Oookay. I'm really not even sure what to say right now! But here's the next chapter, so...yeah.

I was too lazy to find any song lyrics this time around. Sorry :P

Anyway, hope you're having fun reading The Final Paradox!

Chapter Nine: Fading Miracle

"I probably have some explaining to do," Noel laughed bitterly, running a hand through his hair. He still felt kind of lost, as though maybe this whole thing was a dream, maybe he wasn't really meeting Serah again.

"Yeah," Serah said, smiling a little. "How did you get here? And you said you saw Lightning. Is she here too?" she added hopefully.

"No, I don't think so." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I think what I saw was a vision from Valhalla. I came here through the gate in Yaschas Massif."

Serah cocked her head. Neither of them could be sure why a gate in Yaschas Massif would suddenly be an entrance to the Void Beyond.

"But… When we first encountered the paradox, I thought Caius was behind everything. And I wanted to find him and take him down. But instead, we ended up getting thrown through a bunch of gates to the wrong places."

"What do you mean?" Serah asked, confused.

"I think Caius is in Valhalla with Lightning. But for some reason, Lightning told me not to kill him." He threw his hands into the air. "I don't know why. Maybe we should go find her."

"Lightning… In Valhalla…" Serah repeated thoughtfully.

"The other thing she told me is…" Noel bit his lip as he searched for the right words. He didn't want to scare Serah, but he didn't want to keep her in the dark either. "She said the timeline is being destroyed. Everything that stays here in the Void too long is going to get erased."

"Then we have to go," Serah said. "Whatever way we can find to get out of here, we'll take it and get to Valhalla."

"That's the thing. How are we going to get out of here?" Noel asked.

"I thought I saw a gate on my way here," Serah told him. "It was in the very center of everything. Maybe it'll take us somewhere else."

"We can't go back down there. We'll get mauled," he answered. "Isn't there some other way?"

"There was only one of you earlier, Noel," she countered, "if we fight together, we'll be able to get through more easily."

Thinking of the brutal attacks the creatures had coordinated towards him as he'd made his way to the center of the Void, he reluctantly agreed.

"Let's go, then," Serah said. She jumped down from the edge of the center platform to another rock down below. As soon as her feet touched the ground, though, Noel could hear the click of the talons of nektons coming for them. Serah surveyed the surrounding area, pulled her weapon into her hand, and started to run.

He followed her, keeping an eye out for the Voidspawn monsters. From where they stood, they could see the gate clearly, glimmering with a strange light he hadn't seen in a gate before.

The nektons, meanwhile, didn't reach them for another few hundred feet. The mob closed in on them as they were nearing their destination. Noel drew his swords, still running, and tried to fight them off.

Serah reached the gate with a few more steps. He was so close, but as he was reaching for the gate, he tripped and went sprawling to the ground. Serah spun around and kneeled next to him, trying to help him up, but her form dissolved right then, disappearing through the gate.

"Serah!" Noel screamed. Fumbling for his sword, he attempted to slice through the rest of the monsters. But they kept swarming in on him. They overtook him right before he closed off the last few inches between himself and the gate, slashing madly at him, and within seconds he was drifting into darkness.

Serah set foot in Valhalla, her feet touching the sandy ground hesitantly, as though she was reluctant to enter without Noel. The gate closed behind her and disappeared. Everything that had just happened was replaying over and over in her mind, and yet she still hoped somewhere deep inside that Noel would emerge from that gate and step down right beside her.

It was pointless to think of it, though, Serah knew. She could still see him falling to the ground feet away from the gate and being overwhelmed by the Void's monsters. And there was nothing she could do. She was in Valhalla now. The gate coming from the Void was gone, and Noel was as well.

What am I supposed to do?

She thought back to what he'd said while they were still together in the Void.

When we first encountered the paradox, I thought Caius was behind everything.

Then that meant Caius wasn't behind everything. But of course he wouldn't have been – Noel had killed him, right? Serah remembered it, and she had watched it with her own eyes.

If she remembered it so clearly, then why was she so sure now that it hadn't happened?

Then again, they had helped Snow defeat the flan in the Sunleth Waterscape, and it had returned from out of nowhere. That only left one possibility – something was very off about the timeline.

I think Caius is in Valhalla with Lightning, Noel's voice said in her mind.

Are they here with me now? Serah answered silently.

She said the timeline is being destroyed.

She shook her head, briefly attempting to figure it all out before another part of the conversation split into her thoughts.

Will you stay with me, Serah?

Yes, Noel. I'm sorry…

What had she done? Serah bit back a sob and fought to keep the tears from her eyes. She had abandoned Noel after promising him she'd be with him. Forgetting where she was for a moment, she was overwhelmed by the thought of being alone and collapsed to her knees.

After a minute she shook herself into reality. There had to be some way to find Noel, didn't there? She flashed back to what he'd told her again, about her sister and Caius potentially being here. Serah hung onto that thought, and stood up to glance at Valhalla's skyline.

One of the structures seemed to stand out, looking important. Not knowing what else she could do, she set her sights on that building. But just as she had decided to make her way in that direction, her eye caught a disturbance.

From out of nowhere came a huge rift in the sky; it gaped open like it aimed to consume everything in sight. But instead of growing larger, it stopped and ejected a creature that resembled one they'd seen many times before – though she couldn't remember exactly where. It had one arm that clawed at the empty air, and a face that was constantly contorted in agony. She knew she had to try to destroy it. Otherwise, it might destroy Valhalla. Drawing her weapon, Serah prepared to fire at it, but had a feeling this was a battle she couldn't win on her own.

On the other side of Valhalla, a smaller temporal rift had closed. Caius and Lightning materialized in thin air, both wearing grim expressions. They didn't face each other for a few moments.

"So," Caius said, "there are tears in the very essence of Valhalla, and if no one repairs them, Valhalla will collapse."

Lightning nodded. She too was having difficulty believing it. But what she was still struggling with was the fact that Caius was no longer trying to – or able to – kill her.

Suddenly, on the opposite side of where they stood, the sky exploded into a giant black hole and began to writhe as a creature emerged from it.

"Another rift," Lightning said. "Odin!"

But her Eidolon didn't come to her. There was absolutely no response whatsoever. Lightning turned to Caius.

"Is there any way we can make it over there in time?" she asked.

He didn't answer for a few moments, his gaze cast upward toward the sky and the rift. Then he said, "On one condition."

Serah was already exhausted. She'd fired at the beast a thousand times, dodged a thousand attacks, but had done little damage. Wondering vaguely if it was possible to die in Valhalla, Serah backed away from the creature, still poised to fire. But she barely had enough strength to stay on her feet, much less the strength to attack.

Just then, a portal of dark chaos opened up in front of her, much like the one that the rift creature had come through. But when the mist cleared from this one, two figures stood next to each other, hands temporarily linked. As they dropped their hands, trading the gesture for their weapons, Serah realized who she was looking at.

My sister…and Caius.

They fought the creature, coordinating attacks and lashing out quickly at it. Neither of them even realized she was there. Serah stood in shock, unable to do anything but watch the fight.

Lightning was holding Caius's hand.

No matter what she did, she couldn't rid her mind's eye of that image.

Their enemy drew back into its rift, leaving the shores of Valhalla in temporary peace. When Lightning turned around to see Serah kneeling next to the water, Serah's greeting was an openly stunned stare.

"Lightning," she whispered. "What did you do?"

Her sister stared back at her, and then her eyes widened. "How much did you see?" she asked.

"I was fighting this thing before you were," Serah said quietly. "You came—with Caius—"

Lightning opened her mouth to respond and then closed it again.

"What's going on?" Serah asked.

"Serah, look. It's not what you think," Lightning began.

Caius strode up to them, his typical emotionless mask covering his face. "Lightning," he muttered, "we should go."

"Leave us alone, Caius," Serah's sister shot back.

"There are more temporal rifts to repair," he replied. "Those, we should not leave alone." As he spoke, his eyes searched Serah's face, as if he could figure out how she had reached Valhalla without actually asking.

Lightning sighed. "Serah," she said, "you have to stay here. If you go out into the timeline, you might not come back."

Serah's eyes flickered from Lightning to Caius and back again. Her gaze clearly gave away that she didn't trust him.

"I have to go."

"No, Lightning, wait!" Serah blurted out, taking another step toward her sister.

Lightning started to say something, but as she did so, Caius shot her a look. She turned to Serah and, taking a deep breath, continued, "I'm sorry. I have a deal to uphold."

Then, glancing at Caius, her sister turned around and walked away, the black-clad warrior trailing after her.