Hunted (Serah/Penello)

[Snow Villiers]

Wow. They really were desperate weren't they? the two young women were just looking for a way out (which Fuhito had given them) and instead they just seemed to throw it back in his face. He didn't take it personally, but still, it was a little frustrating to have to work so hard for something that should have already been his.

With that in mind, Fuhito decided that it was time to take the kid gloves off. He could see that the one who had summoned the esper was shaking, which was a good sign that she was already somewhat emotionally off balance. In that case, he would simply have to finish the job. The young lady could try and shoot him, but it wouldn't have done any good.

It might have if Fuhito was still human, but as he as about to prove, he was not.

His head held low, it started with an almost sinister chuckle from fuhito. A second later, it became a somewhat quiet yet obviously evil laugh, accompanied by the scientist slowly clapping his hands together.

"Bravo, my ladies, bravo! your quite a pair of smarties, and A credit to your race. Shame the same couldn't be said about the townsfolk. Oh well, survival of the fittest and all. Maybe if they had been a bit more fit, they could have run away a little faster. Too bad...I'm sure they can be replaced." Fuhito stated with a rather nasty chuckle.

Cruel jokes, after all, were a bit of his specialty.

"Well, now that we have the formalities out the way, and you know my name, I guess I should answer your question: Why am I after you? Well, its a long explaination, but Ill try to keep it simple so you can keep up. First off, your probably thinking that it has something to do with that little mark on your arm? wrong!" Fuhito stated, his smile indicating a great deal of satisfaction at what he was saying.

And what he was about to say.

"If that dumbass Barthandelus knew even half of what I know, He would have realized exactly how powerful you are, and would never have branded you with that damn little seal in the first place."[/b] Fuhito continued, a sharp and downright evil smile spreading across his face. Slowly, the scientist turned to the left and started to pace back and forth, akin to a caged tiger.

"But instead, he put that silly little seal on you, not even bothering to do his homework. He thought you were human. He was wrong. Your not human. Your not a monster, a machine, or anything else of the sort, either. Your something much more special. Crafted for a very specific purpose by forces beyond anyone's understanding..." Fuhito said with a pause. then, turning to face subject #13, he gazed straight into her eyes with his own, sinister gaze as he spoke his next statement. He wanted to make sure she got every word of it.

"You are a WEAPON."[/b][/size]

The words came out with intense sharpness, every syllable like a thousand knives, accentuated by Fuhito's unflinching gaze.

"And a hell of a good one, too! Even when your not activated and stuck in that adorable yet useless body, your still managing to kill people! Still not convinced? Try asking the townspeople here, or Barthandelus, or that blonde idiot I heard you were living with. Oh wait, you cant, because YOU KILLED THEM! they are dead because of YOU. They died, and your friend will die, because YOU ARE BROKEN and, as such, could not save them."

Fuhito's psychological attack almost complete, the mans face took an unexpected turn: his face became one of false sympathy.

"But you don't have to despair, my darling subject #13! for everything broken can be fixed, mended and set right. Everyone else may have given up on you, but I still see the potential you have. With enough time, I can make it so that you are no longer broken: that, rather then waste away in that body of yours, you could awaken to become the weapon you were born to be."

Fuhito then extended his hand outward, almost as if he was beckoning subject #13 to come to him. As if he was a doorway to salvation for Serah and her friend.

"All you need to do is let me help you, and Ill make you the being you were destined to become."

[Serah Farron]

Serah didn't like these soldiers, or the man who now stood in the middle of them. She glanced from the soldiers and scientist to Penelo, listening to what she was saying. Of course she didn't believe what was coming out of the blond's mouth, she was trying to be strong and not show fear in front of the enemy. Serah was being strong too, she didn't want to show she was weak. Because she wasn't, putting a hand to the mark on her right shoulder she bit her bottom lip. Serah never told Penelo about the l'Cie back home, or how it worked. Though maybe in this world it had no power, and those marked with the brand didn't have to worry about completing their focus. All she wanted was to just get out of this place, and find Snow. She was tired of being chased, and playing cat and mouse with people she didn't know.

Her eyes turned back to the scientist, hearing the laugh that escaped his mouth. She knew he was bad news, never trust a wolf in sheep's clothing. Hearing what he said made her ball her hands into fists, did he think that killing innocent people was funny. That is was enjoyable to take another person's life, it was just wrong..... and sick. "Your twisted, these people were just innocent bystanders. They had no warning, your soldiers just came in and killed them without question". It was horrifying, children and women. Fathers and sons, their bodies lay motionless in the streets and in houses. And why, because this man was just that cruel.

As Fuhito continued to talk, Serah let her hands unball. She glanced to her mark, then back to the scientist. He wasn't after her because of the mark on her arm, if not for that reason then why. Serah had a feeling she was going to find out, and as he continued to speak she could feel the fear just creeping up on her. He mentioned a name Barthandelus, and referred to her mark as a seal. She had no idea what he was talking about, it was Anima who had branded her deep underground on Cocoon. Serah didn't know a man by that name, nor had she ever met him. "What are you talking about, I don't know who that is". Now he was pacing back and forth, Serah glanced back to Penelo not understanding any of this. Then glanced back to Fuhito, as he began to speak once more.

Now he was saying things that didn't make sense, that she wasn't human. Serah was as human as Penelo was, and this crazy scientist in front of her. And of course she wasn't a monster, or machine. She had been born to a regular mother and father, and had a sister named Lightning. When he stopped pacing, he turned to her and gazed right into her eyes. Stepping back abit, she was starting to get scared even more now. His next words made her eyes go wide, and she almost fell backwards on the ground but managed to keep her balance. A weapon, she was not a weapon. He must have her confused with someone else, no......this was not true. Of course it wasn't true, she was human. "Your wrong, YOUR WRONG!!!. I am a human being, just leave me alone". This wasn't happening, she was not hearing this.

She wasn't this experiment he was talking about, her name was Serah Farron. Sister to Lightning Farron, and finacee to Snow Villiers. Covering her ears she wanted to hear no more, everything he was saying. It was all lies, she just wanted to go home. Uncovering her ears, she shook her head and felt tears coming to her eyes. She didn't kill these people, or that man he was talking about. When he mentioned a blond, she knew who he was talking about. "Snow.....where is he, where is Snow?" He wasn't dead, he couldn't be dead. Snow promised he would always come for her, when she was in trouble. This was all so confusing, she would never hurt Penelo either.

"I'm not this experiment, i'm not broken. I was to go home, I want Snow. I need my sister, and I want to leave here with my friend". Serah's mind was so confused at the momment, she was distraught and trying to figure things out. Seeing Fuhito reach out a hand to her, asking for him to help her. She didn't take it, keeping her distance from the scientist. Though what was a l'Cie really, was it a person who was a weapon. No it was someone with a focus, except she never got to have a summon like the others. Serah felt so fragile right now, like a doll that if touched would shatter into a million pieces. Slowly as if acting on it's own, she reached her hand out to Fuhito.

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[Penelo]

He could tell he wasn't making any headway with them, so he dropped the act and let his true colors--well lack of colors--show and called Serah all sorts of mean things. He mentioned someone--Barthandeleus--and Penelo committed the name to memory. She drew in a slow breath, she didn't like this. She didn't like any of it. He didn't make any sense, saying she was born a weapon. That wasn't true, nothing was born like that. A cockatrice and a razorfin were both born babies. They grew up into different things, just like everyone else. It was through choices and circumstances that people became monsters.

She didn't believe that Serah was born a monster--a weapon any more than she, herself, was. Penelo knew there was the same amount of good and evil in everyone. It was that own person's decision whether they turned out good or not. It didn't matter what other people said, or what other people did. Especially mean and verbally abusive men, like Fuhito over there. She just wanted to shoot him. She had an itch in her arms from holding the gun up so long and her legs were tense from her stance that she hadn't risen from. She glanced at Serah, seeing that she was losing it from what Fuhito had been telling her.

Penelo didn't know anything about what they were referring to, but she could easily see that whatever it was had caused problems for Serah in the past and maybe that was what had her so distraught. Penelo wished she could wisk Serah away from this situation, or just go back in time to them at lunch. So they could avoid all of this, or to make it so it didn't happen, period. But Penelo didn't have the power of that. No one did, that she knew of. she let out a small breath but it did little to calm her down. Her eyes went back to Fuhito. She just didn't understand him. She didn't understand his motivation. Why would he want to use another hume? It didn't make sense. Why would someone want a weapon? Why would someone call someone else an experiment?

...The one thing about epiphanies is that in the wrong circumstances--like now--they can be bad. As her epiphany hit her, she tensed. That tensing included, but was not limited to, her shoulders, her elbows, her neck, her knees, oh and lets not forget her fingers. Especially the finger she had curled around the trigger. The gun fired off as it was still aimed at Fuhito. Her eyes widened in complete shock. Her epiphany was still running at full force, but beneath that she felt a little guilty for shooting him like that.

But if her brain had put the pieces together correctly, then he--Fuhito--was the one that had put the nethecite inside Lord Onzozo. She had no proof, but she didn't know of too many people that would be willing to be so godless and awful. At least, she hoped there weren't more than one person for every billion people like that. It would save her--and Genesis--a lot of killing, if that was the case. She almost hoped she was right, and didn't just shoot a--nearly--innocent guy. Sure, he had ordered an entire village to be slaughtered mercilessly, but at that particular moment, he had just been...trying to get Serah to join him and she had shot him on accident. She didn't lower the gun though, she couldn't, because of the repercussions that accident would cause. She wished they weren't surrounded, though, because now would be an almost ideal time to make a run for it. "Serah, get ready." She whispered under her breath and she hoped Serah could hear it.

[Snow Villiers]

There was a rather primal part of Fuhito that enjoyed watching the events unfold. The smile across his face seeming to grow as he witnessed Subject #13's world seeming to collapse around her. He could see her trembling: her mind shattering as the realization and emotional responses he had triggered slowly came together.

In a way, Fuhito considered it a masterpeice performance. Particularly the part where subject #13 screamed out, denying the truth of what she was before hopelessly decending into her depressive state.

How frail her mind was, trapped in that human body...That would be something that the Scientist would indeed need to fix that. Slowly, he watched as his call to subject #13 became a command, and the young woman slowly reached her hand out...

Then came the gunshot from the other girl. While the attack had struck home on Fuhito, it did not appear to deter him. his nethicite enhanced body handling the damage well, all Fuhito had to do was simply watch and wait. As everything seemingly fell into place, Fuhito caught something at the left edge of his perhipheral vision. Turning to face it, Fuhito failed to put up his guard, mostly due to the arrogant belief that nothing could be done to stop this plan at this stage.

And by the time Fuhito's eyes widened in horror, It was already too late.

"TAKE THIS, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!"[/size][/b]

-------------------------

He had enough.

Snow had been quietly watching as the events unfolded, taking out the rooftop soldiers one by one as quietly as possible. He wanted to help Serah: to save her from that clearly insane scientist who was talking to her, but he couldn't: not until he was sure that he could successfully escape with both Serah and her friend safely.

So, taking out the guards one by one with silent neck-snaps, The hero of the moment, simply watched and waited. The more he heard that goddamn Fuhito speak to Serah like that, the more his blood boiled. Snow could feel the magic power from his L'cie brand beginning to grow. So close, it was almost ready.

Then, as Snow saw the desperate and psychologically wounded Serah begin to step twoard Fuhito, his rage reached its boiling point, and one thing became absolutely certain:

That bastard was going down.

The jump from the nearby two-story building had been perfect: it would leave Snow right at the edge of Fuhito's peripheral vision, unable to react to the attack until it was already too late. The magic power charged in his arm to an unbelievable degree, Snow actually felt the blue arua surrounding it begin to burn.

He was going to make Fuhito take every damn ounce of that blast.

by the time snow was halfway through his jump, Fuhito's head turned, and snow watched in a strange, almost unreal slow motion as the sinister grin on the Scientist's face became a mask of sheer terror. As the scientist heard Snow's battle cry, Fuhito knew what was coming. And he knew there was no way Snow's fist was stopping until it smashed into his face.

And then came the impact, which showed the true magnitude of the fury Snow had built up against Fuhito.

Snow's strongest attack, the Sovereign Fist, Came crashing down on fuhito like a hammer from the goddess. The exact point of impact was the lower left part of Fuhito's jaw. Despite being reinforced by some unknown enhancements, the scientist's jawbone simply did not have the durability to withstand such an attack, and was immediately shattered as if it were aged glass.

From the point of impact, the aura of Snow's sovereign fist exploded outward much like a compressed explosion. Despite the fact that Fuhito's body possessed nethicite and various other enchancements in it, which would absorb the magic damage, The simple kinetic force may as well have been a meteor smashing into the man. any bones that were not seriously reinforced by enchancements in fuhito's body were simply broken, shattered or, in the case of smaller bones, completely transformed into dust.

Fuhito's internal organs were the truest victims of the attack: Any normal human being would have simply had them liquified from such intense force. While fuhito's remained intact, they were nonetheless greatly traumatized. However, as the nethicite enhancements were active, Fuhito was at least spared slightly on that front. Not that it mattered. No matter what way one looked at it, Fuhito was out of comission. period. And without serious medical attention he would likely die.

And that didn't bother Snow one bit.

The aftermath of the attack was clear: dust kicked up in every direction, anyone close to the point of origin (including Penello and Serah) would have likely been knocked off their feet. The sounds, the feel, the smell. It almost seemed like out of nowhere someone had detonated a massive bomb in the middle of the street.

And the DEEPGROUND soldiers assumed that someone had.

Orders to fall back were screamed over the radio, soldiers srcambled to get away from the blast site in order to regroup, several even risking their lives trudging through the dust to carry away Fuhito's ruined form. This, in turn, gave Snow valuable time to get Serah.

He had to get her out of the streets and at least check to see if she was okay: She had been close to the blast, but not close enough to have anything happen other then simply being knocked off her feet. Then again, that alone might have traumatized his fiance. Snow cursed at his anger: maybe he should have been more controlled...And yet he still felt that what he had done was justified.

Still, Snow believed that he could help Serah to recover. He might have only gotten one shot at Fuhito, so he had to make it count.

peering through the dust, Snow caught a glimpse of Serah and, seeing an opportunity to grab her, he quickly dashed through the dust and smoke. He understood that the sudden movement might make her friend attack him, but Snow was moving fast enough that she might not have had enough time to react. It was a risk he had to take. He needed to get Serah away from the chaotic streets immediately, before anything else scared her any more.

Dashing through the dust, Snow did not even bother to stop as he quickly scooped up Serah, cradling her in his arms as he bolted to the closest house. turning sideways, Snow easily smashed through the door of the dwelling and proceeded into the living room. Thankfully, the house was empty, and the soldiers seemed to have retreated (if only temporarily).

Quickly setting Serah down, the concerned eyes of Snow began to scan her body for injuries. After a relatively rushed injury check, Snow gently slid one hand behind Serah's head and an arm behind her back, proping her up and supporting her so that he could get a better look at her eyes to check for any sign of a concussion.

"Serah, are you okay?"

[Serah Farron]

She couldn't believe this, Serah felt like every word Fuhito told her was like a cut to her heart. A blow to her well being, she knew she was human. The man he had mentioned didn't ring clear in her mind, she didn't even know him. As she was close to losing all sanity, and feeling her spirit slowly shattering from inside her. Just as Serah was on the brink of being fragile, and as Fuhito extended his hand to her to take. She felt as if her arm was being controlled, but it was her doing it. She never heard the gun shot go off that Penelo sent at Fuhito, but the attack that came next made her fall back landing on her butt on the ground. Serah never saw it coming, never saw that it was Snow who had come to her rescue. His voice seemed kind of distant to her, perhaps because she was in such a fragile state at the momment. She didn't even hear Penelo, the whisper of words she had spoken.

Covering her face from the cloud of dust that billowed up, she slowly stood and brushed herself off. What just happened, where was Penelo. Hearing yells of retreat and seeing shadows of soldiers head off in different directions, they seem to have been running away from whatever caused this huge cloud of dirt and dust. "PENELO!.......Penelo where are you?". Serah was starting to panic, the words Fuhito had said still fresh in her mind. Had she done this, did she hurt her friend. With all the chaos going on she couldn't see anything, had she not absorbed all the stuff that crazy scientist had said she would know that it was Snow who caused this. Coughing lightly from the dust, as she tryed to see through it looking for any sign of her friend. Hoping she was alright.

The force of this attack had knocked her off her feet, but lucky she was uninjured. In the midst of all this, she was confused. Scared and trumatized beyond on all reason, she had no idea what just happened. Then in front of her she saw someone moving quite fast through the dust, and before she could react she was scooped up in their arms. No she couldn't leave Penelo behind, she had to see if her friend was alright. Feeling a few tears well up in her eyes, then slowly fall she let Snow take her away from the streets. Hearing the sound of a door being kicked in, Serah was brought into the living room of one of the dwellings. It was quiet and deserted, no one was here.

Feeling herself set down, Serah felt herself calm down abit. Watching as Snow checked her over for injuries, her mind though was still racing with confusion. Feeling his one hand behind her head, and another around her back she let her eyes trail up to meet his. Finally his voice didn't sound so distant, and could feel herself coming back to her old self slowly. Snow was here, he had come for her. "Snow I was so afraid, why did this happen. How come it took you so long to come, that man he said things....he said....". She stopped herself from saying anymore, hopefully Penelo would find them and that she was okay.

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[Penelo]

Penelo felt the lid on this entire situation start to explode. Serah's morale had cracked and she was slowly losing it. That wasn't good. Penelo would like to grab her and run, but there was no where to go. And after she had fired the gun, she saw Fuhito's...lack of a reaction. That proved his involvement with nethecite. She'd seen that sort of resistance to harm before, and knew it was because of those evil little stones. She looked around quickly, to make sure no one was going to shoot at her, and by the time she looked back at Fuhito, someone in a coat punched him in the face. Only, it was like his fist was some sort of...well not just a fist. She saw Fuhito's face crumble and his body collapsed instantly. That man had to be crazy powerful to do that, since she had just shot him with the DEEPGROUND soldier's gun and he barely batted an eyelash.

The force of the man's attack took her off guard, and like an explosion, it knocked her off her feet. She landed beneath Ultima, confused because of it's...well just everything about it. Who was that man? She started to pull herself up into a sitting position, and through the dust that was kicked up she saw a figure running towards them, and Serah. She pulled herself up as fast as she could, but from the force of the blast, there was a sharp ringing in her ears and balancing was a lot harder than it should be. She stumbled sideways as she saw the person who had attacked Fuhito ran through the smoke. She had dropped the gun when she had fallen and by the time she retrieved it and leveled it towards the person, both him and Serah were gone. "No!" She took a few steps forward, trying to locate them, when her eyes landed on the place where Fuhito had fallen. His body was gone.

Just like most of the soldiers that had deserted the area. She ran forward, hoping she might catch the soldiers that had carried him away, but when she reached where he had fallen, she saw she had missed them. Something on the ground caught her eye and she bent down. She gasped out loud, seeing a smaller piece of nethecite on the ground. She bent down and picked it up immediately. She turned and looked back at Ultima, the nethecite clutched in her hand. Serah and the person that had taken her were long gone, but Penelo had a feeling Ultima had watched them go.

"Where did they go, Ultima?" Penelo asked. With one of her giant hands, Ultima gestured off to the right and Penelo nodded. "You can get rid of the soldiers." Penelo offered, but she knew she couldn't keep Ultima around much longer. She could only summon her for so long. Ultima folded her wings around her and lowered her head and wings and disappeared in the glyph, that had started to glow again. Penelo watched her fade away before she started to look around, there weren't any soldiers in sight anymore, and the dust had settled by then. She glanced around and then down at her hand that still held the nethecite. This little piece of the 'God's Gift' definitely needed to be destroy. "Shit." She let out the curse word as an exhale. It described the situation pretty clearly.

She took off in the direction Ultima had described and just as she rounded a corner, she heard Serah's voice. She lifted up her gun as she stepped into the door. She was prepared to shoot, but she saw how the man was holding her...lovingly and how Serah looked relieved and no longer scared. She lowered the gun, and let it clatter to the floor. She stepped in and shut the door behind her. If there were still soldiers prowling around, there was no need to make it easy for them. She stashed the stone into her bag as discreetly as she could. If the two of them didn't know what it was, Penelo didn't want to get them involved. Especially Serah.

She looked the man up and down, she could understand how Serah loved him, he seemed like a great guy--and he had done his part in rescuing her (Penelo was a bit jealous that he could hurt Fuhito and she did not, but she was more glad that Serah was alright). "You must be Snow. Thank you." The girl was tired, but they weren't safe, she couldn't rest yet. She then turned to Serah. "You aren't hurt are you? Do you need me to heal you?" Her questions were to the both of them, actually, and she was equally prepared to heal Snow if he needed it or Serah, or both of them.

[Snow Villiers]

While Snow's initial inspection of Serah had proved to be positive (no outside injuries...At least that was what from he could tell) Judging by the way Serah was speaking to him, it was apparent to Snow that there was a much more serious problem.

Serah was in a state of psychological shock.

Snow could tell this based on two symptoms: her very shaken and distraught tone of voice and the unconcious trembling that he saw throughout most of her visible body. It was small, but it would likely get worse as she was exposed to more violence.

Unlike Snow, who had spent so much of his life fighting and finding ways of adapting to massive outbursts of violence, Serah was just a normal girl: she didn't have the conditioning he had to protect her from psychological trauma or attacks. Hence why she was in the position she was in:

Scared and confused beyond all reasonable belief.

Snow knew that talking to her was important, but he honestly was not entirely sure what to say at first: Particularly when Serah asked him what had taken him so long. That was a question that really tore at snow, one that he had been asking himself several times as he was forced to watch Fuhito get away with his devious mind games.

Gently setting Serah back down, Snow quietly sat down and placed Serah on his lap sideways, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. Snow's arms then gently wrapped around her torso, pulling Serah close to him. The idea that Snow wanted to give though holding his fiancé was that she was completely safe. It would be difficult to convey, but this was the only way he could for now. letting a gentle shhhhh escape his lips, Snow waited a few moments to let Serah get comfortable before he spoke.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner. I'm sorry I couldn't smash that S.O.B a little sooner. I won't make excuses though: I made a mistake. But I'm here now."

Snow paused for a moment, and slowly began to rock Serah lightly back and forth: another attempt to comfort her from the obvious trauma she had endured. This was honestly where snow was convinced his gigantic size came in handy: it made it that much easier to hold Serah close.

"Don't listen to that damned monster. Your not a weapon. You didn't do anything to hurt anyone, and never have. You are Serah Farron, a brave and beautiful woman I love who has just been through a hell of a lot. I know your scared, I know you don't know what to believe right now, but you can believe me when I say this: I will get you out of here. I will get you home. You don't have to worry anymore: just close your eyes, and leave everything to me."

Snow then readjusted himself and gently rose to his feet, cradling Serah's shaken form in his arms. Snow Adjusted himself so that his love's head could rest on his shoulder.

"I'll keep you safe."

As he finished his statement, Snow heard the sound of heavy footfalls and, a split second later, saw the young woman Serah had been with run through the door. She too looked somewhat shaken, but not to the degree that Serah had been.

"You must be Snow. Thank you. You aren't hurt, are you? Do you need me to heal you?"

Before snow could even bother to answer, A voice seemed to start speaking through Snow's coat: In acctuality, the voice was coming from a radio on Snow's belt. A young male voice that would have likely seemed to be very, very familiar to the young sky pirate Penello.

"Snow? this is Vaan, You there? What the hell did you just do?! it looked like a bomb went off right next to Serah and Penello! Are you out of your mind?!"

Snow, who currently was a little preoccupied holding Serah, got a rather frustrated look on his face.

"You mind getting that?" Snow requested of Penello, indicating the radio on his belt with a tilt of his head. Clearly, Talking to Vaan was not something the wayward hero was looking forward to. Hopefully "Penello" (snow assumed that this was the young woman's name at this point) would save him the trouble of having to explain what happened.

[Serah Farron]

Serah had never been exposed to this much violence before in her life, sure she had seen the occassional fights back home. But seeing people killed for no reason, and right before her eyes was a little nerve racking. When she had reached out for Fuhito's hand, it was like the rest of the world around her didn't exist at that momment in time. Even when Penelo had shot the man, or when Snow attacked him she never acknowledged it then and there. Though with the force of the blast she was knocked off her feet, and fell back on the ground. Which made her come back to her sense a little bit, a little wobbly and unsure of what happened she tryed to stand without falling back down. Once she did, Serah brushed herself off and coughed at all the dust that had picked up. Her immediate reaction was to look around for Penelo, but she couldn't see the blond. The words that mad scientist said cut into her mind like a knife, had this been her fault. She never wanted anyone to get hurt, so why.

Though she soon felt herself lifted up into a familiar pair of arms, and carried off somewhere. Serah glanced back to the dust cloud surrounding the area and called out for her friend, but she got no response. As she was taken into a nearby house, she was soon set down and checked over for injuries. Then held close, she finally recognized the figure that picked her up. Asking why this was happening, how come he had taken so long to come get her. Serah was shaking just a little, she was so scared by all the events that have happened in this little town. When she spoke, her words held distraught in them and fear. If anything else were to happen, she really would break like a porcelin doll. As she was set back down once more, then pulled onto Snow's lap in a sideways position she rested her head on his shoulder.

A few more tears fell down her soft cheeks, listening as Snow spoke once more. If Lightning was here, she would have blamed him for letting this happen. Just like the incident back home, of course her sister would have ran in there not waiting for a oppertune momment to strike. Serah found safety in Snow's arms, and comfort. He was right, she was not a monster or a weapon. Those had been the poisonous words Fuhito had filled her mind with, but those people who had been killed. Wasn't it her fault for their deaths, it had been her the soldiers were looking for and the bloodshed that had happened was her fault. "But those people were killed Snow, slaughtered because it was me the soldiers were looking for. They died a meaningless death. My mind is confused, i'm scared. I just want to get away from here, from all of this".

Serah kept her head on Snow's shoulder as he stood up, though soon she heard footsteps coming towards their location. Turning her head, the pink haired girl saw Penelo enter the dwelling then close the door. "Your alright, and no i'm okay I don't need healing". Only a small smile appeared on the corner of her lips. Her friend was alright, and was safe. Though it soon disappeared as Serah heard a voice coming from a radio on Snow, blinking lightly she heard the name Vaan. Wasn't that the name of the boy that Penelo mentioned to her, who was her partner or best friend from back home. Shifting her body in Snow's grasp, Serah jumped back to the ground.

She may be shaken up, confused and distraught. But she was starting to come back to her old self, even though Fuhito's words lingered in her mind. She knew Penelo and Snow would make sure she stayed safe, and she didn't want to be babied right now. "I'll be fine Snow, having you and Penelo here makes me feel alot better. At least now I know your alright, and I know who I am".

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[Penelo]

Penelo had just caught the end of Snow's little speech to her, and she found it really sweet. She could hear the sincerity in his voice and she knew he meant every word of it. He really loved Serah and Penelo was so glad that they had been reunited. She wished she could make Serah un-hear and un-see the past fifteen to twenty minutes, though, because no one should be put through that. But she didn't have that sort of power, though she almost wished she did. At the moment, however, they were safe and the soldiers were probably still running scared. She didn't have a way of knowing for sure unless she stuck her head out the door.

And she wasn't going to do that.

Snow seemed like the type of person to always have a plan, which was great. She hoped he had a good one that got them the heck out of this place, she was about to ask him when his radio started to talk. The worried expression Penelo had been wearing on her face dropped to pure surprise. She stood frozen as the voice said her name, which caused a jolt of electricity to shoot down her spine and into her toes. She snatched the radio before Snow had even offered it to her, and there was just a tiny little bit of guilt in her eyes because of it, but it was clear all her attention was on the radio in her hand.

She pressed the button to reply back, and her mouth moved, but nothing came out. She let go of the button for a moment, closed her eyes and let out a long and slow breath. She had never expected--thought--imagined--perceived--hoped that she would hear that voice here, and she still had whiplash from it. She pressed the button on the radio again as she was sure she could talk this time. "Vaan?" Her voice was meek and held little strength at all. She was just so surprised. But thinking back on what he had said...that meant he was watching?!

He was just standing around while Serah had to hear all of that?! He just stood there and watched when Penelo accidentally shot somebody. They couldn't even be reunited properly! She was admittebly angry because of that, her eyes darted to Snow for a moment, she could easily blame him for the cause of it, though she wasn't sure why. Yet. She hadn't yet let go of the button, with a glance at Snow and Serah she moved away from them to give a little space. "Where are you?!" Very rarely did Penelo ever speak so mad and aggressively, but she was mad! She didn't understand why she was speaking to Vaan through a radio when she had been trying to get back to him for nearly a month, only to find out he had been in sight for who knows how long!

(heehee)

[Snow Villiers]

"Vaan?" Snow heard the young Penello squeak. It was easy to tell that her voice lacked any real strength at all. It was almost as if hearing Vaan's voice had shaken her up even more then she already was.

"...Penello? Are you okay? where's Snow, is he-"

"Where are you?!"

Snow had to admit, even he was caught off guard by the sudden change in Penello's demeanor. One moment, she sounded sweet, yet a little shaken up. The next, her voice had reached a hissing tone that Snow didn't even think was possible from the blonde girl. A slightly sheepish look was the face that Snow took on as a response. He wanted to explain what had happened, but his instincts told him that trying to interrupt Penello right now was about as safe as poking a sleeping behemoth in the eye. the wandering hero would have to leave the explaining to the (unfortunate) sky pirate.

There was a rather tense pause in the radio as Vaan tried to figure out how to explain what was going on.

".....Uh....I-I'm with the ship I'm borrowing right now. I ran into snow awhile ago while looking for you, and figured he would be a good ally, then he called me up a few hours ago and left a message before...A-anyway point is we were coming to get Serah and you when the attack hit and the ship got blasted pretty good. I-I'm making some repairs on the outskirts of town, and I just happened to see the blast. Snow said that Serah had a young blonde woman with her, which when he described sounded like you, So..."

Another long pause. Clearly, Penello had flustered the young sky pirate quite effectively. Snow was still EXTREMELY leery of speaking up, lest repercussions for his action fall upon him.

"I-I'm with the ship right now, making repairs. Once I get it fixed, Ill get everything ready. Look, we don't have a lot of time before the soldiers regroup: if they're anything like the judges, they will come back en masse once they're sure things are safe. I need to talk to Snow, could you get the radio back to snow?"

Vaan was doing everything in his power to avoid the furious Penello situation that had presented itself by asking for snow to get the radio back (Vaan not realizing how close. He could have likely simply stated his instructions and had Snow hear them, but snow was sure that the sky pirate did not know where he was relative to Penello. Snow, quietly standing next to Serah, could only watch, wait and listen to the wrath that had been brought down upon Vaan. Boy was he glad to not be Vaan right now.

[Serah Farron]

Just as she had jumped out of Snow's arms, or rather wriggled free. Her feet touched the floor underneath her, and moved out of the way as Penelo grabbed for the radio. This was the same Vaan that her new friend had been talking about right, this was great he had met up with Snow. Serah watched as the blond put the radio close to her lips, going to speak but said nothing at first. But when she did finally let words out, it came out as more of a hiss rather than a nice hello. That meant Vaan had been near them all that time, and Snow as well. Somehow she wished that they had come to help earlier, maybe it could have prevented that scientist from feeding her poisonous words. Words she knew were not true, but had done enough damage to scare her. Serah wished she could turn back time, and still be up at the Gold Saucer where she was safe.

Maybe she should have just stayed up there in the first place, then she never would have had to witness all of that. As she watched Penelo with the radio, she could see the anger that was pasted on her face. Penelo had mentioned she had been looking for Vaan for quite awhile, and knowing he was here the whole time seemed to not sit well with the blond. Glancing up at Snow, the pink haired girl wondered just how long her fiancee had been watching from the sidelines. Glancing back over to Penelo, she watched her friend move away so she could have some time alone with Snow. "Claire wouldn't have waited, she would have just came running in". By Claire she meant her sister Lightning, yes her sister had dropped her real name long ago but Serah still calls her by it from time to time.

Guess since Penelo was disappointed at Vaan, Serah was feeling the same way. She had to watch as people were killed before her eyes, soldiers were allowed to just do whatever they wanted. Serah could have run, she could have escaped but had decided to stay with the blond. Perhaps because she had been worried that the same thing would happen to Penelo, that the soldiers did to the people of this place. Crossing her arms across her chest, she simply walked to the other side of the dwelling and kicked a small object on the floor. Hopefully there would be no more surprises waiting for them, that scientist was bad enough. If she had to encounter anything more, she really did feel like her soul would completely shatter from within her.

[Penelo]

Penelo could hardly remember a time that she was so livid. But maybe she was just scared of the 'what could have.' At any moment, Fuhito could have given the order for the soldiers to shoot her, or the both of them, and what would the two of them had been able to do about it? A big load of nothing. Penelo didn't like feeling that her life was gambled in any way. She didn't like it one bit as she had heard what Vaan had said either. As if he was watching and had taken part in the planning of it. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was?!" The demand was harsh and tears brimmed her eyes because of it. Her adrenaline was pumping from past events and she had that fatigued feeling that seeped all the way into her bones that comes after summoning Espers. Not to mentioned all the feelings of betrayal and fright and terror.

She didn't like feeling that towards Vaan, but if he was going to act like that, she didn't know what she was going to do. As he spoke, she started to calm down, marginally. His explanation made sense, but she turned her shoulders slightly and looked back at Snow, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, though the tears brimmed around the edges took away from the ferociousness of her anger. So he brought Vaan into this mess (that's how she translated it) and still stood by while that happened. She sure hoped he could sleep with himself at night because if Penelo was Snow, she knew she couldn't. Gambling lives like that-- She caught sight of Serah's expression and saw that she wasn't too happy with her fiancee.

She felt only a little bad that their reunion was soured just like hers and Vaan's. "I've been trying to get back to Ivalice for a month. And in that time I've nearly died from crashing twice, nearly killed by all sorts of monsters and fiends unlike anything from home. I've come across netheci--" She cut herself off, only just remembering at the last second that she didn't want to bring Serah or Snow into that mess, that is, if he didn't already know about it. She would have to talk about it with Vaan privately. In person. He had said he was on the outskirts of town and she itched to take off running, but she knew the soldiers would be outside and she didn't want to test it.

She drew in a deep breath when Vaan asked to talk to Snow again. "Alright." she said, resigned though she was obviously still annoyed for frustrated. "Be safe, please." It could be classified as begging. Her voice had dropped all tones of negative feelings and sounded weak and tired. She just wanted this to be over and she wanted to be back home with Vaan, traveling Ivalice and living as they saw fit. She held the radio out to Snow with a small, tiny apologetic look for getting him trouble with Serah, though she still disagreed strongly with his decisions he had made thus far.

[Snow Villiers]

"Claire wouldn't have waited, she would have just came running in"

If Serah had been looking for words to deeply cut into snow's confidence and faith in himself, she had to look no further then what she had just said. Snow actually blinked once or twice, indicating that he was processing the fact that Serah had considered bringing Lightning into this whole mess. Snow honestly didn't have anything against lightning: As a matter of fact, Snow's genuine anger at the statement was not in Lightning's inclusion, but in the implication.

That snow had not done good enough. That somehow, he conciously waited and let Fuhito harm Serah. That idea, and that idea alone was enough to get Snow's blood boiling. Part of Snow was genuinely upset with Serah for saying what she had said, while another part was understanding of her statement and had extreme anger toward himself. This conflict, in turn, managed to boil over on Snow's face as an obvious look of frustration.

He didn't even respond to Serah's statement: rather, Snow simply turned and moved over to Penello, firmly snatching away the radio when it was offered.

"Snow here."

"Alright. I managed to take out the Anti-Air vehicles before I got hit: we should have a clean flight out of here provided they don't have any other nasty surprises. What about you?"

"I took out that sniper nest they put on the hill over the town. As you know, it was right next to our landing site, so provided they're reinforcements are focused on where I smashed Fuhito and took out his rooftop troops, we should have little resistence. I also cleared out the sewers on my way in, so we should be good to go on that front as well."

"Okay, good work Snow. Just take them through the sewers: Ill guide you to where you need to go once you get down there. Remember to move fast down there: I don't know if more soldiers have moved in since, and the last thing you want to do is get surrounded."

"Got it. Snow out."

His conversation finished, Snow let out a dejected and frustrated sigh, Serah's earlier comment still grinding on his nerves somewhat. Hopefully, listening to the conversation he just had with Vaan might have made both Penello and Serah understand just how much he worked to make things safe. That was just today: Snow had been searching many days and sleepless nights for Serah. He had taken a proverbial and literal beating from his enemies: some even putting him on the brink of death (a fact he did not wish to share with Serah). Despite knowing that what Serah had said to him was likely not said in that spirit, Snow couldn't help but feel as if he had been snubbed.

Walking to the front door he had just broken down only a minute ago, Snow looked out to check for deepground soldiers: none. Apparently they were still regrouping and, judging by how quiet it had gotten outside they wouldn't be ready anytime soon. Good, that at least gave them a few minute break before they absolutely had to move.

Which would give Snow some time to decompress from what Serah had said. The wayward hero leaned against a wall nearby the doorway, head leaned down so that he was looking at the floor.

"Take a minute to rest and get anything you need from the kitchen or anywhere else, then we're leaving. Ill wait for you here." Snow said flatly, hoping they wouldn't get upset with him for trying to give them a break.

Like he needed anything else to deal with right now.

[Serah Farron]

Serah did feel bad for just saying that, she only hoped he wouldn't take it to heart. Guess she was just mad about all this, what had started out as a nice day with a new best friend. Had turned into something horrible and terrible as this, back home she never had to witness anything like this. And when she was in the midst of being surrounded by all those soldiers, then that scientist......it scared her. Penelo had told her to run, but she refused and decided to stay by her friend's side. Had she had runned would her new friend have been alright, this was something she couldn't answer. After all she did have that huge summon beside her, so perhaps she could have. Biting her bottom lip lightly, she wanted to say sorry to Snow. She knew he must have been so worried about her, and probably had been searching for her for days. Serah just felt like a lost child, confused and unsure of what to really say right now.

Glancing over to Penelo, seeing she was done her conversation with Vaan. Serah watched as Snow just snatched the radio, which made the pink haired girl feel even more guilty of what she had said. Just listening quietly as he spoke to Vaan, she turned away from the blond and just looked at the ground. Though she once again rose her head watching as he moved towards the front door, taking a peek outside. It was silent, she just noticed that as well. And from Snow's conversation with Vaan it looked as if they were going to be sneaking out of this place through the sewers. How come she got that gut feeling that this wasn't over though, Serah felt like something else was going to happen. Like a calm before the storm, maybe it was her mind running wild. Or she was still getting over the trauma of what happened.

But the silence, and no sounds of soldiers. It just felt all akward for her, she only hoped her gut was wrong. When Snow leaned against the doorway, and told them to rest or get anything from the kitchen she frowned lightly. Serah didn't want to leave on a sour note with Snow, so walking over to him she bent down a little and looked up trying to see his eyes. "Snow i'm sorry for what I said, I know I shouldn't blame you for taking so long. You did come, and now I just want to leave this place". Yes leave this place of death and danger, she wanted to forget this whole thing ever happened. Even though she knew this event would forever be scarred in her memory, she would try to block it out the best she can.

Reaching out she gently put her hand on his, letting him know just how much she loved him. Hopefully he would forgive the words she had spoken, he meant everything to her. As for her gut feeling, she only hoped they could get out of this place safe and sound. She couldn't handle anymore death, or being chased.

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[Penelo]

Penelo knew she was in the wrong to lash out at Vaan, and yell at him. They had been doing all they could do to help the two of them. They were facing a well organized army after all. Penelo knew that, and while she took that into consideration, her fear was turning her anger blind. She had been so scared that she'd not see Vaan or anyone back home again, that she had behaved in a way she normally would not. She knew that, and even before she handed Snow back the radio, that he snatched more like, she knew she wasn't giving them enough credit. She felt bad for Snow for what Serah told him. She didn't exactly know what she had said and the amount of effect it would have on Snow, but Penelo could tell the words were designed for hurting.

In this high-stressed situation, Penelo could understand everyone was a little agitated, but Penelo being the person she was, she wanted to resolve it before they left the house. None of them could be distracted by anything once they left the house, because there was a leaderless army out there. Penelo knew what they were capable of, under orders, there was no telling what each individual soldier would come up with if they were caught. Penelo's imagination wasn't even that dark. She couldn't imagine hesitation and then having a soldier rip her arm off or something like that. Her stomach was churning just thinking about it. She let out a deep breath, was prepared to give everyone her apology for behaving like that when Snow spoke to Vaan about the plan and everything.

Now she just felt like crap. She had already realized that for Snow to have reached Fuhito, he had to have done a lot of preparing, and Vaan had already told her he had been busy. Hearing him confirm it just made her feel like even more of a douchebag. All traces of anger and resentment towards both men had long since evaporated and she felt rather guilty about acting like a frightened child. She was actually a weathered fighter and should know better. She rubbed the corners of her eyes and steeled her spine. She wouldn't make that mistake ever again.

So the sewers it was. Penelo didn't like the idea, because of how filthy and dangerous it is, but she knew waterways (sewers) were nifty things to make a quick escape. She just didn't like being in them. They smelled awful and was very unsanitary. She let out a small sigh, however, because she knew she had to do whatever it took to get herself to Vaan, and she'd do it too. She didn't have to like it, however. That being decided, she agreed with Snow's decision to raid the kitchen and she walked to it. After she opened the fridge she saw a couple of potions on the back of the top rack. She pulled them all out, and drank one herself. She felt better, her muscles loosened and relaxed, and she felt more alert. If only there was an Ether so she could restore her magic as well. She held out one to Serah as well, not exactly offering but giving. Even if the girl didn't need it now, Penelo would feel a lot better if she had one on her, just in case. The same went to Snow as she held one out of him as well. The rest went into her pack.

"I'm sorry too, Snow. I shouldn't have been like that. I'm grateful for your help, and I was acting like a spurned spoiled child and I shouldn't have. I hope you can forgive me." She was sincere in her apology and after she finished she ran her hands up her face and over her head, then down her braids. It didn't actually do anything, but afterwords she felt better. She bent down and picked up the soldier's gun she had taken with her and felt a little better with it in her hands. They were in control of the situation now. Well, at least, Penelo wanted to exude that confidence so she didn't get frightened and panic again.