With the resounding clap of a sonorous gong, multiple converging portals collapsed at once. A blast of loud clamor and force tosses foreign elements onto the barren skeleton of a planet. Among them are Yeul, Luna, and Lightning. Lunafreya and Yeul land first on the rocky ground, with Lunafreya slamming hard onto the floor and just barely avoiding landing on Yeul. The smaller girl listlessly rolls to a stop like a ragdoll and remains lying there on the cold ground that rushed up to meet them.

The Crux behind them vibrates and spins one last time before the light of the time tunnel sputters and the gears creak. Lightning is thrown out last before the rings of the Crux fall apart and land with heavy thuds on the earth, kicking up clouds of grey dust before collapsing. The pink-haired woman crashes into the floor and skids on the dry dirt.

Lunafreya coughs and slowly rolls over, her entire body in pain from the rough tumbling and fighting with her dark twin. Using her cure magic only increased her fatigue and diminished her own natural healing factor, so she was worn to the bone at this point. But she still stubbornly picks herself up just enough to look around at their new surroundings.

It looks to be a lifeless environment, with crags, stone, and colorless dark dirt all around. There doesn't seem to be much of any flora here. The sky is the color of dust. The air feels dry here, which explains how dusty everything seems to be.

"Gh..."

Luna looks with a start to see Lightning pulling herself off the ground. The Savior's injuries from the Graviton and Ruinga attacks are even more severe than her own. The Oracle staggers to the Savior's side, "L-Lightning... please allow me..."

"...Take a look at yourself first..." Lightning strains, using Ultima Weapon to stand, "This is... where are we...? Yeul?"

She looks to the younger girl laying on the ground, motionless. With a pant and worried gasp, Luna hurries to her side and assesses any injuries. Yeul looks a bit scuffed up from the chaos back in the New World. She doesn't seem to have a lot of external injury, but her hands are icy when Luna feels them, and that is frightening. She doesn't rouse when the oracle tries to wake her. To Luna's minimal relief, at least Yeul is breathing...

"... Must be the strain of the Crux..." Lightning wipes some grime from her cheek and spits some blood out, "Damn it..."

She didn't recognize this place. However, the vibe she got was very similar to that of Noel's home in the alternate timeline of a destroyed Pulse. It was a lifeless future, rendered doomed as a result of the fall of Coccoon. But there were some differences... This world, for one, appeared a lot more ominous in addition to its desolation. Some of the rock formations had alien, twisted grooves in them. They didn't look natural in any sense that Lightning knew. In the distance, there are dark mountains and strange arch-like formations against the dusty sky. It looks to be getting darker by the second, which is never a good thing.

"... We need to get to shelter," Lightning sighs, "Focus on Yeul for now... since she's the only one who can tell us where the hell we are..."

Luna nods and dispels her trident with a tired sigh. She goes to pick Yeul up despite her own fatigue. To her surprise, the girl is rather light.

"... Perhaps a cave maybe? Or..." Luna looks around hopefully.

"We'll aim for there," Lightning points to a rock formation in the distance that looks like it could provide some cover from inclement weather, "You good to keep walking?"

"... I will be fine," Luna nods.

Lightning merely nods as they begin the trek. Luna is grateful she is wearing something other than heels. But her fatigue is still a nagging concern, and she easily falters in pace behind Lightning despite the other's injuries. Even a light body like Yeul fatigues her. The spot by the rocks seems so far away.

"... Do you need a break?" Lightning says airily as she stops for Luna to catch up.

"I can... keep going..." Luna pants, staggering a little in step.

Lightning scoffs lightly and kneels with her back towards Luna, "I'll take Yeul. You're going to fall over at this rate."

The oracle sighs in resignation and gently lays Yeul on Lightning's back. The Savior holds the smaller girl there securely before standing and continuing. Luna can keep up a little better without that weight. She keeps her eyes open to the dead world around them.

Something about this place felt empty. It must have been alive once. The loss of life leaves a palpable gap to be filled. The emptiness is unsettling and eerie. It reminds Luna of some books in the Cosmologie that detailed a world of ruin following the extinguishing of Eos. Daemons would run the earth to the ground and ravage everything until the true king would come and...

There is a slight twinge of pain in her head before she can finish that thought.

True King... that would come save the world? There is a strange seed of doubt as she goes over the classically taught text in her mind.

King, guided by the lights of Eos, by the great Four, led by the Bladekeeper...

Wait, what had her seemingly darker twin said of the Bladekeeper again? That one of them would overturn the accursed fate …

What did all that mean? Where did this dark half of her come from?

She doesn't have time to dwell too much, as Lightning calls to her from several meters ahead. The soldier's stamina is nothing to scoff at.

"You coming or what?"

"Oh, sorry...!" Luna scrambles to catch up, shaking off the sting.

They finally reach the rock formation Lightning pointed out. Up close, it appears to be a sort of lithic tripod structure that juts out from a large inselberg, displaced from the mountains off in the distance. Lightning lays down Yuel against one of the stony legs of the tripod, which extends upward like a pillar to some strange, pointed tip aimed at the sordid sky. The soldier then sits down with a grunt on the hard ground.

Luna catches up at last and holds to one of the stone pillars to catch her breath. Lightning looks to her with unamusement. But she doesn't say anything and merely sighs, taking stock of her injuries at this time of brief respite.

"...Are you alright?" Luna asks quietly as she sits across from Lightning.

The Savior looks to her with tired eyes that are dry. The spin through the Crux had dried her tears. She doesn't say anything now that they have found a place to rest. Instead, she lets that gnawing feeling fester into the same rage she felt when she couldn't protect Serah … and her sister ended up being encased in crystal. She looks away.

Luna scoots a bit to lean against another pillar. She looks to the sleeping Yeul and then to the brooding Lightning again. It's a bit awkward, understandably so.

"... I'm sorry," Luna says softly.

"..." Lightning barely twitches at her sympathies, "... There's no point in being sorry about it. We need to figure out... how to beat Bhunivelze."

"Well... you defeated him before, right?" Luna has some hope in her eyes, "How did you do it? It was this same power, correct?"

"No... my old power was much stronger," Lightning extends her hand and summons Ultima, "... But I'm getting there. It's coming back."

After all... Serah gave her life... for this... And Hope also...

Her jaw clenches a bit at the memories of those raw memories from only a few hours ago. She dispels the Ultima weapon and glares outward at the wasteland about them.

"You better rest," Lightning sighs, "You'll need it to keep up."

"What are we going to do?"

"First, we wait for Yeul to wake up and tell us where the hell we are. Then, heal up. And then, we get out and find Bhunivelze and kill him," Lightning says with steely conviction.

"..." Luna doesn't voice her concern on how the plan seemed to be missing several vital steps. Surely the Crux was destroyed... so how would they even leave here... wherever here even is. For now, she leans back and sighs, "Alright, I'll rest... but do let me know if your injuries hurt too much. I can heal them for you."

Lightning merely grunts in affirmation.

The oracle slips into a fatigued sleep shortly, her breath slowing. She had really been exhausted. Yeul still sleeps quietly, almost like she isn't even breathing. Lightning resummons Ultima and holds it again. Her hand clasping the weapon twitches here and there. She can still remember Serah's warmth...

A weapon filled with unfulfilled wishes...

The new wounds on her reach deeper than flesh. She almost wanted an enemy to come for them right now so she could tear them apart.

…

A stream of light, like a thin pillar, beams down onto a ruined and rocky land. It deposits two males where it strikes. Noctis and Ace roll through some dust to a stop after being tossed here by the warp. The prince barely makes a sound, his breath shallow. He's unconscious. Ace is similarly knocked out, but he suddenly wakes up screaming.

"NINE! DEUCE! C... CINQUE!" He shouts, sitting up. Immediately, his head feels a stab of pain, as does his bruised body, "UGH!"

Gasping from the pain, he glances around frantically. He's in a desolate wasteland, with clouds of earthbound clouds billowing about. It's dusty, barren, and lifeless. He almost doesn't make out the shape of Noctis lying on the ground nearby.

"N... Noctis?" Ace shakily stands and stumbles over to the motionless body, "Hey... Noctis... Wake up!"

His own body feels strange zaps of pain, as if electricity is pulsing through him. His head is swimming, almost literally, as he feels himself on the verge of passing out from dizziness. To his horror, Noctis doesn't stir at his prompting. He hurriedly makes sure the prince is still breathing. Noctis groans a bit as he turns him over.

"Shit... Ugh..." Ace feels a stab through his fingers and looks to his hands. His eyes widen in shock as something like a rectangular prism seems to vaguely materialize in his hand before fizzling out of existence once more.

"What... UGH-!" A pang of pain strikes his head, and he topples onto his side, clutching his skull, "Aagh..."

There's something he'd forgotten... What's going on? What are these... memories...

Images flash through his head, unbidden, bubbling forth without end, like a dam had broken.

He sees visions of a world that could not possibly exist. He sees Queen dying... Rem becoming some sort of powerful enemy that threatens to rule the world's destruction... He sees a ranch of chocobos and a woman he called "mother" ... There's Izana and Machina, but they look different... Akademeia is in shambles as Rubrum moved against the Militesi... they were cadets... They were weapons trained for war... to become... Agito...

"Ugh- Aggh! Get... out... of my head...!" Ace screams to no one as he writhes on the ground, breathing through his teeth.

Their years as a class of cadets... the fear of death and losing those you cherish, along with any memories of them... Fighting like dolls for the will of the Crystals, being revived endlessly in a Spiral of events that are destined to repeat until someone can finally open the Gate of Etro... Their final moments in that classroom filled with the smell of their blood...

"AAAAAH!"

He gives a howling cry as his body arches towards the gray heavens and his eyes glow briefly. Then, he collapses, lying as still as Noctis.

In his hand, the prism-looking form appears again, more material this time. It slowly forms in his palm, becoming what appears to be a deck of cards. The back of the card has an intricate artwork displayed, showing a muscular masked warrior in painted armor, surrounded by various different weapons against a black background. The deck glows briefly glows with a light teal light, which spreads through Ace's listless body...

Very sorry about the wait for continuation here. Finally got some stuff done IRL.