Okay, I KNOW this is a really short chapter. I'm sorry. But I promise I'll have Chapter 15 up in the next couple of days!

I've really spaced out during the past few months... So I apologize.

But I hope this clears up some things about this very confusing story X3. I'll post more soon!

Chapter Fourteen: Confessions

You kept everything inside and

Even though I tried, it all fell apart

What it meant to me will eventually be

A memory of a time when I tried so hard

~In The End, Linkin Park

With a sad smile on her face, the strange levitating figure on the throne in the center of Valhalla watched the events taking place before her eyes. Another change, another twist would cause her to disappear quietly into the abyss. But along with revoking her power the twist might completely screw up the timeline.

Etro acknowledged that the whole thing was her fault.

It had started with saving the l'Cie and gone from there. The twist at the end of the timeline had ultimately sealed it for her, as she had taken too much power bringing herself back into Valhalla. It was true, she had nearly died, but before all was lost, she had managed to cut off the final few hours in the timeline and bring herself back.

It was all clearly backfiring on her. Instead of redoing what had already happened, she had changed it into a paradox.

No one had been able to realize it yet, because their memories had been wiped clean. But it was the truth. The entire timeline in itself was a paradox. Events were scattered all over the place, people were where they shouldn't have been. And they thought it was just a regular occurrence.

They thought they could fix it.

It was all doomed to be erased, though. Her existence would fade, her heart would give out, and eventually, the same would become of the timeline. No doubt she would take others with her when she left the timeline prematurely. But there was truly nothing she could do anymore.

She shook her head in regret. If only. There were so many things she could have done, and so many things she shouldn't have done. Maybe if she'd thought things through, she could have let the timeline end without so much grief and loss.

Was it really too much to ask to change it another time?

Yes. It really was. She had already asked this, so many times, but she wouldn't just be taking herself out of the picture if she abused the timeline any further. And even if she didn't do anything else, though, there was someone else who was fading fast, someone who she had already taken down with her.

No, things were definitely not going as planned.

Serah slowly opened her eyes. The light was dim here, but it still took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust. Her head was pounding and it felt like every inch of her body was sore. She remembered where she was after a moment—Oerba. She'd seen Caius and Lightning together. She had fought Caius in defense of her sister. And she had lost.

Realizing that an anxious pair of eyes was watching her, Serah sat up with a jolt.

"You're awake," said Noel.

"H…How did you…?" Serah couldn't even finish her sentence. Was she dreaming? There seemed to be a complete blank space between when she'd fought Caius and when she'd woken up here.

"I came from the Void. I don't know how. But somehow I just…ended up here." Noel's hand was gripping hers, as if he was nervous about something.

"…What's wrong?" was her immediate response.

He hesitated.

"Noel," she said, "really… What's going on?"

"We can't stay here," Noel told her. "I saw it in the Historia Crux. Oerba is going to be erased next. If we stay…"

He broke off, but Serah caught on and struggled to her feet. "Then let's go. Let's get out of here."

"Serah, no—you're not strong enough yet—" Noel protested, still grasping her hand. But she didn't falter in her movements.

"There's no other choice," she told him. "Let's go."

She staggered toward the door, trying to pull Noel after her. He dropped back and turned his eyes away.

"Noel? Is something wrong?" Serah faced him, one hand on the crumbling door frame.

"What happened between you and Caius?" he asked cautiously.

Serah took a deep breath. "I tried to… I tried to fight him. But I lost."

"Why?"

She glanced up, not expecting that question. "What?"

"Why would you fight him?"

"He and my sister… They were together in Valhalla. I thought maybe—" She shook her head. "I thought he was going to try something. I didn't want Lightning to have to deal with him anymore."

Noel paused, but then said, "Guess we're going to have to go back to Valhalla and find him again, huh?"

Serah blinked. "What do you mean?"

He cocked his head and smiled almost cunningly, making her heart skip a beat. "We gotta finish what we started."

"Yeah," she said, "I guess we do."