Chapter 11: A New Ally
Yuan opened his eyes. The room was dark, but he could see light shining in through the curtains on the window. He looked around trying to figure out where he was, but to no avail. The last thing he remembered was his vision fading over the village of Mizuho.
The door opened startling him and a girl walked in. "Are we doing better?" she asked cheerfully.
"I suppose," he answered. "Where am I?"
"You're in Altimira. Your friends brought you here after you passed out from blood loss," she responded, "I'm just making sure you were doing ok. Everyone else is in Master Bryant's room."
"I should go tell them what's happened,"
"That wouldn't be a good idea, you've lost a lot of blood so you should get more rest. Besides, Kratos can explain what happened. I'll be back later to be sure you're still alright."
Yuan started to get up, but a glare from the girl made him sit back down before he could disagree.
"Ah, thanks," Yuan said back. He realized this must be Altimira's medical complex. He put his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes as the girl walked out. He was going to need to be at full strength for what he knew was coming.
"Kratos! We're so glad to see you again!" Genis said, exuberant about Kratos' return.
"Yeah, it's nice to have you back," Colette said.
Kratos simply sighed. Everyone seemed a bit too energetic considering the situation.
"Ooh, so you're Lloyd's dad?" Marta asked, staring at Kratos. "I don't see much resemblance. Are you sure?" She began looking closely at Kratos, and Emil pulled her back.
"I'm sorry about that. She's a bit… blunt sometimes," he apologized.
"It's fine," Kratos replied, dismissing the comment with wave of his hand.
"He soooo cool, too!" Marta started again. "Lloyd, you should act more like him."
Emil covered his face with his palm, and Lloyd stood there, seemingly irritated.
"What?" she asked, confused by everyone's reactions.
"You're being a bit… abrasive. Tone it down," Sheena whispered in her ear. She blushed and walked over to Emil.
"I'm glad everyone is in good spirits about Kratos being back, but we need to discuss the issue at hand," Raine said as everyone's attention shifted to her. "So far, we've been completely brushed aside by Xylek and Xegros. Their power is just too overwhelming."
"Heh," smirked Kratos, and everyone looked at him. "Neither of them has shown their true strength yet. It seems that they have total control over three of the elements, yet they fight with swords and small spells. What would happen if they unleashed all of their power in a fight?"
This realization made everyone's eyes widened as they saw the true danger they faced. Not a word was spoken for several minutes until the silence was interrupted as the door opened and a girl poked her head in.
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" she said after seeing everyone's expression.
"No, come in Stacie," Regal said. "Everyone, this is Stacie. She's a nurse that works here at our medical center. I had her check on Yuan to be sure he was okay."
"Ah, yes," she said as she walked in. "I, uh, checked on Yuan like you asked, and, uh, he's doing alright. He's still resting though." She seemed a bit tongue-tied, and kept glancing at Regal, though no one seemed to notice. "Is Master Bryant doing well?"
"Yes, thanks for asking. My arm and shoulder are recovering very well. Could you get some refreshments for our guests?"
"Absolutely! I'll be right back with them," she said as she turned to head out the door, and she abruptly ran into Zelos. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she said.
"No, it's alright," he replied. "Say, cutie, you want to ditch this place go get something to eat? To, you know, make up for running into me?" he asked as he put his hand on her shoulder.
"Ah, Zelos, I wouldn't-" Regal's warning was cut off short as Zelos was thrown across the room and his head made a nice whole in the wall.
"I have to go get drinks for the guests. I suggest that you not touch me again, especially after wanting me to abandon my duty here taking care of Reg- err, the patients," she said, flustered, before promptly turning and walking out the door.
"I like her," Sheena said to Celsius, who was also smiling at the current situation.
Efreet walked up to Zelos, who still had his head stuck in the wall, and pulled him out.
"The hell kinda nurses you have here, Regal? Nurses aren't supposed to injure people!" Zelos said, brushing flecks of paint out of his hair.
"The nurses here often treat people injured in disputes at the casino, so they are all trained in various forms of martial arts in case the patrons get a little… unruly. Stacie is probably the most proficient of the nurses in that department. She also doesn't like guys flirting with her, so for your safety, I think you should keep your distance."
"No kidding…" Zelos said, pulling drywall out of his ear.
"Ah, well, back to what we were talking about," Regal said as everyone finished stifling their laughs at the embarrassed chosen.
"So, Xylek and Xegros haven't shown their true strength yet?" Lloyd asked Kratos.
"Exactly. They don't have much choice though. To unleash that much power could kill them. I was just stating that none of you have any idea what they're capable of, save for the summon spirits here," he said gesturing to Efreet and Celsius.
"To put it mildly, with just my power alone, Xegros could blast this entire island off the planet. Also remember, they both posses half of Shadow's power," Efreet said.
"How are we supposed to fight that?" asked Genis.
"We have to level the playing field, so that's why we have a trump card," Celsius said.
"Oh yeah, that other warrior you mentioned. The one whose pact is with Luna and Aska," Raine said, going into ruin mode from thinking about how they were to summon such a warrior.
"Calm down, Professor," Lloyd said, alarmed as she began hyperventilating. "There aren't more artifacts to collect. Remember, this warrior was sealed with the intent of being released."
"Ah, yes, that person…" Kratos said, cryptically. "I do believe that would tip the scales in our balance."
"You know about this person?" asked Sheena.
"Yes, they're another warrior from the Kharlan War. They're similar to Xylek and Xegros in the fact that they, too, have armor forged by the summon spirits. Specifically, they use the power of Light," he said. "They're currently sealed at the Tower of Mana, where Luna and Aska are. We should definitely release them and ask for their help."
"Ask?" Regal said.
"Yes, ask. They may choose not to help us. They don't like me or Yuan particularly much, and they hated Mithos with a passion. Perhaps if they heard the situation…"
"Do we have to use their help?" asked Lloyd. "If Xylek and Xegros were sealed by the Eternal Sword, can't we do it again?"
"No, you can't. Not anymore, at least," said Efreet. "Not after they stole our powers as summon spirits. Not only would you need the full power of us spirits to seal them, to seal them while they have our power would cause massive destruction, as all form of control over fire, ice, and shadow would be removed. The mana would become chaotic and, well, you can guess what would happen then."
"Yes… I thought as much," said Raine, who had finally stopped frothing at the mouth. "Their next goal is most likely going to be finding the Ginnungagap, if they want to seal Niflheim."
"Do what?" said Emil, hearing this for the first time. "I thought Ratatosk sealed it shut."
"Seals can be broken," said Yuan as he limped into the room. He almost fell over as Presea caught him.
"Yuan, you shouldn't be walking around," said Raine. "The air has yet to be saturated with mana, so I can't use my stronger healing spells. You should recover naturally until I can fix you up."
"No, it's fine. I have more of a grasp on the situation than most of you here, so I need to be in this discussion."
"Alright, let's hear it," said Lloyd after Yuan made his way to a chair.
"Their goal is to prevent Ratatosk from removing the mana from the world. They've discerned that the only reason Ratatosk would do this is to seal Niflheim. They intend to destroy the old seal and establish a new one, consuming the entirety of Derris-Kharlan in the process."
"That much mana for a seal? Absurd!" Raine said, thinking about the magical energy that much mana could provide.
"The seal is intended to last forever," Kratos said. "Their goal right now may seem benevolent, but to them, it's just another step to securing their dominance over the world."
"But, wouldn't this be better for the world?" Emil asked, confused. "If they seal away Niflheim, Richter and Ratatosk wouldn't have to be stuck in the Ginnungagap anymore, and the world could continue to exist forever, right?"
"Don't forget Tenebrae," added Marta.
"Yeah, wouldn't this be good?" Emil finished.
"Well, it would allow the world to remain sustained by mana, but we should remember the end goal of our foes here," Yuan said.
"Yes, we do, but if we let them expend their energy on the seals, then couldn't we defeat them after they're weak?" Lloyd said, thinking deeply about what Kratos said about Xylek and Xegros and their true strength.
"Hmm, they have many valid points," said Efreet. "After they seal away the demons, we should be able to attack them and retrieve our power, which would let Lloyd re-seal them."
"No, we can't re-seal them," Yuan said. "We sealed them before, and they got loose, so this time, we need to finish it for good. We need to eliminate them."
"I agree," said Kratos. "I've seen firsthand the chaos they are capable of causing. They killed thousands of people after the world was split, so Mithos had to find a quick solution to stop them, so we sealed them. This time, we should finish it. We need to go to the Tower of Mana first, though."
"We won't have time for that," Yuan said, looking a bit grim. "I was watching Xegros for a few days, and he located the entrance to the Ginnungagap. They will most likely break into there as soon as possible, so we need to be ready to capitalize."
"What happens if we can't?" asked Marta.
"Then we'll have to fight them with our full strength. With them together, though, I don't know if we can beat them," Yuan answered.
"What do you mean, 'together' we can't beat them?" Zelos asked.
"Xylek and Xegros have been friends for a very long time. In that time, they developed their skills as swordsmen, working together. Therefore, when fighting along each other, they complement the other's strengths while covering their weaknesses. Fighting them together will only work to their advantage," Kratos said. "Xegros is an extremely aggressive fighter, while Xylek is a defensive fighter. When we go on the offensive, Xylek will be at an advantage, while on the defensive, Xegros will. They are opposites in style, but they perfectly complement each other."
Lloyd thought back to the fight with Xylek. Only once did Xylek actually take the initiative in attacking, and whenever someone attacked him, he countered perfectly, incapacitating whoever was attacking. If Xegros were attacking with Xylek playing defensively, Lloyd knew they wouldn't be able to win.
"What if we separate them? Can we do that?" asked Genis.
"Perhaps… Yuan," Kratos said, "if we moved to unseal the other swordsman, would they stop us?"
"No, they don't know that person exists," Yuan answered. "We could unseal them, and move to attack Xylek and Xegros soon after. We should try to defeat Xylek first, though. He'll be the most exhausted from the sealing process, as Xegros will be of no help."
"Xegros won't be of any help?" asked Colette.
"No, Xegros is terrible at complex spells. It just happens that fire spells are the least complex to use, so he's only proficient in them, and a few shadow-based ones as well," Celsius said. "If they are to make an unbreakable seal, Xylek will have to do it alone."
"So we wait and attack while Xylek is weakest!" Lloyd said, with some excitement seeing a way to beat this seemingly invincible foe..
"Hey, would anyone mind telling me who this 'other warrior' is?" Raine said, beginning to change to ruin mode again. "I want to know if there are any writings on them."
"Yes, they were known as the Radiant Warrior," Yuan answered the curious professor as Stacie walked back into the room.
"Here are the refreshments you asked for, Regal-sama!" she said with excitement.
She handed out the beverages to the various heroes, oblivious to the seriousness of the conversation that had just been held in this room. She started to give Zelos his drink, but "tripped" and spilled it on him. She shrugged and walked out, seemingly in a good mood.
"That girl is evil," the chosen said as he tried to dry himself off.
"No, Zelos, it's just you," replied Sheena, amused at Zelos' frustration and the fact that his beverage was dripping from his hair.
"Poor, poor Zelos," said Marta.
Xegros stood before the gate of the Ginnungagap, channeling his power into his blade, ready to make a grand entrance. "Alright, let's blow this wide open," he said as the runes on his armor pulsed and he leapt through the air, sword blazing. His blade struck the seal on the door, which promptly shattered.
"Easy! Ratatosk is getting rusty. It's a good thing we're taking over this job, that way it gets done right," he said.
"If you say 'we' again, I'm going to-" Xylek didn't finish as a blast of fire knocked him over.
"Hey, what the hell was that for?" he asked, looking at Xegros, who shrugged. They both looked at the opened door to the Ginnungagap, and saw Richter/Ratatosk standing there, with Tenebrae floating nearby.
"Oh, so you wanted to say hi before leaving? How nice. Now move," Xegros said, as Xylek stood back up.
"Not going to happen," answered Tenebrae.
"I didn't address you," said Xegros as his blade flashed and a large fireball erupted from the tip at the Centurion. Tenebrae, not expecting the sudden attack, took the hit directly in the face. The fireball, being much more destructive than it looked, reduced Tenebrae to his core form.
"We don't feel like messing around. As a matter of fact, we're saving you a lot of work, and even letting you go free. You should know better than to think you can oppose us," Xylek said as Richter/Ratatosk's stance tensed up.
"Just leave and we won't stop you. Nobody will be coming to help, as those stupid kids are all still beat up from the thrashing I gave them the other day," Xylek added.
Ratatosk sighed as he knew that what they said was true. "Richter, we should allow them to pass. We can go meet up with the others, and work with them to stop these two. No use dying from being stubborn," he said, wanting nothing more than to get revenge on these two, but even he had learned when it was time to retreat
"Damn, you're right," Richter said back from the same mouth.
"You know, you look like a crazy person," Xegros said, leaning on his sword out of boredom. "I know there are two of you in that body, but it still looks like you're talking to yourself."
They ignored Xegros as they spoke up. "We'll leave, but be sure you don't screw up the seal. Also, don't expect to have your way for much longer."
"Pah! I don't need you telling me how to cast spells, Ratatosk. You know that I'm better at it than even you," Xylek said smugly.
"Still, don't mess up, or you won't have much of a world to rule."
"Just leave, already," said Xegros, agitated. "I might just kill you out of boredom."
"Tch," said Richter as he grabbed Tenebrae's core and left.
"Alright, let's do this. How long is it going to take?" Xegros said as both swordsmen walked into the seal room.
"The more you ask, the longer it'll take. If it's possible, could you just go sit outside or something? I don't need distractions," Xylek answered.
"Fine, fine, but do it right like they said."
Xylek grabbed Xegros and proceeded to throw him out of the Ginnungagap.
"I get the idea, damn!" Xegros said from outside the otherworldly gate.
Xylek spun his sword in his hand and planted it into the ground, runes forming in a circle around him. He reached out with his power, and formed a link with Derris-Kharlan, and began siphoning the mana into the circle at an extremely rapid pace. His hands moved through the air, writing runes and symbols that would form the seal. It would take an entire year normally to write the seal, but Xylek has had nothing but practice for the past 4000. He was going to finish the seal in just one day.
"He's started," said Raine as she sensed the massive surge of mana in the air. "He's dispersing Derris-Kharlan into the air?" trying to figure out how these unheard of events could be happening.
"Yes, instead of directly draining the mana, it's easier to just spread it into the atmosphere and absorb it in massive quantities that way. It's like a wide spray versus a concentrated one," answered Yuan.
"Okay, that made no sense," said Lloyd.
"That's because you're dense," said Genis.
"Well, this means I can use my magic," said Raine as she began absorbing the copious amount of mana in the air. "Revitalize!" she yelled as the healing spell surged outward from her staff. The spell immediately took effect, and everyone felt their injuries from the past few days fade to nothing.
"Wow, such a huge amount of mana made that easy," said Raine, looking at her staff.
"Indeed," Regal said as he sat up and began removing the cast on his arm and shoulder.
"Stacie," he called, and she appeared out of nowhere.
"Yes, Master Bryant?" she asked eagerly.
"I need you to fetch me some of my clothes. Nothing nice, though. I'm going to be a bit 'busy' soon."
She nodded, but didn't move. She had noticed that without the bandages, Regal was shirtless causing a wide smile to form across her face as she admired Regal's toned figure. Marta smiled as she had a guess why Stacie didn't like guys flirting with her, and she casually walked up to her and poked her in the side of the face.
"You're starting to drool," Marta whispered.
Stacie abruptly stood straight up, blushed, and ran to fetch Regal his clothes. Everyone began making preparations to go to the Tower of Mana.
The heroes arrived at the Tower of Mana and began working their way through the rubble that was left after it was toppled.
"I wonder if the seal is still intact," said Lloyd.
"Oh, my poor ruins!" Raine said once again entering ruin mode as she began digging through the ruined ruins, looking for anything that could shed mysterious on the past. The rest of the group, used to Raine's random bouts of insanity, continued looking for the seal.
"Regal, that shirt's… interesting. I didn't know you had a skin-tight neon-green shirt like that," Zelos said. "Seems a bit unusual for a noble to have something like that."
"Yes, I don't recollect owning a shirt like this, but Stacie brought it, so where else would she get it?"
Marta grinned, and Sheena sighed. Colette looked at them, confused at what they were reacting to.
"Here it is!" Genis yelled, having found the seal.
"Surprisingly intact," Yuan noticed as he examined the seal. "That'll make this easier."
He and Kratos stood in front of the seal and held out their hands. Mana began swirling around in the middle of the seal, forming into an orb. The orb held its shape temporarily, and it then flattened. It bent into the symbol for "light," and exploded, knocking everyone back. Once the dust had settled, everyone stood, staring with their mouths agape, as a warrior clad in armor that seemed to be forged from pure gold and ivory stood in the middle of the seal.
"You're the Radiant Warrior?" asked Lloyd, the first to speak.
"I am. What is the reason I am unsealed?" the warrior answered back.
"We need your strength," Lloyd replied. "Two other swordsmen, ones with evil intentions, want to harm this world. Will you help us protect it?"
"The names of the swordsmen?" the warrior inquired with a voice that bellowed with authority.
"Xegros," Lloyd said.
The Radiant Warrior visibly flinched, and said, "If Xegros is one, then I know who the other is."
The warrior glanced at Kratos and Yuan, and then at Lloyd, who looked back into the warrior's eyes. "Fine, I shall help. How long has it been since the war?" the warrior inquired again, now taking notice of the surroundings.
"4000 years, give or take," answered Raine, who was actually drooling at the chance to examine their new guest.
The Radiant Warrior sighed, looked around again, and said, "Fine. Allow me time to fully awaken, and I shall help you in any way I can."
The group gladly accepted their new member, and they began traveling out of the ruins to the rheairds parked outside the rubble. As they moved, Zelos moved close to Lloyd and leaned in to whisper something to him.
He asked, "Are you as surprised as me?"
Lloyd responded, "About what?"
"About the fact that the Radiant Warrior is a woman!"
"Zelos, that's because you're a sexist snob. Women can fight too," Sheena said, startling the chosen, since he didn't think that she could hear him.
"I'm going to go see what kind of woman she is," he said as he slinked off to the Radiant Warrior.
"Oh my…" Sheena said as she bowed her head in disgust.
"This is going to end badly," Lloyd added.
Zelos quickly moved up next to the Radiant Warrior, and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Nobody heard what he said, but the warrior promptly stopped, turned, grabbed him by his shirt, and threw him through the air. He was thrown far enough that his yell faded away.
"I'd estimate he's beaten us to the rheairds," Regal said with a sigh.
"I'm terribly sorry about that," Sheena quickly said to the warrior as they moved on. "He's a lecherous pig when it comes to women."
"Don't worry," she replied back. "I needed a good stretch, and I think I've found a sparring partner that I won't need to go easy on.
Sheena nodded, and realized that they would get along just fine.