Fifty-three, SKLEE! n.n Rhyme-time! Sweet-beat! COOL RULE! n.n
Yuan: What the HELL are you talking about?
Me: Dunno stiff-o. n.n
Yuan:…I'm going to kill you.
Me: Say the disclaimer first, then satiate your violence thirst! :D
Yuan:…(eyetwitch) Freakyanimegal owns nothing!
Me: Enjoy my plot, don't smoke pot! n.n
Yuan: STUPID RHYME-! I'm really going to kill you this time-!
Me: Good one! :D
Yuan:…Somebody please get me out of here…T.T….
Me: Come on Yuan, don't shed a tear! n.n
Yuan: ARGH!!!
"Seriously!?"
I sighed, closing my notebook I had been scribbling in when Lloyd stared at me. All I had wanted to do was write a bit before we got to the base, it was a bit of a trip there, after all, and then Genis ended up telling them about my writing schemes…like those about fanfiction including them.
"In Cruxis?! Me?!" Lloyd stared at me, his face pale. "Who would be twisted enough to think I'd ever be in Cruxis?!"
"Sage," I said without thinking.
They stared at me.
"It's a very popular theme, actually," I shrugged, "and if you think about it, Lloyd, you could have just as easily ended up there. If Kratos found you immediately after he lost you, when Yggdrasill brought him back, think… I don't think he would've let you out of his sight again, so you may have been brought to and raised in Cruxis."
They all stared at me, Lloyd's eyes wide as he thought over what I said.
"But…but he wouldn't-"
"Yeah, I don't think he would either- unless it was the only option to keep you safe," I shrugged, "I'm just saying…"
"If Lloyd was in Cruxis…" Sheena mused, "wow…well, he certainly wouldn't be the same…"
"Yeah, he might have been smarter," Genis snickered.
"Hey!"
"And he might've worn something cool instead of having no fashion sense," I smirked, Lloyd's face flushing as red as his jacket.
"No fashion-sense-? I do to have fashion sense! Right, guys!?"
There was a long silence.
"…You guys suck," he huffed, glancing aside.
"You ever write anything about me, kitten?" Zelos winked.
"Besides humor stories where you get abused? Not really," I said flatly.
Then his ego became flatter than the tone I used.
"What about us?" Sheena asked.
"Hm…Well, mainly I wrote about Lloyd, Kratos, and Genis…" I bit my lip, "maybe a bit of Raine and Colette on the side."
"Oh," she sighed.
"Sorry…" I trailed, glancing down at the notebook in my lap.
"H- Hey, Jaela," Genis tried to change the subject, "what about that one you told me about? Something about Lloyd getting ten years older at once? What the heck was that about?"
"Me?" Lloyd stared at Genis, then me.
"Yeah…" I sighed, "see, I just wanted to write something like that for some reason… My story was that when you all were going through the Darkness Temple- which we probably will go to- you got lost and ran into a monster that turned you in a twenty-seven year old."
I shrugged.
"It was a pretty simple idea, I guess, but it was just so much fun," I grinned, "I put you through hell, emotionally, it was just so amusing, eheheheh…."
"Wow, glad to know I'm loved," Lloyd said sarcastically.
"Oh I wouldn't do anything mean to you guys in real life," I shrugged, "that's just how I write, I love putting my characters through hell and back…but I always have a happy ending."
"Hm…" Lloyd leaned against the wall of the EC, thinking to himself, "if I got older like that overnight…I'd freak out, for one."
"I think we all would," Genis laughed.
"Then- well, I'd try to get back to normal," he bit his lip, "so I'd try to find out how to do that…"
"Well, what I had happen is you ran way from everyone because you didn't want them to see you like that, then ended up joining them again while pretending to be someone else until you could get back to normal."
They stared at me.
"Yep, then Raine figured out and Lloyd made her promise not to tell…Lloyd got chased by rabid fangirls…" I counted off on my fingers, "It was just chaos, I had a blast."
They continued to stare at me until the point I began to fidget.
"…What?"
"Well, we got that you were a little…twisted, but-" Sheena started.
"You're a freaking sadist," Zelos said simply, "I mean, Lloyd couldn't survive rabid fangirls! Why would he get them anyway-!?"
"Look at his father, duh," I rolled my eyes, "I imagine Lloyd's probably going to end up looking like a brunette- nicer- Kratos."
There was more silence.
"Do you want me the change the subject?"
"Yes!" Lloyd said, flushing somewhat.
"I like pie," I said, smiling cheerfully.
"…What?" Genis blinked.
"You wanted me to," I shrugged.
"…"
"We should be arriving shortly, Regal reported, walking out from the 'cockpit' of sorts. "Is everyone prepared?"
Infiltrating the ranch was easy with the shinobis help, though everyone noted that Zelos had 'disappeared' when we walked in. My eyes narrowed as the red-head came back into sight, claiming that we had to make sure we weren't falling into a trap.
"Then again, I'm sure kitten here would know if we were, hm?" he smirked, his eyes narrowed on me.
What the hell was he doing? Was he trying to get me to rat him out? Or…Oh!
"Yuan's going to be waiting for us in the rheaird hangar," I stated, not taking my eyes off Zelos, "At least, that's what was supposed to happen… Though I think we should all be on our guard, it might be different this time."
"Why do you think it'll be different?" Lloyd frowned.
I turned away from Zelos as I saw his eyes glint a bit.
"Just a hunch," I said, trying not to feel his eyes on my back.
Damn it! What was he playing at? He wouldn't turn us over to the Renegades that easily, right? He wasn't going to turn us over to them or Cruxis easily, that defeated the purpose of him playing all of us. So what was he up to? Damn him and his conniving nature-
I stopped dead in my tracks.
"We don't have to fight him," I stopped, the realization dawning on me.
"Huh?" Lloyd looked at me.
"Yuan; we don't have to fight Yuan," I said, staring at him like an idiot, "Wait here, I've got a plan-"
"A plan? What are you-? Hey! Where are you going?!"
I ran off away from the group, most obviously not the smartest thing I had ever done. Still, there was a way I could make this so much easier for everyone, us and Yuan included.
"Stay here!" I shouted back.
"Are you nuts?! Jaela, get back here-!"
I had barely gotten away from them when I ran into a Renegade. Needless to say, they looked rather surprised to see me.
Though they were even more surprised when I threw my sword on the ground and held up my hands over my head.
"Take me to see Yuan," I said simply.
It's amazing, really, how sometimes you just act without thinking. A part of me was screaming my insanity to me followed by about a million different ways this could go wrong, but at the moment…
"Y'know, kitten, you're quite a loose cannon," I heard a scoff.
I turned my head around as Zelos walked up
"Z-?"
"I told them I'd get you, but it looks like we've been captured, huh?" he smirked. "Yo! You there, get Yuan, tell him the Tethe'alla Chosen and the alien want to talk."
Apparently, this Renegade knew the situation with Zelos. He nodded and shouted for a couple other guards, one of which ran off toward the hangar, I imagined. As I stared somewhat dumbly at the clambering soldiers, I felt myself grabbed from behind. I let out a yelp as Zelos' pink and black hand closed over my mouth, his arms holding me still.
"Y'know, Jena, I hope this works out in your favor…" he said casually, "'Cause this means you've either got a plan, or you're insanely stupid."
Jena-!?
I knocked my head backwards so the back of my skull collided with his nose in a rather loud crunching sound. He swore and clutched his nose, allowing me to slip free and grab my sword.
He knew my name. Damn it, the bastard knew my name! He really was in on everything!
"Aw-! Oh g-! You biwtch! Whad wiw mah huddies dink!?"
Before I could retaliate I realized I was surrounded.
"…Parley?" I said, quoting what a young Kratos had said in one such situation in a fanfic I read back home.
They just stared at me. Well, stared at me and took my weapon, grabbed my arms and dragged me off, but I already had allocated points toward 'insane' just by doing this in the first place. Before I knew it, I was not in the hangar, but in an office like the one Yuan had had in Triet.
The Seraph himself had been waiting for me, apparently, and was standing there with a very amused expression on his face. Apparently he thought I had lost my mind too, judging by the 'are you serious?' expression he wore.
"Well…Nice to see you again, Jena," he smirked, "Didn't think you were so… Are all people from your planet this…dumb?"
"Chingou su madre!" I shouted.
"…Can't say I know-"
"FUCK YOUR MOTHER!" I shouted, feeling my face flush.
"Well, so that's what it means," he nodded, "That aside, I trust you have a reason for doing this? Either that, or you really have gone insane and we can gladly supply you with a straight-jacket."
Damn Yuan and his damn condescending smirk. Stupid smirk…stupid Yuan…stupid cape…stupid-…well, really, he had nice taste in room décor, but it was still stupid.
"You know my whole situation, right?" I said, ignoring his jeering look. "Otherwise you wouldn't know my name. I imagine Zelos told you how I know what's supposed to happen too."
"Yes, the Chosen did provide us with that information," he nodded, "Frankly, it was rather surprising to hear about that part-"
"Let's make a deal," I said.
He stared at me. Zelos stared at me. I think the grunts stared at me. I would've stared at me. I half expected Yuan to burst out laughing, but instead his eyes narrowed. He was interested. I was speaking his language…
"I'm listening," he said.
"It's not set in stone anymore but I know the basic gist of what will happen, more importantly how stuff happens," I said, trying not to talk too fast, trying not to let my nerves get to me, "If you promise to stop going after Lloyd, we can make all of this go by much faster and much more easily."
He nodded, wordlessly urging me to continue.
"…They broke the mana link between Undine and Volt," I said, "Because of that, the protection of the Great Seed is weakening. If all the links break-"
"You're saying if all the links break the seed will be free and able to germinate?" his eyebrow raised, obviously liking the idea.
"The seed's unstable," I finished, "In the g- before, you and the others ended up teaming up to make all the pacts. They have Sheena, after all, and the links are broken-"
"I fail to see the problem then-" he frowned.
"The seed is unstable, I just said that," I glared, "If you break the seals the seed will sprout into a monster tree, Palmacosta will be destroyed and it'll destroy Sylvarant and Tethe'alla if you don't reseal it into the Holy Ground of Kharlan."
"Feh," he growled, obviously this explanation, "Well, if that's a dead end then why the hell did you bring it up-?"
"Because-!"
I stopped.
Damn…damn! If I told him that they could get the Eternal Sword by having Kratos unleash the seal of his free will, then being saved by Yuan, there was no guarantee that Yuan would do it. He could very well agree to all this and refuse to save Kratos, or Kratos may not choose to do it at all. I couldn't see why he wouldn't, but still… I couldn't just let them make the pacts, though! If they did that, so many people would… I couldn't let that happen, damn it! What could I do, though? I couldn't just…I couldn't just…
"There's another way, isn't there?" he finished, his eyes narrowed intensely. "You're not telling me what it is."
"…If I did, there's no proof you won't hurt anyone," I said, glancing away.
To my surprise, he smirked slightly.
"Well-played," he nodded, "All right, so what would I have to do to get you to relay this alternative to me?"
"As cut-throat as you are, Yuan, you're a good guy," I said, looking at him, "You don't want to kill more people than you have to. All this trouble to kidnap Lloyd is just that too; trouble. By the way, I don't know if you know this, but Lloyd knows who Kratos is."
Apparently, he didn't. I saw his eyes widened slightly before he let out a low hiss.
"What? When did-?"
"Oh, Zelos didn't tell you that?" I smirked.
"Sure, slam me, you little bitch," he snarled, rubbing his just recently healed nose.
"No, as a matter of fact, he didn't," Yuan directed his glare to Zelos.
"Um…Damn, I thought I did," he shrugged, nonchalantly, "My bad."
"I know everything about you, about Zelos, about the group, about Kratos' intentions…" I trailed, "I even know what Mithos' next move is. Yes, I know his real identity. Yuan, are you really going to pass up that kind of information?"
He was silent for a few minutes, obviously thinking it over. His conniving little mind was like that, I guess, he was trying to figure out if this was the best way to go about things…
"Did it ever come to your attention that I could just torture you and get the information?" he said curtly. "Or I could hold you hostage and demand Lloyd in return."
I blanked.
"Obviously not," he closed his eyes.
Oh God DAMN it-!
"T- They wouldn't hand him over for me! They would never do that!" I shook my head. "Lloyd's- Lloyd's important! We need him! Everyone needs him! E- Even still, why can't we just work together?! We all want the same thing, Lloyd knows what you want him for, Kratos knows you're the freaking Renegade leader- Can't we just skip all this crap and work as a team already?!"
"You-" he started.
"What would Martel want you to do, damn it?!" I shouted.
If my arms were free, I would've slammed my hand over my mouth.
"…Look, I hardly believe in a goddess-"
"Not the 'goddess', you dick! Your fiancé! The woman you loved, damn it!"
Apparently I wouldn't have slammed my hand over my mouth…or else I would've still shouted through my hands.
Yuan didn't say anything for a few minutes. He looked at me, though he really wasn't looking at me…I guess I had crossed the line with that one. For a moment, I felt bad, but really…I meant what I said. Feh, like that always worked. Last time I did that I…
She's right, you really are a good person Yuan.
Verius appeared, sitting on the desk like a dog waiting for a treat. Everyone in the room jumped about a foot and Yuan swore as he backed up from his desk to look at the 'animal'.
"What the-?!"
Verius, Summon Spirit of Heart, delighted to see you again, Yuan. Now, really, I would take the young lady up on her offer…it'll make things so much more simple.
"S- Summon-? Don't be ridiculous-" Yuan started.
If you refuse to release her I'll take her back. You don't want me to do that, Yuan.
"Take her back…? For one, you're severely outnumbered, two-"
I saw a blur of movement, a blur of fur and tails. My eyes widened in what felt like slow motion as the vulpine proceeded to knock about four of the renegades unconscious on the ground, sitting on top of its last victim. Yuan stared open-mouthed as Verius stretched his jaw out in a yawn, curling up on the renegades back.
Now…about that deal…
God I loved the new Verius.
Sorry this chapter took so long, been busy with college and stress and homesickness and missing family and-…yeah. That. However, I started reading 'Tales of Cosplayers' lately. N.n It's very good, it got me off my butt to write this (even though I once again stood up too late when I have a test the next day….) and I highly recommend it :D
Yuan:…You're having me blackmailed by a ninetails.
Me: LOL POKEREFERENCE! :D
Yuan:…Review.
