So... Long time no see!
Due to family issues I was unable to post for... I guess a month and a half now. Sorry about that. But in about a week or two we should be back to business as usual.
Anyways! Have an update!
Luxerion wasn't what Noel thought it would be. Either way, it was surprising and mostly just depressing. A haze of malcontent seemed to have settled on the city of cults as he liked to call it. And considering that the Order of Salvation had managed to somewhat tame the city had probably set the other groups of zealots off. Then again, he probably shouldn't make too many comments considering that he was about to shake things up even more.
He entered the city without care. He wasn't too worried about fighting. His body always kept ready for battle with otherworldly creatures. He walked through the streets with confidence as he headed towards the place that Nora had directed him towards. The people looked all around terrible as if living in squalor.
His first order of business he decided, once he had fully integrated into Luxerion's Children of Etro chapter was to clean this city up. Pandaemonium provided enough food for the people in the world and then some. The Order was just withholding food just try and force conversions. He'd have none of that. As he thought about the plans he was accosted by a girl.
She was pale and waif like. She walked forward slowly and the grin that stretched across her mouth was almost disturbing.
"The Shadow Hunter has come!" She gasped as she took his hands and looked him over. Releasing his hands she turned and ran off. He shrugged idly but realized that that would probably make my life easier. Now he just had to find that place.
Serah was standing at the window looking in the direction of Luxerion as she often did. It annoyed Snow, what was the point of staring after Noel? He had his orders and so did they. Looking back did nothing. Well, honestly it made Snow feel guilty and the more Serah looked the worse he felt. He grasped her shoulder and turned her around.
"You know we still have work to do." He spoke but didn't expect the bitter look on her face.
"Yes… keep the parties going so they can dance to their deaths. Meanwhile Luxerion is planning a war! I can't just… Noel is by himself." She clutched her hands together. If she had been the old Serah, the one he'd left in 3AF, he would have assumed that she wanted him to fix things. But this Serah, the love of his life fully grown up was probably imagining her sword or bow in her hand. The comforting weight of knowing you can do something.
"Noel will be fine. Worry about the fact that you are a target."
"HOW CAN I NOT WORRY ABOUT HIM?" She shoved Snow back and then stared at him with wide eyes.
Snow swallowed hard. Staring into her eyes he felt more then just guilt twisting in his chest. He'd left Serah alone for so long. Over and over again, running off to place hero. Noel had yelled at him about it and so had Hope. He remembered snorting in response. Didn't they run off all the time too? But as he looked at Serah he could see the differences.
Even now, he wasn't fully committing himself to Serah. Couldn't allow himself to fully love her and she knew it. The more he thought about it, Noel was someone that she could love. Snow clenched his fists. He was too selfish to set her free and they both knew it. Serah reached for him, to make amends but it was all Snow's fault and it wasn't her place. He turned around and left.
Fang grumbled to herself as she headed back to base camp. Those jerks in Luxerion were getting more and more bold. She would have to do something soon or things would be bad. She reached the last sand dune and at the top found herself pausing in terrorized shock. The whole camp had been razed to the ground. Choking on a cry, she launched her self down the hill. Falling graceless and scrambling back to her feet. She wasted no time on the other huts but headed straight for the one that Vanille should have been in.
The whole hut had been burned to the ground. Nothing was left, nothing to even signify that Vanille had been there. She sunk to her knees and dug her hands into the hot sand. All she could think was 'no.' How had she let this happen? Those bastards had taken Vanille. She closed her eyes and brought her hands to her face. She knew that Vanille would have fought, would have defended herself as best, as she could.
Vanille was a damn good fighter but this was too much, knowing that the girl had been out numbered. Fang couldn't help but submit to her own pain, at least for a little while.
If Snow was surprised to see Fang on his doorstep he didn't show it. She pushed past him and grumbled about the decadence of the palace as she followed him to his private study. Once there she didn't take a seat but most certainly started her demands.
"I need twenty to forty of your best men. Those bastards took Vanille." She stated and at first Snow could do nothing but stare at her in shock.
He paused and watched her, her impatience and mounting anger. He knew that what he would say next would hurt her more then he ever wished.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." He held up his hand when she moved to protest. "To start a war with Luxerion would be madness at this point."
"They took Vanille are you daft?!" She shouted slamming his hands on the desk.
"And a war would get her back how?" He asked, calmly. It was unnerving to see such a face from Snow. "If you really wanted to get her back you would have went to Noel and the Children of Etro. Instead you came here, knowing that if I got involved that it would start a war."
Fang crossed her arms and looked away. Snow watched her as she resolutely glared at the wall and he sighed deeply.
"Then there are two options. And I can figure it out. I'm not as stupid as people think. Either you came here because you thought that I would hotheadedly jump up and fight for you. Or, there is something that I don't want to hear."
"Vanille is in danger. I need to get her back."
"We all know that she isn't in danger until the end of the fabled 13 days. Meaning we still have lots of time. Humor me. What is your real goal?" Snow asked and Fang was taken aback. Snow seemed so alien to her right now. Where was the man who would dash in without thought to save others. "I know you mean to use my nature against me for your own ends. Spill it."
Fang slumped down into the chair defeated. "I want the firepower that you have. But also…"
"You wanted to dangle Serah in front of them." Snow stated bitterly. "They only reason they haven't attempted to come after her, is that it would start a war and I would be forced to cut off their supplies. If I start the war those fanatics could do what they wanted in the name of the divine and we all know that their target would be Serah."
"Serah is the safest here! What is there to worry about?!" Fang shouted and the look Snow gave her reminded her of Lightning when she was angry.
"Because Vanille wouldn't want that. You are planning to sacrifice Serah for Vanille. Or maybe even all of Yusnaan for her. DO you really think that I would do that?"
"SO YOU ARE JUST GOING TO LET THEM KEEP HER?!" Fang was so loud that Snow was sure that people all through out the palace had heard her.
"Now when did I say that?" Snow asked as he folded his hands together.
"Well I most certainly don't see you doing anything to try and find Hope." It was a low blow and she knew it. Still Snow flinched and looked away. It was an old wound, one that still hadn't scabbed over. She felt guilt at the edges of her awareness. When he looked at her, his eyes were so cold she couldn't help but look away.
"I'll forgive that since I know you are in pain." He spoke lowly. "And I'll even see if Serah can get in contact with Lightning. That way, she can get the message to Noel faster so that he can help you save Vanille. That way the two of you can get Vanille back without starting a war. I would also like you to look beyond your own nose and think. The world is already falling apart. Would Vanille want you to hasten it with a foolish war?"
Fang looked properly chastised. It was a small and bittersweet victory. He honestly didn't want to hurt her. But what she wanted to do was ridiculous. She needed to understand that turning against each other and using each other was the last thing that they should be doing. He took a deep breath before speaking again when he realized that she wasn't going to say anything.
"Noel can help you… You know that right?"
"Noel can't even help himself at this point." Fang growled bitterly and then sighed deeply. "But you are right. He could use a focus for all that extra aggression he has right now."
Snow sighed deeply. Regardless of what Fang thought, aggression was the least of Noel's problems.
Where Yusnaan is a brightly colored and happy city, filled with escapism and genuine happiness no matter how brief. Luxerion is as close to a polar opposite as you can get. The dreary city filled with fanatics was a motif of drab and depressing colors and filled with theft and murder. Mostly because the city was filled with different religious orders that hated each other. But now there was new threat, one a bit more insidious.
The Order of Salvation, the largest cult with in the city had declared itself not only the dominate religion, but had begun to demand pesky things such as fealty and even went as far as to persecute other sects. Not the Children of Etro though, the second largest group still garnered too much support for them to attack out right.
But that was changing. The Children of Etro and their love of death was slowly beginning to thin their herd, but also made them a tad bit more willing to fight then others. As the Order gained more power, the city government was now filled with the Order and it was only a matter of time before they declared direct rule of the city.
It was enough to make a guy nervous. Even now Noel was making plots to attack key points of the Order's holdings. He couldn't stop them from taking over the city, but he could stop them from totally starving those who were not believes and converts. He had managed to, in the two years that he'd been here to get the Children of Etro not only under his control, but also their complete trust.
It helped that he was making sure that those in the slums and the parts stained with chaos got food. Unlike Yusnaan, the city government allowed the slums to be consumed with chaos infusions while the areas that the rich members of the Order were well protected. Noel hated this place with a passion that he hadn't been sure that he could feel before.
Though Hope was always on his mind, as he wandered Luxerion during the bleary days, he felt anger that all of Hope's hard work had been aloud to deteriorate. These ungrateful people didn't even remember all that Hope had done for him. Once hailed as a hero, he was merely a legend. According to the Order, humans had sinned and Hope, as if he were literally 'hope' had been taken away from them.
The Children of Etro seemed to believe something similar, but it made him feel sick inside when he thought about it. Everyone believed that God had taken Hope. That this loss was part of the reason they were suffering. With the religious texts of the Children, was the belief that Hope would greet them in the underworld. As if such a thing even existed anymore. All that was left was the void.
It was the Order's texts that troubled him. They referred to Hope as the guide. That he would lead the savior and be the hope of the people again. It was said that through the savior, that the mortal bodies would be cast aside to join by God's side as Hope had already done. It made him feel sick inside. But he had to listen. This was his job. To know the ins and outs of the Order to help them when the time came.
It wasn't just the Soulsong. It was everything that the Order of Salvation stood for. Supposedly Bhunivelze was this great and awesome god that would help out but all that was left now was the pain and the frustration of the kinds of people that Hope had held the highest of disdain for.
Noel laughed to himself as he sat on his perch. All his thoughts always came back to Hope. He could imagine him sitting next to him even now. Looking out over this ruined city and making plans to fix it. To restore humanity not only to their greater glory but to fix what the chaos had broken. He closed his eyes and leaned forward placing his head into his hands.
It wasn't like Hope had done this alone. A lot of the people who were responsible for that great world were gone. Had died or been murdered and much more. This world was shit and everything was going wrong. This bitter and broken world wasn't just because Hope was gone, he knew that. It was also because of people like him, if he were to be honest. He had lost more then just Hope, his partner and the hope for a better future. His heart ached in a way that hadn't know was possible.
But he could step back and admit it wasn't just Hope missing. It was the loss of Yuel and the betrayals of Caius. It was the loss of the Ark and nearly losing Serah as the Eyes of Etro. It was the pain of watching this world fall apart. The guilt of having a part in it. He wasn't even sure if Hope being by his side would have kept that all consuming guilt that he felt away. Humans weren't made to live so long.
As the world became darker it was harder to shut out the grief. He remembered in brief medical texts that he probably suffered from some form of depression. Probably a bunch of other irreparably damaging things to his mental status. He had thought about dying several times. It would be easy to just go into a chaos infusion and not fight back. But knowing that Hope and the others needed help meant he couldn't.
But he honestly didn't know how much strength he really had to hang on.