AN: all work and no play makes Aloria very sleepy and have no energy to write when she does have time off.

Chapter 34

As Jude had suspected, Gaius had wanted to grill Genis on the current situation in Aselia. The kid at least didn't have much info that seemed particularly useful though.

Genis linked his hands behind his head. "Man... Your people really like you," he said as he glanced around at the townsfolk as they bowed reverently in their king's direction. "The king of Tethe'alla hardly ever leaves his palace. He's a nice enough guy, but not really interested in knowing what his people think about his policies."

The king solemnly nodded. "I rule for my people," he said. "To ignore them would be-"

"Your Highness!" a man said as he ran towards them. He staggered to a stop and bowed several times as he tried to catch his breath.

"There is no need to rush," Gaius said.

"I ran all the way here from Sharilton, Lady Driselle sent me - Prime Minister Ilbert and Lady Elise were attacked!" The man coughed several times and crouched.

Jude stepped forward and knelt next to the man, casting a healing arte on him. "What do you mean? Where?" he asked, restraining the urge to shake the poor exhausted man.

"They were in Sharilton visiting Lady Driselle," the man swallowed and rubbed his arm across his forehead. "Men just poured out of everywhere and attacked. They took Lady Elise and wounded Prime Minister Ilbert."

"How badly?" Jude asked.

The man shook his head. "I don't know. I was sent here almost right after it happened."

"I will go immediately," Gaius said.

Genis dropped his hands to his sides as he turned to look up at the man. "What? Really? Personally? Wow."

"I'm going with you," Jude said firmly and stood.

The king merely nodded once and looked down at the messenger. "Rest and recover yourself. Your job is finished."

Nodding, the man dipped his head in a bow.

Gaius started walking towards the city's gates. Jude turned to follow and looked down at Genis as the half-elf boy ran to catch up with them. "I can come too, right?" Genis asked.

"Of course," Gaius said without even looking back. "We will take wyverns to get there."

"I've got a winged dragon," Genis said helpfully. "So you don't need to worry about me. Though, I kind of like rheairds better."

Without looking like he was in a hurry at all, Gaius quickly led them to the city gates and outside. The woman at the wyvern pen bowed deeply to her king. "Your Highness? How can I assist you?"

"Saddle my wyvern and the winged dragon," Gaius ordered.

"Yes sire," she said and dashed away.

Moments later a wyvern and Genis's monster were brought out. Jude wasn't really much of a judge on the subject matter, but suspected that the winged dragon looked well cared for.

Climbing up into the saddle behind Genis, Jude held on to the back of the saddle as they took off, following Gaius's mount.

"I can't believe that a king just... flies off without any guards," Genis said.

"Gaius is more than capable of taking care of himself. Besides, we're here," Jude reassured. "Though, honestly if he has trouble with anything, we're toast. I defeated him once, but I had help and I think he was going easy on us because he didn't actually want to kill us."

Genis looked back at him, brows lifting into the silver fringe of his bangs. "You're kidding, right?"

Briefly smiling, Jude shook his head. "No. It was more to prove that we were absolutely convinced that we were doing the right thing and by defeating him, we convinced him."

"This guy is really hard to read," Genis said. "I'm more than a little intimidated." He looked down. "I didn't think I'd ever meet anyone who could scare me like Raine did, but... I think she would've liked this guy."

Having not met her, Jude could only shrug slightly. "Gaius is more focused on his mission than relationships."

Genis flushed and shook his head. "I couldn't imagine Raine falling in love with anyone either. I was just saying I think they'd get along really well."

They passed over the ocean, flying high above the clouds, Gaius in the lead.

"At least this is faster than a boat," Jude said. "Just have to keep an eye out for the king of the skies."

"That's not Gaius?" Genis asked and briefly grinned.

Jude laughed. "No. But I've defeated him once as well."

"Man. You're pretty accomplished," Genis said.

"You've done plenty on your world," Jude pointed out.

Tipping his head to the side, Genis shrugged. "Yeah. I guess so."

Jude sat back slightly and rode in silence, suspecting that he had upset the boy somehow. Not wanting to hurt his feelings further, he kept an eye out for any skyward danger. Thankfully they crossed the sea without mishap and followed Gaius to land in the courtyard of Lady Driselle's mansion.

Genis leaned around his winged dragon's neck and stared up at the house. "Is that a tree?" he asked.

"Yes and no," Jude answered. "It's a mansion that was encouraged to take that shape via spirit artes." He dismounted as Driselle came dashing out of the house.

"Jude! King Gaius!" she called. "I'm so glad you came!"

"Is Ilbert alive?" Gaius asked.

Driselle stopped long enough to bow as she blurted, "Yes, but barely! Please hurry!" She turned and ran back inside, Jude hot on her heels, leaving Gaius and Genis behind, though not by far.

She led the way upstairs to a room and slammed the door open and got out of Jude's way as he went straight for the bed. A man was already there and had made some attempt to aid Rowan. Quickly looking his friend over, Jude shook his head. "He's hurt pretty bad, but, I think he's way too stubborn to give up yet." Reaching his hands out, he began casting a healing arte.

...

"What do you mean he's gone?" Ivar demanded at the top of his lungs.

Aster looked over curiously. He had been admiring the large bonfire in the middle of the room.

"He went to Sharilton."

"Why would he go there?" Ivar asked. He was standing on the other side of the bonfire with a guard.

"A messenger came," the guard said, "from Sharilton. He said they were attacked. He went with Doctor Mathis and that odd boy he brought."

Ivar turned to look at the others. "Well, what now?"

"We will go to him," Ratatosk said distastefully. "Jude is required."

Pulling a face, Ivar glared. "Fine." He turned to march out of the palace.

Marta audibly sighed at the thought of riding the gondola again. Aster had personally found it fun, but understood why she would be less than thrilled. 'Wonder if I can ask the king how it works,' he wondered as he followed the others.

In the palace courtyard, Ivar summoned his wyvern and mounted there.

Ratatosk did the same for Judith and the Winged Dragon he had taken possession of once Aster had dismounted. Marta looked even less thrilled. 'Her anti-nausea pill must be wearing off.'

Mounting his monster, Aster nudged it to take off and follow Ivar as he and Sheena flew south in a flurry of wings and snow.

Cold snow slapped him in the face as a fresh fall began. The heavy wet flakes soaked into his coat, chilling him to the bone and he hunched down over his winged dragon's neck, trying to reduce the pull of the wind, tucking loose fabric under himself so he wouldn't flap so much. Not that it really helped, but at least the dragon was warmer to lean against than sitting straight up.

'At this rate, I'm going to catch cold. Then Richter will really be mad at me,' he thought and shook his head with a slight smile. 'I hope he's okay.' He was startled when his dragon dived suddenly. Opening his eyes, he found that Judith had taken the lead and was heading for what looked like an uneven fight between three people - one of which looked unarmed - and a band of thirty.

"Judgment!"

It took Aster a moment to realize that the voice echoing off the canyon walls was familiar, it was the glowing flash of angel wings that knocked it into his head. "Zelos?" he leaned forward slightly to look, finding the distinctive red hair of the swordsman as he moved to protect the short blonde. He counted again and only came up with what looked like Alvin, Zelos, and a blonde girl who was very good at dodging attacks but didn't seem to have a weapon of her own.

Emil landed in the snow alongside Marta and they joined the battle, as did Judith, Ivar and Sheena. Aster pulled his winged dragon out of the dive and circled overhead. Drawing his gun, he took care to aim at one of the attacking men and fired a bolt of lightning. The man was stunned long enough for Alvin to finish him off.

Aster chose another target, continuing to circle overhead, picking men off one at a time. Though he didn't feel like he had helped much, the remaining five men turned tail to flee, deciding that the fight just wasn't worth it. Only then did Aster direct his winged dragon to land in the snow nearby and slide off into a hip-deep drift. He sighed gustily as he was instantly cold where he had been marginally warm. Wading out of the snow, he joined the others.

"What do you mean gone?" Marta demanded at the top of her lungs.

"Zelos! You were supposed to watch out for him!" Sheena added.

"Hey!" Alvin interrupted. "It was his idea, okay? Can we just go report to Gaius?"

"He's not at Kambalar," Ivar said. "Apparently he went to Sharilton."

"Probably to check on Rowen," the blonde girl said. "Alvin, we should go there too."

The brunet man nodded. "Probably a good idea," he said. "Lord Ratatosk, please restrain your womenfolk. All right? This isn't the place to go spilling the whole story."

Aster looked at the Summon Spirit to find him squinting for a moment before grabbing Marta and hauling her bodily towards Judith once again. "You will explain all in detail once we get there."

"Wh- wait? Aren't you going to call another wyvern or something?" Alvin asked.

"No. I will have Judith carry you by your leg."

"Come on!" Alvin objected.

"Would serve you right," the girl said.

Clearing his throat, Aster lifted a hand, "You two can ride with me," he said and looked at Zelos.

"I'll fly myself," the redhead said, his wings appearing in a burst of light.

Aster turned to look back at his winged dragon, which was biting the snow, he decided to follow the path he'd already broken through the drift to get back to his mount and tried to climb up. He was surprised when Alvin unexpectedly gave him a boost. "Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it," Alvin said as he handed the girl up to sit in front of Aster. He climbed up to sit behind the saddle and held on as the winged dragon struggled into the air.

The blonde girl looked back at him. "You're soaking wet," she said.

"Yeah well. Snow kind of has that effect." Aster smiled.

"You might get sick, though," she said.

Aster smiled wider. "Sounds like something my friend would say."

She looked down. "Was your friend Tiger?"

He blinked. "That would be the news I missed, I'm guessing," Aster said and sighed. "Tiger was a friend of mine, but not the one I was referencing. I guess... he disappeared?"

"How'd you know?" she asked.

"I should have considered it earlier, but taking him to Elympios probably wasn't the best idea," Aster admitted, "Considering he's made of mana." 'For that matter, I should avoid the place too.'

"So you knew he was dead."

Aster nodded.

"I'm Elise," she said.

"Aster. Nice to meet you."

She shivered against the wind and scooted back to tuck herself against his chest more securely.

"I'll get you wet too...?" Aster asked in confusion.

"I'll dry," Elise said and bowed her head. He thought he heard her sniffle but couldn't see her face to confirm if she was crying or not. Feeling miserable about the news himself, Aster put his arms around her.

"He was a good kid," he said softly. "A bit obnoxious sometimes, but he had a good heart."

They passed out of the blizzard finally and flew over a nighttime sea, heading generally south in a V formation with the two wyverns breaking the wind and making it easier on his overburdened winged dragon as much as they could. Zelos flew on the other end of their formation, though his flight wasn't based on wing beats alone.

Elise's back had warmed the wet cloth of his shirt and Alvin's presence behind him had begun to thaw him by the time they reached their apparent destination. He briefly got distracted looking at a giant windmill to his left as his dragon followed the other two to land in a courtyard in front of a mansion. Another winged dragon and wyvern were already tethered there, looking sleepy as though they had been there for a while.

The lights were on, or perhaps they never turned off since they were apparently made of glowing grass.

Marta was quick to dismount and hurried to the bushes, Emil following to make sure she was all right. Elise dismounted the winged dragon nimbly and rubbed her arms, shivering. Alvin joined her on the ground and Aster awkwardly slid off, nearly getting tangled in the reins on his way down. Thankfully Alvin didn't have to step in and help before he got himself sorted out.

"You're a real klutz, you know that?" the man said.

"That's what Richter tells me," Aster agreed, hiding behind cheerfulness like a security blanket.

Guards rushed forward to place themselves between them and the doors of the mansion, but Ivar strode up boldly. "We were told King Gaius had come here," he said boldly. "We're here on official business."

One of the guards looked at his companion, but was forestalled from speaking when Elise hurried forward. "They're with me," she said.

"Miss Elise!" the guard said and hurried to step back. "Yes, his Highness is here, along with Dr. Mathis. They're in the guest room."

Nodding once, she strode past to head up the stairs to the front door, leading the way for everyone else; inside, up the stairs, and to the left.

Opening a door without even knocking, Elise stepped in and gasped. "Rowen!" she cried and ran across the room.

"Little Miss," a tired old voice rasped. "I'm so glad to see you safe..."

Aster slipped in after everyone else and closed the door before looking around to find the large room crowded with not just the people he had arrived with but Jude, Genis, and a tall man with black hair. Elise was hugging a bandaged old man who was propped up on the bed.

"Rowen," Alvin said, hand on his forehead, voice dripping with relief.

"How convenient that we have all gathered here," the tall man with dark hair intoned. He folded his arms and looked around the room.

The door opened again, bumping Aster in the back. He moved aside as a woman in pink rushed in. "Elise!" she cried and went to hug the girl. "I was so worried! I'm glad you're safe!"

Elise hugged the woman in return, "Driselle, I'm okay," she said. "I... I was saved."

"By Alvin?" Driselle asked. "Here, I found Teepo," she pulled a strange doll from her pocket and handed it to Elise. The girl gripped the doll and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Aster squinted as he tried to remember where he had heard that name before.

"Long story," Alvin muttered and made his way over to a sideboard where a crystal bottle of alcohol sat on a mirrored tray. He pulled out a cup, poured himself a shot and knocked it back. Pouring another, he turned to look at the rest of the room.

The tall man with black hair turned to face Alvin. "Now would be a good time to make your report, since we have all gathered." He glanced around. "Assuming this is everyone who is expected?"

Emil nodded. "Yeah."

Marta took a seat on a plush chair near the window, Emil perching on the arm of it next to her.

Alvin sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. "Okay, so after checking out Aselia, we split up. I took Zelos and Tiger to Elympios to check out the politics going on there..." He cringed. Reaching back, he grabbed the bottle and poured another glass and drank it before he could continue. "Balan sent me a note saying my cousin Vance, current patriarch of the Svent family was throwing a party. I thought it sounded promising for leads and we went there... Vance was up to no good, of course. He's definitely behind the revival of the Otherworld Reactor Plan. Pulled some strings, made some bets, and essentially ensured the downfall of the Spyrite program."

"What? How?" Jude asked, moving to sit on the couch next to Elise and Driselle.

"Balan's dead." Alvin looked at the tall dark haired man. "Let me finish before you get your hackles up, Gaius." He poured another shot, and swallowing with a slight cringe, Alvin shook his head. "So we were about to leave when Vance comes out with Elise all drugged up. I couldn't let that go without a fight... Set fire to the house and left. We ended up in the warehouses lining the Trigleph Seahaven. But Vance had figured out that we'd head there, so he blocked it with a bunch of his men and Cain. We weren't going to make it out so Tiger came up with this stupid plan to distract them while the three of us ran." He shot a glare at Zelos. "I wouldn't have agreed to bring him along if I'd known what he was."

"I didn't know we would be there that long!" Zelos objected.

"Wait," Jude lifted a hand. "What exactly happened to him?"

"The spyrix in Elympios were draining him," Alvin said. "Being made of mana and all." He set the glass down again and rubbed his eyes. "So he figured he was going to fade out anyway, he said he wanted to go down fighting. He challenged Cain and lost."

"He kicked that jerk in the nuts before he went, though! And broke his face," the doll in Elise's lap announced, startling Aster. After a quick glance around, he realized that only those from Aselia were surprised by this and looked at the doll again.

"Wait," Marta whispered. "Did you just - you just said..."

"Tiger's gone," Elise said sadly.

Genis turned around to look at her, his face white. He slowly sat down on the floor and put his face in his hands.

Alvin rubbed the bridge of his nose with a finger and sighed. "The kid actually did pretty well. Lasted longer than I expected him to... Gave me time to get Elise on the ship and hide somewhere. Zelos joined us later after everything had settled down again."

"How?" Gaius asked.

"He can fly, apparently," Alvin shrugged. "That's it. We spent the rest of the time hiding on a ship."

Teepo took to the air, hovering next to Elise as it said, "If only I'd been there. I could've helped save Tiger."

"Saved him?" Genis demanded. "How? What's the point of any of this anymore?"

Sheena knelt beside the boy and put her arms around his shoulders. He sullenly stared at the floor.

Alvin knocked back another shot. "Elise figured out that she could channel mana into him."

Jude's head jerked up. He looked from the girl beside him to Aster, where he still stood near the door.

"Okay, is no one going to ask what that thing is?" Aster asked, pointing at the floating doll.

"I'm Teepo!" the doll announced. "Got a problem with that?"

Suddenly it clicked. "Teepo? Wait!" Aster looked to Jude for confirmation. "Can I look at it?" He reached out to grab at the floating doll.

"Ahh!" Teepo yelped and flew away to hide behind Marta's chair.

Elise's head snapped up to glare at Aster. "You leave Teepo alone!" she said firmly, clenching her fists.

Jude placed a hand on her shoulder. "Elise, it's okay." He looked around. "That's Aster, he's a researcher from Aselia. He's working with me to figure out a solution to both our words' problems. Can he take a look at Teepo for a minute?"

Aster clasped his hands together. "I promise I won't hurt him. Your name is Elise, right? Sorry for being rude. I just got a little excited. Jude's records mentioned Teepo and said you two were extraordinary."

Elise flushed and slowly the floating doll came out from behind the chair. Aster carefully caught it and looked it over before finding a zipper.

"Woah! Hey!" Teepo objected but Aster had already opened it and was looking inside. He put everything back and released the doll. "Watch it pal!" He flew back to Elise's lap. "So rude!"

"I can't tell for certain. Altessa will have to verify if its the purity of the materials, but I'd think that's what it is," Aster said. "That's why she's never had a problem using Teepo."

"Speaking of which." Alvin waved the hand holding his glass. He was on his sixth shot of whatever it was he'd found. "How'd that go?"

"We found - well, Ivar and Sheena found a whole stash of boosters," Aster said. "So success on our end. We should be able to refine the materials."

"Something gone right at least," Zelos muttered.

Marta leaned forward, rubbing her eyes. Emil gently rubbed her back with one palm and sighed softly. "So what now? We need some way to deal with Alice and Decus again. And now we've confirmed its the Otherworld Reactor Plan that's been the whole start of this mess?" he asked. "How do we even deal with that?"

Gaius opened his eyes. "I will deal with the Svent family," he said.

"Can I," Alvin paused, squinted slightly and swayed. "At least ask that you let me give you the names of the people who might not have been in on this whole thing? I mean. I don't like them, but I don't want my entire family exterminated either. Leaves power vacuums. Which I guess in hindsight was the whole reason Vance got into the position he's in now." He hiccuped.

"Perhaps when you're sober," Gaius said blandly.

"Hey-" Alvin waved a finger in the king's general direction. "I've every right to be upset. The only family I gave a damn about is dead." He set his glass down and shuffled in his pocket a moment. "Aster. I want a gun like yours." He pulled an aspyrixis out and tossed it in Aster's direction.

Fumbling to catch it, Aster managed to get a good hold before it hit the ground. "Uhm..." Aster looked up at Alvin. "I really don't want to make any more of those..." he said and glanced briefly at Gaius.

The king didn't look amused. "I assume you're speaking of the design that prompted the creation of your lamp," he said blandly. "You have my word that I will not make use of such weapons. It will only lead to arms races with those who would seek to challenge me. Such as the battle over the Lance."

"That's it!" Elise said, jumping to her feet. "Cain's glove sucked the mana out of the air the same way the Lance did!"

Everyone looked at her.

Shying back, Elise looked at the floor. "I mean... it really looked like he absorbed Tiger. He didn't dissipate."

"That would make sense," Jude said, tipping his head to the side and tapping his temple with a finger. "Given how mana has been simply vanishing from Aselia. Cain has a portable Lance... Which means he can get back and forth from Aselia to Elympios at will."

Ratatosk leaned forward slightly. "Then it needs destroying."

Alvin snorted and gestured with his glass again. "Would you get a load of that, Jude? He sounds just like Milla, doesn't he?"

Sweeping her skirt under her as she sat, Elise looked from Aster to Emil curiously.

"So who are all these people anyway?" Teepo asked, floating around the room and stopped in Emil's face. "This guy tastes like cinnamon and apples. Spicy and sweet."

Marta straightened and squinted at the floating doll. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, sorry, Elise," Jude said and gestured, "That's Emil and Ratatosk, Lord of Monsters. Marta, Genis, and Sheena."

Elise narrowed her eyes at Emil. "So you're the one who took his name?"

Surprised, Emil leaned back, only to have Teepo hover closer. "Uhm..." he finally connected what she was talking about. "Yeah..."

Teepo stared him in the eyes, only inches from his face. "You'd better take good care of it, because I'll smash you if you don't!"

Ratatosk fell over behind Marta, laughing. "I like this creature!"

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!" Teepo objected. "I'm being serious!"

Marta reached up to catch the doll and looked from it to Elise and finally held it out to her, though the doll fought against her grip. "Please don't be offended. Ratatosk is-"

Laying across the chair behind Marta, Ratatosk put his arm around her waist. "Quit making excuses for me. I'm rude. We're all aware of that."

"If you know you're being rude, why do you do it anyway?" Marta asked, twisting to look back at him.

He shrugged. "Just the way I am I suppose."

Marta rolled her eyes with a sigh. She looked back at the struggling doll and then at Elise again. "Emil and Ratatosk are and aren't the same person. I'm sure when you get to know them better you'll be able to tell the difference. Emil isn't rude like this."

"Not out loud anyway," Ratatosk put in and allowed Emil to have their body back. He sat up but was unable to get out of the cushy chair. Marta looked back at him again after giving Teepo back to Elise. She shifted sideways to give him room on the chair with her and he turned, having to put his arm around her to be comfortable, one leg dangling over the arm of the chair still.

"Miss Elise, I will do my absolute best to take care of Tiger's name. I'm grateful that he let me have it," he told the girl.

Alvin slid down to sit on the floor.

Gaius stood. "The first step to making a plan is to outline the objectives."

Genis turned to look at him. "We really need to nail that Cain guy to a wall or something."

"Oh interesting," Ratatosk mused, leaning his chin on his fist, elbow resting on the knee that dangled over the arm of the chair. "And we could force him to eat gels every so often to prolong the suffering."

"And pull his nails out!" Teepo blurted. "Afterwards we can eviscerate and draw and quarter him!"

"I really like this creature," Ratatosk mused with a smirk. "We should add in some flaying and perhaps to finish off, impale him upon a spike for a few days?"

Jude interrupted, "That's quite enough. We need to focus right now."

Nodding once, Gaius looked from the girl to Genis. "Cain has to have a power base from which to operate from. Remove that and he should be weakened." He looked at Aster and Jude. "You two will focus on refining your invention to restore the Word Tree in Aselia. I will deal with the Svent family."

"Then there's Alice and Decus," Emil said. "We still don't know what they even want."

"That will be your task then," Gaius said.

Ratatosk narrowed his eyes but Emil managed to keep his mouth closed on what the Summon Spirit wanted to say.

"We need to get this wrapped up pretty quickly," Aster said and turned to Elise. "Would you help as well? I think your skills with mana channeling might be key in saving all three worlds."

Elise blushed and ducked her head. She nodded once, keeping her face averted.

"Alvin," Gaius said. When Alvin didn't respond, he strode over to nudge the man's thigh with the toe of his boot. "Alvin."

"What?" the man mumbled and snorted, head hanging.

Gaius sighed.

"I could do something about that," Jude said, "Though... I kind of don't want to."

"He would be far more useful awake," Gaius said. "Especially if he wishes to have a hand in sparing some of his family."

Jude went to kneel next to Alvin and lifted his hands to cast an arte.

Zelos lifted a hand. "I'd like to go with Alvin. I'm personally offended by how Vance treated the little lady." He gestured at Elise.

"I'm sick of this," Genis said. "I'm going with you, Zelos. I wanna blow some holes in people."

The redhead nodded. "Can't blame you there."

Emil looked at Ivar and Sheena. "I doubt I could take on Alice and Decus by myself," he said.

"Of course I'm going with you!" Ivar pumped his fist.

Sheena nodded. "I'll go help with Alice and Decus as well."

Standing, Jude brushed his palms together. "He should wake shortly."

Aster stepped over, taking off the holster for his gun. "I'll just give him this. I'm not going to need it, I think." He set the gun in Alvin's lap and looked at Jude. "Let's get back to Altessa and see what can be done." He gestured with the aspyrixis Alvin had tossed to him, then paused, looking at the red spirit fossil locked into it. He had the odd feeling that he could almost hear someone crying. Brows drawing together briefly, he put the device in his pocket.

"Right," Jude agreed.

"Jude, take my winged dragon," Genis said. "I'll ride with Zelos."

"All right. Thanks."