Tales of Angels
Chapter 10
Lloyd relaxed his wings and stretched them out. It had been so long since he'd had a chance to stretch them, they felt a bit stuffy, stiff as a board. He looked over his shoulder as he bent the two luminescent wings in front of himself. As he inspected his wings a sigh of disapproval escaped from his lips.
'Lady Martel would have a fit if she saw the condition these things were in,' Lloyd mused to himself as he began to preen his feathers. As he worked, Lloyd began to sway on his feet absent mindedly. His head became fuzzier and fuzzier by the moment. By the time Lloyd realized what was happening it was too late.
Yuan looked up from his desk just in time to watch his godson collapse on the floor. "Lloyd!" Yuan exclaimed. He quickly jolted up from his chair and rushed to the boy's side. "Mana exhaustion," Yuan mused as he picked the unconscious angel up and took him into the room right next door.
The bedroom was of the same original design as the office. Paintings and plants surrounded the room. Two beds sat next to each other. The lighting in the room came from a few mana lamps that we hung along the walls. A large red rug lay on the middle of the floor.
Yuan set Lloyd down on one of the beds. He reached over and placed the boy's two swords that the dwarf, Dirk, had given to him before he left on the table next to him. Lloyd's wings fluttered calmly as the angel rested.
"I suppose you ought to know your limits," Yuan said to himself as he sat down on the bed next to him. "However," he started on a new train of thought as he remembered the incident that happened at Iselia.
Yuan sat in the shadows just outside the village and watched as Lloyd began to pulse a golden aura of pure mana. Everything about the boy's physical features gained a golden glow, even his clothing. He sat there in amazement as the huge amount of mana that his godson was pouring out magnified greatly when Lloyd's wings revealed themselves, much to the village's amazement.
Yuan then watched and studied as the mana relocated itself at the boy's chest before launching itself in an attack. To anyone else's eyes, the attack would have just looked like an explosion of light, but to Yuan's trained angel eyes he could make out each individual pulse of light that emanated from the boy. He could see the waves of light knock Desians off their feet, leaving them dead before they hit the ground. The amount of mana behind the attack was so much more than Yuan thought any angel, with the exception of Yggrassil, was capable of possessing. He made a mental note to ask Lloyd about his abilities next time he got the chance. Something about the golden mana, and the strange attack seemed familiar, but he just couldn't figure out why.
It was only then that it dawned on Yuan. After making sure Lloyd was comfortable, Yuan moved over to one of his bookshelves. The shelves were lined with books that he'd taken straight from the libraries of Vinheim. He pulled out several of the oldest books written in an ancient variation of the angelic language, a dialect that very few could identify, yet alone read.
He took the books with him back to his desk and began to read through them. For hours he translated ancient texts, only to find out that there was more to read, which only brought up more questions.
Yuan listened to the steady breathing of his god son sleeping in the next room over. "If only Yggrassil knew just how important you are to Martel," Yuan mused to himself as he wrote down notes of the discoveries he had figured out thus far into his research. "He'd have kept you with him at all times."
"Professor!" Colette called out, waking up the two Sage siblings. "It's morning now, we should start heading back," the Chosen continued in a more calm, but still anxious voice.
"Not yet," Raine replied. "First we must have a decent breakfast. It is unwise to travel on an empty stomach, especially if we are attacked," the teacher reasoned.
Colette realized the logic behind Raine's words, and her desire to keep the four, or five including Noishe, of them safe from any threat that they may face, wither it be remaining Desians on the lookout for them, or just a random group of monsters. Colette barely managed to hold back her discontent sigh. 'A good Chosen does not show anger or discontent,' she reminded herself. But did Raine not realize how much going back meant to her? Did she not understand her desire, no, her need to make sure that her family was alright, and that Lloyd was…
Just the thought of anything happening to him sent a chill so cold down Colette's spine.
"Chosen," Kratos spoke as he entered the cave. Kratos had taken night watch outside partly through the night, once the outside of the cave had dried a little bit. Even though the rain had stopped, the damp weather may cause some of the larger monsters to seek shelter, so he had perched himself atop of their rocky tunnel to insure that no dangerous creatures came near their camp. "Be at ease, I'll help prepare breakfast so that it may be done quicker," Kratos spoke to the blond.
Colette nodded and smiled at her mercenary guardian, but her smile quickly faded from its normal bright and cheery appearance, into a scared and sad look. Kratos studied her expression, but otherwise let it pass as he began to start a fire as Genis pulled cooking utensils from one of the bags Raine had brought with them.
As the sound of the fire crackling, the whines made by a begging Noishe, and idle conversation was exchanged between some of the travelers, they cave filled with life as everyone woke up to the smell of breakfast.
However, the Chosen walked towards the cave's entrance. Colette stood and faced the direction of Iselia. The morning sun swept across her face, lighting her up with an angelic glow. The wind caused her blonde hair to sway back and forth. The sound of the early birds chirping, and the smell of fresh morning dew surrounded her.
'Lloyd,' Colette thought to herself. She absent mindedly placed her hands over her heart in prayer. 'Please be ok.'
"Colette," Genis called her. "Come have some breakfast," he said when the blonde turned to face him. Colette nodded and took the plate offered to her gratefully. As she ate, Colette would often shift her gaze out towards the cave exit.
"Calm down Chosen," Kratos said. Colette flinched, had she really been that obvious? "We'll be heading back soon, so don't worry." Colette nodded in understanding and forced a smile on her face.
"Kratos, why do you really want to head back?" Raine asked him with a stern look. Her eyes studied every feature of his face in case his face gave any indication that he was lying.
"Well," Kratos started. He knew this was coming. It would have been foolish to believe that Raine had trusted him so much to believe his first answer. "If Genis is going to be joining us, we will need to head back for more supplies, the amount we have now will not support us all the way to Triet. Or, if you would rather leave him behind, we could just escort him back to the village," Kratos explained.
"I see," Raine said. Her eyes became less hostile upon his face. "That would be a logical course of action."
After they finished eating and packing up their temporary campsite. The group proceeded towards the direction of Iselia. Noishe traveled behind the group, his ears drooping downwards. He was whining quietly. The arshis couldn't help but feel as though he abandoned Lloyd. Genis also shared similar feelings, he felt completely useless, Lloyd had saved him from the Desians twice now, and both times were his fault, not Lloyd's. Kratos was anxious to return to the village, if not to see his son, then to at least learn more about him. Colette, however, was the most anxious to get back. The trip to the village was almost silent. The only punctual noises were sighs, and the sounds coming from birds and other sources of nature.
After a couple of hours of walking, the group could see small plumes of smoke rising in the distance, from the direction of Iselia. Upon seeing the smoke, the group rushed to the remains of the village.
Yggrassil walked calmly down the corridors of his castle. A smile etched on his face, and for good reason. The current Chosen of Mana residing in Sylvarant had the closest match to his sister's mana signature; in fact it was almost as if the chosen was Martel's reincarnation. And just to makes things better for him, he knew that this chosen was protected, not only did he send Kratos, the only human he actually trusted, to go protect her, but even Martel herself blessed this girl by sending Lloyd along.
Suddenly, the leader of Cruxis stopped. He narrowed his eyes. 'Why does Martel speak to that servant, and not me? Am I not her brother?' he asked himself. The more he thought about it, the more he began to doubt his understanding. Lloyd was the only angel he had ever seen without a Cruxis Crystal, he had assumed that Lloyd had wings because of his father's Cruxis crystal, but that didn't seem to fit. After all, the two had different style wings. Was the color of their wings the only similarity?
Determined to find an answer, Yggrassil went to his archives. The Archives of Vinheim held all of the documents of the two worlds before they were split. In order to preserve the lie that the Desians had cause the Kharlan Wars, he had to remove all traces of the truth. The large library was surrounded by stone walls, eliminated by two large fireplaces set at opposite ends of the room. Along the walls in between the large fireplaces were a series of mana powered lamps. Two large staircases connected the ground floor to the upper level. Rows upon rows of books, scripts, and other ancient texts lay preserved on their shelves and cases.
A small group of angels resided in this library, by Yggrassil's orders they kept the library preserved and took inventory of its belongings.
Knowing where to find the scriptures he was looking for, the leader of Cruxis proceeded through the rows, only to find that they were missing. Narrowing his eyes, he called over one of the librarians.
"Is there anything I can help you with Lord Yggrassil?" the angel spoke in a monotone voice.
"Where are the scriptures that are supposed to be here?" Yggrassil asked, keeping his irritancy down. The only ones that had access to this part of the library were himself and his seraphim.
"I do not know my lord, however, I do recall seeing Lord Yuan over here several years ago," the angel replied.
"Yuan," Yggrassil growled. That half-elf was beginning to wear on his nerves. In the beginning, Yuan was his biggest supporter, however over time that had begun to fade. Yggrassil believed that the seraph merely had suffered from a loss of moral, but did he not realize that their goal would soon be in sight?
Never the less, taking scriptures from the archives of Vinheim was strictly forbidden. Yggrassil would have to go and see Yuan personally.
Upon arrival at the village, the group was shocked to see the remains. The village gate was blown apart, the wall splintered and broken, and the watch tower crushed as if it were smashed into the ground. Many of the buildings were nothing but charred ruined frames many of which had collapsed, and most of the other buildings had scorch marks or other damages on their surfaces.
Genis hung his jaw low; the damages hadn't been nearly as bad last night. Raine and Kratos tried to show no emotion at all, but Kratos did much better than the professor. Colette covered her mouth with her hands as she gazed upon her village with horror.
"I had no idea it had been this bad," Genis said quietly.
The group silently made their way into the village. They saw some of the survivors, covered in sweat and soot, some bruised and others cut, moving ruble out of the way. The village guards, farmers and shop keepers, boys, husbands, fathers, all worked together to try and repair the village.
They moved deeper into the village, where a group of the mothers and older girls kept the children together and out of harm's way. Some tended to the exhausted workers with water and sweat rags. The kids played, either not fully aware of the situation that the village now faced, or not to naïve to be concerned. 'Still no sign of Grandmother, of father, or Lloyd,' Colette thought sadly to herself.
Raine approached one of the children. "Excuse me," she started, getting the children's attention.
"Professor Sage!" they exclaimed happily. Their faces radiated excitement, despite the situation their families faced.
"Hello," Raine replied, forcing a smile, trying to keep the children as enthusiastic. "Do any of you know what happened here?" she asked kindly. They all shook their heads.
"There was a loud noise and we all got brought inside the school house," One of them, a little boy said.
"I heard someone say something about Desians," a little girl spoke. Some of the children shuttered, others looked down sadly, indicating to Raine that they knew something happened, just not exactly what.
"The next thing that happened was that some people came in to get us out of the school house so that they could put the hurt people in there," another little girl said.
Listening to the conversation Colette decided to join in. "And what about my father and grandmother?"
"Last time I saw Mrs. Brunel and Mr. Brunel was in the school house," a little boy said.
"And Lloyd?" Colette added.
The children fell silent, and their enthusiastic smiles faltered. Colette could help but feel her hope crumble beneath her feet.
"Daddy said," a little girl started. "That Mr. Lloyd is an angel now."
The group went wide eyed. Genis stood frozen from shock. Raine was taken aback just like her brother. Kratos assuming from the beginning that Lloyd had revealed his wings felt more assured of his survival, but was still worried about his whereabouts.
"No…way, Lloyd can't be…" Genis's voice faded.
Colette dropped onto her knees and cried into her dress. "Miss Chosen!" one of the children said as they rushed over to her. They wanted to try and help her, but were not accustomed to being so close to her, they were nervous, and a bit shy around her.
"Colette!" a deep voice said. The blonde chosen looked up to see her father rushing towards her. She stood up, and quickly embraced Frank as he rushed over to her. "Colette, I'm so glad you're safe!"
"Father!" Colette said in between sobs. Frank brushed her blonde hair in an attempt to soothe his daughter. "Lloyd…. He's…. he's!" she tried to say. Her worst fear had become a reality. 'It's my fault! It's my fault! Now Lloyd is gone, gone forever!'
"Lloyd is just fine; he left the village after the Desians were defeated." Frank told her. With a sniffle, Colette looked into his eyes with both confusion and hope. "Lloyd and Mr. Dirk had driven the Desians out. It seems as though Lloyd had been working on more than just his studies," he said. "So cheer up, you're supposed to be a beacon of hope to the people of Sylvarant, alright?"
"Yes father," Colette said with a smile as she whipped the last of her tears away.
They turned around the corner, towards the center of the village. The village center seemed to be the only part unmarked by the Desian invasion.
That's when they saw it; corpses lined the side of school house. A couple dozen Desian corpses had been piled up into three large piles and set ablaze. The fallen villagers lay waiting, as the teenage boys dug their graves in the village cemetery.
Colette immediately jerked her gaze away from the rows of the dead, and Raine quickly covered her little brother's eyes.
After a moment Colette opened her eyes, and gazed at the deceased. She recognized many of the people, some from school, and others from around the village, but she was thankful that none of her loved ones were among them. She fell to her knees and prayed.
"Great Goddess Martel, please guide these poor souls to your heaven of Derris Kharlan, and please help their families in this great time of need," Colette spoke softly in prayer.
They made their way into the school house, where they saw dozen's of wounded villagers being treated by the more experienced women. Some men were helping the wounded move about.
"Colette!" Phaidra exclaimed as she rushed over and embraced Colette in a hug just as her father did.
"Hello grandmother," Colette managed to say as she was being squeezed by her grandmother. "I'm glad to see you're ok."
Lloyd stirred and slowly opened his eyes. "What happened?" he asked no one in particular. He turned his head and took in his surroundings. Then he noticed his swords sitting on the bedside table.
He took them and attached them to his belt, which lay hidden under his robe top. "Uncle Yuan?" Lloyd called out.
"In here Lloyd," Yuan called back. The seraph closed his book and stored it, along with all of his notes into his desk. The rest of the pile had already been replaced back on the shelves. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah, but what happened?" Lloyd asked as he absent mindedly rubbed the back of his head.
"You pasted out from an over use of mana," Yuan replied. "I suggest for future reference, that you do not over do it again."
"Yeah, I have to agree with you on that one," Lloyd said with a grin.
Yuan smirked. Even in his half dazed state, Lloyd was as optimistic as ever. "Here," Yuan said as he tossed Lloyd a small blue stone.
"An exsphere?" Lloyd asked cautiously. The boy's eyes filled with disgust, and his face showed sign of disapproval.
"That is no exsphere," Yuan started. "I simply just looks like one, it will help you explain your angelic strength and ability to use magic."
"If you say so," Lloyd said as he moved the gem around in his fingers.
Wow that update took a long time v.v; but now it's here! ^.^
So tell me what you think of it!
I'm all ears so don't be shy