A/N: ha! an update in just one week! now that's early. 8D and it's normal sized, too! yaaaay!
Oh Christ. It's 4:30 am over here...that's how late I stayed up writing. My eyes hurrrrt....o_o
Anyway...I'm shot. Can't think of anything else to say, so...enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own the story, that's it!
----
"Nngh..." A terrible ache caused me to wince, letting out a loud groan.
My whole body...felt like it had been run over with a steamroller. Everything was so incredibly sore. What was wrong with me...?
I groaned again, unable to stop myself. After a few moments of lying still, my mind started to function a little more.
Pain...I could feel pain. Did that mean...?
My eyes snapped open at my sudden desperate need to know, and I instantly regretted it. I winced, squeezing my eyes shut once more, sucking in air through my teeth. The light stung my eyes; now they were watering, and I felt the sudden need to sneeze.
After a minute or two passed, I took a deep breath. Okay, focus on one thing at a time...I needed to pull myself together.
Slowly this time, I let my eyes open. The light was less blinding now; gradually my eyes adjusted, and a bare ceiling came into focus. Right, now I was getting somewhere...but a ceiling didn't tell me much. I had to sit up...or at least move my head.
I clenched my hands into fists to brace myself for the physical activity, and realized I had gripped some sort of cloth. Oh...judging from the softness of what I was laying on...it must have been a bed. I was gripping bedsheets.
Strange...
Gritting my teeth, I tensed my muscles and abruptly forced myself into a sitting position. My vision swam and I let out a quiet gasp as the muscles in my side cramped up. I was forced to sit still for the next few minutes, biting down on my hand to prevent a scream.
When my muscles finally relaxed again, I let out a shuddering breath. I needed to stretch before I tried moving around again--
My thoughts were cut off when I took my first glance around the room and instantly recognized where I was.
The Renegade base...I was in the Renegade base?! That meant...everything had gone the way it was supposed to! I was really alive? The last thing I recalled was Yggdrasill about to use the Eternal Sword on us...
They must have come seconds after I passed out, I realized. I let out a sigh of relief. We had made it, but only barely.
So, I was alive...my first instinct was to feel happy, but then I wasn't so sure. The fact that I was still around meant...my journey wasn't even half over. The thought of it was a little scary.
As I thought to myself, I took care to stretch each of my stiff muscles carefully to avoid any more cramps. I couldn't help but take note of all the bandages covering me. My injuries must have been bad if healing magic couldn't completely seal them up...
I lifted a hand, rubbing my chin lightly, and was pleased to find that the small injury there was gone. It was probably going to leave a scar, though...damn. At least it hadn't been on my cheek or over one of my eyes, that only looked cool on anime dudes.
Kratos...
I lowered my hand, staring at it for a moment as my mind wandered elsewhere. So, if I was here...that meant Kratos was gone, and he would be gone for a very long while. He wasn't going to rejoin our party till the Iselia Ranch...who knew how long that would take.
We no longer had Kratos to bail us out of trouble when we needed it most...
I still couldn't believe he'd given me this injury. And what the hell was that, using Judgment on us?!
Still...that couldn't have been a full-powered Judgment if I had survived it. I couldn't imagine what the real thing would be like.
No, thinking about Kratos would only depress me. It was over and done with, and I had known it was coming from the beginning...I needed to focus on the present now.
Finishing up a final stretch, I glanced around the room once more. Yeah, this was definitely a Renegade base. This odd interior decorating was pretty hard to forget. But this was weird...hadn't everyone woken up in the same room in the game? Okay, maybe the rooms were too small to fit everyone in on a bed...but I could have sworn there had been at least two beds where Lloyd woke up in the game. Ugh...it probably didn't matter, but I didn't like waking up alone like this when the Renegades couldn't really be trusted.
"Hm...so you're awake." A voice I knew very well met my ears, and I froze.
I hadn't even heard the door open, and yet Yuan now stood near the entrance with his arms crossed. His gaze was sharp and intimidating as ever, and I had to suppress a groan. Yuan was the last person I wanted to talk to right now, especially considering how our last couple meetings had gone. I was still pretty ticked about the whole locket incident, but he'd probably only smirk if I mentioned it to him.
"Um...yeah," was my brilliant response. Why was Yuan speaking to me personally? He was supposed to send one of his men to get me, so we could all gather in the same room for him to explain.
I didn't want to come off as a total idiot to him, so I decided to show him that I wasn't completely clueless. He liked it when he didn't have to explain too much, right?
"Yuan, right?" I frowned slightly, my voice sounding raspy. "I overheard your name when your...your Desians ambushed us," I explained.
My plan backfired, as he looked slightly exasperated when I mentioned Desians.
"You're correct about my identity, but we are not Desians," he stated.
"Not...?" I pretended to be confused. "Then, what--"
"I'll explain later when everyone else is awake," he said before I could get the question out.
I tilted my head. If I didn't voice a bunch of questions I already knew the answers to, it'd just seem weird. "Hey...last I remember, we were getting our asses handed to us...did you rescue us? But then...that one time, you tried to--"
He shook his head. "Like I said, I'll explain later. You're in no danger right now. If you don't mind, I'd like to get on with the reason why I came," he said, the look in his eyes daring me to ask another stupid question.
I let out a heavy sigh. "Whatever. I'll trust you for now...it's not like I have a choice. So...why exactly are you wasting your breath on me, of all people?"
In response, he turned on his heel and took a step towards the door. "Come with me."
"E-Eh?" My eyes widened, and he turned to give me an annoyed look. I grimaced and struggled to my feet, grumbling to myself as I reluctantly followed him out the door.
Yuan, being his asshole self, walked at a normal pace while I struggled to keep up. Unlike with Kratos, though, I couldn't quite work up the nerve to tell him off.
"Ow...Christ, ow, ow..." I muttered, wincing at the stinging pain from the healing wound Kratos had given me.
Thankfully, the route to Yuan's preferred room wasn't very long. After a few short minutes of walking, we arrived at another door and slipped inside.
Ah...this looked like Yuan's office. I walked into the center of the room, standing there awkwardly as the seraph went behind his desk to sort through a few things.
Now that I wasn't in too much pain to think, I started to puzzle over the situation I was in. Why in God's name had Yuan wanted to speak with me personally? It didn't make any sense...unless he intended to punish me a second time for my eavesdropping. But he'd said himself that I wasn't in any danger, and I didn't think he was lying...
"Tell me..." Yuan started, glancing up at me. "...Do you know why you're here?"
I blinked, feeling like he'd just read my mind. "Not a clue, actually," I answered truthfully.
This was too weird. Yuan was so intimidating, I felt almost like a troublemaking student standing in the principal's office. The big, fancy desk sort of enhanced the effect.
He didn't look too surprised with my answer. He glanced back down to his desk, straightening out some papers as he spoke.
"We've been monitoring your progress since you became a registered prisoner in the Asgard ranch. Your involvement in the Angelus Project did catch my attention, but I didn't realize who you truly were until a short while later..."
My brow furrowed in confusion, and I gave him a frustrated look. "I'm still pretty lost. What's that supposed to mean? I'm not special at all, and yet these Desians keep running around with all sorts of records on me, and--"
Yuan raised an eyebrow, cutting me off. "Surely you must know...there is a very distinct difference that sets you apart from everyone else."
I gave him a blank look, wondering where he was going with this. What was so different about me that the Desians and Cruxis would harrass me like this?
The seraph let out a sigh, reaching over to a circular metal plate that rested on his desk. Oh, wait...was that a projector?
He confirmed my thoughts by pressing a small button on the device, causing an image to appear above it. It was...a planet? Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, in their original shape?
I walked forward, frowning as I examined the floating image. "What is--"
Suddenly gaping, I cut myself off. Those continents...I knew them very well. There was North America, South America, Africa, Asia...
The image Yuan had shown to me...was Earth.
"Jesus Christ," I murmured, slowly looking up to stare at Yuan, who was watching me.
"Do you finally understand?" He asked, looking satisfied with my reaction.
"H-How do you know...?!" I took a step backwards, shaking my head in disbelief.
"About Earth?" Yuan raised an eyebrow. "You didn't think you merely..." He waved one hand, searching for the right word. "...appeared here, did you? People don't wake up in entirely different worlds at random."
I couldn't believe this. Yuan knew about Earth?! This was just...so incredibly bizarre. I nearly started to shake with anticipation; did this mean I was finally going to get some answers about what the hell was going on?
"I..." I bit my lip. "I don't know. I didn't know what to think. How...how did I end up here?"
"Hm...think for yourself, will you? Who is the one commanding your pursuers?"
"Y-Yggdrasill?!" I sputtered, eyes wide. "But how would he--"
The Eternal Sword.
Why the hell hadn't I thought of that sooner?! Yggdrasill possessed the Eternal Sword! He could easily use its power to make his way to Earth...oh, God, that bastard had been to my home?!
"How he accomplished it isn't important right now," Yuan said, and I knew he just didn't feel like explaining. "What matters is the fact that you are here for a very specific reason."
I shook my head, bewildered. "Something to do with the Angelus Project..."
Yuan crossed his arms. "The Angelus Project is designed to create Cruxis Crystals from Exspheres through a special Key Crest that delays the Exspheres' parasitic process," he explained.
Judging from the way Yuan was explaining everything...he knew about Earth, but not about Tales of Symphonia. That was a relief...
I feigned surprise. "Create Cruxis Crystals from Exspheres? Does that mean a Cruxis Crystal is only a special type of Exsphere?"
The seraph looked pleased that I had finally made a decent connection. "That's correct."
I rubbed my forehead, frowning. "But still, they could use anyone for that."
Yuan looked exasperated, probably because the second I seemed smart, I managed to show my cluelessness right after.
"Not quite. There are a multitude of factors that affect how effective the process will be." He gestured to the projection. "Earth contains billions of people as well as an enormous ecosystem, and yet survives with no mana. The very makeup of your body is vastly different from the humans here."
I struggled to understand before he got snappy again, but failed for the most part. "How would someone like me survive in a mana-based world, then? My body just...adapts?"
He nodded. "Your body takes in and expends mana just like everyone else."
Okay, that would explain how I was able to use techs and all, but...
"However," Yuan continued, "if you were to release all of the mana from your body, you would not die. Exspheres grow stronger by feeding off the life force and mana of living beings. By attaching an Exsphere to someone from Earth, the process can be extended for much, much longer."
My eyes widened. "Because...even if I lost all my mana, I'd just take in more and more. And with the Key Crest slowing the process, my body would weaken a lot slower, too..."
"Precisely," Yuan said, nodding.
"And out of the six billion people on Earth, I was chosen because...?"
"You were unfortunate enough to have all the ideal genetic traits," the seraph replied.
"What genetic--"
"I am not giving you a biology lesson," Yuan snapped, immediately cutting me off. I flinched, looking down.
"Well, then...it sounds like I'm some huge asset to Cruxis. And if you were really on Cruxis' side, you wouldn't bother explaining this to me..." I glanced up at him, frowning. "Why is it...that I'm still alive, then?"
"Because genetic traits are passed on through family members," Yuan replied. "It would be useless to kill you."
My eyes widened with horror. "Are you saying--?!"
"Yes," he confirmed. "If you were to die, Yggdrasill would merely repeat the process with someone else from your family. Your sister would be the next likely candidate."
"Y-You're joking," I choked, feeling myself pale. He stared at me.
"If that's what you think, then I'm only wasting my time," he said, glaring.
I clenched my fists, trying desperately to calm down, but I couldn't stop shaking. This changed everything, completely turned my world upside down. Yggdrasill knew about Earth. He knew about me, about my family. This wasn't just my problem anymore. If anything went wrong...would I even have a home to return to?!
I needed to show Yuan I was serious. If the conversation stopped here, I might miss something vital...
"W-Wait," I said quickly. "You didn't have to tell me any of this. So why--"
"So you don't do anything stupid," Yuan snapped, turning away from me, but I knew there was more to it than that.
"But--"
"Your friends are in the fourth room to the left, down the hall. If you arrive before they awaken, it will save you from having to explain where you've been," Yuan said curtly. "Don't wander. This isn't a place for you to explore."
My face fell as I realized that the discussion was over, whether I liked it or not.
"A...All right," I replied quietly, turning to go. This wasn't the last time I'd ever see Yuan...maybe I could ask again once we teamed up with the Renegades. Either way, I had a lot to think about...
I paused at the door, hesitating for a moment. "...Thanks for telling me...for whatever reason."
Yuan ignored me as I figured he would, so I just shrugged and left him alone. I exited out into the hallway, listening to the door slide shut behind me. It locked with a quiet beep.
There was a dead end to my right, so I turned left and walked down the hall for a few seconds. At least this time I could go at my own pace...which was a pretty slow one. I considered digging through my bag for an apple gel, but thought better of it.
Renegade soldiers passed me, but didn't even spare me a second glance. They probably knew I was allowed to be in this area, but I still made sure not to make eye contact. The fact that they dressed so much like Desians still weirded me out a little.
I counted the doors to my left, finally reaching the fourth one. When I walked up to it, it opened automatically and I stepped inside.
The room I had just walked into was a lot larger than the one I'd been staying in before, and there were several beds. Oh...Yuan had separated me from the others on purpose. Something told me he knew I hadn't said anything about Earth to them...and he wasn't about to explain that one for me.
Everyone was still asleep...except for Colette, who floated in the corner lifelessly. I tried not to look at her, instead examining every other person in the room. It looked like everyone had been healed, though I saw some bandages on a few of them. They all looked about as exhausted as I felt.
Lloyd and Genis shared a bed, and so did Sheena and Raine. There was still an open bed left, so I walked over and flopped down on it, rolling over on to my side. No one stirred at the sound of my movement.
Despite how tired I was, I was too wound up to go back to sleep right now. I needed to sort through everything that Yuan had just told me.
Okay, okay...so that explained what Yuan had been talking about during his little chat with Botta.
Tempting as it is, that's something we can't do. She is disposable and can be replaced; we would only slow them down slightly and risk exposing ourselves.
I bit my lip. Back then...he'd been discussing the consequences of killing me. Christ...how strong could this Cruxis Crystal become, anyway? The Renegades hadn't considered killing Presea or destroying Lloyd's Exsphere...while both could cause Cruxis to become stronger, they weren't part of the big picture.
No, no...this was all wrong! This wasn't the way it was supposed to be!
If I had really been killed back there, at the Tower...Yggdrasill would have dragged my sister into this?!
All this time, I had taken comfort in the fact that no matter what happened to me here, Earth would always be fine. No matter how bad things went here...even if Cruxis won and Yggdrasill got his Age of Lifeless Beings, Earth wouldn't be affected at all.
I had been so very, very wrong.
Suddenly scared, I found myself trembling uncontrollably. Yggdrasill had been to Earth. Now...now I knew how the Desians had all those records on me. Had he dug up all that personal information? Oh, God...had he been watching me?!
What else had he done? Had he been to Earth again since I arrived here?!
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to control my panicked emotions, but the sudden pressure I felt was suffocating. I couldn't just say "Oh, well I'll do my best and hopefully not die" anymore.
I couldn't die. I couldn't fail. If I did...I couldn't imagine the consequences.
And yet, if I survived and Cruxis captured me, I might end up making it much harder for Lloyd and the others to win.
As if this wasn't hard enough already...what the hell was I supposed to do?!
I had survived the first part of the journey, but...but...there was still so much left...
My thoughts slowly drifted off. Although my mind was wound up, my overworked body decided to take over the second I closed my eyes. I felt like I could sleep for an eternity...
----
Hannaford was twenty or thirty minutes away, all the way in Sanford. It was a pain driving that far, but ever since the Shop 'N Stop in Kennebunk had closed down, Hannaford was the only place I could find everything I needed. I found myself wishing I'd gotten the groceries first and then the takeout, but for some odd reason I always forgot to think my errands through before actually accomplishing them.
Trying to drown out my own irritation at myself, I turned up the music more and sped up the car a bit. The Mitsubishi happily complied.
The extra speed caused my hat to fly off my head, and I nearly swore, glancing in the rearview mirror and then over my shoulder. No use...it was gone. I frowned; that's what I got for wearing my hair down today. If I had just fed my ponytail through the back of the cap like I always did, it might've stayed on.
I sighed, returning my eyes to the road--
A blonde boy dressed in white stood directly in the car's path, unmoving. I gasped in shock, slamming down on the brakes, and frantically turned the wheel hard to the left. The tires squealed and I suddenly found myself staring at the woods; I turned the wheel to the right this time to avoid crashing, and the car reacted instantly.
In the space of only a second or two, the brakes did their job and stopped the car--much too abruptly. The whiplash caused my body to jerk forward, my head slamming against the steering wheel with a loud crack.
A few seconds passed. The music was still blaring as if nothing had happened. I vaguely realized that the airbags hadn't deployed, but that hardly seemed important right now. I shakily lifted my head from the steering wheel, aware of a warm, sticky spot on my forehead. A small trail of blood streaked down my face.
A shadow fell over me, and I was suddenly aware that someone had approached. The boy...?
I turned my head weakly, and was forced to look up when the figure was much taller than I anticipated.
A strangely familiar blonde man stared down at me, his blue eyes somehow unnerving. I opened and closed my mouth, attempting to form a coherent statement.
"H...H-Help..." I murmured in a very small voice, my head throbbing unbearably.
He smiled, and I blacked out.
----
Since I hadn't been asleep for very long, waking up wasn't as much of a process this time. My eyes opened, and I took note that I was laying on my side, staring at the wall. The sleep had helped...a little bit. I was able to think a bit more rationally now that I wasn't completely exhausted, and at least I wasn't on the verge of a panic attack anymore.
Still, I wasn't exactly happy with the situation.
My brow furrowed slightly as my mind returned to the dream I'd just had. Although it hadn't quite been a dream; it was more of a flashback. Now I remembered everything...
Yuan's revelation had triggered the memory. After I'd made the connection that Yggdrasill was the one who had brought me here, I was finally able to remember. Mithos had appeared in front of the car and I'd swerved out of the way, trying not to hit him. When the car had finally stopped, I'd hit my head on the steering wheel...and that had given me the concussion that caused my amnesia.
What a disaster...I hadn't realized it was Yggdrasill, of course. I mean, who would? He'd looked familiar, but I never would have made the connection, because you didn't just see video game characters randomly coming to life. When I saw Yggdrasill in his Mithos form, I had just thought it was some kid that hadn't been paying attention to the road before crossing it. Now I realized...he'd intentionally stepped in front of the car.
If that was what happened, though, why did he just dump me in the woods near Palmacosta after that? Maybe he'd intended for me to get picked up by Magnius...
I frowned. Then again, maybe he'd had no other choice. Using the Eternal Sword to travel between worlds that weren't even connected by mana links probably wasn't an easy feat, especially when you're taking someone with you. Had Yggdrasill been forced to drop me? Or maybe since Kratos was nearby...
But Kratos hadn't known a thing about my involvement with Cruxis, had he? He wouldn't have been so suspicious of me if he'd known. Yggdrasill must have kept him in the dark because the Angelus Project was kind of a sensitive matter with Kratos.
The sound of rustling paper caught my attention, and my thoughts were interrupted. Paper...someone turning a page in a book?
"Raine...how much longer do we have to wait?" Genis' voice rang out in the quiet room.
"I'm sure they're waiting until we're all awake," came the reply.
"Lloyd and Brittany really do know how to sleep," Sheena sighed.
"I resent that," I grumbled, sitting up.
Raine looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. She was holding a book in her hand, probably one she'd stolen off the sole bookshelf in the room. "How long have you been awake?"
"Few minutes," I shrugged, rubbing the back of my neck. "I was just...thinking."
"...I see," she nodded, lowering her gaze. Yeah, we did have a lot to think about.
Sheena stood up, walking over to me with a frown on her face. She leaned forward, as if to get a closer look, and after a moment her eyes widened.
"That wound..." she murmured, gazing along the areas where blood had started to seep through the exposed bandages. It looked like I'd torn it open a little while trying to keep up with Yuan.
"This?" I placed a hand over one of the bloody spots. "Oh...you guys were pretty out of it by then."
She made the connection, looking down with her fists clenched. "Kratos...how could he do this?"
Raine shook her head, looking morose. "There were times when I suspected there was more to him...but I never would have forseen something like this."
"Ugh..."
The four of us looked over to see Lloyd starting to sit up, rubbing his forehead.
"Lloyd, you're finally awake!" Genis remarked, walking up to the side of the bed.
"...Where are we?" He asked quietly, brow furrowed. Then he abruptly jumped to his feet, looking around wildly. "Colette?!"
"She's over here," I said glumly, nodding towards the corner of the room.
"She doesn't respond to anything we say," Sheena told him.
Lloyd walked up to Colette, staring at her for a moment, but it looked like he couldn't bear looking into her blank eyes for very long. He turned away, swearing under his breath.
Raine let out a sigh. "Since everyone's awake, we should go over everything we know about the situation as it stands now. Do you remember this place, Lloyd? We're in Triet Desert. This is the base where you were captured before."
"Huh?" Genis looked surprised. Suddenly he looked around the room more carefully. "...Now that you mention it, it really does look familiar."
"Hold on," Lloyd said. "You mean the Desian base?!"
"These guys aren't Desians!" Sheena pointed out, crossing her arms.
"What? What do you mean?" Lloyd and Genis both looked confused, and I just frowned.
"They've been calling themselves the Renegades," Raine remarked, looking over at Sheena. "What do you know about this?"
"The Renegades are the guys that told us Tethe'allans about Sylvarant and the nature of the two worlds. They said that in order to save Tethe'alla, we'd have to kill the Chosen of Sylvarant. They talked the king and the pope into it...and that's how I ended up here," Sheena explained.
"So the Renegades are against Cruxis," I spoke up. "These guys rescued us when we were about to get killed back at the Tower of Salvation, didn't they? I bet they dress like Desians so they can't be rooted out so easily."
"Wait, wait," Lloyd interrupted me, shaking his head. "Cruxis is against the Desians too, though, right?"
Everyone was giving me a confused look, even Raine. What the hell? She should have been agreeing with me!
Oh...right. Everyone had been unconscious except for me and Lloyd, so they didn't know what had happened beyond the fight with Kratos.
I sighed. "You guys probably don't remember, since it was just me and Lloyd at that point, but...right before the Renegades rescued us, this angel who called himself Yggdrasill appeared. He claimed to be the leader of Cruxis and the Desians."
"Yggdrasill?" Genis spoke up, eyes widening. "That's right! Didn't one of the Grand Cardinals call him their leader?"
Lloyd nodded, the gears turning in his head now. "Yeah. Plus Yggdrasill seemed to know who Brittany was, just like Remiel and the Desians did!"
"If what you're saying is true..." Raine murmured to herself, and then looked up at us. "This is just pure conjecture, but Cruxis and the Desians may in fact be the same organization."
"What?! But how..." Lloyd gaped.
"It does make sense," I pointed out, hoping no one would wonder why I was suddenly all smart. "Using the Desians to instill terror in the hearts of the people, and then the Church of Martel to give them hope...that's a pretty foolproof method of ruling the world."
"If Cruxis and the Desians are the same, then..." Lloyd looked down, fists clenched. "What about Kratos? He obeyed Yggdrasill's orders. That means..."
"He's our enemy," Sheena said angrily. "He admitted it himself! He's one of Cruxis' Four Seraphim!"
"Kratos is likely a subordinate of this Yggdrasill person," Raine said. "He probably joined us to make sure Colette didn't stray from the journey to regenerate the world."
Lloyd's shoulders slumped, and he sat down once more. "So we were deceived from the very beginning. By Remiel, Cruxis, and...and even Kratos..."
Suddenly he sat up straight once more, turning towards me with a desperate look in his eyes. "But...that isn't right! Brittany, you were still conscious then, weren't you? Right before Kratos was about to kill me...he stopped! He lowered his blade!"
"I saw," I said quietly, biting my lip.
I wanted to tell Lloyd not to worry, that Kratos was really a good person deep down, but...I just couldn't. If Cruxis found out about what Kratos was up to, we'd never be able to win. And for this to work, everyone had to be fooled...even Lloyd.
Dammit, Kratos...
I placed a hand over my wound, wanting to cry, and struggled to look Lloyd in the eyes.
"But Lloyd," I murmured, "even so, he still didn't lift a finger to stop Yggdrasill when we were about to get killed. If the Renegades hadn't showed up...we'd be dead."
His face fell, and he stared into his lap, hands shaking. "Kratos..."
Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, almost as if we were having a moment of silence for the Kratos we once knew.
I clenched my fists. No matter how I justified it, I still couldn't stop myself from feeling resentful towards the seraph for doing this to us. Just seeing the look on Lloyd's face...how could someone turn their blade on their own son?
It hurt...the betrayal had really hurt. I hadn't realized it would hurt this much. The worst part was, no matter how much I tried...Kratos Aurion was a man I just couldn't bring myself to hate.
Instead, I just felt a mixture of anger and grief and helplessness. I couldn't aim to forget about him and move on, because I knew he'd be back later. So, I kept going from wanting to scream at the seraph to missing the old bastard, and that was really starting to do a number on me.
I couldn't imagine how Lloyd was holding up. At least I had the comfort of knowing everything would turn out okay in the end...hopefully.
The sound of the door sliding open cut through the silence. Everyone looked up to see a Renegade soldier entering the room.
"Ah, you're awake," the soldier remarked, nodding. "Then please, come with me. Our leader awaits you."
Jeez, Yuan could take a few lessons on manners from this guy. We all nodded to each other in mutual agreement, solemnly getting up and following the Renegade out the door. He led us down the hall to the room I had been in not too long ago. We filed in quietly, our eyes settling on Yuan, who seemed to be in the midst of a conversation with Botta.
The seraph took note of our presence, turning to us. "You're finally awake."
Lloyd's face lit up in recognition, and he frowned. "You guys...are the Renegades?"
"Correct," Yuan replied. "We're an underground resistance dedicated to fighting the Desians...or, rather, Cruxis."
"So Cruxis and the Desians really are the same organization!" Lloyd's eyes widened at the confirmation.
"Yes. Cruxis controls the Church of Martel in the open, and operates the Desians behind the scenes. The Desians are a subordinate organization within Cruxis," Botta explained.
I shifted slightly on my feet, fighting a yawn. Yuan looked about as bored as I felt; this was the second time today he had to deliver a long-winded explanation to clueless people. At least this time I didn't feel so stupid, but now I had to sit through stuff I'd heard a million times before. Agh, why did couldn't I have stopped after beating the game once...
"The Church of Martel is nothing more than an instrument created by Cruxis to rule the world," Yuan continued. Several of our group members glanced at me, as I'd said something pretty similar when we were talking a few minutes earlier.
"Those who call themselves angels are half elves who've evolved by using a special type of Exsphere called a Cruxis Crystal. They aren't gods or anything of the sort. Of course, the Church of Martel and the Chosen know nothing about this," the seraph said, looking over at me. Okay, that was weird.
As I suddenly took interest in a fold in my clothing, Sheena spoke up.
"They're half elves, too?!" She asked in disbelief.
"That's right. Some of the Desians, as well as Cruxis and ourselves, are half elves," Botta replied.
Okay, I was really getting bored. Maybe I could steal someone's line to make it look like I was actually paying attention. As the others spoke, I tried to remember what they were supposed to say before they said it.
"What is Cruxis trying to do?" Lloyd asked. "Are they doing all of this just to rule the world?"
Oh! This was where Yuan got annoyed, right?
As I'd expected, the seraph's eyes narrowed. "Do you intend to have us explain everything?" He snapped. "How about using your own head a little."
"They want to revive the Goddess Martel, right?" I jumped in suddenly, and Raine nodded slightly to show that she'd had the same thought. Ha! Stealing lines was more fun than trying to come up with my own.
"They send oracles to those of the mana lineage and control their marriages to create Chosens who become the vessel," Raine elaborated for me, and I had to hold back a grin. "It seems meaninglessly drawn out and complicated."
"Well, well," Botta said, eyebrows raised. "I am impressed."
"There is another world beyond Sylvarant that competes for mana," Yuan said.
"Tethe'alla," Lloyd spoke up, and Yuan nodded.
"Yes. And the one who created this twisted world was Cruxis' leader, Yggdrasill."
"Create a world?" Genis finally piped up, looking incredulous. "That's ridiculous! No one can do that!"
"If that's what you believe," Yuan said, glaring, "then our conversation ends here."
He turned to leave with a flourish of his cape, and Genis looked a bit indignant at being shot down.
"Wait," Lloyd called out, and Yuan paused. "If Yggdrasill was the one that created the two worlds himself, what can you possibly hope to do against someone like that? And that's not all. You tried to kill Colette and me. You're certainly not on our side. Yet for some reason, you saved us. Why?"
The seraph turned towards us once more, staring at Lloyd. "...You're not as stupid as you seem."
"Excuse me?!" Lloyd growled.
Oh God, get on with it, people. This was worse than Sheena's Tethe'alla lecture. I just wanted to get the hell out of here and check out Meltokio already.
"...Our goal is to stop Martel's revival," Botta said after a moment. He seemed a tad more patient than his superior. "Therefore, the Chosen, who would become her vessel, was an obstacle."
Brittany! Speak up, look smart!
"Colette's most useful to Cruxis in the condition she is now," I remarked, crossing my arms in an imitation of Yuan. "And we were unconscious for a while there...why is it that Colette's still alive, then?"
"It's because of her condition that we can't get close to her," Yuan said, giving me a look. What the hell?! Was that a Kratos look? What was it with seraphs and the weird looks they gave me?
The caped man continued. "The Chosen has completed the angel transformation; she's now a lethal weapon whose only goal is self-preservation. We wouldn't dare lay a hand on her. But now we have the key to stop Martel's resurrection. We no longer need the Chosen!"
Aaaaand we were surrounded. Fantastic.
"What?!" Lloyd looked around frantically as our group clustered closer together to avoid the swords being pointed at us.
"What we need is you, Lloyd Irving!" Yuan declared, in all his stalker-ish glory.
Lloyd gave the blue haired man an incredulous look. "Me?! What's so special about me?"
"That's none of your concern!" Yuan snapped, then turned to his soldiers. "Get him!"
We looked around nervously as the Renegades closed in, Yuan coming closer and closer. Lloyd scowled with frustration, clenching his fists.
"Dammit!" I heard him swear under his breath. "Why is everyone always after me?!"
It seemed like I was the only one who heard him. There were a million replies I could think of to that particular question, but none of them were currently appropriate.
In a last-ditch effort to save us, Lloyd lunged forward at Yuan and rammed his fist into the seraph's stomach. While an action like that normally wouldn't even faze him, at this point Yuan fell to his knees, doubling over with pain. Come to think of it...from what the game had shown, Yuan's injury was almost identical to my own. Ouch. I would've felt bad for him if he wasn't being such a dick.
"Ugh!" Yuan grunted, clutching at his concealed wound.
"Lord Yuan!" A Renegade soldier exclaimed, running to his side. Botta approached as well, eyes wide.
"No! It's his wound from Hima!"
At this point we all seemed to realize that our enemies were sufficiently distracted. Genis and Raine herded Colette towards the door, moving as fast as they could. Sheena started to follow.
"Ugh, Kratos...How many times must you get in my way?!" Yuan growled.
I suddenly fought the wild urge to grin. Yuan would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling seraph and his stupid dog!
My weird thoughts were acting up again...I really needed to go somewhere and sleep for three days. For some reason I found this whole thing terribly funny, but I had a feeling if I giggled it would sound pretty insane under these circumstances.
"Wound from Hima?" Lloyd questioned, surprised. "Are you telling me the one who attacked Kratos was--"
"Hello, Ea--Sylvarant to Lloyd! Perfect escape opening here!" I jabbed him with an elbow, pointing to the door. When he didn't react immediately, I grabbed his arm and tugged him along with me. He followed without too much resistance, casting troubled looks over his shoulder.
Sheena, who waited at the door, summoned Corrine to keep the Renegades occupied while we fled. She followed us out, and we ran down the hallway as fast as our legs would take us. After a few minutes of running around and avoiding Renegade soldiers, we managed to find an unoccupied room. It had more than one door out; with luck, we wouldn't be cornered. We paused here to attempt to form a plan.
"Ugh..." Lloyd growled, frustrated. "What's so special about me?! Those Renegades need to hurry up and make up their freaking minds about whether they're our enemies or not!"
"What are we going to do now?" Genis asked in a half-groan.
"We've gotta get out of here and save Colette somehow," Lloyd said, seeming to calm down a little bit. "She's going to die if she's made into Martel's vessel."
"But what can we do?" The half elf asked, and we all fell silent, wondering the same thing.
Raine frowned, troubled. "Even if we manage to leave this base, it's unlikely we'll get very far. Our best hope would be to hide in a town, but Triet is several days away."
I nodded. "We can't exactly flee across a desert. There's nowhere to hide; they'll shoot us in the back with crossbows or something."
"What choice do we have?" Genis said, crossing his arms. "We can't just sit around here!"
Okay, okay...we had to turn the conversation to Tethe'alla somehow. But how to do it...say something about saving Colette, right? That was why they went over in the game.
I frowned, remembering something. "Hey, Sheena."
"Yeah?" She looked over at me.
"There's no Desians in Tethe'alla, right? So...am I correct in assuming you got your Exsphere from the Renegades?"
Raine's eyeblows flew up in surprise. Dammit...she was gonna start wondering why I had random intelligent moments. But we couldn't just sit here cluelessly...I had to nudge things along or we'd get captured.
Sheena's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah, you're right. The technology was brought over by the Renegades, though nowadays it's a lot more common for Exspheres to be attached to machines. But what does that have to do with anything?"
The Professor started to pace, her eyes lighting up. "I see where you're going with this, Brittany. If Cruxis Crystals are nothing more than special kinds of Exspheres, we may be able to learn something by visiting Tethe'alla."
"That's a good idea," Sheena said. "I'm pretty sure they're studying the Cruxis Crystal that belongs to Tethe'alla's Chosen at the Imperial Research Academy."
"So Tethe'alla really does have its own Chosen," Genis remarked, glancing over at me. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what his problem was.
"Of course," Sheena nodded. "The world regeneration ritual is carried out in Tethe'alla as well. The Church of Martel exists, too."
Oh...that's right. I'd mentioned some things along these lines before. Lloyd hadn't really questioned my logic, but the others were bound to wonder how I knew.
"I figured," I said, trying to cover up my mistake. "When you said the worlds vie for each other's mana, it only makes sense that they'd do so by changing the mana flow with the world regeneration. It's like a neverending tug of war."
"But still..." Lloyd frowned. "If they've been carrying out the regeneration that many times, why hasn't Martel's vessel been completed already?"
"I'm curious about that myself," Raine said. "Perhaps those corpses lined up in the Tower of Salvation were..." She stopped herself, shaking her head. "...No, never mind."
"There are too many things we don't know," Lloyd said. "Let's just start with what we can do now."
"So we're going to Tethe'alla?" Sheena asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. That's the only lead we have right now. And this time, I'm going to fulfill my role. I'm not going to let Colette bear the burden all by herself anymore."
"Wait a minute. That's great and all, but how are we going to get to Tethe'alla?" Genis asked.
I looked over at Sheena. "Well, the same way Sheena got here."
She nodded. "I used a special craft called a Rheaird that allows you to pass through a distortion in space. I got mine from the Renegades, so there should be some somewhere on this base."
"Let's get going, then," Raine said. "We've stood around for long enough."
"To Tethe'alla!" I declared, pumping a fist enthusiastically in the air. Hurray for technology!
Sheena gave me a sidelong glance. "Uh, Brit...there's something you should know about the Rheairds."
I looked at her. "Eh? What is it?"
She hesitated. "...Uh, never mind. I'll tell you when we find them."
...Needless to say, I was trying not to think about the fact that we would be flying very high in the air. Nope. I just had to focus on Meltokio...Meltokio and Zelos. That lovely combination could get me through any hardship.
Before leaving, I managed to stop Raine for a moment so she could cast a few healing spells on my injury, which had ripped open once more after all that running around. With the help of the unicorn horn, she managed to seal it firmly shut for the time being; hopefully I had another few hours before it would reopen.
We exited the room we were in through a different door, wandering around for a bit. The structure of this place was eerily similar to a Desian ranch, but I was comforted by the fact that we would find no prisoners here.
"Hey, Lloyd," I said quietly after we'd been running around for a few minutes. "You've been here before, right? Do you remember anything about this place?"
His eyes narrowed slightly as he seemed to rack his brain. After a few seconds, he shook his head.
"Not a lot," he replied. "I'm pretty sure we already passed the route I took to get out of here...it was blocked off by the Renegades. I don't remember seeing anything that looked like it could be one of those Rheaird things, either."
"Nothing weird or suspicious?" I asked, slightly disappointed.
I remembered finding the Rheaird room in my own playthroughs; Lloyd just couldn't figure out how to use the machine that would bring them out. Then again, just because I had explored the base to my heart's content didn't mean that Lloyd had been able to. The whole ordeal had probably just been a mad rush for him--
"Wait, now that you mention it..." Lloyd's brow furrowed, and we all looked over to him. Think, Lloyd, think!
"There was this one big room with weird panels in the floor. And I think there was a computer too, but I couldn't figure out how to use it so I just left," he said, shrugging.
I thumped him on the shoulder. "Lead the way, Lloydie. That sounds like our best bet."
"Let's hurry, before they figure out what we're up to," Genis said. We nodded in agreement, letting Lloyd lead the way.
We continued to run, avoiding the Renegades to the best of our ability. Unfortunately, Lloyd didn't really recognize where we were now; we'd gotten lost during our blind run through the halls.
After what felt like an eternity of running in circles, we abruptly found ourselves standing in front of a row of prison cells. The brunette swordsman blinked, recognition causing his eyes to light up.
"Hey, I know where we are," he remarked, nodding to himself. Then he gestured for us to follow him. "This way, guys!"
Finally, we were getting somewhere! The rest of us shrugged, running after him once more. Now it only took a minute or two more before we found ourselves in the room Lloyd had described earlier. Yup, this was definitely where the Rheairds were.
Raine looked at the computer with interest, walking up to it and typing in a few things. After a few seconds, there was a small beeping sound and several panels in the floor slid aside to reveal the Rheairds housed beneath. Raine continued to mess with the machine, and the Rheairds rose up to our level, their wings unfolding. We abandoned the computer, approaching the crafts.
"So these are the Rheairds," Lloyd remarked, eyes wide.
"They fly, don't they," I said quietly. "Well...I guess that's just my horrible luck kicking in again."
Sheena rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry. I was gonna tell you, but..."
"Don't worry about it," I shook my head, letting out a sigh. "I don't have a choice anyway. I'm not staying here to keep Yuan company, that's for sure."
"In any case, we'd better keep moving," Raine said abruptly, looking over her shoulder at the door. "They could catch up to us any second now."
"Yeah. Let's go," Genis added, moving for a Rheaird and then hesitating. "Um...how do you work these things?"
Sheena sighed, hopping on to a Rheaird with ease. "Here, follow my lead. And don't push any buttons yet," she warned, glaring at Lloyd.
"What? I haven't done anything!" He grumbled, but managed to clamber on to his own Rheaird.
Raine frowned, glancing at all the machines before us. "There's only four," she pointed out. "Two of us will have to ride with someone else."
"I'll go with Colette," Sheena said, and we didn't question that. Colette couldn't exactly think for herself right now, never mind use a Rheaird.
"I'm not driving one of these things," I spoke up, crossing my arms stubbornly.
"Come on," Lloyd said, waving to me as if it was obvious I should ride with him.
I hesitated for a second, and then climbed up on to the Rheaird. It was a bit cramped, but at least I didn't feel like I was gonna slide off. Wrapping my arms securely around his waist, I bit my lip.
"Promise me you won't touch any buttons," I mumbled. "Or go too fast. Or do a barrel roll. Or--"
"I won't!" He said, cutting me off. "Do you wanna ride with me or not?"
"I do!" I insisted, suddenly latching on to him out of the irrational fear that he'd kick me off.
"Ack...Brit, can't breathe..."
"Oh. Sorry," I mumbled, relaxing slightly.
Genis and Raine exchanged glances and rolled their eyes at my antics, before getting on to their own Rheairds. When we were all finally situated, Sheena started to instruct us on how to use the crafts.
"See those levers on the handlebars? Those make you move forward. Just release them to slow down," Sheena explained.
"What's this red button do?" Genis asked, examining his Rheaird with curiosity.
"That'll give you a burst of energy. Right here is the fuel gauge, and if you press this blue button over here--"
A sudden noise caused us all to glance over our shoulders, and I realized it was the sound of the door opening. Yuan and Botta ran in, surrounded by a group of Renegades.
"They're taking the Rheairds!" Yuan growled, a ball of lightning magic forming in his hand. "Stop them, now!"
The Renegades aimed their crossbows at us, and Sheena decided that there was no more time for explanations.
"Press the red button!" She yelled to us hurriedly, and we obeyed without much hesitation.
The world immediately blurred around us as we shot forward with alarming speed. I clung to Lloyd once more, squeezing my eyes shut and fighting to hold back a scream. I felt like I'd left my stomach behind, like I was on some sort of crazy roller coaster. There wasn't even a seatbelt on this damn thing! What if I fell off?!
And just like that, the feeling passed and our speed seemed to lessen.
"Wow..." Lloyd murmured, and that encouraged me to crack my eyes open a little.
An unfamiliar landscape was spread out before me, and I couldn't stop myself from looking around. Tethe'alla...we were really in Tethe'alla. Incredible...I couldn't believe I'd made it this far. There were the Fooji Mountains, the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge, Meltokio in the distance...wow, it was all so lush and beautiful. That was probably to be expected of the prospering world...
Suddenly the Rheaird shook. I squeaked, hugging Lloyd tighter. "What was that?"
"Uh, I don't know. Sheena?"
"What? What is it?" She looked over at us, but at the same time her Rheaird shook as well. "Whoa!"
Oh...oh shit. No, no, no! How could I have forgotten?!
"The fuel gauge is empty!!" I shrieked, panicked. How the hell were we going to survive this?! I should never have gotten on to this fucking thing!
"What?!" Genis and Lloyd said in unison.
Sheena's eyes widened. "That's it! Since you've broken all the seals in Sylvarant, there's not enough mana in this world!"
"Wh-Which means?!" Lloyd asked, tensing.
"We're gonna fall!" She cried just as our Rheairds sputtered once more, and then began a nosedive.
I think it's safe to say that the next few moments were some of the most terrifying ones of my life. One moment we were safely cruising along through the air, and the next, the ground was rushing towards us at a frightening speed. All I could hear was the sound of the air rushing past us, and of our own screaming.
I fainted before I got the chance to feel the impact.
----
"Ugh..."
I was really getting sick of blacking out and waking up in random places...
"Brit..."
Man. How far had we fallen? How the hell was I still alive? Hopefully I hadn't broken anything. It didn't feel like I had...but the warmth all over my front suggested that my injury had reopened again. Dammit.
"Hey...c'mon..."
I grunted quietly, finally taking note of Lloyd's insistent voice. "...What?"
"Can you get off? Your elbow's in my face," he mumbled back, groaning quietly.
My eyes snapped open, and my face flushed as I realized I was in fact lying on top of Lloyd. Apparently he'd broken my fall, which made sense, since I'd been clinging to the poor guy so much. I hoped he wasn't hurt.
Rolling off of him, I got to my knees, and abruptly fell over again with the vertigo caused by the movement.
"Ow..." I hissed, clutching at my injury.
"Nurse," I heard Raine say, and suddenly there was a bit more movement among us.
Lloyd sat up, looking battered but otherwise okay. I could say the same for the others, except for Colette; she wasn't hurt at all. She'd probably abandoned the Rheaird in favor of her wings. The Chosen was currently floating off to the side, staring at nothing in particular.
Raine had to walk over to me to give me another First Aid, and finally the bleeding stopped.
"Is everyone else all right?" She asked, healing a bruise on her cheek.
"Yeah..." Sheena mumbled, brushing the dirt off her clothes. "We're lucky we crashed this high up, before we gathered too much speed..."
"If we were lucky, we wouldn't have crashed at all," I pointed out, shuddering.
Lloyd sighed, examining one of the Rheairds. "Well, I think we managed to avoid destroying them completely..."
"But they're useless unless we get some fuel," Genis said.
"Hey, uh, guys," I tried, but they ignored me.
"What's the fuel? Coal?" Lloyd asked.
"Coal?! Oh, geez...How do you guys manage to actually live in Sylvarant?" Sheena asked incredulously.
"I'm not getting on one of those things again," I grumbled stubbornly. "Even if you find fuel. I'll walk."
Ignoring me again, Raine frowned thoughtfully. "Then magic, I assume. Perhaps the lightning Volt produces?"
"Then all we have to do is have Sheena summon Volt, right?" Genis asked.
"I...haven't made a pact with Volt," Sheena said quietly.
"Hate my life..." I murmured, and was ignored. Again. I let myself fall back, lying flat on the ground and staring at the sky.
"We'll just have to leave these here, then..." Lloyd sighed, walking over to me and nudging my side with his foot. "C'mon, weirdo. You're fine."
"Hey, look," Genis said pointing. "Is that the Tower of Salvation? How could that be here?"
Sheena frowned. "Well, the Tower of Salvation appears in the flourishing world. The Tower also appeared on your side after Colette received the Oracle, right?"
Agh...this was too much conversation. Did anyone even realize we'd just crash landed on top of a freaking mountain?
"Two worlds. Two towers..." Raine remarked. "What about the Holy Ground? The Church of Martel is also over here, correct? Is the Holy Ground called Kharlan?"
"Yeah," Sheena said, nodding. "It's the same as in your world."
"But the Holy Ground of Kharlan is where the peace treaty was signed to end the Ancient War!" Genis protested. "There can't be two of them!"
"Are you sure yours isn't a fake?" Sheena challenged. "We have records in our museums that depict how the Hero Mithos called the two ancient kings to the Holy Ground in order to forge a peace treaty."
"And such records exist on our side as well," Raine said, her brow furrowed.
"So either one is a fake, or maybe they're actually both real," Lloyd remarked.
Or maybe they're both the same place. Ah, but I couldn't say that.
"I agree with Lloyd," I said.
"That's not possible!" Genis said, shaking his head with exasperation.
"Don't get mad," Lloyd shrugged. "I was just...kinda saying stuff."
Yeah, you tend to do that a lot, Lloydie. I would've grinned if I was really in the mood to.
"Does it really matter, guys?" I asked, growing impatient. "We can just add it to the list of crap we don't know. I thought we were taking this one step at a time."
Lloyd frowned. "Brittany's right. We have to save Colette, and we're not gonna get anything done by sitting around here."
Raine nodded in agreement, turning to Sheena. "Well, then...what should our next move be?"
Sheena blinked, looking a bit flustered at suddenly being the group leader. "Uh...well, we should head for Meltokio. It's the Imperial City, the center of Tethe'alla. It's where the King of Tethe'alla resides."
"Is it far from here?" Lloyd asked, and she shook her head.
"Only a few days' walk."
"Okay," I said, getting to my feet. "Let's get going. We've gotta start moving forward again. Seems like everyone's pushed us back over the past few days." I said the last statement in a low grumble, and Lloyd's eyes darkened with understanding.
"All right," Genis said, attempting to have some enthusiasm. "It's our first adventure in Tethe'alla!"
"...This isn't a field trip, Genis," Raine said with a sigh as we walked towards the path leading down the mountain. For the first time in I didn't know how long, I actually saw Genis pout.
Everyone moved on ahead, and I noticed Lloyd was slinking towards the back of the group, much as I always did. I elbowed him.
"Hey. You okay?"
It occurred to me that I almost never asked Lloyd this question, and I felt guilty. It was always the other way around...he worried about me, but I never asked him what was wrong, since I already knew.
He glanced over at me. "Ah...yeah," the swordsman said quietly, looking down.
"I know. This whole thing just sucks," I mumbled. "But...you've gotta keep your chin up. We're gonna find a way to save Colette, okay? We're a lot more informed now than we were a few days ago."
"Yeah. You're right..." He sighed. "It's just...no. Never mind."
"...I won't tell you to just forget about him," I said, shaking my head. "...Because I can't, either. The most we can do is focus on what progress we can make here, all right? We're helpless when it comes to...him. It...it'll hurt less with time."
"Heh. Usually it's me trying to get you to stop brooding..." Lloyd remarked with a humorless laugh.
"Would it help if I distracted you with something totally random?" I asked, trying to cover up my own depression.
"Yeah. Do that."
"Okay, then..."
And so we followed the others down the rocky path, immersed in a quiet conversation. I didn't want to think about what had happened...so instead I thought about Meltokio and everything else Tethe'alla had to offer. I hated seeing Lloyd unhappy...he was supposed to be the optimist of the group.
As we walked down the path, I looked up to stare at the Tower of Salvation.
Kratos...Damn it all.
----
A/N: So...what did you think? ;D answers, finally! And don't worry...once Brit gets more time to think, there will be aaaangst and general unhappiness. BUT! Zelos will balance it all out, of course! XD
Review and Zelos will give you his autograph! You know you want it~!
Next time: The Great Zelos, Chosen of Tethe'alla! Seducer of hunnies! Gaze upon his stunning looks, and perhaps some of his awesomeness will rub off on you! Unless you're a dude. The Great Zelos doesn't dig guys, mmkay?
