The Enemy of My Enemy
By: Vilya
Disclaimer: Hmm…well, Heather, Jason and Steven do belong to me. And I'm keeping them! The incident in which Lloyd and the Giant Beetle collided head-on in midair also belongs to me, as it is a once-in-a-gaming experience. The rest, that does not belong to me. If only it did…
Now, you guys get a bit of a summary here, to explain things, but that's it! This takes place after the destruction of the Palmacosta Human Ranch but before Thoda Geyser. Lloyd, Genis and glares Kratos are going to run into a bit of trouble…and it takes off from there!
Chapter One: Imprisoned Magic
"Fire Ball!"
"Sonic Thrust!"
"Sword Rain!"
Genis Sage, Kratos Aurion, and Lloyd Irving grinned at one another as the giant Grasshopper before them dissolved into 'monster remains.' When Kratos and Lloyd each appeared to make the finishing strike, as they had just done, they often argued about it afterward, but this time they simply began walking again. Genis, with a long sigh, followed at a quick pace behind them.
They were a few miles outside of Palmacosta, the large port city where, it seemed, so much had just happened to them, and the Chosen, Colette Brunel, and Genis' sister Raine, were still in Palmacosta, the former probably still asleep and the latter most likely out delving into the history of the city, or listening in on a lecture in the school.
And the three of them were out here, heading for the nearest House of Salvation to ask for their Spiritua Statue. Thinking about this made Genis sigh again—what self-respecting House of Salvation would give up its most prized possession?
"Why are they all bugs?" Lloyd complained, and ducked as Kratos swatted at him. "I mean, really, for monsters they aren't very creative."
"It was that head-on collision with the Giant Beetle," Genis said quietly to Kratos, who chuckled. Lloyd shot a glare at Genis, who only grinned innocently. Lloyd shook his head and went back to scanning their right side for any more enemies, with Kratos doing the same on their left.
Genis walked in the middle and slightly behind, swinging the free end of his Fine Nova kendama in small circles. As the youngest, he was rather easily ignored, except when Raine wanted to smack him, but he'd learned to profit from it, if not necessarily with gald.
They were coming very close, he noticed, to the site of the old Palmacosta Human Ranch…and that meant they were going the wrong way. By this time, Lloyd and Kratos were several yards ahead of Genis, and he ran to catch up.
"Hey! Kratos! Lloyd, listen! We're going the wrong uf!" Something slammed into his stomach, throwing him backward onto the ground. Kratos and Lloyd spun around, and saw what could only be a Desian standing over the prone form of Genis. Coming out behind him were three more.
"Let's take 'em," Lloyd muttered darkly, drawing both of his swords and beginning to run. The Desian watching Genis spun, raising the spiked staff he was using as a weapon.
"Magic user," Kratos said quietly, and Lloyd nodded. If he could strike the half-elf while he was spellcasting, the concentration—and thus, the spell—would be broken. Lloyd braced himself to run; Kratos drew his own sword and ran ahead.
"Demon Fang!" he cried, and a shockwave swept from his blade, knocking the Desian back several feet. Lloyd charged along behind him, his attention focusing as the ground around the Desian began to pulse with color.
A spell! Lloyd went into a spin, both swords slashing at weak points in the Desian's armor. The glowing stopped, and the half-elf stumbled back under Lloyd's relentless barrage.
Kratos, deciding Lloyd could handle himself, knelt beside Genis, who was sitting and shaking his head to clear it. "Sorry," he offered, accepting Kratos' hand up. The mercenary nodded his acknowledgement. Nodding back, Genis looked at the Exsphere on his hand, feeling himself flowing with magic, and began to call a spell of his own.
"Pancake time!" he said, turning to the three other approaching Desians. "Stalagmite!" Sharp stones rose from the ground, tossing the Desians around like cloth dolls, dropping them hard to the ground as the magic dissipated. One of them groaned and didn't rise again, but the other two pressed Kratos, and Genis backed up several feet, beginning to draw on another spell.
"Tempest!" Lloyd cried, and his Desian also fell and lay motionless. Grinning in pleasure, he turned to aid Kratos, glancing back for a moment at Genis, deep in the middle of calling one of his spells.
Swords clashed against other swords and armor, and occasionally Kratos' shield, and Genis listened to this for what felt like forever before his magic burst from him.
"Lightning!" The bolts rained down, slamming into the two Desians, and another dropped. Kratos and Lloyd struck together and took down the final one.
"That's how it should be done," Lloyd said with satisfaction, slashing his swords through the air. Distracted as he was, he didn't even see the Fire Ball spell coming, and it threw him into a nearby tree. Slowly, he slid to the ground, and didn't move to get up again.
Genis whirled around to see another Desian, another magic user. Kratos moved to join him, but Genis shook his head.
"This will be easy! You take Lloyd back to Palmacosta, I'll meet you there!"
"It's too dangerous, Genis!"
"I'll be fine! I've got a few Apple Gels, and one Desian is no match for me. Get going, Kratos!"
Reluctantly, with several glances back, Kratos slid one arm under Lloyd's and began to sprint for Palmacosta. Genis nodded, satisfied, and turned back to the Desian, who was already spellcasting.
"Force Field!" Genis called as the fiery rain descended upon him. The globe that encircled him blocked the spell, and he retaliated with one of his own.
"Aqua Slash!" He watched the pulses of water head toward the Desian, but he never saw them hit. Some other sort of wave slammed into him, knocking the air from his lungs, and sending him backwards. He felt gravity act on him in a way it shouldn't have, and he was rolling, colliding with rocks and tree roots and…
He'd gone over the edge of some kind of cliff. That was his last thought before the treetops he was staring at darkened around him, and thought was no longer necessary.
Voices. There were voices around him, and another sound as well…machinery? It sounded like the magitechnology that Raine always talked about, that he'd heard a few times, even, usually in the Desian Ranches. But closer to him, louder, were the voices.
And he hurt. His head, his ribs, his shoulders…everything.
Where in the world was he? He must be at the Seaman's Haven, in Palmacosta…
Palmacosta…Lloyd! Kratos! …I'm sorry…
And the darkness claimed him again.
The voices were back, but this time he had enough energy in him to open his eyes and face them. Genis did so, and was greeted by three surprised faces, two male and one female. The people stepped back, surprised, but then one of them came forward again.
"Hello," he said, smiling kindly. "Do you know where you are?"
"N…no…" Genis whispered; he found it difficult to do much else. He moved to sit up, but strong hands held him down, and the man above him shook his head.
"You've been soundly beaten, child," he said, smiling again. Genis noticed, with a gasp and then a cry at the pain gasping brought him, that the man, and the other man and woman, wore the plain, ragged brown clothes of prisoners at a Human Ranch.
No! Genis' mind screamed. I can't be caught! I can't be a prisoner! But he managed to look down at himself, and when he saw those same worn, nondescript brown garments adorning him, he closed his eyes and tried to wake himself up.
"Let me…up," he said to the man, but his reply was only to shake his head.
"No. You need to rest, boy, while you've got the chance. They seem to have a very strong interest in you. Who are you?"
"My name…is Genis. Genis…Sage."
"It's one of the group that travels with the Chosen!" the woman exclaimed. "No wonder they're so obsessed with him. How in the world did you end up here?" She directed this last question at Genis. With a sigh, he pushed himself up so he was sitting, ignoring how much it hurt, and slowly, haltingly, pausing for breath every few words, he told them the story of battling the Desians.
"I just hope…Lloyd and…Kratos got away…" he finished, shaking his head, which made the throbbing in it worse. The woman handed him a metal cup half-full of water, and he drank it eagerly, not having realized he was thirsty until now.
"So…so where am I?" Genis asked.
"You are in the human ranch that is near the village of Iselia," said the smaller man with the tiniest hint of a grin. "Apparently another of your group did some damage here not too long ago. The leader of those Desians is still seething mad over it."
Iselia! Genis thought, shocked and saddened. He'd been banished from Iselia, right along with Lloyd, and he knew that Lloyd would probably never return. And now, of course, his sister and the rest of them had no way to find out where he was. He would be stuck here for a very long time, and that thought alone made him want to just give up. But his next turned any hope he might have had into dust.
Just…like…Marble.
He handed the woman her cup and didn't even protest as he was made to lie down again. Sleep felt like a wonderful idea, and he entered it within seconds.
Genis woke again, mostly because of the noise, the one he could now confirm was caused by magitechnology. It got louder. Genis started awake, and saw the three humans standing in front of him, blocking his view out of the cell. He sat up quickly, ignoring the pain in his ribs and back, and went to stand with them, next to the woman, who looked down at him with a flash of a smile before making her face sad and forlorn again.
There were people entering the room—people in heavy armor, a few carrying spears, two others with mages' staves, and the one in front with a whip. The one with the whip cracked it in the air and laughed coldly.
Desians!
Genis began to panic, somewhere in the back of his mind. He stood out very much here, with his shorter stature and silver hair. He was an elf, after all. A mage elf, too, which would surely single him out even—
I'm so stupid! Genis thought, and nearly said it aloud, but the Desians were drawing much closer and he didn't need to attract any more attention than he already would. He tried to make himself look as normal as possible when the Desians passed by, but it still seemed like they looked at him for much longer than they did anyone else.
"Cells three, six and seven, outside!" the whip-carrying Desian yelled. The cells with those numbers opened and the humans in them filed out, looking hopeless and broken. The Desians walked out behind them, leaving the occupants of the other cells to themselves.
"I can break out with my magic!" Genis told his cellmates excitedly. "I can…dig a tunnel, or something, and…we'll all get out, and…why are you all looking at me so sadly?"
"We are all magic users," said the taller man quietly. "Each of us also has some elf in us, which enables use of magic better than it would in ordinary humans." The man lifted his left arm, the one without the Exsphere. Circling his wrist was a metal ring that made a slight humming noise if Genis listened hard enough.
"This ranch has the capability of using magitechnology to disable our mages' powers," the woman said, pointing to the bracelet that Genis also wore. "The only one of us who's been able to bypass it is Steven."
"Steven?" Genis asked, and the smaller man grinned and pulled a roll of bread from behind his back, offering it to Genis. "Oh, no, I couldn't take your food, it's all you get…"
"It's all you get now, too," said the woman. "You're stuck here with us. You have said you are Genis. I am Heather, and these are Steven and Jason." Reluctantly, Genis took the roll and ate it, remembering only at that moment that he was hungry.
That made him think of Colette, who was seldom hungry anymore. It seemed like she never ate. Lloyd had even said that some of the things she did eat, she'd hated all her life. Genis had decided, after a few minutes of thought, that such actions naturally happened to the Chosen.
Sighing, Genis sat down on what must have passed for his bed for the past few days. It wasn't really more than a few folded blankets and clothes…Genis felt his stomach sink, realizing that this was to be his life from now on. He wondered what the humans did once outside. He'd seen them pushing blocks around before, but that had just been for the sadistic enjoyment of the Desians. It hadn't served any purpose.
"Are you still hurt?" asked Heather, and Genis shook his head.
"No. Once I got up, I was just stiff. I'm sorry if I took someone's bed for the past few days. You didn't have to do that for me."
"If we didn't," Jason said, "we'd be at the same level as the Desians. And we'll never fall to that level. I won't treat a fellow living being like they do."
"Why do the Desians act this way?" Genis wondered aloud. Heather sat down beside him, staring at the opposite wall just as he was doing.
"Well, half-elves are persecuted," she began, but Genis cut her off.
"They treat humans, and us, like cattle!"
"But did that come before the persecution, or after?"
"…You sound like my sister Raine…" At the thought of Raine, tears threatened Genis. He'd managed to avoid thinking of her thus far, but now he couldn't stop. She was his sister, his only family, and she was probably ready to kill him for getting himself captured. Come to think of it, Kratos was probably already dead for leaving him there.
"Raine? Wait, do you mean Raine Sage?" Heather asked, her eyes glowing with excitement. Genis nodded sullenly, then looked up at her with curiosity on his face. "I used to teach at the school in Palmacosta," she explained. "We've all heard of Raine."
"Oh. And I guess you guys all know Colette and Lloyd too, huh? None of you are from Iselia, though. I don't remember you, anyway."
"I used to live in Iselia," said Jason. "I moved with my family to Triet about five years ago. I've been here about a year now, and both of these two were here before I was."
A year, Genis thought, feeling more lost than ever. Even if Raine and the others did manage to find him, how would they get him out? And how could he leave, knowing these other people were still suffering?
Time seemed to drag on for the rest of that day, though Genis wasn't even certain of when the sun rose or set. It felt like about twelve hours, but there was no way he could tell. After a while, he started to feel tired, so he walked over and sat in the empty corner, leaning his head into the space where the two walls met and closing his eyes.
Eventually he fell asleep.
It was very dark when he woke again. Or, at least he thought he was awake. But he wasn't in the cell anymore…he wasn't leaning against a wall, either. He was standing, back in his old clothes again, with his kendama at his side. And there—were those city lights, off to his left? Was he…outside of Palmacosta? The whole event had been some sort of horrible dream?
He took a step in the direction of the lights, and then began running to them. But they never seemed to get any closer. If anything, he thought, they were farther away. He began to despair of ever reaching them.
Then, suddenly, he was in the midst of them, and found that they were not city lights, but people, dozens of people. They floated a few feet off the ground, eyes closed, hands clasped together near their hearts. And from under each person's hands there came a blinding light.
Genis walked among them for what felt like hours. He recognized some of them, his old classmates, other people of Iselia, and the people of Triet. Some of those he had freed from the Palmacosta ranch. He gasped when he saw Marble, and her daughter Cacao and granddaughter Chocolat.
Walking farther still, he came to three faces he did not know, but felt he should. A young girl in white boots. A tall man with odd-colored hair, hands shackled. Another man, with a necklace like Colette's.
And then he reached familiar faces, more familiar even than Marble's. Heather, calm and serene, in the clothes she must have worn as a teacher. Jason, dressed in the strange, ornate robes of someone who worked for the Church of Martel. And Steven, garbed in the black of a thief. And there was that clumsy assassin who had attacked them on the Ossa Trail.
His friends, and his family, were right in the center of all the light. There was his sister Raine, a bit higher than those around her, but a bit lower than some of the others he'd seen. There was Colette, shining like the angel she was, her wings extended behind her. And next to her, Lloyd, whose light threatened to blind him.
He turned, expecting to find Kratos, but no one was there. There was a good-sized empty space, and he assumed Kratos might fit there, with one other person. That did not explain the absence of the aloof mercenary, but it did give him a place. And, Genis realized, he had his own place as well, right there in the center, between Lloyd and Kratos' void.
Stepping into his place, he closed his eyes and brought his hands together by his heart, envisioning himself floating like they were, with a beautiful light shining inside him. But his feet remained firmly on the ground.
'You seek the result without the process,' said a silent voice. Genis opened his eyes and met the calm gaze of a woman with wings, though not an angel's wings like Colette, and not the feathery variety of Remiel, either. Well, perhaps they were feathery…but they were golden.
"Well, I didn't know there was a process," Genis explained, wondering who this strange woman was.
'It requires strength, courage, and faith, Genis Sage,' she replied.
"I…well, I'm pretty strong, but I know I'm still learning. And I've got courage…and I believe in the World Regeneration…is that enough?"
'I was speaking of faith in yourself, Genis. Faith that you can shine that light and truly blind any who see you. I see it even now, and it certainly attempts to blind me,' She added with a smile.
"I do believe in myself! Why else would I have told Kratos to take Lloyd? I knew I could beat that Desian!"
'But in your defeat, was your belief in your own strength shaken?'
"Well…well maybe…but…"
'Then you cannot join them. You believe your situation hopeless, and yourself helpless to do anything. You are an intelligent person, Genis Sage. Use the talents given you.'
"But…but I can't access my mage's power! And my weapon is gone…and I can't take on a whole human ranch all by myself!"
The woman laughed, a sound like wind chimes, and then smiled at Genis.
'Surely you have more than that, Genis. Use it, and use it well. Perhaps you can learn again to believe in yourself. Perhaps your light will shine as bright to you as it does to me. Good night, Genis.'
"Good…night?" But the lights were already moving away from him, until he was back where he had begun. And then it all went dark.
"Come on, Genis, get up!" Genis' eyes opened to find himself back in the cell again, and Heather was shaking him awake. "Our cell is working outside today."
"By itself?" Genis asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Steven, just behind Heather, nodded briskly. Genis stood, yawning, and noticed the cell door open. He almost bolted for it, but he remembered his dream. Now was not the time to try and run.
The four of them were led outside by ten Desians, all carrying a whip as well as some other weapon, mostly swords. As they passed a particular hallway, Genis noticed a soldier impressing some others with…with his kendama! Genis' shoulders sagged. They really did have his weapon. And they were playing with it like it was some kind of toy.
Upon getting outside, Genis and the others were instructed to clear away several large piles of metal and wood—garbage. Debris. Someone had either attacked recently or made a very large mistake, Genis surmised.
Sighing, he bent over to lift a bit off the first pile and felt a sting across his back. One of the Desians had whipped him! He looked over his shoulder, glaring at the man, and received another lash for his impudence.
"Move faster!" the Desian barked, and Genis complied, picking up his pace until he got out of Desian view. Then he dropped his load and began to search through it. He found what he was looking for—two long, slender, pointed pieces of metal—and searched for a place to hide them. Finally, he threaded them through the stitching around one of the patches on his shirt, and went back to work.
The whip struck him several more times that day, and had he been able to reach his magic he would gladly have toasted every Desian where they stood, but he had to set his shoulders and bear it. He had a plan now, and just knowing that was enough to keep him from biting back at the Desians.
The long day was over, and he lined up behind Jason and in front of Steven to be escorted back to his cell. One of the Desians was carrying some sort of small device, and as Genis passed him he was stopped, the pieces of metal pulled from his clothing. A metal-gloved hand struck his face, and he stumbled, and would have fallen if Steven hadn't caught his shoulders.
"This one is not to be let out again," said a Desian from behind him, and Genis was roughly shoved into walking again, looking down at his feet now. He couldn't bring himself to look at the others. His plan had failed.
He sat in his corner of the cell again, unable to do anything but stare at the ground, humiliated. He vaguely heard someone speaking to him, but he couldn't bring himself to answer. They would catch him if he ever had another plan, not that he'd be able to do anything now, confined to the cell as he was. He wouldn't ask any of the others to try, either—he wouldn't risk that something worse might happen to them.
His sleep that night was full of terrible dreams, of monsters or Desians or things he couldn't put a name to destroying all of his friends, ending the Journey of Regeneration, leaving the world in decline and at the mercy of the Desians.
Look! The Four Seraph-guys...were killed by quick-edit! Anyway…reviews will get you everywhere. Tell me what you thought!
