Final Fantasy XIII: Slaves of Fate

"Naivete and innocence. Such is the mind of youth."
Leo continued to watch the fight, wincing when Fenrir slashed Grey's back. "No..." he whispered it, not knowing he had done so. As he watched, his fists clenched and trembled. Every time an Eidolon swiped at Grey, Leo failed to notice that he would whisper the word 'no.' It was only after all seemed lost for Grey that Leo realized he was secretly rooting for the traitor. Why? Why am I even considering this? He asked himself as his body involuntarily crouched over. He kept his blue eyes focused on the fight as his right hand unwillingly grabbed his Gunblade. "This is what you get, Grey!" He yelled out as he stood up, though he wasn't sure if his former ally would hear him over the noise of the battle. "You betray us and you think you're so badass? You deserve to get overpowered and killed by the Eidolons, if not by us!" He started walking forward, gripping his blade tight. "Damn it, Grey, you are no better than Cid or Omega!" His pace quickened into a job. "I...really regret that I'm not strong enough to kill you!" He was now running. He watched Belias raised his staff, aim the sharp edge at Grey, and then bring it down hard. "But!" He dove forward and a loud clang rang through the air. Leo was now standing between Grey and Belias. His Gunblade was held horizontally over his head and his left hand was supporting the blade. Belias' own bladed staff was pushing down upon it. Leo had blocked the attack for Grey. "I'll be damned if I let someone else kill you," he said, slightly grinning as he switched to Sentinel.

​

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

Cid's eyes narrowed at Omega and he spit at the side, wetting an unlucky rock. "There is no third party. There's not even a second party! It's only our side, Omega, remember that. Everyone's a part of it, whether they know it or not." He turned around to Linegia and Alice. "Now what was that it that you wanted?" He asked Alice as his body began to heal.





Dahaka was now floating over Oerba, its eyeless doll-like face watching as the Oerbans raised in awe at the fal'Cie. A few were taking cover, panicking at the sight of the serpentine-like God machine, others simply stared. Dahaka would have smiled if it could. The fal'Cie knew that it had been thought dead for centuries. All of the people alive should not even know about its existence, let alone recognize it. It was this fact that made this event slightly bitter for Dahaka. The fal'Cie flew in a circle, its long fingers trailing alongside its long tail. Suddenly, each ball on its tail started to glow white before shattering and turning to dust, starting with the last one. Before long, Dahaka was left with a one-balled tail. Chimes filled the air as Dahaka's face was pulled backwards, revealing his true dragonic form. Appearing as a dragon resting on a throne, Dahaka moved his hands in front of him as Oerba started to glow. Now all Oerbans were panicking as Dahaka unleashed his Fulminous Firestorm. The Oerbans were now screaming as Oerba was lit aflame.

 

Mya saw smoke coming from the air in the direction they were walking towards. Umm guys? I'm sure that's the direction to Oreba which means... She started running towards the direction to Oreba.

 

"Byron wanted me to tell you that he wants the l'Cie warriors to think of him as a regular l'Cie for a bit. But I got to play with them. I wasn't mean and broke them. I just wanted to play for a bit" Alice pouted and looked away. "That Oerba Lea Mia seems really upset about Snow. I wanted to play with her more!"

 

Lightning saw the smoke and fear filled her. Adrenaline spiked through her as she took off running without a word to the others, No.... She'd be dammed if she let the small Pulse town burn to the ground. Her last sanction of hope.
As she approached, flames licked all around the buildings and ruins of buildings. People still screamed. Lightning ran with all her strength and vaulted over a barrier of stone. Already in her Ravager paragram she repeatedly cast Wateraga on the flames. "Everyone, move away from the fire! Stay where you are! I'll find you!" she called for whoever was left alive. Please....this needs to work. Lightning reigned in her panic and set her feet firm on the ground, taking from her magic all that she could and formed it into the Wateraga spells.

Akira noticed the plume of smoke and skipped a few steps toward it. "Ryou! You think that's coming from....Oerba? No, it couldn't be....but that's the direction of Oerba.... We have to hurry now Ryou. Light could be hurt and everyone else too. And the people of Oerba could be hurt!" She took off at a fast sprint toward the smoke. I hope no one's hurt....but that may be too childish to ask for. Let us or someone get there in time to help!

 

"I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve? I should've expected as much. You are human after all. Or human-based. It's still the same." Omega took a deep breath and caught a small trace of smoke rising from Oerba. It's happening all over again... He wiped the blood off Masamune with his sleeve. "Now if there's nothing else, Cid, I think I'll go watch a burning city. It'll easily be the most interesting thing ever to happen since Cocoon fell." Before he could let Cid respond, Omega cast Warp on himself. He would not waste time flying there like before.

Shinryu also smelled something in the air. Was it...smoke? Mya pointing things out only confirmed his suspicions. So much for a safe haven. Unlike rushing in to help like everyone else he casually walked to the center of town, striking down any burning ruins in his way. If there was a fire instead, he sent dirt flying into it as a means to calm it down to the point where he could at least move through it in bare feet. All of this was reminding him of the time he ravaged Oerba. He recalled Omega not getting there in time to save anything or anyone.

 

Ryou immediately broke intoa run with Akira, oh he prayed that the villagers were okay but who could of done it? That was a question that was filed away within his head as he was keeping his usual fast pace, hand ready on his nodachi, no-one attacks Oerba and gets away with it, that place is literally home to him and the other resdients.

 

Ren followed the group, unsure of what exactly was happening, but knowing that he needed to be here. And that woman... Lightning, one of them called her. The Lightning? From the stories? But she should be 500 years old by now, shouldn't she? This was definitely enough to catch Ren's attention.


Byron continued to search for a beast for his plan, but something was now amiss. He had a strange feeling, like something precious to him was being...
"Oerba!" he yelled, sprinting towards the village as fast as he could. He might be a crystal L'Cie, but his care for his home still stood strong, and he hoped that he could help his village in some way without jeapordising Jenova's overall plan.

 

Jaden looked actually horrified at the ensuing scenes as he followed after Lightning.
As she and some of the others tried to put fires out, Jaden focused on busting into ablaze houses and trying to help as many people as he could find.. Damn it... this can't be happening... he thought to himself.
"Dammit!" he yelled out, and then... that's when he saw it...
A huge airship approaching... The Cavalry... and somehow... Just somehow Jaden knew things were about to get a whole lot worse.

 

Mia tried to help some people and heard a child trapped in a building. She gave Snow's bandanna to Angel and ran into the building, looking around for the child. When she found the child, she tried to find a way out. 'This is crazy, but gotta do this.' She thought to herself and ran toward a window, jumping out of it. She landed safely and gave the child back to her parents. Angel tied Snow's bandanna back onto her arm and they looked around, running toward the village.

 

Mya turned into her Medic class and started to help out the wounded. To her thanks, not many were seriously injured and no one died in the fire. The ones responsible for this must pay...

 

There wasn't much that Ren could really do in this situation. He directed people away from the fire when he could, but other than that he felt quite useless. He hadn't tried to use magic properly yet, so he had no idea whether any of his would prove useful to the situation or not, and now wouldn't be the best time to try, or else risk making the situation worse than it already was. This was the other L'Cie's home then?


Byron finally got to Oerba, his path having taken longer than the standard path would've, but it had kept him from being seen. He looked at the devastation caused in his old hometown with some level of sadness, but he knew by looking at the pattern of destruction that it had been attacked from the air, likely by a Fal'Cie. And that meant the likely cause was Dahaka, who at least appeared to be under Jenova's control. Then this was necessary to destroy Coccoon. If Coccoon's destruction means that this has to happen... it must have been necessary. he thought, his dedication only wavering for a split-second. He leapt down from his vantage point and silently extinguished some of the smaller flames with magic, taking care to avoid being spotted by anyone, though hiding from what was obviously the Cavalry's ship would be difficult at the very least.

 

A few feet from Argent, Angel was mending a wound Mia got on her right arm. She wrapped a bandage on her arm and smiled at her. Mia looked at the bandage and smiled, before falling to the ground. She tried to get up and fell to the ground, she had forgotten how long she was in some of the buildings that were burning. She coughed and gasped.

 

"Dammit!" Jaden cursed again as he ran to Mia, and shifted into his Medic role.
He started casting cure on her, he could see a man in uniform close by out of the corner of his eye as he helped Mia.
"You'll be fine Mia, you're a tough one right?" He smirked despite the circumstances to try and re-assure her.











OOC: Man in uniform is Argent for those who couldn't tell.

 

Mia stood up and smiled. She was about to thank Jaden when she noticed the man in the uniform. Without warning, she tossed him to the ground and covered his mouth. Angel hid with them, wondering why Mia was acting this way. Mia looked at Snow's bandanna and then rubbed her neck, sighing.

 

Lightning had focused most of her energy on saving those who were in need. She stared at the smoking remains of Fang and Vanille's house and sighed. All those memories....gone. Shaking her head, Light turned and nearly ran into a Guardian Corps officer. She took a rapid step back and glared at him. He took one look at her, noticing her arm plate that still signified her position in the Guardian Corps and backed up. "What the....Sir! Sir!" she gave him another icy glare as he started to call for his commanding officer. Lightning would've silenced him if there weren't already a few other Guardian Corps officers standing and staring at her too. A 500 year old Guardian Corps officer now l'Cie. Great.

Akira ran until her lungs felt like they would burst and kept running. She barely skidded to a halt when they finally reached Oerba. She took one look around and felt tears well up behind her eyes, "Oerba....home....why did this have to happen?" She felt like someone had punched her in her stomach. Tearing her gaze away from the remains, she looked for her comrades.

 

Ryou immediately followed soon after and he went to chekc on his house and there was nothing, just debris as he fell to his knees. "No, even this place...?" He thought to himself, he was now left with just the nodachi from his family and that will probably be all that remains. "...who could of done such a thign to this peaceful village, no-one deserved it!" He thought to himself moved soem the debris awya, hoping to at least find some remains, he didn't care if there was pieces just so long as there was something that remained.