Fwee, part two and the final chapter. Unfortunately, on top of taking so incredibly long to complete, two days after I actually did my computer got a virus which hates the internet! Transferring the files would probably just kill the one I'm on now, so I'm stuck re-typing everything going by the papers I printed out in front of me! GAH! No fair!

Guardian Angel

Part 2

'Traitorous bastard…' These words still hang in the air around me, unmoved by any breath of wind save my own shallow gasps. My clothing is stained down the front, my red tie torn askew and a darker shade near the end where it was used to dab up excess blood to mock me. How much of what they said is anything but right, though? In less than three years, I have not only brought myself down, but my entire family in the eyes of those we've served for generations. I turned against my own people, as a true traitor, yet I was too weak to even stand by my judgment when faced against my own kin.

'Turncoat scum…'

I don't know why these words dig at me so terribly now of all times though. Even when Almarde was shot down right before my eyes, even when repeatedly I was the one looked at suspiciously as the traitor amongst us, these words would sting but never like this. This deep despair welling up inside of me, clawing and scrounging around in my insides seeking some form of escape; am I so weak that I would let myself weep because of it?

I truly must be pathetic then… was it being struck which drove all of this home to me? Kalas never actually caused me harm when he questioned me all those many times, as if my sacrifice of everything hadn't been enough to convince him.

'Honourless wretch…'

Yes… and now I feel despair, chained here to this misshapen sculpture, in this horrid blur of coloured winds and desolate stone, brutalized by those who once scurried under my very orders. Yes, I don't care what the others may think, although that power has never truly appealed to me. I was still a high ranking Officer in the Imperial Army. I was still very much able to send men running. How the mighty have fallen, that's the saying, isn't it? But here, I thought it only applied to those who utilize and abuse that power. Men like Emperor Geldoblame. Men who reach too far and are ignorant to any consequences resulting from their actions.

'Blind idiot…'

"Kalas…" I force the name out, my voice sounding gruff to my own ears. I can't help it, right now, my options are one of two; wallow in despair until the world ends, praying perhaps for rescue which very well may never come, or…

'Blundering moron!'

"Kalas…" I grit my teeth together as I say his name with more force, my wrists paining me greatly as I force my arms down. I've been slumping terribly where I'm tethered here, like some animal, and now want to bring my feet back under me. The metal casing around my shoes clatters slightly as I finally ease the strain on my shoulders and wrists. My arms are still help up high though and this new stance thus proves to be only slightly more comfortable.

'Weak fool!'

"I can't believe…" I start to speak, the words soft and lacking conviction. I cut the words off short in order to try again. What does it matter how I act; I'm alone here, am I not? Waiting for the world to come crashing to an end around me…

'Pathetic beg—'

"You idiot! I can't believe you!" My voice cracks and pitches high as I cry out, sounding faint even in the deep silence. The creaking echo making its way back to my repeatedly.

Weak, so weak, I feel my despair shrinking back though as I hear how faint my own voice sounds to me. At the very least, it seems to cut through the echoing voices of the soldiers, if barely. But, after all he put me through, after all Kalas did to me, he even dares take my voice away?

'Disgra—'

"You taunt me into fol-following the morally right path!" Still no anger! What is wrong with me? Why can't I just… just shout? I can feel the anger I want, smoldering away deep within my heart, again, again, I just want it out!

'Stone Cutter's Blood!'

"You bastard! Kalas!" There. My breath catches in my throat as I suddenly feel the wind rush out of my lungs in a great burst. My face feels flush as I disregard all of my Imperial training. To hell with patience and calm words! Those smoldering emotions and angered thoughts at last catch, and I can feel fire running through my veins as surely as it flows through the magma baring the way to this dimensional pocket.

"You give me the means to defy everything I've ever been taught to follow!" I holler; allowing my voice to carry much father than I've ever allowed. But it doesn't matter how loud I am, no one can hear me now. "You lead me against my own people! My friends, my family! My own brother and sister! You question me, you plant doubt within me and everyone else the entire time about who I really am!" I can hold this rage back still if I try hard enough, but that probably just means I'm not really giving in. I grit my teeth again, feeling that burning anger tainted with hatred as it grows within me. If there's no hope left for the world now, then why not just spend the rest of my numbered days finally giving into the hate that's been building for so long?

"You disgusting freak! It was you all along!" I throw myself forwards, feeling the chains bite into my wrists as I do so, it doesn't matter how much it hurts, or how chaffed my skin becomes. What have I got left now that I either haven't thrown away on my own, or that he hasn't torn from me? I look around me, the multi-coloured sky around and above me where I'm chained. The torches and ornate statues lining the walkway before ramming straight up against a sealed wall. Even if these chains weren't here, I'm still damned because of him.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll see you in the next life, Kalas, and I'll make sure you pay for all of this! I'd join Sweep at a moment's notice now, because even all the killing, all the murdering, all the women, children, men and blood filling streets only to die and scream- even that hell is nothing compared doom you've unleashed! Nothing!" Again and again, I throw myself against the chains, my words charging the air and yet seeming to hang there after spoken. As if they're in an echo slow to fade. But, it's only when I finally run out of curses and screams… that everything comes back…

'Disgusting rebel…'

"I…I truly am weak…" I don't know if my anger is truly spend or not, but I cannot bear to reveal anymore of myself. Images of children cowering in their homes while watching their parents as they're slaughtered; some of those children in turn being targeted. A quick shot to the head, or perhaps a more painful, agonizing death… homes consumed in massive flames, a strong community left as a shadow of it's former self for years to come… How can I think that hell to be better than anything..? Better than anything at all..?

"Have I truly no self-respect anymore?" I suddenly want only to cry; in a single moment of rage I have forgotten absolutely everything I have ever thought to be right and true. And, for all that I attained a time of release, to I truly feel any better for it? No, instead, I feel as if instead of being chained to this rock I should have in fact been buried under it.

"No one, even if they did manage to escape, would return to Alfard…" I murmur into the echoes. The words of those soldiers, they still ring out in the returning silence, blotting out my own screams and shouts, because they at least are true.

Alfard is the center of the Empire, its very heart. Not even headstrong Gibari, nor odd Mizuti would try to take the Empire again after what last happened ther-here. What happened here. And, after showing my own colours to myself, even alone here, I cannot think as to why they would even brave the lava caves again for so vengeful a soul as my own…

"Why am I so… hopeless..? Is it… being alone like this? No… no, it can't be. I was exiled to Diadem; I lived alone in a nation completely alien to me. Is it, that there's someone else to blame this time? Is it because Kalas did this to me, instead of it being my own choice to stand up for what I believed to be right? If anything… shouldn't I be more resoled to fight this then? What is… wrong with me? And… And why… Why am I speaking to myself?"

I close my eyes tightly, shaking my head from side to side, and regretting it as my hair becomes somewhat tangled across my bloodied face. I'm not badly injured though, save the strain on my arms and such. I can recall Xelha being hit abruptly by one of the same soldiers who brought me here. He thought she was trying to escape, but I'm just a traitor after all.

"I wonder what happened to her… to Xelha and the others." I whisper these words softly to myself; speaking aloud drowns out the soldiers, marring their words and keeping them at a dull murmur… But, indeed, I really would like to know the answer to that question. And what about the Guardian Spirit? I remember… I can remember a dull haze forming while Kalas was yelling at it, and then the darkness overcoming everything.

What does it mean to lose your Guardian Spirit? I wasn't even connected to it, but I couldn't help but be comforted by its presence, that slight tingle of warmth and the whispers of encouragement. I would always smile when it spoke to me, even after Kalas' rounds of questioning. I can remember one night; Kalas and I had been sharing a room at the Komo Mai Inn, and he'd fallen asleep while I was still checking over my own gear. I couldn't help but feel better about myself and our mission; assured that I was doing the right thing. That voice in my heart told me softly that it had complete faith in me; that I had given up and said to much on my own without any of the others around for it to possibly believe me to be a traitor.

'Barbarian filth…'

I think that… perhaps that large amount of trust it gave to me, which it must have extended to everyone else as well, is what caused such a violent reaction to what Kalas did… what Kalas said… Because if… If it would extend such a sure line of trust to myself so easily, then how great was that supposed bond with Kalas?

"To gain revenge for those long gone from this world, you would harm the ones closest to you whom still remain…" I whisper, lifting my eyes again from where they dropped down to the ground since my shouting subsided. The roundelay of curses still echoing, although perhaps more in my mind than truly in the air around me…

'Spineless turd…'

I trace the lines of the large wall far before me for a few silent minutes. Closing them, I lift my head up higher, tilting my face back as most do when stepping out to feel the sunshine and the wind. Of course, there is no sunshine in this place, only the eerie yellow and green flow of the endlessness beyond me. And no wind, save for my own breaths; each one ragged as my throat feels raw from my screams. My words are gruff, my blood feeling to have cooled, the despair creeping back into my heart, but now different. There cannot be hope for me, so, I will die, either with the world, or in a few short days from lack of sustenance. I'm going to die, I don't want to, and I'm afraid, but… there isn't anything I can do.

"So… who will avenge our deaths, Kalas?" I'm going to die… alone without the presence of either mortal man or eternal spirit. All I can really do is close my eyes and pray. "May the ocean forgive us and our many sins…"

It can't have been that long yet, perhaps a day at the most, because although I'm feeling the pains of hunger and thirst, it isn't really so bad, not enough to be considered starving at least. The bleeding from my wrists has stopped by now, as well as the small trickle from the sides of my head and mouth. Those are all very good things.

It doesn't seem so silent here anymore. I can still here the echoes of the soldiers who called me down before chaining me here to die. Although it still eludes me as to why they could do something so strange, and go so far out of their way to navigate the Magma Caves… I begin to ponder what exactly this rip is from; did the removal of the End Magnus cause this? What does it mean?

This walkway and pedestal, they seem so eerily compliant with what the soldiers wished done with me. I take a few moments now to examine the chains, their edges are sharp enough to on the cuffs to have made slices through my gloves. But yes, the metal- or whatever it may be- is aged. Clearly these chains have been anchored here to this statue behind me a long time ago. Indeed, it's strange, almost frightening in a prophetic way. As if some ancient peoples in this dimension long since planned for someone –although not necessarily myself- to be bound here until whatever fate befalls me comes to pass.

Well, perhaps I am hungrier than I had first assumed, although it's likely to also be simple thirst. I've found by now that the light shimmering and flickering behind me –similar to the Aurora Borealis- are far too bright for my eyes. It pains me to watch them for too long, a dull pressure soon forms on the sides of my temples and behind my eyes when I stare at them. This pain, it throbs intensely as I keep myself from swallowing, or paying any attention at all to things such as my parched throat.

I'm standing again, looking down once more after studying the statues lining the walkway towards where I stand. Those torches, I wonder what it would be like here if they went out. On this side of the wall, I know they don't give much in the way of light, their panes of burnished gold drowned out by the sickly green of the sky.

In a comedic light, one could call me bored. And I suppose I am at that. My headache having stopped my earlier bid for entertainment, as I had been kicking away at the base of the statue, the gritty noise of my metal-clad boots grinding against the aged stone has long since frayed my nerves by now. I had nothing better to do before, and now I have nothing at all until this headache of mine subsides.

I still feel no hope for this situation. Looking down and then up along each arm, I give a half-hearted glare towards my two magnus cases- one sitting just along my belt, the other tied to my upper arm. The soldiers left each and every magnus I own with me, as if to mock my as the chains keep them beyond my reach. If I could only undo the infernal clasps on either case, I would be able to do something!

"Cursed; a cursed fool." I grumble, taunted by a pair of inanimate objects. I notice my voice is still hoarse as I recall the torn state of my throat, coughing once or twice, and feeling the rough tissue scrape against itself as I instantly crave a taste of water. It could be stagnant for all that it matters now; anything to quench my thirst.

'Cursed?'

I let my head fall listlessly, the red lengths of my hair framing my view of the ground under me, before I quickly bring my gaze back up. My vision feels somewhat hazy, as if the wall far ahead of me were bending out of shape, spinning in on itself like a vortex. Shaking my head to rid myself of the image, I take it as a sign of dehydration.

Shaking my head a few more times again, an odd ringing sensation starts up in my mind. That sound aggravates that throbbing pressure behind my eyes even more, and distorting my vision far worse than before.

Keening yells which make no sense at all to me, followed by coarse hollers and low grumbling scrapes. Cries which seem to tug more at my heart than make senses to my ears pull at my attention, sending everything into even more of a blur.

I feel my legs give out under me again, unable to keep myself stationary as my senses are assaulted by whatever's happening to me. I give a weak cry as I feel the sharp edges of the shackles cut into my skin yet again, breaking the crusts of dried blood which had formed earlier when I pushed myself up to my feet.

The estranged sounds, the blurred pain, flashes of light and dull screens of darkness all mix everything else up into a senseless calamity. It is all I can do not to suddenly whimper. Although the silence before was deafening, this noise makes me feel crushed.

"Wh… What?" Shaking my head yet again, I close my eyes tightly, pushing myself up once more to my feet. I force my thoughts into order, recalling times when I had been able to do so at a moment's notice. I am a soldier; I've had my moments to vent and scream, and now I am in control of my emotions.

Opening my eyes, another keening shriek ripples through the charged air. A great centaur-like being flails around before me, holding a lance which is in proportion to its mammoth form. Giant hands loosing their grip on the weapon, as the black-laced length crumbles to the ground with a frightening crash. Its head is covered with a black helm, splotches of yellow and violet reflecting off of the edges as its scathed form topples backwards, towards where I am bound.

I give a shout in alarm as its head seems to rotate at an un-natural angle, seeming almost to face me as a deep blue fluid gushes out of the cracks and openings of the helm. For a moment, it looks as if the beast would crush me as it falls, but before anything like that can happen, it begins to shimmer and glow a deep red colour. It makes not a sound save one dying groan as its form dissipates into a cloud of crimson mists and light; a single orb floating up and away as the beast's magnus vanishes.

'Cursed…'

"Lyude!"

'Cursed with a kind heart perhaps…'

My vision is filled with the red of the beast's fading aura, another light forming and coming towards me even as the magnus fades. It takes me a bit longer than I would like to recognize who it is.

Her form seems to just appear out of the light, details added slowly to the cheerful colours of her clothing, and the golden sheen of her hair. The long slender lengths of her wings flutter slightly. Her steps are few and far between as she glides smoothly through the air.

It's improper, and rather odd, but, my heart rises as she comes towards me. No, rises is to weak of a word, hope seems to just flood my heart. My shoulders pull up and back as I feel so relieved to see a familiar face, and one which is smiling so brilliantly.

"Xelha…" I breathe, my voice hoarse and rough to my own ears. I feel her gloved hand come to rest gently upon my cheek, feeling warm but yet pleasantly cool at the same time, a soothing touch. But when I feel something else, the light of the creature's magnus is long since gone by now, but there is still a light around her which I cannot remember being there before.

Slowly, an image forms in my mind; one of the various times I saw Kalas flitters past my mind's eye. He's standing against a light coming from above, similar to the atmosphere within the church we always entered to pray within and grow stronger. But then, in the shadow behind him where there should be only darkness, there was always that gentle glow, that half-formed image of a face which may or may not be human, could or could not have a gender. And now I see that glow, only instead of Kalas, it's Xelha who wears the Guardian's aura.

"Spirit..?" I whisper, making it sound as more of a question. Xelha only seems able to smile brilliantly, warmth slowly spreading from where she's touching my face, down my throat and through my aching limbs. It works away slowly at the knots of pain and strained sores which have formed while I was chained here. Is this all a dream?

'Hush now, a heart as true as your own should not burden itself with sadness, nor with doubt…'

In all ways imagined I am mesmerized by this, by the Spirit's thoughts echoing through me in a way that seems like words and yet isn't really. A sharp clang though is what cuts through my revelries. I look quickly to my side as Gibari's great paddle arks towards the stone and chains around my wrist, and with this, his second strike, the mighty sailor smashes the links.

So unexpected is the release though, that my arm falls limply to my side and I feel myself half-falling, and yet expecting the second chain to catch me painfully. I brace myself for the clasp to bit down into my flesh again, but for two reasons it doesn't come;

The other chain shatters much like the first; the hard blow of a gauntlet breaking through the aged metal as I half-catch a glance at Savyna's armour and brilliantly coloured feathers. The second reason that I don't simply collapse to the ground, is Xelha. She stands before me ready in a way that my chin comes down on shoulder, and that my fall becomes little more than slumping forwards and then down onto my knees.

My eyes are instantly closed as my exhaustion is absolute. I'm lightheaded to the point that I feel grounded to the earth, and feel a flood of joy through my heard to true I could weep simply to be free of those chains.

"Lyude looks tired and dirty. Here. The Great Mizuti will help!" My eyes open only half-way, and barely in time to see Mizuti's masked face bob in and out of view once before a cold torrent of water surges at me from over Xelha's shoulder, drenching me completely. This water is not hard nor abrasive as most jets would be, Mizuti simply employing the same spells but at a lower level than what the small sorcerer normally casts in battle. It feels almost soft, cold but pleasantly so as an abrupt mouthful is sweet and refreshing.

Exclamations and a few angry words boil up around me as the torrent slows and fades rather swiftly. But I can only laugh for the moment as the smallest member of our party finds little love for his display.

"Thank you, Mizuti." I splutter, trying to laugh for some reason as I feel faint still, drenched and yet parched as the water offers only so much relief when splashed over me. The world just seems to spin around me rapidly as I shift from kneeling before Xelha to sitting back at the base of the stone I was chained too. Wiping my eyes of the water, I see Mizuti's purple and green-clad form floating a few inches above the ground before Xelha. Meemai giving herself a shake from having been behind Xelha's neck to bear the brunt of the torrent.

I blink then however, the glow around Xelha, the light of the Spirit spreading out slightly towards Mizuti, wrapping around the small sorcerer and causing it- him? Her? I've never quiet asked Mizuti's gender before. I would guess a boy myself but the colours and the dress-like outfit…- to spin slightly before the light fades back towards Xelha.

"Alright! Alright! The Great Mizuti apologizes to Lyude!" Is the exclamation from behind the monkey-faced mask, "Here, Lyude, the Great Mizuti shall be generous and try again; this time only water for drinking." That sounds like such a good idea I only want to praise the 'Great' Mizuti for it. But my voice fails me and I find myself having to cough before getting any words out. When I look up again though, once more I want to laugh as I find that Mizuti has simply forgone magic at this point, and is now simply holding a water skin out to me, which I then gladly accept.

"Alright then! That's everyone!" I find myself downing the water within the skin with avengance, not even looking to Gibari as he speaks. But his words sound odd to me. Everyone? But I haven't yet seen…

"What about Kalas?" Xelha's voice echoes my thoughts as pause for breath, the water cool and a blessing for my parched throat and bloodied mouth.

"We should get out of here before making any plans. Are you alright to walk, Lyude?" I find everyone's attention suddenly on me as Sayvna's course voice cuts through the uneasy conversation. But I think I understand her reasons for bringing my condition to center stage, nodding my head to her though even as it's doubtful that I really do have the strength to make it through the caverns without support.

"The Great Mizuti agrees; we leave plans for Kalas for later, first we get Lyude out of caves and get food for Great Mizuti, who is getting hungry."

Everything seems to blur past this point for me, the conversation, our actions, everything. All that really seems to remain clear to me is that sometime, while navigating the caverns once more, finding out way back to the entrance and out into the desert. At some point, I looked to Xelha and spoke.

"It came back… the Spirit."

And all I can remember is her smile, her radiant, promising smile;

"Of course it did, it's out Guardian Angel afterall."