My nerves eased as I navigated the Vestige, knowing that it was likely Snow that activated the switches. But still, not having a map or any clue where I was supposed to head still made me worried. What if I got lost? Seriously, my chances of getting lost in the Vestige seemed big- the Vestige was big. What's even the purpose of something so huge? Surely the fal'Cie isn't nearly as big... right? And speaking about the fal'Cie, being this close to it stressed me out more than I can say. If it were to turn me into a l'Cie like Serah, who knows what the government would do to me.

Jeez. Stop worrying, Aurora. Focus on your goal, and you'll be out of here in no time. I tried to just listen to my own pep talk, hoping it would further soothe me. Being alone didn't help. I needed to find Snow, team up, find my sister, and get out of this enormous, strange structure.

I didn't get long to try to cheer myself up before I heard the deformed howling of a dog.

On the top of a stairwell ahead of me was the source. "PSICOM guard hounds? Why are they here?" Their howling meant they saw me and were ready to strike. I didn't have time to run or attack before one pounced on me, knocking me to the floor and making my gauntlets slide away. Its claws dug into my skin as I tried fighting it off. I grabbed at its jowls to hold its big, scary fangs away from my face. "Get- off- !"

Fuck, I'm gonna be dead before I'd even be turned-

The hound almost flew off of me in an instant, however, going limp a few feet next to me. I looked up and the other one was dead as well.

"How the…"

I heard bootsteps, followed by the sound of a sigh, then I got a view of who killed the Pantherons.

Pink hair and a Guardian Corps uniform. "Lightning!"

"More dogs… Yet no sign of any PSICOM soldiers." A man, dressed in green attire and wielding dual guns, was tagging along with my older sister. "Wait, is she-?"

"-Aurora." Lightning jogged over to me. "Are you hurt?" Her eyes went up and down as she scanned me for injuries.

"No, no, you came right in time, I'm okay. Any sign of her yet?" She shook her head. "Well, we'll find her. I guess with the help of, uh, him?" He replied with a smile, and a tuft of yellow flew out of his frizzy hair with a chirp. He's got a baby chocobo?

Lightning gave me a nudge and then kept walking before I could even ask his name. "We're here for a reason, come on."

We walked down a hallway afterward, and to my surprise were these creatures… Large, gray bodies with massive arms made of dark crystal and a large red symbol lay upon their wide torsos. Their movements erratic, they grabbed at their faces like they were in pain. They were intimidating, yet they whimpered like children. I subconsciously stepped behind Lightning. "These aren't PSICOM experiments… what are they?"

The man following us stepped ahead. "As the legend tells, they are l'Cie- well, l'Cie who didn't get to complete their Focus." He didn't take his eyes off of them. "It's a punishment. Fail your boss and instead of being fired, you must serve him forever as a monster."

So these must be Cie'th then. Does Serah even know her Focus? "But, it's not even their choice, to… to become this."

"Maybe they don't even realize it." He sighed. "You know, maybe they don't feel any suffering." His head drooped. "I would hope."

I would too.

Lightning, silent, walked forward and started engaging in battle with Cie'th, picking them off and clearing our path. Her attacks were quick and fierce, but occasionally brash and off-tempo. She's worried.

Our acquaintance tilted his head to the side as if he were about to question it.

I put on a neutral face and waved him off. "Let's help her, hmm?"

The three of us (mostly Light and the guy) were able to clean up the pathway, revealing a lift at the end. We carefully made our way to it, looking out for anymore Cie'th, and waited as the lift brought us up to a short set of stairs. We climbed up them, and-

"Serah!" There she was, laying unconscious on the metal floor, alone.

Light and I bolted over. Serah looked fine, peaceful, even. She didn't seem to be hurt or in pain- although I knew that the brand that was on her arm had caused plenty of trauma.

"Oh, Serah…" I watched Lightning pick Serah up. She was just limp in her arms.

We turned to leave. "Time to go. We have to leave before the army-" Lightning attempted to step away, when the guy got in her way, blocking us. "What?"

He was staring at Serah's tainted arm. "That's a Pulse brand. That girl's a l'Cie." I thought that, maybe, Lightning hadn't told him; but, no, she shrugged it off and stated that she had already told him. Which made his apparent surprise weird. He didn't take his eyes off of the mark. "Pulse l'Cie… are the enemies of Cocoon."

I looked down to see his fingers twitching over his gun holsters and I quickly got in between him and my sisters. "No. She isn't a threat, just look at her!"

Despite his hands itching to grab his weapons, his face seemed to show genuine concern. "Listen- if she fails her Focus, you know how that will end." His frown deepened. "You saw how those back there ended up."

Lightning scoffed behind me. "So killing her is a mercy?" She wasn't going to accept it, and neither was I. No way.

Who would? Who would actually accept that a good, innocent person that has been forced to become a cursed weapon would turn into one of those things because they couldn't follow through on what was likely an impossible and illegal task? The soldiers might have had the lack of a soul to be able to kill left and right that night, our government was willing to allow it to happen- a hard-working, kind student like Serah did not fit the bill. She didn't deserve to be punished.

"You came…" Serah? I snapped back to see her, awake and weakly reaching up to Lightning's face. So Lightning lowered on one knee to gently set her down.

"Serah!"

On a lift coming down was Snow, who had brought two other individuals too. They weren't my concern, however. She was barely conscious, but was trying to keep her eyes open to see us. Snow made his way over, panting, taking one of her pale hands into his.

Serah gave him a smile. "Is that… my hero?" I felt my heart grip at the way she looked at Snow, at Light, and at me.

Snow kissed her hand. "Let's get you home-"

"Hands off, I'm taking her home." Oh boy.

"Sis, I-"

"I'm not your sister."

I put a hand on Lightning's shoulder. "We can all take her home… she would probably want that anyway."

But Lightning disagreed. "Why? He couldn't protect her, it's Snow's fault she-"

"You can save us." Serah stopped us. "Protect us all. Save…" Her voice was so quiet, and she was obviously struggling to finish her sentence. "… Cocoon."

Cocoon? "Hey, stay with us, what do you mean?"

"Save Cocoon? That was your Focus?" Lightning cradled Serah's head as she started to lose the ability to hold it up herself. She wasn't going to be able to stay awake much longer, she was exhausted.

Snow huffed. "Anything, I'll do anything! Leave it to me- you'll see, I'll protect Cocoon. I'll save everyone!" His words were rushed as Serah seemed to further fall back into her sleep.

"Somehow, I'll make things right." I could see longing and guilt in Light's eyes, feelings that I recognized in myself at that moment.

I can't tell what's worse: questioning if you could have done something different, or knowing that nothing could have possibly stopped this. "We'll do whatever we can, okay? I promise." Don't you dare cry in front of her, Aurora.

Snow never let go of Serah's hand, none of us would let go. "You just relax."

Serah opened her eyes for a moment, taking a glance at each of us with a relieved smile. "Thank you." With that, bursts of crystal-blue light emitted from her body, startling us, and her body started to float upwards. Serah was drifting away from our reach.

"Serah!"

And without a second to spare, starting with her hands and feet, she slowly turned into… into a crystal. Pink hair, peach-toned skin, all turned into ocean blue crystal. Serah's glass-like body gently lowered back down to the ground.

I stared, mouth agape, unblinking.

Is this… like the legend? Stories we were told since we were just babies- the prospect of eternal life through crystal stasis. A l'Cie completes the Focus given to them, and as a reward, they can live forever in the frozen state of crystal. They would remain safe, encased in the glittering armor.

My hand gingerly touched Serah's still, cold arm. "Serah…?"

It was like cotton filled my ears, I could hear the others talking and possibly panicking at what had just happened, but no words made it through. All I could process was the fear I felt as I stared at my sister covered in crystal.

She's… still alive. Right? Eternal life? She could wake up.

But what if the government finds us? What would they do to her, to her body, when she's like this? They wanted to remove the Vestige, send it to Pulse, would they do that to her too?

Would they capture us? What if Serah wakes up and she's alone, she would be scared!

No, we have to do something, get out and-

"Oof!"

"It's over! Open your eyes and face reality!" A hard slam on the ground behind me managed to snap me out of my stupor and I spun around.

Lightning stood with a raised fist, and Snow was laying on the ground while holding his face, pained.

"Wha- Light!" I stepped between the two and tried leading Lightning away to give them space. "Stop it, Light, listen to yourself." I looked up at her and spoke with a hushed voice. It can't be over. I wanted to give her some kind of encouragement, but I couldn't find the words. Our eyes just stayed locked onto each other, hers wild with anger.

How was I supposed to make her feel better when I was just as upset? I wasn't hitting anybody, but I definitely felt like it. It really wasn't Snow's fault, but I could, for once, understand Light's anger with him. Our sister had turned into a crystal right in front of us. It was too much.

Bam! Something came crashing into the outside of the Vestige with a loud crack! and rubble fell from the ceiling.

"What now?" One of the two people that had been with Snow when he showed up was looking around nervously, and the second fell to his knees, crying and cradling his head. The man that had come with Lightning, the one that was threatening Serah, assumed the army must have come to grab the Vestige.

Did they find out that we're in here? What if they try to destroy the fal'Cie, what would we do for Serah then?

Snow and Lightning knelt back down to protect Serah, and I rushed to join. I took her head into my arms and covered it with my body. I didn't know if crystal was impenetrable, or if it were fragile like ice, but we couldn't take that risk, we needed to keep her safe.

The Vestige kept getting attacked, and these large ropes shot into the structure, barely missing the few of us.

I shut my eyes. If I couldn't see it, it couldn't scare me… as childish as that probably sounds. If the army was trying to rip the Vestige apart, I didn't want to watch. I knew that they didn't care if murder were a consequence, they just wanted the whole thing erased from existence. They proved as much with the lives they were trying to take on the train.

The young boy, part of the duo that came with Snow, cried out, "we can't stay here! They'll kill us!"

I tried to crane my head to side so I could look at him. "They'll kill us if we leave! We've been too close to the fal'Cie, they'll-" A decently sized piece of rubble fell right next to me, making me jump, but I continued, "- they'll think we're l'Cie!"

He didn't look at me. He just grabbed the hand of the girl who was with him and begged her to do something. He looked so scared, he was shaking.

Truthfully, I didn't know what was safer: leaving, sneaking past the army, or just staying inside of the Vestige and hoping it would hold. Either way, I had to look at the present, where Serah was crystal and possibly in danger and we had to protect her as long as possible.

Soon enough, the Vestige quit trembling, and it seemed like the attack ceased; yet I was still too nervous to look. I felt okay, but I hesitated. A hand on my shoulder gave me the okay that we were safe, and I looked up. Everyone was still in one piece, including Serah's crystal body.

"... be right back," Snow said, and out of the blue began walking away from us. I looked in the direction he was headed and saw a door, glowing with a red l'Cie brand like the one Serah was forced to receive. The fal'Cie? But where is…

"Trench coat, hey!" The older guy with the dual guns was also confused. "Where you goin'?"

Snow stopped. "Date with the fal'Cie. Got some things to talk about." Uh…

"What? You're going to ask it to help her? Are you out of your mind, kid?" Probably. "That thing wants to chew us up and spit us ou-"

"Well," Snow spun around, "what do you want me to do?!" He flushed with anger as he flung himself back towards us, but his eyes were sad. The happy hero energy he always carried was gone. He was defeated, and I felt a knot in my chest. What could we possibly do, besides coming face to face with the Pulse fal'Cie?

Serah's smart. She would know what to do. But she can't tell us.

I looked at Lightning. She was brave, strong, but would even a soldier like her take on something like that? I wanted to see her face, figure out what she was thinking, see what was in her eyes, and she looked at me as well.

To anyone else, she was standing cold and quiet, but I could see something in there, swirling in that turquoise, flecks of fury. It ignited courage in me, as well.

Lightning gave me a gentle nod. So we're really doing this? We knew that a fal'Cie had power, and it turned Serah into a l'Cie. Maybe if we approached it, we could get it straightened out. We have to try. So I nodded back.

Lightning faced forward and started walking, and in her stead I follow.

"Uh…"

"Guys?"

We were going to meet the fal'Cie—is 'meet' even the right word? Does a fal'Cie speak or move, gesture or respond? I'd never been face to face with one, other than the Cocoon fal'Cie that people were authorized to view with the guidance of the army.

I just kept telling myself, it's okay, just breathe, if anything happens we can just run back out.

Within the next few moments, we all were standing in front of what appeared to be a shell. Does it really need to be protected? It can make all of those Cie'th, I doubt it's so vulnerable. Multiple screens, almost like computer monitors, surrounded the fal'Cie from above. I kept hearing this constant and eerie, low-tone chime. Was it just my imagination, or was it real? As if

The boy, who had silver hair, was sticking to the back of the group. I ended up migrating to back as well, nervously wringing my hands together. "So… this is the fal'Cie."

Snow walked forward. "Serah's a crystal now," he started, "You gave her a Focus and she did it! You got what you want, now let her go!" He paused, looking at the shell with anticipation and I did the same. Nothing came to us. There was no response, no shift in the air, no Serah walking in. After a moment, I saw Snow fall to his knees and put a hand on his chest. He pleaded, "Turn her back! I'll be your l'Cie instead!" He begged to the fal'Cie.

"Fine, you go on begging." Lightning grumbled, "Like this thing gives a damn what we want!" She furiously whipped out her gunblade, and slashed at the copper shell of the fal'Cie. Her hits did nothing as the shell seemed indestructible, but I knew she didn't care. She was angry. It was how she fought the Cie'th. It wasn't good for her, I wanted to stop her, but I knew it would just make it worse.

She swung a few more hits until her blade bounced off the fal'Cie, creating a ripple that coursed through her and knocked her back.

"Lightning!"

She stumbled back in a breathless fuss, pink hair sticking out. Just that minute of anger brought that much energy out of her. "It's this thing's fault the Purge started, and its people who are dying," she huffed and straightened up, "Serah told us to save Cocoon, that means this thing needs to die!"

Almost immediately after she finished that statement, the floor beneath us lit up in a neon-fire glow. The monitors lit up with brand symbols, and gears shifted as the shell of the fal'Cie opened up to emit a bright, white light. Emerging from the copper was a large, robot-like… thing, with a massive arm and cluster of crystal on its chest. Rotating arms also hung from above on either side.

Uh oh… The shell was a facade, to make us believe it was weak underneath- but it just hid the true danger.

Behind me, the young boy bolted for the exit, with the pigtailed-girl not too far behind him.

Lightning backed up to stand in front of me. "Go."

"What?"

She stiffened. "Go, now!"

I didn't want her to get hurt. I didn't want to leave her just so something could happen to her as well.

Snow readied his fists, and I saw the older man take out his guns. The two stepped up to join Lightning. "We've got this!"

I gulped. Just… don't get hurt, Light. I took a deep breath and ran back in the direction that the other two went, hoping we could find somewhere safe to hide until Light and the others were able to get back to us.

But, to our disadvantage, the fal'Cie had put up a barrier right at the door. I came just in time to see the boy run into it and be bounced back into the floor. The girl helped him up. "We can't leave!"

I looked back to my sister, whos fury fueled each attack against the Pulse enemy. I brought my eyes back to the pair. "If you can't fight, just stay back. I'll stay, too, okay?"

The girl looked at the boy, then to me, and nodded. "Okay." The boy, obviously scared out of his mind, mumbled, "yeah", and hugged himself. We all stayed back and waited with the hope that we could make it out alive.

Whatever god there may have been, I secretly prayed would protect us.