Okay, chapter twenty-one. I lost the first draft I made of this so…yeah, let's try this again. n.n'
Colette: Um…okay, Freakyanimegal owns nothing?
Me: Enjoy. n.n'
"All right, so what are we going to do?"
Lloyd was a bit panicked, though that was understandable based on what his father had just told him. No sooner after they had gotten back from manipulating Shadow, they had returned to Welgaia and Kratos had showed Lloyd something quite interesting. The Derris-Core system, which was effectively a giant computerized room, under the castle that Yggdrasil claimed as his headquarters. It was a large, white room, with many wires and beeping lights crawling up the sides of the walls, on the ceiling and down into a large sphere of sorts. Upon touching the sphere a screen popped up in thin air, a touch-screen much like the ones Lloyd had seen in Welgaia, but obviously far more advanced. At the time Kratos showed his son this, he was also viewing the data read out from the system…
"Woah, so this is the core-system thing?" Lloyd asked, frowning.
"Correct, it shall tell us what happens should your friends finish breaking the links," Kratos explained simply, not taking his eyes away from his current task.
"We can really do that? With this thing?" Lloyd asked, somewhat awed.
"Yes," Kratos nodded, "As I told you, it is time consuming…we should know in a day or two."
"A whole day?" Lloyd groaned.
"Lloyd…" Kratos said warningly, eying his son.
"I- All right, I'm sorry," he sighed, "but…"
"I understand you are concerned, but you must wait."
Well, waiting was over.
"We're going to have to stop them," Kratos said simply, frowning a bit, "We can't allow them to break the final mana link."
"So…so the Tower of Mana is the last place, right? We're going to have to stop them there, then?" Lloyd asked, obviously a little worked up. "We need to hurry! They could already be there for all we know-!"
"Lloyd, calm down," Kratos said, glaring slightly, "We will proceed swiftly, but it will do you no good to panic. You will only exhaust yourself. Let's go."
"Y- Yeah," Lloyd nodded.
"Change into your old clothes," he said.
"Wh-?" the teen frowned, a bit put off.
"You fight better in those since they are more functional and less decorative," he stated, "If it comes to it we will have to stop them by force, I do not want you to be impeded in any way."
"But you said we need to hurry-!" he started.
"Exactly, so hurry and do so and then met me at the main transporder, now."
Lloyd didn't try to argue anymore, just turned and dashed for his quarters. His heart was pounding in his ears, he couldn't believe this! If they broke the last mana link then…the tree would destroy the world! He couldn't let that happen! But…but he still didn't want to fight them, especially all out like his father was suggesting. Though if it came to that...if it came to that, that his friends wouldn't listen to him, he would have to stop them. How far did that mean he had to go, then? What if things got really out of hand and…? No. No time to worry about that, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now he had to move.
Nevertheless, his head was full of these various doubts and worries as he and Kratos flew down to the planet, sweeping over the lands of Sylvarant as the Tower of Mana came ever closer into sight. Lloyd wanted nothing more than to land and run in all the way to the top, to make sure his friends either were not there or to stop them if they were. Unfortunately, someone else was already at the bottom. Lloyd gasped as a bit as Yuan noted them, his eyes widening a bit before he snarled, turning to face the Aurions.
"Now what are you doing here, hm, Kratos?" he asked smoothly, his eyes narrowed.
"Same could be said for you," Kratos said simply, "But we don't have time for this, get out of our way."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," smirked Yuan, "your son's friends have already went inside."
"What-? No-!" Lloyd started, taking a step forward only to be cut off by his father's arm.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Lloyd?" Yuan said, his smirk gone. "I was under the impression you still wanted to save the worlds."
"I- I do, but-!" he started.
"Then why are you trying to stop this?" Yuan hissed, his eyes narrowed. "You don't have the guts to go against your father again? Or is it that Yggdrasill has finally wrapped you around his finger?"
Lloyd let out a short gasp, trying to stammer out a response.
"N- Of course n-!" he began.
"We don't have time for this," Kratos snapped, "Yuan, either get out of our way or I'll remove you."
"Cruxis' dogs until the end, fine," he snapped.
The half-elf flung off his cloak and took a battle stance, his dual-bladed weapon forming from mana and light in his hands. It was obvious to both of them that the half-elf was serious, very serious, and he had no problem cutting down both father and son if that was what was necessary to achieve his goals. Kratos snorted and drew his own blade.
"Lloyd, I'll take care of him, go after your friends and try to convince them not to make the pact," he said.
"B- But what if they don't listen-?" Lloyd started.
"Then do what you must do," he said simply.
With nothing other than that, the Seraph charged his former comrade, the two angels making contact with their weapons, sparks flying from the conflicting steel. Lloyd froze for a second or two, his eyes wide as he watched the flurry of metal and spells that came from the two locked in battle. It was truly both a terrifying and beautiful thing to see, like a dance of death. He snapped himself out of it a second later and made a break for the door, knowing that he had to stop his friends from effectively destroying the world.
"Don't even try it, Lloyd!" snapped Yuan, hurling lightning at the boy.
Kratos took up the space in front of the spell and deflected it with a well placed 'Guardian', the green mana repelling the strong electricity.
"Go, Lloyd!" the man snapped just before countering his old friend.
The teen dashed into the building, making a beeline for the stairway directly ahead of him that was the shortest route. As he raced up the stairs, he avoided every monster he could lay eyes on and was in the upper part sooner than he realized. Flicks of memories dashed through his panicked mind with almost every step. Times spent here, releasing the seal, Colette's suffering, the other seals, the other moments he had spent with his friends in the only real home he had ever known. It was funny how it was he saw this place as home now- not the Tower of Mana, of course, but…Sylvarant in general. This world he had grown up on was his home. It felt so much more comfortable, so much more inviting and natural than the cold streets of Welgaia…
The portal to the altar came in sight, and his heart almost stopped beating when he saw that his friends were nearly there.
"Oh come on-!" he snarled.
He shot out his wings and swiftly performed a jumping-flying action, shooting above their heads and then landing before them, panting and red-faced.
"L- Lloyd?!" Genis gasped.
"What are you doing here?" Sheena blinked.
"G…Guys, look," he took several deep breathes, trying to reclaim some oxygen for his brain, "I know you guys still don't really trust me, but you gotta listen to me! You can't make the final pact!"
"Oh? And why do you say that?" Raine asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Because something bad is going to happen!" Lloyd said, glaring at her a bit. "If you break the last link, the protection of the seed will be lost and-"
"And then the worlds won't be connected anymore!" Genis interrupted, frowning. "Lloyd, that's a good thing! We need to do this-…unless you…why are you trying to stop us? You don't really…you haven't really stopped thinking it's right to do this, have you?"
"What…? N- No!" Lloyd shook his head. "That's not it at all! It's just that a lot of people will- the whole world- both worlds, will be in so much trouble if you do this!"
"Oh? And who said?" snorted Raine. "Kratos, I'm assuming?"
"Well, yes, but-" the teen started.
"Lloyd, we know he's your dad and all, but…how do you know he's not just telling you that?" Sheena asked. "He…well, he is in Cruxis and everything."
"Because he wouldn't lie about something like this-!"
"Just like he didn't lie about being an angel and about Cruxis?" Genis said flatly, glancing away from his friend.
"…That's…" he trailed, frowning a bit.
"Lloyd, look…you know Cruxis is wrong, don't you?" Genis asked, looking back at his friend with an almost pleading look in his eyes. "I know it's hard for you, but..but this is enough! Come back with us! Help us make the pact and we'll save the worlds- and we'll save you and Kratos too! You won't have to work for them anymore!"
For a split second, Lloyd found himself considering it. What if…what if Kratos was wrong? What if it did work? What if Yuan knew something they didn't, and this actually was the way to do it? It could all be over then, couldn't it? He and his father could leave Cruxis, they could work with his friends and Yuan to defeat Yggdrasill…and then everything would be okay, wouldn't it? But…but what if Kratos was right? What if it-…no, he couldn't take that chance. He had to stop them from making the pact, at least until they were completely sure.
"Please, just listen to me," he sighed, his voice weak, "If you do this, people will die."
"How?" Colette frowned. "Lloyd, tell us, I'm sure you have a good reason, so just tell us."
"How do we know whether he's telling the truth, though?" Raine said a bit icily. "For all we know, Cruxis could be using Kratos to blackmail him, just like they did the other time."
"It's not that, though-!" Lloyd started, getting more and more frustrated.
"Or he could actually be Kratos," Sheena pointed out, "They did that mana transfer thing the first time, Yggdrasill could've forced him into it like he did on the mountain."
"I'm me, dammit!" Lloyd shouted, shaking his head. "Please, listen to me-!"
"I'm sorry, Lloyd," Genis frowned, "We need to do this…"
"But-!"
"Shadow!"
Lloyd gasped and jumped aside just as a wall of dark mana rushed toward him, the Spirit of Darkness having heard his summoner's call and arrived upon the scene.
"Take care of him, Shadow! …Just don't kill him, okay?" said the ninja.
"Wait-! Hold on-!" Lloyd tried to stop them a final time as they dashed for the transporder.
Shadow intercepted him, and though it didn't really have true facial expressions, Lloyd got the feeling it was glaring at him in a pretty pissed off way.
"I'm sorry, Lloyd!" Colette bowed briefly before zooming through the portal.
That didn't make him feel too better, incidentally.
"…Die…" Shadow hissed.
Lloyd barely dodged as the spirit let out another burst of dark mana, damaging the floor beneath them. Lloyd growled a bit, unsheathing his swords.
"Look, I'm sorry about last time, but I don't have time for this!" he shouted, charging at the spirit with his wings poised behind him.
He slashed his sword but the creature caught the blade in its large hand, retaliating by slamming Lloyd in the gut with its other claw-like hand. Lloyd coughed out saliva and backed up, attempting to compose himself before charging in again, this time trying to focus more on the enemy's movements.
"Beast!"
He hurled the image at Shadow, whom merely was knocked back a few inches before it let out a low word of 'crumble' and Lloyd found himself surrounded by a field of crushing dark mana. Knowing he had only second, he dashed up into the air and then swooped down on his foe, effectively dodging the spell and counter-attacking. This stunned Shadow for just a second or two, which gave the young angel enough time to cast Angel Feathers. Light, of course, being Shadow's weakness, it managed to have a substantial effect on the spirit. It hissed in pain and rounded on Lloyd-
When something happened.
They both stopped. Being sensitive to mana, they felt the change in their surroundings. A…'snap' of sorts, like something that had been in a precarious balance had just crashed into the ground.
"What was that…?" Lloyd whispered, the color slowly bleeding from his face.
Shadow disappeared.
"Huh-? Oh crap…that's probably not good," he frowned.
He sheathed his swords and withdrew his wings, dashing for the portal. Upon arriving, he ran up the remaining stairs- taking care not to step on the broken one- and skidded to a halt just in time to see Luna and Aksa pledging their power to Sheena.
"No-!" he gasped.
"Lloyd-? How did you-? Did you beat Shadow?" Genis blinked.
"Guys, call it off-!"
It was too late, the ground began to shake beneath them.
"W- What's-?!" Colette started.
The mana was going crazy, and bits of the tiles of the roof were beginning to crack and fall off. With one large jolt a root, thick as a tree in itself, sprouted up alongside of the building and thrashed against it, causing the tower to shudder and begin to tilt.
"What's going on-?!" Zelos started.
"Dammit! I told you!" Lloyd shouted. "We need to get off this thing. Now!"
Another root struck the tower and it began to shudder, and they didn't need much else to realize it wouldn't stand much longer. Lloyd and Colette spread their wings on instinct just as the others clambered onto their rheairds, zooming off into the sky and making a shot for the nearest safe spot of ground. Upon landing they all stopped to gape up at the collapsing structure, all eyes wide in horror and a snarl of anger in Lloyd's expression.
Damn it. Damn it damn it…he couldn't stop it…
"Lloyd!"
He'd barely realized his father had arrived, dashing over to him.
"Dad-! I- I'm sorry, I couldn't-!" he began, stammering.
"What happened?" Yuan gasped, shortly behind him. "This…this wasn't supposed to-!"
The ground gave another violent jolt as a root erupted from the ground within viewing distance of them, snapping out of the dirt and demolishing anything on top of it. They all turned and looked in the direction it had come, seeing the huge, grotesque plant sprouting up in the distance.
"Is…is that the Giant Kharlan Tree?" Genis gasped.
"I was afraid this would happen," Kratos said simply.
"Wh- What do you mean?!" Yuan demanded
"Because you released the unstable seed and provided it with mana, it is essentially going out of control, germinating in a twisted form," Kratos explained.
"This is what I was trying to tell you!" Lloyd said, his expression a mix of exhaustion and anger. "I was trying to stop this from happening!"
"No…the mana links we're supposed to keep the Great Seed from growing!" Yuan said, though it was obvious that he had come to the true realization as well.
"That was only part of the job," Kratos explained simply, "It's going to consume everything, the land, the mana…there will be nothing left."
"Is it going crazy like that in Tethe'alla too?" Sheena asked.
"Unlikely, though they probably are experiencing earthquakes and the like," he stated.
"But if Sylvarant dies so will Tethe'alla," Lloyd said, "So we're all in trouble, it'll destroy everything down here!"
"Well, then won't you be safe, being able to skip back to Derris-Kharaln? Hm? The three of you?" Zelos huffed.
Lloyd winced.
"This isn't the time for this," Raine scoffed, "We need to find a way to fix this. Now!"
"We'll cut off the mana supply-" Yuan began.
"That wont' be enough," Kratos glared at his companion.
"Couldn't we use the opposing spirits mana?"
All present turned to stare at Lloyd.
"…What?" Genis blinked.
"Well, since they're opposites- the spirits and all- couldn't we set the mana from Tethe'alla's summon spirits against it, since it was drawn over here by Sylvarant's spirits?"
"…You really do understand all this, don't you?" Raine frowned a bit.
"I tried to tell you," he said a bit curtly, shooting her a light, grudging glare.
"That you did," she sighed, closing her eyes.
"We should have listened to you, Lloyd," Colette frowned, "I'm so sorry…"
"There's no time to be sorry," Genis sighed, "but…will that work?"
"Hm, I see no better option right now, in theory it could work," Kratos nodded slightly.
"But how could we go about doing that?" Sheena asked. "We can't get close to that crazy thing!"
"The mana cannon," Yuan said suddenly.
"Huh-? Oh, yeah!" Lloyd's eyes lit up. "You can channel the mana into the cannon and fire it at the tree, couldn't you? That's perfect!"
It would have been, after all, until one of the Renegades appeared and conveyed to Yuan the status at the Iselia Ranch. It soon became clear that someone would have to head to the ranch to stop the reactor…
"I'll go," Lloyd said.
"What-? But…" Genis started.
"I can't just do nothing, and you and Sheena can handle the cannon!" he scoffed.
"Then I am coming with you, I wouldn't send you in there alone no matter the circumstances," Kratos said in a very 'final' tone.
"…Then…" the half-elf boy said slowly, "I- I'm going too!"
"Genis-!" Raine scoffed, both surprised and alarmed.
"Sheena can go to the cannon, and they'll need more help at the ranch," Genis pointed out, "That and we need to save the captives, it'll take more than two people…b- besides, we wouldn't be able to trust the signal if it came from just them, right?"
With this the silver-head chanced a weak smile at his Cruxian friend, who stared a bit before slowly smiling as well.
"No, so I guess you do have to come," Lloyd smirked lightly.
"Right, I'm not letting you guys out of my sight!"
"We need to hurry," Yuan said, "Time is short."
So it was the race against the clock began to proceed…
Oh HELL yeah! I just finished all that in one sitting! n.n Hm, this 'challenge' of sorts seems to be doing good for me….I work better under a bit of pressure, go figure :P
Colette: Well, don't push yourself too hard! n.n
Me: Too nice, Colette, too nice…Review?