Scarlett: Whew. Finally I'm back. Did you miss me, Kinira~?

Me: Actually, no. I got Yuan convinced to help me out with these skits. ^^

Scarlett: How did you do that?

Me: Well~. With the power of an author, of course~.

Scarlett: Okay?

Me: Anyway, do the thing, Scarlett!

Scarlett: What thing?

Me: The THING! Jeez... It only works in Avatar.

Scarlett: Ah! That thing! Kinira doesn't own anything, except for her OCs!

Me: Thank you.

Act II Tethe'alla; Chapter 1 – The truth about the worlds

A young man dressed in a grey jacked dashed through the forest. Only his right arm was covered in cloth, the other one was bare revealing his skin and muscles to anyone who dared to look at him. On his waist he carried scabbards for his twin swords. The right scabbard was decorated with three black feathers. Both his hands were covered in black fingerless gloves rolled up around his wrists. On the back of his right hand he wore a blue Exsphere. It originally belonged to his mother who was forcefully murdered by his father. The young man wore black boots which reached to the middle of his lower legs and grey pants.

A wolf like monster fled from him sensing that it was going to end by the young man's swords. And truth to be told, once it saw a corner its stomach was pierced by a sword. It let out a loud howl before it collapsed.

The young man looked down at the defeated monster panting slightly. That hunt was exhausting. But the client wanted to hunt down every single wolf monster in this area. They had caused a lot of problems. The young man put away his swords and stared down at the dead monster.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see a silver haired woman in somewhat weird clothing. Around her neck she wore a chain with a black feather as a pendant. The woman kneeled down to the monster and thrusted her sword straight into its neck. Then she was done she rose from her position and smiled.

"That should be it. Every wolf like monster in this area is now dead." the woman stated. "Good work, Lloyd."

"Heh. Thanks, Scarlett!" the young man shouted and grinned.

"But you-"

"I still have much to learn. I know…" Lloyd said rolling his eyes.

"Exactly. But don't worry. You have made great process ever since we accidently landed here in Tethe'alla."

Scarlett smiled and tilted her head slightly to the side. Ever since they had stranded in Tethe'alla and met Yeathan, the leader of the Dark Wings, they had received one job after another. So she couldn't actually explain him the details of the world's working.

"So, err… Scarlett? Why did we join this group again?" the teenager asked him.

Right… They had joined a guild in order to prevent Scarlett from being imprisoned and executed due to the system present in this world which actively discriminated half-elves. Most of them were either forced to do research until late in the hour or they were servants working for aristocratic people. Neither option was a good one that's why there was a third one.

"First, we joined a guild. Second it was because of the discrimination law against half-elves. The guild members wear black feathers in order to be recognized. That's why we wear them as well." Scarlett explained.

"But the other guild members also discriminate you. So, what's the difference then? You are discriminated by everyone except me."

"We work under the sun." she replied and stared towards the cloudy sky before she continued in a happier tone. "That's a whole lot of freedom for a half-elf here. While we need to pay a certain amount of Gald to the guild leader it is always better than working in a lab~."

"I see… And the guild's name was again?"

"Haven't you paid any attention, Lloyd? The guild's name is Dark Wings. They are one of the most famous guilds here in Tethe'alla~. Even though they have only existed for two years. And I doubt they are one of the most famous guilds here."

"But why do I had to change my clothes again?"

"Remember what Yeathan said?"

"Yes…"

"Your clothes from your step father draw attention. You can't work in such clothing." she replied and started walking again.

"But I asked him to made them! Red draws attention. If I am going to meet my real father one day then he might recognize me because of my red clothes!" he explained.

"Is that the reason why you wore red the entire time?" she asked him with a blank expression on her face.

"Yeah." he answered with a confident grin on his face.

Scarlett palmed her face and actually groaned because of his logic. Then again, she didn't question him anymore. During their already four-month long travels through Tethe'alla she noticed certain things about him which otherwise she wouldn't have. While Lloyd was a really good fighter and somehow managed to not sustain any bad wound he acted before he thought causing both of them a lot of problems. One time straight out ran into an elite monster trying to take it down alone. If it hadn't been her intervention he would have been dead.

Then again, Lloyd always kept their spirits high despite the fact he had learned the truth about Exspheres as well as his mother. Overall, he was actually a pleasant travel companion and she became good friends with him… Then you consider that both of them were forced to work together in order to survive.

"Scarlett, there is one more thing I want to ask you." the teenager interrupted her thoughts.

"Sure, what is it?" she replied turning around towards him.

"You once said that Tethe'alla is a parallel world to Sylvarant. How exactly are they connected?"

"I will explain this to you then we rest, okay? This is hardly a place to stay~."

"I want to hear it NOW! I asked you again and again and every time you said that this place is hardly a place to stay! I want to know now!"

"Fine. Let's rest here then." Scarlett said in a cold voice.

Lloyd sat on the ground leaning his back on a tree trunk. He looked at her curiously. Finally, he would hear the entire truth about Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. He smiled at her friendly and waited with baited breath.

Meanwhile Scarlett summoned her sword and began drawing with the tip of it two circles in the ground. One she marked with an S, the other one with a T.

"Alright… Where should I start?" she pondered. "As you already know Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are connected. They are connected what I like to call the Spirit Links." she started to explain and drew exactly four lines between these two circles with her weapon. "Through the Spirit Links Mana is leaping out from the Great Seed into the flourishing world… now Sylvarant because Colette succeeded in completing her Journey of World Regeneration."

Scarlett then drew a flower between the two worlds and continued explaining:

"The Great Seed lies in gap between time and space. Every time a seal in one world is broken the seed is drawn to this world. Once every seal is released the world gains a lot of Mana causing it to flourish. That's why Sylvarant is currently the flourishing world."

"Hm… I see… So, Colette's job was to change the Mana flow, right?"

"Not necessarily. You see, Lloyd… The true meaning of the Journey of World Regeneration is to create a body for a dead half-elf named Martel."

"What?!"

"Each time Colette released a seal she would lose part of her humanity. Taste, Sleep, Feeling, Voice and finally Heart and Memory. At the end of the journey the Chosen Ones become a lifeless doll."

"Colette sacrificed herself in order to bring back a dead woman?! Is this what are you talking about?!"

"Yes. However, it seems the ritual of transferring Martel's soul into Colette's body failed. Otherwise the Tower of Salvation would have been destroyed and we would see Derris Kharlan in the sky."

"Hold on a sec! You said Martel! Do you mean the Goddess Martel?!" he shouted at her and got up from his position.

"There is no Goddess! There was never one. Martel Yggdrasill was a half-elven woman who lived 4,000 years ago. She stopped the Kharlan War alongside her companions… one of them was Mithos, known as Mithos The Hero. He also was Martel's younger brother."

"What?!"

"Upon the death of his sister, Mithos founded the religion of the Church of Martel, the Desians and Cruxis in order to create a new body for his dead sister." Scarlett said. "Before you ask… Mithos is still alive thanks to a Cruxis Crystal. Those highly developed Exspheres can alter the growth of someone's body and even stop aging." she took a deep breath before continuing. "Mithos controls the marriages through the Church of Martel. Then a Chosen One goes on a journey the Desians put her under pressure just enough so that her Cruxis Crystal connects with her."

"Hold on, hold on, hold on! Mithos, The Hero, is still alive and is responsible for the state of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla?!"

"Yes. Mithos obtained once a legendary sword named the Eternal Sword. With this sword he split the world into two and-"

"How is that even possible?!" Lloyd asked her. "Splitting an entire world! That is impossible!"

"With the power of the Summon Spirit Origin, it is not. Mithos split the world originally in order to sustain life because the Giant Kharlan Tree withered away and died due to massive use of Magitechnology. It left only a Mana Seed behind. Mithos and Martel knew that they could grow the Seed if they use a lot of Mana. This Mana would come from the comet Derris Kharlan which passed the planet every 100 years. During the time span Martel was killed by a group of humans who wanted to have the Seed and the Mana for themselves. In order to sustain Martel's soul Mithos bound it to the Great Seed while searching for a new body for her."

"Alright… But why does he do that?"

"He loved Martel dearly. Probably more than it is healthy. I guess that Martel was some kind of a mother figure towards Mithos." she replied before sighing and rubbing her eyes with her hand.

"And Mithos sacrificed countless of young woman in order to revive his dead sister! How could he do that?! Especially towards Colette who-" he stopped abruptly only now realizing what truly had happened to his childhood friend. "Colette is dead! Colette is dead because of Mithos! She died in believing she helped countless of people! And in the end, she… she… she died because of Mithos! Because he wants to have his dead sister back!"

"Yes… But we can be very grateful that the ritual was unsuccessful. Otherwise the worlds would be dying right now." she stated.

"How can you say something like that?!" he shouted at her and grabbed her collar. "Colette was your friend too! How do you know such things anyway?!"

"Lloyd, calm down and let me go! I am going to explain this to you! However, I can't if you don't let me go!" she snapped at him.

"Tch."

He let her go causing her to slump to the ground. Scarlett coughed several times before she stood up again and looked him into the eyes.

"I belong to a group called the Renegades. They were founded to stop Mithos. In doing so we murdered several Chosen Ones over the course of 700 years. My original goal was to kill Colette. I was going to gain her trust and then kill her if Kratos didn't pay any attention. However… I found myself that I couldn't do that." she admitted and clenched her eyes shut while tears started to fall from her eyes. "I grew close to Colette… I began a friendship with her… I couldn't kill her. I simply couldn't! If I killed her then I wouldn't be better than Mithos! I knew it was for the worlds, I knew it was for the better if she died…"

"You were planning to kill her all along?! I trusted you, Scarlett!"

"Lloyd! Have you paid any-"

She stopped mid-sentence then the teenager charged at her, his swords drawn out. Without thinking Scarlett summoned her own sword and blocked the incoming weapon. She had difficulties in doing so. Not because she was weaker than him in terms of power but rather that…

"Lloyd, stop it! I don't want to fight you!" she shouted at him.

"You were the one who attacked us! You were the assassin we met in Ossa Trail!" he continued shouting swinging out his weapon with each second or third word. "How could you?! How could you try to kill Colette?! She was your friend! She was my best and only friend ever since Genis died! Now I have lost everything! I have lost my parents! I have lost my best friend! I have lost Colette! I will lose dad! I will lose Noishe! I will lose everyone!"

Scarlett grabbed his wrists preventing him from attacking her any further. She twisted both wrists painfully. Lloyd cried out and let go of his weapons. Then he found himself in a firm hug. His head rested on her shoulder while he began sobbing.

"It's okay… It's okay. You are not alone, Lloyd. I am here for you." She whispered in his ear. "I won't let anything happen to you, Lloyd. I promise."

The teenager continued sobbing until all tears were gone. Then he freed himself and murmured:

"I… I am sorry…"

"It's okay. I would have reacted the same way. Right now, let's focus on surviving until one of my fellow Renegades finds us, okay?" she suggested.

"Okay…" he muttered while a faint smile forming on his lips.