The Aetherveil drifted silently across the void, neither bound to Gaia nor any other realm. Its crystalline sails were folded back, pulsing faintly with restrained energy, a great leviathan of the skies cloaked in invisibility. To mortals below, it would be as though nothing disturbed the stars.
Inside, Sirius stood at the central viewing chamber, his tall frame bathed in the pale light of a thousand glowing threads of fate. They hung before him like strands of silk suspended in an endless loom, stretching from one world to another, weaving destinies both tragic and triumphant.
The chamber was vast, circular, its walls alive with shifting constellations. The floor beneath his boots glowed faintly with runes that resonated in time with the threads, like a heartbeat echoing through the cosmos. The air was thick with stillness, broken only by the occasional crackle of energy when two strands crossed or frayed.
Sirius had spent countless hours here—perhaps days, though time had little meaning in the flow of fate. Each flicker told a story: a child in Eorzea dreaming of becoming a hero, a knight in Ivalice making a desperate stand, a mage in Gaia quietly weeping at a friend's grave. He watched them all, unseen and untouchable, until now.
One thread caught his attention.
It pulsed—not steadily like the others, but with a strange rhythm. Flickering, shimmering, as though calling to him. Sirius narrowed his eyes. Threads rarely acted with will. They were markers of destiny, not voices. Yet this one glimmered insistently, tugging at his awareness like a plea.
He reached out with a gloved hand.
The moment his fingers brushed the light, vision consumed him.
---
He saw a girl standing alone beneath a twilight sky. Her hair was rose-pink, her eyes shimmering with quiet strength. She wore clothes of a scholar and a warrior both—practical boots, a fitted skirt, and a blouse laced with subtle embroidery—but there was a gentleness about her that set her apart from hardened soldiers. Around her, fragments of crystalline light swirled like petals caught in a breeze, glittering faintly in the fading sun.
Sirius's breath caught. His voice escaped in a whisper. "Serah…"
Her thread glowed brighter at the sound of her name, as though in recognition. The shimmer expanded, showing fragments of her life—her hand reaching for her sister Lightning's, her laughter with Snow, her quiet determination as she wrote lessons for children in her village. In one glimpse, he saw her tears as she looked to the sky, whispering prayers for those fighting battles she could not join.
Sirius pulled his hand back, his expression hardening though his chest stirred with unease. Another destined to fall. Another whose story was already etched with sacrifice and sorrow. And yet, unlike so many others, her heart carried something unyielding: hope. Hope that refused to die, even when despair closed in.
"This may be the new member," Sirius murmured, his voice low but certain.
---
He straightened and called into the chamber. "Aether."
At once, the ship's voice answered, smooth and feminine, resonating through crystal panels like the whisper of wind. "Yes, Master Sirius?"
"Set course for this thread's origin. Coordinates… Final Fantasy Thirteen."
The Aetherveil's sails flared with light, unfolding like wings. Aether's tone deepened as her systems aligned. "Warp initialized. Transition in three… two… one."
Reality folded. Stars bent inward. The ship passed through a tear in the fabric of worlds, vanishing from one universe and reappearing in another.
---
Sirius's gaze swept across the new horizon as the veil adjusted to the world below.
This land was unlike Gaia or Ivalice. Towering structures of steel and crystal pierced the skies, suspended by impossible technology. Roads of light stretched across cities where airships and hovercraft glided effortlessly. The air itself pulsed with energy, a mixture of natural lifestream and artificial force that hummed faintly against his senses.
In the distance rose Cocoon, a colossal sphere suspended above the planet like a second sky. Its surface gleamed with neon and glass, a false paradise held aloft by the fal'Cie. To those within, it was safety. To Sirius, it was a cage of light—perfect, unyielding, and fragile.
Beneath it sprawled Gran Pulse, wild and untamed, its plains stretching endlessly beneath jagged cliffs. Vast beasts roamed its fields, crystals jutted from its soil like buried suns, and the land itself throbbed with raw freedom.
Sirius inhaled slowly, eyes narrowing. "So… this is XIII. A world of contradictions. A cage of light above, freedom below. And somewhere in between… her."
Aether's voice carried reverence. "World stabilized. Cloaking veil active. No detection possible."
"Good." Sirius lifted a hand, pointing forward. "She is in one of their towns. Lower us above it. Keep the veil tight. No one must know we are here."
---
The Aetherveil descended, silent as shadow. Below stretched a small settlement at the edge of Gran Pulse, built of salvaged stone and machinery scavenged from ancient ruins. Narrow streets wound between cottages patched with metal, and lamps powered by glowing shards of crystal lit the paths.
From the viewing deck, Sirius's gaze sharpened. He reached out with his senses, following the shimmering thread that had first called him. It wound through the town—past merchants haggling, guards laughing at the gate, children chasing a chocobo—and fixed upon a single figure in the square.
Her.
Serah Farron.
She moved with quiet grace, a basket of supplies balanced in her arms. Her pink hair caught the glow of the setting sun, scattering light like strands of rose quartz. When a villager stopped her, she paused to greet them with a warm smile, her voice soft and kind. She bent to comfort a crying child, ruffling their hair until their tears turned to giggles. Then she resumed her walk, shoulders straight, eyes calm despite the uncertainty clouding her world.
Sirius whispered her name again. "Serah."
The thread shimmered brightly in answer, as though affirming his choice.
---
He stood there for a long while, arms folded, watching her move among her people. This was not the moment to reveal himself. Her destiny was still in motion, still tightening around her. He needed to see its full shape before intervening.
Yet already, he knew: she was meant to join them.
Her strength was not a blade, nor overwhelming magic. It was her heart—the same heart that had guided Lightning, the same heart that had given Snow purpose, the same heart that would not falter even if the world itself broke. In another timeline, that heart would have been crushed beneath the weight of fate. Sirius would not allow that.
"Aether," Sirius said quietly.
"Yes, Master Sirius?"
"Hold position here. Keep us above this town, veil stable. From below, we do not exist."
The ship hummed in acknowledgment. "Understood. Cloaking veil reinforced. Observation point set."
Sirius exhaled, his gaze never leaving the girl below. "Then we wait. Until her story reaches its breaking point. Until she needs me most."
And so he remained in silence, watching the glowing thread shimmer in his vision, the promise of another life he would not allow to fade.