Tales of Angels

Chapter 9

The sound of the rain pounding against the buildings and streets of the village echoed throughout Lloyd's ears as he felt the entire village's remaining population gaze at him in awe. The luminescent wings that he had revealed after hiding them for so long had all of them mesmerized. Was it that amazing for an angel to be in their midst? There are elves, and half elves in the world. There were summon spirits, dragons, serpents, you name it, you could find it. What made angel's so spectacular?

"Ha ha," Dirk said as he continued to grin at the angel. "That shut that mayor up, I was wonderin when you'd stop hidin them things!" he continued.

"Y-you knew?" Lloyd asked.

"Of course!" Dirk bellowed. "Yuan filled me in on the details, but I had a feelin from the start. I ain't no elf, but even I can tell that no average boy has a mana as thick as yours," he said with a knowing look.

"Speaking of Uncle Yuan," Lloyd started. "How do you know him?" the angel asked.

"Simple! He's the one who told me to make ya two swords!" Dirk answered as he tossed the sack he'd carried to the angel. Lloyd opened the sack to see two finely crafted swords; he pulled one out of its case and inspected the blade. The shining steel of the blades reflected the blue glow produced from Lloyd's wings as the rain gave it the reflective capabilities of a mirror.

Lloyd slid the blade back into its case and admired the rest of it. He looked back up at Dirk and smiled. "Thank you, their wonderful," he said. Dirk grinned in response. The angel then turned to Frank and Phaidra.

"Colette would have headed south, I recommend starting at the House of Salvation between here and Triet," Frank advised. Lloyd nodded in understanding.

"I hope they're ok in this weather," Phaidra said as she looked up to the pouring sky.

"They probably stopped to shelter from the storm, least they all get sick," Lloyd stated. "Well, I guess I'd better be going," he said.

"In this weather? Lloyd you'll catch a cold just as quick!" Phaidra argued.

"I'm an angel! I'll be fine!" Lloyd stated with a grin as his wings flapped in confirmation.

"Just stay safe," Frank said. Lloyd nodded and turned towards the village gate, or at least what was left of it.

He began to walk towards the exit when he stopped and turned back towards the only three left in the village that had been kind to him. "Please make sure they don't tell anyone about my secret," Lloyd said gesturing towards the rest of the villagers who were still stuck in shock.

"Aye, you can count on it Lloyd," Dirk said. "And Lloyd," the dwarf continued. "Remember the dwarven vows that I taught you. Particularly number seven."

"Justice and love will always win, right?" Lloyd said with a sigh.

After bidding farewell to the three, Lloyd made his way to the gate. The once proud wooden gate had been blown apart, casting huge shards of wood in every direction on the inside. The lone make shift watch tower that had been constructed seemed to have been knocked over from the blast.

Once outside of the village, Lloyd sighed in comfort as he stretched his wings preparing to take flight. "Don't tell me you're going to fly in this weather?" a voice said to the angel's side.

"Well Uncle Yuan, I have a lot of ground to make up and flying is the quickest way to travel," Lloyd said to Yuan who was leaning against a tree.

"True, in this weather, even your angelic abilities might not protect you from sickness," Yuan said.

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Lloyd asked with a shrug. Yan signaled Lloyd to come over with a flick of his wrist.

"You're going to intercept them at Triet," Yuan said as they began to teleport away.


"You knew that Lloyd was an angel all along!" the mayor shouted in disbelief.

"Yes, we found him wounded outside of the village, he told us he was trying to find the Chosen to protect her, so we took him in," Phaidra stated.

"I don't believe it," the mayor mumbled.

"Oh, how quick is it that you had a change of attitude," Frank nearly shouted.

"Excuse me?" the mayor asked with a confused expression.

"You heard me! And this applies to all the rest of you too!" Frank continued. "Ever since we took Lloyd in, you've treated him like scum, no! Worse than scum, but only know that you know who he truly is do you think of him as a human being?"

Phaidra and Dirk, as well as all of the villagers looked at Frank in disbelief from his outburst.

"Why?" the man continued. "I don't understand why he put up with it, every single time you put him down it hurt him, he could have changed it, but didn't."

"What are you talking about, we never put Ll-" the mayor tried to say.

"Don't even try to defend yourself!" Frank yelled. "I heard you myself, and I heard the rest from my daughter."

"The Chosen? What does she have to do with any of this?" another villager asked.

"Everything," Frank mumbled just loud enough for them to hear his voice. "She was always with Lloyd, because she was afraid that the moment he left the house without her he would be pelted with stones, or cursed at with every step he took, or ripped away and thrown out of the village."

The mayor shifted his gaze to the ground.

"So why? Why did you treat him as such?" Frank asked. The others followed the mayor's lead and shifted their attention to the ground, not knowing an answer.

"His last request was, not to let anyone know his secret," Phaidra said, trying to shift the topic of discussion. "If you want to repent for your misdeeds against the Chosen's guardian angel, then you can honor Lloyd's request." The shameful villagers slowly nodded their heads, one by one.


"-And so then I heard your voice and came here," Genis finished his story. The small elf sat there in nothing but his trousers and a towel as well as one of Raine's spare coats, as his older sister took his clothes and hung them over the fire so they would dry.

Colette's face lost the color it normally had and was replaced by a pale shade. Her best friend, the boy she loved so much it hurt, could be dead for all she knew. "Lloyd," she said quietly, her voice so weak, she barely heard herself. 'It's my fault!' she scolded herself. 'I shouldn't have left him behind! I should have just set aside my fear and let him come with us. If I did, then…' she couldn't finish that train of thought. Just even a single mention of a thought about it tugged at her heart strings.

'No!' she exclaimed in her head. 'Lloyd is alive! He… he has to be!' she continued.

Kratos, who had been trying his best not to show any emotion, listened to the story intensely. From what he gathered, Lloyd never told them he was an angel, which would also mean that he would try not to show any ties to him, which would explain why the boy acted so strange around him. However, Kratos's parental instincts got the better of him, he had to find out if his son was ok, otherwise it will plague him for eternity.

He was trying to find a suitable excuse for the group to turn back, so he could have a chance to search for his son. 'Perhaps to drop Genis off? Re-stock on supplies? Or even-,' Kratos debated until Martel blessed him with an opportunity.

"We have to go back!" Colette's quiet voice said almost immediately, causing all others in the cave to look at her. She ignored their stares as well as the embarrassed blush that had decided to spread itself across her face. "We have to make sure everyone is alright," she mused, suddenly finding her fingers very interesting as her blush became darker.

"Colette, I understand your feelings, but-," Raine started.

"I agree with the Chosen," Kratos sounded. Raine gave the mercenary a shocked glance. "If she worries about the safety of her friends and family, it could deter her from her duties as Chosen, therefore, I say we go back. Besides, this is her Journey of Regeneration. Who are we to decide what she can or cannot do?" He explained. Colette gave the mercenary a grateful look.

"Yeah!" Genis said. "I'm worried about Lloyd too!"

Raine sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll go back," she said. "After this storm passes," she added.

The group fell silent, and the only sounds that punctuated the air was the pounding of the rain, the loud roars of thunder off in the distance, crackling from the fire, and an occasional whine from Noishe.

Kratos watched as the Chosen sat by the fire praying, for what he couldn't tell, nor did it really matter, he wanted to find his son. The Sage siblings were closer to the fire, Raine tending to Genis's clothes, will the boy started to boil some water.

Kratos looked at the Arshis as it made its way over to him and lay down. 'Typical of Noishe, his loyalty knows no bounds,' Kratos mused to himself as he absent mindedly began to scratch Noishe behind the ears, just like Lloyd would.

"Hey! Noishe warmed up to you pretty quickly," Genis stated.

"Hm?" Kratos said as he looked up. Genis watched him out of the corner of his eye.

"Noishe, as friendly as he is, doesn't usually warm up to people that fast. It took a while for him to let me pet him, I don't know how long it took Colette though," Genis said. "I remember when he almost bit the mayor, that was really funny," Genis said with a laugh.

Both Raine and Kratos gave the boy confused looks. "He decided that enough was enough and tried to kick him out of the village, saying monsters shouldn't be allowed inside the walls. So Noishe almost bit him, would have to, had Lloyd not stopped him," Genis explained.

"That man, the mayor, he doesn't seem to like this Lloyd much, does he?" Kratos asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Raine eyed Kratos wearily. "He believes Lloyd is in league with the Desians," she said. "Because more than once he'd seen Lloyd out at night."

"But Lloyd would never side with the Desians!" Genis interrupted. "I'm sure he was out for a good reason!"

"Lloyd was trying to finish his studies," Colette finally said as she joined in on the conversation.

"His studies?" Kratos asked.

"Yeah, Lloyd was studying to become a priest!" Genis remembered.

'A priest? As an angel, he could be much more than a priest, he could be the pope if he wanted to,' Kratos told himself. "Why did he decide to become a priest?"

Colette didn't answer; instead she shifted her attention to the fire in front of her. She cuddled her knees to her chest and buried the bottom half of her face in them.

Raine, noticing the younger girl's actions turned back to Kratos. "I find it odd that you have such a sudden interest in Lloyd," she stated to the mercenary.

"Uh," he grunted in surprise. "Yes, you're right," he said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Forgive me," he said.


Lloyd, along with Yuan appeared in a fabulously decorated room. Adorned with plants, and chairs. Paintings sat upon the walls. In between two of the small potted trees, was a crystal like panel. Two doors stood adjacent from each other on one end of the room, and a large desk stood near the back of the room.

"This is, well, my office," Yuan said bluntly.

Lloyd looked around. It was definably more decorative than the room that Yggrassil had given him back in Welgaia. "This is a pretty nice set up you've got here Uncle Yuan," Lloyd spoke.

"Thank you," Yuan replied as he went and sat behind the desk and examined the mountain of paper work that sat there waiting for him. "Ugh," he moaned. "How does this stuff always keep coming back!" Yuan complained.

Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle at his uncle's antics. He continued to examine the room when he stopped and gazed at a picture. The picture showed Yuan and Kratos as well as two other companions together. He recognized one of the figures as Lady Martel, so he figured the last must be Yggrassil from before he went crazy.

"Woah!" Lloyd exclaimed. "I don't believe it!"

"Huh?" Yuan asked, he saw Lloyd gesture to the picture.

"Dad actually smiled for this?" the boy asked in disbelief.

"Those were happier times, but then, you already know all about that," Yuan said. "Which reminds me, I've always been curious about this, but what did Martel actually teach you?"

Lloyd gave a small smirk. "She taught me how to be an angel," Lloyd said. "Or at least an angel from her perspective, not Yggrassil's kind. They're just cold and heartless…. No offence Uncle Yuan," he added.

"None taken," Yuan shrugged. "Any special techniques?"

"A few, personally I like my guardian," Lloyd answered.

"Your guardian?" Yuan asked.

Lloyd nodded and began to explain how his guardian worked.


"Lady Pronyma," Forcystus said as he acknowledged his superior. A woman, wearing a leather suit stood before the Cardinal. She had green eyes and matching green hair. She had green lipstick to compliment her hair and eyes. On her shoulders sat her shield tiles, laced together, giving them the appearance of a cloak. In one of her hands was a report that was handed to her.

"Thank you Forcystus, you may return to your ranch now," she said as she still read the report.

"Yes Lady Pronyma," Forcystus said before leaving.

Pronyma finished reading the report and turned towards the large throne room on the other side of the door she stood before. She opened the door and approached Yggrassil as he sat.

"What is it Pronyma?" he asked.

"Lord Yggrassil," Pronyma started as she bowed. "A report came in from Forcystus. Apparently, Lady Martel's little fledgling had a scrap with him, and left Forcystus to lick his wounds."

"And why would Forcystus engage Lloyd in battle?" Yggrassil asked.

"Apparently my lord," Pronyma answered. "He moved his forces into the Village of Iselia and began attacking," she said.

"I see," Yggrassil said.

"However, something in the report seems odd. He said that Lloyd said he wouldn't let anyone touch the Chosen, and he stressed the word "anyone." Is this some sort of threat my lord?" Pronyma asked.

"No, I feel it is just Martel's servant's way of saying he'll protect her from the Renegades," Yggrassil said.


After parting ways with Dirk, Frank and Phaidra returned to their home. "Frank," Phaidra said.

"Yes mom?" Frank answered.

"Was that outburst really necessary?" the priestess asked.

Frank sighed. "I know, It was uncalled for, but I was just so sick and tired of it," he answered. "They just always treated him so bad, without even giving him a chance.

"Yes, I understand your feelings but there is a time and place for everything, and I don't think that was it," Phaidra said.

"It," Frank started. "it's just that I thought of Lloyd as a son. If it wasn't for Colette's feelings towards him, I would have adopted the boy."


As the moonlight finally broke through the barrier of clouds that had covered the sky, the raining finally stopped.

"Look!" Colette exclaimed. "The rain stopped! Now we can go back!"

Raine looked up at the sky and then the ground outside their little cave. "Not tonight we can't, it's too dark out now. And you may slip and fall in the puddles and get sick," she advised.

"First thing in the morning then," she added when she saw the blond become even more depressed. At her words, Colette nodded and smiled.

'If only morning would come sooner,' Kratos mused to himself.


Chapter nine….

Well, there it is! Feel free to tell me what you think of it!

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