Another chapter down and closer to the end which will still be in a few more chapters so don't worry! Enjoy!


They tried to relax and return to the task at hand. Lightning huffed out an irritated breath, putting on her calm mask but holding her gunblade at the ready. Hope watched her worriedly.

"Let's get the hell out of here before it comes back," Snow declared, leading the way. The gate close by didn't respond to the artifact so they back tracked north and tried the next gate. That didn't work, so they continued north, avoiding the giant flan, until they found another gate.

"Geez this place sucks. How did I end up here?" Snow wondered. Serah giggled and Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Well, this gate should work," Hope said, searching a side pouch for the artifact. As he looked, Lightning scanned the area. She had a feeling they were being watched. She focused on a dense gathering of plants that suddenly exploded apart. A furious calautidon charged right for them. Judging by its injuries, she guessed that it was the same one from earlier. She darted forward, colliding with the others, and sending them tumbling out of the way. The shelled beast snapped and caught Lightning's arm in its jaws, cutting its mouth on the points of armor but bending the metal as well. She kicked the creature but it only continued to charge, dragging her and crushing her arm all the while. She tried taking a swing with her gunblade but she couldn't attack properly.

"Lightning!" she heard Hope shout. He ran after the angry beast and called on his magic. He cast slow and imperil, then let out every elemental attack he had. The calautidon threw Lightning with a hiss and turned on Hope. It shuffled forward slow enough for him to throw out more magic before Snow ran in and punched it into the air. It lost its defense and together, Hope and Serah cast magic until it came down with a crash, dead.

"Lightning, are you alright?" Hope called as he ran to her. She pushed herself to her feet with her left arm. Her right arm hung bloody at her side. He reached out to her and gently lifted her arm, surveying the damage.

"Hell Light, at times like this I wish I could cure you," he told her. She looked at him curiously for a second before looking away. Hope caught her gaze only momentarily. Blood tracked down her face from a cut on her forehead.

"Light, I- you know what I mean. Let's take this off," he replied, working at the metal until it cracked open. He stripped everything off her arm until it was bare and dropped the twisted remains to the floor where it shimmered and disappeared. It was easy work, seeing as everything was shredded, including flesh. Once that was done he cast water to wash off the blood.

"You're healing slowly," he reminded her. She growled and yanked her arm away. Up until now she let him work but she had had enough. Hope looked up at her expectantly. Her eyes glowed yellow in the darkening forest. They stared at each other, neither backing down.

"I don't mean to butt in, but Serah and I will be over here setting up camp for the night. I think we all deserve it," Snow told them. Hope only nodded while Lightning's eyes narrowed. Snow wandered off to be with Serah.

"Lightning, don't be difficult. You need to start taking care of yourself," Hope demanded. Lightning merely turned away and stalked off. Hope groaned and jogged after her.

"Please just listen. We're all exhausted so you don't have to pretend your fine. I can feel how tired you are. Will you please-" Hope pleaded but Lightning growled and spun around so quick Hope couldn't react. She lashed out at a tree trunk next to Hope's head, sending wood everywhere and marking the tree with a deep gouge. He froze; slightly taken aback by the threatening growl and watched her warily.

She glared at him before darting off into the dark. He followed the noise she made through the foliage until he found her tearing into a group of monsters who tried to flee from her path. oannes and sahagin prince bodies littered the area along with globs of miniflan and flanbanero. She stopped and turned to confront Hope next. He stood still and let her advance. She was almost on him when she halted with a pained expression. She staggered and then collapsed to the grassy ground.

"What the…Lightning, Lightning can you hear me?" Hope exclaimed. He kneeled next to her and shook her shoulder. She rolled on her back, breathing heavily.

"I've been out of Valhalla too long," she muttered. Hope panicked when he saw that her normally fierce yellow or blue eyes were now a faded gray before shifting to a dull blue.

"At least it snapped me out of my rage," she said halfheartedly.

"Light just relax. When you're able to get up we will go back to camp and get some sleep. You need it more than us," he told her softly. She agreed without complaint and worked at evening out her breathing before sitting up. Hope helped her to her feet and together they returned to camp. Once Lightning was fast asleep, Hope tended to the cut on her forehead which healed considerably. Snow and Serah greeted him but returned to their conversation, not wanting to intrude.

He cleaned the blood from her face gently and then moved to her arm. It had both cuts and puncture marks. His bare hands smoothed over her skin tenderly, wondering when Lightning would accept his help again. By the time he finished, Serah and Snow were both asleep. The big man held Serah in his arms as they slept. He looked back at Lightning before carefully maneuvering her so that he lied on a blanket of leaves and she rested on his stomach like a pillow.

"Good night Claire," he whispered to her. Her brows furrowed for a second before her face became expressionless. He reached down to caress her face with the back of his hand and then relaxed. Sleep came easily to him. By the next morning everyone was feeling better. They crowded in a circle, quietly enjoying the peaceful silence until they were ready to head out. Hope went to activate the gate when Lightning stopped Snow from going any further.

"I need you to stay here. Keep an eye on that flan and we'll be back," she told him.

"Why can't I tag along?" he asked.

"You're existence is precarious as of now. You weren't meant to travel through time but you did. At any moment, our actions may send you anywhere with no memory of what happened here. I think it's best if you stay put," she explained calmly. He frowned and sagged like a pouting child until Serah hugged him.

"Don't worry, we'll be back Snow," she told him. He perked up.

"Ok, until then, your hero will watch the front lines," he responded dutifully. She laughed and stepped up to the gate. Hope activated it and they entered, exiting in a large plain. The sky was cloudy and wind rustled the tall grass.

"Is this the Archylte Steppe?" Serah asked the other two.

"I think it is, but at what time? The terrain is all weird since the last time we stopped by here, don't you think," Hope replied. Lightning took a few steps forward and analyzed the tall grass surrounding them.

"Watch out for monsters. There are a lot here hiding in the grass. There's a village nearby. I think we should head there and see what the locals say," she told them. Hope and Serah stayed close to her as they made a path through the grass. They fought goblins with their chieftains along the way. The monsters chased them mercifully until they were outrun or cut down by an irritated Lightning. When they entered the settlement they were immediately greeted. Talk of a monster eating flan terrorized the plain. A quick discussion with the leader named Tipur revealed the creature's name was Faeryl. It was a dragon with a black hole for a stomach that constantly ate flan. He also explained how to use the weather controlling device to change the current weather to stormy, which would bring out the beast. They changed the weather and then retreated to the entrance of the village.

"So do you think Faeryl eating all the flan is a paradox?" Serah wondered.

"Definitely, I think if we defeat it there won't be so many flan running wild in Sunleth," Hope pointed out.

"It's causing the creation of that giant flan so we may have a chance at fighting it if we stop Faeryl," Lightning agreed. They traveled out to the middle of the Plains of Eternity and saw the big dragon crouching on a rock formation in the Sanctorium. They headed in that direction and jumped into battle. With Lightning taking supporting in any way she could, Serah and Hope became ravagers. The beast fell quickly when they staggered it. Its attacks were strong but Lightning kept it distracted while Serah and Hope weakened it with the ice and lightning elements.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Serah said. Mog transformed back into a moogle at her side. On returning to the village, they told Tipur who was happy to hear that Faeryl was gone and gave them an artifact. As a request from Tipur and a woman named Myta, they stayed a little longer to get rid of a goblin group and collect wool from the sheep that roamed the land. Lightning refused the latter request and kept watch while Serah and Hope chased down the easily frightened sheep. They returned to the gate when they were done and arrived back in Sunleth Waterscape where Snow bounded over to Serah happily.

"We weren't gone that long," Serah said with a laugh.

"I went to check on that giant flan and it's really only a big flan now. I swear it shrunk and turned green," Snow told them.

"We weakened it then," Lightning concluded.

"So we can fight it now?" Snow asked, brimming with excitement.

"We should be able to," Lightning replied.

"What are we standing around here for? Let's go get that thing," Snow stated, striding in the direction of the flan. They followed the determined man back into battle.

"Here we go," Snow said as they ran towards it. The monster quickly locked on to them and let out a cloud of green gas. Hope quickly worked to take away the poison brought on by the attack. Serah cast aero while Snow strafed around the gelatinous mass in the sentinel role to keep its attention trained on him. Lightning concentrated on severing any arms that swiped at them. Hope joined Serah's effort and the monster was staggered. Lightning charged in and launched it into the air where the ravagers finished it off.

"Yeah, we finally got it!" Snow exclaimed while he punched the air in victory. Serah cheered and Hope smiled. Lightning stood with a hesitant expression. Hope noticed her emotion and looked at her questioningly.

"Snow…" she addressed the man reluctantly. He stopped to look at her.

"What's up Light?" he asked. She looked at him apologetically before glancing at his hand. He looked confused but Serah understood. She gasped.

"Snow, you're disappearing!" she cried.

"Huh?" he raised his hands and watched as his body began to fade in bright light. He fell to his knees and Serah watched teary eyed.

"Damn, well I guess I am. I can't stay here anymore right; now that the paradox is fixed?" he questioned. Lightning nodded.

"Serah, we will see each other again. I promise," he told her.

"Snow, don't go. Not again, I'll miss you," she pleaded, tears making tracks down her face. He smiled sadly before disappearing completely. Serah reached out but he was already gone. Lightning walked over to her and helped her stand.

"You will see him again Serah. He wasn't lying," she told her sister. Serah nodded and dried her tears. Together they found a gate in the Forest Crossroads that accepted their newly acquired artifact. They stepped through and came out in the Void Beyond once again.