Guten Tag from the world of The Final Paradox. This is probably the last chapter I'll post this month, although it's not the end of the story. Keep posted for when I continue! I'm doing NaNoWriMo, and I doubt I'll have time to finish anytime soon :P .

Anyway, for those of you who actually care what I'm doing in real life, I came extremely close to buying FF Dawn of Souls at a used game store last week. I decided against it at the last second, but the next day I thought about how I really should have bought it. I then called the store and asked them if they still had it in stock... And nope. It was gone.

So, I feel really smart now. (Not.) Anyway, that's enough about my nonexistent life. XD Here's your next chapter! Hope you like it!

Chapter Ten: Misdirection

I caught a glimpse of the future

I thought a hint might do

Tick tock, few minutes ago

I should have seen the signs years ago

Tried to warn them it was coming

Tried to tell them what I'd seen

~Believe, Morgan Page

Noel, gasping for air, got to his feet. The surrounding area of the Void glimmered with shiny wings of creatures it had spawned, hundreds circling him as they prepared their attacks. They had taken him down time after time, and the Void had brought him back every one of those times, forcing him to keep fighting. He longed for dark unconsciousness to come and take him. In that realm he could escape from exhaustion and endless battles, at the very least. He could think of Serah freely instead of forever imagining her fading form being sucked through the gate.

That gate was gone. For all Noel knew, he was stuck in the Void forever, maybe doomed to be erased. He remembered what Lightning had told him about parts of the destroyed timeline remaining here for a short time before they disappeared. Was he a part of the destroyed timeline, or did he still have some anchor left in his world that would keep him from being wiped out of existence?

He swung outward with his sword, slicing more of the creatures that assaulted him. It did no damage, only brought additional ones to fill their places. So instead of trying to destroy them, he gave up and made a run for it.

Noel's sprint only barely brought him to the underground part of the temple in which he had stood with Serah. It was deadly quiet there, except for the sound of his own labored breathing. He hoped no one—that is, nothing—would know he was there.

When no disturbances found him after a few minutes, Noel let his guard down enough to collapse against one wall. He finally began adjusting to his surroundings. There was little light in this area of the structure, with the unearthly glow of the Void filtering in through cracks in the stone. It was a perfect hiding place for now. Or maybe forever, considering that the gate leading out of the Void had totally disappeared.

Where would that gate have led us? he thought. Where is Serah now?

He would rather die than be left forever without knowing what had happened to her.

For as long as he could, Noel stayed underground. And for a while he was left to his thoughts uninterrupted. He tried to direct his train of thought away from Serah, but there was nothing else to think about, and he found himself meanwhile unable to doze off in the relentless, timeless atmosphere of the Void. Wondering again and again what had happened to her, Noel drove himself into a panic, losing focus on his surroundings.

Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared unnoticed in front of him.

He looked up at the flash of light, blinking to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. His lips formed the incredulous word "Yeul?"

"Noel," she gasped as she collapsed to the ground.

He moved quickly to her. "Yeul, what's wrong? What are you doing here?"

Her gaze shifted slowly to him. "I will not be here for much longer, Noel," she whispered. "My part of the timeline is being erased, and I must be taken with it."

"No, Yeul." His breath came in short gasps, and he struggled to find words to voice his concern for her. "You can't—"

"You will forget me, Noel," she answered. "In fact, you've already forgotten me. This is my fate now, to be erased from eternity."

He shook his head. "But that doesn't make sense," he hissed, fighting back tears.

"I told you we would meet again, Noel," she reminded him, "and we are meeting now. But this is the last time."

With a small and final smile, Yeul's small form faded from Noel's vision as quickly as it had appeared.

"Yeul!" he screamed. "No!"

He had lost everyone he had known—Caius, Yeul, Serah, and everyone in between. Then he had met them all again, only to have them taken away—again. He didn't think he could take any more of it.

Noel knelt on the stone floor of the temple, his head in his hands, and screamed. His cries should have been heard throughout the entire timeline, but as he was in the Void Beyond, they merely echoed in his own ears.

As he did so, a bright light exploded behind him. He was engulfed in sparks for a second, and he stopped and tried to breathe for a moment before his vision went completely white.

Serah's head was still full of images of her sister walking away with Caius. She had to trust Lightning, but she couldn't stop feeling uncertain of what was really going on. I have a deal to uphold, she'd said.

Lightning made a deal with Caius? What was she thinking?

Serah shook her head and continued walking. She'd been at it ever since her sister had left Valhalla, and had almost reached the central temple where Etro's throne sat. No one was around.

It was times like this that made her really miss Noel's company. If only she had someone to talk to, even if it was about the timeline and the paradoxes and things like that. The dead silence that now enveloped Valhalla—save for the sound of the waves hitting the shore—was almost overwhelming. It was a reminder that she really was alone.

After a few minutes, she reached the stairs leading up to Etro's throne and the surrounding shrine. She took slow steps up to the surface, recognizing the scenery from the times she and Noel had landed themselves in the Void Beyond.

But something stood out that didn't carry over to her memories of the Void.

As she looked up at the skies from the shrine, she could see the timeline. Her gaze flitted along the line of events that played out before her. She could see remnants of times long lost, things she wished wouldn't disappear and things she wished wouldn't have happened.

Her eyes lingered on one place: Oerba. She too recalled the time they'd fought against Caius, but the events that followed that fight were unknown to her.

At first, she was confused by what she saw. But that confusion rapidly turned to surprise and anger.

She'd seen enough.

Serah quietly brought back the conversation she'd had with Lightning before her sister had left Valhalla. It had begun with, How much did you see?

What's going on? Serah had answered.

Serah, look. It's not what you think, was Lightning's answer.

Feeling betrayed, and with her eyes cast down, Serah left the timeline behind. Her first thought had been to trust Lightning, but look how far that had gotten her. Now only one thought was left in her head. Whether Noel made it out of the Void or not, she knew her single goal.

I have to kill Caius.

Noel was barely conscious as he drifted through space. He could hardly think, but he had managed to figure one thing out: he was no longer in the Void Beyond. How he had left, and where he was going, he at first had no clue…

Then it came to him. Yeul's fading wish must have been to get him out of there. Only she could have accomplished that. Without a gate, there was no way for him to escape unless he was completely erased.

Would he end up in Valhalla? Who knew? His thoughts were floating away from him again, and he gave in to the nothingness. Noel's only hope was that he could be with Serah. They had to finish what they'd started—saving the timeline.

But that was a vain hope.