"Lieutenant, sir..." a man with a hook for a hand spoke to Seipher.

Seipher held Aifreed's still-warm body in his hands, still shedding tears, "Yes?"

"The army of the undead is fleeing now, we need instruction," The man told him.

Seipher lifted Aifreed's body, carrying her off of the sinking ship, "Chase them down. Do not allow any of them to escape."

The man nodded and ran across his ship, distributing the order.

Seipher held the Reaper's cross in his hand. It twinkled red, as if it was calling to him.

"Aifreed, I have never disobeyed an order... forgive me..."

Seipher breathed deeply and placed the cross on her chest, it vanished with a high pitched tone.

After a minute of waiting, Seipher cried harder, "Nothing happened..."

After the battle was over, Seipher sailed to the nearest patch of land, still holding his Captain's body.

A field of red flowers rested in front of the cave that he entered.

With his bare hands, he dug a deep hole in the hard ground, grunting with every push of the shovel.

He carefully laid Aifreed's body in the hole, burying her.

He then took a large piece of stone and planted it on the ground in front, no writing, he simply placed her hat upon the rock.

He left the cave and set sail for a recently built ocean-side city called 'Torim Harbor.'

His mind tip toed around their adventures throughout the years. They had spent time as simple pirates before trying to repair all of their mistakes, yet she had never mentioned her mother until right before her demise.

He docked at the harbor, people whispered and ran away in fear as usual. People saw anyone associated with Aifreed's fleet and always turned in fear.

A single little girl who could barely walk came right up to him, she was not accompanied by an adult and she did not fear him.

She was blonde, wearing a strange outfit, and her hair consisted of very neat pigtails.

"Go on, little girl," he told her, "There's nothing for you here."

She looked at him and tilted her head, "But...there is..."

Seipher looked at her closer, "It can't be..."

"I know you..." the girl said.

"Do you know where your parents are?" He asked her.

The mysterious girl looked around and scratched her head, "I don't think I have any parents..."

Seipher walked closer, "Can you tell me your name?" He asked.

She scratched her head, "I guess I don't know that either..." she said, looking down. A single teardrop fell, "I don't know anything about me..."

Seipher walked over and comforted the girl, sitting next to her, "Hey, it's going to be ok. You're going to be ok."

"How can I not have a name?" She asked, tears welling further.

"You do..." He told her. She looked up at him and sniffled, waiting for him to name her.

"Your name is..." He said, thinking.

"Patty."

The little girl smiled, "Patty... that's a nice name!"

Seipher removed his black hat and placed it on her head, she giggled slightly.

"Thank you," she told him, her smile brought warm feelings to his heart.

He got on board his ship, knowing the price he was about to pay for the use of the Reaper's cross.

"Wait!" She shouted as the boat left the docks, "Will I ever see you again?"

Seipher turned to her, "I hope so."

He sailed away, Torim turned into nothing but a dot now, "I'll see you again, Aifreed..."

Through the fog, he could see his final destination, a large ship named "The Atherum."

•••

Patty jerked awake, surrounded by the party, who were all staring at her.

"You alright?" Yuri asked.

"Of course..." Patty lied.

"Are you sure?" Judith asked, "You were crying in your sleep."

"Just dreams," Patty said.

"Well, ok then," Yuri replied, "We're almost to Zaude, so we need you awake and focused."

"Ba'ul says he sees Raven's ship," Judith told them.

"Are there any other ships accompanying him?" Flynn asked.

Judith paused for a moment and listened, "He says there are a few."

"That's not going to be enough," Patty said, "Hopefully Sodia will arrive on time, or it will be too late."

"She'll come through," Flynn told her.

Zaude came in to view, the massive core was crackling as it charged. The air around it began turning an unstable, dark red.

As they drew closer, they saw the imperial candidate, Löder in a secure cage. Next to him, typing on a holographic keyboard, was Akutō.

Ba'ul made a close pass to the pillar that Akutō stood upon, all eight of the party members jumped out before Ba'ul flew back to a safer distance.

The sound of the ocean's tides smashing against the pillar was loud enough to almost drown out the sound of Zaude's obnoxious crackling.

Akutō was typing and sliding things around on his keyboard at a speed that matched Rita's, indicating that he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Akutō!" Yuri shouted.

Akutō closed the keyboard and turned around, the bright sun reflected off of his armor, a blinding brilliance of design.

"I suppose I underestimated you..." He said.

"It's over!" Estelle shouted, "You surely realize that you're no match for us."

"Perhaps..." Akutō said, turning to face them.

"Yuri Lowell," Akutō started, "Your entire life was based around correcting injustices. You even went as far as to kill people that you disagreed with."

"I don't see how that has any bearing on the situation at hand!" Yuri shouted in reply.

"It has everything to do with this," Akutō told him, "I followed your story, I read about you. You were doing things right!" Akutō sighed, "But then... You lacked the will and the power to follow through with it."

Yuri sighed.

"Yuri's actions were to stop people like you, he never intended to take control for himself!" Flynn shouted, "He wanted to end suffering, whether his methods were moral or not."

"Ah yes, Flynn Scifo," Akutō smirked, "Your Father's life was ended because of one wannabe tyrant who failed to cover his tracks."

"My father died because of people like you!" Flynn countered, "You're no different! You just want to seize power for yourself!"

"That's how life works!" Akutō shouted at him, "The power belongs to whoever holds the cards, and I've got a royal flush."

"You awful man!" Patty shouted, "You're replacing many evil people with yourself!"

"Patty Fleur..." Akutō said to her, "The infamous Aifread."

His works made the young pirate shutter.

"You massacred thousands and thousands of people..." He told her, "You killed families! You watched them die as you laughed!"

Patty began to slowly break into tears.

"I-I've changed..." Patty's voice shook.

"You can run!" Akutō shouted, cackling, "But eventually you'll be smothered by your misdeeds! You have no place to speak on such matters!"

"Screw you!" Patty shouted, historically.

She drew her pistol and shot the doctor straight in the chest, knocking him back into the control panel.

He got up slowly, healing himself in the process.

"Ha, you're a wonderful shot, I'll feel that one for a while," He grinned.

Ba'ul circled around once more, Raven hopped off of the ship and fired a barrage of arrows towards Akutō.

Akutō dodged them with ease, he didn't flinch.

Raven took his position alongside the other eight party members, "Sorry I'm late, traffic was terrible."

"Better late than never..." Rita whispered to him.

Zaude's core roared and sent a gorgeous, rainbow beam into the sky, powerful enough to throw tidal waves all of the way back to the shores.

"We were too late..." Judith said.

"It's never too late..." Flynn told her.

"Alright, better get this started then," Raven said, drawing his bow.

"Let's go!" Estelle shouted, raising her blade.

Raven's arrow flew into the lock of Löder's cage, freeing him. However, as the Blonde prince attempted his escape, Akutō grabbed ahold of him.

The doctor avoided Rita's hoard of fireballs and ignored the advancing fighters. He pressed a button on his keyboard that shot up a new, smaller stone pillar, only big enough to carry himself and Löder.

"Damn!" Rita shouted, pounding her fist against the stone as it elevated itself.

"Rita, can you bring them back down?" Yuri asked.

"I'll try..." Rita replied, running over to the doctor's keyboard.

"No!" Rita shouted, "This is terrible!"

"What is it?" Karol asked her.

"Zaude has given Ghasfarost enough power!" Rita shouted, "Akutō is getting his army in about 30 seconds!"

"Can you stop it?" Raven asked.

"No!" Rita shouted frantically, "It's too late..."

The entire world came to a sudden halt. The crashing waves, the wind, and Zaude's crackling all died down at once.

For five seconds, it was quiet enough for the party to hear the blood rushing through their heads.

A shrieking high pitched frequency interrupted the calm and pierced everyone's eardrums. They fell to the ground, clutching their heads in agony.

Even miles away, citizens could hear the ghoulish ringing. Tears and screams flooded the entire world.

"What the hell?!" Yuri shouted, pressing his hands deep into his temples.

"When will it stop?!" Karol pounded his head against the bare concrete.

Patty maintained her tranquility, sitting criss-cross with her arms in her lap. The only sign of discomfort was her frustrated facial expression, which was mostly there because of the emotional toll, not the physical.

The sound stopped, and silence resumed.

The party slowly got up, beginning to catch their breath.

"What was that?" Judith asked.

"I- I don't know..." Rita replied.

Patty closed her eyes and faced the open sea, "The call of the dead..." she outstretched her finger and pointed to the rumbling ocean.

Thousands of ships as far as the eye could see rose from the deepest depths of the waters, each one packed with a sizable crew.

"There are so many!" Karol panicked.

"We can't possibly..." Estelle trailed off.

"I think I know someone who might know how to stop it!" Yuri shouted, "Rita, find a way to get that bastard down here."

"On it," Rita pulled up the keyboard and shifted through the commands.

"Akutō!" Flynn shouted, "Are you going to stand up there forever like a coward?!"

Akutō held his hostage close to him, covering the imperial candidate's mouth with his hand.

"I think I'll stay up here- woah!" Akutō's platform shot straight down, leaving him on the same level as the heroes. The party surrounded him.

"It's over," Raven said, "Quit while you're ahead."

Akutō drew his sword and pointed at them with one hand while keeping his other hand secured around Löder's throat. Löder struggled, but was too weak to move from his right grip.

"Let him go and shut down the fleet," Patty said, holding out her pistol.

"You'll just kill me!" Akutō began shaking.

"Of course we will," Judith told him, her spear ready, "It's just a matter of how painful it will be."

"I'm so sorry for everything I've done..." Akutō told them, his head now bowed in shame.

"What?" Karol asked everyone.

"What I've done wasn't right..." Akutō said, ready eyed, "I'm sorry."

The party was confused, looking to each other in disarray.

"He's bluffing! He's buying time!" Patty pointed and shouted.

Akutō's armor began to glimmer at the same frequency as Zaude's.

"You are so right." Akutō laughed maniacally.

"He has Zaude's power now... all of it..." Rita muttered to the group.

"Now I have the ability!" Akutō shouted, raising his blade, "I have the army!" He placed his sword closely against Löder's neck, who was beginning to struggle and sweat.

"I have unlimited power!"

Akutō pulled his blade back and thrusted it through Löder's chest, penetrating him where his heart used to be.

Everyone collectively gasped.

"Löder!" Estelle shouted.

"No!" Flynn's exasperated voice echoed.

Löder exhaled his final breath, and his lifeless body tumbled down miles, occasionally whacking against the cement pillar, before being buried at sea.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, their worlds stood still as their hearts sank.

"You're gonna die for that!" Raven shouted, blasting an arrow straight at him.

"You wanna fight me?" Akuto laughed.

"Bring it on!"

The battle sprung out, the platform was instantly riddled with Artes, spells, and cuts that could cause instant death.

Brave Vesperia had the numbers, but Doctor Akutō had the full force of Zaude fighting alongside him.

"Crescent Moon!"

"Holy Rain!"

"Final Gale!"

"Wind Blade!"

"Ground Dasher!"

"Demonic Chaos!"

"Little Big Chef!"

"Dragon Upper!"

"Woof!"

"You could never hope to stop me!"

•••

The Knight's fleet approached the undead's fleet, Sodia saw them come into view through her binoculars.

"Get your canons loaded!" Hisca ordered her naval brigade.

"Set to sixty two degrees elevation with Medium powder and open fire!" Chastel and her twin sister ferociously commanded their new troops, taking their new positions as captains very seriously.

"Throw more coal on the attack ships!" Sodia shouted, "We need to get past their guns and board them instead!"

Cannons fired from both sides, the undead outnumbered them 30-1. Sodia, Hisca, Chastel, and the rest of the Knights defended the land, but didn't have the numbers to win the battle.

The Undead's fleet finally came into view with the naked eye, Sodia sped up her ship to get try and get in closer.

Hisca and Chastel used their defending Artes to try and stop as many of the cannonballs as possible, but there were too many. Their ships were being sunk and the remaining boats were being loaded with the soldiers from the destroyed vessels.

As soon as Sodia's ship was close enough, she drew her sword and shield, clashing swords with the ship's crew. Her fellow knights soon joined her, easily tearing through the undead soldiers.

Sodia sheethed her sword and took hold of the wheel, steering it in the direction of the other ships before hopping back to her own.

Crash!

Boom!

Bang!

The battle raged on, a small victory. There were still ships as far as the eye could see.

"There are too many..." Sodia said, defeated.

"We have to trust that Flynn will figure a way out," Hisca motivated her, "All we can do now is slow them down as much as possible."

"Up there!" Chastel shouted, pointing to a nearby dangling piece of high ground.

"Schwann brigade, attack!" Lieutenant Leblanc, Adecor, Bocos, and the rest of the Schwann brigade hopped off of the cliff and on to the enemy fleet.

"Reinforcements!" Hope filled Sodia's eyes.

"Let's show these freaks what the Schwann brigade is made of!" Leblanc lead his brigade on the front lines, confidently, setting an example for his men.

Hisca and Chastel fortified their defense, knocking enemy cannonballs out of the air and healing injured troops. Sodia lead her and Leblanc's brigade straight into enemy territory, taking out as many ships as they could up close. The Cannons from the Knights' ships were now pointed straight toward the enemy ships, as they were close enough.

•••

"Fly, O Holy Sword!

Akutō used the same Mystic Arte as Alexei.

The sword flew, slashing through Flynn, who was knocked away. It made a pass at Karol aswell, knocking him on the floor.

"Ack!"

The sword flew straight into the air, and then descended with lightning speed...

"Brilliant Cataclysm!"

The familiar, electronic pain pierced through their bodies. This time, however, it lasted longer and was even stronger.

After it was over, the group recollected themselves.

"Nurse!" Estelle waved her sword, brilliant angels of light scattered the battlefield, rejuvenating her injured allies.

Flynn and Karol struggled to get up, their limbs shaky from the individual blows that they had received compared to the other.

"You cannot stop what is to come!" Akutō's armor glistened, a slight wave crashed over the pillar where the stood, coating everyone in a thin layer of saltwater.

"You're wrong," Yuri emerged from behind a panel, "As long as we're still breathing, it isn't over."

The flurry of attacks resumed, a lightning speed battle that seemed to slowly tilt in favor of the heroes, but Akutō's power still ran rampant through his veins. However, a brief moment of weakness was Akutō's downfall, his monitor panel for Zaude's core starting beeping aggressively.

"What?" Akutō looked over in fear, distracted by a possible disaster.

"Moon Beam!" Judith teleported herself above Akutō, blasting him with perfect accuracy and breaking his guard.

"Rain!" Raven's arrow pierced Akutō's armor, digging into his side slightly.

"Ack!" Akutō grunted.

"Stalagmite!" Rita cast her intermediate spell, smacking Akutō in the chin and breaking his Balance.

"Reaper Knock!" Karol smacked the stone from his bag from a distance, landing squarely in the back of Akutō's head and removing his helmet.

Repede dashed in at the opportunity, sweeping his tail under his feet, the young doctor bit the cement, breaking his nose and several teeth.

Akutō groaned and swung his sword hastily around, but was quickly disarmed by Flynn, who planted his foot into his back to ensure he stayed down.

"No!" Akutō shouted, "You don't know what you're doing!"

Flynn removed Akutō's blastia and began cuffing him.

Rita ran over to the still raging panel, Zaude's core was now.

The party members minus Flynn and Repede, who were booking Akutō, gathered around the panel.

"No!" Rita shouted, "No!"

Zaude began going haywire, but not in the usual way, it was an uncontrolled chaos. The electricity produced was now spreading to the ocean, destroying ships and changing the very balance of the water.

"What's going on?!" Patty asked.

"Zaude is collapsing on itself!" Rita shouted.

"What does this mean?" Estelle placed her hand on Rita's shoulder.

"Zaude exploding would mean an explosion of cataclysmic proportion, it would mean the extinction of all life, and that's what's happening..." Rita and the rest of the party didn't know how to handle this information.

"Is there a way to get it under control?" Yuri looked at her.

"I-I don't..." Rita began panicking.

Yuri grabbed her and slapped her across the face, "Get ahold of yourself!" He growled are her, his voice breaking up, "Is there a way?!"

•••

"Make for the shores!" Sodia hollered, most of her voice being drowned out by the sound of Zaude's explosions. "Steer away from Zaude!"

The electricity radiating from Zaude was spreading like wildfire across a dry field, sinking mostly undead vessels but still taking a sizable chunk of the Knight's vessels as well. The yellow electricity evaporated the water, pouring an awful smelling steam into the air and raising the temperature to boiling degrees. Some of the remaining soldiers were collapsing on board their ships from the heat and the stress.

"I don't know how much more we can take..." Hisca shouted to her sister, "I don't know how much more I can take..."

The sisters hugged each other, enjoying what could be their final moment together.

"I say... we're done for..." Adeccor said to his acting captain.

"It was an honor serving with you," Leblanc told them, "You were fine soldiers."

To make matters even worse, the remaining ships of the undead were still firing at them, sinking many of their boats. What was left of the Knight's fleet had their boats packed together with straggling soldiers that had been rescued after their own boats had sank.

•••

"There might be a way..." Rita panicked, "But there's no time..."

Yuri shook her, panicking himself as well, "What is it?!"

"Yuri, calm down," Judith yelled.

"We'd need something to stabilize it..." Rita said, "But since the only thing that could stabilize it isn't here..."

"You mean Dein Nomos?" Estelle looked at her.

"Damn..." Yuri smacked himself in the head, "That's all the way back at Keiv Moc..."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Standing in the center of the pillar was their savior, Dein Nomos in hand, white hair blowing majestically in the wind, and a Blastia on his wrist, was Duke.

Rita perked up, "Not a moment too soon!" She rushed over to him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him.

"Place your hand on this panel," she commanded, "Activate the sword."

Rita then yanked Estelle over and placed her hand on Duke's shoulder. "Estelle, I need you to give him your full support."

Rita turned to the rest of the party, "I need you all to synchronize. This will be our biggest challenge yet, it will hurt more than anything has ever hurt before."

The party sweat nervously and gulped, but nodded before placing their full life force in the hands of Duke's sword.

Estelle called upon the spirits for help, they followed her command. Rita synchronized herself without the others.

"Now!" Rita shouted.

Duke cried out in pain, but channeled it into strength. Estelle soon followed, and then the rest of the party did as well.

"It hurts so much!" Karol shouted.

"Just a little longer!" Rita focused with the others.

The chaos irradiating from Zaude's core began to slowly contain back to the core, and the Aer surrounding it returned to normal.

Finally, the core itself vanished, leaving behind a trail of rainbow mist that disappeared with the wind.

The party collapsed to the floor, groans came from all ten of them.

"Let's just call in sick tomorrow..." Judith panted.

Raven lightly chuckled, "Yeah, no more saving the world for at least a week."

Yuri turned his head to face Duke, "I knew you'd show up."

Duke raised an eyebrow, "Even after everything I said?"

Yuri laughed lightly and painfully, "You came through for us last time, I figured you'd come through for us this time."

"Next time can you show up a little earlier?" Patty asked him, "My neck is killing me from the fight."

The group laid for hours, just enjoying their victory and telling stories until they were strong enough to get up to board Ba'ul.

•••

"They did it..." Sodia looked at Zaude from the shores of the beachfront, carrying an injured knight, the core had vanished.

Hisca and Chastel were walking around administering healing Artes and water to those who needed it most.

"I hope they're ok..." Chastel looked to the sky and saw a purple dot flying back to the capital.

"They're ok..." Hisca said, hopeful.

"Knowing them, I'm sure they're fine," Sodia told them.

The three girls smiled.

Sodia walked over to Leblanc, Adecor, and Boccos.

"You came threw in our hour of need, even though you didn't have to," Sodia told them.

"We were just doing our Duty, ma'am!" Leblanc and his two comrades stood at attention.

Sodia laughed, "At ease," she commanded. "As acting commandant in Flynn's absence, I hereby grant you the rank of Captain. If you accept, the former Schwann brigade will be the Leblanc brigade."

Leblanc was nearly speechless, "I-" he took a moment, "I accept, on one condition."

Sodia raised an eyebrow, "And what might that be?"

"I want the name to remain the Schwann brigade."

Sodia chuckled, "Your condition is accepted. Now go lead the Schwann brigade."