Me: That last chapter was an odd one for me but this one is also gonna be kinda odd.
Lloyd: Of course the last one was odd! What did you expect?
Me: Shut it and just start the chapter!
Lloyd: Fine! Jen Rem doesn't own ToS or FF. Only Tiamatt, the Oblivion Blade, Ash, and Eria.
Third person POV"Phoenix sword!" Feathers raced at Kratos, turning into flaming swords, as they got closer they never hit their intended target. Tiamatt had moved at blurring speed, taking the hit as the swords pierced her chest cavity and abdomen. Kratos' face dropped as the sorceress' eyes flickered, the fire of life dying as the rest of her energy was depleted, not including the numerous swords that now damaged her internal organs. She swayed momentarily, the fiery blades disappearing leaving no outside mark before Tiamatt fell forward.
"Tiamatt!" Kratos caught the body of the sorceress, he cry heard by everyone but her. He could feel his anger building as he held the lifeless body but it was his anger filled cry that filled the air.
Eria glared at the phoenix, Fralex, who had killed her mother. A strange aura twisted around her and streams of mana began to burst from the ground at her feet, twisting around her form leaving only her glowing red eyes visible. The Lifestream that surrounded the girl began to mold itself into a shape, the long twisting form of a winged serpent; enormous in size, with its eyes closed. The stream of energy stopped leaving the creature in the middle of the clearing, every living thing looking in wonder and shock as red orbs lit themselves along the back of the dragon until finally, it opened its eyes, Eria's eyes, blood red in color with no pupil.
The dragon snarled, its fangs revealed as it glared at the shocked phoenix before charging suddenly at amazing speed. She tore at the bird her front talons and fangs as she weaved around in the air. Her attacks were animalistic in nature and the others on the ground could do nothing but watch in horror as Eria coiled around her prey, squeezing the life from the phoenix before ending his life with a snap of her jaws. Blood dripped from her fangs as she roared with heartbreak yet victorious revenge.
"Eria!" the dragon looked down at the group below her that had seen her ruthless attacks and shame filled her as she landed on the ground. She could see the fear in the others eyes as she looked at them and wished to returned to normal but couldn't.
Eria. The dragon girl looked to see a small paragriff look at her with sad eyes. You won't eat us will you? Eria shook her head vigorously and laid down with her head on her front talons in a sign of submission, diamond like tears rolling from her now sad blue eyes.
"Eria, are you ok?" Colette asked, placing her hand on the dragon's snout. Eria whined and turned her head towards Kratos who still held Tiamatt's lifeless body. "Tiamatt!"
"There's no pulse…" Kratos said weakly as the others gathered around him.
"Kratos, I'm sorry." Lloyd whispered sadly, the loss of a friend hitting him hard. "and …thank you." Kratos looked up at his son and nodded, remembering that if he hadn't blocked the phoenix's attack, then Lloyd too, would have died.
"…I thought she said she couldn't die." The seraphim whispered. "She told me she had to choose someone to inherit the sorceress powers."
"Maybe she…" Zelos started.
"No, she wouldn't give up that easily. Besides she was always talking about how dangerous her powers were." Sheena remembered.
"Then why?" Colette wondered, tears streaming down her face…
"She can't return to the living world." A voice said strictly.
"And why not?!" Another familiar voice retorted. "She has friends that need her up there! I say she should be able to return!"
"Oblivion, she has had more chances at life then most, even before the human and the Cetra melded together. Tell me why she deserves another chance?"
"She knows about the Remnants and how to fight them." A female voice said.
"She also has that girl, Eria, her daughter." This was another familiar voice.
"Eria is not truly her daughter. Or at least not the Tiamatt of this dimension's daughter. There are thousands of parallel dimensions and many of those include Tiamatt in the new worlds. She was sent to help a problem that, though it exist in this dimension, is irrelevant due to the fact Tiamatt is to die here and now." the first voice replied coldly.
"But what about the sorceress magic? I thought a sorceress couldn't die till someone inherited their powers?" Oblivion asked.
"We have found a way to strip a sorceress of her powers and then use them to help control the Lifestream."
"Ugh!" I moaned and opened my eyes, seeing dozen of people surrounding me, all but one familiar. "Where am I?"
"Tia, you're in the Lifestream." I looked in shock at Kai Linos, Josin's father and a friend from the Apocalyptic War. Beside him stood his best friend Sivu and my friend who was more then a brother, Oblivion.
"What?! No! I can't be dead! I need to get back!" I screamed, jumping to my feet.
"You can't." I turned to see the first voice I had heard. The man had green eyes and blue silver hair. He wore a gold and silver cloak and stared at me with indifference. "Your time is up."
"And just who the hell are you?!" I roared, glaring at the stranger.
"I am the very spirit of the planet. I go by many names but you can call me Terran." The man answered simply. "I suggest you get use to your new life cause you can never return to the world above." With that, Terran disappeared.
"Who the hell does he think he is, telling me what I can and can't do?" I screamed in frustration.
"Tiamatt," I turned and glared at the person behind me but my face softened when I realized it was Aeris. "I know you want to return but when Terran makes up his mind, there's no changing it."
"But don't worry kid, we're all here with ya." I looked to see Cid Highwind smiling at me with a hand on my shoulder. "And Terran is just a natural born bastard so don't let him get ya down."
"Tiamatt?" This time I turned to see Sephiroth standing nearby, he eyes shining with happiness though he looked sad.
"Sephiroth!" I ran the small void between us and wrapped my arms around him, catching him off guard. "I missed you so much."
"So you still love me?" He asked when I looked up at him.
"Of course." I told him. "Did you think I forgot completely about you cause of Kratos?"
"Well…" he trailed off.
"You should have seen him Tia. He's been a nervous wreck lately cause he thought you didn't love him anymore." Zell Dinchit laughed.
"Seph, I love Kratos but I still love you too." I laughed. "The original Tiamatt never gave up loving you and that carried over when our minds melded together."
"Tiamatt, I want you to understand that I'm not Kratos but I'll do my best." Sephiroth said, relieved by my answer. "And I understand that you'll never be able to completely give him up but that's ok."
"Thank you." I smiled and then began to talk to my other friends who I had not seen for many years but the more and more I talked to them, the more and more I realized the hard truth that I could never return to Slyvarant or Theth'ella and when Sephiroth lead me to the city where all the spirits that returned to the Lifestream lived, I went almost into depression.
"Tiamatt, what's wrong?" Sephiroth asked, looking worried. "You've only been here a few hours and you've continued to get more depressed. Don't you like it here?"
"Of course I like it but…" My mind went to my friends back on Theth'Ella and Slyvarant. "Kayla, Vincent, Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Sheena, Regal, Presea, Kratos, Eria, and hell, even Zelos. I miss them all."
"Eria? She's supposed to be your daughter right?"
"Yes and I heard what Terran said about the whole 'She's the daughter of a different dimension Tiamatt. Not the one here in this dimension.' Talk. But it doesn't change the fact that I still feel that strange bond of pride and protection when I'm around her. Doesn't that mean anything?" I explained.
"To Terran, no. But I think I know someone who can help you." Sephiroth said. "Follow me."
The silver haired man lead me back through the crowded streets and towards the valley walls of the Lifestream. I laughed as he struggled up the walls while I simply used my wings to carry up to the top of the wall.
"You could've helped me you know." Sephiroth huffed as he finally reached the top.
"But I found it so amusing that you finally had to struggle at something." I laughed.
"Just cause I don't have wings!" He joked back before laughing with me at the thought that he had never really struggled at anything when he was alive and not under the control of Jenova. "Now come on. We gotta hurry and hope she's there."
"She?" I raised a questioning eyebrow.
"She's just a friend." Sephiroth cried in defense.
"I know. I'm just giving you a hard time." I laughed. "So what direction?"
"See the shimmering area over there?" Sephiroth asked me, pointing off over the empty desert. "That's the Symphonian Lifestream. Like I said, just hope she's there right now otherwise we'll have to wait."
"Ok. Then what are we waiting for!" I cried, spreading my wings once more and grabbing the silver haired swordman by his arms, carrying him over the plains towards the direction he had pointed in.
The shimmering area never seemed to get closer as we flew towards it but after thirty minutes of flying over desert, we found our selves suddenly over a forest. In a small clearing sat a woman with long brown hair and Sephiroth instructed me to land in the clearing. The woman smiled with bright brown eyes as we landed and I noticed something oddly familiar about her.
"Welcome Tiamatt. I've been waiting to meet you for a long time now. My name is Anna." The woman introduced herself.
"Anna? Lloyd's mother and Kratos' wife?" I stammered in shock. The woman nodded. "But I thought your soul was in the exsphere?"
"It is but I am also connected to the planet, which is why I am not always here." Anna explained. "But that's beside the point. The window of opportunity is open but not for long. If you are to return to the living world then you must go now."
"But how?" I asked.
"We will make a gate that will allow you to return to your body but it is not with out risk." Sephiroth answered. "There is a possibility that your life could be restarted completely, that you could be stuck as a dragon, or even lose your memory. Are you prepared for this?"
"I guess, but Seph, are you sure about this?" I asked the swordman.
"As long as you are happy, I am happy. And I know Kratos is a good man, just please be careful." Sephiroth replied with a sad smile. "Now we must hurry, you have been away from your body for several hours already and must return immediately if we are to succeed."
"Fine. Open the gate." I said.
Sephiroth and Anna both closed their eyes, their wills causing the mana to distort around them. Green energy surrounding Anna formed a large circle, large enough to jump through. Sephiroth's own green energy flowed from around him and filled the circle and in a flash of light, a shimmering green gate was opened.
"Go now!" Sephiroth and Anna yelled in unison. I didn't hesitate and rushed into the void…
The Symphonians had no idea how long they sat and mourned over the loss of Tiamatt but as Kratos held the body close, he swore he heard a short shallow breath and the faint beating of a heart. Eria must have heard it too cause the dragon lifted her heard and let out an odd chirp.
"Tiamatt?" He asked looking at the woman's face. Sure enough, she was breathing and she slowly opened her eyes. "Tiamatt!" Kratos hugged the woman tightly but instead of the expected return embrace, the woman wore a puzzled look.
"Tiamatt are you ok?" Lloyd asked, confused by the why she looked at the group, especially the Seraphim who looked at her with a look full of relief and love.
"Who the hell are you and why are you looking at me like that?"
"Oblivion!" Terran yelled angrily.
"Yes sir?"
"You knew Sephiroth was planning this didn't you?" the spirit growled.
"Actually, no. I think he came up with this after he saw how upset Tiamatt actually was." Oblivion replied.
"Oblivion, you are one of her best friends and she sees you as a brother. I ask of you to return to the living world and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid while she doesn't have her memory."
"Now doesn't that seem familiar." Oblivion grinned as he remembered trying to help the original Tiamatt gain back her memories stolen by Jenova.
"This is not the same situation. Her memories are just blocked. She will remember you but none of the Symphonians." Terran explained. "And I want you to go as your wolf form. I will disable your ability to return to human till you have completed your task, then you will return to Lifestream. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Then go!" Terran ordered. A gate appeared in front of Oblivion and as he leapt through, he transformed into a silver wolf the size of Noishe.
"Thank you." Terran turned to see Sephiroth standing behind him. Terran sighed and his appearance changed drastically. His eyes turned blue and his hair brown but he still wore the gold and silver cloak.
"If she wasn't my daughter then I would have never allowed it."
"Why did you not tell her who you really were?" Sephiroth asked.
"She would hate me for all the suffering I've made her go through. It was because of me that she didn't die during the initial testing and lived to become what she is today. I left the Lifestream to live the life of a Cetra, know how and why they lived they way they do and then I met her mother. I was a coward, after I found out she was pregnant, I returned to the Lifestream and the woman I loved died giving birth to Tiamatt. Even though she is part of the Lifestream, I haven't talked to her. I believe she hates me for what I've done."
"You sound just like Tiamatt. No wonder she blamed herself for the whole Meteor Incident and my death." Sephiroth laughed.
"Humph. At least can live happily in that world." Terran sighed.
"But why did you take her memories away?"
"I want her to make sure she loves the man Kratos for who he is and vise versa. Let us watch what happens."
"Ok but I think you made a mistake." Sephiroth sighed.
"…"
Me: April Fools! You didn't really think I'd kill my own
character off did you? And hey look! The truth of Tiamatt's family
and a new twist! What fun!
Lloyd: You are twisted…
Me: read and review please!