With all the mushy-gushy stuff over with, there wasn't much further ahead before we found an elevator.

Well, most of the mush and gush was over with. Before we stepped onto the elevator, Lightning stopped and turned to Hope. "You should meet with your dad."

Hope questioned her.

"Fighting without hope is no way to live- it's just a way to die." She pressed a few buttons on a panel next to the elevator doors. "I want you to find the hope that you were named for." The three of us stepped into the elevator once it opened up. "Staying alive, I can help you with, but I can't- I can't give you hope." The doors shut. "If you go to see your father-"

"You think meeting my dad will make anything better? He's never listened to a word I've said. He's just- he'll never believe all this l'Cie stuff."

Sounds very familiar, I tried not to blurt out loud. "Hope. I really do think it's worth it to try." Especially now. Everyone should know about what's happened in Bodhum by now.

"Snow believed Serah, didn't he?" Hope asked.

The mention of Snow from Hope caught both Light and I off-guard. She nodded. "Yeah. Aurora, too."

"I kept hoping someone played a trick on her." I rested my back against the elevator wall. "Even if it was silly of me to think. But, Serah was scared, that much was real." Lightning tensed up next to me, and I touched her arm. "Being skeptical made sense. We were blissfully ignorant to what was hiding in our city."

With this, the rest of the elevator ride was silent. Lightning unsheathed her gunblade right before the elevator stopped. We were back outside again, and an announcer was speaking over an intercom.

"In a recently convened emergency conference, the Sanctum announced that the fugitive l'Cie have been located."

I listened carefully as we offloaded the lift.

"The military plans to apprehend the l'Cie and carry out a public execution."

"Wha..." Public execution. They didn't just want to get rid of us for "safety", they wanted to be a spectacle of it. Show everyone their big boy toys with all of their guns and power. They wanted our friends to see us die.

Are we not still people to them?

"These images coming to you live from the scene in Palumpolum."

Ahead there was a large building with LED screens across it, televising the news that we were listening to. A camera was panning around, showing an airship, then the ground, then three people- two with pink hair and one with silver ha-

"Oh, shit."

The whirring of aircycles and marching of footsteps came into earshot as we began to be surrounded by PSICOM and the Corps.

I reached back to equip my blades, but Lightning's hand appeared in front of me.

"You two, start running."

Hope expressed the confusion that I was also feeling. "What?"

"I'll keep them busy, You survive."

Before I could argue, an explosion flashed from above us. Hope yelped, startled.

I straightened up and gathered my bearings. I turned to Hope. "If you want to hide, it's okay." He looked at me and shook his head. "I won't stop keep you from staying, though," I murmured. Because I am not leaving Lightning alone.

Hope's face hardened with my words, but he then looked behind me and his eyes widened. "It's him!"

I turned to see what he was talking about. All I got were flashes of ice and someone in a blue outfit when I was being harshly dragged away by Lightning. I made sure to grab onto Hope's hand and the three of us were running. Lightning was shooting at soldiers in front of us to clear the path.

I could hear revving coming from around us, a different sound than the aircycles from the army. Who is that?

Over on my right, I saw a handful of soldiers running up to us, and I snatched my hand away from Lightning's, and while still running behind her I blasted magic at the incoming group. Any magic will do. It might've been fire magic, but I didn't pay much attention to them after they fell back.

"Ah!"

The sound of an engine flew over our heads and we ducked down to avoid getting decapitated by whoever drove past us.

When I looked back up, I realized who Hope was seeing earlier.

In the flesh was Snow, riding on a motorcycle of some kind, with a woman wearing a blue wrap and armed with a gun and red lance. I couldn't help but notice her dark, wild hair, colored red at the tips, contrasting to the rest of ours. From the distance I was at, there was something white on her arm, but I couldn't tell.

"Sis 1, sis 2!" Snow called to us with a wink.

A bit breathless, I smiled wide, feeling deep relief in seeing Serah's fiance again. "Snow!" I jogged over to him and he pulled me into a big bear hug. I heard Lightning's disapproval back from where I came from, but I'm sure she was secretly glad that Snow was okay. "About time!" I patted him on the chest to release the hug.

"Just in time, wouldn't you say?" Snow laughed. "Good to see you guys in one piece."

"Aurora." I turned to Lightning, who beckoned me over with a hand. I stepped away from Snow and went to her. She pulled me aside and spoke lowly in my ear. "Keep an eye on him."

I wasn't able to ask who? before she went up to Hope and pushed him to Snow, and then me. Hope stumbled over his feet and Snow caught him, but Hope yanked himself away.

"Take care of them." Lightning ordered Snow. She then started walking away.

"But-" I started.

"Wait, Lightning, listen to me!" Snow called to her.

Lightning didn't stop. "Get moving!"

"No-no, you don't understand! Serah's alright, she'll turn back!"

I looked up at Snow, and Lightning stopped in her tracks. He sounded so sure, like he found something out in our time separated or something.

But Lightning just repeated herself, "take care of them," and ran off.

My feet wanted to move, to follow Lightning, but I stayed planted where I was. She had asked me to stay, to be with Hope and Snow. Operation Nora.

The new woman that had come with Snow chuckled, making a comment about us, and then she ran after Lightning. Do we know her? I don't think we do… Something about her felt familiar, but I didn't have enough time to think it over, as the soldiers who were defeated earlier were waking up, ready to fight again.

"That was fast."

"Gotta go!" Snow lifted Hope up by the armpits and made him sit on the motorcycle, and gestured to me to sit on the back. I made haste to do as I was told. Snow got seated on the bike as well. "So, how've you been?"

I sent out balls of air magic to knock the soldiers off their feet. "Oh, y'know, just swell!" I gripped onto the seat at the back of the bike with my legs to keep myself firming seated as Snow revved up, and sped around to tackle the army trying to attack us.

"Good to hear!" Snow laughed. "Like the ride?"

I glanced at the bike, and I realize: "is this your Eidolon?!"

Snow cheered while spinning donuts before affirming my question. "They're Shiva!" Bad. Ass. Serah would totally be impressed.

Back down the soldiers went, and Snow's eidolon faded away like Odin back in the Peaks.

Snow, Hope, and I paused to catch our breath, and Hope asked Snow, "where have you been?"

"Ah, I was taken in."

My eyebrows rose. "You were?"

Snow waved a hand at me. "It was the Cavalry, not PSICOM. Leader's name is Raines, said he'd lend us l'Cie a hand. So, now…" Snow pumped a fist in the air. "Your hero is back!"

Raines? Where have I heard that name before…

"Why would the army help us? That doesn't make any sense." Hope poked at Snow's response.

"Military's got all kinds. Not all of 'em like the Sanctum."

"Like the Corps." I added.

"Exactly." Snow looked over to Hope, and put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry! I'll handle the bad guys." Yikes. "C'mon."

Snow and I partnering up didn't feel weird- but Snow and Hope? Too strange. Uncomfortable, even. Snow being completely unaware of Hope's disdain for him, just being his usual energetic self, joking around; meanwhile, Hope was serious, quiet, and hated Snow. Snow loves kids, he just didn't know one of the kids he's having to be around has been plotting revenge for eleven chapters now.

Hopefully, I thought, nothing will happen between them. That's why I'm here, to keep Hope chilled out, and stop Snow from making any comments that might be less than appropriate to the situation. But both of these guys were unpredictable, I only knew Hope enough to know that he tried to be tough, even when he shouldn't be. Snow, it doesn't matter how well you know him, you'll never truly know what accidentally offensive thing he might say next.

I just kept calm and watched their behavior, especially Hope's. Didn't want to come across Lightning later and have to say, 'sorry, Hope killed Snow and then got nabbed by the army because he wasn't looking'. No discredit towards either of them… but that scenario is too likely for my taste.

Soldiers lined the entire area of Palumpolum we were progressing through. The three of us took them down, sometimes with the assistance of Shiva when Snow felt it was right to call upon their help. During this, I was able to see that Shiva was two women, "twin sisters" is what Snow told me. They combined and transformed into the motorcycle that Snow used, just as Odin transformed into a horse for Lightning. Made me wonder, will I have an Eidolon? Who will they be? Will they fight me, too, before they help me?

While the concept was intriguing, I also felt nervous thinking about the possibility of me accidentally summoning my Eidolon unexpectedly. What if I were alone and struggled to tame it? If I didn't have one, would I be too weak to fight a future opponent?

Keep focused. I dismissed those thoughts. You have a mission. Stay to it.

I told Snow about the tunnels that Hope showed us, and he seemed to like the idea of using them as well. By then, though, there were soldiers starting to scout them. Lightning's prediction was correct. Not too many yet.

Snow commented on how Hope seemed tougher now, from the last time they saw each other. Lake Bresha was the last time we were together. Hope has been like night and day in comparison. Part of me felt proud of my new friend (comrade? Evil l'Cie teammate?) and how he's grown since we first met… but, I also saw how his anger wasn't dissipating. I could see that Hope was trying not to let it show that he didn't like Snow to his face, but any time Snow turned away, Hope let that mask drop. It's almost scary.

I wasn't going to say anything. I was still hoping that, with my presence, Hope would remain calm. At least until we got to his dad, and maybe after they talked, Hope would feel better.

I didn't manage to stop Snow from saying something that triggered Hope when we first entered the tunnels, unfortunately. He was just trying to say how kids shouldn't be having to fight the army, only "dumb grown-ups" should be.

"You think it's stupid to fight?" Hope asked.

Snow shrugged. "It is if you get killed."

Damnit, Snow.

Hope's shoulders shook with probable rage. I took his hand and he looked at me. I tried to give him a look that said, 'it's not worth it right now'. I nodded over to where Snow had been looking this whole time so Hope would see the three soldiers talking to each other. Don't lash out, Hope. We'll get caught.

Hope's demeanor calmed down and he took his hand away.

Snow looked back at us. "Anyway, just lay low. Let the dummies duke it out." He flashed a bright grin at us. "The army's no match for NORA, right?" He winked at me. I held back from cringing. I'll never be able to hear that name the same again.

While we continued moving forward, a beeping came from Snow's direction. He pulled out a small phone from his coat pocket and answered what I assumed was a call. "It's me, what's up?"

A woman's voice yelled from the other side of the line, making Snow pull the earpiece away and rub his ear. I couldn't tell what she was saying, but she was angry. Don't think that's Lightning…

"Sorry, slipped my mind." Snow replied. He paused to listen. "Great, great! Hope's great, so's Aurora. Are you alright?"

The woman sounded like she was rushing over her words.

Then Snow said, "hey, sis, is that you?"

'I'm not your sister', I imagined she would've said. I really felt like this when Snow chuckled.

Snow shifted back and forth on his feet while on the phone. He glanced back at me and pointed at the phone, mouthing 'Light', so I knew he was on the phone with her now. "Right. See ya there. Tell Fang 'hey'!" Fang must be that woman from earlier. "All over it. And I'll tell you more about Serah when we meet up." My interest was piqued again at the sound of her name. "Turns out she can come back. There's still hope."

Snow stopped to listen further, then Hope bounded and took the phone from him. "Lightning, it's me." Hope stepped away and lowered his voice so Snow and I couldn't hear him. I was able to catch one word, though: 'Operation'. I felt my hands go cold.

I went over to Hope with haste and took the phone back, shaking my head at him. He was startled, but also had a determined look on his face. He nodded in response to me. I was going to start to argue when I heard a strange noise coming from the phone.

I pressed it to my ear and could barely hear Lightning's voice over a bunch of static. "Lightning?" I tried to call out to her, but the line died. "Something's wrong with this, Snow."

Snow came over to us and I gave the phone to him. He pocketed it. "Fang warned me about that. Don't worry, they're okay, it's just an issue with the tech."

I did feel better when he said this. "Okay, good." While starting our trek back up, I asked, "so is Fang the lady from earlier?"

Snow nodded. "She's with Raines. Notice anything about her?"

I pondered for a moment. "She's got cool hair." Snow laughed at my remark. "Um, she also talks different. Like Vanille." I realized it while I said it. Still hope Sazh and Vanille are okay.

"Alright, anything else?" When I couldn't think of anything, Snow said it. "Her brand."

Hope looked up. "She's a l'Cie?"

Snow gave a thumbs up. "A Pulse l'Cie like us. Her brand is different, though. It's like this big white scar across her arm. Still not sure what exactly happened, but she's got a long story. Once we're safe, I'll tell you all about it."

I went with it, but my curiosity was definitely at an all-time high. Who is she?