Heart of the Warrior

Chapter 18 - Trials of the l'Cie

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Inserting her hand into the mirror-like portal, Lightning could feel the odd and intense sensation that she was dunking her hand in a bucket of ice water. It stole the breath from her lungs and it appeared to be pulling her forward, making her skin feel tight and pinched. Her feet left the ground and, for whatever reason, held her breath as her nose touched the substance. The cold felt ten-times worse on her head but, thankfully, it was a short sensation as it crept down past her knees and then disappeared on her boots.

Slithering out from the cold and onto something sturdy and, big surprise, cold, Lightning took a quick moment to regain her breath before scrambling out of the way of the other five who came sliding out behind her.

Lightning looked around to get her bearings, but rubbed her eyes with her knuckles in both shock and to adjust to the intensity of the room. It was whiter than snow but narrow slits in the walls revealed windows that connected floor to ceiling and filled the room with sunlight. However, in the center of the room was a large statue of a stern-faced woman in flowing robes, her hands on her hips; an odd symbol was carved beneath her, a sphere on a pillar with two wings wrapping around the stem (similar to the statue above it). Lightning's eyebrows furrowed, immediately recognizing them both: she was the matron Fal'Cie and center of the Cocoon religious circles, the goddess Lindzei and her symbol...one that was used to corrupt humans by cowardly Fal'Cie.

The pink-haired l'Cie gave the statue a look of grave disgust before pushing onward; dashing off down the corridor, Lightning found something very curious. Apart from six, fluffy white sofa's lining the walls there was no way out of this room. There was no divergence, no opening, no split in the hallway...the room just, ended.

"Hoo boy," sighed Sazh plopping down on one of the sofas "I'm beat!"

Before Fang could reprimand him for his tiredness, Lightning expelled a sudden, great gasp of eureka: for a moment she thought she hadn't heard it, but there was no mistaking the undeniable 'click' that emanated from the wall the moment Sazh sat down.

"Everyone, sit down!" she barked quickly; ignoring the looks of surprise and incredulity behind her, Lightning drew her weapon from his holster and, laying him across her lap, sat down on one of the snowy couches with her legs crossed. Lightning stared into Fang's mutinous face, noting every unpleasant wrinkle on her forehead; however, Snow collapsed gratefully onto the couch across from Lightning, releasing a loud groan of relaxation.

Hope and Vanille each took a seat on either side of Snow; Lightning's gaze returned to the bronze-skinned woman, who had thrown her arms into the air and threw herself onto the final couch on the pink-haired l'Cie's right.

Are you sure? came a voice in Lightning's ear; it was so gentle but so sharp that she nearly thought it hadn't existed, but Vanille's soft scream informed her that she was not the only one who could hear it.

Beyond this point lies the end of your journey. There will be no respite to protect you, no more Fal'Cie to guide you, there is only your skills and your nerves in the face of death...are you sure, this is the path you are willing to accept?

The voice had vanished as quickly as it had come; however the impact of its words left a profound silence amongst the l'Cie. Lightning stroked Blazefire absentmindedly. This was the end of their journey, no doubt about it: god how she'd changed! A hot-headed and arrogant soldier, fugitive l'Cie and now in full circle the lead, full-powered l'Cie. Her family was being rebuilt, adding her (soon-to-be) brother-in-law and lover (though her stomach twisted into horrible knots when she realized that he and her sister were still missing). However, despite her reflection on her transformation, it still never occurred to her before now that it was almost over...