A/N: Sorry about the delay on this chapter but I have been busy with work and starting another fic. It is called summer's last adventure so if any of you want to read it I would appreciate it. Now since you are probably reading for this story and not advertisements for others, I shall return to this one.

Chapter 14: Beckoning Shadows

"So what do we do from here?" David asked. They had recently returned to Sybeck and the blanket of night had fallen on them.

"For now we need to make camp and hope Colette returns soon," Zelos replied. The warmth of the day quickly dissipated without the sun. The brisk air reminded them that winter had only recently left and that frigid air would still be with them. "It is too cold to just stay out in the open though. I will be back soon." Zelos said as he walked of toward the former houses.

"Wait, where are you going?" David called as he left. Before he could get a response, Zelos was out of sight. "What is he doing?" David said as he turned to Genis.

"Don't worry he will be fine," Genis said as he was sitting on the same steps as earlier. The young mage was nearly overcome with drowsiness but remained awake to stay with his friends. "He was right that we need rest though. It has been a while since I've been able to rest in comfort."

"I don't think that will change for a while either. We still don't know if the monsters will come after us and there is the chance that Ayo could attack again."

"I don't think they would just attack though. They have seen our power and it would be suicide for them to come after us again. Sadly they aren't the only ones after us," Genis said.

"You mean Lloyd?"

"Yea, it just doesn't make any sense why he would do those things. I could see him acting like he was working with them to stop them but he would never take things that far."

"Maybe he didn't have a choice. I hate to say it but, that Lloyd is our enemy."

"That scares me a lot too," Genis said, "Even then, we weren't strong enough to stop him. Now we are tired, hungry and weakened. There is not a chance of us winning. That power was nothing like I had seen before."

"Thank you." David paused for a moment.

"For what?"

"Stopping that attack for me. If you hadn't, then I wouldn't be here right now," David answered.

"And if you did not stand in front of his blade a few moments earlier, or saved me when you first saw me then I wouldn't either," Genis continued, "I haven't known you for long but that doesn't mean we won't protect each other."

"True, with everything that has happened, the only thing we can do is stick together," David said.

"Yea, sorry but I am too tired too keep talking, so I'm going to sleep. Wake me if anything important happens."

"You mean like dinner?" another voice said.

"Collette you made it back!" David exclaimed.

"Yea, sorry it took so long but I found a lot of food for us," she said as she floated overhead carrying a large burlap sack over her back. At the sound of this, Genis snapped out of any desire to sleep and quickly rose to his feet and ran over to the angel. "Where did Zelos go?" she asked.

"We're not really sure," David replied, "I think he went somewhere near the old houses."

"Oh okay," she replied.

"Well since you brought food we might as well eat," Genis suggested.

"I wouldn't mind eating either," David added. The boys were nearly starved and the presence of food made any other concerns flee.

"Should we wait for Zelos though?" she asked,

"We will get everything ready before he gets back, and if not then I doubt he will mind," Genis said. Collette lowered herself and the bag to the ground. She opened up it up, reveling a large supply of corn, wheat, grain, along with other various crops. The bag weighed at least 50 pounds and yet was filled with very little that could be immediately consumed.

"I have no idea how to cook with just these raw ingredients," David confessed.

"Don't worry, Genis is a good cook," said Collette.

"Yea, but I'm not used to using things like this. Even if I did, we don't have anything for me to cook in."

"So what do we have that we can eat now?" David asked, hoping that lack of ability to cook would not stop him from eating.

"Well do you like corn?" Collette asked, after rummaging through the bag and pulling out an ear of the vegetable.

"It's edible isn't it," he said, taking the ear from him.

"Some for you Genis," she said with a smile, handing him one as well. The three of them returned to the steps of the old inn and began to enjoy the first food they had eaten in well over a day. Their hunger made them almost ignore the leafs surrounding the corn before eating it. "And some for you too doggy," she said giving a piece to the dog that had just come out of hiding. The animal did not hesitate to take the food out of her hand. "Hm, your name is Andy," she said.

"How do you know that?" David asked.

"Because, that's his name silly."

"How was the city?" David asked, while eating his food.

"It was strange. The city was in better condition than I would have thought. Some of the buildings were hardly touched while the rest of the city was in flames," she explained.

"Any survivors?" David asked.

"No," she sadly replied. "I ran into a few monsters but none of them were much of a problem."

"Well at least you were fine, and were able to find food," Genis said.

"This should last us a while," she said, "I grabbed everything I could when I was there." They continued to eat and discuss their plans for the next few days. They agreed that they should stay away from the city and hope that no monsters came out this far. After consuming the food, they decided to sleep while David kept watch for any enemies. The hard ground would make sleeping difficult, but they decided they had no other choice. A fire was being fueled from the lumber of various buildings. Just as the camp was established, Zelos returned.

"Sorry for taking so long," he said as he carried with him numerous things, "you would be surprised how hard finding things can be.

"What were you looking for?" David asked.

"Basically anything I could find that we could use. It took a while but I think I found some things that will be helpful."

"And I found food in the city so now we can eat."

"Awesome," he said, snatching the food out of her hand. Zelos gratefully ate it and leaned his back against the wall of the inn. "We need to do something other then just hiding here," he said between bites of food.

"But what can we do?" David asked.

"I want to explore where the manna cannon used to be. Perhaps that will give us some idea of why all this is happening."

"Sounds good to me," Genis said, "I want to know why the world has changed so much."

"What about any other survivors?" Collette asked, "I want to know if any our still alive."

"Well if we find the manna cannon and shut it down then that will help any other survivors that are out there," Zelos countered, "besides the way things look now, I'm doubtful there are any others."

"So where is the manna cannon?" David asked.

"It was built within the mountains of the temple of darkness. I'm not sure if it is still there though," Genis said.

"Well we will start there at least. If nothing else maybe we can learn something more. For now I suggest we get some rest," Zelos said. He then unwrapped the pile of goods he was carrying. Most of it was composed of old dusty blankets and other cloth, but included in it, were some metal containers. "I didn't think we should sleep on the cold ground again so I brought back some blankets. I also thought that we could use some cooking containers and such so I figured those people won't need them anymore."

"You stole from dead people?" Genis asked, "And these look horrendous."

"Well since they are dead I highly doubt they will mind. And I don't think these are in bad condition for sitting there for decades." Zelos then set the blankets on the ground to ward off some of the cold the night would bring. "Genis come here," he instructed.

While Genis was reluctant to leave the blanket he was laying on, he rose and walked to the chosen. Zelos gathered the manna into his hand and it began glowing green. Zelos placed his hand over the half-elf's back and continued to mend the wounds. Streaks of blood from the tares in the flesh covered his back. Zelos attempted to heal the wounds the night before but was unable to do anything but close some of them. "That helping the pain?" he asked.

"Yea, somewhat, it still hurts but it feels like the pain is starting to leave."

"Good, if anything, this will help your body finish healing naturally. Hopefully the rest of the pain will subside soon."

"I have been though worse," Genis said. The boy remembered being told of his injuries the on the day David first saw him. He knew that this time, his life was not in danger.

"Even so, you don't want to let something like this get worse. I think I have done all I can for now," Zelos said as he lifted his hand away from the wounds. "We need to find you some clothes that aren't nearly torn to shreds."

"Well good luck finding a store around that will sell anything," Genis said sarcastically "I don't think new clothes are something we need to worry about now."

"Well considering there are giant holes in the back of that one and it is covered with blood, I don't think it would hurt." Zelos then pulled out a shirt in relatively good condition from the bundle of random objects and offered it to him.

"Zelos, it is a foot too long and would go down to my knees. I don't want to wear something that is hot pink either."

"Just take it. It is the best I could find and anything is better then what you have now." Genis reluctantly agreed and put on the pink shirt. The mage then walked over to his blankets and collapsed on the ground. Soon he was like the others, all fast asleep.

__

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Zelos screamed as he banged a frying pan with a metal spoon. The others startled awake. David quickly rose to his feet in the startle to discover the cause of the noise. With him being half-asleep and startled, he slipped on the blankets, and fell backwards, off the ground, and into the river he was sleeping near.

Collette flew over the ledge and down to the river to grab David's hand. She yanked him out of the water and carried the drenched mage onto dry land. Zelos and Genis couldn't help but laugh at his clumsiness. While Genis attempted to make food from scratch, David tried to wring out his clothes to dry them some. Neither of them had much progress. David's clothes were so saturated with water that nothing could be done and Genis had never cooked things from scratch before. The younger one, tired to make toast but did not know how to make the wheat and grains into bread. Instead, they settled on eating corn once again. Once the meal was complete and most of them were dry, they packed up their belongings and prepared to travel to the temple of darkness.

It would be a long walk to the temple. Sybeck was currently at nearly the opposite end of the continent. Luckily, the continents that used to be connected only by the bridge, unified when the two worlds became one. This would make the travel less dangerous then it could have been. The team decided to carry as many supplies with them as they could, not knowing how long it would be until they could gather more. Once the food was gone, it would be nearly impossible to find more.

The long march to the temple of darkness began late in the morning. Many things had changed in the time since Collette, Genis, and Zelos traveled this rode before. Other then the occasional chirping of a bird, no noises were heard. Before, people traveling to and from Sybeck filled the dirt roads. There wasn't even the occasional monster to break the silence of the day. Even so, they kept their weapons nearby incase of enemies. They didn't think monsters could cause much of a problem but they didn't want to be caught of guard. They knew that if Lloyd or Ayo attacked again, they would need any advantage they could get.

Along the long road, Genis and Collette described the journey of world regeneration to David. He was amazed at the courageous acts of his new friends. The tale of Colette's angel transformation and the reuniting of the worlds cast a new light of truth on stories that were thought to be only legends. It was one thing to hear the stories of the elves but to hear it from those directly in the middle of the events was something he never expected.

The cool spring weather made the day enjoyable to travel in. Without any rain or exceedingly hot temperatures, the team traveled across the continent in just the one day. Night fell and they were within 10 miles of the mountains that encompassed the temple. They decided to rest for the night so they would be ready for what ever they would find within.

"So do we have anything for dinner besides corn?" David asked.

"Well we could try some of those eggs I brought," Collette said.

"I didn't see any eggs in there yesterday," Genis stated.

"I put them separate so we wouldn't smash them." Upon the discovery, the group decided to eat fried eggs for dinner. Genis stated a fire and cooked the eggs in one of the old frying pans Zelos had brought. They used some of the other cooking pans as plates and enjoyed the feast of eggs. They knew that tomorrow could reveal light on the world of horrors.

_

"My master,"

"You bring news?"

"Yes, the monsters have discovered remains of a recent battle in Sybeck. In addition, other monsters reported seeing another angel in the city. Several dead beasts were found near the food storage centers of the city."

"So there were survivors it seems. Go find and eliminate them."

"Yes, my lord." Lloyd flew off once again from his master's presence to seek those he failed to kill earlier.

"The time is almost here," he said to himself after seeing the angel depart, "After all this time, the seal will finally break and I shall be set free from this prison."

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A/N: This chapter is finally finished. I admit this isn't my favorite one and was a pain to write due to it just being about them traveling. I thought about adding more to this but I really want to update this soon. As always, reviews are nice.