As you were all expecting (or not) I've taken this time for I prepared a double update for the launching of the new Act.

Now, I've been asked by many people how many acts this fic will have. Considering we're on Act V, it'll take... *mumbles to himself*... add this one...

About 8 to 9 acts plus the final one. Why did I say plus? Because I only know for sure there will be an individual act dedicated entirely to the conclusion of EH. Yes, you guessed it. The final act is the final "boss" battle and the epilogue!

Now, I hope I didn't intimidate you all with these numbers, but I did say this would be an epic and epics tend to be BIG!

This act is actually named because of a character that will have huge importance here. From the interlude and the title, I'm sure you can guess who I'm talking about.

Anyway, no skit this time. Enjoy the reading!

Act V

Corrupted Heart

Chapter 42

Regretful Spirit

Where… wh-what happened? was the first thought that came to Emil.

He felt like he was drifting away in some kind of dream. He could open his eyes, but there was nothing for him to see. He then started thinking on his own question.

He remembered the Ice Temple and… Genis telling he was truly Ratatosk.

Oh yeah… that…

Memories started to come back to him. He remembered the first time Ratatosk manifested; it hadn't felt like he had lost control of his own body to an alien presence, but rather that he was letting something come out of himself.

Then there were the times when he fought and found his style oddly akin to that of his other personality, but with slight differences.

And in the end…

"Huh… heh heh heh…" Emil chuckled to himself and then thought aloud. "What a joke… I was trying to run away from who, what I was in the beginning."

He couldn't deny it now. He saw the memories. He knew "Emil" was supposed to have been born dead. Or… maybe he was in a way "Emil". Hadn't he reincarnated after all?

Suddenly a flash of light blinded him. He didn't even notice he had his eyes open since he couldn't see anything. When he opened them he was standing in what felt like a grassy field.

Looking around, Emil could only see a thick, white fog surrounding the area, but right in front of him was a giant, barren tree without leaves. The blonde was awed at the sheer size of the plant until he realized what it was:

"The Giant Kharlan Tree… my tree… but how is that possible? Isn't it…"

"Dead?" a familiar voice said, making Emil look to the exposed roots and notice a person sitting in one of them. "Yes, it is. But here, we can visit it. After all, this is our mind."

Emil steeled himself as he approached the figure of his alter-ego, his twin image, Ratatosk. Or would it be a split personality of himself, just like Zelos always teased him about? Anyway, it was time to find out.

"Ratatosk?" he asked his crimson-eyed twin, who gave a weak chuckle and a mild smirk, although his pose, his sword's point stuck in the root and his right hand gripping it, made he look… tired.

"That's the big question, isn't it? But, you remember now. You saw the memory. We are Ratatosk."

"If that is true and I am really a reincarnation of you then why is it that you are still around? Shouldn't a person's old self, no matter what kind of spirit he is, be erased when he reincarnates?"

That was the big doubt here. If Ratatosk had disappeared after all of that, Emil would be sad, but if he was supposed to, why didn't he do so when they were reborn? All of this was so confusing.

Ratatosk sighed and spoke, his voice devoid of its usual brashness and assertiveness:

"Unlike Origin and the others who started clean, I knew there wouldn't be enough time to wait for you to learn everything on your own. So, I left behind an impression of my previous self hidden inside of your mind. That would allow us to use our powers much earlier and for us to be ready."

"Is it really possible to do that?" Emil asked.

"Look at results and answer me that yourself."

Emil got what he meant and stayed silent.

Now that he thought about that, it all made sense. The way the Centurions automatically recognized him as their Lord. The demons insisting he was Ratatosk and his other personality telling Nebilim he was Emil. He looked at him and asked if he knew it the entire time, but his twin denied it:

"I might have had a hunch, but I never paid it much attention, being more worried about getting the Centurions so I could do what I should do."

"Get your revenge on humanity?" Emil asked.

"I honestly thought so at first," he admitted. "But when I… we started remembering, I realized that was not what I wanted to do when I decided to reincarnate."

"What is it that you want then? Redemption?" it had to be that. His old self sounded so sad. Now he understood why he was always touchy about the past. It was because he instinctively remembered what he did.

"Closure."

That single word was said with such finality to it that Emil involuntarily stepped back. He muttered an "What?!", but his other personality went on:

"You… you are everything I thought I should come back as… in my remorse, I thought that… maybe if I were another person none of that would have happened. The result was you. But I still existed as a fragment of my older self. I now know why I did so.

"For the damage I did in this world there is no forgiveness for me. A simple 'cleaning the slate' won't do. It… it would feel like taking the coward's way out," he lowered and shook his head before bringing it up again. "So, I made sure there was a part of me left. The part of me that started all of this."

Emil didn't know what to say. He never pegged Ratatosk for a fatalist, not even with all of the memories he was getting. Did his old self regret so much what he did that… ? His eyes lit up in understanding. His alter-ego seemed to have noticed that, for he said:

"Emil… no… my new self. I am the old you and as such I must give out so you can become what you are meant to be. But I… I will tell you now why I have been acting the way I have been lately and what I truly plan to do from now on."

He heard his crimson-eyed self speak and the more he did it, the more his eyes widened. He couldn't allow it, he simply couldn't.

"Are you serious?!" he took a step forward. "Think about it, for a minute! Think about what it will do to the others! And do you think I would want you to simply go on with this?!"

"Then should I have simply disappeared form the beginning?" his old self asked. "Would you be happier had that been the outcome?"

This is all wrong. It was not supposed to go this way! was all Emil could think as he looked down.

He didn't care about the technicalities behind it or what plans were made before he came to be. Ratatosk, the old Ratatosk, had always been like a brother to him; somebody that he knew would always be there for him, even with all the attitude and smartass comments. To literally show him how it should be done and urge him to go on when he felt he couldn't.

Sure, he didn't always agreed with him and the way he did some things tended to get both of them in trouble, but wasn't that the same with friends?

"So you consider me a brother, a friend?" Emil looked up to see that sad smile on his crimson-eyed twin's face.

"You can…"

"We're the same, remember? Two sides of the same coin. A single entity composed of two halves."

"Then why? Why does it have to end like that?" Emil practically begged for him to reconsider.

"Because these are the consequences. This is the price to be paid. Only one of us can live on to see a new tomorrow."

No. You're wrong. Both of us should live to see that tomorrow. "I can stop you, you know?! Now that I know the true nature of our link, I can simply take control and reveal everything."

"Would you really do it, knowing what that would make me feel like?"

Emil stopped and didn't retort to that.

He knew how his old self would feel. In his understanding, Ratatosk owed this to his brothers and sisters. He owed it to the world. If he tried to stop him, he would live tormented by guilt for the rest of eternity.

"This isn't how things should be…" was all Emil said, shaking his head and closing his eyes and knuckles in a tight grip.

"This is how I choose things to be," the two then felt the scenery dissolving around them. They were waking up. "I leave the rest in your hands…"

They then woke up…

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

Ratatosk opened his eyes and saw he was in what appeared to be a room. However he could feel some slight shaking.

The EC quarters. he realized.

He then felt someone holding his hand and looked to his right. The crimson-eyed alter ego saw Marta kneeling and sleeping with her head on his bed while holding his hand. Ratatosk blushed a bit when thinking about how long she must had been there.

Shaking his head, the Lord of Monsters decided to wake Marta up:

"Marta," he nudged her and got a mumble as response:

"A bit more to the right… Emil…"

Ratatosk didn't know why, but that irritated him quite a bit. He called her again and this time the brunette woke up, looking around and blinking her eyes. She then focused on the blonde, exclaiming him in surprise:

"Ratatosk! You're alright."

"Where are we?" he asked, going right to the point.

"We're back on the EC. Look, I have something to ask you."

He stayed quiet, knowing this was coming. He had been avoiding to talk with her for a good while, but now, with the latest revelations, he wouldn't be able to do so.

"Are you… ?" Marta started, but he interrupted.

"I'm an impression of my old personality while the Emil you know is the reincarnation. That's what you were going to ask, right?"

"Part of… but what I really want to know is why you have been avoiding me lately."

"Is this something you need to know in order to live?" Ratatosk asked, taking a page out of Richter's book. The red head had answered him the same way when he asked him a personal question in his typical, brash, demanding tone.

"What?!" Marta exclaimed, shocked that he would answer her like that.

"You shouldn't worry about me. I don't need anybody worrying about me."

His tone had been cold and even reproachful, but that only seemed to push Marta's buttons as she scrunched up her face and glared at the crimson-eyed entity.

"Ok, now what's going on?! You act like a jerk some times, but you were never a dick to me."

"Really? Because I don't recall you being so worried about me while you had Emil to contend with. Or is it that you want both of us?" that made Marta recoil as if she had been hit.

"I…" she lowered her head.

"Honestly, how greedy of… ENOUGH!" Emil's voice suddenly sounded as he threw his head back, wrestling the control out of Ratatosk and keeping him at bay.

Marta looked up at hearing Emil's voice tone and saw his green eyes as he looked at her.

"Marta don't listen to him! Ratatosk is just saying this because he…" he suddenly stopped speaking, his mouth hanging open as if he wanted to say something, but wasn't able to.

In truth, Emil had subconsciously stopped himself from revealing Ratatosk's plan.

This is how I choose things to be. that phrase came back to the blonde. It would be so easy… all he had to do was tell Marta everything and the entire "plan" would be down the drain.

But what then?

He could stop the reflection of his previous self from going on, but that would do nothing to solve the main problem. On the contrary, Ratatosk would still be tormented by the memory of his mistakes, constantly haunted by the feeling that he would never be able to atone for what he had done.

Emil didn't want Marta and the others to suffer, but neither did he want to torment his alter-ego, no matter if he is just a reflection of who he was or something else. Living unable to cope with the guilt would be like condemning him to hell.

He then noticed his self-proclaimed girlfriend looking at him with confusion and curiosity as he took his time to ponder everything. He then shook his head and said:

"It's nothing…"

"Oh c'mon. It sure didn't look like it was nothing if you took the control off Ratatosk like that," Marta insisted.

"Believe in me, Marta. Ratatosk… knows what he's doing," the pause on his phrase didn't go unnoticed by her. "Please, just… trust me, ok?"

The pleading tone which Emil used and the sad look in his eyes were enough for any protests the brunette had to die in her throat as she just nodded.

"Anyway, we should tell the others you're awake," Marta said changing the subject, for which Emil was grateful.

As they left the room, Emil could swear he heard a faint "thank you" inside his head…

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

On the command bridge, Botta was talking with a holographic projection of Yuan on his office. The feature had just been installed and it seemed to be working well.

"I see," Yuan said as Botta relayed to him what the reincarnated Summon Spirits told him. "Anything else?" he asked, as he looked at Raine and Regal, standing behind Botta.

"There is an important subject to discuss, but we would rather do that personally," Regal said, to which Raine nodded.

"That important, huh? "

The door then opened and Emil and Marta entered. The adults looked behind to see the young couple. Raine immediately let out a breath of relief at seeing Emil up and about. The blonde looked around and asked where were Colette, Presea and Zelos.

"They are resting right now," Raine informed him. "The temple left all of us drained. I can only hope we reach earth soon," she shivered a bit at remembering they were on a boat on sea.

"Oh, ok. By the way, Ratatosk is fine," Emil said. "Centurions?" he asked, turning as Ra… my servants. he reminded himself, appeared.

"Yes, my Lord?" Solumn asked.

"Can we have a chat out there?"

They could already tell Emil was going to interrogate the Centurions about all that happened and how much they knew. The adults let the blonde leave, Marta then spoke as soon as she was sure Emil was out of hearing range:

"He's been strange since he woke up. Both of them."

"How so?" Raine asked.

"Well, for starters, Ratatosk was acting like an idiot."

"Forgive me, but isn't that his standard behavior?" Regal spoke.

"I don't mean his usual jerk behavior, I mean he was acting like a dicky jerk."

"Marta, mind your language in the presence of other people," Raine chastised, meaning Regal and Yuan with her head. Marta realized what the Professor meant and apologized to them.

"It's ok, I don't mind," Yuan said. "I myself sometimes feel like cursing someone."

"Yuan!" Raine chastised the Leader of Renegades. "Good manners should be something to be observed. I'm sure Martel would agree with me," the threat was quite clear to Yuan and, truly, Martel was quite a sticker for good manners.

"Alright, alright. Anyway, why is it so strange?"

"Emil assumed control, but he didn't explain to me why Ratatosk spoke like that. Actually, it looked he wanted to, but couldn't."

The group stood in thought about that, but they didn't have the slightest idea about what it could be. It was already hard to guess someone's thoughts, but considering Emil's mind was essentially divided between two personalities things became night impossible to figure out without a starting point.

As they thought, however, the EC suddenly shook violently, almost throwing everybody who wasn't sitting on the ground. Botta reached for a button near a microphone and spoke with the engine house, demanding to know what happened.

"Demons, sir! They destroyed the engines!" someone spoke through the radio.

"WHAT?!" Botta let out.

Then, to everybody's further worry, Yuan's image started to flick in and out as he tried to speak with Botta and ask what was going on, his voice coming out cut between his words. Botta tried to adjust the frequency, but Yuan's image disappeared.

"Com. Officer, what's going on?!" Botta urged the man as Regal, Marta and Raine could only observe in increasing worry as the EC's systems seemed to be malfunctioning.

"We're being jammed, sir!" the Renegade Communications Office answered.

"By who?"

Suddenly, the holographic image was back, however, the person it showed wasn't Yuan anymore, but a man in a large cloak with several gaps around it, using baggy clothes and glasses.

"I'm worried you won't be able to contact anyone today, Lord Botta of the Renegades. Huhahahaha!"

"You!" Botta, exclaimed, gritting his teeth at the man's image.

"Who is that?" Marta asked.

"One of the Five Desian Cardinals," Botta spoke his tone angry and reproachful. "Rodyle, Hell's Researcher."

"I personally prefer Hellish Genius, if you don't mind," the Desian Cardinal answered with a smile.

"You are the one attacking us?" Raine asked.

"Correct. Imagine my surprise when I picked up a very strong power signature coming from the Flanoir region while I was nearby and then found out your little vessel."

In that moment, Colette and the others entered the bridge and saw the entire crew looking at the bluish projection of a man they didn't know. When Presea asked what was happening, Raine quickly filled her in the situation.

"Oh, how fortunate of me to get more than half the Summon Spirits all in one place. Do you all mind stepping outside, so we could talk face-to-face?" Rodyle asked as his humor was very pleasant at seeing he corner the reincarnated Summon Spirits.

Before anyone could reply, the transmission ended…

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

Before that happened, Emil and the Centurions had stepped out of the EC's interior and reached the roof. He stopped and leaned against the railings as he regarded his servants.

"You knew it, didn't you?" he started asking, his tone with its usual softness.

"Could you please define 'it', my Lord?" Solum asked.

"The fact that I'm not even human. That this entire time I was a fabrication," he sounded a little sad at saying that.

"No. You are not a fabrication of any kind," Tenebrae said, shaking his head.

"But…"

"Do you remember that Lumen always called you 'boss'?" Aqua spoke up. Emil looked at her. "Remember, he only called Lord Ratatosk that. Lumen might be a bumbling idiot, but even he knows how to recognize the one that created him. If you were a mere disguise, he wouldn't call you that."

Emil stopped and thought about all the times Lumen spoke to him and a memory of something the Centurion of Light once said:

But boss is boss… he always had the impression Lumen was specifically referring to him, to Emil.

"You are our reincarnated Lord. You are the new Lord of Monsters, Guardian of Ginnungagap," Ventus said in his ever-wise tone and looking with his sharp, eagle eyes at Emil. "Never doubt that."

"But… even so… what about Ratatosk?"

The Centurions knew he was referring to his alter-ego. They looked between themselves, seeming to exchange their thoughts with a look as they always did. Glacius was the one to speak:

"We can't really claim to know what Lord Ratatosk thinks or plans, but we can have our guesses."

"What do you mean?" Emil asked.

"Considering all the information gathered, I came up with a theory," Ventus said. "Let's for one moment, think that our Lord knew that there wouldn't be enough time for you to completely mature in this world and start the journey to awaken us. So, Lord Ratatosk devised a counter measure. A contingency plan for in case something should happen.

"Now, how can I explain this? The body you now utilize is merely a vessel, but it was completely functional at the time Lord Ratatosk took it as his own. So, he inserted some key knowledge in your physical brain. Knowledge about himself. However, your young brain couldn't possibly process it yet, so the information was stashed away at your subconscious until such a time it could be interpreted."

That made Emil remember: Ratatosk never manifested himself until he was fourteen.

"Even so, why wasn't it just assimilated by my mind then?" Emil asked.

"Because that would mean you believed in that and assumed that was who you were," Tenebrae said. "However, that would directly contrast with everything you thought you knew about yourself, leading to an identity crisis, or any other mental illness humans have. In order to prevent that, your mind fabricated another personality based off such knowledge as a means for you to believe you were merely housing another spirit, instead of you yourself being that one."

It all matched perfectly with what Ratatosk told him, although from a more scientific viewpoint. When the blonde thought of that, he had to chuckle. The Centurions looked at him in curiosity, but Emil simply replied:

"And here I was, thinking Zelos was just joking when he said I had personality issues."

"Lord Ratatosk…" Aqua spoke, her tone a little sad.

"Do me a favor, stop calling me that. I'm not him, ok?" But I'll soon be. Emil thought as he recalled what his alter-ego told him.

He then remembered; Ratatosk didn't tell the Centurions what he was planning. Maybe Emil should do it and they could convince his other half to stop. However how would he explain that? To them, he was a single entity, personality issue aside. Even if he told them, they wouldn't go against him, because Ratatosk and him were both the same Summon Spirit.

It's a wonder I haven't gone crazy with this entire "me", "him", "us" thing. Emil idly thought, sighing. He knew if somebody tried to tell him he would end up like that, he would think they were insane.

Then he was almost thrown to the sea when the EC shook under him, only managing to stay relatively standing by holding on the railing. The Centurions immediately went alert at that, even if they weren't affected by the shaking.

"What in the… ?" Emil thought, but before he could voice his thoughts the sea in front of him started to agitate and then something massive came out of it.

Emil could only gape in fear as what looked like a Krisher-sized submarine rose form the sea waters and suddenly amphibian demons jumped in the EC's deck. However, as Emil looked at the large, underwater transport rising, he realized it was bigger than a Krisher. It was at least the size of a city.

How can something that big move underwater and remain undetected?! Emil thought.

It was then he heard the door to the EC's interior opening and the others rushing to his position with Botta. All of them drew their weapons at seeing the green-blueish demons with fins, tails and other fish appendages on their bodies on deck and the Centurions disappeared to give space for Emil's combat, but were stopped by an amplified voice:

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. That is, unless you want to sink into the sea!"

The rest of the party turned and it was then that they noticed with horror, the giant submarine. Then, a giant holographic image of Rodyle appeared on top of it, the Grand Cardinal with his arms crossed and a victorious smile on his face.

"Behold my masterpiece! My very own ranch: the Submarine Ranch!"

"You mean that thing is a Desian Ranch?!" Marta exclaimed.

"Damn! To think something this big was traversing the waters without any of us noticing," Botta cursed. "No wonder there had been so many disappearances in high seas that couldn't be explained by aquatic demons alone."

"Now, you have two choices!" Rodyle's giant projection spoke. "Surrender yourselves or taste the might of my cannons! And let me say, if there is anything left of your puny little vessel, I will make sure to feed it to my aquatic pets!"

The group looked at Botta and could see his frown and angry expression.

Rodyle had them all cornered…

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

"Uh… I swear… I already feel better," Lloyd said, backing up against the wall as a smiling Martel, approached him.

"Now, now, Mister Lloyd. I have to make sure you are completely healed," Martel said.

"Yeah, but… it doesn't even hurt when I move. See?" he said, turning his body, only to scrunch his face as he tried not to mumble in pain.

"Yes… I can see it," Marta said her expression turning a little bit sarcastic. "Lloyd, you wouldn't happen to have fear of medics, do you?"

"What?! Of course not!" he said, but it sounded quite forced and rushed.

Martel could tell he was lying. She then thought and remembered Kratos saying something about Lloyd once visiting a doctor about a fever he had when he was a child and the man recommended him a medicine that Lloyd swore "tasted like tomatoes". If there was one thing she learned, it was that the Aurions feared tomatoes above all else.

It was childish, really, but since Lloyd never saw a doctor again and magic could cure most of his wounds in battle, he probably didn't like the old-fashioned, hands-on approach.

"I swear I won't make you drink any medicine," Martel said, giving her warm, encouraging smile. However, it seemed she chose the wrong words.

"Medicine? Who said anything about medicine?! I don't need medicine. Do you think I need medicine?!" Lloyd frantically spoke.

Martel sighed and decided to just get on with it, approaching the young man.

Lloyd tried to make a run for it, but as soon as he turned and inclined his body a little to sprint (ignoring the shoots of pain it sent throughout his midsection), his face hit something soft. Instinctively he brought his hands up and felt it… wait. That felt familiar.

Looking up, he saw his girlfriend's face. The dual swordsman got beet red, as Sheena only seemed to smile at him.

"So, do they feel nice?" she asked in a playful manner.

"S-S-S-Sheena?!" Lloyd let out, jumping, but that shot pain through his still healing midsection.

"Nurse Sheena, please restrain the patient," Martel said, her tone becoming mischievous.

"You got it, doctor!" Sheena said, grabbing Lloyd's face and pulling it into her well-developed breasts.

That proved to be really efficient as Lloyd got so red he was sure steam was coming out of his ears. That was when he felt Martel grabbing him from behind with Sheena restraining his arms. Lloyd screamed something about "Tomato medicine!"

"Lloyd?! What are… you…" Kratos said, appearing five minutes later as he heard his son screaming in fear, ready to save Lloyd from any red-vegetable related threat. However, he didn't expect to be met with such a scene:

"Oh, hi there Father-in-law," Sheena said in a nurse uniform Asuka had sent her through the Renegades, which she obviously let the top two buttons open to show her ample cleavage.

"Hello Kratos," Martel said, in a white, typical medical attire.

On the bed in front of them was a restrained and gagged Lloyd who was shaking and mumbling. He looked at Kratos and mumbled something that sounded like "help!"

"Ummm…what's happening?"

It was worth to say it wasn't very often Kratos saw a scene that defied his ability to analyze and form a conclusion on it.

"We're just trying to make sure Lloyd is completely healed, but he was a little… reluctant to let me analyze him when I said I was a certified doctor. So, I had to ask Sheena here to help me," Martel said, her warm smile never leaving her face.

Kratos used to hear Yuan go on about Martel and how she was such a gentle, caring and devoted woman. To surmise, the blue haired leader of the Renegades thought of his wife as a perfect woman, a saint. That might have been the case during the Kharlan War, but Kratos was quite sure something between the end of it and the formation of the Renegades led the woman to develop a, for the lack of a better word, evil side.

Of course, Martel still had one of the purest hearts Kratos had ever seen, but she knew how to give retribution when she wanted. If there was one thing the auburn haired man had learned with Anna about the other gender was that you should never, ever get on their bad side.

Considering the family story, Kratos shuddered to think how Colette would turn out to be if she learned that, sometimes, you just had to cause somebody a little bit of pain for them to learn.

"I… think I'll leave you two to treat him," he said. Lloyd's helpless eyes almost tore his heart out, but he knew this was a lost battle.

"You do that," Sheena said.

Kratos left the infirmary, sighing as he went for Yuan's office to communicate his latest arrangement with the Vanguard. When he arrived, it was to find a distraught Yuan talking on a communications device on his desk:

"What do you mean you can't reach them?! Try again!"

"Something wrong?" Kratos asked as he approached.

Yuan looked up, ready to berate at who entered in his office without permission until he saw it was Kratos. He seemed to relax a bit, but looked worried nonetheless.

"More than wrong," he said, falling back on his chair. "We've lost contact with Botta's vessel."

"The one where Emil and the others were traveling?" Kratos asked, already on guard. Yuan just nodded.

"Worse yet, we can't locate them on any frequency. It's like they just disappeared form the face of Aselia."

That made Kratos worried. There had been reports lately about mysterious disappearances on the sea. According to those, not even the wreckage of the ships was found. They simply were never seen again. Obviously, people blamed the demons and said they were dragging the sailors to Niflheim, but Kratos knew better. Subtly just wasn't the forte when it came to sea demons.

So, that only led to one conclusion:

"You think it might be something with the Desians?" Kratos asked.

"Yes, but to mount an operation like this one would take the sanction of a Cardinal. The question is: which one of them?"

- / - / - / - / - / - / -

After being hailed by the Desians, the Renegades were forced to navigate the EC to inside the Submarine Ranch, which soon submerged after they were in, effectively trapping the group there.

The docking bay of the Submarine Ranch was the size of Palmacosta's docks and they could see many other vessels, mainly fishing ones, anchored there.

A bridge was set when they reached the docks, with a group of Desians waiting for them to disembark, all with their weapons at hand. To further intimidate them, the half-demons brought in some prisoners in rags that ranged from teenagers to adults, all of them with their feet and hands cuffed and collars on their necks.

Raine, Regal and Zelos knew the Desians had brought those people there as a threat, so they complied when the Desians said for them to throw their weapons away. Botta also knew that and instructed the crew to not do anything reckless

However, that warning proved useless when they disembarked and two Desians approached, one bearing a whip and the other a crossbow:

"So, these are the famed Summon Spirits? They don't look anything more than a bunch of humans and children," the one with the whip said.

"Not so hot now, are you?" the one with the crossbow decided to add salt to the injury by kicking the nearest to him on the back of his legs. In this case, Presea was the unfortunate victim that fell to the floor.

Suddenly, the Desian had his leg pierced by a metal spike that came from the floor, he screamed in pain. The party shot a brief look at Colette, having felt the agitation in her aura right before the Desian was hurt.

Without even taking a moment to think on the subconscious action, Colette ran to Presea and knelt near her, asking if she was alright. The other Desian recovered from the shock and looked at the blonde with an accusing glare:

"You wench! How dare you… ?" he raised his whip as Colette hugged Presea protectively, waiting for the blow.

"Let's stop there," a calm, haughty voice sounded.

The Desian stopped as he, together with all the others in the room, turned to regard the blue haired man that entered:

"Lord Rodyle, sir!" they all saluted as the master of the Submarine Ranch entered.

Rodyle wasn't very tall or intimidating as one would expect from a Grand Cardinal. Standing at least at Raine's height, the Hell's Researcher seemed to make up for his lack of physical prowess with the creepy glare and the aura of mad scientist that he seemed to emanate.

The Cardinal stopped near the group as Colette got Presea up and stood protectively near her crush. Rodyle looked at them, his smile a malicious one as he reached below his cloak and seemed to press something there.

A nearby prisoner that the Desians brought immediately gasped and fell to the floor, starting to convulse. The group gasped at that and Raine, in an impulse, tried to get to the man, but was barred by two, female lancers. The Bowmen also aimed their weapons at them, in a clear signal they would shoot should they move.

Meanwhile, the prisoner had started to gurgle as foam came out of his mouth and his eyes became bloodshot. Then he suddenly laid still and stopped moving, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Raine didn't need to check for a pulse to know the man was dead.

"Now…" Rodyle said, bringing the reincarnated Spirit's attention back to him. "If you, inferior beings are done with your tantrums, you'll realize that for every 'brilliant' idea you might have about escaping, one of them will die. And don't worry, I have so many test subjects these days that I hardly know what to do with all of them. Huhahahaha!"

Raine and the others were surrendered and didn't do anything as the Desians put collars on their necks. Looking at the corpse, Raine noticed with worry that is was the same the man had used. Actually, it was the same collar all prisoners used.

"This particular apparatus is one of my creations," Rodyle started, like an ambitious student presenting his thesis. "If you try to remove it, it'll inject demon poison directly into your blood stream. It also detects spikes in your auras, so try to transform and you'll be poisoned. As you just saw from my little demonstration, the poison is fast-acting."

He calls that "demonstration"?! Marta thought in anger.

"And Lord Botta, you needn't worry, for I have great plans for you and all of your men. I haven't had the opportunity to test my other projects that require elven blood in quite a while," he then turned to the party. "We will do a many great things together. I'm sure you'll be excellent test subjects for my main project. Oh hohoho! I can't wait to see the look on the face of that upstart Kvar when he hears that I captured the Summon Spirits!"

Rodyle went on to discourse with himself about his fellow Cardinal. Botta and the others changed looks with raised eyebrows. The blue haired Desian then turned to them and ordered his guards:

"Take them all to the cells, except this one," he pointed to Emil. "I've been dying to experiment on Ratatosk's power for while."

"NO!" Marta spoke up and struggled when one of the Whipmasters held her shoulders. "Take me, but don't take Emil, please!" she spoke.

Marta had heard enough about the human experimentation that was made on prisoners in Human Ranches to know why the Desians were always searching for host bodies. She blanch at the mere thought that Emil might go through it.

The brunette was rewarded for her efforts with a backhanded slap to the face from Rodyle.

"Silence, human wench!" the Desian Grand Cardinal commanded, his tone becoming harsh. "Take them away!" he ordered again.

Marta started being dragged away and tried to resist, until Zelos said:

"I wouldn't give him a motive to poison Emil if I were you."

She stopped and looked at the Ex-Representative, who kept his eyes focused ahead of him and then to Emil, who only nodded to her, signaling he would be fine.

Marta stopped struggling, understanding that it would only make things worse, and let herself be dragged together with the others to the holding cells, leaving Emil with the Desians for company.

"So…" Rodyle's voice called the Lord of Monster's attention back to the situation at hand. "I wonder what your powers are like. Oh, the possibilities..."

As Rodyle went on and on with himself Emil noticed one thing peculiar on his speech; he talked with all the enthusiasm Raine had when in face of a new ruin and Genis when he was observing his powers for the first time. That led Emil to a conclusion: Rodyle didn't have any idea about the true extend of his powers, or how they evolved.

It seems the Desians aren't truly united if Genis didn't pass him the information he collected on my powers. Maybe I can use that to free myself and the others…