Chapter 4: Presea and the Prisoner
When morning arrives across Tethe'alla, we find Riku slowly walking down the stairs in Zelos' mansion, stretching his arms with the clothes he's worn throughout on his entire journey still on his back. Looking down off the side of the stairs, he is surprised to find that Raine is the only one sitting down on the couch. She had a book of Tethe'alla history in her hands, and there was a stack of ten other books off to the right of her that were already completed.
"Fascinating, so that's why there was a Sorcerer's Ring altar in the sewers!" Raine comments with a flamboyant tone of intrigue in her voice, unaware that Riku was listening in on her bright-eyed enthusiasm. The professor lets out a rather frightening laugh as the boy ends his descent at the bottom of the staircase.
"Wow, you've been up for a while now Raine." Riku says, causing Raine to flinch out of her excited state and slam the book shut while she glances behind herself, recomposing her expression to a more relaxed state as she says "Oh, you're awake."
Riku walks to the side of the couch and takes a quick glance at the stack of books, noticing that one of the titles was "Legend of the Otherwo-" The rest was cut off by a book laying on top of it. This leads to the boy asking Raine "Doing some research on Tethe'alla?"
As Riku sits down on a chair to the right of the couch, Raine puts the book in her hand off to the side and says "Yes. Sebastian was kind enough to bring me the books I needed before he went to sleep last night."
"So you didn't sleep at all last night?" The teenage Overlord asks, which Raine nods in response to before mentioning "How can I when there's so much to learn about this world? Considering this is your first time in this world, I'm surprised you didn't spend the night reading as well."
Riku has to come up with a quick answer to hide his knowledge again, and he chose the better of two options as he waved his right hand out and said "When you have to travel as far as I have to to reach other worlds you really don't find much time to sleep, so while I had a chance to do so I decided to just sleep for the night."
Raine hums to herself as she stares at Riku, so the boy decides to add-on to his previous sentence with "Besides, I read up quite a bit on Tethe'alla while I was in Sybak. If there's anything else I need to know, I trust you to answer any of my questions."
The professor chuckles warmly at the thought, but points out to Riku afterwards "I'm flattered Riku, but I don't think it would be possible for me to tell you everything we need to know about this world." Raine then stands on her feet while picking up the last book she had, glancing over at Riku and saying to him "Since we still have to wait for everyone else, would you like to help me put these books away?"
Riku nods his head, and for the next ten minutes him and Raine work together to put the books back into place. When they get back to the living room, Zelos is sitting on his chair, staring at the two of them with his usual smirk on his face as he says mischievously "Well well, what were you two up to this morning?"
Raine continues walking ahead, saying nonchalantly to the man as she starts to head towards the staircase "We were sorting books in your library. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to wake up my lazy little brother and Lloyd."
The professor walks out of sight, and Zelos looks at Riku and says after a light sigh "Let me tell ya, that lady is as cold as Flanoir's ice. If you ever find a woman in your life Riku, make sure she can react to a little teasing."
A few seconds later, a little bit of commotion can be heard coming from the second floor. There are two thumps followed by Lloyd exclaiming loudly "Ok Professor, we're up!" It is only a little later that Lloyd and Genis walk down the stairs while rubbing their stomachs with Raine following close behind. Riku looks at the two and says to them "You two feeling hungry?"
Lloyd groans and says in a grumbling tone "No…" Genis follows up on this "We were going to get up soon sis…You didn't have to do that…"
"I couldn't take the risk Genis, you know we have a lot to do today." Raine calmly points out. It doesn't take much long after that moment for Colette, Sheena and Presea to come down from above. Thanks to Sebastian and a few other maids, the group is able to enjoy a hefty breakfast in the dining room before they gather at the living room to head off to the Elemental Research Laboratory again.
As they are leaving, Lloyd looks at Colette as the girl grimaces slightly and says to her "Is something wrong Colette?" Colette flinches in surprise and tilts her head while saying to Lloyd "Hmm? I think I slept wrong. My shoulder feels stiff."
Lloyd mumbles for a second before asking Colette "Are you all right?" The girl tries to quickly change the subject by reassuring him with "Heheh, sorry." As naïve as he is, Lloyd accepts this answer with a nod of his head and turns back around to join back up with the rest of the group. It doesn't take long for everyone to return to the lab, and this time Riku chooses to head inside since there didn't appear to be as many soldiers roaming about.
The lab had a rather cold atmosphere to it due to the lack of windows bringing in sunlight, but was otherwise just as fancy as the rest of Meltokio's buildings Riku had seen thus far. Greeting the group was a green dome-haired person with pointed ears and a pearl lab coat. He looked at Lloyd with a gasp of joy as he says to him "Welcome back everyone. Everything is ready."
Sheena takes the forefront after taking a glance around the area, saying to the man "Where's the EC?" in a puzzled tone. "Your friend Kuchinawa carried it to the bridge already…Did he not tell you this?"
Sheena looks at the man and shakes her head while her expression becomes even more befuddled. The man sighs and says "I see…Head on over to the artificial beach near the bridge, he should be there waiting for you. Before you go though, take this."
The man reaches into his coat and pulls out a small box with tiny extended able wings that he gives to Lloyd. Taking hold of it in his left hand, Lloyd looks at in a puzzled manner as the man explains "This is a wing pack, you will store the EC in it."
Lloyd exclaims in disbelief as he looks up at the man "Whoa?! Is the Elemental Cargo really that small?!"
The man tilts his head and scratches the bottom of his chin as though Lloyd's answer made little sense to him, while Zelos answers Lloyd's question with "Ah, I see. They don't have wing packs in Sylvarant. Man, you guys are a bunch of country folks!"
Zelos' little joke naturally peeves Lloyd, causing him to turn around and exclaim to him "Gee, sorry!" The man laughs in response and says in a calm tone "Relax Lloyd, it's not too hard to use the wing pack. Let's get going so I can show you how later."
Everyone was about ready to head off, but then Sheena remembers something important and stops everyone with a simple "Wait just a second." The ninja girl looks back at the laboratory man and exclaims "Come on out, Corrine!" A puff of smoke on the nearby desk heralds the arrival of the little fox, who immediately looks at the smiling man and nervously trembles.
Sheena says to Corrine "We're going to be gone for a while. Say good-bye to everyone." Corrine's response is to stumble back a bit as the laboratory worker tries to approach him, forcing Sheena to reassure her little friend with "It's all right, they aren't going to do any more weird experiments on you."
The man closes his eyelids and leans forward with a smile while saying "Corrine, how have you been? I hope you continue to look after Sheena for us."
Ignoring the kind remarks of the man out of sheer nervousness, Corrine looks at Sheena and exclaims in a frightened manner "I hate this place!" This exclamation makes the man back off and gain a melancholy expression while Corrine quietly says "…I have Sheena, so I won't be lonely."
Sheena says in a semi-embarrassed tone of voice to her little foxy friend "Corrine! Don't talk like that." Corrine curls back slightly and whimpers before glancing at the man half-heartedly and saying "…Good-bye" before he vanishes in another puff of smoke.
The laboratory worker sighs and says in a disappointed tone "Even now, Corrine still hates us…I'm sorry for the trouble Sheena, and I wish you and your friends the best of luck." Thanking the man for the show of good will, the group exits the lab, and because the front gate is still guarded under the King's orders the group has to take a detour back through the sewers to make it out of Meltokio.
On the field, the group makes a rather short trip due north of the city to arrive at the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge, a rather gargantuan green architecture that extends out for miles on end, but both halves were raised up near the center to prevent the Chosen's group from going back and forth between Sybak and Meltokio easily. Everyone ignores the main bridge and goes towards a locked gate on the right side per Sheena's directions.
"Kuchinawa should be waiting for us down below, but how are we going to get past this locked gate?" Sheena's question is answered by an enthusiastically willing Lloyd, who draws one of his swords and says "Leave it to me!"
With one swing Lloyd cuts off the lock on the gate, and it creaks open while he sheathes his blade back in. Playing that simple act off coolly "There we go." Leads to Colette enthusiastically replying with "Wow! Lloyd, you're amazing!"
To ensure that Lloyd doesn't get too big of an ego, Genis jokingly says "At least he's useful for certain things." While Zelos says "His face loses out to mine, though." This distracts Lloyd away from his little moment as he turns to the suave man and exclaims "What has my face got to do with anything?!"
Raine looks towards the bridge with a curious look in her eyes and says "You can see the bridge from here." Everyone glances towards it, and Colette in particular notices something odd now that she saw the bridge from this point of view. "Are those decoration-looking things Exspheres?"
She refers to the red orbs present across the side, and Zelos points out to Colette afterwards "That's right Colette. That bridge is…operated by Exspheres." The man felt a bit disgusted to say that, and everyone starts going melancholy mere moments later.
Weighing in on the mood, Zelos says to the group as they turn and head down the staircase "It certainly is grotesque, but considering where Exspheres come from I'm not sure it's appropriate to describe them that way."
Colette nods her head and says "…You're right." And cracks a smile afterwards while trying to lift her mood back up.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs brings the group to the rather small docks, where a man wearing a full-body crimson ninja garb stands on the farthest dock next to a orange and grey-green colored sea vessel. As the people gather nearby, the man impatiently says "It took you long enough. This is the EC."
"Good morning to you too, Kuchinawa." Zelos sarcastically says to the ninja before he turns to Lloyd and gestures at the EC and asks "Ok Lloyd, take out the wing pack and aim it at the EC."
Lloyd pulls the little pack out of his outfit and points it at the vessel while examining a single button near the bottom and saying "Let's see…like this?" With a single push some bit of science related mumbo-jumbo happens that causes the EC to be covered in smoke as it shrinks down and flies straight into the top of the box. Lloyd, Colette, Genis and Riku all look on in surprise, with Lloyd nearly dropping the box into the water in the process.
"Whoa?!" "Wow! That's incredible!" "Wow! How does it work?!" Barely describes the reactions Lloyd, Colette and Genis have towards the wing pack's function. Riku waves one hand out and says "No matter where I go, technology still manages to amaze me." While he mentions this he glances over at Raine, who quietly comments "…Why do I…feel like I've seen this before?"
Presea surprisingly looks at the professor too and asks "…Professor?" in a robotic tone before Raine brushes her feelings off and says "Ah…It's nothing."
Zelos smiles at the rather impressed Lloyd and says "See, it fits snuggly inside." Lloyd raises the wing pack up with one hand and says excitedly "It disappeared! It's amazing! This is so cool! Let's try bringing it back out!" With another press of the button, the EC is ejected back into the water in it's normal size.
"Wow!" Lloyd, Colette and Genis say in unison. Too far impressed with how this works, Lloyd repeatedly presses the button on the wing pack to store and eject the EC for a good twenty seconds, grinning goofily all the while until the impatient Kuchinawa says "…That's enough goofing around. How about getting on your way?"
Lloyd stops messing with the wing pack and says in a grumpy tone "Fine, fine. I can't wait to make use of this EC! This is great!" Genis pops in on his friend's enthusiasm by mentioning "Come on Lloyd, you know you'll just get bored with it in no time…" While Colette matches Lloyd's high-spirits with "Yay, we get to go out to sea again!"
Raine groans in the distance and comments while scrunching her forehead with her fingertips "We're going to sea, aren't we…"
Sheena says happily "Let's get going then. Off to Sybak!" As everyone started to enter the EC from the top, Kuchinawa turns to Sheena and holds his hand out, saying in a respectful tone "Sheena, take this with you." In his palm was a small paper seal with a particular bit of text on it.
Sheena recognizes the object and says "A projective charm?" As she takes it from Kuchinawa's hand. The ninja nods and says "Yes. Be careful!" With a puff of smoke created from his ninja arts, Kuchinawa vanishes from sight. Sheena then leaps atop the EC after putting the projective charm in her shirt. Before entering the ship she pulls out another charm and holds it in front of her body with two fingers while a glyphic seal of pure water forms around her feet.
"I call upon the Maiden of the Mist!" Sheena's voice echoes outward as she channels all of her energy into the seal in her hand. The glyphic seal expands to include three magical circles merged together by a triangle of lines, and Sheena raises the seal above her head while exclaiming "I summon thee! Come, Undine!"
In front of the EC, Sheena summons forth a majestic being that takes on an amphibian-like form, complete with blue skin and "clothes" that seem to be fused to her skin. Recognizing the wishes of her master, the Summon Spirit Undine waves her hands out in front of her body and weaves the flow of water-based mana into the EC to transform it into a proper sea-faring vessel. As the EC rises slightly off the water's surface, Sheena thanks Undine for her efforts and puts her seal away while the spirit disappears before she jumps into the ship with everyone else.
The group takes off across the grand Tethe'alla sea, with a monitor inside the ship thankfully allowing them to see just where they were traveling. It was surprisingly spacious inside the EC, meaning that nobody would feel cramped as they waited for the vessel to arrive at the coast near Sybak. So everyone decided to relax for now and contemplate their next moves or just have casual conversations with each other.
With Lloyd, Colette and Genis still geeking out over the wing pack, Raine and Zelos talking about the functionality of the EC some more while Sheena spends some time with Corrine, Riku decided that he would try and strike up a conversation with the stiff and quiet Presea. "Let's see how much luck I can have…" Riku whispers to himself before he walks over to the young girl, who was standing at the eastern end of the ship and looking up towards the ceiling.
"Hey Presea, how are you doing?" The teenage Overlord kindly asks. Presea looks at Riku with an unchanging stoic expression and says "…I want to go home."
Riku blinks a few times at Presea and sighs, thinking to himself "This is not something I'm used to…" He gets on both knees to be on eye level with the young girl, asking of her "Where is your home?"
"…Ozette. I want to return to Ozette." Presea replies with. Riku tilts his head and cracks a smile while saying "Is Ozette a beautiful place?"
"…Ozette is…warm." Is Presea's response. And with such a short sentence, the teenage Overlord opens his eyes and sighs once more, saying to himself quietly "This probably wasn't the best idea."
Looking up at Presea as the girl tilts her head slightly, Riku says the only thing he can think of to end this conversation right "Don't worry Presea, we'll be at Ozette soon." The girl replies in turn "…I want to go home" repeating what she said mere seconds go with no change in tone. The teenage Overlord gets back onto his feet and comments as he slowly looks away from the girl "…I wish I could help you out now Presea, but my powers aren't useful for this problem."
Having depressed himself via this "conversation" with Presea, Riku just secludes himself on one side of the EC and tries to cheer himself up by listening in on Lloyd, Colette and Genis' merry discussion until the vessel eventually parks itself on the coastline East of Sybak. At that point the group gets out and stores the EC inside of the wing pack before they make a short trek over to the scientific city.
Upon entering Sybak, Riku can see why it was given it's nickname. Immediately off to the left are a series of electrical conductors that power the city, and every building inside is scientific of historical in some manner. Even the restaurant is called "Café Cranium". But the wonder of looking at Sybak for the first time fades away as the group is blocked by a rather familiar figure.
"Kratos!" Lloyd's proclamation made the person's identity apparent to Riku, who could barely see the red-haired warrior of Cruxis from the back of the group. The man stood still before everyone, and Lloyd began to reach for one of his swords while exclaiming "Are you trying to take Colette away?!"
Lloyd walks forward while drawing out his sword and swinging it out beside him to protect Colette, while Kratos calmly looks at the angered boy and says "…I have no intention of fighting you inside the city." When it appears as though Lloyd will not back down, Kratos makes a demonstration of the futility of his actions by drawing his sword out and swinging it so quickly that the force applied to Lloyd's own sword ends up throwing the boy straight onto his rear-end.
Kratos then sheathes his blade and folds his arms in front of his chest, looking down on Lloyd with cold disappointment as he says "You still lack the skills to defeat me." Sitting on the ground for a few seconds while blinking in disbelief, Lloyd quickly rises up afterwards with an angered scowl on his face as he exclaims to the man "Don't insult me!"
Kratos smiles slightly and says "I merely speak the truth." These words leave Lloyd frozen in place as Kratos then walks past him and most of the group, and he takes pause beside to say to her "Chosen One. If you wish to live, you must remove that worthless Key Crest."
Colette, in a surprising move of defiance considering just who she was in the presence of, turns towards Kratos and says to him calmly with an angered look in her eyes "…No." This causes Kratos to raise his eyebrows and curiously listen in as the girl says to him "I'm never taking this off…Lloyd gave this to me."
Kratos' response to this statement is to quietly murmur "…Foolish sentiments…" He then begins to walk off again, only for him to stop with his back turned towards Riku. Instead of keeping a conversation confined only between the two of them, Kratos says loud enough for the entire group to hear "Elemental Overlord, I hope you are enjoying your time with the Chosen's group while it lasts."
With most of the group flinching in surprise upon hearing this, Kratos knew he had accomplished his task and walked right out of Sybak. Riku grimaces at what just occurred, but has to quickly come up with a response to what just happened as Lloyd says to him "…You know Kratos?"
Riku looks at the entire group and says to them all in a fake tone of honesty "Well yeah, we briefly encountered each other when I first arrived in this world. I already told you that."
"But he called you by your other name." Genis points out in a suspicious tone of voice, which forces Riku to make a modification to his prior lie as he says "Well…We did fight each other briefly, and I let slip who I was."
"I'm surprised he referred to you by that title considering it was such a 'brief' encounter." Raine firmly states to Riku, putting enough emphasis on that one word to make it obvious that she was starting to unravel Riku's lies. The boy says in response to that "Well Kratos is a powerful warrior. Since I survived an encounter with him he must have decided to respect our duel by calling me that."
After that remark, Zelos swiftly drags the conversation away from Riku by saying "Man, what an arrogant SOB. Talking as if he knows everything…" With the words the man chose, Sheena directs a glare at Zelos and says to him in a scolding manner "While we're on the subject of ways of talking, why don'tcha do something about the vulgar language?" This gets a light giggle out of the Chosen of Tethe'alla.
Raine decides to accept the facts as they are now, and turns to the somewhat infuriated Lloyd to get him back on track with "Anyways Lloyd, we must go see this Kate person." Reminded of why they were in Sybak, Lloyd says to professor after a sigh "…Yeah. Let's get going."
A short trip through the wondrous city of Sybak brings the group to it's greatest institution. They head down a staircase in the back that leads them down to the basement of the facility, where two people are waiting around near an examiner's table. The closest one, a pointy-eared woman wearing small glasses and an exotic looking ponytail wearing a familiar lab coat, turns to the group and says in surprise "…It's you!"
Lloyd confidently smiles and says "We've saved our friends and came back with Presea just like we promised." The girl, Kate, glances over both Raine and Genis for a few seconds before saying "…Yes, you're right. The strange mana produced by the fusion of elven and human blood…You really do have half-elf friends."
Raine nods her head to confirm this fact and then gets down to business by saying to the girl "I've heard the story already. Presea's creating a Cruxis Crystal inside her body?"
Kate turns to Presea and looks at her quietly before glancing off at the rest of the group and saying "Yes, that's correct. She was part of an experiment we called the Angelus Project."
The name resonates well with Lloyd, who exclaims and then stutters "The Angelus Project! That's…the Project my Mom was involved in." While Lloyd says that, Kate walks over to Presea and tries to examine the Cruxis Crystal on her chest. As though a self-defense mechanism was programmed into her mind, Presea slaps Kate's hand away and then runs off beside one of the complex machines in the room, staring at the ground while Genis stares at her concernedly and Kate lets out a saddened sigh.
"…The Exsphere itself is nothing special. It just has a special Key Crest placed on it. This Key Crest delays the Exsphere's parasitic process, which can take place over a few days or up to several decades. It seems this can cause Exspheres to mutate into Cruxis Crystals." Kate explains the Angelus Project to the group.
Raine takes the information she just learned and figures out a close connection to another particular individual "Is the parasitic infection of the Exsphere the reason why Presea's emotional response is so subdued?"
Genis also picks up on what Raine had determined and says "If so, then she's just like Colette!" Colette looks at Kate afterwards and asks "If we leave Presea like this, what will happen to her?"
Kate goes silent for a few seconds, as what she was about to reveal was something she wished she could avoid. Thus she hesitantly states to the group "When the parasitic process is complete…she will die."
Genis flinches back in a horrified manner, and with a stuttered response far greater than what everyone else was experiencing he says "That's horrible! Please save her! What did she ever do to you?!"
Kate understands Genis' reaction all too well and says to him as she keeps a melancholic expression on her face "…She hasn't done anything. She just matched in the compatibility test."
Lloyd calmly points out "…You promised. You're going to save her, right?" Kate nods her and reminds Lloyd "I remember. You didn't discriminate against half-elves, so I'll keep my promise."
The half-elf man in the room says in disbelief and concern "Kate! Are you sure?! If you do that, you'll…" " A promise is a promise." Kate cuts the man off with that short sentence, and then turns to Lloyd and says to him "In order to save Presea, speak to a dwarf named Altessa who lives deep in Gaoracchia Forest."
Lloyd exclaims in utter surprise "Wait, there are dwarves in this world, too?!" Kate nods her head and further explains "Yes. He and I participated in this experiment by the order of the Pope."
Zelos groans and rubs the back of his head while saying in exasperation "Sheesh, not that pathetic old man again." Kate immediately snaps at Zelos with "Don't call him a pathetic old man!"
This response naturally intrigues everyone in the room, but it's Zelos who capitalizes on the surprise and says "Oh, my. That's unusual, a half-elf siding with the Pope." Realizing how badly she screwed up, Kate stumbles on her words as she lowers her head and says "…I'm…not siding with him. Anyways, have Altessa repair Presea's Key Crest."
Colette turns to Lloyd and asks him "Lloyd, can't you fix it like you did mine?" The boy hums to himself in thought before stating "…To be honest, I can't even tell the difference between Presea's crest and a normal one. It'd probably be faster to search for that dwarf, Altessa."
Sheena enthusiastically says "Then it's settled. Shall we head for Gaoracchia Forest?" Everyone save for Presea nods their head in agreement, and after Genis helps guide the girl towards the stair they start to leave the facility after thanking Kate for her help.
Along the way, Lloyd suggest to everyone "Hmm…I wonder if there's a connection between the Pope and the Desians." Appreciating the boy's observation, Raine says in response "Yes, I'm wondering about that, too."
After Zelos explains to the group that the forest is not far north of Sybak they make their way out of the city for now, and as they cross the Tethe'alla plains Riku walks beside Lloyd and asks him "So you know another dwarf?"
Lloyd turns his head towards the teenage Overlord and replies "Yeah. My dad Dirk is a dwarf. He's all the way back in Sylvarant right now though."
Riku then says "So he's the one who taught you how to make Key Crests for you and your friend's Exspheres. Considering that none of you have been infected, he definitely taught you well."
"Hehe, yeah. I honestly can't wait to see how good Altessa is in comparison." Lloyd glances over at Presea and says afterwards "I wonder just how many people were affected by the Angelus Project besides my mom and Presea…"
Riku gestures out with his right hand to grab Lloyd's attention before mentioning "Cruxis and the Desians have been around for a while, right? It's probably best to not think about it. Right now, we're doing whatever we can now to prevent this from ever happening again."
Lloyd nods his head in agreement while resting one hand atop his Exsphere, saying to Riku in turn "You're right. We'll save Presea, just like we did Colette." Pumping his right fist into the air, Lloyd proclaims in turn "Dwarven Vow #2: Never abandon someone in need."
Genis shrugs his shoulders at what Lloyd just said and mentions "Come on Lloyd, don't infect Riku with those cheesy vows." To which Lloyd replies with "Shut up Genis, at least it's better than saying 'Justice and love will always win' every time we defeat a monster." This remark leads to the two bickering for a little bit like a couple of brothers, something Riku smiles at until the moment that Raine stops them both.
An hour later, the group arrives at the entrance of the Gaoracchia Forest, a heavily tree infested landscape with barely any solid ground in sight thanks to the excess of roots crawling across the area. Heavy leafed branches leave little sunlight in the forest, and there was always this looming sense of dread in the atmosphere. Lloyd comments first "Ugh…This place feels so creepy."
Colette says in an off-putting, cheerful voice "Wow! It's dark!" Zelos stares at the girl in disbelief and says "Colette, you're awfully cheery about that…" And after turning her head towards her fellow Chosen she giggles and says "Sorry…"
The clanking of metal armor grabs everyone's attention afterwards, and Lloyd moves his hands towards his swords as he and Zelos recognize the three heavily armored soldiers that are approaching them with a pike in their hands. "Should have seen this coming…It's the Pope's little goons." Zelos comments.
One of the knights takes the forefront and says to the group "Chosen Zelos. You are in the way of the Pope." Zelos brushes the remark off nonchalantly and says "Heh. I've known that since I was a kid."
Another soldier says "Then that makes things simple. It is time for you to-" "Air Thrust!" As soon as Genis proclaims this, a circular formation of wind blades forms in the center of the three knights, lashing out against their backsides and sending them flying into the trees surrounding the group. One impact is all it takes for each of them to be knocked unconscious.
Genis confidently puts his kendama away while cracking a grin, and Lloyd lets go of his swords to turn back at his friend and say "Good work Genis."
"Glad you took care of them Genis, but there are going to be reinforcements eventually." Riku comments. Sheena says afterwards "Then we'll just get the heck out of here. But to where?"
"We're already going to Altessa's. The Papal Knights shouldn't find us there." Raine mentions with confidence in her voice, to which everyone agrees on. They then make their way through the labyrinth-like forest, using an altar to change the Sorcerer's Ring and give it the ability to project sunlight, which helps them dispel some of the more demonic foliage and guide their way through until they appear to be reaching the end of the forest.
However, Colette pauses for a moment and glances towards another path and says quietly "I hear something…footsteps from far away…" Zelos turns towards the girl and says in confusion "Huh? I don't hear anything."
Raine recognizes what's going on and says "I see, Colette still has her angel senses." Colette does a cutesy 'shush' towards her friends before whispering "Their definitely footsteps. Also, the sound of clinking armor. There are lots of them. It's coming from that direction."
Lloyd states "That can't be right. Altessa lives over there. Could it be more of the Pope's soldiers?" Sheena takes the lead of the group and summons Corrine onto her shoulder. The little fox leaps off and glances back at the ninja before scurrying off down the path ahead of them. "Corrine will scout ahead for us. For now, we should try not to move."
While everyone stood still and waited for the little fox to return, a person descended from the top of the forest, and when he lands on the ground everyone turns at him and flinches in shock save for Presea. It was the blue-haired, muscular prisoner from yesterday. This time however, the man didn't have as much of an intimidating air about him.
"You again? Sheesh, does the Pope really hate me this much?" Zelos says. The man tries to make his intentions known peacefully this time, as he says in a respectable manner to the group "I do not wish to fight you. I just want to speak with that girl."
Lloyd takes a guess and says "With Presea?" This answer along with the man's head nod makes Genis exclaim bravely "You've got to be kidding! Or did you forget that you tried to kill us?!"
"…I cannot speak for any others, however, I, at least, never intended to take your lives. My orders were to retrieve at girl named Colette." The prisoner says to the group. Colette points to herself and says "…Me?"
The man turns to her and apologetically nods his head, giving his word to the group that "I will do you no harm. Presea…is her name, correct? Please let me speak with her."
Lloyd turns towards everyone and says hesitantly "I don't know guys, do you think this is the right thing to do?" Raine naturally points out to everyone "If this man intended to kill us or lead us into a trap, he had the perfect chance to do so while our guards were down just a moment ago. Let him have a moment with Presea, but stay on guard just in case."
"Thank you." The man says, and he turns to look at Presea. The first thing that grabs his attention is the glowing Exsphere on the chest of her shirt, and with his eyes widening in utter shock he exclaims "An Exsphere?! You are yet another victim?!"
The prisoner approaches Presea and tries to reach for her Exsphere, but just like with Kate the girl brushes the man off with a heavy slap to the chest. Presea then backs off slightly while the man feels a light sting in his skin. Everyone reacts in surprise to this bar Riku, and Genis exclaims in anger "What do you think you're doing to Presea?!"
Lloyd pulls out one of his swords and looks at the puzzled man while saying "I don't know what the heck is going on, but we have to stop this guy!"
Zelos starts to walk in front of Lloyd while reaching for the sword in his hilt and a small shield on the other side of his belt. He says to his friend "Easy there Lloyd, let me handle this one alone."
With both of his battle items drawn, Zelos stands in front of Presea and stares the prisoner down as the man claims "You don't understand, I'm trying to-"
Zelos raises his left hand into the air and wags one of his fingers around while saying "Come on now, you should know better than to try and approach a young lady like that. You trying to ruin her innocence or something?"
"If I'm correct about her Exsphere, she has lost that long ago." The man says in response. Zelos sighs and shakes his head back and forth before saying "Well that isn't very nice. I imagine you don't get very many ladies with those remarks…Of course, they might be into the scruffy bad boy image you got going on there."
"Stop treating this like a joke, Chosen One." The man says in a bitter tone, and Zelos puts on more serious expression as he mentions "Well now that you mention it, you did kind of pile-drive my pretty little face into the sewer floor just a day ago. And personally, that kind of pissed me."
"Ugh, figures that it is all about his personal appearance." Sheena comments in disgust, which leads to Raine adding on with "And here I thought that he was actually doing something honorable."
Zelos looks over at the group and states suavely "Oh come on, I'm still trying to defend Presea here. Not everything revolves around my dashing good looks."
"You shouldn't have added that last part then…Ugh, come on guys, let Zelos do what he wants here." Lloyd gestures to Presea to join them as they go off to the side and wait for Corrine while Zelos deals with the prisoner.
Letting out a sigh, Zelos shrugs and says "You can't win them all I guess…" before turning to look at the prisoner, who says after a tired grumble "So I guess we have no choice but to fight."
"Yeah, it looks that w-" Before Zelos finishes his sentence, the convict lifts his right leg up and goes for Zelos' head with a mighty kick, forcing him to raising his shield up to block the blow while letting out a surprised "WHOA THERE!"
The impact of the kick sends the Chosen sliding back ten feet across the ground, but right after he pulls his arms out he performs two quick sword swings on the ground to send two fanged projectiles at the convict while having a confident smile on his face. But with a gliding sweep of his foot around the ground the man kicks both projectiles into nothingness, while creating a crescent indent in the dried landscape with the heel of his boot.
A spark goes off in Zelos' mind after that kick, but instead of commenting on the matter he fires off another fanged projectile that the man breaks with another sweeping kick. This time Zelos follows up by thrusting forward with his sword, traveling across the ground at the man while a spiral formation of wind surrounds his body. Bracing him into the ground with one knee, the convict uses the hardened link between both of his cuffs to block the tip of Zelos' sword.
The Chosen quickly pulls his arm back and flips his sword through the air before grabbing hold of it and hold his shield in front of him as the man swiftly goes into a high mid-air leap followed by a circular kick that releases two crescent indents in the air, one of which hits Zelos and pushes him back slightly. As his body straightens the man points one foot at the Chosen and dives straight down in a second with multiple rings of energy rupturing the air from the force he applies to it.
Zelos looks at the man with wide-eyes before leaping ten feet back before the kick connects, leaving the convict to crash into the ground and break apart everything within a twelve-foot circumference around his body. Zelos stumbles a bit as the ground cracks apart, while everyone looks on in awe at the strength he displayed. "How was a guy like him ever arrested?!" Lloyd states in sheer disbelief.
As the convict rises up out of the center of the broken ground, Riku looks at his body real quick and notices an Exsphere in-between both of his cuffs. It wasn't glowing, signifying that he wasn't using it in battle. "This guy is definitely an able fighter…He knows how to focus just the right amount of energy into his legs, and he's very proficient on the defensive side too." Riku quietly observes as he continues to lean back against the tree.
The convict runs at Zelos and performs two swift kicks with both of his legs that puts the Chosen on the defensive once more. While he man lowers his legs Zelos tries to deal a little damage with a horizontal cut, but the convict ducks and performs a sweeping kick that connects with the back of Zelos' legs and makes him fall straight onto his back. The convict lifts himself upright and stares down at the Chosen, and as Lloyd starts to get onto his feet to join the battle Corrine quickly runs onto the scene and approaches Sheena urgently.
"Sheena! There were a lot of soldiers and they're all coming this way! You need to flee!" Corrine exclaims. Sheena looks at Corrine in a worried panic and nods in an understanding manner, and as the little fox vanishes she turns towards the group and says "Looks like Colette was right."
The convict looks over at the group and comments "The Papal Knights are coming? But he told me that I'd be coming here alone…" While the man was puzzled by what he was hearing, Zelos performs a swift maneuver with both his arms and feet to kick back onto his feet, where he then flips his sword around and uses the top of his sword's handle to punch the convict in the chest where Presea previously slapped him. The combined damage knocks the wind right out of the man, and he falls straight onto his face with a heavy thud a moment later.
Zelos sheathes his sword and looks at the everyone, saying quickly and urgently "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't think it's a wise idea to go to Altessa's house right now."
Sheena rises to her feet and nervously scratches the back of her head, hesitantly saying to everyone "…I can't believe it's come to this. Since we've exhausted all other options, I have no choice but to take you to the village of Mizuho."
Zelos looks at Sheena in stunned silence, reminding her gently "Whoa there Sheena. Isn't Mizuho a hidden village? As in, they'd probably KILL any outsiders?"
"You'll be dead if you stay here anyways, so I'm willing to take the risk by bringing you to the village." Sheena bravely says to everyone. Lloyd nods his head in agreement of the plan and says "Okay. Please show us the way, Sheena."
Zelos gestures a thumb towards the prisoner and says to everyone nonchalantly "So umm…What are we going to do about this hunk of muscle?" To which Raine wisely suggests "Considering the man has a connection to both Presea and the Pope, it might be wise for us to take him prisoner. We can use all the information we can get."
The Chosen smiles and says in a complimenting manner to Raine "See? This is why you're considered the pretty little brains of our group." This time Raine replies coldly with "Indeed, and as the 'pretty little brains', I think it would be in our best interest for you to carry the man with us."
Zelos flinches back in surprise and starts stammering out "M-ME?! You want me, the great Zelos, to carry this ogre by myself? Are you kidding me?" But thankfully for the Chosen of Tethe'alla, the kindly Colette folds her hands in front of her chest and says enthusiastically "Here, I'll help. Zelos will have a hard time by himself."
Colette's insistence to help lightens Zelos' spirits right up, and he says in a suave manner that makes Lloyd groan "Aww, you're so nice Colette! We Chosens have to look out for each other, right?" Colette pumps one fist into the air and says "Yeah!" Before she runs up to the left of the convict's body and leans down to try and pick him up. Zelos goes to join in, only for him to stumble back onto his rear-end when Colette manages to lift the man's body right up like he was a feather.
Everyone glares in surprise at Colette's feat of strength minus Presea as usual, and while the man limps over Colette's right shoulder the girl looks back and forth at everyone's shocked expressions and says "Oh, he's lighter than I thought. I can carry him myself" brushing off the puzzlement of everyone as nothing unusual.
Composing himself as he rises back up to his feet and brushes the back of his pants off, Zelos laughs awkwardly and says "Haha…I see…"
Sheena, who had already headed for the south entrance of the forest, looks back at the group and urgently reminds them "Come on, we need to go!" Everyone starts to run out of the forest after that reminder, but not before Riku quickly turns back and creates two contained walls of fire that would make it impossible for the knights to pursue them for the next two hours. After ensuring that the forest wouldn't be set ablaze, Riku brushes away a dew of sweat and then joins back up with the group to head for Mizuho…
Next Time: Presea and Ozette