I promised that I'd try to get the next chapter out quickly, and I kept that promise. However, I did make a mistake in something last chapter - I initially thought it would be a two-part finale, but it will be three instead.

As a side note, my fellow co-authors and I have opened up a set of forums on our server for discussion of the Clouded Horizons series in general. The link is in my profile, if anyone is interested, and anyone is welcome to join.

That being said, enjoy the second part of the three part arc finale!

Book I, Part II: Mortal Conflict - The Zodiac Brave Story

Chapter XVIII—Heavenly Gambit, Part II

"What kind of trick is this?" Fayt inquires, folding her arms as she watches Katanas. "That measly little rock won't help you, even if it is one of the Holy Stones," she continues, smirking.

"Odd that you, of all people, would be unfamiliar with the strengths and weaknesses of a Zodiac Stone," Katanas says, a surprised look on his face. "As usual, you continue to teach me new things, despite our differences of…opinion."

"If you believe that your 'opinion' will make a difference, you're sadly mistaken," Fayt says, eyeing Katanas warily. "You've simply become another obstacle that needs to be overcome."

"You shouldn't go into battle uninformed of your opposition's capabilities. It could leave you at an unseemly disadvantage. Allow me to demonstrate."

Turning my attention to Katanas, I begin to watch as the object in his hand begins to take on a white shine, outlining it completely in a warm glow of color. Moments later, the color spreads to everyone present, including Fayt, but something odd happens – Katanas, Angel, and I seem to be covered in a green hue, whilst Fayt receives a red tint.

As soon as the light touches me, I feel my senses clear and my fatigue begins to melt away, the feeling akin to waking up after a good night's rest. Fayt, however, seems to be in mild pain from the glow, and my curiosity begins to mount as I continue to watch the Pillar.

"The Lucavi Demon within this particular Zodiac Stone is known as Belias. As you will soon become aware, the knowledge contained within each Stone is quite extensive and, combined both with the Lucavi's own power and the user's ingenuity, can have limitless application," Katanas explains, glancing at Angel and myself. "Using Belias' energy, I can make my allies more coordinated and focused in battle, while simultaneously diminishing the morale, energy, and coordination of my foes."

(Play: Confidence in the Domination - Motoi Sakuraba, Star Ocean: Till The End of Time)

Across from Katanas, Fayt growls angrily, furious at the Flame Alchemist.

"I don't care what kind of power you're using from that piece of rock. I'll crush you right after I finish with these two!" she yells, gesturing at Angel and myself. Instantly, waves of magic strike us, and I can feel my every movement begin to slow, like I'm wading through water. Katanas begins to call up dispelling magic to reverse the affliction, but a burst of Blizzard magic smashes into him before he can finish the casting, sending him to the dirt from the force.

"It doesn't matter what you try. Even here in the mortal realm, limited as I am, I've got far more power than any of you can possibly dream of having," Fayt gloats, smirking again at the three of us. "Now then, where was-"

"Rainbow Seal."

Another voice suddenly echoes through the area, bringing with it the appearance of a multicolored prism of light, unleashing a wave of power that slams into Fayt in a blinding flash. Another, dimmer flash beside Katanas heralds the arrival of a figure that I recognize as the same white-haired woman who was with him the first time Fayt appeared. Quickly, she calls up dispelling magic of her own, removing the Slow spell from each of us, before looking to Katanas.

"My apologies," she says, nodding to the SeeD Commander. "The Mistress requested I inform her when this event occurred."

"I know," he replies. "I'm just glad you made it, Kisara. We'll need the help."

"You most certainly will," Fayt agrees, now no longer smirking, the energy having receded from her form. "Toxify!"

"Reflectga!"

Kisara responds quickly to the magical attack, green shells of energy surrounding us just in time to counter the assault of debilitating effects within Fayt's spell. The barriers shatter under the strain, however, unable to do any more than nullify the spell itself instead of reflecting the effects back onto the caster.

"I'm tired of this," I mutter, looking up at Fayt. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"Your death is key to my success," she replies, almost nonchalantly. With a smile, she turns to Kisara, beginning to address her in a thoughtful tone. "Imagine, if you will, the outcry that would be caused by the death of the newest instated Planeswalker, and so soon after his inauguration. Freya would look irresponsible and callous, having allowed her subordinate to die without taking action, and tempers would flare just as they did so long ago with the Gilead Order. With the right provocation, Freya would once again be forced to consider open war upon her realm or rescind her position to those opposed to her actions...allowing me to step in and claim leadership for myself."

"You seriously believe that Freya would ever consider such a thing?" Kisara questions, her tone both objecting and disbelieving at once. Unsure of just what to do in my current situation, I merely continue to listen as the two converse.

"She's done it before," Fayt retorts with a smile, reveling in Kisara's surprised expression. "You didn't know? When the Gilead Order was disbanded, Freya considered appointing Odin or Xeios into her stead, feeling unfit to lead the Realm after that monumental fiasco."

"But...why would the Mistress poss-"

"Kisara!"

Caught up in her surprise, Kisara doesn't notice the burst of Fire magic heading for her until Katanas yells, releasing his own Fire spell to counter the energy in Fayt's spell.

"Almost dropped your guard," Fayt says, somewhat disappointed but still smirking.

"That's it..." I say to myself, bringing my sword back to bear. I still don't have much of an idea as to what they were talking about, but right now I'm not really much for caring. Raising the sword over my shoulder, I dash towards Fayt, vaguely hearing Angel yell for me to stop from behind me.

"Impatient, aren't we?" she asks, before vanishing from in front of me as I bring the sword down, the blade biting into nothing but dirt as she appears beside me. My sword flies out again, this time catching only air as Fayt vanishes again to reappear behind me.

"Stand still, for once!" I yell, spinning and throwing a burst of Thundaga magic at her, only to have her catch the magic in her hands, seemingly examining it.

"Paramagic. You mortals really need to upgrade," she comments, before smashing the magic back into my chest and sending me to the ground, stunned from the paralyzing electrical energy. An instant later, I can see a ring of fire appear around Fayt, blocking her off from me as I try to recover. It constricts around her and explodes after a second, bathing her in fiery energy, but she seems only slightly hurt by the fire. Angel begins to move into melee range as I slowly get up, having swapped both of his energy rifles for his twin swords, while Kisara appears to be chanting something in an unfamiliar language.

Angel wastes no time launching into a quick set of maneuvers, slashing out at Fayt with one of his blades only to have her vanish from the path of the attack. When she reappears, however, his other sword is already headed for her, forcing her to duck as the sword passes overhead. Quickly, his left sword comes down again, just shy of her shoulder as she twists aside. She raises a hand to him as the sword passes, sending waves of magic into him that cause him to flinch, jerking back and twitching before falling to a knee from the magically-induced debilitation.

Taking out a few of my throwing knives from their sheathes as I watch Angel stumble, I start to focus on what I learned in my Alchemy classes about creating things from my own energy. It takes a moment, but I'm rewarded with the sight of yellow light appearing around my hands as I'm left holding more knives than I took out. I waste no time throwing them at Fayt, watching as a few of the knives embed themselves into her body in various places as the rest scatter and hit the ground.

"...Irritating," she mutters, looking first at the blood beginning to trickle down from the knives' impact points and then at me. "Scour-"

"Heaven's Wrath!"

Fayt is interrupted in mid-invocation by Kisara's voice, and turns to see the woman glowing a pale shade of white. Overhead, a similar white glow begins to permeate the air, and thunder rumbles before bolts of white energy begin to hammer Fayt, knocking me back and off my feet from the sheer force. The bolts continue to strike Fayt for several seconds, leaving the area around her cratered and burned from the power, before they finally stop to reveal the Pillar once again. She's still standing, but she looks considerably more injured from the attack itself, with pieces of her once-immaculate clothing burned and torn.

"Well...you've actually got some power in you, Kisara," she says, looking past me at the woman, who has fallen to her knees apparently from exertion. "Not enough, mind you, but some." Raising a hand, I watch as Fayt levitates a large piece of the broken ground from its place and sends it hurtling at Kisara as Angel goes back on the attack, appearing to have overcome the spell Fayt cast on him. Eyes widening, I burst from my spot, heading towards the kneeling woman and raising my sword as I do.

"Fated Circle!"

Leaping into the air and spinning quickly, I release a circle of energy from the blade of my sword that smashes into the makeshift projectile, reducing it to small chunks of rock and dirt as I land on the ground again.

"For helping us earlier," I say, smiling. Kisara merely nods as Katanas steps in front of both of us, drawing his rapier from his side as he sees Fayt throw Angel away on the end of a burst of Fire magic.

"Looks like I'm up," he says quietly as an amber glow begins to overtake his body, shifting and moving to the blade of his rapier as well as changing color until it shines brightly with a bluish-white aura, signaling Katanas' Limit Break. "Judgment Requiem!"

In a blink, Katanas is gone, leaving my eyes searching for him momentarily until I spot him standing in front of Fayt...and from what I can see, the attack looks like it hit, but nothing is happening.

That is, until I get a closer look, which shows me that not only did the attack miss, but that Fayt is holding the blade of Katanas' rapier in one hand.

"That just might've been messy," she comments, looking down at the blade as it begins to lose its glow. Katanas only seems mildly concerned, but considering that he's never shown any form of worry to date, it gives me a good idea of just how bad things are. He doesn't have much time to contemplate his predicament, however, as he gets sent flying from a burst of Dark-element magic, landing back on the ground in front of us with his rapier landing beside him.

"...She's way more powerful than we are," I mutter, trying to think of some way to turn the situation around. Unfortunately, nothing is coming to mind, and it's beginning to look like I don't have much time left to think.

"You could just give up now, and make this easy. I'll make it painless if you do," she says, looking towards us. Inwardly, I growl, watching as the Pillar begins to walk towards us as if she has all the time in the world...

And then she stops.

(End: Confidence in the Domination - Motoi Sakuraba, Star Ocean: Til The End of Time)

Fayt pauses in mid-step, almost looking...spooked by something. Quietly, she looks around, surveying the entire area with a slightly panicked attitude, before turning her attention back to us.

"...I'll deal with you later. Other issues suddenly require my immediate attention," she says, before her body begins to distort, fading out gradually until she's gone from sight.

A relieved sigh is the first thing to come out of my mouth. "I don't know what that was about, but I don't really care right now..."

"Something doesn't seem right..." Katanas says, looking around the area. "Fayt had the upper hand; she wouldn't just leave without a reason or an outside provocation."

"Then what provoked her?" I ask, to which Katanas shrugs.

"I have speculations," he replies cryptically. Kisara looks over at Katanas a moment later, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Katanas. Mistress Freya sent me with a task for these two Planeswalkers."

"Oh?" he asks, looking curious. "What sort of task?"

"I am to escort them to the Ethereal Plane to meet with her. Why, I was not told, but it must be of some import if the Mistress wishes to see them personally."

"Freya?" I ask, the name somewhat familiar but not enough to give me a clear idea.

"Yes. The current ruler of the Ethereal Plane, and a planar leader within this particular reality," Kisara explains. The fayth's words on the subject soon come back to the forefront of my memory, the pieces coming back together in my mind, and I nod.

"Looks like we won't be going to Esthar after all," I comment, looking at Angel, who chuckles.

"And I had an appointment, too..." he mutters, shaking his head. "She could have at least had the decency to get run over."

"Then you are both ready to depart?" Kisara asks, causing me to shrug.

"I've got nothing else to do here, really." Angel just nods in confirmation, putting away his twin blades underneath his duster again.

"Good. We will leave immediately, then," she continues, nodding to Katanas.

"Take care," he says, causing Kisara to smile.

"We shall," she replies, before shimmering white light starts to gather around the three of us. A feeling of weightlessness begins to overtake me, and then a bright flash envelops everything around, turning everything white for an instant.

[Ethereal Plane, Palace of Creation]

As the light clears, I find myself standing in a lavishly decorated courtyard with beautiful trees and fountains all around the area, in front of quite possibly one of the largest structures I've ever seen. A beautiful cathedral, reminding me of Gothic architecture and design from history and created out of a polished, obsidian stone, looming above the courtyard we're now in.

"So this...is the Ethereal Plane?" I ask, looking around slowly and taking in all the sights of the beautifully-adorned area.

"It is indeed. Come now, the Mistress is waiting," Kisara says, moving towards the doors of the grand palace in front of us. Silently, I begin to follow Angel inside, almost feeling unworthy to step foot inside the grand place.

As we walk through the palace, I'm becoming more afraid that I'll get lost by looking too much at the surroundings and not enough at where we're going. The walls are lined with sculptures, artwork, and murals of all shapes, sizes, and subjects, from what I can only assume are events from the Realm's history. It's fascinating to look at, and I have to catch up at least twice by getting too interested in the latest object of my curiosity.

At long last, after several long minutes of walking, we come to a large set of brilliantly white doors, a complete change from the dark tones of the rest of the castle. Two figures stand at the door, one on each side, garbed in thick and sturdy looking armor and carrying long spears in their hands. Kisara steps towards the doors, watching as the guards move their spears aside from in front of the doors before they slowly begin to open, apparently of their own volition. Silently, she steps into the chamber beyond, closely followed by Angel. A bit hesitant, I'm last to enter, looking behind me as the doors close ominously once I'm inside.

"I am glad that you have come," a voice says from the back of the room, and I turn to see a blond-haired woman in green robes sitting upon a throne at the opposite wall. "I am Freya, Creator of the Ethereal Plane."

Kisara and Angel immediately bow to Freya, followed by me a split-second later.

"It seems that I have some explaining to do to our newest Planeswalker," Freya continues, looking at me. "What do you wish to know?"

"...I guess I'll start with the obvious question," I say, mostly to myself. "Just what is a Planeswalker?"

"A Planeswalker is a chosen person, either mortal or Ethereal in origin, that is chosen by the leader of a particular realm to act as an emissary to other realms, as well as an extension of that leader's will. A simpler connotation may be a high-ranking subordinate of that leader."

"Okay...exactly why was I chosen, then? I'm just a normal kid, so why didn't you pick someone more talented than me for this?"

"Talent is measured in many ways. Physical talent is only part of that measurement. What you lack in physical talent, you may make up for in mental talent, or vice versa. Planeswalkers are not chosen just on their current talents, as well, but also their future potential."

I don't say anything for a moment, thinking about Freya's words and just what they mean to me. Several seconds later, I look back at Freya, my next question coming to me.

"Why is Angel here? He's also involved in this somehow?"

"He is also a Planeswalker, like you. He was chosen from Gaia's nineteenth order, whereas you were chosen from the twenty-first," Freya replies, eyes moving to Angel and then back to me as she speaks.

"Okay...so then, we're here because of something to do with Fayt, I take it?" I ask, putting the pieces together.

"Correct."

As she speaks, the doors behind us open again, letting two figures into the room. One is a large figure, dressed in heavy armor and with curved horns atop his head. At his side is a large, strangely jagged blade that I recognize instantly, along with the figure himself - Odin, with his sword, Zantetsuken.

The other figure, I don't recognize immediately. Dressed in a white cloak or robe of some kind, the figure holds a long, oaken staff in his hands, the long white hair and beard giving him the appearance of a magician of sorts, like Merlin from the legends of King Arthur.

"Consider this a test of your ability as a Planeswalker. In your role as an emissary of the Realm, you will be placed in situations larger than you may first believe yourself capable of handling. How you handle yourself in those situations says a great deal about your capability as a whole," Freya explains calmly. "These two are Odin and Xeios, my advisors and leaders of the realm's forces in times of war. Fayt's actions have been made known to me in full, as well as her reasoning for such. My task for you two is to accompany Odin and Xeios in defeating Fayt and bringing about the end of her plans."

The words sink in as I continue to listen to Freya, and I suddenly realize what she meant by her earlier statement. This is a much bigger problem than I've ever been involved in before, and I'm a little unsure if there is really anything I can do.

"If that is your wish," Angel says, nodding to Freya. He doesn't seem worried in the least...and I suddenly feel a little ashamed of myself for being so doubting.

"Okay. If you want me to go, I'll go. We'll make Fayt turn over a new leaf," I say, pushing my doubts aside. After all, if the Creator seems to think that we can do what she asks...who am I to think she's wrong?

"Odin and Xeios will be accompanying you, so you should not be afraid. They will keep any harm from coming to you. Focus on what you have to do, and let the Realm itself guide your actions," Freya says, looking over the two of us. "Go now, and may the Ethereal Plane watch over you always."

Angel bows again, and I also bow along with Kisara as Odin and Xeios approach the two of us, both seeming to evaluate me as they walk.

"He seems capable enough, even if does appear less sturdy than most," Odin says after a pause, stopping just in front of us.

"We will soon see how capable he is," Xeios replies in a low, yet commanding voice as he looks towards Odin.

"Come. We have much work to do," Odin continues, turning and beginning to exit the chamber. Not wanting to be left behind, I quickly follow the large warrior, hoping that I have half the confidence that everyone seems to have in me.

Well, we're almost at the end now. Only one more part to go - the big showdown with Fayt in the Ethereal Plane itself. I'll do my best to have it out by Friday, but with college looming over me now, I won't say that for sure. As always, please read and review.