"Welcome everyone, to the battle of the century!" shouted the announcer. It was night. The temperature was dropping. The stadium lights were almost blinding.
Mithos was watching the field. He hoped that Seles would be all right. But Zelos had been hard enough when he was carefree, how much harder would he be now that he was serious? But Seles was strong, too. She had mastered so many spells in this month, it was scary.
"In the east corner, the red-haired, just married, Zelos Wilder!" The door opened to reveal the ex-chosen.
Zelos... In the 22 years he'd known the guy, he had only seen him angry once. Annoyed, yes. Worried, yes. Scared, a few times. Frustrated, yes. But only once had he even seen him mad. The time he caught Seles and himself kissing. He was glad that Zelos rarely got mad, because his strength at that time could have surpassed Kratos. He didn't care who he killed: Certainly not Mithos, not even Seles, his own sister. If Martel didn't come to protect them, they both would've been dead.
"And in the west corner, the young, the unknown, the little sister, Seles Wilder!"
Seles... In the last month, he got to know her so well. Her strawberry pink hair, her cobalt eyes, her determination, her strength. He didn't know what he would do without her. He had never got this close to someone who wasn't his sister. In the span of a month, he had learned what had taken 4,000 years. Was this the feeling that had driven Kratos to abandon Cruxis, Yuan to start the renegades?
Seles and Zelos stepped onto the field. Seles had her face set on a look of determination.
Zelos gazed at Seles. Unbelievable. This was the girl that, six months ago, was coughing and wheezing? Mithos had been good to her, if she could dance for an hour. He wasn't going to tell them that, of course.
"Ready?" yelled the announcer, "Begin!"
"Wind Blade!" Yelled Seles. That threw Zelos off balance. He hadn't expected her to be that quick to land a spell.
Seles was advancing on him. She was ready to show him the moves she'd learned.
But Zelos wasn't about to let her.
"Demon Fang!"
Imagine Zelos's surprise when she countered with a shock wave of her own. But instead of canceling each other out, they passed through each other.
"Ow!"
"Ugh!"
Okay, that hurt. Seles hadn't known demon fangs hurt so much. But it did put Zelos off guard. A blessing in disguise, go figure. Now, to magnify that...
She began to turn around and run the other direction.
Now what is she doing? Thought Zelos. He decided to follow her. Couldn't hurt.
The thought 'Couldn't hurt' was shattered when he caught up to her.
"Mini Meteor!" she swung her handbag over her shoulder. It came crashing on to the field, right over Zelos.
Light magic? Interesting...
"Hurricane Thrust!"
"Go Seles!" Mithos was yelling.
"Hey Mithos."
"Yeah, Genis?"
"What types of magic does Seles use?"
"Well, Wind and Ice are her two strongest, light is fairly good, and water for a backup, should it come to that."
"Sounds like all the female summon spirits."
"Yup. We paid them a visit during our travels. If you want to call it a visit."
"Absolute!"
The two boys halted their conversation and turned back to the battle.
Seles and Zelos were still almost even, but now the fight was taking its toll. And of course, Seles just pulled the strongest ice move around.
Then came something totally unexpected.
"Destiny Storm!!"
Zelos had launched a huge ball of energy. The ball hit Seles, turned into four smaller balls of energy, which also hit Seles. Then those balls separated into several tiny balls that bounced around the field for a while. (A/N: My idea of Zelos's equivalent of Falcon's Crest, Holy Judgment, etc.)
When the smoke finally cleared, Seles appeared to be having trouble standing. Zelos was breathing hard.
Then came an unnatural silence. Zelos conked his head to one side, as if listening for something.
Mithos listened, too. He heard a lot of clinks and clanks. And grunting, groaning, and cursing. Something wasn't very happy. Or someone. Or a whole bunch of someone's.
Something occurred to Mithos. He put his hand on his sword.
He was too late, though. The gate burst open, and in a flood of green and gold, the stadium was filled was solders. People were screaming and running in every direction. Only Mithos and Genis stayed put.
"Whose men are those? I doubt they work for the king..." said Mithos.
"The Papal Knights! They're the pope's private army."
"What're they doing here? Weren't they disbanded?"
"I thought so, but... Look!"
Mithos looked and saw that the solders had completely surrounded the battlefield.
And in the middle of the circle were Zelos and Seles.
Damn... thought Zelos
No exit... Seles finished the thought.
Then Seles saw the circle part. A bunch of men and women came into the field. Seles recognized a few of them, like the pope, some teachers from Sybak, the doctor from Flanoir, some rich friends of her late parents, and more. Even Mary from Asgard was there.
Zelos had recognized a few, as well. "Hey! Weren't you the former Mayor of Isalia? The one with a wig? And you guys are from Heimdall! And-"
He stopped when he saw who they were carrying. Each one of them had someone standing next to them, hands bound.
Seles looked out to the stands. People in the audience were getting picked out, as well. Seles looked to see Mithos and Genis in trouble. They had their backs against the wall with the knights advancing on them.
Seles looked to the people who were bound. She could see Claudia and Tessa and Virginia in front, along with Harley, Aisha, Kevin, some of the kids from the play, Raine, many of the people from Altamira, and lots more.
Seles gripped her pendent. Everyone there was a Half-Elf.
What the Hell?! Girls, we a problem!!
What's wro- Oh, that's what's wrong...
Someone's interfering with our connection and... We're in so much trouble!
Where is thou area most affected?
The Coliseum!!
We have a problem.
Thanks, we noticed!
So you already know that we cannot teleport?
Not more trouble!!
Everyone. Calm down. We have got to get to the root of trouble.
Well, one of our pendants just rang.
There is something wrong with thy connection to the others.
There's a huge disturbance in Meltokio.
Where is the pendent?
In Meltokio- ah, crap.
Everyone is Meltokio, aren't they?
Yes, they are.
We need to do something!
Your right, but our teleportation isn't working...
ARE YOU STUPID?! DO WE POWER OVER THE ELEMENTS OR NOT!?
It will take time...
Who cares? We have a job to do.
You're right. Let's get going.
The Pope stepped forward. "We are the SFPPC. Society for protecting pureblood citizens. It is our duty and our delight to eliminate half-elves, those different from us. We have brought before us today half-elves and those who helped them. There shall be a massacre in the Coliseum. Starting with the half-elf who is also part-chosen!"
And before Seles or Zelos could do anything about it, the solders had both of them restrained.
"Time to die!" said a knight, bringing his ax up above Seles.
"Dammit!" yelled Zelos.
"No!" shouted Virginia.
Seles cringed. Was it really going to end like this?
The knight bought down his ax, and...
Swish! Clang!
Seles looked up. Mithos was locked in combat with the knight.
"Not on my watch, it isn't!"
"Mithos! What are you doing!?"
"Saving your life, what else?"
Seles was about to answer when she saw another solder coming from behind.
"Ice Tornado!" she yelled, taking out that solder and the one behind him.
"Go Seles! Go Mithos!" screamed Claudia.
Genis was yelling along those lines. Then an idea occurred to him. He ran out of the stadium.
"Sky Crasher!"
"Air Blade!"
Mithos and Seles were franticly trying to defeat the Papal Knights, but more kept coming. Plus the half-elves held captive were still in trouble. This was beginning to seem impossible. And then...
"Mithos, catch!"
Mithos held out his hand... and into it, flew a push broom. With green bristles and a long handle. He looked up. And saw Genis waving at him and pointing at Raine.
Mithos grinned and yelled, "Thanks, Genis!"
Mithos ran over to Seles. When she saw the broom, she grinned.
She mounted the broom, Mithos following.
They took off. The knights started yelling at them.
"How stupid are they?" asked Mithos.
"Very stupid. They wouldn't know rule breaking if it hit them in the ass."
"Ready to do just that?"
"What, hit 'em in the ass?"
"Yup!"
"Sure! Sounds like fun."
"Then let's get going!"
"Cyclone!"
Seles dived into the bulk of the solders. They chased her. Then she took a sharp upward turn, causing the solders to crash into each other. Mithos jumped off...
"Sky Crasher!"
...And hopped back on.
"Argh!" yelled the pope. "You'd think they were angels or something!"
Seles and Mithos looked at each other.
"Should I?" asked Mithos
"Why not?" answered Seles, "There's no one here who doesn't or shouldn't know."
"Okay!" Said Mithos, and he released his wings.
Seles dived again, this time with Mithos flapping his wings, they were going much faster.
And this time, when Seles turned up, she took out some solders.
"This is Awesome!" shouted Mithos.
Zelos was watching the two with amazement. Seles and Mithos made a really good team. His sword covered the gapes of her flying, and vice-versa. They matched up personality wise, too, both of them half-quiet and half-hyper.
"We're winning!!" said Seles.
Then something tugged in her mind. It was like someone was saying something that she couldn't quite hear.
She and Mithos turned around to see what looked like a large ball of condensed lightning with eyes. It looked determined, like thunder.
Then a red light flashed. Next to "Thunder-determined" was something that looked like the upper half of a demon, complete with horns. He looked passionate, like fire.
What appeared next could only be described as shadows in solid form, with a large red eye in the center. It looked liquid, like the darkness.
The next one was a gold bird with two heads. He looked strong, like the sunlight.
The final one popped up... and fell.
"I going way out on a limb here... that's the summon spirit of Earth, right?" said Seles.
Mithos snickered.
Then it came up slowly using a propeller that looked like a bow. It had the body of a mole, a shovel, the propeller, and not much else. It looked, ironically, firm, like the earth.
"Let's see..." said Mithos, "Volt, Efreet, Shadow, Aska, and of course, Gnome."
"Yep!" said Gnome. "You've been bad, Mithos!"
"And we need to punish you." said Efreet.
"...Girl... as well..."
"Indeed." said Aska.
Seles smiled, "Not if you can't catch us!"
They went speeding away from them.
"Oh, no you don't!" the spirits gave chase.
For the third time, Seles took off in a dive.
And when she came out the dive, Gnome and Efreet landed on the knights!
"Hey you, idiots, can't touch this!" yelled Mithos, slapping his butt.
"WHAT!?" yelled everyone, solders and spirits.
"How dare classify me with these losers!?" shouted Efreet.
"Who are you calling losers!?"
"Are you really that stupid!?" countered Gnome.
"YES!!"
"You wanna fight?"
You could piratically see Volt sweat drop.
While this was going on, Seles and Mithos were talking.
"You'd think we weren't even here." said Seles.
"No kidding. At least the female spirits are more intelligent. And that's not the only advantage we have."
"What other advantage?"
"Well, we're in the air, that already makes Gnome almost useless. You saw him fall earlier."
"Any others?"
"Yep. Aska is the spirit of sun, yet we're fighting at night. Shadow is spirit of darkness, but look how lit up this place is. Efreet is the spirit of fire, and it's getting pretty cold. The only spirit not weakened is Volt, and he's still pretty slow."
"So we just need to be quick, right?"
"Right. I'll face behind to see if they're coming."
"Okay!"
Zelos (Who is still here, mind you) was laughing his butt off. Raine was trying not to laugh and failing. Genis was doubled up, holding on to the chair to support him.
"...Matter... at hand..."
"Huh? Oh, yeah..." said Gnome and Efreet, looking sheepish.
They charged again.
"Aska! Port side!"
Seles tilted right. Just as predicted, Aska came zooming by them.
"Efreet's coming from star-bird! Go left!"
Seles did. A fireball went past.
"Whoops! Volt's coming above, Shadow from below!"
Zooming forward, they were able to miss them.
"Uh-oh..."
"Let me guess. They have us surrounded."
"Yep."
"Joy..."
They were indeed surrounded. Aska was above, Gnome below, and the other three came around the sides.
"Charge!" yelled Gnome, coming up.
Then he stopped. Seles was blown to the side a bit. The wind was getting really strong.
Gnome had stopped charging, trying to stay in the air.
Then the air around them started to condense around Gnome. They heard playful giggling.
Then the air turned into an Air Thrust cage.
Gnome stopped trying to stay afloat, and started yelling. No one could hear him, though.
Efreet paused to wonder what was going on. He, too, attempted to charge, but was stopped when an ice wall blocked his way. A cold laugh sounded.
The Ice went further, forming a top and bottom. Then it began to form sides. And before long, Efreet was trapped in a cube of ice.
Volt was next. The water in the air gathered, first in droplets, then ribbons, then balls. A kind hum rang.
All the water around Volt; droplets, ribbons, balls; came together. Volt was stuck in a huge water drop.
Shadow and Aska tried to help, but as they moved, several arrows of light surrounded Shadow, making it impossible to move without getting poked.
"Where's Verius?" Seles asked.
"Over here."
Out of the circle of spirits, the turquoise tailed fox was watching the scene with amusement.
"What in the name of Symphonia are you girls doing!?" Efreet yelled.
"Stopping you. What else does it look like?" Celsius was sitting on the cube of ice she created.
"You two had better go." Undine said.
"Better idea. Let's go stop this before something bad happens." Verius toke off with a flying leap.
"Hey!" Gnome was protesting. "You can't leave us here!"
"Why not?" Sephie smiled.
"Just think of the pact-maker will do if she finds out."
Verius looks at Gnome sharply. "You idiots defiled her orders, tried to kill her sister-in-law, and made a small conflict erupt to a much larger scale. We are prepared to accept punishment. You, on the other hand were thinking only of yourselves. We are leaving you there. And you can't do anything."
"I don't like it," said Celsius, "but we have to team up with you lovebirds."
Mithos and Seles blushed.
"Ice queen is right!" Yutis grinned. Celsius scowled.
"In what way?" Luna tilted her head.
"That we do need to team up…" Undine waited.
"And that you two are totally in love!" Fairess finished.
"That reminds me," said Mithos.
He pecked Seles on the cheek.
"…Just in case we don't make it."
"Don't worry. We'll make it."
They were interrupted as an arrow zoomed by.
"Crap! They got archers!" Celsius growled.
"I'll take care of them." Verius began to cast.
But an arrow also interrupted her.
Seles yelled, "Are you okay?"
"Fine. No arrow of that quality could harm a summon spirit."
"But thou archers present a problem, do they not?"
"They certainly do." Undine sighed. "We can't cast spells because of them. And we can't fight hand-to-hand without causing a panic…"
"……"
"What 'cha thinkin', Mithos?"
"What if I distract the archers while you cast?"
"It just might work." Sephie agreed, "However, with the return of you of your emotions, your crystal is not fully functional. Do you know what this means?"
Mithos grinned, "I'm a lot less powerful than I was a few months ago, right?"
"…The longer this conversation goes on, the more you resemble the boy in the Kharlon war…" Undine sighed dreamily.
"Seconded!" Fairess squealed.
"Hello? This is nice and all, but we still have a problem!"
"Yes. Mithos, thou are indeed less powerful. Thou could be hurt."
"In that case, I'm going too!" Seles grinned.
"You sure?" Mithos gave her a concerned look, "Like Luna said, you could get hurt."
"I'm sure. I'm not about to let you do all the work."
"…Okay."
A third arrow came, passing right between Seles and Mithos.
"Alright! Here's the plan!" Verius hopped over the group. "Mithos and Seles shall distract the archers. Sylph shall aid them with the wind. Luna shall get the hostages and bystanders out the way. Undine and Celsius, I assume you know what to do."
Everyone nodded.
"Go!"
The lovebirds sped off toward the ground.
Sylph was right on their tails. With the wind behind them, they were getting one heck of a speed boost.
In the nine years of being trapped on the island, Seles had always dreamed of adventure, exploring, and falling in love. Now, it was all coming true. But were some things she never would guessed would be happening.
She never guessed she would fall in love with an angel.
She never guessed she would have a summoner for a sister-in-law.
She never guessed she would be the student of an elf.
She never guessed the fight with her brother was interrupted the way it was.
She never guessed she would be friends with the summon spirits.
She never guessed that so many friends would rely on her with their lives.
She never guessed that the lives of her whole race would ride on the shoulders of her and her partner.
Yet here she was.
Mithos hopped off. His wings were still out.
"No matter what, I will protect the one I love…You can't take that away from me! Judgment!!"
The beams rained down.
Still in the stands and surrounded by dead solders, a blue haired half-elf was watching the scene with growing amusement.
"He changed the incantation?… Mithos Yggdrasil, I'll give you this, this new one seems more powerful than your last one."
But that wasn't it.
"ABSOLUTE ZERO!!"
There it was. The strongest ice spell, period. The mages in the crowd watched with amazement, and even the solders where frozen in shock.
The freezing wind was rushing all around. There was no escape. It was everywhere. The enemy was freezing.
The innocent were safe thanks to Luna. Undine had made tons of water flow in to the Coliseum. Celsius was making this water freeze. The SFPPS was trapped in the ice prisons.
Celsius felt the need to say to the Pope.
"You envied and hated your daughter because she was a half-elf. She did not age like you did. Envy her no longer. You will never age in that ice. You may think of it as the prison that grants eternal youth."
The ice princess walked off, laughing.
"Verius, will you do the honors?"
"Of course."
…
"HEARTBREAKER!!"
It was over.
Seles landed, followed by Mithos.
"Man, I'm tired." Said Seles.
"Uh-huh."
"I could use a pillow."
"And I could use a blanket."
"Fair enough. Good night."
They collapsed on the ground.
"Hey, Seles?"
"Hmm?"
"We never did finish our world tour, did we?"
"You wanna go finish it?"
"Yep. But first, let's sleep."
