Hi everyone! Hope you all had a safe and happy new year! :)
Now, on with the story! Chapter 10 yay! This switches back to Lloyd, where we left him at the House of Salvation outside of Iselia.
I don't own Tales of Symphonia.
((Lloyd POV))
"I don't wanna go to the Temple today…" I murmured, rolling over and snuggling deeper into my covers on the bed.
I think I heard a sigh, or maybe it was just air-displacement as somebody moved really fast and shoved me off the bed and onto the floor harshly.
"Hey!" I yelled, blinking and sitting up, my body whimpering in pain from all the fighting yesterday combined with the rude wake up call.
Just as my eyes were adjusting to the faint light in the room, I felt the cool tip of a sword press lightly against the side of my neck.
"If I were an assassin ambushing you in the middle of the night, you'd be dead." Kratos stated matter-of-factly.
I scowled up at him and pushed the blade away from my neck.
"Yeah, well. You aren't." I said grumpily.
"Hmph. You must learn to wake at a moment's notice. Defending yourself should become instinct, so that if startled in sleep, your body will react and protect you until your mind wakes up." Kratos said, sheathing his sword.
"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled, looking around the room and blinking a few times. It took a moment, but then I remembered where we were – the House of Salvation outside of Iselia. We'd made it here right before nightfall, after Genis and I had been –
"Where's Genis?" I asked, forcing myself to not finish my thought and instead focus on my missing friend.
"He is in the other room with Colette and Professor Raine. You are the last to wake. Again." Kratos said.
I grunted, nodding, and turned to my pack which I had stowed under my bed the night before. I opened it and took out some fresh clothes, since the ones I had worn the day before were slightly torn and covered in blood from all the fighting.
Don't think about it. I ordered myself, dressing mechanically.
"Where're my swords?" I asked, fully clothed and swinging my pack onto my shoulders.
"Tsk. You should never lose your weapons – you are vulnerable without them." Kratos said, reaching over to Genis' bed, where my swords were laying, and handing them to me.
"But you're the one who – " I started, but stopped once Kratos leveled me a cold glare. Damn, that man can be scary. I thought.
I quickly sheathed the mismatched steel blades.
"For now, these blades will do if we get into any fights on our journey to the desert today. However, once we reach the desert oasis city Triet, we should buy proper twin blades for you to fight with. Currently, those blades are a good substitute and mismatched blades will serve you in a pinch, but you will learn no new skills unless equipped with proper weapons." Kratos said.
I nodded. It made sense. I grinned at the thought of buying a set of real twin blades.
"Let's go, Lloyd." Kratos said. I nodded again and, blinking the last remnants of sleep from my eyes, followed Kratos out of the room and down the hall into another, where the Professor, Colette, and Genis were standing around.
"Oh, good. You're awake." Colette said, smiling when she saw me.
I smiled back. "Morning!"
Genis rolled his eyes. "Morning, dead weight. Nice bed head."
I stuck my tongue out at him and ran my gloved fingers through my hair a few times, but it stubbornly retained its spiked look. I shrugged, uncaring.
"Now, we can finally get going. I want to reach Triet by nightfall." The Professor said.
"Yeah, okay. Let's go, then." I said, trying not to think of the disasters we ran into last time we tried to start this journey.
The Professor looked at me, obviously having expected some other response, before nodding slowly and heading to the door. We all followed her out and down the stairs into the main room of the building, where the same two priests from the night before were praying at an altar.
"Thank you again for your hospitality." The Professor said, bowing her head to them.
The priest who had showed us our rooms rose and faced us while his counterpart continued to pray.
"Oh, no. It is our duty and privilege to aid the Chosen One on his journey of world regeneration." The Priest said.
"Yeah… Thanks." I said, forcing a smile.
We left and headed to the path going south, Kratos and Raine taking the lead, with Colette and Genis following, and me trailing along after them.
Now that there was nothing to do but walk, my mind kept wandering to things I didn't want to think about. Every time I blinked, I saw another dead body from Iselia, or a house on fire, or a Desian attacking a villager, or Marble's twisted monster form, or rivers of blood… No wonder the Mayor banished me. It was all my fault. The village was destroyed and people dead and it was all my fault. I had brought the Desians to the village. And Forcystus swore he'd keep after me. Did that mean I was putting Colette and Genis and the Professor in trouble by traveling with them? I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, to die, because of me. I didn't really notice when I stopped walking. I held my hands before my face, and watched them shake. So much blood… My hands were stained red!
"Lloyd! Look out!" Genis screamed.
I blinked stupidly, looking up as a bandit rushed me, his knife sparkling in the morning light. I stared dumbly, remembering the flash of my blade as I killed Desians, the flash of the Desians' blades as they killed villagers…
I was shoved hard and fell on my ass. Kratos stood in front of me protectively, and ruthlessly parried the bandit, easily overcoming him and killing him in one swift movement.
"Lloyd! Snap out of it! Now!" Kratos yelled, hauling me to my feet. Behind him, I saw Colette, the Professor, and Genis struggling with a mage that must have been accompanying the bandit.
SMACK!
I stared into Kratos' furious eyes, and raised a hand to my stinging cheek.
"Wha-" I started, but he cut me off.
"Didn't you promise to protect your friends?" Kratos asked me coldly.
I shook my head and nodded. I quickly drew my twin blades and focused on the present. My friends needed me to keep my head. Kratos nodded at me and we both charged the mage. In two seconds, she was dead, joining her bandit partner. I swiftly wiped off my blades and turned to face my companions.
"I'm sorry." I said.
Kratos nodded stiffly. "Lesson number one. Keep your head. Emotion breeds carelessness on the battlefield. Scan your surroundings constantly, and never relax until you are locked into a safe room, and even then, maintain your guard. You want to protect your friends? At this rate, you won't even survive."
"H-Hey! Don't be mean to Lloyd!" Genis said hotly to Kratos.
"Genis, no. He's right. I'm sorry. That won't happen again." I said, still looking at Kratos. He studied my face before nodding slowly.
"It is my job to protect you, after all. No true harm was done this time – you got lucky. Learn from your mistakes and never repeat them." Kratos said.
I gave him a small smile, knowing I was forgiven.
"Lloyd!" Colette said, hugging me tightly for a second.
"Colette. I'm sorry I didn't protect you good enough." I said.
"No, it's okay. I'm sorry for worrying you." Colette said, smiling at me.
I smiled back but rolled my eyes at her apology. She was always apologizing!
"Lloyd." The Professor said, having been watching me closely since the ambush had ended.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"What happened?" She asked.
I looked at her, prepared to just wave it away, but I saw the no-nonsense look on her face and decided that I had better tell the truth if I didn't want to get hit again today.
I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "I kept thinking about Iselia."
"I see…" The Professor said.
"I could see the fire, the bodies, the blood. My hands were covered in blood…" I said, staring down once again at my hands.
"Stupid Lloyd! You're wearing red gloves!" Genis said.
"Shut it, Genis! Don't you get it? My hands are stained with their blood – gloves or not!" I yelled.
"Lloyd…" The Professor said, glaring at Genis then looking at me, her face compassionate.
"Do not dwell on the past." Kratos said.
My head shot up and I glared at him. "How can I not? It's all my fault!"
"Lloyd! It's my fault, too!" Genis said.
I shook my head. "No, I'm the one who attacked them. What was I thinking? I'm so stupid!"
"Lloyd Irving, stop it this instant!" The Professor said authoritatively.
I looked at her with haunted eyes.
"What you did was follow your heart. In difficult times, faced with difficult decisions, that's all anyone can do. You did what you thought was right. You saw someone being hurt and you stepped up to help them. No one can ask more of the Chosen One. You were not the one who destroyed Iselia, and if you believe so, you are as stupid as the Mayor." The Professor said.
I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and looked at the Professor.
"Thanks, Professor." I said.
She nodded curtly. "Your welcome, Lloyd. Now I don't want to hear anymore about it. We move forward on this journey. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor." I said.
"Good." She said firmly. Genis and Colette smiled at me, and I tried to smile back sincerely. I must have succeeded, because they didn't say anything and we continued walking.
((TWO HOURS LATER))
"I'm hungry…" I whined. It was about noon and we had just hit the area where the grass and forests faded into the sandy, scorching desert.
The Professor looked up at the sun before nodding and stopping. She turned to the rest of us, having stopped as well since she was currently leading us. After my space-out, the Professor and Kratos made it a point to both lead and bring up the rear of our group, switching off their positions every so often. It was nice to feel protected, but at the same time, it felt like they were herding us.
"Let's rest and eat here, before we completely enter the desert." The Professor said.
Kratos nodded in agreement and we all moved off the path a bit and plopped down onto the ground, taking off our packs. I adjusted my swords so I wasn't sitting uncomfortably on them, but made sure I could draw them at a moments notice.
"Let's see…" The Professor said, rummaging in her pack for our provisions.
"I could make us some rice balls…" She started to say, but Genis interrupted her.
"No!" Genis said loudly, then more calmly said: "No, Sis. That'll take too long. How about I use the last of the sandwich ingredients? Quick, easy, and filling."
The Professor frowned but nodded, agreeing. Genis blew out a breath in relief and started making sandwich with the last of our sandwich ingredients.
"I think we should start a rotation so one person isn't stuck on cooking duty for the whole journey." The Professor said.
Kratos nodded. "Sounds fair. It'll help lessen the burden."
The Professor nodded at him. "Exactly. So, since Genis has already made food for us, he goes to the end of the rotation."
Genis swallowed audibly and shot me a panicked look. I knew as well as he did that the Professor couldn't cook – hell, I bet she couldn't even read a recipe, let alone follow one.
"How about this, then? You cook next, Professor, then Colette, then Kratos, then me, then Genis?" I said. My reasoning? We'd be relatively full from whatever Genis cooked before the Professor this way – Genis was hands down the best cook in the world – and we could fill back up on Colette's cooking after her, since Colette was a pretty good cook, too. I had no idea if Kratos could cook or not, so putting him after someone good made sense just like with the Professor, and then that left me. I wasn't a great cook like Genis and Colette, but I was definitely better than the Professor. At least my food was edible.
"All right, Lloyd." The Professor said. Colette smiled and Kratos grunted. Genis sent me a slightly less panicked look, probably understanding my logic. When most people looked at me and scratched their heads in confusion, Genis could always understand exactly what I was thinking before I'd even said it out loud. Freaky, but at the same time, expected. After all, he was my best friend!
We all ate our sandwiches quickly and were soon back on the path and headed into the desert.
Once we were far enough in that if I turned around I couldn't see the grass trail behind us, I really began to feel the heat.
"It's so hot!" I panted. I stripped off my jacket and carefully tied it around my waist, making sure it didn't get in the way of my scabbards, then sighed. It was better, but I was still hot.
"How much further?" I asked.
"Not much. The sun is starting its descent. We should reach Triet just before nightfall." The Professor answered. Her hair, like everyone else's, was plastered to her face and neck. I swiped at mine, getting it out of my face. Strangely, the heat seemed to not even be affecting Kratos, who still wore his cape and whose hair was yet to be weighed down by sweat. Jeez, his hair is spikier than mine… I thought, studying it for a moment.
Genis looked at me weirdly. "What're you doing, Lloyd?"
"N-Nothing." I said, scanning our surroundings and pretending I hadn't just been staring at Kratos' hair.
"We should have enough time to buy you proper blades before the shops close." Kratos said to me.
"Cool!" I said, getting a little excited. Genis rolled his eyes at me. I stuck my tongue out at him. Colette giggled.
Suddenly, Kratos tensed. We all stopped and I scanned the area again, but saw nothing.
"Kra-?" I started, but he put a finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet.
"Do you hear that?" He whispered tensely.
We all strained our hearing. After several seconds, I heard it. Hissing.
"Shit." I said, drawing my blades. Kratos nodded, drawing his weapon as well.
Genis paled. "Sn-snakes?" He stuttered.
"Well, this is the desert, after all." The Professor mused.
Just then, three red snakes slithered into view, along with two scorpions. I grimaced. I wasn't deathly afraid or anything, but I definitely did not like the looks of them and wanted to just kill them quickly and move on.
"Professor Raine, you wouldn't happen to know a spell to cure poison, would you?" Kratos asked.
The Professor paled. "Well, I-I do, but I've never…"
Kratos nodded. "Lloyd, you and I will be the ones fighting up close. Please try not to get bit or stung – I'd rather not have Professor Raine casting an untried cure spell in battle on you if possible."
I nodded, my eyes narrowing on the enemies.
The Professor and Genis started casting, and Colette started throwing Pow Hammers and Ray Thrusts, a move that threw her chakrams with a boost of mana, at the scorpions, keeping them disoriented and stunned.
"Double Demon Fang!" I yelled, sending two mana shockwaves along the ground, injuring two of the three snakes slithering towards us, fangs bared.
"Hurricane Thrust!" Kratos yelled, floating and slashing the third while dodging the fangs. He sliced it in half. "Tiger Blade!" I yelled, cutting one snake into three pieces with my strengthened hits. I quickly withdrew my blade from its lifeless body and jumped out of the way of the remaining snake. Kratos glanced at me and I nodded. At the same time, we yelled "Sonic Thrust!" and impaled the remaining snake, my Cruxis Crystal flashing and pulsing at the combined attack.
"Whoa!" I breathed. Kratos shot me a look but I ignored it, caught up in the power rush I suddenly felt when I joined my attack with Kratos'. What was that…?
"Aqua Edge!" Genis shouted, and the resulting wall of rushing water easily drowned the two scorpions. Colette stopped attacking and grinned.
"That was easy! They were pretty weak." She said.
"Yeah!" Genis said.
"They may have been weak, but their venom is toxic, making them dangerous enemies. Don't drop your guards." Kratos said. Genis and Colette sobered some and nodded. I looked at the Professor, who was still charging up a spell.
"Professor? The fight's over." I said.
"I know that, Lloyd." She murmured, her grip on her staff never lessening, eyes squeezed shut in concentration.
"I'm assuming she's charging up the spell to cure poison that she'd never tried before. Thankfully, we didn't need it this time. It is unwise to try out healing spells on the battlefield when their effects are unknown. Now, however…" Kratos said.
I studied the Professor, who had nodded at what Kratos had said.
"But what's she gonna try it on – none of us are poisoned." I said to Kratos.
Kratos' eyes narrowed and the Professor frowned. Kratos looked around and his gaze landed on the body of one of the snakes. His eyes sparked.
Ut-o. I thought.
"The venom is still present. We could intentionally inject one of our member with it for Professor Raine to cast on." He said.
"You want to poison one of us? What if the spell doesn't work?" I said.
"Professor Raine is a competent caster – the spell will work. However, in the event it doesn't, First Aid can stave off poison, though not cure it. Nonetheless, my casting would last until we reached Triet to buy an antidote – we aren't too far away that the person would be in any danger." Kratos said calmly.
"You're serious, aren't you?" I asked, studying his face.
Kratos nodded.
"Well, Professor?" I asked.
The Professor nodded. "We should do it." She said tightly, still focusing on her magic.
I sighed and turned back to Kratos. "Who gets poisoned, then? You?"
"Actually, since my First Aid spell would be needed in the event that Professor Raine's spell fails, it would have to be one of you three." Kratos said, looking from Genis to Colette and back to me.
"And since neither of them have Exspheres to aid them…" He said.
"Oh, hell." I muttered.
Kratos smiled. "Yes, I'm afraid you're the only real option, Chosen One."
I glared. "Don't call me that. Let's just get this over with."
Kratos picked up the snake and carefully pried the mouth open, the fangs glistening in the fading sunlight.
"I suggest you sit down. The effects should spread fairly rapidly." Kratos said, approaching me.
I made a face, but sat on the sand. Genis and Colette stood to one side, looking worried.
"Hey, don't worry you guys. The Professor and Kratos know what they are doing. Right?" I said, turning to look at Kratos as he crouched down on my other side, between the Professor and where I was sitting.
Kratos smirked. "Of course." He said.
The Professor opened her eyes and looked at me. "I'm ready." She said.
Kratos nodded. "Good, then I will inject him. Lloyd. We need the poison to start to take effect before Professor Raine can cast, otherwise the spell will have no effect."
I nodded and held out my right arm to him, tensing as he gently held it steady. Without any further warning, he pushed the fangs into my arm, easily breaking the skin and injecting me with the poison.
I hissed at the pain. Kratos pulled the fangs out and threw the dead snake away, studying my face closely. Pain was crawling up my arm and spreading throughout my body. I blinked, and my vision started wavering. Suddenly, there were three Kratos' in front of me, and they were spinning. I groaned and clutched my arm, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Lloyd…" I heard Colette whisper.
"Now." Kratos said.
"Recover!" the Professor said. I felt the spell swirl around me, and my Cruxis Crystal reacted to the Professor's mana, aiding its' healing effects. The pain suddenly stopped growing and started receding. It was pushed back into my arm and the puncture wounds. It built until I thought I'd scream, then suddenly broke and it was gone. I blinked and shook my head to clear it, and stared at my arm, where the venom was currently oozing out of the wound and running down my arm.
"Gross." I said.
Kratos produced a napkin from his pack and wordlessly handed it to me. I nodded my thanks as I quickly wiped up the venom, throwing the napkin away with an "ick".
"It worked." The Professor sighed, a smile on her face.
I stood up and nodded. "Looks like." I said, smiling back at her. She was glowing with pride when suddenly Genis and Colette both hugged me.
"Lloyd!" Genis said.
"I was so worried!" Colette said.
"Relax, you two. I'm fine." I said, grinning at them. They grinned back and released me.
Kratos nodded. "Let's get going."
We all turned to him and nodded. We resumed our walking, and I chatted with Genis and Colette about nothing while the Professor and Kratos discussed spells and his knowledge of poison. About an hour before dark, we could see Triet on the horizon, and twenty minutes later were at the city's gates.
"Whoa! Cool!" I said as we walked under the archway and into Triet. Even though it was late, there were still a few people walking around, and they all had on really lightweight looking clothing and stripes of cloth wrapped around their heads to protect them from the sun.
"Right. Kratos, you take Lloyd to buy new swords before the shops close. Genis and I will head to the inn to get us some rooms." The Professor said.
"I'll go with Lloyd." Colette said quickly. I smiled at her and the Professor nodded. She and Genis headed off to the right, where the signs advertising an inn pointed. Kratos led Colette and me to the left and into the marketplace.
There were five or six shops lined up on either side of the walk and looping around, since it was a dead-end. Colette and I followed Kratos wide-eyed, having never seen such a huge marketplace before.
Suddenly, Colette tripped on her own feet and fell into the wall of a storage room, making a Colette shaped hole in the wall.
"Colette!" I yelled, picking her up out of the rubble.
"You okay?" I asked, helping her dust herself off. She blushed brightly and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She said.
"Hey! You broke my wall! You better pay for that!" A man yelled, running up to us, red in the face with anger.
"Hey, it was an accident!" I said.
"I'm sorry!" Colette said, bowing her head.
"I don't care if it was an accident or not – you're paying for the repairs!" The man snarled angrily.
I was about to say something when I felt Kratos put his hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him. He shook his head and I let out a breath.
"Of course we will pay. Chosen One, you and your companion should be more careful." Kratos said.
I was about to yell at Kratos for calling me that when the man stuttered: "Ch-Chosen One?"
Kratos raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, this man is Lloyd Irving, the Chosen One. I am Kratos Aurion, his guard, and this is Colette Brunel, his companion. We have just begun the journey of world regeneration."
The man gulped. "I-I didn't know! Pl-please forgive me, Ch-Chosen One!" He yelled.
"Um… You're forgiven…?" I said.
"Oh, thank you Chosen One! I pray for you every day!" The man said.
"But what about the damages?" Colette asked.
The man waved his hand. "Oh, no! I couldn't possibly take gald from the Chosen's group! Please hurry and complete the journey, Chosen One!"
"Yeah… I will…" I said.
The man smiled and left us, Colette still murmuring apologies to him.
I turned to Kratos. "You're pretty smart."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Lloyd. Come. Let's get you some real blades." Kratos said, his eyes twinkling as he turned and continued down the path searching for a weapon's merchant. I just smiled and shook my head, dragging Colette after him.
We stopped in front of a vender selling weapons.
"We'd like to see your twin blades." Kratos said.
"Sure thing." The owner said. He reached under his booth and pulled out three sets of twin blades.
"These are the sets I've got right now." He said.
Kratos nodded and looked them over carefully. He lifted one from each and tested its weight and blade, before nodding to the middle pair.
"We'll take those." He said.
"Hey! I don't get a say?" I said.
"No." Kratos said shortly.
"Why not? They're my weapons!" I said angrily.
"Because, you have never had real blades and therefore do not know what qualities to look for. That set" – he pointed to the leftmost pair – "is unbalanced. And that set" – he pointed to the rightmost pair – "is already dull. This middle set, however, is heavy enough to train your muscles with without being unusable, and the blades are in good condition, meaning they will not rust or need replacing soon." Kratos explained.
I pouted but didn't say anything, mostly because I knew I'd have never have been able to tell all that for myself.
"That's 300 gald." The vender said.
Kratos nodded and pulled out the gald from his pack, handing it over to the vender who in turn handed him the blades.
"Pleasure doing business with you." He said, before flipping over his stands' sign to indicate he was now closed.
Kratos nodded again and turned to Colette and me.
"We should head to the Inn." He said, carefully carrying my new blades.
We nodded and followed him across the town and to the Inn, heading inside the main entrance.
"Lloyd!" Genis yelled. We all looked to where Genis was standing, at the bottom of the stairs in the left corner of the check in area of the Inn.
"Sis got three rooms. Mine and hers is number 201, the first one up these stairs. Colette, yours is the one next to us, 202. Lloyd, you and Kratos have room 101, which is the room right over there." Genis said, pointing to the only room on this floor.
I frowned. "Why did the Professor get three rooms when we only need two – one for girls and one for guys?"
Genis shrugged. "The innkeeper was desperate to book the rooms. It was cheaper to rent all three."
"Then how come Colette's the one who get's the single room?" I asked.
"I'd assume that's because she's the only one who could be trusted to a single room." Kratos said.
I glared at him while Colette blushed and Genis chuckled.
"That's pretty much what Raine said. She didn't trust me in a room by myself, and Lloyd's too important to room without protection, so this was the only solution." Genis explained.
I frowned, still pouting slightly, but nodded. For Professor logic, it made sense. Still…
"She also insisted we all head to our room for dinner – she should have it finished by now." Genis said.
Genis, Colette, and I shared a grimace, and Kratos looked curious.
"Don't worry; you'll understand soon." I said, smirking at Kratos, before following Genis and Colette up the stairs and into the first room in the hallway.
"Oh, good, you're all back. Dinner's ready." The Professor said.
As soon as I entered the room, my nose wrinkled – it smelled like something had died in here.
Genis and Colette had similar expressions, while Kratos blinked then calmly seated himself on the floor around the plates of food the Professor had laid out. Colette and I followed suit, while Genis opened the window before joining us.
"Well, don't just sit there! Eat up, everyone!" The Professor said, sitting as well and piling some of the food onto her plate.
I stared at the large platter. "Food" is a loose term to describe what I saw. There was some sort of dark brown, blackened substance on it. Tentatively, I used the large spoon on the platter to scoop up some and put it on my own plate. I had expecting it to be hard, but it was strangely mushy and clumped. I stared down at my plate as Kratos, Genis, and Colette took their own portions of our meal.
"Er, Professor… what did you make us?" I asked.
"Why, it's rice, of course Lloyd!" the Professor answered, looking at me as if I was a bit slow for not knowing what was right in front of me.
Rice… right…
Picking up my own spoon, I took a deep breath and took a small mouthful. It tasted worst than it looked. My eyes watered and bulged, and I choked as I tried to force myself to swallow. It was watery and mushy and grainy and burnt and kinda spicy all at once. Genis smacked my back and I managed to swallow, coughing a bit before relaxing. Genis and Colette, having seen my reaction, pretended to take a few bites before declaring they were too tired from the day's events and were still full from the sandwiches earlier. I quickly followed suit, muttering my excuses.
Kratos had yet to take a bite – could you blame him?
"Oh, but I worked so hard on it!" the Professor said, looking down at her almost empty plate.
I wondered how in the world she could eat it, but said aloud: "I know, and I'm sorry Professor – it's delicious but I'm just too exhausted to eat."
She nodded dejectedly. I thought I heard Kratos sigh, and I turned to look at him as he took a bite of food. My eyes widened at his courage. He grimaced, but managed to swallow with much more grace than I had. Genis, Colette, and I watched in awe as Kratos forced himself to eat half of the portion he had taken, before setting down his plate.
"Thank you for the… interesting meal, Professor Raine." He said.
The Professor smiled at him, probably happy that someone had actually eaten her food.
"You're welcome!" She said.
"I suggest we all go to our rooms, then, since we are done eating. It's late, and we have a long way to go yet." Kratos said.
We all nodded and said our goodnights, with Colette, Kratos and I heading to the door. Colette headed down the hall to her room while Kratos and I descended the stairs and headed for ours.
"Wow. I'm impressed." I whispered to Kratos, afraid the Professor might hear me.
He grimaced and put a hand on his stomach.
Once we had entered his room, a soft blue light enveloped him as he muttered "First Aid".
I grinned at his sigh of relief. "You know, you made her happy by eating that." I said.
Kratos looked uncomfortable and placed his pack on the bed by the door. I shrugged, not caring which bed I got as long as I got one, and dumped my pack on the floor, shoving it under the other bed in the room.
"Is her cooking always that bad?" Kratos asked.
I nodded. "Pretty much."
Kratos wrinkled his face in disgust and I laughed.
"You learn to lie really quickly. Or pretend to eat while really spitting it all out into your napkin." I said.
Kratos sighed again, nodding. "I will remember that."
I just grinned at him. For being so stoic, he had his moments of caring.
Kratos brought over my new blades and laid them on my bed.
"Now, take off those spare swords and test out these new ones." He instructed.
I did as he said, removing the mismatched blades from my scabbards before picking up the new blades Kratos had bought me.
The handles fit in my hands perfectly and I gave them a few experimental swings. I grinned as the nice swishing sound they made as they cut the air. Oh, yeah!
"These are great!" I said.
Kratos nodded. "Since they are new, you won't need to clean and sharpen them tonight. However, you should do so to your old blades. I suggest you strap them to your pack and keep them as spares in case something happens to these and we are unable to get to a city to buy new ones."
I nodded, sheathing the new blades. I took off my boots and socks, and untied my jacket from my waist before sitting on my bed and picking up my new spare swords. Kratos took a sharpening stone out of his pocket and showed me how to use it, demonstrating on one blade then watching closely as I repeated the action on the other. He nodded his approval of my job and helped my strap the blades safely to my pack.
I took off my pants and stuffed them under my bed with everything else, laying back against the pillows and preparing to sleep.
"Good night, Kratos." I murmured, closing my eyes. I was exhausted and fell asleep right after I heard Kratos murmur: "Goodnight, Lloyd."
So, what'd ya think? The next couple chapters will be with Lloyd since a rather important event is about to occur. So, even though I generally switch between the Chosens when their days end, I'm sticking with Lloyd for a bit longer.
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