Chris: I HAVE RETURNED! Well, not really. I was just browsing through my profile when I saw Restoration sitting there and I just felt like updating it. Cause it's just so awesome. And cause it's the longest fic I have on here. Anyway, enjoy the update. It might be updated again really soon…Or it might not. But for now, enjoy Restoration in it's totally revived glory!

Mission 21: Return of a Hero

"Yaleus, Yaleus!" Caroline hurriedly knocked on the front doors of the headquarters, casting worried looks behind her. She had rushed here as fast as she could, but it still didn't stop her from thinking that Sayan and Sylia were both dead. Caroline increased the pace of her knocks, almost jumping up and down from her nervousness. "Dammit, Yaleus! Open the door!"

"What is it?" Yaleus said urgently, running towards the two injured mercenaries when he saw them. "How did this happen?"

"I…I don't know! T-They were just injured!" Caroline stammered. "Are they okay? They aren't dead, right?"

"No, don't worry about that. Both of them are still alive, albeit in really bad condition. Go inside and get Shirley. I'll stay out here and watch over them." Yaleus commanded. Caroline nodded once before heading inside the mansion, yelling Shirley's name at the top of her lungs. Yaleus turned his attention to Sylia, wincing as he saw the extent of her wounds. 'Who could be this powerful? I hope Thanas and the others aren't having too much trouble…'

"What's going on?" Shirley stalked out of the mansion, drawing her healer's robe around herself irritably. She had been praying to her goddess when Caroline had broken into her room, screaming about somebody dying. While she knew she had to do her duties as a healer, Shirley still felt angry at being interrupted. However, all the irritation flew out of her mind as she saw the two unconscious people on Caroline's horse. "What happened to these two?"

"I don't know." Yaleus said as he gave Shirley some room to work. "All I know is that Caroline had picked them up. Perhaps the others could give us more information when they return."

"If they return…" Shirley added as she brought her staff to one of Sylia's wounds. "If this was caused by one person, then we may be in more trouble than we thought. What about Sayan? He doesn't seem to be injured. Don't tell me the stupid sod is sleeping.

"The legendary Shirley brusqueness at work, I see." Yaleus muttered to himself. He nudged Sayan on the shoulder and the mage slipped off of the horse, falling as if he was a dead weight. "He might not seem injured…But there's definitely something wrong with him."

"I heard the commotion. What's going on?" Shannon rushed out of the mansion, Melissa tagging behind her. One look at Sylia and she turned her attention of Yaleus. "Are we under attack?"

"No…don't worry about that. Hmmm…Know anything about magic?"

"Other than the fact that it really hurts, no. Melissa might." Shannon looked down at her younger sister, who nodded. "Why?"

"Sayan here doesn't have any injuries, yet he's fully unconscious and his pulse is extremely weak." Yaleus explained, lifting the mage in his arms to carry over to the sisters. "Also, he's as light as feather."

"Oh…I've heard of something like that happening. It's a condition that happens when a mage uses all of his magic power at once. The body can't cope with the loss, so it temporarily goes into hibernation state in order to regain some of its magic. It's a really rare condition, though, since few people are foolish enough to charge all of their magical energy into one shot." Melissa explained, walking over to Sayan's unmoving body. She pushed open his eyelids and nodded to herself. "That's what I believe this is. It should be a day or two before he fully recovers. Until then, don't let him do anything stupid."

"…That might be difficult, knowing him." Yaleus groaned. "Still, it's good knowing that he's not going to die. Uh, if you would, could you two take him back to his room? Should be second floor, third door to the right. I need to stay here and watch over Sylia and Shirley."

"Sure. Come on, sister." Shannon lifted Sayan up to her shoulder, heading back towards the mansion with Melissa. As they left, Yaleus heard Shannon chuckle. "You were always the one who liked to read about magic, Mel. You should've been a mage. 'Course, magic certainly isn't as exciting as getting up and close in combat. Hey, when do you think we'll be able to see Isaac? Everyone keeps saying that he's out."

'Isaac…We really can't keep deceiving those two or ourselves any longer. Everyone, even I, have been hoping that he would just appear out of nowhere. What a foolish idea.' Yaleus shook his head before walking up to Shirley, who appeared to be putting the finishing touches on her healing. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, there's no problem. Come on, help me take her to her room. And don't let those two idiots, Cyrus and Arrin, see us. They're bound to hound us with questions that we can't answer." Shirley said as she helped Yaleus carry the unconscious laguz. She paused for a little bit, looking over her shoulder.

"What's the problem?" The green-haired swordsman asked.

"Nothing…Just…felt a little flicker." Shirley shook her head. "Come on, let's go."

From behind a small alcove of trees, Sarai and Isaac exchanged snickers. Sarai punched Isaac teasingly on the shoulder, giggling as she did so. "Why didn't you tell them you were alive?"

"Where would be the fun in that?" Isaac returned, chuckling as he shifted his weight. His expression turned serious and he sighed slightly. "I really don't know. I've always imagined of this day, when we could both go into the headquarters and surprise everyone and there would be a great party. But when I saw two of my mercenaries lying there, almost dead, I was wrenched back to reality."

"Ohhhh?" Sarai grinned. "Are you going to say something corny like saying that we need to defeat the demons in order to save the world? Because if you do, I might have to punch you for that."

Isaac managed a small laugh. "No, I wasn't. I really don't want to kill Pravus to save the world. I want to kill him because he killed me. I think it would be his just desserts. Ah…enough of this mopey attitude. Let's go inside and show everyone that I've come back from the grave."

"Haha, that's the Isaac I love!" Sarai folded Isaac in the hug, sighing in contentment as she felt Isaac return the embrace. However, her happiness faded away as she spotted a very familiar figure standing behind Isaac. "Eliza! What the hell are you doing here?"

Isaac spun and saw the traitorous healer standing there, a mournful look on her face as she stared at the both of them. His hands moved towards his lance and he looked around warily, trying to see if Pravus was there as well. "What do you want?"

"I…" Eliza looked downwards. "I wanted to see you…"

"After you betrayed him to Pravus?" Sarai said angrily, hefting her crossbow. "Get out now before I shoot you in the face. I don't even know why I'm not shooting you right now."

"Wait…" Isaac held out a hand in front of Sarai. "Let her speak first. Now tell me, Eliza, why are you here? And how did you find out I was alive?"

"I…have a special connection with you…" Eliza murmured, a hand to her heart.

"Bull!" Sarai cursed.

"No…When Pravus…crafted me, he made sure that I would know everything that happened to one person. That person was you." Eliza whispered. "He had been watching you ever since you were a kid…He knew you would someday challenge him. So he made me…a precaution. A failure of a precaution, but still a precaution."

"What do you mean?" Isaac said. "How would he know? I'm no different from plenty of other mercenaries that have come from Daein."

"He's a god. How do you question a god? He just knew." Eliza explained. "So…I was made to lure you to him so that he could kill you. And he did. But apparently, Lady Ashera resurrected you. I felt your return, so that's why I'm here right now."

"Why haven't you told Pravus? He's your master…" Isaac said, put back on guard. "Don't tell me that you just did this to stall."

"No!" Eliza protested. "No…I haven't told him yet. I don't think I'll ever tell him. Until he forces the words from my lips…I won't tell him."

"Why should we believe you?" Sarai asked suspiciously.

"You should know." Eliza gave a sad glance at Sarai. The healer shivered as a cold blast of wind hit them and she looked behind her, as if worried. "I should go…And for what it's worth, good luck and I'm sorry."

Isaac and Sarai watched Eliza leave, her figure rapidly disappearing in the trees. The blue-haired archer let out a sad sigh and shouldered her crossbow, feeling weighed down by the moody atmosphere. She looked at Isaac, who was shaking his head. She brought a hand to his cheek, stroking it tenderly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Isaac straightened, getting to his feet. He smiled at Sarai, trying to brighten up the gloomy mood. "Come on. Let's go inside and see how they react."

---

"Arrin, Cyrus! Stop fooling around with those swords! They are not supposed to be used to chop vegetables! Rima! Just because you're the tactician doesn't mean you take control of the war room as your personal playpen!" Yaleus roared as he stamped throughout the mansion, trying to stop the seemingly childish atmosphere that was pervading throughout the headquarters. It had started with Melissa, Mact, and Shannon starting a pegasus flying service for the other mercenaries. Then Arrin and Cyrus had the bright idea of making lunch through combining combat practicing and cooking. And finally, Rima decided to claim the war room as a place where she could play around in peace. He knew it was because they were trying to work off their sorrow of Isaac's death, but there had to be a limit. Preferably one that didn't drive him to the wall. "Geez…This is getting way out of hand."

"Having some problems?"

"You bet, Isaac. I swear, I've been hoping you'd show up to help me take care of this mess. It's been absolutely crazy without you here." Yaleus said distractedly. He spun and grabbed Isaac by the shoulders, shaking him. "I don't know how you handle this, Isaac. I now know how you felt when I was using a rope to swing from the second floor to the first."

Yaleus suddenly paused, as if something important had just come to his mind. He looked up and Isaac waved at him, a wide smile on his face. Yaleus blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Aren't you dead?"

"Doesn't feel like it." Isaac shrugged. "But you would know better than me, I guess."

"B-But Sarai said you were…" Yaleus looked behind the lancer's shoulder, where Sarai was waving at him cheerily. All of his stress finally overloaded on him and he put a hand to his forehead. "I need a drink."

"Glad to see you haven't gained any gray hairs, old man." Isaac said cheerily as he helped the tired swordsman towards the kitchen. This may not have been such a smart move, since Cyrus and Arrin freaked out when they saw Isaac, screaming about a zombie that was coming to eat their brains. It was only a couple of minutes before the rest of the mercenaries had come down to the kitchen to see this famed 'zombie'.

Which had resulted in Isaac being barraged with a multitude of question and hugs and various other actions which made him think that surprising everyone wasn't such a smart idea. Finally, he held up his hands to stall the questions, deciding to take them one at a time. "Yes, I am Isaac Tritheon, leader of the Fraction of Hope mercenary band, and am not a 'zombie that was resurrected by the armies of evil'."

"Hahaha, I told you this Isaac was good! He can even come back from the grave!" Shannon laughed enthusiastically as she slapped her younger sister on the back. "Oh man, I know we had a good reason for coming here! This is just too much!"

"Welcome back, boss. The little one has been hoping you'd return." Aran said solemnly as he pushed Janine forward. The young girl hopped on top of Isaac's lap, hugging him fiercely. Isaac smiled warmly and placed a comforting hand on her head, slowly brushing her hair.

"Doesn't he look so handsome like that?" Caroline whispered to Kyril, looking at Sarai with a small measure of jealousy. "He would make a great father someday."

"I know." Kyril said, nodding. "Ashera was right to bring Isaac back into the world. He will bring us hope in this tortured land."

"Hahah, listen to you. You sound like one of those blustering philosophers back in Begnion, except that you're actually correct." Caroline smirked, poking the monk in the side. "But what about your own feelings about having Isaac back, huh? Surely you must have something more substantial than 'It's Ashera's will.'"

"What can I say?" Kyril shrugged helplessly. "It's a good thing."

"So that's the kid? I always thought he'd have more muscle." Tawny muttered to herself. She looked over at Mact, who was hopping on his feet to get a better view of the mercenary leader. "But then he doesn't have that many muscles either…What is it with lancers?"

"Isaac's back! Isaac's back!" Arrin and Cyrus had linked elbows and were currently dancing around the kitchen, making complete fools of themselves.

After a couple of more minutes of rejoicing, Isaac finally managed to shoo away the majority of the mercenaries. However, Rima, Yaleus, and Shirley stayed to report the conditions of the mercenary band and if anything important had occurred in his 'absence'.

"Pravus has been getting active lately, huh? Shirley, have you received any messages from Ashera?" Isaac said. He let a sigh and gratefully accepted the cup of water that Sarai handed him. "I know that my new spear could defeat him, but I just have no idea where he could be."

"I was in the middle of contact with her when I was interrupted." Shirley said, her hands propping up her chin. "Before my focus was broken, I do recall Ashera telling me that Pravus would be 'lurking in a place where great evil has arisen before'. However, I have no idea where that may be."

"Anyone have suggestions?" Isaac looked around at the small group. "I have an idea of my own, but I would like to hear your opinions first."

"Perhaps the Serenes forest?" Rima offered before shaking her head immediately afterwards. "No, that was stupid. Besides, we've already been to Begnion. Surely we would have seen something more if Pravus had been lurking there."

"It wouldn't be the former Crimean palace…" Yaleus muttered, shaking his head. "While that place is in ruins, I can't imagine it being considered an evil place."

"Then I'm probably right. The place where Pravus is staying is my homeland, Daein." Isaac said. "He will probably be in the remains of the Daein stronghold where Lord Ike and his mercenaries confronted the Mad King Ashnard."

"That would make sense…It's common for evil to gather in a place that it has already infected." Shirley muttered thoughtfully. "I'm going back to my room. Perhaps I can establish a link with Ashera again."

Yaleus snickered as he watched Shirley leave. "You can't imagine how snappy she was when you weren't here, boss. Boy, it'll be good to see a nice Shirley for a while. She could've scared the scales off a dragon when she got in that pissy mood."

"Anyway, I'll be heading off. Gonna check the rumors on the street." Yaleus said as he rose. With a wave, he headed out of the headquarters.

"Well, don't wanna take any more of your time, lovebirds." Rima chirped as she hopped off her seat. She pranced towards the common room of the mansion, where her laughter quickly mingled with the other mercenaries gathered there.

"Phew…A lot of stuff happened while we were away, huh?" Sarai said as she sat down next to Isaac. She ran a hand through her blue hair, her fingers fiddling with the long strands. "I hope Thanas and the others are okay."

"I wouldn't worry about them. They know how to take care of themselves." Isaac said in response. "Hahah, we still need to see their reactions. Can you imagine Raele? He'll probably spout some crazy rhyme like he always does. And what about Wesley? And everyone else? I can't believe how much I've missed this."

"Oh?" Sarai leaned in closer, her lips curled in a petulant frown as she drew circles on Isaac's chest with a finger. "Even more than me?"

Isaac smirked and kissed her on the cheek. "Nothing can compare to that."

Chris: …You do not know how hard it was to remember everyone after not updating the fic for like…3 months. I'm still pretty certain I missed a merc here or there (Boors for one), but don't worry. I haven't fully forgotten them, so they'll all still be here in this lovely mercenary group. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this terribly late update and please leave a review!

And if you're confused about all the characters (I know I am.), I'll be writing a whole profile thing for it (because it needs one). If you want a copy, e-mail me, PM me, whatever, and I'll try to send one your way.