Prison Break
At first, I had been mildly amused at the fact that my cell was the one that would have contained a save point. After two days of a thin "bed" and bad food (not to mention the poor décor), however, I was no longer amused.
I was bored.
I was really bored.
So when a couple of Renegades (in red) came along, toting in an unconscious guy (in bright red) and took him to the cell next to me, my interest was piqued.
So this was Lloyd, eh...? I chuckled darkly to myself. He really was just a kid. Only a year older than me, after all.
As I stuck my head between the bars and arched in around to watch them place him on the bed (awfully considerate of them), it struck me... this kid was my ticket out of this dull prison. Oh yeah. I am so brilliant. I'd have to wait until he woke up, but hey, I'd been in there for two days. I could wait a little longer. The guards walked away.
-. . .-
Wake up...
-. . .-
Patience is virtue...
-. . .-
...but I'm not virtuous, damnit!
"Wake up!" I yelled at him. No response. With my right hand, I started pounding on the wall between us. "Wake up!" My fist hurt. "Wake up, you stupid little punk!" I stopped pounding before I bruised my knuckles. "Lloyd!"
Just as it occurred to me that it probably wasn't a good idea to call him by name before I "learned" it, he stirred. I bit my lip in anticipation as he flopped around a bit, probably semi-subconsciously trying to get comfortable. I smirked. After spending most of my time on one for the past two days, I happened to know that it was quite impossible get comfortable on one of those beds.
"After spending my time on one for the past two days, I happen to know that it is quite impossible to get comfortable on one of those beds," I said, then added as an afterthought, "The floor is actually more comfortable."
"..Nn..." He sat up and blinked a couple times before his eyes focused on me. "...Did you just call me Lloyd a second ago?"
Shit. Just my luck. He was lucid enough to remember. "No," I lied, and let my mouth do the thinking. "What's a Lloyd? Is it a kind of fish?"
"A fish? No..."
"Sure sounds like a fish to me."
"It's my name."
"So you were named after a fish?"
"No! ...At least, I don't think so..."
"Well, never fear, fish-boy! Just stay away from nets and hooks and you should be okay."
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm Aya," I informed him, mentally giving myself a pat on the back for successfully distracting him, and confusing him, all in one. Two birds with one stone, man. ...No, two fish with one stone. Heheh. Ah, I crack me up. I pulled myself out of my thoughts and noticed Lloyd giving me an odd look. "Did I just start laughing for no readily apparent reason?"
"...You're weird," was all he said.
"Indeed I am. Hey, think you could get us out of here?" I said suddenly.
He shook his head. "I could probably get out of this cell, but they took all my weapons and stuff, and there's a guard over there, so..."
"All your weapons? Like, you don't have any magic or something?" I said, trying to hint at the Sorcerer's Ring without actually letting on that I was aware of not only its existence, but also the fact that Lloyd happened to have it on him.
"No, Genis is- wait." He held a hand up in front of him, displaying a gold ring with what looked like a ruby or something on it. "That's it!"
Good boy. "What's it?"
"Hold on. Just wait 'til the guard comes past here again and you'll see."
"Okay..." I pulled my head back into my cell and went over to sit on my bed, dangling my feet childishly. I heard Lloyd stand up as I sat in relative silence. Eventually the guard made his way back to us and strolled past my cell, and then moved in front of Lloyd's.
Then he moved rather quickly in the opposite direction as his pants caught on fire.
I snickered to myself as Lloyd opened the door to his cell and stepped out. As he opened mine, I said amazedly, staying in character, "How'd you do that?"
He looked amusingly pleased at my fake amazement and held up his hand to show me. "With this," he said, trying to be dramatic and failing miserably. "The Sorcerer's Ring."
"Wow," I said, eyes wide, trying not to laugh. "Hey, hey. Can I try?"
He shrugged. "I don't see why not." He handed it to me, and I genuinely giggled madly as I put it on. After I had been shooting fire from it with my manic giggles, Lloyd said, looking a bit nervous, "Um, okay, can I have it back now?"
I hissed at him. "Mine!" He backed away slowly. "We wants it, we does. We needs it. Our preciousss..."
"Um, okay, I'll just... let you hold onto it for now, then," he said, the fear evident in his voice.
I laughed and shook my head, and handed it back to him. "I'm kidding. Come on, let's get out of here."
He looked startled, but shrugged and put it back on. "I need to find my equipment first."
"It should be right over here," I said, strolling over to the opposite corner of my cell and peering around it. "There, in that chest."
He walked over to to it and opened it, to find... his equipment! Hooray! He gave me a suspicious look. "How'd you know it would be in there?"
"I watched them as they brought you in," I said truthfully, untruthfully implying that I had also watched them put it there, despite the fact that even if I had tried to look, I wouldn't have been able to see it.
Lloyd, not being very bright, didn't think of that. He nodded and headed towards the hallway at the far end of the room that would, as I happened to know, lead to the next room, beckoning me to follow. "You'd think they'd lock it, though."
As we turned the corner, a Renegade stood in front of the door. Crap. Forgot about him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Um," said Lloyd.
"Your worst nightmare!" I said, and cackled evilly. Lloyd glanced at me as it occurred to him that I was just like that.
"P-prison break!" he stuttered, and ran away through the door to warn his comrades.
"Well, there goes stealth," said Lloyd.
I shrugged. "At least they had a sentry. It shows the Renegades aren't complete idiots."
"Renegades?" he questioned curiously.
"I mean, Desians," I corrected a little too quickly, mentally smacking myself, while also relived it was only Lloyd, who probably wouldn't think anything of it. I shuddered to think what would have happened had Kratos been there.
"Yeah, those Desians give me the shudders sometimes, too," he said, misinterpreting me, and continued through the door. I blinked and followed. What...? Oh. "What's this?" he said, referring to Ring Change-y Thing. I walked right past it and hopped down into Lloyd's hiding place. His attention turned to me. "What are you doing?"
"Hiding."
"Why?"
"Because a pair of Desians are coming."
"Wha-" He was interrupted as he, himself, heard footsteps come just into his hearing range, and hopped down to hide next to me just as a door opened.
"Where are they? That kid in red and the girl disappeared!" exclaimed one. They searched the entire room thoroughly, not once thinking to look in our rather obvious hiding place.
"He wasn't over there, either," said the other eventually.
"That's strange. How could we miss him when there's only one passage?" wondered the first.
Because you're idiots.
"Let's head back," said the second idiot.
They tried to open the door they had come through, but failed. "Oh, yeah," said the first idiot. "This room has a special mechanism." They electrocuted the Raybits and put them on the panels. At least they're not completely incompetent. "It's annoying to go through all the trouble of electrifying them and moving them over the panels just to open the door."
"Lord Botta sure likes to do things the hard way." They left, the door closing behind them. Of course they can't reveal Yuan's name so early in the game. No, he has to be Blue-Haired Man with a Cape. I snickered to myself as Lloyd climbed out and helped me out, as well, as I didn't have the minimal amount of upper-arm strength required to pull myself up. (I discovered soon after that I actually did, now, thanks to my brand-spanking-new Exsphere.)
"What's so funny?"
"They're just idiots. Hey, let's check out that thingy there."
He nodded and did so. "Hey," he said suddenly, "how did you know they were coming? You couldn't have possibly heard them."
Damn. "I, uh, kind of have sixth sense when it comes to these things." Psh. Yeah, right. Sixth sense, indeed.
"Oh. That's pretty cool, I guess... Hey, the Sorcerer's Ring is acting strange." Indeed it was. He tested it. "The ball of fire turned into a ball of electricity."
"Thanks for informing me. I would have never figured that out on my own."
He ignored me. "Maybe I can stop the machines with this."
"Good job, smart one."
Again, he didn't respond. "I guess I should check out any weird devices like this."
"You and your monologues. I just can't interrupt, can I?" I thought out loud, then immediately made a mental note to stop doing that.
Since his monologue was over, he glanced at me and said, "What?"
"Um..."
"What's a monologue?" he continued, as he set about the gruesome task of opening the door.
"A cheesecake, Lloyd. A monologue is a cheesecake," I explained without thinking twice about it.
"Oh. But that doesn't make any sense."
"It's a deep, profound statement. You know, a metaphor."
"What's a- wait, I remember! The Professor taught us this one! It's a comparison without the use of 'like' or 'as'!"
"I'm impressed you could remember."
"Heh. Thanks."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"Oh. Hey, the door's open."
Why, so it is. "Why, so it is. Let's go."
"I still don't get it," said Lloyd as we walked down the hall, absentmindedly electrocuting any Raybits in our way.
"It doesn't matter." We entered the room with the giant Gamecube. As he unsuccessfully tried the doors, I wandered across the room, past the Gamecube.
"Doors in this room are locked, too. I guess I'll look around."
"Lloyd?" He turned to me, and I blankly pointed to the console I now stood next to.
"Oh. Hey, lemme see if I can work that thing." Coming over, he looked over the instructions on the screen, his expression going from curious, to confused, to frustrated in a minute. "I don't get this at all."
"Let me try," I said.
"Be my guest," he said somewhat irritably, stepping away.
I glanced at the instructions and played with it a bit. "It's a simple matter of rotating the device in the center of the room so that a specific color lines up with its respective door. It can be turned by 180, 90, and 45 degrees at a time." The door, at what I thought of as the top of the room from its position in the game, opened.
"Whatever," said Lloyd, clearly not understanding a word I just said. He walked ahead of me into the next hall, and almost into a Renegade. "Whoa!"
"Hey, you!" yelled the soldier, oblivious to the fact that we were directly in front of him and could, therefor, hear him just fine. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh-oh!" Lloyd quickly dashed off the left and through yet another door, this one, somewhat surprisingly, not locked, and I ran after him, vaguely noting that the weird Exsphere underneath my t-shirt considerably improved my normally absolutely pathetic stamina. "Phew," he said, apparently not noticing the fancy furniture. "That was close."
"Um?" I tapped him on the shoulder and jerked my head towards Blue-Haired Man with a Cape.
"And just who the hell are you?"
I jumped in before Lloyd could reply. "I didn't tell you when we first met, Mister Blue Hair, but I'm actually... SUPER-AYA, protector of all things insane!" Do I protect Yggdrasill, then?
"Indeed?" said Yuan, eyebrow raised. "And who's he?"
Lloyd opened his mouth, but I opened mine faster. "This is my sidekick, Fish-Boy! His superpowers include super-fast swimming and underwater breathing. He is the protector of marine life everywhere!"
"Interesting." He turned to Lloyd. "Now who are you?"
Ignoring my protests of "But I just told you!" he said, "Give me your name and I'll give you mine."
Yuan laughed as he began forming a ball of energy in his hand. "Hahaha! You certainly have guts. But I'm afraid I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you."
"Hey, come to think of it, I never asked your name," I muttered, and was ignored. Probably because I already know it.
"What a coincidence," said Lloyd, because I don't see a need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realize how pathetic he is."
I felt a sudden de ja vous as the words Don't piss off the seraphim! ran through my head. "See, when you compare me to him, I'm not that bad," I said, and was ignored again.
"Why you little!..." said Yuan to Lloyd, who got into a defensive stance. Yuan's eyes widened and the energy ball disappeared. "An Exsphere! You're...Lloyd?"
"And if I am?" replied Lloyd arrogantly.
His expression changed to a curious one. "Hmm, I can see the resemblance."
Lloyd poked me in the shoulder. "What's he talking about...?"
"Why are you asking me...?" I feigned confusion while my mind screamed, Your daddy, Lloyd! He's talking about your daddy, Kratos!
Yuan turned to me. "You know him, then?"
"Well, I do now. He's just some kid I followed out here, to escape or whatever."
"What do you mean, just some kid?" said Lloyd angrily, but alas, it was his turn to be ignored. Three's a crowd, after all.
"Do you even have anywhere to go?" he asked.
I shrugged. "The beds are uncomfortable and the food sucks."
Just then, Botta and two Renegades came in from another door. "Sir! We've received reports that the Chosen's group has infiltrated the facility!"
"You..." Lloyd started, "you're the Desian that attacked Iselia!"
Botta looked at him. "So you're Lloyd! Now this is amusing!" Indeed it is.
"Botta!" said Yuan. "I'm leaving for now. Our plans will be ruined if he sees me."
"What of the Chosen?"
"I'll leave that to you." He turned. "Lloyd. The next time we meet, you're mine." With that, he left, his cape swishing dramatically behind him. Just as he walked out, four new and very familiar people walked in.
"Lloyd! Are you okay?" asked the short one.
"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" asked the blond one.
"Who's this?" asked the hot one.
"Knuckles the echidna," I told him. "I'm red and I can fly for no readily apparent reason."
"That's Aya," said Lloyd. "She was in the cell next to mine."
"Spoil all my fun..."
"Perfect timing," said Botta, effectively turning everyone's attention back to him. "I'll take care of everyone at once!"
"Get ready," said Kratos.
"Run away!" said I. And run away I did... to Raine. With a fight going on in the background, I said to her, "Hey, hey. Are you a healer?"
"Why, yes," said Raine, surprised. "How did you know?"
"Sixth sense. I can feel the remnants of healing magic around you," I made up on the spot.
"Fascinating..."
Before she could dissect me, I said, "Could you teach me?"
"What?"
"I want to be a healer, but I haven't met any healers in person 'til now. So could you teach me?"
"Of course," she replied, looking perhaps a little too pleased. While a battle raged behind us, she instructed me on controlling my mana to close wounds and stuff—First Aid. "I'm afraid I don't know much more," she said apologetically. "I haven't really had much of a chance to use this."
"I can probably figure out the rest from here."
"You'll need a lot of practice."
"And look, there's an opportunity to practice right now." I pointed to Kratos breaking Botta's weapon: the fight was over. We both hurried over as Botta left the scene, and Raine gave me a practical demonstration. Following her lead, I actually helped to heal Colette. I squealed in delight as Lloyd and Raine held a brief conversation. "Yay! I did it!"
Raine picked an Exsphere out of Botta's weapon. "Isn't this a..."
"Later. We should get going," said Kratos.
She nodded. "You're right. I opened the escape route just now." When...? "Let's go."
And we... went. Yay.
A/N: I think this fic is easier to write because it already has a plot. I'm going to keep the chapters short, though. Well, short by my standards. I don't know about anyone else, although I think the fics in the YYH section (the good ones, that is) tend to have longer chapters, so... yeah.
Anyway, yeah, the prologue sucked. I know that. I just thought I'd mention it. It was highly descriptive and highly boring. But this one is better. It still isn't quite up to par, but it's closer to my usual writing style. And you've gotten a nice taste of my characteristic randomness.
79 hits and 4 reviews. Review, people. A big thank-you goes out to those that did.
01-10-06
Just fixed some careless mistakes. It only just occured to me that I hadn't proofed this yet before I posted it, which, for me, is extremely odd. I was probably busy being surprised that I had finished the next chapter so quickly.