Chapter 11: Tears and Rage, Second Part
Lousy loser son of a… Shane was badmouthing Kratos all the way walking out of Colette's place even though he knew Kratos's reasons in the end.
No wonder nobody liked him… he means well I know but he is such a big jerk…!
Before he could cuss out any more Shane nearly ran into Genis who alongside Lloyd did not get very far and in fact we're rather angry at Kratos themselves.
"Oh that didn't take very long" Genis said
"Did they kick you out right after?" Lloyd asked
"No, I left after giving him a bit of his own medicine." Shane replied with a smirk
"Please wait…! Colette cried running after the three boys "I'm sorry about what happened." She said after stopping
"It's not like it's your fault" Lloyd said
"But-"
"Its okay Colette" Shane said quietly
"Oh yeah happy birthday Colette!" Genis said taking out a small batch of cookies "I baked you some cookies, if I knew you we're going-"
"No I love your cookies, thank you very much!" Colette said back taking the batch happily.
"Hey Lloyd" Genis said out loud "Didn't you promised to make her a necklace?
"Umm…" Lloyd said nervously and starting to blush.
"Don't tell me you forgot…"
"Hey Shane doesn't have anything…!" Lloyd said
"Sorry but your wrong about that Lloyd." Shane said pulling out a small package wrapped in paper. It was a wooden carving of the Cruxis Crystal.
"How did you-" Lloyd began
"I overheard Genis when he was making the cookies" Shane bluffed, knowing the date anyways.
"Oh uh… it's ah… almost done. I'll give it to you around… tomorrow morning, before you head out. I promise!"
"Really?" Colette said in excitement "Ok then as soon as I find out when we are going, I'll head to your place and tell you."
Lloyd was still concerned about the journey "It's going to be a dangerous journey isn't it?"
"I'm the Chosen. Remember? I'll see you later!" Colette said heading back to her house.
"Lloyd, you didn't make the necklace at all did you?" Shane said to him devilishly smiling
"If I start it now, I can finish it in time."
"Oh really?" Genis said sarcastically "Well I need to visit a friend, so can I go with you guys part of the way to Dirk's?"
"I didn't know you knew any friends outside the village?" Lloyd said
"Does it matter? Anyways I need to swing by my house before we go. One second."
It is going to matter… tomorrow… Shane said to himself grimly.
"Did you say something Shane?" Lloyd asked
"It's nothing Lloyd, just thinking out loud…"
Skit: Sole Redeeming Feature/Getting in the Way
Lloyd: Man! That Kratos guy really pisses me off!
Shane: I'm sure he has his reasons Lloyd.
Genis: Aren't you still mad that he said you'd guys just get in the way?
Shane: More like he'll get in my way later on.
Lloyd: Oh you too!?
Shane: Chill Lloyd, I'd be pretty upset myself if somebody put down my only redeeming feature.
Lloyd: Yeah your righ- Hey!!! What do you mean, "only"?!
Genis: Ahahaha!
END
Iselia Forest
"All right that's all of the ingredients." Genis said picking up his things
"You got stuff to cook?" Lloyd asked bewildered
"Lloyd" Shane said, "Cooking food is a good way to replenish ourselves."
"Right apple gels don't grow on trees… or something like that."
"Its money doesn't grow on trees Lloyd" Genis said shaking his head with Shane just chuckling.
"That would be awesome if it did!" Lloyd said loudly
Noishe walking in front of them then backed up whining, Lloyd almost ran right into his back end.
"Oh right, Noishe doesn't like this place" Genis said
"He'll never go near places that have a lot of monsters wandering around. Even though you'd hardly see monsters bigger than him" Lloyd said, patting the terrified Noishe on the head
It was true. Noishe was nearly the size of horse. The only thing bigger than him in Iselia Forest is probably a bear at most.
"Just stay close to him." Shane said, "If we're lucky, he won't bolt off."
Unfortunately for them Noishe was scared of one other thing: Desians. The moment it saw the ranch it sped pass the intersecting pathway and hid behind a fallen boulder.
"I spoke too soon." Shane said
"Here my stop!" Genis said taking the other path straight for the ranch
"But that's the way to the ranch!" Lloyd suddenly spoke up "Wouldn't that break the treaty with the village?"
"Lloyd they already broke the treaty attacking the temple." Genis said
"Good point."
"I know we're supposed to stay away from the place, but I just have to tell them about the Oracle!" Genis then took off the other direction.
"Then I'm coming with you!" Lloyd quickly followed.
Shane had been staring back and forth between the rather daft Lloyd and Genis about to get their home village burned to the ground and an extremely frightened Noishe.
Shane let out a deep sigh "Guess we got to go after them right Noishe?"
Noishe just hid his head further behind the boulder whining some more.
"Ok never mind. I'll get them myself."
Human Ranch Fence
After walking for a small amount of time, Shane encountered Lloyd and Genis with an elderly woman on the other side of the wall.
"You guys left Noishe all alone you know that?" Shane asked walking up behind them
"You didn't bring him?" Lloyd asked
"If I did that he'd have another panic attack…"
"Oh. Right."
"Who is this Genis?" The old woman asked
"Oh this is Shane, he's new to town. Shane this is Marble"
"A pleasure madam" Shane said politely
"HEY!!! Old hag! What the hell are you doing!?"
Great timing moron… Shane said to himself
"Oh no…!" Marble said looking back "Quick you three run…!"
"But that Desians! They might"
"Sorry Lloyd no time!" Shane said pulling him away from the fence.
A couple of guards approach Marble at the corner of the fence
""What are you doing over here?!" one of them barked "Who said you could slack off?! Get back to work!"
"I'm sorry" Marble began to apologize
"You got a problem?" One of the other guard snaps as Marble turned her face away
"No… I"
"Shove it you rotten old hag!!! Take her to the back and make an example of her!"
The guards grab Marble by the arms and drag her further into the ranch
"We got to do something!" Lloyd said with an expression of fear and rage
"They'll hurt her…!" Genis said scared
"Get up on the cliff and we can see what's happening!" Shane said pointing to the rocky slope behind them.
Upon reaching the top the trio are horrified to find Marble pinned to the wall being brutally whipped by several Desians.
"We have to save her!" Lloyd exclaimed
"But how can we from here?" Genis asked
"Use magic!" Lloyd answered
"No."
The two boys looked at Shane for a second in disbelief
"What would you do?" Genis asked
"I'll handle it…" Shane said calmly "You two get back down behind the bush."
"But I wanna…" Lloyd began
"Lloyd, don't worry. I'll be just fine"
A few moments later Lloyd and Genis hopped down the slope leaving Shane alone up top
"I owe those bastards a piece of my mind…!" Shane said to himself remembering his first skirmish with a Desian scout team.
For the first time Lloyd and Genis could see of Shane fighting, he was unsheathing his sword.
"Secret Technique: Rock Splitting Spirit Sword!!!"
A few moments later the ledge which Shane stood oon was cut off and tumbled into the Desian barracks
"What the hell!?" One of the guards screamed out running out of range of the falling stones
"Who's the crap is that!?" another guard asked seeing Shane's image in the debris smoke
There was no time for an answer, Shane used the moment of surprise to launch a quick but deadly strike against the small group of Desians who we're recently whipping Marble.
"How in…" "the heck…" "did he…" We're their last words before hitting the ground.
"Marble, get to safety!" Shane said in the pocket of dust
"Thank you…!" Marble said quickly moving away from the scene.
Shane didn't want to be seen, as soon as Marble was out of sight he rushed towards the front gate
"INTRUDERS, INTRUDERS ALL MEN TO THE FRONT! ALL MEN TO THE FRONT!" blared out from the speakers
"Shane, get out of there!" Lloyd said leaving the safety of the bush
"Lloyd! Wait…!" Genis said a little late
Shane had just shoved the heavy gate open just enough to squeeze out.
"Lloyd go back with Genis and grab Noishe!" Shane said sternly
"What about the guards?"
"They're dead, and they won't be able to see jack in that pile of dust. Just go!"
"All right, good luck." Lloyd said heading back behind the bush
"Genis, we're going back now…!"
"But what about Shane?" Genis asked
"He'll handle it… now lets go! Noishe is back there as well."
Outside the gate several guards had come out of the dust clouds.
"Looking for me?" Shane said taunting them at the edge of the cliff.
"There he is! Get EM!!!"
"Now all I got to worry about is if-"
THUMP!!!
"Genis falling over…" Shane said to himself "Lloyd could at least stopped his FALL!"
"What was that!?"" One guard said now marching to check on the bushes
Before he could do anything however, Lloyd leaped out of the bush and kicked the Desian in the face.
"Lloyd!!!" Shane yelled across the battlefield "I told you to run!"
"Genis is getting Noishe, I'm going to help you!" Lloyd said determined pulling out his wooden swords
"Stubborn idiot!" Shane told himself "The village will be… so be it…"
In a brief moment Shane took one step and passed the Desians and stood behind Lloyd in an eye flash.
"This is for your own good Lloyd!" Shane said hitting the back of his head, knocking him out
"That was a stupid thing kid!" One of the Desians said, but before he could move in, Shane took a side step and ended up at the edge of the cliff again.
"How did he…?"
"If you want to catch me…" Shane said quietly "Then you better take some lessons!"
Caring Lloyd on his shoulder he jumped off the cliff.
Back at the Ranch
"Lloyd, Genis, Shane thank you…" Marble said quietly in her cell
"How is the gate surveillance system?" A tall cyan haired Desian asked
"The dust covered most of the main culprit's face. But we do have front view of him and another at the front gate sir!"
"Bring me an image of both of them!"
"Sir!" The Desian said heading off to the control room
"How could a human make such a jump, and his speed…"
Iselia Forest
"Shane what happened to Lloyd?" Genis said still in a near panic from the incident
"I knocked him out to save the trouble." Shane said grimly
"Save what trouble?"
"Nevermind! Head back to village, I'll take Lloyd back to Dirk and get a Key Crest for Marble"
"Ok…" Genis said walking back.
Wait a minute… How did Shane know that Marble needed a Key Crest? Never mind he probably overheard us…
Dirk's House
"Dirk, we're back." Shane said slowly pushing the door open with Lloyd still slumped on his shoulder.
"What happened to Lloyd?" Dirk asked
"Long story, short version, Noishe went nuts and… yeah."
"Oh probably bumped his head on something." Dirk said scratching his brown beard "Put him upstairs then."
A few minutes later Shane asked for a key crest.
"A key crest? But I already built ya that limiter." Dirk said
"Its not for me." Shane said slowly "Its for a woman at the ranch."
"You went to the Ranch?!" Dirk said alarmed
"Genis wanted to spread the news about the Journey of Regeneration…"
Dirk made a heavy sigh "Did they see Lloyd's exsphere?"
"No... I knocked out Lloyd before he could do anything."
"You did wha-" Dirk regained his posture "Ahh well its for the best…"
"It's his mother's isn't it?" Shane asked
"How did yo-" Dirk began amazingly bewildered
"I could tell…" Shane bluffed "Not every parent gives an exsphere to their children."
"I guess you got me there…" Dirk sighed with his head down
Shane smiled and patted Dirk on the shoulder "It was for the better… You listening Lloyd?"
Dirk immediately put his head back up. Lloyd was standing at the bottom of the stairs fully awake.
"Lloyd…" Dirk began weakly
"Why didn't you tell me…!?" Lloyd started to growl
"Lloyd if I did you would have gotten yourself killed! Your mother sacrificed herself with the exsphere to protect you."
"So what about the Key Crest?" Lloyd ask still obviously agitated
"Have you not heard anything I said!?" Dirk said raising his voice
"Yeah I know! But-" Lloyd was about to finish yelling when Dirk nearly hit Lloyd in the groin, only to be stopped by Shane who had put his hand in the way of the fist. But the mental blow was more than enough
"Ugh! You don't have to hit me!!!" Lloyd yelled stomping outside and slamming the door behind him.
"Lloyd…!" Dirk said about to follow him
"Let him be…" Shane said with his arm still in the way
"He's going to throw his own life away…!" Dirk said still angry
"He's doing…" Shane said firmly "What he believes it right, more or less to stop someone else from ending up like his mother."
Dirk was going to retort but for a moment pondered the last words, rubbing his own forehead and groaning.
Outside…
"Oh...let me guess... you heard that just now?" Lloyd said seeing Genis approach him after stomping out of his house
Genis apologizes all over again: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's because of me, I didn't think"
"It's okay, it's not your fault." Lloyd said calming down
Raine alongside Colette approached Lloyd and Genis and said quietly "Lloyd, Colette wanted to speak with you. I'll wait with Genis."
"Okay." Lloyd nodded
"Lloyd, can we go up to the terrace?" Colette asked pointing up towards the terrace
"Ok…" Lloyd said rather slowly
Colette grimaced for a moment, worried but forced a smile for him "Thank you Lloyd."
After Lloyd escorted Colette to the terrace, Shane had walked out of Dirk's place.
"You okay?" Genis asked
"I'm fine. I just needed to leave something on the terrace." Shane answered
"What was it that you left up there?" Raine asked. Shane just smiled.
The Terrace
Lloyd scratched the back of his head out of guilt upon reaching the terrace"I'm sorry for not finishing your birthday present in time."
"It's okay, don't worry about that." Colette said back
"But that sort of thing is special because you get it on your birthday, you know?"
"You could just wish me a happy birthday?" Colette said smiling
Lloyd chuckled a bit "Of course. Happy birthday."
Colette flashed a larger smile "Thanks. I'm glad I was able to live to this day."
Lloyd looked at her with confusion. "What are you talking about? You're going to keep on living and regenerate the world!"
"Yep." Colette nervously said.
"So about tomorrow...I can't come along with you, can I?"
"Well…" Colette said putting her fingers together "It's just that the Desians will be after us and it's going to be a dangerous journey."
Lloyd leaned over the railing "Desians, up till now, I always thought my mom died in an accident. But she was murdered by Desians!" He shut his fist tightly nearly trembling "Now that I know the truth, there's no way that I could keep living in a village that has a treaty with them!"
Colette hugged Lloyd from behind "I understand." She said still smiling. They said nothing for the moment, until Colette finally said "We're leaving tomorrow at noon. So would you come to the village around then?"
Lloyd then all of the sudden went out of his depression and sparked in excitement.
"Okay! You got it." He said much happier than before.
"Now I'll be able to see you become an angel with my own eyes."
Colette looked up to the sky "So Lord Remiel really is my father. I'm the child of an angel."
"Does it matter?" Lloyd asked "Regardless of who your real father is, you're still you. Nothing's changed." You just have two fathers. Just think of yourself as being lucky for having more than most people do."
Colette looked out into the forest, thinking about the journey ahead of her "Yes...releasing the seals, becoming an angel, then finally..."
She stopped herself there
I can't tell Lloyd. I don't want him to worry.
"Finally?" Lloyd asked
"Um ... nothing, running on heheh." Colette gave a nervous giggle "Anyway, when we go to the Seal of Fire, I'll get to see one of my father again. I'm going to do my best.!"
"Yeah, me too." Lloyd agreed and the two shared another hug, enjoying each-others warmth and friendship. During the hug Lloyd looked on the terrace table to find that his birthday present: the necklace was finished for him.
"You better take good care of her Lloyd." Shane said smiling to himself far atop a hill overlooking the house. "It's only just the beginning…"