#snowrai

[eidolonsofeden]

[miryazu]

Bloodbound Pact

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII

Pairing: Snow x Lightning

Summary: Lightning Returns vampire AU, which is basically exactly like the game except with vampires (content warning for vampire stuff)

Also on AO3

She slashed through the hordes of pink haired women baring their fangs at her, each death stirring something uncomfortable within her.

She couldn't quite name it, not ever since turning into… whatever she was. Cold. Emotionless. A doll for a god to play. There wasn't much that set her apart from the monsters she was slaying as she made her way into the palace; she might not feed on blood, but her blade thirsted for it all the same. Well, not human blood, she'd rather be fighting monsters than former humans, and she definitely preferred not to be fighting vampires who looked all so similar to herself.

There were others. A human was not meant to live for so long, something must've happened in those 500 years that she was asleep.

She killed a few who crossed her path. She was sorry for some of them. Like Noel, who she formerly had entrusted the mission to help her sister Serah. He'd isolated himself from humans so he wouldn't bring them harm, and he did protect the few remaining humans from Luxerion from the wandering night creatures, but she had a mission: kill every vampire so that the world can be saved (ex qualquer coisa) from darkness, only then can the world be born anew.

She'd killed Caius, but Caius would not perish that easily, not until she killed Yeul, his vampire mother, too. She didn't know which one was harder to kill, but it was done now, and it refuted her suspicions that they were the origin of the vampire calamity.

She spared Dajh. He was still transforming, a transformation required blood and his father Sazh was still human. She didn't know if Sazh would take to killing innocents, if he would sacrifice himself or simply not allow the transformation to run its course, but she decided to deal with them later. A small part of her hoped that Sazh was attacked by a rogue vampire, that way it would be easier to kill both him and Dajh, it would spare them further suffering.

The Dead Dunes were not very popular with vampires. There were a few inside some ruins but the sun and lack of humans made the desert relatively safe. That and Fang had every desert dweller under her boot. She'd told Lightning that the Order of Salvation were most likely a vampire cult and they planned to sacrifice Vanille in a ritual called the Soulsong, which they believed would return their lost souls back to them. But in order to perform the cursed ceremony, they were missing a holy clavis that was hidden deep within the desert ruins, and Fang wasn't willing to hand it to them. She wanted to find it first, but she was also gathering an army of loyal men who would fight with her to bring the Order down.

Lightning would join Fang once she was finished with the last nest of vampires. She knew in her heart who the vampire father was and she had tiny hope that she would be proved wrong. All the pink haired women coming at her, so familiar yet so uncanny like corpses of her sister's skin, her skin. She tried to shrug off the idea, but she remembered all the pink haired victims in Luxerion, they might have been either presents or taunts directed at Noel.

Taking out the last two vampires between her and the door to the Patron's chambers, she opened and closed it before any more night creatures would jump from the shadows behind her, and she swung her sword back to the front, ready to take out any that would come here way, but she was met instead with the sight of pink haired naked women sprawled all around the floor in the process of turning. Taking a few careful steps forward and looking around, she saw some bodies were laying or floating in a pool of blood, others had some blood poured on them, others were still dry. There were piles of stunning dresses, jewels and shoes all around the room. She shuddered.

That's why he had me wearing this just to get in the Palace, but I'm not gonna play into his sick fantasy…

Just as she had this thought, she heard a husky voice behind her growling.

"It looks good on you, you should keep it."

Her eyes widened with recognitions and she turned around, her sword immediately at the man's throat.

It was him. It was really him. The centuries changed his appearance very little, but just enough that he no longer looked human. No, there was a dark, heavy aura to him, alluring and dangerous.

"Snow…" She gritted her teeth. Why did it have to be him?

"Hey, sis."

"Don't call me that!" She tried to keep her cool, yet seeing him after so long brought her deepest emotions to the surface and reminded her that despite Bhunivelze's best efforts, she still retained her humanity.

The blond man made no effort to pull her sword back, instead leaning forward, closing his eyes and inhaling before pulling back with a wicked smile that showed his long canines.

"You smell like your sister."

That broke something inside Lightning and she swung her blade, but it only cut through the dark haze left by Snow's teleportation. He reappeared behind her, immobilizing her by swiftly grabbing her arms. She struggled to break free, but her godly blessings were no match for his inhuman strength, and she panicked when she felt his stubble on her exposed neck.

But Snow was slow, taking his time, enjoying the smell of the blood running below her skin like a predator toying with its prey.

"It would be so easy, you know… All it took was…" He opened his mouth, placing his sharp fangs above her carotid. And she felt the pressure of the pointed tip, but he did not break the skin, did not take a bite, instead letting go and teleporting again. She shivered from the sudden feeling of cool night air on her skin again, blaming it on the dress.

He reappeared in front of her with his back turned. She gripped her sword tighter.

"You're going to kill me?"

She inhaled sharply, picking her words carefully.

"God chose me as his vampire hunter. I don't have a choice."

He chuckled darkly. "Do you have it in you to kill me?" He turned around to face her. "I can see it…"

He teleported again, reappearing inches away from her face, staring her down.

"I've been watching you, even before you set foot in Yusnaan. I've been waiting for you. And I can see it, how your heart races when I'm closer to you, how your blood runs franticly beneath your skin, how it rushed down when you felt my teeth on your throat…"

She swallowed trying to keep some sense of composure, his eyes following the bob of her throat before returning to gaze into her soul. Despite his taunts, she faced him with the same fire and determination that she always had.

"There's no place for darkness in the new world. I'm sorry, I'll do whatever it takes to bring Serah back to me, even kill you."

He laughed. "Do you really believe your god will bring her back? Look at you, Lightning, you're a pawn for the fal'Cie again, hiding away behind your sister. Serah's not the reason you're doing any of this, oh no…"

He teleported again to the edge of the room, grabbing the curtain on the wall but not quite opening it, caressing the fabric between his fingers.

"It's because you fear your own darkness. And that god of yours is taking advantage of it."

He opened the curtain, a massive Chaos infusion hiding behind it, hoarding all the darkness hidden in the city of pleasure. And a young girl who looked like a mix of Serah and herself appeared, her smile showing her long canines. Lightning had crossed paths with the little trickster before, but only now did she realize that the girl was a vampire as well. And not just any ordinary vampire, but one created specifically to mess with her head.

"Don't worry, you don't have to face it alone. I've seen who you truly are, what you truly desire. I'll guide you through it, I'll make you give in."

She positioned her sword ready to attack.

"I'll never give in! I'll kill every night creature, I'll even kill god himself before I become one of you!"

Lumina laughed. "You better be serious about killing god, Claire. You have no other choice."

And with that Lightning braced herself for their incoming attack.

.

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[fyresaber]

on lightning's singular salvation of snow

"snow coming back from being cie’th borders on a miracle. in ffxiii, etro was the means for a cie’th to return. it could be that lightning has inherited etro’s powers and brought forth a miracle, or that snow, upon hearing lightning’s voice, restored himself under his own power." - daisuke watanabe

salvation of snow is amongst lightning’s chief reappropriations of bhunivelze’s power in lightning returns as she reclaims her brother, another family member bhunivelze hopes to steal from her. the use of “miracle” specifically juxtaposes her to etro as the heiress of her will, a theme that is compounded throughout the game.

lightning returns, and yusnaan's arc in particular, defines that it is lightning and lightning alone who is responsible for snow's damnation, and decidedly lightning and lightning alone who is capable of his salvation. so any attempt to remove lightning from snow's restoration and write the mc out of her own story/victory is moot.

the whole point of snow’s "suicide" is that he no longer cares that he won't see serah in the afterlife with the erasure of his soul, because he lost all worth the second lightning comes to take his place and alleviate him of his duty. “i bet he became a cie'th right now because he wanted you to kill him.” he wants to be taken out by the woman he failed first and foremost. lightning reminding him pre-battle that he won’t be able to face serah like this does nothing to stop him. she absolves him only the second she says she needs him still. the writers follow with snow confessing that talking about serah is "not what i need most now.”

snow doesn’t surveil yusnaan’s romance and revelry for serah’s memory, he does so despite it. lightning repurposes the fireworks of his condemnation for her own god-defying conflagration and incinerates snow's illusory penance while sowing seeds of true memory through hearkening snow romantically with serah’s music.

viewing snow’s relationship with the farron sisters as anything but bilateral is wrong. serah is his north star, but it’s always been lightning who is his tether to the ground below.

[amethystmpress]

"this barbie is everything. he's just ken."

[darkfromday]

What I learned from the Final Fantasy XIII x Nissan commercial: 

Lightning and Snow drive cars together in the new world. They travel together even now. 

LMAO Y'ALL, SERAH WHO?! 

THIS IS THE NEW CANON

[darkfromday]

getting hate comments on a snowlight fic of all things, from someone who doesn't understand that fandom... isn't just... about reposting... canon shit... as fanfics...

[fyresaber]

snowlight - "divorced but still fucking" prompt

snowlight are thee divorcees of final fantasy, with a love defined by the devastation of their breakups and the desperation of their makeups. they could be 15 before claire’s world crashes around her or 50 when he leaves her to protect the kids, driven apart by their stubbornness and pride and brought together because they are each other’s only salvation. their chemistry will find them in corners and back alleys and counters, wherever he can get her alone and in his arms and wherever she can get him between her legs. sometimes it seems like every force in the world wants to pull them apart for the sin of coming together, but it’s not in either of them to just submit when such gravity exists between them.

[valninja]

If you could ONLY pick one OTP over the other, who would it be? Cloud/Tifa or Snow/Lightning?? MwahuaHuaaWhuaaahaha *evil laugh* :P

Anon, that question is not cool. :P

There are so many reasons why I love each pairing, but I’ve had plenty of time to ship Cloud/Tifa(years really). I love the childhood friends, finding each other again years later. It has the sweetness/angst I love.

Snow/Light is newer and has more of the forbidden factor to it. So if push comes to shove, I’d say Snow/Light right now.

Now… had you asked me to choose between either pairing and Vincent/Yuffie… there would be no contest.;)