A/N: Finally finished! I know this took so freaking long, sorry. First I had final exams, then I had my high school graduation, and then I went to Maine and my laptop got a virus, and then I went to Europe for 11 days...I've been really busy. XD Now that I finally have some free time, I managed to get this finished. And look, it's almost ten thousand words! At least it's a decent length to make up for how long it took me to update. :P
Oh, and by the way. Regal's badassery makes Stomp super effective, so ha-ha to you, logical people! XD
Anyway, I'm just gonna shut up and let you read now. I'm too mentally exhausted to say much more.
Disclaimer: I don't own it!
The next morning, thankfully, Lloyd seemed to be back to his normal self. He was probably hiding his real thoughts the way I often did, but the fact that he was capable of doing so was a step, at least. If he had still been in the same dark mood from last night, the others would've noticed.
At this point, we had left our campsite at the base of the mountain and started our trek. I wasn't too sure in my estimate, but I thought that by now we had traveled at least a few miles. It had only been around an hour and a half; we still had a full day's walk ahead of us. Fun.
"Man, this is boring," Zelos said, breaking the silence all of a sudden. He heaved an overly dramatic sigh. "Don't you guys ever talk? I'm losing it over here!"
"What're we supposed to talk about?" Genis asked, rolling his eyes.
"I don't know! Think of something!" Zelos whined.
"Ugh..." Sheena rubbed her forehead.
"Brit, tell a story or something," Lloyd said, poking me. "Before Zelos goes off the deep end."
Dammit, Lloyd. I really was not in the mood to think. Uh...where had I left off with that Zelda story? Ah, forget it.
"Once, there was an ugly barnacle," I said, causing everyone to look over at me. "He was so ugly that everyone died. The end."
"That's it?" Zelos snorted.
"That wasn't a very nice story..." Colette mumbled.
"Now, everyone, think about the conflict that took place between the barnacle and society," I said in a dull, sarcastic voice, fighting a grin. "What did the barnacle symbolize? What is the relationship between ugliness and society today? If the barnacle hadn't been ugly, would everyone still have died?"
"Agh! I feel like I'm in school!" Lloyd protested, as the Professor facepalmed.
"Oh, this is easy," Zelos said with a smirk. "The barnacle has it made, y'know? Now he can have all the chicks to himself."
"She said that everyone died, Zelos," Sheena said. "That includes the women."
"Besides, a barnacle's an animal," Genis pointed out. "I don't think they really care about looks."
"What does a barnacle even look like?" Lloyd asked, frowning.
"Barnacle, a type of arthropod," Presea spoke up in her usual monotone. "Permanently attaches itself to a hard substrate. Uses cirri to gather microorganisms from the surrounding water."
"Now I'm more confused..." Lloyd groaned hopelessly.
"I think they sound cute," Colette commented happily.
"I love how you guys are actually discussing this," I said, grinning.
"You've elicited more discussion from Lloyd with three sentences than I've gotten from him in five years of literature courses..." Raine muttered, heaving a mournful sigh.
"I hate reading," Lloyd grumbled. "All stories should be three sentences long."
I snickered. "Oh, Lloydie. Where's the fun in that?"
The days passed rather uneventfully after that. I grew accustomed to hearing Colette's cheerful voice again; it was almost as if she had never been gone. Well, technically, she hadn't, but...you know.
Zelos seemed to rejoice now that Colette was conscious, and constantly hit on her and laced sexual innuendos into his remarks to her. It was actually pretty hilarious watching how put out the Chosen got when he realized how naive and oblivious she was. At least he wasn't embarrassing me for once. Yay!
It was now the morning of our fourth day of walking; we'd only just packed up camp a half hour ago. I almost jumped for joy when we reached the top of a hill and immediately spotted Meltokio off in the distance. It was about time! We'd have to go through the sewers, but then I could go straight to Zelos's house and take a shower!
"Ahh, finally," the redhead spoke up, voicing my thoughts. "I was getting sick of all that walking."
"We know," Sheena remarked dryly. Zelos did have a habit of...well, whining. He was kind of like me in that he usually complained to fill the silence.
"So how are we going to get in, Zelos?" Colette asked.
Zelos grinned. "Oh, don't you worry about that, my little angel. I've got the perfect idea."
"This isn't going to involve us falling into another trap, is it?" Lloyd spoke up.
The Chosen looked over at Lloyd when he heard that; I saw a hint of surprise on Zelos' face, but it vanished instantly when he realized that Lloyd was only poking fun. There was no suspicion whatsoever in the brunet's eyes. It kind of surprised me that no one had connected the dots regarding that little incident...
"Buuud!" he whined, after a split second of hesitation. "I totally know what I'm doing here! Besides, Colette can bail us out like she did before, right?"
"Yup!" Colette chirped.
"Regardless," Raine interrupted, "I'm curious as to what this plan of yours entails."
Zelos waved one hand casually. "There are plenty of secret entrances into Meltokio, Professor. Stop worrying so much!"
Raine frowned slightly, but didn't pursue it further. My lip twitched; Zelos was intentionally avoiding the details of his plan. The sewers weren't exactly the most inviting of places, were they?
We continued to walk, and Meltokio loomed closer. I really hoped there were elevated pathways like in the game...I didn't really want to walk through sewage. Ugh. And the smell...oh man, that smell wasn't going to be pleasant...
"Huh...speaking of Meltokio, I just remembered something," Lloyd mumbled. He looked up. "Sheena, Colette, you're teenage girls, right?"
"Uh...yeah," Sheena replied, giving Lloyd a strange look. "Why do you ask?"
"Back when we were walking through Castle Tethe'alla, I asked Brittany why she always freaks out around Zelos. She said it was something only teenage girls could understand-ow!"
The dual swordsman rubbed his sore shoulder while I pulled back my fist, red-faced. Sheena and Raine, meanwhile, were giving me identical deadpan stares. I sneaked a peek at Zelos, and his smirk probably couldn't get any bigger.
"That kinda hurt..." Lloyd grumbled. I resisted the urge to rub my own aching hand; his shoulder had been more muscular than I anticipated. When the hell had Lloyd gotten muscles?
"Oh, I know!" Colette piped up, clapping her hands together. "Brittany wants to get hair tips from Zelos!"
"...What?" Lloyd and Zelos spoke up in unison, incredulous.
"Well, Zelos has really nice hair," Colette explained. "And teenage girls like having pretty hair! And since Brittany has curly hair like Zelos, I bet she's always staring at him because she's trying to figure out how he does his hair."
There was a heavy silence for a few seconds, until Zelos broke it with a loud snort. That set me off; and the two of us started laughing rather loudly as Lloyd looked helplessly confused. It was funny because I had actually wanted to ask Zelos for hair care tips at one point...and it was horribly embarrassing, because I had never realized my occasional glances at Zelos were so obvious.
I calmed down after a few seconds, and Zelos continued to snicker quietly in the background as Lloyd frowned at me.
"So...that's not it?" he asked.
"No, no, that's exactly it," I replied, patting him on the back. "Colette's right, it's all about hair care." Hey, I was cool with Lloyd not thinking it was a crush.
He stared at me, looking a little disappointed. "Girls are so weird..."
"No, I'm pretty sure it's just Brittany."
"Thanks, Genis," I said cheerfully.
"Anyway," Sheena said, "this has been interesting and all, but we're practically here. Zelos, whatever plan you've got, you'd better spring it now before the guards see us."
"Right, right," Zelos agreed, still smirking. "This way!"
Instead of taking the main pathway to the city gates, he abruptly took a left turn through some bushes. I noticed that there was actually a worn dirt path weaving between the shrubbery, hinting that this route had been used rather often. Zelos probably wasn't the only one who had used the sewers to sneak in and out of the city.
"Where are we going?" Lloyd wondered aloud, and didn't receive an answer; within the next few seconds, the Chosen had stopped in front of a large metal grate embedded in the city wall. There was water emptying out of the grate and forming a small stream, which led away from the city.
I noticed a large, person-sized gap between the right edge of the grate and the wall surrounding it. Ah, now that was probably where we would get in.
"Huh? What's this place?" Genis asked.
"It's the underground sewer," Zelos explains. "Waste water from the city flows out from here."
"Oh, I get it," Lloyd said. "This isn't a bad way of sneaking in."
Sheena stared at the redhead. "Why do you know about an entrance like this?"
"Well, my dear Sheena," Zelos said, grinning, "you know how Meltokio's gate closes after dusk and all. This has always been my little insurance against being locked out at night."
"I should've known," the ninja muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Why don't you go home until night?" Colette asked, tilting her head slightly.
Zelos's shameless grin grew. "You know...there are a lot of hair care tips to give, and so little time. All of my hunnies prefer that I help them out personally, in their bedrooms."
"Oh, right," Colette said, nodding. "I bet that's lots of fun!"
"It is," Zelos assured her, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Raine shot him a disapproving look.
Hair care...was that now going to become a sexual innuendo? The corners of my lips twitched; crap, I was actually finding this funny. Don't laugh, don't laugh!
"Sometimes girls like to discuss hair at the table," Zelos continued, "and sometimes in the laundry room, or in the closet. One time we discussed it on a park bench! As you can see, I have a very busy lifestyle."
"Haha!" I couldn't hold it back anymore; watching Sheena's face get redder and redder just put the icing on the cake. I laughed for a few seconds, managing to stop myself before I got smacked. "TMI, Zelos. Seriously."
"That's disgusting," Sheena muttered.
"...I don't get it," Lloyd said, shaking his head.
"It's nothing important," the Professor said in a neutral voice, her glare seeming to suggest that we all shut up now.
"Enemy presence detected. There is danger," Presea said, and that subject change sobered me a bit.
"There are monsters in the sewers?" Colette asked.
Zelos shrugged. "Eh, nothing to be too concerned about. Then again, monsters have been appearing in weird places lately. Can't hurt to be careful."
"Yeah, we should probably keep our guard up," Lloyd agreed. "Let's get this over with, then."
And so, we moved through the gap in the grate and into the sewers. We were plunged into darkness for a moment, but after a few seconds of walking, electric lights started appearing on the walls. They were dim, but it was better than traveling in complete darkness.
There were walkways on either side of the running water, which was a relief. But the further we went, the worse the smell became. It wasn't long before we were all holding our noses with similar expressions of disgust.
"You used to come through this place every night?" Genis asked with disbelief.
"It's not that bad!" Zelos insisted, despite the fact that he looked about as uncomfortable as the rest of us. "The door's right up ahead, anyway. We'll be out of here in like, five seconds."
"Thank God," I muttered, but then I remembered that it probably wouldn't be that easy. Wasn't the door out originally locked or something? Yeah, and there was this big puzzle that involved pushing around blocks of trash, and shrinking and fighting giant rats and...ack.
After coming out into a more open area and going up a set of stairs, we came to a door with a red panel mounted on it. And, as I had anticipated, it was firmly closed.
"What the...?" Zelos stared at the door with dismay. "It was never closed when I came through here before..."
"Hm...perhaps someone expected us to come this way," Raine murmured with a thoughtful frown.
"I guess we'll have to take a look around," Lloyd said, scowling a little. "Maybe we'll find another route...or at least a way to open this door."
"I'm sure we'll find something!" Colette added cheerfully.
We turned our attention away from the door, heading up a metal stairway on to a new platform and looking around. There were pipes all over the place, emptying dirty water into the main channel. None of them looked big enough to climb into, thankfully. I didn't want anyone suggesting we do something nasty like crawl through a sewer pipe.
Fortunately, we didn't run into any monsters as we explored. Granted, there were some pretty enormous rats, but they weren't actually vicious. They usually ran away when we approached, and they were easy enough to stab if they attempted to bite. Our true enemy down here was really just the smell. It was starting to make me dizzy.
There was a hallway that led into another spacious chamber, and it smelled about as inviting as the one before. I couldn't see any sort of pedestal for the Sorcerer's Ring; hopefully that meant we wouldn't be doing that weird shrinking thing here. The rats were big enough when we were normal size, thank you very much.
Actually, we hadn't used the Sorcerer's Ring for much on this journey, now that I thought about it. Maybe it had been of more use when everyone was releasing the seals. I had missed everything but the seal at the Tower of Mana, so I couldn't know for sure.
"Over there," Genis said, pointing. We looked over the edge of the platform to see a raised walkway against the opposite wall. The walkway led to another small platform, and on the wall was a small lever.
"That lever's the same color as the panel on the door we have to get through," Lloyd remarked. "Do you think that's the way to open it?"
"Could be," I said quietly. Problem was, the lever was on the opposite side of the room. In other words, an expanse of sewer water seperated us from the other platform.
Oh! Wait!
"Say, Colette, do you think you could fly over there?" I asked the blonde, and she smiled.
"Okay! Hang on, I'll go look."
In a flash of pink light, she revealed her wings and flew across the room. Although I felt a little paranoid about monsters, no tentacles reached out of the water to grab her. She landed safely on the other platform, turning to wave to us before moving over to where the lever was. We watched as she grabbed the bar and pushed it down, like it was some sort of oversized light switch.
After a few seconds of waiting, we heard a loud grinding noise echoing from somewhere.
"I think that's it," I said, my voice sounding a bit nasally since I had pinched my nose shut. Despite breathing through my mouth, I still felt sick. I could almost taste the bacteria in the air.
Colette flew back over to us, and we began to head back to where we'd seen that door. It was a good thing we'd had an angel in the party...otherwise, there was no way we could've reached that lever. Swimming through that water wasn't an option; we would've caught some crazy disease. And we would've attracted a lot more attention walking into Meltokio, too.
"This almost seems too easy," Genis mused. "Weren't there supposed to be monsters?"
"I don't see anything besides those rats," Lloyd remarked.
Zelos shrugged. "Yep, it's just another average day in the sewers. Nothing unusual here."
It kind of weirded me out that Zelos knew what an "average day" in the sewers was like. He really needed to find another method of getting in at night. Didn't Sebastian ever find it strange that Zelos always came home smelling like he'd spent several hours in an outhouse?
Ugh, outhouse...Hima...bad memories...
"Ohh boy..." I caught Zelos staring at me. "Spitfire here looks like she's about to bow to the porcelain goddess."
"Huh?" Lloyd asked, looking bewildered.
Zelos rolled his eyes. "She's gonna toss her cookies, bud."
"Oh." Lloyd faltered for a moment, confused, and then looked over at Zelos again. "...Wait, what?"
"Lloyd, for the love of god," I muttered, straightening myself up as I stifled a snort.
"If you need a minute to calm your stomach, we can wait," Raine interjected. I shook my head.
"N-No...staying down here any longer will only make it worse. I'm okay, really. Let's get out of here."
"If you say so," Genis said skeptically.
"If you're about to hurl, shout me a warning, okay?" Zelos said to me. "You know, so I've got time to dodge."
"Zelos, you're an ass," Sheena grumbled.
"Your words wound me, Sheena," the Chosen said in an overdramatic voice, pouting.
"Hey, isn't that the door?" Colette called back to us, and our conversation screeched to a halt.
Yes, we had finally reached the door, and this time it was open. Just moments from now, we would be climbing the ladder to sweet freedom!
We moved through the doorway into another chamber, and crossed a small bridge that led over the water. And just like that, the ladder I had been thinking about was suddenly in sight. We just had to walk up those stairs, and-
"Hurk!" I let out a grunt as the Professor grabbed me by the collar and yanked me back. Lloyd made a similar noise, being pulled back by his ribbons.
"Pay attention," she hissed to us, and indicated the shadowy figures that had appeared on the path ahead. Oh...right. The rest of the group had stopped, and the two of us had almost waltzed into the convicts' arms. In my moment of excitement, I had forgotten that we weren't quite done here yet.
One of the figures moved further into the light of an electric lamp, revealing an ugly face with a wretched smirk. He appeared to be missing a few teeth. The man had short, matted hair, along with dirty and torn prisoner's garb. In his hands was a large wooden club with nails driven into it. He looked like the sort of guy who waited in dark alleys for unsuspecting girls.
"We've been waiting for you, travelers from Sylvarant," the man said in a decidedly creepy voice. Yeah, he was definitely that sort of guy.
"What the hell? Who are you?" Lloyd questioned as the other two convicts crept forward. They had clubs of their own.
"It's nothin' personal," one of them chuckled. "Th' Pope promised to lighten our sentences if we took care of you."
"Heh." Zelos grinned, drawing his sword. "Three against eight, eh? Sucks to be them."
"Let's just hurry up and beat them," I grumbled, weakly pulling out my own blade. "Before I lose my breakfast."
The rest of the group pulled out their weapons as well, and I saw the convicts falter a little when they saw that they were indeed outnumbered. I also noticed the way their eyes were drawn to Presea, who had just lifted her enormous axe like it was a child's toy. Yeah, that was a teensy bit threatening.
Zelos was the first to run forward. He dodged an attack from one of the convicts, breaking right through their line and disarming one of them from behind. The convict's club fell into the water, out of reach.
Encouraged by this, I plunged into battle. I could tell just by their stance that these guys weren't accustomed to battle; they had intended to overcome us with brute force and blunt weapons. They could have been murderers before being thrown into prison, but that didn't say anything; it didn't take a great deal of skill or intelligence to kill a person. I would know.
"Demon Fang!" I yelled, catching one convict off guard as he attempted to parry an attack from Zelos.
Lloyd and Presea moved in, engaging the remaining two convicts as Genis began to prepeare a spell.
"Aqua Edge!" the young mage shouted a few seconds later, drenching our three enemies and causing them to pull back.
"Dammit! Run, it's not worth it!" one of them yelled, and they all started backing hastily away in the direction of the water.
Zelos started walking leisurely up to them, smirking, and I followed not far behind. If they made a break for it, what would we do? Let them escape, probably...hopefully that wouldn't mean we'd be attacked when we came through here in the future.
Just as I was worrying over that little detail, a large blur entered my vision.
"Augh!" Zelos let out a cry, and suddenly he had crashed to the floor, lying facedown.
My mouth fell open in a gape as I attempted to register that I was now no more than two feet away from the one and only Regal Bryant. After a second's hesitation, I stumbled backwards and out of range of a kick, trying to grasp the situation.
"Zelos!" Lloyd yelled.
This wasn't right. Zelos wasn't moving. He wasn't supposed to fall unconscious! Had he hit his head on the way down? Shit, this could be bad...Regal had just pounced on him from I don't know how high up. How heavy was Regal? He was over six feet tall, and with all that muscle, he had to be at least two hundred pounds...
"Don't move," Regal warned as Lloyd began to take a step forward. "If you move, the Chosen dies. Understand?"
That caused the brunet to pause. We all froze for a moment, watching the man warily.
Now that everyone had stopped for a moment, I got a chance to examine Regal closely for the first time. There wasn't any time to worry about Zelos; Regal hadn't aimed to kill, so I just had to trust that the redhead was okay.
Here he was, our final party member...it was so strange to finally see him. He was a little more presentable looking than the other convicts, but it looked like he had definitely seen better days. His messy bangs hung in his eyes a bit, giving him a dark and brooding look. His solemn face had strong and noble looking features; I noted that for a guy almost twice my age, he was pretty damn good looking.
His muscles were about as impressive as I remembered, too. With that perfectly sculpted body, he looked like a model from one of those exercise commercials.
While in other circumstances I would've drooled at this, right now it only served to make me even more intimidated. Regal was really tall and really muscular and let's face it, he really didn't look all that friendly at the moment. Those other convicts were a joke, but Regal looked like he could snap each of us like a twig if he wanted to.
"Dammit," Lloyd growled, gripping his swords tightly. "What do you want?"
"I-" Regal started, but suddenly Presea rushed forward, swinging her axe at the man's legs. He jumped away to avoid it, allowing us to run up and protect Zelos.
Presea didn't move, simply staring at Regal as he stared quietly back. After a second, his eyes widened in shock and recognition.
"You're-!"
"Fireball!" Genis yelled, cutting him off. Regal was forced to dodge once more. Then Sheena attacked with Pyre Seal, pushing him back further.
I saw Regal look over his shoulder, and he seemed to take note that the three convicts he had come with had fled. Before anyone else could attack, he abruptly ran down another passageway, vanishing into the shadows.
"Hold on," Raine said when Lloyd moved to follow. "There's no point in pursuing. I doubt he'll be bothering us again anytime soon."
"...Yeah," he agreed after a moment, and turned back to the group.
"Is Zelos okay?" Colette asked, concerned.
"I think he might've hit his head when he went down," I said, kneeling at the redhead's side. I reached out, prodding his shoulder. "Zelos..."
It was quiet for a moment, and then he shifted a little. "Nngh..."
Raine let out a sigh. "It sounds like he's all right. It doesn't look like he's bleeding, in any case."
"I'm still kind of worried," I murmured, biting my lip. "I mean, Reg-uh, that guy looked pretty heavy. Are you sure he's not hurt, Professor?"
"Hm..." the teacher frowned, closing her eyes as her staff glowed. After a moment, she just shook her head. "I don't sense any life-threatening injuries. He should be fine."
Zelos still wasn't moving. Chewing lightly on my lower lip, I gently turned him on to his back so I could check his forehead. The others leaned over us to see as well, and I noticed most of them cringe.
"Ouch," I murmured, reaching out to pull Zelos' headband back a little to see. He had one hell of an ugly bruise on his forehead, and just that was enough to tell that yes, he had definitely hit his head on the way down.
"First Aid," Raine said, and the bruise vanished in a flash of warm green light.
"Oh, man," Lloyd spoke up. "I hope he doesn't have a concession..."
"Concussion, Lloyd," Sheena corrected, facepalming.
"Zelos," I said again, putting a hand between his shoulder blades and lifting him up a little so I could shake him. "Wake up, Zelos..." I would stop worrying when he opened his eyes. It was just so hard to forget the crashing sound of him collapsing, the blur of Regal landing on him from god-knows-where.
"Ugh..." Finally, the redhead seemed to come to. He winced, and I felt him attempting to lean up a bit on his own. His attempt failed, and he collapsed against me, his cheek leaning on one of my shoulders.
"Hey, don't push it," Lloyd said suddenly. The others leaned in, tense.
"...Hurts..." Zelos hissed, his face contorted in pain.
"What? What hurts?" I asked, worried. Raine had healed that bruise! Did he have a broken rib or something? Why hadn't the Professor caught that, though? What if he was bleeding internally? Shit, shit, shit!
There was a heavy silence as we all waited, watching Zelos closely.
"...My heart aches for you, hunny," he abruptly crooned in my ear, and I realized with horror that he had actually managed to get close enough to do such a thing. He had slung one arm around me in my distraction, and his hand was now making its way down my back.
"Agh!" I yelled in surprise, dropping the redhead like a hot coal while everyone in the group let out a loud groan.
"You stupid Chosen!" Sheena shouted as I stumbled away towards the stairs, intending to curl up into the fetal position and remain unnoticed for a while.
"Ow! Sheena, I'm hurt! Don't hit me!"
"It sounds like you're perfectly fine," Lloyd said, rolling his eyes. "Can we just get out of here now?"
"Yes, let's not waste time down here," Raine agreed, and the rest of the group started to walk to where I was.
Zelos looked over at us, hurriedly stumbling to his feet. "H-Hey! Don't just leave without me!"
"You okay, Brit?" Lloyd asked, helping me up and ignoring Zelos.
"I try to be a nice person, and this is what I get..." I grumbled, my face about as red as his coat. "Next time that big guy shows up, he can have Zelos."
"Aw, don't be like that!" Zelos whined from the back of the group. "Hunny, you know I was only playing!"
I had reached the ladder. Rather than face Zelos, I opted to climb up as quickly as I could. Behind me, I heard the others grumbling amongst themselves as they began their ascent as well.
"Whew, we finally made it..." Lloyd let out a sigh.
We were standing in the middle of Meltokio's park, the same one Lloyd and I had stumbled upon during our first night in this city. Right over there...I could see the bench we had sat on that night. The manhole we had climbed through had thankfully been behind some shrubbery, so no one had seen our arrival. Otherwise we might've attracted attention, and that would've been bad.
Self-conscious, I smelled my glove. It didn't look like the sewer smell had really clung to my clothes...good thing we hadn't been down there for too long.
"Okay," Sheena said, walking to the front of the group and turning back to us. "I'm gonna head to the Elemental Research Labratory."
"Huh? What's that?" Lloyd asked.
"It's where Corrine was born. I learned my summoning arts there, too. My friends there should be able to help us out in one way or another," Sheena explained. "It might take some time, so I think we'd be better off splitting up here."
"Yes, that's fine," Raine said. "Some of us can go buy supplies, while the rest of us head for the Archives. If they're heavily guarded like you said, it would be best if we keep our group small anyway."
Sheena nodded. "Right. I'll leave the rest to you. Let's all meet up at Zelos' house by tonight, okay?"
"Hey, hey! It's not polite to invite yourself to other people's houses, you know," Zelos pointed out.
The ninja rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm going now. See you tonight." With that, she turned and started walking away.
"Oh, come on! How long is everyone gonna give me the silent treatment?"
"Bye, Sheena!" Colette called, waving cheerfully as the ninja vanished into the crowd on the street.
"So, what are our groups gonna be?" Genis spoke up.
"Hm...with Sheena gone, that leaves seven of us," the Professor said.
"All right," Lloyd said, nodding. "So I guess the smaller group would go to the Archives, right? We won't draw as much attention that way."
"Correct. Brittany and I will head to the Archives. Zelos, you'll come along as well; you know the city better than we do. Is that all right?"
"Fine by me," Zelos replied, seeming pleased that someone was finally acknowledging him.
"Aw..." Lloyd sighed. "I was hoping to come. Guess that means the rest of us are going shopping, huh?"
"Here's a list of everything we need, and here's some money," Raine said, and handed said items over to Lloyd. "Don't buy anything unnecessary. Try to blend in with the crowds."
"Okay, okay. See you at Zelos's place," he said. "C'mon, everyone."
"Shopping in Meltokio! I'm so excited!" Colette giggled, and then looked over her shoulder at us as she followed after Lloyd. "Good luck in the Archives!"
I waved feebly to her, watching Genis and Presea walk off as well. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized I hadn't said anything since this whole exchange began, and part of me felt a little nauseous. I hadn't anticipated getting stuck in a group with the two people who were most suspicious of me. This might not end well...
"Uh..." I faltered, suddenly nervous. "...Where is this place, then?"
"Up by the nobles' quarter," Zelos explained. "It's a little ways past my mansion."
"I see," Raine murmured. "Please lead us there, then."
"Can do," he replied, an easy grin surfacing on his face. As we started to walk, he looked over at me. "Why the long face, hunny? We're about to prove or disprove your legal existence!"
"That's awesome and all, but I really don't want to get caught and arrested," I said, attempting to cover up my actual concerns. "I kind of wish I could be doing something safer, like shopping..."
"We aren't truly safe anywhere in this city," Raine pointed out. "I'd prefer for you to be with us, Brittany. This directly involves you, after all."
"Yeah, I know," I said glumly. "Let's just get it over with."
It was infuriating, knowing that we'd have to sneak into that place for nothing. My record wasn't there, so I knew for a fact that we were going to come up emptyhanded. And I still had a nagging feeling that they wouldn't believe me even then.
The Meltokio Archives was a large building at the edge of the city. With its stone facades and high towers, it looked almost like an extension of the castle. As we drew closer, Zelos rambled on about some of the various other things that were stored in the Archives. It was basically an extension of the royal archives, which were in the castle. That was where we'd find the information on Colette's illness later on...ah, but there was no point in worrying about that right now.
Once we had gotten close enough to the building, Zelos pulled us into an alleyway so we wouldn't be seen.
"How do you propose we sneak in?" Raine inquired, looking over at him.
"There's a side entrance to the left of the building," he explained, gesturing to where it was. "See it?"
"Yes, but that one is guarded as well."
"It's less conspicuous, and those are city guards. It's the Papal Knights that are after us; the city guard won't turn you in as long as I'm with you," he replied. "We should be able to get past."
"Are you sure?" I asked skeptically. I did remember that most of Meltokio had kind of looked the other way when Zelos had been a fugitive in the game, but...this was real life.
"Of course I'm sure, hunny," Zelos said cheerfully. "If I wasn't, we wouldn't be here. Besides, if all else fails, we can always knock the guards out and book it."
"Yeah, that'll work," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Well! Now that that's settled, shall we go?" he asked.
Raine sighed. "Fine, we'll trust you on this. Lead the way."
The guards were very hesitant at first, but they did eventually let us pass. We were, however, warned not to let anyone see us while we were in the building; there could by supporters of the Pope anywhere. That was a comforting thought.
The Archives were pretty big inside, as I had expected them to be. The building was filled with rows and rows of long bookcases. I could see the Professor tense a little, probably trying to control her inner scholar. The last thing we needed was for her to flip out in a place like this. We had to take care so that our footsteps didn't echo, and the building itself was so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop.
"I haven't been in here since I was a kid," Zelos murmured to us, "but I do know that all of the birth records should be over on this side of the building. I'm pretty sure they're in alphabetical order according to last names. So unless Brittany's name is an alias, we should be able to find her under...hey, spitfire, what's your last name?"
I rolled my eyes. "Furness."
"The Desians had records on her as well," Raine whispered back. "We know that it's not an alias."
I tried to ignore the fact that they were even willing to entertain the thought that I could have lied to them about something as big as my name. Instead, I attempted to focus on the issue at hand so we could get out of here as soon as possible. The dead silence in this place was making me uncomfortable.
"All right, so where's the F section?" I asked quietly, slightly impatient. "It'd help if they had signs or something, jeez..."
Zelos pulled a book out from the bookcase to our left, looking at the front cover. "...Well, looks like we're in B right now. I'd say it's further down."
'Further down' ended up being at the opposite end of the building. No wonder they had so many damn bookcases...I hadn't realized there were that many people in Tethe'alla. Not nearly as many people as Earth, but still a pretty hefty amount, I'd say. And that wasn't even counting the people in Mizuho...and now that I thought about it, they probably didn't even count the elves or the half-elves, either.
We were now standing at the end of an aisle. While Zelos and Raine looked through the shelves of books, I stood watch to make sure no guards were about to sneak up on us. I didn't hear any footsteps other than those of my companions, so I quickly became bored once my initial nervousness had faded.
"Ah..." I stopped mid-yawn, hearing the sound of Raine's voice. "...Here it is."
Huh? Wait a minute, had I heard her correctly? Because it sounded to me like she had just found what she was looking for.
"What?" I whispered, confused, and turned back to face her. Zelos had walked up as well, and was now leaning over her shoulder.
"Yeah, looks like you've found it," he murmured, his eyebrows raised. "Well, spitfire, your whole family's here."
"Hold on, back up," I said, almost forgetting to be quiet. My heart hammered in my chest. "That's impossible. Let me see."
Raine handed the papers to me, which were bound together in a booklet. On the cover page, a single word was printed in all capital letters: my last name. It seemed to mock me.
I flipped to the first page. My full name was printed at the top, as well as my date of birth. Below that was my place of birth.
"Altamira," Zelos said from behind me, amused. "You must've had a fun time growing up, my little spitfire."
"Brittany..." Raine murmured, but I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I was still staring down at the paper in shock.
"...This is complete and utter bullshit," I finally said, my hands shaking slightly. "Altamira? I'm an American, goddammit! I've never even been to Altamira!"
"Keep your voice down," the Professor hissed, placing a hand on my arm.
"You don't believe this, do you?" I asked hopelessly, finally looking at her. "I can tell you my country's history, for God's sake!"
When she just stared at me in return, I bit my lip and looked back down at the fake papers. It was so infuriating...I had held my real birth certificate in my hand plenty of times! If only I had the damn thing with me now...
I flipped to the next page of the booklet, and saw my father's name printed at the top. My eyes scanned down the page, as I slowly shook my head. Apparently he was from Altamira, too.
"This is so..." I murmured, and then trailed off when my eyes saw what was stamped in red at the bottom of the page.
DECEASED.
"...What?" My mouth fell open as the others watched in silence. "What is this?"
I flipped to the next page, saw my mother's name. Deceased. On the next page was my brother's name. Deceased. And finally, my sister...who was apparently deceased as well.
I had seen enough. I shut the booklet, shoving it back on to the bookcase and turning away.
"This is insane," I said, my voice shaking. "My family's alive..."
"Let's go," Raine said. "We've seen what we needed to see. It would be safest if we discussed this back at Zelos's home."
"Yeah, I'm not too keen on hanging around here much longer, either," Zelos said. "C'mon, spitfire."
The two of them started walking back down the aisle, towards the door. I followed them with a cold feeling in my stomach. They didn't believe me. What the hell was going on? What was I supposed to do if nobody believed me now?
"Guys, listen to me," I said, feeling panicked and helpless. I had to say something, anything before I lost them! "I'm serious! Those certificates are fakes."
They just kept walking, so I continued, fumbling for some way to prove I was from Earth. "My dad was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He took me there once when we were on our way to a Red Sox game. I got this tattoo at a place called Venom Ink in Sanford, Maine. My sister knows the artist there. I grew up in Sanford. Last summer, I went on a trip to Europe and visited France and England. I picked up a rock off Omaha Beach, that's one of the D-Day beaches near the American Cemetery, I still have it in my roo-"
"That's enough," the Professor suddenly snapped, swinging around to face me. "We're fully aware of your sentiments on the issue, but now is hardly the time. Unless you want us all to be arrested, I'm going to have to ask you to keep quiet, Brittany."
I stared at her like a deer caught in headlights, and she gave me an icy look before turning away. Zelos raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between us for a moment. Raine started walking again, and we both followed her.
My panicked feeling subsided, replaced with a terrible numbness. I was doing the best I could to stay sane in this place, but once again my best wasn't nearly enough...I was so goddamn sick of all this. I was sick of risking my life, sick of doubting myself all the time, sick of this stupid game. There was nothing I could do now to make them believe me, so why should I bother caring? I couldn't win. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't...
The next few minutes were a bit of a blur. We exited the Archives without much trouble, which I guess was a bit of a blessing; had we been attacked right then, I probably would've just let myself get stabbed. Before I knew it, we were in Zelos's mansion, and I was slumped over in a chair in a corner of the living room. Nobody else was there yet.
I was too busy staring at the floor, so I couldn't see the Professor's expression. I just knew that she was very quiet. After what she said back in the Archives, though, I wasn't about to speak voluntarily for a while. I'd let them arrive at their own conclusions; that's what they were going to do anyway, no matter how much I tried to defend myself.
"Well, this is awkward," Zelos said, suddenly, standing up. "So, I guess I'll go ahead and point out the elephant in the room. Spitfire, you're from Tethe'alla."
"Okay," I said quietly.
Zelos faltered. "So now you're agreeing to it?"
"No," I replied. "But I don't have any proof that I'm not, so there's no point in arguing."
"I'd rather we leave the discussion for when the others get back," Raine said. "I'd like to go check on Sheena. Zelos, could you show me the way to the Elemental Research Laboratory?"
"Eh? Sure, my cool beauty." Zelos smiled easily. How could he smile at a time like this? "What about you, spitfire?"
"I'd like to stay here," I replied. "Maybe I'll get some rest..."
"Suit yourself," Zelos said with a shrug. After a few seconds, I heard the sound of the front door closing, and let out a heavy sigh.
Well, what next? I really just wanted to curl up and sleep somewhere...maybe this time I would wake up at home in my bed. Or maybe I just wouldn't wake up at all.
Getting up, I headed upstairs in the direction of the bedrooms. Yes, being alone and unnoticed sounded very good right now...
For a period after that, I drifted in and out of sleep. I woke up at one point when I heard the front door opening, and another point when I heard the muffled sound of a conversation going on downstairs. Both times, I simply buried my head under the pillow and went right on sleeping.
The third time I woke up, it was to a pounding noise. I let out a sigh, realizing it was just knocking on the door, and closed my eyes once more.
The knocking was persistent. After a minute, it was accompanied by Lloyd's voice. "Come on, Brittany, I know you're in there."
I opened my eyes a little, staring blankly at the wall. Maybe if I didn't answer, he would just go away. I bit my lip, feeling my eyes suddenly sting with tears. Problem was, I actually wanted to talk to Lloyd. I wanted him to tell me that everything was okay and that I didn't have to worry anymore. And even if he couldn't say that, I just...
The door opened, but I didn't look up. I saw Lloyd walk in from the corner of my eye; he shut the door behind him, before coming to sit at the foot of the bed.
"...Hey," he said after a second.
I had to take a deep breath so my voice wouldn't choke up. Why did having Lloyd around make me so damn emotional?
"Hey," I repeated back, staring in the corner of the room where I had haphazardly tossed my stuff. My coat was draped over my bag; I could still see a faint bloodstain on it from the Tower.
"You okay?" Lloyd asked.
I shrugged. "Dunno. Who cares?"
"You idiot," he sighed. "Cut it out."
It was quiet for a moment. Lloyd didn't say anything more, but I had a feeling he wasn't about to leave anytime soon. I bit my lip, thinking.
"Lloyd..." I murmured. "Please...please tell me you believe me."
"I believe you," he said.
"Even knowing that-"
"It's just a piece of paper," he cut me off. "If we go to Altamira and people recognize you, that's one thing. But right now, I don't care."
I sat up, staring into my lap. "I..."
"Brittany," he said, and I looked up. He gave me an intent, serious stare. "I trust you."
In other words, he was indirectly begging me not to betray that trust. I looked down for a moment, fighting to gain control over my emotions. I wouldn't betray him...I could never tell him the full truth, but I would never intentionally hurt Lloyd. He really was the only person keeping me sane here.
Blinking back tears, I abruptly leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him.
"Thank you," I said quietly, and pulled away. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess."
"You're not a mess," he murmured.
"So..." I paused for a moment, thinking. "I'm afraid to ask, but...what about everyone else?"
Lloyd just shook his head. "I don't know. No one really knows for sure what to think. Even the Professor seems confused."
"I know those papers were fake, but...they don't know that. What do we do, then? If they come to the conclusion that I lied, then what? I don't have any other story to tell them."
He clenched his fists. "Dammit...does it matter? Everyone's already agreed that we can't just leave you behind."
"Really?" I looked over at him, raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah," Lloyd replied. "It doesn't matter if you're telling the truth or not. Cruxis is still after you, and you've still been with us through a lot of things."
"Kratos was with us through a lot of things, too," I muttered.
"Kratos didn't spend weeks imprisoned in a Desian ranch!" Lloyd said loudly, standing up. "You've done stuff too, you know! You fought to save the people of Luin, even when it was burning around you. You stood up to Kvar alone when I was too hurt to fight! You saved us when we were caught by the Renegades that time, too..."
I stared at the floor. That ambush by the Renegades had been my fault in the first place, though. I appreciated Lloyd's words, but I didn't think I was going to be smiling again anytime soon.
"And..." Lloyd sat back down. "I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I'm not going to leave you, okay? Stop worrying."
"...Okay," I said after a pause. "Okay."
"Everyone's eating dinner. Are you coming down?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah."
Maybe I wasn't about to get ditched, but I couldn't deny it...things were definitely going to be weird from now on.
"Man, I'm glad to be done with those sewers," Sheena said as we set up camp.
It was about nine o' clock in the evening, and we had been walking all day. Tomorrow we'd head to the Tethe'alla Bridge to meet with Kuchinawa. Sheena had explained the Elemental Cargo and all that to us over dinner the previous night, so now we just had to get to Sybak. Raine wasn't looking to happy with the idea of going out to sea again.
As for my little...issue, no one had brought it up since I'd spoken to Lloyd last night. Everyone was just kind of pretending nothing had ever happened. I wasn't talking very much, because I was sort of hoping they'd just forget I was there.
"But if we ever have to go back to Meltokio, we'll have to go through there again..." Genis reluctantly pointed out.
"Well, there's no sense in worrying about it," Zelos said cheerfully. "With the way things look now, we won't be going back to Meltokio for a while." Then he seemed to realize mid-sentence what he was saying, and his face fell. "Aww...I'm gonna miss my hunnies..."
"My main concern is how we're going to get back into Sybak again," Raine said. "Not only are we fugitives, but Genis and I will be easily recognized. The entire town witnessed our arrest."
I scowled a little. That was another thing I wasn't looking forward to...after what had happened, I hated Sybak. It was practically a breeding ground for racist, intolerant people.
"Only the half-elves in the lab know about that secret entrance," Sheena said. "If we can just make it there, we should be okay."
"I guess we'll just worry about it when we get there." Lloyd leaned back against a tree, sighing.
I stood up, stretching. Everyone looked over at me, so I felt the need to explain.
"Just going for a walk," I said.
I had gone for walks alone plenty of times before, as they gave me times to think (and on occasion, bathe). Now, though, I really just wanted to get away from everyone. For the first time in a while, I actually felt out of place and unwanted. I couldn't tell if anyone besides Lloyd believed me, but no one was really talking to me, so I was left to draw my own conclusions.
"Wait up, hunny," Zelos called as I turned to leave. "I'll come with you. I was about to head out, too."
His smile was carefree enough, but I almost sent him a reproachful glare. I had a feeling he was just coming with me to supervise, because he didn't trust me or something. I really hoped the others wouldn't start thinking my walks were anything more than they really were...
"Okay, whatever," I said, keeping my voice neutral. I had been hoping to get away from the awkwardness, but being alone with Zelos wasn't exactly going to help.
Zelos got to his feet, and we headed out into the woods...if you could even call them that. We were camped out in an area that couldn't quite be called a field due to the amount of trees, but it couldn't really be called a forest, either. There was a forest with a river not too far away, though, and that was where I intended to head. Zelos didn't seem to mind.
"...So," I said as we walked, wanting to break the silence before he made some sort of perverted comment. "How's life?"
He slung an arm over my shoulders. "Oh, spitfire! It's perfect, now that I'm alone with you."
I rolled my eyes. "That's the cheesiest pickup line I've ever heard."
"Sorry. I think I've exhausted my entire supply on you, hunny," he said, grinning.
"You aren't going to start saying stuff like that all the time, are you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
His grin grew. "Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?"
I snorted. "Zelos, if you were a wedgie, I'd pick you."
"Nice pants, hunny. Can I test the zipper?"
"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd but U and I together," I shot back.
"I lost my virginity, can I have yours?"
"My love for you is like diarrhea; I just can't hold it in."
"...What?" Zelos asked incredulously, and we both started laughing. "Where the hell'd you hear that one?"
"I-heh, I read it somewhere," I said, wiping a tear from one of my eyes. Zelos's expression just then...oh, that was great.
It took us a few minutes to calm down after that, but the silence was a lot more comfortable. I had forgotten...Zelos wasn't so bad, after all. He always made me feel better with stupid stuff like this. And hadn't he helped me with my fear of heights that one time, too?
"Hey, uh, Zelos?" I said after a moment, fidgeting a little as we walked.
"Yeah?" He looked over at me.
"Thanks. I probably would've started brooding if you hadn't come with me, so...thanks."
"Hey, hey, no need to thank me," Zelos said happily. "It's all in a day's work, my little spitfire."
"Seriously, though," I said, sobering. "I've been wondering. What're your thoughts on all this?" I paused, sort of wishing I hadn't asked. "Ugh, everyone probably thinks I'm batshit."
"Who ever said anything about you being crazy?" Zelos asked, and I was relieved to see that he was actually serious for once. "Nah, I'd say you've just confused the hell out of everyone."
"What about you?" I asked.
"Me?" He raised his eyebrows, and then looked up at the sky, seeming to think. "I'd say they're being unfair, actually. If you don't want to talk about your past, that's your business. Yeah, that Kratos dude betrayed you guys in the past, but I wouldn't say you're anything like him."
I blinked. "You...really don't care? Even after what we found yesterday?"
He shrugged. "Maybe you lied, maybe you didn't. It's not like that paper proves you're gonna run off and screw us over later- -hey, are you crying?"
"No," I said quickly, hastily wiping at my face. "Allergies." It seemed like the easiest answer to give.
Zelos, at least, was on my side...Zelos and Lloyd. Just hearing that from Zelos made me feel so much better. I wasn't about to start bawling in front of him, though. Those scenes were reserved specifically for Lloyd. Lucky him.
We paused, having gotten pretty deep into the forest. Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the tree leaves, keeping the pathway just illuminated enough for us to see.
The redhead stared at me for a moment, and I was grateful for the dim light. The tears in my eyes were a little less obvious, at least.
"I'm just relieved," I said, smiling. "You're a nice guy, Zelos."
He smiled a little, but it was difficult to read his expression. "No, I'm not."
"Oh, shut up and take the compliment," I scolded him playfully, shoving him a little.
After a few seconds of looking up at the stars, Zelos turned to me.
"Hey, I'm gonna head back. You staying out here?"
I nodded. "Yeah, for a little bit longer. Thanks for talking to me, Zelos. See you at the campsite."
"All right. Later, hunny." With that, he turned and disappeared down the path.
Now that I was alone, I continued the trek a little further, heading slowly down to where the river was. I smiled a little; the sick feeling I'd had all day had now subsided, and I actually felt content. I really hadn't expected Zelos to side with me like that...if only Raine would be the same way. Maybe things wouldn't turn out so bad. Maybe...even if they didn't all completely believe me, we might still get along on the journey.
Standing on the riverbank, I paused to listen to the sound of the water. It was such a quiet and peaceful night...all I could hear was the running water, the rustling of leaves in the wind, and-
-the clinking of armor?
Suddenly alert, I swung around in the direction of the noise. A dark silhouette met my eyes. I couldn't distinguish specific features from here, but the shape was unmistakable. My heart just about leaped into my throat, and I fumbled for my sword in a panic.
Pronyma moved closer, smiling. "Pitiful human. Do you really believe you stand a chance?"
"G-Get away from me," I warned in a not-so-threatening voice, almost shaking. Pointing Loki at her, I demanded, "What the hell do you want?"
"I see no point in explaining myself to you," she said curtly, raising her staff. Two angels appeared behind her, and they began to approach me. I backed away, alarmed. Oh god, this was really bad. This was really, really bad.
"Now, then..." She murmured, moving forward as well. "It's time you returned to Lord Yggdrasill."
"Stay back!" I yelled, and noticed that there was an angel behind me, too.
Feeling like a caged rat, I swung around and slashed at the angel to fend them off. Then I was forced to turn around and face the two angels in front of me. I managed to put a deep gash into one of them, but to my horror, he didn't even react. Like a complete zombie, he continued forward towards me. Was that what Cruxis was going to do to me? Oh, god! I didn't want to be like that!
I let out another yell, praying that someone, anyone would hear me. Where were the others? Didn't Zelos hear this? Why wasn't anyone coming?
I managed to fend off the two angels in front of me. They were knocked backwards and on to the ground, but they simply got right back up as if nothing had hit them. That was when Pronyma moved forward.
"Resistance is futile," she said, and I saw runes begin to glow beneath her feet.
If she cast something like Dark Sphere, I was definitely going to be taken out. Panicked, I ran forward and swiped my sword at her, hoping to distract her from the spell.
She lifted her staff abruptly, swinging it to meet mine. The two weapons hit with a loud clang, and suddenly something flew past my head and I had to stop myself from falling forward into the Desian.
"Pathetic," she sneered as I stared forward in shock.
Loki. The sword that had gotten me through everything...
It had just snapped in two.
I took a second too long attempting to register this fact. A shadow fell over me, I felt a sharp pain, and suddenly everything went dark.
A/N: I know, I'm a bitch for ending it there. But hey, this chapter was long enough as it is. XD
Oh yes, it's another shit-hits-the-fan moment. What is OC Brit going to do now? Stay tuned!
If you review, I'll...do a little dance! :D
Next time: Welgaia and Yggdrasill.