Unquenchable Desire by the-key-of-the-twilight
Disclaimer: I do not own Namco and probably never will.
A/N: Thank you MoonCannon for reviewing! I really appreciate it! As for the characters, I want to make some of them a little more mature because this is a story after the game. Colette probably won't be that annoying anymore for people who hate her. Sorry about listing traits! (I hate doing that, but I couldn't think of any other way…) What happened after the prologue was that Lloyd woke up on his bed at Dirk's and continued his normal life and so did everyone else. Alright, on with the story!
Chapter 1: Restoration
"Wake up, boy! You're going to be late for school!" a rough voice shouted.
"Just a little more…" the young man in bed mumbled.
"Lloyd!" the dwarf shouted again.
"Okay, okay," the brown-haired male said. "I'm getting up." Slowly, Lloyd sat on his bed in some sort of daze.
"Hurry up, boy! You're going to be late!" his dwarven father reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha," the swordsman replied, rubbing his eyes. Dirk made a face and then treaded heavily down the stairs. After his father had left, Lloyd continued to sit in a daze. He stared out the window as if he was expecting to see something. It's been what? Three years now? Three years since our journey to regenerate the world?
Without haste, he stood up and stretched. He ran his hand through his messy hair and took his clothes out of his drawer. He grimaced as he saw his old worn-out clothes. Some of the buttons had fallen off and the color was getting washed-out. Nonetheless, he put the outfit on a smiled at himself in the mirror. It's just like three years ago… Me, Colette, Genis… His gaze fell upon the jewel on the back of his hand. And this…A shout from downstairs penetrated his thoughts.
"Lloyd!" Dirk called. "What's taking you so long, boy?"
"Coming, Dad!" Lloyd replied and ran down the stairs.
"Hurry up!" the dwarf's rough voice said.
"Yeah, sorry about that!" the swordsman apologized and sprinted to the door. "Come on, Noishe!" The dog-like animal sat before him and Lloyd slid comfortably onto his back. "Let's go!"
"That's my boy…" Dirk sighed and watched as Lloyd and Noishe faded into the distance.
All the students stared as Lloyd ran in through the door and faced the teacher.
"I'm sorry, Professor. I- I overslept again…" he confessed, looking down in shame.
"Well, just sit down and we'll continue with class," she said with her strict yet kind voice. "You didn't miss much." The swordsman obeyed her and sat down at his desk. Next to him, Colette smiled and waved. "Now, class. We'll review on the reason why we had a mana shortage three years ago. Does anyone know?" Colette raised her hand. "Yes Colette?" The beautiful young lady stood up.
"Well, many people never knew this, but there are two worlds: Slyvarant and Tethe'alla. Because of the dying Yggdrasill Tree, there wasn't enough mana for both worlds," Colette explained. Lloyd watched her intently as she spoke. She had grown and was now more mature than ever. Her voice had become a type of singing voice, instead of the child-like one she had three years ago. Her blonde hair had grown longer and had become curlier. Her old outfit had been replaced by a lovely white dress with pink lining. The crystal upon her chest glinted ever so brightly. "And so, because the Yggdrasill Tree was resurrected, both Slyvarant and Tethe'alla can now live in peace."
"Very good, Colette," the Professor remarked, smiling. "Now, does anyone know what the Human Ranches were for?" A hand went up. "Yes, Genis."
"The Desians, those who ran the Human Ranches, would take humans against their will and put them in their ranches," the half-elven student clarified. Genis had grown up a lot, too. His white hair had lengthened a pretty decent amount that it had reached his knees. He was wearing a black shirt with thin white lining and the same pants he'd always worn. (Actually, the black shirt was under that blue outer layer he used to wear. He couldn't wear the blue outer layer anymore because it was too small for him.) "These Exspheres are reminders of what the Desians have done." He held up his hand and showed the class the jewel that bore on the back. All the students watched keenly.
"Thank you very much, Genis," the teacher said.
"Anytime, Sis," the half-elf said. Raine smiled at him and her new orange cloak whipped around her as she spun around to write on the board. "Now class, these will be the things on our next quiz so study hard."
Argh… another quiz…, Lloyd thought and sat back in his chair. He stared out the window and his head was once again occupied by thoughts. I wonder what Kratos is doing right now… It must be lonely to be in Derris-Kharlan all by yourself… I wonder how Tethe'alla's doing… It's been three years, but it seemed just like yesterday when we made those wishes at the Yggdrasill Tree… The young man sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Now that I think about it, I miss those days a lot…
"Lloyd! Lloyd Irving!" Raine shouted. Lloyd sat up with a jump and gave a nervous grin. "Please, pay attention in class or do you want to hold water buckets again?"
"I'm sorry, Professor. I'll pay attention now," he said uneasily and faced the board. School was as boring as ever…
"Lloyd!" Colette cried as she saw Lloyd and gave him a friendly hug.
"What's this? Your 'hug of the day'?" the swordsman said, amusing himself.
"I guess you could call it that…" the blonde girl smiled and then spun around to see Genis running up to them.
"Hey, Lloyd!" he called and halted to a stop as he came near. Then, he sighed. "Man, I hate to say this, but school can get boring once in a while." Lloyd bore a surprised look.
"Genis? Wow, that's so unlike you," he remarked. "You usually love school."
"Well, after being spoiled by adventure for a long period of time, school seems too normal… and things that are too normal tend to be boring…" The half-elf smirked.
"Oh, Lloyd!" Colette said suddenly. "I wanted to tell you this earlier, but you were late for class. I hear that Ozette is being rebuilt and I was wondering if we could help." Immediately, Genis smiled.
"We're in!" he cried, bearing a full grin.
"You just want to see Presea…" Lloyd remarked and Genis pouted. "But sure, we'll go! I'm dying for some excitement in such a long time!"
"That's great! I'll meet you guys after school, alright?" She clasped her hands together and skipped back to the classroom after hearing her friends' approval.
"Presea…" the half-elf mumbled and Lloyd glanced at him.
"Did you say something, Genis?"
"Nah, it's nothing…"
"Presea!" Genis cried as he saw the pink-haired maiden standing right before her home. He had the nerve to hug her, but restrained himself.
"Genis, I'm very glad you came…" Presea spoke, her voice having much more life than in the past. She then spun around and stared at workers who were applying wood to the roof. The half-elf simply stood there and admired her beauty. Her pigtails were much lower now and she possessed a much happier demeanor. The wind blew against her face and the red ribbon attached to her dark green dress danced in the breeze.
"Genis?" a voice said. "Are you in there?" Genis suddenly blinked and shook his head. He blushed suddenly.
"Uh- um… I'm sorry! Just got a little distracted, that's all!" he said, scratching his head. The "pink princess" smiled at him and he flushed even more. "Uh- I'll be going now!" The half-elf rushed up the big tree root and made his way to the inn.
"Where were you, Genis? Visiting Presea?" Lloyd didn't need a answer since he saw Genis blush. "Well, anyways, want to help rebuild the inn?"
"Sure!" Genis participated. "Want me to collect wood?"
"Yeah, that'll be good. Colette, can you help me with the planning?"
"Of course, Lloyd!" The two of them then isolated themselves while Genis ran off toward the entrance. He glanced back for a moment, but unfortunately, he crashed into something and toppled backwards. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He gaped as he saw what he had collided with. It was a young woman who seemed very angry at the moment.
"Watch where you're going!" the figure shouted and kneeled down to collect the wood she had dropped. Genis jumped up in shock.
"I'm sorry! I- I didn't mean to!" he apologized.
"Whatever! Just don't get in my way!" She scolded, but as she looked up, her blue pools widened. Genis watched dubiously while the wind blew at her reddish-brown locks. Abruptly, the young woman rushed past the half-elf and when he turned back, she was in the distance.
"Yes, I'm the woodcutter! Just call me Quarok!" the stout man said. "And what are your plans?"
"Well, I was planning to rearrange the buildings a bit…" Lloyd said and pointed to a spot on the widespread paper before him. "Pretend that this spot is where we are now." His finger slid to another location. "I'd like the Tranquility to be down here and I think it'll be a good idea if we build a weapon store next to it as well."
"It could be called… Serenity!" Colette advised. The plump man put his hand to his chin.
"Hmm… impressive… anymore?" he asked, staring at the swordsman keenly.
"We talked to a lady and her sister earlier by the previous Nature's Kitchen and they said that they wanted to start a general and food store there. I think that's a good idea," Colette remarked and the woodcutter nodded.
"Very well then," Quarok said, "Do you have any plans for the inn? Because I plan to make it a little bigger."
"That'll be good. The inn could use a little remodeling from what it looked like before. We could make bigger rooms and hopefully get some light in this town," Lloyd recommended.
"I agree. I'll get my wife, Risa, to help you two- "
"Hold on! You're going to rebuild Presea's home, right?" Colette asked.
"Of course, she is a very kind girl now and I think we should all forget her past flaws…" the woodcutter said. Wow… he might look tough and mean on the outside… but he's really nice, too… , Colette thought and smiled.
"Alright!" Quarok jumped up onto his feet and trudged toward the door. Lloyd and Colette smiled at each other and happily walked out.
A/N: Well, end of Chapter One! Just a note, there'll be a lot of new people in this story. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! Please review!
