-Chapter 7-

The sound of Link's scream still rang in her ears as Raine pushed herself up off the floor. She felt the blood trickle down her right arm as it hung painfully at her side. Doing her best to ignore the injury, Raine scooped up her staff in her left hand and moved to Colette's side. She quickly threw up a barrier, deflecting a jet of flame away from where Colette and Genis knelt over the unmoving boy.

"Get that shield off of him!" she shouted above the roar of the flame. "Quickly, before it burns his arm too badly!"

Without hesitation, Colette grabbed the burning shield and pulled it awkwardly from his grip, burning her own hands in the process.

More fire splayed against the barrier as Ktugach again surged towards Colette. The spell wavered against the onslaught of magic as Raine felt her mana slowly ebbing away. Kratos and Lloyd moved in front of their opponent, trying to push him back, but Ktugach merely knocked Lloyd aside and threw the full weight of its attack against Kratos. The mercenary refused to give any ground however, and matched the attack in kind.

"Kratos! You have to end this!" Raine shouted desperately as more flames licked the barrier. "This shield won't hold much longer, you have to kill it now!"

Kratos glared at her from over his shoulder. "Lloyd, stay back and wait for my signal! Genis, hit it with an Icicle and draw its attention!"

"What?!" her brother asked in alarm.

"Just do it!" Kratos snapped at him.

Genis unleashed the spell, pelting Ktugach with shards of ice. The guardian turned on Genis, rearing up to unleash a fireball. As it rose on its hind legs, Kratos' mana spiked. He drove forward burying his sword in the beast's exposed underbelly. As the sword went in, a bolt of lightning descended from above and pieced Ktugach's back.

Kratos pulled his blade free and jumped back. "Lloyd, now!" Kratos swung his blade along the floor, releasing a shockwave of mana; Lloyd quickly followed suit unleashing his own Demon Fang. As the twin attacks struck home, Ktugach lost its balance and fell backwards, slamming against the floor with a heavy thud. Raine released her hold on the barrier and, with a sigh of relief, dropped to her knees in exhaustion.

Kratos stared down at the dead guardian. Something was definitely wrong. The seal guardians were created to provide battle experience for the Chosen, a challenging fight, but one that could be easily overcome by the temple guards, who normally escorted the Chosen. But the Ktugach had attacked with lethal intent and had relentlessly gone after the Chosen despite his attempts to make it do otherwise. To make matters worse, the strange power still coursed through the air, hinting at some unknown malice. He wondered if the Renegades had a hand in this. Kratos placed the tip of his sword on the floor and leaned on the hilt with an irritated sigh; he had enough problems to worry about without someone interfering with the seals.

He glanced back at the rag-tag group he had to work with. He hadn't traveled with such an incompetent group since he journeyed with Mithos. At least back then they had a goal, a purpose. But now? His purpose had died years ago, and the only spark of hope he had left was oblivious to the truth. Kratos shook his head, knowing that there was no way he could drag Lloyd into this mess. Lloyd was all he had left; even if he doesn't know, if he never knows, the events that occurred in the past. He would have to think of a way of keeping Lloyd from ever reaching the Tower of Salvation. There was always the option of taking the Chosen and going it alone, she would have no objection of sparing Lloyd of the knowledge of her fate. It's not like they could follow him if he used a Rheaird.

As he stood there thinking about how best to go about spiriting away the Chosen, a question popped into his head. At first he dismissed it, but, it continued to return and nagged him in the back of his mind. Why had he insisted on bringing Link with him? Raine had been against it and he should have been as well. He knew absolutely nothing about the kid and yet, something inside him kept telling him that Link was important.

Kratos turned, watching as Lloyd and Genis helped the green clad boy to his feet. He looked a little shaky, but then again, he was lucky to be alive after taking a hit like that. Kratos closed his eyes and turned away with a weighted sigh. Nothing about Link made sense: he had no Exsphere and yet his physical capabilities were far beyond that of a ten-year-old; he had no mana, but could use magic; and of course there was—

Kratos' eyes snapped open, his whole body frozen as the idea took form in his mind. For the first time in years he found a renewed source of hope, of possibility. He turned, staring back at the others again. He would need Lloyd for this to work; or rather he would need Lloyd's ignorance, along with that same devotion and determination that Anna had possessed. The thought of using his own son as a pawn was a little disheartening, but if this worked then maybe, just maybe…

"Umm, Mr. Kratos?"

Kratos started at the sound of Colette's voice. He had been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard her approach. "What is it Chosen?"

Raine walked up and stood beside Colette. "Something's not right. The altar hasn't opened yet."

Kratos frowned as he looked at the seal of fire. Just as Raine had said, the altar remained as it had been when they arrived. His eyes fell upon the body of Ktugach. Something was preventing the guardian's mana from being released. He called for Link to come over as his eyes remained fixed on the body in front of him.

"That mark on your hand," he asked as Link stepped up beside him. "What is it?"

Link covered the glowing triangle with his other hand, seeming unaware that he was even doing so. "It's… It's called the Triforce; or rather, a part of it anyways. The piece I have is called the Triforce of Courage."

Kratos refrained from asking what a Triforce was. "I've seen it glow like that before. Why?"

Link glanced at the floor, unsure of how to answer. "It's a protection… or maybe more of a warning. It does this anytime I need to fight, or if I'm in danger. Especially if…" Link's voice trailed off for a moment. "Anyways, the stronger the glow, the greater the danger."

Kratos looked at the glowing mark on the kid's hand, visible even through the hand that covered it. "It's been pulsing like that since we entered the guardian's chamber." His eyes widened as a cold realization took hold. "Before Colette summoned the guardian."

As if beckoned by his words, a tremor passed through the floor of the chamber, followed by another, then another. The dark energy that coursed through the room began to pulse and move, being drawn towards the altar. The ground lurched violently as a dark vortex formed before the seal. The walls and ceiling wavered and shook as the room appeared to grow larger, almost to double its original size.

"What's going on?" Genis shouted, his knuckles white as they gripped the handle of his kendama. The black maw stretched from floor to ceiling, a swirling gateway into an eternal nothingness. A massive roar sounded from within the portal as Kratos moved back, pushing everyone with him.

An enormous head, like that of a giant iguana emerged from the darkness. Lloyd's jaw dropped as the 20 foot tall creature pulled itself from the vortex, the ground shaking beneath each foot fall. As the end of its tail came through, the portal winked from existence, leaving them alone with the massive stone lizard.

"It's not possible," Link stood wide-eyed. "What's King Dodongo doing in this world?" Kratos had no time to question his words as the creature lurched forward, curling into a huge spiked ball, and rolled straight for them.

"Move!" Kratos grabbed the Chosen's arm and dove to the side as King Dodongo rolled through where they had been standing and slammed into the wall.

Kratos rushed the beast with sword in hand, ignoring Link's shouts for him to wait. As the creature slowly turned from the wall, Kratos brought his sword down against the massive leg. Sparks flew from the tip as the blade slid harmlessly along the stony flesh. He spun to the side to avoid being crushed and brought his sword up against the creature's side, but the effect was the same. In one last attempt, Kratos went for the head. He unleashed his mana as he drove his sword forward in a powerful thrust, but the hard hide refused to give way to his blade.

King Dodongo's jaws gaped wide as it prepared to unleash a jet of flame. Above his head, Kratos saw one of Link's bombs arc through the air and explode within the beast's mouth. With a pained howl, the beast's legs collapsed as he hit the floor in a bone jarring thud.

"It's no use!" Link shouted as King Dodongo tried to get back on its feet. "The bombs stun him, but I don't know how to kill him."

"You've fought him before?" Lloyd asked in shock. "What did you do last time?"

"He fell in a pit of lava and got sealed inside. But I don't think that's going to work this time." King Dodongo rose to his feet and released a wave of fire. Raine threw up a shield long enough for them to get clear, but with her mana nearly depleted it was likely to be one of the last.

"You have to breach its hide," Navi shouted desperatly. "It's the only way to kill him."

"Would magic work?" Genis asked hopefully.

"Yes, but it would have to be a big spell."

"How big?" Kratos pressed. King Dodongo again curled into a ball and rolled in their direction, smashing into the wall on the opposite side of the chamber. "How big!?"

The fairy circled Link's head in frustration. "I don't know." Her high pitched voice seemed to tremble. "I don't understand how your magic works; I can't gauge its strength. All I know is it will have to be big."

Kratos silently wished he could use his angelic powers; Judgment would be more than enough to end this. He mentally scanned his roster of spells, unsure if any would be strong enough to breach the stone body. Kratos closed his eyes and raised his sword, holding it with the blade resting in his left hand as he began channeling.

"Watch out, Kratos!" Colette screamed over a deafening roar. Kratos opened his eyes to see the beast jaws gape wide, ushering forth a stream of flame. Forced to interrupt his casting, Kratos dove to the side, landed on his left hand, and then flipped himself the rest of the way back to his feet. King Dodongo swung his head to the side sending his flame into a sweeping wave across the room.

"Move!" The party broke into a run, the fiery wave nipping at their heels. Ahead of him, he saw Genis trip over a piece of debris and fall on his face. "Don't stop!" Kratos shouted as Raine turned to help her brother. As he ran past, Kratos reached down and snagged the back of the half-elf's, shirt hauling him up and dragging him along as he ran after the others. The stream of fire suddenly cut off as King Dodongo dove forwards, in a massive spiked ball, to crush its foes.

"Back!" Kratos called. He skidded to a halt and moved back the way they had come as the stone lizard rolled right through where they were standing. "We need a distraction." He set Genis down on his feet. "Raine, how much mana do you have left?"

"Maybe enough for one last shield, but that's all."

"Okay, you cover me against his fire. Link, Lloyd and Colette, you three need to distract him long enough for me to channel a spell. I don't care how you do it, just keep him busy."

"What about me?" Genis asked.

"Unless you've got a spell strong enough to take him down, just stay out of the way. I have enough to worry about without babysitting you," he snapped over his shoulder. Kratos raised his sword in front of him again. "Now go you three, before it attacks again."


Link watched as King Dodongo slowly turned towards them again. "Colette, how accurate are you with your chakram? Do you think you could hit that thing in the eye?"

"I think so," she said, sounding a little unsure.

"Alright. Lloyd, you try and get his attention, when he does, Colette you take out his eye. Got it?" Both nodded. "We only get one shot at this, so let's get it right."

With sword in hand, Lloyd ran straight for the Dodongo's head. Colette moved off to the left as Link took the right. Lloyd struck at the massive head with his swords, sending off showers of sparks with each blow. King Dodongo snapped at him with his huge jaws, but Lloyd deftly jumped clear of the attack. On the far side Link saw Colette spin on her toes and let loose her golden rings; the first skipped harmlessly of the side of its head, but the second landed home.

As the monster let out a pained roar, Link pulled a bomb from the pouch at his belt. "Lloyd, catch!"

As the bomb tumbled through the air, Lloyd dropped his swords and caught the bomb, throwing it into the gaping maw before him. King Dodongo's jaws clamped down on the bomb as it exploded, his legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to the floor with a crash. Before he could recover, Link pulled a deku nut from his belt and threw it at the creature's good eye. The nut exploded with a blinding light causing King Dodongo's body to freeze up in paralysis.

It was up to Kratos now.


Kratos' eyes popped open, he spun the blade in his hand and thrust towards the sky. "Flame Lance!" he shouted as a burning sword appeared in the air hovering blade down above King Dodongo. With a roar of the flame the sword dropped, the tip slammed into its targets back and stopped. A loud crack resounded through the room as the sword exploded into a ball of smoke and flame; the spell had failed to breach the stone hide.

As king Dodongo struggled to get to its feet Kratos resigned himself to his last option; he would need to use his angelic powers if the Chosen was to survive. He had tried everything else, Mithos would have to understand.

Before he could begin channeling, he felt a surge of mana. He turned his gaze towards the altar at the far side of the chamber where Genis stood alone, the ball of his kendama bouncing rhythmically back and forth. A circle of purple light appeared beneath his feet as his mana level rose to the absolute limit that his body could sustain.

Raine stood wide-eyed beside Kratos. "Genis!? What are you doing?" Her brother looked in their direction for a moment. A tear rolled down his cheek as he mouthed the words 'I'm sorry Raine' before turning back to King Dodongo. Genis' mana level suddenly spiked well beyond what he was capable of wielding as he began to chant.

"I call upon thee in the land of the dead—"

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"—to unleash thy fury of thunder. Indignation!"

Raine tore across the room in wild hysteria. Kratos found himself running after her, but they were too late.

The room fell into complete darkness as a large runed circle of light formed under King Dodongo. Genis let out a blood curling scream as all the mana drained from his body to fuel the spell. A bolt of lightning descended from above and slammed into the ground, tearing a hole through King Dodongo and practically splitting him in half.

As light returned to the room, Genis' suddenly scream cut off; he collapsed to the floor in a heap, his body almost void of mana. Raine dropped to her knees and scooped her brother up in her arms calling desperately for him to answer her. Kratos dropped down beside her and extended his hand, and released his mana, allowing it to flow into Genis' body.

"What are you—"

"I'm giving him some of my mana," he said, cutting her short. "It's a trick an old friend of mine taught me. He should be fine now."

Genis' eyes slid open as he drew a ragged breath. Raine hugged her brother close to her. "What were you thinking? You could have killed yourself."

"I just… I just wanted…. to help." His head lolled to the side as he faded out of consciousness.

Kratos rose to his feet and started walking away. As Lloyd and the others approached he held out his arm, cutting them off. "Let them be," he said, his voice heavy. He watched the bodies of both Ktugach and King Dodongo dissolved before turning to Colette. "Come Chosen, Let's do what we came here to do."

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