It here, the finale of Act II! Thank you all for supporting this story as we cross another milestone.
Now, onward to the chapter.
Chapter 82: Forcystus the Gnashing Gale
Kratos quickly led the group of prisoners outside where they rejoiced at they newly won freedom, even if the world was ending. He couldn't blame them. If giving the choice, who would've die free instead of dying in the hellhole known as the Ranch.
What was telling, however, was that Forcystus made no effort to stop them. He could have easily tried to hold the prisoners as hostage like Magnius, but he didn't even bother. That told Kratos that Forcystus didn't care and he all but abandoned the Ranch. That only meant one thing…
"With everyone safe, it's now up to Lloyd and the others to shut down the reactor," Regal said.
Raine joined them. "It won't be easy if Forcystus is the one guarding it."
Kratos hummed in agreement.
Regal turned towards the angel. "Kratos, why can't you just order Forcystus to turn off the reactor? You are of Cruxis and one of the Four Seraphim. Isn't your word second only to Yggdrasill?"
Raine glanced at her former comrade. Leave it to Regal to eventually ask the question on everyone's minds.
Kratos looked at the Lezareno's president from the side of his eyes. "Normally that would be the case, however, Forcystus won't listen to me."
This confused Regal.
"It's because Yggdrasill ordered for the reactor not to be turned off," Raine surmised. Her voice had a hint of disgust. "What twisted logic."
Genis' eyes widened. "That's crazy! Not even Yggdrasill should want the worlds to be destroyed. How could that be part of Cruxis'…the angels' plan?"
"Yggdrasill would sacrifice both worlds if it meant keeping Martel safe," Kratos answered. "She is fused with the Great Seed, which is trapped within that mutated tree, meaning that anything we do to it could cause her harm."
Regal shook his head in disbelief. "He would go that far to protect her? How can he so easily cast away the world? Is it not the source of all life?"
"Mana is the source of life," Kratos corrected, "and as long as Derris-Kharlan remains intact, Yggdrasill has no need for either Sylvarant or Tethe'alla. He would have destroyed these worlds centuries ago if he didn't have the need to keep breeding Chosens to create a vessel for Martel."
"It does makes sense since Yuan did say that the Great Seed was nearing death, which was why he filled it with mana," Raine remarked after a moment of thought. "Regardless of the state of the worlds or the Great Seed, Derris-Kharlan is the perfect shelter."
"I…I just can't wrap my mind around why Yggdrasill is so obsess with Martel," Genis stuttered. "He's willing to rip apart the worlds to protect her."
"Regardless of Yggdrasill's orders, wouldn't Forcystus and the Desian perish too if the worlds are destroyed?" Regal questioned.
"Knowing Forcystus, he probably believes that Yggdrasill will save the Desians by allowing them to live on Derris-Kharlan as a half-elf paradise," Kratos stated.
"By the sound of your voice, you don't believe that will be the case," Raine noted.
"It won't," Kratos replied bluntly. "Desians, which includes the Grand Cardinals, are little more than expendable pawns to Yggdrasill and Cruxis. He would never bother to save them. Remember, I slain countless Desians and two Grand Cardinals in the service of protecting the Chosen."
Raine realized that Kratos had a point. Even if Kvar was a traitor and Magnius was tricked into assassinating Colette, Kratos acted against Kvar before he learned of his treachery and attacked Magnius when he invaded Palmacosta after Colette insisted that they return. He even let them destroy their Ranches, weakening the Desian's infrastructure.
It all painted the picture that the Desians were indeed collateral damage if Cruxis had no issue with killing them to gain the Chosen's trust.
Kratos gave a long sigh.
Truthfully, he wasn't completely sure if Mithos gave any orders since he went and disappear on him, and nothing he tried could track down his former student. Pronyma probably knew where he was since he trusted her more than Yuan and him, given her undying loyalty and treating everything Mithos did as the word of god.
Still, it disturbed him that Mithos didn't even try to contact him. What was he up to?
The only bright spot to all of this was that he could moved more freely with his own plans since he didn't need to explain himself to Mithos about being away from Derris-Kharlan so much. He was aware that Pronyma was keeping an eye on him, no doubt under Mithos' order, but he knew how to maneuver around her and her reach was limited in Tethe'alla where most of his business was being conducted. And, amusing enough, Pronyma chasing him kept her eyes away from Yuan.
"So in the end….even the Desians are victims of Cruxis," Regal spoke in disgust.
"This is the reason why the Grand Cardinals are made up of half-elves who would sell their souls for science and power like Kvar and Rodyle, or zealots who worship Yggdrasill as a righteous god and the savior of half-elves such as Magnius, Forcystus, and Pronyma. Any sane person would have seen how Cruxis abuse the Desians," Kratos explained.
"I figured as much when Cruxis was in no hurry to depose of Rodyle who was actively working against them and it explains why they let someone as insane as Kvar experiment with little supervision," Raine said. "Finding the right kind of morally bankrupt soul and naive true believer isn't easy."
Kratos said nothing, but everything the Professor said was right. For someone outside of Cruxis' circle and only learned the truth a few months ago, the Professor remains a force to be reckoned with. If she was Desian or a Grand Cardinal, she would be far more effective than Forcystus and Pronyma. He was even willing to bet she would be a modern version of Lucious if given the resources. Thank the spirits the Professor was born with a moral code.
The fact was, replacing even one Grand Cardinal was a pain, a decade long process on average. Losing Magnius and Kvar in rapid succession set the Desians back at least fifty years. Granted, if Mithos was right about the Chosen, the Desians would be obsolete after this last cycle.
"I guess…there's nothing left to do but wait," Genis said slowly. He really wished he was by Lloyd's side.
Kratos looked to the Ranch. His face blanked.
If Lloyd was as good as he believed he was, he could beat Forcystus. He also had the Chosen by his side who was a full angel, even ill, and the Tethe'alla Chosen who was more than capable from all the reports he read. He had to be to have any trust within Cruxis. There was also that failed Angelus Project, Presea he believed her name was. While his information on her was limited, he has seen her strength which rivaled the angels. Failure or not, Rodyle created a monster. Thankfully, that monster found proper guidance.
Either way, he had to believe in his son and his allies' power. After all, if they fall to Forcystus, they never stood a chance against Mithos.
Lloyd huffed as he attempted to push Forcystus off of him.
Kratos wasn't kidding when he said the man was strong. While he was no Magnius, at least in terms of raw strength, he knew how to used his power better. Every mistake he made, Forcystus attempted to punished him. This was the first time he was pushed this hard skill-wise since his battle with Yuan.
For extra annoyance, those things Forcystus brought with him, which he called Exbone, were a real pain in the ass. Not only were they tough, but they constantly cast wind magic to support Forcystus.
"Take out those Exbone!" Lloyd yelled. "I will keep Forcystus at bay!"
Forcystus scoffed at him. "Do you really think you can handle me alone, boy? You may have grown stronger, but you're still just a child."
Lloyd smirked. "Perhaps, but I dealt with worst than you."
Now Forcystus was laughing. "Oh really? Are you really comparing me to the other Grand Cardinals? You won't live to regret that. Unlike those others fools, I kept up my training."
"Then shut up and fight!" Lloyd dared as he ran in.
While this was happening, Presea ruthlessly slammed her axe into the Exbone. Despite her great power, the floating machine was barely dented.
"Opponent is made from some unknown alloy," Presea noted.
"O' holy one, cast thy purifying light upon this corrupt soul... light of judgment! Judgment!" Colette shouted as rain of light came falling from the ceiling.
Zelos was dealing with the other Exbone, but he had to be careful not to overextend himself. Without Raine or Regal around, he was now the only healer in the group. Meaning, he not only had to keep himself healthy, but also the rest of the team.
Man, why did Lloyd not bring someone else? While he could use healing magic, he was far from the best. He would have been much happier if Raine or Regal had come along. Well, at least, he came prepared thank to Yuan.
He glanced down at his bag.
After much coaxing, he managed to get Yuan to give him a miracle gel. If he did get too badly hurt and low on mana, he can consume this and be fine. But he only had one, so he had to make sure to use it at the right time.
"Rising Punishment!" Presea yelled as he grounded one of the Exbone. Before she could do more damage to it, the second Exbone hit her with a Wind Blade.
"Sorry, I got him," Colette said as she chanted. "Light of redemption that guides us to day break, listen to my voice. Holy prayers will be spoken for all eternity. Now, let there be light! Grand Cross!"
The Exbone that attacked Presea was flung into the air and exploded into a cross of pure light. Despite that, however, it was still very functional.
"Tough bastards," Zelos grumbled as he nailed his Exbone with a Demon Spear. He would loved to do magic, but he had to save every ouch of mana he had for healing spells.
Forcystus smirked as he watched Lloyd's allies from the side of his eye. "I much admit, you have gathered some strong comrades. A big upgrade from just you and the kid."
Lloyd growled and brought his swords up. "Demonic Thrust!" Waves of mana rushed at Forcystus who blocked the attack with his arm cannon.
"You have to do better than that! Air Blade!" A giant blade of air formed and rushed at Lloyd, which he nimbly evaded.
"Same to you," Lloyd mocked.
Before Lloyd could bragged further, he was blindsided when Forcystus lifted his cannon arm and fired at him. He barely had time to dodged and several of the blasts nicked his shoulder, burning his jacket. Lloyd was shocked to see that the blast even melted his chainmail.
"You humans are all the same. The moment you think you're ahead, you drop your guard," Forcystus mocked as he fired again.
Lloyd had no choice but to evade. It would only take one hit from Forcystus' cannon to take him out since it could bypass his armor and deflecting was also out of the question since those blasts would damage his swords.
After several seconds of dodging, Lloyd was able to perform Guardian. Still, the cannon blast badly shook the shield and left several cracks.
"Now, you can't move at all," Forcystus said as he rapidly fired.
Lloyd mentally counted the time between each blast, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.
"What's wrong, human? Don't tell me you lost your vigor already?" Forcystus continued to mock as he kept shooting. "At this rate, your shield will break and you will be mine."
Lloyd's eyes narrowed once he was sure of his time. "I don't think so. Double Demon Fang!"
Forcystus was shocked that Lloyd was able to time his Demon Fang to the exact moment his cannon pause mid-fire. He was forced to back away, giving Lloyd the opportunity to charge him.
"Hunting Beast!" Lloyd slammed the Grand Cardinal with his mana that took the form of a beast's head. Once Forcystus was knocked back, he flipped into the air and dropped to the floor with enough force that it created a powerful shockwave that blew Forcystus off his feet.
"You inferior being! Die!" Forcystus screamed as he performed Air Thrust, sending several discs of wind at the young swordsman.
Lloyd was cut badly across his legs, but overall it could have been worst.
"First Aid!" Zelos yelled, healing some of the damage to Lloyd's legs.
"Thanks," Lloyd called.
"Just keep up your guard!" Zelos warned.
Presea continued her mission in trying to pound her Exbone into sludge. So far, the floating machine stubbornly refused to die.
"Infinite Destruction!" She slammed her axe into the floor, launching several chucks of steel at the Exbone. It defended itself with a Wind Blade, destroying the scrap metal, but this gave Presea the time to jump into the air with an uppercut before slamming her axe into the Exbone, giving it a nasty gashed across its metal body.
The Exbone swiftly counterattacked with a Wind Blade that forced Presea back.
Colette quickly began another chant, trying desperately to help Presea and keep the second Exbone at bay. "Thy faithful servant asketh for thy blessing.. honor us with the special…" She paused as realized that she made a mistake in the chant in her haste. "Uh, oops."
This got Zelos' attention. "What do you mean 'oops'?"
Colette blushed before she stuck her tongue out in embarrassment. "I messed up…."
Before the full impact of her words hit Zelos the entire room suddenly lit up. Everything was covered in columns of light and the room shook from the sheer power of the angelic magic.
"What the hell!?" Forcystus exclaimed as he too was hit by the beam of light.
After several seconds of being blinded, the light finally faded. To everyone's shock, the Exbone that Presea was fighting was lying broken on the floor and the second Exbone was badly damaged. Forcystus, somehow, came out of the attack with only minor injures.
"What…what did you do?" Forcystus growled.
"Looks like she did Judgment, but it was way stronger," Zelos spoke in shocked.
"Estimated, fifty-five percent stronger," Presea calculated. Although, it was obvious that despite her calm voice, she was shaken by happened.
Lloyd looked at his his hand. "It did more than that…. I feel…stronger."
Zelos also checked his body. "You're right. If feels like she did Holy Song on us, but she isn't singing." His eyes widened and look at Colette. "You actually combined two angel's spells together!"
"I..I did?" Colette questioned.
"Impossible!" Forcystus yelled in denial. "No one can do that. Not even Lord Yggdrasill!"
"Well, she just did," Zelos replied dryly. He smirked. "Maybe your god isn't all powerful after all."
"Shut your blasphemy mouth," Forcystus sneered.
Lloyd laughed. "Colette's divine clumsiness strikes again."
Forcystus growled. "You're mocking me. Well, play time is over!"
"Get ready! I sense some powerful magic!" Zelos warned. Now, he really wished Raine was her with her Field Barrier.
"Get ready to burn in hell!" Forcystus shouted as he rush Lloyd so quickly that he barely had time to blink. "Down Burst!"
He rose into the air while being surrounded by spirals of green wind. The force was so powerful that Lloyd was lifted up with the attack. With a manic laugh, Forcystus slammed his arm-cannon into Lloyd's chest and plummeted him into the ground, leaving cracks on the steel floor. It was a miracle that floor didn't collapsed from under both of them.
"LLOYD!" Colette screamed in horror.
Lloyd's jacket was nearly completely shredded to the point that the mangled chainmail could be seen. Where Forcystus had hit Lloyd there was a large hole that didn't seem to have an end.
Forcystus chuckled as he looked over his work. "He's dead." He glared at the others. "But don't worry. You'll soon follow."
Colette felt sick. Lloyd couldn't be…
"Here!" Zelos suddenly shouted as he ran over and pushed something in Colette's hand.
"This…" she started.
"Take the Life Bottle to Lloyd. He's still alive but barely and those wounds are too much for my magic to heal," Zelos quickly ordered.
Forcystus sneered as he took aimed at the Chosens. "I won't let you!"
Zelos was able to reaction a millisecond faster. "Grave!"
The sudden spike of earth took Forcystus off-guard, giving Colette her opening to run to Lloyd.
The remaining Exbone tried to intercept her, but was cut off by Presea who viciously slammed her axe into its side.
It took Colette less than a second to cross the room and forced the Life Bottle into Lloyd's mouth. "Here! Please be okay!"
After several seconds, Lloyd started to stir. "Colette…"
"It's okay," Colette assured as she hugged him. "I'm here."
"First Aid!" Zelos yelled as he attempted to heal any remaining damage on Lloyd.
"I was a fool," Forcystus sneered as he got right into Zelos' face. "I should have killed the healer first." He put his arm cannon right into Zelos' chest, ready to fire point blank.
Zelos managed to pushed the cannon away at the last possible moment, but impact still left a gaping wound on his side.
Presea saw this happening and growled. She wanted to help, but she couldn't afford to leave the Exbone unguarded, even if it was heavily damaged.
Before Forcystus could land the finishing blow, Lloyd rammed the Grand Cardinal on his side with a powerful Raging Beast.
"Dammit! You should have stayed dead!" Forcystus yelled as he punched Lloyd away from him and followed it with an Air Blade that the young swordsman deflected.
"No way am I going to die here!" Lloyd shouted as he build up his mana. "Sonic Sword Rain!" He thrust his sword several times into Forcystus before doing one last thrust that pushed the Grand Cardinal away.
Forcystus gasped as blood flowed out of his wounds.
While this was happening, Zelos cast First Aid on himself, but he was still dizzy from blood lost.
"Don't think you've won yet!" Forcystus exclaimed as mana built within his body.
Lloyd attempted to stop him, afraid he was going to do his ultimate attack again.
"Cyclone!" Forcystus shouted as a tornado of green air flung Zelos and Lloyd like they were rag dolls.
Presea gave one last swing and split apart the Exbone. Now, she could finally focus on Forcystus. "Colette, back me up."
Colette gave a small nod. "Right." She threw her chakrams at Forcystus to distract him since her mana was dangerously low from her little accident.
Presea charged forward, preparing to used the technique that cut down Luna.
Forcystus sensed the killing intent in Presea. "You overestimate yourself." He ran to meet Presea in the middle of the room and used his wind magic to knock her off her footing. "This is the end, Down Burst!"
Much like when he attacked Lloyd, Forcystus rose into the air and took Presea with him. Before he could do the final part of the attack that would have ripped the small girl to shreds, Lloyd intercepted.
"Omega Tempest!" he yelled as he performed a spin forward and spun directly upward to continue the attack, hitting Forcystus several times.
Forcystus growled when he saw that his Cyclone somehow did minimal damaged to Lloyd.
"First Aid!" Zelos shouted as Presea landed on the floor. He huffed in exhaustion and silently thanked Yuan for the miracle gel. Without it, he would have never have the mana to heal himself and Lloyd from that stupid Cyclone.
Still, he was at his limit. He didn't know how many heals he had left and everyone was running low on mana.
"Lloyd, you have to finish him now!" Zelos shouted.
Lloyd gave a small nod. "You got it."
"I'll help too," Colette as she summon the last of her mana. "Grand Cross!"
Instead of aiming it at Forcystus, she instead embedded her attack into Lloyd's swords, remembering what he did against Sword Dancer.
Lloyd was filled with holy power as he charged forward.
Forcystus took aim, ready to blow Lloyd's head off until Presea ran forward and brought her axe down on Forcystus' cannon. Amazingly, it didn't break despite the sheer force of the attack, but it did ground him.
"You…" he didn't have the chance to finish.
"Gungnir!" Lloyd shouted as he thrusted his sword into Forcystus' chest, causing him to howl in agony as he seemingly exploded in light.
Zelos wanted to make sure Forcystus was dead and charged up one last spell. "Eruption!"
Magma surrounded Forcystus and Presea used this opportunity to ram the Grand Cardinal with Beast.
The combination of the all the attacks sent Forcystus flying off the platform that they were fighting on and into he pit below. He didn't even have the chance to scream.
It took everyone several seconds for everyone to realized that the battle was over and…they've won.
Zelos slumped in exhaustion. "Too close... That guy was tougher than some of the summon spirits."
Presea carefully put her axe away. "The summon spirits outside of Volt only wanted to test us. Forcystus wanted us dead."
"And he nearly did it too," Lloyd said as he looked over his ruined jacket.
There was no way he could repair this. Not only was the material damaged beyond his ability to sew, but his chainmail was also damaged with parts actually melted by Forcystus' cannon. Thankfully, they were near his dad's house, so he could repair it. At least that was some good news.
He quickly shook his head. He couldn't think about his clothing now. "We have to stop the reactor."
He ran towards the control panel and looked over it. He had…no idea what to do. Dammit, he should have brought either Raine or Kratos with him. He was useless with these kinds of things.
"Leave this to me," Zelos said as he pushed Lloyd aside.
"You know what to do?" Lloyd asked in surprise.
"I figured something like this might come up, so I found out how this machine works," Zelos said in his usual easy mannered voice. He swear, Lloyd never thought ahead.
Lloyd tilted his head. "Found out from who."
"Does it matter?" Zelos answered simply.
Truth of the matter, he asked Yuan about what to do about the reactor when he talked to him about the miracle gel. After what happened with Botta and his inability to work the Ranch's computer….he never wanted to experience that again. It wasn't a good feeling watching someone die for your sake.
"Well, that's that," Zelos said before smirking. "How do you like me now, baby? You're even more impressed now, aren't you?"
Lloyd couldn't help but laugh. "Personality issues aside, I'm very impressed. I guess even you have your uses sometimes."
Zelos put his hand over his forehead in mock hurt. "Lloyd, that was harsh, man."
"Now, we need to meet up with the others so Sheena can use the Mana Cannon," Colette said.
"Yeah and we don't have a moment to lose," Lloyd said as they rushed out of the reactor room.
It appeared that turning off the mana reactor also shut down the lasers guarding the warp, which make the return trip much easier. Although, they were still attack by Desians who gave them a hard time since they were all worn out.
Lloyd had to let Presea take the led since he couldn't afford to take a hit with his badly damaged armor.
"Sheesh, their boss is dead and they still attack us," Zelos complained as he took out another Desian. "Don't these guys give up?"
"I guess we took for granted that the Desians usually desert after we beat the Grand Cardinals. Although, it did help that we blew up their base," Lloyd mused.
"Either way, I can't wait to leave this place," Zelos continued to complain. "The air in here is so stale that it hurts my nose."
"Yeah…the air sucks, but I prefer this to what it was like outside…" Lloyd trailed off. For as long as he lived, the stench of the Ranch was burnt into his memory.
"I pray that this place is never operated again," Colette added. She too was happy that they were finally able to put an end to the Iselia Ranch. This horrible place had tormented too many people and warp the souls of those within Iselia who turned a blind eye to those who have suffered here.
After a few more minutes of backtracking, they were outside again. Everyone was waiting near the entrance and Lloyd took note of several dead Desians on the ground. Most likely, those who either tried to escape or recapture the prisoners.
"Lloyd…" Raine started before she trialed off. "What happened? Are you alright?"
Lloyd pulled on his torn jacket. "Yeah… Forcystus was a little tougher than I thought."
Kratos looked his son over. "But you all managed to make it out in one piece. Good work."
"Impressive as always, Lloyd. You stopped the mana reactor successfully," Regal praised.
Lloyd blushed at the praise before he cleared his head.
Genis saw that Presea's clothing was also badly damaged. "Are you okay?"
"Damage was kept to a minimal thanks to Zelos," Presea assured.
Zelos gave a wide smile. "And it was yours truly who stopped the mana reactor. You all can thank me later."
Genis rolled his eyes. "Oh brother."
"All we need to do now is contact Sheena and…" Lloyd began to say.
"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!"
Before anyone knew what happened, a blast of mana hit Lloyd in the back. Lloyd's eyes went blanked and his body fell forward before he landed ungracefully onto the dirt.
"LLOYD!" Colette and Genis screamed as they ran by their friend's side.
There was a black hole in his back and the chainmail was completely melted. They could see the blood ooze out of his back and drenched the ground a dark crimson.
"No….no…not again…" Colette whispered. Both her hands were on his mouth.
"MOVE!" Raine shouted as she quickly rushed to Lloyd's side and performed Resurrection.
While this was happening, Presea, Regal, and Zelos surrounded their falling comrade.
Kratos stood back as he glared at his son's assassin.
By the Ranch's entrance stood Forcystus. He was bleeding heavily and burnt over his entire body to the point that he was nearly naked, but by some divine luck he was still alive.
"How did you survive that fall!?" Presea demanded. There was only a ten percent chance that he would've survived if he was healthy. With all the injuries done to him during the battle, his chances dropped to two precent at best.
Forcystus spat out a clot of blood. "I am one of the Five Grand Cardinals… I won't die so easily!" He glared hatefully at each of them. "I'm taking all of you inferior beings with me!"
At that moment, he didn't care about the Chosen or the suppose Angelus. These…rats dared to do this to him. He wouldn't let any of them live. Not a single one!
Zelos looked down his nose at the man. "I would like to see you try. You're one foot into the grave already."
"So this is how the great Desian hero, Forcystus, meets his end," Kratos scoffed in disgust. "I'm disappointed."
He thought out of all the Desians, Forcystus would face his death with some dignity. But just like Kvar before him, he chose to die like a crying dog. He supposed that Desian's virtues were indeed worthless.
Forcystus looked up at Kratos and his one good eye widen for a moment. When the shock was over, pure, unrelenting hatred burn within his eye. "You… Lord Yggdrasill trusted you… He gave you another chance after you abandoned Cruxis and yet you betray us, again!"
This got everyone who was listening attention. Again? Did Kratos turn against Cruxis in the past?
Kratos remained stone-face.
Forcystus raised his arm cannon in rage. "This is why humans can never be trusted!" Instead of taking aim at Kratos, however, he took aim at Chocolat who was standing silently at the back of the group with the other stun prisoners.
"What!?" Colette shouted in horror, turning her eyes away from Lloyd who was recovering from his second near death experience.
Forcystus gave a craze smile. "The granddaughter of that old woman who dared hurt me. I'll send you to hell to meet her!" Before anyone could stop him, he fired.
Quicker than anyone thought was possible, Colette ran between Forcystus and Chocolat and took the full cannon blast to the back.
"NO!" Genis screamed in despair.
Lloyd pushed himself to his knees, ignoring Raine's cries for him to lay down. "You bastard!"
He got to his feet and drew his sword with such speed that only Kratos caught the movement. In less then a second, Lloyd had plunged his sword into Forcystus' heart.
The Grand Cardinal stood limp and his head tilted to look at the sky. "Lord Yggdrasill! Glory to the new Age of Half-elves!" With his final breath he slumped to the ground.
Lloyd took several deeps breaths as he made sure that Forcystus was really dead this time.
"Colette, are you okay?!" Genis asked desperately, knocking Lloyd out of his hateful haze.
He looked to see Raine healing her.
"What…what is this…!?" Raine suddenly exclaimed.
This got Lloyd's attention and he ran to Colette. He stopped short when he saw his friend's back and left arm.
Forcystus' attack had blown off the upper potion of Colette's robes from the back and the entire left side of her sleeved. But what horrified him was that her skin was green and crystalized. His mind couldn't register what it was seeing.
"No…don't look! Don't look at me!" Colette cried in despair as she attempted to covered her crystalized arm. It looked like it hurt to move it.
"What.." Lloyd whispered.
Zelos felt his stomach dropped. This…this must be the reason why Rodyle called Colette a fail Chosen and why her Cruxis Crystal was worthless. How the hell did they all missed this? The girl was turning into a crystal before their eyes.
"Colette…" Presea spoke softly.
Kratos put his hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "Send the message, quickly!"
Lloyd turned towards the older man. It was like he wasn't seeing him. "But Colette…"
Kratos firmly squeezed his son's shoulder. If he couldn't get Lloyd to focus, he would go into shock, especially since he nearly just died a few minutes ago. "The Chosen won't die yet, but if you don't hurry, this world will."
Lloyd continued to stare at him and Kratos feared that his son didn't hear him. "Alright…" He numbly walked to the radio to give the Renegades the okay to fire the cannon.
Kratos stared at the ill Chosen and felt his heart go out to her. When Martel fell ill, her torment only lasted a few weeks. Colette has been sick for months. It was a miracle that she could get out of bed, forget going into battle against summon spirits and Grand Cardinals.
He growled under his breath. He wasn't sure how much longer the Chosen would last given the progression of her illness, but Mithos wanted Lloyd to gathered the items needed to cure her since he would eventually need to come to Derris-Kharlan for the mana fragment. That and only Miss Sage was empowered by a unicorn's horn.
How much more would this young girl be made to suffer?
The sky suddenly became very dark and the earth began to tremble.
"Look!" Genis shouted as a giant beam of energy rushed through the sky, heading right for the mutated World Tree.
Within seconds, there was a loud explosion and an inhuman scream could be heard from across the planet.
Yuan looked up from his office as the scream caused his hair to stand on end.
Martel?
That was Martel! She was screaming in pain!
He growled at himself in disgust. What has he done? He caused Martel more needless suffering because he got impatient. If he had only ran the proper tests….none of this would have happened. He sacrificed the Renegades, Botta, and…Martel for nothing.
"Forgive me, Martel…" he whispered as tears fell from his eyes for the first time in centuries. He reached for his ring finger and a sudden, horrifying realization hit him.
His engagement ring to Martel was gone!
Mithos shoot out of bed as the scream faded away.
"You mustn't get up," Altessa urged gently as he push Mithos back.
Mithos was too tired and weak to resist and allowed himself to be laid back into bed.
That was Martel screaming. Was Martel dead?
He closed his eyes to sense his sister and felt her faint mana still within the world. Martel was alive. Somehow, they managed to get that tree under control without sacrificing her.
He sighed in relief and allowed himself to rest.
There was a long silence as everyone took in what happened. The sky was clear again, but nothing moved. It was like the entire planet was frozen.
"What was that cry?" Genis asked the question on everyone's minds.
"Martel, I would assume. The out-of-control Great Seed is Martel herself," Kratos answered, feeling a shiver run down his spine. He begged Martel for forgiveness for adding to her pain. She didn't deserved this.
"The Great Seed is once again bound in the Holy Ground of Kharlan," the voice of Yuan pierced through the forlorn mood. He was talking through a radio that he had giving them before they went to the Ranch. "For that, I owe you my gratitude. Thank you. It seems that you have managed to save the Great Seed as well as this world."
Raine took note that Yuan's voice was thicker than usual. It sounded like he was on the edge of crying.
Kratos picked up the radio. "If the Great Seed is intact, then I presume Martel, who's fused with it, is safe as well?"
"I'm sure that's good news for you. I wish I could say the same for me," Yuan scoffed bitterly.
Kratos' heart went off to his old friend. He was suffering most of all and there was nothing he could say to make it better. Martel's scream was like all of their hearts crying.
With his mission done, Lloyd walked back to Colette. She was now covered by a blanket provided by one of the former prisoners. They were all distress seeing the Chosen, their savior, like this.
"Colette…" Lloyd whispered. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything to say.
Colette turned away from Lloyd. "It's gross, isn't it? It's disgusting, isn't it? It's… It's…"
"It's not at all," Lloyd spoke, trying to get Colette back to her senses. He had never seen her like this. Never so…scared. She was never like this even when she was losing her humanity. Why was this happening? "Colette…" He reached for her, but she pulled away like his hands were made of hot coal.
"Stay away! Don't look at me!" Colette screamed before she suddenly collapsed.
"COLETTE!" Lloyd reached to catch her, but Regal beat him to it. "Colette!"
Regal gently lowered her to the ground. "It's okay. She just fainted." He shook his head. "The stress of today's events and this….illness. It was simply too much for her."
Raine stepped forward. She knew she needed to take charge since Lloyd was emotionally compromised. "Let's take her back to the village."
Genis looked at his sister in shock. "To Iselia? But Lloyd and I are banish!"
Raine gave Genis a sympathetic look. "Colette's home is in Iselia and she's too weak to be taking to Dirk. Besides, we can't just leave behind the people who were held at the Ranch."
"You and Lloyd should be fine," Zelos assured. "You guys were banished because of Forcystus, right? With him being dead and the Ranch shut down, the people of Iselia have no reason to hold old grudges. Especially after you rescued all the people here who can vouch for your character."
Genis sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. That was all true but….he really didn't want to face the people in Iselia.
"Alright," Lloyd spoke softly. "Let's…go to Iselia." Personal feelings aside, Colette's health came first.
Yuan could hear the emotion in everyone's voices and knew that they were in for a bad time. It would seem outside of Mithos and Kratos, everyone was the loser in this tragedy. "Then I'll notify Sheena to meet you at Iselia. Farewell for now."
The radio shut off and Regal picked up Colette, being especially careful not to put pressure on her left arm and upper back.
Without another word, the group made the slow march to the Village of Oracles.
End Act II
And with that, Act II comes to a close. Can you believe that despite the shorter chapter counter (30 chapters vs 52), Act II was still over 210,000 words? For reference, Act I was over 250,000. I'm certain Act II would have match Act I in word count if I didn't skip most of the summon spirts (I don't regret it). There is also the matter that Act II on average had longer chapters, but I'm sure you didn't mind.
Until next chapter where we finally enter the final Act. Hope you all be there.