Apotheosis [Chapter 1] FFXIII Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own any material that belongs to its respective owner - however, I would love to and deserve to own FFXIII for being such a great fan of such a wonderful game.
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Apotheosis: elevating someone to the level of a god.
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Chapter 1
Archtyle Steep: Foward
Go as far as you can see; when you get there you'll be able to see farther.
- Thomas Carlyle
Gran Pulse had always been considered by the residents of Cocoon to be hell on earth and after three weeks of wandering the wilds of this world, Lightning, Sazh, Snow and Hope all agreed with this assessment. True, the world was immensely beautiful and they wanted nothing more than to tell their loved ones all about it. However, they had spent their entire lives cradled in the relative safety of Cocoon; now they were outcasts to their own people--cursed by the fal'Cie for the purpose of destroying the only home they had ever known. The sole bright spot in their misery was meeting and befriending Fang and Vanille, the two native Pulse l'Cie that had made them question everything they had ever known.
Now, everything they believed about Pulse was being proven true, and not even Fang could argue that.
As an Adamantortoise lumbered nearby, they hid in a small pond beneath a cliff that lied in sight of the chasm of the Archlyte Steppe. The sandy water and the salty aroma reminded Lightning of the long days she spent on the beaches of Bodhum when she was a child - when she was still carefree. Before her parents died. Before she was forced to take care of her sister almost as her own daughter. Before she became a Pulse l'Cie - and a fugitive.
They were to destroy Cocoon, their home . . . or face a fate worse than death itself. Now, they were looking for a way to escape that fate . . . and things just kept getting in their way.
They were hiding in this pond, which they had discovered while on the fruitless and hopeless journey of lifting the burdens of the former Cie'th (Snow's bright idea, of course). This pond was their refuge from the fearsome Adamtortoise. True, Oretoises were harmless unless one were to bother one or stray too near, but Fang was adamant that they hide just to be safe. Too many great Pulsian warriors - l'Cie even - had died against the great Adamtortoise, and Fang would not have them lose their lives out of being too prideful to hide.
Treading out of the knee-deep warm water, warmed by the sunshine that would surely scar her Cocoon nurtured skin if it weren't for the natural vitality that came as a gift of being a l'Cie, Lightning turned to Snow.
"You happy?" she asked to Snow scathingly, like a mother scolding her rowdy child for accidently breaking a vase. "Fulfilling the Focus of these Cie'th Stones, as noble as it may be, is foolish. It's hopeless and depressing . . . the beasts always return, and their suffering goes on."
She sighed. "We would be half way to Oerba by now and Vanille would not have fallen off that Chocobo who strayed too near a Adamtortoise," she said, indicating the injured girl whom was playing in the sandy water as Hope nursed her injured leg.
"I know, I know," Snow replied with a sigh, clenching his fist as if crushing fruit. "But, I just felt that we had to do something . . ." He paused, then focused on the issue at hand. "Fang? What way's to Oerba?"
Fang looked over to Snow with an almost amused express that said 'it's just no that simple'. "Well, Snow, there are many paths to Oerba. However, over five hundred years, most of those paths are either run down, blocked or infested with creatures. The only sure way is over there," Fang said, pointing to a cliff about two kilometers away.
Hope stood up, interested. "Isn't that the Mah'habara Caverns?" he asked with a nervous smile. "I thought you said we should stay away from there."
"We should," Fang responded. "But I already scouted out the better paths - the bridge across the chasm is destroyed and the river that leads to the Sulyya Springs is a breeding ground of goblins and Behemoths. So, the Caverns it is!" she said, with the slightest bit of 'deal with it' and 'it'll be fine' mixed in.
"Awww, Faaangg," Vanille whined from the shallows of the pond, toes and fingers savoring the smooth sand. "I hate the Mah'habara Caverns!"
"What's wrong with these Caverns," Sazh asked as he gathered the baby chocobo into his gloved palms from the water - the chocobo having enjoyed a quick swim and putting on quite a show for the l'Cie. Vanille reached her arms up like a child begging her mother to lift her from her crib, and Sazh pulled her up as the chocobo nested himself in his hair.
Vanille thanked him, then answered. "The Mah'habara Caverns are a wasteland of Pulsian technology - we lost control of it centuries before the War of Transgression. It was manageable at first, but after the wars between the States, we lost control. After the wars, all weapons were dumped into the mines - now only the chaos of war machines and natural predators exist."
"Oh, greeeattt!" Sazh exasperated. "Another death trap! How nice!"
"We should get going," Fang said. "If we leave now, we can get there before dark."
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Lightning walked ahead, alone. It wasn't uncommon. Even when she was young, before the death of her parents, she tended to be alone. The task of taking care of her sister, whom she loved dearly, just enhanced her tendency to be in solitude. Now, it was just natural.
She wasn't antisocial. It's not that she doesn't care for people. On the contrary, she cares deeply for each and every one of her friends and family. Serah. Hope. Sazh. Fang. Vanille. Even Snow. They all meant the world to her and it would end if she lost any of them.
Behind her, Sazh, Snow and Fang were discussing new battle strategies on how to best work together. Further behind, Vanille was flirting with Hope . . . rather badly it seemed by Hope nervous smile. Cute. Lightning thought. It's nice for him to find someone to care for, and her for him, after all that has happened to him. It probably won't go anywhere, but it's a nice thing for him to experience.
She heard running footsteps behind her like a small puppy running over carpet. It could only be Hope. That was fast . . . he did seem rather uncomfortable, but I didn't expect him to run away. I guess it's normal . . . I have run away from love more than once myself.
"Hey, Light! What's on your mind? I saw you walking by yourself, so I decided to join you," Hope said, falling in step behind her like Serah often used to do back when she walked her home from school.
"So, what happened?" Lightning asked.
"Uhm . . . what do you mean," Hope replied nervously.
"You and Vanille . . . it was cute. What happened?"
"It . . . that was nothing. I wanted to come talk to you," he said with a smile, his voice and walk changing imperceptibly to most, but not Lightning.
This can't be good. She thought. It's not uncommon for a boy his age to be interested in someone older . . .
Deciding to ignore it and talk about it some other time, she questioned, "What's on your mind?"
After a moment of hesitation, he asked hoping to change the subject while wringing his hands behind his back nervously, "After this is all over, what do you want to do?"
Lightning smiled to cover the bitter truth. Not for a moment did she believe things would ever go back to normal. But, for Hope, she would feign it.
"What do I want to do when this is all over?" she asked, repeating the question, stalling, letting him believe that she was thinking long and hard. How can I give him hope? I've honestly never thought of it . . . what I would do if we survived this . . . all I've done since becoming a l'Cie is fighting and surviving. What was the happiest time of my life? What do I want to go back to?
"I want to be back in Bodhum, living with Serah . . . and maybe even let her marry that idiot . . . Hope, do not tell him I said that," she said with a chuckle. Then seriously, "Really, don't tell him I said that."
Hope laughed, an adorable quiet expression of joy that made Lightning's heart melt with sympathy. "Don't worry, I won't!" he said finally, much to Lightning's relief.
"Good," Lightning said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. "What do you want to do when this is all over?" she said, hoping that she wasn't venturing too far into the teen's privacy, but fair was fair.
"I . . . uhhhmmm . . ." I want a 'happily ever after.' He thought, twisting his hands around in front of him nervously. But he couldn't just tell her that all he wanted in life was to love someone and be loved back . . . it was just too embarrassing to admit that. To anyone. He just wasn't good with girls.
"I . . ." he tried to continue, but was interrupted as Lightning spoke.
"What the hell is that?" she asked herself, her curiosity peaked by a figure ahead. "A man? He's fighting a behemoth? Let's go," she said starting to run off to see what was going on and help if necessary. "Now, Hope! The others will catch up in a minute!"
They arrived as the first pink-tinged oranges invaded the sky and they had their first opportunity to view the mysterious man. The man had short length brown hair and wore tribal furs on his boot and around his waist, much like Vanille. He wore a brown cloth shirt and for pants he wore behemoth hide as brown leather trousers. As for a weapon, he donned a spear identical to Fang's; evidently, he too was a hunter.
Now, that very weapon was up above his head, both hands gripped upon it, bracing himself against the impact of the King Behemoth's buzzsaw that wanted nothing more than to rip him apart and scatter his guts to the soil.
Not happening, Lightning thought. They were not going to let the first human life they had found on this hell of a planet die, especially not right in front of them!
Hope began by casting several blizzard and thunder spells, hoping to freeze or shock the joints of the giant beast's wrist which would force him to drop the large weapon from its grip.
Lightning dashed straight for the behemoth, slashing at the giant's knees before jumping to slash twice at its face. The beast roared more so in anger than in pain and pulled back his weapon, but not before Lightning caught its wrist with her blade. Upon landing, she back flipped, dodging a kick from the angered monster as she fired a round from her Enkindler while she twisted through the air.
Lightning glanced to the stranger upon landing, her sea-blue eyes saying 'follow my lead!' Then, a faint blue light emitted through her clothing, over her heart, and she felt a tingling through her right arm as magic flew from her palm. The beast growled and lumbered back as the weak lightning and water spells impacted him. Hope followed suit, firing elemental magic from his own l'Cie brand. The stranger, not having access to the vast array elemental magic of his new allies, released a magic of his own.
Much like the Pulsian girls that Hope and Lightning had come to know and care for over the last several weeks, his magic was thick and sticky; it appeared from his finger tips, exploding sludge upon impact and weakening or debilitating the foe in some form or another.
Due to the onslaught of magic, the gargantuan monster barely remained on his feet. In a last ditch effort for survival the beast jumped forward, landing mere meters away from the group of l'Cie, swinging his buzzsaw down upon the mysterious man. He sidestepped, dodging it, and then jumped before the impact on the ground would stagger him. He landed on the handle while throwing his spear like a javelin into the behemoth's neck. He ran up the handle as the beast squealed in pain grabbing his weapon as he jumped behind the creature.
Then, Lightning was there; she slashed at the creature's ankle and that was the last straw. While continuously under the bombardment of Hope's spell, it didn't stand a chance. It lost its balance and fell.
"New strategy!" Lightning hollered at the top of her lungs as she launched the creature several meters into the air via massive force from her blade impacting it from below. Then she followed it, slashing at it several times, slicing into its flesh and causing roars of pain from the monster, before she fell to the ground and began throwing several translucent spells at the monster. She jumped into the air once again, this time joined by the stranger and they attacked the beast in unison, the sharp points of their weapons flaying the creature's body. They fell to the ground, then backflipped away as the creature's remains sought to crush them.
The creature hit the ground dead, moments before the rest of the team arrived. And it was clear by Fang's reaction that she knew the man.
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Tell me what you think! This will be my first complete story :D