Author's note: I don't own Star Ocean Till The End Of Time

The True Nature Of All

Chapter 10: Intruders

They entered through the main entrance and raced down the stairs to see the Priestess waiting for them. "What is the matter My Queen?"

The priestess asked as Romeria stated without hesitation, her crimson eyes clouding with worry, "Intruders in the Shrine of Kaddan! These people are going to stop them!" The Priestess nodded in understanding as she started the chant that would reveal the way. "May Apris guide you." Romeria said as the Priestess stopped the group from entering the passageway.

"Here, a merchant traveling through gave us these special tools, you may use them as you see fit. They should assist you in your travels." They were hammers; however, they were far from ordinary. Airlia inspected one to see that they were the newly founded Disintegration Hammers.

The princess smiled, "These are those hammers that you use on walls that are falling apart to reveal hidden areas. Is that not correct?"

The priestess nodded, "You're well informed as usual Princess Airlia."

Airlia smiled, "Well that is thanks to Welch Vineyard, and she runs the Inventors Guild in Peterny. She keeps me well informed on everything that is invented and what it does. No one really knows who invented these as they were found one day in some ruins." The priestess nodded as they descended down the newly formed stairs. Mirage stayed behind to help with the Thunder Arrow. Airlia went down the stairs with Fayt and gasped at the beauty of the hallway.

She had to caution everyone though, but Nel beat her to the punch, "Everyone careful. These passages haven't been used in a long time. So who knows what is down there at this point." They proceeded to the right in the first room. Upon seeing a door, they went through it and past the small inner chamber to see blocks on the path blocked by large unmoving rocks.

Airlia looked at everyone in thought, "There is probably a switch, and none of the books said anything about this. So we're going to have to feel our way through this part.

Everyone nodded as Nel spoke, "wait, I think the Queen told me about this once very long ago. It was in the form of a unique puzzle…."

When rocks are in the way…

It is there that they cannot stay...

Go to the statue that faces against the way you must go…

For it is there that the answer to your prayers…

Airlia thought about the puzzle and agreed that it seemed to fit the location they had found themselves in, but where was the statue? Looking around, they saw none and knew that they couldn't stay there any longer. They returned to the room before and checked the statue that was decaying for any sign of the answer, however none was found there. "We must not give up looking; those monsters are trying to steal the Sacred Orb." Everyone nodded in agreement as they split up into smaller groups to search for the statue of the riddle, if it even existed…

Airlia paired up with Fayt, while Maria paired up with Roger. Cliff paired up with the woman that he loved secretly, Nel. Airlia and Fayt went through a second door that they ignored before and went under the large immobile blocks that prevented them from moving forward. However, what they saw stopped their blood cold. Inside was a large monster, like that of the Mudman on the mountain top. Airlia saw that in the corner was a statue facing the way that they had to go to get on the blocks…

"Go to the statue that faces against the way you must go…" Fayt nodded, seeing what she saw, "We should get the others before we fight this thing, and we'll need it." Airlia nodded as she agreed with that statement.

They went back under the blocks as they called out to everyone, "We think we found it! However there is a huge green Mudman-like creature in the way. We're going to need everyone's help to destroy it." Maria looked at the pair in concern as she nodded. With the rest of the group in agreement they headed the way that the duo had gone. They saw the green monster that stood in their way and split into fighting pairs. This time Airlia paired up with both Roger and Nel. Fayt, Cliff and Maria were the other trio.

The monster tried to swing both ways, but that was its first major error. Airlia and Nel double teamed him with Nel's favored Ice Needles, and Airlia's rarely used Lightning Blast. The Needles sunk into the monster's hide while the lightning came to it like a rod and electrocuted the monster. Fayt used his Blazing sword to work his way through while Maria and Cliff worked together to double team with an acrobatic set of attacks. However it was Roger that would strike the killing blow by driving himself into the heart of the beast with his Flying Torpedo. With the monster dead, they went to the statue that seemed to fit the description. Roger, with his keen eyes was the first to spot the switch. Airlia nodded to him to flip the switch.

When the switch was flipped, there was a noise behind them that caused the ground to shake. Airlia looked at the back of the room that they needed to go back through grimly as they left. However, what they saw would make them weary. The large blocks were rising and falling. However, in this room, it was moving slowly enough to make them not worry. They proceeded slowly to the blocks and waited for the blocks to fall and start to rise before going under them to get out of the way. Once everyone was safely out of the way, they backtracked to the room that they had first arrived in, that they found their path blocked. When the first rock lowered enough for them to get on, they did so. Cliff picked up Roger, only to ensure that he got on with the rest of them. Roger, even with his pride, understood that they just wanted to be sure he didn't get left behind because of his size.

They ran across each block as it neared their height, when they got across, everyone was able to breathe a sigh of relief. However, the worst was yet to come. Before them was a path filled with such falling rocks, only this time, they fell much more swiftly. The group sighed as they neared it to try and time the rise and fall of each block to find the means that would be most effective on getting past the falling rocks. However, none seemed very easy. Cliff knew he was fast enough on his own, with the fact that he was a Klausian. However, the likes of Fayt and Airlia might not be so lucky. However, Airlia saw a path that might just be enough. "If we go under the blocks as they start to rise, we should make it unscathed. They seem to be the slowest when they rise." Everyone looked at the blocks that were mentioned in agreement. They ran swiftly under the blocks as the aforementioned items rose and yet somehow managed to get through unscathed. When they were done, they sat down for two minutes to catch their breaths.

"Whew, remind me to kill those jerks for doing this!" Airlia spat, meaning the invading Vendeeni scum who are trying to get the Sacred Orb. Everyone nodded in agreement, two for the same reasons as Airlia, the other three members for their own reasons. However, they knew they couldn't rest for long. They saw a door on their right. Sharing a glance, they went inside. Before them lay several monsters, however, they knew the door at the far end that they were looking at was in the wrong directions. So they stayed close to the wall, avoiding monsters, and found a door on the left that was unlocked. Going inside, they saw two rows of blocks, the right side far more deadly than the left.

"Not again!" Roger cried out. Roger went up to examine them and found the left side far less deadly. However, they still moved at a deadly pace. He readied to use is flying torpedo that would shoot him across in a heartbeat. When he did so, he had a brief moment to explain their speed. "They fall much slower than they rise. So be careful guys!" Cliff smirked as he ran across with Nel, both of them racing to see who was faster. They made it to the back end safely as Fayt, Airlia and Maria began to cross. Airlia smiled as they made it safely to the other side. However, they knew the danger hadn't passed yet, they still had to go through the actual shrine. When they went through the next door way, they saw two blocks that were unmoving.

Airlia winced, "We have to find another statue!" They proceeded out of the room, heading north of where they were.

They encountered two mages that seemed to be waiting for them. Airlia and Nel readied their duo cast of "Silence!" This helped to end the mages pathetic existences as they could no longer cast their magic. However, once they did this, it also brought more knowledge to them.

Airlia's mind raced as she thought, "Thunder Flare!" Suddenly, her palms shot out as a huge surge of thunder came from as if within herself. It then shot to form a dome of electric energy around the enemies as they couldn't even be heard to roar in pain. When the dome vanished, all that was left was ashes of the creatures. "Wow, did I do that?"

Airlia asked innocently as Nel nodded, "I'm not surprised; it's not uncommon as a practitioner of Runology to learn a spell in the heat of battle. Anyways we must hurry!" Everyone nodded as they went to the right and inside the room. They found a statue much like the one they found at the beginning. When they went to examine the statue, Airlia flipped the switch that she had found. Touching it, they felt the ground quake and left to get back to the blocks. However; there was a monstrous creature waiting for them.

"Airlia, wait here and rest up. That spell took it out of you for certain. I wouldn't want you to faint in the heat of battle." Airlia nodded as she sat down in the hall that was too slim for the huge monster waiting for them. The creature was green, as if tarnished by the very air around them. When they got to the creature, his height was enormous. Fayt glared in defiance at him. He ran to the side as he thought of a new attack that he hadn't tried yet. He jumped into the air and used gravity as driving force to push his sword into his attack, while Cliff and Maria used their combined acrobatic attacks.

The monster died when Nel used her own newly thought runological attack "Thunder Flare!" No amount of preparation could have prepared the runologist for the exhaustion that the princess had felt however as Airlia gave them all another pair of vials like back at the summit of the Mountain of the Gods. Having recognized the liquid in the vial, everyone eagerly drank and felt their strength return in force. When they finished, they went through the door. However, upon entering, they found a gift waiting for them, but not a nice gift! The ground glowed red as a symbol appeared and a headless knight emerged from the symbol on the ground. It was completely see-through except for the armor it wore and the weapons it wealds. Nel felt her heart begging her to use her long unused Shadow Wave with her eyes fiercely narrowing on the monster that was nearing the man she cared for. "Shadow Wave!" Her body was surrounded by darkness as she brought forth her daggers and raced through the monster back and forth. Airlia brought her sword out and jumped into the air to land upon the monster, finishing it with a stab to its abdomen.

With it done, Airlia and the others were able to breathe a sigh of relief. They saw the door on the right and everyone was able to tell that they had finally made it to the shrine. Upon going through they saw the pure white stone and everyone could only stare in amazement as they proceeded. They opened the door that led to the next room. When they arrived into the next room, however, a pile of crystal was on the ground, remains of a fight to be sure. However, before they could move, the crystals started to float in midair and found themselves in front of a creature. He was like that of a centaur; however, he was made of pure crystal. Airlia readied her Ice Needles while Nel prepared her Shadow Wave. When they attacked, Maria pulled out her blaster and fired off several shots, the last of them being the fatal blow. The monster dropped a stone that Airlia picked up and put in her bag, her instincts nagging her that it would be needed. However, what lay in the next room would pluck at all of their spirits. It was an injured guard lying on the ground drew their attention. He could barely talk, "Lady… Nel… I'm sorry… I couldn't… Stop them… Forgive… Me…." With that the guard died in her arms. Nel closed her eyes to hold back the pain as she laid him back on the ground and growled low.

No one could blame the crimson haired woman for her pain. Everyone wanted nothing more than to bring his murderers to justice. However, as they stood, they felt more resolve than they could have ever imagined. They proceeded into the next room to find another pile of crystal and watched in amazement as it also proceeded to become another centaur. However, this time it was Cliff and Fayt that would destroy it with the help of Roger, who would be the one to deal the deadly blow. With the creature dead, they wondered where to go next when they heard commotion in the room to the south. Upon entering, they saw several strange beings that Cliff identified as the Vendeeni. Airlia raged at one with a deadly blow of her sword, severing his head from his body before he had known what was coming. Fayt and Maria killed the next two. Nel dove at the last one with the help of Roger for a victory.

They proceeded into the next room only to feel the ground quake again. This time, though, it was unnatural quaking and the ceiling started to collapse. "Quickly, run to the far sides of the room!" Nel shouted as everyone scrambled to get to safety. Roger fell and would have been hurt by a falling piece of the ceiling, had it not been for Airlia. She leapt into the fray and swung him out of harm's way and got him to the edge of the room. However, as the quake subsided, no one noticed the loose piece of ceiling that loomed dangerously over the group. However, as it began to fall, Airlia heard it and pushed everyone out of the way, however, she was not left unscathed. Her leg was grazed lightly, however, she didn't feel it and since it wasn't bleeding, no one really noticed it.

Maria looked at the young woman and smiled, "Thanks Airlia. We're lucky you heard that piece fall somehow."

Airlia smiled as Nel filled them in, "Airlia, unfortunately for herself, but fortunately for us has excellent hearing."

The group proceeded to examine the room and found a wall was slightly damaged and stepped away to destroy it with the hammer that they had been given. With the wall torn away, they proceeded in to find it being a workshop that was in good shape. However, a large chest drew Airlia's attention as she went to open it. "Hey Fayt, it's another stone like the ones those two centaurs dropped!" Fayt looked at it as he took them to the workshop and began to fiddle with it. Suddenly, the three pieces glowed eerily as they made it into one piece, a charm of sorts.

Airlia looked at it as did everyone else. "I'm not able to use it Fayt. It looks like something that only the person who makes it can equip." Nel said softly as he agreed and placed it around his neck. Airlia chuckled as they proceeded to leave the workshop and returned to the main hall where they had initially fought the second centaur and proceeded to the right this time from their present location. They saw a crack in the wall along the right and decided to investigate it one more time, since the last one was very profitable.

When they destroyed the other wall, they found two chests. Roger inspected one, to find a large tome and the other was a small hammer charm to be worn and give you half the stun time if you're stunned by an enemy. Cliff wanted it to initially go to Airlia, however, she thought it wouldn't be too effective on her, but with Nel, as quick as she was, would be better benefited from it. Cliff hid the blush by looking down, allowing the shadows to hide them. Nel smiled softly as she took the charm and attached it to her belt. Satisfied that they were ready, they proceeded to leave and swiftly make their way to the next doorway. Airlia hid the wince of pain; a brief glance at her leg told her she would be in danger if she didn't attend to it soon.

They went through the door, only for it to slam shut behind them. Inside was the toughest of the three crystal centaur statues to date. He started to charge at them, only for everyone to leap out of the way. Airlia barely managed to dodge and moved over to Fayt. He glanced at her leg and winced, "Guys! Airlia's badly injured! We gotta make it stay away from her while she takes the medicine to heal it!"

Nel glared at the centaur as she leapt into the air and brought her daggers out. Her bitter fury made her attack that much more powerful as she called out, "Flying Guillotine!" She dove at the creature with such force that it was sent rearing on its hind legs. Roger used that chance to do a flying torpedo attack. With him on his back, Fayt used his sword as Maria shot at it at the same time, he was destroyed. With him dead, they went to check on the Princess.

The medicine was in her system and she was feeling slightly better. Fayt took out of his nap sack a set of wrappings that Airlia wasn't comfortable with him putting on, only because she felt such loyalty to Albel still. However, she wouldn't let him know that… yet. With the bandage in place, they started to proceed ahead. In the next room, they proceeded to walk to the north and saw the door on the right. When they entered the room, they went due north and to the next room, only to see many witches flying on brooms and many soldiers. "There's too many for us to take on. We need to keep a low profile for right now." Fayt said as everyone agreed. They headed through the doorway on the left and avoided the few monsters that lurked in the corners. However, when they finished going through that room and through the passage to the north, they raced down the hallway and into the next room, only to see it was filled with soldiers. However, before anyone could move from their corner of the room, the ground started to shake again.

"Let's stay here, we seem to be safe." Cliff said as everyone stayed put. Most of the soldiers were killed by the fallen debris. However, the few that remained were injured to the point of not wanting to fight and vanished before their very eyes. They explored the room and found even with the wall that could be destroyed removed; the path was a dead end. They returned to the room where they had initially found themselves in before where there were many mages and soldiers. When they looked around, they noticed one wall was damaged to the point of being ready to fall apart. Using the disintegration hammers, they found another hidden path. This time, they followed it to the end to find a long hallway and that nearby was a doorway.

Airlia shook her head, "That is way too easy. That can't be the right path. Let's head down this long hallway and see where we arrive."

Nel nodded in agreement, "She is right. So far what seems to be the obvious path isn't so correct." Everyone started to run down the hallway. The halls were eerily quiet as they continued forward through the next hallway. Beyond the following hallway they found another crystal centaur was waiting for them. Sighing, Airlia, Nel and Maria took it on with the full brunt of their anger. Maria shot at it, opening it for the double dose of Ice Needles that ended its pathetic existence. With the monster dead, they went forward and into the next room. This room was also eerily quiet, making everyone weary of what was to come. Pushing forward, they saw another statue of a centaur that wasn't moving, however, this one was surrounded by pillars. The group split up and moved along the sides to avoid the centaur. When they were finished, they found themselves in another large room with very little battle competition around.

They ran across the hall to find the door was open and easily accessible. Running inside, they found several creatures waiting for them. Airlia and Nel sent the monsters a double glare and both used their recently acquired "Thunder Flare."

However, the monsters were not all killed by this move. However, Fayt's eyes began to glow mysteriously. Suddenly he shouted out as snowflakes began to fall, "Deep Freeze!" Suddenly along the field where the monsters were, icicles began to come up from down the ground, impaling them from below. The final one died as Cliff began to attack it fiercely as it approached Maria from behind. He would never let anything happen to the Leader of Quark. However, a glance at Nel spoke of a double meaning. She was confused about something, and almost angry. However, before he could say anything, Nel hid the emotions and the trace of hurt that Airlia saw.

She was angry at the oaf who would hurt her dear friend of many years. "Guys, we must keep moving!" Nel shouted as they proceeded. Beyond the next door laid a statue with something engraved in it. However, before they could proceed, something awaited them…

A strange looking eye with tentacles hanging down, it's only eye glaring out at the people as it rose from its position on the statue. Airlia glared out as she took the offensive, tired from running for so long. "Thunder Flare," she spoke in a deadly whisper. The familiar dome of thunder came to surround the monster as it struck with many bolts of lightning. However, as if that wasn't enough, Fayt brought his sword crashing down and Nel killed it with her familiar move of jumping in the air and diving on the creature. As it vanished, they move to read the words on the statue…

"In order to obtain the treasure beyond, you must face your fears. However, you do not have to be alone, so long as that there are more than four with you. Now, choose your champions and who will pair up with whom…"

Airlia smiled, "I'll pair with Roger on this one. Fayt's got enough power to sink a battleship." Roger looked like he was ready to cheer aloud.

Nel glared at Cliff as she spoke, "I'll pair up with Maria, I guess, seeing as Cliff is strong enough to fight whatever comes at him on his own." Cliff looked at Nel, as did Maria, both having their own reasons for doing so.

Nel merely shrugged as she stood closer to Maria as Cliff asked, "Well, what can ya do?" Maria wanted nothing more than to find out what the problem with the red-haired ninja was, however, she was silent through the ordeal. Airlia and Roger stood at the second door while Fayt stood at the first door. Maria and Nel were next at the third door from the left while Cliff was at the final door. Fayt went in and mastered his fear while fighting alone.

Airlia and Roger were next, facing another demon as a pair. Airlia saw her deepest fear that she was too late to save Albel as she tore at the monster. She knew that nothing would happen to her knight, but it was always in the back of her mind, the creeping fear… Roger overcame his fear while helping to slay the monster. Maria and Nel fought their monster, each confronting their own fear of sorts. Nel was afraid that her love was unrequited. The darkest of fears for her, having her heart on the line, even if silently, while Maria was afraid she was a monster of sorts….

With their foe done, they proceeded forward to meet with the others. Finally it was Cliff's turn who had to face his darkest fears and managed to win his battle to find everyone waiting. Airlia merely sent him a dark look that would freeze even the hottest of fires. Going forward, there was a chest that appeared in the middle of the room. Airlia opened it and sighed, "Here Nel. I don't need this. But it wouldn't hurt for you to have it with your position in Aquaria." Nel agreed to take it, knowing full well what the Airyglyphian Princess was saying. She didn't trust some people either within her own kingdom, so who knew how they would treat her friend from Aquaria.

She slipped the charm around her neck as they continued forward. They found themselves staring at another strange room of the purest white marble and the few monsters running around. They proceeded forward to the small hall on the right and saw the door. "We're almost there. However, Airlia's not looking too good right now. I think she used too much energy back there," Roger said as Nel gave her friend a worried glance.

They continued to hurry and saw the doorway on the left. "Let's try here!" Fayt said as they moved through the strange room with blocks frozen in place. Airlia wasn't sure what they meant however, going past the second room, they saw an empty room that Airlia could rest in.

They went to find the next room; however, the doorway was sealed. "I'm going to stay here with Airlia." Roger said as the group nodded and proceeded to move forward.