Oooh! Zelos is evil? And is Pronyma actually Pronyma? As you should have figured out by now, neither of the Genises are dead, so what's up with Presea #2? Hmmm…


Shattered

Back in the hidden cave, Zelos was pacing back and forth impatiently, his long, deep purple robe swirling in his wake. The former chosen's bright red hair was tied back in an expert ponytail, but as usual, he couldn't quite tame it.

"Lady Pronyma, is she…are they, fitted yet? My patience runs thin," he called out into the next room, then paused to listen. A faint rustle, a whisper, then…

"Yes, she, is, Lord. But…is it right that there is only one of her? How did it happen?" came the reply as Pronyma walked through the cave opening, a small figure following her. Zelos snapped his fingers irritably. Maybe he should have chosen a more intelligent servant than Pronyma to bring back, but he hadn't the time…then…

"You are very…curious…Lady Pronyma. A good servant asks questions only when she has been given leave to, understood? But…I'll tell you this: dimensions are welding, as I told you in the time in which we were arranging my experiment. I will rule all the dimensions, for they will all be one dimension…" Pronyma bowed hastily, mumbling apologies, but Zelos ignored them.

"I will see her now," he said coldly, but his eyes softened a fraction when Pronyma moved to the side to reveal Presea.

She was perfect. The young woman's purple attire was replaced with an outfit of the same make, but black, and had been given a magenta robe to wear over it, swirling at her feet. Her hair was down from its pigtails and was smoothed – how that was done he'd never know. She was short, yes, but her presence was felt strongly. Or rather, her new lack of presence. The Cruxis Crystal gleamed black at her throat, and her eyes were now mirroring it; dark, cold, empty. Like Pronyma, she was his servant now, but even more so because of his wondrous creation. Presea was his puppet now.

"Lady Presea," he said gently, giving a half sort of bow, "So good to see you looking in better health." Presea slowly lifted her head to look at him.

"Yes, my leg is much better, thank you," she replied softly, but the monotone rang as clear as a bell to Zelos's ears. He smiled.

"Fetch her some food, Pronyma, and then show her to her chambers. I have work to do."


"Have you located her yet?" Lloyd asked anxiously, peering over Yuan's shoulder. Yuan groaned. This was the fifth time in ten minutes Lloyd had asked.

"No, I haven't, Lloyd, now stop asking! I'll tell you when I find her!" he spat out angrily. Lloyd sighed and retreated a few feet away, grumbling and repeatedly running his hands through her hair.

"I hope she's ok…" he murmured, glancing over to where her ax was propped against the wall in the corner. Presea had been a part of his life for some time now. It felt weird without her. Remembering the night of the party, he sighed again…

They were out on the balcony. Alone. Finally. Well, at least Sheena seemed happy. On the contrary, Lloyd felt rather nervous, but he figured that she would do the talking and he would stand and listen, then figure out what to say. Sheena didn't seem to want to speak just yet, however. She was staring out across the forest, her face still flushed and her eyes slighted unfocused.

"Lloyd?" her voice came, pleading, anxious, almost questioning his existence right there beside her. Sheena shifted to face him. Lloyd swallowed.

"Yes, Sheena?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"We kissed back there…right?" Sheena asked softly, looking down at her feet. Lloyd sighed. He should have known she'd want to talk about that

"Yes…I never really understood the mistletoe tradition about Christmas though," Lloyd said as jokingly as he could, laughing weakly. Sheena frowned and he bit it back.

"Lloyd, do you like me?" she asked plaintively. Lloyd felt as though he was holding his breath. He could feign innocence about this one, but he knew what she meant. He'd had this 'girl talk' before with Colette…and it had ended rather awkwardly. He'd have to be honest with her, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Sheena, what you seek from me is not something I can give you..." he said slowly, "I like you very much as a friend. You mean a great deal to me. But not in that way. I don't want to lie to you about this, so I'm telling you up front."

Sheena bit her lip and nodded, smiling faintly.

"You're too kind to people, Lloyd…" she replied, but he couldn't tell whether she was serious or not. However, Lloyd did stand on the balcony long after Sheena had left, and saw Presea and Genis sitting and talking on the bench below. His heart wrenched, though he wasn't quite sure why…

"Hope won't help us right now, boy," grunted Yuan, still fiddling with the dials on the strange device he had set up in the middle of the room. He looked up to find Lloyd staring into space, lost in thought.

"You know…" Yuan added rather haphazardly, trying to draw the young swordsman's attention back to reality, "I think that…she might be in the Temple of Darkness. Now, I don't want to give you false hope or anything, but you need something to do to make yourself useful and you might as well check there before it closes up."

Lloyd turned sharply, "Closes up?"

Yuan's forehead creased in concentration as he squinted at the screen on his contraption, "The seals have been acting up, one by one and then sealing themselves off from the inside. Currently, it is impossible to get into the seal of water, the seal of lightning, the seal of wind, or the seal of earth. I assume the others will follow. The seal of fire is already experiencing difficulties. I myself was in the seal of water when it closed. It is possible to get out, but not back in."

Lloyd folded his arms, "How long has this been going on?"

Yuan shrugged, not bothered by Lloyd's annoyance, "For a while. I've been studying it and sending the research I've collected up to Kratos on Derris Kharlan. Until recently…when the system seemed to start malfunctioning…then he became unreachable."

"The comet is probably out of range by now…" he added, cutting short Lloyd's look, "So don't get mad at me that I was in contact with your father for a while and you weren't."

The only reply was the banging of the door as Lloyd set out to search for Presea, tired of being in close quarters with Yuan during such a stressful period.


"I'm willing to bet that she is in the Temple of Darkness," Kratos added as he finished briefing Lloyd, Colette, and Genis in on Presea's state. He then looked specifically at Genis.

"Don't take it personally, she's delusional and unstable right now. That's why I need you to stay here and fill Raine and the others in. Lloyd, Colette, and I are angels, so we can all fly there at will. I want to head off Kate's team as soon as I can. This is too dangerous for them to get involved in; it was just a protective measure until I could reach you."

Genis nodded, though he didn't look thrilled with the idea of going out and telling Raine, Regal, Zelos, and Sheena instead of going to rescue Presea. Colette was looking grim, which wasn't normal for her, but Lloyd seemed relieved that Genis wouldn't be accompanying them. Kratos raised an eyebrow, but did not comment.


Zelos was unsurprised when Lloyd burst in, hands in his swords, and his eyes alight for battle. What he didn't expect, were the people that followed Lloyd. The portal had been supposed to close as soon as the swordsman passed through the gate; so how did the others get here?

Kratos walked on one side of Lloyd, Yuan on the other. And in the shadows, just beyond them was…was…Zelos. A living Zelos. The caped one swallowed.

Damn merging dimensions…he's supposed to be dead! If he lives, this can complicate things a bit… He thought to himself.

Lloyd was also disoriented. He blinked, and then looked from Kratos to Yuan.

"Kratos? Yuan? How did you get here?" the brunette asked, puzzled. Yuan shrugged.

"I finished locating Presea right after you took off and set off myself not long after," he explained, looking over at Kratos, who gave him a questioning look.

"Yuan, where have you been? First, the core system crashes, then you vanish? Now…Presea? What the hell is going on here?" Kratos asked, with an accusatory glint in his eye. Zelos moved forward, ignoring the three chit-chatters, blinking in the bad light. He had thought he saw a movement in the shadows, but there was no one there now. Then, he detected soft footsteps. And they were getting louder. Everyone stopped talking abruptly.

A small light appeared moving in their direction. As it came closer, it barely illuminated a figure. It was a short figure, to be sure, and not well defined, but Lloyd recognized who it was quite quickly.

"Presea!" he called out, suddenly half-running, half-stumbling towards her. Then he jerked to a halt in surprise.

"Presea?" he asked quietly, looking at her uncertainly as she came to a stop in front of him. Presea looked from him, to the others, then back to him, her expression unmoving.

"You are to come with me," she announced coldly, looking directly at Lloyd. His sharp intake of breath made Yuan and Kratos look at him funny again, but neither spoke a word.

"Presea…are you ok? What happened to you? We need to get you out of here…" Lloyd spoke quickly, looking more anxious by the minute at Presea's no responsiveness.

"You are to come with me," Presea repeated in the same voice and turned to walk away. Lloyd sighed helplessly and followed her, unwilling to let her come to harm. Behind him, Kratos and Yuan exchanged glances before going after Lloyd, and Zelos wavered for a moment before joining the group.

Lloyd tried desperately to engage Presea in conversation, but she would have none of it. In fact, she hardly spoke at all, and the look in her eyes haunted him. Something was not right about her…

When they reached the cave, to figures were there to greet them. One, Lloyd recognized as Pronyma, one of the former five desian grand cardinals. But…she was supposed to be dead! And, the fellow standing next to her looked a lot like…Zelos…no…exactly like Zelos. Presea went to stand behind him and he ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Good work, Lady Presea."

Lloyd's breath caught in his throat.

Shattered pieces of your heart
Iwill seek until I find
For the fault is mine in part
That I left you behind

Please come back to me
For I miss you so
Though I never did say it, really
You mean more to me than you know

When you cry out I feel your pain
But when I reach out to you
You turn your back on me again
Only for me to my actions rue

Please don't die, I cannot live
Without you here to guide me
Though I have nothing to give
But the love that is inside me

If I had just one last hope
I'd hope that you were ok
Because for you forever I'd mope
If you were dead today

"Shattered"


The chapters are short, but it gives me more leverage on how often I post. It can be mind numbingly boring trying to add in details just to make a chapter longer… Now, things are confusing at the moment; as 'Dark' Zelos said, the dimensions are merging. Now there is only one Presea, one Lloyd, etc. It combines parts of the realities of both Preseas into one actual reality. Eventually, it becomes clearer what actually happened, but I guarantee that the scenes with Kratos and Yuan did happen, because that is the link. Kratos is not in Presea #1's POV, and Yuan is not in Presea #2's POV. Anyway, things will straighten out over time. As for the poem at the end, it is completely my work and my work ALONE. You could probably tell, since I am not very good at poetry, but it is my work and I shall remain the owner of it. Thank you for the reviews and I hope to hear more!