Disclaimer: I don't own this. However, one day, if I should win that lucky poker game, it just might be.

AngelCatGirl- Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you liked both stories so much. Egyptian History has been a fascination of mine, too. I loved the Mummy movies, even though almost every other fact in those movies was wrong.

AA- I'm always really afraid that I'll have the characters do something weird, so it's nice to know that people think I've been doing a good job with their personalities. Thanks!

blade liger knight- /Grins evilly/ You said that Lloyd and Genis would be brothers if Kratos and Raine got married, but actually Genis would become Lloyd's uncle by law. Hehehehe… can't you imagine how ticked Lloyd would get?

The Zelda Master- I'm glad you got to review! I try hard to find those little typos… /sigh/ I really wish I could get one of my friends to beta for me, but they're too lazy. Oh well. /Grins/ I've had plans for a story for the Legend of Zelda … I haven't figured out the whole plot for it yet, though.

Potter29Vo- Thanks for the review. I swear, no slacking off on the Sheelos. That's the main reason behind my story… well that and making Zelos more of hero than he already is. I can't make any promises about the typos, I still lack a beta. I try, but I don't normally notice other people's typos much less my own. I hope I keep doing Yuan well; he's always struck me as what Zelos would be like if he wasn't such a philanderer and didn't make quite so many jokes.

A Fan of ToS- Thanks for the review and the info. )

Apakoha- I think I got your review right after I updated last time. Thanks for the help; I hope you enjoyed the second chapter as much as the first one… I hope you like this one too.

Anywho, on to the fanfic… I'll have all my important info at the end Author Notes.

Chapter 3

The knife whizzed past the knight's head, hitting the target easily. The ropes frayed immediately, the chandelier falling onto the four Papal Knights below.

Zelos.

The dream faded, but the red-haired Chosen knew he wasn't awake.

Zelos. I need your help.

"Who's there?" he called into the darkness.

I am. I am. We are.

Two voices speaking alone and together. Zelos instinctively shrank away.

"Zelos, wake up. We're leaving without you if you don't." Zelos opened his eyes to see Seles sitting next to him. "Now wake up."

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he muttered, sitting up and stretching while he spoke.

"Is his Laziness up yet?" yelled Sheena from behind a pale blue Rheaird.

"Yep," Seles called back cheerfully. "His Laziness has opened his eyes to look at the world."

"I'm not lazy," Zelos muttered as he stood and rubbed his right shoulder slightly. His arm was stiff and sore and it stung when he started removing the bandage. Walking over to his pack, Zelos pulled out another bandage and wrapped his arm, rolling the first one up and stowing it so that he could wash it out. There wasn't anything wrong with it, so he figured it could be reused later.

"Your arm okay, big brother?" Seles asked apologetically from behind him.

"Just fine, Seles." Zelos flashed her a bright smile. "Seriously."

"So, Mr. Adventure," Sheena said as she walked into sight, "where are we going to first?"

"Well, last night you mentioned that Kratos was coming back in a few days, so I figured we could go to Altamira first and then back over to this area in order to be at the tower when he comes back," Zelos yawned for a moment before continuing to speak. "That way, Seles will meet nearly everyone we traveled with in a few days. After that, maybe we could go to Heimdall to see Raine and Genis and then head over to Sylvarant from there."

"Sounds like a good plan, coming from you," Sheena replied. "A bit all over the place, but it works."

"We already had some breakfast, Zelos," Seles said and then handed him a blueberry muffin, "so you'll just have to make do with this."

"Thanks Seles." Zelos looked at the muffin and then looked over at Sheena, "you didn't make these, did you?"

"No, my Grandpa made them yesterday. Unlike me, he is a brilliant cook."

"Hey, as long as Raine didn't suddenly appear and bake them, I'm perfectly fine with the food," Zelos protested. "I just wanted to know how muffins were cooked out here without an oven."

"Oh."

"Uh, guys," Seles interupted, "are we going now?"

Sheena jumped up onto her Rheaird and grinned at the other two. "The last one to Altamira is a rotten egg!" she called and then took off.

Seles and Zelos exchanged a quick look and then dashed over to their Rheaird. The chase was on.

/o/

Genis reread his letter one more time to make sure everything sounded right, he didn't want to leave anything out. Presea, he hoped, would feel happy after reading his letter to her. He just hoped he would get to see her soon.

Hi Presea,

Raine and I have been living in Heimdall for several months now and it's been really hectic around here. She and I tend to get on the nerves of nearly every Elf in the village, though, so it's been very interesting as well.

Mostly, we've been helping to rebuild the village. It's bigger now than it used to be. They were planning on renovating some of the older buildings and since it had all been destroyed, they figured now was to time to change things. Unfortunately, by change I'm referring to the buildings and their allowing Raine and me to help out. They aren't doing much else that is different.

Raine has been trying to help the people act less like hermits, but the Elder called her an idiot and made her shut up. I've never seen Raine get that angry before; I seriously pitied the Elder because he got an earful afterwards. He hasn't spoken badly to Raine since, though he does give her evil looks when she isn't paying attention to him

The Elder hates me too, but I think that has more to do with the fact that Raine is my sister than anything else. Though I do know a lot more about the world and how things work than just about everyone in the village, so that could be part of the problem as well. They don't even know simple architectural rules, so when I corrected them and they didn't listen, the roof fell on their heads. It was amusing for me and they started listening to what I had to say from then on out.

I keep getting sent into the Torrent Forest on random chores. I've begun to wonder if the Elder is hoping I'll die out there… It isn't that dangerous, so I haven't had any problems, but still, the Elder seems determined to try and get me lost in there. I've found a map of the place from about one hundred years ago and I've updated it some, so I won't get lost.

Anyway, I've missed you a lot, Presea, and I wish I had written you sooner, but I guess I've been a little lazy and a bit nervous about it too. I hope you're having a good time in Altamira, but if you haven't, Raine and I will be visiting soon and I'll just have to cheer you up when I get there.

It was short. Genis sighed as he signed his name. "What else could I tell her? I don't want to say that there is a threat to Symphonia that Yuan plans to tell Raine and me about until I know it is really a threat. And by then, I'll be on my way to Altamira."

The door opened and Raine stuck her head into the room, "you know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

"Then why does everyone talk to themselves at one point or another?"

"I don't know," Raine shrugged and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her, "it's just a saying, after all. Is your letter to Presea finished?"

Genis nodded and sealed it in an envelope. "Where do I send it from?"

"The postman from Meltokio that come through this area in order to reach the House of Guidance in this region has begun visiting Heimdall," Raine replied, going into teacher mode.

"I'll give it to him when he comes."

"He should be around by this evening in order to stay at the Inn," Raine returned to the door. "I'm meeting with some others in a few minutes, so I'll see you later, ok?"

"Ok, by Raine," Genis grinned.

The door opened and then shut again, leaving Genis alone with his thoughts. 'Some others' hmm. I guess she's meeting with the younger elves, the ones closer to our ages that actually want to know about the rest of the world. She's making progress with them when it comes to stopping the discrimination, but the elders are so frustrating, so set in their ways. "Change isn't a bad thing, so why does it scare them so much?"

/o/

It hadn't seemed like a bad idea, at first, insisting that they get a reservation at the hotel before heading down to the Lezareno company. Seles hadn't thought about it too much. However, every time they so much as paused to breathe, Zelos would be talking flirtatiously with nearly every female nearby that also breathed. Well… actually… only the ones that seemed slightly depressed. In fact, it seemed likes Zelos was more going out of his way to cheer people up than flirt with girls since he would actually acknowledge the guys near the girls.

Zelos even sent off a happy couple to the beach with the order to have fun with each other. Sheena looked torn between amusement and annoyance. Seles felt the same way, so she could understand the ninja's predicament.

Red hair whirling as he mischievously attacked Sheena; Zelos was dumped on the ground with a hand-print across his face. Seles giggled and helped her brother back up. I guess some things never change, especially this idiot and his smile, Seles thought as she laughed.

"What, it wasn't that funny," Zelos protested, but he grinned at Sheena anyway. He was getting the look on his face again, and Seles once again wondered why Sheena didn't realize how deeply she was making Zelos fall in love with her.

On one level, Seles was very, very jealous of her brother's feelings toward the violet haired ninja. She'd never been able to really get to know her brother as a child and it was frustrating not being able to understand him as an adult. She knew most of his problems with acting serious stemmed from his mother's death when he was six. It was a traumatic experience, from what she'd heard, and Seles was surprised that he didn't hate her. Her mother had killed his, after all. Nevertheless, Zelos didn't hate her, a fact that made Seles want to get to know the person behind the smiley-faced mask.

On the other side, though, Seles was happy that her brother was falling for Sheena. He was finding in the successor of Mizuho a true happiness that she knew he'd never possessed before. His smiles were real now, not fake. Pain reflected in Zelos' clear blue eyes these days, though. Seles found herself puzzled as to what the source of that pain was.

"Seles, stop holding us up. We need to get in the tram… boat… thingie," Zelos yelled, startling the girl from her thoughts. Strawberry blonde hair bouncing, Seles joined her brother on the tram, sitting on the opposite side of him from Sheena. "About time, slowpoke," he teased, tickling his sister somewhat.

"You're in a really good mood today, Zelos," Seles observed curiously. "What makes today so special?"

"I dunno. I'm just glad we'll be seeing our old friends again, I guess," Zelos replied and then hooked an arm around Sheena and Seles' shoulders. "I also have a pretty girl on either side of me. What guy wouldn't be happy?"

Sheena blushed and hit Zelos on the head lightly. Seles snickered and smiled. It was nice to know that the girl her brother was in love with was falling in love with him too.

Minutes later, the three were standing in front of the Lezareno Company's reception desk attempting to be granted access to the upper floors. Attempting being the keyword. The receptionist was an official jerk. There was a different word that Zelos later used to describe him but, in the interest of sparing ears, it will not be repeated here.

"Big Brother!" Seles snapped and hit his shoulder painfully. "That was rude. Do you want to get us thrown out?"

"No, I want to see two of my good friends," he grumbled, his eyes glinting with a controlled anger.

"Maybe we should've told Regal to give us passes since he has jerks for receptionists," Sheena said idly, pulling out one of her cards and flipping it about.

"Not all of the receptionists are jerks," a soft voice protested from the elevator. The three travelers turned and grinned impishly.

"Yo, Presea! How's it been?" Zelos exclaimed, completely tuning out the stammering employee.

"Interesting. I've been aiding Regal with the company and am personally overseeing the business end of Ozette's reconstruction," the pink haired girl said as she crossed the room. "It is a pleasure to see you and Sheena again, Zelos. And you are Seles; I believe we met briefly before the world was regenerated."

Seles smiled and politely shook Presea's hand. "Yep, though I'm perhaps a little less prickly."

"I should think so. You wouldn't refer to Zelos as your brother when I met you."

Seles blushed slightly. "I still have a lot of growing up to do." I'd say you do too, but you seem far more adult than you look, Presea. I wonder how old she really is.

"Regal is currently away on business but will be returning in a few days. I have a request to make of you three, however."

"Ok," Sheena said at the same moment Zelos said, "shoot away, Rosebud."

"I wish to go to Heimdall to visit Genis, but since I arrived at this decision after Regal left, I am unable to go on my own. The danger for a single traveler is far too great; I'd give you the percentage except I have been told that it is rather irritaiting when I do so."

"Awwww, the little Rosebud wants to visit her little knight, the Twerp," Zelos spoke in a teasing tone.

Sheena hit him on his head again. "Insensitive idiot. Sure, you can come with us, Presea. We're going to go to the Tower ruins tomorrow, though, since Kratos is returning. We wanted to introduce Seles here to him and Lloyd and Colette."

"He is returning from Derris-Kharlan? I was unaware of that. It will be good to see him, and the others, again. I've missed everyone very much. In a way, though, it is comforting to be able to miss everyone," Presea spoke evenly, but a small smile appeared on her face. "I am indeed recovering from my time spent under the Angelus project."

Seles blinked, wondering what exactly the Angelus project was, but didn't ask. "Uh, guys, it's almost lunch time. I'm starved. Let's stop wasting our time here and go get some food!"

Presea nodded. "I am in agreement. Let us partake in an exit."

Seles giggled and linked an arm with the pink-haired girl and another with her brother. "So, Presea, you don't happen to know any embarrassing stories about my dear brother, do you? I'd love to hear any of them, if you do."

"Seles!" Zelos protested loudly. "I never embarrass myself."

"That is inaccurate," Presea corrected as they group piled back into the Elemental express. "Seles, your brother embarrassed himself often during our journey. It would be my pleasure to inform you of these occasions."

"Sheena, they're being mean to me," Zelos whined childishly.

"Don't worry. If they get the facts wrong, I'll correct them."

"Oh, now that's comforting," was the sarcastic reply.

/o/

Ra did not like his situation. He did not like it one bit.

Shoulder-length, golden hair, the complete opposite of his sister's, gave Ra a slightly effeminate look, not that he was girly in appearance. He was lithe with clear, piercing blue eyes that gave him an unusual intensity. He was currently dressed in a navy shirt and black pants with black boots. A navy headband held his longish hair from his face, not that it mattered. He could see just as easily when using a style similar to Kratos'.

Surveying the streets of Meltokio, Ra began his search for the empath he'd been hearing rumors about. No one knew exactly who the empath was, just that it was definitely a man and he was depressed about something, most likely a death of a family member or something to that effect.

Isis really ought to have been the one tracking the empath, she was more sensitive in these matters and she'd developed the device that sounded in the minds of the telepathic targets. Isis, however, was vacationing in Altamira after a harrowing encounter with the Anubian Warriors.

The Horus Guards, Isis' pet organization, had always been in control of the situation, steps and leaps and bounds ahead of the Warriors. Anubis seemed to be beating Horus as of late and Isis was miffed. Very, very miffed. The Anubian Warriors seemed to have already located an empath capable of leading them to the Firelight Mirror.

"If this falls through," Ra whispered softly, "we just might lose this race. Morphia's sacrifice will have been for nothing if that happens." For a moment, he closed his eyes, remembering his little red haired cousin. Her auburn hair and blue eyes had been an oddity at the time; most redheads had green eyes. Mentally, Ra swore to that internal image of his cousin he'd do anything and everything to destroy the Mirror before he Anubian Warriors found it.

Goddess forbid that the Warriors find it first, Ra thought hollowly. Who knows what creatures will crawl out of its reflections this time around?

Frowning unhappily, Ra walked out into the sunlight. Those who watched the tall man entering the city never would have guessed that blue wings bordering on black hid beneath the surface.

A/N ) Well, I hope to get at least one chapter out in February. I'll try for two, but one is definite. Spring Break in March is about six weeks away from me right now and that's when I'm want to get a lot of time to write. Unfortunately, a lot of that writing may have to be done on paper until after the Break. My Grandmother broke her shoulder and had it replaced during the winter holidays. We're currently planning on visiting her. I keep this story on a diskette, so I might be able to work on it over there anyway.

Please review. It makes me feel loved after a long day of school.

PS The author Elizabeth Moon came to my school on the 26th. I've read some of her books and it was awesome to meet her in person. /Does a funky happy dance./ She was really funny and her workshop on plots was really helpful. I don't know if I'll change anything with this story, I doubt it, but it was helpful advice considering some of my other stories aren't so well along on the plot development boat.