Revelations
By: Mylinda Antoinette
Summary: During the infiltration of the Iselia ranch, the appearance of a not-so-strange woman sends shockwaves through the members of the group, and changes their journey in many ways. AU; pairings include Kranna, Colloyd, Sheelos, Regal/Alicia, and Genis/Presea.
Author's Note: I just want to say that I know some of the details of the story aren't quite like they were in the game; for instance, I left out most of the scene between the guards, Lloyd, Colette, Chocolat, and the other host body. I did this simply for time's sake… you all should know already how that scene goes, and I see no reason to include it in this story, where it has no bearing on the story whatsoever. Also, because this story is an AU, some events will be different from how they are in the story, some will be mostly the same, and others may be left out completely and changed for different events. Just the same, I hope you will enjoy this story!
Also, I would like to thank my beta-reader, Twilight Scribe! Thanks for all your help to make this story what it is now, TS!
Chapter 1: The Rescue
Lloyd narrowly dodged the laser beam that issued from a lamp as it tried to swing over his head. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, then instantly had to duck and roll out of the way as another one swung his way. He knew that if he hit any of them, he would be badly burned. These lasers were far worse than the ones they'd had to deal with at the Renegades' Tethe'allan base. For one thing, these hallways were much narrower, so there was less moving room, and for another, these lasers were actually moving! At least the ones at the Renegades' base had stayed put!
Just as Lloyd made it past the last of the lasers en route to the room where he knew the Exsphere host bodies were being kept, he heard Genis cry out in pain.
"My arm!" the half-elven boy cried, biting his lip, trying hard not to cry and to resist the urge to grab his burned arm, knowing that would only make it hurt worse. Lloyd whirled around and saw that Genis had been caught by the laser lamp that he himself had just moved past.
"Genis!" he shouted, trying to get the boy's attention. However, Genis couldn't hear Lloyd through the pain of the burn, so he had to quickly reach out and grab Genis's hand, yanking him from the path of another laser just in time.
The rest of the group quickly caught up with them. Raine moved swiftly to kneel by Genis, who had passed out due to the pain and was now propped up against the wall, thanks to Lloyd. She gasped out of sympathy for her younger brother as she saw how badly the laser had scorched him... It looked like the burn went almost all the way to the bone! She looked up at the others, her eyes pained. "I can heal him, but I'll need some space and some time. We'd better be in the group to help the prisoners," she explained calmly, despite her intense worry for her brother.
"All right," Lloyd agreed calmly, glancing around at the others. "Then who will go with them?"
"I will go," Presea's soft voice interrupted. She quickly raised her ax to rest on her shoulder, as though she were ready to defend Genis, no matter what.
"I'll go too," Zelos interposed, grinning as he gripped the hilt of his sword. "My cute rosebud, my cool beauty, and the brat will need the Great Zelos to protect them with his flaming sword of judgment!"
Lloyd rolled his eyes, though he did so after he turned away so Zelos couldn't see. "All right then. You four stay here in the corridor while Colette, Kratos, Regal, and I dispatch the guards." He turned around again, kneeling next to Raine, who was holding the head of her staff over Genis's wound, concentrating on casting her spell to heal him. He rested a gentle hand on her shoulder, a movement that drew just enough of her attention that she was able to hear and remember what he said without losing her concentration on the spell. "When you've finished here, join us in the next room." Raine nodded her understanding before turning her attention back to the spell, pouring her energy and power into it to make sure it did its job well.
Lloyd stood and led the way into the chamber where he knew the captives would be, followed by Colette, then Kratos, and finally Regal, who insisted on trailing them to make sure that Kratos couldn't possibly betray them. Upon entering, they realized that something was wrong. All the cells were open and there were only two captives left in the room, trying to take care of two Desian guards. Lloyd and Colette recognized one of the two instantly.
"Chocolat!" Lloyd cried as the four party members rushed up to the Desians. It didn't take much to down the half-elves. They were only guards after all, nowhere near as skilled as other enemies the party had faced. The small group stepped over the bodies of the unconscious Desians to the captives, who told them that most of the captives had already escaped.
"When we heard you were coming, it seemed the perfect opportunity," the man in front of them explained. "Only the two of us are left, plus…" His voice trailed off as he spoke, and he looked down.
"Plus? Who else is left in this place?" Regal inquired, wanting to know who was in danger of being left behind.
The man exchanged a look with Chocolat; then he sighed. "I don't know all the details, but I've heard that long ago, a woman was taken from this room and transferred to another room in this base. It's a hidden, isolated room. I don't know much else. For all I know, she could be dead already," he explained.
"Oh, Lloyd, please, let's look for her," Colette begged, feeling sorry for this poor woman.
"I, too, would like to find this woman," Regal agreed.
"Well…" Lloyd began hesitantly; of course he wanted to find the woman too, but they had to hurry and shut down the mana reactor. At this moment, the remaining four of their group came in, though Genis looked a little unsteady and his arm was tightly bandaged. The answer to his dilemma was here. "Hey guys, we got some problems," he said, quickly filling them in on the situation at hand.
"I will go and find her," Raine promised, feeling some sympathy for this unknown woman's situation. "Zelos, Presea, and Genis, go on ahead with these two and make sure the other captives get out safely."
"All right, sis," Genis replied, his voice pained. He stiffly pulled his kendama from where he had stored it and led the way with Presea, with Chocolat and the other man following behind them and Zelos bringing up the rear.
"Good luck!" Lloyd called to Raine as he and the remaining three party members split off from her to go and deactivate the mana reactor.
"Thank you," Raine replied as she watched them leave, suddenly feeling mildly helpless. After all, she didn't know where to start looking. Then it hit her. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?" she thought, scolding herself as she hurried off to find a computer terminal.
Half an hour later, Raine was traveling down a dark hallway, referring back to the map she had memorized. This place was not on the map that she'd accessed through the computer terminal, and she was certain this was the way to the woman that the male prisoner had spoken of.
As she neared a turnoff, she peered around the next corner and saw two guards sitting thirty yards away at the end of the corridor, playing cards as they watched a door behind them. They hadn't sensed her presence yet, which gave Raine a definite advantage over them. She stepped back and began to mutter under her breath as she called up her magic before exclaiming in a loud whisper, "Ray!" For an instant, flashes of light lanced through the dim hallway and she heard loud grunts of pain as the light struck its targets, rendering them unconscious. She peeked back around the corner and saw that all was quiet. She moved carefully down the hall, finding the keys on the belt of one of the guards and using them to unlock the door.
As she opened the door, she heard a gasp and scurrying sounds, as though whoever was inside the room was trying to hide. She stepped carefully inside. "It's all right," she spoke gently to whoever was in there. "My name is Raine Sage, and I'm here to help you. I've come to get you out of here." Her eyes gradually adjusted to see a woman with two children, one who appeared to be a female a year or two older than Genis and another in her arms who was clearly just a baby. She walked slowly, cautiously to the woman and rested her hand on her arm. "Please, come with me. The other hosts have already escaped. We know someone, a dwarf, who may be able to remove that Exsphere of yours. Please..." she repeated softly, encouragingly.
The woman hesitated and gripped her baby tighter. "You are not human..." she whispered in fear, recognizing the telltale signs of elven blood in the woman before her. Raine sighed softly.
"That is correct. I am a half-elf. However, I am not in league with the Desians and I am not here to hurt you. If I were here to do that, I would not be wasting my time with otherwise meaningless chatter," she pointed out upon hearing the gasps of fear from the woman and girl. She held out a hand toward the woman as a gesture of peace. "Please," Raine repeated, "I am here to help."
The woman looked back and forth between the half-elf's face and the hand which she was holding out to her, trying to determine her general sincerity. At last she decided that there was no point in staying there to rot and that she and her children might at least be able to get out of that dark cell for a while. She took her daughter's hand and they walked past Raine, silently giving her their trust. Raine followed behind them, shutting the door and returning the keys to the watchman's belt. Raine moved in front of the three and, with her guidance, they began to move swiftly down the hallways, making their way back to the entrance.
"How did you know I was there?" the woman asked abruptly, breaking the silence they'd found themselves in. Her sudden speech startled Raine a bit, but she recovered quickly.
"One of the prisoners told my friends and me a story of a woman who had been taken from the main cell block and hidden away in a secret room in the ranch," she explained. "Our group leader, Lloyd, asked me to come and find you."
The woman started a bit at the mention of Lloyd's name, but then she resumed her hard composure. "I see," she replied.
They continued walking in silence for a while longer before Raine was seized by the need to learn more about this woman. "How long have you been locked up in that place?" she inquired.
"I'm not sure!" the woman bit back sharply. "I guess it's been more than ten years, but it's awfully hard to keep track of time in there. If you're asking for a specific length of time, I couldn't tell you."
Raine sighed. This woman had certainly led a hard life so far. "I see..." she finally said. "May I ask for your name?"
The woman hesitated. At first, she felt that it was none of this strange half-elf's business, but then she thought that this woman just might be able to help her locate her family. At last she sighed. "Anna," she replied. "My name is Anna Aurion."
Anna's alive! WOOT! If you want to join the Anna fanclub, please leave a note in your review saying you wish to join... I'll be starting a forum on here for it, and I may also decide to write fan chapters if freakyanimegal456 doesn't mind me borrowing that idea, just for fun! The first three Anna fans to join get to be moderators! XD
Also, if you want to be in a fan chapter, please leave a note with what you would like to see happen. Note that the events in the fan chapters will not always have an effect on the story! If I like something, I might make that one thing a part of the permanent storyline, but as a general rule, most of it will be just for fun and will be largely ignored for most of the story.
I hope to have Chapter 2 up in a week or two; just depends on how quickly I can write more of the story! Please be sure to leave a review!