Summary: After the journey of world regeneration, Kratos decides to make a visit to the others. But after Raine is attacked, his plans for 'vacation' are ruined.
Rating: PG-13 (T)
Disclaimer: The Tales of Symphonia characters and previous plot belong to Namco & Kosuke Fujishima. I own only the plot of this story.
Salvation Vacation
Chapter Five : Baths and Berries
Raine woke the next morning to the sound of arguing from downstairs. She sighed and got up, changing into her normal orange outfit; Genis had been smart enough to bring their things along with him when he 'escaped' from Meltokio. She opened the door to hear a final scream of "PERVERT!" that reverberated throughout Dirk's house, then heard stomping as a toweled, newly-bathed Sheena scaled the stairs. The professor stepped aside to let the ninja in, who barely cast her a look as she furiously walked to the other side of the room, apparently going to get clothes. Raine closed the door behind her and walked downstairs to where the rest of the group was.
Kratos sat at the table across from Dirk, drinking some (very strong) coffee and staring off into space. Dirk, apparently thinking Kratos was staring at him, gazed steadily back at the mercenary. This lasted for several moments until Dirk finally gave up, taking his mug to the sink in shame.
Raine stared outside, looking for the source of all the commotion. "What happened?" she asked, turning back to Kratos, but he just gave her a pre-coffee death glare and resumed staring off through another window. She sighed and stepped outdoors, where Lloyd, Colette, and Zelos were standing around.
"Zelos, I can't believe you're still trying to catch Sheena bathing." Raine noticed wet footprints leading into the house – she must have been taking a bath out in the forest.
The former Chosen of Tethe'alla sighed and shook his head. "Sheesh, Lloyd, you need to get a sense of adventure! Excitement! Live life on the edge of your seat! Don't tell me you've never thought about-"
"Thought about what, Zelos?" Colette asked innocently.
"Well, Colette," Zelos said, moving closer to her, "sometimes, when a-"
Raine quickly chose this moment to interrupt. "Good morning, Colette."
"Morning, professor!" she said happily, unaware that Zelos was pouting over being interrupted. Meanwhile, Lloyd was shooting death glares at said boy for threatening to corrupt Colette's purity.
"Would you like to make us some breakfast?" Raine asked, somewhat embarrassed at having to ask her student for a favor.
"Sure!" the Chosen replied happily, walking towards the house.
Raine sighed, then joined Lloyd in sending death glares towards Zelos, who immediately whimpered.
"Make yourself useful, Zelos." Raine commanded. "Go to Triet and get us another Rheiard. There's seven of us, so we're one short at the moment."
"Right, my scholarly lady!" he said, very happy to have been offered the opportunity to escape the growing number of people irritated with him. (The current tally was five – the only ones not mad at Zelos in one way or another were Colette, and, well, Zelos himself.) He walked a few feet away before extending his orange wings and making his way towards the desert city.
Lloyd groaned. "Well, this is going to be a long trip," he said before making his way inside the house. Raine nodded to no one in particular before following.
By this time, Sheena had dressed and joined Kratos at the table, drinking a cup of tea. Colette was hustling around, apparently trying to make a meal. Lloyd sat at the table next to Sheena, and Raine seated herself by Kratos. Several moments later, Genis appeared at the bottom of the stairs; he had spent the night on the deck by Lloyd's room (where the girls had been staying), not being one to violate privacy.
"Morning, Genis!" Colette called happily as the younger Sage moved into full view. "How are y-" She stopped at the sight of his hair. "Umm.."
The silver-haired mage had quite possible the worst case of bed-head ever. "What?" he said. "Why is everyone staring at me?"
"Uhh, Genis.." Sheena started.
He caught his reflection in the window at the bottom of the stairs. "Ugh!" he shouted, becoming the second person to stomp back upstairs that day. He returned several moments later and took a seat next to Raine silently. Soon afterwards, Colette arrived at the table and started delivering breakfast.
If you could call it breakfast.
"..."
"What is this stuff?" said Genis, still somewhat annoyed.
"Uh, yeah, Colette. I've never seen anything quite like it," Lloyd added.
Sheena stared at the concoction before her with a very confused expression on her face. Raine simply kept quiet, knowing that if she spoke up, her own cooking would be up for comparison – and she certainly didn't want that.
"It's a milkshake!" Colette said, with a slightly hurt expression upon her face. "What, did I do something wrong?"
"Exactly how did you make this, Colette?" Genis asked, staring at the solid chunks swirling around in his drink.
"Well, first I got some bananas and blueberries, then I stuck them in the glasses, and then I got the milk out and shook it up!" She vigorously shook her hands to demonstrate. "Then I poured it in!"
"Uh, Colette, I don't think-" Lloyd started.
"Drink up!" Sheena interrupted in a rather uncharacteristic manner – apparently, all this yelling at Zelos had taken its toll and made her quite famished. She took a big swig of her shake, downing it in one gulp. The expression on her face changed from surprised to somewhat pained to agonized as she finished it up.
"How was it?" Colette asked hopefully.
Sheena turned slowly to the white-clothed girl. "Colette..." she said, a sick expression on her face, "did you peel the bananas?"
"Oh! So that's what I forgot!" she said, delighted. "I thought I did something horribly wrong!"
Wordlessly, Sheena stepped up from the table, then walked towards the door, her pace increasing until she threw it open and dashed away. Faint retching sounds could be heard in the distance.
"Oh, no! I hope she's all right!" Colette said, worried, as she chased after her. Meanwhile, a soft humming became louder and louder before a burst of wind threw open the door once more and the noise stopped completely. Zelos entered, arms full of boxes.
"Hey, guys! I brought breakfast from the Sand Cafẻ!" The happy expression on his face faded when he saw that everyone had something in front of them already. "Oh, you already ate," he said, crestfallen.
Wordlessly, everyone pushed their glasses to Dirk's end of the table, and the dwarf emptied the contents of each into a nearby garbage can.
"We're still hungry, Zelos," Raine said, trying to save any needless explanation.
"Yeah, starving!" added Lloyd, having already forgotten their earlier disagreement in his stomach's favor.
"All right!" Zelos said, beaming, as he brought boxes to everyone and took a seat by Dirk. "Eat up!"
- - - -
After everyone had eaten (Sheena and Colette had returned mid-meal, with the ninja looking only slightly worse for the wear and trying to convince Colette that no, it wasn't her fault, really), they got down to business.
"So, we're trying to figure out what Seles and Kuchinawa are up to," Sheena said, puzzled.
"Correct," replied Raine. "But where to start?"
Kratos, who had been silent all throughout breakfast, finally spoke up. "Raine," he said, "where's your deck brush?"
"Oh, it broke," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "But I suppose it's outside. Why do you ask?"
"Yeah, why's her broom so important?" Genis chimed in.
"If you all will follow me," the seraph said, getting up and walking outside. The rest of the crew joined him near where the Rheairds were parked.
Raine walked over and picked up the snapped pieces of her makeshift rod. "Here," she said, handing him the parts.
Kratos took both sections and looked them over, before finally finding what he was looking for at the wooden side above the brush. "..."
"What is it?" said Zelos, voicing what everyone was thinking.
The mercenary handed the brushy part back to Raine before tossing the handle side back into the woods. Raine scanned it and gasped. Written across the side opposite the brush's bristles were the words:
PROPERTY OF ASGARD HUMAN RANCH
Lloyd, ever the curious one, took the brush from her and read the words aloud before adding, "Dammit! I thought we'd heard the last of them!" He cursed and stepped backwards, throwing the piece of the brush on the ground. Colette stepped closer to comfort him.
"What are we gonna do?" Sheena said.
"Easy," replied Zelos. "We'll take them out like you guys did before."
"Right!" said Genis. "For the sake of people like Marble!"
Raine caught Kratos looking towards Anna's grave and saw him falter for a moment, but then he resumed his normal posture.
"Er," Raine started, somewhat unsure of herself, "I suppose we should be getting started."
After a few moments of trying to form a plan, Dirk stepped outside to wish everyone good luck. Raine got her real staff back from the bedroom, and they boarded their Rheairds: Genis rode with Raine; Colette with Lloyd; Sheena with Zelos; and Kratos went solo. After each craft was started, the party lifted off and headed in the direction of Asgard.
Raine clutched harder than ever at the controls, causing Genis to ask her what was wrong. She replied, "Nothing," and told herself that there was nothing to be afraid of – although it wasn't the same as when she had a certain purple mercenary to convince her that everything was all right. She shook that thought out of her head as they descended towards the ranch – or what was left of it.
Everyone debarked, Kratos being the first one to go forward, like always. After a few moments, the rest caught up with him in the scattered debris.
"Sheesh, Raine, you definitely did a thorough job," Sheena said. Raine shot her a small smile before continuing to look around. Finally, someone spoke up.
"C'mere, everybody! Over here!" The group rushed towards Colette and Lloyd, who was trying to move a rather large remnant of the building away from what seemed to be some sort of device. Kratos and Zelos immediately jumped in to help, and with their combined strength, the slab fell away.
Newly revealed was the computer that had run the ranch – the very same one that Raine had set to self-destruct.
"Looks like you missed something after all," said Zelos, bewildered.
Raine stepped forward and examined the computer as the others gathered around her. Apparently, the computer shielded itself from the blast, somehow. After a few pushing of buttons, the machine roared to life once again. True to its purpose, the computer projected a map - a map that still showed rooms. Many, many rooms than before.
"But this doesn't make any sense!" Lloyd shouted in frustration. "There's nothing left!"
The group continued to stare for several moments before Raine reached towards the computer. However, her movements were halted when the computer did something no one expected it to do.
It spoke.
It spoke in a spine-chillingly familiar voice. "And you were the one who supposedly saved our world? I can hardly believe it. Inferior being."
"Wh-what! Who are you!" Lloyd unsheathed his swords, preparing to attack. The rest of the party drew their weapons as well, except for Raine and Kratos. Raine's hands were still poised over the keyboard in shock, while Kratos held a death grip on the pommel of his blade.
"What? You haven't heard of me? The one who allows the legacy of the five Desian Grand Cardinals to live on? I'm quite shocked, Lloyd Irving. Why, my father dealt with your mother, in fact! I suppose that makes us rivals as well."
"No!" whispered Colette as the rest of the group held their breath.
"I am Leth, the son of Kvar."
Author's Note: Hey, look who's back! Sorry for the wait; school was hectic until the very last day. But it's out for summer, now, so updates should be posted often! I'll try to keep myself on a schedule, but I don't want the story to seem forced. In any case, I have an idea of how the rest of this story is going to go, so I'm not completely devoid of ideas. I might be starting a comedy fic over the next month, so we'll see how that goes, too. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to review! (Special thanks to YinYangTigress, whose review today reminded me that I should update – even at 1:06 in the morning.)