February 3rd
Lloyd opens the door to what he hoped was the bathroom. He's faced with a weird, wide-open room with a console and two people. The room would never fit behind the door.
The male turns around. "Don't people teach you to knock. Close the door."
"Right." Lloyd blinks, and shuts it. He knocks, and opens it again. It's an empty room. A bedroom. Lloyd shuts it, then opens it again, after knocking. Finding the same bedroom, he heads downstairs.
Piers is sitting there, reading a book. "Morning."
"Piers..." Lloyd blinks at him. "If I open doors and find rooms that can't possibly be there, what does that mean?"
Piers turns a page. "It means you're crazy."
"Ok, I can deal with that." Lloyd mutters, finding food. Daichi comes down next, slipping a shirt on. Again, it looks as though he's shaved. Lloyd's eating. Colette comes down, her head awkwardly tilted, and Aurian follows her. Presea follows Aurian blankly.
"..." Piers watches Colette. "Uh. Colette?"
"Huh?" Colette blinks at him.
"Why are you walking like that?" He motions to the awkward head-tilt.
"Hmm?" She blinks. "I think I slept wrong. My shoulder feels stiff."
"Ah. Okay." He goes back to reading. And so they all gather and eat. Aurian isn't as twitchy this time. Shikka is sitting between Aurian and Zelos, his tail twitching happily as he eats. And so they clean up.
"Ready to go to the Laboratory?" Zelos tilts his head at a matching angle to Colette's, watching them.
Sheena walks up and bats Zelos' head into the right position. "Stop it."
"Ahh, Sheena honey, it was only for that little bit!" Zelos holds his head.
Sheena raises her hand again. "Don't call me honey." Daichi smirks at this.
"Yes, yes, violent demonic banshee, I know your preferred title." Lloyd grins as Zelos's face meets Sheena's hand again.
"Shut up, or I'll hit you!" Sheena snaps. Daichi stops himself from sniggering aloud.
"But Sheena, you already hit me!" Zelos points out the problem with her order. Sheena whacks him again.
"Right, let's get going!" Lloyd grins as he passes Zelos.
"Llo~yd save me!" Zelos tries to cling onto the twinblade's back. Shikka sticks close to Aurian. Seems the Laguz has a protection instinct with the elf. Aurian doesn't seem to get it, but does only occasionally shift so he isn't in her bubble. They once again, run into no trouble in Meltokio.
"Welcome back." It's the researcher with the glasses. He makes the lenses flare again. "Everything's ready."
"...We're traveling on W-Water, right?" Shikka stammers a bit. A rarity in the Laguz's normally calm speech.
"After you get there." the researcher shrugs, not denying it.
"Where's the EC?" Sheena asks.
The researcher blinks at her. "Kuchinawa carried it away already."
"Kuchinawa got it?" Sheena looks confused.
"...So one man carried a transport for 11 people?" Daichi asks, slightly disbelieving.
"11 and Noishe." Lloyd amends for Daichi.
"Yes." the researcher says. "I thought Kuchinawa had talked to you about it, but I guess he didn't. Go to the artificial beach on the right side of the Grand Tethe'Alla Bridge. Kuchinawa should be waiting there. Also, take this with you." He hands a white thing to Lloyd.
"..." Daichi frowns lightly.
"Aaandd... what's this?" Lloyd blinks at it.
"What do you mean, 'what's this'? It's a wing pack. You store the EC in it." the researcher glassesflashes them.
"...A what pack?" Piers asks, taking the white thing from Lloyd.
"Wing." the researcher shrugs. "It's actually something old, and that's what the name was."
"... In this? Is the Elemental Cargo that small?" Lloyd's trying to figure out how to take 12 people on something that he can fit in his hand.
"I think it has some compression technology or something." Piers has a pair of glasses on, examining the box.
"It does." the researcher and Aurian say at the same time, but the elf looks very confused.
"Ah, I see. They don't have wing packs in Sylvarant. Man, you guys are a bunch of country folks!" Zelos says, nodding to himself.
"Gee, sorry!" Lloyd snaps at Zelos.
"My, I'm so glad everyone's having fun~." The researcher says, glassesflashing. There's a pause where everyone stares at him.
"Hahah, don't get mad, now. I'll show you how to use it later. Come on, let's get going." Zelos leaves quickly.
"Have fun~!" The researcher calls after them.
"Is he always like that?" Genis glances back down the stairs.
"Smirking and making snarky or awkward comments like he's blind or something then following it up with completely accurate things that you thought he missed?" Sheena asks. "Yes. He is."
Daichi shivers slightly. "He's weird."
"Yeah. He wanted to be an autopsist before the Research Laboratory got their hands on him. He doesn't let newcomers forget it." Sheena shudders.
"..." Daichi shivers again, as though that brought back memories.
Sheena blinks as they stop by the upstairs desk. "Ah, wait just a sec. Come on out, Corrine!" There's a poof of smoke and the little fox is there. "We're going to be gone for a while. Say good-bye to everyone. ...It's all right, they aren't going to do any more weird experiments on you." the slightly creepy researcher had ended up following them, and there was a woman behind the desk. Daichi tries to distance himself from the researcher. Said researcher gives them a smile that says he had heard all of that, before giving Corrine a slightly calmer smirk of sorts. Aurian's put Shikka between her and the researcher.
"Corrine, how have you been?" He glassesflashes. "Look after Sheena for us."
"I hate this place!" Corrine mutters. "...I have Sheena, so I won't be lonely."
Piers glassesflashes himself, as he still had his own on after studying the wing pack. "We will."
"Corrine! Don't talk like that." Sheena chides the fox-creature.
"... goodbye." the summon de-summons itself.
"I guess Corrine still hates us..." the researcher sighs, although he doesn't sound too put out about it.
Piers takes his glasses off. "C'mon. We best be going."
"... Right." Lloyd blinks, and they head outside. The guards at the gate politely remind them that they're wanted, and that they really shouldn't use the main entrance, so they instead go through the sewers. Again. Thus Genis climbs on Daichi's shoulders, again.
February 4th
The bridge is still up. "Kuchinawa should be waiting for us at the bottom of the right staircase." Sheena points at a fenced off area.
"... The gate is locked." Presea notes.
"So it is!" Lloyd has picks in hand and shortly it isn't. "Now it's not."
"Wow!" Colette cheers. "Lloyd, you're amazing!"
"At least he's useful for certain things." Genis shrugs.
"His face loses out to mine, though." Zelos nods.
"What does his face have to do with anything?" Piers comments.
"Exactly?" Lloyd wants to know.
"You can see the bridge." Raine has passed them down to the corner at where two flights meet. Aurian looks like she's apologizing in her head for every step she's taking. Daichi is not looking at the bridge at all. Colette blinks and passes Lloyd.
"...Oh, you're right. Are those decoration-looking things Exspheres?" They look like hexagonal plates.
"That's right, Colette~. That bridge is...operated by Exspheres." Zelos follows her, sparing the bridge a glance. Daichi growls to himself.
"It's... a little gross looking." Colette mutters.
"It certainly is grotesque. Although, knowing where Exspheres come from, I'm not sure it's appropriate to describe them that way." Zelos says, looking serious toward the end of that.
"... You're right." Colette smiles a little, but she's taken on that 'I'm sorry for walking on you' look that Aurian has as they continue down the stairs.
"...Sooner we get away from this thing, the better." Daichi mumbles.
"It took you long enough. This is the EC." Kuchinawa glances over at them, then nods at a boat that looks a bit too rectangle.
"That'll carry all of us, right?" Shikka asks, wary.
"Yes." Kuchinawa says, although he blinks at Noishe.
"Okay, Piers." Zelos crosses his arms and watches the mariner. "Try using the wing pack. Just hold it up toward the EC." Piers removes the pack from under his arm, glad Zelos used his real name. He does as instructed. The EC vanishes in a cloud of smoke.
"Whoa?" Lloyd jumps.
"Wow, that's incredible!" Colette bounces.
"Wow!" Genis cheers. "How does it work?"
"...Impressive." Piers states. Aurian blinks at it.
"...Why do I...feel like I've seen this before?" Raine mumbles.
"... Professor?" Presea blinks up at the half elf.
Daichi looks to Zelos. "How do we get the stuff back out, then, Genius?"
"Hold it back out toward the water. And push the little feather button." Zelos says, smirking.
"Ah.. nothing." Raine replies to Presea. Piers does so. The EC reappears.
"Wow!" All three of Iselia's golden trio cheer.
"It came back out!" Lloyd eyes the EC and the Wing Pack.
"That's what she said." Daichi mutters quietly.
"...That's enough goofing around. How about getting on your way?" Kuchinawa seems irritated with them.
"Sure." Piers climbs in the boat.
"All right." Lloyd grins at the boat. "I can't wait to figure out how it runs! This is great!" Lloyd climbs in.
"You know you'll just get bored with it in no time..." Genis sighs, following Lloyd.
"Yay, we get to go out to sea!" Colette cheers, carefully flying over. Piers looks happy about this. Daichi doesn't seem to mind and Shikka looks nothing short of terrified.
"We're going out to sea, aren't we..." Raine looks green, but she carefully gets on the boat. Aurian's looking at it, then at Noishe and the other companions, and then at the boat. She's not looking thrilled either. Zelos shrugs, mutters about country bumpkins, and offers to help Aurian onto the boat. Aurian ignores him, and he shrugs and climbs on. Shikka is the last one on, who only got on the boat by means of Daichi and Piers pushing him.
"Let's get going, then." Sheena's sitting on top, as she had to summon Undine. "Off to Sybak!"
"Sheena, take this with you." Kuchinawa hands her a tag.
She eyes it. "A protective charm?"
"Yes. Be careful." Kuchinawa vanishes in smoke, the true ninja way.
"Undine!" Sheena summons the Spirit, and some of her Mana flows into the boat. It starts moving. Shikka whines quietly.
"Lloyd! What did you do?" Sheena shouts down at them.
"Nothing!" Lloyd retorts. "I haven't poked any buttons yet!"
"Then why are we moving?"
"Undine is taking us there." Aurian mutters. She's squished in a corner.
"Well, this is what happens when you use sentience as a power source." Piers points out.
"... Okay." Sheena mutters, climbing back in.
February 5th
When they entered Sybak, a familiar person is standing before the town square.
"Kratos!" Lloyd is still displeased with the red-haired Cruxian, and the man puts something in his pack. "Are you here to take Colette away?" Kratos has enough time to turn about, because Lloyd's drawn a sword and attempted to slash Kratos. Kratos' parry knocks Lloyd back on his ass.
"I have no intention of fighting you ... within the city." Kratos says.
Piers has his glasses on. "Then why are you here?" Glassesflash.
"That is of no concern to you." Kratos says, before glancing at Lloyd as Lloyd gets up. Kratos' blade vanishes in some small lights - he wasn't wearing a sheath. "You lack the skills to defeat me."
"Stop insulting me." Lloyd snaps.
"I merely speak the truth." he turns to walk past them.
"..." Piers doesn't react as Kratos walks by him. And neither does Daichi. Neither want to end up on their butts.
"Chosen One. If you wish to live, you must remove that worthless Key Crest." Kratos pauses next to Colette.
"...No." Colette gives him a little glare. "I'm never taking it off. Lloyd gave this to me."
"... Foolish sentiments..." Kratos wanders out of town.
"He... wasn't after Colette?" Genis blinks.
"Kratos really doesn't seem the type to lie..." Piers comments, glasses flashing.
"... He also didn't say he wasn't." Aurian mutters. She's a little twitchy again. Zelos sighs.
"Man, what an arrogant S.O.B." Zelos shakes his head. "Talking as if he knows everything..."
"..." Piers says nothing, but just glassesflashes.
"While we're on the subject of ways of talking, why don'tcha do something about the vulgar language?" Sheena glares at Zelos. Zelos's response is to laugh.
"Anyway..." Raine chooses to ignore Zelos. "Lloyd, we must go see this Kate person."
"... Yeah... Let's get going." Lloyd also decides that ignoring Zelos is the way to go. Daichi looks away, coughing slightly at the comment about vulgar language.
They end up overhearing a conversation between two student girls in blue. "Do you know Kratos? He's been coming to this city often lately. He's got a mysterious charm..."
Lloyd freezes. "Kratos?" He turns and asks.
"...These people obviously have no taste in men." Piers glassesflashes. Genis sniggers. Everyone but Lloyd stares at Piers.
"Wh...why are you mad?" the other girl blinks at them, before smirking. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous because not only is he cool, but he's also an elite of the Imperial Research Academy."
"...He's not a member of the Imperial Research Academy." Lloyd says flatly, crossing his arms.
"You're lying. He goes in and out of the Academy all the time." the other girl says.
"..." Piers glassesflashes. "What? I didn't say I'd be a replacement. I'm just saying he's not the best pick of the litter." Glassesflash. "I'd rather do Daichi."
Daichi blinks. "Wait, what?" Zelos is smirking.
"That's strange. Should we look into it?" Colette asks as the two girls wander off in a huff.
"After talking to Kate, I guess." Lloyd's a little grumpy, but he leads the way toward that secret entrance. Aurian looks confused at Piers.
"Just saying." Glassesflash. "Choice between you and Kratos, it'd be you."
"Are you coming on to me?"
Glassesflash. "Of course not."
"That's enough..." Raine mutters, following Lloyd. Piers smirks, happy that he's successfully bamboozled the large half-elf who follows after a few minutes. Lloyd gets the bookshelf to slide open.
"... It's you!" Kate says it like she didn't expect him to return.
"We've saved our friends and came back with Presea just like we promised." Lloyd says, giving them all room to come into the basement lab.
Kate studies them, her eyes easily finding the Sages and Daichi. "...Yes, you're right. The strange Mana produced by the fusion of Elven and human blood... You really do have half-elf friends."
"I've heard the story. Presea's creating a Cruxis Crystal inside her body?" Raine asks.
"Yes, that's correct. We call it the Angelus Project." Kate says. Lloyd goes pale.
Daichi blinks. "Why does that...Sound familiar...?"
"The Angelus Project?" Lloyd's voice cracks. "That's... that's the project Mom was involved in!" Presea frowns suddenly, and wanders over to a corner.
"The Exsphere itself is nothing special. It just has a special Key Crest placed on it. This Key Crest delays the Exsphere's parasitic process, which can take place over a few days or up to several decades." Kate says like giving a report. "It seems this can cause Exspheres to mutate into Cruxis Crystals."
"..." Daichi seems to be trying to remember something.
"Is the parasitic infection of the Exsphere the reason why Presea's emotional response is so subdued?" Raine asks, full scholarly mode on.
"So she's just like Colette." Genis guesses.
Colette blinks, looking at Presea, then Kate. "If we leave Presea like this, what will happen to her?"
"..." Daichi glassesflashes as he continues to look as though he's thinking, his expression grim.
"When the parasitic process is complete...she will die." Kate shrugs.
"That's horrible! Please save her! What did she ever do to you?" Genis shouts.
"...Nothing. She hasn't done anything. She just matched in the compatibility test." Kate shrugs.
"... You promised." Lloyd points out, looking like he'd like to get angry too. "You're going to save her, right?" Piers frowns at this, watching curiously.
"...Yes. I know. You didn't discriminate against half-elves...I'll keep my promise." She actually looks like she's steeling herself a little.
"Kate! Are you sure?" One of the other researchers asks. "If you do that,"
"A promise is a promise." Kate says firmly. "In order to save Presea, speak to a dwarf named Altessa who lives deep in Gaoracchia forest."
"There are dwarves in this world, too?" Lloyd looks thrilled.
"...You seem surprised." Piers points out.
"Dirk's the only dwarf I've ever heard of." Lloyd points out. "As far as I knew, he's the only dwarf left."
"He and I participated in this experiment by order of the Pope." Kate says.
"Sheesh, not that pathetic old man again." Zelos complains of pope involvement. Daichi is looking around the laboratory with a mix of disgust and discomfort on his face. Daichi's not the only one, as this place falls under Aurian's 'too many people in too small a space'.
"...Don't call him a pathetic old man!" Kate snaps at Zelos.
"Oh, my." Zelos smirks. "That's unusual, a half-elf siding with the Pope."
"I'm... not siding with him." Kate turns away from Zelos. "Anyway, have Altessa repair Presea's Key Crest."
"...Seems that way to me." Daichi glassesflashes, then he realizes and glares at Piers for getting the motion stuck in his mind. Kate glares at him.
"Lloyd, can't you fix it?" Colette asks, peering at Presea's Key Crest.
"... To be honest, I can't even tell the difference between this and a normal Key Crest. It'd probably be faster to search for that dwarf, Altessa." Lloyd shrugs. Daichi just stares back at her despondently.
"Then it's settled. Shall we head for Gaoracchia Forest?" Sheena asks.
"First!" Lloyd spins back about. "Has an arrogant man named Kratos been here lately?" Kate blinks.
"Ah, that handsome man." Kate says. Lloyd looks mildly disturbed. "Yes, he's been here. He seems to be looking for adamantite, which was widely used by dwarves..."
"Wait, Adamantite?" Lloyd blinks from his WTF look. Piers looks to Lloyd, curious. "You mean scrap diamond used to sharpen crafting tools?" Lloyd asks, looking a bit confused.
"..." Piers blinks. "You know about that?" He sounds mildly shocked.
Lloyd casually hits him on the shoulder. "I've never seen it, but, 'raised by a dwarf' mean anything?"
"Only a scrap diamond that is transformed into a special state by strengthening its atomic structure is called adamantite. It's a product of ancient magitechnology and no longer exists." Raine says, rather like she'd read it somewhere.
"...So it's really rare?" Daichi asks. "Wonder why Kratos is looking for it..." He muses.
"Not even at the Imperial Research Academy?" Colette blinks at the 'no longer exists' comment.
"Yes. But I heard that Kratos produced some here." Kate says. She looks a little wistful.
"What?" Raine looks like she wants to find some.
"...So, Kratos produced some material that hasn't been produced in centuries, using a method just as old and that has been lost..." Daichi mumbles.
"There is a machine, here at the academy, that is said to have been used to refine adamantite during the Ancient War." Kate corrects Daichi. "I heard it doesn't work anymore, but Kratos repaired it and produced something that was probably adamantite. They were going insane upstairs."
"...Okay. Then how did he know how to repair the machine? It's still batshit insane." Daichi mutters.
"Maybe... the people he works for..." Lloyd mutters, scowling at the floor. "But what does he need adamantite for?"
"It's likely that he's crafting something, but..." Raine looks at the basement door, then turns around. Wanted status and all that.
"..." Piers stares at the door just as longingly.
"What is he up to...?" Lloyd mutters, then puts a big old grin on. "Thanks, Kate. We'll be going to Altessa's now." Lloyd heads out.
Yay double cameo! :D