Li:and here is Cycle seven of ARCH, in which the last two Gamma-ARCH are unveiled, the story behind the ARCH transformation is revealed, and Hi's knowledge of the Aurion family is mentioned. And there is also a little confession from Colette...
I do not own ToS. I do own the Gamma-ARCH however.
Cycle seven
Colette looked up at the tall building that they were approaching, her face clouded over in pain and denial. Lloyd...had hurt her...NO!! It wasn't Lloyd, but a puppet shaped like Lloyd!! Lloyd would never hurt her, and—
"OI!!!" A loud male yell boomed in the area, making the seven friends jump, Aki wince in pain due to his heightened hearing, Chi facepalm herself with a mutter of 'baka ne', Fuyu curse colorfully, and Yuki sigh.
"That's Watsu for you..." He muttered, audible enough for the others to turn and look at him. "Ah, Watsu is a member of Team Suzaku, and is another Gamma-ARCH."
"He's an idiot." Chi muttered flatly.
"I wouldn't call him that; he just only understands combat." Fuyu replied, shaking her head while exercising her arms. Suddenly she bellowed. "COME OUT HERE YOU EFFING PYROS!!!"
"I resent being called that." A female voice retorted, and a wisp of vermilion and violet fire appeared near the group, and an auburn woman with violet eyes appeared before them, two immense chakrams strapped to her back.
Understandably, the auburn hair and blunt way of speaking reminded Raine of a certain Seraphim...
"KRATOS!!!" the silver half-elf yelled out in fear, pulling out her staff. The others present all stared at her in confusion.
"Uh, Raine?" Sheena asked, sweatdropping whilst pointing at the auburn. "That's a woman, not a guy...besides; she dresses nothing like Kratos..." Indeed, the newcomer was wearing a stylized Mizuho dress with the sides of the skirt splitting from her hips, covered by a thin kimono style jacket. Her clothes were shades of red and orange, and she boasted a strange crest on the front of her jacket-a circle with a triangle inside, with a pair of wings wrapping around it and a swallow's kitetail beneath the wings.
"Oh, Hi. Good to see you again." Yuki stated, walking forward to shake hands with the woman. The only one who wasn't confused by the statement was Sheena-being Mizuhoen, she caught the gist that the woman's name was translated to 'Fire', and not a pronoun referring to a guy.
"Yuki. A pleasure." Hi nodded, before turning to the others as a swirl of sapphire flames appeared, and a rather robustly built man with a HUGE broadsword in hand appeared beside Hi, a pair of sapphire wings arching from his back.
Eyes scanning the crowd, he spotted the rather startled Zelos and the sullen Colette. "Ah, so you two are the Delta-ARCH that my partner was mentioning." He stated, deep voice cheerful. "Let's all give our haiiro Beta-ARCH a fight to remember!!"
"Hey, Sheena?" Zelos poked the kunoichi in the shoulder. "What does haiiro translate to?"
"Grey. This guy must mean Lloyd..." Sheena replied, sighing when she remembered that the aforementioned angel was evil; why did all of the hot guys have to be evil?! Zelos nodded grimly in agreement, eyeing Watsu's sword with considerable unease.
"I don't mean to burst your bubble, Watsu," hi stated suddenly, bringing out her glasses, "but I have our ARCH's data on here, and he was clearly holding back against us, only letting loose when he obliterated the Renegade base with a single attack, even if it did drain the majority of his mana." The seven friends and the other four Gamma-ARCH all froze; Lloyd had blown up the Renegade base with a single attack?!
"Oh really?" Watsu asked, curious. "Bah, don't read the data off until Team Seiryuu can hear it as well." Clapping a hand onto the woman's shoulder, the emerald haired ARCH lead the way into the Gamma-ARCH headquarters, an immense building built directly into the cliff face behind the Temple of Lightning.
Upon entering, the six friends gasped in awe at all of the strange sights and objects inside the place; Raine practically shrieked from joy and promptly fainted from delight, making the six Gamma-ARCH sweatdrop and Genius groan in annoyance.
"Why am I not surprised...?" he asked himself.
"Oh dear, can't have fainting inside the building, no dah." A casual male voice sounded in the air as a youth with an immense boomerang attached to his back, spectral aqua wings flapping behind him. "Especially not when Haru and Father Michelangelo wish to speak with all of you, no dah." Casting a healing spell, the youth looked up at the others, smiling. "Ah, Yuki-kun, Aki-kun, Watsu-kun, Fuyu-chan, Chi-chan, and R-Hi-chan!! Good to see you all back safe and sound, no dah?"
"Hello Kaze." Hi sighed, shaking her head. Raine chose the moment to regain consciousness, and as her eyes settled on the auburn woman holding her head in a hand and sighing she mistook her once more for her former ally.
"Where did Kratos come from?" She asked, pointing at Hi, who anime-dropped in annoyance.
"That's the SECOND time she's called me my brother!!" She exclaimed, standing. "How many—" Suddenly realizing what she had said, Hi clapped both hands over her mouth and flushed; she normally didn't let that slip!!! The seven friends were staring at her in shock.
"You...Kratos..." Regal got out, unconsciously shivering.
"Kratos-sama is Hi-chan's little brother, no dah!" Kaze popped up between the martial artist and a startled Colette, smiling broadly. Hi leveled a deadly glare at the aqua haired youth.
"KAZE!!!" She yelled, vermilion wings flashing into existence. "I prefer it when you DON'T announce it to the world!!!" Her violet eyes flashed, and her version of the dreaded 'Aurion-glare ™' seemed to completely fly past the younger ARCH.
"Too late for that, Hi." A new, low female voice whispered, and the others turned to see a woman with hair the color of sapphire stones alight from within walk out of a nearby room, her pale emerald dress barely brushing the floor. "You might as well tell them." The other seven ARCH turned and bowed at the waist when the younger woman appeared.
"Haru-dono." They whispered, and Sheena quickly followed suit of the ARCH and bowed; if they attached 'dono' to this woman's name, she obviously held a lot of status in the ARCHs' eyes. Haru shook her head.
"No, young summoner, do not bow." She walked forward and tilted the summoner's head up with a hand. "I have no true power over you, nor them." She looked over at the seven Gamma-ARCH with a sigh. "They do that no matter what I do to discourage them..." Kaze looked up with a smile.
"But you are the sole remainder of the Balacruf Dynasty, Haru-dono, no dah!!" It seemed that the aqua haired youth could be blunt with his partner, who seemed to not mind him calling her dono nor his addition of 'no dah' to his sentences. Raine took one look at the taller ARCH and gasped.
"A Balacruf princess...sapphire hair...OHHH!!" Face glowing, the half-elf promptly fainted again, twitching from the sheer strength of her Ruin-mode upon meeting the Sapphire Wind princess of the Balacruf people. The others, although they understood the meaning of what Haru's heritage meant, were more awed with the way the ARCH handled herself. Even without her birthright, she still held the air of a princess.
"Tell them, Hi." Haru stated again, glancing over at the auburn, who stood with a sigh.
"Alright then." Looking at the seven friends, she sighed. "Ember." Casting the fire spell beneath Raine-which successfully woke the woman up- she drew a breath. "Like Kaze stated, Kratos Aurion is my younger brother. I am 4,031 to his 4,028."
"That makes Lloyd your nephew, right?" Genius piped up, awed. When Hi nodded, he added on, "Hi Aurion really doesn't sound right."
"Hi is a code name that I use so Yggdrasil can't recruit me into Cruxis." Hi explained, shaking her head lightly. "My real name is Rose. But before I forget..." pulling out her spectral glasses-which Raine realized were made out of manipulated mana-she muttered, "you better know what exactly we're up against in terms of my nephew."
"I see; you do have his stats recorded, don't you?" Haru spoke up, gold eyes questioning. Hi nodded.
"Let's see..." She muttered chewing her lip. "Lloyd Aurion. Age; eighteen, mana; ..."she shook her head. "I honestly don't know; when he's fighting, it shows up as a prismatic shade, but his wings and aura are both dove grey."
"That is interesting; Father Michelangelo will be surprised to hear that, no dah." Kaze interjected, nodding. Watsu lightly cuffed him upside the head to quiet him as Hi continued on.
"Weapon; Aether blades, attack element; raw Aether, defensive status; both light and aether do absolutely nothing, and fire heals him. Mana level...is off the charts!" Hi suddenly seemed to stumble, her glasses retracting back into her communicator. "No wonder he can destroy a building full of magi-technology with a single burst of raw power..."
"So it seems." Haru whispered, looking up at the stained glass dome that formed the ceiling, which showed a prismatic ten sided star surrounded by a tortoise, a dragon, a phoenix and a tiger. Sheena followed her gaze, and then looked at the eight Gamma-ARCH, snapping her fingers.
"I thought so!" She exclaimed, looking the angels over. "The name of your teams, your names, the window..." she pointed upwards at the stained glass dome, "You worship Koenma and the four Guardian gods, don't you?" She inquired, getting a startled look from half of the eight ARCH and all of her friends, a grin from Aki, a nod from Haru, and a clap on the back from Kaze.
"Not surprising, coming from a kunoichi of Mizuho!" The aqua haired youth exclaimed, smiling brightly. "Haru-dono and I represent Seiryuu, Azure Dragon god, no dah!!" Pointing at Hi and Watsu, he continued. "Rose-chan and Watsu-kun serve Suzaku, Yuki-kun and Fuyu-chan represent Genbu, and Aki an Chi worship Byakko!" Finished, the cheerful ARCH let his aqua wings blink into existence.
"It's not just me." Hi added on, crossing her arms over her chest. "My entire family pays respects to Suzaku, even my nephew." She grinned when she saw the shocked looks of the others. "It's in the Aurion bloodline; why else do you think Lloyd has moves like Rising Falcon and Rising Phoenix?"
"But anyways..." Haru's calm voice commanded attention, even if the ARCH didn't demand it consciously. When the seven friends looked at her, the sapphire haired Balacruf maiden continued, "I can safely assume you all wish to know that while the eight of us possess emotions, your friend does not." Seeing the others nod, Haru drew a breath. "I shall explain then."
"Back During the Kharlan War, as you know humans and elves went against one another in combat with the half-elves between them, and Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals were first put into use. Back then, there were three methods for the three races to become angels.
"First is the Delta transformation, which is what the Chosen of Mana goes through upon releasing the seals. This involves the loss of one's humanity for a brief period of time in order to strengthen one's body and internal organs for a eternal existence. After about a year, however, the Chosen would regain their humanity back unless a Rune Crest was attached to the Cruxis Crystal. This was the most common form of the angelic transformation.
"Next is the Beta transformation, which was used mainly on orphans from ten years of age to twenty one to form assassins. Not only does this transformation prove to be the most painful of the three, it also causes great stress on the internal organs of the person. These were the ones that established the title of ARCH, which stands for 'Artificially Reinforced Combatant Humanoids'. However, due to the strength that an ARCH needs to possess in order to keep its heart from failing, they are often fused with their Exsphere or Cruxis Crystal. It's in this way that the person's emotions are destroyed.
"And finally, there is the Gamma transformation." Haru closed her eyes suddenly, then opened them partially to gaze at the others, an earthreal light dancing in her azure eyes. "This transformation is better known as Ascension, and we were known as Archangels." A collective gasp ran through the group, with only Colette obtaining the will to speak immediately after.
"You mean, you were all killed at some point?" She whispered. Hi nodded.
"The fight that I died in was also the fight were Kratos got his left arm crippled." She stated, getting confused looks from everyone else present. "Have you ever seen him clench his left hand into or fist, or seen him with it perfectly flat?"
"...No..." Raine admitted, puzzled.
"That's because his left tendon was severed and not completely healed in time. Before then, he was a twin swordsman like Lloyd."
"That is interesting and all, but I'm sure that telling us that was slightly unnecessary..." Yuki muttered. Haru shook her head.
"Nonetheless, not all of us died to go through the Gamma transformation; only Aki and Hi, if I remember correctly." When the two mentioned nodded, she continued on, "But we did have to go through a epithermal experience. That however, is a story that we shall not tell you as of right now. You need to begin training..."
"NO." the single word that left Colette's mouth startled the others into looking at the blond angel, who looked furious. Her sapphire eyes were narrowed, and a firm line was formed out of her mouth. "I refuse to fight Lloyd." She stated firmly, shaking her head.
"Colette," Raine began, trying to reason with the blond. "None of us want to fight him but we..."
"No." Colette shook her head, a trace of venom in her voice. "I won't."
"Come on Colette, this is not time to be stubborn!" Genius stated just as firmly, aiding his older sister. "I mean, I thought you'd be the one most after him! He hurt you the most!!"
"What'm I then, chopped liver?" Zelos muttered, getting a swift kick from Regal and Sheena.
"Now is not the time." Both hissed as Colette shook her head again.
"Why not?!" Genius finally demanded, exasperated.
"BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" Colette blurted out, tears in her eyes. The fifteen around her stared openly, but she didn't seem to mind. Unable to stand it any longer, the blond angel turned and ran outside of the building, sobbing.
--
Sitting on the edge of the sea, Colette sniffled and rubbed her eyes when a pair of footsteps reached her ears. Not bothering to turn around, she simply wrapped her arms around her knees, staring out at the blue ocean before her as it turned a bloody red in the light of the setting sun.
"...I had to fight a loved one, once." Hi's voice made her turn ever so slightly. The violet eyed Aurion sat beside the blond, legs hanging over the edge as she continued, "One of my closest friends underwent the Beta transformation. We didn't know at the time that his employer held a grudge against the Aurion family. One day, he was sent to kill me and Kratos, because we were fighting against the rest of the employer's men."
"What happened?" Colette asked, looking over at the older angel. Hi sighed sadly, eyes distant.
"I was traumatized that we had to fight him; if Kratos hadn't been injured by him, I probably wouldn't have fought him. So I took my chakrams and began attacking him, trying to defend my brother while our younger sister Sakura tended to his arm. In the end however, I ended up killing myself as well as my friend."
"Is that how..." Colette whispered, floored. Hi nodded.
"Yes. While waiting to enter the afterlife, my friend's soul thanked me for killing him; he said that he couldn't bear to think of what would've happened if he had killed me. As Kratos put it later, when I came back as an Archangel, that I 'killed him out of love, not out of hatred.' I believed him, and all...oh my...I didn't mean to make you cry again!" Hi exclaimed, seeing Colette bury her head in her arms with a sob.
Shaking her head, the auburn wrapped her arms around the blond's shoulders. "Hush...Hush..." She comforted the distressed angel, tears bright in her own eyes as well. "It'll be okay...don't worry...Just cry, you're in need of a good long cry..."
"Do you think...that Lloyd would be like that as well?" Colette choked out after some time had passed. "Would he agree that I fought him because I...love him?"
"I'm sure he would." Hi assured her, rubbing her back like the big sister that she was, even if it wasn't Colette's big sister. When the blond angel pulled away and rubbed her eyes, she asked gently, "So, are you up to training now?" Colette nodded mutely, standing up. Hi stood and hugged her around the shoulders again, leading the younger angel inside.
Neither noticed the figure hidden in shadows, a hand covering their eyes as they wept silently.
--
The eight friends looked amongst themselves as Haru led them upstairs the next day, silent as they looked around themselves at the simple spectacle of the place as Haru opened the double doors on a landing before them.
"Father Michelangelo is waiting inside for you right now." The angel spoke up, stepping aside. "He's been paitent, but I think he's anxious, for obvious reasons..." As the eight walked past her, Haru looked out a window in time to see a flash of color in the sunlight. Blinking, the Archangel shook her head and walked downstairs to gather the other eight Archangels; training would begin after the friends' meeting with Father Michelangelo was through.
The eight friends stood in the center of a circular room, eyes glancing around at the vast size of the place around them. Shaped similar to the Martel Temple by Iselia, there were only four immense stained glass windows, one north, one south, one east, and one west. The glass mosaics formed a tortoise ensnared by a serpent, a elegant phoenix, a serpentine azure colored dragon, and a snow white tiger in their respective windows.
"I'm shocked, there isn't a thing in here that pertains to Martel." Presea spoke up first, voice filled with awe. The others all nodded, too awestruck to respond as the rising sun poured into the windows, showering rainbows of light upon the friends.
"That is because Martel isn't the Goddess that Cruxis makes her out to be; and besides, the ARCH were formed before Martel was even born." An all too familiar voice made the eight whirl around as one, and when they saw who had spoken, their jaws hit the floor in shock.
"...It can't be..."
Li: There, that should hold you for a while...I hope you enjoyed this, even if it was a little bit more angsty than the other cycles. And so far, only two people have figured out who Father Michelangelo is...
Review, pleases!!