Serah's POV:

The next morning came in a flash and it took a lot of convincing from Noel and Mel to explain their situations. When I thought about it I was way too excited about how Noel explained how he met Light that he could take me to her and Mel was the last person to interact with her that he also helped Sis and Snow save Cocoon from annihilation, I just really want to see my sister again so badly it seems that I'll take any lead that will take me to Claire. What I witnessed from last night transferred over to this morning, Noel really doesn't like Mel as the air around them grows thicker but the young boy shows no signs of animosity toward him either. How will I fix their differences so they could get along?

"Look, I know this is very difficult to take in about the future and other worlds beyond our own, but it is all true. If we don't do anything then everything will be lost." Mel says calmly, yet his weary eyes say a different story. I looked around the room and see everyone's still not convinced but Gadot looked like he was thinking rather than listening. So he suddenly spoke up.

"Are you that same kid that flew toward the Pulsian Vestige back at Hanging Edge?" I turned to Mel who stood beside Maqui and he looked emotionless, still he answered.

"Yes, but this is a different situation entirely from then, we need to focus on the now." Gadot leaned back into the couch and waved his hand through the air.

"I was just asking, now I know where I met ya." Then he fell silent. Noel walked close to the center of the room and voiced his opinion.

"As much I hate to agree with this kid, we need to focus on our current situation. If me and Serah leave now we can prevent the world from being destroyed and humanity will have a shot at living." The silence felt heavier and it was too much to bear any longer, I have to say something to turn the tides.

"Well, I'll go with you Noel. But you have to show me what these artifacts are as proof that you aren't some nut spouting weird things just for fun." I said carefully but maybe saying nut wasn't exactly nice of me, maybe what I said entirely wasn't very nice, but I had to have said something to get things moving along.

"Just tell me what we need to look for and tell me where to find them." Noel looked surprised about believing his story but it looked like it was better a chance than last night.

"Alright, I'll explain what an artifact is; an artifact is an object that doesn't belong. Say my band around my arm belonged to the past, with the time fluxes creating paradoxes within and through time and space the object in question will have been caught in that effect of time. If so, the object in question will appear someplace it wasn't originally seen in or someplace that makes it really stand out to the point it has an aura around said piece that makes it seem out of place to begin with and noticeably named as an artifact. Something that once belonged no longer exists but is just there." Noel said confidently but I think he lost everybody at belong.

"So if we find an object that doesn't belong then we can go and look for my sister right?" I asked once more to be absolutely sure. Noel nods his head and replied,

"Of course, we can do this! We can save the world if we find these artifacts and the human race won't collapse to extinction and stop whoever it is that wants to topple the worlds existence has to go through us first." Mel coughed when I looked his way and his expression changed from blank to shocked.

"You don't know who it is that would want to destroy everything? I thought you knew."

Noel scoffed deeply and turned his attention away from the teen in disgust, it seemed, and said nothing more. I almost lost my temper but I held my calm disposition the best I could without having to berate either of the two who will soon be teammates. I quickly went to Noel and pulled him by the arm to drag his butt out the door to stop the increasing tension from escalating any further and by the time we were outside I turned my head to look at Mel and shouted his way,

"We'll split up to find the artifacts. We meet back here at the NORA house by noon for lunch and luckily out of the three of us will come across this existing, non-existing, object. While we're out hunting I'll have a word will Noel about our situation, okay? Later!" I was in a real hurry to talk to Noel I didn't really notice the boy, maybe I should have followed Light's advice but I need to talk to Noel about something important anyways, and while we're talking Noel wouldn't hate him without a good reason now.

"So, what do you want to talk about out here, Serah? Shouldn't we be looking for the artifact?" Noel asked me as we walked under the houses near the pier for a more quiet place to talk. Sure, I know that we have a important task to do but I really want to know why Noel is hating on my sisters 'friend'?

"What do you have against, Mel? He didn't do anything to you?" I asked him sternly with my arms folded across my chest, hoping I could be intimidating enough to get some answers. Noel was quiet for a bit, letting the sounds of the morning waves of the ocean crash against the sand settle in, and he leaned his back against a support of the house above us and looked downward. Some time passed until he finally spoke.

"Mel, what he said about other worlds of other dimensions, is true. Back in my time, when I was only twelve something appeared in the sky and it looked like our world but it was very different... It was hard to explain then and its harder now. When I was fifteen a few people from my already dying tribe decided to take a look at what was up there and those who volunteered were shot out of the sky and killed, war broke out between the world above with our own land and the world above started to shed blood and whoever was left from our tribe were lost to the destruction the world above had sent only because we were curious and these people used weapons unlike any we had seen. My best friend saved those who survived from the spreading carnage and sacrificed himself for the sake of his clan, his family, and his body defiled as the enemy had struck his corpse with a flag pole, through his chest, and shouted at the sky while the survivors ran from their blood lust 'Hail the land of Earth! We now claim this world as our own and anyone who lived here is seen will be shot down until they fall into submission! We are your redeemers and we shall cleanse this world in blood and fire, Hail the land of Earth!' He looks like those people who invaded us and, their greed had overwhelmed them, began picking at the base of the crystal pillar of Cocoon for their so called wealth had sent the pillar crumbling down killing everything in crystal dust. The few of us that survived were discovered by the Earthlings and taken into 'custody', I managed to escape but I could never go back to save my friends. I was weak and now I can change all that now." Noel placed a hand over his eyes and moved it through his hair, his silky locks flowing with his fingers, and dropped his arm to his side like a rock. He stood up to his full height, walked towards me and said to me in a very low and threatening voice,

"And I refuse to fight alongside someone of that world help us save our world and find your sister. Even if he does come with us, I'll kill him if something goes bad with him. Its the only way to stop an Earthling. Killing them and never show them mercy, they never showed my people any so why should I?" He walked towards the beach house and I followed after him. So that's why he hates Mel, but still what Lightning told me I believe he's different from the people Noel described. There must be something I can do to change his mind.

Mel's POV:

I watched Serah and Noel walk away to the beach and I remained with the NORA group but they all left me to do their own business, which was fine by me. By the time the two found Lightning's combat birthday knife and Snow's engagement necklace I'll be chilling here with the artifact waiting in Serahs room. But I didn't really take the time to relax, I grabbed my Com. Unit and dialed a number but the date on the monitor was nine years later, my unit was altered when I arrived, I wish I knew how but I decided to try out the newest feature, and I could make calls through time and space, from the time I am in connecting to another time entirely. I need to call someone who needs to know about our situation. A few minutes the phone stopped ringing and someone answered.

"Hello, Estheim residence." If I remember correctly it was Hope, nine years I the future.

"Hey, Hope. It's Mel, I'm back in Cocoon." I began, not really certain of how to talk to a friend I haven't seen in about a month, but the time here twelve years.

"Mel! Wow, its been ages. You sound the same... Not the point, how have you been? Holding up well? Its been a long time since I last talked to you." Hope said sounded overjoyed, it has been a long time. Hope sounded really mature, then again he is twenty-three years old anyways.

I tried to find the right words to say so I smiled on my end and tried to speak,

"I'm fine, Hope. Thanks... Listen, I have something to ask you, if its alright would you mind doing this favor for me, its urgent."

"Sure thing, anything for a friend. So, what do you need?" He asks on his end, shuffling could be heard on his side of the conversation.

"Has there been anything weird lately? Like things coming and going from out of nowhere such as people from different times, objects being someplace they weren't before or shouldn't be there, or monsters pop out of the blue for no reason?" I began, it was difficult trying to turn the paradoxes into a question when the concept was difficult to comprehend anyways. Hope was silent on his side and took a few minutes to answer,

"Yeah, things like that have been reported around Yaschas Massif, Bresha Ruins, and even Sunleth Waterscape. Somehow there have been strange occurrences appearing out of the blue with the increase of monsters mostly appearing in those area's. My dad's research and development squads haven't been receiving much success on retrieving data due to the increased population of monsters, PSICOM and the Guardian Core have been overwhelmed on several occasions due to the increase. However, thanks to my dad allowing me to analyse the information he collected, the monsters are staying in those area's only but the anomalies are slowly moving closer to the cities and should hit in several decades, basically years long after me and you are gone from this world. And next year I'll be studying and guarding the headquarters at Yaschas Massif, if you decide to drop by give me a buzz, okay? We could use all the help we can get." Hope says coolly, its good to know his good nature hasn't changed as much as his maturity.

"Thanks, Hope. Good to know you're working harder than the rest of Cocoon, yeah?" I said to him in a joking manner, he just sighs and laughs at the same time.

"Is there anything else you need? I have to go soon so I don't have long." My former L'cie companion says disappointed, I don't want to say goodbye either. I swallowed my sorrow and said,

"Yes, I have one more favor."

"What is it?" He asked, waiting for me to answer. I was hesitant but I just had to say it, for their sake.

"Protect Serah, protect Cocoon. This world can't die and we need Light back to save it, please. Do whatever you can to protect everyone, Hope. Like what your name means, 'Hope is home', your going to have to be the hope for your home world when there is no one else to keep it safe. Could you do that for me? For Lightning and everyone else's sake?" What I said, it was a huge burden to put on Hope but he was there when that incident happened in the game and he did manage to save everyone too, but still... Did I really have the authority to ask him to do this?

It was silent for a few minutes but standing there quiet made the minutes feel like hours and unbearable. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut but, as always, I blab too much when it doesn't count. Then the silence was broken.

"Of course, I'll do whatever it takes to protect Cocoon. I will do anything to keep Cocoon safe and make sure Lightning returns home safely... Well, I promise to do everything in my power to watch over the world until she comes back, I have a way to know for sure but when you come to visit I'll show you, and make sure you bring Serah too. And..." Hope was cut off by a sound of a door opening and a second voice.

"Hope?" I couldn't recognize the voice but I might have a clue to who that was, I could be wrong but I can only speculate so much.

"Yeah, Dad." Hope replied, it was quiet again then the sound of the door opening and closing could be heard, Hope sighed and returned to my call.

"Sorry, Mel. I gotta go, you promise to meet me at Yaschas Massif right? With Serah?" He says calmly but his voice could hint a bit of sadness, I'm not sure but maybe it would have been best to avoid bringing Lightning up but then again he does know what's going on anyways so it couldn't be avoided. Especially since I mentioned Serah and Light at the same time. I sighed heavily myself I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I promise. But it will take some time to meet you" I said on my end.

"Okay, I'll see you soon then." Then he hung up without giving me a chance to say goodbye. I believe he did that only because if I said goodbye back one of us wouldn't be able to uphold the promise we made to the other. With the conversation said and done I closed my Com. unit and walked towards the NORA house again, feeling heavier than ever now.

"Where's Serah and Noel?" I asked Lebreau upon arrival. It was just her in the house, plus me since I came by, so it was really quiet. The short haired woman looked up from behind the counter and waved me over and I complied.

"You're here early, lunch isn't finished yet." She began as she continued to clean meat in that pot with holes to release the oil or water falling in it.

"They were just here, Serah came out of her room with this weird floating thing in her hands, said it was an artifact. When I looked in her room there was a glowing mirror by her room then it vanished just when I blinked. When they left Noel said they would be back, had a few missions to do for the people around the town. Gadot and the others are doing their normal patrols so its only me here." She explains without leaving her eyes from preparing the food. I suddenly felt the urge to help so I put my weapons and my extra clothing on the couch, especially the 'fake skin' Claire gave me to hide my mechanical limbs, washed my only hand made of flesh and bone in the bathroom and went over to help out. Lebreau looked surprised that I was helping but she didn't really stop me, I'm a decent cook and I don't want to waste my time with extravagant accessories with food so I help out the best I can.

"Thanks, Kiddo. This is sort of the first time a boy wanted to help with the cooking, the guys from NORA like to make excuses not to help but it would be really appreciated if I had help, you know?" Lebreau said with a lone sigh, but she still smiled through the whole thing. Ten minutes passed and the table was being set up with fine china, much more fine than the ones I've seen on TV, and lunch was almost calling on the clock. When Lebreau was putting the utensils on the cloths I decided to look outside, when I did there was a huge dust cloud coming from the residential area which meant a fight began.

"Oh, man..." I said under my breath, I rushed to grab my sword and out the door stumbling over the steps and sand on my way out.

"What's going on now?" I said to myself as I rushed to the scene, I forgot my concealers for my arm and leg but this was a very urgent matter if Serah and Noel were involved.

Battle sequence engaged:

Serah and Noel finally found the medical kit one of the civilians asked for, when the pair retrieved the item a pulsework Champion appeared behind them. It cranked its limbs and craned its spinning gear of a neck in a circular motion, posing a dangerous threat to the two. Compared to last night this enemy might not be so powerful but much more difficult to harm with its metal.

"You ready?" Noel asked with a smirk. Serah nodded and her bow blade became a sword and she charged in first.

The champion spinned its neck and a gale of wind was produced around the machine in a several feet radius catching Serah in the attack. Noel saw the opportunity to strike when the wind died down, his blade struck the machine in the 'shoulder' letting sparks fly from the hit. As soon as the pinknette landed on her back with a heavy thud Serah switched her weapon to her bow and shot several arrows at the enemy. Seeing the attack in time the champion brought its arm in front of its face and defended against the volley of magic arrows aimed at its face, a risky move as the wound on its shoulder was left wide open. Noel, however, thought of a different plan and started to attack with fire magic at a safe distance to avoid the wind attack. The champion got back into its offensive stance and slowly marched its way to Serah, continuing to fire arrows though were deemed futile as the machine charged full speed, swinging its arm while it moved and knocked Serah in the side of the head sending her flying into the ground. A crater made upon impact. Noel had charged full throttle when the Pulse work targeted Serah, lifted his blade above his head and brought it down on the machines wounded arm to deepen the cut where the 'limb' was hanging by a 'tendril' spewing out oily 'blood'. Gears were shifting and changing when struck, the sound the machine made was belligerent. Slowly rising to her feet Serah tried to stabilize her breathing and stand firmly without passing out due to the blood running from her skull, small parts of her white clothing became stained with red. No option left the machine tried to run from the fight deeper into the residential area but was stopped by Noel with his larger blade pierced through its legs, restricting it from moving, and a shaky shot to the torso and head with a deafening blow. When the enemy had turned to ashes from being apart of the paradox effect Noel pulled an arm around Serah to guide the girl to the NORA house for treatment, it seemed like a short fight but the two do need to improve their skills in teamwork and individual development with training, which will soon be underway. Though help was required immediately for the injured Pinknette help already arrived.

"What happened? Holy crap, Serah you're bleeding badly!" Mel finally came along and met the pair half way where the bridge met the small cliff leading to the sandy beach below. As usual Noel scoffed and jerked his head in the other direction, his hostile attitude towards the teen remained strong, and Serah smiled when the teen arrived. Mel took Serah from Noel and sat her down gently to allow her to rest. Breathing becoming stable again Mel placed a gentle hand on the bloody wound and a brilliant green light appeared and stopped both the bleeding and healed the wound, no scar remained. When Mel stood up Serah followed and the younger team mate wlked towards the area of the gate Noel arrived in.

"Wait, where are you going? The NORA house is the other way. Lunch is ready by now." Serah said quickly as the teen continued to walk away. Mel, however, didn't look back.

"Meet me at the gate when your ready, but don't take too long, okay? But don't worry, take all the time you need to say goodbye." And the teen was out of sight. Noel didn't acknowledge the teen came and left and headed to the house with the pinknette following soon after.

The few hours Serah had spent with the NORA team felt like seconds than she could believe. However it was time as she, Noel and Mel stood before the gate leading to the historia crux. Sweat came down Serah's temple as she tried to swallow her fear, fear of never seeing her friends again but also afraid of what would happen if she didn't begin this journey set out before her. Serah, of course, didn't want to think of the outcomes and waited for one of her two friends to say something but they didn't. The NORA team watched from the crater finished saying goodbye, it was much more difficult to leave behind her home but this was her only chance to reunite with her sister and save the world from destruction. This was her mission and she will see it through.

Noel raised an arm with his palms facing the gate awakened the 'Passage of Time' as the orb within glowed golden and the energy was released from container. A hand was placed on Serah's shoulder, making the young woman wince and jump in surprise, when she looked it was only the teen staring at the gate with a rapturous look written on his face and a serious but phlegmatic look replaced the awe struck teen.

"You ready?" The teen asked awaiting and answer. Serah was speechless, was she ready? She wasn't prepared when she became a L'cie, what would make anyone prepared to travel through time and space, leaving everything they knew behind and entering someplace both familiar and alien? It was not an easy question to answer but Serah did the best she could.

"Not really but then again I have you, Noel and Mog with me when I need help. I'm not alone like I was three years ago so I'm as ready as anyone can be." Satisfied with that answer Serah smiled at the teen and the trio walked closer to the gate. When the three were close enough streams of light circled around them and lifted the three off of the ground and into the light. Turning around, waving quickly with tears rolling down her eyes Serah shouted as loud as she could to team NORA promising,

"I'll be back! Don't worry about anything, I'll be fine, I promise to come home!" And soon the three were gone and travelling through the time stream.

A/N: AGH! Man, this took a long time to write! I hate having a lot of stuff piling on my plate I feel like I'm about to drop everything and lose all of my hard work, this sucks. But, hey! At least we know why Noel hates Mel and got some action and reunions in. The next chapter with Atlas will be better I promise. Well, I got nothing more to say but this, please leave a comment, review, question, whatever hope this chapter was okay for you guys. If the chapters seem shorter or there are errors please don't hesitate to let me know and if there is something you all would want to see in future chapters, maybe something I didn't do in 'May I be lost or Reborn?" Please don't hesitate to ask or tell me I'll do my best to bring it into the later chapters(Must be blabbing again... Hehehe... Oh, well...) Anyways hope this was okay and hope to see you all laters, until next time, Ciao!