Chapter 2 - Sylvarant, Act Two

Part One: Sylvarant



Disclaimers: Demon Diary, Tales of Symphonia, Growlanser, xxxHolic, and Kiddy Grade all contributed to this chapter, though not to the characters of Astri, Hecate, Selene, or Artemis, who are all MINE.



Part One, Act Two

“Ossa Trail,” Kratos said succintly.

The trail, the main route between Triet and the port town of Izoold, wound up into the mountains at a steep, but constant, incline. Just lately it had been closed to the public due to a sudden influx of monsters, but it still retained the look of a well-kept trail for civilian use.

Except for the monsters swarming all over it.

“So this is Ossa Trail,” Astri said, feeling somewhat giddy. To think that he would actually be here, standing on the real Ossa Trail… “It's pretty cool.”

Lloyd slanted a glance at him. “Cool? It's a trail.”

“But a cool trail.”

Lloyd and Kratos both rolled their eyes, united for once by common disdain.

“STOP!!” came a sudden shout.

Kratos sighed. “Trouble.”

Out of nowhere leapt a young woman with pale skin, black hair, and slanted brown eyes. She was clad in periwinkle blue ninja garb with black tights and a huge pink obi sash; her hair was tied up with a small pink ribbon; and her name was…

“Sheena!” Astri shouted.

Sheena, who indeed she was, jumped. “What?! Do I know you?”

“No, but I know you! I've seen you!” Astri smacked himself in the head. “Duh! Ossa Trail…of course!”

“Of course what?” Lloyd demanded.

“Well, that Sheena would be here.”

“Who is she?”

“Ask her. I just said I've seen her.”

“What are you talking about?” Sheena looked totally lost.

“Who are you?” Genis asked.

“I am…an assassin! I am war and battle and everlasting torment!”

Astri almost choked on laughter. “Really? Well, as a handle, that's pretty unwieldy. What do your friends call you?”

Sheena looked blank, then, unwillingly, she said, “Sheena Fujibayashi.”

Colette clapped her hands. “What a pretty name!”

Sheena blushed brick red. “S…shut up! It's not a pretty name!”

“Fascinating!” Raine muttered. “It sounds rather like the names of Hima…but your accent, it is completely different. And those clothes! I've never seen such a design!” Her eyes began to glow. “Where do you come from? It can't be any of the places I know about. You must be from a far-distant land!”

“Well, kind of, but—” Sheena shook her head furiously. “That's not the point—”

“Let's be friends, Sheena!” Colette said eagerly.

Sheena crashed over backwards. “What?!”

Colette winced. “Ooh, Sheena, you really shouldn't fall on your head like that. Last time I did that, I had a bump on my head for weeks.”

Lloyd snorted. “And we used the table you fell on for matchwood.”

Colette blushed. “Yes, that's true.”

“ENOUGH!!” Sheena squawked. “I am an assassin! I'm here to kill you!!”

Everybody face-faulted except for Astri, who nodded. “Oh yeah. I forgot that minor detail.”

“MINOR?!?!” Lloyd squawked, sounding like Sheena.

“Yeah…Sheena wants to kill Colette for some reason…”

“THAT'S NOT MINOR!!!”

“Die, Chosen!” Sheena shouted, charging Colette.

Lloyd grabbed for his swords. Genis flipped out his kendama. Astri made a grab for Colette, to yank her out of the way, and missed. Sheena pulled out a long, thin ninja sword. Colette screamed and fell over backwards.

Her flailing arm hit a switch.

Suddenly the ground underneath Sheena opened up. With a scream, she plummeted into darkness.

There was a resounding crash.

“Ow,” Monika said.

Everybody ran to the edge of the pit Colette had accidentally dropped Sheena into.

“OW!” came Sheena's voice from the pit.

Colette sighed with relief. “Oh good! She's alive!”

Lloyd face-faulted. “I don't think that's a good thing if she's trying to kill you, Colette…”

“Why on earth would she try to kill the Chosen?” Raine demanded. “Doesn't she know that her life depends on the journey of regeneration?”

“I suggest we ask the person who first knew her,” Kratos said.

All eyes turned to Astri.

Astri waved his hands in the anime-gesture of absolving guilt. “Don't look at me! I have no idea why she wants to kill Colette! I just know she does!”

“You knew she was going to be here,” Kratos said. “But you didn't tell us.”

“I did know, but I forgot!”

“You said you only knew what happened up until we returned to Triet.”

Oops. But… “Yeah. Know what happens. I know about some of the people that come later, though. Before the actual story, there are all of these little bio-like things on you guys, and she's there. So I read about her.”

Kratos' eyes bored into Astri. “I think you know more than you're telling.”

That was it. Astri snapped. “You have secrets too, Kratos. Like that one that you really ought to tell Lloyd?”

Kratos' eyes widened, almost imperceptively. But it was enough. Astri saw it, and knew he had scored.

“What?” Lloyd asked, thrown. “Me?”

“Something about Lloyd's father, maybe?”

“My—what?” Lloyd looked at Kratos. “What about my dad?”

Kratos looked at Astri, then turned away.

“Hey! Wait! Kratos, what about my dad?”

“That assassin will probably be back soon,” Kratos said. “There might be an exit from the mineshaft Colette dropped her into.”

“I dropped her into a mineshaft?” Colette asked, astonished.

“I would assume so. Ossa Trail was built over a mine to enable easy transportation of the ore to both Triet and Izoold. However, the mine was likely abandoned when the trail was closed off.”

“Oh dear.” Colette leaned as far over the mineshaft as she dared and cupped her hands around her mouth. “I'M SORRY, SHEENA!!!”

A reply drifted up on the darkness of the hole. The politest it could have been was, “Get lost!”

“If there is an exit, she is sure to find it sooner or later,” Kratos said. “I would suggest that we split up into two groups. Raine and I will go after the assassin, take care of her before she can find Colette again, and exit the mineshaft on the other side. Lloyd, Genis, take Colette, Astri, and Monika to the other side and wait for us there.”

“Kratos!” Lloyd yelled.

Kratos ignored him. “Raine, are you coming?”

“I suppose, but…” Raine cast a worried glance at the others.

“They'll be fine,” Kratos said.

“No! Wait! Kratos—”

Kratos jumped into the hole and vanished.

“Dammit!” Lloyd groaned.

Raine laid a cautioning hand on Lloyd's shoulder. This was so unlike her that Lloyd stopped and stared up at her, confused.

“Lloyd, don't bother Kratos too much,” Raine murmured. “You know there are secrets everyone must keep from others. Leave it.”

Before Lloyd could force out an answer—he wasn't sure whether it would be, “I understand,” or “Keep your nose out of it”—Raine jumped into the mineshaft and disappeared from view.

Lloyd stared at the hole for a moment, then swung around at Astri.

“No,” Astri said, blushing furiously. “I shouldn't…I hate saying this, but I shouldn't have brought that up.”

“Well, you did! So what are you talking about?!”

“I'm sorry. Kratos was just…” Astri swallowed. “Sorry, Lloyd, but you have to wait. He'll tell you eventually. But that's his business, not mine. So…just wait, okay? He'll tell you, I know he tells you sometime.”

Lloyd stared at Astri for a disbelieving moment, then stormed away from the hole, biting his tongue to hold back the oaths he longed to throw at Astri, Kratos, and the whole rest of the uncooperative world.

“I'm sorry,” Colette said to Astri, looking worried and apologetic. “It'll be okay. He'll be okay. He just doesn't like not knowing what's going on.”

“Yeah, but this' my fault,” Astri muttered. “I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get him mad…”

“That's all very well and good,” Genis said. “But I can think of one way to get him madder. Making him come back for us.”

The four of them looked up and saw Lloyd tramping up the hill of Ossa Trail, sullen anger in every line of him.

“Good point,” Astri said hurriedly, and they ran after him.

* * *

“Hey Genis,” Astri said after Lloyd, Colette, Genis, and Monika had managed to bring down a very large Bear that didn't look anything like an Earthian conception of a bear except for its size.

“Yeah?”

“Can you teach me magic?”

“Magic?”

“Yeah. I think I can get this ring—” he shook the one on his necklace “—to turn into a weapon, if I work at it, but in case that doesn't work…can you teach me some magic?”

Genis shrugged. “Maybe. Do you have any magical talent? Lloyd doesn't.”

“I heard that!”

“I don't know. On my world, nobody uses magic.”

“Nobody?!” Lloyd, Colette, and Genis all exclaimed at once.

“I know. It sucks.”

“Well, that's not very good news for your magical career,” Genis said. “Although, you did manage to enchant that penny…but that was with help from your goddesses…”

The small blue-haired boy fell into quiet reflection, while Lloyd and Colette chopped busily away at an attacking Mandragora.

“I've got an idea,” Genis said suddenly. “Ask Colette to help you.”

“Colette?”

“Me?” Colette stopped attacking the Mandragora and got walloped by a tree root.

“If your world doesn't use magic, you probably can't either,” Genis said while Colette flew. “But you were able to call on your goddesses, right? Colette does something like that with her Angel Feathers spell. She can probably help you.”

“If she didn't just get a concussion from that fall of hers.”

* * *

Mandragora disposed of and Apple Gel medicine administered to Colette's bruise, it didn't take long for the blonde Chosen to understand what Astri was asking her to do.

“Let's try on this rock,” Colette suggested, moving a safe distance away from it. “Come over here and stand next to me…and you three should stand back. The first time I called on angel power, I had no idea what was going to happen.”

“And you ended up clobbering that Fake with it,” Genis said.

“Yes. It might be dangerous.”

Genis, Lloyd, and Monika moved a safe distance away from Colette and Astri, although from Lloyd's face, it was obvious that leaving Colette and Astri next to each other was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Okay. Concentrate really really hard on your heart,” Colette instructed. Unconsciously, her wings shimmered into reality behind her. “Think about love, and spirit, and friendship, and protection. Think about right, and light, and holy power. Think about how you want to protect the people you love.”

Astri faced the rock, closed his eyes, and focused all his being on one goal. Hecate, Selene, Artemis…I'm begging you, please help me KILL Lilith and Muraki and the other people who play with the lives of innocents…please…

He continued to focus. Nothing happened.

“Hmm,” Colette said. “That worked for me. What are you thinking about?”

“I'm asking Hecate, Selene, and Artemis to help me kill Lilith.”

“Oh,” Colette murmured. “That might be the problem.”

Astri opened his eyes. “How?”

“Don't think about it that way. Think about it in the positive light.” Colette fluttered her wings and glided around behind Astri. One light sweep, and she rose into the air slightly, until she was hovering just above and behind him. Leaning down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and put her chin on his head. “Think about how much you want to help Monika. Think about how much you want to rescue his friend's heart. Think about your love, not your hate, and ask the goddesses for strength to protect it.”

Astri closed his eyes again, feeling the soft sparkling of stardust from Colette's wings breeze over his face and shoulders. Love, not hate. Monika, not Lilith. Focus…focus…focus…

Unbidden, words rose on his breath.

“Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, lend me your power…Defy the laws of physics, and deliver unto me a Miracle of Magic…”

The air tensed with energy, and Astri raised his hands towards the rock Colette had indicated as their target. Two last words rolled out of his mouth, bringing with them a sudden blazing warmth, as though Astri were speaking hot coals instead of words.

“Release Gravity.”

The rock suddenly inversed color—a startling transformation that made Genis and Monika yelp—and exploded up into the sky like a rocket. Its sudden vacuum sucked air past Colette and Astri's clothes, making them whip as though in a gale. Astri opened his eyes, looked around, and lowered his hands.

“What just happened?”

The rock came plummeting back down to earth and slammed into the ground directly in front of Astri's feet with so much force that it shattered into the traditional thousand pieces. Astri and Colette both screamed and fell over backwards as gravel ricocheted up and off them.

“Colette!!!” Lloyd shouted, running towards her.

Astri and Colette were both sprawled over the ground, their eyes dancing in wild spirals, covered in a thin coat of fine gravel.

“That was…pretty impressive,” Genis managed.

“That was just plain damn weird,” Monika said.

* * *

“Release Gravity!” Astri shouted.

A huge rock flew right into a Axe Beak's…well…beak, smashing it down to the ground. Astri did a victory dance. “Yes! One-hit K.O.! All right!”

Monika watched Astri with mixed feelings, but he didn't have time to think them through at the moment. The Axe Beak had not been alone, and the rest of its flock was becoming angrier with each fowl that fell.

It was weird, though, Monika took time to note as he blocked an Axe Beak's beak with his arm-bracers, how his mind was working. He couldn't remember anything about anything before he woke up and first vaguely saw Raine. And Astri. But his mind was snapping out orders—like now, as he kicked out into the Axe Beak's feathers. His mind knew what it was doing. It had not forgotten anything. It was just choosing not to inform him.

“Look out!” Lloyd yelled, blocking another Axe Beak with his sabers.

Monika whirled around, but Lloyd had this one well in control. Leaving one saber to hold the Axe Beak where it stood, struggling to break the blade, he swept the other around underneath and hit the bird's feathery chest. The Axe Beak broke away, and Lloyd brought both his swords down.

“Beast!”

A huge, ephemeral wolf's-head of dancing, translucent energy came together out of nowhere—seemingly from Lloyd's sword—and lunged at the Axe Beak. The Axe Beak squawked, but the wolf's-head went for its throat, and went right through it, snarling and snapping at the air. Its very passage seemed to harm the Axe Beak in some way, for it recoiled, clearly in pain.

Lloyd brought his swords around in a powerful, slicing sweep, and slew the Axe Beak where it stood.

“What?” Lloyd snapped, looking back at Monika. “This isn't a good time to stare like an idiot.”

Monika glared. “Who's an idiot? I was just curious about that wolf thing you just did.”

“What, Beast?” Lloyd almost looked surprised, but remembered he didn't like Astri and therefore Monika by association. “It's just a Tech attack.”

“A what?”

The only thing Lloyd liked more than food was battle. So, clearly called upon to talk about the major love of his life, even by someone he considered just above an enemy and even in the middle of a fight, he couldn't resist showing off his knowledge. “Tech Attacks. Technique Attacks. They're special abilities we Sylvarant people use by tapping into mana.”

Monika just held back a Well, excuse me for not being from Sylvarant. “So what's Beast?”

“Release of fighting spirit through the channel of mana. Well, that's what Raine says.”

“Fighting spirit.” Monika considered, and hit out reflexively at a charging Axe Beak. “Could I do it?”

Lloyd blinked, then actually thought about it and shrugged. “I dunno. Guess you could try. Colette got him to do stuff, so…”

Monika looked over at Astri, and saw him and Colette casting spells back-to-back. Looking at their faces, it was obvious neither of them were at all aware of the other. Looking at Lloyd's face, it was obvious he didn't care. Astri was too close to Colette, and that was all he noticed.

“So,” Monika said. “What do you do with it?”

“With it? Hit things.” Lloyd did notice Monika's expression. “Oh, to do it? Nothin` much. Just focus, basically. What's your favorite animal?”

Monika hesitated, and answered unwillingly. “I…don't…remember.”

Goddammit, not being able to remember irked him more than having lost the memories. If that made any sense at all.

“Oh, duh.” Lloyd considered. “Do you even remember what animals are?”

“Yes,” Monika gritted between his teeth.

“Like what?”

Monika opened his mouth, then paused. “Um…”

“Do you know what a dog is?”

A picture of a dog popped into Monika's mind. “Yes.”

“A cat?”

“Yeah…”

“Name another one.”

Monika tried. “Umm…”

“Huh,” Lloyd muttered. “You don't know them until I say `em. Weird.”

Monika flushed, and took refuge in pounding another Axe Beak.

“Okay. I guess it'd work anyway. Just…what was it Colette said?”

“Right and light and holy power?”

“Ugh. No. Er…oh yeah. Just focus on your heart. Think about…hey, I got it. Think about yourself as a predator, and the enemy as your prey. Then just…”

Lloyd roared, “Beast!!” and threw his spiritual wolf at another Axe Beak.

Monika stared at him, then shook his head. “Maybe I'll work on that later…”

* * *

“This' the end of Ossa Trail,” Lloyd said. “Where're Raine and Kratos?”

Ossa Trail, after wending its way up and down the mountains onto the Izoold side, petered out into a little plateau cut out of the side of the mountain, probably by whoever had first begun to dig the Ossa mines. A last gasp of the trail led off the plateau, down onto the grass of the fields of Sylvarant, but if Raine and Kratos had found their way out, this was surely where they would be. In the side of the mountain, at the edge of the plateau, was a boarded-up mine entrance.

Genis pondered. “I suppose it's possible there's another way out of the mines and they came out there by accident, but that's not so likely. Probably they went off the beaten track going after that girl Sheena, and are trying to find their way here now.”

“Are they lost?” Colette asked.

“Isn't that what I just said?”

“Not really,” Astri said. “I mean, that was the general meaning, but I can see why you might have confused people.”

Lloyd gritted his teeth. Self-confident patronizing jerk.

“Well, what should I have said?”

“That they're lost?” Monika suggested.

“They're lost?” Colette asked.

“Yeah, Colette, they're lost,” Genis said.

“Oh no! We have to go find them!” Colette strode purposefully back the way she had come.

“No, Colette!” Genis shouted. “They're lost in there! And Kratos told us to wait here!”

“I know, but…” Colette hesitated. “If they got lost…”

“I said they probably got lost, not that they were definitely—”

The huge barrier of boards blocking the mine entrance crashed forward onto the ground. Behind them was none other than Sheena.

“Miss Sheena!” Colette exclaimed.

“You again!” Genis looked almost impressed. “Did you evade Kratos and my sister?”

But Monika was noticing something strange about Sheena this time around. Her eyes were downcast, and she seemed strangely listless—yet at the same time, tense. He paused a moment to log a question to his brain about how he could tell, but his brain ignored him.

“Is something wrong, Sheena?” Astri asked, worried. He was picking up the same signs Monika was. “You're…you look…odd.”

“…off.”

“What?” Lloyd asked.

Suddenly Sheena's head snapped up, her eyes narrowed in fury.

“I said, you're pissing me off!!” she screamed. “All your idiotic little condescending worries! I don't give a damn about you…and none of you do about me!! You're selfish bastards!! And you!!” Sheena whirled on Colette, who had her hands to her mouth. “You…I can't stand you! Trying to be friendly…trying to be so good, so nice…did you think I couldn't see right through you?!”

“Sheena, I—” Colette stuttered.

“SHUT UP!!” Sheena shrieked. “I'm going to kill you—NOW!!”

Lloyd whirled on Astri like Sheena had on Colette. “What happened to her?!”

“I don't know!” Astri shook his head, his face torn by shock. “She's…not supposed to be like this!”

Then Sheena moved out into the light, and Astri gasped.

On her back, fluttering gently, were two feathery, shoulder-length angel's wings.

“OH MY GOD!!” Astri screamed.

“What are those?” Lloyd stared at them, then whirled on Astri again, then on Genis, then, helplessly, Colette. “They look like Remiel's wings…except smaller…”

“They're not wings!” Astri yelped. “Well…they are…but they don't have anything to do with Remiel! They're evil! They're from xxxHolic! They're…they're…they're ko!”

“DON'T CALL ME NAMES!!” Sheena roared, pulling out a handful of ofudas from her sash. “Corrine, Guardians of the Elements, come forth!!”

She flung the ofudas down onto the ground. Smoke exploded up from them, hiding Sheena from view—then, out of the smoke, loomed four huge figures. Four huge Guardians—one earth, one wind, one fire, one water—levitated out of the cloud and stared at the group with expressionless, pupilless eyes.

Then a little voice demanded from inside the smoke, “Sheena, what do you think you're doing? You didn't sound at all like yourse—what are those things on your ba—KO?!?!”

The smoke cleared somewhat, enough to reveal a small, brilliantly-colored, fox-like creature with three aquamarine tails and paws wrapped in pale lilac flame, backing away from Sheena, its hackles raised.

“You've been possessed by a ko!” the fox snarled.

“What the heck are ko?” Lloyd and Genis both demanded.

“Ko are evil spirits—servants—I don't really know exactly what they are!” Astri snapped. “But they steal people's souls!”

“They do what?” Colette gasped. “Then—Miss Sheena—her—?”

“She's still got her soul. For now. Ko paralyze a person's ability to…to moderate, to brush things off. Now if you even look at her, she'll think you're insulting her!”

“STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!!” Sheena snarled.

“See?!”

The wings twitched, then suddenly grew. Now they were about as large as Colette's, although there the resemblence ended. Colette's wings were beautiful, colorful veils of light which shone from her back like a light from her heart. These wings were plain, white, feathery—the perfect symbol of angel wings in every way—yet somehow there was something ominous about them, their plainness, their stillness, the way they stirred just barely in the breeze, like a seedpod containing a demonic sprout.

“We have to destroy them,” Astri said. “Once they grow to full size, they'll leave her body, and take her soul with it. There's no way to get it back once that happens.”

“Even if we kill it?” Lloyd demanded.

“We have to kill it while it's still in her body! Otherwise her soul will vanish!”

“Sheena, snap out of it!” the little fox-thing shouted. “You know ko are evil! Don't let it—”

Sheena's foot shot out and caught the little fox in the side. “SHUT UP!! You're my summon spirit, Corrine! Now get out there and help me KILL HER!!”

Her wrath-filled brown eyes fixed on Colette with a malice that made the smaller blonde girl physically recoil.

“Sheena…” the little fox, which was obviously Corrine, panted. “You…”

Sheena brandished a handful of ofudas, and with a wordless shriek of rage, lunged for Colette.

* * *

Lloyd and Astri both jumped into her way. Lloyd slashed his swords at the ofuda cards, trying to destroy them and perhaps weaken Sheena's power, but his metal blades clanged off the ofudas as though off rocks. Disoriented, Lloyd stumbled, and Sheena slammed a card into the side of his head, sending him flying to the side.

Astri grabbed the ring on his necklace.

In less time than it takes to tell it, the ring shimmered and warped, lengthening into a long, slender shape in Astri's hand. Light flashed, crystallized, glittered suddenly as metal in the sun. Sheena slammed her ofudas down, and found them slamming against a long, slender sword with a silvery blade, the hilt wrapped in brown leather and crisscrossed with ivy.

Astri's eyes widened. “I did it!”

“No time for congratulations!” Genis yelled, flipping out his kendama. “Hold her!”

But Sheena had the strength of fury on her side. She grabbed the sword with her bare hand, ignoring as the blade bit into her palm and ran strawberry droplets down to the hilt, and used her other hand to backhand Astri across the face. Astri fell to the ground with a yelp, and the sword flashed across Sheena's hand, slashing deep to her bones. Sheena didn't so much as blink.

Colette, still in shock from the hatred in Sheena's eyes, fumbled for her chakrams. Too late. Sheena had out another ofuda in her slashed hand. Blood stained the white paper red as she swung it high.

“Fire Ball!”

Three blazing spheres of flame rocketed into Sheena's back, right into the wings. Sheena was sent reeling sideways, and her ofudas, slippery in her bloodied hand, fluttered out into the air. This brought Colette back to herself. She jumped into the air, and her wings blossomed from her back, flapping quickly to give her the altitude to land into relative safety next to Genis.

“Nice landing,” Genis said.

“Thanks. I've been practicing.”

“GUARDIANS!!” Sheena shouted, whirling to see Colette and Genis. “Attack the kid and the girl!!”

Astri grabbed Sheena's leg and yanked her off her feet. She hit the ground facefirst and rose spitting dirt.

The wings swelled in size.

“YOU BASTARD!!” Sheena screamed, rounding on Astri.

“Colette!” Astri screamed. “Use Angel Feathers on the wings! Lloyd, Monika, protect her!”

“DIE!!” Sheena shrieked, pulling out the ninja sword she had had before and lunging down.

Astri rolled, trying to evade the slashing edge of the knife. Sheena hit the ground, and much faster than anybody should be able to move, slid forward across the soil. The blade caught the edge of Astri's arm and ripped down, opening a cut all the way down his forearm.

Astri screamed. That hurt. Somehow, no matter how much you tried to imagine how much it could hurt being attacked by a crazy ninja with a knife, you couldn't even come close to the reality.

At Astri's scream, Monika stopped his run to Colette and spun around so fast he hadn't even put his other foot down yet. Colette, ready to begin casting, screamed and wrenched up her chakrams. Even Lloyd paused, even on his way to protect Colette.

“NO!” Astri yelled, even as Sheena slashed at him again. “PROTECT COLETTE!! I'LL HOLD SHEENA—YOU STOP THE GUARDIANS!!”

“Lloyd!” Genis shouted, his voice trembling.

Lloyd turned again and realized that he had forgotten about the Guardians. They had advanced upon Genis and Colette and had them cornered against the edge of the plateau. It was a long way down from there. Genis had his kendama ready, but it was a feeble defense—Colette still had her rings, but she wasn't capable of taking on four monsters by herself.

“Sorry about this,” Corrine said. “But if Sheena commands, I have to obey.”

Five monsters by herself.

“PROTECT COLETTE!” Astri shouted again, then gasped in pain as Sheena's dagger sliced into his side.

Lloyd made up his mind in a moment. If he left Colette and Genis, there was no way they'd survive. Astri at least only had one opponent to worry about. He ran to save his fellow Iselians.

Monika, on the other hand, didn't.

Just as Sheena managed to slash diagonally all the way across Astri's chest, Monika landed a flying kick into her side. Sheena fell and hit hard, again, and the angel wings—the ko—swelled to an even larger size.

“DAMN YOU ALL!” Sheena screamed, rising.

“COLETTE, START CASTING!!” Lloyd yelled, slamming into the Guardians from behind like a tidal wave. “GENIS, PROTECT HER!”

Colette was white to the lips, but she nodded and raised her arms in supplication. Holy light blossomed from the ground underneath her, as Genis and Lloyd went against the four Guardians and Corrine with only two swords and a kendama between them.

Astri grabbed Monika around the chest as he started to lunge at Sheena again. “No! Attacking her will make the ko grow even more!”

“Then what do you expect me to do?!”

“Wait for Colette! Angel Feathers is a holy spell! It should purify Sheena and get rid of the ko!”

“And until then?!”

“I have to stop her from going over there!” Astri indicated the Guardians and the Sylvarantians. “She's too mad to think about strategy, she'll attack whoever's closest! I'll hold her here until Colette casts!”

“You're just going to let her attack you?!”

“Get over there and help Colette! Please!”

Monika and Astri stared at each other in a silent battle of wills for a moment, then Astri shoved Monika away from him.

“The faster Colette casts, the less I have to take! If she gets interrupted, she'll have to start all over again!”
“Oh holy wings…” Colette murmured.

“Go!!”

“All right!!” Monika raced off towards Lloyd, Colette, and Genis.

Astri adjusted his hold on his sword—part of the reason he had been unable to dodge Sheena was that he was unwilling to let it go—and turned to face her. “All right. Come and get me!”

Sheena was more than happy to oblige. She raced at Astri at her inhuman speed, yanked out a new handful of ofudas, and threw them into his face. Astri yelped and snapped his sword up to his face, to guard himself, but the cards were just cards, plain pieces of inscripted paper. It wasn't until the knife plunged into his right shoulder that Astri realized the cards had been a diversion.

Reflexively Astri clapped his hand to the wound, and as Sheena ripped the knife out again the blade sliced the skin between his thumb and his first finger. The pain from that and the shoulder-stab was too much. Astri fell over backwards and dropped his sword. As soon as it left his hand, it transformed back into a ring again.

Stupid Ring Weapons, Astri thought as he hit the ground, shoulder throbbing too badly to think of much else. Maybe they only work well in Growlanser…

“…reveal thy glory…” Colette murmured.

“YOU DIE!!” Sheena snarled, raising the dagger high for the final stab.

“ANGEL FEATHERS!!” Colette cried.

Time seemed to freeze as the words left her lips. Her wings blazed suddenly with intense holy light, and three rings of pinkish-purplish light, the same exact shade as her wings, trailing light and stardust in their magical flight, materialized out of nowhere and flew towards Sheena's exposed back.

The rings slammed into the ko one after another, each exploding into shimmering sparkles as they touched such evil. Sheena jerked upright and screamed, a long, high, piercing scream. The wings thrust up and outright, as though trying to scream also, then exploded, blasting feathers everywhere.

Astri's mind pulled him through his pain like a vice. As quickly as he could, he stood up, sprinkling blood, and grabbed his ring. As soon as it touched his skin, feeling his spirit, it transformed back into the slender sword.

From Sheena's back, ironic mask of angel wings gone, burst a writhing black mass of tentacles, the true body of the ko. It chittered and keened, and despite its lack of wings now it flew, levitated into the air and tried to escape.

Astri swung the sword through the air, and it snapped apart. The pieces flew through the air in a long, graceful arc, connected by the thinnest silver chain, and slashed the ko right down the middle. The ko screamed as Sheena had screamed, with her voice and all, and fell apart into two writhing, wriggling, tentacled halves. It melted into nothingness before it touched the ground.

Astri looked down at the sword-turned-whip, smiled vaguely, and muttered, “Snake Sword,” before collapsing into an unconscious heap next to Sheena.

* * *

A cool, biting warmth (?) spread throughout Astri's body, leaving pins and needles in its wake. He flinched at the awakening pain, which brought a new wave of needles. He groaned.

“I think he's…yeah, he's alive!”

That sounded like Genis.

“Oh, thank goodness!”

Definitely Colette.

“Good thing I got that Life Bottle out in time.”

…Lloyd?

Astri opened his eyes.

Raine was bent over him, her spike-topped Battle Staff held over his face, emitting a healing green light. Astri squinted to look through it, and saw Colette, Monika, Genis, Lloyd, and even Kratos standing around him, with varying degrees of worry on their faces.

“Huh?” Astri said intelligently.

“You died,” Raine said. “Well, at least, you almost died. Lloyd practically forcefed you the contents of a Life Bottle, which is the only reason you're still with us now. That was enough to make it so I could heal you.”

“Lloyd?” Astri stared at him as best he could through the light of Raine's magic. Maybe it was just a trick of said light, but Lloyd looked…embarrassed?

“You helped us out with the ko,” Lloyd said defensively. “I owed you one.”

That's right.

“What—?”

“—happened to the ko?” Raine finished.

“You killed it,” Monika said. “I think. You…your…that sword, from your ring, it…went all long. It broke apart all long and it cut it in half.”

“An indelicate way to put it,” Raine said. “Still, it does adequately describe the phenomenon. What was that blade? And how did you conjure it from that ring?”

“Ring?” Astri put his hand reflexively to the ring now hanging, once again, around his neck. “Oh. Growlanser invention. Ring Weapon. Turns from ring to weapon.”

“Self-explanatory,” Raine muttered. “And the weapon itself? What was it?”

“A Snake Sword.” Astri's brain rewound the footage of the battle. “Snake Saber. Too thin to be a Snake Sword.”

“A Snake Saber,” Raine repeated. “Marvelous! How does it—”

“Raine, let him breathe!” Genis cut in. “You're going to suffocate him with all your questions!”

Raine stood up and smacked Genis. “Don't tell me how to heal! I know what I'm doing!”

Colette breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, Astri…I'm so glad you're all right! I know you got hurt trying to stop Sheena from attacking me, and I promise to make it up to you as soon as I—”

“Sheena!” Astri didn't exactly lunge upright, but considering the pins and needles in all of his limbs, he did the best he could. “Is she okay?! The ko didn't take her soul?!”

“I don't think so,” Monika said. “She fell down after the ko disappeared, but then we turned our backs on her for a minute watching over you, and she just…vanished.”

“Oh.” Astri considered laughing, but decided against it. “She's a ninja. She used a smoke bomb.”

“A ninja?” Raine asked. “What—”

“Raine!” Genis interrupted.

Raine gave Genis the twitchy eye.

“So you're okay now?” Monika asked, because Lloyd, Colette, and Genis were all frightened into silence by Raine's twitching.

“Yeah. I'm fine.”

Astri tried to stand up and collapsed.

“Astri!” Colette squeaked.

“Or…maybe not.”

Colette reached down to give Astri a hand. At the same time, so did Lloyd.

Astri stared at Lloyd for a moment, then cautiously took both of their hands. Together, the Chosen and her friend heaved Astri to his feet.

“Thank you,” Astri said.

“No problem,” Lloyd answered.

“We'd better camp around here,” Kratos said. “You won't be able to travel far for a while, I'm sure. We ought to rest, particularly you.”

Astri let go of Lloyd's hand and wobbled a bit, but stayed standing. “Okay.”

* * *

“So what happened to you and Kratos, Raine?” Astri asked once they had set up camp in the relative safety of the forest just off the Ossa Trail.

Raine sipped from her cup of the medicinal tea she had made for everyone. “After we made into into the mineshaft, we found a strange monster called the Sword Dancer, which asked us if we were strong. We told it we were busy, and it told us that a strange woman had just fallen in before us and told it the exact same thing. We promised to come back later and went in search of the woman, who was obviously Sheena. You're not drinking.”

The tea was sour, bitter, and cavity-inducingly sweet all at once—enough to make you gag—but Astri, pinned by Raine's threatening-to-be-twitchy eye, took a gulp.

“Anyway,” Raine said while Astri tried to figure out a way to spit it out without her noticing, “Sheena's trail wasn't hard to follow. But a little ways in, a huge pair of wings attached to a ball of tentacles attempted to attack us.”

Astri went white, though whether this was due to the news of another ko or to the tea will never be known. “Another ko.”

“Presumably. Sheena must have been seized by one shortly before we arrived. Although the creature held us up for quite a while, I eventually hit it with a Photon spell, and Kratos was able to slice it in half.” Raine stared pointedly at Astri's cup until he took another drink. “Then we exited the mines with all speed, unsure of what had happened to all of you, and found Sheena unconscious, you dying, and Colette on the verge of a breakdown.”

Colette blushed, but before she could say anything, Kratos interrupted, and Astri instinctively tensed. “You said these things are called ko.”

“Yes,” Astri said, ready for an argument.

“What are they, exactly?”

Oh. Reasonable question. “They're soul-stealers. They possess people and paralyze the part of their heart that enables them to control themselves. The angrier the person possessed becomes, the larger the ko becomes, and the larger the ko becomes, the harder it is for the person to hold back their anger. It's like a spiral. Eventually the ko becomes large and powerful enough to completely paralyze the heart and steal the soul from it. Then the ko detaches itself and flies back to its master with the soul.”

“Its master?” Lloyd asked, getting interested despite himself.

“Ko are created by people. I don't know exactly how yet. But it's…I'm pretty sure it's some kind of dark magic. Why people would want souls, I have no idea. But souls seem to be important to several rituals and such. Maybe somebody in this world needs the souls to do something?”

“Soul-stealers,” Raine murmured. “Ko. Created by dark magic…”

“I think they are,” Astri reminded her. “I could be wrong.”

“What happens…” Colette paused. “What happens to somebody…who loses their soul?”

“They become an empty husk,” Astri said grimly. “The soul is…without it, you can't be yourself. When the ko detaches, its host becomes a vegetable. No thoughts, no will, no personality anymore. It's awful.”

“You speak from experience?” Kratos asked.

“Not personal, but yes, I've seen it happen.”

They sat in silence for a moment, alone with their thoughts and the crackling sparks from the campfire.

“I wonder if that's what happens to the Crystal Heart,” Astri mused aloud.

“Huh?” Colette asked.

“The soul. If it's in the heart…then maybe the Crystal Heart…is a crystallization of the soul, around the heart. Or even just of the soul. So then Mano…” Astri looked at Monika, then shook his head. “Never mind.”

* * *

Long after all the others, even Kratos, had gone to sleep, Monika lay awake on the forest floor. He wanted to sleep—he was exhausted after the struggle against Sheena and her five sidekicks—but he couldn't. There were qualms snapping at his mind.

Mano. They all revolved around the name Mano. Astri always spoke it with a kind of furious care. The name clearly meant a lot to him, as had the person it had belonged to, and now that…whatever it was, exactly, that had happened to him had happened, Astri was furious about it. Cue his vendetta against this Lilith. But every time Astri said Mano's name, he always glanced at Monika, hoping that this time some sort of recognition would dawn, his eyes always clouding in disappointment that this didn't happen.

Mano. Supposedly Monika had lived with him for three years, after saving his life. Three years between them. Three years erased in a split second. By what? This Lilith? It wasn't enough she had to steal the life of the kid Monika had saved, but she stole his memories of him as well?

If Astri was disappointed every time he saw that Monika still couldn't remember Mano, Monika was just outright furious. But it wasn't about Mano, and that made him guilty. Astri was obviously set on finding the Crystal Heart. But all Monika really wanted was his memories. He hated not knowing who he was. He hated having no conception of the world around him until he saw it.

But he also hated that he couldn't see—or even sympathize with—Astri's reason for helping him. That made him feel guilty. It was like…like…

Like he was using Astri, or something.

* * *

They reached Izoold early the next evening. The sun was dripping down into the ocean, sending crystal sprinkles of shattering golden light off the water, as they made it into the boundaries of the town, again exhausted after a long day of traveling.

“Gods!” Astri groaned, collapsing onto a bed in the inn. “I'm hot, I'm tired, and I seriously need a shower. That much walking after that near-death experience was not a good idea!”

“Wimp,” Lloyd said. “I've had to walk much farther than that.”

Astri kicked off his shoes at Lloyd as best he could, but missed on both direction and distance. “So sue me. I'm not used to cross-country trekking for hours on end.”

Lloyd opened his mouth.

“Don't say a word if you value your life!”

“…Wimp.”

Astri turned his glare to his bedside table and said at about ninety miles an hour, “Hecate-goddess-of-witchcraft-and-sorcery-lend-me-your-power-defy-the-laws-of-physics-and-deliver-unto-me-a-Miracle-of-Magic—Release-Gravity!”

The table inversed in color and flew at Lloyd. Before Lloyd even knew what was going on, the table clobbered him right into the wall.

“Enough!” Raine exploded.

“You break it, you buy it,” the innkeeper said, not without some modicum of hope.

“No, that's enough!” Raine wrenched the table back to its original position, then smacked Astri. “That's for using magic recklessly!” She marched up to Lloyd and smacked him as well. “That's for provoking him!”

“But—!” Astri and Lloyd both protested, rubbing their heads.

Raine smacked them both again. “Don't backtalk me!!”

Genis, Colette, Monika, and Kratos wisely pretended to have fallen asleep.

* * *

Astri slept the sleep of the utterly exhausted, meaning that a bomb could have gone off next to his head and he wouldn't have twitched. Trekking across plains, climbing over mountains, and fighting off hordes of dangerous monsters was definitely much easier in video games than in real life.

He only woke up because Lloyd smacked his leg with his (thankfully still scabbarded) sword.

“OW! What was—?!”

“We got a ride to Palmacosta,” Lloyd said. “You're coming with us, right? Wake up or we'll leave without you!”

“Shut it,” Astri yawned, reaching for his shoes. “Thank God I walked a lot at home, or else my legs would be blinking falling off right now.”

“Your home, huh?” Lloyd considered. “What's it like there? Is it anything like here in Sylvarant?”

“Not at all, and except for the hordes of rampaging monsters, I'd say the change is all to your advantage. Where I'm from, cities are sprawled everywhere like dropped pancake batter. Everything's industrialized and metal and boring, there's no magic anywhere, and the air's so polluted that in some areas it's hard to breathe.” Astri took a deep breath. “You have no idea how clean this air feels.”

“That bad, huh?” Lloyd whistled. “What do the Desians do there?”

“There are no Desians on my world.” Astri stood up. “We have Hitlers instead.”

“What are Hitlers?”

“Ah…not a race of people, sorry. A single person. Named Adolf Hitler. He was a genocidal killer—he killed off Jewi—um, people who were too different for him.”

“There were lots of him?”
“No, thank God, but there are other people who have done similar things. Way too many people who have done similar things.” Astri walked purposefully towards the door. “Where's the boat?”

* * *

“Professor, are you okay?” Lloyd asked.

Lloyd and the others had managed to obtain passage on a small boat owned by a guy named Max. The boat clearly wasn't made to hold eight people, but with a little cramming, everybody fit fairly well. It helped that it was a pleasant day for sailing. The sky was the clear, burnished blue that almost looks hard enough to walk on, and brass sunlight glittered off the flowing silken waves. As they pushed off from the dock, the clear water assumed a deep emerald tinge.

Nor was it the only thing to do so.

“You don't look so good,” Lloyd continued.

Raine was clinging to the side of the boat so tightly her knuckles were turning white, but she made a brave attempt to hide it behind her back. “Me? No! Oh, no. I'm fine. No, fine.”

Lloyd shrugged. “Okay…”

Astri looked overboard, and shivered.

“Are you okay, Astri?” Colette asked.

“More or less. I get seasick easily.”

“You do?!” Raine asked, so eagerly that Lloyd and Colette jumped and rocked the boat. Astri and Raine both dove for the sides.

“Yeah, I do,” Astri said, surfacing cautiously. “But, usually only when it's choppy. Today looks pretty safe.”

“So you don't like water, Astri?” Colette asked.

“Oh, water's…pretty much fine. But I don't like sailing, and I don't like rain.”

“You're like a cat.” Colette smiled. “Do you like cats, Astri?”

Astri snorted. “ `Like' is an understatement. I am such a cat-person that dogs don't like me.”

“Oh really?” Colette's smile dropped. “How sad.”

“No, I don't really like dogs either.”

“Oh, but that's sad too! Dogs are so sweet!”

Astri and Lloyd exchanged exasperated looks. Then the fact that he had exchanged a thought with Astri hit Lloyd, and he jumped.

Raine and the boat both lurched. “Oh Goddesssss…”

Max, the owner of the boat, suddenly leaned forward, causing the boat to rock even more. “Hey…”

Raine squinched her eyes shut. “Oh, please, stop rocking this thing!”

“Why, Raine?” Genis asked slyly. “You getting sick?”

“No! I'm…just worried you'll capsize us!”

“Capsize,” Max repeated, frowning. “That's funny. I thought…” He rubbed his eyes and looked again. “But I guess…no, wait! Look out there!”

Even Raine turned her green face to look over the waves. It took them all a moment to see it. Then Colette suddenly yelped, and everybody else realized what was out there.

There was a woman swimming with all her strength towards them. Her long green hair was floating around her in the water and dragging at her long white arms—she flailed wildly, obviously having seen them and desperate to try and reach them.

“She's drowning!” Colette screamed.

“Max!” Lloyd yelled. “Can't this thing go any faster?!”

“Not unless the wind picks up!” Max snapped back.

Lloyd whirled. “Genis!”

“Way ahead of you.” The small sorcerer whipped out his kendama and flipped it around once. “Wind Blade!”

A gust of wind slammed into the sail, propelling the small boat forward so quickly it rose out of the water. Raine moaned and put her sick head on the boat's rail, but nobody noticed, all eyes fixed on the struggling woman just ahead.

“Hold on!” Colette shouted, lunging forward and reaching out over the front of the boat. “Here! Grab my hand!”

The woman did. She suddenly burst out of the water, shedding water everywhere, and rose up into the air, revealing her full, pale bosom, a pillar of marble-like torso, and her long, seaweed-like hair dripping down into the ocean. The expression of panic slid off her face like water from her bare breasts as she crested the side of the boat and seized Colette's hand in an iron grip. Face to face with the Chosen, she smiled, showing fangs.

Colette screamed, and the woman dragged her down into the water.

A silvery fish tail slapped the surface, sending a sheet of water up over the occupants of the boat.

* * *

“COLETTE!!!!!” Astri, Lloyd, and Genis all screamed.

“Colette!!!” Raine and Monika expostulated.

“Stop the boat!!” Lloyd shrieked. “We have to go down and rescue her!”

“How?!” Kratos demanded, more emotional than any of them had seen him yet. “Unless you can breathe water?!”

“Genis! Do something!!”

“What?!” Genis demanded. “I can't drag them out or wrap you in air, Lloyd! I'm a sorcerer, not an elementalist!”

“If only we had Undine!” Astri moaned.

“What?!” Lloyd yelped. “I don't even know what that is!”

“It's—she's—never mind!! We have to—” Then Astri jolted. “I GOT IT!! Hecate-goddess-of-witchcraft-and-sorcery-lend-me-your-power-defy-the-laws-of-physics-and-deliver-unto-me-a-Miracle-of-Magic—Release-Gravity!”

Astri raised his arms into the air, and a huge sheet of water inversed color and exploded upwards into a solid wall. Kneading the air like bread dough, Astri somehow twisted the water into a roughly semi-circular shape.

“What is that?!” Lloyd, Genis, and Monika all exploded.

“Sorry, I can't make it big enough for two!” Astri clambered up onto the side of the boat and balanced there, teetering, for a moment. “Wish me luck!”

He jumped into the semi-circle, and it wrapped all the way around, forming a ball of reddish-brownish-yellowish water. Then the ball plunged down into the waves, and was gone.

“ASTRI!!!” Lloyd and Monika shouted.

* * *

“Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, lend me your power…defy the laws of physics and deliver unto me a Miracle of Magic—Release Gravity!”

Astri chanted the spell over and over, like a litany, as his magically-made bubble of air-holding water plunged down into the ocean, in search of Colette. There was a lot to hold. The bubble itself was only held together because it—and only it—had its gravity eased up. However, had that been all, the bubble would have floated. So on top of keeping the bubble together, Astri had to keep it going, by weakening the gravity of the water in front of it to allow the bubble to sink.

It was while he was chanting that he had a sudden moment of utter, icy panic. MP. In all video games, characters had MP. When their MP was used up, they couldn't cast spells anymore. Did he count as a character? Did he have MP? If so, how much? And if he did, then how much was he using up with each casting of his Release Gravity spell?

That led to a second moment of utter, icy panic. If he did find Colette, how would he get her back up? If he ran out of MP on the way down, how could he hold the bubble for the way back up?

And this, in turn, led to yet a third moment of utter, icy panic. Even if he did find Colette, and could get her back up, how was he going to get her back?

Fortunately (maybe), there was no time for a fourth moment of utter, icy panic. Ahead was a flashing silver tail, bedecked with trailing strands of long, seaweed-green hair.

“HEY!!!” Astri roared, although he wasn't sure if his voice could reach through the no-gravity bubble to the water. “YOU!! GIVE COLETTE BACK!!!”

The mermaid stopped and whirled around, revealing Colette unconscious, pressed against the mermaid's bare bosom. Mermaids are thought by most Westerners to be beautiful, mischievous ladies of the ocean. This mermaid was beautiful, yes, but just as plainly evil as the ko that had possessed Sheena. Her long green hair swirled in the eddies of the sea as though it were alive; the gills lining her ribs flared in the water like ripples of cloth; and there was something inexplicably menacing about the strength of her long, fishy tail, which gave the impression of a snake coiled to strike. But it was her eyes, black without pupil, iris, or white, which truly conveyed her menace. Those were the eyes of a monster, no matter how beautiful it might appear.

She bared her teeth at Astri in his bubble, showing a mouthful of long, vampire-worthy fangs and a whipping black tongue like a snake's. Astri recoiled, lost his footing on the bubble, and fell backwards.

The mermaid cackled, the grating shriek penetrating even Astri's magical bubble, and turned on her heel—er, tail—to swim away.

“Come back here!!” Astri shouted, grabbing for the ring around his neck. “Eii-yaaaaah!!!”

The ring glowed, slid through the links of the necklace easily, and morphed into the slender silver of Astri's Snake Saber. Astri whipped it back and shot it forward—reacting to his thoughts, it broke apart into the whip at once, shot through the side of the bubble, and arrowed through the water like a harpoon. It struck the mermaid's tail and impaled her through her right fluke.

The mermaid screamed, a terrible scream that shook the molecules of the ocean. She whirled around, releasing Colette with one hand, to stare in mute shock at her tail, where dark blood was dissolving away into the water. She wrenched her tail away from the point of the saber/ whip and screamed again at the pain—then she pumped her muscles and flew forward at Astri.

Understandably, Astri panicked, and tried to jump backwards. He hit the side of the bubble. But his attempted escape had another effect. He accidentally jolted the hilt of the saber, sending a rolling wave through the whip. It snapped up, even slowed by the water, and slashed the mermaid diagonally across the stomach.

The mermaid wailed like a banshee and changed direction, sheering around the bubble to the rear. Astri took a deep breath, shored up his shaking knees, and gave a silent order. The Snake Saber came back together, streaking back like a tape measurer until it reassembled itself with a snap upon the hilt.

The mermaid, streaming blood from her tail and stomach, pressed Colette against her front with one arm and plunged at the bubble with the other. Astri just realized what she was trying to do as she did it, and as the upper half of her body exploded into the bubble, spraying water everywhere, Astri threw himself away from her and her grasping fingernails.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for Astri to dodge effectively. A cold, clammy hand seized him around the ankle and gave an inhumanly strong yank. She was trying to pull him out of the bubble, and leave him to drown.

Astri reacted before he thought it through. He swept the Snake Saber backwards towards his ankle.

The most horrendous scream yet pierced his head, sending his skull reverberating with the echoes. The mermaid backpedalled so fast that Colette's feet whiplashed in-and-out of the bubble in the space of a few moments. A cloud of blood filled the water.

But something clammy was still clutching his ankle.

Again, before he thought, Astri looked down at his ankle and saw the mermaid's severed hand, clinging, twitching, like the severed tentacle of an octopus, to his ankle.

Astri screamed and smashed the hand away from him with the Snake Saber. It skidded across the bubble and lay there for a moment, then suddenly spasmed, as though with one last gasp of life.

That spasm was the last straw—Astri vomited, retched, then vomited again. It had never occurred to him that he might actually have to do something like that in another world. And why not? It was perfectly logical that when you slashed something with a sword, there would be blood and…other things. But still…that hand…

Astri fought down his gorge with difficulty and stood up, carefully not looking at the hand again. As soon as this was over, he was going to scrub the skin off his ankle where that…thing had touched him. But first, he had to get Colette. She was way more important than his cleanliness.

The mermaid circled the bubble, and Astri turned with her, both watching the other, clearly planning their next move. Astri was desperately running through his list of options. He had the Snake Saber still. But to use it, he'd have to actually slash the mermaid again, which he didn't think he could do, especially if it came down to stabbing her through the heart—which it most likely would. So, ixnay on the Snake Saber.

That left him with magic. But they were in the water. There was nothing to levitate. Well, except for Colette's clothes, or his own. But if he levitated Colette into the bubble, the mermaid would come too. Could he loft the mermaid away? Maybe…but she would just come back and attack them as they rose.

Speaking of magic…he'd better reinforce the bubble. It was getting hard to breathe.

“Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and sorcery, lend me your power…defy the laws of physics and deliver unto me a Miracle of Magic—Release Gravity!”

The bubble, which was beginning to fade away, firmed up again. But it wasn't any easier to breathe. It was becoming hot, and the air was tasting…stale.

Oh God. He was running out of air.

* * *

The mermaid soared at the bubble again. Astri slashed the Snake Saber at her, hoping desperately that she would sheer away. She did, not stupid enough to tangle with the object which had taken her hand. But her tail broke through the bubble, sending a cannonblast of bloody water splashing all over Astri. It was disgusting, but Astri didn't have much time to think about that. The air in the bubble was running out. It was becoming harder to breathe with every breath.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot!” Astri berated himself, then stopped. He was wasting air.

Wasting air?! There's barely any left! You moron, you didn't even take enough to get Colette back! Even if I do beat the mermaid now, there's no way I can get us back to the surface!

Panic was thumping in Astri's ears now. Although he wasn't claustrophobic, the walls of the bubble seemed to close in on him as the air drained away into his lungs. Every breath was one less for—

A scream of triumph—he had thought too long. The mermaid was back. Reflexively he tried to slash at her, but the thought of the hand screamed in his mind—just as he stepped backwards and tripped over it anyways.

The mermaid plunged down towards him, fangs bared. Astri screamed and lurched the saber up. The mermaid's black eyes widened as she realized she was heading straight for it. She tried to change direction, but there was no time—so she shoved Colette towards the saberpoint.

Now Astri tried to change the saber's direction, but things were happening too fast for all three of them—Astri, the mermaid, and Colette. Astri couldn't move the saber much at all, and it stabbed for Colette. But the mermaid couldn't move Colette much either, and only managed to get the Chosen's arm between herself and the blade. The Snake Saber went right through Colette's arm, just below the shoulder, and stabbed into the mermaid's right breast.

Screams. Shrieks. Blood spraying over everyone. The mermaid jerked away with Colette hanging limply in front of her and plunged through the bottom of the bubble, which was possible with a bit of effort. The only reason Astri didn't go through it was because he was trying not to.

“Yâflan dâdvari!” the mermaid spat.

“Yeah? Right back at you, you crazy bleep. Hecate, goddess of witchcraft and sorce—”

It was here that Astri tried to take a breath, and almost choked. There was barely any air left. He was in a bubble filled with carbon dioxide. He wasn't going to drown. He was going to asphyxiate underwater.

Good work.

The voice, female, soft, insinuous, rich with power, was so faint in Astri's mind that he barely heard it. But with the voice came words, rising to his throat, just like the first time he had used Release Gravity. Yet, these were different words, and as he spoke them, they slid over his tongue like the softest whispering silk.

“Selene, pearl of the sky, sister of the dawn, grant me your shining light to protect me, to heal me, to guide me…oh Lady of the Moon, be my guide and savior…Luna Lumina!”

* * *

For a moment, nothing happened. Astri waited, breathless, spots dancing in front of his eyes. The mermaid waited, not sure what was going on, but pretty sure her target was trying some new kind of trick. Colette snored, oblivious to her surroundings due to her unconsciousness.

Then a brilliant light flared from Astri's heart. Like a lantern in his chest, the light grew, flooding his skin until it burst forth, causing him to glow like a star. The mermaid shrieked. The magical bubble, which had been losing cohesion as Astri lost magic and concentration, fell apart for good.

Astri took a deep, gasping breath. Although he was now floating in the water, surrounded by nothing except for this magical light, the sea wasn't touching him. What's more, he could breathe. Breathe as easily as he had been able to in the warm, hot deserts of Triet. It was such a relief that for several seconds all he did was breathe—breathe, and swear never to underestimate the value of air ever again.

Don't relax yet!

Another voice-that-was-too-quiet-to-be-a-voice in his mind, but a different voice, softer but lighter, warm, friendly, filled with urgency. Astri looked, and despite the light all around him he could see perfectly well the mermaid swimming at him, Colette held like a shield in front of her, her stump of a wrist streaming blood, her fangs bared in a bloodthirsty snarl. There was no question of her action now—the mermaid was trying to kill him.

More words. Different words. Words not rising but shooting to Astri's mouth like arrows, cold on his lips but jolting his teeth like sparks.

“Artemis, master Huntress, be my eyes and arms…shoot forth from Olympus the shining Arrows of the Moon…Energy Arrow!”

Out of nowhere, through the water came shooting dozens of arrows of whitest, shining moonlight, each one ethereal as a moonbeam, yet as sharp as a stilleto. The mermaid screamed, and lofted Colette to defend herself—but the arrows shot right through Colette and plunged into her body.

The mermaid let out a terrible, bloodcurdling scream. The arrows disappeared, leaving no visible wounds, but the mermaid continued to scream, louder and louder, until suddenly, without warning, her scream was cut off as though by a knife, and she let go of Colette, every muscle in her body going slack.

Eyes wide and staring, mouth frozen in her final scream, the mermaid sank backwards, motionless, into the dark depths of the ocean from which she had come.

* * *

“Astri!!” Lloyd yelled. “Colette!!!”

Despite the cooperation of everyone's brains, neither the Sylvarantians nor Monika could figure out a way to dive down into the ocean to rescue Colette—and possibly Astri, if he needed rescuing as well—without drowning before they got halfway down. Not even Kratos could come up with any ideas, and despite Genis' best effort, his attempts to part the seas with magic failed miserably. There was just too much water for his magical abilities to handle.

Which was why Lloyd, in an ecstasy of helplessness, was now reduced to calling his lost companions' names out over the brine, perhaps hoping that his voice could reach them since he obviously couldn't.

A bubble went up.

“Bubble!!” Genis shouted.

Everyone craned to look at the bubble. It rose to the surface, then popped.

There was a hopeful pause.

Nothing.

“Dammit!!” Lloyd shouted. “Isn't there anything we can do?! At all?!”

“Not unless you can turn into a fish and just never told us,” Genis said moodily. “Bubble!!”

Another stare. Another pop. Another pause.

Nothing.

“There's gotta be something,” Monika said. “What dragged her down, anyway?”

“Mermaid,” Raine said, still looking seasick but having her mind taken off of it by this unexpected kidnapping. “Half-woman, half-fish. They look beautiful, but they're actually carnivorous, and highly dangerous. Because they prefer live meat, they use their powers to enable their victims to breathe water until they return to their lair, where they eat them alive…”

“NO!” Lloyd roared.

“They've been known to impersonate drowning women to lure in prey…why I didn't think of that before Colette—”

“Bubble!!” Genis interrupted.

Stare. Pop. Pause.

Nothing.

“Dammitdammitdammit!!!” Lloyd expostulated. “That's it! I'm just gonna swim for it!”

“Lloyd, no!” Genis grabbed him by the ribbons on his collar, almost choking him. “You'll never make it!”

“Bubble!!” Monika shouted.

“Who cares?!” Lloyd roared. “Bubbles aren't going to help Colette!!”

“Whoa,” Monika said. “Lots of bubbles.”

“Will you shut up about the damn bu—”

“Uh, Lloyd?” Genis interrupted. “Take a look before you finish that sentence.”

Lloyd looked. There was a steady stream of bubbles rising to the surface from underneath the water. And what's more, there was a steadily growing light glowing beneath the bubbles.

“What the—?”

The light grew brighter—and abruptly it surfaced, revealing itself to be Astri, suffused in light and clutching Colette tightly against his chest.

“Lloyd!” Astri yelled. “Genis! Raine! Moni—” Then he spotted the boat. “Monika!!”

“Astri!!” Lloyd yelled. “Colette!!!”

* * *

“Thank the Goddess you're all right!” Raine moaned as Kratos, Lloyd, and Monika pulled Astri and Colette onboard. “Is Colette…” She hesitated.

“Alive,” Astri said tiredly. “Wounded, unconscious, but alive.”

“Martel be blessed.” Raine gingerly pulled out her staff, trying not to let go of the side of the boat, and gestured towards Colette with it. Light poured from the spikes tipping the end.

“So what happened down there?!” Genis demanded. “And what was that light?! You're not even wet! Well, you are kind of…but…is that blood?”

“I learned new spells,” Astri said, giving a tired smile. “One of `em lets me breathe underwater…and who knows what else. I…killed the mermaid with the other one.”

“Not with your sword?” Lloyd asked.

Astri shuddered. “No.”

“What spells were they?” Genis asked eagerly.

“One's called Luna Lumina,” Astri said, yawning. “The other's Energy Arrow.”

His yawn grew so wide that his jaw threatened to crack.

“You look exhausted,” Lloyd observed.

“I had to use magic all the way down to get to Colette, and then I had to swim all the way back up, using only my legs, dragging Colette. I feel like dying right now.” Then he shuddered again. “Or at least sleeping for a very long time.”

“Well…er…” Lloyd looked uncomfortable. “The…ride to Palmacosta'll take a while. Why don't you take a nap?”

Astri looked around. “There's no room.”

“I'll stand,” Lloyd muttered.

Astri looked at Lloyd, then bowed his head. “Thanks. But there's still not enough room to…” He hesitated. “Monika…can I lean on you?”

Monika blinked. “Lean on me?”

“Just sit still.” Astri tried to sit down, and ended up more capsizing next to Monika. He yawned again, pulled the tie Colette had gotten him out of his hair, and wrung it out. Thanks to the mermaid, it was dripping wet, hanging in long mahogany tails over his throat and shoulders. Astri yawned again, put the tie in his pocket, and leaned against Monika's shoulder.

“Eh?” Monika said intelligently.

“Uncomfortable?” Astri asked drowsily.

“Huh? Uh…nah, not really.”

* * *

“Wake up, Astri!” Lloyd shouted, bouncing up and down in the middle of the boat. “Wake up! We're here! Look at it! It's huge!”

Astri groaned.

“Whoa…I've never seen anything like this! Even Triet wasn't this big!”

Astri turned over and clapped his hands over his ears.

“Look! Look at that gigantic building there! What is it?!”

“Lloyd,” Astri said, muffled, “shut up before I decide to cast my newest spell on you.”

“That's the church of Palmacosta,” Kratos said.

“The church?! Really?! It's huge! It looks almost as big as the Temple to Martel in Iselia!”

“Good for it,” Astri muttered.

“C`mon, Astri, look! You've gotta look! It's amazing!”

“Lloyd, you are waking me up, and that's not good for any of us,” Astri growled.

“You're not a morning person, are you?” Genis observed.

“Sure I am. But when I get woken up, I get a couple other things too, and none of them are conducive to the waking-uppers' lifespan.”

“Well, you might want to get up now,” Genis said. “You might not have realized it yet, but you're not on Monika's shoulder anymore.”

Astri groaned and finally looked up, his hair all over his face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Move your hair and rub your eyes,” Genis suggested.

With very bad grace, Astri pushed his hair back, combed his fingers through it, and brought his fists around to dig at his eyes. Then he glared at Genis.

“Okay, so what—”

Then Astri realized exactly what. Not being the most motionless of sleepers, he had rolled somewhat in his sleep—down from Monika's shoulder into his lap. In which general area he had been trying to hide from Lloyd's wake-up calls.

“Oh, God.” Astri pulled himself up into a sitting position next to Monika, going red with embarrassment. “I am so sorry. I probably should have warned you…I roll. A lot. I—Gods, I am sooo sorry. If—I mean—I—you should have said something! I didn't…like…hurt you or anything, did I?”

Monika was blushing as well. “No…not…really…”

“It was pretty interesting to watch,” Genis needled unmercifully. “I'm not sure what was funnier—Astri rolling around like a cat on a pillow, or Monika's face while—”

“Release Gravity!!”

Genis' shoes inversed color. Astri threw his hands into the air, and Genis was sent flying about a hundred feet into the air with a startled squawk. Then Astri slammed his palms down onto his knees, and Genis dropped.

“Shut up!!” Astri shouted at Genis as he hit the water.

Genis surfaced, spluttering water, just in time to get cracked in the back of the head by another boat and driven under again.

“Please don't kill him,” Raine groaned. “I only have one brother.”

Astri shrugged, and raised his hands again. Genis flew back out of the water and landed headfirst on the Palmacosta pier with enough force for a concussion, just as Max's little boat drew up to dock.

Colette just now noticed that Genis was lying there on the pier, with spirals for eyes and a bump the size of a watermelon on top of his head.

“Wow, Genis, you beat us here! How'd you do that?”

* * *

It took a little while for things to calm down after that. Lloyd and Colette were overflowing with enthusiasm to go right out and explore Palmacosta. Raine, on the other hand, collapsed onto the wood of the pier and refused to move another step until the world stopped rocking. Genis, being unconscious, didn't seem to keen on moving yet either. Astri did nothing but yawn, and Monika was preoccupied with staring at all the things to be seen on the pier itself—which were old hat to the others, but not to someone who'd never seen a port even while he had his memory.

It was while Raine was attempting to move her pinkie finger and deciding that set the world rocking too much for her that Astri's brain, as though it had been thinking intensively the whole time he had been sleeping, suddenly flashed a glaring realization into Astri's face. It hit him midyawn.

This was when Kratos returned.

“Where did you come from?!” Lloyd demanded.

“I took the liberty of improving our weapons at Ultramarine Customization,” Kratos said. “I apologize,” he added to Astri. “The customizer said there was nothing he could do for a Snake Saber.”

This sidetracked Astri from his realization.

“Why did you even ask?”

Kratos shrugged. “A defender of the Chosen requires a powerful weapon.”

Astri opened his mouth, but for once couldn't think of anything to say. Kratos had just subtly given him probably the biggest compliment Astri could remember Kratos ever giving. He was classing Astri as one of him. Them. Whatever.

As often happens in situations of such magnitude, Astri settled for the most banal sentence in the history of the world. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” Kratos handed Masamune swords to Lloyd, Slicer Rings to Colette, and a Gem Rod to Raine.

“But…” Astri took a deep breath. “I'm not going to be traveling with you guys anymore.”

Kratos stopped. Lloyd actually tore his eyes away from the Palmacosta church to stare at Astri. Raine actually looked up. And Colette looked like she had been slapped.

“What?! Why, Astri?”

“I think…it's time that I left you,” Astri said. “The only real reason I stayed with you guys was because I wanted to fight alongside you. I really like you…all of you…even you two,” he added to Lloyd and Kratos. “But I want to help Monika. And other people, too. You guys don't need my help. Everything will be all right for you guys. There are other people…who it's not all right for.”

“But…” Lloyd began.

“I know it doesn't really seem all right, but believe me, it will be,” Astri said, looking at Colette in particular. “Just remember, that even when it seems like it won't be, it'll work out. Trust me.”

“But if you're not staying here, then…where are you going?” Lloyd demanded.

“I've been thinking about that,” Astri said. “See…Sylvarant has been like a tutorial for me. Learning about fighting…weapons…magic…it's just been like the basics, so that I can move on and do more. But to learn more, I have to go somewhere where people can teach me. Somewhere with powerful people who I'd trust as much as you guys. And I think I finally figured out where they are.”

“Where?” Lloyd asked.

“There's a story in my world called Kiddy Grade, about a group of interuniversal secret agents called ES Agents.” Astri knew he was explaining this badly, but he plowed ahead anyway. “ES Agents have special powers and undergo rigorous training. And there are these two ES Agents named Éclair and Lumiere, who I would trust with just about anything.”

“So that's where you're going?” Colette asked.

“That's where I'm going,” Astri agreed.

Impulsively Colette flung her arms around Astri and hugged him. “Then good luck, Astri! I'll think of you while I regenerate the world.”

Astri hugged Colette back, and whispered into her ear, “You're gonna live, Colette. I know it.”

“Okay,” Colette whispered back. “I trust you.”

They let go, and Astri turned to Raine. “Raine, thank you so much for helping me and Monika all this time.”

“Sure,” Raine said, then moaned. “Ooooh, the sky is rocking…”

“Yeah…um…just a recommendation…you should probably get off of the dock,” Astri suggested. “If you get away from the salt air, you might feel better.” He paused, then added, “You know, there's an ancient ruin in the city of Asgard, to the north of here…”

Raine jolted upright as though she had suddenly received an electric shock. “RUIN?! WHERE?!”

Lloyd jumped. “Um, Professor…?”

“Let her,” Astri muttered. “It's better than having her seasick.” He cleared his throat. “So, goodbye, Raine. And…goodbye to you too, Lloyd.”

Lloyd extended his hand. Astri took it, then instead dragged Lloyd into a hug as well. Lloyd stiffened, but before he could do anything, Astri used it, like he had with Colette, as a whisper-opportunity.

“Colette's yours,” Astri murmured. “You know that, right?”

Lloyd went bright red. “What?!”

Astri let go and gave Lloyd an innocent smile. “Goodbye and good luck, Lloyd. And, er, the same to you, Genis, although I don't think you can hear me…so…I'm sorry for K.O.ing you…kind of, because you did deserve it.”

Finally, Astri turned to Kratos rather awkwardly. “Um…Kratos. I…was…a jerk to you a lot this whole time. And…I'm…sorry.”

“I apologize as well,” Kratos said, rather surprisingly. “You seem to have true dedication to your goals, and I respect that, even if I don't agree with them.”

“You're a pessimist. I'm an optimist. We don't mix.” Astri hesitated. “But Kratos, you should try looking on the other side for once. You might be very happily surprised.”

Kratos extended his hand. “Good luck, then.”

Astri shook Kratos' hand. “Thanks. I'll need it.”

“Goodbye,” Monika was saying, rather awkwardly, to Colette.

“Goodbye, Monika,” Colette said, clasping her hands at her collar. “May Martel bless you. And I hope you get your memories back soon.”

“Yeah,” Monika said. “Thanks.”

Astri left Kratos and came over to Monika. “So…are we ready?”

Monika took a deep breath. “I guess.”

“I'm sorry, but I have to touch you to take you with me,” Astri said, digging the magical, world-warping penny out of his pocket. “Just…lemme hold your sleeve, or something.”

“Okay,” Monika said uncomfortably.

Astri took hold of the edge of Monika's sleeve with one hand, and balanced the penny on the fingers of his other hand. Raine paid extremely close attention.

“Aeneas,” Astri said, and flipped the penny.

The small coin flipped straight up into the air, glittering in the sunlight. It soared up, slowed…fell back towards the pier…hit it…

Astri and Monika slid through the fabric of the world of Sylvarant and were gone.



*End Part One: Sylvarant*

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