A/N: Man, writer's block is evil. D: I know what I want to happen here, but it's connecting the events that's hard. Grrr. Anyway, this ranch adventure is gonna be a long one. Longer than I thought it would be, anyway. XD
Still trying to update regularly despite writer's block and school. You can't stop me, school! Uh...yeah. I guess I'll get on with the chapter.
Haha, random French chapter title. It means 'all alone'.
Disclaimer: I don't own ToS.
----
As it turned out, during my previous weeks here I had only seen a very small portion of the ranch. This place was huge. I was grateful that I wouldn't have to go near where the prisoners were held, so I wouldn't have to see all the suffering, but...the path I'd chosen still had its setbacks.
Several alarms had gone off since Raine disabled the cameras, and we'd had to hide from squads of Desian soldiers that were searching different sectors of the ranch. As long as we avoided being seen, though, Kvar and his men were basically feeling their way through the dark for us.
"Hey..." I murmured to Kratos, suddenly having a thought. "You think Kvar will leave his office to search the ranch himself?"
"Hm. It's possible," came the reply, "but it will only make our job easier. If he were to leave, it is likely we would run into him."
Lloyd tensed up, eyes widening. "What if...what if he gets past us and finds Colette and the others?"
Oh shit, that would be bad. That group wouldn't last a second against the Grand Cardinal; Colette couldn't hold off Kvar long enough for Raine and Genis to cast spells. The blonde Chosen wasn't tough like the swordsmen, and she didn't make up for it with speed the way Sheena did. Colette was clumsy, and her clumsiness would get her killed.
The mercenary shook his head. "Kvar's main target is you, Lloyd."
"But if the others start releasing the prisoners..." Sheena spoke up, uneasy.
"They will deactivate the guard system first. We will have found him before they become a problem to him."
I sighed, a little relieved. So the only people the Grand Cardinal would try killing was us. Yay.
Right, focus on not dying...
I continued to follow behind Lloyd, his ribbons occasionally tickling me. We had been (stealthily) navigating the hallways of the ranch for some time now, and I had long ago lost track of where we were. Everything here looked the same; it all had that metallic, industrial look. We'd only had to kill a few Desians, but that only made me more anxious about the upcoming battle. It was too quiet, and I kept feeling like Kvar would be hiding around the next corner. The way my weird Silent Hill 2 dream had linked to the ranch didn't really help either, since in that game dead silence plus no enemies usually equalled Pyramid Head...
Wow, I'd be so dead if I had been sucked into that game instead. Hell, I'd take on all of Cruxis alone if it meant I could avoid the monsters of Silent Hill. Besides, being killed by Kratos was way cooler than getting devoured and/or raped to death.
Said mercenary glanced over at me, as if he'd somehow read my mind, before returning his gaze to the hallway ahead. I realized I probably would be killed by him later on at the Tower, and suppressed a shudder. Ah, well. I'd worry about that later, right now Kvar was the main problem.
Ugh, why couldn't I have been thrown into Nintendogs or something? I could be playing with puppies right now, dammit.
Everyone had drawn their weapons, so I automatically did the same. Uh-oh...something was moving ahead of us. Huh? Looked like machines...part of the security system? Oh! I knew what they were! It was those annoying raybits!
"What are those things?" Lloyd mumbled as they floated toward us. They probably had motion sensors, and it didn't look like they detected our presence yet.
"Have you seen them before?" Kratos questioned me, having noticed my look of recognition.
"Uh...yeah, once or twice," I lied. "They're called raybits. They can shoot beams of, er...lightning-charged mana, I think." I hoped I was right. Were their attacks lightning elemental or just light? Did they even have an element? Well, it was Kvar's ranch, so I'd just assumed lightning. But they were at the other ranches, too...Whatever, Kratty would take care of them either way. There were only two of them.
"They don't look all that strong," Sheena remarked. "Let's take them out before they raise an alarm or something."
"Piece of cake!" Lloyd grinned, running at one of them as Kratos sighed. I shrugged and decided to try fighting for once, running at the other.
I steered clear of the machine's weapon, dodging around the back of it to attack. Lloyd was using Tiger Blade on his. I wanted Tiger Blade...my techs pretty much sucked.
"Sonic Thrust!" I cried, using one of my least favorite attacks. Scratch that, I wanted freakin' Hell Pyre. Maybe Kratos would teach it to me someday.
Before long, both raybits had been destroyed. Lloyd and I began to high five in victory, but Kratos cut us off.
"Behind you!"
We turned to see at least ten more of the machines swarming towards us. There were several coming from the hall behind us as well. The four of us arranged ourselves in a rough circle(uh...or square?), standing back to back.
"This could be bad." I muttered, dismayed. Individually they were pretty weak, but in groups...
"Dammit!" Lloyd growled.
"What do we do?" Sheena scanned the area for an escape, summoning Corinne for some extra help. It was the first time I'd seen the little summon spirit, but I didn't have time to get excited about that now. He sure was cute, though.
"We'll have to cut through and run. Fighting these will take time that we do not have," Kratos said.
Several of the raybits shot at us, and we all brought up our respective shields. As I lifted my sword and used Guardian, I was suddenly glad the mercenary had drilled that tech into me. Ugh, stupid Kratos, why couldn't I be right for once?
"Hmm. Okay, I'll give it a shot...Guardian! ...How's this?"
"Flimsy."
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"My sword would not have broken through had you focused more."
"Dammit, you're such a jerk! Demon Fang!"
"Guardian! ...You see the importance of such a technique. I am unharmed."
"You suck."
"Hmph. I remember a time when you obeyed me without complaint."
"I'm not afraid of you anymore, Kratters."
"..."
"Crap, did I say that out loud?"
"...Perhaps you should be. Hurricane Thrust!"
"Ahh! Guardian, Guardian!"
...Yeah, that had been a good day. At least I had learned the tech in the end. I had almost never used it in the game, but now it was incredibly helpful.
"Lloyd." Kratos's voice broke me out of my thoughts. The mercenary exchanged a look with his son, and then glanced over to Sheena and I. "You two, bring up the rear. We will break through."
"Got it." Sheena replied, readying herself. I gripped Loki's hilt tighter, tense.
After dodging more attacks from the raybits, Lloyd and Kratos positioned themselves for an attack of their own. My eyes widened as I realized what they were about to do, and I couldn't stop a grin from breaking out on my face. Yes, one of my favorite unison attacks!
"Cross Thrust!" They shouted simultaneously. The two swordsmen shot forth, cutting through the group of machines in an X formation. They left nothing but debris behind them, and Sheena and I ran through the gap they had created.
I nodded to the ninja, and we turned to the remaining raybits, deciding to buy ourselves more time.
"Beast!" I yelled, swinging my sword and ramming into one of the machines with a shoulder. The mana I'd used formed into a blue lion's head, knocking back the crowd of raybits.
Sheena came next. She threw several of her cards into the fray and used Cyclone Seal, the powerful winds causing them to crash into each other. As the raybits slowly recovered from the blows, the ninja and I turned and fled, following after Kratos and Lloyd. Hopefully we could get far enough away that those things wouldn't find us again.
After passing through several more hallways, though, we heard a commotion behind us. Apparently a Desian had stumbled upon the raybit debris and warned the others...frick. At Kratos's signal, the four of us broke out in a run, attempting to leave that area behind. There was more shouting, and suddenly there was the pounding of feet behind us; our enemies were giving chase. Double frick. Kratos eventually grew annoyed, and stopped. By the time the rest of us had skidded to a halt as well, the four Desians that had been following us were dead and being shoved into a random closet by the ticked off mercenary.
"Let's move." He said quietly when he was done, and we set off again, Sheena looking a little disturbed. I guess I didn't blame her; Kratos hadn't exactly been going out of his way to make good first impressions on her. She knew him a little better now, but still probably wondered if he'd murder us all in our sleep later on.
I had no such thoughts. On the contrary, I felt extremely safe with Kratos, with the knowledge that he was the strongest fighter out of all of us. Not only that, he was an angel, so if worse came to worst he could knock us out and then fry all our enemies with Judgment. Although he was going to betray us later on...it was weird to think, but I trusted him. Sort of. I mean, I wasn't going to tell him anything Yggdrasill could use to his advantage, but I still trusted him with other things.
For now, at least, I trusted the asshole with my life. Seriously, what was wrong with me? He would probably kill us at the Tower...but I still believed he was goodhearted deep down, and while we were allies he would do his best to protect us. He had to be at least a little good; he was Lloyd's dad, after all.
Lloyd...yeah, he was definitely my favorite person out of the group. Lloyd, Kratos, then Sheena. Well, I guess it was a good thing I was with all my favorite characters...wait, had I subconsciously done that when helping Lloyd choose the groups? Huh...
Kratos glanced behind us, and I realized we were being followed again. The footsteps were less noticeable than before, which meant our enemies were finally trying to counteract stealth with stealth. Maybe they'd found the corpses from before, and realized we were a teensy bit dangerous.
As soon as we started running again, though, another alarm went off. We reached a four way intersection of hallways, and I felt a slight rumbling beneath my feet. Apparently I wasn't the only one; Sheena and Lloyd were looking around in alarm, while Kratos's eyes narrowed slightly. Desians began to catch up to us from behind, so we tried to ignore the rumbling in order to fight them off. We were gradually backed into the center of the intersection, when I realized what the rumbling was.
It reminded me of a certain scene from later on in the game, when Genis had been caught in that weird trap at the Tower of Salvation. Instead of closing in on us, though, there were huge metal doors descending from the ceiling on all sides. Each hallway was gradually being blocked off, and we'd be stuck in the center. Worst of all, we were still caught up in a fight with around twenty Desians, and there was no time to discuss our options.
Sheena and I were fighting together, having been separated from Lloyd and Kratos in the midst of battle. The two swordmen were on the other end of the "room" that was about to be created. I panicked and felt claustrophobia begin to set in as the doors continued to close.
"Sheena, we have to do something!" I hissed to her as we fought, and she nodded, panting.
"Let's head for the door behind us. I think we can make it." The ninja knocked back the Desians in front of us with a Pyre Seal, and we turned and ran. We didn't even have time to worry about Kratos and Lloyd; we just had to trust that they'd develop a similar plan of their own.
The door seemed to close even faster as we approached; I desperately dropped to the floor and slid when I reached it, managing to get to the other side. Sheena dove onto her stomach. I grabbed her hand to pull her the rest of the way through, when I suddenly met resistance. My eyes widened as hers did.
"Dammit! Let go of my leg!" She growled frantically, and I realized one of our attackers had caught her. Alarmed, I gave her hand a hard tug, trying to pull her out of the Desian's grasp. It didn't work; the asshole was determined to play a game of tug-of-war. And the door was getting even lower...
The Desian pulled viciously on her leg, and she yelled out in pain. The door was nearly touching her back now. I realized I had no other choice; I let go of her hand, allowing her to be dragged back to the other side before the door crushed her.
It finally closed, blocking out the sounds of the battle, causing the passageway to become dead silent.
"Sheena!" I cried in despair, clawing at the metal door. There was no way I could get to any of them now. Oh, God...what if she was killed? What if Lloyd and Kratos had escaped already, and she was stuck in that room with all the Desians? If she died, then...oh, screw the plotline! She was my friend, and I didn't want her to die! If she was all alone on the other side of that door--
Then it hit me.
I was alone now, completely alone. Sheena was a skilled fighter, a trained assassin. I hadn't even laid a finger on any sort of weapon until a few months ago. Sheena could probably take care of herself. I, however, didn't know what the hell I was doing.
Alone.
In the Asgard Ranch.
Fuck.
Turning around, I leaned my back to the cold door. My heartbeat had suddenly skyrocketed, and I felt myself break out in a cold sweat. How was I going to do this? I didn't even know where I was! Shuddering violently, I picked Loki up from where I had dropped it.
Okay...deep breath. One thing at a time.
I looked to the hallway ahead and tried to calm myself. I had to keep it together. I needed a plan, here.
Nodding to myself, I bit my lip. Option one: go back the way I came. I turned to the metal door, looking it over, and sighed. Nope, that wouldn't work. It's not like I could break it down or something.
Option two: go on ahead. Well, that one seemed better, but...really, wouldn't I just get myself killed that way? I didn't know where in the ranch I was; I'd been trusting Kratos to remember its layout. Dammit. And I wasn't very good at fighting, so what would I do if I ran into a group of Desians?
All right, option three: stay here and wait for help. That would definitely get me killed...I was instantly cornered if an enemy showed up. Shit, speaking of which, shouldn't I get out of here?
Option two it is, then. I couldn't just sit around, tempting as it may be. My best bet was to try and regroup with some of the others...even if it was the deactivation team. Scratch that, I hoped I could find the deactivation team...I was sick of the whole infiltration thing. I changed my mind, I wanted the safe job. Augh, I should've known this would happen!
Another deep breath. I held up my sword, moving forward cautiously. If encountered a Desian, I should be able to defeat them. If I was outnumbered, though, I'd have to run and try to lose them.
Feeling better now that I at least had a half-assed plan, I proceeded a little faster.
----
My boots barely made any sound as I hastily strode down the hallway I was currently in. It had been about ten minutes, and I felt like I had gotten nowhere. This place still looked all the same to me, and I had a feeling I was pretty far away from the portion of it I actually recognized. I tried to remember the map the Professor had shown us. The control room had been someplace on the far right end of the ranch, and Kvar's room on the far left. So, if Kratos had been leading us to Kvar's room, then that meant...
...I was probably in the heart of the ranch. Great.
Ever since I'd continued on my own, I had been searching for a way to double back and meet with Colette and the others. Whatever, they could say I chickened out. I wasn't trying to deny that I was a coward. It was stupid of me to agree to this whole thing anyway. On second thought, maybe I would just wait this whole journey out in Luin. I could ask Lloyd about the sword after he saved the worlds, and then I wouldn't get in the way, and I wouldn't have to pretend to be brave anymore. I could help Pietro rebuild. Yeah, that sounded safe, and...
I clenched my fists, shaking my head. Who the hell was I trying to fool? I felt guilty enough at being almost completely useless to the people I journeyed with, never mind if I abandoned them for my own selfish wants. Even if they were totally okay with letting me stay behind, I'd beat myself up about it because I was just that stupid.
This place was ridiculously repetitive. Was I just going around in circles or something? If I tried to leave some sort of marker to check, I'd be caught...damn. I tried to find some other feature of the hall I was in to go by, but to no avail. Every light on the wall was set at a regular interval, the floors polished enough to show my reflection, the disabled cameras stationed at every corner. Everything was exactly the same. Fine, then. I'd just have to go in one direction for as long as possible, and then I'd have to get somewhere.
Hm, Kratos and Lloyd (and hopefully Sheena was with them, too) must have drawn a lot of attention to themselves. No alarms had gone off in this part of the ranch for a while, and as a result I'd only had to dodge a few Desians. I hoped they were okay, but I was thankful to the others for drawing attention away from myself, even if it was unintentional.
Another intersection was up ahead...I could turn left or right. I was right handed, so...I'd pick right. Heh, my reasoning made so much sense.
Wait. Voices? Yeah, those were voices up ahead, coming from the right. My pathetic reasoning would've gotten me killed. I ducked through a random door as the sounds came closer, tensing as it automatically hissed shut behind me.
Good, I had stepped into some sort of storage closet. A bunch of neglected looking equipment sat in the corner, the room illuminated with a single dim light. It was actually sort of dusty in here, I noted with surprise. Well, at least I had the comfort of knowing no one would come waltzing in anytime soon. Satisfied with my surroundings, I cautiously leaned closer to the door in an attempt to discern when it would be safe to leave.
I recognized the soft tapping of shoes coming closer. They'd pass by any second now, and soon after I could get out of this musty room. As I listened, the voice slowly became clearer, its smooth tone causing my insides to freeze.
Kvar was out there. He was right there, outside this door.
It didn't sound like anyone was walking with him, so he must've been speaking into an earpiece or something. Unless he had a cell phone and was chatting away with his girlfriends, which seemed highly unlikely. "idk, my bff Pronyma?" I think not.
Ugh, focus. Must avoid bastard Desian leader.
Leaning on the wall near the door, I listened as his footsteps gradually drew nearer. The seconds ticked by painfully slow, now that I knew just who was on the other side of that door. I just wanted him to go on his merry way so I could get the hell out of here and run in the opposite direction. This stupid room smelled so much like an unused attic, I half expected a bat to come flying down from the ceiling. The dust was really annoying--oh, crap.
No. I was not going to sneeze. I was not going to be indirectly killed by dust.
In that second, I tried everything: pinching my nose, rubbing it, sniffling; I even considered breaking it if it would shut me up, but I was way too much of a wuss, and the resulting scream would kind of defeat the purpose.
"Ah-ach--" I muffled the rest of the sneeze into my gloves, but a loud hiss still escaped.
The footsteps abruptly stopped. Shit.
Too scared to move, I waited where I was. He had to have heard me. He was going to open the door and then I'd be trapped, and he'd kill me, and I'd end up like all those other bodies Kratos had shoved into closets.
All was silent for a few seconds, and then the footsteps began again. He was continuing on his way. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, thanking every god or deity I could think up at that moment. Man, that was a close call. Note to self: avoid dusty rooms from now on. Your nose will betray you.
Hell, who was I kidding? I probably would've coughed randomly if there hadn't been any dust. That always used to happen whenever we had lockdown drills back when I was still in school. Everyone would sit in their nifty hiding spot in the corner of the classroom, and I'd suddenly have that annoying tickle in my throat and start coughing my brains out. Or my stomach would growl. Or I'd have a cold, and be constantly sniffling. Seriously, if some kid had been on the rampage with an assault rifle, I would've gotten us all killed.
Hey, that was one good thing about this world. There were no guns, so no one had instant death at their fingertips. I mean, if the Desians were able to mow people down with machine guns, I'd have a face full of lead right now. Really, if Cruxis had guns, we'd be screwed. Yuan would make a cool James Bond, though. And I had a hunch Kratos was secretly Chuck Norris. He kicked way too much ass, even if he was a four thousand year-old seraph.
Yggdrasill? He'd make an excellent prison bitch. But that's just my opinion. Well, I guess I could give him the benefit of the doubt; maybe he looked more masculine in person. But I was pretty sure that he looked like Britney Spears. That guy was pretty much a win-win for bisexuals...looks like a chick, is actually a dude! No freakin' way!
I wish making fun of my enemies really covered up all the fear festering beneath the surface. If I had been joking aloud, my laughter would've been nervous. Regardless of what the Cruxis assholes looked like, I had a feeling I'd want to piss myself when I first saw them.
Finally remembering what I was supposed to be doing, I shook my head and leaned close to the door again. Nothing. Good, I'd been rambling in my head long enough for the coast to be clear.
Since Kvar had come from the right of that intersection, I'd go to the left...just in case he'd been coming from his office. I really didn't want to end up there on my own, no sir. Even though messing around on his computer sounded kind of fun. He probably had cheap pornography stored somewhere on there. I always knew Kvar was a perverted old bastard when it came down to it. Wait, we weren't on Earth, there was no internet to download that stuff off of. Awww. Okay, maybe he had love letters to Lloyd...nah, that sounded more like something Yuan would have. "You're mine, Lloyd!" Heh heh.
Right then, enough slacking. It was time for me to get going, and hopefully regroup with the others. Stepping forward, I pressed the 'open' button on the small control pad next to the door. It slid open instantly with a barely audible hiss, and I stepped out into the hall, turning in the direction I intended to go. Maybe if I hurried, I could get out of here before Raine blew the place up.
"I thought I heard something."
I froze, eyes going wide. No. I'd misheard, that wasn't him. He'd left already, hadn't he? Right?
There was no way to avoid it. My heart felt like it had stopped; I turned around slowly, and met the terrible eyes of Kvar. Had he been standing there the entire time, waiting for me to come out? Why did this always happen to me?! You'd think I would've learned the first time, back when I had been chased through the woods...
He was smirking, like always. I tried to make some sort of retort, but my voice failed me. I was alone. With Kvar.
Sure, this wasn't the first time I'd been on my own, but back then I had also been an ignorant amnesiac. And even when I had regained my memory, I hadn't seen the whole rib-breaking thing coming at all. Now I knew just how cruel this guy was, and I had seen people die because of him, and I knew this wasn't a goddamn video game anymore.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. I was going to die.
My knees went weak, and I actually felt dizzy with fear at the sight of this man. I suppressed the urge to throw up; although it would be awesome to blow chunks all over the front of Kvar's nasty Desian outfit, it probably wouldn't be worth the painful death that followed. Not that it would really make a difference. I was dead either way.
"K...Kvar." I said, my voice sounding mechanical. I held my sword weakly in front of me, barely maintaning my grip on it. The blade was the only thing between me and possibly the most cruel man I had ever met.
"It seems you have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time..." His smirk grew as he began to approach me, electric currents running through his staff. "Now, perhaps you could be so kind as to tell me where your friends are."
He didn't know? Thank God, that meant Sheena had gotten out okay. But that didn't help me much...
I lifted my sword a little, gripping it with more force, hoping to look at least a little dangerous. Kvar continued forward, not hesitating in the least. He knew I was going to start backing away. And I did.
"Go to hell," I said, but the threatening note in my voice was lost when it came out just above a terrified whisper.
"Where is the boy? Tell me where Lloyd is, and I'll consider letting you go."
I remained silent, glaring at him, trying not to tremble.
"...I see. Of course, I could always obtain the information by force." His eyes had a cold gleam as they followed my movements. "I never did punish you for that...scratch you gave me."
Scratch? I was pretty sure it had been a moderately deep gash, but he could tell himself whatever he wanted. In any case, it had been a stupid move on my part; healing magic had obviously cleared it up, and now I just had a pissed off Kvar left to deal with.
In other words, oh shit.
The Grand Cardinal lifted his staff, and I knew he was going to cast. My mind flashed through all the spells I knew he was capable of using; he specialized in the lightning type, but he'd revealed that he was also capable of mid-level fire and wind types. There was only so much Guardian would do for me before I ran out of...TP, mana, whatever.
Doing the first thing that came to mind, I turned around and ran.
"Wrong move," I heard him say, and suddenly a bolt of concentrated lightning shot past my head, barely missing me. I winced as the heat from it burned my skin, and I could tell from the smell in the air that some of my hair had been singed as well.
Attempting to ignore the pain, I dashed towards the intersection ahead, turning left. There was the sound of footsteps behind me, but they were going at a slow, leisurely pace. Kvar apparently wasn't too worried about me escaping. Had I chosen the wrong way?
"Thunder Blade!" My thoughts were cut off as a giant sword appeared out of nowhere, blocking my path. It probably would've split me in two, if I hadn't known what was coming.
"Guardian!" I yelled desperately, trying to keep the shield up as I dodged around the sword. I managed to avoid the shockwave that followed the impact, and continued sprinting down the hall. If Kvar was too sure of himself to chase me, well, I'd have to take advantage of that.
It didn't last long. After a few hallways of this, I could tell he was getting irritated with my persistence. His footsteps sped up, and I frantically tried to increase my pace as well. I couldn't keep this up for long. A few months of travelling in Sylvarant had done me some good, but before I came here I was never much of a runner. I didn't know anything about how to pace myself correctly so I wouldn't get exhausted early on.
I took another left, and Kvar was outright running now. My eyes widened as a horrifying realization struck me.
Dead end.
My dream flashed through my head, and I wondered I should have tried harder to decipher it, if it had in fact been prophetic. This made no sense, though! The Desians wouldn't build a random dead end in the middle of their ranch!
My panicked thoughts came to an abrupt halt as I saw what was on the ground at the end of the hall. It was a circular device built into the floor, something I'd seen here many times before: a warp pad. Oh, thank God, it wasn't really a dead end.
I ran over to it with a final burst of strength, coming to stand on top of it, and turned to face Kvar. He had slowed down substantially, watching me with callous amusement. What had gone wrong now--!
Oh, no. I looked down at the pad benath my feet, and saw that all the lights on it were dark. It lacked its usual glow, which was why I hadn't seen it right away when I first turned down this hallway. It was turned off. I wasn't going anywhere.
"How sad," Kvar chuckled, "after all this, your efforts have been rendered futile. Do you see now why you should have cooperated in the beginning?"
I tried to glare at him, but found that I was too scared to meet his eyes for long. There was nowhere I could run. I was trapped; if I tried to go around him, I'd be caught.
Kvar continued to advance, preparing another spell. I wouldn't be able to dodge this time. "Now, then...tell me where my Exsphere is hiding."
I remained still, my lips sealed shut. Even if I told him everything I knew, I highly doubted he'd just let me go...
He didn't seem surprised at my lack of a response. "Still silent, hmm? Very well, I suppose we could try a little...shock therapy."
My hands clenched into fists, and I prepared myself for the worst. Kvar's lips twisted into a sadistic smile as he lifted his staff, and I could already feel the electrical charge in the air.
"Spark Wave!"
Just as I started to feel heat prickling on my skin, a light flashed below me. Kvar's eyes widened in disbelief, and I looked down to see that the warp had turned on. I was quickly teleported out of the area before Spark Wave had a chance to affect me.
I arrived in a new place, stepping off of the pad and attempting to recover from the strange sensation of being warped. Where was I now?
Never mind, that could wait. There were more important matters at hand--Kvar.
I swung around, doing the first thing that came to mind. Stepping forward, I drove my sword into the glass circle that made up the warp pad. It cracked, just as the ones in the game had done at the Tower. Now it was unuseable; I couldn't leave wherever I was, but thankfully Kvar couldn't follow me. For the time being, I was safe.
Sighing with relief, I slumped to the floor. My heart continued to beat rapidly, random muscles twitching in my legs. I was alive. Somehow, I had survived.
I shook my head. No, I couldn't celebrate just yet. It wasn't over; I was still in the ranch, and Kvar was still out there somewhere. Hell, we might run into each other again. I had to make sure that I was more prepared next time. If I kept going it alone like this, sooner or later I was going to get killed.
Okay. First of all, where had the warp taken me?
Reluctantly standing up, I walked forward to survey the room. My legs were on fire...how was I going to keep this whole thing up? Until now, I'd spent the entire time running like a madwoman from almost every enemy I encountered. The whole thing with Kvar had caused me to expend the last of my strength. The adrenaline that had previously fueled me was gone now.
Wait a minute. This room...seemed kinda familiar. There was a big important looking desk further in, and a projector was over to the left, along with a lot of shiny computers...
I groaned. So the left passageway had led to Kvar's office, after all. My sense of direction really sucked.
It made sense, though, now that I thought about it. The warp pad hadn't worked at first, because the security system hadn't been deactivated. Apparently I had perfect timing, and the others had pressed both switches not long after I stepped on to the pad. Great, now Kvar was probably really pissed. Not only had I evaded him again, I'd essentially locked him out of his own office.
Not knowing what to do, I walked further into the room, examining the different things in it. I was in Kvar's office and main control room; maybe I could find a way to use this to my advantage. It looked like there was another warp I could use to get out. It had probably been activated at the same time as the main one. Okay, so I had to move fast if I was going to do anything in this place. Kvar would be headed here or at least sending some soldiers here soon, without a doubt.
I might be able to hack into one of the computers and try to mess up some things...augh, if only they had internet here. I could've downloaded a bunch of viruses in less than a minute.
A faint beep coming from behind me caused me to tense. I swung around, only to see that the projector was turning on. Someone was trying to contact Kvar? Oh shit, it was Pronyma! She was the last person I wanted to chat with right now. I hastily ducked behind the desk, attempting to breathe as silently as possible.
There was a second, louder beep, and I could tell the machine had fully turned on now. If I had peeked over the side of the desk, I would've seen the image of Pronyma floating in the air.
"Kvar."
Whoa, was I wrong. That was Yuan's voice!
"...Not here? Hmph, the Cardinals are becoming less and less competent..."
Heh, that was Yuan, all right. But why was he contacting Kvar? I thought Pronyma was supposed to call him out on the whole conspiracy with Rodyle--ohhhhh. The Renegades were manipulating Rodyle to build the Mana Cannon, and Kvar was working with Rodyle, so...yeah. Awesome, it was nice knowing exactly what was going on.
"The chair is still moving, imbecile."
It took me a moment to realize Yuan was addressing me. My mouth opened in a gape, and I stared in alarm at Kvar's chair; it was still turning from when I'd nudged it in my rush to get behind the desk. Crap. Okay, calm down. Yuan couldn't hurt me. I just had to improvise.
I quickly stood up, revealing myself, and faced the Renegade leader. Neat, the projection made him all...projection-y. Wow, it was a good thing no one here could read my thoughts...
Yuan was watching me with his arms crossed--when didn't he have his arms crossed? Anyway, he was very attractive, I'd say on par with Kratos. How could a guy have such pretty hair? It wasn't fair!
"I wasn't hiding, I just dropped something." I spoke, locking eyes with him. He raised an eyebrow, but made no more comments on my idiocy.
"Where is Kvar?"
"Uh, he's not here right now. I can take a message if you like."
"Fool. How stupid do you think I am? You're clearly a human."
I cursed my short hair. If it had been longer, I might've been able to hide my ears and trick him.
"The offer still stands, though." I gave him a cheeky smile, unafraid. He couldn't hurt me via the projection, after all. "Kvar's not gonna be back for a while. He's sort of busy, y'know, being a bastard."
Yuan looked away for a minute, and I watched him, puzzled. He seemed to be looking at a computer that wasn't visible to me.
"A break in. I see." He said after a short moment, frowning thoughtfully. Whoa, he could check the status of all the ranches? I wondered if, say, Pronyma could do that from wherever her stronghold was. Why didn't aid ever come from the other ranches? Then again, all of the Grand Cardinals were in a constant power struggle. They probably wouldn't have cared if another ranch was being attacked.
The Renegade leader looked back up at me. "Lloyd is there as well, I presume?"
"Lloyd? Lloyd who?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
Apparently my act was pretty crappy, because Yuan took that as a yes. "Hm...I cannot allow him to die just yet." He muttered to himself, quietly enough that I probably wouldn't have heard him if I hadn't been paying careful attention.
"The warp to your right will only activate with a four digit passcode." Yuan told me, "It's changed daily for security reasons, but the current code can be found on Kvar's personal computer. I will open the file for you."
I watched him in shock; was Yuan actually helping me? "Wait a minute, why are you helping me? Who are you, anyway?"
"That's hardly something you need to know." He answered, becoming testy at my behavior. I couldn't blame him; could he tell I was only pretending to be utterly clueless?
"Be grateful that I'm helping you at all." He typed a few things into the computer I couldn't see, and suddenly Kvar's computer turned on. The cursor moved on its own, as if it were on autopilot, but I could tell Yuan was controlling it.
Oh, I understood now. He wanted me to mess up Kvar's plans so Lloyd would be okay. After all, if Lloyd died, Yuan's blackmail opportunity died as well. Fine, I'd go along with it.
A new window opened on the computer, and four large numbers appeared in red: 4428. All right, that was easy enough to remember.
"Exit the room through the warp and take the left passageway. That will take you away from most of Kvar's troops."
"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in fake suspicion. I had to keep up the act; any normal person would be at least a little wary.
Yuan turned away from me, but I could easily picture the irritated expression on his face. "Do you have any other choice? Get moving." The projection began to fade, but he looked over his shoulder at me just before he left. "There's an earpiece on the desk. I advise you to use it." With that, he was gone.
I watched the projector for a second or two, before snorting. "What a jerk." I grinned. Yuan had never gotten enough screentime in the game.
That settled it, Yuan was my new favorite character. He'd just totally saved my ass.
Hmm, what had he meant by using the earpiece? I examined the items on the desk, and immediately recognized the small device. Okay, so I could use that to communicate with Kvar. Yeah, like I really wanted to do that. I should've asked Yuan about it before he left...on second thought, he probably would've told me to figure it out myself. Damn.
Turning the earpiece over in my hands, I immediately began to grasp how it worked. It looked like there was a red button to turn it on and off, a little blue button to speak, and then two to adjust the volume. Simple enough...wait, I had an idea!
I put the earpiece to my ear, turning it on, and listened carefully. Sure enough, I was able to eavesdrop on several Desians. It seemed Kvar wasn't speaking right now, but it didn't matter; if he gave any orders, I would hear them. Oh, Yuan, I love you. Even if you're just using me, I still love you.
So I could use this little thing to navigate the ranch...if Kvar ordered his soldiers to go somewhere, I would avoid that area. And maybe I could get an idea of where the others were!
I stood up straighter, feeling like I'd gotten a second wind. Hell yeah, I could do this. I was gonna survive this.
Now I just had to get out of here before Desian troops showed up. Right, so I just had to enter the passcode. I found the panel in the wall next to the warp, and typed in the numbers Yuan had shown me. There was a beep, and a small light on the warp flashed green before it fully turned on. I stepped on to it, readying my sword in case there were enemies waiting for me on the other side.
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A/N: And thus ends the first half of the second trip to the Asgard Ranch...wow. I was really expecting to tackle the battle with Kvar in this chapter, but it ended up being really long. XD sooo, I'm thinking the big fight will happen towards the end of the next chapter.
YUAN RULES. :D I swear, he's gonna show up more in this than in the game. Even if he's kind of hard to write. He's just so sarcastic and awesome. XD
Next time: "Feel the pain of those inferior beings..."