First, sorry for being two weeks late. I have no excuse except I was too lazy to edit and proofread my chapter. Hopefully, it was worth the wait and thank you all for supporting this story.
Now, to the chapter.
Chapter 49: Unicorn's Horn
Mithos felt when it happened. It was sharp pain that spread across his body, causing him to almost to collapse. He took several deep breaths as the pain slowly faded away.
It had been a long time since he felt pain. Since his battle with Yuan so long ago, no one has been able to hurt him. He had almost forgotten what the sensation felt like. Well, he was in no hurry to experience it again.
However, it wasn't the pain itself that he cared about, but what caused it.
"So, they succeeded," Mithos murmured more to himself.
Undine was no longer under his control. She has made a new pact with that summoner.
He was impressed. The Chosen's group has grown strong enough to subdue a summon spirit. He almost wished he had seen the battle. He knew Kratos probably did the blunt of the damage, but the man couldn't show too much without giving himself away. This closed to the end; they may begin to suspect something. No matter. With the detour out of the way, they should be arriving soon.
He mentally reached out to Yuan. Within minutes, he teleported in.
"Is there something you want?" Yuan asked, sounding very impatient.
If he weren't in such a good mood, he would have reprimanded Yuan for his rudeness. It would seem that he was showing his rebellious colors more often. He didn't understand the man. His sister would be returning soon. Why couldn't he be happy that he would be with Martel again?
"The Chosen should be coming to the Tower of Salvation within a few weeks now. I want you to be there as the Chosen receives her final blessing," Mithos all but ordered.
Yuan raised an eyebrow. "And why must I be there to see the Chosen? It cannot be to guard her since Kratos is with her."
Mithos smiled. "Nothing like that. I just think you will enjoy it. After all, you were there to see the end of the first regeneration journey with Spiritua. It is only fitting you witness the last one."
Yuan remained silence for several seconds. "You truly believe she is the one?"
"It is beyond a doubt. She's the closer to Martel's mana signature. I did the tests. Several times to be sure. It matches 99.1%," Mithos said.
Yuan's eyes widen in shock. "I...didn't know it was that close."
Mithos' face softened. "She is the one, Yuan. This is the Chosen we have been waited four-thousands for. At last, Martel will be revived! You get to finally hold Martel in your arms again. You will finally get to marry her, officially. We will be a family again."
Yuan took several deep breaths. Mithos knew he had hit something deep within him. As much as Yuan didn't like him at the moment and everything they've done to create Cruxis, his love for Martel remained as strong as ever. Perhaps even stronger.
"Why...why do you keep doing this to me?" Yuan came close to whispering.
"Because we both want the same thing. Deep in your heart, you want Martel back, just like me. The difference between us, you tried to deny those feelings," Mithos said. "Yuan. Stop fighting what you heart wants. Embrace the return of Martel and the end of the discrimination! A new world is upon us!"
Yuan lowered his head. "I...I will be there." Without another word, he disappeared.
Mithos smiled. They would all be together again. All of them. Just like the old days.
The boat trip back was thankfully uneventful outside some sea monsters stalking them. It only took one lightning spell from Genis to scare them off.
The moment they stepped off the washtub, Noishe was there to greet them, licking Lloyd happily as it stood on its hind legs.
"Get off, Noishe!" Lloyd yelled, although he was laughing from the show of affection.
Colette walked over to Noishe and gently patted his back.
"Still can't believe you can now control a summon spirit," Genis said as he walked over towards Sheena. "It has to be amazing to have such a force of nature under your control."
"I don't really control Undine. It's more of a partnership. Besides, I can't summon her at will," Sheena corrected.
"Really?" Genis asked.
"It take a great deal of mana to summon a spirit," Sheena explained. "With the amount of mana I have, I can probably only summon Undine two or three times before I need an orange gel."
"Geez, didn't know summoning took that much," Genis replied in awe.
"It is only natural. If one had unlimited control of a summon spirit, they would be close to god-like," Raine said, recovering from her latest sea experience.
"Even still, you rule, Sheena!" Lloyd exclaimed. "What was it again? You know, all that 'thou' and 'thy' stuff!"
Sheena blushed nervously. "Ah, yeah..."
"That's so cool, making pacts with summon spirits!" Lloyd went on.
He wondered if Sheena could make a pact with all the summon spirits. That way he get to see all of them, including the elusive Aska. It would be a dream come true, seeing all the spirits that he only read and heard about in myths and legends.
Sheena blushed even more. "R...Really?"
"Say, what does it feel like?" Lloyd asked.
"Yeah, I want to know that too," Genis spoke in equal excitement.
Colette also looked very interested.
"Hmm," Sheena mumbled, trying to find the correct words. "It feels like a great power, separate from myself, comes surging out from inside my body."
Lloyd tilted his head before smiling again. "I don't really understand, but it's so cool! I wish I was a summoner." That way he could see his favorite summon spirits anytime he wanted.
Sheena frowned and looked away from him. "Although, ...I hated being a summoner."
"Really?" Lloyd asked in surprised.
"How come? I mean, you get to make pacts with summon spirits and summon them any time you're in trouble," Genis said, just as confused as Lloyd.
Sheena turned away from them. "I have my personal reasons."
Lloyd frowned at her. What's up with everyone keeping secrets?
"Huh, too bad. I would love to be a summoner too," Genis said. All the vast knowledge he could gained from a summon spirit would be unimaginable.
"I guess in either case, we need to get back Umacy Lake," Lloyd said.
"We should rest for the day," Kratos spoke up, surprising Lloyd.
"But it's still early," Lloyd countered.
"We just did battle with a summon spirit. We need at least a full day to recover. We can start fresh tomorrow," Kratoa advised.
"I have to admit, between all the training we've done and that fight, I think I need the break," Genis said. He didn't know how Lloyd survived months under Kratos.
Lloyd frowned. He was anxious to meet the unicorn and hopefully heal Colette with its power, but Kratos had a point. They all had it rough these last few weeks and it would be nice to have some downtime.
"Okay," Lloyd admitted in defeat.
They walked back to the House of Salvation and shortly scattered.
Genis and Raine went to make use of the small library, while Kratos disappeared to goddess knew where. Only Lloyd and Colette remained outside to enjoy the fresh air of mid-spring.
"Hang in there a little longer, Colette," Lloyd encouraged. They were both sitting on the grass. "I'm sure Raine will be able to help you once she gets the unicorn's horn."
Colette smiled and gently wrote on his hand.
"Of course, we'll do everything we can to get you back to normal. Not only that, but we can save Pietro and Clara," Lloyd said before he became sad. "I hope they're both doing okay. Pietro was very sick and hunters were chasing Clara... I hope...we're not too late."
Colette wrote on his hand.
"Have faith, huh? Some times that is hard to do," Lloyd mused. There was a silent paused. "I guess once we're finish with our business with Pietro and Clara, it will be time for us to go to the Tower of Salvation."
Colette nodded her head.
"Wha...what's the tower like?" Lloyd asked.
Before this journey, he didn't care about such details. Now, he wanted to know so he be prepared for what's coming. What would happen to Colette at the end?
Colette took his hand again and carefully wrote.
He frowned. No one knew, apparently. Only that the tower went to heaven.
"Heaven, huh? The place where all of us go when we die?" Lloyd questioned.
Colette nodded.
Lloyd bit his lips. "If you are able to go to heaven...will you see everyone who died? Like my mom?"
It was funny. One of the few things from the Church of Martel that he wanted to believe in was heaven. Perhaps it was a desperate part of him that needed to believe that when one died they didn't disappear from existence. That somehow, they would all meet again in another world or another life.
Colette started to write.
Lloyd smiled. Colette had said yes and if she could she would say hi to his mom.
He chuckled. "I'm sure mom would love you."
She wrote again.
What she wrote made him frown. "All those who believe in Martel goes to heaven." It was a very indirect way of saying that he would never see his mom as long as he remained a nonbeliever. Even like this, Colette was still trying to 'save' his soul. "Thanks, I keep that in mind."
After all Colette has gone through, he didn't have the strength to go through the same old argument again.
It was early the next day that the group was off again. Since the deal with Undine was done, Kratos went back to only training Lloyd, although Genis kept up his own training in private. He wanted to be able to learn Indignation one day and the only way to do that was to learn and master advance level spells.
Sheena also did her own training, hating being so far behind Kratos and lately even Lloyd. She wasn't sure what was up with him, but Lloyd was advancing more rapidly lately. The last time the sparred, he was able to defeat her handily when they were once more or less equal. It couldn't be all Kratos' training, could it?
Within a week, they were back passed Hakonesia Peak. It took another three days they were closed to Asgard.
"We stopped here for the day," Kratos said as they approached the stone city.
Raine was all smiles. "It would be an honor to spend another day in this wonderful city!"
"Remember, Raine, we're leaving early. So don't spend all night looking at ruins," Genis spoke in a deadpan voice.
"Yes, yes, of course," Raine replied dismissively.
Genis sighed. "Why do I get the feeling that as soon as we enter, we'll never see Raine again."
Kratos sighed in agreement.
When they came into the city, there was quite a crowd nearby.
"Huh, what's going on? A festival?" Lloyd asked.
Raine shook her head. "That should be no festival this time of year."
Lloyd moved closer to see what was going on. His mouth nearly dropped when he saw who was the center of all the attention. "Are you kidding me?"
Genis caught up with him. "What is..." He looked ahead and saw the impostors from Palmacosta. "Oh, it's those losers again."
"This is Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration," the man with spiky-hair introduced. It was the same man that gave Lloyd such trouble.
The Fake Colette put her hands together in prayer. "I promise to regenerate the world and bring peace to everyone."
The people were completely taken in by the act.
"Wow, the Chosen is so determine and very mature," one person said.
"She's truly divine," another added.
Lloyd was literally shaking in rage. After all Colette been through, suffered, and gave up for the sake of this world, these bunch of jokers had no right to even speak her name.
"I said donate to the Chosen's journey!" the bigger man yelled.
The girl with the witch hat stared at the crowd. "Please everyone, we need your support."
This was just too much. It was one thing to argued over spilled Palma Potion and he could finally admit now that he acted badly back in Palmacosta, but it was another thing all together banking on someone else's suffering. He couldn't let this injustice continued.
"Dammit, stop it!" Lloyd shouted, stepping through the crowd. "That's enough you fakes!"
Everyone quickly became silent.
The man with the spiky-hair growled at him. "What? Who you're calling fakes!?"
"I'm talking about you? Or did I used too big of word," Lloyd spat.
The man sneered. "You..."
"It alright, Jude," the fake Chosen assured. "When we complete the world regeneration, I'm sure these people will understand as well."
"The Chosen is so compassionate," someone from the crowd cooed. "Showing mercy to a nonbeliever. Martel blessed her."
"Hey you, don't speak badly of the Chosen!" someone shouted.
Lloyd growled louder. "These scumbags are not the Chosen!"
"Yeah!" Genis yelled, stepping forward. He had more than enough as well. "These guys are con-artists who tricked the Palmacosta government into giving them the Book of Regeneration and they sold it! If you want proof, go and see that crusty old Koton! He'll show it to you!"
The girl in the witch finally recognized them. "You guys are the ones we met earlier at Palmacosta."
Jude sneered at Lloyd and Genis. "You mustn't trust those who insult our savior, the Chosen."
"You're the biggest insult to Colette. Do you know how much she's giving up to save this world!? You have no right to use her name like this!" Lloyd shouted, feeling his anger rise with each word. He was very closed to unsheathing his swords.
The crowd became louder and more agitated.
"I can't believe they'd treat the Chosen like an impostor!" a person from the crowd shouted.
"Who do this boy thinks he is?" someone asked.
"How dare he insults the Chosen!" another yelled.
Colette came out of the crowd and pulled on Lloyd's arm.
"But Colette, you can't just like them use your name to con money out of people," Lloyd argued.
"Yeah, these jackasses already got away with enough," Genis said, readying to start frying people.
"Wait everyone, settle down for a moment!" Raine yelled, trying to calm the situation. It was very closed to turning to a violent scene.
Lloyd glanced at Raine, half-expecting to get an earful for being rash again. However, looking at Raine, he could tell that she was just as angry as he was. Behind her normally cool exterior, he could see the blazing fire in her eyes.
"Would the compassionate Chosen, who will save the world, come to take money from people suffering at the hands of the Desians?" Raine asked the crowd.
There was a deafening silence. The fake Chosen group had nothing to say to counter that.
"Do...Don't say such things!" someone yelled.
"Raine is that you!?" someone shouted. They turned to see Linar breaking through the crowd. He was breathing hard and out of breath. "Everyone, please wait! Raine is the one who eliminated that monster who wanted to eat priestesses! This city owns her a debt of gratitude! She wouldn't just make this up!"
There was another long silence.
"Now that you mention it, she was the one who served as the last acolyte," an old woman spoke slowly.
"Now that I think about it..." someone said in realization.
"Then is this Chosen and her group are impostors?" someone asked, completely lost.
The impostors seemed to realize that things weren't going their way anymore.
"This doesn't look good," the one with the witch hat whispered. She was no longer calm. "Time to make a break for it!"
"Yes," the fake Chosen agreed.
Three of them made a run for it, breaking through the baffled crowd with ease.
"Hey, get back here!" Lloyd shouted, ready to go after them until he noticed that the bigger man hasn't moved.
"That idiot! Just leave him!" the man impostor yelled.
Sheena shook her head at the scene. Some friends. Then again, thieves never had honor.
"B...big brother!" the bigger man shouted in distress. He attempted to run after him, but was cut off from the crowd.
"Get him!" a person yelled.
Before the crowd could take bloody vengeance, Colette jumped in front of the impostor, arms stretched.
"Colette?" Lloyd gasped.
Colette's face was hard and determine.
The crowd slowly backed down when they saw her expression.
Colette turned towards the impostor and gave a gentle smile. She grabbed his hand and started to write on it.
He was very confused at first and it took him a moment to realize what he was writing. "Am I okay? I...I.."
Colette wrote on his palm again.
He blushed. "I'm...okay..."
Colette wrote more.
"Oh...oh okay. I'll give the money back," the man said after sheepishly rubbing his head.
Colette wrote something else on his palm.
"I...I'll tell them. No more tricking people." There was a slight paused. "I...I'm not going to be...arrested?"
Colette shook her head. She turned towards Lloyd for confirmation.
Lloyd sighed, his anger long since evaporated. Besides, the guy didn't seem so bad. He was mostly too dumb not to be pressured by his brother and friends into doing stupid stuff like this. "Well, alright. Get out of here."
"You're...kind...pretty, and a nice person...I..." he stumbled over his words as he blushed. "I...like...you... I won't forget you." He handed Colette a large bag of money and ran through the crowd. No one moved to stop him.
Colette smiled and gave the bag to the nearest person.
"Right," the person said as they took the money. "But, I'm surprised you people are still wondering around during these dangerous times."
Lloyd looked at the man. "Of course. Because our Colette is the real Chosen."
The man gave Lloyd a sour look. "What? Do you want our money too?"
Lloyd sighed. "It doesn't matter if you don't believe it."
Linar walked over to Colette. "Look at the jewel below her neck. This is the jewel of the mana, the angel's heart itself. No one but the real Chosen can wear it!"
Everyone moved closer to get a look at Colette's neck. They were quickly crowding the poor girl. Lloyd moved to keep them off of her.
"It can't be..." a person stuttered.
"Then...that girl is the real Chosen!?" someone exclaimed.
"Then you must be the Chosen's group!" someone yelled.
Sheena almost laughed at the scene. This would've never happened in her world. Her Chosen would pimp himself like a peacock to make sure every corner of the planet knew who he was.
Colette blushed at all the attention.
One of the people grabbed Colette's hand. "We didn't know, but still we treated you extremely rudely. Please stop by my house."
Colette smiled and shook her head.
The man frowned. "But..."
"We are in a hurry to complete the Journey of Regeneration. We will just take your thoughts of gratitude," Raine said, speaking up for Colette.
"Then please, at least stay here for tonight. We'll reserve a room at the Cool Breeze Inn," the man insisted.
Raine glanced at Kratos who nodded. They were planning on staying the night anyway. "We shall accept your hospitality for one night."
The man smiled. "Oh, thank you so much, Chosen One. I will go and make the arrangements."
The man left in a rush as the crowd slowly thinned.
Lloyd sighed. Looked like things turned out alright. Too bad they couldn't bust those other jerks. As he walked, he noticed Kratos staring at him. "Let me guess, you're going to get on me for losing my cool again? Look, I'm sorry about that. It's just..."
"I was going to say you did an admirable job standing up for the Chosen," Kratos said, cutting him off.
This took Lloyd by surprised. "Huh? I don't get it. You chewed me out the last time for picking a fight with them."
"Last time you were fighting over a spilled Palma Potion and were nearly ready to kill each other. That was one fight you had no business getting into," Kratos replied. "This time, you were standing up for the honor of your friend whose title was being used for selfish ends. That is something worth fighting for."
Lloyd was left speechless.
"You have matured a lot. Although, you still need more growing," Kratos said as he turned to leave.
Lloyd was frozen in place. A compliment from Kratos? He didn't see that coming.
Colette came over and grabbed his arm. She took his hand and wrote 'thank you' on his palm.
Lloyd smiled. Between Kratos' words and Colette's gestured, he was feeling very good today.
It was two days later that they arrived at Umacy Lake. The weather was warmer than the last time they were there and everything seemed greener and healthier.
Lloyd was giddy with excitement. "Okay, go on, Sheena! Ask Undine to take us over there."
"Wait, that's not going to work," Kratos suddenly spoke up.
Lloyd, Genis, and Colette gave him puzzle looks.
"Why not?" Genis asked for the three.
Sheena blinked. Didn't they know anything about unicorns? She could understand Genis, being a young boy, but Lloyd and Colette should know. Then again, those two were very innocent despite their age.
Raine cleared her voice, obviously trying to explain this in a way that wouldn't ruin their innocence. "The unicorn…can only be approached by a pure maiden."
"At the very least, Lloyd, Genis, and I are out," Kratos said, eying the two.
Lloyd put his hand to his chin. "Hmmm. So only females can go?"
"So then, just Raine and..." Genis started.
"I'll…pass," Raine said rather quickly.
This raised an eyebrow from Kratos. So the professor was no longer a maiden. Given her age, that wasn't too surprising.
"But I don't know what we're going to do. We can't send Colette alone while she's like this…" Raine said.
Sheena's face turned red. "Hey! Are you saying that I'm not qualified!?"
This made Lloyd, Genis, and Colette even more confused.
"Qualified?" both Genis and Lloyd asked.
Now Sheena was really pissed. "You don't have to both say it at once!"
"Then we shall send Chosen and Sheena," Kratos said, defusing the situation.
"Why can't the Professor go?" Lloyd asked.
"Because I'm an adult," Raine answered tensely.
Lloyd tilted his head.
Colette and Genis were equally lost.
Kratos sighed. How could a boy go through so much and still be this innocent?
Sheena was still a little mad at the dismissal. "O…okay then, I'm going to summon now!" She approached the lake. "I call upon the Maiden of the Mist. I summon thee… Come, Undine!"
Undine appeared before her. She floated a few feet above the water.
"Please, Undine. Take us to the unicorn," Sheena requested.
Undine nodded. "As you wish. To the lake..."
Using her ability, she lifted the unicorn out of its resting place. The unicorn was just as beautiful and mystical as legend described. It had pure white fur, a mane that was green in color, golden hooves, and a blue horn that seems to shines in the sunlight. It looked like something straight out of book.
With the unicorn freed, Colette and Sheena floated across the lake.
The unicorn looked at them with interest, until its eyes fell upon Colette. "Martel?"
This confused Sheena and Colette, especially given the way the unicorn spoke to them. It was like it was speaking through their minds.
"Martel? You mean the Goddess Martel?" Sheena asked.
Colette tried to speak, but nothing came out.
"No? You are Colette, and the one beside you is called Sheena?" the unicorn said.
Sheena was shocked. "You can hear Colette's voice?"
The unicorn nodded before walking closer to them. It was closed to Colette's face. "Yes…but you are not Martel? This presence, this mana…and this sickness… Even in my blindness it is clear. You are Martel."
Colette tried to speak again, realizing that the unicorn wasn't so much hearing her 'voice', but her thoughts.
"I exist to save the awakened Martel from her sickness… To cure the sickness you have," the unicorn explained.
"Then, please, save Colette. The horn of a unicorn has that kind of power, right?" Sheena asked almost desperately.
"..." Colette said through her muted voice.
"You are not for yourself, but to save a human with whom you have made a promise? So that's it, you're the Chosen of Regeneration…" the unicorn said in understanding before nodding in understanding. "Take it."
The unicorn's horn glowed and disappeared from its head. In a flash of light, it reappeared in Colette's hands.
At that same moment, the unicorn started to disappear.
"What's wrong!?" Sheena asked in shock.
The unicorn appeared to smile at them. "Our horns are our very lives. My destiny is now fulfilled. Do not be troubled. A new life will be born from me. And when that new life ends, yet another will be born. In so doing, we live on…forever."
With those words, the unicorn completely disappeared in sprinkles of light.
Colette would have cried, if she still could. She wouldn't have taking the horn if she knew it would die.
Sheena was also greatly saddened as Undine brought them back to shore.
"Are you two alright?" Lloyd asked in concern when he saw Colette's dismayed expression.
"...Sheena, are you crying?" Genis asked.
Sheena attempted to quickly wipe her tears. Still, they fell despite herself. "The unicorn…gave us his horn."
Raine lowered her head. "I see. Then the unicorn is dead."
"You knew!?" Sheena shouted in an accusing voice.
"When a unicorn loses its horn, it dies. By dying, a new unicorn is born. That's why the unicorn is the symbol of death and rebirth," Raine explained in her usual cold manner.
Sheena looked confused. She thought those were butterflies.
"A new unicorn will be born?" Lloyd repeated.
Raine nodded. "Yes. I'm sure one has been."
Lloyd looked towards Colette and now understood her profound sadness. "The unicorn gave us this horn at the cost of his life. We must make good use of it."
Genis nodded somberly. "Yeah, Colette! Now we might be able to get you back to normal!"
Colette gave a smile and shook her head.
Lloyd was taken back. "Why!?"
Colette walked to Lloyd and took his hand.
"I still haven't finished regenerating the world, so please use this for Pietro and Clara," Lloyd translated. He wasn't happy about this. They had a means to cure her, yet she rejected it. "But Colette..."
Colette smiled and gently squeezed his hand. She then handed him the precious unicorn's horn.
Lloyd looked down at the horn, feeling completely useless. Why wouldn't Colette allow them to help her? Why?
He shook himself out of his depression. There were other people who needed this horn. He walked towards Raine. "Professor, here…"
Raine carefully took the horn and as soon as she touched it, power raced through her body. She could feel her powers and ability greatly increased. It was beyond anything she ever felt. To think, everything about unicorn's existence, to the magic increased from its horn was true. All true.
"It seems I've acquired some new healing arts thanks to this horn," Raine spoke in a tight voice.
"Now, with this, we can save Clara…" Lloyd said. At least he could fulfill one of his promises.
"Yes, with this Unicorn Horn and Boltzman's Book, I'm sure we can save her this time," Raine replied in a strong, determine voice. She truly had the power to save people.
"But where is Clara?" Sheena asked.
"We can just use Corrine again to find her," Lloyd said.
Sheena nodded. "Yeah, that's true."
Raine looked into the sky. "Wait just a little longer, Colette. I promise we'll fulfill your wish."
We got to see a little more of Mithos, more character growth from Lloyd, and even some Lloyd and Colette bonding time. We're rapidly approaching the big chapter that will be the climax of Act I. Hopefully, I will be able to update on time.
Until next chapter, please take care.