Final Fantasy XIII: Cursed Past

Chapter 31 of my Final Fantasy XIII story, enjoy.

Reviews

Shinku no shi: Thanks, glad you are enjoying it, you're guess is correct, next chapter:) Yeah, I wanted to show how Lightning had to juggle al that, actually I'm afraid that can't happen, as will be explained in this cahpter, Lightning was the youngest person in Caius' squad.

Miyaaa: Cool. Thank, I'm glad you are enjoying it, Well, all shall be revealed about Lightning's past below, enjoy :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XIII belongs to Square Enix.

Chapter 31: Lightning's Past

The group finally arrived at the diner and walked in, Sazh looked up at them, surprised.

"Huh, ain't you guys supposed to be in school?" He asked, Fang however cut across him, "Sazh, I don't have time to explain, we need a private booth."

"Uh, sure," Just then his phone rang, "I gotta take this, Edna, could you show them to booth K please."

Edna nodded and led the group to booth K while Sazh headed out the back and answered his phone.

"Yeah boss, Fang just walked in," He said immediately, the boss' however caught him off guard, "Who's with her?"

"Huh, um, Vanille, Hope, Snow, Serah and Noel, why?"

"I just got a rather, interesting call, from Caius." The boss explained, Sazh's eyes widened at this, "The people you mentioned they are chosen one's like you, Fang is going to reveal the truth to them, when she does they'll likely head for Pulse, join them, let them use your airship."

Sazh sighed and nodded, "Alright, I got it…Cid."

Cid Raines merely gave an affirmative grunt before hanging up, Sazh hung and slipped back into the diner. He managed to get near the booth the group were sitting at in order to overhear them.

Fang sighed as she looked at the others, "Okay, where to start."

After a brief pause she began.

"Lightning was only seven when she joined the Guardian Corps, she was the youngest member of the squad, I was part of the same squad,"

Everyone gasped, Vanille stared at her fiancée in disbelief, "No way, you mean, you were…"

Fang nodded and then revealed more, "We were, in the Dragon Division."

That caught their attention; anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the war knew the name 'Dragon Division' even if only the Guardian Crops themselves knew what they were capable of.

"You mean," Hope began, his voice shaking, "You and Lightning, served under Caius Ballad?"

Fang nodded, "No way, the hero of Cocoon," Snow stuttered.

"That's right." Fang then smirked, "Of course, only half of what Caius is capable of has ever been revealed, he, and the members of his squad, can use magic. Yes, even Lightning and myself."

Fang paused to allow her words to sink in, as she did so she thought back to the past, about the long years spent in the war, everyone in the squad honing their skills under Caius' careful tutelage.

Finally she continued to explain.

"Caius would recruit anyone, so long as they had the potential for magic and were willing to get involved in combat; he would unlock their magic potential and train them. Of course, the unlocking process left it's mark, proof that you were one of Caius' chosen few, a mark like…a tattoo."

As she said this part she turned her right arm so that her tattoo was visible and finally Vanille understood its importance.

"Wait so, Light also has…" Hope began, Fang nodded and then clarified, "Yeah, although, hers isn't in an area she would generally display to the public."

Fang indicated the location with her hand and Hope blushed.

"Anyway, we trained for a long time, we fought in the war, the battles went either way. But it soon became clear that Lightning was Caius' favourite student, before long she was second in command of the squad, and I was just behind her in rank. It had an effect on Lightning too, having lost her parents, Caius became like a Father to her, he was the one person who she could tell absolutely anything."

Fang paused to ensure they were all keeping up and then took a deep breath, "Then the came the last days of the war, Lightning was fifteen."

As she told them the story her mind went back to that time.

Fang sat on the arm of the sofa in the building they had made their headquarters for the final charge. The rest of the squad were grouped together, talking. Fang looked over at Lightning who was sitting alone in a corner of the room, toying with Survival Knife that never left her person. Before Fang could go over to Lightning the door opened and Caius walked in.

"We have our mission," He stated and they all gathered around as he announced it, "We are to launch a sneak attack and devastate the PSICOM, our main target is Jihl Nabaat, assassinating her will deal a crippling blow to them."

They all prepared their weapons and began to move out.

Fang sighed as she finished telling them about their mission, she knew now she had to tell them the result.

The others were amazed at what they were hearing, Caius' activities during the war, and those of his squad were now clear, they were a unit of elite soldiers who could use magic and Lightning and Fang had been part of that squad.

"We went to carry out the mission," Fang continued to explain, "But it was a trap, they were expecting us, Yaag Rosch sent in his best troops and they ambushed us. In the end, our squad of one hundred was reduced to half, Caius went missing and Lightning…Lightning was captured by the enemy."

Hope and Serah both gasped at this, Serah then asked, "Lightning's scars?"

Fang closed her eyes and lowered her head sadly, "While being held captive by Jihl Nabaat, Lightning was brutally tortured, all because she refused to surrender and serve Nabaat."

Hope then remembered something Lightning had said, "While they were torturing her…was that, when she was raped?"

"Yeah, that's right, but, she obviously didn't tell you, she was actually raped multiple times by the soldiers, at least once she was gang-raped."

"How did she get away?" Vanille asked, Fang looked grim as she revealed, "As the highest ranking member of the squad still active at the time, I gathered the squad together and mounted a rescue operation, they weren't expecting it so soon after their ambush."

Once again Fang remembered that moment as she told it to the group.

Fang led the remaining members of the Division through the hallway; she could hear screams and knew they were coming from Lightning. She could see Lightning's cell but it was heavily guarded, she signalled to her team members and they acted at once, casting spells and creating havoc, drawing the attention of the guards. Fang gripped her spear and charged in, she cut down two of them, launched a Fira spell at a third and then forced open the door to the cell, there was only one soldier inside and he was occupied, he was in the middle of raping Lightning, Fang charged up and thrust her spear through his back, killing him and throwing him aside.

"Lightning!" She quickly checked her team-mate, Lightning's breathing was laboured, she was covered in injuries and bleeding, "Damn."

After freeing Lightning from the table she had been strapped too she rejoined the squad, which had also reclaimed Lightning's clothes and weaponry. They quickly fled back to their base camp.

Fang shook herself out of her thoughts and continued, "Once we escaped, we waited for Lightning to recover, the other branches of the Guardian Corps were still fighting."

Fang then prepared to tell them about what happened next, the turning of the tide and the victory of the Guardian Corps.

"After Lightning recovered, she was angrier than ever, she led us on an attack, going directly for PSICOM's control centre, the Primarch's Palace. Aided by the other branches, we broke through; I managed to disrupt their chain of command by killing Rosch, spear thrust through the chest. Lightning got revenge on Nabaat, beheading her. After that we were nearly overwhelmed, that was when Caius retuned, he saved us and, with me and Lighting, went in and forced Primarch Malum to abdicate."

The others stared in amazement at this, they now knew the whole story behind the end of the war and also why Lightning had been so withdrawn when they first met her, as well as the reason behind her nightmares and her self-consciousness with her scars.

"Malum abdicated, his corruption and the fact PSICOM used him, made him unsuitable for his role, so he was left in disgrace and Dysley ascended the throne." Fang explained, "After the war, Caius disappeared, he named Cid Raines his successor as Grand General of the Guardian Corps and then disappeared."

The others were confused by the relevance of this until Fang explained further, "It broke Lightning, her Father figure and mentor, disappearing and leaving her behind, she had got her revenge, but had nothing now, she just felt empty."

The others were quiet as they absorbed this information, finally, after a long silence, Noel asked, "What's this have to do with that phone call you just got?"

"Dysley's been acting suspicious for a long time," Fang explained, "He's resurrected PSICOM and somehow brought Rosch and Nabaat back from the dead. When Lightning found out, she couldn't just let it stand, she grabbed her Gunblade and then…She disappeared, it's likely she's going to Eden, to try and kill them."

"By herself," Hope gasped, "That's suicide."

"That's why we need to stop her…but to do that, we need Caius," Fang explained, "Right now, he's the only one she'll listen to."

"But I thought he disappeared," Noel stated, true he was in contact with Caius and the others probably knew that now but, his communication with Caius had been over the phone, the only time they had met was once, and that was before Caius disappeared.

"Yeah, but I know someone who can find him," Fang replied, "We need to go down to Pulse, and meet with Paddra Nsu-Yeul."

There was silence that followed this, finally Snow raised the obvious question, "Just one problem, how are we gonna get there?"

"We need an airship," Fang stated.

"I think I can help with that."

They looked up in shock and saw Sazh standing there, Fang glared at him.

"I thought I asked for this to be private."

Sazh shrugged, "Sorry, I'm just following Cid's orders."

"Orders?" Fang asked, everybody looked at Sazh, surprised, how did he know Cid?

They got their answer when he pulled out a badge and showed it to them, making a full introduction as he did so.

"Sazh Katzroy, Guardian Corps Special Investigations Unit."

End of chapter, Lightning's past has been revealed, and Sazh's true identity too. Next up the group seek out Caius for help. Hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.