Distant Light

Distant Home

Noel's eyes fluttered open. Heavily. Slowly. His head was pounding. He couldn't focus his vision clearly. And worst of all, his memory was a blur. If he tried to remember, his head would hurt more.

He was cold. He felt as if he froze down to his bones. His bones that hurt. Every single muscle of his was in pain, and the hard, cold, musky ground wasn't helping at all. He had to get up and find Serah, on the double. 

Groaning, Noel managed to sit on his knees. As his visioned focused on the enviorment he realized that it was dark outside. It was in the middle of the night probably. 

As he looked around some more, he acknowledged he wasn't in the Void Beyond anymore. The place was damp and musky, and it smelled awful. He turned around to see the Gateway that lead to Historia Crux stood right in front of a dumpster.

"Where the heck have I landed?" Noel muttered under his breath, standing on his feet in order to approach the gate. However, it didn't do anything. It didn't have its usual glow, and when the hunter touched it, it didn't even open.

"It can't be--Come on!" Noel growled as he gripped the gate with both of his hands, attempting to shake it as if it was a vending machine. "Why won't you work?!" 

He gave the gate a kick before he backed away from it. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his brown hair. Noel was angry, and confused. He rested his back on a wall near the gate and tried to remember what exactly happened. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. The alley reeked, and the zone didn't seem too friendly as Noel heard glass shattering nearby. He could go to ask the people where he is exactly; but why do that when he can remember what happened and maybe he could leave after his memory comes back, right?

"Serah and I left Academia, and something in the Crux malfuctioned," Noel mumbled to himself, low enough to not draw attention, "We got separated and I woke up in the Void Beyond. I lost against Caius and then he... he stabbed me." he looked down at his torso to look for any sign of a big, ugly and bloody gash; but the clothes didn't show any signs of scratches. He shook his head resuming his inventorying through his memories.

"After that, I... I woke up in this place."

The gate wasn't showing any signs of opening up, and his memories didn't serve him any good. With a soft sigh escaping his lips, he turned to leave the alley.

Once in the street, Noel looked around. From the first view it looked like an advanced city, with skyscrapers and all, but it wasn't as nearly as sophisticated as Academia. The streets were also pretty quiet for such a city. Maybe because most of the people were in the bar right next to him.

"So I woke up in the middle of the night, next to a bar... if someone would've seen me, they would've thought I was drunk or something... oh God..." the hunter closed his eyes for a second, before he took a deep breath, "Guess I don't have any other choice, do I?"

So Noel went in. Thankfully, no one payed attention to him. I mean, Noel's clothes aren't exactly fitting for a town like this. It didn't for Academia, let alone for this foreign world. As he slipped through the bulky men that were there to have a drink and to share their stories, Noel overheard a conversation.

"Do you still think of moving to Zaun?"

"Nah, I feel more safe here in Piltover. No other city state has the sheriff we have!" 

The two men started laughing tremendously. Noel blinked at the two foreign names he just heard. Zaun? Piltover? This sure isn't Gran Pulse anymore. 

Noel took a seat in close proximity to those men. He played with his thumbs and listened further.

"I'm thinking of joining the League actually. Fight alongside our sheriff would be a privilege."

League? Okay. It seems like a door to Pulse.

The young hunter looked around to see a few people staring at him here and there. Biting down on his lower lip, he decided it's time to go. 

He silently left the bar just as he entered it. The streets were, as expected, empty.  Although Noel didn't exactly have a plan, he had a location to seek.

Noel didn't have a reason to name this League a door back home. It just didn't sound weirdly as Zaun and Piltover did. Besides, he had no where else to go. The people there, which Noel hoped they'd look friendlier, might tell him about his whereabouts, and maybe, just maybe, he can go back to Pulse to continue his journey in order to correct the timeline. 

Right... now where do I get a map?