Angels of Cruxis
by: Fehize

---

There was silence all around a certain area of land that rested on the top of a pass between two inaccessible peaks. The sun hit those tops every day, but even the heat could not exactly go and melt the tops of the snow-capped tops. Even at such high altitudes, clouds began to form. Each one was large, pristine, and fluffy. Each one seemed to be calling a certain flying 'species' to land upon the tops and play with the molecules of water.

These clouds were drifting among the ground, for they were touching the mountain. One wisped around the feet of a certain red-haired man as his eyes were set in a determined gaze, fortelling the future, but yielding nothing. In his gloved hands he held a long, razor sharp, double-edged blade. On his left side, there rested a golden object of some kind with a red gem, that seemed dulled and perfectly round. The wind picked up slightly as it moved the tips of the man's impossible hair, making it seem like something alive.

The blade was made of some fine metal: silver. Large and broad, lined with mythical symbols amid a navy blue background; it shimmered in the afternoon sun. It was poised, upright and its sharp edge was aimed directly at the one who wore a cape; the one named Krantus. The enemy of the man with the fire in his eyes was also holding forth a double edged sword, except his seemed to be made of a lesser material. That man was standing still against his opponent, but the Seraph's gaze was enough to stop him dead in his tracks for a brief couple of agonizing seconds.

On the other side, where the cloud had wrapped its way around the feet of a small half-elf, there resided two people clothed in blue. A female figure was holding forth a wooden staff, and the other was gripping forth a kendama. An invisible wall of static jumped between both of their eyes. The taller one eyed the small child with laughter in her eyes, but the lad only hid a small smirk. Already, one could see the faint outline of a spell getting ready to be fired.

Next to the small elfin-like boy was a girl with golden hair. She held forth something akin to a Frisbee, and her face was set in a tough rigor. Hatred and disgust were seen coming out from that once-'angelic' face. It was far opposite to the fair-haired girl, who seemed to carry around an air that she was sorry this was starting. Her white clothing was gently wafting up and down as she tightened her grip. With an almost unseeable motion, she moved her feet into a better position.

A tall, half-elf girl stood in the area between those two, her facial features set into a downward curve as her eyebrows furrowed. To her, it was a scandalous thought that anyone would dare impersonate the Chosen of Mana. In her mind, she began to think of the ONE offensive spell that she knew: Photon. If worse came to worse - she had no idea of these people's skills - she was mentally ready to attack.

In the far distance, however, were two figures. One was in hiding, and the other was trying to get into hiding.

"How DARE you impersonate us, you...you imposters!" came the loud yell from the one who called himself Loido. He already had his weapons out and aimed it straight at a certain brown-haired teenager. "COME GET THIS!"

And with that, it began.

Lloyd grabbed his twin blades out from their sheathes as Loido ran forth and began to try to send forth a Demon Fang. Smiling, the son of the Seraph sent forth his own. Clashing, they formed one, but then dissipated after swallowing each other up.

"HAH! Well, I can do BETTER than THAT! YAYYYYYY! Double Demon FANG!"

The steal blade from Loido came rushing down as two white auras, exploded from the ground, and began to rush straight at him. With a graceful jump, Lloyd managed to get on top of a rock and then hoped over the two waves of pulsing Mana. "Super Sonic Thrust!" he yelled upon nearly jumping on his enemies head.

"Wanna charge?! Thunder Blade!" came a different cry in the background as the Heavens erupted. A sword materialized and slammed its hilt against Jineasa's female figure. With the large explosion that came afterwards, she was sent hurtling towards the mountainside in a massive heap. Following her was the wooden, and broken, staff, which bonked her on the head while she was trying to get up.

Loido charged for another round as Lloyd defended with his own techniques. Already he could tell that Double Demon Fang was the most this other person could do, since he did not have an Exsphere. Inside, he was smiling. This was the first non-traitorous fight against humans that he had ever had! It was fun, running around and hitting people with a pair of metal sticks.

Loido grunted. "Damn you! How the hell," there was a clash of sparks as two blades met, "are you so strong?!"

With a smirk, the teen responded. "I'm just a better fighter, that's all. I learned from the best." With that, he kicked Loido right where it hurts, and then pointed his swords towards the recovering body. "Ice Tornado." With that command, a whirlwind of frozen chunks picked up as the fake began to get pelted by frozen pieces of the atmosphere.

"HOW DARE YOU! THAT WAS AN ANCIENT PIECE OF HISTORY YOU JUST BROKE!" screamed Raine as she took a look at what was once an ancient pottery piece. It was a gift from Asgard, and it was something that a certain Professor was looking forward to examining in more detail. "MASSIVE DiSrEsPeCt!" she said with a yell

Raising her staff, she whammed it right in the skull of Coletta, allowing her body to fall down slightly. That was, until she turned around and kicked her away at least five feet. With a small "Oomph," the brown-haired woman sagged into unconsciousness.

Everyone had fallen down, except for...

Lloyd turned his head, as well as everyone else. The crowd was stunned at what had just happened, but even they turned their heads and watched the scene unfold.

Kratos was defending against all of the other man's attacks, and he was doing it with an effortless poise. His manner, the way he was gripping the sword... All were in ways that showed that he knew what he was doing, and he was only playing with you. The gruffer looking man tried to bring down his sword onto the cranium of the redheaded man, but with a master's fluid motion, he stepped out of the way.

Holding onto his silver sword, Kratos took one step forward, parried the sword strike from his opponent, and then he hit the man with the butt end of the sword, right in the gut. Disarming him as he fell, he held the blade at the man's throat, coldy implying that if he so desired, Krantus would have been dead by now.

Lloyd, as well as Genis, whistled. That was awesome!

"Chosen, are you alright?" he said with a glance towards Colette. After making sure that everyone else was fine first, she nodded.

"Yup! I'm all good!" However, upon those words, she began to walk over to the fallen members of the other team. With each little pitter patter of her feet, the eyes of the neighboring people around them widened. "I'm sorry you guys. Are all of you ok?" With a grace that rivaled the ancient scripts of what Cruxis said angels were, she placed her hands together.

"Y...You are the CHOSEN ONE?!?" yelled the imposter Kratos as he grunted. "That's impossible!"

The crowd gathered all around and began to argue and about then. "She's the Chosen?!" "Impossible!" "She just beat up the one who held the ancient book!" "But she defeated those others!" "She looks like a fake!" "Agreed! Chosen's don't look ANYTHING like her!"

Lloyd noticed that Colette seemed saddened by their words, but Genis and Raine seemed upset. Even he was, for the mere fact they were calling him a fake. How dare they! To prove that Colette was the Chosen, after all, Lloyd decided to do something rash.

"SHUT UP!" he cried out, making everyone turned stunned for a few moments. "Colette here IS the Chosen of Regeneration, and I can very much so prove it!" With that, he pulled his hand into a little fist, making one finger - his pointing finger - come out fully stretched. With a swift, yet not painful, jab, he poked the blonde haired girl in the base of the shoulder blades. With a confused expression from her face coming out at first, as well as a little 'eep', it was a large shock to the people who didn't believe the truth when large and pink wings came out from her back.

There was stunned silence for a few moments as Lloyd and Genis gave them all a victory smirks.

---

There seemed nothing to do except look at her ex-traveling companions getting tossed around like little sack potatoes. She was now even MORE happy that none of them were looking at her, so she would have been on her way if...

She hadn't remembered that THAT girl right there was the Chosen! I have to warn them! she cried out in her head with a determined expression. She was just going to wait until all of the other people calmed themselves down for a bit. Already they were trying to say sorry as many times as they could, making sure that they were forgiven for their mistakes.

It took a lot of her patience to just hang there and look at them, but she had no need to go on ahead and wait for long. There was a woman - Professor Rain? Professor Crane? - who spotted her first, after cleaning and dusting herself off from a random burst of yelling. Her white hair gracefully fell back in place, when she took a look over towards the green-haired 'Martel', her lips pursed into a frown.

"And who are you, Madam? Don't think I didn't see you wandering around these fakes. You were with them, and now it seems as if you wanted them to leave you alone. Who were you supposed to be? 'Moraine'?" Her blue eyes looked at her as Anna was trying to descend from the tops of the rocks where she was hiding. With a little sweat, she plopped onto the grassy ground, landing on her cloak to prevent herself from getting hurt.

With a happy and nervous smile, she tried to reach out her hand to greet the woman, but the other didn't return it. How rude... she thought, a little aggravated. However, by then the rest of the others were running in. The small, white haired midget - Genius? - ran in after his sister before stopping in front of her. Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration, decided to come after him, followed by that Lloyd teen. Finally, in the end was...Mr. Scary.

For a few moments, they made eye contact. The tall - as in really tall - man stopped suddenly, leaving no skid marks, but leaving that impression. He stared straight into her eyes, boring into them like a giant hammer. They showed so much coldness with a hint of shock(?). She could swear on her mother's grave that that few nanoseconds of eye contact frightened her SOOO much more than finding out the Chosen was in danger!

"Uhh..." she stammered for a few moments before turning to face the safer-looking member of the Aurion family. (Yes! She could remember their names, slowly!) Making a quick bow, she felt even more butterflies flutter around in her stomach. "Hi! I...I am Martel! I was sent from a place you cannot dare comprehend, and I am here to tell you that the Chosen's life is in danger!" She lifted her head as her long hair whipped down, her eyes piercing into the Professor. "There is a group called the Renegades that are out to kill the Chosen! They have sent an assassin called Sheena Fujibayashi in order to do their dirty work!"

With the mention of this information, Kratos Aurion grabbed her by the wrist and then barked an order out. With a sudden nod, they all ran into a nearby building.

---

"So...Your name is 'Martel'? That's a unique name," stated Genis as he sash-swayed his hand left and right. "In fact, most people don't call themselves after the goddess for a very good reason; it's sacrilegious."

Kratos had kept a good eye on this weird woman who dubbed herself after Yuan's old lover. It almost made it seem as if she had jumped out of the portrait and into real life, breathing and walking. Almost. She was not of the right stature, and her voice was completely wrong. He tried placing that tone, but came up with nothing for now. However, it still tickled the back of his head. Where have I heard this voice before...?

He turned around to face his son, whose brown hair was flopping down a bit. It was still messy from the earlier fight, but he was busy examining the woman by asking her endless questions after endless questions with help of Genis and the Chosen. Kratos' own hair maintained its normal shape, allowing that one strand to fall in front of his left eye. How does someone out of Cruxis know about the Renegades? People always mistake them for Desians, so what is going on here? He didn't like how things were turning out to be.

"Dad! Hey, dad!" came the cry of his child as Lloyd's gloved hands wrapped around his father's arm. "You should talk to her. She might know a lot of info." His large, brown eyes took a few blinks as Kratos nodded in silent affirmation. Yes, it was about time he asked who this 'Martel' was, and how she came to know such things.

"How do you know I'm in danger, Ma'am Martel?" asked the Chosen in her natural tone. "I don't understand..."

Kratos decided to wait for a few moments. Or, at least until night.

---

There were the sounds of animals sleeping that filled the night. She turned slightly, but then was pulled awake by Lloyd's hand. He saw her blink for a few moments before she realized that she was awakened by the teenager. "Martel?" Lloyd whispered. "My dad wants to talk to you downstairs." He didn't know exactly what his dad wanted, but he could take a little hint.

She yawned slightly as Lloyd skipped down the steps. That was one of the cool things here; steps and stairs. Sure, Yggdrasill had stairs in his large palace, but the normal Welgaia had elevators and magi-technology methods of climbing. That, and all one had to do was just fly higher. Not much of a hassle...

"Martel, I presume. Lloyd, how about you go to your room. You need your rest." Inwardly, Lloyd sighed. He did not! But, his dad didn't want him there. Normally, he would have gone back, but Lloyd left the door and hid nearby, being silent and stealthy in his walking style. Unless he moved from his spot, he was sure that his father couldn't hear him.

There was some silence as the two people were having a staring contest with each other. "May I ask how you managed to come here with such information? It would be wise to state who you are as well. I know you are not a woman called 'Martel'." Kratos' tone was one that said 'you had better tell me the truth'. It was that silent, direct voice that was often used for commanding others. Lloyd could tell the other woman was shaken up despite the fact that his dad wasn't physically doing anything. He wanted to come closer, but knew better than to do such a thing. His white scarf trailed among the floor behind him, collecting the smallest amount of dust falling from the ceiling.

"My name is..." she began slowly, "...is Anna. Anna, the Fortune Teller of Triet. I was captured by Lord Yuan and his cronies – er, men - when they discovered my talents after claiming to protect me from the Desians." There were a lot of pauses when this strange woman was talking, like she was looking for some words. Lloyd couldn't see his father's face, but if he could, there would have been a quick pang of grief in his eyes before it could be concealed from the world.

"I was held prisoner, and they were trying to force me to tell fortunes about who was who and what was going on. I, naturally, refused, but I DID manage to see that they were using this female called Sheena Fujibayashi to assassinate the Chosen of Regeneration! I had thought that this MAN was the good guy until I discovered he wanted to kill the last chance of salvation. So, I ran away, disguised as the 'Goddess Martel'-" There was a distinct sarcasm in the words she used. It seemed almost apparent that she did not trust in the Mother. Well, Martel exists, in a sense, but she isn't exactly a Goddess in the terms of a deity. That was one of the things that his father had taught him. "-and I ran off to warn the Chosen of this."

Kratos seemed to 'relax' - if one could call it that - before moving his head slightly. Lloyd still couldn't see what look was on his face, but he could take a guess. Normal, calm, and just being his dad, of course! Still, to have one woman already know about the Renegades... Yggdrasill had mentioned that if anyone were to know a bit, they should be killed. However, Genis was an exception 'cause they were best friends!

"I suggest you come along," Kratos began while turning around to walk towards the door. "However," he said as he turned his head back to face the still sleepy woman, "if I find out that you are one aiming to kill the Chosen instead, I will destroy you first."

"Aye aye, Captain..." came a little mutter from the female as she gave him a slight glare before sticking her tongue out at him once Kratos' back was almost gone.

His footsteps made almost no sound, even when Kratos had entered the main dining hall of the inn. He stopped for a moment as Lloyd tried his hardest not to fidget. "Lloyd, it would be best if you do not always try to eavesdrop on conversations of others. One day, it could get you in trouble."

"Ah..." came the nervous laugh, "sorry, dad..."

---

Sheena cursed silently as she hit her foot upon a root at the last second. However, the root was the least of her problems. Corrine was getting tired, as was she, but she had to get ready for the attack once she reached the Thoda Geyser. Her Guardian Cards were resting in her hand as she looked at each of them with a deep look of seriousness.

"Sheena? What's wrong? Corrine wants to know why Sheena looks so sad." With a little jingle, the fox-like animal jumped around and landed on her lavender-clad shoulder, with his bushy tails coiled in a little circle. "Don't worry, Sheena! Corrine loves you!" With that little sentence, she had to smile.

"Come on, Corrine," she began with a little stretch after making sure her foot wasn't injured. "We have quite a ways to go. Maybe we could contact Yuan and he could help us a bit by giving us an extra Exsphere or something. If I could nearly loose to some skeleton freak, I'm sure I am going to need all the help I can get."

With his little fuzzy foot, Corrine aimed it towards the horizon. "Watch out world! Here comes Sheena and Corrine! Oh, Sheena and Corrine!"

---

Hey everyone!
Yes, this chapter WAS Beta-ed! -cheers- After almost all summer of being not, it is now!!!

Nothing much going on here except for...school and stuff. Yup. Oh, and within a month and a few weeks, it'll be my birthday! Hopefully, I will have three chapters added.

No, she's not an OC. I'll explain sometime before/a little after the Tower of Salvation. -nods-
Then, after that, that's when this fic starts running on "loosely based game-evidence", meaning I can 'source' the ToS game, but it's nothing concrete.

-makes Angel-Lloyd fly around-

REVIEW PLEASE! It makes Fehize happy! And you want a happy Fehize, right?

Yeah... Raine seemed psyhco there, eh?