Conflictions of the Mind
-Chapter Three-
Butterfly Trapped in a Spider's Web
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
The clouds had cleared to reveal a bright sun and a near-flawless blue sky.
After a few minutes of discussion outside of Altessa's home, it didn't take the group long to come to a decision on their next course of action. Obviously they would go to find Raine. And to find Raine, they had to find the Otherworldly gate.
To find the gate, Mithos told them, they first had to check in Altamira. Zelos brightened at the prospect of once again visiting the glorious shores, though Sheena quickly knocked him down a few pegs, saving the others the trouble.
Now they were soaring through the air on the Rheairds.Lloyd gripped the handlebars on his Rheaird tightly as he scanned the area, hoping for some sight of Raine before they landed in Altamira. The silver-haired professor was nowhere in sight. Internally he kicked himself for not paying too much attention to her the night before. 'But as usual, whenever I questioned her about something, she refused to give me an answer.' He thought, and shook his head a little. 'Now she's gone off on her own because she has to act so tough. Damn it, Professor, why?'
Not like he would get an answer. They all acted tough at times, wanting to take on things single-handedly.. things that they could not possibly handle on their own. In truth, it was entirely too dangerous for one of them to actually venture off on their own. Of course this wouldn't stop the professor. She could argue with you until her point was made.. only rarely concurring to someone else's decision.
As for himself.. he too had his strong opinions. At least he told them to his friends, and asked for their support. Whether or not they supported his ideas were a different matter entirely.
Desperately, his brown eyes sought the skies once more. Nothing. Just black specks down below that were birds taking to flight. Even they could not reach this height. The height of the Rheairds. And they soared on, the wind blowing their hair back, the sun in their eyes.
Lloyd glanced around him for a moment. Zelos and Sheena were bickering to themselves on their adjacent Rheairds, which wasn't anything new. Presea and Regal were quiet, as usual, flanking him: the younger girl's empty blue eyes staring straight ahead, while Regal kept looking over at her. Almost protectively, it seemed, though the reason for it still unknown. His friends were all so secretive. With a sigh, Lloyd shook his head. Why was it so hard for them all to be open with one another? If they were, this wouldn't have happened. Now he would have to be worried about every one of them to make sure they didn't go off on their own just like this.
Colette was watching him, and gave him a bright, reassuring smile, which he returned, though felt she must still be hiding things from him behind that cheery façade of hers. After all, she had already hid things from him many times before on this journey. It was supposed to be a journey to regenerate the world, which turned into a journey to preserve Colette's life.. now it was a journey to figure out how to save both worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.. if that were even possible.
It had to be. It just had to be. And it was up to him to find out the truth. But for now..
Looking behind him, his gaze found his best friend, Genis. Mithos was riding with him. Both boys had insisted that he come along, though Lloyd was worried. The young blond half-elf didn't have an exsphere, for starters; if they got into some kind of fight he wouldn't be able to defend himself.. he shouldn't have come.
Mithos certainly was clinging to Genis; perhaps he was afraid at being at such a height. Lloyd sighed. He'd do his best to protect them both, for Raine's sake.
Wherever the hell she was.
-
His arms wove tightly around Genis's back as the pair flew together on the shared Rheaird. Lloyd was in the lead, naturally, though Mithos had wanted Genis to be the one to take control. But the silver-haired boy had shaken his head at the prospect. "Lloyd knows where he's going. Leave it to him." He had said.
Inwardly, Mithos fumed, but he merely had put on a meek smile in response. "Oh."
It didn't take Mithos long to discover how strong the bonds of trust were between everyone in the group. Granted, there were the few dislikes, such as Genis feeling uncomfortable around Regal, and Zelos constantly rubbing the girls the wrong way with his blasé attitude and inappropriate touching, but over all, they got along well with one another. Something he envied in a group. No competition, just beautiful mutual trust.
Their trust would do them all in. It would be poetic justice.
He hated that word. Trust. Though he was positive that Genis now trusted him completely; the young boy had been so happy to find a friend of his own blood.. he certainly hated humans enough to suit his purposes. Except for Lloyd and the other fools that he traveled with. That would have to be amended.
'Trust. Something made to be broken.' Mithos thought, as his gaze surveyed the land. So now they were going to Altamira. A wasted effort, of course; Raine obviously was at the gate already. He didn't even need the crystal shard to keep track of her. A smirk crossed his features for a brief moment, before he schooled it into a different expression.
A very useful thing, that shard. Granted, over the years he had tampered with it, so that it would serve his purposes, perhaps for this very reason itself. While that shard remained in Raine's possession, he would know her thoughts, be able to soothe those particularly excruciating headaches.. as long as he kept hold of the other shard. At the moment he could only focus his thought upon it, so the draining would have to wait. He had to concentrate on keeping his hold on Genis for the moment. He had no crystal shard to hold him with. Just his arms, currently. And Genis was so much easier to control.
Genis felt the hold on him tighten. "You okay, Mithos? ..We should be there soon." The silver haired boy spoke softly, yet loud enough for only him to hear, unable to turn around.
"I'm.. I'm fine.." Mithos replied, his voice shaking just a bit.
Colette looked over at them, those blue eyes of hers sparkling. "You two look so cute," She said, smiling brightly. "Don't worry, we'll find Raine as soon as we get to Altamira, Genis."
Mithos managed to avoid rolling his eyes at the cheery blonde. Besides, she had little time to enjoy that body. Soon his sister would be back with them. And this world would suffer, even more than it had suffered four thousand years ago. A mad cackle of laughter filled his mind. How he wished to laugh aloud.
But he would have to refrain for now. Refrain from laughter, refrain from toying around with Raine's illness.. it would have to take a stronger hold on her body at any rate, before he could put her in his debt. Eventually they all would be in his debt. Some would join him, and the others would perish. Genis would be at his side, a new member of Cruxis. Colette would be Martel, born anew. And as for Raine.. he smirked faintly once again before it retreated into the folds of his lips. All in due time, he reasoned, tightening his hold on the boy in front of him once more.
Perhaps he should give the flute to Genis..
-
The wind was no longer cold as the group approached the island where the paradise of Altamira was based. After landing, and taking a few moments to stretch out their legs after the trip, only seven of them walked towards the entrance of the resort.
Realizing that the group was not entirely together, Lloyd turned around rapidly, confused for a moment. "..Regal?"
Regal bowed his head. "I will wait out here. Personal reasons, you understand."
"I don't understand, but.. all right." Lloyd frowned a little, but motioned for the others to follow him. "We'll just ask everyone we see if they have seen the professor. It shouldn't take too long. That or where the location of this otherworldly gate thing is."
"Sounds like a plan." Colette replied, with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll find her."
"I hope so.." Mithos said, softly.
"Whoa! Look out Genis, I think your new best bud has a crush on her highness!" Zelos remarked, a wide grin on his face. Lloyd shot him a look, but it was Sheena who spoke and took the opportunity to smack Zelos in the back of the head.
"Stop that foolishness, Zelos. We've got work to do." She admonished him, and Zelos rubbed the back of his head.
"Ow! You're messing up my hair, you banshee!"
At the comments, Mithos properly blushed, and shook his head a little. "Seems more like Zelos has a crush on Sheena if you ask me." He muttered.
"Don't let her hear that." Genis whispered, snickering a bit. Lloyd had taken the lead once more, asking people left and right if they had seen the professor, but not having much luck. Mithos was about to suggest to Genis that they do some searching on their own, when the group approached a lone man wearing a red jacket, standing besides a large monument.
The man studied the group, though his gaze went down to Presea, blinking. "Al.. Alicia? No.. it couldn't be.."
Presea blinked, staring at him. "Alicia's my.. my sister. Did you know her?"
The man nodded, slowly. "Yes.. I'm sorry to say this, but Alicia passed away some time ago. Please, if you're her sister, her grave is on the top floor of the Company building.."
The little girl gasped. "Passed.. away? How did this happen?"
The man closed his eyes. "I'm sorry.. I'm not permitted to say.. please, take this with you." He took out his employee ID and placed it gently into the little girl's hands. "I never knew she had a younger sister.. now I must get back to work."
Presea stared down at the ID as the man moved past the group, the others in too much of a shock to say anything. "His name is George," the pink haired girl mused. "I wonder what he knows.."
"Hey.. didn't Presea say that she had a younger sister? I didn't know she had another sister." Colette spoke up, suddenly.
Lloyd frowned thoughtfully. "Yeah.. she would have mentioned if she had another one."
"Maybe there are three of them!" Colette exclaimed happily.
"Hmmm.. I don't know.." Lloyd began.
Presea didn't seem to hear them, too absorbed in the information that she had just gotten.
Sheena closed her eyes, mentally counted to ten, and took a deep breath. "Listen you two. We have other things to worry about right now. We have to find Raine, for starters." She looked down at Presea. "Perhaps we can visit your sister.. at the company. With that access pass, maybe people inside will have some information about her and about Raine. What do you think?"
Presea looked up at her and slowly nodded. "Yeah.. I suppose so.."
Genis looked down as the group began walking again, falling into step with Presea and Mithos behind the others. "First my sister disappears, and then we find out about Presea's.. is this some kind of strange coincidence?" He looked to Presea for a moment, and swallowed, "Um.. I.."
Mithos blinked, glancing over at the stammering Genis. Presea likewise paused as well, just watching with a blank expression. "The others.. are getting ahead of us."
Genis nodded, color rising in his cheeks. "I know.. uh.. I just.. can I hold your hand, Presea?"
"Hand holding. A gesture of.. kindness? Comfort?" Those blue eyes of hers blinked, confusedly, along with her monotonous response.
Genis sighed, blushing deeply as he hung his head.
Mithos was considering the silver-haired mage's earlier words. "A sign. Perhaps. I just hope that Raine is not in danger." His blue gaze sought the ground as well. "After all.. I lost my sister too. I don't want you to have to face that, Genis. Ever."
"Me neither." Presea said quietly, and for a brief moment, she looked up. "I will.. hold your hand, Genis."
Lloyd looked back at them, having just realized that the group was not completely together. "Hey, come on you guys! The ferry's about to leave!"
The blush did not leave the silver-haired boy's face. "I.. thank you, Presea.." Before Genis could take Presea's hand, the girl and Mithos began walking once more in Lloyd's direction, leaving him standing there for a moment. "..Why does he always do this to me?" Genis muttered, following after them at a quickened pace.
The group stepped aboard the ferry that would take them to the Lezareno Company. After the short trip, they were allowed to board the elevator due to the fact that they possessed an employee ID card.
"Sky terrace first, I think." Sheena spoke quietly, gesturing to Presea. This time Genis was able to put a reassuring hand on the pink-haired girl's shoulder as they stepped out of the elevator.
"Alicia.." Presea whispered, her body trembling as she slowly made her way over to the single tomb that stood in the middle of the terrace. The terrace was beautiful, surrounded by flowers of all kinds, gracing their noses with their sweet scents..
The light reflected off of the exsphere in the middle of the stone.
-
Raine now studied the shard that she held in her hand. At first, it had been blue. Now, it was white. White as the soothing rays of healing passed over her body, then blue once more as the rays were drawn back into the stone. There seemed something familiar about it, but it wasn't something she was going to worry about. Or consider for the moment. That would be research for another day. If she didn't get another headache for considering it.
Too many things needed to be put back into place first, after all. She had come this far in remembering; all that was left was to remember where the bright light had taken them. Perhaps then, the missing years of her life would be put back into place.
Then she could return to the others as if none of this had happened.
Her hand slid back into her robe, releasing the shard. Eyes closed, Raine took a deep breath, and forced herself to remain calm this time, no matter what her memories would reveal to her. The wall had finally become cracked. Now it was a matter of fitting the missing puzzle pieces together.
Sunlight. Sunlight streaming from a window to a small room that was completely furnished with wood. The light bothered her eyes as she forced her heavy eyelids to open, blinking. Her body felt sore, yet right away she realized that she was in a soft bed, several blankets covering her, keeping her warm, and she was no longer in her clothes but a soft, woolen nightdress of some sort.
After the shock of this faded away, Raine shivered a bit, feeling cold despite of the warm layers that covered her, her hands moving up to cover her mouth when she began to cough. She didn't notice the door creak open until the fit had subsided.
"You're finally awake," A soft voice spoke, and Raine looked up to see a woman step inside, a grandmotherly-type, with grey hair pulled back into a ponytail. The woman approached her, placing a cup on the side table before reaching over to check the girl's forehead for fever. "Still feverish, I see. I suppose it is to be expected."
The woman took a cloth out of her pocket and reached down to dip it in a bucket of water placed near the table, then wrung it out nearly and placing it on the girls forehead. The coolness of the water was a relief to Raine, though it didn't stop the girl from trying to figure out her bearings.
"Where.. where am I?" The young girl managed to ask, her voice rather weak. "My.. my brother.. where is Genis.." Her attempts at speaking earned another fit of coughing. The woman helped her to sit up, rubbing her back until the coughs faded.
"Here.. drink this tea." The woman said soothingly. "The little boy that we found you with is fine. You are the one who is ill, and needs to recover. As for where we are, we are in the city of Palmacosta. One of the greatest cities of Sylvarant."
Raine swallowed the tea gratefully. It had been a long time since she had eaten or drank anything so warming, so soothing. Then she blinked, the elderly woman's words taking a moment to set in. ?" She repeated slowly. "I.. never heard of that city before.." At the mention of Sylvarant, she gave the woman a confused look. "Sylva..rant?"
"Shhh.." The woman pushed the girl's silver hair out of her eyes, wiping the forehead once more, before she took the cup away from her once she had drunk enough, helping Raine to lie back down. "You must have gone through a terrible ordeal to not remember the name of the land. Rest some more, child. I'll come back to check on you in a bit. What is it that you are called, dear?"
The girl nodded slowly, blinking a little confusedly. "Oh.. my name is.." She paused for a moment, almost unable to remember. "It's Raine.. Raine Sage, ma'am. Are you sure.. my brother is all right?"
"You may call me Marble," The woman said, smiling gently. "Raine is a lovely name. And yes, Genis is quite fine. You'll understand that I had to separate you two for now, as we don't want him to catch this sickness."
Nodding in understanding, Raine relaxed, just a little. "I.. I see.. thank you, very much, Miss Marble.." she swallowed. "I want to see him.. as soon as possible.. I'm all he has.." she forced her eyes closed. It was so hard to say that. Yet the truth was clear at last.
Marble nodded, frowning slightly, as she tucked the girl in once again. "Sleep well, Raine. When you wake up again, I'll bring you up a bowl of one of my best secret recipe soups. And.. Genis will see you as well."
Raine nodded slightly, and it didn't take her too long to fall back asleep, as she was truly exhausted.
When the group moved towards the grave, one did not follow. Mithos kept his gaze down, deep in thought. 'I need Genis to trust me. In order to do that, I need him to be happy.'
His gaze flickered up towards the grave. Presea's sister. Trapped in an exsphere, not a Cruxis crystal, her form had appeared to them. Yet her soul managed to remain, preserved in that state.. and she didn't want to be absorbed forever.
It was too late for the poor girl, of course. Genis obviously felt sorry for Presea, Mithos reasoned. 'Yet how could he fall for a human? That's.. impossible.'
He closed his eyes tightly as he thought of his own sister, practically merged with the blasted great seed. He would take Genis with him. Genis deserved so much more than this pack of failures. And Presea.. the girl could hardly be considered human now, he reasoned. 'If he joins me, I may as well save her for him. So that he will not turn against me.'
Genis would first have to punish the one who had taken Alicia from Presea. That would certainly bond the girl to him. 'And if she betrays him, her chances of survival are zero percent.' He thought, mimicking the girl's tone in his mind, before the laughter filled it.
And then, of course, there was always Raine's life. If his plans for her went correctly, perhaps the blasted great seed wouldn't have to be sacrificed after all. He would have his sister.. and if Genis did turn against him, at least there was a suitable replacement.
He could reach his half of the shard now. He closed his hand around it.. and smiled. It was truly a good thing that none of the others were paying attention to him.
'The memories aren't just mine alone,' Raine realized, as she stirred and glanced up at the afternoon sky. 'This Marble.. this woman from my dreams.. it couldn't be..'
Her gaze returned to the formation before her, a shaky hand reaching out to touch the rocks once more, before falling to her side. There had been more. It was strange, how these things turned full circle. Marble saving their lives.. only to have Lloyd and Genis kill her over a decade later. And now Genis wore her life as his exsphere. She shuddered at the thought. 'It was the very same woman.. yet I had never met her again. Cacao hadn't remembered us, or I would have remembered her at the same time..'
Marble and Cacao had taken care of her.. yet there was the a reason for why Marble and Cacao couldn't watch over them for too long.
Cacao's husband had been working in the army for the governor-general before Dorr. The ones that wanted to oppose the Desians in the first place. He had been nervous from the start when Marble had found the two children washed up on the shores in one of her walks. Orso Raine had been told.. Palmacosta was a seafaring town.. there likely was some darker secret there.
She had never been one to believe in pure coincidence..
Raine was never told the exact reason why she and her brother had to depart. Their hair color was the first obvious hint that they were not human, at the very least, not full-blooded ones. Now she remembered being in the city for at least six months, being supported by Marble and Cacao, until Genis was old enough to toddle around on his own, and she had finally recovered from that illness.
Illness.. she was sick; dehydrated.. it had taken her weeks to recover. Weeks of getting her strength back.. her body mass had shrunk considerably. If Marble hadn't been so nurturing, she likely would have died.. she and Genis would have both died.. he was malnurished, for a baby, despite her best efforts. Yet after she became stronger.. and ready to move on.. the healing began and she put these thoughts completely behind her. She didn't want him to remember; and luckily, he didn't.
By that time, Sylvarant had become her entire world. Her mind was filled with the names of new places that pushed out those she had only barely heard of. Ozette. Flanoir. Heimdall, her birthplace.
The only thing that didn't make sense was her inability to locate a village of the elves. Rumors of one existing were abound in Sylvarant, but of course, no one had an idea of where it was. Or if it truly existed. Yet she had been born there.. hadn't she? Such conflictions of her youth! And now... now it all made sense.. the gaps.. the searching.. but why NOW? Why did it happen NOW?
...What would have happened had she not volunteered to follow Colette on her journey?
"Now that I've remembered all of this.. what am I supposed to do about it?" Raine looked up at the now-darkening sky in frustration, clenching her hands into fists as she spoke aloud. "We survived, Mother.. was that what you truly wanted?"
Of course it wasn't. You're a half-elf, remember? A voice told her. Perhaps it was her own thoughts. She winced. "That couldn't be the only reason.. she did give us food.." she paused, then blinked. "First signs that you are losing your mind, Raine Sage, is that you are answering a voice in your head out loud."
The dull, throbbing ache at her temples suddenly flared into a full-blown headache once more. Once again her hand felt for the shard in her robe pocket, almost absently, then she blinked a little as she realized what she was doing. "I'm getting too used to this.. I must have this thing analyzed!"
It would be better off if you didn't, Raine. The voice spoke once more, and she looked around, completely startled. That voice wasn't hers, for one thing. It wasn't familiar at all, for another. Yet it was as if it had come from inside her head.. which didn't make any sense. Unless it was the shard. But.. it couldn't be.
Don't question it. Just let it help you.
The headache flared up again, causing her to wince. "Okay, okay! I get the point."
Sighing, she let her hand close around the shard once more, this time not questioning it's power. "That was.. unsettling." She muttered to herself. At least the aching had subsided. For now.. the voice reminded her.
It wasn't cold outside, and yet Raine shivered.
