Me: I'm sorry! I should have updated. I know, I know...
Lloyd: Then why didn't you?
Me: I don't know, Damien... I just... wait a sec... Lloyd?
Lloyd: Yeah, that's my name.
Me: ... Are you lost?
Lloyd: ...ahem... yeah sorta...
Me: Thought so.
Disclaimer: I own nothing... very, very sadly.
Laws of Nature:
The Weaker is Always Defeated by the Stronger
A large, open gate stood tall at the northern exit with a rough dozen guards surrounding it. Two towering structures served as lookout towers on each side of the gate. A small plain sat before it, accompanied by brush and trees. A certain twinswordsman, mage, and two fugitives resided within the forested landscape.
"Lloyd… I don't know what you did… but it was drastic…" Genis shook his head, unbelievingly.
"I can't even argue…" Lloyd replied, gazing at the guards.
"Actually…" Genis began, weaving bits of info together.
"Yeah?"
"Oh shiz!" Genis snapped, realization donning on him. If they hadn't gone back to a place, the only other possibility that would explain their location had to be—
"…Shiz? What do you mean 'shiz'? Lloyden vow number one: don't cuss if you don't know how."
"I'm thirteen now! I know how to curse, okay? Raine just… sorta scared the vocab out of me…"
A violent urge to laugh washed over Lloyd.
"Laugh. Sure. You'll regret it."
"Okay… so you're asking me to heal? I don't know how to heal…" the bluenette interrupted.
"You took that class in mana manipulation. I think you can figure it out." The redhead shifted back behind a tree to avoid the gaze of a guard.
"You make it seem so simple…"
"Nothing's simple now. Just relatively. You'll be healing from the back; I'll try to assist you when I can but I'll have offence too. You," the dark-clad adolescent directed his attention to Genis, "Can you use magic?"
"Yeah. I'll take the back with you," Genis decided, gesticulating to the bluenette.
"Very well. As for you… what's your name?" The redhead asked Lloyd and finding something bizarrely familiar about him.
"Why do you ask?" Lloyd questioned, mildly puzzled.
"Ah, never mind. I assume you can use those swords you have at your sides?" He shoved away the strange familiarity.
"Yeah. I'll take the frontlines."
"…" from both the fugitives.
"Now what?" Genis questioned the silence.
"Er well… Rye here gets the frontlines. He always gets the frontlines," the teal haired teenager explained.
"Same here. I can't fight right if I'm just backup," Lloyd retorted.
"As though I can?"
"All I need is front position and I swear I'll knock them all out. No offence but, I doubt you can do that."
"Likewise."
"What did you just say?!"
"Based upon your encounter with those guards back there, I understand you abilities are not what you say they are."
"Okay, you know what? My abilities are twice yours even without one of my swords!"
"Is that so?"
"You want me to prove it?!" Lloyd balled his hand into a fist.
"Okay! Stop! Stop! You're both on the frontlines, how's that?" Genis interrupted the debate. The two simply engaged in a glaring contest.
"Comon, Rye. The signal's going to take a while but we still have a time limit…" the teal haired teenager admonished. The pair continued glaring. Rye's foot shifted slightly towards the gate and then suddenly, they both burst in an invisible sprint, racing towards the guards and leaving the bluenette and Genis in their dust.
"Whoa… that's some rivalry…" the teal haired half-elf muttered, drawing his saber.
"I guess that's our queue," Genis assumed, following the pair to the clearing with the bluenette in tow.
The two competitors each drew two blades and continued racing forward.
"Backup! We need backup! We have a rebellion at the Northern gate! Send for backup!" a guard called from the lower area of the left tower. The message traveled up the tower and across to the right tower.
Lloyd and Rye collided with the formation of nights waiting for them at the gate.
Lloyd formed a strong demonic slash [variation of demon fang across the chest of his first opponent, flipped over him with green mana channeling from his sword [psi tempest, and stabbed him from the back, sharp wind accompanying the painful edge of his blade [wind blade. The guard fell as Lloyd foolishly left himself open for attack, his pride distracting him. Three afflictive magic attacks coursed through his body as he turned to see several more mages forming spells against him.
Great… I'm not even allowed to get cocky…
Rye began his attack on the opposite side of the mob, dividing his blows evenly against the six guards surrounding him. Two spear-bearers slashed at him simultaneously and were immediately disappointed at the infliction. Rye placed his left blade between the staffs before they could reach him and sharply twisted his wrist so that it sent the weapons flying away from their masters. All while performing a complex slash horizontally and a following, circular hit [hunting beast, throwing the remaining latter back several paces. With several quick stabs and a strong finish [sword rain, he disposed of the four fallen guards. Unfortunately it served as a distraction long enough for the unarmed latter of the six nights, the two spear-bearers, to find their staffs and assail him with two powerful blots of lightening.
How could I not see that coming…?
Genis stood far from the battle, gathering his mana. When he collected enough energy, he formed the mana into a flaming pattern on the floor [variation of raging mist, stealing half of the energy from three bodies on the field. After recollecting his mana, he formed a large cyclone of ice. It tore through the mass of fighters causing the three mages possessing merely half their mana to grow even weaker. This time, however, they spotted the culprit for their damage. Soon Genis was being bombarded with a mixture of sharp, icy blades [aqua edge and fiery sheets of lava [eruption. The rally between the three mages and the half-elf continued until Genis was completely out of mana.
OWWWW…Sis… we really need you right now….
Luckily an unexpected burst of energy came to him as healing, emerald-colored mana condensed around him [first aid. The teal-haired half-elf distanced from him smirked as his hundredth attempt to heal succeeded. He balanced his saber between his hands and began to focus again, allowing mana to circulate around in him and proliferate. Once the energy was beyond his ability to control, he released it, forming a circular pyramid over the frontlines. The translucent, turquoise light healed Lloyd and Rye.
Oh yeah! Who's the genius?
With Genis' assistance, Lloyd finally ended the lives of the three mages electrifying him, and the twin staff-bearers failing to kill Rye fell dead at the redhead's blade. All four looked up from their section of the field, finding all the guards defeated.
Lloyd and Rye, again, locked eye contact, glaring at each other.
"Four."
"Six. At the same time."
"I used Wind Blade."
"Hunting Beast."
"With a Psi Tempest!"
"Sword Rain."
"They were mages! I took three bolts of lightening."
"Twenty magic-enforced stabs."
"I-I… formed a demon fang in less than a second!"
"My hunting beast threw four backwards. Twice the average ability."
Lloyd couldn't respond; he had lost this one before it began. He remained unmoving, raking his brain for a come-back.
A single-handed applause sounded from the exit. Rye and the teal-haired adolescent whirled around, panicked, to find a black clad man. He was leaning against the left tower, his arms crossed over his chest, and his right foot placed against the slope of the tower while his left leg supported him. He appeared to be in his late twenties.
Despite his age, the man bore a striking resemblance toward Rye. His eyes were thin and slanted, crimson red, and gleaming with amusement, the downward position of his face casting a shadow over them. A conceited smirk formed his mouth, and his ears, although barely visible under his hair, were slightly pointed. His hair was dark auburn and fell over his left eye. Had he not been elven, Genis would have mistaken him for Kratos. Lloyd, however...
His gaze was frozen and shocked. "Kratos?" he whispered under his breath.
Rye's gaze was quite the opposite. It was an indignant glare, a monstrous rage focused on the man. Both Genis and the blunette were looking inquisitively at Rye's ire expression.
The man's smirk finally erupted into a quiet, nasty snigger.
"So you thought you could escape?" he laughed, pushing of the tower and walking forward. The gates began to close behind him.
Rye's grip on his blades tightened as an angry growl resonated from him.
"Shall we, then?" he asked. Lloyd and Genis stood clueless as a panicked expression came to the teal-headed adolescent's face. As the man placed a hand on his sword, the bluenette immediately threw his saber onto the ground, a good distance away from him. The sound of the gates closing echoed through the proximity as the exit slammed shut.
"Good boy," the man smiled at the blue headed half-elf, "what of you two?" the man asked, glancing at Lloyd and Genis, "Will you come easily or shall I force you?" he asked threateningly, his hand still on his blade. Genis hesitantly copied the bluenette.
Lloyd, however, wasn't missing his stubborn attitude today. The man was shocked when Lloyd did not release his weapons.
The man didn't turn his attention to Rye, strangely; he was almost ignoring him.
"As you wish then." Faster than any of their eyes could analyze, the man dashed towards Lloyd and slashed his sword at him, knocking the swordsman unconscious. Genis closed his eyes tightly as the twinswordsman fell with a sickening 'thud'. He then attempted to do the same to Rye, only to have his blade blocked by the teenager's blades.
The bluenette shook his head as Rye continued to resist, remaining in his stationary position. "What the hell are you thinking Rye...?" he whispered.
The man pressed forward against Rye with his blades, trying to over-power the adolescent, but Rye fought back with the same force, freezing them both in deadlock.
Genis, meanwhile, attempted to sneak over to Lloyd and help him, but the teal-haired half-elf beside him pulled him back.
"Don't even think about it. He'll just knock you out, too."
"But Lloyd's—"
"Just save yourself the trouble."
Growling angrily, Rye parried the man's blade and lunged for his chest. The swordsman returned with a counter and threw Rye backwards onto the ground. The impact was so powerful, Rye's consciousness left him. "Damn…"
"Pathetic," the man laughed, sheathing his sword. He then, with almost no effort at all, picked Rye up by the collar, and thrust him over his shoulder. Genis blinked in a mixture of mild amazement and surprise and he did the same to Lloyd.
"Follow me," he commanded to Genis and the healer. The two complied without hesitation.
Me: There you have it! Who is this mysterious man? Why does he look so much like Kratos? What is his relation to Rye? Where in the worlds are our young symphonians and what the hell is a guy with blue hair doing in the story? Just wait for the next update and--
Damien: Don't. You'll waste a lifetime.
Me: Damien! You're suposed to be helping me with these readers!
Lloyd: But he isn't. And he's getting away with it too. I like his style.
Me: Lloyd! Who's side are on?
Damien: Don't get mad at him just 'cause he has common sense.
Me: Thanks. Really. Just... thanks.