"Welcome to Hima, Village of Adventurers," Lloyd said with an extravagant wave of his arms.

Colette looked around in excitement, while everyone else looked at it flatly.

"That is not a village," Clara said with a raised eyebrow.

"It has an inn, at least," Raine murmured.

"Hey, I didn't say it was interesting. Hima's famous for being nothing but an inn and a pretty view," Lloyd replied with a shrug.

As they walked further into the village, they spotted the assassin from earlier.

"Oh, hello again!" Colette said chirpily, walking forward.

"Chosen.." hissed Kratos, quickly following her.

The assassin looked up from talking to a woman and frowned. "What do you want?" she snarled.

The woman looked at them. "Oh, hello. Are you friends of Sheena's?" she asked.

"Yes," said Colette as Sheena stammered, "N-No!"

Sheena glared at Colette, but she ignored it.

"What's the problem?" asked Clara, stepping forward.

"It's none of your business. Look, you just needed Boltzman's healing arts, right?" Sheena said, turning to the woman.

"Yes, but you'll need a healer.."

"Well I don't have one! I'm just going to get the book, alright?" she snapped, before pushing past the group and leaving.

The woman looked at them. "Are you really friends of Sheena's?" she asked.

"Sort of," Lloyd replied.

"What's the matter?" asked Colette.

The woman glanced around. "I don't want to talk about it here. Come with me to the inn," she murmured, walking off. The group followed her, walking into the wooden building.

"Noishe, wait out here. Howl if you see anyone suspicious," Lloyd murmured. Noishe barked, wagging his tail, then sat down to keep an eye out.

They were led upstairs to a bedroom, and stepped inside. Lying on the bed was an unconcious man, an Exsphere at his throat.

"His name is Pietro. I found him just outside of Hima. He escaped from the Ranch, apparently, but he's really ill. The only thing which I think could help is Boltzman's healing techniques found in the Tower of Mana, but apparently they're hard to get at."

"And so, Miss...what was your name?"

"Sophia."

"Miss Sophia, you asked Sheena to go find this book?"

"Mmm. I couldn't think of who else to turn to."

"Don't worry. We can go get the book, if you want? The Professor is a healer too, so she could probably use it!" Colette said brightly.

"Really? I'd be so grateful if you could.." Sophia murmured.

"If that is what the Chosen wishes," Kratos replied with closed eyes.

Sophia nodded. "Alright. You can stay here for free tonight," she offered.

"Oh, but we couldn't.." Colette began to protest.

"Please. I can't think of any other way to thank you," Sophia said.

"Just accept, Colette," Raine murmured.

Colette nodded, though she still looked a little troubled. "Alright. Thank you," she replied, smiling brightly, before the group turned and left the room.


"Look Mummy! Dere's white stuff ou'side!"

She laughed happily, scooping her three year old son into her arms. "That's snow, sweetie," she explained.

"Sno'?"

"That's right. When it's cold, it starts snowing."

"Oh. Den if it is weally cold, it sno's a lot?"

"Not really. If it's too cold, it can't snow. You get a different white stuff, called 'frost'."

The brown-haired boy frowned. "Dat's con-fu-sin'."

"I suppose it is, a little bit. Don't worry, you'll understand when you're older."

The door opened, a bit of snow whirling in as a tall figure entered, auburn hair covered in white flecks.

"Daddy!" her son squealed, and she lowered him to the floor. He immediately ran over to her husband, and he smiled gently, sweeping the boy into the air.

"Hello to you as well."

"Welcome home, honey. How was it?"

"Nothing too bad. It only took a single 'First Aid' to heal her."

"That's good, at least."

"Daddy, Daddy! It's sno'in'!"

"I noticed."

"Can we go play in it?"

"Only if your mother says so."

Both boys looked at her, wine red eyes glittering. One pair questioning, the other excited.

"I don't see why not. Just make sure to dress warmly," she replied with a smile.

"Yay! We're gonna play in da sno' daddy!"

"Alright. Go grab your coat and put your shoes on."

"'kay!"

She chuckled as he ran off, standing and crossing over to her lover.

"You're a good father, Kratos."

"You can't be a bad mother either, Anna, he absolutely adores you," he pointed out, kissing her.

She smiled, resting her head on his chest. "I hope this lasts, Kratos. I want our son to grow up happy."

"So do I," he murmured, kissing the top of her head and staring into space, eyes dark.


"Alright, so where is the Tower of Mana?" asked Genis as they sat around a table that morning, eating the simple breakfast Sophia had provided for them.

"It's at the top of the country," Colette replied thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I went there once," agreed Lloyd, eyes distant.

"Really? Then we definately won't get lost!" Colette giggled, ignoring the half-hearted glares from the other two females in the group.

"I also know my way there, so we should be quite safe. However, it is quite far away, and will take several days to get there."

"How long approximately?" asked Raine, frowning.

Kratos considered. "If we walk, it will take about a week, if not a little longer. That is if we do not rest in Luin on the way, which would be suggested as the journey will likely be arduous."

"That's pretty out of our way.." murmured Clara.

"They say the Tower of Mana has a rather extensive library, however. It might help us find some of the seals," Raine suggested.

"I think we should go. We promised that woman we would, and it may even turn out that it is a seal," Lloyd said.

"I agree with Lloyd," chirped Colette.

"You would.." muttered Genis, then shook his head. "Yeah, it'll probably be a good idea anyway."

"I assume you have no problems, Miss Sage?" Kratos asked. She shook her head, and he looked at Clara pointedly. "You have been outvoted, Miss Clara."

Clara grunted, not replying, and he shook his head before turning to the rest of the group.

"We should head out as soon as possible. The journey will take a while and we want to get there as quickly as we can."

The journey took a week and a half. This was mainly due to the fact that Colette and Genis had to rest a lot, as they couldn't constantly ride Noishe in danger of injuring him. And because Colette insisted on staying two days in Luin to talk to everyone who wished to greet her.

Eventually they moved off, heading towards the Tower of Mana. A few monsters popped up, but nothing they couldn't handle, and soon they had reached the tall structure.

"That's a pretty impressive looking tower," Genis said, eyebrow raised.

"It's WONDEROUS!" Raine cried, running up to it and hugging the walls, rubbing her cheek against the stone. "Feel how smooth the stone is, the building must have been crafted with much care, and the stones are barely worn down, and..."

"I'm surprised there aren't more people here," Clara said. She'd sulked for two days straight before finally getting bored and starting to enjoy herself again.

Lloyd frowned. "Yeah..There were quite a few people last time I came," he agreed.

Colette walked up to the door, pulling on the handle. "Oh! It's locked," she said, sounding dissapointed.

"Really?" Genis asked, also tugging on it. "Oh, I guess it is."

"Who would be most likely to have the key?" asked Kratos.

Colette considered. "I think Pastor Picarring is the one in charge of the Tower of Mana," she replied, smiling.

"And does he live anywhere close by?" asked Kratos.

"In Luin," Colette replied.

"Right back where we came from.." sighed Lloyd, the group turning to walk away.

"Ah...Sis, we're leaving!" Genis called to Raine, who was still fawning over the building.

"..imbued with some magic to help support the structure..."

Genis sighed. "Okay, we'll see you in Luin!" he called again, then followed them as they walked off.

"Do you think she'll notice we've left?" Colette whispered.

"Who knows," Lloyd replied, glancing back at her.

"Come along, let's leave the child to play with her toy.." Clara muttered, ushering them on as Kratos rolled his eyes and followed.


A/N: I'm actually really surprised that I've managed to write this much! Usually I get bored before now...

Anyway guys, I've managed to get myself completely addicted to Abyss and Vesperia :S Luckily, I wrote about another 11-15 chapters, so if I do weekly updates we should be happy for another solid three months, and by that point I should be over Vesperia and continuing with Symphonia!

Review?