Me: Hello again dear readers! I hope you all had a good Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/any other holidays I forgot to mention! Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo so so so much Avisu for coming to my forum! Now I don't feel so lonely. And thanks for the reviews too! Some of my old readers reviewed and it seems I have more readers! Thanks so much for the support guys.
Lloyd: Uh… you okay? Your face is a little green.
Me: Yeah. I'm fine, I just feel a little nauseous. Sorry if this chapter's a little short guys. I haven't planned it out yet, and I'm feeling sick so, just a fair warning.
Genis: RUN! It's the plague all over again!
Me: -.-'
Lloyd: Ahhhhhhhhhhh! PLAGUE!!!
Me: He probably doesn't even know what a plague is.
Chapter 27: I Remembered to put a Title this Time :D!!!
Colette walked alongside Lloyd closely, so her conversation with him wasn't overheard by the Professor. She frowned at the floor as if she were talking to it instead.
"Do… Do you think Genis will be okay? Do you think he is okay?" She asked wearily.
"Of course!" Lloyd reassured her with one of his famous mile wide grins. "He's Genis. He'll figure something out."
"Right." Colette tried to sound somewhat relieved, but her red clad crush could tell that she had a great fear for her friend's safety. Despite his words of comfort, no consolation found her in the desolate ruins. Everything around her was cold, silent,
Dead.
She shivered at the thought Genis' body laying face down on the floor with velvety blood pooling around him.
"Don't die." She whispered.
"What?" Lloyd asked? A frown creased his brows.
"Nothing." She looked up at him with a faux smile.
His mouth bent in disagreement, but he decided not to push her. No need in putting more stress on her shoulders than there already was.
…
"This is my fault." She mumbled.
"What?" Lloyd asked, utterly shocked at her statement. "This is so not your fault. How could you even think that? Genis just got lost, that's all. He's probably, I dunno, drooling over some ancient statue or something. Just killing time until we find him."
"Yeah. I guess." Colette sighed. "How do you stay so strong Lloyd?"
"What?"
"You say what like Colette says sorry." Raine called from behind them." What are you two up to?" She asked.
"Um… Nothing." Colette grinned at her.
Raine crossed her arms, but left the two to their chatter.
"Anyway," Lloyd drew the blonde's attention back to himself. "Me, strong? Are you kidding? I'm nowhere near as good as Kratos is, and he's strong."
"Maybe in physically." Colette smiled up at him for a minute, causing Lloyd to grow hot under the collar. "But, you never give up. Even when things never seemed to go as planned, you're always looking on the bright side of things. How do you do it? I wish I could."
"Well, uh…" The dazed teen scratched the back of his head. "I um… well… I don't know really. But I know that if you always think things are bad, then… they are bad. Right? So if there's something good to think about, then nothing is completely hopeless… right?" Lloyd kept doubling back on himself through the whole explanation, but its meaning wasn't lost to his significant other.
"Wow Lloyd. I never thought of it that way." She put a finger to her lips in concentration.
Lloyd blinked his eyes in disbelief. "Uh… really? I just thought that you would've known that since, you know, you're so much smarter than me."
"What?" Colette looked at him incredulously. "I'm not smarter than you."
"Of course you are. Everyone's smarter than me."
The Professor snickered in spite of herself.
"No they're not." Colette shook her head. "You are smart."
Lloyd ' pfft'ed. "I'm not smart. I'm not like Genis or the Professor. All of those numbers with the letters and, good and well and, 1537 circa somthin'. I just don't get it."
"I don't either."
"But." Lloyd stopped for a moment. "You always get good grades."
"I um…" She blushed madly. "I uh… I cheat."
Lloyd's eyes about popped out of his head. "You WHAT!?"
"Shhh! Sh! Please! The Professor might hear!" She cupped both hands over his mouth while his voice was still mumbling through a list of interjections. When he finally quieted down, she released her death grip on his face.
"You! YOU cheated?!" He whispered harshly.
"Nobody would've understood if they knew…" She looked down at her feet with a sense of being unfit for society.
"What do you mean? I mean. You're the last person out of anyone that I would've thought would cheat."
"I know."
"Then why did you do it?"
"Well. I'm the Chosen."
"So, since you're the spirit of all the good in the world, you… cheat?"
"Yes."
"… I knew I was stupid."
"No! No. That's what everyone else probably thought too."
"Psh. Yeah right."
"It is! I did it because I was the Chosen. I did it because… people believed in me. Believed that I could save the world. If I couldn't solve a simple equation, how could I possibly save the world?..." She frowned. "I'm not proud of it." She stated. "But, if it offered comfort to the people of Iselia then… I guess it was worth it." Her thumbs played with each other nervously as she waited for a comment from the dumbfounded teen swordsman.
"You know."
She looked up at him frantically, searching for some form of compassion and understanding that she knew she could only find in him.
"I never thought of it that way."
They both chuckled. And Colette brushing her cold hand up against his.
"Thank you Lloyd."
"For what?"
"For being there for me. I think you're the only person who'd understand me. That was a lot of burden you took off of me. So, thank you."
"Um… you're welcome." He blushed and averted his eyes from her to the light coming from the end of the tunnel.
"Colette…"
"Yeah Lloyd?"
"I-I see a light… At the end of the tunnel…" He took one step forward. "It's calling me home…" Two, and then he dashed for the white light, waving his arms in the air the whole way. "I'm-a comin' Momma! Make-a sure de pasta iz still warm-a!"
"NOOOOOO! DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT!!!!!" Colette screeched.
…
Me: Okay… so that didn't really happen. But, you know it would've been funny. Especially in slow mo. Everything's better in slow mo.
Uh… right then. Back to the story. Roll the film! I mean… Paper! *claps hands*
"I think were at the seal."
"Already?" Her voice skipped a few octaves. A few forming tears stung her eyes as a burning in the pit of her stomach made her nauseous. Her time in Sylvarant was nearing its end. She couldn't bear an eternity without her home, or friends, or… Lloyd… Her heart jumped at his name, but she quickly pushed her thoughts aside. Her wants and needs didn't matter. She had to do this, or there wouldn't be a home or friends or Lloyd to go back to, even if she quit.
"Are you okay Colette?"
"Y-yeah. I'm just nervous about the fight since all of our friends aren't here." She stuttered trying to lie her way through an explanation.
"Don't worry. I'm here to protect you. Nothing will touch you as long as I'm around." He boasted as he drew his twin blades from their sheaths. "Now let's break a seal!"
"Thank you Lloyd… for believing in me." Colette whispered, and then called on her wings and drew her weapons as well.
"Huff, huff, huff." Sheena put her hands on her knees as she finally cooled down from being confronted. Smoke from her ninja smoke bomb burned her nose and lungs as she panted, sweat dripping down her face. Fighting, or… running really, always did a number on her. "Stupid, huff, temple, huff." She tried to regain her breath in deep gulps of air, but all it seemed to do was choke her.
She coughed and hacked on her spit a little before finding the strength to stand upright.
"Alright then. Let's see. If I came from there… uh, no… there… um…" Her fingers switched from five different passageways branching off from the star shaped room she escaped to. "Argh! I'm NEVER using a smoke bomb to get away EVER again! Ah… calm down Sheena, you're yelling at yourself. Now… I guess we'll just have to start, with one hallway at a time… so I choose…"
She covered her face with one hand and made a pointer with the other. After taking short, staccato steps in a circular motion, she set her feet down flat on the floor, and reluctantly spread her fingers apart, letting the limited light of the mausoleum flood her vision.
"That way." She dragged the 'that' on dramatically and finally revealed to herself, yet, another dark, damp, and desolate hallway.
"Well, I hope this is the right way." She said in a sarcastic tone to herself.
Click
"AH- Crap!"
She landed on her bottom with an 'umph' in a pile of something soft.
"What the… AIYEE!" She squealed and back away from a pile of deceased bodies. "Nononononono." She shook her head violently, refusing to believe she just fell in a trap. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!" She wailed.
"I don't either… But I guess that sometimes… that's just the way the cookie crumbles…" A tiny, hoarse voice said. "It's just a fact of life. Or, in this case, death."
Sheena turned her head to the source of the corny cliché.
"You! You're that little kid that was with the Chosen!" She looked up and down his beat and bloodied body. "Man, you don't look so great."
"Hey! Who you calling little?" Genis coughed some blood up. "And don't remind me. I know I'm bad enough, no need in reaffirming it."
"Right. Here, let me help you." She crawled over to him and plopped down on her knees. She tore a long piece of purple silk cloth from the hem of her outfit and tied it around a gash on his forehead. "Ah, a bandana would look nicely on you." She nodded in approvingly.
"Heh. Yeah. Too bad I'm going to die before I have the chance to get one." A little more blood and spittle leaked from the corner of his mouth.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Sheena raised an eyebrow as she dug through her kimono pocket for a white headband she always kept with her. "Here." She placed it on his head over the makeshift bandage. "There now. It looks good on you."
"I guess I'll have to take your word for it." Genis tried to smile, but couldn't find the willpower nor the strength. His eyes were closed the whole time. He just didn't see a reason in wasting his energy on sight. It wasn't like you could see anything in this goddess forsaken ruin anyway. "Weren't you trying to kill us?" He questioned her motives.
"Well. It looks like I'm dying too, so I guess there's no use in being enemies now." She chuckled anxiously.
"Yeah. Well. I just hope they break the seal so everyone is safe. Especially Raine."
"Raine?"
"Yeah Raine. She's my sister. She can be a little bossy. Okay. A lot bossy, but it's just because she cares. She doesn't deserve to die. No one does."
"I hear that." Sheena sighed in agreement. Her thoughts roamed to Tethe'alla. If the Chosen of this world should complete her journey, then her village, grandpa, and even that stupid perverted Chosen, Zelos, would die. Actually, she didn't mind if he faded out of existence. She chuckled to herself.
"What's so funny?" Genis croaked.
"Nothing." She stifled her chuckles, then looked to him again. "Actually…"
"Yeah?"
"Since this is the end of the road, I suppose it wouldn't do much harm to tell you about my life."
"We do have plenty of time." Genis agreed.
"Anyway. I live in a village far away from here. We're a community of ninjas, the only one left in the world-" She stopped herself from saying worlds. Him learning about there being two worlds would surely give him a heart attack. He couldn't die now. She needed company.
"There are still ninjas!" Genis coughed after putting all of the strain on his voice. As they subsided, Sheena continued.
"Yep. We're still out there, in all of our glorious seclusion." She sighed. "I still think we should join the modern world. You know, to make allies and stuff. But, the village leader thinks everybody who isn't part of our town is a liable traitor."
"Do you think that?"
"Nah. But, our village has betrayed before, so he does have good reason to think that. He's just trying to protect us. Still, if we don't come back to terms with the world, we'll die off. Our village is like… like… like a limb having its circulation cut off. It's bound to die eventually."
"Interesting comparison. Have you ever thought of becoming a writer?" Genis asked, trying to choke back coughs. It would only bring him pain, and he'd had enough of that.
"A writer?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah. Anyone can be a writer. Even a ninja."
"Me, a writer? Ha! That's funny. I'd like to say I'd try it out sometime, but I don't think there is going to be a sometime. A writer… huh?" She gazed into space for a minute, imagining her book on a bestseller's shelf in one of Tethe'alla's book stores. Sheena the novelist. It had a nice ring to it.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Genis pulled her from her reverie. "Get my backpack. There should be some paper and a pencil in it."
"Hehe. I don't think I could write that well. My destiny is to be a warrior, so I don't think it'll turn out that great." She laughed nervously, but took the supplies out of his bag anyway. She grabbed one of his books to bear down on as well. Just out of curiosity, she looked at the title. "The Basics of Magic." She read aloud.
"I've read that stupid books so many times I could recite it to you by heart."
"Um… no thank you." Sheena sweat-dropped as she looked at the huge two inch and a half thick tutorial book. "I'll be fine." Looking to change the subject, she asked. "So you're a mage huh? Couldn't you heal yourself? If you're out of mana I've got some orange gels."
"No, no." He told her. "I'm a black mage. My magic wouldn't do us any good."
"Oh." A tone of disappointment could be picked up in Sheena's voice. Her hand stayed itself over the beige paper in her lap as her brain struggled to find words to print. A mental click sounded, and she knew just what to write. It was ingenious. Her back hunched over as her fingers scribbled the pencil across the blank page before her, filling it up with gray writing.
"What are you writing?" Genis asked, thoroughly curious as to what the ninja woman was writing. A sharp pain ripped through the middle of his chest, but he held back his cry of pain. He didn't want to interrupt her creative flow.
"Ah, just a little something to be remembered by." She waved it off as if it were no big deal.
"Read it to me." Genis ordered.
"What?" Sheena blushed. She really didn't want to read her piece to this kid.
"Please." He begged.
Sheena froze in her place, contemplating over reading her paper to him.
For once in about four hours, Genis forced his blood encrusted eyes to open. Some grains of said blood fell into his watery irises, causing them to sting, but he kept pulling them open. He managed to pry them about halfway open, and his eyes allowed him to see the silhouette of the woman's body.
"It'll probably be the last written piece I'll ever read, erm, hear." He concluded.
"Uh… Well then I uh… Here we go." She pulled the page taut in front of her and began to read her chicken scratch writing.
To whomever is reading this,
If you are reading this, I am dead. A nice boy down here in this hell hole with me, loaned me this piece of paper to write on. Now, just a few things that I wanted cleared up now that I'm no longer amongst the living. One, all of my possession should go to my best friend, Corrine. Second, I leave all of my gear to the village of Mizuho. Third, no matter what that stupid Chos- "Man."Sheena corrected herself. says, NO he may NOT have my underwear for his own personal uses. I would very much appreciate it if you conferred these messages for me. I'll make sure to do something for you from the afterlife.
Thanks,
Sheena Fujibayashi
Sheena sat in an awkward silence and…
"Ha ha hah ha haha!! Ha… ha… *cough* *cough*" Genis hacked and laughed in response. "You wrote a will? Hah ha… ah…" He calmed himself down.
"Well, what else am I going to write when I'm about to die?" Sheena tried to defend her reasoning, but she knew it was useless to do so. Really, her idea was kind of morbid.
"Anyway, it was still funny. Thank you." Genis could barely nod his head in gratitude.
"You're… thanking me?"
"Yeah."
"For what?"
"For giving me one last chance to laugh before…" He didn't say the word. It was just too hard. He desperately told his mind to stray from thoughts of his life before. It was just easier that way.
"It was pretty funny." Sheena blushed as she laughed. "So…" Her eyes picked at the room or something to do. "Hey!"
"What?!" Genis mocked being excited, making an exaggerated gasp before asking 'what'.
"Psh." Sheena prodded his side gently. "Don't be a brat."
"Sorry, it's just in my genes."
The girl rolled her eyes and continued with her idea. "I bet you I could work some of my limited healing arts on you!"
"Ninjas have healing arts?" He asked, not entirely believing her.
"Limited." She corrected. "But, there's nothing to do but try." She stated.
"True." Genis nodded. "Well then, hit me with your best shot."
And then there was darkness.
That was all Delia knew as her consciousness was thrust into a pitch black oblivion as void of light as a cypress swamp at midnight.
Delia. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Very good. Now listen here. I am your master now.
Master?
Yes master. Whatever you do will be within the margins I set for you. You are now my slave. And, as my first order, I demand that you leave your group as soon as possible.
Leave?! But, I don't want to-
Enough! Did I as what you wanted.
No.
No what?
No master.
Good little puppet. Now, do be a dear and wake up for me would you. I do enjoy my privacy.
Your privacy?
Yes. I live in your mind. In your realm of subconscious. The only time you can hear me thoroughly is when you sleep. This hearing also includes my thoughts. So, be good little minion and wake up.
Yes… Master…
Against his better judgment, Kratos,
Jumped in the ditch himself.
It wasn't like he was going to get hurt by a couple of pathetic snakes. The penalty of not using his wings though, would be major wounds to both Aurora and Delia from the agitated snakes. In one smooth motion he scooped Aurora and Delia up, and after bending his legs as far as they would allow, he propelled all of them out of the ditch.
To Aurora, this was all just a blind tumble. Up was down, and down was up. All she sensed was her body being tossed around like a ragdoll, and her stomach not agreeing one bit. When all of the confusion finally stopped, she felt herself positioned between Delia and the floor. In mere seconds after her mind cleared, Delia was lifted off of her and a sharp, unbearable stinging sensation paralyzed her arm. Kratos had taken the liberty of detaching a few clingy snakes that found their teeth's way into their flesh, and then using his strength to deftly rip them in half. Aurora let out a short shriek with every snake removed. After about five snakes, she grabbed Kratos' hand.
"No more. Please." She begged. Tears made wet stains down her cheeks. "It hurts."
"I cannot help it. This has to be done, or you and Delia will be dead within the hour." Kratos continued his work with the woman's hand still upon his wrist. Before she could begin to protest, he jerked another serpent jaw out of her shoulder. Her hand clenched tighter around him as she screamed again. Kratos' face twisted in discomfort at her extremely loud screaming. Angelic hearing could be a pain sometimes. "Aurora, you have to calm down." The angel shook his head.
"I c-can't" She told him, her sporadic gasps interrupting the sentence. Her chest rose and fell a lot more quickly than any normal humanoid's should. Maybe it was just his imagination, so Kratos pushed that thought on the backburner.
With one last yank, the final snake was ripped free of Aurora's flesh, and Kratos could finally feel the ringing in his ears cease.
With that done, thank the goddess, Kratos went over to the unconscious Delia and began to remove the squirmy reptiles from her. Of course, he was a little more delicate this time, since she was a child. He was just grateful she was asleep. His ears were through for the day. But, his relief was short lived as the girl woke up with a start. And boy, he thought Aurora's screams were bad.
Like a raving mad mother bear, Aurora sprang into action and knocked Kratos clear into the wall.
"Get away from her!" She snarled at him. The mercenary blinked, dazed for a second, not quite believing that Aurora just knocked him away like that. The woman then turned to Delia and began to feel for the snakes herself. When she located one, her fingers tried to carefully pry open the jaws of the animal, but only succeeded in having latch off of her self imposed charge and onto her hand. She whimpered in pain, but continued to repeat the same process for another serpent. Yet again, it willfully let go of Delia to clamp its mouth onto Aurora.
Kratos, more annoyed than dazed now, seized Aurora's bleeding hand. His hand closed around the three snakes she had already pried off and pulled them all out along with some of the now writhing woman's flesh. She gasped and whimpered like a mutt left alone, abused in a pound. Kratos shook his head, as if he blamed this all on her stupidity, and began to work on Delia once more. Aurora turned onto her side to face Delia and Kratos. With her good hand, she weakly attempted to push Kratos away, but to him, it only felt like a warm breeze. It seemed like her screams would never stop, but after five minutes of forever, Kratos finished.
Now both Delia and Aurora were whimpering in pain. Kratos rolled his red eyes as he plucked the snakes that were on him. They didn't get their teeth very far into his rock hard muscles though, and it served as no obstacle for the Seraph. He 'pft'ed and helped the other two to their feet. Aurora refused at first, trying to stand by herself. After doing about half a push up her shredded hand sent a shock wave of pain through her arm causing her to collapse. Kratos reached for her, but once again, she waved him off with her well hand.
"Don't tell me I have to carry you again." Kratos muttered to himself.
She twitched, and then went for another go around. This time, she got on her knees and went on the verge of collapse until Kratos caught her under the shoulders. He very easily pulled her up and she swayed a bit. Kratos helped steady her by gripping her waist and holding her body in place. His hands felt like they were put next to a fire after being in a blizzard for an hour. He swallowed and then very cautiously let go, letting his gloved hands linger in the space around her in case she were to fall.
"I'm f-fine." She stuttered. "Where's Delia."
Kratos turned and picked up the once again unconscious girl, and showed her to Aurora. Aurora reached for her, but he took her back.
"Not until I bandage your hand." He stated.
Aurora sighed and shakily held out her mutilated hand. Even Kratos grimaced at her hand. He'd seen bad wounds, but this one went right to the bone. And that wasn't all. He did this to her.
He took an unsure breath and began to work. He took off one of his gloves and tore one end so that it seemed to depict two hands without fingers, and gingerly began to wrap it around the woman's trembling hand. She winced and her mouth parted slightly and quickly, letting a small cry escape. He tried to hurry and end her pain, but it only made the process hurt her worse. Her lips trembled, trying to contain the energy that would otherwise be used for crying. Kratos finished and quickly tied the two thumbs together to keep his makeshift bandage stay in place.
"Thank you." Aurora said.
Kratos head snapped up and looked at her in disbelief. "You're… thanking me?" It was the only time Kratos ever had double took on something.
She swallowed nervously. "Y-Yeah." She sat there with her lips pursed letting seconds tick by. "And- I-…" She paused.
Kratos raised an eyebrow to prompt her to go on, even though she couldn't see the gesture.
"I…" Her head then shook violently from side to side. "Never mind. It was nothing."
This spiked Kratos' interest, but he didn't push any further, expecting that whatever she needed to say was trivial to the task at hand.
"If that's all, then we must go on and search for the others.
"Right." She nodded in agreement. "Could you give me Delia?" She asked.
Kratos turned from her and picked up the child which he gently placed in Aurora's outstretched arms.
"Thank you." Aurora expressed her undying gratitude. "For saving Delia." She clarified after receiving a silence as a response.
"You're… welcome." Kratos said after a pause, and the way it was emphasized on the end made it sound more like a question than an answer.
Just what had changed in her to make her more agreeable? He couldn't say. Maybe it was because he saved Delia. The girl was immensely precious to the woman.
"Raine! Help!" Colette cried as she was cornered by a giant, electric blue bird. Otherwise known as the guardian of the seal. Lloyd was doubled over, panting in the corner after taking a sharp blow to his stomach from the bird's razor-like claws. Even the Professor herself was worn out from casting healing spells left and right. Dark circles had formed bags under her glassy eyes as she judged how to use the last of her remaining magic. All of the items they had brought were spent, so using an item was out of the option. She sighed and hoped for the best as she used her remaining strength to cast one last nurse.
"N-Nurse!" She called weakly, and glowing blue spirits in the forms of people danced around the group and replenished a small amount of their strength.
Colette tried to shout an appreciation, but the flying beast caught her off guard and knocked her off the side of the pyramid shaped ruin. Her squeals could be heard as sparkly pink wings thrust out of her back.
Lloyd straightened his spine and with a grunt of desperation, ran back into the fray. Even an idiot such as Lloyd could realize that this may very well be the end of their journey.
But then he realized what would happen if they did fail at this seal.
His dad, Noishe, Genis, the Professor, Aurora, Delia… Colette… They would all…
"No!" He screamed in defiance. "This ends here." And with a weak war cry, Lloyd ended the bird's existence with a plunge of his sword through its chest. With an unearthly shriek, the bird began to spasm uncontrollably, and started to thrash about, crashing to the floor. In one swoop of its wing, though, it swiped the whole left side of the roof clear off the face of the mausoleum. Rocks, pillars, and all.
Even Raine.
She didn't have enough time to scream as her back hit something rock hard, knocking her clear out.
"Professor!" Lloyd shouted. Tears sprang to his eyes. "Professor!" He rushed to the edge to peer down the side, and much to his relief, he saw Colette carrying Raine, safe and secure in her arms. Colette then flew, almost floated to the ground.
"Thank goodness the Professor's alright." She sighed. "I don't know what I'd do without her." Real, genuine, relief could be seen in the young angel's eyes. And that made Lloyd happy. As long as she was happy, he was, and at that moment, it served them both well.
A high pitched ringing started to sound which caused the swordsman to turn around. In the middle of the floor was a giant, glowing, green ring about the size of a house.
"What's that?" Lloyd asked in curiosity more than in fear.
"I don't know." Colette said, even though it was kind of obvious.
Aurora cradled Delia against her chest as she walked down the hallway with Kratos. They'd spent most of the time in silence after Aurora thanked Kratos. Inside his mind, the Seraph was still trying to figure that one out.
It was probably just because you saved Delia. That's all. There is no need in getting worked up about her. It was a simple "Thank you." Those kinds of things happen all of the time. She's owed you one many times already, so there's no surprise she did it then, when it was just the two of you. Why do it in front of the others? To them, that was uncharacteristic of her. It's uncharacteristic to you. No, no… maybe not that uncharacteristic. Maybe she lik- no. No, she shows complete resentment of your existence entirely. It's best just to ignore her. Maybe she'll leave you alone. Or, maybe she'll push harder. Then again, that might not be so bad. It would then be easy enough to manipulate her, maybe into a seemingly accidental death. Set up a trap and take a walk with her through some woods. No, a mercenary would be too well trained to miss a trap. Maybe blame it on a pack of wild animals that "attacked" you. No, a pack of animals doesn't stand too much of a chance against trained warriors. Hm… Ah! Blame it on Ryudo. No… no… that man doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Aurora.
Nothing short of a fire brewed in the pit of his stomach.
"Are you okay?" Aurora asked.
"Am I what?" Kratos accidentally snapped at her.
She drew back, almost frightened of him for a second, but more frightened for Delia than herself. She was no fool, she knew the man was very skilled at his job, and he didn't want Delia to be around anyone upset and with a sword. Her upper body twisted more, just getting the balled up little away from the seething angel.
" I-I- You just seemed a little tense." Her voice cracked. "I'm sorry if I bothered you."
"No. No." He assured her. "I was just thinking about some… things… that's all. It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry for that outburst." He apologized.
"It's alright." She warily turned her body to face the front again.
Then Delia seemed to wake up, screaming at the top of her lungs, and grabbing at Aurora in search of safety.
"Aurora! Make him go away. Make him go away! Please! It hurts! Make him stop!" The child thrashed about in the woman's arms, and mistakenly kicked her bad hand. She instinctively jerked her hand away from the source of the pain and tried to shelter it, but only knocked it against Delia once again, and this time she screamed herself. Of course, Delia was too heavy for just one arm, and she started to slip and fall to the hard, unforgiving, stone floor.
Kratos quickly snatched her from the floor's grasp with one arm, and caught Aurora's unstable body in the other. So now, Delia was secure under his armpit as if she were a package, and his other hand braced Aurora's back so she didn't fall either. Involuntarily, he pulled her close to his body, and her heat was almost irresistible.
And before anything else could ensue, they were all enveloped by a warm green light.
In a giant poof of sparkles and dust, everyone who was in/trapped inside the temple, magically reappeared with their other companions. Genis was sprawled on the floor in all of his gangly and bloodiness, and Sheena to his right with a crumpled piece of paper in her hand. Kratos was now sitting down with Aurora laying belly up on his lap and Delia to his left, who which, was still screaming like a maniac, and maybe she was one. Aurora came to her senses and quickly sat up. Having all of the heat near his crotch suddenly disappear made Kratos shudder.
But, the first thing that registered in everyone else's mind was a shrill cry of "Genis!"
The professor rushed to her brother's side and began casting numerous spells, some of which didn't even pertain to curing physical damage, only status ailments. Despite her bout of mana deprivation a moment ago, she seemed to be going strong now. Genis looked in much better health after five minutes.
Lloyd and Colette had went to meet Kratos and they all went to interrogate the ninja assassin that was near the siblings.
"Why were you with Genis? Did- Did you do this?!" Lloyd suddenly became hostile to the heavily endowed woman.
"No! Of course not!" She frantically waved her hands in front of her body in a "No way!" gesture.
"I swear if you did this-"
"Lloyd, calm down." Kratos put a restraining hand on the boy's shoulder. "Rushing into things could get everyone into trouble. There's no need in jumping to conclusions too early." The mercenary said, and much to Lloyd's dismay, he was right.
"You're always right." Lloyd mumbled.
"Of course I am." Kratos smirked.
'Of course I am' Lloyd mouthed silently as he mocked the red head by making funny faces. Kratos just rolled his eyes and released Lloyd's shoulder.
"I'm glad to see how mature you have become on this journey."
"Hey!" Raine interrupted "While you two were arguing, Colette is over there having a nice chat with her assassin!" The teacher's cheeks were flushed in anger that put fear into even Kratos' heart. They both quickly rushed to the two chatting girls.
"Oh. Hi Lloyd!" Colette smiled. "This is Sheena."
"That's your assassin!" The swordsman looked shocked.
"She's not so bad when you get to know her." The oblivious blonde cocked her head to the side in a cute, puppy-dog fashion.
"Well, if Colette says you aren't that bad…"
"Still be on your guard." Kratos advised him.
"I don't need you to advise me!" Lloyd frowned at his better.
"I'm afraid you still need guidance." He stated.
"You're statements mean nothing!"
"Yes they do. You clearly need guidance. You rush into things too often, and then when you think everything is fine after two minutes of evaluation, you completely let your guard down. A shameful way for a swordsman to act." Kratos lectured.
"I don't need to be lectured!"
Genis raised his head. "Lloyd, you don't even know what a lecture is, where did that come from?"
"From the words in the sky there." Lloyd pointed a finger to the sky, where, indeed, black letters were written on pages of clouds.
"CUT!"
*Crowd cheers as the revered DragonLady24 steps out of one of the clouds.*
"Lloyd…" I sighed, then pause to smile for one of those sneaky paparazzi camera's. "How many times do I have to tell you not to refer to the narration?"
"Uh…"
"That's what I thought. Now keep your eyes in front of you, and not in the sky. You have a person to protect. Looking up here just distracts you."
"NO! Not from you too."
"Yes, from me. I'm the creator of this story, I can do whatever I want. So, hop to it. This chapter's about wrapped up."
*Goes back into the sky and the crowd dies down.*
'Hop to it' Lloyd mocked.
*Pops giant head back out of cloud.*
"ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!?!?"
"…Meep…"
"That's what I thought."
*Returns to the wonderful land of author-dom.*
"Uh… okay…" Sheena sat there wide eyed. "Does… that happen often?"
"Only to us." Genis said sarcastically as he sat up.
"Hey…" Colette interjected. "Where's Delia and Aurora."
Off to the side, Aurora was bent over a spastic Delia.
"Delia honey, tell me what's wrong." Aurora had her hands on the child's shoulders. Tears were streaming down both faces like running faucets. Delia was trying to communicate something, but it was lost in her constant gurgle of crying fits. The rest of the group rushed to their sides. "Delia, Delia please! What's wrong? You have to stop crying like this."
"You've got to stop crying like this." Genis remarked.
"What's wrong with her?" Sheena furrowed her brows, genuinely concerned for the child's health.
"I-I don't know. S-s-she goes to sleep, a-and then wakes up. And every time she w-wakes up, she c-cries. Someone please. Help her p-please." Aurora stuttered through her cries.
"Move." Raine pushed everyone aside except Aurora. She tried, but the woman obstinately refused to leave Delia's side. Colette sat beside the woman and tried to soothe her while Raine came up with a diagnosis.
"M-make… go…voices…AH!" Delia was in a bad fit of delusion. Raine's heart sunk as she came to the realization that Delia may have schizophrenia. The only thing she could do for the time being was sedate her. She took a few herbs out of her side pack and crushed them as best as she could with her hands, and let the chunky powder pour into the girl's screaming mouth. Gravely, she turned to her companions.
"W-What's wrong?" Aurora asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"I-…" Raine paused, almost willing to lie to the group about Delia's illness, but then thought better of it. "I think, now remember I said think" She paused, letting that sink in for a moment. "That Delia has a severe case of… sc- schizophrenia." She stuttered.
"What?!" Aurora shrieked, causing poor Colette pain. "Schizophrenia! B-But she was fine, she was… before…"
"It may have been the stress put on her inside the temple." Genis spoke up. "I-I was in pretty bad shape after we managed to fight off some bird thingies inside the mausoleum. Anyway, she seemed determined to find you guys so that you could save me. I mean, that's a lot of pressure for an adult, much less a kid. And they do say that these kinds of diseases can lay dormant for long periods of time and appear when extreme stress or grief is added to the afflicted person."
"Woah. Kid's gotta brain." Sheena commented.
"Thank you…" Genis said, disheartened. This… this is all my fault. There's only one cure for schizophrenia.
"Is there a way to cure it? There must be! Please, please save Delia. She's… she's like my own child." Aurora begged at Raine's knees.
"Th-there's only one way to ease Delia's suffering." Raine's voice sounded more like a squeak.
"What? Anything!" Aurora was on her stomach, crying, pleading, and begging.
"To… to just, put her out of her misery."
"You… you don't mean?!" Aurora's voice was breathy.
"I- I'm sorry, but it's what's best for her." And with that, Raine took a tiny vial of poison from her hip pack.
Me: Don't fret dear readers. There is rhyme and reason to Delia's ailment. Not just that I want to torture her, not that I want to in the first place. But, let's lookie here…
Things accomplished:
1. Get a little more of Colette in the story because I think I've been ignoring her.
2. Focus on other characters and the relationships between them as well as keeping Kratos and Aurora in a major part of the story.
3. Let Genis LIVE!!!!!
4. Leave things all suspenseful-like. OooooOOOOOoooOoooooOo…
Things UN-… accomplished:
1. Incorporate a little more of Delia's new Master. (I think that will be fixed in the next chapter.)
2. More description. All the chapters could use better description.
Things I found funny while writing:
1. The thought of Colette cheating and Lloyd's reaction.
2. When writing all of Kratos' thoughts, you know, those long paragraphs in italics? Well, for some reason, I always put a British accent in there. And for some reason, it just won't go away. Oh! Wait! I know where it came from. Ah… Yes! That moody judge from American Idol. Simon Cowell! That's what it reminded me of. Lol, go back to those and insert Kratos' face and Simon's voice. LOL! At least to me it is.
Okay, this was a very long, and very painful chapter to write, both physically and mentally, so please pleasepleaseplease PLEASE! Review. I will be forever grateful. I worked as hard as I could to make this one review worthy, so please. And please go to the forum too! Maybe, you might persuade me to work on this some more instead of my new story A Past Stained Scarlet which is a Resident Evil fic. But, only if you show me that you wantmore of this story. Well, it's three o'clock in the morning, I guess I'd better get to sleep, even though I'm, not that tired. Lol. Anyway, Good night to you all, and I hope that this year of 2010 will bring much joy to you and I. Happy belated New Year!
