A/N: After a greatly needed night of rest, our heroes seem to be ready to head to Welgaia. What awaits them there? Can the legendary Angel Arms really be forged there?

Time for "Respond to the Readers"!

Concerning turning everyone into angels: Don't worry, I'm not gonna do that. According to my theory, even if everyone got the necessary blood transfusions from any of the current angels, they would still have to satisfy the second condition of becoming an angel: undergoing a spiritually significant event.

Concerning being added to a couple more favorites lists: Aww shucks

As always, thanks again for any and all reviews. I'm doing my best to be more regular with my updates (sorry again for the lateness of that last chapter!)

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Chapter 14: City of Angels

As Lloyd finished setting up the last of the three Rheiards, Kratos and the others discussed things such as what those staying behind should do in case of an emergency and such. Everything was set to go now. All Lloyd and Kratos were waiting on now was Sheena, who was still in Colette's house, getting ready for the trip to Welgaia. There was no denying that there was a mixed feeling of anxiety and nervousness in the air as everyone wondered what would result from the trip to Welgaia. All everyone could hope to do was hope that the legends of the Angel Arms held true.

"…and that should be it," said Kratos, finishing his lecture to those staying behind. "Does everyone understand?"

They all nodded, each uttering their own affirmative responses as they did so.

Kratos nodded, satisfied. "Good. As soon as Sheena is ready, we'll-"

The door of Colette's house swung wide open and through it came Sheena, looking as healthy and fresh as ever. "I'm ready guys. Sorry for making you wait."

"…then we'll leave," finished Kratos. He looked over at Lloyd. "How are the Rheiards, Lloyd?"

Lloyd gave his father a thumbs-up. "All set dad. We can leave at any time."

Kratos nodded and mounted one of the Rheiards. "Then let us make haste to Welgaia."

Following Kratos' example, Sheena and Lloyd each boarded their own Rheiards. Once on board, Sheena performed several kata and whispered to herself. Finally, she threw a card down on the ground and yelled, "I summon thee! Come, Origin!"

Origin appeared in all his glory and folded his arms as he always did. "What is your wish, Grand Summoner Sheena?"

She looked up at the magnificent king of the summon spirits. "Origin, please alter our Rheiards so that we may travel to Welgaia."

A bright flash of light emanated from the Rheiards and quickly diminished. "It is done. I shall take my leave if I am no longer needed."

She nodded to him. "That is all. Thank you Origin."

With that, the king of the summon spirits vanished. The heroes nodded to each other.

"And we're off!" said Lloyd as he pushed what was once the dimensional warp button."

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Seeing a group of not only three strange machines but three people riding them appearing seemingly out of thin air was certainly not common to the angels of Welgaia. Even when they found out later just who the people were, they still could not believe that they had actually found a way to return to Welgaia. Amidst a sea of staring angels, the heroes dismounted their Rheiards.

"They look surprised to see us," observed Sheena.

Kratos nodded. "Naturally. They most likely thought that they would never see us again, for better or for worse."

Lloyd tilted his head. "For better or worse? How do you think they feel about us?"

Kratos shook his head. "I'm not sure. My belief is that, with the destruction of the Exspheres, while some may still bear some resentment, most will at least acknowledge us in a positive way. There shouldn't be any need to worry about running into trouble. Besides, we will only be here a short while if everything goes well."

"You mean with the Angel Arms?" asked Lloyd.

"Hmm," replied Kratos affirmatively.

As Lloyd turned around to put the Rheiards back in their wing pack, a rather handsome looking angel emerged from the gathering of angels. He glided over to Kratos and bowed.

"Hail, and well met, Lord Kratos," said the angel. "We thought that we would never see you again."

Kratos offered a slight bow back to the angel. "Indeed. Your assumption perhaps would've remained true if Symphonia was not in the state that it is now."

The angel nodded. "Yes, we've been able to see what's been going on so far. This Nebilim… I have never seen a being as powerful as he is. Not even Lord Mithos could've stopped him." It was at this point that he finally took notice of the two young warriors standing behind Kratos. "I see you have brought friends with you Kratos. Would you be so kind as to introduce me to them?"

Kratos turned back to his son and his lover. "Ah yes, my apologies. Calvo, this is my son, Lloyd and the lovely lady next to him is Grand Summoner Sheena. Lloyd, Sheena, this is Calvo, second-in-command of the angels of Welgaia."

Several hushed whispers erupted through the crowd of gathered angels. Calvo took a step back. "Lloyd and Sheena! The heroes who defeated Lord Mithos!"

Lloyd and Sheena were unsure of what to think when they heard Calvo said this. It became apparent that they were happy with the deed when every single angel around them kneeled before them. "Whoa. What's going on here?" asked Lloyd, confused as usual.

Calvo looked up at them. "Thanks to you, Lady Sheena, and Lord Kratos, Lord Mithos' madness was put to an end and he was finally able to accomplish what he had been working for for so long."

"What was that?" asked Sheena.

"Simply put, he's with Martel now," answered Kratos.

Calvo nodded. "That's correct. Ever since then, under the leadership of Lord Yuan, we've been able to begin the rebuilding of the angelic civilization. It is all thanks to the heroic actions of you three."

Sheena blushed and partly turned away. Lloyd grinned nervously and ran his hand through his hair. "Ah, haha… it was nothing."

"Speaking of Yuan," started Kratos, "I wish to see him as soon as possible. Could you please take me to him?"

"Lord Yuan?" Calvo stood up and looked downward. "Ah, he's… he won't be able to see you right now. He's, ah… rather busy at the moment. All of his efforts have been directed at protecting Welgaia from Nebilim's influence."

This caught even Lloyd's attention. "Nebilim's influence? Isn't Welgaia in space right now? How can he have any affect on this place?"

Calvo turned to the young hero with a frown. "I beg your pardon, young Lloyd, but I'm afraid that you are grossly underestimating Nebilim's power. His power is slowly growing, even as we speak. Even as Welgaia and Derris-Kharlan float away from Symphonia, his power has already caught up to us and, if it were not for Lord Yuan, we might have already been already overrun by demons. If he is not stopped on Symphonia, it could mean the end for, not only your planet, but for any other land that lies beyond the stars."

Lloyd scratched his head. "Whoa. Scary stuff. Talk about pressure."

Kratos shook his head. "All the same, I would still like to see Yuan."

Calvo did the best he could to change the subject. "You've come to see if the Eternal Door can be opened, correct? Please follow me. I shall take you there." He began to walk away but didn't get very far before Kratos spoke again."

"Calvo, why do you refuse to take me to Yuan?" asked Kratos.

Calvo said nothing and continued to walk.

"Calvo!" yelled Kratos. "I demand that you take us to see Yuan, now!"

Calvo turned back to Kratos, a look of sadness in his eyes. "It is not possible to see Lord Yuan right now."

"Why not?" asked Sheena.

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The door to a small room opened up and the four angels walked inside. In the middle of the room, there was what appeared to be a hibernation chamber with what appeared to be a large machine connected to it. The heroes looked at the chamber with puzzled looks on their faces.

Kratos turned to Calvo and asked, "Calvo, why have you brought us here?"

Calvo looked Kratos dead in the eyes. "You wanted to see Lord Yuan, correct?" He turned back to the chamber and pointed to it. "Well, here he is."

Kratos looked at the chamber, then back at Calvo, who merely nodded. Slowly, he made his way over to the chamber, both unsure of what he was going to see, and unsure if he actually wanted to see it. Once at the chamber, he took a deep breath and looked inside. Inside, Yuan could be seen, sleeping soundly.

"What the…" Kratos turned back to Calvo who was already making his way over with Lloyd and Sheena. "What is the meaning of this?"

Calvo put a hand on the cold glass of Yuan's chamber. "Welgaia has access to what we call a mana battery. Long ago, this battery was used to power a number of magitechnology-powered defenses. To power the mana battery, it requires… a living being."

Kratos couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had never known about the existence of such a device. "A living being?"

Calvo nodded. "It draws mana from the body in order power the body. This in turn slowly kills said living being. This hibernation chamber was later installed in order to slow the "killing process". In any case, the more powerful the being, the longer it takes… for them to die." He looked through the glass at Yuan's emotionless face. "Even if we should emerge victorious before Lord Yuan dies, he will never be the same again."

Overcome with anger, Kratos couldn't help but pound a metallic part of the chamber. "Damnit Yuan! It should've been me!"

"But…" started Sheena, "Why did he do it?"

Calvo turned to the summoner. "Don't you understand? The only thing that is protecting Welgaia from Nebilim's influence is the barrier projected by Lord Yuan's life force. Many of us volunteered to take his place, but he wouldn't have it. He said it was his duty to protect us and Welgaia from harm."

Lloyd closed his eyes. "Yuan…"

Calvo put his hand on Kratos' shoulder. "Lord Yuan knew that you would come. "If anyone can open the Eternal Door, it's Kratos," is what he said before he put himself in the chamber. He asked me to take you to the Eternal Door."

Both Lloyd and Sheena put their hands on the powerful angels other shoulder. "Dad?" asked Lloyd.

Kratos, finally beginning to calm down, composed himself and looked once more at Yuan. "I know, I know. Let's go."

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"This is it," said Calvo as the four angels stood before a massive door. "Beyond this door is another room that houses the Eternal Door. According to legend, it hasn't been opened in well over five-thousand years."

Kratos nodded. "Alright then. Thank you Calvo."

The angel began to walk away. "I wish you luck, heroes of Symphonia and Welgaia."

Kratos looked to his two companions. "Let us not waste any time. Let's go."

They opened the large door which, just as Calvo said, led to another room with a very impressive looking and very massive door on the other end of it. After taking a few steps forward, the door behind them closed and the room began to darken.

"Wah!" exclaimed Lloyd. "What the heck is going on here?"

Sheena looked around. "What's happening to the light?"

"Welcome, angels of Symphonia," said an echoing voice from seemingly nowhere.

"Who's there?" asked Lloyd. "Show yourself!"

Kratos put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Calm down. He's not an enemy."

"Times are dire indeed, if these doors are to be opened again," said the voice. "For five-thousand years, we have watched Symphonia from afar, hoping that we would never again see Nebilim or the Devil Arms. However, now that he is once again manifest upon your world, there is no choice but to fight him once again."

Sheena stepped forward. "And that's why we're here. We come in hopes of creating the Angel Arms so that we can destroy him, once and for all."

The voice echoed again. "I see. You are indeed brave, but your numbers are few. You are but one third of the heroes who accomplished the same task so long ago. Are you sure you want this burden placed upon your small shoulders?"

Lloyd closed his eyes. "We know our odds aren't good, but we have to try anyway. If we planned on not trying at all, we would've never come here in the first place. Yes, we are sure."

"Well said, young hero," said the voice. With that comment, the massive doors slowly opened, revealing nothing but complete darkness ahead of them. "Now… enter. Enter and fulfill your destiny as the true champions of Symphonia." The voice faded and died away.

"…no time to waste. Let's go," said Kratos as he marched forward, with a wordless Sheena and Lloyd following close behind.

They walked into the darkness and watched as the dim lights behind them slowly vanished due to the slow closing of the Eternal Door.

"Whoa, sure is dark in here," said Lloyd. "Stay close to me, okay Sheena?"

No response. "Sheena?"

Still no response. "Sheena? Where are you?" He brought his red wings into existence to light the area around him. Even when he did, neither Sheena nor Kratos could be seen?

"Sheena? Dad?" asked Lloyd nervously as he looked around him. "Where are you guys?"

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Indeed, where is everyone? Due to a heroic sacrifice by Yuan, Welgaia will remain protected from Nebilim for quite some time. Even if the heroes should win, will it be in time to save Yuan? Before any of that can come, they must first forge the angel arms of legend. Will they be able to do it? Stay tuned! Sorry for the late update, but the next three chapters, although short, will come in fairly short order. Thanks in advance for any and all revews!

Also, if any of my readers are at all interested in Star Ocean and would like to read an original story concerning it, please check out my grand project, "Star Ocean: Forever and Beyond". I've put hours of planning into this one, but I'm lacking in reviews. I ask you to please check it out and let me know what you think, should you be interested. Thanks in advance!