RP #11 - Confused God. Posted 10-16-05

Rusty and Taren ran ahead, both holding something over their mouths to stifle the constant blast of dust and dirt. Visibility was poor, yet off in the distance they could still make out a faint glow of purple, just like the kind that had surrounded the incoming meteors. Thousands of questions littered Rusty's mind, and half of him wanted to pull his cloak from his mouth and ask Taren what was happening, but the other half knew that Taren knew no more, and removing his cloak would mean a mouthful of debris.

The two continued for what seemed like an endless amount of time. Rusty was starting to feel some strain on himself. A gust started to pick up and Rusty turned his back to it, facing the sky, when he saw two tiny figures seem to glide down and land somewhere ahead of them. He looked over, but Taren hadn't seen anything. Tired of keeping his thoughts to himself, Rusty decided to cast a defensive spell.

"Guardi...cough...Guar...hack...GUARDIAN!"

A flimsy looking green barrier started to form around Rusty and Taren. Rusty's spellcasting was less than amazing, and his only real abilities were in healing, not defense. However, the barrier did at least deter most of the incoming debris, enough to allow Rusty and Taren to talk. Rusty took the initiative.

"You missed it! There were a couple of little things flying around over there! I think they landed just ahead of us."

Taren looked skeptical. With a frown, he pointed behind him into the oncoming winds.

"Yeah, in case you haven't noticed, there are a LOT of little things flying around. It's called debris, and it's typical when a meteor slams into the ground."

Rusty shook his head and kept gesturing towards where the figures had landed.

"No, I mean there were flying figures! It wasn't debris, they were flying in an odd pattern. Just trust me, alright? We have to head over there."

Taren looked where Rusty pointed now, and saw that it was generally in the direction of the glowing aura.

"Uhh...Rusty, that's where we were headed anyway. Let's just go, and also...GUARDIAN!"

A much stronger, well defined looking barrier now formed over Rusty's, and all of the oncoming debris, even the wind itself, was diverted around it. It suddenly felt as though the scenery could be that of a peaceful sunny day. Rusty frowned.

"Why didn't you do that in the first place?"

Taren shrugged.

"Didn't need to. You didn't start talking until now. Anyway, let's keep going. I would say those figures were figments of your imagination, but the last time I said that this meteor crashed, so I'm going to avoid getting my karma involved for awhile."

Rusty smirked.

"Right on. Let's get moving, then."

The trek continued, now much easier with the use of the Guardian spell. Rusty and Taren were moving much more quickly now, and it looked hopeful that they would reach the mysterious figures soon. Sure enough, only a few more minutes passed before they found a perplexing looking vehicle. Rusty sized it up, but had no idea what to make of it. Taren, however, was a little better learned about it.

"I've seen something like this before. It's called a Rheaird, it uses the mana in the air to power it's thrust. It's basically a personal flying machine. The hero Lloyd and his group used to have some. They're very rare...I wonder if those people could be here? I'm sure many of them must still be alive..."

Rusty laughed.

"The hero Lloyd? I've heard of that folktal. You don't seriously believe it, do you? Some guy and his friends were responsible for the new world."

Taren shrugged.

"I've always considered it. I mean, there's really no other way to explain the recent history of the old and new worlds. Now that I've seen a Rheaird..."

Rusty looked thoughtfully for a moment before snapping back to his senses.

"If you're right, then they can't be too far ahead. Let's keep going, that purple thing looks to be pretty close. Maybe we can find out what's really going on."

Taren nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's keep going."

They continued to press on, and as they did so, another green aura started to come into view. It was another Guardian spell. Someone else was in the distance, waiting. Rusty started into a dash and Taren followed. Soon they were within speaking distance of someone. It looked to be a girl, but it was difficult to tell with the thick atmosphere. Rusty yelled ahead, but his words were gargled by the wind. The figure jumped and turned.

"You! I knew it!"

Rusty was taken aback from the exclamation. He started to ask if he knew her, but she suddenly started to yell again. Rusty couldn't hear what she said, but Taren did.

"Get your sword out, she's using a spell on us!"

Rusty wouldn't believe it, but sure enough a burst of flame suddenly appeared and flared towards him. He whipped out the Harusame and deflected whatever flame managed to penetrate Taren's Guardian. Rusty then took a step forwards and yelled.

"What the hell are you doing! Stop attacking us!"

The girl looked taken aback herself, and stop chanting. Taren gave Rusty a quizzical look.

"She's not our enemy? Rusty, what are you doing? She just tried to attack us, stop talking and get ready to fight!"

Rusty shook his head.

"Why would she want to fight us? She doesn't even know us...it doesn't make sense. Maybe she mistakened us for something else?"

Taren peered ahead.

"She doesn't seem to be spellcasting anymore...do you think we should try approaching her? If she tries anything funny, I can drop her from her with a..."

Rusty elbowed his friend.

"Taren. Enough with the shoot first questions later routine. Let's just try walking over and..."

But he was cut off as something dark looking whizzed by in front of him.

"What the hell was that!"

Taren jumped and looked around alarmingly. When he saw nothing, he glanced at Rusty.

"Are you trying to psyche me out?"

Rusty looked incredulously.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that thing...that must have been what she mistakened us for. What was that...? Come on, let's try walking over."

Taren looked perplexed.

"I have no idea what you're...fine, lead the way. If she kills you, don't expect me to go out of my way to give you a proper burial."

Rusty nodded.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let's go."

They continued to walk forward slowly. The girl reacted by taking a defensive stance, but did not continue to attack them. They were almost close enough for their Guardians to overlap when a light shot out from the crater, and several figures flew out of the meteor. Rusty and Taren both jumped, and the girl followed their lead to turn and watch the figures slowly make their way to the ground. Taren looked nervous.

"Rusty, I don't like this. We can't take all of them..."

Rusty's glare remained transfixed on the new figures. One of them had wings, and was carrying the other two. Just what was going on here?

RP #12 - White Rose. Posted 10-20-05

After carrying Merlin from the crater, the old man watches with great curiousity as Zelos goes back inside of the dark ominous crater once again. Landing on the bottom a minute later, Zelos stands, staring at the unconcious body of Kratos Aurion--the once heroic angel belonging to the still despised, once exsisting organization called Cruxis. . . .

'What in hell?' Zelos began to think to himself. 'You were suppose to be in Derris-Kharlan. . . .' He said to his mind, as a thousand questions began to flood it. He shook it out to clear it for a moment. ". . . . It--it just can't be possible. . . ." He spoke silently to himself, looking at Kratos very skeptically. He looked up out of the crater at the strange sky above, trying to phathom what took place that shot Kratos back down to this world. He turned his attention back to Kratos' seemingly lifeless body. A faint white light can be seen glowing around him. . . . "I've heard of people being able to sense auras around living beings. . . ." Zelos said with a puzzled, still suprised kind of expression as he knelt down at Kratos' head. "But there is no way YOU are still alive." He started to think. 'I don't care who you are, THIS is just not logical, or possible or anything. . . .' Zelos placed his hands under Kratos's back and legs, and very gently and slowly turned him around. Kratos' lifeless body flopped around like a wet noodle, and his head tilted back. "You just can't be. . . ." He said as he placed Kratos' body on the ground, and moved his eyes to the freakish sky once again. "What happened up there?" He looked down at Kratos' unconcious state once more. "And what happened to Derris-Kharlan?" He said again, hoping that Kratos would just come right out and explain everything, but knowing that this wasn't the case at all. Zelos' expression changed to a kind of sympathetic one. "Lloyd. . . ." He paused and closed his eyes for a moment. "I mean after everything you've been through so far, it--"

A hint of white light gleamed beneath some rubble, next to Kratos' right hand, interrupting Zelos and diverting his attention. "Huh?" Zelos said as he noticed the faint light. "What do you have hiding under there?" He said with curiousity. He gently put Kratos back down, and placed his hand up near the rubble, feeling some heat coming off of the rocks. "Hmm. . . ." He stated. "Well, I guess I'd better move these some other way." He paused for a breath. "Here goes." Zelos shut his eyes and focused on the rubble. A slight green glow appeared beneath him like last time, and he opened his palm about a second later. "Wind blade." He said silently. Small green wisps of magical wind appeared around the rubble. The rubble levitated, and then was shaved into dust moments later. As the dust began to settle, Zelos waved it away with his hand, curious to see what was lying next to Kratos.

Zelos' eyes widened as he gazed down at a very beautiful, sparking sword which also glowed with the white light. He looked it over and his law literally dropped from his mouth. The hilt of the weapon was crafted of some kind of strange rock and a diamond rested in the middle of it. Along the each side of the hilt were three small jewels of different colors. The entire blade itself was constructed of diamond that was sharpened so finely, it could split a single hair in two with one gentle movement. As Zelos took a closer look, there seemed to be ancient writing engraved onto the hilt. It ran in a downwards direction under the diamond, and was in a language he couldn't recognize. The whole sword was sort of shaped like the Flameberge, but everything about it was clearly different. "Holy sh--" He started to say as he reached his hand out to pick it up.

Suddenly some kind of barrier appeared around the mysterious blade, preventing him from getting it. "What the?" He tried again, but with no luck. "Damn. I guess it wasn't meant to be." He sighed in frustration. "Well, if I can't pick this thing up, chances are nobody else can either." He said as he pulled his hand away and looked at Kratos. "Where did you get a sword like this?" Zelos looked around the crater, making sure nobody was around. He saw Merlin at the top, but figured the old man couldn't see what was going on inside of the dark hole. "I'll do what I can to see that this thing stays safe. . . ." Zelos said as he started to scoop dirt and loose rocks atop the glowing sword. He glances at Kratos in sympathy. ". . . . In case you do happen to live. . . ."

He finishes burying the sword and carefully picks Kratos up once again. "Damn, you're in bad shape." He saids as he slowly rises to his feet. He chuckled a bit. "This is pretty funny that I'm carrying you." His head drops some and he blushes. 'More like completely embarrasing. . . .' He thinks to himself, and sighs. "Oh well. I'll take you back to Mizuho. Those city doctors always want too much money."

He finally takes to the air slowly, carefully bringing Kratos' body out from the hole. "You better thank me for this. . . ." Zelos said as they were almost to the top. He sighed and glanced at him. "If you can. . . ."

"Zelos! You're okay!" Terra exclaimed as Zelos head finally appeared. "What happ--" Her statement was cut short as she gasped, staring at the winged man in Zelos' arms. "Wh--who is that! Somebody was down there? And what's with the wings again!" Terra started as a million questions took over her thoughts. She wanted to ask more, but Zelos silenced her. "I'm going to Mizuho. Let's go Terra." Terra ran over to Zelos. "What? What do you mean? Who is that?" She asked him all at once. Zelos landed on the ground, and shut his eyes. "Looks like an unlucky person caught in this blast to me." He saids. . . . hiding the full truth from Terra. . . .

Some familiar individuals interrupt Zelos. "Incredible. . . . it can't be. . . ." Saids the voice of a young, fairly tall half-elven woman with white medium length hair, an average build, wearing a casual teachers outfit. An orange long kind of trenchcoat, white shirt, black pants and white boots. Her eyes light up with great curiosity. "That can't be who I think it is. . . ." States another person standing next to the woman. This time the voice belongs to a teenage half-elven boy of average height and weight, with medium length white hair. He's wearing a light colored matching set of a shirt, a pair of shorts, and a pair of low cut boots--all decorated with spiral white designs. Underneath the shirt and shorts are a long sleeved black shirt, and a slightly longer pair of black shorts. Zelos, and a couple of the others who had managed to gather at the sight, startle a bit, and turn towards the voices as they step out of the shadows.

"Professor Sage, Genis! What are you guys doing here?" Zelos states with suprise. Terra looks at the two siblings a bit shocked. "Wow. It's the Professor!" They walk up to Zelos, ignoring Terra for the moment. "It's been a little while Zelos. And, hello Terra." Raine states with a smile to them both. Genis walks over and cuts Raine off. "That's not important!" He sighs. "Zelos! What are you doing with Kr--" Zelos shakes his head at Genis, hushing him up. He walks away from Terra, and they follow him. "Icksnay. . . ." He whispers irritably as he moves his head to Terra, then back to Genis. Genis and Raine glance at her, each other, then back at Zelos. "What? She doesn't know?" Raine whispers silently to Zelos, trying hard to be quiet enough to avoid Terra's ears. Zelos stares at them with narrowed eyes, but doesn't say anything. He begins to walk further away with Kratos in his hands, and they follow him. "Zelos, wait a minute!" He turns his head to Raine. "I'm going to Mizuho now. I'm just as curious about everything here as you are Professor, but this man's life is more important right now." He looks at Kratos once again. "I don't even know if he's alive or not. . . ." He whispers to her. Raine hangs her head. "I see. . . ." She glances back at Terra and then at Kratos. "Yes. The chances of surviving something like this are pretty much zero." Genis looks at Kratos, then hangs his head. "Yeah. . . ." Zelos' looks at them both. "Exactly." He shuts his eyes, and calls out to Terra. "Terra, come on! You still have a package to deliver, right?" Terra looks at the four of them, back at the crash site, back at the small group that has gathered, and finally down at the ground. "Yeah. . . . I guess so."

Suddenly a hand gripped her shoulder. "Hey Terra." The voice said. Terra startled and turned around to see who was behind her. "Aaron! What are you doing here?" Aaron looked at her. "I came with Raine and Genis, strictly for militant purposes. . . . but when I saw you attacking at something, I got a little worried." He looks around at everything. "What did you attack anyway? And who is that dead guy?" Terra looks at him. "I'm not sure what's going on here. . . . I don't even know if that guy's alive or not! I don't anything!" Aaron steps in front of her, and places his other hand on her other shoulder. "Hey, calm down." He glances at the small group of people. "I think everyone is a little shaken up right now. You'd best let me take you to Mizuho, okay?" He pauses and sighs. "I'll come back here once I know you'll be okay, alright?" She blushes a little. "Yeah, whatever."

Meanwhile, at the Martel Temple.

"Colette!" Lloyd shouted as he burst into the entrance of the temple halls. The pastor inside silenced Lloyd and pointed towards the warp point in the back of the temple. "Thanks!" The pastor nodded slightly and continued to do what he was doing. Lloyd made his way to the warp, and took it to the top floor where Colette was. "Hey Colette!" Colette finished up her prayers and rose to her feet to face Lloyd. "I heard about the weird crash in the distance Lloyd. I was praying that nobody was hurt. . . ." Lloyd smiled at her. "Heh. That's just like you." Colette laughed a bit at him. "I'm sorry. I just thought I could help in anyway I can." Lloyd chuckled a little, and shook his head. "Man, for the hundredth time, quit apologizing over everything!" She smiles at him. "I'm sorry." Lloyd rolls his eyes. "Geez. . . ." He closes his eyes. "I guess that's why I fell in love with you, huh?" She tilts her head some. "Because I apologize alot?" He opens his eyes, looks at her, and nods. "Yeah. And because you're so nice to everyone." He places his hands on her shoulders as he stands in front of her, and his expression changes to a more serious tone. "Terra had to make a delievery to Mizuho today. That big meteor crashed somewhere nearby. . . ." Colette gasped. "No! Is Terra. . . .? Are the others?" Lloyd shook his head. "I don't know. I'm gonna head over that way right now, but I'll need to take your Rheaird." Colette's face became slightly angry. "Hey! I'm going too. Don't stop me Lloyd." He smiles a little at her. "I wouldn't dare."

They head out of the temple and around the back where their extra Rheaird lay in wait. Lloyd and Colette both board the Rheaird, and Colette holds on to Lloyd. "Terra, I hope you and the others are okay. . . ." She saids with some worry. Lloyd enters the combination to start it up. It spews colored flames of mana from the back, and hovers in the air. "We'll head towards Mizuho first." Lloyd saids to Colette. "Okay. Let's go!" Colette shouts, as they fly off towards New Mizuho.

Out at the crash site.

"Raine, I want to go with Zelos and Terra." Genis saids. Raine nods, but not without some hesitation. She sighs. "Alright, go on." Zelos tilts his head, and glances at her. "What about you?" Raine looks around at everything, then back at him. "I think I want to stay here and help the investigation." Genis looks at her. "Investigate huh? More like explore it all." She looks at Genis and smacks him upside his head. "Don't make fun of my passion for archeology!" Zelos smirks and shakes his head some. "Heh. That figures. You'll never change, will you?" Raine eyes him angerily. "Whoa! Hey! I'm just saying. . . ." He looks at Genis. "Damn Genis, your sister's as scary as ever I see." Genis sighs and lets his head drop. "Heh. . . . yeah. . . ." Raine looks back at the site with curious eyes. "Anyway, you guys should get going before anything else weird happens. I'll come by the village later." Zelos nods and usher to Terra once again. She and Aaron walk over to them. Aaron looks at Raine and Genis. "I'm gonna go on ahead with Terra." Raine looks at him suprised. "I thought you had business here." He nods. "I do. I'll be back after that." Raine smiles at them. "Alright. She is your best friend after all." They blush at that remark and turn away from each other. "I'm ready to go Zelos." Terra saids kind of irritably. "Alright." Zelos saids back to her while looking at them. "Go get the Rheaird, and follow me." She nods, and turns to Merlin. "Hey grandpa! I'm going back to Mizuho!" The old man looks at Terra. "Ehh? What's that? You see snow?" Everybody falls over, and gets up afterward lol (anime thing. ) "No grandpa. . . . I'm going to Mizuho!" She shouts. "Oh! Mizuho! Why didn't you say that before!" He states with an irritated tone of voice. She rolls her eyes, sighs, and shakes her head. "Just use your Drill Bird spell and follow us, okay?" Merlin rubs his beard. "Oh. Ehh. . . . alright."

And with that, Zelos takes to the sky with the questionable body of Kratos in his arms. Terra and Aaron head into the forest, board the Rheaird and take off after him. Merlin summons the Drill Bird and mounts it. "What a strange night this has been. . . ." He mutters to himself as he leaves the area and heads off towards Mizuho, leaving Raine and the others at the site behind. All with questions, and nobody with answers. . . .

RP #13 - Newtype06. Posted 1-15-06. Re-edited and reposted 1-18-06

Night….

One of Those Nights.

Deadin struggled to maintain control. As he bounded headlong through the forest, he marveled at the mysterious meteor swarm above him. He could smell the mana, detect its glorious scent, but it seemed as though the meteors themselves were exuding it. He panted, lolling tongue hanging out of dagger-like teeth, as he noticed the trajectory of one of the biggest pieces. It was headed right for him.

Deadin broke into a dead sprint, covering massive amounts of ground, but it was still insignificant when compared to the size of the meteor. Never looking back, Deadin just kept running and was taken by surprise when the explosion threw him through the air. Tumbling head over heels, the Grey Wolf was carried a great distance, before slamming into a rock. The world went black for Deadin Draugdu.

The Wolf came to, and it was still night. Barely after midnight. Deadin had become quite adept at measuring the time according to the moon…The Wolf brought himself shakily back to his paws, and surveyed the desolation that was before him. My forest…No…It's…gone… Anyone nearby would have heard a single, solemn wolf crying out to the moon, and to the stars that had spit this destruction at him. Deadin still smelled mana, and decided to move closer. The moon lit a massive crater, with massive pieces of debris scattered throughout. Deadin crouched low, for his nose had alerted him to a presence.

"I am wounded" came an inhuman voice from the crash site, "I must rest on this feeble planet. But what is this? One of their creatures?" Deadin tried to show no emotion, no fear at being noticed by the invisible creature. "Pay it no mind. I must be off now." And with a gust of wind and a scattering of debris, something leapt from the crash site and took flight. Deadin took another whiff of the air, and smelled something else. The human known as Kratos, a mere human in the eyes of most, was well known to the elves. He was the mastermind behind the fall of Mithos Yggdrasil, and one of the great heroes of the Kharlan War. Over the course of his two-century existence, Deadin had come to know Kratos Aurion, and respected him greatly. The familiar scent, that unique cocktail of human flesh and mana, was unique to that legendary man. But it was impossible. Kratos could not be on the planet. He had left in Derris-Kharlan, or so Deadin had come to learn. Was his nose betraying him, or had Derris-Kharlan returned?

Before Deadin could investigate, his possibly wayward nose detected others. One was a wizard, judging by the influence of magical mana Deadin smelled. One was a man intent on pleasing the ladies. The pheromones registered even to Deadin. And the last one was a girl, who had the ruddy hint of a blacksmith about her. Nevertheless, Deadin had a secret to protect, and hid in the rubble. As carefully and quietly as he could, Deadin forced himself to revert to human form. No need to scare the guests.

Soon the three humans arrived. The girl came on a dilapidated Rheiard, the lady's man came in on magnificent golden-orange wings, and the wizard (who turned out to be a very old man) later came on foot. Deadin maintained his position, hiding amongst the rubble. He was nearly discovered by them on a number of occasions, especially when more somethings came flying out of the rubble. The humans went on, eventually stopping at a particular pile of debris.

However, something happened to Deadin Draugdu that...preoccupied him. While his elven heritage gives him some control over his wolf form, there are some occasions when the Beast takes over, and Deadin must struggle to maintain control. Deadin suddenly noticed coarse grey hair starting to form on his body. There seemed to be some commotion at the pile of rubble, but Deadin paid it no mind. He quickly ran away, seeking refuge in the forest. Little did know, however, was that someone, namely that girl, had seen him.

Fed up with seeing things that everyone else didn't, Terra Irving decided to actually follow up on this discovery. She left Zelos and Merlin to whoever was under that pile of rubble. Zelos seemed pretty scared about it. Terra ran off to the forest, intent on getting a better glimpse at this specter in the shadows.

Deadin Draugdu was wracked in agony. He tore at his head, screaming to himself to stop. There were witnesses yards away, and if they found him, they would kill him. Caught halfway between wolf and man, in what Deadin called his hybrid form, Deadin looked up into the terrified eyes of a 16-year-old girl. No… Deadin thought. Not now, not with her here… The Hybrid stood, and looked the girl in the eyes.

Deadin Draugdu fought his internal struggle against the Beast, fighting nail and tooth for every bit of control he could garner. Slowly, ever so slowly, the Hybrid sank to his knees, and reverted to his elven form. Before the girl knelt a gaunt, grey haired elf, wearing a broadsword and a studded leather tunic. The shapeshifter spoke. "I…am sorry you had to see that. Permit me to introduce myself. I am Deadin Draugdu, exile of Heimdall. I ask…no, I beg of you: please do not tell anyone what you have seen here. If you hold your tongue about my…disease, than I will serve as your friend and bodyguard for as long as you deem necessary. Please…" Deadin, the Ymirian Shadow Wolf, Exile of Heimdall, placed his faith in the girl.

She knelt down, and shook his hand.

"Hi. I'm Terra. Terra Irving."

RP #14 - Jawni. Posted 10-20-05

It was a warm day. Aros was walking around the streets of Meltokio as usual. He had taken his cloak off just to catch some rays to his normaly so white body. He was cheerful that day. Birds were singing and flying around clothes lines that hung from buildings, a gentle breeze waved the clothes around, the sun was shining, everything seemed to be fine.

As Aros walked towards the item store near the entrance to Meltokio, he saw a little girl running out from the store holding something inside of her jacket.

"Thief, thief! Someone, catch the thief!"

Aros watched as the girl ran passed him. She quickly turned at the corner and ran up the stairs and disappered from Aros' sight. Aros chickled a bit and continued to walk to the store. The owner came out from the store and almost crashed at Aros.

"Did you see a girl run past here just now?" the owner asked. Aros thought for a second. "No, I didn't see a thing," Aros replied with a streight face. "Blasted. That's the third time this week she has stolen from here." The owner walked back in to the store and sat behind the counter. Aros walked in and browsed the selection. He grabbed a few grabbed a few bags of Gels and took them to the counter. "That'll be 1'200 gald" the owner mumbled. Aros put the money on the counter, grabbed the gels and exited the store.

As Aros got out, he saw a large groud of people gathered around a man who looked like a traveller. Aros walked closer so that he coul hear what he had to say.

"...and it hit 500, no 400 feet from me! After I recowered from the shock, I walked closer to it. Then I saw something incredible. First there was this green aura around a hole in it and then it faded. I hid behind a tree and tried to see in to the hole. Next thing what happened, was that an angel, yes an angel fly from the hole carrying another one. At that point I knew that something was dead wrong so decided it was best for me to split." "Are you sure they were angels?" someone in the crowed asked. "I'm certaint. They had these wonderous shining wings on their back." "Where did it land?" "Somewhere in the northern parts of Gaoracchia forest. I didn't pay much attention were I was at the time." "What were you..."

At that point Aros had heard enough. He walked passed the crowed and exited Meltokio. "Something fell near the forest," he thought, "What could've it been? Probably a meteorite. And angels? Hmm..." Aros walked towards the great bridge. Half way there he stopped and sat on a rock near the road. "Angels?" He sat there thinking of them for quite awhile.

Day turned to night. Aros sat on the rock still thinking of the angels. He had heard stories of angels from his uncle not long until he passed away. In the stories, his uncle and his parents where held captive on a giant meteorite by angles. It was a giant and a gloomy place full of angles that loked like they had no soul. Aros was shaken by the thought of souless angles. He had had nightmares of these angles after he had heard the stories. The cheerfulness Aros had earlier was gone. He felt hollow inside. Aros stod up and walked under a tree near by and sat under it. He put on his cloak and waved his hands in the air and muttered few words. A shining light emerged from his hands and a second later he turned invisible. Aros closed his eyes not knowing that his nightmares would come back to haunt him.

Next morning Aros woke up in a puddle of sweat. His nightmares on angels had come back. He muttered some words and turned visible again. He stod up and tried to find the bag of gels he had, but didn't find it anywhere. He walked to the rock and looked around if he had forgotten it there. Luckily Aros found the bag. A small smile appeared on his face, but it faded once the memories of his nightmares came haunting again. He sat on the rock and tried to focus his thoughts. "I can't let them weaken me anymore. Twice it has happened and both times lives were lost. I can't let them weaken me again, I can't!" Aros stod up and started to walk towards the bridge. He couldn't control his thoughts the whole way to and over the bridge.

Aros arrived at Sybak. He walked towards a small café that had been build near the library just few years ago. Aros search for an empty seat and sat on it once he found one. A spunky blonde weitress came to ask his order. He order the daily special without even asking what it was. Hunger had been torturing him since he got over the bridge. After a little while the waitress came back with a bowl of vegetable soup and a piece of bread. Aros politely thanked the waitress and started eating. Once he had eaten he layed back on the chair and stared at the sky. It looked gloomier than usual, dark clouds were gathering over the sun. Aros let his mind wander around and it didn't take long until his nightmares occupied his thoughts. The same nightmares that have haunted him, since he heard the stories on the angels from his uncle. In the nightmares, Aros is all alone in darkness. He walks forward, but can't tell if he's even getting anywhere. He walks and walks and walks, probably for hours. Then he sees a glimbs of light in the horizon. He starts running towards the light. Then he hears voices from behind. He looks back and sees multiple figures with shining wings flying towards him. Aros starts to run faster an faster, but the figures just keep getting closer. The light gets brighter and brighter as he gets closer to it. 200 feet, the figures are getting closer. 150 feet, Aros' breathing gets heavier and heavier. 100 feet, he can feel the breath of the figures behind him. 50 feet, Aros is almost out of breath. The light gets brighter as Aros runs through it. On the other side he sees a meteorite, a giant glowing meteorite the size of a planet. Aros stops running and just stares at the meterorite. He feels an impact in the back of his head. Everything goes black. Next thing he sees is an angel, or so he thinks, infront of him saying something with a tongue he doesn't understand. Aros tries to tell who he is and explain what he's been doing, but the angel doesn't even react. It only says three words again and again.

"Sir. Sir! Wake up!"

Aros opens his eyes. "Well good day to you too. Didn't sleep much last night?" Aros sees the same weitress infront of him took his order. "Yes. I mean no, I dindn't sleep much." He rubs his eyes and takes a closer look at the weitress. She's a little shorter than Aros, quite slender and wears a light blue dress. Her eyes are green and she has a pretty smile. "Hello? Mister, could you stop staring at me." Aros finaly snaps out from it. "Oh, sorry. I probably just dozed off. I didn't sleep much last night." The weiress laughs. "Yeah, I asked you that and you asnwered it already. Anyway, have you heard of the meteorite yet?" "Meteorite? You mean the one that crashed near Gaoracchia forest?" "Yeah, that's the one. They say angles came out from it and started blasting magic all over the place." Aros chuckled a bit. "Blasting magic? Heh, just yesterday when I heard of it they just flew out from it." "Hmm… it does seem a little weird, the whole thing I mean. I thought the hero Lloyd took care of the angles years ago." "Lloyd, the hero? Yes, I think you're right. They say his a great man. I once stopped by at Iselia, his home town, but he was on a journey so I didn't get to meet him." The weitress' eyes light up. "So you are a traveller?" Aros rubs his neck. "Yes. You could say that. I've been travelling for over six years now." "And now you are here to see the meteorite and the angels?" "…the angels?" Aros gets lost in his thoughts again. The waitress stares at him waiting for an answer, but doesn't get one. She walks away dissappointed.

RP #15 - cepussinboots. Posted 10-20-05

While on the drill bird, merlin sees how far the others are ahead, and decides to turn back to the landing site, but sets an illusion of himself, so when the others looked back they would see him flying there on the bird. "that should keep 'em busy, i'm not done yet" he says to himself, and flys back off to the site.

when he arrives there he looks down. "alrite birdy, take me down to the bottom" the drill bird flies down to the bottom, where kratos was found, and merlin dismounts it, and calls it back into his staff. " thanks for that, but i cant keep my energy up", he whispers a spell, and shrouds himself in darkness so he cant be seen, as he hasnt yet been spotted. merlin bends down, and examines the rubble, and soil. "hmm, very strange" he takes out a testtube he has lying around in his pocket, and takes a few samples. "i'll need that young raine to help me analyse this" he says to himself, and then blushes "shes quite the academic!" merlin continues to examine the landing site, but it soon gets dark, and he spots that raine and genis have left, so he reveals himself "dammit, i hate it when its dark." he whispered, and then cahnted a spell "lumis maxzmo,luntar yvoion, tredlark, josui, maknar, obrous!" and withthat, the whole area, of the inside the crater lit up with a powerful light magic. "thats a bit better" merlin says, and looks closer at the rubble. "hmm, it has a weird texture" he thought to himself "it almost seems otherworldy, like from Karsarf" he sniffed, and a tear came to his eye. "what a fate that country had, i'm lucky i escaped, but i cant help but wonder, where my boys boy is..." merlin looked up at the sky, and connected the stars so he could see the face of his old friend Dan Solomon. "daniel..." merlin said. "how i wish you were here today, who would have thought, that your fathers old advisor would have outlived you, and your own son as well" he sniffed again, and wiped away a tear. "but when i saw the face of that young terra, i could see you in her" he smiled "you remind me alot of her, thats why i've taken a liking to her." he paused. the stars in the sky seemed to move, so the face of dan was no longer shown, but instead the face of a bold man, one who looked wise. "solomon, the first. the great king, dans father." merlin bowed at the stars. "my dear friend, the one who i entrusted the power of earth upon" merlin laughed "but you were hopeless" he said "your son killed you, and that, i shall never forgive him for, i wonder if he too still lives..." merlin was actually talking about Solomon 1st, second son, Chris, who never made it as king, but something even more rewarding. "prince of darkness my ass" merlin said. "he never did anything but release a great evil into our world, which triggered the great war between karsaf and garrison. the two knights of opposing forces, that joined force, and drove the two countries to hate eachother." merlins face turned dull, as the stars faded, and turned into another face one which he remembered with grief. "my old rival, the one who should have been drilled from the moment i met him" merlin got out a book. "you gave this to me, and i've treasured it ever since" he turned to the middle of the book, and picked out a certain page. "you gave me this spell, but i still need the materials to make it stronger" he read from a list. "a leaf from a tree of power, (i've got), the soil from an ancient land (i still need), the blessing of an ancient summon, (i still need), and the love of a dear friend, one from another country to my own, someone here, and i'm afraid terra, does not count." he sighed. "my drill birds getting weak Stavrer, i need that phoenix" Stavrer was merlins old rival, and friend. he continued the list: "4 feathers, from an almighty bird (i really need) and lastly, the soul of a good heart" merlin sunk to the floor. "i need the soul of a good heart. i need someone i know who is kind and loving, and extract their soul, how fun" merlin coughed. "but the problem is that they need to be dead, and that would cause more pain" merlin paused, for about 10 minutes, thinking. the stars went back to their normal formations, and merlin looked down. "pneumatic phoenix. are you worth all that i need?" exclamied merlin who now looked miserable. "i'm dying. and my last wish is to see you, and master your power for myself. i've only got another good 20 years left on me." melrin paused as he saw something glowing, beneath the strange soil. "what this?" he moved the soil aside, and saw the great blade that zelos had seen. "holy matramony, what craftmanship!" he said, as he glanced at the Irving. "how beautiful" Merlin leaned down to touch it, and got shocked by the same forcefield that prevented zelos from touching it, but as he was so old, he was knocked unconcious.

The next morning...

Merlin awoke, lying in the damp soil, with the Irving lying next to him. "where am i?" he asked himself as he got up. he looked down and saw the sword. "ah yes, i was talking to the stars again, wasnt i." he smiled, and covered the Irving back up with soil. he stretched himself out "alright, time to go." he lifted his staff upon high and recited the words similar, to when sheena summons.

"I call upon thee, oh driller, of godly feathers, i call upon you from the bird heavens, arise mighty Drill Bird"

as he said this, an almighty bird came thundering down from the clouds "ahah, the more mana i can use, the better you look my friends" he patted it on the beak and sat down on it. " we better be off to mizuho, terra will kill me, quite literally." as he took off in the air, he yelled "HASTE" and with that, merlin and his bird flew off to mizuho, in the context of about 15 minutes.

When Merlin arrived, he went into the hotel, and saw waiting in the room, terra, zelos, sheena, aaron, lloyd, colette, raine and genis. terra approached him sternly. "and where have you been gramps?" she said, hands on her hips, her foot tapping. Merlin wiped his forhead. "i stopped off in a nearby city, urm... i needed rest." he said. Zelos came over to him. "typical old man, you shouldnt travel so much, you'll probably kill yourself." Merlin smacked him round the head with his staff. "darn youngster, think your sooooooo hip..."

aaron looked over, "merlin, you better come and join us" and with that, merlin walked over, and stood in the place where zelos was standing, and asked simply. "fill me in, why is everybody here?"

RP #16 - AngelicAura616. Posted 10-28-05

"Be careful, Aaron. Something snuck up behind me in that forest earlier." Terra said quietly, as Aaron approached the door.

"Sure thing. I'll see you back home." he replied.

She smiled, and then Aaron exited.

"Back to business..." he sighed.

He entered the forest where the meteor landed. It was dark and gloomy...not much light entered here. He figured he could get lost very easily, and tried hard to remember where he came from.

"This place is a maze...I swear I've been here before." Aaron told himself.

He wandered, and as he wandered, he would hear strange sounds from places. The military had trained their soldiers to not jump to conclusions, and after seeing Raine's fits, this wasn't about to scare him. He continued his wandering, while deep in thought.

"Where did that meteor come from anyway? That rock didn't look natural... It seemed to have a weird aura around it," Aaron thought, "Ah, here we are. The scene of the...wait, who are they? Were they here before?"

Aaron had noticed two characters, standing around the hole made by the meteor.

"Are they ever going to come get us?" Aaron heard one of them say.

Slowly, he approached the two. They appeared to have been here for awhile.

"You two, what are you still doing here?" Aaron questioned.

"Well, we were here looking at this meteor at the same time as a lot of others, and then they just left us here. Not to mention that crazy person who attacked us as we ran to the meteor." the other one of the couple said.

"Oh, that was-" Aaron gasped.

"What?" the second person said again.

"Erm...nothing," Aaron lied, "What are your names?"

"I'm Rusty." the first one said.

"And I'm Teran." the other stated.

"Ah, well, if you stay here for a couple minutes, I can escort you to a nearby village. From there, you can return home. If you cannot find a way to get home, I'll send a party to come recept you."

"Really?" Teran exclaimed.

"Sure thing. I'm one of the Capital Generals of the Iselia-Triet region. I can easily get that done."

"...Thank you." Rusty said, in a slight shiver.

"Forest is getting to you, eh?"

"Yeah, to him. Not me. This guy's just a big wimp." Taren joked, dignified.

"You remind me of my brother..." Aaron whispered.

"Who's your brother?" Rusty questioned.

"Genis Sage. Raine Sage is my sister." Aaron replied.

"Wait, the legendary Sages? You're awefully lucky." Taren excitedly told.

"Heh..." Aaron breathed, "Well, just stay there. I have to do some stuff."

Aaron took out some tools and began examining the crater. He crawled into it, walked around it, and dug in it.

"Wait, what's this?" Aaron said, noticing a bright light under the rocks.

He tried to move the rocks but couldn't.

"Stubborn earth..." Aaron sighed.

Aaron quickly casted a Gust spell, and the rocks were blown away, and a intricate sword could be seen.

"Whoa, that's a magnificent sword. Hmmm," Aaron thought, looking around, "Maybe I could take it. I could easily win in battle if I had THAT."

He tried to pick it up, but couldn't. There was something blocking contact with the sword.

"I'll just Levitate it. Since I can't use it, nobody else can. I'll take it back to the military headquarters."

Aaron casted a Levitate spell on it, and it floated above his hand, and he moved his hand to a sack, where the sword slid in. The shield was deflecting the bag, so the bag was slightly puffed up. He continued doing measurements, recordings, predictions, hypotheses, samples, and assumptions on the accident. Finally, when he was done, he went over to Taren and Rusty.

"Alright, I'm done." Aaron said.

"Hey, that pack wasn't that big when you got here before." Taren noticed.

"Oh, I just collected rock samples. The military could use them. The rock that was here was unlike anything I've seen before. It was almost..holy."

"Ah, I see." Taren stated.

"We should be going." Rusty reminded.

"Good point." Aaron replied.

They walked through the forest, talking about the state of the world, what Aaron's job was, what Taren and Rusty wanted to find out, and other subjects. Then something rustled the nearby bushes. Aaron ignored it, but Taren jumped.

"I thought the forest wasn't getting to you." Rusty poked.

"Oh...heh...well...it isn't. I just wasn't expecting it." Taren quickly said.

"Would you like me to go see what it is for you?" Aaron asked.

"Um, sure." Taren answered.

Aaron walked over to the bush, and pulled it apart. An ugly creature was lying on the ground. It looked like it was injured badly.

"Alright, I'll just take care of this. BOLT!" Aaron shouted.

A short lightning bolt shot out from Aaron's hand, and struck the creature, leaving a hole through where it passed.

"That should have taken care of that...Wait...HOLY SH! GAH!" Aaron shouted, and flew backwards.

The creature had not died, and struck Aaron across the head. There was a large cut where he was struck.

"Aaron! Oh no!" Taren shrieked.

"Let's take it out." Rusty demanded.

"Sure thing." Taren said.

They drew their weapons, and virtually slaughtered the creature. It lay on the ground, but let out a high pitched shriek.

"Is it calling for help?" Rusty asked.

"I don't know. Let's not stick around to figure it out. Aaron, wake up! Where is the nearest city?" Taren screamed.

No answer from Aaron's body.

"WAKE UP!" Taren yelled, slapping Aaron.

Aaron opened his eyes.

"Ow..."

"Oh, yes! He's alive! Which direction to the nearest city?" Taren asked again.

"East..." Aaron replied, then closed his eyes again.

Blood and pus was oozing from the gash in Aaron's head. Taren and Rusty hoisted Aaron on their shoulders, and ran in the east-wards direction.

Aaron was still conscious, and knew what was going on, but couldn't actually see it. It was much like a blur.

Suddenly, black shadows were flying above them in the sky. They looked like they were circling over the forests, like hawks circling their prey. All that Rusty and Taren knew was that they had to run, and fast. The creatures began to swoop down. They'd found their prey. Leaves and bushes were rustled, and loud thuds could be heard as the creatures landed around Taren and Rusty.

"Keep running!" Rusty shouted.

"Like I'm planning on stopping!" Taren shouted back.

Their legs were wearing out on them, but they didn't stop. They had to escape the forest. Creatures began flying out in front of them, and Rusty simply let go of Aaron and ran at them, sword unsheathed, and slashed them, shoving them out of the way. He ran back, picked Aaron up, and continue running towards the city. More and more creatures began to chase them.

"We'll never make it!" Taren screamed.

"Don't say that! I can see some light from here!" Rusty told.

"Where?"

"There!"

"I still can't-"

"JUST RUN!"

Suddenly, Aaron felt pressure on his ankle, and long nails dig into his skin. He screamed out in pain. Taren and Rusty stopped running. Then, Aaron saw them pull out their weapons, with horror upon their faces, and Aaron blacked out.

He awoke in a bed in an inn. The sun was brightly shining, so a day must've at least passed. Rusty was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, and Teran was standing next to him, against the wall.

"Where am I?" Aaron questioned.

"Where you told us to take you. This is Ozette. That's where you wanted us to go, right?" Taren asked.

"Oh, yes. But how'd you find it?"

"A girl named Presea helped us." Rusty answered.

"Presea! Genis always talks about her!"

"Hah. Interesting." Rusty chuckled.

"Anyway, what happened last night?"

"Last night? You've been unconscious for 3 days! You had a deep gash in your head. It's lucky Presea knows a good doctor." Taren explained.

"Yeah... Tell me what happened though! All I remember was seeing looks of absolute terror on your faces."

"A huge creature had grabbed you. It was hidious, and it was going to kill you. We tried to fight it off, but it advanced on us, and the other creatures surrounded us. That's when Presea came in. She took out all of the other creatures, and then we ganged up on the big one. I know those things aren't gone for good though. They can't be dead that easily if they're that strong. This could be a very big problem, and with some of the problems between the kingdoms, it might be even bigger than we can predict." Rusty recited.

"And...where is...Presea?" Aaron asked.

Rusty tapped three times on the wall with his hand. A couple of seconds later, a girl entered the room.

"Did you need me, Rusty?" the girl asked.

"Presea, he called for you." Rusty replied.

"He...? Oh! He's awake." Presea, the girl, cheered.

"I just wanted to...thank you for saving my life. I'll be sure to reward you. You just saved a Capital General. That's a big thing." Aaron told.

"Oh...you don't need to. I just wanted to help." Presea said.

"No, I must. It's our code."

"Well, if you must. But, please...I request...I do not want money or anything of value. I want...I want...to see Genis." Presea pleaded.

"Genis Sage? That's my brother! I can do that for you, easy peazy." Aaron exclaimed.

"Really? Thank you so very much! But, you must wait. You're still healing. You'll be ready to go in a week. Until then, I'll send a messenger from Mizuho to Iselia-Triet region that you were attacked, and you are currently under medical attention." Presea noted.

"I thank you very much." Aaron responded.

Presea exited.

"Did you tell her where I was from?" Aaron asked Rusty.

"I did not. Taren?"

"Me either."

"Well, maybe she just figured, because Genis is my brother..."

"Perhaps. Anyhow, get your rest. We'll keep eyes over you."

"I thank you for saving my life too. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here, and you might not either."

"Heh. No problem. Oh, for some odd reason, that reminds me that I picked up your bag. This bright sword slid out a little. I put it back, but...that sword looked magnificent! Where did you get it?" Rusty asked.

"When you're a Capital General, like me, you get the latest technology upgrades." Aaron lied, again.

"Oh, I see. Do you think they'll make those mainstream?" Rusty questioned.

"Not for awhile. Why? Do you want one?"

"Absolutely! That blade is perfect!"

"When I get another one, I'll give it to you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Thank you. Now please, sleep."

"Of course..."

Aaron fell back to sleep.

RP #17 - Confused God. Posted 10-30-05

Rusty strolled to the opposite side of the room and thought for a moment. He could be escorted back home, or anywhere else he wanted, but he didn't want to return home just yet, and he couldn't think of anywhere else he wanted to be. After seeing the meteor collision, there was nothing else he concentrate on. It was spectacular, and then there were those people. Rusty was sure he saw one of them fly. Who were they...if only he'd managed to get their attention again before they left. Then again, maybe he would only have been attacked again.

Rusty looked over his shoulder and saw that Taren seemed just as lost in thought. He strolled over silently.

"Pretty eventful weekend so far, huh?"

Taren nodded without glancing over or changing his expression at all. It seemed he still hadn't snapped out of thought.

"Yeah...that Presea girl is kind of cute..."

Rusty smirked and tried to stifle a laugh. The resulting sound alerted Taren who jumped and looked over at Rusty, wondering what he had just told him. Rusty gave Taren a somewhat impressed look.

"You do have a good eye for your age. Always go for the younger girls. Too bad you gave that Genis kid as competition."

Taren gave Rusty as piercing glare.

"I was not thinking--I mean--ahh! No, just stop it. I do NOT like her, and Genis is probably a decent guy."

Rusty nodded, then thought of something.

"But, Genis is the younger Sage, right? By now, he must be waaay older than that Presea girl. I think he might not be competition at all, maybe he's just a mentor or something. She's definitely more in your age group."

A laugh came from the bed. Aaron was still awake.

"Her looks can be decieving of her age. Even Genis is a little young for her."

Taren apologized for keeping Aaron awake with his and Rusty's discussion. Rusty, however, gave him a quizical glance.

"What do you mean 'Genis is a little young for her?' There's no way she's any older than Taren...right?"

Aaron chuckled again.

"Don't worry about it, you'll find out someday. Also, I'm not so sure I can sleep anymore."

Aaron started to get up. Taren immediately protested that he go back to sleep, but Aaron shook his head.

"I've slept for the past day, I don't really feel tired anymore."

Taren backed off, but still wasn't satisfied.

"But you still haven't fully recovered, getting up now is dangerous. At least let Rusty cast another healing spell before you do."

Aaron looked confused.

"Rusty can cast healing spells? I didn't know you were a magic user, Rusty."

Rusty smirked and nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. Healing is the only thing I'm good at with magic. I'm completely incapable of anything else. Taren, on the other hand, has loads of awesome offensive magic but no skill when is comes to healing."

Aaron laughed.

"Sounds like you make good travelling companions, then. One who damages, and one who repairs."

Rusty frowned.

"I do have a sword...healing isn't all I can do..."

Genis smirked.

"Also, we're not good travelling companions. He needs my common sense to survive a trek across the street. Our opinions almost never relate."

Aaron nodded.

"Really. You two sound a lot like Genis and Lloyd the way Raine tells about them when they were younger. Apparently, they could never agree either. But, anyway, thanks for the offer but I think I can get along without a healing spell. I have my own arsenal of magic if I need it. Also, have you two decided where you would like to be escorted to?"

Rusty shrugged.

"I really don't have any immediate itinerary. Wherever Taren wants to go is fine with me."

Taren shook his head.

"I was just going to have Rusty decide. I suppose we don't really want to go anywhere then."

Aaron nodded.

"Well then, if you decide to stick with me, I'll be bringing Presea to see Genis and Raine. I imagine some of the others who were at the scene of the meteor collision may be with them as well."

Taren's eyes lit up. Rusty smirked and nodded.

"Alright, that sounds good. If you don't mind dragging us along, I wouldn't mind getting a chance to run into that girl who attacked us. I believe she owes me and Taren an explanation."

Taren sighed.

"Rusty, she probably just thought we were one of those monsters. You really don't need to go trying to track her down..."

Rusty shook his head.

"I don't have to, but I'm going to anyway. If you don't want to know who she is, then I do."

Aaron looked worried.

"I would discourage getting on that girls nerves if at all possible..."

Taren shook his head.

"Don't bother, he has his mind set on what he wants to do now. He's not going to be swayed by anyone other than that girl herself. Which reminds me, how do you know her?"

Aaron smirked and started to walk towards the door.

"Don't worry about that right now. Let's just get Presea and head out. Make sure you're ready to leave in five minutes, alright?"

Rusty and Taren both nodded before Aaron left. Five minutes later, Rusty, Taren, Aaron (heh, Taren & Aaron ) and Presea were all on the outskirts of Ozette, on their way to meet with the others.

Thus began the second Tale of Symphonia.

RP #18 - Captain Sagara. Posted 10-30-05

Kalas awoke at the noise of a battle in the distance.

Thoughts of Sheena had tormented his resting mind, he knew he had to see her soon.

He had fallen asleep on the tree from which he saw the outline of sheena.

After a while, he heard a giant crash and the silence; he concluded the battle was over.

He stretched and jumped down to a lower limb on the tree.

And slowly made his way up to his shelter on the tallest tree over looking mizuho.

When Kalas, got there however, he came to an awful surprise.

Mizuho was abondend.

His heart raced, and he thought about what might have happened.

He knew that Meltokio would have crushed Mizuho given the chance, and hoped to God that something else had happened.

He raced back to where he last saw Sheena dissapearing into the horizon.

He was scared to the leave his forest, but knew he had no other choice.

He ran across the field, the sun, he thought, felt so nice against his pale skin. A feeling which he had not felt for so long. Kalas ran and ran, and evetually stopped. He had no idea where he was going. He looked all around him, and saw a field of flowers, feeling at home in this patch of greenery, he laid down for a minuter, and cursed himself for not taking the opportunity of talking with Sheena that seemed so impossible to come by again.

He looked around at the buds, andnoticed a small movement of a small bud.

It bloomed into a beautiful crimson flower, as did another next to it, and another, and another.

Kalas was startled, and jumped out of the small patch of flowers.

Looking at the patch from his angle, he could see it formed a line, and instantly knew that the forest was watching over him again.

He started running again, running on his second wind, so very thankful to the forest.

Kalas wanted to repay the forest, but still could not think of a way. While he ran, the minutes passed, and evetually he came upon a withering tree.

Kalas ran by it, but stopped and turned back, he knew he wanted to see his sister, but didnt want to ruin his bond with the forest.

He reached in his aged sack and poured some of the forest water on it.

It showed no signs of life.

Kalas tried again, and focused on the plant, and tried to expell the thought of Sheena running through his head.

The tree twitched, and Kalas knew that it was going to grow, but if he waited, he might miss his chance to see Sheena again.

He slowly turned to start on his way again, when he noticed a small amount of syrup running from the leaves of the plant.

He figured it was another gift, andothe gift that he was totally undeserving of, but took it nonetheless.

He put the gel in a galss jar and continued on his way.

A town became visable on the horizon.

Kalas heart jumped, he sped up but the slowed himself down, and his mind filled with negativity.

What if the times have changed? Will someone try to hurt me?

Kalas figured it was best to keep a low profile.

He ran into the town, and some people looked up at the commotion, Kalas felt like an idiot and casually slowed down.

Not only had kalas been away from civilization for so long, but he has also never been out of Mizuho, he was nervous.

He looked over at a boy a little younger than he away form the other people, staring out over the town limits.

He was glas becuase even if he did make a fool of himself, there was only one person to hear him. He didn't recognize the young man, nor should he have, but he knew he was a half-elf. Kalas began to slow down once he realized this, and made a small grimace, which he hoped the young man didn't see as he turned around slowly.

The young man cocked an eyebrow, interested in this eager youth striding toward his direction.

You, Kalas said, Half-elf.

The young half elf twitched at this comment, not being used to hear this title for such a long time.

Ha---- Kalas was cut off, not by another voice, but by the half elf walking off in a bit off a bad mood.

Kalas pondered in his head waht had gone wrong, and could draw no conclusions.

He continued on his way, searching for someone who could help him.

RP #19 - White Rose. Posted 11-6-05

As Lloyd sat indian styled on the floor of a small Mizuhoen clinic, his tear filled and glassy eyes never left the seemingless lifeless body of Kratos. . . . his real father. The severely wounded and helpless winged angelic human was lying under the covers of a bed inside of the hut, and the entire room had been darkened from the light of the sun. Lloyd reached a shaking, sweaty hand out towards Kratos, touching a mildly cold cheek. He moved it to Kratos' hair, and then pulled it back slowly. "Dad. . . ." He whispered sadly to himself as he let his head drop. The tears that had filled his eyes were now starting to fall rapidly. "I can't believe this. . . ." He said as he wiped the endless stream away with his sleeve. "You're here. . . . on this world. . . . lying right next to me. . . ." He sniffles a bit and sighs. "And yet, you're--" He runs his hand across his face, wiping it once more. "Damn it all. . . ." He brings his knees up to his chest, buries his head between them, and cries silently to himself--heavy emotion taking over his body. All the while, thoughts and questions continued to pour into his head as they had done so, since the very day Zelos brought Kratos back to New Mizuho. . . . when Lloyd saw his father for the first time since he left for Derris-Kharlan long ago.

Lloyd remembered the pained look in Kratos' eyes, underneath the brave facade he was trying to put up. He was looking his son over for the last time. . . . with great respect, love, pride, and regret. . . . How much Lloyd truly missed Kratos hit hard about a month later, when Lloyd finally realized why Kratos had looked at him like he did. It was the last time they ever saw one another. . . . until now. . . .

Lloyd snapped out of his thoughts, and looked up at Kratos with blurred teary eyes. "Please be alive. . . . please. . . ." He said sadly, as he tucked his head back into his knees, and continued to weep. Just then, the sliding bamboo door opened, allowing a small beam of light to creep inside the dark building. A tiny gathering of people peeked inside, unbeknownst to Lloyd.

"So, he's just been like that for three days now?" Raine states with concern to the others, under the bright sun of a beautiful autumn day. "Yes. . . . He won't budge or anything. . . ." States Colette, who is looking at the hut, with some tears running down her face. "Colette and I have tried everything we could think of, but he refuses to leave Kratos' side. . . ." Sheena comments as shakes her head, also concerned for Lloyd. "I feel so bad for him. . . ." She saids with some tears building. Zelos looks at them, then hangs his head some. "It's understandable. . . ." He states with a sad, sympathetic tone in his voice. Genis looks at him and tilts his head some. "You say that like it's from personal experience or something." Zelos straightens back up and glances at him. "Well, I just mean that it's understandable why Lloyd would be like this, that's all." He tries to say with conviction. He glances at the clinic a moment later. "It's only been 20 years since Kratos was last here, you know?" Raine nods some. "Yes. Indeed it has. . . ." Her expression changes as she looks at the small building. "Poor Lloyd. . . ." She turns to the others. "I want to say that Kratos will pull through this. . . . but really. . . . what are the chances?" Genis turns to the clinic. "Lloyd. . . ." He hangs his head and shuts his eyes.

Zelos' eyes narrow some, as he begins thinking back to the incident. "What I don't get, is the fact that his body wasn't destroyed. I saw that impact site. . . . nothing around it survived. Kratos should've been torn to bits, along with everything else that was. . . ." Genis opens his eyes back up, and looks at him. "Yeah, Raine and I saw it too. . . . that's pretty weird. That tear in the earth was huge. . . . And that large meteor you found him at was like the size of a small town. . . ." Zelos looks at everyone. "I know. That's what I can't understand." Sheena looks at Zelos, with a curious expression. "And didn't Terra insist that she saw something fly off from that place?" Raine also turns to Zelos. "Did you see anything?" Zelos looks at them both, somewhat puzzled. "She saids she did, but I'm not sure. I caught a glimpse of something as we were on our way over to the site, but I don't know what it was." They all look at each other, a bit clueless. "What in hell is going on here?" Sheena comments as she looks off in the direction of the impact site with both curiosity, and worry.

Zelos looks around the village, and spots Terra eating inside of a nearby restaurant, with a confused look on her face. He sighs as he looks at her. "You guys haven't told Terra a thing about our little adventure back then, have you Colette?" He saids as he and the others turn their attention to Colette. Her expression changes to great sadness, and she closes her eyes, letting her head drop. She shakes her head. "No. . . . we haven't. . . ." Zelos crosses his arms, sighs, and shuts his eyes. "I thought so." He opens them back up and looks back at her. "Why have you guys hid this from her for this long?" Sheena comments to Colette, who remains quiet as if searching for what to say. "I mean, I can understand a few years and all, maybe even like five years tops, but 20 years. . . ." She comments again. Raine's eyes widen a bit, and she gasps a little with realization. "That explains it. . . ." She saids as she turns to Colette and the others, who have somewhat perplexed looks on their faces.

Sheena glances at Raine for a second. "Explains what?" Raine turns to the restaurant where Terra is at. "Look at her. Whenever I've seen her alone like that, she's always had that look on her face. Her behavior changes, and she's always sad for some reason." Colette looks at the restaurant, sighs, and hangs her head once again. "Terra. . . . I'm sorry. . . ." Raine places a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps you and Lloyd just didn't want to scare her, that's all." Colette wipes her face and glances at Raine. "I mean, you were a Chosen and Lloyd is the son of a Cruxis Angel. A man which just so happens to look like a younger brother, not a man that could be his father. . . ." She pauses for a breath. "I can almost understand why you hid this from her. It's a lot to take in for a young teenager. And very hard to believe." Zelos looks at Colette. "Yeah. . . . Terra freaked out when I revealed my wings. . . ." Sheena stares at him suprised. "Why did you do that!" Zelos glances at her. "I had to. It was to protect us." Genis looks him over, and tilts his head. "Oh yeah, I forgot you had wings too." Zelos nods, then looks at the restaurant again. "I shocked her pretty badly. I didn't expect that reaction at all." He turns his head to the hut where Lloyd is at. "That's when I pretty much knew that Terra was in the dark about everything." He turns to Colette and the others. "I had my suspicions about it before, but that right there just confirmed it." He looks back at Colette with some sadness in his eyes.

"Look, I know she's not my kid, and I probably should just butt out and all, but--" He looks at Sheena with some sadness. "Sheena and I. . . ." Sheena glances at him with some anger and sadness, interrupting him. "Zelos. Don't." He takes her hand in his. "It's okay, it's not your fault. . . ." She tightens her grip on his, and smiles. "I know. I forget that sometimes." He turns to the others. "You all know we've never been able to have our own kids. Despite how hard we've tried--" He shut his eyes. "It's just never happened." He opens his eyes, and Sheena leans on him. "So when you guys had Terra. . . . she became like a daughter to us." Sheena nods with a smile. "We love her like we'd love our own." She saids. "That's why we think it's time she knew about everything that happened." Zelos nods slightly, and sighs heavily looking at the restaurant with sad eyes. "There's a major chance that Kratos is probably already dead. She has to know who he is to her, before we all know for sure it's too late for him. . . . and she ends up finding out the hard way."

Colette looks at everyone. "Thanks. . . ." She turns to the clinic and goes to the door. "I'll talk to Lloyd." She smiles a bit, wiping a few more tears from her eyes. "Terra has a right to know who her family is. We never should've denied it to her in the first place. . . ." Sheena walks over to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "You want someone to come with you when you're ready to tell her?" Colette hangs her head once more, and remains silent. "We'll be there. Just know that, okay?" She nods.

And with the reassurance of her friends, a sad and scared Colette heads inside. . . . Trying like always to maintain a positive demeanor, despite the situation.

RP #20 - AngelicAura616. Posted 11-9-05

"Presea…we're going to leave now. We'll take you to Genis." Aaron quietly whispered.

"No. You must rest." Presea responded.

"Rest? That's not gonna happen. I've got all the rest I need. The others are probably worried why I haven't returned anyway."

"But..."

"No but's, we're leaving now. If you want to see Genis, come with us now."

"Genis…" Presea sighed, "Take me with you then."

"What do you think I've been asking you to do?"

Aaron and Presea exited the inn, and met up with Taren and Rusty just on the outskirts of town. Taren looked at the forest ahead of them, and shivered.

"Do we have to walk through there again?" Taren asked.

"Unless you can fly, yes." Aaron replied.

"We should probably keep our weapons out." Rusty suggested.

"Indeed." Aaron agreed.

They stepped into the forest and felt the coldness of the forest looming around them. They shivered again, and continued onward. Trying to keep the others' minds off the forest, Aaron began to strike up some chatter.

"So, Presea, you rebuilt that city?" Aaron questioned.

"I…felt that if I rebuilt it, I might feel at home for the first time," she answered.

"Ah, that's right. Legends say that heavenly thunder rained down upon the old location of Ozette." Taren said.

"That was Cruxis. They destroyed Ozette, hoping to kill Altessa, a dwarf who refused to help them." Presea corrected.

"Oh," Taren gasped, "That's terrible!"

"So true," Aaron told.

"So, how did you know the new location of Ozette if it was destroyed so long ago?" Rusty asked.

"I'm in the military. We send out caravans to map-make for us, so we know if there's new kingdoms or empires brewing in unknown lands."

"Is it fun to be in the military? I mean, with your high rank, you can do almost anything you want, right?" Rusty questioned.

"It can be fun. They recently tested me for competency to make sure I still fit my position. They gave me the correct surroundings for some of my most powerful spells."

"What type of spells are you best at?" Taren asked.

"I make my own spells. A little perk to being raised by the Sages. My spells are based on Air, Water, and Lightning. I can combine them to make powerful spells called Storm spells. But, that isn't to say I can't use every other type of spell. Genis even taught me a spell called Meteor Storm!"

"That's cool! You're so lucky… Can you teach me some spells?"

"Alright, but we should wait until it rains, that way the Storm spells are most effective."

"Okay, but don't forget!"

"Hey, Rusty, when we get out of this forest, do you mind showing me some of your fighting skills?" Aaron asked.

"Only if Taren can assist me." Rusty replied.

The walk continued for quite awhile. They talked about a variety of subjects. It wasn't surprising that they weren't attacked in the forest. They were making quite a racket.

"What was that?" Aaron nervously questioned.

"What are you talking about, Aaron?" Taren quizzically asked.

"Something moved in the trees."

"I think you're imagining it, you crazy person." Rusty said.

Aaron simply grunted. He knew he didn't imagine it. He touched the ground and mumbled "Moisturize". The dirt on the ground turned to a soft mud. Anything in it left an imprint in the mud.

"We'll soon know."

"That was kinda cool!" Taren cheered.

They walked a little more cautiously, constantly checking the ground for footprints. All they saw for awhile were animal tracks, though.

"This is getting boring…" Taren sighed.

"Just keep looking." Aaron pleaded.

The search continued, with no luck in finding anything.

"I give up." Aaron breathed.

"It's about time," Rusty told, "It was just your imagination."

"Yeah…sure. Presea?" Aaron asked, "You haven't talked very much. Is everything okay?"

"I'm just nervous to finally see Genis again…" she answered.

"Oh," Aaron breathed, "Hey, look, I can see the end of the forest!"

"Me too!" Taren cheered.

They ran to the edge of the forest, and squinted as the sunlight struck their faces.

"The sunlight has never felt so warm." Presea smiled.

"Alright, we've still got a way to go before we get to Mizuho. Let's find some animals to battle!" Aaron shouted.

"Oh, that's right. Demonstrating our skills," Rusty said.

"I'll go first. There's a wolf." Aaron stated.

Aaron ran up within eyesight of the wolf. He pulled out his sword, and pointed it near the wolf.

"Bolt!" Aaron yelled.

The wolf became alert, saw Aaron, and charged. Aaron prepared to block the strike, and counter-attacked. The blade penetrated the wolf, and the wolf became even more enraged. Aaron prepared to cast another spell, but was bit in the leg by the wolf. Aaron quickly decided to attack swiftly, and continuously swung his swords at the wolf. Eventually, the wolf tired, and became fatigued. Aaron took his shot, and stabbed the wolf. It fell to the ground, and died.

"Haha! I win, with only minor damage." Aaron chuckled.

"Our turn!" Taren told.

"Taren, are you ready?" Rusty questioned, in a very serious tone.

"So ready." Taren replied, also in the same tone.

They aimed at a bear near the forest. Rusty quickly ran after the bear, and Taren began casting a spell. Rusty struck it three times, and retreated to Taren. The bear charged at Taren, but Rusty counter-attacked, to defend Taren.

"Thunder Arrow!" Taren shouted.

3 orbs of electricity surrounded the bear, then connected, and lightning rained down from the sky upon the bear. It staggered, and Rusty took his shot, with about 7 strikes to fatal areas of the bear's body. It quickly died.

"Nice! I think Genis knows that spell, Taren!" Aaron told.

"Really? Cool!" Taren squealed.

"May…I have a turn?" Presea asked.

"Sure! Do you want a partner?" Aaron questioned.

"No, I'll be fine." Presea insisted.

"Alright then. Good luck!"

Presea walked around the forest, and finally found a fox. She approached it carefully, and threw a stick at it. It noticed her, but didn't do anything.

"Beast!" Presea shouted.

A loud roar and a large blast could be felt even from where Rusty, Taren, and Aaron were standing. The fox became alert that Presea wanted to slay him, so he charged her. She pulled her axe up.

"Eternal Damnation!" she shouted.

The fox's head fell off. Rusty, Taren, and Aaron's jaws all dropped to the ground, quickly followed by their bodies.

"Did I do something wrong?" Presea asked, looking at them.

"That was amazing! It only took one hit!" Aaron shouted.

"How can you do that..?" Rusty questioned.

"I've been using an axe for a long time, I guess." Presea answered.

"We should be moving on to Mizuho. Let's keep going." Rusty told.

"Hey, Rusty, I never noticed how short you looked until you fought with that bear..." Aaron said.

Rusty got this mean look on his face.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY SPECK OF BACTERIA ON THE SURFACE OF YOUR FOOT?" Rusty shouted.

"I never said that!" Aaron quickly explained.

"He just doesn't like being called short." Taren jeered.

"STOP CALLING ME SHORT!" Rusty screamed.

"Fine, whatever." Aaron sighed.

They walked, and soon they were in visibility of the village. A small groud of 3 people were approaching them, and they had weapons drawn.

"Uhh…who are they?" Taren questioned.

"A welcome committee?" Aaron replied.

"I don't think they're that! I think they're going to attack us." Rusty explained.

They all quickly prepared for battle. Presea pulled her axe out, Rusty and Aaron pulled their swords out, and Taren realized he doesn't have a fancy weapon like theirs' at that moment.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Taren squeaked.

"Just get ready. Aaron, you stay back and protect Taren. Presea and I will stay in the front. Ready? They're almost here." Rusty said.

The people approached quickly. The people approaching were dressed in all black, and their clothes covered everything but their eyes.

"Ninjas…" Rusty told.

"Invaders! Prepare to die!" the ninjas said.

"Invaders…? We're not-" Aaron tried to explain.

"Yeah right!" one of them said, throwing a dagger.

The ninjas began to strike. Aaron and Taren began casting spells, while Presea and Rusty charged. Suddenly a burst of attacks were shouted at once.

"Hunting Beast!" Presea screamed.

"Thunder Blade!" Aaron and Taren casted at the same time.

"Rain of Blades!" all three ninjas said at the same time.

"Demonic Circle!" Rusty yelled.

The effects of this amount of attacks at once were drastic. Mass chaos broke out. There were about 40 daggers, and 2 large blades charged with electricity, as well as a spirit animal launched. The three ninjas were blown back about 10 feet in the air, Taren and Aaron both took injuries, and Rusty was lost after his attack. Presea just kept hitting the ninjas. Rusty followed her lead. Soon enough 1 of the ninjas was unconscious.

"Urg. Here Taren. Rub this on your wounds." Aaron told, handing Taren a gel.

Aaron and Taren jumped back up, and prepared to cast more spells. Presea and Rusty were being swarmed with attacks from the 2 remaining ninjas. Presea then fell over.

"." Aaron thought.

"Flame Lance!" Taren shouted.

"Prism Sword!" Aaron casted.

A bizarre mix of spells suddenly occurred. Instead of the desired spells, they blended into one. The effect was devastating, resulting in one of the ninjas actually dieing. Only one was left. They all prepared for an attack.

"Earth Bite!" Aaron casted.

"Ground Dasher!" Taren yelled.

"Eternal Devestation!" Presea attacked with.

"Rising Falcon!" Rusty screamed.

The final ninja became unconscious.

"Nice job! And what the heck happened with Taren and my spell?" Aaron asked.

"I believe that it was a mana mix. It's been happening lately with all this mana in the new world." Presea explained.

"So if we cast spells at the same exact time, they will combine into a more powerful one? That's so cool!" Taren exclaimed.

"Yeah. Well, let's take these unconscious ninjas to Mizuho with us." Aaron suggested.

They picked the bodies up, and walked into the village, heading straight to Sheena.

"Hey, Sheena…your guards attacked us, saying we were invaders. 1 is dead, and 2 are unconscious. I'm sorry, but we had to get in." Aaron explained.

"I'm sorry…I didn't expect you to come back. I had them in the forest to protect our new village." Sheena told.

"Oh, well, I made a promise that I need to fulfill." Aaron said.

"Alright, well, thank you for returning the bodies." Sheena said.

"Not a problem. I'll be heading to the inn now." Aaron stated.

Aaron exited the house, and went to a different one.

"Hey, Aaron!" Genis shouted.

"Hey, just the person I was looking for. I have a present for ya." Aaron told.

"Really? Cool!" Genis exclaimed.

"Haha…so much like Taren." Aaron told.

Aaron took Genis over to Presea.

"Here you go, Presea. Genis is right here."

"Genis…thank you, Aaron."

"Not a problem." Aaron stated, then left.

"Presea…I've…been wanting to see you." Genis said.

"That's why I had Aaron take me here. I wanted to see you too."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

"Would….you marry me?" Genis asked, pulling out a sparkling diamond.

"Marry…?"

"Yes. Be my wife. I love you, and I hope you feel the same way about me. I couldn't work up the courage to ask you during our journey. I promise to be more courageous."

"Genis, I'd love to marry you. I love you too…that's why I wanted to see you again."

"Really?"

"Yes."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"We should go tell the others." Genis suggested.

"Yes, they can help us prepare."

"Yeah."

Genis and Presea left the room, and met with the others. Genis went straight to Raine, and Presea went with him.

"Hey, Raine, guess what!" Genis squeaked.

"What is it, Genis?" Raine calmly replied.

"Presea and I are getting married!"

Raine pulled a full body jaw-drop, landing with a thud on the ground. She regained her composure.

"What? Are you sure you're ready?" she asked.

"I'm sure. We love each other…isn't that enough?"

"I suppose that is the true meaning of a wedding… Come to think of it, I've never been to a wedding… This might actually be fun."

Zelos, Sheena, Taren, Rusty, and Colette approached them.

"Who's getting married?" Zelos asked.

"Genis and Presea." Raine answered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. This little brat is stealing my little cutie?" Zelos exclaimed.

"Who are you calling a little brat!" Genis shouted.

"Why, only you, of course." Zelos snapped.

"You need to learn to shut up!" Sheena told, slapping Zelos across the face.

"Stop it, all of you!" Colette demanded, "If they're going to get married, we should be happy!"

"Colette's right. After Kratos is healed, we should begin preparing this wedding." Raine suggested.

"Yeah. How is that guy anyway? Did he awaken while I was gone?" Aaron asked.

"He's still unconscious. We're bringing in some of the best doctors as we speak. And…Lloyd refuses to leave his side. We're going to have Colette talk with him, so don't be worried." Raine explained.

"That guy is so lucky to be alive. I did test on the crash site, and that rock wasn't ordinary. I'm going to have scientific researchers begin to analyze the samples."

"You can do that? I didn't know the military does that type of research… Maybe I should join the military…" Raine thought aloud.

"We'd love to have all of you. You all are great warriors, and having you on the militia would be wonderful. Although, Sheena and Zelos I believe were your names…we probably won't be able to accept you. It's not anything personal, it's just that you own a village, and it's not in the Iselia-Triet region."

"Oh, that's okay. We have to take care of this place anyway. It's still developing...maybe someday we'll make an alliance with a nearby village and start our own militia." Sheena said.

"Perhaps. It would be interesting. Iselia-Triet is always open for alliances, though. You get a great amount of funding. So, keep us in consideration. Anyway, I should probably be off. I have to find my Rheaird, meaning I have to go into that wretched forest again."

"Oh, actually, we found your Rheiard. It's in a storage house. I'll go get it for you."

"Thank you. Oh, and Raine, are you coming back with me, or staying here? I think we should leave Genis here, to wait for Kratos."

"I wish to remain here. I think it's for the best." Raine answered.

Zelos and some other men carried in the Rheiard.

"Alright. I'll see you all later." Aaron said

The rest of them waved farewell, and Aaron took off for Iselia, his home. Or, his home for what he knew.

RP #21 - Confused God. Posted 11-10-05

Rusty sighed as Aaron took off, almost immediately after having met, and turned to Taren with a sudden thought.

"Hey, didn't he say he was going to teach you some spells or something?"

Taren nodded.

"Yeah, he showed me a few, but he said it'd be better to wait for a storm, remember? Anyway, we wern't around long enough for him to show me anything really cool..."

He turned to Sheena, Zelos and Collette and nudged Rusty in the side.

"I think now might be a pretty good time to introduce ourselves."

Rusty startled.

"Oh, right. Umm, hi. I'm Rusty Owiien, this is my friend Taren...I don't think we've met you guys, but you with the red hair...you look very familiar."

Zelos smirked.

"Well of course, everybody knows about the great Zelos!"

Rusty squinted.

"Err...who? I thought you looked familiar by image, but the name isn't registering anything."

Zelos looked disappointed, while Sheena smirked in the much the same way he had. In fact, it appeared as though the two had just traded expressions. Rusty jumped.

"Ah, right! You were at that crater, wern't you? From the meteor, I remember seeing you...but it looked like you were flying...maybe I was just seeing things from all of the dust blowing around."

Zelos gave a nervous smile. It was such an obvious fake that anyone other than Rusty would have noticed that he was nervous, and Taren just happened to be glancing through the window.

"Uh, Rusty, that girl over there looks familiar...she was at the impact crater, too! Remember?"

Rusty looked out and across the street into the window of an adjacent restaurant. There, sitting at a booth, was a girl with medium-long brown hair.

"That's her! That's the girl who attacked us at the crater!"

Sheena stepped forward and joined in on the staring.

"What? You mean Terra? I can't imagine why she would attack you guys...she's a very nice girl, really."

Colette spoke very timidly, so much so that the others just barely heard her.

"Umm...wasn't Terra saying something about figures moving around in the dust storm? Maybe she thought you were one of them..."

Rusty nodded.

"That makes sense, I saw something like that as well. I thought I was just hallucinating, but if two people saw the same thing..."

Rusty turned to Taren.

"A-ha. I told you I wasn't seeing things."

Taren rolled his eyes.

"Congratulations, you were right. That makes a grand total of, what, three times? Don't get too pleased with yourself."

Rusty glared at Genis.

"Thanks for the note of confidence."

He turned to Sheena.

"Heh, sorry, we didn't finish introductions, did we?"

Sheena startled as though she just realized it herself.

"Right. I'm Sheena, this guy here, Zelos, is my husband. This girl here is Colette, Terra is the one you saw across the street...Genis and Presea are in the other room, but you've already met Presea. Umm, I don't know where everyone else is right now, but that's most of us."

Zelos pointed at Rusty and Taren.

"So, the short one is Rusty and the shorter one is Taren, right?"

Rusty gave Zelos a piercing glare and returned the point.

"Who did you say is vertically handicapped and could be stepped on!"

Zelos backed up and gestured away from Rusty.

"Hey, man, don't be so hard on yourself. I didn't go that far."

Taren smirked.

"Ignore him, he always flips out when somebody calls him short. You'd think he'd have grown up enough by now to ignore it."

Rusty sighed.

"Yeah, well...anyway, it's nice to meet you all. If you don't mind, I think I'm going to go talk to that Terra girl and see if she remembers her victims."

Sheena shook her head.

"Sorry, but you might not want to bother her for awhile. Colette and Lloyd are just about to reveal a few important things to her about her...heritage. Anyway, Genis and Presea are about to get married, why don't you two just hang around and celebrate with us? We have plenty of room for you two to stay here in New Mizuho."

Rusty nodded.

"Thanks a lot. We'll do our best to pay for the rooms as soon as we get the chance to take a few bounties. We don't really have a huge itinerary as of this moment."

Zelos laughed.

"Don't worry about it, shorty, we'll let you off free--ow!"

Sheena kicked Zelos in the shin for calling Rusty short. It gave Rusty a feeling of satisfaction, and gratitude towards Sheena, who replaced Zelos' words.

"Sorry about him. What he meant to say was that we'd be perfectly happy to offer you free rooms for as long as you need them. Consider it a settlement for my guards attacking you, alright?"

Rusty nodded.

"Thanks a lot. Actually, now that I think about it, some of your names do sound a little familiar."

Taren elbowed Rusty.

"Duh! These are the guys who defeated the Cruxis who controlled the world years ago. Seriously, did you register anything you were told in history class?"

Rusty scratched the back of his head.

"Heh, well, it was a very tiring class, y'know? As long as I kepy my hand in front of my eyes nobody could tell if I was awake or not so..."

Taren sighed.

"You're a lost cause."

Rusty glared.

"You're not exactly reknownable, yourself."

The two glared each other down. Colette began to laugh softly, getting louder until Rusty and Taren looked to see what was so funny.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you look so much like Lloyd and Genis when we were all younger. It's almost like watching them in a memory."

Sheena giggled.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, they act exactly like those two."

Rusty looked confused.

"Umm...sorry, I don't know what you're talking about...who's Lloyd, again? Genis I think I know."

Taren sighed again.

"Lloyd Irving, Rusty! It's the Lloyd Irving. Man, you are waaay behind the times."

Rusty nodded.

"Oh, Irving, now that you mention the last name, I'm pretty sure he was an important guy. He's here?"

Sheena nodded.

"Yep, but you'll have to wait to see him. Colette, you and Lloyd should go and confront Terra before she leaves the restaurant."

Colette nodded. A sad look returned to her face as she realized once again what she had to do. Rusty, Taren and Arron's arrival had distracted her at first, but now she had no excuse. She would find Lloyd, and clear the illusion for Terra. Hopefully it would work out for the best.

Colette walked slowly out of the building, leaving Sheena and Zelos to show Rusty and Taren to their room. They unpacked while Sheena and Zelos departed to address their own problems. After they had properly emulated themselves to their temporary residence, they both sat down. Taren looked distraught about something, and when Rusty inquired he answered nervously.

"Don't you remember that thing Aaron was going on about in the forest? That thing he moisturized the ground to try and find, but couldn't? Well, I felt something like a mana presense, but I just ignored it. Now, though, I keep feeling the same presense, like it's really close. Also, with everyone talking about those shadowy figures from the impact crater, I can't help thinking it's not all just coincidence."

Rusty shrugged.

"It's impossible to say anything for sure. It may all just be a myth generated by our imaginations, and it may be an actual threat. The best we can do in this situation is keep our guard up. We are residing within a ninja village, I'm sure any threat that shows itself around here can be dealt with easily."

Taren smirked.

"Normally your a total idiot, but whenever you tackle a serious subject you have a ray of intelligence to your speech. You should do that more often."

Rusty narrowed his eyes.

"Your don't have enough time to cast a spell before I smack you over the head, you know."

Taren laughed.

"Nevermind. Let's head outside and see what's going on. I haven't been here before, I've only heard of New Mizuho. I wouldn't mind a chance to take a look at the culture."

Rusty nodded in agreement.

"Right on. Let's head out, then."

The two left their room, careless of whatever might be outside. Meanwhile, not far into the forest, something was taking watch over the village, plotting the best possible time and method for attack...