Chapter 9: Seymour's Return to Power
Eriks leadinglady- Yeah, that fight on the Celsius was a bit dragged out only because I didn't know where I was going to end the chap and since I usually have at least one big fight I had that in but then I decided to go on till page 19 but don't worry this chap is shorter by like 9 pages. Anyway, I want to know what you think about the dialogue. Is it good, okay or bad? I just get a feeling like it's not that good, but you tell me.
Ceremonial brass bells rang throughout the many streets in a colossal city of red. The bells indicated that there was a gathering form some celebration of the temple of Yevon. Thousands of people gathered around a platform that was suspended off of the third story of a massive building. Thrown over the railing was a great standard with the black symbol of Yevon embroidered into the center of the crimson and white banner. The people surrounding the massive building, which turned out to be the temple of Yevon in the center of Bevelle, screamed and cheered at two figures standing upon the platform jutting out of the building. It seemed like all of Bevelle's inhabitants came out to meet the two figures giving a speech upon the temple balcony except for one man. He lingered around the outskirts of the crowd and glared at the figure to the right on the balcony. There was a desolate alley that the man soon retreated to after becoming red with rage from the words an unseen announcer shouted over a loudspeaker.
'Today we are gathered here to hear a few words from the praetor of New Yevon, Baralai and a man that has once been a great Maester of Yevon and has now come back to us, Maester Seymour Guado." The announcer backed off of the microphone to let Baralai and Seymour take their turns at speaking.
The man strolled down the alleyway running his right hand through his long, platinum hair and shutting out all of the speech that Baralai and then Seymour were about to give. 'Damn! Didn't think they would be able to get Seymour back into power like this, but I guess the people still think that he was a great Maester and welcome him back with open arms, fools. Isn't that Baralai kid supposed to not be a praetor of Yevon anymore? After they defeated Vegnagun I thought he strode away from the path of New Yevon or…" He thought as she continued his stroll down the dark and deserted alley, still not paying any attention to the speeches. 'Could he have brain washed? If Yu Yevon and, or Seymour have those powers, who knows what they could do with them.' He sustained his leisurely walk down the alley contemplating the circumstances.
The speeches rattled on for about another hour or so, Baralai seemed not himself through his speech, furthering the man's suspicions that he was being brain washed or something along those lines. When bits of fragmented sounds from Seymour's speech reached the perked ears of the solitary man he clenched his fists in rage, annoyance and covered his ears to close out the eerie voice. 'Grrrrr! How can those people listen to that disturbing man?' He flung a fist into a trash can leaving a substantial dent in its side.
A light, melodic, female voice came to the man out of nowhere. "Xanthos, is that you?" A woman in her mid twenties stepped through a doorway with long brown locks flowing down over her face. She flicked her silky, brown hair out of her vivacious turquoise eyes revealing her beautiful and smooth facial skin and crimson colored lips. She ran a gentle hand along the chilled metallic metal of the side of a building in the alley. A sky blue, jade, and crimson tunic that was cut off a few inches above her bellybutton and cut low at her chest wrapped itself around her. Tight, ankle cut black pants wrapped themselves around her thighs and calves, leaving off just above her ankles.
Xanthos gawked at the women's beauty but sharply answered. "Who wants to know?" He shot a question back at the young woman.
She smiled. "Have you really forgotten me Xanthos?" She walked closer to the shape shifter. "I know it's been seven years but how could you forget me?" She placed a gentile hand upon his chest.
Xanthos felt an immense loving emotion surged through his body as her hand fell onto his chest. "Rena." His memories flooded back into his mind. "But how? I thought you and everyone else got killed by that monstrosity, Sin, and his twisted master, Yu Yevon. When I found myself washed up along the moonflow I was crushed with sorrow and I felt as though I couldn't continue with my life after Sin destroyed our home along with you." He countered her hand placement by wrapping his arms around her slender shoulders. They pushed away from one another and stared into each other's eyes. Xanthos could barely hold back his tears as he gazed into Rena's turquoise eyes, diving into her soul.
Rena returned the stare and smiled a lighthearted and energetic smile. "You look like you are on the verge of crying, and I know that you don't cry." She joked while sneaking a swift kiss on his lips.
The announcer of the Yevon speeches sounded once again over the loudspeaker to the thousands gathered below. "We thank you all for coming to see the arrival of the former Maester Seymour Guado and the bright words of the young praetor, Baralai." The loudspeaker fizzled and cut off. The massive throngs of people chatted amongst themselves about the sudden appearance of Maester Seymour as they walked back to their homes, businesses, and random cafés.
Xanthos cocked his head back towards the sound of the announcer's voice and gave a sigh of relief. "Finally! Those blow harts are done with their agonizing speeches." He glanced back at Rena's smiling face. "I was getting excruciatingly annoyed at those speeches playing off in the background. I couldn't concentrate on…you." Rena smiled before he reached out to her and pulled her close to his body and locked lips with her in a lengthy passionate kiss.
When they broke free from their extensive kiss Rena began to question Xanthos' past seven years. "What have you done throughout these past seven years?" She clasped his hand in hers and pulled him to a doorway. "Oh, let's go into my apartment." She turned the doorknob with her free hand and pushed it fully open, dragging Xanthos in with her. "So, as I was asking, what have you been up to these past seven years?"
A throng of noisy town's people flooded past the where the two old lovers conversed. "Well, after I washed up on the moonflow I wandered around aimlessly for days till I came upon a temple of Yevon. The priests took care of me till I got over my exhaustion. Once I was back to full health I moved away from the temple and wandered down a very, very, long road, which is now know as the Mi'ihen Highroad, and came to Luca. I was interested by Blitzball and started to play, but let's just say I wasn't very good at it. For money I worked in a café but was also a fiend slayer when one happened to venture into town and cause a ruckus. Soon I lost my job at the café for getting into a fist fight with a guy for…actually I forget why I did. So, after I got fired I couldn't find another job and became a homeless man until…he came." Xanthos recited his life for the past seven years and got infuriated at his last two words.
Rena listened intently to Xanthos' summary and then posed a question. "Until who came?" Her innocent question sent waves of anger coursing through Xanthos' body.
"Yu Yevon, the son of a bitch that destroyed our home, our lives. Although, I didn't know it at the time, he was all cloaked and never revealed himself to me." Xanthos almost hit himself at the remembrance of his stupidity.
Rena pushed herself up against him. "But, we still have each other now. Our lives will be easier now that we are together again." She leaned her head gingerly against his muscular chest.
A loud rapping came at the door and some voices called form out side something like 'Open up!' "Well now, when do the rats of Bevelle ruin romantic moments? Looks like Seymour finally figured out that I'm here." Xanthos walked over to the apartment door and gave it a hard tug. The door flung open to show three Bevelle guards with rifles pointed at the open doorway.
No one stood in the doorway that the three guards gawked at curiously at. "Where is that guy?" The man on the left flank of the middle officer queried. The guards advanced on the open door only to get blacked out by a mysterious figure from behind. He then dragged the unconscious guards down the alleyway a few doors down and left them in the dank alley to wake up hours later.
Xanthos came back through the doorway into the apartment where Rena anxiously awaited his arrival. "I have to go and deal with Seymour. You have to stay here and out of sight and don't let anyone think that you have anything to do with me." She began to oppose his remarks but was cut off short by his rebuttal. "I know you want to come with me to help but if anything ever happened to you…I don't know what I would do with my life. So please, just stay here, for me." He strode up to her and they exchanged a short but sweet kiss.
"I'll stay here and wait for you Xanthos, if that is what you want." He nodded in acceptance and strolled out of the apartment door and into the damp, desolate alley way. He tenderly closed the apartment door behind him and stepped into the alleyway while shifting into a Bevelle guard. After transforming, he waltzed out of the dank alley and onto the main road which was filled with hundreds of people. He made his way through the immense throngs of town's folk towards the grand crimson temple of Yevon resting in the heart of the city of Bevelle.
The shape shifter waltzed right through the front gates of the temple past the guards and into the massive dome like entry hall. He gazed around the entryway and noted the beefed up security with guards posted at every door and patrolling the entire chamber. 'He dose know I'm here. Wonder what he has planned for me.' He thought while striding over to the lift to take him up to where he guessed Seymour would be lurking with his puppet Baralai. The guards barring anyone's passage onto the lift stopped Xanthos as he approached them. He obliged with the guards' orders and stopped two feet in front of them.
"Halt! No one may pass, not even guards." The two lift guards shifted their guns in their arms. A creeping voice snuck into the two guards' heads. 'That is not one of you. He is someone that we have to deal with. Do not let him pass, stop him at all costs.' The two guards aimed their rifles at Xanthos as he charged and kicked the guns out of the guards' grip, down into the misty pathways below the temple. He reverted back to himself and walked onto the lift to ascend to Seymour's chamber.
Ten guards rushed down below the lift and opened fire on the shape shifter as he ascended closer and closer to Seymour and Baralai. They were too late; the lift had already gone up to high for them to get clear shots off at Xanthos. The shape shifter laughed to himself as the lift passed through the opening in the ceiling made for it pass through. At the top of the lift were seven guards, all with rifle barrels trained down at the hole made for the lift. Xanthos put his hands up to surrender but the guards weren't going to let him get off that easily. They opened fire upon him, each shot echoing through the massive hall to the Maester's chamber. He ducked and rolled forward under the trajectories of each of the seven bullets. His legs shot out along the ground towards the guards, sending them on their faces and some on their backs. Two of them shot back to their feet to shot Xanthos but he had already gotten behind\d them. His hands grasped each of the two guards' head and smashed them together with a slight thud. The two men fell limp in front of him. The rest of them guards did not get up from their falls but rather stayed down and out of the way of the powerful intruder.
Xanthos walled down a lavishly decorated corridor lined with paintings, mirrors, and a few tables with lanterns upon their glimmering wood. 'Will Seymour use Baralai on me first, or will he attack me head on? Can he still summon? If so, this should be interesting.' Many thoughts of the upcoming battle raged on through his mind. He finally came to the large oak, double doors that separated the Maester's chamber from the corridor and gave a tug on the brass door knobs. The doors flung open to the room, revealing Seymour standing in the center of it with a disturbing smile painted on his face.
"Ah, just the man I was looking for. It is a pleasure to see you again Xanthos." Seymour's soft and disturbing voice flowed into Xanthos' ears, causing him to shiver.
"How did you come slithering back into power with you're reputation?" Xanthos walked into the Maester's chamber and over to a pillar on the right side of the doorway. "And why is it that you want to see me? Is it that you want to kill me so I cannot interfere with your twisted plan? And where is your puppet, Baralai?" Xanthos leaned against the pillar with his right hand and tapped it in a threat that Seymour didn't notice.
Seymour snickered at Xanthos and answered his many questions. "I came back into power just by returning to these suffering people by restoring their hope that their sorrows can be washed away." Seymour began to chuckle with amusement at what he was going to say next. "Granted there was some brainwashing involved for the higher ups and anyone else who knew exactly who I was and what I did but that's irrelevant." The Maester continued on the answer the remainder of Xanthos' inquiries. "You're right, I do have a plan but I don't consider it twisted and I don't want you dead for it, after all you are the main ingredient. And Baralai, he's right behind you." And with that Baralai pushed Xanthos all the way into the chamber and swung the door closed with a loud crash as he followed in behind Xanthos.
Xanthos fell back on a pillar near the left wall in Seymour's chamber. Baralai still stood at the door but turned to focus on Xanthos. Seymour just cocked his head to look upon the shape shifter and smiled an eerie smile that sent shivers down Xanthos' spine. "You have extensive powers and besides that you have a god backing you, what would you need my power for?" Xanthos placed a hand on the pillar that was supporting him and drummed on it with his finger tips.
"I need you because you have the ability to change your physical form at anytime you will." Seymour strolled over to Xanthos and stopped five feet in front of him.
Xanthos stopped drumming on the pillar and gripped it tightly as if ready to morph it into something. "I see. So you're going to use me to shift into some greater power to perform whatever warped deeds you need me for?"
"Precisely." With that Seymour out stretched an arm to perform a brainwashing spell so he would be able to take control over Xanthos.
This was what Xanthos was waiting for. A vivid glow shot up around behind him as the pillar he once used as a support transformed into a long spear. "I won't let you take me without a fight!" He whipped the spear out from behind him and smashed it into Seymour's outstretched arm.
The Maester's arm being knocked away almost caused him to topple over but he maintained his balance. "Baralai, get over here and subdue him!" Seymour shouted at his puppet.
Baralai began his charge towards Xanthos but stopped as the shape shifter's spear head shot out, almost impaling the former praetor of Yevon. "What's the matter Seymour? Don't think you can take me on fully so you send your puppet in to do your dirty work, you are pathetic." A blot of lightening shot off of Seymour's fingertips which sounded off a loud clapping sound as it snapped the spear shaft in half. Xanthos cursed and threw the remaining piece of the spear shaft at the Maester of Yevon.
Baralai picked up his charge where he left off and rammed into Xanthos with his right shoulder. Xanthos stumbled backwards and almost fell through an oak table resting at the bottom of a window sill. Then the praetor of Yevon then threw an upper cut at Xanthos which he barely evaded by sliding to the side. He then roundhouse kicked Baralai in the back of his head sending him flying towards the window. Right before he fell out the window he felt his head smack against the window sill. He bounced off the sill and fell to the ground with a newly formed head ache and began to rub his head. Xanthos then ran towards Baralai, who was still trying to get rid of his head ache, and leapt into the air in a dropkick pose. Baralai took a moment from massaging his aching head to dodge out of the way of Xanthos' attack. His foot flew through the air space where Baralai's head had just been a second ago and landed on the edge of the window sill. He pushed off of the sill as his knees bent, propelling him back four feet to land right as Baralai rushed him again.
Before he charged, Baralai ripped a rapier off the wall next to the window that he had fallen into. He thrust the rapier out at Xanthos but the shape shifter easily pivoted to the side on his left foot allowing the rapier to pass right by his torso. Baralai stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around, bringing his rapier blade along with his body movement. Xanthos narrowly missed the sword stroke by ducking scarcely under the entire momentum of the swing. Baralai silently cursed as his blade once again failed to strike its intended target. Xanthos smiled at the praetor's unworthy swordsmanship skills drawing yet another strike from Baralai. He rushed up to stand only two feet away from Xanthos and brought his blade down upon his head. Xanthos couldn't evade the blow so he did the only thing that he could actually do in this situation. He clasped the rapier blade in between his two palms extracting a downward jaw from both Seymour and Baralai. He simply smiled and forced the blade back at its owner's face while also smashing his right foot into the young man's stomach. Baralai stumbled backwards from Xanthos' counter attack and then he tripped over the red and gold throw rug placed in the center of the room.
Baralai stood back upon his feet, much to the annoyance of Xanthos for he was here to deal with Seymour not Baralai. "Don't you ever give up? If you keep this up I'll have no choice but to hurt you. Seymour, where is the pleasure of defeating your opponent by your own hands if you use this puppet to fight your battles for you?" Xanthos ran up and kicked Baralai in the chin as he began to rise from the ground.
Seymour seemed amused at the inquiring of Xanthos. "Oh, don't worry. I will defeat you myself I just wanted to test out the skills of this 'puppet' as you call him to see if he will be of any use against Lady Yuna and her friends, which it seems as though he cannot compete with their strengths if even you can defeat him." Seymour's words appeared as though they affected Baralai somehow because he gave an irritated glance back at the Maester.
Baralai got back on his feet after the blow to the chin Xanthos had given him and faced Seymour. "A puppet am I? Would a puppet do this?" He charged the Maester only to receive a powerful ice blast to his chest. He flew backwards and broke through the twin oak doors and out into the lavishly decorated hallway.
Seymour broke out in a soft, mad laugh. "Yu Yevon has some work to do on that spell if it can wear off so soon or can be broken so easily."
"Shut up and die Seymour!" Xanthos picked up the rapier that Baralai was just using a moment before and bore it into Seymour's chest where his heart would usually be. Xanthos fell back when the attack failed and just drew a pleased grin from Seymour.
"Oh, that's right. You don't know me. I am an unsent so therefore you cannot harm me you pathetic mortal!" Seymour raised his hands to the sky and began to swirl around on his hips as if he was calling down god to smite Xanthos. But, instead of a god a massive dark chain shot through the roof without doing any damage to the structure as if it came through a different dimension. Then it buried itself into the floor through what appeared to be a black and purple portal to the same dimension it had come from. The chain lurched and then came to a halt. But only for a moment and then it gave another lurch and started back up as though it were fishing something out with it. The chain pulled out along with it by another chain a large demonic looking fish head with bandages running along from the middle of its head to the top and that only had one devilish eye glaring around the surroundings. As the rest of the monster was dragged out of its dimension it revealed what looked like massive plant leaves that appeared as though they could cover up the monstrosity. Its arms were bound together in an 'X' fashion across its chest with two white cloth appearing streamers. The thing stopped coming out from its dimension at the point where it looked like there was still something it didn't expose.
Xanthos gaped at the massive monstrosity in sheer bewilderment and confusion. His face was streaked with fear and it was also clear by his facial expressions that he was thing something along the lines of 'Oh shit!' Seymour laughed amused by Xanthos' reaction to his aeon. "Something wrong Xanthos? Didn't you know that I have this aeon, Anima?" Seymour trained a finger at Xanthos and shouted, "Anima! Pain!" And with that the aeon's single eye started to gather energy around it. Xanthos tried to escape the aeon's mighty blast but he couldn't move anywhere that it wouldn't reach. Anima's head recoiled as the massive amount of charged energy from her eye was launched to obliterate the resilient shape shifter.
The attack pounded Xanthos with a searing pain that not even the toughest warrior would be able to withstand without crying out in pain. He let out a terrible cry of pain that was certain to pierce through the walls of the chamber then the temple and then throughout the entire city of Bevelle. When the affects of the pain spell wore off of Xanthos he opened his eyes to see that Anima was now lingering over him. The demonic fish aeon lashed out with her gnarled fangs flashing off one another. He rolled to the side at the last second as the aeon's teeth bore down into the wooden floor planks. Anima yanked her teeth out of the shattered floor planks and charged up another pain attack.
Xanthos hastily ran behind Anima right before she let off another of those super charged pain blasts. The attack only consumed the space in front of the aeon, blasting out the windows and crushing the floor boards. Xanthos leapt up onto Anima's back and ran the rest of the way up till he reached her head. He took hold of one of Anima's fins on the top of her head while making the aeon go under a transformation. The usual light that resonated off of an object when Xanthos put it through a morph shone off of Anima. The aeon began to shrink and form in Xanthos' fist. When all the brilliant light dispersed Xanthos was shown standing there with a minute mouse being held in his right hand.
"What a cute aeon you got now Seymour." Xanthos joked with the Maester as he pitched the mouse into Seymour's hands. He stared at the mouse that was now resting in his palms and heaved it through the window where Baralai had almost flown out.
By now Seymour was feed up with Xanthos' jokes and definitely feed up with how he could have possibly defeated Baralai and Anima. 'Damn! How could he be this powerful and yet he lost to Lady Yuna and her two other friends?' He cast aside his troubling thoughts and conjured up a ball of dark energy that seemed to draw the world in around it. The orb of pure darkness continued to grow larger and larger with each passing second, pulling in more and more of the air around it. "Now to finish you off my pesky friend!" He launched the sphere of pure dark energy hurtling towards Xanthos.
Xanthos faced his palms outwards and lit up the air between him and Seymour with a pallid flame. The air between the two burst out of the ashen light to form a three foot thick tempered steel wall. The sphere of darkness smashed into the wall of tempered steel forcing its way through about two of the three feet of steel before dissipating. Xanthos collapsed the wall of steel back into air to gauge Seymour's reaction.
Seymour raised a hand as soon as the wall shriveled up out of the way of the two battlers. Xanthos leapt forward into a front roll as a lightning bolt flickered off of Seymour's fingertips and right for his head. The Maester kept the lightning bolts flowing from his hand as he turned to face Xanthos as he rolled along the ground. He stood up and did a back flip when the lightning reached a foot away from him. Seymour discontinued his lightning spell after seeing that Xanthos had the abilities to evade every attack from it. Instead of starting up another spell he just stood there casually with his eyes closed.
"What's the matter now Seymour? Finally figured that you cannot win?" Xanthos mocked the Maester's lack of ability to do any kind of damage to him.
Seymour stood there with his eyes still closed up and chuckled at something Xanthos didn't know. "I haven't given up. I just wanted to take a moment to mourn the loss of your little friend in the apartment." A small display screen appeared on the eastern wall. On the screen was a burning apartment with some Bevelle guards scurrying down the Alleyway. The same one Rena and he were in right before he left to do away with Seymour.
Xanthos collapsed to his knees and began to cry silently. He lifted up his red, tear streaked face only to yell at the Maester. "How? How did you know she was there?" He shouted through his sobs while getting upon his feet.
Seymour raised his left hand in front of his mouth and cracked a usual laugh. "We saw you enter the building with her. And then when you left to come here I sent guards over to exterminate her."
"You don't have any morals do you Seymour? She was an innocent person that had nothing to do with you or anything!" He charged Seymour and gripped a hold of the rapier that was still lodged in Seymour's chest by the hilt. He wrenched it out of the flesh of the unsent and drew it back, ready to attack. "Now you will pay!"
"Oh, you want me to pay?" Seymour queried while slipping his hand in a pocket. "Then here take all my money." He threw a multitude of bills and change at the shape shifter.
Xanthos slashed up the bills as they fluttered towards him. "Shut up!" He rushed at Seymour with the rapier poised to skewer the Maester through his head. "Money can never make up for her!" He thrust the rapier through Seymour's forehead and out the back with a sicken spray of crimson blood. Seymour fell back upon the blood soaked ground with the rapier still wedged in his skull.
The Maester rose back to his feet like a zombie. "I have already told you that you cannot kill me so why do you even try?" Xanthos gazed back in horror as Seymour began to morph into something. "Now I will show you true power!" His flesh became metallic silver and his eyes went white without any signs of pupils. An odd looking mechanical thing came to perch just hovering above his right shoulder. The thing looked as if it were a mix between a scorpion and a horseshoe crab with two large pincher things for the mouth. A massive spear popped into Seymour's right hand and a colossal sword in the other. He even began to levitate over the blood soaked rug in the center of the room to make room for him to move his spear and sword.
Xanthos gazed at Seymour's new form in wild eyed bewilderment. Seymour let out a deep demonic laugh and thrust his massive, crimson spear at the dazed shape shifter. He rolled to the side and narrowly evaded the piercing tip of the zombie inducing spear head. Seymour brought down his colossal gray sword to the spot where Xanthos had stopped his roll. Xanthos couldn't clasp the sword like all the other times because it was too big so he took the blow. The sword made a hole in the floor that was fifteen feet deep and six feet wide. He chuckled to himself with the thought that Xanthos was too weak to evade even such a slow and weak attack. His eyes shot open when he saw a sight that he thought he would never see in all eternity.
Xanthos climbed out of the immense crater in the floor and let off an arrogant smile at Seymour. "It's gonna take a lot more then simply one sword stroke to get rid of me Seymour!" Xanthos proclaimed as he rushed towards the hovering unsent.
The little scorpion/horseshoe crab thing lashed out at Xanthos as he drew closer to its master. It shot its stinger tail out at him but he hastily leapt on top of it and grasped it tightly as to not get knocked off. He tore off a small section of the scale like shell protecting the thing and altered it into a bastard sword. He bore the bastard sword down through where the thing's head should have been and wiggled it around to cause the most damage possible. The thing crashed to the wooden floor with a loud splintering sound and Xanthos leapt off its back with his bastard sword. He then turned to face Seymour who was now alone except the fact that he still had a colossal sword and a zombie inducing spear.
Seymour lashed out with his spear once again only this time Xanthos stepped to the side and brought his blade across the spear's shaft. The spear shaft split like it was made of paper into two halves that were hurled to the other side of the room. Seymour brought down his gigantic gray blade upon Xanthos. The sound of metal on metal rang out through the chamber and leaked out into the hallway and down the lift. Xanthos held his bastard sword with both hands and held off the blow by Seymour's blade. His arms were quivering under the mass amount of pressure bearing down upon them and his legs. Seymour relieved the pressure and set his sword to rest at his side. Xanthos took this opportunity to flash his sword across the Maester's torso, drawing blood along the floor. Seymour let out a demonic cry of pain as the shape shifter's bastard sword slid off of his warm flesh.
It was finally apparent to Xanthos that Seymour could not be defeated at this point and ran towards the shattered doors. Seymour noted his actions through his pain blurred vision and gripped his massive blade tightly. As Xanthos leapt through the hole in the doors where Baralai was hurled through Seymour heaved his sword through the air at him. Xanthos spun around to see the massive gray blade hurtling through the air at him. He spun back around and picked up Baralai and slung him over his right shoulder and continued to flee for his life. The sword whistled through the air as it got closer and closer to Xanthos with each passing second. Xanthos reached the lift and smashed the button down that would allow them to escape the soaring blade into the main entry chamber of the temple. The lift didn't start soon enough and the blade collided with the lift. The lift was completely smashed into nothing and fell down through the hole and into the murky mist down below the temple.
Xanthos managed to leap up and grasp hold of a ceiling rafter just as Seymour's massive sword collided with the lift. He let himself lose hold of the rafter and plummeted down through the hole in the floor. He then gripped a ledge where the lift would have usually stopped at to let people off to go to the main entrance. He lugged himself up over the edge along with the unconscious Baralai and made a dash for the front doors. The guards in the main chamber took off after the escaping intruder and into the crowded streets of Bevelle. Xanthos ducked into an alleyway to escape detection and strode down it till he realized where they were.
Xanthos dropped Baralai off his shoulder and slowly walked to the burnt out remains of an apartment. Tears flowed freely from his dark brown eyes as he strolled into the burnt apartment. He collapsed to his knees and buried his face in his hands as he changed from silent tears to full out crying. "Rena…I couldn't save you. Instead I'm the reason you're dead now." His tears fell to the ground steadily causing sizzling sounds to erupt from the still hot wood. "Can you ever forgive me?"
A gentle hand placed itself on his shoulder. He whiled around while getting to his feet and grasping a piece of wood that he transformed into a dagger. He was just about to plunge the dagger into the person's heart when the figure spoke. "I forgive you." His heart skipped a beat and the dagger fell from his now trembling hand.
"Rena." Xanthos wrapped his arms around her shoulders and began to cry again. "How did you survive?" She just smiled back at him.
"Simple." She pulled out a rather long black leather sheath. "I used this." She unsheathed a kanemitsu.(a/n: A kanemitsu is a Japanese sword from Samurai Warriors that looks exactly like a katana only about double the length and finger guard.)
"When did you learn how to wield a sword?" Xanthos queried as he eyed Rena.
She laughed. "Seven years is a long time Xanthos."
"So, how exactly did you survive the guards' attack?" Xanthos inquired.
Rena smiled at him again. "Well, I was in the other room changing into this..." She pointed to her new clothes. She wore her silky brown hair up in a pony tail still with two locks flowing down on either side of her face. A white shirt that looked like a low, 'U' cut tank top that was cut off just under her breasts but it had sleeves that ran all the way down her arms. The sleeves had an oval opening running down from her shoulders to her elbows. She now had baggy brown pants on that were lashed to her waist with a cloth belt a few inches under her bellybutton. The pants also had oval shaped openings that ran down the side of her thighs. "…because I was going to come and help you since I cannot fight well in what I had on when the guards busted into my apartment and started it on fire. I rushed out of the other room with my kanemitsu and chased them. They turned back around to see me still alive and charging them no less so they pulled out swords and we dueled. I defeated them rather easily but let them leave with their lives. Then I came back here to find you sitting here and crying." She took Xanthos into her arms and locked lips with him.
Xanthos pulled away from her kiss a few seconds later to say something. "Rena. I love you."
She let a smile overtake her face that made Xanthos fall even deeper in love with her. "I love you too Xanthos." And with that they locked lips with each other once again and shared an immensely extensive passionate kiss that furthered their love for each other.