Uneasiness, this feeling flowed through his body, as well as his mind. He could feel his senses slowly return to him, his eyes no longer feeling the dead weight they had, allowing them to be opened. His vision was bothered slightly, but momentarily, adjusting to the brightness of wherever he was. Blades of grass clouded his mind, being recognized as to what he was touching.
The boy would slowly rise up to a sitting position, glancing around to see where he was, and to his surprise, nothing seemed familiar to him. He never recalled passing out, and even then his head did hurt for him trying to remember what he did beforehand. His gaze was then set on a boy who was smaller than he was, having very noticeable cat-like ears as well as having a tail lay gently against the grass.
He crawled towards the boy, placing his left hand onto the boy's left shoulder, shaking him a bit for him to awaken from his slumber as well. He soon smiled once he received a reaction, well, mumbling actually as the smaller male began to stir his eyes awake.
"Hnn...what...Ken? What happened? My head hurts for some reason..." The boy's sea blue eyes filled with concern locked onto the emerald one of the now mentioned Ken. The boy sat up and began to rub his head, earning a sigh from the taller one.
Ken wore a completely dark shirt with flames designed at the end of the sleeves, and a symbol of a white light embedded on the top left of it. On top of that, he wore a brown scarf that wrapped around a part of his face, covering his mouth, though it was unique for it was attached to a brown cape that currently reached the ground since the boy wasn't standing. His jeans were of a dark blue color, designed with bolts of lightning on the sides, and his shoes were entirely black.
The smaller male had a white suit with a purple shirt underneath, the buttons on it made of gold, and had a satchel go across it and holding a violet emblem with a crescent shaped moon. He wore black gloves with matching shoes, and a violet cape to finish off his clothing. "Where are we?"
Ken glanced down at the boy, shaking his head. "I am not certain Kuro. The mana present here is also very wrong, it seems...almost nonexistent." Being able to sense mana was a gift, truly, but it also greatly concerned him that for some reason, there was very little mana compared to what he usually sensed present in the world.
"Huh? You mean there's not that much mana? How can that be? Maria shouldn't have been able to do that without having to at least tell us in advance." Kuro frowned, rising to his feet and removing any blades of grass that were stuck to him.
He nodded in agreement. That was what bothered him, Maria, the goddess of creation wouldn't simply do something like that without telling at least him that. Simply standing around wasn't going to gain any answers, he knew this perfectly well. His gaze was brought onto what seemed like a village not too far to travel to by foot, perhaps two minutes at best. "Let's head over to that village. I don't recognize it, but perhaps we can gain some answers."
"Uh, sure I guess, not like we can do anything else right now." The boy shrugged, walking in the direction of the village along with Ken. Swaying his tail from side to side, at a mere glance, it was as if the boy had little to no worries about their current predicament.
After walking for a bit, the two arrived at the entrance of the village, just to be stopped by two men, each holding a lance. Their clothing and choice of weapons were not going to be of any help, this was the first thought to cross Ken's mind. "You two are outsiders judging by your clothes. Where did you two come from and why are you here?"
Ken turned his head to Kuro, getting a nod from the boy. "We don't exactly remember, we kinda woke up just outside of here in the field. We just wanted to take a look around is all, we won't do anything dishonest."
The two men looked at each other, nodding and stepping aside. "Okay, we trust you two to be capable of behaving yourselves while you're here."
"Thank you! We promise we won't do anything bad." Kuro grinned, slightly bothering the two. They had certainly seen humans, elves, and half-elves, but not whatever the heck the boy was supposed to be. Ken smiled as he entered with the boy beside him, making sure he followed his own words.
The village had a peaceful aroma to it, it felt so nice to be here. Ken could hear a few people talking among themselves, kids laughing as they played and ran around, enjoying themselves. "These people seem to carry lives of no fear, of no worries."
"It sure looks that way, but hey, we can take a look around. I doubt we'd get a simple straight answer with what's going on if we just asked casually to anyone here." The cat-eared boy suggested.
"You are right, let us split up just for now. I shall take the right path and you can take the left one." Ken said, gaining a grin and a nod from Kuro before he ran off. He shook his head, smiling at the energy that boy has. He then proceeded to the path on the right, hoping either he or Kuro could gain something from it.
As he took in the sights around him, he felt so much peace come to him, but at the same time, it didn't feel right. He knew whenever things were to peaceful, something would come and abruptly end it in some way. For now, he just had to focus on getting a better understanding of where they were, and asking the guards that was not going to be smooth.
He soon approached a man that was clearly in his late years."Pardon me sir, I'm a visitor and I would like to know of the name for this village. May I please know its name?"
"Hm? Well, you're certainly a face I've never seen, and you're polite for your age, though you've made a mistake coming here of all places. Yes, things seem quiet around here, but this place is ruled under the Desians just like any other, but I am surprised you haven't heard of the only place that held a treaty with them. Regardless, this village is called Iselia, and I advise you to avoid eye contact with them whenever they show up around here."
Desians? A treaty? This was news to him since he's never heard of any group of individuals known as Desians, nor of any town or village making a treaty of some sort with them. "Thank you for letting me know sir, I shall take your advice." He smiled and left, having this new knowledge sink in. He's been around the world and explored every location there was, and Iselia was not a place he recalled in his memories.
"...hold on." He came to a stop, feeling a sudden memory bring itself out to him, a particular one. He pictured a large ruin, an entrance that was sealed off, but no longer, and at the end of its passage, was a oval carved shape. Above it were faded letters written in a different language, one he was familiar with, but before he could read it, the memory faded away.
He shook his head, remembering that ruin almost well, but still felt it a bit foggy in his mind. What immediately caught his attention next was the loud sound of a boom go off. He turned around quickly and met his gaze with horror, seeing flames come from near the entrance of the village.
"Help me!" The old man cried for help, two men dressed in red with silver helmets that blocked out their eyes from being seen cornered him, each holding a whip.
"You will know your lowly place human. Calling for help won't do you any good." One of the two spoke, readying to hit him with the whip.
He had no time to think of what action to take, for his body did it for him. His fist connected with the man's helmet, knocking him off his feet and to collide against the ground. The other one was surprised, glaring at the boy. "Why you little!"
"Sir, you must go now. I will handle these Desians." Ken turned to face the man, genuinely smiling before turning back to the two, giving off a glare of his own. They tried to harm an elder, a person who could not fight back. He was not going to tolerate it.
The man rose to his feet, nodding. "Thank you young man." He then left as quickly as he could, just within the time the other Desian got to his feet.
"You got some nerve hitting me kid. We'll have to teach you a lesson and put you in your place."
"Correction, it is you who has the nerve of attacking a helpless person. I'll make you both pay for this." Ken then extended his hand forward, a white aura forming in front of it. Immediately, a large sword of the same size as himself formed, holding a unique orb in the center of it, one of a blue color. He grabbed it by the hilt and took his stance. Something told him Kuro would also engage in a fight, because there was no way these were the only two around.
-"I have no idea who the heck you guys are, but you're going to regret setting this village on fire." Kuro said as he stood in front of the school, behind him a villager that shook in his boots. He was placed there to observe and make sure nothing would happen to the children indoors, but he was aware he had no chance against the Desians, and yet here was a child, thinking he could fight two on one.
"You've got some guts thinking you can handle us alone kid. This village had it coming for breaking the treaty. Now we can tell you're no human, and you're certainly no half-elf, so why bother protecting these humans? You could join our cause and help eradicate them for what they've done." One of the Desians spoke, attempting to persuade the boy.
"Yeah, I know I'm not. I've had my share against the humans, but that doesn't mean they deserve something like this. I don't know what they've done to any of you, but you've gone too far. Heck, you don't even care if you harm KIDS. Sorry, but that's a big no no from me." He turned to look at the man, grinning. "Do me a favor and make sure those children in there don't come out. I'll have to beat down some adults."
"Oh really? How exactly are you going to even do that, boy?" The other Desian smirked, holding up his crossbow.
"Heh, you're about to find out." Kuro's hands were soon engulfed with a dark aura. It then vanished to reveal him having two gauntlets of a golden color equipped, each having five sharp claws where the fingers would be. "Don't worry though, I'll make this really quick."
"You'll regret your decision." The one on the left said, firing an arrow at the boy, simply to be sliced in half with one motion swing.
"If that's the best you got, then I'll really feel bad for this." He sprung from his position, tackling the Desian in less than a second, pinning him against the ground. He quickly raised his hands and closed them together, bringing them back down and slamming them with enough force to render the man unconscious.
The remaining one was shocked at his speed, beginning to doubt on approaching the boy, but he couldn't disobey orders either. "You brat!" He uncoiled his whip and attempted to hit him from behind.
Kuro in turn, moved his right arm in time to grab it, further surprising the man who began to yank back on it from fear. "Really? I was hoping you two could have put up an actual fight." The boy held more strength with his gauntlets, using them to pull the man in, and to receive a harsh blow to the stomach, sending him flying and to crash against the ground. "That should take care of him too."
He backed away from the Desian and glanced over to the human. "You don't have to be afraid anymore, they're out for the count, at least for awhile."
"Thank you young man, I couldn't have possibly fought them on my own. Here, please take this and be careful." The man took out a red gel like item from his pocket. Kuro walked over to him, taking it. "Oh, an Apple Gel. Thanks, I'll put it to good use."
His cat-like ears then twitched towards the right, alerting him that someone was coming from that direction. He turned around to see a boy with brown spiky hair wearing a red shirt with white buttons, with matching colored gloves and boots and a white fabric fitted onto the collar. He had dark colored jeans that were held by suspenders and along with that, two brown belts that each held a sword.
Beside him was a smaller boy with silver hair, wearing a light blue with white shirt and shorts, a dark blue shirt underneath from what he could make out, and similarly colored shoes. He held a strange toy, or weapon, or whatever it was in his hand, and both their eyes set on him after they witnessed the fire. "Who are you!? What did you do to our village!?" The smaller one said.
"My name's Kuro, and you should really hold off on getting angry with me, I didn't cause this, they did." He pointed to the two unconscious Desians. Apparently that did calm the two down, but hardly by much.
"Damn those Desians!" The taller male spoke, his anger clearly visible on his face. "Genis, we have to check on everyone at the front of the village! Kuro, I don't know who you are, but you took down those two Desians right? Come with us!"
"Lloyd! Are you really going to trust him?"
"Sure, I doubt anyone here can take on the Desians besides you and me. Let's hurry up!" He then took the middle path, followed by the one known as Genis.
"Not exactly what I wanted, but I'm already involved in this mess." He shrugged before chasing after the two.
-"Gale Strike!" Ken closed the distance between himself and one of the enemies, striking him in the gut and launching him upward. He then used his sword to slice the Desian four times before he could land, blood pouring out from him as he landed on the ground.
The remaining Desian stared at him with fear, his body trembling that his companion was killed in mere five hits, five. Even as his body shook, he attacked with his whip. "Y-you'll pay for that!"
The boy turned around and made a diagonal attack, slicing the whip in half, shocking the man. Ken would show no mercy, and so he grabbed the man by his uniform, lifting him above the ground. "People like you who would go so far with their ideals to set homes ablaze, and to attack the elderly have no place in this world." He closed his eyes as he impaled the man, releasing him and letting his body sink to the ground as he drew back his sword. Yes, he hated killing and only wanted to leave that as absolute last resort, but his anger dictated his actions and there was no going back.
"I have to stop this fire now, come to me!" He raised his sword to face the sky, a red aura beginning to emit from it. It then began to draw in all the fire set on Iselia, absorbing it until there was none of it left, leaving the sword in a crimson red state. "I hope no one was harmed or killed in the fire they caused...I have to check on the villagers." He glanced at his sword, placing his hand onto it and absorbing the heat of it, returning it to its normal state. Fire was something he was immune to, for a special reason.
"Lloyd Irving, come forth!" A voice called out from near the entrance. He wasn't sure who this Lloyd was, but it sounded that he was from this village and had something to do with what happened. Leaving no time to chance, he ran back towards the entrance.
He came to a stop behind one of the villagers, peeking over to see what they were doing just standing there. Apparently enough, his attention was drawn to a man with green hair, a patch over one of his eyes, and some sort of cannon for his arm. The shape of his ears was enough to tell him, he was either an elf or a half-elf.
No minute later did he notice a boy in red rush out to the clearing in front of the villagers, with a smaller boy, and..."Kuro?"
The boy's ears twitched, turning to see the one that had called him. "Ken! Come here, looks like we've got a problem." His demeanor quickly changed into a more serious one, watching the same man. Nodding, Ken made his way over to the three, glaring at the Desians that stood behind some of the villagers. He was fast in his own right, and so was Kuro, but neither could take out all of them on their own and quick enough without placing the civilians' lives in danger.
"Hey, did you put out the fire just now?" Kuro whispered to Ken, getting another nod in response.
"Yes, but rather I absorbed it instead. Let us listen before we act." He whispered in return.
"You've come to attack the village again!? I've had enough of this!" Lloyd stated in anger, raising a question from one of the Desians.
"He speaks nonsense, ignore him." The man with green hair stated. "Listen up, inferior beings. I am Forcystus, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals. I am a superior half-elf who rules over the farm where we cultivate you pathetic humans."
For one thing, the man Forcystus confirmed one of his two guesses, being a half-elf, but what truly began to make his blood boil was that he so casually stated that he ruled over a farm that cultivated humans. Kuro could see his facial expression behind his scarf and carefully yanked back on one of his sleeves. "Calm down Ken, we can't do anything just yet."
"Lloyd! You, a human, have been found guilty for the crime of violating the non-aggression treaty. Therefore, I bring judgement upon you and this village!"
"You violated the treaty too! You tried to murder the Chosen!" Genis spoke up in Lloyd's defense, making one of the mage type Desians laugh.
"Us? Kill the Chosen? Hahahaha, I see now. They must be after the Chosen."
"They? Are you saying you aren't the ones that attacked Colette?" Lloyd asked in confusion, still having some of his anger present.
"I have no need to explain myself to the likes of you. The only thing that matters is that you Lloyd Irving, have been in contact with host body F192 and attacked our guards."
So apparently Lloyd was responsible for this village having to become attacked the way it was, and guilt was written all over him. He would have to ask later what he had exactly done, and more about such farm the man ruled over.
"What have you done!? How many times have we told you to stay away from the ranch!?" An older looking man began to shout at the boy, most likely the person who was the head of the village. He could hear the anger and fear in his tone.
"I'm sorry..."
"We have prepared an appropriate opponent for your crimes." Forcystus said with a pleasant smirk, stepping to the side as a giant green monster entered the village, shocking everyone present, minus him and his followers.
"Ahhh! What is that!?" Genis asked, backing up.
"Ken, now." Kuro said, getting in front of the boy.
He nodded and jumped to be beside him, readying his sword. The man finally noticed the two, finding them very odd as he had no record of them ever being present in Iselia. "Who are you two?"
"We got your name, but we're not going to return the gesture." Kuro said, taking his stance as he kept his gaze fixed on the monster that towered over him.
Ken glared at the man, and with just that alone, all of the Desians present decided to surround him. From his point, he'd have to take out the Desians while Kuro and those two handled the creature, so he technically had nothing to worry about. This time, he'd have to hold back and not kill any of them.
Forcystus noticed the strange orb embedded onto his sword and was brought to a small shock of his own. 'How does he have an exsphere fused into his weapon and not onto himself? I've never seen anyone wield a sword that large either, and he's certainly a larger problem than that human Lloyd. Quite interesting...I'll have to take his exsphere, and then I shall become the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals!'
"Alright you two, I know we just met and all, so I'm not sure how you guys fight, but I'll cover you." Kuro said, taking his stance.
"No way, I'm gonna fight with you." Lloyd drew out his two swords and held his ground beside the boy, already knowing that Genis was the spell caster and he needed to be away from the enemy.
"You two keep attacking it while I fire from a distance." He said as a red spell circle formed underneath him.
"Got you covered kid! Swift Fury!"
"Demon Fang! Tiger Blade!"
Kuro rushed in with his quick speed, unleashing several slash motions with his sharp claws, finished by taking a large step back, just jumping over a blue wave of energy that passed underneath him to hit the creature. Lloyd then ran past him to jump in the air, carrying the momentum and force with his blades before swinging them back down to land two hits.
"Fireball!" Genis called out, moving his Kendama forward to release three balls of fire that flew past Kuro and hit the monster, giving Lloyd enough time to move back.
With Ken, he made sure to lock onto the enemies that had surrounded him, using his ability to sense mana in order to do so with the ones he wasn't seeing with his eyes. With no warning, he charged his sword with a white aura and swung in a horizontal motion as he began to spin around. "Hurricane Spin!" His blade connected with each Desian, knocking them back to give him space.
He then took the opportunity to form a purple spell circle underneath him, chanting words that were now audible to anyone. He then raised his sword to face upward, firing a small bolt of electricity that created a large dome that surrounded him and the enemies. "Indignation!" As soon as they rose to their feet, they were met with a powerful blast of electricity, making them scream from the agonizing pain that surged through their bodies, before falling back down, unconscious.
'This one is an even bigger problem than I thought. He just took them out with no effort and he swings that weapon like if it weighs practically nothing. I must retreat for now if I want to avoid having to deal with him.' Forcystus scowled, leaving the village as the fight went on, but Ken didn't let that go unnoticed.
The boy was about to trail after him, but a long green arm swung in front of him, forcing him to jump back to avoid taking the hit. "Tsk." He knew the man would be gone now, so there was no other option left but to confront the monster with the three.
"This thing is tough, I'll give it that." Kuro hopped back, avoiding one of its arms that slammed onto the ground.
"Something isn't right here." Ken moved his right arm in front of the boy, stopping him from trying to attack further.
"Huh? Whadda ya mean Ken?" He frowned, glancing at him.
"This isn't a regular form of monster, not one we've ever seen, but yet...I can sense something off about it. I have a hunch so call those two off on their attacks." He looked over to Lloyd and Genis.
"I always trust ya, so you got it." The boy rushed over to Lloyd, grabbing his left arm and gaining his attention. "I need you two to stop."
"Hey, what are you doing!? Let me go! Are you trying to let that thing kill us!?"
"No, but I need you to just stop, you and Genis. My friend over there has an idea." He turned his gaze to Ken, allowing the two boys to do the same.
Ken just hoped his guts were correct for him trying what he was going to now. Seeing the monster come closer, his hands began to form a white glow. He then rushed towards it with no means of attacking and ducked under a horizontal swing from one of its arms, and used this chance to connect his hands with its body. Upon contact, the creature began to make the most agonizing noises, the light from the boy's hands growing greater and brighter, until it was too much for the normal eyes to see.
Everyone present had to shield their eyes from the blinding light, which did not last for long as that light began to dim quickly, and to reveal the monster to be no more. In its place, lay an old woman on the ground. Once everyone witnessed this, whispers began to fill the air. The boy kneels beside her, worry taking in as his expression.
"No...it can't be...Marble?" Genis' voice shook from not only shock, but from horror. Just a few seconds ago, he was fighting a monster with his best friend and some new people, and now there was Marble where that thing once was.
"Marble?" Kuro questioned, but didn't get an answer for the old woman groaned from pain.
"Lloyd...Genis..." She spoke, her eyes slowly opening and setting on the two, her eyes shifting over to the boy who was beside her. "Who...are you?"
"I am Ken. Do not fear, you are in good hands. I have brought you back to your original identity." He sighed, seeing she was okay, but not for long. He held his hands over her and began to transfer a green aura from them to her, presumably a method of healing her. What caught his attention was the orb that was implanted onto her hand, it looked identical to the one he had on his sword.
"Thank you...young man..." She didn't have enough strength yet for speaking properly, much less to move.
"Marble!" Lloyd quickly rushed over to her side, Genis doing the same. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay...but...those Desians..."
"What did you do to her?" The boy asked, looking at Ken.
"I sensed something was wrong with the creature you were facing, and my guess was right. It was once a human, so I merely reversed the process and brought her back as her old self." He knew this would raise several unavoidable questions, but that was the chance he took for showing such a thing that apparently wasn't common.
"Hey, I wanna know how you can do that exactly, but right now, that won't help at all if we don't have a Key Crest for Marble. She'll just go back to whatever that thing was." Genis frowned.
"Hey, my dad made me one remember? We can just give it to her, but somewhere else." Lloyd pitched in, quickly avoiding that becoming an issue.
'Key Crests...Desians...all these terms are unfamiliar to me...something still isn't right here. I'll figure it out later when things have settled down.' Ken thought to himself, stopping the flow of his healing once he felt that the woman had a suitable amount of mana to sustain her for the meantime.
"It's a good thing you purified her instead of letting us keep attacking. If you hadn't said anything to me, we could have ended up...you know." He trailed off, seeing that while she was unconscious now, the others were still present.
"Puri what?" Lloyd asked. Whatever the boy said, he hadn't heard of before. Well, he also never really payed much attention to his history class either.
Ken rose to his feet and turned to face the mayor. "I can sense your anger, your fear, a quality of a normal human being. Your homes were burned yes, but I have put them out to save whatever could remain of them. I returned this woman to her normal state, and I cannot allow her to come with us, so I ask that you give her shelter here."
"Listen here young man, I don't know who you are, but you certainly don't belong here and give me orders! I am the mayor of this town, and as such, I make the rules! We cannot keep that woman here because if the Desians found out, we're all going to die!"
"Such a thing will not happen, that I can assure you of. I merely want you to let her stay here and out of visible sight, then there will be no problem. You should be grateful that I saved your village."
"Even so, Lloyd will become a target for the Desians, and as long as he stays we're never going to be left alone!"
"Hey that's not fair! You're going to exile him!?" Genis stated in anger, standing up for his friend.
"Yes, and he's not even from here in the first place, he's an outsider raised by a dwarf. As long as he stays here, the Desians will not leave us alone."
"You humans are all the same..." The boy mumbled.
"Whoa, you may be right, but you're taking it too far by kicking him out permanently from this place." Kuro joined in, surprising the man. "Sure the guy made it sound like it was his fault, but you can't just do something like that."
"No...it's okay you two." Lloyd stated in a sad tone. "I'll leave, but after I place the Key Crest on Marble."
"No fair! If you're going to exile him, then I'm going with him!" Genis continued. He would stick with him through everything.
"Hmm...very well then. By the rights vested in me as mayor, I hereby banish Lloyd and Genis from the village of Iselia. Get out!" He stated before walking away. He was certainly lucky he could not see the anger coming from Ken.
"I'm sorry for causing you all so much trouble..."
"If you feel that way, please catch up to the Chosen and protect her." An elderly woman approached the four. "If in doing so, the world is saved. Surely everyone will change their mind about you."
That little detail was enough to click something in Ken's mind. The world would be saved? He and his friends had already saved the world...unless. 'We're...no longer in Ethiria.' Those words echoed through his mind, something he never thought capable of happening.
"Ken?" Kuro yanked on his shirt, snapping the boy out of his trance. "Lloyd already put the Crest thingy onto the woman. Since they're banished, they said they were going to follow some chosen named Colette and wanted us to go with them."
He glanced over to the two, seeing them stare back at him, waiting for his answer. He didn't know that he had Kuro had wrapped themselves up into something big and unexpected. Technically he had found an answer, one he was not expecting, and now he and his friend would have to follow two people they've only met awhile ago on some kind of journey to find someone. It certainly reminded him of his own, and with what had happened, he couldn't just abandon the two. If in fact they were on another world, sticking with them would be the best option available. So, with his decision made up, he gave a simple nod to the two.
"Thanks, we appreciate your help you guys. Sorry that we have to drag you into our mess." Lloyd apologized sympathetically.
"It's fine, don't sweat it man. We're more than happy to tag along with you two." Kuro grinned, trying to ease the sad feeling in the air after what had happened. "If we're going to find that Colette person, we should get going now."
"Right, I know where she was headed to." Genis said as he lead the way out of the village. What surprised Kuro and Ken was the strange green and white creature that was waiting for those two, apparently some sort of dog to Lloyd. With that, the five left the village behind them, with a new goal set out for them. If only the two realized the journey they had stepped into, the moment they became involved with the Desians.