ROUND 1-2 ;; BATTLE LOG

[lufenia]

Who: Everyone. Every single character in dissideo. Yes, including you.
When: Midnight, between Friday and Saturday. (The battle itself will last most of Saturday, in IC-time).
Where: A run-down warehouse complex. (Details below.)
What: Once again, the forces of Cosmos and Chaos meet on the battlefield, with a few warriors lost and many gained. AKA: Round

Comments

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[brightsiding]

It had taken everything Vanille had not to scream when she felt the unexpected warp; instead, it stole her breath away, and when she landed she collapsed down to her knees, unable to really catch her footing. She did manage to catch herself with her hands so that she didn't hit the ground too hard, but it did hurt a little, and she gave a whine of discontentment as she pushed herself to her feet, glad she hadn't scraped her knees too badly, and glanced around.

This had to be some kind of battle, didn't it? They'd mentioned one coming up, but she hadn't been around for the last one, so... She hadn't expected that. Was this what the playing field looked like? Hopefully someone would be able to explain it to her- right now she was more than just a little confused, and she felt more than just a little lost, as well.

"Aaah-" Instinctively, her hand reached behind her back, fingers wrapping around the base of her Binding Rod. If something jumped out at her, she'd at least be ready. She didn't like the fact that she was alone, especially after Lightning had said they were all going to stick together, but, if she had to defend herself... She could.

"Hello..? Heeey? Light? Sazh..? Hope? ... Serah?"

Swallowing down her fear, leaving her weapon hooked on her back, but keeping her hand on it, all the same, she set off down a hall, calling out for her fellow l'Cie every few steps.

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[exsergeant]

[ooc: Sazh-mun's offline for now, so we can have him jump in after a round or two when he finds them, y/y?]

This wasn't going as planned. Lightning had heard Serah calling from down one the many hallways, and had opened her mouth to call her name again, but somehow Hope beat her to it. She saw his silver hair disappear down a hall (when all else fails, to locate Hope, look for the hair. It's a little bit uncommon), and for a second, that decided it--she was pushing through the crowd of people, all of which were trying to organize themselves as well, to follow the other l'Cie down the hallway in question.

But then another voice stopped her in her tracks, calling for each of them in turn from a different hallway.

Lightning paused in the mouth of Serah and Hope's hall, but Serah seemed pretty stationary for the moment, and Hope was beelining for Serah... So they were safe, at least while she could fetch Vanille.

More pushing, and she found the mouth of the hall where she'd heard Vanille's voice echoing from. It seemed to be getting farther away, but that only made her pick up her pace. Once she was a few steps down Vanille's hallway, she called, "Vanille!" Her voice was sharp, but sharp voices, she'd learned, got people's attention much more effectively.

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[privateheaven]

[ooc: It's fine by me!]

They were all calling for each other.

Serah almost smiled at the irony, shaking her head in something like amusement as she heard first Hope then Vanille and then Lightning again, each calling for a different person from their world. Another member, she supposed it could be said- of their group She stayed where she was until Hope reached her, offering him a small smile and then turning her head in the direction she could hear both Lightning and Vanille for a moment before turning to look back at Hope.

"Do you think we should go meet up with them, or stay put until Lightning finds us...?" She questioned, thinking it might be a better idea to get Hope's opinion before she ran off- after all, she remembered what had happened the last time she'd run off without thinking of the consequences...

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[hopeandapromise]

Her faint smile was greeted with a weak one from him, both wary and unsure as to where they were. He heard Vanille call out, and then Light call out for her- but he was with Serah, so as long as Light was searching for Vanille, they'd run into each other eventually.

At Serah's question, he paused for a moment, before answering. "I think the sooner we can find her, the better. It can get pretty rough out here, and I know she doesn't want you to get hurt." Or any of us, he added silently, knowing full well they'd be in a fight sooner or later. This was run by Cosmos and Chaos- so there was bound to be conflict one way or another.

"Just stay by me, and we'll find her." With that, he began moving forward, following the calls of Vanille and Light, and making sure Serah was still with him the whole time.

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[brightsiding]

Vanille stopped, turning her head to look back at where she'd just came from, and then turned slowly. She'd heard a voice down the hall- and not only that, but she could have sworn it was calling for her. Not only that but it was actually a rather familiar voice. Sharp, and almost a little too harsh. It could really only be one person.

Still cautious, she started in a run back the way she'd come, turning a corner almost a little too quickly when she spotted the older woman at the end of the hallway she'd just come from.

"Light!" Vanille felt a sense of relief wash over her, happy to have found someone else around here, and especially happy it was someone who knew her. She took off down the hallway, only slowing to a stop a few feet in front of Lightning. "Are you the only one here? Where's everyone else..?"

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[exsergeant]

Without a moment's hesitation, she replied, "They're on their way. Hope's bringing Serah." Which showed just how much faith she'd learned to put in the kid. Not just faith that he'd keep her sister safe, because that part had its limits, but faith that he had a good enough head on his shoulders that she knew he'd lead Serah to she and Vanille soon enough.

She wasn't about to stand around and wait for that to happen, though. "This way. They're in the next hall over." And she took up a brisk pace back out into the room with the crystal. All in all, she'd learned to trust Vanille more than she'd figured she would, too. This is shown in the fact that she only once glanced over her shoulder to make sure Vanille wasn't too distracted by the shiny crystal to keep up.

"Hope, Serah!" She called one more time, this time not even a shout, because she was fairly certain they were right around the corner.

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[privateheaven]

"We're here...!"

Serah heard Lightning before she saw her, but she raised a hand nonetheless to catch her sister's eye. She sped up her pace as she moved toward her, stopping just short of her and reaching up to tug on her ponytail as she looked between Lightning, Hope and Vanille.

"So... this is a battle then?" She ventured hesitantly, looking around them curiously- to be honest, this wasn't exactly the kind of battleground she'd pictured. "Doe it- will it start right away or will we have time to prepare at all?"

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[hopeandapromise]

"Yeah, though I don't know if it'll be the same as last time." This was mainly thrown in as a 'yes, it does start now, but we can still work together and prepare/be a team' kind of saying. If need be he was sure Light could explain it better.

He looked around, making sure no one was ganging up on them like before, and when it looked clear, he sighed. "This is different from the first battle- it was out in the open, on Gran Pulse." He paused after that, shaking his head a little, as this place was entirely different, and he had no clue as to why.

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[brightsiding]

Vanille was never more than a step or two behind Lightning, and even though she was looking around and taking in their surroundings (and yes just a little distracted by the pretty crystal), she was keeping as close as possible, partially out of knowing they needed to stick together, and partially out of fear- this was a battle, after all, and she was nervous about what was going to happen.

Especially one thing in particular, even though Lightning had already promised her that wasn't going to happen.

Even through her distraction, she heard the two voices coming closer very clearly- it was definitely Hope. And Serah, too. Vanille picked up her pace, meeting Lightning's speed, though her steps were a little more hurried. "Hope! Serah!"

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[exsergeant]

That's right, Vanille. She promised, and she fully intended to uphold it. She'd promised Hope the same thing... In a sense, it was very much like she'd promised herself, that she wouldn't let Fang try to prove a point by fighting any of the others but Lightning. She wouldn't let Fang force Hope or Vanille to fight her or any other of their own. That just... was something she wasn't okay with.

When Serah and Hope came into view, Lightning let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. She trusted Hope with Serah, but the tension of battle was thick in the air, and there was only so long she was willing to have her sister out of her sight. And when the four converged, she put a hand on Serah's shoulder without thought, half a probably-failed attempt at being comforting, half just plain protective.

She let Hope answer Serah's question, since he seemed ready with at least somewhat of an answer. She nodded to confirm it, then added, "It won't be the same at all. There are too many differences already--we can't bank on anything last time taught us."

Then, in a slightly louder voice to address all three of them. "All we know is, Chaos can be anywhere. Never let your guard down. We're going to find Sazh before any of us leave the area." Now, to Serah. "Serah, you're going to stay here. Find out who else is staying here, then figure out who's the strongest and the most trustworthy and stick by them." Then, in a slightly softer voice, she added, "...I can't let you get hurt."

But she's not done yet. Back to authoritative: "Hope, Vanille, once we find Sazh you're going to stick with me. The battle dragged longer than I'd have liked, last time-" Not to mention she got flayed by her Mannequin, but... Yeah, she wasn't about to bring that up. "-and I can't help but wonder if we could cut it short."

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[focusflight]

It hadn't occurred to Sazh that the battle would start so.... abruptly. But as soon as the world changed and he found himself in the warehouse, he could only assume that this was the metaphorical ring of the starting bell. He carefully pulled his guns from his holsters, and set himself to finding his companions.

It wasn't hard. Fortunately they had all managed to gather quickly enough, and the sounds of their voices bounced off the open walls enough that Sazh could easily pick them up. Hey, who was he to complain? Approaching the open room with the crystal, he held up a hand as he got closer to Lightning and the rest.

"Hey, hey, don't get started without me over there."

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[privateheaven]

"Lightning-!" Serah had been about to protest, to demand that she be allowed to come along, only to be interrupted by Sazh's arrival. She paused, wondering if she should really argue but... She wanted to be there for Lightning. "Lightning, I want to come with you..! I can help-- I've gotten really good at healing, haven't I? I think I could be useful...!"

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[hopeandapromise]

There was a whole conundrum of speaking at once. First it was Vanille, then it was Light, then him, then Sazh, and then Serah. All of them one after the other, like a stack of dominoes falling into place.

Hope wasn't sure whether or not to let Serah come along. Not that it was his choice, and Light would probably refuse, but she could be useful overall, as well as aid the group should they get into a really tough spot.

He turned his head, looking towards Light for the final say. A part of him understood how Serah felt, though- being left behind in order to get somewhere else. They weren't leaving her behind, though, but he was sure it felt like it all the same.

"We could use her help, Light. Just in case."

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[brightsiding]

Meanwhile, Vanille had taken a step back- and while she wasn't wandering off, she was straying just a bit, walking over to look at the crystal in the middle of the room for a moment. This was what Chaos was after, wasn't it? So that meant people would be coming here... If Serah stayed behind, wouldn't it be more dangerous? Even if everyone else was out there, they might not be able to stop everyone from getting through...

Lightning probably had more than enough reason to want Serah to stay behind, thinking that maybe she'd be protected, but unless they knew who was staying behind, it might not be the best idea. Vanille wasn't going to pretend to know what Lightning had planned, but, if Serah felt like she wanted to go, then-

Then she should. Shouldn't she?

She turned back around after a second, stepping up alongside Sazh.

"Can you fight, Serah?" She probably sounded a little more curious for curiosity's sake than anything, but... It was a valid question at least!

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[exsergeant]

She nodded to Sazh as he arrived, grateful to have another adult around, stepping back to allow him room in the group between she and Vanille. It might just be his voice of reason that would help her keep Serah back where she'd be safe.

And she listened to Serah's protests with as straight a face as she could, even though over a month after Serah had arrived, she still felt guilty for nearly losing her sister back in Cocoon to begin with, so it was all she could do not to allow Serah's every request. But after listening to Hope throw his lot in with Serah and Vanille ask a semi-related question (yeah, Light was impressed), Lightning shook her head with finality.

"I'm sorry, Serah. I just... Can't let myself lead you into danger. Not yet. You're good at healing, but we haven't had time to teach you more than just basic self-defense or minor spells. You're not ready." Her voice was slightly hushed, since she was mostly just addressing her sister, and parts of it were a little bit personal. Then, with more authority: "There's a man who's going to protect you, if somehow Chaos makes it to this room. I don't think they will, but there's always a chance. His name's Alucard." She shifted to face outside of the circle, glancing around until her eyes came to rest on the man in question. She raised a hand to point briefly. "There, with the blonde hair. You'll be safe... Just stick with him, and whoever else hangs back." She paused, then added, more softly again, "It won't be like this every time. I promise."

Then she had to address the rest of the group. "If none of you have any good reasons to stick around, we're on our way out."

FOR L'CIE -- Lights On (very beginning) -- Cosmos Level (crystal room)

[focusflight]

Sazh knew he had stepped in on a conversation half way through, so he simply kept his mouth shut and crossed his arms, taking the open space Lightning had made for him between her and Vanille.

He could certainly understand where Lightning was coming from on making her little sister stay behind, but without having heard the whole thing, he wasn't about to say whether he agreed or not unless somebody asked him outright.

Giving his shoulders a roll, he nodded at Lightning's final statement. "Ready when you are." As the oldest one here, he was ready to watch everyone's backs.