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As Light and Hope walked through the Grapra Whitewood, they arrived at an are with many monsters, locked in cages. Though the ‘cages’ were more of an open area and closed off with a laser shield. Light went back in charge there due to the danger and Hope’s obediently following and doing as she commanded.
Everytime they stepped into the next area, the way behind them will be closed off with these lasers and the ones locking the monsters in deactivated so they can run free. And to get out of there they had to defeat all the monsters.
It was no problem for them to clear the path. Lightning usually attacked the monsters head on, while Hope stayed back and switched from damaging magic, to healing magic.
But not everything went as planned…Hope was distracted for just a second, but that was enough. As Lightning slashed a monster, she noticed that the last one, a dog-like abomination straight from a lab, ran straight towards Hope. “Watch out!” Lightning called out to him, as she dashed to the boy. Light switched her blade from her right to her left hand and once she was close enough, she pushed Hope out of the way just as the monster leaped to attack him.
Hope fell to the ground, out of danger. In that split second Light raised her arm to block the attack with her blade, but the monster was a little faster and dug its teeth into her left arm. Gritting her teeth at the pain, the monster fell down on her and pinned her to the ground. Light let go of her gunblade. It fell down somewhere next to her, but she needed to use both arms to keep the monster away from gnawing at her face. It was enough that it was chewing on her arm like that…
Then something yellow hit the monster's head, distracting it for a second. Then it came flying again and again. The monster let go of her arm to see what attacked it and in this moment, Lightning grabbed her blade and pierced the monster's neck. Then she pulled her leg in to kick the dead monster off of her.
Light let her limbs fall to the ground and lay there. Her heart was still beating fast and the adrenaline pumped en masse through her veins. She took some deep breaths and was about to get up again, but…she couldn’t move. Literally couldn’t move at all. It was like her body was completely paralyzed! At least internal organs weren’t affected. Her heart still pumped blood through her body and her lungs were working just fine, too. But she couldn’t even move a finger. “Light!” She couldn’t even move her head! Light heard the boy run over to her and skidded to her side. He kneeled beside her and looked at her with big, panicked eyes. “L-Light are you okay? Are you hurt? Uh…” He looked her over and seemed to notice the wound on her arm. “W-what should I do?” The soldier wanted to speak, but only a strangled gasp escaped her. Damn, she couldn’t even talk!!
Then she remembered. Light heard about PSICOM trying to breed new monsters that could paralyze the opponents so they can arrest them -or do whatever else needed to be done- easier. This must be this new breed.
Hope's panic seemed to grow. “Light, tell me what I should do…” He pleaded even if he fully understood that she was unable to talk. “Please…I need you to tell me what to do.” His eyes couldn’t focus on a spot, she could practically see the gears turning in his head to figure out what he could do to help. For a second Light was relieved that they at least defeated all the monsters in the area, but that feeling didn’t last for long.
From what she could see, there was a Behemoth walking towards their, now open, area. Again, she tried to talk, but nothing came out except some gasps and grunts. Hope looked up at her eyes, not understanding what she’s trying to say to him. Then she looked from him, to the slowly approaching Behemoth and back to him to at least tell him with her eyes to look behind him! Finally, he understood and turned around. The boy flinched back in surprise and looked at her with pure panic in his eyes. “Light, what…?”
She couldn’t answer his question though. If she could, she’d tell him to just save himself and leave her there. Lightning held his gaze, looking at him sternly to tell him just that with her eyes, but she didn’t think he’d understand. Hope looked around in a panic, before jumping to his feet and vanished from her line of sight. For a second Light thought he’d finally run for it, but then she was pushed up into a sitting position. Her head flopped forward and she saw two arms wrapping around her midsection, before being pulled backwards and her head falling onto something soft. Well, it wasn’t difficult to guess what it was…
Hope pulled her backwards somewhere and this movement caught the Behemoths attention. It snarled at them and ducked down to prepare for the leap that’ll inevitably come soon. The boy kept pulling her frequently, it was clear that she was too heavy for him, but he did his best to pull her along. And then the monster ran towards them. Fast. When it was close enough, it leaped up to maul them with its sharp teeth. Lightning closed her eyes, preparing to get ripped apart, but nothing happened. Instead she heard a growl from the monster that sounded kinda frustrated and annoyed.
When Light opened her eyes again, she saw a laser barrier between her and the Behemoth. So that was Hope's plan! He pulled her into one of the ‘cages’ and as soon as the Behemoth entered their zone, the laser barriers closed again. Clever boy. There was a small gap between the laser pillars and the wall, so a human could easily squeeze through. But monsters were too big to fit in between so they were safe.
Instead of just letting her lie on the ground, Light felt Hope flopping down against the wall and let her upper body lie on his. His legs were on either side of her and his arms were still wrapped around her for a while longer. She couldn’t see his face, but she guessed he must be still shaken from all this and didn’t notice himself what he was doing. Eventually, Hopes arms loosened around her and fell to his sides.
He was still breathing frantically and since her head lay on his chest she heard his heart thumping erratically fast. Since Light couldn’t do anything, she waited, but Hope wouldn’t calm down. If anything it got worse. Lightning tried to look up as much as she could to see his face and there was still pure, raw panic in his eyes. He kept staring at the monster, snorting frustratingly in front of them, with unblinking eyes. He was having a full on panic attack. Tears gathered in his eyes and now Light noticed how he was shaking, too.
It felt horrible not being able to help him. The kid had to go through this now all by himself. Eventually Hope glanced down at her and his already wide eyes widened even more in surprise when he caught her looking at him. He quickly turned his head away then, and tried to cover his face with the back of his right hand. But Light could still see enough. He was so close to crying but tried his best not to. Light knew exactly why…He didn’t want to appear weak. Didn’t want to see the judgment in her eyes. So Lightning closed her eyes to give Hope as much privacy as she could give him. Only thing she could do was listen to his fast heartbeat.
Maybe hours ago she would’ve actually judged him, but now…She knew him a little better by now. Odin definitely helped her not seeing him as a liability anymore and they had a few deep chats till now. The kid was soaking up everything she gave him on the way like a sponge. He was…a lot like her when she was a kid. At least after she’d lost her parents, too. And right now they were both driven forward by hatred. Up until now Lightning didn’t allow herself to stop for even a second and think. Even during their breaks she was busy with scouting the area, keeping watch and polishing her blade. But now she was on a complete standstill for the first time since this whole mess started.
Has she…been just running away from everything till now? She didn’t want to think. She let her anger cloud her mind and in this rage she’d go as far as to destroy Cocoon. Destroy everything. Just what real lightning did. It couldn’t protect, it only destroyed. Lightning would’ve gritted her teeth if she were able to. Goddamn fal’Cie. Playing god and letting humans live in their world like parasites. No…not parasites. They protect the people, feed them, nurture them. Like something special. Like…pets? That would make so much sense. Lightning was born and raised with a fal’Cie leash, it was the only world she knew. So when it was taken away from her she didn’t know what to do, so she did what she’s best at: fighting. But that was, again, exactly what a Pulse fal’Cie wanted her to do. As if she had no mind of her own. How could she be so stupid? And she even dragged Hope along this path too. She only hoped it wasn’t too late for him…
Over the time she felt Hopes breathing begin to calm down slowly but surely. Good, looks like he’s slowly getting out of his panic attack. As Light thought of a new plan for them, her own tiredness weighed down on her. The sound of Hope heartbeat calming down more and more lulled her to sleep.
Hours later, Lightning woke up again. It wasn’t really the best sleep she had, but at least she was well rested. When she looked down on herself, she noticed that her hands lay on her lap and that right hand still held onto her gunblade. She’s been holding it the entire time…Then she remembered why. That beast paralyzed her. At least now she could feel her body again, so the effect must’ve worn off. Though her vision was still a little hazy. To test it, she let go of the weapon and raised her hand. Successfully. She closed and opened her hand a couple times to test it. Everything felt normal again. Then Light pushed herself up into a sitting position and stretched and bent her back. Some of the bones cracked lightly. Sighing contentedly, she flopped back down on whatever she’s slept on and the little ‘oof’ behind her reminded her what exactly she’s been lying on.
Light looked up and was met with a pair of bright green eyes. Right, Hope saved her and apparently let her sleep on him the whole time. “G-good morning, Light.” Hope stuttered and turned his head away, his face becoming as red as a fire flan.
The woman sat back up again and turned to face the boy. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay!” Hope shook his head and met her eyes again. “I’m glad you can move again.”
“Me too…” She looked at her left arm then and noticed it’s completely healed. There wasn’t even a single scar visible.Hope must’ve healed her. Light glanced behind her where the Behemoth was sleeping. It stayed there all night, hoping they’d come out of their cage. “Thanks for saving me back there. And for healing me. You could’ve just left me there and save yourself…”
Again Hope shook his head. “I-it’s no big deal. I mean…it’s the least I could do after everything you’ve done for me.”
Everything she’s done for him…Yelling at him, abandoning him, barking orders at him…Light let out a long sigh. “Sorry.” The boy looked at her with a mix of confusion and surprise. “Sorry that you had to go through all this on your own.” She said earnestly, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. And she didn’t just mean the panic attack. Hope looked down at the ground, clearly unsure what to say. At that Light reached up and ruffled his hair. “I’ll keep you safe, okay?” Now he looked up, but before he could say anything, Light continued. “Look, I’ve had some time to think while I was paralyzed. We won’t go to Eden. At least not now.”
“Wait…what?” Hope was clearly confused and she didn’t blame him. She literally changed all their plans overnight.
“I was stupid.” She admitted, swallowing all her pride. “And I just wanted to lash out at everyone and everything. And I’ve dragged you along.”
“But I was the one following you around.”
Now Lightning shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I still riled you up and dragged you along my hateful path…when I should be the responsible one of us.”
Light could practically see the gears in his head turning. “But…no, you can’t just do that. You told me to fight!” He yelled, glaring at her with unshed tears in his eyes.
“I made a mistake!”
Hope gritted his teeth and looked anywhere but her. “Then what battles do we fight? And against who? Tell me that!”
She really wished she knew the answer. “I don’t know yet.”
“You don’t know yet?!”
Lights eye twitched slightly in annoyance. “That’s right. I don’t know yet. I’ll think of a different plan.” Hope mumbled something inherently under his breath. Only now did Light notice that he had her knife in his hand -must’ve held onto it all night for their protection. Hope bent his legs and put his arms on his knees. He stared at the knife for a few seconds, before flicking the blade out. “What’s bothering you?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” The boy grumbled, still staring at the knife in his hand.
“Try me.”
Hope was silent for a few seconds, contemplating if he should tell her. “Snow.” The name came out as a growl. “He’s responsible for my moms death.” Lightning didn’t say anything, just giving him a look that said ‘keep going, I’m listening’. “Before we all met in the vestige…My mom and I…” Hope shook his head, the sadness and hatred for Snow coming back full force. “He let her die. Yet he claims to be a ‘hero’ and…smiles.”
His grip on the knife tightened. Light didn’t need any more infos to know what’s on his mind. “You want revenge on him?” His answer is only a nod. “Revenge doesn’t bring your mom back-”
“I know!” Hope yelled, jumping up to his feet and turning his back to her. “I know that.” His voice became shaky. “What am I supposed to do though? Just forget it and let him get away with it?”
Light let out a long sigh. “I’m not saying you should do that. You should confront him without the intention to kill him.” It’s funny. Hours ago she probably would’ve encouraged him. Especially when she said the next time they’ll meet the others they might be enemies.
“Why are you defending him all of a sudden?! I thought you hated him too!” She did and yes she was thinking about killing him, but she probably wouldn’t do it anyway.
“Hope, I know how you feel-”
“You don’t!” He yelled at her, not bothering to turn towards her. “You have no idea!”
Without a warning, Lightning grabbed the hem of his jacket and pulled him down. Hope fell on his butt with a yelp. Then she leaned over him -in return Hope leaned back in surprise- to glare straight into his wide eyes. “Listen. I’ve lost both my parents around your age and I didn’t have the luxury to blame anyone. The only one I had left was Serah.” Light clenched her fists and leaned back again. “I had to be strong for her, so I became Lightning.” As she glanced over to the boy, she saw him staring at her with the same wide eyes, but now more in sympathy than fear. “I wanted to forget my past by changing my name.” She continued and scoffed. “I was just a kid.”
“So what are we supposed to do now…?” The boy asked, defeated.
Lightning was quiet for a few seconds, thinking of an answer. “Not losing hope.”
Now Hope scoffed at her suggestion. “‘Hope’? There’s no hope. Not for l’Cie.”
“There’s you.”
“That’s not really who I am though…”
The rose-haired woman thought fast, trying to come up with a plan. “You said you’re from Palumpolum?”
“Yeah…?”
“And your father’s still there?”
“I don’t like where this is going…”
“We’ll go to your father.” At that Hope sighed and looked away from her. “You should see him. And then I’ll help you find the hope you were named for.”
The boy bit his lip, still trying to avoid eye contact with her. “ Do we really have to…?”
“Got any problems with him?”
“I guess you could say that.” His words came out as a grumble. “He was never there for us. Always worked. That’s why mom and I went to Bodhum without him.” Light could clearly see in the boy’s eyes how he despised his father. He was just a kid to know any better. Surely if his father wouldn’t have worked his ass off like that Hope wouldn’t have had this coddled up and safe childhood. In the back of her head Light wondered if Serah ever felt the same towards her. The only time she ever took a day off was at her birthday and that was after Serah begged her to do it.
“I’m sure he’s heard about what happened in Bodhum and is worried about you.”
“How would you know that?” He spat at her. “You don’t know me or my family!”
“That’s right. So we go there, so that I can get an idea of that.”
Hope sighed, apparently realizing that he couldn’t argue with her. “Fine.” Again without any warning, Lightning reached out to ruffle the boy’s head. And when he turned to look at her, she pulled him in and put his head on her shoulder. “Uh…”
“You’ll be okay. I’ll keep you safe.” She promised again, as she wrapped her other arm around his shoulder to hug him.
“Lightning…” His voice was muffled against her shoulder but she could still hear everything. Then she felt him returning the hug. “Uh, me too. I mean…at least I’ll try. I’ll try to watch out for you, too.”
Light couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. Not to laugh at him, but because it was…cute. And no one has ever said this to her. She leaned back, breaking their embrace, to look at him. Hope looked quite serious with his statement. He had to get a little stronger than this, but he already did a decent job. Light flicked his forehead, before standing up. “Let’s get going then. But first we need to take care of something.” The rose-haired woman glanced to her left, where the Behemoth obviously woke up from their talking and snarled at them. She heard Hope standing up too and reached for her gunblade. “Ready?”
“Yeah. I’ve got your back, Light.”