Insaneiac: Okay, after a really funky week for me, I am back in the groove. Nothing like a pot of green tea to stir the creative juices eh? Well, this chapter is going to only raise a few more questions, but I've got some fun planned for you all. Enjoy
Disclaimer: Let me check. Ah yes, is just what I thought it would be. I still do not own Tales of Symphonia.
Chapter 5: The Pain of Betrayal
As one of the eight who fought Mithos in the final battle, one of the eight who had seen just about everything one could imagine try and kill them, one of the eight who had been ambushed, trapped, surprised, scared, and even stalked, Raine found herself completely and utterly speechless in ever sense of the word. Standing in front of her, standing right in front of her was Yuan. The man she swore to hurt after he nabbed Lloyd from the dead of the night, and yet she found herself completely and utterly stunned and speechless. She could visibly see Yuan, and him growing impatient for that matter, but she couldn't actually register the fact that he was standing in front of her as if her was paying an old friend a visit. Finally, after too long, Raine's head tilted to the side. The first motion she had made in the last three minutes.
"You can gawk just the same from inside the house." Yuan muttered, slipping by the stunned Raine, and walking into the house. He glanced back long enough to see Raine still standing at the door, and came to the conclusion that he might be in for the long haul. Shuffling over to the kettle, Yuan brushed his hand along it, content with the heat. With that, he went about pouring the water into a teapot. It had been a day since he attained Lloyd, and mostly all of his attention was on Lloyd, with what little he had left going either to Kratos or the Renegades. That being the case, it interfered with his ability to enjoy a cup of tea here and there. Thankfully both of the smaller attention grabbers were adept at running their own lives, though it was apparent that Kratos needed help with that time to time. "The first thing you may want to do is close the door." He grinned as he watch the door slowly shut, followed by Raine turning around carefully. "Okay, now get out whatever you need to so I can say my piece and be done with this." Yuan turned back to the teapot, pouring a cup of the drink for himself. When he turned around this time, his face met Raine's palm, as a vicious slap shattered the peace within the house.
"Who do you think you are?" Raine seethed as Yuan rubbed his cheek. As he did, a slight sigh of relief escaped into the room from his lips.
"Well. I expected worse tha…" Yuan began, before Raine punched him in the face. Raine was never the type of woman to stick straight to slaps. Although they provided a very good opening statement, and the sound of a palm whipping into a cheek never failed to unsettle someone, they never could put a message across quite like a jab to the jaw. Rubbing her hand gently, she watched as Yuan rubbed his jaw in a very similar manner. "Done?" Yuan inquired, letting his hand depart from his jaw.
"Depends on what you say next." Raine replied, cool and threateningly.
A smirk crawled across Yuan's face. "This is about Lloyd isn't it?" Ducking this time, Yuan moved past Raine's second punch, teacup in hand. Raine had spun around to throw another, only to see Yuan sitting at her table, looking as if nothing had happened. "Pour yourself a glass and sit down. What I have to say concerns Lloyd, and it is important that I am done with this as soon as possible." He knew his words had had their intended effect when Raine, though a few minutes later, finally sat down across the table from him with a cup in her hand.
"I'm listening."
"I need you to tell me exactly what happened after the battle with Mithos." Yuan stated, as if the request was nothing at all. He could tell be the incredulous stare he was getting from Raine that he must have sounded quite out of his mind. "It's important."
"So is Lloyd." Raine replied on instinct. Averting her eyes for a moment, she sighed. "I assume this is about his exsphere then?" Yuan nodded, almost as if to say that he would not bother answering the questions verbally. She waited for him to finish a rather slow sip of his tea before continuing. "I'm also assuming that you need this information to determine some variable within Lloyd's exsphere as well?"
"That is what I've come to believe." Yuan replied.
Raine stared agitatedly at the blue haired half-elf. She had wanted to say some seething comment about how he was being rude, or immature, or moronic. Yet in the end, reason won over impulse, and Raine let herself calm down before moving further. "Before I say anything, I want to see Lloyd."
"You can't." Yuan replied. "He's inside the Renegades base, as safe as could be." He added with a sigh.
"You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe that." Raine shot back. "I don't trust you around him." Her words remained calm, but the icy sting that complimented the words was enough to get the point across. Yuan took another long sip of the tea before setting down the cup.
"And you'll have to forgive me when I tell you tough." The look he earned from Raine was amusing to say the least. "I'm in no mood to negotiate. Just tell me what I need to know so I can be done with him."
"I'll say it again Yuan. The only way I will tell you anything, anything at all, is if I see him first." Raine restated with a voice solid with authority. Yuan stared across the table at Raine, their eyes meeting in a battle of determination. A dull and looming silence swallowed the room whole as the two half-elves remained steadfast in their choices. A pin dropping would have been enough to set the two off, but nothing sounded at all. Nothing, that is, until Yuan finally picked the cup of tea and finished it. Placing the empty cup back onto the table, Yuan nodded begrudgingly in defeat.
"Fine then. In about two hours, make your way to Triet. I'll take you to see Lloyd. After that, I need to know everything that happened after the battle." With that, Yuan stood up in a slight huff, and walked towards the door. "Make sure you leave some notice that you've left, but tell no one your intentions or location. Especially Sheena." Before Raine could say anything, the door opened and shut again. Raine hadn't even seen him leave, but she knew from the laidback atmosphere in the house that he had indeed left. Yuan had left almost as quickly as he had come, leaving Raine to her thoughts and her vicious self critiques.
"I should have just broken his legs and hand him over to Sheena." Raine muttered, taking the teacups to her kitchen. Content with her statement, she let her mind drift to what such an encounter might have looked like. "Marvelous…" She cracked.
Meanwhile, at the exit to the village, Yuan took one look back towards Raine's house, a smirk on his face. Despite his conversation with Raine being fairly short, one-sided, and an utter failure, Yuan was content with the outcome. She was stubborn like a mule and carried a vicious jab to her, but in the end he would get what he needed from her.
'Of course, you know she'll want to know what happened to him.' Yuan mentally shot to himself, before walking out of the village, and slipping into the dead night's cold embrace.
------ Colette's Secret Place (Lloyd) ------
With as best a smile as he could muster, Lloyd sat down with Colette, staring off into the distant horizon. The day was fading into night, but the sky was filled by vicious clouds that hid the setting sun from mortal eyes. The village and the willow tree at their backs, Lloyd and Colette sat in near perfect silence; staring into the ocean and watching it fade away as darkness closed around them. It was a mysterious spectacle that held a very somber beauty to it. In many ways it was just as beautiful as watching a warm summer's sunset, though in a very opposite fashion.
"Lloyd. I missed you sooo much!" Colette spoke, smiling at Lloyd. "It just isn't home here without you."
"Aww, geez Colette. I'm not that special." Lloyd responded modestly, rubbing the back of his head as he blushed in embarrassment. He never could accept major compliments like that, or at least he couldn't without being humble about it. "Besides, Zelos and Raine are here too…" Lloyd followed, his mind turning sour as the professor's name sounded. 'That was completely unlike her in everyway. Why would she say things like that?' "…so it can't be too lonely here."
"But Lloyd, it's just not the same." Lloyd found himself once again blushing from the statement, rubbing the back of his head once more. "But you're back now, and that is what matters!"
"I'm only here for a little bit Colette. Sheena and I still have to rid the world of the exspheres." Lloyd stated steadily, his voice and words displaying his devotion to that ideal. "I can't settle down knowing that there are still many of those things around."
Colette sighed in a depressed manner, something Lloyd rarely heard her do. She tore her glance away from Lloyd and stared off towards the ocean. "Can't you just get the Renegades to finish up?"
"I couldn't. I need to do this Colette. For Marble and for…" Lloyd lifted his hand up, briefly staring at his exsphere. It has been his driving force in more ways than one, and his last and only memento of his mother. That in itself carried the bitter sting and salty taste of irony. The one object in the world he utterly despised was the only object that held a connection to his mother, was the only thing he had in life that belonged to his mother. "…for Mom too."
"Then…what if I came with you? We could destroy the exspheres together Lloyd!" Colette suggested happily, clapping both her hands together in front of her and smiling to her best friend.
"Well, if Sheena's okay with it." Lloyd began, before Colette looked away. "What?"
"I meant just us Lloyd."
Lloyd stared at the side of his friend's head, shocked. "Colette, I can't. I promised her." He didn't expect Colette to throw her arms around him and bury her face into his shoulder. Instinctively, a hand reached to the back of her head, rubbing it softly. "It's like I promised to save you and the promise I made to reunite the worlds. I kept my promise to you didn't I? I kept my promise to the worlds, didn't I?" 'Colette…try to understand. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't break my promise to Sheena.'
"But Lloyd…"
"Colette, if I abandoned Sheena, she would never forgive me." Lloyd reasoned, removing his hand as she removed her face from his shoulder. Gazing up at him, Colette smiled once more. A smile filled with two things from Lloyd's perspective. A deep and vibrant love and a budding madness. For the first time in his life, he found no comfort within her smile. Instead, he found an emotion he familiarized with the smile Mithos would wear.
Dread.
"But you don't need her Lloyd." Colette shot, gripping Lloyd tighter. "You have me."
"Colette…" Lloyd started, staring the girl in the eyes. His voice was steady, despite his nervous state of mind. Closing his eyes, Lloyd forced out the hardest thing he had ever said. "…let me go." He was positive that having his eyes closed was saving him from having to look at something utterly depressing, and he was right. Colette's eyes adopted a sense of devastation that began to mingle with the love and the longing.
"No Lloyd." She stated firmly, placing the side of her head against his chest, still gazing up at the swordsman. "Lloyd… I love you. Can't you see that? Can't you feel that?" Colette murmured, just loud enough for Lloyd to hear every word. She waited for him to look down at her, waited for him to stare at her before making her move. Before Lloyd could do anything at all, Colette had her lips pressed against his. He couldn't understand anything that was going on, except for the fact that Colette's lips were just as warm as her smile usually was.
Which made it all the harder when Lloyd pulled away fiercely. Just as quickly as he broke the kiss, he pushed Colette off of him and began to stumble backwards. Colette landed firmly on her butt with a dull thud, but that was nothing compared to what had just happened. The glance she shot Lloyd was heart-wrenching, but he had to shake it off. Opening his mouth to say something, anything, Lloyd caught a flicker of light from the corner of his eye, his ears twitched as the light crackling sound of a fire reached them. Turning his head to see what was going on, Lloyd's eyes shot open at the sight of a house on fire in Iselia. It only took him moments later to realize that it was the house Sheena was staying at that was ablaze.
"NO!" Lloyd yelled, turning to run towards the village. He was stopped abruptly by Colette standing in between him and the forest path. "Colette, move!"
"No Lloyd. This has to happen. Once she's gone…we can be together." Colette retorted joyously. She watched as Lloyd shook his head in agony, before running towards the cliff leading towards the village. For the first time since the end of the original journey, Lloyd's massive wings snapped into view, and he shot towards the village, ignoring Colette's cries of protest. He flew as fast as he could, the wind whipping away his tears as he went.
'WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?'
------ Iselia (Real) ------
Raine had finished putting together the last few things she would need, before she sat down to finish the note she began writing an hour earlier. With a long sigh, she quickly jotted down a few extra notes and rules before slipping it into her pocket. Taking the traveling pack and tossing it on, Raine exited her house and proceeded to Colette's. She slipped the letter through the slot in the door, and soon turned towards the entrance into town. The letter was a simple explanation of what needed to be done while she was gone, and she was fairly sure that, with Colette's aid, Zelos could do the job. It perplexed her as to just why she decided to give the job to Zelos, but she eventually came to the supposed conclusion that it was due to his age more than anything else. Besides, ever since he became a member of Iselia, Colette has been doing a fine job keeping him in line…most of the time.
Despite that, she was sure Zelos could manage Iselia for a few days. It was not as if she was passing the mantle onto him. She knew by fact that Zelos was not the most level-headed of the group, but with Sheena and Colette keeping tabs on him, he could keep it together. "I hope I'm not making a mistake doing this."
With all her precautions and worries out of the way, Raine departed from Iselia, and began the long trip to Triet. Whatever the case was, Raine wanted to make sure Lloyd was okay. She knew it was Yuan's fashion to work out of the public eye, or even the minority's eye. Yuan almost never announced his plans to anyone other than his band of merry men. Even then, it was more his fashion to leave out certain parts rather than explain everything. Why? She knew the answer already because the answer itself is very simple and very obvious, but yet she always found herself asking the same question whenever something that included Yuan showed up.
"Because it was Yuan. It's amazing how Kratos could put up with him for as long as he did." Raine found herself muttering aloud as she walked the path towards the house of guidance. Eventually, her thoughts turned from the dark dealings of Yuan to Lloyd. It was quite odd to her how she always seemed to end up thinking about him when alone. Sometimes it was a brief wondering of where he was, and other times she found herself thinking about how Lloyd might be feeling. It really was a random thing for her, but it never ceased to surprise her about what she would end up thinking about when her thoughts turned to Lloyd. Once, her thoughts turned to the idea that Lloyd and Sheena were living together in Mizuho. She had always thought Colette and Lloyd would be the token pair of Iselia, but that was proven quite wrong by his opting to leave with Sheena. Of course, throughout the adventure to restore the worlds, she had noticed both Colette and Lloyd began to attach themselves to other people.
Yet, who did she have. Genis was living with Regal and Presea, and upon last word from her little brother, was a junior executive in the company. Colette and Zelos had each other, whether they knew it or not. Sheena was lucky to have Lloyd by her side as they roamed the world in their task to destroy all the exspheres of the world. She, on the other hand, had no one. Sure, she could always have tea with Colette and Zelos, or when she had time, go off and visit Genis, but no one was ever always there for her.
"Well, at the very least, I get to take a break from the paper-work induced headaches." Raine muttered in false joy, just as something snapped over her head and knocked her out.
------ Iselia (Lloyd) ------
With the crowd surrounding the flaming building, Raine at the head of them all, they looked up as Lloyd came screaming towards them. Just when they assumed he would land by Raine, Lloyd adjusted himself enough to aim himself directly at the wall of the house. His wings disappearing just seconds before impact, Lloyd threw his shoulder in front of him as he slammed into the wooden frame. The fire had weakened it to the point for being like tinder, and Lloyd smashed right through it, the wall exploding into the house from the force of the impact. Going into a roll immediately after the impact, Lloyd pushed himself to his feet and shot up. He could hear three things clearly, thanks to his angelic senses. The burning of the building, the cries of the crowd outside and muffled screams coming from the bedroom. His face turned to the bedroom's direction, distraught at all the debris in his way. Drawing his Material Blades, Lloyd charged towards the room.
All around him was fire, eating away at the wood of the house and filling the house with deadly smoke. Lloyd could barely see through the smoke, once again thanks to his angelic senses, but that didn't mean he was exempt from toxic fumes. He coughed viciously as he reached the flaming debris separating the two rooms from each other. The heat was overwhelming him, and he could feel even the burning air lashing out at his face. Breathing was becoming torture to him as the superheated smoke burned and stained his lungs was every fresh breath he took. Yet he knew all too well that if he gave up now, Sheena would die. Sheena would die and it would be his fault.
"SHEENA?" Lloyd yelled, hoping his voice reached her. When he heard the muffled cries get louder and stronger, he was sure it did. "SHEENA, I'M COMING!" With that, Lloyd lifted his blades into the air, and sliced clean through a large chunk of debris. One strong kick later and Lloyd could see into the bedroom, although there was still plenty of debris in his way. He could make out Sheena, lying against the foot of the bed. She had a gag in her mouth, something that enraged the swordsman. With another growl, Lloyd backed up a bit, charging towards the blocked passage. "TEMPEST!" At the last moment, he flung himself into the air, going into a saw-like spin with his blades. He crashed through into the room, groaning as he felt fire whip at his face and body. Looking up, he came into eye contact with Sheena.
Sheena was lying up against the foot of the bed, an arm tied to each post and she herself gagged. Her head was resting on her shoulder as she continued to scream as loudly as she could through the fabric in her mouth. Hesitating for only a brief second, Lloyd cut through the bonds, freeing Sheena's hands. She quickly forced the gag out of her mouth before wrapping her arms around Lloyd and exploding into tears. Lloyd gently rubbed the back of her head in consolation before forcing her to stand up. Breaking the hug for the moment, Lloyd rested a hand on each side of her face, thumbing away a tear that was rolling down her cheek.
"Sheena, I need you to stop crying for now." Lloyd began with a strong voice as he looked her straight in the eyes. He waited for Sheena to nod before continuing. "Are you okay? Who did this?"
"I'm scared Lloyd…" Sheena muttered, Lloyd nodding. He knew that in a matter of seconds the entire building would collapse on them and kill them both. "Ra-Raine did this…she came in he-here and…" Sheena whimpered. Although she could see no visual effect on Lloyd's face, Lloyd himself was speechless with mind numbing rage. He had thought that the worse they would do was trying and split them apart, but this was beyond anything he could imagine. However, if either of them were going to get out alive, he had to put his anger aside for the time. Surveying the area, Lloyd aimed for an unblocked wall in front of him. The only issue about it was that it was entirely ablaze. He knew it was going to be incredibly painful, but it was either that or a very pitiful death. With a strong nod, Lloyd went to work.
"FIERCE DEMON FANG!" Lloyd yelled, as he sent a shockwave crashing into the wall. He sent another two, before wrapping and arm around Sheena. "HOLD ON!" Waiting for Sheena to wrap her arms around him, Lloyd charged towards the cracked wall, leaping at the last moment. He threw his back towards it, acting as a shield between the wall and Sheena. The fires ripped at his back, burning through the fabric of his clothes and burning the flesh on his back, but he felt the wall give away. The two rolled out of the side of the house as it finally caved in. Everyone watched as the building fell, before their attention turned towards Lloyd and Sheena lying in the grass beside the house.
"Lloyd? Lloyd!" Sheena shouted, looking down at her savior. Lloyd's back felt like it had melted and the pain was clouding him mind, but he smiled at the summoner. He could, for the brief moment, see the tears forming in her eyes before she buried her head into his chest and cried. "You IDIOT! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Sheena cried, wrapping her arms around Lloyd. Lloyd said absolutely nothing at all as Sheena cried into him, rubbing the back of her head in comfort. He waited for her sobs to slow down before attempting to get up. With Sheena's help, Lloyd slowly forced himself to his feet, turning his attention to the approaching crowd, led by Raine. Colette had caught up with them, and he could see Zelos moving through the crowd. To say the least, half looked stunned, the other half looked angry.
"Raine…why?" Lloyd spoke weakly, staring fiercely at the white-haired woman. Sheena slowly slipped behind Lloyd, her arms still wrapped around him as though she were afraid he would disappear. "Why?" As he waited for an answer, he felt the first drop of rain fall onto his head, as the air around them began to fill itself with falling droplets of rain.
"Because she's blinding you to whom you really are Lloyd." Raine replied with disgust riddled in her voice. "She's taking you away from us."
"Yah Lloyd. Sheena's just not the good person you thought she was." Zelos added, standing beside Raine. Although Colette also joined Raine and Zelos, she said nothing. She only stared at Lloyd, like a lost dog would stare at someone.
"No, you're wrong! You are all wrong!" Lloyd yelled, backing away slightly. The slight drizzle soon turned into a full out downpour, drenching the village and it's inhabitants as the stand off continued. Lloyd's tears began to mix themselves amidst the rain, hiding them from the public. Never in his life had he truly felt as betrayed as he had this day. "I can see just fine." 'I thought you were all my friends…why are you doing this! WHY!' "I see that people I considered friends aren't." Lloyd growled, pointing at Raine. "…people that I considered family aren't!" He continued, pointing at Colette. "…people I thought were nice and good AREN'T!" Lloyd finished, pointing at Zelos. "I can't believe I trusted you all for this long."
"Lloyd! Don't you see? That's Sheena's manipulation! She's ju…" Colette began, before she was interrupted viciously.
"COLETTE, SHUT UP!" Lloyd yelled. He could see the comment draw forth the tears that loomed inside Colette, as though the words had just cut through her like a knife. Looking back to see if his rear flank was still clear, Lloyd spread his wings once more. When his view returned to the group, Lloyd growled. "I don't know you people anymore. I don't know what it is, and I just don't care anymore."
"Lloyd, stop being stupid! She's the villain in this, not us! We're here to protect you!" Zelos yelled, walking towards Lloyd. In what seemed like a breaths length in time, Lloyd had one of his blades pointed at Zelos, stopping Tethe'alla's former chosen dead in his tracks. "See Lloyd. She's even got you willing to pull a blade upon your friends."
"You all just tried to burn her alive! What does that say about you?" Lloyd retorted vengefully.
"That we would do the drastic to help you Lloyd. We all love you here. We all accept you here. We just want to help you realize that this is…" Raine coolly replied before Lloyd raised a hand in the air, silencing her speech.
"I don't belong here. Not anymore. Not with people like you." With one final growl, Lloyd sheathed his weapons, wrapping an arm around Sheena protectively. His wings flapped powerfully twice before he lifted up into the air, much to the dismay of Raine, Colette, and Zelos. "I…" Lloyd tried to begin, losing the words and the meaning amidst the lingering pains of betrayal. "I hate you all." With that, Lloyd flew off into the air, speeding away from Iselia. He was fleeing, with Sheena, from the village that he once called home. Many villagers were crying out, trying to get Lloyd to stay as he disappeared into the night, while others violently cursed Sheena. Raine simply let her head hang, before looking at the two former chosen.
"Follow them." Raine muttered. With a slight bow from Zelos, the two sprouted their wings and went after Lloyd and Sheena before they got too far away. Turning around to face the crowd, Raine raised both hands into the air, signaling for silence. Though it took a while, the people did in fact quiet down and turned their gazes and ears to the mayor. "Don't worry. We'll bring Lloyd back. This is where he was raised, and this is where he belongs." Raine stated, easing the crowd's mood. Soon, the audience began to disperse, heading back to their respective homes while talking about how horrible a person Sheena was for playing such evil games on Lloyd. The rain had long since put the fire out, and everyone was just beginning to complain about the weather as they entered their houses. Raine stood outside, gazing into the air where Lloyd and Sheena had shot towards, and where Zelos and Colette were going.
And from the corner of the village, hidden in amidst the rain and the shadows of trees, a child was smiling.
A/N: So, there you all go. One hefty dose of dual action. So, we have a pair of cliffhangers here. Raine is out like a light, and Lloyd and Sheena are being tailed by Zelos and Colette. Colette tries her hand at forcing Lloyd to stay, and it only served to push him further away. What will happen next? For now, only I know that.
