(Yeul´s theme Lala Version - FFXIII-2 OST)
CHAPTER III: A PAST FORGOTTEN
No tree,
it is said,
can grow to heaven
unless it´s roots
reach down to hell.
- C.G. Jung
Archylte Steppe, Year Unknown
Caius Ballad was sitting on a tree stump outside one of the smaller huts not far from the village´s main building, pensively gazing at the yellowed pattern on the back of the battered playing cards, fanned out in the well trained hand of the elderly man seated opposite him on a half rotten wooden box.
The old man´s hoary beard reaching down to touch his chest, his elbows resting on the cold surface of the medium sized boulder that made their table, Caius watched one of his hands come up to absentmindedly trace his partially concealed chin, as he pondered on what to .
Looking up to study his opponent´s features, the younger man just sat there, waiting patiently for his senior to make his next move.
It was a sweltering summer afternoon, the air humid from the rainy night and not a single cloud was to be seen in the clear blue skies above. With the temperatures high this time of the year, the purple haired man was glad to have finished his duties early, so he could spend the less bearable hours of the day off to relax, glad to be able to spend the afternoon in the cool shades of the nearby trees instead out on the plains, hunting for game that wasn´t likely to show up in the opressive heat of the summer sun anyway.
He watched the old man play a pair of jacks with a chuckle, then continued selecting two of his own cards and placing them in the middle of their make-shift table, his choice earning a satisfied hum from the balding individual in front of him.
„I knew you´d do that..." the other said, acknowledging Caius´ move with a nod.
„Let´s see how well you take these..." the bearded male then added challengingly, putting down another pair of his after drawing a card from the stack waiting to his right.
Not sure of what to make of his opponent´s move, the younger man contemplated his options. His eyes scanning his hand for possible combinations, trying to come up with a new strategy, Caius Ballad had a hard time concentrating on the task at hand.
While his eyes stayed fixed on the cards in front of him, his thoughts kept drifting back to the strange woman with the pinkish hair he had found while scouring the woods for supplies a few days ago.
That same woman, whome after finding and only narrowly saving from impending doom, he had carried all the way back to the village to leave under his sister´s care.
That woman...
He couldn´t stop thinking about her.
No matter where he went, no matter what he did, her image kept popping up in his thoughts, making it impossible for him to probably focus on his work, or even as it seemed, a game of cards.
That woman...
She had been terribly injured.
She had in fact barely escaped death.
Or maybe she hadn´t.
It was hard to tell.
She hadn´t woken up yet.
Maybe she wouldn´t even make it.
That woman...
He couldn´t fathom where she had come from.
There weren´t any settlements around for miles and her clothes, her hair, her skin...
She certainly didn´t look like she had come from any tribe he´d ever heard of.
And that wasn´t even the strangest part.
No.
When he had found her out there in the woods adjoining the Steppe - and that was probably what was weirdest about the whole thing - he hadn´t encountered her for the first time.
They had met before, hadn´t they?
But no.
It couldn´t be.
Surely he would remember.
Forgetting about meeting somebody who looked so exotic, so frankly out of place in this part of the world as she did was simply an impossible feat.
But still...
Even tough she looked so foreign, so different, something about her seemed strangely familiar, as if he had known her for a very long time. And although he knew it sounded crazy - because it did, even to him - Caius Ballad couldn´t shake off the feeling that he had met her before.
„So..." the man across the table prompted impatiently, making his vis-à-vis snap out of his musings.
„Ready to admit defeat yet?" the elderly man teased, a triumphant smile making it´s way onto his aged features, wrinkling the papery skin of his cheeks and beneath his eyes, his chest moving with the low rumble that was his laughter.
The younger man was about to conter with a snide retort, when suddenly there was the sound of shattering pottery, closely followed by a series of thuds and a faint yelp of pain, coming from one of the huts set up a little further down the path, a little secluded from the others.
The old man´s eyebrows riding up his wrinkled forhead in surprise, Caius Ballad was on his feet in no time.
That voice, he knew it well.
It was his sister´s voice.
It was coming from the little shack she lived in, that cabin where he knew she also kept her current patient.
And it could only mean one thing.
Tossing the cards on the table in front of him, revealing three of a kind, the purple haired man strode off towards his sister´s hut to investigate the cause of the commotion.
What the hell was going on in there?
A stifled cry of pain reaching his ears mid-way down the path, Caius Ballad broke into a run. His heart beating a little faster than usual, rather from anticipation than his short distance sprint, it was the second he came rushing through the door, that he found his assumptions proved correctly.
The stranger had awoken.
And she had apparently gone completely berserk.
Spotting both of the women down on the floor in a tangle of limbs, engaged in what turned out to be a ferocious fistfight, the scene revealed in front of his very eyes startling him, for a few long moments the purple haired man just stood there, frozen in the doorway, watching the two of them lashing out at each other aggressively.
It definitely was a sight to behold.
It wasn´t until the foreigner managed to roll on top of his sister, hands finding her opponent´s throat and ready to choke the life out of her enemy, that the silent spectator figured it was time for him to intervene.
Crossing the room in only a few swift paces, Caius Ballad had the troublemaker seized and pinned back to the cot she had previously occupied in no time.
Her body hitting the bunk hard, the sudden interference taking her completely off guard, it took a few seconds for the mysterious woman to realise what was going on.
Holding her down by both her arms, rendering her utterly defenseless for a moment, Caius Ballad found the pink haired female meet his gaze, heard her gasp in shock, watched her eyes go huge.
Those eyes.
Beautiful, large pale blue eyes.
Filled with fear.
And hate.
And anger.
To him they were tantalizing.
Mesmerizing.
Staring into them for just a little bit too long, the purple haired man found himself rewarded with the stranger´s knee unexpectedly coming up to land a well aimed kick at his abdomen, the impact making him grunt in pain and loosen his grip for just a second.
It was more than she had hoped for.
Seizing the opportunity to wriggle free again, the pink haired stranger started thrashing around violently, attempting to hit her opponent wherever she could.
And she almost made it.
Trying hard not to get in range of her legs again, Caius Ballad had a hard time holding on to her.
One of her hands coming free at last, the pink haired warrior promptly used it to attack the shocked man´s face, making him draw back in response. Unable to reach his eyes anymore, she chose to claw at his arms again, arms that tried to get a hold of her once more.
Desperate to get away from him, she went for every tiny spot of exposed skin she could find.
Her nails digging deep into the soft skin of the insides of his forarms, finally drawing blood, it was just a second before the pink haired stranger managed to free herself from his grasp completely, that suddenly her breathing hitched and her body went limp again.
Her fearful blue eyes closing once again, Caius Ballad sensed his older sister rising next to him, a syringe clutched tightly in her right hand, now empty.
Holding on to the stranger´s arms for a second longer, just to make sure that she was out for good, Caius risked a glance at the woman standing right beside him, looking at the foreigner in front of them with disgust.
His sister´s hands were shaking, her lips trembling, her usually kept up hair was coming loose and standing up in all directions and her face...
There were deep cuts there on her left cheek, where the pink haired woman had clawed at her skin with her bare fingers.
Looking at her dangerously narrowed eyes, the purple haired man could easily tell she was furious, was in fact seething with rage.
„What happened!?" the still startled man inquired carefully, his eyes darting around the room to take in the chaos their conflict had created.
„Nothing. I realised she was coming around and went over to check her pulse, when suddenly the bitch woke up and went fucking insane." the woman next to him retorted aggressively, checking the wound on her cheek with the fingers of her right hand.
„No reason to put her out again." the man reasoned, presenting his sister with an angry glare.
„Caius... She wasn´t ready!" the woman threw in defensifely.
Her eyes trailing to the cuts on her brother´s forearm, she reached over to take a closer look at them, but he pulled away instantly.
Of course he wouldn´t let her.
He could be so pigheaded sometimes.
„She just completely panicked and her injuries aren´t even healed yet. She would have only gotten herself hurt even worse. And us..." she added, throwing the purple haired man a pleading look, the worst of her anger ebbing away the second she sensed her brother´s disappointment.
Caius Ballad just shook his head in irritation.
Of course his sister was right.
But...
Turning his attention back to the mysterious woman now lying on the cot in front of him unconscious, he leaned down to put the buffalo hide that had slipped to the ground back up to cover her sleeping form. Making sure her pulse was there and steady and that she was breathing alright, he moved over to look at her face again.
Extending a hand to brush a few strands of stray pink hair out of her face, his fingers lingered at her rosy cheek.
„What happened to you?"
Tracing her jawline with his index finger, he couldn´t help but wonder.
There it was again.
That feeling that he had met her before.
Yes.
He definitely had.
He was sure of it.
And suddenly he knew exactly where.
It had been in one of his dreams.
One of those recurring dreams that had been haunting him for months, that would wake him with his clothes drenched in sweat in the middle of the night.
One of those dreams where he would be engaged in fierce battle with that woman, that very woman now lying here in front of him.
One of those dreams that felt so terribly real, that were so vivid, that they could easily be mistaken for reality.
And now suddenly she was here. Right here with him...
He knew it sounded crazy.
He knew it was ridiculous.
But still, it was the truth.
There was no doubt to it.
And there was more.
The strange woman with the pinkish hair, she knew him too.
He had seen the recognition in her eyes, had seen the way her pupils had dilated in shock the second she had laid eyes on him...
Seeing him obviously hadn´t been a pleasant surprise.
That much was for sure.
But how was something like that even possible?
His nightmares...
He knew those weren´t ordinary dreams.
Could it be that his dreams were somehow showing him the future?
They had shown him this woman after all.
What were they then?
Visions?
Preposterous.
Even the thought of it made him shake his head.
Caius Ballad didn´t believe in superstition, let alone visions, still, no other word came to his mind that could possibly describe what he had experienced.
Those visions, had she seen them too?
Was that why she had looked so scared, downright afraid of him?
If what he had witnessed in his dreams was actually going to come true, that would make them mortal enemies. Wouldn´t it?
Letting his gaze trail over the stranger´s features, Caius Ballad realised that although she looked so out of place, her pink hair and fair skin making her stand out in stark contrast to all the people he had ever encountered around all over Gran Pulse, he couldn´t deny that she was beautiful.
Beautiful in her own way.
He couldn´t pin it, but something about this woman was different, was special.
Something reaching far beyond her looks.
It was a shame his sister had to put her out again. He had been dying to talk to her, to find out more about her, to find out who she was and where she came from, hoping to bring a bit of light to the shadows of his confusing thoughts.
And even more than that, he wanted to get to know her, wanted to get to know the mysterious woman that had stepped right out of his dreams and into his life without any warning whatsoever.
What would she be like?
What would she have to say?
There were so many questions he wanted to get answered, and now that she had finally woken up, his sister had to put her out again. It really was rather irksome, to say the least.
Holding a compress to her bleeding cheek, the other woman watched her brother study the newcomer from the corner of her eyes. Her rage slowly dissipating at seeing the way her younger sibling was looking at her newest patient, with interest, with care, she couldn´t help but wonder who that mysterious stranger was either.
When Caius had suddenly arrived with her a few days ago, her clothes soaked with her blood and terribly injured, his older sister hadn´t dared to do much asking. Figuring her questions were less than secondary, she had started to tend to the poor girl´s wounds at once. But now that it seemed the latter was on the road to recovery, the nurse figured she could allow herself to voice at least some of her questions.
„Where did you say you met her?" the woman asked, trying to sound casual, the piece of white cloth still pressed to her cheek. It was slowly turning red.
„She didn´t exactly look happy to see you..."
Caius couldn´t help but agree.
No.
She hadn´t looked happy at all.
„Well... I guess we weren´t exactly friends then..." Caius said, his voice distanced, deeply lost in thought.
It wasn´t a lie.
In his dreams they had been fighting, ferociously so.
But why had they been fighting in the first place?
He couldn´t remember.
Tearing his eyes away from her sleeping form, the purple haired man turned his attention to the small wooden box, perched up ontop his sister´s kitchen table, holding all the things the pink haired warrior had been carrying with her.
„That´s everything she had on her... I checked all her pockets." The woman said, finally removing the compress to reveal a couple of deep scratches, that would one day make for ugly scars.
Looking over the foreign woman´s few personal belongings, rummaging through the box, the purple haired man came across a strange looking metal object sitting at the very bottom, an object he had never encountered before.
It was rather heavy for a thing it´s size he thought.
That object fitting his hand perfectly, Caius Ballad let the fingers of his left hand trace the polished barrel of a loaded six-shooter, smooth and cool under his touch.
The pink haired woman must have carried it as a weapon.
But this certainly was no weapon he had ever heard of.
Unsure of what it did, he put the unfamiliar thing aside. If it really was some kind of weapon he wouldn´t want to accidentally set it off in there.
His sister didn´t seem to care.
Watching her reflectiong in the nearby mirror, taking in the damage her face had taken from the fight, it took her all she had to keep up her composure, to refrain from just walking over to that damn cot and strangle that unthankful bitch she had been nursing for days now, for attacking her like that, for fighting her like that, for decorating her cheek with that awful souvenir, to give her what would surely turn into a nasty scar, a reminder of their encounter she would most likely carry for the rest of her life.
It wasn´t the first scar she had received, no way, but it was the first to blemish her face and the thought of it bothered her, bothered her a lot.
Yes.
She´d simply love to choke the last breath out of the pitiful girl, just like the foreigner had intended to do on her, but she resisted the urge to end that worthless life of her´s none the less.
Having seen the way her brother looked at her, she could easily tell that for some strange reason he cared for the mysterious woman with the pinkish hair.
Caius Ballad caring for a woman, it wasn´t something that happened everyday.
It really wasn´t.
But still.
For some reason this girl was special to him and even if little else, she at least did respect her brother´s feelings.
Life is a reddish sparkle in the darkness and silent ocean of eternity.
It is the only moment that belongs to us.
- Ivan Turgenev
It took another two days for the mysterious stranger to wake up again.
And this time Caius Ballad was ready.
He had spent most of the past day´s free time in hearing range of his sister´s hut, so he would be there when the time arrived and finally his patience had been rewarded. His older sibling had fetched him the second her newest patient had begun to stirr, afraid for the recent events to repeat themselves, and so the purple haired man had spent the upcoming half an hour next to the uncomfortable looking cot, waiting for the pink haired woman to come around.
And it was there right under Caius Ballad´s watchful gaze, in a foreign place, in a foreign time, far away from everything she had ever called home, that Etro´s knight awoke once more.
Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the daylight flooding the room through the scarcely curtained windows, it took some time for the Goddess´ fallen warrior to adapt to her new surroundings.
After spending such a long time in oblivion, this place, whatever it was, all the sensations, all the perceptions, they overwhelmed her senses all over again. Fighting to get herself together, the older of the Farron sisters just lay there, her eyes closed, concentrating on her breathing, as her brain frantically filtered through all the information it received, trying to asses what was important and what wasn´t, trying to make sense of the masses of input so unexpectedly thrown at it.
Those unfamiliar scents, a mixture of desinfectant and herbs and rotten wood...
The pleasant feeling of something soft under her body...
It almost felt like a bed...
Where was she?
How had she gotten here?
Her eyes fluttering open and disorientatedly scanning the surroundings for clues that´d hopefully answer those questions, it was the second they fell upon the curiously watching man crouching next to her, that her breathing hitched and her eyes widened in shock again.
It was him.
The guardian.
It took only a short time for panic to overwhelm her again, but this time Caius Ballad was ready.
Sensing the fight or flight reaction his presence triggered inside of her, acting fast, he had the stranger pinned down by her wrists again before she could even start to move.
He couldn´t risk her hurting herself. Her condition was bad enough as it was. There was no reason to have her make it worse.
She instantly thrashed and writhed against his hold, determined to struggle free with all her strenght, trying to kick him away with her legs again - securing her definitely took some effort.
„Don´t worry, you´re safe!"
His voice.
Etro´s warrior registered it somewhere at the back of her mind, but she didn´t bother to listen to his words.
There was no time for that.
She needed to get out of this.
Needed to get away from him.
And fast, before it would be too late.
Desperate to free herself, bucking up her body and trying to throw her enemy off with all her might, it was the sudden unexpected surge of pain cursing through her body, a paralyzing, stabbing pain spreading from somewhere on her left side, that made her gasp for air, made her stop dead in her movements.
Her whole body ablaze with agony, blinded by the toxic cocktail of pain and fear, the pink haired warrior faught even harder, threw herself against the guardian´s hold with everything she had, but he wouldn´t even budge and panic took her over completely the moment she realized the powers the Goddess Etro had lent her gone, leaving her just injured and weak, plainly human.
Oh, she was so done for.
With neither the powers of the Goddess nor a L´Cie, there was no chance she could take on Caius Ballad alone.
She was dead.
She was so dead.
Without her able to defend herself, he´d have her killed in a matter of seconds.
„It´s okay. Calm down. Everything´s alright. You´re safe!" It was the guardian´s voice that finally got her attention. Not the words, but the way he said them.
Gentle.
Soothing.
Taking her completely off guard.
What the -?
Stopping dead in her struggling, Lightning stared up at the man´s face in bewilderment.
„Relax... Nothing is going to happen to you."
There it was again.
Nice, calming words, spoken in a soft voice, completely devoid of the hatred, the spite, she was used to hear from him.
Did he really just say that?
What was going on?!
What was he playing at?!
Feeling her heart race away under her ribcage, every part of her body screaming at her, protesting in pain, the guardian´s unrelenting grip bruising the soft skin of her arms as he had her pinned down to her cot, it didn´t help anything to calm her down.
Looking up at the man infront of her, the man who had been trying to kill her for such a long time, Lightning waited for that derisive smirk to form, searched those dark amethyst eyes for that malicious glint she knew so well.
But she couldn´t find it there.
There was no anger, no rage or aggression in them.
Only curiosity and concern. A kind expression on his face, it looked strangely out of place on him.
What the hell was going on?!
Was this some kind of a trick. A joke?
Was he toying with her again?
Was this one of his sick games?
Having no other option anyway, realising she was just too weak and with the pain in her side killing her, Etro´s champion stopped fighting and chose to just lay still instead. Her thoughts racing to come up with a plan, contemplating on how she could possibly attack him, how she could escape him, her beautiful blue eyes darted around the room panickingly, desperately scanning the vicinity for items she could use as a means to defend hersef.
She needed a weapon.
Or at least some way of distraction, so she could buy herself some time to get out of there.
There was a hunter´s knife tugged in his belt.
Maybe she could reach it.
If she timed it right...
If she managed to surprise him...
„I wont fight you, if you don´t..." he suddenly said. Feeling his grip around her wrists loosening, the pink haired warrior stayed completely motionless, not daring to move at all, as she waited for an opportunity to attack.
She´d only get one chance at this.
„Can I release you... or will you go berserk again?" It were his words that made the pink haired woman snap out of her scheming.
She didn´t answer.
In fact she couldn´t.
Completely startled by what he had just said, she just stared at him, her mouth gaping stupidly.
Would he really do that?
Release her just like that?
She couldn´t believe it, couldn´t believe her luck.
What´s gotten into him?
The strangers cold, calculating blue eyes dangerously piercing his, sceptically looking for any hint of betrayal, the intensity of the eyecontact was making the purple haired man feel uneasy. Watching the warrior´s breathing calm, he waited for her muscles to relax somewhat, before carefully releasing her.
His eyes imploring her not to do anything stupid, Caius Ballad took a few steps backwards to give her some space, retreating as far as possible while still staying close enough to be able to intervene in case she´d choose to act foolishly again.
Forcing herself to stay on her cot, fighting hard not to lunge at the man in front of her the second he was reckless enough to release her, Etro´s warrior sighed in relief.
Feeling his hands on her skin had been terribly unnerving.
Watching every tiny detail of his movements like a hawk, from the steady rising and falling of his chest, to his slightly quickened pulse visible at his neck, all her senses on high alert, the pink haired warrior had all her muscles flexed, ready to strike should the need arise.
Carefully making to sit up on her bunk, every tiny movement hurting like hell, a soft groan escaped her slightly chapped lips and her right hand instantly shot to her side, to the spot where the pain was most intense.
What was this?
Was this some kind of dream?
Was this some alternate timeline?
Was she caught inside a paradox?
Or was this life after death?
Caius had killed her, right?
The purple haired man watched the stranger sitting on the cot in front of him with interest. Studying her pretty features, as she looked up at him warily, he knew she was waiting for him to attack her, to hurt her.
She expected him to fight her.
But he had no reason to, had he?
He didn´t even remember why they´d fight in the first place.
„Are you okay?" He asked tentatively, his eyes never leaving her pale blue ones.
She just gave him a tiny nod, then looked away, letting her eyes wander around the room, as she took in her surroundings.
„Don´t worry you´re safe..." He tried to assure her once again.
The way she was looking around desorientated, the way her eyes darted back to him every now and then to check whether he was up to something, he could tell she was scared.
Scared because of her current condition.
Scared of her new surroundings.
Scared of him.
He had felt the pulse at her wrists race under the tips of his fingers, had practically seen the adrenaline surge through her body, the moment realisation had hit her.
He could only fathom what it must feel like...
She most likely had no idea where she was, what had happened, had found herself vulnurable and injured under the grip of the man she knew her enemy.
Because yes, she knew him.
There was no doubt to it.
He had suspected it from the beginning and he had seen the prove the second she had opened her eyes.
She knew exactly who he was.
And she knew exactly what would happen between them.
That much was for sure.
And he couldn´t help but feel pity.
Pity for this woman he didn´t know, for this woman who had suddenly stumbled into his world from inside a crazy dream.
The pink haired stranger sitting on her cot, every cell of her body on defense, the man who was supposed to be her nemesis curiously facing her from a few feet away, it was the unexpected appearence of another person suddenly entering through the doorway, that made both of them jump.
„Ah... Finally... You came around?!" the woman who had just arrived acknowledged nonchalantly. Her voice was friendly, kind.
The pink haired warrior´s eyes sceptically scanning the newcomer for possible threats from head to tow, Lightning instantly spotted the resemblance.
Long, wavy purple hair adorned with feathers and tribal beads falling down to her waist, those same sharp amethyst eyes, those same handsome features, slightly more feminine. It was without doubt that those two were related.
„That´s my sister Cara..." the man she had called her enemy for aeons, now mysteriously transformed to go easy on her, introduced.
„She had been taking care of you ever since you got here."
Yes.
Looking up into those nice, friendly features she remembered.
She had come around for a short term before.
Her pale blue eyes lingering on the wounds she had inflincted on the woman´s cheek during their last encounter, Lightning felt a pang of guilt.
Although she didn´t know her, Cara had intended to help her, had meant well for her.
And that was how she had thanked her.
„I´m Caius by the way..." the purple haired man suddenly said. The stranger´s confused expression telling him she already knew that, he continued to study her features until she gave a tiny nod.
„Lightning." she offered warily when the both of them kept looking at her expectantly.
He didn´t even know her name?
What was that supposed to mean?
„Okay Lightning..." the guardian said, looking at her with kind eyes.
The good-natured expression displayed on his face was creeping her out to no end.
„I´ll leave you to Cara then... Don´t worry she´s an excellent nurse." he added, suddenly looking eager to leave.
He paused in the doorway however, to bid her good-bye.
„If you need anything... Just send for me..." he said, then he was off.
Lightning watched the door where he had just dissappeared, her nemesis, her arch-enemy, waiting for him to come back and charge at her any second.
But he didn´t.
Surely this must be some kind of a bad joke.
She had been lying there, unconcsious, helpless, injured, defenseless.
Why hadn´t he attacked, just killed her when he had had the chance?!
That so wasn´t him.
That wasn´t the Caius Ballad she once knew, the Caius Ballad she had met in Valhalla.
But...
Who was he then?!
„So mysterious woman from the woods... How are you feeling?" the woman she had forgotten was there with her in the same room asked, making her snap out of her musings.
Etro´s champion just watched in wonder as her enemy´s sister approached. Putting away the buffalo hide that had been draped over the pink haired warrior´s body like a blanket, the older woman reached foreward and without warning pushed up the white nightgoan Lightning couldn´t even remember putting on and made to take off the neatly applied bandage that covered her torso, to reveal a long but meticulously stitched gash in her left side. The surrounding skin bruised purple and green, the injured woman couldn´t help but gasp at the sight of it.
„Yes it´s an ugly wound you received there..." Cara commented.
„Caius said those Gorgonopsids where about to rip you apart. Well, seeing the wounds you received, I can assure you he wasn´t exaggerating. You were really lucky he found you in time."
Yes.
Sure.
She hadn´t forgotten.
The memory of her waking up in the woods flooding back to her, Lightning couldn´t help but recognize how the purple haired guardian had saved her from those murderous beasts.
But that couldn´t be.
Why would Caius do something like that?
Caius Ballad was her enemy, her nemesis.
He was supposed to fight her.
To kill her.
Not save her from a bunch of monsters.
What was this place?
Was she still caught in the void beyond?
Was her tortured mind playing tricks on her?
Was she going insane?
She felt the other woman pushing around at her wound, the pressure applied to the injured flesh making her groan in pain, she did the best she could not to slap the nurse´s hand away.
„Nothing I won´t manage, don´t worry." The purple haired woman assured coolly, her eyes kind and caring, before she turned away to rummage through one of the cupboards lining the walls on the opposite side of the small, cozy room.
She returned a few seconds later, bending down to apply a thick layer of cool, greenish paste all over the wound and was about to cover it with a new bandage, when Lightning´s eyes fell onto the half-healed cuts under Cara´s left eye again.
„I´m sorry by the way..." Etro´s champion said, her gaze lingering at the unpleasant trace their fight had left on the woman´s cheek.
„It´s nothing." Cara lied, unable to look into the stranger´s eyes.
„The important thing is that you´re feeling better." she said, looking up at the pink haired woman in front of her again, her voice smooth, her eyes sincere.
„I wasn´t sure you´d ever wake up."
Lightning didn´t return the gaze, but had her eyes trained on the wall instead.
„Cara..." she started, then trailed off and gave a tiny sigh.
What´s the harm?
„Thank you."
Apparently when we enter the earth existence,
the third dimensional reality,
We exist with a facade as actors
playing various roles.
For some it is the adventure of the experience,
the journey.
For others it is entrapment in an illusion
that takes on all the qualites of reality.
- Dolores Cannon
Caius Ballad was restless.
He was pacing the wooden porch outside the village´s main building, his eyes staring off into the distance, unseeing, as he was deeply immersed in thought.
The pink haired woman, she had been on his mind a lot since he had found her and now that she was finally awake he couldn´t think about much else.
Where had she come from?
What did she want here?
There were so many questions he was burning to ask, but he hadn´t had the opportunity to talk to her about any of this yet.
They actually hadn´t done much talking at all since she had come around.
To be honest he didn´t even dare to stay in the same room with her, afraid he´d upset her again.
He knew his presence made her nervous, he could practically taste her anxiety whenever she sensed him somewhere nearby.
No.
Tackling her with questions right now, it would only make her feel uneasy. It´d only make her wary of him even more.
And he didn´t want that.
She needed to rest, needed some peace, some privacy, some time to relax in order for her wounds to heal, for her to get accostumed to her new surroundings.
There would be plenty of time for talking once she felt better, wasn´t there?
Leaning against the wooden railing, letting his gaze roam the vastness of the land he had called his home ever since he could remember, Caius Ballad gave a frustrated sigh.
He usually didn´t care much about women, not beyond what was considered normal among common casual contacts.
But her...
There was something about the mysterious stranger that had piqued his interest.
The way she had reacted to his presence, the way she had looked at him full of spite and terror, it was unnerving.
She knew.
She undoubtedly knew about their fight, knew about him, knew more than him at least.
And although he didn´t know anything about her, where she had come from, who she was, he had instantly picked up on her resentment for him.
Yes.
She hated him.
A lot.
She really did.
He had seen it in her eyes.
Those beautiful pale blue eyes.
They were haunting him.
Whatever he did, he couldn´t get them out of his head.
What could he possibly do in the future, to make her hate him so much?
He didn´t know.
He couldnt even fathom.
Thinking about it, he wasn´t even sure he wanted to find out in the first place.
Whatever it was, it surely had to be something terrible.
But why had she come here then, landing straight at his feet?
If she knew what was going to happen, why did she choose to show up in those woods with nothing but the village he lived in around for miles?
Could that really be a coincidence?
It was almost as if she had been searching for him.
As if she had been waiting for him to find her there.
Bringing up his hands to look at his forearms, Caius Ballad let the tip of his index finger trace the dark marks of the half-healed wounds the pink haired stranger had inflicted there when trying to free herself the first time she had come around.
They were only superficial. Scrapes.
They´d be healed in no time.
It didn´t matter.
What did matter was that she was here.
And that she was alright.
He had no idea what that meant, or what her presence here would entail.
But neither did she.
It was true.
He didn´t know anything about her.
But having stared into those frightened pale blue eyes, he knew she felt just as lost as he was.
What to do?
Have you lost your way?
When that happens we each have to take a good long look at ourselves.
There is always something in the deepest reaches of our hearts,
Something buried
Or something forgotten.
Remember it,
Because whatever that is
Must certainly be what you are looking for.
- Bugenhagen (FFVII)
Lightning was recovering fast. Under the attentive care of Cara, the woman who had nursed her back from the dead ever since she had arrived there in this strange place, she felt better and better with every passing day.
The wound on her side was healing alright and most of the less severe cuts and bruises that had adorned her skin were fading. The additional bite wounds on her legs and arms were getting better as well and she was already able to walk freely on both her legs. One of them was still affected admittedly, causing a limp to restrict her in her movements, preventing her from going anywhere really. But still, it was a progress none the less.
She´d be strolling around in no time and as soon as she was able to do so, she´d leave this strange place and find a way back home. Or so she hoped, for she wasn´t planning on staying there a second longer than necessary.
She had business to attend to, after all.
She needed to find a way to save Serah, to reverse history and save the future and most importantly, get rid of Caius Ballad as soon as possible.
She couldn´t keep sitting around and rely on things to turn out alright on their own.
To the older woman´s insistence Etro´s fallen champion had spent the past few days inside the cozy hut, doing nothing but resting and healing. She had in fact slept through most of the time, had gotten up only to take her meals or had wasted her time watching the unfamiliar world outside through the small, dirty windows.
And there wasn´t exactly much to see either.
There were trees, and fields and dry, rocky paths, the vegetation withering under the burning heat of the sun.
Yes.
The climate was hot, sweltering so.
The air was dry, as if it hadn´t rained in days.
She had no idea where she was, nor when. Because surely she was either in a complete alternate universe or somewhere in the past.
The small hut´s furniture was scarce and simple, obviously crafted from hand, the floor just tamped earth. There were no gadgets whatsoever. The only source of light where torches and candles and fires.
Yes, fires.
She had seen them burning through her bedside window at night sometimes, whenever sleep would evade her.
Wherever she was, it was a place where all the things she´d once been used to, electricity, TV´s and cars, didn´t exist.
There was no noise outside, no traffic, no machines, just the peaceful chirps of birds and crickets or the soft humming of the bees, busily collecting nectar from the yellow blooming flowers sitting on the windowsill, and the breeze, a pleasant summer breeze, rustling the leaves of the few nearby trees.
The medical supplies the woman she had learnt was Caius Ballad´s sister used, wouldn´t be found in a modern nurse´s cabinet either. They were mainly herbal tinctures and ointments. Lightning saw her make them from ground leaves and herbs and roots she had brought somewhere from outside.
That woman called Cara, she didn´t talk much. She´d be busy working on her mixtures, getting up occassionaly only to look at some wound or the other the resident people came in to get checked, leaving the pink haired warrior to herself most of the time.
Lightning didn´t care.
After spending so much time in the void alone, the purple haired female´s company was balm to the fallen warrior´s tortured soul, even if the nurse didn´t pay her much attention throughout most of the day. The woman was nice and caring and besides looking after her wounds, also brought her food and water, provided her with a roof over her head and a bed to sleep in.
It was so much more than Etro´s former champion ever dared to ask for, could have ever hoped for, not from her nemesis´sister at least, that much was for sure.
Thinking about her enemy, the man she had been fighting, who had been trying to kill her for the past few aeons she had spent in Valhalla, that endless realm outside time and space, she couldn´t help but wonder.
She would see him stop by every other day. Sometimes to bring skinned animals Cara would cook for dinner, sometimes plants and other supplies for the nurse to make her drugs. He´d produce them from inside a small leather pouch supposedly made of some kind of animal skin, that he carried around on his back.
He´d usually spend some time in the front room of the hut, talking to his sister and sneaking furtive glances into the direction of the backroom doorway here and there, whenever he thought the pink haired stranger wouldn´t notice.
She wasn´t stupid.
She knew he came to check on her, would do so every other day.
But for some strange reason he wouldn´t bother her.
No interrogations, no hard words, no intention to pick a fight, no signs of any kind of hard feelings towards her whatsoever coming from his part...
The uncharacteristic behaviour Caius Ballad was exhibiting these days gave her enough to worry about.
This unexpected shift of personality made her feel uneasy and restless, anxious even.
What was he up to?
What was he plotting?
She hated it whenever he showed up at Cara´s hut. Unsure of what to expect from him, she´d stay on high alert and monitor his every movement whenever her eyes fell onto him.
She despised him, despised every second she had to endure in his vicinity.
She hadn´t forgotten about what he had done to her, couldn´t forget what he had done to the world even if she wanted.
Their final battle in Valhalla still fresh on her memory, it was the prospect of the purple haired man taking out that hunting knife dangling from his belt and crossing the room to unceremoniously cut her throat, just like he had done not so long ago, it was the thought that he could just attack her and end this any second, that terrified her, kept her on edge.
But even more then that, it was the fact that he didn´t seem to mean her any harm that made her nervous.
It was unsettling her, even worse than when he had been trying to kill her. Because back then at least she had known where she stood with him, had known what to expect from him, but this...
The whole situation...
It was confusing.
Confusing and tiresome.
She wasn´t sure how long she´d be able to keep up that game of cat-and-mouse.
She didn´t know what to expect, how to act, how all of this was even possible.
If she really was in the past then she had to be a long way back.
Like a really, really long way back.
Of course Caius Ballad wouldn´t recognize her, wouldn´t know her.
She understood that much.
If she was in the past, then their fight hadn´t even happened yet.
Hell, she probably hadn´t even been born yet.
Of course there was no reason for him to fight her.
It was obvious, wasn´t it?
But still she felt wary, felt insecure around him.
It was strange.
Facing the man who had fought to kill her, who had fought to kill everybody really, she couldn´t simply forget about what she had seen. She couldn´t simple acccept the fact that this Caius, so much younger, possibly hundred of years younger, probably wouldn´t even start scheming any of his ill-motivated deeds for centuries to come.
It was unnerving and confusing and she didn´t understand what was going on in the first place.
But she couldn´t change any of it, at least not yet, and so instead of getting worked up over her current situation, Etro´s fallen champion decided to focus on getting better instead.
Eventhought the circumstances weren´t exactly what she would have wished for, were not even close, she still was thankful. Thankful for being allowed to live again. Thankful for being saved from the nothingness, the crushing emptyness reigning in the void beyond.
It felt good to be surrounded by people again.
Eventhough she didn´t know them.
Eventhough they might have been her enemies.
Even though she knew she was far away from home, thrown into a long forgotten past.
In contrast to the eternity of the timeless void, her existence here was bliss.
To feel and see and breathe, not having to rely on the voices in her head as her sole company, it was more than she had ever hoped for.
Certainly more than she deserved.
It was a few days later that the knight of Etro was on her legs again, roaming the village she had awoken at for the very first time.
Exiting the cozy wooden cabin through it´s battered front door, she took down the well-trodden path leading her past more of those tiny shacks, scattered all around the place in no particular order whatsoever and towards a three storey building looming over the little huts´ rooftops, that apparently made the heart of the village.
Getting closer she could make out a set of stairs leading up to a huge platform on the building´s first level, where people where busy milling around or sitting together in groups, talking about the goddess knows what.
Looking around some more, the fallen warrior recognized the village from the pictures she had seen, displayed up high in the desolate skies of Valhalla.
Yes.
She remembered.
She had seen Serah and Noel visit this place on their journey through history, hadn´t she?
Yes. She definitely had.
But it had looked different then, hadn´t it?
Contrary to what she had seen the both of them encounter, the village she was exploring now didn´t look bleak nor dreary. The place she had seen on the verge of extinction, back when Serah had been here, was now full of life. The village that had been small and sparcely populated, was bigger, there were lots of additional huts she couldn´t remember from watching from her place on the Goddess´ balcony and there were numerous pens filled with sheep and chocobos, peacefully grazing in the summer sun.
The smaller roads once abandoned, where now filled with people going about their daily business and there were children playing around in the higher grass.
The buildings once damaged and half-rotten from neglect looked younger, the vegetation around was fuller and there were huge broad-leafed trees immersing the buildings below in their pleasantly cool shadows.
It was the small hunter´s village, located somewhere in the northeastern part of the Archylte Steppe, the one Serah and Noel had travelled to in order to take down the Faeryl, the one inhabited by the tribe that posessed the device that allowed them to change the weather as they pleased.
Judging from the unbearable heat of the summer sun, they didn´t seem to have built it yet.
How far back was she exactly?
Probably longer than she had initially thought.
Strolling over to one of corrals to take a closer look at the fluffy looking sheep safely caged behind the wooden fence, the warrior looked up in time to see the familiar face of a certain purple haired man, emerging from a group of hunters and heading straight towards her.
Carrying a pair of hares, he had slayed on his previous hunting trip he had just returned from, Caius Ballad carefully approached the pink haired woman eying him warily.
„Hey, you´re up!" the tall, slender man greeted her with a small smile. Coming to a halt a few meters away from her, intent on keeping his distance in order not to upset her any further, he made sure to put his hands in front of his body for her to see that he wasn´t armed, that he wasn´t going to attack her, that he had no intention to harm her whatsoever.
Giving him a quick once over, the pink haired warrior looked up at her adversery with mixed feelings.
Interacting with him like normal people would under normal circumstances just felt strange.
It would definitely take some time getting used to encounter him in normal situations, for the information to get into her head that he would not just suddenly pull out that greatsword of his and pounce at her, ready to take her out.
No.
This wasn´t the Caius she once knew.
That much was for sure.
He seemed nice enough and more important, he didn´t seem to know anything, anyting at all.
And she hadn´t seen Yeul anywhere around.
What did that mean?
Hadn´t he become the seeress guardian yet?
It was possible, wasn´t it?
This version of Caius Ballad seemed younger, unburdened, his features lacking the grief and sorrow of centuries...
Standing there a few feet away from her, with a kind expression on his face, dressed in normal hunter´s clothing instead of the black and purple armour he had worn back in Valhalla and without that impossibly huge sword he used to carry on his back, her purple haired nemesis suddenly didn´t look that intimidating anymore at all.
With the sleeves of his loose dark shirt rolled up to reveal his forearms and his legs in a pair of worn, frayed khaki trousers, his purple mane lacking some of it´s tribal beads, it was hard to believe that this man would one day fight to destroy the world, would actually fight to kill her.
Her eyes travelling to the collapsible spear he was carrying at his back and down to the deadly looking hunting knife tugged under his belt, Lightning carefully reminded herself that no matter how harmless he might look, it was still her mortal enemy she was dealing with. An unscrupulous man without morals, Caius Ballad would stop at nothing to achieve his ends.
Having those weapons innocently sitting there, without him using them against her, it felt strange, unnerving.
No.
If he had any intention on killing her, he would have done so the second he had had the chance. He had had more then a couple of opportunities those past few weeks.
There was no reason to worry about this now.
Besides, with her powers from Valhalla gone, there wasn´t much she could do if he decided otherwise anyway.
Waiting for his opposite to form some kind of reply, the purple haired man patiently watched the mysterious stranger standing next to the fence a few feet away, trying to mask her hard feelings from him, trying but failing terribly.
„Yes... I guess I needed to get out sometime..." the pink haired warrior finally said, eying the annoying male in front of her suspiciously.
Her answer rewarded with a warm smile, it gave her goosebumps to see the way it touched his eyes. So different from the smirks he had given her back in her own time, that sincere smile, it lit up his features, making him look handsome even.
„So... How are you feeling?" the guardian asked, his dark, kind eyes glued to her frosty blue ones.
„A lot better I guess." The stranger answered, looking for an opportunity to escape this uncomfortable conversation as fast as possible.
Her plans were thwarted though the second he spoke again.
„Want me to show you around?" It wasn´t exactly a question.
„Uhm..." the pink haired warrior was planning to decline, but the annoying male in front of her was already on his way ahead, motioning for her to follow. Not wanting to appear rude and definitely not eager to incur Caius´ wrath upon her, she decided to accompany him.
Well, walking around a bit, getting accustomed to her new surroundings couldn´t hurt, could it?
Settling to walk beside him as he led her down the main road, Lightning couldn´t help but feel weird.
After spending so much time fighting in Valhalla, walking next to Caius Ballad in this long forgotten past felt unreal, almost felt like a dream.
Rounding the village´s main building and entering a more crowded part of the street, Lightning found herself in what appeared to be a small market place, where people were busy offering their goods, ready to trade them for something else.
In the battered earth coloured clothes Cara had lent her, the gun she had found in the box next to her bunk tugged safely under her belt her only means of defense, Etro´s fallen champion didn´t stand out as much as she had thought. If it weren´t for her pink hair and her fair skin, she wouldn´t look out of place at all.
Feeling self-conscious, she only watched from the distance as the guardian took off towards one of the market stands, handing over one of the animals he had been carrying all the way in exchange for some of the goods displayed.
Etro´s former champion feeling slightly lost and left behind, the man who had accompanied her returned a short while afterwards, a basket of strange looking bright coloured fruit tugged under one of his arms. Meeting Lightning in the middle of the street, right where he had left her, the guardian offered for her to take one.
Eying every one of them suspiciously, the pink haired warrior selected a juicy blue one and hesitantly took a bite. The sweet, fruity taste exploding on her tastebuds surprising her, she couldn´t help but wonder what other miracles this exotic place had to offer.
The two of them making their way further down the road, it was Ligtning who brought up conversation again.
„Caius... I need to ask." She started tentatively, her eyes studying the purple haired man looking back at her carefully, he gave her a small nod, encouraging her to continue.
„When you found me there in the woods... Did I happen to have some kind of a sword on me..." she asked somewhat hopefully.
„No, you didn´t..." came Caius´ prompt reply. Watching the stranger walking there beside him with curiousity, he couldn´t help but furrow his brow at the woman´s deep-drawn sigh that followed his answer.
„Only that thing." he added, pointing at the gun tugged away under her belt.
Yeah that gun.
Blaze Edge was gone, but she had a gun.
Great.
This was crazy.
That gun, she couldn´t fathom how it had gotten into her posession. She had never seen it before, yet owned one in the first place, if one didn´t count her gunblade.
It only had three bullets loaded, she had checked, and she most certainly wouldn´t aquire any new ones for the next few hundred years to come.
She would have to use them wisely, save them for when she´d really need them.
She couldn´t rely on them for selfdefense. Once she left the protective walls of the village, three bullets wouldn´t get her far.
No.
She needed to get her hands on a sword, and soon.
„Is there any chance out here for me to acquire a sword?" Etro´s fallen champion asked. She didn´t like asking Caius Ballad for help, for advice, not at all, but this was important, this had priority. If she wanted to survive out there, if she wanted to leave this place and find a way back home she needed to get her hands on a sword or at least something similiar.
„You need a sword?" the guardian to be asked incredulously, stopping in his pace and turning to look at her in disbelieve.
„You can hardly walk" he reasoned, sounding slightly concerned.
The pink haired woman, she just averted her gaze, suddenly seeming sad, desperate even.
„Uhm... Sure!" the man in the dark shirt added quickly, as he took in his company´s sinking mood.
„You can always borrow one from our community as long as you´re going to stay...?"
To Lightning it almost sounded like a question.
Choosing to ignore it, she just resumed walking.
„But why don´t you wait a bit. I don´t know... Wait until you feel better and for your wounds to heal properly before you venture out to get yourself killed by some monster again?" Caius Ballad suggested a few steps behind her.
What was he talking about?
Was he concerned about her well being?
Did he want her to stay?
No this was preposterous.
This was crazy.
Abruptly turning around to face him again, she shot him a venomous glare.
Killed by some monster again?!
She knew how to defend herself perfectly fine, thank you very much.
But well, Caius Ballad had a point.
She doubted she´d be any good right now, in her state, with her injuries and everything...
„Lets talk about this once you feel better... Okay?" The guardian offered, trying to appease her upon taking in her slightly angered expression, his last remark had obviously offended her.
The pink haired woman felt the snide retort on the tip of her tongue, but decided against it.
„Sure." Was the only answer he received instead.
Lightning realised it´d do no good to argue.
She´d loose this one anyway.
She hated to admit it, but he was right of course.
With her wounds killing her and the powers she had lent from the Goddess gone, she wasn´t exactly hard prey for the monsters roaming the wilderness that were undoubtedly lurking outside the village´s wooden walls.
Making their way up to the top of the main building in silence, it didn´t take long for them to reach the place where an unknown period of time in the future the weather changing device would sit, waiting to be used by Serah and Noel, in order for them to encounter the murderous dragon-like creature she knew people out here called „Faeryl".
Leaning against the wooden railing, happy to give her injured leg some rest, Etro´s champion enjoyed the summer breeze gently playing with her pinkish strands, pleasantly cooling her skin, hot from walking under the opressive heat of the summer sun.
Her eyes roaming the vastness of the land stretching out before her, from her spot on the topmost platform of the hunter´s village main building, Lightning had a brilliant view of the northeastern parts of the Archylte Steppe.
With it´s high grass and occassionally growing tall broad-leafed trees, it looked strangely unfamiliar.
Of course.
They hadn´t been in this part of the Steppe, back in her time when she had been venturing across Gran Pulse with the other L´Cie.
But if they had, what would they have found?
Would there be anything left of this little hunter´s village?
Or would they only have encountered ruins. The remainders of an ancient civilisation, swallowed by the waves of time, just like in Oerba.
She couldn´t help but wonder.
„So where is it you come from exactly?" the guardian suddenly inquired from somewhere next to her, making the pink haired warrior snap out of her musing.
Not sure how to answer, she just kept quiet, staring off into the distance.
„Or should I rather ask when?" The attentive male added pensively when he didn´t receive any answer whatsoever.
At this she turned to stare at him, wide eyed, that comment of his had taken her completely off guard.
Wha -
Catching herself a moment later, Etro´s knight tried to play it off, but to no avail.
„What are you talking about..." she tried, fighting hard to sound nonchalant, but it was too late. Her reaction had already given her away.
„You´re form the furture right?"
That idea, Caius had been mulling over it for days now. It would certainly explain a lot. Why she knew him, why she was afraid of him...
Their fight. For her it must have already happened.
„I don´t know what you-" the pink haired warrior started, ready to deny whatever he´d throw at her, but he cut her off mid-sentence.
„Don´t take me for a fool, Lightning!" he warned, his voice suddenly low, dangerous, his facial expression suddely intimidating, his demeanor making her shy away from him instantly.
Realising how his behaviour was scaring her, the purple haired man instantly backed away. Coming to stand a few meters away, giving a frustrated sigh, he tore his eyes away from her, directing his gaze to the mountaintops visible in the distance instead.
„You already knew me..." he tried again after some minutes of silence, careful to keep his temper in check this time.
„When we met in the clearing I wasn´t a stranger to you."
„Oh... So you automatically asumed I was from the future...?!" Lightning scoffed, raising her eyebrows challengingly.
The purple haird man just choose to look away.
„The weapon you carry... I´ve never heard of anything like it before." he began again.
„So?! This world´s a big one..." Etro´s fallen champion retorted acidly.
The dark clad guardian gave an impatient snort and Lightning realised there was more.
There had to be more.
He somehow knew.
He didn´t want to tell her, but somehow he just knew.
But how was this possible?
Wha-
„ I saw you..." he disclosed, that revelation of his taking her completely by surprise.
„Huh?"
What did he mean?!
„I saw you in a dream... a vision... I don´t know what it was... but I saw you. I saw both of us..." the purple haired man stammered, looking up into her calculating blue eyes he suddenly felt foolish, stupid for mentioning it.
He couldn´t fathom what had made him say it, but now he had, he instantly regretted it.
This had to sound crazy, insane.
She had to think he was completely bonkers.
But it was her eyes that told him otherwise, those fanscinating pretty eyes, going huge, telling him he had hit target.
„I saw us fighting... We were enemies... Mortal enemies."
The pink haired warrior, she just gasped in shock.
So she was in the past indeed.
„So it is true then..?" he asked, dark, amethyst eyes imploring her to answer him, begging her to fill him in.
Lightning looked away.
His revelations made her feel uneasy, anxious.
Just like everything about him, they scared her.
Had he known of their battle?
Known all along?
Somehow she doubted it.
Altough she clearly was the same person she had been before, had been in Valhalla, the man infront of her obviously wasn´t the same Caius Ballad, not the Caius she had met back in the unseen realm.
Or was he?
How much did he know?
And more importantly, what else did he know?
She needed to treat carefully, very carefully.
Everything she said now, every tiny bit information she´d let slip to him, could give him an adventage in the future.
Everything she did here could change things.
Every spoken word, every tiny action, had the potential to corrupt the timeline and endanger the entire history, the whole future as she knew it.
One wrong step here would lead to a cascade of events that could easily destroy the world, create a paradox, or prevent herself from ever getting born.
The consequences of such a mistake would be disastrous.
What was she doing here?!
Her mere presence here had to cripple the timeline beyond recognition, wouldn´t it?
It had to.
There was no way her being here and meeting her future nemesis could not affect the future, the entire history.
What was she to do?
Was she here to kill Caius Ballad?
To prevent all the horrible things from even happening?
But no.
Surely that would alter the timeline completely, resulting into what exactly?
The effects of such a hasty deed could have tremendous outcomes. Outcomes she could never possible calculate.
It was reckless just to consider it.
But why had she been sent here then?
Was she here to do something else?
To find something? A way to beat him maybe? Some kind of weakness she didn´t know about?
Was she sent here to find a way to beat Caius Ballad?
Would she be able to return with her knowledge, to face him once again and set things right?
Would she receive a second chance at this? At saving the future?
She really had no clue. No clue at all.
It is not in the stars to hold our fortune,
but in ourselves.
You are the master of your fate
and the captain of your destiny.
- W. Shakespeare; N. Mandela (both altered)
Soooooo... Another chapter of my story. First impressions of Caius and Lightning... Tell me what you think about this so far! Like it? Hate it? Suggestions?
Looking foreward to your feed back and
HOPE YOU ENJOYED!
