Ellone stood between Amarant and Maqui, body positioned in a way that didn't match her natural mannerisms. Like the hand that gripped her side and the finger that drummed her lips. Alyssa moved through force of memory-habits and not the muscle memory available to her inhabited body.

It took time to resurface in the chaos of her own mind, but Ellone managed it days before and she would hold her ground as long as possible in case she found an opportunity to kick out her invading companion.

Maqui sat perched on a desk, posed like a gargoyle over a castle despite his boyish appearance making it difficult to see him as anything but a child, while Amarant stood stiff and silent a short distance away.

Alyssa hummed in thought and Ellone hated that it sounded like her making the noise.

From her vantage point in an adjacent classroom, she watched Irvine face the school enforcement that flooded the place and she watched Noel get wrapped in a body bag in time for a student to walk in and pause in confusion at the sight. Ellone watched Irvine drop his rifle and she watched him give himself up without a fight.

She expected the sight to bring some satisfaction. Noel's body dropping bloody and broken to the floor didn't bring with it any sense of fulfillment so surely seeing Irvine take the fall would do it. But nothing came.

A long moment of quiet. Alyssa's thoughts blurred and plans changed. The quiet faded to chaotic repetitions in their head as Alyssa switched tracks. The plan to leave Seifer alone and move on shattered, leaving only the thought, "Gotta make it better." Over and over that sounded until Alyssa turned and said, "Bring me the moody trio."

Maqui perked up. "I thought you were gonna let them go?"

"I changed my mind."

Ellone steeled herself against the realization that if Noel's death didn't make her happy, then nothing would, and Alyssa would keep searching for something to sate her bloodlust. This wasn't the same spirit that terrorized the rest of the galaxy and this was someone that didn't give up their life, but had it wrenched from them.

From what Ellone saw, it didn't look like Noel or Serah meant any of the pain they inflicted. But that didn't matter anymore. Alyssa wanted blood and she would find it.

"We released the other two," said Amarant. "It would be troublesome to go find them again."

"I'm sure you'll find a way."

"This wasn't part of the deal," Maqui said. "We got you Noel."

Alyssa struck out a finger. "Bhunivelze promised me vengeance. And I've decided that vengeance includes punishing the people that got in my way."

Maqui said, "The sniper's on his way to prison now! What else do you want?"

"I want the three bullies." Alyssa started walking, though Ellone couldn't see where she meant to go. "And I want them now or you won't get this girl back."

"Ugh, fine. But God's gonna remember you changing the rules when it comes time for him to take what's his and all."

Alyssa's path cleared and Ellone pushed against Alyssa's intent to move forward. Their body stuttered and Alyssa sent a wave of frustration rippling through. Ellone fought back.

The other two didn't notice the struggle and disappeared around the corner. Ellone tried to scream, but Alyssa's hold refreshed and forced Ellone back into her subconscious. She floundered in nothingness before resurfacing in cognizance.

Alyssa took hold of the doorknob and opened it to reveal Seifer, who slept at an awkward angle under the influence of a sedative.

They strode over to sit near him. The room was abandoned and eventually to be redone into an office when they found a new administrator for the infiltration division.

"Well, well," Alyssa said. "Look at you. The job got done anyway, so there really wasn't any reason to pry, was there? Given a bit, you might even wake up and leave!"

She strode forward and kicked Seifer's jaw in.

Ellone fought again and this time, Alyssa couldn't push her back.

The body stilled as input from the different spirits warred. Indecisiveness wrought by conflicting motivations—something her mother once scolded her for. Who knew it would help here?

"I'm going to hurt him."

"You should take it to a smaller corner where no one will find you."

"I don't care about that."

"You care about blood. Bring cleaning supplies."

"Waste of time."

"Unless you need your cover intact when you go looking for someone else.

Ellone pushed against Alyssa's will and countered every thought to act with one of something similar. She confused Alyssa with redirection and the lady couldn't find enough of a grip on her own self to resist.

The soul broken by years of paradox persistence and the instinct to survive came in fragmented pieces with not enough sense left to understand the odd thoughts combatting hers.

And it got worse by the minute. If Ellone could just stall her long enough.

Alyssa silenced them both with a resounding reminder that "it didn't matter." Nothing mattered! Not when she had vengeance within her grasp!

Seifer struggled to his feet and Ellone felt a thrill of relief.

Alyssa radiated frustration, but it was too late. Seifer came barreling at her with murder in his eyes.

He knocked her from her feet and Alyssa struggled to find her balance. Seifer swayed with the drugs in his system and he muttered something impolite under his breath.

Alyssa stood and shook out the tension in her shoulders. "What was that?"

Seifer yelled and attacked again, only for Alyssa dance out of the way. The muscle memory of her vessel wouldn't help her much in evading a trained operative, but Seifer's reflexes were slow enough to give her an advantage.

His fist caught her jaw and pain blasted that side of her face. She slammed into the wall and her ears rung.

Ellone corrected herself: she'd have an advantage if Seifer didn't know how to work around the strain they used. And it wasn't an uncommon one.

"I'll kill you," he growled. "And then I'm gonna feed you to a pack of wild dogs."

Alyssa chuckled and straightened. "You'll feed Ellone to dogs. I'll just find someone else to use."

Seifer hesitated—Ellone couldn't say why he would care—and that gave Alyssa the opening she needed to take a broom and drive it into his chest. She was too weak to break skin but it knocked the breath from him and forced him to his knees.

Ellone brought to mind Alyssa's goal. Shouldn't she find Serah? That would be a lot more effective than this unrelated delinquent.

Alyssa hesitated and that gave Seifer the opening he needed to punch them into the ground. He still didn't leave for some forsaken reason and Alyssa got back up and took her staff.

From what Ellone observed, Alyssa had never trained with a staff variant before, but something about the savage motion of her attacks had Ellone wondering how she adjusted to violence. How the cracks didn't make her hesitate.

Seifer snatched the broom from her, but not before sustaining at least a dozen hits that tore his coat and cut his skin. He stumbled in place, barely able to stay upright.

This took too long. Alyssa had more important things to do and Ellone thought of them in a list. Beat up Noel's corpse, find Serah, then Irvine… take a drink of water because her throat felt parched…

Alyssa huffed and kicked at Seifer. "You're pathetic."

Seifer spit blood on her shoe and ripped her staff from her.

Alyssa reached for the last syringe they held.

"STOP!" Ellone raged against Alyssa's will and forced her back. Their steps faltered. Ellone would take herself off a cliff if she could!

"Feel free," Alyssa said. "But not until after I get couple more things done, m'kay?"

"You're insane," Seifer wheezed.

Alyssa felt a thrill at the compliment but said nothing. Ellone wished the paralytic would wear off faster, but Seifer barely moved. No training in the world could undo broken bones and swollen joints.

Ellone threw herself back with such force she cracked against the wall.

"What the hell?" Alyssa snapped.

Ellone reached out and took hold of her hands before breaking a finger. The pain seared through her consciousness and brought a sickening clarity to her that she hadn't felt since Alyssa took over.

Alyssa screamed and twisted about, too distracted to fight Ellone off.

She looked to Seifer, who leaned against the wall and barely breathed. She discarded the idea of sending him away.

Ellone ran.

And that was the last thing she remembered before losing herself to nothingness again.


Time and space used to feel disconnected from this place of stone and gods. Now, there was no escape from the passage of time nor the events unfolding through the layers of space, even ensconced in Valhalla as she was.

Yeul experienced time pass even as she wasted it away, waiting for the Gods of Orience to bring Noel back to her, waiting for the time to come when she would fight at his side.

Yet she found herself stuck in an incongruitous gathering of various gods. She listened to them argue and panic. She listened to their angers and received barely a glance from any of them for it. And why should she? Yeul was no warrior, no savior of a world. She was a seeress and a servant of a god. She only worked by proxy.

And the more time she remained, the more she thought that none of these people could match Etro's wisdom and power over life.

She watched as Queen and King argued with others of Zero. Unflinchingly stoic, they spared her no attention. If it weren't for the dangers outside, she would embrace the next opportunity to exit this gray plane.

"The calmer we remain, the better," King said. She listened long enough to recognize that even he showed fatigue.

Queen gazed somewhere far off, yet she spoke as if connected to the conversation. "Wars are not won in irrationality, Cinque."

Cinque, the girl with the mace and childish pout, said, "We don't win when we sit and play games either. I wanna go somewhere I can break something, so figure out where that is!"

King and Queen shared a glance.

"Come on!" Cinque said. "Seven is just as mad as I am and you're not telling her to calm down!"

"You have orders to join with the Gaia VIII team, just as Seven does," King said. "They're preparing to depart from the beach."

"Fine, but I'm not gonna go slow for anyone!" She flipped on her heel and strode out of the room.

Queen said, "If he comes to understand humanity, we'll find ourselves in for a new world of complications."

"Agreed," King said. "Unless it slows him down."

"His goals will not change. He will not. His plans have only ever accelerated, not slowed."

"The idea that he can recognize how humanity functions and remain the same arrogant bastard… I can't blame Cinque for popping a nerve."

Yeul rose from where she sat against cold stone. "Is that not why we are to replace his generation?"

Queen looked her way for the first time in days. "Simply put, yes. Bhunivelze will never change from his rooted ways of immortality. Mortals will never be a priority in his eyes. He would never condescend to such an idea."

"What do you need, Yeul?" King asked, wary. How much time passed for them since they rose to this place in the fight, Yeul could not say, but it was long enough to wear at them like water over stone.

"You're sending the rest to Gaia VIII?" she asked.

Queen swept loose bangs out of her eyes. "Cater has been too quiet for too long. We cannot lose another of yours."

Yeul only asked out of boredom after what they told Cinque. She tried to think of something else to say, to stave off that exhausting emptiness that plagued her time here. She found nothing and left the two so she could wander the Valhallan architecture.

When first she arrived, she found it beautiful. Seeing the massive towers and buildings rise around her in visions did the heavenly dwelling little justice to the reality of its glistening structures.

But it proved bare of art or even history. It was the throne of Etro in her day. Few ever walked here and only Gods could leave their mark in such a place.

The tedium felt the same every time she wandered these halls. Easily the size of any Pulsian city, yet with only a few inhabitants. All but two of Zero was here, but that did little to add life to these barren halls.

The "Cie," as Queen called them, provided less. Farther apart, harder to locate, and worse still to transport about space, they worked scattered across creation.

It took this long to get six of them in one place. Sazh and Trey left to continue the search for Dajh. Ace remained on Blue Terra. Hope was gone. Noel… She promised herself she wouldn't think off him yet.

Yeul broke free of the halls and onto the outer terraces where the rest gathered in preparation to leave. The air tasted as stale as indoors.

Lightning stood with a gaunt gaze out over the oceans. Mog, who floated nearest to her. Fang stretched out her arm, rolling it around her shoulder as she spoke to Vanille, who turned to see Yeul.

Seven huffed, arms folded. Cinque grumbled under her breath at the sight of Yeul, resting her chin on the handle of her mace. Deuce and Eight stood at the edge of the gathering, silent. Sice sat on the edge of the terrace, legs dangling over.

"It's just Yeul," Cinque said, staring at the door. "I wanna go~o. Where's the others?"

Mog raised his little staff in the air. "They'll be here soon, kupo! Serah and Snow wouldn't put it off, kupo."

Seven said, "Then they should be here now. We're wasting time."

"I doubt we'll wait long for them," Deuce said.

Cinque hefted her mace up and rolled it behind her. Then swung it up above her head and brought it crashing to the ground. Stone shattered on its impact. She wasn't close enough to Lightning or Mog to hit them, but Yeul startled back, breath gone.

"Cinque!" Seven shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm tired of waiting!" Cinque kicked at the mace. It didn't budge, buried as it was in stone.

"Don't think the stone had anything to do with this," Fang said. "You know, Lightning, looks like you and this girl ain't too different."

Lightning quirked her brow. "And you think that because…?"

"Oh, I don't know, I just remember jumping a thousand-foot drop to follow some hardheaded soldier with a death wish."

"A little warning would have been nice," Vanille said.

Sice kicked at loosened stone. "Cinque's not the only impatient one. I doubt I'm the only one getting tired of your banter."

Lightning ignored her. "Too bad we don't still have that tech."

"Maybe we should move down to the beach," Eight said.

Sice summoned her reaper blade, buried it near Cinque's mace, and said, "There's no point if we're not freaking leaving!"

"Sorry we took so long!" Serah called. She and Snow joined them with sheepish looks.

Seven gave them a cold look. "What took you?"

"I got lost." Serah stared down at the ground. "I guess it was longer than I thought."

Snow looked at Lightning. She turned toward the ocean. Yeul wondered how similar this dynamic was to how they worked before the call of Cocoon.

Snow stepped around the broken stone, Serah close behind him. "Let's win this, guys. What are we waiting for?"

"See you soon, Vanille." Fang lifted a hand in farewell. "Don't do anything crazy while we're gone."

Vanille fidgeted. "Not much I could do here, even if I wanted. You all better be safe! Hear me, Snow?"

"I'll do my best!" He pumped a fist in the air. Lightning shook her head. Serah chuckled.

Yeul watched as they entered the ocean, the water barely registering their presence. Vanille dropped to ground, hugging her knees.

Within moments, they all disappeared save for Yeul and Vanille.

"It's kind of nice," Vanille said. "Seeing a piece of our old world. Kinda."

"The familiar shapes of Valhalla offer continuity," Yeul said.

"Yeah, something like that. But does it have to be so…?"

"Empty?"

Vanille gave a nervous chuckle. "Precisely!"

"The exact layout of the structure may shift over time and we might gain the power to manipulate the setting in which we found ourselves. But the clouds will only clear when the chaos does, and the paradoxes resolve. That is to say, when Bhunivelze is beaten."

"And it'll stay all gloomy until then?"

"Yes."

"Oh, phooey."

Yeul left her and wandered back inside, the stone turning meaningless to her eyes as she walked.

She climbed tall staircases that held only the subtlest of adornment. They reached high above the beach, the terrace, and the command room. They might not stretch all the way to the top, but they reached all the most important parts of this forgotten palace.

"Oh, hey!"

She stopped and found Jack sitting on the edge of this level's balcony, pale and shivering.

"Did they not take those shards you carry?" Yeul walked forward, though her leg cramped and pulled. "It is the cause of your illness, isn't it?"

He patted the stone beside him. "Your friends don't seem too excited to ascend."

Friends… a strong word. She sat beside him and watched time shift in the ocean. "I can take them for you."

"Would you? It's not, uh… I mean, I guess it's not urgent, not like I can die or anything, but…"

"You're discolored."

"Yeah, but I can handle it."

"You already said that."

"I guess, but it's not a rush."

Yeul regarded him and found sickly bruising near the neck. "It's a simple question. Do you want me to take the shards or would you prefer to hold on to them?"

"… Yes, please."

Yeul held little desire of her own to ascend and pretend at godhood, yet there gnawed at her a sense of familiarity at the thought that warmed her with nostalgia. Who was she to deny the honor of assuming a small part of Etro's duties?

She took Jack's purplish fingers and closed her eyes. "I do not deserve to hold this power," she said, "but I beg for your acceptance all the same."

The same feeling that followed her at every altar and accompanied her every prayer warmed her stomach and relaxed her shoulders. Despite the hours she spent kneeling every day of her past lives, her leg bones strengthened and reminded her of Etro's remarkable foreknowledge.

Etro's gate, breath refused her. The weight of the world pressed against her lungs and demanded power from her very soul.

"You okay?" Jack asked, though his soul barely held to hers.

Caius would chastise her for taking on a burden not necessary to her, yet she couldn't refuse when the threads of the cosmos lapped at her ankles.

Noel however… he believed in her, trusted her to do as she needed, and protect her when she could do naught for herself.

For once, she would do something for both of them.

Light flashed, green and distant. Millions of voices filtered through the yawning connection between her and oblivion. Oblivion, which reminded her of her work done through ageless proxies. Her predecessors, who merged as one continuum and whispered from that beyond of jealousy for her conditions in Valhalla.

One voice rippled through the nonsense as a clear and broken regret. One voice that belonged with the living and found itself taken too soon from its place as a teacher. Despite the relief that came from death, it whispered her name.

"Yeul?" Jack asked, breathing hard and leaning against the wall for support.

The dark and the light cleared from her vision, like dust blown from stone. Painful clarity brought her back to the present and she registered her mouth moving in a plea that died as she returned to herself.

"It hurts," she said.

Jack gave a wry chuckle. "No duh. Ow."

"Why did it hurt you to lose them?"

"Kill switch, probably. Dude doesn't want leftover information getting stuck in people that aren't gonna use them. Memory leaks, you know."

They burned within her, a stinging pain in her heart. "I do not want this," she whispered.

Jack gestured and she turned to find Vanille standing above her. "You don't have to," Vanille said before putting a hand on Yeul's shoulder.

The shards travelled, happy to leave her as they were to leave Jack.

"Are you okay?" Vanille asked, stronger now for the new shards she carried. They glowed within her as a subtle light.

Jack hauled himself into a straighter position, only to cover his eyes. "You look worse than I felt."

"I saw lights. Dead."

"That's supposed to be your new power, isn't it?" Jack asked.

"… What do pieces of the Goddess Mwynn show you?"

"Not much. I usually feel different—I don't see much. But…" Jack went uncharacteristically still. His legs dangled in the air beneath the ledge they sat on, but he didn't fidget. "The more pieces I pick up, the more different the world looks."

"In what way?"

"People, mostly. They look more, I dunno, earnest? I guess?"

"And you, Vanille?" Yeul asked. "What do you see?"

Vanille pursed her lips. "You're shaking."

"Please," Yeul said.

"… I feel the earth more and more. That's the only way I can think to describe it."

The earth was Vanille's element. Jack was devotion. Meanwhile, Yeul carried death in her. "I glimpsed the unseen realm," she said. "And I heard Noel's voice. Did he… die?" She shook. Her nose and eyes burned.

Jack leaned over, color returning to him. "None of us would know. Cater's the only one that's been to his world and we lost contact with her a long time ago."

"Oh, dear," Vanille squeaked. "That can't mean she's right! Did you see any of that yourself? Did Bhunivelze do it?"

Jack shook his head and said, "The shards don't work that way, you know. They only enhance the user's body and that kind of stuff. You'd need a direct connection to Bhunivelze to know what he thinks or sees."

Vanille took Yeul in a hug. "We'll find him, okay? Don't give up hope."

Jack said, "Death has only been a setback for us in the past. No reason for that to change now."

Vanille released her and they sat on the cold stone of the balcony floor. "Which of yours was meant to bring him back?" Yeul asked. "A sister?"

"Cater," Jack said. "She's great. Uses a magicite pistol, and she's quick with it, too. She never lets a target get too close."

"Why didn't that save Noel?"

"She coulda run into trouble," Jack said. "Met someone even tougher than she is."

"She couldn't just beat them?"

"It… doesn't work like that. But Cater is headstrong, you know. She never paid attention in class, but that wasn't, I mean, only half of us did. Kinda hard to learn something you don't think is relevant because you're not set for a normal life and all that. But she's good. If something happened, it happened because they learned how to outsmart her and that's no good."

Vanille didn't leave Yeul's side and Yeul never thought she'd be so grateful for company. "What school?" Yeul asked.

He looked up to the sky in thought. "The twelve of us are agito cadets. Or, were cadets. There were these big prophecies about the end of the world, and how only the agito would be able to stop it. The school trained people for that. Other things, too, because not everyone was going to be agito. Anyway, that made us perfect soldiers for the army when we were invaded."

"That's awful," Vanille whispered.

"Why?" Yeul asked.

Vanille furrowed her brow and whispered, "Because children shouldn't be made into warriors. They should play in the backyard and build little robots that say stupid things."

"It wasn't that simple," Jack said. "Back on Orience, only kids our age could use magic. Any younger or older and the power made itself unreliable." He laid back on the stone, looking up at the sky. "Except l'Cie, of course, but there were never a lot of those guys."

Vanille shifted. "Your world had l'Cie, too?"

"Sure."

Would they have had fal'Cie, too? Yeul didn't ask because Vanille looked upset at the conversation, but it made her wonder.

"Anyway," Jack said, "how's Mwynn?"

"She's almost ready for you all to take what remains."

Yeul folded her arms over herself and warmed. These two talked like they understood her and maybe she understood them.

"Really?" Jack asked.

"Won't we need her?" Yeul asked.

"She can't hold on forever." Vanille leaned forward and closed her eyes. "She thinks we're ready to go on without her, anyway."

Jack turned away. "Guess she would know best."

Vanille asked, "So, what's next?"

"We wait for the others to get back," Jack said. "They'll have a better idea of where to go next than if we go flailing about."

Vanille said, "Sazh is out there right now with Trey. You think they'll find anything?"

Jack leaned back on his hands. "They're smart. If Trey's focused on the situation, then they'll be safe and maybe even find Dajh."

"I wish I could've gone with them," Vanille said.

Yeul looked between the two. "The more of us away from Valhalla, the worse the danger."

Vanille said, "I'm not just going to sit here. Hiding is no better than running. Once Mwynn is gone, maybe I'll go help them look."

But Yeul just said that it was better that they waited. They were untouchable here. Bringing back Noel from the dead was one thing, but she had to assume that with more deaths came more problems.

Jack said, "I'll go with you! I wanted to go with the others, but Queen wanted to keep us all in comparable numbers, and Seven wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer."

Vanille turned to Yeul. "What about you?"

"I want Noel back. And I will do what it takes to bring him home."

"I'd like to get to know him better," Vanille said. "Crystal dreams are foggy."

"Hey," Jack said, "once we deal with that stain in our pantheon, our worries are gone. You won't worry about losing anyone again."

Vanille's smile vanished, though Jack didn't appear to notice.

"What about Hope?" Vanille asked. "Will we lose him, too?"

"Probably not."

Yeul thought of Bhunivelze's sweeping swaths of chaos and the souls they clothed. "We can make no promises of salvation for those under the rule of Light. They must carve their own paths."

Vanille jumped to her feet. "I'm done with sitting still. How about we dance?"

Yeul looked to Jack. He looked as confused as she felt.

"Dance?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Vanille grabbed his hands in hers. "You have any dances?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Here. Step like this." She guided his feet and Yeul watched them make awkward motions with their arms.

"Cool." Jack clumsily followed Vanille's direction. "Did you, uh, usually do this stuff where you lived?"

Vanille released his hands and spun in a slow circle, tapping the ground with her heels. "Come on, Yeul! You know this one, right?"

"A form of it, perhaps." It was more of a ritualistic dance her time, though. This was Etro's domain. It was fitting, then, to dance a customary dance to Her name. They usually played somber music, patterned after the wind meant for the one they worshipped. "Forgive me if I don't join you."

Jack repeated Vanille's motions with impressive speed, though that air of reluctance stifled his enthusiasm. Vanille didn't appear to notice or care, given her swivels and hand gestures. Yeul never knew the dance to get this energetic.

With time, Jack incorporated his own elements and lost that regret. A part of her knew that Eight or Seven would show more grace than him, but he held something unique in his bearing and they lost themselves to something new and timeless and almost childish.

Did she use those motions when she followed the rituals of her parents? Did she think to spin on her heel and grab for the skies? Did Noel ever participate in those rituals? She couldn't remember.

Yeul wondered if Noel would ever dance with her again.