Zelos had to excuse himself from the campfire. The food smelled delicious—he would never deny that the brat's cooking was magnificent—but it only made him feel queasy. If he'd have remembered the consequences of the trials before he fought the Ktugach, he would have spent the entire night gorging himself on his favorite foods, savoring every bite as if it were his last. And it would have been, since he would have to wait months now before he could taste anything at all again, let alone keep it down. He couldn't even remember what his last meal was.
If he could get through the seals quickly enough—if he could give up his humanity quickly enough—his friends could help him regain what Remiel was taking from him. He had thought about running; there were few nights when he didn't. But if they didn't awaken the Sylvaranti summon spirits, then there would be no way to contract with them, and that wouldn't help them at all. So it was a matter of doing it now or later, and logically, it was easiest to do now so that he could help everyone later, instead of being a limp vegetable.
But logic was hardly meaningful in the face of fear.
Without a choice, however, he had resigned himself to this fate. No more running. He was still trying to back up his words with actions.
"Dinner's ready!" Genis called from the background. Zelos ignored the mature, feminine voice which had once inspired terror within him upon hearing such a phrase. Raine's cooking was awful, to say the least, but he trusted Genis's palate.
There was the scraping of metal as he dished out servings to his hungry companions. Zelos watched with mild jealousy, wanting to at least try some of the miso stew. But the thought of actually tasting the food made his stomach squirm, and he decided it would be best to avoid eating for now.
A sudden, harsh cough filled the air, and Zelos's attention shifted immediately to Kratos, who had just spat out his first bite of his dinner. The others looked on in mild confusion, wondering if he had started choking and if he would need help.
"G-Genis…" Kratos began, his voice hoarse from coughing, "what did you put in this…?"
Silvery hair bobbed as Genis tilted his head. "Nothing unusual, why?"
"It's, um, very strong," he said, a pained look on his face as if trying not to offend the boy.
"But I've never messed this recipe up," Genis mused, furrowing his brow as he looked toward the pot as if it had the answers to their questions. "Maybe it was those lemons I tried using."
Zelos looked on at them, wondering what had gone wrong. Even if lemons weren't the first thing he thought of as an ingredient to miso stew, there was no way that Genis could have messed up something so simple. And yet, the reality was laid out before him.
"Looks like the twerp inherited more than just his sister's body," Zelos said with a smirk as he walked back toward the camp and the conversation, unable to keep in the snarky comment. Genis whipped around to glare at him.
"Like you would know," he retorted. "You can't tell good from bad anymore, anyway."
Zelos grimaced. "You don't need to remind me. Just smelling that makes my stomach hurt."
"Is that supposed to be a comeback?" Genis glowered, clenching his fist.
"Well, it wasn't, but if you want it to be, then I guess that's fine." Without hesitation, Genis stepped into Zelos's personal space and took a swing at him, but the Chosen was far too prepared for it. Within a tiny moment, he had unfurled his new wings and shot up into the air to avoid the blow, cackling as Genis stumbled forward into the spot where Zelos had been standing just a second ago.
"You're both children," Raine sighed as she put her bowl down, scowling at the apparently inedible food.
Genis turned to her. "I am a child!" Zelos understood what he meant, but he still found it an odd statement to come from lips of Raine Sage.
As he floated downward, choosing to merely hover over the cool sand of the desert, he sighed. "Fine, I won't instigate anymore. Sorry, Genis."
The kid stared at him in shock, and Zelos looked around to see that everyone had similar looks on their faces.
"What?" he asked, taken aback by the display.
"N-nothing," Genis stuttered, "it's just weird hearing you apologize."
Zelos groaned, placing a hand to his forehead. "Do you guys think I'm really that immature…?"
Genis lifted an eyebrow. "Obvious answers aside…"
Regal took the opportunity to interrupt and stop any further exacerbation of the argument. "You resembled Colette," he said. "It has been a long time since we have heard an apology from her mouth. We were simply startled."
"Yeah, okay, just don't get all weird on me. I'm still the Great Zelos, after all." He chuckled, but he was forcibly reminded of the seal and of those strange visions which danced around and enveloped his more familiar memories. Those odd scenes of Lloyd and Frank and dirt roads and small, wooden houses. As they had continued their journey, Zelos found that those visions had become more and more familiar to him, and if he concentrated long enough, he could surface a new memory, unlock a new facet of his counterpart's past. He assumed they were Colette's memories, even though he had no idea how he had any kind of access to them. And he certainly hadn't an idea as to why those memories seemed more real and concrete than the ones he knew were his own—the ones of him in Meltokio or Sybak, flirting with girls to keep his façade or getting drunk off his ass to help him forget who he was.
But even as he recalled his true memories, he found them becoming hazier, less definite, and he could no longer remember the faces of his regular women or the names of the familiar streets he slept on when the bartender kicked him out. And though he could still remember the general details of the ornate painting of his mother in his home, but as he thought harder and harder about it, he realized that the woman's name had vanished from his mind.
The conversation among his friends had apparently continued without his noticing, as they had begun to clean out the pot and pack for the evening. The fire had been extinguished, and the only light in the area radiated from him. "It's getting late," he heard Raine say.
"You'd best sleep while you can, Zelos," Regal muttered to him, though even the hushed tone he used was almost painful to his angelic hearing. "It's quite boring at night."
"Thanks for reminding me, Pops," Zelos said, glaring at the other angel before dissipating his wings and dropping to the ground, letting the world around the camp envelop them in darkness.
The Ossa Trail looked far too unstable to cross over, and yet it was necessary if they wished to continue their journey. Kratos eyed it warily as the group neared it, unsure if Lloyd's human body would be of any help in climbing the mountainside. Of course, he had watched his son do it on their previous journey, but Lloyd was headstrong and determined, while Kratos was far less likely to barrel onward into something dangerous without taking measures beforehand.
"Isn't this where we met Sheena?" Raine asked. "I wonder if we would meet her again on this trail, or if, perhaps, she is still in Tethe'alla."
"It is uncertain whether the person we know as Sheena would return to Sylvarant in these circumstances," Kratos said, though he searched the premises for the girl, as well. He wondered if she, too, had been affected by the annoying phenomenon; it was more likely than not that she had exchanged bodies with another, but they had no evidence thus far.
"I hope so," Zelos gushed. "I've been dying to see my voluptuous hunny again. I've been deprived of those gorgeous melons for too long, I say!"
Kratos lifted a hand to smack Zelos for his lewd and dehumanizing comment, but Genis beat him to the punch, literally.
"Don't use Colette's mouth to say such awful things!" the half-elf scolded, folding his arms across his chest and scowling at the shorter man.
"Ow! Jeez, sorry!" Zelos shouted, rubbing his head where Genis had hit him and ruffling his long, blonde hair.
"Hmph," Kratos grunted, upset that he was not able to beat sense into the Chosen himself. "Let's get going. Everyone, watch your step."
As they attempted to scale the mountain, Zelos and Regal had abandoned the ground and instead opted for the safer option of flying along with them. Regal stayed behind them, watching Raine in particular as she struggled up the path. The pebbles under their feet were loose from weathering and use, and more were kicked away with every step.
Their slow and steady method was surely gaining ground, albeit at a pace that left Kratos anxious to get to Izoold. But the peak was in sight, and he found himself speeding up to get to the top.
"Kratos, be—!" Genis began to call after him, but he was cut off by a loud thud. "careful…"
"Ouch…" Kratos mumbled to himself, massaging his arm where he had fallen on it. He flushed lightly as embarrassment settled over him, realizing his rash move had been totally out of character and far too much like his son.
"Honestly," Genis scolded gently as he picked up his arm to examine the damage. "You said yourself that we needed to watch our step. You're bleeding." Green-tinted healing magic lapped the blood away and sealed his fresh wound, carrying away the pain of the fall.
"Sorry, Pro—Raine," Kratos said, but he was bewildered by his unconscious slip. Had he been about to call Genis "Professor?"
"Kratos…?" Genis asked tentatively, concern evident in his gaze. "Did you almost say…?"
"L-let's get going," Kratos said, hurriedly standing up and brushing himself off. "We can make it to Izoold by nightfall if we don't delay our journey."
"…Right," Genis said. Kratos could feel curious eyes on him as he walked, but he stubbornly ignored them.
"Boy, Genis, you sure are full of lectures today, aren't you?" Zelos called from the back. Kratos tried to ignore the Chosen, but his loud, soprano voice made it difficult. He found it fortunate, however, that he no longer was bothered by the sound of it, as he had been when he was an angel, and was now rather comforted by its presence.
Kratos squeezed his eyes closed, willing away whatever power had caused him to think of Zelos's voice as comforting. No, the voice was too high, too loud, too shrill. From even their first journey, He had never found the voice anything but annoying. It had to be his dimmed senses causing the confusion, as the voice no longer wracked his brain and echoed within him, hurting his ears with every uttered syllable.
He let himself believe his reasoning, content for now with his conviction. He went on, and as the group passed over the peak, they were able to see the ocean in the far distance.
"We're getting close," Regal said, and Kratos couldn't help but sigh in relief.
"I'm glad. This mountain is much harder to climb when you don't have angelic strength or stamina."
"I wouldn't know," Regal retorted, and Kratos shot a quick glare back at the angel, who smirked ever so slightly, eyes alight with innocent humor.
"That look really doesn't suit Lloyd," Genis said pointedly at Kratos. "You're going to give him premature wrinkling."
"Is that your biggest concern for our predicament?" Kratos asked, rolling his eyes at the half-elf.
"Guys, shut up a second," Zelos whispered loudly, coming to a halt and dropping down to the ground. Regal did the same, looking around for something Kratos couldn't see or hear.
"What's wrong?" Raine asked, her voice seeming far too loud for the angels' concern.
"Sh!" Zelos said. "There's someone else here."
"Do you see them?" Genis responded in an appropriate whisper. "Is it an enemy?"
"I can't tell…" Regal said in a barely audible voice. "They are coming up the trail. One set of footsteps."
"I think I see them," Zelos said, moving around to get a better look. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, prepared to attack. Kratos had already drawn his own sword, and Genis and Raine had moved away from the unknown entity, ready to begin casting if needed.
Kratos watched the path carefully, until he was able to spot a small tuft of black hair from beyond the curve of the trail.
"Is that…?" Regal began.
"My darling hunny!" Zelos shouted, breaking the silence immediately and running toward the figure.
As the person came into view, Kratos confirmed that it was, in fact, Sheena—or, rather, someone who happened to be controlling her body.
"What—?" the girl called as she was suddenly enveloped in a hug by Zelos, his smaller frame hardly able to give a decent hug to the struggling Sheena.
"I'll do the honors this time," Kratos murmured, and he walked toward the pair with his fist clenched.
Several moments later, Zelos was on the ground caressing his head, though no one was bothering to heal his new injuries.
"You guys are mean," the Chosen whined, but Kratos ignored him.
"I do feel bad for Colette," Genis said. "Hopefully, your injuries will heal before she has to feel them."
"I…" the newcomer, yet to introduce herself, looked to where Zelos coddled his wounds. "You are not Colette?"
Regal pushed forward to meet the girl face-to-face. "That's correct, and we presume that you are not Sheena."
The girl was silent as she contemplated the circumstances surrounding her. "No, I am not."
"May we ask your name? I'm Kratos, and Regal is behind me." He gestured to the angel.
"Presea," she said simply, as if unsure of herself.
"P-Presea?" Genis repeated, his voice becoming even higher than it already was. Kratos was relieved, in a way, that his suspicions were correct, and further that they now had another rational party member among them.
"Yes." Presea frowned. "Do you know what has happened to us?"
"We believe it to be the work of the Eternal Sword," Raine explained calmly and succinctly.
Presea's eyes filled with understanding. "Lloyd did it."
Kratos sighed. "Essentially."
"How can we fix this?"
"We're trying to get to Tethe'alla so that we can find Origin," Genis said. "We need to make a new pact."
"If Sheena is the only one who can summon…does that mean that I must form the pacts?" Presea asked, a hint of nervousness in her words.
"To my knowledge," Regal said, "our abilities and strengths are tied to our bodies, not our souls, as it is our bodies which flow with our blood and mana. Therefore, you would be the one with the ability to summon, as you are now."
"I wouldn't know how," the girl said quietly, as if mumbling to herself.
"Well, we have time to figure it out!" Zelos said cheerily, patting Presea on the back after having gotten up from the ground. "We don't have to form any pacts until I've released the seals, anyhow."
"Zelos," Presea guessed, and the Chosen pointed to himself in a flourishing motion.
He bowed gracefully, blonde hair falling almost tickling the ground with his stoop. "The one and only."
"I will try my best," she said, looking away from him and to the rest of the group. "Kratos, I would like you to help me."
Confused, Kratos lifted his brow at her. "Me? Why?"
"You aided Mithos when he formed his pacts, and you seem knowledgeable on the topic," she explained. "So, I will accept any guidance you may have to offer me."
"Oh, uh, sure," he said. He had nearly forgotten that he had been with Mithos on his journey four thousand years ago.
Presea tilted her head. "You…are Kratos, correct?"
The man in question blinked. "Yes? I'm sure I introduced myself, but I suppose it is difficult to forget, since I am not wholly myself."
Presea bit her lip. "I see."
"We should continue," Regal said, breaking through the tension. "We have lost daylight in discussing our future plans." He began to walk forward, leading the way down the path as the late afternoon sun beat against his back.
"Where are you going?" Presea asked, joining the rest as they began to follow the angel.
Kratos answered, keeping time with Presea's steps. "To Izoold. We can cross the ocean from there and unlock the seal at Thoda Geyser."
"Zelos is playing the part of Colette as the Chosen?"
Kratos rolled his eyes. "Yes. He is taking it surprisingly well for someone who complains incessantly."
Zelos immediately whipped around and glared at him. "You know I have super hearing, right?"
Raising a brow, unamused, Kratos said, "I am perfectly aware." Zelos harrumphed in response.
The Sylvarant base was humming with life as Renegades collected information on the Chosen's whereabouts. Soldiers had been out training, but as the day closed on the Triet Desert, the infantry units were returning, causing more commotion within the walls. Yuan had closed himself off in his office, diligently ignoring the hustle and bustle of his men.
A knock on his door reminded him that peace in this place would be nearly impossible.
"Enter," he called, and a soldier from the intelligence department entered, saluting immediately as he the door closed.
"Sir! The report on the Chosen's group has returned. Kratos Aurion is among them, guiding the Chosen. We are keeping surveillance on them."
Yuan swore loudly. "If Kratos is among them, our assassination plans may be compromised. Has Sheena found them yet?"
"She met them on the Ossa Trail, though she appears to be travelling with them. She showed no hostility to the group." The soldier handed over a thick file, and Yuan opened it to reveal hastily printed depictions of the Ossa Trail among other things, likely gathered by his spies.
"A traitor," Yuan mused, flipping through the pictures. "Well, it is of little consequence. We will take matters into our own hands. Three humans and two angels can do little against a trained army. Do you have any other findings?"
"Yes, sir!" the soldier said, saluting once more. "Kratos Aurion's mana signature has been contorted. The mana has been weakened, and we cannot determine the source of his true signature. The same phenomenon seems to have occurred in the Chosen, as well."
Yuan's eyes bulged, incredulous to the news. "What is the meaning of this?"
"We presume that Kratos Aurion has weakened, which gives us more access to Origin. It is likely that he cannot effectively fight back in this crippled state, and we will have more of a chance to apprehend him."
"Are you certain?"
The soldier nodded. "We have run multiple tests and hypotheses, and nothing like this has ever been seen. The levels of mana of Kratos Aurion has been diminished, and we believe that it is no longer within the body."
"Thank you for your information. You're dismissed." With a wave of, Yuan sent the soldier out the door, leaving him in peace once again.
He immediately sat down at his desk to examine the papers. Long, wordy documents soon littered his desk as he spread them across the surface for easier viewing. Some documents were scientific processes, accounts of experiments done from afar as his spies watched the Chosen's group. Some were handwritten essays on mana and Origin, academic studies of nature and theory. Yuan read through the papers individually, trying to find the source of the split mana. Kratos's mana composition, his men had found, had only a sliver of what he had had only months ago. The mana was diluted in some way, to such an extreme that Yuan was shocked that the angel was still alive.
According to the reports, there were four other people travelling with the Chosen, Kratos included. One of them was Kratos's son, though he doubted his friend would have ever told the poor kid such. Yuan looked at the statistics and graphs regarding the group's mana levels, and there seemed to be a strange trend in Lloyd Irving's mana. The boy's mana had not so closely resembled his father's a few months ago when he had begun his examination and surveillance of him, but the graphs now indicated that Lloyd's mana was nearly identical to his father.
He would have loved to study it further, but his intelligence department had only been instructed to gather information on the Chosen and Kratos. His own speculation led to the theory that he had bonded more closely with his Exsphere, but to confirm his suspicions, he would have to wait to collect data on Lloyd. Until then, he would be fine working with Kratos's and the Chosen's mana samples.
The quiet night in the coastal town of Palmacosta brought with it a cool breeze, and Zelos felt it blowing through the window as he was gently roused from his sleep. He scowled into his pillow; if he was going to lose his ability to sleep at the next seal, then he was damn sure to try to get as much beauty sleep as possible until then.
He rolled over, trying to get comfortable again, but he stopped when he heard the door to his room begin to shake. Only a few moments passed until the rattling subsided, and a gentle creaking indicated that someone had unlocked his door and entered the room. He lay perfectly still as the intruder crept closer to his bedside, each footstep creating a tiny padding noise upon the wooden floor. With his eyes closed, he couldn't tell who was in his room, but he knew he would have to act quickly in the event it was someone after his life. He had dealt with assassination attempts, but he still found it odd that someone would want to get rid of Sylvarant's only chance at survival. No Sylvaranti would actually wish the demise of the world.
Unless the assassin wasn't from Sylvarant.
His eyes snapped open to look straight into cold, brown eyes partially shrouded by silky, black hair. The moonlight from the open window in the room glinted off a small dagger which hovered over him, threatening to pierce his throat.
He rolled to the side, startling Sheena—no, Presea?—and falling onto the hard floor. His sudden rush of adrenaline prevented him from feeling the pain, however, and he was able to instantly spring into a defensive stance, ready to lunge for his sword on the other side of the bed. Presea had slammed against the wall in her bewilderment, but Zelos noticed that she was quickly recovering when she put a hand against the wall to steady herself.
"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted, and the girl lifted her gaze to meet his glare, her eyes filled with pain and burning anger.
"You couldn't understand," she spat, but she didn't give Zelos time to respond to her cryptic message. Immediately seeing that her plan was foiled, Presea fled out the door to Zelos's room, disappearing into the night.
"You're damn right I don't understand!" he called after her, knowing she couldn't hear him.
The familiar tenor of his bud's voice echoed down the hallway, signaling that he had woken Kratos up with the encounter. "Zelos!" he shouted as he ran into the room. "Are you all right?"
He shrugged. "I'm fine, but we have a bigger problem."
"What do you mean?" Kratos lifted his eyebrow.
He thought of Kratos's sudden youthfulness, of Genis's lectures and newfound love for ruins, of the kid's revolutionary lemon miso stew, of the strange memories that kept mixing and replacing his own, and then he thought of Presea and her assassination attempt which had seemingly come out of nowhere. Yeah, there was definitely a problem here. "There's something freaky going on with us."
"What do you mean?" Kratos asked, scrunching up his face in confused disbelief.
"Goddess, you're as dense as Lloyd—" Zelos broke off, realizing that was exactly the problem. "No, no, I mean, there's something going on. Like, haven't you noticed? Genis is less of a brat, you're not as much of a stoic bastard, and I have something screwing with my memories!"
There seemed to be some recognition lighting up Kratos's features, and he chewed at his lip as he thought hard about the circumstances. "Do you recall the night we attempted to save Marble?"
"Huh?" Memories of the burning Iselia ran through his mind, the direct consequence of their stupid actions: the hot sting of the fire licking his skin as he ran out of Colette's house, dragging the unconscious Phaidra out with his minimal strength. He hadn't seen Frank, and he had hoped the man was all right.
"I hadn't intended to agree to Genis's plan," he stated. "There was something compelling me, and the words had left my mouth before I had thought them."
Zelos frowned. "When we arrived at the seal of fire, I noticed Genis admiring the ruins. Pretty sure he didn't do that before."
"And what of you? What's going on with your memories?"
"When I was first zapped with those angel powers, I think I lost consciousness or, or something." Zelos grimaced as he recalled the pain that came with the angel transformation. "But I kept seeing visions of Lloyd and Genis as kids, and I kept remembering things I knew weren't my own memories. And since then, it's become less and less clear what's mine and what's Colette's."
"It could have something to do with your bonding to Colette's Cruxis Crystal," Kratos said, attempting to explain the phenomenon.
"But we don't all have Cruxis Crystals. Regal has one, and your Exsphere's weird, but Genis's and Raine's and Presea's are all normal. It has to be something with us."
Kratos brought a hand up to his chin. "Then perhaps, it is not an external factor."
Zelos sighed. "That's what I've been trying to say."
"Ah—sorry." Kratos seemed to flush lightly.
"Maybe it has something to do with our mana? It's, like, fusing or whatever."
"Can mana do that?"
"Who knows? This is a pretty unique experience. I don't think anyone's studied this kind of thing before."
"You're probably right," Kratos said, ending his statement with a heavy silence that lasted a few moments. "Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals create a gap between the soul and the body, as the Exsphere feeds off of the soul as it bonds with its host. That could make it easier for the soul to separate from its body."
Zelos raised his eyebrow at the sudden jump in topic. "Yeah, but a Key Crest would solve that issue, right?"
"Not necessarily. Exspheres can malfunction or produce unwanted effects for various reasons, even with a Key Crest attached. There might have been a moment in our inadvertent time travel that weakened the effects of the Crests." Kratos stroked his chin, an action that looked laughable on Lloyd's body.
"So in that moment, our souls separated from our bodies, and when they tried to return, they screwed up and landed us in this situation." Zelos rolled his eyes. "Geez, I didn't think we were that stupid."
"It would be the best explanation I could provide," Kratos said with a huff.
"But that still doesn't explain what's happening to us now. Why I have Colette's memories, why you're acting more and more like Lloyd every day—" Kratos shot Zelos a glare, and he quickly moved on. "What I mean is that it doesn't explain these weird changes."
Kratos continued to scowl, still angry that he had yet again been compared to his son, but he spoke calmly. "The only thing I can think of is that the Exspheres are trying to compensate for the sudden disparity. Our mana signatures do not match our current bodies, and it could be that the body is seeing our souls as parasites. So the body's mana is trying to align itself, reforming our soul's mana to match the signatures of the bodies, or perhaps eliminating it entirely."
"So like a self-preservation technique?"
"I think so. Our foreign mana is a parasite to the body, causing it to go out of control. The Key Crest represses the parasitic effects of an Exsphere, so perhaps the crest is repressing our souls in much the same way. So the Crest acts as a tool to keep the body's mana under control by fusing and repressing our soul's mana as it sees fit."
"But I don't have a Key Crest," Zelos pointed out, gesturing to the Crystal on his chest.
"You are not undergoing the same changes that we are," Kratos retorted immediately. "You have only gained the Chosen's memories."
"That's true…" Zelos ran his fingers through his hair, frowning at the thin, straight hair that he felt, rather than his luscious waves that he preferred.
Kratos continued his speculation. "It could be your bonding with the Cruxis Crystal. You are losing your humanity, and as you lose that, Colette's bodily mana is replacing what you lost. You are, however, losing your humanity much more quickly than usual, should that be the case."
"What?" Zelos squeaked, though he hadn't intended to sound as shocked as he felt.
"Your mana is not tied to this body," Kratos continued, as if he had not heard Zelos's interjection. "And so the Cruxis Crystal is feeding off of you at a rate more quickly than that of other Chosens. As that happens, Colette's body is trying to compensate by connecting its mana with yours, even though the soul's mana is far more abundant."
"So the body's connecting to my soul slowly because there's not a lot of mana to connect." Zelos sighed. "I get it. What can we do about it?"
"Return you to your body as quickly as possible," Kratos stated matter-of-factly. "It's all we can do for any of us at this point."
"But I'll have to complete the angel transformation in order to get back to Tethe'alla. If I lose my soul completely to the Cruxis Crystal, how are we gonna get it back?"
"Hopefully, the same way we regained Colette's soul last time around."
"We, not you," Zelos said pointedly.
"Ah, er, right," Kratos mumbled, another flush lightly tinting his skin as he realized his blunder.
Zelos ignored him. "So then, with the Key Crest, I should just have to deal with what's going on with you guys—the mana fusing or whatever—and not the threat of disappearing forever."
"It seems that way," Kratos said, looking past him.
Zelos groaned. "So I really got stuck with the short end of the stick, huh?"
So I'll put another character recap for your convenience, since we had another character introduction:
Kratos is in Lloyd's body
Lloyd is in Zelos's body
Raine and Genis switched bodies
Zelos is in Colette's body
Regal is in Kratos's body
Presea is in Sheena's body
This chapter was a hassle, since it has basically two plot points (introducing Sheena and the Plot Twist ending), so I'm sorry if a lot of writing seems forced. Tons of filler for this one, sorry! I also apologize if my explanations in the end were too technical, not worded well, too hazy, or boring. I don't think I'm too good at explanations.