AN: The AN I wrote forever ago: "There was about... I'd say a eight-month interlude between when I finished chapter one and started this chapter. Now, aren't you glad I try to write the entire story before posting any of it?"
HAHAHAHAHA! Sad thing is, it's so very true. Even after it was written, this chapter sat on my computer for over a year before NothinButTreble asked me about the fic and reminded me that the file even exited. So, thank Treble for the continuation! I'll be off scouring my notes for what I was going to write next...
Kratos was worried, but not for Lloyd's survival. That was ensured, thanks to Welgaia's medical magitechnology; machines that routinely produced miracles, coaxing life from even the most hopeless patients. It was what Mithos had planned for Lloyd's future that had Kratos on edge.
Why had Lloyd been spared? The question ate away at him as he stood by the boy's bedside in the infirmary, watching over the younger swordsman while Lifeless healers darted about, ministering to him and taking measurements with dull eyes. Half a day had passed since they first brought Lloyd to Welgaia and he was still unconscious... A pang of guilt stabbed through Kratos' heart as he thought back to the horrific beating he gave Lloyd inflicting those wounds. Mithos may have dealt the final blow, but most of the damage was from his blade. His doing.
Claiming the Chosen after the Regeneration was completed, and all the violence that might entail, was his small part to play in furthering Cruxis' plans. It was always his duty since the birth of the first Chosen, and not a job he enjoyed, but it had never felt so entirely wrong before.
Kratos bowed his head, remembering the many parties he'd annihilated in the past. So many Chosens' companions who decided to fight rather than relinquish their friend to death. His guilt applied to them almost as much as it did to the unconscious boy in the bed before him.
"Forgive me..." A snicker from across the room pulled Kratos out of his reflection.
"Oh? Whatever for, Kratos?" He looked up to see Yggdrasill standing in the doorway, enjoying a laugh at his expense. "You weren't daydreaming, were you?"
"No, just thinking." How could he have been so careless? It was foolish to let his emotions get the better of him like that. Kratos tried to compose himself as Yggdrasill came to stand beside him. He knew he shouldn't ask, or seem as if he had any more interest in Lloyd than was due a prisoner, but he had to satisfy his curiosity. The uncertainty of what Mithos had planned was driving him mad! "Lord Yggdrasill, if I may ask, why did you bring Lloyd with us?"
"That has to do with the change of plans I mentioned." Yggdrasill leaned in, propping himself up with one hand as he bent low over the cot to get a better look at Lloyd. "Martel needs a vessel and she needs it now. I've already kept her waiting for too long."
"I agree, and I'm certain we will recapture the Chosen soon, but what role does Lloyd play?"
The leader of Cruxis paused, looking up from Lloyd to stare incredulously at Kratos.
"Weren't you listening, Kratos? My sister needs a new body." A satisfied smile crept across the seraph's face, chilling Kratos as he decoded exactly what Yggdrasill meant.
"You can't be serious!"
"You and I both know the mana transfer is impossible to perform on an unwilling subject. Our rebellious Chosen Colette would resist, Lloyd however..." The smile grew wider. "His unconscious mind would be no match for Martel's spirit. I know his mana signature is less than ideal, but his body has proven itself resilient and with that Exsphere of his it should be a serviceable vessel."
Kratos didn't respond, he didn't trust himself to. His feigned air of detachment had already slipped once and with the news he was just given, the mask threatened to crack entirely. That was something neither he nor Lloyd could afford. Instead Kratos remained silent, watching Lloyd as he struggled to rein in his emotions and considered his options.
A mana transfer using Lloyd as the subject... How could Mithos even consider such a thing? Regardless of whether it succeeded or failed, the procedure would utterly destroy Lloyd's mind, as it did to every other ultimately incompatible Chosen; a fate far worse than simply being rendered soulless with a Cruxis Crystal. Soullessness could be remedied with a Rune Crest, but a complete erasure of one's personality? There was no cure for that.
"Is something wrong, Kratos?"
The concern in Yggdrasill's voice took Kratos by surprise. Suspicion at Kratos' long silence, that would have been something the mercenary could accept; but that innocent concern... From the way he spoke, it sounded as if Mithos genuinely couldn't see the insanity of what he was proposing, the horrific cruelty.
This was wrong. It needed to be stopped, but at the moment there was nothing he could do. He couldn't give Mithos any reason to suspect him, not yet. Doing his best to smother his disgust, Kratos tore his gaze away form Lloyd, hoping his eyes wouldn't betray him as he tried to seem cool and professional.
"No. Don't concern yourself, it's nothing."
- X -
The blood curdling snap of splintering bone.
The sight of her best friend falling through a haze of red.
"Lloyd, no! Lloyd!"
- X -
Colette woke with a gasp, nearly falling out of bed before Sheena could catch her.
"Whoa, easy." The assassin helped her sit up while Raine piled pillows against the bed's headboard for her to lean on. "You all right?" Colette paused, taking stock of the situation. Waking up in a strange new room, Sheena's palpable concern, Raine darting around making a quick medical examination of her, that horrible dream...
'No, I'm not.' She nodded and, once Raine finished taking her pulse, reached for Sheena's hand, tracing the words "I think" before the shinobi stopped her.
"Hold on, you don't need to do that anymore."
'What?' The shock must have reached Colette's face because Raine smiled, writing a few notes in a book on the nightstand before turning back to her student.
"Yes, it seems that the treatment was a success so you should be back to normal. There might be some difficulty at first because you haven't used your vocal cords in so long, but try speaking. I'm sure you feel disoriented and have a lot of questions, but don't worry. We're in a safe place."
Colette froze. Before she had been too caught up in what was going on to notice, but the pillows behind her... They were soft. Soft! And the blanket over her legs, it was warm. When Sheena caught her earlier, she felt the grip on her shoulder! Her sense of taste was back too! The thought that she really, really needed to brush her teeth flitted through her mind before being shoved out of the way by other, more important questions.
What happened? Where was Lloyd? For that matter, where was she?
The room wasn't like any inn they stayed at before. It was weird. The walls all looked like they were made of painted metal, there were columns with designs painted on them that glowed, and the bed was way too comfortable to belong in an inn. Worse, it somehow all seemed familiar.
She swallowed nervously, then opened her mouth. It really had been a long time...
"Professor..." The word creaked out. Unsteady, but definitely her voice. "I can talk... I can really talk! How did-?" Her question was cut off by a pneumatic hiss as the room's door slid open to admit Genis, carrying a glass of water.
"You're awake!" The little half-elf dashed across the room to the bedside, sloshing water on the floor the whole way. "Welcome back, Colette! Here. I thought you'd be thirsty."
Colette accepted what was left of the glass, her eyes flickering back to the door as she drained it. There was only one type of building in the world with automatic doors like that.
"Professor, what's going on?" Colette's voice was quiet, a tinge of fear creeping into it. "Where are we? This place... It looks like a Desian Base!" The door hissed again.
"That would be because it is a Desian Base, in a manner of speaking. You are in Triet." Colette slowly reached behind her back, grasping for a Pow-Pow hammer as Yuan stepped through the door and moved to stand by the foot of the bed, Botta following close behind. "You're finally awake, and it looks like the Rune Crest we provided you has fully integrated with your Cruxis Cryst-" He shoved Botta to the side and dropped to the floor, dodging the red and yellow blur of a plastic hammer that cratered the steel wall exactly where they had been less than a second before, and rolled before rising to one knee, a sphere of mana pulsing in his hand. "What is the meaning of this? !"
"Hey, calm down!' Sheena grabbed hold of Colette's wrists, preventing her from throwing the next batch of hammers she drew from under her tabard. "I know it's weird, but he's on our side now!" Colette relaxed slightly, still gripping the hammers just in case, as Yuan dismissed the mana and got to his feet, straightening his cape before looking to Raine who just offered an amused yet apologetic smile.
"Sorry. Colette's just woken up. We haven't had an opportunity to explain the situation to her yet."
"I see." He crossed his arms and huffed. "Well then, take this opportunity before she decides to throw anything else."
- X -
At the Tower of Salvation Remiel managed to force her into becoming an angel, Kratos betrayed them, and when they were about to be killed it was these Renegades- Led by the very man who massacred the priests and tried to murder her at the Martel Temple- who saved them. Not only that, once back at their base they generously fitted her with a piece of their magitechnology, the Professor called it a Rune Crest, that suppressed her Cruxis Crystal and returned her senses.
Had it not been Raine telling her these things, Colette wouldn't have believed a word. Even though she mostly accepted that the Cruxis were now their enemies and the Desians were Cruxis' pawns, she was still having trouble with the notion that these particular Desians- Er, Renegades were any better. As the Chosen she practically breathed forgiveness, but all the assassination attempts and attacks on her friends were hard to forget. Still... If Raine, Sheena, and Genis all were okay with the situation maybe there really wasn't anything to worry about, at least not or now.
That just left one question unanswered. Colette took a deep breath, steeling herself for the answer.
"Where's Lloyd?" Part of her almost didn't want to find out. The Lloyd she knew would have stayed by her side until she woke; refused to leave, even to eat, until the Professor came and made him. That he wasn't there watching over her had Colette worrying from the moment she opened her eyes. It had only gotten worse the longer he stayed missing, but the flash of pain in Raine's eyes when she heard the question, the way Genis looked away, Sheena hung her head, and even the renegades sobered took her anxiety and transformed it into heart-stabbing terror.
"My men were unable to recover him at the Tower of Salvation. At the moment we believe Lloyd is in Cruxis' custody."
No. Colette slumped back into the mound of pillows, her thoughts skipping and grinding against each other as she processed the news. Lloyd was Cruxis' prisoner? This wasn't how it was supposed to be! Everybody was supposed to escape from the Tower and continue the Journey of Regeneration together. No more sacrifices. Not from her, and especially not from Lloyd!
Her hands slowly clenched, dragging the bedcovers into her fists. If the battle at the Tower of Salvation went as badly as Raine said, the dream she had might not have been a dream at all. Lloyd could be hurt really badly... Would Cruxis even bother to heal his wounds?
The door hissed open, interrupting Colette's desperate train of thought once more, and all eyes turned to watch as a Renegade soldier rushed through carrying a roughly plate-sized disc of metal and glass.
"Lord Yuan, sir..." He spoke slowly with just a hint of a tremor, as if the crutch of military formality was the only thing keeping him from screaming hysteria. "Lord Kratos has made contact from Welgaia and demands to speak with you regarding Lloyd Irving."
AN: I am upset that the only way I can implement an interrobang now is by typing ?, space, then ! It's terribly inconvenient.
Now, I do plan to continue, but (like all the other chapters) it may take a while before I'm back up to authorly scratch. Keep an eye out for updates though, they'll show up eventually.