"We lived in Raliere—a hidden elven village off the coast of Altamira. Everything was great for awhile, but the Papal Knights found the town. We were alerted that we needed to evacuate, so everyone split up, heading towards different Elven villages. We decided to head towards Ozette—there was a small, developing village near there—but we didn't make it very far before the Papal Knights caught up."

Raine frowned, "Why were the Knights after us at all?"

"Humans used to leave elves alone, but the current pope suddenly started to hunt them down, invading elven villages and capturing elves. Any elven village he catches wind of is in danger. The captured elves are brought into Meltokio and Sybak." Kloitz explained, "Luckily, we tend to hear when a village is discovered, so they catch very few elves and half elves from our villages." He explained.

Raine nodded mutely.

"We were caught near a small outcropping of land by Altamira. They were trying to sink our boat, so we needed to get to land as soon as possible—we found ourselves at the Otherworldly Gate on the night of the full moon. The gate only opens on the night of the full moon, but when open, will transport you to Sylvarant. There were elven villages there as well, thought nowhere near as many, so Virginia and I decided to head to Sylvarant instead."

Raine frowned.

"Obviously, we didn't make it." Kloitz sighed, "The gate didn't open before they caught up. I fell back to distract them while Virginia tried to get you out, but, well, I was a researcher, not a warrior." He sighed, "Gin pushed you two through before the portal could close and was able to fight off the Knights with her magic, but there wasn't enough time for her to get me and get through the portal—you two were stranded. Gin couldn't cast any more high level spells—she'd exhausted herself—and the healing spells she could cast weren't working on me; I was dying. Luckily for us, Martel had been flying overhead and she caught sight of the dead knights and Gin's frantic healing. Long story short, she brought us to Derris Kharlan and the only way to heal me was to turn me into an angel. While I was recovering, Virginia went with Kratos to Sylvarant to try and find you, but they found you two settled in Iselia. With me as an angel and the two of us having nowhere to go, we decided it would be better to leave you settled in Iselia than uproot you two again and have you live on Derris Kharlan. Iselia was a heavily Cruxis patrolled town with the Chosen living there, so we knew you'd be safe."

Raine frowned, "Why didn't you ever come to us?"

"We had more than just Papal Knights after us once we got involved with Cruxis." Kloitz sighed, "We didn't want to drag you two into it—you were only children. After Pronyma found the Renegades' hideout, Martel put us both undercover there."

"And... and Kratos and Anna moving into town. Was that because of you as well?"

Kloitz shook his head, "Like I said, Iselia is a very heavily Cruxis-patrolled town. Kratos moved his wife and son there after the events with Kvar for the same reasons we left you there—it was safe. Anna doesn't even know the connection, just that there is one."

"I... I spent my teen years thinking I had done something wrong, thinking you had abandoned us because we were half elves—"

Kloitz put his hands on Raine's shoulders, "Raine, we would never abandon you because you're half elves," he told her, "If we were really going to abandon you, we'd need a much better reason than that." He sent her a reassuring grin.

Raine managed a smile in response.

"You're as involved with Cruxis as we are now, Raine—the exact thing we wanted to avoid. I know Gin will tell you the same thing—human, elf, or half elf, you'll always be our daughter, and Genis will always be our son."

Raine smiled again, "I... thank you."

Kloitz pulled her into a hug. Startled, Raine relaxed into his arms and hugged him back.

After a moment, Kloitz pulled back and Raine spoke, "What about Genis?"

Kloitz frowned, "I'm... I'm being selfish here, but I'd like him to know. You did an amazing job raising him to be such a strong young boy, and there might not be room for a father in his life, but..."

"I'll go get him." Raine smiled.

Kloitz hesitated, "Are you sure?"

"Did you see him when you were helping him bandage his wounds?" Raine asked in response, "I'll be right back."

She walked back into the caves, the sudden chill helping her gather her thoughts. Walking into the warmer cave, she spoke, "Hey, Genis?"

He turned, "Yeah?"

"Can you come with me for a minute?"

Genis blinked, "Sure." He handed his cards to Regal and hopped up, grabbing his coat and pulling it on, before following his sister out of the cave. "Everything alright, sis?"

Raine smiled, "Yeah. There's just someone you need to meet."

Genis frowned, "All the way out here?"

"Well, you've already met him." Raine chuckled, "But you need to meet him properly, I suppose."

Genis stared at her, "Sis, are you feeling okay?"

She laughed, "I'm fine, Genis... how much do you remember about mom and dad?"

Genis frowned, "I... well, I don't." he answered, "You know I don't."

Raine nodded as they stepped outside the cave, "Well... I know this will probably be a little difficult to believe, but I'd like you to meet Kloitz Safe. He's our father, Genis."

Genis looked at his sister, then at Kloitz, then back to Raine, before speaking, "What?"

"Kloitz is our dad," Raine repeated, "Virginia's our mother."

"But... then..." Genis frowned, "How?"

With help from Kloitz, Raine told Genis the story, from them being forced to run from the Pope, to Anna and Lloyd moving to Iselia. The pieces began to fall into place in Genis's mind as they explained it to him. When they were finished, he was silent.

"Genis?" Kloitz asked, hesitant.

"This is so cool!" Genis grinned.

Raine smiled, relieved. Kloitz visibly relaxed.

"I have to tell Lloyd!" Genis grinned.

"Why?" Raine asked, surprised.

"Lloyd's not the only one whose father's an angel anymore." Genis grinned.

Raine laughed, giving her baby brother a hug. Kloitz put his arms around both of them.

"Virginia will be very happy." He spoke, "She hasn't really been the same since that day. Having you two back... she'll be very happy."

XXXX

When the three Sages walked back into the warm cave a few minutes later, Martel had her communicator open in front of her, Yuan's voice filtering out to the whole group. Raine quickly sat down, in silence, and Genis ran over to Lloyd.

"Dirk's working as fast as possible and says he should be done by tomorrow at noon. When he's done, Anna's going to fly the mount back to Alicia and Virginia. I got a call from Virginia earlier, though, and she can't sneak them back through the Renegades base to get back to Tethe'alla again. She was caught as being a spy and had to flee with Alicia to Triet."

"So, you don't know how they're getting back, then." Martel guessed.

"Right."

"Well, after Celsius, we have to go to Sylvarant anyway, right?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, but Alicia still needs to get back to Tethe'alla. Anna and Virginia can stay here and wait, but Alicia can't."

"Right..." Lloyd frowned.

"I'll call Kratos. Maybe he can sneak her through Derris Kharlan or distract Mithos long enough for Virginia or you to." Martel said.

"Right. Keep me posted." Yuan said.

"Will do," Martel promised, "Thanks, Yuan." The connection cut and Martel tucked her communicator away.

Silence fell in the room. Finally, Martel spoke up, "We should probably all rest. We have to fight Celsius in the morning."

XXXX

"It is way too cold to go swimming." Zelos said, staring at the water that split the way between them and Celsius.

"Celsius probably won't be pleased with us, but we can fly over." Martel said, "There's a special flower you're supposed to find and use to freeze the lake and then make your way over that way, but we can cheat a little."

"Okay, we'll take you over one at a time." Kloitz said, pulling out his wings and picking up Genis. Martel offered a hand to Sheena, who smiled and took it.

Once they had all made it over, they walked into the seal room, Celsius rising out of her altar as they approached.

"Hello." She greeted, "Martel, I ought to toss you into the lake."

Martel grinned at her, "Sorry, Celsius."

Celsius rolled her eyes, "Mhmm. Sure."

Sheena smiled, approaching the altar, "I am Sheena. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me."

"My pact is broken." Celsius nodded, "And now we must fight. Bring as many as you like to the fight, but know that for every two fighters on your side, there will be one on mine."

Sheena glanced at her companions.

"She summons wolves," Martel offered.

"Stop ruining my surprises!" Celsius snapped at her.

Martel grinned again.

"Who wants to fight? I'd like to request Genis and Raine, in the very least." Sheena said.

The Sage siblings nodded, and Raine spoke up, "Of course."

"I'm in." Martel smiled, "I couldn't help with Gnome, so this is the least I could do."

"We didn't really need help with Gnome." Lloyd chuckled, readjusting his grip on his swords and grinning at Sheena. Sheena glanced at Zelos, Kloitz, and Regal.

"Have you ever known me to back down from a fight?" Zelos chuckled.

"I'd like to participate." Regal nodded.

Kloitz just pulled his wings out.

"Alright, I guess it's all eight of us." Sheena said to Celsius, who nodded.

"Prepare yourselves." She spoke. Three bursts of smoke revealed three large wolves, and the battle started.

"I thought you were a researcher, not a fighter." Raine glanced at her father, as she fell back to cast support spells.

"I said I was a researcher. Wings come with a few perks." Kloitz grinned, feathers flying off of his wings and soaring towards Celsius. "You cast, I'll keep your spells from being interrupted."

Raine nodded, "Right."

With Raine healing, Martel switched from her usual healing spells to offensive ones. She wasn't much of a lightning mage, like Yuan, and she definitely couldn't cast in all the elements like her brother or Genis, but she knew enough to hold her own, and she'd had plenty of time to practice.

"Explosion!" she cast, grinning as one of the wolves burst into shards of ice as the spell hit. "Genis!"

Genis turned, "Yeah?"

"You and I can take the wolves, right?" Martel grinned.

Genis grinned back, "Yeah!"

"Hear that, Lloyd?" Martel called over.

"Loud and clear." Lloyd smirked, setting his sights on the ice spirit, who might have paled a bit. (Her skin was blue, how was Martel supposed to know what pale was for her?)

Lloyd, Zelos, Sheena, and Regal all attacked her at once. Between their attacks, Martel and Genis's barrage on the wolves, and Raine and Kloitz's support, Celsius fell quickly.

As she stood up, Celsius managed a smile. "A worthy opponent. State your vow, summoner."

"I vow to protect those who depend on me." Sheena spoke.

"Vow accepted. Use my power well." Celsius faded from sight, a ring landing in Sheena's hand.

"Awesome, Tethe'alla's pacts are done!" Genis grinned.

"Great job, Sheena." Lloyd cheered.

Sheena smiled, "Thanks, guys."

"Yes, yes, happy cheers." Zelos said, "Can you please asked her to make it warmer in here?"

Sheena laughed, concentrating on the new ring. Celsius didn't even appear; the air around the group lost its chill, becoming comfortable.

"Thanks." Zelos grinned.

"So, how are we getting to Sylvarant?" Lloyd asked.

"Let's head back to the warm cave and think. I'll call Yuan and see if there's news." Martel suggested, "To be honest, our best bet is probably the Otherworldly Gate."

XXXX

"Are you sure you can leave?" Anna asked Yuan, as they two of them dashed through the air, flying towards Triet.

"Yeah." Yuan nodded, "It's the weekend, so the kids don't have class again until Monday."

"Right. Sorry, I have no idea what day it is." Anna grumbled, looking at the mount she was holding. She sighed, "I hope this works."

Yuan sent her a reassuring smile, "I'm sure it will."

XXXX

Virginia turned quickly as the door flew open, "Did you get it?"

Anna nodded, "How is she?"

"Fading fast." Virginia answered.

Anna hurried over to Alicia's bedside. "When I place the mount, you need to cast your strongest healing spell. After that, her body should do the rest."

Virginia nodded, "Ready?"

Anna nodded back, "3... 2... 1..."

"Revitalize!"


Who wants to take bets on how long this has been finished and untyped? Anyone?

Sorry, it's been one of those years. Good news is, I have quite a bit more time on my hands at the moment, and three chapters finished and untyped. So, here's the deal. My goal at the moment is to try and update this once a week, let's say... Sundays, since today is Sunday. Now, this might not be able to continue once I have a job, but I do have a three week headstart, so maybe I can build up a buffer. Either way, I'm going to do my best.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me, and I'm sorry this took so long. We're in the home stretch now, only a few plot points left. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!