Insaneiac: Welcome to the second part of this three part Act ender. What can you expect from this one? Well, I'll tell you at the bottom, after the chapter is done. Ha-HAH! Trickery… But seriously though, this chapter will answer the two burning questions. "What the $ is an Aeon Jewel?" As put so tactfully by my little brother, and "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO KILL SHEENA ARE YOU?" As asked by 23 out of the 24 scathing emails that threatened my life. I think by now we have all distinguished that I feed off death threats. They give me strength and power! Enough to power my doomsday…Whoops, you're not suppose to know that. Heh. Now then, without further ado, I present the part two of three of The Awakening.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or the characters within Tales of Symphonia. Namco does. I do, however, own the Aeon Jewel.

Rating Note: This chapter in itself is a border line M for the level of graphic violence, blood, and character death. You've been warned. Also…language is again just the slightest bit heightened.


Chapter 9: The Awakening, Part II

"You can't be serious." Lloyd muttered weakly, watching Zelos tighten the rope around Sheena's neck. Lloyd winced within his bonds as she squealed in horror at the tensed rope around her neck, trying her hardest to break her hands free from the rope that bound them together behind her. Lloyd himself was petrified as he observed the entire scene, his eyes locking onto Raine's with the gravest of gazes. "Raine! This is madness!" Even in the dim light provided by the coming sunrise, Lloyd could see the markings of beatings along Sheena's face. Even though her eyes were covered by the black blindfold, he could see her tears staining her face. Even being so faraway, he could hear clearly the sounds of her frantic breath and her choked whimpers. "Raine, this is torture and senseless murder! This is exactly what you had said you hated about the two worlds. Please Raine…PLEASE! Stop this!"

"No Lloyd, this is doing what must be done." Raine responded, turning to Sheena. "She is guilty of crimes that can only be paid by death."

"But I didn't do-" Sheena whimpered, silenced by an echoing slap from Raine. A choked whimper soon followed from Sheena, accompanied closely by a screech of pain as Raine roughly took Sheena's chin in her hand, squeezing it torturously.

"The accused are not blessed with the right to speak." Raine growled, releasing her chin and backhanding the Mizuhoan. Raine turned back to eye a raging Lloyd, yelling in anger as he tried to pull from the tree. She could clearly see the rage that burned within his eyes, the raw desire to disembowel alive within his brown eyes. "She has committed crimes against myself, Colette, Zelos and everyone of Iselia. But most importantly of all, she committed against you, Lloyd, the savior of the two worlds. For this, she has forfeited her right to live."

"RAINE!" Lloyd roared, his voice carrying a feral tone to it. "Stop being STUPID! Sheena has committed no crimes…NONE! I rejected Colette and her love…" Lloyd began, glaring at Colette. "Her tainted love. I was the one who refused to stay in Iselia! I WAS THE ONE THAT REFUSED TO BE YOUR FRIENDS ANYMORE! So if you are going to hang anyone…Hang me!" Lloyd yelled, trying futilely to pry his arms from the ropes that bound them.

"Lloyd, you stupid ass." Zelos began, smiling wickedly. "You just aren't smart enough to do things like that by yourself. She manipulated you, used you. Her entire goal was to simply take you away from us. To turn you against your real friends. Simply put Lloyd, Sheena's a dirty…" Zelos started, stroking Sheena's cheek degradedly. When Sheena wrenched her head away, Zelos seized her cruelly by the hair, wrenching her head backwards and forcing her to face him. Lloyd could see her weeping as Zelos manhandled her; hear her whimpers and squeals of confusion and pain. Twisting the hair in his hand, Lloyd growled as he heard Sheena scream out in pain. "Little…tramp."

"ZELOS!" Lloyd screamed, throwing himself forward as best as he could. Even though he barely moved at all, the sound he created in doing such an action was enough to cause a handful of the villagers to back up. "Let go of her now, or I will take those hands from you!" When Zelos simply scoffed and pulled back harder, Lloyd gave another beast like roar, throwing everything he had into freeing himself. Once more he found himself completely unable to do anything of the sort.

"Lloyd, why do you care so much for such an awful person?" Presea cued in, tilting her head curiously. "I do not understand Lloyd. You are such a noble person, why do you associate yourself with such horrible trash."

"Raine…please just let her go." Lloyd spoke, ignoring Presea. He stared right into Raine's eyes, doing his very best to attach with her on a level of reason. "I'll stay in Iselia…I'll marry Colette…I'll do anything you want, anything at all!" Lloyd begged. The more he watched Sheena stand there, that noose threatening her very existence, the more it took from him. He could hear her every whimper, her every heavy and ragged breath. Whimpering himself, Lloyd gazed away from Sheena, reestablishing eye contact with Raine. "Please…I will do anything at all…Just don't kill her…" A sniffle came as Lloyd felt himself being to weep. "Please don't kill Sheena Raine…Please."

Raine let a smirk slip onto her face, as a hand rose itself to brush the back of her hand across Sheena's reddened face. The Mizuhoan winced at the contact, whimpering. "Lloyd, you had your chance to save your little flower. Had you simply abandoned her when you first came here, Sheena would not have to die now. But it is out of our hands now. You've made your choice Lloyd." Raine dictated, grabbing the back of Sheena's head a forcing it as far forward as she could. Lloyd growled as he heard another squeal of pain escape Sheena. "If you wanted to spare the criminal, you should have made the right choice when I first gave it to you. Now we have to protect you Lloyd." She released the back of Sheena's head, allowing her to fall back to the center of the hatch.

"LLOYD!" Sheena cried out just seconds before Raine drove her staff into the girl's stomach. Sheena cried out in pain as the blow rippled through her body. She desperately wanted to collapse to her knees, but the noose around her neck forced her to stay up. Instead, Sheena broke into panicked sobs, weeping miserably as she stood awaiting her death. The sound of her crying like this was knives to Lloyd, digging into his flesh and tearing apart his soul.

"LET…" Lloyd roared, taking one final chance at freeing himself, throwing everything and anything he had into this attempt. He felt the tree crack behind him as he forced every fiber of his being into once more trying to free himself. "…HER GO!" Lloyd screamed, before finally succumbing. His body went lax once more, the tree he was tied to only slightly cracked. As his head hung, Lloyd began to weep. Lifting his head, he once more attached his gaze to Raine's. "Please…PLEASE RAINE!" Lloyd cried out in choked sobs. "Don't kill Sheena. Not my Sheena…" Lloyd wept.

------ Iselia (Real) ------

Content with her new hiding spot and content with the hopeful fact that, if there truly was a God or Goddess watching her, Zelos was now crippled from the waist down; Sheena exhaled fully and leaned back on the large branch she had picked out for herself high up in the trees. While she was more than certain that being alone would only cause her to, once more, focus on the combined fact that she missed Lloyd and was extremely bored, she wanted to be alone. Although she had seen Zelos just settling into Iselia when Lloyd and herself had embarked on their journey, she never expected him to change as much as he has. Despite the fact that he still had the voyeuristic side that still made him Zelos, he seemed to be happy. Not the kind he faked when around women, or the brief, sincere periods where he had found justification in his living on.

Zelos Wilder seemed to be genuinely happy. For the first time since they met, Sheena smiled warmly as his named slipped into her head. The more it grew, the more she realized just how much of an effect Zelos had had on her. While still being a pig that more than likely would drown his mother for the chance to get into the ninja's pants, he was always able to, when it mattered the very most, distract Sheena and cheer her up.

And that was when Sheena understood what it was Colette liked about him. Zelos had lived his life under the title as "The Chosen." It threatened to swallow him whole throughout his life. Now that he was free from it, people began to learn about what the real Zelos was like. Colette had begun to dissect and discover the real Zelos. Even after that brief conversation with the pervert and Sheena could see he had changed.

"Who would have guessed that the idiot, pervert chosen could even change? Guess Lloyd just has that effect on people."

"It's not too hard to believe, is it?" Sheena's head whipped upwards, fully expecting to see Zelos trying to peak down her dress. As her mouth shot open to try and insult the red-headed chosen, it stayed open as she saw who it truly was.

"Orochi? What are you doing here?" Sheena blurted out surprised. The blue clad ninja simply nodded, perched upside down on the branch above her with his arms crossed. Uncrossing his arms, Orochi reached into his outfit to pull out a slip of paper, holding it in between his index finger and middle finger.

"A Renegade brought this to me. He confronted me, gave me this and demanded I gave it to you. I couldn't say even a single word before he ran off. Sheena, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Orochi muttered, handing her the paper.

"It's…complicated Orochi." Sheena struggled to say, noticing the un-amused glance within Orochi's eyes. The male ninja shook his head sadly, crossing his arms again as he gazed down at Sheena disapprovingly.

"Sheena, when are you going to stop with these foolish adventures? You need to start learning the ways of the chief. Chief Igaguri is quite old, and his time is coming Sheena." Orochi winced at the glare he gained from Sheena. "All I am saying is that it's time to stop roaming the world and come home."

"Thank you for the concern Orochi. I will return when Lloyd and I have finished our quest to destroy the exspheres though, just like I told you the last time." She made no movement as Orochi dropped from his vertical perch, landing on a branch below with catlike grace.

"Sheena, is it the quest you are interested in, or is it Lloyd?" Orochi glanced back to make eye contact with Sheena, nodding once more. "Do not forget, Sheena. You are our next chief, and your duty to Mizuho outranks everything else." Content that he got his message across, Orochi turned away from Sheena. "I have to leave now Sheena. I was due back in Mizuho already, and I am positive that Tiga will give me an earful on my tardiness. Farewell Sheena."

"Yah, bye." Sheena replied shallowly, watching Orochi disappear. 'Leave it to Mizuho to depress me again…Stupid Mizuho.' Turning her thoughts to the paper in her hand, Sheena unfolded the note. On it was a single line in a writing she was positive she had seen before.

Stay as far away from the Renegades as possible.

Sheena reread the note several times until the message seemed to burn itself into her soul. "What's that supposed to mean?"

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

"Yuan…Do not mess with me on this." Kratos growled, glaring at his blue-haired friend. Even from across the echoing emptiness of space, Yuan flinched at the threatening glare Kratos gave him. "You said it yourself! An Aeon Jewel is impossible, its existence is just not achievable." It annoyed Kratos to no end when he saw Yuan shaking his head debasingly in response.

"I know what I said." Yuan snapped. Leave it to Kratos to bring back the snappy, cooled Yuan. "Even I can be wrong periodically. I've ran the test twice more, and it says the same thing. That exsphere your son has is a damned Aeon Jewel Kratos. You and I both know just WHAT one is supposedly capable of! This isn't some pathetic advanced Cruxis Crystal Kratos; THIS IS A DAMNED GOD STONE!"

"Can some one please explain to me what the hell an Aeon Jewel is?" Raine growled, stamping her foot and taking the attention of both Seraphim.

"Raine…The Aeon Jewel is considered a mythical object. It's existence has never been fundamentally proven-" Kratos began, trying his best to word the description. However, his description was quickly halted when Yuan slammed his hand against the computer console, sighing in a greatly agitated manner.

"Until now!" Yuan growled. Throwing a hand back to Lloyd, Yuan continued. "This is no bloody time for discussing the legend of the Jewel. We need to get him out before it is too late. I know he's you son Kratos, but if that is truly an Aeon Jewel, the legendary God Stone itself, then we need to stop it before it awakens! We need to stop it or I can damn well guarantee us all a horribly painful set of deaths!"

Raine scoffed at the interruption, turning back to Lloyd. "His Exsphere…it's pulsing." Raine spoke, but was completely ignored by the arguing, four thousand year old comrades.

"Yuan, do what you must then. But so help me, if my son dies, I will squeeze the life from you." Kratos threatened with a voice colder and more unforgiving than Yuan had ever heard come from him. For the longest of time, the two friends just glared at each other, angry that it had to come to this and even angrier that Yuan had caused this to happen. Yuan, more than anyone else, knew how much Lloyd meant to Kratos. He knew that Lloyd was his one true link to his past, to his Anna. He also knew that Kratos would not only despise him if Lloyd died, Kratos would also simply come to Symphonia and kill Yuan. This was why what Kratos had to say next both surprised and de-nerved the blue haired half-elf. "The Derris Engines have recently become functional, so I am on my way to he-" Kratos started anew, before being cut out. For a second, nothing happened.

Then the room blacked out as the lights above them erupted. Raine ducked as the glass from the light fixtures rained from the roof, but Yuan was more focused on the console he was at. Once more the color drained from his being, as he read the message that the computer was giving him.

"You have got…TO BE KIDDING ME!" Yuan yelled, pushing away from the computer and charging towards another console. It was saying the same thing as the last one. "Is the entire world trying to screw me over today?"

"What is it?" Raine muttered, the power surge quickly returning in the form of the large comm. screen erupting outwards, electricity arching towards Raine. At the last moment possible, the electricity arched towards Lloyd, colliding with the hibernation chamber.

"He's waking up! And not just him…the Aeon Jewel too…DAMMIT!" Whipping his head to Raine, Yuan did what he did best in times of panic. He shoveled out orders. "RAINE! Watch every console like a newborn child! If ever one of them goes red and an alert message comes onto the screen, press the abort button." As soon as Yuan yelled this, the electrical wiring above him where the lights used to be erupted into the hibernation chamber. Soon, from what Yuan could see from the other hallways, the lights were erupting or fluctuating radically. The entire electrical system to the base was going either straight to hell, or right to Lloyd. This meant that haste was the single most important attribute he had now.

"And where are you going?" Raine hollered, but it was too late. Yuan had bolted from the room.

------ Iselia (Dream) ------

Raine gazed happily at the bound Lloyd, watching him weep and suffer while attached to the tree. "Lloyd, you only think this hurts. Believe me, the moment this tramp is gone, you'll thank us." When the sounds of Lloyd weeping cut themselves short, Raine cocked an eyebrow curiously. Slowly, Lloyd's eyes lifted up to gaze at Raine, his face tearstained and contorted into a rage that even felt violent to gaze upon. However, Raine shrugged it off, trusting the bonds that kept Lloyd at bay to keep her safe. Slowly she turned to face the whimpering ninja, grinning evilly as she watched her suffer. Raine callously grabbed the ninja by the back of her head, pulling it back carelessly, drawing forth another yelp of pain that seemed to please the crowd. This in turn angered Lloyd even further.

"I swear by Martel Raine…if you do this I will-"

"You'll what Lloyd? Kill me? Don't make me laugh!" Raine taunted, pulling back Sheena's head even further. Another cracked squeal of pain erupted from her lips. "You're just not the type Lloyd. You don't have such hate in you."

"Raine….please! Whatever I did I'm sorry!" Sheena cried out, trying to turn her head to face Raine's based on where it sounded like her voice was coming from. When she felt her head released from Raine's hand, she was sure that Raine had listened to her. "Please…Just let me g-" Sheena started again, her voice broken up by panicked sobs. It was made much worse when Raine's staff was driven viciously into her side. As the first blow echoed through her body vengefully, seconds later a second blow connected in the exact spot of the first. This time the pain felt like a part of her had shattered like glass. For brief period there was a blood curdling scream of pain, which lasted tortuously until her voice cracked and faded away.

"Don't you dare act like you are innocent!" Raine reprimanded, backhanding the hysterical Sheena viciously. "Don't you dare pretend that you don't deserve this!"

"STOP THIS DAMMIT!" Lloyd screamed, throwing himself forward once more, not to try and break free as much as it was to try and bring himself as close to Raine as possible. "Raine…let her go NOW! You and the rest of you horrible people are hanging an innocent woman! A lovely, pure, wholesome, comforting, AND INNOCENT WOMAN!" Lloyd screamed. When all he heard was laughter in return, he felt a part of him die a little more inside of him. "If any of you truly liked me, truly treasured me, THAN YOU WOULD STOP THIS!" Lloyd sobbed, trying once again to wrench his arm free. He was certain that if he had been fully rested, or even in a slightly better condition then he was now, he would have been free a long time ago. He would have been free and holding Sheena safely in his arms, keeping her safe from the people that he once called friends.

"Enough of this." Raine ordered, taking the attention back onto herself. Lloyd's eyes shot open in horror as he soon realized what was coming. Raine had grown tired of the speeches and making a demonstration out of Sheena. "Lloyd, do you have any last requests or words for the condemned?"

Lloyd stared hopelessly at Sheena, his bottom lip quivering.

'Why…why is this happening? These people aren't my friends anymore…why! WHY!'

'They aren't your friends Lloyd. They never have been.' A voice echoed in his head, one he realized instantly. It was the same person that led him here in the first place. 'Little brother, you have the power you need within you. These people are about to take Sheena, the single most special person to you, away from you. Why do you care for them? They deserve only your hate, your purest hatred. That hate will free you, it will help you.'

'Lloyd! Don't listen to Mithos! Please, he's not trying to help you.'

'You…why aren't you trying to help me then? At the very least, Mithos is telling me how I can free myself, and save Sheena. I don't want her to die…'

'Lloyd, you don't understand. Hatred will not help you, it will only he-'

'Little brother, that woman works for them. Why do you think she is telling you to stay put?'

"Lloyd, your time is up." Turning to Sheena, Raine mockingly stroked her face with the back of her hand, smiling as she twitched and whimpered from the contact. "Sheena Fujibayashi, may Martel have mercy on your filthy and corrupted soul. I'm sure Hell has a very special place for you." With the final words out of the way, the crowd began to chant for the fast approaching execution. Through their ghoulish chants, Lloyd could hear Sheena screaming for his help, begging to be spared. It seemed to stir a new life within him, yet like every time before he couldn't do anything more than mark the tree with his bonds.

Then he saw it. Raine's hand gripped the lever tightly, and before Lloyd could say a word it was slammed backwards, popping the hatch beneath Sheena. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched Sheena plummeted ever so briefly until the rope reached its length. Then he heard the sickening sound of the rope tightening itself around Sheena's neck. As if forced by some ungodly force, Lloyd could hear her struggling, twisting and tossing. Her hands still bound together behind her back prevented her from any attempt, no matter how small, of freedom. Worst of all, he could clearly hear the sounds of the one he loved most choking to death, her gagging and choked pants for breath that never made it.

"no…NO…NO!" Lloyd screamed, going into a mad frenzy. Where as before he would throw everything he had into each attempt, now he was screaming and throwing himself radically and randomly, uncoordinated and desperate. "PLEASE!" Lloyd screamed, gazing at the former group he traveled with. "PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!" The sounds of Sheena choking to death was enough tear him apart from the inside, ripping into every fiber of his being and tearing it asunder. "SHEENA! PLEASE LET HER DOWN!" Lloyd screamed frantically. He winced mentally as he heard something new tossed into the addition. As clear as day was approaching, Lloyd could hear her heartbeat. It was frantic, threatening to burst out of her chest like a cannon, but Lloyd could slowly yet steadily hear it weakening. Sheena was dying and there was not a thing he could do about it other than watch.

"Please…please stop this. Colette, please! Genis…Presea…PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!" Lloyd hollered, his voice falling apart just like his heart was. Despite his best attempts, he could not even budge himself from the tree, let alone free himself. "LET HER GO YOU BASTARDS!" But no one paid any heed to Lloyd and his frantic screaming. He watched as Sheena tossed and tried with all her might to free herself, but only worsening it. Lloyd could see the sides of her head bulging as she struggled, her neck slightly bleeding as the rope dug deeply into her tender flesh. In between choked sobs, Lloyd continued to beg, to plead and scream for them to stop, but no one would.

No one would even listen.

------ Renegades Base (Real) ------

Yuan charged through the base like a cannonball fired from a cannon, rushing through the surging base as if there was no tomorrow in sight. He knew for a fact that if Raine had to press that button, it would not free Lloyd. It would kill him. It would lethally inject him with a toxin that would claim his life in seconds. That was why he was rushing like mad. He would try option B and simply disable all power to the base. The ceasing of the power flow would force the chamber to shut down, and as the drug only naturally lasted a handful of hours naturally, a day at best, Lloyd would wake himself up. It was getting there before his exsphere, the hallowed Aeon Jewel, awoke that was the trick. Since he knew his entire bases power supply was being sucked into the hibernation room, Yuan knew exactly what he had to do to accomplish this. That required his Swallow blade and the base's main power core.

Cursing as he reached the stairs, Yuan growled at the fact that any offensive magic from him, a lightning specialist, would only cause a major influx of energy to reach Lloyd. Still, he was the Renegade leader for a reason, and he was not about to let a run keep him from saving the world from a possible threat that would make Mithos look like fighting a three legged dog.

"Martel…please don't let me fail now." Yuan muttered into the air as he reached his personal quarters. In a matter of moments he had snatched his double bladed sword from the wall, and charged back out, forcing himself to make the run now that would take him to the core.

Three floors down.

------ Iselia (Dream) ------

Lloyd found himself wearing out, staring in horror as he watched Sheena's face turn velvet from the lack of oxygen. From the inside Lloyd was dying with her, watching her hang there like a criminal. "Sheena…I'm so sorry…" Lloyd wept. He could only watch as Sheena faded away from him, her body slowly stopping and going limp. Her choking cries had subsided, fading away like the rest of her was quickly doing. As if it was unstoppable, Lloyd focused on her heartbeat and her silent tears, as they trailed down her face miserably. He could hear it slowly fading away, each beat coming longer than the last.

'Little brother! She is going to die! You will lose her forever! These people are inferior by nature, and when they saw you favoring Sheena they took her away. They aren't protecting you, they were jealous. These inferior beings deserve your wrath and hate. Give in to that hatred little brother…and you can still save her!'

'These…inferior…beings are my-'

'Little brother, your defense of them is admirable, but moronic. You are going to lose Sheena to them unless you do this.'

'Mithos you scum! You set this all up! You're doing this on purpose!'

'Little brother, I'm trying to help you here…She only wants you to watch. To suffer miserably'

"Sheena?" Lloyd suddenly asked, as his head snapped back to reality. He hadn't realized it as he argued with Mithos and the woman in his head; he had completely slipped from reality. His ears twitched as he heard a very faint heart beat come from Sheena. Then there was nothing. "Sheena!" Lloyd yelled a little louder, still hearing nothing. Another few seconds and Lloyd felt every ounce of him fall apart. "SHEENA!"

"She's dead Lloyd." Raine said happily, jabbing her with her staff. "And good riddance."

"No…" Lloyd muttered in a pathetically weak voice. 'Sheena can't be dead…she can't be dead…no…'

'These Inferior beings took her.'

"N-no…" He looked at Sheena one last time, her now entirely lifeless body. The picture of perfection and the single warmest thing in his life extinguished like a candle's flame. Within Lloyd, something stopped abruptly as he beheld his fallen angel, hanging there motionlessly.

'Hate them little brother. They took your Sheena like they took my Martel.'

Lloyd breathed in the air deeply, as his exsphere pulsed velvet once, then went pitch black. His eyes shot open with an intimidating force by themselves. All the villages that surrounded the gallows took a step back as they beheld Lloyd. Another instant later, and the tree that contained him erupted from his body as a brilliant light surrounded him. His wings whipped themselves into being, lifting his body into the air. His blades shook slightly before whipping towards their master, each landing firmly into his hands before lifting above his head and merging together to becoming the Eternal Sword. And then he teleported himself to the gallows, slicing through the rope with ease. Before Sheena could hit the ground, Lloyd grabbed her tightly, holding her dead body, her lifeless shell, as though it were fading away itself.

"This wasn't fair…" Lloyd wept, burying his face into her, crying openly into the dead body. "THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

Everyone but Raine had backed away progressively from Lloyd, his aura of emotion surrounding him completely altered from the gentle and comfortable Lloyd they all knew and loved.

"Sheena…please wake up…wake up." Lloyd begged into the corpse, wrapping his arms tightly around her body. "Sheena…I love you. I LOVE YOU! Don't leave me now, PLEASE! Wake up…" Lloyd begged. His hand reached and ripped off the blindfold that obscured her face, and gazed into the horrified, bloodshot eyes. Brushing a trembling hand on her lips, he whimpered miserably. "I love you Sheena. I love you. Please wake up…please. I don't want to live without you…not without you. I love you Sheena!" Lloyd cried out, kissing her forehead warmly. He wanted so desperately to believe he could revive her with his declaration, bring her back to existing with only a kiss.

"Don't you mean 'loved' Lloyd?" Raine corrected, drawing Lloyd out of his stupor. Slowly, his head rose from the corpse, laying it down on the stage gently. Very slowly, Lloyd rose to his feet, his back to Raine.

"You…filthy…" Lloyd began, spinning around to come face to face with Raine. While his facial features were devoid of any realizable emotion, his eyes carried the sorrow left by the destruction of his heart, and the rage the demanded their blood with ease. "INFERIOR BEINGS!" Lloyd roared, driving his fist as hard as he could into Raine's face. The blow instantly shattered her jaw, among other things, and flung her off the stage. She landed with a sickening thud against a tree, the impact eliciting a cry of burning pain from the half-elf. Slowly, the villagers' vision turned from Raine to Lloyd, who had the Eternal Sword firmly gripped in his right hand. "You'll pay…ALL OF YOU WILL PAY!"

------ Renegades Base (Real) ------

Raine had briefly enjoyed the period of rest from the fluctuations, believing that the crisis had been adverted. It had only lasted a hand full of minutes before she witnessed something that chilled her to the core. Lloyd's exsphere had gone pitch black, and his body was trembling within the chamber. Her eyes opened in horror as she watched Lloyd toss as though he was trapped within a horrid nightmare. Just as she was about to try and free Lloyd from his prison, the power surge came back ten fold, as every monitor around her erupted outwards, and arcs of lightning began to flow from all corners of the room into Lloyd's chamber. Inside it, she could clearly see Lloyd's back arched as the energy flowed in, she could see it coursing through his body.

"LLOYD!" Raine shouted in fear. She felt herself freeze up, unable to make any move other than watch as one of her most treasured pupils thrashed about within the hibernation chamber, frozen by the horror of not being able to do a damn thing about any of it.

------ Iselia (Dream) ------

Stepping off the stage, Lloyd swung the sword around himself slowly, altering the reality around the blade as he moved. Everyone stared in horror at the boy as he slowly walked towards where Raine had landed. There was still no emotion on his face as he made his way to the fallen healer, but everyone could see the rage that burned alive within his eyes, mixed in flawlessly with the sorrow that threatened to overwhelm him.

"I'll send you to hell first." Lloyd growled, as he moved upon Raine. He watched as Genis charged in-between his path, holding his kendama out in preparation to stop Lloyd.

"No way Lloyd. Cal-" Genis began, seconds before Lloyd drove the sword effortlessly though his petite body. The power of the stab was so vicious that it pinned the boy to the ground, sheathing the sword into and through Genis' stomach and into the ground. A cry of blood curdling pain escaped Genis as he felt the blade shred his insides, his hands whipping to Lloyd's arm to try and remove the sword.

"Shut up. What makes you think I care for ANYTHING you'd have to say?" Lloyd growled, roughly grabbing the side of Genis' head. "Enjoy the realm of Demons themselves, you worthless and pathetic excuse of life!" Without another thought, Lloyd withdrew the sword from Genis, pointing it behind him as the sword pulsed crimson and summoned forth a large, demonic portal opened into reality behind him. "Enjoy eternal damnation as a chew toy for the demons of Nephilim!" With that, Lloyd picked the half-elf child up by his head, and hurled him into the portal, sealing him away inside of Nephilim itself.

'Now…Kill Raine. She took her from you, SHE should die painfully.'

'Lloyd, please! This isn't real. It's a game that Mithos has created to try and turn you, and you are playing right into his hand.'

Lloyd ignored the female voice as he kneeled down to glare at Raine, breathing heavily down onto her face before wrapping his hand around her throat. "You killed Sheena…The woman I love." Lloyd growled, lifted her up off her feet and into the air. "And I'm going to take the life out of you just like you took it from her." His tone was filled with a thirst for vengeance as his grip tightened immensely, cutting Raine off from the air around her. She instantly began to claw and kick at Lloyd, fighting for freedom desperately. In response, Lloyd pulled her backwards and then drove her viciously into the tree. The impact caused Raine to scream in pain until it was silenced by her coughing up blood, splattering itself on Lloyd's arm and the ground below.

"LET HER GO!" Zelos yelled, charging Lloyd with his weapon readily drawn. He might have gotten to the point of pulling back for a first attack before Lloyd's Eternal Sword sliced clean through his body, instantly killing and halving the former Chosen of Tethe'alla. Colette was the first to cry out, falling backwards as she watched Zelos fall into a pair pieces, and the villagers themselves fled like rodents, desperately seeking hiding spots from Lloyd and abandoning Raine to her fate.

"Struggle for me Raine." Lloyd growled, squeezing even harder still.

------ Renegade Base (Real) ------

With a final burst of speed, Yuan drove himself through the door that led to the Core room. Taking a single glance at the large, cubed shaped core, Yuan brought his blade in front of him and nodded. Then, without even thinking about it, Yuan hurtled the Swallow with all the strength he could into the core, watching it both slice through the massive source of the bases power and then imbed itself in the wall. With a glorious display of energy erupting outwards, and electrical surges all about, The core erupted like a bomb, shattering all the glass within the room from the sheer level of power that the explosion carried by sound. Instantaneously, the power shut down to the entire base, and moments later the reserve power lighting came one, casting the base in a faint glow of yellow and red. Charging into the core room, Yuan retrieved the Swallow, and charged back to the hibernation room. He wanted to be there to see if Lloyd would come back as Lloyd, or if he'd be a vegetable…or if he was even alive at that.

------ Iselia (Dream: Just Prior to Core Disable) ------

Lloyd felt his fingers dig into her neck as he drew the life from Raine Sage, holding her up in the air with a single hand in a lethal, vice like choke hold. Behind him lie Zelos, sliced neatly into two pieces. Behind him some ways was all that remained of Genis Sage's time on Symphonia, a bloodstain and the deep impression his Eternal Sword had left when he drove it through him and into the ground. Now he was almost done with the one that had so willingly ordered Sheena's death. He could literally feel the life drain itself from her, flowing out of her in the form of a quickly weakening struggle.

"Be sure to give my regards to Zelos when you reach Hell!" Lloyd growled once more, as he tightened his grip to the fullest his strength could give. His face remained completely blank as he heard her choke out one final cry of pain.

'Finally…The door has-'

Then everything went black.

------ Renegades Base (Real) ------

Raine was pressed against the window of the chamber, anxiously watching Lloyd to make sure he was okay. It had been a handful of minutes since she had pried herself from the wall and risked staring into the chamber. Even with the power out, she was afraid of being shocked to death by the mass amounts of electricity that hard coursed through the chamber. When she saw him breathing, albeit slowly, Raine sighed out in sincere relief and reached to the side of the chamber, pulling as hard as she could on the door. With some degree of effort, Raine finally pried it open, just as Yuan reached the door. Raine felt for his heart beat, smiling as she felt it easily. Turning back to Yuan, she flashed him a joyous smile.

"YUAN, HE'S ALIVE!" Raine yelled relieved, wrapping her arms around the young swordsman. She had been so afraid that Lloyd would have had to die to protect the world that she openly began to weep onto his chest. Even Yuan was smiling as he watched, not one of his often cocky smiles, but a sincere one. It made him feel even better when he saw Lloyd gently rubbing the back of Raine's head to comfort her. "Lloyd…you're alright."

It was then that Lloyd gently lifted Raine's head off his chest, and brought her head levelled to his. "Professor…I feel better than alright." Lloyd began with a warm, filling voice. It brought a happy smile to Raine's face to hear Lloyd again. "In fact…I feel alive again."

'Wait…what?' Yuan's mind lit up as he heard Lloyd's last statement. Then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Raine was lifted up off her feet by her neck, which was in the grasp of Lloyd's hand. Before Yuan could do a thing or even shout a response, Lloyd hurled Raine with deadly force into a nearby console, embedding her body into the computers and causing a shriek of pain to escape Raine's lips as a chunk of metal stabbed into her and through her left side. Before he could turn away from Lloyd, his eyes whipped open, seizing Yuan's attention will the full force of a hammer blow to the back of the hand.

His eyes were sapphire blue.

"Dear Martel no…" Yuan muttered.

"Yes Yuan." Lloyd replied, smiling at the blue haired one in front of him. "Oh Martel yes."

Slowly, Yuan stumbled backwards, landing roughly on his butt as he began to back away from the chamber. "Mithos…you're supposed to be dead!"


A/N: Well folks, Lloyd has awakened. What more is there to say, other than OH SNAPS YO! MITHOS BACK FROM THE DEAD FOOL! There it is folks, the big bomb I've had planned since the beginning. While I might have played it up just a bit, I personally felt it was my biggest cliff-hanger ever. Anyways, expect the finale to Act One next week. Until then, Peace.