I am so sorry for the wait! But I got it so hopfully it was worth the wait. Please bear with me on the first part, I was just trying to get it done so we can get to the good part.

Also I fixed the poll so if you tried to vote last time and it wasn't there it's fixed now. I also got summries for those stories. So please revote if you can.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8: War!

The heron siblings had breathed new life into their home. It was truly a wonder to spectate. In turn, Presea had found new hope for rebuilding Ozette.

"Have I seen you somewhere else, boy?" Was what the hawk king, Tibarn, asked Lloyd after it was over.

Lloyd picked through his mind but he was sure that today was the first he had ever seen him.

When Lloyd didn't reply one of the other hawks, Janaff, added, "Yeah, he does look like that other beorc."

"Other beorc?" Colette repeated.

"I had asked two beorcs to help us find Reyson, but I guess technically they weren't really beorcs." Tibarn said.

It actually took a few minutes for things to click in Lloyds mind. "I knew dad was here!"

"What, Kratos is here too?" Genis exclaimed.

"Yeah, I saw him in port Toha. But he ran away before I could talk to him."

"The other beorc must be Yuan," Sheena suggested.

Regal nodded, "I doubt that either of them could stay away from the final battle, no matter the injuries Kratos may have received."

"Hold up, I may not know a lot about the life span of a beorc but he was too young to have a child," Tibarn argued.

"It's a long story," Lloyd muttered. "Is he still here?"

"We saw them after we found Reyson. But they took off to continue their search."

Disappointed that they had already left Lloyd said, "Their search? In search of what?"

"Exspheres," the hawk king answered.

/~/~/

Lloyd couldn't believe that Kratos was keeping him in the dark, again! Was he really that unreliable? But then again no one really did ask him to do anything; he just ended up in the middle of thing. You know like him getting the Eternal Sword and merging the two worlds.

But then he realized that he didn't even know if that worked. None of them knew what happened to their worlds after they were transported here.

For the time being though, Lloyd and the others had more pressing matters. Princess Elincia was able to gain Begnion's support and even the bird tribe. Ike was even given the title Lord and was now the general of the liberation army.

All of these were good news for Ike and them but not for the world travelers. There was much disagreement on what to do next. Wither it was to help to retake Crimea or go on their own journey to try and go home.

"Look, there is no point in us getting involved with this anymore," Professor Raine told Lloyd.

"Princess Elincia and Ike are going to need us now more than ever," Lloyd rebuked.

"Sorry Lloyd, but I'm going to have to side with Raine on this," Zelos said. "I don't want to be risking my life for a world I'm not even from."

Sheena stood up when she said, "But how is this any different from when we saved the two worlds?"

"I agree, how can we say we saved our worlds if we won't even help the people in front of us?" Colette argued.

Raine gave an irritated sigh. "All of you are missing the big point. This is war. War is completely different from the battles we fought. The atmosphere, the enemy, everything will be different. Can you say that you'll be able to handle it?"

Everybody was silent, probably all thinking the same thing. Then Regal voiced what they were thinking, "Our world has not seen full scale war for over 4,000 years. So all of us cannot fully comprehend what war really is."

"It's just that…I think I'll regret not helping them. I'm sure that things are different in war than the battles we fought, but we've all gone through enough stuff that I believe we can handle it," Lloyd explained to them.

After a few minutes, Raine finally caved but on one condition; they got out if it became too dangerous or hopeless.

/~/~/

A week after they joined the army, they finally reached Daein's boarder. But before they could enter Daein they had to pass Tor Garen, the supposed impenetrable wall. It was the only place that cut through the mountains. The mountains were dangerously cold and would be suicide if they tried to climb them. So through Tor Garen they go!

According to Tanith, the deputy commander of Begnion's Holy Guard, security had tightened, which was strange. Normally there just a few foot soldiers but now there was a whole platoon.

Before they could attack they were going to have to not only take out the guards on top and make a door into the fort like wall.

"No problem," Genis had said.

They hid in the forest while the half- elf executes his powerful spell. Although once he did he would be out for this battle. A large, purple magic circle appeared underneath Genis.

/~/~/

On top of the wall, one of the soldiers saw the bright light through the trees. In fear that it was the alleged Crimea Liberation Army, he turned to his fellow soldier who was playing cards with two others. "Uh, Jimmy…I think we're under attack."

The three card players all groaned, "Goddess rookie!" Jimmy said, "That's the fourteenth time during this shift that you've spotted the enemy!"

"But I-"

One of the others cut him off. "Look rookie, you're going to have to loosen up. If we listen to every rumor about attacks we'd be on edge the whole time we're here."

"Seriously," another one muttered. "The captain is taking this tip way to serious."

The rookie looked back at the forest to see that the light was gone. He figured he was just paranoid or tired.

But then he saw a small orb of light above all their heads. "Um, Jimmy?" He backed toward the others nervously.

"O my goddess, rookie, WHAT!" But when he saw what the rookie saw he picked up his weapon and stared at the orb. "What the hell is that?"

He was answered with bolts of lightning striking them. Suddenly, the floor beneath them caved in.

/~/~/

Ike and the others watched in amazement as Genis' Indignation busted through the wall to the fort.

"Great job Genis!" Lloyd praised his friend.

Genis fell to his knees and gave a weak laugh. "Just don't ask me to do that again for a while."

When the final stones fell to the ground they moved out. Genis stayed behind with a few others. Tanith lead some of her Pegasus knight and the two hawk laguz to the skies to fight with the wyvern riders. Rest of the group was going to take the fort while the Daein soldiers were probably in chaos.

/~/~/

"What the hell is going on?" Commander Kayachey yelled at one of his soldiers.

"From what some have said, a large bolt of lightning struck that caused the south wall to collapses," the soldier told his superior officer.

"WHAT!" Kayachey bellowed so loud that recruits nearby jumped. His eyes were so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. "There isn't a lightning spell on this continent that's powerful enough to destroy that wall!"

Right after he said that began to here dying screams and sounds of steal hitting steal. Within seconds a soldier came running in clutching his bloody shoulder.

"Now what's happening?"

The soldier straightened up letting his bloody arm hang loosely by his side. "The Crimean army is attacking. I'm sorry sir, they took us by surprise."

If it was possible for Kayachey's eyes to get any wider then they just did. "Well, we'll just have to show them the strength of the Daein army." An insidious smile crept up on his mouth. "I want their dead bodies in front of me."

A round of cheers echoed around him; but they were soon drowned out by a sudden burst of wind. Suddenly, the wind began to cut through the three soldiers that were standing in front of Kayachey. They fell with a thud as their blood began to cover the stone floor.

Knowing that it was a spell, Kayachey quickly scanned for the enemy caster. He quickly found the intruder sitting on the stairs leading up to the top, twirling a short sword. The man's long red hair rippled with the last bit of wind magic in the room.

"Ya know," the man started, "I really didn't want to get caught up in all this fighting. But since I'm here I might as well try and end it. One way I could do that is by eliminating the boss man." The red head jumped down and landed a few feet away from Kayachey. "I take that's you, right?" A sly smile played across the man's face.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing; this guy was challenging him directly. Well then, I think I'll make him regret fighting me alone. "All of you back off, I will handle this one myself," he ordered his men who had already begun to surround the swordsmen. "Go and fight the army and don't let a single one through!"

Obediently the Daein soldiers left to meet the Crimean army in battle.

"For a second I thought I was going to have a challenge, but with all your guards gone this will be a piece of cake," the swordsmen said with the same smile.

"That cockiness will be the death of you," Kayachey sneered. "I normally would learn the name of the person I fight, but now I see no need for it."

"We'll see," the swordsmen's smile turned into a frown.

He took the first move as he charged at Kayachey and swung his short sword in an attempt to decapitate him. Lucky for Kayachey he got down just in time. He then opened his tome and cast a very powerful wind spell that hit the swordsmen square in the chest.

The red head was sent flying to the wall. The force of the impact caused some cracks in the stones around were the swordsmen hit.

He recovered quickly and stood up with a bewildered look. "Come on, damn it, another magic user!" He wined, "It's so not fair, you guys get to cast spell after spell, while I can only use a few of my artes!"

Kayachey raised an eyebrow, wondering if the swordsmen had hit his head to hard. But round two soon began.

/~/~/

Lloyd let out a battle cry as he sliced through an enemy's chest. The soldier staggered then fell to the ground. Lloyd scoped the area to check and see if his friends were still okay.

He hoped Genis would stay safe.

Colette was by his side, she was healed from the fight at Serenes but he made her promise that she would stick close by.

Professor Raine was in one of the corners healing their wounded.

Presea had just sliced through a knight's armor.

He saw Sheena use one of her cards to blow up one unfortunate soldier.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Regal kicked someone square in the jaw. That's defiantly broken, Lloyd thought with a shudder.

Zelos was…wait, where was Zelos? He looked around more carefully but still couldn't spot the red headed Chosen. He went through his memory to see if Zelos was even in this fight; several of them weren't.

"Isn't Zelos supposed to be here? I don't see him anywhere," he asked Colette.

Colette looked around for herself, "I'm pretty sure he was with us when we stormed this place."

"Surely, that idiot didn't go wondering off on his own," Sheena said over the noise, overhearing them.

Lloyd just shrugged; he figured that Zelos wasn't doing anything reckless.

Suddenly, Rolf, who Lloyd and Colette were keeping the Daeins from attacking, just took off down the hall.

"Rolf, wait!" Colette called after him.

She ran after him which, in turn, caused Lloyd to run after her.

Damn it, what is with him? Lloyd wondered as he followed them. Rolf was always the careful one; it wasn't like him to just run off by himself. Especially in a battle!

Colette and Lloyd chased after him a little ways until they spotted Rolf. But they saw him hugging one of the enemy soldiers.

There was something vaguely familiar about this soldier, with the red hair and bow in hand. Rolf and the red head were talking in hush voices that Colette and Lloyd couldn't hear what it was they were talking about.

But suddenly the red head stepped back and draw his bow in front of him while Rolf's eyes began to fill with tears.

Out of instinct, Lloyd charged at the man and swiped at him before he could attack Rolf. But even though Lloyd caught him by surprise the man was able to dodge it. Colette rushed in front of Rolf with her chakrams in hand.

In an attempt to land a hit, Lloyd brought the sword in his right hand upward. The archer jumped back in time but not before the tip of Lloyd's sword tore the man's shirt. The short cape he was wearing fell from his shoulders when he landed a few feet from the swordsmen.

All four of them stared at each, but the longer Lloyd looked at the annoyed look the archer gave him the more he looked familiar. Then the memory from Gallia when two of the mercenaries left came to mind. "Wait, aren't you…"

"Shinon?" Colette finished off of Lloyd.

The man raised an eyebrow at the pair; but after a good look at Colette he said plainly, "You're that priestess."

"Thank goodness you're all right, I wondered what happened to you," Colette said.

Lloyd had lowered his swords and added, "Yeah, how did you end up all the way over here?"

Shinon had a dark look when he said, "You two aren't that bright." He then pulled an arrow out of his quiver and loaded his bow. The arrow was pulled back and pointed right at Lloyd's throat.

A soft cry escaped Lloyd's mouth at the realization that Shinon wasn't on their side, he was their enemy. Though he never saw the archer fight he heard a great deal about him; like how every shot was always deadly. He wasn't going to take his chances against the archer.

Rolf moved around Colette, water welling around his eyes. "B-but, Shinon!" He wailed.

The older archer shifted his gaze toward Rolf. "What the hell did I just say, Rolf? Things like this happen, so man up and stop that crying!"

"So you're really going to fight all your friends!" Lloyd shouted at Shinon angrily, giving him a death look.

This just caused Shinon to tighten his grip on his bow. Is he shaking? Lloyd wondered as he watched him. I guess deep down he would rather not fight Rolf and the others.

Out of fear that the archer was going to shoot Lloyd, Colette threw one of her Chakrams as hard as she could. It curved and hit Shinon's hand causing his bow to fly out of his hands. It slid across the cobbled floor about a length away from Shinon. Lloyd took his chance and swung his sword upward. This time he caught the archer in the shoulder. It wasn't deep but it was still a hit.

Lloyd would have gone for another hit but more Daein soldiers were coming and a few of them were heading for Rolf and Colette. (Because the enemy units always go for the cheap shots!)

Charging for a swordsman that was about attack Rolf, mimicking his sword rain art, Lloyd stabbed the man in the chest as many times as he could. The swordsman fell down instantly with blood squirting out of his chest. Colette threw her ring at an approaching knight but it did nothing but bounce off his armor.

Rolf had gained some of his composer back and fired an arrow at the knight Colette had attack. The arrow pierced below the knight's shoulder plate. But the knight just broke the arrow off and continued his advance toward them, lance at the ready.

The knight turned his attention to Lloyd, who had just killed another soldier. Another swordsman raised his sword at Lloyd, but Lloyd blocked it with one sword and cut the enemy's chest with the other. The swordsman doubled over in pain.

"Look out!" Colette cried out.

But Lloyd didn't turn around in time. A sharp pain entered Lloyd's side. He looked down to see a lance sticking out above his hip.

The lance was pulled out and Lloyd fell to his knees. He squeezed at his side to stop the bleeding. His red shirt became darker where the wound was at as blood dripped to the floor. The knight flicked the lance in order to rid it of Lloyd's blood, and then slammed it down on the swordsmen.

He raised his sword in time to block. But the force was so strong that Lloyd had to let go of his side to bring his other sword up to help block. He gritted his teeth as he fought to keep the lance from stabbing his head.

From behind the knight he saw Colette run toward him. "Colette! Get out of here, now!" He shouted at her.

She stopped in her tacks then shook her head stubbornly. "I'm not leaving you!"

Suddenly, her wings appeared and veil of light surround her. All the soldiers gasped and backed away nervously at the angle.

"No, Colette!" She's going to use her angle power! Lloyd thought with horror. He was afraid of what would happen if she used her power here in a world with no mana.

"Angle Feathers!" She shouted. The sparkling feathers then turned into disks and shot toward the knight. Some of them ricocheted off the armored body, hitting other soldiers, while others stayed true on their course by cutting through the openings in the armor.

The grip on the lance lessened as the knight slumped to the ground; who would probably bleed to death in a few minutes. Colette herself fell to the ground.

Lloyd staggered to his feet and got to Colette as fast as his body would let him go. Rolf was already by her side, not sure if he should lift her up or leave her be.

His swords fell with a clang as he fell with on his knees next to Colette. He gently shook her shoulder gently. "Hey, Colette. Are you alright?"

Colette raised her head and gave him her "everything is alright" smile. Lloyd relaxed a little as he and Rolf helped her up.

"I guess I over did it a little, huh Lloyd?" She said weakly.

Lloyd didn't say anything, he tighten his grip on Colette as he looked at all the Daein soldiers that were surrounding them. He was just about to tell Rolf to get Colette somewhere safe while he distracted the enemy when a brown horse galloped by.

Oscar was at the reins running over a few soldiers while his brother, Boyd, who was riding on the back, jumped off and began coping at a few others with his ax.

When most of the enemy was out of range Boyd ran over to Rolf and hit him on top the head. "What were you thinking going off on your own, grass head!" He yelled at his half-brother.

"You don't have to hit me, you meat head!" Rolf said angrily while he rubbed his head.

They were about to go another round of hateful banter until their older brother, Oscar, trotted up and said in a calm manner "You both realize you're in the middle of a battlefield, right?"

Boyd and Rolf looked away from each other. But then they all noticed Shinon standing a few feet away, bow at the ready. He wasn't really aiming it at anyone.

"You damn bastard, first you leave the company and now you're fighting us. Just how low are you willing to go?" Boyd said out loud.

"Gotta do what ya gatta do in order to survive, right?" The archer said.

Shinon pulled the sting back but then back stepped out of the way of a sword coming at him. They saw a familiar blue haired swordsman enter the fight.

Raine followed behind the swordsmen but ran over to Lloyd and began to heal him. Lloyd could tell that using so many artes in a short time was taking a toll on her.

Shinon had dropped his arrow so he pulled another out another. He twirled it in his hand before aiming it at his new opponent. He said with a smile, "I always knew it would come to this, Ike."

Ike just looked at him as he tightened his grip on his sword.

"Watch yourself!" Shinon yelled as he shot his bow.

With a quick sidestep the arrow only grazed Ike's shoulder. Without hesitation Ike dashed toward Shinon and stabbed him in the gut. Blood ran down Shinon's mouth.

When Ike pulled his sword out Shinon staggered backward hunched over clutching his gut. "Well…What are you doing? ...Finish it," he breathed.

"Don't move too much or you'll bleed to death," Ike surprised everybody by saying. He turned toward Raine and asked, "Do you think you can heal him?"

Raine looked at him in disbelief but walked over and began to cast First Aid.

"Heh, idiot," Shinon mumbled.

"I couldn't agree more," Raine agreed.

/~/~/

A short time later Soren announced that most of the Daeins have been dealt with and all that was left was to find the commanding officer. But there was still one thing that was still on Lloyd's mind; where the hell was Zelos? No one had seen him since the battle started.

So a small group was searching the halls for the two people they need to find while the rest took care of the remaining troops.

After a few minutes of searching, Presea came running back to Lloyd and Ike informing them that she had found Zelos. Following her down one of the halls they were able to spot the Chosen on the upper level.

But it wasn't just Zelos they saw, there was another man and they were in a deadly fight. Both were bloodied and bruised. "I believe that may be Kayachey who is in charge of this fort," Soren told everyone.

Lloyd and Sheena ran up the stair followed by Ike and the others. As soon as they reached the top they saw that the man Kayachey had just cast a tornado spell that sent Zelos crashing into the wall. His head dropped down and he wasn't moving at all.

Kayachey stared at Zelos, and then he gave a triumphant laugh. "You were a worthy adversary, but in the end it was I who came out on top!"

"You bastard!" Lloyd yelled as he drew one of his swords.

Sheena's eyes wouldn't leave Zelos' limp body. "No," she said softly.

The bloody man turned to the others. "So…do you wish to join your friend?"

"You're out numbered and injured; you won't stand a chance against us. Surrender now!" Ike suggested.

"What makes you think I'm out numbered?" Kayachey snapped and archers surrounded them; arrows pointed at the group.

"You just had to say that didn't you," Soren sighed.

"Getting a little ahead of yourself aren't you when our fight isn't even over," a voice breathed darkly.

Everyone was startled until a bright light glowed under Zelos' body. Kayachey turned around wide eyed in disbelief.

Zelos lifted his arm up and shouted, "Grave!" Four earth spikes busted through the stone floor and pierced Kayachey right in the heart. Blood spewed out of his mouth.

The Chosen stood up and cheered, "Oh yeah, now you know not to mess with the Great Zelos Wilder!"

The spikes collapsed and Kayachey fell to the floor dead. The other Daein soldiers all laid their weapons slowly to the ground and raised their arms up.

Ike looked at Zelos who apparently looked uninjured said, "You were only playing dead."

Then Sheena ran up and began violent outbreak. "YOU STUPID CHOSEN! Do have any idea what you just put us through!" She screamed at him as she kicked him repeatedly.

Zelos was curled up in a ball on the ground. "I really am hurt you, crazy banshee!" He protested.

Lloyd and the others just stared blankly at them and Presea said plainly, "I have no sympathy for him."

Rhys just smiled nervously and said, "Shouldn't we at least heal him first?"

/~/~/

"Close the floodgates, now!" Ike yelled over the rushing water.

Presea and Lloyd were the closes to the controls, so dashed toward them and began to turn the wheel. Lloyd had to use all of his might to in order to close the gates. But with a few grunts the floodgates finally closed.

When that was done Lloyd took a good look around at the battle field. Talrega was what the village was called that became a war zone. The fighting was over now and the few wyvern riders left were retreating. Their side didn't suffer hardly any damage but the villagers sure did. Homes were burning, crops had been destroyed because of the flood waters, and there were probably a few who were injured.

All this destruction just so the Daeins could slow them down! They wouldn't have had to come through here if Daein hadn't ordered the wyvern riders to open the floodgates which stopped their progress.

Both sides wanted the fight over quickly, in fact the wyvern lord, Shiharam, wanted it to end more than anyone. He was also Jill's father. Lloyd saw her knelt next to his corps, tears staining her cheeks.

Lloyd then heard a soft cry down the hill. He jogged to the edge to see one of the cottages had collapsed, that was where the cry was coming from!

Without even thinking he slid down the hill and carefully walked toward the ruble to look. He saw the silhouette of a small girl curled up whimpering softly, it was a miracle she hadn't been crushed.

"Don't worry Sara, your big brother's going to get ya otta there!" Lloyd heard around the corner. He glanced around to see a boy who couldn't be much older than Genis attempting to lift the fallen house off of his sister. The boy had dirt and scratches all over him.

Suddenly, the side of the house began to buckle and so the boy began to act as a pillar to keep the roof from falling on his sister.

Lloyd ran over and braced his back against the house and pushed with is knees. "I'll hold it while you get your sister." Lloyd said to him with the house literally on his shoulders.

The boy just gave him a dirty look. "I don't need any stinking help from a Crimean!"

"This isn't the time for stubbornness! Do you want to save your sister, or not?" Lloyd shouted at him.

A look a shock covered the boy's face, but he nodded and began to crawl under the wooden beams. Lloyd's body began to feel the strain of the roof and soon he could feel his Exsphere's power. He really hoped none of the laguz came close enough to go berserk.

Soon a small blonde head pop out from under the wood. The small girl crawled out first followed by the boy. When they were safely away Lloyd jumped forward letting the remains of the house to crumble. "Are you two all right?" He breathed.

The two siblings stared at their destroyed home, but both managed to say yes.

"Where are your parents?" Lloyd asked them.

"Our mother passed away a few years ago and our father left to join the army, we haven't heard from him in over a year," the boy answered.

That just hit home for Lloyd. These children had already suffered and now they had nothing because of this stupid fight. He clenched his fist in frustration. For the time Lloyd truly understood what Kratos said after they destroyed the crazy tree. "That's why war is so tragic. To win means to make victims of your opponents and give birth to hatred."

Tragic doesn't begin to cover it, he thought. But then he turned to the children and gave a reassuring smile. "I think I heard that your name was Sara, right?" He asked the girl who nodded at the question. "So what would your name be?" He asked the boy next.

He hesitated a little before saying, "I'm Kyros…sir."

"Well then, you two follow me," Lloyd said when he came up with an idea. He began to walk away when he looked over his shoulder. The two kids looked at one another then Kyros grasped Sara's hand and followed after the swordsmen.

Lloyd led them to the caravan and saw the bird laguz, Zelos, Raine and Genis. Zelos was injured from the last fight and Genis and Raine still hadn't recovered enough mana so both sat out this battle.

As Lloyd dug through the supplies, the children behind moved closer together as they eyed Reyson and the other birds. Lloyd turned around and knelt in front of them. He hand Kyros a cloth that covered several strips of dried meat. "This isn't much," Lloyd said, "but hopefully it'll help."

Kyros accepted the food but continued to eye the laguz nervously. "T-thank you…sir," he said without looking at him and his sister gave a tiny nod.

"You can call me Lloyd."

"Thank you…Lloyd," Kyros repeated sounding a little more friendlier.

"Can't you say thanks too little one?" Zelos asked Sara.

Sara just hid behind her brother making Kyros grow angry. "She couldn't say "thank you" even if she wanted to!" He yelled at Zelos.

Zelos backed away and didn't say any more on the matter.

"Lloyd, why are you helping these beorc children? They are the enemy," Reyson asked.

"The enemy is with the Daein soldiers, not these villagers. We'll look more like monsters if we just come and destroy," Lloyd explained as calm as he could.

"I couldn't agree more." Everyone turned to see Ike walking slowly to them. "It's going to take a few hours for the water to recede so we can continue. So during that time I want everyone to help out these villagers in any way we can," he ordered as he grabbed a box of their rations.

/~/~/

After a few more days of marching they finally made it to the capital. It appeared that the Daeins had evacuated all the women and children because there was no sign of life anywhere. There weren't any soldiers in sight either, so they must be waiting for them.

Lloyd knew that the Daein people will look at them as the bad guys; hopefully people will understand that they had no intention of hurting the civilians. Maybe the help they did in Talrega will spread. In fact Lloyd had spent all that time there trying to find a new home for Kyros and Sara. An elderly woman finally agreed to look after them. Lloyd was able to leave with one less thing his mind.

But of course everyone had only one thing on his mind, to defeat the Mad-King Ashnard. And he was right up ahead. As the Daein castle drew closer; anticipation, anxiety, and even a little fear filled everyone's hearts. The final battle was near.

Although there were some strange things going on; like Ike being really distressed when Mist misplaced her mother's medallion, but then again it was his mother's memento so Lloyd guessed it was understandable, and then for some reason Nasir has disappeared. It was also strange that Nasir stayed with them for this long.

To add to the weirdness the gate was wide open! Unmanned. If this didn't scream trap, Lloyd didn't know what did. But Ike though that they would just go ahead and spring the trap. Once the army crossed through the opened gate everyone expected it to close, but it didn't.

Ike told them to stay on guard; the enemy had to be around. But as they were wondering around the keep they still hadn't seen any sign of the Daeins.

"I hear something," Colette stopped to say.

"Is it the Daein soldiers?" Ike asked.

Colette closed her eyes to concentrate. "I'm not sure. But there is defiantly fight up ahead."

"Either way, we proceed with caution," said Soren.

They moved slowly down the hallway and soon everyone could hear the sound of blades hitting and a few war cries.

Following the noise out into the courtyard they found what was happening. One man was taking on a whole battalion. The one man was wielding a double-edged weapon, wearing red and black armor and had long blue hair tied back.

Blood covered the man, but Lloyd highly doubted that any of the blood was the man's knowing who it was. The double-edge weapon spun around, slicing anything in its way. With a swift motion of the weapon a wall of lightning was ran forward, taking out half of the soldiers.

Lloyd and Genis ran up behind him and Lloyd shouted, "Yuan!"

Yuan tuned turned around after he sliced a swordsmen's throat. He looked generally surprised to see Lloyd. "Certainly didn't expect to see you all here."

"We'll help you with these guys," Genis said as he pulled his kendama out.

"Don't bother!" Yuan shouted at them making them stop in their tracks. "You need to go on and help Kratos." Yuan took out two more in one fell swoop.

"What! Kratos is here too? What's happening to him?" Lloyd yelled back.

"Nothing hopefully, but some weirdo took off with an arm load of Exsheres! Hurry and catch up to them!"

"Alright," Lloyd said as he and Genis ran back to the others. Dad is here! Lloyd had to find him and get those Exsheres back, who know what the Daein want with them.

"You sure he'll be okay by himself?" Ike asked as he watched Yuan's blade hit a soldier in the gut.

"Don't worry, if anyone can handle them it's him," Lloyd smirked.

"Not to mention a four thousand year old angel," Colette told him.

"And a half-elf," Genis added.

The mercenaries couldn't really process all this but they marched back in to the keep in order to go deeper in order to find not only Asnard but Kratos too.

Lloyd looked back to make sure everyone was still together.

Everyone was here except for one.

A certain red headed Chosen.

/~/~/

Zelos was walking down dark hall. Of course it's dark where I'm going, he thought bitterly. The only way he was able to see was from torch light coming from far away rooms.

There was a traitor among them and Zelos hopped he was able to stop him before it could be the death of them. It took a traitor to know a traitor.

Finally he saw the traitor, in brown clothes and light blue hair. He saw Zelos first. "Shouldn't you be with the army?"

"Probably, but I had a question I wanted to ask you Nasir," Zelos said to him with an evil look. "Do you get your kicks stealing mementos from girls?"

"So you saw me steal the medallion from Mist did you?"

"Not really, see it was dark so I couldn't see too well. But then you disappeared so I just put two and two together. You've also been leaking our movements to the Daein too, haven't you?"

Nasir kept a calm face on as he said, "What makes you say I'm did that?"

The Chosen was getting a little frustrated with this guy, Nasir was just beating around the bush. "Because that commander at that Tor Garen palace said something about an informant. Tell me I'm wrong," Zelos mocked.

Then Nasir did something Zelos wasn't expecting, laughing. And it wasn't an evil laugh in was more of an insane one. "You are right. But why are you here, planning on fighting me? I'll warn you, you won't be as lucky with me as you were with Kayachey."

Zelos scoffed. Then drew his short sword and said, "I'll take my chances."

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." Suddenly, a force pushed Zelos against the wall as Nasir was engulfed in a bright red light, he was transforming into his beast. Zelos stood his ground, ready for whatever he was transforming into.

But he certainly wasn't ready for a humongous white dragon! Nasir extended white wing as he let out a might roar.

Damn it! That smartass Soren said each laguz was weak against some kind of spell. What was the dragon's! Zelos rubbed his head in frustration when he couldn't remember. Oh well not like I could use a lot of spells. Zelos charged right for Nasir.

Nasir attempted to dodge, but not enough. Zelos was headed straight for the tail.

"Fierce Demon Fang!" Zelos shouted as he landed on top of it.

But his attacked was deflected. It did nothing.

Nasir cocked his giant dragon head as he looked down at the swordsmen. All Zelos did was give a nerves smile as he braced himself for what was coming next.

With the flick of his tail Zelos was sent crashing into the wall. As he slumped to the ground he began to cough up blood. His ribs were broken again as his wounds from his fight with Kayachey reopened. He could blood running down his face.

He looked up at Nasir in front of him. Nasir took in a deep breath about to breathe fire.

Oh crap, this is gona hurt! Zelos closed his eyes as he prepared for the worse.

Zelos: WHAT THE HELL! First I get my ass kicked by Regal in the animated series, then almost lose to that magic guy, and now I'm about to be killed by a dragon! What the hell!

Genis: Seriously, I only got to use on spell in this whole chapter and that was it. This whole lacking mana thing sucks!

Lloyd: I call the sequel in our world!

Ike: But if we do that then not all of us in in this world could come.

Blue: Jeez, I had to put some kind of handicap on you all. And besides, it's not my fault that the physics engines in Fire Emblem and Symphonia are so deferent.