Tales of a Journey
By: Rogue White Dragon
Disclaimer: I don't own TOS
Chapter 24 – Betrayal
(Lloyds' POV)
"Presea, you ok?"
The pink haired young woman groaned a little in response, blinking her eyes up at Zelos, slightly annoyed look on her face
"M' tryin' to sleep."
She murmured, closing her eyes again. Zelos grinned, turning his attention to the rest of us, who stood patiently by the door
"You going to be ok here, Presea?"
Sheena asked, a worried tone in her voice. Her gaze shifted from Zelos to me, to Presea, who muttered some incoherent assurance.
"Well, we should get going, then."
I said, looking around at our little group.
"Shouldn't Lan stay behind?"
Sheena asked, taking a quick glance at our son. He'd barely spoken to her since we brought Presea to Flanoir, and the glare he shot her told us he was still mad. Sheena, being the mature ninja she was, didn't understand what he was so upset about, and chose instead to blame the problem on Siena. Siena, in turned, kept close to Lan, and ducked behind him every time Sheena gave her another icy stare.
"Well, Lan's doing fine. Besides, right now, we could use all the help we can get."
Zelos offered carefully, looking like he half expected Sheena to rip his head off. Looking at her though, she just might. Stepping between the two, I asked hastily
"Are we meeting up with the others in Meltokio? Or are we going straight to Colette and Matrim?"
Truth be told, I was rather anxious to find my family, who knew what condition they were in? Colette was far to gentle to try and break out by herself, with Mattrim there… Breathe in and out, that's it Lloyd, they'll be ok…Exhaling slowly, I averted my gaze to Yuan, who was now speaking up
"They'll get out of there ok, I'll tell them where you guys are, I'm supposed to meet them about now anyway. You can meet up with them in that invisible fortress."
Before anyone could respond to him, Yuan was surrounded in mana, and he disappeared.
"So, uh, I guess we're going…"
Lan started, a little uncertain
"Yep, now, who remembers the way back?"
I asked, scratching the back of my head nervously.
"Lloyd…"
Sheena hissed, all her pent up wrath suddenly built up, and pointed at me. I winced under her angry glare, before Kratos spoke up, saving me from what promised to be a rather painful…death.
"I'll lead the way."
Kratos headed out the door, and we all followed. I took a last glance at Presea, then closed the door. We went to our reihards, and once again, went to the invisible fortress.
(Raine's POV)
I tapped my foot against the stony ground impatiently, looking around and glaring at our surroundings. Genis grimaced at me, and Regal just sighed again
"Calm down, Raine, Yuan'll be here."
Rounding on him, I growled
"After hearing that, how do you expect me to be calm?"
This was definitely a road block in any plans we had to save Sylvarant from Arkus, and a possible civil war. I cursed loudly, glared at the two men with me, and cursed again. Never had I thought that he'd be behind all this. Escaping from the Meltokio prison was one thing, overhearing what we did was another. At least they hadn't seen us. Which meant that he didn't know we knew what he was up to. I cursed a third time, wincing when I thought of the Princess. She was in more danger, than. She had to be re-located.
"It would seem I'm late."
Yuan said casually, suddenly standing to my left. I nearly hit him with my staff. I really wanted something to hit right now. Something to hit really, really hard.
"Yuan, you being late is small compared to…"
(Lan's POV)
The others seemed to know where we were going, so Siena and I just tagged along behind them. Eventually, we came up to a tree that had long gashes, and everyone stopped walking.
"So, just past this, you'll find it. Be careful."
Kratos said, moving a side to allow us to pass. I frown at him, as Lloyd spoke up
"You're not coming with?"
"No, I've got to meet with Arthur. He was gathering some information for me when I last left him."
Lloyd gave a small nod, accepting a map from Kratos as it was handed to him, and led our party as we walked into enemy territory. Just like last time, once we passed the edge of whatever barrier kept the place invisible, the surrounding area just suddenly came into view, the base was three times the size of the last one, with white buildings that reached into the sky, taller than the castle in Meltokio. Siena gapped at it beside me, and I grinned at her
"Kind of cool, huh?"
I asked. Well, aside from the fact that this place belonged to our enemy, it kind of was.
"Everyone, move!"
Lloyd whispered urgently. Sentry guards could be heard walking towards us, so we quickly moved out of the way, hiding behind the stone wall the surrounded the base. While the two guards talked with each other, we slipped passed them, and into the base. Siena snickered a little, so I grabbed her wrist, whispering
"Quiet, or they'll hear us."
She grinned, though, and replied
"Those guys should be fired. This was too easy."
I frowned a little at her, not knowing what to say. That was true, it was too easy. Far too easy. I followed the others with a tension in my shoulders, wondering if any of them thought so too.
(Lloyd's POV)
"Alright, this makes things a little complicated."
I grimaced at the map Kratos had given me from Arthur, and frowned at our little fork in the road. Left, or right? The map didn't say.
"We could just split into two groups."
Zelos suggested. I frowned at him, and shook my head
"There's only five of us, I don't think we'd fair very well in smaller numbers."
Not to mention that there was only one map, which you couldn't exactly split into two groups.
"Well, let's just go left."
Sheena suggested, pointing towards the left hallway. I shrugged, and replied
"Sure, might as well."
Not like anyone had any other ideas. Leading the way, our group stayed silent as we walked through the strangely quiet hallway. I froze suddenly, glancing back at the others.
"Guys, something's wrong…"
There should be more people. More guards. We should at least have met some sort of resistance by now. I doubted that Arkus would leave one of his invisible fortresses unguarded, knowing that we have found our way to one before. So why would there be such empty hallways?
"Lloyd?"
Sheena asked, her eyes wide as she stared down the hallway in front of me. I turned my head a little, so see three men clad in armor, none of which I recognized, and Matrim stood with them. He stared wide eyed at me,
"Dad…"
One of the men cuffed him across the head, while another one held a blade to my son's throat. I gripped the handles of my swords tightly, glaring at the three. I'd kill them.
"You might want to take your hands away from you swords there, Irving. I wouldn't want to feel threatened."
The man smirked at me while he said it, so I lowered my hands to my side, wishing that they were close enough that I could get to them before they were able to do anything to Matrim.
"Good, now, if you'll all just place your weapons on the ground, and step to the side, we can do this without any bloodshed."
Fuming, I unbuckled my belt that held my swords, and dropped them to the ground. Everyone else behind me followed my example, as I stepped away from my swords.
(Siena's POV)
Lan raised a hand to undo his hidden daggers, but I gave him a quick shake of my head, which he noticed – thanks goodness- and simply dropped his sword to the ground. We stepped away from the weapons, and watched quietly as one of the men walked over to us, and gathered up all the weapons. He looked at me, with a raised eyebrow
"What's an elf doing with a bunch of humans?"
He asked curiously. I shrugged a little in response, not sure if I could say anything and not endanger the boy they held at sword point.
"Bring 'em to the dungeon, we'll take this kid back to his room."
One of the two men who stood about ten feet away ordered the man who stood by us, as they began to leave. I nudged Lan in the shoulder, nodding my head over to the backs of the two men walking away. If Lan could get the one leading the kid, I was certain I could hit the other. Lan got my meaning and grimaced as he slipped a blade out, and threw it at the man I wanted him to, hitting the man directly between his shoulders. I gathered mana, and aimed a fireball at the other man, who turned around looking a little surprised as his companion suddenly fell, nearly landing on Lloyd's kid in the process. Crying out in pain as the fireball hit him, Lan pulled my arm, dragging me out of the way as the third one attacked me with his sword. Lloyd picked up both his blades in a heart beat, and ran forward, as Zelos and Sheena lifted up their weapons, and attacked the third guy.
"Matrim, get back!"
Lloyd ordered the boy, who obeyed his father, and stepped back from them. Lan and I hurried over to the child, and a moment later, the three men were no longer an issue, and Lloyd quickly went over to his youngest son, hugging the kid out of relief.
"Dad…"
The boy began, looking around at us. I was surprised when the boy began to change, transforming into a monster that laughed at Lloyd gleefully.
"You fool."
He hissed, smirking at us each in turn. I gapped at him, what the heck…?
(Lloyd's POV)
Saying I was furious would be putting it lightly. I glared at the monster in front of us. Had they used an exphere to make him look like my son? I can't believe we were almost tricked by this.
"Where are they?"
I demanded coldly, my blades already drawn once again. The monster laughed again, smiling at us.
"If I told you, that'd take all the fun out of it."
"Out of what?"
I growled, my blades shook in my hands, and it took all my will power not to just kill him there.
"You'll see."
The thing smirked again, before turning around to face Sheena, and lunged. They crashed into a wall that buckled, and twisted, opening a door that closed immediately behind them. Cursing loudly, I ran to the wall, Zelos doing the same, as we felt along the wall, trying to find out how to open it up again. With no luck, Zelos and I faced the remaining two members of our party, grim looks on our faces. They knew we were here, so now what?"
(Rain's POV)
"So let me get this straight,"
Yuan was saying, and incredulous look on his face.
"you guys heard Arkus talking to Arthur, in the dungeons?"
I shook my head, glaring at the other half elf, as I clarified
"No, it was on our way out of the castle."
"And they were saying…"
I'd explained it to him several times already, what was so hard to believe about it?
"Arkus was asking if Arthur knew where Lloyd's group was, and Arthur was telling him that he'd given Kratos a partial map of the base where Colette and Matrim are being held. Arkus asked if Arthur had any other appointments with you and Kratos, Arthur said he did, and they went on to talk about everything that Arthur had said to our group."
Yuan exhaled slowly, and said carefully
"Did they mention anything else?"
I shook my head. Arthur was on the side of his father, and was back stabbing us to do it. Now wonder we'd been captured, Arthur probably told where we were going. I scowled inwardly at him. How could we have been stupid enough to believe the guy in the first place? His father was becoming king, which would mean he'd be king next. How could he possibly want to put his cousin, the princess, back in power, when he could take it himself? What was that all about when he said that Arkus killed his mother? Was that a lie too?
"I'd better tell Kratos this. I hope they haven't gone in by now."
Yuan grimaced a little, and said before leaving
"Presea's in Flanoir, go there. I'll try to catch Lloyd and the others."
Yuan left in his typical mana/light show, and I turned my attention to my brother and Regal
"So…guess we're going to Flanoir?"
Genis asked after a moment of silence. I gave a grave nod, and we left Meltokio completely, making sure we weren't being followed. I hope they're ok…
(Sheena's POV)
I groaned a little, rubbing my head with a wince. Where was I? It was quite dark, and judging by the breathing sounds coming from my right, I definitely wasn't alone.
"Sheena?"
Surprised, I turned to Colette's shaky voice.
"Colette?"
She
sighed in relief
"I thought it was you. Are you ok?"
I gave a nod, realized she probably couldn't see me, and replied
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are we?"
"I'm not sure."
She sounded worried, and after I crawled over to her, noticed that Matrim was curled up beside her, fast asleep. This close, I could see them better. Colette looked fine, but stressed.
"Colette, how are you guys doing?"
I checked to see if I had my cards with me, and frowned when I found them gone.
"I think so, yeah. How about Lloyd?"
"He's doing fine."
She sighed in relief, and asked
"They're here, right? Somewhere?"
I gave her a nod, and looked at her curiously when she grimaced.
"It's a trap. I wish you hadn't come."
"Colette, Lloyd loves you two, there's no way any of us would not have come."
Colette gave a small shake of her head, and said
"No, Sheena, they're after you, I wish you hadn't come."
00000
Sooooo…..long wait, I know. I apologize greatly for it, too. I just had a few exams, and then starting the second semester, I've got some annoyed teachers who give way too much homework. Oh, and I started playing Tales of Legendia, so that distracted me too…and guild wars, so I guess I can't blame my lack of updates on my work load from school, huh? I'm so sorry, really, I am.
Anywho, thanks for the many, many reviews!
Hamlord – haha, well, you never know…Colette just might have an accident…. thanks for reviewing
Untitled Sorrow – Hey, great to see u review again! Thanx!
No Name – yeah, I know, I made Yuan a little…loopy…guess I've read too many fics with Yuan like that…thanks for the reviews
Every1zacritic – haha, glad you like my fic . I made this chapter a little longer, since you seemed so earnest that I update. Thanks for reviewing!
MGP – well, I'm kind of stuck with how I'll end it, so I much just do a multiple ending thing. Thanks for reviewing!
Daniel the Dragonfly – I'll make up my pretty quick (I hope) about the whole 'sheloyd' thing. Thank you for the review!
Haha, got a lot of 'sheloyd' requests. Poor Colette, everyone's against her…
Well, I hope you guys like this update, and I'll try to make another one pretty quick.