A/N: Hooray for wonderful reviewers! Please enjoy this chapter which took so very long to make, you reviwers and those who choose to read but not review. You're all awesome!

CREON. Wise art thou as a seer, But too much given to wrong and injury.

TEIRESIAS. Thou wilt provoke me in my wrath to speak

Of things best left unspoken.

CREON. Speak them out! Only take heed thou speak them not for gain.

TEIRESIAS. Soon shalt thou know, as I unfold the signs

Of my dread art. For sitting, as of old,

Upon my ancient seat of augury,

Where every bird has access, lo! I hear

Strange cry of winged creatures, shouting shrill,

In clamour sharp and savage, and I knew

That they were tearing each the other's breast

With bloody talons...

"Could you explain this to me once more?" Ken said, curiously running a hand along the sleek, black side of his new Rheiard. He was sitting in the pilot's seat, one hand on the handlebars.

Zelos sighed impatiently, tapping one finger on the hilt of his sword. "Listen, Dead-Weight," he said, "I'm saying this one more time, then I'm leaving you here to figure it out on your own. You push that button there-" he pointed at said button, "-and that starts it. When it's all revved up, you use this tiny lever here next to your thumb, the one there one the handle... see it? You lift that up and down, and it lifts the Rheiard up and down. And see how the front part swivels? That's how you steer from left to right. It's easy. Like riding a bike. You've ridden bikes, no?"

"No..."

"Ye Gods!" Zelos exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Leave him alone, Zelos," Raine said, already hovering a few feet in the air. The three of them were outside the Meltokio gates. Zelos had gone into the mansion alone, telling them that the main gates would be open and the Rheiards would be waiting for them there. Not caring for details, Raine and Ken had hurried to find Zelos waiting for them. How he had gotten all three Rheairds there so quickly- and how he managed to get the gates open at night- were perhaps questions that were better left for another day.

"Okie dokie," Zelos said, swinging one leg over his Rheiard. "Time for a test run, Ken. If you can't keep up just know that you are forever shamed and can never return to your village. 'Bye!" The engines of his Rheiards practically exploded with their multi-colored fire as he rocketed into the night sky. Raine was reminded of Sheena for a brief moment.

She felt a pang. Almost like when she thought of him. But that was strange. She had never been with Sheena, much less broken up with her... She lifted off into the sky at a considerably slower rate than Zelos had, Ken following behind her, his movements jerky on the unfamiliar machine. Soon he had mastered the controls, though, and was matching Zelos for speed. Soon all she could see were the glowing lights of their engines, some ways ahead of her. She was left with the cold winds, and her thoughts.

Breep-breep-breep-breep!

Raine blinked, looking down at her Rheiard controls. Now that she could get a better look at it in the meager lights the rising sun provided, she noticed that there were some new additions to the controls on her Rheiard. No wonder Ken had been so confused- there were more than ever. Gingerly, she pressed a glowing green button.

Her ears were assailed by an annoying, overly perky voice. "Raine, Daahhliing!" Zelos said to her, making her wince. "Do you like my present? Now we can talk to each other when we're far away. Because I know you miss me already. Here's a hint- there's a thumb-pad-thingies on the left handle bar. Put your thumb on it and concentrate."

"What will it do?" Raine asked warily.

"Trust me, Professor!"

Fool of fools that she was, Raine did so. Concentrating on the yellow pad, she began to feel the world spin. The next thing she knew, she was going way too fast- faster than when Sheena had given her that crazy ride to Meltokio. Leaving Zelos and Ken far behind her in the dust, it was all she could do to keep from crashing. "YEE-HAW!" was Zelos's opinion as he blipped by, not more than a pink blur in her vision. "GET READY, PROFESSOR!" The Rheiard began to vibrate, shaking wildly and bucking from side to side as the scenery beside them faded into blurred, colored lines. A high pitched, keening sound built up in the background, growing louder and louder until Raine clenched her eyes shut, quite sure that she was going to be sick and fall off of her Rheiard to be splattered onto the ground. She was going to die.

Not now, her mind whispered. There was so much more I... All of my friends I still haven't... I never got to see him one last time. Genis…

K-chunk.

Sheena sighed loudly, changing directions on her Rheiard to head towards the Desert Oasis, Triet. Everything was settled back at home, except the matter of her new position of power. When would she be back to take her grandfather's place? Tiga wanted to know as Aiko busily prepared tea in the background, chattering happily with Tiga's wife who was never able to have any children of her own.

"I know," Sheena had said. "When this quest is over... when the man who attacked Mizuho has received his punishment, only then can I rest." She smiled, then. "Even though you're doing a better job than I'll ever hope to do."

"Don't worry. I'll be there to help you until you can manage it on your own. Now.." He took the pot from Aiko, placing it on the table. "Shinobi are going after our fallen brothers. Would you care to stay for breakfast?"

"No thanks." Sheena got up, stretching her arms. "I've gotta jet. Err, my friends are expecting me," Sheena clarified, at his confused look. "Thank you for the offer."

So now, here she was, probably only hours away from finding Kloitz and having to rejoin the real world as the Chief of Mizuho. With all of the gains and responsibilities that title held. She sighed again, speeding up as she saw Iselia in the distance. Seeing that made her think of Lloyd and Colette. Were they confused to find the mansion empty? Did Zelos leave a note, or a message for his maids to relay to them? ...When were they getting married? Though she had told Zelos the truth when she said that she was over Colette, it still stung that Colette was getting her dream come true. The man she'd loved since she could remember was marrying her. And soon they'd have kids, and then poof! Just like that. Once heroine and former Chosen, now pleasantly plump housewife, making meals for her children. And she'd never regret it. That was exactly what Colette wanted.

Sheena briefly touched her stomach. She had already made up her mind that she was going to marry Orochi. It wasn't out of any love for him or even for her grandfather, but for her sense of duty towards her village. She was chief now. There was no more running away. If she had to exchange her cards for a pacifier and a bib, so be it. It was the sacrifice her grandmother had made, once.. long ago. Too bad all of her children had died or abandoned her.

This wasn't a marriage, really, Sheena mused to herself, skimming lower to the ground to see the reflection of her slim purple Rheiard in the glassy water. It was a business contract. Orochi and her, to make an heir or possibly several heirs for Mizuho. A cold marriage... but then, who ever said life was fair? She glanced over to her left for a brief moment and then jerked her Rheiard to a stop, staring. A large, wolfish creature lazed by the lakeside, yapping faintly to a person bending down to drink. The green wolf monster yapped a few more times before the person yelled at it to shut up.

Noishe?

Sheena slowly hovered over to where the rider and mount were resting. "Excuse me!" she called out loudly to the person in blue. He ignored her. "Excuse me!" she said, louder, hopping off of her Rheiard before it was fully stopped and landed. Carelessly, she pointed the controller for the Wing Pack over her shoulder at the runaway Rheiard and it immediately zipped back to her and shrunk to a carry-on size.

"Excuse me, but is that your... dog?" Sheena asked.

"If he was mine, I'd have trained him to be silent," said the stranger, turning around to glare at her with cold blue eyes. He frowned. "Oh. You're that girl."

"Yuan?" Sheena asked, incredulous. "What are you doing out here?"

"Enjoying the scenery, young lady," he said shortly, splashing water on his face. Sheena's trained eyes took in his disheveled appearance and weatherworn clothing and she raised her eyebrows. "When you're old, you like to do that sometimes."

"Uh, yeah," she said. This was a little surreal. "Are you riding Noishe? What about your- you know," she made a few flapping motions with her hands and then felt incredibly stupid when Yuan merely looked at her in complete silence. "..wings."

Yuan wiped his hands on his pant legs and then got up, signaling for Noishe to do the same. Surprisingly, the Arshish did exactly that. Noishe bounded over to Yuan and then knelt down so that he could get on easier. Soon they were on their way without a single glance back at a very confused ninja. She blinked, and then unfolded her Rheiard again. Going at a snail-like pace besides Yuan, she followed him in silence for what must have been a good half and hour. Why she didn't rush to Triet, where Raine would be waiting for her, and why she waited for this complete stranger who had betrayed them once was beyond her. But she did.

"So, where are you going?" she asked him.

"Meh. Triet."

"Really? Me too." She lazily drew back and then sped up, this time coming around on Yuan's right side. "So. Need a lift?"

"I am perfectly fine, thank you for offering."

"There's room."

"Don't you have some business in Triet that needs attending? Surely you're busy, what with the near destruction of Mizuho."

Sheena lost control of her Rheiard for a moment, almost crashing to the ground before she lifted the toggle up, making the Rheiard float a little higher in the sky. "How do you know about that?"

"I know about a lot of things," Yuan said, trying to seem mysterious. It was hard though, when he was as filthy and ragged as a stray dog. He sighed. "Actually, I'm just after the man who did it. Not out of any feelings of obligation towards you for your mana canon help, I must stress."

Sheena gritted her teeth in annoyance and sped up slightly, flipping the Rheiard around so that she was facing Yuan. "Why don't you stop acting so prissy and tell me what you know about Kloitz?" Noishe stopped, whining loudly at Yuan. "Oh shut up," he told the creature, irritably.

Looking up at Sheena, he smirked and scoffed. "All I know is Kloitz might be in Triet. Genis Sage certainly thinks so."

Sheena pushed down Noishe's inquisitive nose, leaning towards Yuan. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You've seen Genis, in like the past week or so?"

"I've seen nothing but," Yuan muttered. He leapt off of Noishe, patting him on the back. "Go on then, you insufferable beast. Go back to wherever you were going when I found you." Noishe whined against, pressing his cold nose into Yuan's ear. Yuan shoved him away and then swung a leg over the Rheiard, wrapping his arms around Sheena's waist.

"Can you fly fast?" he asked her, sounding bored.

Sheena grinned, and pressed the accelerator.

Raine breathed.

A soft hand gently brushed her hair back over her ear. "Raine?" The voice said, far away. "Professor, we're here." The hands gently pried her frozen fingers from the handlebars, holding them until they were warm again. From somewhere very, very far away, she could feel the sun beating down on her. Shaking her head, she slowly began to come to her senses to feel someone lifting her out of her seat like a child.

"Sheena?" she muttered, not thinking straight as she opened her blurry eyes.

Baby blue orbs stared back at her, flickering between being concerned and being amused. "Did you faint or something?" Zelos asked her, supporting her as she tried to stand on her own. "My goodness. The Ultra Cool Beauty doesn't like to teleport, does she? Hee hee! Don't worry, my love, I can carry you..." he put his arms around her, pressing her close with that annoying leer ever present on his face.

Raine snapped back to Sylvarant, shoving Zelos away even though her knees were wobbling. "What happened?" she demanded, her mouth set in a perfectly straight horizontal line.

Zelos practically bounced up and down in excitement. "New magitechnology I developed myself after looking around at the Triet Base! Aren't you proud of me? I'm thinking of calling it the uber-special-awesome-transporter. By Zelos Wilder." He struck a pose, flipping his red, wavy hair out of his face and flashing his most winning smile at the Professor. Despite herself, even Raine felt her heartstrings beginning to flutter. Such was the perfection with which Zelos carried out his art.

She grabbed the front of Zelos's shirt, bringing him down to eye level with her. He gulped, wishing that she would only get mad like Sheena would. In fact, anything would be better than this cool indifference she seemed to exude. "I don't like surprises," she said to him. "...Don't do it again."

"Ah. Uh...Aye-aye!" He did his best to remain chipper, smiling amiably once more. "Crystal clear, Ultra-Cool-Beauty. Now..." He put a hand to the small of her back, leading her to the Triet gates. Somewhere behind them, Ken landed his Rheiard and scrambled to get off of it. Zelos used his Wing Pack to shrink them to a manageable size and they zoomed into his pocket. "What's the plan, oh pearl of my eyes?"

"Go to the bazaar," she said. "Ken?" Her expression softened somewhat when the shinobi came up beside them, running a hand through his pale blonde hair to get the ice crystals out of it. "Check out the inn. Ask around. You know what he looks like, right?"

"Short, silver hair, grey eyes," Ken said. "Right?"

"Actually, no." Raine shook her head, much to Zelos's confusion. "Genis is almost six feet tall. He stands out in crowds like this."

"Holy crap!" Zelos said. "Are you serious?"

"...He went through a growth spurt."

"I'll say…" Zelos shook his head in amazement. "Crazy. Anyway, happy hunting my friends! I'm off to find hun- to find our dearest companion, Genis." He saluted and took off towards the marketplace, generally the area where the most hunnies would congregate. Raine sighed.

"Good luck, Professor," Ken said, bowing to her before heading to the inn.

"You're not one of my students anymore," she said, but only once he was gone. Then she looked over her shoulder again to the skies around Triet, as if hoping a purple Rheiard would come zooming from the distance. No such luck. Clutching her staff tightly to ward away her fears, she marched over, past the Katz stand and the oasis towards the fortune teller's hut. Normally it was crowded with young men and women wishing to have their free friendship fortune, but today it was eerily quiet. Dismissing it in her mind, Raine pushed aside the flap and entered the cool, dark tent.

Someone was already there. As she stepped in, the conversation that had been blocked out by the thick leather walls of the tent became audible. A man was standing before the Fortune Teller, blocking her view of the woman.

"…think you understand," he was saying, "I don't care what you think; I want to know where they are. I need to find them!" He sighed, running a hand through his silver hair in frustration. "My future is at stake here."

It couldn't be. Raine dared not to hope that it could be him- she just spent an entire week searching for him, he couldn't just bump into her like this. She gripped her staff tightly, fighting hard not to let emotion show on her face as she stepped towards the man.

"Genis?" she hated how hopeful her tone sounded.

He turned around, a manic grin plastered on his face. Raine yelped in surprise and fear, taking a few steps back.

"Sorry!" Kloitz said, chuckling. "Not who you're looking for. Did you miss me, blood of my blood, dear heart?" From behind his outstretched arms, Raine could see the Fortune Teller. One eye was swollen and turning black, and blood trickled down from a weeping gash in her forehead.

"R-" the woman said, trembling over her broken crystal ball. "R- Run!"

Raine stood her ground for a moment, but the leer on his face and the savage light in his eyes was too much. Her normally iron will snapped and she turned to flee, only to smash right into a waiting Kuchinawa. He grabbed her hands, lashing them together faster than she thought possible, and shoved her back into Kloitz's waiting arms.

"Let me go!" she said, thrashing against him and running away to the other end of the tent. They were both in her plain of sight now and advancing slowly. She stepped back and felt the tent wall brush against her back.

"What now?" Kloitz wondered. "Are you going to tell us where Genis is?"

Raine took a deep breath, trying her best to smile back at him. "If I knew that," she said, "What makes you think I would disclose such information to a petty thug?"

"Ugh. You're really stuck up."

"And you're a fool," she told him, the hot desert winds gathering at her feet. "Do you think I need my staff to cast magic? Holy Lance!" she closed her eyes against the bright light and pointed with both of her hands to Kloitz, making him the target of her spell. Not waiting for the spell to be done to move, she ran and grabbed the Fortune Teller by her sleeve and dragged her out of the tent into the streets of Triet.

"Come on, come on!" she urged her, until finally the woman gained control of her senses and followed Raine as they ran towards the market place. Skidding to a halt next to the armor shop, Raine looked around her desperately for some sign of life, for someone to help her find the wayward Ex-Chosen of Tethe'alla.

"He brings strange magic from another land…" the Fortune Teller said, her voice little more than a whimper as she looked about her at the empty market place.

"What?"

"He has torn this place from the World."

"Oh, please," Raine said. She held out her hands to the woman. "Can you untie me? I need to look for my friends." The Fortune Teller jumped at her sharp tone, but then slowly nodded, tugging at the intricate knot Kuchinawa had made. "I'm sure Zelos is just… he probably is out tossing money somewhere and everyone left their jobs to flock around him," Raine said when her hands were free and she was rubbing the circulation back into them.

"Not quite," Kloitz said, one hand resting on her shoulder. "Hi," he said when she bolted away, her hands held out defensively. "Kuchinawa just made it so that we could talk privately, Raine Sage."

"What have you done to the people here?" Raine demanded as the Fortune Teller took off to hide in one of the houses only to be dragged back by a robotic Kuchinawa. "What do you want with me and my brother, Kloitz?"

"Ah!" he pointed at her, excited. "You called me by my name! Wow!" he sighed. "I thought I'd never live to see the day. Did you just hate me? Or were you scared, when you found what my name was?"

Raine couldn't think of a proper response, so she said the first thing that came to mind. Kloitz loved to hear himself talk. If she could just keep him distracted enough, she might find someone- anyone- who could go for help. "Is that really your name?" she asked him, backing away from him. Unconcerned, he followed her, taking a step forward when she moved back.

"It is," he said. "My name is Kloitz Sage. At first, that's all I knew about myself. But now I know everything." He smiled. "You recognize the name?"

"Yes," she said. "That's my father's name. Are you my father, Kloitz?" her voice cracked at this point, but she hid it by glaring at him. "The elf in Exire said you had died."

Kloitz shrugged, closing his eyes. "What do you think? Do I look old enough to have married your mom? And I'm a half-elf. Kloitz Sage as you knew him was a human man. He had black hair and purple eyes. He was six feet, two inches tall and was a martial artist. He didn't know magic, and he was never a convict. Did you know that?"

Raine shook her head slowly, from side to side. No.

"Come on, Raine," he said, grinning again. "I thought you were smarter than that. Even if you forgot everything, even if that man suppressed our memories, you can piece together two and two, can't you?"

Raine felt a dull weight drop into her stomach. "You aren't my father," she said, putting a hand to her face and looking away from Kloitz. She felt the distant memories flicker by across her closed eyelids, of washing up on the shore of the Otherworldly Gate. Of meeting him. "Oh, my Goddess Martel. You aren't my father at all."

"Have you figured it out?" Kloitz sauntered over her and she didn't bother to run away this time. He stood before her and popped out the contacts he had in his eyes, gently removing her hands and holding her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes- eyes that shone a luminous lavender. "Do you remember?"

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, I remember you now, Kloitz." She reached up, putting a hand against his silver hair and looking. Yes, they looked exactly alike, except for the eyes. Where Genis had blue-grey eyes like their mother, he... just like Raine, they both..

"Where have you been?" she asked.

His gentle expression was wiped away and he grabbed the front of her coat, lifting her in the air. "Do you remember me now, Raine?" He yelled at her, baring his teeth in a parody of a grin. "After sixteen years do you remember? Do you remember when your brothers were born? Do you remember the boat crash, when the waves tossed you to the Otherworldy Gate, do you remember how you held onto your brothers as you almost drowned? Do you remember the brother you left behind!" He shook her. "Do you remember the one you left to die? I am that brother, you fool, I am your brother, Kloitz Sage!"

Tossing her to the side, he clenched his fist. She heard a mechanical whir and saw the blade slip out of his bulky black gloves as he purposefully strode towards her, his eyes shining with the same violet light of his cruxis crystal. She tried to rise, beginning to say something, but he cut her off with a savage backhanded slap. "It's too late for talking!" He said, his voice becoming strange and raspy, his Cruxis Crystal fluctuating between different dark shades of red, black, purple. The lights shone against his face, outlining the angry lines on his face, making his scars pop out against the ethereal skin. "It's too late for your pity, Raine! Sixteen years too late!" Raising up the blade, the lights on his Cruxis Crystal going into a frenzy as six glorious, brilliant wings erupted from his back.

Then the screaming began. Kloitz looked up in confusion, his wings flickering off in an instant. All around them, the screams echoed and began to rise in pitch, eerie, whining, keening. From the town gates, three shadowy figures could be seen. The dim, dark world they were in was suddenly illuminated as a gash in the very fabric of the world was made. The screams intensified as, through the rip in the air, the three figures climbed into the dim, shadow version of Triet.

Then the screams stopped. The patch in reality- if you could call this alternate dimension a reality- was mended and the three took out their weapons, faces cold masks of hate.

"Kuchinawa!"

Sheena, in the lead of the trio, yelled across the dark space. "I have a score to settle with you!"