*Smiles innocently* So...while I was brainstorming on my novel, my thoughts started wandering to this. Then I read a little into the FFXIII-2 universe and then...inspiration struck! It was mostly because a plot like this is right up my alley and creativity just spawns out of nowhere. :) Thankfully I really don't get writer's block. So then I was possessed and my fingers just started typing on their own. Teehee...I'm still accepting ideas, nonetheless. New ideas never hurt...but let me stop talking. Without further ado, I present chapter one! (Note: I must reiterate that the original story belongs to Square Enix. I'm just the person continuing it in my own twisted way.)

Chapter One: Atonement

He was first aware of the blackness.

He was enveloped in it, unable to perceive anything. And a hunter like himself found this a great cause of worry. If he couldn't rely on his perception, how could he sense an imminent threat?

Don't panic, Noel told himself. Whatever you do, you can't panic. Such an emotion was needless for hunters. He inhaled slowly. That alone was how he managed to survive in that forsaken future he was born into, how he managed to keep sane in his total solitude. How was this situation any different?

Well, he didn't know where he was…or how he had come to be here. How did he get here?

It struck him like an unseen predator from the shadows. Sheer cold rushed throughout him, banishing the numbness.

Serah is dead. Serah is dead. Serah is dead…

It was like a broken recorder urgently trying to capture someone's attention by replaying the same part of a song. Great goddess, could he protect anyone? What made it worse was the fact that this truth alone shattered him, and yet there was an incident that dwarfed it into insignificance. Noel grimaced, unable to even wrap his mind around what he had done. How could he call himself a Guardian when he could not even protect the universe? He was clearly a jinx to anything he tried or wanted to protect. Why did he live on?

Serah...why did she smile before she died? What was so happy about her death? Had she been content to die now that she saw a glimpse of a new, optimistic world? And that was right before it all fell to—

"What have I done?" he whispered into the dark. The burden was unbearable. He wanted to vanish into this abyss, vanish forever...

You have killed Etro.

Icy needles prickled down his spine, snapping him out of his misery. He definitely was not expecting a reply. That voice came from nowhere but everywhere simultaneously. Did this place have dimension? Noel hastily groped for his sword, and the icy sensation intensified when he realized his weapons weren't there. Where were they? Did he even have clothes on? It was hard to distinguish such material details.

An eerie notion occurred to him. Was this… was he just a soul now, doomed to wander this abyssal realm forever? But he sure as hell deserved it. He deserved every punishment for the sin he committed—even if it was done inadvertently, even if he was technically not at fault. He still had partaken of it. Noel sank to his knees, his throat constricting.

"This is the Unseen Realm then…" Noel finally uttered softly when he was able to speak. His tone was devoid of feeling. Maybe he could see Serah here...unless the chaos had destroyed everything. The numbness was returning into his bones, offering reprieve from the reality he desperately desired not to face. "Who are you? A spirit of this Realm?"

This is a middle dimension, a limbo, as you would associate Valhalla with. You are weighed unspeakably by the burden of your sin.

He performed a dark laugh. "Is it that obvious?" Noel vaguely wondered how the voice could even see him.

The negativity of your thoughts is utterly palpable in this middle realm. If it was within your power, you would be wholly willing to do anything to reverse what has been done.

So this being...it knew his current predicament. It knew the entire predicament. "But nothing can be done," Noel muttered, his tone taking the color of bitterness. "It's too late to change anything."

So uttered from the mouth of a time-traveler.

He paused. "And what's that supposed to mean? What the hell do you think can change what I've done?" Noel demanded angrily.

Atone for your sin.

He gritted his teeth. "And how am I supposed to do that? You said so yourself: it's not within my power."

No…but it is within mine.

It took Noel a whole three seconds to fathom what had been said to him. He held a breath, speechless for a brief moment. "...What?" he asked so faintly that he wondered if it had been audible.

Apparently it had been. Ah…your negative energy has altered. I sense a frail hope in your mortal soul.

"How…what…?"

You are a time-traveler. You know what a paradox is. What is this other than the ultimate paradox? This is why I come to you, along with the fact that you have caused this catastrophe and near apocalypse.

Against his better judgment, the hope the voice had detected blossomed a little more within him, a teasing promise to lift this unimaginable burden from his chest. Noel could hardly form his words. "The world…are you saying it hasn't been taken over by the chaos of the Unseen Realm? But...I saw it happen myself."

It is and it is not.

"I don't understand."

Time itself has dissolved. Chaos has consumed that much. Life and death are in a very fragile balance, a balance we are struggling to uphold. The Unseen Realm has collided with the Visible Realm. That is unchangeable. But we are sustaining the order of the Visible Realm as long as we are able. Chaos is conflicting with it, unbinding the order on which it was created. The takeover of chaos in the realm of the living is a process, a process we are attempting to inhibit.

"Who's we?" Noel asked, his curiosity aroused through the grief.

Instead of answering, the speaker said, Chaos follows whims, not laws. And now that energy is loosed upon your realm. When you return, you will see what a portion of the chaotic energy of the Unseen Realm can do to the world of the living. You will see why the two realms do not interact with the other. If you do not act swiftly, all this exertion would have been for naught.

"What do you want me to do? What can I do?"

Discontinue the cycle.

"What?" Why was this voice hopelessly making no sense?

You must…or it will begin anew. It is imperative you find the other agent, it told him.

His mind was muddled in confusion. "You've lost me…again."

The other who caused this pandemonium. The one who committed his crime deliberately.

It took him a moment to understand. "…you mean Caius?"

Yes. Seek him. You two partook of this sin, and it is you two alone who can atone for it.

Noel groaned in frustration. This was too much. This entity obviously was lost in its own plans, harshly leaving him in the dark. "This can't possibly be set straight! Caius would never help me! He wanted this to happen!" he yelled.

Do you feel remorse? it asked.

The question took Noel unexpectedly. What exactly did this entity want from him? "…Of course I do," he murmured lowly. He had been so overcome by the sentiment that he had momentarily given up all hope.

Then seek out the other who does not feel as you do. Convert him to that emotion, and together undo this wrong.

"But that's just it. You haven't said how I can do that."

Noel thought he heard a soft laugh. Step by step, boy…revelation will come in increments. In your current state, I could not possibly enlighten you fully. Presently, I will give you this one simple task: seek the perpetrator. At the moment, it is not important for you to understand this entire scenario. When next we meet, I may enlighten you further.

"And how exactly will we meet again?" Noel asked. Or how, for that matter, were they meeting now?

I temporarily extracted you from your realm and brought you here. Although now…I suppose this space is part of your world now. Chaos is undoing everything, it seems.

A painful pang in his chest reminded him then. "Wait…what about Serah?"

Serah?

"The…the girl I was with. The one who helped me travel across time." The girl who died before his eyes, smiling as if everything would continue happily.

Ah…the one who saw visions. She is part of the Unseen Realm now, boy. Do not be tempted to go in after her. The being had a harsh tone when it said this.

Still, a dark hope rose in him. If the Unseen Realm was colliding with the Visible World, then maybe—

You must not. It occurred to him then that the voice could hear his thoughts as well. The balance is frail as it is. You, a living soul, following her into the realm of the dead is unspeakable. Stray not from your task.

Grief fueled his rage. "How can you tell me that?" Noel growled. "I have to bring her back. I don't care what you say. I have to—"

Because seeking the girl is a deterrent. The balance between the two realms is waning, and what time that stills exists is running out.

This entity was not worth talking to. He wanted to get out of here. If he could still somehow save Serah…

I am not your enemy. Let the dead rest. These are the ends of times. What you want is a deviation from the path you must take. But enough. You must go. You will see soon enough that you must do as I have instructed. There was a subtle hard edge in its voice, an edge that told Noel it would be unwise to disobey the being's command.

"Fine." He knew there was no arguing with this entity on that subject. "But you can't just leave me hanging like this," Noel protested. "I still don't understand one thing." He didn't really understand a lot, and now the mysterious entity had him frustrated.

Ah…my identity? The voice sounded mildly amused.

"Are you a fal'Cie?" he asked.

No.

"Then—what—or who are you?"

There it was. That soft, muffled laughter. Noel realized then that the darkness was fading. It was dissolving into hues and colors, shapes beginning to take definition. Light. He was returning to the living realm.

Before the abyssal realm relinquished its hold, he heard the voice say, Bear in mind that there are other gods beside Etro.

That's it for Chapter One. Gosh...this is my first ever continued fanfic. Aww...I have to be committed now. :( Heehee I'm joking...I'll update when I can. But like any writer, I get motivated by reviews!

Ah...and to respond to my first two reviews: Challenge accepted. *Smiles wickedly*