Surprise B**ches, bet you thought you saw the last of me, huh? Can't get rid of me that easily, unfortunately, I hope you enjoy. Kinda nice to be writing again...
Going through the wind temple again was pretty easy, despite all the traps. They already knew where all the traps were and the path had been cleared, the door opened. There wasn't much for them to do except make their way up to the altar past a monster or two that really no longer posed much of a threat. They emerged on top of the ruin, the wind blowing past them as Sheena prepared herself to approach the altar.
"All right…everyone ready?" Sheena asked, looking back at them.
"Ready as we'll ever be," Genis shrugged. "Go ahead, Sheena, we got your back."
Lloyd did his best to try to recall who and what Sylph was, exactly. Briefly he thought back to the statues on the Asgard dais, the impish looking figure, that seemed…close, actually. Wait, no, that was the old one- what? He shook his head again, confused by the thought. A pulse of mana and light heralded the coming of the winged spirit…s? Three figures appeared, fluttering their wings to keep airborne before them. They looked like fairies, though, more than angels.
"I am Sheena! I-"
"OHMYGAWDIT'SCENNY!" the pink one gave an ear-splitting squeal.
"Cen-Cen?! That kid?!" the purple one scoffed. "He's not nearly cute enough to be Cen-Cen."
"Sisters, please, calm yourselves," the green one, the leader, spoke. "We have been brought here to test a summoner, not to-"
Lloyd yelped and fell over backwards when the pink fairy slammed into him, yelling 'glomp!' and tackling him to the ground in a hug.
"OH CENNY! I MISSED YOU SOOOOO MUCH! DID YOU MISS ME?! DID YOU MISS US?! IT'S BEEN SOOOOO LONG I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER COME BACK BUT YOU'RE HERE AND I MISSED YOU AND I-!"
"Fairess! Get off me!" Lloyd stammered, bright-red in the face.
"EEEE HE REMEMBERS MY NAME! SELPHIE! YUTIS! HE REMEMBERS MY NAME!"
"That's probably about all he remembers, dear," Selphie sighed. "You know he can't possibly remember everything, not with a limited human brain like that."
"Yeah, Fairess! Stop making a fool of yourself!" Yutis scoffed, crossing her arms. "Besides, look at him, kind of a downgrade, yeah? He's not as handsome as a human."
"W- wh-?" Lloyd blushed more, still attempting to pull the pink one from him.
"Well, I disagree," Selphie said, thoughtful looking. "After all he modeled himself after Kratos, didn't he? And Kratos was always a very attractive human."
"He didn't 'model' he just shared his genes," Yutis rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "So at best he's half as attractive, and he was more attractive than Kratos in his real form anyway."
"Super attractive!" Fairess squeed, maintaining a death grip on a very flustered Lloyd. "But it doesn't matter, I'll love Cenny no matter how ugly he gets!"
"Ugly!?" Lloyd scowled, his ears burning red now too. "Look- get off me! First off, I'm not ugly, secondly-"
"Eh, well that's debatable, really," Zelos shrugged. "You're not the best to look at."
"Shut up! I am too handsome!"
"I think you're handsome, Lloyd," Colette chirped, smiling at him.
"So are we making this pact or not?!" Sheena shouted above them all, scowling. "Or are we gonna debate over everyone's looks all day?!"
"There really isn't a debate, but yeah I get you," Zelos winked at her.
"I agree with the summoner," Selphie stated. "Fairess, release dear Cenon and come over here, we need to test this young woman."
The youngest of the trio whined but released the very flustered Lloyd, floating back to her sisters with a highly exaggerated pout.
"Fiiiine…"
"It's been a long time since we've had any action," Yutis stretched her arms. "Let's see how good they are, and how good he is as a flimsy little human."
"Flimsy?" Lloyd huffed, grabbing a sword. "I take offense to that."
"Well not you, necessarily-"
"You know how much work I put into making them super resilient?! I mean seriously, they adapt to like, everything! I put way too much effort into them for you to call'em 'flimsy'!"
"Lloyd, you're doing it again," Genis rolled his eyes.
Lloyd cut off, flushing even more with the added frustration. He grumbled to himself as he pulled out his swords.
"So are we fighting or…?"
"WAIT! NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT FIGHTING CENNY! I AIN'T DOING IT!" Fairess shrieked, turning her back to her sisters.
"Oh for the love of-" Yutis growled.
"Both of you, we have a job to do, so show some decorum and do it!" Selphie snapped.
Her sisters flinched, obviously taken aback by her outburst, but nodded in defeat.
"Okay…."
"Whatever…"
Lloyd sighed and took his battle stance, prepared to fight against the trio.
"Though I have to agree with Fairess," Selphie frowned. "It's not particularly fair if you fight on their behalf, Cenon."
This again? Lloyd sighed.
"I can't even use spirit powers or whatever most of the time, so it's just like fighting a human, right?"
"Well…" Selphie hesitated. "Very well, so long as you don't use any spirit abilities."
"Yeah! It's cheating if you do!" Fairess stuck her tongue out.
"Okay okay, let's fight already!" Yutis huffed, drawing her bow.
The trio didn't give them anymore warning than that, rushing the group with a flurry of blades, arrows and wind artes. It was surprisingly easy to fight against wind, Lloyd thought to himself, he could always feel it coming before it actually managed to touch him. Technically that wasn't using spirit powers, was it? He'd feel bad if he was cheating, but then…that sense wasn't really something he could control anymore, it was always there, whether he noticed or not.
The fight was over quickly, it felt like it anyway, there was so much to sense. He always seemed to fall into that haze after big fights now, a blur, sensing all the adrenaline, all the exertion, the energy and lack thereof…
A burst of mana- Gnome.
"Heya guys!" Gnome said happily. "See you got pacted too, eh? Did ol' Cenny cheat with you too?"
"No, he did nothing of the sort," Selphie responded, somewhat annoyed sounding.
"How dare you accuse him of cheating!" Fairess yelped. "Cenny-wenny would never do something like that!"
"Er," Lloyd fidgeted, thinking of the many math tests he had attempted to cheat at.
"Yeah yeah, whatever, yeesh, fangirls," Gnome turned to them. "So yeah, um, mana link, earthquakes, that sort of thing, you know the dealio by now, right? Soooo…yeah, see ya!"
"Indeed, we should depart for now as well," Selphie nodded, looking at Lloyd. "We wish you all well in your task, please keep to your vow, though, summoner…we do not wish to be betrayed again."
Betrayed? Lloyd frowned. Sheena reaffirmed her promise to the spirits whom departed in their wisps of mana, Fairess had chirped a farewell, the winds were picking up again. So many scents, so many sensations on the winds, moisture, there was the smell of the sea, the smell of rivers and the respiration of plants and animals-
"Lloyd, are you coming?" Raine asked, waving a hand in his face.
"Oh- sorry Professor, didn't mean to do that again," he smiled apologetically. "Yeah I'm good, let's go. We just have to track down Aska now, right?"
"Actually, Shadow will probably be easier right now." Sheena said.
"Agreed, tracking down Aska will have to wait for last, it's too time consuming," Raine concurred. "For now though, we should find a place to rest for the night, let's set up camp outside the temple."
"Yeah," Lloyd said, looking out over the horizon. "Hey, guys? I think…I'll meet you out there, okay?"
"Lloyd?" Colette frowned. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"No no, I just- I kinda want to think about something for a bit, if that's okay."
"Thinking? Wow, Lloyd, you're taking up all kinds of new habits," Genis mocked.
"Yeah yeah, shut up, Genis," he snorted, crossing his arms in a pout.
"But seriously," Genis sighed. "Just…be careful okay?"
"Yeah, Lloyd," Sheena nodded in agreement. "We get if you need a moment, just don't take too long or we'll come back for you."
They were being oddly compliant, he thought, but they did all seem to be supportive as much as they could be. He smiled gently; they were all good friends.
He reassured them he wouldn't be long as they left him there at the summit, leaving him there alone with the rushing winds about him. Sylph wasn't around, not right now, he couldn't feel them. The winds felt so nice. He made his way to the edge, closing his eyes and feeling the wind blow over him. Wind was nice, they were like the ocean currents, just with air. They flowed, caressing the planet, drifting along scents of places, moving tiny bits of life here and there, it made you feel like you could be swept up into them too, just soar through the air, through the whole world…
Lloyd took a deep breathe and a long exhale, settling himself down to sit on the edge. The wind ruffled through his hair, billowing his cloak around him- oh. He glanced over himself quickly, over his shoulder at the white and red coat. He really had to get that under control, what if he just did it in the middle of a city or town? It would definitely freak people out. Oh well, he was alone right now after all.
There was water on the air, rain was coming, it smelled clean and clear already, the plants felt it coming too. A forest on the horizon was bristling, trees always felt better with a nice rain. It reminded him of- something. What was it? He closed his eyes, trying to recall this feeling. He was…sitting against a tree, in the middle of a forest. It had been an odd place, mountainous, covered in lush green trees…deep in the forest a hill rose up, a large tree standing proudly on its summit. He remembered the gentle rain, sitting beneath the tree, the leaves and needles sheltering the ground from most of the water. Still, the gentle, rhythmic dripping of the water slid and fell off the leaves, the branches, plopping onto the grass. The smell of clean water, the scent of pine and oak, the sweet breathe of the trees, the gentle plodding of raindrops… What a beautiful place it had been, truly. He wondered if it was still there…wherever it was. Perhaps he'd find it again, he missed it.
Heh, missed it, he had only just remembered it. Silly…
For a while he sat there, content in the peace of it all, then only vaguely became aware he was being rained on, his brown hair plastered on his face and jacket. Oh. He wrung his hair out, getting to his feet. They were probably gonna be worried if he was just sitting out here in the rain, he should hurry and meet up with them at camp-
"Lloyd!"
Uhp, too late.
"Sorry-" he turned.
"Sorry nothing!" Genis huffed, an annoyed looking Sheena standing behind him. "Colette's been worried! Do you know how long it's been?! It's gonna be dark soon!"
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry," he sighed, "I'll go apologize to everyone."
"You damn well better!"
That peace was so nice, he wished he could've stayed in it, but…well, life stagnated if you never did anything. He knew that better than anyone, right?
Yet…still…something felt off, something felt…
"We gotta head back to Tethe'Alla tomorrow, I hope Shadow isn't too hard to get to."
Shadow…no, he didn't remember anything about him either. Hopefully things would go smoothly…