Thwarted Demise

Disclaimer: I don't own Xenosaga. I wish I did though

Summary: A re-telling of Episode II's ending. There are plenty of spoilers so BEWARE! I'm fully switching to third POV for this chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Author's note: I would like to address the kind reviewers individually so here I go!

Ally: You were my first reviewer so thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it!

Relika Lockheart: Your review made me very happy. Mind you, I didn't want Albedo to die so yes! Albedo LIVES! MWAHAHA! Oh, and I like the song "I'm free" too but I thought that Jr 'would have thought' that the song was sappy/mushy. Perhaps I should have used those words instead…uhmm ( psst…AlbedoxRubedo? Er… )

AmissatheAries: WOW! THANKS! I hope you keep bursting into laughter when you read the next chapters

NaruNaru.O.k: You think my English is awesome::blushes: thank you, thank you… ;;

Demonslayer: Thank you! I will do my best to continue!

Sara's shadow: Gracias! The Kirschwassers are very efficient nurses..I tell ya.. -

Chapter 4: The conspiracy

Wilhelm's office/Dämmerung/Old Miltia Site

Wilhelm watched in delight as the space-time anomaly vanished, leaving the Original Zohar floating aimlessly in space. Albedo had just been defeated and in a few seconds, Abel's Ark would appear in order to reclaim the precious golden object. All this would happen as dictated by the one and only Compass of Order. If only Wilhelm had taken a small look at the mentioned artifact, he'd have noticed that something very wrong was going on by the way it spun and whizzed out of control upon his desk.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm's faithful underling, Scarlet Cloak, was immersed in his own thoughts. He was remembering with nostalgia the brief encounter with Shion Uzuki at the Omega System. Shion looked even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her face to face.

Yet, something about her appearance had truly perturbed him…

The sudden happiness that had overwhelmed him as he looked at his 'ex girlfriend' had vanished the moment he noticed that the young woman was not wearing the glasses he had so lovingly given to her. Had she forgotten him? The masked man gritted his teeth while poisonous anger coursed through the veins of his resuscitated body. Had she replaced him for ANOTHER man?

He had to find out, but his current 'Testament' title bound him to his duties as the CEO's legal, scientific, financial and romantic Guru. He had no time to investigate Shion's private issues aside from those issues that concerned KOS-MOS and the path to Lost Jerusalem. Scarlet Cloak needed something that all employees must have from time to time: vacations. But, could he leave on his quest to murder Shion's new man and leave Wilhelm under the care of his fellow Testaments in arms?

The nanoseconds lengthened horribly…

Unaware of Scarlet's Cloak dilemma, Wilhelm continued to stare anxiously at the Zohar. "It'll appear any time now…" he murmured and to calm his fidgety nerves he began to bite his nails.

The microseconds lengthened horribly

When he had no nails left, the youthful man took out a lavender handkerchief from his pocket and bit its end while his heart thumped dangerously fast in his chest.

The seconds lengthened horribly

Drenched in cold sweat and with a sharp pain in his jaw, Wilhelm pressed his nose against the glass feeling on the verge of insanity. "It's coming…hahahaha ..Abel's Ark…hihihihi… it's coming...heheheh" he whispered between demonic chuckles.

Indeed, the rumbling noises of motors that could be heard in the distance probably belonged to an alien spaceship that was about to materialize before his very eyes. Or maybe not. The Durandal sped right next to the Dämmerung and before Wilhelm, Ormus or the Gnosis could react, the scarlet battleship salvaged the Original Zohar in the name of the Kukai Foundation. With the 12 Emulators and the Original, Jr and Gaignun's collection was complete.

"Wha…what just happened?" asked Wilhelm completely flabbergasted. Scarlet Cloak snapped back to reality (Is she perhaps dating another coworker? WHO? ) and answered him promptly.

"One day, Abel will exempt his brother for every sin. Then a crimson phoenix shall rise from the ashes taking in its steely claws the Key that leads to Lost Jerusalem, the Gaia that witnessed our birth …as a thief in the darkness.." he recited.

"That's not what the prophecy said!" cried Wilhelm looking at his counselor with suspicious little eyes.

"No," replied the Testament shrugging, "But it fits with the scene that we've just witnessed, doesn't it? "

"Are you telling me that Albedo is still alive?"

"Most likely"

"What an interesting surprise," said Wilhelm regaining his calm and business-like demeanor, "I wonder if this is somebody else's hand at work…" In that precise instant, the CEO's piercing stare meet chaos' cherubic eyes. The silver-haired boy happened to be standing—wearing no spacesuit whatsoever-- on top of the Durandal as though it were the most casual and normal way to contact an old friend. Wilhelm nearly had a heart attack.

"YOU!", he cried telepathically at his former partner now Nemesis as he watched him in awe through the window, "You said that you were not going to intervene!"

"I've made up my mind. I will work with you once more. Temporarily of course."

Wilhelm couldn't believe it!

"Why are you interested in returning to the stages, Yeshua?", he asked his former Nemesis now partner with an amused tone.

"I'm sure you noticed that Jr. managed to save Albedo," explained 'Yeshua' calmly, "Because of this, the door that leads to Abel's Ark remains closed and while it remains this way, the story—as it was originally written—cannot continue. We must fix this minor glitch as soon as possible."

"I see," replied Wilhelm with a sly little smile, "Am I right to say that you do not wish to relegate your role as the protagonist in the next act?"

chaos' eyebrow twitched suspiciously, but he chose to ignore Wilhelm's comment. "Jr and Albedo must fight each other again, and this time, definitely. Only then will the Ark reappear making the story flow as it is supposed to be. Will you help me with this small task?"

"It will be my pleasure," said the CEO of Vector with a huge smile on his face, "I love to hear you speaking with such passion, Yeshua. It'll be just like the old times…"

To be continued…

Meanwhile, Virgil AKA Blue Cloak and Voyager had embarked on a journey towards Heaven to offer Albedo the ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME opportunity to become a Testament under the orders of Wilhelm The Great, Master Puppeteer and Lord of the Shadows. You might be wondering how these peculiar cloaked characters got to Heaven in the first place. Very simple: as Testaments they had the ability to walk between three worlds, Hell, Earth—er… any existent planet...—and Paradise (with limited access, of course).

Now imagine their surprise when, instead of finding the crazy URTV, they saw seven weeping maidens and 4 Realian-looking angels huddled up in fear a few paces away from them.

"Excuse us, ladies," said Blue Cloak trying to sound like an interesting and desirable man, "Could you tell us where Albedo is?"

The girls cried even harder. Voyager stepped forward and showed them the Testament costume that he held in his hands.

"If you came here for his soul, I'm afraid that you will leave with empty hands", said one of the girls between sobs, "Albedo is STILL ALIVE…"

"WHAT THE HELL?" yelled Blue Cloak, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THE WHOLE TRIP WAS FOR NOTHING!"

Voyager placed his hand on Virgil's shoulder and shook his head.

"What? Are you saying that the trip wasn't in vain?" Voyager nodded and tilted his head towards the maidens who looked up at them with puzzled eyes, "Ahh! That's right! If that idiot Albedo refused the company of these beautiful ladies I don't see why we can't EAT them…"

Voyager's eyes widened in fear, but Virgil laughed merrily and patted his comrade's back.

"BAKAAA! (1) You fell for it!"

Voyager sighed in relief and turned to leave, but Virgil quickly stepped in front of him.

"Wait…"

"..?"

"We can't go back to Wilhelm just yet! You know what will happen if we turn up with the costume and nobody to wear it!"

Voyager and Virgil exchanged dark, serious looks as they recalled the horrible image of an insanely angry Wilhelm shaking a threatening finger under their noses and doing even more evil things.

FLASHBACK---

"I give you 48 hours to find and resuscitate Albedo. He will be the WHITE CLOAK…and shall fulfill his duties as the weaver of the eternal circle of Zarathustra. Bring him here at all costs or ELSE…" Wilhelm let out a demonic chuckle and grabbed the King chess piece from the board on which he had been playing with Scarlet cloak a few hours ago. The cloaked duo watched in horror as the CEO attempted to impale his hand with the King's crown once, twice, thrice and blood began to pour from the delicate skin he had managed to puncture…

"hihihi…hehehe..hahaha"

END of FLASHBACK---

The two unlucky Testaments shuddered in fear.

They needed to find someone with a shining will to fill the post of White Cloak …

And FAST!

Author's note # 2: Okay, that was insane but I hope you liked it! Comments? Suggestions? Death threats? They are all welcome! Classes are just starting down here in my country…--; but I will try to update as often as I can. Please, tell me if you like it…XD

Baka is idiot in Japanese. Not that I know a lot of Japanese…er…

THANK YOU!