Yes, I'm back, in better spirits now that I've somewhat accomplished the things I wanted. I apologize for the scare I may or may not have caused. Honestly, I was in a meh mood with a million things to do, that hectic state in life we all get. And I actually put this story as a higher priority despite all that. But the lack of activity review-wise made me feel I was investing that time for no reason, and...you get the picture.

Anyways, the hits at least tell me I have an audience. As much as reviews elates and drives me, I suppose I'll have to find some alternate mojo juice to run on, because I won't abandon this story. Yes, my writer's morals to see a story to the end got the better of me. I probably won't update as often, though. (Which wasn't very often to begin with, haha ^_^' I'm sorry...) But let me stop babbling and thank the ones who reviewed and didn't want this story to go away. I didn't either. XD Anyways, I'm making up for my hiatus with a nicely lengthy chapter. As promised, this chapter features Noel and Fang, and will take a detour to our dark couple...

Note: With obligatory repetition, this game belongs to Square Enix and I am only expanding on this plot as I please.

Chapter Five: Chaotic Spiderweb

Even with my trembling arms

I want to protect someone dear to me

The place my thought that progressed

Up to now struggles on to see hopes

Even in a black, confined world

- Kuroi Torikago, Kanon Wakeshima

"You all right?" Fang asked behind him, out of breath.

He twirled his dual swords in the air with a flourish before resheathing them. He was breathing as hard as her. Without looking back at her, Noel replied, "Are we gonna keep encountering these guys every two steps?"

"Now you know what I meant when I said they've been pissing me off lately."

They appraised the results of their most recent battle. A platoon of the Arbiter's Guards lay lifeless on the earth, their golden armor torn apart where their weapons had found vulnerable points, pieces of gore dangling. Pools of blood had already collected about the corpses, and the parched earth was performing a speedy job at drinking them up.

It had been a swift chain of events from the point of Fang's introduction. Noel hadn't possessed the time to converse with Fang, because almost immediately after dealing with the Arbiter's guards, predators were drawn at the scent of blood. They materialized out of nowhere—most likely the work of chaos—behemoths, uridummus, and silver lobos charging in, wyverns swooping in from the sky with shrill cries.

Riding Bahamut, Fang had taken care of the wyverns. That had left Noel with the earthen beasts. That round he had not gone unscathed as in his two prior battles—between the silver lobos and the greater behemoths, he had had a fair share of gashes on his person. When Fang was faring well on her own, Bahamut would dive in like a deadly shadow and carry away one of the beasts in its talons, skewering it. Eventually Fang did join him in his ground battle, healing the wounds he hadn't been able to tend to in the intervals of battle, and by the time it was over, he had expended a lot of magic and energy.

Then came the Guards. It had been one battle after another. One enemy had been drawn to blood, the other drawn to potential recruits. Already fatigued, at Fang's beckon, Noel had jumped on Bahamut and they had flown off. They had known they couldn't escape the Guards, but they had to escape from the field of carnage before it invited more company.

"We better go before we get another party," Fang said, surveying the area. "I don't need to tell you it's not safe here."

"No kidding. But where can we go? I know this place, and it's endless flat land. There's no place to go," Noel replied.

She cast him an odd look. "Where have you been?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

But Fang only shook her head. "Obviously you're new here. I'll explain while we're on Bahamut. Let's go."

He looked at her in confusion, but complied. Fang nimbly mounted the winged beast first, Noel quick to follow, seating himself behind her.

"Hold on," she said, and Bahamut took flight.

The opposing wind whipped at his face, tousling his dark hair into complete disarray. Still, the rushing air was a welcome change to the stillness of the barren landscape below.

"Looks like you haven't gone exploring," Fang shouted to him over the whistling winds.

"Yeah, well, I've been stuck in some sort of limbo. How long has the world been like this?" he asked her.

"Dunno. Hard to tell when there's no such thing as day or night anymore. The sun or moon never shows up. It's just this dark gray sky everywhere, no matter where you go."

"Like Valhalla…" Noel muttered.

"That's right," she said, her dark hair practically flying in his face. Noel couldn't find a position to avoid it without falling off, so he was eventually forced to bear it. So preoccupied had he been in seeking comfort that he almost missed when Fang said, "We'll be there soon."

"Where's that?"

"The distortion."

It took a brief moment for Noel to comprehend what this meant. "They still exist?" he asked.

"Just like the sky, they're basically everywhere. You just got to know which one's the right one to jump in."

"Why's that?"

"They lead to different levels. This landscape you see here—the whole world's not like this. This is just one level of it, one layer. Thanks to Bahamut here, I know how to navigate my way through them." As if perceiving his bewilderment, she explained without glancing back, "The Unseen World and our world are mashed up together. The universe now is kind of like a really tangled spiderweb. The deeper you fall into it, the more knots you'll encounter—knots being chaos. The farther you go from the center, the fewer tangles you're gonna get. That's what we call layers. The higher the layer, the less chaotic effects."

A specific word caught his attention. "And who's we? Your Eidolon here?"

"Bahamut? Nah. I'm talking about Vanille and Sazh. We've been working to get a layout of the place, to find you, Hope, and Lightning, and somehow find a way to fix all this. "

"Any luck?" he asked with small hope.

"Tch. Those gray clouds up there ought to answer your question," she answered in grim amusement.

"So how'd you guys find each other?" asked Noel.

"As Lady Luck would have it, me and Vanille were stuck in the same layer," Fang responded. "We eventually found Sazh trying to find his son." A hint of bitterness crept into her voice as she lowly added, "He's always losing that kid."

"So where is Sazh and Vanille? Se…I thought you were always with Vanille."

Fang cast him an oblique glance, as though she knew the reason behind his slight stutter. Noel wouldn't put it past her. Not much appeared to escape her. Strands of dark brown hair flitting about her face, she shortly replied, "I never like to leave Vanille's side. But Sazh is with her, and he's family to me, too. And they're both in a place where I know she's safe from this hellhole."

"A higher layer?" he guessed.

"Nope. Even the highest layers are partially affected by chaos. There're only two places I know of that aren't under the spell of chaos, and only one of them is safe. One is the Coliseum, and that sure as hell is the last place anyone wants to go. The other place is—"

He knew it before she said it. "Serendipity."

"That's right. The last haven. All kinds of souls are desperate to get there to save their hides. But it's crowded like hell there, and the owner's closing the gates on them. Only reason Sazh and Vanille got through was because Sazh and the owner know each other."

Bahamut loosed a roar and lowered his altitude, sharply veering to the right. Noel performed a chuckle devoid of mirth. "Kind of ironic that a pleasure palace has turned into a refugee camp."

Fang grunted. "Pretty much."

"Have you been to Valhalla to check up on Lightning?" he asked her.

"Like I said, we're looking for her. As much as I've been hopping through these distortions, I can't get to Valhalla. Valhalla's the center of all of it, the center of the spiderweb. Other than finding Lightning, I doubt getting there will do much. The goddess is already dead."

A pang of guilt abruptly stabbed its way through his hollow core. As if sensing it, Fang added while directing her stare at him, "It's not your fault."

His downcast gaze did not meet hers. A muscle in his jaw twitched. "You know it is," he answered softly but steely.

"No, it's not. You didn't want or planned this. That bastard did." She cast her eyes back down upon the landscape. "But we'll fix this. And he'll pay for all the damned trouble he's caused. Finding him is our best bet. Him or Hope. And we have no idea where the hell both of them are. Hope up and disappeared like you."

Seek the perpetrator. He vaguely wondered for a moment if that being had the power to speak through others. "I…I think there's something I can do. Caius is our best bet."

Fang looked at him in mild surprise. "You? No offense, but you looked like a babe that's just been born in a world that'll devour you alive. You looked pretty lost."

"I was, because I had no idea where I was."

"That's right…you said you were stuck in some sort of limbo?"

"Some…thing took me there right after the chaos took over. I had a long talk with it before it let me go. It gave me advice on how to stop the chaos."

"Interesting. You'll have to give me the details later." She nodded at the column of golden light in the distance. "We're here."

It had been less than an hour. Forty-eight minutes, to be precise. And already they were having their first argument. In all truth, Caius was surprised it hadn't happened sooner, or that they hadn't been at each others' necks already. The only factors that explained this was their initial silence between the other and their temporary and reluctant truce.

Lightning had practically refused to acknowledge him after he took them out of Valhalla. Wariness had flitted across her countenance as he offered her his hand, but she had taken it nonetheless, if gingerly. Chaos had enwrapped them both and had transported them into another middle world. It was a fissure wrought of chaotic energy cleaving a path between the merging realms, a back-alley method that saved them time from hopping layers. Still, they were in a precarious position. Walking a path between colliding realms was almost like walking through closing walls that erratically narrowed the space between the other.

But Caius was far more than accustomed traveling through chaos, able to anticipate such unpredictability. Chaos itself was a volatile variable, and he had mastered it.

They had spoken not a word to the other since they had struck their bargain. Lightning had kept her face completely blank after her quick expression of distrust. The only sound from her had been the chinking of her armor beside him.

And it had increasingly irked him. He didn't know why her refusal to speak to him had bothered him so. It should have pleased him if anything. But he supposed it had been her stoic face, her deliberate silence, as though she had conjured up the path of chaos. As though she was currently the one at an advantage. They were traveling through his element, and it would have been so effortless to just abandon her there, letting her be crushed by the colliding realms. With his increasing anger, he had been quite tempted to do just that.

Then came the point that he could no longer bear the silence. Caius spun around to face her, the hint of a scowl on his face. "I earnestly hope you realize," he said with a harsh undertone, "that you are at quite a disadvantage."

She was unfazed. "What's your point?"

His jaw tightened. "Your lack of gratitude is astounding."

Her expression darkened. "Gratitude?" she asked in a dangerously low tone, taking a step towards him. "You think I should be thankful you're sparing my life right now? When I spared your pathetic self back in Valhalla? You're one to speak of gratitude when I decided to listen to your obnoxious voice instead of cutting your throat and silencing it forever."

"My deepest thanks," he replied in a voice dripping with sarcasm. Caius tilted his head at her. "Whereas I awakened you from your willed slumber..."

"That wasn't exactly a favor."

"…and additionally sacrificed much in accepting your condition. I know you realized my desperation to save Yeul, and you cunningly exploited it." Just as he had exploited her grief. "I was desperate enough to turn to you for lack of time to find more suitable partners. And I am wasting such time aiding you in saving your precious sister." When Yeul could be suffering a terrible fate at this very moment. It was a wonder the very thought hadn't maddened him.

"If I hadn't made the condition, you never would have held out on your end of the bargain, Caius," she said menacingly.

"That may be true. But it appears to me that with this condition, I may as well have sought out another's aid." If he had looked for his previous apprentice, their interests would have been mutual. They both cared about her.

"Yet you still decided to accept it."

"Yes, and it strikes me now that finding your sister may be potentially more arduous than I realized."

"And why's that?" she asked, with a slight hint of lingering aggravation.

Caius studied her for a moment before replying, "Valhalla has unleashed more than chaos. It has unleashed creatures from the Unseen World, creatures you could only imagine the nature of."

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

"It was unintentional if it did."

The indignation left her face to a fractional extent. "You wanted my help, Caius. This is the only way I'll ever help you," she said. He couldn't help but notice her words held less menace than before.

"So I've realized." He looked away from her then, focusing his gaze on the walls of undulating chaotic energy, muddled images of the two realms occasionally flickering in their shadowy depths. He lowly said, "You are not the only one who torturously agonizes over the loss of one held dear."

To his surprise, she did not respond. Silence reigned once again. Rather than finding it aggravating, this time Caius felt quite vacant of emotion. His anger had subsided, ebbing away to leave a residue of cold numbness. She wouldn't have seen that change of emotion, however. He kept his face a mask from her.

"Well…then we better continue looking for her instead of bickering, shouldn't we?" Lightning responded at last. He wordlessly raised his eyes to her. "The faster we find my sister Serah, the quicker I'll help you and be out of your presence. It's beneficial for the both of us."

Caius held her under the cool scrutiny of those violet eyes. By her face he knew it was unwanted, but he did not relent. Those arms were crossed stubbornly, her hardened blue eyes like steel, her body still tense as if aching to lunge at him. But her stance did not fool him.

"Very well," was his reply when he had finished. "The path's end is not far up ahead."

It was better, he decided, that he walked in front of her all this time. As much as she had attempted to veil it, he had caught something in her tone from before. It was so subtle—what he had caught—that Caius was not sure he had discerned it correctly.

Still, he was fairly sure he had heard the slightest hint of sympathy. He did not think even she had been totally aware of it.

And if Lightning had walked beside him, she would have seen his wry amusement at the notion of her empathizing with him.

"It's survival of the fittest in this place. The golden rule of Valhalla goes: the weak serve the strong. You haven't seen a bit of what kind of creatures the chaos brought with it. Any weak soul has only two outcomes in this new reality: serving their conqueror or being rounded to the Coliseum for idle sport—if they're lucky, they're held hostage as a prize to winners, which still isn't so lucky," Fang explained to him.

Fang and Noel were lounged around the campfire, resting their sore muscles. Bahamut's otherworldly instincts had served them well: the layer they had entered Fang confirmed to be a higher one. That much was clear to him by the lush grass blanketing the earth and a lightening in the atmosphere. The ash sky didn't seem as oppressive.

"Survival of the fittest…" Noel repeated to himself, lying on his back, one arm propping his head. He craned his head at her. "So why go all by yourself? If the chaos made the world a battleground, wouldn't it be easier with allies like Vanille and Sazh?"

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to get lost or separated here," she said in response, fishing through her bags. "Everything I've learned has been through trial and error. And if it wasn't because I was used to living on Pulse, I probably would've been killed by now. One of us had to go and map out the place while the other two stayed in Serendipity to get information from other people taking refuge there. Sazh and Vanille agreed I was the most self-sufficient out of all three of us."

"So that's how you found out about all this layer stuff," Noel said thoughtfully.

"That's right." She took out a small bundle from her pack and held it out to him. "Here. Dried behemoth strips. It'll do you good."

He took it from her. "Thanks."

They ate without an exchange of words for a while. Behemoth meat was tough eating, and so it made easy musing as he chewed, staring into the fire's bright depths. Firewood popped and the flames crackled in satisfaction.

Then he heard Fang say, "You fight good, kid. And that's not something I say lightly. It takes a lot to catch up with me, but you're a reliable partner, I'll admit."

The compliment was bittersweet to him. Her use of the word partner conjured up unwanted memories. "Thanks, Fang. You fight pretty good yourself." To get his mind off those thoughts, Noel continued, "You said those things back there…were the Arbiter's Guards, and that they're rounding people up for the Coliseum." Fang gave him a sidelong glance, as if waiting for him to illustrate his point. He added, "The way you're making it sound, it sounds like the Coliseum's just as bad as being alone out here to fend for yourself."

"You may as well be. I went looking for the whole original gang, Noel…Snow included. I didn't know you, but Sazh told me you might be able to help. I found Snow at the Coliseum, and I saw what it was like. They do two things there: battles and sports. One is for the fiercest competitors to battle each other, and the other one…the other one they 'recruit' any unfortunate soul to battle one of the fierce competitors. The sport is to see how long they can survive, which usually isn't past the first round."

"Seriously?" he asked in astonishment. Fang nodded. "Last time I checked, the Arbiter wasn't a terrible guy. He recruited creatures who wanted to participate, not for outright murder."

"Snow said something similar." She chewed on her meat strip before continuing, "That 'hero' got the idea in his head to somehow save the Coliseum's prisoners, so he stayed behind while I left. But he told me everything changed when the goddess died. The Arbiter was her faithful servant, and I guess her death took a toll on him. He went berserk, rallying his Guards and commanding them to recruit every pitiful soul out there—living or dead, willing or unwilling." Her brown eyes met his. "You ask me, don't ever tell him you were part of Caius's plan to kill Etro."

Noel laid his head back on his arm, quiet. He closed his eyes and sighed, willing it all to be a fabrication of his imagination—and wishing when he opened his eyes, she would be there. She would ask if he was okay. She would explain that he'd been knocked out by Caius's magic back in Valhalla, but they had managed to defeat him. No chaos had been let loose upon the universe. No death had occurred that would still rip at his core when he replayed it in his head.

"You really miss her, don't you?"

There was no need for elaboration on Fang's part. He opened his eyes, staring into the dismal sky. "Tell me what you would do if you failed to protect Vanille. You thought she was safe back in Serendipity, and you found out too late that the Arbiter's Guards ransacked it and took her to the Coliseum to die."

There was no hesitation. "I'd save her and tear that place apart."

"What if you were too late?"

Her gaze hardened. "I'd still tear that place apart. And I'll knock some sense back into the Arbiter's head before I kill him."

Noel released a deep sigh. "So you take it out on her killers. Heh…I don't have anyone to take it out on," he whispered. He watched as sparks flew out of the flames, settling onto the earth before their glow was extinguished. "I doubt it'd do me much good, anyway."

"You got Caius."

"Yeah, but what can I do against him now? He's got his chaos everywhere. Besides, it looks like we'll need him."

"Right…you got some explaining to do."

He told Fang about his encounter with the mysterious entity, not leaving out a single detail in case she might figure something he couldn't. Fang listened to his every word, mulling over each one as she contemplated the ground. When he had finished, she said, "It was definitely telling the truth on one thing: You do need to find Caius. 'Specially if you two hold the power to reverse this."

"Do you think it really was a god?" Noel asked.

Fang shrugged. "Beats me. I wasn't there. Did it sound like a guy or girl?"

He thought about it. "That's hard to tell. When I was there in that…place, everything was kind of disconcerting. So I'm not sure."

"Well…that being gave us a lead on something. Caius is our best hope in fixing this mess," Fang said.

Noel was unresponsive for a moment. He felt her eyes on him, waiting. Then he murmured, "I need to find Serah."

Fang let out a breath. "We can search for her, too—search for them both. It won't be easy, Noel—she's somewhere in the realm of death. And we have a hell lot of people to look for as it is."

"I don't care. If there's one good thing about this damn chaos everywhere, it's that it's given me the opportunity to look for her. I'm not missing out on that chance."

"I'm not telling you to back out. You'll just have to be careful—that god warned you not to look for her. If it's really a god, who knows what it'll do to stop you?"

Noel considered this. "You got a point. Any idea how to evade the god?" he asked.

Fang sat back, resting a hand on one knee. "If I recall the legends right, the gods can't go into the Unseen World, because it isn't their domain. They rule over the world of the living. It was either that or they couldn't find a way into the Unseen World. Only Etro and Mwynn ever went there, and look where they both ended up."

"I never heard of Mwynn. What happened to her?"

"Mwynn was Bhunivelze's mother, the supreme god who created Etro, Pulse, and Lindzei. Bhunivelze vanquished her so he could take sole reign of the world of the living, and banished her into the Unseen World. According to legend, she was consumed by the chaos," explained Fang.

"What a nice son."

"Right?" Fang said, humored. "My guess is that whatever deity talked to you is a god—both goddesses are gone."

"So Bhunivelze, Pulse, or Lindzei," said Noel.

"The myths never specified if Lindzei was a man or woman, but I've always thought of Lindzei as a guy, so yes."

He chuckled. "So what's our course of plan? Listen to this mysterious god who visited me?"

Fang performed a simple roll of her shoulders. "It wouldn't hurt adding that damned man to the search list. We'll see where and who the distortions take us to first," she said.

Noel sighed, trying to settle his storm of thoughts. So much to think about. And yet all he wanted to do was sleep and dream away the nightmare.

A minute passed in this manner. Then he heard Fang ask, "So how did Serah know I'm protective over Vanille?"

He couldn't manage to suppress a smile. So she had caught his slipup earlier. "I'm guessing Snow told her stories about you two," he replied.

"Hmm…I've never met Serah. Weird turn of events that I end up meeting you first." Fang's eyes were fixed on him. "She must be something to have so many people wanting to save her."

His smile became nostalgic. "She is," he answered in a soft voice. Noel glanced at her. "Would you like to hear about her?"

It elicited a small grunt from her. "Why not? I've got time to kill."

Noel's smile widened at her joke as he considered how to begin.

Both mortals are straying from the path you told them to take. I tried to warn you. They cannot be entrusted with a gravely imperative task such as this.

Patience, brother. The pieces are falling into place.

Is that so? Then why have the two perpetrators yet to encounter the other? A dire retribution is to be had for their role in slaying our sister.

So vengeful…so venomous. You truly should becalm yourself.

Becalm myself? I am still vehement that my procedure should have been employed. Yours is achieving naught.

My, my…Father would be displeased. You should know careful planning precedes recklessness.

How is it careful planning when it is presently aimless?

Fret not. Sister shall be revived…even if it means their souls must be used in compensation.

And that's a wrap for Chapter Five. Chapter Six...I make no promises, but I'll try to post it before mid-September. I know, I know, it's potentially a long wait, but I'm busting myself to muster the drive to write this. It's not easy. Who knows? There could be a stroke of luck that makes me write this in less time. But let me address a faithful reviewer:

To the enigmatic i: I figured out what the i stands for. ;) It stands for inspirational. You're a reviewer any writer could hope for. Anyways...did I mention from chapter three that your tears made me giddy? XD As twisted as that sounds, evoking emotion like that is amazing for a writer. Concerning my novel—262 pages in rewriting, and still over 150 to go. And I'm planning for a series. Now do you understand my level of insanity? And yes, the gang will eventually meet up with each other.

And to gonelikeme: I'm sorry for the scare! I won't abandon this story. You can count on it. That flame's harder to put out now. :)