Angels of Cruxis
by: Fehize

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It was the beginning of the night. Or at least, that was what the lights seemed to be doing within the blue and gold encrusted room. All over rested the massive amounts of gold that glinted in the very sparse amounts of lights that were coming in by the lights that were hanging around on the white and opal colored walls as well as indebted in the ceilings. The lights gave out a blue tint that was supposed to give a feeling of calm and serenity to anyone inside, but only the one inside could truly say what the color really did to that person. There was a bed with soft velvet the color of crimson, fating towards something that seemed surreal and unwanted. The 'carpet' down upon the ground was actually a soft blue stone tile. On the edge of the walls were many picture frames that showcased many different poses of a certain woman. She had long green hair tied back into a ponytail, all covered by a black and green hat that make her outlook seem quite cute. Her eyes were green-blue, like large pools - at least, that was what the artist intended. She wore a black and white with green, like her hair, colored outfit. It was actually a dress-robe, with little frills and designs covering the hems of a cloak that was covering the rest of her. On some of them, she was smiling, holding up a large vase of flowers. On other paintings, she was smiling again, except posing with either a background scenery or something like that. Upon closer inspection, each one had different titles that dealt with the subject of only one person... and that one person was dubbed 'Martel'.

Now, personally the fortune teller never really believe all that much in the 'Great and Powerful' Goddess that was forever dubbed 'Martel'. Why? Well, that was because of the fact that if she really DID exist, why the hell did she go on off and make Spirituia the ONLY successful Chosen? WHY? Her world was dying, and did Martel have FUN sleeping in La-La Land while her people died? Sometimes, she just wished she could just go on up and fortune tell if Martel was ever to be 'awakened', but all she gets is some cruddy vision of a flower and a tree. What the use is a tree for? Well... trees are nice...

Ak! GET back on subject here, STUPID Anna! You need to figure out how the HELL to escape from this place! THINK! Frantically, she spun her head back and forth, the covering handkerchief on top of the head revealing hardly anything of what she looked like, except for her eyes. She was STILL furious at that man who called himself... No... He WAS a killer of the Chosen! Welll... might be killer. And most certainly she was NOT going to let that happen! It was a fact that the Journey of Regeneration made for Mana to come back into her land... but Martel was a FARSE! That was perhaps all she was, and all she WILL be!

Yet those pictures... Those pictures seemed to be something quite intriguing... Why, she couldn't exactly place her mind on it. Pacing back and forth, she knew she had to think of something. Now, it was already a week or more or less a week since she has been stuck inside this horrible place. (Not exactly doing really good things with her inner conscious, you know... Mind you, it was minute things, like... TRYING TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS TOMB!) So far, this is what she has managed to achieve in noticeable status that she minded herself as important to her well-being...

1.) She managed to foretell Yuan's schedule. (Son of a Bio-tch, she SWEARS!) His schedule was:
12:01 AM - 6:00 AM - Think about mobilizing his Renegade troops to do something.
6:01 AM - 7:00 AM - Study his Mana screens to make sure where his troops are
7:01 AM - 9:00 AM - Torture Anna by making sure that she cannot escape by keeping/switching the guards by the door, and then making the guards give her the daily meal. Following that, make sure that no one KNOWS that she is there.
9:01 AM - 12:00 PM - Watch his troops and try (with no avail) to get Anna to give him a fortune. (Damn him!)
12:01 PM - 3:00 PM - Go off and make sure that he has enough Gald to support for his place.
3:01 PM - 4:00 PM - Try again at Anna, except this time get cussed out by Anna...
4:01 PM - 6:00 PM - Rummage around and do some random things that are not important to her health...
6:01 PM - 9:00 PM - Dress up and change... And then command his troops around in his head for tomorrow's misadventures.
9:01 PM - 12:00 AM - Do some more random things that are not really important, like trying to check upon the Chosen

2.) Apparently, Yuan did not need any sleep, whatsoever, so he MUST not be anything human...

3.) Her food was always the same gruel, served in on a large sheet of black cloth that could cover her entire body. This was to make sure that she couldn't see who was serving her, so she couldn't escape by using her 'feminine powers' against those who were serving her.

4.) Yuan was now gone away for some sort of important mission towards the far northern areas of Sylverate. Which was good and bad at the same time. On one hand, it was good because this was the opportune time to escape. On the other hand, it was bad because he was heading towards where the Chosen was at.

5.) There was a LOT of silver cloth everywhere because of the color-scheme (you never know! There could be one day when they give her a window and she could escape by tying the ends of those threads together!) and they were insulating cloth for those days when Yuan decided that it was best to leave the magical cold air inside at some REALLY cold temperature...

6.) The underside of her red velvet bedding was green. WHO in the right mind had the color scheme of a room like an ocean, but have the interior decor of a forest burning down? (And a healthy forest at that!)

7.) There was no one going to come down in and rescue her. Not that that was of any surprise because of the fact that she was abducted by what SEEMED to be Desians, when they really were not. Of course, it still did nor make any much sense now the difference between them both... That is, unless one begins to think about how these Renegades did not own Human Ranches...

It was a sad sight to see her pacing back and forth between the two blue columns. She had no idea what to do then, and she BADLY wished that she could be able to see her own future. Then, at least she would be able to understand what she could be able to do to escape! Furiously, she racked her head against the post, thinking about empty thoughts that did not come; thinking about means of escaping! What could she do?!? What CAN she do?!? Hell, if ONLY she was Martel, granting she exists!

Suddenly, she turned her head over towards the pictures hanging there on the wall, acting all innocent and peaceful, acting as if there was an air of affection... There was something important about these pictures that she needed to take into place. After all, these were not the pictures of Martel that she knew...

As the fortune teller looked straight into such pictures, she realized that the women in them looked about twenty-one or so, was about covered up in clothing that no one could really tell what she looked like underneath, and that she was about the same height as the brown haired woman... Now that she thought about it, these are the only few pictures that are in the form of Martel without winged angels following her every step...

An idea hit her right away, and she smirked as to the stupidity of Yuan to leave her in a room filled with paintings of a 'Goddess' and cloths. It seemed almost as if he thought she had no brain! Well, desperate people make for desperate choices, and BOY was she desperate! Right in front of her rested the most dangerous and most crazy plan that she ever had to pull off... As she began to pull the last strands of the plan into her mind, she thought half-mentally to herself. For some reason, she does really rash things when she has something bad happening... very rebellious things that often scare her...

But this idea was far too good for doubts! And it was the only possible time that she could do this! She knew for a fact that Yuan had not told the other guards who she was, but once they found her, her chances of slipping past them were zilch!

Digging into her gem pouch - the only thing that Yuan did not physically take away from her - she managed to fish out some nice looking diamonds that was payment from the people in Triet. They were not the sharpest things in the world, as they were not cut to be so, but it seems like they would do! Hurriedly, she ran over towards the only door that was able to get in. Once, there was some sort of thing called a keypad. On this keypad, there were a series of numbers that she had to push down, and thanks towards her inner-sight, she managed to see that the numbers were 9-8-3-4-6-0-8-1. (Thank goodness for the magical powers of the past!) Those were the precious numbers to open the door, but since the keypad was covered up by some sort of metal, she needed to scrap it all off! Grabbing down onto her diamond, she ran and began to dig it into the metal sheet, making sure not to damage the precious thing underneath it.

---

Lloyd Aurion was his name, and boy, was he happy he could run up towards his dad and get fuzzed on his head every time! Alright, so maybe his father did not exactly do those things all the time, but at least now he could do it out in the public.

It was late in the afternoon, and the blizzards was still going on outside, but it was slowing dawn. According towards his father, the storm should end within the next five hours, but by that time it would already be night. They couldn't exactly go on ahead and leave the general area because it would be nightfall, and by then Sheena, Raine, and Genis would be too tired to do anything. Sometimes, he wondered why Colette wasn't tired, but then he had to remind himself that she was becoming into angel and she would have no need for rest. He sighed as he turned around to face the outline of his best animal friend protozoan, Noishe!

He was whining, without a doubt, and was trying to fuzz up gently towards the face of the brown headed teenager. The fur of the animal was smooth to the touch, but it was a faint and far feeling. Sometimes, he could feel Noishe, sometimes he could not. It was always nice to feel the soft fur, even though the whine was loud enough to make it sound like a scream in his ears. It was ok: he was used to it by then. "So, Noishe! What do you think about that story last night? Sure was as funny as hell, huh? Isn't that right Noishe?" 'Funny as hell' was Sheena's point of view about it, so he used it as well. "Still..." Even though the story itself was funny, it made him think about the mother he could never remember really well.

"Lloyd?" came a voice form the outside. It was a quiet voice that reminded him of Genis, in fact, that was probably who it was to begin with. Lloyd's half-elf friend was outside to begin with, walking down the stairs of the inn. Even though he couldn't exactly see him yet, the steps could easily be heard coming down. There they were, the small and light pitter-patter of feet as they were trying to keep warm from the cold that was trying to snake its way in like tendrils during the spring. After some time, Genis was behind the brown headed teen, so Lloyd decided to turn around and give his friend his undivided attention.

"Yah, Genis? What's up?"

There was some silence for a while as the wind outside was wailing back and forth. Snow could he heard crunching on the outer walls and window panes, morphing in with the small whines of the green and white protozoan. Genis's hair was standing up as he turned his ehad around to face Lloyd. However, instead of the usual child-like expression, there was only the face that showed worry and... slightly hurt? That sure confused him! "Lloyd, could we talk in the back shed? Somewhere where no one else can hear but us?" For some reason, when Genis meant 'no one else', he has this inner gut telling him that what Genis was pointing at was Colette and his dad.

"Sure, I don't see why not..." began the brown headed teen as he made his body head over towards the door that led towards the shed. Normally, the shed would have been colder than the rest of the inn, but since it was already enveloped in feet of snow, the snow outside was acting like an insulator. Not that the cold really mattered to the teen, but Genis didn't seem to mind either.

Inside the small little shack were lots of logs. Such logs were the items that kept the fires going on at nights, allowing the inn to stay warm on nights such as these. Right now, they were brown and freshly cut: except for the other ones that were resting down on the bottom. Those were turning pale and dry, perfect burning objects. "Lloyd..." began the white-haired half-elf. "Kratos is your father, right?"

Lloyd titled his head, pretty sure that this conversation was going to head towards a point that called for some serious thinking and covering of his words. Sure, he did not want to lie to his friend, but his father strictly implied that he should at the very LEAST keep information about Welgaia to a minimum. (Minimum meaning that there should be NO talking about it whatsoever!!!) "Yah, sure he is! I mean, he's the only father I have and... yup." That was the best way to state the answer. There wasn't really much of another way to do it, mainly 'cause the question was basically one of the most straight forward things you could ask.

"Lloyd, what's your favorite color?"

"Hmm... I guess it has to be red! I really do love the color red!" He did, you know. Red was the color of his dad's hair, the color of his current clothes, the color of his dad's most awesome sword; the color of his first Summon Spirit!

"How about your favorite food?"

"Pudding. I just LOVE pudding." Pudding tasted great, and it was one of the few things he could taste.

"How about most hated food?"

"TOMATO!" Lloyd cried out. GOSH, out of all the things in the world, that had to be one of the worst. Even his dad admitted that tomato was the scum of the Universe... (Seriously. Who would have thought that an inanimate object such as a red fruit would make his dad say something like that. It was also probably one of the few things that were red that he despised... Why, oh why, could he taste tomato?!?)

"What do you like to do at night?"

"Eh, I like viewing the stars at night. They are really fun."

"During the morning?"

"Hanging out with my dad!" happily exclaimed the brown head.

"Do you like Colette?"

"She's nice."

"How about my sister?"

"... Scary."

"Sheena?"

"BEST BUD! Ah, right next to you, Genis!"

"Corrine?"

"Fluffy."

"Kratos?"

"Daddy-like."

"Me?"

"A good bud that likes to share the same interests as me!" Genis smiled at that.

"Did you like the way Iselia looked like?"

"It was really pretty... and colorful. It was a bit too noisy however."

"Noisy?"

"Yah, my ears are really sensitive, so loud noises hurt me."

"How about the desert?"

"Hated it. Louder than Iselia, and so much sand particles it hurt!"

"Izoold?"

"That fishing port? I loved playing in the water!"

"How about rainy days? Do you like rainy days?"

"Hmm... cant say I have yet to run into one yet."

"You haven't ran into a rainy day...?"

"Hmm... nope! Not that I can remember."

"Worst thing in the world?"

"A circus show."

"Circus show?"

"Don't ask..."

"Most annoying person?"

"Eh. That's easy. Yggdrasil."

"Hn?"

"Annoying blonde dude. I don't think he likes me much."

"Sure, Lloyd. So, what are you doing here with your dad?"

"Taking care of the Chosen."

"Why?"

"To make sure that she unleashes all the seals."

"And your dad?"

"To help. And watch over me."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Your dad?"

"Four-thousand two-hundred and twenty-eight."

"What?!?"

"No, really. My dad's four-thousand two-hundred and..."

Lloyd stopped himself and gagged. Right then and there he gave away his father's age. Now is the best time for a Sheena curse! Damn, damn, damn, damn! NICE going, Lloyd! Why not tell him what Welgaia looks, like for crying out loud! He gulped. "Ah..."

But Genis was already thinking out loud. "If your dad really in four-thousand two-hundred and twenty-eight, then that means that he has been around since... Since the time of the end of the Khlaran Wars! Kratos... Kratos... Kratos, Mithos, and Yuan! Three of the heros who saved the world when the Kharlan War was killing the Great Tree. Kratos... Aurion... Lloyd Aurion... Kratos Aurion... the human who helped alongside Mithos, the greatest swordsman of them all! .. Seraphim: angels who work in deliverance with the Goddess Martel herself and are the highest order of angels. Immortal, ageless... the Perfect Beings! Angels with translusive wings, just like the great Goddess herself!

"Lloyd! You're a Seraphim! Kratos is a Seraphim?!? You've both seen Mart-"

"No, Genis, no!" hissed the teenager as he threw up his arms in shock. "If you say anymore, I might have to do some stuff I may not like!" Rule number one of Cruxis: If anyone outside of Cruxis's Seraphim know about the whole truth of Cruxis - or anything even CLOSE - then that one person must die or else Cruxis would have to end answering some questions that would be best unanswered. Sheena was an exception, mainly because Kratos... What was Kratos's reason to keep her alive. Now that he thought more of it, the more and more that he realized that Sheena was SUPPOSED to be killed! No! But she wasn't... or at least... not now...

"What do you mean by that, Lloyd?"

Lloyd shook his head. He didn't want to kill - or his dad to kill - his friends. "No more, Genis. Even though I hate to say this...

"As a Holy Seraphim of the Goddess Martel, I order you to never say a word of this... again," commanded the brown head in his most regal voice. However, before Genis could be upset or scared, Lloyd deflated. "Oh, come on, Genis. Let's just keep it secret or my dad would be pissed."

Genis smiled. "I can do that!" he cried, making out a 'V' shape with his two fingers after jumping up right into the air.

---

Raine was tossing and turning in her bed. Once of the most major reasons was because she just could not get any sleep right now. Though the outside world may be dark and white because of the blizzard, her insides were still thinking it was time to stay away doing something. It must be because my internal body clock still says that I am still somewhere in Iselia time... Sighing she pulled out a sketchpad from underneath her pillow and began to re-take down notes. There was some light coming down in from the few candles that she had lit. Turning her head, she pushed aside some of the messy white hair that resided there. Her eyes managed to pick up the look of Genis's head, who was fast asleep underneath the covers, only the tip of the large cranium was able to be seen. He had gotten in bed later than normal, so she was sure that his small body needed rest.

Turning back, she faced her notebook that was filled with numbers and figures. Tomorrow, she will take advantage of the walk away from the mountain and quiz the children about some more knowledge of the area they are about to hit. But on top of that was more important news that deemed to be noticed. Such news was the fact of discovering who exactly WERE the Aurions.

Earlier that afternoon, she hovered around the elder inn-keeper and managed to get... not much. He claimed that he was too tired and sleepy for anything right then, and "Besides, why do you want to know so much about Kratos anyways. Like him or something?" My, did that offend her. Like him?!? The no good thief who... ARG! EVIL bastard! She can't be kidding herself like this! He's E-V-I-L!!!

Taking a long glance at the twentieth page of her notes, she realized that there was just no way that Kratos and Lloyd could have been half-elfs. Sure, at the heat of the moment, she wanted to believe in that tale, mainly because that would mean that there were still half-elfs that at least were not Desians... But then, about an hour later, she thought about the Mana signatures that resonated from them. They were far too strong to have come out from humans swallowing an Aionis (and besides, Kratos was Lloyd's father! How could someone looking as young and... 'handsome' as him be a father of someone as old as Lloyd and not have strands of grey... Or wrinkles?!? Not human there!), but were different from the elf-side. Of course, it wasn't such a drastic difference either. It was more subtle and discrete... like some sort of grey mist that has been hiding through their fingers... Almost like Kratos is willing his body to hide everything he has... Of course, that's highly unreasonable because the amount of Mana one would need to have to be able to HIDE such amounts of Mana could only come from two types of things... Angels... or Demons...

Demons, that just had to be it! There could be no way that Kratos was an angel (no wings, hello!), nor Lloyd (ditto with the wings). Demons had no wings, and they also had that cold look in their eyes like Kratos does. Not to mention that Kratos also still had red eyes! (How common is that? Come on, not even the ELVES had red eyes!) Lloyd looked more human that Kratos did, but what about when the teen gets older? Or maybe that just isn't his true form? Maybe, those forms that call themselves Kratos and Lloyd are truly not what the look like. Powerful demons are allowed to change shape and make themselves adaptable like regular humans; powerful demons can also have Mana amounts such as the ones from ancient wars that pitted Upperworld against Nefhliem. That could mean that Kratos... and Lloyd... they have the capacities to destroy them and kill the Chosen, thus leading the world to utter chaos, and in such chaos... Demons will appear and take over the world!

No! There was no way she was going to let that happen to her world, and Genis's world! The world needed to be save for others! She needed to make herself know some Light based moves, yes, that was what she needed. When the time is right, she would have to help save the Chosen and help save the world! And that Sheena girl... she must be held under some sort of hard spell... When she trains her body to unleash magic, she will make sure that that poor girl is saved... somehow.

However, for now she was going to need to have more evidence. First thing was first, there was no way that Colette or Genis were going to believe her hypothesis. As it was, there was very little evidence to go on with just Kratos. Being logical, she also had to think of a reason as to why a Demon like Kratos would go off and have a child from a human woman? Was she under some sort of spell as well? That Anna woman... must have been... Would that mean that Lloyd was some sort of half-breed as well? A half-demon? Was that even a race? Was it a new race? Everything just didn't really make much sense now that she thought more and more of it...

Demons was a possibility, but as she sat down and pondered, making her head think over and over again, the more she saw how horrid her train of thought was. Everything was coming off of speculations. Sure, the odds of them being demon were 'high', but they could also be some new race that she has never heard of.

Whatever the case, thieves still seemed like a great option to turn to if the other paths seemed unwise unless some more information is to be brought up in the coming future. Of course, just to be safe, she is still going to practice some more Light moves...

---

Kratos held onto his son, who was resting his head against the older parent's shoulder. Lloyd managed a small yawn - a yawn that cried out he was bored.

Outside, there was the silence that was soothing to the ears. No longer was there the wail of snow crashing down on top of one another, allowing for such a cry that made Lloyd slightly crying every once in a while. Now, there was just silence, like every time after a major snow storm. Thoughts of his wife, his wonderful dead wife, danced around in his mind as he stared out the window, taking a long look at the stars that hanged out in the high heavens. A heavenly place that was beyond the world of Welgaia, the world where Lloyd grew up and knew from the beginning that he was something important. The color of blue reflected off in the night sky, coming from the snow that rested down upon the ground. There was still plenty of snow to go around, but they would have to trek through it to reach the Tower of Mana anytime before the next storm.

"Dad?" questioned the young teen who was sitting up. "Umm... How did you... meet mom?"

The red headed man rested silent like the outside for a while. His mouth was not set in a frown, but inside he was frowning. Not because of unrest due to the question that his son asked, but because of those traitorous thoughts that resided in his head whenever the word 'Anna' was used. Lately, they have been arriving more and more: each one more dangerous and more daring than the last. Right after the last story, he had such a memory that he had to stop and stay alone for a while.

After the moment of silence, the adult turned around to face the younger teenager. He was about to respond when he noticed some sort of movement far on off into the night. Right there was some large shadow, heading closer. Making a harder look outside the frost covered window, he realized that something was wrong. "Lloyd, stay here. I'll be right back."

Leaving his confused son, the mercenary heard the sounds of his feet crunching on the snow. It was not loud for he had already learned how to make his noises to a most minimum while walking instead of flying, but it still was audible for someone like him. The great sky above hovered over him like a dome: the lights were blinking like as if they wanted to talk about something important. Making his eyes watch over towards the area where the shadows were, he noticed that they were no longer there. But he was positive something was going on...

As if from some answer from someplace higher than Cruxis Serpahim, a slight - the slightest of movement - far on off revealed the shadow to be a group of people and men...

Renegades.

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Retouched - [4.28.2009]