The group was about ten minutes away from Heimdall.

"I can't shake this feeling that something is different about Regal. I know he's a man of few words, but he's usually quiet." Mithos said as he flew up to Kratos.

Kratos slightly looked back at Regal and Presea. What really caught his attention was how Presea seemed to have a trance look on her face as she was flying the Rheaird. "You're right. Let's keep an eye on him."

"How does your arm feel, Sheena?" Zelos asked.

Sheena kept eyeing at Regal. "I don't know what it is but something in my arm is telling to be cautious of Regal."

Zelos blinked. "So.. your arm is talking to you?"

"No it's a feeling in my arm." Sheena said.

"So your arms can have feelings now?" Zelos lightly chuckled.

Sheena shook her head. "Zelos, it's not funny. Something isn't right about Regal."

Zelos moved the Rheaird closer to Regal's Rheaird so he can talk to him. Zelos then asked, "Hey, is everything alright?"

Regal just simply nodded and didn't say nothing else.

Sheena quickly put her left hand onto Regal's wrist. Instantly, his wrist was burning like acid was dropped onto it. This caused Regal to flinch and pull away from Sheena.

"Guys! This isn't Regal! Sheena shouted.

Everyone looked towards Regal and before anyone could get to him, he jumped off the Rheaird with Presea in his arms. Regal's physical appearance changed to that of Feral.

Yuan flew down towards Feral and attempted grab his leg. The leg guards quickly turned black with dark aura surrounding. He shifted his right leg and impact it to Yuan's face, sending the half elf towards Kratos.

Feral than disappeared into the heavy forest below.

"Yuan, you okay?" Mithos asked as he flew next to Kratos.

Yuan nodded and rubbed his cheek. "Regal's face changed. It has to be evil side of him."

"But didn't he finish his trial?" Emil said.

Raine quickly came up with an answer. "Presea must had accidentally disturbed his trial when she grabbed onto him."

"That would make sense." Tenebrae said.

"Why didn't Presea try to break from him?" Lloyd thought.

Sheena thought for a second. "She been acting kind of off around him ever since we left Hima."

"We have to look for both of them." Marta said in a worried tone.

Kratos slowly flew forward while looking down at the forest. "Can anyone see or pick up where Regal is at?"

Colette scanned the area below her feet and could see a faint trail of dark mana heading towards Heimdall. "They're both going towards Heimdall."

Mithos quickly closed his eyes. He started to see images of an ax. "And there's some sort of dark ax on the other side of the forest."

"Diablos! I think I know what he's trying to do and we have to cut him off before he gets there!" Genis said loudly.

Without wasting more time, the group flew towards Heimdall.


Feral was running through the forest in super speeds and reached Heimdall first. His cold eyes shifting left and right as he tried to feel out where Diablos might be at.

"Regal, is everything okay with Presea?" Said one of the villagers.

Feral nodded and walked passed everyone till he got to the entrance to the other side of the Ymir forest. He then silently said to himself. "I feel it looming this way."

"Hey, it's Regal!" One of the kids said.

This, of course, made most of the kids in the village run to Regal. They was asking all kinds of questions and was pretty loud.

"I do not have time for you weak beings." Feral said as a wave of energy emitted out of his body. Pushing anyone around him away. With that, he quickly ran into the forest.


Only a few minutes did Lloyd and his group make it Heimdall. They all had look of shock in their faces as they saw injured children being picked up from the group. Some of the children having worse injuries than others.

"Oh goodness.." Colette placed her hands onto her mouth, trying to hold back from crying.

"Emil, Marta, Tenebrae, Coffee, Raine, Genis, and Mithos, stay here and help the villagers. The rest of us will go after Regal. Colette, be our guide." Kratos said as he and Yuan ran into the forest.

With a quick goodbye, half of the group went into the forest with Kratos and Yuan.


"Here it is." Feral said as he was looking at the dark ax named Diablos.

The ax floated above the ground. The weapon was red with moving darkness aura on the surface. The head of the ax was crescent curved and housed a black spinning orb. The butt of the ax had a pointed dagger sticking out.

Feral then heard Colette and the others closing in to the location. With time running out, Feral placed the hypnotized Presea in front of ax. "Close your eyes, grab the ax, and listen to the voices."

The male coughed and held his chest. He was starting to feel Regal fighting him from the inside. "Hm, Regal.."

Without hesitation, Presea closed her eyes first, then she attempted to grab the unholy ax, but was stopped by Yuan grabbing her hands as he landed between her and the ax.

From behind the dark being, Kratos shifted forward, attempting to grab Feral. Quickly reacting, the dark being moved to the side and sent his right knee upwards. Kratos placed his hand onto the rising knee, thus stopping it from making impact.

Sheena, hiding in the trees, saw her chance to strike. White flames quickly engulfed her left arm and just before she jumped out, a nine foot demon spider came out of nowhere from behind her and wrapped strong silk on her body.

"What the!" Sheena tried to moved off the branch but couldn't. Suddenly she was pulled back by large spider.

The rest of the group was being surrounded by a horde of smaller demon spiders. One of the spiders lunged at Kratos, causing him to move back and take his attention away from Feral.

Seizing his chance, Feral pressed his left foot deep into Kratos's stomach, pushing him back to Lloyd.

Yuan pulled out his double edge sword with one hand while the other hand kept a tight grip on Presea's hands.

"Do you believe you can hold me and the spiders back on your own?" Feral calmly asked Yuan.

The double edge sword was sparking with electricity and Yuan shifted it to the ground, but was stopped by several spiders having their silk pull on his arm.

"Urgh!" Quickly thinking, Yuan sent the electric current from the sword to the silk, causing the spiders to spasm out and be cooked.

Feral leaped forward and ram his left knee straight into Yuan's face. The force of the attack not only broke his nose, but made his grip on Presea be lost as he flew away from her.

"Yuan!" Zelos attempted to go to Yuan to aid him, but the horde of spiders positioned themselves completely around him and the group.

"Where is Sheena?" Lloyd said quietly as he pulled out his swords.

Zelos also pulled out his sword. "I bet she's having problems with these damn spiders to!"

"Hold them off till Presea is with us." Feral commanded to the army of spiders. He then turned his attention back to Presea.

Lloyd and his group was killing off the spiders, but it just seemed more spiders was coming out of the forest to join the fight, which kept them at bay.

Feral slowly kneel down behind Presea and guided her hands to the handle of the ax. With that, Presea's eyes closed.


In the village, the people who wasn't harmed stared at Mithos. They silently talked amongst themselves as they thought Mithos was evil and dead, yet he is there, healing a child.

"Should... should we trust him?" Asked one of the female villagers.

"Well if Raine and Genis are not concerned about him being here helping, we shouldn't neither I guess. But keep a close eye on him." Said another villager.

Mithos was healing a badly injured elven child. His eyes seem to study the kid before him. Noting the differences in physical looks mainly, but he also wondered about how the kid thinks.

"H...Hnn.." The kid groaned and opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he saw was Mithos's face and he froze. The horrible stories about Mithos that was spread through out the village was refreshed in the child's mind.

Mithos tilted his head to the side and attempted to reach out his hand to the kid. "You okay?"

The kid screamed and quickly ran towards his awaiting parents.

Mithos simply sighed and got up from the ground. He could hear the villagers gossip about him and his fist tighten up slowly as he walked towards another injured kid.

"Oh u-uhm... we don't need your help thanks." Said the mother of the kid. She saw that Mithos's balled up hands.

Mithos blinked once. "Ma'am, it will be a while till the others come here to heal your child, so if I ma-"

"I said we don't need your help, now go away!" The mother stood in front of her child out of fear that Mithos might harm him.

Genis heard what was going on and watched from a distance.

One of the more taller and muscular villagers walked up to Mithos and placed his hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. "I think you should just sit at the side."

A somewhat strong gust of wind swiped through out the village as Mithos tilted his head down, causing his blonde bangs to cover his eyes. He softly asked. "What is wrong with me trying to help..?"

"People don't trust you here. It will be best if you wasn't around them." Said the male villager.

Just then Genis came to the side of Mithos and place his arm over the boy's torso. "Come Mithos, lets sit over here."

Genis walked along side Mithos and until they was far enough to where others couldn't here them, he said. "Mithos, they are scared of you. They only know what you have done in the past and don't know this is a new you."

"Is my past... never going to leave people's minds?" Mithos said in a monotone voice.

Genis lightly said. "Most likely not."

"Then how can I help anyone here if no one can trust me? People will think you guys saved the world again after we get done with all of this and won't believe I was helping to." Mithos's voice got shaky.

Genis thought for a second before saying. "It's never easy for a bad people to redeem what damage he or she has done to others or the world itself. It will be a tough road, but you will not be walking that road alone."

"That is right." Raine came up behind Mithos and placed both of her hands onto his shoulders. "Do as much good as you can and some people will see you are sorry for what you have done. You simply being here, helping and healing, is showing some people now you're not who was in the past. Now, please rela-"

Genis, Raine, and Mithos turned their attentions towards another group of villagers talking about disturbing recent events at the border between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

"No... not now. Not again.." Mithos said to himself as he heard one of the males say war was pending and there was already fights breaking out between the two continents.

Genis looked towards Raine. "Do you think we will have time to stop Abyssion and a war?"

Raine slowly looked down towards Genis and Mithos. "We will, but stopping Abyssion comes first. Remember, we have a time limit and a war will pile in comparison to what will happen if Niflheim invades the entire world."

Mithos then said. "I think I should go to where Kratos and the others are at. I think I can help more there than here."

Genis didn't want Mithos to go, but understood why he would say such a thing. "Okay. Be careful"

"Alright. Be safe." Raine said before going back to injured children.

Mithos nodded to both of them before going into the Ymir forest.


"Urgh! There's too many of them!" Lloyd shouted as he and the others was backing up to a large tree. The hundreds of demonic spiders closing in on them.

"W-What do we do? We need to get to Presea!" Zelos said as he was fighting off more of the spiders.

Yuan was fending off the spiders on his own pretty good at the other side of the field, just he couldn't get to Presea neither. "Dammit! Presea, don't listen to the voices!"

Presea's eyes soon opened when hearing Yuan out cry. She loudly gasped and flinched suddenly.

Feral sensed his hypnotism slightly breaking and his hand gripped the back of Presea's head. "Don't listen to them, my love. Let the voice wash over you like a tidal wave. They will set you free from this hell you call home."

Yuan then shouted out loud. "Guys, talk to her! Call her name! Let her know we are here for her!"

"That is right, Presea! This world is not hell! The person who controlling you isn't Regal! You are stronger than being mind controlled!" Lloyd said loudly as he pushed off a good group of spiders away.

"Yeah! You have been through worse than what this coward is doing to you! Don't abandon us! You are important to this group and the world itself!" Zelos slashed through a few more spiders in front of him.

Presea's right eye quickly went red and a tear of blood went down her cheek as she gripped her head and screamed out. The veins in her body starting to show on the surface of her skin.

This sudden reaction made Feral back off from Presea. "Hm? What is this now?"