Life sometimes can be quite eventfull... looking for a job, college, works and tests...
Well, let's forget my rant and get this going, shall we?
Chapter 38
The Serene Sage
"Are we there yet?" Raine asked for what seemed to be the thirteenth time while facing a corner in the command cabin, refusing to look outside the window and to the sea.
"Not yet, Lady Raine," Kratos said. He was commandeering the crew on the boat as a request from Yuan.
"Call me just Raine, if you please," the Professor said, still not looking at them.
Sheena and Lloyd sighed at the silver haired woman's behavior. Colette and Presea were on the superior deck, the blonde having asked to take a look at the sea. Sheena also would have liked nothing more than to wear her swimsuit she bought in Altamira and take a good sunbath in the superior deck... and ask Lloyd to pass oil on her back. However, with Kratos there things might turn awkward, so she was restraining herself.
"Raine, the sea won't eat you if you look at it," Lloyd spoke, trying to calm his friend down.
"I have my suspicions," Raine replied.
"Alright. Be paranoid then," Sheena said.
"I am not paranoid!"
"Do they always act like that?" Kratos asked his son. The two women had been "exchanging pleasantries" since they departed from the base.
"Pretty much, yeah," Lloyd said with an embarrassed smile. Although if they're back at jabbing at each other that might mean Sheena isn't angry with Raine anymore.
Kratos sighed. Seeing that everybody was paying attention to their chores and Raine and Sheena are preoccupied with one another, he decided to have a talk with son:
"So, how are things between you and Sheena?"
"Pretty well," Lloyd replied. He then remembered something and, although it would certainly embarrass him, he decided if there was somebody he could talk to, it was his dad. "Um... dad... how do you know when... she wants that?" Kratos looked at Lloyd with a raised eyebrow, clearly not understanding what he meant. Lloyd started to blush a scarlet tone. "Um... you know... that."
He could practically see the gears turning in Kratos' head and it finally seemed to click as he let out an "oh". The auburn haired man spoke:
"Well... there are some signs, but why the question, Lloyd? Do you think you are ready?"
"I-I... don't know... Sheena's the one that takes the initiative most of the time."
That made Kratos shoot a forlorn look at his son.
He lets her take the initiative even on that! What is he? The housewife? Kratos was about to voice his thoughts when he remembered that when he had been married to Anna, he bent to her will most of the time too and did most of the work in the home, such as dusting and laundry, which she was horrible at. Thinking back on it now, what did they say? That I was whipped? Maybe I shouldn't recriminate him, considering I'm not that much of a manly role model either. "And are you completely okay with that?" Kratos asked.
"Well... it does make me feel like a child in that regard, but Sheena doesn't seem to think of me as a bad boyfriend because of that. She even said that she wouldn't mind learning together with me," Lloyd spoke.
"If you two have reached this decision and are content with each other, then I won't oppose," Mainly because I was just the same when Anna and me started dating. Kratos added as an afterthought with a sigh. Like father, like son I suppose…
- / - / - / - / - / -
In the past, the Thoda Islandused to be a touristic spot famous for its geyser. It was also rumored the island housed an altar dedicated to the Summon Spirit Undine. Now, the eruptions of boiling water ceased ever since the Second Invasion, like a sign of Undine's absence. Moreover, with the sea infested by demons, few people bothered to venture so far from civilization.
The EC anchored near the tiny docks that gave access to the island. Lloyd and the others started to leave as Kratos gave instructions to the Renegade and Vanguard crew to stay on the EC and contact him through his walkie-talkie in case there was any trouble.
Raine had to hold the urge to kiss the boards of the pier once she got out of the EC (which she affectionately dubbed "the Infernal Vessel"), but cringed when she was reminded why they were here.
Honestly, I swear irony is on my case. Raine sighed.
It was then the group heard a scream coming from the geyser area. They drew their weapons and ran up the stairs, arriving in the rocky area surrounding the geyser to see a blonde boy being harassed by three mermaid monsters with tridents and lances. Lloyd recognized the boy:
"Mithos!"
"Lloyd?!" the blonde exclaimed back, seeming surprised to see his self-appointed friend there.
"Hold on!" Lloyd said, charging with the others and slashing at the monsters.
The battle didn't last long. Even in their human forms, the party was still slightly stronger than the average, seasoned warriors. Kratos sheathed his sword after beheading the last monster and turned to the young half-elf, who sighed in relief.
"Who are you and what were you doing here?" he asked in a suspicious tone.
"I don't owe you any explanation, huma…" Mithos started, already on the defensive.
"Mithos, there's no need to be like that and dad…" Lloyd spoke, turning to his father. "He's my friend. He even saved Raine when she was being harassed by some Martel Knights from the Church."
"Really?" Kratos asked, to which Lloyd nodded. "In that case, I'm sorry."
"I… I apologize too," Mithos reluctantly said. "I shouldn't have acted like that."
"Anyway, why are you out here in the wilderness?" Lloyd asked, although a bit more tactful than his father.
Raine and Sheena greeted Mithos, just like Colette, who greeted him warmly and shook his hand event though they were complete strangers. Mithos' eyes seemed to gleam with some unknown emotion when Colette came forth and presented herself, but most of the group didn't catch that, except Presea who narrowed her eyes as she took a better look at Mithos. After Mithos returned the greetings, Presea noticed his tone and expression seemed to get a little meeker as he spoke:
"I don't really know. I slept in a commerce boat that I boarded to go to Luin and next thing I know, I woke up here in Thoda."
"They probably left you behind after discovering you were a half-elf. I'm sorry you had to get through that," Sheena said sympathetically.
"It's alright, I'm used to it. But what are you doing out here?"
The group looked between themselves, debating whether they should tell Mithos the real motive for them being in Thoda Island or not.
"Why don't we tell him? It's not like it will make that much of a difference, considering everybody who already know," Lloyd suggested.
"Yeah, besides, Mithos is Lloyd's friend right?" Colette said, smiling a warm smile.
"That doesn't automatically make him trustworthy," Presea surprised everybody by saying that, and even more by the cold, serious tone she used.
The pink haired girl had been working on making her tone sound a little bit warmer, so others wouldn't get so intimidated when meeting her. Around Colette and the others, her tone had a particular warm to it, though it still sounded neutral. Around unknown people, it was completely emotionless, but to those she identified as her enemies, it gained a cold edge to it. The watchful, devious look she was shooting Mithos was also something the group didn't see often in her face.
"Presea!" Sheena said.
"What?"
"She's right, you know," Mithos said, returning Presea's look with an icy one.
"Anyway, what Lloyd said makes sense," Raine said, deciding to cut the hostilities off.
Lloyd nodded and explained to Mithos about them and their mission on Thoda. Mithos' eyes widened as he looked from one member of the group to the other.
"You're all Summon Spirits?!" he explained.
"Pretty much, yeah," Colette said.
"Unbelievable…"
"Have you seen any 'Wanted' posters with our description before boarding a boat?" Sheena asked, trying to support the story with facts.
"Oh. Now that you mention it…" Mithos shuffled his pockets and brought out a folded piece of paper, which he quickly unfolded and showed the group. "I found this on Palmacosta."
Sheena and Raine's eyebrows shot up. Colette looked confused. Presea was neutral, while Kratos narrowed his eyes. Lloyd's left eye twitched at the sight.
"Is that… supposed to be me?!" the reincarnated Efreet asked in indignation.
Displayed to the group was a 'Wanted' poster of Lloyd, but the face of the dual swordsman's face had been greatly deformed, having a very pronounced chin, slated eyes, a small "conman" smile at the left corner of his face and a small disproportionate body. To say Lloyd was pissed at seeing the so-called "portrait" was an understatement.
Was the artist drunk when he drew this?!
"Well, look at the bright side, nobody will recognize you like this," Mithos teased at seeing Lloyd's infuriated face.
"Don't worry Lloyd. I can vouch and say you are handsomer than this," Sheena said.
"Maybe they tried to make a caricature?" Colette suggested.
"You're not helping, guys," Lloyd grumbled lowly.
Raine sighed and decided to tell Mithos that the Church was chasing them due to them being Summon Spirits (letting out the part where they entered in direct confrontation with the angels). Mithos seemed a little skeptical about it, but spoke no more.
Kratos then reminded the group they had a mission on the island. Lloyd asked if Mithos wanted to accompany them, or he could go down the pier and leave for land in the EC they came in.
"I don't want to trouble you all," Mithos said.
"It's not really that dangerous. Most of the time we might fight a few monsters," Lloyd spoke, obviously wanting to spend some time with his road friend.
"Can you even fight?" Presea asked in that cold tone.
"Presea, don't be rude!" Colette recriminated the girl, who, for the first time, seemed to not pay heed to her, instead fixing her gaze onto Mithos.
"I can take care of myself, thank you," he answered back with some venom in his voice.
Lloyd decided to break the tension by asking Raine if she knew how to get inside. She put her hand on her chin and walked forward, to a more elevated part of the path.
Suddenly, a section of the wall on the other side of the geyser fell and a glowing, blue path appeared. The others all jumped at seeing that. Mithos was the first to recover and asked:
"Is this kind of thing normal?"
"For us? Yeah," Sheena answered.
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
Raine felt like she had died and gone to heaven.
"Ohhh… look at all these ruins. I never thought there would be something like this hidden away from view so close to the Thoda Geyser!" Raine said, frantically running from one pillar to the next, ignoring the monsters roaming the place as the others slew the creatures before they could get to the distracted Professor. "It is clearly elven architecture, but I never heard of an elven tribe living out in the sea. I must find out its origins!"
Kratos could only look as the woman went on and on about ruins, ancient civilizations and whatnot. He turned to Lloyd, who looked embarrassed at having Raine in Ruin Mode in front of his dad and his road friend.
"I would have never guessed that… she had that kind of hobby," Kratos said.
"I really thought being so close to water would tone it down, but it seems Raine's Ruin Mode is stronger than anything," Lloyd sighed.
"Ruin Mode?" Mithos asked.
"Well…"
"Lloyd! Get me my tool kit! NOW!"
"Just a minute. She gets cranky when I don't hand over her tools whenever she asks," Lloyd said, taking out the referred tool kit from the Wing Pack Yuan had given them and Lloyd kept in his possession.
"Since when is Lloyd her baggage boy?" Kratos asked Sheena, who rejoined the group with Presea and Colette.
"She seems to hope being around her will help the younger ones in our group learn something," Sheena said. "I think it's her inner teacher or something."
"No! No! I said the cleaning solution, not the dissolver!" Raine berated loudly at Lloyd.
"How am I supposed to tell each of them apart? I can't even understand what the label says!" Lloyd answered back.
Kratos sighed at the sight. Colette then decided to help and went to Lloyd, taking the right product and handing it to Raine, who thanked her and mentioned something about "people who didn't pay attention". Lloyd groaned.
After that little episode and Raine collecting a small amount of old tools and skulls worthy of being in a museum, the group continued to explore the temple. Lloyd fell back with Mithos and decided to chat a little with the blonde. The red clad swordsman also noticed Presea's suspecting eyes looking at Mithos every now and then. Lloyd then spoke with him in a mild-ashamed tone:
"I'm sorry for Presea's behavior. She normally isn't like that."
"It's fine," Mithos said. "I'm more used to it than you can imagine."
"Yeah, but just because she only met you today doesn't give her the right to…"
"Do you remember what I told you the second time we met?" Mithos interrupted him. Lloyd looked confused and let out an "huh?". "'The ties of hatred between our species are stronger than those of friendship'."
"Yeah… I've seen that a lot often lately," Lloyd admitted, looking to the side with a sad expression.
"Then why is it you still travel with Raine?"
"Because she's my friend, regardless of her race," Lloyd said without hesitation.
"Are you attracted to her?" Mithos bluntly asked.
"EH?!"
"I said…"
"I heard what you said!" Lloyd let out, looking and seeing Sheena look at him in confusion for his outburst. He sighed in relief at seeing she hadn't been catching on their conversation.
"You do, don't you?" Mithos spoke more in an affirmation than a question, a teasing smirk on his lips.
"Can we please change the subject?" Lloyd asked in a pleading tone. The last thing he needed was Sheena getting more aggressive with Raine because of jealously.
"You know, if you really are a Summon Spirit, then you're going to live forever. Don't you think you should enjoy it as much as you can, considering the heavy charge of duty that will come with it?" Mithos continued, his teasing smile never leaving his face, clearly pleased with the tight position he put Lloyd in.
"I never pegged you for a matchmaker, Mithos... or a pervert," Lloyd talked back, narrowing his eyes.
"Haha! Nice comeback!" Mithos said in a jovial tone. He then saw Lloyd's surprised face and his mood immediately became one of confusion. "What?"
"That's the first time I heard you laughing."
"Wh-What about it?" Mithos asked, blushing. "I can laugh too, you know?"
"Dunno. You're always so serious. Remind me of this guy I met. He's a half-elf like you, but a lot more stiff."
"I'm not stiff!"
As the two friends went on, Presea continued to observe them. Colette noticed that and elbowed her friend/crush to get her attention. When Presea looked to her, she put her best angry face (which wasn't that much intimidating, considering it could easily be mistaken by her determined face and made her look a little cute) and told her pink haired companion:
"Why are you being like this around Mithos? You were never like that even around Raine."
Understanding what Colette was insinuating, Presea shook her head.
"It's not that, it's just… something about him isn't right."
"Like what?" Colette asked, now a little surprised. Mithos couldn't be cursed like her mom, could he? Raine would certainly have noticed it and told them right away if that was the case.
"I don't know. I can't see it. It's like he's hiding it," Presea said, looking at the half-elf again, who was now chatting away with Lloyd.
Colette was even more confused by that. Raine and Ratatosk said that Shadow had the best vision out of all the Summon Spirits, being able to perceive things that were normally missed by his brothers and sisters' eyes. Was Presea seeing something in Mithos that they couldn't?
She put those questions on hold as they entered a large room and walked towards a transporter on a platform. The sound of rushing water reverberated around the cavernous room and made Raine feel anxious and nervous at the same time. Utilizing the transporter, they arrived at the altar.
All around them was what looked like a shrine in the middle of an underground lake. Raine walked ahead of the group, her steps trembling a bit at being surrounded by so much water and knowing what possibly might come.
She was then stopped by Lloyd, who put his hand on her shoulder, making she look at him. He gave her a firm and comforting look as he said:
"If you think you can't do it, we can go back and try again other time."
Raine looked from Lloyd to his hand and back to him. Her expression eased enough for her to give him a smile.
"Thanks, but I think we both know it's better that I do this now, rather than later," Raine spoke, walking the rest of the distance to the altar as the others stayed behind.
"Are these rituals hard?" Mithos asked in a curious tone.
"Ah, no. It's just that Raine has a problem with water," Lloyd explained.
Mithos looked at him with curiosity, but didn't speak anymore.
When Raine arrived at the altar, thin water veils rose up from the nearby lake and gathered above the altar, almost making the half-elven woman jump. They formed a water sphere that started to glow until it seemed to turn into a sphere of blue light.
"You who possesses my soul. I am the one once known as Undine."
"I-I'm Raine," the woman said in a shaky voice that Lloyd never heard on her before.
"You seem disturbed," Undine's soul halve noticed.
"I-It's nothing…"
"In that case, if you are here that means it's finally time to proceed with Origin's plan. You will have my powers once you pass this test. May luck be on your side."
I have the impression I'll need it. Raine thought.
There was a sudden flash of blue, which made the group and Raine cover their eyes. When they could see again, Raine almost fell back at the sight before her. A blue serpent-dragon was curled on the altar. Its head was half the size of Raine's entire body and it had a set of long arms with armor-like, spiked scales. Along its body and head were several sets of fins.
Before Raine could begin to charge a spell, the creature lashed its tail out and bound her, throwing the older Sage in one of the pillars. Raine got up, feeling a little dizzy by the impact, but well nonetheless.
Thank goodness Martel lent me some of her equipment. These elven armors are quite resistent. Raine thought. However, she knew better than to abuse her luck, so she quickly charged a spell as the dragon slithered to her. "Photon!"
The explosion of light spheres caught the creature head on and Raine charged another spell, this time the circle around her glowed a poison-green.
"Neran Liard!" the binding runes appeared and chaos arrows rained upon the dragon. However, instead of blood flying out of the cuts, water flowed from the guardian's body and when the massive, ethereal, chaos sword fell upon it, the monster exploded in several water droplets that floated around the altar.
Raine didn't understand what was happening until the water shot to her and joined around her, reforming the dragon's body, which had Raine in its grasp. As the woman fought to free herself, the dragon jumped into the underground lake with her still secured on its grip.
"RAINE!" Lloyd let out, running to the edge of the altar with the others. Sheena gritted her teeth as Colette looked at the water with her hands over her mouth.
That was bad. Raine was always nervous whenever near a large body of water. If she stayed down there too much…
All of their worries were half-eased when Raine was thrown out of the water and landed with a painful thud on the middle of the shrine, shriving and hugging herself as she sat up, an expression of fear and shock on her face.
"C-cold… t-too c-cold… please d-don't…" she mumbled, shivering uncontrollably.
The dragon then came out of the water and slithered with incredible speed around Lloyd and the others, its gaze fixed on Raine as it brought its head back. Lloyd couldn't keep himself quiet at seeing his friend hadn't noticed the action of the monster:
"Raine, WATCH OUT!"
She looked behind just in time to see the dragon spilling a jet of purple fluid on her. Raine reflexively casted Force Field, defending herself from the strange substance that spilled everywhere around her. When the shield went down, she seemed to recover enough to grab her staff, but started to cough as the foul smell of the substance the dragon tried hit her with arouse around her. Raine recognized it as a rare type of poisonous substance she had once studied with Neran.
In that moment, she was glad she was able to hear Lloyd's warning in time, however that didn't save her when the dragon dashed in and grabbed her in a death grip with its claws. The serpent-dragon was about to go into the water, which made Raine's eyes widen in panic and she casted the first spell that came to her mind:
"Khist Tresay!" a runic portal appeared right in front of the dragon in the middle of the air, repelling it once when it tried to go through. Several other portals appeared around the dragon and unleashed light mixed with chaos energies, burning the guardian's aura and soon shooting beams of light into the creature.
The dragon glowed and exploded with a roar, transforming into water again and liberating Raine, but before she fell to the ground, the water seemed to stop in the air and converged to her, forming a giant, water sphere that encompassed Raine completely and floated above the shrine. Lloyd and the others could only observe as the silver haired woman beat her arms and legs uselessly in the shifting waters of the sphere, her panic only making she lose more precious air.
Lloyd wanted to tell her to calm down, but he doubted Raine would be able to hear him, given the expression of panic in her face as she tried to get out of the magical sphere threatening to drown her. All he could do was call out her name as she slowly stopped her desperate motions and brought her hands to her throat, gulping down large quantities of water.
Lloyd… ! Sheena… ! her lungs felt like they were on fire, trying to pull in air that wasn't there, only filling with more water. Professor Neran…
You didn't get this far to let it end here, did you? Raine didn't know why it sounded so familiar, but she could already feel herself giving in, her body feeling heavy. As darkness was claiming her, she could still hear it. Raine… Raine.
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
"Raine!"
A three year old Raine Sage looked up from her divagation, shooting a look of curiosity at her teacher.
"Is my lesson really that boring to you?" the man asked in a good-natured tone, smiling at her.
"N-No, of course not Professor Neran!" a flustered Raine said. "I… was just thinking…"
"Really? What is it that you were thinking?"
That was one of the things she liked in her teacher. Neran was always asking for her opinion, wanting to hear her thoughts. Many grow-ups underestimated her, thought she couldn't understand what they were saying even when she could. But Professor Neran wasn't like that. He kind of reminded her of her father.
"Professor, you said that magic could use emotions to enhance its power, right? Then why is it that we're always taught to control our emotions and separate from them when we're casting, if that would make them more powerful?"
Neran pondered about her question.
Although he was the lord of the lands her mother and many half-elves were living, lands that were owned by his family since who-knows-when, he never acted the part. A pure-blooded elf with the appearance of a man in his early thirties, with his crimson hair combed back and tied at the end, glasses, regal suit and a pair of eyes the same tone as his hair which often drew dreamy sighs from all female around, Neran was the most decent person Raine ever knew.
And he was her teacher. He taken upon himself to teach the many children around about the elven lore and magic and other subjects he considered essential such as letters, math, geology, etc. However, to those special like her, he liked to give an extra attention, believing in the cultivation of one's full capabilities.
"To answer that we need to look back on the foundations of magic and its true meaning," Neran started, after having formulated an answer. "Raine, what is magic?" he asked her.
"Um… it is what separates elves from humans. It's the ability to enter in contact with mana, manipulating it," Raine answered.
"Yes, indeed that's correct, if you want to go by the textbook answer. However, magic is so much more," to make his point, he raised his right hand and produced a flame on his palm. "Think on this flame as a representation of your will, your desires and your dreams. Now…" he raised his other hand and produced a second flame. "Think of this one as representing your emotions."
The flame on Neran's right hand burned brightly and steadily, while the one in his left danced, like trying to leave his hands, sparks flying wildly.
"As you've said, emotions can indeed enhance magic, as the mana we manipulate through our blood is affected by our mind, which in turn can be affected by our emotions. However…" he raised his left hand and the flames shot up, describing a wild path in its trajectory until it exploded in several fire tongues in a vortex-like formation. "As you can see, emotions are unstable and ever changing. You can feel several of them at the same time, or even lose control over yourself because of them and that will reflect on your spell."
Raine had been observing the show the entire time and nodded to her teacher, understanding perfectly what he was telling her.
"Now, here is a thing that most people get wrong: desires, dreams and will," he extended the arm still holding the steadily burning flame on his right hand. "They aren't feelings per saying, but manifestations of our hopes for this world and our lives. And contrary to our emotions, which can change from one moment to another, they are stable through most of our life, for they are as we perceive the world. So…" he let the flame fly. It described a line in the air until it reached several feet above them and exploded.
The effect was incredible. A giant sphere of fire expanded from the point where the flame stopped and inside it Raine could see a pyrotechnical show of flames that swirled, licked and sparkled with a core on its center that shone just like a small sun.
Then it all dispersed, not a single trace of its existence remained although Raine could still feel the heat from where she and her teacher were sitting around his tea table, outside of his manor.
"Magic, Raine, is not just an ability that separates us from humans. It is an impression of our will and hopes upon this world," he smiled at her as he explained it. "So remember, whenever you use your magic, remember what is it that you want to be your legacy to this world, think of what you want to achieve. Do so, and, who knows, the world might even lend you a hand in making your dreams come true…
"Remember…"
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
Remember…
Raine opened her eyes and her aura unleashed a powerful pulse, which blew her water prison away. She fell painfully, but her mind didn't seem to register the pain. She remembered now…
She had forgotten that; one of the last lessonsNeran had given her before he left to plot the downfall of Tethe'alla and Sylvarant and put an end to the war. She couldn't believe she had forgotten that.
You still have much to learn…
Raine started laughing, first at a low volume, but it increased until the others could hear it clearly and Lloyd started to suspect that staying without breathing for almost a full minute had caused brain damage to her. Raine slowly got up as the water monster behind her started reforming himself.
"I can't believe it… he was right," she spoke, more to herself than the others. "And I call myself a teacher…" she then turned and saw the dragon had reformed itself, although it still retained its liquid form instead of turning solid. "Even if I am the Summon Spirit of water I still wish, I still hope. It doesn't matter whether my element is that which I fear or not. So, in that sense…" she then extended her arm to the side and started charging another spell. "I can't possibly let something like this get in the way of my objectives."
The dragon charged and in that moment Raine released the spell she had been holding:
"Norfeas Aol!" a wide runic circle appeared in front of Raine and fiery flames arose, seeming to consume even the space.
Raine fought to keep the control of the chaos magic. She had only used it once and it had almost killed her, such was its power. She always felt there was something missing when she tried this, that there was a particularity involved in its control that she had overseen. Now she knew what it was. She focused all of her will and her hope and kept them on the forefront of her mind as she controlled the demonic flames that she summoned.
The group observed, slack-jawed as the all-consuming, roaring fire evaporated all water and poison on the platform until nothing was left. When the spell finally receded, not a single drop of the water monster remained.
Raine then left her arms fall to her sides and fell backwards. That made Lloyd rush forward and catch her before she hit the granite floor with her head or something. The others walked forward, still astonished by the demonstration of the true extend of Raine's control over demonic magic.
"Remind me to never get on her bad side…" Mithos mumbled to nobody in particular, his expression was the most surprised of them all.
Raine opened her eyes and saw that Lloyd was supporting her. Blushing, she quickly made an effort to get up, though it left her somewhat dizzy. All of it disappeared as soon as the glowing blue concentration of spiritual energy that was the other half of her soul appeared above the altar once more.
The group observed as Raine walked to the altar, Undine's voice sounding in the little shrine on the underground lake:
"I must admit I never once thought my new self would manage to attain control over the powers of Niflheim. Though, if it is for the better or for the worse, I still have my doubts. However, I cannot deny the power of your will and your desire for a new future. It is my hope that you don't forget these…" Raine then reached for the glowing lights, which soon bathed her body in a blue aura. "Serene Sage…"
A flash of blue and soon water rings were passing around Raine's body, who closed her eyes and tried not to panic. Her coat, hat and shirt disappeared, the only thing covering the upper part of her body being a water ring that pressed slightly against her breasts like bandages. Her arms, collarbone and her left cheek were covered by markings and symbols and a metal chocker appeared on her neck with a blue aquamarine jewel on its center.
Her pants and shoes were replaced by a long, blue skirt, which reached until the floor, but moved against it like it was made out of water. Her birthmark shone inside of the skirt, and blue, ethereal wings sprouted from her back.
The light then receded and the group heard a light gasp from Raine as she took a complete look on what had happened to her.
"Where's my hat?!" she asked, looking around for it. "And… why am I…" she couldn't end that phrase.
Raine was never one for revealing clothes. She wasn't like Sheena who seemed to have a thing for clothes that showed her ample cleavage. To her, being like this… she changed back to her human form and was relieved to see that all her clothing was back, hat included.
"Is that your Summon Spirit form?" Colette asked. "It doesn't look much different from how you normally are."
"That's because she reverted back to human form," Kratos said. Raine shot the man a look that clearly spelled "traitor".
"C'mon Raine. We couldn't see it well. I bet it is cool!" Lloyd said, encouraging her.
"Well… it's just that… it…"
"It what?" Sheena asked.
Raine sighed, knowing they wouldn't drop the subject. She then transformed and her clothes disappeared, her pale skin becoming visible and marks appearing along her body. The group could only look at her in surprise. Even Presea seemed to lose her neutral expression.
"I feel too exposed…" Raine whimpered. "I'm starting to think Marta is right and the feminine Summon Spirits do have a fetish or something."
"If I remember well, they said that Undine had the form of a topless woman with blue skin and fins," Colette thought aloud.
Raine was very glad that her Spirit form preserved at least some of her modesty and that she hadn't grown said fish-related parts. Sheena then approached her, still looking her up and down. Raine was about to ask her what was it when the ninja then touched her water "bandage" covering her breasts. The ninja's hand went right through it and Raine felt it touching her skin.
"Hey, it's really made of water," Sheena said.
That proved too much for Lloyd and Mithos, who brought their hands to their noses in hopes to stop the nosebleeds they were having. Kratos looked away, trying to preserve some of Raine's modesty. Presea brought her hand to her nose and then looked at it to see some blood on it. Looking at the boys, she understood what had transpired and blushed a crimson tone.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Raine screeched, taking a step back and covering herself with her arms.
"What? Are you shy? Oh, isn't that cute?" Sheena said in a cooing voice, although she had a mischievous smile on her face.
"Well, I should expect that kind of behavior coming from you,"
"Can't wait to tell Zelos about this," Sheena talked back.
Raine blushed a crimson tone and looked ready to berate at Sheena, but Kratos interrupted the two women, by clearing his throat and speaking:
"Since we already did what we came to do, I think we should go back."
The group nodded along with him and Raine quickly went back to her human form, deciding she would only use her Summon Spirit powers when absolutely necessary.
It was then her analytical mind started to think back on the markings that appeared around her body and the strange skirt she was wearing. What exactly was the material it was made of? What was the meaning of those markings? The silver haired woman soon found herself torn between preserving her dignity and studying the new changes in her body.
Amidst that, she suddenly heard something and looked up. She thought she saw something amidst the openings in the rock wall far ahead, but…
"Is there a problem, Raine?" Aqua said, materializing when Mithos and Lloyd left.
"I thought I saw… no, forget it," she shook her head and accompanied her friends…
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
It was night when they exited the Thoda Ruins and Kratos decided it would be better if they camped out in order to restore their strength before leaving. The group agreed and soon enough Raine was back in Ruin Mode and dragged Colette and Lloyd back to the ruins to do some more study. Nobody got in her path or protested, deciding that after everything Raine went through, she deserved it.
Presea materialized her axe and was sharpening it around the campfire as Sheena cooked some of the rations they brought. Mithos excused himself, saying he wanted to see something back in the geyser. Kratos let him go, but warned the young blonde not to get too far away.
In that moment, Ignis materialized and yawned, deciding to chat a little with Kratos until she noticed something:
"Um… Lady Presea," she called the pink haired girl's attention. "I don't think spiritual weapons like your ax need sharpening, From what I remember, they take the form you want them to and…"
"I'm taking a stroll," Presea declared, standing up and dismissing her weapon.
Kratos and Sheena only watched as Presea left. They wanted to say something like "take care", but there was something about Presea's mood that made the words die in their mouths. Ignis cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"Did I say something to upset her?" Ignis inquired.
"I don't think so…" Kratos answered.
Presea walked down the same path as Mithos and found him near an old stable, with his back turned to her. She approached and could hear he mumbling something. The only word she achieved to get was a "right." at the end. Then she accidentally kicked a stone that alerted the blonde half-elf to her presence, making him jolt his head up and turn.
"Who's there?!" Presea felt a spike on his normally weak aura and could swear she saw light glowing on his right hand, but everything was so fast she barely had time to register it as his aura returned to its normal state. "Oh. It's you," Mithos said at recognizing her, recomposing himself.
However, the look of suspicion and ferocity he showed as he turned was not lost on the girl. Presea didn't show it, but knew Mithos could read the distrust on her eyes, for he spoke:
"Is there something you need?"
"Are you hiding something from us, Mithos?" she decided to be blunt and get right to the point. Subtly was never her forte after all.
Mithos didn't answer, only glared at Presea and eventually spoke:
"Why is it that you ask? Do you have a problem with me?"
"How about the fact you hide the your aura? There's no way a half-elf has an aura that vibrate that weakly."
"Ah, so you noticed that," he didn't deny the fact, but didn't give much more away. "What I do or not, is none of your business, now if you excuse m…" he stopped speaking as he saw the great ax's purple blade centimeters away from his nose.
To his credit, Mithos didn't panic. It was like he didn't even feel threatened.
"I'm warning you…" Presea said, her voice cold and emotionless. "Do anything to hurt Colette, or Lloyd, or any of my friends, and I'll take you down."
Her tone never wavered and there was no doubt she wasn't blundering. Presea never gave an empty threat. But Mithos held his ground, not seeming worried in the least. He simply smirked as he said:
"Sure. I'll take that into account."
Presea didn't say anything more. Even though Mithos didn't seem to feel threatened by her, she had given her message, so that should suffice for now. Presea dispelled her weapon and turned, aware for the case the half-elf decided to stab her while she gave him her back. He didn't try anything as she left.
Arriving back at the camp, Sheena said to Presea dinner was ready, however, the pink haired axwoman said she was going to bed, not feeling hungry at the moment. Mithos soon came back too and Sheena asked him what happened between him and Presea:
"Nothing really. We just had a little chat. Oh, are those noodles?" he said, soon changing the subject as Lloyd and the others came back.
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
The day was clear and the weather was not too hot or too cold. Presea could feel the breeze at the top of the EC as they sailed back to land. Mithos was down there with the others and Raine closed herself in her cabin, refusing to come out until they reached land.
"And here I thought she would have gotten over her fear of water," Lloyd said with a sweatdrop.
As Presea was looking out at the seas, she sensed Colette approaching, but didn't turn yet as the girl was only getting to the stairs to the top of the ship.
Colette was trying to steel herself as she mentally reviewed her plans:
Ok. I'll go up there, walk to Presea and say: Presea, I like you. Would you like to be my… no, that will never work! But what else can I say? Maybe I should start slow to not intimidate her. She's still recovering her emotions after all. the blonde thought, running mental circles around her decision. No! I have to be clear on the subject, otherwise she'll never know. Mother and Sheena support me, so…
"Do you need something, Colette?" Presea's voice got the blonde out of her mental debate and Colette realized she had almost run over Presea as she was not looking where she was going.
"Um… yeah! Presea… I… um… you… I mean! …" Colette felt her tongue rolling over itself as she tried to form a coherent sentence. Great, she must be thinking I'm stupid now. Maki had alwaysteased Colette about her shyness around subjects like love and relationships, mentioning she was a real blonde and innocent puppy. She tried to deny it, but the blush and stammering just served to reinforce her friend's point.
"Is there a problem?" Presea asked, tilting her head to the side.
Colette thought the pink haired girl looked cuter with that curious expression on her face, but shook her head to clear her thoughts. She needed to think clearly otherwise she might get embarrassed again and start stuttering.
"Actually, I…" Colette started, but lost her words once more. She took a deep breath and spoke. "Presea, I want to tell you something. You see, I…"
However, she never got the chance to say it as the two sensed a powerful manifestation above them and looked up in time to see what looked like a star falling out of the sky, except it was broad daylight and they could feel a powerful aura emanating from it. Presea then noticed it was on collision course with them and grabbed Colette's arm, trying to make a run for it, but the falling light would reach them in no time.
The boat was shaken when the human-sized, sphere of light suddenly stopped centimeters away from the boat's roof, but the rush of air produced an impact wave that made all systems on the EC go awry and the engines shut down.
Colette and Presea went down to the floor and looked back to see the light hovering up their transport suddenly release a light pulse and a flash. The two covered their eyes and when they opened they saw a girl who looked around Colette's age softly land on the boat.
She didn't have any shoes on and used long, midnight-blue leggings that formed a triangle over the top of her feet and had golden lining. She also used arm-length gloves of the same color and design that drew a triangle on the back of her hands, leaving the fingers uncovered. The rest of her attire consisted of snow-white laces and a robe that covered the black, form-fitting suit she wore underneath them and showed off her body's still-in-development curves and small, perky breasts.
The girl had brilliant, green eyes, short, black hair and markings on the exposed skin of her arms. She also possessed pointed ears that would have denounced her as a half-elf, weren't it for a small detail: three pairs of ethereal wings sprouted from her back. She also had Cruxis' symbol tattooed on her left cheek.
"Hi there!" the angel girl said in a rather cheery voice, although that only made Presea and Colette tense. "You two must be part of the reincarnated Summon Spirits group, right?" she asked with a smile.
"Um... yeah?" Colette hesitantly said, ready to enter in Spirit Form at a moment's notice.
"Great! Name's Raya. Seraphim of Punishment," when speaking her title, her smile suddenly turned a malicious one as her expression and tone morphed into a dangerous one. Presea didn't lose any time to enter in Spirit form after the girl proclaimed herself as a Cruxis agent. "Oh, isn't that just sexy?" Raya said her expression still dangerous although her tone sounded a little lecherous. "I wonder if you're a screamer," she licked her lips, making Colette feel an unfamiliar feeling come up inside her.
It was then the rest of the group came after asserting that it would take some time to restart the engines and reactivate the EC's navigation system. They gasped at seeing the Seraphim, Lloyd and Sheena immediately entering in Spirit form.
"Cruxis..." Kratos breathed as Mithos, who was behind him, gasped.
"I think I don't need to say what you all are accused of, do I?" Raya said, her tone now reverting back to a cheery one.
"What do you want?!" Sheena demanded.
"Oh, so feisty... you all gave quite the trouble to Gaelius, so, it just happens that our Lord decided to wrap this thing up and sent me," she pointed to herself, making a pose. "So... prepare for your punishment," she then resumed her dangerous smile and tone as she reached to her back and drew a pair of gilded, orange rapiers with runic inscriptions along the edges and golden handles with dark onyxes at the center.
Lloyd, Sheena, Presea and Colette felt the power coursing through those blades and realized they were up against Runeblades once more.
Do all of the Seraphim use these? Lloyd wondered.
Raya was upon them in the blink of an eye. Lloyd and the others barely registered her movements as the Seraphim attacked. They all knew magic wouldn't do any good against such an adversary so they launched coordinated attacks when they found an opening.
Presea took the front, using all of her speed to keep Raya occupied while Lloyd and Sheena took the sides, charging their weapons with their respective elements and preparing to attack. Raya, however, only smiled a sweet smile as she jumped into the air, opening her wings and saying in a sickly sweet tone while shaking her finger:
"No, no. It's no good if you gang up on me."
Presea didn't stop to listen to that and hurled one of her hand axes at the girl, who batted it away with her weapon and soon found herself surrounded by Lloyd and Sheena. The two flew to engage, but the Seraphim simply dived, zeroing on Colette, who entered in Spirit Form and prepared to fight.
It was then a large column of water hit Raya and pushed her to the other side of the EC.
Colette looked back and saw Raine there, already in her Spirit form. The silver haired woman then spoke:
"It would be best if you left this fight to us, Colette. The only metal around is the one of the ship, and we don't know what would happen if you were to extract it."
"Ouchie," Raya spoke as she got up and saw the reincarnated Summon Spirits, minus Colette, gather before her. "Oh, so the entire gang came together. Nice!" she said, with her malicious smile in place and liking her lips. "I always loved dishing out group punishment."
Man, she sounds like an angel version of Alice. Sheena thought with a shudder.
"So… ready to scream?" before anyone could move, Raya dashed forward, blades poised to attack. "Millennium Storm!" she stopped at a short distance from the group and started to executed several thrusts at incredible speed, forcing Lloyd and the others to use all of their coordination to block or dodge the attacks.
Raine jumped behind, since she was the least nimble of the group, while Sheena and Presea either avoided or blocked the incessant rain of thrusts upon them. Lloyd resorted to mostly block, but suffered some minor cuts, which were quickly multiplying. Kratos could barely see the blurs that were the arms of the Seraphim of Punishment.
Raya ended the attack by thrusting one of her rapiers forward in a violent motion. The blade itself wasn't what hit the three reincarnated Summon Spirits, but the impact wave unleashed from the Runeblade. Lloyd, Sheena and Presea were thrown in the air, which gave Raya the opening she needed to advance using her incredible speed and execute an upward cut on Lloyd, followed by several slashes, kicks and ending in a hammer blow to his midsection that threw him onto the boat again.
"Blade Dancer!" Sheena retaliated, summoning eight blades of light. Raya only smiled and let the ninja come. All blades shattered when Sheena swung them at the Seraphim, who blocked with her Runeblades. "Ring Bea…" she thrust her hand forward only to find that Raya teleported and reappeared behind her. Sheena barely avoided being impaled, having her side cut by the rapier Runeblade as she tried to dodge.
Spirals of darkness then rose and engulfed the Seraphim, throwing her further up. Exactly below her was Presea with her arms crossed in an X, holding her hand axes as she closed her eyes. Raya, however, emitted a pulse of power that dispelled the darkness and turned to Presea:
"Screw Dive!" she shot to the Warrior of the Deep Abyss at high speed, spiral lines of her power being left behind.
"NO! Stop her, or she will sink the ship!" Kratos warned.
Presea obeyed and blocked the attack, although the impact made the EC bob up and down in the waves. Raine fought not to get sick by the motion, being unable to concentrate with that. The General of Unity decided he had enough of that fight and got his communicator out:
"Bring the A.D.A. up here, ASAP!"
Mithos only looked in curiosity, before seeing Presea swing her weapon at Raya, who flew off effortlessly. Sheena then teleported behind her and tried to apply a Demon Seal on the Seraphim's back… just for Raya to teleport right when the Radiant Maiden was swinging her arm and reappearing behind her.
"Impact Arrow!" Raya thrust her Runeblade forward and hit Sheena in the center of her back, throwing her to Presea. Several light arrows appeared around the sword of the Seraphim and shot to the reincarnated Luna.
"Abyss' Eye!" Presea hugged Sheena and pronounced her defensive Arte, enveloping the two in a purple, bubble like shield with Shadow's emblem on the front, which repelled the light arrows. Raya reappeared in front of them and prepared to break the barrier…
"Brutal Maim!" Lloyd was upon her and unleashed three fire Beasts on the Seraphim, ending with a needle dive that created an explosion.
That gave the rest of the group the time to jumped back, but as Lloyd was floating back he felt something behind him and turned to see a silver, ethereal iron maiden materializing behind him. His eyes widened as he stopped before he ended up entering it. It was then he saw Raya rushing to him with a bloodthirsty smile on her face. Before the Wielder of Victory's Flame could defend himself, Raya kicked him into the ethereal iron maiden, which closed once he got inside.
"Sinner's Cage!" Raya disappeared and reappeared above the iron maiden, grabbing the ring on top and starting to beat it on the roof of the EC. Lloyd's painful grunts and yelps could be heard as he was violently thrown inside. Raya finished by spinning the magical projection of the torture device above her head and smashing it against the floor, breaking the iron maiden like it was made out of glass with Lloyd falling out.
A black hole then rushed to the Seraphim, but Raya already took flight when Presea came out of it in a Dark Tempest. The Seraphim of Punishment teleported again and reappeared near Presea, flying to her with the speed of a bullet. Presea defended, but Raya teleported again and repeated the attack several times, eventually catching Presea off guard and finishing by beating her with her two Runeblades, sending the girl flying back to the EC.
"Ah. Your screams are so dreamy," Raya said as she floated back to the EC. Her expression was one of pure rapture and bliss, like inflicting pain on them brought great pleasure to her. "I want to hear them more."
"Bliss!" Raine casted a healing spell over her three companions and suddenly they didn't feel their powers leaving them anymore through their wounds.
Raya noticed the change and pouted as she said:
"Hey! That's no fair if you cure them!"
"Thanks Raine," Lloyd said, ignoring the Seraphim.
Yes, but I didn't actually cure the damage made by her Runeblades, only enclosed the wounds with a layer of magical protection that stops the loss of power. Raine thought. Even so… she looked at her hands, surprised that she managed to cast something of that level without even a weapon. Looking at the markings over her body, she then understood. In my Spirit Form my body itself becomes a magical focus. That's certainly useful.
"You know what?" Raya said. "If you're going to cheat, then I'll have to enforce the rules..." Lloyd and Sheena grit their teeth, not liking the sound of that. They then saw a glowing circle appearing beneath the angel-girl's feet. "And wipe off the board."
They knew what she was about to do and knew they wouldn't have time to stop her. When Raya was about to cast Judgment and send the ship with its entire crew to the bottom of the sea, the group heard the sound of something being charged.
An energy blast hit Raya and suddenly she wasn't charging her angelic spell anymore, but was on the floor screaming, her entire body being electrocuted as she hugged herself, trembling.
"Take her weapons away, NOW!" Lloyd heard his father yell.
They didn't need to be ordered twice. Sheena and Presea were so fast the two became a blur and suddenly Raya's Runeblades were violently beaten out of her hands, flying through the air and clattering on the middle of the EC's roof. The Seraphim's multicolored wings blinked out of existence.
"M-My wings! My powers!" Raya exclaimed when the currents passed and she could speak again. She looked up. "What did you damn humans do?!"
Lloyd and the others looked at Kratos, but their attention rested on the two Renegades besides him carrying what looked like a large rifle, which was being supported on the deck stair's last step. Kratos smiled at his subordinates, giving them a "good job" before he looked at the Seraphim of Punishment, who had a light kunai and a hand ax poised against her neck.
"This is the A.D.A." Kratos said, motioning to the gun. "The Aura Disruptive Artillery rifle. Developed by the Weapons Research Division of the Renegades. A special rifle made to disrupt the vibrations of one's aura, thus interrupting any casting and preventing magical usage for sometime. We originally planned to test it against the demons, but since you decided to come here and threaten my son…"
Kratos' tone was cold and serious, like one of a judge passing a sentence on the guilty. Lloyd never thought his dad looked so cool as of now.
"You have some answers to give and I suggest you give them, because my son's girlfriend looks very cross by the fact you threatened him," Kratos continued, pointing to Sheena, who really looked like she wanted nothing more than to pass that light kunai on the neck of the angel-girl and separate her head from the body.
Even so, Raya recovered and gave him one of her malicious smile as she said:
"Really now? And what if I don't wanna?" her answer was an ax blow to her back that made she fall forward, courtesy of Presea. She looked up to the Warrior of the Deep Abyss.
"You threatened Colette too," Presea said, her tone colder than ice and her eyes promising much worse.
Raya's smile resumed and that started to worry the group.
"Who said I was going to kill her? My orders were to kill the rest of you. She gets the special treatment."
After that many things happened at once.
Colette yelled as the sound a spell hitting its target was heard, followed by the thump of a body.
The Renegades carrying the A.D.A. were thrown overboard with the rifle.
Kratos was knocked back by a sphere of light exploding against his chest.
Raine was incapacitated by a punch on her stomach, charged with enough power for her to lose air and revert back to human form, falling on heap in the floor.
A white blur passed by Sheena and Presea before they could react, leaving a gash on their sides that soon exploded with powerful lights, throwing them to the sides and forcing them back to their human forms.
And the responsible for it all was there, at the end of the EC, arms extended and things that looked like razor sharp, multicolored, ethereal wings coming out of his wrists. Lloyd saw he straighten himself, the wrist-wings disappearing as he turned to regard Lloyd with his green eyes and an empty expression the Wielder of Victory's Flame never saw on them before.
"M-Mithos…" was all Lloyd could say as his friend stood there, unmoving, acting like there was nothing special on his actions, like this was routine to him.
"Azeal's Cleanse," Mithos casted a spell, a runic circle appearing below Raya, bathing her with a pearl-white glow.
The Seraphim of Punishment's wings reappeared and she moved with that blinding speed again, grabbing her Runeblade rapiers and sheathing them before she caught the unconscious Colette on human form. She then turned and gave Mithos a beaming expression of pure admiration:
"Thank you, Lord Yggdrasil!"
"Ygg… drasil?" Lloyd asked, confused as he looked from Raya to Mithos.
Sheena and Presea were coming to themselves when Mithos gave Lloyd a mocking, condescending smile.
"Thanks for your help, Lloyd," he said. "You made this so easy that I started to wonder how come I've had so much difficulty tracking her down."
"'Tracking her'? Mithos, what the hell are you talking about?!" Lloyd got up. "Why did you attack Colette and Sheena and… !" he stopped speaking and suddenly he was gurgling as he felt something trespass his body. Looking down, Lloyd saw the point of one of Raya's Runeblades sticking out of his belly. He could only look behind with wide eyes as he saw the serious, cold look on the girl's face.
"Who are you to even think you have any right to address to Lord Yggdrasil in this manner, human trash?"
"Give him a rest, Raya," Mithos said in a nonchalant tone, like Raya hadn't just attacked Lloyd in a brutal way.
Sheena only took bits of the conversation, but when the Seraphim stabbed Lloyd through the stomach, she could only look in horror as his clothes and form started to fickle between human and Spirit. Finally it resumed to human as Raya took the sword out of Lloyd's body, blood quickly coming out as he could only look in surprise.
"LLOOOYYDD!" Sheena ran to him and knelled near her boyfriend who was lying in a quickly expanding puddle of his blood. She looked around and saw that Raine had been knocked out, although she was moving a bit. Her sight then rested on Mithos and the Seraphim of Punishment that joined his side with Colette slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Mithos, what the hell is this?!"
"What? Haven't you get it yet, or is getting in his pants all that you're good at?" Mithos jabbed with that mocking smile of his.
"What?!"
"In that case, let me show you."
Raine had finally woken in time to witness Mithos' aura starting to agitate and its range extend. Before, his aura vibrated so weakly everybody would assume he was a common person, but then it expanded in an exponential rate, wind starting to pick up around the EC.
"Carius Seal: Release!" an explosion of power hit all of the members of the group and even woke up Kratos. The wind got so strong they had to hold onto the floor or use their powers to not get blown away. It was like trying to stand at the center of a storm.
What is this?! How could he be hiding such power?! was everything Raine could think. Even Presea looked surprised at sensing the explosion of power on Mithos' aura.
When it finally ended, the group felt like their own auras were trying to keep another, very powerful one from consuming them. The reincarnate Spirits looked at Mithos and were surprised to see it was not only his aura that changed.
Mithos' entire form changed. Where once had been a teenage boy now stood a man with mid-length blond hair and pupil less green eyes. His attire was basically a white, form-fitting bodysuit with golden lining and designs. Sharp-looking, multicolored, ethereal wings came out of his sleeves on his wrists and on his back sprouted a large pair of majestic wings of the same consistency and colors.
The man looked at them with a condescending smile and pose, floating inches above the ground. He spoke on a more masculine and grave voice, very different from the almost effeminate, prepubescent one Mithos used:
"This is the first time I have released my seal on Aselia. I think you can probably guess why it is not often I do that."
Indeed they could. An aura of that level being released would be sensed from kilometers away and with the way the world was, they wouldn't be surprised if every half-elf across the globe hadn't felt at least a bit of it. Mithos then continued:
"I am Mithos Yggdrasil. I am the Holy Lord of Cruxis and leader of the Four Seraphim; the Seraphim of Enlightenment."
"Holy… Lord of Cruxis?" Kratos repeated.
"Y… you…" Lloyd tried to speak, just to end up coughing up blood. Raine saw that and ran to him, casting a healing spell as fast as she could.
"Don't try to speak!" Raine adverted him, but Lloyd insisted.
"Why?" was all he could get out amidst the pain.
Mithos only smiled and spoke:
"Because I needed to find Colette and you just happened to be there. As for why I deceived you, I think you already know the answer."
Lloyd looked down, seeming disappointed in himself. Even so, Mithos went on:
"'The ties of hatred between the half-elves and the humans are stronger than those of friendship'. Did you really think that just because I saw you as a friend that automatically redeemed all sins of your species? How sad… and naïve. You yourself aren't even completely human to begin with."
"SHUT UP!" Sheena shouted at him, tears in her eyes. "Lloyd believed in you… he trusted you… and this is how you repay it?!"
"Didn't Presea warn you not to trust me?" Yggdrasil talked back. "I even supported her claim, but you, being the naïve fools you are, didn't listen to her. Isn't that right, Presea?" Mithos then turned to the woman in question, who got up and looked from Lloyd's form to Mithos and then to Raya who was carrying Colette over her shoulder.
She didn't seem to pay attention to that as she transformed into Spirit Form and pointed her hand ax at him and said in a cold, serious tone:
"Let Colette go."
"No," Yggdrasil simply said. The next moment he was holding Presea's hand ax with his bare hand. A dark wave emanated from the weapon, but all it seemed to make was blow Yggdrasil's hair. "Is that all you have? To somebody who seemed so intent on carrying out her threat that's rather disappointing."
He then shoved her ax away and spun while she was still recovering her balance, slashing at Presea' leg with his wrist-wings. The Warrior of the Deep Abyss could feel the injury burning like it was on fire. Mithos then proceeded to kick her in the face, making she skid on the ground to near the others.
"Are you done? Then if you don't mind, I'll take Colette away now."
"You're not getting away…" Presea started, but Mithos shot a light sphere on her that blew the reincarnated Shadow away. Her weapons flew out of her hands, clattering on the ground.
"How stubborn of you. You could barely fight Raya and think you are in position to stop me?"
Sheena made motion to get up and go after them, but Mithos pointed at Lloyd and that stopped the Radiant Maiden. She understood the message; if she tried anything, Mithos wouldn't hesitate to kill Lloyd.
The Lord of Cruxis and his Seraphim then took flight, quickly leaving the EC behind and taking Colette with them. Presea could only look as they left with the girl that she liked without her being able to do anything.
Kratos cursed and took out his communicator, asking the cabin if they were ready to depart.
"We fixed the engines and rescued the men on sea. We are just awaiting your command General Aurion," the crewman answered.
"Follow those angels!" Kratos ordered.
"It's not going to do any good," Raine said as she was still trying to keep Lloyd stable. She looked to the skies. The two Seraphim were just dots now. "They are already too far ahead and we don't have the necessary power to fight them back with Lloyd in this state."
Sheena stomped her foot and swore aloud, feeling frustrated and angry. She couldn't believe Cruxis had taken Colette on her watch. She couldn't even do anything to stop them:
DAMN IT! What do they want with Colette?! That bastard Mithos! If I get ever my hands on him again, I'll… her thoughts went on as she impotently raged.
Presea, however was just staring at the tiny points that were Mithos and Raya in the sky. The scene kept playing in her head over and over: how Mithos called her friends fools and then proceeded to take her most precious person away, batting Presea aside like she was a bug when she tried to rescue Colette.
No… No! she slowly got up, attracting the attention of Kratos, Sheena and Raine. I won't allow it... I won't allow it… suddenly her hair started flapping away as dark winds seemed to emanate from her feet. I won't allow them to take Colette! I won't allow another person dear to me die!
Presea then screamed and darkness erupted from her back, surprising all those present. The darkness then started to take the shape of two, great wings with charcoal-black feathers. Aqua and Ignis appeared and had to protect themselves against the winds.
"Wings?! But I thought she didn't have them!" Ignis let out.
"She doesn't!" Aqua said. "It's a remnant of Shadow's shape shifting technique!"
Without waiting for anybody, Presea took flight after Mithos, ignoring protests from Sheena and the others. Raine was speechless from what she just saw and Sheena was left equally dumbfounded. Kratos was the first to recover and yell at his communicator:
"What are you all waiting for?! Follow her, NOW!"
No skit this time, sorry.
Anyway, we're approaching the end of this act. Stay tunned for the confrontation next chapter!