Emil sighed as he left Triet Ruins with Marta, Raine, Genis, and Tenebrae. Emil had discovered that Raine and Genis were half-elves, not that he had anything against them, he hung out with Ritcher. Though now he wondered about Lloyd, how did he feel about half-elves? Marta noticed that Emil stopped, and stopped as well with the others.
"Is something wrong Emil?" Marta asked, walking towards him; looking a little worried.
"Oh, um...well...I was wondering." Emil looked at Raine and Genis, the two half-elves watching him curiously.
"How does Lloyd feel about half-elves?" Emil asked, hoping they wouldn't take it the wrong way.
"Lloyd?" Raine asked and thought while Genis chuckled.
"Lloyd could care less what people are." Genis said, shocking them.
"Really?!" Emil asked, shocked; Marta also seemed a little surprised.
"Yep. He couldn't care if someone was an elf, a half-elf, or even a monster for that fact. The only thing that matters is what's on the inside; that's all he cares about." Genis said, smiling with his eyes closed.
"That's how he got along so well with a certain member in our group." Raine said, a small smile tugging at her lips as well.
"And who was this 'certain member'?" Tenebrae asked, intrigued.
"Her name was Keaton!" Genis automatically answered, the biggest smile on his face.
"Keaton?" Emil and Marta asked, unaware of the surprised etched on Tenebrae's face...she was still alive?
"Yes, Keaton was a beautiful creature; she was actually a monster. A golden fox, bigger than the average fox; she had a black tipped tail, black tipped ears, and the most remarkable eyes." Raine said, a dreamy smile on her face.
"This Keaton monster you speak of...did she have red eyes?" Tenebrae asked, trying not to sound eager or hopeful.
"Yep, ruby/blood red eyes. Do you know her?" Genis asked, looking at Tenebrae with a smile, yet his eyes seemed genuinely curious.
"Uh...no, I thought I did." Tenebrae said sitting down, hoping to not rouse suspicion…he did know her.
"Keaton was the only monster on our team, she went with us everywhere." Genis said with a smile.
"Since she is ageless, she was around even before the World split in two. She is very knowledgeable, and very wise; yet, she has a secret we are not allowed to say unless we have her permission." Raine said, sighing sadly.
"I see. Maybe we should take our talk somewhere else first." Marta suggested, her legs getting tired, and everyone nodded.
Later: Emil sat down by Marta, slightly upset about losing the fire-sticks he was asked to gather. He had gone to grab them, meet Ritcher, got attacked by a monster and as a result lost the sticks.
"Anyways, can you finishing telling us about Keaton? How did you first meet her?" Marta asked, eager to learn more about this monster.
"Actually it was Lloyd who found her first; he had found her severely wounded in the forest, on the brink of death. Lloyd didn't care if she was hostile when she awoke, he felt the need to help her. He brought her back to the Martel Temple, and nursed her back to health. Genis and Colette stopped by one day, and soon helped Lloyd help her back to health. Her wounds were so bad, even I had a hard time healing them. When Colette, Genis, or Lloyd couldn't watch her, I did." Raine explained, and then Genis spoke quickly.
"It wasn't long before she was up and moving again; she was really energetic also, and loved playing with the kids in the village...once they accepted her. They were a bit cautious at first, but once she protected the village things were fine." Genis said, chuckling.
"Sadly it took a while for her to find her voice. When she did, she told us her name was Keaton-!" Emil cut Raine off.
"Wait, you mean she can talk like Tenebrae?" Emil asked, surprised; he thought only Centurion's and Summon Spirit's could talk.
"Yes. She can communicate like us humans and Centurion's." Raine stated, and the Genis spoke up again.
"Keaton was a great ally during the journey. Though it was a bit annoying, considering she was inseparable from Lloyd." Genis said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Why was that?" Tenebrae asked, eyes showing curiosity.
"Our village was attacked by the Desian's. Keaton and Lloyd with Genis showed up, and fought to protect our village; Keaton helped usher the kids to safety as well as the elderly while Genis got everyone else out. Keaton ended up being the one to truly protect the village after Lloyd and Genis fell. After that, the village accepted Keaton as one with them; when that happened, Lloyd felt the need to repay Keaton back." Raine said, and tried to remember what else happened.
"Lloyd felt the need to repay her; he said saving a life is one thing, but saving an entire village is another. Lloyd asked her what she wanted, but she only responded saying to stay by his side. Lloyd was more than happy to agree with that, and it turned out to be nearly impossible to tear the two apart. The only way Keaton would move from Lloyd was when he asked her to protect someone else." Genis said in a matter-of-fact voice, making it more of a statement than anything else.
"So, is Keaton still with him?" Marta asked, wondering how close the two were.
"Yep! After the Journey of World Regeneration ended, her, Lloyd, Colette, and two others went to get rid of the exsphere's...but they all got separated, except Keaton and Lloyd. I know she's still with him." Genis said, eyes showing knowledge at the fact.
"If so, then how come we didn't see Keaton down in the Triet Ruins?" Marta asked, blue eyes wide.
"Whenever entering a new place, or old places with new people; Lloyd hides Keaton until he understands the situation. She hates to leave his side, but understands what he means, he can't stand to have her hurt." Raine explained, eyes suddenly sad.
"Why hide her?" Emil asked, curious as to what caused Raine's sudden change.
"Because...well...this is hard to say. Back during our Journey, when Colette got kidnapped so did Keaton as she was protecting Colette at the time. After separating Colette and Keaton, they tortured Keaton into submission, and into telling them the secrets of the world." Genis suddenly held himself, unable to continue.
"Keaton didn't fall though and stayed strong, even though she was nearly beaten to death." Raine said, sighing sadly.
"How horrible..." Marta said, tears appearing.
'Cursed Desian's.' Tenebrae thought, anger appearing on his features.
"I can't believe it. What happened next?" Emil asked, feeling sadness tug at his heart.
'I feel like I know this Keaton. But how? And why?' Emil thought, but kept it to himself.
"Even as Keaton was tortured, they also saw something useful about her...they also saw her as...as..." Genis couldn't continue as tears appeared, it was obvious the memory still hurt them greatly.
"They also saw her as the perfect experiment. Since she was captured and could speak, they believed she would be useful, and implanted an exsphere into her chest to control her. It didn't work though as she broke the control of it, but it still left scars. The exsphere began to spread on her body, sometimes controlling her and other times not. She almost transformed into a completely hideous monster because of the exsphere, but she was strong." Raine said, trying to keep her voice steady.
"What did Lloyd do when he found out?" Tenebrae asked, wondering about Lloyd's reaction as he sensed the two were close.
"Lloyd was pissed beyond reason. When he found out she was being tortured, beaten, and an exsphere in her to top it off, he swore revenge on those who did this. He also swore revenge on those who hurt Colette as well." Genis said, sighing sadly.
"Lloyd didn't stop until those who hurt Keaton and Colette were dead, and only then he was satisfied. By the end of our Journey, the Exsphere was safely removed from her body by the Goddess, causing no harm or injury." Raine said with a sigh.
"I see. So Lloyd found Keaton, and after the village was attacked became inseparable from him, then she was tortured and everything by the Desian's, and in the end it was removed, and even now she is still with him?" Marta asked, summarizing everything up.
"Can you tell us about her personality? I'd like to know her better." Emil said, a small smile on his face as well.
"Well, you'd think Keaton would be cold and heartless since she's a dark elemental monster, but she's actually really nice, and caring. She was like a mother to the group." Genis said smiling.
"Keaton has the ability to make anyone warm up to her. She even got the coldest person in our group to like her like family, just as Lloyd had. Keaton is warm, nice, caring, loving, lovable, motherly, strong willed and strong at heart, determined, protective, loyal, smart, but like everyone else she has faults. She was fearful of certain things, she didn't believe in herself when she should've, she was way too cautious, she could get extremely violent on certain topics, and she was extremely reckless when it involved Lloyd or Colette, but her good traits covered these up." Raine explained, and small smile forming at the end.
"Has anything...peculiar happened to her?" Tenebrae asked, not wishing to rouse suspicion.
"Peculiar? You mean like odd?" Genis asked, and Tenebrae nodded, he had to know the truth.
"Well...now that you mention it…OW!" Genis was unable to finish as Raine punched him over the head; shocking the others.
"We're not allowed to talk about that without her permission." Raine said, and he sighed, shaking his head and dropping that subject.
"So, what is Keatons' and Lloyds' relationship like?" Marta asked, directing the attention away from the previous topic.
"Mother and son." Raine and Genis said at the same time in a flat tone.
"Though they insist it's like brother and sister, it's more like mother and son." Raine said, and they smiled, feeling like they understood Keaton.
Elsewhere: A golden fox that was a bit taller than the average fox that had a black tipped tail, black tipped ears, black paws, and a dull yellow stomach stopped and looked behind her. The hills and meadow was empty aside from her and her best friend who stopped and looked at her, confused.
"Hm? Keaton, is something wrong?" the boy, Lloyd asked; and Keaton turned her ruby/blood red eyes on him.
"Hn? Oh no, it's nothing. I just have a feeling someone is talking about us, and once again reverting to the mother and son theory." Keaton said, a scowl on her face, just like Lloyd as the two continued to walk.
With Emil and Others: Genis quickly sat up from lying down, a look of dread on his face, making the others look at him.
"Are you okay Genis?" Raine asked the younger half-elf, wondering what woke him up.
"Y-yeah, but I just remembered something. Keaton has a way of telling when someone is talking about her, so we better drop the topic entirely." Genis said, and they all nodded after they paled a bit.