Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Vesperia, or any of the Tales characters or scenarios. Namco owns them.

Chapter 2: Fonons and Aer

Flynn followed Luke and Colonel Curtiss down the Albiore's gangplank and onto solid ground. He stared at his surroundings in awe. The land was various shades of purple, and bright white sparks were falling from the sky. It seemed to be neither night nor day in this foreign place. There was no wind, but Flynn could feel something flowing past him, mostly downward. It felt a lot like aer only more... granular.

A small, furry, blue-and-white animal hopped out of Luke's item bag and scampered ahead of them. Before Flynn could ask what it was, it spoke in a high-pitched, squeaky voice.

"I feel a huge amount of fonons!" it exclaimed.

"Huh?" said Flynn in surprise. "It can talk?"

The creature turned around to face Flynn. It bounced up and down energetically as it said, "I'm Mieu! Pleased to meet you, Flynn! ...Wow, you really do look just like Guy!"

"Er..." Flynn was caught completely off guard. "Pleased to meet you too, Mieu. How did you know my name?"

"I overheard Master talking to you earlier," Mieu squeaked. "But where is Guy? Did he disappear?

"I don't know," Flynn replied. "I think he must be with my friends on Terca Lumireis... but I cannot be certain."

"Mieuuuu," said Mieu sadly. Its ears drooped – or at least, Flynn was pretty sure those two appendages on its head were ears.

"It's okay, Mieu," Luke reassured it. "Once we've stopped Master Van, we can look for Guy. We'll go to Terca Lumireis and find him."

"Luke, don't forget that we must lower the Outer Lands safely before we attempt to travel to another world," the Colonel reminded Luke. "Depending on how quickly Guy and his new companions defeat their enemy Alexei, he might return to Auldrant to look for us first."

"You think Guy will accept Yuri and the others as companions, then?" Flynn asked hopefully.

"I suppose that will depend on whether your friends accept him," said Colonel Curtiss with a shrug.

"Jade!" Luke protested. "Can't you at least pretend to care? This is Guy we're talking about!"

"Guy will be fine," the Colonel said firmly. "Now, let's stop wasting time. Noelle, please prepare the Albiore for the flight to the Radiation Gate."

"Yes, sir," said the pilot.

"You're not coming with us?" Flynn asked.

"No... I'm not a fighter. I'll stay here and pray for your safety," Noelle replied. At Flynn's concerned look, she added, "Don't worry about me. I always stay with the Albiore whenever Luke and the others go somewhere dangerous. I'll be fine. Everyone, please take care!"

"Thanks," said Luke. "We'll see you when we get back."

"What are all these falling sparks?" Flynn wondered as the group started walking toward a glowing doorway.

"Those are fonons," said Colonel Curtiss. "Since Guy isn't here, Luke will explain."

"What?!" yelped Luke.

"Go ahead, Luke," the Colonel said invitingly.

Flynn had a feeling that he was missing some sort of inside joke. Was Guy an expert on fonons? Or was Colonel Curtiss making fun of Luke somehow?

"Uhhh... Tear, help me out here," Luke begged the brown-haired girl.

Tear sighed, putting a hand to her face. "...Fine." She drew a deep breath. "Fonons are particles of matter. They vibrate slightly, giving off sound. It's very faint, so most people can't hear it unless they're trained to use fonic artes. Fonons each have their own element: darkness, earth, wind, water, fire, and light. Those are the First through Sixth Fonons. Originally, those were the only fonons on Auldrant.

"But there's also the Seventh Fonon. It exists because of the Planet Storm – a system which circulates fonons around the world so that fontech and fonic artes can be widely used. The fonons come out of the core at the Radiation Gate and return to the core through the Absorption Gate."

"And the Absorption Gate is where we are now?" Flynn asked.

"Yes," Tear confirmed. "Seventh Fonons form when memory particles from the core fuse with the First through Sixth Fonons. The Seventh Fonon is the fonon of sound. Not everyone can use it, but those who can are called Seventh Fonists. I'm a Seventh Fonist, and so is Natalia. Both of us can use healing artes based on the memory particle component of the Seventh Fonon.

"Luke is also a Seventh Fonist, but he's... special," Tear went on. "His fonon frequency is identical to that of the Seventh Fonon. In other words, he's a perfect isofon of Lorelei."

"Lorelei?" Flynn asked, puzzled. He could guess what the word isofon meant, but who or what was Lorelei?

"Lorelei is the aggregate sentience of the Seventh Fonon," Tear replied.

"What does that mean?" Flynn asked.

"When fonons of one type gather in large amounts all in one place, they become sentient," Anise explained. "A fonon sentience has intelligence and awareness, just like a person."

"We met Lorelei down in the core," said Luke. "It said it was trapped there."

"Why is it trapped? Wait... you traveled to the core of the planet?!" Flynn exclaimed.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, we had to stabilize the core. It was vibrating, and the Sephiroth that hold up the Outer Lands were weakening."

Flynn was beginning to put the pieces together. "Outer Lands? Didn't you say those were about to fall?" he asked, as they walked through the door into a dimly-lit area.

"Yes," said Tear, "because my brother – Van – is interfering with the Sephiroth. Those are the planet's fon slots, where fonons gather. Two thousand years ago, the fonons and memory particles that naturally gathered at the Sephiroth were channeled into supportive pillars through fontech devices called passage rings. Using the power of the Sephiroth, the people of the Dawn Age raised the crust of the planet in order to escape from a poison called the miasma.

"Earlier this year, one of those passage rings was destroyed," Tear continued, glancing at Luke. "The land supported by that Sephiroth collapsed, and ten thousand people were killed. After that, we learned more about the Sephiroth and the Outer Lands as nearby areas sank. We discovered that we could lower the land slowly and safely by using the passage rings. So we altered the passage rings to connect all of the Sephiroth to the Radiation Gate and the Absorption Gate. We were going to use that connection to safely lower the rest of the Outer Lands – the areas that haven't already fallen or been lowered."

"Unfortunately, Van used the connection between the Sephiroth against us," Colonel Curtiss said grimly. "Somehow, Van forced memory particles to flow in reverse from the Absorption Gate, causing the core to resume vibrating. The Sephiroth are now in even worse condition, and all the land they support could collapse at any moment. I understand your curiosity, Flynn, but we have no time to spare for further conversation."

"Right!" said Flynn. He glanced down from the narrow walkway they were traversing. More walkways descended, twisting and turning, for as far as he could see.

Luke examined a standing monument with a strange glowing pattern on it. "Okay," he said, "we need blue, red, and yellow fonons to complete this thing. Let's hurry!"

"So that's Zaude," said Yuri. "It's huge!"

"What's that green thing at the top of the arch?" Guy asked.

"That's the core," Rita explained. "All blastia have cores made from apatheia – crystallized aer. But I've never seen one so big before! What kind of Entelexeia could produce an apatheia of that size?!"

"I doubt that it was only one Entelexeia," Judith replied. "Most likely, that core is made from many, many apatheia fused together."

"How awful," Estelle murmured.

"Awful?" Guy asked. "Why? What are Entelexeia and apatheia?"

"The Entelexeia are powerful, intelligent beings who live on this planet," said Judith. "They maintain the balance of aer by absorbing it into their bodies. When an Entelexeia dies, it leaves behind a mass of crystallized aer called an apatheia."

"Wait, you mean... if that core is made from lots of apatheia put together, then..." Guy couldn't finish that thought. It was too horrifying.

"Yeah. A lot of Entelexeia must have died for it," said Yuri. "Which is one more reason we can't let Alexei just do whatever the hell he wants with it. Not after what happened to Astal and Belius."

Repede growled, seemingly in agreement.

"I wonder if we'll get in without being seen," Karol fretted.

Suddenly Rita turned to point at something off the port side of the ship. "Whoa, look! Over there!"

"Phaeroh..." murmured Judith.

Guy glanced to his left just in time to see a huge, flame-colored, bird-like creature fly past the ship. He watched as it circled Zaude, dodging green bolts of energy – aer? – from the giant core. It settled on a platform below the core and began to glow pink. Green sparks drifted down from the core, merging with the pink glow as it grew brighter and brighter.

Suddenly, a beam of green light shot upward, connecting with another beam coming down from the sky. The shockwave from the colliding beams knocked the bird off the platform. It fell toward the ocean below, but somehow it recovered and flew upward again. Before it could return to the platform, a giant red-orange glyph formed, blasting the bird with more energy. The bird turned tail and retreated.

"He's...!" Karol exclaimed.

"But Phaeroh's one of the strongest Entelexeia..." Judith said in disbelief.

"And even he couldn't do anything to it," said Raven. "What'd we get ourselves into?"

"It reconstituted itself by manipulating the aer," Rita marveled. "What processing speed..."

"Let's go in from below," Yuri decided. "Phaeroh's doing all the work, but at least he's got Alexei looking up for now."

Judith bowed her head. "Phaeroh...thank you," she whispered.

"So that's what an Entelexeia looks like? A giant bird?" Guy asked, as the ship began to descend.

"No..." replied Judith. "No two Entelexeia look alike. Ba'ul, the Entelexeia carrying our ship, doesn't look much like a bird, now does he?"

"Uh, no, definitely not," said Guy. "Can they all fly, though?"

"No," said Judith.

Rita tapped her foot impatiently. "Questions about Entelexeia can wait. We need to hurry."

A minute later, Ba'ul gently set the ship down on the ocean's surface. With a moaning cry of farewell, the whale-like Entelexeia flew away. Patty took the helm as the rest of the crew raised the sails.

"Shouldn't we use the engine to get there faster?" Karol asked anxiously.

"No," Rita and Judith chorused. They glanced at each other in surprise, and Guy wondered why. Did they usually disagree?

"We should avoid using aer as much as possible," Judith explained.

"The engine is a blastia, remember?" Rita added. "Just because we're in a hurry doesn't mean we should make the aer problems even worse. And besides, we're picking up speed fast enough without it."

"Aye," Patty affirmed. "If we go too fast, we'll be running aground when we get there!"

"Oh," said Karol, looking embarrassed.

"...Idiot," said Rita, crossing her arms.

"Hey, go easy on him," Guy told her. "I didn't know any of that. Well, except for the running aground part. That one was pretty obvious."

"So you're already familiar with boats?" Judith inquired.

"I lived on an island when I was a little kid," Guy replied, keeping his voice casual. He really, really didn't want to explain about Hod, or the Score. Even after sixteen years, the destruction of his homeland was still a sore point.

"Then you can swim, right?" Yuri asked.

Guy couldn't help grinning. "Yeah... and I'm also certified in maritime rescue. So if anyone here can't swim, I can help them."

"Nice! Sounds like we're all set," said Yuri, smiling.

"Woof woof!" Repede barked enthusiastically.

"I sure hope so," said Guy. "But... Rita and Judith, what did you mean by aer problems? Is there something wrong with the aer in this world?"

Rita and Judith both nodded. They looked at each other as if to say, You go first.

"...Fine, I'll explain," Rita muttered to Judith. "You know what aer is now, right?" she asked Guy.

"Yeah, I think so," Guy replied. He was pretty sure, from the earlier explanations in which everyone had introduced themselves properly, that aer on Terca Lumireis was similar to the fonons back home on Auldrant. Or at any rate, he could feel some type of elemental energy that reminded him of fonons... it just felt less like particles and more like something fluid.

"Right..." Rita said, in a tone that clearly conveyed I don't believe you, but whatever. "Aer is part of the natural world. It's produced by the aer krene. You can think of them as springs of aer. Normally the Entelexeia regulate the amount of aer in the environment by absorbing any excess. But..." she trailed off.

Judith took over. "With the widespread use of blastia technology, the recent deaths of many Entelexeia, and – I'm sorry, Estelle – the presence of a Child of the Full Moon, the consumption of aer has reached dangerous levels, causing the aer krene to overproduce aer in order to compensate."

"We solved the problem of Estelle's power consuming too much aer," Rita argued. "Sort of. But if Alexei figures out how Zaude works, he could unleash the Adephagos by accident, just from using the enormous amount of aer required to power such a colossal weapon!"

"Land ho!" called Patty, before Guy could ask what an Adephagos was. "Prepare to drop anchor, me hearties!"

Estelle and Rita hurried to take down the port side sail, while Raven and Judith dealt with the starboard side. Yuri motioned for Guy to come with him up to the bow of the ship. Karol and Repede followed them forward.

"Ready?" Yuri asked, taking hold of the iron anchor by one side.

"Ready!" said Guy, grabbing the opposite side.

"Now!" Patty commanded.

"Heave!"

"Ho!"

The anchor fell into the water with a loud splash and sank rapidly...but not very far. Guy held his breath as the Fiertia slowed to a halt, coming to rest in a small space between some of the tall rocks surrounding Zaude.

"All right, let's go!" said Yuri, as he lowered the gangplank onto a ledge that was just barely underwater.

"All ashore!" Patty shouted excitedly.

"Not so loud, Patty," Raven warned. "Let's not attract attention, yeah?"

"O-kay," Patty replied in a singsong voice. "Sorry, old man."

The group climbed carefully up the rocky slope and paused to look at the high arch above the Enduring Shrine of Zaude.

"Man," said Yuri, "up close, this thing is bigger than I thought..."

Flynn was losing his sense of direction. The paths leading to the bottom of the Absorption Gate went seemingly every which way, crossing over each other or turning in a spiral. Sometimes a path led through an arched doorway, down a maze of ramps, and back through another doorway. Areas of red and blue flames, which blocked the way in some places, needed to be eliminated in order to progress any further. Solving the necessary puzzles to dispel the flames or activate warp devices was agonizingly time-consuming, and having to fight strange mechanical monsters didn't help matters.

With Jade and Tear casting spells and Natalia shooting from a distance, Flynn found himself mainly fighting on the front line with Luke and Anise. Anise's puppet, Tokunaga, was somewhat of a nuisance to avoid, but Flynn soon found himself in rhythm with the rest of the group.

"Sword Rain!"

"Fang Blade Havoc!"

"O flames of hell, cremate mine enemies in a cage of fire! Infernal Prison!"

"Burn, baby! Cyclone Blaze!"

"Star Embrace!"

"Thou who wouldst take revenge, carve here thy holy seal. Eclair de Larmes!"

"Dragon Swarm!"

Every so often, an earthquake shook the whole structure, causing parts of the walkways to break off and fall. Flynn could really believe that the area was about to collapse. He kept his mouth shut, despite how many questions he had, and stayed close to Luke and the others. He hoped that no one would get separated from the group. It would be altogether too easy to get lost in this labyrinth.

They came to another warp device and activated it. A few seconds later, they reappeared almost a hundred meters below where they had been. Flynn wondered why there wasn't just one warp device to take people directly to the bottom. Maybe it was too far? Or maybe this place had been deliberately designed to be complex, in order to keep out casual intruders?

Another earthquake made the platform they were standing on shake violently, worse than any of the previous quakes.

"This is a big one!" Luke exclaimed.

"Are we out of time?!" Flynn gasped in panic.

"Careful! It's – aah!" cried Natalia, as the platform began to crumble.

Flynn tried to find more solid footing, but it was no use. The platform fell away in pieces, taking him with it. As he fell, he heard Tear shriek somewhere above him. Natalia and Anise, who seemed to be falling with him, were screaming in terror. Flynn realized that he was screaming, too.

He landed hard on his side on another walkway. His shield absorbed most of the impact, sending pain shooting up and down his arm. It hurt like hell, as Yuri would have put it, but at least Flynn was still alive. He sat up carefully and prepared to heal himself.

"Divine energy, fill me!" he chanted. "First Aid!" The pain in his arm slowly subsided.

"How interesting," Colonel Curtiss's voice said, somewhere behind Flynn. "You say you've never been to Auldrant before, and yet you can use the Seventh Fonon?"

"I can?" Flynn asked, as he stood up carefully and turned to face the Colonel.

"I hope you're not going to try to convince me that you didn't notice," Colonel Curtiss said dryly. "I've been wondering about your abilities for a while now, Flynn Scifo. Why is it that you can use fonons in battle, without any of us teaching you how?"

"I'm just using the same artes I always use," Flynn replied, not sure where the Colonel was going with this.

"Oh? And how do you normally use artes, on Terca Lumireis?" Colonel Curtiss asked, sounding skeptical.

"Well, I take in aer from my surroundings and shape it into an arte," Flynn said uncertainly.

The Colonel frowned. "Air? That would be the Third Fonon. Your artes seem to primarily use the Sixth Fonon."

"No, not the air you breathe. Aer. A-E-R. It's an elemental substance that's part of the environment. We use it to power blastia – our world's technology – and to use magic or healing artes. Your world has aer too, except it feels... different."

"Different?" Colonel Curtiss inquired. "In what way?"

"It's..." Flynn struggled to come up with a description. "It's as though the aer here is all grainy, like sand. It's not as... fluid, I suppose."

"Ah, I see," said the Colonel in a tone of enlightenment. "So when you used Sixth Fonons in that 'Dazzling Spin' arte of yours, you were treating them just like this 'aer' you say you're accustomed to using?"

"Yes, exactly," Flynn replied. "So that's what fonons are! They're just like aer, only they're particles!"

"Weren't you paying attention earlier, when Tear was explaining fonons to you?" Colonel Curtiss asked pointedly.

"Well, yes," Flynn said, a little embarrassed. "But I didn't make the connection."

"Hmmm," said the Colonel. He was silent for a moment. "Well, I certainly don't regret acquiring another healer," he said at last. "And you seem to be an honest person – a little too honest for your own good, if anything. I'm quite relieved."

"Relieved?" Flynn asked, as they began walking toward a nearby doorway.

"Yes. I'm very glad I don't have to kill you."

"Uh..." Flynn said, taken aback. "Would you truly have done that, if you thought I was dishonest?"

"Indeed, I would have. We were already taking too many risks, even before we were forced to trade a loyal companion for a mysterious stranger."

"I'm sorry, Colonel," Flynn apologized. He paused briefly as the doorway warped them to another area. After they reappeared, he continued, "I wish this hadn't happened. I should be at Zaude with Yuri right now. I... wanted to ask Alexei a few things."

"Don't worry about that," Colonel Curtiss said sternly. "Concentrate on the task in front of you. Any lapse of attention on your part could get you killed."

"Yes, sir," Flynn replied.

"And please, call me Jade," said the Colonel as he activated a red warp device.

"If you wish," said Flynn when they reappeared two seconds later on a green warp device. "But it makes me uncomfortable. You outrank me. I'm merely a captain. Well, except... just before I left for Zaude, I was appointed as acting Commandant in Alexei's place."

"Ah? You're an officer in a military organization of some sort?"

"Yes. I'm a member of the Imperial Knights."

"Were you under Alexei's command?" Jade asked. His tone was mild, but Flynn wasn't fooled; the Colonel was obviously still evaluating Flynn's trustworthiness as a new ally.

"I was," Flynn admitted, feeling ashamed, "but I parted ways with him after he kidnapped Lady Estellise. He betrayed the Empire, and the trust of all his subordinates. He left Captain Schwann to die..." Flynn trailed off as another warp device interrupted the conversation.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jade said the moment they reappeared. "However, as I said before, you should focus on your current task – which is helping us defeat Van."

Flynn nodded. "Understood." After a moment, he added, "I hope Luke and the others are still alive."

"As do I," replied Jade. "Shall we?" he asked, as a pair of Fonic Golems moved to attack.

Flynn nodded and charged at one of the monsters. "Demonic Chaos!" he shouted, letting loose six waves of energy in quick succession.

"Arise, O violent waters, to rout mine enemies!" Jade chanted. "Blessed Drops!"

"Holy water shall rain forth from the heavens when the power of creation is offered to the Red Stone," Estelle read. "What does that mean?"

"It probably means we have to hit this thing with the Sorcerer's Ring," Rita interpreted.

"All right, here goes," said Yuri, holding up his hand and pointing his ring at the statue in front of them. A small ball of aer shot out of the ring, hitting the orb at the statue's center.

Nothing happened.

"Well, now what?" asked Raven.

"I guess that wasn't the right stone," said Karol. "Maybe it's talking about a different red stone, somewhere else in the shrine?"

"Probably, yeah," Yuri replied.

"Then let's move on," said Judith.

They descended a short staircase and began to explore the shrine, talking amongst themselves about aer, blastia, and other things Guy only half-understood. Looking around, Guy thought Zaude looked more like a ruin than a shrine or a weapon. Many of the staircases were broken, with large gaps rendering the upper level inaccessible, and parts of the floor were covered with stone rubble.

He noticed that Judith was walking slightly apart from the rest of the group, looking very worried. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she whispered, "Phaeroh... Please be okay..."

"You think he's hurt?" Guy murmured, trying to keep the rest of the group from overhearing.

Judith gave him a small, helpless shrug in response.

Repede whined, clearly unhappy. Guy was beginning to wonder about Repede. Was the dog smart enough to understand what everyone was saying? If so, were all dogs on Terca Lumireis able to do that?

"Maybe we can check on him after we're done here," Yuri murmured to Judith.

"Thank you. I would appreciate that," Judith replied softly.

They came to a room full of treasure chests. Guy was amused at Patty's enthusiasm for what she called "booty" – the kid really did act like a pirate! – but no one else seemed surprised by her antics. Maybe they were just used to her.

"Hey, anybody know what this is?" Raven asked, holding up a pink sphere from one of the chests.

"That looks just like the one from the statue we saw before!" Rita exclaimed.

"Wasn't there another statue that didn't have an orb in the middle?" Estelle asked.

"Yeah, I remember," said Yuri. "It was back this way..."

The group followed Yuri to a chamber that had a statue of a blue, unevenly-shaped circle. Raven set the pink sphere into the statue's center. There was a click, and the sphere turned blue.

"Everyone ready?" Yuri asked as he aimed the Sorcerer's Ring.

"W-What's going to happen?" Karol asked nervously.

"I don't know," Yuri admitted, "but we're about to find out."

Just as before, the ring shot a small ball of aer at the sphere. This time, the sphere flashed brightly. A rushing noise filled the chamber as water poured from the ceiling.

"Aaahh!" Rita yelped, splashing wildly in the rising flood.

Guy, who had been standing near her, quickly wrapped one arm around her chest and lifted. "It's all right!" he reassured her. "I've got you!"

"H-Hey, let go of me!" Rita protested. "I can swim just fine. I-I was just a little startled, that's all!"

"Oh," said Guy, hastily releasing her before his phobia could kick in. "Er... sorry."

"Hmph," was Rita's only reply.

Yuri gave Guy a look of respect. "You have fast reflexes," he remarked, as they swam out of the chamber. "If that's how fast you react in battle, I guess I don't have to worry about bailing you out."

Guy laughed. "Maybe I'll be the one bailing you out," he teased.

"I don't think so!" Yuri chuckled. "I'll bet you 100 gald I can take out more enemies than you."

"If I had any gald on me, I'd take that bet," Guy said with a sigh. "Luke was the one who had all our money, though."

"What, you're not confident enough that you'd win?" Yuri taunted him.

"Of course I'd win! I just want to put my money where my mouth is," Guy retorted.

"Well, if you don't have any money, then you'd better shut your mouth," Rita said as they climbed out of the water onto a previously-unreachable broken staircase. "Seriously, you two, knock it off. You're so annoy—Ack! Repede!"

Repede, who had dog-paddled his way to the stairs alongside the group, was shaking himself to get the water out of his fur, splattering Rita and Estelle on one side and Guy on the other.

"Hey!" Guy exclaimed, before remembering that this was natural for a dog and not malicious intent... or probably not malicious, anyway.

Yuri laughed. "Nice one, Repede."

Guy could have sworn that Repede smirked briefly.

"Ugh... Now my clothes smell like wet dog," Rita complained. "Stupid mutt!"

"Heh," said Yuri. "Speaking of dogs... I've been wondering about something, old man."

"What?" Raven replied.

"How come the Royal Guard is so loyal to Alexei?" Yuri asked.

"That's true," said Patty. "You'd think they'd have come to their senses by now."

"Well," said Raven, "did you know that most of the Imperial Knights are taken as apprentices from the nobility?"

"Yeah, I wish I could forget," Yuri said bitterly.

"Well, the Royal Guard protects the Emperor, and they're made up of the finest soldiers in the Imperial Knights," Raven explained.

"Hasn't it been several years since we've had an emperor, though?" Rita asked.

"Exactly," said Raven. "In that time, the Commandant's cleverly made those knights into his own personal army."

"That sounds like a serious abuse of power," Guy said. Actually, it sounded a lot like Van, Guy realized. Van had used the God-Generals and the Oracle Knights as his own private army, too.

"It doesn't seem like that'd be enough to turn them into such little lapdogs, though," Yuri said.

"Well, the ideals he offered them were attractive in their own ways," Raven replied. "'Lead our empire to prosperity!' and what have ya."

"I'll bet there were a lot of idealists in their ranks," Judith said.

"...Like Flynn, you mean?" Karol asked.

"It'd be nice if all of them could've figured out the truth on their own like that one..." Raven sighed, shaking his head sadly.

Estelle clasped her hands together in front of her chest and said anxiously, "I hope Flynn comes back soon."

"What, you don't like me?" Guy quipped.

"Th-that's not true!" Estelle exclaimed. "I'm just worried about him, that's all!"

"She cares a lot about Flynn," Yuri explained. "The reason she left the castle in the first place was to warn him that he was in danger."

"Castle?" Guy asked. "Then, Estelle is..."

"Yeah, she's the Princess," Yuri confirmed. "Flynn worries about her, too. He kept trying to make her return home, until—eh, never mind."

"I see," said Guy. "You have my deepest apologies, Your Highness," he added, bowing with one hand over his heart.

Estelle blushed. "Um... It's okay. I... um..."

Rita rolled her eyes. "Let's just go already."

"Woof!" Repede barked. This time, Guy was sure the dog was expressing agreement.

Karol nodded. "Yeah, come on!" He dashed up the stairs.

Guy, Yuri, and the others hurried after Karol. As expected, they ran into Alexei's Royal Guards and war robots almost immediately – along with several kinds of sea monsters. Battle after battle ensued in the entry chamber of Zaude.

"Two!" Yuri counted. "Come on, Guy, show us what you've got!"

Guy pulled his sword out of a Royal Guard's chest. "Three!"

"Five!" Yuri shouted back as a mage fell.

"Six!"

"Eight!"

"You can't be serious," Rita grumbled. "O incandescent locus, annihilate the vulgar before me! Spiral Flare!"

"O evil soul, fall before this pure light! Grand Chariot!" cried Estelle. A robot exploded in a shower of shrapnel.

"Hey, that one was mine!" Yuri yelled over his shoulder at her.

"Eleven!" Guy called to him.

"Damn it! Ten! But I'll beat you yet!"

"Luna Gale! That's twelve for me!" Judith called out.

"Not you too!" Karol complained. "Reaper Knock!"

"You kids are gonna be the death of me," Raven grumbled. "Crazy, slippery, crackly, BOOM! Inverno!"

"Clunky Bomb! Bet you a thousand gald Yuri will win!" Patty shouted.

"I don't think so!" Guy shouted back. "Final Cross! Fifteen!"

"Lone Wolf Charge! Ha! Sixteen!" Yuri bragged as he split the shell of a Watergunner, the last enemy in the room.

"It's not over until Alexei goes down," Guy retorted.

"Fine with me. But Alexei is worth a hundred, and he's mine," Yuri countered.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Rita sighed, as they entered a long hallway.

Shortly after entering the hall, they ran into a group of masked men in long white coats who attacked them immediately.

"Who are these people?" Guy asked, as he cut down a man who was aiming a crossbow. "Sixteen!"

"Leviathan's Claw. Dunno what the hell they're doing here... Azure Wolf Strike! That's seventeen!"

"Luna Crush! Twenty!" Judith called out.

"Damn it, Judith! I had that one covered!" Guy snapped.

"Ha ha ha! Loser!" Yuri taunted. "You're gonna have to come up with some gald—aauugh!" he yelped, as a fireball narrowly missed his face. "Hey! Watch it, Rita!"

"Shut up and focus! Spread thy alluring snare and deliver my enemies unto me! Tractor Beam!"

"Rita! You made me miss!" Guy protested.

Judith impaled the enemy that Rita's arte had taken out of Guy's reach. "Twenty-three!"

"No fair! Rita is helping Judith cheat!" Patty accused, as she stole some gald from a masked man's back pocket.

"You guys are being stupid!" Karol hollered. "Devil Rage Rise!"

"Moonlight Demon! Nineteen—agh!" Guy hastily blocked an attack with his sword. "No way!"

"Wailing Havoc! Twen—oof!" Yuri grunted as he was hit from behind. "All right..." he puffed, as he picked himself up off the floor and charged at another enemy.

"Yuri! Guy! Don't be so reckless!" Estelle scolded. "Arise, o light of life! Healing Circle!"

"Thanks, that helped. Tempest!" shouted Guy, as he took out the last enemy. He twirled his sword before sheathing it. "Guess we're done here. I've got twenty."

Yuri smirked. "Twenty-one," he reported.

"I have twenty-six," said Judith. "But Repede stole two from me. Does anyone know how many he has so far?"

"Woof woof! Arooooo!"

"He says he has twenty-one," said Yuri.

"Really?" Estelle asked.

"You made that up," Guy said, glaring at Yuri.

"Nope. Twenty-one. He's tied with me. You're in last place, Guy." Yuri replied, still smirking.

"I'm gonna hit you all with a Thunder Blade if you don't stop this idiocy!" Rita threatened.

"Too late, Rita darlin' – they're not gonna just up and quit after all that," Raven sighed, shaking his head. "This is rough on an ol' man, y'know."

"So stay at the back and skip the fighting," Yuri told him, shrugging as they entered the next room. "Leaves more enemies for us."

The room was a round chamber with columns around the edges and windows that showed an underwater view. Everyone paused to admire the architecture.

"It's beautiful," Estelle said softly.

"Yeah," said Karol. "I can't believe we're inside a weapon." He walked forward, ahead of the group.

"Karol, wait," Judith warned.

"Huh?" said Karol.

Repede bounded over to Karol's side and crouched, ready to attack. "Grrrr," he snarled.

"Get out here," said Yuri, in a voice of mixed boredom and annoyance. "You're too old for hide-and-seek."

From behind a pillar, someone clapped. "Bravo, bravo, my lad," said a voice with a strange accent.

A man with purple-gray hair, cut short and spiky except for one long lock in front of his face, walked out into the open, clapping some more. He wore a blue jacket with crisscrossing lapels over a yellow shirt, dark blue trousers, a yellow neckerchief held in place by a black brooch, and black gloves. He looked like a businessman, but he moved like a trained fighter.

"Splendid!" the man continued, looking over the group with his protuberant lavender eyes. "Such keen intuition, such sharpened instincts. Simply splendid!"

"Yeager!" exclaimed Karol, clenching his fists.

"What is it this time?" Rita demanded. "Are you gonna show us how to get to Alexei?"

"Ja, oh ja. I will show you ze way. To hell, zat is!" Yeager replied, brandishing his weapon. It looked similar to a scythe, but Guy was pretty sure from the odd shape of the handle that it was more than just a curved blade on a pole.

Raven looked disgusted. "Just which way's the wind blowin' with this guy, anyway?"

"Have you forgotten, my pretties? We are still sworn enemies, you know," Yeager replied. "Things were destined to end zis way between us."

"Is this another trap...?" Karol asked uncertainly.

"It's just like you said. We're enemies," said Yuri. He whipped his sword out of its scabbard with such force that the scabbard flew off to the side. He flipped the sword in the air briefly and caught it by its hilt. "So let's do what enemies do," he finished.

Guy drew his own blade, preparing for what looked to be a nasty fight.

"You are correct. Come!" Yeager challenged them, beckoning with one hand.

"Bring it!" Yuri bellowed, charging at Yeager.

Guy followed hot on Yuri's heels, shouting, "Prepare yourself!"

"He only counts as one!" Judith called as she sped past both swordsmen. "Luna Havoc!"