This was originally a Christmas present to my good friend, Symphoniafan, which I wrote for her last year. However it was nagging me to post it and I asked her if it'd be okay, so thank her for not only inspiring and motivating this, but giving me the go ahed to post it n.n
I think this would have made a BADASS side-quest. :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing
"Well, that's unusual," Raine stated, biting her lip as she brought a hand to her chin.
"What do you think this means?" Lloyd asked the group in general.
They had wandered into the Sybak library for no apparent reason (well, Raine wanted a book of some kind, but otherwise no one quite cared) to find Aqua talking to a professor about something. Incidentally, it was the same Professor Emil had been told by Richter that had to sell some academic tomes for money; leading to the various 'quests' Richter had been on beforehand with Emil tagging along whenever it was he could slip away from Marta. Aqua had just taken something in return from the man before she left, allowing Emil to manage to clear up some of the confusion as to the happenings.
"I wonder what he wants with it," Marta bit her lip.
"I'm sure we'll find out," Lloyd stated, "after all, if it's something important it always come out…"
"Isn't it kind of funny you're the one to say that?" Emil said nervously.
"What? What do you mean?" the brunette blinked.
"Because you tried to hide what you were doing and all…"
"Oh…right," his face fell, "that."
"Er…a- anyway, sis, did you want that one book or…?" Genis started.
"What-? Oh! Right, of course! I'll just be a minute!" Raine said, running off.
Sheena sighed as the elder woman ran off, scratching the back of her head.
"While we're waiting I'll get some gels," she said as she walked out.
"I'll gather some ingredients," Regal stated as he turned to leave.
"I'll accompany you," Presea started.
"R- Really? I'm going too, then!" Genis immediately blurted and followed them out.
"Well, since everyone else is busy…" Zelos grinned, "I've got a couple of hunnies to see, ciao!"
And just like that it was only Emil, Marta, Lloyd and Colette.
"Deserters," Lloyd muttered under his breath.
"Well- oh yeah!" Colette clapped her hands together. "Marta! I saw the CUTEST puppy outside! You've got to see it! Come on, maybe it's still there!"
"Oooh, really? Was it a little puppy or was it just a cute dog?"
And then they were gone too.
"…" Lloyd sighed, "come on…"
"W- Well, I can wait for Raine if you want," Emil told him with a nod.
"Nah, it's okay," Lloyd shook his head, "you shouldn't have to suffer alone when she comes back…"
"Suffer?" a dark, angry voice hissed behind them.
Lloyd visibly flinched and Emil lost the color in his face as the teacher rounded on them. The two heroes exchanged glances before making a break for the back exit, seeing as the half-elf had blocked off the main exit. In their mad dash they just barely noted one scientist busily working on some contraption or another before Emil tripped and crashed into the elder swordsman, both males letting out a yelp as they crashed into the scientists contraption.
"Ow-!" Emil cried, seeing as Lloyd had landed on his back.
"Oh geez-! Emil, she's gonna kill us now-!"
Lloyd attempted to get up and ended up pressing a large button on the machine they had knocked to the floor with them, the scientist who had begun to shout at them noting the button had been pressed while the two young men both had a hand on his invention.
"Oh no-!"
There was a flash of light…then nothing. Everything looked exactly the same as it had seconds ago, except that both swordsmen looked a bit…dazed, their eyes blank and their jaws slack. Raine, on the verge of throttling them both, stopped dead in her tracks, realizing immediately that something wasn't right with either male.
"Lloyd? Emil?" she frowned, kneeling down beside them. "Are you two all right?"
Life flickered back into both the chestnut and the jade eyes, and seemingly in unison they shook their heads, letting out a groan.
"Ow, what happened…?" the brown-haired moaned.
"Yeah…I feel like the Professor just hit me with another eraser…" said the blond.
Raine stared.
"What?" she blurted, her eyes widening.
"W- What? Don't yell at me, it's t- t…rue…" the blond stammered, his eyes going wide, "Wait a minute…"
"Wait a minute, that sounds like…" the brown-head froze.
Both swordsmen jerked their heads to look at each other, their jaws dropping.
"What the hell!" cried the blond, jumping to his feet.
"W- What-? Oh my g-! I'm-! You're-! Lloyd!" cried the body that was called Lloyd, jumping up as well.
"Emil?" shrieked the blue-clad male.
They both let out a cry of horror, beginning to panic to the fullest extent. The teacher among them, though startled, did not hesitate to smack both of them into silence.
"Enough! Both of you, calm down! Panicking isn't going to help anything!" she scoffed.
"Easy for you to say!" moaned the blond. "I'm wearing a freaking halter-top!"
"…What?" the other said slowly, looking at what was just minutes ago his own body. "H- Hey! I didn't choose- B- Besides, you wear suspenders! What gives you the right to insult my clo-?"
"Because it's girly!"
"Oh Great Martel…" the researcher, forgotten in the commotion, gaped, staring at them a moment before he grinned, "It worked! It's a success! Hah hah! I-"
He should have kept his mouth shout, because he had a pair of red-gloved hands and a pair of blue ones at his throat in under a second.
"What did you DO!" they both shouted in his face.
"I- I'm sorry-! I didn't mean for you to get- It was an accident!" the man cried, his excitement replaced with horror. "B- Besides, you ran into me!"
"This machine here?" Raine frowned, picking up the gadget on the floor.
"Y- Yes," the man nodded, "It's my invention…it can switch souls between bodies, theoretically- though I guess it really does-! Well….look, I'm sorry, but I can reverse it! Easy!"
"I doubt that," Raine frowned deeply, redirecting the attention of the switched victims.
"W- What…?" Emil gaped.
"What do you mean by that?" cried Lloyd, who looked positively horrified.
"It appears to be broken, see?" the woman said, holding up the machine, which was sparking through several large cracks.
Both Lloyd and Emil gaped at the gadget with their jaws hanging wide open, their eyes so wide that it almost appeared as if they were drawn on in a cartoonist's fashion.
"B- B- Broken?" Emil cried, his- 'Lloyd's- face going pale.
"Are you serious?" Lloyd gaped. "W- Well- Can you fix it, Professor?"
"I can fix it," stated the researcher, "It shouldn't be too hard, though-…oh, that's not good."
"What's not good?" both swordsmen cried, panicked.
"Well, the material I had in here is quite rare…it works as the fuel, you see," he looked away, flushing a bit, "I took the last bit we had here to use, so…I can fix it up, but it can't work right until I get the right type of sediment."
Lloyd merely stared at him as Emil frowned.
"You mean a rock? Okay….so where do we get that rock?" he asked.
"Well, it's rather difficult to get…it's in a dwarf mine north of Ozette- it's called 'Orinite', by the way, the 'rock' as you put it," the scientist frowned, "I got it from a dwarf named Altessa-"
"Altessa? Great!" Lloyd sighed in relief. "We'll just go see him, then!"
"But he doesn't have any more," the man frowned.
"Oh come on-!"
"I- I'm sure you can get some, however! He told me where you can get it!" he said. "It should be deeper in of the mine, there is an underground waterfall of sorts…it should be in the pool beneath it."
"I guess there's no other option, then," Raine sighed, "We'll go and get it. We'll wait for the others and-"
"No!" both Emil and Lloyd cried.
Raine cocked and eyebrow, a bit surprised.
"No?" she asked.
"T- That is…I don't want Marta to see me like this, can we just go now?" Emil sighed.
"Yeah, I'm totally with him there," Lloyd nodded, "Can you imagine how much Zelos and Genis will pick on me if they find out about this?"
"And just leave them here?" she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "They'll panic if we just leave-"
"Okay then, let's do this," Lloyd spoke up, "Emil and I will go get that rock thing, and you stay here and- just- just keep the others distracted."
"Oh dear me, you mean lie?"
All present flinched as Tenebrae revealed himself, a rather smug look on the centurion's face.
"…Oh crap," Lloyd said simply.
"T- Tenebrae-! You…. you saw all that," Emil said flatly, sighing deeply.
"Why yes, I must say, it has been quite entertaining," chortled the shadow being.
"W- What is that? Fascinating!" cried the researcher, his eyes alight.
"Well that's uncomfortable," Tenebrae huffed, "I shall meet you outside, I am much too interested of this outing to wait here."
With a smirk the centurion disappeared, and the researcher almost went off again before Raine spoke up, cutting him off.
"Well, I suppose you are right," she sighed, "You two go with Tenebrae, I'll stay here and try to help fix the machine. I'll tell the other's not to worry if they get back first…"
"Please don't tell them about this-!" Lloyd began.
"All right, all right," she sighed, "I won't, just hurry up- be careful, all right?"
They nodded and made a dash for the door, obviously nothing short of eager to get there and back as soon as possible so that they may also change back as soon as possible. They had barely reached the city entrance when Tenebrae appeared, still smirking.
"Now then, I assume we are heading toward the mine?" he chuckled.
"S- Stop laughing!" Emil stammered. "It's not funny!"
"Why, beg your pardon, but in my position you would be laughing as well!" Tenebrae said. "'Lloyd the Great' stammering like that is hilarious! Not to mention your face glaring at me like that, Lord Emil."
Lloyd, whom had been glaring at Tenebrae, scoffed and looked away, flushing bright red.
"This…this is…" Emil bit his lip, looking at his hands, "This is crazy! I mean- what if we get into a fight? I can't fight with two swords-!"
"That's easy, we'll just trade weapons," Lloyd said, "That should work, right-?"
"Oh no, sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't believe that will work," Tenebrae smiled, positively gleeful, "After all, that is Lord Emil's body, it is only accustomed to fighting the way Lord Emil does. Of course, you could try your usual style, but you wouldn't get very good results, Lloyd- or is it Lord Emil? Lord Lloyd?"
Lloyd visibly flinched, his face flushing bright red again as his jaw dropped.
"W- What did you-?"
"Tenebrae, stop joking around!" cried Emil, flustered. "This isn't funny! B- Besides, we might not even have to fight, right? Let's worry about that later…"
With that he went to pull out the wingpack, finding it was not in his usual pocket….also that there was not a pocket where it usually was. He was put off for a moment before he realized, turning to Lloyd.
"Oh, it's in the side pocket," Lloyd pointed out, "You're looking for the rheaird, right?"
"Y- Yeah…okay, here it is," Emil nodded, "Um, mine's in the-"
"Back, right? Already found it," Lloyd grinned.
Emil and Tenebrae both stared a moment, as it was rather weird to see Aster's face with the rather moronic, trademark 'Lloyd' grin. Lloyd blinked a bit, then jolted, hurriedly taking out the rheaird.
"L- Let's go!" he said.
"…Tenebrae, why do I have to keep going through these things?" Emil sighed.
"Well, at least you aren't sneaking out with Richter this time around," Tenebrae smirked.
"Richter? I thought he was trying to kill you," Lloyd blinked, confused.
"Er, yes, well…that's a long story," he blushed, glancing away.
There was a long moment of silence where Lloyd merely stared at his own body, but it was interrupted quite easily when Tenebrae spoke.
"So, Lloyd, would you consider yourself in Emil's body, Aster's body or Ratatosk's body?"
"I hate you sometimes Tenebrae," Emil muttered.
"…Right, okay, so um…" Lloyd hesitated a bit, "…This is really awkward."
"No kidding!" Emil cried, wincing. "Do you know how freaky it is to talk and have your voice come out?"
"And what's wrong with my voice?" Lloyd scoffed, crossing his new, skinny arms over his torso. "At least mine can't be mistaken for a girl!"
"Wh-! I don't sound like a-!"
Lloyd raised an eyebrow, causing Emil to stammer a bit.
"I…well…Well, seriously! At least I don't where suspenders! Why do you wear them anyway?"
"What's wrong with suspenders?" Lloyd blinked.
The way he said it was completely, totally sincere, and Emil and Tenebrae found that they could only stare at him. He was genuinely asking, as if he was completely oblivious to the fact that something could be 'wrong' with suspenders.
"N- Nevermind…" Emil sighed, tilting Lloyd's head to the side as he closed his eyes.
"We need to hurry up and fix this," Lloyd shuddered, "I can not get used to seeing…myself, especially doing stuff the way you do it, I mean, face-wise and stuff… 'Cause I have 'seen myself' before, anyway…and that just sucked. No good memories there."
"Just imagine how bad this is for me!" Emil cried. "If I even look in a mirror, I'm going to see the face I've had nightmares about for the past-! …Oh…uh…"
"Nightmares?" Lloyd said slowly, frowning.
"I-…I used to think you were the one that killed my parents," Emil frowned, looking away, "So…So I-"
"Oh," Lloyd said simply, frowning, "I…I understand, so…um…"
He shook Emil's head, forcing a smile.
"S- So the more reason to hurry up and get this over with, right? Right, let's go…"
"Lloyd.."
Lloyd had already boarded the rheaird. So it was they set off, two rheairds and when centurion. Somehow, the trio managed to make exceptional time on the trip, landing within the hour after locating the mine. They packed away their crafts and walked up to the entrance, examining the area.
"Hm…I don't think I've ever been in one of these…" Lloyd frowned, then grinned again, "This is so exciting! Let's hurry up and go!"
"Um…Don't we still have a problem?" Emil said slowly.
"Like what-? Er, besides the obvious?"
"Fighting, remember?" the once-blond said, frowning.
"Oh yeah…well, fighting with one sword can't be too hard…" Lloyd frowned, musing the situation to himself. "Maybe we should just…try it, and if it doesn't work…?"
"Let's try not to fight if we can avoid it," Emil nodded.
"Yeah, I guess…" Lloyd rubbed the back of his new neck, "Aw man…it could actually be kind of fun, y'know, trying the other style…"
"…" Emil and Tenebrae exchanged glances.
So it was that they made their way into the abandoned mine, finding that it was surprisingly…pretty. The area around it was lush and green, and in the tunnels, though crawling with monsters, many multi-colored gems and crystals glinted from the walls. Old tracks that most likely carried mine carts were still visible, through rusted, here and there…and there were many discarded liquor bottles.
"Wow, Marta would like this place…" Emil muttered, examining a crystal stuck in the wall.
"Okay, so where is the stuff we're looking for?" Lloyd asked Tenebrae, looking around a bit himself.
"In the pool under a waterfall deeper in, if I recall," Tenebrae reported.
"Got it," Lloyd nodded, "Let's go."
They made their way into the mines, doing their best to avoid any monsters along the way. However, this plan was dashed quite effectively when they found the entrance to the next section of the tunnel blocked by a rather large monster.
"Oo…that's not good," Emil frowned.
"Guess we're gonna have to fight anyway…" Lloyd said, biting his lip.
"Perhaps you should practice on something weaker, first," Tenebrae suggested, "There is a group of lower-class monsters over there, they should make good for a first battle."
"Good idea," Lloyd nodded, pulling out the broadsword with a small smile, "Heh heh…this could be fun!"
"I hope you're right about that 'your body is used to it' thing, Tenebrae…" Emil frowned, shakily drawing both of Lloyd's blades.
"Have I ever been wrong before?"
Both of them merely looked at him.
"…Just hurry up and fight, don't worry, I shall have our monsters assist you," he sighed.
"Well, here goes nothing," Lloyd said.
Emil swallowed nervously before the duo rushed in, finding that, in fact, it was surprisingly easy. Of course, neither of them fought as efficiently as the other did, but they managed to hold their own well enough. Emil would forget to attack with the other sword now and then, and Lloyd would at times stumble a bit over his own feet, seeing as Emil's were rather large… Nonetheless, they managed to succeed in their battle, and they had just stopped to catch their breath when one monster they had defeated stood in front of them, hopping around a bit. A lizard-type creature, which was simply staring up at them, like a dog waiting for a treat.
"Uh…" Lloyd blinked.
"Oh, I think it wants to make a pact with you," Emil said.
"A pact-? Wait, what do you mean? Like the ones you make with monsters?" Lloyd stared at him, not just a little put off.
"Yeah," Emil nodded, "Go ahead and get it."
"…Um…sure…um…" Lloyd glanced down at the monster, at Emil and Tenebrae, then back. "…How exactly do you do this?"
"Oh yeah…" Emil frowned, "Okay, look, all you have to do-"
"Allow me," Tenebrae nodded, "I shall cast the pact-magic, all you need do is raise your hand toward it and concentrate on the monster's form."
"You mean just think about it? A- All right…" Lloyd slowly stuck his hand out.
"It's easier if you close your eyes," Emil pointed out.
"I feel silly," Lloyd muttered, but did as he was told, "All right…"
The dark circle formed under the monster, and Lloyd scrunched up his face in concentration, which alone was something rather unusual for him to do. However, he did as he was instructed and the second the magic was gone, the creature tackled him into the ground. Lloyd yelped a second before the monster began to lick his face, its tail wagging like a dog.
"W- Woah-! Hey, get off me!" Lloyd cried, trying to push its head away.
"It says its name is Tyran," Tenebrae reported, smirking a bit, "Oh look, I think he likes you."
"T- That's nice, now get it off me!" Lloyd said, managing to clamber out from under the monster.
The beast whimpered, its tail going limp.
"Uh…I'm sorry?" Lloyd said hesitantly.
It continued to whimper and he slowly patted it on the head, then it began to wag its tail again, jumping up and down.
"He's just like a dog or something…" Lloyd stared, bewildered. "Hey, so wait a minute…you make pacts with them and they fight for you and stuff, right?"
"Indeed," Tenebrae nodded.
"But Emil's Ratatosk, right? So doesn't that mean he's their king or something?'
"Yes…?"
"I thought you knew all this," Emil frowned.
"Well yeah, but does that mean that I'm the king of monsters right now?" Lloyd grinned widely.
"…I believe I just went into cardiac arrest, Emil, please kill me and cease my pain."
"Um, I guess you are," Emil frowned.
"So, could I like…order them to make me a sandwich or something?"
"Lloyd-!"
"A sandwich? How insulting!" Tenebrae scoffed, glaring at the now-blond. "To make a proud creature such as a monster do meager chores like that-!"
"Okay okay! It was just a joke!" Lloyd threw up his hands. "I'm sorry!"
The monster gave out a small screech and nuzzled against Lloyd, unnerving him a good deal.
"O- Okay…um…let's go, right?"
Go they did, they managed to clear the path and proceed further into the caverns. Within a few more minutes they managed to find the waterfall they had been told about…unfortunately, it was rather steep…and they were on the top. The trio looked down, an uneasy feeling coming over the red-clad's face.
"All the way down there…?" Emil shuddered a bit. "How do we find it?"
"Hm…" Lloyd frowned, looking down as he crouched near the side in order to aid his balance, "It is pretty far down, I don't see a way to get down there either…"
"There has to be something," Emil looked around, "How else could the researcher have gotten it? I mean, even if he didn't get it himself, someone had to get it…"
"…Wait, he said it was called 'orinite'?" Tenebrae spoke up, his eyes wide.
"Yeah, why? You know something about it?" Lloyd asked, frowning.
"Well…yes," he nodded, "If that's the case, I believe I have a solution. You see, it can be simply taken from the water, but…it is a bit of a gallstone."
"Huh?" Emil frowned.
Lloyd stared blankly.
"It is a rock certain creatures swallow whole that helps them digest their food," Tenebrae explained, "As I recall, orinite is typically swallowed by large water-monsters for that purpose."
"So we can just fish one out?" Lloyd asked, looking down at the water below them.
"Indeed," Tenebrae nodded.
"But we don't have a fishing pole or a net or anything!" Lloyd groaned.
"…Oh yes, I forget," Tenebrae chuckled, "You do not know, well then…"
In a puff of smoke, Tenebrae switched his form to that of a fishing pole, startling Lloyd, though Emil merely suppressed a chuckle.
"Tenebrae can shape-shift," Emil explained.
"Oh, really?" Lloyd frowned. "Huh…I thought Solum was the only one who could do stuff like that…"
"Not at all, I am quite skilled in this," the fishing-pole laughed.
"So we just fish a monster out?" Lloyd wondered as Emil took the pole. "How long will that take?"
"It might take a while," Emil shrugged, "Fishing requires a lot of patience."
"Feh, I know," Lloyd said, "That time I went fishing in Triet was killer, it took me at least two hours to get anything- Wait a minute! So we're just going to sit around here waiting for who knows how long?"
"I guess so," Emil frowned, "oh well…guess we should sit down."
"Argh!" Lloyd groaned, smacking himself in the face. "Dammit, if we take too long, the Professor is going to kill us! Not to mention everyone else will start wondering where we went!"
"Yeah," the brown-haired sighed, nodding, "But this is all we can do."
"Indeed, so please cease your whining and sit down, Lloyd," scoffed Tenebrae.
Lloyd sent a dark glare at the centurion before reluctantly sitting himself down on the ground, Emil sitting beside him holding the fishing pole. No one (aside from maybe Tenebrae) was happy with this, of course, but there was nothing else that could be done. A rather tense silence fell over them, neither swordsmen daring to look at each other, or themselves…which they technically could've done both at the same time, but that was one thing they were trying to ignore. As with all silences, however, eventually one felt compelled to break it; in this case, it was Lloyd. The blond hesitated a moment, glancing at Emil with a frown.
"So uh, what you said earlier…about 'nightmares'…" he bit his lip, frowning deeply.
"I- I said- I'm sorry, all right?" Emil sighed. "I shouldn't have said that, I know it's not your fault…"
"That's all right," Lloyd looked away, "I just…it kind of- It's a little hard, every now and then, and all. Y'know, it's not like this is the first time I've had people hate me or anything, it just-"
"Having people hate you hurts," Emil frowned, 'his' eyes misted, "It makes you feel like you don't deserve to be alive, it makes you feel like you want to curl up in a corner and just cry until you just pass away…"
"Y- Yeah," Lloyd frowned as well, looking at him, "Oh, yeah, you do know what that's like too, don't you? Sorry I brought it up…"
"Now that I think about it, we actually have a lot in common," the red-clad mused, "We were both hated by people for bad stuff we got blamed for, but we didn't do…"
"Heh, yeah, and we both ended up with a lot of people to comfort us," the 'younger' grinned brightly.
"Huh-? Well…yeah, I guess you're right," Emil blinked, then smiled too.
"Uh-huh," Lloyd grinned his goofy grin, "Just remember that, Emil, you've got a lot of friends, me included."
"R…Really?" he frowned.
"Well yeah, what did you think I was?" Lloyd blinked.
"I guess…that I…" Emil trailed, then slowly smiled himself, "Y- Yeah….we are friends, huh? Heh..thanks-"
The male jerked forward violently, Tenebrae letting out a shout.
"W- Woah! You got a bite?" Lloyd cried, jumping to his feet.
"Obviously! And it's large! Help Emil!" Tenebrae shouted as Emil did his best to keep from being jerked straight off the cliff-side.
"Wha-? Oh! Right! I've got it!" Lloyd said, grabbing the pole's handle as well.
"D- Dang it! This thing must be huge!" Emil gasped, sweat forming on his borrowed face.
"Just hold on! We can get this!" Lloyd snapped, his usual determination- though portrayed in a different voice- as strong as usual in its tone.
They did their best to hold their ground, and the line slackened just a bit-
Before it jerked both of them clean off the top of the falls.
"Woah-!" Emil gasped.
"Oh shit-!" Lloyd cried, his eyes widening in horror.
"Tenebrae, do something!"
"No time for that!" Lloyd shouted. "We- Take out your wings!"
"My what-?"
"My wings, whatever! Do it-!" Lloyd shouted.
How it was he managed to do it was uncertain, but Emil managed to summon forth the appendages as he was told. He gasped a bit, shocked by the ethereal, awe-inspiring wings, but managed to use them enough so that their speed was lessened, both he and Lloyd clutching onto Tenebrae. Even with this, it was too late to halt their crash and they impacted the water, but not nearly at the speeds that they were about to. Two soaking human heads burst above surface with a deep gasp of breath as the 'pole' transformed back into a rather irked looking Tenebrae, whom floated above them.
"Well, that was unpleasant," he scoffed, shaking his fur dry like a dog would.
"W- What…?" Emil stammered, stunned as he looked back at the now soaking feathered appendages. "You-? Wait a second! You have-? You're a-! How the-!"
"Long story," Lloyd huffed, pushing his sopping blond bangs from his face, "Just put them away and let's get to shore, I think I see a beach over there."
Emil went to say something but Lloyd was already swimming off, ignoring his companion's expressions. The now-angel huffed in annoyance but managed to dismiss the wings well enough, following after him. It was good, he supposed, that he had asked Colette about them once upon a time…how she took them out and put them away, that was. Still, that Lloyd had wings- like that nonetheless- was nothing short of a shock. As they made their way onto the beach, Lloyd turned to face his friend, knowing full well that he had an explanation to give. What he didn't know was that his own body's hair was sopping wet, leaving the brown locks obscuring 'Emils' face, one eye covered.
"…" Lloyd could only stare.
"My my my…" Tenebrae mused, his ears perking up, " I say, Lloyd, you look…very much like a certain person I know…"
"Huh? What're you looking at?" Emil frowned, brushing the hair out of 'his' face, thus breaking the trance of sorts that had befallen Lloyd.
"N- Nothing!" Lloyd shook his head. "Look, so um…about the wings…"
"You don't have one of those Cruxis Crystal things, do you?" he frowned, looking at Lloyd's exsphere. "It doesn't look like one or anything…"
"Well, that's because it's not," Lloyd sighed, "It's…like a Cruxis Crystal, but it's a bit different from it…I can't really explain it, I'm not even sure how it works myself…"
Emil's only reaction was to stare at the exsphere, unable to hide his wonder.
"Wow…that's…strange…how come-? Hey, what's that?"
Lloyd followed Emil's gaze, spotting the small, yellow rocks set here and there in the bank just between the land and water.
"Hey! Do you think that's it?" Lloyd blinked, running over and picking one up.
"It appears to be," Tenebrae nodded, "Well then! It seems mission is accomplished, hm?"
"Great!" Emil sighed in relief, smiling. "But…how do we get back up-?"
"We could take that mining elevator over there," Tenebrae said, pointing toward the rock wall with his 'hand' on the end of his tail.
Dead silence.
"Th..There's an…?" Lloyd gaped, jerking his head in the direction Tenebrae pointed.
Indeed, there was. One that appeared to still be functioning, as a matter of fact.
"W- What! But we didn't see one up-!" Emil started, gaping.
"It was on the other side of those boulders up there," he reported.
More silence.
"W- Why didn't you tell us?" he demanded, glaring.
"And miss out on all the wonderful bonding?" the 'cat' chuckled.
"…I hope you like being a core, Tenebrae…" Lloyd growled, advancing on the being, which merely laughed all the more loudly.
It was a day or two after that when Lloyd sat on the balcony of his inn-room, his eyes glazed as he looked up in the starry night sky. Luckily, they had managed to get back to normal as was promised, they even managed to avoid the others finding out! Still, with all this aside…Lloyd still found himself continuously lost in his thoughts. Thinking about many things; the journey ahead of them, his excursion with Emil and Tenebrae, the experience of not being in your own body, the things they spoke of…. That and the image of seeing his own face, hair hanging down in front of his eye, looking just like…his father. That was what ailed him as of now, as he looked up into the stars, up where- somewhere- his father still lived. Strange…but…he had never thought he looked much like Kratos, really. Slowly his fingers came up to touch his face, his lips curling into a frown. How strange, to realize your own face was…like that of someone else that you knew very well. Heh, well then, that was two experiences now, huh?
"You're still up?"
Lloyd turned, seeing the blond boy hesitantly making his way over to him.
"Emil?" Lloyd frowned. "What're you doing up?"
"S- Sorry," he smiled weakly, "It's just, you've seemed really…upset about something, since…"
"No, I'm fine," he shook his head, "It just weirded me out a little, is all."
"So then, um…" Emil frowned, "I- I thought I should tell you something."
"Huh? Sure, what is it?" Lloyd blinked.
"…Um…Well…Tenebrae told me about- see, he figured out about- um…your…other, father."
Lloyd merely stared at him.
"I- I um, I just…wanted to tell you, that, well…you made me feel better about myself," the boy said quietly, "And…and I just wanted to let you know, that if you ever needed someone to cheer you up, I'm not very good, but I'll try. I just thought I should tell you that, because I kinda…owe you."
"Heh, owe me?" Lloyd laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, what else are friends for?"
"See, that's what I mean," Emil laughed a bit too, "You're always so…nice."
"Yeah, well…" the elder sighed, taking one last look at the stars before walking back toward the door, "Couldn't do it without my friends either, you know."
Lloyd put his hand on Emil's shoulder as he walked in, giving the boy a small smile.
"So don't you go trying to do something without your friends either, when we go to the Ginnungagap, understand?"
"H- Huh? I…yes…" he nodded, "I…I won't."
"Well, if you say so," Lloyd closed his eyes, "I trust you, Emil…"
With that he walked inside and Emil looked after him, blinking a little before frowning. What he had planned for that day…was definitely not something that included his friends, positively, at any rate…but what else could he do? But those words still stuck with him, and laid the foundation for that day when he heard them again.
It damn well gave him the strength to do what he had to do.
Again, dedicated to Symphoniafan, either way I hoped you all enjoyed it. :D And if anyone's likes this idea, I'd LOVE to see a multi-chapter story of this idea, so go ahead and take it, just let me know so I can read it n.n 3
Hope you liked!