A/N: Whew, that one took forever. I don't know why, but it was just really hard to write. XD Anyway, I don't even know what else to say. It's past my bedtime.
Enjooooy~!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
It was a long walk to the Fooji Mountains. Though I guess it wasn't that surprising, since everything around here took forever. The worst part was that we weren't actually going to be able to use the Rheairds yet...when would we be getting them, then? I strained to remember.
First came the Fooji Mountains and the confrontation with all those Cruxis people. Then we would head into Meltokio through the sewers-hey, wasn't that when we would meet Regal? Sweet! And after that, we'd get the Elemental Cargo and go to...Sybak? Yeah, we would have to go see Kate. Then came the Gaoracchia Forest, the fight with Regal, Mizuho, Altessa, Ozette, the Temple of Lightning...Christ, we still had a ways to go before we'd get those damn Rheairds. I hated walking all the time.
...Then again, I wasn't sure I'd have the courage to get on a Rheaird again after our little crash landing last time. I was afraid of heights already, and now I would have that lovely little memory in the back of my mind.
"Hey, Brit."
Oh, Lloyd was talking to me. We had been silent for a while, since we had already been walking for a day and had exhausted what little topics there were to talk about. I looked over at him as he fell back from the group.
"Yeah, what is it?" I recognized that look on his face. He intended to talk about something private. It was a good thing we were already lagging behind, out of earshot.
"...I've been thinking," he said after a moment.
"Really?" I said, acting interested at this rare occurence. He rolled his eyes.
"Let me finish," Lloyd said, shoving me lightly. "I was thinking about what happened back in Sybak."
"Hm? What about it?" I asked, wondering where he was going with this. When Lloyd started conversations like this, it usually meant he was going to pry another secret out of me. Which one would it be this time? I had a treasure trove of them.
"I don't know. Everything," he said, frowning. "About Presea..."
"Mm," I let out a sigh. "She's just like me."
"Exactly. They have that Angelus Project over here, too." Lloyd was staring at the Exsphere embedded in his hand. "You said it made Exspheres into Cruxis Crystals with a special Key Crest, right?"
I nodded. "Remember? My Key Crest didn't look right to you when we met up after that Desian attack on Luin."
"Yeah, I remember now..." He murmured thoughtfully. "I never really took a close look at Presea's Key Crest, so I didn't notice anything weird about it."
After a moment, Lloyd spoke up again. "Hey...Colette's like this because of her Cruxis Crystal, right? And Presea's Exsphere is supposedly going to turn into a Cruxis Crystal. D'you think that's why Presea acts so much like Colette? Maybe she wasn't always so emotionless like that."
Well, Lloyd was catching on. I guess it wasn't too much of a shock, though...after all, I had supplied him with some information ahead of time. He wasn't supposed to know all this about the Angelus Project right now. I couldn't see anything wrong with telling him this now, though.
"I think you're right," I said. "When you made me that new Key Crest to place over my old one, I remember feeling like everything had...I don't know, intensified. It was strange, but...maybe I was just in the early stages at the time."
The brunette suddenly looked interested. "A Key Crest...maybe we could give Presea one, too?"
I fingered my Exsphere nervously. "Maybe. But we should probably get Dirk to make it. Your handiwork was okay for mine, but I think it was only because we stopped the parasitic process early."
Lloyd's face fell. "...You're probably right. That means we can't really do anything until we get the Rheairds back."
"And we're back to square one," I said helpfully. "On the bright side, as soon as we get back to Sylvarant, this means we can help Presea and Colette."
He looked over at me. "...Shouldn't we tell the others?"
I fell silent for a moment, staring at their backs. No one seemed to have taken notice of our private conversation. As Presea and Colette walked along quietly, Genis and Raine seemed to be talking to each other. Zelos had tried talking to Sheena, only to receive a swift smack.
...Though they were my friends and I cared about them, I really didn't want to tell that whole story right now. We already had enough to worry about.
"We'll have time after we get the Rheairds back, won't we?" I asked after a moment.
Lloyd heaved a sigh. "You always put it off. We were supposed to tell them in Sybak. We can't save Presea on our own, you know. We've gotta tell them all the stuff you found out from Yuan."
"But it doesn't really matter if we tell them after, right?" I stared at the ground, unable to meet his gaze. "...Please, Lloyd."
"All right, all right," he said, rolling his eyes. "Just promise me. Once we're done getting the Rheairds back, we'll tell them everything. Okay?"
"...I promise," I said reluctantly. I wasn't looking forward to retelling everything. Not to mention, Zelos hadn't been with us for that long, so he'd probably think I was batshit. Unless he'd heard about my background from the Renegades or Cruxis. I guess that was possible, too.
We fell silent for a little while after that. The Fooji Mountains loomed off in the distance; despite how close they looked, I knew we still had two or three days of traveling to go. Oh man, and we'd have to hike up the mountain this time instead of down...that was gonna suck. Maybe I would pass out again, and then I wouldn't have to tell my long-winded story. That would be good.
Raine...I was worried enough about Zelos, but I had a feeling Raine wouldn't believe me. Hadn't she been skeptical when Sheena had told her story? And Sheena had had proof; she was a summoner. What proof did I have? Absolutely none. I had a few scraps of clothes left from Earth, a navel ring, and an earring. That was it. And those didn't really prove anything at all.
Maybe I could show them that pocky box...agh, but I had a feeling it was long gone. I had lost track of that thing ages ago. It was impossible to carry something like that around for weeks and not have it get all crushed in my bag.
Either way, all I had with me were memories of Earth. And my knowledge of this place, but I wasn't going to reveal that to them. That story was even more outrageous.
"Hunny~!"
No, Zelos. Not answering you. Too deep in thought.
I pretended to fiddle with something on my coat, acting as if I hadn't heard him at all. Only a few seconds passed before I saw something pink out of the corner of my eye, and Zelos leaned over to put his face very close to mine.
"Are you listening?" He asked abruptly, and I instantly flinched and stumbled backwards.
"Gah!" I regained my footing, nearly bumping into Lloyd. "Don't do that!"
"Hey, don't get mad!" He said, grinning. "I didn't mean to scare you, my little spitfire."
"You...nngh," I rubbed my forehead, finally looking up to meet his gaze. "What is it, Zelos?"
He sobered a little, which piqued my interest. Was he actually about to ask a serious question? I couldn't imagine what it would be.
"I've been wondering about something," he said, looking up at the sky for a moment.
The others looked over curiously as well; I had stopped lagging behind so much, so I was now walking near the middle of the group rather than in the back. I was surprised Sheena hadn't interrupted him yet; I could tell she was waiting for him to say something stupid.
"Yeah?" I said, staring over at him. He met my gaze, and I realized that this was one of those rare moments where Zelos was completely serious.
"Back in Sybak..."
Oh, God.
"...you knew what was going to happen, didn't you?"
That got the whole group's attention. Lloyd was giving me a very intense stare, and I shifted uncomfortably. Dammit...and I had been getting a little sloppy with my acting lately, too.
I raised my eyebrows at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You took Raine and Genis out of the room right before the Papal Knights came along," Zelos elaborated. I frowned at him.
"Yeah, but that didn't save them. I..." I paused, frantically trying to think about what my explanation for it was. Crap! I should have been thinking about this when I had time!
"I wanted to tell them that I thought we were being watched," I finally said. "It would've looked weird if I took all of you guys out of the room at once."
"What tipped you off?" Zelos asked.
I shook my head uneasily. "I didn't know for sure if we were or not. It was just a hunch...and I didn't want to just stay quiet and kick myself for it later."
"Why did the knights come after us, anyway?" Genis spoke up. "They didn't know that we were half-elves when they first approached us. They just said something about us being traitors..."
"It was because we were talking about going back to Sylvarant," Lloyd said. "I got Zelos to agree to come with us, and then they just came out of nowhere..."
I let out a quiet sigh, relieved at the new turn the conversation had taken. I really didn't like being put on the spot like that.
But Zelos wasn't done yet. "...So you really had no idea they were half-elves," he said in a lower voice now, staring at me with his eyebrows slightly raised. Dammit...I had underestimated Zelos. I had really thought it would be Raine who would question me like this afterwards.
"No, I was just as surprised as you guys were," I replied, trying to keep my expression neutral.
"Hmm." Zelos stared at me for a moment, and didn't say anything more on the subject. That troubled me; he hadn't confirmed if he even believed my story or not. I had a feeling it was the latter.
"What are you even getting at?" Sheena asked, frowning at him. He immediately perked up, smiling over at her.
"Eh? I was just making conversation, Sheena. My poor little spitfire was looking so neglected!" He said in mock sorrow, grabbing my arm and pulling me close to him. Blushing, I immediately squirmed away as Sheena started bitching at him again.
I couldn't help but notice that the Professor had begun to stare at me. She had been listening to Zelos' remarks, and was now regarding me with her stern blue eyes. I looked away, uncomfortable. First Kratos, then Lloyd, Zelos, and Raine...I felt like the protective shroud of lies I had created was slowly being torn apart piece by piece. Maybe Lloyd was right about telling everyone the truth...at this rate, they might make their own guesses and get the wrong idea.
As always, I'd put off worrying about it till the last minute...
Two days passed. We were currently setting up camp at the base of Mount Fooji, which we had finally reached. I was glad we wouldn't have to hike up the mountain after a long day of walking, but I also didn't exactly like the idea of starting the trek first thing in the morning. And then once we finally made it to the top...ugh. Yuan. Maybe I'd like him more if he didn't always seek to cause trouble at the worst possible moments.
For now, though, I was content to just think of the fact that now I could finally wind down and relax for a bit.
"Brittany," I heard Raine murmur, and felt a hand on my shoulder. "Could I speak with you for a moment?"
Scratch that. No relaxation time tonight.
Almost as a reflex, I glanced around the campsite. Genis hadn't heard; he was too concentrated on the meal he was preparing. Lloyd and Zelos had gone off to gather firewood, meaning the only two people who honestly could have heard us were Presea and Colette. Raine wanted a private conversation, and she was going to get one. Lloyd wasn't around to save my ass. I could only hope what she was going to talk to me about was relatively innocent.
"Sure, Professor," I said as casually as I could. I allowed her to lead me a little ways away from the campsite, attempting to somehow relax.
We paused under the cover of a large maple tree, facing each other. Professor Sage was giving me the same look from a few days ago, and I resisted the urge to avoid her gaze. That'd just make me seem more suspicious.
"...So what is it, Professor?" I asked after a moment.
She lowered her eyes for a second, frowning. Then she looked up at me again. "You were lying to Zelos the other day."
"About what?" I asked hesitantly, feeling as if my insides had shriveled up and died.
"I just want to hear the truth, Brittany," Raine said sternly. "You...you knew that Genis and I were half-elves, didn't you?"
"Wh-What makes you think that?" I was pretty sure I looked surprised, but it was only because I was so damn nervous.
She let out a sigh, looking up at the night sky. "You're smarter than you let on. The day before we flew to the Tower of Salvation, you revealed to me that you knew the truth about Colette, something I had suspected for quite a while based on your behavior. I'm getting the same feeling from you now." Raine's eyes narrowed slightly. "You've only explained that day in Sybak in vague terms. Elaborate for me...if only for my peace of mind."
I could only stare at the ground, resisting the urge to fidget. "I don't know how else you want me to say it..."
"If you wanted to inform us about your hunch, then I alone would have sufficed," Raine said. "Why was my brother necessary? Why not Lloyd? It all seems too convenient that you chose the two of us."
"But I..."
"Separating us from the group wasn't necessary either, despite Zelos' presence. Had Zelos intended for us to be captured and imprisoned, he wouldn't have offered to help us back in Meltokio. Though I'll admit I do not fully trust that man, I don't believe it's plausible that he would have had anyone else keeping watch over us," the Professor continued, making me more uneasy with every word.
"Professor, I...I guess I know where you're coming from, but really...if I'm lying to you, what do you think I was trying to do?" I asked, crossing my arms. "There's no way I could've found out that you two were half-elves just like that...neither of you gave me any reason to suspect it, either." I paused for a moment, abruptly having a horrifying thought. "...You don't think I led you two out there to be captured, do you?"
Raine shook her head. "...No. I don't believe you would do something like that. If you truly hated half-elves, you wouldn't have fought the Papal Knights like that as we were being taken away."
I frowned. "...What do you think, then, Professor? I don't understand...why don't you believe me?"
"I don't know," she admitted after a moment. "There's something...strange about your story. If I'm wrong, forgive me."
Placing a hand to her chin, she looked thoughtful. Then she turned away. "However, if I'm not...I would prefer for you to tell me the truth before I attempt to find out for myself. Good night, Brittany."
I blinked. "...Night, Professor."
With that, she vanished into the shadows, walking back to camp. I stared at her disappearing orange back.
Tell the truth, huh...it was too bad I could only tell part of the truth. She might learn of my background, but she would never learn the real reason why I pulled them aside on that day in Sybak.
I didn't think she'd be able to handle the full truth. How would you feel if someone told you that they had known everything about you from the day you met? No, I didn't think any of them could bear hearing the truth...
It was a long walk to the mountain's summit. Not that I had expected it to be short or anything, but still...ugh. Even after all this time, I still wasn't much of a hiker. I had gone hiking in the White Mountains back home before, but I had always been the person who needed to stop for a break every five seconds. Possibly because I had always gone with my dad, and my dad was more in shape than most twenty-year-olds.
Dad...how long had it been? More than three months, now. If I remembered correctly, today was September nineteenth. Today was the birthday of one of my childhood friends...but she had gone off to college, and I hadn't seen her since spring break. We used to be neighbors...we had gone from chasing after the ice cream truck together at ten years old to driving to the movies together at sixteen. We'd buy too much popcorn, get lost on the way to the bathrooms, and laugh far too loudly during the movie.
I let out a sigh, reminiscing. I had taken all that for granted...I couldn't believe that I might never get to do that sort of thing again. I had adapted to living in this world, but I really missed Earth.
Ah, well. It wasn't doing me any good just thinking about it like this. I needed to find something else to occupy my mind with until we made it to the summit.
The path we walked on grew narrow again, and I did my best to stay away from the edge. No one was behind me, so they didn't notice me slow down; once the path widened again, I jogged to catch up with the others. It had been going this way for a while. I liked my spot at the back of the group, though I guess sometimes it could be inconvenient; I doubted anyone would notice right away if I fell and cracked my head or something. At least I had time to think without getting any unwanted attention.
Of course, I had been avoiding Raine and Zelos all day. I knew I would have to talk to them sooner or later or they'd just get more suspicious, but I really didn't want to. I was afraid I would say the wrong thing and put myself in an even worse position. In a way, Zelos scared me more because he was better at figuring these things out. I mean, he was the only one in the game who had suspected Regal's true identity. All of the others had just accepted his strange civility and knowledge without question, despite the fact that most convicts wouldn't be so articulate.
What would I do if Zelos confronted me? No, he wouldn't...would he? I had a feeling he might point out my suspicious remarks and activities at some point, though. Damn, I would really have to be careful from now on. I hadn't expected to have to worry about Zelos.
Even the way he'd been acting the other day...if the others thought about it enough, they might take notice the way Raine had. I had a feeling that Zelos had put me on the spot like that on purpose. He knew something was off about me; who better to recognize that besides a triple agent?
Ugh...I had a feeling that I was going to grow old very fast with all this worrying.
Up ahead, everyone seemed to be having their own conversation. Sheena was uneasily explaining where Volt's temple was, and Lloyd kept firing away questions, too excited to notice her obvious discomfort. Well, I'd leave them to their own devices for a while. I still had a lot of pesky thoughts to sort out.
Frowning, I ran the upcoming scene through my head. Even though I had beaten the game multiple times, after several months away from home and everything familiar, the memories had grown a bit fuzzy. We would make it to the summit...ah, and then Zelos would spring the trap. Everyone would be caught except, conveniently, Colette. Then...
Ah, crap. We were gonna meet Pronyma for the first time. Well, at least she wasn't as creepy as Rodyle...but they both had some pretty strange getup. So we were gonna have to fight her, weren't we? Great, I had forgotten all of the moves she used. I could hear her annoying voice shouting "Leonazium!" over and over in my head, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me what that attack looked like. It was probably something that hurt. A lot.
Okay, so I'd just run like hell whenever I heard her yell that. Or maybe I'd use Zelos as a human shield. What? Magic swordsmen in the group automatically took on the role of meat shield to me. Zelos was filling in the empty slot left by Kratos, therefore he was my new shield. It was all part of the package.
That thought made me smile slightly, but I had never been able to keep up with Kratos, and I had a feeling Zelos would be the same. Magic swordsmen were too moble to be good shields. I'd just have to wait and see if I could use Regal later on, then. God forbid I actually learn how to effectively defend myself. Heh.
Ahead of me, the others had quieted down a bit. I noticed Sheena slinking to the back of the group where I was walking, and quickly dropped my train of thought in favor of talking to her. She fell in step with me, letting out a sigh.
"'Sup?" I asked, smiling over at her. "...Something wrong?"
She looked over at me, before shaking her head. "Ah, no. It's just been a long couple of days."
"You're telling me," I said, sighing as well. The worst part was, they were about to get longer.
"Are you feeling okay?" she asked me.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm not about to collapse or anything, if that's what you mean," I replied, shrugging. "Just the usual amount of exhaustion."
"I guess that'll change once we get the Rheairds," she remarked, smiling with a slightly bitter edge. I just frowned.
"Yep, I'll just be terrified and clinging to Lloyd all the time," I said.
"What about me?" Lloyd called suddenly from further up, looking over his shoulder.
"Nothing, nothing at all!" I called back. "Talk to Genis or something, Lloydo."
He rolled his eyes, but didn't press any further. He returned to whatever he'd been doing previously. Sheena gave me a look, and then seemed to let my strangeness slide. She looked out ahead of us.
"Oh, right...I forgot you were afraid of heights."
I snorted. "The whole crash landing from last time didn't exactly help."
"It won't happen again, so don't worry!" she insisted. "Besides, maybe riding on the Rheairds will help you get over your fear."
"Hmm...I hope so," I said doubtfully. "I guess if we've got the pact with Volt, then we won't have to worry about another incident like before..."
"Right...Volt," she murmured, staring at the ground. I watched her for a moment, frowning slightly.
Volt...that pact wasn't gonna be fun. I was sure I'd have a panic attack beforehand while trying to think of a way to save Corrine. Oh, and there was Sheena, too. Naturally the first person I thought of was myself when it came to stuff like this...ugh. Sheena had it worse than I did. I didn't want to send her into a brooding mood...maybe I'd just change the subject.
"So, how was your time in Mizuho?" I asked suddenly. "Did you get chewed out or anything?"
"Hm?" She faltered, looking surprised at the completely off-topic question. I did notice that she seemed a little relieved, though. "Oh...I accepted the necessary punishment, but it was a lot better than I expected. You guys didn't complete the regeneration ritual, which means I technically accomplished at least part of what I was sent out to do."
"Even if it wasn't intentional," I added with a wry smile, and she smiled back.
"By the way, I forgot to ask...things went okay in Meltokio, right?"
I blinked. "Wellll...not exactly. The king was sick, so we snuck into the castle and knocked out a knight and-"
"You WHAT?" She cut me off, staring at me wide-eyed.
"They wouldn't have let us get an audience otherwise!" I whined.
"I can't leave you guys alone for five minutes..." she murmured, facepalming. Zelos, meanwhile, had overheard our conversation. He was grinning back at us.
"Yep, it was a good thing the Great Zelos was there, wasn't it?"
"Oh, please," Sheena grumbled.
"No, he did save our asses," I admitted. "The Pope wanted to kill us or imprison us, or something along those lines. Speaking of which, that guy's a real dick. Shouldn't religious leaders be teaching tolerance and compassion and all that stuff? All that dude's got going for him is a creepy mustache and a hilarious hat."
"Y'know, you could get into some serious trouble if someone overheard you saying that," Zelos remarked, looking very amused nonetheless.
"What the hell, we're already fugitives," I said, waving one hand in a dismissive gesture.
"True, true," he confirmed, and Sheena sighed.
"Hey, Zelos!" Lloyd called from the front of the group. "We're here."
I noticed then that the path had started to level out, and there was just one more short slope to walk up before we would reach the top of the mountain. Crap.
"So what's your big plan?" Lloyd asked as we all clustered together on the path, stopping temporarily. Everyone turned to look at Zelos, and I felt nervousness begin to creep into my system. I always worried a lot, but the real fear didn't come till a minute or so before the shit hit the fan.
"Oh, right," Zelos said, smiling confidently. "C'mere for a sec. I'll show you."
He started walking out into the clearing ahead, and we followed him like a bunch of mindless cattle. Fighting Pronyma on the top of a mountain...oh God, now I was really nervous.
We had just reached the center of the clearing when I heard a low click; that was probably the sound of the trap being triggered. Everyone looked around, wondering what it was, when suddenly a cage of diamond shaped I-don't-know-whats surrounded us. Seriously, I had no idea what the hell they were. I wasn't about to touch them to find out, though. For all I knew, they would cut my fingers off.
"Wh-What's going on?" Sheena was looking around wildly, fumbling for her cards. I noticed that Colette had been conveniently lagging behind a little bit, and as a result was now trapped on the other side of the prison. That could be a very good or very bad thing for us, depending on if her klutziness would save us like it was supposed to.
"You've walked right into my trap, fools!" Ah, it was Yuan. I half expected him to cackle evilly to fit the mood, but he was obviously too cool for that.
Lloyd swore, instantly drawing out his swords and slashing at the cage surrounding us. They scraped against it with a loud screech, but didn't so much as make a dent.
"Genis," he said, "can't you use your magic-"
"It's useless," Yuan said, cutting him off. "You'll only kill yourselves if you use magic in such an enclosed space."
He then turned away, leaving us with our frustration for a moment. It looked like he was giving orders to a few of his men, presumably to collect the Rheairds.
"What now?" Genis hissed, looking around at all of us.
"We wait till they he takes this damn cage down, and then we kick the crap out of him," I said instantly.
"I dunno if it's gonna be that easy, hunny," Zelos said helpfully, and I didn't even spare him a glance. I felt like if he saw my expression, he'd realize that I knew he had led us into this.
Yuan had turned back to us, and he was smirking. That probably wasn't a good sign.
"This time, you're mine, Lloyd."
Oh dear God, the images. That was such a creepy thing to say. Did he even realize how many different ways that statement could be interpreted?
"Damn!" Lloyd growled, gripping his drawn swords tightly.
Suddenly a bright light appeared to the left of us, though it was kind of hard to see with the spinning diamond-things blocking our view. Those things were starting to make me dizzy, and I really hoped they'd disappear soon before I threw up.
The light faded, leaving behind the daunting figure of Pronyma. And holy crap, she was actually kind of hot. In a scary way. Not that I was into chicks or anything, but I recognized a good looking woman when I saw one. Now if she could only get rid of that weird Desian getup in favor of something normal, she might have a chance at not frightening men off. Not that that had anything to do with what was happening now, but the random thoughts helped distract me from the building tension.
Yuan didn't look too happy at Pronyma's appearance, since he was kind of up to Renegade business right now. Either way, it was bad news for us.
"Oh?" She arched a delicate eyebrow at the sight of the seraph. "Lord Yuan, what brings you to this place?"
"I should ask you the same, Pronyma," Yuan said, not bothering to hide his irritation. "Tethe'alla is not under your jurisdiction. Why have you left the declining world?"
In playing the part of the angry superior, he had effectively avoided answering the question. It might make him seem suspicious nonetheless, but thankfully Pronyma seemed rather disinterested right now.
"I have come here on Lord Yggdrasill's order to retrieve the Chosen," Pronyma replied, casually glancing over in the direction of the blonde. "Please turn her over to me."
"Fine," Yuan said, frowning. "But in exchange for handing over the Chosen, I will be taking custody of the host body. I trust you have no objections?"
Wait, what? He was supposed to mention Lloyd at this point...though I guess randomly saying "Lloyd's mine btw" when the guy had nothing to do with Yggdrasill's plans might seem kind of suspicious. Still...host body? Was he referring to Presea?
Oh, right, that was stupid. Of course he'd be referring to me, because that's who Pronyma was now looking at. Ugh! What did Yuan want with me all of a sudden? This had to be some sort of coverup, so that Pronyma wouldn't know the real reason why Yuan was here.
"Hm..." Pronyma frowned slightly at that. "Very well, my lord. I have received no orders in regards to her; please take care to remove that Key Crest if you intend to continue the process."
Yuan simply gave her a look that said he didn't need her instructing him on how to "continue the process", which I suspected was the same sort of process Presea was going through. This little conversation was making me highly uncomfortable, as many of our group members had sent several glances in my direction in the past minute or so. But then Pronyma was approaching Colette, and everyone's attention instantly focused on our favorite blonde haired Chosen.
"Colette!" Lloyd cried, "Don't go!"
Pronyma paused just long enough to smirk derisively at the brunette. "It's futile. Your words cannot reach a Chosen who has lost her soul."
She turned to move closer to Colette, and we all watched helplessly. Sheena tried using a few of her cards on the prison surrounding us, but they simply desintigrated upon touching the diamond-things. I didn't bother trying to escape; if Lloyd's swords hadn't been able to do the trick, I highly doubted anything I tried would work.
"...What is this?" Pronyma sneered. "Why is there such a crude Key Crest upon the Cruxis Crystal? ...How pathetic. I shall remove this ugly thing at once."
She reached out one gloved hand, and we all tensed as her fingers inched toward the gift Lloyd had given Colette just days before. Suddenly Pronyma's hand was swatted away, however, as Colette abruptly threw up her arms.
"No!" she cried, her eyes squeezed shut.
I was pretty sure everyone in the group gasped at that, staring at Colette with complete shock. Pronyma's eyes had widened as well, and she had paused to watch the Chosen with surprise. Colette took that opportunity to back away a few steps, opening her eyes again. I felt immense relief when I saw that they had reverted to their normal shade of blue. She was finally back...
"This is a birthday present from Lloyd! I won't let you have it!" Colette said defiantly, glaring at Pronyma. Wow, I had never seen her glare at anyone like that before.
"Colette!" Lloyd called. "Are you back to normal?"
She looked over at us, and her eyebrows flew up. It was almost as if she hadn't even realized we were there. "...What? Everyone..."
"Impossible..." I heard Yuan murmur, but he didn't sound altogether upset. If Colette wasn't a soulless puppet, then she couldn't be used by Cruxis.
"How could this happen?" Pronyma scowled. "Still...it makes no difference in the end. I'll simply remove it. Now, come with me!"
The Desian leader moved forward, reaching out once more for Colette. The blonde stepped backwards again, pulling out her chakrams.
"Stay away from me!" she yelled, spinning in a circle to gain momentum for one of her chakrams, before sending it flying at Pronyma. The Desian was forced to dodge, but the spin had caused Colette to lose her balance; the Chosen stumbled backwards, caught her foot on a small metal box on the ground, and fell on her butt. The box she had hit was kicked out of position, causing one of the wires connected to it to tear. It started sparking and making altogether not-good sounds.
"Oh, no, I think I broke it..." Colette murmured, dismayed.
"...You can't be serious..." I heard another voice mumble, and turned my head to see Yuan facepalming. Despite the circumstances, I very nearly broke down into a fit of laughter right then. Poor Yuan...the Renegades were like the Team Rocket of Symphonia. They had all these clever plans, and they failed epically every time.
Right on cue, the barrier around us dissipated and we were free. Everyone instantly drew out their weapons, no longer restricted by floating diamonds of death.
"That's our Colette!" Genis said, grinning.
"Good job, my little Colette!" Zelos sang happily. "I think I'm falling in love!"
Raine and Sheena sighed, probably for completely different reasons, while I just opted to smile at Colette. I really was glad to see those blue eyes of hers again. Though she couldn't have been in that condition for much more than two weeks, it had still felt like an eternity since she had been her normal self. Hell, I knew I hadn't heard her voice in a very long time. Since the Tower of Mana...man, that seemed like forever ago.
Lloyd had approached Colette, and she was currently thanking him profusely for the birthday present. He just mumbled back a reply or two, probably too awed by the fact that she was really back to think clearly. I was happy she was back, but this wasn't exactly the time to have a welcome back party. Pronyma was slowly approaching with an icy look in her eyes, and I saw Yuan heave a sigh as he reached one arm out to his side. His swallow materialized in his hand, and he fell into a battle stance. I seemed to be the only one noticing this.
"Uh, guys..." I said tentatively, trying to hint at the fact that we were about to get our asses handed to us.
Pronyma was one thing, but Yuan? Yuan wasn't supposed to be in this fight! He was supposed to just stand to the side and wait his turn! Okay, I guess that didn't make sense, but still...the last thing I wanted was to fight yet another insanely overpowered seraph.
"Impudent fools..." Pronyma sneered. "Prepare to die!"
That caught everyone's attention, and we all readied ourselves. Yuan was moving calmly toward us, and I started moving so that I could put Pronyma between me and him. I did not want to clash weapons with Yuan. We were on the top of a freaking mountain, and I wasn't in the mood to get tossed over the edge.
Rather than get mauled by the seraph, the first person I went to attack was Pronyma. Unfortunately, that weird metal...thing surrounding her actually did pretty well at deflecting sword attacks, and left me very frustrated. She immediately dodged away when she saw Colette's chakrams flying in her direction, swinging her staff to deflect them. I covered Colette while she ran to retrieve her weapons, and Sheena ran up to help me out.
Genis and Raine, meanwhile, were hanging back with Zelos to cast. Lloyd and Presea bravely tackled Yuan and were knocked back with relative ease. I winced, more worried about Presea than I was about Lloyd, since Yuan really didn't give a damn what happened to her.
"Leonazium!" Eh? She was using that tech I had been thinking about earlier.
Pulled out of my distraction, I suddenly found myself being attacked by a lion's head made out of mana, and the impact sent me sprawling on to my back. That was what it was, a cheap ripoff of Beast? Agh...but it hurt. It just wasn't fair.
Pronyma had knocked Sheena back, and was now glaring down at me. She lifted her staff.
"Agarazium!" What? Why did she have so many weirdly named techs?
This time a weird force pummeled me from below, preventing me from regaining my footing. I attempted to at least get to my knees, but the world was spinning and I was completely disoriented. I was vaguely aware of the Desian's approach, but I couldn't do anything about it.
"Devastation!" I heard Presea yell, and suddenly a pink blur appeared in front of me. Pronyma let out an angry grunt as she was forced to dodge the swing of the girl's axe.
The world gradually stopped spinning as Presea and Sheena held off Pronyma, and I stumbled to my feet as I attempted to figure out what was going on. Genis raised his kendama, casting Eruption on Yuan, since Lloyd was currently going it alone and losing horribly. Raine cast Acuteness, and I saw my weapon flash for a brief moment.
Oh crap...I knew who needed help the most. Why did I always end up getting pulled in to stuff like this? I really was going to end up being a pancake on the mountainside.
As Yuan recovered from being hit with Eruption and went in for another go at Lloyd, I made my way over there with no further hesitation. Lloyd was looking absolutely exhausted; his swords were basically held in a permanent defending X as Yuan pummeled away at them.
Running up behind the blue haired seraph, I jumped up into the air and spun. I hadn't had such good luck with this attack before, but...hey, second time's the charm.
"Hell Pyre!" I yelled, sending a ball of fiery mana in Yuan's general direction. He saw it coming at the last minute and dodged, but was still hit with the aftershock. Lloyd then took this chance to send a Demon Fang his way, causing the seraph to go on the defensive.
"Super Sonic Thrust!" I jabbed my sword forward, only to have it knocked off course by Yuan's swallow. I managed to evade a swipe from the sharp weapon, as Lloyd attacked once more.
"Dark Sphere!" Pronyma's voice came from our right, calling out the name of a spell that I vaguely remembered. I looked around, wondering who it had been directed at. When a huge glob of darkness suddenly manifested itself right around Lloyd, I figured it out.
The darkness contracted in on itself, enveloping the swordsman, before exploding out into the air. All I could hear was Lloyd crying out in pain. When the darkness faded, he crumpled to the ground, defenseless. Raine immediately cast Barrier to prevent him from being attacked in that state, while Zelos started casting a First Aid spell. Which left me to deal with Yuan, basically. Awesome.
"Hunting Be-"
"Thunder Blade!" Oh crap, that wasn't Genis. While I had been distracted with Lloyd, a certain blue haired seraph had been casting.
I immediately abandoned the tech I had been starting to use, throwing up Guardian and attempting to move out of the way. That was when the enormous blade crashed down next to me, and the world around me was suddenly electrified. This spell was far, far more powerful than the one Kvar had attacked me with. Guardian only dulled the effects a little; it was a struggle to keep the shield up while I was still being hit with electric shocks.
I grimaced in pain, doing everything I could to keep control of my body and not fall to my knees. When the spell ran its course and the sword vanished, I saw Yuan running straight at me.
"Guardian!" I threw up the barrier a second time, preparing for the worst. I managed to deflect a swipe from his weapon, but I noted that I was being steadily pushed back towards the summit's edge. Yuan wouldn't kill me, right? Right?
"Heavy Tiger Blade!" Lloyd cried, coming to my rescue. He was still looking a little worse for wear, but I was extremely grateful nonetheless. Allowing him to be the distraction for a moment, I used that opportunity to skirt my way around Yuan until I was safely away from the edge. That was when the two of us began attacking together again. Hopefully Pronyma wouldn't interrupt this time.
As we fought, I couldn't help but notice how Zelos was mostly hanging around and casting magic, as opposed to his usual role as a melee fighter. Not that he could exactly fight much in his position, when all of the parties present considered him an ally. I wondered, though, if anyone else would look back on this battle and find it a little suspicious. Probably not; no one had caught on to Zelos despite the way he'd just led us into a trap. As far as I knew in the game, no one remembered to ask him what his 'secret weapon' had been after the whole thing was over, either.
At one point Colette cast Judgment, which came as both a shock and a relief to me. I had forgotten she'd be able to cast it at this point in the game. The spell in general brought back some bad memories, but it succeeded in weakening Yuan and Pronyma at least a little.
"Ice Tornado!" That was Pronyma again, and this time almost half of the group was forced to send up their respective barriers. Yuan followed this up with a couple of his own attacks, and once again we were getting our asses kicked.
As Lloyd and I tried not to get our heads lopped off, we abruptly paused as I saw a flash of light from the corner of my vision. Yuan, thankfully, paused as well; otherwise we probably would've been seriously hurt in our moment of distraction. Then I noticed that everyone else had paused, including Pronyma; we were all regarding the new arrival with varying degrees of surprise.
The flash of light had faded, and in its place stood Kratos, clad in elegant shades of white and looking especially intimidating. His Judgment outfit really drove the reality of this home; he was really our enemy now. He wore the usual disinterested expression on his face, only there was a new quality of coldness to it. This was a man I had once trusted and confided in. Only two weeks had passed...and now he looked at me as if I was a bothersome fly that needed swatting.
"Kratos..." Lloyd whispered, shocked.
I missed the old Kratos now more than ever.
A/N: Bawww. I do miss Kratty and all the amusing interactions with him. D:
Uh...I'm pretty much brain-dead right now. So...review! And...Kratos will love you? Okay, probably not...I'll just chuck Lloyd in your general direction, then. Do what you want with him. XD
Next time: We're going to SAAAAVE THE WORRRLDS! Onward to Meltokio!