IN THE SKY THAT NIGHT

AUTHORS NOTES

'This' means someone is thinking or it is a flashback.

Horizontal ruler (a line across the page) means a page break or timeskip, it may be a few minutes, it may be a few hours...

-X- means a scene change, i.e. we start with character A in a warehouse. Then we go to character B in an apartment- a scene change from a warehouse to an apartment.

Disclaimer; I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise or any of the characters or ideas involved. This is nonprofit-I am making no money from this.

Bodhum, Night time…

On Eternity March Promenade, a young man moved hurriedly past bars and arcades and Velocycle charge points to the last building in the area and furthest away from the more heavily trafficked areas to his destination; it stood four stories high, windows tinted black with a plaque proclaiming its title; The Unchained Tower.

For the thousandth time he fidgeted, the black wig he wore to disguise his identity was hot and uncomfortable. At least the crowds had thinned as he approached the building.

He pressed a button, a voice replied over the intercom inquiring his identity.

The young man swallowed down panic. He couldn't believe he was doing this. "M- my name is Hope Estheim… I have an appointment tonight." His voice trembled and his body was shivering with fear.

He nearly shrieked at the sound of the buzzer granting him access.

Legs feeling weak as his heart thundered, he entered a lounge. He gasped in relief as there was no one around.

The worried young man looked around. The décor was very reassuring, not like what Hope was told went on here.

He studied white walls with passionate coloured flowers hanging from brassiers. His uncertain feet walked on soft carpeting as soothing crystal sounding music played.

'What happens now? Wait? Will she get me?!' Hope stood up straight, taking deep breaths to appear… not drowning in terror.

A woman appeared, not the one he was expecting. A young girl really, wearing a strangle-tight businesswoman shaped outfit that may have been accepted in an office environment if it wasn't indecently short, scandalously form-fitting and made of inappropriate leather in outrageous shades of red and orange. The girl shamelessly wearing it bounced with energy. Hope didn't know whether he should be reassured, scared or horny.

"Hi! Welcome to the Unchained Tower and congratulations on being brave to enter. Unless you're lost. And need to get somewhere else." Her expression changed to innocent worry and bewilderment and Hope was struck at how she could look so childlike when dressed like that.

"You're not lost right? Coz I'll totally help you if you are… and I'll help if you're not… lost that is… I help lots of people. Oh! I'm Vanille by the way. It sounds like Vanilla which I'm totally not."

Hope took a step back confused at her strange tones and behavior. "…Er, I'm Hope Estheim… we… talked on the vidphone… I… er… have a session with Mistress Rose?"

Vanille looked at a PADD that had come from… somewhere. 'Where the hell was she keeping that?!' "Yeah! You explicitly requested her… do… you have experience in… oh! Right! You said in your application form 'No prior experience with-' not that it's a bad thing… or that there's anything wrong with the normal vanilla stuff…" She laughed nervously. "Vanilla. Kind of like my name which is funny coz I'm not- er! Business! Business!"

She clenched her fists as Hope stared in bewilderment.

"Are you sure about your choice…she's a bit advanced for beginners. Not that I'm saying you look new. Or depraved! Just that… she's tough y'know?

Hope laughed, nerves gone, mostly because the weird girl in front of him confused him. "I know… I was… I was recommended Mistress Rose by a friend."

Vanille smiled awkwardly and thought; 'You might not consider him a friend considering what's coming…'

Her demeanour reflected none of her worry as she asked Hope to fill out a nondisclosure and consent form via PADD that disappeared somewhere when Vanille took it back.

'I need to ask her where she puts stuff…' Hope thought eying the form-fitting garb.

"Okay! Follow me!" Hope jerked at the spontaneously ecstatic voice.

-X-

Hope was led deeper into the building and higher via elevator. His stomach lurched as he was led down a corridor of weird design with heavily armoured doors with numbers on them.

"The rooms are locked, soundproofed and private. You can leave at any time you want and no one is watching." Vanille instructed sounding both chirpy and informative.

He stared in bewilderment at statues of Coccoon Fal'cie wearing bondage masks and gear.

"Are… those... Fal'Cie?!" Hope asked. Before he got an answer a door opened and a voluptuous woman in the skimpiest lingerie Hope had ever seen and a stuffed Chocobo head atop her brunette locks in a bizarre fuse of raging sexuality and childlike weirdness. She winked at the staring Hope and sauntered past him unaware or uncaring that Hope was staring at her ass (displayed as her bottoms were a thong that left tanned, toned, full butt cheeks hanging in full view) briefly before admonishing himself following Vanille.

Hope's heart was pounding in his chest, he was sweating profusely, throat tight. He reminded himself of why he was here, to events from several days ago that had changed his life;

Bodhum Night time, several days earlier…

Hope had decided to go looking around, he had been sent to this town to attend prestigious Bodhum Academy of Technology as ordered by his father. Prestigious according to Bartholomew Estheim, and what father wanted, he got. So here Hope was, uprooted again and cast into a strange and unfamiliar place. He figured he might as well see where he was going to be stuck for the next few years.

The newcomer went down the wrong alleyway and a big, scary and very heavily muscled guy blocked his route. He turned to exit where he entered and saw two other equally scary guys and a fist fly towards his face knocking him to the floor. Two of his attackers began stomping on his chest and face. The Palumpolum native at least knew to get his hands up to defend himself while the third guy routed around inside Hope's pockets.

"Hey!" A voice Hope distantly identified as female rang out.

The three goons turned to see a female newcomer.

The first guy pulled out a knife and hungrily stalked over to the woman.

"Hand over your Gil- watch, jewellery… anything va-ackk!" The would-be robber was cut off by a kick that lashed out and knocked the knife out of his hand. The leg lashed back down catching the crook in the face. Before he could make another move the girl stepped forwards and drove a forearm strike into the stunned males solar plexus doubling him over, she shoved him aside with bored apathy. The other muggers stepped off Hope and went on the defensive.

Hope rolled over and saw a slender feminine form. He was about to cry out when the stranger lashed out with a low kick to the closest goons calf, he stumbled left and Lightning viciously kicked the falling goon in the face knocking him out.

The second assailant clumsily stabbed at her with a switchblade. Lightning slapped the palm down then punched the guy and Hope swore that he saw a tooth fly out as the thug fell.

Lightning walked over to Hope who looked up amazed.

Hope Estheim looked up finally seeing the newcomer for the first time. She was beautiful; rose coloured hair in seemingly delicate wavy tresses styled into one side in strange locks, flawlessly smooth fair skin with the most hauntingly beautiful blue eyes he'd ever seen and a scary/lovely cold/haughty expression. She wore a white sweatshirt with a strange pendant (a lightning bolt he thought) around her neck.

She bent over and handed Hope his wallet back. In the dark of night, a streetlight shone down casting the woman in a halo of light, her rose-coloured hair, fair skin and blue eyes glimmering in an almost holy manner making her seem like a goddess or divine L'Cie in shapely female form.

"You okay?" Hope nodded dumbly feeling he'd been saved by an angel. As dumb as that sounded. She snorted at him.

"You're new around here. Don't wander off alone down dark alleyways. Especially not given how pretty you look." Hope blushed at what should have been an emasculating insult.

Rapid bootsteps drew her lovely head up.

A pair of Guardian corps officers ran in. one of them stopped in recognition of Hope's saviour.

"Lightning! Not in the corps but still busting criminals?"

'Lightning?' Hope at first felt it wasn't pretty enough for her but thinking on it, the name definitely worked for her.

-X-

After both Hope and Lightning gave statements, the mysterious beauty walked off without a word leaving Hope dazed. He chased after her, catching up to her outside a bar. He had finally thought of something cool to say to her.

"Hey! I didn't get your name!"

"I didn't give it kid." She said without turning around. Hope struggled after her but lost her in a crowd.

She was gone.

From there Hope had returned home- or to the hotel he was staying at.

He had hacked Bodhum CCTV (he was a tech wiz) and found the woman who had rescued him. Grimacing at how uncool he seemed- as he was getting mugged- idiot!

He ran his rose-haired saviours lovely features through a facial recognition program he had written and got a hit; Claire 'Lightning' Farron, age 22 former Guardian Corps before a dishonourable discharge for striking a superior officer. Now she worked as a… dominatrix at the fetish club Unchained Tower. Hope had later studied the website of the club and found himself both freaked out and weirdly aroused at the content.

After a night of no sleep and hours of back and forth in his head he made his choice of how to meet the saviour again.

He had to see her again- she occupied his every waking moment.

And now where he was, about to see the woman of his dreams…

-X-

Vanilla stopped at a door. No 13. 'An unlucky number?' "This is your room. Good luck." She smiled somewhat awkwardly and skipped off.

Swallowing, Hope opened the door and entered.

It was worlds apart from the lounge he visited on his first entrance; it was dark, the walls were alarming red cushions with several cupboards leaning against them. However Hope barely noticed them for the rooms most striking feature;

On the rooms opposite side facing the door in a white throne, legs crossed sat 'Mistress Rose', (or Lightning Farron) dressed in a fetishized PSICOM Colonels uniform. His father did business with PSICOM and he was pretty sure the real uniforms didn't reflect so much light or bare so much. Or have those spiked heels.

She stared coldly at him.

"…hello?"

The woman gestured at him with a finger to come closer.

"…I don't know if you remember me… a few days ago you-"

"Come closer." The woman demanded. Hope shut up and inched closer, now trembling with fear.

Hope got within inches of the terrifying, gorgeous woman.

Fast as a viper, the seated woman's hand shot out- it grabbed Hope's confused but erect cock through his pants, bending the young man over in agony.

"I know who you are. Hope Estheim, son of Bartholomew Estheim, the telecommunications giant. Didn't the Cocoon Herald call you the 'Prince of Palumpolum'?"

"…" Hope could barely breathe through the sheer agony coming down on his most delicate area.

"Answer me when I talk." She commanded coldly.

"Y-yes… though I don't like the title…"

"How about if I call you slave then? Or slime? Or brat?"

Showing his 'prodigy IQ' Hope told his captor what she wanted to hear; she could call him what she wished. The woman wasn't sated.

"What do you think is going to happen here? That you would enter a bedroom, see me naked, lying submissive, begging you to take me? Like so many whores you've bought?" She asked with a new edge in her voice.

"Aaakk! N-no! I swear!"

"Then what did you expect then?"
He thought for a second- not easy when it felt like a Behemoth was coming down on your balls.

"I-I knew you were a dom… inatrix… I was hoping to (agh) get your attention."

"You'd have to try very hard to get my attention. You couldn't handle it kid."

"Please, let me try."

"This isn't a brothel. Things may not go your way here. Go."

"No."

Lightning glared at him harder and Hope was struck how lovely she looked even eyes full of rage and disdain.

"It's not a joke. I'm here for a… session." He choked out drowning in embarrassment and pain and lust.

She released him.

"Really. Take your clothes off, then we'll get started."

Hope hesitated, frozen in fear. Was this really happening?

"Er…"

'She said this wasn't a brothel… so she can't mean all my clothes…'

Trembling, he stripped down to his underwear, fair skin burning in embarrassment, then self-doubt as Lightning watched without the slightest flicker of her cold stare- she wasn't impressed, but she wasn't mocking him either.

"Scrawny. And small. I take it the hookers you buy tell you size doesn't matter, right?" She taunted.

Hope held his arms close hugging himself looking at his arms- he considered himself lean but muscular, certainly not as scrawny as some people he knew.

"Well? Answer me?"

"I've never… paid for sex, mistress." He wasn't about to tell her he was a virgin.

Lightning's face showed shock for a moment, then shifted back to icy dispassion.

"I didn't mean your aristocratic arms or legs, I was talking about your cock." The fact that she said it with a straight face and no fluctuation of voice would later impress Hope, for now he simply went even redder and placed his hands over his tenting erection.

"You paid for an hour. Your safe word is snowflake."

"S-snowflake?"

"It's easy to remember. And I hate snow."

Hope didn't know what to say to that.

Lightning got up in Hope's face, shoving him against a cushioned wall tugging his wig off. He was taller than her but didn't feel any safer.

"You have the prettiest, girliest hair I have ever seen… it goes with your pretty face and eyes…"

Hope went even redder at the taunts.

"Turn around. Stand facing the wall." His abuser ordered.

Lightning watched his compliance then stepped away to open a nearby cupboard. Hope looked over her shoulder and saw… boots? Of different sizes, material and shapes.

The rose-haired dominatrix picked out one pair in particular and held them up to Hope's uncertain gaze. They were made of a white shimmering leathery material and looked quite effeminate with a very high heel. In fact ridiculously high, Hope felt fear creeping up in him as he realised the footwear his Dominatrix was holding would put the wearers feet at almost a 180 degree angle. Hope had never worn high heels before, but knew they were painful.

"These should fit you. I checked your shoe size after you clumsily stripped. Sit on the floor."

Hope gulped down fear as Lightning grabbed one of his ankles and worked the first boot on- it was a tight fit as the material squeezed down on Hope's foot, ankle and calf as it was twisted on. The sitting Hope winced as his foot and ankle bent in uncomfortable ways as the leather enclosed and squeezed around his limb. His tendons and muscles were being stretched and squeezed as his body part was being forced to bend in ways they weren't supposed to.

When the fetish garment was all the way on, stopping just below Hope's knee, Lightning mercilessly pulled the boots laces tight and tied them, trapping the imprisoned limb. She repeated the procedure with Hope's other leg methodical and unrelenting.

Lightning appraised her handiwork; "Not bad. My boots are nicer though."

She raised her right foot off the ground and stuck it in Hope's face.

"Show your respect. Lick my boot."

He went crosseyed looking at the black leather arrogantly placed before him.

Hope gasped at the bizarre order. But acquiesced. Starting at boot heel he licked up to her boot tip and down to her spiked heel face creasing at the distasteful taste.

She got behind Hope and effortlessly pulled him up by under his shoulders, even through the skyrocketing discomfort in his feet Hope was amazed at how physically strong the woman was.

"Think you can stand up?"

When Hope stammered yes she removed her arms from Hope's armpits. The young man wobbled in the horrid torture footwear as the intense-eyed dominant watched Hope's escalating peril.

"Walk about a bit, get your balance."

Hope obeyed, hissing in pain. Each step sent stabs of agony through his whole body. His feet were tilted at an alarming and dangerous angle making it difficult to balance.

Lightning watched analytical as Hope suffered.

At Lightning's instruction he walked to each of the room's walls, reaching his arms out to balance like a trapeze artist while hissing and gasping in increasing pain.

"Alright, twinkle-toes. Time to move up a bit."

Hope blinked in confusion when his tormentor began running her fingers through his hair. She bunched it up high up like a topknot. Skillfully, she wove a knot of rope into and around the piled up hair and pulled on it testing. Hope's eyes slammed shut in pain and he almost shrieked at the tuggin at his scalp. Lightning attached the rope to a hook lowered from a device connected to a rail system of some kind on the ceiling. When all connections were set, Hope wobbled in panic and pain; his feet were together barely balanced in the bondage boots, he was naked except for boxer shorts which stretched at his larger than ever erection. His face showed pain and fear and his hair was being ruthlessly tugged almost from his scalp.

Glaring cruelly, Lightning slapped her subs flailing hands down as they went to untie the agonised, bound hair.

"See the circle above you? Walk around it- do enough laps and I untie the knot in your lovely locks… consider it a test you can't buy the answers to."

For several minutes, Hope engaged in the worst torture he had ever experienced; he battled to keep his balance and fight through the agony in his ankles and calves and the further pains in his scalp and neck as he was pulled from above. Lightning was behind him, prodding him with a wooden switch and watching carefully. If her sub lost his balance he would catch him. He did have very pretty hair after all.

She saw Hope's plight and was impressed the brat had lasted this long; his feet had to be killing him and he probably felt like he was being scalped. That made her feel warm inside. And she smiled behind his back.

-X-

Finally Light decided the sub wasn't going to quit- from this low level of persuasion. She had many other ideas though.

"Okay, stop."

She undid the knot in Hope's hair and the relief made Hope seemingly swoon and Light caught him before he fell. She held the larger male up easily.

"Not much body weight huh? Girls today are so into being underweight." She snorted.

Hope felt… conflicted; relief over the hair torture being over, joy over Lightning holding him. The insult didn't even register with him.

She placed the shuddering male down in a sitting position. She crouched in front of him giving him an incredible look at her cleavage. She noticed this but was unbothered and pulled the near spellbound males boots off. The relief his ankles, feet and calves felt was dizzying.

"Thank you, mistress." Hope choked out.

'Didn't even after prompt him for that… kid learns…'

"Hey guess what? That was just the warmup, it gets worse from here, princess."

Lightning took hold of Hope's arms and positioned them behind his back. Hope winced at her grip- about as delicate and feminine as a Behemoth. His machine gun fast heart beat accelerated again as he realised Lightning was tying his arms behind his back. He knew this was coming of course, he had watched online videos of bondage provided by the clubs online website. He tried to arch his head back to see what she was doing.

It was a tight tie; each wrist was tied to the opposing arm just above the elbow and his forearms were tied together. A second set of knots was assembled wrapping around his torso above and below his pecs.

Lightning was silent as they went.

The rose-haired girl stepped back and pointed at a spot in the middle of the room.

"Stand there."

She tied another rope connecting the bonds between his arms to another hook on the ceiling essentially leashing Hope in place. She opened a bag and revealed two bizarre looking devices, like deflated balloons attached to tiny metal syringes. Looking at them made Hope really uneasy.

"Getting afraid? I get paid full price whether you make it through the hour or not. Hold still."

Trembling with fear and confusion, Hope fought down panic at alien intrusion as the balloon like rubber of one of the devices was pushed into one of his nostrils- up his nose and secured. The second device was twisted up Hope other nostril and Hope's mouth gulped wider sucking in air.

"Don't worry, I won't block your mouth- you need that to say your safe word. And scream. And beg."

Pushing plungers on both devices, the balloons embedded in Hopes nasal canals expanded with air and Hope was hit by the biggest wave of panic yet as his airways were filled with intruding rubber.

They stopped expanding, invading and Hope gulped in great mouthfuls of air through his mouth, shuddering in terror.

Suddenly he realised Lightning was holding his face and stroking him affectionately, though the cold demeanour still dominated her face.

'Did I just imagine it or is she concerned about me?' Hope thought in a strangely cognizant thought.

She pulled out two more half balloon/half syringe devices and Hope stared at them leaning back in his restraints.

Lightning stuck the devices in his ears and repeated the balloon invasion routine this time inside his ear canals. Hope's hearing became muffled, he could barely make out Lightnings reminder of his safe word and threats of what was to come when the terrifying woman was talking practically nuzzling cheek to cheek with him.

She held up another implement from her bag of tricks; a large black blindfold. She raised it up to her eyes and playfully displayed it for Hope so he knew what it was and what it would do to him; take his sight. Lightning had taken his senses of smell, practically deafened him, and now she would take his vision. But his mouth was open, ungagged. For now. Was that next? What about touch? Would she put him in a sensory deprivation… thing and leave him to go crazy as she sat back and waited for the hour to pass? Somehow Hope didn't think so and fought down fear to let Lightning sublimate him.

Lightning carefully placed the leather band over Hope's eyes cementing her control of her submissive's third of five senses.

She was slightly annoyed that the rich brat hadn't quit already- while it wasn't good for business to drive customers away some spoiled plutocrat teenager had no place here and she knew it was only a matter of time before Estheim requested 'a session at a place of his choosing'. Which wasn't happening.

She stepped back to admire the bound teenager twitching in fear at being so helpless. Lightning quite enjoyed it.

She reached out and poked Hope on his shoulder with a finger. The larger male jumped in shock. Lightning knew from experience that when blindfolded all other senses were heightened, losing two others senses as well would make it worse.

Circling the bound male, she let him stew in anticipation of what was next.

Then she slowly, teasingly stroked his back with her gloved hand. To Hope it was the most erotic thing he'd ever experienced.

She picked a device from one of the walls; a flogger. Not her largest, heaviest or most painful or damaging- not nearly. But in this situation it would be devastating.

She teased Hope's shoulders and back with the cold rubber braids and Hope's mouth clamped shut to avoid whimpering in fear. He had studied BDSM information online and knew what Lightning was wielding. His imagination made it worse though; he imagined the rose-haired sadist wielding a demonic device that would tear flesh and muscle and unleash rivers of blood.

Fwap! The flogger came down on Hope back. It didn't cut flesh, or even bruise, but to the victim it felt like a red-hot bullwhip had crashed down on his back; each strand of the flogger seared into his skin, thudded into his muscles filling Hope's body with pain- for a brief moment, then the pain vanished and in its place was surges of pleasure that rushed from the impact points throughout his body revitalising him.

Fwap! Another hit, and the pattern repeated itself. Hope gasped through his wide open mouth never knowing this kind of pleasure before.

Lightning changed tack slightly and flogged Hope's chest. It caught him off guard but he soon enjoyed this treatment as well as evidenced by the improbably expanded erection the Estheim heir sported in his white boxers.

Lightning changed again; circling the restrained boy and flogging at seeming random places and times to throw him off, sometimes she would strike him several times in quick succession across his thighs then wait an agonising amount of time; up to ten seconds though it felt infinitely longer to Hope before moving to another body part and striking it only once before lashing a totally different body part with no warning.

An alarm clock went off, bleeping. Lightning looked at it angrily. The rich brat lasted the entire session without the safe word.

She wasn't really trying to break him though. He'd be crying and begging if she was.

Carefully, she removed the earplugs from the shuddering males ears, deflating them before gently pulling them out.

"Time's up rich boy. Did you forget your safe word?"

"N-no mistress…" His quivering voice sounded strange due to his still plugged nostrils.

"So why didn't you use it?"

"Didn't want to… didn't want to waste this opportunity…"

Lightning was surprised by this though Hope couldn't see it since he was still blindfolded.

The dominatrix untied Hope's ropes, leaving the sensory deprivation aids in the subs nose and eyes til last.

"Let me guess, you paid your hookers to beat you once or twice before?"

"N-no mistress… this was my first time…"

"Well you've got a wealth of experience now..." She stroked his hair affectionately.

-X-

The 'Aftercare' part of the session (or that's what Hope figured it was from his research) was strange; Lightning laid Hope on a soft leather padded bench of some kind, put a blanket over the burning hot, near naked male and then placed Hope's head in her lap and stroked his mussed hair seemingly maternal. Hope would later reflect that being mothered by a Dominatrix who just tortured him was really weird. For that moment though, he lay in Mistress Rose's lap until he fell asleep.

The awakening an unknown time later by Vanille bending over him was… abrupt.

"Hi!"

So abrupt in fact that Hope bolted up in surprise so fast that he collided heads with the redhaired girl.

"Owww…" They both moaned holding their heads.

Hope scowled at Vanille. 'Damn, that girl has a hard head…'

"Hi! You're still alive! Totally believed in you! You must be famished! I get off in five minutes… so, do you want to get something to eat?"

-X-

Later…

After redressing, and briefly eating a quick snack with Vanille (and politely turning down a cooldown service) Hope left Lightning's torture chamber in a daze, not really knowing what happened. He felt… freer than he could ever remember.

After returning home, Hope collapsed onto his bed more tired, yet more alive than he could ever remember.

He thought back over his session with the pink-haired Goddess. He didn't know what was going on between Lightning and him.

Hope realised he'd accomplished something; he'd made Lightning acknowledge him- he hadn't run off or gave up. He was thrilled and excited.

This was a good day.

He looked at a CCTV picture of Lightning on his cellphone. The rose-haired woman far colder and less alive than when she was torturing him.

Right there and then he decided he was going back.

END?

AUTHORS NOTES

The idea of this story was how extreme could I write a pairing between a domineering female and submissive and extremely aroused male without it getting sexual. I'm interested to see or hear how successful I was at this.

I may or may not do further chapters of this, it depends on reader interest.