Sunleth Waterscape 400 A.F.

"And you're absolutely sure that you feel okay?"

Serah lightly touched the bandage around her head before nodding. "Yeah, I don't feel dizzy at all. My back is fine as well."

Noel uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to another as he continued to look Serah over. He had just promised Snow that he's return his fiancé safe and sound, yet here she was in front of him just a night later, beat up and sore.

The hunter had been woken up by Mog when the sun had still not risen. He was going on and on, "GET UP, KUPO! KUPO!" Of course, he hadn't exactly said why Noel should get up at such a time, so, once Noel was fully awake, he did what anyone would do: Threaten the Moogle's life if he didn't explain.

Mog, under Noel's foot, quickly told him he didn't sense Serah around anywhere close by. Noel knew something bad must've happened to her; Serah wasn't the type of person to just run away in the middle of the night for no reason. Thankfully, once he set out to find her, it didn't take long to find the girl with rose-colored hair.

She was found under a tree, and the way she was lying down told Noel she had not just fallen asleep. The gash on her head was barely a scrape, but the one on her back was what worried Noel. It wasn't until Serah woke up that she healed herself using Medic magic.

"Noel, seriously, I feel fine. Don't worry about me too much." Serah said, swinging her arms from side to side with an ever-present smile on her face. "If anything you should be worrying about learning Medic magic…and what Caius said…"

Noel's face grew serious once she mentioned Caius. He had attacked her during the night along with a scarred-faced Yeul. Serah didn't remember everything the two had said, but she remembered enough to make him concerned. Who was this scarred-faced Yeul? Why was her eye, with its symbol of Etro, destroyed like that? What did Caius mean by "making the Lost Fragments"? Too many questions, too little time.

"Yeah, well, we can do it together!" Noel said, a huge smile on his face. He walked over to Serah and lightly took her hands before saying, "After all, I'm here to protect you."

"Yes, yes you are!" Serah exclaimed before quickly snapping her hands away from Noel's grasp. "Absolutely! Now, let's hurry up and get to saving my sister, okay?"

The brown-haired boy, slightly taken aback, just nodded as a response. He had held her hand before, right? Why was she freaking out so badly? Noel quickly checked his hands in case any flan goop was on them before following Serah.

?

Noel rolled out of the Gate, rather proud of himself for it. Last time he tried something like that, he failed miserably and ended up embarrassing himself in front of Serah. Thankfully, it didn't hurt his body too much, only his pride.

"Hm…now where are we?" Noel, Serah, and Mog all looked around simultaneously. All around was nothing but fields, not a hint of civilization to be seen.

"I'm not really sure…Ah!" Serah, who had landed in an odd sort of way on the ground, grabbed her back in pain.

"Did it open up again?" Noel asked. Serah's constricted face was enough to tell him he was right without her even having time to give an answer. "I guess the Medic magic wasn't strong enough. Here, let me!"

"Noel, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Serah asked, pushing her pink hair to the side. She couldn't find her hair-tie from yesterday, even though she explored every inch of the ground where they'd slept last night. "I mean, Medic magic is hard to use when all you know is the offensive stuff…"

"I'll be fine!" Noel said, beginning to focus all his energy. It was like using regular magic, but nicer and more nature-y…he thought anyway.

Instead of a healing green ball of light, Noel unleased Aero right onto Serah's wound.

"OW!" Serah leapt forward and put her hand on her back. Her back stung badly now.

"Serah! I'm sorry! I thought I had it! I really did…" Noel let his last sentence trail off as he watched Serah begin to heal herself. It came so naturally to her…Noel put his hand on her shoulder and said "All I'm good for is hurting things."

As soon as she was done healing, Serah sprang up, pushing Noel's hand off of her shoulder as she did. "I-It's okay! Now, we better find out when and where we are. We must've been brought here for reason…" Serah, accompanied by Mog, began briskly walking through the wide field.

Noel, once again shocked at how Serah had acted, took a step back before shaking his head and starting after Serah. Why was she acting like that? It was just weird…

For a few minutes, Serah, Noel, and Mog continued to walk on the flat field in silence. There was nothing around other than a rather large hill in front of them. Serah began looking back the way they came when she gasped loudly.

"What is it?"

Serah soundlessly pointed. Noel followed her finger only to see something he never in his life dreamed he would see.

"That's Cocoon…" He said, his eyes wide. "But…the crystal pillar is completely gone! It's holding itself up! How?!"

Serah, still stunned, replied after a few seconds of gaping. "We…We must've found a gate that lead us to even before Cocoon fell…But, how!?"

"Who knows." Noel shrugged, taking his eyes off the planet and looking back the way that they were originally headed to. 'Let's just keep walking. Maybe we'll find some people to sort this whole mess out for us."

The pink-haired time-traveler nodded and followed Noel. The two continued on in silence.

"…Did that gate lead us to a reality where only grass exists or something?" Noel finally asked.

Serah shrugged and replied, "Maybe if we climb up that hill over there and look out from the top, we could see if anything is really here or now."

"Good idea." Noel said before wiping his brow. "Hopefully they'll be some shade as well. I'm frying over here."

Thankfully, the hill was not as high as Noel initially feared. The small party reached the top in record time. Off in the distance was Cocoon, up in the sky, and the sunset was off to side.

"Caius! Caius, look!"

Noel and Serah stood there in shock, unable to move from the sight of what was in front of them.

"What? Did you find another one, Yeul?"

Serah and Noel, now regaining their composure, quickly scrambled onto their bellies in an attempt to stay hidden from view. Below them was a very young Yeul, probably in her preteens, and her Guardian, Caius Ballad. The young Yeul, with a giant smile, was digging through the ground as Caius, who was actually smiling for once, walked up beside her.

"Yes!" The young Yeul excitedly ripped a beautiful clear stone out from the ground. "Ooh, would you look at it, Caius!? So clear, so perfectly shaped, so wondr-!" She began to raise the crystal up in the air, but stopped suddenly, her eyes locked with Noel's.

"Ah, crap!" Noel pushed himself as low as he could possibly go, and Serah followed suit. It was all in vain though, as the brown-haired boy heard Caius yell.

"Who's there!?" Caius shouted, "Come out or I'll go after you myself!"

Shaking, Serah noiselessly stared over at Noel. Noel just shook his head and rose to his feet, his hands up in the air as a sign of mercy.

"What are you doing!?" The girl with rose-colored hair hissed, fear taking over her. "What if a Paradox happens?! What if he recognizes us!?"

"Quiet." Noel stated, taking everything about the Caius and Yeul in front of him into consideration. The young Yeul, who he could only guess was around nine or so, was hiding behind Caius, and holding tightly onto his free hand. Caius already had his sword drawn, and his usual scowl back onto his face.

"What is your business here?!" Caius bellowed, He showed no sign of recognizing Noel's face.

"Ah, we're j-just travelers!" Noel said, trying to sound as normal as he could. "H-her and I!"

Serah promptly stood up, her arms up in the air as well. "Yeah!" She said, going along with Noel's story. It wasn't a total lie anyway. "Just passing through, that's all!"

Caius looked back at Yeul, and lightly squeezed her hand. She squeezed it back before peeking her head out. It was her who spoke this time. "A-Are you here to hurt me?"

Noel shook his head and smiled at the blue-haired Seeress. She looked just like his Yeul, back when they were much younger. "No, we are merely passing through. I don't even know who you are, little miss."

The young Yeul stepped out from behind her Guardian, slightly shaking. She continued to tightly hold onto Caius's hand with her right hand and gripped her clear crystal in the other. She gave Caius an uncertain look before speaking once more. "I am Yeul, Seeress of Paddra…or was anyway."

"Was?" Serah echoed, tilting her head. "What do you mean? Where are we anyway? We don't, uh, keep track of where we go. We just kind of drift around."

It was Caius who answered this time. He was still as defensive as ever; ready to kill if Noel or Serah stepped out of bounds and tried to hurt his precious Yeul. "This place is nameless. It does not need to be titled. It is our home, nothing more."

"I see…" Noel said, eyeing up the clear rock in Yeul's hand. "What do you have there?"

"Oh!" Yeul's face lit up as Noel mentioned her stone. She went from an insecure little girl to a ball of energy in an instant. "You mean my treasures? They mean everything to me! I collect them! This one's really rare, so I only have a few! Do you-"

"Dear Seeress, don't you think you're opening up too much to them?" Caius said, his tone between passively aggressive and cautious. He was trying his best to be polite in front of the two uninvited guests, but definitely didn't want the two (or three including the Moogle, who was currently hiding behind Serah) hanging about.

"No, actually, I don't!" Yeul let go of Caius's hand and gave a great big smile to her Guardian. "I love meeting and talking to people! It's fun! P-Plus, I can finally show someone else my collection of stones!"

"Yeah, that one in your hand looks really pretty, Yeul." Serah said, inching a bit closer to the blue-haired Seeress. She saw out of the corner of her eye Caius tighten his muscles as if he was going to hit her for it, but he remained in place, still as a statue. "What is it?"

"It's called a Rainbow Prism! It may be clear, but it holds a secret! Come down here and look through it!"

Noel, Serah, and Mog all heeded the Seeress's command and walked down the hill to the two.

"Here you go!" Yeul held the clear pyramid-shaped rock up to Serah's eye. "See!"

Serah smiled in awe as she looked through it. "Wow! I can see so many colors through this! It's beautiful! This crystal must reflect the light in such a way that all the colors of the spectrum can be seen!"

"I guess you named it appropriately." Noel chimed in.

"Oh, no! Caius named it for me because I couldn't decide on a name fitting, so I asked him to name it! He's a great name-r!" Yeul tugged on Cauis's arm and looked into his blue eyes with delight. "Right, Caius?"

"I suppose…" Caius muttered, not returning her gaze. His eyes were fiercely glued tightly on Noel.

"Oh, right, this is my Guardian, Caius Ballad." Yeul introduced her purple companion who looked less than enthralled to be shoved into the spotlight. "He's kind of like my father, but we aren't related. He takes care of all me!"

"P-Pleased to meet you…" Noel said, awkwardness taking over his tone of voice. "My name is Noel, and this is Serah."

"And I'm Mog, kupo!" Mog peeked out to say hello, and as he appeared, Yuel's eyes widened.

She ran over to the Moogle and proceeded to hug him tightly. "He's so cute! I love him! Cute, cute, cute, cute, cute…!"

Yuel began spinning around with the Moogle, who was trying desperately to escape the girl's clutches. Noel watched her, rather surprised. Caius had told him back when he was an apprentice that no two Yeuls were ever the same. Each carried the same soul, but no two were at all similar. Some liked to get dirty, some hated dirt. Some were calm, confident and mature, while others were much more boisterous and lacked manners. No matter what they were like, however, Caius loved them all. It was just odd to Noel, seeing the face of his Yeul acting so different in every way.

"That toy's very realistic." Caius stated, one of his eyebrows cocked up, watching the little Yeul spin happily with Mog in her arms. "The Seeress has taken a liking to it. Where'd you get it? I've never seen one like that before…Is it really a toy?"

"Of course it's a toy! It was a gift from my sister." Serah said, confident knowing she was at least telling a somewhat true tale. "It's one of a kind, sorry. Besides, we come from so far away..."

"I see." Was all Caius said to them both. He waited a few seconds more before talking to Yeul once more. "Yeul, give the doll back. It's time we began heading back to camp. We did get a Rainbow Prism after all."

Yeul instantly lost her smile. "What? Really?!"

Caius nodded. "It's going to be nearly dark by the time we get back home. Now, say goodbye to these travelers."

The young Yeul pursed her lips as she retaliated. "We can't just leave them! Why don't we invite them to our camp!" She spun around to face Serah and Noel, still squeezing the life out of Mog. "Caius and I live with a bunch of really nice other people! I'm sure we have an extra tent for you! Stay, pretty please! Just for the night! I wanna hear about your adventures!"

"Absolutely not." The man in purple voice snapped, "You cannot trust these people. Now, give them their doll back and let's go."

"No!" Yeul stomped her foot and shook her head. "I wanna hear their stories, Caius! N-no one in camp wants me around anymore. They always send me back to you when I ask them if they want to play with me or go search for crystals…Besides," The Seeress of Paddra finally let go of the Moogle (which quickly flew back towards his dear Serah), and stood on her tiptoes. "-if they do end up being bad guys, you can take care of them, okay? After all, I know you'll protect me no matter what."

Caius's face grew blank, as if he was re-assessing every life choice he had ever made. He finally sighed and changed his gaze over to Serah and Noel. "You two, do you really want to stay the night? Or continue on with your journey?"

Noel and Serah looked at each other, communicating only with their eyes. It ended up being Serah who gave the nod of approval. "S-Sure, why not? It's only for once night after all."

"YAY!" Yeul jumped up in happiness and began to talk quickly, as if her brain was on overload. "O-Oh, this'll be so fun compared to every other night when nothing's happening! We can tell stories and look at my crystals and hug that Moogle and-"

"But," Caius spoke loudly over his blue-haired Seeress, hushing her instantly. "They must prove themselves first."

"That'll just drive 'em away…" Yeul said with a disappointed, low voice.

"No, it's no problem, really." Noel said, not bothering to check with what Serah wanted. It hurt his heart to see the Yeul so sad. This must've been how Caius felt, Noel thought as he smiled reassuringly at Yeul. It really did make him feel bad how lonely this younger Yeul seemed. All she wanted was a friend or two to talk with. Sure, she'd probably blab his ear off later, but so what? He could endure it for her. "What do you want us to do, Mr. Ballad?"

Caius responded almost immediately, as if he knew exactly what Noel was going to say. "Find a Rainbow Prism for Yeul to add to her collection. That will be your ticket to sleep here tonight. And, if I were you, I'd hurry. Monsters of all kinds prowl around here during later hours of the day."

Serah spoke up this time. "We'll return with a Prism then, as quick as we can."

Yeul stayed silent, continuing to look from Caius to the band of time travelers while she kept her hands busy, rapidly tapping her fingernails against her precious crystal.

"I'd wish you luck, but I'm not that type of man." Caius stated before signaling Yeul to return to his side. She briskly did, and once again latched herself to Caius's arm like a frightened puppy. "Now, get going. I don't want to have to clean up your corpses later."

"You won't, trust us." Noel gave another smile to Yeul, who giggled like Serah would if anyone dared to bring up Snow. "We'll return later, then."

Serah waved as she, Noel, and the Moogle headed out, going back the way they came with their heads low as they searched.

"…You're so mean, Caius." Yeul said monotonously, keeping her eyes away from her Guardian's. "You know they'll be out here all night now…"

"I am not mean…I'll take care of their dead bodies for you, don't worry." Caius patted her blue head. "We can have our regularly scheduled walk in the morning as always."

"See! You are mean!" The young Yeul attempted to injure the large man by tugging as hard as she could on his arm. He did not react in the slightest. "Meanie Caius Ballad!"

Caius only chuckled at her reaction. "Sure, I'm the bad guy now, even though I protect you and feed you and spoil you rotten…"

"You don't spoil me. If I was spoiled, I would be living in a giant castle, constructed entirely out of Rainbow Prisms!" Yeul let go of Caius once more to look through the Rainbow Prism in awe. "That way, I could always see my pretty stones, and others would too! Plus, I'd always remember that day we found our first crystal together!"

"That was a special day…" Caius muttered, watching the young Yeul ramble on and on. It was a habit of her's that annoyed almost everyone in the village, except him. He only had guarded one other Yeul who had been slightly like her, but that was a very long time ago... "I doubt you'd forget it that easily."

"True, true." Yeul held the crystal close to her chest and smiled. "I doubt I will…Until I reincarnate anyway."

The pair grew silent at the mention of her reincarnation. It was a very touchy subject, and it surprised Caius more than anything that she had brought it up.

"Have you had another vison? Is that why you insisted we let those two stay?" He asked. He was both curious and unnerved. In this Yeul's life, she had many visions already, more than the other Seeresses, by her age. The problem was that she usually refused to inform him of what she had witnessed, and she had an absolute hatred of Oracle Drives. Caius did not want to push her to record her visions in the Drive, however. He didn't believe it was right to force her, so long as she was sure she would not forget the images she witnessed.

"That's one of the reasons." Yeul stated, "But it's not what I saw in the vision, it was what I didn't see in it…"

"Yeul, dear Seeress, you are far too young to be worrying over the end of your life." Caius said stoically, doing his best to hide the fact he was worried just as much as she was. "You are still but a young girl, and I will protect you, no matter what."

It was here Caius got down onto a single knee and bowed down to the blue-haired child. He continued talking, his eyes looking towards the ground. "I am your Guardian, and I will fight until the day an apprentice strikes me down. You needn't worry a day in your life; that is my job."

The young Yeul shifted uncomfortably. "Don't be like that." She commanded, her voice soft yet firm. She got down on her own knees and forced Caius to make eye contact with her. "I hate it when you get all mystic like that…You may be my father-figure, but you don't have to give me all those stupid speeches. I don't need them."

Caius Ballad couldn't hold in his short burst of laughter if he tried. "I suppose…Now, how about we head home?"

"No!" Yeul stood back up, her arms crossed. "We're waiting here so that those two travelers!"

"Alright…whatever you say, Seerees…" Caius stared off in the direction of the pair. They had already walked back up the hill and were on the other side, out of sight. He just couldn't shake the feeling that inviting them was a majorly bad idea.

He could only pray that his instincts were, for once, wrong.