In Meltokio, a raven-haired woman in Shinobi attire ran passed a certain red-haired male, a person well known in the Tethe'alla region. The woman didn't pay the male any mind when he commented. "Hey, my ninja beauty! Where ya' running off to?"
Normally, Sheena Fujibayashi, would give the male a piece of her mind. But the seriousness of the turn of events was more important to worry about. She yelled out. "Shut up and follow me!"
The male, name Zelos Wilder, understood instantly that she wasn't playing around and quickly caught up to her. "What's wrong? Did something bad happen?"
Jumping over the wall that surrounded Meltokio, Sheena didn't know exactly how to answer Zelos's question because she wasn't sure if what she heard was actually true. "I don't know but we need to get to the tree!"
Zelos landed and nodded. They both traveled as fast as they could to their destination.
Over in another part of Tethe'alla, Regal Byrant, a blue-haired and muscular male was talking to a girl named Presea Cambatir, who looked like a child, in the region of Altimira when they got wind of what has happened. Their eyes widened beyond belief.
"How is that... possible?" Regal said in a low tone of voice while running outside with Persea.
"I don't know, but I am worried.." Presea trailed off.
The situation was so frightening and shocking that even Presea, a normally coldish and near emotionless girl, was stunned to no perception.
With a second long stare at one another, they left the city in a hurry to meet the rest of their friends.
Colette Brunnel, the former chosen of Regeneration, was walking, well more like falling around every now and then, while talking to her dear friend, Genis Sage. "I hope the elderly couple will enjoy these cookies, hehe. Also, Colette, if you trip again, you might crush the cookies.." Genis snickered after saying that.
"Sorry, I can't help it." Colette said in a cheerful voice while giggling.
They passed by some kids when out of nowhere one of them uttered a name they found to be all too frightful, yet Genis's heart lurched when it was mentioned. They both stopped in their tracks and continued to listen.
"No... way..." Genis couldn't believe what he was hearing, yet he knew the kids were not lying.
Colette quickly dropped off the cookies to the elderly and told Genis they have to go.
Marta and Emil were on a boat near the outskirts of the Palmacosta.
"M-Marta! You'll fall off if you get any closer to the edge!" Emil warned.
"Oh, don't be silly Emil. I have a lot of balance, y'know." Marta said in a somewhat mocking tone while at the end of the boat, Tenebrae, was laughing to himself.
As they drifted around in the boat, relaxing, they heard a boat full of people talking about very recent and unexpected turn of events. Marta, with shock, fell into the water.
"Ah! Marta!" Emil got her from the water and they rowed back to shore.
Tenebrae quickly said. "We need to meet with the others. I am sure they heard about this as well.
With that being said, all three of them set off.
Raine Sage was giving some kids some punishment when they were caught drawing on the walls of a certain Triet Ruins. The punishment being a spanking.
"And if I ever see any more filth on these beautiful pieces of work, I'll give you a very long lesson on the history of it! And there will be no Lunch breaks!" Raine said in a dominating tone. Two minutes passed after Raine was done with the kids. She then heard one of the kids mentioned about a person with blonde hair and strange white clothes to his friends. A very recent story that seems to spread like wildfire.
From the description the kid provided, Raine knew what this meant. She gathered her supplies quickly and left the Triet Ruins.
Lloyd Irving was talking to his adoptive father, Dirk, and he looked extremely grave. "Well son, I' ave to tell ya' something." The dwarf said to his adoptive son. Lloyd's eyes blasted wide open when hearing the news.
"What? How-?" Lloyd pondered before remembering the group's promise.
If anything is to go wrong, go to The New World's tree, and let the news spread to everyone in the group.
"Sorry dad, I have to go! Bye Noishe!" Lloyd yelled and ran out of the house faster than he ever had. Faster than when Colette left him to go to the Tower of Salvation first.
Yuan Ka-Fai was in contact with the Canteriouns, via monsters, and when he gave, Ratatosk's Bearer, Richter had only heard stories, and through gritted teeth, asked Ratatosk. "..What does this mean?"
The core form of Ratatosk could only state lightly. "It means get ready for war. Despite my hatred for it, I might have to be included in that kind of battle since it is him."
Yuan sighed. "Yes. This is a very bad situation. The worst kind in fact." Yuan spoke to the little wolf next to him, which was sent by Tenebrae to keep in contact.
Yuan sent a message to Kratos Aurion before consulting the others. He knew they needed him in this. It was dire.
Kratos was leaning back on the Derris Karlan's tree, blinking his dark red, wine colored eyes. A message popped up and he stood up straight to tap "Open" on the projector. When he read it, he instantly set course for Aselia. He needed to get to the world as fast as he could, so in order to do this, he gave some of his mana to the tree he was next to. Upon doing this, Derris Karlan was traveling through space at half the speed of light.
"How the hell is he back? ….And why now?" Kratos whispered. "And... it seems I'll need to come up with something to calm Lloyd. He's bound to be flooded with anger and surprise, perhaps fear too."
A young, blonde haired boy was walking around in Asgard, the city of ruins. Silently thinking to himself, he watched children play nearby and heard their laughter. He tried to think back when he last laughed.
"Right before..." He tried to remember but just couldn't at the time.
After a few minutes had passed, he remembered something. He started to remember a few names of people. "Yuan... Kratos... Lloyd..". And a few others hit him, like Remiel, Pyronyma, Rodyle, and others who use to be in Cruxis. He even remembered something else, something called a Summon Spirit. "Uh... Ratatak? Rattosk? No.. Ratatosk.. Yes.. Ratatosk is sounding correct.." He whispered to himself, as so to not be noticed.
The fourteen-year-old boy cupped his chin, completely disgusted on how bad his memory was being right now.
"Lloyd... Yggdrasill's mana signature is somewhere near or in Asgard." Yuan sighed after saying that and continued on. "His mana.. why must he have so much of it still?"
Lloyd was still dumbfounded when hearing Yuan out of intercom that each Rheaird was equipped with. "How did this happen?" Lloyd asked.
"We need to know, fast!" Genis said with hurt in his voice.
Presea did observe Genis's sadden facial expression as it may seem he might have to kill Mithos, his friend, once again. With that, Presea gave Genis the best sympathetic look she could make when he looked at her, but it did nothing for his concerns.
Zelos raised his eyebrows. "Asgard? Why would he be there? From what I know, it isn't even that good of a place to be at." This earned Zelos a slap at the back of his head from Sheena.
Emil would look to side slowly, thinking to himself. He knew the potential of it all. After all, when he was nonexistent with his other half, he was betrayed by Mithos and his Seraphim. All besides Martal that is.
"So... What do we do if we see him?" Emil question while looking forward.
Lloyd looked towards Emil and Raine stated. "We'll have to... kill... him, again." The word was uncomfortably straining her throat. Genis flinched when hearing his older sister say that. Emil looked down, a little saddened when hearing that as well.
Yuan sighed once again over the intercom. "It may be inevitable, but we need to figure out one thing before we think about killing him again. That is how did he come back from being turned into an exsphere, that was shattered into pieces. You guys need to ask him that as soon as you find him." Yuan commanded this.
"But what if he has changed into a good guy? And... Don't we need to wait for Kratos?" Colette suggested. Everyone looked at her. Still being naive after all what Mithos has done in the past, it's truly admirable.
"We need to hurry. If we don't, who knows what will happen..." Regal said, presenting a fact.
Yuan nodded. "Yes and I must talk with Kratos about something in private. Now, you all must hurry!"
The group nodded and made their Rheairds go as fast as possible towards Asgard.
Meanwhile, in Asgard, Mithos was looking around the city while harboring himself in his own thoughts. He looked at the kids playing Hide-and-Seek. It reminded him of the few times that Yuan, Martal, Kratos, and himself all played Hide-and-Seek in the area around the Likite tree. Martal had helped Mithos get at the top of the tree, and there, he was hidden by all the leaves.
Though, when his sister played her wooden flute, a giant bird flew down and scared the living soul out of them. That's how Yuan and Kratos found out they weren't normal.
He snapped out of his memory to one of the kids tugged at his shirt.
"Hmm?" Mithos said while smiling to kids, possibly the most sincere facial expression he had ever done over the past four thousand years, but this fact is unknown to Mithos.
"You wanna play with us? We might need help finding Paul." Said one of the kids.
One of the girls that were playing with them cried out. "Paaaaauuul! Whhhhherrrrreeeee arrreee yoooou?" The little girl was clenching her pink teddy bear.
Mithos nodded and lightly snickered. "I'll play with you guys.~" He started to run around with the children, running in and out of alleys, checking under rocks, in different abandoned houses, the two inns many times. It seems like none of them was going to find Paul any time soon. Then, Mithos had an idea. "Why don't one of you get on my shoulders and check the roof? We'll check all the roofs." He smiled, slightly covered in dirt.
In Derris Kharlan, Kratos sighed to himself. The massive ball of mana was going fast, but not fast enough. Kratos looked at the tree and gave it more mana. He felt his body weaken a slight bit since mana is the source of life after all.
He decided to think about some things, but only one thing that kept popping into his head. "Why is Mithos back?"
He had no answers. He then leaned back, knowing that Mithos might try to revive Martal again, or something of the sort, or he might destroy the world he 'created'. Sighing once more, not wanting to think of the possibilities.
As if on cue, he received a messaged from Yuan. He pressed the 'Talk' icon on the projector.
"Kratos? Good, I thought I'd have to wait a little longer like last time." Yuan said, satisfied that his old friend answered.
Kratos glared slightly. "Yuan, what have you found out?"
Yuan looked more directly at Kratos through the transparent material before saying. "He's in Asgard."
Kratos raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"
Yuan looked away for a second. "I got one of the Ratatosk's monsters to scout him and..." Yuan looked back to Kratos, "He's in his younger form, and well... befriending human children... It makes me feel awkward. He hates Humans and Elves so... it's puzzling."
Kratos stared at Yuan for a good second before blinking. It was as if Kratos's brain had to take time to process what he just heard, he couldn't believe it completely. "You aren't joking?"
"I am not, Kratos. Now hurry yourself to Aselia." Yuan said.
With that, the call ended.
Back at the world of Aselia.
"Stupid Rheairds! Go faster!" Lloyd growled, completely unsettled.
Genis, on the other hand, felt betrayed again. He knows he ought not to, but Mithos, his dear yet evil friend is back. He released a sigh as he hoped what Colette said earlier could be true. If so, it would be a second chance for Mithos to atone for what he has done in the past.
"Lloyd... I'm sorry.." Colette said, looking at Lloyd's eyes when he looked back at her. "What if he just wants his sister back again..? I do feel a little sorry for him.." Colette said in a saddened tone of voice when looking down.
Lloyd looked forward. "Colette, It's not your fault... C'mon, we got a job to do. Save the world again" Lloyd said.
"For the third time!" Colette smiled.
This earned a frown from the others that was riding along beside them.
"Geez, Collete, you make it sound like it's a good thing." Emil said silently.
Marta nearly stood up and saw Asgard coming up to view under the cloud cover. "There's Asgard." She pointed down at the small canyon with the city inside of it.
The group descended.
At the same time, Derris Kharlan approached Aselia. Kratos was staring down at it. He had never once thought he would actually return. Sighing deeply, he felt he was too old to be this conflicted. Closing his eyes and remembering to get his Flamberge from Anna's grave. "Oh, Anna... I had hoped this wouldn't have happened." He gripped a shard of a Cruxis Crystal. He opened his eyes to look down at the glowing shard, his old friend's shard, Mithos's memento. He shoved it in his pocket as he came into range of Symphonia, "It'd be a lot better down there than up here." Kratos said as he teleported to where Yuan was at.
Meanwhile at Asgard, Lloyd was looking around the city for Mithos, but all he saw were stalls, houses, rocks, and some kids playing.
Colette looked at Lloyd and suggested. "You know, Zelos and I could fly up and search around for Mithos. Is that okay with you, Zelos and everyone else?"
Zelos, of course, had a grin on his face when saying. "That, Colette, my lovely little angel, is a brilliant idea!" Zelos then flash a big smile.
Everyone, in agreement, sent Zelos and Colette off on their way to fly about in the city to look for Mithos. They flew over houses, the stone dias, the canyon itself, yet all to no avail. After fifteen minutes of looking around, the group gathered back up near the front of the city.
"Ugh! This is taking forever! How hard can it be to find him?" Sheena said, stomping her foot to the ground once while crossing her arms.
"Calm down, Sheena. I know you're on edge, we all are. We'll find him." Raine said in an attempt to calm Sheena down a little.
"Alright.." Sheena rubbed her elbow. Last time she fought Mithos, 'The final battle' as they all call it, she remembered having her arm broken by one of Mithos's judgment spells.
A few hours passed and it was getting Dusk in the sky as the sun was beginning to set.
"We can't find him! Where could he be?" Marta whined. Her feet were starting to hurt, just like everyone else.
Raine sighed. "We all had no luck. Normally, Genis and I could trace his mana, but for some reason... It's like his mana is gone. Possibly, he can manipulate even his own mana." Raine rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"That's not good." Presea said while looking at Raine.
"But... Guys, it's getting late. We need to get some sleep. Let's get to the inn." Lloyd said.
Genis looking down and sighed to himself and said, "..Mithos.."
Genis looked back when hearing some kids chant something and saw a certain blonde boy behind a barrel with the kids. Genis's eyes widen. "Uh... I think I'm going to watch the sunset guys. I will be at the Inn soon." Genis said as the group looked back at him. Genis was edgy and everyone knew why.
"We'll see in the inn, okay Genis? Be sure to be there before it gets too dark." Raine said, obviously tired and stressed.
Genis thought to himself as he walked to the barrel while the rest of the group made their way to the inn. "Mithos... c-could it be you?"Another thing that popped into his mind was, "Why is Mithos playing with... Humans? I thought he hated Humans."
Genis stared at the kids running around the blonde boy, hearing the kids say. "We found you, we found you!"
Mithos laughed along with them, in which Genis was almost completely certain it was Mithos due to the blonde boy having the same kind of laughing tone that Genis remembered in the past, which surprised Genis, but eerily soothed him. Genis was now behind the blonde boy and sighed just loud enough to make the boy notice him.
The blond haired boy turned around and looked down at Genis. "Oh! You want to pla-... Wait... Do I... know you?" Mithos tilted his head to the side. Genis was looking at Mithos.
"Oh! Uh... I-I don't know... What's your name?" Genis was clearly looking at Mithos's face, which was making his heart pound. He asked that question, just to be sure it was him, as he thought he could be imagining the entire event.
Mithos said in a calm and clear tone. "Me? I'm... I'm Mithos Yggdrasill."
