Things you need to know before reading this chapter:
- Character thinking; Character reading; "Lloyd's language"
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss
Chapter 24: Planetary Arte
Natalia watched Pamela's chest rose and fell gently as she slept. It was lucky that the hit wasn't too deep to heal using healing artes. She smiled gently at Anise who was gripping her mother's hand tightly. The expression on the girl had softened when she saw how peaceful her mother looked when she slept.
Natalia could feel the love Anise had for her mother and didn't feel like intruding this moment. She looked around the room, a standard sleeping quarter for the staff working for the Order of Lorelei.
She frowned when she noticed how run down and cramped the room was. She wondered if the Order of Lorelei, being a religious order, had a protocol of some sorts dictating that its members shouldn't live too luxurious. But even so, they should have at least given a larger sleeping quarters for a family of three.
"Thanks, Natalia."
Natalia wiped the frown from her face before turning towards Anise. "You are welcome, Anise."
She would have said more if not for the door to the room being opened. "Pamela! Anise! Are you alright?"
Natalia turned towards the door and saw Anise's father, Oliver, hurrying towards where Anise was sitting next to the bed Pamela lied on.
"Papa! Mom took a hit for me… but Natalia already healed her, she's resting now." Anise put a finger before her lips to signal her father to keep quiet as she said the last part.
Oliver turned towards Natalia and bowed. "Thank you."
Natalia stood up and returned the bow with a nod. "You are welcome. I am only doing what any normal person would do. Pamela's in a stable condition and should be fine after some rest."
Oliver bowed again and muttered a 'thank you' before started to speak with his daughter in hushed tone.
Seeing that her presence was not needed anymore, Natalia silently slipped away from the sleeping quarters, not wanting to intrude on their family time.
She once again looked at the family of three as she closed the door. Her heart ached at the sight of them, knowing she might not be able to become as close with the King as Anise was with her father anymore. The pain would never go away, but that didn't matter as much as before, not when she finally found the way to live.
If it's before, she would have said something like how it's the duty of royalties to look after their subject, be it citizens of her own country or a neighbour country… but just like Luke had once said, being royalty had nothing to do with it. Now that she finally understood, she felt silly when she looked at her past self.
"Natalia, how's Pamela and Anise?" She turned towards the voice and saw Lloyd waiting just outside the door.
Immediately after Lloyd helped them settle Pamela on her bed, he left saying he would look for Anise's father to let him know what happened. Lloyd was such a sweet guy to have thought of that when none of their other members did. Maybe it's because he's also a husband and a father and understood how Oliver needed to know the condition of his family as soon as possible.
"Pamela's resting now. Anise and Oliver are looking over her." She replied.
"That's great." Lloyd's trademark grin appeared on his face as he said that. "By the way, I met up with dad and the others when I was coming back with Oliver. They should now be in the library with Jade and Asch. Let's go join them." He then turned around and started walking away.
"Library?" Natalia asked as she fell into steps behind Lloyd.
"Dad said there's a secret passage where we can discuss without having to worry about Mohs finding us." Lloyd replied.
While they were walking towards the library, Natalia looked around. It wasn't the first time she came to the Order, but it's her first time coming to the area where the staff's sleeping quarters were located.
But she wasn't just looking around to fulfill her curiosity, she was looking at the interior of the building. As expected of the Order of Lorelei, even the interior of the corridor looked grand. However, if that's the case, then why did Anise's sleeping quarters look so run down? Was it on purpose? If so, why?
She was brought out of her thinking when she noticed Lloyd slowing to a stop.
"What are they doing there?"
She followed Lloyd's gaze and saw Asch, Guy and Jade hiding behind a wide pillar. They slowly approached the three. Asch shifted his gaze towards them and made a gesture of silence once he noticed their presence.
Natalia raised an eyebrow but followed her childhood friend's direction as she and Lloyd made their way towards them silently. Guy also turned to look at them and pointed towards the same direction Jade was looking at. Her gaze followed that same direction and saw an Oracle Knight talking to someone she couldn't see due to the angle. Were they eavesdropping on them? Was that other person Mohs?
"Thanks for your hard work, I will give it to Dist the moment he's back." She heard the other person, the one she couldn't see, said once she was close enough.
The Oracle Knight saluted and left.
"What are you doing here?"
Natalia covered her mouth with her hands as she jumped at the question. She whipped around and saw Anise looking at them with a confused expression. She saw out of the corner of her eyes that Guy wasn't faring much better either.
"A- Anise?! What are you doing here?" She asked. "Shouldn't you be staying with your parents?"
"And missed out the fun of scaring the hell out of you? I don't think Anise would have the heart to do something like that." Jade commented.
"That's mean, Colonel." Anise pouted. "So what are you doing?"
"Well, I came to get those two." Guy said as he jerked a thumb at Jade and Asch. "But then when we were heading towards the library, we saw an Oracle Knight passing by while holding onto a weird bow."
"What about it?" Lloyd asked.
"Jade said that bow has a similar feeling to the one Dist had when we fought him in the Megiorra Highlands." Asch replied.
"That weird looking sword?" Natalia asked as she recalled the God General referring to that sword as some 'research material'.
"They don't feel similar." Jade said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "In fact, it is more suitable to say that the two weapons are the exact opposite of each other. That sword was so full of Shadow's energy that it wouldn't surprise me if someone told me that it's made of pure First Fonons. While the bow we are talking about seems to be made of Sixth Fonons alone."
Natalia placed a curled finger over her lips as she thought of the implication of that. "So you are saying that Dist is collecting weapons that are made of pure Fonons of the same nature?"
Guy shrugged. "We thought that if we find out why he was collecting weapons then we might be able to find out where he is now."
"But that Oracle Knight was reporting to Maestro Tritheim, right? That would mean that it is an official mission from the Order." Anise speculated.
"If it's a mission from the Order, can't we just ask him what it is about?" Lloyd asked. "I mean, Anise is also from the Order, it should be fine for her to ask that guy over there what her colleague is working on, right?"
Guy frowns. "Well, yeah, I suppose… but-"
"Okay~" Anise cut in then skipped over to the Maestro the Oracle Knight was just talking to, Jade and Lloyd following close behind. Guy and Asch shared a look with each other before shrugging and following after them. Natalia blinked at the sudden turn of events before joining the others.
"Maestro Tritheim!"
"Oh, if it isn't Anise? I heard from the Fon Master that you are on a classified mission. Have you finished it already?" Tritheim asked.
"Not yet. Actually, I am looking for Dist. I need to find him for my mission."
"Dist? He went to the Radiation Gate." Tritheim paused for a while before continuing, "well, he should have been back by now. Arietta…" He signed. "She left for the Absorption Gate at a later time than Dist yet she's already back earlier today and caused a riot in town."
"We were also there when she attacked the people in town." Anise said offhandedly. "So when did Dist left?"
"A week ago. Arietta left four days ago. Even though the Radiation Gate is farther than the Absorption Gate, he should have been back already..." Tritheim trailed off. "In fact, he said himself that he would be back today the latest, he even told his subordinates to report to him the findings on that mission today…"
"What mission?" Anise asked.
Tritheim looked as if he was contemplating whether to let them know about the mission or not.
"Anise needs to look for Dist for her mission from Fon Master Ion. If Dist still isn't back, there's a possibility that he won't be back for quite some time. It would be easier for us to locate him if we know more about the other tasks he has in hand." Jade said.
Tritheim glanced at Jade before directing his attention back to Anise. "I suppose there isn't much harm telling you about it. But I don't know much about the mission either as the precious Fon Master, Evenos, was the one that assigned this mission to Dist."
"The previous Fon Master? You mean he still hasn't finished it after all these years?" Asch asked with a raised eyebrow.
Tritheim nodded. "It's a very difficult previous Oracle Knight responsible for overseeing the plan destroyed the records and left the Order, so Dist had to basically start from scratch."
"Who is the one previously assigned this mission?" Lloyd asked.
"It's Locrian Colonel Gelda Nebilim." Tritheim replied. "I heard that she's had passed away several years after she left the Order and settled down in Keterburg."
Natalia widened her eyes at the name. Isn't it the same name that Mohs mentioned before?
"We don't know the surname… but I doubt there would be lots of people with the name Nebilim and is related to Dist." Guy muttered.
"What is the mission about?" Jade asked.
Maybe it's her imagination, but Natalia thought Jade's tone was a tad bit sterner than usual.
"Do you know about the planetary fonic arte?" Tritheim replied with another question.
"An immense fonic arte that was proposed in the Dawn Age." Jade said. "It was never actually put to use, though. The Fonic War ended before it could be used. Or so I've heard…"
"Yes. Fon Master Evenos secretly undertook a plan to revive it." Tritheim said.
"So Dist's mission is to revive the planetary fonic arte? But why is he collecting weapons?" Natalia asked.
Tritheim looked at Natalia in surprise. "You know about it?!"
Natalia blushed embarrassedly. She had forgotten that they weren't supposed to know about it.
"We saw him collecting a sword that was full of the First Fonon." Jade said.
"Dist doesn't use weapon, so we found it weird for him to take a sword from some dead monster's body." Anise added.
Natalia let out a tiny sigh of relief as Tritheim turned his attention towards Anise. "Huh? You don't know that Dist uses a scythe as his weapon?"
"He does?!" Anise exclaimed.
"Not that anyone has ever seen him fought with it. And if I remembered correct, he stopped taking out his scythe sometime before you joined the Order." Tritheim said.
"So about the weapon that he's collecting…" Guy prompted.
"Ah yes, the sword that you mentioned should be one of the catalyst weapons." Tritheim said as he showed them the bow that he had been holding on to them. "This is also one of them. Three weapons with the power of Rem, and three with the power of Shadow. These are required for the planetary fonic arte. In theory, anyway."
"That sure is vague…" Lloyd said.
"As I've said, I don't know much about the details of it. You will have to ask Dist or see if Nebilim had left any records behind."
"What's taking them so long?" Luke complained while throwing a not-so-subtle glance towards the front door of the library for the sixteenth time since coming to the library.
"Stop whining." Tear chided. "Mohs is still here so they might have to look for a way to avoid being seen by him."
"I am not whining." Luke retorted before burying his nose into the book he had been holding.
He didn't even know what the name of the book was. He only followed Tear and Kratos' example and took a book from one of the shelves and started to pretend to be reading.
Tear seemed to be immersed into the book. Although Kratos wasn't reading the book, at least he was doing something. The mercenary had asked Mieu to let him look at the Sorcerer's Ring a while ago. He's now studying the Sorcerer's Ring with Mieu perching on his shoulder also looking at the Sorcerer's Ring intensely, well, as intensely as a cheagle could get anyway.
He sighed as he thought about Tear's words. He knew the others had to find a way to get around Mohs if he somehow suddenly appeared in the Cathedral… but how much longer did they have to wait? Or worse, what if Mohs was also coming to the library and saw them?
He watched as Kratos returned the Sorcerer's Ring to Mieu, who then stepped into the ring before jumping from Kratos's shoulder to his shoulder.
"I'm back, Master!" Mieu exclaimed happily.
Luke rolled his eyes. It's not like the cheagle was ever gone from his view anyway.
Just then, the door to the library opened. Luke hurriedly used the book to cover his face and tried to steal a glance or two at the door to see who's coming to the library this time. He let out a sigh of relief internally once he identified the newcomers as the other members of their group.
He closed the book and put it on the table before getting up and waving the others over.
"Here!" He hissed.
Once the others had gotten close enough, he opened his mouth again. "What took you so long? Is it Mohs?" Then he noticed Asch holding onto a weird looking bow. "What's up with that?"
Before anyone could answer, Kratos cut in. "I think it's better for us to continue our discussion after we got to a more secluded area."
"Can you at least tell me if you know where Ion is or not first?" Anise asked desperately.
"Some of our agents saw him sometime ago, he's in safe hands now." Kratos replied.
"That's good to hear, right, Anise?" Natalia asked.
Anise nodded with a relieved look. "So where are we going now?" She asked.
"Oh right, you weren't there when I told Natalia." Lloyd said. "There's a secret passage somewhere in the library."
"Really?!" Anise exclaimed, though she had remembered that they were in the library and had kept her voice low.
"Yes. But we are not going there now." Kratos said. "Before you arrived, I checked the entrance to it. There are some evidence for recent activities."
"Mohs?" Guy guessed.
Kratos nodded. "I presume so. It would be wise of us to not use that place now."
"So where are we going?" Lloyd asked.
"We will go to my apartment." Kratos answered.
They then left the library and the Order of Lorelei with Kratos taking the lead. Once they gained some distance from the Order, Kratos turned slightly over to Anise while maintaining his pace.
"How's your mother?" He asked.
Anise smiled cheerfully. "She's fine now. Thanks."
"That's good to hear." Guy said.
"What about you, Guy?" Anise asked. "You nearly scared the hell out of us just now."
Guy scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that… I just remembered something important."
"Hey, Guy, you said you will tell us about it once everyone is here." Luke reminded.
Guy chuckled nervously. "Yes, I did… but I don't think it's a good idea to talk about it on the street."
Luke shrugged before addressing Asch. "So Asch, what's the deal with that bow?"
"We got it from Tritheim." Asch grunted.
"Who?" Luke asked.
"Maestro Tritheim is one of the Maestro of the Order of Lorelei." Tear replied.
"Do you remember the sword Dist had when we fought him in the Meggiora Highlands?" Anise asked.
"That weird looking sword?" Luke then took a good look at the bow. "Are you saying that he's collecting weird looking weapons?"
"These are called the catalyst weapons. It seems Dist has been tasked to collect all six catalyst weapons to revive the planetary fonic arte by the previous Fon Master." Jade said.
"The catalyst weapon? The planetary fonic arte?" Luke asked again, why are there so many terms he didn't know about?
"It's a fonic arte that's said to be so powerful that it could even alter the face of the planet itself." Kratos answered.
"Said to be?" Tear asked.
"The idea and the principle behind the arte was proposed in the Dawn Age, during the Fonic War. Yet the war ended before it could be put into use. Because of how dangerous the arte was, the glyph of it was encoded and split into six parts, each part embedded into the fonic code of the catalyst weapon. The catalyst weapons themselves act as the key to activate the glyph." Kratos explained.
"Your knowledge once again astounds me." Jade said.
"There are records about it in Yulia City. I have simply read it sometime ago." Kratos replied.
"So Dist is looking into the planetary fonic arte under Fon Master Evenos' orders?" Tear asked.
"Yes. Kratos, do you know anything about it?" Jade asked.
"I heard that Dist is the one who requested for this mission." Kratos answered.
"So it's really because of this Nebilim person." Guy muttered.
Luke nearly jumped when he heard Guy's muttering. "What about Nebilim?" He asked as he glanced worriedly at Jade, who pretended to not have noticed him.
"The previous Oracle Knight that was assigned this mission was Locrian Colonel Gelda Nebilim." Anise replied. "But she failed the mission."
Luke turned his head back to the road ahead of him as he thought about the implication of it. So Nebilim had been a Locrian Colonel and had failed a mission given to her by the previous Fon Master. He supposed that would be before she became a teacher in Keterburg. Dist must have found out about her failed mission and wanted to complete this mission for her.
"Why did you take it with you then?" Tear asked.
"Jade said it's better to take it with us so Dist won't be able to get his hands on all the catalyst weapons." Asch explained.
"Yeah, who knows what Dist is going to do if he manages to revive such a powerful fonic arte?" Anise added.
"But why did Maestro Tritheim give it to you?" Tear asked.
"Maestro Tritheim's original plan was to wait for Dist to come back then give it to him, but since he's apparently 'missing' now, we told him we could pass it to Dist for him as we are also looking for him." Anise said.
"And he just gave you because of such a lame excuse?" Luke asked.
Lloyd scratched the tip of his nose. "Actually, Jade-"
"Ah, Kratos, so this is where your apartment is?" Jade cut in suddenly.
"Yes, it is on the top floor."
Luke nearly rolled his eyes at Jade's attempt to change the topic. It's not like he wanted to know what really happened if it involved Jade anyway. He looked up at the building before them and turned around to look at the path they had passed through. They were in one of the alleys that branched out from the main road and wasn't very far from the Order, they would have reached it in another few minutes earlier the day if not for Arietta.
They followed Kratos up the stairs to the top floor of the building. Kratos took a key out and opened the door for them.
"Your home is so… empty…" Anise commented once they stepped into the flat. Asch walked over to the only desk in the room and put the bow on it.
"I mainly use it as a base for information exchange only." Kratos replied.
Lloyd grinned triumphantly. "I told you so."
Anise sighed.
Luke looked at those two weirdly, not understanding what they were talking about.
"Well, you see, when we were in Yulia City, Anise was a bit curious about the two apartments of Kratos and asked Lloyd what he thought about it." Guy must have noticed his and some of the others' confusion, as he explained the reason for their exchange.
"Then I told her that with dad being dad, there shouldn't be any stuff apart from the daily necessities." Lloyd continued the explanation.
Luke laughed. "Yes, that sounds like Kratos."
There was a light smile on Kratos' lips. "One of my colleagues used to complain how I should put more furnitures here nearly every time he walked into this apartment."
Luke hummed as he looked around the room. He supposed Kratos could at least put a sofa in this place…
"So where's Ion now?" Jade asked, bringing the party back to their original purpose of coming here.
"Our people is looking into it now, it shouldn't take long for them to locate him." Kratos replied.
"But I thought you said he's in safe hands now?" Anise asked.
"Yes. When the others saw Ion, he was with one of our agents."
"So you are saying that that agent rescued Ion and they are now on the run? That's why you don't know where they are now?" Guy guessed.
Kratos nodded.
"Hey, Guy, now that we know Ion is fine, it's your turn to tell us what made you went into mental shock." Lloyd said.
There was a slight pause before Guy looked at the others with a serious expression."I remembered the time when my family was killed."
"… it's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Lloyd said when Guy didn't say anything for a while.
Guy shook his head. "It's fine." He paused again as if collecting his thoughts. "It's during the Hod War. My sister, all of the maids and I were hiding in one of the guest rooms of the Gardios mansion when the Kimlascan soldiers broke into the room."
There was a faraway look on him as he recounted his memory. "My view was blocked by the maids so I couldn't see anything, but I remembered hearing someone shouting how everyone was a threat and to show no mercy. Sometime later I heard my sister scream and when I was coming out of my hiding place to see how my sister was, she turned around and hugged me to her chest."
Natalia gasped as Guy continued. "My sister shielded me so the soldiers couldn't see me. And not just her. All of the maids protected me, too. I was buried under their bodies, unconscious and covered in blood. When Pere and Cantabile rescued me, my memory was already gone."
"Major Cantantabile…" Tear whispered.
There was a bittersweet smile on Guy's lips. "Just before I lost conscious, I remembered hearing her voice, she must be the one that pulled me out from under the pile of corpses. She went to the pier with Pere and me before going back to the mansion, saying how she wished to stay behind till the last moment no matter what we said."
"So your female phobia is the result of emotional scarring from that incident." Jade commented.
"How pathetic." Guy said frustratedly. "They gave their lives to protect me, and I just remember them as 'scary'..."
"Don't beat yourself up like that. You were just a kid." Luke said.
"An army invaded your home and killed people right in front of you. Anyone would be scared." Lloyd said.
"Luke and Lloyd are right. And I made fun of that fear… I'm sorry." Natalia said.
Anise lowered her gaze. "... I'm sorry."
"I must apologize as well." Tear said. "I'm truly sorry."
Guy smiled. "Come on, I'd forgotten all about it. You don't have anything to apologize for. Don't worry about it." He turned towards Kratos. "So what now? Do we just wait here?"
Kratos nodded. "Mohs should have received word about the riot and knew of our presence by now. This place is a bit cramped for the nine of us, but I would advise not to linger on the streets unless necessary."
"If Mohs knew we are here, it will be more difficult for us to leave Daath." Jade commented then looked out the window. "It's getting late. It might be better for us to stay for the night and leave Daath tomorrow when the streets are the most crowded."
"You mean to blend into the crowd? That would've worked except we still have to find a way to pass the gate without letting any of the Oracle Knights seeing us." Asch argued.
Jade raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you mean neither you nor Kratos know of any secret passage that could lead us out of the city?" He asked challengingly while Asch glared at him.
"Actually, I know of a path out of Daath that the others didn't know." Anise said before the argument could have evolved into something else.
"Nice work, Anise!" Luke gave a thumb up to the Fon Master Guardian.
"But I need to check if any guards are stationed there now." Anise added. "It's been quite some time since I last used that path to sneak out…"
"Why did you have to sneak out?" Tear asked.
Anise put on that cute look of hers and said with an innocent air. "That's not important now, right?"
Lloyd shrugged. "I don't think it's a big deal, I have a friend back home who also used to sneak out of his hometown nearly every night for some late night errands."
"Your friend seems to be a pretty shady person…" Natalia said.
The twin swordsman grinned. "He might be a bit weird at times, but he's a good person."
"So Anise," Guy turned towards Anise, "where's the path you were talking about?"
"It's northeast of the Order." Anise answered. "But I think it's better if I go by myself to check if there are any Oracle Knights stationed there first."
"But that is too dangerous." Natalia said.
Luke saw that Jade seemed to want to say something but was cut off by Kratos. "I agree with Anise. It would be easier to evade the Oracle Knights if Anise is on her own. Not to mention that Anise is the most familiar with the streets of Daath among all of us."
"I suppose that's true." Tear said.
Lloyd looked at Anise worriedly. "You sure you are fine on your own? Maybe Guy or me could come with you."
"Don't worry, I will be back so fast that you won't even have time to miss me." Anise said cheerfully to wave off the others' worries.
Luke glanced at Jade, he thought for sure the man was going to say something before Kratos cut him off, and he doubt what he wanted to say was the same as or similar to what Kratos said judging by the look on the man.
"Don't worry, Anise." Jade began, "I'm sure most, if not all, of us understand that it's pointless to worry about you by now."
"Booo. Meanie." Anise complained.
Jade half-heartedly flipped through the book before him. The book was written by a physicist called Spinoza. He had taken it from a bookshelf, one of the few possessions inside this nearly-empty flat. He was reading the book because it's one of the rare scientific books he hadn't read before. And he was only half-heartedly reading the book because he already knew about most of the theories introduced in the book.
He might have already known the theories outlined in the book, but he was still curious. Curious as to the kinds of knowledge the purple clad man had. They had known since they first met Kratos that the man was an agent of Evenos. It had also been apparent that the man was one of the top, if not the best, agent of the previous Fon Master. Not because he had gained the renowned reputation known as the 'Phantom Warrior', nor because he could command the Aggregate Sentience of the Earth (it's painfully obvious that the cover story he told the others on how he knew of the collapse of Akzeriuth because of the supposedly 'friendship' between him and Gnome was just that, a cover story), but because of how knowledgeable and resourceful he was.
That was why he didn't say anything when he knew the man had deliberately let Anise leave on her own. Anise, another enigma of the team. The others might have been fooled by the girl's antics, but he knew better than to simply place his trust in others, especially during such a precarious situation.
Apart from Kratos, he was the most experienced of the group, he was also a hardened soldier, he could tell who was telling the truth or who wasn't based on their body language, apart from an exceptional few. Anise, no matter how experienced she might be, she was still just a twelve-year-old girl.
It's obvious to him that the girl was hiding something, he simply didn't know what that something was. He knew Kratos must have known about it, too. That was why he decided to let the man handle it. He was also curious as to how Kratos, someone equally experienced, if not more, seeing as how he had lived a longer life than him by at least several years, would handle such situation.
There was also the matter about the planetary fonic arte. From the information they had gathered so far, he could see that Dist was looking to complete the last mission Professor Nebilim failed before she became a teacher. If memory served, when they first 'met' the God General back in St. Binah, Field Marshal McGovern had mentioned that he was there to fetch some weapon, which he assumed to be one of the catalyst weapons. And the letter from His Majesty… he lightly massaged his temple as he came to the conclusion that His Majesty knew about the mission and had been helping Dist with it.
It seemed Dist had been working for Mohs to get his hand on the replication data of Professor Nebilim. So it's true that that idiot was still working on that idiotic attempt. And if Dist had a fell out with Mohs, it's only logical to think that the man had crawled back to Van's side because Van also had the replica data of Professor Nebilim, just like Mohs had speculated. Did His Majesty knew that that idiot was still working on Fomicry when he helped him with the collecting of the catalyst weapons?
There's also the question of why the previous Fon Master assigned the mission to Dist. Evenos had been investigating Van's activity since a long time ago and Kratos had mentioned that they had known about Dist helping Van with the research of Fomicry, then why would he still let Dist work on such a mission? If Dist had succeeded, then Van would have the most powerful fonic arte in existence under his repertoire. Or was it simply because they hadn't known about Dist's involvement when the man asked to be put onto this mission?
Jade subtly looked up from the book he was reading to the door when someone knocked on it. Kratos, who had simply been standing beside the door as if resting, opened the door to reveal a lanky man with a green pirate hat and a rat on top of his hat.
"You are from the Dark Wings!" Luke exclaimed as he pointed at the man outside the door.
"We meet again." The man greeted before directing his attention towards Kratos. "They are in Belkend. Also," he then fished out a pile of documents. He handed them to Kratos as he leaned forward to whisper something to Kratos.
Kratos nodded and muttered a thank you before the lanky man turned around and started to leave.
"Wait!" The man paused and tilted his head to the said at Natalia's word. "I am glad to see that you are fine. Thank you for everything you've done for us in Baticul." The ex-princess said sincerely as she bowed at the man.
The man returned with a nod. "You're welcome, princess. Anything for Asch's girlfriend." He then quickly left as the ridiculously looking bow they got from Tritheim was hurled his way.
"Stop spouting nonsense!" Asch roared. His face flushed red in embarrassment while Luke snickered. Natalia wasn't faring any better than him with the dark blush spotted on her cheek.
"Huh? You aren't together?" Lloyd asked. "I thought Asch, being the real Luke, is supposed to be Natalia's fia-"
"Lloyd! Not you too!" Asch groaned.
Kratos coughed to gain their attention after picking up the bow from the ground. "Someone saw us coming here and had reported to Mohs, we need to leave now."
"But where will we go?" Guy asked.
"Our people have secured a passage for us to leave the town." Kratos replied.
"What about Anise?" Tear asked.
"I will go after her." Kratos said as he handed one of the papers he just received to Jade. "This route will take you outside the town without alerting the Oracle Knights."
"How will we meet up?" Natalia asked.
"We will meet up in Belkend." Kratos answered.
"But you don't have the Albiore." Luke pointed out. "How will you get there?"
"Oh right, Oliver did mention that the port refused to send out any ship." Guy said.
"Don't worry, we will find a way to cross the sea." Kratos said.
"Well, if it's dad, I'm sure he will be able to pull it off." Lloyd shrugged.
"Now that that's settled, how about we leave before the Oracle Knights arrived?" Jade asked, though he had this suspicion that no Oracle Knight would barge into the room no matter how long they waited.
He was ninety nine percent sure that it was just Kratos' ploy to corner Anise and maybe do some interrogation. He was curious, a word he found he had been using quite frequently when it came to the Aurions, as to what will happen to Anise. He also wondered why Kratos wanted to leave the others in the dark. He wanted to find a reason to also stay behind, but with the look Kratos had directed him when the man specifically handed the hand-drawn map to him, he knew he would need to step in and look over these children, at least until Kratos, and maybe also Anise, caught up to them.
He sighed internally. Couldn't an elderly person like him get some rest from being a babysitter to these hormonal teenagers twenty-four seven?
Anise ran towards the Order with heavy steps. She didn't know what Mohs was playing at when they first arrived and left the Cathedral without any sudden ambush to capture them. She had told the contacts in Yulia City to deliver the message to Mohs. Did that mean that Mohs wanted to leave them alone for the time being? Or was it because Mohs was so busy looking for Ion that he didn't even had time to check the message?
No matter what the reason was, she still had to let Mohs knew of the team's whereabouts. It felt bad to betray Ion and the others like that. It didn't matter that she had first been working for Mohs. It hurt even more after she saw what Mohs did to Natalia with the information she gave him in Baticul.
She had to repeatedly remind herself that even if Mohs didn't know they were coming to Baticul, once Natalia and Asch barged into the throne room with Mohs in it, the secret would be out. Natalia's life would still be ruined all the same…
Her only comfort in all this was the fact that her parents would be fine. She loved her parents. Unlike her, they were so pure, so innocent. She would do anything to keep it that way… yet, why did it have to be like this? Why couldn't Mohs set an ambush before they saw Arietta? Why couldn't he capture the group before they saved her mother? It felt even worse to sell them out after they saved her mother…
She knew it was wrong, especially when they were also dealing with Van and this crazy plan of his. But even though they managed to save the whole world, what use would it be if her parents were no longer there? At least with Jade and Kratos with them, she could convince herself that the others would be fine. The both of them were resourceful, she knew they, and also the rest of the team, could handle whatever was thrown their way.
Maybe it was because she had been blindly running towards the Cathedral, she carelessly bumped into another person. Being as flexible as she was, she managed to stop herself from dropping to the ground unceremoniously.
She slowly looked up to the person she bumped into and was about to apologize, she was the one at fault after all, when she recognized the person before her and felt her breath caught in her throat. She suddenly felt pain on the side of her neck. She tilted her head to her left and used a hand to swipe at where she felt the pain and felt a tiny needle sticking out. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what this was about. She wanted to shout at the person before her but instead felt her strength leaving as her view was overcome by darkness.
~ Skit: Terror of war ~
Lloyd: (looking sad)
Luke: Lloyd, what's wrong?
Lloyd: It's just… war is a terrible thing, right?
Tear: Yes… thousands of lives could be lost in a single war.
Natalia: And not just the soldiers that fought in it, families of the soldiers that lost their lives were also affected…
Mieu: War is scary…
Luke: Yes… and to think that the reason Guy was scared of woman was because of the war fifteen years ago...
Asch: …
Lloyd: Why do these meaningless wars exist?! Why is it that even though they are all humans, they still have to fight against each other?
Tear: Lloyd…
Lloyd: … I'm sorry, I need some time to cool down…
(Lloyd left)
Guy: … maybe I shouldn't have told you my past if it's only making you all so down.
Tear: Stop that thought, Guy, we are glad you told us your past.
Luke: Yes, it just means you trust us enough to tell us about it.
Natalia: I am also honored by your trust. And now that we know about it, we can start to find a way to help you overcome your fear of women together.
Guy: Thanks, everyone.
(Everyone left, the screen panned over to Kratos and Jade)
Jade: 'Even though they are all humans'... your son's choice of words never ceases to surprise me.
Kratos: …
Jade: Similarity aside, with how idealistic and ignorant Lloyd is, sometimes I wonder if he's really your son.
Kratos: Idealistic he may be, but Lloyd is in no way ignorant. He also has his fair share of witnessing the selfish nature of mankind. He simply chooses to believe that everyone has a good side and strives to bring out the good in them… it is a strength most people lack.
Jade: I wonder if he takes after his mother in that regards or if you were also once an idealist.
Kratos: …
Jade: War sure is a terrible thing, isn't it?
(A second skit because the previous one is way too short)
~ Skit: Secret to the catalyst weapons ~
Guy: Natalia, what are you doing?
Natalia: I am trying to figure out the secret of this bow.
Luke: Huh?
Natalia: It's supposed to be one of the keys to the most powerful fonic arte, yet apart from the overflowing sixth fonon, I can't feel any power coming from it.
Jade: Speaking of which, I think the sword Dist had seemed to move on its own, maybe this bow can also somehow move.
Luke, Natalia: !
Natalia: You mean like the legendary possessed sword Dymlos?! If that's the case, it should also be able to talk...
Guy: Natalia, I don't think that's wha-
Anise: I've heard of stories about that, too. Isn't it supposed to be a sword that has the ability to grow alongside its chosen owner?
Lloyd: There're also weapons like that here?
Luke: What do you mean 'also'?
Lloyd: Back when I was travelling with my friends, we also came across weapons that got stronger the more we use them. It's a long time ago and I forgot the exact details, but those were some really badass weapons.
Luke: You mean those aren't just bedside stories?!
Natalia: … does that mean I'm not worthy to be the wielder of this bow?
Asch: It's not your fault, Natalia. Don't listen to them, this is just some sort of trash weapon.
Jade: We don't really know that, do we?
Anise: It might turn out to be some super weapon that can even kill the Commandant in one blow once we managed to unlock its power.
Natalia: It can even do that?!
Asch: Natalia, you shouldn't-
Anise: That's right, I'm sure it will be easy as pie to win the fight once it acknowledges you as its owner.
Lloyd: Wow, it sounds so cool! Too bad it's a bow… Natalia, I will root for you! Show them what you've got!
Natalia: Yes! From now on, I will keep using this bow until it deems me worthy as its owner!
Anise: That's the spirit!
Guy: Somehow I have this feeling that I shouldn't have started this conversation…
Jade: Oh well, at least it's entertaining, what's the harm in having a little fun?
Luke: Asch, you sure you aren't going to say anything to Natalia?
Asch: … it's been a while since I saw her so enthusiastic about something… maybe I will gently talk her out of it later.
Author's Note:
Guest - Tear is supposed to be the mature one between her and Luke, but I think there are also times when she isn't as matured as she looks. Glad you catch that one of the more interesting part of the skit is Lloyd getting surprised at how Kratos slipped up, especially when it comes to information exchange seeing as Kratos is, well, Kratos.
Windsbane - Glad you like those subplots! Some of the other fandoms I like to read here are Code Geass and Overlord. Most of the fanfics of those series focuses a lot on spying and information gathering, so I also want to include a bit of it in my fic. But the information gathering of this fic won't be too complicated (thanks God that the technology in the TOA world is not that advanced).
Oh wow, I can't believe the Daath arc took up one and a half chapter! And the reason that the party stayed there for so long was because of Dist, even though the man himself did not appear in either chapter…
So, Kratos found a way to separate Anise from the group, and the group finally managed to track down Dist and Ion. So next chapter they will finally be out of Daath! I wonder what will happen to Anise and whether the group will successfully reunite with Ion or not (snicker).
Thanks for reading this chapter and please review if you like it! Until next time~
Uploaded on 12 Aug 2018