Echo's Destiny (Edited/Rewritten Version)

Eight - The Awakening

Echo's eyes flutter open. For several minutes she lays there staring blankly into the dim light. The source of which silently spins in the centre of the rectangular room. With a groan Echo struggles to sit up, after another couple of minutes she successfully manages the task. Confusion takes a strong grasp over Echo's body. It makes her feel sick. Without any warning her body doubles over and she starts retching uncontrollably.

Suddenly a bulky man crouches down beside her whispering comforting words into her ear. His shaggy blonde hair falls into his blue eyes. "Hey there it'll all be okay." With the large man by her side a sense of being safe washed over her. It was as if the mountain of the man would protect her from whatever was happening.

"No it won't!" A sharp female voice cuts in from somewhere over Echo's shoulder. "How can you say that it will all be okay? We're L'Cie! It will never be okay! Never!"

"Just because we're L'Cie does not mean that it is the end of the world." The man tries to explain.

"We're going to be monsters!" The female counters.

"We could become crystals."

"Fat chance of that Ashton!" The angry female appears in Echo's vision. She pulls the mountain of a man away from Echo, taking away her safety net. Then in a quieter but still irate voice the woman adds. "We don't even know our focus."

Ashton shrugs at the small woman "I saw strange portals." Echo says weakly causing the arguing pair to turn on her.

Blowing a pale pink curl out of her face the woman snaps. "A lot of good that helps."

"Autumn! Don't snap at her, she is only trying to help. I saw portals as well so that is a major clue as to our focus."

"And what do you think they mean then? Pray tell us genius!" Autumn spins around in a flurry of lab-coat and pink hair. "Oh that's right. That thing decided to give us only a vague hint!"

"You need to calm down Autumn, we need to think about this rationally."

Abruptly Autumn lunges at her twin. Her clenched fists repeatedly hits Ashton's hard chest. "We're all gonna die. You, me, ginger, and sleeping beauty. Dead!" She pronounced the last word slowly adding every ounce of anger and frustration she felt into it.

Echo who was watching the siblings intently almost wants to point out that she too has a name. Yet something else in Autumn's words caught her attention and it wasn't just the threat of death. Who was the mysterious sleeping beauty? Searching her foggy memory Echo realises that she had forgotten Felicity. Had she got caught up in all this? With wide eyes Echo glances around the room in search of her friend.

There slumped near in the corner a solitary figure lays crumpled up like a piece of paper that had been thrown away. Echo instantly recognises the figure as her new friend. Guilt hits her like a ton of bricks. It was her fault that her friend was in this predicament. She was the one who suggested exploring the building. If that had not have happened then their lives would not be in danger.

"We'll figure this out, we just need to work together." Ashton says calmly. Autumn just turns her back on him shaking her head.

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Alone and hidden by piles of scrap Luke stumbles and trips in a foggy haze. Unsure of exactly what he is doing he just lays where he fell. It takes him a while to clear the fog in his mind. In an instant he remembers the recent events that led to him laying amongst all the scrap metal in a junkyard.

He wants to close his eyes again and fall back asleep then and there but eventually he figured out that it would probably be better if he went home. At least there he had a cosy bed, lots of sugary treats and a wide collection of movies. Anything to take his mind of the nightmare he endured when he passed out.

Getting to his feet Luke tries to persuade himself that his blackout was caused by the stress of the last couple of days. "It was. It was." He mutters to the cold evening air. In his haste he ignores the mechanical Fal'cie which glows gently in the dying light. Silently sending a message back to Ales, the Fal'cie of the Waterscape. 'I found your fifth hero.'