Insaneiac: Nothing big to say, just enjoy the chapter folks.
Disclaimer: I do not own Symphonia, or any of the characters within it.
Chapter 3: Iselia, Home?
"Zelos…sometimes I wonder if you even have a brain." Raine muttered as she watched the former chosen pick himself up off the ground. A longwinded sigh escaped the flirtatious swordsman as he picked himself up off the ground, brushing off a good bit of dust and dirt off his clothes. Raine was sure he knew that this was going to happen, one way or another. Sometimesthe thought slipped in that he might even actually like getting clocked by Sheena.
"It was only a compliment…" Zelos muttered sheepishly, rubbing his head. They both knew that was a bold face lie. Despite his obvious tying down since the final battle with Mithos, Zelos had constantly remained vigilant in his flirting with Sheena. Sometimes it gained him a weak smile, other times it gained him a harsh comment. The rare time it would earn him either a sincere smile or a vicious date with blunt force trauma. It had been his fourth date with trauma, and the two were beginning to get very well acquainted. Still, it was not hard to tell that the red-headed swordsman held a soft spot for Sheena.
"Zelos…you're hopeless. You know that right?" Raine muttered, resting her forehead on her right palm. Although she would never say it aloud, Zelos had been doing better. Colette had been effectively rubbing off on him, slowly brushing away his ignorance to woman and his constant flirting. However, it still seemed that he had a weak spot for the ninja. A very weak spot as it were. "You might want to make sure Colette doesn't die from laughter Zelos." In an instance, Zelos whipped his head to the door of the school, where he saw Colette slumped up against the wall, laughing so hard she was crying. Inwardly, it felt like Sheena had just shown up to deliver another blow to Zelos, aiming this time for hisego.
"That's not very nice." Zelos muttered under his breath, as he rushed off to the hysterical Colette, leaving Raine allto her lonesome. Once again, her eyes rushed over the letter, almost as if to see if a new line had magically appeared on the letter.
Raine grimaced, folding the letter up. The letter sung of Yuan, yet his intentions for taking Lloyd just did not add up. 'It's just not like Yuan to do something like this…' Raine muttered mentally, cursing herself for not keeping tabs on where the new Renegade base was. After the merger of the planets in Symphonia, Yuan had moved to a new location, taking everything but the kitchen sink from both bases. Unlike before, where he would hide in plain sight, Yuan had picked a place that has remained a secret. 'Martel help you if you hurt him Yuan…' She mentally reaffirmed, before heading off to talk with Sheena.
"It's not funny, my little Angel…she really hurt me…" Zelos whined, only drawing more laughter. "I could have been seriously hurt, or worse."
"Zelos…" Colette began, choking back the laughter as best as she could. She soon found this impossible, thanks to a wounded look on Zelos' face, and once again descended to a fit of laughter, barely choking out in-between laughs, "I'm…sorry" With a grunt, Zelos stormed back into the school, huffing and puffing like a child who had his favourite toy crushed.
------ Renegades Base ------
"Just remember, you asked for it." Yuan stated as hewalked briskly towards a large, black screen, directly across from the chamber Lloyd was currently sleeping in. With the press of a button, the large screen clicks on. After a few more buttons were pressed, Kratos appeared on the screen, and gave him his first full look at his son. "Sleeping like a baby." Yuan quipped smugly, waving a hand in his direction. "He's much less annoying unconscious you know." The statement earned him an icy glare from the father, who quickly turned his attention back to Lloyd. There was his son, inside a tubular construction, totally disconnected to the real world.
An elongated and stressed sigh filled the empty room, as Kratos laid eyes on his unconscious son, currently in a technologically and drug induced coma. To say he was unimpressed with Yuan at the time would be a very large and very flawed understatement. Yet, seeing as how he was beyond an immense distance away from the seraphim, all he could do was glare, growl, and plot the destruction of everything Yuan held dear.
"Yuan, I am beyond distressed about this."
"Yes Kratos, I know you are. Lucky for me, you're nowhere near me." Yuan answered with a confident smirk on his face. Many would consider Yuan insane to goad Kratos on in such a matter, but both of them knew that Yuan was only trying to lighten the mood.
"This crystal…it's more powerful than Mithos'?" Kratos inquired, still unsure of how to accept such news. A nod from Yuan gave him the same answer he knew was coming. "How is that possible?"
"That's just it Kratos…I don't know. As far as I can tell, this power wasn't a constant." Yuan began, scratching the back of his head. He didn't need to look to tell Kratos had a confused face on. "To put it simply…something caused his exsphere to evolve."
"And what makes you say that?"
"Because Kratos, when I 'saved' your son from you at the Tower of Salvation, I had Botta run a scan on his exsphere. It was barely as powerful as mine at the time, and even that is a step up for a regual exsphere. And yet now it's increased dramatically in power." Yuan explained, turning to look at his long time friend.
"Simply put…his exsphere has advanced to a new stage of power?" Kratos stated, raising an eye curiously.
"To put it simply."
A loud whirr filled the room, catching the attention of both Kratos and Yuan. Yuan's head quickly turned to face Lloyd, who looked to be in perfect condition still. A breath of relief escaped his lips, silent enough for it to escape Kratos' hearing. Walking towards a console, Yuan punched a few keys and brought up a window of results. His eyes snaked along each line of information, a very rare mumble acknowledging anything especially unique. It wasn't until the end that something truly surprised him enough to force his eyes open to their fullest.
"What is it Yuan?"
Yuan pulled away from the screen, an incredulous look upon his face as he reread the last line. "For starters…this isn't a Cruxis Crystal."
"Then what is it?" Kratos replied in a confused manner.
Yuan turned to the screen, visibly alarming Kratos with the same look he gave the monitor. "I…have no idea." And then, with a slight turn of his head, Yuan let out a deep breath. "And there is something else Kratos. Something that confuses me even further than what this thing is."
Kratos was struck silent and confused, his head tilting to some extent. 'What could be even more confusing than the fact that this exsphere has no identity?' Kratos thought, before grimacing woefully. "So…what is it then?"
------ Iselia ------
"So what was that about Zelos?" Colette asked, composed once more. Now that she was done embarrassing her close friend, she wanted to try and make things better for him. That and she was curious as to why Sheena would show up without Lloyd anywhere nearby. If anything, it made her nervous.
"I gave her a compliment, just a nice compliment, and she slugs me." Zelos muttered, before pouting.
"No no…I mean why did Sheena return?" Colette replied, tilting her head curiously as Zelos' teetered over on his left leg, before hunching over in defeat.
"Why does nobody care about me?" He muttered very quietly, rubbing the back of his head. Then, with a sudden kick of self-confidence and narcissism, Zelos whipped back up to a straight posture. "She's probably back because she missed me! Don't worry my Voluptuous Hunnie; the Beautiful ZelosIS ONHIS WAY!" Zelos proclaimed, striking a pose filled to the brim with vanity.
"Um Zelos…maybe Raine should check if you hurt yourself after getting hit." Colette replied innocently, flashing him a sincere smile. However, the combination delivered a crippling blow to Zelos' ego, which soon collapsed on top of him.
"Why must you be so harsh?" Zelos moaned, hunched over once again.
Elsewhere, outside the door to Raine's former house, stood the half-elf woman, lost completely in thought. Moments ago, she was about to knock on the door to have a chat with Sheena. Raine was not only annoyed by this sudden development, but she was also worried that Sheena might be taking it poorly. Raine had known all to well and good that Sheena, if anything, considered Lloyd an extremely important person to her. Even Lloyd and Genis weren't this close as friends, and that was truly saying something. Although her gut told her that it was always something more, something deeper, she reserved herself to the knowledge that it wasn't set in stone. With a slight shake of her head, Raine finished what she started, rapping on the door gently.
"Zelos…if that is you I swear…" Raine heard, as the sound of vicious and angry stomping fast approached the door. For a shred of time, Raine began to worry more about her own physical well being. Sheena, when angry, was easily one of the most dangerous beings on the planet. The door was nearly ripped off its hinges, as Raine came face to face with Sheena. A furious Sheena. "Oh…Raine." Sheena began, quickly replacing a scowl with a smile. "Raine! How are you?" To say the least, Sheena's very sudden and blatantly forced change of emotion left Raine blinking in an uncomfortable union of confusion and surprise.
"Um…Sheena…are you okay?" Raine blurted out, still lost in the mingling emotions. She closed her eyes for a moment to get her mind back together. When she opened them, Sheena was still smiling the most sincere smile she could fake. Were it anyone but Raine, chances are it would have passed.
"Ahh, don't worry about me. I guess smacking Zelos was just what the doctor ordered."
"No, I wouldn't say quite that. Now I'll have to check him. Next time, punch a tree or a wall." Raine uttered, rubbing the back of her head. 'Not to mention, his whining will be the death of me now.' She added mentally as a long sigh filled the silence. "Or at the very least, wait until Yuan shows up and punch him." Raine knew the moment she said his name that she had made a mistake.
Sheena's left eye twitch as she heard Yuan's name, catching Raine off guard and effectively de-nerving her. "Zelos had that one coming. And Yuan has plenty more." Sheena answered back, her voice carrying a very deadly tone to it. The fact that Sheena hadn't gone off on a rampage to find Yuan showed just how much thought he put into picking his location. "Don't worry Raine, I'm fine now. Just needed to blow off a little steam." Sheena finished, nodding.
With a sigh, Raine nodded. Raine absolutely knew that Sheena was not okay, but she was not about to push something her friend didn't want to talk about. "Alright then Sheena. I'll be at the mayor's…" She stopped herself, sighing agitatedly. "At my house rather, if want to talk about anything." Raine finished, handing Sheena the letter. With one more sincere stare, Sheena smiled.
"Thanks Raine." Then with that, Sheena shut the door, and Raine walked off. When Sheena was sure that Raine was gone, she rested her back against the door, and slumped to the ground. "Now I want to hit Zelos again…" Taking one more look at the letter, Sheena let it drop to her side. Her mind began to drift back to the moments before they went to sleep, the moments were Lloyd was struggling to saysomething. Apotent frown formed on her face as she looked up at the ceiling."What did you want to say last night Lloyd…?"
------ Renegades Base ------
"Impossible! Just impossible! It's got to be something else!" Kratos exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the desk beside him. What Yuan had said, even the very idea of what he said, made absolutely no sense. It wasn't only impossible, but it was fundamentally unexplainable and disregarded almost every single thing that the two had learned about exspheres.
"It is just like I said. His exsphere is currently in a dormant state. It's a sleeping dragon that, in its slumber, is still more powerful than Mithos' Cruxis crystal." Yuan recounted, his voice seething disbelief. "Kratos, do you have any idea what this truly means?"
"That my son is in possession of an exsphere more powerful than the one the mighty Lord Yggdrasill once wore?"
"More than that Kratos. If it is dormant, that means that his exsphere could be countless times more powerful than it is now. If this thing is awaken, I have no doubt in my mind that Lloyd could do the impossible. Without the eternal sword or anything like that sort. For all we know, he could become the closest thing to a God this world has even seen." Yuan voiced, his concern evident. 'Lloyd could very well split this world in two with a single thought.' Yuan mused in his head.
Kratos could only watch his friend state the horrible, before his eyes adjusted to the sleeping Lloyd. "Anything else?"
"I need to know everything that happened after your duel with him. Everything. Maybe I can put together an idea of what could possibly cause this to happen." Yuan spoke with authority, glancing to Kratos. "That's a starting point. From there I'll need to run tests, experiment with it, do everything possible to determine as much about it as possible. To do that, I need to begin with some information."
"Your best bet then, Yuan, is to ask one of his friends. I was not present after our battle at Origin's alter." Kratos replied, resting his forehead on an open palm. "They will be more help to you right now than I could be."
"Any suggestions as to who might be a better help than others?"
"Considering you snatched him up in the middle of the night while he was on a journey with Sheena, I would greatly urge you to stay away from her. She might very well hurt you Yuan." Kratos replied, nodding with sage like know-how. "I suppose you could ask Regal or Raine. The others might be too busy dealing with the fact that their friend is in a coma. Or that it looks like you've kidnapped their friend and put him in a coma."
"Thank you Kratos. I'll let you know if anything arises." Yuan finished, a nod from Kratos ending their conversation. With the press of a button, Kratos' face disappeared from the monitor, leaving Yuan to his lonesome. He soon found his view shifting to the unconscious teenager, a smirk plastered on his face. "Once more I find you are full of surprises Lloyd."
------ Iselia ------
In a clearing none too far from the gate to the village of Iselia, a single Rheaird touched down, Lloyd and Sheena on top of it. Since they only had one of them, Lloyd steered it whilst Sheena rode on the back, arms wrapped around Lloyd in case he turned too sharply. A fall from the height like that would always be fatal, no matter what. It was one of the more unnerving facts about flying on one in a pair.
"Um…Sheena? You can let go now. We're on ground…" Lloyd spoke, catching the unaware Sheena off guard. Almost instantly, Sheena's arms whipped to her sides, and a nonchalant look threw itself onto her face. Of course, she doubted that when she threw her arms to her sides, she would actually throw herself off balance enough to fall off the Rheaird. With a thump, Sheena landed flat on her butt, and sent Lloyd into a fit of laughter.
"OW…That is NOT funny Lloyd." Sheena yelled, rubbing her butt as she stood up. However, despite her analysis of the situation, Lloyd could only laugh harder at her retort. Seeing this, Sheena blushed in embarrassment, before giving an angered glare to Lloyd. Seconds later, a rock bounced soundly off Lloyds head, and he fell off the Rheaird.
"Hey! I'm still injured you know!" Lloyd exclaimed, rubbing his head. All that it got in turn was a smirk from Sheena. Picking himself up off the ground, Lloyd grumbled under his breath aggregately, as he inserted the Rheaird back into the wing pack. "Maybe you gave me the head injury Sheena."
"Don't be silly Lloyd." Sheena replied, as Lloyd walked off towards the village. "I am much more thorough." She muttered quickly, just quietly enough for it to escape Lloyd's ears. Quickly, she caught up with the swordsman as the entered the village, a group of smiling faces quick to meet them.
"HEY! EVERYONE! LLOYD'S BACK!" One man yelled, charging off towards the other end of the village, screaming the same message at the top of his lungs. With a bit of a crimson hue on his face, Lloyd smiled and waved. To say the swordsman had become a bit of a legend within the village (and all of Symphonia to be exact) would be a bit of an understatement. While the world in itself still believed that it was Colette who eventually brought forth the salvation, they all knew just what Lloyd did for the world. And the village, with no small thanks due to the boasting of Zelos, knew that it was him who truly saved the world. Although in some versions, it seems Zelos neglected to remind everyone that Lloyd himself sprouted the wings, and filled in the blank by saying it was he who lifted him up into the sky. Needless to say, the village had missed its legend greatly.
"Lloyd!" a voice yelled out, as Colette burst from the growing crowd, and threw her arms around the swordsman. "Lloyd you're back! I missed you. Everyone missed you." Colette blurted out, her voice a mix of joy and excitement. Lloyd smiled down at her like an idiot. "Oh no…Lloyd…what happened?" She continued, rubbing a hand along his bandaged head.
"Oh this…this is nothing. I…um… got into a fight and took a bad blow to the head." Lloyd blurted out, smiling. A nudge caught him in the ribs, causing his head to turn to Sheena's.
"Lloyd, wasn't there some kind of vow against that?" She uttered with a smirk on her face as she watched him turn a slight shade redder. "If I recall, didn't it go something like 'Lying is the first step on the path to thievery'?"
"Stupid Dwarven vows…" Lloyd muttered, Sheena giggling at his reaction. After casting an un-amused look towards the ninja, and grimacing as he caught her playful look in her eyes,Lloyd turned back to Colette, who was still worried about him. "I…um…took a dive…" Lloyd began, struggling with the words. "Into a tree." For a brief period of time, there was silence.Thenall of a sudden,the crowd broke into an outrageous chorus of laughter, casting the poor boy into an endless field of embarrassment. His face soon matched his attire, as he tried desperately to sink into the ground, away from the crowd. Soon, an arm wrapped itself around his shoulders, and he found himself being jerked around by the former chosen of Tethe'alla.
"BUD! Don't sweat it. We all have a few little stumbles. At least you had a tree to break your fall." Zelos blurted out, only eliciting more laughter from the crowd. A nudge to his ribs manage to get Zelos to release his death grip.
"Not really helping Zelos." Lloyd muttered, as a staff landed gently on the top of his head. Quickly, Lloyd whipped around to see Raine standing there, an incredulous look upon her face. "Professor!" Lloyd exclaimed, a sincere smile on his face, before he shrugged. "I mean Mayor!"
"Lloyd, what will I do with you? Professor will be just fine." Raine muttered, shaking her head in dismay. A goofy grin soon replaced Lloyd's embarrassed face. "Well, come on then…let's get moving. I'm guessing you're here so I can take a look at it, though why you didn't just visit the doctor in Meltokio or Flanoir baffles me. Sheena, could you wait for Lloyd, it should only take a few moments."
"Sure." Sheena replied, as she strolled off towards the house Raine and Genis once lived in. Cutting through the crowd, Lloyd followed Raine to her new home, the mayor's house. It was a definite improvement in size compared to her old house, and served as her living quarters and workplace. Raine had single handily become the most important person within the city, not just for her status as mayor, but also because she served as the primary doctor. An honour that, while she looked very happy to take, was distraught of doing so. So much importance meant that she had no time for ruins.
"Okay Lloyd, take your bandages off, and let me take a look." Raine said with authority. Lloyd nodded and quickly unravelled the band-aides around his head, revealing a rather large cut along his forehead, with good bruising surrounding the cut. Although it was painful, it looked worse than it felt. Or that was how it looked to Raine. "And you did this by accident?"
"Honestly, I don't actually remember how this happen." Lloyd replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hmm, you might have some memory lost then. What do you remember?"
Lloyd struggled with this one, running the question over and over again in his mind. What he thought he remembered turned out to only be a very realistic dream. How he was going to manage to actually answer that confused him. "Actually, Professor…I don't rememberanything about how thishappenedat all. What I did recall had all been one big dream." He could only grin sheepishly as Raine sighed out agitated, casting an almost worried glance at Lloyd.
"Here." Raine muttered, pressing her staff to his head. A green light surrounded the cut, healing it up cleanly, but leaving the bruise around his head. "Maybe that will teach you to watch were you're going." She muttered, resting her staff agaisnt the wall. "Lloyd, have you thought of settling down yet?" She knew that the question had caught him off guard just from the sound you Lloyd's repsonse.
"I can't rest yet Raine…there are still exspheres out there. I refuse to stop until I get rid of all of them." Lloyd replied, rubbing his head. 'Still hurts, but not as much.'
"Lloyd, you don't need to. With the Desians gone, and Cruxis eliminated, there's no need to do something like this. The world is at peace. Sheena should start getting ready to take over as chief for Mizuho, and you should think about settling back into here, your home." Raine spoke calmly, walking towards her kitchen. She turned briefly to see Lloyd deep in thought. "Lloyd?"
"I was…thinking I might go with her." Lloyd replied, referring to Sheena. What caught him off guard was that the reply seemed to offend Raine. "I just…I feel happy when I'm around her. She's the best friend I've ever had."
"Lloyd, she's got her people to worry about. She won't have nearly enough time for you when she does become chief anyways. Besides that Lloyd, Iselia needs you." Raine answered back, almost defensively. "And Colette…Colette misses you."
"I'll visit. It's just that you have Zelos and Colette here, and Genis has Regal and Presea…if Sheena leaves she'll be alone. I don't want her to be alone." Lloyd returned, jumping as he heard Raine slam her hands down on a kitchen counter. The look in her eyes was a fierce one, and when she caught Lloyd's eyes, they looked even fiercer. "Professor, are you okay?"
"Lloyd, you don't belong with her!" She blurted out angrily, this time catching Lloyd visibly off guard. "She's not right for you! She has her people, and you have us, and it's about time you recognize where you belong in life!" She watched as Lloyd stood up, rubbing his forehead once more before giving Raine a confused and almost hurt look. "It's the truth Lloyd. What about Colette? When you left, you took a chunk of her with you. She deserves just as much a right to happiness as Sheena. Iselia is where you belong Lloyd, not Mizuho. And in all honesty, I think we both know it's Colette you belong with, and not Sheena." The fact that Raine had said something like that was enough to knock the flavour out of Lloyd's mouth. Soon, Lloyd's face was the picture of uncomfort, as he stood up from his seat, and made eye contact with the half-elf woman.
"Professor…I think I made a mistake coming here." Lloyd muttered, stepping backwards.
"The only mistake you made was leaving here with her. She has her only life to worry about, and you have yours." Raine retorted angrily. "She's not your friend Lloyd; she's trying to steal you away from us, from your real friends Lloyd." Raine finished, eye Lloyd carefully. "She's trying to steal you away from your home."
And that was when Lloyd said something that he could tell had hit a very hard note within Raine's heart. "Iselia, home? Home is supposed to be a happy place Raine. I'm really not happy right now."
A/N: Ah, finally getting to the better parts. A little bit more is revealed about Lloyd's exsphere, but now Lloyd's "friends" are turning on him. And look, it is the first chapter to end without the word "idiot." Anyways, enjoy the chapter. The next one gets a little darker.
