The Hidden L'Cie

As soon as she saw the bipedal beast looming over the wreckage of the cyclone shovel, Lightning thought—bad news. When the beast's ugly, gnarly head swivelled around then glared at their direction, she knew she was right... 

... … 

"But it'll follow us!" yelled the blonde as Light kept her eyes on the stalking behemoth. The intelligent thing—a rare feat of Pulsian adaptation, came slowly and menacingly. Towards its injured prey. 

"I'll distract it. Trust me!" she yelled back. 

The blonde young man, with worried blue eyes, gave her a look of recognition; he must have known her. "There's no time," she quickly added. And straight away, he pulled the unconscious man who had been hit by the beast's magical sunder away. The other had run away with a shriek. Good... ... 

… … 

Her heart thumped ferociously in her chest, and her mind screamed desperately for any better answers. In hindsight, it was one perhaps that saved the lives of the vulnerable people aboard the train, that had an under–manned and prepared militia. Provoking it and fleeing towards the forest. But she could never outrun it. 

Hidden inside the jungle canopy, it soon made its presence known. It looked for her. It came so close she could smell its breath—of death, rotten and intimidatingly putrid—and inevitably, it snuffed her out. She thought that, finally, that was it, but when it roared, she by pure instincts threw up her gunblade... 

SHINK! 

Lightning opened her eyes, then looked up. Her sword still stood, covered by an ethereal, yellow glow—familiar—and the gigantic beast, with all of its greater power, had not broken her blade. Nor defeated her pose, by the strike of its massive wand. 

Her powers. They were back. Their return had saved her—in a pinch like ever an occasion in the past. 

Thinking fast and keying into her acute, l'Cie muscle memory, Lightning charged electricity with her hands. It travelled along the blade, causing the bewildered beast to growl. Then she focussed the electricity on a single point of one palm, then it clung to the other. She then forced the loud thundaga onto the beast's head— 

"Uuughh…" 

Claire 'Lightning' Farron ended her little sleep by pushing herself out the crevasse of her mattress. She sighed, with her elbows laid over her knees and her shoulders hunched forward. She sought warmth from the blankets at her centre, but realised, then, that it wouldn't ever be enough. Instead of fixing the cold, she scratched the scalp around her ears then planted her hands on her face, feeling the depressions of her eyelids. 

The events from before replayed in her mind, over and over again. It had kept her sleep to the barest of minimums; but there were probably other factors involved. Such as this headache her mind had concocted, or the small caffeine she'd drank at the housewarming party. Or perhaps the pervasive cold, which her two flimsy blankets failed to keep out—a strong contender. 

Lightning kicked her legs out beside the bed, still trying to keep warmth, and reached over to grab her clothing that had fallen off. She wrapped her pants around her neck, then scrunched her doona around everything else. She definitely needed another. 

She listened to the heavy rain outside. It helped her as she tried to escape her mind's directionless and endless premonitions. The storm had not let off at all, and she worried if everything was alright—whether the integrity of the house had withstood it, that already had an issue with the gas, or whether there was flooding. She stepped up with her blankets to open the blind, to try look past her new balcony, but with only darkness and scurrying sleet, it was a wasted effort. 

"Probably fine." 

With that, she sat back down on her bed. 

What should she do? 

One thing she knew was pointless was deciphering whatever mess this was happening inside her brain—she needed some kind of distraction... What had happened today that was good? 

By any account, she had an amazing day. She spent the afternoon and evening talking with her family and friends, who she loved. Although, by the end of it she felt completely drained, partly due to prior events. Her sister had made for them all a traditional curry, an old staple of their household. The food was great—fragrant, rich and delicious, and she loved it. Lightning was lucky to have her sister Serah, and she loved her dearly. Her enthusiasm and excitement about her move to the Rest had rubbed off on her: those induced feelings must have festered over time, influencing her. 

Perhaps such was the other reason why; a good one. 

Lightning listened to the rain again. It was familiar and comfortable; it reminded her of her home at the end of the line. 

It: the shabby hut, built solely for basic survival in the wilderness, and that possessed only the barest comforts—the highlight being heating. But it was her home. It had flat, fortified tin roofs, and whenever it rained, it sounded like bullets. When it poured, and even at times turned to hail, it was uncomfortable. 

Stormy weather was already a barrier for doing most things at the compound, apart from hanging out at the bar, staying home, or volunteering to patrol the borders. Oftentimes she would pick the latter, with nothing better to do and because a woman like her could only take so much from flirty barflies. And she liked patrolling the settlement, particularly because the rain also brought about a certain hostile creature, of which she was well acquainted with. 

Spiceacilians. A frog species that lived in most places around Gran Pulse, a nod to their prolific breeding nature and genealogical dominance, but that particularly lived in number around Gabo's borders. They were a species that occasionally—and quite easily, no matter the protective barriers in place—would break into the streets during a downpour, causing all kinds of mischief… Of course, fatalities have occurred. They were considered dangerous animals; whenever it rained, with it came an ever-present risk of danger. And with that, a palpable nervousness, she felt, would settle into the air of the compound. 

It was certainly not like how it was here, she reckoned. The rain was now merely a comforting presence. And she liked it; found it soothing. 

Lightning inspected her new bedroom's table setting, bought by Serah. It sat beside the balcony and drapes, and on the table sat a plate with her half-eaten jelly cake; it caused her to smile. She searched for the spoon, and finding it, dug in, taking an extra bite. She took in its contrasting textures but overall complimentary and tasty sweetness. Her sister was really getting good at her cooking, or was it Snow who made this? Doubt it. 

Lightning started to feel better. She realised that today she was, indeed, one step closer to her heart's desire. Such was— 

CRGHSHHHHhhhh.... 

"What was that!" Lightning murmured, seconds after. The abrasive smash and din, audible enough that it came clear over the downpour, sounded like glass falling off and shattering into a thousand pieces. It came from downstairs. 

Was it an invader? Did a light fall off the house's ceiling—Who constructed this place? Regardless of what, Lightning chose fight mode. 

She silently left her bedside chair and knelt towards her luggage, soon procuring her survival knife. It was interesting to note that her heart was strangely calm. Oh, if it was a person, or wild animal, they certainly had picked the wrong place to break into! 

Lightning moved stealthily towards the staircase, fighting the shiver of cold with rising adrenaline and gooseflesh. 

She came cautiously, making barely any noise with socked feet. The storm helped. She descended towards the source, in the darkness, to gain the advantage. 

Halfway down at the turn, she started to pick out bright voices. Of children. She became incredulous. 

As the surprise washed off of her, her eyes softened, she relaxed her shoulders and puffed out a sigh. Without chinking it, she folded the knife in her hands. She silently made her way to the light switch at the end of the steps, just to surprise them. 

FLICK! 

There was a hushed silence, and an amusing, shocked look on Alexandria's face. 

"You two. What are you doing here?" 

"It's not my idea," started Eve. 

"I know it isn't," affirmed Lightning. 

"Auntie Light!" spoke Alexandria, her eyes two peas on saucers. "I'm sorry! We were just... uh..." 

"Uh, what? It's so late." 

"We just wanted to..." Alex started acting shyly, which was certainly not like her at all. Her eyes were also glued to the floor beside her feet. 

Lightning's own followed there, and she saw what-was-once a large, glass salad bowl, that presumably fell from the counter. What were they looking for? There, in its place, was Snow's radio. 

"I'm sorry!" she said, then tears started to form under her eyes. One quickly fell down her cheek. 

Oh gosh. "It's alright. Please don't cry," offered Lightning, kneeling down beside her, not wanting such a loud noise in the middle of the night. 

"Okay," said Alex, who then seemed to begin fighting the tears. Lightning decided to pat and rustle the girl's blonde hair. 

"It's okay, I forgive you. Now, can you please tell me why you're both here?" 

Alexandria sniffed grottily as a reply. "We want… we want… we wanted to see you, and, and listen to the radio. And—" Oh, now she knew what they wanted. Lightning couldn't help but crack a smile, at the adorableness of it all. 

"Did you guys want to hang out with Auntie Claire?" 

"It was her idea," pointed out Eve. She stood somewhat away from them, partially behind the nearest jutted wall. 

"What about your mom, is she okay with this?" 

"They don't know." 

Lightning sighed, a hand to her face. Well, her sister and Snow would be worried like hell once they've realised their little diamonds weren't in their bedroom. She had to remember to send a mail to Serah, or else she'd suffer her well-placed wrath. 

"Alright. Do you girls want to have a sleepover?" 

"Yaay!" delighted Alexandria. "I even brought dad's radio! There, it's on the table!" 

"Oh, you mean where my salad bowl once was?" 

The eldest then made another frown, not really finding the humour in it. "Don't worry about it; I'll deal with it tomorrow," Lightning added, with a half smile. 

"Okay Auntie Light. I'll help you!" declared Alexandria. The woman could only chuckle. 

"Eve, are you gonna join us?" 

"Okay," she replied, but clearly still with some reservations. 

"I'll let your parents know that you're here, don't worry. In fact, I need your girls' help. It's freezing, and I require two bodies stationed on either side of me. In order to keep the headquarters warm. Do you girls accept the mission?" 

"Yes!" exclaimed Alex. 

"Okay," the girl relented, a smile tugging one side of her face. 

"Good," she grabbed the radio off the table. And just like that, her sleepless night was no longer such, but rather some event she'd only to look forward to.