A.N: Hello everyone who's still willing to read this despite over a year of no updates! I've been terrible with this fic, unable to find any inspiration to continue writing- until I received an anonymous review on my latest fic 'Don't Let Go'- it's an FFXV fic hehehe pls read it go go xoxo! Seeing that someone enjoyed this fic so much to mention it in a review on another fanfic of mine kind of re-started my mojo. This fic, I admit, is going to be disjointed and all over the place as it slowly disintegrates into an angst fest and FF integrated lore AU! But for those willing to read my crazily spiraling ideas, I would love to hear what you have to say about how my ideas are progressing. I honestly wanted to delete this story because I didn't know where it was going, but then... I dunno... I am really fond of it all the same. So I decided to start afresh and read the last chapter I posted and begin writing from there. So I hope you enjoy, and please let me know if there's something I mentioned in old chapters that I haven't yet addressed! I'll try to address it in future updates! Speaking of which, there will be no consistent length of each update. I'll just write what I think is appropriate for each episode to come (though I will always strive for over 2000 words)! Okay, apologies for the long ass author's notes! On with the fic (finally!)
Chapter Twenty Three
Lightning prided herself in the fact that no one- absolutely no one- got under her skin. She was tough, much tougher than most of the losers drafted into the regular army. Still, she wasn't a complete idiot- Commander Genesis Rhapsodos wasn't a man to take lightly. If Lightning wasn't scared of what would happen during their meeting in a few minutes, then she would consider herself the most foolish of all fools.
"Hey sis, why'd you bring us out here? It's freaking cold!" Snow's voice cut through Lightning's thoughts obnoxiously. Whirling around to face Snow, Lightning glared daggers at the giant blond.
"We're here because you can't keep your hands to yourself. Who the fuck told you if was okay to touch summon materia that doesn't belong to you?" Lightning growled out. Serah stepped in front of her husband, a gentle frown on her face, her eyes wide in alarm.
"Claire, is he… is Snow going to die today?" Lightning almost rolled her eyes at how seriously Serah gazed up at her with big, watery blue eyes. The older Farron shook her head, almost regrettably.
"No, unfortunately not. We're just going to be showing the commander one hell of a light show. He thinks that those little marbles are the only means of summoning, but I decided to prove to him that there are other ways."
"But Serah can't summon." Snow stated flatly, draping his arm across his wife's narrow shoulders. Lightning sighed and shook her head, willing herself to stay where she was and not tackle the buffoon that was her brother-in-law onto the dry Midgar outskirts.
"I know that ass hole. That's why I told you to sneak out here by yourself! We're going to be bringing out our old pals Odin and Shiva." Snow nodded slowly, his eyes narrowed at the touch soldier standing before him in curiosity.
"Why go out of your way though?"
Lightning groaned, absolutely frustrated.
"Because that was the only way I could save your ass," Lightning glanced at her little sister and offered her a dry smile after seeing the look of pure adoration on her sweet face. "I hate him, but I love you Serah. I know you love this ass, so I couldn't have Genesis burn him to the ground."
"Sis…" Serah gasped, flinging herself into her sister's arms. Lightning smiled softly and petted her sister's hair soothingly. The sisters remained in a sweet embrace for a few more peaceful moments before Snow's discreet cough caught their attention.
"Um, Light? Are you sure this wasn't just a ploy to murder us all? Because the commander looks really damn happy…" Lightning pulled away from her sister and frowned at Snow before turning around. She gasped at the sight of an eerily happy Genesis striding towards them, his red duster bellowing around his leather clad legs.
"Good evening Claire. I assume you brought the culprits along with you," Genesis shot a pointed look at both Snow and Serah, eliciting scared gasps from the two. Genesis remained smiling as he turned back to a dead pan Lightning Farron.
"Culprit. Meet Snow Villiers, my sister's burden."
Snow frowned, offended. Serah sighed and shook her head, offering Genesis a small smile.
"She means husband. He's my husband. Please don't hurt him- he meant no harm."
Lightning sighed and shrugged her shoulders.
"Yeah, whatever you want Serah. Anyways, you ready to see a real summon Commander?" Lightning turned her cerulean gaze towards Genesis, a smirk playing on her pink lips. Genesis smirked back, folding his arms across his chest and nodding curtly.
"That is what I am here for. And I assure you Serah, I am in too good a mood to hurt your dear Snow at this very moment." Genesis let out a small laugh, running his hand through his auburn locks with a dreamy sigh. Lightning raised her eyebrows at Genesis before glancing at a relieved Snow.
"Damn, that's not fun. Anyways, you're going to have to clear the area- real summons make a bit of a mess when they arrive."
Genesis frowned at Lightning and leaped backwards, back flipping and landing flawlessly upon a nearby rock face. Snow stared at the SOLDIER First Class, a look of awe on his features.
"Holy shit, that's awesome!" Serah's eyes sparkled in admiration as she nodded along with her husband's enthusiastic exclamations. Genesis, despite being so far away, smirked at the praise and bowed dramatically at the two Villiers.
"Glad you enjoyed the performance." Lightning rolled her eyes at Genesis' dramatic actions before she shot a glare at Snow and Serah.
"You guys wanna get fried?" Snow opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a shove from Lightning. "That was rhetorical- now take Serah somewhere safe. I'm going to start soon." Snow nodded, his eyebrows knitting into a stern look, a look that only graced the goof ball's face whenever Serah's safety was at risk.
"Sure this sis." Snow grabbed Serah's hand in a gentle grasp and tugged her away, eliciting a small smile from Lightning. Despite Snow's almost perpetual idiocy, it was nice to know that Serah had someone to look after her and keep her safe unconditionally when she herself wasn't around to do so. Lightning's eyelids fluttered closed as she sought out the spiritual power within her being to summon Odin, her guardian. On Gaia, it was believed that summons could only appear before mortals through the use of materia. However, there were a few select individuals who were able to use their own spiritual power to summon beings from outside the mortal realm to protect and fight alongside their human counterparts.
Lightning and Snow were amongst those special people who were able to summon beings without the use of materia.
Opening her eyes, Lightning let herself smirk as she reached an open palm out to the rapidly darkening sky, storm clouds brewing wildly in the heavens directly above her. She could hear Serah's surprised exclamations from the distance, but didn't pay them much heed as she concentrated almost solely on the power of Odin.
"Odin, come forth." Like her name, lightning struck around her lithe frame as she held her open hand up to the heavens. A loud roar rang through the static atmosphere, and Lightning the soldier almost didn't register the crimson clad presence that was now standing a mere five feet away from her, his jaw slack at the sight of the hurtling Odin plummeting down from the sky. A plethora of yellows, golds, whites and blacks, the heavenly summon landed with shocking force before Lightning and Genesis, its eyes seemingly unseeing as it regarded them with what could only be godly superiority.
"It's always so amazing to see the summons so up close!" Lightning hear Serah gush from somewhere behind a boulder. Snow grunted, awestruck himself. Turning towards the two, Lightning nodded at Snow.
"Your turn." Snow nodded and shot a smug look at the awestruck Crimson Commander.
"Bet you're not missing that Alexander materia now, huh?" Genesis shot Snow a glare and gestured towards Odin, who was now standing idly before Lightning, ready for battle.
"I'll decide your ultimate fate after I see what you have to offer as repentance."
Lightning sighed and tilted her head up at her guardian.
"I'm sorry to have brought you here for this… Serah's husband screwed up and the commander was inconsolable." Odin regarded Lightning for a few moments before nodding his head, in what could only be reluctant understanding.
"It is alright, mortal." Odin's voice echoed throughout Lightning's mind. Lightning sighed and turned her sights towards Snow, who was in the middle of calling his own guardian summon forth.
Lightning afforded herself a short glance at Genesis and smirked at the awe on the Crimson Commander's face. It was like the man had just been offered all the materia in the world, and more! Lightning found herself smiling at the man's look of child-like awe.
When he was like this, enthralled as he currently was, he wasn't so bad.
He wasn't the bipolar commander everyone in the army knew him to be.
He was… human.
Reno groaned loudly as he crashed onto the couch of his and Maya's shared apartment. Tseng had been working him ragged for weeks since his induction as an official Turk and all the extra work was taking a toll of the unnatural red-head's sanity. Reno was tired out of his mind, and no matter how much sleep he managed to get, he was never fully rejuvenated from the efforts of the previous day. Cerulean eyes glanced at the analogue clock overhanging the living room's light switch. It was close to two in the morning.
He felt so tired… but there was one more thing to do. One more order to carry out.
The red head groaned loudly again and buried his nose into the throw cushions on the couch. He almost didn't hear the soft foot falls of his elder sister approach him from the hallway.
"Reno? Are you okay?" Maya's voice called out, soft and airy. Reno sighed and tilted his head so that one eye could peek up at the form of his sister clad in her chocobo pyjamas.
"Do I look okay to you?" Reno hadn't meant for his words to come out as sharp as they had, but by the look of hurt on Maya's face, he could only surmise that his tone had hurt her already fragile feelings. Reno sighed and slowly lifted himself off the couch so that he was now seated upright. He glanced over at his still standing sister and beckoned her over with a finger. Maya let out her own unsteady breath and carefully seated herself next to the clearly frustrated young man. "Sorry sis… work's just been a pain lately." Reno admitted.
Maya sighed and tentatively reached out to pet Reno's messy hair, a sad smile on her face.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Reno nodded and stayed quiet for a few moments, revelling in his sister's soft, comforting touch. After a few moments of blissful peace, Reno opened his eyes up and turned his body so that he was now facing Maya. His eyes was glazed over, completely serious.
"Shit's going down. Shinra's internal political battles are creating one hell of a shit storm- especially regarding the funding for SOLDIER and the science department. Weapons development are pissy about the fact that the higher ups have delegated more funds to Hojo and his team of looneys solely based on the fact that they are the leaders in SOLDIER development. There's been talk…" Reno sighed and shook his head, his gaze troubled as he stared into his sister's warm eyes. "Apparently SOLDIER belong to the weapons department. You know, because they're manufactured."
Maya closed her eyes, the implications of Reno's words hitting her hard. She momentarily recalled the softness of Genesis' lips on her own a few hours before the present moment. Opening her eyes, she gazed at Reno, her eyes stubbornly unblinking.
"I know what you're trying to say Reno, but I assure you that SOLDIERs are just as human as all of us." Reno frowned at Maya's determined tone and shook his head quickly.
"Maya, you're too attached. That's why you're thinking of the best case scenario. Genesis… Sephiroth, Angeal and Zack… all of them! They're all unnatural. They're not like us. Have you seen the crazy shit they do out on the battle field? It's hard to call them human when you see them in action…" Maya frowned, her eyes set into a soft glare.
"I appreciate your concern Reno, but these are my friends you are talking about. The ones who protect me, fight for me, do ridiculous things to make me happy… I assume you're about to ask me to stay away from them all, am I right?" Maya said, her voice absolutely steady for the first time in her life. Reno glared back at Maya and groaned in frustration.
"I was gonna ask you nicely, you're right. I was gonna ask you not to be a complete moron about this whole situation and make my life just a little easier with what I was gonna request you to do. But you fucking insist on making everything so god damn hard, don't ya?" Reno ground out, his tone dangerously low. Maya shot up from her seat and glared down at her tired, frustrated brother with a look of defiance in her eyes.
"Don't you dare use that tone with me, young man!" Maya raised her voice. Reno rolled his eyes and abruptly stood up, startling Maya momentarily. He loomed above his older sister, a sinister look in his eyes as he locked his hand onto Maya's shoulder in a painful vice grip.
"You're not my mother Maya. You can't make me do shit. Now get your shit, I've got orders to make good on," Reno growled before shoving Maya in the direction of her room. Maya stumbled into the wall, knocking over a few knick knacks on the small shelf aligning the wall beside the hallway. Tearing up slightly, Maya refused to let the moisture drop down her cheeks as she stood up yet again and glared defiantly up at Reno.
"You can't take me without my consent Reno."
Reno smirked.
"I'm a Turk. I don't need your consent. I just need to make you go away." Suddenly, Maya found herself trapped against the wall and her brother's broad chest. His chest heaved up and down as his hand bore down on her throat, gently pressing her pressure points. Maya gasped in pain, tears now freely pouring down her cheeks.
"R-Reno…" Maya gasped out, her voice raspy and weak. Reno frowned, unknowingly letting his own tears torturously fall down his tattooed cheeks.
"Sorry Maya… I've got to keep you safe. You're all I have left…"
A few moments passed. The pressure on Maya's throat intensified. Then the apartment faded to black.
All Maya could think of as she drifted into unconsciousness was the feeling of Genesis' soft lips on her own.
Notes: Ugh, that angst. That bitter, beautiful angst! :D