Orchard of Mines: Backwards to the Fore
Chapter 10
The barrier was transparent, but not completely invisible. It was much like looking through glass. Lyle scanned the far reaches of what was now their prison. It seemed there were no openings across the entire hemisphere.
After a moment of taking in this sight, Lloyd breathed, "Wow."
"I got to say," Genis said, "I'm very impressed."
"Have any of you seen anything like this?" Lyle asked.
"We were once caught in a trap like this, but it was only big enough to hold us, not an entire town."
"Yeah, I remember that," Genis said. "Colette's blessed clumsiness saved us then."
Colette chuckled mildly, "I'm just glad I was able to, even if it was an accident."
"What's the story behind that?" Lyle asked.
"In a nutshell, Colette fell onto the device generating the barrier and freed us. We were able to defend ourselves against our enemies and force them to retreat."
"Could there be a generator powering…all this?" Lyle waved his hand over the entire barrier.
"If there is, it would take an enormous amount of power to maintain it. Or perhaps it's something that can uphold itself. Right now, we can only guess."
"Do you think we can break it down?" Colette asked.
"Hey, yeah!" Lloyd spoke up. "Genis, remember when we were in Derris Kharlan and those barriers had us trapped?"
"Lloyd, I can't use my magic, remember?"
"Oh, right. Colette, can you still your angelic artes?"
"I think so. I haven't tried to use them, though."
"Alright. Let's give yours and mine a try." Lloyd pulled out what looked like a tiny metal box that fit perfectly within his palm. "You want to see something truly amazing, Lyle?"
"Truth be told, you're going to have a hard time topping the barrier…and the earthquake…and the dust storm…"
"Well, check this out anyway!" Lloyd held his arm out. In the space of a second, a vehicle popped out of the box and expanded rapidly to accommodate one or two people. It was completely white except for the front of the wings, which were red. The landing gear appeared to be able to fold into the wings. A very peculiar looking engine was attached to the center of the bottom on the craft. Located on the front of it was what looked like a…muzzle? Lyle couldn't recall exactly what the tip of a gun was called, but it was similar to that, except much larger.
"See, isn't that awesome?" Lloyd asked as he opened a storage compartment on the vehicle. "It's called a Rheaird."
"It's…very impressive. But I have something to say about this."
"What?"
"You guys think this world has superior technology to your own? We're not even close to this level! We don't have personal flying machines and we certainly don't have the ability to shrink…" Lyle knocked on the Rheaird, "…solid metal."
"Really?" Genis asked. "I suppose I'll need to rethink my conclusion…"
Lloyd opened a storage compartment locked on the rear end of the fuselage. He pulled out a leather belt with a couple of pouches on either side. Without a word, he handed it to Genis, who put it on. Then he pulled out another leather belt, but this one had a couple oddly shaped scabbards stitched to the sides. Lloyd put it on.
Genis reached into the pouch on his right side and pulled out a steel knife. Its shape and weight was ideal for both short-range combat and long-range projectiles. He twirled it for a moment before putting it back. Lloyd drew both of his blades. His left hand blade glowed red and had many jagged edges. Its guard perfectly fit around Lloyd's hand, as if it was tailored specially for him. The right blade glowed blue and had a silver hilt. The tip of the sword reminded Lyle of the top of a fleur-des-li.
"I hope you don't mind me saying that you people just keep getting weirder. You use personal flying machines, swords, and knives? I don't even know anymore and frankly, I'm starting to think it's easier to just not care."
"Okay, fine, adopt Lloyd's approach…" Genis commented.
"But it is easier!" Lloyd said.
"Are you sure these weapons are necessary?" Lyle asked. "What if whoever set up the barrier doesn't want to attack us?"
"Yeah, 'cause I'm sure whoever went through all the trouble of setting up a city-sized barrier just wants to talk to us," Genis said.
Lyle's eyes narrowed at him, but said, "Touché. Anyway, what about you two?" he asked Colette and Marta. "Do you fight unarmed?"
"Nope!" they replied. Colette reached behind her back and from underneath her shirt, she produced a couple of large white rings, approximately one foot in diameter. Marta produced a spinner from…somewhere. She had it hidden on herself, though where she kept such an object was beyond him. The handle wrapped around her palm nicely and with a flick of her wrist, the weapon fully extended and formed an S-shape. With another flick, it dissolved into the shape of a fan.
"Still works!" she said.
"You're just showing off, aren't you?" Genis asked.
"Hey, it's not like you weren't showing off, either!"
"Alright, that's enough, guys," Lloyd interjected. "Let's give this a try. Colette, use your Angel Feathers and at the same time, I'll use Demon Fang. Just say when you're ready."
"Alright," she replied as Lloyd raised his blades over his head.
"Angel Feathers and Demon Fang, huh?" Lyle asked.
Colette pulled her wings out and hovered over the street. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. The air swirled about her and a white aura began emanating from her body. Feathers fell from her wings and glided about, seeming to be careful not to move far away. Once they hit the ground, they faded away. She suddenly shouted, "Now!"
The feathers suddenly pointed directly at the barrier and launched themselves at it. Lloyd brought his blades down hard. A red wave of energy propelled itself out from his swords. Both it and the feathers impacted the shield and caused it to slightly bend outward, as if it were made of rubber. The attacks dispersed and the barrier moved back as if nothing happened.
"Maybe we could try something with a little more punch?" Lloyd asked.
"I don't think we'll have any luck, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try," Genis said.
Lyle spoke up. "Hey, guys, while you figure this out, I'm going to go back to my place. There are a few things I want to get."
"Alright," Lloyd said. "Marta, you should probably go with him. You're not doing much right now and we can't be too careful."
"Okay. I was going to go with him, anyway."
"Okay. Stay safe, guys."
"We will," Lyle said. He began his trek back to his house with Marta walking beside him. She said something, but he was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed. Questions grappled at his mind and try as he might, he couldn't answer them.
"Lyle?" Marta asked a little louder.
Lyle snapped out of it. "Uh, sorry. What is it?"
"There's something I would like to know."
"Yes?"
Marta looked straight into his eyes and Lyle looked right back. "Do you know how to fight?"
Lyle immediately looked away. "That…that's something I've been wondering about, myself. I'm not sure."
Marta just looked at him quizzically. "How can you not be sure?"
Lyle shook his head. "I don't know, either. I feel like the knowledge is in my mind, somewhere, but I've…only really been in combat once."
"You were? Did you win?"
"No… It was…" Lyle sighed. "It's still too soon, I can't talk about it."
"Oh, your dream…"
Lyle nodded.
"I wonder if that's coincidence."
"Coincidence? With what?"
"We show up here and then fifteen minutes later, you collapse and have that terrible dream." Quite suddenly, her mood changed. "But I'm sure things will get better, Lyle! Even if we have enemies here, we'll protect you! I promise!"
Lyle managed a soft smile. "Thanks, Marta." I know you're trying to make me feel better, Marta, but I can't shake the feeling that things will only get worse from here…
They arrived at Lyle's house and entered his bedroom. "Sorry about the mess," Lyle said.
Marta just shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. Emil is much messier."
"Emil…? Oh, right, your boyfriend."
She nodded and saw what Lyle was reaching for. "You use a sword?"
"Like I said, I'm not sure." He lifted the blade off of the hooks on which it rested and pulled it a ways out of its scabbard. For a moment, he stared at his reflection in the cold steel and that's when it really hit him. It's possible he will have to use it. Not in a vision, but in real life.
"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" Marta asked.
"Oh…yeah, sure." Lyle handed the blade over and Marta drew it out the rest of the way. She was about to set the scabbard down, but Lyle held his hand out, so she handed it to him. She studied the blade closely, noting its perfectly smooth surface and razor sharp edge.
"I can tell you haven't used it at all. It's as if it had just come out of the forge. How long have you had it?"
"For as long as I can remember."
She looked at him with shock in her eyes. "You've had this since you were a child?!"
"That's right. I have no idea how I got it, but I remember having it since my earliest memory."
"When was that?" Marta asked as she handed the blade back to him. Lyle promptly slid it back into the scabbard.
"When I was four years old."
"Four? That's a bit late for your earliest memory, isn't it?"
Lyle opened the top drawer of his dresser and pulled a belt out. He slid it through the belt loops on his jeans as he spoke. "Yeah, well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed."
"Don't put yourself down like that!"
"I'm not! It's the truth, Marta. I'm so forgetful that even this year's prom slipped my mind."
"Forgetful?" she asked, sounding more surprised than confused.
Lyle picked up the scabbard and slid it between the jeans and the belt. With it secured in place, he walked out of the bedroom. "Yeah. I'm especially terrible with names."
"No, you're not," Marta said as she followed him into the family room.
"What do you mean? I am pretty bad."
"You didn't have trouble remembering our names."
That statement gave Lyle pause. "Wow…you're right. How'd I manage that?" Marta shrugged in response.
Suddenly, a boom that was nearly quiet and subtle caused a vibration to go through the ground. "What was that?!" Lyle shouted, his heart beating a touch faster than normal.
"Relax. That was Lloyd, we don't have to worry."
Lyle sighed. "Okay…"
"A little jumpy, are we?" A hint of amusement was in Marta's voice. That threw Lyle off since he was so used to hearing those inflections in Rena's voice.
"Uh…well, can you blame me?"
"No, probably not. But even so, you shouldn't be so tense right now."
"'Right now' being the key word…" Lyle muttered to himself.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." Lyle put a black sweatshirt with two red stripes going down on either side on. "Now where did I…? Oh, right…" He walked into the kitchen where he dropped the overcoat he wore earlier today. "In all the madness going on today, I forgot to wash my overcoat."
"What happened to it?" Marta asked.
"You know that dust storm I mentioned before?"
"Caught in the middle of it, huh?"
"Right. I'll still wear it, I'll just dust it off as we go."
"Okay!"
Lyle slipped the filthy overcoat on, dust coming off practically in sheets already. This caused Lyle to cough and Marta to step away. Once it settled, he said, "I'll stand behind you guys."
"We'd appreciate that."
Lyle noticed a problem, however. The scabbard was at an angle, so it stuck out beneath his overcoat. This was easily fixed, though, as he simply adjusted the scabbard so it pointed straight down. "I'm ready, let's go."
Both he and Marta stepped outside. Lyle took a moment to lock the door behind him. As he did so, he glanced over to the edge of the barrier. The Symphonians and the Rheaird were no longer there, but his initial worries were quickly defused when he saw them on the road where his driveway ended.
As he and Marta approached, she asked, "No luck with the barrier?"
"Nope," Lloyd replied. "We tried everything from digging underneath the barrier, which according to Genis, most likely meets underground to form a complete sphere, to launching my most powerful technique, Divine Justice, at it. Nothing, but a whole lot of…nothing."
"So what's the plan, then?" Lyle asked.
"We're going to split up into two teams. One will investigate the source of the barrier while the other will find that…who did you say may know something?"
"Jonas."
"Jonas, right. Hopefully, he'll have some more information than us."
"Assuming he didn't evacuate," Genis added.
"But it won't hurt to check. Also, if whoever set up this barrier has hostile intent, it's likely they've set up ambushes within Midvale. Keep an eye out."
Lyle gulped and subconsciously grasped the hilt of his blade. Thoughts raced through his mind. If the time comes, will he have the courage to use his weapon? Does he have the strength to hurt others who threaten his friends? Could he even kill if need be? Lyle hoped above all else that he wouldn't have to answer these questions.
"How are we going to split up?" Colette asked.
Lyle let go of the hilt and did his best to hide the nervousness in his voice. "I'll speak with Jonas."
Genis said, "I want to check out the generator. I can probably figure out how it works."
"I'll go with you," Lloyd said. "Without your magic, all you have to rely on is your skill with your knives, which honestly, isn't as good as your magic. I'm the strongest of us, so if the time comes, I can protect you, just like old times."
A wave of nostalgia swept over Genis. "Old times… Okay, then!"
"Colette, you and Marta should go with Lyle. Protect him and Jonas, if you find him."
"Of course," Marta and Colette replied.
"Where did you say Jonas' house was?" Lloyd asked.
Lyle pointed. "It's hard to see from here, but his house is on the bend of the road that leads into town."
"Okay. Let's go, everyone."
Lyle found himself grasping the hilt of the blade once more as he and the Symphonians journeyed to their respective objectives. He glanced back at Rena's house. For a moment, he thought about searching it for her, but most likely, she left. Even if she hadn't, they would've come across her by now.
"Before I forget," Genis said as he pulled a device out of his pocket, "take this, Colette. I have the other one."
"Oh, thanks!" Colette said as she put what looked like a white pad with various buttons and a screen in one of her pockets.
"What is that?" Lyle asked.
"It's one of the upgrades I made to the Rheairds, with some help from Yuan and Raine," Genis said proudly, "a detachable communicator!"
"Ah… Remind me again why we can't use the Rheairds?"
"The Rheairds' engines are designed to gather mana and then expel it backwards to gain forward motion."
"And there's no mana here so the engine doesn't work."
"Not exactly. There is a battery I installed that'll give it power, but it won't work for long. We're going to save it until we absolutely need it."
"I see. You have them with you, I presume?"
"Obviously. It's not going to do us much good leaving them behind."
"I know that. I like to be sure of things, that's all. It seems like whenever I assume, I end up being wrong."
"I know how you feel, Lyle," Colette said. "I like to be sure of things, too."
"With that in mind, I have a couple of questions."
"What are they? I'd be happy to answer, if I can."
"How did all of this begin? How'd you end up here?"
"Well, at the time, we were helping with the reconstruction of Mizuho right after their move…"