Finally we reached the end of the Act I.
Unfortunately, this time there won't be a skit, since I'm out of ideas. Sorry people.
Anyway, next we will have an interlude chapter before beggining the second act. For those that are wondering what the heack is an interlude I will explain: it is just another definition of a pause. There will be interlude chapters between every transition of acts and they will be focused on (quote) the dark side of the force (end quote). You will soon know what I'm talking about.
Chapter 9
Faces of the Past
Lloyd was sleeping soundly in his bed within the Inn's room. One that knew the dual swordsman would know it would take a lot of effort and probably a bucket of ice cold water to wake him up. And that was what a figure that was currently slipping into his bed was counting on.
The figure wanted to see what his reaction in the morning would be. Aside of the fact it would probably give her a good laugh, it also would help to satiate her own curiosity. She had been aching to see how it would be like to be at his side like that, but since it couldn't be done during the day (since he would shy away, blushing furiously), this was the ideal hour to do it.
The night passed and dawn came. Lloyd's eyelids started to quiver as they were hit by the sudden brightness of light. He started to open his eyes little by little, closing right after just to open it a little more in the next attempt. As his other senses returned, he could now feel his arms, legs, feet and head. However, when his sense of space and touch returned, he could feel his arm was around a form he could barely discern with his blurry vision.
It was then he felt this object that was at the side of his bed was actually warm and somewhat soft to touch. The young man started to question just what that was. He tried to move his arm away, but discovered there was something holding it in place. When his vision finally returned and when he turned to the side of his bed, his face reddened immediately.
Sleeping at his side, holding his hand around her midsection with a content smile on her face, was Sheena. Lloyd couldn't contain the exclamation that formed on his mind and voiced it:
"S-SHEENA?"
That immediately awoke Emil and Marta, who sat upright on their beds. The Centurions also materialized, seeming startled. As the two youngsters and the servants of Ratatosk took in the situation, Lumen was the first to speak:
"What happened? Did someone get…" it was then the cheetah-like entity noticed Sheena stirring on Lloyd's bed. "Oh, sorry. We didn't see nothin'," Lumen said, turning and disappearing, obviously thinking they had interrupted something.
"Honestly, if you two planned on doing that, you could have at least rented a room for yourselves," Aqua said with a scolding tone, looking to Lloyd.
"W-Wait! It's not…" the young man was interrupted by Marta, who once realized what was going on, put her hand on her mouth.
"Lloyd…"
The young man started to feel his credibility dropping faster than a bird demon suddenly losing its winds in mid-flight. Sheena was lazily stirring at his side, like nothing was going on. Before Lloyd could defend himself, however, Marta had her so-common dreamy expression on her face as she closed her eyes and put her clasped hands at the side of her face, speaking:
"This is so romantic! Sleeping together, not minding what others will think. Way to go!" Marta said in an encouraging tone.
Lloyd could just let out an "huh?" at that. He looked over Emil for support, but the blonde seemed to have decided he was better not meddle with that, looking to the side, though Lloyd could see a blush on his left cheek. To make things even worse, Tenebrae commented:
"My, my, it seems you humans really don't let anything stand in your way when you are attracted to each other, including good sense and the notion of decency."
"S-shut up! I-I-it's nothing like that!" Lloyd said, almost feeling desperate. He then turned to Sheena, who already seemed completely awaken. "T-Tell them it isn't like this, Sheena!"
"Sorry, Lloyd. As much as I would be happy to do it for you, it would be useless to hide what's obvious, don't you think?" Sheena said in a playful smirk.
Lloyd let his arms drop as his mouth hung open. Ventus then spoke:
"I really hate to interrupt your… morning activities, but shouldn't we be preparing to leave? Aifread is waiting for us."
"Not you too, Ventus…" Lloyd said.
- / - / - / -
"That was low, Sheena," Lloyd talked, his eyes narrowed as the group walked to the docks of Palmacosta.
"What are you talking about, sweety?" Sheena said in an almost seductive voice.
Lloyd's left eye almost twitched at her tone. He could hear Emil sigh and hurry his step, obviously not wanting to eavesdrop any "private talk" between him and Sheena. Lloyd grumbled. Sheena could be quite devilish when she wanted. The red clad swordsman spoke again:
"You know what I'm talking about. Why did you sneak into my bed?"
"I just wanted to see what your reaction would be," Sheena said, now in her normal tone and with a smile. Lloyd shot a confused look to her. "And I wanted to see what kind of person you are early in the morning."
"What for?"
"To know what I should expect in the future," she said. The guardian user then put her finger under Lloyd's chin, caressing it. "Well, I can just say that you've passed."
Lloyd's cheek blushed at the contact. Sheena smiled and giggled, walking faster to stay at Marta's side in order to talk with the girl. Lloyd kept walking on his pace, his mind feverously working to try and understand what just happened. It was then he heard a nearby chuckle that sounded a lot like Tenebrae. The dual swordsman looked to where the sound was coming from and asked with his eyes narrowed:
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Now, now. Whatever makes you think that?" Tenebrae asked in an innocent tone, though it was ruined when he chuckled again.
"Since you were paying so much attention, can you at least tell me why Sheena is acting like that?"
Ventus, who had been flying over the group, surveying the town to see if there were any enemies around, landed on Lloyd's shoulder, who, though couldn't see the bird-like Centurion, could still feel his talons closing lightly on his shoulder. The wisest of the servants of Ratatosk spoke:
"Actually it's very simple, Sir Lloyd. Since Lady Sheena is obviously interested in your person, she seeks to know every aspect about your person, including how…like how active you can be in the morning. Now, it might just be my assumption, but I would say her act this morning might mean she's expecting something from you."
When Ventus ended, Lloyd had a lost look on his features, trying to understand what the Centurion had just said with such formal speech. Tenebrae sighed and explained to the clueless boy:
"She expects you to answer her actions in a… let's say, cuddly manner."
"R-really?" Lloyd said, understanding that and blushing at the same time.
"Well, that or something else, but she doesn't seem the kind of person to expect that so early in a relationship," Ventus spoke. "But what's the matter? You speak like you never have experienced something like this."
"To be honest, I never had much luck with girls," Lloyd said.
"I think you're being too modest," Tenebrae said.
"No, I'm serious."
"Really? Then why don't you ask that group of girls on your left which had been giggling while looking at you ever since we entered the docks?"
Lloyd didn't catch what the Centurion meant, but looked notwithstanding. To his surprise, there was really a group of three girls close to each other eying him with interested expressions on their faces. When they saw the swordsman had noticed them, the three started to giggle almost uncontrollably. Lloyd blushed again and looked away.
"You could make quite the heartbreaker if you took advantage of half of your natural charm," Tenebrae said.
"You know, I'm starting to agree with Aqua's idea of drowning you," Lloyd said, shooting a searing look at Tenebrae.
The group finally arrived at where Aifread's boat was anchored. The pirate was already there and greeted the group as soon as they approached him:
"Ahoy there, mates. Ready for a ride, then?"
The three humans and the woman with elven blood nodded, though not with much enthusiasm as they were still unsure if it was a good idea to let Aifread lead them across the sea. Emil handed Aifread his money and they all boarded the small boat. The pirate made some last checking on the wheel and prepared to let loose the sail. However, right when the ropes were being undone, two Harpies appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the sail with their talons, keeping it enrolled.
"What in the… ?" Aifread exclaimed.
Lloyd and the others saw the two monsters and had surprised expressions on their faces. What were two Harpies doing in the middle of a port city? Before they could decide on what to do, a voice sounded nearby. A very familiar voice:
"Well, well, just look at what the winds brought me," the voice was accompanied by a giggle. Emil and the others turned to see a blond girl and a blue haired man carrying an iron maiden approaching. "If it isn't Ratamil and Martmart."
"Alice," Marta said in a bitter, venomous tone Lloyd and Sheena had never heard her use before. "What are you doing here?"
"My, did you get stupid or what? We have orders from Lord Nebilim to eliminate you two on sight."
"You two know her?" Lloyd asked Emil while drawing his swords and standing on a battle stance.
"Yeah. We do," Emil said in a tone as bitter as Marta's, which was quite uncommon for him.
"This… this… 'girl'. She's the reason Emil and I have to leave our families," Marta said, seeming to shake in anger, though she was keeping her battle stance. "She sold Emil out to Nebilim."
Sheena and Lloyd's mouths hung open at hearing that. Alice's smile dropped at that and Decus stood with a neutral expression. The female Desian General then threw one of her cap's straps to the side, saying:
"Well, it's not my fault that Ratamil refused to see how futile it is to fight the demons."
"Don't act innocent! You were spying on the Vanguard under Nebilim's orders!" Marta yelled.
"How dare you speak to my Alice like that?" Decus said, readying his iron maiden. However, Alice held up a hand, stopping him.
"Look, I don't care if you hate me or anything. I've had plenty of people hating me in the past for what I am, so what's the difference if one more adds to it?" Alice's sweet smile returned as she spoke next. "Now, let's stop with this sentimental chitchat and get down to business," Alice's smile turned malicious as her canine teeth seemed to get pointed as she spoke. "Ratamil is coming with us, that is, if you care for the safety of this city."
Lloyd, Sheena and Emil looked around. People were hiding behind counters and creates all over the port, peeking their heads and trembling at seeing Alice and her monsters. Aifread looked from the blond girl to the Harpies holding his sail.
"So what is it going to be?" Decus asked.
Sheena was about to say something, but Marta beat her to it:
"Take me instead."
"Marta?" Emil and the others exclaimed, but the girl seemed to pay no mind to it as she spoke next:
"You let Emil and the others go and take me instead. After all, you do hate me, right?"
"Hum, true…" Alice said, her expression reverting to her normal, cute-looking one while she pondered about that, tapping her whip sword on her hand. "Alright then," she said with a smile.
"Alice, are you sure?" Decus whispered. "Lord Nebilim said Ratatosk took priority."
"Oh, we are going to take him, don't worry. But right now, I can't wait to wipe the floor with Martmart's face."
Sheena heard what Alice said with her trained ears and found it quite disturbing the Desian General could say things like that while using that sweet tone of hers. Marta started to walk the boat's bridge towards Alice and Decus. The Desian girl had a gleeful smile at seeing Marta coming to her, probably planning how she would inflict pain or kill the brunette.
It was then Lloyd perceived a change in the air around Emil and Sheena sensed a sudden twist in the boy's aura. The two turned to see Ratatosk's crimson eyes shining with hatred as he looked to Alice and Decus. The Lord of the Monsters then spoke:
"Like hell you're taking her! Aqua! Ventus!" the two Centurions materialized at the call of their lord.
"At your service, my Lord," Ventus spoke, opening the full length of his wings, inclining his head up as his spiritual energy flowed and he called for monsters.
"Go, my servants!" Aqua said, pointing to Alice and Decus, who looked with surprised expressions at seeing the two Centurions appear so suddenly.
Many things happened at once. Two Ravens and several Chirpees appeared, answering to Ventus' call and attacked the Harpies commanded by Alice, driving them away. Three mermaid-like monsters, two carrying harps and the other a lance, jumped out of the water and attacked Alice and Decus, who readied their weapons and defended from the assault. Ratatosk grabbed Marta by her hand and dragged her back in the ship, shouting for Aifread to go to take the wheel.
The pirate complied, even though he didn't understand what was going on. Ventus gave a new order to his servants and they positioned behind the now open sail, flapping their wings and creating gusts of wind, which made the boat speed up and leave the pier faster than any other ship would be able to.
As Decus cut down the Asrai attacking him and Alice froze solid the two other monsters, the boat was already sailing away in the horizon. The two Desians looked at their escaping targets and Alice pouted:
"Awww. No fair."
Back at the ship, Ventus dismissed his monsters and perched himself in the main mast, Aqua was sitting in its border. Tenebrae and Lumen also appeared, since it was now useless for them to hide. Lloyd and Sheena were looking to Ratatosk, who was scolding Marta:
"What were you thinking?"
"I had to keep you all safe," Marta talked back. "Plus, she would destroy the city if I…"
"And you fell for it." Ratatosk spoke. Marta stopped speaking at that, looking to the Summon Spirit possessing her crush's body with a confused expression. "Think Marta! The city is protected by those Cruxis angels. Do you think Alice would do as she pleased and leave before being captured by the Knights or the angels? Plus, do you really think they would take you and simply leave it at that?"
"I… I didn't…" Marta mumbled, looking to the wooden floor.
"And they say I act without thinking…"
Lloyd and Sheena could just look from Marta to Ratatosk, unable to speak anything. They felt that was a particular talk between Ratatosk and Marta, but they were on that little ship, there was no way they wouldn't hear the two speaking at that volume. Ratatosk continued:
"Were you trying to prove something? Or were you wanting to take revenge for your mother's death?" now Marta looked to Ratatosk with wide eyes, just like Sheena and Lloyd.
"What did you say, Ratatosk?" Sheena asked.
"I just had to put two and two together. Honestly, I don't know how that soft-hearted wimp didn't figure it out yet, considering all the intelligence I gave him," Ratatosk mumbled, putting his hands on his waist, looking to Sheena and Lloyd. "But the thing is; Marta's mother, Lydia, was killed during the attack Nebilim commanded to take me out. The one who tipped him off about where I was at the time was Alice."
Lloyd and Sheena looked to Marta, who could just look to the ground with a look of sadness. Ratatosk then continued:
"Not that I'm against you for wanting to get revenge, you have all the right to give that sadistic bitch a good beating, but you were clearly outnumbered there. So don't go on wasting your life like that," Marta looked up again, surprised. That was the last thing she expected Ratatosk to say to her, even more considering what had transpired between them the other morning. "I've already seen too many stupid people doing really stupid things. I don't want to see you end up like them, understood?"
Marta couldn't hold the smile that came to her face and nodded to Ratatosk. The Centurions took a brief look on their Lord and his girl, smiling at seeing the scene. Lloyd and Sheena decided to give the two more space, but before they walked to the other side of the ship, they heard Marta:
"Hmm…could you all…don't tell Emil about my mother?" the group looked to her again, with inquisitive looks. "I don't want him to think what happened to her was his fault or anything. She died to protect you, Ratatosk."
Marta put her hands behind her, but did not swing her body. Ratatosk stayed looking at her for some time. He had already weakened the mental link between he and Emil before he started that talk with Marta. The rash entity then thought back at Marta's mother. He once met her personally, while in control of Emil's body. The Summon Spirit finally said, shrugging:
"Fine, whatever. It's not like I was going to give him a hint if he can't even see it by himself."
"You shouldn't talk about yourself like that, you know," Sheena said.
"Pfft. And what do you know, woman?"
Sheena and Lloyd sighed, seeing the moment had come to an end thanks to Ratatosk's smartass attitude. Marta, however, giggled…
- / - / - / -
The stars blinked in the skies as the boat sailed through the seas. Aifread tried to ask the group what all of the confusion back in the docks of Palmacosta had been about, but none of them answered him, saying the knowledge would just bring him trouble. The pirate shrugged and concentrated on taking them to their destination.
Lloyd and Sheena were at the back of the boat, sitting against the cabin. The guardian user then laid her head on Lloyd's shoulder, who, at feeling the contact, blushed, making his friend laugh at the reaction. The red clad swordsman asked, with a tone of mild-accusation in his voice:
"You really like making me get all embarrassed, don't you?"
"I can't help it, you're just too cute for me not to do it," Sheena said, pinching the bridge of his nose, which made Lloyd's entire face match the tone of his red jacket.
"I-if that's the c-case… y-you're c-c-cute too," Lloyd said, trying to get Sheena embarrassed.
The violet haired woman got surprised at hearing that and her cheeks got a tint of pink on them, but the effect would have been more noticeable if Lloyd hadn't stuttered when he spoke. Sheena quickly recovered, deciding two could play that game.
"Do you really think so, sweety?" she said in a seductive voice, passing her finger under Lloyd's chin. The young man started to sweat and mumbled incoherent words. It was clear to Sheena that she had control over him. "In that case…"
Sheena's face started to slowly approach Lloyd's, whose forehead could be mistaken for a water source now. The voluptuous woman parted her lips and Lloyd's eyes were the size of plates upon realizing what the intent of the beautiful fighter was:
She… she… she's going to kiss me. Oh man, oh man, what do I do? Lloyd thought, almost desperate as several other thoughts pass through his head in complete disorder. I never kissed a woman before. Is she going to notice? Do I have a bad kiss? What if she doesn't like it? What if she wants to go beyond it?
The last question worried Lloyd more than anything. He never talked about sex with his father, mainly because he never thought someone would ever desire him that way. Kissing was one thing, but that was…his train of thought and Sheena's actions were interrupted when they heard Aqua cursing:
"Argh! You both are impossible!" the Centurion of water appeared from the side of the cabin and looked to them, not even paying notice to the fact Sheena's face was very close to Lloyd's. "Can I stay here with you two? Tenebrae is being such a pain again."
"O-of course…" Lloyd said, willing to take any chance he had to avoid what was coming. He simply wasn't mentally prepared for that kind of advance from Sheena.
The violet haired woman sighed and settled on her place, taking a last look on Lloyd. He seemed relieved. Did that mean he wasn't interested? Did that mean he didn't want her in the first place? The face of the female fighter paled once she realized she might have gone too far on her advance.
Oh no. I was so eager that I might have intimidated him. Dammit, I should have thought this through!
On the other side of the ship, Tenebrae was sighing as he saw Aqua going to where Lloyd and Sheena were. The Centurion of Darkness said:
"My, my. She's quite sensitive about Richter, isn't she?"
"T-man, you were talking about how weird a pair they were," Lumen said. "Seriously pal, not cool."
All talks on that part of the ship ceased as everybody looked to Lumen. The Centurion of light asked what was it, thinking he might have something on his face. Ratatosk was the one to speak:
"That's the first smart thing I've heard from you since… forever, I think."
"Really? Yay! Ventus! Boss said I'm smart!" Lumen said, with a cheerful expression on his cheetah face.
"Yes… and I'm still not believing that such an event could ever occur," the Centurion of wind said.
"What event? Like a festival?" Lumen asked, now putting up a clueless look, losing the track of the subject in Ventus' intellectual way of speaking.
"Well, that was surely short-lived," Tenebrae said.
Ratatosk shook his head and looked at the night skies with Marta at his side, who sighed at another display of Lumen's not so brilliant intellect. The brunette girl looked to Ratatosk, admiring him just as she admired Emil when the shy boy was in control. The Summon Spirit noticed that and turned to her, asking:
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"I just wanted to thank you for earlier," Marta said.
Ratatosk, to say the least, was surprised. He hardly received thanks from anybody, not counting the other Summon Spirits and he couldn't even remember most of his time with them. In his time as Emil, people would thank his other self, not him. He was used to getting reprimands or comments of how scary he was when angry. The crimson-eyed entity looked away of Marta, for her not to see the light red tone that his cheeks were gaining. Why couldn't Summon Spirits be immune to feelings like that?
"I-it's nothing," Ratatosk said. Marta giggled again.
"You know, you're good person deep inside," the brunette girl said.
"I… I'm not nice. I just spoke what I thought, that's all."
"But you do care for me, right? That's because you… didn't…"
Marta hesitated to speak the next words, but Ratatosk caught on what she said. He suddenly started to feel guilty about that in the other day. The Summon spirit gritted his teeth at sensing the feeling emerging again.
Dammit! What's up with me? the rash spirit asked himself mentally.
"Look. I just… don't want to see you dead, ok?" Ratatosk said, not believing those words left his mouth, but something compelled him to say them.
"Of course. I promise I will always stay right here, by your side," as Marta spoke that, she grabbed his arm and put her head on his shoulder.
"You mean Emil's side…" Ratatosk mumbled. Marta let out an "huh?" not catching what the Lord of the Monsters said. "Nothing," before Marta could question, Ratatosk gave the control back to Emil.
"What was that Ratatosk said?"
"Umm…" Emil was about to speak when he heard Ratatosk speaking.
"Tell her and I swear the next time you enter in a battle, you're going to bleed."
Emil gulped and quickly said it had been nothing important. Marta then decided to dismiss it and resumed to cling to her crush's arm, putting her head on his shoulder. Emil blushed wildly at that. However, one question was still remaining on his mind: what did Ratatosk exactly feel towards Marta to act so… not like himself?
- / - / - / -
The sun beat the faces of the four friends as they woke from their sleep. The wooden floor of the boat wasn't very comfortable, but since there was no other place for them to lie down. Sheena and Emil were the first to stretch their muscles to get the soreness away.
"Hey, Lloyd. Wake up," Sheena said, shaking Lloyd awake. The red clad swordsman slowly opened his eyes, scratching them and asking if they had already arrived. "I think that we…" Sheena said, looking around. She stopped speaking once she took notice that she couldn't see Izoold. To be more specific, she couldn't even see land anywhere. "What in the… ?"
"Shouldn't we have arrived there already?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes," Emil said, coming to join his friends. "A travel from Palmacosta to Izoold should take one day by boat. Why aren't we there yet?"
"I think a better question would be: why don't we even see any land around?" Marta inquired.
"I think our friend, the legendary Aifread, would be able to answer that," Tenebrae said, his tone a sly one while he pointed with his head to the cabin.
Emil and the others approached the cabin and their jaws dropped at seeing Aifread. The pirate was sleeping over the wheel, snoring soundly and even drooling. And by the smile on his face, he was having a very good dream. Lloyd and the others felt a murderous vibe coming from Sheena and turned to see the violet haired woman, her bangs covering her face and her body slightly curved as she shook in anger. The three stepped out of the way when Sheena went to Aifread and kicked his leg, making him fall on the floor.
The red head woke up with a sharp pain on his leg and chin. He got up as he massaged his hurt face and was greeted with the face of a very pissed off guardian user which almost made him jump in fear.
"YOU WERE SLEEPING BEHIND THE WHEEL? WHAT THE HELL KIND OF PIRATE ARE YOU?" Sheena exploded.
"H-hey. C-calm down, mate. I-it's not like it's…" Aifread tried to say, but Sheena interrupted him, making him stand on one foot while covering himself with his arms, like he was expecting an attack from the violent woman.
"DON'T COME SAYING THAT IT'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! BECAUSE OF YOU WE'RE LOST!"
When Sheena stopped, she was breathing very loudly. Marta and the others finally stopped covering their ears with their hands, seeing they were not in danger of getting deaf from Sheena's screams anymore. Aifread, who had been reduced to a cowering mass, slowly recovered his pose when he saw Sheena was calming down. He spoke, not so loud as before as to not provoke the wrath of the violet haired woman again:
"Look mate, I know where we are, ok? So don't worry. The great Aifread has never let down any lady before," he flashed a toothy smile as he said the next part. Sheena rolled her eyes at another display of Aifread's bravados.
"Oh really? Then can you explain to me where exactly we are?" Sheena said in a tone of defiance.
"Of course. We…" Aifread stopped and looked around. He noticed there was no land around. "Umm… we're at the sea," the pirate said with a smile.
"That has to be the bluntest answer I've heard in my entire existence," Tenebrae commented in a dry tone.
"Oh really? Phew! I thought for a moment we were really lost," Lumen said, sighing in relief and recovering his goofy smile.
"See what I mean?" Tenebrae pointed out again.
Sheena put her hand on her forehead, shaking it. Lloyd had his eyes narrowed at Aifread while Emil seemed worried and Marta had an angry expression on her face, putting her hands on her hips. The brunette girl said:
"And you call yourself a pirate when you don't even know where we are. I can see what kind of 'legend' you are."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Aifread spoke.
"AH!"
Everybody turned to Emil at hearing his scream. The group saw the worried expression on the blonde's face as he was looking at the water. Lloyd asked what was it and Emil answered:
"I saw something moving in the water. Something big."
Ventus and the other Centurions looked to Aqua, who nodded to them. She then summoned one of her servants, a Remora, and commanded it to go in the water and investigate what was there. The aquatic monster quickly jumped into the sea.
"Just what kind of people are you? You can control monsters just like that Desian girl," Aifread commented, watching the display of the strange beings' powers.
"Shut up!" Sheena said, turning to him and pointing a finger at the pirate's face, whose expression got terrified again. "You don't have any right to speak about us! Mainly because how you got us lost."
"But now that he mentions it…" Lloyd said, turning to the Centurions. "How come Alice could control monsters like that?"
"Since she's a half-demon, she's probably using the chaos energy to do so," Tenebrae said. "Monsters are sensible to these energies as much as they were to changes in the mana, so it would be possible for a demon to learn how to attract and command monsters under the influence of strong concentrations of chaos energy. However, most of them choose not to do so, since they think monsters are inferior in comparison to themselves and their brethren."
Emil turned to Aqua and asked when her scout was coming back, thinking it was taking too long to investigate the sea. Aqua found that strange too, before she could reply though, the group saw something big emerging from the water and diving in again, something dark with what seemed to be a spiked shell. They couldn't guess its exact size, but it seemed to be bigger than the boat they were in.
"W-what was that?" Marta asked, scared.
"I don't know, but it sure was big," Sheena said.
"So… it came after us, uh," Aifread said, looking from inside the cabin. Everybody turned to him upon hearing that.
"What do you mean?" Marta asked.
"I saw something like that once, right before my old ship was sunk," he said in a cryptic tone.
"Then take us out of here, you idiot!" Sheena said, grabbing Aifread by the collar of his jacket and shaking him.
"Sheena, calm down," Lloyd said.
Sheena looked to him and let go of Aifread. The pirate almost fell, but managed to keep himself standing. He then dusted his clothes, mumbling something about violent women. It was then he looked to the group and saw they were all looking past him, with horrified expressions on their faces. Aifread got confused by that.
"What's the matter, mates?" he asked and looked to where they were looking. He soon understood why the group of friends and Centurions had those expressions on their faces.
In Aifread's front, at the side of his boat, was an enormous red eye with blue iris. The sailor jumped, letting out a surprised scream when the eye fixed on him. The sound of what seemed to be the cry of a whale was heard as the monster at their front dived in the seas again, making the boat shake and almost throwing the group out of the ship.
"What is THAT?" Emil asked, in panic. Before anyone else could speak, Ratatosk took the control of the blonde's body. "That's a Kristher. A Sea Waver."
The group saw the Kristher surfacing again, letting out another whale cry as it submerged once more. Aifread got up and went for the wheel, trying to get the boat moving. The pirate cursed:
"Dammit! This is the same sound I heard when my ship sunk!"
"Get this floating bathtub moving you idiot! Or do you want all of us to get killed?" Ratatosk yelled.
Aifread didn't even mind that the dirty-mouthed entity called his boat a bathtub. The impulse of getting away from the sea demon was stronger than anything. The Centurions were holding in the mast as the boat swayed while the Sea Waver appeared some more times, circling around the boat.
"This is not good, we won't get away like this!" Ventus said.
"Then summon some of your birds to make wind like before!" Lloyd exclaimed from his position, holding in the doorframe of the cabin together with Sheena and the others.
"I think that's too late for it! LOOK OUT!" Aqua said, pointing to behind them.
The humans and woman with elven blood turned and, to their horror, they saw the Kristher at distance, jumping out of the water and getting high in the skies. How could something that big jump that high? The question hung on their minds until the Sea Waver came down crashing on the water, creating a giant wave.
"Oh yeah! Now I remembered why this thing is called Sea Waver," Lumen said, temporarily making everybody forget the dangerous situation they were in and look to the Centurion of light.
The group then looked back to the tsunami coming at them. They just had time to scream before the giant wave took the boat and flipped it, making the group fall into the raving sea right before the wave crashed down, utterly destroying Aifread's boat…
- / - / - / -
Lloyd's eyes opened a bit, closing right afterwards. His mouth tasted like salt and his head felt heavy. The red clad swordsman tried to open his eyes again, almost getting blinded by the sun. Then he noticed someone was over him, more specifically, over his mouth.
The dual swordsman finally identified Sheena's form over him and made a sound to indicate he was awake. The guardian user quickly moved away from over him and the young man immediately sat, turning his head to the side and coughing out the water that had accumulated in his lungs. Sheena sighed in relief as she saw her swordsman was alive and well.
"Thanks goodness you're okay," Sheena said.
"Sheena. What… ? Why were you… ?" Lloyd asked, his face turning into a red tone, which didn't have any relation to the sun beating down on him.
"I-I swear that was just to save you," Sheena quickly justified herself, blushing. "I just did some CPR since you didn't seem to awake and…"
"Ahem," Lloyd turned his eyes to Sheena's side and saw Tenebrae there. "It was my suggestion for Lady Sheena to perform it. After all, isn't that one of the first-aid techniques you humans do to save people who just drowned?" the Centurion of darkness inquired.
Lloyd stopped and analyzed the situation. They were on a beach, the sea very close to his legs. He then remembered that they were trying to escape from that whale demon and it created a tsunami and… his head started to hurt as the red clad swordsman brought his hand to it. He then looked to Sheena and thanked her for saving him. Sheena mumbled it was nothing and looked to the side. She soon spoke in a sad tone:
"Um… about the other night… in the ship… I'm sorry I forced myself onto you," Lloyd looked more attentively to Sheena when she said that. "I guess… I was so eager to… be with you that I ended up forcing a situation that you probably didn't want. I will understand if you don't want to be with me anymore."
"No. It's not like that Sheena," Lloyd rushed to say. "I… I like to… to…"
Lloyd cursed himself mentally over and over when he felt his tongue stuck and his face redden. Why couldn't he speak now? He didn't want Sheena think that he didn't want her. The truth was, he did appreciate that and he even liked the way she was so upfront on her feelings for him. He was just a little scared of that new experience and that he might not make up to Sheena's expectations.
It was then Tenebrae decided to step in and spoke:
"I think what Sir Lloyd is trying to say is that he doesn't object to your displays of amorous interest for him."
"Uh, what now?" Lloyd asked, not understanding those complicated words.
"He's just insecure that he might not be able to satisfy you," Tenebrae continued like Lloyd hadn't talked.
That part Lloyd understood and it made him blush three different shades of red. Sheena could just look from Tenebrae to Lloyd with wide eyes, in an expression that asked "is that really true?" The dual swordsman quickly stood, pointing to Tenebrae with an angry expression on his face while saying:
"Stop putting words in my mouth!"
"Oh. So are you actually sure that you will be able to satisfy Lady Sheena's expectations?" Tenebrae asked with an expression of mock surprise.
"It-it-it's not that! I was going to say that I just… I think she might not like me because I have no experience in a relationship!"
When Lloyd realized what he had said, he suddenly went mute again, getting extremely embarrassed. Sheena, on the other hand, had an attractive smile on her face at hearing that. So Lloyd was actually insecure when it came to relationships. It was good to know that and it gave her the chance to think on a way to help him to get over it.
"As much as I would love to continue with this pleasant talk, shouldn't we be searching for Lord Emil and Lady Marta?" Tenebrae asked.
Lloyd shot a look at Tenebrae before starting to search around the beach and call for their friends together with Sheena. They soon heard someone call back to them and saw Marta running across the sand to meet them with Emil and Lumen close behind and Ventus soaring over them.
The group reunited and asked each other if they were alright, receiving affirmative answers. Lumen was the one to voice the question in their minds:
"How did we just survive that? V-wing, did you do something?"
"No. I don't have any power over the water. I remember having fallen into the sea with you all and I felt something under me."
"I sensed that too. Wonder what it was."
"That would have been me," Aqua's voice came.
The group looked to the direction of the sea and saw Aqua sitting with one leg crossed over the other on the spiked shell of a Tortoise, which was walking to the group. There were more three of the turtle monsters coming out of the water. Aqua slid off of the Tortoise she was sitting in and approached her lord, who was extremely surprised at seeing the big, aquatic monsters.
Marta then asked what those were, since she never saw Emil doing a pact with those monsters before. Aqua explained to the petite brunette:
"These were near the island where my altar is. I thought it would be useful if I started to remake the pacts, so when Master Richter came to take me to Lord Emil I asked him to help me take my servants back along the way."
"That was a wise decision, Aqua," Ventus said.
"Yeah. Thanks to you, we're safe," Emil said with a smile.
"It was nothing my lord," Aqua said, returning the smile.
"Where is Captain Aifread?" Lumen asked.
The group looked around, searching for the pirate that had leaded their travel until that point. It was then they heard a yell. The group looked to see Aifread a little far from their position, hands on his head and messing his hair as he looked to the sea, looking panicked. However, when he talked, the group could notice it was anger he had in his voice, not fear:
"They took my ship yet again. Damn those demons!" the "legendary" pirate started to wave his arms as he spoke, still facing the sea, like the demons in it could actually hear him. "But don't think you've won against me. NEVER! I am Aifread, the legendary pirate! I won't let you demons get away with this, do ya hear me?"
The group had sweatdrops running behind their heads at seeing that. At least he was still alive. The group then looked to the other side of the beach and saw a city. Their trip with the Tortoises had actually brought them to Izoold. Deciding to leave Aifread cursing the demons, the group took off towards the town. Their captain would probably notice it soon, so there was no problem in leaving him to his own devices.
Aqua dismissed her servants and went to join her master, as the group walked towards the road that gave access to the small fishing port…
- / - / - / -
Izoold was a small community, composed mainly by fishermen. It was also one loyal to Cruxis. The proof of that was a marine-blue obelisk near the entrance of the village very similar to the one the group had seen in Palmacosta. There was also a church, from which they could see people entering and exiting. There was just one Inn in the city with only one floor, though the building itself seemed to have been expanded to accommodate more people. It was common for some cities that didn't suffer constant demonic or Desian attack to expand its residential and commercial area.
Lloyd and the others stopped near the obelisk and the red clad swordsman asked:
"By the way, what's this thing? There was one in Palmacosta too."
"It's called the Obelisk of Mana," Emil answered, assuming his didactic tone. "Apparently, it serves as a symbol of Cruxis' blessing upon the community. All villages that are loyal to Cruxis have one. They say it serves to repel the demons thanks to the Sacred Stone imbued in it, which can turn mana into holy flames that burn chaos energies," Emil pointed to a blue stone that was engraved in the smooth surface of the obelisk.
The group looked to it and Sheena could see the Sacred Stone glowing with a multicolored aura, which apparently entered inside the obelisk and shot to the skies from its top, forming some kind of beam that went high in the skies and seemed to spread in several others, raining down in the area around the village. It was probably projecting some kind of barrier around the village.
"But it doesn't work on half-demons as the Desians," the violet haired woman pointed out.
"Yes. It seems that the Desians only have their demonic blood suppressed when around the range of influence of the obelisk. The rest of their power remains unaffected."
"Well… then it's pretty much useless if the Desians can still attack people," Lloyd commented, extracting what he could understand from Emil's lecture.
"It's because of that the Knights of Cruxis supposedly exist; to combat the Desians that try to enter in the cities," Marta spoke. Her voice turned into a disapproving one as she spoke next. "But they're just a bunch of lazy bums. The Vanguard and the Renegades say that the Knights are more of a police of the church than anything. All I've ever see them do is punish offenders of the church and those that break the teachings of the Faith."
"Yeah. I heard some stories about them too," Sheena said.
Tenebrae and the Centurions approached the obelisk while still concealed. The four entities looked attentively at the object before turning to the group. Tenebrae asked Emil:
"Are sure this obelisk is truly made of mana, my Lord?"
"I don't really know," Emil said, turning to the Centurion of darkness. "They say it is mana concentrated in a solid form so it can't be burnt easily, making the effect of the Sacred Stone last for years, but the church doesn't let anyone study it."
"Why?" Lumen asked.
"They say it has something to do with one of teachings of the Faith that states: Knowledge is as much of a blessing as it is a weapon. Investigate that which has been passed down by the agents of heavens is a sign of the human curiosity trying to reach the divine, when it does not possess that right."
"And that would refer to Cruxis' blessing," Ventus said in a statement, not a question, though Emil nodded to him. The Centurion of the wind, put his wing on its "hand mode" under his beak, in his usual thoughtful pose.
Lumen and Aqua looked to the obelisk again. The cheetah-like Centurion then spoke:
"I remember mana, and this thing doesn't feel like it. Are you sure you cannot take a look at it, boss?"
"I would like to, but if someone catches me doing it, they will see that as breaking the teachings of the Faith."
"And you're going to pay hell for that. I've already heard this story several times," Sheena spoke. "Then let's leave this thing alone. How about we go and eat something then? I'm famished," the voluptuous woman asked with a smile.
"Alright! I'm also pretty hungry too," Marta said, jumping in an approving gesture and returning the smile.
"In that case, you all go and buy something to eat. I'm going to rent us a room at the Inn," Lloyd offered.
The group agreed and Emil, Marta, Sheena and the Centurions went to the other side of the city, where the docks were located and where they could see stands with several varieties of seafood in it. Lloyd walked to the Inn at the side of the city's entrance and entered.
After talking to the person at the counter and renting some beds, since the Inn wasn't that big and had only three rooms, Lloyd walked out of the building and stretched his arms up, feeling some of his bones making snap sounds. Sleeping in the wooden floor of Aifread's ship hadn't been too good on his back, but thankfully he and the others would have beds this time.
It was then Lloyd looked to the Obelisk of Mana and saw someone at its front, seeming to look attentively to the mark of Cruxis' blessing. Lloyd tilted his head to the side in confusion, the person looking to the obelisk seemed very concentrated, since he wasn't moving a muscle. The red clad swordsman hadn't seen anybody doing something like that in Palmacosta or when they entered Izoold. Generally, the people just passed by it and shot quick looks of admiration.
Deciding to go and see what was up, the dual swordsman approached. Lloyd could see the person was actually a blond boy. If it wasn't by the fact he was using white clothes with details in blue and that he didn't have a strand sticking upwards, Lloyd would have thought that was Emil. He approached and the boy turned to him, like he had sensed his presence.
"Hi," Lloyd said, trying not to sound surprised when the boy turned to him so suddenly and putting up his best friendly tone and smile.
"I-I wasn't doing anything wrong. I swear," the blonde said in an almost scared tone.
"Hey, calm down. I'm not blaming you of anything. I'm not of the church if that's what you're thinking," Lloyd said, keeping his smile on to transmit confidence.
"Oh…" the blond boy said. "Ok then."
The blonde then resumed to look at the obelisk. Lloyd approached him and saw the boy was looking to the Sacred Stone engraved in the mark of Cruxis' blessing. Taking a closer look, the red clad swordsman could also tell that boy seemed to be around sixteen and had blue eyes. He also used two violet bracelets in his wrists. Lloyd stopped at the side of the boy, staying quiet for some time, not knowing how he could start a conversation, since the blonde seemed so interested in that Sacred Stone.
"Interesting things these obelisks…" the blond boy spoke suddenly, catching Lloyd off guard and making the young man let out an "huh?" "They say it is made of mana, which was burnt from existence fifty years ago, at the end of the war…"
The boy's voice had a pitch to it, making it sound almost feminine, though there was something else in his tone, some kind of maturity that suggested to Lloyd this boy had seen many things during his life that people normally didn't see. Lloyd then asked:
"Really? Has it been that many years since the end of the war?" Lloyd had never thought about how much time had passed since the end of the war. People rarely worried about dates nowadays.
The boy shot a quick look to Lloyd. The red clad swordsman thought for a moment he had seen something that looked like scorn on the boy's face, but it had been so fast he thought it had been his mind playing a trick on him. The blonde then said, looking back at the Sacred Stone:
"Oh, yes… I suppose humans wouldn't know, since you are more worried about surviving," the almost cold tone that boy used when he spoke "humans" made Lloyd's instincts warn him something was off. Was that boy a half-elf, maybe?
"Well, isn't that what everybody is trying to do? You can't live in a world like this without being worried if you're going to wake up alive the next day or not."
"Hum. I suppose you're right."
Silence fell between Lloyd and the boy again. The red clad swordsman was really feeling out of place with the boy's remarks and that serious tone that edged between maturity and teenage. Lloyd decided to break the ice and gave another of his boyish smiles as he tried to put up a confident tone when he asked the blonde, making he turn to him:
"My name's Lloyd," the boy arched one eyebrow at that, like he was asking why Lloyd was introducing himself. "What's yours?"
Another minute or so passed. Lloyd kept his smile on to show he was just trying to be friendly. The blonde moved his lips slowly, almost reluctantly, as he spoke, looking to the ground, his blond bangs covering part of his face:
"My… name…"
Before anything else could be said, Lloyd heard Marta calling his name, making he turn to see her coming with some food in her arms. Lloyd waved to the brunette girl and remembered he was still talking with the boy. He spoke, while turning:
"Sorry. What was… ?" when Lloyd turned he stopped speaking, surprise written on his face. The blonde boy had disappeared without leave any trace, like he had never existed.
"Lloyd, what took you so long?" Marta asked as she and the others reached the red clad swordsman. "What are you looking at?" the petite brunette asked, once she saw Lloyd was looking very intensively to the ground.
Did I… imagine it? Lloyd wondered.
"Hey! Aselia to Lloyd," Sheena called. Lloyd shook his head and looked to her. "What's up with the expression?"
"Ah… nothing. It's nothing…" Lloyd said.
"Anyway, try this out."
Sheena offered Lloyd a plate full of fried shrimps. The red clad swordsman bit one and his face instantly lighted up as he tasted the seafood. He took the plate from Sheena's hand and ate everything in a matter of seconds. After finishing it, he looked to her and said:
"That was wonderful!"
"Well, they don't just say Izoold makes the best seafood in all of Sylvarant for no reason," Marta said with a smile. "Fried shrimps and seafood gels are one of their specialties. People generally like to use it as a complement to their dishes or, in the gel case, even in sandwiches. The fishing industry here doesn't bloom like in any other place since the temperature of the water in this region is… wait a minute," Marta stopped when she took noticed of what she was talking. "How come I know all of these things?"
"Apparently, Tenebrae had been applying one of his 'techniques' on you, Lady Marta. Though the information may be quite outdated." Ventus said, regarding his brethren with his wing.
"Techniques?" Emil asked, confused.
"Oh well, since I was found out…" Tenebrae said that shooting a brief look to Ventus. "That is one of my many abilities. I like to call it midnight hypno-study."
The Centurion of darkness spoke that with a tone of self-admiration in his voice as he closed his eyes. Emil, Lloyd and Sheena had sweatdrops running down their foreheads. Marta and Aqua seemed angry as the Centurion of water spoke:
"You whisper things to girls while they're sleeping? Ugh, you're such a spiteful, old creep."
"Seriously! Next time brainwash me into knowing something useful!" Marta spoke.
While the two girls bickered at Tenebrae, the rest of the group sat on a nearby bench and enjoyed their food while chattering. Meanwhile, a figure observed them from afar with a cold, emotionless expression on its face…
End of Act I
Three cookie points to whoever guess who was the character Lloyd was talking with (like that wasn't already obvious) and who was spying them at the final.