Chapter Three

Zelos was just about finished packing his bags when Sheena popped into the room with a scowl. "Where do you think you're going?" The red-head looked up, his sapphire eyes glimmering with amusement. "I'm going to pick up Kage, of course. The doctor just gave me a call. It will only take a moment with my reheard, so don't freak, Hunny!" The ninja woman just glared at him, and left the room, muttering something about 'perverts' and 'child molesters'. Zelos shook his head, and finished gathering his supplies. Looking in the mirror, he tried to fix his hair. No matter how hard he tried he could never get his hair to stay straight, but his Hunnies didn't seem to mind that much.

He straightened his pink coat, and was about to leave the room, when he remembered that he had left his bag on the ground. As he went to pick it up, he saw a bit of red peeking out from underneath his bed. Zelos went down to pull it out, and when he did, he noticed that it was a rag doll of some sort. When he realized what it was, he gasped. At a closer look, he saw the coat that the hand made doll wore was a faded pink, with brown tassels that looked like some had fallen off from too much handling. His other signature item, his white headband, was glued to the dolls plush head with some sort of fabric glue. "This is… me?" He whispered.

To say in the least, Zelos was a little disturbed. Was it some sort of voodoo doll? Was it placed here as a warning? He turned the doll over to inspect it for any marks of dolly-torture, but other then the grime that covered it, there was nothing really that suspicious about the mini version of him. Lifting up the pink coat, he saw that in black ink, someone had written something.

"Zel-kun"

Owned by Kage N

If found, return to

Avren Pt.77093

Apt. 001

Zelos looked at the plushie again. This was an item obviously held dear by the girl he had 'saved'. After a moments thought, he packed the doll in with the other stuff he had brought with him. Hair supplies, and such, and left for the Tethe'alla Renegade base.

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As soon as Kage left Yuan's office, she immediately was thinking about what he had said. Her mind flashed back to just a few moments ago. She was killed, and we all died. She couldn't get his voice out of her head. He confused her. If Mithos was trying to resurrect his sister, who was Martel, and also Yuan's love, then why wasn't he on Mithos' side, instead of trying to stop him? What was this all really about?

She pushed up her shoulders, still unaccustomed to the weight of her new weapons. No doubt, when she got back, the others would wonder where she got them. Hopefully Zelos would help her come up with some excuse. He did kinda owe her. Then again, so did she. 'It balances out, really. I'm able to keep my life and… well, normally I would be angry at someone for making such a choice for me, but what's done, is done, and I am already an Angel.' Kage walked down the hall, keeping an eye out for the brunette Renegade she had seen moments before. With no sign of him, she began the short walk back to the room she had woken up in. She picked up her small amount of items, then paused. How was she going to get back to Zelos' mansion? It was true that she knew how to get there in the game, but in the game, the forests were like grass, and the mountains molehills. She had no map, no reheard, no boat, and no experience in fighting. Hell, she had never left the city. So again, she asked herself, 'How am I going to get to Meltokio?' Just then, there was a loud knock on the door, followed by a gruff voice telling her that someone was here to see her.

Kage picked up her stuff, and slung the things over her shoulder. Whoever it was would just have to take her as she was. When she opened the door, she was met face to face with an obviously very perturbed Zelos. "Uh… hi--!" The Chosen of Tethe'alla was cut off as he received a semi-painful tackle hug from the newly 'born' angel. "Zel-kun! Where have you been!" His eyes widened in shock. Shouldn't she be hitting him now? Sheena would have. Raine would have. Hell, he would have probably hit himself. Zelos struggled to remain balanced with the small dark eyed woman swinging from his neck. "Uh… C'cahn't… breeatch.." He was having trouble breathing, indeed, and speaking required breathing, at least on his world.

"Oh, well that won't do!" She let go of him almost immediately. While Zelos rubbed the back of his neck, Kage was looking him up and down, as if appraising him. The Chosen looked at her with a tad bit of amusement. "Like what you see?" Kage could feel her face heat up, and she quickly tried to pull her eyes away from him, but she couldn't. She covered her face with her hands. "Oh it's okay, Hunny! I know, everyone wants me, you probably couldn't resist a look!" He stated it like it was a fact, and Kage blushed several shades darker then his hair. He smirked, and decided that this was the perfect time to get a little revenge for the first night they met. Without waiting for her reply to his other question, he bent down, and planted a kiss on her lips.

At first, Kage didn't respond, she was too shocked. 'What in the name of Martel is he doing!' but after a second, she leaned in and kissed him back. Zelos' eyes widened a moment, but he didn't pull back. The kiss continued to grow deeper, until they both heard an embarrassed-sounding cough. The couple broke up, and turned around, red staining both of their cheeks. It was Kratos. He looked greatly flustered, and it took him a while to be able to speak. "Zelos," He began, ignoring the sound of footsteps that were getting louder around the corner. "I called you here to pick up the troublemaker here, not fondle her in hallway when she hasn't even completely left her room." Kage tried to protest, but all that came out was a squeak. Zelos was frozen.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and Yuan poked his head of blue hair around the corner. "Who's fondling who! I swear, if Kafei is molesting one of our new recruits again, I'm going to- oh. It's only Zelos." Zelos fumed. "Only Zelos! I'll have you know that I am the almighty Zelos of the supreme Zelosness!" Kage shook her head. "No that's Yuan." The blue-haired elf looked at her oddly. "I am…?" She laughed. "You don't remember…? Yuan of the ultimate…" Yuan blanched. "Yes. Right. Indeed. Zelos, you are dismissed, Kratos, Botta is looking for you. He has… financial problems to deal with. And he needs you." What he wasn't saying was that it was because Kage had cost them quite a bit of money in repairs. And since Kratos had brought the walking ball of concentrated chaos, he would be the one to pay the bill.

Kratos just nodded, and headed towards the other man's office. Yuan looked at them sharply. "Kage. Remember what I told you. Go to Lloyd and the others." 'You are the only real hope, for all of us.', he thought, but didn't say anything else. As he turned, Zelos gave Kage an odd look, and they both left the building. When they reached the reheard, Kage looked at Zelos. "You aren't going to fly with your wings?" Zelos looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "How did you…? Oh, right. I don't have my wings yet. I haven't finished going through the angel transformation. Even if I did, I wouldn't use them. Lloyd… isn't supposed to know." There were so many things he wanted to ask her. What had Yuan meant? Did he want Kage to fight with Lloyd and the others? Would she? Did she know what he intended to do?

"Oh." She said. He hopped in the aircraft with ease, and was about to help up Kage, but she jumped into the reheard, and sat in his lap. Zelos looked at her in shock. Had she really gone through the entire transformation in only one night? She seemed to have no qualms about using her power in front of other people, if anything, she seemed to be a natural at it. He wondered what had happened while he was gone. More so, he wondered what had happened to her before she came to him. For surely, she was there for him. Right?

Kage, on the other hand, was thinking hard about Zelos. 'Still going through the angelic transformation?' It had been frightening to her. She could still remember the night before. The numbness. The panic. She had been nearly paralyzed with fear, although the shock of wearing her favorite characters clothes had shocked her out of her drama. Was he really going to go through all that? It seemed like it would take longer for him…

Zelos had noticed how she had been thinking. He felt bad about lying to her. He was a complete angel, but he didn't want her to see it. Him as he was. He would postpone it as long as possible. 'Sometimes a lie is kinder then the truth' he thought, and asked her as they set off, "Kage," She leaned into him as a kind of acknowledgment. "What happened to you? When my nurse was bathing you, she said that she saw that you were covered in bruises and scars. Would you tell me?" He could feel her tense up. "…" She didn't say anything. Her silence was answer enough, but he had to press her. "Please? I'll let you ask me anything you want…" She loosened up a bit. "Promise?" She asked, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her. "Promise." He didn't stop to think about what he was doing, he just did it. What would be, would be.

She nodded, and began her story. "When I was around four years old, my father tried to kill me, and when he failed, abandoned my mother and me. I don't remember much about him, save that he was incredibly beautiful, and cruel. My Mom was never quite the same. She re-married several times, and on the fourth time, she married a man called Shio.

"Shio is a horrible person. My Mom disappeared about two weeks before I woke up here, and Shio said he was looking for her, and took me out to eat. I took Ze- my doll with me, and was really suspicious. He ended up driving me out to the desert, and leaving me out in a shack. I was there for three days, and I had nothing to eat, or drink. Eventually, on the third night, there was a harvest moon. I went outside… Oh, Zel," She whispered, "It was like I was being called. I felt wanted for the first time, I followed a whisper to a stone dais, and I think I broke my leg, somehow, I ended up here…"

He interrupted her, "That doesn't explain all the injuries you sustained." She looked at him oddly. "I was abused. People have been trying to hurt me ever since I was little. I had to learn to defend myself, but I never could. My Mom lost her mind, and I was left alone." "How did you know about us?" Kage looked down. "It- I was- You are-" She gave up with a sigh. "You are in a fantastical story played in a game created on my world." He looked at her again. "Are you saying that I am a pawn on a chessboard, or something?" Kage shook her head. "No, no, no. Games in our world are like… plays. On screens. With high clarity. And you control the characters with a little remote called a controller. You are like… a cartoon. You have cartoons here, right? Not that you weren't always real… You would have had to of been, for me to be here." It took Zelos a while for it all to sink in, and when it did, he still didn't get it. He wasn't sure he wanted to. "What would you call your planet?" He finally asked. "Actually? Like it's given name? We call it Earth, but a long time ago, it was Gaia. Named after an Earthly goddess." He looked at her sharply, "You have goddesses on Gaia as well?" Kage smiled. "Not in your sense of the word." She grew quiet for a moment. "They don't exist… at all, that we can prove, but we worship them. Like totems."

Zelos shook his head, temporarily looking away from his steering. "This is all a little too weird for me." Kage smirked. "Like your world isn't a 'little too weird' for me? Where I come from, there are no Angels, no magic, no Elves, no half elves, no Cruxis, no crystals, no floating cities, no dragons, sorcerers, or bird-people. No summon spirits, no ninja's, no kings, no royalty, and no reheards."

"What you would call a 'great city' we would call fantasy, what you would call a 'grand structure' we would call ancient ruins. Everything is… bigger. Nothing is ever the same." Kage stopped. "However…" Zelos picked up where she left off, "Racism? Sacrifices? Political intrigue?" Kage laughed. "Indeed, we have all that. Our current president- you might call him a King, save for we choose our leaders, at least in my country, is an ass. At least in my opinion- there are parties-" "We have dinner parties here, too!" Kage looked like she was about to explode with laughter. "Political parties. Assumed by the working class." Kage tried to explain. Zelos cut her off. "We have parties with leaders, too!" The girl shook her head. "No Zelos. The 'Parties' I am speaking of our groups of people with different ideas. These people get in fights. Religion causes war. Gods, I never knew explaining the system of my world could be so hard… there is, like, too much to explain…"

"What about religion, then?" He asked, trying to make up for what he had said earlier. "Don't even start on that. There are waaayyy too many of them." "Tell me some." Kage raised an eyebrow. "Which one? Hindu, Buddhism, Christianity? Jewish, Pagan, Wicca? Oh- Muslims? Which one!" Zelos shook his head, and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. "Why do you need so many religions? Why would any world need to be that complicated?" Kage laughed, "I have no idea. With a world full of only Humans… we have over complicated things. We call what we have 'rights' but in all truth, I really don't think we have any freedom at all. Not like I should be the one to speak." Zelos looked at her a moment. She came from another world, and had experienced things he probably never would. How many others like her existed on her world… on Earth? He couldn't help but wonder if there were people like him.

"And Chosen's? Is there anything like a sacrifice in your world?" Kage shook her head. "No one person is sacrificed, however, many die for many different reasons. War. Famine. Starvation. Murder. Some people die from being assassinated, and still some kill themselves. Some would say that they did it for others, and although they may have… No. We don't have any system like that of the World Regeneration. However, we have a legend…" Zelos perked up at this. "Legend?" "Once, a long time ago, there was a man who gave his life for our sins. He was said to be 'The Child of God'. There are a lot of people who hold to that religion. As there are many who do not. I believe, that we all, in a sense, do have to give something up in our lives. Maybe more than one thing."

"A man who gave his life up for you? That's sounds suspiciously like the ritual of the Chosen." Kage laughed at that. "No… the Chosen is not necessarily willing… He or She is deemed a Sacrifice at birth… This person was said to be God and His Child, and to have done it willingly." Kage scowled, and grumbled, "What fool would give his life for a world that never saw him as anything but a tool? I wouldn't… stand for it. Never." Zelos looked a little shocked. He had assumed that, unlike Lloyd and the others she could condemn the Chosen. However… "Kage?" The girl looked up. "I think I found something of yours…" He turned away with a blush when she asked him what it was. "Ah… a doll…" Kage jumped. "You… found… Z-Zel-kun? I-it was made to…" Zelos nodded. "Look like me? Yeah. Nice job on the coat." He saw her smile at that. So she had made it, just like he thought. "Why did you…?" "Oh," Kage began, "When I lived on Earth, I had no one to talk to you, and one day… I went to a store, and found a game called 'Tales of Symphonia' I picked it up, and I played it, and since I was always alone… you all became my friends. When Shio took me away, I'd had to leave behind all my dolls but one. The other dolls were not that well made, and I always brought Zel-kun with me. So I brought Zel with me, and I had to leave Yuan and Botta and Kratos and Martel behind. Also Tabatha. Zelos looked at her oddly. "Botta?" She looked flustered. "Well, Yuan would have been alone if he didn't have a …friend… so I made a Botta… doll…" If Zelos noticed all of the things left unsaid, he didn't say anything, and Kage was glad.

"GALD!" She screamed abruptly. Zelos jumped. "Holy shi- Money? What?" Kage giggled. "Gald it exists here. And Apple gels. And pretty redheads, who almost seem to have split personalities!" Zelos coughed. "Who has split personalities?" He asked, looking pointedly at her. Kage laughed. "Oh, don't hate me because I'm beautiful!" She said in a mocking tone. "Hey! That's my line- waitaminute…" He narrowed his eyes. "You are so evil." Kage laughed maliciously. "Indeed!" Zelos rolled his eyes. She was going to be the death of him.

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When they arrived at Zelos' house in Meltokio, Kage looked like she was about to have a seizure. "Uh, Kage, are you alright?" She squealed, and jumped around. "It's Zel-kun's house! In Zel-kun's city! In Zel-kun's world!" Sheena chose that moment to walk outside. "What's all this racket?" She muttered, scratching her head. "I see you have acquired yet another groupie. What do you call this one?" Zelos laughed, "Hunny, this is Sheena, my Voluptuous Hunny, and Sheena, I call this one, 'Kage'." Kage jumped and squealed. "And he called me 'Hunny'! His trademark phrase! OMG!" Her eyes were as big a saucers. Kage waved her hands in the air in a very chibi like manor. He had to wonder, though… "Yes, and you are wearing his clothes." He said with a wink. Kage jumped at that. "Zel-Zel-kun's clothes?" Hearts drifted above her head in a very Raine-like way. "I shall wear them, always!"

Zelos raised an eyebrow. Sebastian wouldn't much like that. He never did like smelly people. Zelos had learned that the hard way in grade school, and now it had become habit to look and smell gorgeous. Kage smiled. "K-Kage? No way. That half-dead child that clung to you for several nights?" A spark appeared in Sheena's eyes. "What did you give her?" Zelos laughed nervously. That was Sheena's you-will-now-feel-much-pain look. "Seriously, though," The ninja started after she had finished pummeling Zelos. "She doesn't look young enough to be Kage. When I last saw her…" Kage interrupted, "I'm the same age as you, Sheena-san!" The purple clad combatant looked at her, "Nineteen? No way." Her voice, however betrayed her thoughts. She did look around Sheena's age, the only thing was that her long hair dwarfed her body, and she seemed very small in the clothes that Zelos had lent her. Kage caught Sheena staring at her hair. "Yeah, it could do with a trim…" Zelos arranged to have her hair cut at his favorite salon, and Kage looked like a person who had just found out that she had inherited the whole of Tethe'alla after having lived in the slums all her life. "Uh… Kage?"

"Zel-kun!" She ran up, and hugged him, letting herself linger a bit, and then looked at Sheena. "Sheena!" And hugged her. Sheena shook her head. "This is nothing but trouble, Zelos." Kage calmed down enough to catch her breath and reply. "Trouble?" She let a chill slip into her voice, part of what she felt. "I realize that Kage is new, and familiar with this world. However, she needs to realize that this is not all fun and games." Kage nodded. "I know full well of the condition of the two worlds, Sheena Fujibayashi." Zelos was a little disturbed. Her voice was no longer that of the girl he had come to know, but rather one he had become familiar with in Cruxis. The voice of an angel putting the mission of resurrecting Martel before all else. She was… "We will need to talk to Lloyd and the others about this."

With that, she walked into the mansion, Zelos and Kage trailing behind her.