Insaneiac: Ugh…I am so freaking sorry for taking so long to update. I have been fighting the cold from hell over the last 2-3 weeks, and it really started killing me about a week ago, when I started writing this. The good news? I am feeling much better. Alright, the aftermath of the world's most evil cliffhanger is at hand. I do believe that the big question here is just how evil of a cliffhanger can I leave you all with after my last one? This is another long one, I'm sorry. You know what…just because of how much is actually happening, the next few chapters are going to be hefty. I am sorry if that is a problem. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.


Chapter 7: That Blue Eyed Devil
"SHEENA?" Lloyd yelled as the girl threw about in his arms. "SHEENA! What is happening to you?" Lloyd continued, trying his best to hold onto Sheena as she tossed about violently. Lloyd was at a lost as to what to do, as to what he could do. His mind was a rush and a blur of confusion and lost. He turned to Kuchinawa, who was in the process of ripping the innkeeper mask off of himself and throwing on his red face mask, hiding his true face from the world once more. Lloyd turned back to Sheena and whimpered as she tossed in his arms. Every vicious tremble of her body wracked across his own, filling him with the ever so vicious horror of having no clue what was wrong with her. His fear soon found way to the horrid sense of hopelessness, as tears began dotting her clothes.

"Chikusho" Kuchinawa muttered hastily. Turning to the door, he placed an ear against it, listening quietly for any approaching footsteps or voices. "We ne-" he started, before he was hastily interrupted.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER?" Lloyd yelled at Kuchinawa, holding Sheena even tighter to try and stow her convulsions. He had no clue what he was doing at all, but for some reason he was afraid to let go. The color had completely drained from her face, and her skin felt like ice now, hurtling Lloyd further into his worries. When Kuchinawa said nothing, Lloyd reluctantly released her from his grip and laid her down on the bed before he turned to face the ninja. "KUCHINAWA!"

"I…don't care." He growled, looking at Lloyd.

"You said you would help us."

"You, not her. If she dies… good riddance." He stated matter-of-factly. A split second after that Kuchinawa was pinned to the wall of the room by Lloyd, his forearm driven into the rogue ninja's neck. Before he could even attempt to breathe, Lloyd drove the Flamberge into wall just beside his head, close enough for the extreme heart from the inferno that raged inside of the blade to rip across his face. For the first time in far too long, Kuchinawa eyes were the very picture of fear. He had never seen Lloyd get so distant from his displayed personality. He grunted in pain as the arm was pressed harder against his throat.

"If you know something…tell me." Lloyd growled, pulling the sword from out of the wall and holding it just in front of Kuchinawa's face, aiming it for right in-between his eyes. "Or I swear I will." The two stood in silence, the searing heat from the sword whipping along both Lloyd's and Kuchinawa's face. Kuchinawa had followed Lloyd as best as he could, watching him as he went from place to place. He couldn't follow him into Welgaia, but everywhere else Lloyd went, Kuchinawa had been watching. In all that time he spent watching Lloyd, he had never seen any indication that he was capable of this. He never knew Lloyd could do this at all, that he could ever bring himself to do something so unlike him.

"I don't know." Kuchinawa lied, regretting it when Lloyd pressed his forearm against his neck even harder, choking the air out of Kuchinawa. Reluctantly, Lloyd lessened the pressure, but kept the sword aimed just at his head. A low growl escaped Kuchinawa's lips, but was silenced by Lloyd's own short and aggressive growl.

"Don't you lie to me!" Lloyd yelled. For a moment, their eyes met and each of them saw something. Kuchinawa saw a volatile mixture or anger and fear within Lloyd's eyes, while Lloyd saw an immaculate and complete fear within the ninja's eyes. "If Sheena dies…" He pressed his forearm against his neck again, a low and feral growl escaping his lips. "I'll send you to hell in pieces."

"Heh…" Kuchinawa began with a smirk, despite his predicament. "You've grown tougher. You're more willing to do anything to help those you love now. Is the gentle idealist beginning to fade away?" When Lloyd narrowed his eyes, Kuchinawa let his smirk fade away and his mind shift back to the matter on track. "I might know what it is. I'm no doctor incase you haven't noticed." Kuchinawa stopped there, waiting for Lloyd to remove his arm from his neck. When he finally did, Kuchinawa slumped to the floor, catching his breath. "What happened to the gentle Lloyd?" Kuchinawa shot, watching the Lloyd back up slowly while his sword still aimed at Kuchinawa, this time for his neck. Pushing to his feet, Kuchinawa reluctantly walked over to Sheena. In the brief few seconds that the men had been focused else where, her convulsions had weakened considerably, now nothing more than sporadic twitches. Instead, the new alarming development was her frantic mumblings and squeals. Every moan of pain seemed to dig deeper into Lloyd, wounding him more and more with every sound. Kuchinawa callously forced her eyelids open, getting a good look at them.

"Well?"

"She's as good as dead." Kuchinawa returned, glancing at Lloyd over his shoulder. "She has a very rare ailment that we simply named Blood Blossom. Here, see her eyes." Kuchinawa continued, not a shred of sympathy to be found in either his words or his voice. Walking over, Lloyd glanced into Sheena's eyes and almost whimpered. They were completely red. "It's a flawless killer. Unless she gets the cure, which is extremely rare, death is certain." Turning to Lloyd, he continued. "She's going to die, and there is not a thing you can do about it."

Lloyd stared at Sheena somberly, running a hand along her cheek. 'Her skin is so cold…Sheena…' "What's the cure?" When Kuchinawa said nothing, Lloyd slowly looked at him, not an emotion on his face, but fury and depression raging within his eyes. "WHAT is the cure Kuchinawa?" Lloyd demanded, his sword once more rising into the air.

"It's a flower that has a twisted stem, so it looks as though it could be worn as a ring. The flower itself is a shade of lavender. Your only chance to find it lies at Gnomes temple, where you would meet to form a pact with the spirit." Kuchinawa droned on, watching as Lloyd turned to bolt through the door. "Bookshelf, second row down, 8th book from the left. Pull that and it opens a secret entrance. That'll take you a mile outside of Flanoir."

"Why do you have all this secret entrances and passages and stuff?" Lloyd spoke, confused.

"Is finding out that more important than saving her worthless life?"

"How do I know I can trust you alone with her?"

"You don't. The only thing you do know is that if you don't go, she will die." Kuchinawa shot back once more, watching Lloyd's expression shift. "If it helps you along, there is no honor in killing a dying opponent." With a slight nod, Lloyd spun to the bookshelf, pulling the book he was instructed to. A door opened up along the side of the wall, and Lloyd was off, charging away at full speed. As he watched Lloyd speed off to try and save Sheena, Kuchinawa looked at her and scowled. His ears twitched as he heard the sound of the secret door shutting, locking the two alone in the room. "Maybe you're not entirely useless to him…I doubt he'd ever be able to do something like that before. Maybe he will save you."

"Don't be so sure." A voice muttered from behind Kuchinawa. The man spun around fiercely, just in time to see a pair of sapphire globes. Before anything else could be said, a blade shot into his stomach, shooting him into the wall. A sickening croak of pain roared out of Kuchinawa's masked lips. "After all, this has all…just…begun." The voice, enigmatic and almost child-like, replied once more, as a flower came into Kuchinawa's view.

------ Renegades Base ------

For the longest time, Raine just stood there and gazed at him. The very first thing that popped into her head as she watched Lloyd was Colette, when she was being forced to be Martel's vessel. Yuan stood behind her, though not paying attention to her that much. His attention was on Markus and Crispin and the report that he demanded them to give.

"Yes my Lord! Part way through your leave, there was a massive surge in power. We checked it out like you said and…" Markus started, pausing on the next few details.

"Lloyd's exsphere energy level quadrupled in strength for eleven minutes, and his emotions rated in at an extreme at both ends, a very positive one approximately six minutes into the ordeal, and a very negative one that sparked and stayed for five minutes following that." Crispin ended, picking up where his partner had faltered. Yuan gave them each a nod before continuing himself.

"I trust these events were recording it the log?" A pair of nods confirmed his statement. "Show me." As the two went to show Yuan the events as recorded on the data logs, Raine had broken the gap between her and the sealed away Lloyd, resting a hand on the glass directly above his face. Yuan turned away from the computer momentarily to see Raine lamenting, staring for a brief second before his view returned to the two Renegades.

"Good, back to your regular duties. Dismissed." Yuan spoke with authority, waving the two off as they saluted. He watched for the two of them to leave before turning to Raine, who was still staring into the chamber at Lloyd. "He's not dying, if that is what you're worried about."

"You always know exactly what to say." Raine replied dryly, forcing her worries back down within herself. "This isn't fair."

Yuan blinked twice in slight confusion before finally biting onto the hook. "And what would that be?"

"Lloyd…he deserves to be free. He's done so much for the world and its people, and we return the favor by studying him and putting even more work on him…like an animal." Raine muttered, waving her hand towards the chamber. It depressed her to see him like that.

A gentle smirk slipped onto Yuan's face as Raine said her peace. "So?" Yuan muttered, shrugging his shoulders. He walked away to check one of the consoles for any additional information, sighing when nothing came up as irregular. "Didn't you hear? The hero never gets rest, only critics who tear you apart, and people that want more." Yuan finished, as he pressed a few more buttons. "Now what happened?"

Raine gave a long sigh as she departed from the chamber, resting against a wall across from Lloyd. "Okay. We defeated the dark dragon guarding the door into Vinheim, where Mithos' body awaited us. When we got to him, his body and his Cruxis Crystal combined to bring his consciousness back to. We ended up fighting Mithos in a grand battle that I still have nightmares of. Eventually, Lloyd and Sheena drove the final blow to Mithos, killing his body. After that, he ordered Lloyd to destroy the crystal and-"

"Wait…Mithos asked for his crystal's destruction?" Yuan interrupted, visibly confused and visibly annoying Raine.

"Yes, he did. He refused to play the "game" of good vs. evil with Lloyd and he just wanted to rest. Anyways, Lloyd destroyed the crystal. Then we left and revived the tree." Raine finished, annoying Yuan.

"Did anything happen to his exsphere?" Yuan replied, rubbing his forehead. "There has to be more to this. Something that triggered the evolution of his exsphere."

Raine paused for a moment, pressing her memory before snapping back to reality. "Yes! When Lloyd destroyed Mithos' crystal…fragments of it seemed to be absorbed into his own, as if-" Raine stopped when she saw Yuan staring wide eyed. She almost began to worry she had said something wrong until he slammed his hand on the console he was sitting it. The sound enough was strong enough to send Raine into a flinch, but she quickly recovered and watched Yuan intently.

"DAMMIT!" He growled, speeding towards a computer. "This changes everything…"

"What…do you…"

"Raine, his exsphere absorbed the destroyed fragments of Mithos' Cruxis crystal. Lloyd exsphere was already one of the most powerful in existence, and now shards of the single most powerful exsphere to be created may have fused themselves to it. The ramifications of that could be…" Yuan stopped himself, sighing miserably before glancing across the room. "That console, go there and run programs one to three and seven." Yuan ordered, Raine staring agitatedly. After finishing his task he set out, he looked back up to see Raine standing in the exact same spot, sighing miserably. "Or stay there and do absolutely nothing, either way."

"What is this all about Yuan?"

Yuan paused for a moment, watching the screens as the chamber whirred to life. Hurrying along, Yuan began to start the programs he had asked Raine to, a little steamed at her for disobeying him. "Lloyd's exsphere is vastly more powerful than I gave credit. Now then, I will not lower myself to asking for help, but since you are here and I bet you want to watch over him, start earning your stay." Yuan muttered while pointing at the console he had been at prior.

"Don't you have people qualified for this kind of stuff already?"

"Surprisingly, not many of them know quite how to use angelic technology like you do. And now you are wasting time." Yuan said dismissively, turning towards a large flat screen and turning it on. When an angel showed up instead of Kratos, Yuan skipped the pleasantries. "You. Get Kratos, now!" Yuan ordered, the angel glared as he nodded begrudgingly before leaving. 'Dammit Kratos…this was always so much easier when they had no emotions.' He waited for a brief period of time before Kratos came into view again.

"Yuan…stop ordering my angels around." Kratos muttered before finally seeing Yuan's business face on. "What now?" He continued, a little worn out.

"Your son's exsphere absorbed fragments of Mithos' Cruxis crystal." Yuan seethed, watching Kratos' face turn sour, then to a speculative horror. For a while, both Kratos and Yuan had been looking through various concerns that might one day wind up. This specific case held a very high ranking.

"Then that could mean…"

"Indeed Kratos. And if that is the case…" Yuan started, turning to face the chamber. "We are all in trouble. Symphonia will be in grave danger once more." Raine slowly looked up from the console, locking eyes with Yuan. Their eyes lingered in each other for a mere handful of moments before Yuan broke the gaze, turning back to Kratos. "I can't interrupt the process, not without the risk of killing him."

"Worse case scenario, you may very well have to. Even if it means…" Kratos began, unable to finish the statement. "Yuan, this one rests on you." Kratos spoke agitatedly, before disconnecting the channel. Yuan let a long sigh escape before turning to Raine.

"Anything?"

"…No. They've turned up inconclusive." Raine replied a little confused. Yuan rubbed his forehead in thought, before turning towards a console that hung over the chamber.

"Try the first three tests, list the variants as followed: Angelus project, crystal absorption, and extreme emotions." Yuan commanded, Raine giving the back of his head a death glare before doing so. In the back of her head she just kept telling herself, over and over again. She was doing this for Lloyd.

------ Temple of Earth ------

As soon as his feet touched ground, as soon as his being was once more on the surface of the planet, Lloyd charged to the pedestal that Gnome would rest at. Monster tried to attack him, but he either charged right by them or cleaved through them in his rush. Nothing short of Armageddon would stop Lloyd's charge, and those too blind to realize that were taken out of the picture for good. Sometimes the moonlight guided him, other times he ran by the glow of his blades. Finally, Lloyd reached the summon spirits resting place, nearly collapsing at the foot of it. From the blasting out of Flanoir to reaching the summon "chamber" Lloyd had pushed himself to his limits. After a few brief moments of rest, the image of Sheena lying on that bed, cold as ice and moaning in pain drove him back to his feet. Lloyd glanced up at the bare crack in the roof of the Canyon, just large enough to allow moonlight to fill the summoning room. All around him the canyon was cast in either pale moonlight or complete shadow, giving a very mystical feel to the already mystical place.

"Flower…flower…Where is that flower?" Lloyd muttered to himself scanning the area. His face brightened as his eyes befell the flower just a handful of feet in front of him. A few more feet and he saw another, and that was it. Two flowers. "Well, Kuchinawa had said they were extremely rare." Lloyd muttered quickly, before chasing over to it. Just as he picked it up, a fireball erupted into where it had been, nearly incinerating the flower. Just as quick as the fire ball came, the other flower exploded into flames as well. Jumping backwards, Lloyd shot a glance towards where the balls had come from, and saw a person standing at the entrance to the area.

"Lloyd…give me the flower." The voice stated. Lloyd eyes shot open as he heard the voice, and then he nearly cried when he saw the attackers face. It was Genis. Lloyd tried to say something in return, but could not find the strength too.

"We are doing this for you Lloyd. Why can't you see that?"

"Genis…" Lloyd began, pulling out a bottle from his pack. As quickly as he could, he slipped the flower into the bottle before placing it back in his pack, hopefully keeping Sheena's lifeline safe. "Not you too."

"Lloyd, you always do these dumb things. You should be glad you got friends like me and Raine to help you out when you make such stupid mistakes." Genis lectured, lowering his kendama as he watched Lloyd. "I'm just doing what I have to Lloyd. For you."

He wasn't about to fight Genis, he needed to try and reason with him. "Genis…you care about Presea? Don't you?"

"Well….kind of." Genis replied sheepishly. "But what does-"

"If I threatened to kill her, what would you do?" Lloyd inquired seriously. He needed to try and get his point across to the only one he could. "If I threatened to kill her because she wasn't right for you, what would you do?"

"That's completely different Lloyd. Presea isn't like Sheena, and I'm not like you. Can't you see that Lloyd." When Lloyd drew his swords out, Genis sighed miserably. "Lloyd…are you really willing to fight me for her life…a miserable little failure like her?"

"Genis-" Lloyd began, spinning the blades around in his hands, and holding them in a battle stance. Lloyd had known for sometime now that two others had been moving in the rock face around him. Probably incase Lloyd decided to fight instead of surrender. "I'd do anything for Sheena. Even if it means…" Lloyd struggled with the words for a moment, a tear rolling down his cheek. "…killing you."

"And that Lloyd…" Genis muttered, lifting the kendama back up and pointing it at Lloyd. "…is why she must die." With that said, another three fireballs shot out at Lloyd, who jumped to his left and dodged them nearly effortlessly.

Lloyd sprinted towards Genis, swords pointing dangerously at the smaller half-elf. Just as he was within stabbing distance, he spun around and crossed his swords in front of him, blocking the massive axe chop from above. Lloyd's eyes briefly locked with Presea's before he swung both blades outward, tossing her backwards. The petit girl landed gracefully on her feet before charging again, waiting until she was within range before spinning herself, swinging horizontally with her axe. Lloyd dodged the surprisingly fast attack before following hers with his own. She used the axe in much the same way someone would use a shield, but Lloyd had manage to knock it upwards. Just as Lloyd was poised to strike down Presea, a pair of sharp kicks connected with Lloyd's ribs.

The third attacker sent Lloyd sprawling across the floor, landing roughly on his side. Pushing to his feet as quickly as he could, Lloyd nearly had his head taken off by Regal, who lashed out with a pair of vicious side kicks. Lloyd ducked the first one and rolled underneath the second. As he got back to his feet, Lloyd blocked another kick with his blades, pushing the foot off to the side. Regal began to lose his balance just in time for Lloyd to go on the offensive. The swordsman lashed out with a pair of stabs, slicing into Regal's arm. Just as Lloyd was about to go for another stab, he felt the blunt end of Presea's ax slam into his side, throwing him across the room and into the rock face opposite of the entrance into the summon chamber. His body slid from it's resting place to the floor, landing on his hands and knees in pain. For a moment, he almost stayed there before pushing to his feet. He could barely stand at first, shaking and stumbling, but eventually he stood at full height. Lloyd looked up and saw Genis, Regal and Presea standing near the exit, each in their poses for battle.

"Lloyd, stop being blind. You know what is right." Regal spoke first, watching Lloyd intently. Lloyd himself was exhausted and, as of now, his ribs where hurting like he couldn't believe. Still, the most pain came from the fact that the last three friends he had were all trying to achieve the same goal Raine was. Lloyd's eyes shot up at the cliff that rested above them. His eyes trailed along, noticing that it led to the path out. He didn't need to charge all the way out of the canyon, but get to the point where the opening above them was wide enough for him to fly out of.

'From there, I could flee. I can't let myself get distracted.' Standing up as straight as he could, Lloyd's wings came back into existence as he stared down the three of them. Through the moonlight, Lloyd found Genis' eyes, and locked his eyes with them. "I won't let Sheena die."

"She is not right for you Lloyd." Presea monotonously replied, her analytical eyes gazing into Lloyd's. "She endangers you needlessly and you gain no benefits from being around her."

"Please Lloyd. Come back with us! We're your real friends. We want you to be happy." Genis reasoned once more. When he saw Lloyd's wings flap powerfully, his face turned from reasonable to ready. "So that's it, you're just going to run again?"

"Yup." Lloyd responded, before taking off. Regal immediately broke from his position, charging at Lloyd. At the last moment, he leapt into the air and loosed a triple set of roundhouses at him, only to have them blocked by Lloyd's material blades. While Regal was still airborne, Lloyd spun himself around, smashing the hilt of the sword against the side of Regal's head and dropping him to the ground. With Regal out of the way, Lloyd flew to the cliff above them all, and back to the path that led out of the canyon. He couldn't just fly out because of how narrow it got up higher and he'd be a sitting duck for Genis and his magic. As soon as he landed he retracted his wings and ran off towards the entrance into the canyon, to where there would no doubt be an opening large enough for Lloyd and his massive wings to escape by. Looking ahead, he could see Genis glowing, meaning he had gotten himself in position already and conjuring up a spell.

'…Genis…I have to…' Grunting, Lloyd sheathed the Material Blades, and drew the smaller one he carried just in case. Just as Genis was finishing the spell, Lloyd hurtled the blade at the half-elf, catching him right in the shoulder. Genis screamed in pain as he dropped to a knee, his kendama falling beside him as his mind raged alive in agony. Lloyd felt a piece of him explode when he watched his best-friend collapse to the ground, the short sword protruding from his shoulder. It killed him even more when he realized that he couldn't stop to help him. Giving his head a shake to whip away the tear, Lloyd charged past Genis, averting his eyes from the blood, lit up by the moon. To make matters worse, he could hear Genis' cries of pain perfectly even as he ran, compliments of the curse that was being angelic. He needed to get to a place where he could fly away.

"No!" Presea shouted as she saw Genis hit the ground, his wails forcing themselves into her head. She knelt down beside the crying half-elf, picking him up gently before turning towards Regal. "He needs help."

"Go. I'll take care of Lloyd." Regal replied calmly, before charging off after Lloyd. On foot, Regal was nearly twice as fast as Lloyd when it came to running, and both knew it. As Presea took the whimpering Genis in her arms and began to charge out of the canyon, Regal had already caught up to Lloyd. With one final leap, Regal landed in front of Lloyd, catching the swordsman in the gut with a vicious sidekick. Lloyd gagged as he felt the impact against his stomach, his body stopping dead in its tracks. As Lloyd hung there from the kick, Regal twisted himself around and drove a roundhouse into the side of Lloyd's head, sending him careening into the rock wall. The impact was fierce on both accounts, leaving Lloyd in excruciating pain and his body crumpled to the ground.

"Lloyd, you need to stop this." Regal reasoned, watching as Lloyd struggled to his feet. The swordsman was bleeding from a freshly gained gash in the side of his head, no doubt attained from colliding with the rock wall. "Although you may not be the smartest, you are smarter than this."

"Regal…If I wouldn't stop when Colette tried to trick me, if I wouldn't give up from Raine's lecture, and if I wouldn't quit after my best friend tried to sabotage my chance to save Sheena…what makes you think getting beaten around is going to make me change my mind?" Lloyd replied, pulling his swords out again. Before anything more could be said, he charged Regal, stabbing at him with his swords.

"Lloyd." Regal began, spinning to the side to avoid being stabbed. Coming off the spin, he delivered another vicious sidekick to the back of Lloyd's head, tossing him down the path and sending him tumbling into another rock face. "We all have only your best interests in mind." When Lloyd didn't move from his position, Regal began to walk towards him, looking to take the flower from him and destroy it. He could see Lloyd still breathing, meaning the boy was still alive.

"…help me…" Lloyd muttered weakly, alarming Regal.

"Lloyd that is what I am trying to do." Regal started, staring down at Lloyd. "I'm here to-" He stopped when he saw Lloyd glowing, his eyes shooting open as the fear began to clutch at his soul.

"Be gone from my sight!" Lloyd yelled, rolling to his side and pointing his hand at Regal. The instant their eyes met, Regal could feel dread filling him like water fills a hole. "JUDGMENT!" As if on cue, the glow around Lloyd dispersed, and beams of light rained down from above them, engulfing Regal with holy wrath. Lloyd could hear him screaming in pain as the light swallowed him whole. He heard his cries of agony as the energy of heaven ripped through him like liquid fire. Finally, after what was a brutal period of suffering that seemed to transcend the laws of time itself, the light dissipated and left a smoking Regal in its place. He let out one final groan before collapsing to his side. Lloyd could only stare at the prone Regal, his eyes watering as the realization of what he had done began to set it. Forcing himself to his feet, he rushed to Regal in a panic, looking for a heart beat. He pressed his ear to Regal's chest, and sighed in relief. There was still a beat.

Regal would live.

'IDIOT! Sheena needs you!' Lloyd heard in his head, in a voice not his own. He didn't have the time to place it, only that it was familiar. "Regal…forgive me please." Lloyd muttered, before turning towards the path he was running down, and continued to charge out, spreading his wings and taking off when he reached a place he could.

'The first time I ever used that…and it was to get away from my friends…are they even my friends now?'

'Regret later!' Lloyd heard again, a voice not quite his own. It sounded female, yet it didn't belong to any woman he knew. Whoever or whatever it was didn't matter, only that it was on his side.

"Sheena…I'm coming! Just hold on a little longer!" Lloyd yelled into the air as he flew as fast as he could to Flanoir. His body was weak and he felt like he was dying just by using the amount of mana he was, but he wouldn't stop.

------ Flanoir's Inn ------

Lloyd burst through the front door in a blind haste, nearly knocking it off the hinges. He let his hand snake to his sword, just incase something showed up. He didn't care what or who it could be; he just wanted to be prepared. Too much was in jeopardy to blow it all by being unprepared. Shifting his hands around looking for the button, Lloyd finally found it and slammed his hand against it, the wall beside him shooting open. Lloyd could feel himself on the verge of collapsing, but the thought, the horror of losing Sheena was enough to keep him going. His forehead had stopped bleeding a while ago, but his body still ached from the blows Regal had laid upon him. Panting heavily, Lloyd burst into the exposed hall way, fast reaching the door that separated him from Sheena. The second he reached it his hand shot to the knob, twisting it once. He threw his shoulder into it and felt a hard thump in return. The door was still locked.

"No time." Lloyd panted, backing away from the door. His hands whipped to the hilts of his swords, and in two fluid actions quartered the door. With the door now lying in pieces, Lloyd sprinted through into the room, and stopped almost as quickly as he started. Taking a few steps towards the bed, Lloyd felt his mind shift from anxiety to horror and depression. Looking past the bed, he could see Kuchinawa. He was lying in a crumpled, lifeless heap in a corner of the room, gashes and stab wounds almost everywhere. The smell and the sight nearly made Lloyd hurl his guts out. But it was the sight on the bed that truly horrified him the worse. His eyes turned back to the bed, which he was right beside. A single sniffle escaped him before he collapsed to the ground, burying his face into the bed as he wailed and screamed.

Sheena was not in the bed. Sheena was not in the room at all.

Lloyd let his swords fall to the ground as he gripped the covers of the bed. "DAMMIT!" Lloyd yelled, slamming his hands against the mattress. "DAMMIT ALL!"

"It hurts, doesn't it Lloyd?" A voice called from Lloyd. Instantly, the swordsman hand found his Flamberge, and had spun around to point at the newcomer's neck. Turning his head to face the intruder, Lloyd's depression switched for fierceness.

"Who's the-"Lloyd started with an enraged voice.

Enraged, that is, until his eyes truly beheld who was standing in the room with him. The fierceness was gone from his eyes, replaced once more with horror, albeit a new breed of horror. His sword slipped out of his fingers, clanging against the ground. Lloyd's mouth began to quiver weakly as he tried to find words to fill the blank, as he attempted to say anything. Finally, his mouth had finally found the sound it had lost and Lloyd uttered a single name in a pitifully weak voice.

"…………Mithos."


A/N: Oh yah…if I wasn't killed for the last cliffhanger, this one might do it. Sheena is missing, Kuchinawa is dead, and more importantly than anything else…Mithos hath come. Could this be the beginning of the end for Lloyd? Or is this just the beginning of everything to come?