And... here's the promised double chapter!
Some notes at the end. Won't bother you now because I would hate to break the mood established in the last chapter.
Chapter 49
Watcher of the Heart
Yuan was tense. Martel could tell just by looking at him. It wasn't really his fault either. She was pretty tense as well ever since they received the news from the Vanguard.
Sighing, Martel walked until she was standing behind Yuan's chair and started massaging his shoulders, trying to relieve some of his tension.
"You need to have faith in Kratos, dear. He knows how to deal with these situations," Martel said while attempting to undo the knots in her husband's shoulders.
"I do trust him. But against an adversary like that..." the blue haired man said, while involuntary relaxing and leaning back at his wife's ministrations. "A bit stronger Martel," he said, his tone becoming relaxed.
Martel smiled at that. It was a useful trick she had learned with Asuka. Now if only she could tranquilize her daughter...
Amelia had practically refused to leave the room when the news came, saying (or rather writing) she would stay there until they received news that Colette was alright and that was after Martel convinced her not to go out there and chase them in her demon form, pointing out they had no idea where they were.
Speaking of her, Amelia was still in the room, trying to make herself unnoticeable while Martel and Yuan acted like the married couple they were. She was starting to think maybe she should leave, but she wanted to be sure her daughter would be alright.
"Amelia dear," Martel called her, now draping her arms around her husband's shoulders. The adult blonde looked at her. "You should take some time to rest. It won't do you any good to wait here."
"We'll call you once we hear anything," Yuan assured her.
Amelia was about to insist on remaining when she suddenly felt an incredible pain that practically stopped all her thought process.
A pain right in her heart.
She practically fell from her chair and, when looking up saw Yuan and Martel's expressions mirror her own as the woman gripped her chest and Yuan started to hyperventilate before falling from his seat.
The three felt like their hearts were breaking apart. There weren't any memories flashing through their eyes or anything that could be described as a mental assault. Instead it was like feelings were being projected right onto their hearts in a rollercoaster of emotions that seemed to replay the worst moments of their lives.
Despair. Sorrow. Failure. Anger. Hopelessness. Apathy. Pain. Fear.
They felt all of that at the same time and in such intensity that, even while remaining conscious, they could do little but writhe helplessly on the floor, not even able to scream as an invisible hand seemed to grip their hearts and squeeze it, slowly turning it into mush.
Somehow, they knew everybody else in the complex was feeling the same...
- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
When he felt a tug at his heart, Genis knew something was going on. Looking at his aides, he only saw curious expressions when he stopped walking.
Quickly running back to the fortress, Genis opened the doors and gasped at the scene in front of him. All Desians around were convulsing in the floor, clutching their hearts like they were on pain, some even mumbling incoherent phrases like "Stop... stop..." and "just kill me already!".
"What the... ?" Reriki let out.
Genis then noticed another interesting detail on the scene; none of the demons seemed to be affected by whatever kind of ailment the Desians were suffering. In fact, they only looked between themselves and around in confusion.
The Desian General felt a slight prick on his heart again, like something was trying to pierce it.
What the hell is going on? the silver haired half-elf wondered.
"Genis!" a familiar voice made he jump at attention and look at where it was coming from. Nebilim approached him with large strides. Absently minded, Genis noticed he seemed to be sweating, like whatever was afflicting the Desians was trying to take a hold of him too, but he was able to fight it back.
"Y-Yes, Lord Nebilim?" Genis said, stuttering a little at seeing the seething and no-nonsense look at Nebilim's face.
Immediately, Genis realized he was in trouble. Big trouble.
"I won't ask how, why, or what, but I'm going to say this..." Nebilim spoke, his voice leaving no space for arguments. Even Reriki and Rahishi were saluting in stiff positions and looked quite nervous. "Find. Her. Did I make myself clear?"
The red haired wraith's tone never rose, but the effect was the same as if he had shouted. Genis didn't even need to analyze the information presented to know that Nebilim knew he had a hand in this and that his Lord was telling him to find Verius.
He finally realized he had screwed it up. Big time.
"Y-Yes, my..." Genis started.
"I said, now!" Nebilim interrupted.
The silver haired half-elf then ran from the place, his aides right behind him after they recovered.
Genis' mind was working at an accelerated pace as he tried to think of all possible places where Verius could be to launch whatever spell she was using.
"Rahishi, gather whatever battalion you can assemble fast and bring them to the Teleportation Room," Genis said in a tone of urgency.
"Master Genis, where are we going?" Reriki asked, her tone fearful for him.
"I don't know. But if we don't find Verius, we might as well teleport to another planet," Genis said, biting his tongue in apprehension.
They say that no matter what kind of plan you come up with, there would always be a chance that it would backfire spectacularly. And this was Genis' first time witnessing his going haywire.
- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
"What is it Yuan?" Kratos asked in his communicator after excusing himself. He was whispering so just his superior could hear.
"Kratos, is Verius nearby?" the blue haired Renegade asked.
"Yes? Why is that..."
"Keep your guard up around her," Yuan interrupted him.
"Why?"
There was silence on the other side of the line, as if Yuan was pondering whether he should tell something to the General of Union or not. After a brief minute, Yuan's voice came:
"You heard about Ozette, right? Verius was the one responsible for that."
Kratos' expression became grave and he looked ahead at Verius. The Summon Spirit was still leading them, not showing any kind of reaction to the news Kratos was sure she must have caught with her reading. Not that he was expecting her to show any at all, if she really did it.
"Do you have any proof of that?" he decided to give the fox-like woman the benefit of doubt.
"A Vanguard scout collected samples of magical residue in the bodies of the villagers. They analyzed it utilizing the Submarine Ranch's data processing center. Botta and my R&D division double-checked it. The data matches that of Verius' aura readings we caught when she first came out and when she was in our base."
"In that case..." Kratos mumbled, keeping his expression grave. "I'll need Origin's power more than ever..."
- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
As Kratos finished recounting his conversation with Yuan, the group could only look in astonishment from him to Verius, who kept her smile on ever since she admitted to setting off the Twilight Palace's defense mechanism on them.
"So... you..." Colette mumbled, shocked.
"You were trying to kill us!" Marta pointed an accusing finger at Verius.
"No, I wasn't," Verius said, her smile dropping and being replaced by a pout. "They were only supposed to beat you up till you couldn't stand, so you wouldn't interfere."
The group glared harder at her as the Watcher of the Heart said all of that like she had the best of intentions. They were a step away from drawing their weapons on her.
"Interfere with what?" Sheena demanded.
Ratatosk could only look, his rage, indignation and everything else forgotten in the face of Verius' admission and subsequent revelation of being the one that killed an entire village. He just couldn't believe it. He refused to believe it!
"Releasing this world from the pain gripping its heart," Verius' musical lilt was dropped from her voice as it became grave and serious.
"How so? By killing everybody like you did with Ozette?" Presea asked in an acid tone.
"You don't seem horribly shocked like the others, Shadow. Didn't you reincarnate there?"
Presea didn't answer, instead only glaring at Verius. In truth, she really didn't care that much about Ozette. The years of suffering and discrimination in their hands were still pretty fresh in her mind, but if Verius was going to do a repeat of Ozette, she could very well injure people Colette cared about.
"Oh, I see," Verius said with her seemingly innocent smile back. "Of course. Lately, it seems like your entire life has been revolving around Gnome."
"Verius..." Ratatosk finally found his voice, catching everybody's attention by how weak his tone was. His expression showed he was still in denial. "Why? You... you would never..."
"Normally do this? That was then."
"Then?"
The fox-like woman didn't answer. Instead she joined her hands and opened them, forming a sphere of power between them. The ground below them seemed to react to it and showed scenes of people in Aselia, with several ethereal threads coming from the pool to the sphere.
Suddenly, the sphere and the threads became a blood red, with nine of it shooting out of the sphere and hitting the reincarnated Summon Spirits before they could react. The effect was immediate as they clutched their chests at feeling pain burning deep inside their hearts, making they go on their knees.
No image came to their heads, but this pain... it wasn't theirs, yet they could discern the several feelings behind it.
Sadness. Desperation. Hate. Envy. Hurt. Fear. Emptiness...
These emotions kept coming and coming in higher intensity, almost blotting out any rational thought as the party started to live them, like they were experiencing the suffering of several people at once through their eyes.
And then they felt it. It was, but for a brief moment, yet they could still feel it clearly: a pain that surpassed all of that. A pain of a being that had to feel and live these emotions again and again everyday a thousand times, before she was sealed. In that brief moment they almost lost their sanity and although they knew she lived it, they were, at least, spared from receiving the full charge of what Verius had endured.
The group then realized just what was happening and Ratatosk understood why Verius asked to be sealed away.
"So... you..." Kratos started as they looked up, Verius still holding that blood-red sphere. Below them were images of the people of Aselia falling over and clenching their chest as their hearts exploded in pain.
"I thought it wouldn't work on you," Verius said, her tone still serious and without its musical lilt. "Your hearts might be aligned with the humans, but your souls are that of my brothers and sisters. That was why I needed the Impressions to knock you out. I knew you wouldn't agree with this, considering how your hearts are set on regenerating this world."
"But... Verius... why kill them?" Ratatosk asked, trying to stand.
"Because it's the only way to release them of their pain. The only way to make the Heart of the World stop hurting. The same thing you tried to do. I thought you would understand, Rata..."
"NO!" Ratatosk now stood, a desperate expression on his face. "It's enough that I'm a traitor! That I stained my hands with blood and betrayed everything our brothers and sisters stood for! You can't do it too, Verius! You know what I am forced to do if you... if you... !"
"What?" Verius suddenly stopped channeling her spell, the sphere disappearing and the people shown below seeming to have stopped writhing in pain. "Then... you mean... you're going to fight me?"
As the others slowly recovered, the room seemed to have become deathly silent. So silent they managed to hear the sound of a single drop hitting the liquid floor. A drop of blood. They looked up and their hearts ached again, this time going for Ratatosk, who had a trail of blood coming from his eyes. A trail resembling that of tears.
"If... if it's necessary..." his voice became croaked as he seemed to be holding back more tears. His hand went for his blade. "I... I can't let you go through what I've gone. You're... you've already suffered enough."
"Verius," Colette called, her tone pleading as she tried to reach out the tormented Summon Spirit. "Please... can't you see how much this is hurting Ratatosk? Stop all of this. You know, deep down, that you're going to regret doing this later. So, please!"
This time, Verius seemed to have listened to her as she put her hand under her chin, as if in a thoughtful pose, although her face showed a conflicted expression as she mumbled:
"You all... are ready to fight me. But... I should still release this world from the pain. It's what the Heart of the World wants. What all hearts want. Yet..." she brought her hand to her forehead, like she was suffering from a headache. "But I... I too don't want to fight you... I mean... but I still have to... so much suffering... but my brothers and sisters... I... I..."
The group started to get worried, as Verius' mumbling started to get faster, so much they couldn't now understand what she was saying. Her voice was rising as an expression of pain came to her face. Ratatosk was the only one that realized what was truly happening while the others were still confused, trying to assimilate what Verius had gone through and what she was doing now.
"Verius! I know you're still there. Fight off that pain that is taking a hold of you!" he pleaded.
"Ratatosk... I... I don't want... but it's my duty... ugh... it hurts," suddenly, her aura started to vibrate, power manifesting as she clutched her head with her two hands, her tails twitching and the volume of her voice rising, not a mumble any longer. "But the hearts demand... so much pain... I don't want to... pain... hurt... stop... stop," then, as if a floodgate had been opened, her aura started to flare, power manifesting as the waters bellow them seemed to agitate and create waves that never reached their feet as wind blew, coming from Verius who was clutching her head as if in extreme pain. "Stop the HURT!"
The room was practically shaking as the Summon Spirit of the Heart unleashed the full strength of her aura, making the group brace against the strong gale.
"Such power. Is this an attack?" Raine asked.
"No. It feels more like... she's venting off her power," Ratatosk pointed out as he and the others put their arms in front of their faces.
"This is probably the only way she found to fight," Regal said. "She's venting off her powers so she can't use them to hurt us!"
"Yes, but how much power does a Summon Spirit truly holds?" Kratos pointed out.
Then it all stopped. The wind. The waves on the water. It all ceased as the fox-looking woman stood there, head lowered. Her face obscured by her hair. The party stood in a tense silence as they looked at her, their guard up.
"Ratatosk..." Verius called.
"Verius," her brother said, sounding relieved as he smiled at her. "I knew you cou..." he stopped as he realized something was wrong when she slowly raised her head.
"I'm sorry... but this must be done. The Heart of the World wishes for its suffering to end... as all hearts wishes as well. Even yours..." she finally raised her head fully, a neutral expression on her face. "So..." then her eyelids started to open. "Don't worry. I'll make sure your pain end too. Then we can all be together. Just like the old times..."
Finally, Verius' shinning, golden eyes opened fully as she looked at them with a smile, although this one felt wrong. Ratatosk was also shocked for he had never seen his sister's eyes before. He never thought on how they looked like and now, seeing them, he couldn't help, but be paralyzed with fear as Verius' silhouette suddenly seemed to become dark with only her golden, glowing eyes and smile being the only source of light against her dark shadow.
He realized too late why those eyes inspired so much fear as Verius teleported and thrust her hand in a spear motion at Presea's belly, easily piercing it like flesh and bones meant nothing to her.
Presea could only look surprised as blood dripped from her mouth and Verius prepared to say the name of the Arte that would finish the girl off in one blow... just to receive a violent punch from the normally calm Colette, who reacted with a speed and reaction time she normally didn't possess.
The Summon Spirit flew away, Sheena grabbing Presea so she wouldn't go together. Raine and Marta casted a Cure spell each as Presea entered in her Spirit Form, the wound patching itself quickly.
Ratatosk and the other looked again at Verius, who righted herself in mid-air, stopping even inertia itself as she landed on the ground, that same disturbing smile still in her face. The party saw there was no other option as they entered in Spirit Form.
"Wait! We can't... !" Ratatosk started.
"We have to! Just look at her! She isn't the Verius you knew!" Sheena said as the group charged at the Summon Spirit. Ratatosk stood on his place, confused as to what he should do.
"Final Beat," a pulse of energy emanated from Verius, throwing the group back as she suddenly disappeared and reappeared right over them.
"Oh no, you don't!" Sheena spoke, being the first to recover and flying to meet Verius, unleashing a quick sequence of light charged attacks, only to have those blocked by Verius' tails. They're as hard as steel. Sheena thought.
She then flew away to give place to Regal, whose attacks carried more power behind them, but Verius repelled them all as if they were nothing. That was, until a dark circle appeared beneath her feet and Presea came out in a Dark Tempest Arte, throwing Verius in the air. Lloyd took her place and applied a quick succession of attacks ending with a Brutal Maim.
However, Verius recovered before the last hit and teleported behind the dual swordsman, grabbing him by the head and thrusting her hand on his back. Although it didn't pierce Lloyd as it did with Presea, the impact felt like a punch from Nebilim. She finished, by using an ax kick on his midsection, sending him careening back to the ground and hitting it with enough strength to create a crater. That is, if the ground was a solid, normal one.
Marta appeared above Verius and used an Air Blade spell that pushed the Summon Spirit to ground, only for her to dispel it before colliding with it.
"Shining Shackles!" Raine casted her magic, binding Verius as Presea and Lloyd approached her, Colette producing chakras and throwing them at the Watcher of the Heart.
However, Verius broke the spell with a pulse of her aura, making Lloyd and Presea stop. She also caught Colette's chakras effortlessly and threw them at the two reincarnated Spirits with an almost supersonic speed, both weapons ramming at their midsections. Colette's eyes widened at seeing that.
"Dire Lift," runic circles appeared beneath the Summon Spirits as Verius casted a spell without even charging it. A bright light threw them up in the air, the strength feeling the same as one of Verius' physical attacks. Then they pulled back to the ground with such speed and force that it was as if gravity suddenly became a hundred times stronger on their bodies.
As Regal tried to get up, Verius teleported to near him and kicked him up in the air, two of her tails grabbing his legs and spinning her body with her secured before throwing the Thunder's Apprentice on Sheena.
That was when Kratos teleported near her and attacked with his Runeblade. Verius deflected the blow, however, felt her arm being cut. She looked confused before Kratos used a Light Spear, which she defended, but still felt like the attacks had landed.
"Transcendental Blades!" Kratos crouched, a runic circle appearing behind him and several ethereal blades flying from it and struck Verius like arrows.
"Pressure Sphere!" Raine made the water on the floor encompass Verius and raise her high in the air, before exploding, the shift in pressure combined with the magic seeking to crunch her.
Needless to say, it wasn't as effective as in theory.
"Soul Burn," a circle of blue flames appeared around Verius and floated bellow her, before she made a motion with her hand and threw it on Raine, who jumped back, but the flames suddenly disappeared and reappeared around her, closing in on her like a ring and burning her hands and waist before. It was a seemingly unimpressive attack, but it its potency was enough to force Raine on her knees.
The Verius appeared in front of the Serene Sage and kicked her in the face with enough strength to make her slide on the floor.
"Suspended Space!" Kratos charged and quickly released another spell. This one creating a space around Verius that, true to its name paralyzed her long enough for Regal to approach and unleash a sequence of electrically charged blows.
"Seizure Wave!" Regal beat his two knuckles on Verius' head, producing a electric wave that disoriented her long enough for him to follow up with a lightning enhanced Wolverine Arte, followed by another one exclusive to his Spirit form. "Thor Hammer!" the electrical bracelet on Regal's right fist hummed as he pulled the arm back and then swung it on Verius' head. The Watcher of the Heart was literally floored by the strong impact, which could reduce the skull of a demon to dust.
However, when Regal landed, one of Verius' tails grabbed him by the waist, lifting and slamming him on the ground again and again before throwing him up. Verius disappeared and reappeared near him.
"My turn," she said in an almost monotone voice, still with that same disturbing smile on her face as she unleashed a barrage of attacks on Regal, each one as strong as his Thor Hammer. Each time she hit him she also used her tails, multiplying the number of attacks by ten. In the end, Verius thrusted all her tails on him and used her Final Beat Arte to rocket him against the floor.
Marta, Lloyd and Sheena attacked Verius with their maximum speed, ramming into her sides as they flew in sharp turns. The Watcher of the Heart soon recovered and avoided their next attacks. Marta launched a barrage of wind disks, which the Summon Spirit deflected with her tails, only for the Whirlwind Rider to become a blur and approach Verius to executed an Arte:
"Spiral Twist!" Marta spun with her wind spinners extended while circulating around Verius, slashing her a multitude of times before attacking the fox-like woman with a cross slice, creating an extra gust of wind to push her back… only for Verius to teleport near Marta right after and kick her in the stomach with enough strength to create an impact wave in the air and rocket the girl away.
"Rising Phoenix!" Lloyd came in a dive bomb towards Verius' back. She simply turned and caught his flaming sword with her hand, her aura dissipating the flames, surprising the dual swordsman momentarily.
Verius then grabbed Lloyd's head with one of her tails and extended the others around him, their points aimed at the Wielder of Victory's Flames.
"Phasing Disturbance," yellow energy gathered in the point of her free tails and ethereal swords of the same color shot from them piercing Lloyd, who couldn't even scream at feeling like his body had become a pin cushion. The swords then broke into thousands of glass-like fragments, Verius letting go of Lloyd, whose wings blinked out of existence, his aura in disarray.
"Blade Dancer!" Sheena teleported near Verius, her blades of light appearing too as she slashed Verius in high speed, not leaving the Summon Spirit any chance to dodge or counter. She finished by swinging her blade in a cleaving motion on Verius' head, the force of the blow sending the Watcher of the Heart to the ground with a "THUD". Sheena dived after her, intending on impaling the fox-like Spirit with her swords, only to see Verius disappearing and a hand grab her leg from behind, spin her in the air and throw her on the ground with the same strength she used previously.
Raine casted a Spread spell that was frozen as soon as it reached Verius. The Summon Spirit broke the ice encasing her with a simple flicker of her aura, but that was what Zelos intended as he approached and slashed at her with his gelid blade while shooting bursts of ice magic that created ice shards on her body before finishing with an spell:
"Frost Satellite!" a huge ice rock formed above them and fell in high speeds, hitting Verius and crunching her against the floor before exploding. "Absolute!" the Watcher of the Heart was incased in a huge spire of ice without having any chance to escape.
"Cleansing Rain!" Raine summoned drops of water that fell on Lloyd, dispelling the effects of Verius' attack.
"We should use a Mystic Arte while she is still encased!" Tenebrae advised them, he and the Centurions taking a backseat during the battle, since the Twilight Palace didn't allow for any summoning of monsters.
"Leave this to me," Lloyd said, gripping his swords tighter as he got up, working on his breath and gathering his strength just like he did when he executed his version of Knight's Oath. Only this time there was something else he felt coming to surface.
When the ice finally broke, Lloyd was already flying in Verius' direction, leaving a trail of fire behind as he flew in her direction. Sheena casted Sanctum Light, trapping the fox-like Spirit in her place as Lloyd got close enough and swung his swords in a downward horizontal strike, leaving a trail of red and blue flames in their wake. When the swords touched the floor a small volcano-like eruption was created right beneath Verius' feet, launching her in the air.
Lloyd flew after her, ramming into Verius and leaving trails of red and blue fire as he flew and attacked her with a speed equivalent to that of Marta in Spirit form. Lloyd then started teleporting and appearing around Verius as he unleashed a fiery sequence of swords strikes, releasing flames of the corresponding color of each blade.
"Flame Trial!" Lloyd kept teleporting around Verius, seeming to blink out between attacks, not leaving any chance for her to counter or avoid. He finished by joining his two swords together, both ignited with blue and red flames, bringing them down on Verius with enough strength to create a shockwave through he air and rocket the Summon Spirit to the ground while Lloyd followed after her. Verius hit the ground with a "THUD" that could have broken all the bones on a Great Demon, but when Lloyd reached her with his body enveloped by a swirl of red and blue fire, he transferred all the force of the impact onto the flames, which exploded on contact with the fox-like woman.
Lloyd somersaulted back with the help of his wings and landed a good ten feet away from the explosion cloud. The group looked at it, trying to feel Verius' aura... and got surprised when they felt it spike up, like in the previous storms of power she released.
The smoke was blown away as Verius became visible, her eyes closed and her hands over a sphere of energy from which nine red threads came, linking to each member of the party. They were immediately bombarded by intense, negative feelings that immobilized them, making they kneel as they were forced to feel all the pain, desperation and fear they did in the worst moments of their lives all at once.
Amidst the crushing pain, Kratos looked up and had a sudden realization of what Verius was going to do. As he fought the pain with all his will, he concentrated all of his energy onto his Runeblade, mentally calling the incantation which he remembered Origin using to settle the terrain for his test.
When Verius was ready, she opened her golden eyes, pronunciation the name of the Mystic Arte:
"Heartbreak."
The sphere in her hand broke like glass together with the threads and the reincarnated Summon Spirits felt like their hearts had suddenly stopped, like there was nothing there anymore and their minds simply shut off, like they were forced into a comatose state. Their eyes went blank when the energy sphere on Verius' hands broke and their bodies fell limply on the ground.
That Mystic Arte was the same Verius had used on the citizens of Ozette, before using her knowledge to separate their souls from their bodies, for this Arte, although it destroyed the heart, weakening the soul's connection to the body, didn't inflict any real damage to the soul and the body. It was the mere fact that it broke one's heart, forcing them into a vegetative state, which made it her most dangerous Mystic Arte.
"I'm sorry. But don't worry..." Verius started, already turning to go back to using the same Mystic Arte she used on them, but this time on a planetary-scale level. "We'll all be fine soo..." then she stopped speaking, suddenly feeling like everything stopped.
Then things started to go back. Even Verius' body was being forced to reverse its last steps. During this process, her eyes went around and focused on Kratos, noticing some peculiar things. First, when he fell, he had fallen on his sword, which impaled his body. And second, the red gem on the hilt of his Runeblade was glowing with a tiny rune marked on it; Origin's Time Bending rune.
As time reversed, Kratos' consciousness returned, still being affected by the pain of Verius' Mystic Arte, but now he was slowly fighting it back and resisting it. Only he and Verius seemed to notice what was going on as Kratos couldn't see any kind of glint in the others' eyes that would indicate they were conscious during the time reversal. It was up to him to save his son and his companions.
And he knew what he had to do.
When they were back to when Verius started to cast her Mystic Arte, time finally set itself and started to flow normally once more. The Watcher of the Heart, could only repeat her same previous actions as Kratos was hit by the crimson thread, but the paralyzing effect of the negative emotions was practically shrugged off as he charged at Verius, his Runeblade glowing as he poured every single ounce of power he could find on his body and what else he could collect from this plane of existence.
Verius could only direct her closed eyes at him in surprise as Kratos gripped his sword with his two hands and swung it in a diagonal arc:
"Eternal Slayer!"
It was as if reality itself had been sliced by Kratos' attack, everything stopping again, but this time out of the sheer power behind that Arte. Then came the sound of something breaking, as if the slices of reality had broken apart and left space for a new one, one where Verius' Mystic Arte simply stopped, the sphere dissipating together with the crimson threads and the others recovering from her attack.
As Ratatosk recovered his bearings and heard Kratos pronounce the name of the Arte he realized what had just happened.
"I... I see..." Verius sounded like she was in pain although she was still standing. "You reversed time itself so you could stop me with that..." her voice had an undecipherable tone to it and her smile was a nervous one. "But... don't you think you overdid it?" Kratos then promptly collapsed on the ground, his Spirit Form dispelling and only his Runeblade remaining.
"DAD!" Lloyd exclaimed and would have gone to Kratos' aid had Verius not recovered, teleported and hit him with a flying kick followed by her nine tails, with a strength that rivaled Regal's kicks.
Raine and Ratatosk approached Kratos as the others continued to battle Verius, Zelos using an spell called Chilling Winds to lower the temperature while the others attacked, so Verius' reactions would become slower. It didn't work.
"Don't worry. Kratos' still alive, although barely from what I can feel," Raine said in a worried tone as she applied some healing spells to keep Kratos stable.
Ratatosk sighed in relief. Eternal Slayer was an extremely complex Arte Origin developed to serve as a universal counter to any other Arte. As such, it can only be used while another Arte is being simultaneously utilized and if it had already been used on Origin. It effectively destroyed the countered Arte, making the opponent unable to use it ever again and all the energy poured into it would backslash into the attacker.
However there was a catch. For the Arte to be destroyed, an amount of power equal to that used on the Arte or spell had to be applied. When Origin was a Summon Spirit that was never an issue, but now that it was Kratos using these... Ratatosk was very surprised that the auburn haired swordsman hadn't outright kneeled over and died considering he had destroyed a Mystic Arte.
The crimson-eyed Spirit looked up as he heard Marta and Colette scream. Verius was holding the two by their faces as she bashed their heads together, letting them go as the two were dizzy and then executing an Arte:
"Burning Rejection!" Verius threw her arms to the side as flames rose around her and burned the two girls, repelling them. "Heart Sting," Verius' tails touched the liquid ground and sent energy through it. Through the water, the others could see several ethereal arrows swimming through the waters before they shot up from bellow on Marta while she was still being pushed back.
Verius then teleported once more, her hand and tails ready to pierce the Whirlwind Rider... only for Ratatosk to appear in front of her, blade already ignited with multicolored flames as he brandished it on her:
"Destroyer's Song!" a pillar of the flames rose where Verius was standing when the Lord of Monster's blade touched the ground. However, Ratatosk had to turn and defend against three of Verius' tails, as soon as she reappeared. Four more tails attacked and cut at his arms and legs superficially.
"Flare Rush!" Lloyd charged in, slashing at Verius in high speed as he passed by her, flames following his flight path.
Ratatosk attacked again with Dark Fang and Raining Delude, but both attacks barely did any damage on the powerful Summon Spirit. That was when they felt an aura of power manifesting. They couldn't even look back to see that Raine was the one exuding that energy before the water floor agitated and several water lances shot from it, piercing through Verius, only to merge in a pool above her and rain back, forming a cage of sorts.
The lances then organized around the Watcher of the Heart in a sphere and shot around her once more, piercing the Summon Spirit from all sides, leaving her no chance to evade. Then the lances adhered to her body and water shot from the floor, forming a sphere, biding Verius and raising her from the ground to the skies while it gained more mass as more water joined, Raine manipulating the pressure inside to keep Verius contained and attack her with pressure bursts and form a bubble of air in a place in Verius' body before it was pierced by a water spike with enough strength to break through the shield of a Tyrant.
"Crying Oath!" Raine then finished the Mystic Arte by compressing all water onto Verius before the sphere exploded.
While Verius was still stunned, Presea and Zelos flew in, attacking her from different sides with quick strikes. Zelos stopped and quickly casted another spell:
"Jord's Mace!" a runic circle appeared above Verius and a giant ice column shot from it with the strength of a battering ram and the speed of a bullet, crashing her into the ground again and breaking on contact.
As mist raised from the impact, the group though that maybe that had taken care of her... only to flinch back when another maelstrom of Verius' aura was released. They looked at the center of the storm of power and saw her form changing. Her face became elongated and her hands became claws. Her clothes clung to her body, changing into golden yellow fur as Verius went on all fours with a growl.
When the storm stopped the reincarnated Summon Spirits saw before them a giant, yellow, nine-tailed fox. The eyes were still the same glowing golden color and the group felt their hearts shiver in fear, telling them to run as she turned those eyes to them. The change was so drastic they had to take some time to calm themselves.
That was when Verius attacked.
Nobody saw her moving from her spot, practically disappearing as she attacked all of them in high speeds with her tails and claws. When they realized it, they were on the ground, glowing wounds in their bodies as they tried to make sense of what happened.
"Verius, stop!" Ratatosk begged, but the beast Summon Spirit turned her head to him and disappear from her spot. When Ratatosk realized it, she had her mouth clamped on his left shoulder, blood flying as she tried to break the bone.
He let out a scream of agonizing pain, but, luckily or not, Verius didn't rip his arm off. Marta casted a Wind Thrust, but Verius turned her eyes to her and disappeared once more. As the wind blades manifested on her spot, the party could only see flashes of Verius' form as she dodged all of the wind blades. When the last one vanished, she was on Marta once more, but this time circling around her in a blur of yellow before a pillar of blue flames enveloped the girl, making her yell as she felt the burns.
Ratatosk could only look in horror as the others tried to contain his sister only to be systematically brought down by her combination of overwhelming power and speed. Even Presea was having difficulty keeping up with Verius, resulting in the nine-tailed fox inflicting some nasty, dark-glowing wounds on the girl as she tried to defend the others and attack.
Verius attacked the Warrior of the Deep Abyss again, spinning her body like Lloyds' Flare Tempest, only with blue flames and even after hitting the floor she stayed spinning, before suddenly charging at Presea in full speed. The Warrior of the Deep Abyss, couldn't even put her axes up to defend herself before feeling Verius' tails whipping her body with the strength of a battering ram.
"Earth Saw!" two giant, metal saws came out of the water and rushed to Verius, who quickly avoided the spell once more. "Frag Spin!" Colette tried to attack again by launching her two chakras, Verius seemed to phase out once more, but when she did that, Colette controlled the chakras and made them exploded into several, sharp, dagger-like fragments which flew in all directions. Several of them caught Verius, forcing her to reappear.
That was when everybody attacked her with all they got:
"Norfeas Aol!" Raine used her strongest chaos spell, hoping it would pass through Verius' defenses. It worked as the fox couldn't move due to Colette using a heavy metal on chakras when they exploded, slowing the Spirit down.
"Now! Brutal Maim!" Lloyd followed up with his Arte, flooring the nine-tailed fox.
Regal, who had been concentrating and gathering all his energy, stomped on the ground, a lightning bolt falling on Verius and clamping her on the liquid ground. The blue haired Thunder Apprentice charged, the bracelets on his fists and feet humming with the electricity he gathered.
However, when Regal was about to reach her, Verius released her aura once more. The storm of power didn't affect the martial artist, but undid the magnetic clamp as Verius transformed back into her human form. When Regal swung his super powered fist Verius caught it with her bare hand, a wave of impact forming around them and agitating the water floor in small, but noticeable waves.
Regal didn't let his surprise show as he attempted to kick her, but Verius stopped his attack with her arm. A caught kick, a defended punch, a deflected hook. The dance went on as Verius countered Regal's Mystic Arte, to the surprise and shock of all present. Even so, the Thunder Apprentice didn't give up as he used his powers to make a long jump back as he gathered all his energy on his bracelets.
"Final Wave... !" Regal stopped speaking when he saw Verius teleporting to him. The result was he unleashed his blast at point blank on the Summon Spirit. When it passed, there was no sign of Verius.
"I'm stopping all of this!" a wrapped voice said and Regal was suddenly slashed from his back.
The others were all attacked by Verius with a speed that easily surpassed that of sound, all being pushed towards the center of the room (with the exception of Kratos, who was unconscious). Verius then appeared there in her fox form and shot her tails at them, hitting all of the reincarnated Summon Spirits with blunt force and igniting them on flames, before throwing them on the ground as a giant, runic circle appeared.
"Pacifying Glow!" Verius howled and a giant pillar of energy rose from the circle, attacking all those within its range before thinning into smaller pillars on them, their light becoming more solid, before seeming to break.
The group fell, completely spent.
How... how can she be so powerful?! Sheena thought. We threw everything at her, but she just keeps going like it doesn't even affect her!
Verius then looked at the Radiant Maiden with her feral, golden eyes. Sheena instinctively flinched away and she tried to crawl back when Verius started to walk in her direction.
"S-Sacrifice!" Raine's voice came as Verius stopped and looked at her. The woman was all on her fours, but the runes engraved on her body and Undine's symbol glowed as she channeled all of her remaining power.
The others felt part of their strength returning and their auras normalizing, but it suddenly stopped and Raine collapsed, reverting back to her human form. Colette used her returned strength to make two stonewalls raise between Verius and produce several stakes that pierced her. Or tried to as they broke upon contact with her fur. The walls slammed on Verius, but she simply broke them with a pulse of her aura.
"Presea! Regal! Distract her!" Ratatosk told the two, who looked at him. "Just do it!"
The two then charged at Verius while the crimson-eyed Spirit conferred with the others:
"I know this seems bad, but..."
"I think 'fucked up' would be a better term in this case," Zelos inputted. He had guarded Raine, so he was relatively better than the others, but could do as much as them to hurt Verius.
"Hate to agree with him, but we are pretty much screwed," Sheena spoke. "Everything we throw at her, she simply shrugs off like it is nothing. Not even our Mystic Artes could stop her!"
As if to prove Sheena's point, Regal circled around Verius while she defended from Presea's fast ax strikes and launched a Ground Breaker Arte, launching three consecutive blasts of leonine energy, but Verius avoided each and every one while defending from Presea's attacks and countered by spinning on her place, tails lashing out at them. She floated in the air and sent two tails as if they were spears, piercing them both on the chest. It was only thanks to their Summon Spirits defenses that the blow only pushed them away.
"I know it might look like it, but that is because Verius isn't the kind of opponent you can win by simply crippling or exhausting. As a Summon Spirit she can go on forever as long as her remaining power and soul allow it," Ratatosk quickly explained. "Her aura is the only indication of whether we are inflicting damage on her or it has weakened much since we started this battle."
"Alright, but we have been burning it away and she just keeps punching at us with he same strength. Anymore and we are done for," Lloyd protested. They knew it was just a matter of time now for Verius to win now that they were without their main healer.
"The only way to win is to break her defenses and go in with an attack powerful enough to take her out in one shot."
"Wait. What do you mean Ratatosk? Aren't our Mystic Artes powerful enough?" Marta asked while she stabilized Raine's condition so her life wouldn't be in danger.
"The problem is they are elementally oriented and Verius is weak to no element. However, there is one thing that can take her down," I hope. he mentally added.
"Your Ain Soph Aür," Sheena realized.
Verius seemed to have heard that and rushed to Ratatosk forming a cone of blue fire around her snout. Lloyd saw that and got in the way, using his Flame Shield Arte to block her, but it only lasted about a second before she broke through and slashed at him, followed by her tails whipping Lloyd as she passed, before one clobbered him on the neck with tremendous strength. The Wielder of Victory's Flame already weakened defenses couldn't take it and his body received the entire impact, making he pass out as his Spirit Form dispelled.
Ratatosk teleported away and called the remaining fighters:
"Distract her while I charge it! I'll need some time to get full power."
Verius turned to her brother, not going to give him the chance. However, darkness came over her and everything blacked out as she couldn't sense their auras anymore, but could still feel their hearts.
"Look into your sins..." she felt the calmness and resolution coming from Presea's heart at her right and just that was enough of a warning for her to avoid the ax blow that produced a wide dark blade where she had been... "Realize your mistakes..." she was hit from her back by a dark blade that drained a small portion of her power. But wasn't this calm and resolution still coming from her right... wait. "Look into your regrets..." another dark blade hit her. She felt it... everywhere. "Cry before your own darkness..." several blades where cutting at her. This space, this darkness was created by Presea's heart and powers. "There is no tomorrow for you. Hope Shredder!"
A wave of dark energy descended upon Verius flooding the entire space as she felt darkness consuming what little of her power they could. She tried to repel it, but she felt herself becoming disturbed in this space, like she would have been had it been before. But why? This is now. She was supposed to do this so they could all be in peace, right?
When the Mystic Arte passed, Sheena teleported to a shaken Verius and started to bombard her with light-based Artes as Ratatosk stood on his place, charging his already ignited blade with even more of his spiritual energy. However, as he was charging he heard his sword cracking. Looking at it he realized it simply wouldn't be able to hold all of the energy it was storing.
Marta noticed that and thought on how she could help him, until she looked at the unconscious bodies of the members of the group, specifically Kratos, and saw a purple glow near him. His sword hadn't been dispelled yet.
Marta looked back and saw Sheena flying at high speeds, practically blurring in and out, while Verius attacked with several whips of her tails, her claws and even bites. Regal then charged on her with a shoulder barrel on Verius' side, throwing the Watcher of the Heart into Colette's direction, who used a Grave spell, which finally managed to ram pointed stalagmites on the Spirit without breaking upon contact. Zelos came last, throwing magic orbs that exploded in icy formations upon contact, adhering to her body and keeping her in place, until she shattered them with a pulse of her power, some fragments hitting Zelos before the nine-tailed fox rammed on him and slashed at the Knight of the Frigid Glory.
The Whirlwind Rider flew to where Kratos' unconscious form was and quickly grabbed his glowing, purple Runeblade, calling Ratatosk and throwing it to him.
The crimson-eyed Summon Spirit looked and saw Marta throwing Kratos' blade for him to catch. He caught it with his other hand right when his other sword finally cracked and broke from the pressure of having all that energy accumulated into it, but instead of the energy being lost, it was absorbed, together with what looked like fragments of his sword, into Kratos' blade, which ignited and started to accumulate his spiritual energy at a faster rate than before.
Ratatosk would have smiled at this if he weren't aware of what he would be using practically all of his power to do.
"Let me do it. You don't need to..." Emil started, evidently trying to spare him.
No. I'll do it... it's the least I owe here... she would prefer this way... he rationalized with his reincarnation, who went silent and wouldn't manifest anymore for the remainder of their time on the Twilight Palace. "Everybody! Now, bind her!" Kratos' blade was now barely visible as the flames completely covered it, winds blowing from the other extremity of the platform seeming to converge around it and even the air itself felt charged with pure, raw power. He held it with his two hands to steady his grip, since he was unaccustomed with using two-handed swords.
The others didn't need to be told twice as Verius seemed to realize what they were planning to do and tried to teleport to Ratatosk...
"Negative Zone!" only to have Presea to stop her in her tracks, but that didn't make the Summon Spirit of the Heart stop her charge.
"Flash Charge!" Regal gathered energy on his bracelets and graves and jumped, suddenly disappearing in a flash of electricity before reappearing ahead of Verius and falling on a rapid speed, stomping her right on her head and making she kiss the ground.
"Frozen Sentence!" Zelos summoned a massive, ice sword which fell right on Verius' mid section, going through her like most ethereal manifestations did, but remaining there to trap her in her laid position.
Sheena came in soon enough, conjuring light kunais and throwing them on Verius' tails to pin them to the ground and, just for good measure, summing light swords and thrusting them on the base of her tails Presea quickly teleported to Verius and delivered a fierce slash on the Spirit's fox face before teleporting to each one of her paws and embedding axes on them with a violent blow, leaving the weapons there to cripple the physical body of the Watcher of the Heart.
"Titan Lances!" Colette made several lances made of an extremely heavy metal come out of the ground and pierce Verius from all sides, the last one going through her neck.
Then the powerful Summon Spirit started to struggle and all these bindings were giving away one by one. It was clear that no matter what kind of gruesome-looking blow they inflicted on her body, Verius would just shrug it off, heal and continue until they were dead.
That was when she looked forward and saw Ratatosk, his hands holding what appeared to be a mass of multicolored flames the size of his body high above his head, spectral winds whipping his hair and clothes and, most shockingly, tears of blood on his eyes as he looked at her with such a sadness that made the berserk Summon Spirit stop her struggle for a moment.
"I'm sorry... Verius..." these were Ratatosk's strained words to her before his tone became one of finality as he spoke the name of his signature Mystic Arte, swing the Runeblade down. "Ain... Soph... AÜR!"
An explosion of energy, bigger than the one he used on the Ice Temple, seeming to devour even space itself on its path... Verius on her bestial form could only look with her jaw open as the massive wave of destructive energy came and devoured her fully, one last cry escaping her:
"RATATOOOOSK!"
The light blinded all on the platform and beyond if there were anybody else on that realm.
When the group could finally open their eyes and look they saw smoke clouds rising to reveal the figure of Verius back on her human form, her arms limp at her sides and face looking upwards.
She started to fall back, seeming to not be able to stand anymore. Ratatosk awoke from his paralysis and ran to her, calling her name, yet it was Sheena and Marta that reached the taller woman and caught her before she fell to the ground. Verius' aura was so weak now that it was barely akin to a flame. Ratatosk's last attack had destroyed her for all intends and purposes.
As the two settled the Watcher of the Heart down on the floor, Ratatosk let go of Kratos' Runeblade, which clattered to the ground, as he kneeled near her, calling her name and apologizing again and again for what he just did. His bloody tears falling like a dam had been broken.
Presea, Colette, Regal and Zelos approached, completely exhausted, but refusing to rest as they now saw the scene that was playing.
A hand came up to rest on Ratatosk's cheek, snapping him out of his self-depreciating state. He looked and saw Verius smiling at him with her eyes closed once more. Her smile was a gentle and warm one, and her tone had that musical, soft lilt to it, just like he remembered:
"Don't be sorry, Rata. It's not your fault things ended like this..."
"But..." he started and her hand moved to pose two gentle fingers on his lips, interrupting him.
"Listen... I asked Origin and Maxwell to seal me because I knew... knew I would end up like this... all those conflicting, negative emotions being transmitted to me through the Heart of the World... many of them asking for death, for the destruction of others... I... I couldn't give in to them..."
The party stayed quiet as they listened. They knew all of that. Verius had projected directly onto them the torment she was feeling on the inside once she was released from the Linkite Tree. She had tried to fight back the onslaught of hatred, anger and sadness ever since the War escalated and only by having her brothers seal her away had she been able to stop herself from going berserk.
But once she was released, the world was still in a state not much different from that during the War. That finally pushed her over the edge, as Verius wasn't able to stop herself from being overrun by all the negativity. So much the only way to stop her was to destroy her powers and injure her to the point she wouldn't be able to recover.
Just like Ratatosk when Nebilim beat him, reducing him to his core.
"Verius... I..." Ratatosk started, but couldn't go on, his voice cracking as he cried.
"Rata... please... stop beating yourself over that... this is what I wanted to tell you... stop hurting yourself... you don't need to... punish yourself..." her voice started to get weaker as tiny particles of light started to appear around the Watcher of the Heart when she posed her hand on the top of his head, like in a gentle pat.
"Verius, you're... !"
"It seems... my time is up..." she looked at the others. "I can't apologize enough for all that I did. For all that I said to you. If I could, I would have taken everything back and helped you right out of the start... what you are doing is a sign you all deserve these powers... you all... would you accept the blessing of this failure of a Summon Spirit?"
The group looked between themselves and, hearing the sincerity and regret in Verius' tone, Sheena and Marta were the ones to speak for the group, surprising Ratatosk:
"Yeah... we do," Sheena said.
"I'm... sorry for yelling at you before," Marta said. "If I knew I..."
"It doesn't matter... I would do the same if somebody were to insult the beliefs and effort of my family..." Verius said, giving a smile to the brunette. "And... please, take care of Ratatosk... heal his sorrow..."
"Verius..." the crimson-eyed Lord of Monsters let out.
The lights around Verius intensified as her body started to glow and her aura fade away. Her voice was also sounding weaker.
"I hope... you all... succeed in regenerating this world... and stop... the cycle of tragedies and hatred... otherwise... the Sentiment will be forced to enact... his original vengeance..."
Before any of them could think on the meaning of those last words, Verius' body was enveloped by a golden glow and her hands fell to her sides together with her head. Ratatosk tried to hold her up, but the Summon Spirit of the Heart's silhouette broke into thousands of small particles. The only thing left was the small leather collar with a bell attached to it that she always wore. It fell to the ground with a "ding".
Ratatosk could only look with his eyes wide as his sister, the last of his old family, vanished before him, killed by his own hands. He looked at the thousands of small particles in the air with despair written all over his face.
Verius was gone forever.
No one could do anything, but lower their heads as Ratatosk sobbed and threw his head to the projected stars of that realm, howling in pure anguish...
Case File 31234.17 - Testimony of witness #3 Thomas Misuto:
No one knows why he did it, but when asked, they said it might be what happened back at that Twilight Palace.
There was a battle they say. A battle between Ratatosk and that other Summon Spirit. Seems that he destroyed her 'cause after that nobody saw her again.
I think that was when it all began, because after he came back he wasn't... himself. Not anymore. Granted I didn't know him that well, but from what everybody said and... you just had to look at the guy to know there was something wrong.
Whatever happened to him there, I think that the old Ratatosk died that day...
- From the logs of case #31234; the Judgment of Ratatosk, the Traitor of Aselia -
Why would Ratatosk be judged you ask? Same reason many people who fought in wars are judged after it's over. It tends to happen in post-war times.
Anyway, some quick notes. The type of fire Verius used is the Soul Fire featured in the Niflheim Book dungeon in the first game. You could say it's technically the same kind of flame Ratatosk uses on his unique Artes.
As for why everybody survived a battle against Verius, a true Summon Spirit: two reasons. First, deep down, Verius didn't want to fight them. Second, as Kratos demonstrated, it's the same thing as Presea in the Temple of Darkness, the Twilight Palace gives them an extra boost in power, not that it really helped them in the fight, besides making them last longer.
And that's that for now. But this Act isn't over yet! From here, things can only go downhill.