Insaneiac: For those of you that have yet to adjust fully to this radical change of tide, allow me to state it once more. The one known and loved as Genis Sage, the cute as a button, sass mouth mage…has become the Black Testament of Death. The Royal Right hand of the mysterious Sovereign, the harbinger of her will, and one of the leaders of the Testaments. And further more, Raine has joined the ranks of the angelic and something has begun to awake within her. Not to forget that Kloitz Sage, the father to Raine and Genis and the catalyst in Virginia Sage's insanity…never even died as we were led to believe. So much uncovered, unearthed…but can Raine now survive what comes next. And thanks to your votes, you wonderful little people you; Kratos/Anna is the third official pairing of Tales of Twilight. So we have now got an incredibly screwed up pairing joining the ranks in this epic.

Spiritua: I'm baaaack. :D Though I don't doubt that you liked the others better, you're stuck with me again, so deal. :P Another amazingly outstanding chapter from the Insaneiac, as you ordered. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If Namco ever makes Tales of Twilight into a game, though, you can bet your butt I will be having a piece of that!

Theme songs:
Genis, the Black Testament of Death: Dive into the Heart – Destati – from the Kingdom Hearts 2 OST
Stay In Shadow – Finger Eleven off of their self titled album

There will come a time where strength will fail, where endurance will run out, where the spirit will falter. Where the single person that would stand against the tidal waves of destiny would be washed away and crushed against the rocks of fate. To try and stand alone is foolishness at its zenith point, and yet that is always what we try to do. We are absorbed in the aspect of our own strength and endurance and spirit being enough to support us through heartbreak of all models, of tragedy in all of its forms, and of opposition no matter the face it wears. It is not the experiences a person has that gives them this arrogance, but rather the mask that is carved from their strength, and endurance and spirit. A piece of armor to hide their face and eyes from the world around them, not because they want to protect their face, but rather so they can avoid the rest of the world. And when that time comes, where the hammer strikes the mask and the mask begins to crumble, one thing will be made known.

No one person can stand alone in life.

It was as though the very core of her being had been stabbed by a blade of hellfire and damnation. She was dimly aware that she remained upright upon her knees, but only barely. As she had been very dimly aware of Yuan groaning as he fully came to. She was distantly aware of the glass that had cut through the fabrics of her pants and through the thin covering her skin provided, but she had either not felt any pain or the effects of her newly obtained angelical nature had begun to occur in some fashion. She was very nearly unaware of the burning sensation that raged in her eyes as they had been open for far too long. She was very unaware of just how heavy the tears were coming from her eyes and of how much her body was trembling and shaking. Her breath came in struggled gasps and her heart was beating in a fashion far from normal or even abnormal.

"Does my dear 'sister' need a moment?" Genis, the Black Testament of Death, spoke as he slowly walked towards her. There was no smile upon his aged face, or even a grin of any sort. It was a face of impassiveness and masked anger. "Is the face of her dearly departed brother that much of a shock to her? That painful?" His voice was similar to how it had been when he was alive, only with a deeper tone to it, a maturity to it that had not been there before. There was a darker quality to it as well, a vengeful one. "That is a damn shame, Raine. A damn shame."

Raine ventured a blink, a solitary one, to relieve her eyes of some of the pain, and found herself staring into the eyes of Genis, of her Genis, of the Genis that had died before she got to him. He still didn't even come up to her chest, even as she was kneeling on the ground. Yet there was no cheery face, or even his "I-look-angry-but-really-I'm-happy" sarcastic face. It was the same impassive face with a kind of emotionless anger looming around and about it. She froze entirely, as if the dagger of hellfire that had been plunged in her had turned into one of arctic frost. Every little tremble ceased instantly as she watched the spitting image of her brother walk up to her and pat her on the side of the face.

"Genis…I'm…I'm…" Raine whimpered pathetically as she blinked again.

"Raine…look at my face. Look at it carefully…" Genis spoke warmly, traitorously so, in the voice that matched the body. When Raine looked back at his face, it was cold and uncaring, and she could see the anger more clearly now, and doubly so in his eyes. "This is the face of someone who does not give a damn just what you are." Those words were curved like a blade, and stabbed into her in much the same fashion as the fingers on Genis' left hand stabbed into her right side, closing in like a claw. Raine let a cry of pain escape her lips moments before Genis slapped her as hard as he could. This, in itself, launched her down along the glass covered floor and into a crumpled heap on the floor. Genis had turned back to his older and cloaked self, and now his face was one contorted with hatred and fury.

"Did you ignore what I said to you, Raine, you worthless bitch!?" It sounded like Genis and completely unlike Genis at the same time, and even as she laid quivering in a heap with her blood flowing out of the cuts and the pierced skin in her right, she was remembering his words. And with the remembrance came tears and panicked cries of self-loathing and depression. "That's right, Raine. YOU MURDERED ME! YOU KILLED ME! AND NOW I AM GOING TO WATCH YOU SUFFER FOR CRUSHING MY HEART AND SOUL BEFORE YOU LET ME DIE!"

Chapter Ten: Lost Resolutions, Part II

For the third time, the sky folded in on itself and the sound of a tuning fork being struck rang across the not quite silent clearing that Origin resided it. All four sets of eyes turned to the curving air pocket in anticipation. There where any of six possible people going to show up next.

For Lloyd, that meant the potential company of his closest friend still alive and the also potential company of someone he had feelings for. Feelings that simply went beyond friend. It might mean he would finally see Colette after so long. There were any number of possibilities and all of them where better than his current dilemma.

For Mithos, it meant more potential healers to keep Lloyd's frail body alive. Regal and Kratos where keeping him alive, but they had covered next to no ground in so far as actually mending the wounds Kvar had caused. For a moment he grinned when he felt Lloyd's budding anticipation, knowing exactly which two he hoped it was. 'Sheena and Zelos. With my luck, that'll be exactly who it is. And of course…I'll get to be bombarded by Lloyd's hot flashes for his li'l ninja.' Mithos was very unsurprised by the jealousy he suddenly felt. He had felt much the same way when Yuan had been in love with his sister. 'Of course, it's not so simple this time, is it? Lloyd's not your brother, idiot. And you mean nothing to him at all. Even the blind and stupid could see Lloyd Irving still hates you.'' That voice did not belong to Mithos' mind, or at least not his current one. It was the voice of the Mithos that Lloyd had defeated and destroyed. The cynical, hateful, and insane Mithos that he had ended his first life as.

Mithos didn't like crazy Mithos much.

Kratos and Regal knew that it mean there would be more people to help restrain Mithos, should he suddenly decided to leave after being healed. Regal also seemed to relax when the idea of Presea possibly being included in the incoming portal.

So when Zelos, Sheena, and Presea appeared before them, blinking confusedly (Aside from Sheena, who knew what was going to happen beforehand) all four were mostly happy. Mithos was happy because it was not Yuan, while Lloyd and Regal were happy due to the specific individuals that came through. Kratos was happy as he knew Zelos had a good knowledge of healing spells on him.

"Okay…I never want to go through that again." Zelos complained, twitching violently as he gave his head a violent shake. "It felt like…" He paused for a moment while trying to think of a way to describe it, and lost his train of thought to a failure of wording it, and his train of speech to Presea.

"The precise feeling was close to being collapsed in on ourselves before slowly being unfolded and smoothed out."

Zelos gave a huff and glanced over his shoulder at Presea, his fake pout worn firmly on his face. "Presea, you are such a killjoy at times." He turned his attention now to the others in the clearing, and when he saw his best friend drenched in his own blood, he was sure he popped something. "LLOYD!"

"I'm right here Zelos…" Lloyd said, standing directly beside him. He found himself completely ignored however and let an aggravated huff escape him. He watched Zelos run to where his body was currently being healed and glanced at Mithos for a second. He did not need any longer than that to find out that Mithos was going to play some trick on Zelos and Sheena now. "It sucks being invisible."

"I can see you." Sheena suddenly said, causing Lloyd to jump nearly ten feet off the ground. He spun around and came face to face with a smiling Sheena, waving at Lloyd. She nearly dodged out of the way when she saw Lloyd charging to hug her when she saw Lloyd leap into, and then through, her and plow headfirst into the ground. He slowly lifted his head up off the ground and groaned before letting his head rest back against the ground.

"Great. I can be seen, still can't do anything else." Lloyd mumbled unhappily. He pushed back to his feet after a few brief seconds of lying prone on the ground before glancing at Sheena, who was busy staring at herself in shock. She slowly turned her head to Lloyd, eyes wide open, before turning back to herself in the same breed of surprise.

"Lloyd…" Sheena muttered quietly and in a rather perturbed voice. "…don't do that again." A shiver rippled through her body as the experience replayed itself in her mind. "…Ever again."

"Sheena! Get over here, Lloyd's all messed up and stuff." Zelos yelled. A pause filled the void before Zelos added. "…he's an asshole now, among other things." Sheena managed a single step that was completely a reflex before she was stopped by Origin.

"There is no time! Summoner, come with me. If we do not hurry, Raine and Yuan will be slain." There was nothing else to follow his words except for the tuning fork sound ringing through the air, and Sheena disappearing from sight, leaving a flabbergasted group behind. Even Presea, in her emotionless shell of a state, was blinking in confusion.

"Well…Didn't see that one coming." Mithos (in his Mithoyd state) muttered sarcastically, and seconds later his head jolted forward as though he had been hit once more. "Oh piss off, Lloyd."

------ Martel's Temple ------

"Get up, Raine…come on." Genis growled as he slowly walked towards his older sister. His wicked scythe was back at his call, hovering around him in a slow spin. "Don't you dare play dead with me." Genis growled as an arc of lightning ripped through his midsection, scattering his shadowy robe and doing little else. He slowly turned his head to Yuan and focused on him with a vicious glare. "And so, you finally protect the trash heap."

A second arc of lightning coursed from his hand and through the right arm of Death, gaining the same effects of his first arc. "Genis…what the hell has happened to you?" Yuan spoke in an eerie calm that was hiding anger. "Have you gone completely insane? Your sister didn't murder you. She-"

"Abandoned me, Yuan. She left me to die; she left me to die alone and scared!" Genis interrupted. He took a step towards Yuan before his entire body seemed to explode into a mist of shadows, and within the beat of a heart he had reformed behind Yuan. "She made a promise to me…that she would never abandon me. That if I ever needed her, she would be there without so much as a pause." His voice was quaky and ragged with heartfelt hatred. Yuan could feel it from him. Before he could react, Yuan was hurled across the room and into the quivering heap that his wife had been turned into. He planted a hand hard into the glass covered floor to stop as soon as he made contact with Raine, and instead of smashing into his wife, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head up to look at her.

"SO WHERE WERE YOU, RAINE!? WHEN I SPENT A WEEK SCREAMING AND CRYING AND BEGGING FOR YOU!? WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU WHEN I WAS DYING, WHEN I WAS SUFFERING?!" Genis' voice seemed to come from everywhere around them, echoing through the room and shaking it furiously. "YOU ABANDONED ME, RAINE! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE! JUST LIKE DAD RAN OUT ON MOM, JUST LIKE MOM REPLACED YOU WITH A DOLL! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN THE REST OF OUR HORRIBLE FAMILY!"

Yuan felt Raine's entire body freeze completely in his arms, and where her eyes had once been tightly shut and the tears seeping through the crack of the lids, were now wide open and full of every kind of agony he had ever seen and felt. He felt his own eyes water as he watched Raine's pain strangle her, and just as quickly let his sorrow subside for something else. Something he felt when he watched Mithos lose what little he had left of himself. Something he felt when he watched Kratos abandon all aspects of what Mithos had been to simply help the Mithos that was. Something he felt when he watched Toltus LaFillick kill his engaged love in front of his eyes.

Rage. A pure and unbridled and complete rage. He gently kissed Raine on the forehead before embracing her in a tight hug, still not able to feel any movement from her at all, before he slowly rose and glared at Genis furiously.

"You disgust me," Yuan muttered. Genis' face contorted in mock offense before he actually felt the words. Then it lost the mocking element to it. "Even Mithos wasn't as disgusting as you are now, Genis. He never doubted that people around him, that his friends and family, loved him. Not until we betrayed him first." While that was not entirely true, it was not false either. Mithos betrayed them first in a manner by choosing to do what he had done. He never abandoned those friends he had made though. "You died. You died of a specific type of disease that might have been able to cure." Yuan was walking towards Genis now, not sure just what he would actually be able to do to him. "Raine had left for that expedition before you showed even the barest sign. Of the disease, and by the time it was taking your life, she was underground. She didn't abandon you, you stunned bastard. And she suffered just as-"

That would be the last thing he managed to say before Genis made his move. His right arm stretched across the distance between him and Yuan and wrapped around his throat tightly, cutting off all air to the half-elf. A sudden choke had filled the area as Yuan suddenly felt his ability to breathe cut off completely.

"Suffer? SUFFER?! She hasn't suffered!" Genis screamed as he whipped Yuan towards him. Just as Yuan reached him, Genis' left hand was slammed ruthlessly into Yuan's stomach. A lurching sound escaped the angelic bluenette as the remaining air that was inside his lungs was pushed out forcefully. Moment later he was slammed into the ground in front of Genis, ruthlessly followed by a foot being pressed against his chest.

"She murdered me. She abandoned me. She hurt me. She made me a promise and then she simply broke it. I didn't just die on that day…my heart, my body, and my soul were all at once killed by Raine…killed by my sorry excuse for a sister." He pressed down harder on Yuan, smiling darkly as a cry of pain escaped him. "Don't fret. Yuan. The impact of Derris-Kharlan onto Aselia has caused a mass cancellation on many of the effects of your Cruxis Crystal. For one, your emotions are no longer stunted and you'll feel more pain than you used to. And that pain is exactly what I need to show Raine just how much I suffered."

"Genis…" It was not Yuan or Genis that had spoken, but rather Raine. She had stood up and walked towards them. "Genis…please."

"Please what, Raine?" He spoke her name with malice and hatred, stepping hard on Yuan on eliciting another cry of pain. "What do you want from me?"

"If…if it makes up for what I did to you, then kill me." Yuan's eyes shot open at this and a protest began to form on his lips when the pain surged through him again. "You…you are right, Genis. I abandoned you when you needed me. I'm no better than mom…than Virginia." Her words were bitter and seemed to come from a part of her she refused to acknowledge. "So…if your killing me will fix that, then I-"

Her words were cut like flesh under a blade as Genis laughed loudly into the room, his scornful chuckles shaking everything around him. In the blink of an eye his voice and body were twelve again, and an effortless kick sent Yuan sprawling across the room and to Raine's feet in a heap. A heap which fast began to push up to his feet and begin his attack anew. Above his head was the slowly spinning scythe, looking like a twisted halo.

"You think your death is what I want, Raine?" Genis' laughter was close to choking the tears completely from Raine's eyes and exchanging them for an anger of sorts when Genis ceased. "It won't do me any good simply to kill you, Raine. To kill you, my dear sister, would be to spare you much misery." Genis dashed forward and used Yuan as a stepping stool, grabbing Raine tightly by the throat with his left hand and squeezing. "I want you to feel that misery, Raine. I want you to see what your actions…what your choices…took away from me." He floated in the air in front of Raine, releasing his grip long enough to turn and grab Swallow with his middle and index finger in mid swing. "And you…well, I want you to die, Yuan, you arrogant jackass. How dare you convince my sister she did not kill me?!"

Genis' face, however, was not able to stop Yuan's hand from grabbing it and unleashing pent up electrical energy from blasting the image of Genis across the room and into the wall. "Someone pissed off is a good place at starting." Yuan growled as his not-so-clichéd statement pierced Genis' comments. Turning around swiftly, Yuan grabbed Raine's shoulders as softly as he could before staring hard into her eyes. "Raine, listen to me. This is not the same Genis as before. He has changed. This death of his has warped his senses entirely." Raine simply shook her head woefully, her eyes saying everything her mouth refused to. For a moment, Yuan allowed himself to embrace her warmly, resting his hand on the back of her head and holding her gently.

"So, my sister sees me to death, and then has the guile to find love?!" Genis growled as he walked towards the two living Sage members. The shadows seemed to form around him and bring him back to his adult form as he strode towards the group. "Then perhaps, Yuan, I ought to simply kill you first. That will work nicely." Yuan let his arms slip off his wife before cupping her cheeks in his hands and staring into her eyes for the moment it took for his eyes to convey his strength to her. A short silenced followed before her nod came, and Yuan slowly stepped away and towards the threatening man of shadows.

"Perhaps you ought to, Death." Yuan replied back as he began to march towards Death. "While you're at it, put your hood and mask back on as well." Despite inwardly trembling with a degree of rage that was rarely ever exhibited in him, Yuan's voice was as calm as it had ever been. In this, it bore a much more jagged edge to each word. "Put it back on and never take it off, because you are not the man you claim to be."

"And ju-"

"NO!" Yuan yelled as the air around him exploded into an aura of electric hellfire. The energy build up around him growled and cracked against the uncharged air around him, and his hair began to hover as though he were submerged in water. "You don't get to say anything. You don't have that right anymore. Whoever you are, you have caused more pain than any one person should be allowed to cause. You're a disgusting bastardization of a hero to this world, and of a sibling to someone I cherish. Don't you try and justify yourself to me. Don't you try and justify yourself to Raine! As far as I see, whether you are Genis or not, you are not the Genis that saved this world, nor the Genis that loved his sister." As his words, periodically swapping from calm to a controlled rage, struck Death, his face contorted in rage that had past only moments prior.

"WHO do you think you are? What gives you the power to deny me my existence and to deny me my right to avenging the loss of it!?"

"Who am I?" Yuan stopped his march with just a bare handful of feet between him and Genis, and even though Genis was the taller of the two, it was Yuan that seemed the bigger man. "I am someone that lost his first chance at happiness due to hesitation. I am someone who spent four thousand years trying to preserve the memory of that happiness and the soul of her brother. I am someone that was willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to bring this world to an era of peace and I am someone that is willing to do all that again simply to protect the one person that has given me my second chance at happiness. But when it comes down to it, Genis Sage…I am someone with a deadly weapon in each hand. I know how to use them, and I know how to hurt with them."

"If I have to kill you first to make her pay-" Genis began, and was ended as a jolt of lightning curved into his head and hit like a sledgehammer swung at full first. Death stumbled backwards pitifully before stopped and glaring furiously at Yuan. And for the first time since the fight began, Genis was even aware of a slight smirk on Yuan's face.

"Pay? For you, Genis…There is going to be hell to pay." Yuan shot as he dropped to a battle stance, the Swallow tightly grasped in his left hand. His wings appeared in a heartbeat and Yuan dashed forwards towards Death.

"You just could not resist a cliché, could you?" Genis muttered before dashing forward himself. The two met abruptly and the one of the Swallow's blades met with the scythe blade. Before Genis could move, Yuan's right hand curled into a fist and was driven into the side of his head, sending Genis stumbling backwards before getting a second fist to the jaw. He stumbled backwards some more as Yuan began to rapidly cut into the shadowy Testament with the Swallow, twisting into several quick twirls. A smile formed on Genis' face as he began to reform himself but was quickly dashed when Yuan's Swallow curved upwards and sliced through the skin on his left cheek.

"So…even the face of Death can be cut?" Yuan taunted as he leapt backwards from the assault, conjuring a ball of lightning to his hand while Genis tended to his bloodless cut. Not watching Yuan, Genis was unaware of the large glyph that formed beneath him as the energy around him flared like a fueled fire. "INDIGNATION!" Yuan cried out as he thrust the ball of energy towards Genis. The ball evaporated from his hand and reformed above Genis' head and formed a cone of velvet and blue haze that surrounded the Testament, as rings of lightning energy circled around him. An eruption of lightning filled the cone and devoured Genis within it as the magical attack rounded out.

But Yuan was not done. A second spell had already formed around him, and his wings beat with violent force in tune to the new spell. "Let the blades of almighty Heaven all strike in unison! STORM OF BLADES!" All the energy was dispelled around Yuan this time, along with most of his mana, as a mass of energy formed in a dome around the smoky remains of the Indignation attack. All at once, the dome of energy turned into a collection of twenty swords composed of lightning before stabbing into the center one after the other in rapid succession, each one embedding into the central impact point. Finally, the remaining energy formed a single sword of lightning, one that was both larger and longer, high above the target area. Yuan extended his hand to it and opened it, before closing it in a grasp that seemed to fit the handle of the blade. With a final battle cry, Yuan drove his closed hand down as though he was stabbing, and the blade followed suit as it plunged into the center of the target area. All it once the collection of embedded blades turned into a furious eruption of violet and azure hues that started as a dome and extended outwards from the epicenter, filling the entire area with the light of enraged electricity.

As the spell finally dissipated, Yuan collapsed to a knee. In the same battle he had unleashed the two techniques that he had spent his entire life refining and practicing, and both had a heavy cost on not only his mana supply but his physical wellbeing. The latter of the two required him to continuously build up energy around him and convert it into electricity. Any body subject to that level of energy build up would have been fried instantaneously. Yuan was an exception to the case, and while this was the first time it had ever hurt so much, it still did not leave him a charred remain.

And as the cloud of smoke disappeared and the dimness returned to the room, it was clear that Genis was not a charred remain either. Even the cut Yuan had made on his face had healed up. The immediate area around Death in general was a crater and the one pillar that had been beside him was now gone, but Death was in perfect condition. Yuan growled in frustration as he forced himself back up, well aware of the amused grin on Genis' face that conflicted with his anger charged eyes. He stumbled and trembled as he pushed back up, but before long he was at full height.

"Funny how your best attack hurts you more than I? Stupid ass. I'm Death. I embody the end of all things. Do you think…I mean seriously think…you can even so much as discomfort me?" Death mocked in Genis' child like voice as he brought his scythe back to his hand. Sliding both hands onto the center of the double weapon, he began to spin it in the air. The weapon segmented again and formed a sort of spinning halo of deadly weaponry. When he dashed towards Yuan, Raine watched as he tried to raise his weapon to defend against the oncoming onslaught. It was a single blow that knocked the weapon away from the exhausted Yuan, followed by several quick and calculated whip-like attacks that carved into Yuan. Once more, the pain for him was more real than it ever had been before, and Yuan felt a final blow knock him backwards and over to Raine's knelt over figure. When she laid eyes on him, she could see the deep cuts and brutal wounds that Genis' short assault had expertly caused. He would not die from it, but he would not be able to get back up without healing.

And Raine was scared to do that now. Of what she was scared of she was not sure, but she knew that fear had gripped her in a stranglehold of sorts that could not be loosened. It was all she could do to turn her head upwards and stare at the approaching Genis.

It was then she realized it was not fear that paralyzed her, but guilt. She believed what he had said, what Genis had proclaimed. Every word of it. And deep down inside of her, a part of her wanted him to take his revenge on her. And then there was a part of her that wanted to slap this woman that was in control and remind her of all the things she had come to accept. The part of her that held realism as a principle of life, and that remembered the words of a student that was both stupid beyond comprehension and wise beyond belief. 'What will you accomplish in dying? Nothing! There is no meaning in dying!'

She had not noticed Death wrapping his free hand around Yuan's neck and hoisting him into the air as this revelation, as this memory washed over her. When she looked up again, she could see Yuan struggling to free himself from the death grip that Genis had around his throat.

"Let him go." Raine spoke as strongly as she could, which was none to strong at this point.

"No." Genis responded without hesitation. "No, Raine. I think I want to take him away from you. Then you can be responsible for another person's death." His grip tightened around Yuan's neck and Raine could hear him gasping and choking, hear his gasping and choking weakening. Quickly, she reached and latched onto Nighthawk before pointing the blade at Genis and, fighting the horror and disgust that her emotions regarded her with. "You'd truly raise your weapon against me, Raine?"

"I can't actually kill you, not again. But I also know that any cut I cause will simply be healed up, as if I cut through slime. Even if I know that I'm attacking you…that I'm attacking Genis…" Raine closed her eyes tightly for a moment and pushed to her feet and stood a full height. "If you hate me, Genis…then hate me. If you want to hurt me, Genis… then hurt me! If you want to kill me, Genis, then kill me!" Raine stated, first weakly and then with a budding strength that seemed to be returning. "Since it is me you want to suffer, then make me suffer. Don't you apply terms like vengeance and justice in harming others to harm me, Genis Sage. Regardless of who you are now, I refuse to let you taint what my little brother believed in while he was alive!"

The hand around Yuan's throat tightened instantly and furiously as the eyes that belonged to Genis Sage lit up in rage. Raine felt her strength waver and crack, but something had managed to keep her on her feet and keep her steady. "How dare you! To even pretend to care of my beliefs…after you let me fade away! AFTER YOU MURDERED ME!" Genis screamed, in the voice he bore as a twelve year old. "You have no right to even utter a word in my defense. YOU DESERVE THIS, RAINE!"

"Then take it out on me. I'm the one that...t-that murdered you…" Yuan's eyes shifted to Raine as she uttered her choice of words, watching her head slump and her features become engulfed in shame. "I hurt you…I killed you…I'm the one that should suffer, Genis, not Yuan."

Genis had words that were prepared, but found himself cut off when a hand gripped him furiously by the jaw and forced his head from Raine. "Listen…well…You…can rot…you selfish…little…PRICK!" Yuan forced out, pouring everything he could into the last word in the hope that it would sound as loudly and as scornfully as it did in his head. And beyond that, a grin formed on his face. A grin that said 'Go on, you baby. Take your best chance.' Genis swiped away Yuan's hand angrily and glared maliciously into the blunette's eyes.

"What is THAT supposed to mean, ass?!" Genis yelled angrily. The hand that had been swiped away came right back and was slammed onto the Testament's forehead.

"Just…wanted your attention." Yuan shot as he loosed what little mana he had left into his hand. A burst of weak lightning flared powerfully in against Genis' palm and split the two apart. Yuan landed on his back in a heap and was barely even breathing, and Genis had a shadow-gloved hand pressed to where the lightning had been. Raine ran over to Yuan's side and kneeled down beside him, glancing at him heatedly.

"What are you doing!?"

A cough escaped Yuan as he tried to speak, the air rushing back into his lungs aggravating his slightly crushed throat. "I'm not ready to watch another person I love die. Although I'm also not ready to push up daisies as well, I'd gladly pick the latter over the former." Yuan spoke hoarsely as he forced himself back to his feet. Shortly after beginning the trip to a stance, he found himself being hoisted up himself by Raine, and found him self leaning on her for support.

"Even if it hurt me in the process?"

"I'm a selfish bastard like that. And you married me regardless." Yuan muttered as he lifted his head up to glance at where Genis was. "We need to get out of here." Yuan broke his eyes away from Genis to stare at the surrounding area, and glare at the shadows that clung to the walls and wrapped around them. "We are in going to die here."

"Yuan…"

"Raine, Genis wants us both dead. You and I. I have to believe you know that dying won't change anything, and since I intend to walk out of here with you, I hope we can figure a way out before Genis kills us."

"Not likely." Death growled as attention was drawn back upon him. Buzzing all around him was clouds of velvet hue, coursing with the fury of a coming tempest. Holding his hands out, all the clouds slammed together in front of him as a single chain of lightning slung out towards Yuan.

"VOLT!" A voice screamed from out of the darkness. Before anything could be seen for sure, a ball of lightning absorbed the attack Genis had flung out at his sister's lover and dispelled it entirely. With his immediate job done, Volt dissipated away. And in the blink of an eye, Genis had his weapon at hand and was glaring about his darkness. "DEMON SEAL!" Genis let a single growl come out as a burst of energy enveloped his back and launched him to the ground in-between his newest assailant and his sister. "ENCLOSURE SEAL!" Sheena yelled as a third seal spell was released. This time she threw several cards at the ground around Genis before he could get off the ground. A moment later, these cards turned into lines of brilliant light that wrapped around the shadowy Testament and held him in place.

"Sheena…" Genis muttered in his twelve year old voice, causing the summoner to freeze as she was charging to Raine and Yuan. "…Help me. Please." She turned around and began backing up towards the two half-elves as she made eye contact with Death. As she made eye contact with Genis. Although his physical image was matured and almost different in everyway from when she last saw him, she knew just by the eyes that it really was Genis. For a brief moment, she was no longer even aware that she had bumped into the pair. Giving her head a shake, she did the hardest thing she had ever tried to do and closed her eyes tightly.

"Source of Heaven, Earth, and everything in between, Ruler of all, I summon thee! COME TO ME,ORIGIN!!" Her eyes snapped wide open as the energy around her dispelled and formed in front of her in the image of the four armed Origin. "Origin, I beseech thee, get us out of here!" She called out as strongly as she could, in which Origin responded with a nod. A tuning fork soon rung out inside the room and the threesome behind Origin began to fade away

"No…" Genis growled as the realization came to him of what was happening in front of him. With a little effort, Genis blew apart the binds that held him in place and charged towards the disappearing image of Raine. He never even reached her as Origin crossed in the path of the Testament and batted him away with a burst of energy. Death flipped in mid air and landed deftly on his feet. And for a moment his face was contorted in pure rage before he flipped the hood and mask back over his head in one fluid motion. Suddenly, the figure in black felt like Death once more, and Genis seemed to fade back into obscurity. A heartbeat later, his clothed head was engulfed in the same lazy black fire as the rest of his body.

"Origin…you have broken the pact. You have directly interfered in the course of the Revival." Death growled. "And you interrupted MY BUSINESS with MY MURDERER!" The wall hugging darkness began to shrink in towards the Black Testament as he spoke, and the scythe faded from existence.

"Listen to me and listen well, Testament." Origin spoke as the darkness closed in on him. "Genis Sage, the Black Testament of Death. Inform the other Testaments of my decree as well. I refuse the decision to commence with this tradition, with her revival. There have been Nineteen up until now, and I shall see to it that there is no Twentieth!" And with that, Origin disappeared just as the shadows closed in around Death entirely. The second sound that followed was the sound of a scream that was composed of hatred and hellfire. To the people stuck within the radius of what followed, they were sure that the last sound was the explosion of a fire more black than the darkest midnight engulfing the center of Meltokio and melting it to nothingness.

In reality, it was the scream of a child.

A/N: Lost Resolutions is over and done with, and now begins the next set of chapters in this story. With many things changing, one thing remained clear up until now. The Testaments were the enemy. But now, a single statement, a message, from Origin, threatens that with uncertainty. Expect the next three chapters to answer many questions, change many fates, and even reverse the flows of time. Lost Resolutions has ended and now, Nineteen will begin.