"But we don't right now. Perhaps someone else can tell us where to find it. If I recall correctly..." Genis paged his way through a sloppy collection of notes, homework done in haste.
"Yes! The church of Martel in Luin! The head priest said that the key was stolen by a monster that looked like Clara a week ago!" The elf was overjoyed to find the information. "This means we just have to find her again!"
"We should return to Hima. Perhaps some of the survivors will know." Kratos turned away from the tower. It seemed that there would be more travel in store for the day. First the town of Hima, to confirm the information, after that... who could say?
---
The trip back to the water seal had been quiet. Aside from a quick ruckus at Hima, where the group had recovered the key to the Tower of Mana, nothing extraordinary had occurred. Well... there was the Unicorn in the bottom of the lake, but no one seemed to think that such an unusual thing.
Now they faced their first summon spirit.
"Undine! I am Sheena. I request that thou makest a pact with me!"
The water spirit looked down calmly at the group gathered before her. Her voice echoed the far away sound of a rippling brook as she answered. "I am one who is bound to Mithos. Only one pact is allowed at a time."
"Now what am I supposed to do? They never said anything about this at the Academy!" Sheena was quite flustered by now, the spirit's reply having blown away the meager store of confidence that she held beforehand.
Kratos sighed inwardly as he asserted himself again to the fore. "What you need to do is request an annulment of the previous pact."
"Huh?" Sheena seemed confused about this point, as did everyone else who was listening.
The mercenary remained patient however, striving to explain a process about which he hadn't thought in a thousand years. "It may be that the previous pact maker has broken their vow, or perhaps they have... passed on. In that case, all that is required is a new vow to form the pact."
"So what happens if he's still alive and hasn't broken his vow?" The ninja's worry came out in her tone. Clearly this was not something that she had wanted to do.
"We'll see about that if it comes. Just do what you need to do."
His voice was calm and reassuring. Sheena nodded, albeit reluctantly and turned again to face the summon spirit.
"I Sheena requesteth that thou absolveth thy pact with Mithos and form a new pact with me."
"Very well." Undine seemed slightly amused, if that were possible. "Now we must test your worth as a wielder of my powers."
A long flowing sword of water appeared in the spirit's hand, and she rushed forward to the attack...
---
Hours later, they made their way back from the geyser, still soaked to the skin from their encounter with the water goddess. Sheena sat dazedly in her tub as the little flotilla floated into the makeshift harbor. 'How could I, the one who failed to make pact in my own world come here and win a summons in so little time?'
She was unaware of Kratos' gaze as he shifted his perspective to take in the group's status. The children were fine, albeit a wee bit bored with the trip by now. Raine was pale faced and clinging to the sides of the washtub, while Sheena was just sitting and staring out at nothing. He frowned and did his best to guide the girls' craft into the safe haven.
Once safely ensconced on shore, Raine turned on the mercenary, her gaze hard. "You seem to know an awful lot about summoning." The statement was an invitation for Kratos to spill his guts, but the man refused to be intimidated. He met her eyes when he replied.
"I once had a... friend, who was somewhat knowledgeable on the subject." The hesitation in his voice told Raine that she wasn't going to get anything else without reading in between the lines. As she pondered the response, her gaze softened and she merely nodded, gesturing to the House of Sanctuary in a mute request. To her relief, the mercenary gave a terse nod and started up the steps. The journey could continue on the morrow.
At least they could enter the tower now.
---
It took a little while for them to ascend the Tower of Mana. The strange contraptions that had to be manipulated to open the doors required parties of three to work correctly. In short, it was a most trying time.
Of course, the many enemies dropping in from angles didn't help things any...
'Sword fighting,' Lloyd decided as he hacked away at a floating sword, 'was much easier when you had a swordsman opposite you.' His opponent spun and flipped through the air, making him dizzy as he spun around and parried desperately.
"Whoever designed this place had no sense of taste." Lloyd glanced over at his friends to see how they wer doing.
Genis was busy trying to burn up his opponent, a giant evil spring-necked teddy bear. Lloyd gulped uneasily and returned to slashing at the sword. 'I'll never look at Mr. Teddy the same way again.'
Raine was defending herself handily from the second bear while she waited for an opening to cast spells in. Calmly she maneuvered herself and her opponent between Lloyd and the sword, giving the boy some much-needed breathing space.
"Focus Lloyd!" The Professor was in teacher mode, pointing out yet another thing to think about. "Your opponent has been darting in and out in a pattern; if you set yourself up right, it should be easy to take it down."
Lloyd blinked and looked closer. The Professor was right. "Yeah! I see!"
A thought hit him, and he waited until the sword dove at him again before diving around the teddy bear creature that still harried Genis. The sword split the stuffed animal at the seams, entangling itself in the process. Lloyd pounced on it a moment later, smashing the enchanted metal into little bits.
"Did you see that? They didn't stand a chance!" The boy crowed with delight at his success. He adopted a cool pose, swinging his swords around and stopping with them out to either side of him.
"Fancy that." Genis was grumbling again as he toasted the last foe with Eruption. The bear fell into burning clumps, never to rise again.
Raine merely grinned and led the trio further into the tower, stopping at yet another of the strange machines. A picture of Kratos and his group came up on the screen…
"Cool! Hey Kratos!"
An almost life-sized image of the mercenary plastered a hand over his eyes. "Lloyd, this is not a game."
"I know." The boy was too cheerful as he danced around the machinery. "I just wanted to say that."
Raine interposed herself between the Lloyd and the man. "You should be able to come up now. We've nearly reached the top."
The Kratos image nodded, his head turning to view something out of reach of the camera. When he turned back, his composure was tightly controlled once again. "Yes, the path is open now. We'll be there in a few moments."
The image disappeared, and true to his word, the mercenary and his party arrived quickly. As the rest of the members disappeared through the portal to the last seal, Kratos dropped back to watch them.
'If only I didn't have to do this. If I were really who I claim to be – Kratos the mercenary. If only they didn't have to hate me to survive…'
Wordlessly he entered the portal, arriving just in time to witness the unleashing of the final seal before the tower of salvation. This time he had to work to keep his disgust from showing.
---
The end of the week found the party ensconced yet again in the Hima Inn. This time they were charting their course towards the goal - the Tower of Salvation. Most were asleep as they lay scattered about the inn's common room, the day's travel and subsequent adventures having worn them out.
Only Lloyd was still awake when Kratos got up from his corner and slipped outside. Curiosity gripped the boy and he followed carefully. Outdoors the wind whipped around in a frenzy, keeping him from hearing what the mercenary was saying to Noishe. Lloyd stayed on the porch, remembering another time when he'd come outside only to be greeted by the leading edge of a blade. Only Kratos' skill had saved him then.
Now as he stood by the wall and shivered in the night air, another form materialized behind his friend. For a moment Lloyd blinked, so mesmerized was he by the scene of the Mercenary and the Dog, that he nearly missed seeing the new addition. The buildup of magical energy was a warning bell however, and the boy leapt away from his perch, shouting as he did so.
"Kratos! Look out!"
The mercenary turned sharply, his sword leading the way and felling his attacker, who cursed before vanishing. "Damn you Kratos!"
Replacing his sword in its sheath, Kratos looked over at his son. Lloyd would never know how much he meant to him, even with all his bumbling ways and inverted logic.
"Thank you." It was the only acknowledgement he could give, but somehow the mercenary knew that Lloyd would understand. Indeed, the boy's face lit up and he grinned like an idiot.
"Are you okay Kratos? He didn't get you did he?"
"No he didn't, thanks to you." Kratos gave Noishe one last glance before he turned and walked towards the inn. "Come on Lloyd, we'll need to get some rest before tomorrow dawns."
He didn't notice Lloyd picking up a ring out of the dirt before tagging along behind him.
---
It was morning before anyone moved again in the inn. Despite the late night, both Kratos and Lloyd were up before time. The boy went to eat while the mercenary merely went to stand on the summit to wait for the promised dragons.
He was soon joined by someone who stood behind him and to one side. For a few moments they stood there apart, the wind singing its never-ending song around them. Finally the figure moved to stand beside him, revealing the dark haired ninja.
"Sheena."
The girl started at hearing her name. Curiously she turned her gaze towards the mercenary.
"Be careful today. Whatever you decide, do not die."
'Now why had he said that?'
Kratos looked down on the green forests that spread out from the base of the mountains. If he turned his gaze upwards he would see the cruel fate that lay ahead of him - the Tower of Salvation. Better to call it damnation, for that was exactly what his companions would see when they entered it.
A tower of betrayal - his betrayal.
Turning, he eyed the ninja. She still stood with her face towards the tower, awe playing over her features. He wished that it wouldn't have to be replace with the more negative emotions that were sure to come in the following hours.
"We... worked well together."
The praise brought a smile to her lips, and it broke his heart just a little bit more to think of how she would hate him in just a little while.
---
"Traitor!"
He winced visibly as the shout reached him up on the platform. He had to lower his gaze to keep them from seeing the pain that was there. It was an effort just to keep his voice cool and calm. "Is this not what you desired?"
They'd charged in then, desperate to take back what they'd once given willingly. Kratos fought without much hope - even as strong as they were they would not be able to face him, let alone Yggdrasil.
Finally they lay silent upon the floor. He raised his sword over his son, praying to any god that would hear him to spare him the agony of this farce. They seemed not only to be deaf to his prayers, but also to take cruel delight in his suffering - Yggdrasil appeared in his manifold glory.
"Ha, still can't bring yourself to defeat them Kratos?"
He charged up a magic bolt and cast it at Lloyd as he struggled to his feet. Kratos turned away, unable to watch the devastation that was about to commence. Even were he to join in their defense, they would die; there was no way that he could shield them all.
Then it happened.
Soldiers were around him, rushing at Yggdrasil. 'Renegades!'
Blasts of light destroyed them, but it gave time for others in their company to achieve their main directive - the retrieval of the Chosen and her companions.
Yggdrasil cursed as they teleported away. "Come Kratos."
He disappeared in a ball of light, leaving the lone Seraphim behind in the broken tower.
"Heh, saved by the Renegades." Kratos' heart was a little bit lighter. Perhaps there was hope for them now. At least they were alive. He raised his wings and disappeared in a flash of feathers and blue light.
---
AN: So, what do you think? I really hope that this wasn't too disjointed – I put it together and then took it apart and put it together differently. I did edit it to try and make sure that it was readable, but I'm not totally sure that it isn't like this sentence, which seems to run on and on and on and never really get anywhere…
Granted, my whole thought process has been a bit frazzled today. One of my siblings had a slight accident, and I had to go change a flat tire and drive the car home… At least nobody was hurt – (un)wonderful one car accidents…
Anywho, Read and REVIEW peoples! Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
Trev