Final Fantasy XIII: Slaves of Fate

Shinryu facepalmed. Act first, think later? It's a thought process like that that gets you killed in the end. But his thoughts were interrupted by the fading light of the sun. Night was approaching fast. On Gran Pulse worse things came out at night, Tonberries immediately came to mind. He looked at Lightning with an urgency to keep moving.

 

Akira stifled a scream as they fell and bent her knees as they fell. Landing unsteadily, she wobbled and fell. Looking shyly up at Grey, she glanced quickly away before meeting his eyes. Frady cat! she scolded herself.

Lighting grabbed Mia as Dahaka tipped them over board. Snapping her fingers again, she let the blue electricity spread over them and landed safely with Mia. She glanced at Snow's bandanna, feeling a pang of sorrow in her heart. Swallowing, she shook her head silently and closed Mia's hand around it, "Keep it for now. You need it more than I do. I know Snow would never let Serah stay missing and give up. He'll be back and he'll want to see all of us stronger. Mia...keep it. Snow'll come to you for it first." Lightning turned her gaze on the new boy and questioned his silence, "Again, I'll ask your name." Her gunblade unlocked in her hand and she held it pointed at him, "Name or death. Your choice."

 

Once Lightning raised her weapon at him, she no longer became a person in Shinryu's eyes, but a target. So in response he did the same, the tip of his lance almost touching the tip of her gunblade, and completely ignored her demands.

While descending, Omega kept an eye on things over there and when they both drew weapons...

"Dammit, Lightning..." he quietly muttered to himself. "I'm making a quick detour, Cid. I'll be back." Snapping his fingers, he casts Warp on himself to send him directly between the two opposing blades. When he emerged from the Void, he immediately drew both swords and diverted the directions of both lance and gunblade. "Enough," he told them, "Allow me to explain things. Is that alright with you, Shin?"

The boy nodded to give permission. But Omega appearing out of nowhere and without warning might give everyone else a bit of a fright and not listen to him.

"Good. Now where to begin..."

 

"Damn it, Omega," Cid was actually heading down towards the l'Cie, but Omega teleported. It was right then that Cid realized that, despite how long he and Omega had been allies (in the loosest term of the word), he knew relatively nothing about him. What was that about a brother and sister that Jenny kept mentioning? Despite being her knight, Jenny hadn't told him anything. At first, he had thought it was because it was irrelevant. But it wasn't that that bothered him. He knew nothing about Omega's powers. Omega's Eidolon fighting form was all he knew. His eyes narrowed as he flew down to stop Omega from slaughtering Lightning's team, but he quickly changed route before he was noticed. Omega had casually stepped in, stopping a fight from breaking out. What is your game? He wondered to himself. Suddenly, two presences made themselves aware to Cid. The first was obvious, Dahaka had slowly approached him. Cid changed from his powerful winged form to his basic Crystal form and rested upon Dahaka's head. But the other presence was more interesting. There was somebody at Sulyya Springs nearby. Usually that wouldn't matter, but Jenny's voice rang in his head. The heart in the springs...A trace of hatred of Cocoon is there. Bring that heart to me.
​

Click. Leo had pulled back the hammer to his gunblade, ready to attack Shinryu. There was no real reason for him to do it aside the fact that he needed a target. Snow was taken by Jenny. Jenny turned them to l'Cie. Jenny had the Crystal l'Cie on her side. Omega was a Crystal l'Cie. The boy had arrived with Omega. Thus, the boy was guilty by association. He was responsible for everything. At least, that's how Leo viewed it. He looked up, pulled back the hammer, and was interrupted by Omega. "You!" Everything else disappeared. Lightning, Grey, Akira, the boy, even Dahaka's figure in the sky. Omega was closer to the source of problems than the boy. There was nothing else, no tower, no canyon, no l'Cie, just Leo and Omega. Not having heard Omega's words to Lightning, there was no confusion about whether he was friend or foe, he was still foe to Leo. "You did this!" The young blonde leaped forward, raised his blade, and brought it down at Omega, too angry to care that he stood no chance. Too angry to notice Cid watching above from Dahaka. Too angry to notice that Taejin's Tower was crystallizing slowly from top to bottom. Too angry to care.

​

 

Mya jumped off and landed on the ground. She brushed her clothes. Well that was unpleasant. She stared at Omega. She didn't trust him, but if he was willing to talk, she would set aside her differences with him and listen.

 

Jaden watched this time instead of getting involved... which was completely against his style.
He'd either be joining in with Leo or stopping him at this stage.
But to stop Leo now would make him a hypocrite, and sure he had been angry at the time, but he had noticed something was different about Omega up on the tower...
like he had been trying to help them then.
Of course, it could just be another trick like what Cid had done before.
Jaden drew just one of his swords. The red one known as 'hell' and held it ready, just in case.
He'd wait for Lightning to give the order.
We'll just see what happens... he thought, gripping the sword tighter.

OOC: So... Jaden claims to not use his head but follow his heart.
While that is true, it doesn't mean that he doesn't think things through. He just rarely does, he can be highly intelligent when he does though.
It's just rare that he does, his is more likely to follow his heart first in most situations though.

 

"...Damnit!" Ryou thougt to himself as he drawn his daito brought it against leo's blade, stopping him in mid-strike, not caring if he gotten stares. "Control yourself Leo, if it weren't for this guy, we'd probably would of died by Jenny so how about we listen to his side of the story and his reasons before we go cutting people's heads off?" He asked him, in a shifted stance in case Leo woudl try to attack again.

"I know you're upset and angry but you'll have to think about it later, take a look at your surroundings!" He stated as Ryou did notice the changes.

 

Mia held the bandanna close and tied it back onto her arm. She looked around and gripped her spear. Turning around, she stared at Leo fighting with the boy and Ryou stopping him. She sighed, and looked around, wondering where they were.

 

OOC: Already accepted, but I'll drop this here for everyone's benefit, just like Bushy did. Some of the info is slightly updated from the version I posted in the Datalog.
Username: DarkTraitor
Name: Ren Lawson
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Appearance: http://m292.photobucket.com/image/A...eFatality/Anime Guys/anime19.jpg.html?src=www
Minus the religious cross.
Personality: Enjoys combat, but will not actively search for a fight. Doesn't dislike others, but sometimes unintentionally appears to. Has a strong sense of justice, and will almost always step in to defend somebody who is weaker than he is.
Biography: Having been brought up an orphan on Cocoon, Ren is not used to working with other people, especially not those of similar age. He ran with a gang during his younger years, before going it alone at the age of 16. He has been more-or-less isolated since then. He is quite skilled with mechanical workings, as proven by his weapon of choice; a old PSICOM SubMachine Gun that he personally reconstructed and modified to suit his needs. Due to having lived alone for three years, he has both moderate fighting ability, and good knowledge of common security systems. Ren recently left the relative safety of Cocoon and headed down to Gran Pulse, hoping to finally find something worth fighting for.
Weapon: Unarmed/SubMachine Gun.
Location of Brand: Upper-centre of his chest, similar to Lightning's.
Magic Type: Ice, Thunder, Water
Eidolon: Diabolos http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/1/1d/RWDiablos.jpg
- His Gestault form is that of a basic, small fighter jet. Fast, but has only basic weaponry and Ren himself for attacking.
Other: Available paradigms for him are Commando, Ravager and Sentinel, with his default being Ravager.

BIC: Sulyya Springs... This place is borderline paradise. Ren Lawson thought to himself, again taking in the scenery of the grand waters. The young man looked up through the top of the canyon, at the place he used to call home which sat in the sky, on its crystal plynth.
That place has never looked so awful. And to think they used to call Pulse hell... he mused to himself, oblivious to anything currently beyond his view from the springs.

 

Omega was building up energy to put down Leo with Heartless Angel, leaving him hanging on a thread, but Ryou already took care of it before he could make that action. "Who said anything about me giving my side of the story? You want answers about this kid? Ask away. It's not like he'll answer them himself."

 

Akira stared open mouthed at Leo and Ryou. Leo was going to attack Omega just like that? Again? it was probably a good thing that Ryou had stopped him. He would've gotten himself killed. l'Cie or not, Leo couldn't handle a Crystal l'Cie by himself.

Lightning frowned, though it was her usual expression, she lowered her gunblade, "And why not? Who is he?" she asked, glancing from Omega to the boy. He won't answer questions about himself? Is there something wrong with him? A small stirring of sympathy thrummed in her heart as she remembered Hope, unwilling to talk much about his father at first or not talk at all. Hope had been a follow at your heels type of boy and she'd helped him spread his wings....now he was gone forever.

 

"He doesn't answer because he cannot. Everyone calls him 'Shinryu' or 'Shin' for short, but the latter is under more or less the same conditions of people calling you 'Light'. His real name? It's long forgotten. Now, on who he is...that's going to take a while," Omega told everyone. He sheathed his swords and began to recollect his memories.

"How long ago was it? 18,000? 20,000 years? It was just a long, long time ago when Pulse and Lindzei were still around and Cocoon didn't exist yet. Around that time, there was still a village north of Oerba. One night, the Undying came and razed it into the ground. The next morning, Pulse sent me in to exterminate any lingering Cie'th and look for survivors. But when I got there, I was too late. Lindzei was already there, and she had taken in the only survivor of the attack: a four-year old boy who was buried under the corpses of his parents. He was crying when Lindzei found him, but the crying was soon stopped. Right in front of my eyes, she branded him as her own personal l'Cie. I can still see that...evil smile on her face as she was branding him. You've seen the brand of a Sanctum l'Cie, haven't you Lightning? Because the stage one of it was what was on the back of the toddler's neck. After he was branded, Lindzei left and took her 'prize' with her.

I never saw him again until a few months later when he was out hunting in the middle of a forest with a lance. I approached him, asked his name and what he was doing out here with that weapon. He didn't answer, so I asked again. He just ran off, but the look in his eyes told me to follow him. It turns out, he led me straight to Lindzei so I went to her for answers. That was when I found out that she wiped nearly his entire memory clean upon moment of branding, leaving him with only enough just to understand speech and follow commands but not to actually speak. That was when I found out that she had renamed him, 'Shinryu'. That was when she said that the two of us will cross paths again.

A few months after that, word finally got out about Lindzei's 'new' l'Cie. Pulse ordered for his elimination and erasure and sent me to do the job. We did meet again, as Lindzei said we would, but this time we fought and kept on fighting for days on end. Even though he was only five at this time, his skills, both physically and magically, were nearly on par with mine. But his body at this age couldn't hold all that power within him, so what happened? Lightning, do you remember how Fang took the form of Ragnarok during your battle with Orphan? Think of that, but instead of Ragnarok appearing, imagine a great, crystal dragon emerging from the light and rising into the skies to rain down utter destruction.

From that day on Shinryu, the l'Cie, permanently became Shinryu, The Divine Dragon. But just because he's a dragon now doesn't change my orders. 'Bring down Shinryu using any means necessary,' Pulse ordered. And His word is absolute." Omega stopped there, giving everyone a moment to take it in. "Shall I keep going and list some major events that happened between then and until I sealed him beneath Taejin's Tower? Or do you want me to stop and answer any other questions you have about him?" he asked them.

OOC: Long post is long. Very long.

 

Akira's mind was grappling to comprehend all of the information.

Lighting stood still as a statue, staring at Shinryu. The Divine Dragon. He couldn't speak, he couldn't remember his actual name and he was a l'Cie for Lindzei?! Light nodded for him to go on with his story. As she found she had no questions for now. This boy shouldn't even exist....and yet, Light didn't want to kill him, he was just a little boy.

 

"No questions? Alright then.

There were many attempts made by the human population to bring down the dragon but they all ended in complete annihilation of the human armies and a few fal'Cie and l'Cie here and there. The most famous and disastrous battle against Shinryu was the Battle in the Sea of Eden, which happened about 14,400 years ago. Let's see...it was myself, the entire city of Chronopolis, the Magus Sisters, three l'Cie sisters residing in the Sea of Eden, and the Ruler of the Seas, the fal'Cie Leviathan, against Shinryu. End result? Shinryu killed everything, he and I fought nonstop from the sea to this continent, and time crashed, hurling the entire timeline of the sea 14,400 years into the future as an attempt by fate to correct things that should not have happened.

Sometime after that, I tried to banish Shin into the Void. But something went wrong with the spell and I sent us both there. The two of us got separated and we wandered aimlessly, or at least I did. We were trapped there for a thousand years. But in the Void, time flows differently. That milleneum in the Void was actually only a second in this world. You'll have to ask Shin about what he did while he was in the Void. We never made contact until we got out.

Our final battle was only a few centuries before the War of Transgression began. He was waiting for me in the chamber below Taejin's Tower, recuperating from our previous battle. When I entered I had his lance with me, since I kept it after our first battle where he became the dragon. Hours of fighting in, I made one last effort to take him down. Using his old weapon, I impaled his lance into his own heart. He roar shook the entire tower, his entire body was becoming crystal. After milennia of constant conflict and ruin, it finally ended. The Divine Dragon was put to crystal sleep and only to awaken if the lance was removed, possibly returning as a human since Lindzei had fled the world ages ago and cut off all ties."

Omega finished with a long sigh. He purposely left certain things about himself out, such as his traversing into other dimensions and worlds while in the Void, the incident where he almost ended the world as Omega Weapon: Model VII, and that he also entered crystal sleep after their final battle. "Questions anyone?"

Shinryu felt Lightning's gaze and turned away from it. What Omega said about his past before his branding felt like nothing but a story to him. But when he summarized the events about that battle, everything about it came pouring back. The screams, the gunfire, the drowning of the entire city's populace, everything. His face scowled up. It pained him to remember.

OOC: I'm sorry, but I could not resist making Chrono Cross references in that first part.

 

Ryou kept his daito out, making sure Leo didn't do anything stupid as he listened, it was complicated but he kinda understood it in a sense, he wanted to curse whoever thought science was good idea in his mind so he did as h heard Omega ask for any questions.

"I've got one, You and Shin if I may call him that fought each other so many times and you forced Shin into crystal statis much like Fang and Vanille, if so, why is he here now and..." He trailed off and continued with a deep breath. "What would be our next move, I know it's not going back up the Tower and meeting Jenny again so my only guess is... we leave and get stronger by mastering our I'Cie powers and release our Eidolons." He finished calmly, he definitely knew Light's persona during battle really rubbed off on him.

 

"How would I know? Last time I checked on him was 10 years ago, so someone had to have removed the lance from back then and today but no one in this day and age knows about that chamber. So what most likely happened is that in his sleep he reflected on everything that he had done and, in the end, acknowledged his crimes and accepted his sleep as punishment for his actions. They say that when that happens, whatever binds that are placed on you are released and you are set free. Again, you'd have to ask him yourself," Omega answered. He didn't comment on his other question as he found it as something they had to decide for themselves.

 

Lightning held no questions as she could tell everyone else would ask what needed to be asked. Her gaze still on Shinryu, he reminded her so much of Hope she could've swore it was him. Taking a step closer to the boy, she felt uncertainty of how he'd preceive her action, but still she took another step toward him. This boy was the Divine Dragon....someone who'd met Lindzei and was branded by her.

Akira frowned, "But he's with you everywhere you go. Wouldn't that mean...you let him out?" Akira felt confused about this boy, he looked so sad while Omega told that story and yet he was a dragon?

 

"Oh, right. Earlier, before all of you got here and after I left at Oerba, I went to check on him and found him like this. No brand, no other strange markings other than battle scars, nothing. He's human now and therefore no longer a threat. Of course I let him out. It's not like he's going to go out and massacre another, what was it...twice the combined population of Cocoon and Gran Pulse today?" Omega replied, "But he doesn't follow me. I just happen to know where he is." He took notice of Lightning's interest in the boy as she approached him. Not surprising.

Shinryu looked at Lightning with an expressionless stare as she came to him, but avoided direct eye contact. No thought ran through his mind nor did any emotion enter his heart. But deep in his eyes, one might be able to spot a voice trying to break though.