A/N: Yay! Ending the cliffhanger so no one kills me! ::happiness:: On to review replying (which is so much fun! ::grin:: )
Charlett-The-Druid – Sorry if it seems like Aya is moving in on Kratos. I mean, he's the only person she's met so far. So things may change when she meets the others. ::evilgrin::
Tomato LZ – I promise Yuan will have an appearance. Just be a bit patient with me. ::sweatdrop::
Joao – A weapon stronger than the Eternal Sword? I'll muse on it. And if I spilled everything about Aya at once, what fun would that be? Ah, well, next chapter you'll get a glimpse into her past, kay?
Girlkitsune; Kazaana the Furyou Houshi – Here's the end of the cliffhanger! So please don't hurt me! ::sweatdrop::
Thanks all for your opinions! Now on with the story! Enjoy!
Chapter Three
"I... just can't believe you!" snapped Sheena irritably. She was fuming and if smoke could have been coming out of her ears, it would be.
"Settle down, hun. I can't say no to the king, now can I?" the poor red-head explained in order to pacify the angry ninja. He backed up until he was against the wall.
"So you come all the way here just to say you can't stay?" Sheena demanded, outraged, eyes blazing. She glared at him, towering over him.
Meanwhile, Raine and the others stood outside, uncomfortable as they could overhear the conversation that was probably meant to stay private.
"What's going on?" Regal asked, rejoining the group after excusing himself. They were standing next to the bridge that led to the chief's – Sheena's – hut.
"Zelos," they all replied, sighing in unison as if that explained everything.
"Ah," Regal acknowledged. Apparently, it did.
"Look, Sheena. Doesn't it count that I came out here at all?" Zelos asked, running a hand through his red locks. He locked blue-grey eyes with hers, and they were almost pleading.
"Look you..." Sheena started, but cut herself short when his gaze met hers. "Don't look at me like that," she mumbled, crossing her arms in disgust and looking away.
Sighing at the break in her berating, Zelos took a seat on the floor. The former Chosen of Tethe'alla was now in his mid-twenties but hadn't aged physically. As a Chosen, he was a descendant of angels who did not age as rapidly as humans.
Zelos Wilder now worked for the king of Tethe'alla, mostly as an ambassador of goodwill. In doing so, he had shed his pink 'pimp' wear of old. His outfit consisted of grey pants, a black undershirt, and a forest green overcoat, buttoned only at the waist. A white headband still kept the long locks out of his eyes and his trusty short-sword hung at his waist.
"Look," Zelos stated, sounding a lot more serious that he usually did. "I don't have a lot of time before my summons and I just wanted to see Lloyd and – Hey! Aren't you listening to me?"
Sheena had stood up in the middle of his speech and stomped over to the door. She nearly broke the door as she slammed it shut on her way out.
"Gee, what the hell is wrong with her?" Zelos wondered, raising an eyebrow. Exhaling he got to his feet. "I guess even I can't understand all women..."
He started to walk to the door when he froze in mid-step as a loud screeching echoed over the village. Without wasting any time, he rushed from the hut.
"What was that?" he asked his former companions as they all looked around worriedly as a second screech filled the sky.
"I don't know," Raine responded, picking up her staff.
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to head outside the village," Genis offered, glancing around. "No need for innocent people to get hurt."
"Right," Colette agreed, removing her Chakram from her waist as she ran out with the others to the field.
Once outside, everyone strained their eyes in the darkness to find the source of the noise.
"Damn it, I can't see a thing," Regal cursed, still scanning the line of trees to the west.
"I think we need a little light, then," Sheena murmured, pulling out a handful of paper cards from her waistband.
She held one card in between her hands as she began to gather enough mana for the summoning. A large spell-circle appeared on the ground beneath her.
"I call upon the light of the heavens. I summon thee, Luna, come!" Sheena shouted, raising the glowing paper above her. In a flash of light, the beautiful spirit appeared.
Sitting nonchalantly on a floating crescent moon with long flowing green hair cascading down her back, Luna looked down upon her Summoner.
"What is your desire?" she asked, her voice echoing in the night.
"Luna, cast your light over the sky so that we may see the enemy!" Sheena shouted over a third shriek.
"As you command," Luna replied, raising her staff above her. From the blue crystal floating at its top shone a bright light that was nearly as bright as the sun.
Almost instantly they could see the forest and a large mass diving into it.
"There!" Presea shouted, pointing to the forest floor.
The large bird was diving for something as it came darting out of the forest. It was a person riding on what looked to be a large dog.
"LLOYD!" Colette shouted, immediately recognizing the dog and the man in red.
Upon hearing his name, Lloyd looked up and saw the large group standing on the opposite side of the river.
"EVERYONE!" Lloyd shouted as he ducked under another attempt by the bird to swipe him off his ride. The bird screeched and rose back into the air, circling its prey. "GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S TOO DANGER-"
The bird took advantage of Lloyd's sudden distraction to strike Noishe's hind legs. With a jerk, Lloyd was sent flying, tumbling down the embankment. He grunted as he rolled to a stop.
Noishe whined in warning as Lloyd slowly rose, trying to clear his head. Again the beast swooped down and picked up a surprised Lloyd in its talons.
The others had been watching this from afar and it seemed to them to be in slow motion. Now that Lloyd had been captured, life returned to normal speed and then all snapped into action. Without thinking, both Zelos and Colette sprouted transparent wings from their back. Weapons drawn, they shot into the air to try and keep the bird from flying off.
"We'll go check on Noishe," Presea announced, running off with Regal to check on the injured dog. The others didn't stop them, knowing that with both of them no longer having Exspheres and with this being a battle in the air the two were basically useless.
Genis growled angrily, his frustration from the day finally having a way of expressing itself. A large purple spell-circle appeared beneath his feet as he prepared to cast one of his more powerful spells.
"I call upon those in the land of the dead to unleash thy fury of thunder..."
"Genis! Are you crazy?" Raine snapped in his direction, hearing the incantation. "If you fire that now, you'll kill him!"
Genis scowled, but continued to hold his charged spell. He was counting on Zelos or Colette to knock Lloyd free before he fired anyway.
Sheena looked around hopelessly. She would have difficultly summoning another spirit so soon after summoning Luna. And if even she did, there was a strong chance the attack would hurt or even kill her friend.
"Come on... guys, don't let him die..." she whispered to herself as she followed both Colette's and Zelos' movement with her eyes.
Colette and Zelos both darted around the bird, unable to stay in one place for long. The large bird was apparently very cunning as it used its beak and gusts from its wings to keep them at a distance. Colette had thrown her chakram in frustration at the bird's head, but it darted upwards, and her attack nearly hit Lloyd instead. Upon catching it in return, the blonde frowned and decided that it was too dangerous to try again.
Zelos was also having difficulty. The aerial battle – something he was not used to doing – was tricky and he was having difficulty staying in one place long enough to cast any spells. And if he tried to dart in and stab the beast with his sword, he was met with a sharp beak or a gust of wind.
"This is getting us nowhere," Zelos growled.
"Lloyd! We're coming!" Colette cried out to the limp body in the bird's grasp. He had been knocked unconscious by the whiplash when the bird had first carried him off and sped into the air.
"Colette, on my count," Zelos shouted out, bracing himself for an attack. Colette didn't have time to wonder what he meant when he yelled 'NOW' and dived at the bird. He flew in circles above its head, distracting it.
Colette got the hint and dove for Lloyd, chakram raised. Passing the leg, she struck out and gasped in surprise as the chakram only glanced off its skin.
Zelos screamed as the bird grabbed his leg with its beak and threw him towards the ground. Distraction gone, the bird aimed its next attack at Colette, who nimbly rushed out of range.
"Damn it," Raine snapped, grasping her staff with both hands as Zelos slowed himself and kept him from hitting the ground. Blood was flowing swiftly from the large wound in his right leg. "First aid!" she shouted as green light enveloped Zelos' leg, healing it.
Exhaling in relief at the loss of pain, the red-haired angel saluted his thanks and charged back into battle.
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Kratos glanced down yet again at his companion, only to find her still unconscious. Kratos had been relieved to find that only minutes into their flight Aya had slipped out of consciousness. He had sensed another foreign mana and feared it was heading for Lloyd.
Now he was flying at breakneck speed, the wind whipping his brown hair out of his eyes. Now the ocean was beneath them, waves becoming a blur at the inhuman speed.
Kratos didn't know if he could trust anything Aya had said. But there was a feeling in his gut that he had to find his son – and find him fast. He furrowed his brow, wondering if this was what if was like to be a parent.
He slimmed his eyes as a bright light rose over the horizon. Confused by the light (as it was clearly night), he continued to barge ahead. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he made out the Light Spirit, Luna, casting the light. One mystery solved, he thought.
Next he saw the large beast fighting off two small figures. Kratos squinted, trying to make out why they were fighting the monster. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes picked out a familiar red-shirt on the body the beast had captured.
"Lloyd..."
Without a second thought, he willed himself to go faster.
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Regal stood, having already healed Noishe. The dog whined in gratitude and sat down by Presea to watch the battle in the air.
"How are-"
"It looks to be futile," Presea answered, sadness in her voice. "Genis cannot use his more powerful spells in case he hits Lloyd. Raine cannot use offensive magic because it has a thirty percent chance of killing him."
"I see," Regal sighed. Presea, though meaning well, tended to side with pessimism. Living with her for the past four years, he had adapted to her way of speaking.
"REGAL!" a deep voice shouted. Regal spun around, his eyes wide.
"That sounded like-"
"Kratos!" Presea acknowledged, looking up. Regal followed her gaze to see the angel speeding towards them.
"Catch!" Kratos ordered, dropping a body from his arms. Regal had little time to question the mercenary's logic as the body fell closer to the earth.
With a quick sprint and jump, Regal caught up to the body and picked it out of the air. He landed in a crouch, resting the body on the ground. He blinked at the unconscious female, utterly confused.
Presea watched the mercenary continue onwards, drawling his sword as he approached the battle zone.
Zelos was running out of options and the beast was getting restless as it continued to drift up and away from Mizuho.
"Crap, this isn't going the way we want it," he growled as he flew side by side with Colette. She was bleeding from a shot the bird had gotten in on her arm.
"There has to be something we can do. We can't give up," she retorted.
They both gasped as the bird decided to attack them instead.
"They're stuck!" Genis shouted angrily as he cursed his luck. He still couldn't unleash his spell.
The beast charged the two, beak open and prepared to devour the two former Chosen when four fireballs crashed into its head right between the eyes. It stopped short, screeching, as it tried to shake the embers from its face.
"Not if I have anything to do about it," Zelos shouted, sending another barrage of fireballs towards the bird. Colette sent both Chakrams flying, striking the beast between the eyes.
During the onslaught, the beast accidentally released its hold on Lloyd. The body was in freefall for mere seconds before a purple blur crashed into it.
"Kratos!" Colette shouted with excitement, but gasped as the angel couldn't stop his momentum before sending himself and Lloyd into the treetops.
No one hesitated to finish off the beast.
"Indignation!" Genis shouted as simultaneously Sheena sent Luna on the attack with a barrage of holy light and Raine released a perfectly timed Photon spell.
As the beast fell dead into the ocean, the two mages and Summoner exchanged glances, wondering if that had been overkill.
"Where's Lloyd?" Regal asked as he and Presea ran up to Genis and Raine, Noishe at their heels.
"Who's the chick?" Zelos asked, landing and putting away his sword, noticing the girl in Regal's arms.
"Stare later! We have to go find Lloyd and Kratos!" Genis snapped at Zelos before darting off into the forest with Raine. Colette followed them, floating in the air.
Raine raised her staff, focusing some mana inside its top and causing a faint light to brighten the way.
"See anything?" she called out to Genis, who held a small fireball in his hand as his source of light.
"Just some broken branches," the half-elf replied, grey eyes scanning the area. "They couldn't have landed far. Hey! Colette, don't go so far ahead!"
"Those two..." Raine muttered, shaking her head as she jumped over a large root blocking her path.
She held her breath as she found several trees, snapped in half. Quickly dashing forward, she found a small crater behind the broken trees, their trunks lying sporadically around the hole in the ground.
What had caused the crater she had already guessed. But when she saw the state of the bodies, a hand flew in front of her face. "Oh... oh my... GENIS! COLETTE!"
Having called out to her comrades, the half-elven professor ran first to Lloyd's side, as he was closer to her. She rolled him cautiously on his back and sighed in relief. It seems he had escaped with minor scratches and bruises.
"Professor!" Colette replied, flying into the clearing. She gasped at the sight. "Oh..! Lloyd!" She floated down to his side. "Will he be alright?"
"Yes, he looks fine, save for some cuts and bruises," Raine acknowledged, leaving Lloyd with her and turning to Kratos.
The brown-haired angel lay in a crumpled heap, unconscious and a large amount of blood spilling beneath him. Raine quickly went to diagnosing the severity of his injuries.
She found a large gash across his forehead, several broken ribs and an arm twisted in too many places. Grimacing, she set about healing the worst injuries at the site.
Genis leapt down next to Colette and checked on Lloyd. Seeing his best friend was no longer in grave danger, he sighed in relief and allowed himself to fall to the ground.
He locked eyes with Colette, and they both had the same question floating around in their heads.
What the hell was going on?
--Silverwings
Well, Lloyd is safe! And Kratos has returned! Aya is going to get interrogated, so will she spill the beans on why she needs the Eternal Swordsman? Stay tuned...
Again, don't forget to leave suggestions, comments, criticism but most importantly reviews!