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Now, onward to the chapter.

Chapter 25: Seal of Water

Kratos glanced behind him one last time as the bridge of light faded. He opened his senses fully, but didn't feel the assassin behind them. Somehow, that woman had missed them. Well, that was one less thing to worry about.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, breaking through his thoughts.

"It looks like that girl didn't make it inside," Kratos stated absently.

Lloyd had a confused looked on his face. "What girl?"

Kratos turned to stare on Lloyd. He was more than a little annoyed by his son's lack of awareness. "That assassin. The one after the Chosen."

"She followed us!?" Lloyd exclaimed in shock. He unconsciously reached for his swords.

"You didn't notice?" Kratos asked, barely hiding his frustration. He already knew the answer, but to hear how dim Lloyd was did nothing to promote confidences.

"I...I was busy thinking and stuff," Lloyd stuttered. He was actually still moping about getting that statue, but he wasn't about to tell Kratos that.

Kratos, however, could tell that he wasn't being truthful and shook his head. "Never let your guard down, ever. Assuming you want to survive."

Lloyd's face turned red as anger built inside him. "Oh, yes, of course, you're always perfect," he spat. "You'd never screw up."

"Even I make mistakes," Kratos countered, his old guilt returning in full force. "I made a terrible one..." He quickly stopped himself before he said anymore. He was too closed to revealing himself to Lloyd.

"What?" Lloyd questioned when he saw Kratos trail off his previous point.

For a second, Kratos appeared lost and grief-stricken. He had never seen Kratos looked so desolated. Whatever it was, it was obvious that his words struck a nerve in the older man.

"Nothing," Kratos said bluntly, returning to his normal cold demeanor. "I shouldn't have said that, forgive me." He walked passed Lloyd and went to join the rest of the group.

Lloyd stood back, completely lost. "Forgive you? You don't make any sense sometimes." Just when he thought Kratos was a human after all, he goes and pulled this. He would never understand that man.

He sighed in defeat as he walked towards his friends. Raine was currently goggling at the cave's walls without a care in the world. Lloyd looked at the stone walls and saw pictures and words written in a strange language. One of the pictures showed what appeared to be a mermaid and a strange human like figure with long hair.

"Amazing," Raine cooed in awe as she took notes. "These markings seemed to predate the first Regeneration Journey."

"Raine, shouldn't we be moving on?" Genis asked in annoyance.

"Just give me a couple more minutes," Raine insisted as she copied down the markings into her book.

"You know, that mermaid like creature looks like it could be the Summon Spirit Undine," Lloyd said absently.

Raine paused in thought. "Excellent point, Lloyd. It would make sense since this is the cave of water connected to the Chosen's journey. I wonder if we'll get to see a summon spirit in its element."

"Unlikely since I heard the summon spirits only appear before a summoner," Kratos replied.

Raine shook her head. "That is not quite true. Summon spirits also appear before those of great importance, but I supposed your right," she sighed as she finished drawing for her sketchbook.

Colette read the marking on the walls several times. "What very odd writing."

"Since you can read angelic, you know what it's saying, right?" Genis asked.

"But this isn't angelic," Colette said. "It looks similar, but it's not quite the same."

"That's because it's elven," Raine observed. "It's the closest existing language to angelic."

"Oh," Genis said as he looked more carefully at the writings. Most of it was badly faded and hard to read. "Here's lies the shine of the Guardian of Water...servant of the Summon Spirit...protector of the World Tree." He stepped back and shook his head. "What does that mean?"

"It could be referring to Undine and how she is a vessel towards Origin," Raine said before she bit her lips. "But that doesn't make any sense. Undine is usually called the Mistress of Water or the Maiden of the Mist. Never the Guardian of Water. Origin is also never reference with the World Tree in elven lore."

"What could that mean?" Genis asked.

"Not sure..." Raine said as she looked closer. "It may be missing information since the text is so damage."

"These doesn't mean anything to our current task," Kratos stated. "Our first priority is to break the seal."

Raine nodded. "Of course, you're right. I allowed myself to become distracted. Let us move forward then."

The group moved on and went deeper into the temple. Broken pillars lined the pathway and the cave grew steadily darker. Strangely the area remained well lit enough so they could see the path without any problems.

The atmosphere was also the opposite of the Fire Temple. Instead of it being hot and dry, it was cool and humid. Lloyd actually found him shivering as they went deeper into the cave. He wasn't used to such a deep temperature drop.

They went down several flights of stairs that were built into the cave's floor. It was slippery because of the moister in the air and Genis almost fall several times. It was still better than Colette who actually did fall down several flight stairs.

"Colette, are you alright!" Lloyd yelled in worry as ran down the stairs, nearly falling himself, and he knelt by her side.

Colette giggled nervously. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Lloyd sighed in relief. Colette really was made of steel.

"Be more careful, Chosen," Kratos reprimanded.

What was this girl made of anyway? He had never seen anyone fall so often, yet, remained completely unharmed. Was it all from her Cruxis Crystal?

"The water density down here is so high that the entire area is damp," Raine observed. "Mobility will only become more difficult as we move forward."

Kratos nodded. "True."

Colette stood up and wiped the water from her clothing. "Sorry everyone."

Lloyd gave a small chuckle. "Don't apologize. It's not liked you planned to fall down."

Colette looked down at the floor. "I know, I'm sorry."

Lloyd sighed in defeat. "Anyway, let's go."

They walked down several more flight of stairs until they finally were at the very bottom. The area was even darker, but a strange bluish light lit the area. It gave everything a very haunted feel.

"I don't sense as many monsters at the Fire Temple," Genis noted.

"However, the ones that are here are much stronger," Kratos warned.

"What's this?" Colette asked.

Everyone turned to look at her. She was standing next a strange looking device with a spinning circular top and a sphere of light within it.

Kratos remembered this device from eons ago. A part of him was surprised that the device was still here intact. Then again, Yuan would never destroy such a sacred object.

"What a strange looking device," Raine mused as she looked over the machine. "This doesn't appear to be magitechnology."

"How do you know that?" Genis asked.

"It's too old," Raine answered. "The oldest magitechnology on record is only over four thousand years old. This is closer to ten-thousand."

"Ten-thousand!?" Genis exclaimed in shock. "That predates most of the history books!"

Raine nodded. "From my best guess, this has to be elven technology."

"I didn't know elves had advance machinery at all," Lloyd said. "Dad told me that the elves rejected any and all technology."

"That's partly true," Raine said slowly. "Elv...we use technology when it suits us. This temple must have been a place of great importance to us in the far past."

Colette shook her head. "But this place has always been used by the Church and is a test for the Chosen."

"True, but you have to remember that the Church of Martel was not founded until around four-thousand years ago," Raine stated. "It is possible that this place used to be a sacred temple to the elves that was converted when the Church of Martel rose. The question is, why did the elves seemingly abandoned this place."

"I think that matters little at the moment," Kratos said, attempting to act bored.

Lloyd noticed something strange glowing on his hand. "Hey, the Sorcerer's Ring is glowing."

Raine looked at Lloyd in surprise before she glanced back at the device. "It must be reacting to the machine somehow." She paused in thought. "Lloyd, put your hand on the machine."

"Why?" Lloyd asked.

"Just a theory," Raine replied, purposely being vague.

Without another world, Lloyd walked over to the device and placed his hand over the glowing sphere. He felt a cool sensation rushed up his arm and into his chest. He almost wanted to shiver, but the feeling soon passed as fast it came.

"Are you alright, Lloyd?" Genis asked in concern.

"Yeah...I felt strange for a second," Lloyd said as he looked at the Sorcerer's Ring.

It didn't appear any different, but something told him to try to fire the ring. He held his hand out and instead of the ring shooting fire, a small gust of water came shooting out.

"Water came out of the Sorcerer's Ring!?" Lloyd yelled in shock.

Genis rubbed his chin. "The Thoda Geyser is a plentiful source of water, so maybe it reacted to that."

"With this power we can supply water even to distant areas," Raine noted in a far off voice as she looked around.

Lloyd frowned once the shock had passed. "But if all it does is squirt water, that sure seems kind of...weak."

"You shouldn't take such things for granted," Kratos reprimanded.

Since Lloyd had accessed to the Sorcerer's Ring's abilities, that meant they could take the original way through the shine and not the path created by Cruxis, or more specifically Yuan. Since he had never gone down the new path before, he couldn't say which was easier.

"Oh look, fishy," Colette cooed.

They all turned around just in time to see a school of fish like creatures floating right towards them.

"Hey, how can fish float out of water!?" Lloyd exclaimed as he took out his swords.

"Amphitra, be careful," Kratos warned as he ran in to deal with the threat.

One of the Amphitra attempted to jump and bit Kratos on the arm. He quickly sidestepped the creature and cut it in half with one clean swoop.

Lloyd charged in to do the same, but the amphitra was able to dodged his attack and reward his efforts by slapping him in the face with its tail. Before it could it do further damage, however, Colette hit it with one of her chakrams, killing it instantly.

"Air Blade!" Genis screamed as a giant blade of air formed and hit several of the remaining fish, killing them in one strike.

Kratos nodded his head in approval. They were much better than they were at Triet Ruins.

"Well, that wasn't too bad," Lloyd said as he rubbed his sore face.

"They may be more powerful monster here, so be careful," Kratos said as he sheathed his sword.

They once again moved on and made their way into a nearby room. Lloyd flinched when he entered. The light was brighter than any other part of the temple. After a couple of seconds, his eyes adjusted enough for him to look around.

Unlike the rest of the temple, this area was well lit to the point it looked like they were outside. The area also looked like an actual temple with pillars that were not broken or damage in any way.

"Amazing, somehow this part of the temple remain undamaged," Raine said as she took note. "This also appears to be newer than the parts we've been through."

Lloyd began to wonder around. "There doesn't seem to be another pathway out of here."

Genis looked further into the temple and saw a scale sitting in the center of the room. One hand of the scale had a rock and the other an empty jug. "Maybe this will open the way."

Lloyd went to look at the scale. "How's this supposed to work?"

"Maybe, you just fill it with water," Colette suggested.

"That seems about right," Raine said. "Lloyd, use the Sorcerer's Ring to fill the jug."

Lloyd shrugged as he used the ring's new powers to fill the jug full of water. A loud clicked was heard and the groans of something moving caught their ears.

"What happened?" Lloyd asked in confusion.

"Something has obviously change," Kratos observed dryly.

"But what?" Genis asked as he looked around. "Nothing appeared to have opened."

Raine went looking through her notes for answers. "It would seem this place isn't as straight forward as the Fire Temple." She stopped on a certain page and read carefully. "According to the lore, the Seal of Water is meant to test the intellects of the Chosen, while the Seal of Fire is more to test the Chosen's strength."

"That would explain why there isn't as many monsters here," Genis said.

"But that doesn't really explain what we're supposed to do," Lloyd said in frustrating as he stared at the scale. "Maybe we were supposed to evenly balance it or something."

"Unlikely," Kratos said. "The noise we heard earlier indicated that we're on the right path. We're just missing something."

There was a moment of silence as Raine flipped through her notes. "I think...yes, I'm sure there is supposed to be a second scale somewhere within the temple."

"A second scale?" Lloyd questioned.

Raine nodded. "We just need to find it."

"Wherever it is, I doubt it would be within this area," Kratos stated.

"Agreed," Raine said as she closed her notes. "Let's return to the area where that machine was and look around."

They quickly backtracked to the previous darkened area and searched for any pathways they may have missed. It didn't take them long to find another cave entrance on the far side of the other cave.

Much like before, the area was significantly brighter and the ruins were nearly intact. This path had a long hallway with several arches.

They moved cautiously through the space since the floors were especially slicked here. They also had to go down several flights of stairs again until they reached an opened door.

"Man, this place is huge," Lloyd whined. "It seems even bigger than the last one."

"It only appears that way because this temple is more open," Raine stated.

Colette was the first to go through the doorway and saw another scale in the center of the room, much like the first one. "Hey, you were right professor!"

They all walked up towards the scale.

"Well, let's try it again," Lloyd said as he used the Sorcerer's Ring to fill the jug with water. Another loud click was heard, but this time the noise was must louder and it shook the entire temple.

"Well, I definitely felt that," Genis said as he looked around. "But nothing appeared to have changed here."

Raine rubbed her chin in thought. "Perhaps...let's head back to the first scale."

"Again?" Lloyd mourned.

Kratos had to fight the urged not to shake his head. Lloyd's lacked of patience was by far his greatest weakness. That along with his recklessness, a dangerous combination.

"I have a theory," Raine stated as she turned to leave with the others.

Lloyd lagged behind the group as they walked back up the flight of stairs. Thankfully, no monsters were there to greet them. Nonetheless, it was still a long trek given that they couldn't walked too fast without risking falling. However, when they did returned to the first scale, Lloyd was surprise to see a platform that wasn't there before.

""Where did that come from?" Lloyd asked.

"I was right," Raine said. "The two scale unlocked the pathway to the altar."

"You're amazing Professor," Colette praised.

"What are we waiting for?" Genis asked in excitement. "Let's go to the altar so Colette can break the seal!"

He nearly ran ahead of the group until Raine stopped him from going too far. They all made their way to the warp and per usual they appeared by the altar. It was very much the same as the others they had seen before except this one glowed with a blue aura.

"Finally, this place is all dark and humid," Lloyd complained as he tugged on his jacket. "Let's hurry up and get out of here."

"We must release the seal first," Kratos stated in a deadpan voice. Lloyd's impatience was tiresome at this point.

Lloyd glared angrily at Kratos. "I know that."

Ignoring Lloyd, Genis slowly approach the altar. "I feel…mana welling up. It's the same as the Seal of Fire."

At that very moment, the light around the shine intensified and figure appeared within it.

"Here comes the guardian," Kratos warned as he removed his sword.

With a gust of water, the guardian appeared in full form in front of the group.

It was a very strange looking creature that had the head of a shark, but it still had a human face. Its body seemed like it could be a mermaid, but the fins were also shaped like a shark. Even odder, both of its hands had small sharks on them and they appeared to be moving on their own.

"What the heck that supposed to be!?" Lloyd asked in shock as he unsheathed his swords.

"An Adulocia," Raine said in awe. "Another creature that is thought to only exists in legend."

"It should had stayed there," Lloyd said in disgust as he stuck his tongue out. "That thing is creepy. Why does it have sharks on its hands?"

"Keep your guard up!" Kratos yelled as the Adulocia began to charge Lloyd.

Before Lloyd could dodge, the Adulocia shoot several small sharks at him. One of them would have bitten Lloyd's arm off if Kratos hadn't moved in at the last second and pushed him out of the way. Kratos, however, was hit on his upper arm causing him to hiss in pain.

"Are you alright!?" Lloyd yelled as he picked himself off the floor.

Kratos glared harshly at him. "I told you not to drop your guard."

"First Aid!" Raine yelled over the battlefield, healing Kratos' wound.

"Angel Feathers!" Colette yelled as she threw her chakrams at Adulocia.

It was ready for it and shielded itself with a barrier of water.

"I've been waiting to test out this spell," Genis bragged as he began to chant. A swirl of electricity surrounded the young mage. "Spark Wave!"

A large ball of electricity surrounded Adulocia causing it to scream in pain. Kratos also used this opportunity to hit it with several Double Demon Fangs. All too soon, however, Adulocia broke out of the electric ball and it didn't look please at all.

With a thought the Guardian summoned several large water spirals and launched it against the group. Raine attempted to protect everyone by creating a large barrier, but even her powers couldn't withstand the sheer force of the attack. The barrier broke on contact, sweeping everyone way in the waves.

Lloyd grunted as he stood back up, now soaked in water. "This Guardian is much stronger than the first one."

"It's to be expected," Kratos said as he helped Raine heal everyone.

"We can't fail," Colette said without a hint of hesitation as she flew in closed to the guardian.

"Colette, be careful!" Raine warned.

Colette took her chakrams and threw both of them once she was right in Adulocia's face. "Ray Satellite!"

The guardian cried as the chakrams passed right through its body.

"I have this!" Lloyd yelled as he charged forward. Once he was close enough, he slashed his blades upward and twisted himself in midair. He then brought his sword down and slashed Adulocia at least two times with each sword.

Kratos nodded in approval when he saw Lloyd successfully pull off the attack. It would appear that their daily training sessions were indeed paying off.

"Spark Wave!" Genis yelled, hitting Adulocia dead on again.

This, however, barely slowed Adulocia down as it launched more twisters of water at them. It also threw several sharks at them making its attacks nearly impossible to dodge.

"Man, this thing is still going?" Lloyd asked in annoyance as he deflected one of the sharks.

"The guardian of the seal would hardly be easy." Raine said as she kept the group healed. Although, she was slowing down greatly from the overused of mana.

"Professor, stand down and take care of yourself!" Kratos ordered. "I will take care of the healing."

Raine nodded gratefully as she reached into her pack and began to eat an orange gel.

While this was happening, Lloyd glanced over into Genis' direction. "Hey, let's double team this jerk!"

Genis looked over to his best friend. "How?"

"Just use that lightning spell again," Lloyd said with a wolfish grin. "I'll handle the rest."

Genis hesitated for a moment before he nodded. He once again began to chat. "Spark Wave!"

As the ball of electricity surrounded Adulocia again, Lloyd ran in and leaped into the air. "Lightning Tiger Blade!" The lightning merged with Lloyd's swords and he delivered several powerful slashes all over Adulocia's body.

Adulocia froze in placed as electricity surged through it.

"Now your chance, finish him Chosen!" Kratos yelled to Colette.

Colette wasted no time running in and cutting Adulocia right in its heart with her chakrams.

Adulocia gave one last scream as it disappeared in a large pillar of water, knocking Colette back.

"You did it!" Lloyd cheered as he ran up to Colette.

Colette stood up and smiled at her long time friend. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Kratos stood back and watched the three children with impassive eyes. He was impressed that unlike the last guardian he didn't have to take as much as an active role. Then again, Adulocia's defensed was far weaker than Ktugach, despite its greater magic attacks.

The altar began to shine and a blue pillar of light appeared.

"Chosen of Regeneration, you have done well in reaching this far," Remiel's voice spoke, echoing across the shrine. "Now, offer your prayers at the altar."

Colette pulled herself away from Lloyd and looked at the altar with determine eyes. "Yes."

She slowly approached the altar and knelt before it. "Oh Goddess Martel, valde patronus quod nurturer of orbis terrarum, tribuo meus thy vires!" Colette opened her wings and hovered upwards.

Like before, the light grew steadily for a moment before it broke apart, leaving a floating blue ball in its place.

Within a second of this happening, Remiel appeared before her. As usual he had a large smile on his face. However, only Kratos noticed the mocking sneer within it.

"You have done well, Chosen One, Colette," Remiel said in approval. "The second seal is now released."

Colette bowed humbly before him. "Thank you, Father."

Remiel could barely keep himself from puffing his chest at Colette's humility. Kratos had to shake his head at Remiel to tell him how obvious he was being. For his part, Remiel quickly got the message and recomposed himself.

"Accept this blessing from Cruxis," Remiel said as several beams of rainbow light entered Colette's body.

Colette had to grit her teeth to keep from crying from the burning pain shooting through her body. Thankfully, her back was turned away from her friends so they didn't see her discomfort.

Within a minute the pain past, but there was not changed in her appearance this time, which disappointed Lloyd.

"The next seal lies far north in a place that gazes upon the end. Offer your prayers at the altar in the distant land," Remiel said once the power had been received.

Colette said nothing for a moment as she looked up toward the angel. "Father, have I done something to displease you?"

Kratos was taken back by the question. Did the Chosen feel Remiel's changed in demeanor? Maybe she could now sense the changed in his mana since more of her Cruxis Crystal was activated.

Remiel kept a neutral expression as he stared back at Colette. "…It matters not." He glanced toward Kratos before continuing. "All that is needed is for you to become an angel."

Colette lowered her eyes. "I understand."

Before Remiel could dig himself deeper, he felt a flare in Kratos' mana. He knew he had to ease the situation somehow. "Colette, my daughter," he cooed in a gentle voice, "hurry and become a true angel so this world may be saved in the name of the Goddess Martel."

Colette lifted her head and nodded.

"Do not disappoint me..." Remiel added as he once again disappeared in a beam of light.

Kratos had to keep himself from growling. He just had to say that last sentence.

"What's up with him?" Genis asked with a sour look on his face. "He always talks like he's so important."

Kratos gave a shadow of a smirk at that statement. Although Remiel was trying not to give too much a way, Genis had pinned exactly what Remiel was. Then again, Remiel wasn't doing the best job playing guardian angel.

However, Genis was rewarded for his observation with a hard smacked in the face by his sister. "You know better than that," she almost growled as Colette floated down. "Apologize to Colette!"

"It's alright," Colette assured with a forced smile. "Father...Remiel really does sound like that."

Lloyd was surprised that Colette would ever admit such a thing, especially since she believed angels to be the perfect being. However, he knew better to go to such a touché subject.

"Well, shall we get going to the next seal?" Lloyd asked, trying to eased the mood as he rubbed the back of his head. "Although, he was confusion as usual."

"Stop complaining," Kratos said harshly. He knew Lloyd had a valid point, but he wanted to leave the seal as soon as possible. It wouldn't be much longer before the Chosen became ill again. "Let's get moving," he ordered as he walked towards the warp.

Really, this journey was already becoming too much for him.

The second Seal is done, only two more to go. We are also moving on to my favorite part of this story arc. Hope you are enjoy it.

Until next chapter.