A/N: The Final Chapter towards the Final Battle of Final Fantasy XIII-2. The previous battle against Jihl Nabaat was pretty intense, wasn't it? Especially with Patrick involved. Now the time has come to stop Caius and Eden and save Yeul, Gran Pulse and the True Cocoon.
Chapter 13: New Cocoon
The Elevator goes down to what feels like hours. The while trip down, I am silent. I've been quiet ever since I have killed the monster Jihl Nabaat. No one bothers to confront or comfort me. Not even Serah. With Jihl Nabaat dead, the PSICOM Unit will crumble.
All that is left is to stop Cauis and destroy Eden.
The elevator has reached to ground level. The door slide open, and we walk inside.
The world within the New Cocoon is almost unbelievable. The inner world is huge. Several pathways float in the air.
"This is almost unbelievable." Hope says.
"It's like a whole new world. Made entirely of crystal." Serah says.
"Compared to the state Cocoon's currently in, can't be that much of a surprise." Sazh says.
Lightning steps forward, Snow stands right next to her. "So, where to now?"
"To the core." Lightning says. "If Caius and Eden are anywhere, it would be at the world's heart."
"All right, then. Let's go." Noel says.
With Lightning taking the lead, we make our way through the New Cocoon. So far, our only path is straight, and it leads to a short to medium dead end. Our movements come to a halt once we've reach the dead end. Looking around, we try to figure a way to continue forward.
"Look over there." Vanille spotted some ward at the right end of the path. It appears as the Brand of the Fallen Fal'Cie, Bhunivelze.
We all approach it. "What is it?" Fang asks.
"Don't know, but it appears as Bhunivelze's Brand." Noel says. Noel steps forward, standing right in front of the mysterious brand. He reaches out his hand and touches it. Suddenly, the brand glows, and changes colors. From Pure White to Dark Violet.
There's a loud noise that fills the whole hollow core. We all look around to find the source of the noise, only to see that all the crystalized floors and paths are shifting.
It's Orphan's Cradle all over again.
After a while, everything comes to a halt, with a pair of stairs before us, leading downward to a large circle floor with three separate paths.
"Seems like we get to choose our own paths." Fang says.
"Make our way forward, and we will reach Eden." Hope says.
There's a loud roar. On the center floor below, we see monsters. Cocoon Cie'th, Exotic monsters such as Chimera's, Arcangeli's and Zomok's. Each of them are huge and vicious, and seemingly powerful. But that won't stop us.
"Looks like we've got company." Lightning says.
Snow cracks his knuckles. "This outta be fun."
I slap Snow in the back of the head. "Now's not the time to be reckless! Stay focus on the task at hand." I tell him.
With that said, we all march into battle with the beasts. We divide the group into three, taking on each of the monsters. We have a medic in each group, and Snow and Noel as primary Sentinels. While everyone else is splinted by l'Cie roles.
My team's battle against the Arcangeli is hard. The creature's defenses are weak, but it's attacks are brutal. The creature unleashes Elementaga on us, a wide spell combination of fire, water, ice, lightning and wind. It even hits the other two groups, and the monsters they faced took a bit of a hit from it as well. Hope and Vanille focuses on healing everybody.
The Chimera is heavily fierce. Snow holds the beast off in Sentinel. Even with Steelguard, he's taking a heavy beating. While Hope is healing, Sazh is throwing every spell he can muster in his Ravager Role. The Chimera doesn't show much effect from the spells, but it starts to recoil to more it suffers.
The Zomok. The monstrous Dragon-Like creature becomes a tough monster to face. Swiping it's paws and tail, biting down on the defending Noel. Even with Lightning and Serah fighting hard in their Commando and Shaman roles, their attacks hardly do much damage to the creature. Zomok begins charging up Heavenly Storm, flipping it's wings summoning a powerful cyclone.
The battle against each of the monsters goes on for a while. Few of the times, we went up suffering heavy damage, nearly taking our lives. Hope and Vanille went full Medic, and Serah and Lightning offered their healing aid once and a while.
In the end, we manage to slay the beasts, one by one.
All of us are relieved the fight is over. "You see what I mean?" I tell Snow.
Lightning approaches at the middle path. It's nothing but a dead end. But she can tell that this is the main route we would want to take.
We'll have to make our own path.
There are two other paths, we start taking the one on the left. The path is peaceful, no monsters around here, but is long and filled with gaps. We have to jump from island to island, otherwise we'd fall into the bottomless void below us.
We reach to the end of the path, which is a large island. Big enough to be an arena. This whole area is swarmed with monsters. Monkey like creatures. Countless Wendigo's and Neela's, with a Sugriva leading them.
With Snow and Fang holding off the creatures in their Sentinel Roles, the rest of us attack them, with powerful wide area effect spells and attacks, in the Commando, Shaman and Ravager roles. Every 30 seconds, Hope and Vanille both shift into Medic's and heal Snow and Fang, then shift back to their previous roles.
With each monster that has fallen, another or two take it's place. They keep coming and coming, but we don't stop fighting. Instead, we push. Harder. Faster. Eventually, they are making more kills then more replacements.
And then the Sugriva joins in the battle.
The monsters go down quickly, numbers thinning rapidly. The Sugriva takes some damage too, only its stamina is far greater then it's lesser kin.
And now only the Sugriva stands.
It monster's power is greater then we thought, but no better then any of the three we had faced with our life's. The Sugriva poses no threat to us.
Soon, the monster goes down.
At the very end of the island, we found another Ward Brand. This one bears the mark of Pulse. We all approach before it. Lightning steps forward to it and touches it. The brand turns from Light Green to Deep Yellow.
There's more shifting with all the floors and islands and stairs. In the end, none of them match to the middle route.
"So much for making our own path." Sazh says.
"Don't get smart, funny man." Fang tells him.
"Let's just head back." I suggest.
We all head back to the center area. Defiantly no changes for the middle route, but we still have one more path to take before winding up with a dead end.
Taking the right path, we move with haste. Much like the other path, there are no enemies to encounter here. Just as peaceful.
Only difference on this path is we don't face hopping islands. Instead, shifting floors. The while time, we had to wait for the floors to come close for us to jump. Floor by floor, this method is repeated.
We reach to the large island at the end. This time, it's filled with Cie'th. All types. Expect the Titan Hulk Cie'th. We stand in the center of the island. The Cie'th have us all surrounded, but we expected this. Everyone with Commando rushes into the army and repeatedly unleash Blitz and Ruinga. Serah and Vanille just fight in Ravager, unleashing massive wide spells upon the monsters.
Cie'th attempts to come at us, only before the chance they do, they fall in defeat. As the Cie'th falls, new forms start taking their place. The replacements greater then the last.
Disembodied arms then Bats. Bats then Ghouls. Ghouls then Winged. Winged then Shambling. And the whole thing repeats. Not in cycle though.
Shamblings lasted longer then all the other Cie'th's. The large monsters stumbles towards us and attacks. Their strngth is heavy, but we still fight through. After the Shamblings are defeated, the Undying take over.
Each and every one of them.
Even though it's only one of each, the battle is a Hell of a Nightmare. We can't even decide which one is the worst of the worst, kill them first and endure the rest.
We decided to start off with the Vetala Cie'th. Force our attacks on Ravager and Shaman to break down it's Inertial Barrier. Snow, Fang and Noel are all in their Sentinel Roles, holding off the rest of the Undying Cie'th.
We break through the barrier and go all Commando on the Vetala. In no time, the Cie'th goes down. The next one we face is the Samurai Cie'th. Hope and Vanille shift into Medic, to keep our defending team alive and well. The Gorgyra unleashes it's Song of Ruin, Unleashing a wailing siren that brings use all harm..
After the Samurai Cie'th's defeat, we next focus on Zenobia. The monster unleashes it's deadly Tendrils at us. I shift into Synergist and reapply everybody's enhancements. With that done, I return into Commando and resume shooting.
After Zenobia's defeat, we focused on the Gorgyra. The whole time, the siren Cie'th just wails it's Cry of Havoc. With the situation now handled, Snow, Fang and Noel shift to their Commando roles and join us on the attack.
The Gorgyra is soon defeated, and now all that remains is the Yomi. This Cie'th is hard one to fight, fighting with it's Wind Slashes, and shielding itself from our attacks.
At least he's the only one left.
As we weaken the Cie'th, it grows more wings. Becoming more powerful. We constantly switch our roles. Reapplying Enhancements on us and aliments on the enemy. Yomi unleashes Wicked Whirl, swirling in the air in a massive cyclone. All of us get caught in the Wicked Whirl and suffered sever damage from it.
Hope, Lightning and Vanille shifted into Medic, throwing every power in their magic to heal everyone.
Soon, the Yomi is defeated.
Several of our are exhausted from the fight. We only take a moment to rest up. Once we've recovered, we head for the end of the island, towards the Brand Ward. This one is the Brand of Lindzei. We touch it and it turns from White Blue to Pink Red. The floors all over shift once again.
Once everything's done, we return to the center area. The middle route is still the same as before, only this time, there's a portal at the end of the trail.
"What's this?" Lightning asks as she observes it.
"Looks like a portal. The same one Barthandelus did back in Orphan's Cradle." Hope says.
"It could be a trap. Let's stay sharp." I say.
We approach the portal. It teleports us to another world within the inner world. The domain is made entirely out of black and purple crystal. In the center arena, there's a Cie'th. A monstrous one.
Ereshkigal. The King of the Cie'th's.
"What...kind of monstrosity is this?" Sazh says, horrified.
Even I'm shocked. "I've never even seen a Cie'th like this before."
"Target's still a target." Lightning says. "Just observe and learn while not dying."
Ereshkigal roars right at us as we charge right at it.
The monster starts with Spirit Barrier and Devil's Chaos, strengthening itself with powerful enhancements. We strengthen ourselves as well, Hope, Sazh and I in Synergist. Vanille and Fang attempts to weakn the beast, but is appearance immune to Saboteur Magic.
We all focus our attacks on the Ereshkigal. The monstrous Cie'th throws its own attacks at us as well. It only starts off with Judgment, unleashing devastating lightning upon all of us. Then came Grand Impulse, which unleashes a massive shockwave near it. Snow, Fang and Noel block the attack by quickly shifting into Sentinel and guarding. Everyone else close by still got hit. I was within range, but I was able to leap back to avoid it.
Vanille shifts into Medic and starts healing everyone. Ereshkigal shows no signs of weakness. Lightning fights it head on in Commando, I shoot from a good distance. I aim my arrows at the wings, Sazh does the same thing.
After several Grand Impulse's and Judgment, Ereshkigal next unleashes Meteor. The Cie'th channels it's magic to cause meteors raining down on us. Our Synergist barriers protected us from the raining meteors. But Vanille still uses her magic to heal us.
Ereshkigal enters a weaken state. It beginnings channeling it's power and begins Shadowstorm. The monster's flap it's wings, and a Maelstrom of Darkness appears all over.
We all switch to defensive mode. The Sentinels protective everyone with Wide Guard. Vanille, Hope and Serah are in Medic to keep us in full health. Sazh and I are both in Synergist to reapply or protective enhancements.
In the end, we survived, and we are still standing. We then return to our previous roles and attack the Cie'th Monster.
Ereshkigal fights hard. Snow stays in Sentinel to hold off the monster's attacks.
Ereshkigal let's out a roar. It's at it's final state. The monster begins charging up. The air is thick is energy. We sense it, and the fact it's growing stronger worries us.
"It's charging up!" Serah says.
"I sense it too." I say.
"It's unleashing a devastating power." Noel says.
"We have to strike now! Bring it down!" Lightning says.
We go all out against Ereshkigal. Throwing every Ravager and Shaman spell and attack. Fang and Lightning at the only ones who attack in Commando.
Ereshkigal draws more and more energy. It's coming close to unleashing a Supernova. "Keep fighting!" Lightning orders. "We must push it!" With everything we throw, Ereshkigal doesn't show any signs of weakness. We push harder with all weapons and spell.
We can feel all the deadly energy gathered within the beast. It's about to unleash the power.
Ereshkihal roars loudly. The Cie'th burns in a blazing nova and...
Becomes interrupted as our Ravager and Shaman attacks staggers the beast.
"All right! Finish it!" Lightning orders.
We all shift into Commando and attack it with everything we have. Ereshkigal wails in agony. The creature suffers great pain from our attacks.
In no time, the Ereshkihal dies.
With the Cie'th Monster defeated, we are all teleported out of the room, and reappear in the New Cocoon. We appeared on the starting point of the new path. Once created by the shifting of the floors and islands.
The path goes mostly downward. But we have no idea if it'll lead towards the core.
"That fight was hell." Sazh says.
"Just what is Eden planning?" Noel asks.
"He could be trying to wear us down." Hope says. "You know, put us down on a long hard path, and finish us off when we have no energy left."
"Eden's not gonna get the best of us that easily." I say. "We defeated Orphan and saved Coccon. We will stop Eden and save both Cocoon and Gran Pulse."
"Let's show him what we're truly made of." Lightning says.
We start making our way through the path. This one is crawling with beasts. Mostly the ones we've already faced before battling the deadly Ereshkihal. At least for the Cie'th, we don't have to fight all of the Dying at once. For those, it's one-by-one or two-by-two.
Enemies and monsters in here go down easily. For the Undying, as easy as they allow. Lightning, Snow and Noel fight as Vanguard, going in first and taking and throwing all the hits. Fang and I focus on our Saboteur magic, weakening the enemies. Sazh and Hope are in Synergist, enhancing everybody, but mostly the Vanguard team. Serah and Vanille attack with Ravager magic.
On long fights, Fang and I join in on the Vanguard attack, though I wouldn't call my position Vanguard given I just shoot from a distance with my bow.
We keep moving forward on the path we take. It wouldn't be so long if it weren't the monsters here. Eden's really pulling out the stops on us.
We have arrived at a dead end. Almost a dead end. There's only one path on the left. The right looks like we can move onward, but there's nothing beyond.
We head left. There aren't that many enemies down here, only small fry. Fighting them's no problem. A waste of time one might say.
After we cut down everything, we arrive at the Brand Ward. The Brand of Pulse. We approach and touch it, turning the brand from Deep Yellow to Light Green. All the floors shift. For the dead end in the back, a pear of islands appear, leading downward.
We retreated back and take the new path.
This one is crawling with several monsters. Chimera's, the Sugriva's and it's fellow Wendigo's and Neela's. Our method's are no different, we play by our chosen roles and fight.
Enemies go down with no problem. For this path, there aren't any Undying Cie'th. Makes things easy for us. Well, almost easy.
As we walk, we hear a loud noise. Doesn't sound anything like a monster, or a Cie'th. Sounds machinery. But it's too loud to be anything average, and large isn't enough to describe it.
"What was that?" Noel asks.
"It couldn't be..." Hope says. Most of us have no idea what he's talking about. But given to how he's reacting, must be pretty serious. "We have to hurry!"
"Care to enlighten us?" Fang asks him.
"There isn't much time. They're preparing the weapon to destroy Pulse." Hope says.
Most of us are in shock to hear that. "If what you say is true, we don't have time to waste." I say.
We can't afford to waste time, but we don't wind up being reckless against enemies. Not even on the weaklings. We spare no creature. All that stand in our way, we cut them down.
Time passes by and we reach another dead end. With a portal.
We're about to face one of Eden's powerful dogs.
We approach the portal and it teleports us top another room. In the center, another powerful monster awaits us. Nothing like the Ereshkihal, but a huge Dragon. With it's enormous wings, large thick skull and horns and massive sharp claws.
Aeronite.
The dragon roars fierce and loud. Just looking at it is terrifying enough. But now...
"What in the Maker is that?" Sazh says.
"A Dragon? That's impossible." Fang says.
"I thought they were only myths. Or extinct." Vanille says.
"What's a Dragon?" Snow asks.
"Pulse's most terrifying predator's. Some say they are so dangerous it can even kill a Fal'Cie." Noel says.
"We've killed Fal'Cie before. Let's show this monster it's not the only terrifying thing in the world." I say.
We start off the fight in defensive positions. Snow and Fang hold it off in their Sentinel Roles. Hope, Sazh, Noel and I are in Synergist and quickly strengthen everyone. Vanille's in Saboteur to weaken the best. The rest attack.
Aeronite basic attacks aren't anything threatening. Just randomly using level 2 magic. With Shell up on everybody, they only tickle. Except for Ice magic on me.
The moment Synergist is done we each shift into different roles. Sazh, Noel and Hope on offensive roles while I switch to Saboteur to aid Vanille on the Aliments. With the Aeronite infected by the dark magic, Vanille shifts into Medic and I commando and we go all out on it.
The Aeronite unleashes Roar. It brawls loud and fierce it shakes the whole room. We all lost balance and the force from it's roar damages us. We take a while to recover, Vanille was one the fastest and is able to continue healing. Hope shifts into Medic to lend her a hand. Once everything's settled, he shifts back into Ravager.
Our attacks do no effect on the Dragon. No surprise, the creature is large. Takes a lot more then a group of l'Cies to break through it's scales.
The Aeronite's mouth is full of flames. It still attacks by swiping it's paws. Snow and Fang block the attacks, but aren't prepared for what comes at them next.
The Aeronite takes a deep breath and unleashes Dragon Breath.
The monster breaths heavy intense flames. The fire burning away the oxygen it touches.
"The damn thing really breaths fire?" Fang asks.
"That would have been good to know!" I shout at her as I shot my arrows at it's head.
"What do you want? We only thought they were mythical beings." Fang says.
"Shut up and fight!" Lightning orders.
The fight against Aeronite lasts long. We near nor notice any further signs of this weapon being prepared, but we still must make this fight quick.
Aeronite finally falls into a weaken state. but that only means the creature is stronger. Aeronite roars, but not the same roar that harms us. The Aeronite roots it's claws to the ground. Charging up it's energy. With a loud roar, it unleashes Megaton Break, charging at Snow with a heavy slam, then unleashes a Quake that harms the rest of us.
Even with both Hope and Vanille, even Serah, healing us in Medic, it takes a while to fully recover from that attack. Snow had it harder then everyone even under the protection of Heavy Guard.
We don't know much about Dragons, but the Aeronite has shown that their strength is nothing like we've faced. Aeronite's attack methods are the same as before. It hardly does it's Megaton Break, but when it does it becomes a hard time for us.
What's worse, the Aeronite begins Hellflare. The dragon Charges and Powers up Hellish Flames all over it's body. Seems pretty threatening. We all shift into defensive positions. Then that's when Aeronite unleashes it's Hellflare, unleashing an exploding nova.
We survived...barely. All the Medics did their part and heal everyone.
"Just how damn powerful is this thing!?" Snow asks.
The moment everybody is recovered, we resume our attack on Aeronite. The monster throws it's Roars and Dragon Breath at us. But compared to the Hellflare it threw at us, it's really nothing we can't handle.
Finally, we have the Aeronite on it's last stand. That's when it's about to unleash it's most powerful move. The air thickens. Feels like suffocation for our lungs. The Aeronite roots it's claws onto the earth, it's wings spread wide and large. Intense winds cyclones on the monster. Aeronite roars in rage.
It begins to channel it's Hurricane ability.
The power grows stronger and stronger. We throw everything we have in our Ravager and Shaman power to stop it. Not much progress is made, but we are getting close to stagger the monster, just as it's close to unleash it's power.
Who will achieve first?
We did. The Aeronite is staggered just before it unleashes it's Hurricane attack.
With the beast weaken, we all go full strength on the beast with our Commando attacks. Aeronite still fought back, this level 3 magic this time.
In no time, the Aeronite has fallen. And we were teleported out of the room.
We appeared in a different area of the New Cocoon. It looks like we have gone deep into this world. What's more, there's something else within our sights.
"Look there." There's a giant cocoon just floating in the heart of the inner planet.
"Looks like a heart." Fang says.
"Cocoon's Core." Hope says. "Eden's probably there. And it must be what runs the planet like a battery."
There's another loud noise. This time, it sounds like machinery shifting. Then a blare alarm. Then silence.
"Sounds like we're running out of time." Sazh says.
He's right. We better hurry to the core.
We're only on a single island. No enemies, but there is a Ward Brand. Lindzei's Brand. We touch the brand, changing it from Pink Red to White Blue. The floors shift all over, and a path is made for us.
We start moving down the path. It's filled with monsters. Zomok's and Chimera's and Arcangeli's. There are also several Cie'th partnered with them. Nothing major, mostly Winged and Shambling's.
The Cie'th are nothing we can't handle, but the monster's have been a challenge. We take down the Cie'th's first then handle the monsters. Vanguard holds off the monsters and the Synergist team strengthens everyone.
We cut down all the enemies in our way. Drawing closer and closer to the Cocoon Core.
Half an hour later, and we have reached the bottom of the path. We are just hovering right above the core. We search around to find another Ward Brand. The Brand of Bhunivelze. We touch it. Turning from Dark Violet to Pure White.
For this one, only a single path is made, and it leads us to a portal. We approach the portal, and it teleports us to another room.
This time, we face a three-headed dog, the size of the beast is pretty enormous.
Cerberus.
We have no surprise facing this monster. After being a Cie'th Super-Monster and a deadly dragon, this creature is nothing.
We all fight Cerberus, Snow holding off in Sentinel. Vanille and I weaken the beast in our Saboteur roles. Everyone else just attacks it head on. Cerberus's fights pretty fierce against Snow, swiping it's paws and biting it's three heads. The creature also unleashes deadly magic of Firaga and Thundaga. Snow holds off and stands his ground with his Steel and Heavy Guards.
Once our Aliment's are done, Vanille shifts into Medic to keep our little protector alive, and I join on the attack in Commando. Cerberus starts doing Triple Breath, it's three heads breathing intense flames, chilling ice and burning darkness.
Our Ravager and Shaman attacks causes the Cerberus to stagger. The beast still fights against us, but we go all Commando on it. Except for Snow and Vanille remains in Medic.
Our assault on the Cerberus lasts long and hard. The canine monster still fights back and hard despite it's staggered conditions.
Soon, we defeated the dog. Put it down.
We are teleported right out of the room, and then reappear back in the New Cocoon. What surprises us is the new location we are taken to. A small island, with only a single path...that leads all the way to the core.
"This is it. The final battle." Lightning says.
Fang cracks her knuckles. "Eden dare messes with Gran Pulse. He gonna answer to us!"
"'We saved the world. Let's save it again." Vanille says.
Noel steps forward, looking at the core with a serious look. "Get ready, Caius. You want tos ee how well you've trained me? Well, now's your chance!"
With our guard up, at our highest, we walk into the core.
The inside is pretty huge. The place filled with contraptions. Not very different from the Narthex where we faced Barthandelus and Orphan. The room is large, and ahead of us is a platform that's a level up. And on that edge of the platform is the Crystalized Yeul.
Noel is surprised to see her. "Yeul!"
The crystal body is attached to several wires, each of them siphoning the Seeress's power. We all look to see where the wires are attached to. Several machinaries, each of them appears to be a device that supports some kind of weapon. Or the world itself.
Or the world itself being the weapon.
"Guess our little friends are a no show." Fang says.
"This is pretty incredible." Hope says. "It's as if this whole inner core is the power source of the weapon." Hope turns to the crystalized Yeul. "And the Seeress Yeul must be the battery that runs it."
"Guess that means Eden doesn't fit that job description." I say. "Let's bust this joint and get out."
"I'm afraid that's not going to happened."
We're all startled by the new voice. We look at it, which came from the Crystalized Yeul, then see Caius approaching from right behind it. The man stands tell and proud, looking down at us.
"I must say, it is quite impressive you all manage to get this far. But this is where your journey ends." Caius says.
"Caius." We all draw our weapons out. "Give up. You are out numbered." Noel says.
"That may be, Noel. But it is you who is out matched." Caius says. Caius draws out his weapon. The eye of the blade glows and pulses in darkness. Caius jumps onto our ground level, then charges in to attack us.
He comes in for Fang first. She blocks his incoming attack while everyone else around her disengages. Fang repels the blade and counterstrikes. Caius dodges and strikes. Lightning joins Fang on the attack. Caius blocks and dodges the two of them, then kicks Lightning right in the stomach, knocking her back. Fang jabs her weapon, Caius dodges, grabs her weapon and sweep kicks her. Fang is knocked down.
Vanille sends the coils of her Binding Rod right at him. Caius allows his sword to take the attack, then uses his strength to pull the weapon right out of her hands, and cut the coils. Serah and I shoot, with real and laser arrows, at Caius. Caius cuts down the arrows. When I first three arrows at once, Caius plants his weapon to the ground, grows the arrows to redirect them into hitting the both of us, right on the shoulders.
Hope and Vanille use their Ravager magic to send powerful Fire and Ice magic at Caius. As they are flying towards him, Caius uses his own magic to counterblock the magic with his Ruin spells.
Snow yells as he charges right at Caius. Snow throws a series of fists at the Guardian. Caius dodges each of them and blocks the last one, then repels and delivers a critical blow during Snow's staggering.
Now it's all Noel and Caius. Noel delivers several swift strikes with his Dual Blades. Caius strikes back to, only to have his attacks blocked. Caius does a head on blow, and Noel blocks the hit, holding his ground as Caius attempts to push through the block.
"You have learned well, Noel. But your training can only get you so far." Caius says.
Caius and Noel repels each other's attack. Caius stands strong, and all of us attacks Caius at once.
We start off the fight in defensive mode. Snow and Noel holds of Caius's attacks. So far, the Guardian Warrior just delivers devastating strikes, one of them an attempt to knock them into the air. Hope, Sazh and I are all in Syngerist, enhancing everybody. Hope focuses his defense spells on Noel and Snow, and joins the two of us to help everybody else.
Caius uses enhancement spells of his own and does Body and Soul, strengthening himself with Haste, Bravery, Faith and Regen. The moment Synergist magic is set, I shift into Saboteur and help Vanille and Fang with the Aliments. Caius is immune to spell, so that's hopeless.
Caius unleashes Eye of Bahamut at Hope, sending a barrage of dark bolts. Even under the protection of Veil, it doesn't prevent the aliments the spell affects upon him. With Saboteur magic finished, the three of us shifts into Ravager and Shaman's and attack.
Caius strikes hard on Noel, sends him flying too, then unleashes a Giga-Gravition on him. After that, Caius turns to everyone else and unleashes Pulsar Burst on us all. "Wings of Darkness!" He shouts as the barrage of darkness rains down. Vanille and Serah both shift into Medic and heals everyone.
Caius goes for Lightning and strikes her. Lightning holds out and still fights back against the Dark Guardian. Caius does a spell chain, unleashing Graviton, then Gaia-Gravition then Inferno.
The group of spells sued against us was pretty harsh. Even Hope shifts into Medic and help Serah and Vanille with the healing. Once we're all recovered, we continue our assault on Caius.
For his final move, Caius unleashes Ultima. "Brace yourselves!" Snow, Fang and Noel shift into Sentinel and they all use Wide Guard. The rest of us hides behind them like a barrier and block the deathly spell. It takes a while to recover everybody, even at our weaken state we still fight Caius.
Caius fights will such brute strength and powerful magic.
In the end of the fight, Noel charges at Caius with a shout. He delivers swift strikes. Caius dodges each swing, then Caius blocks the last attack.
"You fight bravely to protect your friends! Like a true Guardian." Caius says.
"What about you, Caius? You swore the same oath to protect Pulse! To protect Yeul!" Caius repels Noel's blade , then coms at him in a charge. Noel is caught by surprise, and manages to block the heavy strike at the last second.
Their blades dance in combat. "Everything I do is for Yeul. Her fate. Her dreams. Her soul is bound by a curse. I will save her!"
"Do you think this will make Yeul happy?" Noel yells at him.
"I do not care for her happiness! I only care to save her!" Caius says. After several blocks and parries from each other attacks, Caius does a quick hard blow that knocks him to the ground. Noel groans in pain as he looks up to his master. "You know the curse and fate of being made into l'Cie." Caius turns his attention to everybody. "You all know. When branded by the Fal'Cie, the l'Cie are given a Focus, a focus they must fulfill. Their fates, their freedom, bound and chained like a slave. Yeul became a slave of fate when Bhunivelze branded her to be his pet. And on this day, she is still cursed into Eternal Slumber."
Caius holds his blade out, the eye opening and glowing as it pulses with dark energy. "I will break the Curse of Pain. The Fate of Agony. The Chains of Woe! The Nightmare of Despair! No matter how great the sacrifice! I shall destroy Pulse! And upon the new world! Yeul's spirit shall be free!"
Caius plants his blade into the ground, unleashing a blast wave of dark energy. All of us do our best to avoid the wave. We're all are on the ground, none of us got hit but that did took a lot of energy.
Caius watches all on the ground, defeated, then comes to a surprise seeing us returning to our feet. "Humph...Still you fight?"
"You just don't get it." Noel says as he gets back on his feet. "Yeul doesn't want any of this, Caius! She doesn't want the world destroyed! She doesn't want you to turn against her friends! Don't you see? Yeul wanted the world to be saved! And she would give her own life to save it!"
Caius says nothing. "How very noble. But I refuse to allow the Seeress to fall. And for that, you all die!" Caius positions himself for the next strike.
Suddenly...
Caius sudden feels incredible pain. He drops his blade, grabbing his head, and shouting in agony. And above all, his brand is glowing. All of us are in shock to see this, then comes a blinding light.
We have no idea what's happening, but we fear for the worst.
The light vanishes. We find Caius on his knees. He seems fine. At least that's what we thought. Caius stands. His left arm is normal, while his arm...it's a very large blue crystal arm. He looks right at us, growling in a distorted deep voice. His face is mostly covered in crystal. And his eyes...monstrously red.
All of us are pretty shocked. "Wh-What just happened?" Sazh shouts.
"Did he just turned into a Cie'th?" I ask.
"I don't understand how that's possible." Serah says.
"But Eden branded him when he found Caius." Vanille points out.
"Guess big shot here must have failed his Focus." Fang says.
Noel says nothing. He, of all people, should have something to say about all this. But instead, he's all silence. Noel's shifts shake as his frustration grows. "Caius...Did you have to take this THIS FAR!?"
Noel has his weapons ready, then shouts as he charges in to attack the Cie'th Caius. If Noel can fight, so can we. And we join in to help our new friend.
Cie'th Caius starts off the fight with Crystal Shockwave, slamming his Cie'th Arm to the ground, sending a wave of rising crystals in front of him. Hope and Vanille are both in Medic, healing everybody. The shockwave did a lot of damage for us.
Fang and I weaken the Cie'th Caius with our Saboteur Magic. The only magic that affects him is Deshell and Imperil. Wish that done, we shift back into Commando.
Cie'th attacks Noel directly. With his Cie'th Arm, Caius throws heavy strikes twice, then with his third strike, an air drop slam with a Crystal Tower rising. Then after that, he lets out a Dragon's Roar, unleashing a wail so powerful it shakes the earth.
Hope and Vanille remain in their Medic Roles. Everyone else attacks Caius with all our strength and power.
"Caius is more powerful as a Cie'th." Serah says.
"We can't back down! We'll defeat him!" I say.
Cie'th Caius power grows the more we attack him. He starts unleashing his Sentinel power and defend himself in Vengeance. Our incoming attacks on him take hit, but we take the damage as well, almost like we're linked with him, or our attacks were reflected. Once his Vengeance method ends, Caius charges towards Snow and unleashes a vengeful blow.
Snow took very damage, even protected in his Sentinel role. "I...I-I! Will! Serve!" Cie'th Caius shouts as his Cie'th Arm starts to spout more crystals. Cie'th Caius unleashes another Crystal Shockwave. This one's more stronger then before.
Cie'th Caius grabs Lightning with his Cie'th Arm. "Know! Agony!" Cie'th Caius tosses Lightning into the air, jumps high and smashes her to the ground. Hope and Vanille focuses on healing Lightning.
We all focus our Ravager and Shaman attacks on Cie'th Caius. Cie'th Caius goes for Snow, throwing his triple strike on him. Then unleashes another Dragon's Roar.
Even throwing everything we have with Ravager magic and Shaman strikes, Cie'th Caius haven't staggered. The new-monster Guardian's stamina is remarkable. Almost like his body is nullified to pain. That decided, we all turn to Commando and attack him head on.
Hope and Vanille are the only ones who don't attack. They can't. Caius's attacks are too powerful. Too powerful enough for us to fight on without a Medic. Not even for a second.
With everything we have, Cie'th Caius finally falls.
Cie'th Caius falls on his hands and knees. He groans and coughs in pain. We all don't let our guard down. Even though he is defeated, Caius will still strike at us.
But he doesn't get up. He faces directly at us. He makes an expression that tells us he's still going to fight. Only now, he does not have the strength. Cie'th Caius attempts to get back up, but collapses once again.
Cie'th Caius breaths heavily. "Ye...Yeu...l." Noel's body slightly relaxes hearing that name. "Yeul..." Cie'th Caius turns. He looks directly at the Crystalized Yeul, reaching up to her. "Everything...I've done...was all...for you."
Cie'th Caius glows brightly. Once the light fades, it reveals to show Caius he turned completely to crystal.
All of us are left clueless. This is surprising. "What happened? Did he...Did he complete his Focus?" Sazh asks.
"All he ever wanted to do is save Yeul." Serah says. "It was his duty as the Guardian."
"He's willing to sacrifice anything...His people. The World. Even his life." I say.
We all just stare at the Crystalized Caius. "So...is it over now?" Hope asks.
"Far from it!"
All of us are startled. The voice is loud and deep. And it sounds like it's coming from everywhere. We look all around, our guard up. There is nothing to be seen all around up. Then we hear movement.
Movement from above.
We all look up, and some large figure is coming down from the darkness above. A Fal'Cie, one who use to rule Cocoon and took control of the Sanctum. One who use to be fulled by the Battery of Cocoon, Orphan. And now, the Fal'Cie who created the New Cocoon and seeks to destroy Pulse.
"Eden." Lightning says.
Eden looks down at us, and chuckles. "The human, Caius Ballad, was nothing more then a mere tool. He believes his Focus was to protect his precious Seeress, where in truth, he was chosen to serve me. To become my champion. To become nothing more then tool for the Fal'Cie."
Hearing this really upsets us. Noel especially.
"The human served his purpose, distracting you foolish humans, who once ruined our master's grand plan on the Day of Ragnarok. And now, with the weapon fully charged and in position, Gran Pulse will meet it's end, and we shell begin a whole new era for the Fal'Cie!"
"That's NOT going to happen." Lightning shouts.
Just as we position ourselves for fight, so does Eden. The Fal'Cie starts off with summoning his servants. The Eden Servants of Gold, Silver and Violet.
We start off our attacks on the Servants. Each of them offers us their own attacks. The Gold just attacks with Shaman Abilities. The Silver unleashes Ravager Magic and the Violet offers Synergist Enhancements on it's other two.
Gold and Silver's attacks are no less then a regular Fal'Cie's power. And with Violet's aid, they are much stronger then normal. Vanille and I focus on constantly casting Dispel on the Silver and Gold, while everyone else focus their attacks on the Violet. Hope constantly shifts from Ravager to Medic to keep everyone else then Medic to Ravager to aid everyone on the attack.
It doesn't take long for the Violet Servant to go down. With it defeated, we finish off the other two.
As soon as the Servants are defeated, Eden lowers himself, joining the fight. "You want something done right. You gotta do it yourself."
Eden starts off the fight with Heavenly Judgment, conjuring an orb of pure light in his hands The light shines brightly and Eden unleashes it all in an exploding nova.
We all suffered heavily from that spell, Hope heals everyone and Vanille and Lightning help him out as well. We all focus our attacks on Eden. The Fal'Cie is large and powerful, most of our attacks do almost effect on him. Ravager and Shaman fighters do their best to stagger the enemy.
Eden does Annihilation Beam, conjuring an orb of Holy Light in his hades and causing half a dozen of holy beams to rain down on us from the orb. After further healing, the Medic people were able to shift into their primary roles.
Eden's attacks are mostly swiping his large hand on us. He also uses Banisaga on us all. His holy magic does heavy damage on us all. But with Hope and Vanille keeping everyone alive and healthy, we endure the Fal'Cie's attack.
Our fight lasts long. Most of us grow worried. The weapon is soon to be completed. Our time has been wasted fighting Caius, now only the Grand Eden stands in our way.
Eden unleashes another Heavenly Judgment. We're all prepared for the incoming attack, switch to defensive positions. The Divine Spell still did heavy damage on us, but not as bad as the first one.
Soon enough, we have Eden enter a weaken state, and he grows powerful. I shoot my arrows right for the Fal'Cies head, hardly does any effect. Even at the eyes. Hope and Vanille throws powerful Firaga and Blizzaga spells at him.
Eden begins channeling Purificent lux. "Your souls will be cleansed of Sin!" He shouts as he begins channeling.
We push our attack on Eden. This spell don't be deadly, but it is preventing him from fighting back.
Eden's power draws closer and closer. Purificent lux is near to completion.
And once it has, Eden unleashes it. The Divine Light in his hands spreads in the form of Silver Flames.
We all quickly switch to defensive positions. The Holy Fire swarms all over the room. Even protected, the Silver Flame still burns.
Eden looks down at us. We're all on our knees. The Fal'Cie just laughs at out weaken state. Then his laughter is silenced once he sees us getting back on our feet.
"Still you fight? Can't you see it's all hopeless?" Eden asks.
"You just don't get it." Lightning says. "You think of us humans are nothing more then more tools for the Fal'Cie, but you're wrong. We all fight, and live, and hope. All for the sake of a bright future!" Lightning steps forward. "You saw it all! Cocoon was meant to die, but was saved it! We gave humanity a second chance. Gave them a new world. One where they can have the freedom to live and choose their own fates!"
"Fate? Hope? Freedom?" Eden just laughs. "Nothing but mere dreams and illusions of humanity. If you refuse to embrace the truth of reality, and I shall force your eyes open!"
Eden raises up. He begins channeling holy magic.
As he does, the holy magic grabs onto the Crystalized Caius. Caius floats up, until it's hover right before the Fal'Cie. Whatever is happening, it's not good.
As Eden channels his power, both he and the Crystal Caius become shrouded in a dark mist. The mist is thick, and it's containing a wicked storm. Lightning crackles. Each of us can feel fear building up. The power we sense is intense.
The only thing that comes through the mists are two dark purple eyes.
Then the burning flames of Megaflare.
The Megaflare blasts down at us. Burning away everything. Creating a hole beneath our feet as well.
We all fall to our doom, falling into the dark abyss of the New Cocoon.
We fall and fall...
Until the darkness completely engulfs us.
Nothing happens. It seems like the end. Until a single glimmer of light shines in that darkness.
And out of it came rising a Crystal Platform. Carrying all of us.
We're all off our feet, laying on the ground exhausted and damaged from the fall. The platform rises up, rising higher and higher. Even long past the Cocoon Core. As we lay helpless, we are bathed in holy magic.
Our energy, our health. All of it suddenly being restored.
We get back on our feet. Confused, we look all around wondering what is happening in the total darkness that surrounds us. Then we noticed a being floating before us. The being appears as a child. But it's one who is wise FAR beyond her years.
And the sight of her surprises our fellow monster hunter. "Yeul." Noel says.
"The future can still be saved." Yeul's Spirit says, her voice echoing. "Stop Eden. Save Caius. And grant Humanity the future it deserves."
Yeul's Spirit smiles, just before she fades away.
We all can feel the hope Yeul has trusted us with. But we're far from peace to grant that wish. That's when we hear it.
Deep rumbling. Monstrous roar. Weapons ready, we prepare for the worst.
This is it. The Final Battle.
The imminent threat bursts right out of the Core, the being coated in the shadowy darkness of the mists. The being comes to a halt once it reaches out level. Revealing itself as a Dragon-like monster. It's body, Dark Purple and Silver and Gold. Four wings, two on each side. Head large and intensely scary. Above all, it's large. About as big as Bhunivelze. Like a God.
We recognize the monster as Eden. And Caius.
Eden fused with the Guardian.
Ragnarok Bahamut.
We start off the fight by strengthening everyone. But Eden has other plans. Ragnarok Bahamut rises up to the skies, drawing in intense Dark Lightning, charging up, rapidly overtime. "Know the true meaning of DEATH!"
Once fully charged, Ragnarok Bahamut blasts down a massive amount of dark energy. Shadow Apocalypse.
The Shadow Apocalypse does some wicked damage to us well. It's even a miracle we're all still alive.
Everyone with a Medic role quickly shifts into it and begins healing everybody. The rest of us even drinks some potions to quickly restore that lost energy and wounded damage.
Overtime, Ragnarok Bahamut unleashes Dark Flames, summoning Dark Fire to rain down from the skies and upon us. Once fully recovered, we resume where we left off.
Ragnarok Bahamut unleashes Wings of Twilight. All of his wings glow in Light magic and unleashing Rays of Darkness. We each avoid the incoming darkness. Us Synergist's shift into our offensive roles and attack the monster. Vanille attempts Saboteur magic on Ragnarok Bahamut, only the problem is Ragnarok Bahamut is immune to the Aliment Magic.
Ragnarok Bahamut performs Judgment Blade. The monster summons a giant version of Caius's Blade and sends it to strike down. Most of us manage to avoid the impact. Those who still took the hit, Vanille heals them up.
Lightning, Snow and Fang avoids the incoming Dark Flame's as they attack the Fal'Cie Guardian. Sazh uses his Synergist magic to summon a barrier to protect himself from the falling fires of darkness. Serah and I shoot from a distance. Noel is in Sentinel most of the time, blocking any hits. Ragnarok Bahamut unleashes Apparition Ray. Nearly a dozen of Ruins appeared and they all hit Noel. Protected by Steelguard, the Monster Hunter nearly didn't feel a thing.
The fight goes on for a while.
Ragnarok Bahamut unleashes another Shadow Apocalypse. Even in defensive positions, that blast still did a toll on us. After miraculously surviving the death spell. While we are recovering, Ragnarok Bahamut begins unleashing Dying Sun. He summons all dark power and unleashes it all in an Nova Explosion.
Even after that blast, we still stand and fight.
"Foolish humans! Give up and face your destiny!" Ragnarok Bahamut shouts.
Ragnarok Bahamut begins powering up. "Counting down! 5!"
Halfway through the countdown from 5 to 4. "4!" We all shift into Commando and attack.
"3!" We throw everything we have to defeat the monster.
"2!" Every spell. Every weapon. Every attack. Nothing does any effect to him.
"1!" Our time is up, and we quickly switch to defensive positions.
Ragnarok Bahamut rises up. Wings spread and mount open wide. It's mouth filling up with Light and Dark energy. Charging up until it's fully powered.
Then Ragnarok Bahamut unleashes Ultimaflare. The blast explodes like an intense Hypernova.
The blast has weakened us all. We are either on our knees or are unconscious. We don't have the energy to stand back up. Let alone fight. Ragnarok Bahamut floats down to glare right at us.
"Have you human finally learned your place in this world? Everything you hoped. Everything you dreamed. Everything you fought for. It is all for nothing! And yet, you still fight? To chase nothing but shadows of the world that was never yours?" None of us say anything. Lightning's the only one who manage to summon enough strength to look right up on our enemy. "We Fal'Cie are the superior beings. We are the one who granted you shelter and salvation. And yet, you turned against us. Brought down the very world we have created to protect you from the Hell World from blow."
"You Fal'Cie...don't care about us." Lightning says. "You saw nothing...as nothing more then tools! To be used for your own...desires." Lightning stands on her feet. "Fal'Cie deceived and used humans. Cocoon may have been home to us, but to you, it's nothing more then a weapon for your plan." Lightning reaches for her l'Cie Brand and summons her crystal. "We all fight, and hope, and dream, for the one thing you never gave us! The Freedom to Choose!"
"How very noble. But alas, this is where the Dreams of Humans! Will! Die!"
Ragnarok Bahamut rises up. He begins charging up another Ultimaflare. Lightning breaks the crystal and Odin appears. Odin turns to us all and offers a Curaga on Lightning, and a lesser Cura on everyone else.
Lightning becomes fully restored, and the rest of us only gain a little energy.
Ragnarok Bahamut then unleashes another Ultimaflare. Odin rushes in and uses all his strength to hold off the blast. Lightning joins him.
Seeing those two fight back, even though they're about to be overwhelmed, we all summon our own Eidolons. After they fully restore our energies, all of us, Eidolon's included, join in on the protective barrier.
We all hold off, the Ultimaflare not being able to push any further. Our strength holds it in place, and pushing harder to repel the attack.
With all our strength, the Ultimaflare is reflected, and blasts right at the Ragnarok Bahamut.
Eden and Caius both suffered greatly from the blast. Ragnarok Bahamut roars in agony as it falls and crashes right into the Cocoon Core.
The Crystal Platform we stand on lowers itself, returning us back into the Core. There, we find Eden, weaken and defeated. The Fal'Cie looks at us in agony. "You humans have grown strong. But you are too late."
We all wondered what that mean, but that's when the Core starts powering up, and we hear a deep humming. That's when Hope realizes what's going on.
"The weapon! It's powering up!" Hope says.
"We have to do something." Vanille says.
"We defeat the Fal'Cie, we defeat the weapon!" Lightning says.
All of us had worried thoughts. That would be total annihilation for the world. Including us. But we don't have time for hesitation. We have no choice. It's either us or the world.
Weapons ready, we make our next and final blow for Eden.
When suddenly...
A large Chaotic Sword blocks out path. To our surprise, Caius stands, fully human, alive and well. He faces Eden, and looks back right at us.
"Everyone! Go! Get out!"
"Caius? What are you-"
"No time to explain!" Caius interrupts. "Get out of this world!" Caius turns his attention to Eden. "I'll deal with the Fal'Cie!"
Just then, Caius summons his Eidolon, Chaos Bahamut. The Eidolon appears before us in it's Hoverjet form. We all got on. All except for Noel, who remains behind to confront Caius.
"Caius! You're not doing this alone!" He stands by Caius's side. "I'll be here for you...For Yeul."
Caius grabs Noel by the neck, lifting him off his feet. He doesn't choke him, but pulls him close to his face.
"If you truly care for Yeul...then take care of her. As her Guardian." Caius says.
Hearing this surprises and confuses Noel. Caius tosses Noel onto the escape group. We all catch him, and just as soon as Noel joins us, Chaos Bahamut takes off.
With us long gone, Caius returns his attention to Eden. "You Fal'Cie are all talk, but not success. Humanity and Fal'Cie were the born ideal of the Goddess and the Maker. A future of peace that Yeul foresaw! And you, just like your ancestral Bhunivelze, taint it. You're a disgrace to Pulse and Cocoon." Caius holds his blade out in front, it's eye open and glowing. "And I shall purge the world of your filth."
Eden just chuckles. "Come and try, 'Guardian'."
Caius powers up in dark energy, growing more and more intense, until he his over his limit. With a shout, Caius leaps forward and delivers the destruction blow.
The weapon is powering up, the eye on the New Cocoon glowing as the destruction energy gathers.
We all watch as we escape from the new world. Even though Caius says he has this taken care of, we can't help but worry. Chaos Bahamut flies further away from the New Cocoon. The Eidolon tops at a hill and drops us off.
Then vanishes.
We all stare at the New Cocoon. "What's going to happen now? Is this really the end?" Sazh asks in worry.
We all wonder the same thing. All we can do now is watch. And hope.
And now, the weapon begins to fire the blast. We all brace for the Gates of Death to come right at us.
But just as the weapon fires, it instead overloads and the New Cocoon explodes. The force of winds from the blast is intensely strong. The wind blows hard on us. If we didn't stand our ground, we would have been risked away.
When the winds are calm, we look to the skies and find nothing more then a world sized dust and smoke.
"It's over...Caius defeated Eden." Serah says.
"No. He did more then that...He saved the world." Snow says. "I'm gonna have to do something that huge to surpass his heroic level."
I smack Snow in the back of his head. "Will you should up about that Hero nonsense!"
Noel is silent. He does nothing but stare into the massive cloud. He is lost in his thought at Caius's last words.
'If you truly care for Yeul, then take care of her.'
Noel wonders what he met. Yeul was back on the New Cocoon. She's just as dead as Caius, Eden and every other remaining PSICOM Soldier inside.
I look up. "Hey. There's something coming."
We all prepare for fight, just instead. Though the dust and smoke, a shooting star comes down from the destroyed world. We all wondered what it could be. As it draws closer and closer, we start to get a decent look at what it is. A human...A girl...and a familiar face.
"Is that..." Noel looks at close as he can. Then comes to a shock realizing who it is. "YEUL!"
Yeul is falling, plummeting to the earth. She looks to be heading our way. But given to the falling trajectory...She's not going to make it.
I catch on that happening. I take out a rope, tie it on my waist and hand it to Lightning. Everyone looks in confusion at what I'm about to do, then catch on as I jump over the cliff as soon as the falling Yeul falls into the bottomless abyss.
I dive down, falling deeper and deeper, drawing close to catch up to the falling Seeress. My hand reaches for her, barely by the tip of my fingers.
I grabbed her hand, and just like that, my fall reaches its end and I'm dangling.
Everyone does their part and starts pulling the both of us up. After a while, I make it up to the top of the cliff, and carry the unconscious Yeul in my arms.
Much to everyone's surprise, Yeul is human again.
Finally awaken from her Crystal Slumber.
I hand Yeul to Noel, who lets her rest in his arms as he kneels done. "Phew. Tell about close call." Sazh says. "Is she all right?"
"She's just unconscious." I say. "I'm sure she's doing fine."
We all stand and watch, waiting for the young Seeress to awaken. Eventually, she does.
Slowly, her eyes open. And the first thing we she sees is a friendly familiar face.
"N-n...Noel?" Yeul asks.
"Yeul?" Noel says, speechless. As if doesn't believe what he is seeing.
Nothing is said between the two of them, until Yeul smiles with a slight chuckle. "You did it...just like I knew you would."
Noel smiles and laughs as well. "You never lost hope."
Yeul nods. Yeul looks all around. She sees many strange faces. And one familiar face absence. "Where's Caius?"
Noel's a bit surprise to hear that. Then is upset in sorrow. Yeul can pretty much tell by the look on his face what could have happened to him.
Just then, we spot something else coming down from the destroyed world above. "There's something else coming down."
We all get a look at the unknown object heading for our direction. Unlike Yeul, this strong being isn't a person. But an object...Something deadly. Coming down at us fast.
"IN COMING!" Sazh shouts.
We all take cover from the incoming threat above us. Noel and Yeul are the only ones who are out in the opening. The falling object crashes just right in front of them.
Once all the dirty dust clears, the rest of us come out of hiding. We find the object to be Caius's Sword. The blade rests right before Noel and Yeul. Noel helps Yeul stand up and approaches the blade to pick it up.
"Caius's Blade?" Lightning asks.
"Well, look at that." Fang says, pretty impressed.
Noel stares down at the blade. Serah approaches Noel and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Caius sacrificed himself. He did it to save the world. To save Yeul..."
"And me. So I could live...and protect Yeul in his place." Noel says. "His one final act as The Guardian...as the Caius we knew."
Yeul approaches to Noel. Her body still stiff and exhausted, she does her best to move to his side. "Caius served me and my past life's well. He was an honorable warrior. And deserves a warrior's memorial."
Noel looks right at Yeul. He nods, knowing what she says is true.
Carrying Caius's sword, he moves to the edge of the cliff. He holds the blade out, right in front of him. Holding it while standing tall and proud like a warrior.
Then impales it on the edge of the cliff. "Rest and Piece, old friend." Noel says. "I will use everything in my power, in your teachings, to fulfill your destinies...no...MY destinies, and Guardian of the Seeress...Guardian of Gran Pulse."
Noel let's go of the sword, steps away as he gives it a long, final look.
"Farewell...Caius Ballad." With that said, Noel turns as walks away, in silence.
And we all join him. We may not know Caius as well as he is, only as the enemy that wanted to destroy Pulse. But we know he is still a victim of a Fal'Cie's deceive.
Now that Gran Pulse is save, we all return to our home, Noel and Yeul's new home, in New Bodhum.
The future is bright. And it's ours to protect.
THE END