Chapter 7: He's a Maniac!


Triet, the desert oasis. The heat was blistering, and the cool lake beckoned to the party. It would be so easy just to take a sip of that refreshing water—but they knew that they couldn't.

"Man, it's hot," Sheena complained.

"Yes, we all know that. If you would just shut up, it might be more bearable," Raine snapped.

"…Sorry."

They continued further into the city, but stopped dead in their tracks when four Desians emerged from around the corner. They, along with Noishe, ran into the animal pen near the inn, where they watched the half-elves warily. They were asking about Lloyd Irving when Kratos realized that they were Renegades. Great, just what they needed.

"Renegades…" Kratos breathed to the others. After a few silent gasps, they continued to watch as the Renegades put up a wanted poster. It was crudely drawn, but it still had some form of resemblance to Lloyd—erm, Kratos—so they had to be careful. When the Renegades walked away to patrol a different area, the five quietly slipped out of the pen and proceeded to the shops.

The merchants lined the sandy streets as customers flocked around them, trying to buy good before another consumer pushed them out of the way. It was a busy day, obviously. Kratos and Presea left the comfort of the group to find some new weapons for everybody; Raine and Sheena went to the item shop; and Genis focused on getting food—they would need it.

"I hate this. I really hate this," Sheena grumbled as the two pushed their way through the throng of people. There were only a few people ahead of them, but others kept cutting in line. Triet had a lot of travelers…

"If only I could perform a proper Fire Ball or Stone Blast; I could get this annoying mob out of the way," Raine sighed.

"That sounded like a threat," Sheena said a little nervously.

"It was." Raine shrugged, and the people around them inched away slowly. Raine had been serious, but unfortunately, she couldn't execute Genis' spells very well. Even when she had been helping Kratos kill that Desian, it had taken her a few minutes just to charge the spell, and even then only one Fire Ball had hit her target. How in the world did Genis manage that? Maybe the old proverb was true: practice makes perfect.

But for right now, she'd just have to make do with the weak Fire Balls that she could manage to cast.


When everyone was done shopping, they gathered back at the inn. Kratos and Presea distributed the new weapons, aside from Raine; her rod was exactly like the one in the shop. Sheena and Raine divided the items and gave equal shares to each member of the group. Genis did the same with the food he had bought.

With that done, they proceeded to make their way to the entrance of Triet. But, as luck would have it, the Renegades spotted them before they could leave. Their eyes widened and their mouths fell open in horror as they turned to face them. They'd been caught.

"You look like that wanted man, Lloyd Irving!" one of the soldiers shouted.

The other looked back to the wanted poster and nodded. "Yeah, it looks just like him!"

"Is he really that ugly?" Kratos mumbled under his breath. Then, in a louder voice, he called to the Renegades as if by instinct: "And if I am?" Oh, how he cursed Lloyd's instincts.

"So it is…get them!" the soldier called to two shadows. They closed in on the group, leaving them vulnerable and unable to escape. They bound their hands so that they couldn't fight back, and then they were taken to the base.


As they were dumped unceremoniously in Yuan's office, said half-elf turned to face them. He had a scowl on his face and a malicious gleam in his eye. Right away, Kratos knew that it wasn't Yuan.

"What did you do?" Yuan hissed. He grabbed Kratos' collar and yanked him to eye level with the blunette. Everyone had similar looks of confusion…except for Kratos.

"Who are you?" Kratos asked calmly, keeping a steady glare on his captor. All eyes turned to him, some more surprised than others.

"…You really want to know?" the male said. Naturally, everyone nodded eagerly. Then, almost in a whisper, but with the same piercing glare, he said, "Mithos Yggdrasill."

"WHAT?" everyone gasped. No one but Kratos had been expecting that. He was dead, wasn't he? But this was the past…but he was dead when the Eternal Sword's power was triggered…what did this mean?

"Mithos?" Genis asked incredulously. He nodded, still glaring death.

"You did this, didn't you?" Mithos accused, pointing to Kratos, who had recently freed himself from Mithos' grasp.

"Um…no," Kratos replied. "Lloyd did it."

Mithos' face was a question mark.

"I'm Kratos—" he started, but was immediately cut off by hysterical laughter. He shot a glare at Mithos.

"S-sorry, but that is just too funny!" the half-elf stuttered. Kratos sighed. This journey was going to be hell.


Apparently, Mithos and Yuan had been somehow caught in the Eternal Sword's glitch and ended up here. But where was Yuan? Everyone had assumed that he was in Mithos, but they couldn't say for certain. It was possible that he had become someone like Magnius, or even Pronyma. Hell, he could even be a Summon Spirit! But because no one knew where he was for sure, they decided to drop the subject.

Anyway, after the meeting of sorts, Mithos agreed not to reveal anything and said that he would use the Renegades to aid them. Of course, they were skeptical because of Mithos' past, but he seemed to be changing fairly quickly. The group of five left the Renegade base and headed for the ruins, where the seal was. Sheena grew increasingly more nervous each second.

They approached the Triet Ruins for a second time. The sand only served to amplify the heat, but it didn't matter to Genis. They were in the midst of an ancient ruin! It was amazing! It was wondrous! It was—just like Raine. He was being affected. All he had to do was think like Genis. Think like Genis. But it was so hard. As if he were being controlled, he felt his last bits of sanity slip away as he submerged into the dreaded Ruin-Mode.

"Amazing!" he cried. He spread his arms wide, an ecstatic grin plastered on his face. It earned him confused and horrified stares. They had expected this from Raine, who was also deep in Ruin-Mode, but why Genis?

"Oh, no…there are two of them!" Sheena groaned. Genis glared at her briefly before going back to admiring the rocks and pillars.

"Personalities are changing drastically," Presea reported mechanically. "…I believe I have a theory to this change, and why Sheena and I are not changing as quickly."

"Huh?" Sheena asked. "What do you mean?"

"I cannot say for certain, but it seems that the more closely related they are, the faster they change."

"Wait," Raine said, immediately snapping out of Ruin-Mode, "You're saying that because Genis and I are related, we are most likely to change faster?"

"I believe that question has already been answered," Presea said. "Haven't you noticed that Sheena and I are barely changing at all?"

"Well, there's not much difference between you and Kratos in the first place…" Raine mumbled, then quickly caught herself. "I-I mean, I guess I haven't." She flushed a bit. Why did that theory have to turn out to be true?

"Well, there's not much we can do as of now, so we might as well get used to it," Sheena sighed.

"I guess…" said Raine. "Stupid, stupid Lloyd! Why did we ever agree to let him use the Eternal Sword?" She huffed, and Kratos face her, a defensive glare on his face.

"Don't call my son stupid!" he growled. "He obviously didn't do it on purpose!"

"…Touchy, touchy…" Raine whispered. Fortunately, Kratos didn't hear it, because he didn't have his angel hearing any more. But Presea did hear this, and grew worried.

"We should head in. Delaying our process would be bad." She walked up the small staircase leading to the entrance while Sheena placed her hand on the oracle stone and waited.

Nothing happened.

"Um, guys?" Sheena asked nervously. "Why isn't it opening?"

Genis walked over to the pedestal and examined it. "Well, it's designed to recognize the Chosen's mana signature, isn't it? Well, you don't have Colette's mana signature, and therefore it doesn't recognize you." Everyone looked shocked at this revelation. "Of course," he quickly added, "because you are technically Colette, it shouldn't be a problem for the later seals."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't exactly help us now, does it?" Raine said. Genis smacked her. They really were changing fast…

"Well…" Kratos said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What is it, Kratos?" Presea asked tepidly.

"Didn't you guys break the security system in the Toize Valley Mine by using force?" he asked.

"Yeah, but how did you know?" Sheena questioned.

"I'm…not sure…Anyway, why don't we just hit it with force?" Another mystery about this predicament. How did he know that had happened?

"Wh-what?" Genis practically shrieked. "But the polycarbonate—"

Sheena sighed at his reaction. "I'm pretty sure it's okay. I mean, I am the 'Chosen' after all."

"O-okay…" he sighed. And then they began beating up the door. However strange that sounds. Raine bashed it with her staff. Kratos slashed with his sword, as did Presea. Sheena chucked her chakrams at it, barely hitting the mark. Genis just stood back and watched in horror.

Eventually, there was a large enough hole to slide through, and each went through the small space. Inside, it was dark and damp. Lovely. They located some dried weeds and, using the Sorcerer's Ring, lit it on fire, providing enough light for them to find their way through the labyrinth.


They made it to the altar room, and they waited for the Ktugach to appear. When it did, Genis and Raine ran to the back of the room and prepared to cast. Presea and Kratos ran forward, swords at the ready. Sheena ran forward and used her chakrams like a sword and slashed it without letting go. She couldn't afford to lose them in this dangerous battle, and she couldn't get the hang of getting them to boomerang back to her. So, even though it was a simple battle, they had trouble getting even one hit on the Ktugach. And then there were the Ktugachlings.

Halfway through casting a Fire Ball, she realized that the enemies were invulnerable to the element. So what could she do, then? The answer came to her, though she wished she had another option. Gathering all the mana she could muster, sapphire blue runes appeared under her feet. She could do this…she could do this…When she felt as though she would burst, she let loose a measly burst of water with a cry of "Aqua Edge!" The spell actually hit one of the Ktugachlings, and the fire surrounding it went out briefly before flaring back up, leaving a discouraged Raine to desperately cast another Aqua Edge before the enraged monster could reach her.

Meanwhile, Genis was having an equally hard time trying to heal. Because his new hands were unused to using a kendama, he could barely work with his weapon, and occasionally got distracted from the actual spell while trying to get the ball-and-cup to work. And then, when that was successful (though it rarely was), he had to concentrate on using the mana he gathered for healing purposes, not offensive attacks like he was used to. This resulted in an extremely weak First Aid, barely healing any wounds at all. How in the worlds did Raine do this?

Presea was also having trouble. Though there was no difference in strength from her old and new body, the weapon she had to carry was far lighter, and she constantly put too much thrust into her attacks and ended up missing her mark completely. And, to top that off, she kept swinging the sword like an axe, and again, sliced through air instead of the enemy. She also couldn't figure out how to channel her mana so that she could perform spells.

In fact, the only one who seemed fit enough to be in this battle was Kratos, considering that the weapon he used originally was the same one he used now. Of course, he couldn't use the same techs he could before, except for Sonic Thrust and Demon Fang, because his body was no longer attuned to the moves needed to perform such techniques as Light Spear, and obviously couldn't cast any spells. And fighting now physically exhausted him, which was something that hadn't happened for four thousand years. He could feel the heat radiating off of the Ktugach that he was fighting. He felt every slash of its claws, and the searing pain from the Fire Balls he failed to dodge. He reflexes were much slower due to the fact that he was human.

All in all, it sucked.

But, eventually, the battle was won, and they thanked whatever deity spared their lives. Out of breath and nearly passed out, the group watched as Remiel floated down from the ceiling. They could almost hear the cheesy angelic choir singing in the background.

Remiel's voice resonated throughout the chamber. "Well done, my daughter. Now, offer your prayers at the altar."

"Um…okay," Sheena squeaked. "Uh, Goddess Martel, grant me your strength." Although she tried to make it sound more formal and…Colette-ish, she couldn't remember the prayer she always gave verbatim, and ended up making a paraphrased version of her own. She hoped that it was alright to do so.

Suddenly, sparkling lights showered down on her, and her mana went out of control. It rushed toward her back, and out of her body. She could feel the wings flapping, and it felt strange, to say the least. She floated upward, and she let out a shocked gasp. She felt weightless, invincible, and all-around perfect. Looking over her shoulder, another gasp escaped her lips. Weren't Colette's wings supposed to be pink? Then why were they green? Sheena could tell the others were just as surprised as she, because their jaws all simultaneously dropped in confusion and shock.

"You have done well, Chosen," Remiel bellowed.

"…Thanks." She was still concerned about the growth on her back.

"Now, the next seal lies far to the east, across the sea. Offer your prayers at that altar." Remiel floated upward and disappeared in a grandiose depart of luminescent feathers.

"Well, let's get going, then," Kratos said after a brief uncomfortable silence. They all complied, and exited the ruin.

And then Sheena keeled over, letting out a pained yelp.

"Sheena!" Kratos yelled, rushing over to her side and helping her up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" she said weakly, growing paler with each passing second.

"No you're not! It's the Angel Toxicosis!" Raine yelled.

"So it would seem," Presea said. "We should rest here for tonight."

"Yeah…" Kratos said, and then proceeded to set up camp.