The Way Back

All'Elf: <...Zerrah. I have nothing to discuss with you.>

*Razz, Barrow and Aera slowly and sadly walk over to Parker. Fahren can't help but feel curious about what's going on as he walks over to Alto and Zerrah.*

Fahren: <Please, tell us. Who is this Amelia you speak of?>

Zerrah: <She looks exactly like that girl. And her magic... it's the same. I can feel it.>

Fahren: <Allina might very well be the only white mage I've ever seen make this much progress without the help of the holy arts. After quitting on being a priestess, her healing magic should have stagnated, but instead...>

*He turns to look at Allina, who is casting spell after spell on Kelphy.*

Fahren: <I don't think she realizes what she has done. She felt terrible after failing to save Olympe... but lately managed to save both Razz and Crowley from injuries that were just as severe if not worse. I suspected something was off, and I dare say I wasn't the only one.>

*He looks at Kelphy, Razz, and then Alto.*

Zerrah: <We were asleep for such a long time... trapped within the netherworld, the Allealma... When Origin told us how long it had been... I couldn't believe it. And now I see her. After over a thousand years.>

"So what? Allina is the reincarnation of this Amelia?" Lucien says. He sounds more and more agitated.

"Will you calm down Lucien?" Alto asks.

"HOW THE FUCK CAN I BE CALM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!??"

*Crowley rises to his feet again and looks over at them.*

Crowley: <...Where do we go next? I'm going to kick the shit out of Origin and whoever else is responsible for this.>

*Crowley's expression grows angry and slightly murderous.*

*Allina smiles through her tears as she seems to feel improvement on Kelphy. Fahren and the All'Elf continue to observe her while Razz very slowly walks over to Crowley and reluctantly hugs him.*

Fahren: <I... I don't know. But she's something.>

Zerrah: <Yes... yes, she is.>

*Allina stops and kneels down. Kelphy slowly opens her eyes. At the same time, Parker unexpectedly breathes in, her eyes slowly opening as well.*

Crowley: <Heh. Thanks, but I...>

*Crowley turns over and sees Parker open her eyes.*

Crowley: <Am I seeing things here....? Is she alive...?>

"Its just like... the time she saved her brother" Lucien calms a bit and walks over to Allina.

Alto then whispers, "Even though he's probably got a good decade or two on all of us, well except you two" Alto starts, referring to the two other elves present, "Lucien always seems to be the youngest of us. Maybe because out of us all he's the one who's suffered the most over his life. I had heard he had to leave his beloved behind in order to keep her safe. His whole life he's never once been happy... till he met Allina. Even serving under Kelphy his eyes were always dead but look at them now. They're full of fire, of life, of passion. He's found a reason to exist, to fight. I hope things stay that way for him" by the end it was obvious he was telling the two elder elves that some questions were better left unanswered.

*The All'Elf finishes listening to Alto and closes her eyes, smirking.*

Zerrah: <You guys... You're the real deal, aren't you? No one could tell from just looking at each of you separately...>

*Kelphy staggers to her feet and hugs Allina and Lucien, while Razz and Barrow smile broadly and crawl over to Parker, who smiles at them.*

Razz: <You're alive! You're actually alive!>

Zerrah: <...but when I see you together, I know that history won't repeat itself.>

*She turns away from the group and raises her arms, opening a larger white vortex.*

Zerrah: <Origin awaits you. Put an end to this.>

"The final battle huh?" Creed stands. "Maybe we should look heroic or something?"

"I think Luna and Lucien can help with that..." Alto grins.

"Me? What?" Lucien is busy group hugging with Allina and Kelphy.

"I'm sure Luna can produce an epic set of clothing and armor just like my old jacket... and if not then you certainly have that ability Lucy~"

Lucien humphs.

Alto then turns to Zerrah, "You should stay with us Zerrah, when all this is over there's going to be a picnic. I'm sure my brother wouldn't mind if you joined."

*Crowley kneels down and looks at Parker.*

Crowley: <Are you gonna be okay?>

*Derek sighs in relief after seeing Kelphy regain consciousness. He kneels down by her and looks into her eyes.*

Derek: <Morning, sunshine.>

*He takes her hand and looks at the portal.*

Derek: <I've gotta go take care of some business with a god, but I'll be back soon. I promise.>

"She's fighting with us dude" Creed says flatly.

*She smiles and hugs him tightly.*

Aera: <I'll take good care of Parker and the prince-->

Kelphy: <No.>

*She steps back and looks at the portal as well.*

Kelphy: <I'm... I'm fighting too. I'm okay.>

*Parker tears up and nods to Crowley.*

Parker: <Good luck.>

*She leans forward and whispers something into his ear. Zerrah nods to Alto, smirking.*

Zerrah: <I'll... consider it.>

Razz: <So it's time...?>

*Kari and Kentaro (finally) arrive through a little vortex nearby, having finished their battle, and the gang is all together at last.*

Kentaro:<It feels like both something and nothing has happened at the same time.>

Alto calls Luna, "Its time for us to make our grand entrance at Origin's party hall. Let's look a bit more heroic eh?" he asks her.

Creed summons Celsius and before she can say anything Creed kisses her.

Crowley: <I'll make sure to throw in that extra something to make up for your absence.>

*Crowley gets up and heads for the portal.*

Crowley: (Maxwell... hope you won't mind if I end up dying by the time this is done.)

*He steps through the portal.*

*Derek looks down at his pact ring and smirks.*

Derek: <Let's give this thing hell, quite literally.>

*Fire engulfs him from the neck down for a few moments, and when it dissipates, his clothes have changed into a more decorative, black variant of his trainee uniform. The coat is longer, reaching the back of his legs, with Efreet's insignia emblazoned onto the right shoulder. The pants now have metal guards at the knees. Additionally, the outfit is enchanted to grant him an incredible increase in speed at the expense of a weaker defense.*

Derek: <Heh... A parting gift from ol' lava for brains, it seems.>

*Celsius hugs Creed tightly while Crowley's ring glows. Allina looks around for Zerrah, but she's gone. Stepping through the portal they enter a dimension of pitch darkness with neverending vertical pillars of light scattered around. A ways ahead stands none other than ... Origin.*

Alto, Lucien, and Creed become clad in their element and when the element dissipates they stand wearing new armor and clothing.

Lucien is wearing a deep purple great coat with military shoulder pads that have red fringe on them with matching pants and boots.

Creed no longer has a longcoat or anything noble instead he was now clad in snow white armor with translucent, like ice, parts at his fingers, shoulders, and midriff.

Alto had his epic longcoat returned to him only blue instead of purple.

They stepped through the portal and came face to face with Origin.

"Nice hair" Alto says, "Never pegged you for a blond."

Crowley: <So this is him, huh?>

*Allina takes a very deep breath. She once watched as her brother left. Then as he almost died. She watched innocent people die, one of which doing so to save her. She was once a priestess with great faith in that who is now their biggest enemy. A grin spreads on her face and she marches towards the portal, followed by her brother, Kelphy, and Fahren.

Joining the others, they glare at Origin as he watches them peacefully.*

Origin: <At last... my puppets.>

*Crowley unsheathes his sword.*

Crowley: <Go to hell.>

Alto stuck up his middle finger at Origin, "Bang"

Thousands of light bolts fell from the sky but instead of targeting Origin they screamed towards Alto before slamming into his middle finger. He raised up his other fingers until he grasped an orb in his hand. It unwound into chains of light that wrapped around everyone.

"Soul Boost" Alto split his aeldi power among everyone. His hair returned to being a dirty blond color. His wings vanished. Everyone felt a massive increase in power.

*Origin grins at Crowley and then Alto, clapping his hands twice.*

Origin: <How nice. Now you can easily defeat me.>

Allina: <Damn right!>

Razz: <I think he's being sarcastic.>

Allina: <...Oh.>

*He looks at Allina and his eyes seem to sparkle.*

Origin: <I must say ...I was shocked when Zerrah felt your true identity. An ability only All'Elves possess, the one to feel their arch enemy. And to think all this time I've been looking for you, you were right under my nose, avoiding my attempts to kill you. To kill the most important piece in my plan.>

Fahren: <...What are you talking about, Origin?!>

Origin: <Let me tell the tale of a girl with royal blood and outstanding power over a thousand years ago... the story of the golden princess. Or perhaps you know it already...>

*The story does indeed probably sound familiar to most people there, since it is one of the most famous children's story in Verte.*

Razz: <What does a story have to do with this!?>

Kelphy: <...Are you saying that story is somehow related to Allina?>

Origin: <You like to spread around that my plan is to get revenge on humans, and that I separated Mysteria because of its overflowing magic. Then tell me. Couldn't I just have brought the two worlds back together? It'd certainly be faster than these... silly games.>

Fahren: <...So you're saying you can't do it.>

Origin: <Poor, clueless Luna. Crying for my old self, for centuries and centuries. Trying to preserve the other Aeldi's trust in me... Trying to gather a group of heroes to bring the two worlds back together, in hope it would help me. She couldn't have known, could she?>

Allina: <I don't know what you're getting at, but right I know I'm feeling a lot like punching your teeth in!>

Origin: <Your ancestor wasn't as spirited a brat as you are.>

"Watch your mouth!" Lucien draws his blade but Alto holds his hand out to stop him before walking forward.

"You weren't the one who pulled the world's apart. I realized that shortly after I began my training. You should know who I am, what I am by now Origin. After all... it was you who told Marion Crive the way to bind an Aeldi to a human. I don't know how long you manipulated Crone or to what end you had me sired but I can tell you this..." Alto's power spiked again.

"You're plan backfired. I'm not like other Aeldi. My power is bottomless, just like your's. Every since you brought me to this world, to Mysteria, I've felt it. My power just keeps increasing. Even now that I've divided the power I stored just for this moment among my friends its still increasing. I've yet to hit my plateau. If I had to guess..." Alto paused for a moment before waves of mana lazily rolled off his body.

"I've maybe been using one... no... two percent of the power I could potentially have. Who knows?" Alto drew his blade slowly.

Creed fell to his knees totally dumbstruck by what he just heard, "A-Alto? How... how could that be? Even back at the castle when you were training us... what was that?"

"I don't know... back then that was about 25% of my power... like I said this power inside me has been increasing exponentially."

"No... no way..." Lucien blinked.

"But I'm not interested in theoreticals and might be's. In order to defeat you Origin, I will become exactly that strong. My body, my soul, my will. All of it. I'll burn it all away if I have to if it means putting you down for good." Alto removed his pact ring and tossed it to Creed with a smile.

"I gave you all a part of my old strength. Use it to better the world after I'm gone." Alto slammed his foot down and an immense and impregnable shield rose around the group isolating them from the battle between Alto and Origin.

Lucien pounded on the shield, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

Alto's aeldi wings returned only this time they weren't small, they were three pair's of normal sized angelic energy wings. Alto slow walked towards Origin and a second sword formed in his left hand identical to a smaller version of his old sword. "Only one of us has to die here to stop Origin, it might as well be the one who is no longer human. Tell Aera I'm sorry that I lied to her. It was my intent from the beginning to face Origin alone and die here."

Alto rose off the ground slightly and smiled, "Let's end this thousand year old struggle once and for all!" Alto charged. The final battle had begun.

*Origin bursts into laughter.*

Origin: <Your thirst for power amuses me. You, the people who tried to control me... You're all the same. And you don't stand a chance.>

*He glances at the others and grins.*

Origin: <Zerrah... she said something about your power residing in your bonds. To watch one of you sever them and try to fight me on your own... You can deny it all you want, but you're all the same. You want power. No... you need power. Foolish boy, you're nothing but a vessel. You think you're better than any of them, as good as the Aeldi? I don't need you. No one does. I have for a long time realized I don't need to use you to gather energy to merge the worlds. Because I have some... extra energy in store.>

*He clenches his right first and the pact rings glow briefly.*

Origin: <And I'll take it back any time I want to.>

-----

*Outside the barrier, Razz looks at Crowley.*

Allina: <You won't get away with this, Bambi!>

Razz: <(If we could distract him...)>