"Worthless. And she thought that my name would help." The cold glare was turned towards the back of the room, as Yggdrasil sought the face of another. "Just like my old comrades." The person that he sought was no longer where he had once stood. In fact, it appeared as though he'd left the room entirely for the moment. Shrugging, the angel turned back to his current opponents.
"Prepare yourselves, vermin."
It was the only warning that they received. A bolt of magic hurled swiftly in their direction, causing the gathered heroes to scatter in haste. Mithos Yggdrasil wasted no time in following up his attack, sending random bolts of light at whoever happened to be closest to him. This prompted a mad scramble for cover. Lloyd ended up behind a pillar with Raine and Regal. They watched warily as Mithos continued to blast things seemingly at random.
"We've got to stop him! I'm going in." Lloyd's voice was determined, and Raine frowned at him. "Just like that? No protection, no help? What are you thinking?"
Regal jumped in before Lloyd could embarrass himself. "He's right. We need to move now, before we lose all hope of acting in a cohesive manner. I will go with him and try to distract Yggdrasil's attention. You and the others should back us up as you find opportunity."
Raine nodded and sighed. "Fine, but just give me a moment to cast a barrier on the two of you. It won't stop his magic, but it may lessen the damage that I have to heal." She began the motions necessary for the spell, and a light blue barrier surrounded the two fighters for a moment before fading out of sight.
Regal nodded once to Raine before looking back at Lloyd. "Let's go."
The two fighters broke from their cover in opposite directions, instantly dodging twin bolts that Mithos fired in their direction. Raine winced as she watched the two battling their way closer to the spot where Yggdrasil stood. Across the room, Genis stepped out from behind a pillar to unleash a hail of stones on their foe, while Sheena went through the incantation to summon Shade's power. "Blackest night, sheath our blades in your darkness!"
Presea's axe was wreathed with an eerie aura of darkness. The quiet girl charged into battle behind Lloyd, stepping in and swinging at Mithos just as the angel turned and blasted away the spiky haired boy. The axe connected, and Regal followed up the moment of hesitation that the agony wrought to drop kick the angel into one of the pillars. Mithos stood up, bleeding from his side. His eyes narrowed as they strayed to the axe that had wounded him.
"You."
His cold gaze picked out Sheena from across the room and he lifted his hands in her direction. "Be gone!"
Sheena's eyes opened wide as she stared at the angel across the room. "No way!" The magic flared from his hands and crossed the intervening space before she could blink.
Raine fumbled to cast a barrier and Genis went into the incantations for Eruption. The others scrambled to interrupt Mithos, but too late. The spell burned through the intervening space to where the summoner stood. The furious assault that came then took Yggdrasil aback, and he failed to do more than barely keep them at bay. "Enough!" He screamed.
Rapid fire blasts cleared the area long enough for him to begin his incantation. Raine blinked once as she listened and then shouted at the others to take cover. She grabbed Genis and dragged him along with her as she ducked behind a pillar and under the protection of the overhanging balcony. Seconds later beams of light came crashing down over the entire area.
"What is that!" A familiar voice shrieked from close by.
Raine looked up to find Sheena cowering behind Undine and a nearby pillar.
---
The light had come for her, and yet did not reach her. When it cleared, she saw the still forms in front of her, the ones who had taken the brunt of the punishing attack. Foremost among them stood Kratos, his shielding technique allowing him to block most of the damage. Behind him stood (or rather, floated) Volt, the summon spirit crackling dangerously with excess power.
Finally, Undine stood right in front of her, the last line in a barrier of bodies. Sheena blinked for half a second as tears threatened to fill her eyes. The others just stood there for a moment, and then Kratos dove towards her and pulled her behind a pillar. Undine was close behind, and Volt disappeared with a flash.
Looking up, she was shocked by what she saw. In the middle of the room, Mithos was finishing up some grand spell. Pillars of light seemed to fall from the heavens to crash into the floor all around the room. Sheena found her voice.
"What is that!"
---
"Sheena!" Lloyd poked his head out to look, before being jerked back behind cover by Regal as the pillars of light continued to fall. Even here it seemed that Lloyd lost all common sense at the wrong times. Kratos shook his head as he stood outside of the overhang.
"That is Judgment, one of the most damaging spells in the angelic repertoire. Of course, it is strictly limited to those of the upper hierarchy of Cruxis."
Raine's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. She glared at Genis for a moment, and then looked back at Mithos. "Which means that you and Yuan can do it too. Fine, we'll just have to hit him with everything that we've got then. Genis, Prism Stars should make him lose concentration long enough to allow Lloyd and the others to close in. Sheena," And here the half-elf turned towards the summoner, her voice firm. "You'll want to summon Shade as soon as they get knocked away again. We'll try to keep this up until we beat him."
The other two nodded and Genis closed his eyes and stepped beside his sister. Moving together, they combined the magic necessary to form the spell they intended to cast. As they finished, rainbow colored crystals fell from the sky and smashed into the lone figure in the middle of the room. The power of the spell drove him to his knees.
Hammered as he was, Yggdrasil still managed to stagger to his feet.
Only to meet Lloyd and Regal as they simultaneously bull-rushed him and Presea's well timed attack from behind. Yggdrasil withered under the assault, between the magic, the summons, and the blades, he sustained enough injury to disable an army.
He did the only thing that he could. He shrank to his child form.
As instantly as it had begun, the assault ceased. Clutching his side, Mithos staggered over to the Mana Seed. "I see now Martel. You just wanted to go home." His voice was oddly disquieting.
"If the elves had never left, none of this would have happened. Come Martel, we'll go home together." Despite the pain, Mithos raised his arms and let the magic flow through him. He and Martel would leave this place far behind, leave the selfish elves and paranoid humans to their own devices.
"No! We have to stop him!" Colette's voice broke through the haze that seemed to have gripped everyone present. "She's crying, she says that we have to keep him from taking away the Mana Seed."
"He'll destroy the world if he does!"
That though galvanized the assembled into action, and this time, Mithos Yggdrasil fell into darkness.
---
Hours after the battle, Village of the Elves…
"I can't promise to be here for you tomorrow. You know that." His voice was quiet, full of regret.
"I know. You told me that before."
"There isn't any other way."
"I know."
"If there were..."
"It's alright, Kratos." She broke in, derailing his apologies. "Just stay with me tonight. It will be enough, let tomorrow take care of itself."
"Alright." The words were whispers, the faint passing of breath between the lips. "I promise you tonight, then."
She smiled, their silhouettes drawing nearer and merging as they kissed. A long moment of silence followed before they parted, though neither moved away from the other. Sheena sighed contentedly as she snuggled closer in the Seraphim's embrace. "You know, Raine is really going to interrogate me about tonight."
"Really?" Kratos murmured, gently kissing the top of her head. "She'd get extremely bored with our lack of performance, that much is certain."
"Hmm. I suppose I could make up enough details to entertain her, if we don't get to the good parts." Sheena moved her head back just enough to glance at his face. "We are planning in that direction, aren't we?"
"I suppose we can, if that's what you desire. If you don't, well, I've learned to be patient." His hand moved to massage her lower back.
"I suppose living for a long time is good for something."
A wry grin crossed the Seraphim's face, half hidden in the shadows. "One either learns things, or they get extremely bored."
"So how long did it take you to get bored?" Sheena arched an eyebrow when Kratos looked askance at her. "How long?"
"About two years." He admitted, shaking his head. "It took that long to set up the hierarchy for the Church of Martel, and organize the Desians. After that, I realized that there really wasn't anything for me to do. It was quite disconcerting."
Sheena was silent, waiting. Kratos eyed the moon, half hidden as it was through the trees. "I wandered around Cruxis for almost a year before I figured out what was wrong. It was the waiting, without having a goal to head towards. That's when I decided to pick one new thing every couple of years to improve my life. One of the first things I focused on was my fighting style."
"Not that I thought we'd ever be in battle again, but there had been times during the war that I'd wished to be better than I was. Certainly I had the angelic transformation, but that only gave me an increase of power, not the skill to wield it with any proficiency. Therefore, mastering my magic was the second task that I set for myself." He looked wistful for a moment. "It took me three years to gain enough familiarity that I wasn't a hazard to those around me when I used it."
"After that, I picked random subjects every couple of years or so. It… served to keep me distracted from reality, at least in part." He fell silent, his thoughts far away. Sheena reached up and gently traced his jaw line. "It's alright."
Kratos brushed a hand across his eyes quickly. "Sorry. That part of my life was the preface to all the dark times that the world suffered."
His eyes hardened as he turned them downward to consider his hand. "So many failed by my hand, so many that could have been protected had I acted - Ow!"
He looked over at the woman beside him, her finger still retracting from poking him in the ribs. "Stop that. You've done enough focusing on the past, it's already done with." Sheena's voice was firm. She emphasized her point by poking Kratos in the ribs one more time. He winced and caught her hand before she could do any more damage.
"Forgive me. You're right," He sighed as he looked back up at the moon. "I've had enough time that I've devoted to pondering my failures. Walk with me?"
Sheena nodded, accepting Kratos hand as she stood up. "Sure. Wouldn't do to disappoint Raine now, would it?"
The half-grin that flashed suddenly on his face warmed her. "No, it wouldn't."
---
Raine sneezed once and looked around the moonlit clearing. She could have sworn that someone mentioned her name…
---
Return to the present...
As the footsteps drew nearer, Kratos smiled. Today would be the time that the last of Mithos' hold on the world would vanish away. Origin would be released, and the Eternal Sword would be free for him to grant to a new wielder. While sadness and regret still sat upon his breast, there was also a sense of relief, of something that was finally going right.
Of course, today would also mark the day of his death. He knew it wouldn't be an easy thing for any of them. "But if I am to die so that they might live and achieve their vision of a better world, so be it."
Now there was only the question of how to ensure his own downfall…
The footsteps stopped at the other side of the clearing, and the Seraphim looked up. Lloyd stood there, his eyes filling with tears. "Please Kratos, can't we talk about this."
For once, Kratos let his pity show. His eyes fixed upon his son, he shook his head slowly. "There is no other way. You must release Origin's seal in order to be able to wield the Eternal Sword. That is the only way that you will be able to mend what was once broken." His voice remained neutral, knowing that he could not break away from his resolve. "I am the seal for Origin, in the same way as the monsters that sealed the other summon spirits were. The only difference is that I was not bound to one area.
"You must fight me Lloyd."
"No! There has to be another way!"
Closing his eyes, Kratos firmed his resolve and lifted his sword. His tone of voice was neutral when he finally spoke. "So be it. If you will not fight here, then you will die, and your vision will die with you."
Opening his eyes, he rushed the boy.
Lloyd was stunned, but only for a moment. Instinctively his hands went down to his swords and he drew them swiftly. Kratos' attack pushed him back, but he managed to defend himself admirably. The angel smiled grimly and pushed his attack harder. 'He has come a long way from the bumbling young man who began the journey.'
As his blows drew ever nearer, Lloyd panicked. Instead of calmly parrying each strike, he began to swing blindly at his opponent. Kratos backed away for a moment, allowing the boy to regain his composure.
'Now is the time.'
"Kratos, I don't want to fight you!"
The angel's eyes were hard as he stared at his son. "Don't hold yourself back on my account. Fight me with everything that you have." His expression softened a little as he gazed at the others who silently stood on the sidelines. "They're counting on you, you know. Just do what has to be done."
Lloyd growled, upset that his opponent was right. "Fine. If you want it that way, you better fight all out, too. I don't want to beat you because you were holding back."
"Very well, then."
With that Kratos set his face and rushed down upon his son, intent to slay written over his posture. His eyes told a different story, however. On the sidelines, Sheena gasped as Lloyd moved to parry the strike that was coming. His left blade moved smoothly to block the overhead strike, while his right blade pierced straight ahead.
It stopped with a jolt.
"You've gotten faster with your counter, I see."
Lloyd looked down at the sword that pierced the angel's side. Kratos sank to one knee as the boy pulled his blade free, blood flowing from the wound. Lloyd stepped back a pace, looking stunned and slightly sick at what he'd accomplished.
"This is it, finish it Lloyd."
The brown haired hero shook his head. "I won't. There has to be some other way!"
Clutching his side, the angel rose to his feet. Blood flowed freely from the wound, saturating his garments. "Heh, I suppose I should have expected that after all this time. Very well."
Slowly he made his way to stand in front of the artifact. "Origin, I release you from your seal."
As the words left his lips, he released the mana flows throughout his body, allowing his life to slip away with the steady pulse of his heart. Behind him Raine gasped, the half-elf having deciphered what was happening. His wings faded from behind him, leaving him to topple backwards.
"NO!" The cry was wrung from depths of her being. Sheena stared in horror at the scene before her. Her eyes flooded with tears as she staggered forward. But even as she reached for the dying angel, another form materialized to catch him.
With a gentleness that seemed uncommon, Yuan lay his former comrade on the ground. Looking at the gathered circle, he held up his hand to forestall any questions. "He yet lives. I have given him a little of my own mana."
"Heh." Kratos managed a weak chuckle through his lips. "Can't even die properly."
Lloyd hovered over his father, agony etched all over his face. "Dying won't solve anything! Anyone can die, but you have to live in order to make atonement for the sins that you commit."
The angel managed to shake his head. "Taught a lesson in wisdom by my own son. Your mother would be proud of you." Turning his face away, he tried to focus on another as his strength left him. It was a failing battle, as his eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.
-----
AN: A lot of words in this chapter too. Something about the last few chapters has really gone overboard as far as writing goes. Hope you all enjoyed the mushy stuff… Romance has come at last. So, was it good enough for ya?
Okay, Review Thee Olde Story, and New Chapter, me faithful readers.
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Outtakes
Raine sneezed once and looked around the moonlit clearing. She could have sworn that someone mentioned her name…
She sneezed again.
And again.
And yet again…
-
Behind a tree we see Kratos and Sheena. They're whispering to each other.
Kratos: "Raine."
Sheena: "Raine."
Kratos: "Raine."
Sheena: "Raine."
Kratos: "Man, I haven't had this much fun in years."
Sheena: "Now wasn't this a great idea for a date?"