Fate's Awakening ~ The God and Destiny Cross Thesis Reformation - IC

[Airen]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Dusk Festival, Morning

"I see. A monster called, F.A.T.E eh?"

Accepting your words with questioning them, at least not out-loud, the young sovereign had taken a few moments to respond, as if unsure of what to say at first, but ultimately deciding on telling you more about her world. According to her, there actually were beings known as angels and devils within the confines of this world, but they existed on different continents than this one.

However, the words Celestia, and Netherworld, didn't seem to hold any meaning inside of this place, at least not to her. F.A.T.E itself didn't seem to have a presence here at all, which was as you had expected, but, while she didn't have very much of a reason to believe you other than your word, the young queen had noticed the hints of impatience in your demeanor, and thus the casual stride had become something closer to a jog, the cheers and laughter of the city-folk fading away to silence as your surroundings change from clean, pristine streets, to a fog-filled mountain pass.

...While the feeling of magic in the city had certainly been present, the moment the two of you passed through the gate, the feeling of magical energy seemed to triple in intensity. It was a feeling closer to that of your world, where magic was so commonplace that seeing someone summon an actual meteor from space wouldn't have caused you too much distress, but having gotten used to the 'less intense' feel of this world, the sudden shift to something more familiar puts you on guard...

And lets you notice, for perhaps the first time.

The girl that had been following the two of you since you had left the city. Dressed in attire similar to that of the queen, the young woman was staying at a purposeful distance, hiding in the fog, and...

Seemed to be watching you.

"...It's not much farther now," speaking calmly, unbothered by the mana in the air, the young queen, who seemed to be enjoying herself far more than a simple errand with a stranger should cause, walks uphill without compromising her stance, nobility and confidence radiating without fear, "You landed up here, alone, like a falling star. I didn't see much besides you, but maybe something else fell?"

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

Standing tall, gripping the doll's head with one hand as it futilely tried to escape by punching him while the full power of his Fate-Awakening Crystal returned, Surga Utopia cannot deny that at this very moment...

He felt good.

Mighty.

Powerful.

It was an extremely cathartic feeling after what happened at Ecclesia. He is the God to the doll's ant, and if he wanted he could easily crush the thing's head easily--

He blinked. Quickly regaining his logic and senses, Surga banished the thought to the back of his mind.

With his crystal healed and returned to its full power, Surga could felt that he could now get the answer that Elora wanted out of the doll. He doesn't understand how he could have gained a new ability nor why the crystal recovered extremely quickly, but he won't question this turn of events.

Focusing his thoughts as he continued to held the doll's head, Surga activated Revelations.

[Zagrin]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Dusk Festival, Morning

So angels and devils did exist in this world after all, though by the sound of it I doubt that they'd be too similar to the ones that I knew of what with living on different parts of this land rather than in their own worlds and all. Still it seemed as though both could be considered powerful in their own right and if I can't figure out a way how to get back home here maybe one of them had the knowledge I needed.

As Adelina began to pick up the pace so did I, both glad that we were going to get to wherever it was that I fell faster and impressed at the potency of Adelina's potions. Seriously, not too long ago I could barely even move now I was easily keeping up with the Alchemist. However...

I rub the area on my chest where the crystal that gives me my power is located.

Doesn't seem as though whatever happened to my crystal has been fixed yet. At least if it had been I'm sure I would have noticed that girl before we had even left the city and not just a couple moments ago, even if she seemed to be trying pretty hard to keep out of sight. Dunno what was her deal with following us and can't say I much cared either so I'll just let her keep thinking that I hadn't noticed her. Course for her own sake I hope she doesn't try anything funny.

"...It's not much farther now. You landed up here, alone, like a falling star. I didn't see much besides you, but maybe something else fell?"

"Maybe, only one way to know for sure. Who knows maybe something else ended up falling here without making as much of a flashy entrance as I did."

[Airen]

Ryusei Nakata
Mount Agon ~ Above the Valley
Morning

It was supposed to be a beautiful green valley.

A thing of endless trees leading to a single, massive lake, the sight that was supposed to greet the eyes of Adelina Duskin, fourteenth queen of the Land of Dusk, was a world of endless life and natural beauty. The long-recovered sight of the battle between the first king of Agarta and the Dragon of Dusk, all deceased royalty was present here in the valley, on the plains of their lineage's greatest victory.

But when she reaches the top of the mountain, when she can see the sun rising higher into the sky, banishing the fog below, what that woman sees...

"...!"

Is a forest of crystal. Of twisted, ice-like trees that were both beautiful and disturbing to her eyes, like a cancerous infection made manifest on the planet, the once natural earth was twisted, almost frosted over, and the lake itself seemed to be completely frozen, with massive shards of some rubble, things you recognize as pieces of Ecclesia, scattered atop it's surface.

"...Do you know what this is?"

To her, it is strange and disturbing, and her instincts force her back into her 'queen' persona immediately to deal with it. There is no trace of the young woman who had simply seemed to be enjoying her time outside of court.

Now there was just someone who was preparing to fix a problem she couldn't quite understand yet.

But while she doesn't know what it means... For you...

It is a familiar sight.

...And also the worst case scenario.

But...

In the distance, far below, atop the frozen lake...

"..."

You could see what seemed to be Parisa, encased up to her chest in crystal, standing up, but head down in a way that made it look like she was unconscious.

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
??? Soulscape - Phantom Sea
Time: Meaningless

While it was the first time you had done something like this, the process didn't exactly feel foreign to your perceptions. The moment your Fate-Awakening Crystal had shown itself capable of entering whatever passed for the doll's consciousness, you tapped into that most instinctual of your powers, those that required you to work in complete tandem with your crystal, with both of you guiding each other, and...

Following that pull, you materialized within the stream of the doll's soul, it's movements freezing in place as time itself seems to stop within the now distant forest clearing.

...To say that there was no sense of disorientation would be a lie.

Crossing the boundary between the physical and the metaphysical, the guiding pull of your crystal, that understood what it's vessel desired, kept you on course within the otherwise impossible to navigate waters of the human soul, even as your mind jolted a bit from the sudden transition, your normal senses scrambling for a moment as the crystal takes over the most difficult part of the transition.

...When you come too, you find yourself in the midst of a red and gold sea, light from the distant horizon causing the surface of the water to glitter as if it had been decorated with stars. Rather than a sun, there's simply a hole in the sky from which light shines from some impossible to discern source. This internal world is not very wide, in terms of space, it's quite concise, reminding you more of a passageway than an actual world, and...

That's probably because that is exactly what this is... Now that you think about it.

Having sensed that the doll was being animated by something or someone else earlier on, it seemed that your crystal had discerned the 'path' to that distant individual, and was showing you the way as best as it could. Trusting in it absolutely, because, as far as you were concerned, the two of you were literally the same existence, you push your way through the crimson waters as fast as you are able, heading for that distant light.

...Every once in awhile, you came across towers of crystal, the same crystal that covered your own human world...

The crystal that belonged to F.A.T.E and it's aberrations.

Tall and twisted; familiar sculptures that are nevertheless so out of place inside of someone's soul that they remind you of a form of cancer, you ignore them for now, neither destroying or interacting with them, purely because you do not know how they would react to such a thing, and currently do not wish to push yourself into a situation where you do not comprehend all the elements at play.

To get the information you needed, you needed to reach the center of the mindscape. The light in the sky eventually disappears as you go along, the mind of whoever you were in automatically trying to shield itself by hiding the door, but following your crystal, it's trivial for you to deduce in what direction you need to go.

And eventually...

Water gives way to a shore.

And a shore gives way to a staircase, which leads to a door...

Which finally leads to your destination...

The true form of this person's mindscape.

It is a much darker world.

With crystalline floors, and towers that stretch up to an endless black abyss, the difference between the 'tunnel' and the 'destination' can only be called completely staggering. Unlike the red ocean from before, which had at least moved, there was nothing but stillness here, and it's lack of life, as well as how 'gently' the crystals had grown along the walls, the inside of this person's thoughts... Can only be called unnatural...

Because unlike the aberrations made by F.A.T.E, whose crystals were jagged and distorted because of the resistance of the person being corrupted...

These... Seemed like they had been accepted completely by the owner, without any sort of resistance at all... As if they had even been welcomed into this person's soul...

It makes you feel almost sick, but...

Amidst the endless crystal, there is one sign of humanity.

A shrine, a Shinto-style shrine, according to your crystal, that existed dead-set in the center of this room that lacked a sun. Wandering about here now, leaving it to your crystal to scan the memories of whoever this was for the answers to Elora's questions, you are bombarded shortly afterwards with an avalanche of abridged memories and thoughts.

Images of 'someone' trying to open a door.

Images of 'someone' being offered power by Rose, whose mannerisms were completely calm and without emotion, the exact opposite of the Rose you had met at Ecclesia.

Images of 'someone' accepting that power.

Of that same someone making these dolls, and using them to kidnap people, and gather their Seithr in order to open a 'door' to a place called the Boundary, to let 'something' out of it's cage.

Images of this Guy Maxwell, and his location in the mines outside of Tomobiki...

Being fed all of these flashes of memory as fast as the crystal could take and process them, you nevertheless notice something strange about all of it.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot find the face of the person you were inside, not even their name was attainable.

They were always just 'someone,' a cloaked figure without, name, face, gender, or even age.

No matter how many memories you sifted through, be they memories of someone watching over a grassy field, or of being stuck in an endless blue wilderness without life, there is never any 'identity' for these memories...

Frowning, you prepare yourself to push harder, but...

Soundlessly...

That 'someone' appears in the distance, walking slowly towards you...

With Rose at her side.

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
??? Soulscape - Phantom Sea
Time: Meaningless

"..."

Surga Utopia frowned. Even though he got the information that he's coming for - the location of Guy Maxwell - the situation is just too bizarre and disturbing for him to feel any kind of satisfaction from it.

First of all is of course the crystal that covered this mental world, the very same thing that belonged to F.A.T.E and its aberrations. Seeing it here, in a mental world of someone from another world than his own, had soured Surga's mood from all the implications that it brings. That with F.A.T.E freed, no worlds would be safe from its wrath.

Surga knew he should have expected this, but...

He had hoped that perhaps, in this world, he could rest for a while before continuing his mission.

That perhaps he could live without thinking or worrying about F.A.T.E, even if it's just for a day.

Of course, reality had now slapped him on the face. F.A.T.E, or at least a little of its power, is here, and that means this fight had just gotten a lot more personal for Surga.

Secondly, the fact that this 'someone' he keeps on seeing doesn't have an identity, gender, age, or a name. It was always a cloaked person, with no indication of its identity at all, and it disturbs him.

Just who is this someone who controls the doll?

What does it mean for someone to lack an identity?

And lastly...

"... Rose."

The goddess is approaching with that 'someone', and Surga narrowed his eyes.

Why did she offer power to that cloaked 'someone' in that memory? Why was she so calm and without emotion while doing so? And why is she here right now, by the side of that 'someone?'

There are so many questions. So many things that he wanted to ask to the blue-haired goddess.

But Surga knows that right now, that is not possible.

Hardening his resolve, Surga Utopia started to walk slowly towards the incoming duo.

[Zagrin]

Ryusei Nakata
Mount Agon ~ Above the Valley
Morning

As I reach the top of the hill I'm stunned at the sight that greets me. It is an all too familiar sight yet one which should not exist in this world....so then why were these damn crystals in this world!? Had she followed after me into this world? Surely it couldn't have been by pure chance that pieces of the Ecclesia infested by her rot ended up falling here by pure chance? Worst yet what did it then mean for this world if her cancer had made it here, would it end up turning into the same barren wasteland that the Human world had become!?

I could feel my breathing quicken as the gravity of the situation began to settle in.

This is bad, this is really bad. I'm not sure what we could do, but we have to do something fast before this gets any worse!

"...Do you know what this is?"

Of course I do, how could I not after what that monster did to me and those I care about?

"F.A.T.E."

If she had any doubts before about what I said there was no way she'd have them now what with the truth being right in front of her. There was however nothing satisfying that what I had talked to her about was proven true, honestly I'd rather people just think I was crazy rather than have this happen to their homes.

Silently, I simply surveyed the land below with Adelina unable to say anything. That is until something caught my eye, something very unexpected that was located on the frozen lake.

"...Parisa?"

I could hardly believe that the Angel that was known as one of my Hands was here, yet there she was half-captured in a tomb of crystal.

"Parisa!"

Without even thinking I begin running down the hill towards the crystalline forest. Any thoughts about dealing with this cancer or what dangers await down below vanish as the only thing I can think about now is getting Parisa out of there!

[Airen]

Ryusei Nakata
Mount Agon ~ Valley of Kings
Morning

"F.A.T.E? That monster you were talking about-?"

Leaving the confused form of the queen behind in a flash, the you that recognizes the form of your God Hand even from this far away, reaches her side in the same instant that you decide you must do so before all else.

It is a speed that the queen, a mortal human, couldn't hope to keep up with, but for you, it is a natural movement that borders on the casual. Enhanced senses taking in all of your surroundings as you go, there is a definite feeling of danger here atop the crystal lake, the feeling is that of F.A.T.E's magic, of that you were sure, and while such a thing immediately makes you feel like an invisible blade is hanging above your head, you don't let that stop you from rescuing the God Hand that you had only met in what felt like mere hours before.

Standing still, eerily still, the angel that is buried up to her chest in jagged crystal, nevertheless doesn't seem like she'd have any trouble moving around; she is not connected to the ground, or at least, she is not connected to the rest of the crystals here, the pieces around her legs are particularly sharp, as if she had torn herself out of whatever this was through sheer force of will, but...

When you reach her, when you instinctively call her name...

"Ryusei...?"

The voice that appears is very unlike the Parisa from before, not a confident voice, but rather a questioning one, the angel sways to the side as she calls out for you, looking like she was going to fall for a moment, before catching herself on shaking limbs.

"Get away... Obvious trap... Left me here on purpose... Got me pretty good... Go..."

Her sentences are broken and spoken with a clear effort, but the meaning behind them remains vividly clear.

Go away.

This is a trap.

Swaying more and more, a hand going up to her face as the crystals on her body shudder and pulse...

You can hear the sound of someone else, Adelina, sliding down the hillside a kilometer away, still far from the lakeside.

"Voice... In my head... Better vessel than a dragon... Go... Go-!"

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
??? Soulscape - Phantom Sea
Time: Meaningless

"...Surga."

This time, Rose responds to the sound of your voice, but the warmth that Rose had held was, at the same time, still disturbingly absent from both her voice and expressions. Standing almost rigidly, hands in the pockets of her jeans, the azure haired goddess closes her eyes with a chilling serenity, seemingly unconcerned with your existence here inside of this place.

In her place...

"Invader..."

The cloaked figure seems to take more offense with your existence here, the crime of stepping into her mind, her thoughts, her soul, likely not a thing that she took too with positive feelings of any sort. The voice, just like everything else about the person, was something drenched in an aura of ambiguity, high-pitched and smooth, it could have easily been a man or a woman, but...

Your instincts...

Yes, your instincts say...

That the person beneath that cloak is a woman.

"I was warned... But to think someone would dare..."

...She seems slightly on edge, or at least, there's some form of distortion in her thought process, so much so that when she refers to you as if you're not there for an instant, you believe that she was sincerely looking right past you in those instants.

Even so, it's just a mortal.

Someone who you could defeat with a poke of a finger... If it wasn't for Rose standing there like some sort of bodyguard...

"You..."

Raising a finger, the cloaked woman points directly at you, as if to reaffirm your existence to herself.

"Are you... God...?"

[Zagrin]

Ryusei Nakata
Mount Agon ~ Valley of Kings
Morning

"Voice... In my head... Better vessel than a dragon... Go... Go-!"

My relief at seeing Parisa quickly turns to puzzlement as I hear her words. Trap? Left here on purpose? Well that would explain the uneasy feeling I've had ever since I got here....

I glance back at where I had left Adelina and notice that she was now making her way towards me. Damn it, if there really is a trap I need to warn her about it. Sure she seemed stronger than the rest of the people in this place, but I doubt she'd be able to handle something meant to deal with a God. Still it's not like she'd even hear me if I shouted and retreating back to where she was...well that was out of the question.

"There's no way in hell that I'm just going to leave you behind!"

I look around to see if there's anything I can use to break her out of the crystal, but find nothing. Damn it, if only my powers were working normally I could just cleave this damn crystal away. I know...I know I should just retreat for now, but even still I can't bring myself to do it. I have to save her, I will save her!

Without thinking, I clench my fists and slam them with everything I have into the crystal surrounding her.

"I'll go, but you're coming with me. I'll deal with whatever trap I end up springing."

[Airen]

Ryusei Nakata
Mount Agon ~ Valley of Kings
Morning

"..."

While her voice had appeared to warn you away the first time, when you speak to her again mere instants later, the light-haired angel no longer seems like she's able to form words, let alone speak out coherent sentences. Striking the crystal around her with everything you have, there's a sound like glass shattering as most of the angel's apparent prison breaks from the sheer physical force alone, shooting off into the distance as a particularly hazardous form of shrapnel, the remaining portions writhing in a disturbingly alive way as they try to regrow themselves, crawl along her body again.

It's not particularly sturdy, at least, it can't stand up to divine force.

It's a realization that strikes a spark of hope in you, a belief that you can do this even with your crystal being as strangely dysfunctional as it was, but, striking again and again...

"..."

You stop when the angel herself catches your fist.

Senses shoot into overdrive.

A feeling like killing intent shoots from the angel to you. It is a complete one-hundred and eighty turn from her previous disposition, worried about you enough to warn you away from her, the 'trap' that she had been trying to warn you about becomes clear in the very instant that she catches your fist and squeezes, crystal-like nails digging deep into divine flesh without resistance.

The trap, the thing that was a "better vessel than a dragon"...

Was Parisa herself.

The realization is instinctual, so much so that perhaps you had understood, deep inside of your subconscious what she had been getting at in those few words, but...

The strength gripping that arm, that face that had gone eerily blank, eyes reflecting light like a prism, the already ingrained inability to retreat when perhaps it would have been wiser to do so, all lead to a moment of hesitation even when you understand that you're being attacked now.

It's for less than a second, closer to 0.0001 points of a second, but...

In that time, your body has already been hurled straight down, directly through the center of the crystal lake upon which the both of you had been standing; the world around you seems to explode, going off with a sound like a meteor crashing down right next to your head, the pain you feel from being quickly introduced as the main culprit of a newly born chasm in the planet is by no means severe, but wincing from it at the bottom of the newfound planetary scar, you find yourself staring up at a sky filled with crystal shards.

Hovering, floating, the normally inactive crystals begin to glow with a black and white lightning, the arcs of magical energy so intense that the sky itself seems to darken, and floating in the center of it all, flexing a cold fist...

"...An ugly world."

Your seemingly possessed God Hand hovers, all of the lightning, all of the magical energy, seeming to arc from the crystals into her body, and back out again into the growing storm.

"Target Identified: Agarta."

...She is definitely not acting like herself, radiating an absolute hostility towards everything around her that makes you feel sick, an animosity so strong that you can almost feel it being pointed in the direction of the distant Agarta like the blade of the reaper. Not only that, her physical appearance wasn't quite right either; having seen one or two angels in your time, you were used to the white wings made of magical energy, but looking up, staring up, at the massive wings of crystal protruding from her back in a way that was both beautiful and disturbing at the same time, you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that there's nothing normal about those wings that could easily block out the sun.

"God identified; Ryusei Nakata, potential obstacle."

Her voice echoes as if from heaven itself, and the struggle that had been present in it during her 'warning' no longer seems to be present. And with those eyes, ironically glaring down at you almost like you were some sort of insect, and with the sound of broken glass becoming more and more prominent as you sense other, weaker existences start to 'appear' along the surface of the world above, long-dead soldiers, reanimated by magic...

It looked like things...

Had just gone in a bad way...

Normal status restored.
All abilities on standby.

But your crystal burning as if in response to this, you finally feel more like your usual self, but...

"Northern Cross."

Light fills the sky above.

And dozens of massive, spheres of black and white electricity, descend on you as you shove yourself to your feet, as if the heavens themselves were coming after you with the intention of completely obliterating your existence.

And made it look like... You weren't really getting a choice in the matter.

After all... In the end...

It wasn't like someone like you probably couldn't abandon her even if you had wanted too.

Seeking Oblivion, the Chained God extends it's gaze.
Calling out to the Divine, a Wish for Destruction follows the Wish for Hope
Dreams and Nightmares, Hate and Love
What weighs more?
What is the true desire?

In the end, Dreams are born from Chaos.
Prayers and Curses, only the Worlds know the Answer.

Mission Info:
-Defeat Parisa (F.A.T.E)-

Victory Conditions:
-Parisa (F.A.T.E) is defeated.

Defeat Conditions:
-Ryusei is defeated
-Parisa reaches Agarta

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
??? Soulscape - Phantom Sea
Time: Meaningless

"I am."

A simple answer to a simple question.

While he doesn't truly consider himself all-powerful, or even truly that exceptional as one of Ecclesia's "God" - being new as he is - against a mere mortal, he might as well be one.

Besides, confidence is important when one faces against an unknown.

Still...

Even as he answered the cloaked woman's question - careful to keep his body and face neutral, with no hint of weakness or aggression - Surga's thoughts raced. There is the matter regarding Rose, of course; with how she said his name, it seems her memory is at least intact, but the dullness, rigidness and lack of warmth from the azure-haired goddess makes it clear that she is not herself at the moment.

But the one thought that piqued his interest the most was...

'Who warned her?'

Was it Rose?

Kaz, the mysterious street magician?

Or someone he simply hasn't met yet?

"What about you?" He asked back, voice calm and level. "Who are you? And who warned you?"

Of course, he doubts the cloaked woman would simply answer his questions if he asked, but there is no harm in trying. There are many more questions he wanted to ask - such as the door that this person tried to open, or how she has F.A.T.E's presence in her soul - but there is no need to ask so many questions at once when the possibility of it being answered is close to nil.

However, while he was sure she won't give him information and answers so easily in her own soul, the same could be said of him; he simply won't give up that easily when he is this close to answers and the truth. Neither party would back down just like that, which is why Surga silently prepared his mind, his expression and body language showing no sign of change or anything of the sort.

It would definitely be difficult with Rose as her bodyguard, and he wanted to avoid it if possible, but...

There is always the violent option for both of them.

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
??? Soulscape - Phantom Sea
Time: Meaningless

"The forgotten..."

The impression you got was that of someone who has sincerely forgotten their name, looking at you from beneath a dark hood, the voice that emerges is not one that is lying, describing herself as best as she could, as if it was important that people understood who and what she was, her identity nevertheless comes across as little more than gibberish to you, who have only been within the confines of this world for a few hours at best.

"God told me, I was warned... But it doesn't matter, I won't be stopped here. Rose."

Voice erratic again, the finger that is still pointed in your direction changes rapidly, pointing towards the blue-haired goddess as if accusing, or as if to be sure that the Goddess was paying attention to her.

"Sever it."

"..."

The moment those words leave the entity's mouth, the Goddess steps into action. Stance straightening, magical power gathering at a rapid pace, your body instinctively prepares itself for battle, but-

In that same moment, just like changing the channel on a television set.

You find yourself back in the forest.

Rose is standing nearby, grinding the heel of her foot into the smoldering ash of what was once a doll; her eyes bear no emotion as she does it, the ground beneath her feet a smoldering crater, as if she had simply launched a blast of magical energy through her foot and pierced entirely through the planet core itself, the only action that reminds you of sadism is the relentless grinding of her shoes into something that no longer existed, as if she couldn't help but try to drag out the method and means of destruction for as long as possible, yes...

Knowing that you were close to the truth, the woman had demanded that Rose sever the link on a physical and magical level, and now that you were here...

It seemed that she had been prepared to follow those orders from the very start... For some reason.

With Elora still unconscious nearby, the situation isn't the greatest. Fighting Rose alone made it easier to minimize damage to things other than yourself, but trying to protect a mortal in a battle between Gods...

...It wasn't something easy, and it would be better to avoid it if at all possible, but...

"So uptight."

Gaze moving from the doll's ashes to you, the woman smiles a hollow smile, a look like crystal in her eye, and her voice bearing a cold smoothness that wasn't entirely emotionless...

But reeked of a dark amusement.

"This world's mysteries are it's own thing, you know? Shouldn't you be trying to go home?"

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

As he find himself back in the forest, Surga is still trying to make sense of the situation.

The forgotten - someone who forgot their own identity - was told, warned by a god. He doesn't know who, but what is important is that someone like himself is apparently knee-deep in this world's machinations.

Just more things to be worried about.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Surga willed himself to focus on the situation at hand. Fighting Rose while protecting Elora would be difficult, especially when the memory of fighting her in Ecclesia was still fresh in his mind...

But if push comes to push, he'd do it.

Besides, hearing the dark amusement in the blue-haired goddess' voice, along with the crystal-like look in her eyes...

Pissed him off, if only because it reminds him of FATE and what happened in Ecclesia; of the original Rose that he met back then, and the mockery he's facing right now.

"This world's mysteries are it's own thing, you know? Shouldn't you be trying to go home?"

"Believe me, I wanted to do that very much." He replied, eyes narrowing. "Unfortunately now that I've seen those crystals in that world, I cannot let this go. Not if F.A.T.E is related to any of this."

"And what about you?" He asked back, trying to gauge her personality and drives. "Why are you following that girl's orders and not trying to go home, or finding your companions?"

Whatever her answer might be...

Surga mentally prepared himaelf for the possibility of a battle.