Chapter Six: Trust and Truth

Lightning wasn't even sure what day it was anymore since she and Caius had been so busy travelling. They probably should have taken the chance to rest up on New Bodhum when they were there, but they had been in a rush to leave. Well, Caius had been. He obviously wasn't comfortable around people who were associated with her.

Well, it hardly mattered what Caius thought about her friends. She was realizing now that when Caius wasn't busy being an antagonistic pain in the butt, he was actually a knowledgeable and capable ally. She had seen him fight with her gunblade against the dragon. Honestly, she was impressed that he was able to use the weapon so easily. Not many could. Though he didn't say anything earlier, she could tell that she impressed him with how she was able to wield his weapon as well.

So, through their strengths in battle, they were one step closer to being able to stand each other.

The two of them spent the evening strengthening that connection by talking strategy in the woods of the Bresha Ruins. Caius passed on more information about dragons and their vulnerable spots, and how she could do serious damage with her gunblade even when the weapon was barely able to pierce the scales of the dragon. And Lightning showed him how her Gravity Con unit worked.

The Gravity Con device was technology invented by the Guardian Corps on Cocoon in order to compensate for the lack of human strength. The beasts that sometimes came to different cities in Cocoon had much more strength in their limbs, so they could make greater jumps and get an advantage over the human soldier. The Grav Con device allowed the human to flicker with a blue light with the snap of their fingers and have supernatural agility.

It was after the revolutionary invention of the Grav Con Device that allowed the Gravity Bomb to be invented. The Gravity Bomb also allowed them to make large jumps and survive it easily, but it also created an aura around the user that suspended gravity around them. Lightning knew from experience that it was an extremely useful tool to have in battle, whether against animals or humans. Caius was especially interested in the technology of Cocoon because he spent all of his lives on Gran Pulse. That was where Yeul always was.

All of their talking gave time for the sun to set and for the stars to appear in the sky. However late it was, it didn't matter. Both of them needed to rest after the chaos of fighting two dragons.

"You rest up first," Lightning found herself saying to Caius. "Your fight was more tiring than mine."

"As you wish," Caius said simply. Finally, he wasn't being antagonizing. Either he was a bit weary from the day or he just was sick of fighting. Either was fine with her. The former Guardian took the sword off his back and stabbed it into the ground before he sat down beside it, leaning against the tree. Though she didn't like that they had to rest here, it was the best they could do. They didn't dare go closer to the ruins (there were too many beasts there to feel safe), and they didn't try to create a rift to get out of here. The exhaustion was too great.

So, resting here by the gentle waters of the Bresha Woods was the best that they could do for the night.

Within a few moments, Caius's even breathing blended into the sounds of nature around her. No wind blew tonight, so the only noises she heard were from the waters and from whatever animals were in the woods. According to Caius, they were only animals like owls. Not beasts that would attack them. Still they agreed it would be best for one of them to keep watch. She would stay awake a few hours and then Caius would take over so that she could rest. It was one of the first things they agreed to without any arguing.

Her thoughts weren't on Caius for long though. The soldier walked forward a few feet and knelt down by the water. The sky was clear enough that she could see the ground of Gran Pulse above her. Seeing that world reminded her of everything. Mostly, it made her think of Serah. Serah always did long to see Pulse, even before the l'cie incident. She was too curious for her own good…

Memories of Serah flooded to Lightning's mind as she stared up for an extremely long time. Serah's ambitions to be a history teacher. To do something meaningful with her life. To be extraordinary. She had accomplished all of that before her death. But her life's purpose was far from over. She shouldn't have been destined to die young. Somebody as good as her didn't deserve it. First she turned to crystal, and now she was dead.

Hours passed. It felt like both seconds and days at the same time for the weary, tired girl. But she still continued to listen for signs of disturbance in the forest.

The first disturbance she heard, though, was Caius waking himself up from his slumber.

For some reasons, she chose to ignore it and continue staring up at the sky. It was her turn to sleep, but she didn't think she could fall asleep with all these memories fresh in her mind.

Caius, though quiet, made it obvious that he was awake so he wouldn't startle Lightning. His weapon remained stabbed in the ground as he walked forward to be right next to Lightning. He did not sit down, but he did look at the sky as well.

"Yeul always gazed up at the sky too," he said randomly. "Whether she was looking at Cocoon or Pulse. Did Serah adopt this as well?"

"Yeah," Lightning answered quietly, humoring Caius in conversation. "She couldn't even see Pulse from our home, but she still looked at the sky and longed to go there. And she did. She lived out her dreams before…" Before dying.

Caius was silent after that. Apparently he wasn't good at carrying out a conversation about anything but battles. But Lightning was the same. What do you know, another similarity.

"Get some rest," he said after a few moments. "Tomorrow is one step closer to Etro."

"Right." Now was no time to get lost in the memories of that past. Chasing away whatever thoughts she had of Serah, Lightning picked herself up off the ground and walked over to the tree that Caius had been sitting up against earlier. Her eyes fell shut as she exhaled a breath, crossing her arms over her chest as she ignored the cool night air and tried to calm down her mind. Now was the time to sleep.

Normally she could quiet her mind enough to sleep. She had been on plenty of missions where she needed to sleep outside at night. Always, she had been knocked out within a few minutes. Not this time. She eventually laid down on the ground, tossing and turning for at least twenty minutes before she heard a voice speak to her.

"Sleep already, before I knock you unconscious."

Even with her eyes closed, Lightning rolled them. "Thanks for the kindness," she muttered. Whenever she and Caius were getting along, he had to go ahead and ruin it. Did he seriously get some kind of sick pleasure from creating anger in those around him? Or just antagonizing in general?

Either way, she decided it was best to just lay still. He wouldn't seriously knock her out; she wouldn't allow it. For a long while, she laid on her back and stared upward at the trees. In her peripherals, she could still see Caius standing by the water without even looking at her. Good; he didn't notice her eyes were open.

After a while, her eyes naturally fell shut and exhaustion took over.

Like Caius said, the next day was one day closer to Etro. For that reason, she needed to be as strong as possible.

"Lightning."

Her eyebrows furrowed at the name, a short grunt leaving her lips to show that she heard whoever spoke to her. Though her mind was confused, she realized that she was lying on the ground and it was wet. The morning dew had set in. Morning, already? Did I get any sleep at all? she wondered. It certainly didn't feel like it.

"What hour is it?" she murmured to Caius, slowing sitting up and opening her eyes. It was definitely morning; the sun was shining through the trees now. The forest was a much more pleasant place during the day than at night, that was for sure. Less threatening.

"Approximately eight," Caius responded from beside Lightning.

"Wow, you let me sleep in that late?" Lightning blurted in surprise. She had expected Caius to only allow her two or three hours of sleep, but he gave her closer to five. Maybe Caius had a bit of kindness within him after all.

"I can't have you collapsing on me because of lack of sleep," he said dryly, destroying Lightning's thoughts that Caius was actually a decent human being. Until he opened his mouth again. "Besides, I did not realize the toll of opening the rifts. You were truly knocked out."

"Oh…Okay," she said with a small nod, confused. One moment Caius seemed to have compassion, the next he didn't. He was truly confounding.

"Stop trying to analyze me," he growled as he once again read Lightning's mind. "You do not need to know my way of thinking."

The growl caught her off guard. First off, how could he read her so easily? Secondly, why did he seem so threatened by the idea of her figuring him out? Was he hiding something else? Was he truly on her side? "Actually," she started as she shook her head. "I do need to know your way of thinking. We're allies now, remember? Stuck travelling together, stuck trusting each other. If you want us to have a chance against Etro, we need to trust each other."

"And you do not trust me?"

"Not completely, no. Especially when you imply that there's more to you than meets the eye."

"Hmph," Caius hummed with a bitter smirk. "So, you believe I have another scheme in my head? One that will put you in danger?"

"Maybe."

"If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you in your sleep."

"I'm not saying that you want me dead."

"Then what are you saying, soldier?"

"Don't call me that," Lightning ordered.

"Why? Because that's what you are? A soldier, who always follows the orders of others but never creates their own destiny? You're more of a slave than anything else."

"Stop," she growled, glaring at him as she turned to face him completely. He was two feet in front of her, really close as he stared down at her. His expression was amused but also harsh and biting. He was receiving pleasure from this, without a doubt. Why did he have to be such a jackass?

He did not stop. "First you were a slave of the government," he stated without looking away. "Then a slave of destiny. And lastly, the slave of Etro. You're never free, not even now. Now you're simply a slave working under the orders of your grief."

Lightning's sword was out before she could stop herself. Within mere seconds, she had it fully extended and across Caius's neck. He, however, was not completely defenseless either. He shoved her back a few steps, his arm against her neck as he kept her back pressed against the tree.

"Losing your temper, huh soldier?" he asked lowly. "Now you're slave to your anger. Fortunately for you, you have plenty of chances to be slave to your anger in the future. Save it for the battles and for Etro. As you stated, we are allies."

"You're the one always picking fights and causing suspicion," she spat, lifting her free hand and setting it on Caius's against her neck. He was barely pressing down, so he wasn't hurting her. This was just a way of toying with her.

"No, you have a much bigger hand in it than that," he said as he stared into her blue eyes. "You are thinking about things other than the battle."

"It's all connected," she argued. "I'm trying to figure you out because we need to fight together. In the end, it's all about that battle and revenge against Etro. The question is, what's it about for you, Caius? Is it really about Yeul or is this a way to get revenge against me for standing in your way?"

"I have told you multiple times that I am after Etro," Caius said irritably. "You are the one who keeps seeing deeper things because that is what you want to see."

"I was raised as a soldier. I know when I'm fabricating things and when I'm not," she responded confidently. "I'm not imagining what I see in you."

"And what do you see?"

"Secrets. You're hiding something from me."

"I am hiding myself from you. You do not need to know me." Slowly, he took his arm away from her neck. She still kept her blade against his neck without wavering. "All that you need to know is that I am a skilled warrior and will not be content until Etro is defeated."

Not good enough, Lightning wanted to say, but she bit her tongue instead. Caius wouldn't listen to reason. So she would just need to study him with more caution until she got a better idea of what it was he was hiding from her. Her blade returned to her pack as she stared up at Caius Ballad. Fine, her glare said. You done antagonizing me now? After all, every minute we waist here is another minute between us and Etro.

Caius chuckled. "Like I said, hold onto that anger," he said. "It will work well against Etro."

"Don't tell me what to do," she muttered.

He ignored her on purpose. That alone was an order to her. Create the portal, it's time to go. She walked a few steps away, lifting a hand to her pink hair as she tried to do just that. Did she dare desire to save her friends again? She still wanted that, but was that path going to lead her and Caius on more dangerous missions? They still had their original goal, and that was defeating Etro.

But now Lightning had a new goal. In order to reach the final goal of killing the goddess, she would need to find out more about Caius. She didn't have personal interest in his character; she just wanted to know if she could trust his word or not. So then, she decided. What I want right now, more than anything, is to figure Caius out.

A rift appeared to her right when the goal was decided.

"Good," Caius said, ignorant of her motivation. "Let's go."

The two of them entered the Historia Crux together. Within just a minute, there was a rift open to their left. Curious of what awaited on the other side, Lightning went through first with Caius right behind her. The world that she saw on the other side was very surprising to her.

And apparently it was surprising to Caius as well. "What?" he grunted as he stood beside her.

Though Lightning didn't look at any time period not concerning Serah too much, she recognized this place. The ground was covered with lush green grass, with the sun shining radiantly over them as they stood within a valley. The hills were green and so were the trees, but there wasn't much sign of civilization. Except for atop one of the nearby mountains. Squinting her eyes, she believed that she saw some kind of building atop it.

What did this have to do with getting to know Caius better?

"Caius," Lightning started, turning to face him. "What year is it? Where is this?"

"It appears to be 620 AF, outside of New Paddra," he responded tensely.

New Paddra? Oh yeah…I remember now. New Paddra was formed over a thousand years after the old Paddra was abandoned. By this point, most of the Farseers had died. Along with the rest of humanity. But if this place was connected to the Farseers, then it was definitely connected to Caius. That was why they had appeared here. Hopefully he wouldn't pick up on that.

"Okay, New Paddra 620 AF," she said in recovery to her thoughts. "Anything happen during this year?"

"Not of historical significance."

She noticed how he used the word "historical". But he didn't say that nothing personal happened here. "Well, let's go look for something significant then," she suggested. "I want to check out that building up there. Is there any other civilization that you can go explore?"

"You wish to separate?" he asked with suspicion.

"I wish to figure out what the heck we're doing here," Lightning said smoothly. "If there's no imminent danger like dragons, then it should be safe to split up."

"Or you wish to split up because you do not trust me."

"Not true."

"You'll have to prove it to me," he responded with equal smoothness. "Because I'm coming with you."

"Fine," she snapped. "Do what you want, let's just go."

The two of them started towards the mountain wordlessly, the air very tense even if the weather was pleasant and the air was fresh. Caius didn't suspect anything, not yet. But he was extremely on guard. Was she at least on the right track though? He was allowing her to go to this place after all, so maybe this place didn't have any significance. Then again, he wouldn't let her go alone, so that had to be something. He was afraid of what she could find in this place. This had to have some kind of deep dark secret of Caius's.

The two of them climbed the mountain for what felt like hours. It must have been about that, considering how the sun moved in the sky as they climbed. For lunch, they managed to kill a medium-sized monster and cook it over a fire. So by the time that they finally made it to the top, it was evening.

Standing right in front of the large building now, Lightning could see clearly what type of building it was. It was made of a sandy brown rock, stacked tall in multiple stories of rectangles with each story a smaller than the other. No vegetation grew around it, and since there was no large water source nearby, Lightning assumed that the society didn't actually live in this place. They just commuted to it.

"This looks like a temple…" she guessed, starting forward. Caius was oddly silent as he followed behind her. This must have been a fairly primitive society, since it wasn't technological at all. Yet it was the year 620. In 500, the level of the technology was astounding. What happened to make society more tribal like this again, so…primitive?

"Can you tell me anything about this time?" Lightning prodded as they neared the entrance.

"No. But be on guard. The temple has booby traps. It's best we stay together; I know how to avoid them."

"Oh really?" she asked with an arched brow. She didn't believe him. Not for a second. "Booby traps in a temple? That seems odd, don't you think Caius? And why are you so emphatic on staying together?"

"Why are you picking a fight?"

"Why aren't you answering my questions?" Something was definitely up here. Caius was, yet again, hiding something from her. Still he didn't respond. Only this time, he didn't dodge the question. He simply stayed silent. "Fine," she said after a few moments of glaring at him. "Let's just go."

The two of them started ahead, down the dark corridor of the temple. It was a straight path, free from any obstacles like ropes that she could trip on and trigger a trap. Maybe Caius was lying about the booby traps as an attempt to get her uninterested in the temple. He should know better than that, Lightning tsked, turning right and starting down another corridor. Sunlight poured in from a small slit in the wall, making things clear enough for her to judge the area. Threats never stopped me from proceeding ahead before.

One of the stones in the floor sank an inch deeper into the ground when Lighting stepped on it. What? she thought curiously, looking down at that foot. There was no time to study it though.

"Lightning!" Caius hollered, at the same time taking action. Since he was behind her, he jumped forward a small step and tackled Lightning, covering her head with his hands as booby trap went off. Arrows shot over their bodies, piercing the wall to their left with deathly speed. The attack was so strong that the arrows even pierced the stone. Wow, that was a close one, Lightning thought, turning her head ever so slightly to see what had nearly happened. Caius just saved her.

"I warned you that there were going to be traps," Caius said lowly, taking his hands off of Lightning's head as he rose to his feet and got off of her.

"Thanks," Lightning said as she slowly rose to her feet. For the first time, her gratitude wasn't sarcastic. It was real. After all, she would have been a goner if Caius hadn't reacted quickly and gotten her down to the ground. The execution of that tackle was a little rough, but the fact that he covered her head when he didn't have to…It was as sincere as Lightning's thanks. You're truly confounding, Caius.

Caius stared at Lightning for a moment, not directly responding to her gratitude. But something in his eyes responded to it in a way that Lightning couldn't decipher. "I'll take the lead," he said after a few moments.

"Right," she nodded, watching Caius walk past her. Instead of dwelling on her thoughts, she stayed about three feet behind him and followed his footsteps with caution. The last thing that she wanted was to step on another tile and send more arrows flying in their direction.

And for a while of walking down different halls, nothing else happened. Caius gave her warnings not to step in certain places or touch the walls, but things were peaceful otherwise. And not for a second did she doubt his leading. She didn't suspect him of leading her into a worse trap than the arrows. Just the fact that he took such care in saving her from the arrows made her trust in him significantly increase.

The two turned into yet another corridor, this one extremely brightly lit by torches that were lit on the walls. Apparently somebody was in here recently.

Both of them seemed surprised by this, but Caius was the one who paid for it. He stepped onto a clearly different tile on the ground and a cracking noise was heard immediately. Caius only had time to turn around and glance at Lightning before the tile completely broke beneath him and he was sent into the dark abyss below.

"Caius!" Lightning hollered down, heart suddenly pounding with concern. With all the warning of traps, he failed to avoid one himself. Should she go down and search for him?

Before she had the chance to jump, another floor board slid out from underneath another and blocked the hole.

"…Right," she muttered, shifting her gaze to the path ahead. There was a room at the very end of it, with an item sitting on the pedestal. All that she could do now was keep pressing forward. Maybe that item would give her some assistance in finding Caius later.

She silently started towards it as she avoided stepping on suspicious floor tiles. No trouble hindered her as she stopped right in front of the pedestal. The item was a round sphere that would fit in her hand, and it was glowing with a faint blue aura.

Though curiosity killed the cat, Lightning dared to reach out and touch the item with her fingertips.

The moment her fingers touched the sphere, the air changed. The room grew dark as the torches all went out simultaneously. The only light now came from the sphere and the light blue aura that was hanging above it. Squinting her eyes, Lighting noticed something taking form in the mist. Much like an Oracle Drive, some kind of footage was recorded in this device. Only this was not a prophecy. It was a memory.

The memory took place in this very room. Kneeling in the sunlight, a girl of about 20 years old knelt down in the center of the room. Her short blond hair was ruffled, but her clothes were organized. They were the clothing of a warrior, thick green armor that covered her legs and torso. Her arms were bare except for the gloves that reached halfway up her forearm. It was not her wardrobe that caught Lightning's attention, though.

The tears that were streaming down her face were what caught Lightning's eyes. "Please," the young woman pleaded, moist green eyes looking up towards the sunlight that poured in through a hole in the roof. "Please, reconsider. She doesn't deserve to die. She's the best person out there! She's the hope of all of us just with her heart, but you've cursed her to die. Please…Please save her. Etro, please."

Etro. That was who the young woman was pleading to. And the person she was pleading for was cursed by Etro…Could she be referring to Yeul?

There was no need to consider that or wait for the goddess's response. A loud bang resounded from outside the temple. The girl jumped, rising to her feet before sprinting down the path towards the exit. She did take the time to wipe her tears as she ran. As a fellow warrior, Lightning noticed how light she was on her feet, how quick she was, and how graceful she was rounding the corners. Despite the tears that she shed a few moments ago, she was a true warrior.

As soon as she was outside, she saw something that made her gasp. A Long Gui was stopping its way towards the village! And all the other warriors were out disbanding a threat in the west! Her only choice was to try and face the Long Gui by herself before it reached the village and destroyed everything they worked so hard to build.

The warrioress ran forward, leaping off the edge of the elevated building and flying a good distance before she landed on the Long Gui's back. She pulled her bow and arrow off her back and shot arrows into the back of its neck, forcing the creature to cry out in agony. If that noise didn't let the town know that something was wrong, then they would know it now.

Long Gui maneuvered more quickly than he should have been, forcing the girl off his back and onto the ground. She grunted roughly from the long fall, rolling over as she discharged more arrows at the monster's neck. If he got to town, it was all over. Failure wasn't an option here.

Yet the creature took one more mighty step towards town and the whole ground trembled. The shockwave was enough to send her back down to one knee and nearly drop her weapons. No… she thought weakly, glaring up at the huge beast. There was no way she could do this on her own…

"Averia!"

Her head turned sharply to the left to see who had called to her. Much to Lightning's shock, she recognized this person.

A younger Caius stood fifty yards away, but even at that distance, Lightning could see his different appearance. His purple hair was parted the same way put it was only to his shoulders. And instead of armor, he wore a set of black tribal clothes.

Most importantly, instead of wearing his arrogant facial expression, he wore one of fear.

In shock, Lightning withdrew her fingers from the orb. The vision faded. What was that whole thing? Who was the woman and what did Caius have to do with her?

Before she could go anywhere to find answers, she found herself stuck in her current position. A knife was suddenly against her back, the sharp tip in her lower back to show the threat. She grunted, tensing at the weapon in her back and the voice that she did not recognize speaking to her.

"Don't move."

*…*…*…*…*…*

Cliffhanger. :P Yes, I realize I'm updating two days early. You wanna know why? IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! And you know what would make me happy? Reviews ;3. Yup, I'm 20 years old today. Sort of hard to believe, at least to me.

Personal stuff:

Nirianne: I believe that I said in chapter 3 that Caius can't create the rifts. The reason is that what he desire more than anything else in the world is for Yeul to be alive. He can't overcome that desire and no rift can be created for that desire since there's absolutely no way to save Yeul. So as long as he's where he is mentally, he can't create the rifts.

Hanah Abby: I didn't mind it at all, so don't feel stupid! I love having readers that actually analyze my work so much and leave constructive criticism. So as long as you do it politely, please continue to be "stupid" :P

Alright guys, I'm gonna go do something exciting with the rest of my birthday. Like homework! :( Yeah, the life of a college student. But if I'm lucky, I'll have some time to write tonight as well. One can only dream!

Peanut out.