Insaneiac: Avast yee miserable sea dogs. What arrr all yee doin on my here ship me-hardies? Either take point and swab the deck or take heed and walk the plank, but yee best remain a useful piece to me eyes, savvy? Now, with that entrance all out of the way…yay! We now begin the home run until the climatic end of Act 1. Lloyd and Sheena have summon spirits to make pacts with, whilst Colette and company have a seal to break, and finally, Botta lies in wait to trap our ever so loved Chosen One within the tower and, among other things, buy Lloyd time. It's time to start what is going to end these adventures on Sylvarant. Not to mention something many of you have been longing for. Now, for our special guest Disclaimer-ist…Y'all tell me if you know who it is.

Disclaimer: GENTLEMEN…BEHOLD! This is NOT the property of INSANEIAC! HAHAHA! NAMCO owns this and…YOUR SOULS! NOW! I will cross breed this story…WITH A BANANA!

Steve:…Um…Oh…kay?

Chapter 14: Sanctuary, Part I

"Ugh…I hate this desert…and this heat…and these bandits…" Lloyd growled as he sheathed his twin angelic blades one final time before swiping his forearm across his brow. Above of himself, Sheena and the bandit corpses, the near noon sun bared down upon them ruthlessly, casting its incredible heat upon the face of the each sandy dune. They had left at first dawn from the Renegade base and had, thanks to the teeming bandit population and the having to avoid almost all contact with civilization, spent the first half of the day just reaching the point they were at now He shut his eyes for only a moment before another sense of disdain filled his thoughts.

"And while I am at it…I hate Yuan too. Him and his holier than thou attitude!"

Sheena sighed in a foreign manner as Lloyd elaborated his whims. While Sheena was not standing in either agreement with the exasperated youth's disgruntled emotions, neither was she in disdain over them. She would be more than happy to bid a fond and ever joyous farewell to the sandy dunes of Triet Desert. She was more then ready to indulge Yuan in the traditional and cruel art of Mizuho Water Torture, and while she did have a rather hefty disdain for bandits, she could not help but pity them at the same time. After all, most bandits are just people that lost their way in life. What happened to them during their life was wrong, and what they did now reflected the past in ways of their own. Rather this was a sigh persevered for guilt. Despite the fact that she had become friends with Lloyd and despite the fact that he had saved her life on two separate occasions…it was her fault that he was stuck in the position he was in now. He could have been living happily in some town without needing to worry about people demanding his death or working against the Chosen of Mana. If she would have just opted to disappear after helping him through the poison when she had met him, like her brain had told her to, instead of listening to the voice of her soul. If there was any voice that seemed to resonate from a part of her that she could rid herself of, it would be her soul's tiny and tough voice.

"OY! Sylvarant to SHEENA!" Lloyd yelled with his face mere hairs away from her's and effectively snapping the girl back into reality. A short scream escaped her lips before she stumbled backwards and landed on hard stone. Among other things, the hard rocky surface did her poor buttocks very little good to be sure.

"Oooow…Lloyd! What'd you do that for?" Sheena complained, rubbing her assailed posterior tenderly. With a tight grimace upon her face, she swung her arm out and grabbed Lloyd's extended hand before she was pulled to her feet. With a pair of gentle wipes to the rear of her battle kimono, Sheena returned her attention to Lloyd with a cold glare.

"Well, we got here and you were still all quiet and stuff. I just wanted to make sure you didn't turn into a zombie or something, you know? That'd suck and stuff." Lloyd replied hastily and nervously and gaining a quick narrowed glare from the chocolate eyes that held his tightly. Fast did the narrow eyes fade, into more open and alert ones that soon took to beholding the scenery. "At least, I think this is Triet's dungeon. It looks like the kind of place that I'd put a dungeon." Sheena gave her self time to quickly shake her head at her friend's reasoning for the placement of Efreet's Sanctuary.

"Well, there are stairs leading somewhere…and if you can give me one moment…CORRINE!" Sheena cried just seconds before an oddly loud yet still small explosion of smoke came to existence just in front of her, leaving in its path the tiny tri-tailed fox. "Scout the area down those stairs and let us know if this is actually Efreet's domain."

"Okay!" Corrine replied crisply before dashing off and down the tinted red stairs. A few seconds later and the sounds of petite fox feet bouncing off stone were all but a memory.

"Well, nothing to do but wait now. With any luck, Corrine should be done before the sun turns roasts us alive." Sheena voiced, turning to smile at Lloyd. With a single nod, the two scrambled amidst the ruins to fine a suitable source of shade before collapsing within the cool confines of a shady grove thanks to a few overhanging ruins. The shady out cropping was by no means large, but it was enough so that the two could sit within its shady confines, although a little pushed together if anything. And, of course, for the teenagers in question, nothing was more uncomfortable than unbearable heat, inevitable closeness and awkward silences.

"So…what is Mizuho like Sheena?" Lloyd inquired, finally breaking the long hanging silence. He began to worry slightly when all that followed the seemingly innocent query was another long silence. Slowly, he twisted his head over to look at Sheena curiously to see her with her arms wrapped around her legs and the side of her head resting on her knees. For a second, Lloyd's hand began to stretch to her shoulder, wondering if he had said something wrong when she shifted in her place and sighed out.

"It's a beautiful little hidden away town with a sparkling river that runs through it that I've never seen dirtied once. Around our chief's house there is a circle of the clearest blue water that is always kept cleaned by the villagers. It feels very simple as you walk through it, with houses that never get more complex then a pair of rooms with flat roofs. Since Mizuho is so cut off from the rest of Tethe'alla, we have many farms that supply us with our food, as well as groups of hunters that bring us back meat and the such so the village is tied closely to nature as well, with houses are neighbored by trees or the river that runs through it." Sheena paused for a moment, and unbeknownst to Lloyd, stifled a few whimpers as she continued to describe her home. It wasn't homesickness that bothered her; it was what the village might think of her if she returned a failure once more that bothered her. "The village has a large, beautiful and majestic gate at the beginning of it, as well as within the center of the village to guide those who return, and all amidst it are natural and manmade structures that add to its bounding with the environment that the village was built around." Again she paused, and this time Lloyd could hear the whimper. He had about to speak when she continued regardless, wrapping her arms around her knees a little tighter. "The only other place tied to Mizuho is quite a ways off, but it is still considered as part of our village. It is a large stone tower that stands alone on an island, the only other structure on it being a dock. Inside that tower is…"

"It's okay Sheena…if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." Lloyd interrupted. What Sheena had not been quite aware of was that when she had begun talking about the ominous tower, her voice had been randomly switching between a stammering fear filled voice and a depressed voice. Her head shot up quickly once she realized what had been going on with her voice and spun to look at Lloyd. Her eyes rested on his warm smile that, among many other things, seemed to calm her.

"…No. It's just…" Sheena began, tightening her wrap around her knees. "That place…It's where I messed up…It's where I really screwed up."

Suddenly, Lloyd's mind shot backwards to the discussion he had with Corrine, regarding the catastrophe that had befallen Mizuho. Had he not consciously regained control of his mouth when he did, he would have almost begun spilling out what Corrine had told him that night. Lloyd was never too bright to begin with, but he knew enough that sputtering out something like that could very well turn deathly sour incredibly fast. And judging from the fact that Sheena packed a very disturbing front kick, he wanted to avoid any such encounter. Not to mention betray the trust of one of Sheena's friend and cause any other number of horrid mistakes that could and more than less likely would result in pain and hate.

"Well then, don't worry about it right now. We will plenty of time to talk, I'm sure." Lloyd attempted to comfort, staring off into the nigh infinite desert that was before them. He nearly jumped when he felt Sheena lean up against him intentionally and sparing a wearied sigh. "Sheena?"

"Alright then, but I'm holding you to that, okay?" Sheena replied, getting a firm nod in return from the swordsman. A mere moment later, Corrine appeared in front of the two and gave a fox like grin that, upon seeing it, caused the two travelers to quickly stand up and begin acting as though nothing at all had happened. After a brief period of internal denial, the two turned to Corrine and, either by choice or subconsciously, glared at the fox. This only served to further the foxy grin.

"Its Efreet's dungeon alright! I saw the portal that leads to the summoning point." Corrine reported, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The two turned their heads away from the spot where Corrine had been and to one another, nodding once before dashing towards the entrance.

"OH great…it feels even hotter down there…" Lloyd complained one last time before the two descended the staircase and begun their journey into Efreet's dungeon.

------ At the Entrance of the Tower of Mana ------

"Kratos? Is something wrong?" Raine ask out of the blue as her eyes once more shifted to face of the mercenary. She had noticed that, for the past two hours now he had been relentlessly scanning the area around him with his right hand tightly wrapped around his sword's hilt. While the latter was nothing new to the group about Kratos, the former was a rarity that the man did his finest to never show. It was never odd to scan an area, but to scan the same area time upon time was unsettling, especially when the one battle hardened warrior was doing it. For whatever reason it was though, she was inwardly glad Kratos was doing as such.

"I have a feeling, that is all." Kratos responded without as much as a sideways glance at the healer. However, his voice did carry a tinge of distaste that had carried since they left the ruins of Luin. Albeit everything turned out for the better in the end, it took a major sacrifice on their end as well as some borderline idiocy on the part of the most important person on the planet and the seemingly most intelligent one. How the two could come to doing something so brash, reckless, stupid and endangering and still be smiling about it was beyond them, even if their actions had brought them the key to the Tower of Mana, something he was now very glad they had. With a nod, Raine took the answer at face value and began towards the door of the Tower, key in hand. This allowed Kratos to turn his attention on the two that had caused him the amount of grief he had built up.

"So…what have you to say for yourselves?"

--- Earlier at the Ruins of Luin ---

"And you just let them go…with all our money…to the people that threatened her life when we were there last?" Kratos growled, his voice never rising in ire. It, of course, did not have to rise for it to convey the disdain that resonated soundly within the older man voice. Her matter of fact nod only served to further drive that disdain deeper into his being. "Raine, you realize at the worse Colette might be killed, right?"

"Not likely. Among other things, including the fact that they seemed to be angrier at you and I then Colette, Genis is with her."

"That's supposed to comfort me? I'm going to bring them back before we start a small war." Kratos spoke with authority. Had anyone else said such a thing, Raine would have spared a chuckle at the underlining sarcasm. However Kratos was as serious as ever. Even then, she had to fight back the chuckle.

"Genis loves Colette Kratos. Believe me; I feel much more worry for the townspeople rather than Colette. If they try and do anything to her, Genis might very well turn them into all into ashes."

"Not a very smart thing to do if you ask me…"

"Love can make the smartest person do the dumbest things Kratos." Raine spoke as though it were a matter of fact. It set off her nerves once she saw the glare from Kratos soften considerably for the briefest of seconds before hardening like rock. "Genis is with her, and we should get ready to leave when they return."

"I'm always ready, and now if you do not mind, I'm going to make sure we leave with a purpose still in our midst." Kratos finished icily before marching towards the village. In the back of his mind the words Raine uttered fluttered about relentlessly, gnawing hungrily at his memories and his guilt. A long sigh escaped the auburn haired warrior as he marched, followed by an unconscious grunt of pent up anger. 'Wonderful…I'm losing my temper now…How hard could it truly had been to guide a little blonde girl from place to place, even with her two half-elf friends…Couple in the fact that my own son is working against me with…with a Mizuhoan summoner of all things. Perhaps Yggdrasill has underestimated those two.' Kratos' mental conversation and walk paused for a moment as his mind flashed back to the way Lloyd had stood against him. The way he stood at the edge of death for a woman he had only met under a month ago, and more than anything else, the look that resonated in his eyes. 'Lloyd, I truly hope you know what you are getting into. Aside from her, you'll find yourself alone in the worlds as you travel down this road… But I suppose this is something you've at least become aware of. I wonder if you even realize yet what your heart was yelling when you defended her at the human ranch.' With the thought cleansed from his mind, Kratos continued towards the village

When Kratos finally reached Colette and Genis in the center of the ruins, his eyes went wide with a toxic combination of horror and rage. Genis stood to the side, staring at Colette intently with his hand gripping the kendama tighter and tighter as he watched. Colette, on the other hand, was on her knees with her forehead pressed to the ground, a hand pressed down on the ground on either side of her head. Just in front of her was what looked to be the entire Luin restoration crew, each one wearing a speculative glance as they beheld the girl in front of them. At the head of the group was the man that had told Kratos off in the first place, his angered and twisted face replaced with one of silent contemplation and attentiveness. At first, Kratos had believed that she had been forced into such a state, but it was only then that his ears finally kicked in and he began to hear what was being said. With the odd silence gone, Kratos was mentally struck aback when he began listening to the words that flowed from the Chosen's mouth.

"My name is Colette Brunel, and I am the Chosen of Mana. I have been traveling across the world to complete the Journey of Regeneration and, in my journey; I have done something that has wronged each and every one of you who stand here today, those who have opted to continue working on the town, and those that had been struck down in the attack by the Desians. I, Colette Brunel, am so sorry for the things I and my companions had said about the two that had defended this town. To say such lies about two people who would sooner sacrifice themselves then allow any to be hurt in front of their eyes is something that I hold both disgust at the thought of and shame at the act of." Colette atoned, not sparing a glance from the ground to the townspeople. Slowly, she brought a hand to her side and gripped the rather large bag of money before dragging it around to the feet of the man in front of her. "This is all the gold me and my companions have acquired during this journey. I don't mean for this to be a way to forgive and forget at all. I offer this money as a gesture of good will and as a start in attempting to redeem myself and my companions for their actions."

For a man who had spent thousands of years in existence, Kratos had seen a chosen do many things that range from selfless to selfish and beyond. This was the first time he had ever beheld a Chosen one tossing aside any comfort for him or herself and offer it all to a group of people who, by all accounts deserved nothing more than the judgment of angels and a few crossed words.

"…Don't you need that money though?" One man, a pastor, asked. "…For your journey?"

"We don't need it." Colette began, pausing for a moment. "At least not as much as this town does. I could not be here to protect it, so now I want to at least do what I can to help it be rebuilt."

"You should thank the Chosen One." Kratos finally spoke monotonously, his eyes a cold and empty gaze upon the people in front of Colette. He had become mentally aware that the instant he had spoken, all but the Chosen's eyes were upon him. "She has shown you a great deal of clemency in what she has done, and you should return that in kind." Once more, Kratos found that all he had earned from the crowd was a collection of heartless glares and scowls.

"Why should we?" The front man spoke in defense, before kneeling down and helping Colette up, flashing her a quick smile before looking back at Kratos. "She might be the Chosen in title, but for we 'who are abandoned by Martel' she is not the Chosen. She is Colette, a young girl who sought to apologize for the act of foolishness that rests on the shoulders of her companions. And we are immensely grateful to Colette for doing this so selflessly. So it is to Colette we are indebted to…and not the Chosen."

"Even after her act of grace, you continue to act so defiantly…" Kratos retorted.

"If it were not for those two, I may not be here today. They saved my life and my soul. Of course I retain defiance against your lies. But why should we take that out on those who travel with you?" The man spoke, before turning to Colette. "Where are you off to next? We cannot give much, but at the least we can spare some supplies."

"The Tower of Mana." Colette spoke, smiling at the man. Turning briefly, the man uttered something to the pastor who had spoken before who quickly produced a key from his pocket. Handing it to Colette, the man smiled again.

"This should get you into the Tower then." The man said, drawing forth a smile from Colette.

"Thank you so much…"

"Please…my name is Pietro."

------ Tower of Mana ------

For all the things he had considered himself over the several millennia he had been in existence for, one of those things had never been a fool. Yet, for whatever reason in either way, Kratos Aurion found himself as such when first dawn had broken, and had continued to up until the point of the day they were at. The charity Colette had presented the towns people was more than enough to appease them and, in the end, they had attained something that they needed more than they, specifically Kratos, had thought at the time. The key to the door of the Tower of Mana. Raine had opted to unlock the door and do a very brief inward scan of the area, giving Kratos the time he needed to try and draw forth an explanation from Colette and Genis. Colette's head had slouched on her shoulders and the child had fixed her vision on the ground, while Genis had stepped ahead and in front of Colette and was returning the mercenary's admonishing stare with a glare of his own. However, even with Genis in his way, the gaze Kratos wore ripped through him and still found its way to Colette.

"The ends do not justify the means Chosen one. Foolishness and recklessness like that more often than not ends with death. What would you have done if those people had chosen to attack rather than listen?" Kratos admonished.

"For starters, I'd turn the first person to attack into a pile of ashes." Genis replied loudly without missing a beat, and unknowingly drawing a smile onto his sister's face before she disappeared inwards to check the place.

"And when word of the barbaric tactics of the Chosen one starts spreading, what then?"

"I think you said it best Kratos. Who will side with assassins of the Chosen? When the rest of humanity finds out what Luin did originally, they'll turn on themselves…like stupid humans do." Genis retorted with misdirected distaste. Kratos moved his hand to his forehead and sighed, running the hand through his auburn hair before speaking anew.

"If that is what you believe to be, then so be it. The fact remains that you two needlessly endangered yourselves, and for the remainder of this journey you will remain in eyesight of myself or Raine at all times." Kratos spoke solidly, ending the conversation. To emphasize that, he raised his hand up when Genis aimed to argue anew and flashed a frosty glare at the mage. "No. Further. Discussion." With that, Kratos walked off to the entrance of the tower.

"That annoying…arrogant…JACKASS!" Genis yelled while stamping his foot down on the ground hard in much the same fashion as a child having a tantrum. He nearly froze when he felt Colette grab his hand and pull him into a warm hug before he regained his senses and his composure.

"Thank you Genis…" Colette muttered lightly, before giving her head a quick shake and pulling away, smiling as best as she could at the person closest to her heart. "When this is all over…I promise we'll never have to worry about Kratos…okay?" With that, Colette placed a quick kiss on the left cheek of the calmed half-elf before dashing off towards the beckoning hand of Kratos. Sighing once more, Genis let a hand slide up to his kissed cheek and smiled.

"Yah…"

------ Efreet's Seal ------

"Just like last time eh?" Sheena asked, looking back at Lloyd as he came through the portal.

"Sure, except this time I feel like I'm in hell!" Lloyd complained again, wiping another layer of sweat of his head only to find it quickly replaced with another glistening sheet of perspiration. "Gah! Can we please hurry up and make friends with this guy so we can get out of here!"

"Jeez, it's not that hot…is it?" Sheena replied, shaking her head slowly. Even she had to admit that the blistering heat was far more than just a smidgen uncomfortable. However, the fact that the summon spirit was within spitting distance of them, so to speak, served to give her a mental breeze of crisp temperature. The minute they were done with Efreet was the minute they could leave to conduct a summon pact with the Sylph. However, despite the fact that she began feeling very oddly refreshed she knew the coming task would be difficult to say the least. Efreet was the summon spirit of fire and, at least in so far as to the legends of Efreet, was the most brutal spirit. He could do almost as much damage with his hands as he could the flames that encompassed his massive frame.

Of course, legends are meant to be either confirmed or dismissed and in this case, Sheena at least, was hoping for the latter. She was still nervous, even after successfully creating the pact with Undine and forging a contract with the spirit of water. For some reason, the very fact that Lloyd was even there was enough of a relaxant for the young ninja to proceed, but she was still scared. Scared of unleashing another wave of senseless destruction upon innocent people…scared of killing the friend she had finally made…scared of failing again.

"Alright then, here I go." Sheena spoke softly and borderline weakly, taking a few steps towards the large construct within the room. That was all it took for the air that resided within the chamber to burst in heat, a wave of blistering and suffocating heat whipping through the room and washing over Lloyd and Sheena for the briefest of moments before all of it seemed to flow inwards, leaving the two gasping for crisper air and wiping a freshly generated sweat from their brow. Then there was nothing until the center of the construct began to glow a small dot of red energy. Once more, the air in the room flared up in temperature and viciously assaulted the pair. Moments felt like hours as the superheated air raged across their frames until at last the air left them entirely and was sucked into the ball of energy within the center. Sheena stumbled as she kept from collapsing to the ground, while Lloyd was on a knee with his hands pressed into the ground, gasping for air.

"I…REALLY hate this place!" Lloyd yelled, panting heavily as he glanced up at Sheena. She would have turned to look at him, but that would have required her to wrench her eyes from the pulsing ball of flame and energy entangled. She nodded once in an attempt to respond before she felt herself miss a beat and tumble to the side. The heat had taken more out of her than she would have liked. She gasped when she failed to feel hard stone floor, and instead felt the still warm but soft surface of Lloyd's arms, who had obviously rushed from his end of the room to keep her from completing the fall. A soft smile filled her features and, for a brief moment, she thanked the heat wholeheartedly. Had her face not been flushed from the extreme warmth of the room, Lloyd would have clearly seen her blushing. A soft and hurried mumbled thanks slipped from her lips before she stood back full height and glanced at the center.

Where had once been a ball of flame and force was now a being of immense looking strength, his skin shades of the fiercest flames, shifting from deep red to violent orange to relentless yellow and back again in a fluid like motion. He floated above the ground, lacking legs and instead bearing an elongated tail of sorts that seemed to extend from the bottom of his incredibly muscular torso. Along his chest were two large, eye-shaped pieces of armor with small yet infinite flames burning within the center. From the chest of the being in front of them extended two massive arms that seemed to dwarf the stone columns within the chamber, each arm bearing an immense gauntlet that extended past the back of his massive hands and ended just at the start of three long and equally strong looking digits. At the back of each gauntlet was a very large blue crystal that went against every other part of his frame insofar as colors, yet its intensity still seemed to reflect itself within each serene crystal. At each shoulder, blades of metal seemed to curve in the shape of crescent moons, hovering over his shoulders ominously and stretching out to the center of his spine, forming a sort of armor that bore open slits in between each length of metal. Its head was what truly caused the immense amount of awe in the room. Like the pictures of ancient demonic warriors of old that were spoken highly of in Mizuho, the fabled Onimusha, the spirit's head was adorned by four spiked horns, two smaller ones that extended from the back of his head to each side of his jaw and another, larger and far more imposing, pair of horns that extended from the sides of his forehead and stretched out in front of its forehead. At the rear of the horns were wings of molten rock that seemed to stretch out down along the beast's back and stretched out as far as his shoulders.

"Humans…speak now" The floating behemoth uttered, glaring at the two beneath him. Any word that slid from his mouth was accompanied by a burst of fire from his mouth and a wave of heat that whipped past them hurriedly. "There is one among you who possesses the right of the pact..." The being lifted a large hand to point one of its claws at Sheena. "…it is you. I am Efreet, spirit of the raging inferno and guardian of the Flame of Sylvarant. I am one who is bound to Mithos."

Lloyd blinked in awe before the words rang in his ears. "Mithos…"

"I am Sheena! I seek a pact with Efreet. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos, and establish a new pact with me." Sheena spoke with surprising confidence and steadfast determination. She was offset by the low chuckling that sounded from the summon spirit that sounded quite like the rumbling of a volcano primed to erupt.

"Hmm, so then the words of the flame are true…" Efreet mindlessly muttered, stretching his arms out to the side and letting out a sigh that sounded like a roar of warning from some wild beast. "Times are changing then. So be it Summoner Sheena! I shall test whether you are worthy of forming a pack with me!"

"Oh dear Martel! We've got to fight him?" Lloyd blurted out, just as the massive spirit drew a single arm back.

"So it begins!" Efreet yelled, before throwing his fist forward. Sheena was disturbed thoroughly at how fast the beast had moved, and before she could so much as let a squeak slip past her lips, she had pushed away from Lloyd and dodged to the side. Lloyd, on the other hand, was lucky enough that the momentum from Sheena pushing away from him was enough that the fist swung past him. Tumbling to the ground and going into a short roll, Lloyd pushed his right hand onto the ground and pushed to his feet as fast as possible, a hand gripping each hilt of the Seraph Blades tightly and drawing them free. As was usual, the blades let a small burst of blue light emit from them as they left the sheaths, and before Lloyd could even note he was doing it, he had the blades up in a defensive pattern, blocking the incoming fist. Pushing the fist back, Lloyd dashed forward to stab at the spirit, missing the oncoming left hand from Efreet. Lloyd let a small yelp fly through his lips with the air in his lungs as he was hit, the impact was enough to toss the swordsman backwards and into the wall. A grunt escaped Lloyd's lips as the collision with the wall drove the rest of the breath from his body.

"HELLFIRE!" Efreet growled, clapping his massive hands in front of him in Lloyd's direction and wave of fire towards the stunned Lloyd. Just as it curved in towards Lloyd a geyser of water doused the flames from existence, and drew the spirit's attention from Lloyd to the source of the attack. Before he knew it, a hand was tightly gripping each of the beast's large horns tightly. Seconds later, a pair of feet crashing into the spirit's face powerfully, pushing the beast backwards. Pushing off the face with her feet, Sheena launched herself off the beast and went into a back flip. Clapping her hands together, her cards began to glow blue. As Efreet set his eyes upon her, a geyser of water was launched from her outstretched hands into its face. A small grin formed on Sheena's lips as the watery contact created a cloud of steam that filled the immediate area that she and the beast shared. However, the grin was wiped from the face moments later as a massive fist curved through the air and caught Sheena front and center, launching her across the room and into another wall, the impact leaving an impression of the summoner on the surface of the chamber.

"SHEENA!" Lloyd yelled, pushing to his feet just in time to see Sheena turned into a projectile. With a snarl, Lloyd's hands tightened on the blades of sword. "CROSS SLASH!" Lloyd yelled as he went into a three sixty degree spin. First he slashed horizontally through the air, sending a fast moving horizontal wave of energy crashing into the spirit. Almost instantly following it, Lloyd brought the other blade slicing vertically through the air and unleashed a second, vertical blade of energy crashing into the summon spirit. A pair of grunts escaped the flame spirit as the energy hit him hard on the back, causing the creature to turn around. His eyes beheld a fast moving blur of red and before he was actually aware of it, a blade came slicing across his torso. Efreet has been struck by all kinds of blades in the distant past, but only before once had he been struck by the blade in Lloyd's hands, and just like the time before that it hurt. Two more quick slashes followed the initial one, each marking a part of Efreet's chest before a giant hand gripped the fourth slash in mid slice. Those slashes had hurt and he was done giving Lloyd those openings.

They had hurt a lot. A snarling roar escaped Efreet's flaming maw as his grand left hand wrapped tightly around Lloyd's neck and wrenched him into the air. "FLAMES OF DESTRUCTION!" Efreet yelled. Before Lloyd could do anything, the air around the hand erupted and engulfed Lloyd, prompting a scream of pain from the swordsman. Moments later, the hand dropped from Lloyd's neck and a chain of explosions engulfed Lloyd whole and launched him backwards. A second brutal scream of pain erupted from Lloyd's mouth as he floated through the air like a rag doll, bouncing off the ground once before going into a series of rolls that continued to rack his body with pain. When his body finally stopped he was felt like he had fire coursing through his veins and had been tossed off a small mountain, with every part of him growling and whining in pain. Smoke rose from his prone figure as the air around him suddenly got cooler than he was. Far to cool for a room dedicated to the summon spirit of fire. Slowly turning his head to where he felt the source of the coolness, his eyes beheld Sheena on her feet, a blue circle surrounding her and a card floating in front of her and her hands held open just in front of her chest, palms facing each other.

"I call upon the maiden of the mist. Undine!" Sheena yelled, thrusting her hands towards the card in front of her. The blue circle expanded outwards and surrounded herself and Lloyd as the cool air turned into a feeling of refreshment. In between the two warriors came the summon spirit of water, Undine in all her mystically majesty. While Lloyd was transfixed on Undine, Sheena had the sense to move around and give Lloyd several panicked shakes, snapping the boy back to reality.

"Are you okay Lloyd?" Sheena asked, her voice accompanied by rigid worry. She had seen the attack while she was finishing the summoning and it had scared her to think Lloyd could have been badly hurt.

"I wasn't…now I am." Lloyd replied, confused as he pushed up to his feet.

"Your body was refreshed along with your mind when I was called to this plain." Undine spoke in her all encompassing voice. "Now, allow us to complete this test of strength." With that, Undine stretched out her right hand and brought the liquid sword to reality, holding it in front of her.

"Yah!" Lloyd mumbled in return, nodding once to Undine and then smiling to Sheena. She had to fight with herself to allow the worry to leave her lips and face, but he could still see some of it in her eyes. "I swear Sheena, I'm alright now. So let's get this guy!" A nod from Sheena, followed by a determined glance, prompted her to turn towards Efreet and raise her cards into a defensive position. Lloyd, following suit, held his swords out towards the summon spirit.

"This…is the final charge. The flames say it so…so shall it BE! EXPLOSION!" Efreet yelled, thrusting his hands towards the group. A ball of fire hovered momentarily over the head of Efreet before hurtling like a meteor towards the group. With nothing more than a panicked squeak of a cry from Lloyd, the three dashed forwards, just dodging the impact of the ball. However, and just as Lloyd was about to say something about the attack not being true to its name, the ground behind him erupted in a massive explosion. Undine escaped unharmed but Lloyd and Sheena were tossed ahead by the explosion. Sheena planted her right hand onto the ground in mid flight and did a half front flip in the air, landing on her feet with the grace of a dancer, while Lloyd took a header into the ground and had to push back to his feet. Undine met Efreet first, dodging his first claw swipe and returning with a pair of slashes from the sword in her hand, each connecting with an arm in defence and shattering around it before reforming seconds later. A quick backwards dash put enough room between Efreet and herself to try something else.

"Aqua Edge!" From around Undine, the air temporarily turned liquid and formed into three blades of water that sliced through the air and screamed towards Efreet, evaporating into the air around the room before they could even reach him. "It is ineffective…" Just as Efreet moved to return the attack, Sheena came down from above, landing on the back of the charcoal wings, her right hand grabbing the large horn that extended past the right side of Efreet's forehead. Before he could blink, a kick knocked his head forward so he was facing the ground. Before he could do anything other than blinking, a card was pressed to the back of Efreet's head, and a grin wrapped around Sheena's face.

"Pyre Seal!" Sheena yelled, as the card erupted into many cards and a ball of energy exploded into the back of the spirit's head and drove Efreet face first into the ground. Leaping off, Lloyd was next on the attack, already airborne with both swords drawn back over his head.

"Seraph's HAMMER!" Lloyd yelled, slamming both swords down onto the prone body of Efreet, cutting through the charcoal wings and hammering into the back of the flame spirit. Just as Lloyd's feet touched the ground, the ground around Efreet exploded in light, a half circle engulfing them. Lloyd leapt out of the semicircle backwards, landing ever so briefly before taking another backwards leap and falling in line with Sheena. The circle faded away and left a marked and growling Efreet floating back to his normal height, marked considerably and panting in pain. Holding a sword out towards the spirit, Lloyd grinned.

"Are you ready for this?" Lloyd said with a grin, as Sheena whipped out her cards.

"SERAPH SEAL!" Sheena and Lloyd yelled together, as the cards in Sheena's hands erupted into many cards, wrapping themselves around each of Lloyd's blades until it was completely covered.

"SEAL!" Lloyd yelled as he suddenly dashed forward and delivered a blindingly fast slash to the side of Efreet, and in its place a card was left stuck to the surface of the skin. Instantly after that was another slash, this time to the rear of Efreet. Then another to the neck, then another to the right shoulder, and Lloyd continued to seemingly attack out of nowhere along the entire frame of Efreet up to a grand total of twenty eight times, when there was no longer a card on either sword. His job done, Lloyd jumped backwards and knelt on the ground and allowed for Sheena to finish the attack as Efreet reeled back in pain. Sheena whipped out one last card from her pocket and dashed forward, jumping once to perch on top of Lloyd's shoulders before leaping on more. Now quite a bit above Efreet, Sheena held the card out to the summon spirit.

"RELEASE!" Sheena yelled as her card pulsed a brilliant hue of sky blue a single time. Moments later, every card on Efreet's body pulsed the same color before exploding into a sphere of mixing white and sky blue one after the other in quick and solid succession. A final roar erupted from the summon spirit's lips as he was consumed by the numerous explosion, his final cry louder than every boom of every card on his surface combined. Undine, with a sullen nod, faded away as the attack rounded out. Soon, the balls of mixing light faded away from existence, allowing the summon spirit to once more assume itself as the center of the room. However he was the no longer marked in any fashion, nor did a wound or a scratch show on his surface. Lloyd and Sheena had ever so briefly exchanged extremely worried glances before they saw Efreet raise his hand to silence any protest.

"…Your power…both of you…it is admirable." A low chuckle filled the room, sounding much like a distant bonfire crackling away. "Very well then. Summoner, speak your vow and make your pact!"

Sheena spared a proud look to Lloyd who returned the look with one of his own in very much the same fashion, before she took few steps forward and faced Efreet. "Right now…at this very time…there are people who are suffering. People who are dying for meaningless causes that they do not know about. I…no. We…we vow to save these people. EFREET, I ask that thou grant me thy power!"

"So be it…I grant you the powers of my raging inferno, summoner Sheena! But…I cannot promise that this inferno will remain in check if you ever fail to keep this vow." Efreet finished, before fading into a small ball of red energy. The energy flashed once before turning into a small crystal on the ground, which Sheena quickly walked up to and snatched up. It was hot in her hand, yet not scalding at all. Tossing it in her hand once, Sheena swiped her hand across the air and held the garnet tightly in her hand.

"One down Lloyd and one to go." Sheena said with a grin as Lloyd pushed to his feet.

"Man, being a summoner would be so cool…summoning those awesome spirits and-" Lloyd began, before striking a pose with one fist pumped and held just in front of his mouth and another whipped out behind him with his hand wide open. "-saying awesome things like 'BURN to oblivion!'"

Blinking once incredulously, Sheena shook her head slowly at Lloyd, a laugh escaping her lips as she did. "Lloyd, I'm kind of glad you're not a summoner…I think the world would be in trouble if you were." Sheena spoke before walking out of the chamber. Giving his head a shake, Lloyd turned to the exiting Sheena and frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

A/N: Why did this take me so long you ask…you ever tried readjusting your entire life after getting tagged onto the graveyard shift of your new job? Anyways, I think I've long enough to get use to the schedule, so expect less delays from here on out hopefully. Next chapter is the beginning of the Ambush in the Mana Tower and the handicap match of the century as Sylph takes on Lloyd and Sheena. Y'all got to see some of the newer skills of Lloyd with his Seraph Blades, as well as the brand new combo move that comes with weapons but that is not all. Sheena has a new Spirit Art to show, and I've got a few more tricks with Lloyd. Plus, you all saw how I will be spinning summons in this, so heh. Anyways, peace yall.