Bask in the glory of Part VII (that's seven)! Bask! BASK, I SAY!

Vera-chan aka Arwen: Why did I add your story to my Favorites list? ...Er... because I liked it? That deserves a big duh.Yes, VERY bad Snape. However, I actually think oooSPOILERSooo Snape did that bad thing because Dumbledore wanted him to oooEND SPOILERSooo. And yes, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is my favorite movie of all time, and all my usernames on various places have something to do with it... such as here, "kingofpumpkins", or on the IGN boards, "JackthePumpkinKing". ;)

AnimeDutchess: "I finished Book 6 in 5 hours, 37 minutes," the author said smugly. :P

hurkydoesntknow: Well, here's the new update. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: The only thing featured in this part that I own is... Tree Number One. And even that is being taken from me by the Arbor Society. :P

The Crazies and the Loonies and the... Other Crazies

Part VII - The Story of Insanity

Riku appeared in a large forest. "Wha... this isn't where I was supposed to go!" he cried out. "Well... I might as well explore." He turned around, walking straight into Tree Number One. "Lucky thing I'm protected by the love of fangirls," he commented as his broken skull healed itself.

He wandered around the forest, eventually finding a small house. On the balcony of the house, watching the moon, was a boy with brown hair and a rather unattractive girl with blonde hair. Standing outside the house were a young boy, a woman (both of which had unnaturally silvery white hair, much like Riku's), and a man with flaming red hair.

"Excuse me," Riku said politely, "where is this?"

The three people turned toward Riku. "Who are you?" the man asked.

"My name's Riku," Riku replied.

"I am Raine," stated the woman, "and this is my little brother Genis."

"My name is Kratos," the man said, following suit - which has nothing to do with walking behind a matching set of clothing, by the way.

"That's Lloyd and Colette," Genis told Riku, pointing up at the balcony. "Colette's the Chosen of Mana, and she's going to regenerate the world!"

"Ah... 'Chosen'?" Riku asked.

"You do not know of the story of the Chosen of Mana?" Kratos asked suspiciously.

"Once upon a time," Raine recited, "there existed a giant tree that was the source of all mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess Martel disappeared into the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: 'You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed.' The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the regeneration of the world... The first six Chosens to embark on the regeneration journey were killed at the hands of the Desian menace. Colette is the seventh Chosen; Kratos and I are to protect her on her journey, which begins tomorrow."

"What about Lloyd and Genis?" Riku enquired. "Aren't they going, too?"

"No!" Genis cried out frustratedly. "Raine won't let us!"

"It's for your own good!" Raine picked up Genis and spanked him multiple times.

"Oh, and I suppose that was for his own good, too?" Riku asked shrewdly.

CRACK!

"What was that?" Colette asked in alarm. She looked down and saw a boy with silver hair - who was not Genis - sitting weakly against a tree. However, he was positioned in a way that looked as if he had been thrown into a tree. Raine was chuckling.

"Raine," Colette asked innocently, "Why is that boy using a tree for a chair?"

"Oh, uh..." Raine muttered. "That's Riku. He's, uh... going to join us on our regeneration quest."

"I... am?" Riku asked weakly.

"Yes, you are!" Raine said firmly, and slapped him across the face.

"I think... it would be... better for... my health if... I don't go..." Riku replied weakly. But then seeing the violent glint in Raine's eye, he added "But if... Raine wants me to... go, I suppose... that would be... OK..."

"Okay!" Colette exclaimed happily.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, here I'm gonna skip ahead to the Triet Ruins. That's this big ruin thing in the desert. Basically, the gist of the story of the game that I skipped is, Lloyd and Genis eventually got to go with Colette, Raine, Kratos, and Riku. It's fairly complex, so you'd be better off just playing the game ;)

The six companions (count 'em: six) walked to the ruins on the edge of the desert; Colette excitedly ran in the front of the group, and Kratos and Riku trailed behind, discussing sword techniques.

Raine suddenly gasped. "THIS IS THE TRIET RUINS!" she screamed, obviously excited.

"...Yeah, we realized that," Genis said slowly.

Raine ran ahead and began to circle around the ruins, mumbling crazily to herself as she went. Finally, she turned around. "This stand seems to be an Oracle Stone. Colette, if you place your hand on it, the path to the seal should open up."

"Is she... always like this?" Riku asked.

"I've tried to hide it for twelve years..." Genis replied depressedly, earning him a spank from Raine. Colette stepped forward and placed her hand on the Oracle Stone, which withdrew a slab of rock, revealing a pathway. The six men (and women) walked down the pathway into the temple. Soon, they had arrived at the seal.

Colette approached the seal, but a gigantic, flame-red tiger jumped otu from it and attacked!

To Be Continued

This Part was one of the less humorous, more story-based Parts. I intend for the next one to include two important things: 1, lots and lots of humor; 2, the introduction of a character whose substory I really want to write :P