Author's Note: A fairly quick update by my recent schedule here. Trying to make up for lost time. That and I'm going to be away for the next six days, so unable to write. This chapter has a few weak spots in my opinion, the 'mystery' of the hooded figure is revealed (like you haven't all guessed!) but I feel I couldn't quite get the emotions correct. So sorry about that. Hopefully the real pay off will come soon in the present storyline. The past storyline is wrapped up this chapter.

Also this chapter ends with the final result of just why I've been drilling into the story Vivli's physical weakness lately. Hopefully you'll see what I mean.

Oh, there's a few obscure homages in dialogue here. But if anybody gets them all, I will be very impressed!

CHAPTER XIII

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS EARLIER

"Oh, so the mysterious master reveals himself. How typical." Olose remarked mockingly.

"Save your insults for the weak minded, Sampson." The hooded figure growled back.

"That wasn't an insult. I haven't even started yet." Olose said sarcastically.

"Now that is typical." The figure shot back.

"You're plan. It won't work you know." Olose told the figure.

"Oh. And why is that?" The figure asked.

"Elvaans." Olose answered.

"Elvaans? Not like you to rely on them to save you." The figure grinned.

"No. There are no elvaans in my crew. Leanne wants to use them to wipe out all the races. But you're missing elvaans." Olose explained triumphantly.

"Incorrect." The figure answered. "Your crew does have an elvaan. You've only forgotten her."
"Nadia?" Olose repeated. "She's long gone."

"To Bastok. I found her." The figure told Olose with a smile.

"If you harmed her-" Olose began, remembering is old friendship.

"You're the one who left her helpless." The robed man reminded Olose. Nadia had been Olose's first mate, until she was manipulated against him. Olose hadn't killed her, but was forced to cut off her hand. She had lost one of her arms a long time before, and so she was left utterly helpless.

"You did that to her, not me!" Olose roared. The figure paused, and smirked. "What? Did you think I didn't know who you were?" Olose remarked. "Please. It's obvious. Do you really think I'd of lived this long without researching the old legends. The origins of the werewolves. Arcadia didn't need to tell me. I already knew. And I already knew the legends spoke of the Two Bladed Wolf to stand as Altana's champion."

"You knew the rest too, I assume." The figure questioned.

"Yes. That Prometheus would have his own champion." Olose replied. "Somebody who feared not death, because he had already tasted it. The One Who Is Dead."

"Useful, that." The figure smirked. "You see, being The One Who Is Dead means that the legends state I am the one who shall lead Prometheus's wolves to victory. They made me their leader without a second thought."

"They don't know you as well as I do, Abaj." Olose said simply.

"But Abaj Tuh is dead. You watched him die." Abaj taunted Olose.

"With great satisfaction, I might add." Olose reminded Abaj angrily. "How did you survive? I tore you apart!"

"Yes. You did!" Abaj roared, throwing off the black cloak and revealing his body. It was a mass amount of reconstructed chunks of flesh. Even his face. The entire body looked like it had been pieced together again from the smallest of chunks.

"Impossible." Olose said in a whisper.

"I died, Olose Sampson. You killed me." Abaj stated. "But the werewolves realized that I was to be their leader. They found the last great necromancer, and he gave me life again!"

"Only you couldn't regenerate." Olose smirked. "Wounds too great? Or maybe being dead altered your physique?"

"I still have my strength, Olose. And this time, I won't lose." Abaj began to advance, wearing only basic black trousers and nothing else to show off his battered body.

"Every time our paths have crossed I have defeated you." Olose reminded his nemesis. Abaj only cackled.

"Not this time Olose." Abaj said calmly, before walking over and pulling a lever. Part of the cave rumbled and retracted. Hanging there in chains was the beaten form of Nadia. The once proud elvaan hanging without an arm, without hands, skinny and clearly starved of food, badly injured from being beaten, and unconscious. "You realize if I use her for the process she lives?" Abaj reminded Olose. "But if we fight, I can easily kill her. And your entire crew, who no doubt will come storming back any moment in what they think is a heroic rescue." Olose watched Abaj angrily as he spoke.

"So that's how it's going to be, coward?" Olose growled. "Hiding behind idle threats because you're too scared to fight me?" He was beginning to remember everything Abaj Tuh had done. Abaj Tuh, who at the time Olose had believed was the last surviving werewolf apart from himself, had murdered his daughter when she was only a week old right in front of his eyes. Olose had never stopped hating; both Abaj and his own failure. The pain of losing her had never faded. And now his enemy stood before him, alive again. And he was trying to get out of Olose taking his vengeance.

"I am not scared of you!" Abaj roared. "I could crush you easily!"

"Then try." Olose said as calmly as he could. Abaj had always been unstable. That's what had caused him to kill his daughter in the first place. A moment of instability. This time, Olose was going to use it to his advantage.

"No." Abaj grinned. "No!" He leapt at where Nadia was hanging. "Remember this, Olose? I sacrifice my plan for your pain! Let us see how you live if she dies!"

"Not this time!" Olose screamed, flinging himself through the air and tackling Abaj before he could strike Nadia. "No more deaths! Nobody else! Just me and you!" Olose yelled at Abaj. Abaj raised slowly to his feet.

"So be it." He smirked. "You've put me through more pain than any mortal could ever possibly endure." Abaj began to speak. "And for that, I shall make you pay."

"You murdered my daughter!" Olose was beginning to lose his calm. All self control he had had was beginning to fly away at the thought his nemesis was still alive. The man he hated more than it felt possible to hate stood before him. "You murdered her right in front of my eyes, Abaj! And for that, you will die!"

The two immortals leapt at each other and collided in the air with such force the entire room physically shook. They crashed to the ground before Olose hit Abaj so hard he flew across the entire length of the cave and into the wall. He disappeared, leaving only a gigantic hole and piles of falling rocks where Olose had hit him. A moment passed before Abaj sprang back out as a werewolf coated in black fur, red eyes burning with decades of hatred. The scars from his reconstruction could still be seen clearly all over his body. Olose was clearly ready for this attack and swung aside, throwing off his jacket and bursting back into his werewolf form. He leapt at Abaj and tackled him. The two crashed down before Abaj threw Olose up into the ceiling, causing the entire roof to cave in around him. Abaj leapt backwards to safety, letting out a howl.

Olose's crew had indeed returned, cut off from their escape route. and watched in shock and awe.

"Abaj." Trevia whispered, refusing to acknowledge her broken arm with even a wince. She wouldn't let pain get to her.

"That's impossible." Phabrizoe said to himself.

"Apparently not." Jeren sighed.

"Look! It's Nadia!" Suse suddenly cried, spotting the beaten elvaan.

"Nadia?" Trevia repeated. "We have to help her! Move!"

"Make sure Abaj doesn't spot us." Phabrizoe warned. At that moment Olose burst back into the battle and hit his nemesis with tremendous force, rocketing him across the cave again.

"I don't think that will be a problem." Jeren pointed out.

Abaj let out another roar.

"You cannot stop me!" He taunted. "Death cannot stop me! I am immortal! Truly immortal! I am a God!"

"Shut! Up!" Olose screamed, slamming into him again. The two werewolves smashed into the pile of fallen rubble from the ceiling. Olose picked up a boulder and smashed it down on Abaj effortlessly. Abaj struck him to the chest and he flew backwards again, crashing down. For a moment, he didn't move. Abaj paused.

"Olose?" He said simply. "Is that it? Is it over?"

"No." Olose rose to his feet after a pause, but had noticeably retaken human form. "Not yet." Olose forced himself to jump, flinging himself towards the far door. Abaj went to tackle him, but missed. Olose disappeared, running through the door. Abaj followed as quickly as he could.

Suse looked to the others in confusion.

"Where are they going?" She asked while blinking thoughtfully.

"I don't know." Trevia replied, going to free Nadia, but realizing there was no way she could do it with her injured arms. "Phabrizoe, get these chains off of her." She decided to order. Phabrizoe silently obeyed, blasting the chains with a lightning bolt.

"Done." He noted. Nadia collapsed in a crumpled heap.

"I… know…where…" She croaked.

"What?" Jeren repeated. "Where? Where could he be going?"

"Only… one… place…" She tried to explain, weakly from the floor.

The two titans clashed down the corridors of the castle, ripping it apart and literally widening it into a cave as they hit each other with building shattering force. Abaj hit Olose and smashed him directly through the massively thick stone wall into another room. Olose sprang to his feet, badly beaten.

"This is where it ends, Olose." Abaj grinned. "You aren't what you once were. And my hatred cannot be contained."

"You're right." Olose panted. "Abaj. Yeah, you're right. This is where it ends." He conceded, dropping to one knee as his torn apart body failed him.

The crew helped Nadia to her feet, and with Jeren and Suse supporting her, Trevia unable to with her broken arm, made their way out of the cave, only to pause as they saw Bear and Leanne stood before them.

"Going somewhere?" Leanne asked with a smile. The crew looked horrified.

Abaj began to advance slowly on Olose, who was only managing to support himself on a nearby altar.

"Goodbye, Olose Sampson." Abaj stated simply.

"Goodbye, Abaj." Growled Olose, springing to his feet and pulling out of the remains of his black trousers a round object. "Altar!" He pointed to it. "Orb!" He thrust the orb into the perfectly carved position for it upon the altar with a triumphant grin.

"What?" Abaj managed to cry before he felt it. A burning pain as the orb began to grow a brilliant white. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He managed to cream as his fur caught on fire and he was ripped apart in a spectacular display of flames.

Leanne and Bear advanced on the crew before suddenly Leanne shrieked and Bear's eyes went wide. The two began to burn, their fur twisting and changing before bursting into flames, their bodies dissolving, becoming like fireflies floating in the sky.

Abaj was still screaming as his body broke up into glowing particles, dissolving before Olose. Olose still had his hands on the orb, but was now glowing bright white, all the energies of Prometheus and Altana burning through him as the entire lyncantropic race was destroyed.

Suse blinked in confusion.

"What happened?" She asked. Nadia smiled.

"He activated the altar." She answered, panting and still badly beaten. "Olose activated the altar. Obliterated the werewolves as Altana had always intended. I knew that was where he was headed." The crew focused upon what was now a pile of ash upon the ground.

"We had better get to him!" Trevia decided, and the crew rushed towards the corridor, ignoring the massive destruction Abaj and Olose had wrought.

Olose couldn't take his hands off the orb. The gods wouldn't let him. He felt the heat, the pain, the deaths of all those immortals pounding through him. He felt the pain twist inside him. But he wasn't going to die. He was protected. His body began to melt away around him, but he was safe.

And then suddenly he was released, and collapsed on the ground.

It was Arcadia that got to him first. He lay there, twitching. She rushed to his side, and put her hand on his damaged form, looking like nothing more than a blank template of a man now. But she knew it was him. It had to be.

The rest of the crew burst in a moment afterwards, and maintained their distance.

"Step back, Arcadia." Trevia advised. Arcadia looked tearfully around at them, but realised they were right. She took that step back, and watched. Olose's body arched up as he screamed, and fur burst out all over his body, covering it. "He's regenerating." Trevia explained. Olose continued to scream as his body, far too badly damaged to reconstruct itself, began anew, taking on a new form. He seemed to grow taller, his nose growing slightly, his ears changing position, his eyes moving towards the front more, his hair becoming wavier, yet shorter. The fur suddenly resided, leaving a new person before them. He opened his eyes to find the crew staring over him.

"Oh, hello." He grinned, quickly sitting up.

"You okay Cap?" Nadia smiled wearingly.

"Okay? I'm better than okay!" He stood up. "I'm tall again!" He cheered, after his last regeneration had left him a little on the short side.

"You're also blonde." Arcadia smiled.

"I'm what?" He cried in surprise, pulling his hair down for a look. "No blonde jokes! I mean it! None!" He cried.

"Captain, you did it." Trevia smiled. "The werewolves are gone." Olose suddenly fell deadly serious, the post regeneration cheer fading.

"An entire race. Wiped out in the blink of an eye." He commented, looking over to the orb, still glowing white.

"It'll never happen again, Captain." Phabrizoe assured. "I don't think anybody can remove that orb but somebody of the same race. You're the last werewolf. Nobody can ever remove it."

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS LATER

Vivli awoke with a pounding headache. She could see out of the barrel easily enough, and it didn't take her long to figure out what had happened. Her entire body ached from the awkward position it had ended up in, but other than that she seemed unharmed. She let out a slight groan, before holding it in, realizing other people might be about on the deck. She already felt sick from the motion of the waves, and sighed to herself. She quickly attempted to get out of the barrel, but found she had landed so doubled over in it she was wedged. She started struggling furiously, and let out a slight scream as the barrel fell over and she rolled out on the deck.

She quickly looked around, but found herself lucky. Nobody was there. She paused, and then remembered that the heroes had been taken below deck. She ran to the hatch and grabbed it, and strained. She grunted a little and gave up. The giant wooden door was far too heavy for her little frame. She cursed her own weakness, before creeping back to hide behind the nearest barrel. She waited there, and sure enough, soon somebody opened the hatch and emerged on deck. He seemed to breathe deeply for a moment, appreciating the salt air, and then moved forwards, towards the main cabin, leaving the hatch open. Vivli smiled, and darted below.

Vivli crept for a while, forgetting about any stealth white magic spells. They were no longer at the tips of her fingers, being so out of practice, and so she wasn't used to casting them instantly in this kind of situation. It didn't even occur to her. Instead she crept along, by some miracle not being seen, and reached the rear hold of the ship. She peered through the door, and spotted a thick large rectangular wooden pole running through the centre of the room. Attatched to each side was one of the warriors. Held around the neck by a massive metal hoop with a huge mechanism on it you had to turn to release, and with their arms pinned at their sides by smaller hoops (so that they couldn't turn it themselves). Vivli grinned and darted in.

Zinkata let out a slightly surprised smirk, being the warrior immediately facing her.

"Viv!" He cried cheerfully. "Good to see you back in the robes." Vivli smiled to herself, playing with them slightly.

"Thanks. I missed them." Vivli replied. "Geez, who'd of thought it was me who would have to rescue you?" She added mockingly.

"What's happening?" Remasa cried from around the other side of the pillar.

"It's Vivli!" Voldos explained happily.

"We're all doomed." Bootus grumbled, considerably mightier hoops holding him in place.

"Viv, turn the mechanism on the hoop." Zinkata instructed. "It should release it."

"Okay." Vivli cried cheerfully, happy to be rescuing her friends. She grabbed it, and paused. "Urm, which way?"

"Anti-clockwise. Don't make it any tighter. Please." Zinkata groaned. Vivli nodded, and tried to twist the system. She grunted and struggled, but couldn't move it.

"It's no good! It's stuck!" She protested.

"No it's not." Zinkata told her, having had it turned tighter and looser during torture. Torture that had completely failed to break him. "You just need to put some effort into it."

"I am putting effort into it!" Vivli strained she tried again, before releasing it with a pant. "It won't budge!"
"This is why the weakling surviving is not good for us." Bootus commented dryly.

"Bootus!" Remasa snapped.

"What? I'm just saying." Bootus shrugged.

"Just wait a minute!" Vivli grunted, still struggling.

Zinkata tried to focus, but it was difficult. Vivli was very close to him, struggling desperately to undo his bonds, and failing. Her little body shook with effort, and Zinkata had to admit, he found it cute. Seeing her in the robes again brought back memories he thought he was done with too. And he thought she actually looked more attractive with her hair long and blonde. He tried his best to shake the thoughts from his mind. He was engaged to be married to a beautiful woman back in Windurst. He knew they were just old ideas surfacing. After all, it was hard not to, Vivli was pretty much pressed against him, struggling in a way that he had to admit he found cute, and her perfume this close was nearly overwhelming.

Zinkata lingered on that thought for a moment and his eyes suddenly went wide.

"Viv, you're wearing a lot of perfume." He told her. Vivli stopped struggling and looked at him blankly.

"Geez, it's not that much Zin." She replied, as if hurt. "Talk about being rude."

"No, I mean, the werewolves hunt by smell." Zinkata told her, almost laughing at her misunderstanding. "They can smell the slightest change in the environment."

"Meaning?" Vivli asked, fear beginning to creep into her voice.

"They know you're here." Zinkata answered as he saw Leanne walk into the room.

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS EARLIER

Olose was slumped on the edge of the Destiny II, watching the waves as they sailed back towards the mainland. After some time, Phabrizoe approached him.

"Something wrong, sir?" The tarutaru questioned.

"I was just thinking." Olose replied. "If any of Altana's wolves had survived out there. If I wasn't the last. I just killed them all. I just wiped out a race. That's a lot to bear."

"It is Captain, it is." Phabrizoe said quietly. "Something still concerns me though."

"Oh?" Olose asked, taking an interest.

"Abaj said he was brought back by a necromancer, right?" Phabrizoe questioned. Olose nodded. "But, mortal necromancy is based upon Prometheus's teachings. And like his orb, only somebody of the same race can resurrect the fallen. So only a hume can bring back a hume. We already know Prometheus's magic considers werewolves a separate race."

"But werewolves can't cast magic." Olose said thoughtfully. "That's impossible."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps there's something we overlooked." Phabrizoe warned.

"Maybe." Olose admitted. "But whatever it is, it can wait. The world has been saved. The werewolves are gone." He managed to smile. "Give it a few days. A week at the most. And it'll need saving again." He laughed.

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS LATER

Vivli froze up as Leanne walked towards her. The evil werewolf chuckled to herself.

"Please, it's not like I caught you in the act." Leanne smirked. "We knew you were here from the moment you fell. And you snuck around the ship so clumsily even a mortal crew would have caught you." Vivli felt deeply embarrassed as her one major achievement was so easily disregarded by Leanne. "I mean, we had some problems getting you here." Leanne laughed to the Light Warriors. "Did you know she was so weak she couldn't even open the hatch?" She mocked. "This pathetic little weakling you call a traveling companion. She's a danger to you all. What's more, you care about her. Which makes her the ultimate bait." Leanne turned to Vivli. "You see? That's all you are. Bait for your friends. Trouble. Too weak to be of any real use." Vivli began to go shaky at the knees. Her confidence had been rebuilding. Leanne was shooting it down.

"I-I-" Vivli stuttered.

"The only reason I let you go free was because I knew you were too weak to free your friends." Leanne placed a hand on the mechanism and turned it, tightening the hold on Zinkata and causing him to let out a forced scream. "To think, if only you were the tiniest bit stronger." Zinkata was screaming still, and Vivli collapsed, sobbing. Leanne moved and tightened Bootus's, who also began to scream. "You could have stopped this." Next was Remasa. She screamed too. "But as it is, you're such a pathetic failure I don't even need to hurt you. I can just talk to you and you collapse." Vivli was lost in a flood of tears. Voldos was next, and he too screamed. "I could put you through this torture, but you're so frail, it would just kill you. So this is a new torture." Leanne dropped down, and thrust Vivli against the wall, who was sobbing crazily. "You can't do anything. You think you're unlucky in life, girl?" Leanne growled. "Well, every misfortune is your own failure, your own fault. If you were stronger nothing that occurs to you would have. But you fail. You fail pathetically."

Leanne released Vivli and she dropped to the floor, sobbing. She couldn't hear the screams anymore. She couldn't hear anything. Leanne had snapped her mind. Every piece of restoration her battle with her own inner demons had done had been wasted. Leanne had done far more damage in a few moments. And the evil werewolf reveled in it, watching the broken girl sobbing as her comrades screamed in agony. This was her finest victory.

568 years ago Olose Sampson had killed her and her entire race. Now she was back, and she had finally won.