Chapter 12: Stoking the Flames of a Guttered Heart

Xylek worked furiously, inscribing rune after rune into the door of Niflheim. The mana of Derris-Kharlan was being rapidly drained and channeled into the runes. The door no longer showed signs that the demons on the other side were trying to get through, the seal effectively repelling them. Soon, the door would be complete. There would no longer be a threat of world destruction by the malevolent spirits on the other side.

All this effort for his friend, Xegros. All of this, so that his friend can have the world. All of this… Xylek stopped thinking as he inscribed the final rune in place. His vision blurred such a powerful spell taking an incredible toll on his body. Finally able to rest after such an experience, he passed out on the ground in front of the newly completed seal. Xegros walked into the seal room, and seeing his friend laying on the ground in front of the seal, he smiled a little. He knew Xylek would never betray him, and would help him realize his dream. A dream few can truly comprehend…

Raine jumped awake, feeling the mana in the air change. She looked around, and then looked into the night sky the group had all camped under. She saw the stars, distant spots in the heavens, and she saw the two moons floating in the sky. What she didn't see, on the other hand, was the floating mass of Derris-Kharlan.

"So it's finished already…" Kratos said, walking up and startling the Professor.

"What?" she responded.

"It seems that Xylek has already finished the seal on Niflheim. Though, to do it in such a short amount of time, he would have had to exert himself to the point of near death," he observed as he stared at the place in the sky that no longer glowed with the mass of mana. "It's a good thing I had all of the facilities and inhabitants moved to the ground, or else they might have been destroyed when Derris-Kharlan finally dematerialized."

"That's good," Raine said, still amazed that so much mana had already been consumed. "For Xylek to be even capable of doing this is amazing. I would almost want to study under him, to increase my own spellcasting abilities."

"I wouldn't recommend that," said the Radiant Warrior as she walked over to join the conversation.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" asked Raine. "We're going to need you at full strength tomorrow when we assault the Ginnungagap."

"What do you think I was doing for those 4000 years I have been sealed away? If I were awake for that amount of time, I would have gone absolutely mad. I'm ready for tomorrow, so just worry about yourself."

"Ah," said Raine, thinking about the impact of 4000 years alone might have on the mind. "Why wouldn't you recommend learning magic from Xylek, exactly?" she inquired of the warrior, who seemed to stare at the sky.

"He doesn't like children," she said, surprising Raine with this comparison.

"Hey, wait a second! What do you mean by 'children?' I'm no child," she replied, getting red in the face.

"You are inquisitive, emotional, and young. Keep in mind that, compared to myself, you are the age of a child," the Radiant Warrior asserted.

"Well, how do you know Xylek doesn't like children?" Raine asked, trying to govern her irritation with the truth of the warrior's words.

"That… doesn't matter. Your group will need to be able to handle him while I take care of Xegros. If you can't do that, then we will fail. And I will not accept failure," she said to Raine in a tone that would have scared even the toughest of soldiers.

"Oy, what's going on over here, ladies?" Zelos said as he walked over after noticing that there was a discussion going on. "Oh, and Kratos too," he added, not really caring about the seraph.

"I hope you're not as weak as you are annoying," said the Radiant Warrior as she started to walk off. "If you are, you aren't going to survive tomorrow."

Zelos was sure he saw her smile behind the faceguard that all but obscured her face. It thoroughly scared him, too.

"Alright, everyone needs to get some sleep so we will all be at full strength tomorrow," Kratos announced as everyone made their sleeping arrangements. "Zelos, you're over there."

"What? Why?" Zelos asked, seeing that he was separated from everyone else by a good twenty feet. "Was it one of our beautiful hunnies? I can guess which one…" he said as he shot Sheena a look.

"Actually, it was all of them," Kratos said as he wandered off volunteering to be the lookout for the night.

Zelos' face froze, and he only sighed as he moped over to his isolated tent.

Everyone tried to sleep peacefully that night, but nobody could, knowing what was coming.

The heroes were awoken the next morning as an unexpected guest came across their camp.

"Richter!" Emil shouted as he saw the man who, at one time, had been an enemy.

"And Ratatosk!" added Marta, excited to see old friends.

"Tenebrae would have joined us, but, well, he annoyed Xegros…" Richter said as he held out Tenebrae's core, a solemn look across his face.

"Oh no! Poor Mr. Doggie!" Colette said, saddened to see her friend in this state.

"Don't worry. He reverted to core form to recover, so he'll be alright," Ratatosk said. "I assume the reason you are all camping out here isn't for a picnic," he added as everyone gathered up.

"We're going to go defeat those two," said Lloyd as he fastened his swords to his belt.

"Hmm, it would appear so," Richter observed as he looked at everyone gathered. He stopped when he noticed the golden-armored Radiant Warrior standing off to the side a bit, his eyes opening wide as Ratatosk took possession of their shared body. "You! You're-" he was cut off as Yuan gave a rather hard nudge into his back. They exchanged looks, and Ratatosk understood.

"Very well. We should set out for the Ginnungagap now," Kratos said, deciding to lead the group.

"Hey, I want to go first," said Efreet, annoyed that Kratos had assumed the role of leader.

Celsius stomped on his foot as she gave him a look. He quieted down quite easily. The group mounted up on the rheairds and began the short flight to the opening of the Ginnungagap, where they would confront the two warriors, Xylek and Xegros, in what they were hoping to be the deciding encounter.

Xylek awoke with a startle from his dream. He was still exhausted, and had only begun to recover some of his power. He was nervous, being in such a vulnerable condition, but as he looked over at the sealed door, he drew a little comfort knowing he had been successful. He saw Xegros standing in front of the door, admiring the new seal, and he rose to walk over to his friend.

"Looks nice, doesn't it?" Xylek asked.

"Yeah. Something only you could do in a day, eh?" Xegros remarked back.

"Well, it's done now. What's next?"

Xegros tilted his head as he thought for a second, and then said, "We should travel from city to city, and have them swear loyalty to me."

"People are going to laugh at you. Perhaps you should start with the royalty first. Once they are under your sway, everything else will follow," Xylek said. "For their sake, I hope they don't resist too much."

"You say it as if you don't enjoy the thrill of combat!" Xegros said, slapping Xylek on the back.

Xylek winced, still weak from making the seal. "You didn't when we first set out, all those years ago…"

Xegros saw the look in his friend's eyes as he thought back, and abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, you need to go regenerate the rest of your power. We can't have you being so weak right now. Go do whatever you do to regenerate faster," he said.

"Yes, I suppose so," Xylek said as he cleared his head of his memories. He walked off, planted his sword into the ground, and began synchronizing with the flow of mana. Xegros wondered how out of it Xylek was, since he hadn't noticed their guests had already arrived at the opening to the Ginnungagap. He drew his red-tinted blade and strode out to meet the Heroes of Regeneration (and company).

Everyone stared at the opening to Ginnungagap, anticipating the fight to come, and they were startled as they saw Xegros walking out to meet them so soon.

"Good morning, everyone," he said in a patronizing tone. "So kind of you to come to me so I don't have to hunt you down. It'll make this much faster."

"You're outnumbered, Xegros. Just give up and return the power of the summoned spirits to their rightful owners. You can't defeat all of us," Kratos said, motioning to the large group of the world's heroes that were behind him. "We will stop you and Xylek, and we will kill you if we must."

"Let's just kill him anyway," Efreet growled, his grip on his axes becoming tight. "He stabbed Celsius, so I'll never forgive him."

"Calm down," Celsius said, laying a hand on the humanized spirit's shoulder.

"Give up your delusions of grandeur, Xegros. This planet will never allow you to rule, even if you try to take it by force!" Lloyd yelled, pointing one of his blades at his enemy.

"Raine, did you teach him that?" Genis asked his sister quietly.

"Yes. He wanted to sound imposing, so I helped him come up with what to say. Did you really think our Lloyd could use 'grandeur' in a sentence?"

Sheena sighed at this side conversation. Why did Lloyd have to be like that…

"Hmm, I do believe we've had enough pre-battle posturing," Xegros said as he leapt to the ground from the opening in the air. "Shall we begin?"

At that moment, seeing her opening, the Radiant Warrior dashed out from her hiding spot, and assailed Xegros. Caught off guard, he only barely parried the first attack, but he was unable to stop the following barrage of slashes, kicks, and punches. She sent him flying with a kick to the chest, and everyone else was shocked at how easily she had overpowered Xegros.

"Who the hell are you?" Xegros said as he stood back up. "What's with that armor? How is there another like us? Xylek and I are the only ones who should have this power!" The alarm in his voice gave everyone confidence in their new comrade.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" she yelled. The rest of the heroes stopped gawking and ran for the opening of the Ginnungagap.

Still surprised about there being another warrior who has the power of the summon spirits, Xegros didn't react fast enough to the change in the situation. He tried to call up a wall of flame to block the entrance, but the Radiant Warrior was attacking him again, her swordsmanship being faster than anything he had ever seen.

"Your fight will be with me, Xegros," she said, saying his name with disgust.

"You seem to be a bit angry. Have we met?" he responded, standing and readying his sword again.

Her response was rather simple. She pointed her sword at Xegros, and a beam of light shot out, slamming him in the chest and sending him flying. He had only begun to stand when she began attacking again, striking him again and again. If he didn't have such powerful armor, he knew she would have killed him already, she was much faster than him easily getting his by his defenses. He finally managed to put distance between himself and the Radiant Warrior, and taking advantage of this, his sword blazed and fire shot out from the ground. The many flames came together forming a large dragon that flew over the battlefield.

"Let's see how long you can take the heat," he said, finally calm. He was going to have to defeat his opponent quickly, as he already knew their plan. He knew they planned to kill Xylek before he recovered, but with such a powerful enemy, he wasn't sure he would make it in time. He lunged forward, while the flaming dragon bathed the area in fire.

Everyone ran as fast as they could, and even after getting quite far in the Ginnungagap, they could feel the tremors of the fight going on outside.

"It's a good thing we aren't out there. I don't even think you could survive watching that fight," Zelos said as the group continued towards the seal room.

"Now do you see what we meant when we told you that you had no idea what they were capable of?" Yuan said.

"Then why did you two try to take on Xegros by yourselves?" Raine asked, meaning Yuan and Kratos.

"Ah, that was…" Yuan couldn't come up with a logical answer.

"Pride as men," Efreet said proudly. "To go up against an old enemy alongside an old friend. There would be few experiences that could be compared to that."

"Exactly!" Zelos said holding his hand up for a high five, though the spirit merely scoffed.

"Zelos, you wouldn't have any idea what that would be like," Presea stated as they arrived at the seal room.

Everyone stopped and stared at the newly sealed door. The complexity of the runes was astounding, and Raine went into ruin mode almost instantly, seeing as how the runes were in a language she didn't know.

"Amazing," Ratatosk said. "To be able to complete that door in such a small amount of time. Simply astounding, even for one as old as me."

"So it's done?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, it's finished," Kratos answered.

"Good, because I owe this guy a good thrashing," Lloyd said as he pointed to the swordsman, who had yet to move since everyone's arrival.

Xylek stood in the center of the seal room, his sword planted in the ground, and on the ground was a circle of glowing runes that slowly pulsed.

"What's he doing?" asked Marta.

"He's drawing mana from the natural leylines that run through the Ginnungagap," said Richter. "It's allowing him to restore his mana at a steady pace so it remains stable. We need to stop him before he restores too much."

"Gotcha! I'll stop him," Lloyd said as he charged Xylek, who still stood unmoving.

"Wait, Lloyd, don't!" Yuan said, too late, as Lloyd's swords impacted Xylek's breastplate.

The runes on the ground glowed bright, and the circle disappeared. There was a large explosion of mana, and Lloyd was sent flying through the air. He managed to flip in the air and land on his feet, and everyone looked as the mana freed in the explosion was sucked into Xylek's sword.

"That was rude," Xylek said, lifting his sword out of the ground. "When someone is synched with a leyline, it's often a bad idea to just hit them. It can cause rather… large explosions."

"Xylek, return Celsius' and Shadow's power and we might let you live," Yuan said as he leveled his blade at the ebon-clad swordsman.

"No thanks. I'm a more capable owner anyways," he responded, irritating Celsius.

"Fine, then. We will kill you and return the powers to their rightful owners. You made this choice, not us," Kratos said in a rather cold tone.

"Everyone makes choices they'd rather not make. Just like how I'd rather not fight," Xylek said.

"That's because you're weak right now. You can barely put on this façade. We know you won't be able to win. That's why you're trying to make us question our decision," Richter said, drawing his weapons.

"Hah, a weak me is still stronger than you can handle. Who wants to go first?"

"All of us," Regal said.

Everyone charged.

The Radiant Warrior was frantically dodging the huge plumes of fire the dragon breathed. Even with her armor, that flame would still cause considerable damage. She stepped to the side as another blast consumed the ground where she had just stood. She turned and parried Xegros' attacks as flames raged around them.

"Always so flashy with your spells, Xegros. All the power in the world won't matter if you can't even hit your opponent."

"You talk as if you've known me for a long time. Who are you?" Xegros asked as a serpent of flame erupted from his hand and wrapped around the Radiant Warrior.

"It doesn't matter. Your dreams have become corrupted by the power you desired. You and Xylek will atone for your sins. Even if I must do it myself…" she said as the flames around her were purged with light.

"Wait, you aren't… no, you can't be. You shouldn't exist! Begone, you foul woman!"

She ignored the comment as she chanted her spell.

"Big Bang!"

A small point of light appeared in front of Xegros, and he was frozen in fear, knowing the powerful spell that was coming. That small point rapidly expanded in a massive explosion of light, and he took the full force of the strongest light spell in existence at point-blank range.

All of the heroes rushed Xylek at once, learning their mistake from the previous fight where he isolated a few fighters at a time in order to decrease the effectiveness of their numbers. This time would be different. Sheena reached him first, and as he slashed, she easily rolled out of the way and placed several explosive seals on him. They detonated, sending him flying towards the others. As he soared through the air, Regal and Presea leapt into the air, and drove him straight into the ground with simultaneous attacks. As soon as he crashed, Efreet and Celsius further smashed him into the ground with their attacks, almost mirroring what Regal and Presea had just done. He cried out in pain from the massive impacts, but before he could get back on his feet and Kratos, Yuan, Colette, and Zelos all unleashed Judgment at the same time, focusing their attacks on his weakened body.

The columns of light descended upon him, shaking the very ground. Genis and Raine combined their powers in a powerful Prism Stars attack, adding to the blast of light. Lloyd leapt into the air and stabbed downwards, just as the magic attacks ended, and successfully pierced Xylek's armor, stabbing him in the chest. The wound was shallow, though, and Lloyd raised his blades for what he hoped was the finishing blow, but he found himself unable to move. Xylek, despite the massive amount of damage he had just taken, had grabbed Lloyd's leg, and with his power of ice, had instantly froze the air around Lloyd, leaving him encased in ice. Lloyd's exsphere glowed, and the ice cracked. Unfortunately, it was too slow, as Xylek launched Lloyd into the air. Lloyd broke free and landed on his feet, but Xylek was already standing.

Blood slowly dripped from the hole in his chest armor as Xylek stood, leaning heavily on his sword for support. He was at his limit, and could barely see. This gave him an idea, and he raised his hand into the air, and a ball of shadow energy formed there. Richter and Emil lunged at him, but his spell finished before they could reach him. The ball of darkness expanded, enveloping the room with all-consuming shadow, which purged all the light from the room. Now, nobody could see.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Marta said, unable to even see her own hand in front of her face.

There was heavy coughing as someone seemed to laugh, and Xylek said "but fourteen warriors against one lone enemy is fair?"

"Your math is off. There are fifteen of us here," Sheena said.

"I didn't count that brat that called me a cheater."

"Hey, I can fight!" Marta yelled, annoyed.

"Not for long," a voice whispered behind her, and she screamed. The scream was cut short, and the room became deathly quiet.

"Marta! Where are you?" Emil yelled, frantically trying to feel his way towards the direction of her scream. He tripped over something, and when he reached out to feel what he had stumbled on, he realized it was Marta. "Marta! Answer me!" he frantically tried to get her to move, but she wouldn't respond.

"Don't worry, she's not dead. Just taking a nap. You can join her…"

Emil slashed at the air towards the voice, and heard Zelos yell out in pain. Zelos, thinking it was Xylek, slashed back, and wounded Emil's shoulder.

"Everyone stop!" Raine yelled, realizing what Xylek was trying to do. "Xylek is trying to trick us into attacking each other. We need to find each other so we can prevent this. I can help Marta, so we should move towards where she screamed from. Ok everyone, go!"

Everyone tried to make their way through the darkness, and eventually, all the heroes were gathered in one place. Raine raise her staff, and found out that she could emit light, allowing them to see a short distance in the darkness.

"Ok everyone, form a ring around me," Raine ordered. Everyone circled around her as she tended to the few injuries they had. All of a sudden, the shadow seemed to move, and Raine's staff was grabbed from her hands, removing the source of light. This startled everyone, who tried to group into the middle where Raine was. Everyone felt around, confirming who was next to them.

"This is terrible. Here I am in this darkness, but I don't have the guts to get a little closer with all the hunnies," Zelos said, somewhat nervous.

"You're a terrible person, you know that?" Sheena said.

"Do we have anyone wearing metal on their arm?" Colette asked.

"Watch out!" Lloyd yelled, but Xylek, who had somehow managed to get into the middle of the group, knocked everyone away with various kicks and throws. They all landed far from each other, and everyone knew that somehow, Xylek had managed to turn the tide of the fight in his favor. Kratos, Yuan, and Regal, all being level-headed in this situation, managed to make out the sound of labored breathing, and knew it was the exhausted ebon-clad knight. They all ran straight at the source of the sound and attacked. Xylek, who was unprepared for this, was sent flying from the combined force of the attacks.

"Damn annoying people!" Xylek coughed out, as the impact had further increased the wound in his chest. Still being able to see in the inky depths, he saw that he was coughing blood. He was in bad shape, and there were three warriors able to determine his location even in this absolute darkness. There was a large explosion from outside the Ginnungagap, and the light from it penetrated all the way to the seal room. Xylek, not knowing how they had managed to occupy Xegros, was shocked by the sheer force of the attack that it would be visible even in the darkness he had made.

"Ha! Xegros was apparently weaker than our other companion," Lloyd said as he tried to take advantage of the light that had briefly illuminated the room. He ran over to Sheena and put his hand on her shoulder, letting her know it was him. They slowly combed through the room and gathered both Marta and Emil into their group, allowing them all a bit more comfort at having allies close.

Xylek didn't inquire further, as speaking would reveal his location since he had managed to mask his labored breathing. It didn't matter though, as he felt another person enter the Ginnungagap, which had been completely flooded with the shadow. This person seemed to cut through the darkness, and it made him nervous. He saw her, armor radiating with light, as she made her way into the seal room. She raised her hand into the air and shouted, "Illumina!"

A ball of light formed in her hand, and much like how his shadow had purged the light, Xylek's shadow was purged from the room. Everyone stood around, the sudden brightness hurting their eyes until they adjusted again, and they all saw the ragged swordsman standing off to the side. He looked like he could barely remain conscious. The Radiant Warrior looked at him, and sheathed her blade.

"Look at you. Beaten up by a bunch of kids. I haven't seen you in this kind of condition in so long, I had almost forgot you could even get hurt," she said to him, and everyone was confused by the tone she had taken. It wasn't one of patronizing, but of pity and sadness.

"My mind must be playing tricks on me," Xylek said, putting his hand to his head. "I'd almost swear you sound just like her, but that's impossible. I thought I had awoken from my dream, but it appears this one just doesn't want to leave me alone."

"Wait, what's going on here?" Raine said, confused. "Just who are you?" she directed at the Radiant Warrior.

Without answering, the Radiant Warrior grasped her helm, and lifted it off. Long black hair spilled out, and she looked at Xylek with cold, blue eyes and smiled a bit. Xylek felt his chest muscles clench as he looked at the woman in front of him. It was impossible. It had to be.

"S-S-Setsuna?" he asked weakly, not trusting his eyes.

She nodded. He stood there, staring for a long time, and then collapsed.

…

Xylek: Oh pretty girl

Tiger: He must be distracted by the shiny, and peanut butter.