Cha-cha-chapter siete! Nana! Sept! haha, Yup, chapter Seeeveen! 7!

I'm on a rolllllll~! Heheh~ X3 I love reviews, I can never have enough reviews! So please, spare a moment and write one! For all you know, it might be enough to get me writing.

I got one yesterday, (well, yesterday was 3/4/13) and it got me to surge write!

Goal: 3,000 at least.

*°*•*°*•*°*•*°*•*°*•*°*•

As the group continued off to Asgard, Lloyd piped up again. "Wait... Asgard is about two days away, three if we don't rush, I get that. But Thoda Docks...! That's almost all the way back to Palmacosta! That's almost a three week walk!"

Nathan felt a wave of dread wash over him: he had never walked that far in one stretch in his life and, yet now, he's gonna be pushing it. Talk about getting pushed beyond your physical capabilities.

He didn't know he had stopped until Genis turned to look back at him from a few yards ahead. "C'mon! We're leaving!"

Nathan jumped and started to dash towards him before stopping after five steps. He casted one last glance back at the lake as it disappeared in the distance. 'Everything's so new to me... and they accepted it as fact in a snap. But even so... we'll help you.'

The group continued in moderate silence, with Lloyd talking with Kratos about the ways of the sword. Nathan would have been interested, but he didn't have the heart.

Colette and Sheena were together at the very middle of the group. The blonde kept talking about things and Sheena would listen and smile where appropriate, but she too didn't seem very interested in the conversation.

"Hey, Raine...?" Genis piped up a little ways of walking later, and Nathan had the feeling that if it was silent any longer, someone would explode by screaming "Anyone, say something!". The young silver-haired boy's voice was subdued, like he didn't want the person in question to hear. "Why were you so willing to accept Sheena's explanation and go to the Water Seal again for the Unicorn Horn?"

"The Unicorn's Horn could prove to be valuable later on. It could help Colette with her illness... maybe even reverse Clara's..." A look of pity and sadness swept over her face.

Nathan lengthened his stride to catch up. "Um... can I ask what you are talking about? It'll help pass the time a little." The siblings smiled sadly.

"They are rather depressing subjects, are you sure?" Raine asked, casting a glance at the black-haired male.

He nodded. "Colette's ill? And who's Clara?"

A darker look of depression passed over the youngest of the trio. "Colette is turning into an angel. She is the Chosen of Mana, and when she becomes an angel by releasing the seals around Sylvarant, she'll help rejuvenate the land with Martel."

"Oh..." His eyes started to widen in understanding, nodding a little as things pieced together in his head. "Oh! So she's kinda like... a really important person."

Genis snotred and then laughed aloud. "Kinda?"

Raine struck Genis with such velocity that the rest of the group up ahead turned back to look, their eyes wide. Genis shrunk back behind Raine, his hands on his head where she'd struck, his eyes squeezed shut as he murmured an apology.

"Y-You didn't have to do that...!" Nathan stammered, shrinking away. He suddenly felt bad.

He watched as Genis passed him and cast him a look of accusation. He caught up with Colette and smiled a little.

'So much for building a better relationship...' Nathan mentally sighed.

A silence passed over the group as Nathan brought up the rear with Kratos and Lloyd in the lead. His mind began to drift to places he'd last had the letter. He remembered reading a bit of it by the fire a few nights ago. But he never remembered putting it in his coat or sliding it in his scabbard for safe keeping. He had unexpectedly fallen asleep, and when he woke up, the letter was gone.

No... nono... no no no-

"NO-" Words sputtered out of his mouth as something grabbed his foot and pulled him off balance and onto his stomach.

"Hey-! What the-!" He got a mouthful of grass and dirt as he yelped. He twisted and kicked at his assailant and almost screamed. A giant grasshopper had figured he looked tasty.

"Ah!" He heard Colette cry and saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. She flew to his aid, her chakrams held high.

The rest of the group apparently figured since the Chosen was helping, they might as well too. The grasshopper suddenly made a loud chittering sound that made him shake in pain.

"What's it doing...!?" Nathan hissed, his hand flying up to grab his head, which was throbbing painfully. 'Hurts... my head.'

"It's calling for help and trying to distract you, its prey! Don't drop your guard!" he heard Kratos yell.

He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, he saw the grasshopper right on top of him, slowly reaching towards him. With it still having a firm grip on his leg, he could not hope to escape in time. He could only bring his arm up to block his face in a pathetic form of defense. Under the steadily rising sound of the grasshopper, he also heard a whirring sound coming from behind him. He opened his eyes just in time to see a white chakram fly past his head and sliced an arm off the grasshopper, causing it to shriek in pain as yellow blood spurted violently out of its severed limb. Nathan coughed as he found himself drenched in the yellow liquid. Oh goddess my mouth was open too!

But something told him that was the least of his worries. The grasshopper screeched in fury and let the young man go, allowing him to get a better look at its severed limb. Holy Martel that's a sharp limb! It was almost as sharp as a sword!

Nathan groaned as he quickly kicked the monster away, struggling out from underneath it. Raine began to heal, mainly targeting on those distracting the grasshopper at the moment. Nathan stood up, shaking off the grasshopper's yellow blood off of him.

"Aqua Edge!" A disk of water splashed Nathan in the back and propelled him forward. "Hey!" At least I don't need a bath now...

"You got in my way, be thankful I charged with friendly fire!" Genis yelled as he began charging up another spell. He started to get up again and managed to draw his swords when he felt a hand on his back as someone shoved him out of the way as the grasshopper charged towards him again. He groaned in frustration after he found himself faceplanted on the ground again, and his swords had skittered away from his grasp.

"Dammit, what the hell!?" He complained in frustration. What did he have to do? Tie his swords to his wrists-!?

He felt pain shoot up his leg suddenly. He already knew what was happening and clawed at the dirt as the grasshopper dragged him around in a circle.

"Genis! Lightning! HURRY!" He didn't know who said that, but he figured many agreed with the plan. From what he saw of the creature, it was sliced and cut in many places and didn't have much left. No one had come to its aid. Nathan suddenly felt bad for the creature as he saw it struggling.

Nathan was its prey… all this was his fault! Because he wouldn't comply! The way it hobbled Nathan could tell it was missing part of its other leg.

It gathered itself and twisted suddenly. Raine was trying to keep everyone healed along with their defenses up. Suddenly, the grasshopper twisted and jerked, releasing its grip and throwing Nathan into Lloyd. The two males crashed straight into the base of a tree, leaving the both of them dazed.

Nathan looked up at the grasshopper as it stumbled over. It made several clicking sounds as if it were laughing. His hearing was fading in and out as he fought against unconsciousness and he saw that Lloyd was already out. He then heard rapid footfalls of someone coming to their aid. He then suddenly heard the grasshopper screech before the sound was abruptly cut off. Nathan blearily looked up and saw Kratos with his blade driven straight through the grasshopper's skull with amazing accuracy.

Lloyd groaned a little as he woke. "Ugh... I guess I blacked out. Hey whoa... get off meeeeeee... I can't... breathe..." His voice trailed off as he felt Nathan's shaking form. "Whoa. You're shaking, what's up?"

He followed the older male's field of vision and stiffened as well. The look Kratos was giving Nathan and the added implications of the monster now laying down by the man's feet, with his blood coated in yellow blood… it made Kratos look truly frightening as he made his way over to the two fallen fighters. A chill went down Nathan's spine as Kratos has suddenly pierced the dirt between Nathan's knees with his sword.

Without taking his eyes off of Nathan's he said, "Harvest the limbs and the glass eyes. They will sell well in Asgard when we get there."

With his instructions given, he pulled the sword free without any difficulties and wiped it clean against the grass nearby before sheathing it. Without another word, Kratos calmly walked away, but Nathan was still shaking a little from their interaction.

Lloyd cleared his throat a little and Nathan jerked. He swiftly got off him and stammered. "Sorry..."

"Hey, it's alright. Kratos is pretty scary sometimes." A mischievous look glistened in his eyes. "At least I know your clothes are wet from Genis' Aqua Edge."

Nathan didn't get it until Genis started laughing outright and Sheena snorted while mumbling "boys." He flushed and pouted a little. He slowly got up and grabbed his lost swords and sheathed them.

"Man, but I don't get why he glared at you so much. I remember when Genis almost got carried away by that giant lady bug. Colette, do you remember that?" A loud giggle escaped her lips before she covered her mouth with a small blush, she didn't want to be mean.

The young half-elf pouted and kicked the dirt. "Oh sure. It's funny now!"

Raine walked over and performed a First Aid spell on Nathan. He sighed a little as the wounds closed seamlessly. "Thanks." He smiled at her, but she walked away and their journey continued again.

"Oh and hey, Nathan, why aren't you freaking out?" Lloyd asking, turning towards him and walking backwards so he did not have to stop walking.

Nathan tilted his head a little. "What do you mean?"

"The monster bled all over you, but you didn't shake or freak out until Kratos glared at you. But when Colette bled on you, you vomited... quite a bit actually," Lloyd pointed out. Nathan grimaced at the memory.

"Fascinating!" Raine interrupted, Nathan and Lloyd looked over at her. "That was very bright of you to notice that Lloyd."

The boy shrugged a little as Nathan replied, "I don't really know myself, but now that you pointed it out... it was weird."

Sheena walked over to join them, now holding a small purse in her hands that Nathan knew he saw Colette carrying earlier. "We're gonna head over to Asgard, right?"

"Yes, that's been discussed," Raine confirmed.

"Good, cause I don't really wanna lug these around all the way to Thoda," she said, opening up the small bag and showing them the contents within it.

Everyone except Kratos cringed a little. Sheena had taken apart the grasshopper, and the bag was filled the monster's severed and bloody limbs, all cut down to size so they could fit within the small purse. They could also see two large glass-like eyes within them. Her kimono was drenched a dark yellow from the blood of the creature.

She snapped the purse shut again before spreading out her arms out n a stretch with a grimace. "Yeah, I'm gonna need a bath after this." A sly grin spread across her face as she continued. "And an Aqua Edge just won't cut it."

Nathan thought he heard a little "hmph" from Kratos, but it was masked by the entire rest of the group either giggling or laughing. So he thought it was just in his head.

'It wasn't even that funny.'

"Sorry again for having to use your coin purse, Colette," Sheena said guilty as she glanced at the blonde, who only giggled in response.

"Oh, it's okay. Lloyd and I can share a coin purse," she assured the ninja.

"As... long as you don't mind." Sheena said, still with a good degree of hesitance in her coice. Colette turned to Lloyd, who flashed her a thumbs up and a grin.

"Genis, is there a way we can wash these without drenching me?" Sheena then asked the young boy, waving the purse in her hands.

Nathan made a face. 'Again with the Aqua Edge! They just won't let it gooooo!' he mentally whined.

"It'll take some concentration, but maybe." Genis began to cast, and water slowly began to well from the ground. Nathan felt a twist in the mana around them and his eyes widened.

"Wait-" he started to protest, but it was too late.

Before Genis could halt, the mana backlashed and threw the young mage back and onto the ground. He let out an "oomph" sound and slowly sat up.

"Woops. Guess I used the wrong word..." He looked up as the water he called up rained down on them in tiny droplets.

"Are you okay?" Raine asked tenderly, kneeling by her brother.

"Yeah, mana doesn't really like it when you manipulate it differently," Genis said. Raine chuckled a little in agreement and nodded.

"But that's weird. It still worked." Sheena said.

"Guess it wasn't pleased with the last word... Mana doesn't like to be called with inferior words I guess," Genis said as he stood back up.

Nathan tilted his head at that explanation. "What do you mean, inferior?"

Genis tilted his head before laughing a little. "Oh... well. You have to call mana with certain words and they're usually really fancy too. Most times, you won't think about it, it's almost part of you, but if people want to know if there's a spell for something, they have to place a little with wording."

Nathan nodded in understanding. "Gotcha." 'Wow, magic's tough stuff... is that why the mages were always so tired after training? They would always drain their mana but also strengthen their storage bank? If that's true, that might explain why Genis is so young but can hold so much mana already-'

"Erm... why are you staring at me?" Genis asked, waving his hand up at Nathan since the man was a lot taller than he was.

Nathan blinked himself out from his thoughts. "Oh... just thinking..."

Genis' eyes suddenly narrowed. "You wanna say something?"

Nathan's eyes grew wider at the hostile tone he used. "No, I'm just amazed at your mana storage bank for being so young," he said truthfully. "It's surprising."

Genis blanched. "W-What?"

"Well, new recruits would be about your age. I can tell your age by your Mana. You're about-" He paused to think, and knew Genis wouldn't interrupt, the young boy was mesmerized, "-thirteen?"

"No..." Genis hesitated, then mumbled, "Twelve."

"Really? You're very mature for a twelve year old."

Genis straightened and took the compliment to heart. "R-really? I-I mean... I know..."

Nathan chuckled again, he knew one day he would worm his way into their hearts.

Sheena and Colette were talking again as they walked. Colette would shift from walking on foot, to floating whenever she got tired. The sun was now starting to set behind them and he stared at Kratos and Lloyd, both who were talking together again.

'They can't possibly talk about swords all this time...' Nathan thought, when suddenly a thought struck him that caused him to freeze.

'They look... really alike. In this light, their hair looked almost the same shade. The only thing different were their hairstyles, where Lloyd's hair pointed upwards and Kratos' were pointed downwards.

But… Lloyd called him Kratos as did everyone else, so there wasn't any familiar relationship. At least... not one that they knew of? 'Hmm... Gah! I can't think!'

"Nathan, why are you scratching your head so hard?" Colette was floating next to him, tilting forward to look at him.

"Hmm, just thinking."

"I wonder, if you think any harder, will smoke come out your ears?" Genis teased a little.

Nathan rose a brow. If his expression had any words, it would be alone the lines of a sarcastic, "Hardy har, funny."

They laughed a little before a few yawns started to fill the crew. "Mr. Kratos. I think everyone's starting to get sleepy," Colette told the auburn-haired man. As much as the distractions kept him awake, Genis was already starting to lag behind.

"Chosen, see those lights?" Kratos pointed.

She cupped her hands around her eyes and made a face. She started to float upwards a few feet before her eyes lit up. "Oh! I see it! Asgard isn't too far!" She dropped to the ground again.

"But we won't have the money to-" Raine started to say before Sheena interrupted.

"When we sell all this junk, we'll have enough to stay five nights and get food too as well as new supplies, but saving is good too," the dark-haired girl said.

"Resting with the parts of the grasshopper would only attract more monsters as well," Raine said with a grimace.

Sheena nodded in agreement. "Fair enough, we will keep going."

After that, it was mostly quiet. When the city lights were closer, Colette tucked her wings away.

"Why hide them?" Nathan asked, looking over at her.

"Well..." She made a face. "As much as we stand out, Asgard is a big city and last time we were there, no one really noticed us."

"Plus," Lloyd began, "we have issues with someone taking our identity."

Nathan paled. "Wow... that's-"

"It pisses me off so much too!" Lloyd exploded furiously. "We saw them too and knew about it, but didn't figure it out until they were out of the city!"

"Did you honestly want to cause an uproar within the city?" Kratos calm voice held a little bit of an edge that had a hint of challenge in it. Colette wrung her hands a little and Genis looked down- he had a face that Nathan couldn't place- but he was brought back to attention when Lloyd jerked and Nathan saw the anger melt away.

"And what would you have done?" Kratos pressed. "Struck them down?"

"Well, no, but-"

"But what?"

"I-I don't know, Kratos," the young swordsman admitted. Kratos nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

Sheena walked over to Nathan, the awkwardness must have gotten to her. "Hey."

"Whoa, want me to carry some of that?" He offered gesturing to her other bags, she blinked and shrugged.

"It's heavy but if you're sure." She took one of the larger bags off her shoulders and handed it over to him. "You just look so wea- Ah!" She quickly took back her bag back when as she saw him start to struggle with them.

"M-Martel! That's heavy!" Nathan panted.

She smiled as she placed the bag back over her own shoulder. "Heheh... As I was saying... you're about as thin as a twig... you look so weak."

Nathan pouted a little and straightened an imaginary kink in his back. "I'm a technition... I never worked in the field." His face suddenly darkened. "And I'm... glad I never did."

"Speaking of which... why didn't you become a Desian?" She asked carefully.

Nathan looked up ahead: the others were far enough away they wouldn't hear. He didn't really want to have this conversation five more times, but...

"I remember my dad yelling at me once. It was my first day of training. I was twelve. He'd asked me to spar with someone younger than me. Since training usually started around eleven- usually kids like us didn't see battle until about thirteen or fourteen- mind you." He took a shaky breath and continued. "He was also new, so we were kinda matched. I held my own until he slipped and I cut his arm badly. He handled the accident a lot better than I did."

Nathan stopped to push back his sweaty bangs, the memory stirring up some bad things in his past. "Back then, I handled things even worse. Since I'd been the one to injure him, I cried for a long time before kinda shutting myself off from others."

Sheena turned towards him, eyes wide. "What did Kvar do then?"

Nathan chuckled weakly. "He wanted to kill me. I see now, that he wanted me as a brutal killer... so I could continue with the ranch just as brutally when he's gone. And when I didn't fulfill that needed trait he had... he wanted to throw me away. But it was Harlond, his trustee- or assistant, I don't know- that saved my ass. He told Kvar that I was far more advanced in anything else." He kicked the dirt.

"Hey guys, don't get left behind back there." Lloyd called back to them, oblivious to their topic.

"That's... terrible..." Sheena mumbled after they sped up their pace a little.

"It wasn't too bad. At least then the onslaught of nannies ended."

"Because the point of them was to teach how to teach you to be the Desian they wanted?"

"You got it." He moved his hands behind his head and cast her a sidelong glance, seeing her bite her lip.

He continued to talk. "That's right...Desians... I hate the word. That girl, remember? I didn't know many well, but that girl had a sister. She was killed by humans. She'd boast about how she was waiting until the ranch accepted her for active duty but I knew. After her sister died-"

Sheena started to back away. "Stop."

"-she had no one but herself until she turned ten and was finally allowed into the ranch," he continued on regardless.

"I said shut up!"

"Why!?" he snapped. "Because I'm giving faceless enemies names!? Things normal people can relate to!? Desians are people too! In a way it saves them!"

Sheena's eyes flashed. "Saved?! That's-!"

"Ranches are horrible places that only breed more contempt," Raine interrupted, having heard them.

Nathan felt rage bubbling up that the fact that they clearly didn't understand, that they branded him but wouldn't see it from his point of view.

"Do you see homes for half elves anywhere else?!" His voice started to rise and the whole group stopped. His fists shook as he continued to rant.

"I've heard them. Getting chased out whether they were accepted at first or not. Everyone assumes they're either a Desian or worse! Where else can they go? Humans push them to the ranches. They blindly push them towards it... I have the blood of both in me and I can't accept it..." His jaw started to hurt. He clenched his mouth tightly within the intervals of talking. "All I'm saying is... it's better for half elves to have a home than... none at all..."

Don't look at Genis.

"I'm alone too... My own dad hated me to his last breath. And my mom... Kvar never told me but I'm pretty sure she's dead. And the only friend I have was taken from me by an accident caused by me..."

He felt a harsh sting on his cheek suddenly as someone slapped him. He stared at Colette with wide eyes as he raised a hand up to rest on top of the throbbing skin. She was a lot stronger than she looked…

"I'm so sorry, but you were babbling, and Lloyd and Genis and Raine were so stunned and-" she spoke frantically, her own eyes wide with what she had just done.

Nathan looked at Colette thankfully. "It's... okay..."

"We're here." Kratos said, breaking the silence. It was then that they all noticed that they had arrived at Asgard's city entrance.

It was one that said, even when he had escaped all the brutalities of the ranch...

He still suffered.