(School's back… dammit! Oh well, I'll probably be able to update like once or twice every weekend. Sighs)

The Myth of Crystaelius:

Chapter Seven: Failure

Guile smiled slightly as he watched the generator work. "Soon… I'll be able to weed out those obsolete, and cultivate a new world; with me as its ruler!" he thought as the entrance door shook and opened.

"Master Guile!" Zane exclaimed. "What… What is happening! William has gone insane!"

Guile turned to face both Zane and Jet. "It, is the beginning. We have been defeated by the Drifters Zane, but we have accomplished our goal; Crystaelius will be born! The myth will become reality!"

"However, you're not going to allow them to die are you? Darius and William swore their life to your cause."

Guile chuckled. "In any type of war, or battle, luck must be on your side as to not have any fellows in your group to pass away. Unfortunately, though, life is not so kind. Casualties were to be expected from an event such as this, but their lives will not be thrown away. They will be remembered for their courage, and the dream they fought for will be realized!"

"You would even say that for Ileana? She has supported you before we even joined the Order."

Guile sighed. "I have no fear for Ileana's life. I have taught her fashionably of the art of battle, and I believe she can walk away from any fight with her life. Besides that, I have not seen her around here; would you, Jet, possibly know where she is?"

Jet shook his head. "Can't, but I'm sure she's fine."

Guile smiled. "How intelligent of you to respond that way," he replied as the wall behind the door exploded, revealing the figure of Janus as the smoke cleared.

"J-Janus!" Zane exclaimed as he walked into the room, scanning it quickly. "So, the party's here; perfect. I've come to re- instate my position here, but all that really means is that I'm ending it."

Guile laughed. "Ah, so that's what you're plotting, isn't it, Mr. Cascade. I'll have you know, that by stating it, you've made yourself a middle man; you have no side, and thus you are an unneeded nuisance."

Janus smiled casually while brandishing his sword. "Well, I've had experienced of being killed; I know not to underestimate my opponents."

Guile closed his eyes. "Fine then, come show me if that experience paid off."

Janus gritted his teeth and leaped on the altar, preparing to slash the older man. The man easily caught the sword and upper- cutted Janus in the abdomen before stealing the sword and slashing him down.

"Now, Janus, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you? It shows your ignorance. I am still capable of holding my own against a fool like you."

The blue- haired warrior shouted in fury before jumping at Guile, and having the blade impale him fully.

Guile pushed the blade upward, causing Janus to slide beside him. "What you did just now showed you did underestimate me, and I'm sorry, but you must experience the loss of youth and life before you die, even if you immortal."

The Onakasa gem hanging around Guile's neck began to glow in a powerful intensity. Specks of light flew from Janus's body into the gem. They began to increase in number and speed as the gem illuminated in an invisible fury.

Janus screamed in agony as the occurrence stopped, however, the gem continued to glow as an aura of light surrounded Guile as the specks flew from the gem and began to swirl around him.

The wrinkles on the older man's face began to decrease as Janus's features aged. Guile laughed in glee as he became younger, and Janus became older.

The aura of light expanded, and exploded throughout the building.

"Ileana… stop this!" Aaron yelled as she grasped her sword. "Is pleading all you can do? Can't you see that your lies won't affect me?"

Aaron winced as he clutched his wound. "I…" However, he stopped before completing the statement. How could he think she would believe him? For sixteen years she learned from their grandfather and grew to love him. She had only barely known him for four years, and that was when she was much younger.

"I have nothing more to say; if you're going to kill me, get it over with. I'm tired of living a life with no goal, a life of nothing."

Ileana walked over to him. "I might never have known you, but why try in persuading me?" she asked as he dared not look into her eyes. If he did that, it would remind him too strongly of when they were a family, and I tried his best to care for her when their grandfather. He sighed and merely answered, "I would like to think our father would disapprove of you taking my life with his sword. Please, if you're going to do it, perform the execution with a weapon of much less value and serenity."

She watched as he stood up and removed his sheath from his side, smiling as he stood up. "If you don't mind, please use whatever remains of this sword to end my life, and if it's not too much of a problem, could you tell Jet and the others goodbye for me? I'd like them to know I was grateful for their assistance and the warm memories I may have obtained from my time with them," he stated as he handed the sheath to her.

He then closed his eyes and took a few steps back as she could only sort out what he said. "Does he really deserve to die? I… I need to know, because I would not like to say goodbye for a person who has done nothing wrong. When I looked into his eyes that brief moment at the ruin, I knew he meant no harm," she thought as he opened his eyes, awaiting the end.

However, before she could say anything, the area shook as light exploded within the room for a moment.

"Grandfather!" she muttered before running up to the exit, fearing for his safety. She gave one last glance at Aaron before dropping the sheath on the floor and proceeding up the stairs.

He sighed and walked up to the door, giving a slight wince as he grasped the sheath.

Jet and Zane shielded their eyes as the light slowly dissipated. "Yes, the power of the planet; the power I have so longed for all these years!" Guile exclaimed as he kicked what was left of Janus's body to the floor.

He dropped the sword and studied his hands. "Amazing… Such power, it is truly great!" he yelled as he touched his face and felt his arms.

"M-Master Guile!" Zane exclaimed in surprise as he and Jet removed their arms and reviewed the situation. Guile had changed from that of an elderly man to a much younger person. His hair was a light brown, somewhat spiky. His eyes were a dark green, and his current age must have been around thirty one.

What seemed to be the figure of a much older man lay at his feet. "It must be Janus," Jet thought as Guile began to laugh. "Finally, after all this time, I can complete my ideal. I have restored my youth, and I have achieved the greatest power to ever exist in reality!"

"What are you talking about?" Jet suddenly asked as Guile smiled. "It's simple; I easily absorbed Janus's energy and life force by using the Onakasa gem. I gained all of his strength and energy, thus allowing me to use the limitless power of Filgaia's energy within him. By doing this, I can now convert Orion to the second phase of planetary re- formatting."

"What's that?" Jet responded as the man glanced back at the generator. "Now that I have Filgaia's power inside me, I can control Orion, and by using its power, I can transform the entire structure into a massive Onakasa gem! However, it is in essence the one I hold around me neck; I'm just going to allow it to grow," he stated before removing a hatch from the external side of the generator and placing his Onakasa gem within the core.

"Now, watch!" he ordered as the building began to shake. The generator began to slowly become encased in the growing gem as Ileana ran into the room.

"Grandfather! What is happening!"

Guile turned to them and replied, "The second phase, Ileana. Soon, Orion itself will become a magnet, and once we power it, the moon will willingly glide toward us. Yes, my dream will finally be realized!"

He then began to laugh as the Onakasa gem began to spread across the room.

Zane turned to Jet. "I recommend you escape now, Jet. There won't be an option to soon."

"So, you're going to stay?" the silver- haired Drifter asked. Zane smiled and nodded. "I see Master Guile somewhat as the father I never had, and I only knew my mother for so long before I died. I feel this is the only path for me."

Jet nodded as Aaron ran into the room. "What's going on?" he thought aloud as Jet glanced at him. "We don't have time, but I'll explain later," he stated before grabbing his arm and beginning to run downstairs. Aaron was reluctant at first, but began to follow as the gem covered the entire room in its icy grasp.

"What the Hell is going on!" Enrique exclaimed as the structure continued to tremble. Virginia shook her head. "I don't know, but I'm sure Jet and Aaron will tell us later."

Todd sighed. "I just wish we could have helped them," he stated. Virginia nodded. "Yeah, but that William froze our bodies for a while."

He seemed in a hurry," Enrique remarked as two figures could be seen running down the central staircase.

"Look," Todd stated, "it's Jet and Aaron! They made it!"

"What are you doing!" Jet shouted. "We have to get out of here; now!" The others began to run as well as the gem began to spread much more quickly.