DISCLAIMER: I don't own, mm'kay?
Chapter 28
"Zelos, are you sure you know how to-" Genis began, only to get thrown to the side, right into Regal, as the Chosen of Mana made an incredibly sharp turn. The young boy apologized, glaring at the redhead's back. His sister sighed, stepping up to aide the Chosen in the right direction as well as tell him to either slow down or deal with the retribution. Needless to say Zelos slowed down to a more normal speed.
While they watched their four companions, Presea and Sheena resolved to keep to themselves. "Orochi mentioned it'd be fairly easy to find, right?" The Mizuhoan asked. "So what's taking that stupid Chosen so long to get us there?"
"Zelos...is lost."
At Presea's statement the rest of them turned all eyes onto the redheaded Chosen of Mana. "What?" Sheena demanded, a hand moving as if it wanted to slap the male on the back of his head but didn't since he was still driving. "Are you really lost?"
With a relaxed chuckle, Zelos maneuvered the modified EC around a tall dark group of rocks, a glowing blue light shining slightly behind them. Docking it, the redhead glanced momentarily towards his companions before starting off towards what looked like Orochi and a Renegade.
As he approached, the unofficial leader started to ask if the man beside the Mizuhoan was indeed a Renegade, but soon got an explanation: "Relax, Lloyd, he's one of our people who have infiltrated the Renegades. This is the easiest way to investigate the declining world." He gestured to the travelers. "Please, follow me."
Sheena and Orochi led the way in, making their way down the hallway and over to a room off to their right.
"What happened to Zelos?"
They all turned to look at Presea in surprise. "Huh? Oh, I guess you're right. He's gone."
Not even a moment later, said redhead appeared by Lloyd's side, grinning like he usually did. "Ah, I'm sorry to keep my wonderful hunnies waiting," his gaze fell upon the females as he spoke. "Were you lonely without me?"
"What were you doing?" Regal wondered, his tone normally calm. "Everyone was worried about you." At his statement a certain dark-haired ninja muttered something about "not everyone" missing the male Chosen.
Zelos shrugged. "I was just taking a quick look around the area. We wouldn't want to walk right into a trap, would we?"
With a soft sigh, Orochi told them he'd give them a brief explanation of the infiltration procedure since their entire group was finally present. According to his sources, they needed a pass code in order to get to the hanger in which the rheairds were stored.
Footsteps sounded as Lloyd and his friends finally reached the door to the hanger, having searched practically the entire place for it. Upon stopping before the doorway, a certain redhead sighed. "Man, you'd think Orochi and his pals could've at least given us a hint as to what the pass code was."
"Shut up, Zelos," Sheena snapped, not even bothering to look his way as Raine stepped forward to look over the lock.
The group was silent for what seemed like hours until the elder Sage sibling turned around happily. "It would seem we need a trio of phrases, each part entered into the correct spot on this pad on the wall, to form a sentence. Luckily, the creator clearly isn't as intelligent as he'd like to make himself seem to be. We have been given three choices for each phrase, but I suspect it won't be as easy as simply guessing as much as we like."
Regal's eyes narrowed slightly in comprehension. "I see. So it's likely we only have three tries before an alarm goes off." Raine nodded. "What are the choices for the first third of the code?"
Light blue eyes turned back to the key pad. " They are 'the power of', 'the light of', and 'the life of'."
"Well, let's just assume it's 'the life of' for now," Zelos commented off-handedly. "It's not like we're gonna get anywhere without randomly choosing one."
With a sigh, the white mage entered in the Chosen of Mana's suggestion. "Then I suppose if we're going to go with life, then only the option of 'mana is' fits for the second part."
Genis grinned proudly at his sister's logic. "Then how about 'the radiance of life' for the last third?" Zelos scoffed to himself, a muttered "yeah, sure, kid", causing the young mage to spin around to glare at him. "What, do you think I'm wrong?"
While doing his best to keep from smirking, the redhead waved his hand in circles between them. "Oh, not at all, brat," he responded, a small smile playing on his lips as he looked to Raine. "Go ahead, my cool beauty. We'll never know if it's right just standing here looking at it."
They all gave the Chosen of Mana an odd look for a moment before Raine entered in the final part of the pass code. It beeped twice, and then stopped. "It says the code is invalid."
At that a pair of light blue eyes widened while ones with a bit more green to them hid slightly behind a pair of eyelids. "But didn't it only say that to the last bit?" Zelos glanced to where Genis stood beside Lloyd. "Looks like you were wrong, twerp."
Suddenly, they all heard the sound of a gloved hand making contact with someone's forehead and all eyes turned towards the source. "What is it, Lloyd?" Presea wondered, voicing the question all of them wanted to ask but didn't.
The brunette looked as though he had previously been staring intently at the key pad's options before his action. "It's the other two choices for the last part. They're 'the foundation of the world' and 'the whispering of the tree', right?" He received a nod in response from most of his friends. "So if we assume the two beeps mean the first two parts are right, then since we have two more chances we'll be fine if there's only three options for the last bit."
". . . What is your suggestion then?"
Lloyd turned to look directly at Regal. "If 'the radiance of life' isn't right, then I think we should try 'the foundation of the world' next."
Everyone stared in shock. Lloyd was actually making a suggestion? That made sense, no less? The redhead chuckled to himself. "It seems the worlds are ending, Bud, you're actually thinking coherently."
The teen glared at his fellow swordsman. "Just enter in my idea, and if it doesn't work we're no worse off, right?"
"That's assuming you're right about the beeps there, Bu-hey! What're you doing listening to-?"
Since, as usual, most of the party ignored Zelos' words, Raine and Sheena had entered in Lloyd's suggested phrase. They waited silently, listening for the beeps that would signal the opening of the door.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
A soft click sounded, a message slowly showing up onto the screen of the pad. "Alright, let's go."
Upon entering, Lloyd and his companions saw the rheairds floating before them, but just as they were about to escape on them, the door slid shut; an echo resounding within the room. "So you've come, like moths to the flame!"
They half of their group turned towards the voice, Yuan coming into their view, while the others faced Botta who stood on the opposite side of the room. With a flat look, the one clad in red stared at the blue-haired half-elf. "Do you ever say anything original?"
Zelos chuckled. "You gotta admit," he began. "that line is seriously clichéd."
Dark blue eyes narrowed. "It's not cliche if-" He stopped himself, taking a small step back in hesitation with a short shake of his head. "I see your attitudes haven't changed at all." Yuan glared, raising his weapon as he got into a fighting stance. "But your impudence ends here! Prepare to die!" With that, he and his subordinate begun to attack with an onslaught of techniques.
Lloyd, Zelos, and Sheena ran towards Yuan while Presea and Regal took on Botta, leaving the Sages out of the direct fighting in order to efficiently cast their spells. Although soon, both Regal and Sheena got knocked unconscious which gave both the Renegades more time for their own casting.
"Stalagmite!" Botta called out, his attack making direct contact with the young black mage, successfully taking the boy out of the fight as well.
All of a sudden, in a flash of bright light, Botta along with Sheena and Zelos collapsed to the ground. Burn marks covered the Mizuhoan's skin while the Chosen's clothes were in tatters. Botta, however, looked to be more scorched by light than fire. This left Raine and Lloyd to face off against the blue-haired half-elf, the males eyes meeting temporarily before Yuan launched himself towards the teen in hopes of taking him out of the fight as well. Although he's promptly blocked by both of Lloyd's blades as he caught the swallow and swung down, causing all three weapons to make contact with the ground instead of either of them.
Blue eyes narrowed as Yuan decided to spin around the boy blocking his path and interrupt Raine's incantation, only to get knocked down by a Beast from Lloyd. The Renegade leader slowly got to his knees, a hand protectively covering his right side just below his ribs. "This is impossible! How could I lose…?" He muttered in disbelief, Botta finally recovering enough to rush to his superior's side. Raising his head, Yuan met Lloyd's gaze. "To think...you're Exsphere is really evolving…"
The boy was about to respond when ground began to shake. Taking the opportunity provided, Lloyd and his friends dashed over to the rheairds and took off. "Sir, this earthquake, could a mana link have been-?"
"It's possible. I want the cause of this earthquake investigated immediately."
Botta offers a hand to help the other get to his feet and remain stable, quite concerned for the fact the bluenette had a hand pressed against his side. "But, Sir, what about the rheairds?"
Yuan gave a half shrug, "Let them go. Our little friend can tell us where they are at any time."
Light blue eyes narrowed as their owner gazed down at a small screen in which he could see the Chosen of Regeneration being held within a glowing yellow sphere of light. Moments later, Lloyd and his friends came into view. The Chosen seemed to have told them to leave her, judging by the brunette's shaking head. He scoffed, "foolish sentimental humans."
Suddenly, a half-elven man appeared between the travelers and their trapped companion, causing everyone to react surprised in some way, shape, or form; including the one watching the events unfold. "Rodyle…." the blond muttered angrily. "What does he think he's doing?" He turned away, a knock on the door catching the angel's attention. "Come in."
Moments after the door opens, a certain auburn-haired Seraphim walked steadily into the room, the door closing behind him. "You wished to see me, Lord Yggdrasill?"
The blond nodded, a small smile playing about his lips. "Yes, Kratos. I wanted to talk to you about your next orders."
Kratos' visible eyebrow rose slightly. "Next orders?" He repeated, sounding only the slightest bit confused. "I have yet to complete the last set you-"
"Silence," Yggdrasill commanded. "I want you to contact our friend and see how his mission is coming. He hasn't contacted me in a while and I want to make sure he stays on track." He received an understanding nod in response before the Seraphim turned to leave. "Oh, and Kratos." Said swordsman turned back to meet the young boy's gaze. "Don't worry about your son, he's fine for now." However soothing he meant those words to be, Kratos took them the exact opposite way. Once he was alone once again, Yggdrasill turned back to watch the group as they fought against a winged dragon and it's pair of young, one of the baby dragons already down for the count. He looked around at them all, one at a time, trying to put names to faces and remember them. Genis and Raine Sage, half-elven siblings from Sylvarant. Presea Combatir, young Tethe'allan craftsman and woodworker who's one of the successful hosts involved in the Angelus Project. Colette Brunel, the Chosen from Sylvarant and current Chosen of Regeneration. Sheena Fujibayashi, summoner and failed assassin from Mizuho. Duke Regal Bryant, President of the Lezerano Company and former convict for the crime of murder. Zelos Wilder, Chosen of Mana and known womanizer. Lloyd Irving- that thought caused the blond to pause for a moment and scoff. Irving? He sighed. "I suppose I'll have to play along with that for now." Lloyd Irving, human from Sylvarant who seems to be bent on getting in the way: son of Kratos.
"No, it's too late!" Colette cried out as the light beneath her prison began to spread out in all directions.
In what seemed to be an act of trying to figure out the unknown, the question of "what is this ominous light that threatens to engulf us?" was asked by none other than Regal.
"It's Colette! The mana from Colette's body is flowing out towards us!" Genis explained, clearly not listening to the entirety of the former convict's words. "But, why can't we move?"
Lloyd instantly looks directly at the trapped blond. "Colette! You've gotta get out of there!"
The Chosen of Regeneration's gaze fell to the floor, a foot shuffling as best it can while connected to the ground be means of metal chains. "I can't…I'm chained to it. I'm sorry, I…I can't move. I'm really sorry." As she spoke, Colette's tone steadily became more and more somber and even a little self-hate began to mix into it as well. "I'm just a Chosen who couldn't even save her friends, much less the world. Maybe I'm just like Rodyle said, 'a pathetic Chosen'. I can't do anything…"
"No, Colette, don't delude yourself." Presea responded evenly. "You haven't done anything wrong. What's wrong is this system that demands the sacrifice of the Chosen..." She slowly made her way closer to the barrier, struggling to raise her ax and bring it crashing down atop the translucent wall. Upon contact, a surge of energy flowed back through the young girl's weapon and into her, causing her to cringe in pain and drop to the ground in seconds. At the same time Colette's prison broke down and disappeared into nothingness.
All of a sudden, the entire floating island began to shake. "Whoa, what the hell's with the ground?"
"Forget about that, Zelos, we've gotta get out of here!"
"Lloyd, I-" Colette started, still slightly hesitant to get onto a rheaird.
Said brunette turned to her with a confidant grin. "You have to live." To which she nodded and proceeded to follow him over to one of their red rheairds.
The group of traveling misfits immediately take off, the island soon crumbing to bits and falling into the sea below. Leading the way to the closest piece of land were Regal and Raine, each piloting their own rheaird, along with Presea and Genis as two of their seven rheairds had been damaged upon finding where Colette had been taken. Upon landing, Raine immediately stores the rheairds into their wing pack as soon as her companions get off of them. Her blue eyes shift from the pack to each of those around her, her expression clearly concerned. "Is everyone alright?" They all nodded in response, the red-haired Chosen sounding as melodramatic as usual.
"I'm glad no one is harmed, but why did this Rodyle kidnap the Chosen of Regeneration?" Regal wondered, having either forgotten that Colette had asked not to call her by her title or didn't think using such a casual name at the time was appropriate. Silly convicts, fancy things are for nobles.
But, nevertheless, Colette answered in her usual polite way and didn't bring up her previous request. "He said he needed a Cruxis Crystal in order to control the Mana Cannon," she explained, a hand slowly rising towards the crystal near her neck. "...but apparently, mine didn't work."
Lloyd titled his head to the side, obviously confused. "Wha? Mana Cannon?"
"If you recall, Pietro also spoke of something called the 'Mana Cannon'."
Just then, as Raine finished what she was saying, Genis tugged lightly on his sister's sleeve. "Hey, Sis, Presea's up." Despite his news, the young mage wasn't excited at all. His eyes were shining with happiness and you'd have to have been blind to not have noticed the grin upon his face. So, no, he wasn't the slightest bit excited that Presea was finally awake. Not. At. All.
He and Colette hurried over to the pink-haired girl's side. "Colette…" Ice blue eyes looked up at the blond in concern, not for her own welfare but Colette's. "...are you okay?" A single 'yes' in return sends a rush of happiness from one female to the other. Presea then smiled. "I'm glad."
Her expression results in multiple reactions. Most were simply happy to finally see Presea express some sort of emotion, while Regal brought his hands up to speculate pensively. "...She resembles her, just as I thought."
"Oh? Resembles who, pops?" The blue-haired male turned his gaze towards the Chosen if Mana for a moment before deciding to ignore his question entirely. With a shrug, Zelos looked around at his companions. "I'd say now's a good time we think about the next step. Where to next?"
Sheena glanced around the area for a few quick moments. "Well, judging by where we are, I'd say Gnome should be next. His temple should be just North of here."
With that they all set off, Sheena's navigation skills eventually taking them to the entrance of a fairly lit cave. "Hey, guys, don't you think we should, oh I dunno, rest a bit?" Most of the group completely ignored Zelos, but both Presea and Lloyd paused to look back at the redhead with questioning looks. "Well, our darling angel just got back from who knows what kind of adventure with that creepy Rodyle guy and the little rosebud only just woke up from fainting. Don't you think we could slow things down a bit?"
Figuring it should be up to Colette and Presea, Lloyd dashed up to Raine and Sheena's side. "Hey, maybe Zelos' right. Wouldn't it be better if we stopped and regrouped a bit before facing Gnome?"
Silence fell over the eight of them as the rest of the group considered the idea. "I suppose it would be a good idea," Raine conceded, gaze shifting to the one who had suggested it. "I have been wanting to speak with you privately for a while." She strode towards Zelos, stopping a two feet in front of him, her face devoid of any clues as to what she was thinking. The redhead shrugged, nonverbally accepting her offer, then turned and walked casually into the forest to wait. "As always, Regal, I expect the minors to be asleep by ten." After receiving an affirming nod, she too turned and strode into the woods to have a talk with Zelos.
"So, my gorgeous beauty, what is it you wanna talk about?" The Chosen of Mana was currently leaning his shoulder against the trunk of a tree, arms crossed lazily across his chest, clearly at ease. "Perhaps it's my unrivaled brilliant ideas, my sense of proper actions in dire situations, my amazing-"
"Casting abilities."
Blue orbs widened for a moment before relaxing again, a hand coming up to brush a stray strand of red hair back behind a rounded ear. "Whatever do you mean?" He smirked. "Surely you've noticed that you and the midget can cast far more advanced spells than I'm capable of. What makes you think that I'm possibly-"
Raine took a step closer, the hand that held her staff tightening its' grip as she moved. "Right before we defeated Volt, I saw a member of our party cast one of the spells I've only read about being performed. Do you happen to know any spell that binds its target in chains of light?"
"Well, there's that one darling Colette uses, right?" Zelos replied, still seeming not to know what she was talking about. "Oh, but those are feathers, not chains. Hmm . . . Ohhhhh…" All of a sudden, it apparently dawns on him. "You mean when I cast Shining Bind?" A nod. "Well, that's one of the techniques a special guy like the Chosen of Tethe'alla learns. You know how I can cast spells like First Aid and Eruption, right? Well, Shining Bind's just another of the ones I learned way back when. If I remember correctly, my teacher mentioned something about being unsure wether or not to show it to me, but in the end he did." The Chosen rose his gaze to stare directly at Raine's eyes. "That's all I know of it, honest."
She speculated for a moment, processing all the information she just received and that of which she had read. "So you were unaware such a technique is considered to be one that only angels can perform?"
Zelos stepped back slightly, shifting his weight off the tree as his eyes noticeably widened in surprise. "Really?" A grin made its way onto his face. "Whoa, check me out! The Great Zelos Wilder can use angel spells!" He paused for a second, appearing to think. "Wait, does this mean I could ask my precious little angel to teach me Angel Feathers and Judgement?" The entire time his expression continued to get even more excited as he let his true emotions show through for once. "Yes!" A fist shot into the air along with the shout. He then came down from his excited high and wrapped both arms around Raine. "Thank you so much for mentioning that. I thought it was just a really awesome spell, but I guess having someone way more intelligent than you on your side helps, huh?"
Raine simply stood in shock as the young adult spouted off his happy gibberish, eyes widening at the reaction she got from merely telling him one of his spells was an angel technique. It still didn't explain to her how he could cast in the first place, but due to his enthusiasm she figured that could wait for another time. She detached herself from his grasp and turned, walking back to camp. "Zelos, don't ask Colette about that for now. Wait until she has rested and is at full strength, understand?" With nothing but an "okay, okay, I won't" to satisfy her, the half-elven white mage made her way through the trees and back to their friends.
Slowly, Zelos' grin disappeared and his head fell forwards in relief. "I can't believe she bought that crap."
"Neither can I."
Immediately the Chosen's spine straightened completely, head jerking up as he turned around to come face to face with one of the Four Seraphim. "Aw, man, can't you greet people like a normal person? You almost scared me half to death thinking Raine had come back." A hand rose and settled over his rapidly beating heart. "Goddess, Kratos, what the hell?"
"That's Lord Kratos, to you, Chosen."
The younger of the swordsmen sighed lightly, the hand not over his heart raising just above his waist and began to draw circles in the air. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What is it you want?"
"Lord Yggdrasill has informed me you haven't reported back in a while and would like to know what the cause of your delay is." Kratos' words clearly amused the redheaded human, for he began chuckling that soon turned into a slightly uncontrollable laugh, resulting in the angelic male raising an eyebrow. "Do you find something amusing?"
Zelos nodded, still trying to soften his laughter. "Sure do. Why's he sending you to deliver this message instead of some other angel?"
His elder simply stared emotionlessly for a moment. "I do not question Lord Yggdrasill's decisions, and neither should you. It would do well for you to remember who is planning on releasing you from your duties."
With a scoff, the redhead crossed his arms across his chest in a gesture to imitate the Seraph's posture. "Oh, you mean like you will once all this is over? You who will have nothing else to live for?" He smirked, seeing the small change in Kratos' expression to go from stoic to surprised. "Yeah, didn't think I knew that, did you? Even after this, all you're gonna be is Yggdrasill's little-"
"Lord Yggdrasill, Chosen," Kratos interrupted only to get ignored.
"Yggdrasill's little pet for the rest of your life. How's it make you feel to know people see your life as a joke, huh? Well, for me it's pretty self-satisfying, but I can be sure you can't say the same. You're worth anything to him because you're alive. He doesn't care if you're happy. Hell, I doubt he cares if anyone but his precious Martel is happy. All he-agh!" Zelos' rant got cut short by a fist ramming into his stomach, coming up slightly into the space between his arms and his body.
"That's enough." Now visibly angered, Kratos stepped back and recrossed his arms, slowly recovering from his outburst of emotion. "Report in more often and I won't have to come down here to remind you. And next time, I won't be as lenient." With that, he unfurled his wings and took off, leaving the Chosen alone.
A smirk slowly came to him as he oddly found a source of amusement in all of it. "Seems he taught the kid more than just swordsmanship."
The next morning, they packed up camp and set off into the cave only to see a few over-grown stalactites had reached floor level and were blocking their way. All of a sudden, the one with ADD noticed a very shiny piece of machinery off to the group's left and decided to go over to it. His friends wander over, most of the Tethe'allans mildly interested in the structure since there had been ones in Volt's temple as well. "Yo, Bud, what's the effect?"
The Sorcerer's Ring glowed for a moment before the ground beneath them started shaking slightly. "Another earthquake?" Genis wondered, only to be shot down by his sister.
"Highly unlikely. It's more possible the Sorcerer's Ring than anything else this time."
They proceed further into the temple, and after Lloyd uses the Sorcerer's Ring to get rid of the rocks in their way, eventually came to a bridge that connected their seeming solid ground to merely a path made out halved stalactites. "Be careful every-"
"Hey! You losers can't just barge in here!"
At the voice, everyone looks around for a moment before down at the small creature standing between the bridge and them.
"What's this thing?" Lloyd wondered, clearly having forgotten the conversation they had in the Toize Valley Mines about the Gnomelette they had met there.
The Gnomelette frowned. "Who you callin' a thing, huh?" It raised it's tiny hands in front of it, both of them in fists. "You wanna fight?"
. . . What? Each and every traveler was looking at the Gnomelette like it had gone just a bit too far off the deep end. Uh...yeah.
Regal then stepped forward. "We have business further on ahead. Would you be willing to allow us to pass?"
There was a brief pause and then a shrug from the Gnomelette. "Well, Big Brother came back and all. So, yeah, sure, go on."
Colette smiled. "Thank you very much!"
"Aww, you don't have to thank me, hunny," the Gnomelette replied. Wait, is that a smirk on that midget? Yup, that it is. "You're making me blush."
His words cause every intelligent member of the team look back at Zelos for a moment. "Hmm, that sounds like someone we know…"
Said redhead stepped back in surprise. "Wait, what? That's what I'm like?" He questioned, clearly confused as to what Genis was talking about. "What a shock…" And, as per usual, the rest of them ignored the Chosen of Mana and continued on deeper into the temple. "H-hey…isn't anyone going to say something?"
Presea paused and turned to face him. "Zelos. I think you and that small child are different."
"Oh, Presea!" The redhead grinned, stepping closer to give her a grateful hug. Being who she is, she allowed the contact with a completely neutral expression.
That is, up until the point Regal came back for them and saw it. "Presea, not all questions require a response," he explained. "In this case, ignoring Zelos is fine."
"...I see."
The Chosen scoffed. "Yeah, like you're one to talk...from experience, am I right?" He looked up, to find himself all alone on the bridge. "Aw, man! Again? You have got to be kidding me, not even a murderer would ignore someone this much…not unless they really hated them." The redhead grinned to himself, quickening his pace to catch up with the rest of them. When he finally did, they were in the middle of a conversation with yet another Gnomelette.
"What are you babbling about?" The little creature wondered, his tone clearly wanting to start a fight. "What're you here for?" Regal stepped forward once more and tried to explain that all they wanted was to go farther into the temple in hopes this Gnomelette would be nicer than his brother. "You want me to just let you all through for free?" He scoffed. "The world don't work that way, kid."
Everyone exchanged looks. Kid? Regal was the oldest in their group, so just how old were these little guys, anyway? Lloyd sighed, muttering loudly. "You and your brothers look and act way too much alike, you know that?" He looked directly down at the Gnomelette. "So, what is it you want?"
"What is 'spicy' like? Does 'spicy' taste good? Gimme something spicy to eat and I'll let all you losers by!"
Once again they glanced around at each other for a moment before Genis had an idea. "Does he mean he wants to eat something spicy? Like maybe curry or something?"
The Gnomelette hopped once in clear excitement. "Oh! Yeah! That's good!" He shouted, looking directly at the young mage. "Feed me that!"
Genis' eyes widened. "Me?"
"I'll gladly make some curry for him if you don't want to, Genis, I-"
The boy immediately shook his head. "N-no, that's okay, Raine. I'm sure Zelos would love to do it instead."
Everyone turned to look at the mentioned redhead. "Wha? Why me?"
"Yes, I'd like to see how the Chosen fares in the kitchen."
Zelos turned on Regal. "Wh-wh-what? Is this pay back for hugging Pre-?"
"Yeah, Zelos. You do it." Genis agreed, his voice lowering a bit after he spoke. "We do want him to survive after all…" Unfortunately for him, his sister heard what he said anyway and got a slap on the back of his head for voicing his opinion of her cooking.
The Chosen of Mana sighed, his expression sad for a moment before a grin spread across his face. "Fine, I will, midget. Then you'll get to see just what the Great Zelos Wilder's cooking skills can do." He then proceeded to stride over to the bag in which the cooking supplies were kept, took out the necessary ingredients for curry, and began his assignment.
While he did so, the rest of the group decided it a good idea for them to settle down for a little while and simply rest even though they hadn't really gotten that far into the temple of earth. For the most part they're all fairly quiet, although Lloyd kept glancing over at the redhead as he cooked. Said brunette leaned closer to his best friend, eyes shifting from Zelos to the young mage and back a few times. "Is it just me, or does he look like he's actually concentrating on something for once?"
"You mean other than flirting?" Genis replied evenly. "Yeah, I'd say so."
Every so often, the Gnomelette wandered over to Zelos' side to ask him a question; to which the Chosen of Mana shook his head. And after maybe the fifth time this occurred, the entire group got startled from their comfortable quiet. "I said, no, damnit! It's not done yet you stupid little runt! Now get outta my way and stop bugging me or it'll never be done and you won't get to try it!"
Unlike the rest of them, Presea didn't allow herself to be silenced by the redhead's disturbance. Instead, one might think she took his frustration as a sign to annoy him even more. "Zelos...are you angry?"
He spun around on his heel to glare at the pink-haired girl. "No! I'm not!" With a huff Zelos returned to his cooking while a certain half-elven boy shot daggers at his back. Although it was clear to see that his movements were fairly more stiff than before when he wasn't so worked up. "Man," he muttered, mainly to himself. "He asks me to cook and then the little munchkin has to go and annoy the hell outta me and…agh...there." Zelos reached down and snatched the handle of the pan and removed it from the grate over the fire. He turned and forced a grin upon his face. Zelos gave the little earthen annoyance a small portion, expression still obviously not showing his true feelings at the moment. "Here. Try it."
"Oh! So this is 'spicy'!" Just like the Gnomelette they had met in the Toize Valley Mines, this one took the entire thing and ate it all at once. Although the steam clearly showed the curry was really hot, the Gnomelette didn't show any sign of registering that fact. He hopped on the balls of his shoed toes a few times, continuing to repeat "spicy" over and over again as he left them alone.
Said actions confused them all, Lloyd's face showing his reaction to the Gnomelette the most out of them all...even Colette hid her's better. "I guess he doesn't understand what spicy is."
A pair of blue-green eyes widened slightly. "W-well, it's not like I put all that much effort into it or anything anyway, so-"
"You were dripping with sweat," Presea commented.
Regal nodded in agreement. "Yes, Zelos, you appeared to be quite serious about making it. What with the way you lost your tem-"
"Alright, alright!" Zelos conceded, a gloved hand waving around in circles, his tone getting closer to how it had been minutes ago.
What not many noticed was a certain brunette sneakily dishing himself out a bit of the curry and trying it. "Wow, Zelos, that's good," he complimented. "I wasn't sure at first, but now I'd think it's a waste to just let that Gnomelette have it."
Almost immediately he was on the receiving end of what could have been a tackle if the redhead hadn't purposely tried not to knock Lloyd over. As he did, a happy cry of "Bud!" resounded throughout the area...only to have objections soon follow it from the teen in red.
"I can't believe you actually pulled that off!" A certain blond's laughter met slightly pointed ears as the older of the pair steered a small, exsphere powered boat. His companion continued to chuckle to himself, still trying to figure out how they were able to acquire a way across the sea. Light green eyes stared at his best friend in amazement, a wide smile upon his face. "I should have known I was dealing with someone intelligent. After all, how many people of our status do you know could get both a ship and a wing pack?"
"Just be glad you they weren't as strict about the rules as you can be, Aster," Richter replied, dark gaze focused on maneuvering their little vessel in the direction of the iciest continent in Tethe'alla, dodging obstacles with surprising ease. "If they were they would have asked who we were, where we were going to go, why we were going there, and most likely for a blood sam-"
"Okay, okay. Really, Richter, do you have to be so serious? We're the farthest away from Sybak either of us have ever been. Why not take the chance to have a bit of fun?"
The redhead sighed, slowing down to carefully stop at the practically completely snow-covered dock. Richter followed his friend off the boat, putting it into their newly acquired wing pack once he too was on solid ground. "Well, which way to Flanoir?" His dark green gaze watched his friend closely as the blond tried to figure out where they were exactly on the continent.
It wasn't until the younger of the two finally decided to simply start off in the direction opposite the dock that they made much distance when compared to the time they spent on land. "If I have our location and information correct, we should be able to find Flanoir in the next few hours. After a quick rest, we'll be able to ask around to see if anyone knows where to find the Temple of Ice."
"I assume you mean to find out more about Glacies?"
Soon Lloyd and his friends reached yet another bridge, coming to see another Gnomelette stood in their way. "What do you want, losers? You wanna fight?" He asked.
Practically everyone's expression flattened at the little creature's words. "I can't believe they're so identical," the brunette commented.
"Maybe they're just messing with us to see if we'll turn back," Genis remarked, quite fed up with the Gnomelettes by now.
Sheena stepped forward, trying her best not to sound annoyed. "No, we don't have any business with you. Mind letting us across?"
The Gnomelette thought for a moment, then looked up directly at the ninja. "Chose one of your companions to stay behind or else none of you can pass." He seemed completely serious. So much that Sheena actually turned to look for a moment at each of her companions, clearly thinking of the decision she was about to make. Her dark gaze caught a pair of blue, who then subtly told her they wanted to stay if need be by glancing temporarily to the ground and then back up at her.
"...I guess, I'll have to ask you to stay behind then, Regal."
Her choice sent most of the younger travelers into an uproar. "What? Sheena, how can you say something like that?" The brunette demanded, his best friend agreeing whole-heartedly with him. "Regal's our friend! If he can't go with us, then what's the point in g-?"
"That's enough, Lloyd. Genis." As a pair of handcuffed palms rested atop red-clad shoulders, their owner's gaze lowered to lock with the young mage's. "If my staying here will aid in allowing Sheena to make the necessary pact with Gnome, then I shall gladly remain on this side of the bridge."
With that being said, the Gnomelette watched as Regal settled down atop a boulder to wait. He then moved aside as the rest went across the gap and further into the temple.
"Sir, our preparations are almost complete."
The blue-haired half-elven Renegade nodded in understanding. "Excellent. I trust you are certain those few you have chosen to come with me are going to be able to succeed in their task?" Yuan glanced over the final documentation for their current project, looking to Botta only when he was almost finished talking.
"Yes, Sir."
"And Kratos' location?" Not a minute after Yuan asked, the door behind Botta opened and a pair of Renegades stepped forward. One of which continued farther in than the brunette's side and handed their leader a single piece of paper. He looked it over, a small smirk showing slightly upon his lips. "So I see." The bluenette's gaze met his second in command's for a moment before he took his leave. "I'll take care of him. Just make sure your chosen few are ready when we arrive."
Light footfalls echoed throughout a pure white room, their owner's ice blue eyes gazing around emotionlessly. "To think, he still doesn't understand…" A young blond's voice muttered to himself, eyes falling on a set of shackles about three-quarters from the ground. "They're both in my way."
Suddenly a soft light flashed momentarily to his left. With a sigh, the blond disappeared from the room and soon reappeared in the room above it. He glanced towards the windows used to view the white room, a small frown upon his childish face. "Come in, Pronyma." Although when he spoke, it was with the authoritative tone befitting the leader of Cruxis.
"Lord Yggdrasill, are you sure your plan will succeed? The Chosen and his companions may be foolish, but-"
Yggdrasill spun quickly to glare at the woman before him. "Are you questioning my decisions?" She began to shake her head and reply verbally, but was cut off by the blond. "They are foolish, idiotic humans! As such, they will most definitely fall for my plan. Now get out of my sight if you're going to second guess me!" In a huff, the boy crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Pronyma turned to leave, clearly shocked at her leader's reaction, for she had never seen him so angry in her life. However, that didn't stop her from making one last remark before she exited. "You truly are his student, aren't you?"
Blue eyes widened. "Out!" The boy stared as the door closed behind her, leaving him alone in the room. Both his arms slowly uncrossed as his hands shakily rose to eye level. "I'm not…" Yggdrasill murmured, his voice wavering. "I'm nothing like him." Hands clenched into fists as he forced them both down to his sides, gaze shifting towards the white room. "...Nothing."
Upon their arrival at the seal, the area surrounding them suddenly began shaking. Then, a large mole-looking creature with a red bow atop its head appeared from below the earth and turned to face the diminished group of travelers. Sheena, Lloyd, Raine, Colette, and Genis stepped closer to the Summon Spirit with their summoner in the lead.
Who they assumed to be Gnome stared down at the five of them, seeming to mentally count their numbers before speaking. "...Weren't there more of you?" He looked at each of them individually before turning to look right at Sheena. "Hmm….so, you're a summoner, huh? Well, sorry, but I've already got a pact with Mithos, so you can just forget about asking."
Undeterred, the Mizuhoan stood her ground. "I am Sheena! I seek a pact with Gnome, the Summon Spirit of Earth. I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos, and establish a-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, waiiiiiiiit a second. What's with the stuffy language?" Gnome wondered, his tone more laid back than the rest of the Summon Spirits they had come across so far. "I mean it's not like the language you use'll make me more willing to make a pact with you, so would you mind keeping it simple?" He shook his head, muttering in slight disgust with the formality.
Sheena was stunned silent for a few moments, her gaze looking back at her friends with a slight "that was the way I was taught…" kind of expression and then back to Gnome. "Well, then… My name's Sheena. Would you mind forgetting about your pact with Mithos and make one with me?"
The red bow atop Gnome's head spun around a couple of times. "Now that's more like it, but whatever." He then appeared to shrug as best as a mole can, still not seeming to take anything seriously. "Well? Show me whatcha got. Bring it on!" He chuckled softly, simply floating where he was for only a few more seconds before charging the summoner.
She dodged, taking out her set of weapons and countered with a Pyre Seal. Seeing as Gnome focused mainly on her, Sheena made sure to try and keep the Summon Spirit's back to the rest of her friends. As soon as he saw an opening, Lloyd leapt up into the air and came down upon the mole-like being with a call of "Rising Falcon!"
All of a sudden, the ground shook beneath the Sage siblings' feet, distracting them from casting as well as knocking the younger of the pair off balance. Colette, having been suspended in mid-air due to her wings, soon finished her incantation and sent about a dozen or so shining pink feathers towards Gnome. Sheena and Lloyd then took the opportunity to attempt a combined attack, but were foiled when the Summon Spirit called forth stalagmites to spear the summoner up and into the air at the last possible second. Only the brunette's attack had a chance of making contact, successfully knocking Gnome to the ground. For a moment, no one moved, not even the rocks near either Sheena or Gnome. As she stood, a dark blue spell circle appeared beneath Genis' feet.
"Tidal Wave!" Water appeared seemingly out of nowhere and swept harmlessly around the young black mage and his companions, but washed Gnome back down just as he was about to stand.
In seconds, he disappeared and reappeared above the platform that he had originally spoken to the small group of travelers. "You guys fight dirty, you know that?" His words startled the five companions, each of their reactions quite similar except in Raine's case: her expression didn't change all that much whereas most of her friends' eyes widened. "I mean, really, what's with this four-on-one garbage? Ya know Mithos? Well, he did it all by himself." Dark eyes looked at each of them for a few moments before Gnome shrugged. "But, yeah, whatever. Make your vow already, would ya?"
"Ah, this guy's hard to deal with," Sheena muttered, slightly disgruntled towards the Summon Spirit. She stepped forward and gazed up at Gnome. "Um...For the sake of creating a place in which the two words don't have to sacrifice one another, gimme your power!"
For what seemed like the thousandth time, he gave a mole's version of a shrug, the bow atop his head whirling around a few times as he remained silent for a bit. "Well, okay. I'll lend my power to you guys, even if you have a sneaky way of fighting."
With that, the small group of travelers made their way back towards the entrance of the temple. Since they had lost a few of their members along the way, the five of them traveled quicker and more smoothly than they had getting to Gnome. The first of their companions that they found was none other than Presea. She was sitting patiently beside a small pile of rocks, each one cleaved in half. Upon hearing their footsteps, the young pink-haired girl stood.
"I assume you were successful, Sheena?" The summoner nodded happily in response as blue eyes gazed around at her friends. "Then where shall we go next?"
"Well, first we've gotta get Zelos and Regal back," the dual swordsman replied. "Then I guess we'll go from there."
They continued on and soon had to pass through a small, poorly lit tunnel. Having been through it once before and seen there were not monsters to be wary of within, none of the party thought it would be necessary for them to light up their path. However, their decision to do so turned out to have a slightly different result than what they thought it would.
"Ah!" Lloyd called out, having tripped over some sort of rock. He landed face first in the dirt, raising his head a bit off the ground to shake it back and forth a few times. "What was that?"
A soft rustling sounded from where the brunette had fallen, shortly followed my a low murmur of "oh, there you are hunny...you cam back to me…"
There was a collective sigh as Genis summon up a small Fireball to light up the tunnel. Sheena strode forward and kicked the redhead awake. "You can be a real pervert, you know that?"
Zelos sat up immediately, eyes widening when he saw Sheena glaring down at him. "Whoa, you're back so soon? But I was just getting to the good part of my dre-"
"Shut up and let's go."
The Chosen of Mana frowned, getting to his feet and slowly following after the angry summoner. He tried his best to stay beside Lloyd, for he knew she was slightly less violent towards the younger male. "The old man's still on the other side of that bridge, right?"
"Yeah. As soon as we get over there and then out of here, we'll decide as a group where to go next."
It wasn't too long before they had reached the bridge, all eyes noticing a certain blue-haired convict waiting for them to return on the other side. The younger ones, all but Presea anyway, rushed forward to reunite with Regal while those over the age of eighteen did not. Since Sheena had made a pact with Gnome, most of the monsters within the temple seemed to stay clear of the group as they made their way to the exit. Once the misfits finally saw the light of day again, even if the sun was currently setting, Raine suggested they set up camp and continue on the day after. So, after the fire had been burning for a good ten minutes or so and all of the necessary items were laid out for sleeping, the group of travelers gathered around the fire to talk.
"Alright, since we've made a pact with…" Lloyd's eyes scrunched together in thought as his voice faded into silence.
"Three."
"Three Summon Spirits," he continued, smiling gratefully towards Colette. "Where to next?"
Blue eyes shifted to look up from the fire. "I've heard that the Summon Spirit known as Celsius resides near Flanoir," Regal offered. "Perhaps that would be a good place to go next?"
Raine looked around at each of her companions, her gaze lingering on Zelos longer than the rest, for she still didn't completely believe he hadn't known much about his abilities. "I would think that's the best lead we have at the moment. All in favor of traveling to this place called Flanoir, raise your hand." Almost immediately the following people's hands shot straight into the air: Lloyd, Genis, Colette, Zelos, Sheena, and Regal...well, both hand rose in Regal's case. "Do you have something to say about this course of action, Presea?" The half-elven teacher wondered.
With a small nod, Presea directed her gaze at Raine. "From what I have heard, Flanoir is quite cold. How are we going to last the needed time span in order to locate and make a pact with Celsius if we're all frozen solid?"
"I'm sure there's a place we can get warmer clothes in Flanoir, my darling rosebud. All we'd have to do is ride the rheairds as close to the city as we can and then go from there."
"I...see." The pink-haired girl slowly rose her right hand. "Then I agree that this is the best course for us to take if we wish to make a pact with all the Summon Spirits."
Say, anyone think they may know what's about to come in the next chapter? Anyone? ^_^
