For those of you who have been consistently following The Final Paradox, I am sooooo sorry for the delay! I just got really busy and kept forgetting to post. Here's your next chapter, hope you like it. :3

Arigato for the reviews! They make me happy! :D

Chapter Twelve: Cause of Chaos

When you know it's over

And you're going down

Take everything and live for the moment

It's only gonna bring you down tonight

~Blue, Gemini

Now that she'd seen everything, Serah's mind was off Noel and the Void. She cared only about going to the place she'd seen Lightning and Caius and ending things once and for all. Disregarding virtually everything she'd made sure to remember up to now, she raced off into Valhalla, toward the gate that led to Oerba.

Serah swore silently to herself that she wouldn't fail.

"Lightning," she murmured, "I won't back out this time. I won't let this happen to you."

With the gate only feet away, the last thing she could do was gather all her concentration and determination and ready her bow.

Lightning emerged into Valhalla mere minutes after Serah left. She began her walk into the familiar realm looking out for her sister. But after treading a few hundred meters, she realized that Serah was no longer there.

She didn't know what Serah had seen or done here. She couldn't have been gone forever, because she still existed in Lightning's memories, but how would she have gotten out of Valhalla? There were few gates left, and they were scattered wide across the shores, difficult to find. As for the view of the timeline in the center of it all, Lightning doubted her sister wanted to see all of that. Was she in the Void Beyond? Why would she have even voluntarily left Valhalla?

The questions that filled her head were only a temporary diversion from her confusion about what had happened earlier in Oerba. Striding onward, she tried to shake those distracting thoughts away.

The gate to Oerba reopened, and Serah took Lightning's place in the ruined village. She didn't even have a vague idea of where to go, yet she started off at a run, wanting to get wherever she was going as quickly as she could.

Her first thought, recalling her previous experience in Oerba, was to go to the deserted schoolhouse. Besides, that was where she'd seen them as she was watching the events playing out in the timeline. The silence surrounded her as she ran, making her feel as though she was the only one there. For a second she wondered if maybe she was mistaken. That thought was pushed back almost as soon as it had come to her.

It didn't take long to reach her destination. Drawing her weapon, Serah approached the ravaged building. She made her way up the steps and entered the middle floor, calling out, "Caius?"

There was no answer. "I know you're there," she continued, "Come out and fight."

"If you wish," Caius said mockingly from out of nowhere, and before Serah knew it, she was being slammed into one of the stone walls with a blade too close to her throat.

She wasn't disarmed, though, and was still able to draw her bow and point it up at his heart. Caius glanced down at the weapon and smirked. "You really think that will work?"

Serah said, "This is for Lightning." She shoved her weapon at him, prodding him with it in an attempt to push him back.

He raised his eyebrows. "You know what happened, then?"

She nodded tightly in reply.

"Your sister was not opposed to it," Caius answered.

"And how would you know that?" Serah gasped. "I swear… I swear I'll destroy you."

"Is that how it's going to be?" he said.

Serah moved her arm just slightly and changed her bow into a sword, which she jabbed at him with all her strength. He jumped away just in time, narrowly avoiding the attack. But he'd done exactly what Serah had wanted him to – his sword was no longer pressed into her throat. She quickly returned her weapon to its bow form, drawing and firing faster than he could open his mouth to speak again.

With a grunt, Caius moved swiftly out of the way, deflecting her arrow sideways with his massive sword. He glared at her. "Are you fighting for your sister, or defying her wishes?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Serah retorted. She rushed at him with her sword in front of her, but he just stood there without blocking, as though waiting for the blow to come.

She expected impact that never came. Her sword cut through thin air and left a wake of chaotic darkness.

"You don't even understand what's really going on here."

The voice came from behind her, and before she could register it, she went flying into the wall of the building. The force of the hit sent pain shooting through her limbs and left her gasping for breath on her hands and knees.

"I do understand, Caius," she managed between breaths. "And I'm telling you… Stay away from Lightning!"

"And why should I listen to you?" he asked sarcastically. Then he flicked his hand and sent her into the opposite wall. She screamed in agony and again collapsed, releasing her grip on her sword.

"This is none of your business," Caius answered. "As I've told you before, you have no right to change the timeline."

She couldn't even look up at him.

"Stay out of my way," he finished, and stalked out of the abandoned schoolhouse, leaving her on her own.

Serah blinked hard, trying to wake up, but her vision was blurring and she didn't think she could hang on any longer. This didn't work at all like it was supposed to.

Her last thought was, Now what's Lightning going to do?

Before she could think things through any further, she blacked out.

The timeline was in peril, and nothing was being done to stop it.

Rifts sprang up in Valhalla, with no one present and alert to fix them. Gates were completely wiped out along with the places they had once led to.

Serah was alone in Oerba. Noel was floating through the Historia Crux. Lightning was spacing out in Valhalla. And Caius… Who knew where he was or what he was plotting next?

Only one thing was for sure. Things were not going as planned.

The throne in the center of Valhalla had been empty before, but now a slightly transparent figure seemed to levitate slightly above it. She looked almost crystal, looked almost as though she didn't belong in this world. Her expression was disappointed, and a sigh escaped her lips as she glanced out at the skyline. Her intentions had been good, but once again, the outcome had been disastrous. Or at least it was going to be disastrous if those four didn't do what was required of them.

There was virtually nothing she could do. If she tried to change things again, she might completely fade away to nothingness. The result – more unintentional disappearances, more tears in the timeline.

And so for that time, she vowed not to reveal herself.