Chapter Six: Tell me again, why she is with us: Chapter Thirteen
Sheena
I looked back, looking at all of my companions. I really hope that our numbers don't swell any more. I really only planed this trip for me, Colette, and Celsius. Well, I guess it's now three best friends plus one. "Hey, Chocolat."
Her voice perked up, as if in a daydream all the while, "What is it Sheena?"
I smiled slightly, before turning around and walking backwards. "Tell me again, why are you with us?"
She sighed gently and put her hands in her pockets. She wore blue jeans and a brown sleeveless shirt. "Well, I have nothing better to do, mother is helping rebuild Palmacosta, and our business is probably going to be the last to be built. So mother said it would help if I saw the world with you guys."
Not that I mind or anything, Chocolat is a fine archer and all. But it's the cooking for one extra person that bothers me. I looked over at Colette, she was gazing out into the horizon. Now that I notice it, it is quite a nice place to be. Looking behind us, I could barely make out Palmacosta, to my right is a somewhat lush forest which this road parallels, a bit out to my left is the open ocean, and out in front of me is half plains and half forest.
"So where do we plan to rest? Any ideas Colette?" Celsius put her hands behind her head and looked out into the plain blue sky. In the distance there were thick clouds forming, contrasting to the open sky in front of it. "Not to mention it's most likely going to rain tommorrow."
I thought to myself, it has been a while since it rained, maybe we're due for a good one. "How about the house of Salvation?" I asked.
Colette looked deep in thought before breaking out of her trance, "Good idea! Okay, let's rest there for today!" She seemingly shined and flourished in this sunny weather.
"But isn't…" I thought to myself for a minute, wasn't the house of Salvation just a pawn of Cruxis? Then why are they still operational? "Why are there still Salvation houses?"
"Well, now that Cruxis is gone and they understand what happened, They are now dedicated to Mana. But they still have respect for the sacrifice of Spiritua." Colette deep down was smart, she never showed it thought. I've always suspected it the same way with Lloyd.
About three hours later of just walking towards the House, we arrived at it's front door, the sky was already darkening and slight hints of rain shot our way. So without knocking, we made our way inside to the surprise of the priests inside.
"Oh? What bring yon travelers to our part…" He suddenly got a good look at all of our faces, something hit him like a brick. "Oh my dear! Chosen Colette, lady Sheena, Lady Celsius! I'm deeply sorry!" He looked around, behind him was a young boy studying there. "Brother Henry. Prepare four rooms for our guests!" With that quick order, the boy ran off up the stairs and into the makeshift inn above.
"Oh, good afternoon Father Leon." Colette walked forwards and offered a quick prayer to the Statues of Mana, Martel, and Spiritua. After doing such, she turned around and faced the priest. "I'm deeply sorry for our intrusion. It seems the weather is a bit untidy, we would like to spend the next two night here if it suits you." Colette always knew when to be formal. She still had a name of the Chosen, and was still widely known.
"Yes, we are honored to have you and your close friends here with us Chosen." the priest smiled, he was elderly, maybe in his early seventies, hunched over slightly, with grey hair almost covering his head with only traces of his old black hair.
Colette shook her head, "No, I'm no longer the Chosen Father Leon. I'm just Colette." She had this way with words where you couldn't help but do what she said.
"Oh yes, I'm sorry Miss Colette. But we here who warship Mana, Martel, and Spiritua still regard you as the Chosen. But in a different sense." He looked out the window, rain was already beginning to come down quickly. "Come now, you must be exhausted. Let us prepare our best meals for all of us. Brother Gerald! Prepare a grand banquet!" He yelled down the stairs which were below the ones going up.
I looked at Celsius and Chocolat, "Wonderful to be so well known, isn't it?"
Chocolat shook her head, "I'm going to love being with you guys!" she was sometimes airheaded, but she had a good head on her shoulders. And I must admit, she did have a strong crush on Lloyd like the rest of us. (Although nothing can ever match me…)
We made our way downstairs, it was hidden underneath a large plank of wood, these were the living quarters of the priests as well as their dining hall. The houses of salvation were large places, even in Tethe'alla they were grand places. Asides from on the main floor which was the chapel, the second, third and fourth floors were purely for Inns. They often served as checkpoints or base camps for adventurers. And there were always one to two floors underneath where three to four priests often lived. Some even had a grand dining hall for when they had meetings and such.
The dining hall was large, just as I thought. This place often served as a way point between the northern houses and the southern houses, so many priests often were here at any given time. And how I know all this? Besides this being similar to Tethe'alla, Colette always filled me in on these kinds of things.
I leaned against a wall watching everyone take seats and watching the priests cook the meal. Chocolat suddenly came over and smiled at me, "Hm? What's up?"
"Oh nothing, I'm just wondering, are we going to meet that red-headed guy again?" oh great, don't tell me she liked Zelos.
"Maybe, but we're going to have to goto somewhere far away. My land, Tethe'alla. Surely you know."
"Yep. I know all about it." for a person who has only lived in Sylvarant all her life, she knows a lot about what Lloyd, me and the rest have done. "Oh, come get a seat. There's plenty left!"
I thought to myself as I sat down next to Colette. Across from me was Chocolat, and next to her was Celsius. We had a large meal consisting of pork, bread, rice and such. It was filling to say anything. Not bad for a few elderly men.
Celsius
The rain was coming down in buckets now, not to mention the thunder was shaking the building like heck. After eating dinner, we broke up and went into our separate rooms. I've never seen the rain in a long time, this was maybe, the fourth time I've seen it and the first time I've heard a thunderstorm. It was beautiful to say the least.
Fenrir always treated me to sounds of thunder whenever he wanted to, he sometimes knew how alone I was sleeping everyday for several years. But this, this far exceeded my expectations, the lightning only to be followed by thunder was like a beautiful symphony of music mixed with fear, expectation and power. I opened up a window and let my hand get drenched in the water. This was something I could fall in love with.
With a quick pull of my hand and a twitch of my arm, I jumped out of the second story window and did a flip onto the ground. I could finally try do a little sparing. I looked upwards and pointed at each of the falling droplets of rain. I froze many of them midair. My eyes focused on each one as they fell faster and faster, with a quick push of my legs and a punch of my fist, I shattered one. Then as I recovered I kicked another one, shattering that as well. This was great training. Suddenly, I felt as if something was heading this way, similar to how I feel around Volt. Oh shit.
"Ice shield!" I formed a large circular shield above me, this was a trick I learned from Fenrir. The lightning bolt deflected harmlessly off it and into the distance. This is gonna be fun.
Colette
I opened the door into Chocolat's room slowly and just enough for me to fit through it. "Uh, hey Chocolat." She was sitting on her bed, looking out the window and into the storm watching Celsius train.
"Oh, hey Colette. What's up?" she asked, standing up and getting off her bed. The storm outside was still raging, hopefully it would leave before morning. But, this is also Mana's way of regenerating her world.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked out into the storm, "Nice storm, huh? Kind of makes you feel warm yet scared deep inside."
She shook her head, "no, I don't really like storms. Grandmother was taken during the middle of one, so I haven't really grown to like them."
"Oh no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't of asked."
"No, no. it's okay. You have a right to know, considering that you're the ones who helped grandmother and saved me."
I felt a strange warmth yet guilt deep inside me. Like I maybe I was partially guilty as well. "No, it's okay." I thought for a second on how I could change the subject, "Um, what are you planning to do now that your joining us?" I asked innocently enough.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe see the world, head to this 'Tethe'alla' place. Just see the world and not just my living room." she smiled, maybe just a fake smile, but it was still a smile.
Celsius
Dreams have always haunted me no matter where I am. Nightmares plague my thoughts and sleeping sometimes is harder then being awake. But, that was many, many years ago. Since then I've learned to be myself and not hold back. That's why I joined Lloyd and the others.
I sat up in the middle of the night, I couldn't tell what time it was, the sky was pitch black, but looked like a pale blue compared to the utter darkness inside my room. Looking out the window I noticed that the storm had quieted down into a mere drizzle. At times like this I began to think where I was going with my life. No degree, no husband, no living relatives, nothing. But maybe I'll find what I'm good at in time though. But I still wanted that degree in history. I wonder if Professor Gale is still alive?
The next morning came quickly enough, after a soft sleep and waking up as the mist just rose onto the grass, we set of to Asgard. Literally nothing out of the ordinary happened while we were there, so I'll summerize. It took us three days to walk there, from which we managed to persuade, (meaning I nearly killed the old man) him to let us through. From there we quickly walked to Asgard, not much of a greeting, but we stayed there for a week and a half, repairing the stone dias, (which is quite a nice artifact now that I take a look at it, better make a metal note to break in sometime and examine it), helped out Aisha, as well as listen to me lecture about the surrounding ruins. From there, we started to walk to a small port town to the north, larger then mine, but still small.
Anyways, our next stop is Mizuho to pick up supplies.
A/n-sorry if the last part sounded kind of rushed, I ran out of ideas, so I'm sped up the stories a bit. Sorry for the long update, writers block.