A while later, when everyone was dried off, Lloyd, Raine, Genis and Colette walked down to Iselia. As they entered the town, several people looked shocked, a few running up to Colette and saying how happy they were that she was back. They spent a while just talking to the people, Colette having to constantly reassure them that she was okay, but eventually they reached her house.
Knocking on the door, they walked in, stepping through to the kitchen where her father, Frank, and grandmother Phaidra were sitting. They looked up as they entered, then stood as they saw Colette.
"Colette, you're alright!" Frank gasped, hugging her tightly.
Colette gave a happy nod, hugging him back. "I missed you," she mumbled.
"You went into the ocean?" Phaidra asked the other three, frowning.
"It was the only option," Raine replied.
"...Very well. I won't say that I'm upset to have my granddaughter back, after all. But you must stay out of the water for two weeks, least you be unable to leave ever again."
"Of course, Elder," Raine said, bowing briefly before motioning for the two boys to follow her out.
"Oh, and Lloyd?" Phaidra called suddenly. He paused, turning back, and she walked over to him, motioning for him to bend down. He did so, looking confused.
"Yes?" he asked hesitantly.
"You should be more careful about who sees it. You're lucky only I have noticed, so far; make sure to stay out of sight," she murmured.
Lloyd blinked before straightening, staring at her. "You...you know that..?"
"That you've given my granddaughter a very beautiful necklace? Yes, I am aware," Phaidra said tartly, before shooing him out and closing the door behind him.
"What's up, Lloyd?" asked Genis.
Lloyd glanced at the house, then shook his head, turning away. "It's nothing. You should head back home," he said with a grin, before waving and heading out of town again.
It was late. Lloyd stood on his balcony, gazing up at the starry sky. He'd missed it, being under the water. It was almost a relief to be back...but he couldn't stay for too long. He had to stop that Yggdrasil guy as soon as possible.
He glanced back into his room, making sure no one was moving around or awake. Certain that no one was there, he placed a hand on the railing before leaping over. He easily landed, remaining still a moment to make sure no one had woken up before quietly running down towards the beach.
When he reached it, he didn't pause, easily diving into it. A moment later his tail had appeared, and he twisted slightly, flicking it before swimming deeper so that he had plenty of space.
Finally he stopped, glancing around. He turned to gaze down at his hands, then closed his eyes and focused. Last time he'd summoned the swords on instinct, simply because he'd seen Kratos do it and Sheena had vaguely shown him how. Now that he was actually trying to do it conciously, it was much harder.
Several times he saw a brief flicker, the water surging towards him slightly before he lost concentration and it faded again. Finally he gave a frustrated cry, turning onto his back as he gazed at the sky.
"How hard can this be?" he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. For a while he simply floated there, then he flicked his tail, pushing himself to the surface. He headed back towards the beach, coming from a different angle so that nobody from the town could see him, and pulled himself up onto several rocks. He sat there, his tail slightly dipped into the water and scales glowing from the light.
Remembering what Kratos had said the night before, he frowned. "How come Kratos knew my parents?" he wondered, lying back on the rock. He pondered over it for a while, wondering why the name Anna seemed familiar, then pushed it away and sat up again. His tail had faded by now, and he stood up, clambering over the rocks before heading back up to the house. He quickly pulled himself back up to his room, padding in and closing the door before drying himself off and collapsing onto the covers. Gazing out the window, his eyes slowly drifted closed, still wondering about the Anna thing.
"Lloyd! Come on, wake up already!" Genis called from underneath his window.
It finally opened, Lloyd stumbling out and gazing down at him sleepily. "Hey Genis...what's the matter?" he asked.
"You're going to be late for school, Lloyd. We may have just gotten back, but Sis isn't going to start taking it easy on us," Genis pointed out.
Lloyd groaned, running a hand through his hair and making it even messier than normal. "...Fine..Just wait there a sec," he said finally, walking back into his room. Genis rolled his eyes, waiting impatiently. They'd been back about a week already, but Lloyd hadn't actually been coming school. Raine had let him have some time off, but now she wanted him back, so it was Genis' job to get him up in the morning again.
He'd been getting up pretty late recently, actually. Maybe doing all that stuff in the ocean had really tired him out...
He soon stepped out of the house now fully dressed, giving a quick wave to Dirk before following Genis down to Iselia.
"So, how are Sheena and Zelos settling in?" asked Genis, who hadn't seen them very much since coming back.
"Well enough. I think they find it weird not being in the water, but they know if they try to go back they could be killed. I feel kind of sorry for them, to be honest. If they hadn't decided to help me, then they would be able to go home at least..." Lloyd replied, sighing.
"It's not your fault, so don't worry about it. And we'll figure out something eventually," Genis reassured, then turned back as they entered Iselia. "Come on, the lesson's probably already started," he added, running ahead. Lloyd gave a wide yawn before lazily jogging after him, quickly apologising as Genis called for him to hurry up.
Lloyd sighed as he listlessly swam through the water, staying close to the surface but not close enough to be seen from the town. The constant late nights and early mornings were starting to get to him, and he wondered if he should just start going to bed earlier. But he needed to practice this, otherwise he wouldn't be prepared to fight Yggdrasil...
He blinked as he heard something and turned, watching a mermaid coming towards him. Frowning, he turned, but the darkness meant he wasn't able to clearly see them.
They stopped a little way back, gazing at him. He drew back slightly, gazing at them warily. "Who are you?" he asked finally.
The mermaid watched him for a moment, then tilted their head a moment as if considering him. Suddenly they shot forward, an axe appearing in their hands. Lloyd swore, only just dodging and quickly backing away, focusing on summoning his swords. Although he could do it now, he still had to concentrate for a minute; however, the girl wasn't giving him a minute, and lunged forward again, cutting his arm lightly.
Lloyd quickly dived, focusing on dodging her as he tried to manifest his swords. She followed after him, and he saw now that she had a black tail. Glancing over her, he finally spotted the pendant around her neck.
"Yggdrasil..." he muttered, feeling a click as his sword appeared. He turned, blocking the girl as she slammed her axe towards him and pushing her back. He slipped round her, quickly restraining her with one hand and hitting her on the head with the other. She quickly went limp, and he sighed in relief before swimming up and heading back to the mainland.
A while later, when his legs had returned, he walked back up to the house. He went through the front door, not bothering with trying to climb back to his room, and set her down on the sofa before searching for the box where Dirk kept the pendants made from his scales. He eventually found it, pulling out a necklace and heading back over to the girl.
He pulled off the other necklace, putting his on her, and she stiffened subconciously before relaxing, the black scales fading to be replaced with a deep indigo. Her tail also quickly disappeared, leaving her with two legs.
Lloyd sat back, giving a sigh. Well, he didn't exactly have time to keep practicing now, apparently. Not if Yggdrasil had finally found him. The fact that he sent such a young girl rather than Kratos surprised him, to be honest, but there could be any number of things which meant Kratos wasn't sent.
In fact, maybe that was a good thing. Kratos was strong, Lloyd knew that, and he was faster at making his weapons. The girl was slightly amateur; Kratos was a professional. If it had been Kratos, he probably would have been beaten.
He heard footsteps and glanced up, watching as Dirk came down. "Are ya alrigh'? I heard ya wandering around..." he started before blinking as he saw the girl. "Who's she?" he asked.
"I don't know. She attacked me, but it was because she under someone else's control," Lloyd replied tiredly.
Dirk eyed him. "Ya been out swimming, hmm?"
Lloyd nodded, too tired to care at this point.
Dirk frowned. "Are ya alrigh'? Ya look a little pale..."
"I'm fine. Is there anywhere she can sleep for tonight?" Lloyd asked, pushing himself up.
"I'll go ask Sheena if she can stay with 'er. We'll sort the rest out tomorrow, so just go get some sleep."
"Right. Night Dad," Lloyd said, walking over the stairs and going up them. He got to his room and collapsed onto his bed, asleep within seconds.
A/N: And Presea is introduced! (C'mon, you guessed by the axe...) Also, the tiredness thing is a plot point. Plot! It actually exists in my stories sometimes!
'His sword' was not a typo - he only made one sword appear because a) he didn't have time to make the other and b) it was just easier to restrain her.
Review?