Hello there everyone,
Welcome! To the FINAL chapter! Of the story at least. I'm not done with this fanfiction just yet.
So yeah, I managed to finish this chapter quite fast if you compare it to my slow pace of the previous last chapters. I'm quite proud of it. I wonder what you guys will think of it.
I will not keep you waiting.
Enjoy~
Chapter 29
It had been some time since he had flown like this. Using his own wings felt so much different from flying on a Rheaird. Sure, using the machine was less tiring, but the freedom, the wind and even the cold was so liberating. It was almost hard to go back down to the ground after the few minutes he had spent in the air.
Seeing the trees of Iselia Forest pass beneath him made everything seem so small as he compared it to the size of the world. There had been Goosebumps on his arms on his back the whole journey and it was not because of the cold. The looming purple sky that shined upon him truly felt like the end of everything. As soon as that thing was ready which would let Lloyd equip the Eternal Sword they needed to go. It frustrated Dean that he had to wait, but he wouldn't be able to go to Derris-Kharlan with his own strength.
Several members waved towards him as he descended towards the home of the dwarf Dirk. Everyone except for Lloyd, Kratos and Dirk was outside. The whole group looked uneasy even from above.
"That didn't take you long." Sheena commented the moment Dean touched the ground.
"I didn't want to be late. We have to get to Derris-Kharlan as soon as possible." Dean replied.
"Unfortunately, it seems it will take some time before we depart." Regal answered. The cuffed man was sitting on a rock with his eyes closed.
"Yeah, so it doesn't really matter if you wait at your parents' place or here." Sheena continued. The ninja kept walking around, not knowing what to do. Dean looked around to look where everyone was. He felt silly just standing around.
Genis and Presea were playing around with Noishe. The 'dog' was happy to play around with someone as it had been alone with Dirk for some time. The Professor was keeping watch over them while studying the rocks surrounding the place. The teacher hadn't visited this place even once except for picking Genis up from time to time when the boy came to visit Lloyd. The formation of rocks and the flora and fauna were quite unique around here.
Regal seemed content just waiting on the rock. Sheena had wandered towards where Noishe and the others were. Surprisingly, Zelos was standing around the grave of Anna, Lloyd's mother. Dean decided to walk over towards the red haired guy.
"So, Lloyd was raised over here, huh? No wonder the guy wears such weird clothes and is so... unique." Zelos commented with his back towards Dean. The man was looking at the grave, not taking his eyes of it. "So he never knew his mother..."
"Yeah, Lloyd wasn't so lucky compared to me." Dean replied as he stopped beside the man. He closed his eyes and paid his respects to the deceased woman.
"Hey there Anna." Dean started to softly say to the grave as he knelt down. "It's me again. Don't be disappointed it isn't Lloyd. You would be even more proud of him compared to a little while back. He has grown strong. He leads his friends from both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla quite well. He even gets along with his real father, with Kratos. He will visit you after things are settled down quite a bit." Dean closed his eyes for a little bit and smiled. He let the peace surrounding this place fill him.
"I think he and Colette will be couple soon you know? Surprising, isn't it? The girl I've been in love with for so long is now dating my best friend. Well, no real surprise there. I pushed her away. I wasn't there for her when she needed someone. I'm happy for them. I found someone else though. Someone I can share my pain with." Dean sighed and got up again. "Please keep watching over your son. He needs it."
Dean turned around and looked towards Colette. He had noticed that Zelos had been gone after someone had come near them.
"Presea." he whispered, pretending to be surprised to see her there.
"Dean..." she said softly back. "You were praying?" The head of the girl shifted a little bit to the side. It reminded Dean of the behaviour of a pet.
"I guess you could say that. I come here from time to time to the grave of Anna, Lloyd's mother."
"I see." There was an awkward silence between them. "Do you want to go on a walk with me? There is something I have wanted to talk with you about."
"Sure." Dean answered and he got up. The two of them then left the village and went into the forest.
The same awkward silence remained between them. Dean had no idea what the pink haired girl wanted to talk about.
"How do you feel about Colette?" Presea then suddenly asked him.
"What?" Dean said at first. It seemed that Presea wanted to repeat the question, but Dean kept talking before she could. "How I feel about Colette? Why... are you asking something like this?"
"Do you hate her?" the girl then asked.
"No!" Dean almost shouted. He grunted for a bit, feeling a bit embarrassed. "No, I don't hate her. It's the opposite. I still love her."
"I see." Presea only answered. Dean waited for the girl to continue, but she said nothing at all.
"Why did you ask me?" Dean finally got out.
"It's just that whenever we talk about you, Colette gets really silent. Her smile fades away. I even think I can hear her crying afterwards sometimes. I don't like it when she doesn't smile anymore." the girl paused for a little bit. "I thought loving someone would make that other person happy."
"It's complicated." Dean confessed. He didn't want to talk about it at the moment.
"I want to know." Presea stopped walked and kept staring at Dean. Dean sighed. He figured the girl wouldn't move until he had explained everything.
"It's true that I love her. She used to love me. I don't know if she does now. We were a couple... It's just... after all the things I had gone through, I couldn't trust myself anymore. I still have these nightmares... They feel so real. The pain and the emotions linger with me when I woke up. I was... afraid that I would break into a rage and hurt her. Or even worse... I could kill her without realizing it. The idea frightened me. So... I pushed her away..." Dean explained.
Presea started walking again. The girl seemed to be deep into thought, so Dean let her be. Now that he was with Chocolat, he wondered if he had done the right thing at the moment. Not only had he pushed Colette away, he had separated himself from the rest of the group. Yet, he felt that he needed that at the moment.
"Do you still feel like that?" Presea suddenly asked. Dean looked a bit confused at her. Being lost in thought meant he didn't follow her train of thoughts. "That you can burst out into a rage after waking up?"
"I don't know..." Dean answered truthfully. "I guess I'm a bit more used to it right now. Going into a rage won't happen I think."
"So you and Colette can get back together?" Presea then asked. Dean sighed. Was this girl that dense?
"That's not really going to happen. I met Chocolat and we're a couple now. You've seen the way Colette looks towards Lloyd and how he looks at her, haven't you?" Presea looked a bit confused towards Dean and then shook her head.
"Colette is in love with Lloyd and he is in love with her. After me leaving, Colette still needed someone to rely on. Lloyd was the one that was able to do that. In time, the two of them developed feelings for each other. You're sure you haven't noticed?" Dean asked. The girl shook her head again.
"Zelos keeps flirting with everyone. Genis sometimes looks a bit weird towards me. His voice starts to crack at those moments. I guess it's a bit funny." Dean slapped his head to his forehead. The girl didn't know. She looked confused at him. He wondered if it was okay to tell her. He cleared his throat you.
"Maybe you could observe... how people look towards each other. Maybe the way Lloyd sometimes looked towards Colette and Colette looks to him is similar to how our other companions look at each other."
"I have, but Sheena looks a bit funny towards Lloyd as well sometimes. Is she in love with Lloyd as well?" Dean suddenly stopped walking then. He hadn't seen it since he had been away for a long time, but it could be that Presea was right.
"I...I don't know. Maybe you could ask her yourself?" Dean answered. "But then again..." he muttered to himself. "Knowing Sheena, she wouldn't answer anyone. She would just get angry, because she is embarrassed about it..."
"Mmm... did you say something else as well?" Presea asked Dean. They had turned around and were walking back to Dirk's place.
"Just talking to myself." Dean answered. There was another silence between the two of them, although it didn't feel that awkward anymore.
"So... Why do you love this Chocolat?" Presea then asked. Wow, this girl is quite curious about a lot of things Dean thought.
"Well, she accepts me for who I am and not how I look. That's one. She's also been through something similar to me. She had been trapped by Desians in Human Ranches for quite some time. So she understands me and I understand her. There is also some kind of fierceness to her I can't help but admire. I mean, she's quite weak. She doesn't have an Exspere nor does she know how to fight. Still... she won't back down from a fight nor look away from the truth. Still, she isn't afraid to show weakness. I guess... I just love her..." A smile appeared on his face.
"I see..." Presea answered. "Will I ever fall in love with someone?"
"I'm sure you will. Maybe you should just try dating someone first. You could do that when someone confesses his feelings to you." Dean answered.
"That would me nice." Presea answered. "Thank you. I think I understand now." They had arrived at the village. Presea excused herself and walked back towards Sheena and Genis. The two of them were still playing with Noishe.
"Mmm... Did the little lady confess her feelings towards you?" Zelos joked towards Dean. Dean looked a bit irritated towards his friend.
"Presea? No way. She wanted to ask me what's with me and Colette." Dean just explained.
"Yeah, what's with you and Colette?" Zelos said with a grin on his face.
"Not in a mood to talk about Zelos." Dean said and he walked away from the red haired guy.
"So you told the little lady, but you won't tell me? That's harsh Dean." Dean really hated how annoying this guy could be. Why did he befriend the womaniser? He wanted to say something to Zelos, but suddenly Sheena came walking towards him and dragged him to a place where others couldn't hear them.
"What the hell did you say to Presea?" the black haired woman seemed flustered about something. Dean didn't guess what could have happened right away.
"Why do you say so?" he asked first, then saw Sheena blushing and made the connection. "Oh, she asked you if you're in love with Lloyd, didn't she?" As he had suspected, Sheena got angry then and wanted to hit him. Dean dodged the attack though. "Whoa. Hey, I don't mind if you do that to Zelos, but I'm not okay with that." Dean said as he dodged another fist.
"What kind of ideas are you feeding Presea?!"
"Calm down Sheena. She asked about me and Colette and we eventually started talking about love and how people look at another when they're in love with someone else. It was Presea that said you looked funny towards Lloyd sometimes. I didn't know she would actually ask you that question."
"So, it is your fault after all!" Sheena began chasing after Dean. Dean felt he was running for his life. He swore to himself it was the last time he would tell Presea anything about love.
Eventually, both he and Sheena got tired. They sat down on one of the rocks to rest.
"Look, I'm sorry Presea found out about the crush you have on Lloyd. Just accept reality and stop getting so violent the whole time. I won't tell anyone else."
"Especially Zelos." Sheena said sharply.
"Of course not Zelos. That would be disastrous." Dean said and he started to laugh. Sheena laughed it off as well. She then left him after some time. Dean closed his eyes and started to meditate. He would be fighting for his life again in a short time after all. There wasn't any time anymore to think about love.
After what seemed to be an eternity Dirk, Lloyd and Kratos finally stepped outside. Dean immediately sensed this and opened his eyes and made his way towards the three. The others had noticed it as well and made their way to their leader. Lloyd seemed to hold some kind of ring in his hands and his put it on.
"With this, I'll be able to use the Eternal Sword, right?" Lloyd asked both his fathers. Kratos nodded and suddenly had a serious look on his face.
"Lloyd, I have a favour to ask." the man asked his son.
"What is it?" Lloyd replied.
"Would you allow me to join your journey once more?"
"Of course, I was hoping you'd say that." The warrior in purple drew his sword in offered it towards his son.
"Then, use this. We'll stop Mithos together." The man saw the surprised look on his son's face. "Don't worry, I have another powerful sword left which I can use."
"Okay..." Lloyd simply answered and took the weapon from his father. The red blade seemed to be harnessing flames which seemed alive.
"That's a marvellous blade." Dirk then said. The dwarf had been carrying something wrapped in cloth. He took the cloth off the object to reveal another sword. This one was blue and seemed aquatic. "I doubt you have a sword in your possession to match it." He offered his son the weapon.
"Really?" Lloyd asked the dwarf hesitantly accepting the weapon.
"Take this with you. It's a present I promised you. Now that you've grown all up, I can entrust you with the greatest sword I ever forged." Lloyd held up the sword above him. They seemed to be resonating with power.
"Wow... I'll become even stronger with these two sword. Thanks, Dad. And... Kratos." The two nodded to their son.
"Well then, let's be on our way. The final battle awaits." the man turned towards the rest of the party. Everybody looked ready.
"Yeah. Let's go everyone!" Lloyd said to cheer everyone on.
"Be careful." the dwarf reminded his son.
"Right!" Lloyd answered as the group walked towards a clearing where they could easily reach for the sky. They soared high into the sky and set of in full speed towards where the Tower of Salvation had been, although they first had to go to Tethe'alla, since the Tower of Salvation had disappeared from Sylvarant.
It still took them several hours before they finally reached their destination. Due to Derris-Kharlan above them, it was unclear whether the sun had already set or not. The light of the planet turned everything into an eerie purple shape. Luckily, the world above didn't seem to have moved just yet. They landed as close to the centre of the planet where the tower had been.
"The only thing left is that dais..." Presea stated as the pointed to a dais. They group walked over to it. A giant purple sword was embedded into the ground in the middle of the dais. Power was emitting from it.
"It's the Eternal Sword." Lloyd pointed out. He walked over it and put his hands on it. Without much effort he pulled the sword out. The weapon then dissolved into raw energy. The energy divided into two and slowly entered the two swords Lloyd had just received. Lloyd draws his swords. The swords were glowing.
"You, who possess the new right." a voice boomed in everyone minds. It resembled the voice of Origin, the Great Summon Spirit. "What do you ask of me?"
"Carry us to Derris-Kharlan." Lloyd commanded the swords. "To where Mithos and our dear friend are!"
"Understood." the voice boomed in recognition. Around the whole ground light was gathering and they were lifted of the ground.
"Here we go everyone!" Lloyd shouted. The group nodded to him and looked towards the sky. The light enveloped them completely and they could see not a thing but each other. Still, they felt that they were moving at a high speed. Then, within in split second they touched solid matter beneath their feet again. The light disappeared to show a sight the group had never seen before.
Yes, they were inside Derris-Kharlan. They weren't near Mithos nor Colette at all just yet. Dean could feel the raw mana in the air and it filled him completely. It made him more whole, filled him with life itself. He could see similar responses from both Genis and The Professor.
There was just one problem. They were lost. Purple lightning filled the area around them, making it impossible to fly through the area. There were several paths to take of floating stones that surrounded them.
Dean closed his eyes and tried to use his ability to feel the air around him. In his mind's eye, he travelled around trying to find the place where they needed to go. However, wherever he searched he couldn't find an exit. Each path seemed to stop somewhere. Some paths ended with an area a bit bigger than the usual path, but Dean couldn't sense anything special about these platforms.
"It's no use." Dean softly said. "I searched the area around me with my ability to feel the air around me, but I only sound death ends."
"We'll just have to search for an exit then." Lloyd said optimistically. Did nothing get this guy down? With nobody having a better plan, they decided to follow Lloyd.
"We have to be careful though. I did sense monsters among the many paths." Dean warned the party as they jogged along the path. The paths were wide enough for the whole party to walk along. With nothingness and the lightning around them, the thought of falling off the path was frightening enough. Luckily, the purple lightning stayed clear of the path.
Within a minute they encountered monsters. With the high density of mana in the area, the monsters were stronger than anything they had faced before. Through teamwork and the power of Lloyd's new weapons they managed to defeat the monsters.
Dean was fighting a skeleton monster when he was pushed near the edge of the path he was standing on. He let the monster jump towards him as he rolled towards the side. The skeleton fell into empty air behind him. It wasn't long before it was destroyed by one of the lightning bolts that filled the area around him. Dean was happy his plan worked. He was trying to conserve his strength.
"Are you alright?" Presea asked him when he joined the others in the fight.
"Yeah, still alive and kicking." Dean answered as he dodged the attack of a huge bear like monster. He trusted his sword into the chest of the monster and slashed it open from inside. The monster fell down and turned into mana.
"You're movements seem faster than before." the girl commented after a blocking an attack with her axe. Dean moved in to help the girl.
"It's because of Derris-Kharlan." Dean answered as he cut down another monster. Presea swung her axe upwards and dealt the finishing blow. "The place is filled with raw mana which seems to fuel me." He rolled to the side to dodge a sword coming towards him. "Flame Strike! Lightning Blade. Thunder Slash!" He executed the three artes perfectly, defeating another monster.
"I feel it too, but you, Genis and Raine seem to excel in this place." The pink haired girl started to walk towards the rest of the group. The monster they had encountered were gone. Lloyd was thinking about which path to take as they had reached a split.
"The path to the right is shorter than the one on the left." Dean commented towards Lloyd as he saw him struggling.
"I see..." the boy muttered. "Let's take the long route then." The boy in red turned towards everyone. "Let's go left." Everyone trusted Lloyd even though they knew the swordsman was just guessing where to go. They hadn't met any dead ends yet. The monsters they encountered were stronger than the ones of the last encounters. They saw it as a sign they were going the right way.
After a few more encounters with groups of monsters they reached the end of the path they were taking. At first it seemed like a dead end, but the closer to the edge they came, the more they could see a shine from the ground at the end of the path.
"It looks like a warp panel." Raine commented.
"I think the only way out of this place is through some kind of warp panel." Dean shared his thoughts with the group.
"Then let's go." Lloyd decided and proceeded towards the warp panel. Then suddenly Dean could feel himself unable to move on. It was like his feet was stuck to the ground.
"What is going on?" Regal said as he struggled to move.
"It's some kind of trap!" Raine shouted just before disappearing.
"Guys, what's going on?" Lloyd asked confused. It seems only the swordsman in red wasn't being sucked in the trap. Dean could see more of his companions fade away. He could see fear in the eyes of the friend of his who wasn't trapped.
"Don't give in to fear Lloyd. We'll figure this trap out and come rushing to you before you know. If not..." Dean was teleported away towards an unknown area before he could finish his sentence. "I know you will come save us..." Dean muttered the rest what he wanted to say.
He was in an area surrounded by darkness. There was nothing. No sound, no smell, no warmth nor cold. He couldn't even feel any ground beneath him, even though he could jump up and down. Although, he thought he was jumping up and down. He didn't even feel any air around him. There was just nothingness.
"Well... I can hear myself and touch myself." Dean tried to touch his feet and tried to feel if there was anything beneath it, but could not feel anything. "Well... This trap sucks..."
Suddenly there was a flash of light which blinded him. Dean instinctively closed his eyes to shield him from the phenomenon. When he opened his eyes again, he seemed to be inside what looked like the interior of a Human Ranch. He could feel the air again and the ground beneath his feet as well. Even the metallic smell and the sounds of distant machines were the same as he could remember from his time inside of the horrible place the area resembled. All the Human Ranches on Sylvarant were destroyed, so this was some kind of fake or a simulation of some sort.
With nothing happening around him, Dean decided to explore the area he was in. He walked around for several minutes. Each area seemed the same as the other. When he reached a corridor, only more empty hallways could be seen. Yet Dean kept on walking, hoping to find some kind of exit from this place.
Even though it looked like the place of his nightmares, the sight of the place didn't trigger any memories nor any feelings within him. Although he found this particular, he didn't put much thought to it. The sooner he could leave this place, the sooner he could destroy that room. The sooner he had done that, the sooner he could put an end to Mithos and finally save the two worlds.
Finally he seemed to have reached the place he was looking for. He was walking towards a door. He hadn't seen any other doors except for this one. He figured he needed to go through this one. The door opened before he was near enough to go through it though. A person stepped out of it.
"Ah, my former slave and captive. It's wonderful to see you again, you inferior being." a red haired man said to Dean. The man must be some kind of illusion though. He was dead. The man called Magnius was dead.
"Step aside, unless you want to die again." Dean just said to the man and kept on walking towards the door. "I have no time with dealing with illusions such as yourself."
"You think I'm an illusion? Don't make me laugh. I'll show you where your place is." Magnius drew his weapon and jumped towards Dean. Instinctively, Dean jumped back. He could even feel the air shift because of the attack. He tried to summon his sword, but it didn't appear for some reason. He was dressed in prisoner clothes as well the moment he tried to. He knew it was an illusion, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that if he got hit back an attack, he would die.
"What will you do now you stupid inferior being?" Magnius attacked again by jumping towards him and smashing down the axe towards him. Dean simply stepped towards to the side, dodged the attack and punched the guy in the face. 'Magnius' stumbled backwards. Dean felt his fist connect. The person standing in front of him was alive after all. He gathered around mana to prepare for a spell. Yet, nothing happened.
"That ring prevents you from firing any spells, remember?" Dean looked at his hand. A ring was on it. It had appeared from thin air as well. Dean sighed as he was getting irritated by this turn of events. His Cruxis Crystal was gone as well. "Now you'll pay for hitting me. I'll make you beg for mercy." 'Magnius' attacked again, making a horizontal slash. Dean jumped into the air and lifted his left leg to land a drop kick on the head of the person in front of him. His enemy staggered backwards.
Dean launched three punches which all connected on the nose of his opponent. He swept the feet under the man with a low kick and jumped into the air again. His foe rolled away before he could hit. Yet Dean didn't stop attacking. His opponent had no time to retaliate. A few more kicks and punches pushed the man to the ground again. 'Magnius' dropped his weapon again. Dean picked it up.
"You... You'll pay for this!" the red haired man screamed. His face was full of bruises already and his nose was bleeding. Dean used the axe to cleave the man in two. His torso flew into the air, eyes full of surprise looked at Dean before it the upper body hit the ground. Blood ran on the ground. The body pieces didn't turn into mana. They just kept on lying there, lifeless. Dean just shrugged and walked through the door.
A bright flash happened again before Dean could see what was behind the door. There was no door behind him. He was wearing his battle gear again. The ring was gone from his hand and he could use magic again. Even his Cruxis Crystal was back on. The axe however, was still in his right hand. He tried to summon his weapon again, but it didn't work. He was forced to fight with the weapon he had, but he didn't mind. For some reason, he knew that this wasn't the last fight he would fight here. He was still determined to get out though.
Dean took a deep breath. The taste of grass and the smell of trees filled him. He was now inside a forest. It resembled Iselia Forest. Dean remembered the place where he was. He turned around so he would walk towards the exit and where Iselia would be.
No monsters attacked him. No sounds of birds. Only the plants around him seemed to be alive. He encountered no one. It wasn't long before he turned around the last corner. Another familiar face greeted him.
"I cannot let you pass Dean." the blue haired man. His double blade sword was in his hands. He was wearing his battle gear and quickly took a battle stance.
"So now it's someone still alive huh?" Dean said to nobody in particular. "Just leave me alone. There is somewhere I must be."
'Yuan' didn't let Dean take another step. The half-elf figure ran towards Dean, jumped into the air and swung his weapon down towards his target. Dean blocked the attack with his axe.
"You're not him." Dean muttered. "You're weak. That man is far stronger than you are." Dean easily pushed the man away, charged towards him and chopped his arm off. His opponent screamed out in pain, but Dean quickly finished him off. This body didn't disappear as well.
Dean kept on walking. The scenery didn't change this time and he walked towards Iselia. The village was deserted. No guards at the entrance. No people in their houses. For some reason Dean was pulled towards the house of his parents. The world he was in really resembled his own world. Even certain details where the house had been damaged by a storm was in this illusionary world.
Without knocking he stepped inside the house. Everything was like he had left it just hours ago, except not everyone was inside this house. There was one person though. Dean wondered who he would meet now. Which illusionary person would appear before him now?
"You have some nerve coming to this house." the cold voice of a young woman said to him. Dean turned around to face the image of Chocolat. Although her appearance, her manner of moving and even the smell of her sweat was the same, Dean felt nothing for this thing standing in front of him.
"This is my house after all." Dean said with a shrug. "Even if this is an illusion, an exceptional illusion at that. Hell, you're not even the real thing. I have no idea how every detail was imprinted into it. I guess it must have used my own memories to create this."
"So, that's what you think this is? An illusion?" the girl retorted. Her eyes were filled with hate and disgust. She shook her head. "You're even more twisted than I thought before."
"I still have no idea what you are talking about. I just arrived in this illusionary world moments ago. I have no intention of hurting you whatsoever." Dean had enough of this. He turned away towards the door so he could leave.
"Liar! Monster! You'll pay for everything you have done!" The girl ran towards him while screaming. A look of madness was in her eyes. Dean just stopped and grabbed her arms. The girls kicked him several time, but her attacks were weak and barely hurt.
"Stop this. What you're doing is futile." Dean simply said and pushed her to the ground. The girl was crying now.
"Please kill me... I don't want to live anymore. There is no one here. I'm going crazy. Please..." Dean just sighed. Even this sight before him didn't inflict him. His emotions seemed to be locked away. He closed his eyes and thought about the Chocolat in his world. The feelings of love, of affection and longing immediately rushed over to him. Another confirmation that this world wasn't real. That the person before him wasn't real.
"I can't do that. Even if you are Chocolat and you're not MY Chocolat, I could never hurt, let alone kill a girl who resembles the person I love so much. I don't know what happened, but I had no place in any of it." Dean just walked away and left the crying girl on the ground. Something told him the next place he needed to go was the Church of Martel outside of the village.
Instead of walking there, he was teleported there the moment he stepped out of the house. The image wasn't like he remembered it. The building was burning. A blond girl had her back turned to him. Even though he was at least twenty metres away from it, he could still feel the heat of the flames.
"So, you've come." the girl turned around. The image of Colette appeared in front of him, but something was different about her. She looked older and only a deep sadness could be seen in her eyes. It was like a totally different person was in front of him now.
"I assume you have many questions." the young woman continued. "You probably think this is all an illusion. Although that is true, it's also something else." The 'Colette' walked towards him. "This is a vision of an alternate reality. Something that didn't happen in your world, but that could have happened. A world where you somehow turned into something evil and destroyed almost all of the life on this planet. The reason why not everything is destroyed just yet is because the other you hasn't finished just yet. Only I and that girl in the village are left."
She was in front of him right now. She still looked beautiful, even though this Colette was older. Her Cruxis Crystal was gone though. Memories of spending together with his Colette appeared in front of his mind's eye.
"Is there something I can do?" Dean asked the girl. At that moment a shadow landed behind the Colette. A sword was trusted through her back, coming out near her guts on the other side. A grunt of intense pain could be heard from the young woman. The blade had a lot of of blood on it already. The weapon was pulled out and she fell to the ground.
A man with a wicked and malicious smile was standing in front of Dean. He looked like him, yet at the same time he shared no common ground with Dean. The man pointed his left hand to the woman lying on the ground and sent a stream of fire to her. A horrible scream could be heard for a short while before the life disappeared from her body.
"Such a lovely sound, isn't it?" the man said to Dean. A dark katana was in his right hand. Blood was still dripping from it. The rest of the blood seemed to be being absorbed into the blade. Disgust filled Dean at that moment. He had been shocked for a moment, not because the corpse lying in front of him meant something to him, but because the scene had been awfully familiar to one of the nightmares he had dreamt.
"As for the question if there is anything you can do... You could not get in my way and just let me finish what I've been working on for these years." the man just kept on smiling. For a short time he looked towards the village of Iselia. "You know... I saved her for last, you know. I wanted to enjoy the deaths of the persons which meant the most to me in the past be the last lives I snuffed out."
"So, what happened?" Dean asked the person in front of him. "What made you like this?" The man just laughed at his questions.
"Oh my dear me, you don't get it, do you? It is inevitable. Whatever you do, you'll end up just like me. You shouldn't even blame yourself, you know. I mean, all the work you'll put into saving other people and in the end they will just betray you. What better response is there than just to destroy everything?" Dean just shook his head.
"You've got to come up with a better story than that. I already know the wickedness of humans. Something like that wouldn't phase me like that. Besides, as long as my companions live I wouldn't become something like you."
"Ah, that's just it. What happens when they are gone?" the man replied.
"Oh, please. They won't die that easily." Dean said in disbelief. He was getting tired of talking to this alternative version of himself.
"Oh, time is merciless my dear other me. You see that Cruxis Crystal on your hand?" the man pointed to one of his hands where the Cruxis Crystal was, Dean looked at it. "Part of it has embedded itself into your skin. You won't be able to remove it entirely. That means that you will live forever, as that blasted thing stops your body from ageing."
"As for the few people you've met, they were just clones. I tried to put them through the same things when I was just about the same age as you are, but it didn't work out. I had already destroyed too much. There is no such thing as memory implantation, so they ended up hating me. Well, it was doomed to fail anyway. I don't even know what I was thinking. Well... I guess being alive for so long does things like that."
Dean couldn't believe his ears. Illusion or alternative reality or what he just wanted to get out of here.
"Whatever." Dean just replied. "Just tell me how to get out of this damn illusion already. I'm getting pretty tired of this all."
"Oh, that's easy. You just have to let me kill you. Then, the illusion will end. Your life will end as well, but that's just a side effect." the other Dean said to him, madness in his eyes. "But that axe will do you no good. How about we trade weapons?"
Before Dean could react he was suddenly holding the dark katana in his right hand. The other him was wielding the axe now and the guy was already in the air and coming down at him. Dean jumped back to dodge the attack and started gathering mana. The attacks of his other self were slow and wild. Just by a little side stepping, ducking and backtracking he was able to easily dodge the attacks. When another opening presented before him he struck quickly. Surprisingly, he landed the attack. He was suspecting his other self was going easy on him.
Something strange happened though. There was now blood on the blade of the dark weapon and suddenly it seemed to start pulsing. The thing was starting to freak Dean out. Having lost his concentration for a single moment, he got stomped to the ground.
His reflexes were still good though and he was in his fighting stance almost immediately the moment after he hit the ground. The dark weapon was back to normal, but it still disturbed him. He really didn't want to kill his other self with this weapon. For some reason, holding the weapon also gave him a slight headache.
"Ah, you're feeling the effects of that weapon already, huh? To be free from its clutches is quite liberating." Dean ignored the man and attacked instead. His opponent didn't even try to dodge and he inflicted a huge cut on the chest of his opponent. Again, the dark weapon pulsed and his headache started to grow. The other him just smiled and attacked him. It was like the wound didn't affect him.
Dean jumped back, trying to gain a little bit of space between him and his opponent. He needed to come up with a different strategy. The headache made it hard for him to think though. He plunged the weapon into the ground, determined not to fight with it anymore. Immediately, his mind started to clear.
"Oh, you threw away the weapon, huh? Well, time for me to get serious then." The other Dean grew his wings, only his wings were pure black. The wound on his chest was miraculously healed. Dean had to grow his own wings to dodge the attack that was launched towards him. His opponent was suddenly a lot faster.
He couldn't dodge all of the attacks and without a weapon he couldn't block anymore. He fired a simple fireball spell to distract his opponent, but the other him just used a spell to absorb the spell. This meant he couldn't create a weapon with magic as it could just be nullified. Other magic spells wouldn't work as well.
He got thrashed about. His opponent was playing with him and only inflicted small cuts with his weapons. He kicked, punched and bashed him all over the place though. Even though he was losing, Dean hadn't given up. He was biding his time. Waiting for an opening.
"Come on! It's that all you got?!" the man shouted as he kicked Dean towards the ground. The dark sword was near him now. It was somehow calling to him as he was near it. Voices of corruption, hate and murder were singing to him from the weapon. The only other thing that had done that sort of thing was a Devil Arm. Was this weapon the source of corruption of his other self?
His opponent had landed and was looking down on him. Dean had his eyes closed and wasn't moving. He had stopped gathering mana as well. He was feinting his own unconsciousness.
"I guess I was expecting more from another me. I really wanted to lure you into killing me with that weapon, you know?" The man let down his wings and slowly walked over towards Dean. Dean waited patiently for the perfect moment.
In an instant Dean infused himself with the speed of lightning. He didn't spoke his spell so he could land a surprise attack. He got up, grabbed the dark sword and cut of the hand of his opponent where his surprised foe had been holding the axe. Dean threw away the sword, took the axe which still had the hand attached to it and beheaded the alternative him. After that he spun around and cleaved the body in two from the mid section.
It all happened in less than a second. Dean stood still and cast several healing spells on his body with the remaining mana he had gathered. He had broken several bones, ripped apart almost all of muscles in his arms and legs with that single course of action. Moving beyond the limits of the body had grave consequences.
It wasn't long before the scene before him disappeared. The body of his opponent had vanished. The monotone white colour of the buildings that were typical of Welgaia appeared. Dean was back in Derris-Kharlan. Dean moved his body for a little bit. It felt sore, but it didn't seem he had inflicted any permanent damage to it like he had in the past.
The dark sword was lying in front of him though. Dean picked it up, but felt the bad vibes from it immediately. The weapon was too dangerous to just let it lie around. Dean let it disappear into the void. The effects disappeared again. He would find a way to seal away the weapon back on Sylvarant. Right now, he had other pressing matters.
For some reason, Dean knew where he was. It was like Mithos was provoking him to take the actions he needed to make. He was at the end of the long hallway where he had gotten to know Siegfried. He looked at his Cruxis Crystal and thought of the other clone he had battled.
"I need to put an end to this. For both our sakes..." Dean muttered to his Cruxis Crystal. The long hallway was as gloomy and depressing as always. The same white walls, the same white pillars and the emptiness of the building made it look like you were trapped in some kind of endless hallway. Each footstep seemed to echo for an eternity.
Although Dean knew where he was, he had no idea how to get to the room he was looking for. There were warp panels everywhere. The only solution he could think of was to systematically go through all of them.
Each warp panel send him to a different room. The only way Dean knew this was because each room was shaped a little bit different in size. There were other small differences as well. In some of the rooms there were boxes, others held tables or desks. Each of the rooms had those objects placed in a different spot. Yet each of them looked exactly the same and it was just these objects. Each of the boxes and desks were empty. Nothing was on or beneath the tables.
There weren't any angels nor any monsters around as well. The place was deserted. Goosebumps spread further unto his body as Dean kept exploring the area. He was searching for quite some time, although he didn't know how much it had taken. He thought about Zelos and how the guy had said that he would help Dean. Dean didn't know where the guy nor the others were. It wasn't that he didn't care. At the moment, his selfish quest was more important to him. Even more important than stopping Mithos.
Eventually he reached the room he was looking for. There was some kind of illusion cast upon the room, making it look like just like the others. Dean however, didn't rely on his eyesight alone to see and notice his surroundings. Over time it was like he had developed a new sense with his ability to feel the air around him which was now like second nature to him. Even with his eyes closed, he still knew how many people there were in a room. It was hard to distinguish people from objects in a busy room though. He could sense the general shape of the person or shape. He had to focus on it to further identify the object or person. He also couldn't tell the difference between a doll or a person this way.
He was blind in one eye, so the development of this ability made sure he wouldn't miss door handles, but it also made sure he could fight. His field of depth was influenced after all. Although he could still 'see' with this ability, he didn't want to lose his eyesight entirely.
The moment he had stepped into the room, he immediately knew something was off. It felt larger than the room looked like. He carefully walked to the wall at the end of the room and tried to touch it. His hand just went through. It looked strange though as the illusion didn't stop. If he held his arm still, it looked like it was stuck inside of the wall. He took a deep breath and walked through the wall.
It was even worse than he had remembered it. The amount of tubes with the clones of Yggdrasill seemed to be countless. It didn't matter if he looked left, right or ahead. The room just seemed to keep on going. It was going to be hell of a task to destroy everything. There was just one problem. He wasn't alone.
"So you've finally found it. It sure took you long enough to get here." the voice of Mithos said. An illusion of the half-elf appeared in front of him.
"Well, it took some time to get out of that illusion you had prepared for me and it took even longer to find this room." Dean said back to the illusion, knowing that it would react to him. His voice was bitter and full of anger.
"Well, I knew you would find it eventually. Only you could see through the illusion of the room so easily. Because of this, I have prepared something special for you." The man standing behind the illusion opened his eyes. It was Zelos. His eyes were filled with rage.
"What have you done to Zelos?" Dean demanded out of Mithos.
"Nothing special really. The object of his rage is in front of him instead of you. I would guard against his attacks if I were you." Zelos charged towards him the moment Mithos stopped talking. Dean jumped backwards to dodge the horizontal slash the red haired guy did.
The scene was way too familiar to what had happened at the Tower of Salvation. Zelos had attacked Lloyd's party, but Dean had crashed down to stop the guy. He had beaten up the guy and let himself be beaten as well. It had been necessary to re-sparkle the will to live in the guy. The way his friend looked now at him was a world of difference. In the eyes of the Chosen of Tethe'alla there was an enemy he had to defeat.
"Snap out of it Zelos! I'm not your enemy. Don't be misled by the illusions that stupid jerk is showing you." Dean shouted to his friend, hoping that it would help a little bit.
"Don't listen to it!" Mithos now said to Zelos. "It's trying to misled you. It will devour you if you don't defeat it." Zelos just screamed in response and continued his attack.
The ferocity of the attacks made sure that Dean couldn't counter-attack without hurting the guy. He just wanted to disarm the man. It wasn't long before he got his back stuck to one of the tubes which held one of the clones of Yggdrasill.
The clones were full-grown. Their eyes were closed and they were naked. They seemed to be hovering in some kind of liquid. They looked like dolls, but for some reason Dean could sense the life force of the clones.
Dean rolled away to dodge another attack of his friend. The attack destroyed the tube and the clone inside of it. Dean figured that he would let Zelos destroy the tubes as he was trying to figure out a way to help him.
"It's still not too late to join me Dean. Swear fealty to me and I'll release your friend from his illusion. I'll even consider letting your other friends live." Mithos still tried to persuade Dean.
"Why the hell would you think I would ever join you? Are you retarded?" Dean's voice was full of cynicism. "If Derris-Kharlan leaves this world with the Great Seed, all life will vanish. The only way for us to survive is to defeat you and plant the Great Seed." Dean was making his way to another tube as he kept dodging the attacks. Yes, the attacks were hard to counter-attack, but were easy to dodge.
"Are you truly prepared to kill one of your true parents?" Mithos asked him.
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Dean asked back, grunting while he kept on dodging and evading.
"Have you ever wondered why you could use magic?" Mithos continued with the questions. "How could a mere human use magic at all? A human, who could survive without mana? Have you ever wondered that?"
"The questions have crossed my mind..." Dean said back after getting back on his feet after Zelos destroyed another tube. The guy wasn't slowing down at all. Dean wasn't getting tired at all, but it was getting tedious to just keep dodging and listening to the stupid illusion at the same time.
"Well, your original isn't from this world." Mithos started to explain. "That's why you can survive without mana. However, we needed material from someone that was born here. The other clones made from just the original wouldn't survive otherwise. The mana in this world is like poison to them. We just added something called DNA from me and added it to the experiment. That's how you were born. That failure of a Siegfried was born without your talents though. I'm glad that nuisance is dead. I hadn't thanked you for that just yet, hadn't I?"
Anger flared up in Dean. Without knowing it, he had materialised his weapon in his hand and blocked the attack of Zelos. He then pushed the guy away from him and kicked him to the ground. Maybe pain would wake the guy up.
"Ugh, you stupid womaniser. Wake the hell up! I'm getting tired of you trying to kill me! Have you forgotten why you're here?" The guy slowly got up from the ground and looked a bit confused for some reason.
"And you!" Dean shouted towards Mithos. "Stop talking like that about Siegfried. It was you that turned him into the being he was. Death was like salvation to him." Rage filled up Dean just thinking about it. "I don't care how you created me! All I care about is destroying these stupid clones of you and killing you once and for all!"
"Oh, weren't you going to save your friend? Isn't he important anymore?" Mithos started to laugh. Zelos attacked Dean again, but Dean blocked the vertical attack with ease. He pushed the guy back, swiped the feet away under him and gave him an electric shock. For some reason, his anger just kept on increasing.
"Dean?" Zelos muttered softly. The confused and hurtful look on the face of his friend made Dean realize what he was doing.
"Zelos is my friend. Saving him isn't something I need to mention. I'm going to do that anyway. I'm going to help Lloyd save the world. Then I'm going back to Chocolat and kiss her as passionate as I can." Dean forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath and blew all his rage away. "Come on Zelos. Don't let that freak control you. You're stronger than that. You're my friend. I believe in you. I don't want to hurt you anymore."
Zelos got up and tried to attack him. Dean stopped the attack by grabbing his arm. He then placed the hand of his other arm on the chest of his friend and used a healing spell to heal his friend.
"We don't need to fight each other. All we need to do is defeat Mithos. Once the world is reunited that stupid title of Chosen One will disappear and you will be able to live the life you want to live. No more masks. No more illusions. Hell, you even could start telling Sheena how you really feel about her." Dean felt the strength behind the attack of his friend fading away.
"You'll forgive me? For everything I've done?" Zelos asked for some reason. The illusion was fading away, but it wasn't gone just yet.
"You idiot. I already forgave you a long time ago. It's time you forgive yourself as well and start living the life you want to lead." The guy dropped his weapon to the ground. His eyes seemed to clear up. Dean let the guy go and took some distance from his friend. Standing that close to each other for so long was getting awkward.
"Hell, I knew you would be the one to save me from that trap Dean." Zelos said with that big grin on his face. The red haired guy then turned his attention to Mithos. "If this ugly guy can forgive me, then I can forgive myself as well. You lost Mithos. We're going to stop you no matter what."
With just a condescending look on his face the illusion of Mithos disappeared. The two that were left behind just smiled to each other.
"Who are you calling ugly you womaniser?" Dean asked his friend.
"At least I can get that many women into the bedroom. I can still teach you if you want to." Zelos answered.
"No thanks. I've got a girlfriend wanting for me back home." The two of them started to laugh it of. "It's good to have you back Zelos."
"It's good to be back." Zelos picked up his weapon and sheathed it. He then looked around in disbelief. "Just where are we Dean?"
"We arrived at the reason why I came to Derris-Kharlan. A room filled with clones of Yggdrasill. Just waiting for us to destroy them." Dean answered as he looked around the place.
"This isn't a room Dean... This is..." the guy couldn't find the right words for it.
"Yeah... a really tedious task... I know."
"Well. We'd better get started then." Zelos sighed and looked where to start.
"Actually... I know how to do it in one go, but it's going to drain me of all of my mana." Dean confessed.
"Oh, if that's all. I figured that I needed to prepare for something like this, with you running out of mana all the time." Zelos seemed to be looking for something in one of his pockets. It took a full minute before he had found it. "Ah, here it is." The guy showed Dean a blue potion. "This expensive thing here can recover part of your mana. I bought it some time ago, but never got around to use it."
"Zelos... You're..." Dean stammered.
"Yep, I'm amazing. I know. I know." Zelos boasted.
"You actually are. Thanks. We might even get to Mithos in time. I bet Lloyd and the others are getting near to that guy." Dean could hug the guy.
"Well, anything for my buddy. So, anything I can do in the meantime?"
"Yeah, go that the warp panel over there. I don't want to fry you in the process of doing this." Zelos looked a bit shocked at him, but then walked over to where Dean had pointed.
Dean closed his eyes and started to gather as much mana as he could. At the same time he tried to measure the full size of the room. He used his ability to sense the air around him to help him with that.
"I am the summoner of Lightning." Dean started to chant.
"I'm the one the Storm calls upon." He was done with mapping one part of the room.
"My body is Lightning. My voice the Thunder." Another part was done.
"Unknown to Defeat. Nor to Victory."
"Having faced Death many times."
"Yet the Thunder always roared for me."
"So I will summon that Roar once again!" He was done with mapping the entire room. It's size was unmeasurable, but he had somehow done it.
"Static Atmosphere!" Electric particles filled the entire area. The more particles were created, the more mana was drained from Dean. Even though the progress was fast and effective, it took its toll on Dean and he nearly started to lose consciousness. He held on though. A few seconds later he was done. Dean opened his eyes again and walked over towards Zelos. The guy looked confused at him. Dean turned around to view the room. The illusion of the false room was gone and no longer blocked his vision.
"Lightning Blast..." Dean whispered. A bright flashed appeared in front of their eyes as each particle that filled the room turned into the raw force of lightning. The room exploded. The heat and raw energy melted, blasted and destroyed every tube, each clone and almost even the room itself.
It was done in a mere seconds. It took some time before they could see again. The once white room was turned black. Only the area where the 'false' room had been was untouched. Zelos looked in disbelief at Dean.
"Let's go." was the only thing Dean said as he pulled Zelos away. They teleported back to the eternal hallway with the warp panel. With the rest of his remaining mana, Dean destroyed the warp panel with a burst of lightning. He then turned to Zelos. "Can I have that potion now?"
"Yeah... Sure..." Zelos stammered back as he clumsily took out the potion again and gave it to Dean. The moment Dean drank it, he could feel energy flowing through his body. Relief flowed through him as he had finally put almost everything behind him. The only thing that remained was to stop Mithos.
"Dean... That spell... I've never seen anything like it." Zelos slowly said to his friend. "Such destruction power."
"Well, it doesn't take away all of my mana for nothing. I actually planned to use a different spell, but the room was too big. It also takes way too much time to prepare, so it's not really practical." Dean explained like it was nothing.
"You really never cease to amaze me." Zelos said while shaking his head. "Well, let's get out of here and get back to my hunnies."
"And there I was thinking you had finally stopped calling them like that." Dean sighed and started to walk.
"The Great Zelos needs to pick up the pace. It's no time to be overshadowed by some other guy."
"Whatever you say Zelos." Zelos had just followed. They kept on walking for a while.
"You do know where to go, right?" Zelos asked Dean.
"Well, it is a long hallway. At the end there is a warp panel we need to use. From there we'll be flying for a bit. I hope we won't be too late for the fight against that bastard." Dean said like it was nothing. Zelos groaned.
"You're kidding, right?" he grumbled.
"I'm afraid not." Dean said cheerily. "You did bring your Cruxis Crystal, right? Flying is faster than walking after all."
It took longer than Dean had anticipated, largely because Zelos wasn't accustomed to flying. The Chosen of Tethe'alla had grown his wings that one time in battle, but that was it. Surprisingly, Dean knew where to go. It was like something or someone was calling. It could be Mithos was beckoning them.
Now that Dean had fulfilled his purpose, he was eager to join up with the rest of his companions. Zelos was silent during their journey, which was a rare occurrence. Even though Dean had taken revenge on the Desian Leaders, he hadn't felt at peace after doing it. This time it had been different. Sure, he hadn't killed an enemy he hated. He had, however, killed many living beings. Even if these beings had been clones, he had still killed them. Still, it was for the better like this.
Eventually the two of them reached their destination. They first spotted Lloyd in his red outfit, but the others came into view soon after that. It seemed the group had just finished fighting some monster as they were taking time to heal their wounds. The group was in front of a big door. The two of them landed near the group.
"Lloyd, my bud! You're okay!" Zelos said after landing. He nearly embraced the guy, which was a weird sight to see.
"Whoa! Zelos!" the surprised Lloyd almost cried out. "Am I glad to see you. We couldn't find you. We were afraid we had lost you." the leader of the group confessed. Zelos let go of Lloyd and blew a kiss to Sheena. He walked over to the woman. The ninja only got mad at him again because of his behaviour of course.
"He was used by Mithos." Dean said to Lloyd as he calmly walked closer to his friend. "The bastard tried to use the last of his tricks to persuade me to join him. It didn't work out for him though. Zelos managed to come through. The guy even helped me destroy that room full of clones I told you about." Dean offered Lloyd his hand which his friend shook.
"That's great news!" the young swordsman replied.
"Yep. Mission complete I would say. Now the only thing that remains is..." Dean turned his attention to the huge door near them.
"Yes. Confronting Mithos is the last step to take. He had trapped the rest in some kind of illusion, but I managed to get them out of there. He is the only one standing before our goal of saving both worlds."
"Well said Lloyd." Kratos said to his son as he stepped forward. "We all are ready to take Mithos on. Shall we continue?"
"Yes!" Lloyd said with determination in his voice. "Let's go." The group entered the door. It seemed like they had reached a dead end. The path ended in front of them after entering the door. There was a huge warp panel on the ground however. In the distance the Great Seed could be seen hovering in the air.
This room looked a lot more like the first part of Derris-Kharlan when they had just arrived. The purple sky was all around them again. Rocks and platforms were floating around them. Purple lightning made out of pure mana erupted around them again. The Great Seed was on a huge platform that was ahead and above them. A vague shade of a person could be seen as well.
"Mithos is just ahead..." Lloyd said calmly.
"And the Great Seed should be there, too. I think I can see it up ahead." Colette answered the boy.
"This is it, everyone... Are you ready?" Lloyd asked the group as he turned his head back to face his companions.
"I'm ready." The professor answered, his voice full of determination. "I'm prepared to accept whatever happens in the coming battle... and we will win!"
"Yeah." Sheena answered. The summoner looked nervous, but ready. "We're gonna win... for Mizuho, Corrine... and for all of you who believed in a coward like me."
"And... for myself, too." Colette answered. The blond girl put her hands together again like she was praying. "I don't want anyone else to make the same mistake I did. No one should have to think that he has to sacrifice his own life..."
"Everyone should be able to live freely, no matter who they are." Genis added. The half-elf seemed eager to get the show on the run. And to try one last time to stop his friend from destroying everyone and everything. "Human and elves and even us... It's okay for us to be here, in this world."
"Yes." Regal added as well. Dean didn't see a prisoner nor a man held down by his past. He only saw a proud man ready to work towards the future. A man ready to finally take off his own shackles of his own free will. "That's why we must recover the Great Seed from Mithos and revive the Giant Tree. Without it, not only will we be unable to restore peace between the different races..."
"The world itself will die." Presea finished the sentence. The young girl not only acted mature, but looked more mature in Dean's eyes. She was finally ready to grow up, but also to accept her own life and take measures into her own hands. "We can't let that happen. We must reunite the worlds. Afterwards we shall make a new promise to the new world."
"The people that I like and the people that I don't both have the right to live in the same world as I do." Zelos wanted to finish. "Because that's the way things should be. So count me in. I won't run from this one."
"To atone for allowing this twisted world to exist, I will fight with everything I have. And win." Kratos ended. Dean looked proudly at everyone. The group had grown so much. There had been so much he had missed and although he regretted it a little bit, he also had peace with it. He was glad he had gotten to meet such wonderful people.
"We're ready Lloyd." Dean said to his friend as he put his hand on his shoulder.
"All right! Let's go! We're going to restore a world where everyone can live freely!" The warp panel activated and the group was on the platform they had seen in the distance. The first thing they saw was Yggdrasill floating just above the ground. The eyes of the half-elf were closed and he seemed to be muttering something. The Great Seed was floating in the air above him.
The area they were in was a mess. Yggdrasill himself seemed to be floating in front of a throne. Behind him was a broken wall in the form of some kind of crest. The pillars on the platforms were broken as well. The statues didn't have part of the faces and some limbs were missing too. Even the floor had cracks in them. There was just enough room for them to fight.
You wouldn't want to fall off the platform. If the lightning didn't hit you, the rocks circling around in high speed would make quick work of you. The sky behind Yggdrasill seemed to be sucking the air in, but it seemed only a spectacle illusion.
"Home... I'm going home..." the half-elf muttered. The man seemed oblivious to the presence of the many people standing in front of him.
"Mithos... Listen to me!" Genis ran towards his former friend. The boy had to try one last time. "We don't have to fight. Please return the Great Seed to us so that we can reunite the worlds."
"Home... I'm going home..." were the only things they heard in return.
"Something's wrong. He sounds like a puppet..." Lloyd said out loud. Too late Dean realized what the thing in front of them was. He turned around quickly to see if the Cruxis Crystal was still attached to Colette. He wanted to walk towards her, but he was too late.
"W...What?" The girl stammered as a flash came from the foreign object attached to her body. The Cruxis Crystal let go of her body and started to float towards the body of the half-elf. Everyone seemed paralysed as they watched the scene unfolding in front of them. Dean cursed himself for not reacting quick enough. He summoned his sword too late.
"Damn it!" Dean cursed.
"I need to thank you for going through all the trouble to bring me back here. I'm finally myself." the leader of Cruxis said to them in a mocking voice.
"Damn... So that's what this was all about!" Lloyd responded to the taunt of the half-elf.
"I can't believe you had another clone in reserve out here. I should have known back when I saw that stupid illusion of you that you still had something scheming." The half-elf looked at Dean and smiled at him, but said nothing back.
"Mithos... Martel is already dead..." Genis stepped forward to try and persuade his former friend once again.
"That's not true!" Yggdrasill answered. The madness they had seen the last time battling him shone from his eyes again. "Martel is alive, just as I lived on in the Cruxis Crystal."
"That's not living. That's just existing as a lifeless being." Lloyd answered, shaking his denial.
"What's wrong with that?" the angel answered.
"What is wrong with that you ask? What isn't wrong with that?!" Dean exclaimed, rage flowing through his body once more. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The half-elf kept ignoring him though.
"After all, in our bodies flow the blood of humans and elves. The blood of those that despise us. We're better off casting aside such filth and become lifeless beings.
"That's what you really want?" Lloyd asked the half-elf in earnest.
"Of course. Watch! When you become a lifeless being, you can even control your appearance and growth." Before them the half-elf shrank. He looked now like the Mithos that had befriended them. The Mithos that fought in the Great Kharlan War and was viewed by many as a hero. Somehow, his clothes had changed with him.
"Everyone should become lifeless beings." Mithos said from the bottom of his heart. "I told you before. The only way to eliminate discrimination is for everyone the become the same race."
"What you hope for is nothing but a dream, Mithos. Discrimination comes from the heart." Lloyd answered in return.
"He's right, Mithos." Genis backed up his best friend. "It's the weakness of people's hearts that causes discrimination. Looking down upon others while placing themselves too high..."
"You do the same thing!" Sheena now said. "You look down on humans and elves, treating them like cattle. That's the weakness of your heart." Her voice was full of passion.
"Even if people become lifeless beings, nothing will change. Discrimination will continue." Regal pointed out.
"I look hideous, don't you think Mithos?" Dean asked the half-elf. "Even humans will look down on me, even though I'm human as well. Nothing will change in the end."
"Then where should the half-elves go?" Mithos asked back. "We aren't accepted anywhere. We opened our hearts, but no one took us in. Where should we live?" Mithos asked the group, almost like pleading for help.
"You can live anywhere you like." Lloyd answered, reaching out to Mithos.
"Don't make me laugh." Mithos said bitterly, clearly not hearing what he had expected.
"I'm serious. Anywhere is fine. If you aren't doing anything wrong, you should just live proudly in the open." Mithos was quiet for a short while. An inner storm was to be within the young looking half-elf.
"It's because we couldn't do that... that I... that we wanted a place of our own!" Mithos looked small now. Desperate and in denial of all he had done.
"Uh-uh." Zelos said like he was lecturing someone. "Sorry, but don't act like you're the only victim here. It doesn't even come close to justifying all the things you've done."
"It's not even an excuse for the things we have done. It is merely a motive, not a justification." Kratos added.
"What you've done caused meaningless suffering and death to countless people. Can you feel their pain?" Presea asked the leader of Cruxis.
"People can change. Even if they don't change right away. Months, years... As time passes, change is inevitable." Raine said hopefully.
"Maybe not everything can be forgive. But one can try to atone one's sins. Can't you feel it in your heart? The Goddess known as conscience." Colette said. In her own way, she was trying to help the person in front of her.
"Do you think I'm going to beg for forgiveness?" Mithos answered. The inner storm was gone. The madness was back. There was no way to convince this being. He just didn't agree with them. He was even willing to risk his own life to prove himself right. "Ridiculous. There is no Goddess. So I will continue to pursue my ideals. If there is no place where I can live, and if I've been denied my Age of Lifeless Beings, then the only thing left for me is to build a new world on Derris-Kharlan. A world just for my sister and me!"
Mithos unleashed his wings. They were beautiful. Every colour of the rainbow was in them. They shone brightly and with power. The look of madness in the look of its owner was an insult to its beauty. It was time to take that owner down once for all.
Everyone quickly drew their weapons. Dean was one step ahead of them as he had had his weapon in his hand the entire time. His wings came out in an instant. He rushed towards the half-elf and unleashed a vertical slash upon his enemy. Mithos put his hands together and they began to shine brightly. A small shield made out of pure energy was created around his hands. It felt like hitting his sword on a solid wall.
The weapon was in perfect shape however and it was of a quality unknown to the humans dwelling on both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. It wouldn't break that easily. Dean shifted to the left to continue his attack, but the half-elf teleported before his next attack could even hit something.
Having encountered this tactic several times before, the group wasn't caught by surprise. Genis, Colette and Raine each had someone near them who could fight well in close quarters. Zelos and Kratos knew their roles as extra healers. Dean just did what he thought was best demanding of the situation. He quickly shifted to unleashing spells after his enemy had disappeared.
Mithos couldn't land a single attack before having to block a powerful swing of a huge axe, an attack performed by Presea. He fired a ray of light to push away his assailant. The attack barely hit, but fried away the skin of the pink haired warrior where it made contact.
Each one of the attacks of their enemy could be fatal if they didn't block or evade accordingly. Not only that, but you had to break through his magical barrier before even inflicting a single wound on him. Regal and Sheena had followed up after Presea, but their attacks didn't have an effect. Mithos was preparing a powerful spell in the meantime.
"Judgement!" Mithos yelled as he unleashed his powerful attack. Rays of deadly light fell down upon the party from the heaven. Each one had the ability to knock them out the fight. Dean had thought of something against this though.
"Light Barrier!" He shouted as he put an absorbing shield above everyone heads. He couldn't anticipate where the magic rays would land, so he had to shield everyone at the same time until the spell had ended. This drained his mana. He had only been at one-third of his normal mana capability, even after drinking the potion and taking in the mana that simply hang in the air here.
This time the barrier worked, but Dean sank to his knees after the spell had ended. Seeing as they were protected to the lethal spell, the rest of the party had attacked their enemy as it couldn't move so quickly after firing his spell. His barrier was broken, he was stomped and got a few bruises and cuts, but he teleported into the sky to safety.
As their enemy wasn't in the neighbourhood of their friends Genis and Raine saw this as a chance to unleash their spells on the half-elf.
"Photon!" The Professor shouted as she caught her opponent in a binding cage of light.
"Cyclone!" Genis yelled as fierce-some winds gathered in the air slashed their way into the prison of light.
"Air Trust!" Zelos shouted as soon as the spell of Genis had ended, continuing with the magical onslaught.
"Holy Song!" Colette had finished the spell that would grant everyone a small barrier and extra attack power. Kratos had used a healing spell to heal Presea from her wounds. Sheena was ready to launch her card artes at her enemy.
The cage ended, but showed Mithos unscratched and ending another spell.
"Ray!" The half-elf shouted. The people near the spell put up magical barrier around themselves. Having recovered just enough Dean flew into the sky towards Mithos. He was followed by Kratos who nimbly avoided that deadly spell in the sky.
Mithos met them in the sky. He used the barrier around his hands to parry each of their attacks. He countered by shooting out two orbs of light. Dean simply just absorbed the mana of spell with a small counter spell of himself as Kratos simply used his sword to bat away the attack. Dean and Kratos immediately continued their assault, but Mithos teleported away once again.
As the half-elf targeted Colette he was met with the fury of Lloyd who had stood near the blond girl the whole time, biding his time and waiting for the right moment. The young swordsman had actually used a tactical move in this battle.
With the power of the Eternal Sword fused into his weapons, Lloyd shredded through the barriers of Mithos. He launched three sword artes in quick succession and blasted back his opponent. Before fully recovering the former leader of Cruxis got a boot in the face as Regal had made his way towards him. The kicks landed hard and their enemy started coughing up blood.
"Retribution!" Mithous shouted. Desperate, Mithos blasted a wave of energy around that not only pushed everyone unto the ground, but also incapacitated them somehow. Someone got poisoned, another got paralysed from time to time and Dean even couldn't access his mana anymore. He couldn't cast spell or use any sword artes.
Not knowing anything else to do, Dean just rushed over towards Mithos and kept slashing at him, coming from different angles with each attack, forcing his enemy to go on the defence. Dean wanted to buy time for the others to recover. He got blasted away with a ray of light after attacking so recklessly.
"I've got this! Purify! Nullify!" The Professor shouted as she used the healing powers of the unicorn to get everyone back on the go again. Dean felt his limitations fade away and was quickly healed from someone's spell.
Mithos still had his eyes on him and teleported towards him. Dean came face to face with the madness lurking within his opponent.
"Die!" Bolts of lightning suddenly fell down from the sky. Dean's skin was instantly burned on his left arm, as he failed to fully evade the attack. The sleeve from his battle gear just seemed to have melted away. Sensing that it wasn't the end of the spell, Dean reacted on instinct.
"Thunder Shield!" He had always used this spell when he was in a pinch. If he was faced with an attack he couldn't dodge or block, he would use this spell to protect him. Lucky for him, it wast just the spell he needed at the time.
"Indignation Judgement!" the half-elf screamed as a powerful blade of lightning fell from the sky, seemed to go right through Dean before exploding. Dean thought he heard someone calling his name, but the sound of the blast had temporarily deafened him.
He was unharmed. Someone had used a powerful healing spell on him and the effects of the initial bolts of lightning were already gone. The lacking battle gear was the only proof that something had happened. Dean's shield had not only absorbed the spell, it had granted him the mana that was used in the spell.
"Now it's my turn!" Dean yelled as he began to prepare for his spell. Someone pulled him away before he could do anything though. His wings made sure he kept hovering above the ground.
"Meteor Storm!" Genis shouted from a distance. Dean looked up from the sky and saw huge molten rocks falling down on the ground. The area around Mithos was being blasted to nothingness. Had Dean stayed where he had been, he would have gotten hit in the crossfire.
"Thanks..." Dean said as he turned around. He looked at the grinning face of Zelos. The guy told him that Genis had warned him about the spell and had instructed him to keep everyone away when he gave a signal to him. His team members had saved him this time. Dean sometimes forgot he was fighting in a team.
Though there were tears in his clothing and burning marks could be seen on his body, Mithos still stood and was preparing for another spell. Someone dashed just by Dean and all he could see was a red spot moving fast towards its target.
Lloyd shot towards Mithos and hit a clean slash on his body. The boyish looking half-elf screamed out and his concentration was fading. He tried to counter-attack, but was hit by a card arte from Sheena. Presea slammed the Earth with her axe and blasted her opponent away. Both Kratos and Zelos had jumped in and were performing a most deadly dance.
"Photon!" The Professor shouted and bonded Mithos once again.
"Indignation!" Genis shouted as lightning gathered above its target, gathering force before striking. The party near Mithos backed away.
"Triple Thunder Blade!" Dean shouted as he launched three huge blades of lightning at the same time towards his target. The spells pierced his enemy, got struck by the blast of the other lightning spell, charging them up before they exploded as well.
Still Mithos was standing as he refused to be defeated. Lloyd screamed as he ran towards his opponent. He trusted out with weapon in his right hand. The target had lost the energy to evade and just shouted as he was unable from the weapon piercing through his guts.
Mithos coughed blood again. He looked at Lloyd with bloodshot eyes and tried to raise his hands to wrap them around the neck of the swordsman in red. The hands never reached their destination as the half-elf was fading. His body turned into mana. All that was left was the Cruxis Crystal of their enemy, floating in the air.
Soon after that the silhouette of Mithos appeared around the Cruxis Crystal. Mithos could still be seen, but he was transparent and it was clear that his body no longer existed.
"Mithos is!" Colette gasped.
"It's just like Alicia!" Presea said, more in a fierce manner than anything else. "Mithos will continue to live as long as the Cruxis Crystal exists!"
"And eventually... I will be taken over by the crystal." the voice of Mithos ran in their minds, sounding like a voice, but not actually coming through their ears.
"Mithos..." Lloyd softly said, his voice filled with pity.
"I'm tired of playing your game of good-and-evil. Hurry up and destroy the crystal. If you don't, Derris-Kharlan will continue to drift away." Mithos continued. It seemed the half-elf had finally given up.
"Mithos..." Lloyd said again.
"Do it now! Before I, too, am no longer myself..." Mithos warned. He let out that his personality was indeed conflicted. That he could seem kind at one moment, but then suddenly twist into something mad at any other moment.
"Lloyd! Please! Help him! Let him die while he's still himself!" Genis pleaded to his best friend.
"All right." Lloyd answered and got closer to the Cruxis Crystal, one sword in his hand.
"Farewell, my shadow. You, who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow. I wanted my own world, so I don't regret my choice. I would make the same choice all over gain. I will continue to choose this path!" With those final words Lloyd struck the Cruxis Crystal with one of his swords, shattering it in many pieces. The fragments of the crystal seemed to float around for a bit before going towards and fusing with the Exspere of Lloyd. Lloyd looked down on his Exphere, wanting to say something to the man he had just killed.
"You could have... you could have lived with us in our world! Damn it..." In the end Lloyd had wanted to save Mithos after all. Even after all that had happened, Lloyd had forgiven the half-elf for everything he had done and had offered him a place in the new world.
After that, the swords of Lloyd seemed to glow and disappeared. Two orbs of energy appeared instead, one blue and the other red. They fused together to form the Eternal Sword. Lloyd grabbed the hilt of the weapon that presented itself before him.
"The old master of the pact is no more. What does the new master of the pact ask of his sword?" the Eternal Sword seemed to ask Lloyd. Its voice sounded like Origin, but seemed more remote and less alive. Lloyd lifted the sword towards the sky and made his wish.
"Restore the true form of our two worlds!" A beam of light appeared out of the sword. The group was enveloped by light and seemed to be transported to somewhere. The balls that contained them were transparent however and they could see the world they were descending towards to, changing into something else.
Not only did it seem like Tethe'alla was fusing with another world, it also seemed to grow. The masses of land were guided to become one. In the end, there was one big flash and a new world was born. The party was near the surface now and landed comfortably.
"Are we back?" Lloyd asked as he looked around. The ground seemed to shake for a little bit. "What's going on?" At that time all of the Summon Spirits appeared around the group.
"What are you all doing?" Sheena asked them, as they all had a pact with her.
"Your wish is granted." the Eternal Sword said to them. "But there is no link. Without link, the land will die."
"What do you mean?" Colette asked, looking around for the source of the voice.
"The world was originally separated into two in order to prevent its destruction. If it returns to its true form, the world lacks the mana to support itself. The land... is dying." the Eternal Sword explained.
"I don't need to know why it's dying. What do we need to do to stop it?" Lloyd asked the Sword, panicking a little bit.
"Support the two worlds by linking them with the Giant Tree. That is the only way to stop the destruction of the land." the Eternal Sword answered.
"We need to awaken the Giant Kharlan Tree!" Colette said towards Lloyd.
"I get it!" Lloyd replied.
"Lloyd, hurry! You have to shine the mana of Derris-Kharlan on the Greet Seed before Derris-Kharlan is too far away!" Colette encouraged her beloved one. Lloyd raised the Eternal Sword.
"All right, then! I'm counting on you, Eternal Sword!" Lloyd said, still enough energy in his body to continue.
"Derris-Kharlan is already at the edge of the gravitational field. Not even Yggdrasill... Mithos could stop this from happening. Do you still intend to try?" The Eternal Sword asked its master.
"Yeah." Lloyd simply answered.
"Very well." Everyone looked up towards the sky where the Great Seed now was. Some kind of mana seemed to go towards it, but it was reflected for some reason. The Eternal Sword disappeared as well.
"It's not working. The mana's being deflected!" Lloyd said irritated.
"The Great Seed is... already dead." Colette said sombrely. Lloyd looked intensely towards the Great Seed. Everyone's gaze was upon it. Everyone was wishing for the revival of the tree.
"Wait! Don't go! Please, wake up!" For some reason, a miracle happened. The Exsphere of Lloyd evolved into a Cruxis Crystal and gave him the most majestic wings, wings that looked like the one's of an eagle. Lloyd flew towards the sky, towards the Great Seed. Dean wanted to follow him, but noticed he lacked the strength to do so. Zelos and Kratos looked fatigued as well. Only Colette had the strength left to go and support her friend.
The fragments of the Cruxis Crystal belonging to Mithos seemed to come out of the Expshere of Lloyd again. The fragments went towards the Great Seed. The seed absorbed the fragments of power and stopped moving away.
Dean couldn't hear the words being uttered by Lloyd and Colette. All he could do was keep on praying. Praying that the seed would germinate and that the world would be saved. He kept looking and saw the Eternal Sword being revived.
A bright flash happened again and the Great Seed slowly made its way towards the ground. Dean thought he could see someone near the centre where the Tower of Salvation had been. The Great Seed landed right there, at the spot which had been the centre of the world itself.
Both Colette and Lloyd seemed to fly over towards the spot. The rest of the party slowly made their way there. They were exhausted from all the fighting and the hardships they had gone through. Dean couldn't stop thinking about Chocolat. They all made their way towards the tree.
Upon arriving they could see a small seed that had manifested in the earth. Lloyd and Colette were smiling happily to each other.
"We finally did it." Sheena let out and let herself sit down on the ground.
"Yes... but still a lot of work remains." Regal replied, both of his feet still solid on the floor.
"We have to do everything we can." The Professor said to everyone and they all agreed. Presea then walked towards Regal and got out her axe.
"May I?" Presea asked the towering blue haired man. She pointed with her axe towards the shackles.
"Please do. It's time I pick up my duties as President of my company." Regal held out his hands. Gently Presea shattered the shackles that were around the wrist of the man. The man rubbed his wrists for a bit after finally being freed from them. "Thank you."
Genis looked with jealousy towards the spectacle, sighed and then looked with a smile towards two of his friends. Dean figured the boy would gather his courage and confess his feelings to the girl one day.
"Let's get going everyone!" Lloyd exclaimed.
Dean was dropped off at the village of Iselia, together with Colette and Lloyd. The party was travelling around the world on the Rheairds, setting down one after another at the place they wished to go. After this run, the Rheairds wouldn't be used anymore. The flying machines used up too much mana. It would take several years before it would be safe to use them again.
Dean waved his friends goodbye and left Lloyd and Colette behind and walked towards his home. His was so tired. Strangely, he was at peace. He had done everything he had wanted to do. He had made amends with his past at long last. Now, all he had to do was working towards the future. Maybe getting his own home together with Chocolat would be a start. Getting a job would also be welcome.
He knocked on the door before entering. He had already put out his dirty boots and walked inside. He was greeted by a big hug. His girlfriend had wrapped her arms around him before he could see her. She seemed to be crying as well.
"I'm home." Dean softly said.
"Welcome home." She managed to say, but she didn't let go of him. Dean couldn't help but to keep on smiling. His mother and father were also home and looked happily towards him.
"We felt the earth shake after a flash almost blinded us. Is everything okay?" his father asked him. Chocolat finally let him go. Dean walked towards a chair and sat down on it.
"Yes. The two worlds are reunited. The Great Seed has been planted. It's still fragile though. We have to make sure it won't wither and die. Things are going to get better though." Dean said to his parents. Chocolat had grabbed a chair and had put it next to him. Her head was on his shoulder. Dean closed his eyes and wasn't sure he was going to be able to open them again. "It's finally over..." he whispered.
"Are you... okay?" his mother asked concerned. "Your clothes are a bit..." the woman didn't finish her sentence.
"Yeah. Nothing a little healing spell couldn't fix. I won't be needing these clothes for some time now. I'm going to throw them away soon." Dean put his head on the kitchen table. "For now, I'm going to need a little rest." He didn't hear a single sound after uttering those words. He fell in a deep sleep. A sleep with a pleasant dream. Not a nightmare, but a dream full of hope for the future.
Wow, what a ride.
I want to thank each and every one of the guys who read this fanfiction. Also, the people who took the time to post a review are most appreciated. I'm quite proud that I finally finished with this story.
Although... This isn't the last chapter of this fanfiction. I'm going to put in a chapter about the Devil Arms as well as a post-story chapter. I have zero ideas about these chapters, but I'm going to do them anyway. I hope you'll like them.
I'm also planning on re-reading the first chapters I posted, because they actually look like shit. There are so many errors in these chapters it would give me a headache if I read them again...
So, like always please leave a review. If you come across some kind of error, please let me know as well.
Until next time~
