Everyone Needs Saving

Parte 1 Primal Mistake

Lightning feels so weak, she is barely able to stand on her feet, so weak that sometimes she even has to lean over the ancient stonewalls of the Temple of Etro, in order to prevent her fall, black blood and black smog oozing from the wound Caius had inflicted on her.

She doesn't know how it could've happened, nor how she could've been so idiot to let her guard down in such a stupid way; but what had made matters worse, was that she had diminished the problem. In her mind, she still wants to justify herself with the fact that, after the blow, the pain had receded quite fast, and though she had definitely felt the depletion of her stamina, it had been barely perceptible, so she had dismissed the event as a non-immediate threat and rushed to meet her eternal foe.

It had been mistake after mistake.

After several minutes running all around over the intricate maze the ruins have become, fighting monsters and having her mind confused by the many, contradictive Yeuls, she realizes too late the true implications of the curse: she can see them now, trails of black blood left behind in every step she takes, small fragments of her strength and her own life taking color and texture.

And now, standing face to face with her sworn enemy, she regrets her naivety and her foolishness. Caius hadn't wasted the opportunity to kill her in a single blow: he had always wanted to see her like this, coming to him debilitated, at his mercy, almost on her knees, so he could laugh at her before striking the fatal blow.

But she wouldn't have any of that.

"Right..."

By sheer force of will, Lightning straightens her posture, her stand that of pride and power, before meeting Caius's threat.

"I will save your soul... even if it's against your will."

Caius only smirks at her and raises his immense blade, attacking with all his strength.

She redirects the killing blow with her sword, all too weakened to counterattack, and Caius retaliates with a strike that clashes with her blade, producing sparkles for the friction, and sending her reeling backwards. Blow after blow, she sees herself being forced to take defensive strategies, as dark blood creates intricate patterns in the floor beneath them. Blow after blow, she also notices how her body begins to give up on her. Sweat forms on her forehead, and she feels her muscles protesting, refusing to act as she forces them to, as fast as she needs them to.

Caius smirks knowingly.

With a swift movement, he breaks her guard open with another strike, immediately redirecting the blade's trajectory, seeking the fatal blow. Lightning easily reads the intent, but her muscles this time completely abdicate on her, and she comes a second too late to stop the attack. Without anything blocking its path, Caius's massive sword strikes Lightning's chest full force, tearing apart her front black armor, breaking her savior insignia, and opening a deep cut that runs exactly over her cleavage, fracturing her sternum and part of her left clavicle. Lightning staggers backwards, pain clouding her vision for a moment, utter disbelief plastered on her countenance, as bright red blood pours from the wound, mixing with the black one coming from her left breast, just over her heart, and tainting with crimson and black, the beautiful white cloth of her Providence garb.

Still stunned, Lightning looks up, azure orbs wide open, just to receive a direct kick on the jaw that sends her crashing against the wall, and she falls on her knees, one hand gripping her blade hard, the other embedding her fingernails on her ripped skin, as the ancient rocks underneath her are bathed with her precious blood, the bright crimson and the darkened one. She breathes in and out repeatedly, trying to focus her sight and recover her strength, but she knows it's a lost cause, as she feels cold tremors running down her spine, and her sight blackens for a split second.