Symphonic Hearts
Time and Time Again
Rated; T for violence, blood, swearing, and Zelos~
Disclaimer; Not mine!...Except Aileena and the idea.
Warning: Canon timeline -BAM- out the window
AN; Hi. Random discussion about Kratos. I don't have anything more to say.
Chapter 6
The Quest
Don't worry, the worst that could happen is we all die.
~ Jade Curtiss, Tales of the Abyss
Aileena curled up with a groan on her bed. Soooo Soreee…Why'd she go to the Ice Temple again? Oh, yeah, Symphonia group and not wanting the universe to implode on itself…No pressure, or anything, right?
Ha…
Brrr…why was it cold all of a sudden? Oh, her blanket was gone…Aileena jerked her head up and glared at the blanket thief. Engil raised an un-repentant eyebrow in response.
The half-elf pouted and left the bed. She noted with some exasperation that she still wore her day clothes instead of her plain pajamas. Aileena scratched her head in bemusement. She had been really tired last night, hadn't she…?
Engil folded the blanket up and placed it on the bed. "That group is still downstairs…And that boy, Lloyd, and the woman Raine are arguing about something or another." Aileena sighed. Raine really liked to make her morning miserable.
Pulling her long coat on over her clothes, Aileena stepped outside of the bedroom and down to the dining room. Standing in a half circle around the two who were arguing was the rest of the Symphonia group. When Colette say her arrive, she clapped her hands. "Aileena! You're here!" Almost automatically, Raine and Lloyd stopped arguing. The half-elf blinked at the sudden change in their moods.
Lloyd sent one last angry glance at Raine before stepping forward. "Um, so we've been talking for a little bit about something important and…well, we were wondering about what you would think about it?"
"About what?"
The red clad teen shot Sheena a desperate look. She just shrugged with a faint smirk back. Lloyd sighed. "We were wondering if you'd be willing to come with us to get the rest of the summon spirits." It came out in a rush. Aileena blinked.
Wait.
What? They were going to ask her to come?...Well, part of her wanted to go for some stupid fandom reason, another wanted to go so she didn't feel guilty about Ratatosk, and the last part felt like just giving them a big fat 'no' and staying in Flanoir.
Unfortunately, Aileena had a feeling if she said no, Martel would figure out a way to get her to go anyway so…
Don't say yes right away, was her final decision.
"Why?"
"Uh, why what?" Lloyd asked sheepishly.
Aileena rubbed her temples. "Why do you need to get the summon spirits in the first place? I know it has something to do with Cruxis, but that's about it."
This fact seemed to have dawned on all of the group as she said it, much to her amusement. Colette clapped her hands. "We should tell her!"
"Might as well," was Sheena's muttered agreement.
Taking seats around the table, the group of nine plus Engil, whom was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, began the discussion. "If anyone should begin, it should be one of the original four…." Regal began.
Raine murmured her agreement and started up on what had began as an ordinary day(Oh, how Aileena could relate to that.) in class, including and up to Lloyd's usual naps. It was then that Genis piped in on how the professor had left the class unattended and, thus, allowing Lloyd, him, and Colette to go to the temple.
There, they found the dying priest who warned them of the danger ahead. Colette began on how a strange group of Desians were there, threatening her grandmother for the Chosen's location.
"Your location, right?"
Colette nodded.
She returned to the tale where an older man appeared, slaying the Desian who had been about to kill Lloyd. To say she had been relieved would have been an understatement. The last surviving Desian abandoned the group and disappeared into the fields. It was then that they learned of the man's identity: Kratos Aurion, mercenary.
Aileena tipped her head to the side. "Where is he now, then, if he was part of the group?" A dark look passed over Lloyd's face.
Sheena shot the red-clad teen a concerned look. "Ah, we'll get to that, right? So, um…Go on Colette."
Engil, however, intervened. "Wait, Kratos went back to Cruxis?" Silence descended over the group like a cloak. The eldest half-elf frowned.
"Yes," Raine said, "He went back. Why?"
He frowned. "Mostly because I doubt Anna would have allowed him to do that." Aileena looked up.
"Who's that? Anna?"
"A young woman he had picked up in Sylvarant. He had come here to try and get away and I was one of the only ones he thought he could trust at all. Apparently, she had been a prisoner in one of their Desian Ranches…." Engil glanced from face to face with a raised eyebrow. "I can't believe he'd go back to Cruxis. He was far too smitten with that girl to allow her to be harmed again."
Genis crossed his arms. "Well, obviously he betrayed her like he did us and went back to Cruxis—"
"No. He wouldn't…" Engil frowned. "He couldn't."
"Yes he could—He did it to us—"
Engil snorted. "Well, he hadn't sworn a Summon Spirit oath on his life to stay with you always, now did he?" Aileena blinked, looking startled.
"Isn't that…really dangerous? I mean, if you do that, the only way you could get out of it is if the person you promised to stay with was killed…usually…" She trailed off, looking sick. Aileena had read about the summon spirit oaths in her magic book…If you swore one, you could either lose your life or your sanity if you didn't keep it. And the only way to truly get out of it is if the other person…
Lloyd frowned. "Usually, what? Murder?" The red-clad teen scowled at the thought.
Aileena shivered. "I wish. It's usually…Suicide."
The only noise was the faint audible gulp from the place Zelos was sitting.
Engil nodded. "Yes. And…If what I suspect is true, then what happened to her could count as suicide." Raine questioned what he meant.
"I know what it takes to create an exsphere. And Anna had one on her. So, the only thing I can think of is that when they went back to Sylvarant, a Desian must of gotten close enough to her to remove her exsphere." The half-elf shook his head. "If that happened…I don't think Kratos would have been around at that very moment. If he had…then that little boy might have survived and then Kratos most definitely wouldn't be with Cruxis."
Regal's head jerked up. "A little boy?" Engil shrugged.
"That's why they came here. Anna was pregnant with a kid and Kratos needed a safe place for the kid to be delivered. Just happened to be here."
"Girl or boy?" Presea asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.
Engil chuckled. "Boy. Told ya before, remember? I kinda wish I knew the kid's name, though. Left before they named him, Kratos did." Aileena shifted in her chair, a light frown tugging on her lips. She knew. The kid was sitting right in front of her, for Volt's sake!
Colette glanced at her. "What's wrong?"
"This interesting and all," Aileena said, making it up on the spot, "But I still don't understand why you need the summon spirits." Nah, I do, so please just do an overview, or I'm gonna die from the boredom. Seriously, I'm not joking you guys.
They hadn't heard her mental warning.
She had been treated to a full scale account of their journey up till that point. The main problem she had, though, was that Presea was cured before they got Volt. Which meant they never went to the mines…which means they don't know it's being used by Vharley and his gang. Great, no references to Regal killing his lover because she was an exsphere experiment who was also Presea's sister.
Yup, that wasn't confusing at all. But still…
That'd be bad. Aileena would have to explain how she knew that and she couldn't say that she read it in the court files because she had no reason to go there (The church was in charge of those files) nor could she say she saw his arrest: Aileena had already told Sheena she had never left Flanoir before.
She stepped passed the gates of Flanoir for the first time in three days. The citizens all glanced at her as she walked past them , as if surprised to still see her alive. The half-elf didn't know whether to be insulted by their lack of faith or not.
Jogging slightly up the stairs to the marketplace, Aileena changed her direction towards Jason's stall. The man was staring off into space with this rather despondent look on his face. It was almost as if…No, there was no way she was going to accept she was too late to help her friend!
The girl slammed her hands onto the stall's platform. "Jason!" The man jumped slightly and turned to her with wide eyes.
"Aileena?"
"Dumbass!" She screeched. "Why are you acting like someone died?!"
Jason coughed. "Everyone knows you went to the Temple of Ice…and then you were gone for three days…"
Aileena rolled her eyes. "Everyone also knows that it takes half a day to get there and then another half day to get back. Add to that any fighting you have to do in the temple, and you spend about two days."
"What about the third?" He countered.
She smirked. "Easy. I was really tired and needed a day off. So I stayed at the cabin with Engil. Oh, and here's that Celsius' Tear you wanted. It's missing a petal, but that's okay, right?" Jason was gapping at her at this point. "What?"
"…How…?"
The teenager rolled her eyes and gave a detailed explanation as to what had happened and how she had gotten said flower…
To say her friend was shocked by the end (even after taking out the bits about the Symphonia group and the Summon Spirit) would be an understatement.
Jason shook his head. "You end up in the craziest situations, did you know that?" Aileena shrugged in response. A comfortable silence descended between the older man and the half-elf girl. Finally, she told the man she had to go back to the cabin as there was something she had to do. "I have to leave Flanoir today anyway." He chuckled. "So, don't worry about it. I'll see you next time, alright?"
She tried to smile at him and say yes, but she couldn't lie to the honest merchant. It would've been cruel.
Waving goodbye, she left the market place and stepped down the main staircase…only to find a squad of Papal Knights hanging about the gates. Aileena sucked in a breath. Had someone ratted her out or seen her with the group a few days ago?
It was when she saw Mina that she knew exactly what had happened.
"Wilder." Aileena growled as she approached the knights. The red head smirked but said not a word.
The knight beside her who seemed to be the squad's captain spoke instead, "You are Aileena Karson, correct?" She nodded once. "You are under arrest for three charges: Aiding the Traitor Zelos Wilder, Aiding the Sylvaranti Criminals, and being half-elven."
She scowled and knew that she wasn't getting away without a fight…So, a fight she shall give.
Aileena laughed aloud. "So, you wanna arrest me, huh? Well, let's see if you can catch me first…Holy Light! Ray!" The low powered spell arte was used, in this instance, to distract and not harm which was obvious the knights when they saw the girl had vanished after casting the spell.
"Those guys are really stupid. I mean, what kind of police force doesn't make sure their suspect isn't cuffed and bond before giving out the charges…?
"…Dumb ones, duh."
"(Wait. Why am I talking to myself out loud?)"
"Morons." She scoffed as she ran through the thick snow banks around the city. Really, they were rather incompetent. Everyone knew that you arrested first and then told the person their charges.
When she banged into the cabin, the Symphonia group all jumped. Aileena scowled at Zelos. "Your cousin is a witch with a capital B, ya know that?" He frowned but before he could ask why, she said, "Mina Wilder saw us together a couple of days ago, when we were in Flanoir, and told the knights. I almost got arrested back at the gates…and it'll be only a matter of time before they show up here."
Engil swore from the back of the room before disappearing into the bedroom. Lloyd stepped forward. "So…We need to know your answer. Are you coming with us?"
Aileena threw her hands into the air. "Fine! I'll come! But I still don't get how we're going to get out of Flanoir without the Papal Knights catching us!"
"Simple." Raine crossed her arms. "We'll use the rheairds." Muttering that she wasn't going to question it, Aileena moved over to the bedroom to pack her things…Only to run into Engil, whom was clutching a familiar bag in his hands.
"Here, I got it all pack for ya."
"Um, thanks?" Aileena muttered. "But, still…I don't want to leave you to fight alone."
The man smirked. "No one said anything` bout fighting, kid. I've got my own way out—You go with those other kids, got it? And stay safe, won't cha?" The half-elf girl only nodded and turned to the others as she slipped the bag on.
"Ready then?" Sheena asked with a sad smile.
"Yes." Aileena gave the ninja a determined look. She cast the old half-elf that she had lived with for what felt like so long but was actually only a few months one final look before descending out into the cold and ice.
Chapter 6
END
"Aileena, ya brat, ya better stay alive…
"…Or else I may never forgive myself."
Aileena is level 21!
Learned Arte 'Cursed Dance!'
Learned Spell Arte 'Bloody Howling!'
Earned Title 'Any Length'
-I will go to any lengths for those I care for!
Unlocked Skit 'Talking to Myself.'
