Raid #45 [Plot]

It was so cold.

Soft, white snow drifted from the clouds above to the ground, carried by a chilling wind that did little to prevent the sudden drop in temperature, the unique snowflakes blanketing everything in white as far as the eye could see. But this was not the harsh mountain summit this winter weather was taking place, for the snow fell upon concrete and not earth, and the terracotta and rooftops of the palace instead of vegetation. The Imperial stronghold of this world had been turned into a winter wonderland, with icicles hanging off the the rooftops, and the bare ground itself even becoming slick with slippery sheets of ice. Grey clouds hung overhead in the sky above, blotting out the sun, with only a few beams of sunlight to slip between them. It was as if the world itself had been preparing for this monumental event, the battle between good verses evil, a light shining within the vast darkness.

The darkness was vast and great, but the Light only needed a little to stay the course.

This world was ruled over by a majority of light, and if one looked back over their shoulders at the vast kingdom of the Orient, one could see that this was abundantly true. Here the people lived in a life ruled by one virtue; honor. Honor to bring to the family, to the home, to their name and this land of dragons in ancient China. It was not a value that was set in stone, like money or liquor, or even power... the morale the people carried was a trait reminiscent of their hearts. Sometimes the honor ruling over an individual could twist and shape that to have them fight for honor on a different opposing side, depending on what they thought was honorable and fair, but the code always lead them in the end to fight for the right path of what the code of honor was for; to preserve integrity for the sake of equal values and against loss of life. Even if that honor drove warriors to fight to the death over something that under the normal eye would be considered ridiculous or foolish, if one understood this concept that a steel will and a brave heart would not waver in the face of nobility and humility, then one could vastly understand and mutually respect what their fellow warriors would give their lives for. That, was what honor meant to these virtuous hearts, to protect and die for what they loved.

The legendary warrior known as Onion Knight topped the last of the many grand steps leading up to the entrance of the palace as he considered this along with his journey with the Warrior of Light, who after their venture into the strange black-and-white world of the past had stuck like glue with him as firm friends in their united beliefs, leaving that encounter behind them as the fate of that world had eventually been decided. The only other warrior of Cosmos he had seen so far was Cloud, but he did not recognize him in the slightest, but if he forgot what had happened it would be best if he lived in peace, so in the meantime he would form an alliance with the only other light warrior he knew and trusted to bring the gentle light to other worlds. Looking around the frozen courtyard of falling snow flurries and frozen cracks of ice branching across the slick ground with emerald eyes, the youngest of Cosmos's warriors sighed tensely, finally having reached their destination. While the ideal of honor had been the topic at hand with the Warrior of Light during their journey, he could not help but consider for a moment that the one thing he had honored most had been taken away from him.

She was gone, and she was not coming back to him.

The world felt a little colder at the thought, but Luneth knew he could not fight the presence he had sensed here with the Warrior of Light with doubt and shadows in his heart. He missed her terribly, but he was being selfish, and the young knight caught himself wishing for a future he could not hope to have. He knew that if she was here with him, the young woman would ask him not to hold back for her, that her presence gone from the world would not make a difference in his selfless endeavor for the worlds to be at peace and protected as she once shared she wished. Focusing on the matter at hand with this resolve, the intellectual youth looked around for the fellow knight of the endless cycle he could sense the powerful presence of, his mind made up of what he was fighting for tempered and true "Garland... let's end this. I'll show you size doesn't matter." he called out to the fairly spacious courtyard around him, summoning his azure and gold Onion Sword in a flash of light, the contrast shimmering in the reflection of the sheets of diamond dust around himself and the Warrior of Light who was right behind him.

No matter the size of the light, it would shine through.

Hoping for a few exchange of words for seeing the corrupted knight's own resolve for this world before the inevitable battle, which would not make him yield even if it was not for his usual destructive desires, Luneth awaited to be seized upon at any moment by an attack as silence froze the moment in time once more.

Listening to: Dissidia Final Fantasy - The Troops' Advance