The group exited the school building—first Lloyd, followed by Colette and Tobias, who was yawning and stretching his arms and then Genis. It was a nice day, calm and sunny. However, Lloyd was looking around the village with a frown on his face.
"What's going on? It's awfully quiet."
"Where did everybody go?" Genis added. Tobias was about to add his two cents to the conversation, but was interrupted when a blonde man approached the group.
"Colette!" the man called.
"Father!"
"Oh, Frank."
"Frank!"
"Thank goodness you're safe." Frank greeted them, giving his daughter a quick hug.
"Frank, what happened to everyone in the village?" Genis asked.
"They're all hiding. The Desians invaded the village just a short while ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt. They passed through the village and headed for the temple." Frank waved his hand through the village and ended by gesturing in the direction of the temple.
"Why?!" Genis nearly shouted. "Iselia has a non-aggression treaty with the Desians!"
"You mean that agreement where they don't attack the village as long as we leave the human ranch alone?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes. Grandmother said it's to protect me," Colette replied. Suddenly, she gasped. "Oh! Where's Grandmother?"
"Phaidra is in the temple—" Frank began before being interrupted by Lloyd.
"Phaidra's in the temple? But that's where the Desians—"
"The priests are there with her," he assured Lloyd. "There's no need to worry. Now, Colette—"
"I know, I promise to fulfill my duty as the Chosen," Colette said, and Frank nodded, despite being interrupted twice.
"Good luck, Colette." He turned to the other three. "Lloyd, Genis, Tobias. You three should go on home."
Lloyd and Genis shook their heads. "I'm worried about letting Colette go by herself. I'll go with her to the temple."
"Me too," Genis agreed.
"I'm going as well," Tobias said. "You don't get to see stuff like this too often."
"But…all right." Frank was defeated. "Thank you. I'll wait at home. Come back immediately if anything happens."
The four set off towards the temple, but had only just passed the wall of the schoolhouse when Colette shrieked and Lloyd reached for his swords. Not far away, a zombie lurched its way towards the village, pretty much headed directly for the four kids standing at the exit.
"Whoa, it's a monster!" Lloyd exclaimed, unsheathing his swords.
"That's odd," Tobias muttered, unsheathing his own blade.
"I thought the northern region where the temple is located was a sanctuary! Why are there—" Genis started.
"It must be part of the trial," Colette explained. "Martel's trial involves battling monsters."
"We don't have time to talk! Let's get this thing!" Lloyd shouted.
"Roger!" Genis replied.
Lloyd charged the zombie, which had ended up right in front of him while the group was talking. Colette followed him, and Genis and Tobias stayed where they were and began casting magic. Lloyd got a good hit in, managing to chop the zombie's right arm off, though it didn't really deter the monster, while Colette attempted to slash it with one of her chakrams and ended up overbalancing and falling.
"Get him! Fireball!"
"Take this! Thunder!"
Three fireballs and a thunderbolt hit the zombie simultaneously, causing it to fall to the ground, where Lloyd stabbed it just for good measure. It disentigrated, and everyone cheered.
"That was easy!" Lloyd exclaimed.
"Yeah, it was pretty easy," Tobias echoed.
"You're amazing, Lloyd!" Colette said.
Lloyd grinned sheepishly "Ah, well, I owe it to this thing, though." He patted the strip of white cloth wrapped around his left hand.
"Oh yeah, the Exsphere."
"Yeah." Lloyd looked very proud of it. "It's designed for combat and brings out my maximum strength. Without this thing, I'd be nothing."
"But you're still strong, Lloyd!" Colette chirped, smiling.
"Yeah, at least his sword skills are good," Genis muttered.
"What do you mean, 'at least'?!"
Tobias waved his arms to get their attention. "When you two are done arguing, you might want to turn around." Genis and Lloyd stared at him for a few seconds, and then spun around. Not far away were two zombies this time, as well as a ghost.
"There's another one!" Lloyd shouted as if he had spotted the monsters first. "Let's go, you three!"
"Wait! The Professor said magic is more effective than physical attacks against non-physical and spiritual monsters." Colette reminded him, sounding a bit like a textbook.
"Really?" Lloyd asked. Tobias gave her a 'what are you talking about?' look and Genis rolled his eyes at Lloyd.
"Yes!"
"Okay, okay then. I'll leave the ghost to Genis and Tobias. I'll go for the Zombie! Okay, here we go!"
"Okay!"
"Yeah!"
Again, Lloyd headed for one of the zombies, while Colette headed for the other one. Tobias immediately started casting, but just as he started, he was hit from behind by the ghost he had failed to notice was behind him, effectively killing his concentration. He backed away, right into one of the zombies and stumbled. The zombie disentigrated a second later after a blow from one of Colette's chakrams. A couple of Fireball spells later, the ghost went as well and then the zombie.
"It's important to choose the target wisely when there's a lot of monsters, or if we're up against a dangerous one," Lloyd said after everyone had recuperated from the battle.
Colette nodded. "It's especially important when saving an ally that's in trouble."
"We have to be careful," Genis added.
"Let's go to the temple!" Lloyd commanded, pumping a fist into the air.
"Okay!"
"Yeah!"
"That was an amazingly quick topic change."
---
"Whoa…that light really is coming from the temple!"
Lloyd, Genis, and Tobias stared up at the column of light with various levels of surprise.
"Wow…" Tobias murmured.
"Then an oracle is going to be conveyed. Colette's going to be the Chosen of Regeneration."
The three boys turned to Colette, who was partially shading her eyes from the light with her hands, expecting some sort of comment from her.
"It's really, really bright!"
Lloyd hung his head, Genis buried his face in his hands, and Tobias raised an eyebrow.
"Say, Colette, when the oracle is conveyed, you'll become the Chosen who will save the world, right?" Lloyd asked. "You're going to be like the hero, Mithos! So maybe you should act a bit more, you know, Chosen-like."
"Yeah! No problem. No problem."
While Colette was attempting to act "more Chosen-like", Genis had turned his attention to the stairs leading up to the temple. Tobias glanced over, slightly confused, but soon knew what Genis was focused on.
"Hey, there's a lot of commotion at the temple," the younger boy said.
"It sounds like a battle," Tobias said, nodding. Lloyd ran past the pair and up the stairs a bit.
"You're right!"
"Chosen One!"
Everyone looked up to find the source of the voice. It turned out to be one of the priests, who was clutching his stomach and barely managing to walk down the stairs. When he was within ten feet of the group, his legs gave way and he fell down the steps. Tobias lunged for him and barely managed to catch the man before he hit the ground.
"Pastor?!"
"Hey, are you all right?"
"Is he still alive?" Genis wondered.
Tobias held his hand over the priest's mouth. "He's still breathing. Barely." He shook the priest's body a bit. "Wake up, come on."
"Guh…" the priest coughed.
"He's okay!" Genis exclaimed.
"The Desians…" the priest gasped, "…broke the non-agression treaty and…attacked the temple…Chosen One…quickly…the oracle…"
"I know." Colette sounded close to tears.
"Please…be careful…I regret…that I will not…be able to protect…the…Chosen…" The priest let out a shuddering breath and died right there.
"Pastor! Hang on!" Colette cried.
"It's no good. He's gone."
"Noo!"
Everyone grieved briefly, and then helped Tobias move the body over to the side of the path where it wouldn't be stepped on. Colette looked up the staircase.
"I'm going." She took a few steps up the staircase, but Genis ran after her and grabbed onto her right arm.
"Colette! There are Desians in there!"
"Yes, but I have to go. I'm the Chosen. My job is to accept the oracle on the Day of Prophecy. You three wait here, okay?"
"No way. I'm going, too," Lloyd protested. "I can't let you go by yourself."
"Are you sure? It's dangerous."
"Dwarven Vow number 1: 'Let's all work together for a peaceful world'. Let's go."
"Wait, I'm going, too," Genis replied. "I'm worried about Raine."
"I'm not worried about the Professor. But I'm going, too."
Colette beamed. "Thanks, all of you!" She ran ahead up the stairs, while the boys followed. At the top, they encountered a group of Desians along with a dark-haired man surrounding an old woman in front of the entrance to the temple.
"Where is the Chosen?" the dark-haired man demanded.
Phaidra stepped back a bit, and then caught sight of Colette and Lloyd at the top of the stairs.
"Run, Colette!" she shouted, causing the soldiers to do an about-face to Colette's group.
"Lord Botta, there she is!" one of the Desians shouted. Botta turned his attention from Phaidra.
"Chosen One, your life is mine!" Botta said.
Lloyd drew his wooden swords and moved so that he was slightly in front of Colette. "I won't let you Desians get away with anything!"
Oddly, the Desian that had alerted Botta to the group's presence started laughing, causing everyone but them to exchange confused glances.
"Desians? Hahaha!"
"What's so funny?!" Genis said, having gotten out his own weapon.
"Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate," the Desian replied, still chuckling. "Get them!"
The three Desians rushed the group, and everyone but Genis intercepted them. The battle took a bit longer than the ones with the monsters, as the enemies were actual living beings, and nobody actually wanted to kill them. Lloyd swiped at his enemy, trying to get under his guard to knock him out. Tobias got into hand-to-hand combat with one of the Desians after the guy got his whip wrapped around Tobias' sword, rendering both weapons useless. Colette was the first to down someone by conking them on the head with one of her chakrams and Genis set Lloyd's Desian on fire with a well-placed spell. The last Desian received a punch directly to the face and went down; Tobias freed his sword.
Before anyone could say or do anything else, a large man swinging a spiked ball-and-chain weapon walked into the fray.
"Do not get in our way!" he shouted, advancing on the group.
Everyone immediately did just that and attacked the man, though as they soon found out, he was very strong. Lloyd and Colette did minimal damage to him, and he responded to their hits by swinging his ball-and-chain or a hammer at them. The magic users weren't doing too well, either.
"Man, this guy is really tough." Lloyd fell down on one knee, using one of his swords to hold himself up. Genis was sitting on the ground nearby between Tobias and Colette.
"This guy's strong!" Genis moaned.
The man swung his weapon down in an attempt at a final blow at Lloyd, who closed his eyes. When he didn't feel anything for a few seconds, he cautiously opened one eye and saw purple. It was a brownish-red-haired man, clothed in a purple bodysuit and cape, and it was apparent that he had blocked the attack.
"Get out of the way," the man commanded, shoving the larger man backwards. Lloyd jumped to his feet, exhaustion forgotten, and Genis did the same while Tobias helped Colette up. The large man wasn't out for the count yet, so the group renewed their attacks on him, joined by the new guy. They quickly beat him.
Botta had been standing on the sidelines the entire time, except to drag his men off the mini battlefield and attempt to revive them. The new guy approached him, and he backed up.
"I never thought you'd show up. Damn… Retreat for now!"
After he was gone, Colette squealed at the new guy. "You're amazing!"
Genis agreed. "This guy's incredibly strong!"
"Y-yeah. I-I suppose so," Lloyd said, not actually looking at the man.
"Is everyone all right?" the man asked, surveying the group, his gaze lingering slightly longer on Tobias and Lloyd. "Hmm…no one seems to be hurt." Just then, something flashed on the man's left hand.
"Is that an Exsphere?" Lloyd asked.
"How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" Phaidra approached the group.
"I see. So this girl is the next Chosen," the man stated.
"That's right! I have to go accept the oracle! Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trial now."
"What trial?" Lloyd asked, having had his first question ignored.
"The monsters, I assume. An evil presence radiates from inside this chapel," the man replied.
"Yes, that's correct. The Chosen is to receive judgement from heaven. But the priests that were to accompany her fell at the hands of the Desians." Phaidra looked sad.
"Then I'll take on the job of protecting Colette." Lloyd moved towards Colette to assume his "bodyguard" duty.
"Lloyd? I would be uneasy with just you."
"What about me? I can protect her, too," Tobias suggested.
"Your name is Lloyd?"
Lloyd turned to the purple-clothed man. "Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?"
"I am Kratos, a mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen."
Phaidra nodded. "Under the circumstances, I have little choice. Please be of service."
"It's a deal then," Kratos agreed.
"W-wait! I'm going, too!"
"Lloyd, you'll only get in the way. Be a good boy and wait here."
"Gotcha." Lloyd crossed his arms and smirked. "Then I'm just going to follow you on my own."
Kratos put one hand to his head. "You're a stubborn kid. Fine, do as you wish."
"I'll just do that. Let's go, Genis."
"Lloyd, I figured you were going to say that." Genis replied, following his friend into the temple.
"Of course!"
"Wait for me! Genis! Lloyd!" Tobias shouted, running after them.
"This isn't a field trip, you know," Kratos muttered.