Okay it's fianlly done. Hope you like it. It may take a little bit for the Z-skit chapter coz I have to come up with conversations. I have had a lot of request about having Kratos in this and I was playing with the idea and I like it.
Important: (this means auther note in the story) also I don't own the games obviously.

Chapter 6: Allies

Yuan Ka-Fai was wondering why the hell he was left with the laguz while Kratos Aurion was off who knows where looking for the Eternal Sword. Now he was waiting for the all the laguz kings to finish their meeting to talk about the Daein's movement so he can warn them about the Exspheres.

To think that this all started when he and Kratos ended up in Goldoa, the land of the dragon laguz, after the Eternal Sword sent them to this strange world. Thing really got out of hand when two laguz accidently found and somehow equipped an Exshere to them. They went out of control and transformed into their dragon form, killing some of their friends and family. So Yuan and Kratos were forced to kill them before they hurt anyone else or them. They would have been executed for what they did, had it not been for one of the laguz they had saved. His name is Kurthnaga and he just so happened to be the son of the dragon king, Dheginsea.

So Kurthnaga spoke to his father on their behalf. So that was when they explained to him about being from a different world and how Exspheres are dangerous to them. Dheginsea took them more seriously after he saw that they were angels.

So he was, out in the middle of nowhere waiting for them to finish because the beast king had wanted to talk about Daein. He also had to watch Noishe who got easily scared when the laguz transformed.

Suddenly, Noishe sat up with his ears twitching.

"What is it?" Yuan asked, although not sure why he did seeing as Noishe doesn't talk.

When he said that, Noishe took off toward a familiar swordsman.

"Your timing is as crappy as ever," Yuan said when he saw Kratos. Kratos didn't respond but simply scratched behind Noishe's ears.

Yuan noticed that Kratos had Lloyd's Material swords tied around his back. "I see you've found the Eternal Sword."

Kratos just nodded, not really paying attention. But before Yuan could ask, Kratos answered, "I saw Lloyd."

Yuan jumped down from his rock and asked, "Well, did you tell him about the Exsheres?"

He just shook his head. "He saw me in Toha but I got away. Besides, if he does find an Exspere he'll know what to do."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Yuan had to fight hard not to yell, they both didn't want the other laguz to hear them until the dragon king introduced them.

"Right now he's looking for his friends and it looked like he's helping a group of people from here. We have relied on Lloyd far too much and this is partly our fault to begin with. When the time is right we'll let Lloyd know."

Yuan agreed and they both sat down and listen to the meeting, to Yuan it was extremely boring seeing as he didn't know what they were talking about.

But suddenly, the hawk king said something that sparked an interest. "…I saw that ship that you attack, crow, but one of my hawks went crazy before we could find out anything."

"What do you mean by that, Tibarn?" The beast king asked.

The hawk sighed, "he just kept going on and on about seeing a beorc with wings-"

Yuan jumped to his feet and thought out loud, "Wings? That must be the Chosen!"

Yuan had spoken too loud for the laguz kings had had all stopped talking. "Who is that?" The white heron asked.

They could both hear Dheginsea's frustration, "My fellow kings, there was another reason for this meeting."

Now it was their time. So they walked in and immediately were meet with much dissatisfaction, save for the beast king. "You two have Exsperes."

"That is precisely the reason they are here," the dragon informed them.

So Kratos and Yuan explained to them the dangers of the Exsperes for them. While the laguz looked worried about this, the crow wanted to know if they could harness the power without the negative side effects.

"I do not wish to even experiment that, as I'm sure the rest of you all do not want to sacrifice your people, it's too dangerous," Kratos told them.

The beast king nodded, "Yes, several of my people have gone out of control just by being around that small stone, I would want no part with them."

"So you've already encountered them?" Yuan asked.

"I met three young beorcs who had those stones equipped not long ago. The one named Lloyd asked that I help anyone who had them, so within my power I will do what I can to help."

"All that we ask is that you return to your lands and gather Exsperes if they are there. And make sure that no one equips it, if that happens you'll have to end their lives before they end yours," Kratos informed him.

"Well that's a bit harsh, isn't?" The hawk said, "Couldn't we just remove the stone instead?"

"You're welcomed to try but it's nearly impossible to do. The Exspere becomes embedded to the skin and not only that they're not just going to sit still long enough for you to take them off," Yuan explained with some rudeness in his voice.

Begnion

After two more weeks at sea, the group finally made it to the holy city of Begnion. But before they reached their destination, they were saved by the most unlikely person from a crow laguz. A Daein Wyvern Rider! The crow attempted to kill Colette, probably one of the crows that ran away after seeing her wings. Then out of nowhere, the female Daein swooped in and took the blow that was intended for Colette. After Titania finished the laguz off, Colette had pleaded with Rhys and Mist to heal the Daein. Ike didn't like the idea, but Soren jumped at the idea saying that they could gain so much information from her. Reluctantly, Ike agreed with Soren saying it would be best if they could keep their eyes on her.

Of course Colette being Colette tried to befriend the Daein. She didn't want any part of it but Colette did find out that her name was Jill and that she had followed them to try and capture the princess but saw the laguz attack and couldn't stand by as humans were being attacked by 'sub-humans'.

So now the pegasus knights were leading them to meet with the Apostle Sanaki about helping Princess Elincia. Lloyd and the others also joined them because the knights had told them to plead to the Apostle about freeing Regal.

But no one really was prepared when they saw that the Apostle was a small child! Before they had reached Begnion, Soren had explained to them that the Apostle was a symbol for the people. She was the voice of the Goddess, a vessel. The role of the Apostle and the Chosen seemed the same but yet were completely different; the Apostle was not for sacrifice. After hearing that, Colette seemed to become depressed but of course wouldn't tell anyone. Zelos just looked outraged; Lloyd hadn't ever seen him that angry.

Now in the presence of Sanaki, Lloyd could hardly stand her. She was sitting on her big throne and was practically insulting Elincia's claim to being Crimea's heir. Lloyd wanted to speak out but knew from past experience that it was not a good idea to. (When you first meet her she does seem like a brat but after you get Ryson she is a very likable character.)

Ike on the other hand didn't seem to know that. "How dare you mock Elincia after all she's been through? We didn't come all this way just for you to insult her!"

Suddenly one of the senators stood up and yelled, "How dare you insult the Apostle! You shell be condemned to death for that!"

"Silence!" Sanaki ordered, and then she began to laugh. "Sephiran was right about you. You are very interesting."

Lloyd whispered to Genis, "That was the monk we rescued from the prison, right?"

Genis nodded.

Sanaki continued, "He has already claimed that you are indeed the true princess. I apologize for testing you. You see life here in the palace is dreadfully dull. I am always so very bored. Thanks to this little interrogation it has proved to be an amusing diversion."

Elincia was trying hard not cry but her hands were shaking badly as the other senators were complementing Sanaki for her 'wits and words'.

"What is this?" Ike yelled. Everyone was looking at him with wide eyes, but that didn't stop him. "You knew that she was the princess yet you continued to humiliate her for your own entertainment? This some stupid joke! We're talking about people's lives here! You all are just a bunch of horrid people!"

The senator stood up once more, "Wretched peasant! Guards, seize them!"

Instantly, they were surrounded by guards. Colette took a step back but accidently tripped and fell down. But when she did fall her wings came out.

Upon seeing this, the senators cowered in fear; one of them even said it was the Goddess' judgment. The guards backed up slowly and Zelos stepped in front of Colette.

At first, Lloyd thought that Zelos was going to use the Spiritua story again. But Zelos wasn't the same as he was, his face was much darker. "You've said that you're the Goddess' vessel. Well, me and Colette here are that too; only for us it was nothing more than a cruel hoax. I wonder…are you being tricked too?"

"That's blasphemy! How could you say such things?" One of the senators roared.

"We'll how do you explain Colette's wing, huh? Tell me that."

The senators looked at each other nervously.

"Well…let me ask you something, Apostle, have you grown up with everyone telling you that your sole purpose in life was to die? How would you like it if you were five years old and your parents told you that you would die for the Goddess?"

Colette had bowed her head to hide her face and Sanaki just sat there dumbstruck.

Zelos went on, "So here's some advice, from one vessel to another, before you go around and complain about how bad your life is; hows about you get off your damn high chair and go out into the real world. Not everyone gets the cushiony dull life in your palace as you do."

After that Zelos stormed out of the throne room. Colette then ran after him and Lloyd could have sworn that he saw tears rolling down Colette's face.

Lloyd began to follow them but Sheena grabbed his shoulder. "They'll be fine; right now we need to help Regal."

She was right; there really wasn't anything they could do for them. Right now they had to save Regal.

After about another hour with the Apostle, Lloyd and the others were heading toward the prison. The Apostle had agreed to the exchange prisoners on one condition, they had to do a few small jobs for the senators because of Zelos' little outburst. Surprisingly, no one was angry at him. They still hadn't heard a word form Zelos or Colette; they were probably around here somewhere.

Ike and the others, on the other hand, had to stop some bandits on the border. To Lloyd he would have rather gone on that mission instead of working for the senators. Their jobs would consist of doing small, meaningless jobs.

As they approached the prison, Lloyd and Presea saw a familiar face. A knight in blue armor was standing beside a doorway.

"Gatrie?" Presea said.

The knight looked over to where his name was called. It took him a little bit to realize who they were. "Oh…you two are Colette's friends, Lloyd and Presea…right? Small world, huh?"

"I guess you could say that. Is Shinon with you? How'd you get here?" Lloyd was amazed to see him here and didn't know were to start.

Gatrie's bright face darkened a little, "Well…shortly after we left Gallia we went our separate ways and I ended up here as a bodyguard for a noble. But I always did feel bad about leaving Ike after what just happened."

"Then why did you leave if you felt bad about it?" Lloyd yelled at him, "I thought they were your friends! Do you have any idea what we went through? We were ambushed by the Daein not long after you two left and all those fights would have been a hell of a lot easier if you two were there!" (Anyone eles think that or was it just me?)

"I'm sorry," Gatrie said with a look of guilt.

"Don't tell us, you need to say that to Ike," Presea told him.

"Wait, are you saying that Ike and the others are here?" He said with much disbelief.

Presea nodded and Lloyd explained, "Yeah, they came here to ask for help from the Apostle about Crimea. You should go talk with them."

"Yeah I'll go do that after my shift."

So they continued on their way to the prison. They walked down some steps and the guard led them to one of the cells that held their friend. Regal was shocked when he saw Lloyd and the others and even more so when the guard unlocked his cell and told him he was free to go.

"You all came for me?" He said as the guard released him from his shackles.

"Haven't you learned by now, you're our friend," Lloyd told him.

Regal smiled but then he looks at Sheena and said, "I had wondered what would happen to you after I was arrested."

"Well as soon as that happened I looked for the real person behind the murder," Sheena explained.

"Yeah Regal, you couldn't seriously think that we would just let you go to prison for a crime you didn't commit," said Genis.

"Come on Regal, we'll explain what's happen. Let's just get out of here," Lloyd said as he made his way to the exit.

"Indeed," Regal said as he followed them out.

Ike and Mist were wondering around the gardens while Soren and Titania were deciding who was going on the mission marrow; then Ike would read over the name and agree to it or not. Soon they saw Zelos lying on top of a small, stone wall and Colette sitting in the grass having one arm wrapped around her legs and the other picking at the grass.

Ike motioned for Mist to go and talk to Colette. Mist immediately sat down next to her. When Colette saw her she began to smile and giggle.

So Ike walked over toward Zelos and asked if he was alright.

Apparently, Zelos didn't know anyone else was in the gardens because he looked so surprise to see him. "I'm fine, I just got pissed off, that's all," he said as he sat up.

Ike blinked; all of this was just seemed so out of character for him, especially his outburst in the throne room.

"What?" Zelos said.

Ike didn't realize that he was staring; then shook his head. "It's just that up till now I always thought of you as some woman chasing guy who didn't take anything seriously."

Then Zelos did something Ike was expecting, he laughed, "Lloyd said the same thing to me, I'm just a guy full of surprises." He then jumped down and began to walk away and asked, "Where's the food, I'm starving."

Old Town

The mercenaries that had been a part of the mission were now gathering the crates that the bandits had. The bandits were no match for them, so the fight didn't last long. But near the end, the bandits had released some laguz. But they seemed strange to Ike, something was wrong with them he could tell.

"Hey Ike, we got everything loaded," Gatrie reported. That was one good thing about this, Gatrie joined back up with them.

"Alright." Ike walked over to rest but noticed that a certain mage was missing. He looked over at Titania. "Have you seen Soren anywhere?"

She shook her head and said, "It's not like him to just disappear, I'll go look for him."

"No I'll look, you just take care of things here," he told her as he walked away. Then he muttered, "He of all people knows not to wonder off."

He found him on his knees beside a dead laguz. "Soren? Just what are you doing?"

Soren looked over his shoulder and motioned Ike over.

He got beside the young mage as Soren showed him what was in his bloodied hand. In his hand was a small, red stone. It looked like…

"It was attached to their chest; I believe it to be an Exphere."

Ike's eyes widened. He looked back at Soren to see that his crimson eyes grew darker. He took the stone from his hand and examined it. To think that something so small can hold someone's life! It was sick to think that people would turn others into these stones, and it was even more sickening to think that they were causing harm in this world.

"Do you think those bandits put these stones on them?" He asked.

"Ha, those idiots didn't have a clue about anything. No, someone else must have done it." Soren said coolly.

"Okay then, Soren, you keep looking here for more of these stones. I'll go get the others and have them look to." Ike ordered as he stood up.

"Alright commander. What do you plan to do with them thought?"

"Give them to Lloyd; he'll know what to do with them."

As soon as the mercenaries returned, they were given another job. Luckily, though, Lloyd and the others had finished their jobs so they would join them in the desert. Ike had given Lloyd a bag that held the Expheres, they had found 7 total.

So Lloyd and the others destroyed the small stones so there wasn't a trace left. Ike had felt uncomfortable about it but Genis had tried to explain that it was the best thing to do. It would free the soul and to make sure that no one ever found out how to make the stones so that way this world would not suffer as their world had.

So two days later the group made their way to the desert, according to the Apostle some rebels were out there. Ike sent a few people out to scope the area. Two of those people were Soren and Genis.

Together they walked in-between the maze of dunes. Every once in a while they would see an old pillar sticking out of the ground. "Raine would have a field day with all these ruins we're finding," Soren heard him say.

"Raine…that's your sister, right?"

"Ye…yeah," Genis stuttered.

Something was up with the young half-elf; he had been acting weird ever since they left Crimea. So Soren decided to make casual conversation to try and find out what was bugging him. "So are you and your sister close?"

"Yeah, but really I see her more as my mother then my sister. She did raise me after all."

Soren stayed quiet, something inside him was eating at him. Even though Genis didn't have parents like him, he still had his sister to care for him. Soren had nothing; no idea where he came from, what his parents were like, nothing but sad memories. He wished he had some shred of information about himself, all the other mercenaries knew who they were. Is this jealousy I'm feeling? Soren asked himself.

Suddenly, he felt someone coming toward them, and it was a branded like him. Soren brought out his tome; seeing this Genis got his kendama out. Without hesitation the branded appeared before them. He had green hair and had his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. But as he looked at them his eyes lingered on Genis.

"Do you by any chance have a sister named Raine?" He asked.

Both of the magic users were confused; then Genis said, "Yeah, but how do you know my sister's name?"

The branded seemed satisfied and quickly grabbed Genis and took off. (To me Stefan seems like a strang person, but I still like him.)

Soren tried to catch him but the swordsman was too fast. Damn, he thought, but then he realized something. Why did he take Genis? Confused at the situation he ran back to the others, which running in the running in the scorching hot desert in dark cloths probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

When he reached the others, he was soaked in his own sweat and was having a hard time catching his breath.

"Soren, what's the matter? Where's Genis?" Ike asked when he saw him.

"Some…strange hermit…or something, just grabbed him…and took off," he wheezed.

"Damn it, we have to go look for him," Lloyd yelled.

"I don't think we'll be able to at this time," Regal told them.

All of them looked at him and not long after that they were surrounded by laguz.

Ike drew his sword and shouted, "It looks like we're forced to fight. Come on everyone!"

Genis was trying to get out of the hermit's grip but failed. He had been wondering where he was taking him but soon saw an ancient temple. The swordsman was making his way to the back and slipped in an opening. He then dropped Genis and said, "This who you were looking?"

Genis looked up to see who was looking for him and to his amazement it was Raine. They both ran toward each other and hugged.

"Thank goodness you're alright," she cried when they released each other.

"I guess I should've known you'd be somewhere with ruins," he smirked.

Raine just gave him a cold look, but then looked back at the hermit and thanked him.

Suddenly and young voice shouted, "Miss Raine, we're under attack!" Two people ran into the room they were in, one a young boy about Genis' age and the other a laguz. The young boy saw the two others and demanded to know who they were.

"Little one we don't have time for this, we have to stop the Begnion soldiers," the laguz to the small human.

"Wait, they're not Begnion soldiers, they're our friends," Genis yelled.

Raine looked at her brother and asked, "You don't mean Lloyd and the others do you?"

Genis nodded and Reine looked at the others, "Tormod, Muarim, we have to stop them so innocent blood is not shed. This is a misunderstanding, I'm sure we can work this out peacefully."

Reluctantly, Tormod agreed and so they took off to try and stop everyone. When they reached the battle, Genis ran up and shouted, "Icicle!" A row of ice separated the laguz and the mercenaries. The ice didn't last long but long enough for everyone to stop fighting.

Once everyone settled, the leaders of the groups meet and heard each other's side of the story. After Ike heard that Tormod was trying to free all the slaves that were still trapped in Begnion, Ike agreed to set up a meeting for them with the Apostle. So they wrote a letter to the Apostle explaining the situation which Colette flew in order to give it to her personally. A day later she returned saying that the Apostle wanted to meet with the leader and try to help. Although, with all the things they had to do, it seemed that the Apostle was up to something.

Even though Lloyd was glad that everything worked out, he still wondered what he was going to do. He found all his friends and he did as the beast king had asked. What he wanted to do was to continue to help Ike and the others but he would have to talk it over with the others.

Now the gangs all together, so what adventurs await them now? After the Z-skit will be Ryson.