AN - Yeah, yeah. Another one. Just take me out the back and shoot me. OR NOT BECAUSE THEN I DON'T UPDATE. I am still halfway through new chapters for Swan Dive and Nebula, as well as a re-write on the last chapter of As Above So Below, so until they're all fixed up this week, here's yet another fucking story to tide y'all over.

The rain belted down in sheets, cascading waves of water flooding through the gutters. The bus roared down the highway, wipers screeching with every pass over the windshield. It was quiet, save for the music blaring from the earphones of a passenger huddled within her hoodie. She was leant up against the glass, face pressed into her fist as she rest against the window.

Letting out a quiet sniff, the girl wiped at her eyes with her sleeve and drew a shuddering breath. At thirteen, she had nowhere else to go. But buying the first bus ticket she could afford to escape Bodhum was all she could do. It hurt to leave her sibling behind, but she knew she was in good hands. After what happened, it was better this way. She didn't even say goodbye to her best friend. She would probably never forgive her.

The young girl never felt more alone in her life. She was scared, things were happening to her that terrified her and all she could do was run.

All she ever did was run.

The first few years were hard. She was just a scared kid on the streets. She often thought about home, whether her kid sister was just as cursed as she was. There was a system to the streets, and the other homeless denizens of Nautilus took pity on her at first, helping her to meals and scraps of coins. Showed her the ropes. She did what she could to hide what she'd become, making herself scarce if her abilities were getting too overwhelming, moving on to other parts of the city if she looked like she was going to be caught out.

Until the night she slipped up. Bone weary and tired, she ripped open a can of refried beans with her bare hands. One of the others saw her and yelled out in alarm, drawing the attention of the others in the area.

"Shit! She's a fucking L'cie!"

Blind panic reared up, and spurred on the further changes to her body. Her nails sharpened into claws and she felt her teeth jut down in her head. Scrambling back to get out of the way, the homeless camp advanced on her, breaking bottles and grabbing pipes to arm themselves. How quickly they'd turned. Yesterday they broke bread with her, today they wanted her dead. How quickly they grow to fear. She closed her eyes and welcomed death. Anything would be better than the life she lived now. She cried out at the first slice of flesh, and didn't stop the tears as the homeless people she'd come to call friends brutally attacked her.

A growl from behind them caused her attackers to pause in their movements, when a tall man loomed from the shadows and bared his sharp teeth.

"Etro, it's another one!"

He surged forward, bringing his claws down across their throats, sending them scattering or dropping to the alley, dead. When he was certain it was safe enough, he knelt down to inspect the girl's wounds.

"Can you walk?" He asked quietly, his voice gentle despite his barbarity moments before. The girl opened her eyes and nodded, staring at her shaking hand that had transformed. "Why do you scurry around down here like a rat in the sewer when you are a god?"

"Don't really feel like one at the moment," She grumbled, wincing as he helped her to her feet. "But thanks. I think."

The man stared down at her, blowing the feathers from his face that dangled from a bandana across his forehead. "It is no longer safe here anymore. Come with me."

A protest was about to sound from the girl's lips, but then she glanced down at the chaos in the alley and thought the better of it. He was either a dangerous man to refuse, or if she was left here, she'd be blamed for all the carnage. She silently fell into step beside him, shoving her mutated hand into her pocket. The purple-haired man gave her a curious look as they retreated quickly in the darkness, heading for the warehouse districts. She caught the blatant stare and blushed.

"If… If I concentrate real hard, it goes away after a while."

"Why should you? Why hide what you are? You are what they call a shifter. A L'cie with the ability to alter one's form. Like me." He paused in his steps and tilted the girl's chin up to meet his eyes with a careful claw. "Those hopeless humans in the alley are not your friend. They are not your equal. You are beyond them. Beyond this."

It was flattering, she had to admit. The first time since all this madness started that she felt something other than shame. "Come," he said, releasing her from his hold and guiding through the streets. "You will come to safety with your brothers and sisters.

The girl looked hopeful for the first time in years. "There are others like me? Other… L'cie?"

"Indeed. While not entirely like you, they are all gods amongst men. Do you have a name?"

"Y-yeah. It's Yun. Oerba Yun."

The man scoffed and shook his head. "That is your human name, child. You need a name fitting of a deity that will rule this world."

"Well what about you? What's your name?"

A slow smile spread across her rescuer's face as the boarding plank lowered onto the dock. "You are Pulsian correct? Do you know the old tongue word for "Armageddon?" Yun nodded with a hard swallow.

"Caius, right?"

"Indeed. Worry not, you will be safe with us and you will find your true name."

The two vanished in the dead of night, to head to the safety of their sanctuary.

"Come on, you'll be late for class!"

Claire rolled her eyes and scoffed at the notion as she buttoned up her shirt. "The day I'm late is the day the world ends," she muttered to herself, zipping about the room in a flash of white and green while she hummed and got ready for class. She stopped in front of a photo pinned to her wall and smiled, distracting herself for a few moments in her morning routine. Two smiling dorks, as she would say. Mucking about when they were kids on holidays at a camping site. Claire brushed her blonde messy hair and sighed.

All this talk of L'cie emergence, those who harboured genetic mutations were allegedly people to be feared, the powers that manifested dangerous. Claire didn't think so, she never had a problem with running late for school when she was as fast as lightning. She hardly called it dangerous and giggled to herself as she toyed with electricity dancing between her fingertips.

A gasp drew her attention to the doorway, her head snapping around to find her mother standing there with her hands over her mouth. "Claire… You're a L'cie?"

The colour drained from the young pinkette's face as she heard her father coming down the hallway at her mother's words. "What did you just say?" He exclaimed, horrified. His hatred of all things L'cie was obvious from his biting commentary every time they came on the news. He bought into the fearmongering, the hype, and suddenly for the first time Claire felt unsafe. By the time he made it to her room she had already vanished.

She ran, for what felt like hours, finally coming to a stop when she thought it was safe. Panting for breath for the first time in years, Claire hadn't run that far or fast since her awakened abilities. Looking down, she realised she was holding onto something and inhaled sharply with a pang in her chest. She'd grabbed the photo from the wall before she fled the house without even realising she'd done it. The last thing she'd ever carry from her old life. Gods, she didn't even have time to say anything to Serah.

Sliding down against a tree in the middle of a forest, Claire couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she cried. The reality of the situation dawned on her and she sobbed harder. Nowhere to go, she was barely thirteen. What was she going to do? She stood from her spot on the ground and looked around her.

Just pick a direction and run. That was her plan. So that's what she did. Claire ran. For three years she ran. Stole food and supplies, found places to stay that wouldn't draw attention to her, made like lightning streaking across the sky when she was caught. Not that she ever was caught. She was far too fast for that.

Until the day she wasn't, that was. Claire was happily crunching on an apple she'd "liberated" from the local markets, listening to tunes on her phone that she'd also "liberated" from an asshole who slammed into her on the subway because she wasn't getting out of his way fast enough. The irony of which she chuckled at silently as she sat on the pier, overlooking the water.

Claire blew the pink hair from in front of her eyes and sighed. She had a friend back home that was into the punk rock aesthetic, and wondered if she would be impressed with what was now her natural colour. The blonde had slowly shifted to this pale pink that turned heads as she passed in the street.

"Nice day for it, don't you think?" A warm, deep voice called out from next to her. Claire yelped and scrambled back, startled.

"What the hell? Where did you come from?" She demanded, eyes darting around looking for any threats. The dark-skinned man smiled and pointed lazily at the sky.

"Can you keep a secret?" He whispered with a wink and pointed behind him. That was when Claire had noticed his… Unique mode of transport.

"Are those wings?" She exclaimed, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She'd never met another L'cie before, especially not one that looked like he'd come to the pier by way of the temple scriptures.

"Well they sure aren't apples," he replied wryly, gesturing at the half-eaten fruit in her hand. "You come here often?"

Claire's eyes narrowed and she stood, taking a couple of steps back. "I don't know what your angle is here, but I'm not interested." The man's eyebrows raised before he broke out into a fit of raucous laughter.

"Oh. Oh no, you got it all wrong. I'm more just wondering how long you're gonna keep up the whole street-rat routine? Zipping in and out of shops, stealing what you please to get by… It'll catch up to you one day, because some people can actually see what you're doing."

"Like you?" Claire replied, suddenly feeling cold, and uneasy about the situation she suddenly found herself in. She was having a good morning, before it all went to hell in a hand basket.

The winged-man chuckled again and nodded. "Exactly like me. Look, out here on your own, it's dangerous. I have a place outside of Nautilus, where people like you can be safe. I give them safe haven, train them on how to hone their abilities. You wouldn't have to steal to survive anymore."

For someone that could probably run across the country in a matter of days, not running anymore sounded pretty damn appealing. But still, she was suspicious, whether this man had altruistic intentions or something more sinister in mind.

As if sensing her apprehension, he bowed slightly as he stood, flexing the wings on his back. "Tell you what. Take this card. It has the address on it, you're free to make your own choice. I ain't in the business of forcing the decision on young minds. You're essentially lightning, kid. No way would anyone be able to catch you if they had ulterior motives. Come check it out, you're free to come when you please, and go if it isn't your thing." He smiled and handed her a small card with an address on it, and then beat his wings to take flight. "Just give us a chance, kid. Give yourself a chance!"

The sound of Serah's phone vibrating off the bedside table shook her from the nightmare she was having. It was the same one as always, the endless repeat of her waking life. Claire gone with no explanation, her parents in denial about it and refusing to talk on the subject, a half-assed attempt at trying to find her from the authorities and too many unanswered questions to bear.

Serah picked her phone up from the floor with a groan and flicked the screen on with a lazy swipe of her thumb. A text message from a private number sat on her notifications screen and it caused her to sit up suddenly, the movement making her dizzy.

"Happy birthday, Serah. I am always proud of you. I love you. Xx Claire."

Ordinarily, these sporadic messages would make her heart leap for joy and give her some modicum of relief that her sister was alive. Today however, only left the taste of bile in the back of her throat, as bitter as she felt. Four years and no sign of Claire, beyond these cryptic messages that were her only link to her sister, any responding texts or demands for her to come home always going unanswered. Serah threw back the covers and got out of bed, throwing her phone on her desk without a second glance as she got ready for school.

Hollow stares met her from eyes framed with permanent dark circles as Serah entered the kitchen. Her mother was hunched over a coffee, wearing that perpetual guilty expression as she made the effort to look sincere when giving her daughter a hug and wishing her a happy birthday. Her father, as always, said little. He rarely spoke since Claire left. It was like her sudden departure sucked all the joy from the house, her family, her life. The reminder made her angry, and her temples began to throb from the tension.

"I'm headed off to school now, did you want to do something when I get home? Like a dinner or something?"

Her mother blinked a few times before she seemed to visibly shake off the fog and gave a slightly more genuine smile. "Of course, sweetie. We'll go to that nice pizza place you like, and then grab some ice cream. How about it?"

If Serah closed her eyes and tuned out the painful memories of her sister's disappearance, her mother's words sounded almost sincere. She clutched at her bag and gave a nod before heading out the door. The headache nipped at the edges of her vision the entire way to school, and grew throughout the first class of the day.

"Hey, Serah? You alright?"

Lifting her head from her hands, Serah gave her friend a once over and smiled gently, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. "Y-yeah. Didn't sleep well last night."

The blonde girl sat down next to her and gave her a hug. "Come on now, Ser-bear! It's your birthday! You're meant to be spoilt and ignore teachers and tell the cute boys to do stuff for you... Or to you..."

"Alyssa!" Serah exclaimed, giving her a shove off the bench. "Don't be crude. I... Don't mean to be a downer, I just... Claire sent me a message this morning and..." She trailed off with a sniff, her friend climbing to her feet and bundling her up in a tight hug.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, hun. How... Long has it been?"

"Just over four years now. A year since I've heard from her. I... Why won't she just come home? Or tell me why she left?" Serah balled her fists and stood, feeling hot and dizzy. She staggered forward and her friend caught her.

"Hey woah, easy there. Hey you're burning up, Serah. You sure you didn't wake up sick this morning too?"

The bell rung for next class and Serah shook Alyssa off and grabbed her bag. "That'd be all I need to top up this day." She muttered to herself and stormed off to her next class. Serah barely paid any attention, the throbbing behind her eyes travelling down her neck and making everything ache. Maybe she was coming down with a cold. Maybe she could go home and sleep until she forgot about her anger, and the fact that her sister was a coward who abandoned her.

The pain flared and she doubled over in agony at her desk. The teacher stopped writing on the board and turned, seeking out the source of the disruption.

"Uh, Miss? I think Serah needs to go see the nurse she doesn't look crash hot." One of the male students said nervously, eyeing her off. All Serah could hear was a loud ringing in her ears that was increasing in pitch every time she took a breath. Her hands felt like they were on fire and she gasped when they lit up with a ball of bright light emanating from her palms.

"Oh shit she's a L'c-"

The student's words were cut off by an enormous explosion, tearing the roof off the classroom and blowing out the windows.

When the ringing in her ears cleared, Serah stood with a terrified gasp, surveying the damage. Anyone else in the classroom was unconscious or possibly worse, blood everywhere. The fire alarm sounded and the sprinklers started pouring water from the ceiling. Serah stood in the middle of the carnage trying to not collapse from fear.

Staggering over and opening the door to the classroom, she found the hallways in chaos. Screaming students, teachers trying to maintain order while evacuating. Serah slipped in with the crowd and waited until she was clear of the building before she started running.

Bursting through the door to her home, she collapsed in the doorway, breathing heavily. Her lungs burned, her chest was tight and her head throbbed. It affected her vision and she crawled forward enough to kick the door closed.

"Hello? Oh thank the gods you're alright!" Serah heard her mother gasp as she was bundled up in her arms. "I'd just seen the news, your father's on his way home, we were so worried... They say it was a L'cie! In your school! Gods above, what are we going to do? These abominations should be put into camps and kept away!"

The words hit Serah like a punch to the stomach. Would her mother change her tune if she knew... A sinking feeling crept across her awareness, suddenly beginning to suspect why her sister may have vanished. "Mom, what if Claire was a L'cie? What if you saying things like that was what made her run?"

"E-enough of that. Don't say things like that. None of my daughters are those mutant freaks. Now go clean up before your father gets home. He'll want to know you're alright."

Serah nodded mutely, being led up the stairs on shaky legs. She sat on her bed and stared at the wall blankly. It was one thing to try to come to grips with the explosive afternoon at school that she seemed to have inadvertently caused. Another spit in the face was her mother's aggressive words. She was so quick to dismiss the question about Claire. A little too quick.

Her phone rang on her bedside table, startling her from her thoughts. Unknown number. Serah picked it up and answered, her hands trembling.

"Serah? Are you there?"

"Claire."

The first time in four years she'd heard her sister's voice. Serah wanted to be mad, but at this point she was just scared.

"Thank Etro you're alright. I've been so worried. I saw the news."

"I did it."

There was silence down the other end of the line and for a moment Serah thought the call had disconnected. But she could hear her sister take a shaky breath.

"Serah... Are you ok?"

"Why would you care?" Serah snapped, feeling herself heat up again. "This is literally the first time I've heard from you in years! Where have you been? Why did you leave?"

"You caused the explosion?" Serah clenched her jaw and remained silent in spite of the question, her lip trembling. She heard her sister sigh in resignation. "Then you know why I ran. Let me come get you, I'll take you somewhere safe."

"Don't bother." Serah snapped, the phone melting in her hand. She dropped it with a hiss and stared at it burning a hole into the carpet. "Dammit!" The walls shook with her curse, forcing Serah to stop and take a breath. Her parents were Sanctum sympathisers, hated L'cie. And now she was one. A mutant freak, as her father called them. Just like her sister. So now Serah had to follow in her footsteps.

Quickly packing a bag with a few clothes and essentials, she took a sad look around her room and choked on a sob. The last thing she did was open a notebook on her cleaned desk and write the words "I'm sorry for what I can't control." With tears trailing down her face, Serah swung her backpack over her shoulder and ran from the house, never looking back.