Before we get into things, I would like to thank my friend MysticYoshie, who was invaluable in the construction of this chapter. I don't know what I would have done without her. Holy crap, I feel like I just won an Oscar or something and am giving a speech.
On with the story.
…
The group hesitantly walked through a narrow corridor. They had finally gotten past the pointless trials, and had opened the door in the back of the seal chamber. It had been surprisingly easy to mask his intentions.
They stood gaping at the doorway.
"Did I break it?" Colette asked quietly.
The Professor shook her head. "No, Colette. There seems to be a deeper part of this temple! We must explore it!"
Lloyd grinned widely. "Let's go!"
"Shouldn't we head back out?" Yuan asked. "You've done enough on that leg of yours, Lloyd; you shouldn't be wandering around anymore." He seemed hesitant to enter; his green eyes narrowed as he searched the dark confines of the passage ahead.
The teen shook his head vehemently. "I'm fine! I wanna see where this goes!" he insisted. The silver-haired teacher seemed to agree with him; her eyes gleamed manically as she looked into the dark hallway before her.
"It wouldn't be wise," Kratos stated. "We have released the seal; we should head back to the surface."
"I don't think we can talk Raine out of it…" Genis muttered, watching his sister.
"Come on," the Chosen insisted. "It'll be fun!"
Skah grumbled a little, but didn't put up any argument.
So here they were; Raine led the way followed closely by her three pupils, and Skah followed slightly behind them, tuning out the woman's babble. Kratos and Yuan followed behind. He could feel their eyes on him, no doubt suspicious. Those two picked up on more than the rest of the group, not that he expected any less of them. The teacher didn't like him either—not that he had done anything to prevent that, really—and while she didn't trust him, she didn't seem quite as wary as the two men. Not that it mattered much, because as far as he could tell, if he kept the children on his side, he was safe. Still, he should probably do a better job of acting…
"This is insane," he complained. "It's even hotter in here than it was back there!"
"Come on, Skah," Lloyd replied, "it can't be much farther."
"Yeah, sure." He crossed his arms.
"Look at that, Professor!" Colette pointed forward, down the stairs, at a structure that looked remarkably similar to the altar in the room above. However, she had no need to point it out, for her teacher had already seen it and was running forward.
"What is it? It sparkles so magnificently!" she cried as she stopped in front of the platform, spotting a ruby-colored teardrop that floated above the dais.
"I think we should just leave it alone and go back."
Raine turned to look at Yuan in disgust. "And just leave this here, when we could gain so much knowledge from it?"
Yuan snorted. "You can't even tell what it is. For all you know, it could burn you as soon as you touch it. Just leave it alone. Didn't what happened to Lloyd earlier teach you anything?" The elf woman cringed slightly at that.
Meanwhile, Lloyd was looking at the jewel, eyes wide in curiosity. He reached out grab it…
"Lloyd!" Kratos snapped.
The brunette dropped his arm and guiltily turned around. "What? I wanna see what it is!"
Kratos glared in response, which was enough to quiet the teen.
Suddenly, Colette gasped, dropping to her knees, her face pale.
"Woah, you okay?" asked Skah, who was nearest.
"I'm…fine," she panted, trying to smile.
Genis was the next to her side. "You don't look fine at all! Your face is completely white! It's all my fault, I made you keep pulling your wings out…"
Lloyd frowned slightly. "I don't think that has anything to do with it."
"Now's not the time for that!" Raine said, feeling her student's temperature. "Her lips are turning purple. We must get her to a doctor in the city immediately."
"Wait. It's best not to move her," Kratos said. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked angrily. "If Colette's sick, she needs to be treated!"
"Remember the angel's words," the mercenary replied. "The angel transformation process requires her to overcome a trial. Rather than taking her to a doctor, it would be better to let her rest here."
"Yes, let's just take her up top," Yuan said, nodding his head.
"I'm okay," Colette insisted. "I'll be fine after a little rest. I'm sorry to cause so much trouble…"
"Stop apologizing, you dork! It's not like you can help it. You were suddenly turned into an angel."
"You're right… I'm sorry."
The group just sighed.
"Well, anyway," Lloyd said after a small pause, "should we just stay down here for the night, or should we try to get back out?"
"I say we head out," Yuan stated without hesitation. "There could be all sorts of monsters down here."
Kratos nodded. "It would be best to leave, as long as the Chosen doesn't object."
"I don't think we should move…" Genis said uncertainly. "I mean, if Colette doesn't feel good, she shouldn't have to go all the way back up, right?"
"I'll be okay," the blond girl insisted, much to the doubt of most of her companions.
"I agree with Kratos and Yuan," Raine said reluctantly. "It wouldn't be safe to remain here."
"But Professor, what about your precious research?" Skah scoffed at her, easily seeing her indecision about leaving the chamber before she had properly examined it.
"Leave it alone," Yuan snarled as he saw Lloyd eye the floating gem again. "You don't even know what it does."
"But…" Lloyd looked at it longingly; Yuan was right, he had no idea what it was, but he was itching to find out.
"You guys are all pansies." Skah quickly strode to the platform and snatched the jewel from the air. "There. The world didn't end, now did it? Can we leave now?" He pocketed the stone as he walked past the lot of them and made for the stairs. When they didn't follow, he turned back. "Are you coming? I thought we agreed to get out of here." He turned again, and this time, his companions followed.
…
They had set up camp just outside the ruins; it was already twilight by the time they had gotten out, and they decided that it was safest to stay just beside the old stones. Noishe had found them as they started making dinner; the dog always came running when he smelled food.
The sun had just set, and already the temperature had dropped dramatically. Lloyd shivered a little, then moved closer to the fire. Weren't deserts supposed to be hot? Now it felt even colder than it had the first night after escaping the Desian base… It seemed quite a bit windier too, now that he thought about it. Hopefully there wouldn't be one of those sand storms the Professor had mentioned once…
"Hey Lloyd," Genis said as he sat down. "How was the tofu curry?"
"I think it was missing something," he replied, looking at his friend strangely.
"Wow, I'm surprised you noticed. But yeah, I didn't have all the ingredients."
"What do you mean, 'surprised'?" Lloyd scowled, before realizing something. "Wait, you mean youmade it?"
"Of course."
"Oh, I thought it was the Professor…"
Genis paled a little, glancing nervously over the fire at his sister. "No way. Don't ever try to eat anything she touches. You wouldn't survive."
"She's that bad?"
"Definitely. One time she tried to make cheesecake using peanut butter and raw egg, 'to add protein'. I got food poisoning."
"Seriously? I didn't think the Professor was actually bad at anything…"
Genis gave him a weird look. "Geez, you sound like you think she's perfect or something."
Lloyd turned to Colette as she sat down on his other side. "Are you feeling any better?"
She smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Sorry to make you worry."
"Stop apologizing," Lloyd commanded automatically. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't eat anything for supper…"
"I just don't really have much of an appetite right now."
"You won't be able to keep up your strength if you don't eat, Colette."
"Stop pushing her, Lloyd," Genis interjected. "She'll eat when she's hungry."
Colette smiled. "Don't worry, Lloyd."
The brunette's face suddenly lit up. "Oh, right! I finished your birthday present, Colette. It's kinda late, but…" Lloyd turned and dug through his bag, pulling out a finely-crafted, delicate golden necklace. A small ruby was set in it. He held it out to her.
She took it, then her face fell. "Oh no, it's broken…"
"What? When did that happen?" Lloyd took the necklace back, examining the damage. The chain had been slightly mangled and twisted, and there was a tiny crack in the ruby. "I'm so sorry, I'll make you a new one, Colette."
"Thanks, Lloyd." She smiled brightly, although it was somewhat strained. "I'm sorry that I keep causing trouble for you."
"What are you talking about?" Lloyd asked as he casually draped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm the one that always causes trouble. Stop blaming yourself."
Colette blushed madly.
…
Despite protests from Kratos, Yuan, and the Professor, Lloyd had volunteered to take first watch, accompanied by the cobalt-haired half-elf. However, Lloyd couldn't fathom why Kratos had decided to join them; watches didn't usually consist of more than two people.
Lloyd sat with his leg propped up by the fire, leaning against the sleeping Noishe; the combined warmth of his blanket, his dog, and the fire dulled the effects of the cold desert air. Kratos and Yuan were talking quietly across from him on the opposite side of the fire. He couldn't hear what they were saying over the crackling of flames on wood. Besides, it was them, it probably wasn't that interesting anyway…
He didn't notice he was falling asleep until he received a sound smack to the back of his head. Clutching his aching skull, he looked up to see an extremely displeased Yuan standing behind him.
"If you're going to insist on taking watch, the least you could do is stay awake."
Lloyd's face reddened and he looked away, only to meet the coolly amused face of Kratos across the fire. His demeaning enjoyment of the situation seemed almost worse and Lloyd quickly looked back at Yuan.
"Well, sorry, you guys are both so boring, what else could I do?"
"Boring, are we?" growled Yuan, "I'll teach you boring. Up!"
"W-what?"
"You heard me, up! Start circling!"
Kratos chuckled darkly. At Lloyd's confused stare, he explained, "When we were younger we traveled with a boy much like yourself. Whenever he fell asleep during watch, he would have to circle the campsite until his time was up."
"What? You can't be serious!"
Their satisfied smirks told him just how serious they were.
"But I've got a bad leg!"
"You were perfectly fine earlier when you wanted to explore deeper into the Temple, you're fine now. Get moving!"
Lloyd grumbled under his breath as he began to circle their makeshift campsite, aware of how both his companions' eyes followed him. His leg really wasn't bad at all, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to fake any more to try to get out of it. He had a strong feeling that neither Kratos nor Yuan would fall for it like the Professor might have. Then again, maybe she wouldn't have either.
Lloyd was furious at himself; his pride hurt a thousand times more than his leg. He had wanted to come on this journey to prove himself as well as to protect Colette, and so far he had accomplished neither. Besides that, Kratos and Yuan were the best warriors he had ever met, and he had managed to give them only an impression of inadequacy at best, and laziness at worst.
"What do you think Skah was thinking today?" Yuan growled softly to his companion, "Opening up that passage behind the altar, I'd say he knows more than he should."
"Hmm…"
Kratos gave no answer, but Lloyd jumped into the conversation immediately, curious. "What do you mean?"
Yuan's eyes focused on Lloyd's face and it seemed for a moment that he was not going to answer, then, with a slight change of expression, he stated, "When I examined the writing that he found, it was faint and blended perfectly with the rest of the writings in the altar room. There was nothing to make them more interesting than any other wall in there, yet he finds the one that opens into a further passage.
"Then, he stole a hidden artifact, one that is no doubt important to whomever or whatever placed it there. If you ask me, he knew that it was there. If this continues, my suspicions will be confirmed."
"You think he knew?" Lloyd scoffed. "It seems like a lot of luck to me."
"There's no such thing as luck, Lloyd."
Kratos watched the exchange indifferently; any thoughts he might have had on the subject were masked behind his dark eyes.
Lloyd looked at Yuan for a long moment, his mind drifting to something that had been bothering him since their escapade into the ruins.
"Why did you stop me from grabbing the jewel on the altar? You freaked out and said that it could be dangerous, but when Skah touched it, he was just fine…"
"It's best to be cautious, Lloyd," Kratos stated calmly before Yuan could say anything. "Have you forgotten that box already?"
Lloyd blushed, even though it hadn't been his fault.
"I-I never did really thank you for that, did I Kratos?"
"It was nothing."
"But you totally fried your hand when Yuan did that electric spell."
"I am fine." Kratos held up his hand to show Lloyd that it had been totally healed and now showed no sign of the ravaged appendage it had been only hours earlier.
"Oh…" Lloyd trailed off, feeling stupid for worrying so much.
"You're welcome for finishing off that horrid Fake that tried to eat your leg. The enormous amount of mana consumed from my personal being in that lightning spell was nothing compared to your all-important health."
Kratos and Lloyd both turned to look at the blue-haired half-elf, eyeing him as Yuan's self-righteous smirk widened.
"Um… I got all of five words from that but… thanks?"
"No thanks is necessary, I assure you."
Lloyd had a feeling Yuan was kidding, fasitious… facetious … facetions… something like that.
…
"It's still kinda cold, isn't it?" Lloyd commented as they wandered past stalls, looking for anyone selling either shoes or apparel; he desperately needed new boots, and he was still wearing pants cut off at the right knee. After entering the town, they had split up: Lloyd, Colette, Genis, and Raine to find Lloyd new things while Kratos, Yuan, and Skah restocked on supplies. They were to meet back at the inn afterwards.
"It seems a little colder than before, but that could just be because we got used to the temperatures in the ruins," Genis replied.
"I don't know, it still seems pretty hot to me," Colette said.
"Really Colette, usually you're the first one to notice if it's cold. Remember when we were in the Temple in Iselia and you were shivering when we were just inside?" Lloyd looked at Colette oddly. "Are you sure you're alright? Do you still feel sick?"
"Let me feel your forehead, you might still have a fever." Raine moved in front of Colette and put her slender, pale hand to the girl's forehead. Lloyd and Genis crowded around, watching the exchange with worried looks in their eyes. "No fever…"
"No, really, Professor, I feel fine! I'm completely better." Colette giggled. It was that giggle that set off Lloyd's lie detector. She only giggled when she lied. There was only one way that Colette ever lied, and that was when she was she was sick. She would always lie if she was hurt or sick so as not to worry her friends.
Once, she got a tick and lied about its existence for over three months as she grew weaker and weaker and paler and paler. Finally, it was Lloyd who discovered it, hidden on the side of her neck, the size of a piece of gald from all the blood it had gotten. Colette had said that she didn't want it to be hungry. The Professor had removed the parasite and Colette had been healed, but no one ever believed the girl again when it came to physical health.
Still, Lloyd didn't call her out; if she didn't have a fever and she was still walking, there wasn't much to do. If she was sick, the Professor would sort her out soon enough. If it was something else, it would take time and more clues.
The group bobbed in and out of more stores looking for the right pair of shoes and pants for Lloyd and anything else that caught their fancy along the way. Raine had agreed to lend him the money for new clothes, as he still owed Kratos for his swords. He groaned silently; he was now deeply in debt.
They found a pair of red boots for Lloyd in one shop and grey pants that fit well a few stores later—Lloyd felt much better now that he wasn't walking around looking like he had been attacked by something, even though he had—and were preparing to head back when Colette had one of her inevitable clumsy moments: the Chosen tripped and went flying, bringing a girl that had been passing by down with her.
"Colette, are you alright? Are you alright, miss?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"
The girl looked up, blushing, and nodded slightly, "Yes, I'm fine, are you?"
"Oh, yes, thanks."
Colette, who had quickly righted herself after the fall, helped the other girl up. She was very short, almost shorter then Colette and nearly a head shorter than Lloyd. Her bright purple hair hung just below shoulder length and she was dressed in something that was obviously not from Triet. Actually, it was something that Lloyd had never seen before.
"My name is Colette," Colette said politely and then moved to the rest of the present party, "and this is Lloyd, Genis, and Professor Sage."
The girl bowed her head politely—this too was something Lloyd had never seen before—and introduced herself. "Sophie."
"It's really nice to meet you!"
"Yes," said Raine, "we are sorry for the fall."
"It's really nothing. I'm fine, Professor Sage, right?"
"Yes."
Somehow, amongst all of the talking, they had begun walking again.
"If you do not mind my asking," the Professor started, "you are not from Triet, am I correct?"
"Yes, just passing through. Neither are you, though." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yeah, we're on a pilgrimage," Genis jumped in. "We're going all over the world! Where are you from?"
Sophie looked down at Genis, her blue-grey eyes surveying the small elf quickly before speaking. "Let's just say I'm from a long ways away." She rolled her eyes, and they moved back to Raine from her brother. "Where are you from?"
"Iselia, though we are traveling with a few other companions who are travelers themselves."
"Oh, are you in Triet for long?"
"No, only another day or so before we leave. We're going to the Ossa Trail next and then onto Izoold."
"Oh!" Sophie's eyes lit up, "That's where I was going next as well; I came down from the Asgard continent and was heading in that direction. I was worried that I was going to have to hire a mercenary to get across, but if you're going, perhaps we could travel together!"
"Well…" Raine seemed suspicious, though Lloyd couldn't figure out why. Sophie seemed perfectly friendly, and it wouldn't do any harm to have one more person in their swiftly growing group, especially a well-traveled one.
"Oh, that would be great!" Colette cried, cutting across Raine's ponderings. "That would be no problem, right Professor?"
"I suppose as long as none of the others have a problem with it…"
"Then it's settled. Let's go find them!" Lloyd exclaimed before leading the way.
The found Kratos and Skah waiting with Noishe outside one of the supply shops, both facing opposite directions and neither talking to the other; Yuan was nowhere to be found.
"Kratos, Skah, there you are!" cried Lloyd, running up to them. "But where's—?"
"Blue's inside, he should be out in a second." Skah shrugged before carefully eyeing Sophie. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Sophie, she's going in the same direction as us and we invited her to come along through the Ossa Trail."
"As long as that's alright with you, that is," Sophie said politely.
Kratos examined their girl, and she turned, feeling his eyes on her. She paled noticeably when she met his icy gaze and turned back to the—slightly—less hostile Skah.
Suddenly, Yuan came out of the store, his eyes focused on the bag that he brought out with him, apparently checking to make sure he had everything he needed. Lloyd took the liberty, being the only one semi-comfortable around the half-elf, of introducing the newcomer.
"Yuan, this is Sophie, she's going to come though the Ossa Trail with us."
"…Sophie, mmkay, whatever," he said without looking up.
Sophie, however, had frozen, eyes wide as she stared at the blue-haired man.
"Yuan?" she cried in shock. At the sound of her voice, Yuan looked up; his eyes as wide as Sophie's.
"Y—…you?"
…
I didn't actually get the final version of this chapter beta-ed, so please tell me if there are any mistakes and I'll fix them ASAP. Anyway, please review? I'd like to know if anyone actuallylikesthis story…