Sisterly Love Chapter 20 Part Two: My Love For You

Lightning stared at the shape of the quickly approaching Doppelganger ship as she quietly paced the width of her own vehicle. With the airship set to auto-pilot the young woman was able to lose herself in her thoughts. A sudden anger had taken over her body and soul a few hours prior when she had kicked her party from the ship. But now she was calm and regretting what she had said to Serah. But maybe there was some truth in her words that she refused to believe. No that couldn't be, Lightning would never have those thoughts about Serah, her only reason for living. Still, she was left pondering what had come over her. At first she couldn't remember what had happened, but it slowly became to come back to her half an hour into her flight.

The young woman sighed as she sank into driver's seat. What she was doing was crazy, that she knew. But still, as if an unknown force guided her, she couldn't turn back.

'I just want to end all of this.'

Lightning's airship continued towards the silhouette of the Doppelganger in the distance, the setting sun casting a large shadow over the face of Cocoon.

Security had been non-existent when Lightning boarded the aircraft, it left in unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. Grasping her necklace, Lightning drew her Blazefire Saber and continued onward towards the control room of the ship.

The halls were empty, no sign of security anywhere. The closer she got to the control room, the more nervous she felt, but as always Lightning pushed that queezy feeling aside, and focused on her goal. As long as she had a goal she could stay focused.

It was only a matter of minutes before Lightning arrived to the control room. It was large, an open metallic floor in a circular shape formed an almost arena like stage, the whole room was in the shape of a sphere with a translucent dome acting as the roof. The control room was abandoned, safe for a single throne perched upon a tall flight of stairs placed at the very back of the room, and upon that throne sat none other than Galenth Dysley, the Primarch of Cocoon.

"Welcome my child." The old man grinned as Lightning entered the room. Just the sound of his voice was enough to send shivers down her spine and back up again.

"You're here alone?" Lightning asked, not so much of a question but a statement. Dysley smirked in response.

"It depends on your definition of alone, my l'Cie." Dysley spoke knowingly. Lightning scoffed in disgust for how the man carried himself. "I must say, I am surprised that you didn't bring your band of misfits with you."

"I don't care for restraints." Lightning growled back.

"Is that so?" The old man smirked once more. "Let me acquaint you with a friend you've surely forgotten about by now." Dysley spoke as he slowly waved his scepter in slow circle, slowly forming a dark cloud of mist. Lightning strained her eyes in an attempt to see what was happening before her, but naturally failed to do so due to the opaque cloud. From within the dark cloud jumped a pale figure.

It was Lightning's doppelganger.

"Do you remember this finely crafted specimen?" The man asked, motioning towards the doppelganger with his scepter. "My dear Jihl was not the one responsible for its creation, she always did make a habit of taking credit for things that were not her own. This being her biggest farce. You see my dear l'Cie, this being is made not from man or machine. It is the very embodiment of your hate and rage, past and present, your dark side."

Lightning listened to the man as she regarded her doppelganger once again. 'So it looks like Cloud was unable to finish you off.' The young woman thought as she settled into her battle stance, bringing her left arm horizontally across her abdomen. Her clone took the same stance. And in a second the two had clashed swords, sparks flying from the equal power on each side. Lightning forced the Doppelganger upwards and landed a kick on it's stomach, sending it a few feet backwards. The strawberry blonde followed up her action by switching her weapon into gun mode and firing off a few rounds which her dark side avoided by rolling backwards, getting onto her feet in the process.

The deathly pale figure adorned a sickening smile before rushing back in towards it's opponent, with the flick of her wrist Lightning switched her gun back into it's sword form in time to block her opponents strike. Throwing her left hand forward, Lightning casted an aerora spell that threw her doppelganger up into the air. The young woman landed a flurry of blows as she leaped up after her double. Grabbing her manifested darkness by the ankle, Lightning threw it back into the floor, the doppelganger connecting with a sickening crack.

Behind the two, Dysley sat with a smug smirk on his wrinkled face. Watching the two engaged in their intricate war dance was highly amusing for the sovereign of the fal'Cie. He wanted the young woman to recognize her full power in fighting her double, testing her limits and strength to the max. And if she achieved that goal then he would grant her a power far beyond comprehension, a power that only has one equal in both the world of Cocoon and Gran Pulse. A power drawn straight from the invisible world, where mere man cannot go.

Landing shortly after her double, Lightning charged forward in an attempt to take it's head off. However her sword struck the metallic sword as the doppelganger was no longer there. Whirling to the right, Lightning was met with punch to the gut. Doubling over, Lightning gasped for breath, her chest heaving before receiving a kick to the chin, sending her sprawling onto her back. The dark Lightning was upon her in half a second-too fast for the young woman to even blink-it's sword across her throat. Lightning's eyes widened momentarily before quickly headbutting her attacker, however the doppelganger would not go so easily, as it stood it's ground. Lightning struggled to free herself but it was futile as her double was considerably stronger than expected.

Bringing it's left hand over to the pink haired woman's forehead, it began to channel it's energy into it's hand, which began to glow a pitch black color. Lightning's blue eyes widened as her double's hand was planted firmly onto her head. A searing pain shot through her at the contact, much like the creature's hand was a branding iron instead of a human hand. The energy that secreted from said hand was draining Lightning's energy, as if it was sucking on her very soul.

"Claire!" Out of the corner of her now blurred vision, Lightning could make out the silhouette of her kid sister, Serah. She felt a tug of fear pull at her heart due to the immediate danger that Serah now faced, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little comfort that Serah had gone out of her way to follow her, after what she had said to the poor kid. One thing was certain though; she was going to kill Snow after all of this was over. That was the last thought that entered her mind before she let out a pained cry and fell unconscious, her eyes rolling up into her head.

Serah gasped as her sister's body slumped, limply onto the floor. Gaze transfixed on the eerie double of her beloved guardian and older sister, Serah watched helplessly as the strange double dissipated into a black mist and entered Lightning's body through her nose and mouth. The scene sent a shiver down the younger Farron's spine as "Lightning's" body slowly stood and turned to face her. The once blue irises of her eyes now pale white in color.

"Excellent." Dysley spoke from his seat, he stood and started to make his way down to the two other occupants of the room. He stopped right in front of the youngest Farron, towering over little Serah.

"Dammit, Sazh! can't you go any faster!" Snow shouted at the older man, who was currently working feverishly with the Doppelganger's internal systems. Trying to sabotage the ship.

"Don't yell at me, boy. I'm not the one who let his girl go off to fight some crazy strong nasties by herself!" Sazh shouted back before pounding on the control panel. Snow sighed and waited a few minutes before replying.

"I didn't let Serah do anything. She just slipped away...she's fast, Sazh." The hulking man spoke sadly.

"Huh, all Farrons are." Sazh spoke with a small grunt as he continued tinkering with the central panel. "And this damn thing is just about as stubborn as Lightning is!"

"Oh get out of the way you, blowhards." Fang growled as she pushed both Snow and Sazh aside before decisively stabbing her Bladed Lance into the panel. "That's how you do it."

"Well I'll be, it worked." Sazh spoke in disbelief.

"Always so straight forward, Fang." Vanille shook her head at her friend.

"I know, genius of me, isn't it?" The older Oerban spoke proudly, jabbing her thumb into her chest.

"No. More like moronic." The three chorused. Fang deflated.

"Use this weapon, little one. And the resulting clash will be powerful enough to shake the very axis of Cocoon." Dysley spoke as he held out a pure white long sword adorned with a golden hilt and red gems. The blade was too white to be humanly possible and it shone with an equally as white aura. Serah gawked at the blade for a moment until hesitantly taking it from the old man. It wasn't quite as heavy as it looked as Serah could wield it with little trouble.

"Now strike down your sister." Serah felt a shiver run down her spine as "Lightning" continued to stare at her. Kill, sis? Serah brow creased as she pondered the old man's sanity. He couldn't possibly expect her to off her own sister, did he? Seeing the look the little Farron was giving him, Dysley continued. "She's lost now, Serah. The only way you can bring her back is to engage her in battle. And hope for Lightning's fighting spirit to return and take back her body." Should I believe him? He is a baddie after all. But do I even have a choice? "But alas, young Serah. The more you stall, the more she gets lost." Okay. Lies or not, I'll do it. If there's someone who can bring Claire back, it's me. With a resolute nod, Serah threw herself at her sister. Dysley grinned.

The Omega and Alpha Weapons clashed together with a loud bang as sparks erupted from both blades. Serah's nerves were on high alert as she fought to hold her own in the test of strength against her obviously much more capable and stronger sister. But Serah knew that if there was one thing she had on her side, it was willpower. Willpower and fear. The fear of losing her sister would prove as greater motivation to succeed than whatever was going through "Lightning's" mind. Serah was jarred from her thoughts when "Lightning" put more power behind her blade and sent the smaller girl flying onto her back. Serah groaned and slowly climbed back to her feet as she recovered from her fall. Eyes widening, she rolled to the side just in time to avoid her sister's strike. Going back onto the offensive Serah swung her blade in a wide arc in hopes of clipping her sister's shoulder. However, her maneuver was that of a beginner's and was too easy for her opponent to avoid. Missing her target completely, Serah was sent forward onto her stomach as "Lightning" kicked her back. Serah groaned and just laid there. She didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. Her big sister, her personal hero was too far out of her league for Serah to even compete. Serah squeezed her eyes shut as she felt a foot press into the small of her back and felt the sensation of cold steel pressed against the back of her neck.

"A shame. I was certain that you'd be able to overcome the odds." Dysley shook his head, disappointed. "Not even enough of a fight to rouse the Maker. Truly disappointing." Serah felt her opponents blade leave her neck, probably to bring it back down on her skull, the young girl mused. However, before the deed could be finished, the ship began to rumble, forcing "Lightning" to lose her balance. Taking advantage of the sudden distraction, Serah kicked her sister back and flipped out of harm's grasp. Her back flip wasn't quite as graceful as Lightning's trademark, but it would suffice. "What is the meaning of this!" Dysley demanded as he looked around in hopes of finding the cause of the ship's malfunction. Now's my chance. Serah thought, feeling a bold streak within her. Zooming past her sister, Serah ran towards Dysely. sword raised in hopes of cutting him down. Once she got a foot away from him, Serah launched herself into the air with a battle cry as she went to cleave her blade through the bastard's head. But she never got the chance as Dysley caught her in midair, around the throat. "Know this, young one. I don't give second chances." Those words were the last that Serah heard before darkness overcame her. But as she lost consciousness, she wasn't worried about her own safety, her thoughts were with her sister.

Lightning's eyes snapped to the right when she heard a soft thump. Her heart skipped a beat as she spotted Serah lying unconscious a few feet before Dysley. Lightning wasted no time in rushing over to her fallen sister. Kneeling beside Serah, Lightning found Serah's pulse and breathed a sigh of relief once she found that her kid sister was merely unconscious. Bending over, Lightning placed a small kiss to her sister's forehead before drawing her weapon and facing Dysley.

"You broke free by yourself? impressive..." Dysley waved his staff in Serah's direction before continuing, "but you have no choice, now finish her."

"Not all of us are easy to control, you know." Lightning spoke as she raised her sword.

"It appears so." Dysley replied before raising his staff. Lightning crouched into an offensive position before launching herself towards Dysley. The old man parried her attack swiftly, a little to quick for a man his age. Lightning swiped her sword at the man again, but Dysley called up a barrier that blocked the blow. As soon as Light's blade touched said barrier, it blew the young woman back with a small magical explosion. Lightning regained her wits and landed on her feet just in time to block his staff swing. Parrying the next blow, Lightning landed a hit across the old man's side, causing him to cringe.

"Hmph, you'll have to do better than that." He grunted as it was his turn to parry Lightning's next blow and land a counter-attack. The pink haired woman gritted her teeth as she absorbed the blow to her side. The strike was hard to enough to bruise her ribs but the adrenaline pumping through her sister made sure her mind didn't focus on the pain. Lightning performed a quick back flip to evade Dysley's follow up strike. Thrusting her left arm out, Light threw an assortment of fire, water and thunder spells at Dysley. The primarch brought up his barrier again to shield himself from said spells. Lightning, seeing Dysley's attention drawn to his defenses, charged forward and landed a few strikes of her own just as the man's shield dissipated, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Impressive." Dysley grunted, drawing himself into a kneeling position. "But you'll have to do better than that." Lightning took the time to survey her surroundings, Serah was to her left, far enough so she was out of harm's way, but the ship itself was still rumbling, possibly in a fast descent. The oldest Farron sister knew that she had to finish Dysley off quickly, for there was not much time remaining. Her thoughts were not on how they would escape, but ending the old man's life. "Time is short. Let's end this, shall we?" With that the man climbed to his feet, only to be met with Lightning's blade as he was forced to block. Lightning stepped back from the exchange and threw her arm out, casting a thundaga spell, bringing him to his knees once again, his staff clattering to the floor. Dysley looked up, eyes wide.

"I'll send you to meet your maker." Lightning spoke before before slashing the man across the chest, kicking him onto his back and stabbing him through the heart. Pulling her sword out of his body, Lightning rushed over to her unconscious sister. Kneeling down the young woman took her sister into her arms and stood. 'Interesting sword.' She mused as her eyes locked onto the weapon.

"Fool, you shouldn't have dropped your guard so easily." Lightning spun around, eyes wide to see Dysley waving his staff in circular motions, producing a thick black fog before dropping to the floor.

"What the-" The young woman couldn't finish her sentence as the fog engulfed and rendered her unconscious.

Serah's eyes slowly fluttered open and quickly closed again as the shining sun hurt her eyes. 'Wait, the sun?' She questioned. After waiting a few moments, Serah opened her eyes again to find herself staring at a clear blue sky, 'was it all a dream?' Looking around, Serah saw that she was laying in a grassy field with nothing around as far as the eye could next thing that the eighteen year old noticed was the smell of smoke, sniffing the air a few times, Serah confirmed her initial conclusion and rolled onto her stomach. Pushing herself up onto all fours Serah crawled to the edge of cliff she rested on, she looked over the edge to see a smoking crater, with the remains of what looked to be the Doppelganger lying in the center. 'Wonder how long I've been out.' Serah pondered briefly before a rustling sound snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Claire?" Serah asked as she slowly climbed to her feet, careful in case her knees buckled. "Sis, are you alright?" Serah asked, relieved to see her sister's body back to it's normal appearance. But still Serah kept her distance, there was something about Lightning that planted a seed of worry deep in her stomach. Maybe it was in her sister's posture? Lightning was standing with her back to Serah, looking out over the crater towards the sky with an unreadable expression on her face. If Serah had to take a guess she'd say that it was neutral, but there was something dark about it.

"Let's end this, Serah." Lightning spoke but Serah didn't understand.

"End what?" The younger sister asked, a deep frown setting in. She didn't like the sound of this.

"Everything."

"What do you mean?" Serah asked taking her first steps towards her sister.

"There's not much time left, look-" Lightning held out her right arm and Serah could see the first signs of a crystal barrier beginning to encase her arm. "I'm turning to crystal, you are too." Serah took a look at her own arm and could see the same effect taking place. "This is our last chance, Serah. Dylsey's dead, but he still holds control over my body. Soon I will become hostile again, you have to beat me." Lightning explained.

"No." Serah shook her head, she thought this conflict with her sister was over. She didn't want to engage her in battle again, she didn't want one of them to get hurt after all they've gone through.

"Rid me of this presence so I can rest peacefully. I know you can do it, here." Bringing her left arm into view Lightning tossed Serah the Alpha Weapon, the young girl caught it reluctantly. "I believe in you. I love you, Serah." Lightning's eyes only held a hint of sadness in their depths, the confidence in her sister outweighed it by a large margin.

"I love you too, Claire." Serah replied quietly.

"Chin up. You're a Farron, we don't cower in fear."

"...Right." Serah gave a resolute nod and fixed her gaze on her sister just as her hostility returned, as predicted. Wasting no time, Serah dashed forwards swinging the Alpha Weapon at her sister, who managed to draw the Omega Weapon in time, locking their swords together. Knowing that she was easily outmatched in terms of strength (and everything else for that matter, even speed) Serah kneed her sister in the stomach and spun to her left, managing to land a hit across Lightning's back. It appeared that "Berserk Lightning" didn't retain her sister's fighting prowess and intelligence, Serah'd have to take advantage of that if she is to be successful. Lightning recovered quickly, performing a blitz maneuver that caught Serah off guard, knocking her onto her back. Serah stared up, eyes wide as Lightning brought her sword down. Barely managing to get her own up in defense, Serah recovered and flipped the young woman over her.

'So how exactly am I supposed to rid sis of this presence? Does my sword somehow cleanse her body of evil spirits or some magic mumbo jumbo? I can't keep hurting her if I'm not even going about it the right way. And I'm on a time limit, I can already feel my right arm getting colder. I wonder how long I'll be able to wield my sword for, and if this is effecting Claire's battle ability as well.'

Again the Farron sisters blades clashed together, but this time Serah was overpowered and struck across her left ribs. Letting out a pained cry, Serah was struck again across her stomach as Lightning followed up with another strike. The searing pain caused spots to appear in Serah's vision as she was hit yet again, this time across her left bicep. Dropping to her knees with ragged breath, Serah watched the ground as Lightning's imposing shadow covered the ground before her. Next her eyes flicked to the Alpha Weapon where she scrutinized the blade, hoping to find some hidden secret to it. It took a few moments until it registered in her mind, there was something off with the base of the blade, just before the hilt. Snatching the blade with her right hand, Serah pushed herself up with her left and performed a quick cartwheel backwards that ended with her landing in a crouch on her right knee with her left leg extended to giver her stability. Serah jabbed her thumb into an odd nodule on the sword and watched in amazement as it transformed into a bow. Luck was on her side. Remembering her archery lessons, Serah took aim and fired a single arrow that struck dangerously close to Lightning's sword hand, but due to her accuracy the arrow struck the hilt of the blade and sent the Omega Weapon flying from her grasp where it landed a good ten feet away. Switching the Alpha Weapon back into it's sword form and ran towards her sister, using her momentum Serah succeeded in tackling Lightning onto the ground. After tumbling a over each other a few times, their roll ended with Serah on top. Dropping her sword, Serah gave an apologetic look to her sister even though she knew Lightning wouldn't see it, she couldn't help it, it's in her nature.

"Sorry sis, but I can't have you using that weapon anymore." Serah spoke before grabbing Lightning's right wrist and swifting breaking it. Lightning cried out and rolled onto her side, cradling her wrist after throwing Serah off. Serah recovered quickly, grabbing her sword before rushing over to the Omega Weapon. "I hope I'm right about this..." She muttered as she raised the Omega Weapon in her left hand. Tossing the blade up, she took in a breath and as it descended Serah swung the Alpha Weapon, cutting clean through the Omega Weapon. Now cut in two, the Omega Weapon fell to the earth with a thud. A sudden gasp from Lightning caught Serah's attention, looking up she could see Lightning's examining her wrist, and her arms as they were now encased in crystal, though she was still able to move them.

"Claire!" Serah cried out as she rushed to her sister's side, dropping the Alpha Weapon in the progress. "Sis are you okay?" Serah asked, worry evident in her voice, though she also felt relief flooding through her. The destruction of the Omega Weapon had broken the hold that Dysley's spell held over Lightning.

"I knew you could do it." Lightning smiled as she looked up into Serah's eyes. "Though I'd have preferred if you didn't break my wrist." She chuckled after Serah muttered a quick 'sorry'.

"You're turning to crystal." Serah stated.

"So are you. But it's okay, we'll be fine. Our focus is complete, we have nothing more to worry about." Light smiled again as she climbed to one knee before snapping her wrist back in place.

"What about the others? they were on the ship as well..." Serah looked down dejected.

"I wouldn't worry about them, Serah. They're too stubborn to die. Especially Snow." Serah giggled at that but quickly saddened as the thought of leaving Snow behind hit her. "Hey I told you not to worry, we'll see them again, just be patient." Lightning chastised her sister lightly.

"You're right, we're together. And that's what counts." Serah smiled as the rest of her body began freezing over in crystal. "Love you, Claire."

"I love you too, Serah." Lightning replied hugging Serah as the rest of their bodies became covered in crystal, freezing them in that position for their eternal slumber.

A/N: Well that does it for this story, my first complete one! I've decided against doing an epilogue for reasons only I know. I apologize for the extremely long delay, I didn't think it would take this long, damn writer's block, and to be honest I was just lazy. But luckily I found my rhythm again and finish this off the past night! I'm sure this chapter seems inconsistent, that would be because different portions of it were written months apart, but yeah I just wanted to get it done and out of the way.

But that does it for Sisterly Love, I had fun writing this story and for being my first I think it turned out well despite it's flaws. I originally had quite a few other plot points to add in but felt that the story was dragging on and it was best to end it early. That said I got a new big adventure story in the works, already have the first chapter done! (which is about 5,200 words) so be sure to read that one if you enjoyed this one!

As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review with constructive criticism!

This chapter and story as a whole is dedicated to my loving Sheldon, thanks for all your support!