Chapter Twenty: Bravery

Lightning awoke on the couch, feeling alert but hazy at the same time. The contents of her dream certainly didn't help. Yeul spoke to her. She said that Caius betrayed Lightning, and left her there to die. All so that Yeul could live again. If Yeul was speaking to her, didn't that mean that Caius already accepted whatever Etro's deal was? Did he really exchange Lightning's life for Yeul's, or was this all an illusion?

It was actually difficult for Lightning to come to a conclusion. Her heart had been looking for a reason to distrust Caius. She was afraid all along that if she trusted him completely, he would betray her trust and leave her heartbroken. She tried to keep her heart away from him, but it was so hard when he was so sincere. Even now she had no doubts that his touches and gestures of affection and care were not meant to lead her astray. She just thought that maybe she would never take priority over Yeul.

Not that she believed Caius loved Yeul romantically. It seemed clear to her that Caius did love Yeul, but he loved her for being the light and hope of all the eras. He treasured that light and hope even if he had none for himself. All he had was darkness and sorrow. But that was before they began travelling together. Now he appeared so different. He had hope for the future, or else he wouldn't have fought with her. Right? Or perhaps it was still just fighting for the sake of revenge.

Lightning's heart sank at that as she stared up at the ceiling. No. Absolutely not. She and Caius had a bond now. He was fighting for the same reason that she was: to save the future. This journey wasn't a suicide mission for him; he cared about the outcome. He must have been looking forward to something happening after the final battle against Etro. A future of hope was rising on the horizon, and he saw it. They both did.

"Caius," she muttered into the air. Caius Ballad. Her former enemy turned ally turned friend turned—more. There, she finally admitted it. Caius Ballad had a hold of her heart, and he had actually grasped it for a long time. Yet not once did he squeeze her heart or make her heart. He treated her well. As warmth filled her heart, she became aware that she too held Caius's heart. She allowed him to get close to her. He seemed to adore her for some reason. She knew that she was strong, determined, dedicated…But those were some of the only good qualities she saw within herself. Somehow Caius saw her as something more than just a screw up.

I need him, Lightning realized. At the blunt realization, her eyes actually grew a bit moist. I need him to help me see myself as more than the sum of my past sins. But most of all, I just need him.

She sat upright on the couch, making a decision. Even if Caius did betray her, she wouldn't betray him. Even if she went to save him and found that Etro converted him to her side, she wouldn't regret it. For once in her life, she was going to be brave with her heart and not just in battle.

As she rose to her feet, she grasped Caius's weapon in one hand. The hilt was firm in her grasp. Just touching the weapon made her feel an unexplainable sense of reassurance. Caius wouldn't betray her. Even if it was for Yeul. She just knew it.

"Caius," she muttered into the air. "I need Caius."

That was her greatest desire. It was for that reason that a rift appeared before her. A small smile worked its way onto her expression, though she was also a bit guilty. If her greatest desire was Caius, that meant it wasn't for Serah anymore. "Forgive me," she said in case Serah could hear her somehow. "But…It's time I finally lived for myself."

With that, she rushed into the rift and hurried onto her next destination.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Valhalla. A land of no death. A land that had no potential for life.

Caius knew he was a fool for being tempted to come to this land. But Yeul, outstretching her hand…He hadn't been able to resist. He missed her too dearly to pass up even the smallest opportunity to see if he could resurrect her. Yet he had a feeling now that the desire was going to cost him his life.

He sat on the floor of Etro's temple, arms behind his back as he was chained to one of the poles. Etro did not pin him there as soon as he arrived; on the contrary, she had taken quite a bit of time to speak to him. She assured him that the Yeul that she sent to him was only a figment that she created, as was the phantom of Serah that had been hunting them down recently. No part of Yeul still existed in this realm except for the memory of her.

That alone made Caius's blood boil. Yet what Etro said next had chilled him to the core. She said that Caius betrayed Lightning. He left her in that time period in Bodhum while she was incapable of creating a rift in order to escape it. That was one of the only truths that Etro conveyed to him; even he realized it now that he was in Valhalla. He abandoned her. If that was the last time that he saw her...Well, he sincerely hoped it wasn't. He knew that Lightning was a fighter. She would find her way to Valhalla, but the question was, would it be before or after Etro disposed of him?

"You should have joined me, Caius," Etro whispered to him. In her bright white gown, the blonde haired goddess knelt before Caius and put a hand on his cheek gently. He was forced to look at her, and his eyes were hard as nails as he stared her down.

"I've seen what you do to those that follow you," he responded lowly, gritting his teeth. "Whether I was with or against you, I know my fate would have ended in demise."

She chuckled. "Yes, you're probably correct," she agreed as she rose to her feet. "All humans will die in the end, at least in one sense of the word. Their home will be Valhalla soon, and there is no life here. But you will have another ending. You don't even deserve to live on to suffer longer. You shall perish from existence."

"Better that than be in your presence much longer."

"Was that humor, Caius Ballad? I never believed I'd hear something that could possibly be humorous leave your lips. Has your time with the soldier really made you more lighthearted?"

"She's not a soldier," he growled. "She's a human being!"

"One who you seemed to have grown fond of," Etro said with a small laugh. "Do you truly suspect that she loves you in return? How could she after all the suffering that you caused?"

Though the words got to him, Caius did have a remark prepared. "She believes in second chances," he managed. She truly did believe in giving people a new chance at life because she chose to see him as more than his past mistakes. He would never forget the grace that she showed towards him, even if this truly was the end of his life.

"I will not be foolish enough to give you and that girl a second chance to hunt me," Etro said through her teeth, angry. She summoned a staff into her hand, though the tip of the staff was sharp and pointed so that she could easily stab somebody in the heart with it. Today, that somebody was going to be Caius. "This is your end."

Caius saw Etro get into the position to thrust that staff into his heart, and of course, he tugged at the cuffs that connected him to the pole. A feeble effort. Meaningless. He couldn't break free. He grunted, lifting his gaze to Etro's victorious expression one time before he squeezed his eyes shut and braced for impact.

A bullet came of nowhere before Etro could strike. It struck her instead, right in the chest. The goddess cried out in pain, and in his shock, Caius opened his eyes to see her stumble a few steps away from him. His next instinct was to look in the direction that the bullet had come from. He gazed over at the stares, squinting faintly because of the bright light that surrounded the figure. An angel? But the voice that came out of the figure's lips was one that he clearly recognized.

"Get away from him," came Lightning's snarl.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Lightning stood at the top of the stairs as the rift disappeared from behind her. She held her gunblade in one hand, while Caius's weapon was in her other one. A vicious fire shone in her eyes as she stared at Etro. Her aim with her gunblade had been dead on, and she had to admit that she arrived just in time. Otherwise, she would have lost Caius. Her thoughts of fury against the goddess faded slightly to concern as the warrior shifted her gaze to Caius.

"Lightning," he said. His voice was hoarse, but it wasn't just showing relief. He felt guilty for leaving her behind.

She ran down to him immediately, transforming her gunblade so that it was a sword as she stared at the chains. How was she supposed to break through this?

"You shouldn't have come-"

"Shut up, Caius. You know I couldn't leave you to die."

"I left you alone…"

"And I followed you here anyway. I was going to whether you wanted me to or not."

"Why?"

Lightning looked away from the chains, her eyes finding Caius's. "Because," she said lowly, voice more gentle than it had been before. "I care."

"Well, isn't this romantic," Etro's snide voice interrupted. Both Lightning and Caius's heads turned sharply to the throne, where Etro was sitting with a fist over her heart. "I'm sorry, peasants, but if you believed I would die from one magical bullet, you were sadly mistaken."

"You used one of the dragon bullets?" Caius grunted in surprise.

Lightning ignored Caius since the answer was obvious. "I knew you would be harder to kill than that," she agreed lowly. "But that doesn't change the fact that at the end of this, you're dead."

"You truly believe that you have the strength to kill a goddess?" Etro laughed meekly, more affected by the bullet than she wanted to show. "I dare you to try and kill me. You'll have to move quickly to get to me before I get to you!"

Instead of attacking them directly, though, Etro had another attack. Darkness began to cover the ground in the area—it became a pit that was going to suck them up. Caius, she instantly thought, grunting when she saw that he was still chained. There was only one option here while time was running so quickly. She transformed her gunblade yet again and pointed it at the chains.

"What are you doing? Lightning!" Caius scolded as Lightning shot off a magic bullet and broke the chains easily.

"You're welcome," she replied simply, reaching for one of his wrists. There was no time to rub his aching forearms; they had a much larger problem. The darkness continued to grow in strength and presence. It would swallow them whole if they didn't move quickly, but where was there an escape? This world was Etro's domain.

"The beach, Lightning," said the guiding voice of Odin from within her heart. "Flee to the beach."

While Caius took a hold of his weapon in his other hand, Lighting yanked at his wrist and pulled him to his feet. "Run," she ordered.

For once, Caius wasn't questioning her. He trusted her completely as she kept a hold of his wrist and forced him right along with her. They ran up the stairs as dark tendrils licked at their heels. The coolness of it nearly made Lightning get chills, so she wondered how Caius was feeling since he was a step or two behind her.

No time for concern, though her heart threatened to overflow with it as they reached the outside balcony. Her eyes darted over the city to the ocean, which wasn't exactly close. "Odin!" she cried without thought.

Odin faithfully appeared next to her, grasping her forearm and looking her in the eye. No words were spoken, yet she understood exactly what he wanted. "Time to fly," she said as she released Caius's wrist. "Step back."

"We're splitting up?"

"No," Odin said as he grasped Caius's arm with his other hand. "No separating. Not now."

Using a strength that only a godlike Eidolon could possess, Odin acted quickly. He pulled back both of his arms, and without even gathering momentum by swinging Lightning and Caius back again or around him, he launched them forward.

The air of Valhalla was, as always, frigid. Lightning gritted her teeth as that cold air impacted her right in the face. Her eyes, however, stayed open to their normal size despite the rushing air. She was trained for this; speed and wind wouldn't impair her vision. Unfortunately, her emotions could still impact her though. She felt worried for Odin immediately. He would be alright, wouldn't he? He didn't just sacrifice himself to get Lightning and Caius out of there, did he-?

"Lightning?" Caius asked.

"Yes?"

"Are we able to fly now?"

"Nope," Lightning said with a straight face. "This is falling. With style."

"You know," Caius started as they continued soaring through the air. "I could have just become Bahamut."

"You won't need to now. We're landing on the beach."

As they neared the sandy shores of Valhalla, Caius managed one humorous comment despite the circumstances. "Hope it's a soft landing."

Thankfully for them, it was. Lightning hit the sand first, doing a summersault forward and then stopping on her knees on the sand. Next to her, Caius landed on one knee and remained on it for a few moments before he offered her a hand and they rose to their feet together.

He didn't let go of her hand right away. Nor did he remove eye contact until he noticed the chaos gathering to his left. He and Lightning both grasped their weapons tightly, though Lightning was the only one who had her gun pointed at the goddess who was rising out of the darkness.

"Fools," Etro said lowly, walking a few steps out. Her green eyes were vicious, holding so much hatred that it showed just how inhuman she was. "You should have given into the hopelessness a long time ago."

"You underestimate the human heart," Lightning declared. "You thought the heart experienced sorrow more than anything else, but you thought wrong. Hope overcomes sorrow any day, just as long as somebody is there to help you keep perspective."

Caius, pitying her, asked a question. "You were once human, Averia," he said as he used that earthly name. "Do you not remember anything about the strength and bravery of the human heart."

"It does not matter what I remember or not," the goddess spat, suddenly sending orbs of light their way and starting the battle. As both Lightning and Caius dodge-rolled to opposite sides, Etro's voice rose above the noise. "All that I have seen are cowards! Weak, pathetic cowards!"

"What about Yeul!" Caius growled as he sprinted towards Etro and swung his hefty blade at her. "She was anything but cowardly!"

As his blade hit her, Lightning was there to follow it up with a swing of her own. "And what about Serah?" she practically hollered, slicing Etro's arm with the sword. "She was afraid, but she faced the future anyway. And she did it with hope!'"

"Weak!" Etro screeched, blocking Caius's sword with her staff and sending a fireball at Lightning. "All of them, weak! Humans are not strong. They die easily. Why do such weak being deserve the ability to love? They do not!"

"So you envy us! That is why you are doing all this!"

"I am doing this-" Etro shoved Caius backwards with great strength, knocking him back into Lightning. The two of them toppled over each other in the sand, with Caius landing on top of Lightning. "—Because I am the goddess of these people! Humans have spirit because of me! I have the right to do with them whatever I please."

Being the creator did give Etro certain privileges, but she overstepped her own authority. "Humans are not your puppets," Lightning spat, though she couldn't move beneath Caius. She wondered why he didn't jump off of her and allow her to get up, but then she saw it. Etro was about to send a huge attack their way.

Thousands of pieces of light filled the sky surrounding them, creating a dome that enclosed them in. Upon closer inspection, Lightning noticed that they were arrows. And all of them were about to close in on her and Caius. The reason he didn't move—He was going to shield her body with his own. "Caius!" she said hoarsely in protest. She felt his hand go over her head protectively just as the arrows rained down on them.

The arrows never pierced either of them. A new type of force surrounded them and created a shield. Lightning felt the heat of Caius's body atop of hers, but the heat quickly turned frigid as ice walls surrounded them. Caius's grunt—not a grunt of pain—but a grunt of surprise, told Lightning that something truly had happened to save them and that she hadn't just imagined the air turning winter-like within five seconds.

Lifting her head, she saw the ice wall melting. The two creators of it stood before her. The Shiva Sisters. Then to their right was the figure who was melting the wall. Brynhildr.

Finally, Caius got off of Lightning and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked though none of the arrows hit either of them.

"Yeah," she responded with a nod, glancing around as she spoke. The Shiva sisters had been responsible for the shield, and now Brynhildr was melting down the remains of it and throwing the ice shards at Etro.

"You—You traitors!" the goddess shrieked, dodging some of the ice as she tried to compose herself. "How dare you attack me?"

The eidolons offered no response, only angry stares. As the Shiva sisters rushed into unleash their own attacks on the evil goddess, others appeared to Lightning's right and left. She looked from side to side and saw the two biggest eidolons that she ever knew—Alexander and Hecatoncheir. The two of them unleashed attacks from a distance, while another eidolon in the sky charged up their own attack. Bahamut had arrived as well.

Odin was the only one missing. Lightning glanced around her quickly, but he wasn't just out of her sight. "Where's Odin?" she demanded of Alexander, voice pitched slightly higher than usual in fear. He didn't…die, did he?

"I'm here, Lightning," Odin said from behind her. The girl spun around, shoulders slumping in relief. Thank goodness he didn't die for them when he launched them away from Etro's throne. …Not that it matters too much, she thought. He's going to lose his life at the end of this. All of them are. Lightning ignored those depressing thoughts, giving a faint nod to Odin that said it all. This would be their last fight side by side. They would make it a good one.

As all the allies close to Etro backed off, Bahamut unleashed Megaflair on the defenseless goddess. The ground shook with such force when the attack struck that Lightning subconsciously lifted her arms and braced herself for the wave of air that crashed towards her and Caius. Her feet were planted firmly enough that she didn't collapse, and neither did Caius.

Lightning lowered her arms, and there she saw Etro standing where she had been before. Still on her feet. She was barely even damaged! Lightning's heart sank instantly.

Etro laughed maniacally, lifting a hand. "Fools!" she cried. "As if you could really defeat me!"

All of a sudden, Lightning heard groaning. The eidolons didn't make verbal noises, but she could hear their pain anyway. She grunted, looking around to see all of the warriors sink down to their knees as chaos surrounded them. Bound them. Trapped them where they were but didn't make them disappear like Lightning had expected.

"We've done enough damage," Odin said telepathically to Lightning, though his voice was pained even then. "She cannot banish us, but we cannot break free. You must defeat her!"

"With pleasure," Lightning snarled, charging towards Etro. As she neared the goddess, Lightning ducked to avoid the swinging sword and then smirked. Etro was right where Lightning wanted her to be. That was when she unleashed her trademark move: Army of One. She kicked and swung at the goddess with trademark precision, though she didn't shoot off any bullets. She wanted to be certain that she would hit the goddess close to her heart when she fired those off.

As soon as she performed her final swing, she did a backflip. Somebody suddenly sped past her and picked up where she left off. Caius Ballad swung his hefty sword at the goddess, meeting only one block before he worked his way past her defensive staff and smacked her harshly with his own unnamed combo. Lightning herself had faced that combo before, where Caius just continued swinging and swinging and swinging. It was a painful one to be sure.

"Lighting!" he called to her. He swung around Etro before she was about to sink to her knees, wrapping an arm over her stomach as he stood behind her and held her in place. "Shoot!"

"I'll hit you too!" she cried, shaking her head.

An electric current surrounded Etro then, and Caius was forced to release her. He stumbled back a few steps as Etro fell to her knees. "Pitiful humans," she spat. Her mouth was full of blood.

Lightning lifted her gunblade and shot off a bullet now that Caius was out of the way. It pierced the right side of Etro's torso, opposite the other bullet wound that she received earlier.

Etro gasped, nearly falling backwards at the bullet. "I will not…be…defeated…"

"You don't have a say in the matter." Lightning still had her gunblade raised, so she had no problem lifting it a little bit higher and to the left. Directly at Etro's head.

Time to bring this all to an end.

Just like that, Lightning pulled back on the trigger and shot off the bullet at Etro's forehead.

Etro's eyes were still wide from the last attack, but the difference showed in them the moment that Lightning's last bullet hit her. Her eyes, still showing pain, anger, and rage, slowly began to fade. Not literally, but the expression within them began to fade as Etro's consciousness did the same. Triumph overtook Lightning's senses as she watched the goddess fall backwards, and then begin to fade away.

Etro was finally dead.

"It's over, Lightning," Caius said, walking over to Lightning and setting a hand on her shoulder. "We have avenged them."

Serah. Yeul. Corin. "Yeah," she said quietly. She lifted a hand and placed it atop Caius's. "And we saved the world."

"That too," he grunted. Lightning studied him for a moment, smiling faintly in amusement. He was trying to be nonchalant, but he was glad that they saved the future too. She could see it in his eyes. She shook her head faintly in amusement, though she still wore that small smile.

Her smile quickly faded though when her eyes landed on the goddess who faded away completely then. There were others who were going to fade away with her. She spun around and Caius's hand fell off her shoulder.

As she suspected, all of the eidolons were fading away in the darkness now. None of them said a single word to her, unable to. It was alright. Her eyes locked on Odin, and his locked onto her. She nodded faintly to him in thanks as well as goodbye. She wouldn't have been able to do this without him. He gave her hope, strength, and confidence. She would miss him. Heck, she already was missing him even if he was sort of still with her.

But after a few moments, that changed. He faded away along with the rest of the eidolons and left her and Caius alone on the beach.

Alone except for the darkness creeping up on the horizon.

"What is that?" she grunted.

"…I believe…Valhalla is beginning to disappear."

"What?" How was that possible? And why was it happening?

"The goddess of death is dead herself," Caius said. "So now her home is being destroyed."

That was the only explanation Lightning needed—and the only one that Caius had time to give anyway. The air was getting colder now that the darkness was coming in, and she had a feeling that if they stayed, they'd be frozen in the darkness forever. "We need to go," she said, eyes widening as she looked around. Were there any gates they could use? Any rifts already open?

"Look up."

When Lightning did, she saw Etro's gate still in the sky. It was the one that Noel had originally fallen through when he first arrived in Valhalla so long ago. "You think that will take us where we need to go?" she asked.

"It will at least take us away from here. That's all that matters."

"We'll have to fly."

Caius was already one step ahead of her. He transformed into Chaos Bahamut and knelt down on the ground so that Lightning could get atop of him. This routine was something she was beginning to get used to now; she had been on his back quite a few times now. This time would be different though; she could tell that as soon as they lifted off the ground.

Almost immediately, Caius started flying directly into the sky. He was going so straight that Lightning had to actually wrap her arms over his shoulder tightly in order to not fall off to her death. It was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Terrifying because it was so fast and she was in so much danger of falling off of him, but exhilarating for the same reason. It helped that she and Caius just defeated the most evil being in the universe; that made her feel more excited than terrified. She actually laughed faintly, though the sounds were absorbed by the rushing wind around them.

They were free. Finally, they both were free. It was easy to forget about the darkness taking over the ground when they were safe in the air. Etro truly had no chains on them anymore. Their lives were going to be their own at last.

They were right in front of Etro's Gate. The freedom that Lightning believed they already possessed was simply an illusion. They weren't free.

Something shot at them from the ground. Lightning turned her head sharply and looked down, just in time to see the dark blue and purple ball of energy fly at her and Caius. "What—Ah!" she cried when it struck both her and Caius. Electricity flowed through both of them, sufficiently shocking them and keeping up the electrocution for a few seconds.

She released Caius in the pain and plummeted for the sandy shores of Valhalla again, her wings clipped. Death's goddess was still chasing them after all.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Oooo, cliffhanger. I know—everyone hates those. xD But they're just so fun to write!

Where are all my peeps? Seems like less and less people are reviewing. Are you guys on vacation or just lazy? xD I don't even have any people to respond directly to this week! Yes, I saw some of you asked questions, but…meh. Some things are better answered by the story. Of course I appreciate how you are questioning the story and not just taking things mindlessly. Again, you guys are a great fanbase. Thanks for all the love and support. :)

Peanut