I am getting so sick of mass-editing... –slumps-

Though I like Kairi's line...

Oh! Kudos to V-gurl for actually catching that DelQues was from Tales of Legendia! Most Tales people I talk to don't even realize Legendia exists, if I'm being honest. Symphonia, yes. Abyss, yes. Vesperia, Graces (the other two I've played now) yes. But the moment I start talking about Legendia, they look at me like I'm nuts.

"You'd have absorbed it... And sent Asch on a wild goose chase trying to figure out where the hell it came up." –Kairi

"Your daughter is beautiful—your timing more so." –Kairi

Chapter 12.1 – Out of Time
Part 98

"Alright. What are we supposed to be expecting?"

I looked around at the group that was gathered in my quarters in Daath. Jade, Asch, Luke, Sync, Dark, and Reighn. Everyone else was waiting downstairs.

"Luke... Asch has told you everything, yes?"

He nodded.

"Alright. Gnome-Redecan... I'm gonna say the twenty-eighth... Since Tales of the Abyss follows Luke, we're back in Baticul. Van's sword is missing from where it was left at the Absorption Gate, the Planet Storm is becoming far more active, shit's going down in Northern Chesedonia, Mohs and Dist have escaped their respective prisons, and the duke is being a bit of an asshole. Disregarding that last one for multiple reasons, we're currently four for four, so to speak, given that we never arrested Dist in this timeline," I started. "The biggest problem that's about to crop up is the miasma. I went down to the Mt. Zaleho passage ring with Ion earlier today—we've got, at most, three weeks before the dividing line falters and breaks, releasing the trapped miasma."

"That's assuming the Tartarus doesn't break apart in the core and the vibrations don't get even worse than they already are," Jade noted.

"We'll have to stop the Planet Storm if we're going to do anything about the vibrations in the core long-term," I said. Reighn crossed his arms.

"What about the miasma? Is there any way to get rid of that? You said it yourself before when we were dealing with the council of Maestros—the passage rings could be fixed and put back into service if necessary. It's the miasma we have to worry about," he said. I scowled and looked over at Asch and Luke.

"In the game? The replicas congregate at the Tower of Rem after the rise of Eldrant. Asch and Luke use their hyperresonance, the Sword of Lorelei, and the seventh fonons binding the bodies of the replicas to eliminate the miasma. The problem with doing that here is rather simple—I don't intend for Eldrant to ever rise. Also, Luke got damn lucky his body didn't completely break apart like the other replicas. As it was, those two were both dying by the time they got to Eldrant anyway," I said.

"So, not something we want to try to replicate, no pun intended," Sync muttered. Dark frowned.

"Could Asch do it himself? With as many replicas as Mohs is likely making and the sheer amount of power Asch would have with the Sword of Lorelei boosting his hyperresonance..."

"No. The backlash would kill him," Jade said. "And I'm guessing that's why Luke was there. Given that Van had Lorelei trapped inside his body in that timeline, they'd have needed one of them for their hyperresonance against him."

I nodded. "Luke went to the Tower of Rem with every intention of taking Asch's place... However, they forgot one small detail."

"The Jewel of Lorelei," Asch realized.

Luke nodded grimly. "If you hadn't taught me how to cast fonic artes, with as tired as I was after lowering the Outer Lands, I never would have realized those seventh fonons didn't belong inside my body."

I nodded. "You'd have absorbed it... And sent Asch on a wild goose chase trying to figure out where the hell it came up. Funniest scene in the last part of the game, Asch realizing you had it all along... Humor never lasted long though, since Replica-Mary died right after. And by Mary, I mean Mariella Gardios, Guy's older sister."

Jade frowned. "Thanks for the warning. Anyone else to expect 'back from the dead'?"

"Ari. He seems to have taken Aslan's place in this continuity. Since Aslan died in the Northern Chesedonia mess in the game and then showed up again not twenty minutes of game play later as a replica, I think it's safe to assume Ari will be among the replicas leading Mohs' replica army. Mary, Frings... Iemon was the third recognizable replica, but since Sheridan wasn't attacked during the Core operation, I don't know who would take his place," I said.

Sync's eyes suddenly went wide as he glanced out the window. "Kairi?!"

"Yes, I was getting to that," I muttered. "What Sync just remembered was the next big problem we'll need to deal with, and that's Ion. To be quite honest, I don't think this'll be too hard to keep from happening, since Ion's not the helpless little kid he was in the game, but given Mohs and Star, better safe than sorry."

"Wait, what about Ion?" Luke asked. I couldn't help it, I chuckled.

"I think I've got the perfect memory for explaining this one, courtesy of one of my Earth friends..."

Thanks to multiple rounds of this with Natalia, it was fairly simple to expand the memory-bubble, and I summoned up the memory in question.

I was staring at a half-finished sketch, and trying desperately not to roll over and give up.

The pattering sound of sock-covered running feet reached my ears, and I turned toward the door warily. Mrs. B and Tim were both asleep, so why...?

The door opened, and Sarah stuck her head in, looking distraught. "Ion dies!"

...Huh?

The sheer absurdity of the memory that was definitely not mine made me laugh again, and Dark snorted. "Wow. She was real awake."

"That was... Not you," Jade murmured. I nodded.

"Rabecah. She basically lives at Sarah's house. Sarah was the one who introduced me to Tales of the Abyss, by the way. And yeah... I guess it had been a while and Sarah completely forgot about that little fact she just had to share with her utterly clueless roommate. I mean, Rabecah knows the basics of the game, but... well..." I glanced at Asch, who was looking like he wanted to shoot something. I busted up laughing again, and he flipped me off.

"Okay, I feel like I just missed something," Luke muttered, glancing back and forth between me and Asch. I laughed.

"Oh, just something I showed Asch, Sync, and Dark that I'm never showing you for fear of mental scarring."

"Okay, back on track, please. We know that Ion dies in the game, what I want to know now is how," Jade said. Reighn nodded, giving me a pointed look.

I crossed my arms. "Too bad Seth isn't here... We had two different moles for a bit there. Seth... and Anise."

Reighn nodded. "Rialle said she'd been reporting to Mohs while you were all on the road. Sounds like she's been leaving things out though, and confusing him on which Ion replica did what and when," he said. "But why does this matter?"

I glanced at Sync and Asch. "Remember when we first came to the Mt. Zaleho sephiroth? I said I'd given up trying to find the switch to make the bookshelf move? Anise initially gives it away in the game by falling over. Later, right about when the miasma comes back, she drags Ion off, supposedly to see about the miasma, and she and Mohs seal off the fonic glyph down there when they take Ion to Mt. Zaleho."

"That fonstone..." Sync said softly. I nodded.

"Exactly. By the time the others go around the long way and make it to him, he's already dying from being forced to read the Score too long. He also takes the contaminated seventh fonons from Tear's body at that point, so they disperse when he dies," I admitted. "That isn't a problem we need to worry about, but Ion still gets weak from reading the Score or using Akashic Torment. If at all possible, we need Mohs to take Florian instead. He can handle the Score, just like Sync can use Akashic Torment without a problem."

Sync sighed. "So we need to get Florian to stop racing around and start acting as Fon Master for the next few weeks?"

I opened my mouth to respond, only to have Ion burst in, wearing his white coat. I spotted the Aska guns neatly tucked into their holsters

"Mohs is in Daath! Anise's parents are missing, and she ran off with Florian earlier and now I can't find either of them!"

I sighed. "Okay... Looks like we got lucky on that front..." I closed my eyes and reached out telepathically, finding the rest of our friends, and then... "Damn, Dist is here too... and they've already reached the fonic glyph to Mt. Zaleho!"

Ion looked around. "Wait, what's going on? You don't look surprised that Mohs is here."

I grimaced. "Yeah... Luke, Sync, and I'll tell you once this is over, okay? Right now, we need to save Florian. Reading the Score might be his specialty, but even his body can't handle it indefinitely, and Mohs will push him to the point of dying if we don't move, now."

I raced out of the room, Ion and Reighn on my heels, with the others trailing just a bit behind. I reached out as far as I could, and then growled something I was hoping was very impolite. Dark sighed.

"That's nice. Don't think I've called Mohs that yet myself, but I'm pretty sure I've been called that before..."

"Danté?" I guessed.

"Yeah... Got in a lucky shot. He didn't appreciate it all that much."

"Any guesses on how long we have to get to Florian?" Asch asked. I frowned and looked over at Ion, then started hoping my estimates weren't too off.

"It should only take us about two hours to get through Mt. Zaleho, assuming nothing unexpected happens. That's not counting the fifteen-minute flight to there, or the fifteen-minute run from here to the Albiore. They're no longer in the cathedral, so it's safe to assume they've made it already..." I said, thinking out loud more for the benefit of Luke and Ion than anything else. Sync, Dark, and Asch trusted me implicitly, and I had no doubts that Reighn and Jade were making these mental calculations as well.

"We shouldn't send too many people," Jade added.

"Me, Ion, Luke, and Sync for sure. Reighn would be nice, if for no other reason than because, I'm sorry, but it's a volcano. His fourth-fonon artes will be handy," I said. "Twilight will probably want to come."

"Take Tear with you. You'll need someone to focus on healing," Dark suggested. I nodded.

"Right. Asch, Jade, Dark, can you three tell Cantabile, Aerith, and Rialle what's going on?"

"Yes. Grab Tear as you go, we'll make sure everyone's up to date," Jade said. We stepped onto a teleport glyph, and landed in an ambush.

"There you are," Legretta muttered, aiming one gun at my head and another at Dark. Hmm... So she knew who was responsible for Van's death.

"Shit!"

I glanced around. Replicated Oracle Knights surrounded us.

"I can't let you slip away. Arietta and Danté are dealing with your friends in the lobby," Legretta said. I nodded. I felt that. I also felt...

"Gyah!"

Three of the replicated Oracle Knights fell, and I glanced over at Largo. "Your daughter is beautiful—your timing more so."

He chuckled and shouldered his scythe.

"Largo! You'd betray us?!"

He looked over at Legretta and frowned. "Van is dead. Natalia is not. My loyalties have always been to my family first."

I ducked, a white and blue chakram flying over my head toward Legretta. She dodged it just barely, and I turned and raced past Largo. "Thank you."

"No. Thank you."

The lobby wasn't much better. Replicas and monsters fought against Oracle Knights, patrons and priests screamed, and our allies fought to protect as many as they could.

Largo, Asch, and Jade had stayed behind to fight off Legretta and her contingent. Dark had come with us, and he growled orders to Sorylle and Twilight before engaging Danté, surprising his original by attacking with the White Lotus chakrams instead of his usual guns.

"Tear! With us!" I yelled. She nodded, unleashed one last Nocturnal Light, and then ran over to us.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To get Florian. Mohs has him and Anise's parents in Mt. Zaleho."

"And Anise?"

"Cooperating for her parents' sake," I said. Finally, Noelle was within range. *Get the Albiore ready for take off! We're on our way, and we've got to get to Mt. Zaleho ASAP!*

*Right!* came the near-immediate reply. Damn, that girl was used to us being demanding.

"Remind me to do something really, really nice for Noelle once all this shit blows over," I muttered. Sync chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, she puts up with a lot, huh?"

"Guys!"

All of us ground to a halt, and I scowled. There was Mary, and Ari, and...

"Van...?"

I cursed mentally. So that was the third person they'd replicated. "So glad Guy isn't here... Tear, how many can you knock out with the first fonic hymn?"

"Twelve, but..."

"He's a replica, Tear!" Luke butt in. "And Florian's life is on the line right now."

Tear sighed and nodded, lifting her staff. "What about the other three?" There were fifteen replicas.

Ion lifted his guns and shot at two identical men. Two replicas of the same person, I guessed.

They fell to the ground, then started fading. A Black Rose dagger killed a third replica, and Tear started singing.

The rest of the replicas fell to the ground, unconscious, and we raced past them, though I noticed Tear pausing to glance back at the replica of her brother. I couldn't blame her. Even having known that Ari was most likely taking the place of one Aslan Frings... It was wrong, seeing him laying there when I knew he was dead.

Hmm... Maybe I should come up with a different name for him? All of them, really. They shouldn't be taking their originals' names as their own.

With the small contingent of replicas taken care of, it was basically a straight shot to where we'd left the Albiore right outside of town. Noelle had the engines running, and I reopened the telepathic connection the moment the last of us was onboard. *Let's go!*

General confirmation came back, and the ramp came up, sealing us inside. I headed up to the cockpit to help Noelle with the heat-driven winds that were bound to be around the volcano.

"We'll have to be careful," Sync said, voice soft. "With the Outer Lands now in the Qliphoth, Mt. Zaleho is more active than ever. It's going to be hot, and very, very dangerous. Lots of chances for lava burns."

"That's why you brought me along, isn't it?" Tear asked. She was sitting in the back, with Reighn next to her, offering silent comfort. I smiled sadly at the two, then nodded.

"Yeah. Reighn and I are fonists, Ion's long-range, Luke and Sync are short-range, and Reighn's healing artes aren't as strong as yours," I said. Tear nodded.

"Alright. But what about those replicas?"

I sighed. "That... is something we'll have to worry about at a slightly later date. For now... right over there, Noelle. And watch the updrafts."

Mt. Zaleho awaited.

Fun Fact: I love my characters. I love how stubborn Kairi can get when push comes to shove. And I'm sincerely grateful to Largo for cooperating, because I'm not even sure who the hell was supposed to save them from Legretta here originally.