Tiamatt couldn't sleep, not because of her wound, which was almost completely healed thanks to Kratos' healing spells and the regenative powers of her Jenova cells, but because her mind was racing, trying to sort out everything that had happened. The Lifestreams of both Gaia and Symphonia were faulty, spitting out people and allowing them to escape.
Odine had placed a device on her wrist that prevented her from accessing her sorceress powers and Dsanios had attacked her, threatening the life of the child she carried. She wasn't sure how she was going to tell Kratos what had happened.
The next shock was returning home and seeing her father alive in her step son's house. As much as she loved that fact that Terran was back, she was still confused. Even after the Keeper of Prophecy told her and the others that Ryukinogami was stolen from the Keeper of Balance and that Terran was released to serve as a messenger. Then came the prophecy itself.
"Materials are being gathered and worlds disrupted. Darkness will reign where light once lived. The swords are the keys to salvation..."
"What did she mean?" Tiamatt muttered quietly to herself.
"Tia, you're still awake?" Kratos asked from beside her. Tiamatt looked at her husband, who had decided to sit beside the bed rather then sleep beside her to avoid aggitating her injury.
"I can't sleep. I keep thinking about what has happened the last couple days and the prophecy the Keeper told us." She sighed, her eyes glowing slightly in the dark from past mako exposure. "What did she mean by swords?"
"I'm not sure but I would imagine one of the swords could possibly be the Eternal Sword."
"Possibly but what would the other swords be?"
"Who knows." Kratos sighed. "Tia, is the baby ok?" The Cetra's face fell and she turned away. "Tia..."
"I'm sorry Kratos..." Tiamatt said quietly, still not looking at him. "It all happened so fast and the wound was deep...my Jenova cells healed me but the baby...I should have been able to block Dsanios' attack..."
Kratos sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Tiamatt towards him, hugging her tight. "Tiamatt, its ok. It wasn't your fault. I should have been able to protect you better."
"No...I should have listened to you but I didn't. I'm sorry." Tiamatt answered, tears falling silently. "Maybe it was for the best."
Kratos looked at her curiously. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted another child?"
"I do but...everything is getting chaotic again. I don't want to repeat my experiences from my last pregnancy."
The Seraph gave a short laugh. "It really is a mircle that we have those two. And it seems you still haven't broken your habit of getting in trouble."
"I guess your right. Thank you Kratos." Tiamatt gave him a small smile as she hugged him before letting go and lying back down. He smiled back at her, watching as she finally fell to sleep before deciding that he should get some rest as well...
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"So...what are we supposed to do?" Nick asked, sitting in the recliner.
"Prophecy said we were part of the new prophecy and that worlds were in disorder." Terran reminded.
"We know that but how are we supposed to fix the problems and restore order?" Nick snapped, annoyed by the spirit's answer.
"She said the swords are the keys, right?" Eria said. "Couldn't the Eternal Sword be one of the swords?"
Terrance nodded. "Yeah and what about Surge? It pulled you all over the place didn't it?" Nick nodded.
"That makes sense since Surge could probably take us to the worlds that need to be fixed while the Eternal Sword corrected the what needs to be done." Tiamatt pointed out.
Kratos nodded in agreement. "That means that Lloyd would have to go."
"One problem. Surge can't control where it pulls me." Nick added.
"I wonder if it would be possible to synchronize the gates to Surge so that we could go to all the dimension you've been to." Tiamatt wondered.
"It might be possible and its probably more reliable then using your powers to rip hole in space-time with Time Compression." Terrran added. Tiamatt sighed and held up her wrist, showing him the restricter braclet. "Oh...I guess the gates is our only option."
Kratos nodded and stood up. "I'll contact Yuan and Raine and tell them the plan. They should be able to help." Tiamatt nodded as her husband walked out of the room to make the call.
"Hey Nick, can we go outside and train some more?" Terrance asked. Eria's eyes brightened and she looked over at her mentor.
"Alright." Nick sighed, standing up and heading for the door. "Let's go." The twins both nodded and followed him eagerly.
Terran smiled at his grandchildren before turning towards Tiamatt. "You did a great job raising them. I'm so proud of you."
Tiamatt smiled at her father. "Thanks Dad. I still wish you could've been here when they were little."
"So do I." Terran sighed before he laughed. "You named him after me didn't you?"
Tiamatt blinked in confusion for a second before she nodded. "Terrance? Yes, it was Kratos' idea since neither of them would be here had you not used Ryu to lock Jenova away. Kratos really thinks highly of you, you know?"
The spirit looked down. "Why would anyone look up to me? I'm a coward. It was because of me that you grew up without a family."
"Dad, you were scared. It was something new, something you weren't used to and weren't prepared for. I don't blame you for what you did. You think I wasn't scared when I found out I was pregnant with the twins? You can ask both Kratos and Hiro. I thought I wasn't ready and if it wasn't for their support, I probably wouldn't have been." Tiamatt said, causing her father to laugh. "And you came back when I needed you. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have my family. Hell, there probably wouldn't be a Symphonia either."
"Thanks Tia." Terran smiled as Kratos came back into the room.
"Yuan said he'd be over in a while to help with the gates." He told his wife. Tiamatt nodded before they heard a cry and leapt to their feet.
In just the few seconds that it took them to get outside, they noticed a flash of light along with the disappearance of Eria, Terrance, and Nick. In their place was a small swarm of miniture black wingless dragon like creatures with red eyes and what looked like living lavaballs with beaklike mouths filled with sharp fangs, a fire like mane, and black beady eyes.
"What are they?" Kratos asked, pulling his sword as the energy blades shot from Terran's wrist and Tiamatt pulled the Oblivion Blade.
She looked at them for a second before she recognized them. "Minons and flamrics!"
"What?" Terran asked, confused as he looked at the strange creatures.
The flamrics growled and hissed, not charging for some reason as a taller minon stepped forward. This one was different from the others, larger and winged, its eyes shining with more intelligence and understanding then the others.
"Where has the sword gone?!" The larger minon growled, baring its fangs.
"How should we know?" Terran shot back, causing one of the minons to screech a warning.
"Silence scum!" The larger minon snarled. "How dare you speak to I, Valclaw, that way!"
Tiamatt's eyes widened as she looked at Valclaw. "What? Not again..."
"Tia?" Kratos looked at his wife curiously as Valclaw chuckled to herself. "What do you mean?"
"Valclaw is one of the creatures for a story I started writing a long time ago in my human life. She serves under a powerful being named Dilex, who was trying to destroy the world of Nikotu." the Cetra explained never taking her eyes off the small, yet powerful minon.
"Correct and since you know that, I am guessing you are the creator my master was taking about. His master would be pleased if I brought you to him, creator." Valclaw growled, a dark aura surrounding her as strange blades began to appear on her arms, legs, and tail. Her form grew bigger, easily ten times her original size which was about the size of a large dog, Finally, her transformation was complete and she roared, charging at Tiamatt.
The Cetra's eyes widened and she blocked Valclaw's fangs with her sword as Kratos and Terran fought off the minons and flamrics that were now attacking as well. Tiamatt leapt back and tried to swipe at Valclaw but she dodged easily and slashed at the Cetra with her claws, causing her to leap back again. Flames surrounded the Oblivion Blade as Tiamatt increased her grip on the hilt before charging forward.
"Dragon's Flame!" Tiamatt leapt into the air and spun, the flames from the sword surrounding her as it hit Valclaw but suddenly her blade was caught in the minon's teeth. A cracking was heard and Tiamatt's eyes widened as the sword suddenly shattered and she fell to the ground, holding only the dragon hilt of the sword. "No..." She stared blankly at the broken sword, not believing that it was destroyed.
"Tiamatt!" Kratos yelled, getting her attention just as Valclaw charged again.
Tiamatt raised her arms on instinct, preparing for the blow, the hilt of her broken sword still in her hand. The hilt glowed white and dissolved in her hand, the light that came from it, engulfing everything in white.
"Tiamatt!"
She looked up and saw Kratos running towards her. She felt something pull her back just as Kratos grabbed her hand and then, as if on some giant rubber band, they were shot forward. Tiamatt didn't know what was happening as she suddenly felt hard ground beneath her once more before blacking out, Kratos beside her.
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Terran was confused. Tiamatt, Kratos, Valclaw, the minons, and the flamrics had suddenly disappeared in a bizzare white light, except for himself. He looked around frantically for any sign of his family but all he could find were the twisted shards of metal that once made up the Oblivion Blade.
"I have to tell the others." Terran said to himself, gathering what pieces he could of the blade before running towards Iselia and Lloyd's house...
Hehe, I know short chapter but oh well. Now it gets really fun! Hehe!