Ch. 29: Meltokio
Young: Hello again. :) Once again, i'm really tired, but on the other hand, I have my ToS game again and I'm done with school so...yeah...it's good news. What's up with you guys?
Lloyd: I'm excited for this story. However, because you are so tired, I remain unable to express my excitement.
Me: Ah..makes sense. Disclaimer?
Lloyd: Sure. Young doesn't own ToS or Namco.
Me: Onto the story...or something like that.
Lloyd awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed for some reason. His mind was strangely at ease, and he even felt a small flare of excitement breeding in his chest. They were going to Meltokio today, and according to Sheena, it was one of the biggest cities in Tethe'alla. He rolled up his sleeping bag and strapped it to Noishe's side.
"Hey Lloyd! Sleep good last night?" Genis questioned brightly as he walked over to Noishe and Lloyd and strapped his own sleep bag to the "dog".
"It was...okay. I actually slept, that's an improvement. How about you?"
"Genis, Lloyd! C'mon, we've gotta get moving." Raine called, strapping a bag full of supplies and other things on her back. She motioned for Lloyd to come over and said to him as he approached, "I want you to watch Colette today, alright?"
They had all decided to take turns to watch Colette as they traveled with the hopes that she might go back to normal. They all knew that it was highly unlikely, but still clung on to the small hope.
Lloyd nodded, showing that he had heard, and took the place next to Colette. He waved and smiled, hoping for a reaction, but her soulless red eyes just stared blankly ahead, awaiting their next action. He sighed and began to walk, following the others.
Sheena was in the lead, followed by Colette and Lloyd, then Raine and Genis. It was the battle formation they took up. Whoever was watching Colette would stand next to her and keep an eye on her during battle, the other "frontiersman" would be at the front of the formation, and the two magic casters would be at the back. Usually Sheena and Lloyd were the ones to watch the soulless angel.
"Watch out guys, monsters approaching!" Sheena shouted from the front, immediately pulling out her cards and charging the monsters. Lloyd responded by pulling out his swords, and charging after her. He noted that Colette had followed him, fighting off monsters from a distance with her chakrams. Genis and Raine began to cast from the back.
The battle lasted only a couple of minutes, and Lloyd found that he had moved much quicker than before. The openings in the monsters' defenses had become easier to see. Maybe it had something to do with the crystal. Shaking his head, he jogged to keep up with the retreating backs of his fellow party members.
"You've gotten stronger, Lloyd." Genis commented as the walked. They had exited the mountains a while ago and now were walking in the open. That fact alone made Lloyd extremely uncomfortable. They could be attacked at any moment.
"Really...?" Lloyd responded distantly. He was more focused on the fact that the mana had risen quite high since he'd last noticed. He'd been more preoccupied with other things when they'd first got here, and never really thought of it until now. It was an amazing feeling, to feel the life of the planet pulsing around him.
"Lloyd, look! I can see the city from here!" Genis was shouting now, pointing towards a distant, rather bumpy shape that had appeared on the horizon.
"The larger shape towards the back is the castle. That's were the king resides." Sheena commented, pointing towards a larger shape that outlined the city below it, "That is also where we must go to talk to him. If you were amazed by it from this far, wait until you actually get inside the place."
This only seemed to increase Genis' excitement, for he grinned wide and began to walk a bit faster, "I can't 'till we get there."
"Neither can I." Lloyd grinned to, feeling a bit better now that they began to walk through some trees. It was a thin forest, but a forest none the less. It provided cover from unwanted eyes. A good example of unwanted eyes? Angels of Cruxis. He never wanted to come into contact with those guys again, lest he loose control of himself.
"I wonder if they have a library there..." Raine mused, placing hand on her chin.
Sheena nodded enthusiastically, "A big one, in the castle. Although, I don't guarantee that you'll get to look around in it unless you get permission from the king. Also, they have a research facility there. I go there a lot."
"Ah...I'd like to go to this...facility. And perhaps visit this library sometime. I must have a talk with your king." Raine's eyes had a mischievous glint to them.
"Please don't blow anything up, sis. I don't want to have to get kicked out of there." Genis chuckled.
"How would she manage to blow something up in a library with basically no explosives?" Lloyd questioned, tilting his head. Genis laughed this time, placing his hands behind his head.
"Simple, because she's Raine." The smaller half-elf received a smack to the head for that comment. Raine glared at him for a moment before looking up as Sheena called,
"We're here!"
The group approached the large gates to the city with wide eyes. The gates themselves stood almost as tall as the Tower of Mana. They towered over the small group of travelers, the designs engraved in them only furthering their curiosity towards the city. Two guards stood at the door, their spears blocking the way. Lloyd watched as their eyes tracked the groups movements, watching them to make sure they wouldn't do anything "funny".
"We'd like to go in, please." Sheena said, pulling papers out of her pockets and showing them to the guards, who, in reply, nodded and moved their weapons. Sheena looked back to the group with a grin before pushing open the ginormous doors and revealing a street with buildings lining it that weren't much smaller than the doors. To the left was an item shop and a few houses, and to the right seemed to be the slums of the city.
"Wow..." Genis breathed, awed by the sheer size of the lower class district.
"I must be leaving you now." Sheena broke in, turning around to face the group, "I've got to go report to my chief. I'm sorry that I couldn't show you around more, but if you follow these stairs they'll lead you to the castle," She motioned towards the stairway behind her, "Here is a letter to the King. That should explain everything that's happened up until now."
"What about Colette? Surely they won't let her live. After all, she is the savior of the dying world." Raine stated, crossing her arms.
"I've already explained that in this letter. It should take care of all the loose ends, even you, Lloyd. I wish you all the best of luck and I hope that we can meet again soon." Sheena bowed slightly, handing the letter to Lloyd before walking past them. The sight of her retreating back made Lloyd sad for some reason. He would really miss having the ninja fight with them.
"Let's go guys!" Genis exclaimed excitedly. Truthfully he only wanted to explore the city, which he was sure he would be able to do after they met with the king.
A soft barking made the group turn their heads. A dog was running towards Colette, barking happily and wagging it's tail. On any normal occasion, Colette would've bent down and petted its head, naming it something like "Spot" before turning to the group to say how cute it was, acting as if they hadn't seen it. However, this wasn't a normal circumstance. Instead of petting it, Colette stared at it for a moment with blank eyes before delivering a kick to it's stomach and walking away.
Lloyd chuckled nervously, "She used to love dogs."
Just then a man appeared seemingly out of no where. Said man stared directly at Lloyd for a little before moving past him, muttering, "What an interesting group of people." Then, he was gone.
"C'mon, Lloyd, we've got to get moving." Genis called as he followed after Raine and Colette.
The brunette nodded and jogged to catch up with them, briefly wondering why no one else noticed the man. Shrugging, he walked next to Genis, examining the area around them. People strolled about, chatting. Children ran up to their mothers, pulling them towards the various shops that lined the streets. He chuckled, remembering his hometown, Iselia.
"Watch where you're going!" A nasally voice shouted.
Lloyd immediately looked in the direction of it, a hand on his sword. Colette had bumped into some girl. Said girl was surrounded by a bunch of other woman, and one man, who stepped forward as well, his abnormally long red hair swishing behind him.
"Now now, my honey, don't get upset. I'm sure this cute little angel here didn't mean to."
"Lord Zelos!" A blonde shouted, smiling.
"Excuse me, but we need to get through." Raine stated, crossing her arms.
The girl that Colette had bumped into scoffed, "How dare such a peasant speak to Lord Zelos! What a hag."
Zelos moved to block the girls from going at it, thus stepping closer to Colette, when he felt a hand on his arm. Glancing down, he saw the twin swordsman glaring at him, his eyes a murky red color, "Woah! Hold on a sec, I was just gonna-"
"I believe she said that we need to get through." Lloyd growled, not knowing what had come over him, but a small pain had erupted from the back of his neck right before he lost control. Something had moved his limbs without his commands, and it scared him.
"Alright, alright. Sorry." Zelos put his hands up and backed away, "Come ladies, let us continue." He motioned for the girls to follow, and they willingly did, squealing the whole time.
"What an ass." Genis huffed.
"Genis! Watch your language!" Raine shouted, smacking her brother's head lightly.
"Sorry, sis."
"So I'm assuming that that big building over there is the castle." Lloyd said, staring up at the literally gigantic building that loomed over them. Just up the stairs in front of it stood a pair of guards, who watched the group with their gaze, "I don't think those guards will let us through."
"Hmm, I suppose not." Raine agreed, "We could try, though."
The group, having all silently agreed to try going through the doors, began to walk through the crowd towards the castle. Something made Lloyd stop, however, and he looked towards a smaller building next to the castle. A small girl was exiting, her pink pigtails bouncing as she lugged a large log behind her.
"Wait, guys, look at that."
The rest of the group turned, seeing the girl as well.
"She's...kinda cute." Lloyd thought he heard Genis say.
"Maybe we could use her." Lloyd suggested, watching as a man walked up to her, spoke to her for a moment, before walking away again. His mind traveled back to the strange guy from earlier. What had he meant by "an interesting group of people"?
"Hurry up, Lloyd, or we're gonna leave you behind!" Genis stood a few feet in front of Lloyd, staring him in the eyes, "We've decided to ask that girl."
Lloyd nodded, and followed after the group.
Me: So...how was it? Half of this I wrote at like...three in the morning, so...yeah. xD I hope you enjoyed it and stuff.
Lloyd: I know I did. I was excited for it.
Me: So anyways, press that button. The one that's over there and says "review", okay? Thanks in advance.
