A/N: Wow, has my life been hectic! After a road trip to West Virginia, I had lost my flashdrive and had to start this chapter over. That pretty much ruined most of my motivation to write. Then, I found my flashdrive again, only for more things to happen to pretty much bring my writing process to a halt. I apologize for the long wait, however. I'm still not entirely happy with this, but maybe I'll go back and fix it someday. I've wasted entirely too much time on this chapter and it's time to move on! Enjoy the chapter!
And P.S. – when you get to the part where Skye is looking at the symbol on the floor, if you don't understand the way I'm describing it, PM me and I'll send you a link to a couple of pictures to help (ffnet is always weird about links and stuff, or else I'd just put it here). If you think my description needs to be better, give me some constructive criticism, it's always welcome!
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This path we choose is not the easiest to walk upon
And knowing that I am more eager to continue on
Because I know that when I reach the end
I'll be better than before
-We Came As Romans, Searching, Seeking, Reaching, Always
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The Martel Temple wasn't quite what Skye had imagined it would look like. She had expected something a little nicer looking; perhaps with pews and some carpeting, maybe even candles, like she had heard the cathedral in Meltokio had. Although she wasn't expecting it to be quite as grand as Meltokio, because judging from the region the chapel was located in and from its outward appearance, it just wouldn't make sense for it to be so lavishly decorated. After all, the nearest village was Iselia and their economy was mostly dominated by farming. They didn't really have the need or the budget for extravagant decorations.
She hadn't expected it to be quite so dark and unadorned, and overall a bit ominous-looking, however.
The group had walked through the large wooden doors to the temple, Kratos and Colette in front, followed by Lloyd, with Genis and Skye bringing up the rear. Ascertaining from the way that Lloyd and Genis were looking around, they had never been into the chapel, either. Skye wonders how many times Kratos has been in here, however. After all, in the 4,000 years that he's been alive, surely he'd had to guide another chosen or two, right?
After the majority of the group had walked down the stairs into the foyer-like area, Skye closed the large, wooden double doors behind them and continued down the stairs as well, moving to stand near Kratos as she inspected the area. The room they were in was rather dark and a bit damp with a high, domed ceiling. There were torches lit in various places, spread out along the walls. More of them could also be seen in the hallways that three short staircases branching off from the room led to. The building itself seemed to be entirely made out of old stone, some of it crumbling off of the walls and leaving small pebbles littered throughout the room. In the middle of the room where everyone had gathered was a strange design on the floor. It was very complicated and elaborate.
To describe the symbol as simply as possible, it was made up of a few circles, a triangle, and three feathers. In the center of the symbol were two small filled-in spheres, one placed a few inches above its partner, which was an exact copy of the lower sphere. Surrounding the two spheres like a ring was a large circular ring. The ring and the shapes within it were just barely contained within a large triangle, whose three points protruded from it. For the most part, its three sides nearly melded with the circles' edges; the protruding angles created their own, smaller triangles, as well. Extending from the large inner-circle/the sides of the triangle were three feathers. The position of the feathers, if the symbol were compared an actual object, could be compared to a wind-mill; they looked as if they would spin. Encompassing all of this was one last large ring.
Skye's pondering of the room was interrupted by Lloyd, but she decides to ask Kratos about the symbol later.
"So this is what the inside of the temple is like," he exclaims to his friends and the two newcomers with a look of wonder on his face as he continues looking about the room.
Genis, who seems to be finished examining the room (and who wasn't nearly as excited as Lloyd) turns to Colette. "Colette, you've been in here many times, right?" he asks curiously.
The Chosen looks over to Genis, a thoughtful look in her blue eyes. "Yeah, but it seems different today. Er… Well, it looks the same. I just meant that it feels different, I guess," she explains.
Skye thinks that the younger girl's explanation makes sense. After all, it probably wouldn't feel quite so… ominous in here, usually. Otherwise wouldn't it be rather uncomfortable (at the least) for the priests and the Chosen spend so much time in here? "Perhaps it has something to do with the trial," she muses to the group as she continues to look around. One of the things Kratos had taught her was the most important was to always know her surroundings so as to avoid giving the enemy any advantage over her, no matter where she was. She was already at a disadvantage, after all, being new to combat situations along with her rather petite frame. She always needed to be aware of how to use her surroundings to her advantage; knowledge would most certainly translate to power in her case.
"I sense the presence of monsters. Don't let your guard down," Kratos says softly. Skye interprets it as him taking notice that she was following what she'd been taught, but it could also just sound like he was admonishing the distracted teens nearby.
"We can handle a few measly monsters," Lloyd scoffs. "Let's go," he continues as he starts to head off towards a set of stairs directly in front of the group.
"Wait," Kratos orders and Lloyd stops to look at the man. "Lloyd… are your sword techniques self-taught?"
Lloyd instantly perks up thinking that the man had noticed his fighting prowess. "Yeah, that's right," he admits, proudly.
Skye nearly laughs. It was almost comical that the boy thought that Kratos was going to praise him. She knew that compliments didn't come from Kratos so easily after all the time that she had spent training with him over the last couple of months.
Kratos just shakes his head and reaches his hand into his bag. He takes out a moderately-sized, leather-bound book and walks over to give it to Lloyd. "I had originally brought this along in case my partner should need it," he explains as he makes a small nod in Skye's direction. "But I think you need it more."
"What is this thing?" Lloyd questions with a puzzled look on his face as he holds the book up vertically and allows the pages to flip themselves and as he gives them a quick look-over.
"If you are going to use a sword, then at least learn the basics," Kratos admonishes. "You want to protect the Chosen, don't you?" he continues with a raised eyebrow before walking past the boy, simultaneously leading the group up the stairs straight ahead of them.
Lloyd immediately takes on an insulted look. "Humph. You think you know so much!" he says under his breath. Here he was, thinking he was going to get some appreciation for his skill, and what he gets is mocked! He really did not like the red-haired newcomer right now.
Skye sent him a slightly apologetic look and shrugged her shoulders before walking up the stairs to follow the group and leaving him to follow on his own. Everyone else was continuing up the set of stairs ahead of them.
After walking down the path for a few minutes, they came to the end of the hallway. Rather, what was currently the end of the hallway - there was a door ahead of them being blocked by some type of force field that seemed to be made of a blue light. It radiated from the center of a circular gate decorated with a swirling gilded design. Past the force field on the door ahead of them was a glowing symbol in the same style as the one on the floor of the previous room.
"Looks like a dead end," Genis points out. "Colette, do you know what we have to do to go farther?"
The blond girl shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I've never been to the inner portions," she explains.
"I'm sure something in this chapel will allow us to get through here. This hasto be a part of the trial. It's too conspicuous not to be," Skye states.
Kratos nods. "Yes, let's find a different route for now."
-0-0-0-
After taking a wrong turn to another dead end – this time due to the hall itself being collapsed – and running into a nest of large spiders that they had the unpleasant experience of destroying at the end of the hallway, they had finally taken the only other corridor that was left unexplored. This time, it had led them to a staircase leading down to the basement level of the holy building.
The room they had found after descending the stairs was different than anything they had seen in the chapel as of yet. While the main aspects of the room were still the same – still dark, damp, and stony – there was something very different in this room. Suspended about twenty feet above the bottom level of the room was a platform that seemed to be comprised of a crystal floor. It was a light blue color, much the same as the force field on the door that they had seen earlier, perhaps reinforcing the idea that the two were connected in some way. There were nine cut-outs in the floor, each with a gilded frame around them (also like the force-field door from the faux-dead-end hallway they had taken earlier).
The group continues walking onto the platform of the bi-level room after deeming that it will take their weight and make their way over to the nearest hole. Lloyd leans down and looks through the gap in the flooring. He lets out a low whistle after a moment. "Long drop," he comments. "There's a break in the path below, too."
Skye chooses this moment to stick her neck out as well, but before she can say anything Genis speaks up.
"Look, look!" he exclaims excitedly. "There's something glowing," he explains, pointing across a chasm close to the staircase they came from, and the party walks over to the edge to peer across. There's something resting upon a pedestal at an alcove in the wall. There's a staircase leading to it, but the path that it comes from has a gap in it, as well.
"Wow, let's go see it!" Lloyd says with a grin.
"Lloyd, don't you see the problem with that idea?" Genis asks sarcastically as he eyes the chasm and the missing part of the path.
Colette is the first one to turn back around. "Look, there's something here," she says tactlessly, immediately drawing the attention of what seems to be a golem. It begins to approach her, prompting Genis to call out to her, Skye to leap in front of her as she draws her sword, and Kratos to immediately take-off towards the creature, quickly followed by Lloyd.
Kratos reaches the golem before Lloyd and begins a deadly dance with the monster, slashing at it until the golem begins its retaliation which prompts him to quickly back step and throw up his shield as he carefully avoids both the strike and the nearby opening in the crystal floor. Skye covers his retreat, gripping her emblem necklace and quickly casting Aqua Edge right as Lloyd runs up and begins furiously stabbing and slicing at the creature and Colette simultaneously launches her chakrams. Genis, quickly realizing that he hadn't been contributing much to the battle, begins casting as Skye joins her fellow frontline attackers, leaving Colette behind her to provide some support from the mid-way area of the confusing room-turned-battlefield.
A few minutes (and a few bruises) later, the battle was over. After the golem had taken enough of a beating it collapsed in on itself. The party excluding Kratos, and Skye who follows his lead, assume that the threat is gone and begin to put away their weapons. However, the body of the golem begins to glow. Genis and Colette hold a hand up to their face to shield their eyes from the bright light as Lloyd merely squints at the glowing creature. Kratos gets back into a battle stance and Skye moves up to his side, watching the monster.
As suddenly as the glow came, however, it disappears, leaving behind a stone block in the place where the golem had previously lain.
The group is quiet for a few moments, all weapons once again drawn, as if waiting for something else to happen.
"Well that was anti-climatic," Skye says dryly, realizing that nothing else is going to happen as she breaks the silence and sheathes her sword again before reaching a hand up to her left side. The golem had caught her in the ribs, but she only felt bruised. She was pretty sure nothing was broken, thankfully. She would check later, after they left the Martel Temple, to be sure. So this is the power of a Cruxis Crystal, she thinks. Had this happened to me before, I probably would have quite a few broken ribs – or worse – now.
Kratos replaces his weapon as well, sensing that the danger is over. He glances over to Skye, as if silently asking her if she needs to be healed. She shakes her head, not wanting to waste any of Kratos' mana (and perhaps some hard-earned respect) on some mere bruising, and they join the rest of the party who have already moved over to investigate the newly-formed block.
"Wow!" Colette exclaims. "It turned into a rock."
"Well, it was kind of a rock to begin with," Lloyd says.
While Lloyd and Colette are caught up in their conversation about the 'rock,' Genis and Kratos have already gone back to investigating the room. Skye walks around to the opposite side of the block and inspects it. She then eyes the hole in the floor a few feet away.
"Oh, I get it," Skye and Genis say simultaneously.
"I see…" Kratos says milliseconds after the other two.
"What are you guys talking about?" Lloyd asks confusedly.
"I believe we need to use the block to bridge the pathways below us," Kratos explains. "That should allow us to access the rest of the lower level."
"I think Kratos is right," Genis states. Skye nods in assent.
Lloyd walks over to the block and begins to try and push it down into the nearby hole. Skye quickly realizes, however, that he isn't going to be able to do this himself. That doesn't stop the teen from trying, however. He's already been outshined by the red-haired mercenary once today, he wasn't about to ask for the man's help.
Skye thinks that Colette is probably the only person in the room who doesn't realize why Lloyd hasn't asked for some help yet. She takes pity on the boy, however, and approaches the struggling teen. He takes a break from his pushing for a moment (having only gotten about two inches at most) and takes a look at Skye before moving over so she can stand next to him and help his efforts of pushing the heavy 'rock.'
Skye and Lloyd continue trying to get the block to the desired destination, making better progress than Lloyd was before, but Kratos apparently isn't feeling particularly patient. He walks up to the pair and comes up on the other side of Skye, who moves closer to Lloyd, so she is in-between Kratos and Lloyd. Once all three of them are pushing the block together, they are able to quickly push it down through the hole in the floor.
Soon after they had finally achieved their goal, there is a feeling of displaced mana in the room and Genis and Skye look behind the group to see another golem has arrived. After realizing that they were going to have to do this for every missing piece of the path below, Skye sighs, feeling a bit less happy to be on this journey than she was before.
"Whoa, there's another one!" Lloyd exclaims.
"Let's take care of it, then," Skye says, taking out her sword and heading toward the monster as she follows Kratos who is already on his way to it.
-0-0-0-
A few more blocks, Lloyd's mutterings of never wanting to see another golem again, and a trip to the lower level of the room to walk across the restored pathways later, the party had finally made it to the pedestal that they had seen from the top of the crystal platform.
Lloyd is the first one to run up to the platform. Skye wonders how he can still be so excited after fighting golems and pushing gigantic blocks around for the past couple of hours, but figures she probably shouldn't question it. She's glad that someone had the energy to still be excited – she knew she didn't.
The rest of the group make it up the stairs at a sedate pace and arrive at the platform after Lloyd has already picked up the object and is inspecting it. Genis moves over to Lloyd and holds out his hand for the item and Lloyd promptly hands the item over to his younger friend.
"Is this the Sorcerer's Ring?" the younger boy questions. "I've heard about it before. It's a holy artifact of the Church of Martel!" The boy then passes it off to Colette.
Skye is a little impressed. The young boy seems to be quite a wealth of knowledge. Although she supposes that he should be rather advanced for his age, anyway. After all, he's a magic-user. She knows full well that it's difficult to learn. She had trouble learning it at her age; she could hardly imagine what it would be like trying to learn it when she was that young. The boy couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen, after all.
"With this we should be able to deal with most traps and obstacles," Kratos points out to the group.
"Like that sealed doorway back near the entrance," Skye reflects.
"Probably," Kratos replies with a nod.
"Wow!" Lloyd says animatedly. "Let me try it!"
"Okay, Lloyd," Colette says with a smile as she hands off the holy ring to her friend.
Skye hears Genis mumble something under his breath. It might've been, "You're like a little kid."
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After traveling back through the temple, the party finally arrives back at the not-really-a-dead-end hallway. Lloyd is the first person to approach the force field, since he had been rushing ahead of the rest of the group for a majority of their trip back, due to his excitement. He pauses and looks at the ring on his finger, but doesn't attempt to use it yet. Instead, he turns back around and addresses his friends and the two mercenaries.
"Everybody okay?" he asks.
Skye is a bit surprised that after all his rushing to get there he actually stopped to consider how the others in the group might be feeling. Although she and Kratos were fine, Genis and Colette were starting to look a little worse for wear. After all, Genis was younger and smaller – he had to work a little harder to keep up with Lloyd's rushing pace along with the monsters. Colette was just a bit delicate. She wasn't quite used to all the fighting that they'd been doing.
"Y-yeah," Genis manages. "But why are there so many monsters in the temple?"
"This is part of the Chosen's trial," Kratos explains, placing a hand on his hip. "Weren't you aware of that when you decided to join her?"
Genis doesn't seem to have anything to say to that, and Colette looks down as if she's feeling a bit guilty, but Lloyd speaks up. "Of course I knew that," he says calmly.
"I'm sorry," the blond Chosen says quietly. "It's my fault you're here."
Lloyd looks surprised, but quickly moves to reassure his friend. "Don't worry about it!" he says as he walks over and places a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him. "It's for the sake of bringing peace to the world!"
"Dwarven Vow number one, right?" Genis says to his friends with a broad smile. Colette laughs.
"I told you to stop bringing those up," Lloyd mutters embarrassedly, but he does seem grateful to the boy for helping to cheer up their friend.
Dwarven Vows…? Skye decides not to ask.
"Now that we've established that everything's fine, we should probably continue," Skye prompts.
Lloyd seems grateful for the attention being diverted away from his embarrassment. "Right," he says quickly. He moves closer to the force field and holds his hand up, with the ring on his finger facing outward. He concentrates for a brief moment, and a small fireball shoots out from the ring. It goes through the force field and hits a small switch in the wall on the other side, which then causes the wall to split down the middle and the two sides withdraw into the walls on either side.
"This is all the Sorcerer's Ring does?" Lloyd questions unenthusiastically.
Kratos places a palm to his face, and Genis says "You get bored so easily."
Skye walks forward, and utters a brief "Come on, Lloyd," as she lightly grabs him by the elbow and walks with him toward the small teleporter that appeared behind the newly-receded wall. Everyone else moves to join them, and they take the teleporter.
They arrive in a high dome-ceilinged room with some sort of large nearly circular thing with something shining in the middle of it taking up a majority of the floor in the center. The ceiling is intricately designed with a gilded vine-like pattern. There are many twists and curves of the trailing design. There is also a skylight that is covered by some sort of blue, almost watery-looking barrier. There are a few windows in the room, as well.
"This appears to be the top floor," Kratos observes.
"Yes," Colette confirms. "That's the altar," she explains, motioning toward the construct in the middle of the room.
"Then that shining thing there must be the Cruxis Crystal," Lloyd infers.
Cruxis Crystal? It doesn't really look like mine… Not quite like Kratos', either, Skye muses silently. She and Kratos' Cruxis Crystals were more like variations of a normal exsphere. They were both a mix of a violet and blue color with a few speckles of green, rather than the almost flaming red of the shining Crystal on the altar.
"That's right. They say I was born with that in my hand," Colette states.
"Look at that light!" Genis exclaims, gathering everyone's attention, which is quickly directed toward the large amount of shining light being emitted from the once-normal turned extremely-bright skylight. After a moment, a small golden pin-point of light descends from the skylight. The small pin-point then emits a sudden, golden flash. After the flash, there's an angel hovering where the golden light once was.
Skye takes in the figure garbed in familiar robes, with golden hair and deep blue eyes and a pair of white-feathered wings, and realizes that she's seen him before. She recognizes him as one of the angels from Derris-Kharlan. She'd never interacted much with the man, but she's fairly sure that his name is Remiel. She makes eye contact with the man, but neither of them lingers for too long – perhaps not wanting to raise any suspicion. This isn't the time to talk about goings-on in Derris-Kharlan, after all. He's here for the Chosen.
"Wh… What is that?" Lloyd questions, awe-struck.
"An angel, I would assume," Kratos answers.
If Lloyd's so awe-struck now, Skye wonders what he would be like if he saw a seraphim's wings. She remembered the first time she saw Mithos' multicolored light-filled wings. Remiel's were practically mundane compared to those.
"So is that Colette's real father?" Genis questions, from what Skye thinks is seemingly out of nowhere.
Colette steps away from the group and moves forward, closer to the altar, and the golden-haired angel begins to speak.
"I am Remiel," he begins in a low, rich voice, as he confirms Skye's speculation. "I am an angel of judgment. I am here to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen," he explains. He descends slowly until he is hovering just above the altar. Once he stops descending, the Crystal suspended there rises up to him until it is about chest-high.
"The time has come to awaken the Goddess Martel, who sleeps at the center of the world," he continues.
"Awaken the Goddess Martel… It's just like the legend Raine told us about," Genis says quietly to Lloyd, not that it really escapes any of the enhanced senses of Skye, Kratos, and Remiel.
The Cruxis Crystal, currently suspended in front of Remiel, begins a slow descent toward Colette, trailing small sparkling pieces of light behind it. Once it reaches her, it stops moving. The girl looks at it for a moment before reaching out a hand to touch it. She touches it tentatively with an index and middle finger. When nothing happens, she reaches out with her other hand and uses both hands to grab it and bring it closer to her. She closes her eyes as if thinking intently and there is another flash of light. The girl opens her eyes, also opening her hands, and the Crystal has embedded itself in a golden necklace around her slender neck.
"From this moment, Colette becomes the Chosen of Regeneration," Remiel states, breaking the silence of the room. "We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant," he says in his method of precise, measured speech as he raises an arm and gestures toward one of the windows off to the right of the group. Almost as if the angel's gesture prompted it, there is one more flash of light, this time from outside. This, combined with the angel's gesture, grab the group's attention and pull it towards the window. After the light fades, there is a structure that while far-off, can still be clearly seen. The Tower of Salvation is enormous, and stretches up into the sky and past the clouds. While it looks almost just like a thin pillar from here, it would be something truly amazing from closer-up.
"So that's the Tower of Salvation!" Lloyd states excitedly.
"Now the world will be saved!" Genis says.
"Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration," Remiel begins, drawing the groups attention back in his direction. "Unlock the seals that guard the Tower of Salvation and climb its stairs to heaven in distant lands."
The girl raises her hands and clasps them in front of her chest, closing her eyes as she says "I humbly accept this task," before opening her eyes slowly once more.
"Very good," Remiel states. "We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock. Once you are reborn as an angel, this eroded world shall be regenerated."
"Thank you. I swear on my life I will regenerate the world," the girl says, voice full of resolve. It hurts Skye a little to hear it.
"First, head south to the Seal of Fire. Offer your prayers in that distant land," the angel instructs.
"Yes, Lord Remiel," Colette accepts. The angel then begins to ascend toward the skylight once more, but is stopped by Colette's ungraceful, hurried protest of "Uh, wait!"
She realizes how that sounds, and corrects herself, however. "Please, wait," she requests, more politely. "I have a question I wish to ask of you."
There is a pause as he awaits her question and she works up the courage to ask it.
"Are you really my fa-"
The angel cuts her off. "First, head to the Seal of Fire," he orders. "Understood? My beloved daughter, Colette," he continues in a softer, more understanding-sounding voice.
"F-Father! …So you really are my true father," she states, hopefully.
"We shall meet again at the next seal, my daughter," he replies, almost a bit hurriedly. Skye thinks that it sounds a bit forced. Is she the only one who noticed? Or perhaps it's just because she already knows that he's lying about some things, so she's more willing to see the rest of the truth. There is nothing to answer her question, and momentarily the 'angel of judgment' disappears in another flash of golden light. The only things left behind are a few feathers, floating in the air.
The party is silent for a few moments, but they then break apart to talk amongst themselves. Lloyd and Genis are off to one side, Colette is still in front of the altar, and Kratos and Skye are hanging back near the teleporter.
"Colette must now go on a long journey to search for those seals," Kratos explains to Skye who merely replies with a thoughtful look on her face and a small nod. They then just stand back and watch the teens, who have gathered together, Lloyd and Genis joining Colette in front of the altar. Lloyd has a hand on Colette's shoulder.
"I can't believe Remiel is my father…" she says quietly. "I'm alright. I was just a little surprised, that's all," she explains to the brunette teen, before walking toward the two mercenaries in the back of the room.
Lloyd and Genis follow after her, as Genis says "So that was the oracle. I wish Raine could have seen him."
"You've received the oracle," Skye says to Colette with a small reassuring smile as the teens approach her and Kratos.
"Then let us leave now, Chosen," Kratos addresses her.
"…Oh, yes," Colette replies with a thoughtful look on her face.
"We're going on ahead," Kratos says, gesturing to Skye and himself, before walking onto the teleporter.
Skye and Kratos arrive back in the hallway and Skye steps off the teleporter and turns back to Kratos. Before she says anything, Kratos speaks. "I know you probably have questions now, but they'll need to wait until later. Remember, discretion is important on this mission," he explains not unkindly.
Skye is quiet for a moment before nodding. "You're right," she says.
He walks toward her and once they're even with each other, they proceed to the entrance of the building where the wait for the Chosen. It's time to take her back home.
Skye isn't quite sure why, but something about Colette just makes her sad.
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A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Once again, sorry about the long wait. Leave me some constructive criticism so I can become a better writer! See you next time! :)
P.S. - I'm also thinking about going back and fixing some of my earlier chapters. None of the plot will change, I'll just be making them better overall.