We've hit chapter 10, isn't that a scary thought?

This was another rather evil chapter. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is less interesting than this first Temple. I'm sure the self that was writing the five chapters of Luin Hell at the beginning of UR would disagree, but seriously, you can't even mess with this temple or any of the battles unless you're seriously in the mood to eff with stuff. It's such a pain. I stuck with my favorite method of getting them through the dungeon though—character insight. My Freshman Comp teacher would be so proud. -_-'

Well…if I haven't already made my pairing clear, we're going to lay it out in this chapter. I'm not going to get a lot of love for this, but this fic is going to be mostly centered around conflict, not romance, so keep reading even if you don't support the pairing, I hope you'll still enjoy it.

….

Raine raced ahead of the group, practically skipping through the ruins, toward the center where a large stone platform stood above the rest of the fallen ruins. It was…sorta intact, Lloyd figured, it was the only thing with still-standing columns and not too cracked stone. Raine raced up the stairs and froze at the top, her back ridged, and Lloyd could only hope that whatever it was, it was good. Maybe she was just fangirling…a lot. Hopefully.

When the others reached the top with her, Lloyd was relieved to see that there weren't any huge holes blown in the stone that would signify that someone had broken in, and there wasn't an oddly turned stone, and his father wasn't on edge because he'd heard something. No, everything seemed…decently normal.

Or as normal as things got around them.

"Oh! This is marvelous! The slab covering the platform is obviously from a different composition than the surrounding stone! It's magnificent! And feel the smooth surface! It's wondrous! Why, this is polycarbonate! It was developed during the ancient war to defend against magic! It hasn't been seen in centuries! And this stone! It reads in angelic! I believe it says "Oracle Stone"!"

"It has my family's crest on it…" Colette blinked, looked at the small, flat stone. Lloyd walked over to her, around the red Genis and the glaring Kratos to look at the Oracle Stone with Colette.

"I wonder if that's how we get inside…" Lloyd resisted the urge to touch it, considering all it took was a little angelic mana signature and the door would open. Talk about giving yourself away!

"…you think, Lloyd?"

"Indeed! Why do you think that? How do you think it works?" Suddenly, Raine was hovering just behind them and Lloyd jumped at her proximity. Not that he was unused to it, but it was rather…unexpected.

"Well, it's got the Chosen's seal, so why wouldn't it be how we get in? Why put it here if that's not how we get inside?" Lloyd pointed out the obvious, resisting the urge to sigh.

"Hmm, solid logic. Colette, why don't you put your hand on it and see if Lloyd's theory works!" Raine looked practically… aroused by the thought of what lay beneath the stone. Lloyd, again, resisted the urge to groan.

"Of course, Professor!" Colette smiled and did as she was told. Just as expected, the ground began to shake and the polycarbonate—the oh-so-sexy polycarbonate, seriously, what did it have that he didn't!—began to move… on its own. Slowly, inch by inch, the stone crept back to reveal steps that lead down into a dark hole. Lovely.

How wind blew up from below and Lloyd choked on the scent of ancient dust and, what he assumed, was the decay from countless dead. Disgusting.

"…FANASTIC!" Raine screeched, "WE MUST INVESTIGATE!" and without another word, she plunged into the darkness.

"Ugh," Lloyd groaned as he took up the back of their line-up wandering through the Temple of Fire, "talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire… Goddess, now I sound like Yuan." The last was whispered and Lloyd wiped the gathering sweat from his brow and sighed.

"It's the Seal of Fire Lloyd, we're in a desert, what did you expect? A nice cool breeze and a cool glass of water?" Genis snapped from his place next to Raine.

"…" Lloyd didn't answer; again, he wasn't hot, but he could feel his body overheating, he could feel every bead of sweat that covered his skin. What he wouldn't give for a cool shower and some ice cream. Lloyd blew several strands of auburn and brown hair out of his face where the humidity had left it hanging limply. It was like an oven inside the Temple; nastily hot and getting hotter as they moved closer to the open lava. Why the hell would anyone choose to build a city over lava?

Raine was far ahead of Kratos, who was supposed to be leading the party, running her hands lovingly over some old writing carved into the wall. Genis was obviously looking everywhere but at her and would blush red every time she made a loud exclamation about how beautiful the ruins were or how smooth they were.

"…it sounds like she wants to have sex with them…" Genis growled to Lloyd, too quietly for Colette to hear several steps away, but Kratos' soft snort of contempt told Lloyd that the mercenary was listening.

Because he hears all, Lloyd thought sarcastically, still slightly peeved over their earlier disagreement. "…It's kinda scary, honestly…"

"…just a little bit…now try living with her."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, choosing not to answer Genis' question. They moved out of the initial tunnel and three passageways opened, one each to the right and left and one that lead directly forward. It was still dark, but golden-orange light lit the soot-covered stone bricks that lined the tunnel seem to glow in the darkness. Raine, choosing the path without asking any of them, plunged into the tunnel directly in front of them and from ahead they heard a gasp of "MARVIOULOUS!" And, after a series of exasperated looks exchanged between the three males in the party, all suddenly united as the only sane minds in the group, they followed after her.

Lloyd hadn't been to the Temple of Fire in years, so the sight of the inner city was still breathtaking. They were deep inside the mountain that the Triet Ruins rested against, so the ceiling was several hundred feet above their heads; buildings and apartments were built into the rough stone walls, but it wasn't this that caused the awe. The city was just as the rumors and tales claimed: a city of glass. All the walkways were made of glass, several feet thick and often colored differently. Much of the coloring was faded by the years and the heat, but it was still beautiful.

Up the walls and over the bricks, hieroglyphics displayed history that was far too old to be the history of the city.

"The ancient secrets of the Triet Ruins…" Raine whispered, her hands running over the stone, her voice echoing in the vast chamber. "They say that this is the reason the city was destroyed…"

They knew more than they should have. About the Kharlan War, about Mithos the Hero, the Goddess Martel, and Mithos couldn't allow that information to become common knowledge, so he had the city destroyed. By Kratos.

Lloyd's eyes flickered to the mercenary's face, hoping to see some flicker of remorse in the stoic man's face, but nothing, not a whisper of emotion flitted through his as he surveyed the city. Lloyd resisted the urge to sigh, knowing both Kratos and Genis, who stood next to him, would hear and question him, something he would rather not have happen.

"…it's so pretty!" Colette's exclamation snapped Lloyd from his thoughts and he turned to see the Chosen leaning over the side of the glass platform to look down at the bubbling lava, nearly a mile beneath their feet.

"Colette!" Lloyd was beside her in a second, pulling her away from the edge and back onto the part of the platform that was less likely to crumble away under their feet. A few broken shards of glass broke away from the spot where Colette had been standing moments before and tumbled down to be engulfed by the heat. "…I would stay more toward the middle, don't want you to get hurt…"

"Oh Lloyd, that was so close! Thank you!" Colette clung to him and beamed and Lloyd smiled back; looking back at the Journey, Lloyd was shocked that he hadn't realized that Colette had feelings for him. He looked into her big blue eyes and mentally sighed: she was one of his best friends, but they'd grown up together, and, though he loved her, it was in a…little sister kind of way. She was a sweet, innocent, pretty girl…but the thought of kissing her didn't appeal to Lloyd in the least.

"Heh, no problem, Colette. I am here to make sure you're safe! Gotta earn my keep."

Kratos sighed in exasperation from behind them and Genis rolled his eyes, obviously thinking that they were having "a moment." Raine didn't seem to notice a thing in her ruin-mode. Lloyd echoed his father's sigh mentally and walked forward, away from Colette, feigning looking around for any sign of enemies.

"…you'd think there'd be more monsters around here…" Lloyd said, thinking aloud.

"I've been contemplating much the same, we must be on our guard…" Lloyd nodded and his hand gravitated toward the hilt of his sword.

"Goddess, the two of you are so jumpy!" Genis rolled his eyes, "I'd take it as a good sign that nothing's jumped out at us yet, but both of you have to be so negative!"

"…well…the priests did say there'd be trials, so they might be right, Genis…" Although the pessimism went against Colette's nature, she attempted to defend Lloyd and Kratos against Genis.

"We need to decipher the puzzles and make our way through these ruins. There is probably an inner chamber of some sort that houses the altar that the Chosen must pray at." Kratos' logic was excellent. So excellent, in fact, that Lloyd thought maybe he'd done this before. "Ms. Sage," growled the mercenary, "in your…extensive search of the hieroglyphs, have you learned anything useful?" His voice was icy in these depths of hellish heat.

"…don't provoke her," Lloyd muttered, moving closer so that Kratos could hear him, "I've never seen her like this before, but she's freaky, I wouldn't push it. She's smacked me over the head for less…" Kratos glared at him and Lloyd just shrugged it off, "I'm only trying to keep you alive."

The elder man turned back to snap at the Professor, but it was at that moment she turned around and the insane glint in her icy blue eyes deterred whatever words that would have come out of his mouth. "…we should get moving," he said instead, making sure to keep a respectful tone. Lloyd would have laughed, but he himself was acting in much the same manner.

"Yes!" cried Raine, "To the inner Temple!"

It was difficult for them to keep up with her pace, despite the fact that she seemed to pause for long periods to stare at walls or run her hands over huge columns. Genis was horrified by her antics, Colette amused by how happy the Professor was, Kratos merely seemed agitated, but Lloyd had slightly bigger concerns.

Namely, the fact that no monsters were attacking. He, for some reason, felt as if the whole Temple was holding its breath, waiting for something. Or to see how something would react. He scanned the domed ceiling overhead but saw no sign of the massive fiery birds that had attacked them on their past expeditions, there wasn't even a stir of magma beasts—Lloyd couldn't remember for the life of him what their actual name was!—in the lava below. Something was very wrong.

He wanted to share his concerns with someone, preferably Kratos, but to do so would demonstrate more knowledge than Lloyd was technically allowed to have at the moment. Goddess, what a pain. Still…there might be some way to voice his worry without making the other suspicious.

There was a lull in their running as Raine was once again fawning over a ruin in the wall, asking Colette if it was angelic and questioning Genis on the history of the ruins, and Lloyd chose that moment to speak to his father.

Choosing his words carefully, he began, "Hey…Kratos, um…" He paled when the mercenary turned his eyes to the boy, "I-I was just wondering, isn't this place supposed to be some huge trial? So…where are the monsters? The traps? The puzzles?"

"…and here I thought you were unobservant. Or so I'd gotten the impression from your… friends. Yes, I was wondering much the same, there doesn't seem to be any sign of monsters, although I think your teacher is leading us in the wrong direction, that would be the lack of traps and the like."

"But…the monsters? There's nothing, I don't hear a thing and, I don't know, something just seems…wrong."

"…indeed. Perhaps something larger and more powerful has taken up residence here, monsters generally chose not to fight for food but go where it is easiest. If there is something competing with them, they could be in hiding…" Kratos turned away again to watch the rest of their party. "It worries me."

"Yeah, me too…"

What the hell is going on? Lloyd pondered the thought as they began to move again, keeping his senses open for anything and everything. When Colette stumbled, he leapt a foot into the air, luckily he was in the back of the group and had managed to collect himself before Kratos turned to see what had happened. What could have spooked the monsters in this place? There were plenty last time, how could something have changed this much? It should all be the same! Nothing in the Temple is any different. Well, nothing but-but me…

That was, obviously, when it hit him: he was the thing that was scaring the monsters. Unlike angels, half-elves, and elves, they sensed mana in a different way, making it nearly impossible to shield mana signatures from them. Meaning a half-angel Eternal Swordsman from the future would easily be recognizable…so they were scared shitless…of him. Nice.

He sighed and looked around, okay, no monsters: very convenient, but… But they were going in the wrong direction, led not by an intent to find the Oracle and get the hell out of there but by Raine's craze to see the entire city. Considering the size, Lloyd figured they could explore for about two days before they saw the whole thing, but, they would get farther and farther from the seal. Time to take drastic action.

"…Professor?" Lloyd called, running up to her, "Professor Sage!" Avoid physical contact, she might flip and Genis would get suspicious… "Professor, where are we going?"

She turned to look at him, her blue eyes filled with that ruin mania that Lloyd had come to fear.

"What do you mean, Lloyd?"

"Well," Lloyd tilted his head to the side, "aren't you taking us to the seal? I mean, we've been in here for awhile and I haven't seen anything Martel-y, I figured we woulda found it by now…" The only way to get Raine to do what he wanted her to was to remind her why they'd come in the first place. She'd act like she'd been planning it the whole time, then lead them in the right direction. She wouldn't be happy, mostly embarrassed, when they got out later that night, but they'd get the job done and she'd be alright in a few days. He thought.

"What-? O-oh, the seal…yes, of course, I was…following what I thought might have been a lead, but it appears I was wrong. Come, we should return to the correct path." As the half-elf strolled off, her head held high but her cheeks pink from more than the heat, Lloyd shot a small smile at Genis. For a moment, the mage blinked after his sister, then looked up at Lloyd and a slow, malicious smirk caught his lips as he realized what Lloyd had done.

Thank you, he mouthed and Lloyd's smile widened into a grin. They started back the way they'd come, Colette skipping after Raine and Kratos attempting to keep up with her while Lloyd and Genis wandered along in back. "…you are evil and manipulative, you know that?" Genis gave Lloyd a mock-glare, rather trying to imitate Kratos.

"It got us moving, didn't it? And it's not like you haven't done stuff like this before!"

When Genis shrugged noncommittally, Lloyd rolled his eyes, "You've lived this long, meaning you probably haven't eaten that much of her cooking," he pointed out. "Don't tell me you've never talked her out of making your supper."

"Okay, okay, whatever…I wonder if we're actually going in the right direction this time."

Lloyd looked around; the path looked decently familiar, now that they'd moved back to the main-way. "Well…I don't think we're lost. Professor! Kratos! Do we know where we're going?" Lloyd raised his voice so the elders could hear him.

"Of course we do!" snapped Raine indignantly.

"…we're closer, at the very least, than before…" Kratos' voice dripped with sarcasm. Raine huffed from in front of him. That was obviously a blossoming relationship, Lloyd thought sarcastically.

"…what's that?" Colette's voice broke across the beginnings of a fight between Kratos and Raine as the whole group turned to look at where Colette was pointing. Her slim finger directed their eyes toward an indent in the stone wall that flanked the left side of the passage they were wandering. Within was, quite obviously, a torch. A fresh torch, dry wood, unburned and seemingly waiting for them.

"It's a torch, dear," Raine sighed.

"Why?"

"Well they lived in a cave, Colette," Genis pointed out, "They needed them to see!"

"Oh…but if we're in a cave that they used to live in and we can see, why would they need torches, we don't need them?" In her simple questions, Colette had seen what both Sage siblings had fail to: the torch was there unnecessarily. The floor had some sort of glowing mana embedded in it, making it perfectly bright inside the cave; no need for a torch. Kratos and Lloyd, both having been in the Temple several times in the past, had already known this, but both faked interest and fascination with the new development.

"…Chosen, you may be on to something," Kratos was as complimenting as he ever got; he was probably just glad someone had figured out the puzzle so they could get out of there faster.

"…so…we light it and see what happens?" Colette tilted her head to the side, blond hair falling to the side.

"…uh, I guess?" Lloyd walked over and, taking aim, shot a blast of flame from the sorcerer's ring into the mess of cloth and wood. At once, it caught and bright orange flames waved at them. Lloyd didn't have time to watch the fire because the floor began to move. Despite the fact that he had known this would happen, he jumped and fell as everyone but Kratos did, his eyes going wide. Immediately, he reached out and grabbed for Colette who, thankfully, was at the center of the moving platform and was in no danger of toppling off into the magma below. "K-kay, I think we're going in the right direction…" Lloyd stammered when they had stopped moving.

"So it would appear." Grabbing Colette, Kratos swept haughtily off the platform and onto slightly more solid ground. Lloyd followed quickly and then Raine and Genis joined them. "…" Kratos mutely looked at the warp pad before them, "…that was easier than one would have assumed…"

"I say 'count your blessings'," Lloyd grinned and walked onto the warp pad, feeling himself stretch away as his body dissolved from being and, the moment the world blacked out, it appeared again. He was in the seal room.

It was all that Professor Sage could have wanted and more; the sloping ceiling was held in place by huge marble columns that lined the sides of the room. They, and the walls, were carved from red stone, inlayed was gold and black. The ruins depicted battle scenes with indistinguishable writing narrating them throughout the room. In several images, Lloyd recognized Efreet, the Summon Spirit of fire. In some he was helping the people…in others, he was destroying them. Lloyd shuddered at the ferocity on the so-called "Red Giant's" face as he ripped the city apart.

Behind him, Lloyd heard the others enter through the warp and he moved forward, toward the altar. The altar itself was a wide, low platform, decorated with more ruins.

"So…" Lloyd asked and turned to the adults, "…what happens now?"

"…I would assume we'll be tested," murmured Kratos.

Raine did not answer as Genis were practically holding her back from examining the altar.

"So what kinda test—" Lloyd broke off when there was a hissing sound from behind him and he rounded in time to see a monster step forward. It was huge and looked almost feline, but much, much bigger. Its maw opened and from it emitted a mind-blowing roar that shook the very foundations of the room. Lloyd automatically took a step back, backing into Kratos and looked up at the elder man.

Kratos, unlike the rest of the party, was focused not on the creature before them, but the smaller to each side. They were floating, spitting fire, and practically miniature versions of the thing between them.

Right…forgot there were—are—three of them…damn… Lloyd's eyes, widened slightly as he remembered how not easy this battle had been. Last time he'd gotten badly scorched and Genis had passed out from the strain. Only Kratos, and Colette because he'd been protecting her, had been in any shape to move when the battle had ended…and that, of course, had changed when Colette had collapsed outside the Temple because of the Angel Toxicosis.

"…should I go for the little one on the right?" Lloyd asked in an undertone, "Kratos…?"

"…yes. Chosen, Mr. Sage, distract the other small one. Until the both of those are dead, I'll keep the one in the middle busy. When you finish yours, assist me. Ms. Sage, heal and cast any of your spells when you get the chance." Then, Kratos charged.

"…Raine, focus mostly on healing, Colette, don't get too close, these things spit fire, Genis, ice spells'll do the most damage, so focus on them if you can. We've got plenty of orange gels, so use them if you have to." Lloyd's explanation was hurried and, before he was really done giving orders, he was charging across the room to stop the smaller creature from killing Kratos from behind while the mercenary focused on the larger threat.

"Sword Rain!" Lloyd's hands moved too fast to see as he cut into the smaller beast's upper thigh. It roared in fury and rounded on him, thoroughly distracted from Kratos. Lloyd was forced to leap out of the way of a swift, clawed kick and duck beneath a swinging tail. He used the duck to roll and pop up on the other side of it, shouting "Beast!" He knocked it away; the creature flew several feet across their small battlefield and smacked into one of the pillars, causing the room to shake again.

Lloyd charged at it again, his gloved hands clutched around the metal handles of his blades as he attempted to take advantage of the fallen beast's temporary stun. He did not get there in time, however, and was forced to guard against raging claws that scored the surface of the perfect green sphere that had appeared around him. As the spell died away, the beast's claws fell back on him and Lloyd, unable to dodge, held his swords up in an X, hoping that this wouldn't be the end.

"Photon!" From behind him, Lloyd heard Raine scream the spell and a burst of light mana rushed over him, taking form around the monster and exploding, causing it to crumple. Lloyd knew it wasn't dead, of course, and he raced around it, shoving his sword between the two horns on its head. There was a whine of pain and the light died from its angry, terrifying eyes.

He turned to survey the rest of the room. Kratos was doing surprisingly well against the big beast in the middle—he was managing to keep it fully focused on him, but Colette, Genis, and Raine weren't doing nearly as well as the Aurions were. Their small monster was progressing across the room toward Raine and Genis and the half-elves' infrequent spells were doing little to deter its progression.

Although Kratos had told them to help him when they had beaten their own monster, Lloyd disobeyed and charged across the room and shouted "Sonic Thrust" as his left blade pierced the monster's side while the right guarded against the inevitable response that was to come. It came in the form of a swiping tail and Lloyd was forced to use the power of his exsphere to leap into the air to avoid the attack. "Colette! Are you alright?" Lloyd shouted over the sound of continued roars from the monsters that were left.

"I-I…I'm alright!" Colette was too tired to force her usual cheer into her voice, this alone scared Lloyd and as he glanced back at the Sages, he realized just how desperate things had gotten on their end; both half-elves were chewing on orange gels as they attempted their next spells. Genis was shaking slightly, exhausted from mana loss and terror while Raine was leaning more on her staff than using it to cast spells.

"Raine! Heal Colette, then try for another photon on this thing, kay?" Lloyd called, hoping that he wasn't asking too much. "Genis, switch to aqua edge if that's easier for you! Colette, back off until you're healed, then stay mid-field, I'll try to finish this thing off."

In the few seconds it had taken Lloyd to take in the appearance of his companions and give his orders, the beast was back on its feet and charging at him again. He dodged its first few attacks gracefully, but was forced to guard on the next.

"First Aid!" he heard Raine cast behind him and then he heard the cheery sounds of Colette thanking her teacher before a chakram cut through the air and scored a deep slice in the monster's back and shoulders. It rounded on her and Lloyd had to jump the tail again.

The second it was turned away, Lloyd shouted "Tiger Blade," and leapt into the air, bringing his sword down on the creature's hide.

"Aqua Edge!" cried Genis and several blades of water soured through the air, slicing into it. Blood flowed freely from the cuts that their attacks had made and its movements were slowing substantially. Lloyd slipped around the side of it while Colette through another ring at it and cut into its leg this time.

"Super Sonic Thrust!" Lloyd cried and his blade met with the monster's skull, wind erupted from the end of his blade and sliced the head of the beast off, the bloody gore fell to the ground at his feet and Lloyd backed away from it, twisting his nose against the smell of fresh blood and fluids. He looked up at his friends, grinning, as he backed away, but was met with shocked looks from Raine and Genis. Colette was merely pleased that they'd finished it and was already running off to help Kratos, but the "elves'" eyes displayed wonder and…suspicion at Lloyd's sudden talent.

Lloyd looked away quickly and followed Colette to Kratos' side. The man had worn the final beast down substantially, but it was far hardier than either of the little ones and, despite the many small lacerations that scored its back and shoulders, it was still just as willing to blow fire at them as ever. Lovely.

Kratos dodged the flaming blaze that it sent at him and dropped to his hands and knees and rolled away, trying to keeps its attention on him. Colette's chakram sliced across its shoulders, and Lloyd sonic thrust-ed it, making it scream in pain and round on him. Lloyd backed away, trying to get out of range before it attacked. He was nearly successful. Nearly, because he was still in range of the fire that exploded from its maul, and he smelled burnt hair as he dropped to the ground, working to put out the blaze that had caught his hair.

From the creature's other side, Kratos began to hack at one of its legs in an attempt to confuse it and give Lloyd an opening. His attack did not gain the desired affect and the monster's tail only swung toward him, but Kratos was fast enough to get out of the way before he was hit.

Lloyd had managed to put the blaze out, but was still being advanced on by the monster and, with a shout to Colette to run, he took off running again, to the monster's right, away from Kratos, in hopes that he'd be able to distract it long enough for Kratos to finish it off. The running space was…limited, however, and Lloyd was fast running out of space to run.

Then, with a sickening sound, the monster collapsed and Kratos, looking brutal and blood-splattered, pulled his blade out from the shuddering hide of the monster. Lloyd gagged.

"Erm…nice one Kratos…"

Kratos fixed his ruby eyes on Lloyd and he felt himself pale, one thing never changed, his father was damn intimidating. "…I thought I told you to assist me when you finished with your monster." He growled softly.

Lloyd paled, "I, well, uh, I…uh…see, Colette, Raine, and Genis were kinda… You were holding out fine, you didn't need my help and I'm sure you woulda just sent me to help them anyway. They were doing worse than you so…"

"You should have waited for my orders, not tried to interpret them before they were given!" barked the mercenary in return. Lloyd felt himself redden, whether in embarrassment or anger he wasn't completely sure.

"W-well, we won, didn't we? All's well that ends well?"

Kratos snorted, "Hardly."

Lloyd opened his mouth to say something that would have gotten him into more trouble—something that he knew that he would have regretted later—but, almost luckily as he looked at it in hindsight, Remiel intervened at that moment. The flickering light that was the Guardian Angel appeared over the altar and his voice, echoing like thunder in the distance, beckoned Colette before him to pay homage to the Goddess.

Colette slipped between Kratos and Lloyd and around the dissolving carcasses of the monsters they'd defeated and clasped her hands before her, successfully shutting up both Kratos and Lloyd, whispered softly, so softly that Lloyd had to strain his angelic hearing to hear, "Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength…"

Lloyd felt the anger bubble in his stomach as Remiel appeared. He quietly held himself back from attacking the blond angel as he spun his lies in Colette's head and lead her toward her death. Lloyd was too angry to listen to most of the angel's speech, but he already knew the majority of it.

"…and so we grant you the power of the angels and bid you farewell. You are one step closer to Regenerating the World. The next seal lies across the sea to the east, in a world of boiling water. We await your arrival, my beloved daughter Colette."

….

Kay, I leave it off there, because you've already got a longer chapter than usual…

R&R

~Yoshi