Twelve
Victory or Defeat
Slowly… Lloyd regained consciousness. His back ached and his muscles were sore. The Eternal Blade was gone. He looked around. He was still by the Great Tree… but Sylvarant lay in ruins. The green life was gone, and everything was leveled to a blighted, barren wasteland. The Tree was the only sign of life besides the humans. The corpses still littered the ground, and Colette, Genis and Presea were standing over him.
"Hi there sleepy head," Colette smiled… but Lloyd could tell her heart was not in it.
"W…what happened?" Lloyd asked groggily.
"I dunno, really," Genis trailed off. "We were all in a spell, and only Colette broke it once to save you… other than that we were helpless."
"The Eternal Blade saved us. Martel saved us," Presea said flatly. "But not them," she pointed at the dead bodies.
Lloyd's eyes watered as he saw Zelos and Sheena still in their embrace, Regal without his chains and Raine. "Is she alive?" he asked after awhile.
Genis looked down. "Yeah… but she's in a coma," he said. "Her breaths are ragged and sharp, and I think she must've been on her way through the portal when Hethzera's spell kicked in. The rest weren't so lucky. Tethe'alla is… gone."
"No…" Lloyd moaned. "How long have we been here?"
"You were asleep for three days," Colette took a seat next to him and kissed him on the cheek. "But you saved us all, Lloyd."
"Indeed," a mystic voice said. Lloyd looked in front of them. There was a glimmering in the air and before them a woman materialized.
"Martel…" Lloyd whispered.
The goddess nodded. "Lloyd Irving, you have done a great thing. By willing to sacrifice yourself for your friends and for your world, I spared your life and unlocked the full potential of the Blade. But as you can see, it has come at a great cost. Sylvarant lies in ruins, the Great Tree's growth has been slowed… and Tethe'alla is gone."
"But can you not restore it?" Presea demanded.
"Not so long as the Lich lives," Martel answered.
"He's still alive!" Genis exclaimed. "But we all saw!"
"You saw the Eternal Blade banishing him to space, but he is not dead. He will attempt to seek revenge, and you will be called to battle once more, I fear," Martel said.
"Dammit," Lloyd muttered.
"But have heart… look to your sister," Martel continued, pointing to Raine. Lloyd noticed for the first time that something was clutched in her hand. Genis pulled it out.
"The Secrets of Hethzera," he muttered.
"Indeed," Martel said. "Read this book, and if Hethzera returns, you will be able to win," she promised. "Have heart, Lloyd, Colette, Genis and Presea, you have done a great thing. You have saved the world and given it hope. Your friends do not regret their deaths… look," she waved her hand and the transparent bodies of Sheena, Regal and Zelos were standing side by side. Zelos was holding Sheena's hand. He waved and something came out from Sheena's pocket. It floated towards them. A gold ring. The ring, too, became ethereal and slid onto Sheena's hand. They smiled and kissed. Then the three drifted away like wisps of smoke in the wind.
In the next instant Martel was gone, along with all the corpses around them. Lloyd, Presea, Genis and Colette were left alone on what once their beautiful Sylvarant.
A little while later, Lloyd and Colette were sitting next to each other. Colette had her head rested on Lloyd's shoulder. Lloyd said after awhile, "Our dreams were wrong."
"Huh?" Colette asked.
"They said Raine would die, but she didn't," Lloyd explained.
"Oh, right," Colette said. "You were going to die for us, weren't you?"
Lloyd sighed. "Yeah, yeah I was," he said and kissed Colette on the lips. "Because you're worth it." (A/N: cliché, I know, but bear with it! It's almost done!)
They smiled at each other and got up, walking over to Genis and Presea, who were standing next to each other and talking softly. I'm glad Genis finally did it, Lloyd thought, and smiled.
Lloyd took Colette's hand, and Genis took Presea's. "Let's go home," Lloyd said, and they walked off together to the horizon. To Iselia.
The End
A/N: OK well there it is… the end of Angels of the Lich. Tell me what u think and if u want a sequel since everything was left at a semi cliffy. SoR