I'm fairly certain I'm about to get flamed to death. All I can ask is that you don't tar and feather me for what I'm about to do.
Thank you to:
Mandrakefunnyjuice: You're more than welcome to use it, so long as you give me credit in a disclaimer. I can't wait to see what you do with it:) Yay random smileys.
JeanneAndHerAlters: Yay! Soul consuming muffins are officially my favorite fuel for fanfics! Enjoy the chapter!
Emi the cookie monster: Sorry for the confusion. No Lloyd doesn't know that Ada is anna. He will eventually. And if you like destroying the plotline, wait till you read this chapter! 3
Crystalwolfberri: I know. It's a half rhyme. The three rhymes with the 'ee' sound in please. (Sorry, I'm a poet too.) Yay cookies! An as for the becoming a family, well…read on my friend.
KGS: Thank you thank you! I lhope this doesn't displease you.
Twilight Angels: Yay a new reviewer! Welcome! Thank you and I hope you didn't feel the wait was too long.
Lemonaden'ice: Another new reviewer! Thanks. Enjoy!
Silver and White Angels: Lol. I look forward to the update Golum! J/k. If I have any tips or ideas, I'll definitely share them.
Eragonfanatic: Well in that case, thank you Madame!! And yes, I was missing a 'has' in that part. Thank you. I'm the same way about that kind of thing, but I slip up sometimes. I will promptly fix that.
Ok…on with the show… -gulp-
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Ada/Anna
Raine stood before the towering stones etched with ancient runes. The moonlight glinted off the stone, casting a ghostly pallor to the surrounding terrain. It was as though it were another planet. She smiled at that thought. It was another planet, technically. She felt a mixture of feelings: sadness, nostalgia, satisfaction, and pain. Mostly pain.
"Mother…" she muttered, running her hand over the smooth stones as she called her ever-fading parents' faces to her mind. "Did you hate us so that you left us here to die?"
"Professor!" Raine turned as her students, brother, and friends descended from the sky. Lloyd and Genis dashed up to her, their faces creased with worry.
"Everyone! Why are you all here?" Raine asked.
Genis glared at his older sister. "Why do youI think we're here? We were worried about you!"
Mithos nodded. "It's dangerous to come here alone. As a fellow half-elf, I can't just leave you here by yourself."
Anna looked at the ground to hide her anger at Mithos, but said firmly, "It's destiny anyway."
Colette regarded her teacher with confusion." Why did you come to this place?"
Raine sighed and turned back to the ruin she had desperately searched for all of her life. "This is where Genis and I were abandoned."
"What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked. "You two are from Sylvarant."
"Ask Ada if you doubt me," Raine said. Everyone looked at Anna, who nodded sadly, knowing the story that was to come. Raine smiled sadly. "I happened to catch sight of this place when we rescued Colette and it's been on my mind ever since. Then, when I heard the story about the two poles that connect the two worlds, I became certain. The images in my memory…the ruin I've been searching for all this time is this place."
"So what are you saying?" Sheena asked. "The two of you were born in Tethe'alla?"
"It can't be!" Genis cried. "All my memories are of Iselia! I don't know this place at all."
"We were born and raised in the village of the elves," Raine said, "from which we were eventually ostracized. We were abandoned here because this place was said to be the path to the legendary Sylvarant."
"The village of the elves?" Mithos said in fake disbelief. "The secret village said to be off-limits to anyone except elvenkind?"
Or particularly to those who despise elvenkind…like you! Anna gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Yes," said Raine. "I don't know the details of what happened, but I'm positive that I was left here along with Genis when he was just a newborn. And we eventually ended up in Sylvarant."
"Then this time, let me send you to hell instead!" shouted a man behind them. There was a puff of smoke identical to the one that took Vharley away and the ninja Kuchinawa appeared at the scene.
Sheena whirled around to face her former comrade. "Kuchinawa! What are you talking about?"
Kuchinawa slid into his fighter stance, anger burning in his unveiled eyes. "My chance to avenge my parents' deaths has finally arrived."
The clank of armor resounded across the tiny island as the Papal Knights surrounded them.
"FINALLY!" Anna gasped. She walked over to Sheena and ripped the charm Kuchinawa had given the summoner off of her sash. She threw it to the traitorous ninja, who caught it reflexively. "You can have that back now!"
"Impudent wench!" Kuchinawa snarled.
"I get that a lot," Anna said.
"Avenge your parents?" Sheena asked confused.
"Correct," barked Kuchinawa. "You will die for killing my parents along with countless others of our village when you failed to control Volt."
Sheena's face paled as he hit the old wound mercilessly. "Wh…what?!"
"That was an accident!" Lloyd yelled. "Why are you doing this now?"
Kuchinawa stomped his foot childishly. "Accident?! I could have accepted things if she just failed to make a pact with a Summon Spirit. But then, she failed to assassinate the Chosen of Sylvarant, thereby placing Mizuho in danger. Yet look at her now. She's made pacts with Summon Spirits just like that."
"May I remind you she was but a child," Anna said. "I didn't see you accomplish great feats as a child"
"You have it all wrong!" Colette insisted.
"Do I?!" he shouted. "I think she wasn't really trying during the first pact-making! Because of that, she killed my parents and our people."
Sheena was staring at the ground, trying not to reveal the blow he had dealt her. "I did the best I could! I…"
Kuchinawa shook his head, out of his mind with grief and rage. "Enough excuses!"
Sheena ran forward as the others drew their weapons. "Kuchinawa! Please! Don't drag them into this! I'm the one you despise right? Then I'm the only one you need to kill."
"Sheena, stop talking like that!" Lloyd snapped.
Sheena smiled bravely at her friend. "It's okay. Kuchinawa…please!"
Kuchinawa thought for a moment before walking up to meet her. "Fine."
Meanwhile a very intense battle of brains, morals, and emotions was going in the mind of …Zelos! Believe it or not! From the moment Kuchinawa had appeared and hit Sheena with her painful past, strange emotions had over taken him. Something like…compassion…and anger. He wasn't sure what to do, he wasn't sure why this hit him in such a way. He knew only one thing. He did NOT want to see Sheena…Sheena above anyone else…die.
She stood, her back straight her dark indigo hair fluttering in the wind as she faced her fate.
She can't do this! Zelos thought. Sheena can't die. Sheena the ultra gorgeous beauty…Sheena the summoner…Sheena my comrade is not going to die!
There was a great flash as the moonlight broke over the stones, shining down at the heart of the gate. The ground rumbled and a great circle of light appeared, lighting the way to their only hope of survival. And still Sheena was trying to sacrifice herself. "I'll be damned! This is so not my style…" Zelos muttered, racing for Sheena as Kuchinawa drew his weapon. "You've got to be kiddin' me! Enough of this, Sheena!" His hand closed around her arm and her jerked her into his grasp, lifting her up and running towards the gate. "Lloyd! Come on!"
"Well I'll be damned!" Anna exclaimed with a whoop. She ran over to the portal, just behind her son, and dove in headfirst.
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"Owwwwww," Ann moaned opening her eyes. Her body ached all over as she sat up rubbing her head.
"Where are we?" Regal asked.
"Probably on the outskirts of Palmacosta," Raine replied.
"Phew," Zelos panted, pulling Sheena to her feet. "Man, I never thought I'd wind up coming over to this side like that."
Sheena shoved Zelos away from her. "Why did you butt in?!"
Zelos folded his arms, trying to fight down the insane protective urge that had overcome him. "Excuse me? Don't tell me you actually wanted to die back there." Sheena looked away, blushing. "Besides, those guys would have come after us regardless of whether or not you died. Pope's orders and all.
Sheena's head shot up. "Are you saying Kuchinawa is working for the Pope?"
Raine shrugged. "It's likely. Those assassins he had with him were the Pope's men, weren't they?"
Colette walked up to Sheena. "Sheena, please don't do something like that again. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Nothing good will come of you sacrificing your life!"
"Colette's absolutely right," Lloyd said. "You should thank Zelos, Sheena."
Sheena turned and looked up at Zelos, who had masked himself again behind his cocky smile. "Th…thanks."
Zelos grinned. "Come on now, would it hurt you to give me a kiss or two?"
"UGH! IDIOT!" Sheena said, smacking Zelos upside the head. They set off in to Palmacosta to drop Mithos off. Anna lagged behind and walked beside Zelos. The Chosen looked at her suspiciously.
"I suppose you want to hit me too eh, Adalais?" Zelos said cheerfully.
"Ada," Anna said. "You saved Sheena. You earned the right to call me Ada."
Zelos winked. "Sure thing my fiery-" he broke off at a look from Anna. "Er…Ada."
"You love her," Anna said after a moment.
Zelos stopped dead. "Babe! Come on. I'm the Great Zelos Wilder. I love ALL the ladies."
"But her in particular," Anna said, dismissing his protests. "That's why when she was in danger, your…somewhat buried protective instincts kicked in and caused her to scoop her up in your arms and dash through a gate you knew perfectly well would take you to the uh… 'hellish land' of Sylvarant." You did not want her to die." Zelos said nothing. "Think about it, Zelos. I know what you are, I know to whom you're reporting. Act now…and you won't lose her or your comrades. You don't have to die to free Seles." Anna walked off to chat with Lloyd, leaving behind a very distracted pervert.
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"Renegades!" Lloyd snarled as the supposed Desians at the destroyed Palmacosta ranch were revealed to be Botta.
"So that's it. Neil and the others couldn't tell the difference between the Desians and the Renegades."
"That's the general idea behind their appearance," Anna remarked.
"Indeed," said Botta. "We've been waiting for you."
"Are you saying you were expecting us to come here?" Regal asked.
Botta scoffed. "Does it really matter? We have more important things to discus, such as joining forces."
Raine shook her head. "Unbelievable. You actually expect us to trust you after all you've done to Lloyd and Colette?"
"You bet they do," Anna sighed. "And we're going to do it anyway."
"The circumstances have changed." Yuan strode out of the trees his arms folded as he looked down his nose at the group. "Do you know of the Giant Kharlan Tree?"
"The legendary Giant Tree said to have existed in the Holy Ground of
Kharlan, right?" said Zelos, to everyone's astonishment. "It's the tree of life, which produces infinite mana."
"Isn't that just a fairy tale?" Colette said.
"Nope," Anna said. "It's merely been so long, that facts have faded into legends and myths."
Yuan nodded. "The Giant Kharlan Tree indeed existed. But the Kharlan War exhausted its mana supply and the tree wilted away. And now all that remains is its seed left in the Holy Ground of Kharlan. It is known as the Great Seed."
"Are you talking about the Soul of Mithos?" Genis asked.
"Now that is a fairy tale," Botta said. "The Great Seed, the source of the world's mana, is the seed of the Giant Tree."
"The Great Seed is absolutely vital in order to reunite the two worlds," Yuan added.
"That would indeed be our logical goal," Anna said. "It's the only way of reforming this twisted system while ensuring the supply of mana isn't exhausted."
"Reunite the two worlds?!" Lloyd exclaimed, confused.
"I believe I told you before," Yuan said. "Yggdrasill is the creator of the two worlds. Originally, the world was one, but Yggdrasill ripped it asunder."
"How is it even possible for someone to split the world apart?" Lloyd asked.
"It was possible for Yggdrasill," replied Yuan. "The two worlds have managed to survive by vying for the small amount of mana seeping from the Great Seed."
"So that's why the cycle of flourishing and declining continues, and the Chosen goes on a journey of regeneration…" Colette trailed off, lost in thought.
"But if the Great Seed germinates, the Giant Tree will be restored and the cycle will come to an end." Anna turned her laugh into a cough.
"How do we resurrect the Giant Tree?" Lloyd asked.
"The Great Seed is nearly dead," Yuan informed him. "We must expose it to a large amount of mana in order to save it."
"There's no supply of mana like that to be found anywhere in the world," Raine pointed out.
"You mean not in this world," Anna said.
"Are you suggesting we take mana from your world?" Sheena asked.
"That would be impossible," Yuan said. "Cruxis' base, Derris-Kharlan, is a comet made from a giant mass of mana. It lies suspended in the sky high above this land. All we have to do is use that."
"Oh is that all?" Anna said sarcastically.
"If that's true, why doesn't Yggdrasill revive the Giant Tree?" Lloyd asked.
"All of Derris-Kharlan's mana is being given to Martel for the sake of resurrecting her." Yuan said heavily, biting down the rage he had grown so accustom to, By using the power of a Cruxis Crystal, Martel's soul lives on, existing as a part of the Great Seed."
"If Martel awakens," said Botta, "the Great Seed will be absorbed into her and disappear. The reverse also holds true. In order to prevent that from happening, Yggdrasill protects the Great Seed with the seals of the Summon Spirits."
"So that's why the Renegades are trying to stop Martel's revival," Raine concluded.
Yuan nodded at her. "We will make the Great Seed germinate. As a result, Martel will be absorbed by the seed, and then…"
"The Giant Kharlan Tree will be reborn." Lloyd punched a fist in the air. "Let's do it."
"If that happens, will the two worlds become one again?"
Yuan shrugged. "That I don't know. The only certainty is that the world will end if the seed is lost."
"So, you're gonna have Miss Martel be a good little girl and disappear," Zelos said.
"Martel is already dead," Yuan said bitterly. "If it weren't for Derris-Kharlan's mana, her soul would have disappeared a long time ago." And she wouldn't have to suffer like this.
"Why is Yggdrasill so obsessed with Martel?" Genis asked.
"That doesn't matter," snapped the seraph. "What's important is that we see to it that the Great Seed germinates."
"Up till now, the Great Seed has been protected by the Summon Spirits of the declining world. Now that the links have begun to unravel, the Great Seed's protection has weakened."
"Ada," Lloyd asked, turning to face her. "Is he with Cruxis? Or is he with the Renegades?"
"As him yourself," Anna shrugged. "Yuan?"
Yuan rolled his eyes at her. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?" he sighed and looked at Lloyd. "I am with Cruxis, and I am also the leader of the Renegades."
"A double-agent?" Regal wondered aloud.
"In other words, a traitor," Zelos remarked.
"Also known as an effective tool to opposing Yggdrasill, don't forget." Anna glared as most of them rolled their eyes. "Would he be the Leader and founder of a group that opposed Yggdrasill if he meant to turn it over to the twisted man?"
Yuan sighed. "So, what's your decision?"
"Okay," Lloyd said. There was an instant objection from Raine, but Lloyd dismissed it. "He's revealed the fact that he is a traitor. He's putting himself on the line. That has to mean something."
"You were headed towards Rodyle's ranch, correct?" Yuan asked.
"You sure know a lot about what we're doing. Do you have a spy watching us or something?" Anna smacked her forehead.
"Could you be anymore obvious?" she whispered to the Chosen, who ignored her.
"No kidding," Lloyd said with a laugh.
Anna glared up at the sky. I blame you for his slowness Kratos! If you hadn't dropped him those three times, he'd probably be a regular old genius!
"But either way, we have to stop that Mana Cannon thing before it's completed," Lloyd finished.
"We also have a debt to pay back to Rodyle," said Presea, her normally monotonous voice furious.
"The ranch and Mana Cannon systems should be interlinked," Yuan informed them. "Disabling the control room should be our first priority. We need to make preparations to fire mana at the Great Seed." Yuan started to leave, but turned back. "Oh, by the way, the Rheaird dimensional transfer system will be offline while we make our preparations. You'll have to wait until after we infiltrate the ranch if you want to get back to Tethe'alla."
"Got it," Lloyd said.
"Talk to Botta when you're ready," Yuan said, turning to his second-in-command. "I'll leave the rest to you, Botta."
"Understood," Botta said.
Yuan made to leave but Anna found she could not remain silent any longer. "This won't work, Yuan!"
Yuan looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that if we destroy the protection around the great seed, all that will happen is that the Tree will go out of control," Anna said. "What we're hoping for will not happen."
"But if we don't try," Lloyd said, the worlds will stay in turmoil."
Anna shook her head. "Do what you will." It'll be all right. After all, things work out in the end. If we don't do this, who knows if we'll ever be able to destroy the Iselia ranch?
Botta lead the way to the Remote Island Human Ranch. Outside he explained what the plan was. "We have work to do on the mana reactor in here. If you head straight, it should connect to the ranch." He looked at Raine and glared. "One more thing. It seems you've destroyed every ranch you've been to, but we need the mana reactor in order to sprout the Great Seed. Don't destroy this one."
"Hear that, Raine?" Sheena and Anna chorused.
"It's not like I destroy them for fun, you know," Raine snapped.
"Yet it is very strange just how much fun it can be," Anna said happily as they made their way inside.
" In order to disable the Mana Cannon, we need to go to the control room," Regal remarked.
"My intuition tells me it's probably the room farthest in," Lloyd said heavily. "So for this place, that would be the top floor." They proceed through the most annoying, time consuming, ugly, difficult ranch that ever existed. But that gave Anna plenty of time to think.
Even before she had been sent to the human ranch, Anna Aurion was not weak. She was known for being loyal and strong. But above all else, she was respected for putting others above herself. She had fought tooth and nail to save her parents lives, begging the foes to take her instead. But they wouldn't. When she watched them die before her very eyes, she vowed never to put her life before even the most insignificant persons. It was because of this she begged Kratos to kill her…so he and Lloyd could be free to live.
Adalias Orion was the same. The guilt she had felt upon discovering her father's body had never faded away. She had spent the rest of her life working to prevent other such tragedies. She even pretended to love Sei so he would not have to suffer a broken heart. She could never be happy while others suffered, particularly when she could have done something.
So…Anna Adalais Aurion had a decision to make. Botta was mere hours…no, minutes…from death. Could she really stand by and watch he and the two soldiers drown before their very eyes? But then there was Lloyd and Kratos to think of…and Colette, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Presea, Zelos and Regal. Could she leave them to suffer by sacrificing herself for Botta? Could she really leave her family a second time? But if she chose not to save Botta, could she live with that decision?
Rodyle's voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Well, I see the failed Chosen and her traveling band of fools are still alive. You're as stubborn as cockroaches."
"You and Vharley…deceived me," Presea hissed.
"Presea…I'd have treated you so much better had you made me a Cruxis Crystal in that little body of yours," the half-elf squeaked. Seriously, his voice was very nasal and squeaky.
"Die!" Presea shouted.
Rodyle laughed maniacally. "Now, now, settle down. Have a look at the projector. I've got a special underwater show for you."
Lloyd's group watched in horror as the prisoners appeared on the screen boxed off. With a horrible rushing noise, seawater began to fill the room. Anna watched the projector of the prisoners attempting to escape, but it was to no avail. In that moment, she knew exactly what to do.
"H…how could you do that?!" Genis gasped.
"They'll all be killed!" Colette shrieked.
"Damn you!" Regal started forward, his blood pumping fast as the man responsible for Alicia's death laughed insanely.
"You bastard!" Lloyd shouted. "Stop the water, now!"
"I know why you've come here," Rodyle sneered. "I'm sure you intend to shut down my Mana Cannon. But you won't succeed. I've filled the corridor leading to the Mana
Cannon with sea water!"
"You're going to kill all those people at the ranch just to stop us?!" Anna and Colette demanded.
"Who cares about the lives of pathetic inferior beings?!" Rodyle laughed. "The Mana Cannon will be completed once I get the Cruxis Crystal. With Thor's Hammer in my possession, Yggdrasill and Cruxis will beg for my mercy! Even that eye-sore of a tower will fall before my cannon."
"What do you hope to accomplish by destroying the Tower of Salvation?!" Lloyd shouted, unsheathing his blades.
"That's nothing you lower life forms need to concern yourselves with. The Cruxis Crystal is finally mine!" Rodyle withdrew the orb and grinned. "Now, let's see. I think I'll test its power first by equipping it on myself."
Rodyle dug the Cruxis Crystal into his flesh. The effect was instantaneous. The skin stretched and faded into green, his eyes turning a blood red crimson.
"Augh!" Anna cried, holding her head as memories of pain overtook her. She remembered the feel of her natural body fading away. The crunch of bones, the sharp, painful growth of muscles, the fires in her blood as her mana rebelled.
Regal and Presea were fueled by anger, hacking at Rodyle like a piece of meat. Colette's face was twisted in concentration as she chanted for holy light. Lloyd was a blur, shifting from attack to attack.
"Burn in the fiery depths of hell!" Regal roared, kicking Rodyle up into the air. As he crashed to the ground, Presea dug her as into his heart.
"It's done Alicia," she said monotonously.
Rodyle crawled forward, blood pouring from all over his body. "Ugh…what's happening?… My…my body…my body is disintegrating! Pronyma, you tricked me!" He crawled forward and hit the control panel. "But I won't die alone!" he shouted as his body disappeared before their eyes. "I'm taking you all with me!"
"No!" Raine cried, dashing to the monitor. "He's activated the self-destruct system!"
"Botta warned us not to destroy this place!" Colette cried.
"Dammit! We have to stop it!" Lloyd shouted.
Presea looked at the monitor. "Impossible. The only one among us who can handle this machinery is Raine…"
Zelos attempted to assist Raine, but to no avail. "Most Tethe'allans don't really study the details of magitechnology very much."
"Professor!" Lloyd cried.
"I know! But I can't do this by myself!" Raine said, frantically.
"Move!" Anna said, staggering to her feet and pushing the memories back. "All of you get through that door. I can stop it on my own."
"But…" Lloyd said.
"GO!" Anna shoved Lloyd hard toward the door and turned to the monitor. Her fingers flew as the group dashed out. She knew exactly what to do. Suddenly, Botta and the Renegade soldiers arrived at the scene.
"We'll take over from here," Botta said. "Escape through the hatch over there."
"No!" Anna snarled. "I know what to do. If you go now, I can stop it and set it so we all escape with our lives!"
Botta shook his head. "The water is coming! If we don't seal it now-!"
"Botta go!" Anna shouted. "Yuan needs you. And I need you to give this to Lloyd." Anna ripped the blades from her belt. Then she took off her headband. "And this to Yuan…tell him to give it to Kratos. But don't tell Lloyd."
"But-!"
"You must live," she yelled. "Go! I'm sealing the hatch. Do you want to die having done nothing to stop this?!"
"…All right." Botta turned and signaled to the troops to head out. They had just made it through the door when it sealed and a layer of water pushed up through the floor.
Outside, Lloyd paled. "Oh, no! We've got to open that door!"
Lloyd and Genis dashed over to the hatch and attempted to pry it open.
"It's no use! Arrgh! It won't budge!" Genis cried.
"Move!" Regal ran forward and began to kick at the glass with all of his strength. But not even he could lay a scratch on it. "Adalais!"
Raine gasped. "Ada did this on purpose. She knew the water was coming and locked it from the inside."
"Yes," Botta said. "She did what we meant to do."
Colette threw her chakrams at the window, her wings glimmering in her desperation. "ADA! We have to save her!"
"If the door opens, this area will be flooded as well," Botta said. "And as you can see, the ceiling is covered by a dome. There's nowhere for the water to escape."
"She did it…to save us?" Presea hefted her ax to help the others.
"Dammit! Isn't there anything we can do?!" Lloyd shouted.
Anna clicked the last bit into place and sighed happily. She turned on the intercom and faced her son, a smile on her face. "We've stopped the self-destruct system." Lloyd ran up to the window, beating on it with his swords. Anna smiled at him. "Do you really think I could live knowing people died in front of me?" she asked.
"Damn it!" Lloyd roared. "Don't do this Ada! Please for the love of Origin don't sacrifice yourself. Open the door! If we destroy the dome overhead…"
"Our goal was to modify each ranch's mana reactor in order to fire mana at the Great Seed," Anna recited from memory. "Now that I've finished reprogramming this control room, the mission is complete." She sighed. "I need you to tell Yuan…and regenerate the world."
"We'll do it together!" Lloyd shouted, tears running down his face. "Open the door, now!"
Ada splashed her way to the gate as the water continued to rise. "You will regenerate the world, Lloyd," she said, tears in her eyes. "All of you will succeed. Not because I know the future, but because you can do it."
"NO!" Lloyd yelled. "We can't. Not without you Ada. Open the door!"
Ada smiled and shook her head. "Lloyd…you will always have me. I will always be with you. With all of you." She looked at Lloyd. "You won't understand this now but…I love you like you were my son Lloyd. I won't leave you alone again."
"Ada!" Lloyd cried, desperately hacking at the glass.
The iron curtain began to descend. "Please see to it that Martel is finally allowed her eternal sleep," Ada said softy. "For Yuan's sake…" She hesitated and looked at Raine. "Raine…tell him for me." Raine nodded in understanding.
"No!" Colette shouted. "Ada!!!"
"Heh," she laughed as they vanished from view. "Old fighter dies…new saviors live. Fair trade." She sighed as a memory flashed in her mind.
"You're just accepting it?" Kratos said softly. "You don't care if you…"
Anna rested her head on his shoulder and watched Lloyd sleeping in his crib. "I'll have done this much. I'll have loved two people with all my heart and soul. Death isn't important. It's not about leaving. It isn't when you die that's important, it's what you've done to be remembered…what you've done to live, Kratos. Thanks to you, my love…I've no regrets."
The water was to her shoulders and this time, there was no Kratos to save her. This was it. She would be leaving behind her family for the second time in her life. She closed her eyes as the water closed over her head and held her breath, delaying the inevitable.
Don't die Lloyd…my son.
She breathed in, feeling salt water burn its way into her lungs. She choked, twisting violently as her lungs gasped for air, but there was none to be found. She felt her thrashing limbs start to slow, her racing heart cease to beat…until her mind faded into dark oblivion, this time never to awaken again.
It's not over, I promise! Just stick with me, don't give up on me yet! -gulp- I'm so doomed…
