Time Traveler

Chapter 2: Oracle Drive

Lightning was sleeping through the night and didn't hear that Hope came into the quarter in the middle of the night and made himself comfortable on a chair in order to get some sleep. He rested his head on his arms, on the table, and fell instantly asleep. This whole work worn him completely out and before he fainted, he decided to get some sleep. This happens quite often, but as a director everyone needs him and that meant that he has some extra work to do.

Lightning woke up the next day at dawn automatically. She sat up and looked around, her eyes showing confusion. She was not in her room...She looked out the window and noticed that she wasn't in New Bodhum either...Then she looked at the silver-haired man who was leaning against a table and slept. It was Hope...and he was still twenty-four and was director of the Academy. It wasn't a dream.

The pink-haired woman got out of her, or Hopes bed to be exact, put on her red bag, gunblade, boots and vest, and then she took her, still warm, blanket and laid it on the silver-haired man, before she left his quarters to get a look at the future Yaschas-Massif. A few hours later, Hope finally woke up as well. He wondered for a moment why he hadn't slept in his bed until he remembered that Lightning appeared from the past, the previous day.

The next thing that confused him for the moment was that he had a blanket, even though he knew for sure that he gave Lightning all his blankets. She must have given him this and he couldn't help grin about it. Hope sat up straight and stretched himself, before he looked over to the empty bed. Was it just a dream?, he wondered and stood up. He quickly readied himself for the day and just as he wanted to leave the room, he saw a flash of pink before something collided with him.

He instantly held that little pink something against himself to prevent it from falling down and looked down. Icy blue eyes stared into his leaf green ones. "Lightning!", he exclaimed surprised and let her go. "Yeah, it's me. Who did you expect?", she asked, placing a hand on her hip. Actually, he'd thought that Alyssa's coming, but when he saw Lightning's pink hair, he knew who it was.

"No one.", he replied innocently, while smiling at her. "You know what, 'Director'? Even though you're taller and have a deeper voice, you haven't changed a bit.", said the former soldier and smiled at him slightly. Hope hit this statement like...lightning. Does she still see him as that little, naive boy from back then?

"Oh..." Lightning raised an eyebrow. "That was a compliment.", she said, while crossing her arms over her chest. "Uh...Thank you...", said Hope still in the same disappointed tone. Lightning had no idea why he was so disappointed. That was well meant..."Where have you been, Light?", asked Hope to change the subject. "Took a walk." Then there was a silence again. "Uh, I have to go back to work.", said Hope and walked past her, but stopped when she grabbed his arm.

"How long do you work for a day?", she asked, looking at him sternly. "I don't know...maybe 15-20 hours...maybe longer...", he replied, while shrugging his shoulders. "That's too long!", she said in a strict tone. "How long have you worked in the CG?" Lightning sighed and held her forehead. "Hope you can't compare this with the GC. I often had to go to missions and of course the hours of labor were longer than normal."

"Then we can also count this as a mission."

"No, you can't. Anyway, can I help you with anything?"

"No, but I'd like to show you something.", replied Hope and led her back to the base. Once there, he showed her a hexagonal device. "What's that?", asked Lightning and looked at it closely. "This is an Oracle Drive. The farseer used it to record their visions from the future.", said Hope, and turned it on. The oracle then projected an image in the sky, much like an ordinary projector.

It showed them pictures of the events ten years ago. The way Vanille and Fang transformed into Ragnarok and saved Cocoon, as the group came to Eden and fought against soldiers and monsters, and as Lightning and the other l'Cie woke up from crystal stasis and turned back to humans. "How old is this thing exactly?", asked Lightning, her eyes were fixed on the images. "It's probably thousands of years old."

"And they'd seen everything what happened...interesting." Hope wanted to turn the oracle off, but suddenly other images appeared. "What's that?", asked the pink-haired woman. "I don't know. I've never seen this before..." The oracle showed them rather unclear pictures of Lightning, as she rode on Odin and fought against someone. The older Hope and Alexander were right behind her and gave her backing. Even a Moogle was with them...

The two were silent. They didn't know exactly what to say. Was that a sign that they'll become l'Cie again? Then it went further and they saw that Cocoon crashed and down on Grand Pulse. The eyes of the two widened, they just saw the end of the world! "...Cocoon will fall...", said Lightning after a long silence. "We have to prevent it!", said Hope, who snapped out of his daze as well.

"And how?", asked the pink-haired woman. "But there has to be something we can do...Maybe it depends on whether we defeat this guy, we've just seen?", guessed Hope, but saw Lightning shaking her head. "No, I think this is a natural event." Hope said nothing more. They both wondered what they could do and were silent, which felt like an eternity, before Hope spoke again. "If only we could...Light! That's it!", he exclaimed enthusiastically, and ran to her. "We just travel through time and find out when and how Cocoon will fall! We're gonna change the future and prevent it!"

"'We'?"

"Yes! You traveled through time as well and if we change the history, we can save Cocoon! Just as Vanille and Fang!"

"Hope!", interrupted Lightning and brought him back to reality. "Cocoon will fall either way. Whether we do something about it or not. The crystal pillar won't last forever. We don't even know when this will happen and if we would know it, it's not like we can just go there and catch it just like that. And I would go by myself."

Hope's eyes widened. "But...The oracle said that I fight by your side!" Lightning crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him. "Then we just change the future.", she said, while Hope went silent. That was typical Lightning...She always wanted to do everything alone and carry all the responsibility. But this time she wouldn't do what she wanted.

He would go with her, whether she wanted it or not. Hope opened his mouth to tell her just that, but stopped as Alyssa suddenly appeared, totally dissolved. "Director! You have to look at this!", she exclaimed so loud that it would even wake the dead. "What's the matter?", asked Hope, partly annoyed that she interrupted them. "We've found something! Come on!", she said, while pulling on Hopes arm. Lightning followed them.

Once they ran through the Yaschas-Massif, Hope was dragged along for the most part, they arrived a glade. There was a golden, Spherical structure. "This thing's brought me here!", said Lightning immediately, while Hope looked at it interested. "So this is a time portal...", he muttered to himself. "Time portal?", asked Alyssa confused, but Hope paid her no attention and went closer to the portal.

The gold curved casing was tight against the ball, which meant that it was closed. "How are we going to open it?", asked Hope to no one in particular, while Lightning just shrugged her shoulders. "The first time it suddenly opened, but this time you probably need some kind of key..."

"Um...", began Alyssa. "A few meters further, we've also found this.", she said and gave Hope a crystal. It hovered over his hand and looked like one of the Cie'th statues, or Shiva. "What's that..?", asked Lightning and approached him to look closely at the crystal. "Maybe this is the key?", guessed Hope and went even closer to the portal. Suddenly the small crystal began to glow and then the portal opened.

"It worked." Lightning took a few steps backwards, she didn't want the portal to absorb her again and looked at it carefully. "I wonder where it leads...?", she wondered. "We're going to find out.", said Hope, and was about to go through the portal, but was stopped by Lightning and Alyssa. Lightning held onto his shoulder, while Alyssa wrapped her arms around his arm. "Director Hope, you can't just go!"

"You'll stay here, Hope.", both girls said simultaneously and held him tightly. "Why?"

"You have work to do here. It'd be better if I go alone.", she answered, while pushing him away from the portal. She turned to the portal and was about to go through it, but stopped as Hope spoke again. "No." Lightning turned back to him and raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I said no, Light. No matter what you tell me you can't stop me to come along with you."

"Hope—"

"No. Save it, Light. I'm coming with you." Hope looked at her with the same determination, as ten years ago, as Lightning wanted to leave him behind and after he received his Eidolon Alexander. Lightning sighed loudly and turned back to him completely. "We'll leave tomorrow morning.", she said as she walked past him. "Why tomorrow?", asked Hope, while Lightning stopped again, but didn't turn to him. "You can't just disappear, Hope. Yes, we could potentially prevent the fall of Cocoon, when we travel through time, but something has to happen in the present as well. You have to think about what your gentry can do here. You have time until tomorrow.", she said and then went away.

"She's right.", said Alyssa, after a moment of silence. Hope had been already forgotten that she was there. "I know.", he replied. "Then let's go back to work." Then they both went back too. While Hope and Alyssa were planning what they all could do in the present, Lightning walked through the ruined city.

On the walls she found old pictures and writings. Of course she couldn't read any of it. Maybe it was written in the alphabet of Grand Pulse, or perhaps it was something completely different. She wondered if Hope could decipher it, after all, he's probably spent a lot of time here. She briefly spaced out, as she thought about the silver-haired boy.

In these ten years the small, timid boy had grown to a bolder and apparently eager young man. Even during their fight against Orphan she was able to see his progress. Since the day he got Alexander, he was already bold. And although she would never openly admit it Hope was, or rather is, quite...attractive. During the many little physical contacts, since the last few hours, she could clearly spot his many muscles, so he has also trained a lot and has become a lot stronger.

Lightning wondered if Hope also remembers their promise...Back than in Palumpolum they promised to protect each other. Lightning just chuckled and poked his forehead. Of course it wasn't possible for him to protect her. He was too young and had to learn to take care of himself first. However, he did everything in order to watch over her, just as he promised. In battles, he always healed her first, if she sometimes withdrew into a corner and thought about their fate as l'Cie and Serah; he came to her and talked to her.

He always managed to cheer her up again, of course this is mutual. Once he had doubts, or thought of his dead mother, they always talked about it and Lightning had always tried to cheer him up with small gestures. Whether it's just a hug or a simple pat on his head. Hope seemed to enjoy it, so she always did this to cheer him up. Even Hope used the Embrace-Technique more often. And then their friendship deepened more and more.

Even if it was still not possible for him to protect her, except for healing her as often as possible, he still couldn't quiet protect her in a fight, but now...Now it would be possible. But too many years passed since they made this promise. He surely has forgotten it...She couldn't explain it, but at this thought she felt a strange stab in her chest...She ignored this feeling though, and continued walking around to focus on other things.

When she returned to the base after a few hours, she met Hope and Alyssa. The two stopped their work and turned to her. "Lightning. Have you already seen everything?" Lightning nodded and came closer to them. "Do you have a minute?", she asked, while Hope nodded. "Of course. What's up?"

"Can you tell me something about this city?" Hope nodded again and began to explain. "We suppose that this is the city of Paddra. Here once lived the farseer and was ruled by one seeress, who appears in every era and always has the same name: Yeul."

"The farseer...?", mumbled Lightning to herself. Hope mentioned it before, but now it's the best time to ask him questions. "They can see the whole timeline, as you've seen in the Oracle Drive. However, they always lose some of their vitality after they saw a new vision."

"But how did this city fall? Those farseer could've prevented it."

"They saw that the city will be destroyed some day and the people back than panicked. Some of them wanted to fight, some of them fled and others even took their own life. The result was a civil war, and that's how the city fell."

"I see...", she murmured again and saw once again to the city. "To watch the timeline can be boon and bane at the same time.", added Hope. "And this Yeul appeared in every era?"

"Exactly. The legends say that she'll always be reborn." Lightning thought for a while and then looked back to Hope and Alyssa. "Then there must be a Yeul in this time as well." Hope nodded and took a few steps towards her. "Exactly. I'm pretty sure that a Yeul exist in this time as well. But the farseer surely doesn't want any more contact with people, that would explain why no one has seen a farseer for a long time."

"You're pretty smart Hope.", said Lightning and gave him one of her half smiles. "That's the result of ten years of research.", he replied with a grin. "I even have an idea what we could do."

"Shoot."

"We could make Cocoon float again."

"And how's that possible?", asked the pink-haired woman, while Hope was silent for a moment. "I'm still not sure..."

"How about we just make a Proto fal'Cie, that let Cocoon float again?", suggested Alyssa, while the two turned to her. "Hmm...it could work.", said Hope, but Lightning wasn't convinced by the idea. "A fal'Cie? To create a new Cocoon and let this mess start all over again?"

"It won't happen if we program it correctly.", countered Alyssa. "Do what you want.", said Lightning and sighed. "By the way...", began Hope. "I still have a little surprise for you, Light." Lightning looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "A surprise?"

"Yes, I hope you like it. I've contacted some guys who'll keep this project alive, while I'm gone.", he said and grinned at her. "Who?"

"You're going to find out soon." Hope made a secret out of this and Lightning wondered who he could've invited. However, she didn't have to wait long for her surprise. Only a few minutes later the silence was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. Lightning turned to the noise and found herself lying on her back, seconds later.

The pink-haired woman had to register what just happened, as she felt something on top of her. She looked down and saw her little sister lying on top of her. She hugged her very tight and buried her face in her neck. "S-Serah...", said Lightning, who couldn't believe that she's actually here. "Lightning!", exclaimed Serah and Lightning felt that her neck became wet. She wrapped her arms around her little sister and stroked her gently on her back. "It's alright. I'm here.", she said reassuringly, while Serah couldn't stop crying. "Lightning, I'm so glad you're back! I thought you've left me.", she sobbed. Lightning had trouble understanding her through the sobbings.

"I would never leave you.", said the older one, while Serah said nothing anymore and continued to cry. Then Snow came into view. He waved to her and grinned. "Hey, sis." Lightning narrowed her eyes. "I'm not your sister.", she hissed between clenched teeth. "I've missed you too.", he simply said, his grin became even wider.

"I'm glad you two could make it.", said Hope, and came closer to them. "Hey, Hope! We haven't seen each other for an eternity! You've become really tall!", said Snow, and put a hand on Hopes shoulder. "Yeah, whatever, I need your help. By the way, what's with Sazh and Dajh?"

"Undetectable. Just as Light back then.", said Snow a little more serious this time, while Hope looked at him thoughtfully. "There are many theories of what might have happened to them...But back to Lightning. I know why she suddenly disappeared."

"Why?", asked Serah, who was still lying on her big sister and calmed down slowly. "Let me get up and I'll explain everything to you." Then Serah stood up, and helped Lightning to get up as well. When she finally got back on her feet Serah embraced her again. "It's alright, Serah...", said Lightning and stroked her hair. "So, where have you been all this time, sis?" Lightning ignored Snows last word and told them everything.

That one night a meteor fell near New Bodhum, which looked like a crystal, and that she was dragged into a glowing ball, which brought her here. "To put it briefly: I've traveled through time.", she finished, while Serah and Snow stared at her with big eyes. "Is that even possible?", asked Snow, who is still pretty amazed.

"Yes, would I be here if this isn't possible?", asked Lightning back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Guess not...", said Snow. "What shall we do now, Hope?", asked Serah to change the subject. "I'm going to create a plan this evening. All you have to do is to realize this plan. From time to time you should keep an eye on the Oracle Drive though, if something changes in the future. I'll explain you everything you need to know."

"All right! Leave it all to me!", said Snow and gave him his trademark grin. "Uh...", said Hope, before he leaned over to Serah. "Take care of it.", he whispered into her ear while Serah began to giggle. "Of course."

"You can relax in the meantime or you can walk through the ruins if you want. I need some time to edit this plan with Alyssa.", said Hope to them, while everyone, except for Lightning, agreed. "Shall I help you with anything?", asked the elder Farron, while Hope shook his head. "No, I have everything under control. Just rest a bit." Lightning snorted. She didn't like that she could do nothing. It just wasn't her kind to sit down and do nothing, while others work. "Please, Light.", said Hope with a gentler voice, and looked almost pleadingly at her.

"Okay, fair enough. But if you need any help tell me.", she said and went away. "Will do.", he called after her, before she disappeared from his sight. "Say, Hope...do you like sis?", asked Serah as if it's the most normal thing ever, while Hope looked at her in shock. "Uh...", was all the silver-haired man could say at this moment. "I knew it!", said Serah overjoyed and went to him. "Please take good care of her, okay?"

"Uh...It's not like that...", he stammered, while looking away from Serah and Snow, who grinned at him knowingly. "Come on, I know exactly that you had a crush on sis since back then." Snow laughed and put his hand on his shoulder. "I don't—It's not like that!", he said a bit too fast and felt his face heat up. "Even I could see it.", agreed Serah and smiled at him happily. "Me too." The three of them turned to the blonde, who was still standing at the desk.

"Alyssa you too?!", asked Hope startled, while she smiled at him and went to them. "It's not hard to overlook. After all I can see how you look at her. And as you've described her once you grinned like a Cheshire cat and looked like a lovesick puppy. One could be really jealous of her.", said the blonde and giggled when she saw how red Hope's face became.

Meanwhile, Lightning went a bit through Yaschas-Massif again. It was just too boring to wait back in the quarter and wait, so she decided to go for a walk and perhaps even train with the monsters in this area. She would like to spend time with her little sister instead, but Hope has a lot to explain to them and she didn't want to have to listen to it a second time. She would spend time with her later. After all they still had time for the rest of the day.