Once again I apologise for the delay in the posting of this fic. As a side note the numbers denote a..uh, side note, which will supply you with a little bit of info. The info will be found right at the bottom of the fic. There's only one by the way, but feel free to read should you feel the wish/need to.
Now, without further ado, your Captain wishes you a pleasant read.
Enjoy the fic.
Saloth'sar
Sunlight streaked into the sky in a firework display of colour at the herald of a new day. The magnificent effect was, however, somewhat lessened, Sheena thought, by the constant bellyaching of the red-headed ex-chosen standing behind her.
"Shheeennnaaaa! Why can't we stop already? We've been up since 3 o'clock this morning…I need my beauty sleep."
"For the last time Zelos. No and shut up!"
"But Sheena.."
"I'm not listening."
"But…"
"Zelos, shut up. See that rock over there?" The ninja pointed to a rock to their left. "Kuchinawa will be back once he's checked out the area which shouldn't be long now."
"This is taking ages! There's nothing here…c'mon, this is where the great tree is, no-one's gonna set up base here."
"We've seen something going on."
"Tourists."
"What? People aren't allowed to go near the Symphonia tree, you know that you moron!!"
"But…"
"Hush! There's Kuchinawa."
The aforementioned ninja was crawling over the ruins of the tower of Salvation, weaving quickly between crumbling lumps of rock etched with images of angels.
Within a few minutes he came face to face with Sheena and her companions, giving Zelos a cursory glance.
"The coast is clear for above ground, right across to the other side. Orochi is keeping watch so we should hurry to him."
"Alright." She turned to the four other members of Mizuho who had stopped behind her. "We've got a clear path across the area so we'll go across. Once we reach the other side we spread out along the circumference of the south-west side and keep watch. If you see anything, alert everyone else by signals so we can keep an eye on them together, ok?"
Murmurs of agreement ran around the party accompanied by nods.
"Let's get going then."
They travelled over the desolated ruins of the tower, walking beneath the great tree silently, save for Zelos occasional protests over that morning's awakening.
As they approached the arc of the region they were investigating, the group split up. Kuchinawa and one of the other Mizuhoans heading right, the other two splitting off and heading left; leaving Sheena and Zelos together to take the central point.
"So…what're we gonna do when we find there's nothing here and this has been a complete waist of time?"
"Shut up, Zelos! If there is someone down there, they might hear us if you don't shut up so do it or I'll make you far less of a man than you already are."
"Ooh, Sheena…you've got balls, my hunny."
"And you won't have for much longer if you don't stop that. Now quiet."
Despite the only (semi) joking warning, the red-head fell silent, following the ninja to the edge of the plateau.
There was nothing below the ledge.
"See?" he whispered "Nothing."
"Then why are you whispering?"
"…"
"Besides, there's nothing here. We have to travel to the sides slightly. You go left, I'll go right."
"Right. Right."
"No…you left, me right."
"I know Sheena I…" The look of bemusement that she gave him quietened him. "…I'll just go left."
"You do that."
Without another word she slunk off to the right, leaving a dumbfounded Zelos behind.
Shrugging, Zelos headed off to the left, diving for cover behind a wall as soon as he saw it, peeking over the top as he travelled along the length of it, gradually standing more and more upright as the wall became higher, almost obscuring everything from his view.
Finding a crack in the wall, just wide enough for him to keep an eye on things through, the red-head slid down beside it watching through the gap for any activity, resting on a rock behind as he stared blankly through it.
-----------------------
Zelos groaned, turning to lie on his left side, wishing the ground and rock wasn't so hard, wondering distantly why he was sleeping outside.
Pounding footsteps jerked him awake, making him realise exactly where he was and what he was supposed to be doing and he scrambled to his feet, blinking sleep out his eyes to look through the crack.
Soldiers in red tunics in differing shades of red marched in lines of 3, a young girl with slightly pointed ears sandwiched in the middle of them all with no chance of escape.
'Dammnit! Kratos was right…they are kidnapping half-elves!!'
He watched silently as the shackled girl was marched along. 'What for though? If you hate them that much…you'd kill them outright when you saw them…'
Standing up slowly from his position by the crack in the wall, Zelos stood, bringing a small communications device out of his pocket, sending a message to Sheena.
Turning back to watch what was going on, he caught the end of the column of men, and edged along behind the wall, shrinking steadily to avoid being seen.
The troops were filing into a small chasm that was getting steadily narrower, tapering inwards and Zelos edged along further, cursing when he reached the end of the wall so that he could see further without being seen.
"What've you seen?"
"GAH!"
The cry came before Zelos could stop it as Sheena appeared behind him out of nowhere.
"Hey…Did you hear something?"
The voice came from below, gruff and questioning as soldiers turned to look at the plateau above them, to their right.
"Excellent. That's all we need." Sheena muttered, lying behind the wall beside Zelos, her hand over his mouth.
"Probably just the wind."
"How often does the wind sound like 'gah'?"
"Keep it moving!"
Sheena peeked out from the wall, watching as the two soldiers staring at their hiding place were called away by their commanding officer. The men shrugged and walked away, clipping the half-elf girl around the back of the head as she was marched past.
"That poor girl," Zelos murmured, a rare tone of sincerity and compassion in his voice. "There's gotta be a way we can free her."
"Forget it! We can't get caught."
"But.."
"SIR! Up there!"
Sheena and Zelos tensed, exchanging glances. One of the soldiers had heard their conversation and the pair quickly backed up to a taller part of the wall.
Too late.
Already two of the men had crawled up the slope and were standing in front of the former tethe'allans that were crouching on the floor and they quickly drew their weapons, intending to either capture or kill.
A third man, dressed in a copper tunic joined them a second later.
"You heard them plotting against us?"
"Yessir!"
"Kill them."
"They're human, sir."
The man shrugged "That's irrelevant. Anyone who helps, or plans to help a half-elf is as filthy as the damned creatures themselves. Kill them, they're of no use to the project."
"I really don't think that's going to happen."
The men turned quickly to the voice behind them.
"Kuchinawa!" Sheena exclaimed, jumping to her feet and drawing a card out, ready to attack the soldiers. Beside her, Zelos drew his sword in anticipation of a fight, glancing down at the men in the gully.
Most of the troops had already gone to…wherever it was that they were going, but the men taking up the rear, a group of about ten who were guarding the girl were left behind, staring up at the scene unfolding above them, too interested to pay much attention to their captive.
"Don't think you can beat us, traitors," the man in the copper clothing snarled, drawing Zelos' attention back to the predicament "We have 13 men, and you only have 3."
"7 actually." Sheena stated, as the four other members of the ninja clan materialised around them, weapons drawn.
"Still not enough, woman."
"Don't underestimate our strength…"
With a harsh cry, she threw herself forwards, slamming the card into the chest of the nearest guard. It burst into flame against his chest and the man fell back, crying out in pain as the commander stood and watched, amazed.
Sheena merely drew out another card as the men of her team tensed, falling into battle positions.
"Get the girl," Sheena whispered to Zelos.
And then she was leaping forwards again, a card in each hand as around her the other ninjas jumped down from the cliff into the midst of the troop below, blades flashing in and out of sight in an instant.
Zelos jumped with them, landing lightly on the floor and running straight into the centre of the brawl, searching for the violet haired half-elf. She had disappeared amidst the fighting men, but as the ex-chosen sliced his sword neatly across the chest of a soldier, knocking him back, he saw her, edging away from the battle, back the way she came.
He sprinted to her, grabbing her roughly by the arm and pulling her up onto the plateau, shouting that he was helping her.
The girl fought against him.
"Look! I'm helping you!" he cried, slamming his left hand into the face of a random soldier, tugging her to a slightly quieter area. Grabbing a small blade from his belt he worked it into the keyhole of the shackle, jiggling it until the cuffs snapped open.
The half-elf stared, dumb founded.
"You're freeing me?"
"There's no time for me to explain! Do you know where Iselia is?"
She nodded.
"Good. Run, go there and find someone called Lloyd Irving-Aurion or Colette Brunel…or hell, even Kratos Aurion!"
A look of recognition flashed across her face "Professor Aurion?"
"You know Kratos? Well go, find him. If I or the woman in purple don't catch up with you on the way then tell him what happened here…that we've been captured…and if one of the ninja guys gets away, get him to go with you or something."
"How do I…"
"No time. Go!"
He shoved her shoulder and then turned and ran back into the fray, hacking a man down even as two more piled on top of him and he realised that reinforcements had come for his enemies. They were going to be caught.
A high-pitched female scream cut the air and he turned to help Sheena when two men tackled him to the floor, pulling his arms behind his back and locking them in shackles.
"By the order of the leader of Saloth'sar, we arrest you for crimes against the human race."
Behind them, unseen, the purple haired half-elf turned and ran, heading north-west for Iselia.
----
"This is all your fault," Sheena stated for what had to be the hundredth time in the past hour.
She and Zelos sat in a damp cell, waiting for one of these 'Saloth'sarians' to return to do whatever it was they were going to do.
"So you keep saying, but I'm sure she got away."
"Well that makes it better for us."
"Look, she'll get to Iselia, get Lloyd and the rest of the gang and they'll storm in and save us, and then we'll go rescue Genis and Raine, wherever they are."
"Hmph."
"You're starting to sound like Kratos."
"Well at least that might mean I have his sense to not get caught."
"Like he did on Exire?"
"Oh, shut up…besides, remember what he told Lloyd about the soldiers."
"What?"
"They wore the name Saloth'sar on their clothing…"
"They're here then. Raine and the brat…"
"Seems like."
"Quiet there!"
One of the guards that had brought them to the cell earlier had returned, two other guards flanking him. Zelos and Sheena watched quietly as they approached and entered the cell.
"It has been decided that you two remain together during the day due to your human status, for now, however, you will be shown to the human prison quarters and will remain there for the rest of the day."
"Woohoo." Zelos muttered sarcastically.
"…I'd advise you not to take that attitude with us, given the lenience our courts have seen fit to apply to you, for the moment anyway."
The ex-chosen said nothing in response as he was pulled to his feet, the same being done to Sheena. They were led out of the cell silently, still shackled, Zelos being pulled right, Sheena being taken left.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Zelos rolled his as he heard the accusation despite the fact that Sheena had already left the room. He on the other hand, was being pushed through his own door into a fenced compound, paved with concrete, the walls of the area red and crumbling, decorated with roots. A grey complex stood at the far end of the chamber, and by the looks of it, that was where he was being taken.
"So…" he began conversationally as he was marched to the building "What do you do here, huh?"
The guards didn't answer, merely pushed him forwards.
"Oh, c'mon guys, we're all human here. Can't we share some gossip?"
A heavy metal door was opened before him and he was pushed into a slate grey corridor and then led to the left into another room.
It was dull, grey, bland, concrete, just like the rest of the complex, but it had windows, at least. Cells adorned the wall to his right, separated only by more bars, not allowing the prisoners any form of privacy.
He was guided to one of the furthest cells, a bed in the far left corner, a sink in the right, a block of stone with a hole carved into it next to the basin.
"Wow, my own toilet. You guys are spoiling me."
A cell door being opened was his only response, his escorts blocking the way back so that he couldn't run and escape.
Given that he'd been relieved of everything that could be considered a weapon, including his white headband, for some reason, he didn't even consider it. Besides, not only was he unarmed, but he would have no idea where he was going to go or do.
Holding his head high and refusing to be thrown in the cell like some common thief, Zelos held his head high and strolled into his cell, turning back to watch the guards down his nose as the shut the door and walked away. It was only when he heard the outer door to the compound closing that he lowered his head and turned to examine his cell.
"If you're going to act like that you won't last long here."
The voice came from the last cell of the room, next to Zelos' cell and the aristocrat spun to face the owner of the voice. "They'll teach you some humility."
Zelos snorted "Doubt it. And I don't plan to be here long enough for that to happen, anyway."
"Planning to escape, huh?" the man in the other cell strode forward, stopping in front of the bars that separated him and the younger man, long fingers wrapping around black iron rods.
"Well d'uh."
"It won't happen."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Zelos asked, watching the man run a hand through grey streaked chestnut hair.
"I tried it too, but they caught me and beat me down…that's why I look like this." He gestured to the grey streaks in his hair, the weathered, aged skin on his hands and face. "Their punishment stripped me of my strength…my youth."
"Look, no offence, but sixty years old is not youthful…you're supposed to look like that."
The old man smiled "Well that's the thing you see…I'm only 37."
The red-head took a step back from the older man. "No way."
"Way. I'm only….a decade older than you, yes? Good looking young man like you should be careful with his looks…I'd be careful if I were you."
Zelos said nothing but thought of Sheena instead, that she could be in serious danger because of him. Like Raine, her independent, strong-willed, defiant nature was likely to get her into trouble…even if she were sensible about to behave. Zelos knew Sheena, and the ninja wouldn't put up with any sort of abuse for long. Gods help her…and it was because of him that she was here.
Sitting down on the lumpy bed, he turned to the man. Might as well try and get some information while he was here, whether a rescue was on the way or not.
"What's your name?" he asked the man who had retreated to his own bed and was now watching Zelos with hawkish eyes. He hesitated, seeming to be testing whether he could trust the younger man or not.
"Caleb." He answered eventually.
"Zelos," the ex-chosen replied in introduction "…so…what do you know about this place?"
"Very little. I know that we're under the great tree and that they call this little base of theirs 'Flaw' and it is what they call an IHC, an Impure Holding Centre…a concentration camp for half-elves.
"The humans that run this place call their organisation Saloth'sar and they are the Saloth'sarians. What the name means, I don't know. It is not a Mercian 1) word."
"I know what it means," Zelos murmured, his Angelic Language lessons from his childhood rushing back to him and he grimaced slightly at the meaning, knowing what it meant for the prisoners of this camp.
"You know? What does it mean…I am curious. They don't even speak Mercian here, the guards, when speaking to each other at least, have their own language. I believe they call it Lothloren."
"…it doesn't matter what the name means right now. I'll tell you that the name of their language means 'Pure tongue'…it's a dialect of the angelic language."
"Then 'loth' from Saloth means…"
"Pure. But this doesn't matter right now…and nor does how I know this stuff," Zelos added, seeing Caleb open his mouth to ask the question "…So anyway, these people are like the reverse of the Desians who inhabited Sylvarant."
"Exactly."
"…what do they do though? I mean, why do they capture half-elves and not kill them outright."
"That…I'm not sure of. All prisoners, including human like you and I who have been caught for aiding a half-elf are set to work as slaves. The jobs are allotted according to intelligence or sometime blood. Half-elves with more human blood than elven get easier jobs…but I hear that the smartest prisoners are set to work on a scientific project, a giant weapon of some sort."
"But why?"
Caleb shrugged, brown and grey hair falling from his shoulders at the movement.
"I've heard they have an almost inexhaustible supply of mana too."
"Well yeah, we're right underneath the mana tree. They can draw the purest mana straight from the source."
Shaking his head, the older man lay on his side, making himself more comfortable on the worn mattress. "No, they have to have a particular source of man to power the project, or else it won't work."
"How d'you know this stuff?"
"Slaves gossip…I just hope that some of the rumours about the project aren't true…I pray that the power source is not what they say it is."
"And that is?"
"Some poor half-elf's life."
1) Mercian is the language that I (yes, me, the author of this fic, the almighty God who makes the rules of this) have decided the ToS characters speak. Anyone who studies English Language (as I do) will know that Mercian is a very old dialect of English which developed into standard (British) English. And I'm British, hence the reason I used it. In this fic, Mercian is essentially just another name for English. And if you've dropped out of the fic to read this note, I apologise for digressing. You may now return to the fic :)
So there you have it, another chapter done. If the last line has confused you or just seems really weird and random or whatever, the subject does have an important part later on in the fic, so it is relevant. There may be some more hints as to what this means/ is in the next few chapters.
You may or may not have noticed by now that the chapters follow a pattern. That is: Raine/Genis chapters, then another pair, Raine/Genis, other pair. So this chapter should have been a Sheena/Zelos fic. But I rarely write about just Zelos, so I thought I'd dedicate this to him.
Anyhoo, please, please (if you've some how got here without being bored to tears by my rambling) review. Any question will be answered, any comments will be appreciated.