Heart of the Warrior

Chapter 17 - Orphan's Cradle

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The elevator was slowing; the descent into Eden's dominion had taken, in Lightning's opinion, an eternity and even worse with a compact box full of people. It continued its gradual fall until it came to a gentle halt; the doors sliding open soundlessly.

Lightning stepped out first, her boots slipping and sliding across the smooth, alabaster floors; they'd arrived in some kind of cathedral. A long, tall staircase connected the lower level to a higher dais. Drawn towards the hypnotic beauty of the ambient light shining through the multi-colored stained glass, Lightning led the way up the stairs. The upper floor was revealed to be a sanctuary, and a primeval one at that. A single stone archway stood high above the ring of pillars before it; however, ensconced in the circle, was an ornately carved altar, the phrase Knowledge speaks, Wisdom listens etched into it. However, the pink-haired warrior's stomach lurched as she noticed something dried and eerie stained atop the altar's face.

"Where's the Calvary?" asked Vanille, craning her neck around the sanctuary; Lightning's gaze sharpened at the girls observation that the six of them were completely alone. Her eyes whipped from one side to the other...up and down... then behind; her training kicked back into effect full throttle; this was something she was used to in practice, though it was not very pleasant. It felt like an ambush.

"If they made it this far we'll see them soon enough" said Fang sardonically.

"Whoa" cried Hope; Lightning wheeled as she felt the boy jump. A single, ambling Cie'th limped out from a shady corner; it's snowy, glass-like body shimmering in the near darkness. Vanille gasped loudly, drawing Light's gaze; two more of the crystalline monsters were shuffling slowly from behind the arch way.

"No..." gasped Snow "Not them too! They're all Cie'th!"

The six l'Cie turned back-to-back as the room suddenly began to overflow with the monstrous zombies; Lightning stared in horror behind furrowed eyebrows. How could so many of them hide in such an empty and did all of them spontaneously transform like before?

There was a flash of blinding light and the 'tinkle' of shattering glass and then everything became still again. Pulling down her shields and wrenching open her eyes, Lightning found the army of Cie'th to have vanished and also that she was no longer standing in the ambient cathedral. Where she was she could not explain, but she couldn't tear her eyes from what she saw. This new 'room was red as blood, from unlimited sky to non-existent earth. The ground underneath her boots remained an immobile absurdity as its new neighbors would fly past at break-neck speeds and vanish into a purplish-black portal, to then reappear on the other side of the room, only to begin its never ending fall all over again. Lightning gulped, the realization crashing over her:

They had arrived...this, was Orphan's Cradle.

"This is it" said Lightning slowly, summing up as much courage as she could; the group turned to face her, Fang and Snow looking solemn but Sazh and kids all looked fearful. "A lot of dreams died to get us here, and we can't let it be for nothing. It's not just our future we're fighting for, so we'll do it for everyone, the Fal'Cie rule ends here!"

Fang stared at Lightning appraisingly before her face softened an she genuinely smiled; Vanille and Hope exchanged morale lifting grins. Snow turned his back to her, put a hand to his mouth and shouted, his voice echoing across the emptiness:

"DYSLEY! WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!!"

Lightning felt the chills creep down her spine as his voice broke the stillness but she turned as that more questions plagued her mind. What's the next move Farron, where do we go from here? And the peskiest of all: Where was Cloud? If he had gotten to here first and was, in fact, here, then where was he? Staring around the vast emptiness, Lightning found no sign of the spikey-haired man; clutching the jagged, silver necklace, Lightning made a soundless prayer for his safety.