Hello readers! IridiumRing92 reporting for duty! I'm sorry to everyone who's been faithfully waiting for my next fanfic, because I honestly haven't had anything in the past few months...

Well, anyway. I know that it's not really necessary to talk about my actual life, but for those of you who care, :3 I have to tell you that I've had a lot of medical things going on lately, namely getting my wisdom teeth out, which means I get to sit around and do absolutely nothing for a week. I decided to start writing for FFXIII-2 again because of all the free time I suddenly gained. But, while we're on that thought, I've also been on meds most of the time while writing this, so if you notice anything that doesn't make any sense, that's probably why. Feel free to notify me. Thank you.

Oh, but for the record, I came up with this idea before any of that happened.

Also, since this is the first chapter, it might be a little confusing. Picture Serah wearing Lightning's uniform. Picture Yeul older. Much older. Twenty-two-ish, not fifteen. The others, at least in this chapter, are the same. We'll get to Lightning and Hope and whoever else later. Anyway, enough of me talking. Get to reading! :3 And as always, feel free to leave a review.

Prologue: Fighting In Futility

"That time was lost, yet time continued onward…"

A slim woman with pink hair collapsed to her knees at the edge of a structure in the center of Valhalla. Her glossy hair spilled over her shoulders, undone from its usual side ponytail, and she wore a suit of polished metal armor with chest and shoulder plates on top. The lower half of the suit ended just before her thighs, showing off her long legs. A curtain of white feathers cascaded from one of her hips down to the floor.

"What… what's happening?" she murmured. "Where am I?"

She extended her hands out in front of her, and a weapon appeared in her palms. A bowsword, violet and pink, elegantly designed with a feel that fit her hands almost flawlessly. She shifted the weapon in her hands. Instinct told her she already knew how to use it, even with her modest previous combat experience and complete lack of knowledge whatsoever of the weapon that had materialized before her. She gripped the weapon in her hands and stood up.

On the shore below her, a pair of figures clustered together at the edge of the water. One, a fragile-looking girl with pale skin and long bluish-silver hair, stood in thigh-deep water over the other, a lavender-haired man wearing a dark outfit that covered nearly every inch of his skin. He lay floating on his back, his long hair fanning out around his head in the water. The girl at his side kept her arms under his back, gently supporting his body. Shock blazed through the pink-haired woman as she realized that his companion laid him to rest: he was dying.

"This eternity… It was never your desire." A breathy, deliberate voice drifted up to the pink-haired woman on the breeze. She guessed it belonged to the girl standing down on the shore. "Is that so… Caius?"

"Caius," the pink-haired woman repeated, staring out at the shore. The man's body dissolved into ash and floated away on the wind.

Left behind, the girl spun to face the pink-haired woman. "Finally," she said, her voice escalating with the words. "We meet… Warrior goddess."

The pink-haired woman narrowed her eyes. "And you are?"

"Yeul," the girl responded. "Yeul ex Vitae, Guardian of the seer Caius Ballad de Canor."

"What does that mean?" the pink-haired woman demanded.

"Well, if you really want to know…" Yeul ex Vitae began. She stretched out a hand and swept it slowly through the air in front of her, fingers splayed. After a second, she snapped her fingers into a fist. Immediately the pink-haired woman heard a noise behind her, and she turned to see the structure behind her collapsing, the stone pillars and roof crumbling slowly into rock shards and tumbling through the air. She clenched her hands around her weapon and leaped over the railing, landing lightly on the sand below.

She stood several hundred yards away from the slender blue-haired girl, and at this distance she could see her better. Yeul ex Vitae looked older up close, the pink-haired woman thought. She wore a long, flowing white dress, in contrast to her charge's stark black armor. The dress's skirt was slit on one side, revealing that she wore gray leggings underneath it, made of silk and wrapped with purple ribbons. She wore simple gray flats for her shoes. She carried no visible weapon.

"I have served as protector to this man, Caius Ballad de Canor, for years." Yeul ex Vitae took a step forward, and as she did so, a long katana appeared in her right hand. "Ten years, in fact. Fate brought us together when he was fourteen and I was twelve. He saw visions—visions of the future. I was charged with protecting him."

The pink-haired woman nodded slowly. "I understand. I—"

"Oh, I know who you are," Yeul ex Vitae interrupted. "You are Serah Farron, sister to Claire. Caius saw you both in his last vision. The vision that killed him."

"Killed him?" the pink-haired woman, Serah, stammered. "I—I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Then I must explain," Yeul hissed, brandishing her sword. "Your actions, the fact that you were saved by Etro, changed the timeline. Because you changed the timeline, he died. You killed him."

"No," Serah exclaimed, shaking her head and backing into the wall behind her. "I've done nothing wrong. I swear. I didn't kill anyone."

"You lie!" Yeul shouted, flying at Serah with her sword outstretched. Serah brought her weapon up at the last second, blocking the hit. Yeul's katana scraped against Serah's bowsword as she stepped closer, leaning into her weapon. "You were the ones who changed the future. You were the ones who took him from me!"

"I don't understand," Serah gasped again, trying to push the Guardian away. "I never—"

"Quiet," Yeul commanded. She stepped back, pushing Serah into the stone wall again. "Listen to me for a minute… You were a l'Cie, doomed to a Focus cast on you by beings more powerful than you could have ever dreamed of becoming. You were doomed to roam Pulse as a Cie'th, or else sleep forever in crystal. But you did neither of those things, as you clearly stand before me alive and well now. And why do you suppose that is?" She raised her free hand into the air, fingers clenched around nothing but space, and Serah heard the crumbling of stone somewhere further away. "Because you were saved by the goddess Etro! This was a—a miracle that was never meant to happen. It changed the timeline itself, warped it to accommodate you. Caius Ballad de Canor saw this in a vision—his very last vision. Do you understand?"

Slowly, Serah nodded.

"Now, in his honor, I must kill you." Yeul raised her sword over her head, aiming it at the pink-haired woman, who cowered against the wall with wide eyes.

"You wouldn't," Serah whispered.

"And how do you know?" Yeul snapped. "How long have you known about me, Serah Farron?"

"You can't kill me," Serah continued. "I am here because—because the goddess Etro sent me to protect her, and time itself. I can't die here. I—I just can't."

"The goddess Etro sent you to protect her," Yeul mocked. "And how very comfortable you look in that role."

"I will fight you for as long as it takes!" Serah cried.

"Fine," Yeul said slowly. "So it is, then…"

She swept her hand through the air, and the stone wall collapsed around Serah. The pink-haired woman shrieked and shot out a hand as the rocks came down around her. Almost immediately, a bubble formed around her, and the rocks froze. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, before she thrust her hands outward, sending a shower of rocks over the sands. Yeul jumped out of the way, blocking shrapnel from the blast with her katana.

"You have those same powers," Yeul whispered. "That is impossible…"

"What do you mean, 'those same powers'?" Serah demanded. When Yeul gave no answer, she added, "I understand you're upset about your precious Caius, but haven't you ever stopped to think that the gods themselves might have been the ones changing the future? Is it because you're angry about what you can't change, and you just want someone tangible to blame it on?" Her voice came out breathless and choked.

"You dare to disgrace Caius?" Yeul snapped. "You don't understand what we went through. You don't even begin to understand the pain I felt, seeing you in that vision for he first time, and watching him collapse for the last."

Serah shook her head and brandished her bowsword in front of her. "If I may, Yeul ex Vitae," she began, keeping her eyes on the ground, "how long have you known about me?"

Yeul drew her katana, mirroring the pink-haired woman, and they flew at each other, clashes of steel resounding in the air as they fought. Neither spoke another word. Yeul pushed Serah back toward the wall; Serah pushed Yeul back toward the shore. Their footsteps, moving back and forth, traced the sand and tore up the smooth surface.

Yeul's katana cut a path slightly too close to Serah's face, and the pink-haired woman jumped back, vaulting to a stone platform on higher ground. Yeul followed, but Serah foresaw the move and broke into a run, leaping over obstructions and gaps as she traversed the stone edifices. Yeul swept her hand out, casting her sword into the ether, and followed her. Serah continued to run, making her way toward the center of Valhalla. A tall building, shimmering with light and images alike, marked the middle of the timeless world. The steps up to the structure stood as Serah and Yeul's last obstacle. Serah raced up them, running toward Etro's throne.

The blue-haired woman caught up to her, but as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the goddess's throne, she stopped. Her eyes narrowed, and she reached out into empty air.

Just as Serah came to the top of the stairs, gasping for breath, light burst forth from the throne, blinding her. She threw her arms over her face and took a step back. Squinting into the light, she began to see the shape of a sigil emerging from the space before the throne. After a moment, the light began to fade. The air inhabited by the sigil shattered like a pane of glass, and a figure burst forth from it. The figure took the shape of a man just before it hit the ground.

"Hey, are you okay?" Serah gasped, rushing forward and shaking the shoulders of the unconscious figure lying in front of her. "Wake up!"

"What…?" the man mumbled. He blinked and looked up at her, and her hand brushed his shoulder. He wore a black shirt tucked into blue pants. He had tousled brown hair and striking blue eyes.

Serah's eyes widened. "I… I know your name," she whispered.

The young man shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"You're Noel Kreiss," Serah said. "Right?"

He blinked. "Yeah," he answered. "I am. What's it to you?"

Serah opened and closed her mouth a few times, feeling like a fish out of water. She didn't know what to say. "I don't know," she finally answered. "I don't know…"

"Well, okay," he muttered. "Then what—"

Before he could finish, they heard an explosion from the area below them. Their gazes swiveled in unison to the young woman who stood at the base of the stairs, her hands outstretched. Her thin, long katana no longer graced her hands—instead she appeared to hold the air in her palms once more. Above her, a huge dragonlike creature circled the skies, creating currents in the wind with its wings. It circled over Yeul until it faced the building in the center of Valhalla. It then pressed its wings closer to its body and fell into a dive. Serah knew she had to hurry.

"Look," she said to Noel, "I don't know how or why I ended up here, and I'm not really sure why I know your name, either, but I do know this. You have to get out of here. You have to find my sister. Her name is—is Lightning."

"Where is she?" Noel asked, his bright blue eyes searching hers. Surely he couldn't know who Lightning was, Serah thought, and yet his expression looked so determined.

"I think," Serah began, recalling the scarce visions she'd had since coming to this place, "she is in a place called New Bodhum."

"How do I get there?" Noel asked.

"There should be some sort of gate around here," Serah said, rubbing her temples. "Just run. You'll know it when you find it. I… I trust you."

"You trust me to find your sister?" Noel repeated.

"Yes, I trust you," Serah choked out, taking his hands in hers. "Now go."