--A/N: Ok! Few things! First off, I will be making the Zelos/Colette side-story. It will be called "A Fun, Easy Life", and a full description can be found on my profile page. Don't worry though. It's only a side-story, so I won't let it interfere with the production of "Unconditional Love."
Second, I won't be updating as often as I used to, which was about once every 1-2 days. Now, I think I will do about 2 or 3 chapters a week. Hope that's ok! I need to spend more time revising my writings anyway, so… yea.
Third, I once again want to thank everyone for all their kind reviews. I only have 4 chapters up so far and yet I've gotten so many reviews. I ask regular readers to not only keep reviewing but to please spread the word about my stories as well. It feels good to write when you know that someone will appreciate it, eh?
And with that, on to today's chapter! Steve
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 5: Back at the Ranch
The voluptuous assassin was lost in thought as the trio walked towards the Iselia human ranch. She looked around her as she thought. Thinking she finally figured it out, she looked to Lloyd.
"I got it!" she said confidently. "It's those flowers we passed a little way back, aren't they? They were white!"
Shaking his head and smiling, Lloyd answered, "Nope! Give up yet? You're not very good at I-Spy, are you?"
Frustrated, Sheena kicked the dirt as she walked. "Gah! What else can it be? Okay, I give up. What is this white thing you see?"
Lloyd pointed upward. "Clouds, you dork! Woo-hoo! Man, you're easy!"
Sheena looked up and grew even more frustrated. "Lloyd Irving! There's not even any clouds out today! You cheated!"
Kratos shook his head as he listened to his young companions. "Honestly Lloyd, that was rather unfair."
Lloyd scratched his head. "Geez… sorry."
Shaking her head, Sheena said, "Hmph. Well, it's my turn now. I spy something-"
Kratos interrupted her. "No time for that. The ranch is now before us."
Sheena and Lloyd looked forward. They hadn't noticed it at first, but, sure enough, the ranch was less than 100 yards away.
Sheena grinned over at Lloyd. "Heh. Looks like we'll have to finish this game later."
The swordsman grinned back. "Heh. You're on!"
Kratos was already well ahead of them. "Come along, don't dawdle."
Lloyd and Sheena promptly took off after him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Man," Lloyd started. "This place sure is quiet."
Sheena shot a disapproving look at him. "That's because everyone is gone, Lloyd."
"O-oh yeah, hehe…" Lloyd rubbed his head, embarrassed.
They looked around the ranch. The renegades had taken care of all the Desians and had supposedly shut down the base, so the level of danger was minimum at worst.
Kratos turned to the young adventurers. "I'm going to head inside and take a look around. I want you two to stay out here and search the grounds."
They both nodded to him and he made his way downstairs. Lloyd turned to his friend.
"Hey Sheena. Let's start over here. There's some crates and stuff over here." He pointed to where he was talking about.
"Alright Lloyd," she said. "Lead the way."
The two walked over to the crates that Lloyd had mentioned and began to rummage through them. Unfortunately, they were all empty. They must've already looted by the renegades.
"Phooey," said Lloyd. He kicked one of the empty crates knocking it a few feet away from him. "Isn't there an easier way to do this?"
Sheena rolled her eyes. "Lloyd, this was only the first place we've checked. Are you already getting lazy on me?"
Lloyd shook his head. "No no, it's just that… this is boring."
Sheena was silent for a moment. She brought a hand to her face and looked down. "Unbelievable, Lloyd Irving. We're on a quest to-"
"Gah! Don't get mad," Lloyd said, interrupting her. "Can't we just find a more fun way to do this? Like… I dunno. Summon someone to help us in our search?"
Sheena actually gave this idea some serious thought. Would any of the summon spirits be able to detect the presence of exspheres?
"I can give it a try," she answered. Thinking for another moment, she came to the conclusion that her best bet was to ask Luna if she could detect exspheres.
A small, white circle appeared under Sheena. She made several motions with her hands as she exclaimed, "I summon thee! Come, Luna!"
The maiden of light appeared before them through a bright flash. She sat on her moon and leaned over as she began to speak to them.
"What is your wish, pact-maker?" she asked Sheena.
Sheena looked up at her. "Luna, is it possible for you to detect the presence of expspheres?"
Luna shook her head. "I'm sorry pact-maker, but I can only detect life. Exspheres are life-less."
Lloyd sighed. "Phooey. So much for that."
Another idea came to Sheena. "Ok Luna, that is all. Thank you."
Luna gave a slight bow and disappeared into another bright flash of light. Once the light subsided, Sheena spoke once again.
"Let's try this again," she said. Another circle appeared under her. This one, however, was black. She made several motions with her hands as she exclaimed. "I summon thee! Come, Shadow!"
A black puddle appeared on the ground before her. From it emerged Shadow, the summon spirit of darkness.
"Yes?" the being of darkness hissed.
"Shadow," Sheena began, "can you detect the presence of exspheres?"
Shadow said nothing for a long while. This began to worry both Lloyd and Sheena.
"Sheena? What is he doing?" asked Lloyd.
Sheena shook her head and looked at Lloyd. "I'm not sure." She looked back at Shadow. "Um… Shadow?"
"No…thing… here… pact…maker…" hissed Shadow.
Sheena breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew. Thank you Shadow. That is all."
Shadow nothing as he melted back into his puddle and slowly vanished. Sheena turned to Lloyd.
"Well, that was easy, if not a bit creepy," she said.
Nodding in agreement, Lloyd said, "Yeah. I don't think I'll ever get used to that guy." He shivered. I suppose we should go find Kratos and tell him that there's nothing here."
"There is no need," said Kratos from behind them.
Lloyd and Sheena spun around to see Kratos standing there. "Gah! Dad! Where did you come from?" asked Lloyd. "You sure scared us!"
Kratos said nothing. Sheena decided to break the silence. "W-we found out from Shadow that there are no exspheres left here."
Kratos nodded. "I know."
Lloyd tilted his head. "Eh? How did you know?"
"Yuan told me," Kratos said matter-of-factly.
A bewildered look crossed Sheena's face. "What? How? He's on Derris-Kharlan now!"
Kratos brushed some hair away from his face. "I found a still-functioning tele-projector in Forcystus' control room. With it, I was able to get a direct link to Yuan in Welgaia. He informed me that, after our encounter in the Torrent Forest, he and the renegades had begun their own quest similar to ours. It appears that our mission was done before we even started it."
Lloyd could only blink. "Over? Already?" But we didn't even…"
Kratos held out his hand, palm facing outward. "It doesn't matter. Our work is done concerning this mission, but perhaps we could find something else to keep us together?"
Sheena nodded. "I agree!" She glanced over at Lloyd and turned red. "I-I think it's a great idea for… uh… us to stay together."
Lloyd closed his eyes and smiled at Sheena. "Then it's settled! We just have to find something else to do!"
He opened his eyes and looked at his father. "Thanks for the great idea, dad. I was hoping I'd get to stay together with Sheena!" As always, he smiled obliviously.
Sheena blushed as Kratos smirked and rolled his eyes. "Heh… well then, I'll go ahead and begin to set up camp. Sheena?"
Sheena perked up. "Y-yea?"
"You know what to do," answered Kratos.
Sheena nodded and closed her eyes. A small, red circle formed under her. As she made several motions with her hands, she exclaimed, "I summon thee! Come, Efreet!"
Something exploded right in front of her and from that explosion, Efreet could be seen. He folded his massive arms across his chest. "Yes pact-maker?
Lloyd could barely contain his excitement. "This is gonna be cool!" He jumped up and down like a two-year old. Sheena rolled her eyes and spoke with Efreet.
"Efreet! Embrace this ranch with your raging inferno!" she yelled.
Efreet nodded. "This place shall be no more."
Efreet floated over to one of the fortified walls of the ranch. After winding up a few times, he let loose a thunderous punch that shook the entire ranch. After a moment, Efreet disappeared as everything caught on fire.
Lloyd jumped up happily. "Yes! That was so cool!"
Sheena glanced over at Lloyd and grinned. "Just like a kid," she said to him.
The two shared a laugh and walked over to join Kratos for dinner.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grr and snarl against the shortness! Seriously though, I've decided to stray away from the usual path of the exsphere quest. Gonna go with something a bit different. Wanna know what it is? Read next time and find out! Thanks in advance for any reviews you guys send!
