Title: Get Out Alive

Author: NexustehULF0o

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TALES OF SYMPHONIA, NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS FROM THE GAME.

Chapter Four – The Finalé/Climax

"Hello, Chosen."

Zelos lifted his head weakly upon hearing his title called, whipping his long red hair out of his face in order to see his captor from his knees. He was a tall, gangly man with straight black hair that reached down to his shoulders. He sat cockily in a chair leaning his cheek against one of his closed fists, his elbow rested against one of the arms of the chair.

"Who the hell are you?" The Chosen called out, restraining himself from the cuffs once again tightly around his chafed wrists. "And where's Sheena? What did you do to her?"

"Ah..." The man lifted his head slightly, cracking a smile. "Don't you worry, Chosen; your little friend is safe. But, say you get an answer wrong in the little test you're about to take; she may not stay that way for very long." He laughed.

"Where is she?" Zelos threatened through grit teeth though bound by shackles. "I want to see her."

The man he was on his knees before shrugged lightly, not expecting that. He mulled it over for a moment before responding.

"…Fine. As you wish." He told the Chosen, then gesturing to someone who must have been behind Zelos' eyeshot. "Send her in."

Zelos jerked to look behind him, knowing that if he made a sudden move such as standing, he would probably be killed. As the man before him had said, Sheena was alive; but in the arms of the Remnants, it didn't really matter if they were trying to kill them anyway. A tight pair of shackles now also bound the ninja's wrists together, and she wrestled to get out of the grasp of the men guiding her in. They had gagged her using a bandana that was tied in the back of her head. She noticed him on the floor before her and cried out desperately with what sounded like a sloppy version of his name. Her look became pained, and she ducked her head away, as if she couldn't bear to look at him as he was now. He retaliated by trying to manage a smile for her, and then turned back towards what he guessed was the Remnant's leader while furiously pulling at his handcuffs.

"Look, she has nothing to do with this, so let her go. NOW." He cried out, narrowing his eyebrows. "You want me, right? Well, you got me. Now let Sheena go."

"Oh, nohoho, she'll stay here in case anything should go wrong…"

"I'll do anything, just let her go."

The man was silent, keeping his eyes on the Chosen as if thinking it over.

"No, I think I'll keep her; just as a precaution."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT WITH SHEENA, YOU BASTARD?!"

"Calm down, Chosen; Keep your patience."

Zelos turned his face to the ground for a moment, panting from yelling loudly at him. He then lifted it, to turn and look behind him. The man quickly exchanged glances between the ninja and Zelos, who were both looking towards each other sorrowfully.

"Sorry, Sheena, I tried." The redhead mumbled breathlessly.

"Oh!" The man applauded and chuckled as if entertained. "I see it now! Hahaha! Our ever-philandering Chosen, actually in love? What an absolute treat!"

The emphasized word escaping the man caught both of their attentions, swinging their heads to look at him. Zelos turned away and hung his head once more after watching the one who had confined them for a moment, sighing heavily after taking in a deep breath of damp air.

"What is this 'test' you were talking about?" He asked of the man wearily, standing gradually and making every soldier around him uneasy. He slowly lifted his head so that his icy blue eyes were staring straight into his captor's gold ones.

An immoral smile tugged at the lips of the man in the chair, closing his eyes and blowing his black hair out of his face. "Actually, it's more of an offer…" His eyes lit up as he opened them, staring down upon the man at his feet. He adjusted in his chair.

"An offer you can't refuse."

"I can't believe you're going through with this!" Sheena exclaimed angrily after they both had entered the jail cell once more, being thrown in there and having a man constantly guarding their cell. "Why did you have to go and accept that? You don't have to do this, you know! You understand you're not coming out of here alive if you go through with this!"

Zelos sighed. He had foreseen that Sheena would reprimand him had he removed the gag from her mouth, and figured it was coming.

"I have to. It's my fault that you came along with me. So if Xeno wills it done, I guess I'm forced. Anything for you to get outta here safe, Sheena."

"I don't want to leave!" Sheena cried without thinking, making even the guard closing the bars to stare with wonder. "Not if I have to leave you behind!"

"Get over it." He muttered callously, stirring a little as they both plopped down on the muddy floor. "Stop worrying about me. I'm not worth your time. 'Sides, my mind's made up."

There was silence for a moment as Sheena took in his words and adverted her eyes from his face.

"So that's it, then?" She asked shakily, her pupils beginning to sparkle with tears. "You're just going to go and die and leave me all alone. You don't have any kind of plan to get out of this?"

"What?" She heard him turn again, towards her. "Sheena…"

"Fine then! Be like that! …And here I was thinking I loved you, and you had to go and…and…" She fumed, tears of loss and rage streaking her face as she trailed off.

The anger suddenly vanished in the face of bliss as she once again felt her lips press against those of the Chosen, lurching forward and returning the pleasure with such fervor although she still continued to cry. Her eyes instinctively shut themselves tight, angling her head to deepen the kiss a bit more. She then lightly arched herself up against him, swinging her arms from in back of her to around his neck in one swift motion.

But once more, he pulled away when she least expected, let alone wanted, him to, eying her with unspoken question and wonder. She watched him, her gaze softly trickling about his face as if asking her own question – one to which even she didn't know the answer.

"Trust me, Sheena. I would never leave you if I didn't know if you were going to be okay."

"You don't know." She muttered. "I might not."

"I'll make sure you are." Zelos replied with an awkward smirk. "Remember how I said 'Leave it all to me'?"

She nodded weakly.

"Well, do it." He chuckled. "I don't know what I'd do if I've ever let anything happen to you."

Sheena sniffled and leaned her forehead against his chest, and he cocked his head to rub his cheek gently against her arm.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"For what?" She asked between sobs.

"For not protecting you well enough." He replied, causing the ninja to gasp a bit and retreat into silence for a few moments while she thought about how to respond to it.

" Zelos, you –" She began, sniffling a bit.

"Don't lie." He interrupted and she heard the small jingling of chains against each other.

So she didn't say any more.

"Aha…here we are again, aren't we?" The man with black hair stood this time as the two were shoved before him, holding a glass of dark red wine. "Welcome, guests, to my humble abode! After ten years of erosion and digging, the Remnant headquarters is finally done!"

"Cut the shit, Xeno." Zelos spat, wriggling in one of the Remnants' grasps in order to make himself more comfortable. "Let's get this over with."

Xeno flipped his black locks so one could better see his shimmering gold pupils in the light of the fire-lit lanterns, smiling gleefully as Zelos confronted him. Sheena nudged the swordsman next to her.

"Ah yes, the task at hand." Xeno mused, placing a finger to his nose as if focusing hard to remember something. He sighed and shrugged, lazily motioning forward with his free hand. "Very well, Chosen; I suppose you're right, anyway. Bring me the girl."

Zelos watched in horror as he realized he'd been fooled.

"What are you doing?" He cried in fury as he watched two of Xeno's henchmen jerk Sheena towards him. "I thought the deal was me!"

"It is you." Xeno explained, hand placed calmly at his hip. "I just figured that if I got rid of the thing that kept you fighting for this long; the thing that you are trying so desperately to save, then maybe you would cooperate better."

"I am cooperating!" He roared, tugging at the people holding him in chains.

"Ah, but my dear friend – Sheena, was it?" He turned to the girl that had been forced before him. Sheena's head snapped up at the sound of her name, although out of adrenaline and desperation, not will. "Wasn't it you that said that you 'wouldn't want to leave if it meant leaving the Chosen behind'? That was you, wasn't it?" He lifted and tilted her tear-stained face with his hand, smiling before shaking his head with three brisk "tsk"s.

"Such a pity, though – to rid of something so beautiful. I can see the appeal, Chosen; a diamond in the rough, wouldn't you say?"

Sheena, although shocked, tore her face away from his grasp. Zelos was tearing at the people behind him, burning with rage.

"You bastard! You said she would go free! That was the deal! My life for hers! You promise her freedom, Xeno!" He cried to the black-haired man, struggling to charge at the man as if he were some kind of beast. "You wanted to kill me 'cuse I let Kate live; I killed the Pope, who you sided with. I understand that. But Sheena hasn't done anything to you! Kill me; let her go!"

Xeno merely chuckled at his anger, although his eyes showed a hint of surprise and intimidation.

"Yes, yes," The Remnant leader mused, shrugging. "But then again, I find this way so much more effective. You see, I had been thinking, had you, the Chosen, had something to life for, you might not want to die. But if you had nothing left to live for, then why live? If I kill the one dearest to you…" He gestured to the ninja for a moment, "There will be no one else to fill that place, and so down you will spiral from there. If you think about it, I'm actually doing you both a favor." He cackled in spite of the severity and seriousness of the situation. "Killing you together will only send you both together. It all works! We're all happy!" He unsheathed a sword sitting on the side of his chair, the blade sparkling in the light of the many lanterns surrounding them as the ninja before him bowed her head low in defeat. Although her dirty black locks of hair obscured most of her face, he could tell that she was looking at him, weakly and helplessly as if she were screaming something at the top of her lungs without saying a word.

Xeno raised the sword over his head.

Zelos yelled curses.

Sheena continued staring.

"That's enough!" The Chosen shouted, glaring daggers through the head of the Remnant leader. His hands, although behind him, balled into fists. "I'll show you not to mess with me!"

Both Xeno and Sheena looked up as the Remnants holding him back stepped back a pace, cowering in fear. Zelos' hands broke free, crackling with angelic power. He shook the twisted, mangled metal off of his wrists as he lowered his head, his nails digging into his palms and his fists shaking from anger. Soon, the Chosen's whole body was glowing the same light orange color as his hands had been before, and the Remnants watched their leader with wide eyes as if asking, pleading for an order to leave.

"Hold your ground! Don't you dare leave!" Xeno kept saying, grinning the whole time. He had the sword high above his head, while Sheena's eyes glinted with hope.

"Zelos!" She cried out, trying to reach towards him.

"The Chosen's true power! Powers worthy of Cruxis!" The Remnant leader cried out over her, watching intently as orange wings sprouted from the small of the Chosen's back. Zelos' eyes flickered open, now a shade of dark red.

"Shining…" He exclaimed while his fists reached his sides. His voice seemed to create an echo effect while tunneling through the dark caves.

"…Bind!"

Everybody except Xeno and Sheena let out a cry of anguish as a white light engulfed the entire room.

Blinded by the light, Sheena screamed Zelos' name once more, although she couldn't hear herself for some reason.

When the light dimmed, Zelos remained, bodies of Remnant soldiers surrounding his feet. His eyes, still a dark red, remained poised on Xeno, who, although hurt by Zelos' attack, was still holding the sword high above his head. He chuckled, removing the band around his arm that also had a star emblazoned on it and tying it to the sword.

"It's going to take more than that to kill me, Chosen." He egged Zelos on, smiling and looking down at Sheena for a moment.

"That can be arranged." Zelos muttered through his teeth, suddenly soaring towards his opponent in the limited space available. "Die!"

And then, something happened that would change Sheena forever.

In fact, she couldn't say she even really saw it. It happened in an instant, and she was a bit too delirious to really pay attention, but suddenly, Xeno was upon Zelos, inches away from the angel with the sword pointed at the red crystal sitting just below his throat. And, with ease, it slid its way inside, causing Zelos to clutch the weapon and fall to the floor, his wings disappearing in the process. However, Xeno was knocked back in the process of Zelos' transformation, having touched the blade that became one with the Chosen's chest moments earlier. The Remnant leader sprawled out on the floor and relaxed, one of his legs broken from hitting the floor hard. He didn't move again after that.

And so directed her attention to the man before her, now grinning a bit as he held onto the blade of the sword stuck into his chest. Blinking twice, he stifled a chuckle, beginning to ration his air. She moved to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Zelos cursed mildly under his breath, and closed his eyes that had returned to their original stormy blue. He groaned as his hands gripped the sword, trying to remove it from his chest.

"No!" She cried as if she were in pain, watching his palms begin to bleed from slipping against the blade's edge. "Don't pull it out. You'll only bleed more." She snatched his hands away from the weapon. "We'll just get you back to Mizuho, and -"

"The others will have heard that." He hissed out air as he clasped his hands together, spattering blood over his black shirt. "You need to get out of here before they come here."

"Zelos! You –"

"I'll hold them off as best I can. Go."

"Not without you!"

"Go on without me, dammit! I've worked my ass of to get you out of here, now go! Hell, I even lost my life!" He gestured to the sword protruding from him. "Now, you get the hell –" He coughed loudly, blood smearing all over his face as he pressed his hand to it, stopping him from saying any more.

"Zelos!" Sheena moved closer to him.

"Get going now…" His voice was weaker than it was before, and he slumped forwards, leaning on the sword so it appeared sticking up from the ground.

"No, wait! Zelos! Are you…" She stopped the question for some common sense in this frantic time. He was not fine. And he was telling her to leave him that way.

"Never had anything much ta live for anyways…" Zelos muttered under his breath, looking over at her to place a bloody palm on her face. "Save for you, 'course."

"It can still be this way! Let me help you!" She cried, tears pouring from her eyes. Zelos weakly shook his head. "Stay with me, Zelos! Continue to love me!" She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, lowering it from her face.

"No can do…" He mumbled, watching her lazily with hazy eyes, chuckling. "Can't do much livin' no more, eh…"

"But Zelos…I…love you…" She told him between sniffles, closing her eyes as he brushed his fingers across her cheeks, doused with tears. "Didn't you hear me? I said I love you!"

"No time for goodbye…" His voice was soft and raspy, his eyes drooping and faraway. She placed her head against his, sobbing into his red locks of hair as he continued to speak. "Don't put your life in someone's hands…they're bound to steal it away…" He lifted her head with his two fingers, smiling warmly at her although his face was clearly paler than it was before. "Don't hide your mistakes, 'cuse they'll find you…burn you…"

"Zelos!" She cried out, holding onto his hand and placing it over her heart. He didn't say anything for a moment. "Oh, Zelos…If I'd known…you…you don't have to go…!" She insisted, tears continuing to streak her cheeks.

"If I stay, it won't be long, 'till I'm burning on the inside…if I go, I can only hope, that I'll make it to the other side…"

"Please, if you stay, we could…we could…" She sobbed, sniffling.

And then the words, almost breathless as his eyes pulse grew low, came; the words that would surely haunt her forever.

"If you want to get out alive, run for your life."

She didn't hear anything more after that. Not the faint sound of his breathing…not the lingering beat of his heart…it all stopped.

"Zelos?" She gasped.

There was a disturbing silence that filled the room quietly, bouncing off every wall and leaving her heart to beat fervently in her chest.

"Zelos?!"

No answer.

She cried.

In reality, that was all she could do. She couldn't raise him from the dead. No matter how much she was annoyed with him …to matter how many times she'd called him weak and heartless…taking it back would not revive him. Even if she said she loved him now…he would not come back.

Reality awoke her with a brisk slap in the face, and she welcomed it, despite having the other Remnants coming for her as the seconds droned along.

If you want to get out alive, run for your life.

The words drifted across her mind, remembering them as she would forever.

A part of her didn't understand. It didn't make sense to leave her like this. Hadn't he kissed her and told her countless times that he was in love, whether she believed him her not? Hadn't he been the one who came to her first when he had his suspicions about them in the first place?

He had.

And without even thinking, she let him slip through her fingers.

So she ran. As fast as she could. Although whether she was running out of this hell or into more of it, she had no idea. She ran and ran until she was standing on the beach outside of Meltokio, close to the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge that shadowed over her as the moon cast light upon it. She wailed at the top of her lungs, but no one would hear her – no one heard her cry of heartbreak and utter despair, for all the unknowing were sleeping, and all the knowing…

…Were dead.

All except her.

The summoner briskly fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands as her eyes tired of crying but continued to nonetheless. This spiraling misery, something she had not felt in a very long time…it had returned; returned with a menacing, merciless grudge that shook to her very core.

Scanning the water, she stood and looked towards the dark city to her southeast.

She couldn't possibly go there. She would have to tell Sebastian…and she would have to visit his house, something she should desperately try to avoid. She would have to tell the King of Tethe'alla, something she would not even want to think about doing when she had promised him to return him safely to Meltokio. Turning into the brush, she thought of a Rheiard in her Wing Pack, and quickly withdrew it, wiping tears from her eyes and muttering to herself.

She remembered that Zelos had once said, "Whatever will be, will be."

That didn't necessarily mean she couldn't influence it.

An odd noise brought Orochi to an attentive sitting position, where he glanced around warily for any particular person who might have been waiting to strike. Once he realize that there was no one intruding, he quickly stood, having heard some disturbance outside that woke him from his sleep. Pulling on his tanto, Orochi crept out into the nonchalant village of Mizuho, where everyone was still, sleeping peacefully in their bamboo huts. The young ninja noticed that a Rheiard sat outside the village, recently used, and fresh boot tracks made their way into the Chief's Hut.

Orochi's breath caught in his throat.

Sheena. I pray it is she who has returned.

Orochi carefully slid open the door to the Chief's Hut, in case what appeared to be Sheena was actually an outsider looking to kill.

"I'm sorry, Orochi; I meant to wake you first." Sheena's voice reached his ears and his heart rate quieted to some degree as he more leisurely made his way into her view.

"That's quite all right." He replied, bowing slightly as he saw Sheena's back turned to him.

The male ninja moved to step forward, but before he could, Sheena turned; revealing her two hands grappling a knife plunged into her stomach. Her face was bleeding in places, and she had many cuts trailing up and down her neck and arms, clotting and scabbing over. Blood was smeared all over her face. Her hands were cuffed together. Orochi could tell that wherever she had been, the outcome had not been pleasant.

But that was the least of his worries.

"Sheena!" Adrenaline firing up, Orochi glided forward, Sheena smiling weakly and removing the dagger from her body before swiftly pointing it at his neck.

"Orochi. I'm sorry. But if you try to help me, I'm going to have to kill you." The female told him calmly, watching fresh blood–her blood–drip from the knife.

"Sheena, why…? Why are you doing this?" He asked frantically, not hiding the worry in his voice.

The blood seeping from her wound weakened her and caused her to fall to her knees.

"He's dead." She told him in a whisper, looking fondly at the blade she clutched in her hand. She snickered faintly. "Soon, I'll be too. We'll go together, like Xeno said."

"No, please!" Orochi cried, kneeling in front of her without even bothering to ask what she had been through. "It doesn't have to end this way, Sheena!" He grabbed her hands, attempting to get her to let go of the knife. Although weak from her wound, she still held it firmly, pointing it his way. "You don't have to do this!"

He watched her sorrowfully look up at him, vaguely remembering the words she'd once said to another.

"This is my last time." She placed a bloody hand to her stomach, then to Orochi's face, leaving an imprint where she placed it. Her voice was shaky and unstable. "It's hard to imagine, but one day, you'll end up like me…"

Her brown eyes appeared distant as her hands began to shake and she began to stammer things that the other ninja couldn't understand.

"No, Sheena, come on! Stay with me!" He had grabbed her by the shoulders, keeping her upright.

"If I stay, it won't be long, 'till I'm burning on the inside…if I go, I can only hope, that I'll make it to the other side…"

"No, Sheena! You can't go!" Orochi took his hands from her shoulders and wrapped them around her wrists as she began to shake violently and take in half-a-breath. Once more she smiled weakly at the ninja, her eyes drooping as she muttered a breathless, slurred "It'll be okay…Orochi…I'll…b-be with him now…"

And after that, she fell onto the blue-clad ninja, spattering blood onto his uniform as he began to tremble himself. The only thing that Orochi could hear omit his own sobs was the chief's final words, airy and almost unheard over the frantic beating of his own heart.

If you want to get out alive, run for your life.

Nexus: "Hmm…I guess it only turned out to be four chapters. I have an empty feeling inside, though. Like somewhere, they had actually died. [sob] Well, you know, I'm actually pretty glad I wrote this. In the beginning, I was all like, 'Oh mai Martel, how am I gonna write dis?' But now, I think it's one of my most well developed stories, plus I'm proud that I actually finished it… Now, concerning Sheena's on Crack, much less Minor Turnabout; I should have free time to conjure up some more of that for you fans of that out there!

Mmmh, well I hope you enjoyed the read! If you liked it, please review! I always enjoy hearing from yous guys~!

Love you all!"