Hello there.

It's been a long time since I updated this, hasn't it? Truthfully, I've barely been on in years and almost exclusively have been on other websites. However, recently I've been sending PMs to an old friend from here and it made me nostalgic. And though the TOS fandom is pretty quiet now and this fic has been going since...forever. Plus my earlier chapters really need rewriting, but given this is like thirty-four chapters and over 10,000 words, you can understand it's a daunting task.

Still, I always intended to finish this and I found a bunch of my old notes for it on my laptop, so I figured, why not?

As always, enjoy!

After the group jumped off the Rheairds and headed up the Tower of Salvation stairs, the path was blocked by angels! Angels that looked pretty much identical to ones that they had defeated before, mind you, but it was enough to give them pause.

"It's blocked!" Lloyd shouted, for the benefit of people without eyes.

"Lloyd! All you other people." said Yuan, appearing out of nowhere. "Come this way!"

"We trust you implicitly, guy who tried to kill me to blackmail Kratos!" Lloyd agreed cheerfully.

Raine sighed and shook her head but the group followed Lloyd, as they do everywhere. Yuan led them into an underground base, complete with teleporters and refreshers.

"Now that Yggdrasill knows I'm pulling a Severus Snape, the only way to save my dead girlfriend is to work with you. Don't think this means I want to be friends or anything."

Oh, Yuan, so Tsundere.

"You have a really crappy attitude, you know that?" Lloyd said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Sh-shut up, idiot!"

Yuan then disappeared from the scene as anticlimactically as he'd entered it. Really, it was sorta pointless, but it does give you a chance to stock up on gels, so I guess it all evens out. The group left the cave and headed, again, for the Tower of Salvation. When they got there, Zelos suddenly moved ahead and turned to the group.

"Leave this to me!" he said, apropos of nothing.

"…Leave it to you? What are you gonna do?" Sheena asked.

"I prepared a little something the last time we were here," Zelos smirked.

"The last time we were here? When Yggdrasill and Lloyd argued for ten minutes and then we all just left to go to Altessa's?" Sheena deadpanned. "When did you have time to 'prepare a little something'?"

"Oh, Colette. Come over here for a sec." Zelos said, all casually.

"Huh? Oh, okay!" Colette said, and skipped up to Zelos.

Suddenly, angels appeared! And so did Pronyma! (Also is it me, or do her tattoos make her look like she just has really veiny legs?)

"Good work, Chosen!" Pronyma said, filing her nails. "Now, bring her to me. I can't be bothered to teleport a few feet myself."

"Okie-dokie!" Zelos shrugged, and Colette just kinda stood there on the teleporting circle like a chump.

Everyone was shocked. Shocked!

Not enough to run up to Zelos and punch him, of course. That would just be silly. But the shock was still there.

"Zelos!" shrieked Genis.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sheena demanded.

"Oh, shut up!" Zelos shouted, like a pop diva who has run out of bottled water. "I'm just putting myself on the winning side! What you're trying to do is hopeless and meaningless. Besides, Colette wanted to be a sacrifice, remember?"

"You can't really put stock in anything Colette says. She's stupid, remember?" Raine said.

"Zelos!" Lloyd yelled. "You traitor! I have had it with these motherfucking traitors in this motherfucking quest!"

"Aw, give it a rest, Lloyd. Did you forget what I said in Flanoir-?"

"- that the cold is making your hair frizzy?"

"- I side with the strongest."

"Betray you? How amusing. Zelos was our spy from the very beginning." Pronyma smirked, just because she wasn't quite clichéd enough.

"It's not true, is it?" pleaded Colette, from the platform. "Please say that she's lying!"

"Okay, she's lying."

"Really?"

"No."

"I can't believe you!" Sheena shouted. Haha, alliteration. "I always knew you were an effeminate pervert, but I never doubted that you were a good person when it came down to it!"

"Why thank you, my sweet voluptuous hunny." Zelos smirked. "But in the end, I choose this side, because Mithos promised to release me from my title as Chosen. And I get to borrow his hair straighteners whenever I want!"

"You hate being the Chosen so much that you would betray your friends?" Regal said, dramatically.

"Okay, Regal, shut up, you were always a total douchebag to me, so don't try to pull any kind of friendship card." Zelos deadpanned. "I can't wait for Seles to become the Chosen instead."

"You're lying! I still trust you, you hear me!" said Lloyd, striking his dramatic angry pose. "You're the one who told me I could trust you!"

"What are you, stupid?" Zelos said, then shook his head. "Don't answer that. Let's go, my darling Pronyma!"

"Lloyd! LLOYD! LLOYYYYYYD!" Colette whined in the most annoying way possible.

Oh no. Colette has been captured yet again. This is very dramatic and not remotely like anything we've done before.

"Everyone! What are you doing here?" Sheena asked.

"We'll explain later!" Orochi replied, which is like the Mizuho standard response to everything. "Here they come!"

…So the elite ninja guard totally failed to stop the angels from attacking. Makes you wonder why they bothered to show up in the first place.

"Are you okay?" Lloyd asked, when the disturbingly manly-sounding angels were defeated.

"We received a message that you were heading for the final battle," Orochi said. "Now you must go and save Colette."

"…So…you're not coming with us?" Lloyd asked.

"Nope!"

"…Right."

Meanwhile, Presea was looking at the portal where Zelos, Pronyma and Colette had vanished from.

"Is it…still active?" Presea asked, I guess because she didn't have any lines in the script yet and they had to pay her voice actor.

"Of course it is, Cruxis are almost as dumb as I am!" Lloyd said, running up to it. "Let's go!"

Many skits popped up about Zelos' betrayal as the group ran through some kind of weird base with tree roots everywhere. Kind of exactly like what happened after Kratos betrayed you, huh? And yes, Cruxis are stupid enough to leave a teleporter running that takes their enemy right to the base. (I mean, I suppose Zelos could have left it running without anybody knowing, but it's still kinda stupid that they didn't check.)

Once the party was done with a ridiculous see-saw puzzle, because apparently they still have time to do that even when their friend is about to be turned into an empty shell (again), Lloyd and Regal ran into a room that looked kind of like a cathedral tower, complete with suspicious angel statues and random chiming.

"Wh…what's going on?"

"Bells are ringing." Regal stated.

Just in time, the rows of creepy doll angels began to pry themselves out of the wall, looking down at everyone with their creepy, blank eyes.

"Angels!" yelled Lloyd redundantly.

"Here they come!" said Regal.

Once again, the group failed at counting, because a few angels they easily beat got them all panicky.

"Quick, this way!"

They ran for the nearest exit, but after Lloyd went through, Regal suddenly kicked the pillars and blocked off the doorway.

"Regal!" Lloyd shouted, and wow, this is a lot like the screen in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry and Ron are separated by rocks so Harry can go fight the Basilisk by himself…only with angels instead of giant serpent monsters.

"There's no time! You know that!" Regal shouted. "You're the only one who can save Colette!"

Goddamn it, game, this isn't all about Colette! I mean, yeah, we already know that the ritual won't work because Martel doesn't want to be revived and all, but they're talking like only Colette's dumb ass matters here when, for all they know, reviving Martel could very well doom Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Stop focusing solely on the blonde girl!

"I know that, but I can't just leave my friend! And I use the term 'friend' very freely!"

"That's not what you're doing, I…" Regal said, even though yeah, it is what Lloyd's doing, you're just kinda forcing his hand. "I once wasn't able to protect someone very close to me, yadda yadda. So now I'm going to protect my friends!"

"…Regal…"

"Lloyd. Save Colette."

Lloyd turned to leave.

"Don't die, Regal, you hear me? Don't make me go through the same pain you did!"

Right, yeah, I'm sure that it would really matter and everybody would be so sad if Regal died. Nevermind the fact the whole reason he joins you is because he's projecting his memories of Alicia onto Presea, not because he cares about Presea as her own person, and then projects his relationship woes onto Lloyd.

Regal turned to the enemies and oh look, it's Regal's dream come true- a room full of Lolita! Noble intentions, my ass.

"You shall not pass!" Regal yelled, probably making every Peter Jackson fanboy cream their boxer shorts.

Lloyd heard crashes and various fighting noises from inside the room and ran ahead. Eventually, the group came across a weird, spirally staircase and a bridge being guarded by an angry tree…just like the Whomping Willow!

"What the hell is that thing?!" Lloyd said. "It won't let us through!"

"Omega Flowey? It looks like a leftover from the mana tree!" Sheen said, walking closer to inspect it. "Yep, no doubt about it. Just leave this to me!"

Sheena stood back and struck a pose.

"Disciple of everlasting ice!" she shouted, and Celsius appeared in a ball of glowing light. "Hammer of godly thunder! Servant of mother earth! Envoy from the dark abyss! Gatherest before me and unleash thine power!"

"Whoa, what are you doing? Going Super Saiyan?"

"My impression of the mana canon. I mean, it won't be nearly as powerful but at least I'm actually using my powers to get through a temple. When I give the signal, run underneath the tree! Got it?"

"All right, but what about you?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Sheena said, and wow, Lloyd really needs to know that when somebody says that to them it means they're lying to him. "Get ready, here we go!"

Sheena then did her very best impression of the "imam firin mah lazor" meme, which was enough to destroy the tree! Whether because of being blasted by mana or outdated internet references, you decide! She blasted the fuck out of the tree, but unfortunately the bridge was destroyed as well.

"Sheena, are you okay?" Lloyd shouted from the other end of the path.

"Peachy fucking keen!"

"That was amazing!" Lloyd grinned.

"Thanks! Just don't ask me to do it again." She said. "Phew, that drained all my mana. Now I guess I'll just finish this sentence uninterrup-"

But suddenly, something shot up out of the hole and grabbed Sheena. Oh snap, the tentacle vines of doom! I've seen enough anime to know where this is going…

"Agh!"

"Sheena!" Lloyd yelled, running up to the edge of the hole. "Hang on, I'll…"

"Ahahahahahaha! Death approaches!" Sheena giggled.

"Why…why are you laughing?"

"Oh, I was just remembering the time we first met…you called me a psycho, I fell down a trapdoor, lost my stash in the mines…fun times."

"This isn't the time to act all tough!"

"Yes it is, it's the final battle, dipshit." Sheena rolled her eyes. "It's just like before, remember? When I climbed up from the pit and took you on! And this time I won't come out all dusty like before."

"You'd better be telling the truth!"

"Of course! Just remember to leave me a piece of the action!"

Oh, he'll give you a piece of action, know what I'm saying?

Er, anyway…

"Okay…I'll be waiting for you, you got that?" Lloyd said, then he ran out.

"Dammit, why do I have to be so Tsundere for dramatic purposes?" Sheena sighed. "…Who am I talking to? Oh well. My fingers are getting tired. Lloyd…good luck."

Two down, three to go.

Thankfully there were no more puzzles to do, just endless corridors that looked exactly the same. Lloyd ran onto the warp platform and ended up in a room with a control panel situated in the middle of it. Lloyd ran for the doors.

"Open sesame!" he shouted.

"It seems like you can control it from here." Raine said, poking random buttons.

"Professor Sage, hurry!"

"Don't rush me. I haven't played with such a sweet machine in ages…this is it!"

Suspiciously, platforms fell down like something out of a Super Mario game…one by one. The floor shook violently, knocking Raine to the ground, but the first door opened, revealing an angry boxing plant…kinda like the ones from the forest, interestingly.

"This is quite an intricate trap…" Raine commented.

"Professor Sage, are you really making that many mistakes? Usually when you use a computer you make something explode. Wait, are you…?"

Lloyd turned to see an enemy approaching him, sweating nervously. (Lloyd, that is, not the tulip monster.)

"Lloyd, you have to focus on saving Colette right now. Don't get distracted."

"Rrgh!"

After fighting enough plant monsters, the way was finally clear.

"Professor Sage, it's okay now! Hurry up and come-"

But alas, looks like Raine won't be able to come. (Snrk) The final panel on the floor collapsed and the entire room started shaking so violently that I'm kind of surprised that they were able to have this heartfelt conversation without yelling it at the top of their lungs.

"Lloyd, this room will soon collapse. Hurry up and go." Said Raine.

"No! I'm not leaving you behind! I'm tired of everyone being a sacrifice!"

"Sacrifice? When did anyone become a sacrifice?"

Um, Marble, Clara, Botta, all the Chosen that went on a journey before Colette…for a teacher that was a pretty stupid question, Raine.

"I believe in your ideals, as naïve and unrealistic as they are! If you die, my hope dies as well, blah blah blah. I have no regrets."

"Saving the world won't mean anything if you're not in it! Seriously, we'll all die in about five minutes without you!"

"My soul will live on in the new world you create. A world without hope is worse than death, don't you think?"

"I don't understand that!" Lloyd shouted. "I don't understand at all!"

Raine, you're confusing the boy, have pity.

"Then make use of your remaining life about what it means to live. That is my final lesson to you as your teacher. Now go. Do as I say."

"Professor Sage, I'll never forget you and your habit of beating your students!" Lloyd shouted, and ran for the warp pad.

Now that it was down to Lloyd, Presea and Genis, I guess the game designers got a little lazy with how dangerous the puzzles were, because for Presea's trap, this is what we get.

Lloyd ran up to a door and tried to open it, but as usual, it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked from the inside! It's no good!" Lloyd yelled, being maybe just a little melodramatic. "It won't budge at all."

"Lloyd," said Presea, pointing to a nearby vent Lloyd somehow missed. "Look up there."

"That?"

"I may be able to enter the room from there."

"But it's too dangerous to go alone!"

…Was that Zelda reference on purpose or what? And also, are you fucking kidding me, Lloyd? EVERYTHING YOU DO is dangerous, why is this one "too dangerous" suddenly? Do you really have a choice? No, of course not.

"I'll be fine. I'm the only one who can fit through there."

Handy that you didn't get caught by any of the traps earlier, isn't it? …Why is that, anyway? How do the rest of the party get through those things that cause all the trouble for Lloyd that always needs someone else to clear the way? Huh.

So like in many terrible spy movies, Presea managed to wriggle through the vent and activated the nearby machine, rather easily considering what a fuss people always make of them. (Then again, I guess she is from Tethe'alla, the non-backwards world.)

"No!" Presea shouted, racing towards the ceiling as it began to descend on the pathway to the warp pad.

Only, oh no! Another vine came out of nowhere, wrapping around Presea's foot! So she propped the door with…an axe? Okay, whatever. Lloyd ran through the doorway and spotted Presea.

"Presea!" he took a step forwards.

"Stop! Don't come over here!" Please hurry, go!"

"No, I, I-" said Lloyd, even though really, he could just demon fang the vines or something.

"Lloyd, you are a kind person. But if you allow your kindness to interfere with your blind stupidity, you're merely weak. Go now, or I'll lose my respect for you."

"But-"

"I'll be fine, so please, hurry."

"Yeah, but-"

"Lloyd. No matter what happens, stand and fight. I know you can do it." Presea went on, before Lloyd pointed at her.

"Presea, you have a knife on your belt, right? Can't you just…you know…use that?"

Pause.

"Goddamn it, you're all making me do this myself, aren't you?" Lloyd grumbled. "Colette got to be a sacrifice that one time and now you're all jumping on the sacrifice train! Er, I mean, I'm sorry, Presea!"

Lloyd then did the limbo under the door, just before Presea's axe broke, managing to reach the next warp pad.

Presea looked around the room.

"…Welp."

And now, it was down to the not-so-dynamic duo, Lloyd and Genis. After grabbing some random EX-gems from the nearby treasure chests, they once again found themselves racing for the warp pad. Suddenly, jelly blocked the way!

"Another trap!" Lloyd yelled. What is it with him and pointing out the obvious?

"It's coming towards us!" Genis said.

…It wasn't, it was just sitting there, but whatever.

"Whoa, run!"

Suddenly, more gelatine appeared, forcing Lloyd and Genis into the centre of the room.

"It's no use! There's more over here, too!" Genis cried, presumably counting to Lloyd didn't have to waste time puzzling it out.

"We'll just have to attack it at the same time and force our way through!" Lloyd said, cheerfully.

"Is that gonna work?"

"Dwarven Vow Number Sixteen: Shut up, Genis!"

Genis rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let's do it!" Lloyd said. "On the count of three!"

"…Lloyd."

"Wh…what?" Lloyd said.

"Um, nothing. I'm ready." Genis shook his head. I think we can all see where this is going.

"Okay. One…two…three!"

Genis blasted the wall with a fireball and Lloyd used a demon fang. Oh, now you remember that you can do that, Lloyd? Goddamn it, it's a good thing he's meant to be kind of dumb. Lloyd ran through the hole in the jelly, while Genis just stood there like a putz.

"See, look, it worked!"

"Well, it wasn't bad for one of your plans, Lloyd," Genis said, snottily. "The only problem was you forgot I suck and can't run a few feet after casting literally the most basic spell there is."

"Genis!" Lloyd ran towards the jelly, but it had already closed.

"Oops. I messed up."

"You did that to get me out…and you're still tired? Dammit, and that's with an exsphere? Seriously?"

"N…no!" Genis mumbled.

"Liar! You totally knew this would happen! Why did you do it?"

"Goddammit, Lloyd, haven't you figured out how this works by now?" Genis said, standing up. "You always rush in to save someone in trouble, even when it's totally not within your power to do or when it just makes things worse. But that's the Lloyd I looked up to!"

"Genis…" Lloyd said, looking bummed.

"Now hurry up! Before it's too late!"

"No way! I can't leave you behind, even though it's what I've done to every single person I've said I wouldn't leave behind!"

"I said go!" Genis yelled. "I'm…not like you. I'm a coward. When it comes down to it, my body starts shaking, there's vomit my sweater already, Raine's spaghetti…I don't want you to see me looking pathetic in the end-"

"Too late!" Lloyd yelled. "Um, I mean, Genis!"

"- Go! I said go!"

"You…you fool!"

Lloyd ran away for the warp pad, abandoning one of his friends yet again. Genis sank to the floor, still holding his kendama.

"You were my best friend, Lloyd…though I did drop you pretty quickly when Mithos showed up, just because he was a half-elf…"

Now it was Lloyd all alone. And as we all know, when Lloyd is by himself, he will start talking to absolutely nobody in particular.

"From here on out, looks like it's a one way road…" he mumbled, looking ahead.

Then the game turned into Raiders of the Lost Ark for a second as Lloyd ran across a collapsing bridge while dodging arrows. A final arrow came out and tried to shoot him, but Lloyd dodged it!/Zelos' magical ball blocked it/Colette's stupid ice rabbit blocked it/some other thing stopped Lloyd getting shot! Really, it feels like one arrow to the chest shouldn't be such a big deal.

Anyway, in the room of the great seed, Yggdrasill was doing what any villain does when it seems like their plans were coming into fruition: Monologuing!

"It's almost time, dearest sister. This body has the closest match to your mana signature. I failed many times in the past, but I don't let minor things like centuries of repeatedly screwing up stop me!"

"The mana charge is complete, my lord," Pronyma said.

"Let her go!" Lloyd yelled, bursting into the scene.

"Lloyd! How did you get in here?!" Yggdrasill said, as if Lloyd arriving was a minor annoyance. "The lock to this room can only be opened by a member of the Cruxis High Order!"

"Haha, member!" Lloyd giggled. "Anyway, what matters is that your selfish dream ends here!"

"A futile effort." Yggdrasill said, even though not really, since they got all the way here. He went to zap Lloyd when suddenly-

"We won't let you lay a finger on him!" said…Genis?!

Dun, dun, duuuun!

You know, despite my sarcasm, making fun of some of these scenes was actually pretty hard, namely Sheena, Raine and Genis'. I stand by that Presea's "trap" is really lame, though.

Stay tuned for the next chapter!