(Finally; the story's finally hit twenty chapters! This entire story has become an epic in my opinion, considering it's most likely the biggest story I'll ever do.)

The Myth of Crystaelius:

Chapter Eleven: Loss

A burst of lightning illuminated Jet's face as he examined the weapon residing in his hands. It was somewhat larger than the previous blaster, and there were two obstructions protruding from the top.

Guile began to lose focus. His healing energy was sustaining Ileana, but he could not help but feel horrible inside. His granddaughter would suffer the same fate as her mother did. He was the one who should have died long ago.

"I'm… sorry…" he murmured as Urien roared, the echo piercing the rain and thunder. He brushed her cheek with the back of his free hand. "I never thought of anything besides Crystaelius. It would be the home we deserved. People died for it, and lives were torn, but I can't achieve it now; Crystaelius was just a dream in my head."

The white- haired Drifter raised the weapon, aiming at the creature before him. Urien raised its left arm and brought it down upon Jet, but he quickly jumped back, avoiding the attack. A series of swipes, thrashes and other attacks were aimed at Jet. He could only dodge and try to keep on his toes; there was never an appropriate chance to strike.

As Lombardia neared Orion, Aaron began to edge towards the door. "We have to be ready to depart," he started, "as we have to help the others."

Virginia nodded. "Yeah; Enrique, Todd, could you both stay with Lombardia? We might need her help."

Enrique nodded tiresomely while Todd replied, "Sure."

She smiled. "Great!" While she spoke with Enrique and Todd, Aaron had been watching the events outside Orion.

"What is that thing? It's massive," he thought as he watched Urien thrash about.

Jet ducked behind a piece of rubble as another blast of energy shot out at him. He ground his teeth and began to circle the creature in a run as it destroyed his shelter with a second blast.

Urien roared and swiped its tail at him, and then immediately attacking with its right arm Jet easily avoided the first swipe, but instead of dodging the next move, jumped atop the arm and leaped off of it, firing the weapon as he landed. An explosion of energy occurred on the creature's backside, leaving the scarred area burnt.

A series of wires suddenly lunged out from the wound however, carefully wrapping themselves around the scar, and after a few moments, they completely disappeared and left the wound completely healed.

Jet snorted in annoyance and prepared to fire again as a flurry of missiles collided with Urien; the explosion knocking it back.

He looked up to see Lombardia flying towards them, firing another set of missiles at the creature.

Urien roared and fired multiple energy blasts, which met the missiles and destroyed them in a deafening explosion.

The dragon flew to the right and shifted to its normal state, forming an electric shield around itself to defend against Urien's next onslaught of attacks.

The compartment shook violently, causing Virginia and the others to grasp something to balance themselves with.

"Now, everyone, listen! We have to get closer for Virginia and me to land on Orion!" Aaron exclaimed. Enrique scowled at him. "How do you expect for us to get closer when we're being attacked every single second!" he demanded. Aaron shrugged. "I don't know, rush at it."

The electric sphere around Lombardia dissipated before the dragon's body began to glow a deep crimson. She shifted back into her flight state and soared at Urien, aiming at a direct assault.

As Lombardia neared Urien, Aaron and Virginia jumped out, allowing the dragon to fly above the creature and avoid it.

Jet had been silently resting against a boulder while Lombardia had distracted Urien. It gave him some time to think up an accurate strategy of defeating this creature.

"Damn… a direct attack won't work against this thing, but a sneak attack barely scratches it…"

Guile watched as Ileana drifted off to sleep; his hand brushing her cheek. "I never was a good parent to my daughter. She would always be hasty and impatient, quite a bit like my wife when she was younger," he muttered.

"…! Guile, what happened!" Virginia exclaimed as she ran up to him, reluctantly being followed by Aaron.

The man slowly stood up and turned to face them. "That monster… Urien, it has been awakened, and it's all my fault," he answered as Aaron approached them. "Your fault… Everything related to this is your fault!" he exclaimed.

Virginia glanced between them as Aaron drew his sword. Guile merely knelt down beside Ileana. "Fighting is useless Aaron, and because of me Ileana's hurt."

Aaron's gaze scanned the ground to center around his sleeping sister. "What happened to her, what did you do!"

"She saved my life and was hurt badly in the process. My healing energy sustained the wound; she just needs to rest."

Virginia smiled. "So, all we have to do is defeat Urien, and then we can all enjoy the Filgaia we've been given, right?" Guile looked up at her. "Yes, we can…"

Her smile widened. "Well of course! We won't have to squabble about what planet we're living on."

She turned to Aaron. "And then Ileana can wake up and say hello."

He nodded. "All right then, we should go and help Jet."

She nodded while grasping her pistols before both of them ran towards Urien.

The creature roared in anger at the disruption before frantically searching for Jet, who had positioned himself directly in front of it with the weapon raised.

"Jet!" Virginia cried out as she stopped behind him as Aaron did the same. "You're all late," Jet replied as they readied their weapons.

"So, does it have any apparent weaknesses?" Aaron asked while raising his sword.

"Not really."

"Then we'll have to make one."

Aaron then rushed at Urien, preparing to attack. Jet and Virginia were a little bewildered, but she immediately followed him.

The swordsman stopped and slashed away at the mass of wires which were being fired at him. He was building up power as he did this, and the sword glowed blue. Virginia shot at a few of the wires herself, until the tail swung at her. She jumped out of the way, all the while keeping her fingers on the triggers.

Aaron ground his teeth and leaped into the air once he felt comfortable enough and slashed downwards across Urien's chest plate, executing the Soaring Eagle technique. The creature roared in pain as the wires wrapped around Aaron, his sword dropping to the floor. Virginia was caught as well; both of them were swung madly in the air as Jet tried to aim.

"Jet!" Aaron yelled. "Fire at the exposed slash mark; its essence isn't protected there!"

Jet noticed the location Aaron spoke of. The Soaring Eagle had been able to cut through the armor, revealing a patch of darkness.

Jet ground his teeth and pulled the trigger, the blast colliding with Urien in an amazing explosion.

Virginia and Aaron were flung away like flies as the creature collapsed against Orion, causing a great deal of damage to the structure.

Orion actually felt like it tipped over, but Jet quickly scanned the skies for Lombardia. If the Draconic Gun hit Orion it would be powerful enough to eradicate Urien.

"Lombardia!" he shouted. "Forget about whatever Todd and Enrique tell you, just use the Draconic Gun Blaster on this structure, now!"

Almost immediately, the dragon appeared in the sky, positioning itself above Orion, the energy already gathering around it.

Jet examined his surroundings; Aaron and Virginia were barely getting up while Guile was standing at the edge of the slab.

"Ileana…" Aaron mumbled as he staggered towards his sister's body and slowly scooping her up in his arms. His grandfather stood, frozen in what seemed to be sorrow, his gaze meeting with Aaron's.

"Please… take care of her," he stated, tears streaming down his face as Aaron backed away somewhat.

The blast was fired and collided with Orion, creating a massive explosion. Aaron gave on last glance at his grandfather before jumping off of the slab as everyone else did, Lombardia quickly catching them all.

The explosion engulfed the structure like a pillar of fire, twisting and turning.

Guile lay motionless under the rubble, his eyes following the light seeping out from the wispy clouds entirely covering the sky.

The night had passed in an instant, and there was nothing left of Orion but a small scrap heap of dirt and rubble, clumsily floating in the sky.

He heard footsteps coming up behind him, continuing until reached a shattered concrete wall. The cloaked boy mindlessly peeled away at the orange, staring up at the sky.

"It could easily be used as a simile or metaphor in a fairy tale, don't you think? The storm has passed, and so has the conflict. The beams of light, as well as the clouds, signify the calm afterwards."

"Z-Z…Zane?" The boy turned in the direction of the man and shook his head. "No, sorry; the boy died quite a while ago actually. I needed a shell at the time, because my essence was shapeless, but not anymore."

Guile slowly stood up from the rubble. "Who… are you? Why did you interfere with Crystaelius's revival? It would have gone perfectly."

The boy smiled. "Really now, I did you a favor. You wouldn't have revived anything except for Urien."

"Crystaelius isn't real?" Guile asked in a sorrowful tone; it was the tone his voice had inhabited for the night before as well, never changing.

The boy nodded while leaning against the wall and throwing the orange skin to the ground. "Out of all the legends and myths you Filgaians believe, there had to at least be one that was fictional. The former Filgaia was all there was, along with Ewls."

"Who are you though? Stop hiding yourself behind that innocent boy's face."

The boy chuckled. "Oh yes, well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to reveal my identity to you, now would it?"

He took a bite out of the orange and began to pace around the area. "I've forgotten the name I was given at birth; it was so long ago. Yet, I can still remember my mother and the other people in our town. I was born a decade after the Neosapiens arrived."

He paused for a moment. "There was this boy, around the same cage of myself at the time. His mother was an Ewl, and his father was a human. Now the boy, he had an extraordinary ability; the ability to absorb and manipulate energy; any type of energy. He could easily sap the life force right out of you."

He sighed and frowned. "That boy… what was his name? Oh well, it doesn't matter. I, however, am an Ewl."

"An Ewl? That's impossible; they're extinct," Guile responded in his sorrowful tone.

"Yes, that's quite true. I am only a spirit bound to the planet, bound to its judgment. I have become, in a sense, its soul, and therefore I am one with Filgaia."

"So then, why are you here?"

The boy kicked a small stone. "I've been watching you Guile, and it was your actions which revived me."

Guile sighed. "Your name…? I feel as if I know it, but then I feel as if I don't," he stated.

"Oh, but you do know my name, it is the name which has clung to the hearts of all alive and dead out there; my name, is Crystaelius."