Noel Kreiss x Reader | Final Fantasy XIII-2
✓ COMPLETED + UNEDITED | 2018
After the fall of Cocoon had rendered much of the land infertile and uninhabitable, the existing civilisations were forced to resort to hunting and foraging for natural resour...
"When the goddess dies, the chaos of Valhalla is unleashed. The chaos has the power to warp the timeline and destroy the past."
- Caius Ballad
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Chapter VII | Visions of Valhalla
The main thing that struck you about the Paddraean Archaeopolis was the silence. It was oppressive, hanging over everything like a web, subduing everything into a soft murmur. Your footsteps were mere ghosts as you made your way down the slope, towards the time gate Hope had pointed out from the map. Dark lanterns hugged the cliff-face either side of you, casting muted grey light over the grass. "The gate's at the bottom of here, I think," Serah said, squinting to see at the foot of the slope, but the rough crags made it difficult.
"Let's hope so," Noel said dryly, walking close to you, close enough so that your arms brushed every so often, creating friction, static warmth. "I wonder what's going to be on the other side."
"Does it scare you? That uncertainty."
Noel glanced warily at Serah, then tilted his shoulders into a brief, casual shrug. "A little. But don't tell Serah," he added with a wink. "She needs to think I'm the brave protector."
You shot him a look. "You are brave, Noel. You're a hunter, a survivor. But courage won't amount to much if you don't have hope, or a drive. Or intelligence, of course. That's what gets you through another sunrise."
"You always know what to say, huh," Noel mused as Serah waved the two of you over to the glowing gate a few paces away.
"Over here, I think this is the gate Hope was talking about," Serah said as Mog tumbled over his head in a playful little roll, making you laugh. "Shall we go through?"
"Don't see why not," Noel said, nodding, then raised his brows at you. "Ready to step through your first time gate?"
You felt a slight flutter of apprehension in your chest, like butterflies trying to break through the cage of your ribs, but Noel's hand found yours and gave it a tight squeeze. "We can go together."
Serah quickly turned to hide a smile, then, using the artefact that Hope had given her, opened the gate and stepped through. You and Noel followed, quickly being pulled through the motions of twisting time itself, feeling it warp and bend around your body, until you landed on the other side. Your feet hit gravel and you almost went flying forward had it not been for Noel's fingers still laced tightly through yours.
"You okay?"
"Never better," you said dryly, letting go of Noel's hand to brush your hair out of your face. Almost immediately the colour drained from your cheeks as you lifted your eyes to the horizon, and you stifled a gasp.
The blackening sky was torn asunder by huge pieces of floating debris, fractured by strange whorls of light that looked like nebulae in deep space.
