paixaorpg | There's no hope for l'cie. [Active]

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There's no hope for l'cie. [Active]

Character(s): Hope Estheim, anyone
Content: Hope has turned into a Cie'th
Setting: Outside Vocea Condominiums
Time: Evening
Warnings: ...HOPE TURNED INTO A CIE'TH, WHAT DO YOU THINK.

No matter how much Hope tried to fight them, the nightmares were just too strong. Every night, he saw his mother slip from Snow's grasp. Every night, he watched her fall, he reached out, he screamed, his world and everything he'd ever known collapsed around him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He would wake up from that dream, shouting and covered in sweat, to find his room silent and empty, just like it always was. That was the only real comfort he had. He couldn't go to Lightning or Terra about the nightmares, they were having their own. It wouldn't be fair to expect them to help with his. They were still here, though. That was enough to keep him from getting too scared. They'd become like older siblings to him, and he didn't really mind that.

But one day, Lightning was gone. Hope had gone to talk to her, to get his mind off the nightmares, but she wasn't in her room. None of the citizens he asked had seen her leave the building, and she hadn't even made her bed. Instead of asking for help, Hope searched on his own, everywhere he could think of. He called to her on the journals, too, but there was nothing. She wasn't in any of the places she should have been, and she wasn't answering, either. He'd heard about people disappearing from here before, but...he never thought it would happen to her.

In desperation, he finally gave in, and posted to the message board using his journal. But the fear that she was gone gripped him tight, and wouldn't let go. As he spoke, it felt like someone was drawing a knife through his lungs, and his mind seized on the pain and the anxiety. Before he knew it, he couldn't calm down anymore, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs, scared that he'd never see her again.

His breathing grew ragged, and his brand shone bright. Light flashed, and Hope's body was gone, just like that.

In its place...stood a Cie'th.

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As soon as she'd figured out something was wrong, Xion opened a dark corridor and went to find Hope. But when she got there, she didn't see Hope.

There was the possibility he'd run off, of course- or that he just hadn't been where she thought he would be in the first place. But something about this, especially this creature in front of her, felt very, very wrong.

She didn't attack it yet, but she summoned her keyblade as she looked around. "Hope!" she called, hoping he'd answer if he was nearby.

Normally, Squall wouldn't have even bothered. He barely knew the kid who'd spoken up, although he might have heard his voice a time or two on the journals. But nothing about that frantic message had been normal and for all his various faults Squall hadn't been willing to let a kid deal with that sort of distress. It had been bad enough that he'd had to deal with something like that. He wasn't going to let someone else suffer through that it if he could help it.

Of course, he wasn't going unarmed. He didn't know what had made that noise at the end of the feed, but it wasn't a friendly sort of noise. There was just one problem. Once he'd arrived at the place he was assuming the kid had been just moments before, there wasn't anyone there. Just a monster like none he'd seen before and someone else who had probably also come running, if that weapon in their hand was any indication.

Had... the monster taken care of him then? No. Squall refused to believe that. He had to be somewhere. But where?

The moment he'd found the post on the board, Riku grabbed his shoes and rushed out, making a guess as to where Hope had been. He could only hope the guess was correct... Regardless, as he ran, he sprinted past citizens and ran down alleys to get there as soon as possible and earning the occasional sidelong glance. When he arrived, heart pounding, he summoned Gloaming Saber. It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd come to Hope's aid. However, while a strange monster loomed, the boy was nowhere in sight.

"HOPE! Answer me!" The kid was tough, much like Sora. He had common sense, too. If he got hurt or found the monster was too powerful, it would make sense to retreat and call for backup. ...Though there'd been no additional posts to the board. It would make sense though if Hope's journal had been damaged. Regardless, it'd be best to keep a creature like this away from the populace.

Riku was a smart fighter. Rather than leap right into a battle, he tried to size up his opponent, keeping his distance for now. This didn't look like anything he'd ever encountered before, and as such he watched it like a hawk.

She arrived at top speed. This sinking feeling telling her that she was already too late; as she surveyed the scene from atop Bahamut in the sky. As the complex in the distance came into view... so did the Cie'th below.

Fang turned away for a moment; her heart aching with the confirmation of what had just happened. Hope... Dammit, she was too late...

When she turned back to the scene, there was a new resolve that burned within. She was the one that had to do this... becoming a Cie'th -- that was worse than death. The best thing she could do now... was put an end to his pain herself.

She came crashing down from above, jumping off of the dragon as it flew off -- and she landed. In front of the Cie'th, and seperating all of the people that had gathered around. "That's... not Hope anymore." She spoke, her voice low.

The creature took no notice of Hope's name being spoken, only that there were now a number of people surrounding it. With shambling steps and vocalizations that might remind one of a broken machine, it approached the nearest human and took a swing with its massive right arm.

Xion turned to stare at Fang, processing her words. "Anymore?" she questioned, trying to keep her voice steady and failing, "So... so that's--"

She was cut off, for even her back was turned the creature swung, and she was in its way. The small hooded girl was flung aside, landing hard on the ground several feet away.

Even if he wasn't entirely sure where Hope was, Snow ran as fast as his legs could carry him through the streets. It couldn't be too hard to find a Cie'th, they had a habit of sticking out.

It took longer than he would have liked to get to the place he wanted to check first, but Snow finally happened upon the group of people that had gathered outside the Vocea Condominiums. He slid around the corner just in time to see Hope... the Cie'th... swing its arm and smack a young girl and send her flying. "No!"

Snow's eyes fell on Fang for only a moment, and then he rushed forward, throwing himself between the Cie'th and everyone else. "Hey, if you want something to hit, I'm right here!"

'Not Hope anymore.' It was an odd phrasing, one that implied that what the creature was it had been Hope at one point, and for all that the world was strange he had yet to hear of anyone becoming a monster. Even if it did explain the odd scream that had echoed through the journal at the end of the post.

"Then what do we do?" he asked, holding his gunblade in a ready stance even as Snow jumped in to take any further hits. Left to his own devices, he would gladly kill the monster, even if it had been human. But this wasn't really his fight. Not if people who knew better knew what to do with things like this.

"What do you mean that's not Hope anymore?!" Riku's eyes narrowed as he looked at the monster and remembered back to things Hope had old him before. "No... Don't tell me that's a Cei'th." Whoever this woman was, she seemed to know what she was talking about. And with an entrance like that, she certainly had skill.

And then the monster struck. "Xion!" Riku rushed to the replica's side, Gloaming Saber out in a defensive stance and ready to cast Dark Shield at a second's notice.

And then someone new showed up and stood in front of them all. Riku raised a brow. Was he sacrificing himself? The teen prepared himself to dash forward in case this guy decided to do something that would get himself killed. With luck, Riku hoped, the man was doing this because he knew what was going on, too.

Riku's question tacked onto Leon's. "Can we reverse it?!" Sora had returned form being a Heartless. Maybe there was a way to undo this. If his brand was too far along... Maybe there's a way to trick the brand into thinking he completed his task? But that was all guesswork. With no information, he'd have to leave it up to the woman to guide them.

"HOOOOOPE!" Terra called as he ran through the streets that led up to their apartment complex.

He was mentally kicking himself that he had picked today, of all days, to go exploring in the town. He should have noticed something was wrong, that Lightning had gone missing and that Hope was upset. Maybe it could have been prevented if he had been there.

He skidded to a halt when he saw the small crowd of people there, mostly people who knew Hope, gathered around a horrible monster.

"What's going on?! Where's Hope?!"

As the girl was smacked with the mighty force the Cie'th had to offer, Fang cursed under her breath. All the people here were bound to get hurt. And having them here when there was no chance of Hope regaining himself... only served to make her feel worse about the whole thing. But she masked the discomfort, hid the pain under her own ferocity.

Her eyes met Snow's briefly as he made the scene -- good. At least there was someone else here who knew the situation.

It was good that the younger light haired boy moved to the young girl's side. He seemed like he'd protect her -- Fang wasn't cut out for healing, and with a limited number of potions -- it was probably best to save them for now. "She all right?" the warrior called back; "If she's not, you'd better get her clear from here... this... " her voice strained a little, "isn't meant for the faint of heart."

She stepped forward, assuming a defensive stance next to Snow. If the Cie'th hoped to get any of the others -- she would make sure that the monster would have to get through her first.

When yet another newcomer came along, Fang narrowed her eyes; keeping them glued to her target as though she was issuing it a challenge. "For someone who's gone Cie'th... there's only one thing they can pray for..." there was a dangerous tone to her voice now, "people like us to end their sufferin'!"

The Cie'th had no more capacity to care for the appearance of the new humans than it did the presence of the others. It wailed, its voice an indistinguishable, harsh cry of both eternal anguish and unending rage, and swung its arm at its next target.

Xion pulled herself up, quietly scolding herself for not dodging fast enough. "I'm fine," she said, mostly for Riku's benefit since... he seemed kind of worried. Now wasn't really the time to ask about that, though, especially after what the woman she didn't know had said.

"No!" Xion called out, moving past Riku and rushing up to the front with the two 'grown ups,' "There has to be something! We can't just--!!" Kill him. They wanted to kill him.

There was only so much she could do. She didn't know much about Hope's world... he'd never wanted to talk about it, and she didn't blame him. But she wasn't going to let him die, not if there was any chance of saving him.

'We can't,' was it? Squall didn't see any reason why they couldn't. The monster - Cie'th, the other woman had called it - wasn't listening to reason, and wasn't reacting to Hope's name. The monster didn't even seem to care that it was attacking its friends. People were far too sentimental if they thought he could still be saved. And even if he could, where would they keep something like this while they tried.

With a sigh, Squall stepped up towards Xion, gunblade still half-raised in case another attack came. "What if there isn't something? What if this is the only way?"

Xion gripped her Keyblade tightly, frowning up from under her hood at this person (who seemed vaguely familiar, but she'd dwell on that later). "We can't just give up on him!" she insisted, "There has to be something we can do! There has to be..."

Lightning's disappearance hadn't been planned. Not by her, not by anyone she knew. She'd woken up back on Pulse, back when they'd been on their way to Oerba. And a long time after, she'd discovered things, things about Orphan, about Bartandelus. She now knew the truth, more of it, behind their Focus. Lightning knew what they had to do to save Cocoon.

But more importantly, she knew more about the Cie'th. She'd become one herself.

So when Hope's message went out on the journals, Lightning knew immediately what had happened. And how to fix it. Summoning Odin as soon as she got inside the gate, she turned him in the direction of Hope's location. "Odin! Let's go!"

By the time everyone gathered, she was close, but not close enough to affect anything yet. They could probably hear hoofbeats in the distance, though.

"Trust me, neither of us are faint of heart." Though in different senses. However, when Xion demonstrated this by jumping ahead, Riku reached for her. However, the Replica was beyond his reach. He responded by rushing up near Leon.

"My best friend came back from being a Heartless and he wasn't even whole yet. We need options, now-"

Thanks to its scream, Riku turned just fast enough to protect himself from the Cie'th's attack, casting Dark Shield just in time. That being said, the blow was intense, and Riku was knocked back. He rolled backwards once before landing his feet on the ground and sliding backwards slightly.

The sounds of Odin's hoof-falls were lost on Fang -- she was far too emerged in the situation at hand. "Aren't you listenin'?!" It was frustrating enough to see Hope have to become such a creature... having to live out a twisted existence in the body of a monster. But hearing everyone say there had to be another way when she knew very well there wasn't one... was just as heartbreaking. She cringed inwardly, trying hard to keep her emotions in check. She needed to take charge here. Make sure that someone she cared about wasn't made to suffer anymore...

"There's no way... to come back from this. This is why we need to complete our Focuses! Before we become like this! Cursed to roam the planet for eternity, locked away in the dark!"

She couldn't hold back anymore -- couldn't watch him suffer. Rushing forward, Fang lept into the air, rushing towards the sky. When she was above the poor, twisted body of the Cie'th, she re-positioned herself in the air, spear first, as she began her descent to the ground below at an incredible speed. She could end this in only a few hits if she timed it right... put him out of his misery.

But in that split second, that crucial moment as gravity began to take its hold on her, sending her down towards her target -- something in the distance caught her eye. Speeding towards them... Her eyes widened as the realization set in -- "Lightning?!"

Lightning was close enough by that point to hear Fang's yells. She knew what that raised tone from her friend meant. Fang meant business and in this case? Business meant ending Hope's suffering. Lightning wanted the same thing, but she wouldn't let it happen the way Fang planned.

Odin leaped into the air and Lightning sprang from his back, landing with a flurry of red petals and leaves as her mount disappeared. Turning her back on the Cie'th for just a split second, she leveled her gunblade at Fang. Leaping into the air to counter her friend's attack on Hope, Lightning swung her weapon, slicing through the air to smack Fang and her spear off to the side and away from Hope.

"Don't touch him!" she yelled as she fell back to the ground, putting all the emotion of the past few weeks into her voice, emotions that Lightning never allowed to show. "He can come back! There's still hope left!"

She did mean that both ways: that Hope was still inside that Cie'th and that there was hope left for him to return to who he was.

Wheeling around, she prepared to block any other attacks the Cie'th dished out, or anyone else tried to land on Hope, falling into place beside Snow. "Hope! Listen to me! You're not lost!" She had to hope it would work to pull him back out. "You can come back!"

There wasn't anytime for Fang to change the trajectory of her attack, but thanks to the gunblade aimed her way -- it was enough for her to be able to react. Her spear met with the brunt of the counter, as she tucked herself into more of tumbling position, and landed on the ground with a somersault roll.

Looking up at the newest addition to the party from her position on the ground, she brought a hand up to wipe at the corner of her mouth with the back of her free hand. "Took your sweet time, didn't you..." she smirked. But what she was saying... was a little hard to believe. Even with a miraculous entrance like that.

Xion was, obviously, surprised by Lightning's appearance- and moreso by what she saying. She stared at the woman when she yelled to Hope, before looking back at the Ci'enth. "He's really still there?" she asked, quiet and possibly not even heard by anyone else. She took a breath, gripping her keyblade in one hand tightly. "What can we do to help him?"

The words were almost entirely lost on the Cie'th. The only sign anything was heard at all was the briefest of pauses, before the creature wailed again and swung at its next target--which was now the man in the coat begging for everyone's attention.

Lightning smirked at Fang's assessment, turning her gunblade to defend against the Cie'th, even as it moved its attention to Snow.

"Didn't have a choice," she answered, flicking her wrist and resettling the gunblade in place. "He can come back from this." She gritted her teeth, hoping no one else would get in the way as she glanced pointedly back to Fang. "I did."

"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Terra asked Lightning when he had an opening to ask. Terra would be willing to do almost anything she asked of him to help a friend in need.

Fang kept a skeptical look about her... what was Lightining talking about? She'd come back from turning Cie'th? Just... what had happened to her in the time of her disappearance? She sighed, though a smile crept its way through somehow, and she closed her eyes. She'd believe in Light -- it was hard not to after all they'd been through. "I hope you know what you're doin'..."

Opening them again, Fang shot was focused again on the monster that was Hope -- twirling her spear around again to assume a defensive stance. "All right then! New plan! Snow an' I'll get it's attention. You lot do whatever you need to do!"

She stepped forward threateningly, focused on the Cie'th. "Give it your best shot!" she taunted, trying to win over it's attention.

Riku’s eyes narrowed at the woman. “Locked away in the dark? I was saved from darkness. Don’t tell me there’s no way out!” His voice had the edge of frustration. He wanted answers and was getting none. If Riku was one thing, it was that he could be stubborn, and now he was showing it.

Lightning’s arrival was grand to say the least. However, her voice spoke from experience. “You did?!” It was good news, and it just confirmed things in Riku’s mind. The pattern was much like that of a Heartless, though he doubted a hug from Kairi would bring Hope back.

Regardless, he would do what he had to. Keyblade raised, he called out to Lightning. “I’ll follow your lead!”

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There's no hope for l'cie. [Active]

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Squall is Leon in Riku's mind.

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/official ff13 final boss spoiler warning

Sorry for the wait, guys!

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permission granted from fang

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