AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! If you're curious to know where the story is headed-story wise, feel free to ask and I'm happy to explain things or drop a few hints to pique your interest...otherwise, brushing up on a bit of Old Norse mythology would be wise. If you're really cuious as to the ins and outs of this story and where it's headed, go to an unabridged guide to a bunch of my published works! Spoilers are not avoided, though!

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"Not in a million years." – Dante, DmC: Devil May Cry

JayneParker: Thanks for the great reviews! Out of the three characters you mentioned, I can at least tell you two of them will not be in this fic...that may change, but for now that's what I can tell ya.

Without further ado, let's get started!

Write on,

WriteFF13

.:WORLDS COLLIDE:.

Chapter 11 – Edge of the Paradox

["The Goddess Is Dead" – Final Fantasy XIII-2 OST]

"What's...going on...?" Tifa gasped as she sat back on her heels, wiping sweat away from her brow with a shaky hand. Clasping her hands together, she tried to make sense of the situation, but it was hopeless. She leaned forward and shook Lightning's shoulder, harder and harder until the room suddenly darkened. Tifa froze, eyes wide open as her crimson pupils dilated.

The room suddenly shook, tossing Tifa to the floor as the wooden boards beneath her creaked and rattled, straining under the sudden movement. The room blurred as the world spun around her, flashing white and just as quickly pitching into darkness. Tifa tried to climb to her feet but every attempt was just met with a wave of resistance; she clasped her head in her hands and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push away the unsettling feeling in her stomach.

She was suddenly pitched forward – only narrowly avoiding colliding with the bedpost – but the room had calmed to a rocking motion as Cloud's nightstand toppled over, crashing hard as books and paper spilled onto the floor.

"Lightning!" she called, trying to alert her friend. She reached out, but every time she got closer she was only denied as pockets of air around her began to distort.

She whipped her head around as the room began to be dappled by rolling images. Transfixed, she stared into them, witnessing flashes of red and orange. The bed and floor was cast into a red sheen as the images cleared.

Fire licked back at her from the distortions; she backed away until her back hit the door, feeling the rounded doorknob press into her lower back. She could also feel her black gloves in her pockets, but donning them would prove worthless. What was this? What was going on?

Just as she turned to jerk the door open it sprung from the hinges, arching back and nearly catching Tifa on the nose before she jumped back. Cloud's dark form filled the door way as he raced in, sword in hand.

"Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed, relieved.

"Wha...whoa!" he pitched forward, taken off guard by the roller coaster of a room his bedroom had become. "What happened up here? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she replied quickly, but gestured around her at the distortions of space, a look of alarm on her face. "I was healing Lightning and then this stuff appeared! Is everyone downstairs okay? No one's hurt?"

He shook his head, walking cautiously towards a strange distortion, waving his hand close to it. He hissed when it jerked back, surprised to find that a heat wave surrounded all of the individual distortions. "What the–"

Tifa took his hand in hers and examined it.

The tip of his finger glove was burned through, still hot to the touch as she ran her thumb over it. She released his hand and looked up in shock, understanding what she was witnessing in the distortions. She covered her mouth, eyes furrowing in disbelief. She wanted to race forward to get a better look, to try and make sense of the situation, but her movements were stopped by Cloud, who held her back with one arm.

"Tifa, no!"

"Cloud..." she raised a finger towards the distortion and cast an angry look towards the figure on the bed, who remained still despite the erosion.

"Tifa..." he warned.

Through the distortion she could look through the transparent portal and see the exact same room she stood in. The dark paneling on the walls, the floorboards, and Cloud's bed all in the same current location. A second later and it seemed to zoom out, blurred images that were too quick to catch...until the distortion slowed to where Tifa could finally grasp what they were showing her.

What Tifa wasn't ready to see...

"Seventh Heaven..." she choked. "It's burning to the ground."

["Thermal Shock" – Cliff Lin, Riptide (Tomb Raider)]

Before she could further be devastated by this new revelation, the moogle she had seen earlier barreled into the room, shrieking so loud Tifa momentarily forgot her tears. She and Cloud turned to him.

"What are you idiots doing standing here, kupo?!" he shouted, red pom-pom flinging about wildly. He glanced around – only slightly surprised – before his eyes landed on Lightning, whose eyebrows were downturned.

"What – " Tifa started before she was pitched forward, grabbing the edge of a dresser to retain her balance. "What is going on?!"

"It's a paradox, kupo! You need to get out of here fast or you're all going to be nothing but space particles, kupo!" he snapped, zooming over to Lightning and attempting to lift her. His little arms strained and he groaned in all his effort, but a 5-pound moogle cannot possibly lift a 120-pound woman.

Without any further hesitation Tifa swept Mont Blanc out of the way and lifted Lightning up, ignoring the moogle's protest as she threw her over her shoulder, pushing aside her own weakness of the knees to protect her friend. Cloud nodded and followed her out the door, casting one look back before slamming the door shut as the house shook beyond the door. A moment later as they made their way downstairs they felt the paradox come to a conclusion as the bar resumed its peace, even if the residents inside were anything but at peace.

Diners had jumped to their feet in surprise, knocking over dishes; the sound of nervous voices filled the air until Barrett, sensing Tifa's distress, ordered everyone out. One look at his machine gun and massive size and they were gone, shoving the last bits of food in their pockets before making a quick escape. Marlene and Denzel were standing near the front of the bar towards the window; the boy had his arm on Marlene's shoulder.

"Tifa!" the girl cried, running to her. She looked up at the unconscious Lightning and covered her mouth with her hands. "What happened?! Is she okay?"

"I don't know, sweetie. Just let me take care of things, all right?" She turned to Barrett. "Watch the kids for me, will you? I don't want them in this house until I know it's all right," she said, even as the floor above them shook. However, he nodded and ushered the two out.

Tifa laid Lightning on the couch, propping her head up with a pillow and clearing the table of beer and wine glasses. Cloud helped silently, occasionally glancing upwards at the fallen woman.

Suddenly Monty spoke up. "That was a paradox, kupo."

Tifa froze.

"A...what?"

"A paradox. The timeline is acting up, and when it does, it forms pockets of the future and can suck stuff into them, kupo! If we hadn't gotten out of there, it could've sucked us into another dimension!"

Tifa's eyes widened, the crimson flecks in her eyes brightening. "So you're saying the entire second floor of my house could be gone?"

"Kupo."

"That...was the future...?" Tifa breathed, blinking in surprise.

She turned to Cloud, her eyes glazed and shoulders stiff. She opened her mouth to say something but Cloud cut her off, gesturing towards the set of stairs. "Let's try and go up there. The paradox can't last forever, right?"

As if on cue the tremendous shaking in the bar's foundation faded away to an eerie silence. Tifa's eyes darted from the door to the stairway, but before Cloud could stop her she had strode over and ascended the stairs in a daze. The moogle followed in her wake. Cloud sighed and hefted his sword, crossing his fingers that the paradox hadn't demolished anything. Lightning lay on the couch, still unconscious as the two crept back upstairs.

Lightning suddenly bolted upwards, eyes snapping open and gasping. Her hands shook as she felt the soft cushions underneath her and realized that she was situated on the couch in Tifa's bar. She examined her clothes to find them dry and all matter of chaotic substance gone. What had happened?

The couch creaked as she swung her legs over the side, bending over to rest her elbows on her knees and rub her eyes hard. Where was Cloud? Monty? Had they gone to the church at all?

Of course you did! She mentally smacked herself. Now's not the time to be second-guessing yourself, Farron.

"Hmph." Sounds like something Lieutenant Amodar would say.

But she did remember the moments before she was knocked out...she, Monty, and Cloud had arrived at the church and met the Turks. Shortly after she crept up to the church and entered it with Monty, leaving Cloud behind because of his vulnerability to the chaos. She had jumped into the pond, vanquished the darkness, and then...?

There was a hazy fog that clouded her mind, creating a barrier between the two timelines that connected to the events at the church and why she now lay on Tifa's couch. She shook her head and stood, resolved to find them and get some answers.

A startled cry came from upstairs; Lightning's eyes darted over to the stairs and she quickly ascended them, heading for Cloud's bedroom. Holding her hand out palm-first (any funny business would be met with quite the electrical spark) she pushed the door open, gunblade poised and ready to cut something.

"Lightning!" Tifa cried in relief, turning to see her standing in the doorway. Cloud stood beside her, but was examining something buried in the floor. "Oh, I'm glad you're all right!" Lightning noticed her smile was forced.

The woman waved towards Mont Blanc, who looked rather irritated that Lightning had woken up. The ex-soldier sighed and lowered her hand, scowling.

"Took ya long enough, kupo!" the moogle chimed sarcastically. "You missed your second paradox!"

"What? Another one? Here?"

"Kupo."

She turned to Tifa. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

The barwoman nodded and gestured to Cloud. "Yeah, thank goodness. We hauled you out of here as soon as the floors started to shake. There was these weird...portals...or something. I looked into them and saw...well, we'll talk about it later."

Lightning nodded and strode to Cloud's side, eyebrows rising in surprise. In place of the bed she had rested on while Tifa attempted to heal her was a massive sword not dissimilar to Cloud's and imbedded deeply into the wooden floorboards of the room, its rusted blade and handle leaving no glint at all in the sunlight. Two holes were bored near the top of the handle, which was a scarlet red in color. She glanced to Cloud, looking for an explanation.

It was Monty who answered. "I forgot to mention before, kupo. The paradox will suck in things from anywhere in any dimension and force them to where a paradox occurs. A reverse effect will happen and suck something back out, spitting it anywhere along the timeline, kupo," Monty explained.

"You know what this is, don't you?" Lightning guessed, reading the surprise that had a hint of familiarity in his expression.

He nodded, gripping the blade firmly and yanking it out.

"The Buster Sword."

Lightning may hav e not been able to read Cloud completely, but there was no denying the sadness in his voice as he spoke those three words. She nodded in understanding, backing away.

Suddenly Tifa chuckled, trying to lighten the serious mood that had overtaken the room.

"Well...at least we know where the bed is!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, I know it was short, but it seemed like a good place to end the chapter, clear up some questions about the paradoxes of FFXIII-2, and begin the 'Crow's Wail' arc (see my writeff13 website for all chapter arcs). Nonetheless, hope you enjoyed! I'm hoping this was a bit of a surprise!

*In WC, paradoxes aren't so random and unexplained as they were in FFXIII-2 (come on, anything that was weird was immediately a paradox...?!). Here, the timeline is acting up and paradoxes are created randomly, sucking different things from different dimensions and spitting them back out. Here, they were lucky enough (?) that it was only the Buster Sword that had been sucked in...hopefully that'll answer some of your questions. Feel free to PM me with more Qs!

-WriteFF13