitate. His strong hands left Fang's shoulder as he rushed on ahead and compressed his anger into his fists, being the only one to so eagerly attack Barthandelus straight on. His battle cries raised the hopeless spirit of his comrades, and his reckless moves inspired those around him, suitable of a hero indeed.
A bit behind, Lightning loosely supported Fang with one arm around her waist while conjuring Cura spells that slowly brought back to the pulsian the ability to stand in her own two feet. She reached for her forgotten spear, buried in the dirt next to the soldier's feet, and turned to Light with her characteristic smirk and confidence
"Time to even these odds", the accented voice cut through the easy rain. Their gazes met for a brief moment and their intimacy in the battlefield began to kick in, their unique ability to predict each other's minds and fight as one. In a matter of seconds, both women charged towards the battle and turned the flow of it.
Turns out, Fang and Hope also had an incredible and just-discovered synchronicity in battle. Both of them would assist Light with their moves, Hope usually before his mentor's assaults and Fang usually finishing her moves. The three of them, by combining their efforts they were completely able to foretell each other's moves and turn them into a series of endless attacks that would, ultimately, stagger the great fal'Cie.
With the assistance of Vanille and Sazh protective magic, and Snow's seemingly endless rage towards the fal'Cie, the trio's newborn tricks brought Barthandelus down after an exhaustive fight. There was another bright flash, and then it was Galenth Dysley kneeling on the ground instead of the towering creature. However, the menacing aura still clung to the air like the raindrops to their skin.
"This changes nothing", his heavy voice reverberated from the broken buildings in Oerba. "Your struggle is useless; your destiny is my design."
"You're wrong", Lightning replied in a calm voice, sheathing her sword. Her comrades naturally fell into a group that surrounded the soldier's back as she traded last words with their fallen enemy. "We make our own destiny, l'Cie or not."
The man let out a short laugh and made a miserable attempt at standing, only to fall over again. "Do try it, Lightning Farron. When you hopelessly fail, perhaps the fools that you call companions will see reason and surrender to me."
Snow replied to him this time, not half as calm as his sister-in-law, but restrained enough so that he wouldn't punch Dysley to death. "Wrong again, old man. When we break your focus, and we will, we'll do it together."
The Primarch finally managed to get back on his feet, supporting his full weight on his staff, and glared at Snow in a way that would haunt even the bravest of heroes. "You are but weak and broken l'Cie. I will take everything you cherish until your spirits becomes hollow." His words were said with so much conviction that it sent an unpleasant thrill up their spine.
"If you still wish to pursue your utopian dream, come to Eden; I will be waiting for you." Dysley locked his malicious eyes with Lightning's and gave off a type of evil smile that only truly dark souls could give off. "But first, a little reminder…"
It all happened in a second. Light remembered Dysley extending his hand towards her, and the unnatural colored blast that was emitted from it. There was clearly not enough time to evade it, so she just closed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth as the rest of the party stood in awe behind her. But, of course, there was Fang.
Fang charged the small distance between them as fast as she could, but she never made it in time. All she had time to do was to reach out for Lightning's shoulder and pull it down forcefully. And as the soldier fell with her back to the ground, she saw the blast barely pass by her and hit Fang's chest.
The huntress' painful cries filled Light's ears as she got up and turned to Galenth Dysley. She felt something stir violently inside of her as the calm rain turned into a torrential downpour and thunders cut throughout the sky. Never in her life had she felt such an urge for blood, or such a desire to kill. She took out her gunblade and leaped high in the air, shouting out her anger to all four winds before landing where Dysley stood.
The sword, she noticed, wasn't hers at all. It was one of Odin's massive blades that stood now buried halfway into the ground of Oerba, cracking its surroundings on account of the force of the impact. She looked around for the Primarch, finding only her even more shocked and now soaked companions. She went to kneel by Fang's side next to Vanille, who was already working her magic but without much success. The warrior had passed out, probably on account of the pain, but her wound was still open and bleeding. All of her hatred turned into guilt upon the sight.
"Hey", she said to Vanille gently while putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Let's get her into one of these, first." She nodded towards the group of few houses that were still standing firmly enough to guard them from the rain. Vanille met her eyes, and even through the heavy downpour she was able to see the despair in expression as the young pulsian nodded in agreement.
As she carried Fang's unconscious body to the closest house, assisted by Vanille and Hope, the only thoughts that consumed her mind were those of ending the war, once and for all. They couldn't keep going like this. Their next charge would be their last.
PS: thanks.