Yaaaay an update Managed to get it updated on this date too, whoo! Happy Birthday to that friend of mine, she knows who she is ;) lol
Disclaimer: Own nothing do I. Talk like Yoda I do.
It was all their fault.
Why? Dammit, why hadn't they realized this would happened? Why hadn't they tried harder to find something that would've warned them? Would anything have?
The only thing that had been any prior warning was the old swordsman's bad feeling, but that hadn't been enough, not nearly enough to make them stop in time.
"We accept your vow, our power is thine."
Lloyd had felt ecstatic, watching as Sheena sealed the pact with the final spirits. It had been a time-consuming task, going about getting the Linkite tree back to health so they could find Aska, but it had all been worth it. Here they were, about to free the worlds from Cruxis- then Yuan showed up.
"Wait! Don't make the-"
It was far too late by then. In a matter of minutes all hell broke loose, the tree germinated into some monster plant, roots jerking up out of the earth, destroying cities in its wake. They had managed to get off the Tower of Mana right before it was ensnared and crushed by the roots, getting to a safe place in time to see the hideous nightmare on the horizon.
"W- What is that?" Lloyd choked, his eyes wide as he stared at it.
"Is that- the Giant Kharlan tree?" Genis said, unable to keep the tremor from his voice.
"Dammit!" Yuan snapped. "I should've gotten here faster!"
"I was afraid something like this would happen," the old swordsman in the group said, his hand clenching on his sword.
"Dad- what do you mean?" Lloyd turned to him.
"What? 'Dad'?" Yuan quickly located Lloyd, then his eyes fell upon the one Lloyd had spoken to.
It was then that Kratos realized that, this situation aside, he was in very big trouble. Yuan locked eyes with him, the half-elf's green eyes going wide in shock and Kratos quickly looked away.
"W- what the…hell? IS that- you? How did-?"
"We don't have time for this." Kratos snapped at him. "Do you know the details of what happened or don't you?"
"Wait, Dad, you know him?" Lloyd shook his head, eying his father and then the Renegade.
"I-…I've had some dealings with him before." The man said flatly. "I'll explain later, right now we have more pressing issues."
Lloyd frowned but eyed the tree. He nodded; yes, the explanations could wait. How the hell his father could know Yuan, he didn't know, but they had to stop the tree.
"So what happened? Why is it going nuts like this?" Lloyd asked.
"I'm not entirely sure," Yuan shook his head. "I had just been on my way to check your progress when I got the message from one of my subordinates. They said if the links were broken the tree would most likely sprout out of control, I didn't know exactly what they meant but-"
"That's all you know?" the old swordsman interjected.
"I- …well at the moment yes-"
Lloyd eyed his father as the man groaned, frowning deeply as he eyed the tree.
"…Well, Mr. Scott? Do you have any idea what's going on?" Raine asked, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the man.
Kratos said nothing a moment and then nodded.
"The mana links most likely acted as a cage to contain the seed, I'm assuming it was vastly unstable and when the cage was 'broken' , the sudden exposure to mana caused it to germinate in a twisted form. It was most likely drawn over here by Sylvarant's summon spirits because Colette activated the seals here."
"You have a surprising breadth of knowledge," Raine said flatly.
Lloyd flinched. Wait, that sounded familiar. She'd said that to someone else before, hadn't she? And that look she was giving him- His heart sank in his chest. He didn't like where this was going, he didn't at all- no! No stay focused. There were bigger problems.
"I- I don't' care why it's doing this, how do we stop it? It's going to wipe out everything!"
"Is it going all crazy like that in Tethe'Alla too?" Sheena fidgeted, obviously not liking the idea.
"Unlikely, though they are probably experiencing some effects, such as earthquakes."
"I- wait, what did you say about it coming here? Because of the seals?"
"…The summon spirits in the two worlds play alternating roles depending on whether the world is flourishing or waning." His father stated. "The process of breaking the seals is the process of waking the spirits, the awakened spirits provide mana to the world that is flourishing while in the other world the spirits sleep, and their mana is also transferred to the flourishing world. The spirits from Sylvarant were playing the role of providing mana, thus the tree was drawn to this side."
Lloyd stared, as did the rest of his friends. Once again he felt the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, staring at his father. How did he know that? There was no way he could know that, when they didn't- even Yuan didn't! How could he…?
"Dad…?" Lloyd hesitated, trying not to let the paleness creep into his face.
"I'll explain later, Lloyd," he said, frowning. "I promise. Right now we have to stop the tree. …You said if things went wrong, then you would do everything you could to fix it, didn't you?"
Lloyd flinched and frowned, his eyes going to the behemoth of a tree. Yeah…he had said that, hadn'the? Damn it..he had messed up again after all. He shook his head, eyes narrowing. Yes, he said he'd fix it, and he would.
"Okay- it was drawn over here by Sylvarant's spirits, right? If that's the case couldn't we neutralize it with the mana from the Tethe'allan summon spirits?" he said, looking between 'Richard' and Yuan.
"Wh- Lloyd how did you think that up?" Genis stared.
"Well the professor once said that the positive and negative of a magnet neutralize each other-…wait- no it wasn't quite like that but it was similar. I just mean, if it- counteracts it, that'd reseal the tree, right?"
"That's…actually a very clever idea, coming from you, Lloyd." Raine nodded, eying her student.
"Given what little time there is we have no better option right now." Kratos stated.
"Well- okay if we do do that, how are we going to- y'know, do it? We can't get close to that crazy thing as it is right now!" Sheena pointed out.
"The mana cannon," Yuan said suddenly.
"That machine Rodyle was building?" Regal asked.
"We manipulated him into building that, actually, the point is that we can channel Tethe'alla's spirits into the mana cannon and then fire it at the tree," Yuan said. "I'll have my men cut off the supply of mana to it, it'll be too late if it gets any bigger-"
Just then a Renegade ran forward, quickly informing Yuan that the team they had located in the Iselia Ranch had been executed. Yuan quickly explained the need to infiltrate the ranch, but it became apparent that Yuan did not have enough troops to do everything.
"I'll go then," Lloyd said immediately.
"Wh-? But we have to get to the mana cannon!" Sheena frowned.
"You and the Renegades can handle that, Sheena, the rest of us can go to the ranch and when the reactor is shut off, we'll give you the signal. Besides…" Lloyd frowned. "…This is my fault, it's my responsibility, so I'm going. The rest of you can go with Sheena if you want but-"
"You can't go alone," Kratos said quickly. "I'll go with you-"
"Hah, I'd be even less assured if just you went with him," Yuan hissed, eyes narrowed on the swordsman. "How do we even know we can trust you with this?"
Lloyd flinched, going to speak before his father cut him off.
"Because we don't have a choice right now," he snapped back at Yuan. "I'm not letting him go alone."
"He's not going to, the rest of us are going with him too!" Genis spoke up. "Right, guys?"
"Of course!" Colette nodded.
"We'll accompany Lloyd as well, he'll need the help," Raine concluded. "And we'll keep an eye on Mr. Scott, as it seems we have reason to, yes, Yuan?"
"Scott?" Yuan scoffed, hand on his hip. "Really? He took that name? Not very original…"
Lloyd twitched again, gritting his teeth.
"What? What do you mean? What's going on?" Lloyd looked at his father. "Dad-"
Just then another huge tremor shook the ground, half the group nearly toppling over. Lloyd whipped around, gritting his teeth as he looked to the tree.
"All right, let's go, guys! We need to hurry!"
So they were off, no words were exchanged, the dire circumstances were pressing down on them all, the tree in the distance all too clear. They had to hurry and stop this, that was the only concern. Well….not the only concern. Eyes were clearly drifting to the old swordsman in the group, but it was clear to everyone that, as said, now was not the time to pry answers from him. Lloyd in particular…wasn't sure he wanted to know. Still, they managed to arrive at the ranch quickly, then realized they still had to problem of how to enter.
"Well…I can jump down from the cliff again and open the gate-"
"It'd be quicker if Colette uses her wings to fly over," his father interrupted. "Colette, if you would?"
"I- y- yes, okay, I'll be right back." The girl nodded, spreading her wings and quickly going over the top of the gate.
Lloyd frowned, glancing over at the graying man. What did Yuan mean? About an 'original' name, as if that wasn't his real- was it? He felt the color fade from his skin, eyeing the swordsman. Was he really lying about something about that? Why? How did Yuan know him? How did he know all that about the seals and the summon spirits? As far as he knew all that the man knew about that sort of thing was what they told him, and if they didn't know that then how could he have? Then there was what Yuan had said…'how do we know we can trust you'….
"Lloyd, are you all right? We're going in now," Raine said.
"Huh-? Yeah, let's go."
This wasn't the time, he kept telling himself that. This wasn't the time, right now they had to take care of this. All right they would need to take the captives somewhere safe, but they had to shut down the reactor. There wasn't enough time to get the captives out first but- no, wait, they'd just split up like they had at Kvar's ranch. Yeah, that'd work, he'd take the Professor to deactivate the reactor and – well whoever wanted to come then.
"I've located the reactor," Raine reported as soon as she had hacked the mainframe. "So what's the plan, Lloyd?"
"Okay, well let's split up, one group will go after the reactor and the other will save the captives. Professor, could you come with me to the reactor? We'll need someone to shut it down."
"Of course," Raine nodded. "Who else should go with us? I imagine security will be tight around the reactor."
Lloyd hesitated, scanning the group. They'd need some manpower, but someone that could heal a bit would be good too…
"Presea and Dad," he said. "Everyone else will go free the captives. Is that all right with everyone?"
The old swordsman and Presea nodded, the others confirming their agreement as well.
"There's no need to split up until we find the captives, the cells and the reactor should be in the same direction," Raine said after scanning the map. "Let's hurry."
"Hopefully we can save Chocolat now." Colette smiled.
Lloyd flinched. Chocolat- he totally forgot about her. How could he possibly have forgotten about her? They had promised that they would go and save her, they heard she was at this ranch- what was wrong with him? Why was he forgetting stuff like that? Well-…yes he had had other stuff on his mind at the moment but that still wasn't any real excuse, was it?
"Y- Yeah, hopefully she's all right."
They headed through the ranch and it wasn't long before they came across the cell block where it appeared that most of the prisoners were gone. One man and a girl remained, the girl noticing them about the same tie they noticed her.
"Chosen One! Everyone!" Chocolat exclaimed, her eyes going wide.
The Desian guards that had been bearing down on them turned to the door, scowling.
"So you are here! The host bodies made a break for it as soon as they heard you had snuck in! You filthy rats, you'll pay for this!" one snarled, pulling out his weapon.
Lloyd didn't waste any time; he pulled out his own blades and rushed in, felling the lead Desian before he had a chance to react. The other tried to come at him from the side but he quickly swerved around, stepping back behind the Desian when he struck and finishing him with a quick blow to the back.
"W- wow!" Chocolat exclaimed.
Judging by the look on his friends' faces in the open doorway, 'wow' about summed it up. Lloyd cleared his throat and quickly turned to the Chocolat and the other captive.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, I think the other captives managed to escape already," replied the old man.
"We'll make sure they get out safely," Regal said, walking forward. "If you'll come with us we'll find them."
"Thank you," the man said.
"Uh- uhm…" Chocolat fidgeted, eying Lloyd and then the rest of the group. "Hey-"
"If you don't' want to be rescued by me, just considered yourself rescued by the Chosen," Lloyd said with a weak half-smile.
"I- …I heard about how you were kind to Grandma, you and Genis…thank you."
"You're welcome," Lloyd answered with a weak smile. "Now get going."
They had barely split up when Raine addressed him.
"That as pretty impressive, Lloyd, I suppose the added training has been paying off," she said, though her eyes were not on him.
"Uh- You think so? Thanks, Professor."
There was a moment of silence, Lloyd slowly following his teacher's gaze to the enigmatic man that accompanied them. Presea's eyes were on him as well, though she continued to keep her expression blank.
"…Yes, you've definitely improved on your footwork," he said, looking at Lloyd. "Good job."
Lloyd smiled but it quickly faltered. A strange mix of pride, apprehension and skepticism filled him as he looked at the man. Also something like…yes, there it was again, that unsettling familiarity. Hadn't- hadn't he looked at him like that? That weird, detached way of saying he had improved? He quickly looked away, trying not to think about it. Still it was hard not to, to think of everything that had happened, all the little traits, all the little- No. Focus. Stop the tree first, then he said- he said he'd explain, right? So he would, he promised.
Still, why didn't he say anything to him? Granted they didn't have much time to talk seeing as they were hurrying through the halls, and the alarm had already been sounded that they were there, as such they were getting swarmed by wave after wave of Desian squads. Even so, between them his father still hadn't said a word to him. Wouldn't he have said something? Or even just a look, some kind of reassuring sign? He kept waiting for it but it wouldn't come, why? Even if there was no time to explain now, something would- just a smile or something, if he had nothing to hide then why wouldn't he look at him? Then again- …he did have something he was hiding, that was the whole point, wasn't it? But…what?
"The reactor should be through this door," Raine said as they reached the end of a hall, quickly hacking into the system to open it.
"All right, is everyone ready?" Lloyd asked, scanning the three with him.
Usually before a fight he had said something to him, 'be careful' or told him to remember something that he had taught him for combat. All he did was nod, he didn't even look at him. What was with him? That- that was more like something that Kratos'd-
He quickly clamped down on the thought.
"Okay, let's go in and be ready for anything," he said, facing the door as Raine opened it.
They had barely gotten into the room when the door slammed shut behind them and the Grand Cardinal Forcystus walked out into their path.
"You're not getting any further than that," the half-elf said, his one eye narrowed on them.
"Unbelievable," Raine scowled, crossing her arms. "You do realize that if the tree isn't stopped, you'll die along with all of your men, don't you?"
"Lord Yggdrasill has ordered us not to harm the tree, and Lord Yggdrasill's orders are absolute."
"Are you saying that fool would go this far just to protect her?" a voice snapped.
Lloyd's blood ran cold and he quickly swept his gaze to the speaker, trying to ignore the way his heart began to pound when he saw the look on his father's face. His wine eyes were narrowed dangerously, his fingers curled tight on the hilt of his sword.
"How dare you, you filthy human!" Forcystus scowled. "How dare you speak ill of our glorious leader! It matters not if this world dies, we, the half-elves, have Derris-Kharlan-"
"So if this world dies you can just run to Derris-Kharlan?" the old swordsman scoffed. "You're nothing but expendable pawns to Yggdrasill, he won't bother to save you, you'll serve your purpose and then he will simply leave you to perish. Don't be a fool. Stand down."
"You speak as if you know him, who are you?"
Those few words hit Lloyd like a smack across the face, his eyes darting to his father. Like he knew him? But he hadn't even ever seen Yggdrasill- and why wouldn't he look at him, he just keep his eyes ahead- Lloyd's fingers curled at his sides.
"If you are not going to move we'll be forced to remove you," he said flatly, ignoring them.
"Dad-"
"There's no time, Lloyd," Raine said quickly, pulling out her staff. "We need to stop the reactor, now."
"You won't get past me!" Forcystus scowled, taking a stance.
Lloyd gritted his teeth, drawing his swords. Fine then, he'd put his frustration to use.
And bottle up his fear for later.
Yaaaaay it updateeeed . Sorry it didn't get to the juicy bits just yet, but trust me, next chapter…hehehee
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