Final Chapter: Remembering You Always

Flying towards the scene of the explosion, Riku is swift to find the Tethe'alla Renegade Base has been completely obliterated, down to the very last piece of metal. All that was left was a smoldering ring of black and a few small flames. For a self-destruct to have gone off on this magnitude, Yuan had to have been inside of the base to set it off, but in that case…The teenage Overlord quickly grit his teeth and flew towards the former location of the base.

Landing on the ground, Riku looked around for any possible signs of life, as hopelessly optimistic as that was of him. "Damn it Yuan…Don't tell me you committed suicide. This wasn't supposed to happen, you were supposed to live!" Riku curses the man under false assumptions, as the moment he briefly clenches his teeth he hears a pressurized motor whirring past all of the rocks, and glances towards the sound to see an Elemental Cargo gliding across the ocean's surface.

Saying not a single word, the teenage Overlord takes flight and swerves past the rocks to quickly catch up with the EC, landing atop it gently so not to shake it up. He then went for the hatch and quietly opened it up, leaping into the vehicle in order to see who was inhabiting it. To his surprise, Yuan and Botta are in control of the vehicle. Yuan was at the controls, while Botta turned to recognize Riku's presence.

"…You know, I should have figured that you'd bother me one last time, Elemental Overlord." Yuan comments in his usually snippy tone, while Botta follows up by mentioning "It's certainly a pleasure to see you again, Riku. I assume you caught the explosion just now, and that is why you followed us?"

The teenage Overlord nodded his head before asking of the two "Why did you blow up the Renegade Base? That just seems rather odd of you, Yuan." Yuan pauses in place for a few seconds, and after typing in the coordinates for the EC to go to he turns around and folds his arms beneath his cloak while commenting "How so, Elemental Overlord?"

"Well, wasn't there a lot of stuff there? …Seems like a waste of resources, really." Riku points out, but Yuan is quick to say to him "You must take me for a fool if you think I would waste everything inside the Renegade Bases. Before the explosions, I fired everyone within the Renegades, but said with my final orders to divide all the supplies amongst themselves so they would not go to waste…"

"…Fired everyone within the Renegades?" Riku asked with a couple surprised blinks on his face. Yuan explained bluntly "Cruxis is dead, Mithos is gone, the Giant Tree is planted, and Martel…" Yuan's expression pauses as distress appears on it, but he then finishes off his sentence by saying "Point of the matter is this…Now the worlds are back together, there is no need for the Renegades to exist anymore. Everyone who worked for me deserves a chance to live in this world, and make right what Mithos made wrong."

The words Yuan chooses in his sentence causes Riku to grin at him for a moment, and the man turns around while bemoaning "Hmph…Lloyd's words have rubbed off on me more than I would have liked." Riku then looks at Botta for a few seconds, finding his presence rather confusing in the grand scheme of things, so he decides to ask him "So Botta…Why are you with Yuan? Actually…What are the two of you planning to do now that the world is back together?"

"I'm with Yuan because that is where my loyalties lie, even with the Renegades disbanded that was never going to change. As for what we plan to do…Well, I think I shall leave Yuan to tell you that, Riku." Botta says all this with a relieved smile on his face, followed by Yuan grimacing and murmuring out in a snippy tone "Thanks Botta, I really wanted to do this…"

Yuan then turns around and reluctantly says to Riku "If you MUST know, Elemental Overlord, then I will indulge your curiosity. Now that the burden of the Renegades and Cruxis is gone, I plan to travel the world and try to find a new purpose in life…Botta is just along for the ride since he has never known a life without the Renegades." Botta then quickly explains to Riku "Yuan saved me at a very young age from being burned alive by humans in Triet, and that was when I swore loyalty to him for the rest of my life. That was many years ago, by half-elf standards, but I have never once forgotten that promise."

"…I see." Riku comments after a merry pause, and upon thinking for a few more seconds he turns to Yuan and says to him "Do you have any idea where you're going to start looking?" Yuan snaps at him with a blunt "Wouldn't you like to know?" He then turns back around and ignores the question with his usual grumpiness.

"Boy, you're really snapping at me a lot today, Yuan. Did I do something to piss you off again?" Riku asks in a puzzled tone of voice, and Botta says to him in turn "Heh, not at all, Riku, Yuan is just having a hard time bringing himself to say that he went to Derris-Kharlan partly to save you from Mithos' control." Yuan immediately turns around at Botta and exclaims to him angrily "Botta! That's not true at all, don't go spreading lies to the Elemental Overlord, that's the last thing I need!"

Yuan glances to the left and sees Riku chuckling slightly, leading to him turning all the way to face him and exclaiming "Fine, if you are so damned interested again, I'll tell you! …The first thing I plan to do is go and visit the Giant Tree sapling and face the person taking on Martel's form directly." Closing his eyelids in a solemn manner as he explains himself quietly, Yuan's words leads to a period of silence from Riku that lasts a good few seconds.

"Yuan…You plan to confront Martel?" Riku asks, and Yuan firmly states "Again, it's not Martel…That 'Summon Spirit' just happens to take her form and name. There are some words I have to say to that Summon Spirit, and I will not be dissuaded. You are welcome to come along, Elemental Overlord, but you are to stay behind and do nothing." The man then turned around and noticed that the EC was approaching the ground near the ruins of the Tower of Salvation, leading to Riku commenting "Very well. Just don't anger her, ok?"

Yuan has no more comments left to mention as the vehicle lands at the edge of the ground. He spawns his angel wings and flies up the hatch that Riku never bothered to shut, and Botta and Riku climb up after him just a few moments later. Yuan can be seen flying towards the Giant Tree sapling while the other two stand back on solid ground, with Botta putting the EC back into a Wing Pack for safe keeping.

The man lands in front of the sapling, glancing over the ruins of the Tower of Salvation while folding his arms together. There were some memories flowing into his body, but he ignored them all as he glared at the sapling and exclaimed "Summon Spirit! I demand to see you! Show yourself!" His demands were heard immediately, as a spectacle of light forms the shape of Martel, and she appears before Yuan while gracefully holding her staff beside her.

She steps down on the ground in front of the sapling a fair few feet away from Yuan, allowing the man a chance to glance up at her, where he notices how uncanny her appearance was, and it truly frightened him. "…You…How dare you appear before me, looking like her. I know how Summon Spirits work, you can change your appearance to anything else…So stop pretending to be Martel if we are going to talk!"

Martel takes Yuan's disdain while barely flinching, and with a raise of her staff she points it at the man and says gently "Even if I am a Summon Spirit, the conditions for my creation are far different than all other. I am the one once called Tabitha, infused with the souls of hundreds of Chosens that have fallen along with the spirit of Martel that resided in the Great Seed…Martel's spirit was the strongest of them all, so naturally-"

"Bullshit. You are doing this to mock me…I never would have expected a newborn Summon Spirit to act like that." Yuan calmly expresses his anger towards Martel, and with a saddened expression the Summon Spirit says to him "Please…Do not twist my intentions. I did not ask to be made to look like Martel, the one you loved so very much, Yuan Ka-Fei…"

Yuan's eyes naturally widen, freezing in place as he murmurs out "You…You called me by my full name…D-Do you have Martel's memories inside of you as well as her soul?" Martel nods her head and gently pulls her staff back, saying to Yuan afterwards "Do you understand? I may not be the Martel you once knew and loved, but I understand why you hate me, why my appearance is a source of agony for you…I've seen everything she once saw, and why she loved this world so very much despite all the discrimination that came against her."

"…And you remember the vow the two of us made when we fell in love…" Yuan hangs his head, feeling some guilt for wanting to express his anger towards a Summon Spirit who wasn't guilty of doing anything. Martel smiled, saying to Yuan "Her memories told me of your anger, but also of your kind heart…Yuan, I wish to ask of you…Are you still loyal to Martel Yggdrasill, the woman you worked tirelessly to save from her fate?"

Yuan lifts his head up, raising the hang with the ring on it while saying quietly "Always…" Martel nods her head and proceeds to explain to him "I will never be Martel…I know I can never leave up to her ideals perfectly, nor can I be anything more than a mere reflection of what she was before…But can you at all trust me to be the guardian of the Giant Tree, to be the one to protect this world she loved so very much?"

"…I don't know. That is such a heavy burden for one to bear, even for a Summon Spirit…And you and the Giant Tree are both so young. You can't possibly expect to do it alone." Yuan says, a smile hidden on his face. "Lloyd Irving has made his pact with me the moment he germinated the Great Seed…And I believe in what he said, that he will keep the tree alive long enough to save this world." Martel says, a hand laid against her chest in a hopeful manner as she does so.

"Hehe…Lloyd Irving, huh? He is an idealistic fool who says things without thinking much about them…After all, we nearly destroyed the world by going along with his crazy plan. Besides, he is only human…He will live a short lifetime, and that will be the end of his pact." Though Yuan's words seemed harsh, he spoke them in a rather warm, endearing tone of voice towards the boy. Yuan then looked up at Martel and said to her "But he is a man of his word. Until he dies, he will do whatever he can to help you…But I will not let you be left alone after his death."

"Whatever do you mean, Yuan?" Martel asks in a very curious tone of voice, a smile creeping along her face. Yuan steps forward, clenching his fist to show off the ring he wears while firming his expression and saying to Martel "The Martel I knew may be gone, but the vow I made with her still stands…So long as her soul is a part of your body, then I will not let that vow of mine break. I will be by your side, Summon Spirit Martel, and work together with Lloyd Irving to preserve the Giant Tree."

"…" Martel sinks her head for a moment while closing her eyelids, asking of the man "Yuan…This Giant Tree could possibly live for a very long time, even longer than the time Mithos guided the fate of this world. You've already lived so long, beyond even the age of normal half-elves, and yet you want to continue to live. I appreciate the concern, but you do not have to do that for the world." Yuan shakes his head and immediately replies "It doesn't matter to me. I have committed crimes for 4,000 years, so if I have to live another 4,000 more guarding the tree to repent for that, then I will do so…"

"You are welcome to live your life the way you wish…I am not your master, and I never will be. But before you commit yourself to this task, Yuan, I wish you would make sure that there is nothing else you wish to do with your life." Martel gently suggests to Yuan, and he in turn nods his head and lowers his arms underneath his cape while stating "If that will satisfy you, then that is what I will do. But I will return here, and that is my promise to you, Summon Spirit Martel." Martel bows forward and politely says to Yuan "I will be looking forward to your return…Yuan Ka-Fei."

Martel disappears into the wind afterwards, and the sapling rustles before Yuan's eyes. The man discards his warm smile as he turns around and begins to walk back to where Botta and Riku stand. As he heads that way, Riku walks forward to meet up with him partway. Yuan glares at him and says as they meet halfway "…I get the oddest feeling that you know exactly what I said to that Summon Spirit."

"Can't say I did, really. This is an event I knew nothing about before. But it's not hard to figure out what you were talking about." Riku says with an earnest look in his eyes, which causes Yuan to briefly smile in a smug manner due to a moment of superiority over the Elemental Overlord. Yuan then goes on to say to Riku "So, now that I'm done with the Summon Spirit Martel, what reason do you have to stick around with us?"

"None whatsoever, really. You're in a hurry to get me out of here, aren't you Yuan?" Riku points out Yuan's persistence in getting him out of sight, and the man merely says in turn "Well you've helped save the world, have you not? What reason do you have to stick around past that? Especially with the mana flowing into this world…" Yuan's reply showed a little subtle concern towards the teenage Overlord.

"Heh…You are really a softy sometimes, Yuan, even if you are an asshole the other 90% of the time." In turn, Riku was surprisingly blunt towards the man, which took him off-guard long enough for the teenage Overlord to grin and chuckle at his own comment. Yuan steps off to the right of Riku and says to him "I guess the only reason you are still around is to say goodbye to everyone…In that case, you should find Kratos at the base of the Tower of Salvation. Since he too is planning to leave this world…"

Riku nodded his head in an appreciative manner and with a quick turnaround he looks at Botta and Yuan and says to them "Don't get into anymore trouble while I'm gone, alright?" Botta gestures out and says "We shall try not to…I pray for your safe return one day, Riku." While Yuan follows-up with a snide sounding "Take your time coming back…There's no need to rush back here anytime soon."

The teenage Overlord gestured in thanks towards the two, and then kicked off the ground to fly off towards the base of the Tower of Salvation. It wasn't that far off from the Giant Tree's sapling, so Yuan got to witness his movements before commenting towards Botta "Alright Botta…Let us head off. I think our first destination should be Meltokio…" With a nod of his head, the fellow half-elf pulls out the Wing Pack and summons the EC for the two of them to ride, and that would be the last anyone would ever see of them for a while…

As Riku lands near the Tower of Salvation, he finds Kratos and Zelos standing next to each other in the middle of a conversation. Zelos had his hands folded behind his head, while Kratos leaned one hand against the handle of his sword, his eyelids closed in a contemplative manner as Zelos says to him "So there's nothing I can say to convince you to stick around, huh?" Kratos replies calmly with "Your efforts are appreciated, Zelos Wilder, but this is something that I have to do now that the worlds have been reunited."

"And you think Lloyd isn't going to try and stop you?" Zelos points out with a smile on his face, to which Kratos glances at him and replies kindly with "He is welcome to try, as I expect him to…But at the same time, I know he will understand why I have to do this. I at least can go knowing that he sees me as his father…" "Well hey, if that's what makes you happy, I'm not gonna argue." Zelos says with a gentle shrug of his shoulders.

He then glances to the left and notices Riku walking towards him and Kratos, which leads to him commenting "Well well, looks like our party's gotten a third member." Kratos opens his eyelids and extends one hand out while saying "Riku…What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

His question is answered by the teenage Overlord swiftly "Isn't it obvious? I'm doing one last trip around the planet to say goodbye to everyone before I go." Zelos grins and says "And you just happened to run into the two of us, is that correct?" He had a joking tone to reference Riku's knowledge of events in this world, but Riku politely points out "Actually, it is a coincidence that I ran into you both…I have Yuan to thank for telling me that Kratos was here, but I didn't expect to find you here Zelos. That just leaves Lloyd…"

Zelos' expression goes into a disappointed pout upon hearing that he was one of the last one's Riku talked to, with him bemoaning moments later "You saved me for last? …Even Yuan got talked to before me? Haven't you heard the phrase 'save the best for first'?" The teenage Overlord sarcastically says "That's not how the phrase works, Zelos. Besides, I ran into Colette, Genis and Sheena first because they happened to be the closest one's I could find."

"Oh, right! Sheena's probably going to be at the Meltokio Castle to meet up with me as planned! Shoot, and I had something really important I wanted to tell her!" Zelos' reminders of what he needed to do caused him to partially freak out, though Kratos and Riku both knew that the Chosen was exaggerating the problems. Zelos snapped his fingers at Riku and said to him "Well, it's been fun having you around Riku, but you know me…I got places to go, things to do, ladies to love, and fun to have!"

Zelos prepares to zip off with that swiftly spoken sentence being the last thing he said, but Riku turns around and comments towards him quickly "Wait, before you go, Zelos…" Zelos pauses in place without turning around, and the teenage Overlord says to him in a heartfelt tone of voice "I'm glad to know that you could eventually be trusted. You and Kratos both…I also hope you and Seles get along now that the Chosen system is rendered pointless."

The Chosen of Tethe'alla grins out of Riku's line of sight, and with a gesture of his hand up he comments back in a serious tone of voice "Don't be a stranger man…And thanks for the compliment, I do appreciate it." Zelos then continued to sprint off towards the Rheaird he had parked in the distance, leaving Kratos and Riku by themselves. The teenage Overlord turned around as the whir of the Rheaird's engines are heard leaving, commenting with a smile on his face "So Kratos, anything you want to talk about?"

"I doubt there's really a subject for conversation that the two of us could have at this point, is there?" Kratos asks, and Riku shrugs his shoulders gently while saying "No, not really. I know what's going to happen next, and you know I'm not going to try and stop you. Really, the most we can say to each other is goodbye." Kratos raises his head up slightly and says with a smile "That is true, isn't it? But out of all the people you met on this world, you are most likely going to run into me again."

"It wouldn't be hard to see Derris-Kharlan out there in the universe…" Riku notes to the man, and Kratos in turn said to him "But for now, I guess this will be farewell, Elemental Overlord Riku. Before you go, I have to ask one thing…Do you feel this experience has changed you?"

"Change me? …I can't describe how, but I really feel different after going through this world. There's a lot of confliction in my mind, but I didn't expect anything different after all that I've went through. But I'll continue to go forward with my mission to save other worlds, and sort these conflictions out on my own." Riku answers Kratos' question with honesty, and the man felt it was ok to say to him in turn "Then you will do just fine. I imagine Lloyd will find me here soon enough, so if you wish to speak with him it would be best to stay hidden for the time being."

At Kratos' suggestion, the teenage Overlord steps out of sight to wait for Lloyd to show up, which he does a good ten minutes later after getting off of his own Rheaird. Kratos and Lloyd share a final conversation with each other, with Lloyd explaining that he will go around the world and deal with all of the Exspheres, while Kratos is leaving the planet behind so Cruxis' influence can leave it forever. Kratos teleports to Derris-Kharlan when the conversation ends, and the planet can be seen slowly moving away from this one moment later.

Lloyd looks towards the sky with a melancholy look in his eyes, but as he turned around to head back to his Rheaird he happened to catch Riku observing him from afar. Surprised by the boy's presence, Lloyd said to him "Riku? H-How long have you been standing there?" The teenage Overlord glides over to stand in front of Lloyd, waving his hand out as he lands and saying "I've been here for a while now…Before you came here and said goodbye to Kratos, actually. How are you feeling?"

"Fine…I'm feeling fine." Lloyd commented in a tired tone of voice. "You've been running yourself rampant trying to find Kratos, haven't you? That's fine Lloyd, you don't have to say anything else, I understand." Riku comments, and Lloyd in turn looks at him with a blank expression before stating "I guess I didn't do a good job hiding it. Anyways, I ran into Colette and Genis while trying to find Kratos…They said you were planning on heading off, right?"

"Heh, news traveled fast. Yeah, sorry about making it so sudden Lloyd, but I can't allow myself to be poisoned by the growing mana supplies." Riku says, though he was saddened in tone as he pointed that out to Lloyd in particular. "…First Kratos, and now you…Fine then, but if you are going to leave then there's something you have to promise me!" Lloyd exclaims his desires to the teenage Overlord in a sudden manner.

"Huh? What?" Riku was taken off-guard, allowing Lloyd enough time to say to him "If you are going to leave this world, then you have to promise to come back later! You and Kratos both have to come back here someday." The teenage Overlord swiftly said to Lloyd "I don't need to make a promise on that, Lloyd. Someday, I will come back to this planet, and I'll make it so I can't be poisoned by the mana without resorting to putting an Exsphere in my body!"

"Oh, seriously, you already decided that?" Lloyd says, feeling a little embarrassed for what he said just a moment ago. Riku nodded his head, and Lloyd said to him afterwards "Well hey, that's great to know! I'll be looking forward to your return then! Just don't be beating yourself up so much when you return, alright?"

"So long as you don't go and screw everything up with the Giant Tree." Riku replies, and with an annoyed expression Lloyd glares at Riku and says "Hey, I'm not going to make a mistake with the tree! Sheesh, I thought you'd have a little more faith in me than that." The teenage Overlord chuckles, and after a momentary pause Lloyd decides to say to Riku while looking at his own Exsphere "Riku…There's something I want to ask you."

"Go for it." Riku decided to say, leading to Lloyd staring at him and asking "…Back when I germinated the Great Seed, I get the feeling Mithos used his energy to give me angel wings. D-Did you sense Mithos' presence when the angel wings formed?" The teenage Overlord was surprised that Lloyd was able to pick up on something like that, and had to take pause to blankly stare at Lloyd before saying to him bluntly "Yeah, Mithos helped you save the world after his demise."

"…I thought so." Lloyd's remark afterwards made Riku glare at him as though the boy was thinking something that neither side would want to hear. Lloyd looks up at Riku and says to him "Don't get the wrong idea, this doesn't excuse everything Mithos' did before…But it's because he did help save the world in his final moments that I chose to name the Giant Tree after him. But I can't tell anyone else that…Does that make sense?"

Riku nods his head, but assures Lloyd that "I think the others would understand if you told them, but that's all up to you." "Right…Thanks for saying that, Riku." Lloyd comments in an appreciative manner, though he sounded a little stressed out upon mentioning it. It was at that point that Riku lifted his hands up and placed them on Lloyd's shoulders, looking the puzzled boy straight in the eyes and saying to him in a firm tone of voice "Don't worry about the future Lloyd. So long as you never give up, just like you did throughout this entire journey, then the Giant Tree Yggdrasill will grow up strong. You may be a little naïve, but it was your courage and experiences that allowed you to save this world. Other people may end up disagreeing, but in my eyes you are definitely a hero."

"Riku…I-I don't know what to say." Lloyd was at a complete loss of words, and as the teenage Overlord pulled back and levitated off the ground he cracked a smile at Lloyd and told him quietly "There's nothing else that needs to be said. I've enjoyed my time here in Aselia, and now it's time for me to go…Take care, Lloyd Irving, and I will come see you all again…Someday."

Before Lloyd can say anything else to him, Riku turns around and looks towards the sky, pulling his arms and legs close to his body before he launches himself through the sky towards the atmosphere of the planet. Lloyd watches on from afar until Riku could no longer be seen, at which point he turns around and goes back to his Rheaird, pumping one fist in front of his chest and feeling confident that everything we'll go well for the world now.

Meanwhile, in the depths of space, Riku finds himself between both Derris-Kharlan and the combined planet of Aselia. He glances briefly at them both and their beautiful atmospheres, but now that he was away from the worlds with a barrier of air around his body he whispered to himself "…That was the last time I will allow myself to laugh, smile or get angry…From here on out, in order to avoid making mistakes on any world, I have to not let my emotions get the better of me…This is for the best, I'm sure of it."

Taking in a deep breath, Riku relaxes himself to the point that he ends up with a rather dull expression on his face as he glares at both planets. He then turns around and looks towards the stars, flying away to continue his quest to save other worlds…But now he was going to do things differently, the way he felt was right. But just what awaits him next?

"Well…You'll see soon enough, won't you, readers beyond the static veil?" The entity known as the Chronicler finishes looking over the two worlds for the time being, and seals his book up for the time being. He opened up another one, ready to write the next tale of the Elemental Overlord's journey…

Part 4 Story 5: Reuniting the Divided World

The End…?