Another chapter on time! Thank you all for all the new Favorites and Followers. I guess everyone is excited for what is coming, especially since it looked like this story may never get done during that five year gap.
Onward to the chapter.
Chapter 80: Light of the Heavens
With breakfast long eating and a long nap to allow Presea and Lloyd to rest, they were ready to head for the Tower of Mana to complete the final pact.
"Lloyd, wait!" Genis suddenly exclaimed as Lloyd climbed on his Rheaird.
"What is it?" Lloyd asked in concern.
Genis tapped his fingers. "Before…before we make the final pact, I want to go see Mithos one last time."
Zelos folded his arms. "Didn't you say your goodbyes the other night? Mithos seeing you again will only make things harder." Besides, that kid gave him a bad feeling. The less he knew the better.
Before Genis could answer, Lloyd cut him off. "Sure." He had an idea as to why Genis wanted to go back to Mithos. "We'll just have to make it quick."
Genis smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Lloyd."
They took off and it was a better part of an hour before they reached Altessa's house.
"Welcome back!" Mithos greeted the group with a huge smile. "I….I thought I wouldn't see you guys again after the other day."
Genis walked over to his new friend. "Here. This is for you." He handed Mithos the newly crafted Linkite Flute.
Mithos' eyes widened in surprise. "What's this?"
Lloyd stepped forward. "A flute made from a Linkite Nut."
"We'd would like you to have it," Genis said.
Mithos could barely form words. "But…"
"It was our fault that the memento of your sister was broken," Lloyd interrupted. "It's the least we could do."
For the first time in millennia, Mithos felt like he wanted to cry. He somehow managed to hold back his tears and moist his dry throat that suddenly had a lump in it. "Thank you…"
"It may not be the same as your sister's flute…." Genis started.
"No, don't worry about that," Mithos stopped Genis. It was becoming harder not to let the tears fall. "Your feelings are enough. I'm so happy. I mean, the Linkite Tree is supposed to be extinct."
He truly never thought Martel's flute could be replaced. For someone to go out their way to make one and to give it to him….
"You sure know a lot of stuff, Mithos. You even knew about the Linkite Tree," Lloyd noted. For such a young kid, Mithos was truly wise beyond his years. Maybe it was a half-elf thing since Genis was much the same.
"Yeah, really. I wish you could come along with us instead of Lloyd," Genis teased, breaking the emotional mood.
This snapped Lloyd to attention. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Mithos laughed. A true laugh that wasn't forced or filled with malice. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt so happy. So…normal. He felt like 'Mithos' again. "If there's anything I can do for you, I will. Come talk to me anytime."
And, he meant every word of it. If this group asked him for anything, he would do it. No mind games, no hidden agenda, no strings.
Lloyd returned the laugh. "You got it."
"Thanks, Mithos!" Genis exclaimed as they began to leave. He was happy he returned here. This felt like a better goodbye than the one he gave the other night.
Mithos stood in place, feeling numb. He knew…that they were going to do something extremely reckless that would have long-term consequences. It may even kill them.
He didn't want them to die, not just because of the Chosen or the Angelus, but….because they were his friends. He could only hope that Kratos could stop their foolishness. Although, that would proved difficult since that traitorous Yuan was helping them.
Now that he thought about it, why was Yuan acting so recklessly? Surely, he must have ran the proper tests to know that the worlds wouldn't separate by just freeing the Elemental Summon Spirits. Could it be, in his eagerness to destroy Cruxis, that he threw caution to the wind? It was so unlike Yuan to act so illogical.
But Yuan was known to leave his brain on the table when he got too emotional. Which was why he dared to attack him in an open rebelling.
Still, it was out of his hands. He couldn't stop them. At the moment, he was just Mithos.
While Genis and Mithos were talking, Lloyd noticed that Presea was staring at something on the kitchen table. It looked to be an exsphere.
"WHAT IS IT, PRESEA?" Tabatha asked.
"This exsphere is…" Presea started.
"YES, THIS CHILD IS SICK," Tabatha answered before Presea could finish.
"Sick? The exsphere?" Presea asked in disbelief.
"YES. IN TETH'ALLA, EVERYONE ATTACHES EXSPHERES TO MACHINES. SOMETIMES ABNORMALITIES OCCURS AND EVERYONE THROWS THEM AWAY WHEN THAT HAPPENS," Tabatha explained.
"Abnormalities?" Presea repeated.
"YES," Tabatha said with a note of sadness. "THE POOR THINGS."
"I see. Yeah, they're alive too, after all," Lloyd said in wonder.
It was too easy to forget that exspheres and Cruxis Crystals were living beings, even if they weren't alive in the same way as them. Yeah, they were parasites, but even a tick had the right to live.
"Poor things?" Presea narrowed her eyes. She felt disgusted that Tabatha and Lloyd could show sympathy towards a thing that has done nothing but ruined lives. These 'poor things' took away her sister and her time. "It is because of these small stones that everyone is suffering. Countless lives have been lost in order to awake them. Yet, you still feel sorry for them."
Lloyd wasn't sure what to say.
He felt the same way once. When he learned the truth about exspheres, it made him sick to his stomach and he wanted to throw his into a lake. Now…while he still hated what was done with exspheres, he never felt the same level of hatred after he leaned that they were living beings. Then his hatred all but disappeared when he learned that exspheres could be awakened without humans lives.
"PRESEA, WOULD YOU COME WITH ME TO THE TOIZE VALLEY MINE?" Tabatha asked, knocking Lloyd from his thoughts.
"To the mine?" Presea questioned.
"It's alright with me if you have business there. I'll give my permission to enter," Regal replied, over hearing the conversation.
"Are you sure that's okay? We're suppose to make the final pact," Lloyd said.
"Since we're never coming back here, you better do whatever you want to do," Zelos urged. "You don't want to leave this world with any regrets."
"Yeah…" Lloyd admitted. He turned towards Presea. "Mind going on a little detour?"
"It's fine with me. I like to see what Tabatha wants to show me," Presea admitted.
It took less than ten minutes to reach the mine and another fifteen of walking to reach the waterfall near where they found the inhibitor ore for Presea's key crest. For faster traveling, only Lloyd, Tabatha, and Presea went. This also gave Genis a little more time with Mithos.
"Here?" Presea asked as she looked at the waterfall.
"YES. YOU CAN HEAR THE WHISPERS OF THE EXPSHERES," Tabatha answered.
Both Lloyd and Presea strained their ears, but heard nothing.
"I can't hear anything," Presea said in frustration.
"BE QUIET. PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY," Tabatha advised.
They did what they were told and remained silent.
Minutes passed and nothing happened. Lloyd was about to give up when he heard a chime. He looked to see that the entire area was suddenly lit up in what looked to be hundreds of exspheres. They appeared like diamonds in the rocks.
It was both beautiful and haunting. It was like the exspheres were crying.
"EXSPHERES AND I ARE THE SAME. WE'RE BOTH LIFELESS," Tabatha stated.
Presea turned to look at Tabatha. "You're the same as exspheres?"
"EXSPHERES HAVE FEELINGS TOO. THEY GET LONELY VERY EASILY," Tabatha replied. "SO THEY'RE ALWAYS TRYING TO BE TOGETHER WITH SOMEONE. THEIR LONELINESS ABSORBS PEOPLE'S LIVES."
Tabatha's words struck a cord with Lloyd.
They're loneliness absorb lives? Was that why exspheres feed on humans despite their ability to survive without a host? They didn't just do it for mana, but to ease their own loneliness? Did that mean….exspheres were also victims used and abused by people?
Presea stared over the bridge, watching the sparkling exspheres. "Lonely. Exspheres are lonely….just like me."
"YES AND THEY SEEK COMPANIONS JUST AS YOU DO," Tabatha said with a small smile.
"We humans are the ones digging them up and using them for our own purpose," Lloyd spoke in a soft tone. These exspheres did nothing. All they wanted was to be left in peace and yet they were exploited for their power.
"We are the ones making use of their traits and making them even more lonely as well," Presea replied in understanding. Exspheres weren't inherently evil. They were just creatures living their lives and didn't even need a host. Yet, people had exspheres suck the lives out of others and then used them to either increase their own power or to run their machines. It was the definition of inhumane.
Lloyd though back to what his dad told him so long time ago.
"Exspheres are not bad by nature. Only the people who use them makes them good or bad."
After learning the truth of what exsphere were, he thought his dad lied to him. But now…he saw it was indeed the truth. What made exspheres evil…what made them ruined lives weren't the exspheres. It was people.
"I KNOW THAT THEY ARE MAKING YOU SUFFER," Tabatha sympathized. "BUT PLEASE, DO NOT HATE THEM. EXPSHERES ARE ALIVE TOO."
Presea said nothing for several seconds. "I will think about it. About being lonely and about hate."
"Yeah, just smashing one hatred up against another doesn't solve anything," Lloyd remarked. In fact, it seemed to make things worse from what I've seen.
"YES. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER," Tabatha replied.
"Thank you, Tabatha," Presea said graciously.
Lloyd showed his own graciousness by smiling. For someone who was 'lifeless', Tabatha had more heart than most people he'd met. It was uncanny that anyone could have the talent to make something so….soulful. So alive. Altessa truly created a life.
Tabatha gave a huge smile. "NOT AT ALL, PRESEA. THE EXPSHERES ARE HAPPY AS WELL. THAT YOU HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THEM."
Presea and Lloyd went back to watching the exspheres for a few minutes longer. Both had a newfound understanding towards the beings they once hated. The sooner they separate the worlds, the sooner the exspheres would too get their long deserve rest.
With their final deed done in Tethe'alla and a new resolve on Lloyd's part, the group was ready to make the final pact with Luna that would forever separate the two worlds.
It was hard for Lloyd to believe that their journey was finally coming to an end. It felt so similar to that last night before they went to the Tower of Salvation.
In fact, it felt too similar.
In the back of his mind, something didn't feel right. He got the same bad feeling before going to the Tower of Salvation. Like….something terrible was about to happened. But why did he feel this way now? Surely, they were doing the right thing this time? Yuan all but said this was the only way to save both worlds and Yuan had no reason to lie or deceive. Unlike Kratos who misled them several times. So….why did this suddenly feel wrong?
"You're okay, Lloyd?" Colette asked in concern as she held his back.
"Yeah…." Lloyd muttered.
"You're worried about the pact?" Colette asked.
"I guess. We will be facing two summon spirits this time instead of one. That's going to be tough even with all of us working together," Lloyd said.
While he was worried about pact, that wasn't what made him feel ill. He was almost certain that they would win, but something kept telling him that wasn't a good thing.
He pushed that thought aside. It was too late to turn back now. For better or worse, they had to see this through to the end.
They reached the Tower of Mana in a few hours and found the trip to the top to be uneventful. It was like the monsters in the tower felt how powerful the group was and wisely chose to stay away. It was much the same when they made their pacts with Sylph and Efreet. The monsters wanted nothing to do with them. After fighting in Tethe'alla for so long, the monsters in Sylvarant felt almost like cockroaches.
Soon, they reached the warp that would lead them to the alter where Luna waited, but they were shocked to find Kratos waiting for them.
"Stop!" Kratos ordered. Unlike all the other times they met the man, his voice had an edge of panic. This wasn't the calm, emotionless Kratos that they've seen for several months.
Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "Kratos! Don't get in our way!" He removed his swords, ready to fight. If Kratos was trying to stop them, then this must be the path to freeing the two worlds.
Kratos glared at him. "The Derris-Kharlan core-system just finished calculating its answer. If you form the pact with the summon spirit, the protection around the Great Seed will be completely lost!"
"And that's exactly what we desire!" a voice suddenly declared.
Kratos barely had time to jump out of the way before an energy ball nearly hit him.
"Yuan…." Kratos growled. "I should have figured it was you who put Lloyd up to this. Forming a pact with all the Summon Spirits of the Elements would have been impossible without a means to travel between both worlds. Along with finding a Linkite Tree without a Rheaird."
Yuan appeared before Kratos. He had a cocky smile on his face. "You give me too much credit. They were forming pacts before I recruited them and it was them alone who somehow managed to find a Linkite Tree that was supposed to be long extinct and in Sylvarant no less." He chuckled. "For someone who traveled with them for months, you severely underestimated them."
Kratos continued to glare at his old friend. "Don't you understand?! What you're hoping for will not happen! You're putting everyone in grave danger by being reckless."
Lloyd looked between the two men.
Was Kratos right? Was Yuan acting recklessly? Yuan did admit that he didn't know what would happened once the mana links were broken. Could Kratos actually be telling the truth?
Kratos was a traitor and a lair. He had no reason to listen to a word he said. And yet….
Zelos also had a sinking feeling. Suddenly, he didn't want to form the final pact. But…he had no way of letting his feelings known to the others without giving himself away.
"Silence!" Yuan shouted. "Do you think we'll pass up this opportunity?!"
Kratos sneered. "Dammit, Yuan. For once, listen to me!"
Yuan chose to ignore him. "Lloyd, leave him to me! Go, now! Form the pact with the Summon Spirit of Light!"
Lloyd didn't have to be told twice as he and the entire group ran to the warp, leaving the two angels to fight. From the warp, they ran up the stairs to the alter.
"This is it. The protection around the Great Seed will finally fall after this pact," Lloyd proclaimed. Despite him trying to bury Kratos' warnings, his uneasiness wouldn't go away. Something within him was screaming at him to stop. However, that voice sounded too much like Kratos for him to consider stopping the pact.
"We're counting on you, Sheena," Colette said, breaking Lloyd out of his musings.
Sheena smiled. "You got it!" She approached the alter and within seconds, Luna appeared before them. "I am Sheena! I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me."
Luna stared at her and then at Lloyd. "Where is Aska?"
"He'll come. He promised," Sheena assured.
"I see," Luna whispered. "Then all is well. I shall test thy worthiness to wieldst my power." As soon as she spoke those words, a loud screech could be heard.
Everyone looked up to see Aska flying towards Luna's side. The two light summon spirits were ready for battle.
"Show me thou true strength," Luna said as Aska charged forward while Luna prepared a spell.
Raine quickly cast Acuteness and Barrier just as Aska rammed into Lloyd.
"Judgment!" Colette shouted, casting beams of light from the heavens over the two light spirits. Naturally, however, they were unaffected.
"Colette, I'm afraid your angel powers are limited here," Raine said. "Light magic won't do a thing against them. This also limits my offensive capabilities."
"Then…what should I do?" Colette asked, lost about what she could do support the team.
"Chosen, we have to engage in melee combat," Regal said.
Colette looked nervous. Despite her being the second strongest physical fighter, her experience in melee combat was limited. Most of this was due to always being protected during the Journey of Regeneration and her training with the priests. To ensure the Chosen wasn't harm, she was often forced to fight at mid-range.
"Okay," she finally said.
"Cyclone!" Genis yelled as a green tornado of wind engulfed Aska. The light spirit barely seemed fazed as it made a beeline right for the young mage.
It was only stopped by Zelos who made to repel Aska with a Victory Light Spear.
"Sheesh! It's like Aska is immune to magic," Genis grumbled.
"Limited Ray!" Luna shouted as a beam of light engulfed Genis, causing him to scream in agony.
Raine wasted no time casting Cure on her brother.
Zelos sneered. "So, that's how it is. Aska attacks from the front while Luna sits back and pelts us with spells."
"And they're both seem highly immune to magic," Lloyd noted as he recovered from Aska's previous assault.
Sheena groaned. "And nearly half of us are casters too."
Presea looked towards Lloyd. "What should we do?"
Lloyd hummed under his breath.
They needed to take Aska out first. While Luna's magic was powerful, it also took some time for her to chant them. By herself, she should fall fast to a frontal assault.
However, taking out Aska wasn't going to be easy since the light spirit was fast, agile, and hit extremely hard. They had to attack him from all sides to have a chance.
"Okay, me, Regal, Zelos, and Presea will all attack Aska," Lloyd spoke. He turned his eyes to Colette. "You support us with your singing like you did against Magnius and Rodyle." He turned towards Sheena. "You summon the strongest summon spirit you have in melee combat to distract Luna."
"What about me?" Genis asked.
Lloyd honestly had no clue what Genis could do in this battle. Genis' close range attacks were pitiful. "You can…attack Luna. Maybe you can help Sheena."
Genis gave a grim nod. As much as he hated it, he was the weakest link in this battle.
"Okay, let's go!" Lloyd declared as the four melee fighters charged Aska.
Sheena began her chant. "I call upon the red giant, the ruler of hell fire. I summon thee. Come, Efreet!"
The Summon Spirit of Fire appeared in a bust of flames so bright that it actually blinded both Aska and Lunar.
"Efreet, I need you to take on Lunar," Sheena requested.
Efreet gave a short nod as he flew towards his fellow summon spirit. Aska tried to intercept him, but Lloyd stopped his advance with a Rising Falcon.
"Sorry, Aska, but you're dealing with us," Lloyd declared.
"Fiery Infliction!" Presea shouted, striking the floor before her, which sent rocks flying towards Aska.
Aska managed to dodge at the last possible second, but was blindsided by a Triple Rage Kick from Regal. He finished the combo with a vicious Eagle Fall that knocked Aska to the floor.
Both Lloyd and Presea used this opportunity to attack at the same time, stabbing and craving the falling summon spirit.
Zelos tried to finish the summon spirit with a Demon Spear, but Aska was ready and quickly knocked his attackers away with an explosion of light.
Just as Lloyd was getting back on his feet, he heard Sheena screamed. He looked up to see the summoner get hit by a Holy Lance. Efreet immediately disappeared since Sheena was now greatly weakened.
"Dammit," Lloyd cussed.
"Keep fighting Aska!" Raine ordered as she healed Sheena. "We'll handle Luna."
While she was talking, Genis was trying his best by hitting Luna with as many mid-tier spells as possible to keep her from finishing her chants.
"Raine's right," Regal said, trying to get Lloyd's head back in the battle. "We can't do anything to Luna until we take Aska down."
"I know," Lloyd muttered. He was grateful for Colette's singing at that moment. While she may not be aware of it, her simple song was keeping Luna from one-shotting everyone.
"I can use some help here!" Zelos shouted as he fought Aska by himself.
"Coming!" Lloyd yelled as he ran to join the Chosen. "Twin Tiger Blade!" He slashed upward and then downward twice at Aska with the final strike slamming the summon spirit into the ground.
Presea raised her axe in a motion like she was ready to behead Aska before the light summon spirit got out of the way. He was still, however, hit by the aftermath of the powerful blow.
Luna completed another spell and was ready assist Aska.
"No you don't!" Sheena shouted as she summon Shadow. The summon spirit used his power over darkness to absorbed Luna's Limited Ray.
This didn't deter Luna as she prepared another, quicker spell, that caused Aska to start glowing.
"She just enchanted Aska with Keenness. Be very careful," Raine warned. Aska began to glow again. "She also cast Permaguard."
"Great. Now that flaming bird will be even harder to kill," Zelos grumbled.
"Luna and Aska's teamwork is unmatched," Regal praised.
"Then, we have to make our own teamwork stronger then theirs," Lloyd spoke as he charged forward.
"You got it, bud!" Zelos shouted as he performed a Hell Pyre.
Presea quickly followed him up with a Rising Punishment. The two attacks merged to allow Presea to create a cyclone of flamesthat knocked Aska out of the air.
Lloyd used this moment to perform Beast, but was caught off guard when fire surrounded him. He quickly relaxed when he realized it was Genis supporting him with a fire attack.
Despite the heavy damaged from the two combination attacks, Aska was still able to fly back up and knocked all his attackers off their feet with a devastating light attack.
Raine was pushed to her limit trying to heal all the damage.
"Take a break, Raine," Regal said as he took over the healing duty.
"Thank you," Raine whispered as she reached into the bag for a pineapple gel.
Sheena envied Raine since she was at her limit too maintaining Shadow to keep Luna's attacks at bay, but right now she couldn't asked for further support since everyone was busy with Aska.
"I got you, Sheena," Colette said as she rushed to the summoners side and used her chakrams to knock Luna off balance.
"Colette, you…" Sheena started.
"I couldn't just sing while you guys fought so hard," Colette assured. "Please, you need to rest."
Sheena huffed gratefully.
Lloyd was becoming frustrated as he kept attacking Aska and the summon spirit seemed unfazed by any of his blows. At this rate, Aska and Luna would beat them by wearing them out. And unlike the other summon spirits outside of Volt, they wouldn't get another chance. Not with Kratos just downstairs battling Yuan.
They had to take out Aska with one big attack.
"Everyone, focus everything you have on Aska!" Lloyd shouted as his swords began to glow.
"Understood," Genis said as he started to chant. He was saving this spell for a special moment and it looked like the time was now. It would drain almost all of his mana and he would be useless for the rest of the battle, but if it could take out Aska, he was ready for it.
"Demonic Circle!" Lloyd shouted as he rushed Aska and viciously slashed him.
"Grand Cross!" Colette yelled. While she knew light attacks had little effect on Aska, Grand Cross was her strongest attack.
"Super Lightning Blade!" Zelos exclaimed as he embedded his sword into Aska's side.
"Triple Rage Kick!" Regal yelled.
"Eternal Damnation!" Presea exclaimed as she slammed her axe into the floor twice and performed a somersault that rammed into the summon spirit. If Aska was normal creature, it would have been ripped to shreds by the sheer force of the assault.
"Cyclone Seal!" Sheena yelled as waves of paper hit Aska. Her attack was by far the weakest outside of Colette's light attack, but it was the best she could do at the moment. She didn't have the mana yet to perform another summon.
While Aska was undoubtedly hurt from the combine assault, he was still battle ready, until…
"I call upon thee in the land of the dead, to unleash thy fury of thunder! Indignation!" Genis shouted as a giant pillar of light engulfed the entire battlefield.
Everyone was blinded and nearly lost their footing as Aska was engulfed in a column of lightning. The Summon Spirit of Light could only scream as he disappeared.
When the light faded, only Luna remained, stunned by what happened to her partner.
"What the…." Lloyd muttered. The suddenly shock of seeing lightning made him drop his swords and his body involuntary shake. Dammit! Even now…lightning still freaked him out.
Still. Indignation? Wasn't that the same attack Volt used repeatedly against them? Did that really come from Genis?
"Genis…" Raine whispered in both shock and pride.
He did it! He learned one of the strongest attacks in magic and he did it all while still a kid, something that not even fully trained elven children could do. Absolutely amazing. It would seem Kratos was right yet again. He knew from the start that Genis had it within him to learn Indignation so young, which was why he pushed him to learn Thunder Blade.
As much as she disliked the man, his brief time training with Genis had paid off.
"I am impress," Luna said, getting over her awe.
"Genis you…" Lloyd started as he picked up his sword and tried to make his body stop shaking. He stopped when he saw the young mage collapse. "Genis!"
He was ready to rushed to his friend's side, but Regal reached Genis first.
"He's okay, but he's badly drained," Regal informed as he began to heal Genis. "It would appear that his young body wasn't quite ready for such a powerful spell."
"I guess he wouldn't. Grown men can't perform Indignation," Zelos said. What the hell was this kid? How did he perform a master level spell?
"While thou has done well to vanquish Aska, the trial is not yet finish," Luna informed.
"She's right," Sheena huffed. "It isn't over until we defeat Luna."
"Then, let's go!" Lloyd yelled as he jumped into the air and performed a Twin Tiger Blade.
Zelos and Sheena backed him up with a combination attack called Dark Serpent.
"Stardust Cross!" Colette yelled as she threw a small radiant orb into the air, which then explodes into numerous of stars crossing down upon Luna.
Luna quickly countered with a Proton followed by Ray, but they were able to avoid most of the damage.
Lloyd quickly realized that as powerful as Luna was, her offensive spells weren't as powerful as some of the other summon spirits. She obviously depended on Aska to be the offensive force while she supported. He now understood why Luna refused to battle without Aska.
Regardless, however, she was still very dangerous. While she may not be the strongest spirit, taking out Aska had drained them. Genis was out, Sheena couldn't summon any more summon spirits, Colette's angel power did chip damage, and Regal was helping Raine with the healing so he couldn't be on the frontline as much. It wouldn't take much for Luan to wipe them out.
"I got her, Lloyd," Presea said, as if reading his thoughts. Lloyd nearly stepped back in shock as he felt a powerful mana build around Presea. From the corner of his eye, he could see her exsphere glowing. Whatever she was going to do, she was about to unleash the full power of her exosphere.
She ran forward and lifted her axe. "This…is the end!" She jumped into the air, did a somersault, and landed a heavy blow on Luna's head that was so powerful that the entire floor exploded under them like a volcano just erupted. "Crimson Devastation!" Luna was quite literally split in half and exploded in a bust of light.
Everyone was left speechless from the display of power.
Presea lowered her axe and put a hand over her heart like she was praying. "There is no way to turn back time…"
After a moment of silence, they could hear Luna's voice. "Thou art powerful." She reappeared alongside Aska. Like all the summon spirits, neither looked hurt from the intense battle. "Now state thy vow upon which thou wilt base our pact."
Sheena slowly stepped forward, still sore from the battle. "I vow to germinate the Great Seed in order to realize the true regeneration of both worlds."
Luna gave a small nod. "We accept thy vow. Our power is thine along with those who assisted you in this trial." He opened her hand and a ring appeared.
The ring floated to Sheena's opened hand.
"This is the topaz ring. This is proof of thy pact and the symbol of Aska and mine's power," Luna said as both the Light spirits disappeared.
Before anyone could take in their victory, they heard footsteps. They turned to see Yuan and Kratos behind them.
"You did it!" Yuan praised. To think, this ragtag group managed to beat all the Elementary Summon Spirits. Not only did they destroy all the mana links, they greatly weakened Mithos' power. Now, only Origin and Maxwell remained under Mithos' control.
Kratos went pale. "No…"
Just as Kratos spoke, the alter began to shine and a pillar of light shot up from it. From where the group stood, they could see distance light shooting across the land, coming from the areas where the other summon spirit's alters laid.
Not even a second later, the earth began to tremble.
Lloyd looked up, pulled by some unknown force towards the Tower of Salvation and what he saw made his heart stop.
Instead of seeing a mighty, beautiful tree like told in the old stories, he instead saw twisted roots shooting from the ground, tearing at the very earth. The Tower of Salvation was quickly covered up by these roots and from the center, Lloyd swore she saw a young woman. For a split second, he thought it was Tabatha, but that was impossible. Tabatha was back in Tethe'alla. There was no way she would be seen from this world.
Before long, the roots took the form of a tree. A very mutated and sickly tree that reached into the heavens. It covered the entire Tower of Salvation.
"What's happening!?" Lloyd finally asked, finding his voice. This wasn't supposed to happen.
"Oh my go..." Zelos started, but stopped himself. There was no goddess or god that could help them.
"It that…the Giant Kharlan Tree!?" Genis asked in disbelief.
Colette put her hands over her heart. "That person…I feel like I've met her somewhere before."
Lloyd looked at his childhood friend in surprise. So...it wasn't his imagination. There really was a young woman in that tree.
"MARTEL!" Yuan shouted, ignoring all the talk around him. Why was Martel there? What has he done? Surely….he couldn't have cause Martel more suffering.
"Martel? That woman about to be consumed by the tree is Martel?" Raine asked, trying to get Yuan out of his own head.
"She reminds me of someone," Colette continued. "She reminds me of…"
"Of Tabatha," Lloyd mentally finished for Colette. But why? Why would Martel remind them of Tabatha?
"Why would Martel reappear with that giant, grotesque tree?" Yuan asked himself, still ignoring everyone around him.
Kratos rubbed his forehead. "I was afraid this would happen." If only Lloyd and Yuan had listened to him. But….that was his own fault. He gave everyone no reason to trust him given his history of betrayals. Now, both world may be destroyed because of it.
"What do you mean?" Lloyd questioned.
"Having lost the stability afforded by the protection of the summon spirits, the Great Seed has gone out of control," Kratos replied evenly.
"No!" Yuan yelled in denial. "The purpose of the summon spirits was to isolate the Great Seed from the outside world and prevent it from growing!"
Kratos folded his arms. "That was only half of it. The two worlds were forced out of phase by Yggdrasill. They should have drifted apart from each other and have been consumed by the void. But this was prevented from happening because the Great Seed was placed in the center between the two worlds."
Yuan sneered at his old friend. "I don't need a lecture from you to know that!"
He was the one, after all, who explained this to both Kratos and Mithos when he split the worlds and why the system they created was shortsighted.
It was also a key part of Zilveren's plan when he wanted to split the worlds and put the newly born World Tree in the center. The only real difference was that the summon spirits wasn't needed for Zilveren's plan since the new World Tree would have been strong enough to prevent the worlds from drifting for the rest of eternity. Especially after he fed all the mana from the half-elves he planned to murder into the tree.
"The Great Seed is constantly being pulled upon from both worlds as they try to separate from one another. It's a miracle that this delicate balance held up for even this long." Kratos went on. To this day, he didn't know if the strength of will came from the Great Seed or from Martel.
Yuan was about to yell again that he knew all this until Kratos' words finally hit him. How could he missed this? "Wait! So the mana links served as a cage to contain the Great Seed in the space between the two worlds? Is that what you're saying?"
"Exactly," Kratos confirmed. "And because you provided the unstable Great Seed with mana it germinated into a twisted form and has gone out of control. It's even engulfed Martel."
Yuan felt his mouth go dry.
How? How could he be so foolish? He was the one who taught Kratos and Mithos these kinds of things and even setup the system with the summon spirits to keep the Great Seed stable. He should have foreseen this….but in his rushed to free Martel before the Great Seed died….to finally win his war against Cruxis….
"Oh Martel…" he whispered.
"Who cares why this happened! I wanna know what's gonna happen if we can't stop this thing!" Lloyd yelled desperately. He honestly didn't understand what Kratos was talking about.
Yuan ran his hand through his hair, trying to get his thoughts together. There was no time to mourn. "If what Kratos says is true, then Sylvarant will be consumed and destroyed by the Great Seed. And if Sylvarant is destroyed, Tethe'alla will be destroyed as well, as it is linked by the Holy Ground of Kharlan and the Otherworldly Gate."
"Then…everyone will die," Presea summarized, causing the entire group's blood to run cold.
"Everyone except that twisted tree and the angels that live on Derris-Kharlan," Kratos corrected. Which meant, Mithos would probably do nothing to stop the tree, wherever Mithos was. As long as Derris-Kharlan was safe, Mithos would sacrifice the two worlds to keep from harming the Martel's soul.
Yuan caught what Kratos meant. This was his mess to clean up regardless. He wouldn't have asked for Mithos' help even if he offered it.
"We have to do something!" Genis exclaimed.
"But what can we do!?" Sheena asked in despair.
"Yuan, how do you plan to rectify this situation?" Regal asked in his most calm voice. No matter what, they couldn't panic.
"We can cut off the mana flow and stop the seed from receiving any more mana," Yuan stated.
Kratos shook his head. "But that won't subdue the Giant Tree. The process has already begun."
Zelos stepped forward. "Is the Giant Tree going crazy like that in Tethe'alla too?"
"Highly unlikely," Kratos answered. "Although I imagine they are feeling some effects, such as earthquakes."
Raine tapped her chin. "That makes sense. Because Colette activated the process of world regeneration, the summon spirits of Sylvarant are now active. Therefore, the Kharlan Tree was drawn over here by Sylvarant's summon spirits."
Kratos was once again impressed by Raine's insight. She was truly wise beyond her years. "Correct. The summon spirits exchange their respective roles of yin and yang each time a Chosen's quest for world regeneration succeeds. Currently, the summon spirits of Sylvarant are carrying out the role of yang by providing the mana. But because the Giant Tree has over-absorbed Sylvarant's mana, it has gone out of control.
"If that's the case, couldn't we neutralize it by blasting it with the power of the opposing summon spirits?" Lloyd asked as his mind race to keep up with the conversation.
Genis' mouth dropped. "You actually understood what we were talking about?"
Lloyd blushed as he glared his friend. "Shut it, Genis!" He quickly recomposed himself. "Professor once said that the negative and positive of a magnet neutralize each other. This is kind of the same thing, right?"
"That's not quite right, Lloyd, but nonetheless it's a clever idea coming from you," Raine said after some thought.
Kratos had to agree. Lloyd's theory was sound despite the flaws in his reasoning. At the same time, he couldn't blame Lloyd for being lost. It took him years to understand even half of what Yuan and Mithos were talking about when they went into one of their discussions on mana and the natural universe.
For as much as the two men disliked each other these days, bring up any mana theory, especially the Angelus, and they both would debate like brothers to the point that they often talk about Lloyd like a science experiment and not a person. Even for as much as Yuan hated the Ranches, he still read every thesis paper written by Kvar and Rodyle, and gave them ideas. Yuan and Mithos were naturally curious people and they would happily take information even if how that information was obtain was immoral.
Which was why he was still surprised that Yuan didn't do the proper tests before he went about his plan to break the mana links.
"Even if we did decide to try and set the summon spirits of Tethe'alla against it, how are we gonna go about doing that? We can't get close to that crazy thing the way it is now," Sheena pointed out.
"The Mana Cannon," Yuan replied as his eyes lit up.
"Mana Cannon? That machine Rodyle was building?" Presea asked in disgust. She wanted nothing to do with that evil thing.
Yuan folded his arms and tried not to look at Presea. "We were actually manipulating Rodyle into building that."
Now that Presea was directly looking at him, for once in a long time, Yuan felt guilt over his actions or lack of actions against Rodyle. He saw that girl years ago in that backwood village and chose to do nothing since Rodyle was too useful to get rid of.
Kratos stared at Yuan for a moment. So, that was how Rodyle managed to fly under the radar for so long. Yuan was covering for him and reported his actions only as a means to stay out of Mithos' gaze. He figured that might have been the case.
"So you're suggesting we feed the mana of Tethe'alla's summon spirits into the Mana Cannon and fire it at the Giant Tree. I suppose there's no better option right now," Kratos remarked after some thought. It was the only thing he could think of at the moment. Hopefully, Martel's soul and the Great Seed would survive the ordeal.
"First, we need to shut off the current flow of mana to the tree. It'll be too late if the tree grows any larger," Raine said.
"Then here's the plan. Yuan, I'm going to pretend I don't know who you've been working with or what you've been doing. In exchange, you're going to order the Renegades to stop firing mana at the tree immediately. Meanwhile, Lloyd's group will head for the Mana Cannon," Kratos said.
Yuan gave a small nod. He hated that Kratos now knew that he led the Renegades, but it couldn't be helped. Kratos most likely suspected as much for years anyway. In fact, he probably figured it out when he was on the run with Anna.
The warp suddenly came to life and a Renegade solder came running towards the group.
"Lord Yuan, we've got terrible news! Forcystus has executed our Iselia Ranch infiltration team!"
Yuan paled. Damn. At all times.
Lloyd tilted his head. "What does that mean?"
"The Iselia Ranch is still operational. We had people working undercover to switch over the mana flow," Yuan explained. He should have dealt with Forcystus from the start, but he didn't think it would've been necessary if the plan worked.
Zelos sighed as he rubbed his head. "In other words, we have to infiltrate the place right now and stop the flow."
Kratos stepped forward. "Then I shall go."
This got Regal's attention. "You? Are you suggesting we should send you, our enemy, to do this by yourself?"
Yuan had the same feeling. "I'll send some of my men."
Even if Kratos was his ally at the moment, he learned too many times to never truth the man.
"Preparations for the Mana Cannon, the shutdown of the mana reactors throughout the world, there are too many things we need the Renegades to do. You don't have enough troops to do everything," Kratos reasoned.
Yuan growled under his breath. He knew Kratos was right, especially since he no longer had Botta. But, he sure in hell wasn't going to trust Kratos with this.
Raine looked between the two Seraphim in bafflement. Since Kratos and Yuan were one of the Four Seraphim and the Desians served Cruxis, couldn't they just ordered Forcystus to stop the mana flow? Or…perhaps they knew that Yggdrasill wouldn't allow it. The leader of Cruxis has shown by his actions that he doesn't care about the worlds and their plan did have a high risk of destroying the Great Seed along with Martel.
"I'll go," Lloyd spoke up, breaking the tense silence.
This got everyone's attention.
"What are you saying?! We have to head for the Mana Cannon!" Sheena exclaimed.
Lloyd shook his head. "You and the Renegades can take care of the Mana Cannon. Kratos and the rest of us will infiltrate the Iselia Ranch. Fire the Mana Cannon when we give you the word. You wouldn't be able to trust the signal if it came from Kratos alone, right?"
Sheena thought over Lloyd's words. "Well, that's true, but…"
"Is it about Chocolat?" Kratos suddenly asked, catching everyone except Colette off-guard.
Lloyd glared at Kratos from the side of his eye. How the hell could this guy still read him so well?
Colette clapped her hands together. "That's right. Chocolat is held at the Iselia Ranch. Lloyd, you remembered your promise."
Lloyd blushed. It was the least he could do.
"Alright," Yuan conceded. "We'll leave it to you then. Don't let us down."
While he didn't wholly trust Lloyd and his group either, it was far better than leaving everything to Kratos. At the very least, Lloyd was incapable of betrayal and he didn't think Zelos would turn on them. Like Forcystus would listen to a human anyway, even the Chosen. He was by far the most racist of the Grand Cardinals in that respect.
Lloyd punched his open palm. "Let's go, guys!"
Chapter done, and we get even closer to the end of Act II. It still feel surreal that we have reached this point, but we still have some ways to go as we finally take on Forcystus.
Until next chapter, stay safe.