Max: I'm Back.
Mathew: Great he's back. I thought you poisoned his food.
Mike: I did.
Max: Try a different poison next time. I could see it before I ate it. It was purple.
Mike:... Anyways why are you late this time?
Max: Ehh I got distracted and forgot about finishing this chapter...
Mike: really?
Max: No actually I was working on this in my spare time for an entire month. Ohwell.
Mathew: and how much spare time is that?
Max: Not much. Juggling two jobs and a twelve-hour work shift is hard. I think I already went crazy.
Mike:How so?
Max:Well I'm talking to you guys.
Mathew:Zing.
Max: Hmm...
Mike: What is it, this time?
Max: This. (points to a news entry)
Mike: huh. Tales of Graces is getting localized. Didn't you say something about this in one of your disclaimers?
Max: Yup. And now to end this arch with a bang!
RadonMax still does not own Tales of Symphonia, even though he said that if he owned namco he would have Tales of Graces localized. (which it is) And I don't own any music ether.
It was late in the evening when the group arrived at the twisting portal. Lloyd and Sheena lead the way. Naomi was riding on Lloyd's back. Regal was caring Ryan as Raine walked next to her husband. Colette was following Mithos, who was carrying Gabriel. Behind them Presea followed Zellos with their son Issac. Linier stopped and held out a strange device.
"This is the portal that will take us back to Veria." He said looking at the device.
"Veria?" Lloyd asked the question that was on everyone's minds.
"After Max left you on Earth, he renamed the planet Veria." after he said that he threw the device into the portal. He waited a moment before he tisked. "Damn a one way portal."
"What do you mean?" Raine asked.
"Max probably left this portal on purpose." he muttered to himself "It means that you have a choice. Do you stay here on Earth and avoid the conflict? Or do you go back to his world where he controls just about everything."
"Max left me with no choice. I'm going back." Lloyd said as he held his daughter. Sheena, Regal, Raine, Colette and Mithos all had the same thought.
"What about you two?" Linier asked Presea and Zellos.
"I promised Lloyd that I would help him. I am going as well." Presea said. Zellos looked like he was lost in thought, he looked at his son, before he responded.
"I honestly would prefer to stay on Earth. But I don't know if Max will come after all of us. I was lucky Issac was sick that day. I don't know if it would be safer on Earth or there."
"Wow Zellos, you actually sound like a responsible father." Mithos said just before Colette hit him.
"Ya and your whipped." Zellos said before Presea hit him followed by Sheena. Zellos muttered something about not being fair.
"How about I make that choice for you." Thirteen said as he appeared from the shadows, of the forest. He was followed by a platoon of soldiers.
I had gotten to my destination late in the evening. There was a slight chill in the air and scent of burning wood from a nearby house. I arrived at a modest estate. It wasn't lavish but wasn't too modest, it also had a homely feel to it.
Just as I was about to knock on the door, it opened.
"Good evening Lord Max." a well dressed butler addressed me.
"Good evening Commander." I responded. Being a butler was a good disguise for an elite guard.
"I shall go call her." He turned to leave but I stopped him.
"No need I'll go to her myself."
"As you wish. She is currently with her daughter." I nodded and entered the house. I wandered the hallways for a moment, admireing the decorations. I soon came to a door that was slightly opened, I heard her voice from the other side. She was singing.
Sun and moon
Day and night
Darkness and the light
Comes and goes
All so fast
Nothing ever lasts
It seems I'm living in a place
Forgotten now by time's pace
So I'm left alone
You and i
Hand in hand
We have just begun
Somehow I'm
Holding back
What I feel for you
I'm always living with my fears
The time is swiftly drawing near
I'll be left alone
Our moments pass on by
Then people pass on by
And love keeps drifting away
It all keeps drifting away
One day I'll be there
Someday I'll be there
End of this long and lonely road.
There is a place where tenderness calls the Solitude a friend
No one is with me
Nothing is with me
All that remains are memories
There is a place where coldness and warmth are Woven into one
Do I love?
Do I hate?
So I hesitate
When I know
When I feel
I may be too late
It seems I'm living in a world
Where joy and sadness have no shape
They are both the same
The sky is passing by
The clouds are passing by
The rain keeps falling on me
It all keeps falling away
One day I'll find it
Someday I'll find it
Within the vast and endless world
There is a place where tenderness calls the Solitude a friend
No one is with me
Nothing is with me
All that remains are memories
There is a place where coldness and warmth are Woven into one
Our moments pass on by
Then people pass on by
And love keeps drifting away
It all keeps drifting away
One day I'll be there
Someday I'll be there
End of this long and lonely road.
There is a place where tenderness calls the Solitude a friend
No one is with me
Nothing is with me
All that remains are memories
There is a place where coldness and warmth are Woven into one
When she finished sining, her daughter had fallen asleep and I realized that I was lost in my was leaving the room and I decided to make myself known.
"Hello. Eir." I said with an unusually warm tone, for my current self at least.
"Hey dad." I had adopted Eir during our journey. She had changed over the years from the shy little girl to a warm and caring mother. As she aged she became a beautiful woman. Her auburn hair reached the small of her back, her olive-green eyes had darkened slightly as she had developed a small tan. A few men tried to court her. Several of those men, when they broke her heart, had turned into test subjects for one of my generals, after she finished with them. I had offered her a position as one of my top officials, but she had turned it down. She preferred a peaceful lifestyle to raise her daughter with her husband.
"So how is my granddaughter doing?"
"She takes after her father. So much that she's a handful at times." this caused me to chuckle.
"He's still a handful." I said while making a mental note to get a toy for my granddaughter Emi.
"So when is he coming back?"
"Soon. I sent him to "escort" some people." I did the quotation marks with my hand when I said escort. Eir just shook her head. We spent the next hour catching up and had some coffee before I had to go.
"Wait dad!" Eir stopped me as I was leaving. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my lower back.
"Ack! What did you do?" I shouted and grabbed where I felt the pain. I soon found that my hand was covered in blood.
"You had this in your back." Eir showed me a bloody dagger with a familiar design on it. It caused me to arch one of my eyebrows.
"Looks like Kana is improving." I said as I pocketed the dagger. Eir had helped me dress my wound and said our good byes. I was starting to wonder if I was getting slower, since Kana had gotten me with one dagger.
"Shit! Thirteen!" Linier shouted as he pushed people towards the portal.
"Heh. Looks like I caught you at a bad time." Thirteen could be seen smirking as only half his head was covered by his helmet.
"What are you doing here?" Lloyd asked.
"Do you honestly think that Max would leave a portal open without someone watching it?" Thirteen said as he unsheathed his saber.
"Wait! What are you going to do?" Lloyd paled.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm making the choice for you."
"I thought you were our friend!" Colette said as she held her weapons defensively.
"It's nothing personal. Just my orders." he then snapped his fingers. Silent orders went out as the surrounding forces approached the group, forcing the group to take a step back towards the portal. In a sudden movement several of the soldiers tried to grab one of the group members only to be blocked by Linier. Realizing that they had two choices they quickly made a decision. They could either stay and fight or flee through the portal. With three injured kids with the group they had little choice as Lloyd handed over Naomi to Sheena and drew his weapons. Mithos did the same, handing Gabriel to Colette, as Regal kept Ryan with him. The three approached the portal and with a nod they jumped through.
With a look, a silent conversation went on with the rest of the group, they rushed into the portal. On the other side of the portal everyone landed safely, and felt a surge of power as their bodies absorbed the mana around them. Mithos grinned at the returning power and gathered a sphere of mana in his hand. Before he could do anything Thirteen and his soldiers appeared out of the portal and surrounded them again. Mithos launched the sphere at one of the soldiers, only for that soldier to backhand the attack and deflect it away from the group.
"Pathetic fools you underestimate our power!" Mithos shouted as he gathered mana for his spells as did the rest of the group, who weren't watching the children. They attacked the guards as Thirteen would be in the back watching the entire fight, ready to step in when necessary. Lloyd and the others fought fiercely with the abundant mana fueling them. Unfortunately their bodies had adapted to the small amount of mana, that was available to them on earth. Their bodies were taking time adjusting to the large amounts available, and was not able to process it fast enough. This in turn caused them to ware out quickly. Soon most of the group found themselves winded and barely standing.
"Max has ordered that you be captured alive. Please don't take it p-" Thirteen was unable to finish when a roar filled the air. All of his soldiers suddenly froze just before the soldiers were bathed in flames. A large black dragon appeared in front of Thirteen, with a person standing on its head, and before he could react to the dragon it unleashed a torrent of fire on the unsuspecting general. Several more dragons appeared and landed next to Lloyd and his group.
"Linier Your Back!" a blond-haired person stood on top of the largest dragon.
"Who are you?" Lloyd said as he stood back up, out of breath.
"I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here NOW! Get on the dragons!" Lloyd nodded at Linier's command ,and signaled for the rest of the group to get on a dragon.
As they were flying off Thirteen walked out of the inferno. Not a single a single scratch or burn was on him as the runes on his armor had a light blue glow. A moment later the rest of the flames died down revealing the unharmed soldiers.
"Just as planned." He said before he warped himself and his men to the capital city.
A pulse of power coursed through my body signaling that someone one had used the portal that I had left open.
"Lord Max." I turned to face a soldier. I should have notice right away that something was off.
"Yes?" I suddenly hear a clash of metal behind me. I turned arround and found an assassin holding a sword in a standstill against another sword, that hovered in the air.
"YOUR END HAS COME!" there was another clash of metal from my side. I looked and saw the same thing.
"Heh. Elite assassins." I said with little surprise in my voice. "You choose now to attack me?" I saw an attack come at me only to be stopped by another floating sword. "I'm going to enjoy this"
"So who are you?" Lloyd asked the blond dragon pilot.
"His name is Emil. He's in charge of the monster division of the rebellion." Linier said.
"Monster division?" Mithos asked.
"The rebellion has several divisions. There is the tech, Monster , Humanoid division, Angelic, Information gathering, Magic, Medical you know those kinds of things. Each division has its respective leaders."
"So the rebellion has expanded in our absence." Sheena said.
"Will we be able to meet them?" Colette asked.
"After we meet with the commander." Emil said as he encouraged the dragons to go faster.
Three dead bodies were now laying at my feet while a sword was sticking out of each one. Several more assassins were in my field of vision.
"can I play now?" a voice echoed in my mind.
"Have fun." I said out loud confusing some of the assassins. The other seasoned ones stiffened as they heard rumors about what was going to happen next.
Soon Lloyd and company flew over a familiar desert and landed in front of the Renegade base.
"Oh the Renegade base." Colette said.
"If I knew this was a Renegade base I would have destroyed it." Mithos muttered to himself.
"So is Yuan here?" Lloyd asked.
"He was captured a few years ago." Linier said
"What happened to him?" Mithos suddenly asked.
"It seemed that Max had some intel about Yuan, about his connection with the Renegades and the remnants, and had him captured."
"Remnants?" Raine asked.
"Former cruxis agents." a voice said from the main gate. Everyone turned and faced a familiar Auburn headed man.
"Dad!"Lloyd shouted
"Kratos!"Eveyone else was supprised as well.
"Dad-whats-going-on?" A groggy Naomi asked. Before she passed out again. Kratos quickly looked over the children and pulled out a radio and spoke into it.
"Prepare the infirmary." He then turned to the group. "You need to bring the children to the infirmary to get their mana stabilized." Without another word he lead them into the base.
A cry and a shower of blood came from the last assassin. As a child no older than eight was playing in the blood, like a normal child playing in a puddle of water.
"Having fun?" I said to the child. I felt a tug of energy coming from the four swords that hovered around me. "All right all right enjoy your selves." the swords flew off and embedded themselves into the puddles of blood. A moment passed as the swords sat there, the puddles started to shrink as the swords absorbed the blood. When they finished they returned to me in a familiar orbit. Except for one as he went to another puddle.
"Hey thats mine!" the child said to the sword and threw it at me. Before the sword hit me it recovered and joined the others in the orbit. The child then ran over to the puddle of blood and stuck his hand in. With a blink of the eye he had absorbed the blood and stood up, an inch taller.
"Now now. Don't be greedy, Charon." I said as the child looked apologetic and transformed into a thorned black and white sword. He then joined the others in their orbit around me. "All right I hope you enjoyed your snack, because we are going home now." One by one they faded into the air and I continued on my way, leaving the dried husks of the assassins for the monsters to ravage.
Lloyd was pacing the waiting room waiting for news of his daughter. He was on edge ever since his son was kidnapped. Sheena was looking worse for ware as the stress of her son being kidnapped and an exsphere attached to her daughter, had been wearing her down. Mithos held Colette close as they waited. Regal and Raine were sitting next to each other with a serious look of worry on them. Zellos and Presea were waiting there as well. Their son Issac had fallen asleep on his mother's lap, after he looked around for a bit. A medic soon walked in and got their attention.
"The children have been stabilized. A key-crest has been attached to the exspheres and it's safe to see them now." Before they could go see their children a voice stopped them.
"One moment." Everyone looked at the new comer and saw that it was Kratos.
"What is it Dad?" Lloyd asked eagerly. Kratos ran his hand through his hair before he let out a sigh.
"Just moments ago we had gotten confirmation that Max plans on attacking Odin, our world tree." This made everyone, who weren't on edge already, worried.
"When is the attack to take place?" Raine asked the question on everyone's minds.
"Luckily our reports say that it will take place at least a year from now." This relieved some worry but the attack still had them concerned. Without the tree the world would die and they had no sanctuary for themselves. After the attack Max could easly move his forces to earth and do what ever he wanted, but they themselves had no such luxury.
"Are you preparing a counter attack?" Raine added
"Yes. We have been planning it ever since we had discovered the attack."
"How did you find out about it?" Sheena was wondering if her people were still around.
"We were able to get a mole into Max's organization."
"Who is the mole?" Sheena asked
"He goes by the name Mathew." Kratos finished as he looked over the charts of the children.
Naomi was bored again while she rested in the bed of the base's infirmary. So since she couldn't leave her bed she decided to do what she usually did when she didn't have many options. Lloyd walked in to see his daughter balancing a pen, pencil, scissors, a ruler, and compass on the tips of her fingers on her left hand, showing how much dexterity she had.
"Showoff" Lloyd said to get her attention.
"Dad!" she quickly turned to her father. Even with the sudden movement to face her father she didn't drop her school supplies.
"I still don't understand how you can do that." Lloyd pulled up a chair and sat next to his daughter.
"Mom taught me."
"Makes me wonder what else she taught you."
"Self defense stuff."
"Like?"
"This." she took out a slip of paper and threw it towards an empty wall. Before it hit a renegade that had entered the room and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It attatched to the guard and exploded in a large fireball, sending the guard through the wall. "What the? That was a lot stronger than what usually happens!" Naomi said with her surprise.
Lloyd quickly rushed over to where the guard was to see if he was alright. After the guard was healed Naomi apologized to him and Lloyd asked that she not use the seals inside the building. Thats when she started asking questions. "Dad, this dosent look like the town hospital. Where are we?" This was the question that Lloyd was dreading.
"You are in another world." a voice said from the door way. The two turned to face Linier without his helmet. His light blue hair was desheveled and brushed behind his ears. He had dull blue eyes and a scar running diagonal across his face. He also looked quite familiar.
"What do you mean?" She asked
"We're not in Kansas any more." Lloyd said remembering the line from the movie he watched before everything went down hill.
"I thought that we lived in Wisconsin." Naomi added. This developed a tick mark on Linier's forehead.
"Your not on Earth!" Linier said annoyed
"WHAT!" Naomi shouted as panic started to overrule her judgment.
"Calm down Naomi." Lloyd urged her daughter to clam down before she destroys something. Sheena soon came in after she had checked that some of her contacts were still around.
"As long as I'm here, I will protect you." Lloyd said to his daughter.
"Thanks Dad." Naomi said calming down.
"Don't forget I'm here to protect you too." Sheena said surprising the two. Before she noticed the hole in the wall. "What happened here?" she said pointing to the wall.
"Um. Well..." Naomi and Lloyd said in unison while copying the other perfectly.
"Your taking this better than Gabriel did." Sheena said deciding to change the subject seeing that she probably didn't want to know.
"How did he take it?" Naomi asked
"Not good. Right now Colette is comforting him." Sheena said as she ran her hand through her hair.
"How did Ryan and Issac take it?" Naomi asked
"Ryan seemed to have been expecting this and Issac seems to not care and flirt with the female guards." Sheena said causing Naomi and Lloyd to sweat drop.
"Any news on Alex?" Lloyd asked with a complete change in tone. Sheena looked down and shook her head. She soon found herself in Lloyd's embrace and started to cry. Naomi didn't look like it but she was worried about her younger brother. Linier, wanting a change in atmosphere, took this time to get their attention again. It was getting too depressive for him.
"Ahem." this caused the Aurion family to look at him. "I'm sorry to intrupt but the commander wishes to speak with your family."
"Alright. We finally get a chance to introduce Naomi to Dad." Lloyd said with a forced grin and got said girl's attention. Linier gave them a nod and motioned for them to follow.
Mithos sat next to the bed his son was currently sleeping, a look of plight etched on his face. He ended up passing out in his mother's arms. Colette set her son on the bed before she went off to find a nurse for some medicine. Mithos was lost in his thoughts as he watched his son rest, that he didn't notice Colette come back in the room, and soon found himself wrapped up in her arms.
"Do you think we should tell him?" Colette asked her husband.
"Seeing that we're here, I guess we have no choice in the matter." Mithos knew that she was talking about his heritage.
"We should tell him when he wakes up." Colette suggested
"No. Not in his current state. We need to ease him into knowing what he is."
"How are we going to do that?" Colette released Mithos and moved over to her son.
"I'm going to train him in magic and reveal it to him then."
"I guess I'll be teaching him swords or chakrams. Depending on who he takes after." Colette said as she stroked Gabriel's hair causing him to stir.
"This is going to be increasingly difficult from now on." Colette could only nod in agreement.
Zellos, Presea, and their son Issac were in the waiting room. And Issac was getting restless.
"Can I go look around?" Issac said with his face resting in his hands.
"No." Presea said in her 'cheerful' tone.
"But..."
"No."Presea repeated
"Daad!"
"Don't whine. It scares the chicks away." Zellos said giving his son an all-knowing look.
"Fine" Issac grumbled
"I think now is a good time to explain our predicament to our son." Presea said getting the attention from both males. Zellos looked wide-eyed before letting out a groan.
"Well since we're here might as well. No place like home." Zellos suddenly had another idea "Hey after this lets see if the kings still around. If he is maybe we could visit."
"You know a king?" Issac gave his father a unbelieving look. Zellos gave a grin that gave a look saying I know something you don't.
"Ya we go way back. I dated the princess for a bit." Zellos looked over at his wide-eyed son.
"Wow. How did you not end up with her? No offense mom." Presea just nodded.
"She was in an arranged marriage. We couldn't see each other anymore or the king would probably have me exiled or something."
"Oh. Sucks."
"Not really, she wasn't as beautiful as your mother." Presea smiled at this and gave Zellos a kiss. Zellos and Presea kept telling Issac about their past. Soon it was very late and they decided to retire. Issac couldn't wait to brag er talk with his friends about what his parents told him.
"This is the commander's room." Linier said as he approached a double steel plated door. "And this is also where we part ways."
"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked.
"I have another meeting I must attend. I'll see you later then." Linier said as he gave the Aurions a wave and disappeared around the corner.
"So who's the commander?" Naomi asked as they entered the elegantly decorated room.
"He's my biological father."
"So he's my grandfather?"
"Yup" Sheena said as they approached the desk where an auburn headed person could be seen going over paperwork. When they got to the desk he sopped and looked at them. A faint smile could be seen on his face. If only for a moment.
"Hey Dad." Lloyd said shocking his daughter.
"Wait. Wait. Wait. That's your dad and my grandfather?" She said pointing to Kratos.
"Yeah it's kinda hard to believe, but he is."
"He looks just as old as you."
"One of the side effects of being somewhat immortal." Kratos decided to step in.
"IMMORTAL!" Naomi had a look of surprise plastered on her face as well as a fragment of jealousy. Who honestly hasn't thought about being immortal. Meeting one, some would be jealous and others would pity them.
"Not really but a similar fate." Kratos said trying to calm the girl.
"So how old are you?" Naomi asked after she calmed down.
"I'm not certain I had stopped counting the years after four thousand." When Kratos said this Naomi could only gape as her thoughts just stopped. Using the pause Sheena decided to speak up.
"Hey dad, what s the news. I haven't been able to reach any of my contacts."
"Since when have you called me dad?" Kratos said with an amused look on his face.
"I felt like it. Why don't like it?" Sheena said with a mischievous look.
"N-No. It just caught me off guard." Lloyd and Sheena snickered at his response and Naomi broke out of her stupor.
"Y-Your ov-er f-f-four thou-sand years old!" Kratos just gave a nod to Naomi. "H-How?"
"It's not something I like to discuss."
"Naomi." Lloyd had gotten his daughter's attention. "Immortality comes with a heavy price."
"R-realy?" Naomi said with a small amount of fear in her voice.
"Yes the person would lose their sense of feeling. Followed by losing the ability to sleep."
"That dosent sound that bad."
"It gets worse. some would lose their voice and others would end up having their soul locked away. They would be doomed to walk the rest of their lives as a living corpse. They will never again know emotion. Never again experiencing they joys of life. Doomed to be nothing more then a mindless puppet for eternity. The only way they will find piece is when some one kills them." Naomi looked horrified at she heard. Living a life devoid of emotion turning into a living puppet dosent sound appealing. Until a thought came to her.
"How come you're not a mindless puppet?" she asked innocently.
"I was fortunate enough to acquire a rune crest to negate the negative effects. I have seen many who have failed to aquire one, and it is a sad sight." a knock on the door had gotten their attention. "Enter" Kratos said and soon after a guard came in and handed him a letter and left. Kratos quickly read over the letter. For a brief moment you could see the look of surprise on his face before it quickly disappeared. "We found Alex."
Gabriel stirred from his sleep to come face to face with his mother. A look in her eyes he could tell that she was worried.
"Mom what's wrong?" Gabriel said with a shaky voice.
"First of all. Your not human." You could hear Mithos facepalm from the other room
"What!"
"Son. We are worried for you. Because we had already gone though the phase. A sort of puberty for us." Mithos looked at his son who seemed lost.
"We are not human." Colette said. "I was and you father was only partial." Telling a ten year old that he's not human is just as uncomfortable as the talk about the birds and the bees.
"I think it would be easier if we just show him." Mithos said as he stood up and cleared some space around the bed. Colette went over and stood by him. Gabriel could only gape as wings emerged from his parent's backs.
"Wha-WHAT!" Mithos and Colette winced at the volume of their son's voice. And the fact that their angelic senses were returning to normal. Since their senses were dulled due to the lack of mana on earth.
"We are what are known as angels." Mithos said giving his wings a stretch. Seeing that he only used them when the portals opened and flooded the land with mana. Any other time would quickly knock him out because of mana exhaustion.
"C-Can I touch them?" Gabriel suddenly appeared next to his parents with starts in his eyes. Colette gave a small laugh and nodded her head as Mithos gave a nod as well. He placed his hand on his mother's wing and felt it pass through. "Whoa!" Mithos smirked at his son's reaction. Then he noticed the crystal that was embedded in his son's hand.
"Let me see your crystal." Mithos said as he grabbed his son's hand and examined the crystal. He looked at it for a moment then.
"What the? It can't be." Mithos said as he griped his son's arm examining the crystal even more.
"Whats wrong with his crystal?" Colette asked a little worried that the disease that effected her would effect him.
Mithos had a grave look on his face. "He has a cruxis crystal."
A knock at the door had gotten the Briant family's attention.
"You may enter." Regal said as he opened the door to reveal Linier with his helmet back on.
"Excuse me Raine, Regal. There is something I would like to discuss with you."
"Your Linier right?" Ryan said as he got up to take a good look at the soldier. "It's nice to meet you." Ryan said as he held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you too." Linier said as he shook Ryan's hand. He muttered something as a blue aura encompassed Ryan. Soon Ryan went limp and Linier caught him before he fell to the ground.
"What are you doing!" Raine shouted as Regal grabbed Ryan from him.
"He needs to rest. He also shouldn't hear what I'm about to say." Linier said as he took off his helmet revealing his features.
"What did you do to him?" Regal said in a threatening manner.
"I just put him into a deep sleep. The spell will ware off in an hour." Raine was relieved to find out that Ryan was effected by a spell that put him into a deep sleep. She then looked at Linier and froze. She glanced down at her son then back to Linier. The only difference she could see was that Linier had a more mature look and a scar. Other then that, they could easily be mistaken as brothers.
"Who are you? I honestly don't believe that you're who you say you are."
"Of course a mother would recognize her son, no matter the age they are." Said Linier with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Regal asked barely phased by Linier's announcement of being their son.
"It may be hard to believe but I am your son. It's simple explanation, there was an accident that involved one of Max's portals. I was pulled into it and was sent back in time. I ended up being helped by Max. Before he became the twisted person he is now. Its sad really I saw how much he had changed and I couldn't help him." the older Ryan said as he shook his head.
"Wait. Your the Ryan that we met back then?" Raine asked unbelieving as Ryan could only nod in response.
"Is it weird that you met your son before your husband?" Ryan joked.
"It would be strange meeting your child before you met your spouse." Regal said with a hand on his chin.
"Why are you telling us now?" Raine asked as she tucked the younger version of Ryan into the bed.
"Because that accident is going to happen soon." Regal and Raine were shocked to hear that they would loose their son soon.
"When is it going to happen?" Raine was just about shouting as Regal held her back. He gave Ryan a hard stare that said 'tell me everything.
"I don't remember the exact date and time but all I know is that it happens before Max's attack." This left Raine and Regal worried. Ryan spent the rest of the day reconnecting with his parents and easing their tension. He left asking not to reveal anything about himself to his younger version. He left after that saying that he had some business to finish.
"What?" Gabriel asked.
"Oh No." Colette said barely audible. "Do we have a rune crest?"
"I don't know. We will have to ask Kratos if he has access to one." Mithos said. He then noticed that Gabriel looked uncomfortable and rotated his shoulder. "What's wrong son?"
"I think I slept wrong. My shoulder is stiff." He said as he rubbed his shoulder.
"Turn around and take off your shirt, Now." Colette demanded. With a small twinge of fear Gabriel nodded and did what he was asked. He knew just like his father that it wasn't a good idea to upset his mother. Her wrath was legendary. Adding her angelic abilities made it worse. How did one sweet and carefree girl become such a feared person? Part of it was becoming a mother and the other well thats for later.
"No" Colette and Mithos said as they saw the green crystalline structures on their child's back. Mithos quickly went to find a guard as Colette went over to her son to examine the crystals.
"I don't give a damn if he's busy! Get him NOW!" they heard Mithos yell at a guard. A few moments later Kratos entered their room.
"What's wrong?" Kratos asked, confused at his ancient friend panic.
"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG! I'll tell you what's wrong! Max attached a cruxis crystal to my son! And worse he has that damned disease! How Did The Medics Miss this!"
"What!" Kratos barely held his shock in check. Thinking quickly about the situation, they had time but not much, he quickly processed the possibilities and proposed his idea. "I'll have my people gather the resources for the cure and I'll contact him."
"I thought he had disappeared after the world was reunited?" Colette asked.
"He didn't. He ended up contacting us awhile back asking if we knew where his son was." Kratos gave some commands to the guard. The guard left in a rush as Kratos turned back to the Yggdrasil family. "He should be her by the morning. All we need to do is get the materials needed for the cure." Colette nodded and exited the room. A moment later she came back in.
"Um... What was I suppose to get?" Mithos let out a sigh. He wondered if his wife has a split personality at times. By the end of the day they had quickly gathered the materials, when a knock was heard from the door.
"I got it." Gabriel said as he opened the door and stood face to face with a graying man just as tall as he was.
"Elo their lad." the gruff man said. Gabriel soon felt a presence behind him as his mother appeared and gave the man a hug, while lifting him off the ground. "I-It's G-good-T-o-see you t-oo, Colette." he struggled to say as colette seemd to squese the air out of the man.
"It's good to see you too Dirk! I thought you were going to be here in the morning?" Colette said as she crushed the stout man in a hug. Mithos shook his head as he pried the man from his wife's arms and set him on the ground. They had a chat as they went to the base to process the materials that they had painstakingly gathered and created a rune crest for Gabriel. After that Dirk went off to find Lloyd, Sheena, and his grand daughter. Soon Mithos and Colette were relentlessly hammering Gabriel with lessons on how to control his body and abilities. The first week Gabriel always came back to their room and collapsed onto his bed completely exhausted. Soon he became adjusted and would be sparing with his parents.
Emil was walking down a hallway headed for his office and a relaxing drink. A stiff relaxing drink. His thoughts were slightly disturbed. He was troubled since he had rescued Lloyd's group from Thirteen. "He could have easily pursued us and taken us down, but he didn't. Why?" he muttered to himself. He soon found himself on the ground being glomped by a brunet.
"Emil Your back!" she said.
"It's nice to see you too Marta." He said trying to pry the girl off of himself.
"My My. Isn't this an amusing sight." a disembodied voice said.
"Tenebrae..." Emil said as Marta was still latched onto him. Tenebrae was the only centurion that was able to escape Max's capture and corruption. The others could be seen in their core state next to their elemental summon spirit, with a dark chain orbiting each one.
"Yes Lord Emil?" Tenebrae said with an innocent look.
"Your Late!" Emil shouted.
"My apologies. I had to figure out how max was able to take control over the centurions and other spirits."
"And?" Emil said as he continued to pry Marta off of himself.
"Nothing yet." Tenebrae continued. This caused Emil to let out a sigh. "It is quite puzzling that Max was able to enslave the other spirits so easily."
"What have you learned at least?" Emil said as he was finally able to pry Marta off himself.
"Some one had taught Max on how to use it." This instantly got Emil and Marta's attention.
"Who would know how to even teach it?" Marta added
"It is unknown on how Max had learned to control the spirits. Fortunately when he tried to control you, Lord Emil, it bound your spirits together in an unusual way. Usually the summon spirit part of you would be the dominant mind, but Max's spell found an equilibrium between Emil and Rattatosk. Forming the Emil we now know."
"That explains why his one eye is red while the other is green." Marta reasoned. Tenebrae nodded in response.
"Master Emil." A guard appeared and handed a paper to Emil. Emil quickly looked over the paper before igniting it with a spell.
"What was that about?" Marta asked as the guard left. Emil let out a sigh as continued to his room. Not being deterred, Marta followed. When they got to his room Emil pulled out a bottle of a strong alcohol and poured him self a glass. As soon as he finished the glass he poured another and handed it to Marta.
"They found Origin. He's under Max's control." When Marta heard this she quickly swallowed the drink, poured a glass and handed it to Tenebrae. He did the same.
It was late in the evening when I called Thirteen to my house. I needed to test a theory. I was told of this possibility by Maxwell.
"Who knew that restoring your memories was a simple as telling you your full name. I'm still going to call you Thirteen." I said as I sat back in my chair, enjoying a hot drink. Across from me Thirteen sat with his arms and legs crossed and his helmet on the table revealing his features.
"Of course you would." Thirteen smirked
"So now that you know who you were. Are you still going to listen to my orders?" He gave it a moment and nodded.
"I know the complete plan, unlike the other twelve, and I think it's best that I help you."
"Good. Would you like to help me train my successor?" I asked as it just came to mind.
"Why are you going to choose a successor now?"
"Because if I don't make it to the destined time, then someone will need to continue the plan."
"Am I going to be your successor?" Thirteen asked with an unamused look.
"No I have some one else in mind. Once I restore their memories I will offer it to them."
"I see. So it's going to be one of them. By the way are you going to keep up your facade about going insane?" Thirteen asked.
"When have I ever been sane?" I said with a disturbed smile on my face.
"Heh of course. Anyways how about the up coming attack?"
"From my reports everything is on schedule." I said as I finished my drink.
"I wonder if they are ready?"
It had been a month since Lloyd and his group's arrival to Veria and they were adapting quite fast. Four kids could be seen in the Renegade base headed towards the training facility.
"I can't believe that our parents kept it a secret! When were they going to tell us that we were from another planet!" Naomi said as she brandished her new sword.
"Yeah, its hard to believe that our parents are from another world. Everything I know is about earth. Kinda feels like a waste." Ryan added
"Well that's nothing. I found out that I'm not really human." Gabriel said as he took his wings out. Naomi, Ryan, and Issac could only stare.
"Wow" Was all Naomi said before she disappeared and was seen again after tackling Gabriel to the ground. "It's so soft!" she purred as she stroked his feathers. She found a seat on Gabriel's head, as he was face down on the floor.
"Get off me!" Gabriel gave a large flap of his wings and tossed Naomi into the air. Naomi just grinned and did an aerial flip landing on her feet. Gabriel looked over and saw Naomi sticking her tongue out. Thing in turn caused a tick mark to appear on Gabriel's head. Ryan and Issac were watching with an amused look on their faces.
"I think we should get out-of-the-way." Issac said as he took a step back.
"Yeah I would agree." Ryan joined his red-headed friend at the edge of the training field, just before something exploded right in front of them where they were standing.
"Get back here!" Gabriel shouted as ran with a ball of light in his hand.
"Make Me!" Naomi said as she ran circles around Gabriel. Their fight started to escalate as Gabriel stated using his basic angelic abilities as Naomi used the skills that her mother and father taught her. Namely swords and seals. Ryan and Issac just shrugged and drew their respective weapons. Issac held a six-foot polearm while Ryan pulled out a bow-staff.
"I don't think we should let those two have all the fun." Ryan said.
"I agree." Issac gave a nod, readied their weapons, and the two charged... Right at Naomi and Gabriel. Naomi and Gabriel's attention was directed at each other, and noticed a second too late when Ryan and Issac attacked them.
There was a loud scratching sound coming from one of the doors of Max's mansion. A raven colored man answered the door. The man soon found a four-legged creature sitting at the door with the guards laying on the ground behind it, knocked out. The man knew that his master was expecting this creature soon and let it in. the creature walked into the house using it's nose to guide it. It's green and white fur reflected in the decorations as it headed deeper into the manor. I soon heard the scratching at my private library.
"It's open." I said as the green and white creature entered. "Oh your back. Did you enjoy your trip?" I asked as I placed a collar on its neck. The one gem on it gave it the ability to speak in a human tongue.
"Sometimes you're a real bastard you know." It said.
"Why thank you. Your compliments make me feel better, Noishe." I soon found that Noishe had pined myself against the wall.
"Why did you take him!" he demanded.
"Simple." I said as I threw him off of me, he landed gracefully a distance away from me. "I needed another bargaining chip against you. If only the others knew your true strength." All I got was a growl in response. "Fine since you've been a good sport. I'll tell you who has Alex." This had gotten his attention. He sat in front of me waiting for me to continue. I just had a smirk "But first there is a price for it."
Naomi, Gabriel, Issac, and Ryan had finished their fight... err spar, and were headed back to the infirmary to be patched up. Crying had gotten their attention from one of the hallways that they passed. Naomi's curious nature had gotten to her again and headed towards the sound. They soon came across another training room with someone crying in the middle of the room. They approached him carefully and soon recognized who he was.
"Matthew!" they chorused and said person jumped up and turned to them with a surprised look on his face. His eyes were still red from crying.
"Gabriel! Issac! Naomi! Ryan!" he said as he pulled the closest one into a hug. Unfortunately it was Issac and he had a look of extreme discomfort and awkwardness on him. Matthew's crying was quickly replaced by twisted laughter as his body started to deform. His hair grew to shoulder length, his size grew as well and soon towered over the children. His facial features changed to that of an older man as his eyes turned green and spoke in a deep gnarled voice "I've got you."
Max:I felt like adding a song I was listening to.
Mathew:o.k...
Max: Well I hope you enjoyed this future arc.
Mike: Feels like a filler.
Max: it's not.
Mathew:How so?
Max: You'll see. You'll All See! HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Mike:(smacks the back of Max's head.) Stop that.
Max: Sorry. Oh and I'm purposely not going to tell you Thirteen's real name. I'm saving that for later. (Grins)