Hey guys! Sorry for the wait if it was long… I want to thank the people who reviewed, favorite'd, and alerted—you guys make me so happy (seriously, I get the biggest grin when I check my e-mail).
This chapter tore me to pieces, I don't know why it was so hard, but I hope you like it and that my hard work paid off—I scoured for mistakes, but I'll check again and hope there's nothing embarrassing (like last time when Light was raking her hair back, I left out the word 'hair', but with any luck I changed it before anyone read it, lol). Alrighty then, enjoy the chapter and leave some love!
Through the earthy cell window, pale moonlight weakly illuminated the concrete cell and with it, the small boy huddled in the corner. His body stiff and aching, he lay shivering and cold on the rocky cement floor. He had given up on trying to sleep—the burning pain from the heavy, iron shackles on his bleeding, raw slim wrists made it impossible for him to drift off, his ribs screamed at every miserable breath he could take, the shallow slash on his neck pulsed with every heartbeat. At best, he could hope to stare himself into a kind of trance.
In the air, hung a quiet deathly chill. He blinked and against his will, tears welled up in his eyes. As they left wet trails down his cheeks, the cold air stung them and he struggled to wipe his face against his shoulder. I can't be weak, I have to be strong…but I'm so scared. He had no idea where he was; he had been blindfolded as soon as he had been thrown in the car; the drive was long, the boat ride even longer. If I don't know where I am, how are Light and the others supposed to find me?
A rattle of keys caught Hope's attention and he rolled onto his stomach, his body protesting at the sudden movement, making him gasp out in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled himself back on his heels, nauseated at the dizzying fireworks behind his eyelids.
Whistling to himself and glancing around the earth-stone construction, which was more like a makeshift prison cell, he stopped after a few cheerful tunes. He had come to the conclusion that such a dreary and cold place wasn't fit for a happy tune; he had no intention of mocking the poor prisoner he was to get. Swinging the keys around his fingers, he turned the corner, facing the rusty iron bars. He was careful to mask his surprise. When his boss told him to bring up the dangerous prisoner, he wasn't expecting some kid. This little squirt can't be dangerous…and they beat him up anyway?
The boy was pressed up against the wall, his hair shone silver in the fast-fading moonlight, his weary guarded pale green eyes watched his every move. Despite his look of trying to be calm and alert, a slight sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead and the man noticed the tinge red on his cheeks, which drew his eyes to the dark-stained scarf. "Hey kid, you're being moved—Boss doesn't want you to freeze down here."
He shoved the key into the old lock and swung the bar door open. The boy struggled to his feet slowly, leaning against the wall his face scrunched in pain as his wrists had to bear the full weight of the heavy cuffs. He couldn't help think that this was a mistake. "Don't worry kid, I'm sure this is all a mess-up. Your mom'll file a missing person's report and Boss will have to turn you loose."
Hope narrowed his eyes, trying not to feel abandoned. If only things were normal, and I still had a mom to worry over my whereabouts…but Lightning worries about me. His memories traced back to the abrupt hug she had tightly thrown onto him when they were reunited back in Palumpolum and he felt a glimmer of hope light up inside him. I bet she's tearing up the streets looking for me…it's only a matter of time until she does. He shuffled along with renowned energy when another heavy thought crept up on him. The time limit. She only has four days…and is this day one?
"What's your name, squirt?" Hope ignored the man though he had kind brown eyes; the kindness was slightly marred by the ragged scar running down the left side of his face, turning half of his mouth down into a grimace. He was tall and slender with dark green, olive hair.
They continued up the winding stairs in silence. The steps were a mixture of packed dirt and concrete, giving the dank chamber an earthly fusty smell. Where are we? Underground? But he quickly discarded that idea as he remembered the moonlight. His lungs soon had to fight for air, his legs laboring over every step. A hand pushed against his back, making him stumble. The dizziness came back immediately and he sank down to one knee, trying to rub the flickering dots from his vision, but the movement proved futile as he couldn't lift his hand high enough. "Please," he whispered quietly. "Help me…my name's Hope. I'm fourteen-years-old." He was picked up and set back on his feet.
"Hope eh? Who'd ever thought they'd find hope in such a miserable place? I'm sorry kid, but I can't help you. I've been told you're dangerous."
"Dangerous…?" Hope wheezed. "Look at me…what could I…possibly do?" He staggered up another step and in his mind, the stairs turned into a mud slide. His face came to meet it quickly. "I'm…so thirsty." Cold shivers ran through him. Black shadows danced before his fading vision and far off in the distance, voices were chanting, their echoes spinning around his head. There was darkness and the last thing he remembered was the slow beating of his heart.
The man sighed. He wanted to think that he wasn't a bad person. But his conscious told him otherwise as he picked up the limp boy and continued up the spiral stairs.
"Lt. Amodar is still coming up the stairs, don't you think we should wait?" Serah asked nervously as Snow ambled past her, giving her a sad smile.
Lightning stared at the metal door as if her piercing eyes would be enough to bust it open. After knocking on it once, she stepped aside, giving Snow a pointed look.
"On it Sis." The fighter took a determined step back. Pressing himself against the guard railing and raising his foot, he delivered an extraordinary kick that smashed the door wide open. There was a small gasp from Serah.
"Snow," she whispered in awe and Lighting stormed inside, so she didn't have to see Snow's cocky grin.
"Ah…I see they already got the door open. I just hope they made sure it was 218 before they broke in." Lt. Amodar shook his head and chuckled. "There's no stopping Farron."
"Is she going to get in trouble for it? I mean breaking and entering another soldier's apartment on base…it's for a good reason. Not like she's doing it because she hates the guy," Sazh said, waving his hand in the air.
"No and you're right at that; it's for a very good reason."
Practically void of any personality, the tiny apartment was kept very tidy. Snow was in the back, tearing apart Mika's bedroom, in search of any clues. Serah was in the front room, pulling out drawers beneath the TV table.
After turning the desktop on, Lightning shifted her attention to the wooden drawers. Let's see what we have here… She yanked open the drawer and clucked her tongue, pulling out a laptop. She set it on the desk and went back to shuffling through folders. In a matter of seconds, she came across a promising dark blue one; all the others were manila. Her heart began to race as she pulled it out and flipped it open; her eyes widened as a black and white large photo of her dropped to the ground, revealing another photograph of Snow playing catch with Dajh. You were stalking us? She bent down and picked the picture of her up, placing it on a pile with Snow's. She frowned at the photograph of Hope, who happened to be staring right at the camera; he was holding his elbow. Right he fell…but that was like a month ago. Her frown grew. How long have you been watching us?
"Claire? I didn't find much, but I did find some unmarked DVDs…" Serah clutched the three plastic cases in her hands, watching her sister stare intensely at a document.
"Those might just be porn…" Snow walked into the living room, holding a bunch of papers.
There was a knock on the open door. "Time's up. Find anything useful?" Lt. Amodar asked, surveying the mess.
Lightning stood up quickly. "Sir, we've found evidence…but I wasn't able to get into the computers—"
"Don't worry about it sergeant, I'll get the technicians to handle it." He tacked a paper on the door, stating that the apartment was under investigation due to a kidnapping and all the items inside were under the jurisdiction of the GC. "I'll call you when we find something."
"Thank you lieutenant." Lightning gathered up the photos and placed them back into the folder. Even though they only had half an hour, she felt that they had found enough to if not exactly tell them where Hope was, then point them in the right direction. And a direction was all she needed. She glanced at the tapes in her sister's hand and looked at Snow. "What'd you find?"
He looked a little sheepish; the papers he had been proud to find suddenly seeming insignificant to actual tapes and whatever Light had. "Um, actually I just found a couple of reports on this really old village—"
"That's it? Hope is missing, and you shift through some history papers?" Lightning hissed. She rolled her eyes. "Yeah great use of his time, hero." She stormed out, brushing past Lt. Amodar and Sazh.
Snow just stood, letting the words sink in before rage ignited his stress. "Hey, THAT IS NOT FAIR! I got the fucking bedroom, ok? What in the hell—" he growled and went after her, leaving behind a shocked Serah. Make fun of me if you want, ridicule me in every way possible, beat me for Eden's sake because Etro knows I wouldn't raise a hand against a woman, but when it comes to my family I try, and dare you insult that I do any less! "did you expect me to find, Lightning?"
His footsteps thundered down the walkway and he reached out and snatched her arm, harshly turning her around—her eyes widened in fury and disbelief. "I care about him just as much as you do, Light. I'm worried and scared just like you are—"
"I'm not sca—"
"You guys, stop it!" Serah yelled, stomping her foot.
"If you think I was just puttering around the room, wasting time, not worrying about Hope, then you're selfish and maybe you really are just a cold-hearted soldier, only wanting to take back what you believe is—"
The slap resonated through the suddenly quiet second landing. Lightning fought the hurt look away from her eyes and buried it somewhere deep, ripping her arm out Snow's loosened grip. Giving him one last glare, she abruptly turned around and swiftly walked away.
There was a few seconds of silence until Serah burst into tears. Fear and guilt coursed through Snow's heart. I swore I'd never make you cry again…
Sazh awkwardly patted Serah's back. Lt. Amodar whistled and gave Sazh a hearty slap on the back. "I'm going to go call the guys and have them pick up the computers…" He turned around and went the other way.
Serah wiped her eyes and sniffled, blinking to see Snow kneeling in front of her. His blue puppy dog eyes were remorseful and he grabbed her hands. "Baby, I am so sorry, so so sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper."
She tore away her hands and flung her arms around his neck, sobbing. "I just want us to find Hope and bring him home—he's probably so scared and we're just here arguing over who found the most resourceful thing." She pulled back and wiped her eyes again. "And Lightning knows you care, that we care, I know she knows. Just like she probably knows she pushed your button too far and that it wasn't fair."
Snow forced a smile onto his face. Baby, you're so forgiving. "Right, let's go get Light then." Serah nodded, taking his hand.
"And I'm sure those papers are something—my hero doesn't just pick up anything!" She giggled, tugging him along.
"Whoopidoo, let's all forget how furious Lightning looked and pretend she'll drop it." Sazh shook his head and followed after the happy couple.
"An' my Chocobo was all like, fshoosh—see Lebreau, see?" Dajh flapped his hands around.
"Ah really? Yeah, that's pretty cool." She sat back, watching the little boy animatedly explain how the little chick woke him up this morning.
The front door opened and Lebreau quickly stopped Dajh from running to greet the person. "Hey little guy, we don't know who it is yet…" With an effort, she swung him up and onto her hip. "Oh hey Light…find anything helpful?" she asked hopefully. The soldier rubbed her temples.
"Listen, I need you to—" the door opened wider and everyone else came in. It was then she noticed Lightning's bottled-in gaze and her leader's uneasiness. She also took in the folder, DVD cases and a stapled paper packet. So they did find something… Lebreau set the wiggling Dajh down; he zipped to his father.
"Daddy, where's Hope?" Sazh picked him up.
"Ok, well I guess I'll be going then," Lebreau said, eyeing the tension between Lightning and Snow. She smiled at Sazh. "And he was fine…Chocobo seems to be missing, but he's probably just hiding."
"Alright, thanks for watching him."
"No problem and please…let us know if NORA can do anything to help."
Once Lebreau was gone, Snow tossed his papers onto the table. Before he could open his mouth to apologize to Lightning, Sazh spoke first.
"I know there's something going on, but for Hope's sake, let's work together and get this thing figured out."
"Gladly," Lightning said quietly and without emotion. Snow rolled his eyes.
"Thanks Sazh, but I think first I'm going to apologize, so I can breathe. Light?" Snow placed his hands on the table. "I'm really sorry for what I said…I was just angry, and those words just flew out—"
"I know…" Lightning sighed, and too rolled her eyes, placing one hand on her hip. Am I going soft? "I'm sorry about before as well. I had no right to think that you weren't working as hard as I was… I just…"
"We'll find him Light, I promise." Snow grinned. "And it's you he's going to go running first to."
She let the last remark slide unscathed because as she locked eyes with him, she saw a familiar determined glint in his eyes; it was those same eyes that had helped convince her that they would find Serah and bring her back. The faintest of all smiles barely touched her lips. "Better start reading, hero."
Snow blanched and looked down at the thick packet. He cleared his throat. "There's nothing I wouldn't read for my little buddy."
Lightning gagged when Serah cooed from the kitchen. "Serah, don't encourage him."
Sazh scratched his head and caught the soldier's eye. Lightning stood up again. "Sazh, why don't you check out those videos?"
"Yeah ok, these ones right here? Got it."
Serah only glanced at her sister curiously, but it was Snow who spoke up. "Hey babe…do you think you could make something to eat?" he asked, ignoring the pink-haired soldier's glower. When Serah complied, Snow lowered his voice to a whisper. "You think I want her to see what's on those tapes? Who knows what they could contain—thought I was doing you a favor!"
"Make your own damn food, you lazy pig!"
Sad that he was being ignored, Dajh left his father in search of someone else. "Serwuh? Wanna play with me?"
She looked at the little afro-sporting boy in overalls and smiled sweetly. "Hey hon, wanna help me cook?"
Lightning frowned as she scooped the photos aside, her eyes scanning over a list of names. Their names:
Estheim, Hope – Sorcerer – Great Fortress, Protector of Mankind
Farron, Lightning – Dexterous – White Knight from the Heavens
Farron, Serah – Subject Unidentified
Katzroy, Sazh – Enhancer – Shieldmaiden, Bringer of Flame
Katzroy, Dajh – Subject Unidentified – Sanctum
Oerba Dia Vanille – Disabler – One Hundred Hands of Revolt
Oerba Yun Fang – Subject Unstable – RAGNAROK
Villiers, Snow – Protector – Eternally Pure, Goddess of Ice
The names (above) listed, along with their attributes and special force, have been confirmed l'cie (no longer human) and have been deemed responsible for the destruction of Cocoon and deaths of thousands. These subjects must be brought to […] and placed under observation before execution.
Execution? Lightning swallowed. "Snow…take a look at this." She past him the paper and buried her face in her hands. "He said we had four days…if that fucker lied—"
"Light." Snow reached over and pulled one of her reluctant hands from her face and held onto it. She narrowed her eyes, but it was one of the rare moments where she didn't feel the need to yank her hand away.
He gave it a cautious squeeze and looked down at the document in his hand, furrowing his brow, extremely aware that she wasn't pulling away. "Geez, it makes us sound like we're… White Knight? Protector of Mankind?"
She pulled her hand away and sighed. "It's our Eidolons." She gave a frustrated growl. "How do we get them to believe we're not l'cie anymore? We don't have magic and we definitely don't have our… If we did, I'd have used Odin to save…"
"Not if you didn't know you still could…" Snow's voice died away at the stare she was giving him. He dropped the paper; the meaning of the scratched out names unquestioned. Sazh saved the silence from growing.
"Snow, what'd you find out? I don't know if the tapes are really worth anything…" His face was grave and Lightning closed her eyes. Great, nothing we can use.
Feeling the change of atmosphere, Serah padded out of the kitchen, anxious to hear what was going on.
"Like Light said…it's really more of a history paper—"
Sazh shook his head. "Give it to us anyway." He was obviously holding out and Lightning watched him.
Snow nodded and took a deep breath. "Of course it would be strange if Oerba was the only village on Gran Pulse…which is why it wasn't. Asnida was a warrior village, on the coast of one of the big lakes, which name…I forgot," he frowned, shuffling through the papers, "anyway, it was believed that Asnida was planning an attack on Cocoon, 'to rid the world of the atrocious orb that hangs in the sky', but that claim was never cited directly, and it couldn't have been thoroughly investigated because not only did they not have the technology to even reach Cocoon, but they were a people that mostly lived underground. So even if they didn't like Cocoon for whatever reason, it couldn't have bothered them that much—they hardly saw it.
"Don't worry Sis, I'm going somewhere with all this. Now, some 300 years ago Asnida was destroyed by cie'th… It was said that a whole troop of l'cie—from Cocoon—had a focus to make peace with the people, but once they stepped onto land, they all turned into monstrous cie'th and slaughtered everyone there….which have the historians believing that was their intention in the first place." He rubbed his chin. "So, Asnida is now supposedly haunted by all the old warrior souls."
Serah rubbed her arm. "So what was the reason for attacking Asnida in the first place if they weren't actually planning to attack Cocoon?"
"Magic. Legends have it that the ancestors of Asnida were born magic-wielders. The Sanctum or Eden, or whoever was in charge at that time had the suspicion that all the younger generations too had the ability to wield magic without having to be l'cie…and so they wanted to snuff them out."
Lightning rubbed her eyes and groaned. "This is all very interesting, but what has this got to do with Hope?" She counted to ten mentally when Snow was quiet. She let out a long breath.
Always having been intrigued by history, Serah pulled out a chair. "So if they were warriors who could use magic, then why couldn't they have defeated the cie'th?"
Glad he could satisfy her thirst for the knowledge he had just recently acquired, Snow turned around to face her. "Even though they were warriors, they didn't believe in starting unnecessary wars and they had seen that these were people before they changed, so they thought they were under some sort of spell—they spent most of the time trying to heal and cure the cie'th. Plus, I don't think these were the ordinary ugly monsters that we've encountered; they were described as sickly gray and gigantic."
"Uh quick before soldier girl tears her hair out…or yours—tell me what Asnida looks like."
Snow blinked and grabbed the first page. "Um it's on a beach cliffside—"
"That's all I needed to hear," Sazh said, smiling with relief. "Ladies and gents, I'd like to present to you—footage of Asnida." He turned around, pulling the remote out of his pocket.
"Snow you just wasted twenty minutes of our lives with that history lesson, but it gave us the location, so thanks."
Snow beamed. "See Sis, I told—"
"Don't push it." Lightning stood by the couch. Snow bowed his head.
Dajh skipped towards the group and threw himself onto the couch. "Are we watching cartoons, Daddy?"
"Why's he strung up like that? I thought he was just gonna wait somewhere and if they didn't come, we'd kill—"
"Mika, you don't know the importance of this task; you don't know the half of it."
Why were his hands so cold? So numb, he couldn't even feel his fingers…did he even have fingers? You don't know the half of it… He opened his eyes, hoping his surroundings had changed. But they hadn't. He was still in a large, practically empty, gray—probably made out of rock—room with huge carved-out black-covered windows. He was hung up by his wrists, his feet barely touching the floor; two oxidized metal poles, one on either side of him, served as an anchor for the shackles to hold him up. He had a terrible sore throat, he was starting to lose the feeling in his arms, and though he was hot, with beads of sweat prickling his forehead, his body was racked with cold shivers. He whimpered as an intense spasm suddenly shook through his left arm.
"Ah, you're awake. How do you feel Hope? Sorry if you're feeling some pain in your neck, we had to knock you out for a couple days…we're just waiting for your family—is it alright if we call them your family? Since your mother is dead and your father doesn't seem to care too much," the cloaked man laughed, "otherwise you wouldn't still be here!" He chuckled, his tone turning serious again. "But you would still be here though…my friend. I digress, we've decided to give your family/friends ten more minutes and if they come bursting through that door then well…I don't lie and I make sure my henchmen don't either—you'd be free to go."
The man slapped himself lightly on the wrist. "Oh where are my manners? You're probably wondering who I am. My name…is Angeal…" the rest of his sentence trailed off. "Why do you look so shocked?" Angeal followed the boy's gaze…to the iron door. "Ah, I suppose you would be eagerly waiting."
He ripped his eyes away from the door, glaring at the man half-heartedly. He had trouble keeping back his tears. What? I've been asleep for four days and they still aren't here yet? …I'm going to die. A small sob escaped his lips. He had whole-heartedly believed that they would find him. Sure, he knew he was nowhere close to New Bodhum and maybe he was over some kind of small sea, but after everything they'd been through—he honestly thought there was nothing they couldn't overcome. But with his own life at stake, he had been proved wrong. Another spasm shook his other arm and he cried out as his shoulder jerked with it too. Lightning!
Angeal narrowed his steel gray eyes at the jerky and sporadic movements. "You're twitching," he stated calmly. "Perhaps it wasn't so wise to stick that injection in your neck. Tell me Hope, where was your l'cie brand?"
Mika shifted uncomfortably when the boy's sobbing only grew louder. He looked at the man with the scar standing in the corner; he too looked uneasy.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" Hope yelled, thrashing around. He gritted his teeth as his whole body started convulsing.
Mika turned around and the scarred man stepped forward. "Angeal, stop it."
The man made a slightly disgusted face and stepped back as the young teenager threw up all over himself, the white liquid dripped down his shirt. "I'm not doing anything," he said smugly.
"Damn it, give him the antidote! You wanna kill him now?" he snarled.
"As a matter of fact Kirill—I do. Ten minutes is up." He laughed as Hope's head shot up, his sickly green eyes wide and fearful. "Mika, pull the switch."
"P-please don't!"
Angeal turned around. "Mika, the switch," he barked. The switch was reluctantly pulled. Kirill closed his eyes, wishing he could close his ears as well as Hope let out a ragged scream, which was quickly reduced to whimpering.
The shackles holding him up turned a searing, white hot, burning the flesh it surrounded before delivering a final electrifying shock.
Hollow laughter rang within the solid room. "You'll be fine after a nice restful sleep," Angeal assured. He walked closer, patting Hope's cheek. "It's only day one." Careful to avoid the sticky mess covering his shirt, he touched the left side of his chest to make sure, that in fact, his heart was still beating, however weakly.
He pushed back his bluish black hair. "Mika, come with me. Kirill run some more tests on him and…if he ever asks for water, then I suppose it would be a good idea to give him some." He frowned as the boy had another convulsion. "And make sure he doesn't break his neck when he does that."
When the two men filed out, Kirill locked the thick door. I didn't sign up for this. He went to the wooden table where Angeal had left all the syringes, vials and black containers. He reached under the table and pulled out a water bottle. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he drew out a cell phone. "Hey kid, I think it's about time you called your mom."
His breathing was barely audible and raspy, a constant flow of tears running down his cheeks. "Hey kid…" Right, the chains. He went around him and pulled at the lever; Hope fell to the floor. Kirill winced. "Sorry 'bout that."
His whole body was in a fit of tremors, white flashes blinded him, but even though he was ablaze with pain, relief flooded through him. It was only day one and Lightning had more time to find him. She hadn't given up and she hadn't failed. Something wet poured down his mouth and he instantly tried to spit it out, which sent him into a coughing fit, leaving him dizzy and nauseous.
Kirill knelt down and helped Hope sit up; the teenager almost passed out at the pain it caused, his head lolling back. "Hey squirt, tell me your phone number or your Mom's cell."
"…My mom…is…d-dead."
"Ok, then whoever's taking care of you. Quick, if Boss comes back, I'm hanging up there with you." He shook the boy. "Hey come on, stay with me."
Please be home Light…I want to hear your voice. I need to…
"Hey squirt, phone's ringing…" Kirill patted his cheek. "Stay awake." He groaned, holding the boy with one arm. "Kid, I can't answer the phone for you."
"Hello?" answered a female voice.