Author's Note of Random Jargon: I got the writing bug again, so here we go with a new story and such. Rawr. Anyway, just to let you all know in lieu of people sometimes getting confuzzled over placement, this takes place after the main heroes go through the Regal/Alicia sequence. Also, spoilers run rampant, so people who haven't played the game or been told, cover your eyes, ears and run!

I hope you enjoy!

-Regashi

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS. Wish I did immensely, but reality kicks that wish in the rear. *sigh*

Chapter One: A Tyrannical Temper Tantrum

In the vast depths of Derris Kharlan, silence echoed through the streets of Welgaia, with the occasional flittering of wings by the mindless drones known as the angels. With the exception of the fluttering of feathers, the angels didn't make any sounds as they drifted by on their own set course. They didn't even make footfalls on the cold metallic floor, because it was preferable to float rather than walk. So they all did so. Being a lifeless being did have some benefits, but creativity didn't make the top fifty by any means.

Tranquility was only so wonderful to a point and the persistent silence clanged in the ears of those who still had the capacity to care. None of the standard angels paid mind to it, but there was one person there who noticed how infuriatingly quiet it was.

Yggdrasill, the leader of Cruxis and most powerful being in the worlds, sat on the large throne in the center of Vinheim, his fingers drumming on the arm of the chair, his cheek resting on the other. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, the stillness of Welgaia beating into his temples and forehead.

"....Feh." The blonde angel snorted. Angels shouldn't be annoyed by things this trivial like irritating silence, or at least, that's what he kept repeating in his mind, but strangely enough, it was really getting to him that day. His eyes shifted from left to right and back again, one of them twitching slightly as he did. For some reason that he couldn't explain, he was bored. Bored out of his mind.

"... this isn't supposed to happen. Angels don't get bored." He grunted aloud, knowing full well that no one would respond. In fact, no one had really responded to him about anything at all for over a good week and a half.

No new news had come from Pronyma or Forcystus, since the other three grand cardinals had fallen victim to either their stupidity, greed or both. Operations down on the planets had been proceeding as planned, the last desian ranch was scheduled to send up another shipment of exspheres within a few more weeks, and the rest of the desians were wreaking havoc on the dilapidated world of Sylvarant. To even top it off, Kratos was back into the fray from the journey of regeneration, but had been barely around, if not making himself scarce on purpose.

Yuan hadn't reported on the latest news of the Renegades, though he was starting to have some suspicions that the seraph wasn't exactly trying his hardest to procure information. Yggdrasill snorted again, blonde hair drifting into his eyes.

'I'll have to... talk to him about that.' He sighed to himself, his eyebrows creased into a frown. Flicking his bangs out of his eyes, he got to his feet, stretched and looked around. The vast and extravagant fortress held a lot of things, namely an armored and ferocious dragon, a gigantic organ that stretched to fill most of the space on the wall of the room it occupied, and a series of corridors, caverns and bridges, each with apartments for all that lived there. However, what it definitely lacked was someone with the capacity for a decent conversation. To make matters worse, the only two who did were becoming scarcer by the day.

Yuan was out trying, or not trying, to find out anything he could about the Renegades, and Kratos.. well, Kratos was being Kratos. After the whole ordeal at the Tower of Salvation, the auburn haired seraphim had been spending as little time as he could in Welgaia and Derris Kharlan, and when he was on the comet, he'd always come up with some long and drawn out excuse over why he had to flit off again to either Sylvarant or Tethe'alla.

Yggdrasill sighed and put his fist on his hip, staring up at the purple sky. He shook his head once, trying to clear it, and strolled out of his throne room at top speed, not being able to stand one more moment of piercing silence.

Once out of the audience chamber, Yggdrasill began to draw out his wings but paused as the rainbow appendages of mana came forth. He looked back at them for a moment, and then drew them in again, landing on the marble tiles that made up the main antechamber.

'I'm walking. I'm not letting this silence continue. It's far too irksome.' He stated curtly in his mind and began to walk down the long smooth path that led from his castle to the lower levels of Derris Kharlan. The trip down was quiet, peaceful and relaxing. It was so relaxing that Yggdrasill had to fight the urge not to tear apart every angel he saw with a bolt of purple lightning. Making his way down into the catacombs in the spiraling towers, he would occasionally glance over his shoulder, making sure that no one was following him.

When he reached near the end of the spiraling walkway, Yggdrasill stopped his stalking of the halls and stared at a flat and desolate stretch of wall. The wall in question wasn't any more impressive than the other walls in the tower; in fact, it looked just as dull and dreary as the others. Still, Yggdrasill watched the metallic panels with an avid amount of interest. Glancing over his shoulder once more to make sure that no one was tailing him, he pressed a panel on the side of the blank wall with his palm. At his touch, the panel glowed bright white, as did his palm, and with a jerk, the wall slid to the side. In it's place stood a dark pathway that led down into depths unknown to all, with the exception of the angel lord. Snorting in irritation, Yggdrasill stepped inside the room and began his descent in the darkness, the door sealing behind him.

Once he reached the bottom of the ramp, Yggdrasill strode to the next wall and pressed his hand against the panel at the side of the door. The light from the scanner ran up and down his palm, beeped once and opened the large and ornate polycarbonate door that stood in his path. He smirked once, entered the room and flicked on the light.

What laid before him was a gigantic series of purple, transparent platforms that seemed to float by themselves, seamlessly connecting to one another. They floated in place like clouds in a stationary set of motion, bobbing up and down minutely. Yggdrasill didn't pay them any mind, but instead strode up the floating stairs to the computer that laid in the far back of the room.

The huge machine in question had plated silver and gold rims all around it and lined the back wall. The huge device took up the whole backside of the wall, stretching from the ceiling to rest heavily on the metallic floor. Several feet thick, the huge machine had a wide screen nestled in the center of it's shiny hull, which flickered a vast array of colors. Yggdrasill let out a tired sigh as he approached the control panel and, after locating the switch on the side of the machine, flipped it on. He then collapsed in the metallic and cushioned chair, letting out a contented sigh when he felt his body sink into the plush padding.

The gargantuan machine made a baritone groan, it's screen flickering again with color, but replaced the dots and flickering lights were a series of pictures. Each of the pictures held a small summary about the the above portrait, ranging from 'A teacher with an unnatural display of affection for ruins- very volatile' to 'An inept ninja prone to falling into holes- can also summon- must be kept under watch' to 'An idiot chosen who makes philandering an art form- very annoying'. Underneath each of the pictures sat a platform that looked like a pedestal with a platter placed on top. On the platters of each of the eight pedestals and covered with glass domes, were samples of blood, DNA and, most importantly, mana that had been precariously collected for the Derris Kharlan data base. A complete genetic profile for each of the eight was safely kept in his secret record, though the donors were completely unaware they'd given such a contribution. The fights the bunch of inept idiots had undergone with the papal knights and other agents of Cruxis hadn't been just for show, after all. Research was just as, if not more, important.

Yggdrasill rolled his eyes at the pictures, but let his eyes linger at the picture of the brown haired boy in the middle.

The boy in question was roughly seventeen years of age, with unruly, spiky brown hair, reddish brown eyes and a big, goofy grin. Though he wasn't looking at the camera directly, since the picture had been taken from a hidden angle, he appeared to be laughing as the red headed chosen was being berated by both the volatile teacher and the inept ninja, complete with him being smacked in the head by both. Yggdrasill stared at the picture and shook his head, blonde hair drifting into his eyes.

".... And these are the people who are destroying my plans?" He asked himself tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "....I'm so depressed."

Resting his cheek on his palm, Yggdrasill drummed his fingers on the arm of the control chair and frowned, still staring at the picture that had the words 'Lloyd Irving' blazoned across the bottom rim.

'He has to be getting help. There was no way he would have been able to get that far by himself. No one with that stupid an expression could be that cunning or tactical.' Yggdrasill glared at the name and exhaled sharply. Though he didn't have any proof, a sinking suspicion lingered in his stomach and made his insides run cold like ice.

Kratos.

Kratos had to be helping them. There could be no other explanation for why they hadn't completely fallen victim to any of his traps or trials, let alone not getting lost on what they had to do next. None of those idiots could have managed to figure out where Rodyle had taken the vessel, or even how to not form the pacts with the summon spirits by themselves without at least a swift boot in the right direction. Yggdrasill gripped the chair's arms and practically crushed them in anger, his fingers leaving indentations in the metal.

'That must be it. That would also explain why he's been avoiding me.' The blonde angel snarled in his psyche. His eyes narrowed venomously at the picture on the center of the screen and a low guttural snarl echoed in his throat.

He didn't care too much about whether or not he talked to Yuan, since the two of them had been bickering for over 4000 years, but Kratos was a completely different story. As much as he was wary of Kratos' wavering loyalty towards him and Cruxis, not to mention the incident that happened fifteen to twenty years prior, he couldn't help, but be fond of the older seraphim's presence. He felt somewhat more at ease whenever Kratos was around and making difficult decisions became more of a trifle than the ordeal it really was. Deep down, he was still the same little boy who had idolized the older swordsman with reckless abandon.

And it was that idolization that made Yggdrasill's eyes glow green with envy as he stared long and hard at the face of the brown haired boy in the center of the screen, surrounded by the portraits of his friends. He couldn't stand the idea of Kratos liking someone else more than him, and to make matters worse, if he was secretly helping Lloyd on the side, it would be undeniable proof that he did like him more than Yggdrasill.

"... Lloyd Irving..." He growled, his eyes narrowing, as he watched the still image stare back at him. "... you were lucky those renegade rats showed up. If they had been one step too late, you would NOT be in my way any longer."

The seething angelic lord got out of the chair, approached the screen carefully and traced a finger around the jaw line of the picture of Lloyd. He did look a great deal like Kratos in most respects, and if he grew his hair longer, he would be practically his clone. Though, Kratos rarely smiled and, as he got older, the smiles he did have became scarcer by the year. The fact Lloyd smiled quite a lot made it much easier for him to distinguish them as different people entirely.

Yggdrasill took his hand away from the picture like he'd been burned and clenched his hand into a fist.

"Just one chance... I only need one.. just one chance and I'll get rid of you once and for all.." He grimaced. "You just wait, Lloyd Irving. One chance and I'll make sure that Kratos will never have a reason to leave again."

Turning on his heel, he stomped from the room, the pictures on the screen still smiling at him.

'I've got to clear my head..' Yggdrasill groaned to himself. '... I'll go see Martel.. that always helps.' With that, he stalked from the room, the picture of Kratos' son still etched in his mind.

"And that's what's happened so far Martel." Yggdrasill, now in his original Mithos form, sat cross legged in front of the great seed, which bobbed up and down in the desolate hall. The hall of the great seed was Mithos' special haven. Only members of the Cruxis high order could open the door at all and, by locking the door with his key, there wasn't any chance that either Kratos or Yuan getting in without him knowing about it. Plus, he'd placed a chair in front of the door to slow anyone down just in case. The chair didn't provide much of a defense against intruders, but it made him feel better nonetheless.

Even though the spirit of Martel couldn't say anything in reply, whenever Mithos would feel stressed, bored, lonely or all three, he'd talk, rant or cry at the seed until he felt better. It was more therapeutic than anything else in Derris Kharlan and it was the 4000 year old boy's best way of stress relief, regardless if whether or not she could respond.

"That guy.. Lloyd.. he's ruining everything." he reported. "Not only did he blow up two ranches and ruin the third one, not to mention talk that inept ninja into making pacts with MY summon spirits, he ran off with the vessel. Your vessel, Martel!" Mithos stood up.

"Do you know how long that took to make?! Sixteen years, sixteen long, excruciating years and he just waltzed in and took it!" He snapped, his blonde hair flowing about his face. "And I just know that one would have worked! Her mana signature's almost a perfect match to yours. But now we're on hold now because he's just decided that it's not okay. What does he mean, 'it's not okay'?!" Mithos was starting to flush.

"The vessel was okay with it, the angels and the desians were okay with it, I'm STILL okay with it, the church was okay with it, why is it that just because he's not okay with it, he has the right to screw up years of my hard work?! Who asked him anyways?!" The boy's face was turning bright red. "And now we're chasing them all over the stupid planets because we need the vessel for you and he doesn't wanna share!"

Mithos glared at the ceiling. Though the ceiling didn't recoil at his icy stare as he would have liked, he could just see the picture of Lloyd smiling back at him, completely unaware of how much Mithos was revolted by his mere existence. The young boy felt his insides flop and slosh over and, for the first time in years, he wanted to throw up.

"It's... it's not fair." He murmured as he looked up at the imaginary picture of Lloyd. Each moment he stared at grinning portrait of Lloyd, the angrier he grew. He was trying to take Kratos away again... take him away from Mithos. Even if Lloyd didn't know he was doing so, it was pretty obvious to Mithos that Kratos was leaning more towards Lloyd, which meant he was turning his back on his first student.

"No... no.. he's not getting him. I was here first.. first..." He grumbled under his breath, his hands balled into fists.

He stomped his foot angrily on the ground and looked up at Martel's soul that occupied the great seed, his eyes watery.

"I'm trying to do what we wanted, YOU wanted, Martel, for the world and yet no one's siding with me! It's not fair!" His eyes began to leak tears which dripped off his nose. "I.. I..." Mithos wiped his face with his arm.

"I just want.... my age of lifeless beings... is that so much?!" He demanded, his face red and his eyes bloodshot. "I'm doing it so everyone will be happier, but no one understands that and...."

Mithos sniffed again and rubbed his nose with his white cape, his purple bracelets clinking together as he did.

"They blew up my ranches! Those were mine!" He cried. "And they're ruining everything! I worked so hard on all of that and they're ruining everything! The Renegades, Lloyd, everyone!"

Mithos paused and Genis' picture crossed into his mind, his happy blue eyes staring back at him while he proclaimed that they were 'great friends'. Mithos sniffed a bit and smiled.

"... well... not everyone... Genis isn't." He corrected himself. "He's just getting led along by Lloyd. I mean, Lloyd gets them in so much trouble all the time and for what? Nothing, that's what! It's not like his plans are going to work or anything. He's just going around being stupid..." Mithos rubbed his face with his arm.

"... Lloyd gets Genis AND Kratos all to himself." He glared, his fists balled up as he stared at the floor. "It's not fair!"

"I was his student first, I was here FIRST! Doesn't that matter anymore?!" He demanded, the lights around the chamber of the great seed flickering wildly. "I've known him longer than anyone else and now Lloyd thinks he can come in and take him away from me?! That's not happening!"

In his irate fury, Mithos' gigantic technicolor wings erupted from his back and lifted him into the air. Though, Mithos didn't notice. He was too buried in his raging stupor.

"I... won't let that happen.." He muttered, his eyes turning a blood red.

"I WON'T LET HIM TAKE KRATOS AWAY FROM ME!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his face. Mana rushed out of his body and blinded the whole room, while sounds of equipment exploding and shorting out echoed through the chamber. The floor began to shake violently due to Mithos' despairing anger and chunks of the ceiling came crashing to the floor, purple light from Welgaia's sky shining into the room.

Outside, soulless angels fell into each other and were torn from their set paths and routines as the whole comet of Derris Kharlan shook in powerful tremors. Even Yuan, who'd been looking up some information about the mysterious earthquakes that had been occurring in Tethe'alla, was thrown off his feet and into a refresher.

"What.. what's going on?!" He breathed, holding onto the side of the cleansing machine with all the strength he could muster. "Don't tell me there are quakes going on here too?!"

In the lower chasm of Welgaia, a series of bizarre sounds echoed from behind a blank set of stone. Down the path of darkness and into the secret study of Yggdrasill, a cornucopia of colors leaked from underneath the door crevice.

Inside, the gigantic machine was racing out of control, lights spurring and whirring throughout the room. The mana was becoming so thick inside the chamber, anyone with normally good vision would have had to squint to see their way through the room.

The computer sputtered and glowed brightly in an array of colors as the pictures of each person flickered in and out. The computer's large screen began to flash violently and so did the pictures as they faded in and out. As they did, the samples of each person glowed brightly under the glass domes and pulsed in the thick, mana ridden air. As if on cue, each of the mana samples floated off the platters they had rested on and one by one, they began to warp and morph, each glowing a rainbow of colors. They continued to float up off the platter and pressed tightly against the glass domes, begging to get out and pounding on their glass prisons. More mana pulsed into the room and with a crash, all of the domes that covered the mana samples burst into a thousand glass shards, littering the floor as they fell victim to gravity.

Once the mana samples were loose, each genetic sample floated into the air and began to morph violently, changing from shape to shape, all the while glowing vivid reds, blues, yellows, greens and purples. As they melted into different states and shapes, each of the samples began floating in a large circle slowly, each sample following the other like a lopsided game of tag. The game of tag sped up, the mana samples moving faster and faster, until the eight samples looked like one big spiraling ring of chaos. Faster and faster they spun, a spectrum of color blurring the whole ring and blinding the whole room in the process.

As it continued to rapidly spin out of control, the circling ring of light sucked all of the mana that had filled the room and added to the sheer power of the floating centrifuge. With a piercing shriek of power, the rapid ring of samples retracted and, with a final bang, exploded.

The explosion hit the main computer in the room with the force of a speeding rheaird, and smoke billowed out from behind the panels, the circuits frying like bacon. The screen began to fade, flickering to show Lloyd's face one more time, and letting out a final groan, collapsed in on itself.

Authors Note:

Me: Alrighty, there we go. First chapter done.

Genis: I smell foreshadowing...

Presea: No, you're just on fire.

Genis: GAH! *runs around trying to put it out*

Me: Well, while they try to put out the fire, I'll get started on the next chapter.

Lloyd: *uses fire extinguisher on Genis* Please review!