From Here To Eternity
Chapter Two
Title: Subterfuge
By: I.K.A. Valian
Author's Note: Hey all. I.K.A. Valian here. Obviously, this is a Sno Phoenix production. I'd just like to say that my submission was the only submission and that sucks like Kvar turning Anna into an Exbelua. Where did everyone else go? Where are the other authors? C'mon people, this is supposed to be a group project.
Anyone else out there that has an interest in joining should so that this doesn't happen again. Now, please enjoy.
Lloyd palmed the long wooden handles in anticipation of pulling the large ornate doors of the Church of Martel open. 'What am I going to say?' Lloyd thought as he imagined himself walking up to the Pope and being slapped over the head for even asking to see the King. 'I have to see the King if I want to figure out what it is I have to do here.'
The doors creaked and groaned as they opened. Lloyd walked into the Church, his steps resounding like hollow taps in his ears. Having his head bent down as he contemplated different scenarios of what could happen, Lloyd failed to noticed the red headed boy, also with head bent in similar fashion, until the two of them collided.
"Ow!" Lloyd groaned. He rubbed the pained spot on his back side as he searched for the stumbling block. He found a boy about as tall as Genis is with red hair cropped to his shoulders. Lloyd reached out a hand, his apology halfway across his tongue when recognition set in.
'It's Zelos!'
"Watch where you're going!" bellowed a deep voice behind Lloyd. Startled by the outburst, Lloyd sprung to his feet and spun around into the brooding gaze of the Pope himself, dressed in all the regalia of his station. "You could have killed the Chosen's little brother, you fool! Now out of the way, we've an important meeting with the King!"
"I'm… sorry," Lloyd mumbled. The Pope thrust his nose into the air and turned away. Lloyd watched dumbly as the Zelos stood up and followed the Pope toward the exit. Priests pushed open the doors for the two as they walked outside.
'I can't believe that was Zelos,' thought Lloyd. 'He looks so young. Why would he be going to see the King though? Oh shoot!' Lloyd's lips pressed together and his brow furrowed. "Damn it!" Lloyd said under his breath. "I just missed my chance to get in and see the King."
"Why did you need to see the King?" Lloyd turned and faced the priest standing patiently behind him. The white robes were a little too clean and flowed easily around the man's body. "I'm afraid to say that he has fallen ill and cannot see anyone right now. What could be so important that you would need to see him now?"
"I-" Lloyd paused, the words 'need to save your world' on the tip of his tongue.
'Should I really say that?! Even I wouldn't believe me if I said that. Hmm, how about…'
"I need to see the King about saving my village. It's a matter of life and death only he can solve."
"I'm afraid that the because the King has been ill, he won't be able to even hear your pleas for mercy let alone grant them," the priest said. The man's head lowered and he reached out a firm hand to grasp Lloyd's shoulder. The move, which was obviously an attempt to console Lloyd, only made him feel even guiltier for lying. "Please, pray to the Goddess Martel that the Pope and Sir Zelos will be successful in their attempts to bring the King back to health. I will pray as well for your village."
Lloyd bowed his head so he didn't have to look up at the priest. He didn't like lying to someone who was so earnest. It wasn't just the white lie about the village though, but having to hide his identity, being alone in a strange and familiar place at the same time, no one recognizing him, the frustration of not knowing what to do. It all added up and fed the guilt he was now feeling. Apparently the emotional show perfected his cover story because the priest squeezed his shoulder.
"Take faith, my son," the priest said, "in the Goddess Martel, anything is possible." Lloyd nodded, his lips pressed tightly together to keep himself from spilling any information that he might later regret. The priest squeezed his shoulder a final time and let go to resume his journey to the altar.
'I didn't think this journey would be so difficult,' Lloyd thought. 'I've got to see the King before I- No. I'm not going to give up so easily. Everyone is depending on me, so I've got to do my best. No matter how hard it is. If I won't be let in, then I'll have to sneak in. But I can't go through the dungeons or the front because they're both guarded. There has to be another way.'
Lloyd spotted the door standing between the rest of the church and the Pope's chambers and his eyes lit up. 'The Pope's secret entrance! I can sneak in that way. All I have to do is get past these priests.' With a wary eye on the handful of priests going about their daily tasks inside the church, Lloyd made his way across the church. A couple times he had to kneel and clasp his hands together to avoid the attention of a passing priest. Finally, Lloyd made it to the door and without anyone seeming to notice, slipped into the Pope's private chambers.
'Alright,' Lloyd thought, 'I'm in!' As the thought occurred to him, Lloyd turned around and looked for a lock. He found a key sticking out of the keyhole just below the gold plated handle. With a quick spin, the locks tumblers fell into place.
"Don't need anyone interrupting me," Lloyd said. "Now, how do I open the passage?" Lloyd strode into the room. It looked exactly as when he and the others confronted the Pope over poisoning the King. "Now that I'm thinking about it," Lloyd said, "the Pope may be trying that again. Maybe the antidote in the same… place…"
Lloyd went to the Pope's large wooden desk that smelled deeply of whatever tree it was carved from and started to pull the drawers out. After pulling each drawer out, Lloyd was about to give up looking when he noticed he missed the center most drawer that was attached just above where the Pope's legs would be should he sat down. Investigation of the drawer elicited a gasp of success from Lloyd's lips. He held up the bottle filled with the milky blue antidote and smiled.
"Looks like I'll be saving the King's life. Maybe he won't ask me to explain why I'm here." Lloyd was in the middle of pocketing the antidote when a new thought occurred to him. "What if I'm not supposed to cure the King?"
Lloyd pulled the bottle out again and looked at its contents. Brown bangs flicked left and right as he shook his head. He pocketed the antidote as he turned to study the book cases lined up against the back wall.
"How can I go on a journey to save the universe if I can't save the people right in front of me?" Lloyd asked himself as he started pulling books off the shelves. After pulling off two whole shelves and littering the floor with heavy and very dusty old tomes, Lloyd found the book he was looking for. It wouldn't come off the shelf and when he pulled hard enough, Lloyd heard a click behind the book case and then a section of the wall slid away to reveal a hidden passage.
"Haha," Lloyd crowed triumphantly. "Found it."
Lloyd ignored the mess he made and quickly dashed into the passage. As soon as he cleared the wall, the hidden door slid shut again. Lloyd quickly began feeling his way through the passage that was dark, stuffy, and smelled like rotten vegetables.
The last time Lloyd stalked these narrow halls was when he and the others were chasing the Pope. Back then, he didn't have the time or the urge to study the hallway, only to catch the Pope. Now that Lloyd wasn't in too much of a rush, he began to study the passage. He mulled over how bland it was as he reached the exit and emerged into the armory. His forehead creased as he looked about in confusion.
'That's odd,' he thought, 'the last time we came out near the entrance to the prison. I wonder why it's different…' Lloyd remained quiet and crouched behind a rack of spears as a clanking collection of armor walked in and grabbed a shield before it bolted back out the door. 'I'm going to be captured if I don't hide from the guards. But how?' Lloyd's eyes fell on a set of armor racked up against the wall and an idea formed in his head.
He slipped the chainmail over his head and let it hang past his knees like a dress as he picked up the upper body combo armor and slipped it on. Then came the grieves, the boots, and finally the gloves. Just before the newly minted Tethe'alla Royal Guard Lloyd dashed out the door, he grabbed a spear.
'Hehe, no one knows who I am,' Lloyd thought as he marched up the stairs toward the King's Chamber. 'Just a little farther and then I'll have to figure out how to get in with the King. Ugh… This armor smells…'
Lloyd passed by several priests and maids as he marched. Not one batted an eye. Lloyd couldn't help the grin that spread across his hidden face.
'Now I know how the Professor and Sheena felt when we snuck into the Asgard Human Ranch,' Lloyd thought. 'Maybe I shouldn't have made such a fuss. This is awesome, even if it stinks like Noishe before a bath.'
Before Lloyd's imagination had a chance to travel much farther, he arrived at the King's chambers. It looked the same as normal, much to Lloyds' relief. Lloyd stopped when the guard put his hand on his hips.
"It's about time, my shift was up over an hour ago and I got to piss like a racehorse!" the guard quipped.
"Uh… sorry?" Lloyd said as he played along. "Uh… armor got… stuck."
"Hmph," the guard said and crossed his arms. "I know you're new, but you shouldn't be so sloppy when you've been assigned to the King. Geez." The guard marched off and left Lloyd alone in front of the door.
'Now's my chance!' Lloyd reached out to grasp the door handle when it started to open. Lloyd stood at attention as Zelos exited with two guards trailing behind. Lloyd resisted the urge to follow Zelos and remained stationary.
Following Zelos was Princess Hilda and the Pope. Lloyd nearly dashed passed their back into the King's Chambers when he caught the hushed conversation between the Pope and Princess Hilda.
"So the doddering old man will be dead within a week?" Hilda asked.
"Yes," the Pope said. "In a week's time, you'll be queen and I'll be your closest advisor."
"Very good," Hilda said. "I've dispatched Seles on Chosen duty near Sybak. The assassins are trailing her just as we planned. Her little brother, Zelos, is malleable, but… I don't want to take any chances. He'll have a little accident as soon as the guards escorting him mistake him for a coliseum contestant when they reach the prisons."
"Excellent," the Pope said. "Now, about my ne -"
'Damn it,' Lloyd thought. 'Now Zelos and Seles are in trouble! But what am I going to do about the King, he's dying too. Augh, but Zelos is going to die now and the King's got a week left. I… wish the others were here to help me decide. To heck with it, I'm going to save Zelos. King, don't you die before I get back!'
Lloyd's eyes lingered on the King's door for a second longer. Then he turned and followed after Zelos.