IX Paddra

"It's clear we're not trusted much," Lightning said when they were alone.

Most of the villagers had greeted and welcomed them kindly. They were shown to a small house that they would be staying in, since the family that had lived in it had moved to a different village recently. Some of the other families had also given Snow and Serah some old hand me down clothes that weren't being used any more, and said they would be glad to help out if anything else was needed for them as well.

Caius however had suspicious eyes on them the whole time. Lightning had tried not to glare at him in return, but it was hard since he was her old enemy.

"Yuel seems to trust us." Noel pointed out.

"Yuel's not the one were here to worry about." Lightning countered.

"What exactly is going on?" Serah asked, still not up to date on things.

So they filled her in on what they believed her focus to be.

"Keep in mind that we were also probably sent here in this time for a certain reason too," Noel said.

"670 BF..." Hope muttered, folding his arms as he tried to remember all the research The Academy had done on Paddra when they were in the ruins of it.

"Wait, when did Paddra fall?" Serah asked.

Hope glanced up at her, and shook his head.

"Didn't get an exact date, but I do believe it is around this time..."

"That sounds about right actually." Aerith put in. "I remember a lot of people dying because of a civil war around now..."

Lightning muttered a curse.

"Which means if it starts while were here we'll get caught up in it," she said.

This caused everyone to frown, and fall silent for a moment.

"So what should we do then?" Snow asked, gently rocking Nora to sleep in his arms.

"I think it's best to wait and see what happens for now," Hope said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. There was no need to be hasty with anything, not yet.

"Is something bothering you Yuel?" Caius asked the young Seeress, seeing that she seemed deep in thought.

"I can not see their future...," she said softly.

"Who's?" Gorgyra, her other strong guardian asked.

She was a young woman in her early twenties, with a short brown bob and deep sapphire blue eyes. She had trained hard and strong to become one of Yuel's guardians, and had also become a good friend to her as well.

"Three of the visitors," Yuel answered.

"Which ones?" Caius asked curiously.

"The dark haired men, and the woman with the ribbon in her hair."

"You can't trace anything in the time line with them?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"What about the others then?" Gorgyra asked.

As if on cue, Yuel stiffened, then made her way over to the oracle drive in the room as Etro's gate appeared in her eyes. She closed her eyes as she placed her hands on it, recording the vision, and collapsed when it over. Both guardians rushed to her side, catching her as she fell, and saw that she had fallen into unconsciousness, but was still alive and breathing.

All guardians of the Seeress were worried every time a Yuel had a vision, for sometimes you never knew if it would be her last. Gently picking her up, Caius gently placed her on her bed so she could rest comfortably, then walked over to the oracle drive to see her vision.

He placed his hand over it, and watched as it game to life and her vision was projected above it. They saw a glimpse of Lightning being branded, then Ragnarok roaring before Cocoon began to fall from the sky. Ragnarok dived into it, then the crystal pillar forming to support it. More glimpses of Lightning followed before it ended.

Caius narrowed his eyes, glancing out the window and staring up at Cocoon.

"So it will fall...," he muttered.

"And that woman, she's with the group that came here," said Gorgyra.

He nodded. The images were crystal clear, it was definitely her. He didn't trust her from the beginning, they way she looked at him coldly as if she knew him and done something terrible, and he had also noticed her hesitation about handed over her weapon.

"I don't trust them," he said. "I'm going to keep a careful watch on them."

A routine foamed for the group within a few days. They all wanted to earn their stay, both as a thank you, and to keep suspicions down. Noel naturally joined the hunting parties, while Lightning, Zack and Snow helped patrol the outskirts of the city and keep monsters from getting in. Hope was hesitant about it, worried that his low fighting skills would be more of a burden then help, but Lightning convinced him that it would be good experience for him, and reminded him that he had his l'Cie power back as well. They were allowed to have their respective weapons back for this, but gave them back up once they reentered the city.

Serah would've helped as well, but she had her hands full with the twins. Aerith stayed behind to help her with them though, which was nice for her.

It went on calmly for a couple weeks. Caius still suspected them of something, and Lightning was still patiently waiting for the right moment to kill him. Noel of course, was still bought on the idea of just preventing him from becoming immortal. She wouldn't argue with him about it any more, but she still wouldn't have it that way.

An opportunity came when Caius went out to patrol with her. She thought about it, after all they were alone in the darkness and she could get away with it easily, however he had volunteered to take up the rear instead of point, leaving her tense. She felt like he was going to turn on her and stab her in the back at any moment.

He noticed this of course, and smirked at his suspicions. The only reason he came out to patrol with her, was so they he could get a chance to talk to her alone. But first he wanted to test something. She was silent as she kept her eyes front as she walked, both hands on her weapon and finger on the trigger.

He calmly raised his sword from its resting place on his armor, then slashed it at her. She reacted at once, leaping to the side, then turned around and fired at him. He blocked the bullet with his blade, watching her cautiously.

"So you want to kill me?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her grip on her weapon.

"What do you want from me Caius?" she asked sternly.

"I don't buy your story," he said. "Is it me your after? Cutting me down so you can get to Yuel?"

"We're not after the Seeress," she said coldly.

Just you, She thought.

It was his turn to narrow his eyes at her, not trusting her words. She still had her gun pointed at him as well, ready to fire at any given moment. Her weapon was also strange to him, for he had seen nothing like it. It was almost like it was made on Cocoon.

He noticed that she was about to pull the trigger on him, and about to lift his sword to strike her down, but then she calmly lowered her weapon. Raising an eyebrow, he noticed she seemed to notice something behind him. At first he thought it was a trick, but then he heard soft footsteps approaching and turned to see a villager approaching them both. Putting his sword away, he turned to him.

"Yuel wants to see you immediately Caius," he said.

Author's Notes

Gorgyra is NOT an OC, she was in a side quest and I grabbed her and tossed her in here XD

...So...I forgot to update yesterday *sweat drop* And I don't have the next chapter done either T_T So yeah next update will probably be a bit late, just haven't gotten around to finishing it. Between work, procrastinating on cosplay stuff, and slowly freaking out because I've been procrasting on all that, I've also kinda got wrapped up in a partner fic *nervous laugh* But I will not abandon this! Especially when it's so close to be finished. Just bear with me a bit ^_^ Annnnnddddd...

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Please? T_T