Disclaimer: I do not own Grandia 2.
Millenia sighed and sat up. It was already three in the morning and still she couldn't sleep. She got up and walked over the window. The night sky was dotted with twinkling stars and although it looked beautiful; it seemed somewhat…incomplete. The red glow of Valmar's moon was no longer there and the sky seemed empty despite the thousands of stars she could see out of the small window alone.
She hadn't really been able to sleep well since they defeated Valmar and she didn't think it was just because Ryudo had decided not to return to her. Although she still loved him, she had finally given into the fact that Ryudo had chosen Elena and not her. The empty feeling she had inside was something else. The lack of the wings inside of her for one.
She hadn't been able to summon the wings from inside of herself since the last time she had used them when flying over the world with Elena and Ryudo and although she no longer needed them she still missed the power they gave her. She felt that the missing piece of her was indeed the wings themselves and she longed to be able to fly through the sky like she used to.
She walked over to her mirror and sat down, staring at the glass…but she wasn't there. She held out her hand. It was transparent. She blinked hard twice and then held her eyes shut. When she opened them she was there again. It was just her imagination. She felt incomplete so she thought she must look it as well.
"Tomorrow…" sighed Millenia, "…I'll see them again, and everything will be alright."
She walked back over to her bed and curled up on top of the covers. She felt boiling; this was why she hated summer time.
Millenia opened her eyes. The morning sun was shining through the glass of her small bedroom window. She stretched, standing up before walking over to the cupboard and getting out her clothes. She smiled as she looked down at the familiar clothes in front of her. She hadn't worn her old outfit for a long time. Not since she had last seen Roan.
She remembered back to the first time she had met Ryudo. Standing on the arch in front of the church before blasting it to pieces. She wasn't exactly proud of what she'd done, but at least it had brought them together for the first time. Of course, she would've preferred it to be in more romantic surroundings than a battle ground, but he had insisted on attacking her.
She pulled her clothes on and looked into the mirror. Should she change her hair back to the way it was? Or leave it tied up in a ponytail? Either way it wasn't going to make much of a difference. No point in trying to impress Ryudo now, was there?
Millenia shook her long red hair and tied it back into a pony-tail. Why worry about her hair-style when she was going to see people who weren't going to judge her like that? She was going to see her friends not a queen…well she was going to see a prince, but Roan didn't count.
She grabbed her bag she had packed the previous night and left her house, closing the door behind her. She ran along the path and into the woods. She hoped that she'd be there on time, or they might not wait for her.
"Where is she?" asked Elena, standing with her hands on her hips.
"Don't worry, she won't let us down," said Ryudo.
Elena had been travelling with him for over a year now, but still she was very impatient and very naïve. Roan and Tio had come as well, and they were also looking nervous. They had all met on the island where Mareg's village was. Tio wanted to pay him a visit.
"She'll be here!" said Ryudo.
Skye muttered something from his perch on Ryudo's shoulder. This was getting on Ryudo's nerves. None of them seemed to have any faith in Millenia. Well he knew she would come.
"Wait…that's her!" called Elena, pointing to the beach where Millenia was walking out of the ship.
"Millenia!" called Ryudo, "What took you so long?"
Millenia looked up and blinked as the light shone on her face. A familiar smile spread across her face. As she watched her, Tio thought that she looked distracted. She seemed to be hiding something behind the smile, or was it that she was hiding the fact that she had nothing to hide?
"Sorry, the ship hit stormy waters," laughed Millenia.
Elena's face went slightly green at the thought of it. Millenia linked her arm through Elena's and smiled largely.
"How's my perfect little twin doing?" she asked, looking sideways at her.
Elena raised an eyebrow and gave her most disapproving look.
"If I'm the perfect twin, that means you're the evil one," she stated.
"Aw, you don't mean that," said Millenia, pulling slightly on her arm, "Now let's get to that village, I can't wait to see that lake again!"
"I…it was pretty," said Elena, confused by the fact that she had never seen Millenia this happy to see her before.
As they walked away, Roan walked along behind them. Tio held back and pulled on Ryudo's arm.
"Ryudo…I'm worried about Millenia," said Tio evenly, looking straight up into Ryudo's eyes.
"Why?" he asked.
Tio smiled, as per, he was completely clueless.
"She seems to be distracted…I think that she's hiding her fears from us." Said Tio, then as Ryudo looked doubtful, "I know I don't a complete grasp of human emotions, but I feel that we should talk to her. She is our friend after all…"
"Don't worry Tio, I'm sure she's fine," said Ryudo, "And even if she's not we'll be able to tell and I'll ask her about it, okay?"
"If you insist…" said Tio quietly.
Roan turned and waved to them.
"Please hurry, you're keeping us waiting!" he called before turning back to Millenia and Elena.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual…or more unusual," said Ryudo picking up his pace.
Tio sighed; she didn't appreciate not being taken seriously. Perhaps she got that from Roan.
They walked through the jungle area that surrounded them in almost complete silence. This was out of fear of waking something up more than anything else. They had learnt from their experience in these woods last time. There were many dangerous creatures and plants in these woods.
"I don't like the silence," sighed Millenia, "It's not as if we couldn't beat anything that attacked us anyway."
"I'd rather not take any chances," said Ryudo, looking darkly up at the trees, looming above them like clawed hands.
Millenia pulled her arm out of Elena's and turned around to Ryudo.
"You're not scared are you?" she laughed.
"No!" said Ryudo indignantly.
"Then why won't you speak?" she said, her eyes narrowing.
"Because I don't feel like fighting right now," said Ryudo.
He looked past Millenia at Elena who was smiling.
"I'm not scared!" he said to her.
"Of course Ryudo," she said, turning away, "I would never suggest such a thing."
Millenia laughed and turned to Roan and Tio. Roan was smiling, but Tio was looking concerned.
"Tio? What's wrong?" asked Millenia.
"N…nothing, I'm just thinking," said Tio, smiling and hold up her hands.
"What about?" asked Millenia as they started walking again.
"Nothing, do not worry," Tio replied, smiling at Millenia.
Millenia looked doubtful, but walked up to Elena and linked arms again. They were acting like life-long friends. Ryudo thought it was good to see them finally getting along. There was a slightly sticky stage in their friendship after he left to put away the Granasaber. He hadn't seen it of course, but roan had told him when he got back. He told Ryudo all about their arguments and apparently, they mostly concerned him. That was why he was nervous when he first made his decision. He loved them both, but he loved Elena more and that made him feel guilty every time they had argued since then.
"Ryudo?" asked Roan.
Ryudo hadn't realised he was staring off into space as he walked.
"What?" asked Ryudo.
"It looks like Tio isn't the only one in her own world today," laughed Roan.
"Watch it kid," Said Ryudo, "You may have grown a lot, but I'm still big enough to squash you."
"Strength doesn't rely on height alone," said Roan.
Ryudo rolled his eyes. He hated it when Roan spoke in that wise-man tone.
It was when they stopped to rest that things first started to go wrong. Ryudo was sure something had been moving in the trees, but when they looked they couldn't find anything. It was then that Millenia spotted something moving in the bushes on the other side of the clearing. However, just like before, when they looked there was nothing there.
"See, it's just your imagination," laughed Elena.
That was when five large creatures resembling trees appeared.
"Ya," said Millenia, her eyes narrowing, "Just out imagination."
"Take them down!" called Ryudo.
He ran forward, lifting his sword high above his head. He brought it down through the air, slashing it across the creature, but it didn't fall.
The other leapt into the fight, each taking a creature. Millenia raised her crossbow and aimed it at the creature. She fired her arrow and it landed straight in the creature. The creature stopped for a moment, looking down at the arrow stuck in its side. Then it charged at Millenia.
Within a few seconds it was in a range too short to fire another arrow. Millenia dodged to the side, trying to prevent being stabbed by its five twig-like fingers. She raised her arm and brought it down on the monster…and her arm went straight through it.
She stared at her fingers; they were going transparent again. She flexed the invisible fingers.
"No!" she gasped, as the monster leapt at her.
Millenia began solid again just as the monster connected. She flew back into a tree. The creature loomed above her, preparing to claw down. At that moment a sword came down, slashing through the creature's wooden skull. It screeched and fell to the ground.
"Millenia, are you alright?" asked Ryudo, standing above her, looking concerned.
He held out his hand and she took it. Ryudo pulled her up, before turning away to where Elena was standing.
"Elena! Are you okay?" he asked, running over to her.
Millenia sighed deeply, before looking down at her hand. What was going on? Did she phase straight through that monster? No; she must have missed it by accident in the confusion. She made a mistake; it happens. She looked up at Ryudo, his hands placed on Elena's shoulders, looking straight into her face.
"Ryudo, I'm fine," Elena was saying, "You don't have to worry about me."
Millenia suddenly felt empty again. For a while she had felt back to her old self, but seeing those two together…
"Millenia?" asked Tio, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," laughed Millenia, "I can't believe I messed up like that."
"I'm not sure that's what…" began Tio.
"Come on guys, we'd better move on," said Roan.
"The kid's right," said Ryudo, "That fight probably attracted more animals."
"We can handle them if we come across them," said Millenia, walking away from Tio, and her conversation.
"Still," said Roan, "The sooner we get moving, the sooner we'll get there."
Elena nodded and picked up her staff, tucking it into her belt. Millenia slipped her bow into a holder on her back as Ryudo put his sword back in place.
"Stay on your guard," said Ryudo, "Monsters can move faster than we can."
They continued walking. Millenia stared down at her hand, making sure it was still solid. She was still trying to convince herself that what she had seen hadn't really happened. It was just because of what she was feeling…he hoped.
(A/N) There will be another chapter coming soon. Hopefully this one will go better than my first one. That one was a bit of a long shot.
