AN: So you've made it to the sorta-ending of the story. One more chapter left. For all those who tried the links in my profile to see the pictures of the OC's, they didn't work so I left a fake link that you can put into your search box and figure out. I updated the AN in the last chapter as well, but here it is again: ziggurat8992[place dot here]tumblr[place dot here]com

A link to my tumblr. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 23: Final Battles

A strong breeze pushed her hair back from her face as she walked calmly and assuredly forward. The perimeter was well guarded-everyone was in their places. In the distance she could see the shack that Sheen had mentioned before. This was where he had come to spend the night; a small dwelling that was in disrepair, incapable of keeping out the elements. A good rain would have soaked through the entire place.

"Come out, Lucas! Let's settle this peacefully!" Leona shouted so that it would cut through the wind.

Her sharp ears could hear the movement within; Sheena had been right. It wasn't long before Leona was presented with Lucas. He did not look well and he certainly didn't look like someone she should be fighting. His eyes looked haunted and his skin was even paler than hers, quite a feat considering how tanned he usually was. The clothes he wore no longer seemed to fit him properly. His weakened form began to draw pity from her, but then his face twisted into a sadistic grin.

"You came here all by your lonesome?" he asked without pretence.

"We don't have to fight if you just come with me willingly. We can end all of this right now."

Leona heard a "zing" and the flash of a blade well before her eyes registered his hand moving. The grin did not leave his face especially since she was sure he noticed her surprise at his swiftness.

"Willingly?" he said as if it was the most ridiculos word he'd heard before. "You honestly think you can stop me, don't you? There are still things that I have to do, things that I was destined to do."

"You were destined to die?" Leona asked forwardly, "Because that is all you'll achieve in the end. I don't pretend to understand your motives or your end goal-I just know that it will all end here."

"Come, Leona, do you really think you could best me in combat? Even in this state, I am more than a match for you. Seems unfair to fight someone so defenseless."

In response, she transitioned into her fighting stance, but just as she did she heard the distant cries and howls of monsters. The ground began to vibrate beneathe her bouncing feet. It felt more like a stampede was approaching.

"Lucas?" she asked uncertainly as her eyes spied a hoard of monsters coming their way. The timing was far too convenient. "I came to fight you not those things. Surely, you can honor a fair one-on-one fight."

Lucas seemed perturbed as well as his eyes made out what Leona was seeing. "I would...but it seems my benefactor has other plans." He looked at her once again. "And who am I to question her wisdom. Besides...I know you wouldn't have come here alone."

Leona advanced towards Lucas without any futher ado and her legs protected by heavy spikey diamond greaves struck nothing but his sword each time. He was simply too fast and he seemed to anticipate her moves. She tried to cut through his defenses, but they seemed impenetrable. After only a few minutes, she knew that she had bitten off more than she could chew. She was expending so much energy, rapidly and continuously attacking, forcing him on the defensive yet he did not budge and he deflected her every attempt at dismantling him with practiced ease.

He was always just out of reach. He was always one step ahead of her. Then he became increasingly evasive when the horde of black creatures was upon them. She couldn't prevent him from disappearing into the fray. Now she had to focus on the immediate threat. Luckily, she did not have to face them alone. Already she could hear the throngs of arrows coming out of the surrounding bushes-Sheena's forces.

Leona had wanted to settle things on her own terms, but now she required the help of everyone. She was joined by Zeph and Eros along with their father and Cecil. The arrows were well organized and helped to cut down numbers considerably. It brought a small smile to her face knowing that some of those arrows were coming from Cathe.

"Thank you, everyone," Leona said to herself when she had a brief moment to herself.

She could hardly keep up with the other's progress as she began to focus on her enemy. Insectlike creatures scrambled about the area never making it to the trees at all. Leona found herself taking them down easily one by one. She remembered the time when she'd first met such a creature and had been too shocked to even fight back properly. Dark blood splattered about everywhere as sword ripped flesh and well placed kicks bashed through tough exterior.

Leona, however, was not immune to their attacks. Simply by the sheer number of enemies, a few were able to get in a few lucky hits, but it was nothing she couldn't push through on her own. She wasn't sure how long the brawl lasted, but eventually all the creatures were taken down and she stood together with the other four catching their breaths. She glanced at Zelos and was relieved to see that he was just fine. He grinned when he noticed her glance. She prayed his strength would last.

Lucas was nowhere to be found. Had he escaped once again? That would have been beyond annoying. All that work of finding him only for him to slip through their fingers.

"Bravo, bravo, brave warriors!" Leona could immediately identify the voice as belonging to Arcangela.

They looked up to see her levitating above them. Small black particles began to float upwards and for a sickening moment Leona thought that they were all being attracted to Lucas. If even one creature could cause immense pain, what could hundreds do? Instead, the particles flowed towards Arcangela's confident form. Somehow she was directing them towards herself.

"I'm glad I can finally meet you all together. Now I can finally get rid of this headache in one fell swoop!"

Her arms spread about her and the particles all began to attach to her skin until she became blackened. They covered her completely and then a black ooze began to drip from her as her form began to change. Her body began to contort and expand larger and larger first becoming longer and thicker until finally sprouting a darkened horned reptilian head with large, overbearing wings-a dragon.

Its roar was so loud and earsplitting that for almost a minute their hearing was lost and they stumbled back in pain and shock. There was a ringing in her ears afterwards, her eyes clenched shut as it reverberated through her head relentlessly. When she was finally able to function again, she found that she was alone.

"Zeph, everyone!" Leona shouted as she saw them sprawled on the ground by some great force.

She ran over to them and determined that they were still breathing but they were unconscious. There was no movement otherwise until she heard a groan from Zelos. Slowly and painfully he sat up. The air felt heavy. It was as if gravity had increased tenfold yet she could move freely. Zelos was not so lucky. She came over to him quickly.

"This weight that we're feeling...," Zelos began slowly, "Arcangela...she did something with the atmosphere..."

"I don't understand," Leona said shaking her head.

"You might not feel it at all...It's like what I felt in the Temple of Darkness, a dark presence but to a much larger, grander degree. I wish I could be of help-but I can hardly move."

Leona heard the great dragon flapping its wings behind her, but she tried to ignore it, tried to ignore her mounting fear. Zelos' determined gaze caught her.

"I can't do this alone," Leona said shaking her heard.

"Hold out your hand," Zelos hissed. She did so obediantely. He placed his hand on it and soon she felt a warm energy flowing through her. A rush of fiery hot energy took her by surprise.

"What are you-

"Take her down, Leona-I know you can do it."

Before she could even begin to contemplate what had taken place, he fell forward as he grew limp and his breathing slowed. "Alright," Leona said softly as she held him, "I'll defeat her...but you have to promise me not to die."

"It's...a deal," Zelos replied weakly.

Leona laid him down gently and then turned to the massive dragon. It roared once again causing her to stagger, but she still she ran forth as fast as she could. The dragon was large and she was tiny in comparison. If she could get enough distance between herself and the dragon, then perhaps there would be enough time to pull off the move she'd just then imagined in her mind.

She was bursting with energy now as she sped past the swirling dragon. Her hands were already glowing, her palms were burning now as she felt light energy seeping from her very pores. She knew she had to attack now before she became unable to hold in the excess of magic. The dragon was coming towards her now, readying itself to swallow her whole as she stopped and turned on her heel to meet the threat.

With a heartfelt yell, she whipped her hands up and unleashed upon the dragon a massive ball of light energy. She'd never felt so exhilerated before in her life as mana flowed from her very being into one concentrated ball of light energy. She couldn't even think of a name for the colossal attack, she simply let it rip. When it met the creature, her entire world went white.

She thought she heard Lucas' voice, but she couldn't be sure. Slowly she became aware of her body being shaken by another. Yes, it was Lucas, frantically shouting her name asking if she was alright. It must have been a dream. He didn't care for her well-being, he didn't care about anyone. Yet she still put effort into opening her eyes to find Lucas above her.

"You're awake," he said in relieved tones.

She sat up slowly, "Wh-what happened? Is everyone alright?"

He grew quiet when she asked this. "Arcangela...she's gone I think. I don't know how you did it..."

He stood up and held a hand out to her. She hesitated and then took it-he pulled her up easily. Why was he acting so differently? Had she done it? Was it all over? But he did not look any better. He appeared exhausted and gaunt. Could it be that her light elemental mana had already struck him and that he was recovering?

"Lucas, have you...are you...back to normal?"

He stepped back from her then and all within a second his sword was out once again. "I didn't mean for any of this happen. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but-

"It doesn't matter your intentions," Leona said shaking her head, "What matters is what has happened. How can you still follow a woman who would make you do all of this? What does she have over you?"

"Nothing. She asked me to help her save the world and I accepted."

"And you believed her? Why didn't you ask for help?"

"I wanted to-believe me I wanted to," Lucas said with desperation, "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want to put anyone else in harm's way. I didn't want to ask anyone else to bear this guilt. I could handle it on my own. You see, Leona, this world is doomed to annihilation-

"What proof do you have of that?" Leona asked forcefully. She wanted to understand.

"From a dream," Lucas said, "A dream that I kept having over and over again. But it was like no other. It felt real, Leona. I could feel my very flesh tearing from its bones. A meteor that would impact this world so completely that life would cease to exist. I couldn't...escape that dream. There was nothing I could do and why would anyone ever believe me if I had no proof-just look at your expression. That's the look I would have gotten had I said something.

"But Arcangela believed me. She knew my dreams, had experienced them herself for years and had dedicated her life to preventing it. She had a plan, a hard, concrete plan that would work. She insisted that it would. I might have hesitated in the beginning, I might have hated what that plan entailed, but I knew I would hate myself more if I did absolutely nothing, sacrificed the world because her plan wasn't wrapped in a nice, convenient bow. Everything would have worked out in the end. I wasn't trying to subjugate the masses, I was preparing them for the next step. A spell that Arcangela had perfected that could weave one's thoughts into reality. If everyone held the exact same image in their mind-a barrier to protect Aselia-that barrier would then be powerful enough to deflect that meteor. There was always a way to return them all to normal. It would have worked...but now she's gone."

Leona's eyes widened at this. Did they all have it wrong? Had they just doomed this world?

"But why?" Leona said quietly, "Why was it just you two who had those dreams?"

"I don't...I don't know," he said hesitantly. "That was never something that could be explained."

"What if those dreams were sent to you by her? What if she was manipulating you this whole time?"

"No," he said stolidly, "What purpose would that serve?"

"What if she knew what kind of person you were, only told you things that you wanted to hear so that she could use you for her own ends?"

"No!" he said angrily, "Impossible. You wouldn't understand-you never experienced them like I did."

Leona's eyes grew softer at this. She was beginning to see the bigger picture even if it wasn't yet completed. Lucas, the son of Lloyd Irving, the man who had reunited the world. Lloyd's name was well known throughout the world. She'd read details of how replicas of his statues had been erected in several places, well-crafted imitation swords of the same that Lloyd was reported to have used in the final battle costed millions of gald to attain, how every man, woman and child knew of him and his deeds. Lucas would have been an easy target for someone like Arcangela to latch onto, someone who was independent, well-traveled and related to the great hero. Use some old prophecy that vaguely indicated him, and concoct some sort of scenario that could lure a person like Lucas into her trap, a very well scripted trap.

"I think I understand now..." Leona began.

"Then help me-this is the only way we can stop this disaster."

He honestly believed what he was saying. He stood there with his sword pointed at her, telling her all these ludicrous things that felt real to him, but only to him. It made sense in his mind, but Leona was able to see the truth.

"I'm sorry, but I have to stop you," Leona said plainly, "Maybe one day you'll be able to see the error you have made."

She still had a modicum of mana left. Thanks to Zelos' energy, she still had some to spare. She brought her hands up preparing to gather the last of her mana, but then she stopped abruptly when she felt the sharp tip of his broad sword upon her abdomen. It would only take a simple push on his part and she'd be rammed through, slicing through vital organs that would kill her before she could manage to consume an apple gel. She closed her eyes and waited for the moment of her death.

Yet it never came. Her eyes opened slowly. She no longer felt the sword, but she did see his trembling hands, his resolve broken.

"I can't..." he said shakily. He looked away from her.

"Of course not," Leona said drawing his attention. Her voice was steady. "You could never kill a friend in cold blood."

There was a look of surprise on his face, but then it was replaced with one of confusion as his brow furrowed. "I've been trying to stop you and your friends this whole time by any means necessary-now is no different."

"But it is," Leona said calmly. "Arcangela is no longer here. She's not here to cloud your mind. Who was it that wanted us dead? I can't imagine you came up with it all on your own."

He pulled his sword back and tossed it away a good distance. "You wouldn't attack a defenseless man, would you?" he asked completely disregarding her last statement.

"Sorry," Leona said as she began to gather her energy once again, "But I have a mission as well that I must accomplish. I have to end this here or else this would all be for nothing."

Even if Lucas had decided to run, he would have been struck down. The energy was locked on to him.

"Photon!" Leona shouted as an arch of light magic formed above him, "Ray!" she ended and it fell upon him instantly.

He hadn't tried to moved at all. He took the full brunt of the attack and he could not withstand the force as it knocked him out fairly quickly. She fell to her knees after exhausting so much of her mana. She only hoped that the others would be fine and that Arcangela's latest move didn't have a lasting effect.

She struggled back to her feet and made her way back to Zelos, the only one who had managed to stay conscious after Arcangela's initial attack. She was relieved to find him still alive just as he had promised.

"Thank you, Zelos," Leona said to him quietly as she looked down at him.

He didn't bother answering her verbally, but she did see the relief in his eyes.

"What about everyone else?" Leona asked as if he had all the answers. It might as well had been a rhetorical question.

She sat down beside him and watched the darkening skies in the far off distance. The wind had picked up considerably, but she was decidedly calm. In the end, their plan had worked. Arcangela was nowhere to be seen and Lucas would not be a danger to anyone in a long time. It had left both sides crippled, but Leona supposed that it was a fitting conclusion.

Arcangela's last move had left their group near bereft of all energy, but they had all collectively worked through the effects. Leona wondered why she hadn't been effected as thoroughly as the others but something told her that she wouldn't know the answer to that for a long time yet and that's if there was even one to be found.

Sheena's scouts had painstakingly scoured the area later that day and found no body of Arcangela. The fact didn't sit well with Leona, but there was nothing more she could do. Before the brewing storm could reach them, they made it back to Mizuho. Celebration might have been in order, but everyone was too tired to actually do it-a fact that Leona found oddly humorous. It certainly wasn't anything like how the endings were to other tales such as these-not that she'd read many.

It rained cats and dogs the very next day giving everyone further excuse to stay inside. She didn't hear from Zelos, but she she spent an incredible amount of time with the others: Cathe, Cecil, and the twins until she thought she was going stir-crazy. Leona must have learned several hundred new games during that time. At the very least she was getting to know them all like never before. Every once and a while Sheena would join them as well just to spice things and probably out of boredom.

They were all waiting for Raine's return. In the back of their minds, they were all worried about her, wondering where she might be, and wondering if she'd make it back in time to save the others who were still yet under Lucas' mysterious spell.