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first paradox | video

[ The video starts with a shot of the ground, Serah's feet and a Starly chirping at her determinedly nearby. When it appears Serah's more focused on the PokéGear in her hands, the Starly shoots forward and knocks it away so it goes clattering across the ground. ]

Hey! [ From a slightly awkward angle, Serah is visible with her hands on her hips. ] Okay, that's enough out of you! You'll have to sit still for a few minutes longer!

[ The Starly looks appropriately scolded, so it just nods and goes back to chirping more quietly. Serah moves over to the PokéGear, picking it up, her face now more clearly visible in the shot. ]

Sorry about that. [ All smiles and politeness, now. Noel was right about one thing: Serah can go from smiling angel to angry ogre, and vice versa. ]

I only just arrived here a few hours ago, and... I'm still a little confused. Is there anyone else who's not supposed to be here?

[ At this point, the Starly barges back onscreen. Serah laughs. ] All right, you can move around again now. [ With that, the video cuts. ]

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... I wanted to change the future, no matter what happened. When I found out that having those powers shortened my life with each vision, like they did with Yeul...

[ She trails off, her voice quietening. ] I still wanted to continue. [ That hadn't been an easy decision for her, either. Not knowing if she'd ever see Lightning or Snow again... or anyone else, for that matter. But she hadn't wanted anyone to stop her. It'd been something she wanted to do alone, for once. Other people had already made too many sacrifices for her sake. ] I'm sorry.

I know you did.

[(Does. He knows she does.)

It's his wish too, changing everything for a better future.]

But as your friend, it was still something I should have known, not found out in bits and pieces when it was too late.

[ She nods, finally looking back up at the feed. ] You're right. It wasn't fair of me to keep it to myself.

[ Even with Noel, really - while Noel had known she had the same powers as Yeul, had guessed what that meant, she'd never told him exactly how sure she'd been of her own fate. She'd never known how to. ] But it helped me to keep moving forward.

[Until you died, he doesn't say.

But he knows there's something more to the story, because while she'd... well. He'd been around to see everything.]

The place you were in before returning to Academia-- what was it like? What did it look like?

We were in Valhalla. The place where Lightning was fighting Caius in the vision the Oracle Drive showed.

[ She thinks of the best way to describe it, remembering Noel's words. A realm of possibilities. ] It's... a strange place. It's like there's no real life there at all... or even time. Lightning said it was Etro's realm.

[Not much different from what he knows then, and he sighs at the lack of new information. But there's one more question he hasn't asked yet.]

Did you see anything strange, any sort of... [How did he describe it back then?]

Some kind of dark energy that looked like mist. Did you see anything of the sort while you were there?

Dark energy? Now that you mention it... [ Thinking thinking. She was caught up in the moment for most of the fights with Caius, but with more time to reflect on it, the details are reemerging. ] Yes, I did see something like that. Caius could manipulate it.

... So everything still points to him.

[He presses his fingers against the bridge of his nose.]

That energy came to Gran Pulse almost immediately after you died. [Oh wait, he should elaborate.] A... tear, for lack of a better word, opened in the sky, and beyond it was Valhalla.

The dark energy came through it. I have no idea what exact effects it had on the world, but it began to change it somehow.

[ Serah is surprised to hear it, but it's a fear that had been weighing on her mind after Caius' words during the battle. She bites her lip. ] It must've been... because Caius died. [ She always feels like she doesn't know enough. Despite the visions and everything she'd learned on her journey, it never seems to be enough. ] I think that's what he wanted all along.

[ Goddamn Caius and his Batman gambits. ]

[... What.

No really, what?]

What would he have gained by sacrificing himself?

He wanted to save Yeul from her fate as a seeress... to stop her from dying over and over. To do that... he wanted to stop time itself. [ Her frown, which has not disappeared at any point during this conversation, seems to grow more pronounced. ] I'm not sure I understand this entirely myself, but... Caius said he had Etro's heart inside him. He was made immortal by her.

[ Put like that, it's starting to click. ] When Noel refused to kill him, Caius forced him to. I think... when he died... that Etro must've died as well.

[ It's only as she speaks that she realises the gravity of what must've happened, of Caius' plan. She'd already accepted the sacrifice she'd have to make to change the future. But what had it amounted to? ]

[He has to pause right there and massage his forehead because damn it, even the person who has been making trouble all this time turns out to be interested in the welfare of someone else, and it's not easy to hate someone because of it.

Is he sympathizing with the man? No. He cant, considering Caius' methods.

But damn it, it's not so black and white now.]

It adds up to what Noel said-- that he killed the goddess.

And with the goddess' death, a tear between our world and Valhalla had been opened, as if she'd been the one somehow keeping time moving.

... Yeah. I guess that's what must've happened. [ Her voice wavers a little. ] Then... Caius succeeded after all.

He did. [And it's terrible.]

Even losing his life, he did succeed.

But I still don't know what exactly has been changed in Gran Pulse, save for time.

Me neither. [ And, she supposes, she'll never know. ] But I still... I still believe there has to be a way to fix things.

[ Most of all, she believes in her sister. ]

So do I.

[Just... what though. He wishes he'd been there just a little longer, if Lightning would come.

Then again, she's here too.]

[ That's Serah's thought, too - amazingly, Lightning's here, not wherever she is back home. Maybe it's selfish, but she's glad for that. ]

But for now... I suppose we have to concentrate on what's happening in this place. [ Not the most subtle of subject changes, but it's her attempt to try and lighten the mood, at least. For both of their sakes. And besides, she's not sure she has any other helpful information. There's still too many unknown factors. ] Hope... how long have you been here?

I've been here over a year, Serah, and still it's just as unpredictable as ever.

[Case in point, bringing her back, and without memories of her previous stay to boot.]

... Though I'd been here before as well. So collectively, two years.

Two whole years? [ Okay. Okay, so she wasn't expecting it to be for quite that long. Give her a moment.

Two moments. Maybe three.

Okay, she's good. ] Wow... so not a paradox either, then.

Ha. [Not quite an amused laugh though.] No, definitely not a paradox.

A paradox can bend time, but not send people into completely new worlds with its own rules.