The Way Back

*He could hear bells ringing in the background. The world started to come into form around him. He knew what this was. He was shacked to the wall and there was a man on his right holding a piece of paper.*

Man: <Crowley Vendextrus! For stealing one of the most prized possession in all of our kingdom, you will hereby be sentenced to death by arrows!>

*The man crunched up the paper and threw it at Crowley's feet, and then walked off the stage that they were on. He then walked over to an archer firing squad and raised his hand. The archers got the arrows ready.*

Man: <And...>

*Crowley closed his eyes.*

Man: <...FIRE!>

*However, in that instant, the archers fell over dead, and soon the other man was knocked unconscious. The villagers that had gathered to watch were running away and the guards were soon dead as well; eventually there was only Crowley, whom the mysterious guests had approached. A few of them in ragged clothes had approached Crowley.*

Thief 1: <This the guy?>

Thief 2: <Yeah, this is him.>

Thief 1: <Really? Heh. Well then.>

*He turns to Crowley and unshackles him.*

Thief 1: <Word is you aren't a noble anymore. And we've seen ya in action a couple of times, you ain't bad. What would you say about joining up with us?>

*Crowley gets up and has a rather confused look on his face.*

Thief 2: <You have the qualities of a thief. Decent bit of brains, too. Even if ya don't want to be one of us, you should put those qualities to work in a way that you think would do us all proud. Use us as stepping stones if you would, that's what all us thieves do once we're ready to move on. Just never forget that more cunning side you have to ya. When in doubt, it never fails.>

*Crowley looks down at the ground for a second, and then back up to see the thieves already running from a bunch of guards.*

Thief 2: <Come on! Follow us and ya won't go wrong in the end! You don't have much choice in the matter at the moment, anyway!>

*Crowley hesitantly nods and then runs after them, and then everything goes blank.*

=====

Crowley: <[That's right... I can't let all that work go to waste. They gave me another shot at life. Whether it was a life full of thievery or not... I had my share of fun times, as well. If I can't overcome this... what would all of that have been for?!]>

*Images of Razz, Barrow and Parker flash around in his head, as well as the two thieves that convinced him on that day.*

~Kelphy~

*Young Kelphy steps out of the room, smiling. King Alexander follows her out. Looking up at him, Kelphy widens her eyes, realizing he's a lot older. He looks down at her.*

Alexander: <Kelphy! Please, please wake up! Kelphy!!>

Kelphy: <D-Dad?>

*His voice seems to echo in from outside the memory and, next thing she knows, she's snapping her eyes open, landing on solid ground amidst the darkness.*

=====
~Lucien~

*The memory comes to his mind once more, clinging to him. As he's walking away from the house, someone steps in front of him, shouting. A beautiful young female elf with long hairs, dressed in tribal wares with feathers and beads.*

Lin: <Lucien! Snap out of it! We're here! We're here for you!>

*Her voice seems to echo around his exterior self, rather than be part of the memory.*

=====
~Creed~

*Deya walks up to them from behind as Celsius fades away, nodding to her.*

Deya: <Sir Creed! Don't... p-please don't let him win!>

*Her voice seems to echo around his exterior self, rather than be part of the memory.*

=====
~Crowley~

*As everything goes blank, Parker appears standing in front of him.*

Parker: <Goddamnit, Crow! Don't you dare die after all we've been through! I trusted you wouldn't need me there to beat Origin's ass for you! Wake up! Please!>

*Her voice seems to echo around his exterior self, rather than be part of the memory.*

=====
~Razz~

*Barrow runs up to them, shouting.*

Barrow: <Spade! Your friends are here! You have to win, Crowley promised he'd buy us all dinner if we won!>

[He's... he's making that up... wait... Barrow?!]

In everyone's dreams, before they dispel, they see a single beautiful tree among a sea of the greenest grass. On one of the trees many branches is a young man with brown hair. His eyes closed. He's sleeping peacefully and his chest rises and falls slowly. There's a young girl watching him and pointing and a man with long green hair bends over to say something to the girl. The image blurs as if returning to the past and it looks like everyone is gathered around the tree without noticing the sleeping brown haired young man until a hooded little girl says something.

The image distorts...

---

Creed's eyes open and he lands on solid ground next to Kelphy, "Deya... why do I?" he shakes his head and redraws his weapon standing firm against what comes next.

Soon Lucien awakes from his own dream and lands, "What was that vision just now?" he draws his weapons and stands firm as well.

*Crowley slowly opens his eyes.*

*Kelphy and Razz also land beside them. The darkness starts peeling away upwards from beneath them, until they find themselves standing in the middle of the sky distorted in an intense dark aurora, and down below the streets of the destroyed city are crowded with people waving their arms in the air, cheering for them. They can still somehow make out their friends' voices in the supportive cheer, from Lin's, to Deya's, Parker's and everyone else's. Origin's fortress is no where to be found, but up ahead they can see Origin holding a young woman's hands. Looking closer, they can see that the woman is actually Allina. She's wearing a long white and golden dress, her hair has grown to waist-length, and she has a golden crown on her head. They recognize them as being the two voices they heard in their sleep.*

Origin: <That's it Amelia... Let me extract your curse. Everything will be good again now.>

*His voice echoes across the land, Allina blankly staring up at him with her eyes wide open.*

Allina: <...M-My curse?>

Lucien wastes no time bum rushing Origin, "Aeldi Arte: Fusion. Come to me Shadow!" Lucien once more fuses with Shadow and launches himself at Origin blades drawn.

"You're messing with the love of my life Origin! I will NOT stand for THAT!!"

*Crowley gets up and draws his sword again.*

Origin: <Won't you now? Come forth, divine lightning!>

*He grabs Allina with one arm and leaps back several yards, holding his free arm out towards the group. A tower of divine rings surrounds them and destructive lightning strikes upon them. Several of beams of light exit Origin's body, copies of himself forming around him. Each of them has a different aura around itself, there being one with a blue, a white, a black, a purple and a lighter blue auras. They step forward, standing in a row between the group and Origin, who puts Allina down again.*

Origin: <Give me your hand, Amelia.>

*She nods and reluctantly takes his hand, a pillar or light beginning to surround them.*

OOC: For the sake of your sanity lets ends this here Tae. Everyone can follow in Creed's lead and finish this fight, together. If so then assume everything Creed does from activating Luna's pact ring onward happens at the same time as everyone else doing something suitably climatic.

Cracks begin to appear on Orgin's body though he can't see them. Everyone else can though. They're the wounds that Alto left behind showing that his death was not in vain.

Lucien dodges most of the attacks made against him as he traces a corridor of darkness to hold back any other attacks and giving the others a pathway to attack Origin freely. Though he finally gets hit and sent spiraling. He skips across the ground before collapsing in a heap.

"Everyone combine your magic together! We'll finish this here and now!" Creed yells out.

Lucien rises slowly, painfully, as he's pretty badly wounded now.

"Allina, remember... what I said to you before? You aren't weak. You're even stronger than I am. This time though... just this once... I'm going to have to be a little stronger than you."

Shadow. Whatever awaits after this battle is over I want you to know that you've redeemed yourself. So if in the end you can't remain my partner remember this. I'm thankful for the strength you gave me and the strength you gave Alto. You've helped us all in your own way.

Creed had something similar to say to Celsius, "Because of you my wounds have finally healed and my wings have mended. I think I can finally fly on my own. When this battle is over don't let any regrets linger in your heart because from today forth I vow to bring honor to my name, Marion, and honor to us the Legendary Heroes." He then held up Alto's former pact ring and tapped into its power to call forth Luna.

"You too Luna. Thank you for everything you've done for us. You've been our guide and our strength. Most of all you took care of my idiot younger brother for me. Now how about we bring honor to his memory too eh? I, who stand under the grace of the heavens, command thee, who governs the path to the underworld. Come forth pillar of the gods! In the name of all the Aeldi, all the souls you've destroyed, all the lives you've ruined, and all the chaos you've spread Origin... THIS. ENDS. NOW. Indignation!!"

[Shadow: My redemption never lied in forgiveness... I'm saving this world. We all are.]

*The clones of Origin are forced to block Kelphy and Fahren's attacks through the shadow corridor and Indignation, being utterly obliterated. As such, large sections of Origin's skin begin to peel off, revealing a pulsing layer of dark energy underneath. Allina widens her eyes and shakes her head before looking at Lucien and smiling, but it is too late. Light bursts from Allina's body and a golden beam of light shoots out of her heart into the distorted sky. The pact rings begin to crack and shatter as the Aeldi all materialize around the battlefield.*

Origin: <It doesn't matter if this is my end! This world is going down with me!>

*He grabs Allina by the throat and hurls her away, but a silver figure grabs her and puts her down safely. She gasps for air before shooting a glare at Origin.*

Allina: <What are you doing!? Someone, I don't know whom, but someone trusted you with this world!>

*Origin continues to deteriorate as the ground down below shakes violently. He materializes swords in each of his arms and they extend several yards as he advances slashing madly at Kelphy, Lucien, Creed and Crowley. Kelphy shoots a jet of pressurized water at him that he just barely dodges before lightning strikes him from above, summoned by Fahren.*

OOC: I know. Finally.

Creed slams his sword down causing an ice wall to block the sword strike aimed at him before retaliating with barrage of icy sculptures of Celsius which punch the shit out of Origin.

Lucien has shadow hands grasp and break the swords before he jumps back and lands at Allina's side. "Its time for us to protect this world. Just like before only this time I think its only right you us my magic" he held his hand out for her to take.

*Crowley blocks with his sword, the added strength of the purple energy pushing it back. He then summons a spear in his free hand and throws it straight for Origin like a javelin.*

*While Origin is too busy trying to retaliate the Celsius clones' punches, pretty worn out, he is unable to notice Crowley's spear and it dives all the way through his torso. He releases a blast that shatters the sculptures, gasping for air, before turning to Allina and Lucien, apparently having noticed their intention to attack together. Allina is already focused on him, wires of light and dark energy drawing waves around the two. Origin yells, beams of purple lightning in the shape of demonic ghosts bursting from the javelin wound in his torso towards the two. The silvery figure moves in front of them, shaping into Crone as he casts a light mirror to block the attacks. He look upwards and nods.*

Crone: <Now's your chance!>

*A cloud of flames materializes above and James, whom they haven't seen in almost a year, falls from within it, landing near Origin. Allina's eyes widen and her face lights up, seeing her two friends are okay, and she tightens her grip on Lucien's hand as the energy glows more intensely.*

Allina: <(I've gone through more than I ever thought I could, and we've made the best friends anyone could ever ask for. We've proven nothing can take us down... And trying to was your mistake, Origin.) I'm almost ready!>

Razz: <There's a lesson to learn here. You are right to hate humans' amazing potential for evil, but wrong to underestimate our potential for good. In the end, you made the same mistake the people of Yurion did.>

Lucien gives all his power to Allina, "I'm ready when you are Allina. Everything I am is your's as it will always be."

"Oi Oi Oi, propose to her after the battle is over lover boy!" Creed says before summoning a giant draconic edifice of ice to breath cold waves on Origin.

*James simply waves and smiles.*

James: <Sorry I'm late.>

*He pulls the same blade he always used off his back and grips it with his right hand. The sword starts to burn intensely, much stronger than how it was the last time he was seen. Crowley, meanwhile, is standing in a kind of prayer stance with his eyes focused on Origin with extreme loathing.*

*Fahren casts a meteor down towards Origin, which he redirects into Creed's ice dragon. Water springs up all around him, cast by Kelphy, and locks him in a sphere that he bursts away with some effort. Razz materializes behind him in a cloud of flames, slashing at him repeatedly. He groans in pain before batting the young man away. Allina's eyes turn golden and a bright light emerges from her chest. A ghostly arm of light emerges from her chest at high speed towards Origin, the hand reaching for him.*

Fahren: <Is this... Amelia's power?>

*Razz groans, standing up.*

Razz: <So Lucien's power must've helped unlock it.>

Fahren: <That, or it was something else. Something more magical than magic.>

*Fahren smiles and nods.*

Razz: <No, that's just corny.>

Kelphy: <Everyone, now!>

Fahren&Razz: <Sorry!>

*James puts his other hand on the blade and slashes downward. A huge storm of flames in the shape of an eagle soars toward Origin at an almost blinding speed. Crowley, finished charging, brings both of his hands to the sky and then curls them into fists, then makes the motion of pulling downward. Emerging from above, a huge meteor is visible and starting to make its way down from directly above Origin.*

"This is the path we've chosen. The path to the future and the path to protect this world"'

All the magics combined together into one super attack.

""Blue Earth!""

*Fahren casts a pillar of light that bursts from beneath Origin and rises into Crowley's falling meteor. Everyone's spells begin to be drawn to the meteor, revolving around it and becoming one with it. As it continues to grow and turn into a large sphere of blue energy, it stops falling, hovering above Origin, slowly spinning around itself. It has become a gigantic, mesmerizing planet of energy that they easily recognize. A Verte of magic. Mysteria. Flashes of light occur around Origin and a circle of large glowing gems appear around him, one for each of the Aeldi, and each begins to blast out strikes of energy of its corresponding color into the circle, Origin's painful groaning echoing amidst the flashing rainbow. Finally, the gems fly up and randomly spin around the planet at high speed as it begins to glow more intensely. They hear different voices echoing from seemingly within the planet.*

Luna: <You have been chosen to save the worlds.>

Alto: <We're a perfect team!>

Kentaro: <You think you're a real tough guy, huh?>

Derek: <I won't leave you guys behind!>

Creed: <If there's a dance will you... uh... dance with me Celsius?>

Allina: <We're all friends now, right? I like having you all around.>

Crowley: <This is ours now, and we're keeping it.>

Lucien: <My place is with my friends.>

Kelphy: <They were trying to make you control Origin, weren't they?>

Kari: <We're going to try and save the world?>

*Origin yells in pain as the hand of light dives into his chest and rips out a sort of black cloud, the planet bursting down in a flash of light that momentarily blinds the entire Capital Alda.*

*Crowley leans on his sword, breathing heavily as he gazes into the stunning sight before them. James just stands and waits patiently to see what happens next.*

Creed also leans on his sword panting.

Lucien leans on Allina having given her pretty much all his mana. This also means his cloak of shadows his dissolved meaning he's naked though he quickly converts what's left into a pair of pants to cover himself.

*Origin slowly stares across them, his body completely wrecked, before smiling and falling backwards.*

Origin: <...My reign is over.>

Kelphy: <O-Origin! It's not too late! You are the guardian of the worlds!>

Origin: <No, it is too late. But I know I will have done at least one good thing for the worlds... leaving them in your hands.>

*Luna appears walking towards him, wiping tears from her eyes.*

Origin: <If I disappear...>

Luna: <I know. I think... I think we're all ready.>

*The remaining Aeldi all materialize around them, staring at the group.*

Fahren: <They're... You're dying?>

*Undine smiles and shakes her head.*

Celsius: <We're doing what we were born to do.>

Maxwell: <We represent a large part of the magic world's magical power. Without us to disrupt the balance, maybe the key within you can bring Mysteria back into existence...>

*Maxwell points at Allina.*

Sylphs: <<<We'll watch over you all!>>>

*Crowley wills himself to stand up and face Maxwell.*

Crowley: <I barely knew you, but... I hope you'll find happiness at your destination. Maybe we'll even see each other again some time, eh?>

*He looks down momentarily and then back up.*

Crowley: <During my time using your power, I realized there's so much more I could do than be some bandit and end up dead in a ditch somewhere. Basically, what I'm saying is... thanks. And take care.>

*He raises his hand, offering a handshake with Maxwell.*

Creed walks over to Celsius and hugs her tightly, "I didn't... I didn't want to think this day would come. I... I'm going to miss you."

"Lucien gives Shadow the thumbs up, "Alto would be happy to know you've helped change this world Shadow. See you in the next life."

Creed kisses Celsius, "I too hope we can meet again in the next world. I'd love to dance with you once more."

*Maxwell lets out a few laughs and nods, shaking Crowley's hand.*

Maxwell: <I'm only sorry we didn't meet sooner.>

*Celsius hugs Creed tightly as she begins to turn to sparkling white dust that fades away.*

Origin: <Protect Mysteria like I should have. We'll be inside each of you. And... thank you.>

*Origin holds a hand out and fades away, some of the sparkles he turns to drifting into Allina, Lucien, Kelphy, Kari, Kentaro, Crowley, Derek and Creed's chests, and some flying into the sky rather than fading. The rest of the Aeldi fade, waving goodbye at them. For a moment, silence reigns. Then, suddenly, cheerful celebratory screams tear through the skies from the crow gathered in the city below. A broad smile of relief quickly flashes across Allina's face as she falls to her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks. She's trembling, carefully holding the black cloud in her arms.*

Allina: <I'ts... It's over.>