Beginning Author Notes:

Songs: Tenkuu no Canaria – Mizuki Nana (Translation in Ending Author Notes)

Breathe Today – Flyleaf

Back at the Funny Farm – Motörhead

Breakeven – The Script

I extended the blades of my tonfa, and Kratos placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, glancing back at his stationary son.

Yggdrasill glanced at Raine and Genis' faces, before turning and walking down the tunnel, Colette, Kratos and I following obediently, releasing our grip on our respective weapons.

A blinding light filled the passageway, and the four figures disappeared, vanished to Derris-Kharlan.

Chapter Four: Nest of Flying Dragons and Denial

"Kratos." At the mention of his name, the auburn-haired swordsman glanced up at Yggdrasill, silent. The blond continued, "Nikki." My eyes turned up to him, starring into his dangerous eyes. "Give my vessel to Rodyle, and keep an eye on that Mana Cannon project of his..."

"As you wish, Lord Yggdrasill." We drone, before turning and walking away.

I, myself, had been keeping a tab on Yuan's doings. Without Colette there, Sheena should have gone off to Mizuho to ask for help in locating them, where she would meet up with Yuan and Botta, who would ask for her help in creating a pact with Volt.

From there, all they had to do was convince Lloyd's group, they would go off and complete the pact, before storming the Nest of Flying Dragons. Lloyd and Yuan would infiltrate, and then, before Kratos, Yuan would place his Swallow to Lloyd's back, and threaten Kratos.

The only variable is what Kratos will have me do during this threat.

Soshite bokura ha uta ni kawaru ikusen no hoshi no you ni
Dakishimete mo modoranu koi karechiru hanabira
Ichi oku no toku rinne shitara kondo ha oka ni sakou ne...
Mou nidoto katte konai canaria saigo ni hohenda...

"Kratos-sama..." I tilted my head towards the man, "This lightning...it's Volt's isn't it? Which means that summoner in Lloyd's group, Sheena, must have made a pact..."

"..." I took his silence to be a yes.

"I'll go check up on Rodyle...I assume you plan on remaining here, at least for now, Lord Kratos?" I turned and left the room before he could answer. Not that he would.

"What's the matter with my Mana Cannon?"

Alarms were sounding throughout the base, and Rodyle was pacing, his Desians at their stations working quickly.

"Switching modes for the potential energy right now!"

"You fool! If anything goes wrong with Martel-dono's vessel, my standing will..."

"That should hardly be a concern for you, Rodyle. Kratos-sama and I are here to protect her." I cut in, arms crossed over my chest.

'The Chosen's lifeless body...' I thought to myself, 'I wonder if she can sense that Lloyd is coming for her here...?'

I watched on the large screen as the dragons were sent out to attack the intruders, hundreds of renegades on rheiards, only a small handful held Lloyd's group.

I frowned as I sensed two new presences on the base. Lloyd and Yuan.

"There shouldn't have been any ambush to begin with!" Rodyle screeched. "The Chosen of Tethe'alla was supposed to manipulate them and cause their infiltration to fail..." He said his voice quieter.

'Zelos...should I call him a traitor, or not...? Hnn...'

"Since that's the case..." His voice perked, "Yes! Would this not be viewed as Pronyma's mistake rather than my own? The fault will fall on that woman's shoulders..."

I scoffed quietly, leaving the room before Lloyd and Yuan reached the room, going back to Kratos' side.

"Kratos-sama..."

"Where is Colette?" Lloyd's enraged voice came through the closed door.

"Nani?" He turned to me

"Lloyd and Yuan are in the other room. I believe Yuan plans to use Lloyd to gain something..."

The stoic swordsman's eyes flickered with emotion briefly.

He began walking towards the doorway, and I slipped into the shadows quickly, not wanting to be seen when the door opened. I had a hidden blade concealed in my sleeve today, predicting that Yuan would try to use Lloyd somehow if, and when, they had found Kratos.

"I'll leave the rest to you. I shall go to Martel's vessel." Rodyle quickly slipped past Kratos.

"Kratos." Lloyd snarled, adjusting his sword. "Where have you put Colette? Answer me! Kratos!"

*Shink* Yuan moved his sword to Lloyd's back. I twitched.

"Kratos, release Origin. If you don't, Lloyd will die here."

"What are you saying?"

"If you have even the slightest feelings for your son, do as we say."

"Son? ...This is impossible...Kratos...Kratos can't be my...father. I don't believe it. I won't believe it!" The brunet swordsman denied, shaking his head furiously.

Yuan smirked, "Humph. How do you feel, being rejected by your own son?"

"Say something, Kratos!" Lloyd demanded.

Yuan quickly slashed at Lloyd's back, to prove his point that he would kill Lloyd if Kratos did not release the seal, and Lloyd kneeled over in pain, falling to his hands and knees.

"Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, and their mana siphoning system...It is no longer needed. It is time to merge these two worlds into the single world they once were."

I clenched my fist, foot sliding back silently, my teeth grinding together in anger.

"Kratos, release the seal of Origin, the king of spirits, and bring these worlds together once more."

"Merge...worlds?" From the floor, Lloyd glanced back at Yuan in confusion.

"For the well-being of them both. I'm sure your son wishes for the same."

"I guess the joke's on me." Lloyd started to chuckle, shifting Kratos' attention away from Yuan to Lloyd. I glanced at him as well, however still keeping an eye on Yuan. "Kratos being my father...Making such poor jokes is a bad habit."

"Whether you choose to believe me, it does not matter-"

Lloyd interrupted him, "Hey Kratos! It's not true, right? If it is true, then why...why did you betray us? Why...why did you put Colette through so much suffering?" Lloyd continued to glare at Kratos.

It was silent, until an explosion rocked the entire area.

Yuan was sent flying back and I tackled him away from Lloyd, twisting our bodies so we would end up on our sides (I didn't want him to crush me), and Kratos leaped onto Lloyd to protect him from the blast.

"Ugh..."I moaned, rolling away from the Renegade Leader, who was currently unconscious.

"Daijobu ka?" I heard Kratos ask faintly. "Then all is well." I heard after a moment of silence, his voice soft.

I moved to stand, however, when I got to one knee a pain blossomed in my side. I grunted, holding onto it, but continued to rise to my feet, stumbling slightly.

"Father?" I heard Lloyd whisper, and I stumbled over to a piece of rubble not too far from them, and used it to steady myself, trying to keep silent. I heard Yuan stand, finally conscious, and both he and Kratos pulled forth their wings. "Angel wings?" Lloyd gasped. "You too, Yuan?" He stumbled, but stood behind Kratos, "Just who are you guys? And...Just who am I?" He clutched his shoulder. "What should I believe in?" He began turning in circles, as though trying to see something. "Colette?" He paused.

"Don't be so wishy-washy just because you learned something about your father!" Zelos snapped, and I quickly glanced to the door in surprise, and saw Sheena and Zelos standing there. "What should I believe in? Hmph. Quit messing around! Just keep believing what you believed. Was everything you said before a lie? Don't put me in despair!" He yelled angrily.

"Zelos..." Lloyd trailed.

"Go." Kratos ordered, letting his wings disappear, "I want to become stronger so I can protect the Chosen." He echoed Lloyd's words, ones that he had said long ago, "You said that once. If those words are still alive within you, then that's what you should believe in."

"You won't get away!" Yuan swung his Swallow, releasing it so it headed towards Lloyd. Kratos blocked it with his own sword, and began to fight Yuan.

"Lloyd! Rescuing Colette comes first!" Sheena called, as Lloyd remained behind Kratos in shock.

"Lloyd." I spoke softly, holding onto my side. "Go. Lord Kratos will not fall so easily. And I shall remain here, with him." He looked at me startled, before running past the two and with Sheena and Zelos.

I paused, waiting for them to disappear down the hallway before looking at Kratos, "I will watch over him, Lord Kratos," and chasing after them. 'Please don't die...Kratos-sama...'

You can only move as fast as whose in front of you
And if you assume just like them, what good will it do?
So find out for yourself
So your ignorance will stop bleeding through

I ran into the room where the Chosen's body was, only to see Lloyd holding the girl's body, trapped in a mana shield, mechanical arms about to attack them. "Shit!" I stopped my running instead pulling out my tonfa, and began to cast, "I call upon the winds of Sylph, devour my enemy and slice them apart with your mighty wind...Air Thrust!" However, I only managed to destroy some of them. Then, movement caught my eye.

"I-I'll be taking that ugly ornament off the Chosen..." Rodyle used his remaining mana to have the arms remove the necklace before dying.

Lloyd cried her name, struggling to get rid of the arms holding him.

"Stop it." I barely heard to words over the noise. The Chosen...was herself...!

The necklace broke, but Colette was hanging onto the pendent.

"This is...This is Lloyd's...This is Lloyd's birthday present to me!" She cried out. Her wings emerged, destroying the arms, and Lloyd broke free to embrace her.

As the group happily welcomed her back, I slowly stepped backwards, and dashed from the room.

Broken families, a new enemy
And you will not make up for this
This suburban man, he wants discipline
But I just need a friend

I knelt before Lord Yggdrasill, as he blandly surveyed the three of us from his throne. "The vessel has been taken? What of Yuan?"

"I lost track of him." Kratos replied.

"...Very well. You're dismissed." Kratos stood, turned on his heel, and walked away silently. I quickly followed; however, I caught the last bit of conversation from Pronyma before disappearing.

"Worthless dog."

"Worry not. Kratos is an old friend of mine."

"I'm afraid to ask, but why did you not wipe them out ba..."

When I appeared in Welgaia, Kratos was nowhere in sight.

Damn it.

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing
Just prayed to a God that I don't believe in
'Cause I got time while she's got freedom
'Cause when a heart breaks no it don't break even

Ending Author Notes:

Yay! Update =)

Reason why updates are so few between? 'Cause I have to wait for the English translations to come out. And episodes only come out every, what, 5-6 months? And I've discovered it's difficult to try and fuse the anime with the game, because they have different timelines. So I'm sticking to the anime. Which is why updates take so flipping long. And I'm sorry...but there's nothing I can do. I'm half-heartedly working on extra fillers from the extras for the series, but only half-heartedly.

Edit (01/22/2012): Yay! New episode out with translations! I've edited this chapter to fit more fluidly into what I have planned for the next chapter, since the first episode of United World is now subbed.

English Translation:

And we'll change history, just like a thousand stars.
Even embracing the fallen petals of love wouldn't bring them back.
Even if you engraved them a hundred million times, they will bloom again on the hill.
The canary that would never again return will finally smile in the end.