Chapter 1:
Welcome to the void
Darkness, much like its counterpart in light, stood tall as a fundamental truth. It was the absence of its brother, adorning the opposite of its brighter sibling, and yet it did so to the same effect, and in the same fashion. The shadows loved their brother, however, and would never be seen without. Equally, the light loved its sister as well, and thus the two were forever joined in a union of familial peace.
Consciousness, however, was not so fortunate.
To awaken within a void of forgottenness, ignored by all under the assumption that you'd been reunited with your sibling... it stung a little, and for once in her false life, Lumina felt the urge to honestly cry. Her tears before were merely a façade, as there was no way her mother would forget herself, and it was with this belief Lumina thought the merging of their hearts would bring about peace.
How wrong she had been for harboring such simple expectations.
Lumina, the one who had spent hundreds of years wandering the world, watching slowly as humanity died off one by one, sat ignored and abandoned in the surrounding shadows. All the souls which made up the decayed humanity were off in the new world, reborn and thriving, leaving her behind to the solitude of a desolate wasteland that was nothingness. At first she didn't understand why, and even attempted to delude herself into believing that her current experience was merely a dream, and that she'd soon awaken as Claire Farron; personality and all.
But no. Fate, if such a thing still existed, saw to it that her apparent banishment remained starkly real.
For a while, in a stretch of time she could scarcely describe, the mimicry of a young woman sought desperately throughout her mind for the reasoning behind such cruelty. It was through mere chance, a recollection of the final desperate hours before salvation, that she came upon an answer.
The puppet of Serah Farron had somehow graced her thoughts during the remembering process, and it was that lifeless illusion which held Lumina's long sought answer. A puppet without a soul, much like her, and yet it was strung about and danced by Bhunivelze: the arrogant and former god of light and order. Lumina bore no such strings; rather, she'd been puppeteered by a consciousness all her own, despite being an empty shell.
Through her wandering of the doomed world, she'd developed desires, emotions, and relationships of all sorts with both the now extinguished past and its migrated inhabitants. Lumina played tricks and treats, taking on the role of both aid and troublemaker more times than she could count, and it was through these actions and ideas that she'd essentially become human all on her own.
A human without a soul, and thus, unable to join the other souls in their trip to the new world.
She was forgotten: believed by Claire, her creator who had for hundreds of years taken on the name and title of Lightning, to be reabsorbed once again. Lumina had been an empty shell, the personification of her mother's, the savior's, heart; all to save and safeguard her beloved sister. Holding on to all of Lightning's discarded emotions and hated thoughts until the day they were whole once again.
And yet, her consciousness was never a part of that heart, and thus was not absorbed. This was her punishment for obtaining humanity: an eternity of solitary damnation. She was, now and forever, truly alone in this empty expanse. With this in mind, one would forgive her for letting the tears flow; those salty, irritating little droplets of water who showed off their owner's weakness.
It wasn't fair: her mother, her "self" took her back. She wasn't supposed to be forgotten.
"Hush now, don't cry." Lumina felt arms pull her in, and not wanting to believe what was happening, she shut her eyes tight and tried to ignore the voice. That did nothing to stop the familiar, and yet equally fake visage of her creator's sister from speaking. "It's okay. You're not alone."
"But I am." Unable to discard the truth, Lumina knew she'd be forced to accept the harsh reality. Lighting... Claire had defied her fate, and that of her friends and family. However, defying the natural order was a skill owned solely by those with souls, and neither Lumina, nor the illusion of Serah that held her tightly, possessed such wondrous gifts. "I'm alone, here in the void. My family and friends are all gone, and the one who said she wouldn't abandon me, the one who begged me to come back, has left me behind."
"She didn't want to," the false Serah spoke, hushed and caring, as she played with the bangs before Lumina's eyes, who floated gently in the invisible winds which did not blow, "She wholeheartedly wished to take you back, but like me, you'd grown up too much for her. She took her heart, but you grew beyond that, and because of it, she could not see that a part of you remained here."
Sucking back her tears as best she could, Lumina whimpered.
"I just want my family back."
"Unfortunately, her's is not your family."
A new voice called out to them, and as Lumina opened her eyes, she turned her head upwards to see a tall man standing off in the distance. Black mist clouded his lower half, just below his calves, and yet he made way for them. Feeling the shift at her back, Lumina knew the fake Serah was watching him too, and her voice betrayed curiosity.
"Caius Ballad." Not a hint of caution sprinkled the words, and Lumina could defer that fake Serah felt no fear towards the champion of chaos and destruction itself. Caius himself was a curious character, as he'd fought just as hard as the other champions in defiance of his fate. One wouldn't be amiss to call him a hero in that sense, for he bore the courage and conviction of one.
However the ends he was willing to chase, while sympathetic, put too many at risk for him to be properly labeled as one.
While the battle Lightning and the others fought against fate at first had been for greed, they eventually sought to save all of Cocoon. This was what differed between them all, as while they wanted to save their loved ones, they also wanted to protect as many others as they could. Caius, on the other hand, was willing to sacrifice the world for the one he loved.
And he had.
"Illusory Seeress." His eyes fell to her now. "And the Spirit Anomaly."
Lumina never got a chance to respond before God's trick replied; sounding somewhat annoyed as well.
"I'd appreciate it if you'd just use names, please and thank you."
Caius smiled, he actually smiled at that. Appearing to hold back a chuckle, he then told with an almost amused flair, "Very well. Although, I'm certain you remember that name you're so used to isn't yours."
"No." The ghostly woman admitted, only for her voice to ease off into a more soothing tone. "However, I still retain the love I'd deceived myself into having, and so I have no trouble accepting that I feel most comfortable sharing her name."
"So be it." Caius then let his sight fall upon her, and Lumina saw what seemed to be a hint of peace in his eyes. She wasn't sure what it was, but that unspeakable rage of chaos he'd called his own during battle and beyond appeared to be missing. "And I suppose you still retain the name your creator gave you?"
"Lumina..." The whisper passed through her lips, leaving an almost foreign taste to them. "I... yes... I do."
"Interesting..." He stood, carrying on with, "And now we have two."
"It's not nice to leave them like that."
Another new voice joined the fray, and Lumina bore witness to one of the many Yeuls wander in from the surrounding darkness. Yeul herself was quite interesting also; being a woman constantly forced to witness time, and all the changes which afflict it. This took its toll time and time again, causing her to die young, and be reborn anew in an endless cycle.
All due to the meddling, thoughtless mercy of a soft-hearted goddess of death, and her mucking of time; all to save the doomed l'Cie.
Time, unlike how most would describe it, did not flow like a river. Time was best visualized as a puddle, calm and steady: motionless when settled and at peace. Everything had its proper place atop the water, resting peacefully where it belonged. Its calm surface, however, had been disrupted by the goddess dipping her finger in to change things, and this had sent ripples all across its face, breaking the steady surface and shifting the waters around.
And thus, paradox was born.
The act had uprooted elements from their proper positions in time, much like how a ripple or wave would move that which floated atop the puddle's surface. Things which shouldn't have been now were, and hence needed to be corrected. And so, Serah and the last human of a dead future, Noel, had been forced to re-arrange the elements all throughout history: past, present, and future.
By slaying beasts who didn't belong, they'd unknowingly sent them back to their time periods, and thus mended the mistakes.
However time itself is finicky, and while some things could be returned, others could not.
The Seeresses were one such change; they never should have been, and yet forever were: a bubble created from the motions of the Goddess, who floated to the surface to sit forevermore. There were many Yeuls, however the one looking at Caius now settled on a more... unexpected expression.
With crossed arms, and a shocking amount of sass, she opened up.
"They're our guests, are they not?" Tapping her foot, Yeul awaited an answer. Caius, continuing to surprise Lumina, somewhat flinched before responding.
"They are." He turned to them again. "I apologize. My older habits sometimes show themselves around change. I had not meant to insult or disturb either of you."
"I accept your apology." Lumina felt a hand patting her own, and twisted to see Serah shoot a delicate smile before she looked back at Caius. "However, it's not me you need the acceptance of."
"Very true." Twisting to face the man again, Lumina was shocked one final time by Caius Ballad stepping closer and getting down on one knee. With his face now level with hers, he beckoned, "Are you willing to forgive my mistakes?"
"Who... are you?"
Lumina couldn't help it: she was just so lost on everything. She'd woken up to complete darkness, in the void her mother had once sought to chain herself too. She'd cried with despair at knowing she'd actually been abandoned - even if unwilling. And, to top it all off, she'd been met with faces who act totally different than what she remembered, or even really expected.
Sure, people changed over time, but this was just ridiculous.
Caius's smirk was not helping.
"I see this comes as a shock for you." Standing up, he then had the gall to extend a hand down to her. "Worry not. I shall explain all... that is, if you're willing to listen."
Lumina had no idea what to do, and a quick eye to Serah once more just presented her a face, nodding for her to accept the hand. Looking back, she hesitantly reached ahead, and clasped her mitt with his. He hauled her up easy, to the point she'd nearly tripped from the sudden change, but Lumina balanced herself after with little show. Dropping her grip and letting her arm fall beside her once again, Caius turned around and started off, motioning for them to follow.
"A lot has changed since the Yeuls and I took our place as Gods Of Death." He led them across the expanse, and soon, landscape began to form. Taking images of various lumpy hills, jagged stone, and some twisted vines who wrapped carelessly around anything in reach: the space seemingly constructed itself as it saw fit. "We watch over the souls of the dead, guiding them to either merge with the chaos of humanity's base and rest, or to be reborn immediately, and experience a new life."
"Chaos." Lumina knew it well, having been birthed in it, and watching over it, even though unappreciated. When mixed with order, light, the darkness that is chaos takes tangible form, becoming real in the eyes of the humans who walk the surface of the new world.
"Correct." Caius slowed as they came across a brighter space, one which Lumina never expected to see. It was almost... homey, with how different it felt to the drab stillness of the surrounding void. "It is the root of humanity, and allows their civilization and lives to trudge ever onward. Regardless of who one was in life, or their accomplishments both hearty or horrid: all are given the same offer in death."
An offer Lumina could easily guess, even if it was Serah who spoke the words.
"To be reborn, or rest in the comforting darkness." Her tone fell a little, easing off not with violence, but pity. "Letting their memory wash away entirely, so they may be born as something wholly new."
Caius nodded, although his expression was not nearly as dreary as Serah's voice.
"The complete loss of memory, while tragic in concept, is not nearly so detrimental as it once was in the old world. The souls of the lost are not always so successful in their endeavors, and they leave their short lives unfulfilled. Reset and rebirth allow them to start anew, and with the chaos no longer under threat by selfish Gods, the loss of memory does not mean the banishment and destruction of their essence."
"They continue onward, into new horizons," Yeul added, setting down a relaxing mood. "No matter how many eternities they must wait."
"Although, recently, things have taken a turn." Caius's air of abnormal joy soon tapered off into the gloom Lumina long since recalled, and they came upon a pit sloshing with darkness. Lifting an arm, he aimed it towards the mass, and soon it shone images similar to the old devices Etro loved leaving around - and Lumina herself forged to slowly prod an unknowing Lightning in the right direction.
"Is... is that...?" The fake Serah clasped her hands over her mouth, very much unnerved by the sight of another her, who looked to be vacuuming a somewhat filthy and stained wool carpet with a partial scowl across her lips. Caius nodded, and with a snap of his fingers the picture froze.
"It is indeed." The volume he'd spoken with before began to dip, and a pleasant echo chimed in every word. "They've found themselves living the lives they deserve, and what you're seeing right here is the aftermath of a visit from both Noel and Yeul; the former having shared a drink with Snow, and unknowingly spilled quite a lot of it."
A sideways grin crossed Lumina's teary face; some things never changed.
"The big oaf is in for it now."
"He is." Caius bore a new grin. "Following this night, he'll be confined to the couch for the duration of the night..." That misplaced silence became noticeable only when it broke, and before Lumina or Serah could question it, he continued. "Or, he would have, had things occurred the way they should have."
"Should have?" Serah spoke first, but quickly Lumina's own exclamation overtook the copy's.
"What happens?" Something in her own non-existent soul chimed out of tune. "What's wrong?"
Caius looked to spy her unease, commenting on it briefly.
"Bhunivelze, as it turns out, is a rather sore loser." Casting his arm away, he raised his second one, forging above his hand a bright little blob; so squishy, and yet fuzzy at the same time. "In his dying breath and before being completely sealed away, he spat harsh curses for his world and the humans who inhabit it, spawning what the Yeuls and I have come to call Discord Sprites."
"Nasty little things." Yeul cringed as she took the reins. "Think of them as rogue specks of Old World magic. On the bright side, they don't actively go looking to cause trouble... Buuuuut on the not so bright side, they gravitate to the nearest source of it."
"What do you mean?" Serah questioned, only for Yeul to shoot an eye up at Caius, who nodded and crushed the illusion in his hand, returning to the scene and looking to change it with a flick of his wrist.
Now, instead of a disgruntled Serah vacuuming the carpet - presumably after scrubbing for a decent while - they stared at the sight of a deep abyss: a random ass hole in the ground. Caius answered their unasked question, explaining the scene promptly.
"While we cannot see into the full flung future, the Yeuls and I, as Gods Of Death, are able to peer around three hours ahead in time. The Discord Sprites normally have no effect on things, but whenever one is in play we are able to tell because a particular future will suddenly change. Serah should have had her revenge on Snow later tonight, and thus we overhear her punishment, but the fact a massive sinkhole opens up and takes her life out of the blue proves one has wandered into the mix."
"You can't let her die!" Lumina expressed, nearly shouting out of the blue, and glaring in a panicked frenzy towards Caius. "Do something!"
Only when she noticed the silence to follow did Lumina catch what she'd done. Apparently, some of Claire's sisterly love remained even now, and so she quickly collected herself.
"B-because if she does, then all of my hard work would have been for nothing. We can't just let her keel off like this, especially at the hands of that self-centered prick."
"Well duh." Yeul threw in, smirking her way. "Why do you think we spent so long looking for you two?"
That caught both phantoms by surprise, with Serah soon addressing it.
"You were... looking for us?"
"That's right," Caius interjected, taking command once again. "While the Yeuls and I would prefer to tackle this issue ourselves, our position as Gods prevents us from doing so."
"Put simply: we can't actually go down to earth without causing a whole slew of mischief," Yeul clarified with a wary look, almost sheepish in a way. "Our connection to the chaos as it is now renders us invisible to ordinary humans, and our presence in the world below acts more like energy, so we'd be picked up by nearly anything capable of reading electromagnetic signals; AKA, ghost hunters quickly become a real pain."
"You two on the other hand," Caius began again, "retain some of your connection to the old world. Being left in the void without exposing yourselves to a large amount of raw human souls has allowed your own beings to retain their total physicality. Using it, we should be able to send you down with little to no risk of any of the problems we would likely face."
"As in, you two can fix the problems we cannot." Yeul added, smiling pleasantly, but retaining that playful edge. "Kicking DS ass with a magical flare~"
"But not too much magic," Caius quickly corrected. "Magic doesn't exist naturally in the New World, and so any usage of it from the two of you will show itself as various different and more natural types, depending on what you conjure. Physical spells such as Firaga or Thundaga will come off as electricity, whereas spells more aligned with manipulating yourselves specifically, such as Shell and Haste, will read in the Electromagnetic range."
"It's all kinda random from what we can tell." Yeul gave a little tap to her noggin. "Magic does its best to blend in with the new rules, but just barely. The real problem has to do with how it behaves. Most readers in the new world look for certain effects on the environment or other properties to determine what's what, and with magic covering multiple fields... Yeah, it gets pretty hazy."
Caius took front again, shifting the image of the hole back to Serah and the carpet.
"So long as you don't rely too much on your magic, you shouldn't be noticed." He then faced them again with a strong posture. "Will you take up this task, to fix these anomalies and ensure a brighter future for the New World."
Silence answered the pair of Gods, and after a nice long minute, Serah found the will to speak. Her brows dipped, and malice filled every syllable of the response she gave.
"That's it?" This got from them a somewhat bemused look, but that didn't stop the specter from speaking her mind. "We've waited for so long in the abyss, believing ourselves hopeless and just trying to keep ourselves sane for so, so long, and the first thing we get upon witnessing a miracle from our point of view is a demand to fix more Godly mistakes?"
"I know it's upsetting, but we-"
"Zip it!" Serah spat, putting her foot down. "I don't care how desperate you are. If you really knew we were still around, then tell us why you never came to get us before!"
"We didn't," Yeul mumbled, voice back into the depressive state it wore in the Old World. Serah lost a bit of her edge following that.
"What?"
"We took a gamble searching for you both," Caius began to explain. "We'd believed only you, Bhunivelze's discarded puppet might remain, and we'd hoped the offer of having a purpose again might sway you to our aid. Imagine our shock when we spy Lumina as well, intact and weeping."
"It kind of shocked us a little, at first," Yeul took the mic, genuine remorse splattering her features with drowned out colors. "But then we remembered what was at stake, and who would have the last laugh if we didn't take out his awakened goons."
"When all is said and done," Caius approached, sturdy in his claims. "And when no more remnants of the God Of Light remains, then we'll have no problem with allowing you to live your lives freely in the new world, as your own people. But to do that, we must ask of you your help."
Again his decree met with no immediate response, and for a bit it was just the two sets staring at each other, until Lumina spoke up.
"Alright." Her gaze carried within a razor's edge. "I'll do it." Clenching her fist tightly, her body shook just a little bit. "I'm tired of being alone." Unknown to her, that got a mild flinch from Serah behind, but that was swiftly shadowed away for her previous look of calm. "I want to live as myself, and know that I matter to someone; that I'm my own person. I... I don't want to be forgotten anymore."
Serah laid her hands atop Lumina's shoulders, and from behind she felt the copy of her creator's sister lean in close to embrace her. Caius ahead looked... proud, in a sense. Lumina didn't get why; she was just a ghost, and one made by the woman who kicked his ass twice before. But apparently, her understanding of his emotions was irrelevant, and he flung his arm towards the image of Serah proper. It began to fade a bright white, and equally colorless light flowed up like fire.
"Then step into the light, both of you, and breathe the air of a brand new world."
Looking at each other, Serah gave her a nod, and Lumina returned it. Hand in hand, with Lumina squeezing tightly and shaking, the pair trudged carefully into the burning light. They turned back, seeing Caius grin and Yeul smile and wave, before the light began to overtake their vision so much they couldn't take it and shut their eyes.
Before they could open, Lumina heard chirping, and as her eyes spread open, she spied before her a pleasant little field, and beyond the hill raised up ahead, the sight of buildings.
This was it: the New World made by God.
"Hello? Lumina?" And the small, higher voice of Serah came from beside her, although strangely, it sounded a lot... lower than it should be. Curious, Lumina twisted to look, noticing Serah was nowhere in sight.
"Serah?" she tried, only to get word from the woman again, in the same space as below.
"Down here!" It almost sounded like a yell, but again it was too quiet. Lumina turned to see nothing again, but this time, Serah's voice called out once more. "Look down!"
Following those instructions, Lumina stumbled and nearly fell back when she saw the state of her phantom sister.
"S-Serah?!" Lumina actually did get down now, and slowly, she picked up her sister...
Her multi-articulated, action figure of a sister, in an almost erotically skimpy set of plate bikini armor.
Author's note
...
Okay... um, this is new.
It's my first time writing for this series, but to be honest, this is one I've wanted to do for a while. Believe it or not, Lumina has always been one of my favorite characters, if for nothing other than the fact she gives off strong gremlin energy. And seeing as there aren't many fics which focus on her - and those that do all look to be either canceled, or dead - so I opted to take a crack myself.
Despite the start we have here, this is going to be a fairly lighthearted story, because honestly, I'm tired of all the doom and gloom I write. Sadly, I have so many others on the go that updates for this one will be spread quite far apart - basically, whenever I'm in the mood, upwards of maybe even a month or more.
You'll also notice this story is being posted in the main XIII category instead of the Lightning Returns one. I'm doing this mostly because I know a lot more people read through that one, and I also know that Lumina is a choice in the character selection. So here we are: a significantly lighter story using a character that doesn't get much attention.
Don't worry, the main crew will show themselves throughout, but for now it seems Lumina and the Phantom Serah are set to stop a sinkhole from bodying the real Serah before she can chew out Snow. Where exactly is Snow? You'll find out next time.
Feel free to tell me what you all think; heck, it might even motivate me to write more, which honestly, I can use all the motivation I can get.
Until next time.