Tales of a Journey

By: Rogue White Dragon (aka dragoness)

Disclaimer: I don't own TOS

Chapter 12 – Elder

I couldn't believe my ears. The King of Tethe'alla was dead? The left Arkus in his place. That definitely did make matters worse. Tethe'alla's army was by far superior to the army of Sylvarant. With the combined forces of Tethe'alla, Mizuho, and the Elves (we still had to contact them somehow to tell them that we'd saved Siena) it was only a matter of time before Sylvarant was taken over. Maybe the summoning spirits were the only way to defeat them. I mean, the only that could stop an army that large would be the mana canon, right? But, did we really want to kill all those people? There had to be a different way around this, without any bloodshed.

"Uh, hey, Lloyd?"

Lan asked, looking a little uncertain.

"What?"

I asked a little uneasily. He couldn't possibly know about…

"That Arkus guy has a son, right? If he was willing to bargain for him once, wouldn't he do it again?"

That might just work.

"We should find where the Princess is, too. I doubt the king died a natural way."

Sheena said with a frown.

"If we could find out for sure how the King died, maybe we could have Arkus accused of treason."

Raine spoke up, looking a little thoughtful. This all sounded good and all, but how the heck would we go about doing any of this?

"We should start with finding Arkus's son. If anything, we might be able to delay any attack on Sylvarant."

That was quite true.

"What are Yuan and Kratos up to?"

Zelos asked curiously. He turned his gaze towards the three Renegades who were currently in the room with us.

"They're trying to find the Princess's location. Lord Yuan believes that she has gone into hiding."

That would make sense. If some bastard cousin took over the thrown, it probably wouldn't be at all safe for the legitimate first born of a deceased King to stick around.

"So, where would Arkus's son be?"

"Maybe we should try that invisible fortress where we found Sheena. Or maybe the Meltokio Palace itself."

Oi, crud, crap. So, which place to search first? We just came from Meltokio, so they might be on the look out for us, or something. The Invisible Fortress sounded a little safer, but the security there might have been increased since we saved Sheena. So, what should we do?"

"You know, I'm not quite sure what the hell is going on here, but if my father's working with this Arkus guy, maybe he'd know where the guy's son is."

Siena sounded half annoyed, and half bored. That made a little sense, I guess. Plus, we could kill two birds with one stone, and inform her father that she was safe, and that he didn't have to work with Arkus.

"Then I guess we'll work with that."

I replied, looking around at my group. I received a few nods, before Regal said

"Now we just need to find out where the Elder is."

Siena frowned, and replied

"I think he's in Sybak."

Lan glanced at her, and asked

"Why would you think that?"

She shrugged.

"Humans are stupid. Those idiot guards talked about it right in front of me. They said something about my father going to Sybak, while the other elves went on some mission thing."

Sheena frowned

"That must've been when they attacked Mizuho."

I blinked at her a few times. Now that she mentioned it, Genis and Raine had mentioned something about Elves attacking the village.

"Then there could be a chance that he's still there, right?"

Genis asked, frowning at what I thought must've been a memory of Mizuho.

"Then that's settled, we'll go to Sybak."

A few hours later, we were nearly at the appointed town. We landed our Reihards at a nearby forest, and headed toward Sybak. I glanced at the forest. I never realized just how much Symphonia was covered in forests. Good thing for us, I guess.

"So, how do we go about looking for him?"

I asked our group once we entered the town. Siena looked at me like I was an idiot.

"I can sense his mana, you know."

She glanced at Raine and Genis

"Can't you guys sense it too?"

She didn't give either half elves a chance to reply, because she was already stalking down the street.

"She's a little cranky, isn't she?"

I asked out loud to no one in particular. Lan glared at me, and replied

"It's only because we're meeting her father. She doesn't exactly like the guy."

I found myself blinking at my son in confusion. He glared at me again before following the elf. What the heck has gotten into him? For the second time that day, I was wondering whether or not Lan had somehow found out I was his father. He seemed a little angry with me just then.

"Lloyd, I think you should probably tell him soon."

Zelos said while shooting a glance towards Lan. I sighed, and replied

"Alright, I'll do it. Just, not now."

I followed the two youths before any of the other adults could reply. Siena and Lan had stopped in front of an Inn. Well, I guess that made logical sense. It's not like the Elder was staying here permanently. Our group walked in, and we followed Siena upstairs. Presea stopped to talk to the Inn keeper, explaining that we were just looking for someone. Without knocking, Siena entered one of the rooms quietly. The rest of us followed to find the Elder sitting in a chair by a window. He was staring at his daughter, with a frown, while also somehow managing to look a little surprised.

(Siena's POV)

I glared at my father before looking down at the ground. No doubt he'd find something else to be ashamed in me for, since I was rescued by humans. Stupid, stupid humans. Lan was standing beside me, and without looking, I could see him glancing from my father to me. The room was silent for a long time, before Lloyd finally broke the silence.

"Hi. Remember us?"

I was nearly shaking with fury. That idiot. What was he sounding so cheerful about?

"Yes, I do."

My father answered calmly. Of course, I wouldn't expect otherwise from him. 'A true elf never looses their composure'. This was a lesson I was obviously sorely lacking.

"Well, we just wanted you to know, that your daughters safe and sound, and that you don't have to work with Arkus anymore."

Lloyd sounded a little easy, as if he could tense the tension between my father and I. Stupid human, like he could sense anything.

"I can see that, and I thank you."

I frowned at my father. Like he really cared. He only pretended too. That's just the way he was.

"We were wondering, would you happen to know where Arkus's son is staying? We're trying to find him."

My father frowned at Lloyd, and replied

"He's in Meltokio with his father. After Arkus is proclaimed King, Arthur will soon be named his heir."

The stupidity of humans truly ran deep. How could they not have thought of that? Lloyd cursed slightly. Well, it would be kind of difficult to get to the guy now, of course. He'd have about a dozen bodyguards.

"This just makes life difficult, doesn't it?"

Zelos asked cheerfully. I wanted to light the guy on fire. Real fire. What kind of a moron could sound cheerful about something like that? Stupid human.

"Well,"

Lloyd began again, after a moment of awkward silence.

"we'll just be leaving now, then."

They turned to leave, so I moved to follow

"Siena."

My father said sternly. What kind of a lecture would I get from him today? I just don't freaking care. I stopped, though, and waited for him to say something. Lan and Sheena saw me stop, and they paused just outside the doorway, waiting.

"You can not go with them."

Like he had any right to tell me what to do.

"I'll do what I like."

I snapped.

"Siena, I'm father. You must do as I say. You are to return home immediately. Where they're going is far too dangerous for a girl like you."

Girl like me? What the hell was that supposed to mean

"I'm not going home. I am going with them."

I replied. Maybe it's just that I hated him so much, that disobeying him seemed to make me feel a little better.

"You will not."

He stood up from where he was, and began walking towards me. I really didn't feel like a big fight with my father right now. I stepped out of the room, and slammed the door. In his face, of course, before running down the hall, past the others, and out of the Inn. I just wanted to be alone right now.

(Lloyd's POV)

Siena ran past us, running out of the Inn

"Siena!"

Lan called, about to follow her. I grabbed his arm as he passed, and asked

"What just happened?"

He glared at me, and said

"Nothing, but somebody's got to go with her."

I frowned, and replied

"Then I'll go. I'll meet the rest of you back at the Renegade's base."

He looked about to argue, before his mother grabbed his other arm, and said

"Listen to him, Lan. Let him talk to her."

Lan stared at me for a moment, before giving a small nod. I left the group, and began searching for her in the town. It wasn't an easy search either. I finally found her outside just outside of Sybak, sitting under a tree.

"Hey."

I said while walking towards her. She glared at me, before folding her arms across her chest.

"What do you want?"

She demanded coldly. Lan had said she didn't like her father before we had found the Elvin Elder. I chose to stay quiet, remembering what it had been like when I had been angry with own father.

"Why are you here?"

She asked finally. She didn't seem so angry anymore, and was currently staring at the grass.

"Just waiting till you're ready to go back."

She looked up at me for a moment, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

"Back with the others."

I clarified. Maybe she thought I meant back to her father. She grinned slightly, before saying

"So I'm allowed to come with you guys?"

"Yeah."

I replied. As I thought about her slightly crazy mood swings, I had doubts that this was a good idea.

"Then I'm ready."

She stood up, surveying the area. I stood up as well, and was about to turn towards the forest where my reihard was pointed, when she said

"You know, he's sad. He's going to start to hate you soon, if he finds out himself."

She was talking about Lan. I knew it instantly. Why was everyone getting so…well, I'd tell him on my own, when I felt like it.

"I don't think he's been sleeping well. Not knowing who his father is, is really beginning to upset him."

She sounded suddenly angry, as if it was all my fault. I didn't even know he was my son until a couple days ago. I was about to tell her that when I told him would be my choice, when she suddenly smirked

"If you don't tell him when we get back, I'll do it myself."

My jaw dropped. She was pure evil.

"I'll be nice, though, and give you a full twenty-four hours. Then I'll just tell him myself."

She gave me a stern look, before marching off towards my reihard. I glared at her back as I followed. Evil? She was evil incarnate, that's what she was.

00000

O.o this chapter didn't really get anywhere, did it? Sorry. I wanted to update this before the weekend. I'm kind of making the elf leader guy into a bit of a jerk. Well, I don't think I'll be able to update this until Monday. I've got to work the next couple days, and I've got the night shifts, so when I'm not working, I'll be sleeping. Any who, please leave a review!

Thanks to those who did review: Hemi-Rose, Luigi III, Yukashi Tenshi, LJ3, and Fan Fan Girl.

thanks for the reviews. :)