Destinies Intertwined (Lightning x Male Reader)

Chapter 08: Sacrifice and complication

"Come on (Y/N), can't we just give it a shot?" "No." I replied. "Aw come on! The thing will never know what hit it!" "It's a bad idea Vanille. And bad ideas are not something I work with unless forced." "What if I did force you?" she asked. I laughed. "I'd like to see you try." She pouted.

The two of us had been at it for a few minutes, trying to come up with a battle plan. She and I were assigned to fight one of the Undying Cie'th, Bituitus the Pillager, while the other took care of a similar Undying back in the Haerii Archeopolis. I agreed because from what I remembered the group would find the Cie'th only for it to be killed by a Tonberry, which would then battle them. Now I was regretting it, as that left me to be pestered by Vanille.

"Just give it a shot! You go out into the Paddra Ruins and distract the Cie'th while I tie him up with my rod! He won't be able to do a thing!" she said confidently. Already seeing the flaw in the plan k pointed out "And what happens if he breaks free? Then we'll be fighting a Cie'th, an Undying no less, that would be even more pissed at us than usual. I'm not doing it." I said firmly. "But what about your Absolute Protection power? Won't that protect us?" she asked.

"You, yes. Me, no. The thing about Absolute Protection is it takes my power and forms a barrier around you and every else. But whenever I do that my own defensive powers are weakened by the same amount as long as the spells in place. So while I can use it if you're in trouble, if I'm in a tight spot I've got nothing besides Demise." I told her, her knowing full and well about how I felt releasing the darker half of me. She pouted again and mumbled a few things, before she did the one thing that would break even Fang. Particularly Fang actually.

Vanille got down on her knees, put up her hands like she was begging, stuck out her bottom lip and looked at me with big puppy-dog eyes. I crossed my arms and looked away, but against my will my eyes glanced at her. She was sitting there, practically begging, and I could feel myself beginning to falter. Then she said "Pleeeaaase?" I grunted and stomped my foot. "Dammit! Fine." I said. Instantly her expression changed, turning from sad to happy as she jumped up.

"Thank you (Y/N)! Now, let's get to work!" she said, going behind me and pushing me to the edge of the rubble in front of Paddra. "All right, all right, I'm going." I protested, jumping down into the ruins. Bituitus had last been seen flying around these ruins and it looks like his presence had cleared the area of its normal amount of Cie'th. Good. I could almost hear Vanille as she climbed across the top of the ruins way above, so that Bituitus wouldn't see her while I distracted him.

At the thought of that plan I groaned. "The things I do for the people I care about..." I muttered. Still, I bucked up and walked up the steps, not in the mood for any delay. If this was going to be done, I wanted it done quickly. I walked into the open space above the steps, waiting for our mark to show up. I didn't have to wait long, as soon an inhuman roar filled my ears and I looked up, seeing a flying Cie'th with wings that were blue with yellow appear. Bituitus.

"Well, nice of you to make it here. Now I think you know what it is I'm here to do, so let's just cut to the chase, shall we?" I asked, pulling Indomitus off back. If Bituitus didn't understand my words, it understood my actions, and roared before flying towards me. It was at that moment that Vanille chose to strike, casting her rod and making the wires wrapped themselves around the Cie'th's wings. It looked behind it surprise to see Vanille perched at the top of the ruins, smiling.

"Not so easy to move now is it?" she called, giving her rod a good tug. Now it the mood to play games Bituitus roared and spun in a corkscrew, flying upwards. The spiral motion wrapped the wires of Vanille's rod around itself, which helped it successfully pull Vanille off the ground and with it through the air. She screamed as she was pulled and tossed through the air, holding onto the rod for dear life. I watched with mild amusement before I decided to help, and summoned my Eidolon.