A/N: I had so much fun writing that last chapter. It was a relief not to have to think about every paragraph before I wrote it, wondering, "Does this fit with what I have in mind? Will this contradict future plot developments or help it along?" I reaaaally should start writing down an outline more solid than the scribbles in my notebooks. Then I wouldn't catch writer's block so much. It's like the flu. Nasty. I also have to think about blowing the dust off of "Sheena's Problem", "Instinct", and possibly "Unrequited". I honestly don't know why I start new stories when I haven't finished my old ones. I ALWAYS do this. I guess I feel when I'm bored with one story I can swap it for another. But never fear- "Project: H.E.A.T." will continue to update as long as Spiritua and I continue to nag at each other for the latest chapter. Collabs are good that way. Oh! And I also have a Strawberry Panic! Fanfiction called "New Year". I have some really good ideas for that like a Snow White Princess to match the oh-so-princely "Etoile" of Spica, Amane (fangirl squeal). AMANEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee…. If she was a guy I would so dig her. Curse you, biology! Curse you for giving her boobs!
In other news: The Review Owl is getting hungry. I think you know what happens by now if you don't review.
Review Owl: (cracks his imaginary knuckles threateningly)
Pandora- "Journey to the Past" by (Anastasia soundtrack)
You dreamed he'd shine like the sun (now your son has set) "Hey Dad- grab another cigarette." Ashes fall like an unpaid debt…c'mon everybody, place your bets.
Enjoy…
OoOoOoOo
"I'm going to let Matias free," Presea said when Genis and Pandora came back from their impromptu escape to the beach. She leaned against the closed door, her pink hair loose and floating around her face and out of her work clothes, choosing to wear the flimsy, thin-strapped shirts that were popular on the oppressively humid island. One of the blue straps slipped down her pale shoulder and she carelessly left it that way, tapping her sandaled feet against the floor. "I hope you don't have a problem with that."
Genis's mind went distressingly blank at the simple statement. He thought of a lot of things he could say- of things he should say- but he could only let his mind be swamped by sudden, irrational fear. Matias had been friends with Kloitz once, Sheena said as much. Anything to do with Kloitz just brought back the memories of eight months ago, of the reason why his arm was still red with blood that would never wash away. It would be their birthday soon, Genis knew. Or had it already passed? After he turned fifteen he hadn't bothered much with birthdays, and neither had Raine.
"I do have a problem with that," Pandora admitted, instinct making her reach to where her sword should be. Being without it made her anxious. "He tried to kill Sheena."
"No he didn't," Presea said, her mouth set in a stubborn line. "He was trying to talk with her- I was the one who attacked him before I knew what his purpose was."
"And what was his purpose?" Pandora asked, throwing the dumbstruck Genis a curious glance. She didn't like the painful emotions crossing his eyes and making his Cruxis Crystal glitter with malevolence.
"He wanted to deliver a message," Presea said. "Concerning my lost memory and Kloitz, and other things that don't make sense to me, but they sound familiar. A mausoleum, Boltzman, some guy from Flanoir…" She screwed her face up. "…And the Angelus Project. That's a bit too familiar for me."
"I suppose there's nothing I can do to stop you," Pandora said as her answer, causing Genis's brain to stop completely. "If you're so dead set on letting this criminal loose on your island, so be it. It's your problem- It's out of the M.L.E.K.'s jurisdiction." She began to towel her hair dry and walk away towards the elevator and Presea made to open the door to Matias's room
"What- what?!" Genis said, but both the women ignored him until he angrily grabbed at Pandora's arm and pulled her back a bit harder than he meant to, her flesh pale with a red rim where he gripped it with enough force to stop blood flow. Then he slammed one fist against the door, splintering it and causing even Presea to cautiously step back.
"You are not letting that son of a bitch anywhere," he said.
"Ow," Pandora said, under her breath. She pursed her lips, trying to block the pain.
Genis could only shake his head, feeling an uncontrollable rage bubble up inside him, threatening to spill out in the form of broken furniture and smashed windows, scorch marks from fire and lightning on the walls. He pushed aside these unwanted and disturbing thoughts with difficulty, (I am not my brother) finally managing to gasp: "He's in league with Kloitz, don't you know that?!"
And that was it. That was the reason for the fear- the anger. What was truly causing this reaction in him. "Isn't that obvious?" he kept on, his silence completely broken. "Am I the only one scared of what he'll do? He's Rodyle's son for Martel's sake! He tried to kill you-" he pointed one finger at Presea, "And then he turned on Sheena when we cornered him."
Then he turned on Pandora, pulling her closer with a tremble he tried not to show. "And don't tell me you don't have jurisdiction. That's just a lame excuse!"
"You're hurting me, Genis," Pandora said. Genis didn't realize what she meant until he noticed the way his hand was still clamped down on her arm. He inched his fingers free just enough for her to dart away, but then he snapped them shut again to form an angry, tight fist.
"You haven't even looked at the guy yet, let alone talk to him," Presea pointed out. "Matias is innocent until proven guilty- at least on my island he is. And I believe he is. You have to believe he was only trying to deliver a message to me, someone he felt was something of a neutral ground in this war you seem to have with your brother. Listen to what he has to say, Genis."
"I don't care what he has to say," Genis said.
"And I won't put my nose where it doesn't belong," Pandora said, turning her gaze to the door. One long crack ran up and down the length of it, a witness to Genis's fury. "This is up to you and Sheena. I have no right to judge him."
"No jurisdiction. We know."
She crossed her arms and said nothing.
"Talk to him," Presea urged, opening the door and stepping beyond the threshold. "He's innocent-"
"-Of crimes in Altamira. Maybe," Pandora said. And with that confusing statement, the knight's daughter turned and walked down the hallway, stepping into the elevator and disappearing when the twin metal doors clanged shut.
Genis hovered between wanting to follow her and wanting to avoid her for the rest of his days. Wracked with indecision, he wondered what his older sister Raine would do in a situation like this. Probably leave the girl and force Matias to give her every detail he knows about Kloitz and Kuchinawa, Genis thought before following Presea into the dim room.
"He's innocent," Presea said again, with a conviction that Genis found confusing, but not as disconcerting as the distress apparent in her eyes.
"Let him speak for himself," Genis managed to mutter.
"He can't," Presea said.
Matias was sitting on the edge of his bed with an open medical kit beside him as he applied balm and fresh bandages to scratch and bite marks all over his body. Underneath those dark rags he called clothing Genis could see that his chest was tightly bound with more bandages, and even those didn't cover other scars. Deep pockmarks from crossbows, burns and scratches of varying age and degrees of intensity all marred the unearthly pale flesh of one who walked far from the paths of light.
The pseudo angel looked up at them as they approached. No surprise showed in violet eyes that tracked Genis's every movement. Genis, about to speak, flinched as the other half-elf took off his scarf to administer to the worst of his wounds-
Hello… Genis heard inside his mind. You… You must be Genis. You look a lot like your brother. I was... scared that might be the case.
-his lips.
They were sown shut.
OoOoOoO
"Couldn't find your contact, huh?" Lloyd asked Sheena, only paying half-attention to her as he struggled to keep his stomach from heaving. His face had turned a dark green shade.
Sheena shook her head, looking down into the water only to look away again when she began to see strange shapes that shouldn't be there, and the ever-present crimson tendrils spreading outwards. When Lloyd left to see if there were any seasickness medicines onboard, she held one hand out over the railing.
"Undine."
The churning water around Zelos's boat surged upwards to form a pillar. From inside, Sheena could see a dim, womanly figure awaiting her orders. When the water fell away, only the Maiden of the Mist was left, her hair flowing like the ocean currents.
"Mistress," Undine said.
Sheena looked down at her feet for a moment, herself uncertain at what exactly she wanted. She knew the visions she had had always been in reflective surfaces- water and ice especially- when they weren't in her dreams. Since Celsius was less servile and more mocking than the Summon Spirit of Water, Sheena had decided to call upon Undine instead. Now she wished she could take comfort in the sarcastic, human-like behavior that Celsius showed instead of this dull creature, but it would be wasteful to dismiss Water after summoning her for no reason.
Knowing that this Summon Spirit wasn't too concerned with human problems like manners, the Summoner decided that she would get straight to the point.
"Undine, do you think I'm going crazy?"
The Summon Spirit was quick to answer, even if the answer wasn't what she wanted: "It is not my place to judge you."
"But things have been happening to me," Sheen said. "Whenever I look into water I see things that aren't there. Are you doing this?"
"Subconsciously you ask me to lend you my power. What you do with it is a mystery to me."
"What?" Sheena hadn't even known she could summon subconsciously. "But… what?"
"You are changing."
"Changing?" Sheena said, feeling more stupid and less enlightened than she had hoped to become when she summoned the Maiden. She leaned further over the side of the boat. "Changing- Undine, what do you mean by that?"
"Three years, eight months, and twenty nine days, using the Lunar Calendar standard in this world, have passed since this one made a pact with the human Sheena Fujibayashi, an Exile of Mizuho in all but name," Undine said, adopting a tone of a student reciting her lessons. "This one's pact with her became void when the two worlds were combined, but this chose to stay as her thrall instead of resigning to the shrine of water to await another Summoner. You are not her."
Undine stopped. After a moment, Sheena realized that was all she was going to say.
"That doesn't answer any of my questions! How could I not be me?" Sheena said, fighting to control her anger. "How am I changing, Undine? I command you to give me a straight answer."
"You who were once the bearer of the pact," Undine said, "You become a stranger to those around you. Your body and mind are shifting in ways that I do not understand, and thus may not reveal to you."
Sheena banged her fist against the railing. "Well if you're not going to be useful, then leave!"
Undine nodded, but didn't disappear at once like she usually did. "The time will come when you must claim your right to me again, Sheena," the Summon Spirit said. "I look forward to seeing what you become when your transformation is complete."
Her words made something snap inside Sheena. "I said get out of my sight!" she yelled, reaching into her robes to pull out a dagger but Undine had already left in a blast of blue light. "Damn it!" Sheena cursed, sending the dagger so that it quivered point down in the deck. "Damn it, damn it…Damn it! How the hell can I not be me? I'm not transforming into anything, Undine! I'm me! I'm Sheena Fujibayashi, Chief of Mizuho!"
"Yeah, we know that," Gnome said, poking his little mouse head out of her pocket. She had completely forgotten the tiny Summon Spirit was there.
"Gnome…" she said, slowly sinking down to sit cross-legged on the deck. The mouse clambered out of her pocket to rest on her lap, turning into a small cat. She held onto him, hugging him tightly for the security he always gave her. "Am I really changing? Why didn't you tell me?"
"You never asked," Gnome said, uncomfortable. "And Undine's telling the truth. If you turn into something else you'll have to start up new pacts with all of us."
Sheena noticed her grandmother's charm twinkling in the sunlight.
"It's because of Kloitz," she said bitterly. "Eight months ago he did something to that charm, and now it's causing all these problems. I know it has to be grandma's charm- it's an Ex-sphere. A broken one, at that. And I…And…" She could only stroke Gnome's fur, letting herself be weak enough to admit her loneliness for this one moment at least. "And I… I miss Raine," she whispered, unable to believe that she was saying it out loud.
"I know," Gnome said, his whiskers twitching. "You mortals can be so complicated. If you don't feel whole without her, then why do you deny yourself her?"
"I don't know," Sheena said, and on the heels of that: "Because I'm scared."
Gnome was silent before wriggling free of her crushing embrace, using suddenly simian paws to hold onto her shoulders so he could look up at her with amber eyes. "Well, I thought Mizuho warriors couldn't feel fear?" he said, grinning.
"They don't feel love, either," Sheena said, averting her eyes.
He winced. "That backfired."
"Yeah, it did," she admitted, suppressing inane giggles by putting her hands to her mouth. The good feeling was soon gone, though, and she stared out at the water, depressed. The turmoil of the unending ocean matched her dark mood completely.
"Maybe it would help to talk a little more?" Gnome ventured. "That's what I'm here for, Mistress. Summoners have always felt at peace with me because I've made it a point to learn all about mortals. I understand you; maybe a bit more than a Summon Spirit should."
"It's just good to be with you Gnome," Sheena said, ruffling the fur between his ears. "I think that's all I need."
"I think you need Raine," Gnome said. "What exactly are you afraid of, Sheena? Loving someone?"
"No," Sheena said slowly, "I'm afraid of her."
OoOoOoO
Zelos would not stop staring at Colette, even after they landed and set off towards the Tree. Colette may not have noticed it, but almost everyone else did, and it bothered them for various reasons.
Lloyd didn't want anyone looking at his wife.
Kratos didn't want anyone to know she was pregnant.
Yuan felt vague stirrings of dark emotions- but whether it was because Zelos was giving attention or for the fact that anyone was giving attention to Colette was uncertain.
Sheena thought Zelos was being pervy again.
"Would've been nice if we could've ridden dragons here, right angel doll?" Zelos said to the former Chosen One, his blue eyes narrowed as he tried to solve a nagging doubt in the back of his mind.
"Not really. Then Lloyd would have gotten airsick instead of seasick," Colette said, swinging her arms freely as she walked, completely oblivious to his piercing glances. "At least this way I wasn't scared of falling off."
"Mmm-hmm," Zelos said. "Probably some sort of defense mechanism the Tree has, but for some reason those dragons just won't go anywhere near it. Not like the tower of…" He was so busy trying to think of what was bothering him about Colette that he couldn't remember what he was going to say next. "….Mana…. No! I mean, the Tower of Salvation. That's how you arrived the first time, right? On- on dragons?"
He bumped head-first into the fence that was mainly for decoration, since the Tree could protect itself. Holding on hand to his face, he blindly reached out and opened the gate for Colette, falling into step behind her with his eyes trained firmly on her bobbing blond head in front of him. "Are you feeling ill, Colette?" he asked her.
"Um, no," Colette said, looking over her should at him, frowning in confusion. "Why? Do I seem sick?"
"No…" Zelos said, hanging back uncertainly to look at her from a distance. Lloyd rolled his eyes and shoved past him to walk beside his wife, putting a protective arm around her shoulder as Yggdrasil came into view.
The sapling had grown strong in the past three years. It stood straighter and prouder than it had when Lloyd had first planted it so long ago, but the leaves lost none of their shining brilliance- a pure green, like you would imagine green would look like when the world was first created. They stood around it in a circle, only Gnome breaking the silence as he purred in deep satisfaction at being so close to such a fine specimen of Mother Earth's work.
"And here it is," Kratos finally said, his arms crossed. "Are you convinced, Yuan?"
"Martel…" Yuan said, voice distant as he stared at the glossy leaves. Everyone took an involuntary step forward to try and stop him as Yuan fell to his knees, reaching out with one hand to gently cup a whiplash branch. He closed his eyes as he pressed his cheek against the leaves, his silver hair became entangled with the branches as a gust of wind stirred around the quiet holy ground.
And then they all felt the presence of Mana.
Children,
she said to them,
The last time you came, there were more of you.
The source of her voice was uncertain. It seemed to come from behind them, above them, and within them at the same time. The only one who saw them was Yuan, because he knew that the tree itself was Mana. He held her pale hand in both of his, bowing his head so that he wasn't forced to look into the familiar face.
"You're going through a terrible thing, darling," Martel said to him. "The way you are now, the pain is still fresh in your mind, isn't it?"
"Yes," he said in a hoarse whisper, clenching onto her hand all the tighter. "Yes."
He felt something soft and cold brush against his forehead. "You shouldn't hate Colette because she reminds you of me. You two are actually close friends- and you'll become closer if you do the right thing. All you need to do is let go of the pain, even if it's hard to do that right now. This world still needs your strength."
Her hand in his lost its definite shape, morphing back into what it always was- a tree limb. Mana was already done talking to the other heroes, through the different voices of souls long dead.
Sheena-chan, that necklace isn't a curse, it is only a mystery, and one that I can't solve for you. I'm sorry I kept it a secret for so long…You've got to learn how to use it on your own now- but that young lady friend of yours can certainly help.
Grandma?
Hehe! What a beautiful woman you've become… you make us proud. Just don't screw up now and you've got it made!
Grandma, is this really you?
Yes. This is the soul of someone you loved- someone who's soul has yet to pass on through the cycle of life and rebirth.
I... I've always wanted to be able to say one last thing. I- I need- I need your-
Phfaw! There's nothing to forgive, silly girl. You can't help who you fall in love with or the way events unfold before you. You just react accordingly, haven't I always taught you that? Now…Go save the world again! It's gotten itself into a right mess just like it always does.
Unceremoniously, Sheena's consciousness was shucked out of the whirling power of the mana tree and she took a few steps back, her knees too shaky to support her so she sat down. There was a collective exhale of breath as the other heroes followed suit, all wearing the same shell-shocked expressions.
As usual, it was Lloyd who broke the silence.
"That was not what I expected when we came to visit the mana tree," he managed to utter, his eyes still the size of dinner plates. "Did you guys all see that too?"
"Yeah," Colette said, nodding her head fast enough to make Sheena dizzy. In quiet voice, she added, "I mean, if you all saw Martel warning us that danger was threatening Aselia and that we have to work together to save the world again, then yes, I saw that too."
"Good to know other people are seeing weird things too," Gnome muttered to Sheena.
"More or less," Kratos said, getting to his feet and moving to stand a few feet away from the others, his dark brown eyes still brooding over the apparition of Anna that had appeared before his very eyes.
"We have to find out more about this right away!" Lloyd said, jumping to his feet and ready for action. "All we know is that our world is in danger, but we don't know why. Our first step is to gather information! Dwarven Vow #54- Know your enemy!"
"And how exactly do you plan to learn that, O fearless leader?" Yuan asked, angrily wiping his sleeve against his damp cheeks before anyone could notice as he stood up.
Lloyd turned to him, the grin on his face not changing. "I don't know!" he said.
There was a collective muted groan. Sheena got to her feet, one hand resting on the Summon Spirit perched on her shoulder. "I guess it's off to Mizuho we go," she said. "My shinobi are bound to be useful."
Zelos, who had been silent this whole time staring at his bright white shoes, finally looked up and pointed right at Colette.
"You're pregnant," he said.
OoOoOoOo
A/N: So it's short. Sue me.