Lunar: And here's chapter 3! I particularly like this chapter. So many new things come in this one. Keep your eyes peeled for the new stuff. And without further delay, I present this chapter for your reading.
Chapter 3:Escape from the Enemy Base
Lloyd and Colette were sitting on the roof of Dirk's house, stargazing. Their friends were below, having a party, celebrating the regeneration of the world. Dirk was at his outdoor stove, doing some barbequing. Genis and Raine were using magic to create fireworks. Kratos was brooding near Anna's grave. Mia and her friends were exchanging stories.
Colette looked over to Lloyd, her eyes slightly glazed over. She got closer to Lloyd, leaning on him and placing her head on his shoulder. Lloyd put his hand under Colette's chin, tilting her head up. Their faces got closer and closer, their noses practically touching each other, until…
A sharp pain shot up Lloyd's back, causing him to jump. He looked around and saw he wasn't home; instead he was in a prison cell. It was dark and cold inside, as if it were designed to be devoid of life.
"I must've been dreaming. But that's twice I've dreamed about me nearly kissing Colette. Why the hell am I doing that!?" he thought. "But onto more important matters, like 'Where am I'."
He then hears two Desians talking. He strains himself to listen in.
"…If so, I feel sorry for that Lloyd kid," said Desian A.
"Yeah. He can't possibly escape execution," Desian B replied.
"…Execution!? What the hell!?" Lloyd's thoughts screamed.
Just then, another Desian appears.
"Hey, Lord Botta's calling you," Desian C informed them.
"Gotcha," said Desian B.
Desians A and B left to go meet with this 'Lord Botta' while Desian C remained to stay on guard.
Lloyd then takes a moment to examine his situation.
"Dammit. They took my swords, and I can't open the door with the guard there. The only thing I have on me is the Sorcerer's Ring I got from the Martel Temple… I wonder… If I can hit the guard with its fire…" he thought.
Lloyd takes careful aim at the guard and, using the ring, fires a blast of fire at the guard. The fire hits Desian C, causing him to run away, crying all the way to mommy. Lloyd works the lock to his cell for a moment, and gets the door open. He walks out and takes a look around, checking for more guards. He sees none and takes this moment to bolt.
However, he stopped the moment he heard someone shout, "Hey!"
Lloyd quickly looked around, anticipating an ambush. Oddly, no Desians were around.
"Who said that?" he asked.
"I did," the voice replied.
"Where are you?" Lloyd asked.
"In the cell," the voice replied.
Lloyd looked around and saw a jail cell nearby and cautiously approached it. He peered in and saw a young man sitting inside. He had blue hair and blue eyes. He had on a brown and orange shirt, what appeared to be an orange skirt of some kind, blue pants, green fingerless gloves, green boots, and an orange headband designed to protect ears. However, this guy didn't have ordinary ears. He actually had blue cat-like ears. In addition, he had a blue tail.
"Who… are you?" Lloyd asked.
"Name's Ranulf and I'd appreciate it if you let me out," he introduced himself.
Now, that rang some bells in Lloyd's empty head. This guy fit the description of what Mia called 'laguz'. The only reason he even remembered that is because he found the idea of shapeshifting into giant animals that can fight rather exciting. And, if he recalled correctly, Ranulf was the name of one of Mia's missing friends.
"Does the name Mia Wayu mean anything to you?" Lloyd asked out of nowhere.
Ranulf's eyes widened for a moment then softened.
"And why would you want to know?" he calmly asked.
"That's because she and I are traveling together and helping each out. To the best of my knowledge, she's safe and sound with my best friend and not here," Lloyd answered.
"I see… Then you and I, my friend, have a common goal," said Ranulf. "Yes, the name Mia rings a bell. She's one of my companions. Let me out and I will help Mia aid you. I believe she has told you what I'm capable of."
"She has. I'm quite eager to see exactly how you laguz fight. I'll let you out," Lloyd responded.
Lloyd tinkered with the lock for a moment and popped it open, freeing Ranulf. Ranulf walked out of his cell and shook Lloyd's hand.
"Thanks, friend," he said.
"Anytime. And the name's Lloyd," Lloyd greeted.
"Nice to meet you, Lloyd. Now, let's see about getting out of here," said Ranulf.
They two of them made their way down the hallway when they found what appeared to be a check-in station. On the desk was Lloyd's missing equipment.
"Sweet! My stuff!" Lloyd exclaimed as he rearmed himself. "Now I can fight."
"You fight with two blades?" Ranulf asked.
"Well, yeah," Lloyd replied.
"That's weird. And I've met the weirdest beorc, laguz, and branded around," Ranulf commented.
"Ha ha ha," Lloyd replied sarcastically.
The two continued to the end of the hallway, where they unexpectedly ran into two Desian guards.
"Who the hell are you?" Desian Alpha asked.
"Uh-oh," said both Ranulf and Lloyd.
"P…Prison break!" Desian Beta shouted.
They charged the two escaped prisoners. Lloyd quickly swiped at his opponent twice and sent a Sonic Thrust right through his chest, killing him.
Ranulf kneed his opponent in the gut, causing him to stumble. He then did a sweep kick, knocking him to the ground. He then stomped on the Desian's neck, causing it to make a sound equivalent to breaking wood. The Desian was dead.
"How come you didn't transform? I wanted to see a giant cat!" Lloyd pouted.
"Well, excuse me for wanting to save that for when we absolutely need it. I can't stay transformed for too long," Ranulf replied.
Just then, red lights started to flash and a siren began to blare, signaling a jailbreak.
"Let's get out of here!" said Ranulf.
"You could say that again," Lloyd replied.
The two ran into the next room, which was filled with plenty of technology. Two robots were roaming the area and there were two blue platforms on the floor. There was also a cauldron-like object nearby. Intrigued, Lloyd and Ranulf went to investigate it.
"Hmm? What's this?" Lloyd asked.
"Looks like a disfigured pot to me," said Ranulf.
Just then, Ranulf's ears perk up.
"Someone's coming! We gotta hide!" he warned.
The two hide themselves underneath a machine just as two Desians came into the room.
"Where are they!? The kid in red and the sub-human disappeared!" Desian Gamma said.
The two Desians search the room for Lloyd and Ranulf. Lucky for our two heroes, they are undiscovered. Lloyd noticed a flicker of anger on Ranulf's face at the mention of 'sub-human'.
"They're not over here either!" Desian Delta shouted.
"That's strange. How could we miss them when there's only one exit?" Desian Gamma asked.
"Let's head back," Desian Delta replied.
The two Desians head for the door and try to open it, but failed to.
"Oh, yeah. This room has a special mechanism," said Desian Gamma.
The Desians lead the two robots onto the blue platforms. They then electrocuted the robots. The door slowly opens.
"It's annoying to go through all the trouble of electrifying them and moving them over the panels just to open the door," Desian Delta sighed.
"Lord Botta sure likes to do things the hard way…" Desian Gamma sighed as well.
"All right, let's go look for that kid in red and that sub-human," ordered Desian Delta.
The two Desians exit the room to continue their search for Lloyd and Ranulf. Lloyd and Ranulf crawl out of their hiding place.
"Red, red, red. Does my outfit stand out so much? Sheesh," Lloyd sighed.
Lloyd noticed that Ranulf seemed to be in a bad mood and decided to get back on task.
"Now, let's see… Hey, Ranulf, we should take a closer look at that cauldron-like thing," Lloyd suggested.
Ranulf snapped out of his funk and they examined the object. Lloyd's Sorcerer Ring began to glow purple when the ring touched the object. It also began to crackle with electricity. Lloyd aimed at the air and fired. Instead of fire, a ball of electricity came out of the ring.
"The fire changed into a ball of electricity. That's weird for the ring to do that. Maybe I should stop at those weird machines with this. I guess we should check out any weird devices like this," said Lloyd.
"I guess…" said Ranulf. "Hey, you think we can use that to blast those metallic things and get out of here?"
"Probably. You lure them over to the blue areas and I'll electrify them," said Lloyd.
Ranulf ran to one of the robots and got its attention. He lured it over to the blue platform where Lloyd used the ring to hit the robot, electrocuting it. The robot stayed in place, causing the platform to light up. They repeated the process with the other robot. When they finished, the door slowly opened and the two rushed out.
They ran down this hallway, empty except for the occasional robot, which got quickly destroyed by kicks and slashes. They made this way into another room, which had electrified columns, a console, and a silver lunchbox-looking object.
Lloyd and Ranulf examine the console. Lloyd tried to comprehend what the text on the console was saying, but all it did was give him a mammoth-sized headache. Ranulf, on the other hand, was able to read through it all and comprehend what it said.
"Ah, I see. To get to the entrance, I just push this thing here," said Ranulf.
Ranulf pushed a button and the room shook for a couple of seconds. Lloyd fell on his rump from the shaking. Ranulf got Lloyd up and they went to the southern door. However, they couldn't get the door open, no matter what they tried.
"They must have it blocked somehow," Ranulf commented.
"Now how are we going to get out?" Lloyd whined.
"Well, since we came from the east and we can't go south, we'll go north," answered Ranulf.
Ranulf went over to the console, quickly reread it, and pushed another button. The room shook once more. When it ended, Lloyd and Ranulf went through the door and found themselves in another hallway. They were trying to figure out their next move when a group of Desians appeared.
"Whoa!" said Lloyd.
"Hey, you! What are you doing here!?" a Desian shouted.
"Uh-oh!" said Ranulf.
They bolted down another hallway and took refuge in one of the rooms, which had lots of fancy furniture.
"Phew, that was close…" Lloyd sighed out of relief.
"Who the hell are you? And who let you out of your cage, sub-human?" a voice asked.
The two of the turned around and saw a man was standing behind them. He had long blue hair in a ponytail, a swallowtail cape, and an aura that would make most fangirls and yaoi fanatics faint at the sight of him. His right hand was extended, mana surrounding it, ready to use it when needed.
"I decided to take a little vacation. Hope you don't mind," replied Ranulf with a smirk.
"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine!" Lloyd proclaimed.
"Hahahaha! You both certainly have guts. But I'm afraid I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you," the bluenette scoffed at Lloyd.
"What a coincidence, cause I don't see a need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realize how pathetic he is," Lloyd countered.
The bluenetted got flustered and Ranulf let out a chuckle.
"Why you little …" the bluenette mumbled.
He got ready to blast Lloyd. Ranulf ran up to stop him, but the blunette just knocked him out of the way with a swat of the hand. Lloyd puts up his arms to defend himself and the bluenette notices the Exsphere on Lloyd's left hand.
"An Exsphere!? You're… Lloyd!?" the bluenette asked.
Lloyd lowered his arms slightly.
"And if I am?" he asked.
The bluenette slowly approaches Lloyd. Ranulf gets ready to attack him again, should he pull anything.
"Hmm, I see the resemblance," the blunette said.
Before the bluenette could say anymore, Lloyd and Ranulf attempted to attack their captor, but he dodged both attacks easily. Before he could counterattack, several Desians, led by a Desian that looked like a tall, pale, ebony haired, half-elven Dirk clone, came in.
"Sir! We've received reports that the Chosen's group has infiltrated the facility!" the half-elven Dirk clone said.
"You! You're that Desian that attacked Iselia!" Lloyd shouted.
"So, you're Lloyd! Now this IS amusing!" said the Dirk clone. "And the sub-human's escaped his cage! Good! Now I can be rid of you!"
"Don't mess with me," Ranulf sneered.
"Botta! I'm leaving for now! Our plans will be ruined if he sees me," the blunette said.
"Who is he talking about?" Ranulf thought.
"What of the Chosen?" Botta asked.
"I'll leave that to you," the blunette ordered, who then turned to Lloyd.
"Lloyd. The next time we meet, you're mine," the blunette promised.
He then turned to Ranulf.
"Sub-human, I will know how you got here to Sylvarant. Just you wait," warned
The bluenette leaves, leaving Botta and his henchmen to deal with Lloyd and Ranulf. The two heroes found themselves surrounded with no way out. They braced themselves for one hell of a fight.
Suddenly, bolts of lightning rained down, striking and killing several Desians. Other Desians suddenly ended up missing a head. As Botta turned around to see what happened, two purple and orange flashes crashed into him. The purple flash sliced Botta's sword in half and the orange flash sent Botta rolling several feet.
Lloyd and Ranulf turned to see that four people had come to their rescue. One was Genis, clad in blue and wielding his kendama. Another wore white and had blood-covered chakrams in her hands, her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders. Her name: Colette, the Chosen One. A third was clad in purple, had a serious look on his face, his double-edged sword drawn for combat. This was the mercenary Kratos Aurion. The fourth wore orange and held a white two-handed blade in her hands. That was Lloyd's newest companion, Mia.
"Lloyd, are you okay?" Genis asked.
"Lloyd, are you all right?" Colette asked.
"Ranulf! I'm glad to see you're safe!" Mia exclaimed.
"Guys! All of you came for me?" Lloyd asked.
"Mia! Finally! A familiar face! Good to see ya!" said Ranulf.
Kratos then turns to Ranulf and glares at him for a moment.
"Lloyd and his friend look fine," said Kratos.
"My good sir, you could put Soren to tears with that glare," Ranulf smirked.
Kratos then turned his attention to Botta, who was getting up.
"Ugh… I was not expecting so many of you. We'll have our fight soon enough, but, for now, I shall retreat," said Botta as he tossed his broken weapon aside.
"You're not going anywhere," said Lloyd, his sword pointed at Botta.
"Is that so? Well, how about this? STALAGMITE!" Botta chanted.
Cracks in the ground began to appear under Colette. Lloyd and Kratos realized what Botta was doing and ran to try and save Colette, but the wouldn't make it. Just as a sharp spire of rock jutted out of the cracks, Colette was slammed out of the way by Mia, and the spell went right through her left shoulder.
"Gaah!" she screamed.
Lloyd, Kratos, Ranulf, and Genis rushed over to Mia and Colette, ignoring Botta's escape.
"Mia! Are you okay?" Lloyd asked.
"I'll be… fine…" Mia coughed.
"Don't you dare die on us here, Mia. Ike would NEVER forgive me if you died here," Ranulf warned.
"Ranulf, you… know me better than that…" she said.
Kratos' hand began to glow green. He held his hand over Mia and chanted, "First Aid!" The wound began to close and the torn clothing repaired itself.
"That reminds me of Micaiah's Sacrifice technique," Ranulf thought to himself.
"She'll be fine for now, but we have to get her out of here," Kratos informed them.
Suddenly, a white-haired woman clad in orange with a rod strapped to her back came in. She saw the group and approached them. When she saw Ranulf and his distinctive features, she had the urge to examine and dissect him, but forced it down, knowing that now was not the time for scholastic curiosity.
"Professor Raine!" Lloyd exclaimed.
"Ah. Lloyd," Raine greeted. "Genis told me what had happened in Iselia."
Raine shot a cold glare at Genis, which made him flinch.
"I apologize for the trouble he's caused you," said Raine.
"No. I'm the one that got Genis involved. I'm sorry, Professor," Lloyd apologized.
"Save the chitchat for later. We shouldn't stay here long," Kratos interrupted.
"Yes, and with Mia injured right now, we really can't afford any fighting," added Ranulf as he was helping Mia stand.
"You're right. I opened the escape route just now. Let's go," Raine informed them.
As the seven of them fled, Raine noticed Botta's broken weapon on the ground, which had a mysterious crystalline-like object inbedded in it. She picked it up and continued with the others.
A little ways outside the Desian Base, the group stopped for a moment to catch their breath and for Raine to further heal Mia's injury.
As Raine left Mia to rest for a moment, she went up to Lloyd and Kratos and showed them the broken weapon.
"I have a question. This crystalline object attached to this weapon… Is this one of the Exspheres that Genis spoke of?" she asked.
"It appears to be one," Kratos observed.
"It looks like the one Kratos uses," added Lloyd.
"I suppose it does," said Kratos.
"What are Exspheres?" Raine asked.
"It will take some time to explain. Let's get back to Triet first," Kratos replied.
"I suppose that is for the best. Besides, we need to get Mia to shelter. She's been healed fully, but she still needs to rest," said Raine.
"Agreed," said Kratos.
At that moment, about two dozen Desians surrounded the group of seven.
"You! You will all pay for humiliating Lord Botta!" one shouted.
"This is not good," said Raine.
"I know. One of us is no shape for combat and this is a bad place to fight," observed Ranulf as he held Mia up.
"What should we do?" Lloyd asked.
"I… I got this one," Mia said as she separated herself from Ranulf's support.
"Mia! But…" Lloyd started.
"Don't worry. I got this," she told them.
She took Alondite in her hands and twirled it in the air.
"Feel the power of Yune!" she shouted.
Mia then stabbed the sand with her sword.
"Holy Impact!"
Mana erupted from the ground, causing the sand to stir, blinding and injuring the Desian party. When the sand cleared, Lloyd, Genis, Colette, Kratos, Raine, Mia, and Ranulf had disappeared, escaping the Desians.
So many new things! Ranulf, Yuan, Kratos, Colette, Raine, and the appearance of a Mystic Arte/Hi-ougi from Mia! :D So, next chapter, you'll get some more info on Ranulf and Mia and Ike in addition to a special Lloyd/Kratos scene I cooked up. So, watch out for the next chapter: Building More Bridges.