Author: Shaddowind
WARNING: Kratos and general game spoilers aplenty! You have been warned! Also, if you haven't beaten the game, you may wish to revisit this fic later….
Summary: The party's next steps become clear for once as the Chosen is taken from them. Help comes from unlikely sources, but it doesn't solve everything. Options present themselves and friends prove their words, but how long before even minor victories won't be enough?
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia or any of the game's original characters, dialogue, or settings -- I just bend them to my will in this story.Chapter 26:
"No, Lloyd, stay away! It's a trap!"
The words struck Liane as almost obscenely familiar… almost as familiar as the barrier that held the blonde Chosen away from the rest of the party. She froze, her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword as a particularly stiff wind blew her braid forward over her shoulder and pushed her forward a step. That's unnerving, she silently groused. A cloud-covered chunk of land hanging in mid-air, and winds that want to push us off the edge. That's just perfect.
With the day already long-past becoming a blur, she wondered how even the elements themselves seeking to obstruct them could even start to surprise her. The day before had been one long, emotional hellstorm – from losing Corrine to winning Volt's pact and from revealing her closely guarded visions to Regal to a dream that was, all at once, one of the most peaceful and most confusing yet.
Overall, it was a day that Liane was sure she could do without reliving.
Not that their present day was going spectacularly, either.
After struggling through a breakfast that she hadn't been even vaguely hungry for, Liane had forced the memory of the strange girl staring back at her in the mirror away, locking it into the back of her mind along with the paranoia that Regal was forcing himself to not seem distant that morning. He had been true to his word and had heard her out, even if she simply knew that she had somehow ground too close to a nerve in him in doing so.
Liberating the Rheairds from the Renegade base had been almost a welcome distraction from all of that, as much as she hated to admit it. Yuan and Botta had been a collective exercise in force, even if Liane was still certain that they had been little more than an extended session of blowing off steam after Volt's brutality. She was convinced that Volt had been one of their hardest fights yet… second only to Kratos.
She loved him. The girl in the mirror loved Kratos.
The thought caught her off-guard, breaking free from its banishment yet again. It could explain so much if she could bring herself to think about it, to let all of her half-formed theories try to lace themselves together with it.
"What?"
Fortunately, Lloyd's startled reaction to Colette's declaration drew her out of the thoughts that Liane knew she couldn't deal with at the moment – not with the meaning behind their friend's words. "She's bait, Lloyd," she grumbled, reaching for her friend's shoulder and stopping him.
Before Lloyd could put words with the look he shot at Liane for her restraint, the air around the platform whined with power, tensing every member of the party into a battle stance as Colette whimpered in something that sounded distinctly like defeat. The air between the swordsman and the caged Chosen shimmered and shook, finally snapping into the sharp angles of a familiar and very solid form.
"Rodyle…" Liane half growled, releasing Lloyd's shoulder, absently making the decision that if her friend really wanted to skewer the Cardinal for what he had done to his friends, she really didn't care to stop him.
Apparently, Presea shared the notion, and simply wasn't willing to let Lloyd keep the honors for himself. She rushed past the swordfighters, her ax already cleaving at the air before her. "You will pay for using me! Let Colette go!" the girl demanded, her soft voice carrying a shake of anger as she leveled her swing directly for Rodyle's middle.
Instead of the gruesome noise that the blade should have made as it sliced through the half-elf, there was another whine of power as Rodyle's sadistic grin widened and his form disappeared on a passing breeze.
"An illusion?" Raine murmured, her wide eyes blinking in surprise as Presea's swing slowed, dropping the ax back to the packed dirt surface of the platform. The party looked around, none of them dropping their guard, but their unease collectively rising so much that it was practically tangible.
The respite proved to be quick and as false as they had expected it to be when a nasally and particularly malevolent laugh split the air behind the party. When they turned, Rodyle stood casually facing them, his hands on his hips and his head thrown back in the throes of laughter. "You can have that worthless Chosen!" he declared snidely. "Now I understand why Lord Yggdrasill left her alone.
Lloyd's blades rattled in his hands as his grip on them tightened. "Worthless?!" the teen demanded in a tone of mixed confusion and anger.
Rodyle laughed again, his sneer fixing on the young swordsman. "Absolutely," he crooned, nodding eagerly. "A sinful Chosen like that is completely useless for my Mana Cannon," he sniffed, waving one hand dismissively in Colette's direction. "She can't even save the world. She can't merge with Martel. She even puts her friends in danger." The half-elf's lips curled into a sneer. "What a pathetic Chosen."
Liane glanced back to Colette, seeing every one of Rodyle's charges hit her like a physical blow, leaving the girl wincing at each of them, her shoulders drooping lower with every word. "Colette's not putting anyone but herself in danger," she murmured, a hot ball of anger coiling in her gut as she glared back at the Cardinal. "Just like the rest of us. We're here of our own free will," the dark haired young woman stated, momentarily wondering when she had come to believe that she had made her own decision that she belonged in the fight – that she wasn't' actually simply being tossed on waves of fate.
"Stop blaming Colette for things she did not do!" Presea chimed in, edging up to Line's side, her ax braced across her, held in both of her tiny, tensed hands.
"Indeed."
At the single, low word, Liane looked over to see Regal slowly stalking forward, his hands closed into light fists and his glare burning into Rodyle. Regal. It snapped into place that he was the one who had planted the seeds of her declaration to Rodyle… and the only one to whom she had voiced her fears of not belonging. That same encouragement had driven her without even thinking about it. My life… my responsibility… my choice. No one else's.
"It is enough that I alone bear the weight of sin," the shackled man continued, a low rumble deep in his throat growing as he strode forward, his focus entirely fixed on Rodyle. "You and I are the epitome of sin!" he ground out, his walk turning into a slow bounce that lightened his steps for what seemed to be a building attack. "I'll drag you down to hell with me!"
Liane blinked in surprise at his tone. She had seen the man brood… she knew how sullen and resolved to his private punishment, but the anger that jarred his tone somehow still managed to surprise her.
Rodyle merely turned his head to face the blue haired man, crossing his arms over his chest as he arched one eyebrow over the rim of his glasses. "Take me to hell?" He scoffed, his voice light with sarcastic laughter. "You inferior beings and your silly jokes."
Almost moving as a single entity, the party stepped forward, edging to surround the Cardinal. Rodyle remained still, calmly observing their advance and not showing the least hint of worry.
"Everyone, please, run!"
Colette's panicked cry rang out, jolting the tension as Rodyle began to snicker once again, throwing his arms wide to the skies above him. "Now, my darling pets!" he crooned maliciously as a flurry of screeches and wails answered him from above and all around the platform all at once. "Feed on the flesh of these wretched beings!"
Suddenly, Rodyle became the least of their worries, his form flickering away once again as a pair of skittering shadows played over the surface of the platform. Liane looked up, her breath catching in her throat as she recognized the dragons that had aided Rodyle in Colette's kidnapping earlier circled overhead. He doesn't need Colette anymore… he's just using her as bait to lure us here now… to get rid of us all at the same time.
Colette was as close as she could get to the energy field that surrounded her, shaking her head as she watched her companions with tears building in her eyes. "Don't try to fight them!" she screamed her panic. "Run!"
Despite the Chosen's pleading cry, a moment of what almost passed as peace embraced the party, their eyes all drawn up to watch the winged creatures that Rodyle had summoned for them. "Winged dragon, a sub species of dragon," Presea calmly murmured, the head of her ax resting against the ground. "Carnivorous. Excels at the pursuit and capture of prey." She looked around to the others. "The probability of successful evasion on this small platform is one percent."
Zelos snorted at the girl's assessment of the situation. "Give me a break," he groaned, shaking his head as he adjusted his shield against his forearm. "I'll pass on dying, thanks!"
The crimson-clad teen crossed his swords before him as his eyes followed the dragons that were just starting to spiral down at them. "All we have to do is defeat them before they can kill us!" he murmured, his attention clearly not on speaking to his companions. It was a simple announcement of a simple plan: fight… or die.
"Indeed," Regal grumbled, his stance now bouncing rhythmically, almost like a snake preparing to strike. His deep voice still rang of the anger he had shown Rodyle, but by all appearances, he was ready for the fight. "I have no intention of becoming a part of the food chain without a fight."
Probably needs to work off some aggression, Liane observed, exhaling as the dragons started to abandon their spiral to dive aggressively at the party. "Split up?" she asked all of her companions at the same time as the pair loomed ever closer, shrill cries of beastly excitement filling the air around them. Not that fighting my own way to exhaustion would be such a bad idea today… the swordswoman frowned as she fed a small bit of mana into her blade, still not sure of exactly how her attacks would work on the beasts. The dream she had endured the night before had been peaceful enough… almost disturbingly romantic if she was honest with herself. However, the girl's eyes still haunted her.
"Yeah…" Lloyd nodded as he leapt at the first dragon to level off at the surface level and charge them, his blade sweeping up into the air and then coming down to impact against the bony crest between the creature's eyes. "Tiger Blade!!" he completed his attack and danced backwards as the dragon's head fell to the ground and the creature tumbled in a mass of blue scales and wings. "We can take 'em both down fast that way!"
"I'm on it, bud…" Zelos declared as he leapt to intercept the other dragon that had pulled up when its companion had crashed to the ground. But it wasn't fast enough to elude the redheaded swordsman and his spiraling leap up into the air, his sword mixing mana and reflection to form an elegant corkscrew up into the air to bring the fight up to the dragon. "Light Spear!"
Regal did not hesitate to move in the instant Lloyd left the dragon open, passing through the already stunned dragon as though he were a phantom, made of the same holographic material their enemy had used to project his image on the floating platform. "Mirage!" Before the dragon could even hope to whirl around, his legs were already in motion, striking hard and fast, the fluid movement natural. "Wolverine!"
As if the cries of the twin dragons weren't maddening enough, Liane was suddenly aware of a dark shadow that loomed over their improvised battlefield. A shadow? But there were no clouds and…. The thought was cut short as she dove to the side, her shoulder slamming into the packed earth as a side effect of the reaction, but it served its purpose of keeping her out of the jaws of a greater dragon that was easily ten times the size of the other two. The beast had crept out of one of the large tubes that swept up over the sides of the platform during the initial chaos of the battle and had merely chosen the moment to drop its long, graceful neck in an attempt to snatch one of the fighters away. "Guys! Mama Dragon's not happy!" Liane called out as the dragon pulled back into the tube. "Be careful!" she added, climbing back to her feet and running at the smaller dragon that Zelos' attack had batted away. Quick… before it can fly again! She pictured her attack in her mind and thrust her sword out before her, the mana responding in gentle ripples to make it a reality. "Sonic Thrust!"
While Sheena and Raine closed in on the dragon that Lloyd and Regal had already claimed, the smaller members of the party both rushed at Zelos and Liane. As Genis hung back and encircled himself with a blaze of spinning purple runes, Presea ran past Liane, heaving her ax from her side until she had it grasped before her in both hands. The dragon that had been pushed back nearly to the edge of the platform was still struggling to rise into the air again when the pink haired girl planted her feet and drew the ax up into the air. "Infliction!" A deceptively elegant arch of light slicing into the dragon's scales as the creature shrieked and flipped back off the edge of the platform.
"Hunny, is your shoulder okay?" Zelos asked as he edged back closer to Liane, even though his eyes were fixed on where the dragon had disappeared. "Do you want me to –"
"Photon!"
Liane glanced over at the other half of their party of the flash of light and subsequent inhuman scream, but she was already shaking her head. "No thanks," she murmured, trying to be polite even though she bristled at being called 'hunny.' "I just need to learn how to dodge better. It'll be okay," the dark haired swordswoman told him as a flash of blue and purple sweeping up against the sky brought the almost-awkward moment to an end. "Genis… now would be good!" she called over her shoulder as she saw the dragon dive at them again.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," the young mage retorted, throwing his arm up into the air as his focus pinned on the dragon's speeding descent. "Wanna charge? Thunder Blade!"
The air around the dragon instantly began to crackle, but the spell didn't have time to form completely before the creature spewed a trio of fireballs at its prey. An instant later, the dragon was impaled on a sword of sizzling lightning that drove it into the platform with an enraged scream of protest.
Liane, Presea, Genis, and Zelos scattered slightly in an attempt to avoid both the fireballs and the tendrils of lightning. "Huh… doesn't look like he liked that too much," Zelos muttered, glancing around to his companions as the dragon thrashed on the ground. "Let's see if we can keep him from cooking us, m'kay?" the swordsman smirked as he watched the others gather around him. "Brat… do something big and watery that will make him really mad. Liane… Lightning. Presea…" he shot the ax girl a quick grin and then set off in a sprint at the dragon. "You're with me." Paying no attention to Genis' grumbling, the flamboyant swordsman bore down on the struggling dragon and jerked his sword up into the air above his head. "Fierce Demon Fang!" he called out as the slash of mana blasted down at the dragon.
"I hate it when he gets decent plans," Genis muttered, glancing up to Liane. "Give me a second to cast spread… then you hit him with Lightning."
Liane blinked, the simplicity of the plan and its possible outcome pleasing her. "Electrocute a dragon… interesting choice of ideas," she smirked and nodded.
Genis' grin grew a bit wicked. "Who said anything about the dragon? Aim for the windbag," he snickered before his expression mellowed and blue runes flared around him.
Almost choking at the retort, Liane shook her head and glanced back to the other half of the party at the sound of a sword ringing off something decidedly solid. Lloyd was spinning back through the air… from the looks of the large dragon that was once again retreating into a tube, the creature had gone after the swordsman much like it had come after her. It also seemed that Lloyd's retaliation had done far more for their cause, judging from the broken fang stuck into the ground not far from where he landed. The other small dragon cried out, it's elegant head thrown back as rings of smoke tightened around it, sent by one of Sheena's spell cards. Looks like they've got things under control… she decided, turning back to her own half of the adversaries in time to see Presea flipping up through the air as the dragon reared up to meet her.
"Devastation," the girl's voice drifted out, amazingly calm considering the brutality of the downward strike of her ax that sent the dragon sprawling to the ground.
Liane drew her sword up before her, seeing Genis' spell starting to crackle with held back power out of the corner of her eye. Got to hit it just before Genis' spell fades… the spells have to work together, she coached herself, carefully constructing the rune pattern for Lightning and watching that it didn't try to change into something else on its own.
"Drown!" Genis growled out as he whipped the ball of his kendama out and then upward, the mana of the spell following the action as the runes dissolved and shot out to the ground beneath the dragon. "Spread!" the mage commanded, his spell responding and blasting up and around the dragon in a blast of shimmering water.
Opening her eyes, Liane watched the dragon tumble, holding her spell back until she saw Genis' start to release their foe. "Lightning!" She didn't hesitate, swinging her blade out as a pointer to the dragon as the bolt of energy she had summoned slammed the dragon down into the disappearing puddle, an angry hiss of opposing elements sounding out just over the dragon's howl of pain before the creature fell limp to the ground.
"That was pretty good, wasn't it?" Zelos chuckled smugly, glancing over to the others of his half of the group. "Go team and all that," he sighed as he looked over to the others and nodded in their direction. "Looks like we finished first, let's go help the slackers…" the redhead shrugged and set off in a jog across the platform.
Exchanging glances with Genis, Liane turned to follow Zelos. While inspirational speeches didn't seem to be his strong point, he was right – there was more left to do. At least the odds are a little more in our favor now, she told herself, gripping her sword a little tighter as she ran, trying not to think about fighting dragons. Until the big bad dragon comes back, anyway. The thought made her shiver as she glanced around the three tubes curving above them. Goddess, I hope there's only one.
Regal threw out his leg to block the swipe of the dragon's wing, standing firm against the force the beast put behind it. The end of the movement left the creature open, giving the convict the chance to dash forward, kicking out. He delivered a series of fluid kicks and then threw out his left leg, sweeping it out and back and forth across the enemy's muzzle before pushing off with his right leg to land gracefully out of reach. "Swallow Dance!" the blue haired man called out as the monster grunted in pain, a gasp of air following quickly it collapsed onto the rock beneath it.
"Whoa, whoa, big guy!" Zelos chuckled over the guttural growl of the newly fallen dragon as its neck, tail, and wings all fell limply to the guard. "Hey, the Warrior Goddess was on a roll, couldn't you even give her a shot at this one?" he demanded playfully. "It's considered polite to share the fun, you know…."
A faint glare of exasperation glimmered in Regal's eyes as he looked over to the redhead. "It's okay, really… we have bigger things to worry about," Liane quickly spoke up before anyone could speak again. It seemed that Zelos just couldn't stop himself from digging at the shackled man, but even for as much as it happened, it seemed to her to be more out of curiosity than maliciousness. She didn't understand, but she still knew it wasn't her place to get in the middle of things. Besides, it's kind of nice that Zelos is giving me openings. The thought surprised her at first, but it made more sense the longer it settled. He could have cast Lightning faster than I did. It could have simply been that he wanted to show off his swordsmanship, but the less she questioned it, the better. I do need the practice. With that, she decided to give Zelos the benefit of the doubt – as an angered scream echoed out of all three of the tubes. "Like… that…" Liane groaned, clenching her sword even tighter as the large dragon's head once again emerged from the tube closest to them and plunged directly at the party.
The group scattered as the ground beneath their feet shook with the beast's impact. Zelos quickly rolled to his feet, bouncing his weight back and forth in his stance, his sword and shield at the ready. "Well, well," he murmured, his smile widening almost eagerly as the dragon's head reared back, wild eyes scanning over the group. "Aren't we a big boy?"
"Yeah, you just sit there and talk to it," Sheena grumbled as she dashed forward and leapt at the dragon, her spell card blazing for the moment before bluish-black energy rippled over the dragon's blue scales. "Life Seal!" the ninja called out as the waves recoiled back to her and she dropped back down the platform's surface, landing in a crouch with the fingers of one hand enforcing her balance.
"Well, I'd rather sit here and talk to you, but you'd just smack me," Zelos countered with a grin as he ran past the ninja, sparring her a wink before charging the retreating head of the dragon. The mana pattern that waved over his blade resembled that of Sonic Thrust, but Zelos' held a distinctly purple cast to it. "Lightning Blade!" the redhead called out as the waves blasted out at the dragon, sending the beast recoiling back for only an instant before a stab of lightning speared it. As the dragon screamed out and began to withdraw back into the tube, Zelos turned back to Sheena and flipped a handful of red furls back over his shoulder. "Of course, we can see about fixing that now, if you'd rather?"
"This is still a battle," Raine cleared her throat over the sound of Sheena's grumbling and started to back closer to the center of the platform close to Colette's cage. "Keep your eyes open, everyone. That dragon can come out of any of those tubes," she murmured as she lifted her rod with both hands, the glimmering feathers on the head of the weapon rhythmically flapping as they awaited Raine's command.
"Professor!" Colette called out insistently. "This is your chance! Get away from here before it comes back!" the blonde girl pled, singling Raine out perhaps in hopes of appealing to the party's logical side.
Lloyd spoke up before his teacher could. "You don't get it, do you?" he asked, his eyes scanning from one tube to the next. "We came to get you and we're not leaving without you!" he declared, his jaw set as a scream resounded from the tube across the platform. He was suddenly in motion, his feet pounding against the dirt until the flicker of sunlight on scales announced the dragon's return. In that moment, the teen threw himself into a headlong flip that carried him up into the air, blades flashing as he climbed higher and higher. "Omega Tempest!"
Liane watched as her friend kicked away from the dragon's muzzle, the beast snapping its head back and away from the flurry of strikes with a howl. Colette had offered no further protest after Lloyd's words, and it was probably a good thing, she decided. He's right. If we do leave here without Colette, it will just be one more defeat. If Colette wasn't with them to end the cycle of the two worlds preying on each other, victory would be hollow. Enough Chosens have fallen, she set her jaw, glaring at the dragon as it retaliated and dove at Lloyd once again, sending a cloud of dirt up as the teen leapt out of its path at the last moment. It was her chance – the dragon was low enough that her own sword tricks could still be useful. "Double Demon Fang!" she called out, sending the pair of slashes into the rapidly settling dirt storm, rewarded for her effort with another cry from the dragon. We're all going home alive then this is over. There is no other option.
The dragon turned its massive head to watch the swordswoman's retreat, baring is teeth as it drew back to lunge again. But at the height of its neck's arch, bands of shimmering golden runes snapped at the air around its head. "Light! Photon!" the Professor's voice demanded of her spell over the obedient crackle of mana that seared the dragon. The beast howled and withdrew back into the tube almost before the spell had died away, the golden light still visible in the tube as the creature disappeared from sight.
"This is stupid," Zelos grumbled, spinning his sword out before him as he cautiously looked from one tube to the next. "Even if Lloyd broke off a tooth, it only made it madder. The only thing it did is make it so when it does eat us, it'll hurt more."
The pessimism earned the redhead an assortment of glares, but Sheena was the first to give hers a narrative. She drew a blue-tinted spell card from her sash and huffed. "Well, do your part, stop complaining and maybe we can stop it before it gets that bad," she chided him as she turned her gaze back to Lloyd. "You want to guard for me? I think Undine might help end this a little faster," she shrugged as she lifted the card into the air before her, held it there for a moment, and then released it, setting it spinning as she closed her eyes and started to mouth a silent chant.
Lloyd moved back to hover near Sheena, his blades crossed and at the ready as he accepted her request. Liane couldn't help but notice how Zelos' shoulders sagged for the briefest of instants, but then appeared to be once again ready to fight. They're so stuck in tormenting each other… I wonder what they'd do if they could both swallow their pride at the same time…. Further speculation was cut short by a violent shaking in the ground beneath their feet as the dragon's head shot out from the next tube to the right of where it had been before, screamed its outrage to the open skies, and then once again plunged toward the party.
Before the dragon could open its jaws once again, Regal lunged forward, already spinning in mid air to slam his right leg into the scales and vulnerable flesh just below the beast's eye. "Rising Dragon!" Before he landed, he used his forward momentum once again, continuing to rotate and throwing out the same leg to add to the damage he'd already done. "Triple Rage Kick!"
The dragon's neck fell limp to the ground as the convict leapt away, the creature's eyes clenched tight as a testament to the power in Regal's attack. It provided Presea with opportunity to run forward, the blade of her ax hissing against the winds. She slashed at the dragon, a burst of mana several times larger than the girl herself blasting out in the guise of a snarling creature and sending the dragon's head and neck crumpling back closer to where it hung from the tube. "Beast!"
The creature grunted as it attempted to rise from the ground again, snapping its jaws at its foes as the fighters edged closer. "Presea's right! Less talking, more winning!" Genis muttered from his place deep in the protection of the others. When the dragon snarled once again and managed to pull its head up from the ground, the young mage threw his kendama out at the beast, sparkling blue runes answering the gesture by wrapping around the dragon and starting to swirl around its head. "Cool off! Ice Tornado!"
Liane watched as the winds bent to Genis' command, whipping around the dragon's head and appearing to help it lift its massive head. However, that was where the aid stopped, as chunks of ice solidified inside the wind to pummel the angry creature, perhaps even pushing it just a little faster back into its tube with a final snap of its jaws. The departure at least bought the party a moment to draw a breath, and it gave Liane a chance to once again recognize a feeling of awe at her young friend's skills. He's amazing, her thoughts whispered as she watched the boy lift a hand to push his sliver bangs from his eyes. She had seen him studying by the light of the campfire on several nights, but she rarely saw him use magic other than to light the campfire outside of battle. It comes so naturally to him. Liane sighed, a bit envious even though she knew she had no grounds to be. Humans without blood links to elves had no talent whatsoever for working magic – or, at least, that was what the priest had told her when they had informed her that a search of her ancestry indicated that there was no use in teaching her as her human blood was as pure as it could be. I'm lucky to have what I do, she told herself once again and looked back to the others in time to see a flash of green.
"Help is on the way!" Raine called out, pushing her rod up into the air above her. "Nurse!" The Professor's spell danced and leapt across the battlefield, a burst of mana reaching out to all of them as the ground began to shake once again. "It's not over yet," Raine told them all with a shake of her head. "Be careful."
For a moment, things were quiet and peaceful, even the winds dying back and leaving the only thing that was moving to be the series of blue rune circles spinning beneath Sheena's feet. All of that ended a moment later, though, when the dragon's head rushed from the last tube, a powerful scream splitting the air as the beast called its challenge to the group once again.
"Boo-yah!!" Zelos whooped, spinning on his heel with a wide grin to face the dragon again. "Sheena, hunny, do your thing!"
Sheena sighed, the gesture sounding far more like exasperation than it did swallowing nerves, but she still flicked her hand to swipe the card from the air and thrust it high above her head, the runes reacting by blazing brighter as they awaited her command. "I call upon the maiden of the mist," the summoner called out, no sign of a waver in her voice. "Undine!"
The spirit materialized in the air between Sheena and the dragon, the blue-skinned woman considering her adversary with an air of absolute ease before she swept her hand out towards it. Immediately, a swarm of geysers swelled and exploded beneath the dragon, buffeting the creature between the torrential blasts. When the attack finally started to slow, Undine turned back to her summoner, not even watching the battered dragon fall back to the ground as she nodded respectfully and then vanished in a swirl of blue.
"And now that you're back down at our level…" Zelos muttered, rushing at the beast with waves of purple flashing back over his blade. "Lightning Blade!" the redhead commanded as the energy rolled out over the dragon, crackling where it came into contact with the remnants of Undine's attack until a stab of lightning targeted the beast.
The dragon's scream was somehow mournful as the opposing elements once again combined to deal their damage. Rolling its neck, the dragon started to lift its head again, its maw opened wide to its enemies, a threat as well as a defense as the creature struggled to rise again. Lloyd, freed of his duties in Sheena's defense, ran forward with his arms crossed over his body, the act of uncrossing them guiding his momentum up into the air to follow the dragon. Blades slashing at the dragon, the swordsman dropped back to the ground, the mana of his attack pushing a shockwave across the ground before he jerked both swords up into the air. "Raging Beast!" The lion's visage appeared once again in the energy as it blasted the dragon back, its complaint almost lost to the snarl of Lloyd's own attack.
As the frontline fighters started to edge closer, the dragon began to sway as if being buffeted by waves of dizziness. As the more confident warriors formed a barrier to the gnashing jaws of the irritated and wounded creature, those with spells to offer used the time to weave their mana. "Form a torrential vortex and engulf the evil spirits," Genis directed the power that pulsed through the blue runes that laced the bands spinning around him, his eyes clenched shut in concentration for a moment longer before they popped open and he cast his kendama out toward the dragon. "Tidal Wave!"
It was instinct for Liane to gasp and catch her breath as the shimmering wall of water roared down over the battlefield, quickly engulfing her own meager blue rune circle that she had constructed in the wake of Genis and Undine's success with the element. Her grasp of the spell felt tenuous at best, as she was still trying to convince herself that the spell was truly hers to use and not just a fluke against Volt. While the waves smashed into the dragon, they left the party members dry and undamaged, no matter the fact that it destroyed Liane's concentration, and with it, her spell. She felt her mana evaporate away with the mage's spell, and though she wobbled a little, she still found a somewhat playful glare for her young friend. "Gee, thanks," she shook her head to his sheepish grin. "Sheesh. And you say Zelos is a show off."
"Liane, try the spell again," Regal murmured to her, meeting her gaze for an instant before he lunged forward, spinning in midair and throwing out his right leg in a scooping kick that sent the dragon hurdling back. Using the momentum he gained from pushing off the beast, he changed direction, coming crashing back down on it. "Eagle Dive!"
Liane only allowed herself to be distracted by Regal's attack for an instant before she clamped her jaw tight and scrambled to reconstruct her lost spell. Thankfully, the runes all fell back into place – almost like the words to a long-forgotten song – and quickly began to strengthen. It won't be strong like Genis or Undine's spells, but it should help our cause some…. Feeling the mana level stabilize, she opened her eyes and made sure her path to the reeling dragon was clear before setting the spell free. "Aqua Edge!" Though the dragon sounded more annoyed than truly damaged by the watery slivers that quickly pummeled it, Liane still breathed out in relief. It's mine… it really is.
Even as the dragon snapped at the party, Presea dashed forward, ignoring the threat of the teeth as she lifted her ax into the air, the speed and a brief sparkle of mana working together to leave one and then two crescent shapes in the air where they sliced into the scaled plates along the dragon's neck. "Resolute Infliction," the girl murmured, taking a step back to coolly observe the way the dragon's head and neck swayed on the winds.
"All right already!" Zelos groaned, shaking his head before he ran at the dragon as well, angling his saber up at the creature. "Enough with the dragons! Super Sonic Thrust!"
The blast that leapt from the redheaded Chosen's weapon actually made it look like the dragon had momentarily regained all of its strength, its neck arching high in what almost looked like triumph over the party and a thunderous cry shook the ground and air alike. But all of the appearances shattered in the next instant as the dragon's head plummeted to the dirt, its neck crumpling limply over it without so much as another whimper.
"Finally!!" the redhead moaned, his sword flashing as he slid it back into its scabbard. "I'm so tired of everything thinking it can just snack on us!"
The party was still for a moment – catching their breaths, adjusting their weapons, or simply allowing their stances to soften in reward for yet another apparent victory. Liane leaned forward, bracing her hands on her knees and forcing a deep breath into her lungs. We did it… again. I…. Through wearily closed eyes, she saw something – a golden glow that neither looked nor felt like sunlight. What…?
The realization that something was happening slowly washed over the party as – one by one – they noticed the same orange glow that kept Colette prisoner begin to slowly creep from the center of the platform, radiating out in ripples from beneath the blonde Chosen's feet.
"No, it's too late," Colette whimpered in what couldn't be taken as anything but defeat as she watched her companions back away from the spreading glow until there was no longer anywhere to go.
Liane's first thought had been to demand to know what Colette was talking about, but when she found herself unable to move, her feet stuck to the surface of the platform and every muscle in her body beginning to quiver, she realized that it was the pulsing glow beneath them that had stolen Colette's hope. She looked up, meeting the blonde girl's wide blue eyes. "Colette… what's happening?"
"What is this ominous light that threatens to engulf us?" Regal rasped, his words punctuated by strain that showed that he, too, was struggling against the pull of the force anchoring them in place.
A frustrated snarl tore itself from Sheena's throat as her shoulders sagged. "I can't move!"
It's happening to all of us, Liane realized as she looked around, all of them wobbling as if it was all that they could do to stay standing. She glanced over the still bodies of the three fallen dragons, relieved that it didn't' seem to be a spell to keep them all in place until the dragons felt like getting up and eating them. But what are we being held in place for? She asked silently, as small voice in the back of her mind keeping the question internal as if it was sure that she truly didn't want to hear an answer.
"It's Colette!" Genis called out in surprise, pointing to where their friend stood at the pulsing heart of the platform. "The mana from Colette's body is flowing out towards us!" the mage continued even as his knees buckled, bringing the young half-elf to kneel on the ground.
Raine looked over in helpless concern to her brother and then to Colette, nodding as her frown deepened. "It's caused by that magic circle beneath her!"
"It's drawing on her mana to trap all of us?" Liane choked, trying to swallow the panic rising within her. Her limbs felt like lead, and no options to remedy that would form in her mind – attacking was out of the question for countless reasons, magic was laughable at best, and escape seemed the least possible or desirable of all. We couldn't leave her here… even if we could get away. But… why this? Why now??
"Colette! Get out of there!" Lloyd called out, strain fraying the edges of his voice as he struggled against the weight of his body.
Colette slowly shook her head as her gaze fell to the ground at her feet. "I can't… I'm chained to it," she murmured, her voice soft but oddly clear in the disturbing silence of the platform. "I… I can't move. I'm sorry," the blonde girl's shoulders fell even more and she still either couldn't or wouldn't look up. "I'm just a Chosen who couldn't even save her friends much less the world. Maybe I'm just like Rodyle said," she sighed, somehow even the rush of breath conveying her disappointment. "A pathetic Chosen…."
Hearing the girl who had always been almost obnoxiously cheerful parrot back the Desian's words made Liane's heart sink. Colette was the one everyone looked to when everything started to fall apart, no matter how serious. If even Colette's lost her faith…. "Colette! That's not true!" she blurted out, more in denial than anything, if she was honest with herself. "Don't talk like that!"
"No, Colette, don't delude yourself," Presea added to Liane's protest, her voice still somehow calm unlike everyone else that had already spoken. "You haven't done anything wrong. What's wrong is this system that demands the sacrifice of the Chosen!"
With that, the pink haired girl's face scrunched with a mixture of struggle and determination… and slowly… one step at a time, she started to move, fighting for every last bit she moved closer to the barrier that confined Colette. The others could only watch in stunned silence as Presea came closer and closer to the blonde Chosen, a pained growl finally ripping from her throat as she drew her ax up into the air, shook with her struggle against the weapon's weight, and then brought it down into the lines of the magic circle that Raine had pointed out.
As the circle broke, an explosion of energy reacted to Presea's strike, blowing the girl back and away from the barrier that held Colette. Presea cried out when she hit the ground and fell still, but Colette's prison disintegrated at the same time, taking the pulsating field that held the party captive with it.
"Presea!" Colette ran from the trip, sliding to her knees at Presea's side, her eyes wide with worry. The blonde Chosen took one of the ax girl's hands in both of hers and bowed her head. "Thank you…."
Released from the trap of Colette's mana, the party slowly gathered around Colette and Presea, all of them hesitating as if each of them feared the worst for the pink haired girl. She felt responsible for what happened to Colette, Liane realized as she could once again hear the girl's claims of how she was used and how the Chosen was to be sacrificed rang in her thoughts. In those few, uncertain moments, Liane's eyes swept over her companions… and settled on the unreadable mask that Regal wore as his attention was absolutely fixed on Presea. His words aimed at Rodyle had almost surprised her with the rage she heard seething in them, but now it was just something in his eyes… something that she could only describe as grief.
Before Liane could further reflect on the observation, the ground beneath their feet began to shake, a deep rumble accompanying it after a moment. But as unwelcome as the development had the potential to be, a soft moan sounded from the fallen girl… enough of a reaction to send a flash of relief through Liane, even though the shaking continued to intensify. "She's just stunned…" she muttered just before a particularly violent jolt threatened their footing even more.
"Whoa, what's up with the ground?!" Zelos blurted as he had to take a quick step to keep his balance.
Lloyd frowned and reached to the small pack on his back, removing the tiny pouch he had tied to the side and flipping it out to his side, one of the Rheairds that they had liberated from the Renegades bursting to its full form beside him at the unspoken command. "We have to get out of here!"
"Wait," Regal murmured over the rumble of the platform, kneeling beside Presea and slipping his arms beneath her tiny form as carefully as he could before he rose with the girl cradled against his chest and looked over to Lloyd with a nod.
As the Rheairds of the rest of the party began to appear and fire their engines in response to their riders, Lloyd directed the convict and his unconscious burden to the swordsman's own flyer before he did a double take to watch Colette standing in the middle of the chaos with a dazed look on her face.
Liane revved the engine of her own Rheaird, her heartbeat quickening as the dragon's tubes began to crumble to the ground nearby. Regal had Presea safely on Lloyd's Rheaird and everyone else that had one of the machines seemed to be ready to go, but Colette still stood frozen as if unseen bonds still held her back. "Colette! We have to go!" she called out, seeing the girl's head snap up in alarm as Lloyd reached out to take her wrist.
"Lloyd, I…" the blonde girl started to object, shaking her head even as her feet followed along with Lloyd's pull toward where Raine was waiting anxiously.
The swordsman paused and turned back to Colette, his stony gaze cutting off her protest. "Colette! You have to live!" Lloyd told her, his voice demanding enough that the girl's posture straightened with surprise.
"I… I know," Colette nodded and stopped fighting his guidance, numbly following her friend's guidance to step on the back of Raine's Rheaird as Lloyd hurried back to his own craft and passengers.
It seemed strange to Liane how easy it was to control the Rheairds. It wasn't as if they had ever really had time to learn much about them with each time they had obtained them having been followed by some grand escape. Yet, once again, fate seemed to be favoring them in allowing them not only escape, but also the presence of their friend to make their group whole once again.
Or almost whole.
Liane had to groan at the thought, amazed once again by how his absence wouldn't even let her truly consider Colette's rescue a victory. Maybe it's the same thing, she started to reason as she followed along with the others and slowed her descent towards a clearing on a mountain below. Maybe… it just won't be right if we're not all standing together in the end? While she was sure that she was the only one that felt that way, she knew that it was a decision that was completely out of her control. All they could really hope to affect at that moment was one thing at a time. And now… it has to be making sure Presea's okay… and then deciding where we go from here.
As a group, they landed in a meadow that the setting sun no longer reached, thanks to the jagged mountains that rose around them. One by one, their Rheaird engines died out, leaving the party in relative silence compared to the chaos on the platform that they had left behind in their escape.
Lloyd quickly hopped from his Rheaird and stepped aside, giving Regal room to move from the flyer's platform and safely get clear of the machine before he held the wing pack out to draw the Rheaird back in. Protectively pacing the shackled man, the swordsman helped Regal ease Presea to the ground to rest against a moss-covered tree root. Both men stood, frowns deepening as they considered the unmoving girl for a moment before Lloyd looked back to the others with a weary droop of his shoulders. "Is everybody okay?" he asked, concern plain in his tone.
"I'm still alive!" Zelos declared as he pocketed his wing pack and strolled closer to Presea's resting spot, his casual air a sharp contrast to what they had all just endured.
Sheena rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to try to suppress a groan as she stopped beside Lloyd and pointedly turned her head away from the redheaded Chosen. "It looks like everyone's all right," she spoke up as if to override Zelos' statement and replace it with the answer Lloyd had asked for.
"Thanks to Presea," Liane murmured, securing her own wing pack to her backpack and watching as Genis and Raine moved to the pink haired girl's side. She caught Colette's gaze across the gathering for a moment – just an accidental contact – and she saw a flash of sorrow in the girl's clear blue eyes… and she had to wince. That was stupid… like she didn't feel bad enough. "Colette… we all need help sometimes," she commented softly, taking a few small steps closer to the girl in an attempt to smooth over how she had clearly taken her words. She was rewarded for the effort with a happy smile and a nod that told Liane it was time to keep her mouth shut… and that Colette had taken the words to heart and wasn't nearly ready to let go of her own self-inflicted guilt. Maybe I'm the one that should have lost my voice…the dark haired swordswoman grumbled silently and glanced away with a sigh.
Regal exhaled, shaking his head as he looked up from Presea, his eyes shifting first to Lloyd and then to Colette. "But for what purpose did that Rodyle character kidnap Colette?" he asked, his tone very measured, especially when he spoke the Desian's name.
Colette's head snapped up at the sound of her name and the smile she had mustered for Liane quickly melted away as she lifted her hand to cover the stone at the base of her throat. "He said he needed a Cruxis Crystal in order to control the Mana Cannon," she offered, relaying the Desian's plot as it had been revealed to her. The girl lowered her eyes again and shrugged. "But apparently, mine didn't work."
"Mana Cannon?" Lloyd chimed in, his hands clenching at the leather wrapped hilts of his blades.
The Professor glanced over to the conversation, her brow furrowed with concern. "Pietro, the man we saved in Hima, also spoke of this Mana Cannon," she muttered, her frown showing through in her tone.
Liane almost groaned at the memory of Pietro and what he had gone through to be able to even tell them about the Mana Cannon in the first place. "Colette, it's not a bad thing that your Crystal didn't work," she sighed. "Anything that Rodyle and the others want that badly is something that neither you nor your Crystal want to be associated with."
Before anyone else could speak up to strengthen Liane's stand on Rodyle's rejection of Colette. Genis' sharp gasp split the tension in the air. "Presea's waking up!" he called out, scrambling to help the pink haired girl sit up as she blinked in confusion and looked up to those gathered around her.
The disorientation in Presea's eyes lasted only until she spotted Colette, and then her gaze cleared and she struggled to sit up just a little bit more. "Colette… are you okay?" she asked quietly as she studied the blonde girl that had knelt down beside her and taken her hand.
"Yes," the blonde girl nodded, her smile warming as she squeezed Presea's hand. "Thanks to you."
Presea's large blue eyes blinked at the answer, and then slowly – almost too slowly to be believed – the girl's lips turned upward into a wide smile that spoke more for her satisfaction with Colette's answer than any words she could have uttered.
"Presea smiled!" Lloyd exclaimed, laughter tinting his voice as it mingled with relief and he shook his head, exhaling deeply with a chuckle.
It was a moment they all seemed to need, especially with how contagious Presea's smile seemed to be. It was a sweet ending to the latest battle… something innocent and something that felt distinctly like they had found a true victory for once. Liane inhaled and stood back, satisfied with the sign. It's going to feel good to end the day having actually accomplished something… she mused. Nothing was perfect or settled… it would be delusional if any of them believed that it was. But they had Colette back, and Presea seemed to have found another small bit of herself in that rescue. It would be enough for the day.
"She resembles her, just as I thought."
The comment was so quiet, Liane could have almost have ignored it or passed it off as background noise that her thoughts had forced into words. However, it was Regal's tone that caught her attention. She looked to her side, to the convict that stood just out of arm's reach… and she had to pause at the sight of the slightest of smiles on his lips. No one else gave any indication that they had heard him, but Liane was certain that she had. Resembles who, Regal…? she wondered, but kept the thought to herself as Zelos stepped out to face the group once again.
"Okay then, now that my cute little Presea smiled, it's a good time to start thinking about the next step," the redhead announced with a grin and a flourish of his hand to bring the party's attention back to him.
"Yeah," Genis nodded, carefully holding Presea's forearm as she climbed back to her feet and eyeing her until she reestablished her balance. "We got Colette back, so what now?" the mage shrugged and pulled his hand back as he looked around his companions.
Lloyd laughed once and shifted to lower his pack to the ground at his feet. "What else?" he replied, planting his hands on his hips. "We're going to separate the two worlds!"
"Oh, is that all?" Liane retorted before she laughed a little, enjoying the lightening mood of the group. It was another calm, one that would inevitably be followed by another panic, but it felt good to let the moment simply be. "There's more spirits out there… we can go find another one tomorrow. We can cover a lot of ground with the Rheairds now…." Did… I really just suggest rushing into yet another fight?
Zelos nodded slowly in agreement, looking over the others with a small tilt to his head. "So we're gonna form pacts with the Summon Spirits of both worlds," he stated, his tone revealing that he knew that it would be their path.
"This is where I come in, right?" Sheena murmured with a small laugh that didn't sound all that amused, although she sounded considerably more at ease than she used to when the topic of pacting with the spirits had come up. "How about we start with the Summon Spirit, Gnome? He should be near here."
Lloyd's expression lit up a little with Sheena's suggestion. "All right, that sounds good," he declared, glancing up to the silver haired half-elf that had been the party's voice of reason from the beginning of their journey. "Professor? Is that okay with you?"
Raine's eyes widened and she sucked in a small breath as she looked over to the swordsman in what looked almost too much like surprise. "What?" she asked, shaking her head as if to clear it for a moment before she nodded once. "Um, y…yes, sure. That's fine," she replied, her words coming out in a rush of breath.
"Professor?" Lloyd replied softly to her confused tone, tilting his head and frowning to Raine. "Is something wrong?"
The Professor was quick to shake her head and give the boy a warm smile, waving off his concern with a quick gesture of his hand. "It's nothing," she stated and looked around the clearing for a moment as her shoulders showed her inhale deeply and then release the breath before she looked back to the party. "Anyway, let's get going."
Glancing up to the darkening skies, Liane nodded her agreement. "We don't have much time to set camp," she murmured. "At least it looks like the weather will be clear, even if it might be cold…" the swordswoman shrugged and reached down to pick up her pack. She knew it would be warmer with the rest of the group, but it wasn't the time to get too much closer to them… especially at night… and especially with her dreams getting more and more inexplicable.
"I could always keep you warm, my Warrior Goddess. It really wouldn't be any trouble?" Zelos winked at her and sauntered over to a semi-circle of trees nearby with his bedroll tucked under his arm.
Liane couldn't help but wonder if she would ever be able to come up with a reasonable response to the Chosen's comments, but any potential words she might have conjured for the moment were stopped short by the glare that she saw Sheena had fixed on the redhead. She decided her warm cheeks were response enough and it was probably best to ignore Zelos' antics. Every time he opened his mouth, she would swear that she felt the tension jump between him and Sheena, and, in all honesty, she feared for his safety should the summoner ever actually snap.
Sometimes, I wonder if that's not what he's actually after….
It was an intriguing enough thought, but one Liane knew she had to keep to herself. She pushed it away and wandered to the outer edges of the area the group had staked out. There were really no secluded places with the walls of the pass so close, so she would make do with what she hoped was simply out of the range of hearing of the others. Loosening the ties of her bedroll, she spread it out at the base of a small rock outcropping and reached back without looking for the blankets she would spread over it for the night – only to find that the woolen blanket wasn't where she had left it. Huh? She looked back over her shoulder, seeking her blanket, but freezing at the sight of the wide blue eyes that she found instead.
"Presea?"
The girl merely stood there, watching her with a curious gaze, the blanket Liane had been seeking extended out to her in the girl's arms. It was strange… she bore no animosity for the girl, but she had not gone out of her way to push the girl for a friendship that she might not have even been able to offer, especially with how she had been before Lloyd had given her the key crest. It had seemed only right to give the Presea her own room, but now, Liane found facing her almost strangely uncomfortable. "Ah… thank you…" she quickly tried to find a smile for Presea as she reached for the blanket, but Liane had the feeling that her surprise may have already spoken for itself. "Can I help you with something?" she asked as she started to spread the blanket over the thin roll.
Presea moved to the opposite end of the bedroll and started to help smooth the cover, never taking her eyes from Liane. "Why do you hesitate?" the girl asked quietly, as if she at least partially understood the dark haired woman's reasons for her separation from the rest of the group.
"Hesitate?" Liane sat back on her heels and shook her head. "Presea, what are you talking about?" Did I hurt her feelings? Or…?
"You hesitate in battle," Presea shrugged, tucking the blanket's edges under the end of the bedroll. "You have both spells and sword techniques to use, but you almost always hesitate to use either. Why?"
Liane's cheeks warmed a little in embarrassment. It wasn't normal for the others to bring up her fighting skills unless she had opened the topic. "Oh, that…" she laughed awkwardly and twisted her fingers together in her lap. "I guess I just figure that there's always the chance I could just be in the way when I'm trying to help," she offered, not really having a reason ready. Do I really? Is it that noticeable? "And my spells are weak. I think – normally - I'd be of better use with my sword, defending those that have the strong spells," she shrugged, fidgeting a little at how Presea was now intently watching her.
"I see." It was all the pink haired girl replied at first, allowing silence to settle between them again before she drew a small breath. "You don't feel that you have a tactical value to the party in battle… that your talents are duplicates of others that are stronger."
Ouch. Liane almost winced at the honesty in the girl's words and had to fight the urge not to withdraw into herself for having had the issue put into such precise words. "I suppose that's one way to put it…" she murmured, dropping her eyes to the bedroll.
"But you are wrong." Presea sat back, tilting her head to watch Liane and blinking as if it punctuated her statement. "You don't use an Exsphere, but you still fight with group and contribute to the best of your talents. Humans shouldn't be able to use spells, yet you still can, even if they are weaker than the other spellcasters. You shouldn't hesitate. You are stronger than you are letting yourself be."
Liane frowned a little, still unsure how to take the girl's words… as well as why she would come to her so suddenly. She laughed softly and reached up to push a single loose curl back over her ear. "I guess so…" she shrugged, wondering where she would even start to keep such a promise to the girl. "It's just… the fights are getting harder. It's hard for me to justify resorting to a spell that is probably wasting time considering I could be defending someone that could do ten times the damage with the same effort."
"If you believe in what you are fighting for, you should use your gifts to fight for them. They are what you can do and they don't depend on the abilities of anyone else," the pink haired girl replied with quiet conviction. "You see yourself as weak, but you won't get stronger unless you use your abilities," the girl shrugged and then pointedly met Liane's eyes. "In our next battle, I want you to fight with me."
"With you?" Liane echoed the girl's declaration with surprise. "Presea…."
"I will defend you. You can target your spell into my attack. We will attack together," Presea defined her offer with a brisk nod. "I believe it is what Lloyd and Genis call a 'Unison Attack.' We should be able to do it as well. You will get stronger, and you will make my attack stronger as well."
Liane was no stranger to the idea, she had even helped Lloyd through a unison attack before, but Presea wanted her to cast a spell with her? "Presea, I don't know if I can be that exact with a spell. I don't want to hurt you, not after everything you've been through." Concentration was coming to her easier now, and with it, better aim… but could she really have it in her to lend her spells to something even greater?
Presea shook her head and stood, her pink pigtails swishing at the air. "You will not. In our next fight, we'll prove it." With that and without a word of farewell, she turned and strode back to the rest of the party, leaving Liane to ponder her promise.
Could I? Really? Liane glanced down to her now-ready bedroll and chewed the edge of her lip. She could smell something cooking, and it made her stomach rumble, but she simply sat back down on her blanket, breathing in a deep breath as her eyes slid closed. After everything Presea went through, after how she had done everything she could to give all of us our freedom that day, she really just came over to encourage me? Liane exhaled and laughed just once at the thought. Why not? We are supposed to be a team, aren't we?
Regal strolled over to the young woman's side, smiling slightly as he came to a stop next to her. "She's right, you know. You hold yourself back." He watched her lift her gaze lift at the sound of his voice, and he crouched down to take a seat, offering her a steaming bowl of the food he had prepared while the others had been preparing to settle in for the night. "Here. Pescatore... with garlic, not kelp."
Liane watched him for a moment longer before she looked down to what he was offering her, extending the bowl to her between his hands. Gathering her thoughts, she sighed and accepted the bowl with a nod and a smile. "Thank you. I guess that's going to be a standing part of my dinner orders, huh? Genis will hate me," she laughed a little and stirred the spoon through the steaming substance before her smile fell. "I don't mean to hold back. I just don't want to get in the way of someone's stronger attack. The shorter the battle, the better it is for everyone."
"The shorter the battle, yes, but if you continue to hesitate, it could cost you even more... and none of us wants that," Regal murmured glancing over to her, his eyes fixing on the dark bruise that peeked out from under the cloth of her sleeve. Tilting his head to the side, he raised an eyebrow. "Why did you refuse Zelos' offer to heal you? That's obviously going to hurt more later considering the color it is now." With a frown, he closed his eyes, allowing his mana to funnel into his spell and sending it into the woman next to him. "I have you. Healer."
She looked down, eyes widening a little as she watched the bruise she hadn't realized had formed disappear under the green glow of his spell. Lifting a hand, she covered the wound and smiled a little even though she still sighed. "Again, thank you. But letting Zelos waste time healing me in the middle of a fight would have taken time away from much stronger attacks. It was just a bruise – one I got because I was clumsy," Liane shrugged and lifted the spoon from her bowl and blew on it before tasting it. "Mmm. This is really good with garlic. Can you convince Genis to change over from kelp completely?" she looked up to him with a small laugh.
"I can talk to him, I know he's willing to try new things, but it is a matter of personal taste, too," Regal remarked, shrugging as he crossed his legs and turned his head to her. "Liane, did you not listen to Presea at all? Not only do you hesitate, you seem to have no confidence in your own skills. You can do what you have been trained to do, just as the rest of us, and strength comes from using such skills repeatedly to master them. How long have you been fighting real enemies, Liane? You have to give yourself a chance to grow as a fighter. Presea is trying to show you how."
Liane was silent for a moment before she looked away to her bowl for distraction as she tried not to huff at how he seemed intent on drilling Presea's words into her. "I know. I just never thought she even noticed me before. I just always thought that maybe I've proven myself more as a shield than anything. I'm just trying to go with what I know works," she shrugged and took another bite of her dinner. "You aren't going to eat?"
"I couldn't carry two bowls over here at once without spilling one," the convict admitted sheepishly, his eyebrow lifting at how she looked away from him. "You are more than a shield, Liane. None of us want you to get hurt protecting us."
"Just like I don't want anyone getting hurt protecting me," she sighed and looked back up to him. "If I'm going to be here, I want to do my best with what I can do. And if that's protecting my friends, then it's protecting them. I know I don't have the strength to be a front line fighter all the time, that's all." Liane raised an eyebrow to him and smirked a little. "Sooo, are you going to eat eventually? Or were you just the second one that drew the short straws to come and chide me for my stunning performance today?"
"I'm not chiding you, I'm merely trying to understand why you continue on this journey when you don't seem to feel you have the ability to fight as hard as everyone else," Regal murmured shaking his head at how she was trying to change the subject by being playful. "In some battles, if you hesitate, it could cost you dearly. I don't wish for that to happen to you. And if you understand that you don't want someone hurt protecting you, then you know how the rest of us feel about how you could be hurt shielding us."
Liane's smile flickered away to a frown, feeling worse with the way he shook his head. "I thought you were the one that told me that I belonged here. I'm just trying to work on where I belong. I'm okay with being support. It's no more than anyone else would be asked for..." she replied, her voice low. "If I get the opening, I'll fight... but if I'm needed, I'll protect. Isn't that right?"
"I said that I believed that you belong here, but sometimes what is more important is what you believe. If you can balance support and offense, then it can't really be wrong, Liane, but if you hesitate to take either, you may leave yourself open. I know you can handle this." He clasped his hands in his lap. "And I'll eat in a bit. I came to see how you were doing. I saw how you fell... I heard you tell Zelos that you didn't want him to heal you... and I didn't get the chance to talk to you privately until now."
"Ah..." Liane nodded and took another small bite of her dinner. It really was very good... warm... and somehow that much more comforting in all of that after a day of battles. "I'm okay... really. I didn't want Zelos to bother healing me because... well, I've had bruises before. They go away," she tried to smile and then look up to him again. "How about you? Are you okay? You fought hard today, too."
"I'm all right. I didn't take any hits like you did. And bruises can accumulate, you know," he replied with a small smile. "Would you prefer to have Zelos say 'I told you so' when he has to pick you up and carry you away from the aftermath of our next fight because you're too bruised?"
"I think he might be the one that ends up with bruises if he tries to do that... if not from me, from Sheena," Liane laughed and tilted her head to him before she drew another small breath. "You... really want to take Rodyle out, don't you? I think the only time I've seen you that angry... was with Vharley..." she murmured, chewing the edge of her lip, wondering if she was pushing too much, yet what she had seen was something she knew would fester if he wasn't careful.
"Vharley and Rodyle were both using Presea, they have been in league with one another for a very long time it seems," Regal explained, his tone even, measured. "If I should apologize for my lack of control, I would, but all that that Desian has done is use people. First Presea – that we know of – and then Colette. He is worse than Vharley, for he's not in it for money, he's in it for the sick pleasure he gets from the suffering of others and the power he can achieve from that suffering."
Liane nodded and closed her hands around her bowl, sensing a waver in his mood that she wasn't sure she wanted to tempt. "Don't apologize. It's something that drives you. I just... noticed, that's all," she murmured. I want to ask him about Presea... what he said... but... She pushed the thought to the back of her mind with a sigh. "I... know you stayed with me all night. I never got to thank you..." she changed the topic again before she could get into trouble.
"There isn't any need to. I told you that I would. You're my friend, Liane, how could I do any less than stay with you when you ask me to?" the shackled man said after a moment, meeting her eyes. "It is not the only thing that drives me now, Liane. Yes, my first motivation was to stop Vharley, have him imprisoned for his crimes, but there is so much more that is going on. There are two worlds in very real danger."
"I know... but... if what Volt and Undine said... if separating the two worlds is possible, it might solve everything," Liane nodded in understanding. "I know it's not the only thing that drives you, but the wellbeing of the worlds... it... has to come first. Without a place to live, none of this will matter in the end."
"Of course," Regal replied, uncurling his legs, hands rested in his lap. With a small sigh, he glanced up at the night sky. "What do you think? Do you think everything could be solved if we divide the worlds?"
"As long as it would keep them from leeching off of each other. If it would keep the land from dying and keep from making some poor being with the misfortune of being born the 'Chosen' from having to be sacrificed, I think it would at least be a step in the right direction," Liane answered, watching him for a moment and then following his eyes up into the sky. "It's sad, though. There's so much here. There are so many new things to see, and it'll all be shut off to us. But, I guess it's for the best. Not everyone in the worlds knows of both of them. It'll only be us."
"We don't know for sure the separating the mana links will separate the worlds completely from one another," Regal pointed out logically. "The system of the Chosen being sacrificed does need to be put to an end. That much is clear. We will do what we can to stop Cruxis. I just hope that our solution doesn't mean that all we've gained from this is nullified. As you said, there is so much more out there. I haven't even seen Sylvarant... and I'm curious."
Liane had to laugh before she took another spoonful of her dinner. "It's not nearly as nice as Tethe'alla," she murmured, though she still smiled fondly. "The towns are smaller and poorer – and the land is much more brown than green, but it is home," she shook her head and took another bite.
The blue haired man offered her a small smile. "Sylvarant is where you, Lloyd, Colette, Genis, and Raine came from. I can't help but be curious. It's a whole other world... a place I've only heard about in theories and legends before now."
"Just as long as you're not going there with any illusions," Liane laughed, and then turned to watch him once again. "I think if you stay with us, you just might end up in Sylvarant and want nothing more than to get back here as soon as possible," she shrugged. How would he not? The state of Sylvarant is sad at best. That won't change overnight no matter what we do….
"Perhaps... but you make it sound as if I'll find the trip disappointing, Liane. I would like to see Sylvarant if given the chance. I may have to ask you to show me around if the others are too busy to do so. You've done more traveling prior to your journey, yes?"
"I spent a little time just about everywhere over the space of about three years... mostly in Houses of Salvation, but in cities and holy sites, too," Liane shrugged, once again watching the stars blink through the twilight above. "If we have time, I could show you some. If we go back for Luna's pact, that will be in the area of Asgard and... Luin..." she sighed, trying not to think of the ranch in between. "Between the priests and Raine, I have a pretty good grip of the history of the area."
"So you're a qualified tour guide then? I'm glad. I may need one," Regal chuckled as if it settled the matter. "We'll be heading into the Temple of Earth tomorrow. Another pact. Sheena still seems nervous, but not against the idea."
"Beating Volt was a good thing for her... even if it cost her so much," Liane agreed, meeting his gaze for just a moment. "You should have seen her before Undine. She barely wanted to admit that she was a summoner..." she smiled just a little. "Another pact... another step closer..."
"Anyone would have been shaken by what took place in the Temple of Lightning all those years ago. That she is able to face her fears now speaks highly of her resolve. It's terrible that she lost Corrine in the process, though. I'd never even heard of an artificial Summon Spirit before, but Corrine was a true friend to her," Regal commented, clasping his chin as he bit his lip. "Gnome might not be a pushover, but it might not be so nerve wracking as battling Volt at the very least."
"All I ever heard of Gnome is in legends. I guess that makes sense, considering he isn't from my world... but..." Liane sighed as she finished her dinner and set the bowl aside. "We'll fight..." she caught his eye and sighed, a smirk curling her lips. "I'll fight. I promise. Like Presea asked, if I get the chance."
"I think we will all definitely have the chance... and I will be behind the both of you. Just remember, you have skills, and you'll only get stronger the more that you use them. I know from experience. It took me some time before I could do a back flip from a stand-still," Regal commented with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips that seemed to answer her expression. "Presea believes in you. She knows you can help make her stronger, too."
"And if I tried to do a back flip from a stand-still, I'd have much more than bruises to show for my effort," Liane laughed, warmed just a little by his smile. "And I'm glad she believes in me. I didn't think she even liked me before."
"I believe she thinks of you as a friend, especially now. She seems to remember most of what happened before her Exsphere was restrained by the crest Lloyd attached," Regal said with a small smile, glancing back to the others were. Lloyd and Zelos were joking loudly and a groan could be heard from Genis at their antics. "She is still learning to express things she hasn't been able to for so long." He looked back to Liane once again. "This may sound odd, but after our last conversation, did you have any more dreams?"
Liane's expression fell at the concerned question, glancing back to the others before her shoulders drooped just a little. "One... but it was enough," she admitted quietly. The swirl of emotions from the dream still took her by surprise when she thought about them. And that said nothing of the eyes that she didn't want to see any more... the face that looked back at her from the reflection in the mirror – a face she felt like she should just know.
"Liane? Do you want to tell me about it?" the convict asked softly, his expression a mixture of alarm and worry as he once again reached out his hands to place one on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your mood... drudge up things you don't wish to talk about."
"No, it's not that," Liane shook her head. "I asked for your help and your patience... it wouldn't be fair not to answer," she sighed. "I was waiting for him. For Kratos. I was sure that he was coming where ever I was... and I was getting ready..." Liane drew a breath and had to look away to choose the rest of her words. "But, when I looked in the mirror, I... I didn't recognize the face that looked back at me." The last part of her story was almost lost to a whisper as she felt almost so stupid for saying anything. "I told you that there were good ones and bad ones. Then there are the ones that are just... crazy..."
"That's not entirely crazy, Liane. Haven't you ever had a dream where you were something else? Someone else?" Regal kept his voice quiet as he gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Do you know why you were waiting for him? And where you might have seen the person in the mirror?"
"We've all dreamed of being someone else and somewhere else," Liane shook her head, her eyes trailing over to where his hand rested on her shoulder. "But... he..." She sighed heavily, feeling her cheeks heating. "He was coming to meet with me... her. She was waiting to tell him that she... loved... him." She winced, just having to resort to referring to the person in her dreams as someone else and not ready to even try to see her own feelings for the angel as love. "And she looked familiar, but I don't know where I would have ever seen her. I just can't place her."
Regal was silent for a moment, as if he was weighing his words, being careful of his promise to hear her out. "Well, just because you don't know now doesn't mean it won't come to you. Dreams are often mysterious, but if the pieces are there, you can solve some of it. Perhaps you just need some time. You've told me your dreams are vivid. You're not likely to forget, right?" he remarked as he slowly pulled back his hand. "From your reaction to this dream, it disturbed you... to see someone else in your dream in the mirror."
"Among other things..." Liane replied with a shake of her head. "I won't be forgetting," she laughed dryly, turning her head to watch him just out of the corner of her eye. He had pulled away... did he think that she was giving in to her dreams too much... that she felt that way for Kratos? Do I? "It just felt even more like I was seeing life through someone else's eyes. It was all I could do not to see her eyes whenever I had a moment to myself today. Today was hard for all of us, though... two battles... freeing Colette... and then Presea." She turned her head to look at him and offer him a weak smile. "But it all ended up okay now that we know Presea's okay and Colette's safe and back with us. That's pretty good for one day, I suppose."
"It is a good deal of progress for one day. We'll probably be headed for more battles in the morning," he nodded. "I wish I could do more than listen to you about these dreams, Liane, but just remember I'm here? I know they disturb you, but you haven't lost yourself in them. I will do what I can to help you sort things through."
"I know." Liane nodded her head and smiled a little more for him, chewing the edge of her lip for a moment as her nerves built once again. "Regal? Can I ask... who Presea resembles?" she lowered her voice just a little more as she watched his expression. "I'm sorry, maybe I wasn't supposed to hear you, but you sounded so relieved...?"
Regal froze, but then a dry and almost bitter chuckle crept up from his throat, and he dipped his head to hold it in his hands as the sound died away. After a moment, he seemed to regain his composure and turned to meet her eyes with a sad smile on his lips. "She looks like someone who was once very close to me. The first time I saw Presea, the resemblance was striking, but I couldn't be sure, as her face was so expressionless. But smiling... she looked so much like her. It seems I haven't quite lost my mind yet, after all."
"Oh... that's why you wanted to help her so much..." Liane murmured, trying not to wince just a bit at hearing the description of 'someone close.' It seemed to be something that she had a habit of finding... someone always having a treasured memory... one that she seemed to have an innate ability to dredge out and stomp on without trying. "I'm sorry. It wasn't any of my business."
"No, it's all right, it's just that I didn't think anyone had heard me. It made me happy to see Presea find more of herself," Regal insisted gently. "Liane, I've already told you, I'll tell you what I can… and everything else when I'm ready. I intend to keep my word, so long as you're still willing to listen when the time comes."
"Of course," Liane nodded, carefully keeping her smile for him. "And I know you've told me before. I shouldn't have said anything," she tried to laugh it off and sigh. "Don't worry about it. Today was a good day, overall. We shouldn't lose sight of that." Drawing a breath, she straightened her tunic and pushed her high ponytail back so that it caught on her shoulder. "But you should eat. It's very good. You might have to fight Lloyd for whatever's left now, as it is."
Regal chuckled, a little of the tension creeping out of his posture as the topic shifted again. "Sheena promised to keep him at bay until I came back. I just wanted to be sure you got some as well as offer to stay close tonight... if you'd like. I can't keep the dreams away, but..."
"He won't come tonight. Not with how open the camp is..." Liane replied with almost disturbing certainty, her smile fading away as she could hear the question between his words. "I wouldn't mind the company."
Regal shifted to climb to his feet and nodded to her to stand to return to the camp. "If you'd like me here, I will be. For now, though, I think you should come back with me. You narrowly escaped Zelos coming to cheer you up. Presea came to your rescue."
"Well, I probably should offer to clean up the dishes at least... especially after dinner was so kindly provided and delivered for me," Liane laughed at his version of how she had been 'rescued' as she collected her bowl and stood to join him. "Thanks, Regal. I just don't want you to feel like you have to stay. I'll be okay, but it is nice having someone close."
"I don't feel obligated, you don't have to worry about that," Regal replied, looking up as a round of laughter erupted around the camp. "By now, I would think you know how friendship works, Liane. I don't mind staying close if you need me."
Liane smiled for him and nodded, taking a few steps closer to the rest of the group. "I appreciate it, though. You're right, and I'm grateful for your friendship," she told him with a smile as she gestured over her shoulder to him. "Come on. Let's get you some food."
"You make it sound as though I'm wasting away," Regal grumbled with what almost sounded like a playful tone to the words as he fell into step next to her, following her into the glow of the fire shared by the others. "By the way, you really don't need to thank me."
"I do. And I'll keep doing so." Liane grinned a little, enjoying the feel of the brief burst of stubbornness. "I was taught manners, and I need you to know that I appreciate it, but enough of that argument. It looks like we might at least get in on some of the fun if we hurry. It will be nice after everything else the last few nights." Because I'm not even going to think about what might come later tonight... again...
As Kratos crossed the echoing marble hall of Vinheim, he was certain that he could save Yggdrasill the time and just start his own disciplinary speech for him. It was getting easier to tune out, granted, but that was only one of the elements that continued to build his unease. The Cruxis Lord's rantings had long-since ceased to follow any logical path for any measurable amount of time, and Kratos was starting to worry that the one new threat Yggdrasill might slip into all the old ones might be the one that would unravel everything. The earthquakes, the taking of even his broken pacts… it's all making him less stable by the moment, the auburn haired angel grimaced as he stalked back towards the throne room doors, playing the part of the obedient servant to the mad half-elf once again. He could turn on anyone at any moment, and there'd be nothing that I could do to stop him.
It was a cold truth, but one that he held tightly to. Losing all control of the situation was the absolute worst-case scenario. It was why he continued to report to Yggdrasill as commanded, and continued to bring him news of minor victories. Even if the half-elf didn't consider them adequate, it seemed to keep his rage at an even boil – and it gave Kratos a chance to keep an eye on that same rage. It really was the best Kratos could hope for after already giving Yggdrasill reason to doubt him.
When he stepped around the chained guardian dragon to put his hands on the carved doors to Yggdrasill's seat of power, his eyes widened in alarm as the doors stopped him cold, not even rattling on their ancient hinges to recognize his efforts to open them. Locked? It was a momentarily stunning thought, even though Kratos truly had no interest in being in the room in the first place. Even when Yggdrasill's anger at his betrayal had fallen squarely on his shoulders, he had never been utterly denied access to the throne room – even though those particular audiences proved to be more for Yggdrasill's amusement more than anything.
It was all the angel could do to force himself to ignore the instinctive urge to panic. Does he know? What is he –?
"Lord Yggdrasill has stepped out," came a sultry voice from the shadows on the other side of the dragon only a moment before a small quake of gold heralded Pronyma's emergence into the dim light of the throne room's entrance. She sauntered closer, a satisfied smile on her lips as she made no attempt to hide how her eyes roved over him. "He said you could give your report to me."
Kratos had no hope of containing his snort of contempt as he crossed his arms and glared at the Desian Cardinal. "Even Yggdrasill doesn't have that poor of a sense of humor," he shook his head and narrowed his gaze on the green haired woman. "Where did he go?"
Pronyma wasted only a moment on what looked to be an obligatory pout before she huffed and shrugged in indifference, her nose jutting up into the air. "Elsewhere. It's hardly my place to question him," she replied, her pout still showing in her tone.
Which is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place – no one questioning him… allowing him to rampage how and when he liked. Kratos silently grumbled though he carefully guarded his expression. Where would Yggdrasill go? It had been a very long time since he had simply disappeared… and it wasn't a good omen in the least. "When is he coming back?" he finally settled on asking, denying Pronyma the satisfaction of the uncomfortable silence.
"Again, it wasn't my place to ask," Pronyma stated as a dramatic sigh brought her shoulders down and her lips once again curled into a sly smile. "Whatever you have in mind, Lord Kratos, I'm sure he won't be back too soon. I'm also sure that we won't be disturbed?" she continued, practically purring as one eyebrow arched suggestively.
"Pronyma… she's… with Cruxis, too… right? You and Pronyma –"
"You wish," Kratos set his jaw and turned on his heel to stalk down the stairs, heading back to the warp pad. The memory of Liane's probing question was just enough to break him from what was certain to be a maddeningly circular conversation. "Perhaps you should keep your mind to your duties as a Grand Cardinal and away from acting like some depraved courtesan?" he continued, allowing himself the smallest of satisfied smirks at her indignant snort. He was certain that he couldn't care less – especially when there were far more serious things to worry about. Yggdrasill's gone. His senses confirmed what she had said – his old companion was nowhere nearby. The researchers aren't ready for Colette yet… but if he got impatient….
Kratos stepped up onto the warp pad and the great hall of Vinheim flashed and faded from his view. I have to be even more careful, his thoughts accompanied him through the momentary nothingness of his teleportation. His gut churned as what he wanted to think was paranoia gnawed at him. Not only do Lloyd and the others have to worry about their own ranks… even complete strangers are now just a little more dangerous.
Liane's own scream echoed in her ears as the rickety bridge that had – just moments before – been relatively solid beneath their feet disintegrated and dropped the party and their gnomelette guide into the darkness below. The rush pushed what breath was left in her lungs out faster as she clamped her eyes shut, feeling the weight of her pack dragging her down even faster.
One moment, they were on their way to Gnome, even stopping for a somewhat pleasant meal of curry with one of the less-disagreeable gnomelettes. Then in the next, the quake set off by the Sorcerer's Ring and the gnomelette sent them plunging.
No… no… not like this… a somewhat calm voice whispered in the back of her mind. It's not time….
It took the swordswoman a moment to recognize the wisdom in the out-of-place optimism. They had come too far to lose everything and everyone to one instant of careless bad luck. This is where the gnomelette led us… he should know these caverns better than any of us! He --!
"I've got you!"
The declaration was accompanied by something tightening around her right wrist, followed by a violent upwards jerk that succeeded in dislodging any possible breath Liane still had hiding in her lungs. In that instant, she was aware of other sounds around her – impacts and grunts of complaint from her companions, a few wheezes of relief – and, oddly, the sensation of…
… floating??
Liane was aware that her hand was high over her head, but her fall had stopped – or at least slowed. Slowly, grudgingly, she opened her eyes… and found herself staring into familiar wide blue eyes accompanied by a bright smile – and almost blindingly bright feathers of pink-purple that framed Colette's expression. "Colette?" Liane blinked, slightly, stunned even as her feet both touched back to solid ground.
"That bridge fell fast, huh?" the blonde girl laughed, touching down at Liane's side to the packed dirt of the platform that held what looked to be Gnome's altar. She shook her hair back over her shoulders and her wings dissolved a moment later, leaving her to shrug slightly. "Sorry, your pack looked heavy… and everyone else managed to leap towards the ground. I couldn't just let you fall," the girl explained, sounding almost sheepish.
"I'm not complaining," Liane chuckled once – humorlessly – as she glanced over the edge of the platform to the dark abyss below. "Th-Thanks, Colette…" she murmured before looking back to the girl again and seeing one of the first genuine smiles she could remember seeing the girl wearing in a long time. She was glad to help her find it, but at the same time, the specter of helplessness made her cringe. Everyone else made it to safety, but I had to be rescued. It was a disheartening thought that she tried to hide by straightening her tunic beneath her sword belt and pushing her ponytail back. She could still hear Regal and Presea's words from the night before in the back of her mind, and she clamped her mouth shut in a physical effort to keep her word to them. I guess I finally got rescued by an angel after all, she tried to reason as a distraction as she saw Lloyd turn on their gnomelette guide.
"Hey! You almost got us killed!" the swordsman blurted out, glaring harshly down at the cone-topped little man.
The gnomelette merely shrugged at the accusation, a smile curling his lips as he started to walk past Lloyd. "Oh! I didn't think about what would happen after it fell," he muttered almost casually, paying no attention to the stares he received for his comment.
Lloyd's jaw dropped for a moment, staring at the gnomelette's back as he crossed his arms over his chest. "If we didn't have these Exspheres, we'd be dead," the teen stated with the faintest of insistent growls.
"Everybody makes mistakes," the gnomelette shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder with a casual wave and a carefree laugh as he paused beside a rockslide that appeared to have fallen along with the bridge and the party. "Well, I'm going now," he announced and started up the slide without another look back.
Lloyd sighed and shook his head, but made no move to stop the gnomelette. "Yeah. Thanks," he grumbled and then turned back to the party. "Is everyone okay?"
Exspheres…. It was something that Liane had never really considered for more than an occasional instant, and even those blinks of time had been easy to dismiss after her "visit" to the Asgard Human Ranch. Everyone's reflexes were better because of their Exspheres. Their skills were sharper, their magic stronger, their reactions faster. Liane's eyes caught on the flicker of blue that shone on the back of Lloyd's hand for just an instant – but there was something seductively hypnotic in that moment and in the thoughts that it spawned. Knowing where the stones came from still made her stomach churn, but if they already existed… if someone had already lost their lives for an Exsphere… didn't it make sense to put their sacrifice to good use to end the practice all together? The argument sounded familiar, but its source was outshone by a more hopeful thought. If I could find one… and have a crest made for it… maybe I could be stronger… more useful?
"Liane?"
The sound of someone calling her name jerked Liane from her planning and a faint heat rose in her cheeks when she realized that, not only had Raine called her name, everyone else was watching her as well. Oops. She quickly nodded, hoping that it was simply that she had failed to respond to the last question she remembered Lloyd asking. "I'm fine, thanks," she replied and offered Colette another grateful smile. I'll get better if I can get an Exsphere, though.
"Okay, everyone's present and accounted for – let's get on with this!" Zelos called out as he started up the gentle slope that was crowned with Gnome's altar. The rest of the group followed, those that carried packs leaving their gear in a pile before moving as they all knew what was coming if the previous seals and spirits were any indication.
When the party all stood on the level with the altar, the ground began to shake as if in reaction to their presence. As they all staggered, fighting to stay upright, the altar exploded in a spray of light and dirt that left a large and vaguely gopher-ish looking creature staring down at them, its whiskers twitching as it casually rested a shovel back over its shoulder.
"So this is Gnome!" Lloyd exclaimed, staring at the spirit as the brown-furred creature shifted its dancing eyes to the swordsman.
Liane's brow furrowed a little at Lloyd's observation. There really was no one else it could be. I mean… the form of a digging, earthbound creature makes sense, she reasoned, even though she couldn't stop her eyes from slipping to the back of the spirit's head… to the large flounce of what looked like red fabric. But… a bow???
Genis stepped forward with a thoughtful nod, his hands planted on his hips. "Since Volt was Undine's opposite, Gnome's is –"
"Efreet!" Lloyd interrupted his friend in excitement. "If we wake up Efreet, that'll sever their mana flow, right?" he asked with a wide and proud grin as he looked back to the others for approval.
Raine's thin form went rigid beneath her orange coat as she leaned her head forward to cradle it in her hand. "No, it's Sylph!" the silver haired woman groaned before she lifted her head just enough to fix a weary gaze on Lloyd. "Honestly, how many times to I have to tell you before you actually remember it?" she asked in undisguised exasperation.
"I see that the level of education in Sylvarant matches the status of the world," Regal murmured, shaking his head as a moment of quiet fell over the altar area in the wake of his comment.
The Professor and Liane both looked to the convict, their eyes both glittering with retorts that somehow never quite formed. Liane looked to her mentor, ant there was a silent exchange between them for a moment before the dark haired young woman had to release the breath she had caught for her retaliation. She couldn't even consider looking over to Zelos at that moment as she could already picture the smug grin that he probably wore. Regal's right, she had to admit, finding doing so humiliating as she was actually acting as Raine's assistant back in Iselia, but Lloyd was hardly a glowing testimony to their efforts. It was no secret that he distracted easily and only retained what truly interested him, but they had no grounds to tell Regal he was wrong, either.
Lloyd, however, puffed out his chest, oblivious to the discomfort of the moment as he smiled humbly and ran his hand casually back through his hair. "Yeah, I guess you could say that!"
Liane had no chance of holding back a groan at that. Gee, thanks, Lloyd.
"Lloyd, that was not a compliment," Presea spoke softly, looking up to the swordsman and meeting his gaze with a flat expression that didn't quite match with the message she was trying to give him with the statement.
When the crimson clad swordsman stared at Presea, his jaw slowly fell open, taking his cocky expression falling along with it. Sheena was quick to clear her throat and brush past Lloyd and Presea to approach Gnome. "All right, here we go!" she called out, her words breaking one kind of tension with another as Lloyd stopped, sighed, and turned to face the spirit along with the rest of the party.
Watching as Sheena bowed her head respectfully to the spirit, Liane closed her hand over the hilt of her sword. Sheena was right – there were more important things at stake than wounded pride. But that didn't help the faint frown she wore as she glanced to the blue haired man out of the corner of her eye. I know Zelos thinks we're all a bunch of backwater ruffians, but… do Regal and Presea see us that way, too? It didn't fit with the times she had spoken to Regal, but his generalized statement struck her in the pride she held in being Raine's assistant. Lloyd was hardly any teacher's ideal student, but his strengths leaned in other directions. We're not all like that, though….
Gnome leaned forward, tilting its massive head as if it was inspecting Sheena. The ninja's form straightened, but she didn't back down from the spirit's scrutiny… she didn't even visibly relax when Gnome once again settled at the center of the altar. "Hmm… so you're a summoner, huh?" the spirit suddenly spoke, sending a rippling gasp through the party as the nasally male voice echoed against the surrounding rock walls. "Well, look, sorry, but I've already got a pact with Mithos, 'k?"
"There's Mithos' name again," Colette breathed out, glancing around to her companions, her hands clasped before her. "He must have been amazing!"
"I am Sheena," the ninja continued, raising her voice to secure Gnome's attention on her and no one else. "I seek a pact with Gnome. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos, and establish a new pact with me," she continued, the words she had used on four spirits rolling off her tongue with ease.
The spirit blinked in what looked like surprise and then pulled back, wrinkling its nose. "Man, you sure use some stuffy language," Gnome snorted, shaking his head. "Bleh."
Sheena's arms fell limp at her sides as she stared up at the spirit in disbelief. "Uh, well…" she faltered as her hands curled into fists. "I mean, this is how I was taught to do it," she replied, sounding almost apologetic.
"Really?" Gnome cocked his head to her, bouncing a little as he spun his shovel out before him and shrugged his massive shoulders. "Oh yeah? Well, whatever. All right, show me whatcha got," he laughed a little, his dark eyes glittering with amusement. "Bring it on! Come on!" The group took a step back, all of their weapons in hand as the spirit began to bounce excitedly, the spin of his shovel actually giving off a weak breeze in the otherwise still case. "Prepare to eat dirt!" Gnome declared in glee as he flung himself directly at Sheena, swinging his shovel directly at her middle.
"Guardian Seal!" Sheena flicked her wrist, her card glimmering with green-tinted energy as a protective bubble flashed in the air around her in time to repel the odd weapon's blow. "She smiled slightly, waiting for Gnome to start to withdraw for his next attack before she dismissed her shield, using the same fluid sweep to charge her card again and push it out of the off-balance spirit. "Pyre Seal!"
Zelos dashed in closer, his sword tucked to his side as he avoided the blast of cards that blew Gnome back up onto his altar. At the last moment, the tip of his sword swung up before him, a blast of mana channeling out over the extended blade in an instant as it roared away from the redheaded swordsman and blasted Gnome back even further. "Super Sonic Thrust!" Zelos named his attack as Gnome reeled and the Chosen leapt back, his hair falling back over his shoulder with a toss of his head. "Uh-uh… the summoner does not get all the fun, gopher-boy!" he taunted the spirit with a grin.
With Gnome momentarily off-guard, it was simple for Regal to swoop in after Tethe'alla's Chosen, right leg already sweeping out to catch the Spirit in a kick that would have swept a smaller enemy off the ground. "Rising Dragon!" Using the momentum he gained from pushing off Gnome after striking the blow, the convict kicked out in fluid, precise strikes. "Triple Rage Kick!"
"Holy wings, I beg of thee to reveal thy glory," Colette's voice rang from the side of the group where the girl floated, her head thrown back with her plea to the higher powers that fueled her own. "Angel Feathers!" the blonde girl called out, her hand sweeping forward to send a trio of pink-purple rings at Gnome, each of them striking the spirit and rocking his barely-recovered stance.
"Hey! That's an angel spell!" Gnome whined, turning his massive head in Colette's direction. "None of that, now!" he chided her as he dipped his head and flew at her headfirst, the red flaps that had hung down the back of his head spinning wildly as he slammed into Sylvarant's Chosen and threw her to the ground, barely leaving her the time to lift her harms to defend herself.
Lloyd ran at the spirit, both of his blades braced out ahead of him. "Colette!! Leave her alone!" the teen demanded of Gnome as waves of green mana washed back over his weapons and then rebounded at the spirit. "Hurricane Thrust!"
Gnome wobbled as the first wave of Lloyd's attack hit him, looking as if his rotund form might have almost lifted from the ground before the second green-tinted shockwave struck and rolled the spirit back onto his back with a wordless cry of complaint.
Now. Liane had promised herself, Regal, and Presea that she wouldn't hesitate. While it seemed to her that attacking Gnome while he struggled to right himself wasn't exactly honorable, another voice told her that it was still an opportunity – and one to prove her word at that. She took a few small steps closer and dipped her sword back to her side, drawing it through an elegant pair of arcs before her that she charged and released with her mana. "Double Demon Fang!"
"Hey! Cheap Shot!" the spirit called out as he twitched with each impact of Liane's mana waves. He started rocking, propelled by the last fang back to his feet as he leveled his shovel at the group. "So that's really how you want it?" Gnome muttered, his puffed cheeks drawing back in what almost looked like a grin.
Presea's rapid footsteps echoed against the packed dirt as she offered her otherwise-silent answer to Gnome's thinly veiled threat. The spirit looked down to her, his head cocked in curiosity that left him no time to recoil as she planted her feet and grasped her ax with both hands. "Infliction," the girl spoke, almost unnervingly soft as she effortlessly cleaved up into the spirit, a sparkling crescent moon following in the wake of the blurred strike.
Gnome reeled back as Presea drew her ax and ran back towards the others, a low moan slipping from the spirit even as the gash flared and faded, leaving no evidence of the pink haired girl's strike. He opened his mouth as if to further taunt the fighters, but it was another voice that called out first.
"Come get some!" Genis spoke out, drawing the attention of the spirit to where he stood at the heart of a series of intricate, glowing rune circles. He waited only long enough to make sure Gnome looked to him before he thrust his kendama up into the air, setting his spell churning toward Gnome. "Air Thrust!"
The a flurry of green mana instantly surrounded the spirit, tiny razor-sharp extensions of the mage's spell that sliced at Gnome in an angry swarm, leaving the spirit to bat at them helplessly until they subsided and faded away. "Okay… that just wasn't even funny," Gnome groused, gripping his shovel in his hand as his form began to bounce and the ground beneath him started to radiate with a dark golden energy. "You want magic? I'll give you magic," the spirit continued as the ground started to rumble and crack under the party's feet.
"Lloyd! Are you ready?" Sheena called to the swordsman over the rumble, throwing herself into a rush at the spellcasting spirit, shooting only a quick glance over her shoulder to see that Lloyd was pacing her, both of his blades already pulsing with mana. The ninja skidded to a stop just out of Gnome's reach, her spell card slicing at the air before her and leaving a plume of blue mist in its wake – right in Lloyd's path. "Power –"
"… Thrust!" the swordsman finished, the mana of his attack igniting the cloud Sheena had created as he rushed through it, driving the combined power of both fighters into the blast that swept over Gnome.
Liane watched with admiration as her friends retreated from their successful attack. They make it look so easy….
"Liane. Cast Lightning."
The quiet order was just out of place enough to draw Liane's attention down to find herself locked in Presea's placid gaze. The girl was following through with her offer to pull Liane further into the battle – to make them both stronger. She knew that she couldn't back down – not after the conversations of the night before – not without proving that she was as weak as she feared that she was. "Lightning?" she asked, confirming Presea's request as she swung her blade up before her, bracing the flat of her blade against her palm to force her focus. She saw the girl nod and swing her ax up, even as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced up to see Regal edging closer to stand at Presea's side and between Liane and Gnome. "Regal… Presea… thanks…" she smiled slightly as her eyes slid shut and bands of purple runes began to spin around her.
"Concentrate. I'll keep you covered," Regal called over his shoulder, his gaze focused on Gnome though it wasn't likely that the Summon Spirit would spring at the swordswoman while still reeling from Sheena and Lloyd's combined attack.
Faster… faster…. Liane pushed her mana into the spell only a little faster than she was used to, a tiny challenge of sorts for herself as she didn't even try to question Regal's instructions. If we're going to keep an enemy off guard, we have to be relentless – and I'm no different. Her frown of concentration softened as she felt the power she was feeding the spell level out at a usable level. "Okay… ready?"
"Begin." Presea barely waited for Liane's words to form before she was sprinting at the spirit, her ax drawn to her side with both hands.
Liane's eyes flew open, snapping onto her partner in the attack. Regal had sidestepped to clear her view and the glint of pale light on metal gave her her target. She held the spell back only until she saw Presea slow and start to swing her ax at Gnome. That's it… she exhaled and released the spell, her sword swinging out before her to direct her energy. "Lightning –"
"… Punishment!" Presea swung her ax in perfect time to connect with the stab of lightning from the spell, channeling the power of both attacks into her connected strike at Gnome.
Gnome cried out, having only just recovered his footing after Lloyd and Sheena's attack. He staggered back, wobbling a little from one foot to the other as he swayed. We did it…Liane found herself smiling in relief as she released the breath she had caught when she had cast her spell.
"I'll crush ya!"
There was a sarcastic note of amusement that simply sounded wrong in Gnome's tone, but even as that occurred to the dark haired swordswoman, she saw the spirit's bulbous hand sweep out at her, leaving her no time to consider what he was doing before the ground beneath her erupted into a spray of rocks – large and small alike.
"Stone Blast!" Gnome laughed gleefully as the stones pummeled Liane. The rocks sent her sword flying out of her hand before the barrage subsided and left her to collapse to her knees. "And I've got more where that came from! Lots more!"
Liane didn't hear the taunt, nor could she find concentration enough to care what the spirit had called his attack. She had made herself a target by fueling Presea's strike, and found herself rewarded for the effort by the stinging, bruising onslaught of stones that retaliated on Gnome's behalf. She had tried to protect herself, lifting her arms and clenching her eyes shut. But that had been when her sword was torn from her grasp, distracting her just enough from the instinct for protection to flail and allow a particularly jagged rock to catch her on the underside of her jaw, knocking her head up and back and spinning her world into a painful spray of color.
It was a strange stupor that Liane floated in, withdrawn from the battle by a wall of dizzying pain as she tried to force her eyes to open. She thought she heard someone call her name, but considering it mixed with the din of the continuing battle, it was simply one more thing of which she couldn't be certain. Stupid. Gnome's fast – all of the spirits are… should have been ready. Liane winced and curled her hands into the rocky ground beneath her, questing for balance just before she was shifted, lifted slightly from the ground as another wave of vertigo made her catch her breath.
"See, now that just wasn't nice," Zelos clicked his tongue as he advanced on Gnome, leaping up into the air with his blade leading the way to unleash a large arc of mana at the spirit. "Fierce Demon Fang!" he called as his attack forced the earth spirit's retreat and he landed, glancing back over his shoulder to the others. "Someone help her or I will! We need everyone in on this!" the redhead demanded, sounding vaguely annoyed.
"Help is on the way," Raine responded almost before Zelos was done complaining, pushing the feathered head of her Phoenix Rod up into the air, igniting a swirling mist of calm green mana that danced out amongst the party. "Nurse."
Liane fairly choked as a blast of warmth snapped her back into her body, her eyes flaring open only to find herself fixed in a sea of blue that filled with concern. She blinked again, feeling her pain fading quickly, almost to the point that she wondered how bad it really was when it could fade so quickly. As her body accepted the gift of healing mana, recognition of the gaze fixed on her finally struck. "G-Genis?" she murmured, realizing that her head was pillowed in her friend's lap.
"Relax… take a second. Ignore Zelos. You won't do yourself any favors if you don't give yourself a minute to heal," the mage told her with at roll of his eyes and just the slightest of smiles – a quiet gesture that spoke more of relief than of exasperation at Zelos' command that Liane be healed.
All around her, the cave rumbled with the outrage of its spirit-master, but Liane knew that Genis was right. She drew a deep and blessedly painless breath and glanced around. She was almost sure that she hadn't entirely blacked out – not enough had changed – including the fact that Regal and Presea both loomed close, the two of them now side by side to form a living wall between Gnome and Genis and Liane. Liane caught a brief, worried glance from Regal over his shoulder, and she was quick to muster a weak smile, hoping that she was fast enough before he could blame himself. If I were in his place, I would… even though I know magic can go wherever the user wishes within its range. That was the thought that drove her to sit up, with just a little of Genis' help. "I'm okay," she offered, sounding just a little short of convincing to herself, but she still glanced around, trying not to worry anyone any more. "Where's my sword?"
The cavern shook once again as Gnome flew out of the ground, launching himself at Lloyd on the far edge of the party. Genis helped Liane to her feet and looked around before he groaned and pointed near the edge of the earthen platform. "Over there," he frowned and turned his gaze up to her with a small shrug. "Think you can fight with your daggers?" he asked as the small group gathered around her stumbled once again as Gnome dove back into the ground.
Liane bit the edge of her lip and stooped to free her matched daggers from her boot sheathes before she slowly rose to her feet again. It would mean she would only be good for extremely close fighting or weak spells, but she had gone into the journey with them acting as her primary weapons – sword techniques had come later and given her the freedom of more range. "Yeah," she nodded, looking down to the paired weapons in her hands as she looked up toward where Gnome had popped up on his altar once again. "I think I can make this work."
Sheena barely waited long enough for Gnome to emerge from the ground before she confronted him, the glow around her spell card biting at the air that separated spirit from summoner. "Spirit Seal!" the ninja called out, her tone clipped and demanding as a swirl of colored flashes danced around Gnome and then quickly constricted around him.
Gnome grunted his dissatisfaction at being caught by Sheena's magic, his eyes scrunching closed as he shook until the bonds of the attack shattered and evaporated after an angry swing of his shovel. Even though the act freed Gnome from Sheena's attack, it still cost him a moment's distraction – one that Colette appeared more than ready for as her wings lifted her up into the air with a spin that gave her outstretched arms momentum. "Dual Ray Thrust!"
Gnome stumbled backwards a step, still grumbling as he threw his stocky arms up in a futile attempt to ward off the agile chakram that had so easily zipped around him, struck, and then returned to their mistress' hands. "Come on!" the spirit taunted them, his small eyes narrowing on the party as he lifted his shovel up, spinning it as it began to crackle with dark golden mana. "Ground Dasher!"
The ground beneath the party immediately began to split, a deep fissure quickly ripping through the ground and sending a spray of shimmering steam and rocks blasting from its depths. The party scattered, ducking, dodging, or some simply defending themselves from the barrage until the spell died back and the ground began to seal itself once again.
Lloyd shrugged off the protection of his Guardian bubble, his feet already in motion. "That was too close," he called out to any of the others that were listening as he closed in on Gnome, his upper torso twisting and taking his blades with it. "Raging Beast!" he ground out, drawing his twin blades up in a spiral slash that flared brightly with mana as they cut the air in front of Gnome and then blasted back at the spirit with a feral snarl of raw power.
Liane watched her friend's attack with only a small pang of envy, watching Gnome totter backwards as the snarling beast's head disappeared. He taught himself that… she reminded herself, perhaps still trying to justify her stance that the teen wasn't stupid. He's elaborating on the base technique – and making it more powerful. He just needs something that matters to him… something he has a talent for. No one should fault him for that… not now. Her head was almost cleared - enough to make her forget going after her sword as the party started to close in on the spirit. Genis is right… we all have to help take him down – and this is how I'm going to help. Yet, for all the bravado the thought mustered, it didn't stop her from casting a quick glance to her abandoned weapon in the shadows. I still want Lloyd to teach me 'Beast' though….
Presea paid no notice to Liane's moment of turmoil over her lost weapon, sending herself into a headlong sprint at Gnome. She launched up into the air – so high that she looked down on the spirit. "Devastation," she muttered, slamming the ax down in the next heartbeat, the force blasting Gnome backward from the altar and rolling him onto his back again.
"Gentle winds, gather before me and transform into waves of air," Genis spoke from the back of the party as Gnome grunted and grumbled, trying to right himself after Presea's attack. In as long as it took the party to realize what the young mage was doing, the boy took a step forward from the heart of his rune circle and thrust his kendama up into the air. "Cyclone!" The spell's runes blasted apart as a howling wind filled the cavern and wrapped tightly around the spirit, embracing Gnome in a column of air that actually helped him back to his feet the instant before slamming him with a rain of green-tinted slices of solidified wind. The air continued its swirling assault until the twisting column disappeared completely, dropping Gnome back to the surface of the altar.
Before the Spirit could regain any sort of balance, Regal dove through the gap between them, phasing through the creature like a phantom, then planting his feet to jab his elbow into Gnome. "Heaven's Charge!"
"Owwww!" Gnome wobbled as the convict leapt away, the spirit swinging his shovel out before him in what looked like more of a warding gesture than an attack. "I'll show you…" the spirit grumbled, his earlier amusement nowhere to be found in his tone as he leapt up into the air and then dove into the ground as easily as anyone else might dive into water.
"He's weakening. I have to summon Sylph…" Sheena sighed, nervously glancing around as she chose a spot a short distance from the altar and drew a spell card from her sash.
Zelos laughed and spun his sword in a lazy figure eight before him. "You do what you do best, my ninja hunny," he winked at the summoner. "I'm gonna do the same." He turned, his blue eyes darting around the platform as she started to bounce his weight from one foot to the other in anticipation of Gnome's return. "C'mon, Gnome, we know you're not gonna let us off this easily," he laughed in a taunting lilt. "What's the matter? Did the big bad gopher have to go lick his wounds?"
In the next instant, the ground beneath the redhead blew apart, sending the young man flying as Gnome burst up though the ground with a distinctly angry growl.
Zelos, however, flipped to right himself, riding out the blast to land squarely on his feet with all the grace of a dancer. "No manners at all… figures," he laughed dryly as he ran at the spirit, leaping up and slashing out at Gnome with a mana-charged spiral. "Light Spear!"
"Liane, go for it!" Genis cheered as he pushed Lloyd over to stand in front of the dark haired young woman. "Gnome has to be almost done – use Wind Blade. Wind really works on him!"
Liane knew Genis was right, even if she also knew that he could cast a far stronger wind spell. But he shouldn't have to. I can do this, Liane reminded herself as she nodded to accept Genis' words, noting that the stronger fighters were already working to distract Gnome from Sheena. Lifting her daggers, Liane crossed their thin blades before her and called on the runes of her first spell… her best-known spell. About time this came in useful, her thoughts whispered as the green runes she pictured in her mind solidified into dancing patterns spinning around her. It was far from a strong spell, but somehow, she was still surprised by how quickly it formed, ready for her use. "Wind Blade!" Liane called, shifting her daggers to direct the trio of elemental blades at Gnome, watching as each of them connected. It was as fast and as damaging as she could have hoped – and in that, she was satisfied.
The second the spell was gone, Regal crouched low delivering a sweeping kick, then leaping up from his crouch to go into a powerful roundhouse kick. "Dragon Rage!"
The cavern suddenly flared brightly with the green mana that radiated from Sheena's summoning circle. The party started to back away from Gnome while the spirit himself looked up, frozen as the summoner began to speak. "I call upon the Heavenly Messengers!" Sheena called from the heart of the storm of green runes, thrusting her spell card out before her. "Come, Sylph!!"
A chorus of tittering laughter that was growing familiar to the party slowly emerged from the whistling of the mana-driven winds that filled the area. The spiraling column of mana that had sprouted from the summoning circles shifted and condensed into the three winged members of Sheena's pact. Sephie was the first to form fully, brandishing her sword as she shook her green hair back over her shoulder with a laugh. "Here we go!" the spirit's childlike voice called as she dove at Gnome, her sword connecting with his shovel with an echoing clash of metal that pushed the earth spirit back from his altar.
Sephie rebounded from the strike with an elegant flip through the air that cleared the way for Yutis' arrows to streak past her counterpart with a shriek of wind, the core of the barrage striking Gnome and exploding into green splinters moments later.
Gnome cried out in dismay, shaking his shovel as if to bat away further assault. Yet the attempt only left him open to Fairess, who had slipped up behind Gnome in the chaos of Yutis' attack, using Gnome's comparatively gigantic form as shelter and waiting for the moment that the earth spirit was distracted to draw back her shield and slam it solidly into the back of Gnome's head. He flailed for a moment, and then fell forward, his balance lost as he landed in the dirt, splayed at Sheena's feet.
"Aw… nuts!" Gnome pounded his fist into the ground, the act answered by another bout of chiming laughter as – one by one – the Sylph disappeared from sight.
Liane breathed out, not entirely trusting the silence that fell over the cavern in the wake of Gnome's fall and the Sylph's disappearance. Gnome made no immediate move to rise, escape, or retaliate, which made the ground beneath the party suddenly erupting into a parade of iridescent runes all that much more unnerving. What the –?
"Help is on the way," Raine's voice called out, answering Liane's confusion as light began to rain down over the circle etched into the ground by her magic. "Healing Circle!"
As the fresh surge of mana coursed up from the circle and through Liane, she let out a breath of relief and knelt to replace her daggers in their pockets on the sides of her boots before she rose and strolled over to pick up her sword. Somehow, she simply knew – once again – that she would have been on the receiving end of a thorough dressing down for losing her weapon, had Kratos been there. But he's not here. It was almost a defiant thought as she slid the length of the silver sword's blade back into its scabbard at her hip and turned back to the others just in time to see Gnome push himself up from the altar with a disturbingly dog-like shake of his fur. The Sylph were gone, vanished back to whatever realm they waited in until Sheena called on their power, and no one looked any worse after the battle, other than weariness showing in their eyes. It was all she could do to not let the memory of how she had left herself open to Gnome's attack eat at her. Instead, she tried to concentrate on what she had done correctly as her only option for the oddly silent moment as Gnome observed them. I proved I could help more. Now I just have to watch my defense better….
Gnome suddenly snorted, a disgusted noise that finally broke the quiet. "You guys fight dirty, you know that?" the spirit complained, brushing at his fur as his eyes remained pinned accusingly on them. "I mean, what's up with that four-on-one garbage?! Mithos…" he sighed and shook his head. "Well, he did it by himself!"
Liane frowned at the spirit's words, glancing around her companions as she tried to understand his complaints. Oh… four of us managed to keep him off balance before he could gather himself to attack, she realized, lifting an eyebrow to Gnome. "Maybe Mithos didn't have friends willing to stand by him to earn your pact," the swordswoman shrugged, trying not to sound too meek in addressing him. She wouldn't have even considered speaking to Volt, but despite Gnome's display of power in their battle, she just couldn't bring herself to really fear him.
The spirit looked over to Liane, watched her for a moment and then shrugged. "Oh yeah? Well, whatever," he sighed dramatically and then turned to fully face Sheena. "Make your vow already!"
A low growl rolled in the summoner's throat as she stepped forward to meet the spirit's challenge, her hands tightened into fists at her sides. "This guy is hard to deal with," she grumbled, not being particularly quiet about it as she looked up to Gnome. "For the sake of creating a place in which the two worlds no longer must sacrifice one another," she spoke her carefully-worded vow before lifting her hands to her hips to strike a defiant pose, "… gimme your power!"
Gnome's form straightened, his eyes widening a little at the annoyed shift in the summoner's tone before he chuckled, the act bouncing his form just a little. "Hmm… well, all right," he finally nodded and his cheeks puffed with what looked like a grin. "I'll go ahead and lend my power to you guys."
The moment after the earth spirit accepted Sheena's vow, a flash of pale green light washed over the cave again, the familiar trio of winged spirits that comprised the Sylph appearing before the party once again, fluttering their wings gently to hover before Gnome.
"Whoa, Sylph!" Gnome laughed, looking up to the comparatively tiny wind spirits. "It's been, like, what, uh, four thousand years?" he crooned, laughter still ringing in his voice. "How's it goin'? Lookin' good!"
Liane couldn't have stopped herself from glancing over to Zelos even if she had wanted to. Sweet Martel… these two could be drinking buddies, couldn't they?
"It has been a long time, hasn't it?" Sephie replied with a pleasant smile for Gnome as she pushed her green hair back over her shoulder. Then her expression sobered. "It seems that the mana flow between us has been severed."
Gnome nodded. "Yep, there's gonna be an earthquake here in a bit," he stated nonchalantly, his attention firmly on the Sylph and paying no attention to neither the party nor his new summoner. "After all, we just basically ripped out the mana link." He shrugged and sighed. "Hello…"
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Yutis agreed, nodding and absently spinning her gilded bow before her, its string whistling against the cool air of the cavern.
The final member of the Sylph turned back towards the party, lowering her shield to offer them a shy smile and a small wave of her free hand. "Take care, everyone! See ya all later!"
"Okay, later!" Gnome responded cheerfully, waving as the Sylph disappeared in a swirl of green mana – and in the next heartbeat, all four of the spirits had vanished, leaving only a crimson jewel that slowly floated down into Sheena's outstretched hand.
"All right!" Lloyd exclaimed, pumping his fist in excitement. "Just like we planned!"
Zelos chuckled dryly, shaking his head as he returned his sword to its scabbard. "But you know, I've been thinking…" he crossed an arm over his middle to grasp his opposite elbow and used his free hand to tap thoughtfully on his chin. "If the worlds are separated from each other, we're not gonna be able to see each other again, are we?"
It struck Liane as a strangely sentimental notion coming from Zelos, but that didn't make his words any less true. If that's the price that we have to pay to save the worlds from each other, then we really don't have a choice, she told herself, the thought still sour as she looked to her companions… Zelos, Presea, Regal, and Sheena. I guess we're all just lucky we got to meet at all.
"Why not?" Lloyd turned to Zelos with a questioning tilt to his head. "We can just go back and forth with the Rheairds," the teen shrugged, his smile present, if not a little worried.
"Right now, we can move in between the worlds because they're connected by the flow of mana," Raine murmured, curling the fingers of one hand around her rod while she gestured in explanation with the other. "But if the worlds are split apart, we don't know what would happen."
Liane nodded, her mentor's reasoning completely sound. "It makes sense. The mana links are what makes it possible for Sylvarant and Tethe'alla to exist as they are – they're how they relate to each other. They're the only reason that travel between the worlds is even possible." It might have made sense, but it was still strange – up until recently, all that she and her friends had known was one world – their world. How hard will it be to go back to that?
"So the instant the flow of mana is severed, the two worlds may part ways forever," Regal added his observation quietly, his calm voice contributing a somber note to the discussion.
Colette's eyes went wide, her head snapping up to the blue haired man and still shaking slightly from side to side in denial. "Will that mean that when we form the pact with the final Summon Spirit, we'll have to say goodbye?" the girl asked with a sad waver in her voice.
"We don't know if that's really the case, so there's no point in worry about it right now," Lloyd quickly offered as he dropped his hand onto the blonde girl's shoulder, calling her attention away from the worst-case scenario the girl seemed to be all-too quickly embracing.
Zelos nodded. "True," he agreed with the other swordsman.
It was an almost uncharacteristically short answer for the normally boisterous young man, but it only proved to Liane that the issue was probably haunting them all to some degree. "Well, there's more spirits to pact with, right? We still have time to figure out what breaking all of the mana links will do to the worlds – so we can keep moving forward," she suggested, trying to sound more removed than she truly felt. How much could the worlds learn from each other if they could stay linked though? Sylvarant hasn't been prosperous in so long… and Tethe'alla seems like it could use a lesson in humility. Liane almost chuckled at the thought. So speaks the girl from the declining world….
"Where shall we go next?" Presea asked, voicing support for the theory of moving forward as she adjusted her ax in the sling over her back as she looked around to the others.
"I've heard that the Summon Spirit, Celsius, resides near Flanoir," Regal mentioned casually in answer to Presea before he shifted his eyes back to Lloyd, his expression once again passive, his words bearing only a suggestion by their tone.
Lloyd nodded slowly, and, after a few moments of quiet that brought no further suggestions, he smiled. "Okay then, let's go have a look."
It was all the direction that the party needed. Those carrying supplies once again shouldered their packs and started up the previously closed path that had been made available by collapsing the bridge above. It was far from the melancholy retreat that they had made from the Temple of Lightning, but no one seemed particularly inclined to linger, either. Conversation was still kept to a minimum, even the softest of whispers coming back at them from the shadows, and the path was narrow enough to discourage anything but walking single file. While Liane wasn't certain she would be too enthusiastic about another Spirit fight that day, Regal, Presea, and the others had at least helped prove to her that she could contribute more than she had been – it was a victory for her, even if it might have seemed minor to any of the others.
I guess it won't hurt to check it out. Nothing says we have to fight Celsius tonight, she told herself the instant before her eyes widened and she almost missed a step.
Celsius.
Liane groaned softly as the lore of the spirits came back to her.
Damn. It's going to get really cold, isn't it?
Earthquakes and blizzards. What a wonderful day.
Liane knew that she couldn't voice the complaint. It wasn't as if she was the only one being subjected to such elemental nuisances. Yet she was certain that somewhere between the earthquake that Gnome had promised and the fact that frigid winds had made landing near Flanoir all but impossible, there simply had to have been a sign that it was time to find somewhere safe and warm to bunk down for the night.
Instead of grumbling aloud, Liane pulled her rough woolen cloak tighter around her and continued to trudge forward along with the others, sparing the occasional worried glance to the darkening skies overhead. While Sheena, Regal, and Zelos all seemed certain that they would reach the snowy city before nightfall, the sight of the snow-crusted expanse that spread out in all direction from them combined with the taunting crunch that answered every step to do very little to reassure Liane.
The others informed the travelers from Sylvarant that snow was a constant factor in the life of Flanoir and its citizens. Their lives were structured around it since it wasn't simply a seasonal occurrence. Iselia had a relatively mild climate – rarely swinging too far into the throes of summer or winter – so Liane never acquired any kind of affection for cold or snow. That particular disposition only served to make the landscape even more amazing to her. The drifted dunes of white were beautiful, she had to admit, but she could only find the strength to do so in between blasts of frigid wind that sliced right through the cloak. If there's not a fireplace at the inn, I'm setting fire to something anyway… she silently vowed, pulling her hood tighter around her face and clamping her jaw shut to keep her teeth from chattering.
It was a desolate and lonely landscape, which somehow managed to frame Lloyd's next words from the head of the party perfectly: "It's Kratos…" the young swordsman breathed out, his feet crunching into the snow with his sudden stop. It was more than enough to disrupt the party's single-minded quest to find Flanoir, but Lloyd didn't wait for anyone's acknowledgement before he rushed out ahead of the group. "What're you doing?!"
Liane looked up at her friend's demand, almost wondering if the cold had finally gotten to her – or perhaps to him. However, there… on the other side of the dune they had just rounded… stood the Cruxis Seraph, his dark and familiar uniform a stark contrast to the twilight shades of winter snow. She froze – from the inside out. It was the first time she had seen him since the night after Rodyle had taken Colette… for the first time since she had tried to explain herself to someone else… for the first time since her dreams had proclaimed love for him. There he is… just standing there like he was expecting us. The thought coiled her stomach into a knot. Is he here to fight again? Is this it?
Kratos looked up casually at Lloyd's approach, but made no move for a weapon, much less to even turn to Lloyd and the others. "It's you," the angel murmured coolly before turning his gaze upward, almost dismissively. "I was just looking at the sky."
"Don't lie!" Lloyd demanded angrily, advancing another step on Kratos as the party hung back, the angel's appearance perhaps surprising them all into cautious observation.
Liane's eyes were drawn skyward, Kratos' claim almost hypnotic as the hostility in Lloyd's voice melted into the din of the howling wind. Above them, the sky was a deep crystal blue that didn't seem quite ready to give in to night's blackness. The stars were already beginning to conquer that stubbornness, winking through as points of silver in the field of blue that hung above the blowing snow. It's so clear…. She knew that such clarity only heralded bitter cold, but even the logic behind that observation faded away with the sight of the tiny lights. It's beautiful….
"The stars are a constant. Choose one… remember it… and it will always guide you home. Choose another and follow it… and it will guide you to your destiny."
Liane had to catch her breath as her eyes slid closed. She would have sworn that Kratos had just whispered the statement into her ear, though her senses insisted that he had come nowhere near. In fact, from the weary sigh that her ears told her was real and forced her eyes to open again, the angel had never moved.
"Then how about 'I was scheming how to get rid of those that are in Lord Yggdrasill's way," Kratos responded to Lloyd's charge with a bored lilt, his arms still crossed over his chest. "Now are you satisfied?"
It was hard for the dark haired swordswoman not to wince at the implications of Kratos' words, even if she could still read an element of weariness into them. She couldn't allow herself any assumption that they would ever fight on the same side again, but his response was one read from a page of her worst fears. There has to be a reason that he follows Yggdrasill, she told herself, denying the simply logic that Kratos was just as Lloyd believed… that he was as evil as Yggdrasill himself. What are we missing?
"You might not always see a clear path to the star you choose, but life is full of tests. All we need is the strength to follow the path to its end."
The disembodied theory with Kratos' voice disappeared with another gust of wind, and Liane bit her lip after one more glance to the stars. Which one is yours, Kratos? Which one is guiding you? It felt like a question she had asked before, but more, it felt like a good summation of her confusion – an answer, a source, a reason.
"You seem well."
"Wh… what?" Lloyd stammered at Kratos' comment, the slump in his shoulders testifying to the fact that he hadn't expected such casual familiarity from his former companion.
Kratos tilted his head to the side, the winds tossing his jagged bangs into his face. "Lloyd, don't be so trusting,' he spoke just loud enough for the others to hear, the reflection of snowlight in his eyes revealing his gaze flashed out over the party and then back to Lloyd. "There may be those close to you who are malicious."
Lloyd snorted, sounding almost like a vicious laugh coming from the teen. "You're talking about yourself," he bit back, not even trying to hide the accusation in his voice.
Liane exhaled and turned her eyes down to the grains of snow that drifted over the toes of her boots. Another warning? Had Kratos truly followed them to Flanoir merely to deliver another bit of mysterious wisdom? And what does he mean? She looked up, glancing quickly over her companions so as not to seem suspicious, even though she caught the majority of them doing the same. Divide and conquer… is he trying to turn us on each other? It was an ugly suspicion – but one that couldn't be discounted – not yet. With a sigh, she started to look away… to study her boots once again, but then the feeling of being watched started to make her nerves tingle… and in the next instant, she realized that Regal was watching her. It seemed that all he was waiting for was eye contact, for as soon as she met his gaze, he dipped his head to her ever so slightly – and then nodded pointedly in Kratos' direction.
What?
It took Liane only a moment to recognize the blue haired man's attempt at silent encouragement, and then only a moment longer for her eyes to widen and for her to shake her head. No… not now… not here… not with everyone…her thoughts objected even as her cheeks warmed in spite of the cold. It wasn't the time or the place, she was certain of that, even if Regal had meant it as a suggestion for the future. If he's here… we'll see him again, right? she reasoned, wishing away her blush before anyone – especially Kratos – would notice. What she couldn't say was if it would ever be "time"… or if there would ever be "a place."
Liane's fluster had taken her away from the rest of Lloyd and Kratos' conversation, as she was suddenly aware that the angel was walking away from them, the blowing snow slowly stealing away his image.
"I forgot to ask what 'judicious' means," Lloyd grumbled as he shook his head, watching Kratos disappear and then turning back to the others. "Forget it… some on, let's get to Flanoir," he waved over his shoulder to the party as he passed by them without slowing, his hands stuffed deep into his trouser pockets, showing no signs of slowing or wanting to talk about the encounter even when Genis hurried to trudge beside him.
The Iselian swordswoman hesitated in following for just a moment, her eyes searching the snowstorm for a little longer as the others started to move off. She didn't expect him to return to press the conversation with Lloyd or with any of them, but she still knew he couldn't be far. With an exhale that billowed into mist before her, she turned. It means he wants you to show good sense, Lloyd… but he's leaving it up to you to decide what that means. Liane frowned a little, falling into step at the back of the group as the looming shadow of a city began to rise before them in the snow. He could give us all answers – but he's making us find our own. He could give us his power….
Power.
All of his strength, his knowledge, his ability – he could give them to us if he chose to. But he won't… or can't….
The thought was a simple progression after all they knew of the angel, but it was enough to hold Liane's attention through the evening. The party secured two of the larger rooms at the inn – one for the females and the other for the males, but even the promise of a warm room to protect them from the snowy night wasn't enough to drive Kratos from her thoughts. He has the answers. He knows what we have to do to win this… and here we are still blind and stumbling from task to task.
Even as she sat at the massive wooden table along with the others in the great room of the inn, her focus was solely on the meat and steaming potatoes on the plate before her simply as something to see… a purely physical focus. The party's conversations was just background noise as her thoughts churned, silently posing her questions to the food that, for the most part, she had only poked at since it had been placed before her. Her mind was far away – but exactly where, she couldn't say. All that she knew for certain was that her thoughts were with him, captive of the building mountain of questions that he embodied.
He's stronger than we are.
He knows what has to be done.
They were facts as far as she was concerned. They were all alive because he hadn't killed them when he'd had the chance. He was dispensing information to them almost as if it were a game… as if he was purposely withholding pieces of a puzzle and amusing himself as he watched them flounder trying to make the ones he did give them fit into a bigger picture.
Then there was Yggdrasill. He was strong, he held the master plan and pulled the strings on his army of puppets… and Kratos was one of them.
Liane blinked. It was almost too simple. It didn't answer everything, but the thought's manifestation was just enough to tie part of Kratos' enigma together: He's strong, but he's not strong enough. He has his own plans… and somehow, we fit into them. It shouldn't have made her feel any better – yet another power with an unknowable goal – but it at least explained why Kratos followed them, nudging them along with a trail of hints. He's not ready… but he's trying to make sure that we are when he is.
It did nothing for her unease of why he came to her or for how she reacted to his presence, but knowing that her value to him was still as part of the whole group… it still helped. It was something that could be seen by someone other than her; it was something that could be proven by logic. For the moment, the party was still being used, no matter how she looked at it… but eventually… if the silent alliance stayed intact until the final act….
Maybe everyone's goals will end up being the same after all. Maybe we will fight beside him once again.
He was testing them, leaving them to make their choices and fight or fail as they would… but Kratos was still watching and guiding them. Is there really a chance… that he needs us?
Liane had to known for sure.
The groan of complaint from her wooden chair as she stood, the legs grating across the floor as conversations around the table halted for a moment, drawing all eyes to her. For just a moment, Liane froze, and then she mustered a weak, apologetic laugh. "Sorry…" she shrugged, pushing in the chair and backing away from the table. "I'm not really hungry. I'm… going to go for a walk then head for bed. Big day tomorrow, Celsius and all," she laughed.
"But you don't like the cold, and you're going for a walk in it?" Lloyd spoke up, looking up from his half-eaten meal with his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah," Liane laughed again, sheepishly, as she reached to take her cloak from the coat rack by the entryway of the inn. She knew that she really had no solid excuse for doing such a thing other than 'I have to talk to Kratos.' Oh, that would go over soooo well. "I just want a few minutes to calm down before bed, and the cold will make the blankets feel a bit warmer," she reasoned feebly, almost panicking as she saw Regal start to rise. She stopped, holding her hand out and shaking her head as if talking to all of them – even though she sought the eyes of her blue haired confidant. "I'll be careful. I promise. And I won't be long," she preemptively defended herself. Liane saw doubt flash through Regal's eyes – just as it did through most of their expressions, but the shackled man settled back into his chair… and it was enough for her. She turned, swinging her cloak over her shoulders and reaching to where she had tucked her gloves into her belt and pulling the door open before anyone else could try to stop her. "Be back soon!" she called out and shut the door behind her.
Even Colette knows that I need someone looking out for me. Liane frowned as she pulled her hood up and braced herself against the frozen night wind, glancing around the snow covered down roads and noting that she seemed to be alone, with not even town residences venturing out into the night. He has to be here, she insisted, sighing and starting down the road to her left.
I need to know if I'm right. I need to see him. Liane ground her teeth a little in recognition of the fact that there could be more to the last part of the thought than she wanted to admit, but she also knew that it could all fit together – interlocking steps that might lead her to all of the answers that she needed. I have to be patient. I have to be strong… stronger. I can't be a liability. This is the only way I'll ever live to find the truth.
It was a start to push herself to continue away from the inn, away from the warmth of shelter and friends. The cold wind was just one more test – but she knew even if Kratos wanted to speak with her, he wouldn't do it inside the inn – not with the way the rooms would be shared that night. She was taking the first steps – it would be up to him to meet her halfway. It was a gamble… no more, no less.
Other than the pools of warm lamplight, Flanoir was dark, all of the shops long-closed and only the occasional lit window remaining to suggest that the town wasn't actually abandoned. And it was quiet – so quiet. Only the rustle of snow on snow as it danced on the brisk wind could be heard accompanying her footsteps. After a while, it occurred to Liane that the town itself seemed determined to show her how alone she was – how foolish she was for chasing shadows. She paused in a wide square decorated with a trio of oddly mismatched statues cloaked in snow, the buildings around the square blessedly blocking the wind. It was almost peaceful.
It was almost – somehow – disappointing.
"I thought you would be here," Liane spoke to no one, turning her eyes up to the closest statue – a grossly rotund being with an impossibly wide mouth even as her ears strained for even the slightest sign that she had been right. Only silence responded to her, nothing betraying any presence approaching other than snow. She hung her head and laughed once… bitterly. "Guess I was wrong."
"Your friends wouldn't approve of you being here."
The whisper made her jump as it drifted over her ear, and it spun her around so quickly that she almost stumbled over the fluffy snow at her feet. "Kratos…" she murmured, eyeing the man standing before her. "I knew it. I knew you would be here."
Kratos straightened himself, standing tall before the dark haired swordswoman with his arms crossed over his chest in a show of indifference. "You seem to have been right. Is that all you wanted? If it is, you should get back to the inn. It's only going to get colder and you don't want the others finding you here with me."
A chill slithered down Liane's spine at his icy tone. She had hoped there would be some hint of the tenuous civility they had shared during the quiet nights since come to Tethe'alla, but his clipped tone put her quickly on the defensive and she found her own arms crossed over her chest in a pose mimicking his. "Fine. If that's the way you want it. I need your help."
One of the angel's eyebrows arched in mild interest. "Oh? Something that you seek me for instead of going to your friends? Interesting…" he murmured, his gaze burning into her. "What exactly is it that you need me for that's so important that it pulled you away from their protect-"
"I want an Exsphere," Liane blurted out, cutting off his patronizing tone. "You need us for something or every one of us would be dead by now," she continued, feeling her cheeks burn as she pushed through her reasoning. "You're helping us, warning us, directing us… maybe even keeping us alive for something. I know better than to think that you'll admit to it, much less tell me why, but I need to be stronger. I'm a liability right now. I need the strength that an Exsphere would give me –"
"Go back to the inn, Liane," Kratos stated sharply as he turned on his heel to walk away, his frame stiff and tall. "Don't waste your time – or mine."
Anger flashed through the dark haired young woman, and before she even realized she had moved, she was directly in front of the angel, her gloved hands both planted squarely on his chest as she glared up into his eyes. "Do not dismiss me like that!" she demanded angrily. "I heard your lecture in Triet. I want a crested Exsphere, and I know you can get one for me!" Liane continued through a partially clenched jaw. "Even Colette knows she has to watch out for me – the same girl that I started out trying to help protect! That's just not right! If you need all of us for whatever grand scheme you have in mind, help me! If… if I can't hold my own then I might as well just go –"
In one fluid motion, Kratos swept one hand before him, gathering both of her wrists in that hand to hold them up over his shoulder and jerking her forward against his chest as his glare sharpened, holding her startled gaze captive in surprise at the motion. They both stood, remaining locked in the awkward closeness in silence for a few moments before he drew a breath. "Is that what you want?" he asked, his voice a low, dangerous rasp. "Do you want to go home? I can take you there right now."
Liane shivered, a reaction that had nothing to do with the temperature of the square and everything to do with the proximity to the angel and the edge in his voice. She knew her cheeks were burning as she watched his lips form the demand, but her mind was scrambling to maintain even an uneasy balance. Mom… Dad…. Home. It was so far away. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to doubt that he could probably deposit her on her doorstep in a heartbeat – and then disappear forever from her life in the next, leaving her to her mediocre life – or what was left of it – to await the results of her friends' struggle along with the rest of the world. But could she handle not knowing what would happening? The others would continue whether she was there or not – she was certain of that. But I wouldn't know if they were safe. And if the worlds do split apart, I'd never see Sheena, Regal, Zelos or Presea again…. "No," she shook her head and looked up to him, not fighting the helpless position he held her in. Going home to Sylvarant wasn't the answer. "But I want the strength to help them more, Kratos… please!" Liane pled, hating that she had to beg him for anything as her eyes started to burn.
Kratos stared down into her eyes for a few more moments before a vaguely disgusted groan rumbled from his throat and he pushed her back from his chest, holding her wrists for only as long as it took her to right herself before he pulled his hands back. "Then get stronger on your own," he told her firmly. "I will not help you. Not with an Exsphere."
She glared back at him – directly into the hard mahogany gaze – as a hot tear slid down her cheek. "I don't want to die…! And I don't want any of my friends to die protecting me!"
He tilted his head to her, and a moment later, a dry chuckle shook his shoulders. "Then you don't want an Exsphere, either," Kratos commented calmly. "Do it yourself. You're the only one that can make you stronger. If you truly think that an Exsphere is the only way that it will happen, then I've been wrong about you this whole time," he shook his head and took a very deliberate step around her, his stride carrying him away from her and across the square towards the darkened city.
Liane stared after his retreating form, her mind churning over his words. "Then I've been wrong about you this whole time." His words slid through her memory, twining with the belief she had spoken of only to Regal. He does know. She swallowed hard, ignoring the tears that escaped down her cheeks and took a step forward. "Kratos!" she called out, his name echoing back to her in her voice from the walls that surrounded the square. She saw his steps hesitate, but he didn't turn and she drew a breath to force out the words that were driven by both anger and confusion. "If we're enemies – if you're so wrong about me – then why is it so easy for me to have dreams that I'm telling you that I love you??"
Kratos froze, and he stood as motionless as the statues in the silent snow as her voice faded away. Then, after what felt like an eternity to her, he turned his head to glance back over his shoulder to the swordswoman. Liane remained still, watching him and feeling almost as if she had stepped out of her body to be simply an observer to the humiliation of revealing her dreams to him. He merely watched her from the corner of his eye. Then, just before she thought she might scream in frustration, he clenched his fists at his sides and turned his gaze forward, fully turning his back on her.
"If you do, forget them," he spoke just loud enough for his voice to reach back to her the instant before a blinding blast of blue-green light washed over the square as his wings sprung from his back. "This is not a dream. You'd best learn the difference." It was all that he spoke before he rose up into the air without another word or another look back to the young woman he left standing alone in the square below.