Chapter 20: Regal Bryant and Presea Combatir
After a short flight away from Altessa's house, the group ends up landing outside Altamira once more. With the fact that the sun was high again in Tethe'alla despite it being that way in Sylvarant, it was hard to tell how much time had passed since they had been in this city. But for Lloyd, it hadn't felt that long, as he comments in an obvious tone of voice "I really feel like we were JUST here."
"It's understandable to think that Lloyd, we only visited Sylvarant long enough to deal with Rodyle. Only a few hours have passed since we entered the Otherworldly Gate." Raine explains in her usual tone of wisdom, but Riku scratches the side of his head and asks in turn "So does this world just have a shorter day and night cycle than what I'm used to? Cause I swear that it should take at least 12 hours on average for the sun and moon to switch places."
"What's a day and night cycle?" Lloyd asks after turning to face Riku and blinking a couple of times in confusion. Riku sighs and lowers his right hand while commenting "I really need to stop using Earth exclusive terms around you guys. Never mind that Lloyd, we have bigger priorities here." The second part of his sentence is followed up by Riku glancing up at Regal, who walked past him and glanced at Lloyd after stopping his movements.
"Lloyd, where was it that you heard about Alicia again?" Regal asks in a curious tone, and Lloyd replies swiftly "A man named George told us about her grave at the Lezareno Company Building."
"George…" Regal whispered the man's name only to himself, but Raine caught on to the motion of his lips and grew rather suspect. Regal notices the suspicious glare coming from Raine's eyes and proceeds to mention "…Very well Lloyd, guide me to this grave."
After Lloyd nods his head he turns around and begins to move through Altamira with the rest of the group close behind, though Regal sticks beside Lloyd and glances off to the right when a path leading to a rather familiar tablet crosses his line of sight. "Please…kill me…!" A guttural voice echoes through Regal's memories, causing him to grimace in pain and look down at his shackled hands as he mutters to himself "Can I even bring myself to see you again…?"
Before the group reaches the small ferry to the Lezareno Building, Zelos folds his arms behind his head and comments to Sheena "Say, what did you call the person who killed Alicia again?" The ninja glances at the Chosen in confusion and replies "A monster, of course! What else could I call such an inhuman being?!"
The anger in her words made Zelos reply "Whoa now, settle down my feisty darling. Now, what is your opinion on Regal?" Sheena glares at Zelos first in anger for the first remark, then confusion upon recognizing his question before she replies "…Well, I was suspicious of him at first, being a convict and all, but he really doesn't seem like a terrible person."
"Well, thanks for telling me this Sheena. Now then, shall we get on?" Zelos stands at the side of the ferry and brushes his hands out towards it as Sheena glances at him and comments "…You really choose the oddest times to act weird, Zelos." She then gets on without any fuss, while Zelos lifts his eyelids up and whispers "Yeah, it won't seem weird in a bit…" He then nonchalantly steps onto the ride with everyone else.
The ferry automatically rides towards the Lezareno Building, where it takes only a few minutes for them to arrive just like before. But the moment they made it to the docking point, the group is shocked to find most of the guards thrown about with bullet wounds in their armor and blood leaking out from their backs. Lloyd wastes little time in letting out a surprised "What?!" Before he leaps over the rail seconds before it descends, running over to check the only living guard afterwards.
"What happened here, who did this?!" Lloyd demands answers from the fallen guard, but the man raises his hand up in agony and can only say as his final dying words "The Exsphere Broker…Vharley…went to the roof…"
When the group manages to exit the ferry, it was only Regal and Presea who managed to hear the man's words in time. Presea clenches her right fist in anger and growls out "Vharley…he must pay!" Presea wastes no time in running for the elevator while Regal scoffs in pain. The group runs after Presea before the elevator can close on them to ensure that she doesn't go running into a trap.
It doesn't take long for them to reach the top, and immediately after they rush out of the elevator they find Vharley with a gun pointed directly against George's head. The man had a desperate looking smirk on his face as he demanded from George "You WILL tell me the password to the inner area of the Toize Valley Mine. NOW!"
George, despite leaning against Alicia's grave with death just a mere press of the finger away, admits calmly to his aggressor "I know nothing about this matter." Vharley laughs at this and comments to the old man "Wrong answer!"
"You have done enough, Vharley. You want your password, then I will tell you." Regal bravely separates himself from the rest of the group and waits for Vharley to react as he stands a few feet behind him, while everyone watches on in confusion. "Master Regal! What are you doing here?" George glances past Vharley as the man pulls away his gun and turns around.
Vharley's smirk widens, and he comments in a delighted turn "Heheh, so the president himself decided to pay a visit. Perfect." Lloyd, Genis and Colette tilt their heads and comment simultaneously "President?"
"The route to the Toize Valley Mine opens by my voice print and cornea scan. Forcing it open would undoubtedly cause the Exsphere mine area to collapse." Regal's tone changes to a more business sounding one, but Vharley merely replies to this information by pointing his gun at him and commenting "If that's the case, Regal, you're just going to have to come open it for us! I'm going to be out of business if I don't get my hands on some more Exspheres."
"I think not. Besides, Rodyle is dead. You don't have anyone to sell your Exspheres too anymore." Regal explains the futility of Vharley's actions in a calm manner, but Vharley gives little care as he explains "Are you stupid? You think I only earned a profit from Rodyle?! I've got the Pope himself on my side! And anyone else who'd love to get their hands on some Exspheres will swarm to me with bags of Gald in their hands!"
Presea then whips out her axe and says to Vharley in tranquil anger "That's enough. I will not let you take another innocent life!" But before the girl can make a single move, Vharley points his gun at her and says "None of you move! I will be taking my leave now, or one of you will perish!"
"You think you can make such an empty threat, Vharley, especially when you hide behind such a tiny weapon?" Riku throws his right hand out and rips the gun out of Vharley's grip with his metal manipulation, then lifts it into the air and sets the gun powder inside the bullets on fire, causing the entire weapon to blow up from within and send metal scattering across the air. One shard flies straight into the side of Vharley's face, causing him to experience severe pain that makes him drop to his knees instantly.
"There's no reason why you should live, the world doesn't need scum like you. Presea, Regal, do whatever you want to him." Riku states in a rather callous tone, but a man such as Vharley deserved nothing less than that from him. Presea and Regal ready themselves to approach the man, but a flash bomb goes off and fills the area with a bright light. Everyone is blinded as a shadow runs straight to Vharley and picks his hefty body up by the back. Sheena looks her hardest through the bright light, recognizing the figure as Kuchinawa and proclaiming "Kuchinawa! You're working with this guy?!"
The ninja doesn't say a word as Vharley explains in rigid detail "Soon, the King will die and the Pope will take over. And when that happens, I'm going to grind your pathetic Lezareno Company into the ground!" Kuchinawa takes Vharley away in a puff of smoke as the light from the flash bomb vanishes. Riku takes his hand away from his eyes and comments "That didn't happen before…I underestimated how prepared Kuchinawa could be. He has to die the next time I see him…"
With Vharley now vanished from sight, Regal scowled, but moved away from his anger as he approached George and asked of him "Are you all right, George?" The old man lifts his body up and nods his head respectfully, stating in a gentle tone "Yes, Master Regal. Thank you."
The group glances at Regal in either confusion or in Zelos' case with a light smirk on his face, and the man turns around and stands upright in a proud manner before stating "My name is Regal Bryant. I was granted the title of Duke by His Highness, and I am also the president of the Lezareno Company. Although, it would seem that the Chosen and Riku knew about me."
Regal glances at Riku in a rather suspect manner, while Zelos comments as most of the group glances at him "I knew I saw you before. You were at one of Princess' birthday parties, right?" Regal nods his head after glancing at the Chosen, while Sheena shrugs and notes "Oh yeah, it's easy to forget that you're a member of high society, Zelos." This remark gains a chuckle out of Zelos.
"I see, so then you are Alicia's killer." Raine comments while folding her arms against her chest. Regal prepares to then look at Presea and explain himself, but before he can get a word out Presea takes her axe and swings the tip of the blade straight at Regal's neck. "How dare you…" Her words are bitter as her body trembled, and in a moment's time Presea lifts her head up and reveals the tears trickling down her face.
"How dare you demand to come here, murderer!" Presea lets out all of her rage in a single proclamation, and Regal can only remain quiet for a few seconds before he tries to explain "Please, Presea, you need to know what happened to Alicia-" But his explanation is cut short as Presea takes her axe and flips it to the blunt side, taking it out and swinging it against the side of Regal's body to send him crashing into the stone wall.
The stones crumble down upon Regal's body, leading to George proclaiming in surprise "Master Regal!" Presea swings her axe at the old man as she turns to face Regal, her mind consumed by rage as she states "If you move, old man, then I will consider you an accomplice and kill you too!"
Presea slams the handle of her axe across her hands and begins to walk towards Regal's fallen body, while Genis watches on and says "P-Presea, calm down! Lloyd, you have to stop her!" He desperately pleas to his friend to stop Presea from doing something she might regret, and after hearing a bit of what Regal was saying Lloyd felt that it wasn't right to let Presea go through with this and began to reach for both of his swords. However, Zelos walks beside him and grasps onto his right hand to get him to stop.
"Easy there Lloyd, you can't get between the two of them now." Zelos calmly states, leading to Genis angrily saying to him "What the hell are you doing Zelos?! If someone doesn't get in the way, then-"
"Then Regal will die. But if one of us tries to stop Presea now, she'll kill us and then Regal. I know what Regal was like when I was younger, he doesn't strike me as someone who'd murder for no reason. If he's in the right, then he'll live. If he's in the wrong, then Presea would get her revenge. In the end, there's only one person here who can tell us the truth…" Zelos glances towards Alicia's Exsphere, and though it was hard for Lloyd to do so he moved his hands away from his swords.
"Lloyd!" Genis states in disbelief, but Lloyd can only scoff and glare over at Presea, who was raising her axe up ready to cleave Regal in two. The man was buried partially by stone and dust, but he just sat there while lifting his head up slightly to look at the girl. "Perhaps it is best that I die by your hand…"
"No! You don't get to have pity for yourself! You killed my sister, the last member of my family I could have turned to! And you had the GALL to stick by our sides knowing that I was Alicia's sister?! Why did you do it…Why?!" Presea cries out in agony as she waits for an answer from Regal. The man calmly stated to Presea "I did it…for her own good…"
Presea slams her axe down without a second thought, but the blade crashes beside Regal instead of on top of his body, shaking the ground with the impact. Presea lifts her weapon back up and says "She served you loyally, did everything she could for you…And you killed her and made her into an Exsphere! How was any of that done for her own good?!"
"…Then so be it, I accept my fate." Regal gives up on trying to convince Presea, hoping that his lack of aggression would make her realize that he means no harm. But the girl saw nothing but a man who needed to die for killing her sister, and was ready to bring the axe down one last time to kill Regal. Riku notices Presea's lack of hesitation and thinks to himself "What's going on…Presea never did this when she heard this news. I have to step in, now!"
As Lloyd once again goes for his swords, Riku lifts his right hand up ready to wrench Presea's axe from her hands, only for a familiar voice to briefly snap Presea out of her anger. "Presea, you can't kill Master Bryant!" Presea's eyes widen and she doesn't drop her axe any further than halfway there, and both her and Regal glance at the gravestone while calmly stating "Alicia?"
Sure enough, Alicia's spirit finally appeared in front of her gravestone, and with a smile on her face she looked at Regal and commented "Master Bryant, I'm so happy to see you again before I vanished…" Regal began to rise to his feet, brushing aside the rubble that fell atop his body and saying in a taken-aback tone "I'm sorry, Alicia, even after death you still suffer…"
Presea doesn't know just how to react to what was happening. Alicia was wishing for her not to kill Regal in spite of the fact that he was the man who killed her. "What's going on here…" The girl whispers out as she stands in place for a few seconds in a contemplative manner before putting her axe away and walking over to the front of Alicia's grave to find out more about why her sister had this attitude towards Regal.
"It's all right, heh. It's not your fault." Alicia smiles at Regal with all of her might as she reassures the man of his lack of sin. Presea gets right to the point and demands of her sister "Alicia, how can you forgive this man for killing you?! I thought you wanted him dead!"
"…Huh?" Regal was confused by Presea's words, and turned towards Alicia in hopes for an answer. Alicia places one hand on her chest, feeling sorrow for what she had accidentally wrought upon her own sister before she explains. "Presea, my dear sister…I'm sorry you thought that of what I was telling you. But it's time you learned of my relation to Master Bryant, or should I say, rather…"
"Our love for one another." Regal finishes the sentence off, looking at Presea's surprised expression as the aftermath of his words breach her mind. "It all started years ago…" Alicia was the one to start the story, as the rest of the group listened in and Regal provided his own view at certain parts.
"It all started not long after you went to get help from that vile man Vharley and became possessed by the Exsphere. I was still young at the time, so I didn't know what was happening to you. It scared me that you seemed to move around like a zombie, and never spent anymore time speaking to me or my father. But in hindsight, I wish I had been around long enough to notice that something was that wrong with you."
"Some time after you went to Vharley, I was told by my father to go out in search of a job for myself. It felt wrong to abandon him with just Presea, but he insisted that I go, and then he gave me a piece of paper showing that a young man by the name of Duk Bryant was looking for servants. Taking a boat to Altamira, I went to the Lezareno Company Building to try and get a job."
"At the time, I was only 14 years old, a young and brash man with the control of an entire company. Alicia came into my office with George's guidance, and I was taken aback by how polite and humble she was in my presence. After hearing about her qualifications, I hired her on the spot, and left George to train her in the ways of servitude."
"George taught me well, and it only took me a year before I was ready to work for Duke Bryant to the best of my ability. By that time, I was 9-years old. I worked to the hardest of my abilities, never once complaining or asking for a vacation in all my years of service. Half of the money I received, I sent off to my dad and Presea, but I was incapable of going back home while I was in service."
"At first, Alicia and I rarely interacted with one another, specifically since my duties as the President of the Lezareno Company and Duke of Altamira meant I had to leave often. But even so, I always admired her steadfast determination and kind heart."
"And I admired the kinder side that Master Byrant showed me when it was just the two of us alone. I cared nothing for his status. I worked for Master Bryant for ten years, but it was during my early teenage years that I began to feel infatuation towards him…But I knew that the age difference between us would mean that true love could never be possible. To my surprise though, I never saw Master Bryant with another woman, even though by all means he should be the most desirable man in Tethe'alla."
"Because in the end, there was only one woman I had my eyes on, and it wasn't until the day she was old enough that I told her to come to the garden atop the Lezareno Building to confess my love for her. The sun was setting by the time she arrived, and I was wearing the humblest clothes I could find. I remember the look in her eyes all-too well when I said those three words, 'I love you'."
"We both made a confession that day to love each other for the rest of time, and Master Bryant vowed that he would settle down in a few years time once he found someone capable of taking over the Lezareno Company. Our marriage was to occur a year later, but fate transpired to separate us forever…"
"You see, on the day those two confessed their love…I was watching from afar, and feared for the state of the Lezareno Company were Master Bryant to let himself be consumed by this love." George interrupts the tale for a moment to say his side of the tale in a melancholy tone. As his eyelids droop in sorrow, he then proceeds to comment "I was a blind old fool…My personal interests took precedence over my masters wishes, and I-I…Tricked Alicia into being taken away by Vharley for an experiment."
"…Indeed, it is as George says. A few days after our confession, I promised Alicia that I would take her back to Ozette to see her family for the first time in ten years. We were to meet outside the hotel, but instead I only met that despicable man, Vharley. He stated that he had captured Alicia as a hostage, and would only surrender her back to me if I gave him access to the Toize Valley Mine."
"I complied without hesitation, and then plead to Vharley to return Alicia to me…But it was already too late. Vharley delivered on his promise in the most despicable of manners, delivering to me the monstrous result of the experiment on Alicia. She had become a creature of mutated flesh, with her maid's clothes torn apart from the strain placed on them…"
"Damn you Vharley! What have you done Alicia?!" The Regal of the past cries out in anger as the Exebula that was once his lover thrashes about in pain. Vharley smirks callously at the remark and says to him in response "Heheh, she wasn't compatible with the Exsphere experiment. But I guess it doesn't matter since it worked so well on another member of her family!"
"You monster!" The Regal of the past tries to run straight at Vharley with all of his anger, but he is not permitted to ignore his lover, who with little control over her body swung her dangling right arm into Regal's body, sending him flying away from the hotel and into the lone path where the large stone would one day be placed. His body skid back, ripping into the back of his shirt until the moment he stopped.
The Exebula limbered over to where Regal was, and the intrigued Vharley walked over to witness these events unfold, enjoying it all the while. Regal rose to his feet as a scorching pain radiated across his back and looked up at Alicia, his heart beat rising in pain as he finds himself incapable of recognizing the woman he loved. "Alicia…Are you still there? Please, PLEASE SPEAK TO ME!" He cried out in desperation in hopes that Alicia would reply.
The Exebula paused in placed mere inches away from Regal's body, and with a sorrowful roar it raised its claws to it's head and trembled around in pain. "M-Master…Regal…I can't control it…I'm so sorry…Please…You have to kill me…Before I kill you!" Regal's eyes widened in disbelief. The voice was distorted, but it was definitely Alicia that spoke through this towering monstrosity's body.
"Alicia…I-I can't do it! There has to another way to save you! I will pool all of my resources into finding a way, this can't be the end after we both admitted our love to one another!" Regal begs his lover to not accept death, and tears began to trickle down his eyes as he asked this of her. Alicia admitted in a docile tone of voice "Master Bryant…I can't let you destroy everything you've worked so hard to build for my sake…No matter what you do, I will always be this monster…Please, preserve the pleasant memories of me inside your heart while you still can."
"Alicia…I can't do it! How can I possibly kill you with my own two hands?!" Regal cries out in agony, and as the Exebula's arms began to move away from the head Alicia's voice diminishes with these final words "It's because you love me that I know you will do it…I'm sorry, Master Bryant…"
The Exebula prepared to go on the offensive again, and with his hands gripped close to his heart Regal closes his eyes and takes Alicia's advice, remembering the times the two shared across ten years of history. He then took both of his hands and clenched the palms together, thrusting them forward with all of his anger as tears erupted from his eyes and a beam of raw mana tore right through the Exebula's chest before the creature could lower it's claw down to kill Regal.
Vharley looked on in sheer disbelief at the power Regal displayed, his heart skipping a beat as his enjoyment suddenly shifted to complete and utter fear. The Exebula's body began to fall, and Regal caught it underneath the armpits with both of his arms. He was trembling at the events that unfolded before him, and it took him a moment to realize that blood had gushed out from the core and landed on his hands.
Not only that, but when he felt the skin of this monster he could only feel coldness. The creature was never once warm like Alicia herself used to be, and it's entire existence was a mockery of everything she worked hard for. Regal raised his head to the sky and roared out in agony for ten seconds, his voice nearly going hoarse in the process. When he was done, he cuddled the monster in his arms and then laid it against the ground while rising up to his feet.
With the blood of his lover on his hands, Regal could only direct his anger at a single person. A deceitful, callous human by the name of Vharley, who as Regal swiftly noticed was trying to escape from Altamira now that everything had seemingly backfired. "VHAAAARRRRLEEYY!" Regal's angered cry ripped through Altamira, sending an inhuman shiver down Vharley's spine, and he made the foolish mistake of glancing back as the man rampaged straight at him without any diversion.
Regal's hands were clenched in anger, but to his misfortune the rampage he made was interpreted as a burst of insanity from the denizens of Altamira who failed to understand what happened between him and the monster that was once Alicia. Vharley ran for his life, but he was but a mere human and in his current state Regal was nothing more than a rage-consumed beast. Regal leaped over the sign over the entrance to the city and crashed on the ground in front of Vharley, ripping apart the ground as he glanced over his shoulder with a piercing glare at the man.
"B-Back away from me! HELP! He plans to murder me as well!" Vharley resorted to a coward's plea as he tried to back away from Regal's wrathful stance as he rose up and turned around, stating in a tone of tranquil fury "You are not allowed to play the victim after everything you've done to Alicia, Vharley! I am the President of the Lezareno Company, and I will make damn sure that I will use my resources of make you suffer in ways that will be ten times as terrible as the fate you inflicted upon Alicia!"
But before Regal can grab Vharley and bring him in for his crimes, four pikes bind Regal in place, each one wielded by a Papal Knight. Regal looks around in confusion, stating in an embittered tone "Unbind me! This is treason, Vharley is the one you want!"
"Duke Bryant…You are under arrest for the murder of countless innocents in Altamira, including your own servant, Alicia Combatir." One Papal Knight calmly spoke, leading to Vharley laughing subtly before Regal as the man began to piece together what was going on. Vharley had used Alicia to murder countless others, and then preemptively used those murders to pin the blame on him.
"Do you have any objections to these claims?" The same Papal Knight asked, and it doesn't take Regal long to sink his head and admit with a tired breath "…No. I murdered Alicia Combatir in cold blood." He glanced at the blood on his hands, and though he knew that it was the right thing to do the fact of the matter is that only he held the truth in his head. To the rest of the world, he murdered an innocent girl and many others.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the Papal Knights shackled his arms together by the wrists and began to escort him away from Altamira to pay for his crimes. The last thing Regal saw before he was placed on the boat was Vharley's vile, callous grin…
With the story at an end, Genis can only comment in a surprised tone "That was just like what happened with Marble…" After that, George looked at Regal and admitted to him "I came across Alicia's body after you were taken away, and she had been transformed into an Exsphere. I took the Exsphere and brought it to the garden, making a gravestone not only to honor her life, but to also have it serve as a reminder of my foolish mistake…"
"George…You didn't know what would happen to Alicia. While I cannot forgive you for trying to separate us, I will not let you share Alicia's blood on your hands." Regal calmly states to his servant, and the man nods his head and agrees with the sentiment. "Hehe, I'm so glad I got to see you again in the end, Master Br-No, Regal Bryant. I have no regrets now, so please, stop punishing yourself." Alicia says, which causes Regal to turn and face her.
"But with my owns hands, I…" Regal begins to sink his head in regret, but stops when Alicia points out "I will disappear very soon. So please, don't leave me anything to worry about. You don't need those shackles. You've suffered enough."
Regal shakes his head and admits with all of his heart "I took the life of the one I love. These are the symbol of my crime, as well as my punishment." Alicia floats forward slightly and looks Regal straight in the eyes, saying with the utmost and delicate honesty "You don't need that punishment anymore. Please, Regal…"
Regal stands in silence for a few seconds until Lloyd walks up beside him, glancing directly at his face and admitted in a solemn voice "Genis and I once experienced the same thing you did. And I also imagined what it must have been like…for my dad. When my mom turned into a monster and he struck her down, he must have suffered as well."
"…Your father did the same thing?" Regal looks at Lloyd and asks, leading to Lloyd nodding his head and replying in turn "That's what I heard. I don't know if the decisions you or my dad made were correct, but I don't think my mom would have wanted my dad to punish himself and live the way you have."
Regal looks at Alicia and asks of her "Is that true?" Alicia nods her head and smiles, admitting to him with a warm tone of voice "Yes. It's just as he says. At least, I don't want you to live like that." With heavy convincing from his lover and Lloyd, Regal takes a momentary pause before stating confidently "All right. But I will never use these hands as tools of death. I swear that to all of you. And once we have defeated those who use Exspheres to toy with people's lives, I shall remove these bonds."
Alicia presses her hands together in front of her chest and cracks a smile while saying in an appreciative tone "Thank you, Master. Presea…I think I can finally rest in peace. Please destroy the crystal before I am completely absorbed into the Exsphere." Presea grimaces at her sister in surprise and says "Why? Can't you stay like you are now?" Her words were surprisingly selfish in nature.
"If I stay like this, I will live on forever. An isolated consciousness, unable to even speak, existing for eternity. It would be true hell…" Alicia admits. Presea shakes her head in turn, saying to her sister "This isn't fair! You're my sister! There has to be some way to bring you back! You only knew me half of your life, and I never even knew what happened to you until now!"
"…Presea, it's true I only knew you eight years of my life, but those are eight years worth of memories that I will treasure forever. I will hold them in equal regard to my memories with Regal, no matter what happens after my consciousness passes on. I believe in you Presea, I know you are ready to say goodbye. You've always been strong, that's why you were always the one I looked up to whenever I worked here…" Alicia's admission quickly brings Presea to the verge of tears.
Presea bites on the bottom part of her lips and starts to raise her axe, looking at Alicia's Exsphere as bittersweet memories being to flow through her mind. Bringing the weapon down, Presea and Alicia both experience one intertwining memory for the final time…
"Presea, has papa ever told you about a city called Altamira?" The young Alicia asks her sister as they sit at the edge of the coast near Ozette and look out at the bright moon sky. "Altamira? Mmm-hmm…" Presea nods her head and says with a chipper smile "Papa said that it's a beautiful place. They have rides and other fun attractions for visitors to spend time on, and the city is fully supported by the kindly Bryant family!"
"Hahaha, that sounds like such a fun place to go!" Alicia laughs cheerfully. Presea nods her head and admits "I would love to go there someday. Wouldn't you?" Alicia nods her head without hesitation, puffing her cheeks out in joy before leaning her head back and stating "And papa can come with us once he gets better!"
"Yeah, that'd be nice. Tomorrow I'm going to try out this experimental process that will allow me to use an axe more efficiently, so I can earn a lot of money chopping wood. With that money, we'll help papa get better, and then all three of us can go to Altamira together!" Presea enthusiastically states. Alicia smiles and says "Yeah, we'll all have a wonderful time! Thank you, Presea…"
The memories end with an echo of past and present, as we find Presea with her axe crashed against the ground and Alicia's Exsphere shattered into nothingness. With the last breath her consciousness allows, Alicia says to her sister "Please…Forgive Master Regal…Please…" To those who could see her spirit fade away, they would notice a single tear trickling down her face.
Presea, on the other hand, was quietly sobbing to herself as she fell to her knees and let go of her axe, clasping both hands against the front of her face as she let herself cry out for the loss of her sister's life in this world. Her voice was quiet as she cried, and no one in the group bothered to console her for the time being, since this was something she had to handle on her own.
Once the time of mourning had passed, Presea picked up her axe and rose to her feet, wiping away the tears with one hand before turning to face Regal. Presea doesn't say anything at the moment, which leads to Regal mentioning to the group "While I was in prison, the Pope promised to arrest Vharley in exchange for kidnapping Colette. I believed him and agreed to do it. So please, I ask you to postpone my final judgment until we Cruxis and stop them from using Exspheres to toy with people's lives."
"That's up to Presea to decide. We already through of you as a friend." Lloyd says in a rather mature tone of voice. Regal looks at Presea and waits for her to respond, and as she puts her axe away she says "Vharley was response for Alicia's death as well. Okay. I'll…try not to think of you as my enemy. I'm not sure I can change right away, but…"
"I'm sorry…" Regal apologizes, and Presea replies simply with "It was Alicia's last request, so I won't say a word about it anymore."
With the matter of Alicia settled for now, Regal tells George to continue to maintain control over the Lezareno company until he is done with his quest. The group then begins to depart from the building, with Zelos commenting "So now that that little moment is over, what's next?"
"Hmm, we need to go back to dealing with the Summon Spirits, right? Who is left?" Riku asks, leading to Regal commenting in his wise sounding tone "There is Shadow in the Temple of Darkness."
"And Luna and Aska on the Tower of Mana back in Sylvarant." Raine adds in her own information, and after a momentary pause Lloyd recalls "Well Aska requires a lengthy process to summon forth, right? We should save those two for last and just deal with Shadow while we're here."
"I can agree with that. So let's go straight for the Temple of Darkness. From what I heard, it's just a little way away from the Temple of Earth." Zelos explains the details to the group, and with a nod of agreement they began to head out of Altamira. Before they left though, Riku thought to himself "Darkness and Light remain…I still haven't heard anything from Sodenko and Takashi since that one instance. Have they been absorbed into the mana flow between worlds? Can that 'higher-ups' barrier actually do that? Huh, I'll only know once we form a pact with Shadow. Here I come, Temple of Darkness…"
Next Time: The Masked Marauder