Final Fantasy XIII: Slaves of Fate

Alice flew up beside Linegia, watching the fight. "Oh poopie, I came to tell Cid something important and he's busy with Omega Weapon." She pouted and floated by Linegia with her arms crossed. "I hope Cid hurries up. He probably knows I am not the patient type."

 

Ren aproached the loud boy from before, a question in his mind.
"Do you think regular L'Cie like us can even get that strong? Those Crystal L'Cie don't seem to play by the same rules as us after all."
He'd already forgotten that he hadn't introduced himself yet, having been caught up in the fight against that winged girl.


Byron was about to head towards the group, but at the last second before leaving his vantage point, he rethought. Not just yet... and not like this. I'll have them come to me. he thought, instead heading off in the opposite direction; to where the L'Cie would inevitably head next.

 

"You remind me a Sorceress Knight. You've probably never heard of them, as they aren't from this world. Neither are any of the Eidolons, for that matter. Perhaps you were never supposed to be even born at all..."

In reflex to being hit by Cid's cross slash, Omega Weapon triplecasts Drainga, taking in large amounts of health from Cid with each spell. To weaken Cid further, he struck with Gravity Bomb, launching a large ball of gravity from his mouth to halve whatever life the l'Cie had left. The sudden increase in gravity would also help keep him on the ground and in one place, along with any others caught in the attack. The Weapon began to speak to the three Crystal L'Cie before him.

"What good are tools if they break from their own power? You must have felt their otherworldly presence by now. Do you believe your tools can get them to submit?"

 

OOC: Ah, I don't know what to post....

ooc: I'm not feeling very creative at the moment so if Ryou wants to create what's going on with Akira and him being left behind I'm cool with that.
bic: Lightning's eyes opened slowly, Omega's words still echoing in her head. "Planet's dream....Hope.... Why her mind always reverted back to the young white haired boy she wasn't quite sure all the time. Hope was almost like her in a few ways. His determination and need for a sense of purpose. Her eyes focused on the cave and she felt a sensation of warmth on her shoulder. Glancing over her still sleep foggy brain distorted the image into Hope. She smiled faintly and touched his head lightly.

 

Within his dream, Shinryu was reliving a memory that he shouldn't have remembered. Though the boy doesn't recall when it happened or if this "memory" is some fantasy his mind made up, it was very real to him nonetheless.

He was in a small household, comfortably familiar yet foreign. Inside with him was a woman. Shin never got a good look at her face as it was all fuzzy but he already knew how she looked. The woman, he recalled, had a kind, gentle look and air about her with deep green eyes. As she moved from room to room, Shin followed. These memories he had about her, about this place...they shouldn't be with him. But there were. And there was just something about the woman that drew him to her. When suddenly she approached him, she caressed him like a mother would her child. The moment Lightning placed her hand on his head, so did the woman in the dream in a similar manner.

For some reason that he doesn't understand, his tears fell in both reality and the dream.

Where are you, Ultima? That thought was the only thing on Omega's mind as he continued on. Three days...That's all the time I have to find you before I go back...

 

Ryou rubbe dhis hair as he and Akira had escaped, but it seemed like erveyoen else had spilt up and he was stuck with her, not that he didn't mind it, having a ally watch your back, no matter who it was is reasurring as he held his nodachi. "But now what, everyone's taken different paths." He thought to himself but he decided to speak despite all that's happened, SNow turnign to crystal and everything from that point on, in retrospect, no-one ever thought a scenario that was like this.

"We should try and regroup with the others but until then, we're together." He said to her, now that thought about it, Akira was somewhat similar to Lighting, he never personally taken up the strange weapon that was the gunblade but he could probably give a fair fight with it, it's just a weapon which covered just about everything, the gun section for long range while the blade for close range, coupled with the I'Cie magic for practically any range, Akira would be a dangerous foe.

 

Jaden looked at the new guy... L'cie like us... so he is a L'cie huh?...
He didn't hesitate in his answer. "Hell yeah I think we can! Stronger in fact.
No problem at all. As long as we never quit... nothings impossible. Booya!"

Linegia ignored Alice and instead spoke to Omega Weapon, answering his question.
"Our master has made her decision. She didn't choose these tools by random chance.
It is not your place to decide such things. So you should cease now. This is pointless." The 8 year old girl said calmly and simply.
"If they can't get their Eidolons to submit, then they clearly aren't worthy to be tools.
If they can... then the Eidolons are clearly also tools. It matters not.
If they submit to tools, then they themselves are tools."
She didn't show any fear as she spoke and looked directly at the weapon towering before her.
Regardless of the other worlds in the rift, and who you were in those worlds... you need to learn your place.
You are in this world, and in this world... you bow and submit to Jenova as do we all."

 

Akira shivered in responce. "I guess so...." She tried going over their escape in her head but it was foggy already. Her memory wasn't great but it had been something. Her worry about Lightning made her dense. "We should find Light. She was injured the last time we all saw her." She held her composure and kept a straight face as she spoke. Afraid her worry would show on her face. She had to keep her head in the game, like Lightning wanted to teach her to do. She was distracted. Akira wandered around, glancing in every direction for someone....anyone, but especially Light's pink head.

Lightning was surprised when Shin started crying in his sleep. She hugged him tightly to her for comfort and glanced around their cave. She hadn't a clue where they were.

 

The weapon chuckled at her response as he did with Cid's.

"You have never been to the Void, have you? The very place itself is a force exponentially more powerful than any fal'Cie or god in this world or the next."

Omega Weapon circled around them, suddenly hitting the three from behind with Vengeance to shatter any and all beneficial status effects they may have had.

"Fate has higher authority than Jenova. Or perhaps I should say 'FATE', as that is her true name. Should FATE fall, the next highest authority would then be Jenova. Until then Jenova will submit to FATE just as the others have."

He continued to walk around them, taking note of every movement they made no matter how small it was.

"She will wield me, in time. But that time is not now. She will never if she dies, but to me she would just be another hand to take up my blade. The next one below her will then take hold and so on until every fal'Cie is dead."

As soon as Lightning embraced him, Shin woke up with tears still streaming down his face. His heart was pounding; his breath was fast and his body shaking. All that emotion he was feeling in the dream, what was it? Love? Pain? Regret? Or was it that feeling of loss? Perhaps it was all of them, hitting him at once. Whatever it was, it was too much for him to handle on his own.

 

Mya sat on a rock, slightly irritated by Jaden's response. If things were possible, then why did we have to make so many sacrafices? She sighed and kept replaying what happened the past few hours.

 

Linegia showed no trace of emotion at Omega Weapon's chuckle or words. She didn't even react when Vengeance had been cast at them, she had no beneficial status effects on her. She hadn't even moved an inch to follow Omega weapon's movement as he circled them.
She simply answered him as she had done before. "I've not been to the void, or as known in another term... the Rift. Not physically been there, no.
However, I have seen it, I have felt it..." She paused to see how this would sit with him.
"Back when I was forced to suffer day after day..." she began... recalling the painful and horrifying memories.
"You know how the body has a way of shutting down to blank out the pain?
Immense pain...
Well, my pain was worse than that. My body was constantly going through states of pure destruction and restoration, just so it could be destroyed some more and then rebuilt again and again and again." the 8 year old said... despite recalling such horrifying details, she showed no emotion still, like it was all now completely dead to her.
"My mind... did the only thing it could to escape... Not by my own will, but it was a natural defence mechanism, and whether this was possible due to what was being done to me. I do not know...
My mind would enter a state of flux. I would find myself in this weird place... I would see all these possibilities. Other worlds. Other realities. Whatever you wish to call them, I don't care.
At first... I thought I were dreaming, as any other child would. Now... I know different." she finished.
I've felt what you've described.
FATE? she has already failed and fallen many times at the hands of others, as she undoubtedly will do so again.
I care not for your rhetoric Omega. Regardless of what you are or who you are. It is not your decision of when you will be wielded."
she spoke, her voice showing no hints of anything emotionally, although, there was an incredible dark will behind her words alone. For most normal people, witnessing an 8 year old girl talk in such a way would probably be a surprisingly horrific sight. Not that Linegia cared what people thought of her.
As for the beings currently present;
For Cid, he knew of her past already as he had been the one that had ended her pain upon Jenova's orders... and as such he would understand why she was they way she was as well as having had time to get use to her, not that he'd originally have been bothered anyway.
For Alice... Well, she was crazy... and probably wouldn't care outright, Linegia didn't even care to think about what went on inside that girls brain.
...and Omega, well... Linegia knew that nothing of the sort would surprise him, she even had a hunch that he also knew about her, after all, he having travelled the void... who was to question what things such a being could possibly know.

 

"Seeing and feeling the Void is far different from actually being there. It is not all dimensional travel. The Rift immediately begins crushing your mind while consuming your body. Over time, all thoughts, feelings, dreams, memories...everything about you fades to nothing. Your very existence becomes one with the Void when it's over. Only the most powerful beasts, spirits, and demons can thrive there and even they are consumed in the end. A child like you would quickly perish, no matter how strong you are. The pain you experienced in your past is naught compared to what the Void does. Absolute erasure is much more agonizing than any form of pain. What you went through is laughable."

As Omega Weapon spoke to her mind, he took note of the thoughts she was having instead of her movements since she made none.

"Fallen to the hands of others? She resides in planet's core. No one but the gods can reach her. And FATE doesn't fail. We, the actors of her script, fail her. Defy FATE and she crashes the entirety of time just to rewrite it, creating a different future. The old future is then tossed away into the Darkness Beyond Time, a section of the Void devoted only for discarded timelines. Only FATE knows if you were ever supposed to be born. Or is it created in your case?

You also speak too highly of Jenova, for single blow to her crystal is all it takes to strike her down. Why is that? Simply because she is your savior?"

"Let's hope I'm not screwing things up outside. The last thing I need is another fal'Cie to demand for my head," Omega spoke to himself. But when he stopped speaking, he noticed how silent and lonely this place was. "This place is just like the Void, only white and without any of the abominations roaming about."

 

"Naivete and innocence. Such is the mind of youth."
Leo looked at Belias curiously. "I thought you were my Eidolon?" He asked, though he didn't expect an answer. His eyes moved to Grey, Grey's Eidolon, and back to Belias. "Either way, I'll bring you down," he growled as he raised his left hand and aimed his palm at Belias. "At least...I think," he muttered the last bit to himself as a small amount of energy centered on his hand. The energy spun into a clearish ball and quickly flew to Belias. Leo's Ruin did little damage; it exploded on impact and the Eidolon didn't even budge. "What? No! Take another one!" He yelled in anger as he fired another Ruin at Belias, his other hand gripping his Gunblade tight.
Belias ignored Fenrir and kept its nonvisible eyes on Grey. The Eidolon didn't feel Leo's attack and instead started to hop and spin around, appearing to dance as it swung its staff around its body. Each step seemed to make the ground shake. As it spun, the staff not only deflected the second Ruin, but it began to glow hot. When the staff's glow stopped increasing in intensity, Belias quickly stopped and slashed in Grey's direction. An orange energy blast flew at Grey from the staff, taking the shape of a helix. It was Belias' Painflare.

​

As long as I have a want. I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.

"That's enough, Omega," Cid said, interrupting Linegia's and the Weapon's conversation. Cid found himself on one knee, suffering from Omega Weapon's attacks, but he was still in battle form. He stood up and dropped his chain-scythes, locking eyes with the beast. "I don't give a damn if you're an alien Weapon from another dimension or Buniberzei himself. Everything you say about Jenova and everything you think, well, you're wrong. You still fail to comprehend her nature, you foolish Pulsian tool." He walked forward until he was next to Linegia, his crystalline body covered in smoking cracks, but he no longer felt the pain. "Jenova is beyond a fal'Cie and she is not like the 'gods' Pulse and Lindzei claim to be. Fate, I don't care how you spell it, has nothing on her." Cid's cracks started to glow, though not heal, "You fool!" He yelled it in impatience. "Linegia says you haven't shown your true power, well neither have I. She hasn't either! And you should see Jenova's true power! I'm no Sorceress Knight or whatever you called it, I'm Jenova's Knight. Now, Weapon, give me Omega. The real Omega."

 

Linegia felt a twinge at some certain words Omega had said... but... she lightly chuckled."Laughable... huh?"
The air around her seemed to fill with negativity... it was like she was emitting an invisible aura of death itself.
"Tell me Omega then... we, the actors of her script... fail her. Then how many times have you also failed?
And don't think of lying to me. I've seen past endeavours of yours and how they have ended." she said with a small smirk coming to her lips. "Contrary to belief... FATE has been defeated before... she certainly is not a very good script writer it seems.
but enough about her.." her stare turned cold.
"Jenova saving me certainly did make me feel... a sense of loyalty. But... I have my own reasons also. Whether I'm a creation or was born is irrelevant. Even I don't know the answer to that. But that won't change things in the slightest.
You Omega also speak too highly of FATE and of yourself for that matter.
We're all insignificant... life is a fragile thing...
You know, they say... that two can only truly understand each other when they've felt the same lesson of pain.
You think my pain is laughable..." her eyes flashed white for the briefest second before changing back to their pitch black state.
"Absolute erasure is much more agonizing than any form of pain?
Then... perhaps I should erase you... then maybe you could understand my pain.
You see Omega, I was erased.
Every.
Single.
Time.
As were the others... and I too had to feel their pain.
She paused.
"You say I'm a child who would quickly perish.
Then... let's test that shall we?
I'll show you... that I never got the chance to be a child.
That I was created to not even be a beast, a spirit, a demon, a monster!
...but that I was created to be destruction itself."

 

Lightning held him tightly to her and softly murmured to him, "You're alright Shinryu. It was a dream, nothing more." She still wasn't very good at comforting people but she was trying her best. Everything about this small boy reminded her of Hope and it made her heart ache with the loss of her young companion. Lightning sighed inwardly and brushed the boy's tears away from his cheeks.

 

"Then enough talk. If you want Model XIII, Cid, then wait three days. Defeat me as I am and he will never come."

Something about the air around Omega Weapon changed. It felt very...empty. It was as if pure nothingness was surrounding the area and it was reaching out to the hearts of the others. He placed his gaze on Linegia.

"If you want to 'erase' me, then I ask you this: Do you have enough strength to bring me down three times? If you believe so, then follow. If not, then leave and wait for XIII to return from the land of dreams if you must. You say you have been erased before so are not afraid of nothing, are you?"

The Weapon ripped open a large portal to the Void via a highly controlled Banish spell into the rock wall behind him. It was impossible to see through the blackness of it, but the beast walked through. On the other side was the famous site: The Dimensional Castle.

 

"Oh, yeah. Hey, Cid. I have a message from Byron for you. He wants the l'Cie warriors to think of him as a regular l'Cie for a bit. Wonder what he's planning. But I almost feel like the White Rabbit to Mia. I had so much fun playing with her and the other warriors!" Alice said, smiling and glad she delivered Byron's message.

 

Linegia took a breath and the negative feelings that surrounded her seemed to vanish, and the air's aura return to normal.
"As much as I would like to accept his offer, I decline."
She wasn't afraid, as the weapon had said too. She simply decided not to go after him.
"Our master may need me here, as such I won't waste time playing a stupid game of cat and mouse in the void." she stated.
She stared at where the weapon had disappeared as Alice spoke her message.
"...So Byron's got his own ideas." she spoke, and then directed her attention to Alice. "So long as you only 'play' but go no further. After all, these tools, or 'toys' in your case are fragile right now."
Finally she directed her attention to Cid. She reached out a hand and cast Curaja and Regen on him to help him recover. She knew he could heal himself, but she felt it best for him to save his energy for more important matters, that and she just felt like helping him.
"So, what's our next move?" the eight year old girl asked him, looking up at his face.