Disclaimer thingy: I do not own TOS. I'd like to, but I don't. Boo hoo.
Yes, I am aware that Sanguine and (insert name here) are in the bodies of two female people, but I will refer to them as "he" because they are masculine spirits.
Spoiler Alert: If you do not know what Lloyd's Exsphere does, go turn your lil' tushy around and go beat the game. Unless you want to be spoiled. Ye hath been warned, little cricket!
Responses to reviews: I decided to put them up here. So!

Lil-Samuu: It's nice to hear my stuff is cute from the queen of fluff. X3 and don't worry, Colette'll be alright. How? Read on...
Devil Angel M: Sook! Someone I look up to reviewed! (dance dance) as for the whole adding more description part, I'm not that good at describing things. I will try a bit in this chapter. Remember, you asked for it!
Green Magi: Don't worry, it's not a spoiler for me. I've beaten the game and have done so for a while. Thanks for your compliments and what. And yes, only time will tell...
Anonymous: I updated. Happy?
Amazon Bunny: Here I'm expecting something among the lines of "UPDATE, DOOD" and here I get someone asking for Kraine fluff. Not like I oppose it or anything, but was just so completely random...and unexpected...
Rainbow Pheonix: Your threat might work better if I had any babies, but it's a threat all the same. That means I'm doing something right. Yosh. (By the way, isn't it "Phoenix"?)

"Who are you?" Lloyd whimpered.
"Do you really need to know?" Colette's voice snorted. "I am the first half of the Summon Spirit of Emotions, Crimson. My name is Sanguine. Is that enough for you?"
Lloyd tried to get his hands free. "Never heard of you."
Sanguine noticed Lloyd wriggling his hands around and guessed what he was doing. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be," he said, flipping Lloyd upside down and prying his hands away from his feet. "I don't want to kill you. It's just what I was told to do."
"Then if you didn't want to do it, why didn't you refuse?" Lloyd asked, feeling the blood go to his head.
Sanguine glared at him. "Do you have any idea what happens to a Summon Spirit when it disobeys its master?"
Lloyd said nothing.
Sanguine brought Lloyd close to his face again. "Living...hell. In all of its waking splendor."
Lloyd struggled. "Let me go! And where's Colette?"
"Colette is in front of you. Now pipe down!"
"You're not Colette!" Lloyd shouted. "where is she?"
"What's the fuss about?" Raine yawned sleepily, poking her head out of her tent. "Colette? What are you doing with Lloyd?"
"It's not Colette!"
Sanguine sighed and shook his head. "You're going to make this difficult, aren't you?"
Raine yelped and tumbled out of her tent, floating a little off the ground. Sanguine concentrated briefly and flung her next to Lloyd. Raine squirmed, now bound in the same way as he was.
"What the heck is going on?" Zelos yelled, running out along with some of the others.
Sanguine turned, politely suggesting that they do some highly improbable, athletically difficult in most cases, biologically impractical, and extremely graphic things with their mothers.
Everyone froze. That was enough for Sanguine. He immediately tied their hands to their feet with his funky little mind spell, and tossed them all in a heap.
"I...didn't 's education involved that," Zelos commented.
"That's not Colette!"
"Who are you?" Genis asked dumbly after a thoughtful silence.
Sanguine cocked his head, and then sighed. "Fine! Since you're all so damn curious, I'll give you ten minutes to ask all the questions you want. Ten, that's it. Then, I'll dispose of you all. 'Sides, people taste better when they know more about what's going on. Ask, and let my answers enlighten."
"Taste better?" Zelos gulped.
"Well, duhh," Sanguine explained, exasperated. "I'm your so-called 'monster'," he waved his hands for emphasis. "why the heck would I get'cha all if I wasn't going to eat you?"
"You forgot Regal and I," Lloyd noted.
Sanguine turned. "Really? I have?" he picked up Lloyd by the shirt collar, examining him. After looking at him for a few minutes, he bit Lloyd on the neck.
Lloyd gasped, but kept his mouth shut.
"Whoa! It's like that one dream you had, Lloyd!" Zelos remarked.
Sanguine dropped Lloyd. "Ick. I won't even bother with the other one. You taste awful. So, now that that's over with, ask away."
"Uhm," Genis began. "who...or what...are you?"
Sanguine sighed. "I am part of the Summon Spirit, Crimson. The name's Sanguine, nice to meecha." he knelt and shook Genis' hand.
"Part? Are you like Luna and Aska?"
Sanguine chewed on a piece of hair. "Not really...both of us can combine if we want to. Luna and Aska are two separate entities."
"Who is the other part?" Raine inquired.
"Susa," Sanguine answered. "funny, I haven't felt his presence for a while now. Wonder if he's gone?"
Lloyd sat up, trying to rub his neck. "Why did you eat those funny things? Like the stick and the bell?"
Sanguine licked his lips. "They had a bit of mana in them. The bell belonged to Corrine; the little mage-brat burned the stick. Summon Spirits have to consume mana from somewhere, and I couldn't attack someone then."
"I'm not a brat!" Genis seethed.
"Short, mouthy nuisance," Sanguine corrected himself, patting him on the head and smiling innocently. Genis glared at him but said nothing else.
"Why did you pick Colette?" Presea asked. "out of all of us, why did you pick her?"
Sanguine was silent for a while.
"Because...I felt like it. And because I was told to," he walked over to each of them, stating why he wouldn't choose that person. "Zelos, he's just a perverted bastard, I already mentioned I don't like the mage-brat..."
"He has a name! It's Genis!" Presea snarled.
Sanguine went on, ignoring her, counting off the reasons off his fingers as he twirled a chakram in the air. "Couldn't pick Raine, I thought Susa took her already. Apparently not. Presea's a bit too bland for my tastes...Regal's just plain weird...and I can't pick Lloyd 'cuz I have to kill him. There."
There was a moment of quiet.
"Why would you attack your own host?" Raine questioned.
Sanguine turned sharply. "Huh?"
"If you're the monster, and Colette is your avatar, why did you attack her?"
Sanguine looked to the sky for an answer. "Uhh...I think it's because...oh yeah, I needed to take her senses away from her. That way I could see and hear what's going on. The fastest and easiest way was to consume the blood and all that jazz. That and she was tasty! As was the mage-brat, the puppy and..."
"Stop!" Lloyd cried. "We don't need or want to know that!"
Sanguine licked his lips again but said nothing else, mercifully.
There was another moment of quiet.
"Last question," Sanguine grinned. "then I get to have fun deciding what to do with you."
There was a nervous shift and a big drop of water landed on Raine's head.
"Rain," she said off-handedly.
Zelos shivered and shook the rain off his head, irritated. "Where's Sheena?"

Sheena, Sheena, wake up!
Sheena opened her eyes to see a small dog in front of her, licking her face. It had a few black spots here and there, the most prominent being a crescent-moon shape with a red blot near it on its forehead.
It's you, that Corrine thing...leave me alone!
No, no, it's reaaaaally important! Uber important! Ants in your pants and all that important!
Not as important as my sleep. Leave me alone!
Your friends are in danger! Please, get up!
Riiight...and pigs are flying in parade formation around the moon right now. Good night!
Awww! Come on! Um...do you, Sheena Fujibayashi, give me permission to take your body for a minute?
Alright, fine! Just go away!
I'm really terribly sorry, but you won't be getting too much sleep tonight. Forgive me!

Sanguine backed up. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Zelos snorted. "where's Sheena?"
Sanguine blinked. "I don't know. Now, how should I kill you all? Chopping up? Dicing? Or should I let you all bleed to death?"
A card flew by his nose, cutting a few hairs off.
Sanguine growled, spinning around. "Susa!"
"Sheena?" Zelos said hopefully.
"I'm not Sheena," Susa replied. "sorry about that."
Sanguine got into a fighting position. "So, Susa. You're going to stop me, I presume."
Susa assumed a defensive pose. "Well, since no one else is going to do it..."
Sanguine flung himself at Susa, roaring. However, hearing that out of Colette made it sound like some sort of battle-squeak. Susa blocked the blows Sanguine threw at him, backing up a few steps every once in a while.
"Whoa...catfight!" Zelos grinned.
"Your battle of shields won't last forever, Susa!" Sanguine challenged.
Susa said nothing, instead grabbing Sanguine's wing and flinging him a few yards. Instantly Sanguine was on his feet again, back in the fight.
"Now, Genis," Raine hissed. "both the halves are here, cast the containment spell!"
Genis sat up. "I don't have my kendama with me; I can't do it without it!"
Raine cuffed him the best she could in her current position. "That toy only makes it so that your spell is 'quieter'. You can still cast without it!"
Genis watched Sanguine and Susa fighting. "I haven't memorized the entire thing..."
"We both read it," Raine assured him. "we'll do it together, it'll be faster that way."
Genis sighed and went into a casting trance. The spell circle drew itself, glowing brightly.
Sanguine turned, sensing the change of the flow of mana. "You...I know what you're up to!" he flung two Pow Hammer at them both, hitting them both on the forehead. It was enough to snap Genis from his trance and make the spell circle disappear. Without skipping a beat, Sanguine returned to his battle with Susa.
Raine got up, shaking her head to clear it. "Genis, up you go. We have to try again."
Genis moaned and stayed put. "Don't wanna. Head hurts too bad."
"Gotcha!" Sanguine smirked, pinning Susa to the ground. "Any last words before I chop your worthless head off?"
Susa panted and gulped. "That I can't believe you beat me...with that stupid avatar of yours..."
Sanguine placed a chakram dangerously close to Susa's neck. "Say that again?"
"You said so yourself that she's useless," Susa wheezed, inching away from the sharp point. "and you hide behind her to defeat me? That's weak."
Sanguine snorted. "I can kick your sorry ass any old day, any old form! Call it!"
Susa tried to wriggle into a more comfortable position. "How about your Crimson form? You haven't used that one in a while."
Sanguine wiped his eyes, getting water off his face. "Fine. You asked for it."
A huge red wolf stepped out of Colette's body, howling. On its head was a golden mask of some sort, covering most of its head but leaving enough space for a pair of tuftlike ears to fold out. Its paws and legs were black, and it had a fearsome set of claws with a pretty white manicure.
There, Susa. Now, where were we? Ah yes, I was going to crush you. Sanguine licked his chops and raised a paw to swipe at him.
Susa grinned. "You idiot..." he turned over and laughed.
What? What's so damn funny about my paw? It's black, and it has claws...stop laughing, you fool! Is it my nails? I like to have pretty nails before I kill someone...
Susa rolled over, trying to stop his laughing fit. "Behind you..." he managed, pointing.
Sanguine spun around. What? No...I had you all in a binding spell! And you can only undo a binding spell if you kill the caster!
Susa got up and dusted himself lightly. "Well, you became a spirit, technically you are dead."
Lloyd drew his swords and the rest took out their weapons.
Sanguine backed up, surrounded. Grrr...change of tactics! He grabbed Colette in his mouth and leaped over their heads.
"Come back here!" Lloyd yelled, running after him.
Sanguine halted in front of a cliff overlooking the sea. End of the line! Stop or I'll drop her!
Everyone froze.
Genis went into his casting trance again, clutching his kendama and willing the spell to be "quiet". Sanguine, fortunately, didn't notice.
Susa, however, felt the mana fluctuate around Genis' general area and stepped out of Sheena. Susa took the form of a wolf exactly the same as Sanguine was currently, but grey instead of the color of blood.
Sheena stumbled over in a daze. "Whahappen...?"
Long story. Susa helped her get up.
"Otherworldly spirit, god, or celestial being," Genis began.
"Ungrateful one who has forsaken his seal, his promise and the Holy One," Raine continued.
A seal appeared around Sanguine and Susa. Sanguine swore and looked wildly about him, trying to find a way out.
"Return to the earth from whence you came!" both spellcasters said at the same time.
Sanguine yowled and flung Colette off the cliff before vanishing into the ground along with Susa.
"Colette!" Lloyd screamed, jumping after her and barely grabbing her hand.
"You fool, Lloyd!" Sheena cried, leaping and catching his feet. The rest followed suit in a similar fashion, forming a human chain that, if the situation wasn't so serious, would have been quite comic.
"My poor hands," Zelos groaned, being the one at the top.
"Hang on," Lloyd gasped, trying to get a better grip on Colette's hand.
"Hurry up!" Zelos whined.
"I'm hurry-upping!"
Colette stirred, twitching. "What's going on...?" she looked down in a daze and shrieked, slipping from Lloyd's grasp.
"Colette, no!"
Her hand parted company with his, and she fell.
Lloyd stood in shocked silence for a second, then turned the best he could to face Sheena. "Drop me."
Sheena choked. "What?"
"Drop me!"
Sheena blinked, took a deep breath, and let go of him.
"What's going on? I can't see!" Zelos complained.
"Sheena, why? You've just condemned them both to a horrible and painful death!" the person holding her scolded, who was Genis.
"'Condemn them to a painful death' my foot!" she snapped. "They'll live! I can feel it in my gut!"
"You'd better bet your gut is right," the half-elf retorted. "or else you owe me a pair of new friends!"

Lloyd dived, feeling the rush of air against his body. I'm surprisingly calm...is this that calm before someone dies?
He caught up to Colette and held her. "Colette, Colette, it's me," he whispered.
She was motionless. Faintly, he could hear her heartbeat, so for sure she was alive.
Lloyd wished fervently that a miracle would come waltzing around and save them. He cursed softly.
He noticed his Exshpere shine with a radiance he'd never seen before. It never acted up like this before...now it's glowing like a lovesick firefly.
It flashed, leaving Lloyd seeing false lights for a second. When he could see again, he was faintly aware of a pair of wings, like the ones Colette used to have, flowering out of his back.
These things are huge! I hope they can fly... He flapped them furiously. Work, please! Fly, you clumsy, overgrown wings!
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. They still fell.
Oh beautiful sea...aren't you are looking lovely today! Please don't hurt us...too much...
They hit the water with a sickening clap.
Lloyd surfaced, coughing up water and some random fishes. "Colette? Where are you?"
The girl seemed to have trouble floating, what with the extra weight of her wet wings and all that.
Lloyd swam over to her and helped her stay on top of the water. "Are you alright?"
Are those tears? Or is it just the rain...?
Colette gasped. "You..."
"What?"
Colette shivered, sneezing. "You...you could have died! You hate me, don't you?" she choked, trying to speak but couldn't.
Lloyd asked her to continue with his eyes. Maybe he felt particularly lazy at that moment..."
You...said I was useless, that you hated every inch of me...you hate my guts, you left me to die in that pit of nothingness!"
Lloyd wrapped his wings around her. "If I hated you, why would I risk my life for you?"
Colette looked down and sniffled. "I...owe you something?"
"No, you silly goose," Lloyd embraced her. "I don't hate you. I love you, Colette. And I always will."
The girl was awfully silent, and Lloyd wondered if that was the right thing to do and wished he said nothing.
"How could I have been so...daft?" she sobbed, embracing him back. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be."
Colette wrapped her own wings around him. I'm not alone...
You are never alone... Lloyd wiped her tears away with a finger.
By some twisted decision of fate, or maybe the ocean simply got fed up with them, a giant wave crashed upon the two, separating them. Lloyd looked frantically for Colette. A stream of bubbles from underneath him tipped him off.
Lloyd, save yourself!
No! I'm not leaving without you!
They held each other for what they thought was the last time. Lloyd's wings dimmed until they vanished completely, plunging them into darkness.
Then, there was a diving noise, and a second pair of wings gave them light.

Noishe looked up.
(Whine?)
Something was walking toward him.
(Bark? Barkbarkbark)
The Something waved a hand to silence him.
Noishe waggled his tail and barked merrily. He recognized this person, and the sight of his face after nearly forever in Noishe time made him happy.
"Noishe, keep it down..."
Noishe obeyed and shut his mouth. His tail still swished.
"Get them to the others for me." He draped the unconscious forms of Lloyd and Colette on Noishe.
Noishe nodded and licked the Something's face. The Something pushed Noishe's face away from him, muttering about dog slobber.
(Whine...?)
"I can't come with you. Go now."
Noishe whined and trotted away.
He cast one last look at his son, sighed, and flew away.

Genis lifted the tent flap a little. They still lay, like the day before. And the day before that, and the day before that one...
He had half a mind to go up to them and smack them to see if that would work, when he saw Colette twitch.
Genis gasped softly. Did he just imagine it? No, she was waking. He did a quiet mental dance.
Lloyd made some sleepy noises and rolled over.
"I'm so hungry I could eat enough to sink a dragon," Colette groaned.
"I don't care. I could eat the darn dragon," Lloyd yawned.
Genis smiled and left.
"What's with that grin on your face?" Zelos asked.
"They're awake," Genis stirred a pot of stew. "and they're complaining about food."
There was a collective gasp.
"Happy ending!" Sheena cried, hugging the nearest person, who happened to be Zelos. "I'm so glad!"
Hot damn! Am I dreaming? Zelos couldn't find anything to say and let Sheena hug him.
Presea did a hopskip and tackleglomped Genis, who yelped but didn't protest.
Raine observed the scene before her and cast a glace at Regal.
"Don't even think about it."
"Just in case you wanted it..."
Colette snuggled closer to Lloyd. Yes, this was going to be a happy ending.
The author's parting words (not really)

Yah, feel free to yell at me and tell me how terrible that chapter was. Or how great it was. Either way works for me.

There will be one last chapter of Crimson, then an epilogue (of sorts). If I get off my lazy bum long enough, I might write a new one-shot that's been resting at the back of my head for a while. While you wait for that, review and enjoy what I've written.You can also check out my picture of Crimson I drew, by going to my bio on clicking on the homepage thingy. Yey.
Ciao! (for now...dun dun dunn!)