Prologue

I hate him, he thought bitterly. I hate what he's done to me. He's taken everything from me that I ever cherished. He's made a mockery of Martel's last request and killed my closest friend. I won't ever forgive him, and I swear that, if the opportunity comes, his life will be mine.

Botta was working with the chosen's party to shut down the remote island ranch. While Lloyd, the chosen, and the others were fighting Rodyle, Botta was busy converting the ranch's mana to fire at the great seed. He finally succeeded, but when the chosen's group failed to stop Rodyle from activating the ranch's self-destruct system before he perished, Botta gave his life to save them.

As Yuan slumped into his chair in his office at the Sylvarant base, He thought about all the things he was able to accomplish with the help of his deceased friend, Botta. Looking around the office, it's walls blocked by many bookshelves and a vast portrait of his deceased fiancée, he thought about how he and Botta had first met, all those long years ago…

Chapter 1

Sixteen Years Ago

Blistering wind blew through the ice-cold land of Flanoir. The ground crunched under the feet of a man as he trudged up to the front doors of the Tethe'alla renegade base. The cold wind blew violently through his long black cape as he finally got to the top of the stairs. Punching in the code, he stepped through the large doors as they opened and closed behind him.

The man was short, but strong, with neck-length electric-blue hair, dark blue eyes, and a no-nonsense look that gave him the air of unconditional authority. Underneath his cape, which had draped back over his shoulders now it was out of the wind, he wore a red breastplate that was adorned with blue and yellow symbols. On his back was strapped a double-ended sword, which had the same patterns as his armor.

This was Yuan, fourth Seraphim of Cruxis, and leader of the Renegades.

He walked briskly to his quarters, passing several groups of soldiers as they walked by on either minor missions, or just wandering around, looking for something to do. All of them came briskly to attention as he passed, and he acknowledged them with a nod, and kept going. He was in no mood to talk with anyone right now. When he finally got to his room, he slumped down in the chair behind the large oak desk and ran a hand across his brow.

He had just returned from meeting with "Lord" Yggdrasil, the twisted ruler of Cruxis, about another one of his schemes. This time, the angel had decided that the exspheres of Sylvarant weren't being manufactured as quickly anymore, so he had decided to send Yuan to investigate the reason. Another of the Seraphim, Kratos, accompanied Yuan on this. After talking to the five Desian Grand Cardinals, they discovered that the number of human hosts was decreasing. After discussing this with Yggdrasil, Yuan, who inwardly hated to, ordered the Grand Cardinals to attack the nearby towns to gain more prisoners.

Kratos, thought Yuan, what are you up to? You definitely aren't pleased with the way things are, but you still support him. Why? Not getting any answer, from himself or anybody, Yuan returned to the problem at hand.

It was getting increasingly difficult to worm his way around Cruxis' leader, and he was running out of ideas to his questions as to why he was gone for so long at periods of time. His inquiries were getting increasingly persistent, and he was afraid that, sooner or later, his double-agent role would be exposed.

Unless…

He sat bolt upright, an idea suddenly running through his entire being. He needed someone who would act as the Renegades leader in the open, while he actually led them behind the scenes. It would be risky, but it would draw Yggdrasil's attention off him, making him free to be the Renegades leader and not having any suspicion on his name.

The problem was, however, finding someone who would be willing to fill in as the second leader. After running through the files of the recruits currently under him, he grew exasperated. None of his men seemed fit for the job. Granted, there was one or two who were physically able for the job, but Yuan wanted someone who was intelligent as well as resilient, but none of his men, though having the right heart, didn't seem fit for the dangerous position.

There was only one thing for him to do. Grabbing his cape, which he had hung up when he entered his room, he headed towards the entrance of the base. He needed to find someone, someone tough and smart, to act as the Renegades leader. To do that, he would have to search through both worlds in order to find the perfect person for the job. It would take some time, but he was willing to undergo the search.

Just as Yuan was about to reach the entrance to the base, however, he was stopped by a lieutenant, who seemed very agitated about something.

"Sir, I have just received word that-"

"Not now, I'll see to whatever it is later," he said, trying to shake off the determined soldier.

"But sir, some of the men have-"

"Not now, Lieutenant! I'll see to it when I get back."

"But sir! There was a-"

"Fine, what is it!" he said, coming to a full stop and, highly annoyed, turned to face the Lieutenant.

He quailed under his leader's hard stare for a moment, then said, a little fearful, "A few men noticed that a man was seen outside our door, and went to capture him for questioning. He wounded four of them before they beat him into unconsciousness. When he awoke, he would only say that he has information that you would be interested in, and wishes to discuss it with you." After finishing his report, the Lieutenant stood to attention, waiting for his leader's response.

Yuan stood there, slightly shocked, though he didn't show it. He couldn't believe that someone would be able to find this base in the middle of a snowstorm. He was also amazed that he could wound four well-trained men before being captured. He felt a small amount of respect for the man rise. After a while, he said, simply "I see. Where is he being held right now?"

"He is in cell 6-g, sir."

"Did he mention a name, by any chance?"

"No, sir, only that he has information to discuss with you. He was carrying this when they apprehended him." He held out a long blood-red scimitar. Yuan inspected the weapon, and found an exsphere embedded above the handle.

"Very well. Have the guards bring him to my quarters immediately. I want to hear what this man's information is."

"Yes, sir!" The lieutenant said, saluting, before carrying out his duty. Yuan slowly walked back to his quarters, carrying the sword, with one thought on his mind: maybe I won't have to search the worlds, after all.