...And then there were three. Chapters, that is :P


Chapter 3: Betrayal


The sun creeped to the center of the sky as Lloyd and Sheena queried the townspeople of Flanoir as to the location of a cave called Zubenelgenubi, yet they still could not discover the location - or, in fact, any information at all.

Lloyd sighed. "Do you think there's anyone we haven't asked?" he said in a defeated tone of voice.

"Asked what?" Lloyd and Sheena heard a voice from behind them. They turned to see a green-eyed, dark-haired young man - no older than 20 - standing near them.

"We wanted to know the location of a certain cave," Sheena began.

"Shoot," the man said casually. "I figure, I know just about all the caves around here."

"Does the name Zubenelgenubi ring any bells?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, I know that cave," the man replied. "Want me to show you where it is?"

"Sure!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the man replied. "You'll have to do something in return, for me."

"What?" Sheena asked.

"I'd like to come with you," the man requested. "You must have an interesting story, wanting to know the location of Zubenelgenubi... it's a hidden cave that only a few know the location of, or even the name of. In fact, I believe I'm the last living person to know the location. The secret of the cave has been handed down in my family." He began to walk toward the exit to the city, obviously wishing for Lloyd and Sheena to follow him. "By the way, my name is Abyssion."

"Abyssion, huh?" Lloyd asked. "Well, Abyssion, you can come with us. 'K, Sheena?"

"Fine with me," Sheena shrugged, and both she and Lloyd followed Abyssion out of Flanoir.


"Here we are," Abyssion announced, standing in front of a looming, stalactite-dotted cave entrance that led down underground. "Zubenelgenubi, the Cave of Secrets. Let's go."

Abyssion led Lloyd and Sheena into the cave, which winded and twisted its way beneath what must have been half the snow-covered fields of the Flanoir region. All afternoon they traveled, with only the light of a small, flickering candle held by Abyssion to see by, until it was obvious that night had fallen.

"We should rest," Abyssion said, stopping suddenly. "It's getting late."

"We can go further on," Lloyd reassured him. "We're not tired."

"Very well," Abyssion replied, and promptly began walking again.


It felt like the middle of the night, but the three travelers walked onward blindly, as the candle had burned out some time before.

"Hey, what's that light up ahead?" Sheena asked, noticing the dim red light first.

"I dunno," Lloyd replied, squinting.

"This is different," Abyssion murmured. "This cave should go on for another two miles or so before it stops, but..." He ran ahead to examine it. "It feels like there's a barrier of some kind here."

Lloyd and Sheena ran forward, too. "That light looks like..." Sheena thought aloud. She then carefully placed her hand on the glowing light, and it turned green; there was a loud rumbling sound and a metallic wall opened, with just enough light coming from the end of the hallway ahead to see by. "Heh."

"Wha?" Lloyd said.

"Ya have to put your hand on it to open the door," Sheena replied smugly, walking confidently towards the light.

"Uh... Sheena?"

"Yeah, Lloyd?" Sheena called back, still walking forward.

"Don't those machines recognize people's handprints?"

"I suppose so. Why?"

"Because that means that either Yuan's back there and he expected us to come, or we're headed into a..."

At that moment, Sheena stepped onto what must have been a weak portion of floor - whether it was weak by accident or by intention, it didn't matter - and she disappeared, swallowed up by the floor.

"Trap?" cackled a familiar voice from further into the cave.

"That voice... it sounds familiar," Lloyd mumbled, running forward but taking care to jump over the gaping hole in the floor. He landed on a large platform, at least ten feet in radius; a candle burned dimly in the center.

A dark figure walked forward from the shadows until the light revealed his face.

"Yuan?" Lloyd exclaimed. "It's really you! We were looking for you! By the way, you gotta get Sheena out of there and fill up that hole, it's dangerous."

"You don't get it, do you?" Yuan asked plainly.

"Get what?" Lloyd said, confused.

"I dug that hole." Seeing no reaction from Lloyd (except more confusion), Yuan continued. "On purpose. To trap you."

"But... why?" Lloyd asked. "That would mean..."

"Yes. I am your enemy," Yuan pointed out.

"B... but why?" Lloyd asked, horrified.

"You shall know, in time," Yuan answered, in a bored tone of voice. "I see no point in continuing this conversation." He then quickly jumped forward and pushed Lloyd into the hole that Sheena fell into.

"Lloyd!" Abyssion cried, running forward. "You... you..." he stammered at Yuan, and jumped bravely into the hole to attempt to save Lloyd and Sheena from whatever monsters might be down there.


Aah, the plot is moving forward so, so quickly. I'm gonna have to come up with quite a few more major plot points to keep this from being only, say, 10 chapters or so :P

From now on, at the end of each chapter I'll be answering questions/comments about the previous chapter, at the end of the chapter, 'k?

DarkTigerUK (Ch3) Im really liking how this story is turning out i perticuly like the part about the stars very interesting cant wait for the update

Reply: Heh, the only reason this fic exists is because I just started playing Baten Kaitos and was inspired (heh, yeah right) by the creativity. So I started a SheeLloyd fic with astrological influences. And it snowballed. I already have a couple of plot points planned that, iI/i think, will be difficult to guess... but certainly not impossible :P

Achika-Chan (Ch1) Aw dont be nervouse, I think you did a great Job. you kept them in character so good job, and I'll read the next chap.

Reply: I was worried about characters being in- and out-of-character :P That's why there are gonna be so many original characters and characters that didn't appear very much, because I'm horrible at keeping characters in-character. :P