Clash of the Elements Part 4: Reuniting the Divided World

by mewmaster93

The next leg of Riku's journey finds him tackling a 4,000 year long cycle of mana transference between two halves of a divided world. The story of Lloyd Irving and the Chosen of Mana Colette Brunel has been told before, but with the arrival of a person no one expected to see perhaps the outcome of this particular tale will be different than before...

8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Volt

Entering the Temple of Lightning, the group is greeted by a bright purple hue coming from the environment along with a straightforward ivory tiled path. Sheena twitches nervously in the face of this path as she recalls years ago when she entered here alongside many other of Mizuho's citizens.

A gaze over the side of the path reveals an endless chasm filled with dark purple and black fog that crackles occasionally with electricity. While Lloyd was in awe of the fog, he also noted something rather interesting about the temple "Huh, we got in easily…" He then pulls back from the side of the path and looks on ahead before commenting further "And I don't see an oracle stone anywhere…"

Raine notes to her puzzled student "This is the flourishing world. It probably isn't functioning as a seal right now." Lloyd looks at the professor and states "Well, that's good news for us."

He then glances over at Sheena and asks her "So Sheena, since you've been here before, can you tell us what we're up against?"

With the girl stuck in her own worried thoughts, it takes her a moment to glance over at Lloyd and says to him "Huh? O-Oh, right…Umm, truth be told Lloyd, I was seven when I came here before, and the elders mostly dealt with the puzzles at the time…I-I'm sorry, I don't remember much."

"…Sorry, I wasn't trying to force you to relive bad memories." Lloyd apologizes upon noticing Sheena's distress after he said that. "Don't worry about it Lloyd, I'll be fine, I promise." Sheena gives him her reassurance afterwards, and the group accepts that as an answer for now.

As they proceed down the pathway though, Corrine appears on the ground in front of Sheena and walks backwards while saying in a quiet and concerned tone "What's wrong Sheena? You're nervous, aren't you?"

Sinking her head in shame, Sheena replies to her friend "…Well, yeah, of course." Corrine leaps up and down and proclaims "Don't worry. If anything goes wrong, I'll protect you, okay?"

Sheena feels a tiny bit of appreciation towards the little fox's determination but nonetheless says "…I appreciate that, but I don't think…you have that kind of power. Or me, either, of course…"

Corrine leaps up in front of Sheena's face to make her heart skip a beat and grab her attention, and once on the ground the little fox says "You mustn't talk like that! I'm going to do my best, so you should too, okay?" Giving her friend a tiny nod, Sheena sighs and replies with "…Yeah."

After passing by a few electric gates that turn on and off, the group runs into a Sorcerer's Ring altar. Lloyd uses it to change the ring's function, and after remembering what almost happened in the mines he holds the ring forward before activating it. A pulse of blue lightning comes out a few feet in front of Lloyd before it vanishes, causing Lloyd to comment "Huh, so it's like the normal Sorcerer's Ring, but with lightning."

This event brings a few memories back to Sheena's mind. She recalls watching as the Chief of Mizuho took his Sorcerer's Ring and showed off it's effects to the young ninja with a warm smile on his face. During that time Kuchinawa was with her, and while both were fascinated as little children rightfully should be they kept a dutiful expression on their faces.

After this memory faded away, Sheena said to Lloyd "I remembered something Lloyd. With the ring the way it is now, you can destroy blue blocks of concentrated mana in this temple."

Riku comments afterwards "I really have to wonder why there are so many objects composed of mana on this planet." To which Raine replies with a hypothesis as they move further through the temple "Considering Tethe'alla has been flourishing for a while now, it would make sense if the excess of mana took on a composite form to ensure that this event isn't reversed."

"I guess that's possible, or it could be that someone doesn't want us to make it to the Summon Spirits." Riku says in turn, leading to Raine turning away from the boy and murmuring to herself curiously.

After going back and climbing a staircase, the group exits the foggy entrance and ends up in the main part of the temple itself. The hue of light vanished and was replaced with a dark pale atmosphere. The temple was split into two floors that could be reached easily with a staircase on either side of the room, and as Sheena looked up towards the second floor she noticed a familiar conductor poking slightly past the edge of the platform.

"…Hmm…" Sheena pauses for a moment and recalls the past again, this time remembering the first time she entered this particular room with the Chief and a couple Mizuho escorts. Her young self stared up at the top of the Temple of Lightning, and the Chief said to her in his usual voice of wisdom "Up there is Volt's Summon Seal. Sheena, are you ready?"

Sheena remembers nodding her head in the past, but in the present she pondered whether saying no would've made any difference. "I guess I felt I couldn't disappoint the Chief because he took me in and raised me…But even then I…" The girl is left in her thoughts for a few seconds in the center of the room before Zelos yodels at her "Yoo-hoo! Hey Sheena, we're already heading to the second floor, come on!"

The ninja glances over at the left staircase to see the group ascending with Zelos hanging back to grab her attention. "Right, sorry guys!" Sheena apologizes and runs to catch up, leading to Zelos turning back around with a concerned look in his eyes before he continues moving.

At the top of the staircase, the group comes across a polycarbonate seal with three different colored blocks holding up a conductor at the center of it. "So this is Volt's seal…Fascinating!" Raine smiles brightly and her eyes light up as she runs past the rest of the group and heads to the other side of the seal, kneeling down and scanning up and down to see how everything looked.

"Even with the difference in mana output the seal still has the same structure as the ones in Sylvarant…And there appears to be a different summoning method for Volt compared to the other three. There is so much to see here, like how-" As Raine babbles on by herself, Lloyd steps in front of the seal and notices a blue block on the bottom, which he makes disappear with a use of the Sorcerer's Ring.

This is followed by a distressed cry from Raine, who immediately stands up and runs at Lloyd, exclaiming with arms pressed against her chest and her face right up in Lloyd's own. "Why did you do that Lloyd?! I may never get a chance to examine a block like that again!"

Lloyd surprisingly handles Raine's mania calmly, saying to her "Relax professor. There's three different colored blocks in this temple, so I imagine we'll have to change the Sorcerer's Ring to deal with the other two. And we'll probably find more blue blocks along the way."

The entire group is flabbergasted by everything Lloyd just said, with Genis commenting in a deadpan manner "L-Lloyd said something smart and reasonable."

"Shut up Genis." Lloyd turns his head to say that to his friend, while beside him Raine lets out a proud sniffle and states to Lloyd "You're actually paying attention Lloyd…I'm so happy to hear that!"

Raine was broken out of her mania thanks to this, but the group had become a little distracted by their task. Regal lets out a gentle cough and says to everyone else "You can be proud of him later Raine. Lloyd brings up a good point, we need to find out how to deal with the other two blocks."

Lloyd turns around and asks Sheena "Have you remembered anything else that can help?" The ninja was in the middle of staring at the seal, which causes yet more memories to surface bit by bit. Now Sheena recalled the moment where the Chief calls forth two Mizuho ninjas, both of whom wore Sorcerer Rings on their right hands. "Remove the blocks and the seal will connect to the device, giving it the mana necessary to call forth Volt."

The two Mizuho ninjas and the Chief use their electricity simultaneously to remove the blocks, and the conductor slowly falls before the young Sheena's eyes as she stands in front of the seal. The Chief turns towards Sheena and says to herself in an encouraging manner "Sheena, Volt shall soon arrive. Your training has led up to this moment."

Sheena snaps out of her memories and replies to Lloyd with "I'm sorry, but someone else handled the other two blocks. I don't know the inner workings of this temple. It shouldn't be too difficult though."

"Then lets get a move on." Lloyd says. The group heads back down the staircase to try and figure out where the yellow lightning altar is, since that was the next block they need to deal with. While they went through the temple, Zelos walked up between Genis and Lloyd and listened in on their conversation. "I wonder if Sheena's okay." Genis whispered in concern, which leads to Lloyd commenting "…We have to believe in her. If we don't, who will?"

Zelos gets a little laugh out of their conversation and interjects with a word of his own "Ah, what beautiful mutual trust." Lloyd immediately glares at the man and exclaims "Stop making a joke out of it!"

"Whoa, take it easy Lloyd. Just think for a moment here, if I were the one that was about to make that pact now, even Lloyd wouldn't be able to freely put all his trust in me, right?" Zelos quietly explains. Genis shrugs his shoulders and says "No kidding."

Zelos brushes the side of Genis' face and says in quiet anger "The brat can shut up, thank you." He then turns towards Lloyd and says to him "So anyway, I was just thinking how you have a beautiful mutual trust born of the time you've spent together."

Lloyd points out "Sheena's our partner. Of course we trust her." He then glances at Zelos and says straight up to him "…And so are you, after all. I trust you, too." This remark makes the man close his eyelids partway and tilt his head while murmuring "…Hmmm." To himself.

Continuing on through dark passages illuminated only by the brief flashes of lightning, the group also eliminates any monster that stands in their way until they make it to the second altar. They give the ring the ability to shoot yellow lightning and then make their way back to the seal to deal with the next block.

Along the way, Riku walks up to Sheena and asks her "Sheena, how are you holding up so far?" The ninja glances at the boy and replies with "I-I'm fine…Mostly." The little lack of confidence at the end of her sentence made the teenage Overlord feel curious.

"What do you mean by that?" Riku asks to gain further information. Sheena says in response "I thought I'd hate being in the Temple of Lightning again, but…"

"You only hate being in Volt's room." Riku figures out the girl's problem after a little more information, which causes Sheena to quietly say to him as she turns her head "Y-Yeah."

"Well that's understandable. Seeing that room sets off traumatic memories." Riku says. Sheena nods her head rather hesitantly in agreement, leading to her then asking the teenage Overlord "…Say Riku, have you ever had a traumatic experience in your life?"

"…" Riku hangs his head a bit and quietly replies "Yeah, once. But that won't affect our journey, not unless Lloyd or Zelos started running around with a green cap on their heads."

"Heh, that sounds like something Zelos would do." Sheena lightens up a bit and laughs at the thought Riku put in her head. The teenage Overlord then says to Sheena cheerfully "…Once we've dealt with Volt, I look forward to seeing you go back to your energetic self."

The group makes it back to the seal and use the yellow lightning to destroy the block, leaving only the red one in it's wake. But before they depart, Lloyd brings up a rather good question "Why can't we just touch the device from here?"

"Because the device has to connect to the seal to summon Volt. The blocks provide insufficient mana." Sheena explains based on her past memories. "Oh…" Lloyd was kind of bummed out since he was starting to get bored with traversing the temple.

But even so, Lloyd didn't make any noise regarding his boredom and continued on with the rest of the group to find the red lightning altar. More dark passages, a puzzle involving a large lightning rod, and a few destroyed rocks later the group manages to find the altar they need. On the way back to what would be their destined confrontation with Volt, Zelos walks beside Sheena and gets into a conversation with her.

"So it's almost time to make a pact with Volt. You ready for this my voluptuous darling?" Zelos puts on his charm in front of the girl like he usual does, which only causes her irritation as she crumples her forehead and says "I'd prefer it if you didn't say anything."

"I'm just trying to make small talk Sheena. You know, ease a little tension." Zelos tries to state his intentions honestly, but Sheena points out "You aren't doing a very good job…"

"Yeah, I know. I'm not exactly used to holding a conversation like this." Zelos says, leading to Sheena looking at him in a curious manner before he says "You know how hard it is to forget these beautiful looks and dashing figure exists and just talk to someone as a friend? I consider many women my hunnies, but you're the only one I consider to be my friend."

"…That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me." Sheena states after taking a surprised pause. Zelos smiles and shrugs before joking "What can I say, lightning never strikes the same place twice."

Sheena nudges Zelos in the gut for his misplaced metaphor, but keeps a half-smile on her face and uses little force in her nudge. Sheena had her spirits lifted slightly by that effort, which carried over as she entered Volt's chamber and ascended the stairs to the seal for the last time. Lloyd uses the ring to destroy the red block, which causes the conductor to fall straight onto the center of the seal. All that was needed was a press of the button to activate the device, and Volt would be summoned forth.

Lloyd looks at Sheena and asks her "Are you ready?" The ninja pauses for a moment and looks around her. Everyone was looking at her expectantly, but no one said a word. Sheena looks at the seal and nods her head. Lloyd backs off to stand around with the rest of the group, leaving Sheena to activate the device on her own.

Sheena takes two steps forward and with her right hand shivering she presses the button into the device, causing a sharp crystal rod to thrust out from the top. Immediately upon backing off, Sheena and the group watch as the rod is struck by a flash of purple lightning, which warps around into a glowing vortex of electricity with a vague spherical hue that can barely contain the might of the vortex.

The vortex spins for a few seconds before expanding outward in a massive burst of red energy that sends forth a static-y gale, and in a second the temple is robbed of most light. All that remains in the temple is the brightened outline of the group and the haunting red eyes poking through the darkness. The eyes open with a sparking yellow glow that represents the pupils, and the light is then cast back into the temple as a large sphere of purple electricity that can barely contain it's own energy.

Gazing their eyes upon Volt in awe, only Riku has a physical reaction to the Summon Spirit's presence as a sharp tinge nicks the front of his chest and makes him clench his right fist against it and tremble slightly before he comments in his head "He has it…That's definitely my Lightning element…"

Sheena stands at edge of the seal and stares up at Volt. Seeing him against after twelve years immediately reminded her of their first encounter, and though she was older the Summon Spirit was as imposing as it was back then. Nervousness arises even further as past and present meet and Volt starts to speak to her in a very distorted dialect that sounded similar to a robot beeping. The language was unfamiliar to Sheena, and in a panic she says "…It's just like before! What the hell is he saying?!"

Volt stares down in disappointment at the girl before her, and as Sheena starts to recall what happened the last time she failed to translate the Spirit's words she's swiftly snapped out of it by Raine's words "Sheena, calm down. I'll translate."

The professor, who had analyzed the words spoken in a language that was familiar only to her, tried her best to restate what Volt had just said "I am one who is bound to Mithos. Who are you?"

Lloyd comments "Mithos again? How could he make pacts with Summons Spirits in both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant?" Genis answers with his own theory "Hmm, yeah. Maybe Mithos went back and forth between the worlds with a Rheaird as well."

While those two talked, Sheena gained a little more confidence in herself and exclaimed to Volt "I am Sheena! I ask that though annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me."

Volt speaks again, and Raine translates anew "He says that his pact with Mithos is broken. But he no longer desires a pact." This revelation sends a sharp pain of shock through Sheena's chest, and she turns back at Raine and proclaims "Why?!"

Volt answers, and through Raine Sheena learns "I will have no more dealings with people, therefore I desire no pact."

"W-What?! N-N-No! We didn't come all this way for nothing! We need your help!" Sheena draws out multiple seals, her body trembling in fright as she stares up at Volt.

Another sharp tinge pulses through Riku's heart, and simultaneously with Lloyd they proclaim "Sheena! Be careful!"

Volt rises up slightly and draws in his own electricity, launching forth a ring of energy before he blasts the area around his seal with hard bolts of purple lightning. All who can draw out their swords do so to protect themselves from the brunt of the attack, but everyone is nonetheless struck with a lightning bolt and launched straight off the second floor of the temple. Genis, Presea and Regal are thrown against the wall, a sharp thrust of pain knocking them all unconscious against the ground, while Raine barely manages to save herself by casting First Aid on herself right as she lands. Lloyd, Zelos and Riku end up on their knees with barely any consciousness while Sheena falls onto her back atop the staircase on the first floor.

"Sheena!" Lloyd exclaims as he tries to push himself onto his feet, only for the pain in his legs to prevent him from rising. Sheena hears Lloyd's cry, but she lies on her back with eyes wide open and her mouth slightly agape, her body barely able to move.

As she lies there, another echo from the past returns to her mind, this time coming from her younger self "Chief, the pact isn't working!" Her words are followed up with the Chief saying "Volt isn't responding?! Impossible…"

The distress of the elder is followed by Sheena flashing forward through multiple events that occurred in a row, with Volt going on a rampage through his own temple, killing nearly all in his path. Sheena recalls the carnage in vivid detail, with Kuchinawa's parents being scorched alive and the Chief being thrust into a coma because he tried so hard to fend Volt off due to Sheena's mistake.

Every last scream was embedded inside of her head, making her whimper out to herself in the present "W-Why…? W-What's the point? …H-He can't be tamed…"

Sheena tries to lift herself upright almost like a zombie would, her eyes blank with fright as a purple, electric glow descends from above. Volt was coming from his seal to finish what he started, and as the girl stares into his emotionless eyes her own eyes began to trickle with tears as her voice began to break down into a frightened mumble "No…No…No no no. It's going to happen again…Everyone is going to die…I've learned nothing as a summoner…"

Lloyd tries to break through Sheena's broken state with desperate words "Sheena! Get up! We know you can do it still! Believe in yourself!" But the girl only weakly rose to her feet and clasped the sides of her head as the painful memories played over and over again, all of them drowned out by Volt's alien-like voice in a matter of seconds.

"LLOYD, ALL OF YOU, JUST RUN! HE CAN'T BE STOPPED!" Sheena's piercing cry is all that she muster. The safety of her friends meant more to her than her own life, which was soon to be over as Volt began to summon forth electricity from the front of his body to fry Sheena for her transgressions.

Riku wobbles forward, thinking to himself "I can stop him…All I need to do is leap forward and stop his attack…And then Sheena will be…" As selfless as his thoughts were, the teenage Overlord froze himself in place and glanced off to the side in shame, reminding himself that there would be no point to him defending Sheena from Volt's attack.

There was only one way that the group was going to handle Volt, and as much as Riku didn't want the act to occur…He chose to kneel there and let it unfold outside his range of vision. As Volt launched his attack, a familiar puff of smoke appeared beside Sheena's legs and leaped forth into the air. The figure and the projectile of blue lightning collide, and the figure is electrocuted for seven seconds with enough voltage to kill even the strongest of humans…But for the sake of his friend, Corrine let every second pass, even as Sheena's tears broke away and left her staring in silent disbelief at the sacrifice being performed before her very eyes.

The electricity snaps off of Corrine's body, and the little fox falls to the ground with smoke seeping out his fur. Sheena runs forward with little control over her body and kneels down before the fox, picking him up with both of her hands and holding him close to her face as her eyes wobble in sadness. "Corrine! Corrine!" Sheena proclaims the fox's name desperately in hopes of getting a response, but at first nothing comes out.

Tears begin to form again from Sheena's eyes as she nuzzles the fox against her chest and asks "Why?!" Her words come out painfully, but Volt cares nothing about those emotions. The Summon Spirit prepares to annihilate the girl with another bolt of lightning formed from the front of it's body. Sheena knew nothing about the attack as she coddled Corrine's scorched body in her arms, but as the flash of lightning erupts from Volt Lloyd stands up in spite of the pain in his legs and runs up the staircase, getting between the Summon Spirit just in time to draw one of his swords and deflect the purple lightning towards a wall to the right.

With the strength he had, Lloyd glances back at Sheena and exclaims urgently "Sheena! Get ahold of yourself!" While the swordsman was distracted by this, Volt fired off another lightning bolt that hit Lloyd square in the chest, sending him flying back down the staircase and leaving Sheena vulnerable to another attack.

But this time, Zelos leaps in as the bolt goes off, and with his shield at the front he exclaims "Guardian!" and summons forth a shield of green energy to block Volt's lightning. He then uses his other arm to grab Sheena around the stomach and leap out of the way, placing her safe out of harm's way against a wall before saying to her smoothly "Sheena, leave this to us for now!"

Zelos then flips back around and charges at Volt while Lloyd and Riku get on their feet and join him. Sheena looks at her friends charging into battle and exclaims in frightened disbelief "No! STOP!" Her voice became almost raspy as she tried to stop her friend's from throwing their life away.

As she sits there crying, a meek voice calls to her from below. "Sheena…" Sheena looks down to see Corrine turning his little head slightly upward to look at his friend, and after coughing out a little puff of smoke he says "Volt's…just lost his faith in people…Make your…vow…and try forming a pact one more time…You can do it, Sheena!"

"C-Corrine!" Speaking through the sadness welling in her heart, Sheena listens to the little fox as he says in the most apologetic tone he could muster "I'm sorry…that I couldn't be of more help…" Corrine's body becomes engulfed in a veil of hazy blue light, his body fading apart in a series of rising wisps as Sheena desperately begs her friend "No! NO! Not you Corrine…I don't want you to die too! Corrine…I…I…"

Sheena leans her head forward and begins to cry once more, her eyelids sealed as she whimpers tearfully. As the feeling of Corrine's fur began to leave her fingertips, the girl is greeted by another memory from the past…

"W-What is this?" A few years ago, Sheena recalls herself in the basement of the Elemental Research Laboratory, asking a question of one of the scientists as she stands before a glass orb where the newborn Corrine viciously barks at the glass.

"That is the first ever man-made Summon Spirit." One of the scientists replies as he writes down some data on the fox recorded from an analyzing device that rotates around the orb.

"A S-S-Summon Spirit?" Sheena asks. "Yes. We managed to do this based on what little data was recovered during your attempt to pact with Volt long ago. Isn't it a fascinating little creature?"

Sheena holds one hand out at the glass, but the fox snarls at her aggressively to force her back. Sheena asks of the man "D-Does he have a name?" "A name? Hmmm, we haven't quite managed to give him one yet. Normally a Summon Spirit names itself, but the creature doesn't appear to be capable of human speech."

"Just like Volt…" Sheena notes the similarity in a melancholy tone, and glares at the fox in a somewhat pitying manner. Later that night, Sheena returned to the lab and set the fox free, feeling as though it was being mistreated in that glass cage. The fox didn't bark at her as she left him outside of Meltokio to run free, but instead it trotted close behind her almost like a pet would.

Sheena was naturally puzzled by this action, and upon remembering what the scientist had said she kneeled down and asked the fox "What is your name?" The fox smiled for the first time ever and proclaimed cheerfully "Corrine!"

From the on, Sheena remembers how Corrine would always be by her side through every missions she undertook, sleeping next to her at the thick of night and traveling beside her in the brightness of day. The fox had no complaints to share so long as Sheena was the only one acknowledging him.

Sheena next recalls the day that the two went to the Meltokio festival, where the two were able to relax after an incredibly difficult mission. It was there that Sheena purchased Corrine's little bell, and the fox smiled and treasured it like he never had anything else. When the bell was placed around his neck, Corrine said to her "Thank you, Sheena! I will treasure this and your kindness, forever…forever…forever…"

The end of Corrine's promise echoed in Sheena's mind in the present as Corrine's body faded away completely, and all she could hear in that instant was a bell ringing as it landed on her left hand. For the next three seconds, Sheena cried to herself as she lifted the bell close to her face.

Her sadness is disrupted by a loud crash that jolts her head up to see Lloyd being slammed against a wall thanks to another of Volt's vicious attacks. The boy plants one sword against the ground as he lands and glares up at the Summon Spirit, who was simultaneously holding off both Riku and Zelos' swords with a thick field of electricity.

Lloyd notices Sheena beside him and upon seeing the bell in her hands he proclaims "Sheena! You have to subdue Volt by force! Don't let Corrine's effort go to waste! Otherwise, you'll spend the rest of your life haunted by Volt's shadow!" With renewed vigor, Lloyd plants the tips of his swords against the ground and drags them along as he runs back at Volt, yelling energetically as he leaps up and performs a double-arced slash on the Summon Spirit's face.

Sheena watches Lloyd, Zelos and Riku valiantly fight on even though the beast was overpowering their attacks. She stared for a few seconds while lowering her hands, thinking to herself after what Lloyd just said to her "…It's always been about Volt…"

"I was never frightened by the Temple of Lightning and I didn't freeze up when pacting with the Sylvaranti Summon Spirits…All this time, all of my problems stemmed from Volt himself. His name, his appearance, his presence in my memories…Lloyd's right…Corrine's right…Volt will always be weighing me down, making those around me suffer or die, all because I've never tried to face him directly. I've always been running away…"

Encouraging herself with those words in her mind, Sheena wipes away the tears in her eyes with one sleeve and starts to rise back onto her feet. After she was completely upright, the girl takes Corrine's bell and wraps it around her right wrist without looking at it, having faith in her capability to do so. As the bells rings with her movements, Sheena opens her eyelids and glares over at Volt while reaching into her clothes to pull out a red paper seal, whispering out to her fallen friend "Corrine…Watch over me."

Volt summons forth a series of lightning bolts around his body to push Zelos, Riku and Lloyd away. Riku comments as he holds his sword behind himself "I can't believe he's putting up this much of a fight!" Lloyd weakly lowers his arms and leans forward, letting out a couple gasps of air before saying "Sheena wasn't exaggerating…But I won't back down! None of us will!"

The frenzied Summon Spirit widens it's eyes and summons forth three orbs of electricity across it's body, each one aimed at the warriors surrounding him. He was prepared to unleash one of his strongest attacks capable of rending even the ground to nothing, but before he could get a chance to fire off his barrage a red blur collides with his body and sends him crashing into the wall behind. The force behind the impact covered the one responsible in dust for but a few seconds.

When the dust faded, a large red creature with a serpentine molten tail, muscular frame, scorched wings, glowing azure gauntlets and two sharp horns can be seen pressing Volt against the newly formed indent in the wall with it's searing three-fingered right claw. Volt's body frizzled as it spoke cryptically, but the red creature merely looked at the Summon Spirit and said in a deep voice "Forgive me brother, but I am merely responding to the wishes of the one who formed a pact with me."

The three warriors glance over their shoulders, with Zelos cracking a proud smile as he sees Sheena standing confidently at the top of the staircase, her head held high as she glares at Volt with all of her ferocity and proclaims at the top of her lungs "For the sake of everyone that risked their lives to protect me…Volt! I DEMAND YOUR POWER!" Hatred and fear born from the last twelve years of suffering erupts from Sheena's mouth, leaving everyone who can hear her absolutely speechless.

"…Heh, I think we've overstayed our welcome now. Come on you two, let's let Sheena do her thing." Zelos calmly stands up and sheathes his blade, directing his remark at both Riku and Lloyd as he walks away from the field of battle. The teenage Overlord looks at Lloyd and the two nod in agreement, but before they depart Lloyd says to Sheena "You can do it, Sheena. We all believe in you."

Sheena closes her eyelids and cracks a smile, saying quietly to the boy "…Thank you Lloyd." When Lloyd has left her line of sight, Sheena opens her eyelids back up and proclaims to the red beast "Efreet, release your grip on Volt and return to me!"

"If that is your wish." Efreet loosens his grip on Volt's spherical body and flies back through the air, allowing Volt to pull himself away from the indent and glare down at Sheena, surprised at the fact that the girl managed to pact with one of his brethren.

Volt quickly goes back on the offensive and summons forth a ring of electricity underneath Sheena's body that gives off a pale violet light across the room. Lightning erupts from the sky down upon Sheena, but the girl merely keeps her cool and draws out five seals that encircle her body and surround her in a field of green light that redirects the lightning and makes it crash harmlessly on the ground around her.

During this time, she commands of the Summon Spirit of Fire "Inferno Limited!" Efreet flies forth and slams the very tips of it's talons against the ground, puncturing it and creating a magic circle beneath Volt's body that quickly erupts into a pyre of fire that engulfs him completely. As the Guardian Seal fades away, Sheena pulls one of the seals away from the ring and throws it casually at Volt. The seal is placed on the creature's body but only lasts a few seconds before it detonates in the form of a fiery orb and pushes the Summon Spirit back a few feet.

Volt begins speaking again, this time in a more frantic manner before his voice is silenced by a straight punch of fire to the face by Efreet. Sheena then runs along the ground to position herself behind the Summon Spirit while pulling out multiple seals that she scatters about along the ground. During this time Efreet pulls his fist back, revealing that he managed to crack apart the front of Volt's face with that single blow.

In retaliation, Volt releases a large excess of electricity upon Efreet, using approximately one million volts to ensure that his brother would be scorched to the muscle by his attack. But with his gauntlets acting in defense Efreet absorbs most of the electricity. Sheena calls away Efreet with a simple proclamation of "Disperse, Efreet!" The creature humbly bows it's head and disappears in a visage of flames while the ninja leaps over Volt's body, risking her life as the creature summons forth a field of electricity around itself in order to fling two seals on precisely on the center of it's head.

As Sheena lands gracefully on the ground with one hand acting as support, Volt is met with two simultaneously explosions that send him crashing down into the ground. The ninja turns around and reaches into her body to pull out a blue seal, staring straight into Volt's glowing eyes as the creature draws in electricity from everywhere it can imagine, surrounding itself with a field so thick that the hairs on everyone's skin begin to pull up against their will.

But even though Sheena's skin tingled in Volt's presence, she had now put the Summon Spirit right where she wanted him to be. Underneath Volt's body now sat the seals Sheena placed on the ground just moments ago, and with a snap of her left fingers the seals activate all at once to create a massive spherical wind vacuum that encages Volt with all of his built-up electricity.

With the blue seal in hand, Sheena says the necessary incantation to summon forth the majestic Undine behind her. The Summon Spirit of Water raises her hands into the air, and in mere seconds a cylindrical torrent of water gushes down above Volt's body. Trapped with no where to go, Volt feels the pain of it's own element turned against him as the water converts his electricity into a series of miniature explosions that consume him thoroughly.

Volt's words become a jumbled mess as his body gyrates within the cyclone cage, his eyes widening in pain as Sheena calmly dispels Undine and lets the water shrink into a simple tinkle. Volt floats in the air, his body barely generating a spark as he slowly descends towards the ground, weakened beyond all belief. Sheena looks at Volt's pitiful state and starts to reach into her clothes to pull out another seal with the intent to kill the Summon Spirit for good, but before she can do so she feels a sudden feeling of relief washing through her mind and soul.

Taking in a breathe of air through her nostrils, Sheena finds herself relaxed and pulls her hand back out, the ring of the bell on her wrist leading her to think "…Corrine…I did it." Sheena then looks back at Volt and takes a couple steps back, as the creature weakly speaks to her.

Raine, who had spent most of the battle healing up the unconscious members of the group, walks to the bottom of the stairs and says to Sheena "Volt says, 'Make your vow'."

Hearing those words translated from the voice of the one who troubled her so made Sheena crack a gentle smile as she looked at Volt and said to him confidently "Just like I said, for the sake of everyone that risk their lives to protect me, and for Corrine's sake as well…I want to save both worlds..."

Volt relaxes itself and slowly closes it's eyes before speaking, as though Sheena's words calmed the turmoil in it's heart. "The vow has been made. I trust my power to the pact-maker, Sheena!" Raine translates.

As Volt rises up into the air, a flash of light fills the room, and suddenly Undine appears all on her own beside the Summon Spirit of Lightning. "A link between the two worlds has been severed…" Undine speaks in an elderly yet graceful tone.

Volt follows up on Undine's words with more of his own, to which Raine translates as "The two opposing forces of mana were…severed just now?"

Regal, who had just gotten back up and listened in on the conversation, asks of Undine "What does it mean for the mana flow to be severed?"

Undine explains slowly to the group "Mana flows from the world in which the Summon Spirits sleep to the world in the which the Summon Spirits are awake. This is the first time the Summon Spirits have been awakened in both worlds at the same time. Because of this, the mana connecting the two worlds has been eliminated."

Lloyd asks "Does that mean that Sylvarant and Tethe'alla have stopped competing for each other's mana?" Volt speaks again in response, which Raine translates as "I do not know. The only thing certain is that the flow of mana between the worlds has been severed."

Undine nods her head and states "Yes. Eventually the worlds shall separate." Zelos exclaims "That's perfect! Then they'll stop competing for each other's mana!"

Raine takes all the information into consideration and says out loud "There are five seals in Sylvarant. And since there wasn't a Summon Spirit at the fifth seal, we should be able to sever all of the mana if awaken the Summon Spirits that correspond to the other four seals. …Maybe."

"So if we awaken Tethe'alla's Summon Spirits, we'll save Sylvarant without having Tethe'alla go into decline, right?" Lloyd asks, to which Undine answers honestly with "At the least, the mana connecting the worlds will disappear and the two worlds will separate."

With the two Summon Spirits saying all that they needed to, Undine vanishes in a flash of light while Volt transforms into a golden glimmer that falls down into Sheena's open palm. The two connect with their pact, allowing Sheena the ability to summon Volt with a purple seal should she so desire it.

Regal looks at the group and comments "I see. So the seals serve as a link between the two worlds." Presea walks up beside Sheena and looks up at her, saying in a subdued, appreciative tone "…We owe it all to you, Sheena…and Corrine a well."

Sheena, who was deep in her own thoughts now that Volt was in her control, took a moment to respond to Presea's reply with a simple "…Huh?"

"Because the two of you risked your lives to the form the pact with Volt, we now know what the seals do." Presea explains. Lloyd causes Sheena to turn around and face him with a thankfuly sounding "That's right. It's thanks to both of you."

Sheena closes her eyelids and thinks back to her happy memories with Corrine one last time, remembering the little fox's promise to treasure her kindness forever. Now it was Sheena's turn to return the favor as she lifted the bell up to her face and whispered out "…Corrine…I will never forget your support…My friend…"

Next Time: Attack on Renegade