Copyright: Take what you will from this, but I own nothing...sadly...

"Master..."

"Desma..." The young commander grabbed his servant's face and pulled it close to his own face, "I've already told you not to call me that."

"Kyros...the sight of a human with a half-elf is...a sight of revolting for mortals-"

"Are we mortal my princess?" Before she could answer, Kyros pressed his lips onto hers while she returned with a reluctant fervor before she pushed off from him. He honored her wishes and broke the kiss with a knowing smile, "If only my office were strong enough so that we may truly marry."

"That is forbidden by the Powers..." Desma brought up as Kyros leaned against the wall in deep thought, "Kyros? My lord?"

"Perhaps I can compromise with them," Kyros muttered and brought out a strange crested incomplete sigil that made Desma's eyes widen with amazement, "I have already gathered the proof of Efreet and Sylph..."

"But for the proof of Earth you must travel to..." Desma's expression became greatly remorseful when she realized her master's intentions, "Surely you do not intend to travel to Tethe'alla alone?"

"If I take anything larger than an entourage of bodyguards then the King's nobles may see it as a violation of the cease-fire." Kyros explained while placing his hand upon Desma's shoulder and caressing it, "That said, I can travel much quicker and quieter as one."

"But..."

"Though, that may not be wise..." Kyros gently brushed a strap on Desma's dress while her face became flustered, "It is a beautiful dress...but I would rather that you wore something more practical for the journey."

"You wish for me to accompany you?"

"Must I spell everything out for you?"

"As you wish my love..."

"Mr. Kyros?" Lloyd watched as the ancient prisoner of Cruxis was stirred from his thoughts by Colette's voice, "It looked like you'd dazed off for a bit."

"I honestly did." Kyros admitted while rubbing his head, "Sorry about that...you asked me about Yggdrassial right? Is he the leader of Cruxis?"

"What were you thinking about?" Colette inquired while Lloyd looked upon his sweetheart with confusion, "You look like you were thinking about something important. Did you used to be married?"

"Colette...I don't think we should bombard him..."

"It's alright, people in love in easily recognize that same sensation on others..." Kyros stated with a sad smile, "And to assure Lloyd, this is actually relevant to the figure of Yggdrassial and the death of Mithos."

"Go on then..." "There was never a story about anyone named Yggdrassial...then again, it's not like those stories are completely valid anymore anyway..."

"The Kharlan War was an event that had every kingdom in Sylvarant and Tethe'alla fighting each other." Kyros explained, "Most kingdoms were on the side of their homelands. But some had secretly made deals with kingdoms on the other side to increase their own technology and wealth. A game of thrones if you will...and whoever had the most kingdoms as his ally won. If not...then you died."

"Was Triet one of those kingdoms?"

"Yep and they may have done better if they didn't blatantly betray everyone." Kyros answered with a laugh, "Triet's princes were annointed as the general-kings of Sylvarant's armies by Symphonia. At first it seemed well until it was discovered that Triet had orchestrated the murder of the other candidates with Tethe'alla's help. That was when my forces and eleven other princes joined our flags and besieged Triet and his allies. Allies that included other kingdoms and unmarked platoons from Tethe'alla. We were victorious as you can see...but at a heavy cost. After Triet, neither side had enough power to quickly end the war and that war drained upon the world."

"Just like Remiel said..." Lloyd realized, the very memory of the angel causing him to tighten his fist, "So everything that's happened to us is all your fault-"

"Not because of the war mind you...The Kharlan War was not the first draining war to afflict the land nor was it the worst." Kyros interjected, "Supposedly, the War with the Last High Elven King Galauron did more damage to the world according to elves at the time. But it doesn't matter...my blame for your troubles can be pointed to my own hands."

"So what happened?"

"How did Mithos end the war?" Colette added while Lloyd shrugged his shoulders, "How did he really end the war?"

"Oh that? He found the core summon spirits of the world and formed a pact with them." Kyros answered, "With eight summon spirits at his beck and call, none of us could ignore him. He called down walls of fire...raised up seas to block off fleets...used lightning, ice and wind to break morale enough to halt battles...Had darkness and light to confuse the day with night and even altered the ground to prevent entire hosts from meeting in battle. Eventually, the King of Symphonia and of Tethe'alla choose to heed Mithos' warnings and signed a treaty that officially ended the war."

"Officially?" Lloyd asked suspectively, "I take it that not everyone heeded that treaty?"

"Obviously...my father used to say that peace on earth was just an idealistic lie."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Colette stated sadly, "Why can't people understand that fighting will only harm themselves and their future?"

"Because we're selfish Colette.." Lloyd replied, "At least most of us are...we're too selfish to see past the obvious to get what we want. It's not always selfishness either...some of us have different plans for doing the right thing."

"Or they just want to watch the world burn..." Kyros added, "Or I'd guess that was the intention of Desma's murderer..."

"Was Desma your wife? How did she die?" Colette asked, earning a slight scowl from Kyros, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to-"

"She didn't mean to tick you off, she's just asking a question." Lloyd barked with a passive aggression that visibly shook the ancient prince, "So what happened to your wife?"

"To answer the question, one of Mithos' companions...attacked my estate and murdered her..." Kyros bitterly answered as remorse fell across Colette's face, "It was just after Mithos held a summit that ended the War. He stood upon my burning home...mocking my sons as they mourned their mother and unborn brother and I seethed with rage at the betrayal. So I took up his challenge and met him on an ancient graveyard from a time before Tetha'alla or Sylvarant were even named."

"During the battle...Mithos' sister was caught in the crossfire and killed..." Lloyd hesitantly sat down next to Colette and apologetically turned to her while she sat with tears building in her eyes, "Distraught and grieved that the source of his affectionate obsession was lost...Yggdrassial overcame and killed Mithos for failing to protect his sister. Then Yggdrassial turned against me...beat me and imprisoned me in a ring of eternal damnation. Within it...I watched as Yggdrassial used his power to destroy my Kingdom...using it's people as raw mana to sharpen and enhance his new sword."

"How could he do that?" Colette asked with saddened shock, "He destroyed your kingdom as revenge on you?"

"Like I said...he wanted to watch the world burn..." Kyros stated while turning to a nearby vase and grabbing it, "After that...he choose to punish every kingdom and every person who took part in the War. He razed them all to the ground...except for the ones that were on the parallel that he created."

"What parallel."

"The parallel that would be the divide between the two worlds!" Kyros threw the vase into the wall and absently grabbed the exesphere on his chest as if trying to wrench it off, "This exesphere is the compressed form of the mana from that same Ring of Damnation...he bound it to my body so that I would live as an example...That one day...he'd remove it from my body and turn me into the monster that I was...so that all who see me in this life and the next...would look upon me and rebuke me...calling me...Kyros, the Monster that murdered Martel..."

"Then he remade the world in his own image and made sure that no one who survived would know the truth." Lloyd finished while grabbing Kyros hand and pulling it away from the exesphere, "You're no monster, but if you're not touching that thing again until I put a key crest on it...got that?"

"I'm throwing it away-"

"No you're not...you may hate them, but you won't be able to fight with one." Lloyd pointed out while bringing out the exesphere on his wrist, "You've been out of practice for 4,000 years. Maybe you were a strong fighter without an exesphere, but you'll have a hard time against Cruxis without it and it'll be harder to heal you."

"You sound like the Prince of Luin..." Kyros said as Lloyd released his grip, "You look like him too...him and that annoying General from Tethe'alla...Aurion was always a pompous pretentious ass-"

"Aurion?" Lloyd asked while recognizing the name, "Nevermind...the Eternal Sword was what Yggdrassial used to split the worlds...how did he get it?"

"It was forged by Origin, King of the Summon Spirits." Kyros replied, "Origin will only bind himself to those who in turn bind their lives or the lives of those that they care for most to the pact. Only when the Oathbearer releases his mana will the Pact be broken and a new one allowed to be forged."

"In other words, getting the Eternal Sword for ourselves is out of the question?" Lloyd asked himself more than Kyros as he already knew the answer, "Remiel mentioned that it was out of reach for humans..."

"Because Mithos had the sword crafted so that only half-elves can ever wield it." Kyros answered and brought out his hands to show the dull marks from what had to have been heavy burns, "I tried...once...so much for having a distant elven ancestor...he added an ancient elven wood to the hilt which will only allow elves to use it. Then he added his own blood to "taint" the wood, so that only those with both elven and human blood can use the sword."

"There's gotta be away around that..." Lloyd figured and then realized something, "Wait...only people with elven blood can use magic right?"

"Right..."

"And something like Aeglos or Aionis can give humans magic right-"

"Let me step right in there." Kyros interjected with an approving smile, "First, I applaud you for discovering Aeglos; Second, I commend you for adding its properties into your body without dying; and Finally, being able to apply this mana seemlessly into your fighting style and unlocking two Aura Locks. That's something that many elven spell-blades couldn't do in decades and you've done it in a few weeks."

"I...didn't exactly know what I was doing..."

"But it's pointless to worry about the Eternal Sword for now." Kyros bluntly stated, "First, you don't know where it is; Second, it's likely near Yggdrassial whose on a completely different level from either of us with or without the sword; Third, even if it wasn't with Yggadrassial, you'd still have to contend with legions of emotionless and fearless angelic guards when you barely survived one; Forth, you have no way of entering Yggdrassial's stronghold or any way of finding it; and Lastly, we're still stuck in this little predictament concerning you wanting to mess up Cruxis' plans for Regeneration."

"Right..." Lloyd reluctantly agreed and caught something in Kyros' words, "Emotionless? Are they like what they wanted Colette to be?"

"In a fashion...I only remember seeing an angel from time to time..." Kyros shivered as he looked upon the crystal on Colette's chest and then looked down at his own, "But their eyes are unsettling...there was no life or passion within them. It was like watching the walking dead..."

"Is that...what the...Cruxis Crystal would've made me into?"

"It's alright, I won't let that happen." Lloyd assured Colette and held her trembling hand, "Now that Efreet's awake...it's time to forge the Pact with him."

"Are you sure that you're up for it Lloyd?" Colette asked with concern, "It's probably not a good idea for you to jump at a summon spirit after you just recovered."

"That's why I'm gonna stretch out." Lloyd said and flexed his left hand before pointing it to Kyros, "And I'll do that by fighting you."

"As long as there's a healer on stand by..." Kyros agreed, "I haven't quite gotten back my old strength myself...you may be just what I need to really warm up."

"Could it wait?" Colette asked the two swordsmen, "Mr. Kyros...could you ask Kratos for a warm up? Lloyd just got done cooling down and I don't want him to get hurt."

"Colette...I'm fine-"

"Lloyd...lie back down..."

"Yes dear..." Lloyd agreed, deciding that Colette's tone was far too inviting for her statement to have been a light request, "Besides, Kratos is a lot stronger than me anyway."

"He uses magic though..."

"What about those seals that you use? Aren't those magic?"

"Not necessarily..." Kyros clarified to Colette, "Those seals are used to counter magic users by cutting off their utilization of mana. At first it was merely a training method...we were sealed off from most of our mana and forced to survive in the winter wilderness for 40 days."

"Lloyd! Colette!" Genis cried out as he entered the room, heavily panting from what had to have been a long run, "We need everyone topside now!"

"Have the desians found us?"

"I don't know...but we need to move!"

"We really pissed them off..."

"Were you expecting a warmer reception?" Kratos asked Lloyd while the party was watching an unfolding scene at the Triet Ruins, "I hope you have a plan, Lloyd."

"How many are there?"

"Close to 200...and none of them look like the chumps from earlier." Sheena answered Kyros while they observed the marching platoons that were setting up base around the ruins, "Looks like that green-haired guy brought them here to guard Efreet."

"Green-haired guy?"

"He's probably inside, but he was leading these guys here." Sheena replied to Genis who began to shake, "You okay?"

"Forcystus...he followed us here..." Genis growled and gave a fleeting glance to his sister, "Give me a good shot and I'll make him pay for what he did to Marble and Raine!"

"I'm quite capable of avenging myself," Raine reminded her brother, "Forcystus isn't our goal, we need to form that pact with Efreet and leave the area...the quieter that we can do this, the better."

"Last time we got in, the desians were distracted because of you two." Genis stated referring to Kyros and Sheena, "This time, it's not going to be easy to just walk through the front door...is it?"

"That should be obvious."

"We can still get in though..." Lloyd assured his friends while he saw the patterns with which the desians marched, "We may have to wait until night-time...but we'll find a way inside."

"Sheena? Why don't you lead us?" Colette inquired, "Didn't you sneak into the ruins before?"

"There's no promise that the tunnel I used won't already be guarded by desians." Sheena replied, "But...there's got to be other tunnels that lead to the Seal Chamber."

"The Oasis?" Kyros asked outloud, drawing the attention of the party while a drop of sweat ran down the side of his face, "Long story short, my country led the siege that left Triet ruined. A defecting prince joined us and said that there was a passage that he would lead a select few into to sabotage the enemy."

"How did that turn out?"

"They were successful, but everyone who went on the mission died and the prince was hung in plain sight of the alliance."

"Cheerful..." Genis morbidly said, "But...did they close off the passage?"

"Nope, the enemy assumed that the platoon had bribed their way through."

"That means that the passage was never closed off, at least by Triet." Lloyd figured, "Kyros, do you remember where that passage was?"

"It's been 4,000 years..." Kyros bluntly said while pinching the bridge of his nose, "I highly doubt that an underground passage that was known by basically no one would still be there after all of the earth changing events that have happened..."

"Then again...where did that oasis come from?" Sheena absently asked while gaining Raine's attention, "While I was cooling off there...I did notice this little archway towards the bottom of the pool."

"How far down did it go?"

"If I recall...it went pretty far down..." Sheena answered an interested Lloyd, "But I knew that I'd run out of air before I got all the way down and I didn't want to risk not finding an air pocket."

"That's alright Sheena! I think we've found our passageway!"

"So I take it that the plan is to dive into the oasis, swim towards the bottom to this archway, follow the archway through a flooded tunnel with no guarantee for an air pocket or that it will even lead to the ruins?" Kratos inquired, crossing his arms over his chest while he exhaled, "Then assuming that all goes according to our plans and wishes, we will then sneak through the lower levels of the ruins until we come upon the Chamber of Efreet, forge the pact and either leave the same way that we came in or fight our way through an army of 200 well-armored and trained desians?"

"Yep." Colette answered with a confident smile as Kratos just shook his head, "It'll work out, Lloyd hasn't let us down so far."

"Thanks Colette..." Lloyd said as he placed a hand on Colette's smiling face and massaged her cheek, "And I promise not to strain myself."

"It should be safe for you to be out, just no more stunts like last time." Raine said and paled when she realized a horrible inevitability with the plan, "I can have Kyros apply a blank seal to you and channel a healing Circle on the seal to rejuvenate the last of your strength. After that...you're best carrying on without me."

"What?" Sheena asked while Genis gave a knowing nod, "Come on! If you're worried about not being able to swim with one arm, I can help you down-"

"Even the strongest of wills are brought low by the smallest fear." Kratos said to himself as Colette and Sheena tried to assure an unbudging Raine, "It is true though, Lloyd's luck has held this far. Anna...don't let this change..."

Author's Notes:

Now that Lloyd better understands his enemy, can his plan to enter the Triet Ruins succeed? Why has the plan of entry terrified Raine so badly? If they have to move on without their healer, can they survive?

Next few chapters will have more action and less talking...promise! Thanks for sticking with it this far folks!