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A collaborative effort between myself and Pain17ification

Final Fantasy XIII: The Maelstrom Paradox

-Chapter 2-

The Vestige, also known as the Pulse Fal'cie, was a massive cross shaped structure that easy towered a hundred stories high and covered in arcane scribed architecture. At the top a human-like figure was seemingly melded into the center of the cross with only their lower face visible. Hanging in the air underneath a PSICOM battleship, it seemed to just exude an air of doom and despair that made even the most hardened individuals get goosebumps.

"Cheery place, ain't it?" Naruto asked sarcastically after jumping through a hole in the side of the superstructure and landing in a large chamber with Nora riding on his back. "Still can't believe this thing used to be a tourist attraction."

"It certainly is more… utterly terrifying up close." The silverette he carried muttered, nodding her head as she climbed down onto her own two feet once more. A shiver ran down her spine as she took in her surroundings, holding her gun just a little tighter than necessary for comfort. The interior wasn't better than the outside, a mix of gold-bronze structures with soft blue lights that gave the whole place a regal yet ominous air.

And it really didn't help that the floodlights of the battleship above were casting an ominous green glow that only magnified its daunting atmosphere.

Her gaze soon focused on a crashed Hoverbike nearby, smoke wafting from its engines as it sputtered weakly. Knowing her son Hope had last been seen riding one to this place, she hurried over and knelt beside the machine for a closer look. To her relief there weren't any signs of gunfire or blood, so if it was the one Hope had been using it seemed like he'd gotten away unharmed.

However, it was a small relief seeing as that meant her son was more than likely wandering around inside a monster and Ceith infested labyrinth. "How are we gonna find Hope in this place? It's huge."

"Well, if I were a betting man," Naruto started while standing over a dead Pantheron, a cybernetic dog/cat PSICOM beast, that'd been slain recently. His focus though was on the large pool of oil-like blood that'd formed around it, with two sets of footprints in it. One was from a pair of sneakers, with a zigzag tread and a company logo, whilst the other was a flat raised heal. "I'd say this way."

Rejoining the blonde at his side, Nora took one look at the prints and immediately zeroed in on the pair with the zagging pattern. "Those are definitely Hope's, he always wears the same kind of shoes."

"Which means the others are probably from his lady friend Gadot mentioned," Naruto said before following the trail of steps deeper into the Vestige with his eyes. "They shouldn't be far, let's-"

A monstrous shrieking cut the blonde off as several winged creatures swooped down from above and surrounded the pair.

The creatures were vaguely humanoid in appearance but comprised of a twisted looking dark crystalline flesh. They had thin and gangly legs whilst their arms were contorted into jagged geometric shaped wings and a glowing red core sat in their chests, beating slowly almost like a heart. Finally, their faces were the most human part along with being the most disturbing as they were half crusted in crystal that seemed to be pulling them into gruesome screams.

"Cei'th!" Nora immediately knew what these creatures were, these were the poor souls of people that'd been branded by a Fal'cei to be their servants as L'Cie. More precisely they were what happened to L'Cie that failed to achieve their Focus, a specific task given to them by the Fal'cie that turned them. Success supposedly resulted in being granted immortality in crystal slumber, but those that failed were doomed to live in torment as these Cei'th, mindless savage monsters that slaughtered anything in their path.

Worse, the Focus itself was always vaguely given in the form of only a single brief vision that was up to the L'Cie to interpret, so odds of failure were… well very high to put lightly.

Even if she'd never actually seen one in person before the woman had seen them depicted in enough historical documentaries (And movies) to recognize them, with these ones known as Wights. And just the sight of these creatures caused her legs to tremble in fear as she instinctively pointed her gun at the closest one.

Naruto on the other hand didn't seem concerned at all, in fact he looked… sad as he took in the twisted beasts.

"Let's get this over with." He muttered while drawing a pair of Kunai before vanishing in a static blur, causing his companion to freeze up in shock.

However, before she could assume she'd been abandoned or worse, he reappeared right in front of one of the nearest Cei'th and rammed both blades right through its core. Then, before the rest could even register what'd happened, multiple identical copies of the blonde dropped down on them as well.

In less than three seconds all the Wights were on the ground, the color fading away from their bodies before they slowly disintegrated into piles of pale crystal dust.

"May you find peace now," The original blonde mumbled with his head bowed in respect while his copies darted off in different directions. Twirling his daggers, he tucked them back wherever he'd gotten them from before going back to Nora's side. "Come on, we don't have time to dawdle around."

"R-right," The silverette said, shaking off her shock as she and the whiskered teen followed her son's oily footprints deeper into the Vestige. The mother flinched a little when distant roaring screams and explosions echoed out around her, making her look around tensely with a finger hovering over the trigger. However, when nothing else jumped out at them, she slowly started to relax a little bit, lowering her weapon as she took a deep breath. Once her nerves had managed to settle, a thought struck her after they arrived on a large open platform that let her see several floors up and down. "So why are we going by foot again? Couldn't you just climb up with that wall running trick?"

"Because something is making sure that we stay on the path," As he spoke, Naruto pulled out a single Gil coin and flicked it upwards at high speed. However, it only went about five feet before there was a sudden zap of electricity that flew out from a passing platform, instantly reducing the money into molten slag. "That's what happened to almost all the clones I sent to scout around. I could handle that by myself, but you, not so much."

"Oh, fair poi-Whoa!?" Nora yelped when everything around them started to shift around on its own out of the blue. Some parts moved up, others went down, even more just shifted from side to side to create new pathways. Most importantly though was their own little section going straight up like an elevator, lifting them several dozen stories before coming to a stop again, right in front of a horde of various Cei'th.

…

"Well… shit." Naruto grabbed Nora and ducked, just in time to avoid a barrage of fireballs launched at them by Ghasts, Cei'th that had grotesquely twisted and oversized arms, whilst gangly Ghouls and more Wights closed in.

Thinking fast, the blonde punched into the floor, his fist sinking right through the metal like tissue paper and ripped up a whole section to use as cover. Then, in a single smooth motion, he drew a Kunai with a red paper wrapped around its handle and flung it right in the center most Cei'th before ducking under cover again.

The reason for this was revealed not even a second later when the little dagger exploded, blasting over half the cursed beasts to bits. The rest were left stunned, blinded and disoriented by the unexpected blast which gave the blonde ample time to swoop in and start picking them off. Meanwhile Nora stay behind the makeshift barrier and provided covering fire, taking out several Wights and Ghouls with well-aimed shots.

Unfortunately, her bullets just bounced off the Ghasts thick crystal flesh harmlessly and before long one broke off from the main fight to hobble towards her.

"Oh no." The silverette fired several rounds at the monster, aiming for its core and face in hopes that it'd at least slow it down. However, all that seemed to do was piss it off as it roared and charged, forcing Nora to scurry out of the way as it smashed a hulking fist down where she'd just been standing. "I could use some help here!"

"Hang on!" Ripping out another Ghast's Core with his bare hand, Naruto flung the disintegrating Cei'th at the last few Ghouls left, sending them tumbling over the edge into the abyss. With that handled, the blonde snapped his gaze towards Nora as she evaded several fireballs that exploded around her.

Rolling out of the way of the last one, she froze when she realized that she'd inadvertently put herself right in front of the twisted beast, who quickly raised an arm to crush her…

Only to freeze when with a grunt when the blade of a sword burst through the center of its chest, followed by a gunshot that blew its heart like Core to pieces.

Falling to its knees, the Ghast gave one last weak groan before toppling over completely, revealing the wielder of the gun-sword to be a beautiful pink haired young woman. She wore a variation of Guardian Corps outfit consisting of a white sleeveless coat with an ankle-length red cape attached to the left side of her back and a light brown miniskirt with a burgundy red leather detachable pocket on her left leg. Her hands were covered in blue fingerless gloves with a black arm cover on her left arm, along with buckled brown boots, while a green metallic pauldron sat over her left shoulder bearing yellow glow-in-the-dark stripes.

She wasn't alone either as right behind her was a middle-aged man with a bushy afro wearing long, olive coat over khaki trousers, a white button-down shirt, and black buckled engineer boots, dual wielding a pair of pistols.

"Lightning?" Naruto muttered in surprise upon seeing the pinkette, his eyes widening in shock when she turned to face him.

"Naruto," The now named Lighting said blandly while folding up her sword and tucking it into a sheath hanging from her hip. Her gaze bore into the whiskered blonde with a subtle cold fury that caused him to shrink in on himself just a little bit. "What are you doing here?"

"Probably the same as you. Saving Serah." That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as the sword user immediately closed the distance between her and Naruto, grabbing his shirt with her blade at his throat.

"How do you know my sister?"

"I swear it's not like you're thinking! I met her through Snow after we became buds and he asked me to help out with her problem! Nothing else!" Naruto said quickly with his hands raised in surrender, sweat pouring from his brow as Lightning kept glowering at him suspiciously. "Look, we really don't have time for this. I've got a containment seal on Serah's mark to keep her safe, but if I don't recharge it soon its gonna wear off."

As he spoke, Naruto gestured at the still disintegrating nearly nonexistent mark left on his palm, to which Lightning's gaze narrowed even further. However, after a few more seconds she reluctantly withdrew her weapon and stepped back, much to the blondes relie-

Thump* "HIIIIIII!?" Naruto's voice went up several octaves and his eyes crossed when the Military woman suddenly nailed him right between the legs with a brutal kick to the balls, making her companion and Nora wince in sync. Whimpering pitifully, the teen cupped his groin as he fell to his knees while Lightning stood over him with a glare.

"That was for six month's ago." She stated matter-of-factly before stomping off ahead, ignoring the shaky thumbs up Naruto gave her.

"Uh, I'm just gonna… bye." Obviously not wanting to incur her wrath, the afro-ed man quickly followed after the pinkette whilst Nora helped Naruto back up to his feet.

"Are you okay?" She asked while letting the blonde lean on her.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll be fine," Naruto grumbled out with a grimace, shaking off the last few vestiges of pain and walking on his own, although with a slightly noticeable limp still as they followed after the pair. "Honestly I kind of deserved that."

"Why? What happened six months ago?" The mother asked curiously, making a grimace to appear on Naruto's face.

"Uh…"

-Flashback, Six Months Ago-

Inside a private bedroom of a Military Barracks, Naruto could be seen… dressed in Lightning's uniform? Meanwhile said pinkette was unconscious in his arms with only her undergarments on while her arms and legs were bound by sheets as rope.

Hurrying to the other side of the room he flipped open a large trunk that was fortunately empty and promptly dropped her inside. The sudden drop roused her back to consciousness though, a groan escaping from her lips as her eyes open just in time to see Naruto smiling down sheepishly at her.

"I am very sorry about this," He said before slamming the lid down, bolting it shut, and quickly taking a step back when the trunk started shaking violently. Scratching his cheek as he heard the plethora of muffled swears ringing out, a sweat drop rolled down the side of Naruto's head as he transformed into a perfect copy of Lightning. ' This is gonna bite me in the ass later, I just know it.'

-Present-

"I'd rather not talk about it." The teen muttered, avoiding meeting anyone's gaze as they ventured further into the Vestige. Seeing how uncomfortable the subject made him, or maybe it was the burning glare Lightning sent over her shoulder the pair when he spoke, Nora wisely decided NOT to press the matter.

Fortunately, the angry soldier had a chance to vent a little on some PSICOM biomechs and Cei'th that crossed their paths. During that time, they learned that her companion was named Sazh and that he had his own reasons for being in the Vestige, though he was extremely vague about what those reasons were.

He also had a cute little Chocobo chick that hung out in his afro that briefly fluttered out to check out Naruto and Nora curiously.

Not much else was said as the group focused on traversing through the dreary fortress as quickly as they could.

However, the further they got, the more uneasy Naruto felt…

' This is too easy…' He'd seen firsthand how this whole place could shift around on a whim and there were hundreds if not thousands of rooms. And yet there always seemed to be one pathway that the group could travel through, which conveniently only had the barest amount of resistance to slow them down. The Fal'cie of this place could obviously be making things way harder for them, but if anything it was practically rolling out the red carpet.

Naruto kept these suspicions to himself though as there were already enough things to worry about, like-

"Serah!" Lightning's voice cut through the blonde's thoughts as they entered into a large chamber and saw a younger pinkette unconscious in the very center of the room. She wasn't alone as Snow was kneeling by her side holding her hand while a certain white-haired boy and a young reddish-pink haired girl in a cute tribal-like outfit stood off to the side.

Hearing the soldier's shout, all three looked to the soldier on reflex, Snow starting right at her and Nora in surprise. Not that Lightning gave a shit as she hurried to her sister's side, kneeling by her other side as she frantically looked over her in concern. Naruto wasn't far behind her, pulling out a bottle of ink and a brush from one of his pockets as he did.

Meanwhile, the boy's jaw dropped like a rock when he saw Nora, dropping the boomerang he'd been holding in shock. "Mom?"

"Hope!" The older silverette exclaimed in joy, rushing over and scooping her son up in her arms for a big hug. "Oh thank god you're okay! I was so worried!"

"…Mom?" Was all the now named Hope said while dangling in her grasp, seemingly still trying to process that the woman hugging him was actually there.

"Well… this is touching, awkward but touching." The redheaded girl said with a cheery grin, subtly inching away from the reuniting mother-son duo to give them some space.

"Serah? Serah!?" Back with Lightning, the woman shook Serah's shoulder in worry, desperately trying to get her to wake up.

"Uh… L-Lightning?" Thankfully, that did the trick and the poor girl's eyes flickered open upon hearing the soldier girl's voice. Groaning, she weakly lifted her head as her bleary vision focused on Lightning's face. "Is… is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, I'm right here Serah," The older pinkette said, looping an arm around her sister's shoulders and helping her sit up. "Everything's going to be okay."

"Yeah, we're gonna get you out of here and get this whole thing fixed up in no time. Then we can work on planning our big day," Snow said with a nod, smiling softly as he kissed his fiance's hand. This naturally earned him a scathing look from said fiance's sister but he ignored it as he focused on a runic spiral tattoo on her bicep. As he looked at it though, the tattoo started to change, or rather it fizzled away in a flurry of mystical sparks as a new mark made of blocky lines took its place. "Shit… Naruto."

"I know, I know, I'm working on it," The blonde in question said while rapidly drawing a complex series of markings onto the palm of his hand. His other hand was moving so fast that it was not but a blur to everyone else as he drew hundreds of interconnected kanji. "One more minute."

"She's a Pulse L'Cie?" Sazh was immediately on edge, his hands drifting to his pistols as he eyed the girl cautiously.

"Try anything and I'll shove my foot so far up your ass all the people in Cocoon combined wont be able to pull it back out." Naruto stated as he, Lightning, and Snow all glared at the man warningly, making him quickly hold his hands up in surrender.

"Claire…" Fortunately for him, their attention was brought back to Serah as she grabbed her sister's arm weakly. "Please… save us… save Cocoon… I know you can…"

"Save Cocoon?" The pinkette repeated in confusion. "What are you talking about? What do you mean save Cocoon?"

"Save… us all." Was all the girl said before falling unconscious again whilst her brand started to glow a bright white.

"Serah?!"

"Naruto! Hurry up!"

"Almost… Done, move it!" Putting one last kanji down, Naruto dropped the brush and shoved past Snow, taking Serah's arm as he placed his painted hand over her brand. *Boom* "GAH!?"

Only to be blasted clear across the room by a powerful flash of light that also knocked everyone else on their ass. Slamming into wall hard enough to crater the metal, the whiskered teen shook his head with a grimace before blinking several times to clear the spots in his vision.

However… his heart sunk once he could see again and was greeted to the sight of a floating crystal statue of Serah.

-End Chapter-

AN:

P: Aw man, Serah still got turned to crystal?

CK: Unfortunately

P: Lame… also why did Naruto steal Lightning's outfit in the flashback? Couldn't he just henge into it like he does her?

Ck: Yes, he could have, however tyhere is a very good reason why he didn't

P: Gratuitous Fanservice?

Ck: …two reasons why he didn't

P: Well alright then, thanks for reading everyone and please review.