Author's note: I don't own Star Ocean Till The End Of Time

The True Nature Of All

Chapter 20: Convictors?!

When Fayt's group arrived on Styx, there was an unfriendly welcoming committee waiting for them. There seemed to be more Enforcers than ever! Despairingly, they knew the outcome looked very bleak for them. Cliff growled out in frustration, "Argh! These pests are everywhere!" Everyone except for Sophia pulled out their new weapons.

Fayt casted a glance over his shoulder as he said, "You take care of the uninstaller, Sophia!"

Sophia nodded as she said, "Okay… I'll give it a try!" She began to activate the uninstaller as they began to take on the Proclaimer.

With some fancy footwork and runology from Adray, Airlia, Fayt and Nel, the monster was gone in a matter of moments. When Fayt heard Sophia growl in frustration he had to ask, "Nothing yet, Sophia!?"

She shook her head as she explained, "Sorry! Hold on a bit longer! I'm working on it!"

Another beast came, this one they knew to be an Enforcer. Fayt growled out, "Not again!" Albel took his lady's spot to fight and defend her this time. With all of their combined skills, the monster was finally defeated when Adray summoned his fiery friend, Efreet, and Albel used "Dragon Roar" to add to the effects.

When the battle was done, Sophia shouted with joy, "Done!"

While everyone began to cheer, the ground began to quake. Everyone looked around wildly as the Executioners and Proclaimers died suddenly. Everyone was tempted to cheer, however, something seemed unearthly about the situation as Fayt had to ask, "What's happening!?" The Time Gate began to glow eerily as everyone watched in horror. Suddenly the light from the Time Gate shot to the sky and everything grew bright for a few precious seconds. When it died, the ground stopped quaking and everyone began to look around.

Fayt spoke with hopeful cautiousness, "Did that do it?"

Sophia smiled gently, almost as if hope was in full bloom, "Is it…over now, Fayt?"

Fayt nodded as he smiled brightly, relieved, "I think so…"

Airlia wondered softly, not trying to dilute the happiness blooming around her, "I wonder what happened to that Owner guy?"

Albel grinned as he came over to where she was and hugged her tightly to him "Nothing to worry about now, love. Those irritating Executioners are gone… It's over, let's go home Princess."

Nel grinned in relief, "Yes. I believe the term is 'mission accomplished.'"

Cliff tried to not to wince, he was uncomfortable with the thought that he might not see the fiery Aquarian again. Everyone began to cheer when suddenly the ground began to quake again. Airlia was quick to grip Albel's arm tightly. He pulled her to him and began to eye the area warily. Suddenly the ground stopped shaking. When it stopped, Maria looked around, suspiciously, "This was no ordinary earthquake."

Fayt growled out, "Does this mean it's not over yet?"

Peppita looked like she wanted to keel over, "I don't get it, we have more to do now?" However, a light began to light upon the sky and draw a mysterious design. When the design was formed, a dark form came down from the sky and Airlia eyed the being as if he were more dangerous than anything they had faced before.

Airlia growled low, "What IS this…?"

Cliff looked at it in shock, "You gotta be kiddin'…"

Nel growled out as she pulled out her laser weapon that turned into a dagger form, "I think they mean business."

Albel grinned sardonically as he pulled out his laser weapon that turned into a katana, "For a surprise, we agree yet again, Aquarian."

Roger pulled out his axe as he groaned out, "That's one disgustin' lookin' freak…"

Maria felt such a surge of power as she pulled out her laser weapon that would allow her to shoot like her normal weapon of choice, a gun, "Careful, people. I sense a power beyond anything we've faced so far…"

"Let's take it down, hurry guys!" Fayt cried out as the females began to summon runology as did Adray. Fayt, Cliff, Roger and Albel began to fight it in earnest. It took many blows from everyone as well as a lot of running for it was far faster than anything they had faced in the past, it was destroyed. Airlia looked around her as she brought out the vials to restore their strength and gave it to everyone around her. She didn't rest, herself, until she ensured everyone else had their vials. Adray watched her with suspicion written on his face.

However, a glance at Nel showed his suspicions were unfounded as she felt clearly better. He drank his without a second thought after that and felt his slight wounds close and his strength formed from his runology began to flow, anew. Airlia took out one last vial and drank the potion fully. He noticed her color restored to her face and felt terrible that he had even suspected her of ill attempts. With the end of the fight, Maria groaned out, "That was close," as her muscles relaxing with the help of the elixir that Airlia gave her.

Cliff nodded, "That wasn't good. It's smaller than before, but so much more powerful." However, before anyone could begin to move forward, a voice could be heard as the form took shape near the time gate.

Everyone! Can you hear me!?

Fayt looked at her in shock, "Blair!?"

When Blair could account for everyone, she breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, good. You're all okay."

Airlia had to demand, "Blair, what in the world is going on!?"

Sophia stepped forward, explaining, "We used the uninstaller, but it didn't get rid of the Executioners!"

Blair looked so angry that it startled everyone, "That's just it. We've been tricked."

Cliff took a defensive posture, "You mind filling us in?"

Nel growled low, "What do you mean, tricked?"

Albel had about had enough of all of the nonsense that they had put his Princess through, he was so furious with everyone, "Speak up, woman."

Roger put his hand to his head, "What? What…? Now, I'm really confused."

Maria looked at her through nearly closed eyes of irritation, "You're gonna tell us what's going on, right?"

Blair nodded, "Yes. It seems the Owner anticipated our move."

Peppita looked very unhappy, "Anticipated?"

Blair nodded as she began to explain, "That's right. The Owner suspected that we'd use the uninstaller, so he prepared a security program. It was a special program set to activate only when the uninstaller was used."

Fayt growled low as he asked the obvious question to everyone, "That would explain that new Executioner we just fought." Blair looked shocked, "You already saw one?"

At this point, Cliff had to explain, "Yeah, we just finished it off a minute ago."

Blair's face drained of all color as she asked, "You defeated it!?"

Everyone nodded as Fayt expanded, "Yeah, but it was tough."

Blair nodded thoughtfully, "I see. So I guess you've figured out that these Convictors are different from the Enforcers you've faced so far. They're smaller, but their combat parameters are set much higher. The galaxy is doomed if we don't do something." Everyone looked at the body of the Convictor that was defeated as it finally vanished.

Sophia nearly looked hopeless as she asked, "Isn't there anything we can do?" Blair seemed to think before responding, "The activation of the security program left traces in your dimension. In short, the Owner is now within the Eternal Sphere." Adray asked, "Well, so what are we supposed to do about it?" Blair grimaced as she said, "I plan on explaining that to you, too. You must go try to reason with the Owner… I think the galaxy will be spared if you can get him to uninstall the security program." Sophia grimaced as she asked, "Yes, but do you really think he'll listen?"

Maria shook her head, "If we need to uninstall the security program, we'll do it by force if necessary."

Cliff nodded as Albel said, "Absolutely."

Blair smiled; hope coming to her after hearing their conviction, "The Owner has probably entered into a discontiguous space he himself has created. You'll need a special ID, or intervention device, to go there."

Fayt grimaced, "A special ID?"

Blair nodded as she explained, "To your eyes, it would appear to be a mysterious item that you don't know how to use. Your people call such things 'Out of Place Artifacts'—OPAs. We prepared them for use within the Eternal Sphere… I suppose you could call them debugging tools. They have immense power within the Eternal Sphere when used by someone who understands their potential."

Maria asked, "So what do they actually look like?"

Blair shook her head, "They take many forms. Some are crystal cubes, while others appear to be strange devices. It all depends on the whim of their developer, and on the locations in which they are placed."

Cliff asked, knowing the enormity of the task that was just laid ahead of them, "So you're saying now we have to search the galaxy for an object that could look like anything? There's no time for that. Game over, man."

Blair held her hand up as she began to say, "Hold on a second. I'm going to search the database…"

A console appeared and she began to type things up and then nearly jumped for joy as she found one, "I found one. The special ID in the Milky Way appears to be a silvery sphere. It does not have any special effect in particular, but it contains a great deal of energy. I think I can pinpoint its location. Just a second… I'm still looking…"

While Blair used the console… Airlia asked, "A silver sphere?"

Blair nodded her back to them as she continued to search, "Yes… That's what the data says."

Blair stopped suddenly, "Oh, that star has already been annihilated. Other than that… Oh, what a mess!"

However, Cliff picked up on Airlia's thought pattern, "Hey, Blair. By any chance, is it about this big?"

Blair looked at the size, which was about the size of the sacred Orb of Aquaria."

Blair nodded as she asked, "Yes, just about that size… Why do you ask?"

Airlia looked at Fayt as he asked, "Blair, it wouldn't be on Elicoor II, would it?"

Blair spoke aloud, trying to keep her hope bottled up, there was such improbability, and yet, "Elicoor II? Hold on, let me check…"

After a moment, she cheered aloud, "I found it. It is there!"

Maria spoke aloud next, "Of course!"

Blair had to ask, "How did you know?"

Airlia answered the question, "We've already seen it. We we're charged with protecting it while we were on Elicoor. The people there call it the 'Sacred Orb.'"

Blair smiled as she said, "I see. What a strange coincidence… You should be able to access the discontiguous space with that Sacred Orb."

Fayt grinned with hope renewed, "Okay, everyone. We're off to Elicoor!"

Peppita smiled brightly as she said, "O-KAY!"

Airlia grinned as she said, "I can't wait for us go get back home after this is done!"

Albel pulled her to him, "When this is done, life will be back to normal, well as much as can be expected anyways…"

Airlia grinned delightedly as she leaned into his arms as Nel shouted, "Let's go!"

Blair looked at Sophia directly as she spoke again, "Sophia… When you find the Sacred Orb, YOU must touch it."

Sophia looked like a confused small rabbit, spooked and ready to bolt away, "Why me…?"

Blair smiled gently as she explained the situation, "The special IDs are devices originally placed in the Eternal Sphere for 4D beings to use. They are configured so that other beings cannot use them for their intended purpose. In short, it is useless to all of you except Sophia. Based on what I've seen so far, I think she is the only one who can use it."

Sophia smiled and nodded, "Okay."

Blair smiled confidently that Sophia would do fine, "Once it reacts, think of me in your mind. Think of this place… That should enable you to get in contact with me again."

Sophia smiled brightly as she vowed, "Okay, I'll try."

With that, Blair smiled gently to everyone, "Be careful." Everyone nodded in agreement as Blair vanished.

Airlia took a deep breath to steady her mind, so much had changed in such a short time, and she had her own doubts about her future, with anyone and everyone… Albel did not miss the flash of worry that crossed his Princess's gentle features. He walked over to her and encased her in his arms and felt her relax instantly at the touch. He knew he should have known all along what her true alliance was to… him. They began to move again, and knew his eyes had not betrayed him for he heard the words of everyone else as they reached the edge of the clearing that led back to the path that led to the shuttle.

Cliff swore softly, "What the hell…"

Maria shook her head, "Must've been that earthquake. This is just great."

Sophia showed the worry with her eyes, "I hope the shuttle's okay."

Fayt nodded as he started to walk forward, Nel spoke next, "Let's be careful. Those things might show up again."

Adray grinned, "Let them come, we'll take them out no problem. Remember what I said earlier, 'Now that I'm part of your group, you all can sit on the sidelines, especially those who are more symbology users than fighters…'" Airlia grinned at his humor.

They worked their way along the path, trying to avoid the Convictors, the machines and the other enemies that littered the path. Luckily, there were far fewer of these things like Blair had predicted. However, when they had made their way to the shuttle, however, before they reached the edge, they were attacked by two Convictors. Airlia growled low, her eyes were glowing eerily. However, Albel was quick to attack, glowing red with his inner rage. Cliff began to rush one as Maria shot at it from a distance.

Fayt and Adray leapt into the battle fray as did Roger. Sophia was ready to cast her healing symbology as Nel readied her attack symbology. Peppita gave Airlia one of her vials, seeing the energy was ready to explode, and knew what would happen if Airlia wasn't ready for it. Airlia gave Peppita a gentle smile of thanks as Peppita blushed. Suddenly a cry made Airlia shout out. Fayt was hit from behind, trying to protect their friends. Her energy channeled into a bright light that tore apart the two Convictors. With the light fading, Albel was quick to make it to his love; he grabbed the vial and opened it.

He gently pulled his love up against him as he allowed the liquid to slide down her throat. She gagged slightly, and he rubbed her throat with his good hand as he held her to him with his bad hand. It stopped the gagging noise and she began to breathe more regularly. Her color was returning, a sign that she was going to be alright. He kissed the top of her head gently as he whispered, "You…fool… don't worry me like that again…" Airlia's eyes fluttered open as she nodded her head shakily. He grinned gently as they began to move their way forward, however, an unfriendly sight awaited them…

Sophia's eyes went wide with fear, "Huh?"

Cliff shook his head as he grimaced, "Now what do we do?"

Nel growled low, "Well, this is certainly a problem."

Peppita winced visibly, "We're in a pickle, that's fer sure…"

Albel growled out as he held his love close to him, he didn't trust her legs to hold her weight steadily, "This stinks…"

Airlia whispered low, "This is…impossible, what in the world…"

Roger looked ready to cry as he said, "This ain't funny, guys…"

Adray looked at the wreckage on the ground in pity, "Well, what do we do now? How can we get home?"

The shuttle was crushed and parts of it were in scrap pieces… However, before anything else could happen, a beeping was heard, Fayt questioned Maria, "Any transmissions?"

Maria held her hand out as she said, "Hold on." However, the only thing that could be heard was scrambled static.

Fayt growled out as he kicked the ground, "Arg! And we came so far!"

Maria smiled brightly as she said, "Wait, I hear something!"

The sound was faint, and chopped up into pieces, but they could hear the voices and nearly screamed in relief as Marietta's voice rang out, "'Cap…, this… Mari… Ca… you… read…?"

Maria nearly screamed out, "Marietta!?"

The other voice seemed equally shocked as it was heard in response, "'Hey, everyone. I got Maria on the communicator!'"

Maria had to clamp down on her excitement as she said, "Marietta! Diplo, do you read me?"

Marietta was still excited as she spoke again, "We read you, Captain! Mirage!"

Mirage's voice was calm as ever as she said, "So you're all okay. We were sure worried."

Everyone who knew Marietta could easily picture her head bobbing up and down excitedly as she responded, "Yeah, when we lost contact with the Aquaelie, we didn't know what to think…"

Maria was happy that everyone was ok as she said, "I see you guys made it, too."

Marietta was excited as she began to elaborate, "Yep! But it wasn't easy!"

Maria shook her head as she said, "We'll leave the details for later. Can you come get us right away?"

Mirage responded, "Roger."

Marietta questioned, "Huh? What happened to the shuttle you took there?"

Maria explained again, "We've been through a lot here, too, you know? Sorry, but we don't have much time."

Marietta spoke again, "Right! We'll be there as fast as we can!"

Mirage spoke again, "See you soon."

Maria smiled brightly saying, "I'm counting on you."