Maria's POV

Everything seemed to be quiet after we left Snow behind. The moment I tried to connect with him, we talked a bit but not enough to be closer. As much as I hate to admit, I wanted to go back and explain to him what happened to our mother. That thought stopped me in my tracks.

"Hey, what's go you lead footed?" Sazh asked and I sighed, looking away. "You're not going to say what's wrong, are you?"

"Oh..." Hope came to me as he held my hand, "Sis? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Let's just go." I didn't want them to help out with my pain. Besides, my pain is my pain. Bad thing about my pain? Hope can always sense it. Call it a sibling's seventh sense, the instinct of a sibling better yet. I let go of his hand. "Lightning, where do we go from here?"

"Only one way, and that's up." She said and I looked ahead to see a huge climbing wall. "Higher ground means we can see more land."

I sighed and groaned as a headache occurred.

Several soldiers were standing in the room. I recognized on as it was the one that has ran off from the battle encountered with him. Something was going on as the soldier said something to a silver haired man, one I recognized as Rosch of PSICOM.

"Maria?" Hope asked checking on me.

"I-I'm good." I started climbing up.

we would have to get up and keep moving. But we didn't move for too long, due to coming across a soldier camping base.

It was a sweep team, based on their violet colored armor. We were crouched down on a cliff about half a mile away from the camp, so we were able to stay out of sight- however, that distance still meant we needed to be careful.

"They must be hunting down Purge survivors," Sazh pondered, his voice low. Vanille responded, hoping that all the civilians made it out okay. He agreed, "but nowhere is safe for them now... dammit. All 'cause they shared a neighborhood with some fal'Cie- get treated like Pulse-tainted rats." Sazh beat his fist into the ground once, shaking his head with a grumble. I could see how much this bothered him, rightfully so.

Vanille seemed calm, yet melancholy. "People really hate Pulse, don't they?" The comment made Sazh sit up to rest on his knees, telling her how people didn't hate Pulse around here. People just feared it.

Pulse is such an unknown yet common concept that nobody quite understands. All we know is what was recorded in history books, about the war and all. I wanted to say it wasn't, but I didn't know enough about . Schools barely had books about it. Makes me think about if they hide them or not... What are they trying to hide?

"Tens of millions of people- all scared of Pulse boogeymen..." Sazh continued on. "They'd be, well, shaking in their beds every night if they knew. If they knew that l'Cie like us were near."

Vanille's voice was almost a whimper. "But- they Purged that entire town!" She couldn't grasp the idea that fear was behind what happened, convincing me that she really must not be from Bodhum or its neighboring cities.

"Up until now, Eden has always stepped in, to correct their errors in judgment." Eden, the Cocoon capital and Sanctum fal'Cie, what Sazh mentioned earlier. "But, I guess humans aren't worth the effort... puh." With obvious annoyance, "figure they'll just let us kill each other off."

"It's all for the fear of what we don't know..." I added, "They don't take the time to get to know the L'cie. I know they're supposed to be dangerous... But even so..."

"L'cie? There aren't human. You shouldn't give them a chance." Hope said and I widened my eyes, surprised by the remark. It hurt me to hear him say that, especially if we are L'cie now. I sighed, looking away.

Vanille shot up and grabbed Hope by the wrist, "Listen, you, that's enough!" But after that, she went silent for a moment, no eye contact with Hope or any of us. Vanille quickly dropped his wrist and walked away a few feet. "Look, we're still alive. That's something!"

"Yeah..." I nodded and know Hope was looking at me. I glared at the base camp, a bit mad at him but I felt like crying.

The ground started to shake, a low vibrating tone was in the air, like when an airplane flies by. With wide eyes, we examined all around us to try to figure out where the aircraft in question was.

"There!" Lightning caught glimpse of it first, pointing out to the right of us. It wasn't just one craft, it was two- three- four- five! Five of them! They flew so close to us, the force that bounced off caused the few of us to tumble over. Then I counted even more after that, that were trailing further behind.

"Wait... Lightning!" I looked to her, "Are they doing what I think they're doing?"

"Yes. They're sealing off the area, trying to trap the stragglers." Lightning and I knew exactly what the army was planning. "We've got to get moving we're caught in the net!"

~

"... Did Serah say anything to you about her Focus?"

"Nothing."

"Oh- oh! She probably didn't want to worry you, is all!"

"Or she didn't think she could trust me." The light boot-steps faded behind me. I was worried for Lightning's mental state. I walked after, looking at the valley below us as I did.

The valley was massive, it shone brilliantly, all masked with crystal. I felt so small in comparison to the view that immersed my sight. It was like when I looked at the stars in the sky. At this moment, I looked at Lightning.

"I wonder what dad will think about me and Hope being L'cie..." I said, not expecting her to answer to that at first. "How did you act when you first found out?"

"..." She didn't answer me, which I then realized it might have been something really personally.

"S-sorry, Lightning. I shouldn't have asked. It's personal isn't it?"

"Yeah. You could put it that way." Lightning quietly said and I nodded.

"Okay, that makes sense."

We were the first two in a tunnel. It glittered with crystal dust, bits of yellow and white shards poked out of the walls of the cavern- pretty sure if I touched one of the shards it would cut my finger, they looked sharp. It's amazing how the fal'Cie managed to freeze this whole lake in crystal. I really wish I had my camera and field journal...

My joy came to fear when I saw a behemoth. "Ah man, I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning..."

"We can take it!" Vanille giggled and got ready to fight as did Lighting.

~

There was ruins we explored, the ones I heard from my Mythology class from time to time. Oh my gosh, my heart lead me several different areas and places in that ruins! I had to see if everything was true in this place! I even heard that a ring could be here! Maybe real moogles can be found here too!

"Oh! Hope!" I wanted to tell him all about it but I also got the attention of Sazh and Vanille. "These are the Bresha Ruins! Supposably, there are should be real life moogles here!"

"Moogles are just a myth though." Sazh said and I glared at her, narrowing my eyes.

"Yeah! And they're for kids!" Hope giggled and I huffed, crossing my arms.

"You say that, and yet you still have a Cait Sith plush at home..." I muttered and looked away. Then sighed, "Well, there was also a mythical ring said to grant power of a chosen few. The mythical Ring of Lucii~"

That made even Lightning stop. I looked around and they all had faces of curiosity or concern.

"What's that?" Vanille asked, very curious judging by her face.

"Well, it's a ring that my friend's family has been searching for. They still haven't given up." I told them. Hope already knew this but he still listened. He was always interested in magical crystals. "You see, the Ring of Lucii is said to cast magic of the old ancient ancestors of my friend's family!"

"Magic, huh?" Sazh asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Powerful ones! There's Death that can kill you instantly, Alterna that can send you to another dimension, and Holy that can defend you with a light! Kind of like a reflect spell but on steroids!" I rambled on, "Apparently, if you get the blessings of the chosen family member, you are permitted to wear it... But if you don't-"

"The ring will basically punish you in a way." Hope finished for me, "I heard from someone it could burn your eyes out with a terrifying light. That's what Sonia's older brother said anyway."

"Sonia?" Vanille asked, sounding curious about her.

"She's my best friend!" I happily responded.

"I won't want to mess with that ring..." Lightning solemnly said, crossing her arms.

"I didn't even think these ruins were real!" I grabbed Hope's wrist, "We have to find the ring!"

"Wha- who's to say it's real in the first place!" Sazh said and Vanille pouted.

"If it's a friend of Maria's, I would be happy to help!" The red head giggled and I sighed.

"Vanille, stay with Sazh and Lightning. This is a dangerous task and both me and Hope know how to handle the ring without getting hurt." I told her.

"Ahhh, but I wanna see it!" Vanille was diffinitely getting pouty.

"Is anyone listening to me?" Sazh said and I growled, not liking the negativity.

"Sonia would never joke about something like this. She said she wanted her kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and further down the line to have this ring in order to protect the monsters from her family! Won't you want your family to have protection like that?" I started to walk away with Hope, who was eager to help me to find the ring.

"Just stay vigilant and strong. The army could be near by." Lightning warned and I nodded, feeling confident.

We split up and it was just me and Hope. This was bringing some very fun memories for us.

"Maria! Hope! Come on! Our secret hideout is close!" A blonde said, running ahead of us. That was Sonia.

I tried to keep up and watch Hope at the same time, "Sonia! Wait! Slow down!"

"I don't run fast!" Hope called behind us, panting. She giggled and stopped, turning to us in front of the entrance of an underground passage. It lead us to our hideout.

"We finally made it!" Sonia pointed at the entrance. I opened the doorway and looked in and around, making sure no one was there. Once the coast was clear, we went in and played.

"Hey! I brought candy!" Hope held a bag of mini candy bars and me and Sonia licked our lips. "Mama said to pass it out so we can keep it here for other days! I'm having one now though!"

"Oh! I want the one with moose filling!" I said, finding it and eating it happily. Sonia took the one with caramel in the middle as Hope took the coconut chocolate. We had chocolate and continued to play.

We played castle as Sonia was the queen, I was the princess, and Hope was the prince. We played hide n seek, tag, and several other games before we took a nap on the couch, of course we had to go home after that but that was one of the funniest memories of childhood, going to the secret hide out. That was the best.

Such things I would give to have again.