Whoo! Managed to update in nine days this time! Now...I wonder if anyone noticed I changed the genre to Adventure/Romance? As I continued writing this, I realized a lot more action would be happening rather than angst. For this chapter, some of that romance is finally present: Caius/Lightning! Mind you, it will be in the form of fighting. XD When don't they fight? Now reviews before I ramble on:

To the anonymous i: I'll just say I'm a lover of hints and foreshadowing. I wonder if you also got my other flower reference. Hmm...that one was more subtle.

Anyways, two Evanescence songs came to mind for this chapter: Bring Me to Life and My Immortal, just for the sake of drop of angst and romance. But I went more adventurous and symbolic by choosing the song that holds the position of my favorite: Inner Universe. I think it suits this chapter and story for quite a few reasons. Now, Chapter Four! Note: Square Enix holds the rights to this original story. Heck, if it were me, I'd sure as heck announce I'm making an FFXIII-3 ASAP. Other note: I feel bad that I'm making you Fang-lover wait two chapters. XD I promise you the next chapter will feature Noel and Fang. Oh, I am cruel sometimes...

Chapter Four: Dark Angel, Light Angel

Angels and demons were circling above me

Cleaving a path through thorns and milky ways

He who did not know happiness

Was the one who did not understand its call.

- Inner Universe, ORIGA

She didn't want to answer the voices, didn't want to heed them. She only wanted to fall deeper into her state of dormancy. It cushioned the agony, sheltered her from the world she desperately desired not to face. A world without Serah.

It had been her resolute mindset that serving as an epitaph would be her amends. Deep within, Lightning knew it was also a drastic means to alleviate the grief. But she could care less. Serah had asked that she remembered her. This was her proof, her timeless memorial, to that last request.

Serah, I'm so sorry.

One day, she would find her. One day, they would be reunited. One day…when she roused from her slumber. One day…

But today was not that day.

Voices urged her, beseeched her to awaken. They were swarming about and through her like an overwhelming torrent.

Help us, great warrior…

Oh majestic, crystalline queen, hear our plea. Rise from your frozen throne and end this darkness…

Great Etro may no longer hear our prayers. Please…hear them in her stead…

You must awaken, champion to Etro. Do you not hear these souls of the lost beseeching you?

That particular voice was unlike the others. It was strongest of them all, a gong resounding in her soul. And still Lightning disregarded them all, deafening herself. Why did they ask for her help? Why could they not leave her to the warm, consoling light of her slumber? Had she not done enough? Had she not already failed one mission already in guarding the goddess? Oh, she had felt the bell tolls in her crystal stasis, resonating throughout her core. But she could no longer aid her patroness, for she was gone. Etro was gone. She had failed everyone, it seemed.

She could not specify what exactly she waited for in her current state. Her chances of rescuing Serah from the embrace of death had only slimmed now that all had gone to hell. Perhaps she waited for an opportunity. Either way, the voices tried and tried again to pull her away from her solace, which caused her to only swathe herself deeper into it. The light was so warm and soothing like a womb. Cradled in the tranquil ambiance, it was the most she could attain to serenity. Let it banish those voices away…banish them back to that dark world of suffering and strife.

But then another voice joined the multitude. A voice she knew all too well. A voice that stirred something within her essence. The tantalizing promise the light offered for tranquility began to vanish. The womb gave birth to something very different: a smoldering hatred. Lightning cringed.

Damn that man.

Lightning had heard him before, that fateful moment when Etro passed, but she knew his words would only be spiteful. She refused to listen. But now he was joining those voices…those damned voices…

What did he want now? He had defeated her. What more could he want?

...I am aware that you have made of yourself an epitaph for your dear sister. But an epitaph is unnecessary for the living, which your sister may yet be. I know you are able to hear me through your crystal stasis, and so I come before you for an audience. I have a proposal for you, warrior goddess…

Anger tore at her, threatening to break her loosening hold on the light. In all its totality, she was not the true guilty party. He was. That man was the one at fault, the one who had ardently wished this all to come into being. As though she would ever listen to a proposal from him. Still, she listened, begrudging the attention she paid him.

We are both in need, his irritatingly intense voice stated, both seeking ones highly cherished. Alone, you and I are unable to put our individual tasks into fruition. But perhaps in collaboration…

The implication was enough to incite her ire all the more. How dare he think she would ever collaborate with him! Oh, she would wake for him…only to hack him to pieces. Only to vent her grief upon that detestable man.

Lightning screamed, riving the womb of light to insignificant fragments.

Caius was not expecting his plan to be facile. He was fully aware of the ordeal he would have to undergo to persuade the female warrior to temporarily cast aside their hostilities. And so moments before, he had mustered what he could from his diminished power, chaos surging along his arm. It had wavered and contorted until it assumed the desired shape. When the energy dissipated, another Bahamut sword gleamed beneath it. Except for appearance, it definitely was not a thorough replica, but it would have to suffice.

He really had been given few alternatives, and the other ones were far more distasteful than this. But to seek the aid of an opponent...particularly her…

"We are both in need, both seeking ones highly cherished," he said. "Alone, you and I are unable to put our individual tasks into fruition. But perhaps in collaboration..."

He waited, observing the stationary warrior. Caius was certain she heard his words. He was not, however, certain of her reply.

A flash came from the throne. It was not the play of light from the crystal's facets. Before Caius could react, light abruptly filled his vision. He heard the faint sound of cracks. He groped for his weapon, bracing himself. It appeared he would be successful in rousing the dormant queen, after all.

"Caius Ballad!"

He had to admit, prepared though he was, he had not anticipated the intensity of her fury. Even as the light finished blinding him, the blue-eyed warrior lunged at him before he could so much as blink, sword raised in the air and ready to deliver a mortal blow. He barely had a single moment to lift his own weapon in defense before their blades fiercely clashed, the ensuing ring strident as a broken bell.

Their faces and bodies close, they appraised the other in that brief moment of their intertwined blades. Eyebrows furrowed from exertion to overpower her opponent, her lips twisted in revulsion and concentration. Hatred flared in those cerulean eyes, a hatred he knew was directed at him. That much told him what she thought of her appraisal of him. It was almost remarkable, the depth of that emotion she bore for him. But he had detected another emotion well hidden behind it, an emotion that fueled her hatred.

She could never have veiled it from him, even in that brief instant. He knew that sentiment all too well, practically lived with it. And he would have to exploit it to sway her.

"Listen to me, Lightning—" he began.

"I'll listen to your last breath, you bastard," she hissed venomously, breaking the union of their swords and lashing out at him. Caius parried by meeting the blade with his own. She was weaker. Her patroness dead, no doubt she had lost some of her original power. Not to mention she had just awoken from a crystal stasis. Still, it was to his benefit: he was weaker as well.

Still, Caius couldn't suppress a smirk. Regardless of the circumstances, they always greeted each other with their blades. It seemed to be their ritual.

She must have misinterpreted his smirk, because before he knew it, Lightning took advantage of his momentarily distracted mind to drive her free hand into his armored chest and blast him with…well, lightning. He was thrown into the air, his body jolting to the energy's assault. The afterimages of lights muddled his vision.

When his sight cleared and his body ceased its spasms, he saw that she had launched herself from the ground, leaving a trail of feathers in her wake. Caius was ready for her. The violet glow of chaos undulated on his blade. It annoyed him that the power was not as potent as he would have liked.

They clashed swords once again. She grunted, executing a ruthlessly consecutive series of strikes, her blade flashing dangerously to the rapid movements. He parried them all, which seemed to further aggravate her.

"This is needlessly repetitive, Lightning," he murmured close to her ear during their exchange of blows; they were that near the other. "We both know fully well that neither of us will best the other. We nullify the other."

"Shut it. You just enjoy hearing yourself talk, Caius."

Their swords continued their dance, the chaos flowing along his blade flaring each time it came close to her flesh. Caius skillfully feinted a strike to her right shoulder, and when she raised her blade to meet it, he delivered a blow to her lower abdomen.

However, she was apparently used to his ploys. Lightning quickly adjusted her sword to deflect the blow. Still, her stance had faltered as a price, and Caius leapt at the opportunity. Making use of his superior strength, he drove her to a stone wall of one ofValhalla's structures. She slammed into it, granules of stone crumbling off at the impact. He vaguely wondered whether or not the crack he heard was the stone or her bones.

Lightning viciously tried to escape her vulnerable position, but Caius pinned her to the wall with his body, their blades the only objects preventing him from closing the minuscule distance between them.

"Let—me—go," she growled between slightly labored breaths, glaring at him.

"You must first agree to hear my appeal."

"Why would I ever—believe you would—make a deal with me?"

"Perhaps if you listened to my proposition, you may answer your question," Caius evenly replied, his breath catching at moments as he fought with her to maintain this position. "I can be reasonable should a situation demand it. So should you also be. Nothing shall be accomplished exercising your grief upon me."

Despite her situation, she managed a small, grim laugh. "You. The one who made the world go to hell!" At the last word, the woman seemed to have found a drive to resist him with. Her blade now fiercely pressed against his own in the more ardent attempt to push him off.

They struggled in that manner for several seconds. Unable to extricate herself or her blade, the warrior did something else. Having him diverted with their struggle of blades, Lightning managed to disentangle her leg from his and roughly kicked his shin. His slight falter was all she needed. She pounced on him, thrusting him all the way back to earth. He landed on his back with a solid thud.

Her hand tightly grasped his neck, the tip of her sword at his throat as those sea-blue eyes assessed his face. This reversed position somewhat startled him. Her legs now fastened his in place. Only his arms were free. But he knew a single movement would provoke her blade. And so he—very reluctantly—relaxed his sword arm, allowing his sword to fall from his grip and conveying his surrender.

Seeing this, hesitancy flitted across those eyes. Her steely gaze returned to him. "What game are you playing at?" she asked harshly.

"The game that will win your audience, which I fear I am losing…what with such an uncompromising position."

She seemed to notice then that she was straddling him. To a fractional extent, her firm hold on him relaxed. "Let's see if your talkative mouth manages to convince me not to slit your throat here and now."

"I can help you retrieve your sister from the realm of the dead," Caius stated without delay before she changed her mind.

"So you said when I was in the crystal," said Lightning, "But you have no proof you can."

"Am I in need of it? You have seen what I can do."

Her eyes searched his, rosy brown hair nearly brushing against his cheek. "If you had the power, you would have used it to save that girl long time ago."

That girl meaning Yeul. His heart twisted painfully at the thought of her, but he did not express it in the slightest. "Then you truly were oblivious to this new reality in the duration of your slumber. Chaos has taken over. That much is true. But forces are preventing it from utterly conquering the realm of the living." Forces he now knew the nature of. "Therefore, the realm of the dead and living have collided. I can tread between both in this state." It wasn't a lie. He might have been stripped of a considerable portion of his power due to the loss of his sword, but Caius was still capable of the statement. He didn't need to attempt it to know he still possessed the ability.

"And in return?" Lightning questioned, although her face betrayed that she had an inkling.

"You must aid me in rescuing Yeul from her captors."

"Aid you? Where exactly was she taken?"

"The Coliseum, most likely. The Arbiter of Time has taken her prisoner," Caius replied.

Her mouth quirked in confusion. "The Arbiter of Time? What for?" she asked.

"He has not been very pleasant ever since the goddess's death."

Her expression clearly conveyed that the answer was dissatisfactory. Still, the goddess's warrior continued to question him, "And why would you need my help?"

He had been anticipating this question. "I found myself in an unfortunate situation. I am…unable to perform abilities I had previously possessed," he explained.

"Hmph. All this time I thought you were obsessed with protecting her. You had everything when you succeeded in overwhelming the world in chaos, and you still managed to lose something." Nonetheless, her hold on him lessened further.

Caius grunted. "Surely you would understand my desperation? You also hold one dear that is in need of rescuing. However, your dearly beloved is much more difficult to reclaim. I offer you an excellent bargain."

"I don't trust you, you insane bastard."

"A wise decision. I would not expect you to."

Lightning regarded him wordlessly for a long moment. After what felt an eternity, she finally released him, withdrawing her sword and extricating herself from him. Caius slowly stood up, retrieving his sword from the ground in the same manner to not upset her. She watched him like a hawk, her grip still firm on her sword.

"Bargain struck, Caius. I still don't trust you. So I have a condition," she said. He almost smiled. He could tell by her expression that the idea of bargaining with him still revolted her.

"And what would that be?" he asked in a smooth voice.

"You asked for my aid, Caius Ballad. You'll have to hold your end of the bargain first. You will lead me to my sister. Then I'll help you rescue your precious seeress."

Well…that certainly irked him slightly. This woman making conditions as though she had control over the situation—which she unfortunately did, but he would not admit that. Still, he had to give her credit—she was smart to hold that over him, and know that he was desperate enough to consent to her condition. Now he really would be obligated to hold his end of the bargain. And that fact irked but secretly pleased him. He was loath to admit it, but he had to admire that distrustful quality of hers. It would help her survive this "hell", as she put it.

Caius performed his signature smirk in spite of himself. "Condition met."

I've noticed I'm a late writer. I finished writing this at three in the morning this round. XD Ah, silly, silly me to deprive myself of sleep for your sakes...and I did this instead of writing my novel! Look what I do for you! :D It would be a very nice thank-you to leave a review! It's said that reviewing makes authors the happiest people on earth.