Chapter 2: Blood-Stained Echoes


Triet Ruins

Lloyd looked across the desert- the wind was picking up. Blowing sand wasn't going to help anyone- a battle would soon be upon him, Celice's Liberation Army was closing in on their positions, and the way things stand now, there was nowhere to run- Kratos was right, he realized. He turned his eyes to the right, and there was the sudden flash of a warp staff, several in succession. Acting quickly, he drew his swords, unsure if the people who were appearing before him were allies or enemies, but as the light began to fade he recognized three mages who appeared with a small battalion of troops, and sheathed his weapons. "Eliu, Vampa, Fetra… why are you here?"

"Ah. Lloyd. King Blume sends his regards, and Tinny as well- I've heard you saved her life when Alster came under attack, she wished to thank you again for that… I trust the seal within Triet was broken, yes?" one of the mages spoke, tilting her head. "I trust you can relay this message to Raine and Kratos, correct?"

"Of course." Lloyd said.

"King Blume wants you do as much damage as possible to the Liberation Army- deploy the power of Seid Magic- with two of the Seals now broken- the Wind Seal in Silesia and now the Fire Seal here in Triet… Colette should be strong enough to use it- the King is quite furious about the death of his son, and wishes he be avenged, by any means necessary. Use this contingent of soldiers as you see fit, Himmlischer Ritter, but devastate them- Tinny and our unit will strike them from behind while they're fighting in these ruins." The mage, Eliu nodded and motioned to the other two mages, who all raised their Rewarp Staves and left as quickly as they had appeared, leaving Lloyd to tell Raine and Kratos of their reinforcements.

"…Lloyd!" one of the soldiers called out before he could leave, however.

"Huh?" Lloyd turned around abruptly.

"…I just wanted to tell you, thank you for helping me out at Alster earlier- my sister was caught up in that mess, and truth be told, I don't really care about this war- but if it weren't for you, I'm not sure either me, nor her, have lived, so thanks." the soldier said, "…let's get through this battle alive, too."

Lloyd nodded in agreement before walking off, with the sun beginning to set on the desert horizon.


Just outside Triet

"…It's time! Listen up! The enemy we face in these ruins is the Himmlischer Ritter-! You've seen what they're capable of when they killed Rana right before our eyes- we can't take them lightly! Our objective is simple: Wipe them out. Of course… if things go wrong- our primary objective of taking Darna and pressing Lenster remains- I don't want to abandon this mission, but we can't lose sight of our goal of freeing this land from the Empire, so if things become too difficult, we're gonna have to pull back and allow Himmlischer to escape." Celice yelled out, turning towards the ruins. "…Liberation Army… move out!"


Primary Entrance to Triet Ruins

"…That's Kratos." Oifaye turned towards Aless and Johan, the two knights who rode with him. "I'm not going to lie, he outclasses us- I've seen him fight first hand- he's a war god… but we're not here to beat him."

"Humph.. I don't care what you've 'seen', Oifaye- he faces Mistoltein. I'll kill him myself- this battle is taking time I need to save my dear Leen." Aless said, snapping the reins of his steed and readying himself for battle- charging headlong straight at his opponent, the master knight who blocked the main entrance to the ruined city.

"No! Aless!" Oifaye called out, left with no choice but to follow the Black Knight's foolish charge.

Kratos smirked, "You earnestly believe you can defeat me?" he asked rhetorically as he drew his sword, Flamberge, from its sheath.

"What? A Holy weapon!... and this pressure… Nihil. Blast!" Aless charged at Kratos, attempting to strike him with his Holy Mistoltein, but failing as both he and Kratos missed each other.

"Humph- not even the power of your Holy Weapon is enough to outweigh my skill, Aless- you're nothing compared to your Father- retreat, Aless, retreat and keep your lives."

"Sorry, but we just can't do that." Oifaye stated as he charged at Kratos with a Silver lance in hand- landing a blow directly into Kratos' side. "Our mission is far too important to abandon."

"…Humph. Well, blame your fate." Kratos turned, his weapon firmly held in his hand, not even fazed by the bloody wound he sustained from Oifaye.


Within the Triet ruins, southeast

"Genis! Come on! We've got to move- the Liberation Army is in the ruins! Kratos is occupied with the front- and Colette's still not ready to…" Lloyd yelled back to his younger friend when his eyes caught sight of several dead Freege soldiers. "…this can't be… are they really that strong?"

"…Lloyd..! Genis..!" one soldier, still clinging to life- his body slashed to pieces and bloody, called out.

"..! You!" Lloyd's eyes widened as he looked at the soldier who called out to him, "... it can't be."

"Sorry, Lloyd… I-I-I'm done for- I guess I lied to you when I… That mage, Arthur… he's strong… and Celice… and that Shaman…they're with him… Lloyd… Celice is looking for you- Celice himself wants to kill you. I don't know what you did… but… Lloyd… promise me something, would you?" the soldier said, coughing up blood as he finished.

"Hang on!..." Lloyd cried out in vain.

"Lloyd… you helped me and my sister at Alster… I want you to take this pendant- and promise me you'll live through this fight- and Genis… you too… if you go back to Alster… find my sister, Lillia, and her son Paul… give it to her… tell her that her brother died fighting to protect her…" the soldier coughed out a few final words before closing his eyes for a final time.

"Blast… I'm so sorry. I thought we agreed we'd both see this battle thru… but yes, if I return to Alster… I promise I'll take it to her." Lloyd cried as he spoke. But as he took the blood-stained locket from the soldier's hand, he looked up towards a small hill with a broken tower at its top and caught sight of a mage with silver hair, similar to Genis, but substantially older. "Genis… that has to be…"

"It's Arthur… the one who killed this man. I know what you want me to do… I'm better against magic-users than you." Genis said, his hand on his Elfire tome.

"I'm gonna find Celice… and put an end to this…" Lloyd said, turning away from Genis and walking off.

"Lloyd… don't get yourself killed." Genis muttered as he turned towards Arthur. "…Searing Flames arise! Scorch the earth and my enemies as one..! Elfire!"

A blast of flames erupted beneath the Liberation Army mage, who rolled to avoid taking the full brunt of the blast- but was unable to fully escape the attack. The mage turned, his eyes focusing on Genis, but even as he opened his tome to prepare his counter attack, he hesitated. "…A child?... you can't possibly be a member of the Himmlischer Ritter… Hey kid! Get out of here if you don't want to get hurt!"

"…my name is Genis! Arthur… is it?" Genis said, he said as he readied to launch another attack. "I'm not looking to run- I may be a coward at times, but my friends are counting on me here."

Arthur's face quickly filled with surprise as he realized that the child he faced was not someone caught in the crossfire, but the very same spellcaster who had attacked him. "Very well… Oh mighty wind! Slice the sky asunder! Elwind!"

"Heh! Taking me on with magic?" Genis smirked as he took the spell as though it were nothing, "and you attacked from the wrong side of the trinity as well!"

"Listen, kid! I seriously don't want to hurt you!" Arthur said, as he jumped down from where he stood and approached Genis.

"You had no problem killing Lillia's brother- what makes me any different?" Genis's eyes were filled with anger at his opponent. "…Elfire!"

"…I'm sorry then… Genis." Arthur shifted his eyes, "I'll be more… wrathful… with this one…. Elwind."


Lloyd stopped for a moment. "Where the hell is this guy?" he muttered as he caught his breath- but as he did, he heard an unfamiliar voice echo nearby.

"…No sign of the Swordfighter who killed Rana…the Chosen of the Emblem isn't here either… is this all one big trap?" the voice said, coming from an alleyway in front of Lloyd.

Lloyd steeled himself- the voice was an enemy's, and in a few moments he knew he'd be face to face with whoever it was. Drawing his Killer Swords from their sheathes, he stepped forward into a courtyard, ready to face his enemy head on. "…whoever you are…I'm ready for you."

"…There you are!" a man in blue stated, staring at Lloyd. "Finally… I'll get my chance to avenge Rana!" he said as he drew a magnificent Silver Sword from its sheath, and held up a white and gold shield. "Yuria… I want you to stay out of this one… I know you were Rana's friend too, but… he's mine." he said, turning to the slender, silver-haired girl next to him.

The shaman nodded and ducked into a building, out of view of the coming fight, closing her eyes. "…Celice." she muttered under her breath.

"Swordsman… what is your name?" the man called out to Lloyd.

"…Who are you to ask for my name?" Lloyd said.

"Arrogant little…!" the man said, "I am Celice Baldos Calphy! You killed my friend Rana, and now I'm going to kill you."

"So you're Celice! You…. you…! My name is Lloyd Irving- I don't know what you fight for, but you've caused much pain- I swear, I'll take you down!" Lloyd said, as both he and Celice charged straight at one another, both missing as they swung their weapons. "It's your fault Colette has to suffer-! Rebels…the Desians… threats to the empire! I swear, I'll end all of you!"

"You…fool! You fight for a cause you don't even understand! Look around? What good does the empire do? Nothing! You killed my friend for that?" Celice said, turning back towards Lloyd, slashing with his Silver sword, leaving a wide gash across Lloyd's back.

Lloyd yelled out in pain from Celice's attack and then turned to face Celice once more, but fell to his knees, breathing heavily. "It… can't be… the end…"

Celice turned swiftly, smashing his ornate shield into Lloyd, tossing him across the sand. "Curse you, Lloyd."

Lloyd cringed as he stumbled back to his feet, staring Celice in the eyes. Blood ran down his arms, and dripped from his fingers on to the ground. "…It's not over, Celice." He charged at Celice, landing a sharp blow, but was again blown back by Celice swinging his shield at him, and collapsed to the ground.

"…Rana… I'm going to avenge you." Celice said as he walked over towards Lloyd, who awkwardly stumbled to his feet. "Die."

Lloyd closed his eyes instinctively as Celice swung at him, and as he did, a sudden vision overcame him. "Protect those dearest to you!" a female voice echoed through his mind as he saw himself staring at an image of his mother. "Protect those dearest to you, Lloyd!" the voice echoed again.

"Augh! How?" Celice yelled in pain, blood running down his right arm, which had sustained a significant sword wound. He turned his gaze back onto Lloyd, who's left hand was glowing a brilliant blue light. "I don't know what magic that is… or where you got the strength to strike me so, but… this fight is far from over, Lloyd Irving." he said, gripping his sword and preparing to attack again, however his eyes caught sight of something odd. "Yuria!" he exclaimed turning to his left to face the silver haired girl who had walked out, trance-like into the middle of the small courtyard.

"…Run away… we must… run away." The girl said, her eyes blank and emotionless. "Ruin comes… we must run away…"

"Yuria…! What? What's going on? What's wrong?" Celice placed his hands on her shoulders, ignoring Lloyd for the time being.

"…it's coming…death…ruin…we must…" Yuria continued. "Celice… run."

Just then, it seemed as if the world went silent- an eerie wave of magic shot over the battlefield, and as it did, for a moment, everything stopped.

"Ne perdatis luces…" A serene voice enveloped the battlefield as magical feathers appeared to be drifting from the sky.

"The Dirge of Ruin… Celice…Run…!" Yuria said, her body glowing a faint white.

"Cantum sanctum nunc accipite "

"Colette!" Lloyd yelled out and turned away from Celice and Yuria and ran through the buildings towards the northwest.

"Oro, canto, vobis…"

Celice dropped his sword and fell to the ground. "What's… what's going on? Is this… Seid magic?" He then forced himself back to his feet, "LIBERATION ARMY! FULL RETREAT!" he yelled before picking up his sword, sheathing it, and taking hold of Yuria and running .


Genis tried to catch his breath- blood covered his face, Arthur was far greater an opponent he had seen at first. He ducked his head out from the cover he had taken in the ruins and found Arthur collapsed to the floor, shaking in pain. "What?"

"Fiat lux are!"

Arthur struggled to his feet. "Retreat is the only option here… damn little kid."

"It's Colette… this is the Dirge of Ruin…" Genis muttered as he made a break through the ruins.

"Spes, ne perdatis…"


"Cantum lucum nunc accipite!"

Kratos narrowed his eyes, "Retreat now, Liberators. I won't strike you down if you flee. This is the power of Seid magic that you feel now- remain here and you will die," he said staring at Oifaye, Johan, and Aless, all of which were collapsed, hardly able to move.

"Dono animam mea…"

"Blast. Celice… I'm sorry, but we've got to get out of here." Oifaye muttered, turning his horse around and riding out into the moonlight desert, Aless and Johan not far behind.

Kratos turned back and began riding towards Colette's position and uttered a slight sigh as he looked upon the Liberation army members fleeing from the Triet ruins.

"Fiat lux are!"


Author's Note: Yes, for the Symphonia-savvy, that "Dirge of Ruin" is "Fiat Lux -Hikari Are-" from the OVA. Of course, no telling what the Dirge of Ruin would sound like- and one can only guess what the effect would be... Fiat Lux fits.