Third Person POV
"Professor, is Dad going to be ok?"
"Yes Lloyd. Kratos should be fine. Just make sure that if he wakes up that he takes it easy. I'm unfamilair with the spells and magic used on him but I believe I have healed most of his injuries." Raine asnwered, checking the Seraph over once more before standing up and moving to another bed where Hiro lay unconscious.The half-elf eyed the man cautiously before shaking her head and checking for injuries. "Hiro appears to be uninjured."
"So what happened to him? What could make someone freak out like that?" Zelos asked, leaning against a wall.
"I'm under the asumution that what we witnessed was not Hiro, but Void." Regal noted. "If that is the case then why was he released? And if he is released again, how do we stop him?"
"Hmm...It seems that Tiamatt being is danger is what triggered the transformation and after he got the information he wanted from the Remnant, he blacked out." Genis replied. "But that just brings up another question. Where's Tiamatt? If Hiro knows then we can't find out till he wakes up but then the problem is how do we get there? Tiamatt is the only one that can fly the Ragnorok unless Hiro might know."
"Actually, Tiamatt was showing me some of the controls and stuff when we were flying to the gorge and then here. I think I have a basic idea of how to fly it." Lloyd said. The others gave worried looks which weren't missed by the twin swordsman. "Hey! Tiamatt even tested me on my knowledge of the controls and I only missed one!"
"Where's Tiamatt?" Kratos mumbled, causing the group to look at him. "Is she safe?"
"Dad, Tia is still missing. We don't know where she is but Hiro might." Lloyd explained as the angel sat up and looked over at the unconscious blonde man in the next bed over. "But we have to wait till he wakes up."
"Damn it! We need to find her!" Kratos growled, looking back at the other Symphonians.
"We know Kratos. But we can't do anything till we know where she is." Sheena sighed. "I suppose I can contact the Information Network and see if they might have some info but I'm not sure if we'll get any results."
"Just do something! The longer we wait the more danger she is in!" Kratos yelled.
"What does it matter?" Mithos asked from his spot in the door way. "That woman has been nothing but trouble. Her arrival in this dimension opened rifts that alters the worlds I worked so hard to create."
"Mithos what are you talking about?" Genis asked, worried by his friends sudden words. "Tiamatt is our friend remember?"
"Friend? She was never my friend. She knew who I was all along. If I was smart I would've killed her long ago."
Kratos growled as the Symphonians all looked at the blonde half elf in shock. "You would do no such thing Yggdrasil!"
"What? Dad, why did you call Mithos, Yggdrasil?" Lloyd asked, confused.
"You truly are pathetic." Mithos snorted before closing his eyes and in a flash of light, took the adult form of the Cruxis leader. "Why do you ask so foolish over this woman Kratos? why is it she makes you wish to retaliate against me?"
"Do you think that its just because of Tiamatt that I go against Cruxis? I wish to correct the mistakes I made when I followed your twisted version of Martel's last wish. The two worlds have suffered from your attempts to bring back the dead and its time that you be stopped." The auburn haired Seraph said, standing up and placing a hand on the Flamberge.
"Humph. And just how do you plan to do that Kratos? I control the Eternal Sword. As long as I have it, your attempts will fail. Even if you do find a way to gain the Sword, you will die." Yggdrasil smirked, causing Kratos to shift uneasily on his feet as the Cruxis leader disappeared.
"Kratos, what did he mean?" Colette asked, looking at the other angel.
Kratos closed his eyes for a moment before sighing. "Wake Hiro. Then I will tell you." With that, the Seraph walked from the room and went outside.
Research lab
"Hm..."
"Professor Hojo, what is it?" A Remnant asked as the corrupt scientist examined a small vial of clear liquid.
"The woman is still early into term and I do not wish to wait for my new specimens. Prehaps I will use this serum." Hojo answered. "Or I suppose we could just transfer her back to our time and keep her there for several months till she is ready. Hmm..."
"Sir, the serum is too dangerous. The Cetra could die if that was used." The Remnant warned as Hojo stood up from his seat and walked towards the door.
"Then put her on life support. She will be useless to me anyways after the new specimens are born. I've learned all I can from the Cetra." Hojo snapped, walking down the hall with the vial still clenched in his hands. "Go retrieve the subject!"
The Remnant nodded and went to get a syringe filled with tranquilizer before making his way to Tiamatt's cell. The woman was laying quietly on the cot she had been given, ignoring the hiss of the opening door as she examined the small blue flame that danced on her fingertips. The Remnant looked at her curiously before her eyes shifted to a glare in his direction.
"Let me guess, time for more experiments?" Tiamatt spat, flicking the flame at the ceiling where it died out. The Remnant nodded as the pregnant woman sat up with a sigh. "Why do you follow Hojo's orders?"
"...the professor has promised to return us to our human forms if we aid him." the Remnant answered, stepping closer to the glaring Cetra who laughed. "Do you not believe that?"
"Hojo has been playing you Remnants for so long. He'll never keep his deal." Tiamatt laughed, standing up, and reforming the wisp of flame on her finger. "Hojo cares for nothing but his research. He even injected his own unborn son, Sephiroth, with Jenova Cells. He took a new born from his parents the night he was born and then shot them before infusing the child with a demon. I should've died from my hellish life as a specimen but I survived. Thousands of others didn't. You Remnants are a partial success to recreate the experiment that created me and I was the only known survivor of that branch. If you continue to follow and aid Hojo then you shall die as one of his tools."
The Remnant growled angerily and thrust the syringe into her arm, causing Tiamatt to hiss in pain. "Quit stall and come with me." Tiamatt had no choice but to follow as her body went numb and she went limp.
Another Time/ Another Place
"I hope I don't screw up on this." A young woman mumbled, walking down a wide hallway full of people of various ages in blue uniforms and civilian clothes. She brushed her messy light brown bangs from her auburn eyes as she reached the front gate where a group of people were waiting. "Will they even remember me? What am I saying?! Its been seven years for me but a month for them, of course they'll remember me!"
"Eria!" The woman looked up only in time to be embraced by a tall silver haired man. "You're such a slow poke!" The man teased as she laughed and returned the hug.
"You should know that I have a habit of sleeping late Rith." Eria smiled, kissing the man lightly and then hearing another man clear his throat uncomfortably. Eria and Rith looked at the auburn haired man with small grins as the man glared.
"Please remove yourself from my daughter Rith." The man said sternly, causing the woman at his side to sigh before she laughed. The man looked at his wife curiously. "What is so funny?"
"You've only been back for 3 years, didn't even knew you had a daughter and now your getting protective of her." The blue eyed woman laughed. The man sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Headmistress, you told us to meet us here to give us a mission correct?" asked a young man with a black and red cloak that hid his entire body with only his head visable. His long black hair was restrained into a ponytail and he wore black shades over his eyes.
"Yes, Alcana. I went Eria and Rith to lead this mission since they know this time period and the people in it. Alcana, Mica, Seth, and Kit, you will follow they're orders. The objective is to remove Hojo from that world and time period and return the taret to her companions. If you can not achieve this then we will send reinforcements." The blue eyed woman explained, a shimmering portal opening behind her. "We have hacked into the portal located on the island. Move quickly and return safe."
The group nodded and one by one, leapt into the portal. Eria was the last to go, looking at her mother and father who gave her reassuring smiles before she followed her friends and found herself in the dark corridors of the old research center.
Alcana stood against the wall, one arm out of the cloak was revealed to be hold a rifle. The man's other arm was still concealed. Mica, a dark haired woman in white shorts and a blue shirt, scanned the area with white, pupil less eyes. Seth, a red haired man wearing a bandana, was swinging a knife around his fingers, as his free hand tapped a small pouch. The blonde haired woman Kit, stood looking around the corner, her hand tighly gripping the draw string of a bow as a quiver full of arrows sat on her back. Rith stood by the portal, his seven foot katana at his side as Eria leapt through and cracked her knuckles.
"This place isn't very big so it'll be hard to fight. Rith, Kit, and Seth will take the south corridor as Alcana, Mica, and I take the north. Kill any Remnants you encounter and if you run into Comi, use caution." Eria explained. The group nodded as they listened closely.
"If you find the target, then contact us and head for the exit. We'll regroup there. Understood?" Rith added. The group nodded again and broke into the designated groups, searching the building.
Altessa's
"So the only way to reunite the world is to make the pact with Origin and get the Eternal Sword?" Lloyd asked, looking at his father in shock. "But to make the pact, the seal must be broken and since the seal is your life then..."
'Yes, I have to die." Kratos sighed sadly.
"Does Tiamatt knows this?" Hiro asked, glaring at the angel.
"Yes, she knows. She wouldn't leave me alone till I told her everything." The Seraph nodded.
"Then why did you make a promise to her that you can't keep!?" Hiro growled. "Why did you promise her a life and a family when you knew this was going to happen?!"
"Hiro, I love Tiamatt. I want to spend the rest of eternity with her. I would never intentionally hurt Tiamatt." Kratos replied.
"You think you dying isn't going to hurt her Kratos? For years I watched her mourn over Sephiroth and then you show up in her life and promise her a family only to get yourself killed." Hiro yelled.
"Hiro, calm down." Colette warned as the blonde man continued to get angry. Hiro looked at her and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Is there anyway around this?" Hiro asked, sounding calmer.
"I don't know. I've been busy trying to find a way for a human to weild the Eternal Sword and haven't had time to find a solution." Kratos sighed, before flinching suddenly. "Hiro, where is Tiamatt?"
"What? Oh yeah, the Remnant said at the old research lab way to the south west. It's suppose to be really small so it'll be hard to find." Hiro explained. "But whose gonna fly the ship?"
"I'll try. I've been watching Tiamatt fly and I think I got the basic idea." Lloyd said, approaching the ship. Hiro gave him a skeptical look but nodded and followed Lloyd on board. "Let's see...first I do this and then..."
None the less, what Lloyd said was true and he soon had the Ragnorok in the air.
Tiamatt POV
I was soon brought back to my cell after Hojo gave me a set of strange injections which at least for the first couple hours didn't seem to do anything. It wasn't till almost three hours later that I started to feel exhausted, all my energy drained but I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't the braclet was it? It couldn't be that. What was going on? A while later my stomach started to feel odd but I figured that the side effects of my pregnancy might have finally decided to kick in. I felt so tired and when I tried to move, I couldn't. All my energy seemed to have been zapped. What the hell was going on?
"Hojo, her vitals are dropping fast." The voice sounded distance though I could see the Remnant directly above me.
"Put her on oxygen!" Hojo yelled from somewhere nearby. "Prepare another scan! I want to see the progress of my new specimens!" There was a pause for a moment before I heard Hojo laugh. "Perfect. Another couple days with the growth serum and everything will be complete!"
Growth serum? Was he trying to force my children to develop faster then natural? Was that why I was drained of my energy? Was my body trying to supply the energy needed to my rapidly growing children? It wasn't right. I didn't want this to happen. I wanted a natural pregnancy. Not one enhanced by science let alone by the corrupt man that was Hojo. I had to move, had to get up and escape from here before he could do any more to my children but my body feels so heavy. I have to...escape..
Third Person POV
"Soon, my newest specimens will be ready." Hojo laughed, sticking a sryinge into the woman's abdomen. Tiamatt's eyes snapped fully open, pupils dialated and in an instant, the dragon transformation was complete. "Sedate her!"
"I will not let you force any new life into your twisted games!"
Tiamatt roared, everything that remotely made her dragon self seem human gone as she got to her feet and leapt at Hojo. Her fangs dug easily into the man's soft throat as he screamed, flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to remove the dragon but she merely put a claw like hand on his chest, forcing the air from his lungs and slowing his movements. The Remnants in the room watched in horrified shock as Tiamatt yanked her head back, causing blood to spurt from Hojo's neck and within seconds, the scientist was dead. The dragon examined her kill before turning her attention on the Remnants, some of whom had finally tried to get tranquilizers but any attempt to subdue the dragon was met in a flash of flame, fang, and talon.
The room was soon quiet except for the dragon as it moved into the hallway, hissing in anger and killing anything that got in her path. She needed out, an escape, somewhere other then the cramped corridors of the lab, freedom from the people who were trying to hurt the lives that grew within her. Finally she reached an area where she could scent fresh air but three people were nearby fighting Remnants, blocking her path. Growling Tiamatt launched herself at the Remnants, tearing them to pieces before turning towards the others and hissing a warning till she recognized one. She relaxed, her mind calming as she regained her voice.
"Eria..." Tiamatt said slowly. The young woman nodded and Tiamatt sighed, closing her eyes and reversing the transformation.
"What happened to you?" Eria asked as Tiamatt stumbled, the feeling of her engergy being drained returning. Mica caught the woman and kept her standing.
"Hojo, he wants to use my children in his experiments..." the Cetra said slowly, her eyelids threatening to close. "I can't let that happen..."
Eria nodded and smiled as Tiamatt fell asleep before pulling out a GS. "Rith, we've got the target. Let's get out of here!" Eria closed the device, pocketing it as Mica turned her head suddenly towards the exit.
"They're coming." Mica said, looking at the doorway with pupil less eyes before minutes later, Kratos, Hiro, and the Symphonians rushed inside.
"Good, then we can leave." Alcana said, shifting his feet uneasily as he looked at the other dimension's Tiamatt.
Kratos' attention was instantly drawn to Tiamatt and he quickly took her from Mica as Hiro looked at Eria in curiousity. Lloyd and the Symphonians smiled at the woman who waved quickly as Rith and the others returned and opened another of the portals before leaping through. Remnants could still be heard running through the building so the group quickly returned to the Ragnorok. Lloyd flew the ship steadily as Kratos took Tiamatt to an empty sleeping quarter.
"Tiamatt," Kratos said softly, gently squeezing her hand as she slowly opened her eyes and smiled.
"I...got out..." Tiamatt mumbled slowly, still weak as the drug she was given started to wear off. "Our children...are they ...ok?"
"I don't know Tia. We'll go to Garden and have someone there check." Kratos answered. "What did he do Tia?"
"Growth serum...tried to force their growth...wants them for his ...experiments..." Tiamatt whispered before sleep overcame her again. Kratos sighed, kissing her forehead before leaving the room and allowing Raine to examine her.
"How is she Kratos?" Hiro asked, leaning against the wall, looking worried.
"She's asleep. Apparently Hojo tried to speed up the development of the babies." Kratos explained, sighing again as he walked back towards the cockpit.
"What about Hojo?"
"She didn't say." The Seraph answered, sitting down. "I wonder why Eria was back? Could she have done something to have helped Tiamatt?"
"Eria? Was that that girl?" Hiro asked, recieving a nodded from Kratos. "She looked a lot like you and Tia."
"That is because, in some other time and dimension, she is our daughter." Kratos said. "I hope the babies are alright. Who knows what Hojo could have done to them."
"True." Hiro sighed, leaning back in his seat. "At least Tiamatt's back though."
"So what are we going to do now that Tiamatt is back?" Zelos asked.
"Garden, Tiamatt needs to be examined by doctors from her world and she can be treated for any injuries she might have gotten there." Kratos answered, recieving a nod from Lloyd, who turned the ship slightly. Sighing Kratos stood back up and returned to Tiamatt's room till they reached Garden...
Me: Whew...that was long and...odd...but eh, who cares. well, I guess the readers do but thats up to you guys if you wanna tell me or not. read and review please!