Eternal Origins

by CrystalHeartZyx

The fall of Cocoon came and went. But so did the happy ending. As the timeline splits and the fate of the world becomes destined for ruin, the four fal'Cie of Etro are...living their lives among humans. But they cannot escape who they are forever, and throughout the few centuries this world has left, they are forced to face the eternal consequences of humanity. Follows main story.

1. That Time Was Lost

Sequel to Hidden Origins!

Okay, deep breaths, here we go friends!

Fair warning, this is gonna be a lot of my OCs. There is a lot of redeemable plot in 13-2, but so much of it is just…meh at best, hell no at worst. And this gameplay is such a downgrade in so many ways from the original 13. It certainly fixed a few things, but at the cost of a lot of other good things getting scrapped in the process.

However, I do enjoy the story and the music of this game, especially at certain moments, and really it is a fun game if you're not being too critical and just relaxing and enjoying yourself with no expectations. Unfortunately, expectations are a very contagious virus and so here we all are.

I love the characters I've made for this series and I'm eager to get onto the next phase of their lives. Like I've been planning this since day 1 and long before I ever finished Hidden Origins. These adorable boops are my life, okay? OCs are love, OCs are life. I'm going to do my best with this story, and I love the 13 trilogy, but 13-2 has its issues and yet it's brilliant potential as well as just a fun narrative with so many cool quirks and ideas and enjoyable characters.

(P.S. for anyone following my other stories, - particularly my HoO story, I swear I've written like five of the chapters, but I'm stuck on the final battle because so much is happening and I've had so little time to myself recently. I swear I'll post those chapters soon. I swear)

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That time was lost; yet time continued onward.

Mataecharonsan stared up at the intricate clock that wound around the temple.

Rather than a simple circle, the green track looped up, down, around, and crossed a couple times around the temple spires. From the central spire, a single glowing clock hand pointed outwards at the green roller-coaster of a track. At the peak of the looping clock, a single glowing letter spun in one of the rings lining the track.

The clock hand clicked into place, pointing at the single character in Etro-script signaling…something.

"What's that mean?" he asked.

"It means that it has begun."

A warrior clad in armor walked up to the balcony where Charon was staring up at the spire. He had a sword on his right hip and a glowing ruby gauntlet on his right hand. His left hand merely had a fingerless leather glove. Flowing down his shoulders was a fiery cascade of lava-like hair that pulsed slowly almost like a living thing. His sharp features made him distinctly inhuman, with a sharp jaw framing what appeared to be a young face and ruby eyes. Pointy ears were partly hidden by his curtain of glowing hair.

Charon sighed. "So it has."

He didn't want to believe it. His whole being ached to flee, to run away, to rip open Etro's gate with his bare hands if he had to. This was not where he was supposed to be.

Charon had refused to don the armor that his sister had bequeathed him. He remained in a simple black shirt, thick army-style black pants, black combat boots, and his black short-sleeved jacket that concealed his myriad of Kozuka daggers. At his left hip was a sword in its sheath, the hilt of the blade and the sheath a matching mix of purple, red, and orange in a shimmering gradient. The weapon was lined with Etro-script that faded in and out like some sort of electronic billboard.

"You chose this fate, Mataecharonsan," the red warrior, Ananda, reminded him. He gave a grim smile at Charon, which was more than he would get from Ananda's partner, Kasyapa. "Look, I know this isn't an ideal situation, but if it makes you feel any better, I think you're more than strong enough to handle yourself."

Charon sighed. Perhaps, once, he would've felt comforted by that knowledge. He had spent a great deal of his life being weak, being pushed around and used and being enslaved. For a while, all he had thought about was becoming stronger so that no one could ever push him around again. He had wanted to be stronger so that he could run away.

But now, the words rang hollow. He didn't want to be strong. He knew that he was weaker than Rei, and maybe even weaker than Shu, to be honest. He'd never faced the plant fal'Cie in combat before, not like he had with Hotareichan. It had taken Shu and Charon working together to defeat Rei when she was actually giving it her all to fight against them. Luckily, in most circumstances, Rei was a kind-hearted woman who actually might've preferred being delicate as opposed to the terrifyingly strong warrior that she was.

Rei was older than him and Asushunamir. Rei was the strongest. Rei probably would've handled this situation better than Charon, had it been her who had fallen to Valhalla instead.

"Cease the idle chatter."

Charon internally sighed. And there was Kasyapa.

Ananda's partner was clad in the same graceful armor, but otherwise, the two looked nothing alike. Kasyapa had flowing dark locks that shimmered cyan when viewed at the right angle. Instead of a red gauntlet on his right hand, Kasyapa had a blue gauntlet on his left and the fingerless black leather glove on his right, along with his sword being on his left hip as well. In contrast to Ananda's staggeringly obvious inhuman traits, Kasyapa had the features of a normal human. Without the armor, he still would've looked intimidating because of that constant scowl on his face and his dark, piercing gaze that could terrify the very ocean into evaporating just to get away, but Charon honestly thought he would've looked rather unimpressive if he were an actual human.

"The bell tolls. You are still not dressed for war?"

Indeed, once the large structure above the temple had clicked into place, the bells of Valhalla began to toll, ringing out across the whole island — though Charon had no idea who the bells were supposed to be informing other than the half-dozen actual residents of Valhalla.

Besides Charon, Ananda, and Kasyapa, there were only two other physical living residents of Valhalla at the moment: there was Styxcaliaja, Charon's sister who governed the ring of glowing water separating the chaotic ocean from Valhalla's shore, and Lightning, Etro's newest knight who was pledging her allegiance to the goddess right at that moment.

"I don't want that armor," Charon declared. "I'll fight in this just fine."

"The coming battle will be nothing like you have faced before," Kasyapa warned. "The armor is better suited for your power and will become a great asset in this coming war."

"I don't want to fight this war," he said flatly, not even trying to hide his disdain.

"Unfortunate, then, that our failure will result in the destruction of the other world. If you are unwilling to fight, then we may have to use drastic measures to bring another in your stead."

Ananda elbowed Kasyapa in the side. His silver armor, lined with red decals as opposed to Kasyapa's blue ones, had sharp points on the elbows, but Kasyapa's armor and chain mail kept it from doing any damage. "Come on, Kas. Lighten up. Stop it with the heavy stuff."

"Besides, if you could drag one of the others here, you would've already done it," Charon pointed out. "Enlisting me is one thing. Enlisting Lightning though?"

"She's a remarkable fighter, even more so as of her journey wielding the power of a l'Cie," Kasyapa admitted. "Her Ladyship deems the human worthy of her blessings and entrusts your companion with the task of battling him."

That didn't make Charon feel any better. In this land beyond time, between life and death, both he and Lightning had been taken from their world, their homes, and their families. Even if it was to fight a war that would save the world, Charon didn't want to do it. He was so tired of fighting.

High above the temple, dark clouds swept across the sky in every direction. Though there was light attempting to pierce through the fog, the only true light source in Valhalla came from Etro's Gate, staring down at the temple and illuminating it as if it was under a spotlight.

Charon's eyes were drawn to the gathering monsters that were lining up for the battle. Up in the sky, Wyverns were circling the temple awaiting orders. Down below, feral monsters were milling about, waiting for the inevitable scuffle that was about to take place. From his vantage point, Charon could make out dozens, if not hundreds of feral monsters.

"Did she tame all of these herself?"

Ananda grinned. "She's a fast learner, that one. Just one hop into the Heart of Valhalla and she's mastered it! What a prodigy."

"To be more specific, it seems that this human has managed to use the power of Etro and Valhalla to hop across the timeline to gather all of these creatures and bend them to her will, yes," Kasyapa said. "There is no such thing as time in Valhalla, and yet I am impressed at her speed at mastering the time-warping abilities of this place."

Charon still scoffed at the idea that Valhalla was a place where time did not exist. Time was an abstract concept, a construct of the flow of events happening one after the other. It would perhaps be more accurate to say that time did not bind anything that happened within Valhalla, yet some construct of time still existed here. There was no past, no future, only the present. And the present could go on forever and ever and ever. The present would always be happening; the present happened; the present continued to happen. And that was all anyone could really, accurately say about 'time' in Valhalla.

Ananda ran his left, non-gauntlet hand through his hair. "Whelp, guess this is it. I'll go make preparations with the Eidolons."

"I will join you," Kasyapa said.

"Sounds good, love." Ananda gave a sly wink at Kasyapa who merely rolled his dark eyes as he turned to follow his partner back inside the temple.

Ananda paused at the doorway to the balcony. "You should check on your human companion," the blue warrior advised.

"I will," Charon promised.

"Be it known, Mataecharonsan. You will don your armor. We all do, in the end."

"You once had to armor-up too?"

"Yes. Believe it or not, I was once hesitant as well."

"You?"

Kasyapa slumped, his posture falling ever so slightly. "There was a time before Valhalla needed protection. Ananda and I…we lived together in peace. There were the occasional scuffles, and of course we were the guardians of souls residing here in Valhalla during the mandatory fighting to determine the weak and the strong and the training of Eidolons, but just as you are still a warrior without Valhalla's armor, so too were we. And then, at one point, the war began. And it never stopped. Ananda took up the armor with excitement, and yet I knew that it was but a mere lie of enthusiasm to hide the terror. Our peaceful lives had ended, and there would be no going back. I wanted to preserve it. As you know, there is no such thing as the past or the future here. To bear arms as true warriors would put our lives in the past, a past that cannot be."

"You didn't want to lose your life as you knew it."

Kasyapa nodded. "Eventually, I donned this armor and have been a guardian of this realm ever since. I have been a guardian always, and a guardian always I will be."

"So whatever you are in the present is what you were and will be — even if the present can still change. And what you once were…is just another reality that may still exist in another present."

Kasyapa shrugged. "That's how things are here. I suppose, coming from a world where time flows from one point to another, from the past to the future, you might have trouble understanding. But you will. You are already wearing that armor. You already have. This present is temporary, as they all are."

Charon stared down at his sister's glimmering waters that lapped at the shores of Valhalla. "When?"

"When what?"

"When did you finally don that armor? When did you finally give up on that present and move into this one?"

Kasyapa paused in thought. Charon knew that Kasyapa didn't have a problem remembering that time; he just had trouble putting it into terms that he felt Charon would understand, as an outsider to the timeless realm.

"Perhaps it was when I accepted my fate. We are merely cogs in the machine, tools of Mother Etro. We were not born to be individuals, to exist beyond serving her will. It was…out of character for me to become so attached to a certain state of being."

"Is that what you have to tell yourself every minute of your existence in order to keep going?"

"Watch your tongue," Kasyapa hissed, giving one of his signature glares of terror.

Charon didn't apologize. He merely leaned on the railing and sulked over the same view that he'd be stuck with for the rest of his life. Or at least the view that he'd be stuck with for some time. He still had hope, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he would escape back to the real world someday, when it wasn't at risk of falling apart and being consumed or being obliterated. Hell, even if it was at risk, he'd rather be fighting alongside Shu, Rei, and even Sai. He'd fight an endless losing battle if it meant he could do it alongside the people he loved.

"When you accept our fate, you will don your armor," Kasyapa said simply. "We all must accept our fate. We all will. We all have. And we must forget the foolish notions about being anything else — if not for our Lady Etro's sake, then for our own. We will go mad pining for an existence we cannot attain. Better we let go of such frivolous things before we drive ourselves to ruin and fail our given duties." And he turned to exit.

Charon didn't look back to watch him leave. He merely stood at the railing, listening to the heavy, booming church bells that were still filling Valhalla with their ringing.

"I love Ananda. I love him like you love your Asushunamir. I wish I could just live in peace with him, like back then. I wish I was more than just the Left Hand of Etro."

Charon turned back to Kasyapa, but he was already hurrying away.

"And you won't tell Ananda that, you hear?!" he screamed as he retreated out of earshot.

Charon felt his lips tugging into a smile. The flickering hope that had been a dying husk in his chest flared to life again. If even Kasyapa understood what it felt like, to want to be more than just a fal'Cie created to do a job, to not aspire or evolve, then perhaps that was how they were all built for a reason. Perhaps that meant that Etro planned for them to become more than just her fal'Cie. Maybe that was why Etro enlisted Lightning as her guardian too.

Etro was fond of humanity, her creations. She wished to protect them even at the risk of her own life. She wished to give them souls that no other gods could, and though they were made by Lindzei using her blood in order to be nothing but tools to the gods, Etro valued humanity as her own children.

In this timeless realm, theoretically nothing should be able to end. Not Etro, not humanity, not time itself. And that was what Valhalla was. A place where nothing could end.

Etro's life was sustained by this place. After she killed herself, her blood being used to create the first humans, Etro fell into the darkness and met her grandmother, Mwynn — who Etro had incidentally been made in the likeness of. Etro had reached the Unseen Realm, a place where both Pulse and Lindzei were striving to find the portal to (which had resulted in the attempt to raise the population of Cocoon only to destroy it back with Barthandelus). Mwynn, consumed by the Chaos that had festered as a result of the attempts to force open the path to the Unseen Realm in order to rule it as well as the real world, tasked Etro with protecting the world balance before she faded away.

Etro now had the power to manipulate, control, and hold back the Chaos here in Valhalla, a location that Etro had designed within the Unseen Realm to better accommodate her humans who returned here when they died to either fight in matches to see who was the strongest and/or to be reborn.

But Etro was already dying. She was dying when she reached the Unseen Realm, and being here and being in control of the Chaos only put her death on hold. Because there was no time here. There was no end.

Except now things were different. Now the very fabric of time had been warped by Etro's love for her humans. It's true that Etro's efforts would only delay the inevitable, but perhaps that was why she created fal'Cie that were built with seeds of Chaos itself.

Etro had used what power she had to create fal'Cie capable of feeling and evolving like humans could. Etro could not make fal'Cie like Pulse and Lindzei; all she had was the Chaos. From the Chaos fal'Cie were born like no others. Maybe she hoped that they would be capable of doing what even she couldn't; perhaps she hoped that they would be able to surpass her power — to surpass even fate itself.

"Brother," Styx called.

She appeared behind him like a ghost. Granted, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that she looked like one.

Her dress fell down to conceal her feet, fading into a pale glow that matched her river running around the edges of Valhalla. Normally, her dress itself would cascade down into the water to merge with it because Styx's body itself was the river, and her human form was just a construct she invented. She had a true form, a serpentine fal'Cie shape that was big enough to stretch around the entirety of Valhalla and then some. Even when she was connected to her river though, her entire body shimmered with a hint of transparency since she was, ya know, made of water.

Her flowing black hair swept all the way down to merge with her dress and water as well, though the shorter strands framed a face with sharp, angular features that resembled Ananda. Her skin was pale, almost white. Her eyes, which used to be a calming deep violet color, were now a glimmering white that once again matched her river. Her eyes were pupil-less because she was blind, though when she was projecting a humanoid image of herself, she did a brilliant job of acting like she wasn't blind. Her eyes had changed color when she had passed her power onto Sai in the real world.

Charon hoped he was doing all right. He hoped that Sai was happy with Rei now. They deserved to be happy together.

Styxcaliaja was Charon's sister. He'd raised her all through their younger years, roaming about Gran Pulse without a care in the world. Charon would probably tell anyone that his sister was more powerful than him, that he was the weakest of his kind by far, though Styx would obviously argue like the kind woman she was.

Styx had been taken hostage by Barthandelus many centuries ago in order to get Charon to do his bidding. Because Barthandelus knew. He knew that if it had been the other way around, Styx wouldn't just sit back and surrender just because her brother was at risk. She'd tear down the skies to get him back, and no way would she do anything to help Barthandelus along the way.

But Charon?

Well, Charon had been terrified. He had tried to be cool about it, but in the end, he gave in to Barthandelus's demands. For years, Charon served that malicious man, all for the few chances that he got to see his sister was okay. He knew they weren't being nice to her, but he also knew that if he followed Barthandelus's orders they would ease up, he would make sure that she had better accommodations.

Charon had allowed himself to be caught in an endless spiral of misery because without Styx, what did he have? He had no one. He had nothing. He didn't have a purpose in this world.

Charon was cursed with the human trait of loneliness, of existential emptiness that came from being basically immortal. At the time, he had hated his creator for making him the way he was. He had just wanted to be like a normal, emotionless fal'Cie that could follow orders without thinking, without regretting, without fearing.

And then he had met Shu, and that feeling…well, it got worse before it got better, but it had gotten better. Charon didn't have a lot of time to celebrate though, before it was all ripped away from him again.

Styx, having killed herself in an attempt to free Charon from Barthandelus when she saw that he had Shu now (it was an ethical argument that Charon didn't want to face again), was now thriving in Valhalla as one of its guardians alongside Ananda and Kasyapa. As she described it, it felt like she had always been there. She remembered her time on the outside world, but it felt like a hazy vision, the same way that touching the Heart of Valhalla could allow you to see the entire timeline and even sometimes send messages or temporarily leave.

Yes, Charon had considered using the Heart of Valhalla to visit Shu and Rei and Sai and all the others, but he knew that it wouldn't be a good idea. The Heart would not allow him to stay. It would just be an image, a temporary one. He'd have to leave. And once he traveled to one time and location, he wouldn't be able to just return there repeatedly. Not to mention the Heart didn't like being accurate all the time. It encompassed the whole of time itself; why would it be easy for it to focus in on a certain era and stay there for an extended period of time?

"It's time," Styx said.

"She's made her decision?"

"She had always made her decision, Cinthy."

Cinthy was short for Hyacinthaja, Charon's original name before Barthandelus had rebranded him. The name Mataecharonsan itself had been a command word that controlled him. Barthandelus had attempted to do the same thing to Shu, giving them the code name Ereshkigala, but both of them had eventually overpowered Barthandelus's bindings.

With Rei, Barthandelus had been far crueler with how he'd taken control over her. He'd demanded that Charon kill Rei in a battle while Charon was still a slave, and somehow, Charon had killed her. Using that death, Barthandelus had taken her body and essentially merged a part of his power with Rei's. He used Rei's power to create new life to create an entirely new life form in Rei's body. It had her power, it had her memories, it had her humanity that other fal'Cie did not possess (aka the power to grow to new heights of creativity — and cruelty), but it had Barthandelus's goals and ambitions. And it had fought them with all of Rei's strength without holding back. Even working together, Charon and Shu had nearly lost that battle. Shu had been the one to finally win, of course. Charon had just managed to help.

Now, Barthandelus was dead, but Charon had been going by Mataecharonsan for so long that he'd decided to go by it for good. Besides, it was the name he had when he'd met Shu. It was the name Shu had come to love, so he would love it as Shu's name for him, not Barthandelus's.

He sighed. "How long?"

"Now."

Charon should've probably been more panicked about that answer, but then again 'now' for Styx was a vague term. She was a river flowing around an island that had no sense of time, so obviously 'now' could mean literally anything.

Charon turned and began walking into the temple. "Everyone's ready?"

"The Sisters are at the front lines, though the other Eidolons don't seem to be mobilized yet."

"Ananda and Kasyapa went to organize them."

"Oh those two? They always use the 'I'm gonna go check on the Eidolons' excuse to go and make out."

Charon's nose twitched. "Seriously? Son of a…!"

Styx laughed. "They're not so bad once you get to know them, Cinthy."

The two of them headed through the eerie corridors of the temple and into Etro's throne room. Styx hovered beside Charon, her projected image barely anything more than a hologram. Even when she was there in person, Styx didn't ever use feet to get around. She was always gliding and hovering. Probably something about being a serpent that didn't have any feet. It had been hell on her when Barthandelus had captured her and made sure that she was separate from her river. It made her easy to drag around because she was trapped in a body that forced her to learn bi-pedal walking. At least now, Styx would never have to deal with that again.

Light from above encompassed the throne, and the white feathers showered down around it as Lightning knelt before Etro in prayer. Equipped with the same Knight of Etro armor as the rest of Etro's warriors (though customized to Lightning's benefit with a gunblade she could summon, a shield on her left arm, and a feather skirt on her left half), Lightning was using the Heart of Valhalla to finish her preparations and swear her allegiance to Etro all at once.

Valhalla was a place of efficiency and a lack of efficiency all at once. From one point of view, Lightning had barely been here for an hour and she'd already taken charge of the whole situation she'd been dropped into on the spot. On the other hand, Lightning's guidance from Etro and her usage of the Heart of Valhalla could turn even a few minutes into days' worth of preparation, learning, and mastery.

Divine Etro. Go peacefully to your rest. I will stand guard over your legacy.

"It's time," Styx called.

Lightning pressed her hand against her chest and bowed her head one last time. Then, she stood and turned to join them without a word.

The throne room led directly out onto a large open area, a balcony far bigger than the one Charon had secluded himself to before. From here, the entire battlefield could easily be seen – and more than that, it could easily be accessed with a simple jump.

This endless realm is awash with sadness. Life and death lose all meaning under the rolling waves of chaos.

Charon was told that usually the skies above the city were filled with glowing portals, Gates, that could show glimpses of other eras. But they'd been disappearing, scattering about the timeline to be used in ways they were never meant to be used.

In this place, everything had fallen apart. Valhalla was already a shell of what it once was. Ananda described the glorious battles that used to occur between great fighters that ended up in Valhalla, the bets that were placed, the souls determined to become stronger and the weak ones serving their betters. Though this was a purgatory of sorts, Ananda described it as almost cheerful. A day like this would've been considered dreary. But now this sort of weather and appearance, this silence, had become daily routine.

Valhalla. The currents of time do not touch its shores. In this world of lost moments, I begin my life anew.

"They have arrived," Styx said. "I will be on the beach. Cinthy, meet up with Ananda and Kasyapa." She turned to Lightning. "We will do our best to hold the line. Focus your attention on your target. We will attempt to prevent any interference." Styx tilted her head to the side. She was listening. Listening was her greatest strength. "Ananda and Kasyapa say that the rest of the summons are prepared for battle. And also that the three of you will certainly have a fight."

"You ready for this?" Charon asked.

"Even if I weren't, would that make any difference?" Lightning pointed out.

"Fair enough. Good luck."

She nodded. "You too."

With that, Charon dived off the balcony and flew away. Styx let her projection dissolve into nothing but a small wave of mist as she returned to the border.

Mataecharonsan was never supposed to end up here. He should have returned. He had made a promise, one that now he might never be able to keep.

On that day, after they had formed the complete Ragnarok, Charon had perhaps expected to die. He didn't know what he was expecting, but he had found himself floating in crystal. And when he had looked around, Rei was there. She pulled him out, the two of them emerged into the light. The sun greeted them as Rei summoned two crystal figures.

'Barthandelus could not destroy their crystals,' she had explained. 'Crystal stasis itself is a gift — eternal life. A fal'Cie bestows a Focus, and if one fulfills that Focus, they are gifted eternal life that no other fal'Cie can reverse. Though crystals may seem delicate as glass, they are actually near invincible, especially the crystal of the body itself. Any excess crystal that forms their cradle may be tampered with, but even then, the crystal will be difficult to remove. And now, for one last miracle.'

The four of them had returned to the others. Charon remembered Shu tackling them both in a tight hug sobbing their eyes out. Charon remembered telling Shu that they looked handsome as ever. All he'd wanted to do was hug Shu and stay with them. All he'd wanted to do was start a peaceful life with Shu and Rei and even Sai.

He wanted to live alongside humans peacefully again; he would've been fine working with Lightning and Hope and Sazh on the government issues while they rebuilt Cocoon, helping Snow and NORA rebuild new homes on Gran Pulse and training the people how to defend themselves and survive without the fal'Cie. He would've enjoyed working with the intelligent Hope on how to safely extract Fang and Vanille from the pillar, how to either safely let Cocoon fall or to re-levitate it.

And he would've done it with Shu by his side.

But now that fate would never happen. For all the things that Charon had gone through, this was the most cruel by far. He now existed in a world where eternity had been pre-designed for him, where past, present, and future blurred together. This was a world of infinite possibilities, but that's all they were. Possibilities. Futures that could happen, futures that would happen, and the space of anticipation between them.

Mataecharonsan wanted nothing more than to vanish from this world. But he couldn't. For now, he was trapped in an eternal battle that he couldn't escape from. Not on his own. And not for a long, long time.