I swear I don't like writing boss battles one moment and so that causes me to go on a three-month-long hiatus, but then when I actually get into one, it becomes a mile long. This…will be a recurring problem. I need to learn to just say no sometimes.
"Kupo!" Mog did a twirl as they found themselves floating through a pathway made of enormous metal rings.
Each of them twisted and rotated, some even grinding up against each other, but they managed to form a vague tunnel, as though someone had scrambled together as much scrap metal as they could find to form a path through the empty space. Beyond the rings, there was nothing but glowing orange voids, like small suns filling the whole of space itself. Some areas caved in on themselves like distortions. Others merely flared with color and brightness against dark patches of stars and nebulas.
The path before them split into multiple rings, different potential pathways they could follow.
"This place is incredible," Serah gawked, staring around her in awe.
"It's the Historia Crux," Noel explained. "The crossroads of the time continuum."
"So this is how you were able to travel backwards from the future?"
"Right. Just floated through this nowhere space. And now it's your turn."
"Wee!" Orlov flung themself around the empty space.
"Careful!" Rufus called. "You don't want to get sucked out of this pathway."
"It appears to be a safe guideline to avoid falling into the Voids Beyond Time," Gideon agreed.
"So the gates offer safe passageway from one time to another — one gate to another," Mira mused. "And out there is all of time itself. Every moment in history. These rings must help keep us from ending up just anywhere…"
"Time isn't linear," Noel agreed. "Going one direction here might lead you forward in time, but continuing down the path might lead you backwards."
"So…it's more like the time periods where the gates connect are just scattered about," Serah pondered. "Like a museum of different moments, and this is just a hallway walking you from door to door."
"It also means the gates have fixed points that they can take us to."
"Though it seems we can go anywhere we have already unlocked," Gideon announced. "For now, we can only travel between two places, but should we choose to go to another location beyond the next, we can immediately travel from there back to New Bodhum if we remember the path."
"So can you tell where we're going now?" Mira asked.
"Right there."
A rift laid before them as the only path forward. Gideon held his hands out and pulled open the rift to consume them. They began falling through a corridor of the time energy to a shining light in the distance. When the light finally opened up, they found themselves falling sideways into a new time.
Episode 2
Unseen Intruder
Bresha Ruins 005 AF
'When reaching for the future, we sometimes fall into the past. As we gaze upon events that cannot be changed, our hearts grow bitter with regret. And you, my dear Serah, will you encounter your past here? How will you choose to deal with that pain?'
"Kuuuuppooooo!"
They emerged from a gate, bodies solidifying first, then their glowing clothes slowly dulled back to their normal colors. Mog flew out first, dashing out of the gate and floating around the new location.
Serah and Noel quickly twisted in the air to land on their feet, bending their knees to steady themselves. Mira's heels clicked as she stumbled forward but also managed to avoid crashing into the concrete.
Rufus flew out of the gate, very adept at flying (he'd been practicing for a long time ever since he discovered his powers), and turned to catch whoever emerged behind him. Turns out, that was Gideon, who only managed to reorient himself halfway before he plummeted.
"Whoa! I got you."
Gideon blinked, his dark eyes slowly adjusting to the new location. He looked like he didn't even realize he needed to be caught, let alone catch himself. Something told Rufus he would've simply splat face-first on the pavement without even noticing. For some reason, the image made Rufus laugh.
Gideon sat up in Rufus's arms, finally noticing that he wasn't standing up straight. "Why have you picked me up?"
"You were falling and I —"
"Wha!" Orlov came falling out of the gate…landing right on top of the pair. The three of them collapsed in a heap on the hard ground.
Then, Orlov and Rufus started laughing.
"Better work on sticking that landing, love," Rufus grumbled.
"I'll get better. Promise! Oh! Gideon, are you okay?"
"All systems functioning at normal capacity," he replied, halfway collapsed over Rufus with Orlov sprawled across his stomach.
"What are you guys doing?" Mira sighed. "Do you like it down there?"
"It is not uncomfortable."
She helped the three of them rise to their feet. Serah and Noel had already followed Mog out of the alleyway they seemed to have landed in to try and figure out where they were. The gate behind them clanked and then closed, the whirling mechanisms coming to a stop.
"That gate looks different," Orlov mused. The metal was black rather than gold, and the orb within was a deeper blue rather than a bright white and rose.
"It leads to nowhere new beyond the Historia Crux," Gideon explained.
"Ah, so it's a good way of keeping track of new gates versus the one we came through."
"Hey, this is Cocoon!" Serah called.
They dashed over to join her and Noel.
"Really?" Noel asked eagerly. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, check it out." She pointed upwards beyond the stone arch. "You can see the ground above us."
Indeed, beyond the cloud layer, the sky was filled with a view of what might be mistaken as the air but was actually water. The continents and islands could be seen forming a few peninsulas. Despite the ground taking up most of the view of the sky, there was still plenty of real sky to be seen and plenty of sunlight still reached Cocoon.
"Wow," Noel gaped. "So this is how Cocoon looks from the inside."
"That's right, I forgot! This is your first time here."
"Yep."
"It appears to be far closer to Gran Pulse than I recall…" Rufus muttered.
"Probably because Cocoon fell a bit closer to the surface of Gran Pulse," Mira guessed. "You all must be from a time period from before the planet fell."
"Wooooow!" Orlov exclaimed. "It's almost scary how cool it is! So the gravity is all artificial?"
"I'm not actually sure," Serah confessed. "The fal'Cie made Cocoon, and it is still a planet, even if it took the fal'Cie to keep it in the sky. It's probably big enough to have its own gravity."
Gideon jumped. "No. The gravity appears natural."
"You can tell that just from jumping?"
He nodded, with no further explanation.
"So do you recognize where we are?" Rufus asked.
They headed out further past the gate. They appeared to be in a stone city of some kind, and based on the state of disrepair of most of the structures, it was in ruins. There were metal supports and walkways added to the area and even some artificial camps and tents set up.
"Evidence points to this being an excavation site," Gideon said.
"Ruins of some sort of lost city being dug up," Rufus agreed.
"But why would the gate take us here?" Serah asked.
"If the gate is here, it means there has to be some sort of distortion or paradox," Noel said. "Keep a lookout for anything usual. It could be any small thing."
"Right. We had to practically do our own private investigation back at New Bodhum," Mira grumbled.
Orlov gave a small sneeze. "Mmm, distortions are near."
"Uh, guys?" Serah pointed forward. "Any small thing, right?"
A giant structure in the middle of the area flashed with distortion energy. It broke free from the structure around it and lifted up into the air to reveal it was a giant…hand? It was made of some kind of combination of stone and metal, glowing with blue veins of power and it…it was coming right at them.
"What is that?!" Serah exclaimed.
"Look out!" Noel screamed.
He tackled Serah out of the way as the hand swooped past them, raising an enormous dust cloud and smashing through the stone ruins as well as the metal catwalks and supports that had been built to navigate.
A soldier was thrown from the scaffolding at least twenty feet up. Rufus jumped forward and flew forward to catch the man, quickly depositing him on the ground before following the large hand and pulling people out of its path.
"Move! Go! Get out of the way!"
Some of the other soldiers began firing upon it. Rufus swooped in and grabbed a woman before a stone pillar fell right onto her.
"Get up!" Mira urged. She pulled Serah and Noel to their feet.
Even Mog had been knocked to the ground, rising with a dazed, "Kupooooo…"
"An arm?!" Orlov exclaimed.
"Yeah." Noel drew his weapons. "And not looking to shake hands, I'm guessing!"
"We're supposed to fight a giant floating arm?!" they squeaked. "I did not sign up for this!"
"In a way, you did," Mira pointed out.
"Noel, look out!" Serah screamed.
The arm had closed into a fist and reared back with surprising speed for its large form. Though he tried to Sentinel the hit, he was hit straight on and smashed into the wall behind him, his weapons clattering to the ground.
"Noel!"
"Kupo!"
Mog flew in front of Serah as she ran up to face the hand. The moogle formed her weapon with practiced ease, getting used to her fighting style, and transformed into a bow, which she reared back to fire.
Orlov knelt beside Noel and pumped a few healing spells into him while Mira grabbed his weapons and returned them.
"Guess we're fighting a giant arm then," she sighed.
"There is likely a body attached to it," Gideon speculated. "Though…it should be impossible for a creature of that size to manifest here."
"Speculate later!" Rufus called from the air. "We have to stop that thing before it goes on a rampage!"
The air shook from an invisible and silent roar from the giant creature, but even its roars seemed to not exist in this…plane of reality? Time? Whatever, it seemed to be ready for a fight.
Noel spun his two blades and formed them into a javelin, which he could then throw at his target and summon back to his hands.
"Neat trick!" Orlov exclaimed.
Serah and Gideon went to work firing off spells. Even Mira managed to concentrate and summon a few Wound spells, which didn't do much damage, but they lowered maximum HP to prevent healing. Rufus flew around from the sky, swinging his blades at the hand, which kept swinging around as if to dodge him.
The hand slammed down to the ground crew, and even though they managed to dodge being directly squished, the tremor was enough to employ its own Wound damage to them. Luckily, most of them managed to Sentinel, and Orlov quickly healed what they could. The hand just had to swipe past with a strong enough breeze and it could do damage.
"Your Wounds aren't bad yet," Orlov called, "but a swift battle would be recommended!"
"Guys! Big hit coming up!" Rufus warned.
The hand was rearing back, but it wasn't making a fist, so it seemed to be going for another slap attack.
"Ooo, I got this!" Orlov exclaimed. "Ready? Aaaaand…now!" The Sentinels managed to block all damage from the attack, allowing Orlov to summon their energy over the giant's hand and extract some of the distortion energy. "And, tada~!"
The group began glowing as they were overtaken by Bravery and Faith spells.
"Hey, not bad!" Noel admired.
"I'm so good," they exclaimed.
The group began to batter it with spells while they had the chance, the boys providing the stabilizing Commando hits along with Mira's Wound attacks.
"Stagger imminent," Gideon reported.
"Punch incoming!" Rufus screamed.
"I got this one," Mira announced.
She threw the others behind her and then held out her hands as if she planned to catch the enormous fist on her own.
"What are you —?" Noel nearly dropped his weapons in protest to try and pull her out of the way.
"Just stay back!"
When the fist collided with her, her feet slid across the ground, but she actually managed to catch it without going flying.
"Gideon, give me a boost!" Noel called.
"Understood," he replied.
Noel jumped up and Gideon propelled him further with an Aerora spell just as the giant hand began to retreat. He landed in its palm and dived out of the way up the wrist as the fist tried to close in on him.
"And he thought I was crazy," Mira muttered.
He dashed up beyond the visible forearm and jumped into empty space, drawing his swords and slamming them both into thin air where he assumed the body had to be. To his surprise but delight, he actually made contact, sending a wave of golden stagger energy across the entire invisible body to reveal the shape of a bulky stone figure. Even knowing the size of the hand, the body was enormous.
Noel went flying backwards from the force, at least fifty feet in the air, but Rufus swooped in and caught him, depositing him back on the ground.
"An invisible giant!" he grumbled.
"With a build like that…it's not just a giant," Rufus muttered. "It's a warrior. It's made like it's wearing armor — it's a weapon."
"Paradox Alpha," Gideon announced.
"What?"
He waved his arms and summoned a myriad of fire spells. He shoved his hand forward and sent them firing at the giant's body. Rufus held up two fingers in front of his body and summoned a similar myriad of blades that began firing themselves at the giant as well. Noel and Serah switched to Commando as well and began firing their bow and throwing their javelin respectively.
The earth shook as the giant attempted to fight back, but with Mira keeping the damage down as a Sentinel and Orlov healing, their team would be able to endure longer.
Finally, Noel threw his javelin as hard as he could, causing the hand to rear back from the force.
"Did we do it?" Orlov panted.
"It looks like Titan," Rufus exhaled, he was controlling his breathing, but he was clearly getting exhausted as well. "But it's a different color, it's artificial."
"You're saying someone tried to clone the fal'Cie Titan?"
"But why is only its arm appearing here?" Serah said.
"Must be some sort of paradox," Noel guessed. "The whole giant is trying to appear here, but only the arm had been excavated, so only the arm made it through."
"So the rest of this thing is somewhere in these ruins?"
"How are we supposed to get that arm to go back to where it came from?" Mira demanded.
"Heck if I know! Hit it hard enough? You're the fal'Cie guys! How hard can you hit it?!"
"We're creations of fal'Cie," Rufus corrected. "We don't have true forms like them. We're lucky Mira's strong enough to even hold back its punches."
"Will three airships armed with enormous cannons be strong enough?" Gideon asked.
"Airships?" Serah repeated.
He pointed above, where three Skytanks were quickly approaching and descending on the giant.
"Hostile located. Engage at will!"
"Paradox effect confirmed. Targeting Atlas."
The Skytanks armed their weapons, including the missile launchers on the decks, the smaller guns on the ports, and the enormous main canons on the bottoms of the ships.
"Fire!"
They began unleashing a barrage of fire and destruction from missiles and blasters, which was only made more powerful by the fact that the giant was still staggered and easy to target since its outline was glowing golden.
The distortions scattered from the impacts of the attack. The explosions forced the giant into the ground, and soon its hand fell back into the excavation site where it had originated. When the distortion finally faded, the hand had been returned to its original location.
"Geez, I'd hate to face one of those bad boys in combat," Rufus muttered.
"My sister once did," Serah said.
"What?"
"Long story. They were being hunted by the army. But it's okay now."
Noel sighed and sheathed his weapons. "That was exciting."
Rufus dismissed his blades and Gideon's skin and eyes returned to their normal color.
"It appears they're landing," Gideon announced. One of the Skytanks was coming down right beside them.
"It's the army!" Serah tossed her bow up and Mog reformed in a poof. She rushed forward, waving her arms to get their attention.
"Friends of yours?" Noel asked.
Before they could make it a few meters, a gathering of soldiers rushed from the ground and then more joined them from the ship, all training their guns on the small group. Even the airship aimed its turrets on them, with the searchlights coalescing into one giant spotlight.
"Some friends you've got," Mira grumbled.
"Attention, intruders. Surrender immediately."
Mog flew behind Serah in a panic. Orlov pressed close behind Rufus.
"Should we run?" Rufus whispered.
"Best not," Mira said. "It's just the army. We can sort this out."
"Not like we have many options…" Serah whispered.
She slowly raised her hands in surrender. Noel followed suit. Mog raised up above Serah's head, throwing his little arms in the air — though he couldn't let go of his little clock staff.
Rufus sighed. "I hate surrendering."
"Authority is truly a nuisance," even Gideon agreed.
"Just stay calm," Mira advised. "We'll sort this out."
Serah sighed. "Wonder if this is how Lightning and the others felt."
"Something tells me they were better at being on the run."
"Hands behind your heads! We're taking you to headquarters. Move."
"Why would they take us to their headquarters?" Orlov asked.
"Because that's probably where the most secure prison cells are," Rufus sighed.
The guards surrounded them as the group was guided forward in a line. Though technically, Mog got to float free.
"These are the infiltrators? They look like civs who took a wrong turn."
"They were right there when the giant started moving. Probably have something to do with this paradox effect."
"Huh. Think they might have caused it?"
"We'll soon find out. And dig up any intel they've got on Atlas while we're at it."
"Atlas…didn't they call that giant Atlas when they fired on it?" Rufus recalled.
"Gideon called it 'Paradox Alpha,'" Serah said. "Why did you call it that?"
"My database insisted that was the bestiary entry on our target."
"Maybe your data gets updated from distortions," Orlov speculated.
They paused in front of a research facility tent built into the wall of the ruins.
"You're being detained as potential suspects in the unsanctioned activation of Atlas. Come with me, and no funny business."
"I am the daughter of General MCS code 46321," Mira announced. "Order 6824 10-Zeta-00-67-84 by 9-02. Let me speak to someone important. Now."
"I can't believe she did that!" Orlov exclaimed. "How did she do that? Was that an ancient magic chant?"
"It was army code," Serah said. "Lightning taught me a bit of it, not that I remember much. Order 6824 is essentially a parley. I don't know what the rest meant, though."
"Well she abandoned us! I wanna learn the cool magic chant to hear all the interesting stuff!"
Noel sighed. "We're being treated like criminals. But it's just a misunderstanding. Stick to the truth and we'll be okay. And smile. Smiling usually helps."
"There's a path back here!" Orlov exclaimed.
"Don't go where you're not supposed to, Lov," Rufus urged.
"Looks like we're being held by a group known as the Academy," Noel announced.
"What's the Academy?" Orlov asked.
Serah tapped her hand to her chin. "Hm, it sounds familiar…"
"No idea," Noel shrugged. "Was gonna ask you guys the same question. If even Serah doesn't know, must be a pretty new organization."
"So that huge hand was what they called 'Atlas'," Rufus sighed, "and it seems to be the cause of all the trouble around here. Looks like this isn't the first time it's been activated"
"But now we're being accused of activating it."
"Maybe they're right," Orlov sighed. "Maybe our presence here woke it up."
"But why are we here?" Serah asked. "And where exactly is here?"
"We appear to be in a location call the 'Bresha Ruins'," Gideon announced.
"The Bresha Ruins?"
"Familiar?" Noel asked.
"Snow and the others mentioned Bresha at one point. Lake Bresha was located at the bottom of the Hanging Edge. The whole thing got turned to crystal after the fal'Cie Anima died, branding the gang in the process. I'm told even the fire turned to crystal. Entire waves of pure crystal frozen in time. Pretty. And pretty hostile. They mentioned finding an airship in the ruins of an old city. Maybe the city was excavated since the crystal moved the water out of the way."
"But they were talking about a 'paradox' effect," Rufus muttered.
"Same as all the weirdness near the New Bodhum village when the meteorite fell," Noel guessed.
"Does that mean that Lady Rei and Lord Sai might be here?" Orlov exclaimed.
"It's a possibility, if I understand their whole mechanic of being dragged into the timeline. But the gates open into all sorts of places, with paradoxes and distortions being bigger in some than others. Looks like we stumbled upon a big one."
Orlov walked over to the bars of the cell where a guard was waiting. They knocked on the metal to get the man's attention. "Hey, um…excuse me."
"You're goin' straight to Academy HQ. They'll drag the truth outta you."
"Yes, but can you tell me what the Academy is?"
"Huh? The Academy's the institute that's investigating these ruins. Who doesn't know that?"
"I'm a bit of a hermit. So what's going on here?"
"As if you didn't know. Unknown hostels have infested the ruins and are slowin' down the surveys. You're under suspicion of interfering with Academy business."
"When do we get to eat?" Noel called.
"You think this's some kinda joke, hotshot?"
He shrugged. "Worth a shot."
Orlov backed away from the bars and released a dramatic sigh. "This wasn't how I expected my first trip to Cocoon to be like."
"You guys came up on the Gran Elevator?" the guard asked.
Noel scratched his head. "The Gran what? Serah, what's he talking about?"
"He could be talking about the elevator that's supposed to connect Cocoon and Pulse. But…it's still being built. It's going to be finished next year."
"You're confused, miss. It was done last year."
Searh's eyes widened. "L-Last year?"
"So the elevator that was under construction in your time is up and running," Noel explained. "Which means this must be the world of the future."
"Next year in your time; last year in this time," Orlov followed. "Which means we've traveled two years into the future. Since what was scheduled for next year, has already been built last year. Got it."
"Not exactly a large jump in time," Rufus mumbled. "I was expecting, ya know, decades? Centuries?"
"At least we went forward in time and not backwards," Noel shrugged. "And now we know where we are. The world is familiar enough that we know a bit about the state of society and such."
"And that also means that the Academy is super new if Serah doesn't know about it."
"I feel like I've heard about it before though." She swiped some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I think it came up in a debate about which organization was going to be taking over in the wake of the government's collapse. After the fall of Cocoon, the Sanctum was managing to hold things together, but they still needed a new leader and a new way to organize travel between Cocoon and Pulse."
"So the Academy is the research branch of the government," Rufus followed.
"Quite a lot of guns for researchers…" Orlov grumbled.
"Serah! Is that you?!"
"Hm?" The group glanced out the bars of the cell to find a young woman dashing up to the holding cell. She tripped right before she made it, forcing the guard to kneel and help her up.
"Hey, watch yourself," he said, not unkindly, hauling her to her feet.
"Thanks. Serah! It is you!"
"You know them?"
"Uh-huh." She winked towards the cell.
The others looked to Serah, but she merely shrugged in confusion.
"Alyssa Zaidelle, I'm an Academy intern. I heard you apprehended our two observers, so here I am…"
"Observers?"
"Yes, they're invited guests of the Academy. I was showing them around, and…forgot to give them their communicators." She laughed nervously.
"Back up a second. These guys — er, these 'observers' are V.I.P.s?"
"I heard about the Primarch's daughter claiming three l'Cie, but the two humans are ours, yes. You should be getting word about the other three soon. One of them even saved Sergeant Adelbert's life when Atlas woke up. I owe him my life as well."
Rufus tilted his head. "You're the girl who nearly got crushed by a column."
She giggled. "See? Nice guys. Our observers were just greeting them and got caught up in the whole debacle."
The soldier reached up to tap a communicator on his helmet. "Yeah? I got 'em right here. Okay." He stepped forward towards the cell door and unlocked it. "Ahhh…I hope we can forget about this little mix-up."
"No harm done," Serah assured him quickly.
Strange world. Stranger events. Unfamiliar faces. An uncertain future.
They speak of anomalies — of strange energy that warps time itself. Things that shouldn't exist here are appearing near the gates. Things that shouldn't happen are happening. They call this phenomenon the 'paradox' effect. And if you think about it, that term could apply to our existence in this age as well.
Lightning… How will I find you when I don't even know when or where I'll end up next?
"You're the Primarch's daughter?" Orlov's eyes shimmered with interest. "What even is that?!"
"The Primarch is essentially the top guy above all of the Sanctum," Mira explained. "In my world, my father — my Creator — took over the position after King Barthandelus was defeated. It's essentially the word for the King of Cocoon. I didn't know if it would work in this world. But the guys recognized my code. I could only bargain for one or the other — humans or fal'Cie. I had to choose the fal'Cie, since I myself was one. Meaning I could only free Rufus, Orlov, and Gideon. Thankfully, Alyssa here was interested, and decided she could help with Noel and Serah. By the way, you might be referred to as l'Cie while we're here."
"How did they know we were different?" Rufus asked.
"You were flying around. I basically wrestled a giant hand that weighed more than most of these ruins. And Gideon started glowing."
"What about me?!" Orlov exclaimed.
"Thanks to our show, they scanned all of us for signs of magic and paradoxes. The three of you registered as abnormal since we're not human, but Noel and Serah — despite being magic users — were still categorized as human. That doesn't mean all of us weren't equally deemed a paradox. We have Void energy."
"Void energy?" Serah repeated.
"It's distortion stuff. It's how they're tracking paradoxes. Since the gates are allowing us to travel to worlds we shouldn't be in, we're covered in Void energy. It's the stuff in the Historia Crux, but the Crux itself is just the structure that allows us to actually float through the Void from Point A to Point B. Regular paradoxes are just things randomly getting misplaced."
"Like that giant monster, for instance," Noel guessed.
She nodded. "Anyway, we're just lucky the Academy is more open to the Primarch's decisions. There are others who don't like the idea of the government being involved in everything, and especially the idea of a fal'Cie Primarch after what Barthandelus did."
"Wait, if you're a creation of Mataecharonsan…that means Charon's the Primarch!" Rufus realized.
She nodded. "He was given command of the army during the invasion of Cocoon on the final day of the Fall. Barthandelus resigned to try and destroy Cocoon. Cid Raines was left in his place, nothing but a puppet of Barthandelus to stoke the fires of war. But Cid was killed in the rebellion — willingly, since he just wanted to be free. Then, Yaag Rosch took control of the military, and subsequently handed over the role to Charon before his death."
"As much as people must hate to admit it, Primarch Hyacinth is a good leader," Alyssa explained. "He's helped immensely with the rebuilding of society since he rose to power two years ago. He prioritized human leaders for all the departments, and he believes that scientific advancement and man-made devices are going to help humanity thrive without the need for fal'Cie. It's thanks to him that the Academy can do research on paradoxes like the ones here in the ruins."
She guided them out of headquarters. By the time all the paperwork had been sorted, the clouds had rolled in and it soon began pouring down.
"Rain?" Serah mused.
"Oh no! My wrap will get wet!" Orlov exclaimed. They pulled off their pink shawl and let their hair flow free. It didn't even seem to get wet, as though their hair was absorbing all the water instantly like a sponge. "Ah, that's better. I love rain!"
"They absorb it like a slug," Rufus explained.
"Like a flower."
"I'll supply you all with comm devices," Alyssa announced. "Right this way, please."
Serah surged forward after her. "Um…thank you…for your help. I was just wondering: have we met before?"
"Hm? Oh, no! Sorry about all of that 'observer' nonsense back there. Lucky for us, that soldier was so quick to believe me. I needed a quick excuse to pick you up, and it was easy to piggyback off of our dear Primarch's daughter getting involved."
"Wait, so you don't know Serah then?" Noel asked.
"Nope. I told you, that was just a cover. I'm just a trainee looking to make it big."
"Are you sure it's okay to lie like that?" Rufus asked. "Wouldn't want anyone getting in trouble."
"Oh, don't stress about it. That guy is a pushover. Anyway, it is true that you two are important guests."
"So what's your story then? Making it big?"
"I'm Alyssa Zaidelle, an Academy trainee. And this is where I'm gonna make my big discovery!"
"That's not what I think he meant," Noel said. "What do you want with us?"
"I'm not sure I want to tell you yet," she confessed. "You'll just have to trust me."
"Okay…then can you tell us what these ruins are?" Orlov asked.
"This is what's left of an ancient Cocoon city. We're hoping to uncover some buried technology. Right this way, please!"
She dashed off across the excavation site.
Rufus held his hand over his head. "Man, it's really pouring."
"Maybe a side effect of the whole Atlas thing," Orlov guessed.
Serah glanced around in awe, despite the downpour. "You know, I think we may've really traveled in the future. Only a couple years, but still…"
"We're better off keeping quiet about where we're from for now," Noel advised. "Even a couple years' difference still opens a lot of possibilities. Remember? Our existence here is essentially a paradox. Anything we reveal could have drastic consequences."
As they passed the giant's hand, Orlov stuck their head through the bars to glance at it. "I'm not sensing any more distortion energy on it. What about you, Gideon?"
"No. It appears to be inert."
"Makes sense that a giant paradox like that waking up and then being forced away with giant airship blasts might have an effect on the weather," Rufus admitted.
"Maybe the rain won't go away until we resolve the paradox!" Orlov exclaimed. "I don't want to drown everyone!"
"Let's see what Alyssa wants from us before we make any definitive conclusions," Noel announced.
They met up with her at the edge of the ruins where a guard was standing watch beside some barrier gates blocking a staircase further into the ruins.
"You'll each need an ID to travel any further into the ruins. Here, everyone take a communicator and keep it with you at all times. Oh, and here. A map of the excavated parts of the Bresha Ruins."
"I love maps," Rufus confessed.
"Here. One physical one, and a digit one if your technology is compatible with ours." She handed over a laminated map (that they could read even in the rain) and a small chip.
Rufus took the laminated map and eagerly scanned it for their location and how big the ruins were. He turned it over and saw some of the underground pathways as well.
Gideon immediately took the chip and plugged it into his forearm. It disappeared into the layers of living wires and caused his threads to shimmer as they processed it. A moment later, he held up his hand and a hologram of the map appeared. He wiggled his fingers and rotated it before causing the entire map to become three-dimensional, showing off both the overground and the underground.
"Show off," Rufus muttered. But he tossed the physical map in his inventory and stared at Gideon's map instead.
"Wow! I knew you'd be interesting! What kind of technology is that? Fal'Cie?
"He's probably closer to a regular fal'Cie than the rest of us," Mira confessed.
"So, I'm curious," Noel announced.
"Yeah?" Alyssa stood at attention.
"Just why are you helping us, anyway? You hoping to get something out of us in exchange?"
She rolled her head in thought, trying to come up with her response. Then, she pointed accusingly. "I saw you all. I saw how you got here, through that thing!" She gestured across the ruins to where they had arrived.
"What, you mean…through the gate?"
"Yes, it is a kind of gate. It links to another world, doesn't it?"
"Kupo…" Mog muttered.
"Nice to finally have some clue what these things are for."
"So basically, helping us out was almost like part of your research," Noel concluded, pacing about and gesturing suspiciously. "But you still have questions."
"I do have questions, yes." Alyssa smiled eagerly. "About the gate, and about the paradox."
He crossed his arms. "But with Atlas throwing his weight around, the ruins'll be closed off, and there goes the chance to get your answers."
"They'll close off the ruins?" Orlov asked.
"I heard some of the soldiers talking about it earlier. Apparently, this is far from the first time Atlas has awoken, and it's becoming too dangerous for the researchers."
"Noel…" Serah urged.
"Kupopo?" Mog questioned.
"He's just worried Alyssa cares more about her research than actually being a generous person," Mira whispered to Gideon.
"I understand," he said flatly. "But are we being asked to assist in the giant's appearance?"
Alyssa lowered her head. "That's…a lot to ask, I know."
Noel sighed. He strolled up to her and held up a confident fist. "No problem. We'll take care of that giant for you."
Alyssa's face lit up. "You will? Great!"
"We will?" Orlov frowned.
"I'll give you all the data we have on Atlas and the paradoxes!"
"How are we gonna beat a giant rock thing?" they whispered to Rufus.
"We'll figure it out," Rufus shrugged. "After all, people need our help. We can't just stand by and let them be hurt when we can do something about it."
"I wonder if Mira's strong enough to wrestle it."
"Hey, check it out! They've got data on all the types of gates they've studied."
Rufus glanced over Gideon's shoulder. Gideon was holding up data on either hand with data on Atlas and data on the gates. He'd uploaded the data and cross-referenced it with everything he had in his own personal data banks — which seemed to be a lot, since he had apparently received some upgrades from Rei before she had left.
"Looks like the gate we arrived in are called 'scorched gates'. That's such a cool name!"
"The gate that we found in New Bodhum is a 'sun gate', which requires special artefacts to open, go figure. But these ones…" Rufus scrolled to a pale blue gate. "These are 'crystal gates'. Looks like they can be opened by Wild Artefacts."
"Random gate-opening artefacts?" Serah summarized. "So they don't require a specific key, just a key in general."
"But they're consumed with each use."
"So sun gates lead to new places that probably have big paradox events, scorched gates are the ones we arrive in that just lead back to the Historia Crux, and crystal gates probably just lead us to random places with smaller paradoxes," Noel concluded.
"Well, if we're gonna get home, we should probably aim to solve all the paradoxes we can," Mira said.
"There appear to be three gates in the Bresha Ruins," Gideon announced.
"That's a lot of options to choose from…"
"First things first, we'll need to solve this Atlas problem," Rufus sighed. "Just dealing with its hand was tough enough. We'll need to get stronger." He held up his hand and sighed. "I'm still learning about my powers. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Mira shrugged. "I was never good at combat to begin with. My…well, my Creator is Mataecharonsan. I'm supposed to be able to summon weapons and destroy things really well. But my siblings were always better at combat than I was. I can't even summon my blades — though I've been told I have them."
"Maybe Rufus can teach you!" Orlov exclaimed. "You're practically siblings, right?"
"I had a hard time summoning my weapons too, but once I learned, it became my favorite thing," Rufus mused.
"And you're really tough, Mira! You took a punch from a giant hand!"
"The ruins are said to be filled with their own monsters," Noel said. "We could all use the practice. Not to mention we've still gotta track down Atlas in the first place. He's said to appear deeper in the ruins."
"There's apparently a shop around here where we can stock up on supplies," Rufus announced. "We should find them, get some gear while we're at it."
"Let's ask about the Academy too," Serah advised. "We should know about what they're investigating here, if they've found anything."
"Split up then."
"Yay! Let's go shopping!" Orlov exclaimed.
"You show interest in the runs. Are you a student?"
"Um, well, I was supposed to go to the capital's university," Serah admitted.
"And because of what happened to Cocoon, you gave up your studies? I'm sorry that happened."
"It's all right! Things…turned out well."
"You were going to go to university?" Mira asked as they continued searching.
"There were lots of places to go on Cocoon," Serah shrugged. "Thanks to Lightning, I had plenty of opportunities. I guess I've been walking the same path thanks to her for a long time."
"And once she was gone, you decided to just sit around waiting in your village," Noel said.
"No! Well…yes, but like that guy said, a lot happened with Cocoon and all. People needed me."
"And now your sister needs you. But it's up to you how you live now, what path you take, and what you want your journey to be."
"The gear we're using is old, but with Cocoon in its current state, there's not much we can do. We're able to maintain our own gear on the front lines, though, and we're familiar with the equipment."
"We asked the army for help with this investigation. It seemed like the only reasonable thing."
"I'm researching Atlas's power source. It seems to come from technology far beyond what even the fal'Cie had back on Cocoon."
"Did you hear about the new head of the investigation? Okay, listen to this. Apparently, it's someone Alyssa's age."
"You're kidding! What are they, some kind of genius?"
"Hey, what's this?!" Orlov grabbed a small chunk of crystal, but it looked like it had a button on it.
Gideon took the crystal and stared at it for a moment. "It appears to be called a 'Leaving' Gate Seal."
"What's a Gate Seal?"
"It sounds like something that seals gates," Rufus said. "Maybe if we need to lock a gate or something. Best not touch it."
Gideon stored the Gate Seal in his Inventory and followed behind the pair. Despite being drenched, Orlov danced around in the cold rain eagerly. Rufus kept huffing in short bursts, warming up his body temperature artificially, as though he constantly kept forgetting he was a fal'Cie and started feeling the cold.
Gideon moved to follow them up the stone steps to one of the abandoned buildings, but suddenly found his foot slipping out from underneath him.
"Whoa there, be more careful."
Where he had expected to be met with the rocky steps, instead he had been caught by Rufus, who had somehow made it at least five meters in half a second to be at Gideon's side.
"You have my thanks for your assistance."
"Not used to rainy climates then?"
"I am not."
"How'd you know that?" Orlov asked.
"He's a smart guy. If he knew how to walk in rainy weather on smooth stones like these, there's no chance he'd be falling. He'd know how to perfectly compensate for the slickness."
"Whoa, that's super smart of you Rufus!"
"Looks like Sai's glasses are doing you well though." He pushed them up on Gideon's nose. "They're not even catching raindrops. Lucky fellow."
Gideon didn't know how to reply.
"I'm guessing you don't know how to fly, either."
"It has never occurred to me. Anima never flew, and so neither did I."
"You think you're capable?"
"Reason dictates that it is likely, considering my light weight and humanoid form."
"You're a really strong mage, so it wouldn't surprise me." Rufus pulled him up to the top of the stairs. His hand was warm for a fal'Cie. Fal'Cie weren't supposed to be warm. Gideon was walking around in a loose short-sleeved shirt, soaked pants, and squishy shoes, but he didn't feel the cold at all. But Rufus…Rufus was wrapped in his drenched clothes and his jacket filled with knives, and he wasn't just immune to the cold…he was fighting against it with warmth. What a human thing to do, being warm.
The three of them truly were different. Their Creators, fal'Cie born of Etro who should not have been able to create anything. It seems they defied such logic as well. And Gideon did not. Perhaps he never would be able to, and that was fine.
"So to fly, you need to focus your magic into levitation, but on yourself. Have you ever levitated things before?"
"Yes."
"Okay then, just focus on levitating something telekinetically, but make that something your body. Move it wherever you need to go in a three-dimensional space. Follow my lead, okay?"
Rufus lifted himself off the ground. He didn't push away from it and blow up a small breeze, but his clothes and hair did ripple upwards like he was now underwater…but afloat in the air instead. It was almost mesmerizing how it didn't make any sense. Propelling ones' self upwards should have some kind of equal force pushing downwards to counter it, but Rufus simply…moved where he wanted to be.
Gideon focused his magic into a levitation spell, but he ended up casting a wind-based spell instead, lifting himself in a tornado of air currents that pushed him upwards. He didn't just…float like Rufus did. No…there was a Float spell to protect against earth damage. This was…this was far different. Far more. Gideon could hardly imagine how to do what Rufus did, understand who he was. Gideon wasn't someone capable of imagination.
Rufus laughed as the water around them was flung away. "Close enough. I think you need more practice though. Lov isn't good at flying either. They can stretch their plants to the highest height, but they always need their roots grounded first."
Rufus dropped down, even against the wind currents keeping Gideon up, and he pulled Gideon down with him. Gideon let his spell dissipate. The water splashed down upon them again.
"Wonder if the others have found that shop," Orlov announced.
Rufus released Gideon's hand so that he could wrap one arm over Orlov's shoulder. Their clothes were barely wet, but their skin was dry. They were absorbing all the water that hit them.
Both of them, such an odd pair.
"Let's go find them. We can do more training once we're out in the field. Maybe we can convince them to give us a meal too."
"Yum!"
Gideon trailed behind them, carefully balancing himself down the stone steps and managing not to slip this time. And for some reason, his skin was now warm despite being drenched in the cold rain.
"Choco-boco-lina! Welcome! Get your traveling products here at Chocolina's emporium! The beauty's all mine, but the products can be yours — but only if you show me the money! This might be a once in a lifetime choco-mazing opportunity, so don't miss out!"
Mira was frozen. She had no idea why a lady dressed in a red chocobo lady outfit was standing in the middle of a research camp. At least the lady wasn't out in the rain in an outfit like that, but no one seemed to find it weird that she was just selling random items. At her feet was what looked to be a prop box for theater with a bunch of random trinkets. Mira recognized a chocobo hat and a Carbuncle doll.
"Uh, hi there," Serah said. "I'm a little overwhelmed and slightly confused, to be honest. So you run a shop?"
"Yup, yup! And not just any shop, young lady! I offer a variety of splendiferous items to aid travelers — across the whole of time, if you know what I mean. But that's not all! With the right components and a crafter's fee, I can even make you your own special weapons and equipment! Just for you!"
"Whoa, check out this sword," Noel mused. "How do you have an upgraded model of my weapons?"
"I'm the best merchant in the history of the timeline itself, my friend!" Chocolina exclaimed.
He swung the blade. "It's even the right weight…"
"Kupo, kupo!" Mog spun into weapon form and flashed as he changed into a newer model.
"The Meteorblaze and Howling Soul!" Chocolina exclaimed. "What excellent choices! Only 960 gil each."
"Uh, how much gil do we have?" Noel asked.
"Thanks to the funds from back home? Uh…more than enough."
Mog reverted, looking pleased with himself. "Kupo!"
"I even have a discount on this nice Muramasa thing and this Azrael weapon. Hm, don't know where I got these, to be honest. You can have one of each for free."
"Sweet!" Noel exclaimed. "Not bad…"
"Wait, how do you just have weapons that you don't know where they came from?" Mira asked.
"There are many mysteries in this chaotic timeline we call home. Sometimes things get lost, and I'm very good at finding lost things. Lost items, lost weapons, lost wishes and prayers. Here, I think this weapon will suit you well, young lady!"
Chocolina's arms were stuck in weird feather things, but she summoned a weapon from her chest of trinkets and it floated up to Mira. It was a simple eight-inch double-bladed knife, not exactly a sword, but more than enough to be considered a deadly weapon. It was sleek and simple, with a gradient pattern fading from pale blue at the base to deep blue at the tip.
"Just like your beautiful Zan, no? It should help you channel your powers."
"How do you know about Zan?"
"What's that?" Serah asked.
"M-My blade. It was made from my very soul, just like my father's was. But his was a Zanmato. It's a beautiful, powerful blade that can kill anything it's drawn again. Mine was just a small dagger, and it rarely ever killed anyone. The thing was dull as a stick."
Chocolina made a tutting click with her tongue. "Now, now, now, there's no need to be so down and gloomy as all this rain. That weapon came from your heart, just like your father's came from his. You're far more than just one little weapon. Your Zan represents a peaceful soul, who'll only strike out when necessary to protect the ones you love. Even your father had trouble drawing his Zanmato when he was unsure of himself."
"You knew my father?"
She giggled, flapping her large wings. "I know lots of people! And I know you. Your blade takes on many forms, not just your Zan. That weapon is called Kore, and she will teach you how to use Wound, Dispel, and Drain. And when your heart grows strong enough, she will grow to new forms to teach you even more. Perhaps she'll even help you remember how to summon your Zan as well."
Mira tightened her blade around the hilt of the weapon. "Thank you. Oh, um…how much will this cost?"
"Hm…well, have you seen that big ol' giant?! Where'd he come from? Someone sure wasted their time and hard-earned money making something that big! I don't like seeing materials go to waste like that, but hey, what can I do?"
"So…you want us to take out the giant?"
"You know I'm counting on you, lovelies! Everyone is! Have a fantabulous day!"