Hey, everyone! I'm back and with me I brought a new chapter.
Genis: Man, that was fast. Did you find the subs yet?
Me: Unfortunately my search has been fruitless as of right now. I know I was supposed to wait until after I found the subs, but patience has never been my strong suit.
Lloyd: That's not always a bad thing.
Me: Exactly.
So, thanks to all of you who favorited, alerted, read and so forth. I shower you with cookies. And thank you so much to ThePurpleRose, freakyanimegal, AngelofaWhiteNight, silent romantic, Destiny's Light, Kiomori, Amekoryuu and RuneNeko for reviewing! You guys all rock!
Also, I have a special and highly important announcement to make once this chapter is done.
Lloyd: What kind of special announcement?
Me: You'll see... oh yes, you will.
Disclaimer: I own not the Tales of Symphonia franchise, for if I did, I would... aw heck, I think I know what'd I do.
Genis: What?
Me: Bliss out and gloat in a hammock.
Genis: Oh.
Me: But as I own neither, it's a moot point.
Chapter Fourteen: Mana Mysteries
"'Fight alone', you said!" Zelos bellowed as he landed roughly on the ground, his sword swung back behind his head. "'Let him reunite', you said! Now here we are getting are asses handed to us by the stupid prince of darkness!"
"Oh, shut up and fight already!" Sheena snarled back, hammering a pyre seal straight into the summon spirit's side, which left a sizable burn mark. For the good part of a half an hour, both the diminished chosen and ninja had been exchanging blows against the mysterious summon spirit of darkness and while they did their best, Shadow was wiping the floor with them.
"Y'know, I bet I know why he was broken into pieces!" The dinky chosen squawked as a particularly nasty darkness spell grazed his face. "It's probably easier to hide under little kids' beds when he's smaller!"
"He looks like the boogie man and we're just primed and ready twerps for him to snack on!" Zelos froze and turned an unhealthy shade of gray, his eyes dilating sharply.
"He's gonna squish us and then use our entrails to redecorate!" He squalled, diving out of the way as Shadow lunged at him like a cat would on just about anything that moved. The short boy rolled along the ground, screeched to a halt thanks to the soles of his shoes and crouched on the ground. Digging his heels into the floor, Zelos sprang forward, his sword held aloft with both of his peewit hands latched around the hilt.
"Light Spear!" He bellowed, driving his sword right into the flank of the summon spirit. A flash of light struck the otherwise dank summoning chamber and all three recoiled by the light, Sheena shielding her eyes in pain and Zelos falling flat on his behind.
"Yeowch, that smarted." Zelos groaned, gingerly dragging himself up from the floor. The other school kid nodded, though she couldn't see because of the flash and her hands trying to protect her eyes. After a minute or so, Sheena removed her hands from her eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes to focus. Though, when she did, she saw that she wasn't the only one who was having trouble readjusting.
Even though the grade schoolers were both seeing spots and dots of swirling color dancing in their eyes, Shadow had taken it much worse, his deep indigo pools of smoky darkness a puff of light lavender. Although the light had done some serious damage, Shadow didn't seem like he was about to throw in the towel just yet. Lumbering forward, he stretched both of his claw like hands in front of him and fumbled around, trying to get a sense on where they both stood.
"Zelos, I think that did a lot more damage to him them the other stuff!" Sheena dove out of the way of a blinded swipe and snapped her fingers in revelation.
"Of course! He's the summon spirit of darkness, so he doesn't like light!"
Zelos stared at her incredulously.
"It took you that long to figure that out?" He demanded, barely dodging a tendril of smoke that slammed down into the ground inches from where he had been standing.
"Light Spear!" Zelos shoved the tip of his sword into Shadow's hand and light erupted from the hilt again, causing Shadow's hand and the rest of him for that matter to recoil back in pain.
"Shut your trap and keep doing that!" Sheena shot back, having scooted herself farther away and planted both of her feet firmly on the polished indigo stone floor. "Distract him while I summon!"
Zelos swiped another blow against the enormous creature, though all he managed to do was let Shadow know where he was. The summon spirit slammed his left limb into the side of Zelos' head, set him flying into the air and sent him hurtling to the ground, which he landed upon with a dull thud. Groaning softly, the boyish chosen pulled himself up, rubbed his head with one hand and squinted at Sheena.
"Alright, but if I get killed by the smog king, I'll come back to haunt you and it'll be your fault!" He called, picking his sword off the ground and holding at the ready.
"Yeah, yeah, stuff it and get to 'light spear'ing! Sheena screeched in reply from her summoning circle. Zelos glared at her, but nodded anyway and proceeded to 'Light Spear' with all he had, bounding from left to right and back again. As he attempted to lure the hulking creature of smoke, the summoning circle under Sheena's shoes grew bright white and she aligned her thumb and forefingers together in the shape of a triangle.
"I call upon..." The minute summoner began to chant, but cut herself off mid sentence.
".. Aw crap, I don't have that summon yet!" Sheena blanched.
Zelos' jaw dropped.
"How could you forget that?" Zelos demanded as he gaped at her in exasperation. As he was too far occupied with trying to stave off breaking down into a exhausted heap, the puny swordsman didn't pay notice the hulking mass of pure blackness that lumbered towards him.
".. Crumble..."
The miniature chosen shot his head up just in time to see a gigantic hand lunge at him, its claw like fingers extended and at the ready. Zelos squeaked out a yell of horror as the fingers descended upon him, but his air was cut off when the hand snatched the chosen around the middle, pinning his arms to his sides, and hoisted him into the air. Once his mind actually registered what was going on, Zelos slowly but surely wrenched his sword arm, with the sword still attached, out of the stranglehold and defended against a nasty dark attack that would have rendered him unconscious otherwise.
"Summon something else already!" Zelos shrieked as he fended off Shadow's other hand by poking at it with his sword while he hung suspended via the shadowy creature's grasp. "Anything and hurry!"
"Alright, keep your head on!" Sheena shouted back, her hands still aloft in the triangle summoning formation.
"I'm trying!" The pint sized chosen squawked, waving his sword up and down like a mad man, fending off an attack aimed for his head. The circle underneath her feet grew a bright brown color, much like that of Lloyd's hair, and emanated light of the same hue up towards the ceiling.
"I call upon the Servant of Mother Earth, I summon thee, come, Gnome!" Sheena thrust her hand into the air and another flash blared into the summoning chamber, blinding the room and everyone in it.
"Yahoo!" The voice of one Gnome the summon spirit of earth echoed through the air and was then shortly followed by the appearance of the jovial and rather blunt summon spirit. The powerful spirit, who greatly resembled an overweight hamster with a propellor on its head, then came cascading from the top of the ceiling, flew through the air...
And landed right on top of Shadow.
"Aw, gotcha!" The bowed hamster grinned, sitting happily in the new crater he'd made in the floor. However, in his wake, all that was seen of Shadow was his arm, hand, and Zelos, who was still clutched in the now lax tripod of fingers, his eyes the size of the wheels of Nova's caravan.
"..." Sheena was between the points of screaming in horror, laughing until she fell down and passing out. However, too many signals were going through her brain, so all she did was stand there watching, still frozen in her stance from summoning.
"Oops, heh heh." Gnome looked down at what was left of Shadow, grinned sheepishly, his whiskers twitching, and bounded off where the summon spirit of darkness had been standing. Though, now he only looked like a spider after someone had taken a shoe to it.
Zelos, still rather wide eyed, crawled out from Shadow's limp grasp and held his hand to his chest, his heart beating out of control like a drum solo. Once he'd managed to slow down his heart before it jumped out of his chest and ran for the stairs, the fully freaked boy crouched down and craned his neck over to see what was the damage on the summon spirit of darkness.
All in all, Shadow didn't look too good. He had the basic appearance of an accordion that had been crushed in a trash compactor, and not a very kind trash compactor at that. Shuddering at what he would have looked like if it had been him that had been squashed, Zelos did what any self respecting seven year old would have done in that kind of situation.
He reached forward and poked Shadow with the tip of his sword.
"... dude, I think you killed him with your butt." Zelos grimaced when Shadow didn't react to the jab of the chosen's blade. Sheena looked thoroughly dismayed. How was she supposed to make a pact with a puddle of goo?
"... vow..."
The pile of Shadow may not have kicked the bucket, but after being beaten by being squished by another summon spirit, his urge to fight had flown out the window and he decided it wasn't worth the trouble anymore.
"Hey, he's not dead yet!" Zelos exclaimed, jabbing Shadow in the shoulder with his sword again just in case they had just heard Shadow's last moment.
"Zelos, stop poking him with your sword. I have a pact to make and I can't do that if you're standing there turning him into swiss cheese." Sheena poignantly sighed, pinching the slender bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. In response, the scarlet headed chosen looked over at her, then back at the slowly rising summon spirit and sighed dejectedly.
"You ruin all my fun." He sniffed, his face in a pout, but nonetheless moved out the way so Sheena could properly approach Shadow, or rather, what was left of him. Ignoring Zelos' dramatics, Sheena strode forward and held her head up high, her puff bouncing behind her head as she did so.
"For the sake of creating a place in which the two worlds no longer must sacrifice one another, I ask that you lend me your power." She stated seriously, her eyes on Shadow's rising form. The summon spirit said nothing as he reemerged, probably out of a mixture of habit and chagrin, but nodded in agreement.
"... agreed." His voice whispered in a gravelly hiss and a small orb of glowing purple light descended upon the middle of the summoning chamber, the lights of lavender and indigo swirling around the object in the middle, the ring symbolizing their pact. The tiny summoner held out her hand and caught the miniscule ring with her palm, it's purple gem dancing in the darkness. While the ring would have normally fit her just fine, her new and much smaller fingers had a harder time of keeping the Amethyst on, so she adapted to shifting it to her index finger instead.
"Now that's all over and done with, I have some questions for you. You said before I could ask... I think." Sheena planted both her hands on her hips and stared down the gigantic and thoroughly beaten spirit, who merely glanced at her with the blue slits he had for eyes.
"... fine..."
"What did you mean when you said that Mithos didn't fight alone?" The former assassin inquired. She had thought that since Gnome said that Mithos had been all alone when he fought, he had gotten any help with any of the others. Though, it seemed there was more to this than they were letting on.
"... friends..."
"So he did have friends giving him a hand." Zelos wrapped his pink clad arm around Sheena and grinned wryly. "Guess you were wrong, O omnipotent puffball." His breath was then cut short when Sheena sharply elbowed him in the stomach, which made him fall forward and collapse on the ground in a heap of Chosen goo.
"How many did he have?" Sheena asked curiously, her puff frilled in interest.
"... three..."
"And they helped him fight then?"
"... yes."
"Then how come Gnome said that he fought by himself?" Sheena demanded hotly, her puff frilling out so it looked like a puffer fish.
"That's 'cause he did, duh."
Both school kids whirled around to see that Gnome was still floating off in the far corner, his propellor like bow buzzing quietly as he flitted here and there and back again.
"What are you still doing here?" Zelos asked, his boyish face contorted in confusion. Gnome glanced over at Zelos, waved a bit to both of them and yawned into his stubby paw.
"Eh, thought I'd stick around for a bit, stretch my legs."
"You have legs?" The chosen gaped, not having really realized that the stumps that the hamster spirit possessed constituted as legs. Gnome snorted.
"You're just jealous mine are way cooler than yours."
"Setting that aside for now, what actually happened when you fought the hero Mithos?" Sheena interrupted, her hands still on her hips.
"Hm, let's take a little trip down memory lane..." Gnome sat on the ground and patted the shovel he held with it as he thought, the spade of the shovel hitting the ground for each second.
"He came in alone, announced who he was and that he was going to fight by himself and we kinda went into it." The hamster finally mused aloud, his spinning bow sending off a breeze that made both kids shiver. "Then he left."
Sheena and Zelos blinked.
".. that's it?"
"Nah, course not. He pretty much got his tail kicked." Gnome chortled lightly. "Though, he was as stubborn as all heck and gone, so somehow he managed to win."
"How did he do that?" Zelos asked curiously.
"Ah well..." Gnome scratched his cheek with his paw and grinned sheepishly. "I'll admit I did go a little easy on him. He seemed like a nice enough kid and all."
Sheena's puff frilled.
"You.. let him win?"
"Eh, kinda. That and he summoned Sylph, who then all proceeded to wail on me." The obese hamster shuddered and rubbed the back of his head right under his spinning bow where the phantom injury had stabbed him. "That smarted for the good part of a week after."
"And.. his friends were okay with that?" The tiny summoner asked confusedly, Zelos sporting the same expression. At that thought, Gnome started snickering as if he been told a hilarious anecdote and snorted into his paw.
"Heck no." Gnome responded, banging the shovel on the ground in an attempt to stifle his amusement." They didn't show up until afterwards. Turns out the reason they hadn't fought too was because he gave them all the slip and let me tell you, they were MAD. Especially the lady." Gnome laughed out loud and twirled his shovel in his left paw, his bow spinning along with it.
"She snagged his ear and dragged him out of the temple, ranting at him the whole way. And I thought the two dudes were scary. Yeesh, they didn't have anything on her." Sheena paused, taking what he said into earnest. It didn't sound right that even though Mithos had gone on alone, he'd been dragged out by his ear. Getting yanked out of a temple didn't sound very heroic, let alone while being lectured all the way out. That sounded like something that would happen to either Lloyd or Genis than an ancient hero of yore.
"What? Wait.. how old was he?" She asked, her raven eyebrow at an incline.
"Eh, I dunno. I'm not too good with ages." Gnome shrugged, "Anyhoo, what's with the new look? I knew younger is the new older, but this is goin' a bit far, doncha' think?" The earthy summon spirit gave them the once over with his beady eyes and shook his head.
"Seriously, what the heck happened to you guys? You both go through a dryer and shrink?"
"We dunno. All I know is one moment we were just fine, there was an earthquake, everybody lost consciousness and the next thing I knew, Miss Jubblies wasn't so jubbly anymore." Zelos replied, suddenly forlorn and melancholy. Letting out a dejected sigh, the former casanova gazed longingly at Sheena, more specifically at her lack of chest. He then launched himself at her and clung to her midsection, moaning in misery.
"They're gone, gone! Why, why must all the good things be yanked away from me before I had the chance to fully enjoy them?" He cried, hugging her torso and pretending to sob. The minute summoner, however, didn't share in his agony and brought her fist up so it was three inches from his nose.
"You have three seconds to get off before I decide to line the floor with your pelt."
"Ooh, touchy." Zelos let go quickly, bringing up his hands to show surrender, and grinned loftily at her. "That must happen when you get chronically flat."
"Why you-"
"Hellloooo, I'm still here." Gnome waved a paw up and down in front of both of their faces as a reminder that they weren't the only two in there. "So, earthquake and then you shrank? Heh, that almost rhymes."
"Right, so do you know anything about it?" Sheena asked after she pounded her fist into the side of Zelos' head. "Earth's kinda your expertise and all that."
"I'd love to help, Babycakes, but I got nothin'." The furry summon spirit shook his head and shrugged. "All I know is that I didn't do it, I don't think it was a mana link, seeing as how you hadn't ripped out another one at that point. And..." Leaning forward, Gnome inhaled deeply, drawing everything up towards him at an angle with his breath, including Zelos' long flowing hair.
"You guys smell different."
"What do you mean?" Sheena gave him a quizzical look while Zelos was attempting to salvage his rumpled hair courtesy of Gnome and glare at the summon spirit at the same time.
"You guys' mana smells like it's different since last time I saw you." Gnome replied, completely ignoring the withering expression sent his way. "Yeah, your mana's all out the ying yang in weirdiness. I'd get that looked at if I were you."
"What? How's it different?" Sheena blanched, her mind racing out of control over what it could be.
"Dunno. It still smells like you, but... just a bit off. Not like your one friend, his mana was just plain bizarre, but yours... well, let's just say it went through a makeover." Gnome replied relaxedly shifting his black beetle eyes over to the boy chosen, who continued to lament his once pristinely kept hair.
"And you.. you just smell funky."
Sheena laughed. Hard.
Zelos didn't find it so funny.
"Hey!" The diminished acolyte protested indignantly, his hair still in his hands. "I'll have you know I smell of masculine sexiness. It attracts the ladies."
"The only thing you'll attract is flies, dude." Gnome countered flatly. "So if that's all you got, I'm outta here. See ya." With a blare of heavenly light, Gnome disappeared into the dark air, leaving the two children alone in the dark audience chamber of Shadow.
"He's a nice enough guy, but dear Martel in heaven, he's hard to deal with." Sheena commented once she'd finally gotten her breath back from laughing so hard. "Now that's over, let's get out of here and head back to Meltokio. Maybe the guys at the research institute will have some answers." Turning back towards the exit, the short summoner noticed that Zelos was closely examining all of his clothes and holding them up to his face.
"What are you doing?" She asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Zelos looked up at her, glanced down at his clothes and then back up at her.
"... do I really smell that funny?" He whimpered. A lumbering sound, like thick cloth being dragged across a hardwood floor, however, caught their attention and both children turned to see Shadow gliding back towards his gazebo. Apparently, he had stayed behind to listen in on what had happened with Gnome's encounter with Mithos and was just now leaving. The hulking shadow then turned around and facing the pair of squirts, raised his claw and pointed at Zelos with one of his three pincher like fingers.
"... bath.." He hissed before disappearing in a cloud of purple light and smoke, leaving, Zelos bright red in the face, consequently muting his hair in comparison, and Sheena in tears as she collapsed on the floor, laughing until her face turned blue.
'How... how could I lose.. this much.. and to her?' Yuan asked himself incredulously as he lost for the tenth time that hour. For the past three and a half hours, he had been indulging Colette in playing a simple card game and for the same three and a half hours, he'd been losing spectacularly. It wasn't that he was letting her win, oh no, he had much more respect to do such a thing, but at the same time, being whipped at cards by a kindergardener was certainly a humbling event indeed. He'd only won one game and that was only because of a tie. Other than that, she was wiping the floor with him.
'I can't lose.' He coached himself. 'If Kratos were to find out.. he'd never let me live it down.' Yuan became so focused on the game of cards, he didn't even pay any attention when the buzzer door to his office sounded loudly for ten minutes straight. It wasn't until after Colette pointed it out that he pushed the button to the door's opening mechanism and let the soldiers gain entry.
"Sir, we're ready to perform the basic tests on the chosen and-" The soldiers who entered the room all stopped and stared at their fearless leader, who was fearlessly battling a little girl at the most dangerous game of all, Go Fish.
"What is it?" Yuan asked absently as he pulled another card out of the deck. The renegade footmen glanced at each other wearily, as did the scientists and finally one particularly brave, or foolhardy, soldier stepped forward.
"Sir, permission to speak freely." The young renegade requested as he stood still as a statue. Yuan handed over his queen to Colette and drew another card.
"Granted. Now what?"
"What... what are you doing?"
"Losing at Go Fish to a five year old, what does it look like I'm doing?" The renegade leader asked flatly, drawing yet another card from the deck.
"... oh." The renegade private replied in stunned shock, not having expected that as an answer. "Uh... anyway, we brought the the equipment for the testing, just as you instructed." Yuan nodded offhandedly and then returned his attention back to his cards, none of which looked promising. His opponent, however, observed the various scientists pull out test tubes apprehensively and stared at her cards with all she could muster.
"Testing?" Colette looked up from her cards again and eyed the scientists as they swarmed around the desk, setting up little stations on the mahogany surface of his desk.
"Yes. Your sudden alteration in age piqued my interest. Therefore, I thought it prudent to request some testing be done." Yuan replied, not phased by their presence in the least.
"Oh." Colette watched some of the vials open up and one brought up a alcohol swab packet. "... will it hurt?"
"It will be minorly irksome, but no, it will not hurt." The angelic commander responded, grouping together his aces and putting them in the score pile. "It will merely determine what caused you to shrink so rapidly."
"Oh, okay. If it helps everyone return to normal, then I'm happy to help." The puny acolyte chirped cheerily. "What do they need?"
"The scientists will need samples of your blood, skin and hair to complete the testing."
Colette blanched.
"My.. my skin?"
"Yes."
".. um... from where?" She asked, her pupils dilating.
"It doesn't really matter. Your hand would suffice." The half elf angel replied, readjusting some nines he had acquired through drawing and looking over his well organized, yet mediocre in variety, hand of cards.
"Oh! Oh.. okay." Colette let out a great sigh of relief and held out her hand so the renegade's scientists could take a skin sample. It didn't take long to remove the proper amounts of material suitable for testing from the tiny girl, as she didn't even flinch, yet alone cry and hide under the desk like a good portion of children her size. Then again, she had been conditioned to believe that she would die as part of the greater good, so perhaps the mere contribution of cells wasn't so dire after all. Soon after, the scientists and soldiers all left the room and both acolyte and angel were left to their card warfare.
"Can we still finish the game?" Colette asked, flexing her hand in its bandage that the healers had wrapped it in once the samples had been collected.
"Indeed." Yuan nodded in agreement, his eyes having never left his cards.
'I don't plan on suffering utter defeat from you so easily.'
"Mis- er, Yuan?"
"Hm?" Yuan looked up from his cards for the first time in a long while and raised an eyebrow.
"Would it be okay if... I asked you some stuff?" Colette asked quietly, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of one of her cards.
"That depends. Upon what do you wish to know?" He asked. If it had something to do with either his plans via Lloyd or his own personal life, there was not a snowball's chance in hell he was answering-
"Um.. this and that.. I mean, in the future if I have some questions, can I ask you?" The tiny chosen explained, pushing her thumbs back and forth along the flat edge of the playing cards.
Yuan paused. It had barely been three days and she was already starting to warm up to him. She was unusually trusting for someone her age who had been through so much, but then again, that could have been one of her special quirks, so who was he to question it? Botta had mentioned at one point she had been unusually friendly to the point of being foolish, but perhaps this could work in his favor.
'... it seems as though this may be a way to build trust with her, if she is comfortable with asking me questions.' He mused. 'I should agree.' He then straightened up slightly and nodded in compliance.
"If they are not of extreme secrecy, I will attempt to answer them to the best of my ability." The angelic turncoat responded, his left hand still clutching his cards. Upon hearing his agreement, the tiny angel beamed brightly at him, her whole face lighting up in the process and swayed happily from side to side where she sat on his desk.
"Thank you." Colette piped jubilantly. Yuan nodded once again and looked over the top of his hand at her, his emerald irises settling in on her ocean blue ones.
"Though, it is only customary that if I answer some of your questions, you answer some of my own."
"That sounds fair. Okay, I'll do my best!" Colette clapped her card ridden hands together and wiggled in her seat, thoroughly pleased with her latest predicament. The angelic renegade leader sighed at her innocent satisfaction and paused, staring at his cards.
"Is there a question you have now?" He inquired calmly. It didn't make a whole lot of sense that she would ask if later she could ask a question and she didn't already have one. Not many would do that, so if he went by his logic, there would be a Colette question at the end of the tunnel of confusion.
"Yes.. um.. do you know if there are any... weird things that can happen from using exspheres?" Colette pulled at her sleeve with her free hand and peered over at the side of the wall of his office.
'Huh.. what an odd question.' The blue haired seraph mulled it over in his mind for a few moments and then turned back to his younger counterpart.
"You mean like abnormalities in mana or mana shifts?" He asked in confirmation, trying to narrow down his information search.
"Yeah."
"There can be the cases of mild rashes, losing the basic senses, if it is the case as to chosens, sometimes itching or even retaining some water. There can be some some cases in which the body doesn't react well with the exsphere, and can lead to disastrous consequences." Yuan replied, pulling out another card and stuffing into a new place among his hand. "Though, that is extremely rare and I have only heard of one case like that." He then pulled a new card from the deck, stashed it into the far crevice of his hand and glanced back at Colette.
"Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason." Colette hastily replied, giggling a little as she did. "Just curious." Yuan raised an eyebrow at her giggle, but as she had only been interested for information's sake, he didn't see a need to press her. Instead, the renegade commander turned his attention back to his cards, a pair of nines firmly in his grasp.
"Yuan?"
"Do you have another question?" The former half elf asked, looking up from his cards once again.
"Do you have any nines?"
"... here."
'Yaaahhhhhh...' Lloyd yawned into his hand. It had been four hours since both the seraph and six year old had departed from the red light green light game area and there had been nary a pit stop along the whole time. Lloyd hadn't minded all that much, though. After all that traveling he had done over the last seven to eight months with his friends, he had gotten used to the long term walking. However, whether or not his downsized body had gotten the message he wasn't sure.
His body, while it had been at one point, was no longer fit for long periods of travel. The heartiness that his older frame had given him had been stripped away when he shrank and it would take a lot of work and training before he could even think about building up his stamina to what it had been. As a result of walking for so long, Lloyd's head felt light and airy and legs were beginning to burn with each step he took. Though, he wasn't going to say anything. In fact, he was making it a personal endeavor to not complain or even hint he was wearing out.
'There's no point in saying that I'm tired,' Lloyd thought to himself, readjusting the straps of his backpack against the creases where his arms met his shoulders. 'I won't get anywhere and all that'll happen is he'll get annoyed and I'll have wasted my breath-'
"Lloyd." Lloyd was shaken out of his thoughts when the sound of Kratos addressing him broke through the otherwise tranquil air. He blinked in surprise and glanced up at the seraphim, who still had his hand at the hilt of his sword, ready for battle should the need arise.
"Huh?" The former teenager asked. "What is it?"
"Are you tired again?" Kratos inquired offhandedly, his eyes now focused on a passing seagull that pinned a fish in its beak. Lloyd watched the gull go by as well, then looked down at himself and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess." Lloyd responded sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I dunno why though. I can usually go this long no sweat." Lloyd added, rubbing his wrist. Did he really see through his tough mask he had put on? Then again, Kratos was a master at being stone faced, so chances were he could probably tell when someone else was attempting to as well.
Or it could have been that Lloyd had just done a lousy job at it. He really didn't know. He didn't have a mirror to check and the last thing he wanted to do was actually ask whether or not he'd been convincing. So instead, he figured that he probably had been busted and there was little point in trying to hide it. Kratos would figure it out eventually and then all he would look like is a gigantic moron.
Meanwhile, Kratos observed him carefully, unbeknownst to Lloyd, and gestured to a spot near the guard railing on the edge of the bridge.
"Your tiredness is most likely due to your new stature." Kratos replied coolly. "You should rest briefly."
"Uh.. okay." Lloyd replied, not having honestly expected that. He had thought he would have been told to suck it up and continue, but hey, he wasn't going to say no to a quick breather either. Shrugging to himself, the boy trotted over to the side of the pier and flopped down on the cool stone.
It was probably about four or so, he figured, judging by how the sun glinted over the cool waves of the ocean. Once he was properly comfortable against the railing of the bridge, Lloyd looked over the side of the bridge's main flank and then up at Kratos, who had resigned himself to staring out into the ocean, his eyes blank and unreadable as usual.
'... how does he DO that? Is he psychic or something?' the pint sized swordsman asked himself in his head, scratching the side of his leg. 'Every time I think of something, he always knows. I wonder if that's a side effect from being an angel.. or maybe he's a ninja too. ' Lloyd fidgeted with his scarf, that had entangled itself beautifully with his backpack and finally, he removed the scarf because there was a huge knot at the end of it.
'Great... this thing knots too?' The tiny boy sighed as he worked the end of his scarf out from his backpack. 'And here I hoped that they wouldn't get knotted like my old shirt's scarves.' Once he fully untangled his scarf, Lloyd placed it back around his neck and readjusted himself on the stone paneling of the bridge, the mist from the ocean's spray tickling his legs.
'Ack, my shoulders are stiff.' He stretched out his arms and held them over his head so the ligaments would get a chance to extend. Over four hours with a backpack on his shoulders really didn't do much for his shoulders or their blades. While his arms were aloft, Lloyd looked past them and sneaked a peek at Kratos, who hadn't moved from his place at the railing.
'I wonder what he's up to... or what he's thinking about..' The pint sized twin swordsman thought to himself, his own chestnut eyebrows creased downwards. 'Why does he need to go to Sybak..'
The thoughts on what Kratos' agenda could be, however, were thrown out of his mind when a powerful and forceful growl erupted from the first grader's stomach and echoed into the air, shattering the peace and tranquility that the ocean had given. Lloyd turned bright pink at his own embarrassment and stared down at his stomach in horror, far too occupied to notice that the seraph to the side was doing the same, only one of his eyebrow was raised. Another roar from his stomach bellowed out again and brought with it a sharp pang that stabbed straight through Lloyd's torso and made his eyes water.
'Urgh... my stomach... not again..' Lloyd clutched his abdomen and groaned. Ever since he's turned back into a little kid, he found that his appetite was more veracious than ever. It had been very healthy when he had been seventeen, but for some reason he couldn't fathom, his appetite had been thrust into high gear and his stomach was leading the parade with its shrieks of indignation.
'It's probably 'cause I'm growing because I'm supposed to since I'm now six.' Lloyd sighed tiredly as he held his arms tightly against his stomach. 'Still, it's really freaking embarrassing that every twenty minutes I get hungry for no reason-'
"Here."
Lloyd looked up from his torso to see that a brown package being offered to him right next to his shoulder. Kratos had retrieved something from his own pouch and held it aloft for him to take.
"Huh?" The six year old swordsman blinked and stared at the package.
"Eat it. It will stave off your stomach's incessant protesting." Kratos told him curtly, the package still held out for Lloyd. The first grader watched the seraph skeptically, but decided his suspicions would have to take a back seat to his stomach. Reaching out his hand, he took the package from the angel, murmured a thank you and set it in his lap. Lloyd then began to carefully unfold the package, his focus completely honed in on what was inside.
"What is it... Hey, jerky!" Lloyd pumped a fist into the air and grinned at the deep brown dried meat that sat in the middle of the brown wrapper. "Alright!" He immediately broke off a piece and grinned at it before he popped it into his mouth. The succulent rich and smoky taste of the treat instantaneously made him melt and he floated back against the railing, thoroughly blissful.
While Lloyd was on cloud nine because of the smoky flavor, Kratos observed him from where he stood with his back against the railing, his arms folded across his chest.
"You enjoy smoked meats then." He commented quietly, closing his eyes. Lloyd, opening his own pair of cherrywood eyes, gazed lovingly at the treat in his lap and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I love them!" Lloyd chirped happily. Pausing, Lloyd glanced over at Kratos and then back to his newfound snack.
'Wait.. why did he have this anyway?' The first grader raised an eyebrow and held up the piece of maple stained food, scrutinizingly examining it.
"Hey, how come you have this?" His voice piped through the misty air to the angelic swordsman. Kratos opened one cherry eye, let out a sigh and closed it again.
"I am fond of certain flavors, if they are strong enough." He replied simply. "Smoked foods among them." Lloyd blinked, wrapping his head around it, but in the end figured it out and nodded.
"Oh, 'cause you're an angel and your tastes are all weird." He added in confirmation. From what he could tell, angels didn't eat a whole lot, so they probably didn't need to taste much. It only figured that a particularly strong taste would be one of the only things that an angel could actually taste well.
But then again, when Colette was undergoing the angel transformation, she couldn't taste anything. However, since she was supposed to be a vessel for Martel, the angels of Cruxis probably removed her own personal taste preferences to make way for Martel's own.
'Sounds like something that whack job would do.' Lloyd grunted, thinking of Yggdrasill and his unhealthy obsession with Martel. Just what was that guy trying to do anyway, turning Colette into someone else? Lloyd frowned and shook his head, still chewing on his latest bite of smoked meat. There had to be something, something that was driving him to do all of this, but what?
The petite swordsman shrugged and swallowed. He didn't know, and judging by how open Kratos had been about sharing information about the goings on at Cruxis, he wasn't going to find out anytime soon. As for the taste thing, maybe some angels were different from others, he didn't know. He'd have to let the jury out on that one.
Instead of dwelling on his questions, Lloyd broke off a section of the smoked food and held it out to the older seraph, who stared into the sky, apparently deep in thought.
"Do you want some?" Lloyd offered, waving his arm gently up and down in an attempt to get the angel's attention. Whether or not Kratos was willing to tell Lloyd about Cruxis or what he was doing, he still figured it would be a nice gesture to hand over some of his delicious snack. Plus, it had been Kratos' at one point, so it only felt right to offer.
However, the older swordsman merely glanced over at him via the corner of his eye, exhaled shallowly and shook his head once.
"No, I am fine." Kratos declined, turning his head so he was facing Lloyd head on. "You can have it."
"Oh... okay." Lloyd retracted his arm, looked at the piece of smoked meat and, leaning in, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"This is... snapper and was made with a mahogany smoke, right? I can smell it." The pint sized squirt grinned and stuffed it into his mouth, smiling smugly when the taste hit his pallet. The seraph watched him eat and raised an auburn eyebrow, though it was mostly obscured by his curtain of hair.
"Yes, that would be correct." Kratos nodded, his back still resting against the railing. "How did you know what wood it was smoked with?"
"Back home, Dad and I would smoke meats all the time for winter." Lloyd explained, the side of his cheek packed with smoked goodness so he looked like a chipmunk. "It helped it last longer since we didn't have anything like that fancy refrigerator thing that Zelos has here. I learned all about what kinds of wood to use and how it would get different flavors and textures. I even made some money selling them." Lloyd swallowed and grinned at the angel, bits of salmon edging his cheeks.
"That's how I was able to buy Colette and Genis candy for their birthdays when I didn't know how to make stuff."
"... I see." Kratos responded quietly, a piece of his auburn hair hiding the side of his face from view. He then grew more silent than usual and glared at the stone railing across the way, his eyes as piercing as ever.
Sniffing and rubbing his little nose, the dinky swordsman shrugged, yawned and took another bite of the smoked meat. After he did, he then peered over at his angelic counterpart, watching him with a fervent eye as he chewed. The seraph seemed to take in all of what Lloyd had said, since his eyes never once left Lloyd's face the entire time the boy explained and, if it was possible, Lloyd could have sworn his piercing stare grew more intense and focused. Though, if that had been the case, it didn't show anywhere on the rest of his face, so the boy merely brushed it off as he munched on his food.
Though, there was something bugging the tiny boy. Something that didn't feel quite right.
"Hey Kratos?"
".. hm?" The seraphim broke his gaze from the other side of the bridge and glanced at Lloyd from the corner of his eye. Instinctively, Lloyd bit his lip at first, but once he caught himself, he shook his head and inwardly glared at himself.
'No.. no fear. He can probably smell it.' He chastised himself. 'Besides, I don't think he's probably gonna try anything just yet... still, I can't let my guard down. Everyone's counting on me.' Steeling his resolve, Lloyd turned his gaze upward and stared long and hard into where he suspected Kratos' eyes would be if he wasn't veiled by his auburn bangs.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked outright, his cherrywood eyes boring a hole into the faux mercenary's. In response, the antiquated angel paused and looked at Lloyd, the curtain of bangs parting just enough to show he had a somewhat quizzical expression. Well, as quizzical as Kratos got, Lloyd figured, but quizzical enough.
"How do you mean?" Kratos inquired, his eyebrow arched in interest while his arms rested in a fold against his torso.
"Well.. you're supposed to be my enemy but.. you're not really acting like it." Lloyd replied after he swallowed a particularly large piece of smoked fish. "You didn't kill me when I was weakened, you saved me instead and you're even letting me tag along." With a final gigantic bite, the miniature boy finished off the rest of the smoked treat and brushed the crumbs off of his face.
"Why?"
Kratos remained silent, his left hand trailing down so it rested on the hilt of his sword. Raising an eyebrow at his actions, the shrunken swordsman craned his neck in an attempt to gain more prowess.
"Is there a special reason or-" Lloyd cut himself off when he saw the fierce gleam in the older man's eyes. While he wasn't actually looking at the petite boy, Kratos was staring into space, the glare behind his eyes dangerous and fierce, though his face was as calm and collected as ever. If Lloyd had gone with just the feeling he got from the eyes alone, it looked like Kratos was struggling with something... or rather, intensely battling.
'Maybe.. that was the wrong thing to ask.' Lloyd grimaced, the lingering intensity of the other's eyes haunting him. Kratos stayed that way for a minute or two, the silence that settled smothering the stubborn six year old in the process. The seraph then glanced to the side momentarily, exhaled and turned his gaze back so he locked eyes with Lloyd.
"There is no honor in disposing of an adversary when he is injured or in a weakened condition. It goes against the code of chivalry." He responded finally, his voice stoic and unfeeling like a stone wall.
"Chivalry?" Lloyd asked, his own eyebrow raised.
"Yes."
"What's that?"
Kratos looked at Lloyd exasperatedly, pinched the bridge of his nose and replaced his arms against his chest.
"Chivalry is a code of conduct that dictated the proper aspects of how to handle situations, warfare, peers, acquaintances and oneself." Kratos replied calmly, his tone at an even cadence. "Think of it as a set of guidelines that apply to basic life as well as battle."
"Like the Dwarven Vows?" Lloyd asked, stuffing the wrapper into his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders.
"Something like that."
"So..." Getting gingerly to his feet, Lloyd tapped his shoes to make sure they were going to stay on and pulled at one of his sleeves that had scrunched itself up past his forearm. "So you weren't going to squish an... adversary when he was already down because it goes against the rules?"
"Yes." Kratos replied curtly.
"Oh." Lloyd blinked as his hands fiddled with the thick white scarf draped around his neck. "And.. adversary means enemy.. doesn't it?"
".. I suppose it does." Kratos replied in confirmation, his hand on the hilt of his sword like it always was when he intended to move.
"So.. we're enemies.." The petite boy murmured quietly, flipping the tail of his scarf over his shoulder.
"So it would seem."
".. Oh." Lloyd blinked and felt his shoulders drooped out of their own accord. A sinking feeling like someone had sewn a boulder into his stomach and dropped him in a lake also hit his abdomen and he was partially sorry he had eaten all that jerky. Only partially though, because the smoked snapper had been delicious.
"Have you rested enough?" The angelic swordmaster inquired curtly, though judging from the way he said it, he already knew the answer and was just giving Lloyd the benefit of asking.
"Huh? Oh.. yeah." Lloyd started in surprise, but then nodded in agreement after he regained himself.
"Good. Then let us be off." Kratos briefly scanned the balmy sky for the oncoming weather and then began walking towards the other side of the bridge.
"Okay." Lloyd stuffed his hands into his pockets and trailed a few feet behind the taller man, the stray lock of rebellious hair flittering in the wind as he walked. As he did so, the boy's tapered eyebrow angled themselves down as he immersed himself deep into his own thoughts in an effort to make sense of everything.
He knew he and Kratos were enemies but.. for some reason, that fact bothered him. Sure, he knew that the seraphim had done a number of things that he thought were evil, like trying to take Colette away for the whole vessel thing, and betraying them all in the process, not to mention attempting to kill them in the Tower of Salvation.
'No.. he wasn't trying. If he was, I'd be pushing up daisies, not having to figure out why the hell I'm a squirt.' Lloyd murmured to himself. Regardless though, there was just something that didn't feel right.
Whenever Lloyd needed help, Kratos had always been right there, chastising him on his techniques half the time and saving his bacon the other half. He was always around right when Lloyd was in trouble, like for when he was almost squished by that Vidarr guy in Iselia, when he was fighting Kvar, even when he was just learning to fight using two swords properly. Even now, when he hit his head and was injured, instead of finishing him off, Kratos had come to his aid, something no enemy he'd ever heard of would have done.
'There's gotta be more to this than just 'chivalry' or whatever..' Lloyd glowered at the steel blue sky that was beginning to grow flecks of orange and yellow from the setting sun. 'Just what are you hiding, Kratos?' He continued down the path after Kratos and set his cherrywood eyes on the seraphim's cape with an unyielding stare.
'I know you're supposed to be, but...' Lloyd sighed and readjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulders wearily.
'You just don't feel like an enemy...'
Once they had both returned to Meltokio, Zelos had demanded they return immediately in order to figure out if his newfound size also made him smell as a side effect. Though, thankfully for him, it turned out that all he was was tired, dirt ridden and sweaty from galavanting around in the Temple of Darkness.
He had begged to stop at his mansion, but the scientists at the ERL had strongly advised against it, as several sets of Papal Knight squads had been spotted patrolling the area. As it was far too dangerous to go back to his manor, let alone by himself, Kate and the other half elves offered both of them a place to stay for the night, along with promises of dinner and the current results on the mana testing. The idea of two small school kids running around a large city in the middle of the night didn't sit well with any of the researchers apparently.
Zelos hadn't cared very much whether or not he went back to his mansion. So long as he got a shower, he was happy.
"So, what's the lowdown on the results?" Zelos asked as he strode into the guest quarters of the Elemental Research Laboratory, wearing a pair of bubble gum pink satin pajamas and his hair wrung in a towel. Sheena occupied one of the beds that squished itself against the wall. She'd already taken a shower before Zelos, despite his protests that he needed one more. However, reasoning that he would use all the hot water and a good threat or two later, she'd been able to 'convince' him that that it would be better for his health if she didn't get stuck with cold water.
The undersized summoner now sported a pair of lavender satin pajamas, much like that of Zelos, and had tied her hair back into it's signature spiky puff, the wet strands of black hair barely phased by the fact that water was trying to weigh it down. Letting out a poignant sigh, the red headed boy plopped down on the floor next to her bed and rested his head against the patchwork quilt.
"I dunno yet." Sheena replied, flopping on her stomach and holding her head up with her hands. "It's been a while, and we've already eaten, so chances are pretty good they'll be in here soon." Just as soon as she said that, a knock sounded at the door and Kate strolled in, her arms laden with piles upon piles of papers.
"Wow, that was pretty good." Zelos whistled and glanced up at Sheena, his eyebrow cocked upward. "Now say 'I'll summon Sylph so Zelos can get a massage.'"
"How about no." Sheena reached over and smacked the back of Zelos' head with the flat of her palm. Wincing, Zelos grumbled a few choice remarks and turned his attention back to the teal haired half elf. Once the door was firmly in place again via her shoe, Kate placed her folders on the desk next to the door and thumbed through them, her glasses sliding down her nose.
"So, what's up with us? Do you guys have a clue, hopefully more than we do?" Sheena asked as she rolled over onto her back and looked at Kate upside down. Peering up from her documents, the half elf researcher nodded and pulled out a file marked 'results'.
"We managed to retrieve some of the results from the testing so far." She reported, her left hand stuffed into her white lab coat pocket. "Though, not all of it is complete."
"That's okay." Zelos replied loftily. "Something's a heck of a lot better than zip." Kate nodded once again and flipped the paper she held on it's back.
"From what the test can tell, your basics, as in your blood, hair and skin samples all tested negative for any diseases or abnormalities of that kind." She read, pushing up her glasses with her left index finger. Upon hearing her report, Zelos let out a breath of relief and pretended to wipe some sweat from his forehead in a dramatic fashion.
"Well, that's good to hear. And here I was worried that I caught a chronic case of stupid from the rest of you-" He was then cut off when one irritated summoner punched the side of his head, which resulted in the cheery parade of stars and brightly colored lights dancing in his eyes.
"YEOW! What'd you do that for?" the puny chosen bellowed, clutching the side of his head.
"Because you're an idiot."
"I may be an idiot, but at least I didn't get the second worse score in the testing room-"
"Why you pain in the ass-"
"Ahem." Both of the bickering brats blinked and glanced over at Kate, who was giving them both the signature teacher stare that Raine had perfected over many a year. Instantly, their mouths both clamped shut and then sat still, attention back on her results.
"Thank you. As for your mana however, both of you displayed a high concentration of younger cells, more than I would have expected from just a change in physical appearance. From what we can tell so far, apparently something altered your entire mana's code and spiraled it backwards so you are all approximately one third your original age."
"What?" Both children gaped in horror. "Is there any way to reverse it?"
"That I'm not sure." Kate replied as she pulled out another paper from her folder. "Whatever caused all of your mana's to spiral out of their normal cadence must have been very powerful indeed. Whether or not we would be able to even come close to mimicking a force that magnitude I do not know. That will require further testing." She then placed the first few papers back in the folder and tucked it under her arm.
"Though, other than that, you all are perfectly healthy normal children." Kate added, while a small and rare smile graced the corners of her eyes. Zelos sighed tiredly and let his chin fall into the palm of his hand, letting it rest there like a thick and weighty rock.
"Huh, so our mana's gone all crazy, just like the fat hamster said-"
"-GNOME!" Sheena correctly sharply, reaching out to smack him again, though she missed when he moved his head out of her reach.
"Yeah, fat hamster." Zelos nodded in a 'duh' tone. "So our mana's gone cuckoo and we don't know how to get back to normal, but other than that, everything's peachy?"
"That pretty much sums it up." Kate agreed, now going back over her notes.
"Great." The seven year old swordsman groaned, flexing his slender hand in and out of a fist. "Good thing I like my coat. Judging from that diagnosis, I'll be wearing it awhile." Sheena let out an exasperated sigh as well and flopped back onto the bed again, her raven bangs flitting into her face. Kate observed both of their theatrics for a moment or two before she looked at her folder and flipped it open again.
"It does seem so." The half elf scientist nodded, snagging the corner of another paper from her folder and removing it from its manilla prison. "Also, I have a question about your friend Lloyd."
"Bud?" Zelos raised a scarlet eyebrow. "What about him?"
"He's quite the specimen. His blood levels were very interesting to study, as the quality of his cells." Kate read off her notes, a sparkling shine glimmering in her eyes behind her glasses. "Absolutely superb with the oxygen and mana flow and incredibly sturdy."
Zelos snorted.
"Figures that the only exam Bud can pass with flying colors is a physical one."
"Can it, Zelos." Sheena pounded his arm with her fist and then looked back at Kate. "But if he did so well with everything, what's the problem?"
"Nothing, there's nothing wrong with him, but..." The glint in Kate's eyes flickered again and even made her glasses flicker. "My curiosity as a scholar is getting the better of me. What kind of being is he?"
"Being?" Both of the school kids blinking in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"What is he, race wise?"
"Uh... human, last I checked." Sheena replied, twirling a lock of her puff in her fingers. "Why?" Kate frowned, checked her charts and narrowed her eyes at it.
"Are you sure he's a human?" She asked, her long tapered teal eyebrow arched.
"Yeah. What else would he be?" Zelos asked offhandedly as he yawned into his fist.
"I thought he was one at first too, but his charts... they don't even come close to anything like a human that I've seen before."
Zelos and Sheena stared at her like she was crazy, looked to each other and then back at the half elf researcher, both sporting the same expression.
".. who and the what now?" The seven year old acolyte gaped, actually lost for words.
"His charts... it's not like a normal human's mana signature at all."
"You mean... he's a half elf?" Sheena asked incredulously, her jaw dropped.
"No, nothing like that. I would have known first glance if he was. That's what is prying at my curiosity. He... oh, never mind, it's nothing." Putting the sheet away into it's folder, Kate brushed her bangs out of her face, behind her ears and strode out of the door, her report long since finished.
"Sleep well, both of you." She murmured to both of them as she meandered into the hallway, her nose buried deep into the folder's contents.
".. how interesting.. Very interesting... I wonder if his mana was somehow altered differently from the others... intriguing.."
Zelos' eyes narrowed against his sea colored irises. There had to be more to this than she was letting on and there was only so much of Zelos' curiosity that he could take. Getting to his feet, he ran over to the door, wrenched it open and bounded into the hallway.
"I think it's a little more than 'nothing', y'know!" Zelos called down the passage way, but it was too late. Kate was nowhere to be found. Making a few snarky remarks having something to do with scientists and their disappearing acts, he traipsed back into the room and sat on the bed next to Sheena's with a flump.
"That's not unsettling at all." The chosen snorted, his pink satiny clad arms folded against his boyish chest. "She's got that 'Raine's gone crazy' look in her eye."
"Yeah, no kidding." Sheena nodded in agreement, having moved so she was lying on her stomach with the side of her face resting on the pillow. "Still, I don't think she's gonna tell us anything else."
"Guess not." He replied lazily as he sank into his own bed's fluffy mattress.
"Though, I wonder what she meant 'not like a human's.'" The dinky summoner added inquisitively. "That doesn't make a lick of sense."
"Well, no sense worrying about it right now. We're not gonna die just yet, knock on wood, so let's just kick back, relax and I dunno about you, but I'm psychic and I can see a serious power nap in my future." Zelos flopped his head onto his own pillow, his crimson tendrils of hair splayed all about. He then shoved his hands underneath his head and crossed one leg over the other, thoroughly content with himself.
"... that doesn't sound too bad." Sheena yawned and closed her eyes, her head weighing down the feather pillow. "Even if it was your stupid idea..." Within a minute, the petite ninja was out for the count, softly snoring at her pillow. Glancing over at her, Zelos bit back a laugh and shook his head. All that fighting, running, and smacking of chosens had worn her out, Zelos guessed, so it wasn't surprising that she fell into dreamland so fast.
"Yeah, she's so tough until she's tired, then she's just cranky... er." Zelos blew some hair out of his eyes and exhaled sharply.
'So Bud's mana's out of the categories, huh?' The diminished chosen stared up at the ceiling of the guest quarters, a wry grin on his face. 'Eh, he's never really been one for mainstream anyway. Though...' He yawned somewhat, having been exhausted from his long day of dealing with roachy summon spirits, marco polo and banshees all in one sitting. His weight sank into the mattress like a boulder into sand and another shallow breath escaped his lungs.
'I wonder if something to do with his old man...' He mused as he began to doze.
'Or maybe...' Zelos closed his eyes and felt his face glaze over as he slowly started sinking into dreamland.
'.. something got kick started.'
Myah hah har, another chapter completed.
Lloyd: I want jerky now.
Me: Me too. It sounds very tasty.
Everyone else : Well?
Me: Hm?
Yuan: What was your big and important announcement?
Me: Oh yes, yes, of course.
*ahem*
Drum roll, please.
Zelos: *makes drum roll sound*
...
*DUN*
TALES OF SYMPHONIA THE ANIMATION: THE UNITED WORLD ARC PRODUCTION HAS BEEN CONFIRMED!
All: WHAT?
Me: You heard me! We get a third season here people!
Lloyd: Are.. are you serious?
Me: Of course I am! I'm not the type to joke about something like that!
Kratos: So then... everything will be...
Me: You better believe it! I don't know what's going to be added or how it's gonna end, but it's coming!
Regal: How do you know about this?
Me: I haunt the OVA main website... a lot... more than I probably should...
Though this does prove one thing.
Genis: What's that?
Me: I had a strong feeling they were going to not going to be able to finish the story by the end of the Tethe'alla Arc and had another feeling that they would continue with more episodes.
Therefore, I must be psychic.
Genis: Psycho would probably be more accurate.
Me: Hush you. Now all we have to do is figure out how to convince them to put it all into english and the other languages... myah hah hah...
Also, I agree wholeheartedly with Freakyanimegal. There had better be fluffy oyako moments in the OVA...
*stares pointedly at Kratos*
Kratos: *raises eyebrow*
Me: Anywho, on that joyous note of triumph, please review!