Torrent Forest
Kratos sighed as he tried to concentrate on the battle to come but something was bugging him. He felt like something important was happening but he didn't know what. Shaking his head, the Seraph drew the Flamberge, examining the blade closely before sighing again and putting it away.
"Lloyd and the others should be here soon." Kratos said, looking down the forest path. He thought he could faintly hear a few monsters roar in defeat but they might have been fighting over territory. Turning back towards the center of the clearing, Kratos leaned againt the stone where Origin's spirit resided.
"Kratos, your fiancee came here only a few days ago. She was worried." Origin said, speaking through the stone.
"Tiamatt is my wife now. Our wedding was three days ago." Kratos sighed, closing his eyes.
"Are you truly willing to do this?"
Kratos looked at the rock with a slight glare. "Its the only way to correct the mistakes Cruxis and Yggdrasil have brought to this world. It must be done."
"Very well." Origin said, his voice fading away.
Heimdall
Of all times to go into labor, why now? Tiamatt thought as her contractions continued and she gasped.
"Deep breaths, miss." A female elf said softly from beside the bed. "Breath and push."
Tiamatt nodded as another woman waited for the first of the babies to be born. She had gone into labor only a few hours ago but the babies were ready. The Cetra's cry was followed shortly by that of her first child but the contractions didn't stop. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she suddenly heard stange noises outside and followed by the screams of elves. No...not now...
She heard the door to the room being busted down and opened her eyes just as the two elves that were helping her were killed. Comi grabbed something small from one of the elves, grinning as he looked at it.
"Why Sister, how did you know?" Comi smirked as Tiamatt cried again, her final child finally escaping into the world. She didn't even attempt to catch her breath or wait for her body to recover from the shock of childbirth as she spun around and grabbed the newborn.
"Give me back my daughter!" Tiamatt growled, holding her son tightly against her in an attempt to protect him.
"I'm afraid that is not an option Sister. Now if you would please, hand the boy over." Comi laughed, handing a wailing Eria to another Remnant.
Tiamatt snarled, her eyes dialated as she backed away till her back hit the window sill. Eyeing the open window, she glanced back at her daughter and then at Terrance who was sobbing loudly. Tiamatt was physically exhausted, there was no way she could fight to get back Eria and protect her brother at the same time.
"Tiamatt, hand over the child." Comi growled, taking a step towards her.
"No, I'm not letting you take them!" Tiamatt snapped. She eyed the window again but with her newborn son in her arms, it was too dangerous for her to jump even the few feet to the ground.
"You don't have a choice in the matter Sister!" Comi growled, grabbing her throat and pulling Terrance from her. Dropping the Cetra to the floor, Comi turned away. "We got the kids. Let's leave."
"No...I won't let you take them." Tiamatt growled.
Comi turned as he reached the doorway and grinned as the woman tried to stand. Her body didn't want to move, almost all her energy being drained from giving birth but she finally managed to stand on unsteady legs. The Remnants merely laughed and walked out of the inn, killing anyone that tried to get in their way.
Several elves tried to block the creatures' escape but the Remnants made short work of them. One elf even cast Meteor Storm, causing several Remnants to go wide eyed in shock before being crushed by the metorites. Several other spells hitting Remnants causing Tiamatt's eyes to widen as she looked out the window.
"I can't let them...take my babies..." Tiamatt muttered, gripping the window sill tightly.
Growling, Tiamatt threw herself out of the window, spreading her wings and reaching for Eria, who was the closest but Comi once again got in the way and slammed her out of the sky with his tail before leading the Remnants away. Tiamatt tried to push herself up but gasped in pain and exhaustion before blacking out.
Origin Seal
Kratos walked up to the stone, Flamberge loose in one hand as he placed his free hand on the large stone in the center of the clearing.
"Wait Dad, you're still going to do this?" Lloyd cried in shock.
"I have to Lloyd. Its the only way to reunite the worlds." Kratos said sadly before looking at Hiro who was glaring at him. "Please tell Tiamatt that I love her." With that said, Kratos closed his eyes, focusing on releasing all his mana to break the seal. The angel stumbled before falling backwards only to be caught by Yuan.
"Idiot." Yuan muttered as a glow surrounded Kratos before fading.
"Yuan what are you doing here?" Lloyd asked, placing a hand on the hilt of one of his swords.
"I came to help an old friend. Is that a crime?" Yuan said as Kratos moaned. "I gave him some of my mana so he should be fine after a while."
"So he's not going to die?" Hiro asked.
"Correct. Kratos will be fine." The blue haired Seraph nodded as Kratos opened his eyes and sat up, looking around.
"I'm...alive?"
"Yeah Dad. You're alive. Isn't that great?" Lloyd smiled, helping his father to his feet. "Wait till Tiamatt finds out!"
"Yes but that can wait. You must make the pact with Origin." Kratos reminded, smiling slightly but turned as someone put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm glad your still alive Kratos. I understand why you did what you did but I was just mad cause Tia was so upset." Hiro said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just don't something like that again, ok? I don't like seeing my sister so upset."
"Don't worry Hiro. I don't plan on leaving her." The Seraph nodded, recieving an approving smile from Hiro as Origin appeared.
"Origin, I asked that thy annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me." Sheena asked, using the traditional words of the pact.
"I will not form a new pact."
"What? Why not?" Sheena gasped at the spirit's refusal.
"Mithos broke his vow. Why should I except you to not do the same?" Origin asked, crossing his first pair of arms over his chest.
"Origin, it is true that four thousand years ago Mithos approached you with a vow but his mind became twisted after Martel's death, result in his betrayal of the pact. Lloyd and the others are working to correct his mistakes and return the world to its original state. Please allow them to make the pact." Kratos explained, trying to get the Summon Spirit to agree.
"Fine. Then I shall test you."
Heimdall/ Tiamatt POV
"Tiamatt! Wake up!" Someone yelled nearby. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Nightfire, Marth, and Jo all standing over me. "Tia, what happened?"
My mind finally cleared from its haze and I bolted up. "Terrance! Eria! I need to get them!"
"What? Tiamatt, what's going on? Where are the babies?" Marth asked, putting his hands on my shoulders in an attempt to keep me sitting.
"The Remnants, they took them! They took my kids! I have to get them back!" I was in a pure state of panic. I need to get my children back before it was too late. I pushed Marth away and got to my feet, heading for the door.
"Tiamatt! You can't leave!" Jo shouted.
I turned and glared at him. "And why not?! My children are in danger!"
"You need to rest and let your body recharge after you've spent the morning in labor." I turned to see the elf elder near by. "What ever those things were that took your children, you can't defeat them in your current state. Wait for your friends to return before charging to an unknown location."
"I don't care! Those freaks have my kids and I want them back!" I snapped, clenching my fist as I opened the door.
"Tia! The guy is right. We don't even know where they are." Nightfire said as he followed me outside with Marth and Jo just behind him.
"Cloud!" I yelled and within a moment, the small white paragriff flew down to my shoulder. "Did you track them?"
Yep, the monsters went to this really small island.
"The Research Center?" Cloud nodded. "Fine then. I'm leaving." I spread my wings but felt all three of my friends grab one of my arms. "Let go dammit!"
"No." Jo said sternly as I tried to pull my arms away. "You're not going anywhere."
"Dammit! The Remnants have my kids! I'm not about to let them get away!" I screamed, continuing to struggle to get out of their hands. I even spread my wings, beating the air and them madly in an attempt to escape but they wouldn't let go. "Let me go!"
"NO!" All three yelled, one of them finding an oppertunity to pin down my wings.
"We're doing this for your safety Tia." Nightfire said from directly behind me. "We're worried about the babies too but you're in no condition to fight."
"Oh yeah!" I growled, concentrating on a transformation. My body shrunk rapidly allowing to drop to the ground with ease as bobcat before bounding off and leaping into the air, now as a dragon.
"Tiamatt!" Marth yelled before clenching a fist, causing a green orb to glow in his arm. "Stop!"
My movements froze and I felt myself drop from the sky. Luckily I wasn't very high up so the landing wasn't too rough. Still I wasn't happy. I growled as they surrounded me and sighed.
"Tia, please, calm down. We'll save them, I promise." Marth said, looking down at me but I just growled. If he wasn't a friend, I would've burned him to a crisp.
"Esuna." I growled, regaining my movement and tried to have leap into the air again only to be caught in two spells.
"Stop!"
"Silence!"
I fell back down to the ground with a thud, now unable to cast spells as Marth pulled out a GS and threw it to Nightfire.
"Call Hiro. Tell him whats going on."
Torrent Forest
"I'll agree with your pact. Do not betray my trust." Origin said, before disappearing as a small ball of light.
"So now we can reunite the worlds right?" Lloyd asked, looking at Kratos.
"Not quite. The Ring of the Pact must be forged first. I have already gathered the needed materials for that." Kratos explained.
"You must have been planning this along." Zelos smirked.
"Yes. I've spent many years looking for a way that a human can weild the Eternal Sword. With the Aoinos, Lloyd should be able to use it." the Seraph nodded.
"Alright. Let's get back to Heimdall then!" Lloyd said cheerfully but a strange red orb from Genis' pocket shot at Lloyd and the teen started to shake.
"Lloyd!" Hiro, who was one of the closest to Lloyd, shook him, causing whatever the orb was to go into the older man's body.
"Hiro!" Kratos yelled as the man looked down for a moment before examining his hands.
"This wasn't the body I was wanting but I guess this will do." Hiro said but it didn't sound like Hiro anymore. It sounded like...
"Mithos?" Genis asked, looking at the blonde man curiously. Mithos/ Hiro smirked before flinching.
"Two minds? What is this guy?" Mithos asked before looking up again. "I guess it doesn't matter. What matters is that I now have a body again. Now I can leave this planet behind and live on Derris Kharlan forever with my sister."
"Mithos, let Hiro go!" Lloyd shouted, drawing one of his swords.
"You're not honestly going to hurt me are you?" Mithos laughed. "I'm going home." With that Mithos left in Hiro's body.
"Dammit! Tiamatt is not going to be happy." Kratos growled before a ringing was heard. Looking on the ground, the angel spotted Hiro's GS and picked it up, immediately opening the comm link.
"Hi-er..Kratos? Why do you have Hiro's GS?" Nightfire asked.
"This isn't the time." Kratos hissed. "Hiro was just taken by Yggdrasil!"
"Oh damn..." Nightfire glanced nervously at the ground. "Last thing Tia needs right now is more bad news."
"What do you mean?"
"Um...well...come back to the village. She'll explain everything." Nightfire then closed the link leaving Kratos worried and confused before the ground started to shake.
"The Tower of Salvation is collapsing!" Colette cried, pointing to the sky. Sure enough, the sky reaching tower was breaking apart, sending pieces crashing everywhere, one area of which was Heimdall.
"Damn, Yggdrasil is cutting off the route to Derris Kharlan!" Yuan cursed.
"We'll worry about that later. Let's make sure everyone gets out of the Village safely first." Lloyd pointed out, already heading down the trail.
Heimdall
Tiamatt's eyes widened as the Tower of Salvation started to crumble. Nightfire, Marth, and Jo all turned in time to see it begin to fall and looked back at the dragon.
"Tiamatt, we need to get everyone out of the village but we need your help." Jo said. Tiamatt nodded and the serpent removed the spells binding her.
"Thanks." She said before running into the town with the three lords behind her.
It didn't take long to get everyone out though the Elder took some pursuding and wouldn't leave till everyone else had escaped. As Tiamatt ran through the town a finally time, she saw the Symphonians emerge from the forest. She quickly ran over to them and upon seeing Kratos, embraced him.
"Tiamatt?" The Seraph looked at his wife curiously, noticing that her stomach was no longer the bulge it had been the night before. "Are they safe?"
"Kratos...let's get out of here and then I'll explain what happened." She said, scanning the group quickly. "Where's Hiro?"
"Let's get out of here first." Lloyd yelled.
Tiamatt nodded running towards the entrance to the village and into the relative safety of the forest where everyone had gathered. Once they were sure everyone had escaped safely, Tiamatt once again hugged her husband.
"Kratos, they were taken." The Cetra sobbed.
"What? By who?" Kratos yelled in shock.
"Remnants. They came when I was in labor and took Eria from one of the helpers. I tried to protect Terrance but Comi pulled him from my arms." Tiamatt explained, crying into the Seraph's shoulder. "Where's Hiro?"
"...He was taken by Yggdrasil. It seems Genis took his Cruxis Crystal and Mithos tried to take my body but Hiro saved me." Lloyd said sadly. "I think he was having trouble controlling him though. He kept flinching."
"Its because of both Hiro and Void. I doubt Yggdrasil can control him for long." Tiamatt sighed before looking at her step son sternly. "I want you to go rescue Hiro while your father and I go after the babies."
"What? But I want to help too?!" Lloyd cried.
"You can help by retrieving Hiro. Let Tiamatt and I find your brother and sister." Kratos agreed, giving the same stern glare.
"But-"
"Lloyd, please. Hiro is like my little brother meaning he's your uncle. I asking you to help family." Tiamatt asked.
"Ok...but you better bring Eria and Terrance back safely!" Lloyd said.
"Are you kidding? You should have seen how hard it was to keep Tia from not going after them right away!" Nightfire laughed. "We had to cast Stop and Silence just to keep her from doing anything."
"The Remnants have my children, Nightfire." Tiamatt growled. "I want them back."
"Tiamatt, we'll save them don't worry." Kratos said, trying to calm her down.
"Surely it's going to be more then just the two of you going to retrive the babies. Who else are you going to take?" Raine asked.
"Nightfire, Marth, Jo, Excious and some White Seed. That should be more then enough to destroy the Remnants and get back Eria and Terrance." Tiamatt explained. "I want the rest of you to go to Derris Kharlan."
"Understood." Regal nodded.
"Alright then let's get going!" Lloyd said, jumping to his feet.
"Lloyd, you are going to need the Eternal Sword to get there." Kratos sighed, stopping his son in mid step. "That means the Ring of the Pact must be forged."
"Oh, ok. Let's go back to Iselia then and see if Dad can do it." Lloyd nodded.
Kratos sighed and took out a pack which he handed to Lloyd. "Give this to Dirk. I put all the information I could find on forging the ring in there along with all the needed materials. Be careful when using the Eternal Sword, Lloyd."
"Don't worry Dad. Everything will be fine. Now go and rescue my little brother and sister." The red clad swordsman grinned. Tiamatt and Kratos nodded, motioning for the three stooges to follow them out of the forest back to the Ragnorok.
0000000000000000
"I hope we're not too late." Tiamatt muttered to herself as she flew the Ragnorok towards the old Research Center.
"I doubt the Remnants will harm them ma'am." Excious said, trying to comfort his old firend. "Your children are probably just scared."
"..." Tiamatt was still upset but could feel her anger rising again as the Research Center came into view. "We're here."
The group quickly infiltrated the building, searching through strangely empty hallways till they found a metal gate. A shimmering light came from it as a startled Remnant leapt through the portal. Growling, Tiamatt didn't hesitate in charging through the gate with Kratos, Excious, Marth, and Nightfire at her heels. Jo wasn't far behind but as he reached the portal, the glow died down and the gate closed, leaving the serpent in the empty building with a dozen elite Seed.
New Dimension
"You idiot! This isn't our world!" Comi yelled as a fellow Remnant. The strange reptilan man shuddered under his superior's glare.
"I'm sorry sir. The gate must be faulty." the man whimpered.
"Comi!" the Remnant turned to see a pissed Tiamatt glaring at him, her eyes dialated to slits and her sword in her hand. "Give me back Eria and Terrance!"
"Hmph! Or what?" Comi grinned, taking one of the newborns from another Remnant and holding her in his claw. "You won't dare attack me while I have your daughter."
"Don't you dare hurt them!" Kratos warned, the Flamberge drawn.
"Um guys...where are we?" Nightfire asked suddenly as he looked at his surroundings.
The Remnants and the Aurions stopped to look around at where they had ended up. People of every race, color, and species eyed the newcomers cautiously from their seats all round a huge coloseum. A field in the center was covered in grass with a couple trees around its egdes. Near the northern edge of the stadium sat a box where two humans looked at the groups in shock.
"What the hell is going on here?" The girl in the top box shouted.
The young man standing beside her looked equally shocked. "Aren't those a bunch of your OCs?"
"Yeah but I don't know who the kids are...I never-" The girl stopped as one of the babies cried and Tiamatt turned her attention back on the Remnants, looking concerned. "It can't be."
"Are you saying those kids are Tia's?"
"Hey! Just where the hell are we?!" Nightfire yelled up at two humans.
The girl sighed and looked down, shaking her head. "Oh great! Him. I finally get away from Chris and now I have to deal with Nightfire!"
The girl's annoyed cry was ignored as down in the stands, Tiamatt tried to attack one of the Remnants but an unseen barrier blocked her attack and sent her flying into Kratos. Growling angerily, the Cetra began to throw fireballs at the Remnants but the same barrier continued to protect the confused creatures till Tiamatt suddenly found herself restrained by strange little men in suits.
"Fighting outside the Field of Battle is prohibited." One of the midgets said. "If you wish to fight then you must do so in the Field of Battle." The man pointed down at the stadium center.
"I just want my children!" Tiamatt snarled as Eria and Terrance continued to cry. Kratos nodded in agreement, putting the Flamberge away since they could not be harmed.
"Then I guess we have to do as the man said and enter the pit if your truly that desperate to save these two." Comi grinned but the two infants were gone. "Where are they?"
Tiamatt, Kratos, Excious, Marth, and Nightfire were equally confused till they spotted the twins safely in the Judges box with the two humans.
"Please, give me back my babies." Tiamatt asked, calming down now that her children were out of immediate danger.
"Sorry, you've just been challenged by Comi to fight." The young man said.
"Don't worry though. We'll keep the babies safe." The girl added as the two groups were teleported into the Field of Battle.
"So where exactly are we and who are you?" Excious asked, eying the two judges.
"Oh yeah. Call me Fishie and the guy next to me is Valian. We're the two permenant judges of Battle Theater!" The girl explained, her partner nodding.
"Here combatants from many universes fight for the entertainment of others or just to have some fun." Valian added. "Hm...we don't allow team battle so you will have to choose which of you will fight first."
Tiamatt looking up at the judges box, listening to Eria and Terrance who were starting to quiet down before looking across the field at the Remnants. Comi grinned as he stepped foward. Tiamatt just growled and glared before looking at her husband who nodded. With Kratos' approval, Tiamatt stepped forward and the others where teleported back out of the Field of Battle and into the stands, the Remnants on one side of the judges box while Kratos and the others watched from the other side.
As Tiamatt drew her sword and Comi spread his wings, the stands burst to life, cheering loudly at the fight about to begin.