"I can't put my finger on it..."

Lumina wasn't sure what she was expecting from all this. There was something to be said about second hand information after all. What captivated her interest was the respect and admiration Claire had for Caius. When he called her Miss, she started to understand a bit better. "Almost correct, Serah and Claire moved in more recently, I guess. This is actually one of two homes that I have, my second is in Provo. I also have a condo in Sonora but I don't ever go there, so it's more like a guest house." she explained, trying to be modest in the face of overwhelming business success.

It all started when she got out of Sonora. Smuggling Diamond Dust was a very difficult thing. It caused her to be separated from...a friend. One she felt sad trying to recall but it was thanks to his efforts that she escaped and smuggled it out. After that, she met with certain clientel who wanted to get their hands on the restricted good that Sonora coveted. It effectively became an invest for more investments, for you had to spend money to make money. It started with getting an airship and permission to sell goods from Torensten to Provo, as well as Provo to Torensten. Effectively opening up a major trading route that she then had to pay a crew to secure that route.

"They've settled in quite well, it's nice to have company after being alone. Oh, right, can I get you anything?" she gestures with her left hand. Mog who took up the rear, had moved on inside and went to make himself comfortable. Acting as the silent observer who would fill Claire in on the happenings.

"I have to hand it to you, your fashion sense is good. I'm starting to reconsider dressing so casually. Claire kept me in the dark mostly but she strongly insisted this was a casual meeting and that you had questions for me. To be honest, I half expected one of her classmates at the door." for even Lumina wasn't above receiving Claire's mischief but well, Lumina had a time advantage over young Claire. Trying to trick the Master was folly.

"I can't put my finger on it..."

"At the risk of confusing you even more, I had bought both in order to protect Serah." Lumina confessed in kind, though she didn't seem to elaborate further. If asked she certainly would but otherwise, knowing he had questions, she reckoned she'd touch upon the complexity of the Farron household eventually.

Upon receiving an invitation to the Rest, she smirked before replying, "...One Farron bringing chaos isn't enough for you, huh?" In regards to loneliness, a subject Lumina embodied, she had a passing remark, "...It's a real killer." for loneliness was not something Lumina even liked to joke about and that was saying something. "I'll take you up on your invitation, believe it or not, I know a fair bit about your band of 'merry men'. That's the benefit of living here longer than my sisters." she had a playful but knowing tone, even as her focus soon fell onto Mog.

The moogle reacted quite immediately to the topic of being offered food or drink, "Accept hand outs from my rival? Never, kupo! …Unless I can win the meal that is, kupo." there was a moment of tense contemplation, the stares of two rivals ready to throw down in a moment's notice. The edge Caius felt earlier heightened for just a moment, before the tension was cut like a hot knife through butter.

"Let's see you earn your keep then, Mog. Gather the ingredients, make sure the kitchen remains clean." stern as her words were, Mog did a salute and was off to kitchen to prepare. The dynamic was different, really revealing who the "older Twin" was. Still, Mog had been manipulated without realizing it, as it allowed for Lumina to spend time, observer free with Caius.

With Mog not present to hear Caius remark about Lumina's clothes, she giggled a bit. "Thanks." Admittedly, Lumina wasn't surprised when Caius mentioned he was expecting mischief either. "She must really like you and she must also be really concerned about you, too. Instead of mischief, she decided to take this fairly seriously. Which means she must know you've got some kind of weakness, social anxiety, perhaps?" Lumina's insight and thus bad habit of attempting to read people leaked out. She'd become used to assessing situations in order to protect herself and Serah after all. There were a lot of adults they had to rely on in a world where adults weren't very reliable. A harsh assessment, made as a young adult who had pulled off challenging tasks from a young age. Now she didn't see the world so cynically.

In fact, once Caius did ask his questions, Lumina's expression softened. "Let's have a seat first, this is a long story." she'd suggest and in this instance, she did sound just like Claire, except without the youthful mischief. Turning on her heel, she guided Caius from entryway into the living room. Caius' assessment on how decorated it the home was not only rung true but now if he got a closer look, the quality of the décor spoke volumes. The couch alone, that of a L-section setup, was quite expensive and it's make was more modern, so it wasn't from Torensten.

"We're from a world that was at the whims of the gods. Every step of the way, my other half has fought against them, even acting as the Knight for our world's Goddess of Death. Her powers tend to put sensitive people on alert though." she explained after sitting down and crossing her legs.

"The conundrum then is that we're siblings from different timelines. Claire is from an early part in our lives, before she ever split her heart. Well, to be precise, she is from the moment where she decided she would split her heart. The forces that be, gods of Zephon, summoned her just in time. Otherwise, there would potentially be another Claire here on Zephon, we'd be talking about triplets. I...don't think you could handle that much." a playful jab, as she was starting to get an idea of the dynamics of Claire and Caius' relationship.

"She's past the worst of it but I'm keeping an eye out all the same. As for myself, I'm the part of an adult Claire Farron that was split away when she was fifteen. The reason I'm able to talk with you, as my own person, is because of whims of my world's Creator, Bhunivelze. He had planned to turn me into the new Goddess of Death but to ensure I'd do his bidding, he stripped a part of me, the part that was protecting Serah's soul while we remained in Crystal Sleep. Plunged into the depths of Chaos, I used its power to take on physical form, acting as a living tomb to protect Serah's heart and soul." she paused momentarily, giving Caius time to digest the sheer audacity of her claims.

"You're probably wondering, how is Serah here now then? Timelines. Serah is from a time further into our lives. A time where we defeated Bunivelze. You can imagine my shock, even now I wonder... Is Serah's heart and soul, still inside me? Silly I know but we're all merely instances of ourselves in Zephon, what we do with life here, is up to us."

"I can't put my finger on it..."

"From anything that would disturb her slumber." Lumina replied without hesitation. Of course, there was much more to that story, something she noted to explain later on as it was fairly heavy. "Ah, well...there is an explanation for that." she'd admit, hesitant but happy that Serah was out there, holding her own. After their talk the other day, Lumina was a bit worried.

The playful banter between them was much appreciated. Lumina had a twinkle in her eye at the mention that a bit more company (of the chaotic variety) wouldn't hill him. Her expression implied she'd put that to the test eventually, laced with a whimsical smile. Lumina was the self-proclaimed good twin, the "Angel" as it were. What could she possibly come up with in the future, that was anyone's guess. Serah was probably right to call them Twin Devils, if tact weren't a thing.

Perhaps as proof of being the Angel, Claire looked immediately concerned when Caius admitted his loneliness. That prodding and assessment got her into trouble often, causing her to look into Caius eyes deeply. "Don't worry, you're in good hands." she remarked off hand. Claire was not the type to let anyone suffer in silence. She was rather empathetic, helped with the assessments she did; even if it wasn't used for helping people in earnest, like it used to be. No, that wasn't true, if she took her own actions into account, she helped plenty...though it was often detrimental (chaos was a difficult thing to control).

As for the prospect of triplets, the fact even Caius admitted he had his hands full with two of them, made her laugh in earnest. "Well, you did invite me. Be happy that I'm the Angel of the two of us." she declared with a sweet and endearing smile. For now, their conversation went into complexities and Lumina awaited a new round of questions.

"That is the question, isn't it? Fortunately, Mog provided me that answer. The souls of the living were brought to a new world, where they could be reborn. Serah as you can guess, was reborn in that new world. I didn't know that the Serah from that time was here on Zephon prior to our reunion. So, when I say I was protecting Serah, I was safekeeping her heart and soul from any incident that would happen while I was here." clarifying this point was important but there was more Lumina wanted to shed light on.

"There's something I should mention since you asked about the two halves coming back together. Claire's heart is fine, since it's unsplit. I'm the only vulnerable one, as all I have is a fragment of my heart. Maybe you're wondering, why would someone tear their heart into pieces? My other self, Lightning as she calls herself; wanted to grow up fast, to be strong, to get rid of anything that could make her weak. Her selfishness, her loneliness, her doubt...the parts that make us human." she confessed, her expression was sad.

"There was a Claire before the one you know and cherish. I can only guess that one, Lightning; had her heart restored before they went to the new world. Serah has never given me an answer about that but I can intuit it. In her timeline, I don't exist anymore. In Claire's timeline, I'm unborn, because we're still whole. Yet somehow, here in Zephon, I exist."

"I can't put my finger on it..."

No doubt there would be hijinks having the twins in and out of the Rest in the future. The degree of said hijinks would likely vary but what mattered, was the amount of people congregating to protect and prevent Claire, from going down that dark road. One in which the victim of such was right here, with a slew of complicated questions to answer. To Lumina's credit, she decided to think these through carefully before conveying her thoughts.

"Simply put, the risks involve my proximity to death. In my world, Chaos is a manifestation of emotion and will, because it is a collection of the many hearts and souls, waiting to be reborn. Using the power the way I have, has side effects." Lumina admitted, her gaze becoming contemplative as she cupped her chin.

"Impulsive behaviour is a symptom. The strongest emotions are the ones that rise to the surface and colour your thoughts. When Claire gets up to mischief, it's...more tame at times because she is ultimately rational. When I get up to mischief, it's sometimes sporadic, compulsive. At least, that's how it used to be." Lumina had observed that although her memory was tampered, there were differences in the nature of her power, in its 'reach' as she would call it.

This limited reach, staved off a peculiar aspect of her chaotic ways. "When I helped people back in my dying world, it was often more a detriment than help. People forgave it as the antics of a pre-teen, since I always meant well and never did anything malicious. It just felt like there was something random that would go off, I refuse to call it bad luck because I don't want to think of myself as a jinx." granted, a smaller degree of that happened in the earlier days of her arrival and it was deliberately weaponized in the case of her dealings with Sonora.

"That doesn't happen anymore, thankfully. Now when I help people, it's exactly as I intend it to be. I can be someone who can be relied upon, without the weight of the world on my shoulders." Lumina confessed and closed her eyes for a moment to relax. When she opened them, she was resolute. For the topic she wanted to broach was not an easy one to discuss.

"Serah once gave a theory that my heart might not be broken. At least, not anymore but I thought she was just being optimistic at the time. Recently, I can see things that I would have had to ask Mog to tell me. I've had memory problems since I arrived in Zephon but I've been regaining memories as I lived here. I saw my...'death', as it were; when my heart rejoined with my other half. I know that I don't exist in Serah's timeline anymore but people still remember me. So, I think you're right...there's no threat of reuniting anymore." Lumina confessed but while there was relief to those words, there was something underlying her words.

"I'm free." yet the thought of it, the responsibility and all that entailed, scared her. Going along with Claire's plans and watching her new life here, was easy. Just as how sometimes with twins, there was an outspoken twin and a quiet twin. The later, tended to go along with the outspoken one. Sometimes that lead to trouble but other times, there was an equilibrium to it all.

"Say, Caius? Did you have cars in your world? If not, imagine a carriage and the Coachmen that drives it. I lived my life with someone else driving that carriage. One day, a God changed that, giving me autonomy. Now, in Zephon, I'm living with the consequences of that. It was easy to get by just by focusing on straight forward objectives. Now that it's mostly peaceful, where do I begin to be...myself, I guess?"