Learning My Roots (Hope Estheim Love Story)

Chapter 6: The Road Ahead

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I felt that we were being whacked everywhere. "Can one of you guys take control?" I yelled at them. I felt like we were going to be killed at this rate. Sazh moved Lighting's hand off the control. "How are you going to lose them?" Hope asked in a panic. "You got me kid," Sazh said. "Then let me," Lightning said. {Here we go again.} "No way," Sazh said.

We were in open skies. It was beautiful while it lasted. We were kept shot upon. Sazh was doing everything that he could in flying the thing. We managed to lose most of them. A screen popped up and told us about the purge.

A old man showed up on the screen. "Hey. um..who is this guy?'" Vanille asked. Sazh said the guy was Primarch Dysley. He was the leader of the Sanctum. I remembered my mother telling me a bit about him. A red alert happened in the aircraft. We were being fired upon again.

We were flying into a bright light. It was the Sanctum fal'cie. Lighting told Sazh to fly into the "Sun." We were hit and fell from the sky.

I woke up and saw Lighting awake. I saw the mechanical dogs again. I got my chakram and threw it at them slicing some of their heads. We destroyed them with ease. I strapped my chakram onto my waist. I knew that we couldn't afford breaks but, I was dead tired. I remembered that I had to be strong from now on.

Lightning walked off to continue. Hope looked at me. "I'm going to follow her," I said and ran after her. I was able to make it over the obstacles easily. Hope followed behind me out of breath. Lightning stopped in her track. "Just you two?" she asked us. "For now I guess," Hope said for me.

"Should we wait?" I asked her. "They'll catch up eventually," she said and we continued our way. There was so much junk everywhere. This place looked creepy at night. Hope was out of breath when we made it to a dead end. He sat on a rock and I sat beside him. "Can we get through this way you think? You know where you're going right," he said to her.

"I have been here on missions before," Lightning scanned the area. "On missions. Nothing with the purge though," he wanted to know. "The purge is PSICOM's baby," she said. I learned that the military was spit into two. There was PSICOM and Guardian Corps. Lightning was part of the Bodhum regiment of the Guardian Corps.

Hope wanted to know why she went on the train. It was obvious. It was for her sister. Hope said that he could never do something like that. "It's not a question of can or can't. You just do," she said. She was right about that.

Lightning made her way up the dead end to see the other side. I waited with Hope. "It will be alright. I know it," I said to him. He just let out a sigh. Soon, Sazh and Vanille showed up. We told them our story of how we got caught up in the whole purge thing.

The four of us made our way around the the dead end to a place called the Hanging Edge. There was pulse stuff everywhere. Sazh and Hope explained to us about the War of Transgression. Pulse were able to break the shell of Cocoon, but not able to invade the place completely. Cocoon fal'Cie were able to push them back.

Since then, the place was filled with garbage. The place wasn't livable to anyone on Cocoon. It wasn't safe. We met up with Lightning on the way. Pulse Armament came alive. We tried to fight it off. It broke the floor below us and we fell. We manage to destroy the thing.

We decided to take a break. Lighting's goal was to go to the Sanctum at Eden. She was going to destroy it. I agreed with her to a certain extent. She was after the Sanctum. Hope ran off to her. I followed him. I knew why he would follow her. He was after Snow.

"Wait for me," he yelled out to her. "Me too," I called out. Lightning turned around while Hope and I catch our breaths. "I'm going with you," he breathed out. "I can't babysit you both anymore," she said to us. "I can fight. I'm not afraid," he said. "I know how to fight. You don't have to worry about me," I said to her.

I heard footsteps coming behind Lightning. "You better turn around," I said. She turned around to see PSICOM troops. "Great. A PSICOM hit squad," she said. I got my chakram out and ready. One of the soldiers signal. There was a explosion behind us. Now, we couldn't turn back.

The three of us were able to knock them out. After the fight, she turned to us. "Not bad," she said to us. Hope was catching his breath again. I was too. "Really! Thanks," he exhaled. I looked at the path behind us. It was now covered in rubble from the explosion.

"There will be more soldiers. We should keep moving," Hope said to us. He turned to us. "Lightning. Are you worried about the others? I'm sure that they got away okay," he said. "So can you if you both leave now. If you're with me, it will be fight after fight. I don't know how it will end. It's anybody's guess," she told us as she passed by us.

"I know that. But, I need to be stronger. Lightning," he said. "Call me Light," she said. "What's the plan from here?" he asked. "Through the Gapra wood to Palumpolum. We'll find transport to Eden," she said. "We live in Palumpolum. I can show you all the shortcuts," he said to her. "I just recently moved there a couple weeks ago," I told her. "No side trips," she said as we continued our way. "No need. I don't think l'cie are welcome at home," he said as he walked. I followed them.