Before the chapter gets underway, I'd like to throw out a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge shoutout to Dragonwings144 for helping me out with this chapter. I appreciate it. Thank you!
As the red Rheiard speeded through the air and rounded a corner, the rider, a slender man of about twenty-five years of age with long, wavy red hair to match his red outfit gawked as he saw a billow of smoke rising from his hometown of Meltokio.
"What the hell is going on here?" the ex-Chosen, Zelos Wilder exclaimed. "Smoke? Coming from my Meltokio? I hope it wasn't my house, and if it was, I hope my hunnies got out okay! I mean, I can always build another house…" he slowed down his Rheiard, and landed in front of the burned down town gates. "What could have happened here?" Zelos stepped farther into the city to find every single building in sight had either burned down or was burned enough so that it was unsuitable to live or work in.
Zelos ran up the large staircase and into the rich area of the town. This part of town was worse than the entrance area. Every single house had been razed to the ground, Zelos's included. "Damn, this is crazy." Zelos said out loud. "Either this was one crazy fire, or someone spread it with magic. My hunch is that it was magic…"
Zelos decided to walk around the town, seeing the destruction that was caused by the magical fire and maybe trying to find a survivor or two. Zelos walked down the staircase, and to the left part of Meltokio close to the sewers. As he walked toward the sewer grate, a body lying on the ground in the corner got Zelos's attention. Something about the body made him stop in his tracks, nervously tapping his feet. Black clothes and a familiar shock of silver hair. Zelos knew he had seen them somewhere before, but the feeling of dread deep in his gut refused to let him believe what he saw.
He looked away. That was not Genis Sage lying dead there on the floor like a slaughtered animal. If anyone was gonna kill Genis, it was gonna be his psycho sister with her wacked out cooking. As he stood there, refusing to admit that his buddy was gone and refusing to admit that it was not the smoke that made his eyes start to burn and water, he saw an axe. He picked it up, noticing the shoddy handle and the rusted blade. Definately Presea's axe. Only she would have walked around with this shameful butter knife. "We have a murder mystery going on here," he said, not forgetting his annoying habit of speaking his thoughts out loud even in face of this tragedy. "I'd better go find Presea…but where could she have gone? Lets see, she was probably just with Lloyd, so she didn't go to Iselia, Genis is dead also, so that leaves…Mizuho and Altamira. I think I'll go to Altamira first." He swallowed thickly. "And the dead need to be buried."
Zelos walked out of the town several hours later, when it was dark. His clothes were soiled from dirt and sweat, and he still denied the tears running down his face. He mounted his red Rheiard, flew high into the air, and zoomed off over the ocean towards the giant resort of Altamira. A couple of minutes later, Zelos landed in front of the town. The familiar music from the amusement park didn't fill his ears and no voluptuous bunny girls treated his eyes. Feeling the same sick dread, he jumped off the Rheiard, and dusted off his white pants. He walked through the town gates, and into…nothing. The whole town was deserted. The beach, the hotel, the streets, all empty. Even the cute girls dressed in bunny outfits had disappeared. Zelos began to walk around the town, looking for clues like he had found last time. Would he find another dead body or a weapon? He paced around, but found nothing.
"Well," Zelos said to the emptiness. "Guess I'm goin' to Mizuho. I hope-" A familiar pang- "That place isn't destroyed." Zelos walked out of the resort, and mounted his Rheiard once again. He sped through the air, and as the small hidden village of Mizuho came into view, two slender figures zoomed passed him at dangerous speeds, ripping his pants because they were so close. Zelos turned around and yelled, trying not to let his voice quaver.
"HEY YOU LITTLE PUNK! FLY SLOWER! AND WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING NEXT TIME!" He stopped yelling as he noticed the pink and blue hair of the riders.
"Presea? Regal?" Zelos turned the Rheiard around, and sped towards Regal and Presea's Rheiards, which were creeping farther and farther away from him. "WAIT UP!" Zelos yelled at the top of his lungs. Nobody even turned a head. They continued to fly. Zelos sped up his Rheiard to a dangerous speed, and zoomed towards them. An alarm started to sound, telling him to slow down, but Zelos ignored it and continued to fly. As he neared his close friends, Zelos started to yell again. "Presea!" he yelled. "Regal! Wait up!" He had finally got their attention. Presea turned around, nodded to show she saw him, and turned around to speak to Regal. They stopped midair, and waited for Zelos who had slowed down his Rheiard.
"Zelos?" Regal said. "What do you need?"
"Meltokio…" he was short of breath after his high speed chase. "Meltokio…was burned down! Altamira was abandoned! Genis is dead! What the hell is going on?"
"We know," Regal said. "Follow us, Zelos, we're on our way to Iselia. We'll tell you when we arrive there, all right?" Zelos nodded, as the Rheiards began to travel once again.
"Well if it isn't my little angel Presea," Zelos said, though his voice sounded unusually dead pan as the group flew through the air. "How have you been?"
"Good," she replied, turning her head and smiling at Zelos. He smiled back, and almost crashed into Regal for not paying attention to the skies. The group flew for about an hour, until they finally saw the ruins of the Iselia Desian human ranch in the distance. They landed outside of Dirk's house, and saw a familiar figure through the window. Zelos followed behind Presea and Regal across the bridge of logs and to the front door of Lloyd's house. Regal knocked on the door three times, and the door opened.
"Presea! Regal! Zelos!" came the happy voice of Lloyd Irving. His brown hair was slightly longer than Zelos remembered it, but his red clothes he was known for remained the same. A few moments later Lloyd was joined by Raine Sage, who had a worried expression on her face. "Come on in," Lloyd said.
"More friends, Lloyd?" said Dirk.
"Yeah," Lloyd replied with a smile. "You guys came just in time. Raine just came to tell me about Genis. She was beginning as you knocked. Come on upstairs." He walked up the stairs, and everyone followed.
"Raine?" Zelos said, trying to place a hand on her shoulder and tell her about her brother. Raine ignored him, thinking he was just trying to cop a feel. Zelos swallowed nervously and just sat down on the floor, hoping someone else would break the news. It was obvious she didn't know yet. Lloyd remained standing, and Regal leaned against the wall.
"All right," Raine said. "As I was saying, Genis has disappeared. He was going to Meltokio to compete in a coliseum battle to test some new magic, and hasn't returned yet, and I was wondering if Lloyd knew anything."
"I don't know anything." he said. "Sorry Professor, but I just got back. I was about to go leave so I could go see Sheena when you came." From the corner of his eye, Zelos saw Regal whisper something into Presea's ear.
"Uh, Lloyd? Raine?" piped up Presea. "I know where both of them are." her voice became softer, and a her face showed a look of deep compassion. "Raine, Genis was killed." she paused for a moment so that her words could sink in. Zelos frowned, even though he already knew this. "He was killed by a man named Nobuhiro, who works for something called Dessara. Nobuhiro kidnapped me, and took me to a base under the Triet oasis. There I found out that this Dessara is looking for something…someone. Then, I went to Altamira to speak to Regal, and as we were about to leave to tell Sheena, we found Altamira abandoned and a man wearing clothes similar to Nobuhiro's, so we knew that they're kidnapping people."
"What are they looking for in a person…" Lloyd wondered aloud.
"I'm not finished," Presea said. "Regal and I then traveled to Mizuho to find that Sheena had disappeared. Orochi told us that…that…" she paused, unable to continue. She glanced at Regal, who nodded and continued with the story.
"Orochi told us that Sheena had disappeared about a month ago, and that the information network declared her dead." As Regal's words faded, the room became deadly silent. Zelos was entwined in his thoughts as he slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"So Sheena and Genis are both dead," Raine said, her voice flat. "This isn't good."
"Dammit!" yelled Lloyd. "We gotta find her! I doubt that she's dead! Sheena's too strong to die!"
"Lloyd, even the strongest of people d- d- die," Raine said, her arms crossed and her shoulders hunched. Still she continued, her voice breaking even more with every word. The other heroes gave each other alarmed looks, uncertain whether to leave her alone in her grief or try to comfort her. "Mizuho's information network is barely ever ruh-wrong. I think it would- would be- would be wise to believe th-that she's.."
Raine stopped, her mouth slightly open as she tried to finish her sentance, the tears steadily flowing down her cheeks. Lloyd gently put an arm around her shoulder, pulling out a handkerchief and offering it to her.
Zelos,
who had been silent the entire time, finally decided to speak.
"We
should go to this Dessara guy and beat the living crap out of him!"
he yelled, unsure what to say during such an emotional moment.
"We can't just go right back to Triet and invade the base," Regal said, averting his eyes from Raine to try and give her some privacy. "We need to wait a little longer, let them think they're winning. Let's wait until they come to Iselia before we make our next move."
"I agree with Regal," Raine said, surprising them. "We also need to build up our strength and formulate a plan of action."
Night had fallen as the group of friends had discussed everything that was happening. The moon shone brightly through the window.
"Do you think we should quit for the night?" Lloyd asked.
"Yes," Raine said. "Presea, you can spend the night at my place. You can use Genis's bed."
"Okay," Presea replied. She and Raine rose from the floor and walked out of the house and into the night, beginning the journey through the forest back to Iselia. Zelos hoped that his friends would be okay, since there were monsters in the forest and it was nighttime…
"Well," Lloyd said. "I guess we're staying here tonight, right Lloyd?" Zelos said, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice, his hair bouncing as he jumped up and down.
"Yup," Lloyd said. "You guys can stay here."
"I will sleep outside," Regal said. He rose from the wall, and walked down the stairs. "Goodnight, Zelos. Goodnight, Lloyd."
"Goodnight," Lloyd and Zelos said simultaneously. Regal walked down the stairs, and soon the sound of the door slamming shut filled Zelos's ears.
"Guess its just you and me, buddy." Zelos said, slapping Lloyd on the back.
"Yeah," Lloyd said. "I wonder why Regal wanted to sleep outside."
"Let him be," Zelos said. "He's gotta be macho all the time."
Lloyd sighed. "Sure, Zelos." he said.
A couple minutes later, a mattress was set up in the center of Lloyd's bedroom. Zelos plopped down onto the bed, wearing red pajamas.
"Ahh, I'm beat." he said. Lloyd entered the room wearing a white undershirt and purple shorts. He sat down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling.
"I should visit Colette tomorrow," he said. "I haven't seen her for a while…"
"Colette…" Zelos said. He suddenly began to get sleepy. "Yeah, it's been way too lo...nngh."
"Zelos?" Lloyd said. "Zelos?" he was fast asleep and snoring. Lloyd sighed and finally fell asleep.
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As the morning dawned, Zelos opened his eyes to bright sunlight flooding the room of the small Iselia house. He rose from the mattress, and walked down the stairs. Still not completely awake, he walked into the kitchen scratching his head. A few giggles came from the table, and Zelos became wide awake. Those giggles were familiar.
"My darling Colette!" Zelos said, whipping around to face the ex-Chosen.
"Hey Zelos," Colette said, giggling. "Nice pajamas. They match your hair nicely." Zelos grinned.
"Thanks, I'm glad you like them." He sat down at the table, where a feast had been set out for him. He grabbed a plate, and started to chow down on just about everything. Lloyd came in through the door.
"Good morning, Zelos." He was followed closely behind by Regal.
"Good morning, Zelos." he said. He then turned his attention towards Colette. "Hello, Colette. It's been quite awhile." He shut the door behind him.
"Hi, Regal!" Colette said, grinning. "It's good to see you!" The door suddenly burst open, and Presea and Raine barged into the small house.
"Everyone!" Raine said, panting. "On our way here, Presea found this card in the forest." From one of her coat pockets, Raine pulled out a slender tan card. Magical writing was in the center of the paper. Instantly, everyone knew who the card belonged to.
Sheena had been through the Iselia Forest.
This chapter came kinda fast for me, and that's because I wanted to update everything before I go to New York! So, that means nothing will be updated for about...a week maybe? I'm not exactly sure. Thanks to phanton4angel and Dragonwings144 for reviewing!
