[Closed/Incomplete]

[fatemarked]

Characters: Fang (sharpstone), Hope (hopeslittle), Lightning, (aveclumiere), Serah (fatemarked), Snow (feymarked), and Vanille (ofmanyfocuses).
Setting/Location: The Beast's Castle; The halls somewhere.
Date & Time: Day 6, not long after the prisoners were released from their cells.
Warnings: Hero abuse?
Summary: The FFXIII cast comes together for a long overdue reunion. Also, feel free to use action or prose

Comments

[ sometime after hope, snow, serah and fang navigate a bit ]

[aveclumiere]

[ lightning strides into the castle, all hustle and bustle and seemingly endless energy at the mere thought of actually seeing serah again, live and whole and in one piece. the added factor of finding hope, fang, and snow are also reasons why she's so determined to find them but she can't help but pause at the sheer size of the castle when she navigates through the first hallway.

just how big is this place? it didn't seem that huge from the outside, but then again, the decor and color scheme of the castle might be throwing her off a bit. still, nothing can keep her down for long--and for the time being, she's a woman on a mission.

a good few minutes crawl by as she scours the rest of the castle, boots digging into the plush carpet beneath her as her entire thought process is put on hold. she doesn't want to think too hard on it, on the prospect of seeing her team members again, on the inkling of the fact that this experience was very much real and that she wasn't alone, but opening that can of worms seems like a bit too much to bear for the moment.

her gunblade holster bounces behind her back leg as she turns the corner and she stops for a moment, pausing at the sound of shuffling footsteps. it sounds...like a group, at least from what she can infer of the multiple footsteps--and her heart skips a beat as she considers the chances of it being the one group she's looking for.

she picks up her pace, just barely keeping herself from breaking out into a full out run. ]

[/sounds good. i'll just consider these two separate threads then. or something?]

[fatemarked]

[ Serah hangs back a little this time, keeping her pace even with the rest of the growing group, staying just to the right side of Snow. She no longer feels as anxious as she did before, even when she was with Snow back in the cell. There's just something about being able to walk around freely--not being stuck behind thick stone walls and black bars with nowhere to go--and just being surrounded by people. It's just somehow easier to shove aside one's doubts and worries, keep them at a manageable distance.

She also can't help but marvel just how expansive the castle is, just like something out of an old mystery novel or fairytale. Even with so much on her mind, the castle can't help but pique at Serah's natural curiosity that would have probably gotten the better of her had she not been with Snow or the others, and had the circumstances been different. Now she's paying more attention to whatever topic of conversation or comment anyone in the group decides to throw out for consideration.

She's just about to say something when a hint of movement catches her eye. A head of familiar hair. She blinks, turns her head around fast. And in a flash of an instant the nervousness is back again, voice nearly catching in her throat, as her eyes widen. Was that--]

Lightning?

[ yep, that's the plan! someone better start the swelling orchestra music for these two though...]

[aveclumiere]

[ her feet slap the plush carpet as she makes her way down the hall and then, like getting hit by a freight train--she sees them. her body moves on pure instinct now, mind not ready to swallow the scene in front of her and she slows down when she's a few feet away from serah, boots shuffling forward as she hesitantly approaches the other girl. she can't brush off that precautionary gut feeling she has, and after dysley's little stint, it's not hard to guess why. but still... ]

...Serah?

[ she takes another step closer, eyes focused right into the face of her little sister. there's no sinister smile there, no evil intent, no facial contortions that belong on some fal'cie. no...it's just serah. is she ready to believe what's happening right now though? lightning pauses when she's only a few steps away, hesitant on pulling her sister in for that hug she's itching to do but the sane, rational, soldier-esque portion of her brain keeps her firmly rooted to the ground. ]

[fatemarked]

[ Ever since Serah had heard her sister’s voice over Snow’s junogam, she has been trying desperately to think of what to say to her. She’s imagined a hundred different scenarios, played them over and over again within her mind until they are almost as easily recalled as a well-worn memory. What to do, what to say, when to say it, how to say it, it’s in them all. Some of them are more complex than others, but most begin the same way, with just a few words and little more:

I’m sorry, I missed you, and I’m glad you’re here.

They’re deceptively simple words, but she means each and every one of them.

But now that they are facing each other, Serah finds that she is at a loss all over again. She’s not sure if she should laugh or cry, do neither or both. She has no memories of a fal’Cie’s illusion to wade through. There’s no debating what’s real or not. She never questions it. It’s Lightning, and that’s all that matters to her. She has no reason to believe anything different. She doesn’t have a soldier’s sensibilities either, but she can’t help but pause all the same. ]

Lightning, I…

[ Words fail her. And instead of wasting time with several false, halting starts, she lets her legs take over and do what she should have done as soon as she had spotted Lightning in the first place: move. She takes a single step, two, then just gives in to everything and rushes forward, throwing her arms around her sister and pulling her into as tight of an embrace as she can possibly manage.

Maybe she doesn’t need words. Maybe this-just this-is enough, and conveys what she feels just the same. ]

[aveclumiere]

[ her breath almost catches when serah speaks again and it only takes a second longer until she feels her arms around her neck. it's familiar, it's warm, and most importantly, it's real. she hugs back with all the strength she can muster and tries to think of an appropriate apology, an appropriate response to everything that's happening.

for the first few times in her life though, it doesn't feel like she could string together a simple sentence that could carry that weight of guilt and regret she had worn so well so she just does what she can, holding onto serah a little bit tighter for just a moment longer. ]

Serah...

[ she forces her lips to function, for her voice to work properly. because even though she doesn't know how to expel the regret just yet, there's certainly only one way to start. with an apology, of course. ]

...I'm sorry. I should have been there for you.

[ "i shouldn't have neglected you, or for a minute, doubted you." it's what she wants to say but she hopes that serah can feel it in her voice or sense it from her actions. she had never been too good with words and dealing with this moment on her hands right now almost seems like too much to handle. ]

I made a stupid mistake, didn't I?

[fatemarked]

[She shakes her head, because as far as Serah is concerned, there's nothing to forgive. Lightning might not have believed her about the brand before, but that certainly hadn’t stopped her from breaking into the Vestige. She was there then, and she's here now, and that’s all that matters.]

I think we've all made some mistakes that we wish we hadn't.

[It's not hard for Serah to think up a few, to remember dozens of tiny little things that happened in that week before she had been taken into the Vestige. The memories that come up sting, and she suddenly wishes she knew of more ways to say I'm sorry. Serah allows herself to loosen her hold, pulling back from the embrace so she can face her, though she nearly looks away. It takes her a few seconds more to find her voice again, but when she does, it's as steady as she can make it.]

...Like I should have told you everything before. I wasn't thinking. I was scared, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want anything to change. I just wanted everything to go back to the way it was. But… so much for that, huh?

[aveclumiere]

[ when serah loosens her hold a bit, lightning takes a good look at her. it's stupid, and it doesn't make sense considering the small amount of time that's passed and the fact that crystal stasis preserved your physical state but somehow, serah somehow looks older. not by much, but it feels apparent that something has changed. there's a pang of sadness at that though, knowing that the weight of all the things that happened might have forced her younger sister to mature faster than she had to.

she echos the statement, shaking her head ruefully. ]

So much for that indeed...

[ still, that doesn't absolve her of her guilt. serah might have been tightlipped about being branded for a reason, but she shouldn't have had to felt that way. light should have been there for her, end of story. ]

...I should have let you feel that you could trust me. I take back what I said that day--I can't believe I practically threatened you.

[ she winces a bit at the reminder but continues on, remembering snow's adamant face and serah's own stare of surprise and hurt. ]

Even that idiot Snow knew to believe in you.

[fatemarked]

But you didn't mean it, [ she says, with as much conviction as she can muster. It still hurts, what Lightning said back then, she's not about to deny that it still does, but it doesn't stop Serah from putting that behind her. ] You wouldn't have gone through with it. And even if you hadn't believed me, you would've come anyway, I know you would have. So it's all right. [She glances behind her then, just for a fraction of a moment, back at the rag-tag group of people she and Snow picked up along the way. She smiles a little, turning back. ] And it looks like you've met a lot of good people.

[And she's glad. While she had been alone inside the Vestige, Snow wasn't the person she worried about the most. Snow had a family, he had NORA, he had friends, he had people who would look after him if she couldn't. They wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. But Lightning, she didn't have anyone. She didn't have friends the way she herself did. For as long as Serah can remember, it's always been just her and Lightning. Her sister's never said anything much about anyone else, she's never brought anyone home, and if she did mention someone, it always seemed to be out of her sister's own brand of respect more than anything resembling actual friendship. It wasn't that Lightning couldn't take care of herself--she probably could better than anyone else alive--but Serah hadn't wanted her sister to be alone. Now, it looks like she isn't anymore. She has people that care about her as much as she does. Looks like a lot has happened between then and now.

Change isn't so bad, she decides. It'll probably be worth it all, in the end. And once they get there, they won't have to look back and regret, no matter what happens in the eternity between. ]

And been a lot of places too. Looks like you have a lot to tell me.

[aveclumiere]

[ lightning turns her head to face the group of people behind her sister, almost forgetting that she wasn't alone. a ghost of a smile pulled at her lips at their familiar faces and she nodded back to serah. ]

Loud, noisy and troublesome...but you're right. They're...good people.

[ she sighs at the next comment, not sure if she wants to laugh at the thought of all their crazy situations and chaotic problems or to sigh and want to bury her head in her hands at the incoming headache. ]

It's a long story. I'll tell it to you when you're in better hands. You must be tired and hungry, right? How were the conditions of those cells?

[fatemarked]

I'm fine. I don't think we were in the cells for that long, though it was kind of hard to tell. [She doesn't even remember waking up on the castle grounds, let alone when she had been thrown in the dungeon. All she can recall before that are hazy fragments of memory back in the Vestige. She frowns ever so slightly, thinking back.] The cells aren't like anything back home, but they fit a place like this. If this really isn't Cocoon, that is. [How that is even possible, or why, if such things are true, evades her. Though maybe she wouldn't be here were things otherwise.] Not technological at all, like something you'd find in ruins, but…

[She shakes her head, pulling back to give Lightning a little space.] Never mind that, are you all right? Snow said you were with him when he last saw you, but you weren't in the other cells… You didn't run into any trouble, did you?

[aveclumiere]

This really isn't Cocoon, I can tell you that much.

[ Lightning crosses her arms and considers her answer, not wanting to make Serah worry unnecessarily. ]

I've...actually been here for a while now. I woke up in a village and Cid announced that the quickest way to get back home was by caravan. Then, as you could imagine, things...snowballed from there.

[ snowballed translating to fording a river, missing passengers, the curiously terrible smell, etc, etc. Seeing all the events on a timeline like that makes her realize that she's been on this side adventure for longer than she thought. It's a disheartening feeling, at best. ]