Update: February 20th, 2015

Due to recent discovery of how the localization of Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII treats the concept of life being simplified, this episode was rewritten to be accurate with Japanese canon.


Episode 2. Gift of the Goddess

Storybrooke. Present Day

The mysterious building which appeared yesterday was towering over the town and was visible from every window that faced its direction, including Serah's windows in Granny's B&B. She hated the structure with all her heart and if it was possible she would just 'wish it away', into the Void.

When she dressed up, she came to the diner where she was greeted by the establishment's owner, Granny, and her ever fiery granddaughter, Ruby.

"Storybrooke Special coming right up," the elderly woman said as Serah was approaching the counter. "This one's on the house, so don't worry about the payment."
"Really? I wouldn't feel right eating for free while others pay," Serah's face turned slightly red.
"You better accept that. Granny rarely does this kinda thing," Ruby said with a smile.
"Ruby, off with you!" the woman scolded the young woman hasting her to serve the clients.
"But that's how it is!" Ruby giggled and quickly went to the tables.
"Alright," Serah accepted the free meal. "But I'd like to repay you somehow."
"Eat now, child. It won't stay warm forever," she hastened Serah as well.
"R-right!"

Serah sat down at a free table and was served the 'Storybrooke Special': it was scrambled eggs with bacon, four slices of bread with butter, and few fried tomatoes. For drinking, she was given a peach compote; Granny said it's the best drink to start a morning. The meal was delicious: Serah could say that Granny's cooking could rival that of Lebreau, although if she would pick who cook better she'd chose the old lady. There was something amiss in Lebreau's cooking that Granny's bested it. The compote was also great, sweet in a way that she didn't feel that her teeth could fall of any minute.

Then Emma came in and noticed the lone pink-haired girl. She bought cocoa and approached Serah's table.

"Mind if I join in?"
"No," she replied. "Actually, it's a bit sad sitting here by myself," she admitted.
"Wanna talk about it?" the blonde asked.
"There's no need. It just feels better to have someone at your side."
"How was the night?"
"Calm," she replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear."
"Emma, where was it? The Time Gate, I mean?" Serah suddenly changed the topic.
"At Zelena's barn, although I don't think that could help," Emma replied.
"Let's go there!" Serah said with a mysterious light in her eyes. "I got a hunch, but unless we don't go we won't know if it's true or not."

Emma looked at Serah with confusion but decided to do as she asked. They left the diner and entered the blonde's car, a yellow Volksvagen Beetle, which she drove them to a house on a lone hill. When they arrived, they entered the barn. It was quite roomy, with a large, circular emblem engraved on the ground.

"This was the time portal which linked with the Enchanted Forest of the past," Emma said pointing at the emblem. "So what was that hunch about?"
"A surprise, I hope," she replied.
"That's very vague and I can't rely on things like 'hunch' all the time."
"Look for something out of the ordinary," Serah advised. "Something that even this Zelena of yours wouldn't have."

Despite giving Serah a questioning look, Emma decided to look around the barn. It appeared that aside of the emblem on the ground, everything else seemed normal. There were some gardening and farming tools, a few building tools, and some construction materials. She peeked in a few cabinets, but there was nothing unusual in them: there were simply some old tableware.

Serah, on the other hand, was inspecting the emblem: she believed that the 'out of the ordinary object' would be around it. After few minutes spent digging around it she gave up on that object and decided to search other places. Her sight turned to a cabinet in a dark corner of the barn. She approached it and tried to opened but it was locked.

"Emma, do you know how to open that?" she asked.
"Sure."

Then Emma approached the cabinet and using a thin nail she found nearby attempted to pick up the lock. After few tries it unlocked and a rather strange mirror appeared before them. Serah felt like she saw that somewhere before.

"How did you do that? And with a nail?"
"Neil taught me a few tricks," she replied. "You seem like to know this mirror."
"I think I saw it during my quest to help Claire."

Then an orange glow emanated from the mirror and something appeared inside it.

"I think... I think that's it!" she exclaimed. "There's definitely something inside that mirror!"
"Something inside the mirror? Like in the mirror of Erised from Harry Potter?" Emma asked.
"Harry Potter?" Serah replied with a question.

Serah then extended her right hand to touch the object in the mirror. The mirror reacted to her touch and inside her right hand a crystal appeared. It was double-ended: on each side there was a green spike, and towards the center of the crystal its color turned to blue. The center of the object had many small spikes. Quite unusually, the crystal was floating just an inch or teo above Serah's hand.

"We found it," she said with a smile.
"We found what?" Emma asked with mixed confusion and anger in her voice.
"It's called a 'fragment'," Serah explained. "'Time and memory, frozen in crystal,' or so I heard. Although I hoped for something more."
"'Time and memory, frozen in crystal,'" Emma repeated. "You think this might hold some kind of answer for us?"
"The only way to know is to see the recording," the pink-haired woman replied.

Emma stood next to Serah who touched the fragment with her other hand and a screen of sort was projected before them, with a still image and text next to it.

The image showed a crystal throne in a large, ceilingless room. An orange blue sky could be seen with faint lights adorning it. On the throne a woman was sitting: she wore a helmet which covered her eyes and was adorned with a long, white feather on the each side, a quite revealing, silver armor exposing her stomach, arms, and legs, and from each of her pauldrons sprang a wing from white feathers. The text that was placed next to the image was named "Gift of the Goddess". The entry was written in an otherworldly script that only Serah could read. The text said: "In her desperation to be noticed by her Maker, the Goddess tore her own body and as a result went to the another world, but this act was not seen by her Maker who abandoned her and his other children. Another god created by her Maker used the Goddess's blood and created humanity as their means of reunion with the one who abandoned them. Soon after, humanity was gifted by Her with a powerful force which allowed them to be their own: a heart. And so, the 'Gift of the Goddess' was created and without it, humanity is doomed to the servitude to selfish gods." The entry finished there and the two women looked each other with a face saying "I'm-pretty-sure-it's-a-dud".

"Interesting story of how humans were born in your world, but I don't think it will help us," Emma said.
"Maker... Goddess... Chaos..." Serah was reading the words written in capitals. "'Gift of the Goddess'..."
"What does it all mean? How it could possibly relate your world to Storybrooke?"
"The 'Goddess' must refer to Etro, the same goddess who bestowed upon me a gift which was more of a curse really, and it related to Chaos," Serah answered.
"What's this 'chaos' thing then?"
"In my world it is a powerful force which can destroy space and time. Partially because of me, Chaos destroyed the old world, but the humanity won it freedom and a new world took the place of the old one."
"Do you think this 'chaos' could come here through this time portal with you?" Emma asked and noticed Serah's sad face when she heard the blonde one's theory.
"It could be that Chaos came here with you and then it brought me, Claire, and the Vestige back."
"Are you sure you're the only ones here?" Emma asked.
"What do you mean? Is there anyone else from my world here!?" Serah asked.

It was somewhat comforting to know that she wasn't the only one from her home world here. Yet the thought that many more people she cared about could be in this mess too was making Serah's heart ache.

"I saw a chicken lady yesterday," Emma replied. "She sure was one lively chatterbox."
"A talkative woman in feathers? Were they... orange and red in color?"
"Yeah. Where are you getting with that?"
"It's a good friend of mine. Her name's Chocolina."


Valhalla, Beyond Space and Time

After her suicidal attempt to be noticed by her Maker, Etro descended to the realm beyond space and time. She looked around and found herself in a grand city with tall buildings surrounded by an ocean of dark blue water and beaches laden in crystals of all colors. Floating obelisks raced across the dark, cloudy sky. However, one building in this mysterious place was a towering structure, possibly a palace which was adorned with sharp tops and circular, neon green object, similar to a clock face, which emanated with gentle glow.

Suddenly a corridor of black fog formed leading Etro to who knew where. With a naive thought in her mind that her Maker might have finally noticed her, she followed the road created by the mysterious mist. After some time, Etro reached the entrance to the tallest building in this place. The place was a maze of rooms, corridors, and staircases, but the black fog showed her the correct path. After much time passed and she climbed countless of staircases, Etro arrived at the large chamber with a tall crystal throne in light blue color.

One thing appeared out of place here: a figure sitting on the throne, covered in black fog. The figure and the Goddess were both silent for few moments, but then the mysterious character arose from the throne and spoke to Etro.

"Welcome Child to the realm inbetween reality and illusion, Valhalla," a distorted female voice with a pinch of anguish came from the figure.
"Who are you?" the confused Goddess asked. "I thought that my Father would finally be here, that he had finally noticed me."
"'Father' is a creature devoid of emotion, seeking only eternal rule," the figure replied. "However there is someone else who can grant you your wish of love."
"Who?"
"The god Lindzei created creatures from the blood that spilt from your body to use them as a tool for your 'Father'."
"Please, tell me: how can I get their love while they are puppets of him?" Etro asked.
"I will very soon fade away from this realm, and descend onto the next. With my passing, you will receive a gift that can help the creatures created from your blood," the figure replied and grew smaller.
"What is this gift?"
"It is called 'Chaos'. But be careful with this mist of blackest night: shall it rain on the realm of the living in amounts that could cover it whole, it will be the beginning of the end. You see that fog that covers me whole?" the figure asked. "That is Chaos. Also, there is something you need to do as the guardian of this place once I am gone: the souls which pass here are to return to the realm of living."

Suddenly the figure who stood in front of the throne started to disappear, bit by bit. This scene scared Etro, but the other character seemed to be finally at peace.

"Protect the world," she said. "Banish your Maker into oblivion and set your offspring free."

Just as she finished her sentence she completely dissolved leaving Etro more clueless than she already was.

"H-How?" she pleaded to the now empty throne.

She then spent much time thinking about the mysterious figure's last words. Etro wasn't sure she could protect the world, let alone banish her Maker into oblivion. However she was discarded by him. Even after her suicidal act there was no answer from him. It was like he shut her out of his life, like she was some kind of a trash.

Still, there was hope: the creations that were made from her own blood by Lindzei, one of the three children that her Maker created. There were just empty shells, bereft of any meaning, doing exactly as it was told to by her Maker's children.

She looked at her hands and saw small swirls of Chaos in palms of both her hands.

"Will it be enough to make my children free?"

At that moment, a grand eye-shaped green object appeared high above the temple. Countless of little lights started to flood into Valhalla all at once and Chaos started to escape through the portal. Etro suddenly had a vision with clear message: if the Chaos would flood the world, it would be destroyed. And there was one more thing: no matter how much she would try, the Chaos would try to break free from Valhalla and come to realm of the living, all for the sake of existing beyond that plane.

"Let this be a light that will guide on your path through life, may it give you meaning."

Etro walked to the balcony that overlooked her world and closed the portal with wave of a hand. She then proceeded to what she thought would be the best: she bestowed upon the lights—souls—a small piece of Chaos: their heart as people dubbed it eons later. That way her children could live free to decide for themselves and the destructive substance would be held at bay. That was her only way to stop the Chaos from flooding the realm of her offspring and corrupting it beyond repair.

The new goddess of Valhalla conjured a staircase to the crystal throne and stepped slowly. Despite what she did few moments ago, she still didn't think she was fit to rule over this empty realm. She was young and inexperienced, thrown into what she thought would be a terrible conflict that would span millennia, if not eternity. When she reached the throne she turned around and looked longingly, still hoping that her Maker would notice her, but without wished results. She finally set on sitting on the throne and the moment she did numerous images appeared in her mind. There were so many of them that she couldn't recall a single one after they disappeared.


Storybrooke. Present Day

Emma, Hook, and Serah spent several hours looking for Chocolina but without success. The pink-haired woman wanted to talk with the feathery woman in hopes she might know more than she. Search in the town didn't proof fruitful and they were slowly running out of options.

"Any ideas of where to look next?" Emma asked after leaving another store.
"She might have a 'nest'," Hook suggested and earned a cold look from the blonde. "All I mean is that if she's a bird she could actually be in the forest. From my experience birds tend to live in forests."
"That sounds actually smart," Serah agreed and went in the opposite direction of the structure that appeared here just yesterday.
"You sure this Chocolina woman will be that way?" Emma asked.
"She might seem reckless at first but she knows which places to avoid," Serah replied with a smirk.

They continued to the forest where they found quite large yellow and orange feather.

"That's definitely Chocolina's," Serah remarked. "We might be able to track her down by following their trail." Then silently she thought about one of her friends, "I wonder if Noel used similar tactics in his hunting days."

Sadly, there weren't many feathers which would help them find the feathery woman. While some appeared to be of Chocolina, some seemed to be from birds native to the forest surrounding Storybrooke.

"This is like a wild goose chase," Hook remarked. "If she's really here, we'll have hard time finding her."
"Yeah, Chocolina could be described like one," Serah giggled, but quickly turned serious, "Are here any 'hunters' or someone of that sort who could help us?" she asked.
"There's Robin Hood and his Merry Men," Emma replied. "They live in the forest, although I wouldn't call them 'hunters'."
"Might as well try there. Lead on," Serah slightly pushed Emma.

Emma led her group through densely forested area and soon after they came upon a settlement of sorts, composed only of tents. With Emma and Hook being acquainted with Merry Men, they were simply ignored, however Serah and her pink hair caught attention of Little John. He analyzed her appearance and muttered something under his nose.

"Umm, excuse me?" Serah approached the bulky man. "Have you seen any woman adorned with big yellow and orange feathers? She looks like a cho— bird," she was about to say 'chocobo' but decided against it as she thought that maybe there are no chocobos in this world and it was better to go with something far more common.
"Why do you ask?"
"Wh-Why shouldn't I?" Serah nervously replied.
"Have you seen her or not?" Emma butted in. "Don't forget I'm a sheriff here, I can interrogate you."
"Fine," the man replied. "Someone meeting your description was here yesterday. She apparently knows something about those two guys who we found yesterday too."
"Two other people?" Serah wondered. "Can I see them?" she asked with a spark of hope in her eyes.

Emma looked menacingly at the man: she knew Little John was a man of little trust and winning it was a harder thing than being a savior. He showed them to a green tent where two men were soundly sleeping: both had black skin and sported afro. One was short, no more than eight years old, and the other one was tall, about in his forties.

Serah made a sound which was a crossover between happiness and sadness. She quickly noted their quite unusual state: deep slumber. Something was definitely wrong, that much was obvious. But what was a source of that state was a mystery to her.

"Sazh, Dajh..." she muttered. "What happened to you?"
"You know them?" Emma and Little John asked her at the same time. This silly synchronization led to a little giggle from Serah.
"Yes, back in my world we were all friends," she replied after which she added, "but it felt like a family to me," and she smiled.
"Their souls are gone apparently," a female voice suddenly appeared behind them.

It belonged to a slender woman with dark hair and brown eyes, skin dark like a tree branch. She was wearing clothes that differed from what other Merry Men wore, like it was from another time.

"Marian?" Emma startled. That sure seemed like out of character. "How you know that?"
"I heard you before," she replied. "Chocolina was here yesterday and spoke about 'missing souls'."
"Was she here today?" Serah quickly asked.
"Yes, she went with Robin who insisted on it." Marian let a sigh of deep disapprobation seeing her husband's behavior as something that harms her.
"You seem quite dissatisfied, lady," Hook noticed Marian's behavior. "Afraid of loosing your love?"
"What a... man like you would know?" she hissed.
"I have my share of pain with love," the pirate replied remembering about Milah's death from the hands of her very husband.
"We're not here to discuss love affairs," Emma reprimanded the two. "What do you know about their souls, Marian?"
"Aside of that they're lost, nothing much more, only that they are supposedly somewhere in Storybrooke."
"Does Chocolina has anything to do with their souls?" Serah asked.
"She told us about them, weird woman that one," Little John replied. "Her attire is absolutely something that should be burned at stake."
"And she and Robin went to look for them?" Emma asked.
"Yes," Marian replied.
"Do you know where they went?" Serah delved Marian and Little John with questions.
"They went to the Wishing Well," the bulky man replied. "I know it's supposed to be magical, but I don't think they'll find answers there."
"We now know were to actually look," Emma said and turned to Hook and Serah, "Let's go."
"Emma," the blonde suddenly turned when her name was said: it was Marian. "Please bring Robin home. I'm afraid for him."

Emma simply nodded and left west for the Wishing Well with her other two party members. In the distance, a mysterious figure observed the three. Serah could swear she heard something and turned around, but only trees' branches were slowly dancing to the wind blowing through the forest. As the three made their way to the Well, dull, restless voices could be heard, although they differed greatly from what one could consider 'normal'.

When they arrived at the place, they saw some of the most wicked-looking creatures: they varied in size and shape, but one thing was consistent: their color – white.

"What is that?" Emma asked shocked with the view. "I've never seen anything like this."
"I-I am not sure, but th-that might be a C-Cie'th," Serah replied, her face all pale. She then turned her head to Emma as trying to ask a question.
"People of Storybrooke wouldn't go to that thing, I'm sure," the blonde replied. "They have too many issues with magic and stuff and that 'vestige' thing is the last thing they want to visit."
"B-But I don't u-understand..."
"If there's one thing I do understand is that we're surrounded!" Hook shouted when white creatures started to close on them from all sides. "Quick, love," he turned to Serah, "does these monsters have some sort of weak spot?"
"Magic could harm them, but I don't have that," the pink-haired woman replied.
"Does it always have to be me?" Emma asked with resignation in her voice and started to accumulate magic energy in her hands.
"Wouldn't you mind charging that magic of yours?" Hook hastened the blonde. "It's not like I want to end us a 'Cie buffet'!"
"Why don't you try?" Emma hissed.

Suddenly a Cie'th with monstrous body and wide arms appeared behind Emma. Just when it was about to strike the woman, Hook came just in time to shield her from the powerful attack which sent him flying on the nearest tree.

"Hook!" the blonde exclaimed and cast the spell at the creature which attacked the pirate. Cie'th disappeared into black mist.

Emma was charging up another spell, the one she intended to have somewhat wide area of effect. Serah was crawling on her back, looking for some safe place in the area. Then a swarm of small Cie'th hardly reminding that of butterflies charged at her.

"Please, no!" she mumbled.
"Choco Feathero!" a female voice suddenly appeared somewhere behind her. Several large red feathers stabbed the flying monstrosities which nearly instantly dispersed into black mist. "Choco-boco-morning!" she greeted the group with excitement on her voice a big smile on her face.
"What the—!?" Emma was shocked with the sudden appearance of a new combatant and released her magic too soon causing little more than a burst of energy ten feet before her.
"Chocolina?!" Serah was surprised to see her old companion, especially since she wasn't exactly the one to fight, or at least she haven't seen her in one.
"The one and only!" the brunette chirped in her usual, lively manner. "Here, use this to fend of these nasty little crickets!" she said conjuring a sword of most weird design she ever saw: it resembled a spread chocobo wing, with silver handle and blade of red and yellow feathers.
"Th-Thanks!" she said.
"Let's get them!"

Chocolina cast several quite strong wind spells, slaying lots of flying Cie'th. Serah, on the contrary, advanced to the bulkier and more dangerous foes. The pink-haired woman still remembered her trainings with Noel, a hunter from a lost age: he always taught her to be one step ahead of her opponent, knowing a weakness or two of her enemy. While the Cie'th she fought in the past were susceptible to magic she tried using few, but nothing came to her. Chocolina's magic wasn't also effective. She also tried to slash a few cuts, but the monster was also resistant to it. She then decided to analyze the behavior of the creature hoping it will help her form a proper strategy. Serah noticed that while her opponent was large and strong, it also happened to have great delay between moves, shielding its front when it felt it was too exposed. She look at the monster's chest and noticed a complete Cocoon l'Cie brand. Maybe that it's weak spot!, she thought and decided to give it a try.

"Come at me!" she said menacingly while leaning over.

As the Cie'th was about to deliver a powerful blow, he missed Serah who evaded it just in time, and instead it ended up having its arm stuck in a tree. The creature then used his other hand to strike the woman but she swiftly cut it off. Serah then pierced the brand and the Cie'th disappeared into the black mist. She could swear that of what appeared to be its face, although the eyes were covered with hands, she saw a faint smile. That scared her a bit, but continued with other bulky Cie'th.

Some time during the battle, Emma woke up and approached Hook who was in pain.

"Hook, you're alright?"
"I think I broke a rib or two. Plus, my heart won't stop pounding like a bucking bronco," he replied and yelled in pain.

Emma concentrated some magic into her hands and cast a healing spell to relieve him of some pain at least.

"Wait, where's Robin?" she yelled at the two women after she realized that Chocolina was said to be with Robin.
"I-I think we have a bigger problem, Emma," Serah replied pointing at a snake-like Cie'th with multiple arms acting as its head.
"What is that?" the blonde asked.
"Appears to be some sort of mutated Cie'th!" Serah replied and evaded just in time a swept of its tail.
"How do we beat something that has like eight million arms?"
"Let's play rock-paper-scissors with it," Chocolina replied to Emma's question. Her sense of humor was certainly an odd one.
"I don't think it's gonna help," the blonde murmured angrily.
"Actually, that's a wonderful idea!" Serah exclaimed. "Chocolina, you and Emma create me a diversion," she ordered.
"What about you?" Emma asked.
"I'm gonna play the scissors part," she replied with a smirk.

In nearly an instant, Chocolina and Emma joined their forces by casting combination of light and wind magic, effectively drawing the Cie'th's attention away from Serah. When the creature was taking short breaks between the attack, the pink-haired woman was quickly cutting the arms from the monster. After a few minutes, only a giant arm, a part of the main body left and was relentlessly attacking anything around.

"We need to make it into a team effort if we want to beat it!" Serah yelled from a distance to Emma.
"Any ideas on that?" the blonde asked back.
"We need it to get it frozen in the air, then I'll be able to finish it off," Serah replied and shortly after yelled, "Chocolina!"

The brunette just winked with an understanding and with flapping of her wing arms she created a powerful tornado which lifted the Cie'th up.

"Emma, freeze it!" Serah commanded once again.

The blonde concentrated her magic and shot it at the enemy. While she wanted to simply make it immobile in the air, it literally froze and was now covered in ice.

Serah then jumped into the air, performing a high leap, and rushed with her blade arm extended to the full into the enemy.

"I free you!" she yelled and pierced the Cie'th right through it palm where the l'Cie brand was located.

The creature cried in anguish and dispersed in a large cloud of black mist which disappeared shortly after. Emma looked questioningly at Serah, the words she said when defeating the monstrosity. A faint light appeared short after and fled right into the pink-haired woman's chest, startling her. That was weird, she thought.

"You freed it from what? It was just a monster."
"I told you yesterday, remember?" Serah reminded the blonde. "When a person fails their Focus they turn into Cie'th."

"But it's a monster then."
"Actually, they're a mix of human and monster, but they act on the negative feelings that caused them to become Cie'th," Emma looked confused so Serah tried to explain it easier. "All they want is to be free of their form, but the grief, sadness, and anxiety take the better part of them and force them into mindless killers. Their only hope for atonement is death."
"Which is what," Hook interrupted, heavily breathing, "you three just did," and he passed out.
"Quick, you gotta help me drag him to the Merry Men's camp!" Emma requested from Serah and Chocolina, but the latter mysteriously vanquished.
"She's gone, like that. But at least I know she's okay," Serah said hollowly and helped Emma carry the man.

Back at the Merry Men's camp they met Robin who was eating a dinner with Marian and their son.

"Where were you?" Emma asked with demand in her voice. "We were looking for you."
"The search was prooving fruitless so after discussing it with Chocolina I went back to the camp," he replied.
"Hook!" The pirate fainted. "Do you have any first aid kit?" Emma turned to Robin.
"Just bring him to the tent where the other two men are," Marian replied. "I know a bit of this 'first aid' you're talking about."

Emma and Serah dragged Hook into the tent where Sazh and Dajh were sleeping and put him on the blanket that was placed on the ground. Marian opened his coat, but aside of few bruises there was nothing major. She resorted to putting a cold towel on his forehead as it burned with the heat of hundred suns.

"He appears to be well on the outside," Marian noted, "but you should bring a doctor to see if maybe there's something bad inside."

The blonde called to a hospital describing Hook's situation. Shortly after, she was informed that few paramedics were sent their way and she was asked to not move the pirate as to not damage his internal organs.

"Thanks for the rescue," she said softly and kissed Hook on the cheek.
"That's just... what a real gentleman... would do," the man replied with a small smile on his face.
"Don't strain yourself," she reprimanded him with her usual voice. "We don't know if it's something minor or not."
"How are Sazh and Dajh doing?" Serah asked Marian and Robin.
"No change," Robin replied plainly.
"If Claire wasn't this crystal, she would know how to help them," Serah said silently. "Back in our older world she was saving lost souls from being abandoned."

She approached the sleeping boy and took his hand into her own.

"I hope you're having good dreams, Dajh," she said, hoping that the little boy could hear her. "Full of chocobos and happy moments with Sazh." She brought Dajh's hands closer to her chest. "Living without a soul must be a hard thing, huh? You can't feel anything..." she wondered and a small light flew out of her chest and started to dance around Dajh.
"What's that?" Emma asked.
"I think... it's... Dajh's soul!" Serah said and in that moment the light fled into Dajh's chest.

The boy started to slowly wake up. As his eyes opened, he noticed he was in an entirely different place than he remembered. There were people he didn't recognize at first, but then a pink-haired woman approached him.

"You're awake!" she exclaimed, not believing what she was seeing.
"Serah?" the boy replied. "Where am I? What's going on? Where's dad?"
"I..." Serah faltered. She didn't know how to respond. "It's not... easy to say," she finally said after a moment of silence.

Then the blonde approached the boy and comforted him as best as she could.

"Everything's gonna be fine. We'll—I'll—find a way to help your dad," she assured him.
"Where is he?" the fear grew in boy's voice.
"He's... over there..." Serah pointed a sleeping man on a bed behind Dajh.
"Daddy?" the boy approached Sazh. "Daddy, wake up," he softly said. "Daddy?" he shook his father's body. "Wake up, dad..." the desperation in boy's voice grew with each word said.
"I'm so sorry..." Serah mumbled and went silent.

As people left the tent, only Dajh and Serah remained, sitting next to Sazh's empty body. She didn't know what to say to the boy: he was just eight years old and was through so much that not a single child should be at his age. Dajh was sitting silently and soon after he fell asleep. Serah couldn't do much, or at least she believed she couldn't, and only lightly stroke his hair before she left.


Valhalla. Beyond Space and Time

Etro was sitting silently on the throne she recently inherited from a mysterious figure. Or did she inherit it eons ago? With lack of time in Valhalla it was hard to tell. The Goddess pondered about many things she was left with: loss of her Father, control over Chaos, preservation of peace. And this mysterious person who left her with that... Who was that?

Then the Gate above Valhalla opened and a single light came falling gently. Etro used her powers and created a projection of the person: it was a young woman, possibly not before eighteen, with hair blue like cornflowers. She landed on the beach where she stood still like a statue.

"This must be a soul awaiting for the return to the visible domain. The first soul to guide," Etro murmured. "I hope I can do it."

She then walked to the beach where the girl was waiting. When Etro arrived, the woman turned to her and revealed green eyes and a gentle smile across her face.

"My, you are a peculiar person," Etro noted, a small smile crossed her face as well. "Before I will send you to the Unseen Realm, I would like to know your name."
"Yeul," the girl replied withour emotion in her voice.

There was something peculiar about this girl. Etro felt like she knew that particular person for quite a long time, but couldn't put a finger on it.

The Goddess than waved her hand and a reddish black glimmer separated from the light of the girl's projection and melted into the sea of Chaos. Etro conjured a new reddish black glimmer and placed it inside the girl's soul. She then created an arc adorned with gold outline and a blurry image of a flowery meadow inside it.

"You will now be born anew," she said pointing at the gate of sorts. "Go on, child," she gently rushed her.
"Thank you, whoever you are," the girl kindly replied.
"My name is Etro. I am the guardian of the dead, as you can see..."

The image of Yeul approached the gate and looked back at the goddess. Etro smiled encouragingly to give the girl a morale boost, a move which appeared to work since the girl turned to the gate once more. When Yeul touched the surface of the image with her hand, she was thrown away but was quickly caught by the Goddess's magic. The girl attempted few more entries but the result was all the same.

"I do not understand," Etro wondered. "Every soul should pass through Valhalla to the Visible Realm, but that dominion appears to not welcome you," she worried. "It appears as if the light of your soul is... too much."
"What happens to me now?" Yeul pondered. "Will I stay here, by your side?"
"I am afraid that it is not possible. Valhalla is a realm where no one but me can exist. Any more bodies is simply not needed."
"So I will just... fade away? Like I never existed?"
"No, child. You will return to the realm of the living. This is the only thing I can do for you."
"But how?"
"The Chaos will warp the Gate to the Visible Realm allowing you to pass it," Etro pointed at the green object, high above them, and conjured a winged beast, all in bandage and crown on its head. "Valefor here will take you to the Gate, but not further. His home is Valhalla."
"Thank you, Goddess Etro," the girl said again.

Yeul sat down comfortably atop Valefor who took her to the gate with a rather scenic view: the girl could see the place in all its glory, with the grand palace in the middle, and dark waters surrounding the land. When they were near the Door, the girl touched the gate and disappeared in a green flash, yet a small light fell from Yeul as she passed the gate and landed in the sea of Chaos. Valefor returned to Etro, yearning for some affection which was returned: the Goddess stroke the creature gently on its head. Shortly after it disappeared in a burst of Chaos leaving Etro alone once again.


At the same time Yeul returned to her home, much to everyone's shock. She told them about the realm which served as a place from which people are reborn. As she was talking about the Goddess, who called herself Etro, the girl clouded the truth behind her return, fearing that a story of her not being able to enter the Visible Realm under normal circumstances would be taken wrongly and she was certain that every person was destined to come back in the way that she didn't return.

When her friends and family were celebrating her return with quite a large feast, Yeul entered some sort of trance as a mysterious symbol appeared in her eyes and a vision appeared within her mind. She saw countless of her images, each with a golden glow in her eyes, accompanied with images she couldn't understand, and each of her imitations dying after having their eyes shine too many times.

"Yeul, are you okay?" a younger girl, her sister, asked. "You suddenly went pale and your eyes were glowing gold."
"I... I think I had a vision," she mumbled under her nose.
"A vision?" a man asked, Yeul's father.
"Would this be a gift of the Goddess?" a woman, her mother, wondered.
"What was it?" her sister asked.
"I saw my... death," she said hollowly. "These visions... they seem to be the future."
"Yeul, everyone dies when they grow old," her father said.
"I didn't die... of old," all of the people at the table turned their faces to Yeul. "I saw how this visions eat away my life. And if I see too much... I die."
"That's nonsense," her mother dismissed the news with strange ease. "Just because you were in the realm of gods doesn't mean you suddenly acquire powers that can kill you just like that," and snapped her fingers.
"I need to rest," Yeul said simply and marched off from the room, surprising everyone.
"I suppose she needs it, after all that happened today," her mother noted and encouraged the rest of banqueters to finish their meals.


Storybrooke. Present Day

Robin vowed to look after Dajh, much to Marian's dismay, although Roland seemed quite happy to have a friend around his age he could play with. Serah still wasn't at her best to talk about Sazh, since she herself didn't know much. She felt like it was better to just not talk about it, although she knew that the talk would happen sooner or later. It was too much for her and she decided to face it later.

"Serah, you're okay?"

She heard a female voice. That's right: she and Emma were sitting at Granny's discussing today's events.

"Y-Ye— N-No—" Serah sighed. "I don't know. I'm happy that Sazh and Dajh are alright, and that Dajh is awake, but I don't know how to talk with him about his dad."
"I kinda get what you mean," Emma said. "It wasn't until like... two years ago that I had no one, but then Henry came and I had... ten years of catching up with him."
"Henry's your son?"
"Yes, but it's a bit of a long story and I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk about it with you."
"That's understandable," Serah replied. "We barely know each other. Besides, I don't think that your family business is connected with me and my friends appearance here."

Then the door to the diner opened with a sound of ringing bell and a boy, not older than twelve came in. He was holding some video games in his hands and both had pictures of a woman with rose-colored hair on their covers.

"That's him, Henry," Emma told Serah pointing her the boy who just entered the café.
"Hi mom, hi Serah," the boy smiled at the woman with pink hair.
"I don't believe we met," Serah said.
"You're right," he replied. "But these games gave me a pretty good insight on you and your friends."
"These games... They have images of Claire on them."
"That's right, they're your sister's pics," he said with a big grin.
"Are you going with it somewhere are you just gonna mock her?" Emma asked. "Serah's not in the best condition right now, with all this weird stuff appearing here."
"Apparently, Storybrooke is a place which doesn't bring only fairytales together," he said. "It seems that video games are brought here as well."
"What are you talking about?" Serah asked in confusion. It was strange, and a bit infuriating to hear that she's a 'video game character'. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"As I already told you Storybrooke is a cursed town where people from various children's stories ended up due to... Regina's thirst for vengeance," Emma explained. "But recently we got all kinds of curses coming one after another and bringing people which weren't originally here and they all wanted to gain something at the expense of this town, always harming its people."
"Seems like you're victims of some kind of curse, but different from ours," Henry said. "It must be connected with one of the gods from your world."
"But I have little memory about my world's gods," Serah said with sadness in her voice.
"We'll just have to play them," he said pointing at the games. "I'm sure they're trigger something."
"I hope you're right."
"'Hope' is an important word here," the boy replied with a big grin earning a questioning look from Serah. "You'll see."
"Where are you gonna play those games?" Emma asked.
"In my room," Serah replied. "You have a proper console for them, right?"
"Yeah, I'll just need to pick it from my room at my mom's house." He quickly corrected himself, "From my other's mom house," and he rushed off leaving the two games on the table in front of Serah.
"Let's call it a day," Emma suggested. "We need a break and besides you need to catch up with your memories."

Emma left leaving Serah alone at the table. Ruby soon came and gave her a cup of tea with a lemon and few sandwiches saying that she'll repay them later for those. Serah was starting to feel useless with all the kindness she got from the establishment's owner and her granddaughter and she didn't pay them even a single coin of whatever their currency was. She slowly ate what she was given and after finishing it she returned to her room with the video games in hands.

Are the answers here?, she wondered. Why we are here? Are we once again just tools to be used in gods' games? Serah refused to believe that but after all the adventures she had she thought that they indeed have unfinished business with them.

With nothing else in mind, she decided to read the manuals for the games. She opened the page number eight of the game titled Final Fantasy XIII and noticed Claire's image taking roughly a half of the page, on the other side she saw herself in her white sleeveless top and red skirt, and behind her was Snow sitting on the aerobike made from his Eidolon Shiva. The description on Claire wasn't very informative: all it said that her sister was a mystery woman known by her moniker 'Lightning' which she abandoned after setting in the new world.

She then continued to read other entries in the manual. After some time, Henry came with a console and set it next to the TV. Few moments later, they started the first game: Final Fantasy XIII. Serah was hopeful that she'd discover something that was lost to her and could be helpful in her quest for releasing her sister and finally getting the peace they all deserved.


Meanwhile close to the Vestige that appeared just day ago, a woman was sitting comfortably near the fire, eating some rabbit she hunted down and drinking water from the nearby stream. There was something sinister about her, like she was planning something horrifying, something that would cleanse everyone from their past and live in purity, no matter what the price was. This was something she failed long time ago, after the God-chosen savior turned against him and stripped her from the chance of beginning her life anew, with her sins erased.

Then she heard a rustle in nearby bushes and readied herself for a battle if such would come. A man appeared before her, wearing a suit and holding a cane in his hand. He looked at her with a mischievous smile and she replied with an ignoring look.

"I don't suppose you come from the Enchanted Forest, dearie," he said.
"That's none of your business."
"Trust me it is," and with a wave of a hand he took her voice away for a mere second.
"Who are you?"
"I could ask you the same," he replied and started to circle around the woman. "Since you are not from my realm."
"Who I am or from where is not your concern, old man," she hissed. "Now why don't you leave before—"

The man raised his hand and the woman suddenly floated into the air and started to try releasing from a grip of an invisible hand that was simmering her. The man slightly loosened the grip allowing the woman to catch a breath.

"What are you?" she asked.
"Someone you wish not to mess with," he replied. "Now if you'd kindly provide me with the answers I seek I'd be more than happy to release you."

She nodded and the man loosened the grip more.

"As you already know I'm not of this world, but a different one, a different plane of existence I could say."
"And you plot for revenge, am I right?" he asked and the woman silently agreed. "But against whom? What kind of pain you suffered to come across me and ask for my help?" he evilly grinned.
"I didn't ask for your help," she murmured.
"But you will," he assured her. "Every dark deed that comes to this town is connected with me. And I know you'll ask for my help, sooner than you'd think. They all do."
"Who are you?" she asked once again.
"I don't think you're in a position to ask such a question, dearie," and he released her from the grip of an invisible hand. "If you ever need my help, and you will, just call my name: Rumplestiltskin," and he disappeared in a burst of purple mist.

The power that this man wielded..., the woman thought to herself. It's something that the Almighty God of Light would wield. I will get this power and achieve my salvation.

The rest of the evening was quiet, although the woman was vigilant in case someone else with similar powers would appear. She then lied on the ground and waited for the sleep although it wasn't the reprieve she was fond of as the nightmares of her past still haunted her soul. The lost oblivion was her only hope for happiness.