As the duo continued their fight, the distortions located around the installations extending out from the shore began to resolve. Noel’s conscience still remained a jumbled mess of confusion. Every time he attempted to reach out to grasp the memory, his thoughts would pause, as if he was faced with an impassable barricade.
His final adversary collapsed before him as he retreated his weapons. The aftermath of panic still resonated through the inhabitants, now fully alert and regrouping for further instructions. The beach was a mess, a variety of carcasses lay motionless scattered along the shoreline. There were a handful of injured comrades as well, though the majority could still function without assistance. The hunter straightened his spine, resetting back to a standing position from his defensive stance.
Was the rip in space time a purposeful distraction or was it just a side effect of the timeline being twisted? The question unsettled him, putting most of his beliefs into the latter. If this situation was this disastrous, there was a chance that these circumstances would develop in other eras. It made sense to him at least. Perhaps as they started to manipulate time back into its rightful order, then events such as this would not be so severe. His idea was worth a shot, but first they needed to find an Artefact before proceeding any further.
He had been educated about them, each infused with power, the keys to the Historia Crux and flow of time. An Artefact was always paired with a time gate. Almost certain that they were aware of the location of their first gate, it was just a matter of discovering the accompanying seal somewhere in New Bodhum.
╌╌ Still wavering over the pouch lodged to her hip, she briefly inspects him for any serious injuries but as he thrust a thumbs up her way she let out a relieved sigh- focusing on the engaging battle instead. Even after their first battle the two jogged through Bodhum’s winding roads, eliminating sudden fabrications that stood in their path. At times she would try to put away her weapon to realize she didn’t have any to hold it in so instead Serah would end up awkwardly holding it up between remembering and trying to place it away. That was the least of her worries. Beyond her small town laid a bigger mass of black smoke, nothing that her blue irises had seen before.
Was the black smoke connected somehow to the sudden mass of enemies? It was too soon for Serah to assume that was the cause, so she just had find out later for more solid evidence to show itself. She had looked to Noel a few times while clearing the area, only a few to see how he reacted to such things; the twitches in his expressions, the movements that slipped any sign that may explain anything. But she gave up on it moments later. There was only one thing that she knew of. “Hey Noel.” The pony tail flips over her shoulder swiftly as she cranks her head to the side. “Do you have any recollection to where that meteorite would of hit? You said before you rode on it right? Maybe as you fell here, the monsters may have came along too.” She brought herself into a thinking pose. It was only just a passing thought, but a plausible one at that- it brought two conclusions, the cause of the disruption to the town and the proof that all the words, all the things that Noel had told her were as true as the meteorite that landed there.
Strangely, a part of her didn’t want to believe it as true. She was happy here, right? Through out the short years she had lived on Gran Pulse she was always led to believe her sister had passed with great honor and move on with her life, even amongst the closest to either her or her sister- none of them believed her. All this time she had assumed her becoming a l'cie lead to her sister’s sacrifice. I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ll loose her again. Even after what happened, she’s the only family I have left… It was all too much for her to deal with for now and stayed silent for Noel’s response to her idea.