One Day Later

"Ifrit! Where are you?"

"Shiva! Are you out there, Shiva?"

Leviathan grimaced a bit at this. He couldn't believe this was what they were reduced to. Trudging around in a forest in the middle of the night calling out as if they were looking for lost children. He had taken the council itself right here to the Alexandrian forest. Not sensing high nor hair of Shiva or Ifrit, they had been forced to change into human forms and proceed to look for them. Leviathan, of course, usually stayed in human form, and it wasn't a problem. Starlet only had to lower her height a bit. Ramuh merely decreased the size of his long beard and changed his clothes. Palidor had a bit more trouble, but now she looked around as a young woman with bright pink hair. That left Wyvern. He had never learned much besides how to become more powerful, but luckily he learned long ago how to transform himself into a human. Still…the mechanical replacements caused some problems. Now, a cross, irritable black-haired man walked behind them, normal save for a full piece of arm armor covering one of his limbs, and a low helmet with visor covering his eyes. He seemed not to care that much about either of them. Leviathan himself hoped they found some sign of them too. Otherwise, citizens might overhear their little "human" search party, come down, and ask why they hadn't notified the authorities if they were missing people.

"We can't sense them." Wyvern simply stated. "So they're either not here or dead."

Leviathan frowned and ignored this. Not here? Possibly. Dead? Not likely. If they were dead, he would have picked up on their magicite. This was still peculiar, however. There were no signs of a struggle. No humans were running around in panic in the wake of an ice queen attack. That meant that Shiva had never successfully attacked the place. Yet en route to this location, they had encountered no difficulties. There wasn't any reason she shouldn't have made it here. So why would she have run off without completing her tasks?

Too many things were going wrong, the sea esper thought. He was growing uneasier all the time. At any rate, he pushed his way on forward through the foliage, looking around for signs of either of the missing espers. Yet he didn't get much farther. He pushed away one branch, and immediately found himself staring into the face of a gigantic, earth colored serpent that had managed to blend in with the area rather well. On seeing this, Leviathan cried out a bit in panic and leapt back. The serpent did too, also flying back in surprise. After they both did, however, Leviathan groaned and glared at him.

"Terrato! Confound it all! I told you that if you left the project, be in human form!"

The great snake swallowed in response. "My apologies, my lord. But I never was that good at transformation. Besides…" Here, the snake calmed himself and became quieter. "…After what we saw happened to Ifrit, we didn't want to risk walking around searching for more espers unless we were in our true bodies."

At this, Leviathan hesitated. The rest of the members of his search party were making their way to him now, and on seeing Terrato they likewise stopped looking and began to approach the sea esper. Soon, they were forming a group behind him. Wyvern was first, stopping right behind Leviathan and crossing his arms. "What are you talking about? You found Ifrit? What happened to him?"

To this, Terrato formed a look of puzzlement. "What…you don't know?"

"Know what?" Wyvern asked coldly.

The earth esper swallowed on hearing that. He began to grow nervous soon after. He turned his head from side to side, and as he did Leviathan sensed that there was a great deal of fear in the heart of this esper…even terror. As he continued to scan, however, he noticed that further into the forest, there were other pockets of similar terror. Each one was filled with horrible dread and unease. Obviously…something very bad had happened.

"…Let me gather together the rest of my search party first." Terrato finally answered as he looked back to his king. "Then we should all go back to the monolith. I'll tell you there…"

"Oh my god…"

"That's why we're glad you are here, Lady Starlet. We don't have any healers among us…"

There had been places set up for the working espers to sleep who filled the stone monolith. This was where Ifrit had been laid. It wasn't much, but it was a place for him to be more comfortable. And that was what he needed right now. His skin was covered with horrible jagged lacerations. Many parts of his flesh were dead…turning black from severe frostbite. Three of his claws had been snapped and one of his horns were broken off. He looked to be in a lot of pain, moaning and writhing. Starlet only watched him a moment before immediately leaning over his body and getting to work.

As for the others, they had joined with Terrato's group now. The two sets of espers filled the "dormitory" of the stone monolith. Leviathan's group had mostly reverted back into esper form, although Leviathan stayed human (it got him around easier on land…and Starlet liked it). The others were in their esper forms as well. Leviathan was a bit afraid that Wyvern was here. But fortunately, he was too cross and unthinking to realize that what he was in was being built specifically for his destruction. Much of the espers within failed to know its true intention as well. Terrato looked very grim, and their whole assembly seemed to tremble with their attempts to restrain their fear. Yet once Ifrit was being mended, Terrato looked back to Leviathan.

"Most of us had turned in for the night. I was up near the head, tightening some larger bolts. That's when I heard the commotion. The whole castle began to get excited because the princess had returned. And I knew that wasn't exactly what you desired, so I went to go check it out for myself. Luckily, when the castle was built over our own little piece of work, they had connected the sewers to it. And after eight hundred years of construction, I had learned my way around them.

"So I made my way into the castle and headed straight for the princess' bedroom. Once I got there, I found out things were already underway. Those two imps were taking her off to the Queen's. So I took a minor detour and made my way there next. By the time I got there, I heard the old fatty rattling off some BS story about why she felt it necessary to go about ruthlessly slaughtering the entire population of Burmecia. And of course, our little summoner fell for it hook, line, and sinker."

Leviathan tried hard not to curse at that. Wyvern, not caring for reservations, spat a rather nasty word out loud. "And now, the fool is probably helping them."

"Actually, no." Terrato responded to that. "I don't know if she would have in the end, but it appears that her royal fatness didn't care to risk it. Someone came in soon after. I didn't get a physical look at him, but I could detect his spirit. He was evil, my lords. Insidiously evil. He had no thought but bringing pain and causing misery. He cared nothing for anyone in the room or in the world. To him…the only life that had any meaning or importance to it was his own. And sirs…he too was an anomaly."

Leviathan reacted to that, as did Ramuh. This was interesting…though not unexpected. He had thought for some time now that the anomalies he detected would one day be problems. He had only reconsidered that thought when the one with the tail ended up being rather helpful to the esper cause.

What the espers meant by anomalies was just that…the individuals were abnormal in reference to all other individuals. Leviathan had never engaged in a full body scan of the one he knew of, but he knew that they were unusual. Every esper did. All creatures, from the dawn of time until now, that had been born on Gaia had their own specific signature. It was some sort of protocol, if you will, just like the basic twenty amino acids made up all proteins in all living things. Only this one was specific to their spirits. It allowed all spirits that entered the Lifestream, no matter how strange, to meld together and have a degree of "sameness" about them. Yet the monkey boy lacked it. It was totally different. Leviathan had never seen anything like it. The closest he ever came, since he began to seriously identify spirits, was over a thousand years ago. When he had been summoned by Rydia into the Giant of Bab-Il, he had noticed a strange man with them…and he sensed that his spirit was vastly different compared to that of a normal human. Later, Rydia told him that this person was actually an alien from another world.

Until now, he had given the monkey boy a berth because he had conducted himself just like a human, and all who knew him thought of him as a human.

Now, however, he was beginning to put two and two together. If the technology that made these black mages was really that far beyond humanity…then perhaps it was an alien that had given it to them.

At any rate, Terrato continued. "He cast an extremely powerful spell on Garnet…well above what any standard mage can do. It put her into some sort of induced coma. After that, the two little imps dragged her away to the bottom of the castle. And there…" Terrato paused for a moment, and swallowed. The rest of his group likewise hesitated.

"What?" Wyvern impatiently asked.

"…None of us knew this was possible, my lords." Terrato spoke in an almost apologetic tone. "We had no idea that the princess would be born with the innate ability to summon espers inside her…powerful espers, in fact…"

To this, Leviathan felt his heart beat a bit faster. That was, in fact, his doing. The cat might be out of the bag after today. People might start to question how she could have possibly had the natural ability to summon Shiva, Odin, Atomos, and Wyvern. Nevertheless…the deception couldn't last forever. He would have to deal with this. Right now, he wanted to know what had happened.

But before he could, something else happened.

"Uh…"

At this, all of the espers in the room turned and looked to the source of the sound. They found themselves looking at Wyvern. However, his face had suddenly turned into one of displeasure. He winced for a moment, furrowed his face as if he felt some irritation. Then, he raised a hand to his head and touched it. He held a few seconds, but then it seemed to pass. He looked back up and out to them. He seemed a bit unnerved, but not much else.

Leviathan himself began to turn back to the others…and stopped on seeing them.

They were all still frozen, and were much more fearful than before. They stared at Wyvern as if he was the devil incarnate.

"Er…uh…"

Two more sounds went out soon after. Leviathan turned back, and saw that Wyvern had changed. Now, his teeth were gritting. He raised both hands to his head this time. He breathed harder, and bowed his skull slightly. He seemed to be in more acute pain this time. And soon, he started to stiffen and shake. He held a moment, shaking his head slowly. As he did, his anger started to grow. He focused and pushed back mentally at something…

"Get…out of…my head…"

At that, Leviathan heard a rush of movement behind him. He turned back around, and saw that Terrato had changed. The serpant had reared up in a position to strike. The other espers were likewise taking defensive positions. Their faces were full of fear now…and they began to edge back away from Wyvern. Leviathan didn't have to be a genius to know what was going on. They were afraid of him…

Wyvern gave a slight "ugh", and again he seemed to be free. Breathing a bit harder now, he looked back up and massaged his temples. He was starting to sweat a little, and he looked as if it had only been with tremendous strain that he had thrown this latest thing off. Yet it didn't last. Abruptly, he seemed to nearly be flung into a fetal crouch by an invisible force. Now, Wyvern opened his mouth and did cry out. He began to sweat harder now, and his whole body trembled. Pain seemed to wrack his head, and he seized it with both fists and struggled to try and force it out. He locked his teeth together and grit them hard. He nearly fell to the ground, and began to writhe where he stood, all the while clutching his head and crying out. Leviathan himself found that he began to step back from the esper…as did his group. The others were trembling hard now…and they looked ready to move on him in another second. But just as they did…Wyvern sneered, and balled his hands into fists.

"Are…you…deaf…?" He nearly seethed to some invisible person. Then, summoning all of his power, he blasted forth in an earth-shattering voice. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Immediately, the pain vanished in Wyvern's brain. He was once again clear and focused. The other espers continued to stare at him, silent and stunned as they watched him snap his head up and bellow that note, which continued to echo through the air after he did so. However…what none of them realized was that, at that particular moment, ten black mages deep within Alexandria's castle, who until now had been chanting together in one unified spell…suddenly died as their brains exploded.

There was silence in the chamber for a few moments. Wyvern was panting now, seeming to relax after a tremendous effort. The others didn't move as he slowly calmed down. However, when he began to brush his hair back afterward, developing a calmer look, his group began to relax. Leviathan leaned back down and eased his own tension, though he continued to look at him. And after his group calmed, and Wyvern didn't breathe so hard, the others began to calm as well. They all continued to stare at Wyvern nervously, however.

"What happened, my lord?" Ramuh finally asked.

Wyvern sneered at this. "They thought they could summon me so easily…"

Leviathan raised an eye at that. "You mean…you were able to resist Garnet summoning you?"

Wyvern turned to him and scowled. "Did I say 'she' or 'they'? Listen when I say something!" He spat back. "This wasn't some stupid hornless summoner. When I was being called, I saw some of those damn little black mages doing it in my mind. First it was just one. The second time there were five of them. The third there were ten."

"Black mages?" Starlet uttered in disbelief.

"Did I stutter?" Wyvern half-snapped back. "Yes, black mages! Or whatever those damn things are!"

Leviathan furrowed his brow at this and shook his head. "That's can't be right. Simple little mages like them shouldn't be able to summon… They don't even have the right bloodlines."

"…My lords…they can now, I'm afraid."

Again, Wyvern was forgotten, and Leviathan's group turned back to the other. They were more calm now, but they were also still very nervous and frightened. This latest incident only increased their fear. They looked nervously to one another before turning back to Leviathan and continuing. Terrato was very quiet and nervous now.

"As I said, my lords…I didn't know that the princess had espers inside her…but she did. I'm not sure how they managed to do it, but somehow the imps managed to extract them. Now…Queen Brahne has the ability to use her black mages to seize control of us and make her do her bidding."

All sound in the room seemed to cease. Even generalized movement stopped, and the breath caught in the throats of the new espers. Leviathan thought he felt his heart skip when that happened. His eyes widened in shock, and he stared blankly on at Terrato. His group bowed their heads, continuing to look rueful and downcast. After a moment, an uneasy smile went on Leviathan's face as he shook his head.

"No…that's not possible."

"Sir…"

"You are mistaken. You saw an image or something. That can't happen."

"My lord…"

"It can't, Terrato!" Leviathan nearly yelled, losing his calm demeanor as his denial took over his rationality. "It's not possible! No human can control an esper!"

At this, however, Terrato's face turned grim and hard. He could tell that Leviathan was in denial, and that made him angry. He wasn't lying. He hadn't seen all of this happen just to be denied so easily. He looked up to Leviathan at this and glared at him.

"With all due respect, my lord…" He began, his own voice growing fierce and cold. "Tell that to Ifrit. Or better yet…tell that to the people in Cleyra, assuming any are left. Odin turned the Cleyra settlement into a smoldering crater at Brahne's order not twenty-four hours ago."

Starlet gasped and held a hand to her mouth. Ramuh staggered and balanced himself on his staff. Even Wyvern gazed in utter shock. And as for Leviathan…his anger faded and was replaced with fear. He bowed his own head and was silent. Everyone became quiet again. The sea esper swallowed. He held a hand to his head. This…he could not deny. He knew, just as they knew, that the source of the ripple in the Lifestream had to come from that. But this being the cause…this horrible act…how could it possibly be true?

Leviathan stared at the ground in disbelief. Could an esper like Odin really be bent to someone else's will? Could he really do such a terrible thing? At once, however…he realized they had tried to do that only a few minutes ago. That's what the black mages were doing. They attempted to seize control of Wyvern as well. And when one failed, they merely increased their number. Odin was strong…one of the strongest of their race. Yet if they were able to pool their efforts together, then they could conceivably force him to do this. The only reason they hadn't done so with Wyvern was because the great red esper was far beyond Odin in terms of power. Even a score of them wouldn't turn him that easily. And yet…he knew the real reason that they were able to seize control of Odin…

Because of me.

On realizing that, Leviathan felt a horrible weight in his heart. He closed his eyes,and clutched at his own chest again and exhaled a blast of air in pain. It was his fault. It was all his fault. He never thought that the humans could do something like this, but he was wrong. He was the one who tied Shiva, Odin, Atomos, and Wyvern to Rydia. He was the reason Garnet had their powers within her, right for the Queen to one day take. Because of him and his miscalculation, she had managed to take control of them. And now…thousands had died as a result. The Queen not only was now Odin's master…she had been crazy enough to slaughter so many. Leviathan knew that Cleyra was peaceful. They would never have been able to fight back against her. Even an Alexandria army could have taken them. Yet that miserable woman…she had destroyed them all…because she wanted to delight in her newfound powers.

She killed countless innocent men, women, and children…for fun.

Everyone was silent after that. Who could speak in response to this? Yet after a bit longer, one did manage to speak up. Wyvern looked up and glared out…but not before staring at Leviathan once and giving a sneer. It was a miracle that he was so strong. If he had managed to fall under Brahne's control as well, they would have been doomed.

"I take it that's what happened to Ifrit. He had an encounter with Shiva."

Terrato slowly exhaled, and then nodded.

Starlet wiped her eyes as she continued to shed tears, both for her race and for the thousands of innocents. Ramuh drew in a deep breath and steadied himself. Then, he looked up to the group again. "And…Garnet?"

"She was left in the coma. Now that the Queen has established the fact that she can control the espers without her help, she won't risk her one day rising against her. She's been ordered to be executed at midnight."

Wyvern snorted. "Good. Otherwise, I'd have her killed myself…"

Not many shared Wyvern's sentiments. In the eyes of Terrato's group, Garnet was just an innocent bystander. To the other group members, who knew more of the story, some of them felt as if she was getting what she deserved for being so foolish. Leviathan himself felt that Garnet's indecision had just sentenced her world to death, and had endured more than enough of her stupidity and faithlessness. Yet at the same time…he realized what a horrible state of affairs they were in. Wyvern was not controlled now, but he could be if more black mages tried in the future. And if he was, then their only defense would be the holy esper. And Eiko alone couldn't summon him. They'd need at least two summoners. Much as he grew to hate this girl…he needed her alive.

However, both he and everyone else was soon snapped out of their thoughts about this. Far above them, way toward the top of the monolith, they heard a sharp quaking noise. It was mild from within here, but it did echo. And it wasn't all. As silent as they all were, they managed to soon hear sounds of a commotion. Within moments, all of the espers were looking back up toward the ceiling.

"What is that?" Palidor asked.

Leviathan didn't know, but he didn't waste time waiting. Immediately, he used his Auto-aero technique to make himself levitate, and ascended to the top of the structure. Seeing this, Wyvern immediately took off after him, and Ramuh himself used his levitation to bring his body up to Leviathan's level. Within a few moments, the three had managed to cross the entire threshold of the monolith and were at the top level. Above them, under a few feet of stone, was the bottom level of the Alexandrian dungeon. Leviathan gave pause here and listened, as did the others as they fell in behind. The commotion was clearer sounding here, but it was already fading, as if what was causing it was going farther away.

"Well, what's happening?" Wyvern impatiently asked.

"I can't tell." Leviathan answered. After that, however, he closed his eyes and began to focus. "Hold on a moment…"

Wyvern sneered and crossed his arms. "You sound just like my brother…"

Leviathan didn't answer that. He began to stretch out with his mind instead. He couldn't hear or see what was happening…but he might be able to sense the presence of individuals and their mental signals from this distance. As he continued to scan, trying to reach out and find them, Ramuh and Wyvern went silent, while the other espers below began to make their way up right behind them. Only they used stairs, ladders, and elevators instead. The sea esper paid them no mind, and continued to reach out and search…until something stood out for him to lock on to. It was an anomaly. He wasn't sure which one at first…but when he touched it he immediately sensed good, if somewhat reckless and misguided, emotions from it.

"The monkey boy is here." He announced, keeping his eyes closed and continuing to scan.

Wyvern snorted. "Ah…a regular knight in shining armor…" He sarcastically responded.

"Other members of their band are here…and they're fighting. It's hard to tell all of what's going on… I think they're upstairs by now, but there's so many signatures running around that…" Leviathan paused a moment. "Damn."

"What?" Ramuh asked.

"The Paladin is coming. Her own power dwarfs theirs, and I sense a willingness to kill them."

This only made Wyvern more cross. "I thought that Paladins were supposed to be helping good people. And now they serve the fat sack of lard?"

"They serve whatever family they swore fealty to…an obnoxious human custom that clouds judgment." Leviathan simply answered. "Now quiet. Perhaps they'll get lucky…"

The two espers were forced to go silent as Leviathan continued to sense what was happening. As he did, one by one the other espers began to come to the top of the stairs. They slowly stepped forward and joined them, and on seeing Leviathan concentrating they patiently waited on the sidelines. Even from this far down…they could hear the tremendous amount of violence upstairs as the Paladin fiercely assaulted her opponents. A few minutes passed, before things went silent again. When they did, Leviathan didn't change. He continued to stay silent and focused. On seeing that, the others began to grow a bit puzzled. Wyvern looked back to him.

"What happened? Did she slaughter them?"

"Shh!" Leviathan hushed. Growling, Wyvern crossed his arms again and waited. Time ticked by slowly, and another few minutes of silence passed. When it at last stopped, the sounds of violence began again. And this time…it was coming back down once more. When it did, however, Leviathan sighed in what appeared to be relief, and opened his eyes a moment.

"It's about time someone was smart enough to do the right thing…"

"What happened?" Ramuh immediately asked.

"The Paladin was poised to kill them, but after the monkey boy pointed out the obviousness of the danger that her princess was in, she finally decided to think for herself rather than slaughter mindlessly in the Queen's name like the rest of the black mages. She even had enough power to dispel the coma the other anomaly put on Garnet. Now, she and a few others are covering their escape. They're headed right back down to the basement."

"What good will that do them?" Palidor asked incredulously.

"That's how the princess got into the castle from Treno." Terrato explained. "The old Gargant transportation system runs down here. If they can make it to the bottom, they might be able to go on to Treno. Of course…they're some problems."

The other espers, save Leviathan, turned and looked to him at that. "What sort of problems?"

"I am a snake esper…and I can easily track large serpents." Terrato answered. "There's a big one in the cave. No Gargant in the world would go near it."

No one knew what to say in reply, and so they turned back to Leviathan instead, and watched him for an update. Typically, he didn't speak for a few more minutes. The commotion came closer and closer to their level as he spoke. They heard not only the sounds of typical human fighting, but of magical blasts…and some sort of other sound that was definitely not human. At any rate, the sounds continued to come closer and closer, until they stopped and then began to cross in one direction. A few minutes later, and the commotion began to die down. The sounds of footsteps stopped, and after a few more loud sounds everything began to quiet. A few more minutes went by, and everything was silent. There was no other noise. After that, Leviathan bowed his head slightly, and shook it as his eyes opened again.

"They are out of my range."

"Did they make it to the Gargant?" Starlet asked nervously.

"Three did." Leviathan darkly answered. "Garnet, the monkey boy, and the black mage child. They had a smooth run until they went out of my range, but after that I'm not sure what happened." With that, Leviathan turned to Terrato. "Where was this serpent the last time you sensed it?"

Terrato frowned at that. "A bad position. The junction between the Treno line and a non-operational line. That line used to go to Lindbulm. But after a big washout destroyed half of it, it was abandoned. It comes out about five miles early now, at some place called Pinnacle Rocks."

"Do you think they can kill the serpent? Go to Treno?"

The earth esper frowned. "Possibly…but it's really not their choice. The Gargant may run right by the Treno exit if it's trying to get to stay away from the snake. In that case, it would go on to Pinnacle Rocks."

Leviathan hesitated at this. He turned and rubbed his chin. It appeared that they had some good luck for a change…but only at the price of terrible, terrible bad news. They couldn't afford to stay here long. They had to act quickly if they were going to do something about this. It seemed they still had a summoner after this, which meant his stone monolith could still come to life. Yet if the summoner didn't start taking command of some espers, then she was no use to them. He began to pray that this event had finally slapped her in the face and made her wake up to what was going on. Yet even if it did, she had already lost her espers. He didn't know how the fat cow…or perhaps this other anomaly…had done it, but they were now under her command. That in itself was a major concern…but now she had to learn how to use espers all over again. And to that end…she had to get the appropriate gems to replace the function of her horn. All of this would take time…time that they didn't have. Yet they had to devote their energy, at least in part, to making her become a true summoner.

Finally, Leviathan turned back to the others. First, he looked to Palidor and Ramuh. "Both of you…meet up with Garnet as soon as she lands. Palidor, you take the Treno exit. Ramuh, you take the one at Pinnacle Rocks. Now…" Here, Leviathan made his voice more firm and demanding. "I don't care how you do it… I don't care how long it takes… Don't let her leave your sight until she agrees to take you on as her summon. Understood?"

Palidor readily nodded. Without a word, she turned and immediately took off back down the shaft, this time diving to get there more quickly. Ramuh, however…didn't change so easily. His face was not so compliant. In fact, it grew rather grim and he stared darkly back at Leviathan without moving. After a moment, the esper turned back to him.

"…Yes, Ramuh?"

"With all due respect, sir," Ramuh quietly and calmly answered. "It was, quite honestly, Garnet's fault that these espers are now doing damage to the world. She was too weak to stand up for herself and what she knew was right when the time came. She was too weak to assume her responsibilities. Pardon me…but I feel a little uneasy granting my power to a girl who could just as easily hand me over to Brahne as she did Odin and Shiva. I won't help her if all she'll do is cower and hide from her duties."

Leviathan sighed in reply to this. Much as he hated to admit it, Ramuh had a point. Yet he couldn't be bothered too much with logic right now. There was no time. "…What do you suggest, Ramuh?"

"I want to test her."

Leviathan frowned in reply. "No. You're too strong for those three."

"Not like that." Ramuh answered immediately. "More of a test of her resolve, and her mental standing. I want to see if she is willing to commit herself to using her espers from now on and standing against the Queen."

The sea esper sighed in response, and rubbed his temple. "…Fine. But don't take too long. And get there now before she does."

Ramuh gave a nod in reply. After doing so, he looked up to the sky, and stretched out his arms. Soon the air began to charge, and the sky grew darker around him. As their hair began to stand up and they felt prickles, the other espers stood back from Ramuh. Moments later, however, his eyes flashed, and a bolt of lighting shot down from the middle of the ceiling, lashed down and touched him, and enveloped him in electricity. It lasted only a moment before vanishing. And when it did, it took the lightning esper with it. The room became normal again after that, and everything calmed down. Sighing a bit, the other espers stepped back forward and looked to Leviathan.

"So what now?"

The sea esper turned to Terrato at that. "I'd like you to fill in for them for now, Terrato. We need to get on the move again, and we need an extra set of eyes. We have to find the espers and stop them before they destroy anything or anyone else."

"Haven't we been here before?" Wyvern disdainfully asked.

"There still might be some clues left behind." Leviathan responded, continuing to scan the ground. He had taken his own esper form on at this point, as had the others. Now, they freely used their Auto-aero ability to scan the ground from far above the canopy. The others did as Leviathan did and tried to find signs of a struggle. Broken tree limbs…a crater…even ice. Anything that would indicate in which direction Shiva had gone. For right now, she was the only one they could try to pinpoint, and frankly Leviathan wanted to do that first. He doubted that Odin was still in the area of Cleyra…and he didn't know whether to be happy or sad about that.

Leviathan struggled to think of how they could proceed. Even when they did find an esper, what would they do? Would they attack it like any other opponent? Espers were durable. It wasn't until they were near death that they ceased to be a threat. And if they did disable one, then what? Would they try to restrain it in some way? Should they try to reason with them rather than fight, or would they be deaf to pleas? Considering the fact that Shiva had so ruthelessly attacked her husband, he doubted that they would listen. Could he try and force the dark consciousness from their minds? He might…but he had no idea where to begin on that. He had to try and examine one first to determine the nature of the attack…

"Maybe we should just take the opportunity to smash Alexandria." Terrato spoke up. "That would put an end to the attacks."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not." Leviathan responded flatly. "The humans know so little about us that I doubt Brahne knew that Ifrit was coming. Yet Shiva attacked him none the less. Besides…the moment we attack Alexandria, they might send Odin after us."

Terrato quieted down at that. That was true. Leviathan knew that Odin was one of the greatest among them. He ruefully admitted to himself that even he couldn't contest him. There was only one among them that he knew was a match for Odin, and he still considered him a loose cannon. Nevertheless, he soon spoke up after hearing that.

"Well, so long as you don't mind killing them…" Wyvern slowly sneered. "I think I could more than handle Odin, Atomos, and Shiva put together."

Leviathan froze at that and winced. But it was too late. Abruptly, Terrato turned to Wyvern in puzzlement. "My lord…how can you be sure that the Queen will go after Atomos next?"

The sea serpent felt himself begin to sweat. He had spilled the beans again. He didn't like it when this happened now. After what the Queen had done…Leviathan wasn't exactly sure whether or not Wyvern had been freed, or if his "ownership" had transferred to Brahne. Even then, he wasn't too confident. Brahne had attempted to seize control of Wyvern and had failed. That meant that the link had weakened. He feared that, given enough time, Wyvern would contest the link and see if he could break it. Perhaps it would be best, assuming that Garnet finally utilized her power, that he see to it that the girl was slipped a Garnet gem as soon as possible…

Yet before Wyvern could answer or anything else could happen, everyone was interrupted as an old voice sounded in their heads.

My lords, it is Ramuh.

At that, Wyvern and the comment were momentarily forgotten. Instead, the espers turned their heads to the sky and their full attention to the voice. Luckily, Leviathan realized, from this range Ramuh could send mental signals. Perhaps all of the strong ones could, which was good to him. That would save time.

I have made contact with Garnet, the monkey boy, who calls himself Zidane, and the black mage child, who calls himself Vivi.

Leviathan sighed in response to this, and swallowed.

Ramuh…please…please tell me she has accepted her responsibilities.

At long last, my lord, it seems as if she wishes to control espers to undo what her foster mother is doing. She wished for me to become her eidilon. After I tested her, I gave her a Peridot which will allow her to focus herself to my specific energy. It will take her some time to be able to master me, seeing as she lacks a horn that would have sped the process along, but I am now her summon.

The sea esper gave a tremendous sigh of relief. It was about time. He had needed some good news. Ramuh wasn't exactly the strongest of espers…but he was a start. Now, Leviathan had to make sure she quickly accumulated more. The bad part was that it would take her longer to master others, especially stronger ones. Still, this was one hurdle they had overcome. And now…Leviathan realized his chances of bringing up the holy esper had increased significantly.

Unfortunately, my lord…I did not contact you to bring you good news.

Leviathan's train of thought cut off at that, and his gaze refocused. What do you mean?

I am near Lindbulm right now, and it is under attack by the Queen's armies…and an esper.

The others stiffened at that. Wyvern merely snorted and began to crack his neck. Is it Odin, Ramuh?

Not this time. She is using Atomos instead. He's preparing to attack right now. When he does...he'll inhale half of every building and anyone who's on the streets.

We're on our way.

With that, Leviathan broke the link and turned to the others in the group. They all readily looked to him in response, having heard that final word from him as well over the mental link.

"We're headed to Lindbulm right now. It is likely that along the way…we'll feel another ripple in the Lifestream. Ignore it and push yourselves as hard as possible."

To be continued...