Sorry; the site was down yesterday, so I was late getting this up. Here it is now! As usual, I don't own anything, I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy.

Dwarven Vow 68
An rud a thèid fad o'n t-sùil thèid e fad o'n chrìdhe.
What goes far from the eye will go far from the heart.

29-

When Zelos made it to the bottom of the staircase, he found Sheena and Colette already in the entryway talking with the newcomer. Colette had brought Pete inside the mansion with the excuse that it was too cold for him outside. However, anyone could see from his thick winter coat that he was a dog prepared for the cold, and the one who needed warming was probably Colette. And considering the fact that she had a dog that was nearly half her weight in her arms, she really needed it.

"Oh, thank gods!" Colette gasped, running to his side. Pete began to whine at the sight of Zelos, leaning over Colette's shoulder in an attempt to reach him. "Where were you guys?"

"We were talking with Seles," Zelos answered, giving the dog a half-hearted pat on the head. He was more concerned with their visitor at the moment. "Veronica said that someone was here to see us, but I didn't think-"

"I know I said I'd send a courier, but I decided to come myself." Hazel was still wearing her coat and mittens, though her face was flushed as though she was hot. Or- perhaps it wasn't a sign of overheating, but one of embarrassment. Shame, perhaps? A little bit of… fear? "Veronica probably didn't want Seles getting out of bed to see me, which I understand. But I needed to speak with you all in-person. This is an awful failure on the hospital's part, and I can't help but blame myself and the other employees."

"A failure?" Raine choked. "What's going on? What happened to Lloyd-?"

"We don't know."

The group paused as Hazel's statement sank in. "You… don't know what…?" Colette ventured, her voice so low it was barely audible.

"That is to say, we…" Hazel stammered slightly as she began again, "...we don't know where he is. He disappeared."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"What?" Raine finally asked.

"About half an hour ago, another nurse went to check on him but couldn't open the door. When she finally managed to get in with the help of some maintenance workers, they found that the door had been barricaded with a chair. The room was empty, with no sign of Lloyd or anyone who might've taken him."

Colette trembled as she spoke up, looking desperate to keep her composure. "Maybe he woke up and got scared. He might be looking for us. We need to find him-"

"He was sedated, remember?" Sheena interrupted. "Even if the medicine wore off and he managed to wake up, there's no way he could've gotten out of bed, much less run away."

"But… but…" Zelos began to stammer, looking back and forth between the others in the group, "...this doesn't make any sense? How do you lose a comatose patient?!"

Hazel kept her eyes locked on the floor. "The window was unlocked, so it must have been closed from the outside by the escapee. But other than that, we don't have any idea where Lloyd might be or who might've taken him." She sighed and placed a hand on the side of her head. "Th-this has never happened before! We don't just… just… lose patients! They're questioning everyone around the hospital, but there's no evidence that someone without authorization was ever allowed inside! It doesn't make any sense unless an actual doctor took him."

"Could that have happened?" Raine asked. "I mean- I can't imagine it, but is it possible?"

"Everyone who works with patients at the Meltokio Grand Hospital goes through an extensive background check. No one with a history of something like that would be allowed access. If a doctor or nurse did kidnap him, it would be unprecedented behavior."

Sheena stepped forward. "What about visitors? I mean, we were allowed in without background checks."

"Unlikely. Visitors are required to be escorted at all times."

"Th-then what?" Zelos stammered. "If he couldn't have been kidnapped by a doctor, and couldn't have been kidnapped by a visitor, and couldn't have walked away himself, then where did he go? Was he beamed out of the hospital room by aliens?!"

Hazel drew in a slow, pained breath. "At this point, we can't rule that out. But it seems a little presumptive to jump immediately to aliens. Occam's razor, you understand."

"I will personally contact Occam and get him to shove his razor up your-"

The back of Raine's hand hit Zelos on the side of his head. "Hazel is only trying to help!" she snapped. "Don't be crude."

Zelos stepped back, glancing down at the floor. "I-I'm sorry. This is just… not what I needed to hear right now."

"Believe me, it's not news I wanted to deliver either." Hazel closed her eyes and sighed. "But I would've felt worse if I didn't face you myself. We're doing everything we can to find out where Lloyd was taken, but in his condition, being moved is dangerous. The point of sedating him was to keep him from aggravating his wounds and causing more bleeding. I can only imagine this might be an attempt by someone in league with the assassin to finish what they started. I hate to put it this bluntly, but… the longer he's missing, the less likely it is we'll find him alive."

Raine held up a hand. "Hold on, now! If someone were really trying to kill Lloyd, doing so in the hospital room itself would be easiest. Why carry him away? They must want him alive for some reason, whether to get information from him or to use him as a hostage. Considering the evidence, it seems the most likely kidnapper would be one of the doctors, and they would know how to care for his wounds to keep him alive."

"But if someone's holding him hostage, then what do they want?" Sheena asked.

Raine shook her head. "We won't know until we receive a ransom note."

"If we receive a ransom note," Zelos corrected. "If it's really a kidnapper after something and not a murderer trying to hide the evidence. Yeah, killing him there would be easier than taking him alive, but leaving behind the body, especially in a place where a detailed autopsy could be performed almost immediately, would be-"

"Don't say things like that!" Colette interrupted. Her voice was so shrill that Pete began to whine and wriggle in her arms, and she had to let go of him. Once he had his paws on the floor, he ran to the door and began sniffing underneath it, pawing at the bottom of the doorframe.

"...I think he wants to go out," Genis observed. "Colette, why don't we take a walk? It's getting dark, so I'll go with you."

Colette crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright. Maybe… maybe some fresh air would be good for us."

"I'll-" Zelos stepped forward with his hand raised, but Raine placed a hand on his shoulder and tugged him back.

"That sounds like a good idea, Genis, Colette." She nodded and started toward the closet to hand them their coats. "Just, stay in the garden area, will you? You could get in trouble out on the streets right now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Colette accepted her coat from Raine and stepped back to pull it on. She fumbled with the buttons, and Zelos stepped forward, silently offering his hands in help. Colette nodded, letting go of the buttons herself and allowing him to take over.

"...do you want to come with us, Zelos?"

"I'd love to," he replied with a forced smile, "but I think you and Genis could use some time to talk, just the two of you. I'm here whenever you need me, don't worry."

Her 'thank you' was unspoken but obvious in the way she looked back at him. He kept his smile up long enough to lean in so that he could give her a gentle kiss. There was no force to it, his lips barely brushing against hers, but he lingered longer than necessary. Eventually he could feel her bottom lip beginning to tremble, and he pulled away before the sentimentality of the situation made them lose any more composure. Instead, Zelos placed an affectionate hand on Colette's head and turned back to Genis.

"Take care of her."

Pete's whines were growing louder now that he saw Colette and Genis putting on coats, and he ran to Genis' side, mouth open and tongue lolling out. Genis sighed, nodded in Zelos' direction, and held out a hand to Colette. "Let's go."

Once the two made it out to the garden, there were a few short minutes in which they assessed their surroundings. It seemed that no one from inside the house was following them- Zelos had invited Hazel in to speak with Seles, Raine was anxious to check on Bianca, and Sheena said she felt ill and needed to lie down. The garden was empty and so was the street around it, leaving Colette and Genis together in the dimming twilight with nothing else between them except for the sound of Pete wandering around in the bushes. They were truly alone.

Colette broke down first.

She let out only one choked sob before allowing herself to cry openly, tears streaming down her cheeks and her voice breaking into a wail. Genis let out a hiccup-like sound in surprise and immediately covered his mouth, but he couldn't choke back his own tears and was soon shaking and gasping for breath against his fingers.

Pete heard the crying and immediately stopped what he was doing in the bushes, instead running back to Colette's side and pressing himself against her legs. He whined, his tail drooping and his ears lying flat against his head. Colette knelt down beside him and buried her face in his soft white fur, her cries muffled against the thick double-coat. Genis sniffled, wiped his eyes, and knelt down as well to give Pete an affectionate scratch on the chin.

"If it… were one of us out there all alone, Lloyd wouldn't sit here crying. He'd… hic… he'd already be out searching for us."

Colette pulled back so that she could speak, wiping a mix of tears and dog hair from her cheeks. "I know, b-but… where do we even start?"

The question was a good one, and Genis spent a moment thinking it over before he finally let out a gasp. "Noishe! Where is he? He- he can always find Lloyd, no problem."

"He can't," Colette choked, shaking her head. "Miss Anna said… that security officials wouldn't let him in the city gates."

"Aw, no…" Genis let his head droop. "There must be… s-something else we can do."

Colette stood up, wiping her cheeks one last time. "Maybe Pete could find him."

"Huh?"

"Lloyd's stuff is still in his room, right? If we give Pete something to teach him Lloyd's scent, he could find him! ...right?"

Genis frowned, placing a hand on Pete's head. "I mean, maybe… but he's a pastoral breed, Colette. He might have herding instincts, but he wasn't bred to hunt or track."

"I know that. But do you have a better idea?"

"I-I don't… uh…"

Genis began to stammer as he wracked his brain, but his train of thought was cut off as Pete suddenly shook Genis' hand away and jumped to his feet. Before either Genis or Colette could say anything, Pete took off running toward the gate, his sudden barking frenzy echoing off the side of the building.

"Hey! What is it, boy? What're you-?"

Colette ran after him, but stopped halfway as she caught sight of what was making Pete so excited. A pair of enormous paws sat on the fence, their owner resting his head against them with his ears pulled back and his muzzle turned up with a nervous whine. It was obvious to Colette that Pete was just excited for some company, considering the way his tail was furiously wagging, but that wasn't doing much to reassure Noishe.

"Noishe! How did you get here?"

A voice replied, and for a moment Colette was shocked to think that Noishe could talk. But she recognized the accent before she could panic- not that the truth was any less surprising.

"Aye, it wasnae easy. Th' city gates are locked up techt. Noishe was th' one fa showed me how tae sneak in ben th' sewers."

Genis caught up and stopped to open the gate. "Dirk?! What are you- I mean, how are you-?"

"I heard whit happened tae Lloyd," Dirk explained as he entered the gate. "Frank came tae me reit after ye called him, Colette, an' I left immediately. Whaur-"

"How did you get here so fast without a rheiard?" Genis interrupted. "It's only been five hours since Colette called, and Iselia doesn't have a port."

"Ye underestimate the resourcefulness o' Dwarves. We hae underground highways 'at those livin' on th' surface can only imagine. But that's nae important- whaur is Lloyd? Is he alrecht?"

There was a pause. Pete was still barking at Noishe, who was whining and backing away, but the garden was quiet otherwise. Genis and Colette looked at one another, their expressions darkening. "...he…" Genis began, "...he was."

"Wha' dae ye mean, he was?"

Colette clutched at the hem of her coat. "H-he was kidnapped, but we don't know why, or by whom, or-"

"Kidnapped?!"

"Lloyd disappeared from the hospital," Genis explained. "He was okay, but… he wasn't in any position to be walking around."

"When did this happen?"

"Not long ago. We just found out ourselves." Colette bit her lip, fighting back tears again. "He was okay when we saw him a couple hours ago. The doctors said that he would make a full recovery if there were no complications. But I don't think this was a complication that anyone expected."

"Hae ye heard from th' kidnapper? Are they demandin' a ransom?"

"We haven't heard anything like that." Genis shook his head. "For all we know, he could be lying in a gutter somewhere. And we're stuck here without any idea of what to do-"

Genis began to choke on his words, and Colette ran up behind him, throwing her arms around his shoulders. "But Dirk and Noishe are here now!" she interrupted. "Noishe always knows how to find Lloyd! He can lead us right to him!"

"Noishe always did have a sort of sixth-sense about these kind of things," Genis murmured. "But in a place like this, will that really work?"

"Noishe." Dirk stepped forward, looking up at him with a nod. "Can ye take us ta Lloyd?"

Noise whined and paced back and forth, glancing back toward the street. Dirk nodded, patting Noishe on the side of the neck, and gesturing back in the direction he'd come.

"I'm gonnae accept tha' as a yes. Come on, then- there's nae a minute ta waste."

"Yes, that's right!" Colette cheered. "Let's go, Genis! We're going to find Lloyd-"

"I daen' think so." Dirk stepped in front of her, holding up a hand. "Ye two will stay 'ere."

Genis froze. "What? But we can take care of ourselves! You know that-"

"Aye. I'm nae worried fur yer sake. But th' mair folk we hae out and about, th' more conspicuous we'll be. Until we ken whit the kidnapper wants wi' Lloyd, it'd be best tae keep a law profile."

"But we… we…" Colette stammered. "We can't just do nothing!"

"Yoo've already dain a lot. Tak' some time tae rest. When I dae fin' Lloyd, I'll let ye ken immediately. Make sure ye're ready tae tak' action then- Lloyd an' I will be counting oan ye."

Colette and Genis both frowned, but exchanged a glance and sighed in resignation. "I… suppose it would be good for us to get some sleep…" Colette admitted. "But you promise you'll come to us as soon as you find something?"

Dirk tapped his chest. "I swear oan it. Dwarven Vow 19, thaur is nae deceit so great as promise unfulfilled."

"It's getting late. Our shift will be over soon and there's no one around- are you sure you don't want to go ahead to the hospital and-?"

"No, and I don't want to hear anything more about it." Kratos stepped in front of Bryan, waving a hand to cut off the boy's statement. "You heard the news. He's in stable condition. I will not abandon my post just for sentimental reasons. I know Lloyd, and I know it'll take more than this to slow him down."

"...yes, sir." Bryan nodded and glanced away. "My apologies. I just thought that, if I were Lloyd, I'd want-"

"Enough. We have a duty to protect the people of Meltokio." Kratos turned his back on Bryan and motioned down the street. "There doesn't seem to be any activity in this commercial area, so we'll check in with Anita and the residential block to the east. Come on."

Kratos started down the street without looking back, listening for Bryan's footsteps behind him. However, he caught the sound of footsteps from around the corner, and stopped to listen. Within a moment, he saw another of his cadets rounding the corner in their direction. She stopped as soon as she saw Kratos and Bryan, waved, and made a beeline for them.

"Captain! Captain, we need your help!"

The look on her face was frantic, and it gave Kratos a bad feeling. "What's going on? Where's Anita?"

"Anita went with one of the homeowners after a report of monsters in the neighborhood. I said I'd come get you to help-"

"Monsters?" Kratos gasped. "In the city? That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes. There were reports of some strange figures going house to house, knocking on doors. People have said it's a strange, small man with a large, monstrous creature at his side-"

"A what?" Kratos stiffened and glanced around. "I have a bad feeling about this. Let me try something- don't move."

"What are you-?" Bryan started to ask, but he didn't get to finish.

Kratos put his fingers to his mouth and let out a long, loud whistle. It echoed off the neighboring homes, breaking the nighttime quiet of the courtyards. Once the sound died down, there was a brief pause before the sound of a large creature moving caught everyone's attention. The cadet grabbed onto the back of Bryan's uniform and Bryan drew his sword. Kratos, however, stayed still, waiting for the source of the sound to appear.

"What in th'- wait, wait! Whaur d'ye thin' ye're goin-"

Noishe burst through the hedges alongside the road and sat down in front of Kratos with his ears perked up and his tail wagging. He was only still for a moment, though, before he began to glance around with a low whine, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air.

Suddenly, there was a crash as Dirk stumbled through the hedges after Noishe, cursing in Dwarven. There were twigs and leaves caught in his hair and beard, and he was out of breath, but he managed to stumble over to where Noishe was standing.

"...Dirk?" Kratos spoke, catching the Dwarf's attention. "What are you doing here? How did you and Noishe get into the city?"

"I came lookin' fer Lloyd," Dirk replied. "I thought Noishe could leid me tae 'im, but we've been out 'ere fer hours an' haven't gotten anywhaur. I don't hink he knows whaur he's goin'."

Kratos frowned and glanced at Noishe. "That doesn't quite answer my question, but… in the interest of keeping public hysteria to a minimum, I'd be happy to give you an escort to the hospital."

"Th' hospital? Hae they found 'im?"

"Found him?"

Dirk crossed his arms. "...hae ye been in contact wi' his friends? Lloyd was kidnapped nae three hours ago. Disappeared reit out o' his hospital room."

Kratos' expression slowly changed, how brow furrowing and his mouth turning up into a frown.

"...kidnapped?" he finally gasped.

"Ye… ye… aren't e'en aware o' that? What hae ye been doin'?"

"My militia has been tasked with keeping peace in the city, and I've been on guard duty. I wasn't going to abandon my post for something so trivial-"

"Trivial? This is Lloyd we're talkin' abit! What kin' ay faither considers his ain son somethin' trivial?!"

"I don't consider Lloyd trivial. I simply think there's no need for me to abandon my job and my soldiers for the sake of keeping him company. He'll be fine-"

"But whit if 'e isn't? Dae ye really feel comfortable abandonin' him like this? How could ye-"

"I could," Kratos interrupted, "because this is what Lloyd would want me to be doing!"

There was a pause. No one was sure what to say. Noishe whined and pressed against Kratos' side, and Kratos sighed as he set a hand on Noishe's head.

"...of course I want to be by Lloyd's side. When I heard what happened, I was terrified for him. But by the time word reached us that Lloyd was the one hurt, he was already in stable condition at the hospital. Lloyd got hurt because he was trying to protect his friends, and if he knew that I'd abandoned my duty to protect the citizens of Meltokio, he'd be furious. Lloyd is doing his part to keep people safe, and I have to do mine."

This statement was followed once again by an awkward silence. Bryan and the cadet took a step back, but Dirk stayed where he was and heaved a weary sigh.

"I'm sorry. I hadn't considered 'at side o' things. Ye really are Lloyd's faither."

"It's something I picked up from him, not the other way around," Kratos answered with a shake of his head. "And it's you I have to thank for teaching him that."

The cadet stepped forward, fidgeting with her hands. "Um, Captain, Bryan and I can go tell Anita what really happened with the, uh, monsters. If your son has been kidnapped, you should go find Anna and search for him."

Kratos unsheathed his sword and nodded. "Bryan, I'm leaving you in charge of this section of the city until your shift is up. Don't be afraid to call for backup if you run into trouble."

"Yes, sir!" Bryan offered a salute. "Good luck to you!"

"Whaur is Anna?" Dirk asked.

Kratos motioned back in the opposite direction. "She was feeling unwell earlier so she's staying at a friend's house. We'll meet up with her and then go to the hospital to see what we can find out about the kidnapping. "Come on, Noishe."

"Ye sure this is th' reit place? This is a pottery shop."

"Yes," Kratos answered with a nod. "Yuan's apartment is upstairs. His friend is a doctor, so he should be able to help us-"

Noishe barked, catching the two off-guard. By the time they turned around to see what he was barking at, the door to the shop had opened. Yuan peeked out, glancing at the small group gathered around the storefront.

"Huh. If I'd known it'd be this easy to find you, I wouldn't have argued so long with Song about it."

"What are you talking about?" Kratos frowned, shooting Yuan a glare. "What do you want from me?"

"Anna demanded that someone go find y- wait… is that Dirk?"

"Aye. And ye're Yuan, if I recall correctly?"

"Is Anna awake? We need to speak with her," Kratos started before Yuan could respond. "Lloyd's been kidnapped-"

"Yeah, by Song. Anna's with him now- that's why she sent me to find you. She said that Lloyd wants to see you…or, Dirk… apparently he just said 'Dad,' so it could go either way. You're both here, so it doesn't matter."

Kratos and Dirk froze. "So Lloyd is-?" Dirk began, but Yuan didn't let him finish.

"Just get in here. Song will give you the details, and Lloyd will be happy to see you."