Tales of a Journey
By: Rogue White Dragon (aka Dragoness)
Disclaimer: I don't own TOS
Chapter 26 – Traitor
(Siena's POV)
Pointing at the large wooden door in front of me, I frowned slightly.
"This is where I was sensing her earlier, but now she's, gone…"
I said in bewilderment. How did that happen? I couldn't even sense Sheena anymore. Was she dead? That wouldn't be good. The last thing we needed right now was to have Lloyd snap and go crazy. Lloyd visibly twitched at this news, and was about to turn away, when a quiet voice called from within the barred wooden door
"Who's there?"
Lloyd paled, and called
"Colette? Is that you?"
"Lloyd!"
She sounded relieved, and said urgently
"They took Sheena and Mattrim away."
Her distressed tone made us all grimace.
"Back away from the door, Colette. I'm going to break it down."
Lloyd ordered as he unsheathed his swords
"Alright."
Colette's unquestionable faith that he'd free her was astounding. Personally, if someone was going to blast open my cell door, I wouldn't be that calm. Bringing his swords together, then down, he yelled a quick 'demon fang!' that split the door in half. Surprised, we peered through the crack, where Colette soon blinked out at us. Lloyd pulled the half of the door with hinges opening it enough for her to step through. The second she did, he reacted in much the same way he had when we thought we'd found Mattrim. Hugging her, he said
"You're not going to turn into a monster, right, Colette?"
She smiled, despite our situation, and replied
"No."
"Glad to hear it."
Taking her hand, he turned to the rest of us.
"Any ideas where they could be taking Sheena and Mattrim?"
We all gave nugatory shakes of our heads. Hearing someone on the stairway that led to the small prison we were in, we say a figure limp towards us. Lloyd drew his swords once again, and stepped in front of our group.
"Who…"
He trailed off when he realized who it was. Arthur stood there, holding a wounded shoulder. He tried to smile at us, but it turned into a wince as he said
"Seems my father found out I was leaking information to the Renegades."
It was a sad explanation, cause wouldn't he be in a cell too, then? I must've been the only person thinking that way, because Zelos walked over to the guy, and did a small first aid spell. Why are humans so simple? This could be another monster in the form of someone we knew again.
"Arthur, we need your help."
Lloyd was right down to business. Arthur raised an eyebrow, and asked
"With what?"
"We don't know where they would have taken Sheena and Mattrim."
"Oh, right."
Arthur paused for a moment as he thought about it.
"Well, I'd guess that he'd probably take them back to Meltokio."
"Meltokio?"
Zelos asked with a frown
"Why right there? I mean, right where he's got all those citizens? We're pretty well known, you know. The people know we wouldn't do anything to harm this world."
Arthur frowned at him, and gave an irritated grunt.
"Maybe, since that's the case, he wants you to attack the palace. Since the people seem to think so well of you, wouldn't having you do something like that make people think badly of you?"
I narrowed my gaze at the man's back. Just what was he up to?
"Hey, Arthur, I've got a question."
Yuan and Kratos had transported behind the man, glaring at him as he turned around to face them. Yuan was holding his large weapon threateningly, and Kratos's scowl could have woken the dead.
"Did Arkus really kill your mother?"
Arthur flinched under Yuan's gaze, before darting a look to us quickly. Lloyd, the-ever-so-innocent-idiot, spoke up in confusion
"Dad? Yuan? What are you guys doing?"
Without replying, Kratos sent his sword down, flinging a mass of mana at Arkus's son, who dodged it quickly, as he jumped out of harms way.
"This puts a damper on things."
Arthur grinned at us, and shrugged a little.
"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?"
Lloyd demanded, brandishing his swords once again. He looked about ready to kill whoever spoke first. I tugged on Lan's sleeve, and whispered
"I think your dad's going to need mental help after this."
Lan grinned at me, and replied
"Like you're one to talk, you walking enigma?"
Feigning hurt, I cuffed the back of his head with a fist, and smirked a little
"I'm the good kind of crazy."
Rolling his eyes, his attention went back towards Arthur and his dad, where an argument was now taking place. Well, and argument of swords. When did that happen?
"You'll all have to get out of here now. We'll take care of Arthur. Lloyd!"
Yuan said with a growl, turning to the read clad swordsman. Lloyd shoved Arthur back with his swords, and glared at Yuan
"And go where, Yuan? We still don't know where Sheena and Mattrim are."
"You could check out Meltokio, of course."
Arthur said spitefully.
"I didn't lie about that. I know they're being taken there. It's a trap, though, so do take care of yourselves."
The sarcastic response nearly sent Lloyd into the loony bin.
"Bastard!"
Kratos stopped his son before he could attack the young man again; causing Lloyd to gave his father a dark look.
"Lloyd, let's just go."
Colette said softly. Lloyd looked over at his wife, and finally nodded to the rest of us. I frowned a little thoughtfully. When was it decided that Lloyd would be our leader? Strange, it just kind of turned out that way.
"I think I would have made a great leader, don't you think, Lan?"
I asked him sweetly. Lan shot me a funny look, and followed after the others. I glared at his back, and hissed
"Don't ignore me, Lan."
He did so as we fled the fortress, Kratos and Yuan fighting with Arthur as we left. They were probably going to transport out of there when they finished. I wonder if I could learn that skill. Wow, that'd be fun! My run turned into a skip as we reached our reihards, and I knew by the look on Lan's face that he didn't want to know what I was thinking. I laughed a little, and we headed to Flanoir to regroup.
(Raine's POV)
"Why can't anything just be simple?"
I demanded, glaring at both Regal and Genis as we waited in Presea's room for the others. This whole situation was just beginning to get out of hand. We started out just wanting to save Sheena, and now we were trying to save the world. Again! Thinking back, though, our first journey went sort of like this, too. We started out wanting to save one world, ended up saving two. When people say that history repeats itself, they really weren't lying. Although, if I ever found the moron who said it, I'd kill 'em.
"Raine, would you please calm down?"
My little brother asked from his seat beside Presea's bed. I scowled at him, and replied
"I'll calm down when this whole ordeal is over with!"
Regal sighed loudly, so I turned my glare on him.
"One word, Bryant, one word…"
I waved my staff at him threateningly, and he just shook his head a little, looking back out the window. How could he be so calm right now? Our group was falling to pieces. First Colette and Mattrim are kidnapped, then Presea's wounded quite severely. Now we know that Arthur's been betraying us since we met him. What else? So help me if they come back and someone's died. I shuddered at the thought, grimaced, and sat back down. Maybe I could get one of the two to knock me out? Would definitely make waiting a whole lot more tolerable. Patience must practice patience. I took a few deep breathes, unable to stay calm. They could be running into a trap right now for all we knew. I stood up and began pacing again. Damn it…
The door opened, followed by Lloyd and the others. I gawked at them, completely surprised. How the heck had they finished so quickly? Pausing, I realized that it had been a few hours, so it wasn't at all impossible for them to have finished.
"Lloyd, Arthur is-"
Cutting me off, the twin-bladed swordsman said
"We already know. They got Sheena."
My eyes widened, and a startled Regal and Genis jumped up, and went to stand by me as they took in the tired looking group. Sheena was missing, but Colette stood beside her husband.
"So what happened?"
Lloyd took a deep breath, spared Presea a glance, and then spoke
"We lost Sheena after we thought we'd found Mattrim. It was really a monster who…"
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wow, took me a while to do that chapter. I started it like twice, but didn't like how it kept coming out. I know it's a little shorter than the others, but it was this or another cliffie. I figure I've done too many of those already. :P
anywho, so far, it's Sheena – 5, Colette 1.
Unless Colette gets several votes, looks like it's gonna be a sheloyd.
Thanks for reviewing:
Sieg15: Haha, quite the vehement Sheloyd there. Thanks for reviewing!
Lady Valandario: aren't ya glad I didn't make it a cliffie? Thanks for the review!
Daniel the Dragonfly: Haha, happy it's a sheloyd now? Thanks for reviewing!
Eternum123: You might be a little surprised about the twist, but I have been trying to hint at it. Thanks for reviewing!
Aragornchewi: Hope you don't get disappointed when you see how I turn it all towards Sheena. Thanks for the review!
Miror101: So far, looks like you're the only person who likes Colette. Thanks for reviewing!