Tales of a Journey
By: Rogue White Dragon (aka Dragoness)
Disclaimer: I don't own TOS
Authors Note: I tried using proper grammar for conversational stuff in this time, so the format may look a little different from previous chapters. Also, I'll be switching between character POV's more often in this one than I usually do.
Chapter 30 – The Void
(Sheena's POV)
"Miss Sheena?" Mattrim tried to get my attention, while standing near our cell door. The one we were currently in wasn't like the one they'd locked us in before, but reminded me of a jail cell; bars on three sides, and a brick wall on the fourth, where a small window was placed near the ceiling. Grimacing a little, I sat down on the only piece of furniture in the room, a short wooden bed in one corner, and switched my gaze from the window to Colette's son. "Do you have a hair pin?" I frowned at him, one hand reaching up to touch my hair, where I plucked one out and tossed it to him.
Apparently our cell had been specially built to hold magic users, anyone who could call on any form of mana to bust down the door. In other words: No summoning. If I could have, I'd have summoned Volt to get us out of here, but the bars of the cell, and the bricks of the only solid wall, were inconveniently covered in rune carvings, and electrical fields that strangely reminded me of magi technology, would have sucked the mana out of anything I tried to form. Summoning Spirits included. I hadn't believed the guards when they'd warned me about it, but after a short attempt at summoning, found myself exhausted, and needing a rest. Sighing, I looked over at Mattrim, only to find him reaching his arms through the bars, and trying to reach something by the door that I couldn't see. Frowning, I asked
"Mattrim, what do you think you're doing?" The boy looked over at me, and giving me a smile I swear he got from his mother, replied
"I helped Grandpa made doors like these before." It took me only a few seconds to realize the boy wasn't talking about Kratos, but of the dwarven blacksmith, Dirk. Slowing rising to my feet, I took a few steps closer, to try and get a better look at what he was doing, and soon found myself grinning. The child had more of Lloyd in him that his mother after all. Using the hair pin I'd given him, he was picking the lock. A tactic I realized I should have thought of first, rather than the ten year old boy, and one our captors should have been prepared for. A few seconds later, I heard a small clinking sound, and the child gently pushed the door open, turned to me sheepishly, and said "I'm sorry, I broke it." And held out the hair pin for me to see.
"It's alright." I discarded the thin object, took the boys hand, and headed out of the cell. We had to find a way out of here, before the guards realized we were gone.
(Siena's POV)
"Siena, I swear, if you don't stop humming, I'll…" Lan was glaring at me, and after receiving and equally venomous glare from his soon-to-be-step-father, I stopped my humming, and began to whistle.
"Lan, knock her out or something." Zelos suggested, not even glancing in my direction. I let out a small yelp when I saw a dagger materialize in Lan's hand, held so that he could swing the hilt at my head. He wouldn't really do that, would he? Another yelp and I was ducking his half hearted swing.
"Siena, we're all a little nervous here, could you just keep it down?" I grimaced a little, feeling slightly subdued, and gave him a mute nod. Right, we were trying to find Sheena and Mattrim. I heard a cough from behind me, and slowed my walking so that I was next to Colette. The blonde woman looked pale and sickly.
"Colette, are you, uh, alright?" I asked curiously, only to have her smile at me, and give a silent nod, saying
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." The smile seemed too forced, and with her face that pale, I didn't quite believe her. Instead of badgering her with questions, though, I turned to the young man who walked at the back of our group, frowning at him.
"Why are you still following us?" Lexus shrugged, just a slight movement of his shoulders, as he replied
"I'm being paid for my assistance." Ugh, Zelos, you bargaining idiot. After we had left Sylph to deal with Arthur, Lexus had followed us, saying that he wouldn't leave until he'd delivered Lan to Arkus. Zelos had made an offer to match whatever he was being paid, if he helped us in our search. So far, he'd barely done a thing. Unless, of course, you count his little discussion with some of the guards we had run into, claiming that he was taking us to Arkus.
"Then why aren't you leading dir-" Colette took my arm in one hand, and said firmly
"He said all he knew was that they were in a different dungeon from before, so leave him alone." Her tone was almost telling me to 'shut up, you're just making things difficult'. I then felt Lan grab my other arm, and I was nearly passed up our small group, where Lan dragged me to the front. Grumbling to myself irritably, I stated flatly
"We've been here before. We're going in circles." I had the sudden, uncontrollable urge to rip my hair out. But, since I'm a girl an all, and we all know how long it takes for said hair to grow back, I settle for Lan's. He made a startled sound in his throat, as I pulled his hair, and pried my fingers loose. Smiling innocently, I skipped away from him a few steps, only to bump into someone, who hadn't been looking where they were going. Looking up, I stared blankly, before jumping back a little, pointing wide eyed, and saying "Lan, one of those creepy dudes totally took your mom's form! I mean, look at her! And she's got Mattrim with her." Darkening my tone, I added "It's all too…coincidental." I was cuffed on the back of my head as Lan passed me, and asked
"Mom? How'd you-" He was interrupted when Sheena ever-so-kindly shoved Mattrim at us, turned around, and proceeded to slam her palm into a guard's nose, who had apparently been following the two. The man spluttered a curse, and swung with his spear at her head. Swiftly, the woman dodged it, and Lan, another one of his daggers in hand, flung the blade at the opposing guard chest. I turned Mattrim around, pushing him towards his mother as blood oozed from the man's wound. Colette's arms wrapped around her child, even as Sheena and Lan moved the dying man out of the hall way. Lan turned to us, looking a little sick as he wiped his dagger clean on his pants with a grimace, and said
"We'd better hurry up and find my dad." And, since our group had been split in two, we began to search for our other half.
(Lloyd's POV)
"Remind me again which idiot decided to send Lexus with the others?" Genis grumbled irritably, shooting an annoyed glance at me. I rolled my eyes, and said
"He gave us directions to where Arkus is. I sent him with the others so that they wouldn't get lost." Made sense to me, at least.
"Lloyd, you just sent your wife, eldest son and the others with a man who could potentially back stab them. You do realize that Lexus was hired to-"
"Genis, drop it." I looked back at the slip of paper that Lexus had hurriedly written directions on, and looked at the stair cases in front of us. Each went in a different direction, leading to different rooms. According to Lexus, to get to Arkus, we'd need to go through a hidden passage on the other side of his royal chambers. I lead the way up the stairs on the right, and the others followed behind me.
"Say, Lloyd? What's our battle plan? Just go in there and start attacking, or..?" Genis was speaking up once again, and I stopped at the top of the stairs, where two guards stood on either side of the door to Arkus's room just a few meters across from me. Damn.
Unsheathing my swords, I launched myself at the man on the left, while Presea and Regal went after the second, who had turned to attack me from behind after I'd rammed his companion to the side, I stopped myself from delivering a killing blow, and settled with ramming the hilt of my sword against his head, knocking off the protective metal helmet, and swinging my second hilt at his now exposed temple. He dropped with an unconscious thud, echoed shortly after by the second guard who Regal was now dragging out of the doorway. I gave the older man a nod, and threw myself into the room as he opened the door. My swords ready to attack or defend, if the room was occupied. Nothing moved, and the chamber remained silent as Genis and the others all filed into the room. Raine stood the my left, as she asked
"Where's the door?" I sheathed one sword so I could take out the directions again, and replied while pointing my sword towards the huge bed planted on the far right side, a large painting of Meltokio to its left.
"Uh, 'Between the bed and portrait'." I read off the slip of paper. Raine nodded, and instantly went to investigate. Seconds later, the wall opened up as a section large enough to walkthrough slid to the left.
"Who wants to go first?" Genis asked curiously, looking at the dark passageway with a frown. Choosing not to answer him, I walked past the mage as I once again drew my other sword.
"…good. Now, send the boy to-" After a fairly long walk down the hidden passage which possessed stairs that seemed to keep switching direction, we walked into large room that reminded me of Kvar's control room in the ranch we destroyed near Luin all those years ago. Arkus stood in front of a big 3D computer screen in the center of the room, speaking to a straggly looking man in a white coat, whose eyes shifted to us and widened
"Intruders!" He pointed at us accusingly, and Arkus swung around, eyebrows narrowed furiously. Without allowing him to speak, I began making my way across the room while saying
"We're ending things now, Arkus." The older man scowled, and replied
"I've come too far to let people like you stop me now." Then, his eyes still on me, he pressed a few keys of the computer behind him and red lights began to flash on the computer screen. Seconds later, a door opened on the other side of the room, and a dozen Meltokio soldiers came piling into the room.
(Siena's POV)
"I feel like a secret agent or something." I slipped on arm around Lan's, grinning mischievously as we followed Lexus. We were no on our way to catch up with the others, our present Bounty Hunter leading the way. The half elf shot me a look that said 'shut it, or I'll make it so you never talk again'. Very skilled at glares, he is. Innocently, I looked again at Lan, and asked "Don't you think so? Infiltrating enemy territory, taking them by surprise, saving the damsel in distress-" this got a sputtered denial from Sheena "-and now we're off the fight the 'Evil Dude' and save the world." I snickered a little, feeling suddenly very giddy. Soon, this would all be over, and we could go back to our normal lives. Granted, I'm not saying that our lives were all normal to begin with, but it will be more-so that traveling around in flying machines, while trying to stop the new King of Tethe'alla from destroying Sylvarant. Or taking it over, which ever came first.
"'Evil Dude'?" Lan repeated curiously, frowning at me a little. I gave a nod, and replied
"Yeah, I've decided I'm giving everyone titles." He gave me a blank stare, shook his head, his free hand running through his hair in exasperation.
"Do I want to know?" He asked finally. Lexus lead us through the hallway, and stopped in front of two flights of stairs. I gave Lan a nod, and replied
"Of course you do. It's curiosity, you know. I mean, all humans suffer from it…" He rolled his eyes, and I continued. "Anyway, I'm calling your dad 'Ignorant Bastard', your mom's 'Scary Lady With Pointy Hair'-" again, another strangled sound from Sheena, but she didn't interrupt me as I went on listing everyone's new tittles "-Zelos is 'Unfortunate'-"
"Hey!" The red haired former chosen broke in, his eyes wide. "Why am I 'Unfortunate'?" I looked him up and down, and replied
"Because you have red hair, and you wear pink." Seriously, enough said? "Colette is 'Woman Going to Use Frying Pan'-"
"Where'd that come from?" Lan interrupted curiously. I frowned at him a little, and glanced at Colette. She too wore a curious expression, and after a moment of hesitation, I replied
"Don't question the 'Beautiful Elf Maiden'." I told him firmly. He shook his head again, and as we started up the stairs (Lexus was either taking his time, or he forgot where we were going. Note to self: Shake fist at him later) Lan asked
"What about me?" I raised and eyebrow innocently, said confidently
"'Closet Pervert'." His eyes went wide, and his jaw hung open.
"E-excuse me?"
"C-L-O-S-E-"
"I heard you the first time"
"They why'd you ask?" He groaned loudly, and said
"Not that. How come I get that title?" I touched my chin in deep concentration, and replied
"Because one of these days, I do believe you're going to show us your true colors, and try to peek-"
"We're here." Lexus spared an uninterested glance at the unconscious guards on either side of the doorway, and lead us into the King's Bedroom. I was a little disappointed that the 'secret passageway' door was already open, since I was kind of looking forward to searching the room for it myself.
"So we just go through there?" Zelos asked, eyeing the dark opening in the wall suspiciously. Sheena turned to Colette and Mattrim, and said
"Maybe you two should stay here. There's going to be fighting, and I don't think you two should get involved." Colette, to our small groups surprise, straightened her shoulders, narrowed her eyes, and said coldly
"I'm going too." I'm pretty sure hell just froze over. De-thawed, and then froze again.
(Lloyd's POV)
My sword pierced the armor of a soldier who was chosen to get between Arkus and myself. I flung the man to side using my sword as leverage, and once again began to attack the man who had dared to threaten my family. The man who tried to take them away from me. Arkus, the one who abducted Sheena, not once, but twice.
Dodging Arkus's blade, I rammed my shoulder into his chest while growling "Beast!" and sent the older man sprawling to the ground. I stalked towards him again, eyes blazing. He was on his feet again, and instead of waiting for me to get to him, slashed his sword down at the ground and sent a string of mana at me in the form of icicles. I threw myself out of the way, rolled in the process and landed neatly on my feet again in time to pull my swords up to block his sword as he went for my throat. My swords formed and 'X' as I deflected the blow and forced him backwards. With a growl he pushed back, and I was forced to jump backwards as he tried to knee me in the stomach. I launched another assault at him, one sword going for his stomach while holding the other back a moment, to block his sword after he moved my first blade harmlessly away from his abdomen in a twist of his sword that ended up aimed for my chest.
(Lan's POV)
The passage way had been longer than I thought it would be. Once we finally exited the dark winding staircase, I had to blink a few times as my eyes adjusted to the light of the room we now found ourselves in. Taking in the situation, my hands automatically went my swords when I heard my mother say
"Lan, I want you and Siena to stay with Colette and Mattrim." As much as I wanted to argue, I found I couldn't as Siena took my hand in hers, and slipped my long dagger out of its sheath near one of my twin blades with her free hand.
"Sheena, take this. Martial arts aren't exactly going to do much good." Siena tossed the weapon to my mom, and I found myself wanting to join in the fight even more. Surely I was more suited to fighting right now with my swords, than my mother with a lone dagger?
"Mom, I don't think-" She looked at me sternly, and said
"Lan, please, don't argue with me. I don't want you getting hurt." Then, almost hesitantly, she said to Siena "Watch him while I'm gone, K?" Siena answered with a nod, her hand tightening around mine. Then I shrugged to myself. It didn't look like they need much help anyways. Sheena and Zelos ran over to Genis, Regal, Presea and Raine, who were all fighting a soldier or two, while Colette, Mattrim, Lexus, Siena and I all stayed near the doorway we had just entered from. I turned my attention to where my father was fighting Arkus, and stared in awe as both men continued to dodge and attack each other. Their movements a blur, until their swords locked, and Arkus sent one of Lloyd's swords flying, leaving him with only one blade as he was shoved back. Stumbling, Lloyd cursed loudly. Arkus took the opportunity to slash at the younger man. My dad, who couldn't move out of the way in time, received a long gash from his right shoulder to his left hip. I head Colette let out a gasp, staring at her husband in horror. I moved to intervene before Arkus could deliver another blow, only to have Siena wrap her arms around my waist from behind, and pull back harshly and said
"Lan, no." My gaze darted back to Arkus and Lloyd, and I watched in a horrified fascination as Arkus slammed the flat of his sword against my dad's shoulder, forcing his knees to buckle. Drawing his sword back, and saying something I couldn't quite make out, he aimed his sword above my father's head. Lloyd reacted faster than Arkus thought he would have, and since both his hands held his swords above his head, he left his stomach open to attack. Using his remaining sword, Lloyd used both hands as he rammed the steel into the man's exposes and foolishly unprotected stomach. Stunned, Arkus stumbled back a few steps, and Lloyd withdrew his weapon. Slowly standing up, Lloyd watched the older man fall, glared at him, then made his way towards the others.
I glanced back at Colette and Mattrim while I pried Siena's arms off of me. Was it over now, then?
(Lloyd's POV)
I didn't even bother finishing my painful walk towards the others, since they had already taken care of Arkus's men. I stood silently, looking them all over before I smiled faintly. Sheena was with them. Looking around the room, I spotted Colette and Mattrim standing with Siena and Lan. Good. Everyone was ok. I let out a long breath, sighing in relief.
"Lloyd, you ok?" The professor approached me, her staff raised as she began to heal the gash across my chest. Wincing, I replied
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sore." I could instantly feel warmth spread to my wound, as the skin closed and stopped bleeding.
"Don't…celebrate so early…fools…" My back stiffened as I turned around, eyes wide and darting to Arkus. The man should have been dead, yet there he stood: his sword poised in front of him as he began chanting a spell. How he could use magic was beyond me, since he was human. Then again, Zelos could use spells and he was human, so I guess it wasn't too impossible for Arkus to do it as well. My swords cleared their sheaths as I began to stalk towards him, my pace getting faster with each step. Runes appeared beneath his feet, and his eyes flashed with hatred as he glared at me.
"If I'm going to…die…" The man took a shuddering breath, then continued "…I'm not dying…alone." Still a fair distance from him, I turned my fast walk into a run. I moved my swords so that I could easily get his wounded gut, making a mental note to actually make sure he was dead this time. Before I reached him, I saw him smirk, and then he shifted his weight, turned, and yelled
"Lightning!" My swords found their target too late as a bolt of lightning shot from Arkus's sword and was flung in the direction of the entrance we'd come through. My swords still in the man's midsection, I turned my gaze to where the lightning was going, and to my horror, saw it flying towards my wife and sons. Releasing the hilts of my swords, I began a futile dash towards them, yelling a warning as I moved.
(Lan's POV)
My gaze swung away from Colette and my little brother at my father's shout of alarm. Racing towards us was a blue streak of electrical mana. Shoving Siena aside, I turned Mattrim around, forcefully getting him out of the way as I put my back to it. There was nothing else I could do, and no time to summon. The instant I knew it would hit, I tensed, only to realize that nothing happened. Surprised, I took a peak over my shoulder, only to stare in horror when I was met with a pair of pained blue eyes. All I could do was stare back at her as she smiled, until I heard my father's frantic, panicked shout
"Colette!"
And then she collapsed.
(Colette's POV)
I could feel the pain rippling down my back, and fought the urge to scream. Everything felt like it was burning, like fire spreading from my lower back to every other end of my body. My fingers tingled, and I stiffened. The ground was unwelcomingly cold.
"Colette!" Somebody lifted me off the floor and I was thankful when the cold turned into warmth, as I was held in the arms of the speaker. I stared up quietly, till I recognized the pair of eyes staring at me full of worry. Lloyd. Smiling, I reached a hand out to touch his face. One of his shaking hands held my wrist when I fingers came into contact with his cheek, and I heard him shout something frantically at the professor. I wanted to tell him not to worry, not to look so sad, but the words I wanted to say seemed to turn into fluid in my mouth, and I had to cough to clear my throat, as the strange liquid escaped, and a small trickle ran down my chin.
"Mom?" All I could do was look out the corner of my eye at my son, who stared at me pleadingly. All I could offer him was a smile.
"Lloyd, I can't- she's already-" Was that Raine speaking? I couldn't be sure, and the images in front of my eyes refused to come together. The hand holding my wrist tightened, and I wondered why everyone seemed so sad. Was I crying? I couldn't tell. Small drops of water hit my face, I guess I was. But wait, they weren't my tears, so who-? I smiled again when I recalled his name again. Lloyd. My husband. I closed my heavy eyelids, and wondered what would happen next. This was the end, right? Shouldn't I ask Martel for guidance? That's right, Martel isn't a goddess, so who should I pray to with my last breath? Who was there to look after my family after I'd gone? Opening my eyes again, for what I knew would be the last time, I caught sight of black hair standing behind Lloyd, and felt a sudden wave of relief. Sheena. I could trust her to do it, I knew I could. We made a promise, right? I had to remind her, what if she forgot? Coughing again, I forced myself to speak, knowing my time would get shorter with each word.
"S-sheena? Our-" I coughed again, and tried frantically to form my last word "-promise." I didn't even know if they could hear me anymore, because everything began to get darker, as my world was ripped away from me, and replaced by an empty void of nothingness.
00000
…and that is how it becomes a Shelloyd.
Originally, I was going to end it with Colette collapsing, but added that last part since I figured I'd need to make this chapter longer to make up for my late, late, veerrrry late update
Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've been having a few problems writing this chapter. Mostly because I've never really killed off one of the good guys before. Well, I've never really done a death scene like this either. Also, my computer crashed (I now fear the blue screen of death) when I had it mostly done, and it's kind of discouraging to have to re write most of it all over again.
Thanks for all your patience.
And thanks for those who reviewed:
Daniel the Dragonfly: Haha, yeah, Lan actually summoned. Only the once so far, though. Thanks for the review!
Ark Navy: I seem to have a bad habit of late updates. I hope enjoyed this none-the-less. Thanks for reviewing!
Eternum123: Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure they won't do the ToS OVA in English, since they never did with Tales of Phantasia or Tales of Eternia (to my knowledge, at least). On the bright side, though, shortly after it's released, you could always look for a fan subtitled ToS OVA on the internet and download it. Or, if you wanted, you could just learn Japanese. Anywho, thanks for the review!
-Pirates-and-Rum-: The convention was awesome, thanks. I was surprised when people asked for pictures of just me, instead of me with the furuba group I was with. Guess there's lots of Uotani fans out there. Although, my little sister who was cosplaying as Kyo had her hands full with Kyo fan girls. She was almost afraid to leave the group (I'm a slightly overprotective sister, so I had to fend ppl off for her). Thanks for reviewing!
SunFrost: I had to ready back a few chapters too, just to make sure I wasn't screwing things up. Sorry for my lack of updating, that called for re-reading. Thanks for the review!
Miori942: Seems I've made you wait a little too long, ne? Oops. Anyways, have fun with school and thanks for reviewing!
Lapin-Joyeux: Haha, next chapter, Siena will be doing random things at Lan's expense, so you're not too far off the mark that she'd randomly kiss him. Thanks for the review!
Chux: Yup yup, it's a shelloyd. Unless I resurrect Colette, which I have no intention of doing (as heartless as that sounds…). Thanks for reviewing!
Wow, 111 reviews. You guys all rock. You're all so freaking awesome. That's the most reviews I've gotten for a fic so far. ::happy squealing::
Also, I might be writing an alternate ending if enough people are interested in one.
Ooh, and before I forget to mention, I just wanted to say that if any of you guys are anime fans, and you've never been to an anime convention, go to one. They're seriously the greatest fan based activity. Ever.
Thanks again to all who reviewed, and I'll try to update again soon (I'm working full time now, so I can't promise a date, but I can promise that I do intend to finish this fic. Like I've said a dozen times already).
ciao