"Some stories say that is why I am immortal," Yeul murmured. "Others say I live forever because Etro gave me her eyes."

She glanced at Zeela.

"I do not know," she said, with a shrug. "I have never concerned myself with that."

"No," Yeul said, with a soft laugh. "What she sees, I see. And she sees the entirety of the timeline. When the timeline changes, I have a vision of it."

She stepped towards the edge of the roof, to where Cocoon was clearly visible.

"Zeela," she said, "what do you see?"

"It is," she said quietly, leaning against a rusted railing heedless of the danger. "Originally, most of humanity lived there. It floated above the surface and was an enclosed planet of it's own. They called it Cocoon."

Yeul kept her eyes fixed on it.

"Then it began to fall," she continued, "and two people gave their lives and turned to crystal to catch it. Some say they're still alive, just sleeping inside the pillar that supports the old world. If they falter, the world will fall and everyone will die."

And it would fall, eventually.

"The two people who saved the world are named Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang. They came from here." In case the names hadn't given it away. "No one touches this city because of them. This is their memorial, a reminder of the home they once had."

"Perhaps," Yeul conceded, unconcerned at the thought. "It was not my decision to make, nor was it theirs. But this is how their home was, the last time the saw it. Their friends have decided to keep it this way."

More history lessons, it seemed!

"The war that left this area inhospitable to human life is known as the War of Transgression," Yeul said, studying Cocoon and the water. "Vanille and Fang originally fought in it as god-gifted warriors. God-gifted is... a painful thing. The fal'Cie, gods, though different from the ones of myth, brand their chosen with a mark and a task. As time ticks down, the mark changes. All tasks the fal'Cie give have deadlines. If a chosen succeeds in their task, they are turned to crystal and sleep in eternal slumber until they are needed for another task. If a chosen fails...," she hesitated, then continued, "they lose their souls."

And become monsters.

"Vanille and Fang failed their task during the war and yet, unusually, were turned to crystal, and time went on without them, their village drying up and growing empty. It was six hundred years of sleep before they woke up, to a world that they barely knew, with the instructions to carry out their task this time. When they saw their home, it was like it was now. Soon after that, they willingly saved Cocoon by turning to crystal again."

"A few seconds time to see an image of their task," she said quietly. "That's all."

"And yet, we manage," Yeul said, smiling and unbothered by the lack of tack Zeela had. "There is something in that, I think."

"More than you'd think," Yeul said, smiling. "At least, if you're judging on these ruins alone."

"Yes, it does," Yeul admitted. "But those don't constrain us the way they might seem to do so to you. We're used to them, they're a part of life."

"Yes," Yeul said with a soft laugh. "But is that such a bad thing, there being monsters?"