THE ENEMY WITHIN
It was all so... alien. The vestige was decorated with strange carvings all over the walls and ceiling, and it seemed to possess an aura of menace, but that was merely because of the unfamiliarity... that and the deep-seated fear of all things Pulse.
I knew that my time was limited; that I had maybe ten minutes at best to find the five people I had followed into the vestige, and make my escape before the structure was blown to smithereens by the PSICOM airships that surrounded it.
"Serah!"
The voice echoed in the enormous hall. It sounded very close by.
I picked up the pace, my blades in hand, and ran down the long corridors that floated in the centre of the hall.
At the end of the path was a large door in the shape of an arch. There was a symbol on it; the symbol of the Pulse l'Cie. It was glowing a fierce red colour.
"Hang on baby, your hero's on the way!" The echoing voice again sounded oddly near.
The symbol on the door seemed to shimmer at my approach, and it opened wide. I grinned at my luck, and didn't slow down as I charged through it.
But another sound stopped me in my tracks.
It was the sound of battle. Above me, on yet another platform, the pink-haired woman and her companion were locked in a vicious struggle against three horrible monsters. My eyes grew wide as I recognised the creatures as Cie'th.
Words couldn't describe them. The process of transformation flashed briefly through my mind. A fal'Cie brands a human, and they become l'Cie. If that l'Cie doesn't complete their mission – their focus – before their brand 'opens', then they become Cie'th, mindless beings tied to a fate worse than death.
I watched, unmoving, as the two humans overwhelmed the Cie'th. I paid particular attention to the woman. There was something about her that just captured me. I didn't understand why she affected me so, but my eyes never strayed from her.
She was obviously a soldier; her Guardian Corps rank plate was proof of that. But if she was a soldier, how did she end up in the Hanging Edge? Soldiers and Sanctum officials were exempt from the Purge, which was under PSICOM supervision. So what was she, a Guardian Corps soldier, doing here?
At that precise moment, she looked down, and her eyes met mine.
My breath caught as we stared at each other, confusion and frustration plain on her face.
Then she pointed her gunblade in my direction, and fired.
I stumbled backwards, surprised by her sudden hostility, but the bullets flew past my head... and shot into the grey flesh of the Cie'th behind me. I had been so enraptured by this beautiful, mysterious woman, that I hadn't heard the monster creeping towards me. I spun wildly in time to see the Cie'th dissolve into a black and purple haze, which vanished into the cold air.
I turned back, and the woman was still staring at me, her eyes wide, as if she was unsure as to exactly why she had just saved my life. I smiled tentatively at her to display my gratitude, a smile which she did not return. Her confused expression only deepened.
Her afro-haired companion spoke, low enough that I couldn't hear, and she nodded once, finally turning away from me. Another swift look in my direction, and then she was gone, jogging down the path that she and her partner occupied.
I shook my head ferociously, trying to calm the thoughts that swirled furiously around my brain. Why hadn't I told them of the imminent danger that threatened them? No, instead, I had just stared stupidly at her. I cursed my own muddled emotions as I continued down my own path. From the looks of it, the pathway led to the same point as the pink-haired woman.
Just as I reached the end of the path, a slow, guttural moan came from behind me. I turned, my blades ready to strike.
The Cie'th was advancing on me slowly, taking awkward, lopsided steps. The monster was an ugly grey colour and its long arms were extended towards me, its clawed fingers outstretched.
I ducked underneath its arms as it swiped at my head, swinging my blades in a wide, upward arc. The Cie'th roared in agony as it's severed limbs fell to the ground, only to fade away.
I continued the movement, repositioning my blades at the end of the swing so that they were pointing straight at the chest of the mindless Cie'th. Another agonised growl escaped it as it was impaled upon my blades, then it disappeared into that same purplish haze.
I straightened, my blades reverting back to their rifle form, which I then slung across my back. I glanced worriedly at the ceiling, not really seeing anything, but pondering the PSICOM ships outside. I couldn't have much time left.
So I hurried onwards, jumping onto the square platform that was situated at the end of the path. The platform seemed to be an elevator of sorts, and it ascended upwards through an open hole in the ceiling to the next floor up.
I gasped at the sight that awaited me.
The pink-haired woman and her companion stood back to back. They were surrounded by a horde of Cie'th, all advancing slowly. I counted them quickly, there were sixteen. Thirteen of them were the same, shambling Cie'th that I had faced earlier, but the other three were of a different kind. Two had wings, and were circling the two humans, swooping in for an attack, but pulling away at the last second as the woman slashed at them with her gunblade. The last was humanoid, but much bigger and bulkier than its thin counterparts.
They had no chance against such overwhelming odds. Sure, they'd probably take a few down, but it wouldn't be long before they were overcome.
The platform was still rising, taking me higher. It rose past the wide path were the two humans stood.
"Hey!" I called to them. My legs tensed as I prepared to jump.
The woman's head swivelled around, but I was already in the air, launching myself at the group below. I had calculated my jump perfectly, landing on one of the Cie'th, pinning it to the ground with my legs, and my blade in its chest. I stood as the Cie'th disappeared.
A second passed.
I caught the eye of the woman and I grinned. She didn't smile, just like back on the platform, but her eyes seemed less cold than they had before.
Then the three of us acted in unison.
I let instinct take over, and my blades sang as they felled monsters left and right. It almost felt like a dance, the way that the woman and I moved together, (her companion stayed in the centre, firing bullets at the attackers and dodging when necessary) never touching, but reacting to each other in a way that felt completely natural.
The reaction to her proximity was both expected and surprising. Her position next to me was purely practical, enabling her to act with me in reaction to the multitude of enemies that surrounded us. It was a natural action, embedded deep in the soldier psyche. It was a move that made sense in the midst of battle.
What was surprising was the way my body reacted to her. Each time her petite frame passed next to mine, my breath caught, and I was hard-pressed not to turn from whatever Cie'th I was warring with so that I could stare at her agile form. Each of her movements brought us closer together, and my heart raced sporadically every time I caught the scent of her pink hair as it swished past my face. I revelled in her presence, and with each passing moment, I felt a strange pull towards this magnificent woman, this Valkyrie.
The fight was over much too quickly.
There was one moment when a Cie'th passed my guard. I dodged out of the way, but not before its claws scraped along my shoulder, ripping through my uniform and leaving a trio of bloody gashes. Before I could get my revenge for the wound, the woman had leapt forward and dispatched the Cie'th.
I stowed my rifle and turned to the others.
They were both staring at me with puzzled expressions. The male recovered first.
"Thanks, I thought we were goners that time," he said.
The woman nodded, then her eyes strayed to my wounded shoulder.
"You're hurt." She tried to mask the concern in her voice, but I noticed the change in her tone. Her expression was still distant, impassive, just like it had been before.
I shrugged, not taking my eyes from her face. I was able to really look at her now. Her eyes were a liquid blue, and her skin was pale. I scrutinised her face, stunned by how beautiful she was.
"It's just a scratch," I lied, though the wound was still bleeding profusely.
I could have sworn that her lips twitched at my words, but her expression never changed.
She held something out to me, it was a small vial filled with a dark blue liquid.
I took the potion from her and applied it to the wound. The pain ceased almost immediately, and the cuts closed, turning into three pink scars on my shoulder.
I frowned at the sleeve of my uniform. It was hanging loosely, attached to the rest of the uniform by only a few threads. I yanked the sleeve loose, and it came apart easily, leaving my left arm bare from the shoulder.
Then I remembered how much danger we were in.
"We need to get out of here," I said, the words spilling out in a rush. "PSICOM's about to blow this place out of the sky."
The man gasped, but the woman was shaking her head.
"I can't leave," She said gravely.
I rounded on her. "Why not?"
"Because..." She hesitated, "because my sister is here."
I frowned. If her sister was indeed inside the vestige, then the chances that she was alive were very slim.
I was glad I hadn't said that out loud, because the male echoed my thoughts and she turned to him, her face livid.
"She is alive!" She said angrily, but then her lips pulled down at the corners and she frowned. "She has to be." She muttered.
I felt a sharp pain that had nothing to do with the recently closed cuts on my shoulder.
"If she's here, though..." I paused, trying to order my thoughts. Something had just occurred to me. "Why is she here?" I asked slowly.
The woman hesitated, her face drawn.
"She's a l'Cie," she said helplessly.
I did a double-take.
She was here to rescue her sister, no, a l'Cie. A Pulse l'Cie, an enemy of Cocoon.
Beside me, the afro-haired male stared at her with wide eyes. His expression must mirror mine. Then he spoke.
"What's her focus?"
Her eyes snapped to him.
"When the fal'Cie cursed her, he gave her a focus, right? What was it?"
She didn't respond.
"It wasn't 'blow up Cocoon' was it?"
I looked from one to the other, indecision plain on my face. Her sister was a Pulse l'Cie, it made sense that her focus would be detrimental to Cocoon's safety, but the pain that shadowed the woman's face as she pondered her sister's fate was so utterly unbearable that I couldn't not do something to save her sibling, l'Cie or not.
"Alright," I said, interrupting the older man as he opened his mouth to speak. "We'll find your sister."
She turned to me and nodded, her face still a bitter mask, but her eyes were filled with silent gratitude at my words.
"Okay," I said. "Let's go."
I could swear that the woman gave me a small, grateful smile, but when I turned back, her lips were still the hard line they had been a moment ago.
We sped down the path, pausing only to decimate any more Cie'th that dared to stand in our way. They fell victim to the woman's fury, as if each Cie'th were a reminder of what awaited her sister if she didn't find her in time.
The corridor was decorated with several arches that were spaced out at regular intervals along the pathway, at the end of which was a large platform.
As we stepped onto the platform, it began to move forwards and slightly upwards, the movement causing the three of us to stagger.
The elevator came to a rumbling stop at the base of a wide set of stairs, and we rushed to the top.
We stopped in unison, all of us staring at the figure that lay in the centre of an enlarged, rectangular portion of the path.
"Serah!" The woman ran to her sister's side, gasping and crouching over her. I followed, standing behind her, peering at the unconscious woman who was the spitting image of her sister.
I watched, my heart pounding in my chest as she analysed her sibling. Then she picked her up, bridal-style, and turned to me and our companion, who was still standing at the top of the staircase.
"Time to go," she told us. "We have to leave before the army... what?"
She was staring at the older man's face, and he shuffled his feet before answering.
"That's a Pulse brand," he said, indicating the mark on Serah's left arm. I looked at it. It was a series of intertwined, black arrows, all criss-crossing beneath a red circle at the centre of the brand. It looked like an eye.
"That girl's a l'Cie."
"I already told you that."
The woman was eyeing him suspiciously.
"Pulse l'Cie are the enemies of Cocoon." His hands reached towards his pistols, lingering on the handle.
She gasped and turned her body as if to shield her sister. "So they should die?" She asked incredulously.
"Listen," the man said, his face softer now. "If she fails her focus, you know how that'll end."
She stepped backwards. "And killing her is a mercy?"
At that moment, Serah's eyes opened, and she lifted one hand to touch her sister's cheek.
"You came," she said hoarsely.
The woman exhaled, surprised, and placed her sister gently on the ground.
"Serah!"
The deep voice rang out behind us.
Snow, accompanied by the two children I had seen enter the vestige earlier, were descending to our floor on an elevator.
My eyes tightened as I saw his expression.
He leapt over to us, not waiting for the platform to reach it's destination.
Serah smiled as he ran over to her, grasping her small hand in his.
"Serah," he said again, relief in his voice.
"Is that... my hero?" She asked as she focused on him.
I felt that I should turn away from such a private moment, but my body wouldn't seem to obey. I stayed rooted to the spot, a foot away from the woman. I was silent, afraid to disturb the reunion that was displayed before me; I was a silent observer.
Snow bowed his head, pulling her hand to rest against his black bandanna.
The woman was glaring at him.
I looked up to see the two children approached us. One was a boy with silver hair, his eyes darting this way and that. The other was a girl with orange pigtails, and I heard the sharp intake of breath as she saw the girl lying on the floor. Her hands cupped around her mouth.
"Lets get you out of here," Snow said, still holding Serah's hand.
The sudden harshness of the woman's voice surprised me.
"Hands off," she spat at the resistance leader. "I'm taking her home."
I blinked. They obviously knew each other.
"Sis-" Snow began.
"I'm not your sister!" The woman said. "You couldn't protect her! It's your fault she-"
"You can save us..."
Serah's words interrupted her sister's sentence. We all looked down at her.
"Serah?" The woman's words rang with concern.
"You can save us..." Serah repeated.
The woman's eyes grew wide.
"Protect us all..." Serah continued. "Save... Cocoon."
"Save Cocoon?" The woman's question mirrored my own. "Serah, that was your focus?" Serah's eyes began to droop.
Opposite the woman, Snow was staring into Serah's eyes.
"Anything! I'll do anything!" He was telling her. "Leave it to me, you'll see. I'll protect Cocoon, I'll save everyone!" He promised her.
The woman looked up at him before turning back to Serah.
"Somehow, I'll make things right."
Snow grinned at her reassuringly. "You just relax."
Serah smiled up at her hero before replying.
"Thank you," she said weakly, her eyes closing.
Then blue light flashed from within her, and she rose upward, levitating.
"Serah!" the woman said desperately as her sister rose higher into the air.
They stood with her as she rose higher. All of us present gasped as one. Serah's hand slipped from Snow's grasp.
There was an odd grating sound, and Serah was suddenly enveloped in crystal. Her arms folded across her chest as the crystal covered her; surrounded her.
Something floated down to land in Snow's still open hand.
It was a crystallised tear.
I realised then how close I was. I was standing right next to the woman, subconsciously creeping forward. The woman either hadn't noticed me yet, focused as she was on her sister, or she was unperturbed by my proximity.
Snow exhaled, stepping backwards and craning his neck.
"Serah!" he yelled, as if she could somehow hear his voice.
He jumped up, his arm outstretched, trying to reach her.
"Serah!" he yelled again.
Beside me, the woman's face was in despair. Her hand slowly lowered to her side from its raised position.
The high-pitched voice of the orange-haired girl broke into my mind, and I tore my face away from the woman's grieving expression to listen to her.
"Why is she turning to crystal?" she asked. I detected the strange accent. I had never heard an accent like that before.
It was the silver-haired boy who answered.
"L'Cie who fulfil their focus..." He began, his voice surprisingly mature for someone so young. "Transform into crystal, and gain eternal life."
We stared in wonder at the stone floating above us.
"Just like the stories say," the older man muttered.
I nodded, placing my hand on the woman's shoulder in an attempt at comfort. She didn't shrug away from my touch.
"Serah..." Snow whispered, his voice full of love and adoration. "Sweet dreams."
The woman finally stirred at his words.
"Sweet dreams?" she said, moving away from me and towards the big man. "She's not sleeping!" she said forcefully, her voice breaking. She grabbed a handful of his coat. "Serah's... She's..."
She didn't finish; she just shoved Snow away and looked at her feet.
But Snow wasn't deterred.
"She's alive," he said.
"No-" The woman looked up at him.
"The legend! Remember the legend!" He was suddenly yelling. "L'Cie who fulfil their focus turn to crystal and gain eternal life!" He turned to Serah as he spoke. "It's the same with Serah!" He spoke to the whole group now. "Eternal life, she's not dead!" He looked at each of us in turn, looking at the woman last. "Serah's my bride-to-be," He said, speaking only to the woman.
That was the connection then. Snow was engaged to Serah. Obviously, the woman wasn't happy with her sister's choice.
"I promised to be hers forever," Snow continued. "I don't care how many years I have to wait-"
He never finished.
In one swift motion, the woman cocked her arm back, and punched Snow straight in the jaw. There was a sickening crack as the blow connected. He fell to the floor.
"It's over!" she said, her voice ringing with finality. "Open your eyes and face reality!"
Snow simply lay there gasping, not in pain, but at the cruel words she spoke.
I stared at the woman. I could tell she wasn't the happiest girl in the world, but for her to be this cold-hearted? And yet, I couldn't help but sympathise for her, even agree with her. Her sister had turned to crystal, I could imagine the pain she was in. I probably would have acted the same way. My father's face flashed through my mind. Hadn't I lashed out at the people around me when he died?
Suddenly, there was a crashing sound, and the entire vestige trembled around us. I lurched to the side as the floor rumbled beneath me, but managed to stay upright. The boy sank to the ground and put his head between his knees as the ground shook.
"What now?" The orange-haired girl said in her high-pitched voice.
"The army!" I said it at the same time as the older man.
PSICOM had finally launched its attack, and we were still inside.
I switched to the PSICOM frequency, holding up my hand. Everyone fell silent, staring at me with wide eyes as I listened.
"-Leave no trace. The Pulse vestige never existed." That was it.
"We need to get out of here now!" I told the group around me.
More tremors rocked the vestige. Snow and the woman fell to their knees, their hands over their heads to cover Serah as pieces of the ceiling began to fall around us.
"What's happening?" The orange-haired girl yelled above the noise.
"It must be a Sanctum strike," the older man answered her.
I nodded at him, confirming his theory.
"Bring down the vestige and the fal'Cie right with it," he said.
The young girl ran up to him and clutched at his hands.
"Aren't they taking it back to Pulse?" She asked desperately. "That's what the Purge was, right?"
"All they care about is getting everything from Pulse off Cocoon. Dead or alive, it's all the same."
Her eyes widened in horror.
The boy was still on his knees beside the young girl, grabbing her hand.
"We can't stay here," he pleaded. "They'll kill us!"
She didn't respond.
I looked around the vestige, trying to find some way of escape. The most practical path would be back the way we came, but I turned to the door at the end of the staircase above us.
Suddenly, the tremors ceased.
Everyone got to their feet. The door that I was staring at suddenly glowed a bright red, the symbol illuminating. I recognised the symbol on the door as the Pulse l'Cie brand.
The door opened.
I immediately felt the presence from beyond the door. It was the Pulse fal'Cie.
My hands shook as the wave of hatred swept over me. Here was the thing that had caused this whole mess. It was why Serah was a crystal. It was why the Purge started. It was the reason for the deaths of so many innocents.
It was the reason I was here.
I squared my shoulders, my hand tightening around the hilt of my blades. I would see the destruction of the thing that had caused so much pain.
"I'll be right back, hold on," I heard Snow whisper quietly to his crystallised fiancè.
He began to walk towards the door. I followed close behind him.
"Hey!" The older man was looking at us with a puzzled expression. "Where you going?"
"Date with the fal'Cie," Snow said, determination emanating from his very being. "We got some things to talk about."
"What!" You're gonna ask it to help her?" the older man asked incredulously.
I paused. For some reason I couldn't place, this fact mattered to me. I thought about why that was. It went beyond my moral code. It wasn't just about the possibility that Serah could be saved, there was more to it than that.
I shook my head from side to side, trying to make sense of my jumbled thoughts.
Then I looked at her, and it became perfectly clear to me why saving Serah was so important.
No! I must be confused. In the moment that I looked at the beautiful, pink-haired woman, something happened. As soon as her eyes met mine, an electric charge seemed to surge through me, connecting us.
I frowned. I must be delusional. But still...
"-That thing wants to chew us up, and spit us out!" the older man was saying to us.
"Well what do you want me to do!" Beside me, Snow shouted the question.
The man's mouth opened, then closed, but I only had eyes for the woman as she looked past me towards the door, and began to walk towards it.
"Lightning?" Snow muttered her name.
Lightning. Her name was Lightning. What kind of a name was 'Lightning'? I shrugged. It suited her, I thought to myself.
Snow followed after her.
I spun my blade in my hand, then I, too, followed Lightning.
"Here we go again." The older man sighed exasperatedly as he followed after us.
There was only darkness beyond the door. I paced my steps so that I was walking next to Lightning. I had to stop myself from asking her if she too could feel the electricity that was flowing through me, connecting us, but the looming shape that lay ahead of us shoved all those thoughts away.
"So this is... the fal'Cie." The silver-haired boy spoke from behind me.
The corridor was only slightly illuminated, but I could see the fal'Cie now, in a wide room at the end of the path. It looked like a giant machine, with gears and cranks everywhere, but with a defined form. Its base was round, and above that was a pillar with large pipes running around it.
Beside me, Snow spoke.
"Serah's a crystal now," he said, pointing at the fal'Cie. "You gave her a focus, and she did it. You got what you want, now let her go!"
Silence was his only response, menacing and absolute.
Snow fell to all fours. "Please," he begged. "Turn her back." He kneeled before the fal'Cie, one hand on his chest. "I'll be your l'Cie instead!" His voice broke at the end.
You had to admire his determination.
Lightning sighed beside me. "Fine," she said. "You go on begging." She drew her gunblade and strode forward. "Like this thing gives a damn what we want!" Her words became a yell at the end, and she hacked at the metallic exterior of the fal'Cie.
We watched in silence as her attacks had no effect on the being that towered over us. Finally, she staggered backwards.
"Lightning!" Snow yelled as she again took up a battle stance.
I instinctively moved towards her, my feet moving forward of their own accord.
"It's this things fault the Purge started," she said quietly. And it's people who are dying." She paused to look at us with a fierce expression. "Serah told us to save Cocoon, that means this thing needs to die!"
At that precise moment, the room was bathed in a glowing yellow light. Snow sprang to his feet. On either side of the fal'Cie rose two metal pillars. We stepped backwards as the base opened wide, exposing the true fal'Cie within. It was a misshapen being with no discernible features, but at the front was a purple stone. Small pipes and tubes stuck out the top, and there was a jagged claw contraption that stuck out from the side, almost like an arm.
Behind me, the silver-haired boy turned, and fled back down the corridor. The purple stone flashed and his footsteps ceased. I turned to see a transparent red wall blocking the way out. The l'Cie brand flashed on the wall.
I sank into a half-crouch, my blades ready.
"Come on, now," the older man warned. "You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?"
Lightning raised her gunblade.
"I'm doing this for Serah!" she told him.
Snow seemed to draw courage from her words. He put up his fists in preparation for the fight.
The older man sighed before muttering something under his breath. He spoke so low that I couldn't hear what he said.
There was a chirp from behind me, and I turned my head to see a tiny chocobo chick poke its head out of the older man's afro.
"I'm in," he announced.
He walked beside me. "Long as you don't mind an amateur."
I grinned at him.
"I got these things," he said, holding his guns in the air. "Might as well use them."
"Alright," I said, tensed for the battle.
I let instinct take control as I leapt forward, slashing wildly at the purple crystal. I could see after the first few hits that my attacks were having no effect on the fal'Cie.
I raised my blades for another swing when the pillar on the left of the fal'Cie smashed into me, knocking me to the ground.
I struggled to my feet, breathless, just in time to see Lightning flip over the other pillar as it flew towards her. Her gunblade was a blur as she swiped at it in mid-air, and the pillar crashed to the ground, sizzling.
The purple crystal pulsed.
That was it, the key to defeating the fal'Cie.
"Take out its arms!" I shouted to my companions.
They followed my lead as I converged on the remaining pillar and hacked into its metallic surface. The metal split easily, and sparks flew as I exposed more of the wiring beneath.
I whirled as the crystal pulsed again, and it's purple glow seemed to fade as its limbs were severed.
They needed no command this time. The four of us concentrated our attacks on the crystal, and it cracked under our blows, but it wasn't finished.
The severed pillar suddenly reappeared in a flash of light. It was unharmed.
The fal'Cie could regenerate its limbs.
We split into pairs, Lightning and I taking the left arm, and Snow and the other one battling the other.
It wasn't long before the fal'Cie was crippled again, and we attacked the crystal once more.
The crack now ran along the length of the crystal, threatening to split the fal'Cie down the middle.
I stabbed both my blades in the centre of the crystal, all the way to the hilt.
There was a blinding flash, and I was thrown backwards.
I heard the thuds as the others hit the ground beside me.
Then I was floating.
Darkness consumed me, I could see nothing but the empty blackness that pressed in on me.
"Where are we?" A voice sounded from the gloom; the orange-haired girl.
I knew that I wasn't alone in the vast darkness, I could feel the presence of my companions.
My bare arm brushed against someone's skin, and I flinched at the contact. I knew instantly that the person who floated beside me was Lightning, because as soon as our skin touched, that same electricity sparked between us, flowing from one to the other in an endless cycle. I heard her gasp, and I knew that she could feel it too.
Suddenly, long tendrils wrapped around my arms and feet, and around my waist. I couldn't move, I could only struggle futilely against my restraints.
The fal'Cie! It had to be. What else had the power to consume us like we were?
My left shoulder suddenly burst into flames, or at least it felt like it. There was a searing pain that scorched beneath the three recent scars. I flung my arm out in an attempt to shake it off, but the tendrils held fast, restricting my movement.
I clenched my jaw against the intense agony, and instead focused solely on the electric current that still coursed through me. It was like a lifeline, and I held onto it as the seconds passed, then, so abruptly it was bewildering, the pain ceased, and the fire was gone.
Then I was falling.
It was oddly peaceful, this long descent through the dark. At least, until the mind-numbing vision flashed across my eyes.
It only lasted a second, but what I saw was enough to make me cringe.
Ragnarok.
Soft fingers scrabbled at my arm, closing around my wrist. The static tingling sensation told me who it was.
I twisted my arm slightly, and grasped her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
I felt some of the tension in her forearm relax at my gesture, but I had no intention of moving my hand away.
Neither did she.
I closed my eyes and let the darkness have me.