[Author's Note]: Okay so you know how back on Larkenus, Cypress showed her uber hate for Cyclonis? Yeah we're about to figure out A: why she hates Cyclonis so much, and B: officially what's going on with the Dark Ace and Advent (So I can finally stop dwelling on that). ALSO ALSO, so I'm accepting name suggestions for a fancy title-ish or name thingy for the Nine guardians of Atmos (cuz that's getting to long and tedious to say). The person with the best idear will receive…uhm…idk some sorta prize (I'll commission someone on Deviantart to make a keychain or something :/). Anyway, not the shortest chapter to date, but it's a nice break from the 14 and 15 pagers I've been throwing at ya XD

Chapter 11.

Simbiosi (Symbiosis)

Constantine rushed out of the door to the hospital wing, holding various devices and several bottles of clear liquid. As she hustled out of the door, Cyclonis rose to her feet and watched Constantine walk back down the hallway. She then sat back down on the cold metal bench outside. A few moments later she came back with different bottles and several clean towels. Cyclonis rose to her feet again and watched as Constantine headed back into the room, passing her without a word.

"Your knees are going to give out if you keep doing that," Finn stated, as Cyclonis sat back down. He, Aerrow, Piper, Junko, and Sora had accompanied her to the hospital wing while Stork stayed on the flight Deck with Aida and Innes, as they waited for Cloud and Advent to emerge with good news.

"I can't help it," She replied quietly, looking down at the floor, "It's just a natural reaction…"

"Gosh I hope he's okay," Sora began sadly, trying to catch a peak of what was going on inside. She cracked the door open, just enough to get a look.

"Close the door Sora!" Cloud snapped.

"EEP!" She squeaked, slamming the door behind her.

"I'm sure everything's gonna be okay!" Junko stated cheerfully, "I mean, come on, we're the chosen ones! Of course he's gonna be alright…right?"

"Yeah," Piper smiled weakly, looking at the door, "That sounds right…"

"I'll be back," Cyclonis sighed, rising to her feet.

"Where are you going," Sora inquired, still hanging outside the door.

"I just need to move," She replied quietly, "I'm going to take a walk…" She concluded, turning away and beginning to head down the hallway.

"Wait!" Finn called, rising to his feet. She turned to look at him and their eyes met for the first time, "I'll…go with you…" He stated awkwardly.

"Okay," She replied, with a slight smile as he caught up to her.

"I can't believe I'm actually saying this," Aerrow sighed, looking down at the floor once he knew Cyclonis was out of earshot, "But I really hope that he's going to be okay."

"We all do," Piper sighed, "Even though we don't say it."

"Then maybe we should say it," Junko replied with a smile, "Maybe he wouldn't be so…so…"

"Cold," Piper added with a frown.

"Yeah," Junko replied, "Maybe he wouldn't be so mean if we let him know that we actually care."

"Yeah," Aerrow sighed, "We haven't been acting much like a team lately, have we?" At that moment, Constantine stepped out of the room, looking calm, and slightly confident.

"He's going to be alright," She smiled. Sora's face lit up at this, and she moved to rush into the room, "Oh no!" Constantine laughed, pulling Sora back by the hood of her robe, "He's still weak…but he should be back on his feet in a couple of hours…"

"Oh," Sora replied with a frown, "Okay…" At that moment, Advent glided out of the room and faced the four remaining teens. She didn't look angry or upset, but then again she didn't look all to thrilled at that moment either.

"Is something wrong?" Piper asked, rising to her feet and taking a few steps towards Advent.

"I'm not entirely sure," Advent replied, placing a hand on Piper's shoulder, "But something is amiss. Nothing you need to worry yourselves with now however…if you'll excuse me."

"What was that all about?" Aerrow whispered once Advent disappeared down the hallway.

"I'm not sure," Piper shrugged, "But then again this whole place just seems a little off to me."

"Can't say I disagree with you," Aerrow replied.


"It doesn't make sense," Advent whispered to herself. As it would have appeared, she was no longer on the tempest, but rather inside of a dark, old library, too large to possibly be on the tempest. She had a large, ancient book opened up on the table before him. Written upon the aged pages, was the ancient prophecy of the scryers:

The Clouds will part and the sky will split open as the Dark Lady of the cursed wastes will fall from the scar in the sky and engulf the world in snow and ice.

But nine sacred souls will be born, given the gift to lock the Dark Lady and her armies behind the black door for eternity, never to return again.

A Ranger

A Scryer

A Crystal Mage

A Rogue

A Scientist

A Grappler

A Druid

A Dark Ace

And A Sky Knight

They alone can banish the darkness and usher in a new era of peace over the Atmos.

"There isn't a detail I've missed," Advent said quietly to herself, "How is it possible that the Triad rejects Anteres Caylo!"

"Because he isn't entirely Anteres," A cold voice replied. It was harsh and frigid as the icy voice flowed though Advent's ears, she turned and looked around the large, empty library. She appeared to be alone, but she knew otherwise.

"Show yourself Cypress," Advent stated coldly, searching the room for a sign of her sister. She turned around, and suddenly found herself face to face with the only person in the entire Atmos she hated with a fiery passion.

"My silly sister…" Cypress sighed, circling her sister like a vulture, "As skilled a symbologist as you are…even you should know a few crystals and a couple gallons of blood a body does not make…But I suppose you learned that the hard way." She nodded, noting Advent's missing arm.

"You don't know anything," Advent hissed, touching the empty socket where her arm used to be, "You could never understand."

"You're afraid of me," Cypress began, only a few inches away from Advent's face, "You were terrified of me taking over this world…so you did everything in your power to bring your precious Dark Ace back to life, because you knew without him, I would win…but you ran into another problem didn't you?" Cypress growled, her voice quivering with anger.

"You could never understand why I did-" Advent began, a tear streaming down her face. But Cypress interrupted her.

"You made one mistake," Cypress screamed, face to face with Advent, who was suppressing tears, "One little mistake! You used half of Anteres' soul to properly catalyze his new body. And when you realized that, you substituted what you used by accident with your own soul…didn't you!"

"…" Advent was silent. Her eyes were closed, and her head was pointing away from her sister's.

"DIDN'T YOU!" Cypress screamed, demanding to hear the answer from her sister.

"…yes," Advent replied softly, tears streaming down her face.

"And on that night," Cypress growled, gripping her sister's shoulder, "You used one other person's soul to substitute for the piece you lost…"

"I did," Advent replied quietly. Cypress pushed Advent away from her as though she was a malformed creature.

"Name her…" Cypress demanded. Advent looked up at her, confused by the request, "NAME HER ADVENT!" Cypress screamed.

"Farrah," Advent whispered, as Cypress began circling her once again.

"Who was Farrah," Cypress growled, looming behind Advent.

"Your child," Advent replied shamefully.

"MY CHILD!" Cypress wailed angrily, throwing a pile of books off of a nearby table in a rage, "You stole my only child away from me and then you killed her to fulfill your own agenda! You Twilight Knights think you're so chaste and pure and noble! You're no better than myself…"

"You didn't give me a choice," Advent hissed, turning to face her sister, "That child was damned to become a monster just like you…and I vowed that I would not let that happen…even if it meant ending that child's life."

"It doesn't matter now," Cypress laughed ironically, "The triad is rejecting Anteres Caylo as the Dark Ace because part of his soul and part of your soul have been permanently fused together…and it will forever reject him because it comes down to the fact that Advent Dawnrunner is not a member of the triad and never will be! You've failed sister…and once I take control of this pathetic world…I'm going to kill him, and then make you watch as I kill Cyclonis. You took my child…and now I'm going to take yours."

"If you touch a hair on her head," Advent screamed, seizing Cypress' throat and slamming her body up against a nearby bookshelf, "I'll kill you…and that's not a threat, it's a promise."

"I'd like to see you try," Cypress laughed as she faded into the shadows, leaving Advent alone inside of the library, leaning helplessly against the bookshelf.

"If you touch her I'll kill you!" Advent screamed, her cries echoing throughout the halls of the abandoned library.


"Advent," Nova called nervously, standing across the room. She and Advent stood in a large white room on board the Luxirious, and Advent had ordered that no one be allowed inside of the chamber. There were a few blackish crystals placed in the centre of a large circle, and there were six runes written repeatedly around the edge of the circle, "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm positive," Advent replied, looking down at the circle gravely. She lifted a pail full of a reddish liquid and tossed the contents into the centre of the circle, covering the crystals, "Now leave me…I can't have you in here while I do this…" She stated, taking another pail of red liquid and throwing it on to the crystals.

"But Advent!" Nova exclaimed, "Something about this isn't right! I mean creating the body seems simple enough, but what are you going to do about his soul!"

"Nova leave!" Advent snapped, throwing the last of the red liquid on to the crystals. Nova then exited the room, as Advent held a vial of glowing bluish liquid up to her face and let out a sigh.

This is all that remains of his soul, She thought, opening the vial and emptying the contents. Advent then took a deep breath as she held her hands over the circle. It began to glow bright red as the contents arose from the ground and began to swirl and take form. Advent let out a sigh of relief as it had seemed that everything was going according to plan. She could see the outline of his body form from the contents, but suddenly, the reddish liquid burst from the circle, sprawling out in many tentacle-like appendages that thrashed around the room, searching frantically for something. Advent let out a gasp as she backed away from the circle, but it was too late. One of the bloody tentacles wrapped around her right arm as another wrapped around her body. She knew what it wanted, and so she did not struggle. The tentacle ripped her arm directly out of its socket and dropped Advent to the ground like she was a limp doll. She was in such a state of shock by this, that she felt no pain at the moment, and watched as the bloody mass finally took a human form, and the body fell limply to the ground.

Advent smiled as she clutched the place where her arm once was. She scrambled to her feet as she rushed over to the body. She rolled the man over so she could catch a glimpse of his face. But he was cold and looked as though he was dead. Advent let out a small scream as she pounded the ground with her other arm. She then did something desperate. She painted a rune on to the ground using the blood around her and placed her hand over the symbol. She then began to cough and sputter as a small, pale, bluish orb of light floated from her mouth and gently floated towards the man. Advent then opened his mouth, giving the wisp the gateway it needed to enter his body.

The man then gasped as he took a deep breath and his red eyes opened, looking around the room frantically. He was naked, cold, and covered in blood. His heart pounded inside of his chest. He pulled the lengthy black hair our of his eyes and looked for signs of anyone. He then saw Advent, laying weakly on the opposite side of the room. She looked at him, and watched as he rushed towards her and lifted her off of the ground, and she smiled.

"w-what…" She began weakly, "w-w-what I w-went th-through to get y-you he-here…" She laughed quietly as she clutched the socket where her arm once was. He said nothing, he merely held Advent in his arms as he rushed across the room to where he saw the door.

"HELP!" He shouted, after attempting to open the locked door, "SOMEBODY PLEASE!" he screamed, still clutching Advent in his arms.

"Did you hear that!" Nova exclaimed, heading down the hallway with Ravess at her side.

"It sounded like it came from Master Advent's chamber!" Ravess exclaimed as the pair rushed down the corridor. They reached the door and Nova entered the combination to the door as quickly as she could. It slid open and the two women were completely stunned by what they saw.

He stumbled out of the door, gripping tightly to Advent, and leaving a trail if blood behind as he walked. Nova opened her mouth as though to say something, and Ravess looked as though she had just seen a ghost.

"Please…" he quivered, terrified by what had just happened to him, scared, alone, and confused, "She's going to bleed to death…"

"Right," Nova nodded, taking Advent from his arms and carrying her down the hallway as quickly as she could. He then stood, breathing heavily and unevenly, shivering as he wrapped his arms around his blood stained body and fell to his knees.

"D-" Ravess began, completely shocked by the man she saw before her, "Dark Ace?" He looked up at her, confusion and fear in his eyes. She brushed his damp, lengthy hair out of his face and their eyes met. He said nothing, he just shivered, still panting.

"Where are we?" he asked quietly, quivering as he spoke, "Where is Master Cyclonis…what happened to me…"

"You don't remember anything?" She asked quietly, taking off her magenta jacket and wrapping it around his body. He said nothing. He just shook his head in response. He pulled the jacket tighter around his body as he rose back to his feet, but at that moment, Ace began to cough, a small pool of blood landing on the ground before him. He wiped his mouth with his right hand, and then noticed that something was wrong, "Come with me…" Ravess began quietly.

"W-what happened to my arm!" He asked.