Sky's Heart, Earth's Soul
Disclaimer: Wish the Prologue looked better-Don't own TOtA or TOS
Warning: I mentioned the spoilers before. Yeah, there'll be here. And, it's AU for some bits in TOtA and probably most of TOS2.
AN: As I mentioned, I wish the prologue looked better. But, oh well. Also, each Chapter title will be the title of one of the songs in the sound track of either TOS1&2 and TOtA.
Chapter 1
Starry Heavens
You can't go forward if you keep looking back
~Luke Fon Fabre, Tales of the Abyss
Emil Castagnier and Marta Luadi had been traveling together for less than a week. Marta would bother the blond with showers of 'love' that he was very uncomfortable about. Tenebrae, their 'loyal' companion, loved to tease them both about just anything.
Sadly, this included said declarations of love that Marta would cry every ten or so minutes. Just as she was doing now.
"Emil~ I love you so much~!" Emil wanted to cringe away from the girl as she clinged to him, but he didn't want to be rude. The three moved along after Marta had finally let the swordsman go.
Marta grew serious the nearer they got to an official Vaguard checkpoint. However, when they arrived, hidden in the bushes, they saw that all of the members of the Vanguard were fighting a red head swordsman, who had been injured sometime during the battle before them.
Emil's eyes widen, "What're we going to do?" "Help him!," Marta cried, rushing forward. "Fang Blade!," the man cried. Emil backed away from the closest fighter, who had been thrown by the attack. He swung his sword at the same man, "Demon Fang!" The spinner wielder had already reached the red-clad man, "We're going to help, okay, Me and Emil, the blond with the sword."
The man grinned at Marta weakly, blocking one of knights who had aimed for his head.
With three of them fighting, the Vanguard knights fell quickly. Once all of them had fallen, The red-haired man turned to them. Had Emil not seen what Lloyd looked like himself, he might've thought this man was him-Mainly because of the red that he wore. "Thank you for helping me."
Marta bounced, "No problem! Anyone against the Vanguard is a friend of mine!" He blinked and then asked softly, "So, these knights...are called The Vanguard?" Emil nodded meekly. "Ah...Oh! My name is Luke," He smiled at them. "I'm Marta! And this is Emil! Where are you headed?" Luke glanced away, "To the nearest town..."
"That would be Asgard."
"I don't suppose you could point me in that direction, could you?" Marta stared at him for a long while before grabbing Emil and pulling away, "Emil, we're going to Asgard ourselves...Why don't we just all travel together until then?" The blond didn't care so much-It'd mean they'd have more help in battles.
They turned back to Luke, who was looking on in confusion.
Emil scuffed his boot against the ground, "Well, we're headed to Asgard ourselves, so why don't you come and travel with us until we get there?" Luke blinked, "I suppose, it really is up to you...It might be best if we do that anyway. Alright, I'll come with you."
The other two beamed and they moved on. With Luke in their party, the monsters were actually a little more fearful of them, and strangely, stayed away. Luke would laugh and say that maybe it was just their higher level.
Emil and Marta once pulled out a magic lens, when they were a day from Asgard, just to peek at their new companion's level. It left Emil gapig and Marta nearly fainting. "The only peoplle I know with a 'level' like that is Alice and the others with her rank in the Vanguard!" The blond could only shrug, watching their sleeping companion silently.
The day they finally arrived in Asgard was a windy one. Luke muttered something about a 'bad day to mess with Sylph' which the spinner wielder frowned at. She had, like many, heard of the spirits. But like most people, she also viewed them as being simply myths. Obviously, Luke was among those who believed in them as being very real.
Luke turned to them, while leaning on the gate's front post, "Well, I suppose I'll see you guys again! But I have something I'm going to go do-Bye!" The red-head moved on and disappeared from their sight. Emil sighed, "I'm actually worried about what will happen now." Tenebrae appeared out of their shadows, "It doesn't matter. In fact, I do believe it's better that we didn't have him traveling with us. We really have no idea if he is truly on our side."
Marta gave him a dirty look, "Are you saying he could be part of the Vanguard?"
"It is a possiblity."
The ginger haired girl shook her head and grabbed Emil's hand, "C`mon, let's go find the Mayor."
Tenebrae made an agreeing noise and vanished once more. Emil hurried along after his partner, glancing around. Once, he though he saw a pair of red coat tails vanishing into a door way, and thought of Luke. Luke was only a couple of years older then him, but he was an amzing swordsman. The blond wanted to have at least tried to learn some of his moves.
After they found out that the Mayor wasn't there, they searched for the answer-and found a young woman speaking with a blond girl-One, who Marta claimed, was Sylvarant's Chosen. Marta suddenly became upset about something and accuse Collete of running away. Running away from what, Emil didn't know, but she did look sad after Marta left. While he did want to say sorry, Emil had known Marta longer and followed her.
He never heard Luke's voice calling down from the upper floor, wondering what was wrong.
Emil found her, "Back there...Marta?" She covered her arms, "I'm sorry. I just...She was supposed to save Sylvarant...But...She disappeared, and she didn't reappear until after Palmacosta..." Marta looked away, her face shadowed.
They stood like that for a while, before a young boy suddenly appeared. "Hey!" Marta looked at him, "What?" "You yelled at the Chosen. You blamed her for something that she can't change!" She glared at him half-heartedly. Emil frowned, glancing back and forth between them, when he felt something coming. An increadibly strong gust of wind came forth, and swept the tiny child off his feet with a cry. "Oh no!," Marta cried.
She was the first to move forward. Emil followed her in a rush. They hurried along to where the boy had landed, on an old stone bridge that used to extend across the gorge. Now, however, it was broken in the middle, where the little boy was hanging from.
Marta hurried over to the bridge and leaned down to crawl across, trying not to buffeted by the strong wind. Had Emil not been so worried for Marta and the boy, he might've noticed the red-head and blond who had just appeared around the bend. Just then, the boy let go, but Marta magaed to grab his wrist. The ginger-haired girl gripped it as tightly as she could.
"Heh-heh~ So Mart-Mart is here!" Alice of the Vanguard had appeared, giggling quietly. Marta groaned and felt herself slipping. Emil moved back and forth ever so slightly. Even so, just as the spinner wielder was about to fall, a flying blond girl appeared and grasped her empty hand. "It's okay! I've got you!" Following her was a red-head they both knew, Luke, pulling his sword out, ready to fight the blond girl in front of him.
Alice snarled at the sight of him, "It's you!" Luke glared back.
Emil might've been concerned about it, but he was too busy gapping at the sight of Collete and her wings. Marta and the boy were dropped lightly to the ground and Alice smiled creepily at her, "Oh~ It's Collety!" Luke moved to defend the two girls(the boy having left) and she glared again. "Oh! You get in the way!"
And so the fight began. Luke easily brought down one of the two monsters that she had with her, "These guys are nothing compared to Arietta's Ligers." Emil was once again his red-eyed self, the violent boy. Luke frowned after him as he, rather violently, stabbed the other monster. Whatever the case, he moved on to fight along side Collete against Hawk.
The battle was only a few minutes long. Once it was over, Alice was chased away, with her snarling a declaration of revenge over her shoulder.
Marta watched the Chosen as the small boy came and thanked her. Collete said that it had been no problem and had left, along with a concerned look from Luke. The boy turned to her, "The Chosen is nice and kind, and save both of our lives! And if it wasn't for her, Asgard would've been destoryed forever ago!"
The two glanced at each other. It was time to talk with the Mayor.
When they arrived, they saw Luke and Collete, the latter of which looked sadden about something. "Um, excuse me?" The mayor sighed, "If this is about Lloyd, I'm afraid I haven't seen him." Marta sighed and Emil frowned. Luke's eyes shined in confusion but he didn't voice it.
Collete, however, turned back to the Mayor, "Even if you can't tell me anythig about Lloyd, I'd still like to help." "Help with what?" Emil asked, curious. The Mayor sighed, "If you've noticed, there has been very strong gusts of wind for a few months now.
"It's caused by something, something that has been terriosing anyone who tries to go near the Dias." Collete tipped her head, "The Dias is where we fought that fake Sylph. Could it be something like that again?" The Mayor sighed, "Perhaps. I was asking Collete and her friend here if they would like to help."
Emil turned to Marta and whispered, "We should go ahead and help." She sighed and muttered her agreement. "We'd like to help," Marta annouced, "If we can." The Mayor beamed, "Any help would be wonderful." "I'll help too," Luke said. Collete smiled, "I would also love to help as well!"
The Mayor bowed his thanks and they left.
Marta turned to the Chosen. "I...Well, thank you for saving my life. But that doesn't mean we're friends!" Collete looked disappointed and Luke gave her an exasperated look, "Look, we need to go to that Dias." The blond girl looked at him, "I think, we might need the ceremonial dance it's what brought the Fake Sylph there, and it might bring this new monster there too."
"Ceremonial dance?"
"The last time we were here," Collete began, "One of my friends did the dance, and we fought the monster that came. It could work a second time."
Luke paused, "Who is going to do the dance, though?" Collete looked thoughtful, "I could probably do it." Marta frowned. "Whoever does it will be in the most danger, because they'll be really exposed...I'll do it." Emil looked horrified, "Why do either of you have to do it?" The red-head shook his head, "It's better if one of them does it, because any of the women here don't have as much combat experience."
They stared at him.
"What?"
"Nothing," Marta said quickly, "But I'm still doing it." Collete sighed, "Aisha could teach you..." She and Luke lead the way back to Aisha's house. There, Marta learned the dance from young woman and they hurried on to the stone dias.
Marta began her dance, nearly finished when the monster appeared. They began the battle, but Luke was the first to see something wrong with it. "We're not hurting it at all!" He cried after he discarded a used Magic lens. Emil groaned under his breath. What do they do now?
The group of four left the stone dias after being brutally whipped. Marta was the first to speak, "What was that? we didn't hurt it even a little bit." None of them noticed Tenebrae appear until he spoke, "It's a special membrane that weapons can not get through." Luke and Collete jumped, a little less then Emil had, but Marta looked at him. "A Membrane? Well, how do we get rid of it?"
Tenebrae sighed, "To do so, we must find a special type of Dragon that lives in the peaks of Hima." Luke resisted his urge to groan. That would mean that he, Marta, and Emil would have to go back towards the place they had first met.
Luke eyed Tenebrae and opene dhis mouth to ask but Emil said, "We'll explain on the way." He nodded slowly, and the group left the windy town.
Almost immediatly after they had left the town, Emil hurried to where Luke was leading the group. "Um, Luke?" The red-head peeked at him. "Yes, Emil?" "Uh, I was wondering...Wouldyouteachme?"
The swordsman stared in confusion, "What do you mean, teach you?" Emil looked towards the far off mountian, "Um, teach me how to fight better. I want to be able...be able to protect Marta better." Luke watched him for a long time, his short hair ruffling in the much weaker wind. "I don't know, Emil. I don't think I'd be a very good teacher." The blond gave him a pleading look, "Please?"
He sighed, "Alright." Emil beamed. "We'll have a session tonight, before we eat, okay?"
Emil was nearly bouncing and he nodded. Luke sighed and moved on ahead of the group, his face burning in embarassment of this.
Luke has joined the Party.
Collete has joined the Party.
Luke has gained the title 'Mysterious Swordsman.'
- A swordsman who is shrouded in complete mystery.
Luke has gained the title 'Suspicious Person.'
-He might be a spy for the Vanguard.
Marta has gained the title 'Beautiful Dancer.'
-"Emil, Emil, look how beautiful I am when I dance!"
Luke has gained the title 'Reluctant Teacher.'
-He can be a really great teacher-He's just really reluctant to teach!
Emil has gained the title 'Eager Student.'
-I want to learn all I can from him!
SO. When I wrote the last part about Emil learning from Luke is because of the fact that Emil has one of his techs, Fang Blade.
So, yeah. If it reminnds anyone of Lloyd and Kratos, I did that a bit on purpose too.
