Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII-2 or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
The journey of the dream keeps on, and with it more reviews to reply to!
Rsdk525: Well, when you play as Noel in the dream you have all of his learned abilities. So since Anubis is one of them he had that in the dream.
G.S. Phoenix: Thanks for the kind words.
Ch.37 Dream's End
Serah and I watched Noel as he hung his head, his expression filled with sadness, anger and grief. So that was what happened. Even though I had played the game and seen these events unfold, it still hurt how much Noel himself was hurt by Caius, his mentor, leaving him behind. He shook his head before turning and running off, heading back to the village. We followed and Noel kept going, past the main part of it and even past the house Yeul had walked out off. Instead he kept going, until we reached a giant monument. It was off one girl on their knees with another girl standing behind her, and in the rear the tallest of them all stood. At the base of the monument was an Oracle Drive, and I realized that this was a monument of the Farseers. In front of the Oracle drive Yeul was kneeling, muttering something we couldn't hear.
It happened not long after Caius left. It came so soon, in fact, it was over before I knew what was happening.
"Hey Yeul!" Noel called. She didn't reply, but her arms did drop to her sides. Noel frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked. Then suddenly she fainted and began falling to the side. "Yeul!" Noel called, and caught her. She looked up at him weakly, her strength already fading rapidly. "Noel. It's strange. I knew all along this day was coming. But I'm still not ready... to say good-bye," she said. He looked at her in shock and horror, not understanding but beginning to. "I wish we could stay together," Yeul told him. Tears fell from his cheeks to fall onto hers, and she reached up to stroke Noel's hair. "You don't have to cry. We will meet again," she promised. Then she managed a small smile, and said "Good-bye, Noel." With that she fell limp in Noel's arms, her body glowing bright before turning to golden dust and dissipating.
When Yeul died, I finally learned the truth about the Farseers and the fate of their seeress. Each time a seeress sees a vision of the future, she loses a piece of her life. She dies while she is still young. That is the price to be paid for Etro's gift. But I didn't know any of this. Caius chose to keep the secret from me. I couldn't forgive him for that. He knew all along what Yeul's fate would be.
"Noel..." I said, and I reached forward to place a hand on his shoulder. But it went right through, and I was forced to remember that even though it was basically Noel re-experiencing his memories, it was still a dream. And so Serah and I could do nothing but stand there, watching him sob in grief. Eventually though, he stopped, and stood with a solemn expression on his face. He ran back into the village and gather a good number of supplies, before walking out. He didn't look back.
And so, I left on my journey. I thought that if I could become Etro's chosen warrior, like Caius, then I'd have the power I would need to change Yeul's fate. So I set my sights on Valhalla- the home of the goddess. As I searched for Valhalla though, I realized something. If it brought Yeul the happiness she deserved, I didn't care what happened to me. If I died, so be it. Maybe somewhere deep down, below the layers of numbing pain, I wanted to fade away from this world completely. Ranks of obsidian mountains pierced the heavens. Bone-white deserts choked the world with sand. But no matter how far I walked, I saw no one. No matter how long I waited, the gate of the goddess didn't open.
As Noel kept going and going- walking, running and alternating between the two- Serah and I kept following him. As we walked though, I kept thinking: It truly would be horrible to be the last human alive. To have not only everyone you knew, but everyone in world die around you would be a truly torturous thing. I thought back to all the times during our journey when Noel had fought alongside us. Despite what he had been through, he had always been strong, never wavering. It was gratifying that the last our species would be such a good person. And one look over at Serah told me that she was thinking the same thing. But not even Noel could go on forever, and eventually fell to his knees. "Etro..." he muttered.
I could no longer walk. The cold was seeping into my body. My heart beat slower and, for the first time, I felt the hand of death reach out for me. I knew it was coming, and I didn't resist.
A light appeared in the air high above Noel, and he began to rise to it. I sensed that light, and knew what it was. The gate to Valhalla, but a very particular one- the one the dead passed through. "Noel!" Serah and I called, and we reached up to catch him. This time our hands made contact, and we grabbed onto him. Slowly his eyes opened, and he said "Etro?" "Noel. Don't you remember us?" Serah asked. His eyes snapped open, recognition filling them. "Serah! Deiru!" "You've been living inside a dream, Noel. You would have been happy here, and stayed that way for eternity," I explained. Serah nodded. "But now, we've come to take you away from it. I'm sorry," she said.
Despite that Noel smiled, his trademark smirk appearing once more. "All dreams have to end sometime. You've helped me wake from mine," he said. The light overhead vanished and we began to fall to the ground. Below though a monster appeared, one that was Gogmagog. I smiled; it looks like the giant had finally found his other half. Just in time for us to destroy him. Serah looked at the beast. "We've got to stick together, Noel, Deiru. I've got no one else I can count on but you two," she said. "We have the same hope, the same road to travel," Noel stated. I smiled. "No matter what lies ahead, we have to keep pressing on!" I declared. We all drew our weapons and landing on the ground, saying was one " We will change the future!"
Gogmagog roared before swinging at us, missing and carving deep grooves in the sand with its claws. Noel began buffing everyone up and Serah switched to Saboteur, weakening its with status ailments. The beast reared back before launching both of its heads at us, spewing crimson flames. I shouted and used Element Guard, the flames hitting but not burning me. After a few seconds Gogmagog relented, having been forced to writhe in pain and inflict even more status ailments on himself. At that my smile returned; the beast was in such pain it was harming itself. Noel finished the buffing with Bravega, increasing all of our strength. Then he turned and charged at the giant, while Serah did the same.
They both jumped up and swung at its chest, creating an X. Gogmagog roared and slashed at both of them, hitting them both the back of his hands ans sending them flying. "Serah! Noel!" I called, and while Noel flipped over in the air I ran to Serah, who didn't. I caught and quickly set her back down, before turning to Gogmagog. "Time for you to go down!" I called, before casting Waterga and running. The sphere of water burst into massive tidal wave that slammed into the monster, knocking it back. While it was dazed I came near and cast Thundaga, and Gogmagog was another being to learn that water and electricity simply do not mix. It howled in agony from the voltage and I leaped into the air, stabbing Indomitus into the center of the X Noel and Serah had created.
Gogmagog was in so much pain from the electrocution that it didn't even notice, but what it did feel was when Noel cast Aerora and hit my sword with a gale of wind, pushing it even deeper in. The beast roared and grabbed my sword, ripping it out with a grunt and tossing it aside. Both heads glared at us before casting Multi Magic. Bolts of lightning rained down while pillars of earth erupted from the ground, a ball of flame exploded on top of the ground and spikes of ice burst forth and almost impaled us. We dodged the lightning but Noel was hit from below by on of the pillars of earth, and Serah was hit with the flames from the fire. She cried out and I was about to help her when one of the spikes did get me- in the shoulder.
I was hoisted into the air and hung from the tip of the spikes by my shoulder, which was causing me to nearly scream in pain from the intense chill coming into contact my my flesh beneath my skin. I grabbed the ice and pulled, able to successfully remove myself from it and dropping to the ground. I raised my hand and Indomitus reappeared in it with a burst of blue flames. "Curaja!" I called, and I sent two shot of healing energy at Serah and Noel. Noel groaned and stood,k having smacked his head against the ground after hitting it. Serah's burns were mostly healed and she finished it up, and she turned to Gogmagog. "Take this!" she said, and she aimed an arrow before firing, hitting it right between the eyes on one of its heads.
The beast roared but the arrow faded into nothingness before it could grab it, and so it glared at us. It used Writhe one more time and I realized what it was about to do. "Look out!" I called, just as the beast unleashed Hellish Breath. A wave of dark smoke rolled towards us, and even though we put up our guards the toxins still managed to get into our systems, inflicting Deshell, Deprotect, Imperil, Curse and Poison. I coughed as the contagion made its way into my lungs, and Serah cast Esuna on everyone over and over until our ailments were gone. Noel and I both nodded our thanks, before casting Aeroga and Quake respectively. This time it was Gogmagog that was battered with pillars of earth, and it couldn't move was Noel's Aeroga kept it in place.
It swung at us and tried to cast Absolution on itself, but Serah cast Dispel and got rid of the buffs almost as soon as they appeared. The beast began to realize that it just might die here, and it went berserk, swing, spewing flames and casting spells in every direction. I hit the dirt as a Firaga spell flew overhead, missing me by a few inches, Noel hit a Waterga with his swords and sent it off into the distance, and Serah fired an explosive arrow into the middle of a Blizzaga. The beast used Hellish Breath again but we were ready, and Serah called "Come on!" as we all cast Aeroga at once. Alone our spells wouldn't have been strong enough, but together they created a near life-size twister that sucked up the toxic air. With out wills we sent it to where it surrounded Gogmagog, and it beast cried out as it was forced to consume its own poisons.
It swung and attacked over and over to try and destroy the tornado, but no to avail. With one last cry its struggles stopped, and when we dismissed the spell it fell forward, hitting the ground ans slowly dissolving into the Chaos it had come from. I sighed and put my sword on my back; would we ever be done fighting? Then I smiled. No, and that was a good thing. We would always have the strength to keep going. As the last of Gogmagog faded away everything was suddenly enveloped in white, before it faded and showed that the world had been released from its perpetual night. I could see the dunes of ashen sand rolling off into the distance, and overhead the sky was no longer filled with black and red. It wasn't a perfect sight, but it was a hell of a lot better than it was before.
"We're finally free from the dream!" I said, smiling Serah nodded. "Let's go, guys, Let's change the future," she said. Noel sheathed his sword, but then he said, to our shock, "I can't." I blinked, and Serah gasped. "What?" she said. "Listen to me, guys. The dream I've been having... reminded me of something. The power to see the future- it's a curse. Yeul died when she was only fifteen. Seeing the timeline exacts a terrible tool on the body. And Serah, Deiru... the two of you can see the future as well," he said. Now I gasped, the realization setting in. So I did possess the Eyes of Etro. "You mean... we're about to die?!" Serah asked, her expression full of fear. I looked at Noel, and thankfully he shook his head.
"No, the two of you are okay. You haven't seen as much as Yeul has. Not yet, anyway. But that could change, and soon. If we alter the past, you'll see a different future. That vision can't be avoided. The more we change the timeline, the more history changes... and the more you see, the sooner your visions will destroy the both of you. I know I wasn't able to protect Yeul. Try as I might, I couldn't remember what happened to her. It's like the memories of that moment were erased from my mind, leaving an empty page. If only I'd known the truth earlier..." he explained. I was silent, thinking. If we change the future, there was the very definite possibility that I could die from it. I would never again see Lightning, Snow, or anyone else that I loved.
But if I didn't so this, I was condemning countless others to death, simply because of my wishes. And I couldn't do that. Beside me Serah said "I understand, Noel. But it doesn't matter. I've already made my decision, and we're going to change the future." "But, Serah..." Noel began. "Lightning sent both you and Deiru from Valhalla so I could do just that," she said. I nodded. "So no matter what the cost, we will create a better fate. So let's change the future. Together. If we hurry, we might be able to do it in time," I said. "Then we wouldn't have to have visions anymore. I'm going to believe that we get to Valhalla. What else can I do? Which means, this conversation's over," Serah declared. Noel looked at the both of us, before sighing and smiling. "Okay. I'm going to make sure you get there," he said. We both nodded, the issue settled.
"Alright. Now that that's settled, we still have one problem: How do we get out of this dreamworld?" I asked. "There must be a hint somewhere," Serah pointed out. "Let's go back to where Yeul was before," Noel suggested. Serah and I agreed, and we began to head back that way. As we did, Noel said "You know, guys, I have to thank you for not forgetting about me. You're the reason we've been able to make it this far," he said. "How the heck could we forget you?" I asked. "He's right, Noel; you're not just the 'future boy' anymore. You're a part of my time period as well now," Serah told him. At that he smiled, and we kept going.
Sorry about the shortness of the chapter, but I guarantee that next one will be worth it. And now that the group is freed from the dream, we all know what, and who, they see next!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)