Their steps echoed through the grand hall as they entered the little sanctum. Soft glowing lights were magnified by a variety of crystal statues, all of them looking oddly serene and radiating something quite calming. Vanille smiled to herself as she strolled along the statues, to then stop in front of the one at the far back.

"Hey, Fang, I think I found him!" Fang, accompanied by Lightning, Serah and Snow, smirked slightly as she read the inscription engraved into the stone pillar this special statue was standing on. She nodded in content, stepping back a little.

"Yep, that's him alright. That's Minwu, a white mage with all of his heart."

"I wonder why he became crystal. I mean, from what I've heard, he never was branded by a Fal'Cie."

Snow had cocked his head to one side and stared up at the crystal statue of this strange man, as if he tried to figure out by looking at it alone. But as there was only the inscription, he wouldn't really have any success. "Well, there are rumors that with the whole messing of the time line, there were some of other eras having been called by the Fal'Cie, as they hold a certain potential."

Lighting stretched out her hand, trailing her fingertip along the inscriptions. It was strange to see her this focused, this relaxed at the same time and thoughtful. She didn't seem to be too convinced, but it might have been the only explanation somehow fitting.

"Then how comes he really is here? After all, the time line is back to normal."

"Maybe... he has a focus to fulfill here. I mean, if the Fal'Cie branded him after all..."

Serah narrowed her eyes lightly, then pointed at the man's hands. There was something a bit odd about them, but she couldn't name it right away. "I think he was holding something when he was turned to crystal. You see that? He holds his hands like a bowl."

The others nodded, Vanille making a quite thoughtful face then. "I think I saw something which would fit into that." Fang furrowed here eyebrows, giving Vanille a questioning look. What on Earth could that have been? After all, there was not really much in this little temple that could fit into those hands, except for maybe...

"Do you think Minwu's Tear would fit into them?"

"Yep!"

Vanille then looked up at the crystal, a secretive smile on her face. "I think he was leaving it behind for others to use it." Serah had to chuckle lightly at that, nudging Vanille lightly. "So, he left behind this crystal like I did with the crystal tear, right?" Vanille nodded cheerfully, turning towards the corridor between the crystal statues again.

"Let's ask if we may try out something with it!"

"Do you really think that's a wise idea?"

"Well, just asking doesn't hurt now, does it?"

Snow chuckled and shook his head lightly, but then let himself be tugged along by Serah. Fang sighed, and Lighting shrugged at that. "Well, Vanille has a point there. Let's see if the priests would let us try that." Though, they never made it down more than half of the corridor.

Out of the blue, two sinisterly sneering males appeared, making the five stop dead in their tracks. "What the...?" Fang and Lightning immediately readied their weapons, Snow protectively standing in front of Serah, who along with Vanille had frozen completely. "Who are you two?"

They didn't answer, but then, the white-haired male of them extended his hand and revealed the shimmering Minwu's Tear. "H-Hey! That's a relic of the temple, you can't just take it!" Vanille was honestly angered about such behavior, but the two strangers could only laugh at such things.

"What, this little thing is a relic? No, it can't be."

"But look there, Palmecias, there's Minwu."

"You're right, Garland... there indeed is this white mage, frozen to crystal. How very interesting."

The male having been addressed to as Palmecias snickered as he played around with the small crystal, which was floating above his palm and shimmering in deep azure blue. "How interesting to meet him again here. So Chaos was right, there is something special about this place."

That surprised not only Lightning and Serah, but all of them. "What...? But it can't be, there's no way..." Lightning whispered, stepping back a little. Palmecias snickered once more, then carelessly threw the crystal up, which was caught by Vanille. "There is a way indeed. The corrupted crystals led us here, and I must say, there is so much appeal in this world. There would be even more if Chaos ruled it."

With that, and such ominous prospects, the two intruders vanished once more, leaving the five of them confused and a little shocked. Vanille thoughtfully stared at the crystal, then up at the others still being confused. "What did he mean by that? Is... is there yet another threat for Cocoon?"

Lightning shook her head, carefully taking over the crystal. "No, I think there's more about it. Far more than we would like." She carried the crystal over to Minwu's statue, sighing to herself. "But even so, we need to immediately intervene. We can't let anyone have his way with our world now, can we?"

The others all nodded, a smile on their face. "We managed two times, so we will do it a third time, too." Serah stated, and Snow added: "After all, the true heroes never die, and they surely never rest either." Fang gave him a light smack with her staff, but then tapped against the crystal, making it float up to the statue. "Well, we'll soon know what role Minwu will play, won't we."

The crystal shimmered briefly, then began radiating brilliant light. It wasn't exactly blinding, but still slightly uncomfortable to the eyes. They could only watch through their fingers as the crystal statue slowly came back to life, floating in the air like the small Minwu's Tear, which responded to the soft glow radiating from the awakening.

They stepped back as Minwu came down slowly, wrapped up in strange, flowing white clothes. He was unconscious still, sinking to the ground gently and looking like he wouldn't wake up too soon. Vanille knelt down next to the unmoving male, looking him over.

"He surely has something strange about him... something... gentle... and something calm, too."

"As far as I know, he is a white mage, one with great natural talent. So, well, it could be an explanation for that."

"Maybe, yes, but we should ask him when he wakes up."

Slowly, Minwu began to stir, blinking drowsily up at the people around him. "Firion...?" he muttered, groaning in light dizziness. "I'm sorry, but there's no Firion around here." Vanille gave back softly, closing her hand around the dazed mage's. "But we are here, and we will take care of you."

Minwu smiled gently, the cloth supposed to cover half of his face having slipped down to reveal a quite handsome face. "I see. So I really fell into a long sleep. This strange being having given me this mark said that such a thing would happen after I fulfill... what did it call it? Focus, I believe."

Fang nodded, showing her own faded brand. "You were made a l'Cie. They have quite... special thoughts on who they chose for their cause." Minwu cocked his head to one side, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "They? Who are they, anyway?"

It took quite some time for them to explain everything to him, and as he showed his own faded mark, they understood he had overcome a focus he had been forced into. "So, basically, we are all in the same boat now, huh?" Snow grinned, earning a quite radiant smile from Minwu. "Anyway, I would like to help you in any respect. Since Garland and Palmecias showed up, there's no time to lose, is there."