Disclaimer: I don't own!
Warning: M (as in Mithos!) for language and situations.
Thanks for continuing to read. From here on out, there will be no reviewer responses, seeing as to how I have already responded to the people who have reviewed this chapter in the past. However, if you wish for me to respond to you in particular, please let me know and leave me your e-mail. Grazie!
--Trickssi
Chapter Two: The Whither-To's and the Why-For's
"I'm starting to worry about her. Wake her up."
"I'm not waking her up. You remember what happened last time..."
The voices swam in her head as Sheena returned to the waking world. Zelos had just made his way over to her as she fluttered her eyes open. What a comfort to see his visage first thing in the morning.
"AGH!" she screeched, throwing the blanket over her head. She wasn't entirely sure he wasn't about to open the curtain of last night's drama to their companions; a blanket was the best cover for faces in such a situation.
"Morning, sexy," he said casually. He was met with a sharp blow to the head as he rose. No doubt it was Sheena attempting to end his lies before they began. "What the—"
"Don't you dare say you didn't deserve it," she hissed, turning on her heel. She chucked the blanket that had been tangled over her shoulders onto her sleeping mat and decided she was done with Zelos for the day. He'd already blown his chance of a conversation in two words. Think of the disaster had he said even one more. Better to end things now.
"Oo, touchy. You should get over it. They already know."
Sheena froze. "Th-they WHAT!" she howled, heart pounding from the possibility that he may not have lied. It was entirely possible; Raine could have been up that whole time and informed the others before Sheena even returned. Or perhaps the racket—she knew she was capable of silence, but had Zelos slatternly given them away? She was cross with herself that she couldn't remember. But now was not time to throw anger; someone had to be blamed, and the target seemed the foolish philanderer in front of her.
It was now obvious that the camp was watching their quarrel unfold.
"Oh, yeah," Zelos continued playfully, "how could they not? I mean, even I can tell with the way you've been acting that... you have PMS!" Raine rolled her eyes and sent everyone back to cleaning up.
Sheena nearly fell over. "I damn better!" she muttered to herself, then more loudly at Zelos: "You bastard! Y—I can't believe you did that to me!"
"What the hell are you talking about? I can't give girls PMS," he replied slyly. She saw now. He was playing a little game with her to make it seem like the night before never happened. She glared at him, but he only raised his eyebrows. He seemed trustworthy; though his way of showing it made her want to skewer him with one of Lloyd's rapiers.
"I—... You're incorrigible," she said finally. It seemed inconspicuous enough; a little wrangle, like always. But underneath it a void of confusion was spread betwixt the two.
Zelos strutted past the youngest(-looking, at least) travelers in their group. "It's obvious his ignorant and sexist comments were enough for her," Presea said blankly.
Genis was beet red; not because of the mention of womanly problems, or the fact that he'd probably spoken like Zelos at some inappropriate time before, but the fact that he, Genis Sage, was only about a foot away from the honest-to-goddess left shoulder of his beloved. Oh, Martel had truly meant for them to be together. "I—um... Yeah," he stuttered, pretending to know what she was talking about. Zelos grinned and shook his head, returning to his designated spot surrounding the stones where the campfire had been.
As he was securing his dagger, Lloyd wandered over. "You okay?" he asked hesitantly. Zelos's head whipped up to look at him.
"What? Oh, you mean Sheena?" he said, rubbing his head where she'd smacked it. "It's nothing a little first aid won't fix..."
"I mean, I know Colette can get a little sensitive around this time of month, but I had no idea Sheena had the intention to beat the crap out of you," Lloyd admitted. "I have to make sure everyone is in one piece for the battle today."
"Nah, I'm fine," Zelos said. "Women are harmless paradoxes."
"Or... you might want to take it down a notch for today. She's got a lot on her mind and she doesn't need you harassing her," Lloyd blurted. He sharply realized he probably shouldn't be giving advice to the gigolo of Tethe'alla.
"Oh la, she loves me," the Chosen clucked over-confidently. "I've got this all figured out. Now run along and practice your little sword-fighting." Lloyd, deciding not to insult him, simply walked away with an agitated look.
Meanwhile, Sheena had easily packed up her belongings; more easily than the day before, Raine noted. "There's something about you today, Sheena," the Professor said.
"Oh, thanks," Sheena accepted. "I don't know what it is, but this morning I woke up and I felt regenerated and ready-to-go."
"You did sleep longer than usual. Perhaps that was the cause," Raine said, "Or perhaps it's a little ninja trick you've decided not to share with the class." Sheena shifted uneasily, averting her gaze to the ground.
"Listen, I—"
"Maybe you're getting better from those Summon Spirits!" Colette suggested. She had finished disassembling her mat and decided to join the conversation.
Sheena smiled back at her. "You know, I think that might be it! I'm confident I can make a pact with Luna today. I can feel it."
'Did I really just say that?'
Obviously she had, for Colette was glowing back at her. What had gotten into her? Last night she was confident she would fail. But last night, she had also resorted to her own persuasion of healing arts. They must have worked! To hell with Zelos, she thought. He wasn't even worth the abuse he received that morning; she was going to summon Light, and the two worlds would split. In fact, she would never have to deal with him again! Her little way of getting back at him for all those lewd remarks. Perfect.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was all Regal's idea. Rheiards are bad for your health, he said. Walking will give you strength, he said. Then again, he also killed a girl because it would 'put her out of her misery.' Oh, Raine trusted him, all right; probably doing it to get out of having to balance on those machines without the use of his arms. Well, at least it wasn't water. Trudge, trudge... Then she got to thinking about Sheena as she spied her some distance ahead of herself and Regal (bringing up the rear as always). Sheena was hiding something; and as an aspiring archaeologist the Professor had to dig into the situation. She would find out what had changed the girl. It was for her own good. 'Besides,' Raine thought, 'Maybe I'll get to learn something of ancient Mizuho in the process...'
"Regal," she addressed the man walking slightly ahead of her, "would you do me a favor?"
He looked back in acknowledgement and nodded. "What do you need?"
"Ah, I... I need to have a little talk with Sheena. Would you respect our privacy?"
"Understood," Regal said, returning to his forward gait.
"Sheena!" Raine called. The ninja turned her head; Raine motioned for her to come. Sheena apologized to Colette and swung around to the back of the troupe. She and the Professor walked awkwardly for a moment until Sheena gathered the guts to speak.
"So... this is about my 'ninja trick', isn't it?" she questioned abrasively. Raine nodded.
"I'm not entirely sure what went on between yourself and Zelos, but indulge me. I'm curious to find out why it was necessary."
Sheena's face reddened slightly. "You knew, then?" She was slightly disappointed in herself. Her whole goal was to have nobody figure it out; otherwise, she wouldn't have done it.
"It wasn't easy, but I figured it out over the course of this morning," Raine admitted. She noted the disdain in her comrade's face and added, "You have to remember, I'm a legal genius. I doubt the rest of them would be able to accrue the little clues here and there."
Sheena sighed heavily. "Ah, well. I tried, and that counts for something... What exactly do you feel you need to know about the situation? Because no, this has nothing to do with matters of the heart, as you should already have found." She didn't want to reveal more than she had to; but if she left Raine with nothing more, her reputation was in jeopardy.
"Right," she agreed. "But—it fascinates me; how on Earth would something like that change a person's mana structure? There's no explainable process which I have studied that makes it possible."
"I—" Sheena began. She debated on whether or not to go into detail or simply tell the myth. "Well, since you're a professor, Professor, I believe I can entrust you with knowledge of Mizuho's sexual healing arts..." Raine's face lighted as she turned her ears to listen. "All right, this is what I know. The people of Mizuho believed that there were two types of mana: light and dark. It's not good versus evil, though; it's just light, which signifies purity and abundance, and dark, which is—well, it's used up. Having mana consisting of 'light' was always preferred in warriors and great leaders, because as I said, it's supposed to mean 'pure' and 'lasting.' There used to be many ways that one could replenish light mana, but unfortunately the documents were lost after the first move of the city when it was attacked (most likely Desians' work). The only surviving method was used fairly often and didn't require long ceremonies, so it didn't need to be written down in most cases. You know of which one I speak."
"Fascinating," Raine commented, eyes glazed over in what Lloyd and Genis liked to jokingly label Research Mode. She was indeed intrigued to hear the mention of the first Desian attack on Mizuho: something she'd studied for half a year when she was just out of school. She had never come across any of this, but it was probably because the village was communicative with only its citizens on matters so close to their heritage. "Now, how exactly was this dark mana replaced by light? Something of an exchange?"
"Good guess. You're close," Sheena said with a slight wince. "It wasn't so much an exchange as it was a cleansing. Like wiping off a chalkboard. The simple act of sexual release, either one-sided or paired, does something to the mana flow... I didn't really catch what it was exactly. They just said I had to learn it because I'm a summoner... To put this all in easier terms, if you—" She watched her tongue. It was risky to say anything that romanticized the simple facts because she did not romanticize Zelos in her own mind. "If you have sex, your dark mana is erased and filled with light mana."
"Simply marvelous," Raine exclaimed. Luckily for her everyone cared for her excitement passively, especially Genis. He'd had enough of her historical frenzies to learn to ignore them. Her face returned to its usual seriousness as she connected the recent story with Sheena's actions. "So, summoning replaces your light mana with dark mana?" she surmised.
"I guess. I can't really know, 'cause you can't check those things," she replied. "The mana just seems to let me know when it's time to replenish by stressing me out." She gave a little laugh. "I'm sorry if I was a little high-strung the past few days."
"Sheena, I'm not the one to whom you should be apologizing," the Professor said sternly. Sheena had to think for a moment on what she meant.
Zelos.
That's right, she had been rude for the past few days... or weeks. How long had she known him again? Well, he damn deserved it, she thought. A perverted fiend who tries to molest you deserves to be taken advantage of. It wasn't as though she was stealing his mana; he just wasn't benefiting from it, save for material for his own sick fantasies. But the important thing was that she now had the strength to summon Luna and Aska and save the world on her part... wasn't it?
"I'm not apologizing to that creep!" Sheena spat, face flushed. "He doesn't deserve it!" She began to storm off, when suddenly she realized that the ground upon which she did her storming was now solid instead of the springy grass cushion that was characteristic of Sylvarant. She looked up.
"The Tower of Mana," Raine announced. "Looks like you've bought yourself some time."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
If you have read this all the way through please leave a comment. Thanks!