A/N: After a bit of a hiatus, I'm back! I finally beat the game, so I'm really excited to be continuing this now that I know what happens! I changed the name, from Tales of the Alyss (because I thought it sounded lame after a few months) to I Only Want To Be With You. I'm still not entirely satisfied with this title, so if anyone has any ideas… they'd be much appreciated. I've also got a revamped summary that tells a little more accurately what this is really about.
Thanks so much to everyone who kept this on their favorites and alerts through the hiatus, and I hope you won't be disappointed. And also, welcome to anyone who is reading this now for the first time. I hope you're enjoying it!
And the biggest thanks of all goes to AtomicScribble for being willing to take this on again! She's a wonderful beta, and I'd die without all of her corrections. So thanks a TON!
Enjoy chapter 4
Alyss awoke in a strange room. Had she been out of the manor before, she would have recognized the plain walls and generic bedsheets as an inn; however, everything looked foreign, strange to her naive eyes. She recognized nothing, save for the bag at the end of the bed. The bag was her last hold on the mansion. Alyss didn't know when she would be able to go back; from now on, she would have to live with the foreign rooms and cities.
She clutched her stuffed cheagle to her chest as it struck her: she hadn't ever left the mansion. The room she had spent the last eight years in, the people she had come to know and love, were all back in Baticul. She didn't even know where she was.
She panicked. How would she get home if she didn't know where home was? She buried her head into her cheagle as tears started to fall. Her cheagle even smelled like home. It smelled of Guy, it smelled of Luke, and it smelled of all of the lunches she wouldn't be spending with them anymore.
What would Luke do? Her brother would be devastated, she knew that much. Luke was childish: he would storm around, upset, demanding that he be allowed to search for Alyss, however unrealistic that was...but then he might blame himself for not protecting her, for not seeing he evil in his teacher before it was too late.
Father would send a search party, and they would eventually find her; Kimlascan soldiers never failed in a matter of such importance, after all. But she had to prepare herself for whatever Van had in store for her, even if Father's search party failed. She must even be prepared to die at his hands.
Oh, and Mother. She was weak enough already… what would she do when she discovered her sick daughter had been abducted in the middle of the night? Surely her health would only suffer more! Alyss was determined to survive, at least until she knew that her mother would be all right. Her tears became quicker as she realized that she had no way of knowing what was ahead of her. Try as she might, she could make herself no promises.
Guy...Guy was more difficult to read. Alyss had always liked Guy, ever since she'd met him six years ago. He had come to visit her, even when Luke had lessons, given her gifts that she cherished, taught her many things before her parents had decided to give her lessons, and he had comforted her, even when everyone had said she would die soon.
But Guy had never shown anything more than a servent's attention to his Lady. He always bowed to her, called her by her titles instead of her name, and spoke with polite, careful words. She didn't know if Guy would even care if she was gone. Alyss considered her and Guy to be close; they were friends, at least. He was like a second brother to her, but Guy was different than Luke. Luke would run up and hug her, talk to her excitedly, and while it may be a difference in personality, Guy still seemed reserved. Somehow, she found herself wishing he was worrying for her.
Alyss smiled through her tears. She was being silly! Nothing like that mattered anymore. It was likely she wouldn't see any of them ever again… she might even die soon. Although she had no idea what her fate might be, she wanted to live long enough to see her family again.
Van entered the room. "So you're finally awake. Good. Hurry now, we must get a boat to Belkend right away."
"Bel…kend?"
During one of her lessons with Guy, he had showed Alyss a map of Auldrant. He had pointed to Baticul. "That's where we are. Your uncle is the King of Kimlasca, and the capital, Baticul, is where his castle is." He had showed her many major cities, Malkuthian and Kimlascan. When he got to Belkend, Guy had proceeded to tell her about fomicry and the fontech related research they did. Alyss didn't understand it all, but she could tell that the technology made Guy happy. His eyes lit up, and so Alyss had listened to Guy talk.
"Yes Alyss, grab your things. We have appointments to keep."
Where are we? And what will be awaiting us in Belkend? Alyss thought. As she grabbed her bag from the floor, she pondered asking Van.
"Uh… Van?"
"Yes, Alyss?"
"Um… where are we?"
"We're in a village on the coast a little ways from Baticul. We must get a boat to take us to Belkend Port." He spoke politely, but she didn't want to run the risk of irritating him with tons of questions.
Who knows what Van's planning, and if I irritate him, he might kill me faster! she thought.
The day was going to be hot. The room was cold during the night: she had woken up shivering more than once. Now that the sun was glaring through the window, the room felt like it was on fire. Alyss changed into a light blue, plain dress, so she would be inconspicuous, yet cool.
It's so hot! Must I wear this? If I do, I'll die of a heat stroke! I know Van doesn't want anyone to recognize me, but the heat will give me an excuse. Maybe without the cloak Uncle's guards will notice me! Alyss thought, picking up the cloak Van had bought for her. She kept her hair down, bangs falling over her eyes.
She looked down as they walked, keeping an eye on Van's feet as they left the inn. There are so many people in this small village! Why won't anyone give us a second glance? she wondered. Surely the maids at home had noticed by now that she wasn't there when the rest of the house awoke! How had all of the security been so relaxed so far?
Was anyone even looking for her?
In the middle of the night, Luke woke up to a woman sneaking around his room. Wondering what she was doing, he sat motionless for a few seconds. After looking around for a little while, she headed toward his bed in the middle of the room. Luke sat upright, panicked, and when he started to scream, she knocked him upside the head with a pistol. He had passed out; collapsed in a heap on his bed, motionless.
He woke up in a dark, stone room. He tried to sit up, but he was bound at the wrists and ankles. He was so confused: who was that woman, and what was she doing in his room? More importantly, where was he
now? Luke squirmed a little bit, trying to see more of his surroundings, but quickly gave up. The ground was hard: moving was painful and cost him a lot of energy.
Luke didn't have much time to think about his predicament: A door at the end of the room opened. A young woman with blonde hair pulled into a bun came into the room.
"Oh, so you're awake." She strode over, her heeled shoes making noises on the hard stone floor as she walked.
"What do you want from me?" Luke yelled. He could feel his blood growing hot, the vein in his temple throbbing. He struggled to free himself from his bindings, but to no avail. The harder he fought, the more tired he became, and it didn't look like the woman was going to assist him in any way
"We had orders to bring you here. You're going to become one of us."
"One of you?! Who are you?"
"We are the God-Generals; our leader is your Master Van. However, that's all that I can tell you now. You'll have to wait for the others to get here."
She untied his feet and led the young noble down a flight of stairs, leaving Luke to wonder what his teacher had to do with his abduction. They entered a large hall, with a long table in the center. On the table sat a blunt looking practice sword. There was a large, dark haired man at the other end waiting for Luke.
The man looked at the woman who called herself a God-General. She stepped aside.
"Here is the boy, Largo."
He gave a small nod, and she untied Luke. The man then nodded at the table, and the sword that waited on top of it.
Luke followed the man's gaze and stared at the table and sword for a moment. What the hell am I supposed to be doing, anyway? They kidnap me, bring me here, and expect me to read their minds! Luke thought.
"Master Luke…let's begin your training."
Alyss never knew that a boat could lurch and sway so much.
When she had seen the boat in the harbor, she pictured the ships from the books that Guy had shown her back at the manor. She was excited, jumping around once they were let on deck. Once the ship left port however, Alyss was forced into the cabin. The moving and the rocking… she felt sick. She laid on a bunk, and tried not to think about it. In the end, holding her cheagle and thinking of her family and the manor, she drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
It seemed only a few minutes later, however, when Alyss was being awakened. A guard stood over her, prodding her gently with his finger.
"My lady, Van has called for you to come up to the deck. We'll be arriving at port any minute."
Alyss stood as the guard left, washed her face in the basin in the corner of her room, and smoothed out her dress. She was sure she only looked halfway presentable, but it couldn't be helped now. I wonder what Van wants, she thought, I was just starting to feel better, too. But from what that guard said, I won't have to put up with this seasickness much longer.
She grabbed her small pack and hurried out the door; with a little help from random soldiers, she found her way up to the deck. Alyss found Van in no time.
"Feeling better?"
"Not really…" Alyss shrugged and cocked her head to the side. When she looked back up at Van and the smile on his lips, she realized that he was poking fun at her. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes. "So, what are we going to Belkend for again?"
"Hmmm… I don't see why I can't tell you…I was ordered to bring you here to have tests done. Doctors here have wanted to see you for a while knowing that Kimlascan doctors couldn't heal you, so this is their chance."
"What sorts of tests?" And ordered? Who would order Van to bring me here? And why would someone risk so much just to let the doctors get a hold of me? Alyss wondered, but she quickly gave up on any hopes that he might tell her if she asked; he had been hesitant to tell her that much.
"I'm not sure…" Van shrugged. "I don't suppose it'll be anything too bad. They'll probably just draw blood and wait for results to come back."
Alyss's eyes widened. She'd had her blood drawn plenty of times. The doctors that came to the manor always seemed to want more of her blood. But as for the thought of more complicated procedures… She imagined herself strapped to a cart, struggling to get free, as doctors slowly got closer to her with all kinds of scary looking objects. Alyss shivered.
Van stopped talking as the boat came to port, and he led Alyss ashore. They walked along the road to the city; Van was sure to avoid any monsters or threatening humans. As they wound their way through the city, Alyss was nervous. She didn't know what being a test subject entailed, but she refused to let her kidnappers see her weakness.
Together, they climbed steps and walked over metal grating through the streets. Everywhere she looked, there were men and women in lab coats, carrying notebooks and sometimes heavy looking equipment. Some paid no attention to where they were going, jotting down notes or discussing theories with colleagues, so it was no surprise that no one noticed the tough looking man, and the little girl running to keep up with him.
After a while, they came to a large metal door, which Van quickly opened. There was a square white room, with a door on each wall. Van must have been here before, because to Alyss, all of the rooms looked the same. She would surely be lost if Van wasn't dragging her along.
After several twists and turns, they entered a room with a large chair in the center, and all kinds of medical equipment. A man wearing a white lab coat stood to greet them. Van went over to him and spoke in rushed whispers. Alyss only caught a little of what they said. Things like, "So that's her, eh?" and "Hmm… I see," made her wonder even more about Van's motives.
When they had finished, Van left without a word to Alyss. He seemed preoccupied, distant, almost cold. Watching his back as he exited the room, she felt like she was being left behind like so many other times in her life.
She wondered if he'd be coming back.
Luke picked up the practice sword from the table. He stared at it for a second, but in that second, the large man called Largo had already crossed the room. Luke jumped back and looked up. The man's sword was drawn, and he was still running at him.
Luke put up the practice sword and tried to parry. Suddenly, he forgot everything that Master Van had taught him. He thought he was going to die! He had no strategy, so he tried to dodge and use his size to his advantage. He was much smaller than the other man, so he tried running around him to land some hits into Largo's back. But the older man was clearly more experienced. After trying to slash and hack his was past Largo, he turn to more evasive actions. He ran. He could tell that this was some kind of test, from the way he was offered a sword, and from the woman's words earlier.
Oh yeah… where did that woman go?
He scanned the room, dividing his attention between his search and dodging Largo's attacks. After looking around the room, he spotted her in a corner, shaking with silent laughter. But… why was she laughing? Luke was about to be killed!
Luke whipped around, preparing for another onslaught. Largo now stood a few steps back, shaking his head as if in disappointment.
"How pathetic. You'll need more training than I thought…so you're Luke? The Duke's son?"
Luke nodded.
"Well… not anymore. You can't use that name now. 'The Light of the Sacred Flame' you once were. Now there will be a new flame for Kimlasca. All that are left here are the ashes."
Luke gave him a confused glare. Why can't I use my name? And what ashes? But… new flame? Does that mean someone's going to replace me? Why the hell isn't anyone making any sense?!
"You will now be known as Asch. Asch the Bloody, the newest God-General. You will wait here with Legretta for your Master. He will make you worthy of your title."
A/N: Hopefully you will all review, because I love knowing what people think. Even if you think this is the worst story ever, please let me know (though nicely, please ). I love feedback!
I'll be working on chapter 5!
Love, Chosen
