"The moment I cease to exist, Yeul shall be released from her fate." Caius smiles, thinking I'll kill him. But he's wrong. My blade stops inches from his chest. "Give it up. I won't do it." I say. He smirks at me. "Impressive." He roughly grabs hold of my blade, despite my cry of protest. I try to wring it out of his hand, but it's no use. "He who can change time, must choose between those who die, and those who live. You must bear the burden." I pull harder, my shoes slipping on the dirt beneath me. "Of the eternal paradox!" Caius cries. He suddenly pulls the blade from my grasp and thrusts it through his heart. I stagger backwards from the shift of weight, staring at Caius in shock. "Caius!" I yell. His grunts in pain and slowly sinks to the ground. When his knees touch the ground, a shockwave of powerful blue light ripples outward and streams into the sky. When it fades, Caius falls to the ground silently. Serah turns to me, pity clear in her blue eyes. "Noel…" Her voice fades, before she starts again. "He always wanted to come back, didn't he? He wanted to come back here to die." I avoid her gaze, but I reply, my voice steady despite myself. "He thought if he did, he could end Yeul's cycle of rebirth." I continue to look onward. "This way, all the Yeul's that are called back to Valhalla… They can be with him here. They don't have to return to be born again." Serah is quiet for a few moments, deep in thought. "He heard you. In the end, he believed what you told him." I open my mouth to reply, but nothing comes out. My eyes travel to a point in the distance. "This is a world that gives birth to infinite possibilities. But that's all there are, possibilities. There's no death here, but, no real life either." I take a deep breath, talking to myself more than Serah. "The Yeul's that returned to this place chose a different fate. They wanted to be born again. They didn't need immortality." Serah slowly comes closer to me, gazing out across the ocean. "They wanted a reality." She says. "Kupo?" Mog whispers. "But Caius wanted something different, something he thought was better than life. A dream, where he could protect the spirits of all the Yeul's forever." I come closer to his corpse. "But I'm not like him." Determination sets into my voice. "I'm going to find her. Find my Yeul. It doesn't have to be forever." I walk over to Caius's sword and yank it out of the dirt. "I just…." A vision of Yeul flashes through my mind. "I want to be with her in the future!" "Then let's do it." Serah puts in quickly. "Let's build a new future. " I finally turn to her. "Yeah…. I never wanted to hurt anyone. "I walk back over to Caius's motionless body. " I never wanted to lose Yeul. I never wanted to lose any of them. No one deserves to die." I position his sword near his head. "Not even you friend. Farewell." I push the sword into the ground and stand back. The gates of time start appearing all around us. "You resolved the paradox kupo!" Mog says happily. Serah walks forward. "Then the timeline is back to how it was!" She says with equal enthusiasm. "Serah, are you feeling okay? When the timeline changed, did you see anything?" I say concerned. "I mean, did you feel any pain?" If Serah saw a vision that was too powerful…. Serah turns toward me, smiling. "No. I feel great." I breathe out a sigh of relief. "Good. Now why don't we go and find Lightning?" Serah nods agreement. "I don't think she's here kupo." Mog say flying around our heads. Serah turns pale. "Oh no, wait. You don't think Caius really…?" I shake my head. "No, it was just a lie. Now that the timeline is fixed, she's back in her own world. I bet she's waiting for you, along with everyone else." I say, hoping to see her smile. Serah looks up from her cradled hands as a bright line shines in front of us. I turn back to Serah. "The paradoxes are resolved. The gates will disappear soon. We better hurry on back." Serah nods at me. "Right!" She motions to the gate in front. "So this will take us to 500 AF? I guess that's where we'll be living now, 500 years in my future. Maybe Lightning will be there. "She says hopefully. " It was the future she fought to protect. The start of a brand-new era." I tell her. "What about Fang and Vanille?" She asks worriedly. "They'll be there for sure. And don't forget, Hope is in that time as well. Once the gates disappear, everybody stays where they are. Every day, we'll be able to look into the sky and see the brand new Cocoon above us." Mog does a little bounce. "I bet Snow will be there kupo!" It adds. I pound my fists together, mocking him. Serah giggles. "Well, we'll see. That'll be up to Lightning though." I add mischievously. Serah laughs and adds, "Yeah. Let's go!" I smile. "Yeah?" Serah takes off running to the gate, and I follow close behind. The last thing I hear before I head into the gate is " KUPO!"
I fly out of the gate, grateful to feel the cool breeze greeting me. I turn midair to look at Serah, smiling at me. I grin back at her. " Kupo!" Pipes Mog. We both laugh. "Hey. Look, the heroes are back!" A familiar voice comes from a ship directly below us. "It's Sazh", I say. I can almost see Serah's beautiful smile. I stumble onto the ship, on one knee for a moment. "Ha, nice catch!" I yell and slap the ship. Sazh laughs into the mike. "Welcome home!" He says. "Thanks!" I reply before standing up and turning back to the sky. I hold out my hand for Serah to grab. "I got ya." I say quietly. She holds onto for a few moments after she lands, catching her balance. I'm strangely disappointed when she lets go. Mog cries for her attention, and she giggles. "You're okay now." She says. "Kupo?" It replies. "Are you feeling alright?" I ask, concerned again. She nods smiling at me. Her head swivels to the left, and she walks over, looking down at the city. I join her, studying her face. "It'll be good to see everyone again." She says after a few moments. I nod agreement. Something behind us grabs her attention, and she turns to loom up into the sky. I follow her gaze. "The gates are closed." I say. "It's the end of our journey." Serah adds quietly. She gazes up into the sky again, and then turns to look at me. "Hey, Noel?" She says. "Hmm?" I turn toward her. Serah takes a deep breath, and looks up at me again. She steps closer, and closer, until our faces are only an inch apart. "Thank you." She says, and carefully brings her lips to mine. I'm startled, but kiss her back despite myself. I tried ignoring it, but I knew it. I knew hating Snow was more than what I told her, and she knew it too. I felt more for her than I thought. And now I know; she feels it too. I breathe in her sweet scent, enjoying the moment and not wanting it to end. Suddenly, she back away, seemingly finding it hard to breathe. "Serah?" I ask concerned. It dawns on me, she's having a vision. "No. Not now, please!" I plead. Serah's eyes turn golden. I step forward, shaking her. "Serah! Snap out of it! No!" I beg her. Her breath is driven from her body, and she starts to fall backwards. I catch her and bring her into my arms. "Serah!" I whisper, desperation clear in my voice. My voice gets caught in my throat and I find it hard to swallow past. Serah gives one last sigh and her knees fall lifelessly to the floor. I still cling to her though, and I shake her once more, praying her to wake up. Praying I'm still in my dream and Serah is really safe, with Lightning and Snow. I cradle her head gently. I throw my head back and cry to the sky, "Serah!" I bring my head down, and I cry.
After what could be heartbeats or hours, another ship comes close and Hope jumps off, running to us. His footsteps slow as he comes nearer. "Noel?" He asks. I briefly look away from Serah face to look at him, and turn away again. I swallow past the lump and shake my head slowly. "But….why?" He chokes at the end of his sentence. "You were safe. Everything was fine!" My lower lip trembles as I try to explain to him what happened. "The future changed. It changed." I look at Serah again, still cradled in my arms. "If you change the future, you change the past. The effects ripple outward, up and down the timeline." I repeat the words used by Yeul and Caius. "The seeress is forced to see it all." Hope seems shocked for a moment. "You mean Serah…she saw this vision?" He asks. "Yes. And it killed her." My voice quivers and shakes before cracking and fading. I look down at her. "Oh, Serah…" I whisper to her. I place my hand gently on the side of her face. I speak louder so Hope can hear me, but just barely. " She knew the risks. If we altered the future, she knew what would happen; that her life would be in danger." I brush her pink hair out of her face. "But she still chose to save it. I wanted to protect her…." I continue. "I thought I had. I thought she was safe!" I look up into the sky and close my eyes. Oh Serah. Can you hear me? I'm so sorry, I think. Suddenly, clouds darken the sky to a dark grey. I open my eyes and look around, alarmed. I gently lay Serah's head on the floor, and I turn to look at Hope and Mog. Mog gives a weak, " Kupo" and falls to the floor. It bounces and Hope catches it. "The goddess….she has gone Kupo." Mog shudders, severely weakened. Hope looks at me frightened, and he stands up, looking around, as if ready to see an enemy any minute. Caius's words suddenly ring in my ears. The Heart of Chaos beats in my chest, a manifestation of Etro. A vision of Caius's glowing chest flows through my brain. Should this heart stop beating, the goddess will die once again. I look down at my fists, and slowly unravel them. "I…killed….the goddess?" I yell, scared and angered. I fall back onto my knees, breathing quick and shallow. The world seems to shake, and a distant bell rings loudly. When the goddess dies, the chaos of Valhalla is unleashed. The chaos has the power to warp the timeline and destroy the past. Bright wisps of yellow shoot from everywhere and go everywhere. A vision of a crystalized Lighting sitting on the goddesses' throne is the last thing I see before the world turns black.