Author's Note: And thirty billion years later, Cocoon finally updates. Sorry! I have tons of projects, and this one isn't always at the top of the list. But hey, here we are! So...

Enjoy!

(chapter beta'd by emstar1-1, thanks again!)

"Any luck, Fang?"

"Not sure. It's been about a century since I've seen these symbols. Not everyone's as quick as you, kid."

"Sorry." Hope sighed. He continued his incessant pacing, keeping an eye out for more monsters. Staying put didn't usually bother him, but something was different here. Maybe it was just the fact that they were in Valhalla, or perhaps it was because he couldn't rely on his magic anymore. Whatever the reason, their lack of movement had him on edge.

"I wish I could help," Vanille offered, "but I don't have a clue what those symbols are."

"You would if you could keep your head out of the clouds." Fang teased, tracing around one of the markings. She crossed her legs, keeping them to one side of the cold bench she was slouched on.

"I was just a kid!" Vanille cried defensively.

Still pacing, Hope reminded her, "I was always ahead of kids my own age."

Fang smirked. "See? Being a kid is no excuse."

"You guys are mean." She pouted with an indignant huff.

"I'm on your side, Vanille." Noel said, to which he received a bright smile. "I would tell you how long it took me to learn to read, but I don't think you'd believe me."

Vanille giggled. "Let me guess, you were...fifteen."

Noel laughed, shaking his head. "How dense do you think I am? No, I was actually about eight or nine when I finally learned."

"Why did it take you so long?" She asked.

He shrugged. "There really was no reason to learn, so I didn't bother. But eventually, my grandmother got on my case about it."

Vanille threw Hope a pointed look that seemed to say, "How would a fake know that?" He passed Fang for about the hundredth time, thinking that whilst he'd really like to believe her, he wanted Noel to be who he said he was beyond reasonable doubt. But there was no proof, and a childhood story that no one had heard before certainly didn't count.

Fang began mumbling to herself.

"If I had known that learning an ancient language would actually be useful, I would've paid more attention." Vanille concluded wistfully, giving a small shrug.

"A lot of things end up being more useful that you'd think." Hope said. "Believe me."

"I guess."

The conversation died swiftly. after that. Their voices faded into the silent void of Valhalla's thick air, leaving only the constant clunk of Hope's footsteps behind. He was reminded of many late nights at the Academy. He'd pace and pace, muttering to himself until whatever was on his mind was solved. It drove Alyssa nuts, but she never was able to get him to stop, to get her voice to cut through the numbers and formulas that made up his thoughts when he was like that.

He thought about the last time he'd seen her. If it was really her. Some of what she said was starting to make sense, and even agreed with what Lightning had told them. Vanille and Fang had been the only ones who could see inside the building that contained the tablet. They were the only ones who even had a prayer of understanding what it read. It likely didn't have the answer, just a clue, but that hardly mattered. It looked like his past assistant had told the truth, for once; Vanille and Fang had a larger role to play here.

"He cares for you, you know, more than he wants to admit."

Hope glanced over at the girl in question and smiled to himself. Was he really that transparent? How many others over the years had noticed that his interest in freeing his friends was not merely a passive one, but that there was something more to it? Something that even he himself didn't like to admit freely.

"Damnit!" Fang growled suddenly, breaking them all from their respective reveries.

"What's up, Fang?" Vanille enquired casually.

"These damn symbols. This one," she pointed rather too vigorously, "means Etro, and this one here means freedom, but for the life of me I can't remember the rest."

"That's alright." Hope comforted. "It's a lot more than we knew a minute ago."

"I know, but I should know this. My teacher drilled us endlessly on this stuff." Fang grunted, shaking her head slowly. "Even when I was Vanille's age, I could read a whole passage without really thinking. Don't see why it's almost completely gone now."

"Chaos?" Noel suggested. "Time? It has been a couple centuries."

Hope finally stopped his ceaseless pacing, which created an odd silence in the absence of the rhythmic clinking of his boots. "I don't think so. She was asleep most of those years."

"Okay, Chaos then." Noel rectified with a nonchalant shrug. "It makes sense. I mean, when I woke up here, I thought you were still dead. I'd forgotten that Serah and I had fixed that paradox."

"Dead? Were you really?" Vanille asked with a hint of something like panic, sitting up straighter.

"Apparently." Hope answered. He chuckled, remembering the reason why he wasn't. "Serah saved my life by yelling at me. She was..." He searched for the right words. "Well, she was effective."

"Nice." Fang said.

"But I agree," Hope continued, "it makes sense that the Chaos is affecting your memories. I experienced it myself for a short time. And it's certainly not our friend, it seems to target the things that are important." He finished softly.

"Well I wish it would back the hell off." Fang stood, tablet in hand. "I feel like the answers are on the tip of my tongue, but I'm not sure..." Frustration radiated off of her in waves.

Hope went to take a closer look at the ancient language. He'd learned a lot of Paddran text over the years, maybe some of the symbols were similar, or even the same. "Which were the ones you were talking about?" He asked.

"Etro." Fang indicated the goddess' crest, a symbol even children in Academia knew. "And freedom." That one was a simple bird, wings outstretched, appearing to soar for the sky. "I know the rest of these, but I just can't recall them."

"Let me see." Hope took the tablet from her. It was lighter than he'd expected, and felt like it was about to crumble in his hands. It reminded him of some of the artifacts he'd handled in the ruins of Paddra. He carefully looked over the images Fang had pointed out, and ran his fingers over and around a few others. He did recognize some of them, but they were off somehow; like the ones he'd seen before were adapted from these, or maybe the other way around. He couldn't be sure of what they meant.

"I can't be certain. We don't have enough information for me to apply any meaning to these." He returned the tablet to Fang, giving her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

She gave a frustrated sigh, accepting the tablet once more. He could tell it was all she could do to not throw it against a solid wall. "Thanks for trying."

"No problem." He gave her a half-hearted smile before he glanced up at Vanille, who shrugged. Noel crossed his arms and cocked his head in thought. They were all stumped, and the clues they did have didn't shed any light on their objective.

Suddenly, somehow, everything seemed darker. Not in the way it looked, or the way it sounded, but the way it felt. Almost like the way it feels when one thinks they're being watched, the way the atmosphere thickened and the clouds seemed to lower. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

Next to Hope, Fang groaned. She dropped the tablet, which shattered into countless pieces, and brought a hand to her temple, swaying slightly. She looked paler, and her eyes somehow flatter. Hope reached out to steady her as Vanille and Noel came over to see what was going on.

"Fang? You okay?" Vanille asked, with concern lacing her accented voice.

"Yeah, I - I think..."

"Hold on." Noel stepped forward, as if he saw something. Still unsure of his true identity, Hope wanted to tell him to back off, but whatever was happening to Fang had already started.

"What is it?"

While Vanille was still asking her question, Hope saw it, he saw what Noel was staring at. Smoke-like wisps of Chaos were gathering around Fang's head, some slipping into her ears, or nose, or mouth, but most just floating near her.

"Fang-"

"I... I..." She collapsed, unable to say anything more. Fortunately, Hope was able to catch her before she hit the ground, stopping Vanille mid-gasp. The younger Oerban approached her best friend with an air of timidity.

"F-Fang?"

"It's alright, she's still breathing." Hope assured her. He wasn't sure how worried they should be, if breathing really mattered - it was Valhalla after all, and nothing was right in Valhalla.

The smoky Chaos thickened around Fang, forming a threatening black cloud about her head. She groaned as more of it invaded her body, seemingly trying to consume her.

"We have to do something!" Vanille cried earnestly, attempting to swat away the cloud, the way it had worked up until now. But unlike before, it simply morphed around her hand, drifting back into place. She looked up at him. "Hope, what do we do?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly and helplessly, hating his lack of knowledge. He carefully lowered Fang to the ground, lying her gently on the cold street. The Chaos didn't seem to be hurting her, at least not physically. She was still breathing fine, her pulse was steadily thrumming away. What was happening?

"You can do nothing." Came a new voice, one Hope had never heard before. It was deep and thick, comforting yet ominous at the same time. "She will not be harmed."

Noel stiffened, recognizing the voice all too well, turning to the source. He staggered back several uneven steps.

"C-Caius?"

Dun, dun, duunn. Hmm, I wonder...

Any theories?