Long time no seeish? I've been working 6 days a week all this month and that has been rather miserable... But oh well. Finally time off this week. I'mma try to get the bulk of this story posted over the next week so expect at least 2-4 more updates this week.
Snow couldn't help but feel deeply troubled. Serah had been showing signs of increased chaos control? Compatibility? Whatever the hell it was, it most certainly spelled trouble. At least it would soon. Right now it was useful as she was able to direct the chaos away from the city. At least for now. She also occasionally heard voices but he found that it was nothing of concern as the voices were connected with the chaos armies. Mostly sealed away with in the jagged crystals that existed thankfully far away from Yusnaan.
But it was all really a means to distract himself. The people of Yusnaan had picked him to be the leader. Chosen him as if he was a worthy leader. The successor to Hope. He knew he was woefully inadequate but Serah had promised to support him. And furthermore, he'd realized with a pang of guilt it was all he could do for the boy. Years and years and years ago he'd promised his mother to protect him. And he'd done a piss poor job of that.
That wasn't to say that Hope couldn't take care of himself. But you couldn't watch your own back all of the time. And the one time that Hope had truly needed backup, Snow had left him hanging. He didn't wanted to break another promise. Hope had valued their family more then anyone else and Snow had saw that as his way to be redeemed. But he'd nearly squandered that all away too. They had separated. To the different ends of the habitable world but they all had a common goal. They all sort of stayed in touch. He had insisted.
And was damn proud of himself for it. The more he looked over Yusnaan and watched people lose touch with their bonds, the more the world wore on them and their weary hearts. He might be the one to attempt to protect a city. But honestly all the hard parts were done by Pandaemonium. A rather strange Fal'cie it could convert chaos into food.
Snow learned not to question it. More importantly as long as he protected the cursed thing, it kept providing humanity with a way to continue on. Which was more then he could ask for. Fal'cie were fickle creatures and sometimes when he sat in it's presence, Snow couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor bastard. An endangered species that could only follow it's directive from a God that had abandoned it. It was a shitty existence.
Then again they'd all been abandoned by God.
"Snow?" The voice brought him back to the present and also into lighter spirits. Serah, his constant and touch stone was standing in the door way with Mog floating over her shoulder. Even now she was stunning, although she made some of the palace residents nervous. Serah was… covered in spectral flares at time. Her ability to control chaos on display for all to see.
The only other person he'd seen like that was Vanille and Fang had had a heart attack and a half when it had manifested.
"Is something wrong?" He asked as he stood up carefully. Serah was supposed to be on the other side of the city overseeing the trading with Luxerion, the city of ingrates.
"I'm all finished for the day. I thought we could talk… about Noel?" Her voice was hushed and he knew what she was getting at. They'd both tried, with limited success to talk to Noel. About staying, about helping out. Snow needed an army and he'd wanted Noel to be the leader. He couldn't trust the people of Luxerion, they thought he was a heretic for allying with the Fal'cie to keep the world going.
Which was rich considering that was precisely why those bastards traded goods with them. The gods had abandoned them. And even if they hadn't… Pandemonium was just as much their servant as those pompous bastards. They were just made that he was chosen and not one of them. Couldn't just let those assholes control everything. It'd be Cocoon all over again.
"You're lost in your thoughts again. That's not good you know." Serah murmured as she sat down beside him.
"Can't help it…" Snow stared at his clasped hands. Somewhere under there was his Pulse l'cie brand. His death sentence. Everything seemed to have gone so wrong so fast without Hope around. It didn't make sense that with one man gone that everything went to hell.
"Noel said that he's leaving in the morning." Serah finally bit out frustrated. "We should stop him."
"No." Snow took her hand and held it gently. "Stopping him with get us nowhere. He has no interest in this world. Too much has been taken from him."
"We're still here!" she pleaded with him and Snow shook his head.
"There is a guilt in Noel that I understand all to well." Snow kissed the side of her head and pulled her close. "He can't… he won't mourn Hope and he won't back down. I was like that when you were crystal."
She opened her mouth and he shook his head. He was weary, world weary really. He wanted nothing more then to lay down and sleep until the end. "Without you here… I probably wouldn't be much better. He needs time and also to feel like he's doing something. Let him go searching. Tell Lightning to inform the others so that he has help among them."
"I… I understand." She kissed his temple. Everything was dying, even their relationship, she thought miserably. This eternal world was simply too much. For everyone.
Noel didn't felt the slightest bit of guilt about his lie to Serah as he gathered up his rucksack and moved silently through the halls. Nearly everyone would be at one of the many parties that the people insisted the Patron have. A city dancing it's way to the end of the world. Noel snorted. As if that was such a way to do things. This was his second time at the end of days. And no way would he wait around when there had to still be things he could do.
As he walked outside the city gates he allowed himself to breath a bit easier. Humans inhabited four areas of this changed world. Yusnaan which he just left. Luxerion which was a mess and a half full of lunatics who referenced a God he didn't care about. The Dead Dunes were only good for treasure hunting and the Wildlands were where all the smart people went. Surrounding this deadly new world was sea of Chaos. Where the monsters came from.
The best place to look was the Wildlands. There, was where most of the benevolent chaos still existed. Those beings of chaos that had fought in Etro's army had settled there and often times protected the area from being attacked in the way that other areas had. If Hope was dead… His soul would be there. After that, he wasn't sure of what he would do.
The wildlands was still a beautiful area to Noel as he wandered through dense forest and brush. He'd moved away from where the villages were and heading deeper and deeper into the woods. He wasn't sure of what he was searching for, but he made the villagers nervous. Around him had layered soft wisps of chaos. Usually a sign of danger even in a place like this where chaos was usually benign. Not that it mattered. The thought of being alone was rather welcome.
He sat down at his small camp sight with a few small pieces of game to clean when chaos manifested in front of him in the form of a woman. He startled badly, dropping his tools. Chaos, those that were souls rarely manifested as people. And this woman looked strangely familiar. Her eyes were gently and green even in the sickly black haze. Hope's eyes, he realized with a choked gasp.
"You won't find him here." Her voice was ethereal. She was Nora Esthiem and yet not because the soul dissolved into chaos to be reborn and she'd been dead an awfully long time. She should have undergone several lifetimes. "The chaos holds no answers for you."
"I can't just quit." He growled back and she nodded thoughtfully and then her features relaxed and became more human.
"You love my son." Her words were kind but sorrowful. "My brave little boy is no longer on this world at all."
"That can't be right!" Noel gasped as he leaned forward. "There's no where else to go!"
"There is one other place." She corrected him and pointed to the sky. "The two worlds have merged. God will return in over a hundred years now. The chaos knows what the Goddess once knew. It will take over a hundred years to make the a new world. And then this one will end. Everyone knows it… They can all feel it. The great ending."
"I don't care about that!"
"The chaos is of Etro… Something that God will not want. He will need a hero and he will need a guide." Her face became impossibly sad. "Hope will be the guide. The world will trust him. And they will follow him into the new world."
"Then he should be here! Guiding the world!" Noel protested and she shook her head.
"Do you remember? The Ark? Hope's Ark?" She pointed to the sky again. "It is the vessel in which humanity will travel to the new world. Hope is there."
"Then I will go there." He stood up but she shook her head yet again. Noel found himself getting more and more frustrated. He sat back down with a loud thump and glared at her. She lifted her hands and images appeared in the chaos much like a oracle drive.
"Everyone has a purpose. Those in Lexerion are attempting to thwart Etro's work. Without this… The souls of those already departed cannot pass to the new world. Do this for me… for my son. Save everyone."
Noel looked away from her bitterly. Of course, there was always something else to do. He growled lowly. He wanted to refuse her but if what she said was true, he knew he also couldn't face Hope is there was a chance that he could save people. Glaring at the spirit he looked away and thought about it. If what the spirit said was true, then searching was fruitless to say the least. It would probably be better to go back to Yusnaan and help Snow throw parties.
"The leaders of Luxerion are more dangerous then you think." Nora spoke again but she could see the way his face had closed off to her. She sighed deeply and began to fade. "I want to help you… And help my son. When you are ready to listen to what I have to say… Just call for me."
"Don't hold your breath." Noel grouched as he shifted his gaze back down to his tools and picked them up. He had no desire to deal with this anymore and he pushed himself forward. And began to cook his dinner. In no way was he going to submit himself to what the powers that be wanted again.
Noel knocked on the door of the chocobo ranch that Sazh and Dajh lived on. He didn't visit them often but he felt he needed advice. Last night, he had dreamed of Hope. Not only dreamed of him but had a desire to do something. Anything that would help. He wasn't sure what it had meant. He had left Yusnaan because he couldn't stand the atmosphere. And to be around people was to be depressing. Although it was taking far longer then it did back in his home time… People were dying, there were no births. Just more and more death.
And he'd been irrational scared. He was still the last human ever born. They hadn't changed the future in a way to remedy that. Honestly, not he was just a paradox forced to watch the world fade all over again. Sazh answered the door with a frown on his face. When he saw Noel he sighed deeply and gestured him in.
"I thought you were Lightning again for a second. That girl is fixin' to give me a heart attack." He grumbled as he put on water for tea.
"What would she be doing out here?" The brunette asked as he sat down at the sparse table.
"Just lots of bad news. No leads on Hope. There was a chaos attack on Yusnaan. Don't worry though. Snow's l'cie powers save the day that fool." Sazh sat down with the tea and looked much older then his years. "Things are getting bad Noel. And they are going to be bad for a long time."
That caused the hunter to sit up. His senses felt more alert and he gestured for the other to continue.
"There's rumors of God coming back. Of preparing for God to come back. Those nutjobs have fully taken over Luxerion although others are trying to fight back. Accordin' to Light they believe that Yusnaan is fully of heretics and are threatening their survival because they control the Fal'cie. A war might be brewing."
"That war was brewing before I left." Noel waved it away but Sazh shook his head.
"It keeps deeper still. They are kidnapping those who show chaos power. Like Serah and Vanille… Well obviously they hadn't gotten ahold of those two. But… A prophecy has come about."
"A prophecy? Did they find an oracle drive?"
"Don't know." He shrugged. "But it has been said that they can connect to the souls… The ones trapped in the chaos. Don't know what's those loonies want someone like that for. But it's got Snow antsy." He took at a long drink from his tea. "Got me nervous too. If they attack Yusnaan who knows what they'll do next if they've lost their fear of Snow."
"Sounds bad." Noel admitted and Sazh sighed deeply. "At least Dajh doesn't have to see this mess."
Dajh, had in the past five years succumbed to one of the many strange 'infections' that existed around the world. Unconscious but not dying, and not sick. He lay in bed for years. He awoke every few years for maybe a few hours to a day at a time. It was nerve wracking. And impossible to know when would be the last time the poor child awoke. The lines on Sazh's face show that even just being at the beginning of this trying disease was worrying.
"Lightning said she was going to tie up some more loose ends with us and then go to Etro. She was sure that there she could find a way to… I don't know. Figure out something about Hope. She said that it was the only place she could think of to get answers. But I guess time moves differently there and we might not see her for years and years if she goes to the throne."
"Good for her." Noel replied. "Etro's been such a great help in the past two hundred and something years. I won't hold my breath."