It wasn't that she wanted to leave. Far from it. Lightning had torn through the web of lies sown by the Fal'Cie only to encounter her current predicament. Instead of living free, she once again was thrown into a life of burden. Only this time it wasn't the Fal'Cie she protected those who mattered most from. It was Chaos and the time paradox. There was still so much she didn't know about it. The Eyes of Etro had shown her what the future held, and she was at a loss of what to do. Though the most obvious path lay before her, was it truly the correct path to take? 

She had chosen to remain behind. Etro, an entity which she had only heard from lore as a child, had been the one who saved her colleagues and her when Cocoon crystalized. Etro had condemned the lives Lightning had taken when she was a l'Cie. This was the older Farron's way of atoning, or so she thought. With Etro's intervention, Chaos flowed forth and threatened to consume the world. Lightning couldn't have that. Even now, as she walked amongst the land of the dead, she did everything for Serah. Erased from history, Lightning continued to fight for a future she had no part of. 

Like every other day, Lightning roamed the empty halls of Valhalla while Etro slept. The goddess grew weary from the events coming to pass. Shifting her valkyrie-like armor, she looked out of an opening to them temple. She missed the comforting fit of her guardian uniform. The armor had fitted perfectly to her lithe body, but it still felt ... unnatural. 

More memories passed through her mind as she heard approaching footsteps. Her body tensed as she quickly made her way back to the antechamber. An unannounced intruder, here? She felt no taint of chaos, which puzzled her even more. Surely there weren't others who could travel between the two realms as well? 

She entered the room where Etro's throne rested atop a flight of stairs. Her eyes trained on the girl she knew nothing off. She saw the girl's scars. It was a gruesome sight indeed.

Moving slowly from a side entrance, she came to stand by the throne. "I didn't think anything untainted by Chaos could enter here," she said. "An eternal battle between him and I. That's all that exists here. There is no taint on you, yet you aren't here on Etro's behalf. Who are you? How did you get here?"