Chapter 8

Lloyd and Colette ran to where they heard the boy's cry. As they ran, they already started to notice some trees being blown into the air.

When they finally got to Genis, he was standing in place and shivering.

But from what emotion?

"Genis!" Lloyd shouted, "Stay back!"

Genis turned around. "Lloyd!"

"Die…" Another beam came from the cloud.

Lloyd ran forward and grabbed Genis by the shirt. He started to run as fast as he could.

The beam exploded, sending rocks flying in all directions.

Colette pulled out her chakrams and tossed it at incoming rocks, clearing the path for Lloyd. The bladed rings returned to her like a Frisbee and off she ran after Lloyd.

"Where's the Professor?" Lloyd asked frantically.

"She's in Iselia, warning the villagers of Mithos. But… they don't believe her."

Colette burst through the trees. "Lloyd! He's heading towards Iselia!"

Lloyd stopped in his tracks and instinctively turned around. Still, grabbing on to Genis, he ran after Colette who was already running toward the village.

By the time they reached the village, it was already in shambles.

"Professor!" Colette cried out.

"Colette!" came the reply.

The group ran over to where they had heard the voice and came upon Raine, covered in dirt and scars.

"Professor!" Colette gasped.

"I'm alright." Raine slowly arose from her laying position and got up. "But there's no time to talk, it's coming back!" Her voice turned urgent.

Lloyd set Genis down, and the group turned around. And there, they saw it.

"You're alive…" It moaned.

"You bet we are!" Lloyd countered back, "And we're gonna take you down!"

"Lloyd! Wait!" Genis shouted.

Lloyd looked down at Genis.

"This isn't Mithos!"

His eyes widened, "What are you talking about?"

"I know Mithos very well! When we were still friends, he had this tranquil and serene aura around him. Now, it's hate and revenge, it's even stronger than when we were fighting him! I don't know how I can sense this, but I just can. This must be Mithos' hate only!"

"B-but that doesn't make sense at all!"

"I can't describe it, but I just have this sixth sense about it! Trust me, Lloyd, please!" His voice was frantic.

"I believe you, Genis," He drew his swords, "So, how do we get rid of it?"

"I- AHH!" He screamed.

"Genis!" Lloyd cried.

Mithos had shot another beam out towards Genis. Luckily, it only skimmed his side. The beam fly back, flying into debris behind them, sending a shower of rock into the air.

Genis fell to the ground, yelping in distress.

Lloyd glared, "How could you do that to your friend?"

"Friend…?" Came the reply. "What does 'Friends" mean?"

Lloyd glared again, "So you're really not Mithos afterall."

Raine ran forward to aid her little brother, "First Aid!" She shouted.

A glimmer of light surrounded the wound and then floated away.

But the wound was still there.

"What?" She gasped.

"You cannot heal hate… You can only overcome it…" The cloud groaned.

"Damnit!" Lloyd cursed.

"Go, run!" Raine turned and faced Mithos. "I'll bid you some time, get Genis to safety!"

"But, Professor, we can't just leave you here alone!" Lloyd argued.

"Go!" She commanded forcefully.

Lloyd grunted unhappily, but snatched up Genis and ran. "Colette come on!"
Colette turned around again and said, "Be careful, Professor." Then she ran.

Raine held her staff tight, sweat coming to her palms. "I'm not going to let you harm Genis! Take this, Photon!" She raised her staff into the air, causing a string of light to surround the dark cloud, then engulfing it into a ball of yellow light. It stayed there for a moment, unmoving, then disappeared to reveal that the cloud had been unharmed.

"Die…" Mithos shot another beam out at Raine. She ran out of the way, barely avoiding incoming rocks.

Then the beam repapered again from the dust and zoomed toward Raine.

Raine couldn't get away and time, and screamed in pain. She fell on her back, bloody.

"Why aren't you dead…?" The cloud asked.

"I won't let you hurt my little brother…" she grunted and reached for her staff. She was inches away when suddenly she yelped in torture. She used her left hand to hold the wrist that had been fractured. She knew she couldn't move anymore.

"Now…" The cloud advanced toward her. "Die…"

Raine looked up into the sky. The sky was baby blue and a few clouds floated amongst them. If it weren't for the events happening, this would probably be considered a beautiful day. She saw a cloud larger than the others and looked carefully at it. The cloud looked very much like Genis, with his long pointy hair, and the grin on his face.

Raine lifted her left hand towards the sky. It shook, but Raine kept it up, she reached toward the cloud, as if she could grab onto Genis. "Genis… be careful…" she whispered with the last of her strength.

Then, with a loud kaboom, everything went dark for her.