Well, well, well… I suppose it's greetings from Sage again, guys. I was the only one who wrote this time. Well, not that I'm complaining… TS did give me the inspiration to write. So thanks, TS! :D We don't own anything ToS related, as always… Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Arc 1: Chapter 6: Revelation
Lloyd sighed, still dressed in knight's armor, as he walked with the regiment of knights across the Tethe'alla Bridge back to Meltokio. A pair of knights led Lloyd back, the rest of the Reflecting back at what happened, he sighed. As soon as he was about to remove his helm, the captain pushed it back down. Lloyd watched him wag his finger at him, as if he was doing something wrong. The captain's words still echoed in his ears.
"It would be unwise to cause a scene and alert the people of an imposter. We will grant you time to keep your identity a secret for now until you are tried. We will take you back to the capital as an unarmed knight, but we shall show you the true power of the knights, and you will pay."
Lloyd shuddered again at the captain's words. What would happen to him, to Zelos? Or worse, what happened to Seles? Lloyd shook his head, sighing deeply. She was probably dead by now, seeing that they could not get to her in time. He had failed. Now what will happen to this world, and will he die with it?
He turned his head toward Zelos, who was still trying to shake off the knights escorting him. He smiled at the shock from the knights, who were still shocked at Zelos' subtle change. However, Lloyd found Zelos' attachment to him strange. He never told him that he was not a knight, yet Zelos was still trying to defend him from their wrath for the supposed kidnapping. While Lloyd knew he would never lie to anyone, how was Zelos to know that he was telling the truth?
'It didn't have to do with saving him from those two knights, would it?' Lloyd thought, looking back at Zelos. Now he was arguing with the two knights. Something about how he was almost kidnapped by the Royal Knights, almost being taken to the Coliseum to fight… The knights escorting him shrugged it off, claiming no knight would allow that. This, of course, did not appease Zelos, who kept looking at him with pleading eyes.
Lloyd knew it was true, he had seen it. But what could he do now?
"Ouch!"
Lloyd perked up, watching as Zelos ran over to him. Lloyd was confused. Did Zelos just bite that knight's hand? "What…?"
"We need to move away, now! I-I don't trust the knights r-right now. And-!" Zelos paused, gasping at what he saw.
Lloyd was still confused. "But Zelos, I…" he said, stopping. He saw Zelos gaping. "Zelos?"
"We need to get away! Hurry!" he said, grabbing Lloyd's hand. Lloyd stumbled, not expecting to be pulled. Lloyd knew Zelos could not pull him in this armor, so shaking his head, he ran with him. He knew this was going to be a bad idea, especially considering the situation they were in. The Captain of the Knights spotted the two running and shouted, charging after them. His men followed. Lloyd gasped as Zelos began to shiver slightly, goose bumps appearing on his arms. "Come on, hurry!" Zelos shouted once more, leading Lloyd toward the end of the bridge.
Out of breath, Lloyd felt the cooler air filling his lungs. He shivered, the cold armor bearing down on him. Wait, cold? Walking over to the ledge of the bridge, Lloyd fell back at the stalagmite of ice shooting up at him. Suddenly, several more pillars of ice shot up from the water. Looking on the other side where Zelos stood, Lloyd saw the pillars shooting up on the other side as well.
Soon after, those pillars shattered, the tips landing onto the bridge. Lloyd saw that the knights were blocked from them, thanks to the debris of ice. Lloyd hesitantly walked up toward it, placing his hand on the ice. He quickly retracted it; it was way too cold to be natural, he realized. He removed the gauntlet, hoping no injury was taken.
A cold rush of air swept by him, blowing him away; it wrapped itself around the knights' feet. Suddenly, they were encased in ice.
Lloyd gasped at the orange-winged woman floating gently down, her arms folded across her chest. Her hat was tilted forward, almost falling off her head. Seles turned back toward Lloyd with eyebrows lowered, glaring suspiciously at him. "I don't know why my little brother bothered to save you, but he must have had his reasons. So I will allow you to explain yourself before I give you the same fate as those traitorous knights."
Zelos gasped, running up toward Lloyd. "Sis! Don't!" he said, looking up at him. "He saved me when the knights tried to kidnap and take me to the Coliseum!"
Seles smiled, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. So Zelos was safe. "Zelos, I'm so glad you're safe." she said, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry for leaving you to this trap. I would have been here sooner, but I had a situation to deal with myself." she said, watching as the three ninjas appeared behind her. "Ah, they're right on time."
"Chosen, we've alerted the Chief. According to the Network, Princess Hilda caught on to us and found and killed our operative, which is why he never got back to us." Sheena said, gasping when she turned to Lloyd. He looked away, fighting down the urge to call out to her. "Chosen, he's-!"
"Relax, Sheena." Seles said, holding her hand off. She walked over to Lloyd and held out her hand. Lloyd grasped it graciously, getting onto his feet. "Are you alright?"
Lloyd nodded his head. It took a lot of effort not to react to Sheena's presence and call out her name. She still looked the same as always… The sweat rolled down his face as he quickly bit his lip, thinking that he was going to call out her name. He inhaled and exhaled. "Yes, thank you, Chosen." he said, rubbing his head. "Anyway, I saved Zelos when he was about to get forced into the Coliseum. I heard what was going down and tried to stop it."
"And that was when you ran into the knights…" Seles said, looking back at the knights on their knees. "Alright, knights! Where do your alliances lie?!"
The Captain of the Knights slowly walked forward. "Chosen, what do you mean? We were doing our routine pilgrimage to check up on the other outposts when we-"
Seles taped her foot in seething anger. "If that was the case, why was my brother in your custody when this knight was trying to keep my brother safe? I cannot trust the knights that serve the princess, the princess after the Chosen's blood."
The captain looked back at Lloyd. "W-What-"
"The princess has attempted to do away with both me and my brother." she said, watching as the captain gasped through his helm. Seles turned toward the rest of the knights. "Listen to me, knights of Tethe'alla. The princess is plotting to take control of the throne as well as the church. She had sent assassins to take me out, but she failed to realize the honor of the Mizuhoan ninjas when they take on the job. With that said, where does your alliance lie? With a princess that tried to kill not only me for her own means, but my brother as well, or with the Chosen, who is trying to unite all people?"
Lloyd looked at the captain, keeping his eyes off of Orochi, Kuchinawa, and Sheena. It was still so eerie to him, having a friend nearby yet so far apart. He saw the captain shake his head in disbelieve.
The captain looked at Seles. "Chosen, as long as I've been a captain, I have known that you are one who has not said a lie. Nor would you use your power for personal gain." he said, turning toward his men. "In the time I've known the Chosen, I have known that Mistress Seles has always been for the citizens. If any of you feel otherwise, leave now and head back to your family. Put down your spear, and you will be allowed to leave. But I will follow the Chosen."
Seles gasped, placing her hand to her mouth. She smiled. "Thank you. I cannot stand to see something like this happen. I'm just sorry that I had not caught it sooner."
Lloyd turned back toward Seles, hands at his side. "Chosen, you could not have seen this coming. The princess's plan is pretty big. She's working with the Pope to poison His Majesty," Lloyd said, waving his hand around. "It was made to make it like he's dying from an illness."
Seles frowned. "Is that true?"
Lloyd nodded his head. "Yeah, I heard them talking about it. They'll probably deny it, so what we probably need to do is catch them in the act or something."
"Agreed, we must have proof. Captain, go speak with your knights and see who is staying and who is going."
"At once, Chosen." the captain said, bowing before turning around.
Lloyd turned around, deciding that he needed to speak with Zelos. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. "Wait, please, I wish to speak with you, if you do not mind. It's in regards to my brother, Zelos."
"Yes, Chosen? What about Zelos?"
Seles nodded her head, folding her hands in front of her. "I would like to thank you for protecting Zelos in my absence, Lloyd." she said, watching as Lloyd flinched, the armor clanking in rhythm. Seles giggled lightly, folding her hands behind her back. "I bet you're wondering how I knew. Well," she said, looking around the field, "let's move to a more private location." she said, walking away from the knights, Lloyd following her.
"I think this is far enough. I do not hear any of the knights." she said, turning to face Lloyd. "I'm sure you must want to remove that helm, yes?"
Lloyd nodded his head, hands reaching the helm and pulling it off his head. He inhaled deeply, hand running through his hair. "How did you know it was me?"
"I could tell by your voice. I recognized it while we were first talking." Seles said, rubbing her arm with her hand. "You are not a knight, so how did you get the armor? How did you know that my brother was in danger?" she said, looking him over.
Lloyd looked away. He knew he could not tell her the truth... "Well… I couldn't see the king, so I went to the church. Somehow, a door was opened and some tunnel was revealed. So I followed it and it took me to the castle armory. Then the tunnel behind me closed off, and I was stuck in the armory." he said, looking back down at the armor. "I didn't want to get caught, so I found a spare suit of armor and put it on. I was then forced out to take a post by another knight, and that was then I overheard of the princess and Pope's plans." he said, putting the helm back on. "And now that I've gotten some fresh air, I really should put this back on."
"I see. So then, does my brother know of you not being a knight?" Seles said, crossing her arms across her chest. She looked down to the ground, mouth hanging slightly open. "Somehow, I do not think so…"
Lloyd shook his head. "No, he doesn't. Though I think that it would be best that he doesn't know…" he sighed, lowering his head. "I don't want something to ruin anything…"
"Alright." she said, frowning. "If you believe that my brother would not benefit from him knowing you, we must not let him know." she said, turning toward the captain running toward them. "And I think I know how to help you." she said, waving down the captain. "Ah, captain, what is the matter?"
"Nothing, Chosen, I just came to report on the situation at hand." he said, saluting. "None of my men left to return to their families so far. They are still being tested on their integrity as we speak. Also, I came to ask what to do with this imposter-"
"You will do nothing." Seles said, crossing her arms. "He is a new recruit. So I would like for you to do is to help him continue the path of a knight by fixing any flaws in his form, please."
The captain nodded his head, turning toward Lloyd. "Of course, Chosen." he said, walking up to Lloyd, placing his hand onto Lloyd's shoulders. "I'm sorry for the trouble I gave you. I had to take the proper precautions when it comes to the Chosen's family."
Lloyd shook his head weakly. "I-It's fine."
"Come, we'll work on your form, then. We have a lot to cover." he said, leading Lloyd toward the clearing. Lloyd looked back, spotting the smile on Seles' face.