Found by Cruxis

The sun was blazing high in the late afternoon sky as the exhausted group approached the Triet Ruins. Sweltering under the heat, they sighed with relief as they stopped, standing under some of the shade provided by the crumbling building.

"Is that the seal? It has my families crest on it". The fledgling chosen stood beside the ever stoic (and ever handsome ^_^) mercenary, looking towards a slab, the only part of the ruins that was, well, not in ruins.

A quick gasp was heard, followed by an orange and silver blur that shot past the onlookers, stopping and kneeling before the stone.

"Fascinating! This slab is clearly of a different composition than the surrounding stone…oh my! This is polycarbonate, developed during the Ancient War to defend against magic! Fantastic!" Raine practically purred as she rubbed her head against the stone, drooling all the while. It was a crazy professor's dream come true.

The group still stood behind, mouths open in shock as the silver haired woman entered ruin mode and continued her scientific rant that no one really wanted to listen to. Her little brother, Genis, sweat dropped, as the rest slowly turned to stare at him, slightly scared.

Anna was the first one to close her mouth and voice the question that they were all thinking. "What…the…hell…?" She turned back to look at the woman who was now worshipping the slab, throwing her hands in the air in praise. The brunette woman turned to face Genis, face paling.

"I tried so hard to hide it too". The small half elf shook his head in shame.

"Anyway…" Lloyd spoke up for the first time since they arrived at the ruins. "Right. What are we here for again?" He questioned.

The wind picked up, throwing sand in everyone's faces as Kratos answered. "We are here so that the Chosen can unlock the first seal." He turned to face the slab. "Chosen, the Oracle Stone is by the professor…if you dare approach her." He looked at Colette smirking.

"Uhm… okay." She walked over to the professor, and ignoring the woman who was now kissing the slab, placed her hand on the pedestal, revealing the entrance to the ruins.

"Wow, it worked!" The blonde girl bounced excitedly.

"Well duh, Colette you're the Chosen! Why wouldn't it open?" Genis asked.

"Huh, I'm not sure." The girl looked up, thinking.

"Colette, you dork!" Lloyd walked past and nudged her, chuckling. "C'mon guys. Lets go." He lead the group down the stone steps and into the ruin. The brunette teen had been quiet and contemplative since his talk with his best friend earlier that day about his parents. He was depressed at the thought that they had never wanted him.

As they worked their way through the ruins, fighting monsters and shooting things with the sorcerers ring, Lloyd kept to himself, not engaging in conversation unless prompted, and even then only a few words were said.

This unnatural behaviour that occurred did not go unnoticed by his mother, however. She turned her husband as the others tried to figure out how to get to the warp pad and the seal room. "Kratos, I'm worried about Lloyd. D'you think he hates us? He thinks we abandoned him cause we didn't want him…that's not true…" She trailed off, frowning.

"Anna, he does not know that he has any relation to us. Why would he hate us?" The auburn haired man slashed at an approaching fire monster as his wife continued talking. "When we tell him that we're the ones that abandoned him, Kratos, then he'll hate us!" She cried in despair at the man beside her.

"Look, when the time comes, we will explain to him our reasons for what we did. I am sure that he will understand. Right now, all we can do is comfort him. But wait until the seal has been unlocked."

"…Fine." Anna walked towards the rest of the group angrily, grumbling along the way. She was not a happy bunny.

"Mister Kratos, hurry, we've found the warp pad!" Colette turned and shouted to the mercenary as the professor, her brother, Lloyd and Anna continued on to the seal room, all consumed in their own thoughts.

Kratos nodded and followed the girl. This was one big mess that they were all involved in, and he had a feeling that it was only going to get more complicated as time went on. He swore at his former friend, Mithos, as he warped into the seal room. The blame for this one was on him, no one else.

As he walked to the group, Genis commented on the large amount of mana that was coming from the seal.

"Look out!" Kratos unsheathed his blade and raced to the front of the group as Ktugach and his little baby fiery friends materialised into the room, letting out a deep growl.

The group drew their weapons, moving to their positions. Lloyd and Colette began to attack upfront with, slashing at one of the small Ktugachlings, with not much effect.

Kratos skilfully attacked Ktugach with his years of learned technique and precision, Anna occasionally helping him out when not distracted by the other Ktugachling that Genis was focused on.

"Sonic Thrust!" The Ktugachling roared as it disappeared into nothing, where it would soon be joined by it's fiery friends.

Lloyd ran up to help Kratos with the main boss, and sent Colette to help Anna and Genis.

"Demon Fang!" Lloyd struck the fiend from behind as Kratos glanced at him and muttered his thanks.

Anna, Genis and Colette had just managed to defeat the last Ktugachling, so stood back as Raine healed them, watching as the two guys finished off the last boss.

"Let's do this! Cross Thrust!" The two charged from either side, stopping as the fire beast dropped to the floor and vanished.

"Phew." Lloyd mumbled tiredly, letting Raine heal him.

Colette approached the seal and prayed until a glowing orb descended from the ceiling. In a flash of light, Remiel appeared, floating angelically before the group, smirking like the bastard he was.

"Colette, you have done well my daughter." His eyes glinted with his deception. "The first seal has been released, Efreet will awaken soon. In the name of Cruxis, I grant you the power of the angels."

The clumsy girl bowed her head. "Thank you…father" She hesitated.

Remiel continued to tell Colette where the next seal was and then thankfully disappeared. As he did so, pink, almost translucent wings appeared on her back, and she ascended into midair.

"Wow!" That broke Lloyd out of his stupor, as he and Genis chorused in surprise at their friends' new ability to fly.

"Colette's an angel!"

"That's so cool!"

As the three teens were messing around, Anna turned to her husband and Raine.

"The next seal is across the sea, will any boats even be sailing with the way things are right now?" She questioned.

"A ship…?" Raine paled, eyes becoming wide with fear.

"Is something wrong?" Anna asked the half elven woman curiously.

"Ahh…no, not at all." Raine mostly regained her composure, although she still looked rather pale.

Kratos spoke up. "We should head to the coast to see what we can find." He turned to the three that were still messing with Colette's wings. "Lloyd, Genis, Chosen, we should go now." He spoke and turned, warping out of the room, the group not far behind.

They exited the ruins when Colette suddenly collapsed to her knees, groaning slightly.

"Colette! Are you okay?" He knelt down, placing his arm around her for support.

"I'm…fine…sorry."

Genis spoke. "You don't look fine! Oh, this is all my fault for making you use your wings too much! I'm sorry." He said dejectedly.

Raine stood next to the girl. "We need to get her to a doctor immediately."

Kratos quickly stepped in, the voice of reason once again. "No, it is best not to move her. The angel said that she would suffer for one night, so let's make camp here and let the Chosen rest."

The others agreed and started doing their own thing. Genis started cooking, his elder sister bugging him to let her 'add her own little twist' to the meal. Genis sensibly flat out refused, not having a death wish.

As Colette slept, Lloyd sat near her, knees pulled up against his body, arms wrapped around them. He rocked slightly back and forth, lost in his thoughts once again.

Anna and Kratos sat, Noishe by their side, watching from the other side of the fire.

"I'm going to go and talk to him. I can't stand seeing him like this…" She sighed sadly, hating to watch her son eaten away at by his grief. Especially knowing that it was their fault. She wished that she could do something about it, but now was not the right time to tell him the truth.

She stood up slowly, dusting herself off before walking over to him and sitting down. Lloyd looked up from his thoughts.

"Hey…what's wrong? You haven't been yourself today at all." Lloyd sighed and rested his head down on his knees before forming an answer.

"You didn't want to lose your son, did you?" He stared up at Anna meaningfully.

The older woman was taken aback. "Wha…? Of course not! I…we, loved our son more than anything in the world! I would give anything to have him back." She glanced over at the teenage boy sitting next to her.

"I think my parents weren't like that, I don't think they wanted me…maybe they even went so far as to get someone to lie about their death just so they could get away from me…I wish I had parents like you."

Shock crept onto Anna's face. She stared, astonished at Lloyd. "Lloyd! I…I really don't think that they would do that to you, you're an amazing guy." She put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. She felt guilty for doing this to her son, and not even being able to help him.

"Good parents wouldn't do that Lloyd." He stared into her eyes, letting her see how deep his pain and confusion was.

Still staring at her, he spoke. "Well then...maybe they just weren't good parents."


So that's chapter 12 done! I know it wasn't very interesting but yeaah, it had to be done...oh well, hope you enjoyed a bit! T_T Review!