Yay, my first real fanfic based off of one of the best games I have ever played! I hope you like it. I warn you though, it contains massive spoilers, and so if you haven't finished the game, you should before starting this. And if you have never played the game… Well why not? You need to go out and get yourself a copy of Baten Kaitos today. Don't have a Gamecube? Get one of those too. The game is worth every penny and hour that you put into it.

Life Aspect: You have to do a disclaimer too, you know.

But they all know all of that stuff that already…

Life Aspect: we still have to tell them that we don't own Baten Kaitos or Namco.

Death Aspect: Well, not yet, anyway… heh heh he…

Anyway… on to the story! Enjoy!

In this world, there are things that people mustn't touch…

Kalas flinched as Xhella again screamed his name. He had always known they would come, but part of him had hoped that they would see. He could never give up his beautiful white wings…

The past.

But there was something he had not foreseen. An ethereal voice pierced the taint of Malpercio's power. Haru, the spirit that had joined him so long ago. The friend who Kalas had betrayed the trust of by wiping his memory. The companion whose spells had saved Kalas's life numerous times over the past few weeks. Kalas had cast the spirit out in the lava caves just days before, and had expected it to return to wherever it came from, but instead here it was. Haru's voice combined with Xhella's, until they were like one, each calling to Kalas, both full of concern.

The present.

Something stirred inside Kalas, something that had not awakened since before the lava caves. The black glow in his eyes began to fade. He thought of his friends, who had braved all odds to come here, and had fought him out of caring rather than malice. He thought of his spirit, who had believed in him enough to return even after he had told it to leave. He thought of Xhella, who had trusted him completely from the beginning, even when he had given her every reason not to. Xhella and Haru and everyone had come here to save the world, but also to save him, and he had greeted them with swords raised.

The future.

Kalas reached up and grabbed the base of his left wing. That beautiful, glowing, white wing that he had worked so long and hard to get. The manifestation of all of his dreams, all of his goals, all of his life. He moved to separate himself from all of this for the sake of his friends, and for the sake of the world. With a scream, he began to rip Malpercio's power from him, but then he stopped. For a long, breathless moment, he hesitated.

All of this was meant to remain unchanged forever.

After all, why should he give up everything that he had given so much for? If they were truly his friends, surely they must understand. He couldn't just reject the gifts of the great Malpercio after all. No, these 'friends' just wanted him to be weak. Unhappy. They were clearly not really his friends. Not even that spirit. Not even Xhella. Melodia was the only one who had ever really cared about him.

The balance of all that is must never be disturbed.

Kalas looked up, darkness once again swimming in his eyes. He slowly lowered his hand from his wing to his Magnus pouch. Absently drawing a handful of cards, he looked around the room at his former comrades in arms. Lyude had lowered his sonic gun and was standing there looking rather confused, as usual. Gibari's face wore a mixture of anger and pity, but his weapon was lowered as well. Savyna crouched next to Gibari, not threatening, but Kalas could still see that she had her hand on her deck. The Great Mizuti floated somewhere near the rear of the group, but Kalas couldn't read any emotion through the thick wooden mask. Xhella kneeled, crying, over the shards of the shattered Ocean Mirror. Of all of them, her face showed the rawest emotion. Tear marks along her cheeks marred her normally beautiful features. She screamed to Kalas again and again, calling his name, begging him to come back to them. Within her, Kalas could also sense his guardian spirit. Though it had no real features, he could still see its aura, and feel its concern for him. The spirit also called to him in its haunting mental voice.

Who cares?

Kalas looked down at the battle Magnus he now held. A grin spread across his face as he raised his head to meet eyes with Xhella. Their gazes locked, and for the briefest second, Kalas felt sorrow for what he was about to do. Then the second was over, and he was charging across the battlefield at her, his blade glowing with the energy of his Magnus and the power of Malpercio. Gibari shouted a warning, and Savyna moved to block, but they were both too slow. Xhella's scream and Melodia's laughter consumed the night.

The Present, three years after the defeat of Malpercio and thefall of Cor Hydre.

Kalas awoke with a start, and was immediately blinded by the light streaming in through his window. Judging by the amount and intensity of said light, it was well past ten. He looked next to him, but as he had expected, Xhella was already up and elsewhere. She must have been in a good mood if she had let him sleep this late. Maybe she should have woken him earlier, because it might have saved him from the dream that he had just experienced. "That wasn't how it happened…" he muttered to himself. "Not at all." Kalas particularly hated remembering that time of his life. He had betrayed his friends and his values for a stupid wing. "But I came back." He told himself. His hand wandered over his left shoulder to the scar that had been left when he ripped Malpercio's gifts from himself. "I came back…"

He had experienced frequent nightmares after his encounter with evil, but since Malpercio's defeat, they had come less and less. Still, his occasional memories of how he had fought against Xhella and the others had never bothered him this much before. Realizing that he was drenched in a cold sweat, Kalas threw off the covers and moved to take a shower. After a quick washing, he returned to his room and began to dress. For some reason, he wanted to be fully geared up today, instead of just wearing his normal casual clothing. He pulled on the gloves and partial cape that he had kept since the defeat of the evil god. Then he reached for his winglet. His fingers fell on it, but he pulled back in surprise.

It was cold.

Ordinarily, the metal wing might be a bit cool in the mornings, but the winglet had been lying in a large patch of sunlight all morning. Furthermore, the complex inner workings designed by his grandfather usually started up in response to Kalas's touch, as a result warming the metal slightly. This morning, however, the winglet radiated cold, and Kalas couldn't help but shiver. Slowly, the machinery came to life and began to warm slightly, and Kalas was able to strap it to his back without recoiling, but it was still cool against his back flesh. The part that ran along his scar was particularly uncomfortable, and Kalas had to shift several times before he could wear it without trouble. He finally got it right and turned to reach for his swords. "Maybe I'll go looking for Gibari today," he said to himself as he stood up. "He's always up for a little sparring match." Kalas grabbed for his blades, but for the second time that morning he paused. His favorite weapon had a thin coating of rust along its entire length, and Kalas could tell just by looking at it that the edge was rather dull. "But…" Kalas stuttered, genuinely confused. "I polished this last night, and sharpened it just the other day. What the hell is going on around here?"

Kalas sat on the edge of the bed. His hand absently reached for the well worn deck of battle Magnus that were on his bedside table. As he tried to put his finger on the bad feeling the day had, he shuffled the deck. Kalas had a habit of playing out battles in his mind when he was upset, and it usually calmed him down. He drew a few cards and sat there looking at them. "Hmm… not bad…" he muttered as he dropped some to the side. "Attack, attack, increase my strength, take a picture…that always irritates Gibari." Kalas smiled. "And I still have plenty of phoenix helms left to stop that wave paddle of his… Excellent…" Kalas shuffled the deck again, drawing new cards. "Ugh, not nearly as good… only one attack… too many sacred wines, not enough shields… no finishers…" He drew the next few cards. "Wow, this battle would have been terrible… Nothing useful at all… I would need a guardian angel to win…"

Kalas drew another card, and froze. He stared at the Magus in shock. There was no possible explanation, no way for this card to be in his deck. All the bad signs of the morning came crashing down upon his mind, and for the first time he regarded them as more than unhappy coincidence. Something was definitely very wrong with this whole scenario, but he was not sure what, or why.

Xhella stuck her head in through the door. "Good morning, sleepyhead." She said cheerfully. "I thought I heard you moving around in here. You weren't sleeping well last night, so I figured you could use the extra rest." She looked over at his face, and her cheerful expression was replaced by one of worry. "What's wrong?" she asked. Kalas looked at her but didn't answer. He merely stood and held up the Magnus that he has been staring at. She stepped into the room for a better look. "What's that…?" her question was cut short by her own gasp of surprise.

It was a Magnus that they both knew very well. Each of them had used it at some point, and it and its companion cards had gotten them out of many tough situations. During any given battle, either would have been overjoyed to see it again. Here, however, in the age of peace that had existed for the three years since the end of Cor Hydre, It could not be a good sign. "But this can't be…" Xhella finally managed.

"I know, but it is…" Kalas responded in the same tone of voice.

"But… What does it mean? We haven't seen or heard from him in three years. Why is it here, why now?" She asked. Kalas just shook his head, still staring with blank surprise at the Magus. After another silent moment, Xhella finally said, "We need to tell the others. Whatever this means, it is big. Too big for us to handle on our own. I'll talk to Mizuti. Maybe she can help figure this out. Then we can get the others…"

"Yeah, let's go," Kalas said. He grabbed the rest of his deck and shoved it into the pouch on his belt. He handed Xhella's cards to her. While still unsure of what was going on, Kalas had the feeling that they would need them. Xhella took her staff from where it hung on the wall. "We ready?" Kalas asked, and Xhella nodded. They both looked down at the familiar Magnus one more time. It had a very detailed picture of a swirling sphere of greenchronos energy. The card had only four words on it that looked as if they had been handwritten in an emrald ink across the top:

Spirit Magic: Lingering Time

Life Aspect: Now see here! We are not going to try to take over Namco!

Death Aspect: But why not. It makes perfect sense.

Life Aspect: How does it make any sense?

Death Aspect: If we owned Namco, then we wouldn't need any disclaimers AND we could force them to make a sequel. It's all perfect.

(Knock it off in there!) Ahem… Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter, and I promise to make the rest less… cryptic. I like a good story to start right in the thick of things, so I can't offer too much back-story, but in the game, Kalas did rip off the wing that the evil god's power had given him, and then he came back to the good guys' team. That's why he was so disturbed by the dream of him staying with the darkness.

Now is when I beg for reviews. Positive, negative, flames, whatever, just tell me what you thought.

Death Aspect: Flames will be used to light the hay at your feet. You were warned.

Life Aspect: No they won't. Stop it! You are going to scare away all the readers…

Don't worry readers. We can control him. You are safe.

Death Aspect: Sure, sure… you're safe… Just review.

Life Aspect: for once we agree… Leave a good review.

Later…