Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter! :D
We're back to Sheena now. Remember, everyone is at the Ossa Trail, and Sheena had fallen into the tunnel as Lloyd's group headed up the path and met Nova's caravan.
I don't own TOS.
((SHEENA POV))
I groaned and stood up slowly, Corrine poofing before me.
"Sheena! Are you okay?" He asked frantically.
"Yeah…" I said, dusting myself off and looking around. I was in some kind of underground maintenance tunnel. Wonderful.
"Well, that sucked." I said. "We'll have to try to catch up with them."
Corrine frowned. "I'll see if there's a way out." He padded down the tunnel, disappearing.
I took a better look around. There was a rusted ladder on the wall to my right, which probably led back up to the Ossa Trail but it didn't look too sturdy. If Corrine could find another way out, that'd be better. Maybe the tunnel ran under the whole trail?
Corrine came running back. "Sheena! There's a bunch of tunnels but I found a way out that leads to the other end of the trail!"
"Good job, Corrine. Let's get going, then." I said, starting down to tunnel once Corrine hopped up onto my shoulder.
"They didn't look too scary." Corrine said.
"Who? The Chosen's group? Yeah, I know. They really are kids. Well, that one guy looked pretty dangerous. Kratos, I think." I said.
"Hm… we'll have to be careful!" Corrine said.
I nodded. "Once we catch up, I'll activate one of my Guardians. That should keep them busy enough for me to target their Chosen."
Corrine nodded, his bell jingling. "Turn right, Sheena."
I nodded, going the way Corrine said, taking two more turns at his direction. Suddenly, two people stumbling out in front of us from a side tunnel.
"Get outta here! This is our place!" One snapped.
"Yeah! Find your own spot!" The other said, drawing a blade.
I held up my hands. "Hey, easy. I'm on my way out."
"Oh, so you think you can just crash here and then leave?" The first demanded, also drawing a weapon.
"Let me pass and I won't have to hurt you." I said, drawing my cards.
The second snorted. "How you gonna hurt us with paper?" He lunged at me.
I flipped out of the way and slapped a card on his back. "Pyre Seal!" The card exploded and he was flung into a wall, knocked out.
"Who the hell are you?" The remaining guy asked, wildly slashing his blade.
I ignored his question, flinging another Pyre Seal at him, also rendering him unconscious.
"Idiots." I scoffed, putting away the rest of my cards and walking over them.
"Way to go, Sheena!" Corrine cheered.
"Thanks, Corrine. Which way now?" I asked.
The tunnels were mostly dirt and very poorly lit with torches, so it was tiresome to trek through them, not that I had a choice.
Of all the places for there to be a trap door…
"Hey, Corrine?" I asked. "Why didn't we find that trap door entrance last night when we were camping? It looked like the blonde girl flipped a lever or something for it to open."
"I don't know. I didn't see it. I'm sorry!" Corrine said.
"Hey, I didn't notice it either, it's okay. I was just wondering." I said.
Corrine nuzzled my face, bell jingling.
"The door is right up here!" Corrine suddenly said. Sure enough, what I had first taken as another wall of the tunnel was actually a concealed door, light filtering in under the crack.
"Do you hear that?" I whispered.
Corrine nodded. Footsteps.
"Okay, Corrine. I need you to go into that Summon Spirit space." I said.
"Sheena! I want to help!" Corrine protested.
"And you can! Go into that space and pop out a little ways from this trail. According to the map Yuan had stuffed into that bag, there should be a village nearby. I need you to be familiar with it just in case this doesn't go well and I need to use a transportation card to get away." I explained.
"Okay! I can do it!" Corrine said. "Good luck, Sheena!" He poofed away.
Taking a deep breath and bracing myself, hoping it was the Chosen's group, I swung the door open and jumped out onto the path, cards raised.
Their group jumped back, startled, before that Kratos guy took out his weapon again.
"Oh, you're okay!" The Chosen said, taking a step closer.
"Don't move!" I snapped.
The elf woman raised an eyebrow. "A wise decision."
I scowled at her. "I won't be caught off guard again!"
I drew one of my Guardian cards – one of the cards my Grandpa had made me. Pushing some of my mana into the card, I ignored the curious look their Chosen was giving me and smirked at their collective gasp when the large Guardian burst forth. It was a terrifying sight – a floating monster with long limbs and a giant spiked ring. It immediately started attacking and I didn't hesitate, flitting forward and slapping a Pyre Seal onto the stunned blonde girl next to the Chosen, blasting her backwards.
I turned to the Chosen as the two elves started casting and the mercenary was detained by the Guardian. He drew his blades, a grim look on his face.
"Why are you trying to kill me?" He demanded, slashing at me.
I easily avoided his attacks. "Mirage Seal!" a flung the card at him and he staggered a bit, his accuracy now off. "Power Seal!" Without giving him a chance to react, I sent another card at him, this time weakening his defense.
I dodged a wave of water that suddenly shot toward me, but couldn't avoid getting my arm sliced by a flying disc. So, the blonde was up.
Getting up close to the Chosen, I rendered his companions attacks useless as they wouldn't risk hitting him. Punching, I aimed for his vital spots, weakening his arms.
"Guardian!" He yelled, and mana surrounded him, throwing me backwards. A light spell came out of nowhere and hit me, slicing my arms and legs viciously. I winced but charged, ignoring the pain.
The Guardian gave a yell of pain, and I whipped around to see the mercenary beating it back. Damn, Yuan was right- that guy is way too strong.
"Demon Fang!" The Chosen yelled, and I tripped on the shockwave of mana the attack caused. I quickly took in the situation. The Chosen and his blonde girlfriend were back me against the tunnel entrance, the two elves were casting, and the mercenary had almost singlehandedly taken out my Guardian.
Corrine! I thought. This doesn't look good!
Sheena! Corrine called back. I'm coming!
Give me one more shot! I mentally called, feeling Corrine hovering just beyond, waiting.
I threw another Pyre Seal at the girl, fainting left and activating it with a push of mana as I ran right, hoping to get under the Chosen's guard.
He spun impossibly fast and brought his swords up to block my hits. At this close range, he could have stabbed me straight through and I wouldn't have been able to stop him. Instead, he just blocked and glared at me, obviously trying not to kill me. Wait, what?
I stumbled backwards from one of his hits just as the Guardian wailed and vanished.
Ut-o, time to go. Corrine!
Corrine poofed onto my shoulder and I gripped the transportation card, letting my mind fill with the image Corrine sent me of the outskirts of the town.
"This isn't over. I'll kill you next time, I swear!" I shouted before the card activated and I disappeared in a puff of smoke, the last thing I saw being the Chosen's confused face.
No… Lloyd's…
Stumbling, I felt my feet hit the ground and looked around, realizing I had gotten pretty close to the town.
"Thanks, Corrine." I panted.
"Sheena! Are you okay?" Corrine asked worriedly.
"Yeah. It's just cuts and bruises, mostly." I said, reassuring him.
"What happened?" Corrine asked.
I frowned. "They were stronger than I thought. Those two elves cast pretty fast. And for being so clumsy, that blonde had good aim. The mercenary, though… He's even stronger than Yuan said. We definitely have to watch out for him."
"What about the Chosen?" Corrine asked.
My frown deepened. "I don't know… I get the feeling he's a lot stronger than he let on. It was like he was trying to avoid really hurting me. How can I kill him if he's nice like that? Dammit, he's supposed to be mean and nasty and fight back so I can kill him in battle and be done with it!"
"Maybe he's actually a nice guy?" Corrine asked.
I shook my head. "That just makes this harder. I wonder… Corrine, what if there's a way to save Tethe'alla without killing Lloyd? Maybe I could just stop him from finishing the journey with killing him?"
"I like that plan!" Corrine chirped.
I chuckled. "Me too. Let's get into town and find a boat quickly. They'll be here soon and I don't wanna fight them again so soon."
Corrine nodded and poofed away as I straightened up best I could and headed into town. I wandered through the fish market of Izoold – that was the village name – and bought some fresh salmon to eat for dinner. I headed to the harbor. I knew that the Chosen's group would eventually try to cross the water, so instead of trailing behind them, I'd get ahead of them on the journey.
A redheaded man was untying docking ropes from a sailboat. Jeez, they still had sailboats here? Well, I guess Yuan wasn't lying when he said Sylvarant was way behind Tethe'alla technologically.
"Excuse me, are you sailing to the other continent?" I asked.
He glanced at me. "Yeah. I'm going to Palmacosta. Why?"
"Can I go with you? I'll pay for the trip." I said.
"What's your name?" He squinted at me.
"Sheena." I said, staring right back at him.
He snorted. "You're not from around here, are you? The waters are dangerous – lots of monsters. The people here think I'm crazy for setting sail."
"I don't care about the dangers." I said. "I can take care of myself."
"I bet you can…" He murmured. "Name's Aifread. If you're coming with me, get onboard. I ain't waiting around for you."
"Thank you!" I smiled, climbing onto the small ship.
Aifread grunted and finished untying the boat, hopping on and heading to the mast, adjusting the sail and going to the helm to steer the boat out of the harbor.
"Aifread! You're really leaving?" A brown haired girl ran to the dock's end.
"Sorry, Lyla. I'm heading home to Luin." Aifread said.
"Take me with you!" Lyla demanded.
Aifread snorted. "You know I can't do that. Take care of yourself!"
With that the boat picked up speed. Lyla called after us, but soon Izoold shrank in the distance as we headed out on the open water.
"Your wife?" I asked.
Aifread snorted again. "Nah. She was more like a little sister to me. Though, I doubt she saw me as a brother."
"Ah." I said, understanding. The sun was almost set in the sky and I stifled a yawn.
"There's a small cabin below desk. We won't hit port again until dawn – I have to go slower at night due to the decreased visibility. Go get some sleep. Don't need you passing out and falling overboard." Aifread said.
I scowled. "I wouldn't fall overboard!"
"Sure you wouldn't. Get below." He said.
I sighed, going to the small door and heading down the few steps to the small cabin. The room was small, but there was a bed, which I sat on. Corrine poofed onto my shoulder.
"I'm going to call Zelos." I said. "Can you watch for Aifread?"
"Sure!" Corrine chirped, moving to sit on the steps, cocking his head slightly to listen for the unruly man.
Pulling out my communicator, I pushed the buttons and waited for Zelos to pick up.
"Sheena!" Zelos yelled, smiling at me.
"Hey, Zelos." I smiled back.
"Did you find their Chosen yet?" Zelos asked.
"Yeah, we had a small run-in." I said with a wry smile.
"And? What happened?" Zelos asked.
Quickly, I told Zelos about my failed ambush and then my retreat.
"Damn. It doesn't sound like this'll be as easy as we thought." Zelos said.
I snorted. "I'll say."
"Just be careful. If any of them hurt you, I'll come over there and kill them myself." Zelos threatened.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm on a boat now heading across the water. This is where they'll be headed, so I figured I'd try to stay a little ahead instead of trailing behind them." I explained.
"That's a good idea – they won't expect it." He said.
I rolled my eyes. "Idiot, that's why I'm doing it."
"Hey, hey. You're gone for two days and are still calling me names? Where's the love, don't you miss me?" Zelos demanded.
"You know I miss you, jerk. The King try to check up on me yet?" I asked.
"Yeah. I've been hiding out here – which is really boring, I'll have you know – but twice a messenger from the King has come looking for you. So far Sebastian has been able to handle it, but I don't know how long it'll last until they find out you're gone." My best friend told me.
I frowned. "Well, just try you're best to keep it up. If they find out, they find out. Tell them it was all my fault – they can't touch me when I'm here anyway."
"I don't think they'd believe me." Zelos smirked.
"Still. Don't go getting put in jail on my account." I warned.
"Yeah, yeah. I love you too. You look exhausted. Have you been eating okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, the food here's not bad. From what I can tell, it's just like Tethe'alla, except a little behind like Yuan said." I answered.
Zelos nodded thoughtfully. "Call me tomorrow once you figure out what you're doing. Get some sleep – looks like you need it."
I stuck my tongue out at him. "I will. Thanks, Zelos."
"Goodnight, Sheena." Zelos disconnected and I put the communicator away.
"Are you going to sleep now?" Corrine asked.
I shrugged. "I might as well. Aifread said we won't get there until morning, anyway."
"Okay. I'll keep watch and wake you a little before dawn, then." Corrine said, curling up more comfortably on the stairs.
"Thanks, Corrine. That's perfect. Night." I laid back and closed my eyes, drifting to sleep.
Um... yay?
Lloyd's reaction next chapter, next Saturday!
Thanks so much to everyone reading and reviewing! :D