A few moments of silence went by, as the espers struggled to absorb what had just happened. No one was sure what to say. They had dreamed of this moment for months, but didn't think it possible. However, after that time, Bahamut finally exhaled hard, then turned his gaze to his brothers and sisters. They were in heaps on the ground, but still in the same general area where they battled Kraken last. They all looked back to him and stared. After a moment or so, however, Bahamut managed a smile to them. Then, he turned, and began to walk calmly over to them.

Odin grunted, but then managed to push himself up. He was sore all over, but he forced himself into a seated position. Starlet disengaged herself from Leviathan again, after giving him a supporting smile, and then stood. She took up Zantetsuken, turned, and brought it over to Odin. The warrior esper stared at her as she came, looking blank and a bit shocked. She smiled and offered the blade to him, and in reply he quickly snatched it from her hand. A flash of anger went over his face and he glared at her for touching it. Starlet's own smile quickly vanished, and she recoiled a bit from this. However, Odin quickly relented, and nodded to her.

"…Thank you." He managed to spit out meekly.

Starlet hesitated a moment, but then managed to smile again herself. "Don't mention it."

Wyvern panted and dragged himself over to the others, and Ogopogo finally uncoiled himself and looked around the field again. He seemed to be noticing everything for the first time, and seemed to have not seen that Bahamut had the upper hand at the end of the battle. He looked around a bit, and finally to the strong esper. "Is…is it over?" He asked trembling. "Is…are they all…dead?"

"All gone." Bahamut answered calmly in reply, finally reaching the others. As he did, he quickly crouched down and put himself down on their level, as most of them were laying back or sitting. "They're done. They said something about being able to 'make others', but I don't think that's the easiest or quickest thing to do. Otherwise Griever would have sent a hundred of them at us."

Starlet sighed in relief. "We won…we actually won. None of the humans will die now."

"How we managed to win is what I want to know." Odin suddenly spoke up gruffly. This caused the espers to turn attention to him, but he merely turned and glared at Bahamut. He almost looked like he was angry for him winning. "Six months ago I could have pounded you into the ground. First Wyvern surpasses me, which was shocking enough after all the training I've been doing, but then you come and you're even stronger."

No one noticed, but Wyvern stiffened a bit at this.

"How could you do it?" He demanded. "Was Wyvern lying? Were you really working out down there?"

Bahamut cracked a smile at this, seeming amused that everyone was so interested in his new power. He didn't answer for moment, holding them in suspense. But in the end he spoke up. "Actually, I discovered something different. A theory that held true today, as you all saw…"

"Guys…wait a minute…look."

Leviathan had spoken, and now he gestured with the end of his tail toward what he saw. Quickly, the others all followed suit. Their eyes were soon resting on Phoenix, who was completely silent. The firebird was looking down at her wings, folded in front of her. Cradled gently within them was Palid's pale, limp body. Phoenix hadn't been just trying to stay on the ground. She had been trying to shield his body from being desecrated. She had been effective, and how he lay there. Immediately, the victory became bittersweet. The triumph over the Fiends was diminished. They had managed to live, but they had not saved the human they loved so much. In the end, none of them had the power to save him. Starlet turned her head away and closed her eyes, even as tears began to roll from them again. Odin forgot his jealousy and removed his helmet reverently. Wyvern exhaled in a sad way, and both Leviathan and Ogopogo bowed their heads solemnly. Bahamut stared at the boy, his own face helpless and small.

"It's all my fault." He spoke grimly. "If I hadn't been in such a rush to perfect that attack…I would have been in time to save him…"

"Don't kick yourself Bahamut…" Leviathan glumly answered. "Tiamat might have killed us all and a lot more if you hadn't perfected it."

"I should have sent him away…" Odin muttered. "I should have been strong enough to help him…"

Ogopogo, however, blinked in confusion. "Phoenix, what are you doing?"

Immediately, the others looked to her and saw the reason for the change. As they watched, they saw Phoenix, not looking sad or happy, raise Palad up gently and then set him down against her breast. After doing so, she slowly wrapped her large, fiery wings around him and held him tight. Then, her head slowly lowered and rested on his own pale head, and she closed her eyes. It looked touching for a moment, as if Phoenix was embracing him one more time before laying him down. However, on closer look, to Bahamut and Leviathan it looked almost as if the esper was laying down her own life right there. For a moment, they nearly spoke up.

But then, it happened.

Abruptly, Phoenix burst into glorious flame. The fire was not deadly and searing as before, but splendid and colorful. The flames erupted all around her, seeming to extend from her beautiful feathers. However, both she and Palad were soon consumed in the fire. It surrounded them, burningall around, shrouding them in the bright flames. They were completely enveloped, and continued to burn as the fire shone brighter and burned more splendidly.

The group was mortified. This was horrible. Odin looked around, half expecting some Fiend to pop up and announce they were responsible. Starlet's eyes burst into more tears and she cried out a defiant "No!" to the sight. Ogopogo and Leviathan were too stunned to turn away. Wyvern gaped himself. But Bahamut noticed something. Terrible as it seemed, the flames didn't seem horrible. They seemed more glorious and beautiful than any of his deadly attacks. Rather than an agent of death, this flame looked like it was the spirit of life. And this intrigued him to keep looking.

The flames continued to obscure both Phoenix and Palad for a while, but then, just as quickly as they had come, they faded out and vanished into nothing. There was no smoke and no cinders, nothing to indicate the fire had ever been there. There wasn't even any heat. And as they vanished, they saw Phoenix again. She hadn't been touched by the fire. However, she let out a long, tired breath. Then, as if her strength was gone, she fell backward and collapsed, her wings still wrapped around Palad.

Immediately, the espers went into action. Moving as fast as they could, they rushed up to the fallen Phoenix. Bahamut and Starlet were the fastest, but the others hobbled, shuffled, and dragged themselves along too. However, before ever reaching the esper, Bahamut halted. Quickly, he spread out his arms to halt the others as well. They did so, and looked to see what had made him stop.

Something stirred within Phoenix's wings. The firebird herself kept her eyes closed and breathed heavy, not seeming to notice it. But the others did. They watched and saw a small blond head poke itself out. Only this one didn't have pale, cold flesh, but his skin was warm, pink, and vivid with life. It continued to push itself out, like a chick slowly pushes its way out of its lifeless egg into the light of the living world. But out it did come, pushing its upper torso over Phoenix's chest. The others were shocked. Starlet began to cry again, only this time with overwhelmed joy.

Palad was alive.

The espers held a moment longer, but then rushed forward as one. Starlet seemed to forget all about Phoenix and ran right to Palad, seizing him and pulling him up, twirling him around in the air, and then hugging him tight and repeatedly kissing his head. The others quickly gathered around and began to clamor with confusion and happiness, seeing their beloved human alive. Bahamut went for Phoenix herself, and slowly began to raise her head off the ground to support her. She was still breathing hard, but she managed to gesture to Bahamut to show she was alive. Everyone else was overjoyed, surrounding Palad, hugging, crying, and showing expressions of great joy besides their weakness. Odin himself had to turn his back on the whole incident…too ashamed to show himself shedding any tears. But at length everyone managed to calm down and grow silent again, and all of them turned their attention to Phoenix. Palad, for his part, didn't seem to notice anything had happened, although he seemed a bit weaker and tired.

"Phoenix…" Bahamut uttered in amazement. "You…you brought Palad back to life… How?"

The firebird continued to lay exhausted for a little while. She panted hard and long, but at long last opened her eyes and seemed to catch her breath. "Sorry it's taking me so long…to answer, Bahamut…" She apologized. "To tell you the truth…I've been lying to you all. You all know how Odin was born with warrior instincts. Well…it seems I was born knowing my Omniapex the whole time."

The others immediately looked surprised at Phoenix. They all stared in shock. After a length, Starlet spoke up. "Is that how you knew the Pyrimshad?"

"Yes." Phoenix answered. "Somehow, deep down, I knew I was never meant to be much of a fighter. This confirms it. Yes, that was my Omniapex. I never had any need to use it until today. If I hold someone who died but still has a reasonably intact body in my wings, I can summon a flame of rebirth. I can willingly give up some of my own life force to bring them back to life. That's why Palad's so weak right now. If I had given him enough to be at full, I'd be nearly dead myself. He's strong though…he'll recover soon…and so will I."

Bahamut was honestly amazed, as were the others. He never imagined Phoenix might have had such power. But it was definitely useful. Despite it's restrictions, it could clearly come in helpful in a worse case scenario. This was a great surprise. From the looks of everyone else, they seemed enthusiastic too.

"Well done, Phoenix." Bahamut spoke in compliments. The firebird managed to weakly smile in response.

Palad's eyes flickered a little, as if he was just waking up. "What's going on?" He asked at last. "What are you guys talking about? Kraken had me…I felt something break…I felt-"

"Shh, Palad." Starlet immediately soothed. "It was nothing. Just a bad dream now." Neither she nor anyone else dared tell him the truth. Who knew what impact that would have on him? The boy had suffered enough from the malice of the Fiends. He needed no further worries from what had happened. For a moment, everyone was silent, and Palad exhaled and relaxed against Starlet for a bit longer.

Finally, Odin turned back to Bahamut. "Now Bahamut, as you were saying before? How did you manage to gain such power?"

"Yeah, that's right." Wyvern instantly chimed in. "I know for a fact you weren't doing anything but sitting in that cave for months on end. What did you do?"

Bahamut turned to them, and developed that knowing smile once more, that look that he had discovered something new that they didn't know about. It irritated the others, but they still all looked to him.

"Well, I was going to train like Wyvern." He began. "But then I began to think about Jadea again. I thought about you too, Odin. I realized that you had been working hard your whole life, but, no offense, you were barely able to handle Lich. Then I thought back to Jadea, how he had unlocked our minds…only now, I think of it in terms of unlocking our potential. We both had knowledge of Pyrin in our heads the whole time, but he brought it out. And when he did, our power shot up dramatically. We hadn't worked out or trained at all, yet we were much stronger.

"That's when I made a theory. Perhaps we didn't need to work out. Perhaps our bodies were already in great shape. The only thing is that our powers were locked deep within us. It's not that our bodies and minds are weak, it's that we haven't learned yet how to use everything we had. I was training in that hole, but I was training my mind. I was unlocking more powers within me."

"And now you've hit the Omniapex?" Ogopogo questioned.

Bahamut shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe."

Odin scowled immediately. He crossed his arms in anger. "Terrific." He grumbled. "All this time we've been wasting our time training. It was all for nothing."

Bahamut immediately turned to him and shook his head. "Oh no! On the contrary. Once you guys reach the same level in unlocking your powers as I do, you'll all be much stronger. I was only going for the short term goal. Unlocking my power may have quickly raised my strength, but once I'm done unlocking my powers there won't be anywhere left for me to ascend to. All of the work you guys did training will pay off. You just haven't learned how to make the most out of your stronger bodies yet either."

"You guys look hurt…" Palad suddenly remarked. He still only seemed half in and half out, but now he looked down and looked over the broken, bloody bodies surrounding him.

Wyvern managed a small grin. "Ah, we'll be ok, squirt. It'll take a few months, but our bodies will be back and good as new."

But Palad, his strength seeming to return to him, was already fighting to get out of Starlet's arms. "No, wait." He insisted. "I can help."

The others looked to him in puzzlement at this. "Palad, what are you doing?" Starlet asked.

"I need some water." The human replied. "Some so there's enough for everyone to drink it."

"What's going on, Palad?" Bahamut asked.

At last, Palad had worked himself free enough to go to the ground. He dropped a little but touched down easily enough. He landed on all fours. He seemed dizzy and it was hard to rise quickly, but he did rise again, and he reached for his belt. "Remember when we went and saw Jadea, how he called me back in? He gave me some stuff. He said it's a…a…'miracle elixir' or something. It comes in this powder. So I need some water to put it in to drink or it won't work."

The others paused a moment, but then began to look around for something. Odin himself looked around, and finally looked right down into his own helmet. He frowned for a moment, but then sighed and held it out toward Bahamut and Palad. "…Here." He grumbled. "You can put whatever water you can get in this and mix it."

Palad didn't seem to notice Odin swallowing his pride, but immediately took the helmet from him. Instantly, he fell to the ground under the weight of the piece of armor. Starlet quickly reached down and helped him pick it up. Meanwhile, both Ogopogo and Leviathan were slithering forward to them. Once they reached there, they announced the news.

"We store fresh water in our bellies." Ogopogo explained. "We can bring some out for you guys."

There were no small looks of disgust on everyone's face in response to that.

Leviathan shrugged. "How else do you think I made the Aqua-ject? It's that or nothing. I don't see any streams around for miles."

Everyone still didn't look that keen on the idea of drinking stuff that came out of the espers' stomachs. Still, they had no choice. After groaning and muttering a bit to themselves, Bahamut finally gave a reluctant nod to Starlet, and she responded by even more uneasily passing the helmet over to the two of them. Immediately, both dipped their heads down and opened their mouths. As if they had suddenly turned into natural springs, water rushed out and filled the helmet. Despite the water looking clear and not tainted with saliva, Starlet still held her hand back and tried not to let any get on her. The helmet was soon full, while Odin trembled and grimaced at the sight of his helmet being defiled, and then was passed back over to Palad.

Immediately, the boy brought up his pouch and poured a green powder mixed with bits of herbs and roots into the helmet. Then, he looked around a bit, then took up his axe and used the handle of it to stir it. The other espers peered to watch what was happening, and soon saw that the mixture was turning thick, gooey, and gross. It looked more like a thin slime rather than any sort of potable drink, and none of them had ever had anything but water. They quickly began to turn their noses one after another, but Palad kept mixing for a while, and then finally quit. He pulled his stick out, which trailed some slime after it, and then held it up to the others.

"Ok everyone. Take a big mouthful of it and drink it. But just one mouthful."

"You've got to be kidding…" Wyvern sulked.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Starlet asked, wrinkling her nose further.

Odin rolled his eyes at all of them. "Oh fine, you whining children." He reached over and seized the helmet from Palad's grasp and brought it to his mouth. "If you're all too scared, I'll be first." With that, he turned the helmet into his mouth and took a large mouthful, and then pulled it back down again.

"Hey! I'm no wimp! Pass it here!" Wyvern insisted. Still holding the substance in his own mouth, Odin passed the helmet over to Wyvern. The esper bravely dipped it to his lips and took a big swig, and then promptly swallowed it to show his bravery. Odin began to swallow his own at the same time. Immediately, Wyvern choked and gagged, and his face turned terrible. "Ugh! Essence of Odin!" He wretched. "How often do you clean the sweat out of your helmet?"

Odin finished swallowing and answered. "Never."

"I'm not drinking that." Ogopogo immediately stated defiantly.

Odin blinked a moment, looking a bit distracted, then looked down to his body. He appeared a bit stunned for a moment. "You better…" He slowly remarked, trailing off as he ordered it. Then, still looking bewildered, he suddenly unfastened his torso armor and pulled it off, exposing his bare chest. It was litered with bruises, scrapes, and two bloody cuts. Yet it was quickly changing. The other espers looked, and their eyes grew as they watched the purple color slowly fade from Odin's bruises. The blood scabs became fresh and then drew themselves back into the wounds, before they slowly closed up as well. On one of Odin's sides, a movement occurred under his skin as one of his bones popped back into place, and Odin grunted a little at it. As for the burns on him, they began to flake off as if they were no more than black sand.

Ogopogo blinked once, then extended coils to Wyvern. "Pass that sweat."

Ogopogo drank next, followed by Leviathan, and then Starlet afterward. But by the time that was done, there was only one mouthful left. Phoenix and Bahamut looked to each other for a moment, and looked down at the helmet between them. After a few moments, Phoenix finally looked up and pushed it to him.

"You take it." She insisted. "You're the stronger fighter. You need to be in top shape."

"Oh, this?" Bahamut replied, indicating to his own injuries. "Don't worry about it. Tiamat didn't leave any lasting damage. Besides, you need to be back at full health so you can use that technique again if we need it."

Phoenix hesitated and frowned. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

The firebird sighed, but then tipped the helmet to her mouth and downed the last mouthful.

Odin abruptly sprang to his feet afterward. The only marks left on his skin now were the dried remains of injuries that had healed but were now gone. "Unbelieveable…" He remarked. "Even my bones healed…" He threw a few practice swings of his fists in the air, and sure enough they were as strong and flawless as ever. "My muscles aren't even tired…"

Wyvern hopped up next, freely showing off his own strength as well. "Man…usually it tires out my brain to be doing so many of my special attacks, but even that feels better now!"

Starlet readily sprang to her own feet, and beamed down at Palad. "You did it, Palad. Thank you very much!"

The boy blushed a little, seeming glad to help for once his larger and more powerful friends. It was a big relief to him and filled him with pride. The rest of the espers soon sprang up, each one feeling totally revived and revitalized. All of the pain and injuries were like a dream now. Leviathan even spat on the ground, and then looked down and examined what he had done. "Clear as a pond, not a trace of blood. Guess that takes care of any internal injuries."

Phoenix, last to recover, sprang up, circled in the air once, and then touched back down again. "All right, we're all recovered. So now what do we do?"

"That's obvious." Wyvern answered, swinging his fists challengingly in the air and grinning wide. "We head on down to Griever's and give him a piece of our mind."

"No way!" Ogopogo bleated. "We won the battle; let's call it even for one day."

Wyvern turned to him and frowned. "What're you talking about? You heard the monster. He said Bahamut's stronger than Griever now. With all of us together he won't stand a chance."

Bahamut, however, looked stern and cold. "I'm afraid Ogopogo might be right. We shouldn't risk getting in a fight with Griever."

All of the espers turned around and glared at Bahamut in puzzlement. Wyvern looked almost insulted. "But Big B, you heard what he said. You-"

"I know what he said." Bahamut cut off. "I also remember what Jadea said before he died…how Griever might be able to make his power increase a hundred times stronger than we were after we learned the Pyrin. Even now, with all Four Fiends dead, the evil dominating this world hasn't diminished. Griever's power must be unbelieveable compared to that of the Fiends."

Odin crossed his arms and frowned. "So now what? We run back and get a beating from Crusader fit for all of us? Come back in a few months when Griever could have made four more Fiends?"

"I wouldn't recommend that either." Bahamut reiterated. "Even with the Four Fiends dead, Griever still has the Crystal. He'll still be able to reach out and kill humans everywhere. My guess is he doesn't know the battle's over yet, but in the next few hours he's going to start getting suspicious. Our victory bought us some time and we have to use it."

"How?" Leviathan asked.

Bahamut responded by turning to Phoenix. "You think you can bear Starlet and Palad in flight?"

Phoenix was surprised at suddenly being addressed, but after hesitating she nodded.

"Good." Bahamut answered. "No offense, but I can see that you three are the weakest out of all of us. But you're still much stronger than anything else on this world besides Griever. You guys need to go and start finding as many human villages as you can. Move their residents as far away from the Griever statues as possible. Take them somewhere safe, but put them all together. Without clothing or weapons, they'll all need to stick together as much as possible. Make them take any hides they have with them and some of their fire."

"Me?" Phoenix asked in surprise. "You want me to do all this?"

"Palad and Starlet can help." Bahamut answered. "But I'm counting on you and we have little time. You can fly and you have better eyes than any of us."

"What if they refuse to come?" Starlet asked.

"They will." Bahamut answered. "Palad thought we were Griever or minions of Griever when we first found him. Once they see your power they'll do what you say. And if not…well…it shouldn't be too hard to overpower them. Even Palad at this point could probably command a village by himself after all that training."

"But what'll we do once we've gathered them?" Phoenix asked.

"And why aren't you and Wyvern helping?" Starlet added.

"Guys, there's no time." He insisted. "Suffice to say Wyvern is the second strongest out of all of us and I need his help for something else. Trust me…we'll be doing the harder job. Now go."

Starlet and Phoenix might have protested more, but Palad was already ready to rescue. Taking up his axe, he quickly ran over to Phoenix. "Come on!" He insisted. "Let's go! We have to save the people!"

Starlet's and Phoenix's instincts took over then. They weren't going to deny Palad. They looked down to him hopelessly for a moment, but then finally caved. Phoenix bent down and went flat, and Palad quickly jumped on. Starlet quickly followed suit right behind. She cast a longing look to Bahamut, as if to try and tell him that she too was able to fight. But he wouldn't have any of it. Without her sword, Bahamut didn't think Starlet had anything to offer. And so, he merely looked back hard and unchanging as Phoenix lifted off from the ground. She quickly flapped high and into the sky. Once she was there, she turned away from the others and began to take off as fast as she could. The others watched her as she went away for a few moments, but then she vanished, and they were alone again.

Almost immediately, Leviathan tapped Bahamut on the shoulder with his tail. "Uh, Bahamut?" He asked. The esper turned and looked to him. "I was wondering…now that you're at your level, is there any way you could somehow raise our own powers? You know, by going into our minds and unlocking what's there?"

Bahamut immediately smiled in response. "You are a mind reader, Leviathan. That's just what I was hoping for. Now, mind you, this won't be that good. I can only raise it a little. We don't have a lot of time and this will have to be a rush job. But I can give you all a little boost. Let's get started. There's no telling when Griever will arrive." He then turned his head and searched the group for a moment. Finally, his eyes rested on Ogopogo. "You're the weakest, Ogopogo. You first."

The serpent, ever nervous, swallowed a little and nervously gestured to himself. "Uh, me?"

"Go on, Ogo." Leviathan encouraged, gesturing him forward. "You're nearly to my level on mentality. Maybe you'll learn my powers too."

Ogopogo still looked uneasy. "Uh, will it hurt?"

"Not at all." Bahamut answered. "Just get over here. Hurry, there's not much time."

Ogopogo swallowed again, and looked nervously around at the others. Leviathan was encouraging, but Odin and Wyvern seemed impatient for him to go. At last, he managed to slither forward toward Bahamut. In truth, he feared him a little now that he had gotten so strong. But still he did as he was told. Soon, he was right before the esper. "Ok, what do I do?"

"Just close your eyes and try to clear your mind as best you can."

Ogopogo swallowed, but then closed his eyes and did so. Bahamut watched him for a moment, as he inhaled slowly and exhaled slowly. Once it seemed as if Ogopogo was ready enough, the esper raised both of his hands and placed them on his head. He bowed his own long neck and closed his own eyes. "Now keep your mind clear." He warned, and then went silent and focused. Leviathan, with his ability to read minds, immediately looked in on what Bahamut was doing. But he could see little. There was a lot of random thoughts bumping around and things coming out of nowhere. There were strange visions and items popping out. But over it all, he felt Ogopogo's power steadily rise. In an instant he surpassed Leviathan, and then kept on going. However, after a moment, it seemed to plateau, and then taper off. When that happened, Bahamut opened his eyes and released Ogopogo.

The serpant himself opened his eyes, looking amazed as he did so. He breathed a little slowly, seeming to marvel over his own new power. He turned and he looked to Leviathan with wide, amazed eyes, and then spoke to him. But he didn't use words.

Leviathan…my power almost doubled.

Leviathan smiled at his brother and nodded. You also look like you awakened some of your powers.

The serpent managed to smile and nod. That's right. The Aqua-ject came out in my mind too.

Alright you two. That's enough. Leviathan, you're next.

Leviathan turned over to the source of the new noise, and soon rested his eyes on Bahamut. The esper was now beckoning to him. Quickly, Ogopogo got out of the way, and Leviathan moved up in his place. He was much more bold this time, and quickly put himself in the same position. Bahamut focused on him and looked him in the eye. "Now I managed to unlock some of Ogopogo's abilities. But because you managed to unlock some on your own, I should be able to do more with you. Are you ready?"

Leviathan nodded.

"Ok. Clear your mind."

Leviathan immediately did as he was told. He had been practicing this somewhat, and it was now second nature for him to clear his own mind. Immediately, he focused on nothing, and held himself there. He closed his eyes and continued to focus. He was so dedicated, he barely even noticed Bahamut placing his hands on his head. But he certainly noticed what happened next.

It was rather like he had seen in Ogopogo's mind, only now Leviathan was forced to feel it for himself. He felt a presence move through him, pulling up old memories and casting them around as if it was searching for something beneath them. But what more, it felt like a massive force had seized him and was going to work on him. He felt a great loosening, as if his whole life there had been knots tied up in his body and brain, and that now they were being undone. He felt his ability to read minds becoming stronger and clearer. Things that he knew before became more clearly established in his mind, and his power grew considerably. He felt more control over the Aqua-ject than ever, and even felt somewhere deeper in his mind that he had a greater power still awaiting him. But just as he began to see it, it suddenly pulled itself away, and his memories piled back on top of it and buried it once again. It was lost again in his mind, and Bahamut was finished. The serpent opened his eyes and looked to Bahamut.

His power had grown stronger. He felt over twice as strong himself. He looked around to Odin and Wyvern, and was pleased to see he could more clearly feel their strengths than before. He still was no match for Wyvern, but he was now amazed to see he could deal with Odin. Not saying a word, however, he slid to the side.

"Ok Odin, now you."

Odin grunted as he reluctantly came forward. "I'd rather train myself, Bahamut. I don't need your help to become strong."

"I already told you. You're strength training wasn't for nothing." Bahamut explained. "You surpassed everyone except Wyvern in terms of that. This will just help you get the most of it."

Odin snorted. "Fine. Let's get it over with."

"Alright, but you'll have to clear your mind."

"Yes, yes, get on with it." Odin answered, closing his eyes, crossing his arms, and sighing.

Bahamut waited for a while with him. Odin was strong, but he hadn't focused too much on developing his mind. It might have been harder for him. However, being a warrior, he was still able to uncloud his mind to focus on a task at hand. As such, Bahamut bowed his own head and placed his hands on Odin, and began to do the same thing as before. Leviathan decided to stay out of Odin's head for this time, thinking he would react strongly if he knew he was in there. However, he was soon amazed to see Odin's dramatic increase of strength. In no time at all, Leviathan was back to being weaker than him, and Odin continued to rise. His power too more than doubled, before it too tapered off and stopped. Bahamut released him and stood back to let him react.

Odin silently looked down at his body, examining it and seeming to check it's new strength. He did so for a short while, not looking as enthusiastic as Ogopogo and Leviathan did. In the end, he frowned a bit and looked back to Bahamut. "It's stronger at least." He admitted. "But I noticed I'm still well below Wyvern and you. I would still be a pushover if I tried to fight any of the Fiends as I am now."

Bahamut shrugged helplessly. "Sorry. That's the best I can do for now."

"I also didn't master telepathy." Odin added.

"No, but you're sensing and receptive power increased. Sorry, but you'll have to master it on your own it looks like." Bahamut answered.

Odin grumbled, but then turned away and looked to the ground. He saw his wet helmet laying there, and quickly bent over and picked it up. As he did so, he tore a clod of grassy earth from the ground, and proceeded to use it as a sort of cloth to wipe out the interior. After doing so, he replaced the helmet on his head. However, no sooner had he done so, then he suddenly snapped his head to the north. And he wasn't alone. Bahamut and Leviathan quickly turned their heads to do the same. Their eyes enlarged, and a cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

Wyvern and Ogopogo saw this, and looked at them in confusion. "What's wrong?" Ogopogo asked.

"What's going on?" Wyvern insisted.

No one answered for a moment. They only continued to stare northward and look fearful. However, Odin was the one who was bold enough to announce the first statement.

"Griever…is coming."

Immediately, Ogopogo went white as a sheet. "G-G-Griever!"

"He's horrible…" Leviathan remarked, breathless with fear as he stared blankly northward, as if he saw some invisible monster headed for them. "His aura…it's pulsing with evil…and he makes Tiamat look like a joke."

"He's headed straight here." Odin spoke darkly, his eyes already focusing and burning on the direction of Griever's approach. "He's fast…horribly fast… He'll be here within an hour."

Ogopogo yelped. "Run! Let's run while we still can! He senses us!"

"I don't think so, Ogo." Leviathan assured, while still looking fearfully northward. "I can sense the mental ability coming off of you and Bahamut, but I can't sense anything from this one. Even Tiamat was only able to sense to a small degree, and the other Fiends didn't sense at all. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have been stupid enough to charge Bahamut."

"Good." Wyvern replied with a challenging grin. "Once Bahamut unlocks my power, we'll be unbeatable. We can end this right today."

"No, Wyvern." Bahamut immediately corrected. "You've got a lot of potential in you to unlock, especially since you have a somewhat developed mind and strength training, but my little boost won't do you any good. Maybe if you could ascend to the next highest level of attack we'd be better prepared, but not right now."

Odin turned his head grimly to Bahamut. "Then what are you suggesting? Do we run back to Ultima Nexus? Or do we help Starlet and Phoenix in their own task?"

"Neither." Bahamut responded with a smile.

Now, all of the espers turned and faced him. All of their looks were puzzled. "Excuse me?" Leviathan asked.

"This is the chance we've been waiting for." Bahamut answered. "He's got so much power he's leaving a tailpipe behind him. It leads right back to wherever he's based. You can bet that he's got the Crystal stored there. And now, without the Fiends, there's no one left to guard it." After saying this, Bahamut turned to Odin. "You said he'd be here in an hour. Now, I know Slepnir is fast, but-"

Odin's frown vanished as he cracked a smile. "Don't worry. Fast as this guy is, Slepnir is fast as the wind itself. He could be there in fifteen minutes…twenty at the most. I see what you're getting at. You want us to steal the Crystal right out from underneath Griever's nose."

Bahamut smiled wider and nodded. "Exactly. After I've released Wyvern's power, you all can take off and head for Griever's hideout. If Slepnir can move that fast and you guys can find it fast enough, you should be there and back with the Crystal before Griever even gets here. Then we just need to run. But even if you don't, you guys can take off and I'll take off, and Griever will be left looking at what's left of the Four Fiends. If need be, I can stall him a while too if anything goes wrong. Once we have the Crystal, he'll never be able to make any Fiends again. He'll not only be blind to our power but blind to the rest of the world. We can save the humans and find out what to do from there at our leisure."

Leviathan smiled too and nodded. "It's one heck of a risk, and I don't like wandering into a bee's nest, but it's the best bet we've got and I'm all for it."

Ogopogo sweat and gulped a moment, turning his head back to Leviathan. However, seeing his brother willing to go helped to push him. He sighed and shrugged and then turned back to Bahamut. "I guess I'll help too… I do know that new power now…"

Wyvern, however, looked skeptical. He began to walk up to Bahamut, his eyes full of concern and seeming reluctant to the entire plan. "Wait." He told him. "Can I have a word in private with you, Big B?"

Bahamut turned to him and gazed in puzzlement. What could the problem be? The others seemed to agree. Odin frowned and crossed his arms again. "Come on, you. We don't need to waste our time with idle chit-chat or brotherly wishes."

Wyvern ignored him, but made straight for Bahamut. His face was expectant. He gestured a bit ahead, away from the others. Bahamut frowned a little, and turned anxiously to the north and scanned the sky. Griever was still coming, and he knew there wasn't much time for this. But in the end, he sighed and turned his body back to Wyvern. After doing so, he turned and began to walk with him away from the rest of the espers. He supposed they had time. Even at his slowest, Slepnir could still give them a twenty minute opening in which to find the Crystal once they got there. If this was quick it wouldn't matter. Besides, it had been months since he was able to talk with his brother. He really wished there was more time, but now wasn't a good opportunity. At any rate, he walked with Wyvern until they were fairly far away from the others, well out of earshot. He knew very well that Ogopogo and Leviathan would still sense their thoughts, but he hoped that they had enough decency not to do so. They halted and turned to each other.

"What is it?" Bahamut asked.

"Teach me the Pyron." Wyvern answered.

Bahamut paused a moment, but then felt like laughing a little. Was this another one of Wyvern's jokes? However, his brother looked perfectly serious. "Teach you the Pyron?"

"Come on!" Wyvern urged, though keeping his voice low. "You can do it, can't you?"

"Well…yeah." Bahamut answered. "But it would take a while, and right now we're a little short on time…"

"We have an hour."

"That might not be long enough."

"But look at you! You're already outstripping me by leaps and bounds. I gotta catch up!"

Bahamut sighed a bit. This was getting on his nerves. "Well, we can worry about that later. This isn't about which one of us is the better fighter or stronger. We've got to worry about the humans."

"I know, I know." Wyvern nodded. "But think about it. You said with my physical training and mental fortitude I'd get the largest boost. Why settle there? If both of us are as strong as you, Griever doesn't stand a chance. Why settle for the Crystal when we can put Griever down for good tonight?"

"Are you two coming or what?" Odin suddenly called from his position. "We can't wait forever."

Bahamut groaned and turned his head to him. "In a minute!" He insisted, before impatiently turning his head back to Wyvern. He wished his brother wasn't so insistant on being strong. If he had been patient enough to focus like Bahamut had while imprisoned, he would be as strong as him. Right now they couldn't afford to divide their forces.

"I don't think even both of us together is enough to beat Griever." Bahamut stated, which was truth enough. "I'm not even sure if the Mega-pyrin is my Omniapex."

Wyvern hesitated after this. He stared at Bahamut a moment, then suddenly changed his tone. Now it became more pleading and soft.

"Bahamut…don't you remember the promise we made? We vowed that we were going to save this world together. This was going to be our moment, our promise to this planet."

Bahamut immediately felt a turn in his stomach. He paused a moment, but then bowed his head and nodded. "Yes, I remember."

"Bahamut…we've always done everything together." Wyvern went on. "We've been close as brothers can get. We've only really had each other growing up. You know…we've always been there for each other. We always helped each other out of scrapes and trouble." He hesitated a moment. "Be here for me now. Let's do this together too. Let's let it be our bond as brothers, forever."

Bahamut sighed again. After hearing Wyvern, he began to feel torn inside. It was true. He had always been together with him. He always had done everything with him. And now, he was so far above Wyvern that he realized his brother had good reason to feel left behind or left out. Slowly, Bahamut raised his head and turned it over to the others. Odin was impatiently waiting and Ogopogo showed nothing, but Leviathan was mouthing "no" to him. Evidently, he had been reading their minds. And Leviathan had a point. If they did run into trouble, Wyvern was their best bet for getting them out of it. They didn't have time to waste doing this. It was a silly and foolish diversion that they couldn't afford.

And yet…as Bahamut turned and looked into Wyvern's pleading eyes once again, he couldn't deny him. Closer as he had grown to his siblings, Wyvern was still the closest of all. Until now, they had taken every step together, and he didn't want to leave him behind at this time. He could not deny his most beloved relative a request. He paused only a moment longer, but then sighed and gave a nod. "All right, Wyvern. I'll teach it to you."

Immediately, Wyvern's face lit up in delight.

"But…" Bahamut warned. "If Griever gets here before we're done, I'm cutting it off."

"Sure, sure…" Wyvern answered, waving it off. "Let's just hurry up. I can't wait to show Griever that I know his little servant's best attack!"

At this, Leviathan could hold no longer. "No, Bahamut!" He called over from where he was. "We can't afford the time!"

"Time for what?" Odin immediately demanded.

Leviathan sighed and looked to him. "He's going to keep Wyvern here and teach him the Pyron, even though it will take a long time."

Immediately, Odin blustered. "No!" He instantly commanded. "You've already grown stronger than me! You told me you didn't have time to raise my power any more! But evidently, for your closest brother you can always make exceptions. If you're going to do that for him, I want every moment of his time extended to me as well!"

"Come on!" Ogopogo whined. "Don't leave us on our own! Wyvern's one of our best!"

Bahamut groaned inwardly. He had a feeling this would happen. Wyvern didn't seem to care. He merely hopped eagerly in place waiting to learn the attack. It was up to Bahamut to make an excuse. Sighing, he turned and looked to the others. "Look, if you want me to help you get stronger, then we can do it when you get back. But we don't have time right now. I just decided that if Griever gets here, it would probably be better for Wyvern to help me out. You guys don't really need his help just to pick up the Crystal. Do you?"

Leviathan, of course, saw right through Bahamut's lie. However, he didn't dispute him. He merely looked at him in a disappointed way and shook his head at him, expressing his clear view of what a bad idea this was. Ogopogo anxiously looked to Odin for an answer. The warrior esper glared at him a long time, his arms crossed and sullen faced. In the end, however, he snorted and turned his back to him.

"I don't need or want your help." He sneered. "I'll surpass you on my own."

With that, Odin gave a sharp whistle. A moment later, shooting like a thunderbolt, Slepnir emerged from one of the hills surrounding the battlefield and darted straight for its master. In no time flat it had cleared the plains and was right in front of him. Never looking back to Bahamut, Odin sheathed his blade behind him and mounted him. Leviathan sighed and shook his head at Bahamut one more time, then turned and slithered up to mount himself on the horse by coiling his body once around it. Ogopogo gulped again, but then quickly slid up after his brother and mounted in a similar fashion. Odin didn't bother giving Bahamut a parting look. He merely clicked to signal Slepnir to move. The horse reared up and kicked four of its six legs for a moment. Then, it went back down and leapt up. Like a flash, the animal shot high into the air, and Bahamut looked up after him and watched him vanish into a dot. Soon, they were gone.

The esper sighed. He hoped he hadn't made the wrong choice. Even if he didn't, he felt he had alienated himself from his brothers once again. But Wyvern didn't care at all.

"Finally, they're gone!" He piped up, as if he hadn't grown one bit closer to them since the day he was born. "Let's get started! Come on!" He urged.

Bahamut turned away from them and looked to Wyvern with a nod. "Alright, alright. Now this is going to be harder…"

"Yes, yes…"

"And will require more focus…"

"Alright, alright, let's go!"

"Listen to me!" Bahamut insisted, almost growing angry with Wyvern. "This is going to be hard for me so you need to help me out! Now you're not only going to have to clear your mind this time, but also meditate on learning the Pyron. My guess is because you're like me it'll come natural, so I'll try to guide you to unlocking it. But you will have to help me, otherwise I'll just plateau like I did with the others. And sitting down is probably better."

"Ok, ok." Wyvern answered. He quickly dropped to the ground in a seated position, looking the total opposite of calm and clear. Bahamut stared at him disdainfully for a moment, but then also sat down. He bent his head and closed his eyes as before, and then reached over and placed his hands on Wyvern's head.

"Now bow your head like mine and close your eyes, and focus."

To be continued...