To Achieve Salvation
Part 2—Hunger
New Adventure, Old Faces
Why were all examination tables so uncomfortable?
Of the many thoughts that were swirling around the chosen's head, this was the one that he dwelled upon. The last few days had been full of revelations that made his mind spin, forcing him to examine parts of himself that he'd just as soon forget. So, for sanity's sake, he decided to focus on the more mundane, like the dull routine of an examination. After all, this was the imperial research academy. The budget the facility got was no measly amount; he had seen it himself. One would think that they'd be able to afford a bed with support and a pillow thicker than the sheet. Even with his dulled angel senses, the setup was intolerable.
Zelos sighed and placed his arms behind his head, the taut muscle providing more cushion than the pathetic pillow ever could. Squirming in an attempt to get comfortable, he began counting the cracks in the ceiling. His current predicament was the result of an impromptu exam on his cruxis crystal. True to the conversation he had shared with Lloyd earlier, the regeneration party had left for the academy at first light, arriving after a day or so of constant travel. The exam itself had been nothing special—some general scanning of the crystal and a measuring of his vitals. In fact, the only entertaining part had been the exquisite young half-elf who had been leading the tests. That, and the loud crash he heard from farther on in the academy that made the both of them jump in their seats. He had a sneaking suspicion that Colette was somehow involved, but there was no way for him to find out, so the examination had continued. However, the researcher had left some time ago to analyze the results, leaving him to his present position of uncomfortable boredom.
The noble had long since tallied the cracks on the ceiling and was now in the process of calculating the average number of fractures per square foot—he had always been good at math. He was in the final stages of the problem when he heard the creak of the poorly-oiled door.
There she was, that gorgeous young women! She had shiny lavender hair pulled away from her face in a practical ponytail, with a few stray strands poking out here and there. Her features were fine, and the expression that graced her face was one of shyness, her light gray eyes darting back and forth. Despite her reserved nature, she appeared professional, a clipboard tightly in her grasp.
"Hello again, my intellectual beauty," Zelos chirped, sitting up and granting her a charming smile.
The researcher blushed at his words, but regained her composure. "I have the results of the tests, Chosen One," she said, straightening her posture, "And I would ask that you please call me by my name."
"Very well, Ella darling," he replied, the term of endearment earning him another blush. Her name really did suit her. The word rolled off his lips, the pronunciation a pleasing lilt that echoed her delicate looks. "Now shall we begin?"
"Hey! Hold up a minute, hotshot," came an aggressive bark from the doorway. He glanced towards the interruption, taking in the sight of an impatient, surly, and decidedly not delicate ninja.
Observing her crossed arms and angled hips that served to (unbeknownst to her) emphasize
her well-endowed chest, a smirk curled at the end of the chosen's lips.
"Don't worry, my violent hunny. I wasn't going to leave you out," he drawled, leaning back seductively. He noted with no small amount of mirth that both of the beauty's faces reddened, one in embarrassment and one in anger. "After all, the more, the merrier," He scooted to the edge of the table, patting where he had left room for someone to join him.
At that moment, Genis burst in, bumping into the table where the womanizer lay. "What's taking so long?" he cried, not having heard their earlier exchange.
This time, it was Zelos' turn to scowl. "No. Definitely not you," he deadpanned, sitting up with a start. "You were not what I had in mind."
Sheena chortled and Ella let out a small giggle, while Genis just looked confused. "What's so funny?" he asked, then examined who else was in the room. His eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on the most probable culprit. "Zelos, what did you do?"
"Believe me, absolutely nothing." he stated, which served to make Sheena laugh harder while the frown on the mage's face deepened. Before the younger Sage could form a reply, the rest of the party entered the room.
"Man, that took forever," Lloyd whined, cracking his shoulders where they had been stiff from sitting too long.
Genis rolled his eyes. "You're just upset that the researchers wouldn't let you guys play in the lobby any more."
"Not that I blame them," Raine sighed, sweeping a few silver bangs out of her face. "How on earth did you manage to smash into that giant skeleton?"
So that explained the crash.
"I'm so sorry, professor," Colette cried, apologetic, "I don't know what happened. One minute I was playing with Lloyd, and the next…" she trailed off, but there was little mystery to what occurred.
"Oh, it'll be all right, Colette. Just do be more careful in the future," Raine replied, full well knowing there was no way that the young girl could ever contain her clumsiness. After her gentle scolding, she turned to face Ella. "But let's proceed to the reason we're all here. What are your results from the examination?"
Eight faces directed their gaze to the researcher. Ella, feeling the pressure of their questioning stares, cleared her throat and began. "Well, I ran a fine-tuned scan of his crystal mana levels. They are abnormal, to say the least. They seem to be fluctuating between one moment and the next in a pattern that is unpredictable. But that's really all I can tell you, I'm afraid."
"And why is that?" Presea inquired.
Ella began to fidget, tapping the back of her clipboard. "The truth is, I've never seen anything like it before. Every other crystal we've examined has had a stable mana reading, even his crystal in previous years. Not to mention his vitals are fine. He's perfectly healthy. I have no idea what would cause such a thing."
Everyone looked thoughtful at her words, but Raine scowled. "Really now," she stated, unimpressed. She grabbed the clipboard from the surprised doctor's hands and began to leaf through the pages. "This is what gets by as research in this part of the academy? Pathetic."
The purple-haired researcher stood there, shocked. After a minute, when it became clear that Raine had no intention of returning her clipboard or even allowing her to speak, Regal gave her a small bow.
"Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. We appreciate your efforts," the president said, grabbing Raine by the shoulders and steering her out the door. She did not look up from her stolen clipboard. "I think we have taken up much of your valuable time. We will bid you farewell."
He exited the room, and the rest of the group followed, an awkward silence hanging over them. Zelos followed them out, but he made sure to wink at Ella before he left. "Until next time, hunny," he grinned, dodging a slap from Sheena on the way out.
A while later the party found themselves seated in the cafeteria, enjoying a small lunch. Well, some of them were. Raine was far to absorbed in the exam results to eat much, while Lloyd had gulped down several serving's worth of noodles. Everyone else was pretty much normal.
Except for him. Zelos looked down at his lunch, a mostly-full bowl of the same noodles that Lloyd was wolfing down. It didn't seem that appetizing; food hadn't held his interest much since the angel transformation. Although he could again hold down his meals and taste things correctly, his appetite had never returned. Eating, especially now that he didn't have to as an angel, seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Preparing the food, testing for poison—a lot of work for an unnecessary activity. And for what? So he could play human? Some things you could never go back to.
He let out an internal sigh. Was he really brooding again? He was hopeless. The appointment earlier had provided him with many distractions, but his mind would always end up in the same melancholy place.
In an attempt to break his stupor, he refocused on the events occurring at the lunch table, which was much of the same. Off to the side, he noticed Lloyd was as into his lunch as ever. The chosen analyzed him for a bit, focusing at how rapidly the food was flying in his mouth. How did he eat so quickly? Was he even chewing? Was this a dwarf thing, or just a Lloyd thing?
It seemed that Zelos was not the only one to be enthralled by the Iselian's display. Genis looked disgusted, using the expression he normally reserved for one of Zelos' crude remarks. Colette's mouth gaped open in wonder—god those two were meant for each other—while Sheena and Presea appeared disturbed. Regal was concentrating on anything but Lloyd, and Raine had yet to look up from the clipboard.
"Lloyd," Presea interjected after some time, choosing each of her words with careful consideration, "You should slow down and chew your food."
For the first time in what seemed like hours, the stream of food halted. Lloyd looked puzzled. "But…I'm hungry. What's wrong?"
Zelos decided that now was as good a time as any to detach himself from the conversation. But before he could completely zone out, he heard Raine grumble, the first words she had spoken since insulting the young half-elf that had examined him.
"Really, Lloyd. Your eating habits are most distracting. Didn't I teach you better than this?" she snapped, slamming the clipboard against the chipped cafeteria table, adding another small nick into the already worn surface.
"Well, yeah, but it's been awhile," he mumbled, blushing but continuing to eat, albeit at a slower pace.
Taking advantage of the fact that Raine was reacting to external stimuli once more, Regal questioned, "Have you discovered anything that would shed more light on the situation?"
The entire party turned their gaze to the professor, who took this as a cue to lecture. "I wasn't able to piece together all that much, but I certainly have more of an answer than that incompetent researcher," At the thought of young worker, she scowled, but the interrupting thought was brief, so she proceeded to report her findings.
"The results of the tests are much as she described; the fluctuation of Zelos' mana is continuous, intense, and unpredictable. Although if she had run more tests we would have been able to get a better understanding of the movements…" she muttered, getting lost in thought again. Presea uttered a small cough, which seemed to get her back on track.
Raine continued, "I only have an incomplete theory at the moment, but it's the best I can do. Since Zelos had transformed into an angel, his mana signature is intertwined with the cruxis crystal in a relationship stronger than an ordinary person to an exsphere. So it reflects the state of his mana extremely well. All we can tell from those tests alone is that something is causing his mana to go out of control. However, if this information is taken into account with these machine plans we stole from the temple of lightening, everything makes a lot more sense.
"You see," she said, laying the plans flat on the table and gesturing to a drawing with her fork, "This is a blueprint of one of the machines that is absorbing the massive amounts of mana. Here in the top center, this little dot? I'll bet it's a tiny fragment of Zelos' cruxis crystal. It's using that to draw his soul to it, small bits of a time. The large amounts of mana are used to power these machines. It's also used to make the draw of the small crystals bigger than the main one, which is what splits his soul."
"Like a giant magnet?" Colette asked.
"Actually, yes," Raine replied, giving a slight nod.
"So how did they get pieces of Zelos' crystal?" Genis inquired, leaning forwards and placing his elbows on the table. His actions caught the attention of his sister, who narrowed her gaze until he removed his arms from the wooden surface, sheepish.
"Well, I did work for Cruxis for a long time before you guys came around," Zelos added, fiddling with the ice cubes in his water glass, "I wouldn't put it past them to nick a piece here and there."
"Okay, fine then. Say that's the cause," Sheena interrupted, examining Raine with a shrewd eye, "So how do we stop it?"
"We smash up all the machines and remove the crystal fragments!" Lloyd exclaimed, pounding his fork on the table. The force caused a bit of noodle to go flying, landing on Presea, who removed it wordlessly.
"Idiot," Genis sighed, "It's got to be more complicated than that."
"Not necessarily…" Raine murmured, causing Lloyd to perk up.
"Wait. Was I right?" he asked, turing his head sharply.
The professor bit her bottom lip. "Well, all that is required to stop Zelos' soul from splitting is to stop the mana from being channeled into the crystal fragments. Similarly, to stop the mana drainage, the machines need to be shut down. So going in and destroying them is the most straightforward option."
"Yuan said that the machines were taking advantage of the old mana links to create channels to funnel the mana from the tree," Regal stated, "So are we to understand that we must destroy eight of these machines in total?"
"No, as it turns out. The links follow the exact same pattern as the summon spirits; they use the opposing spirit's temples as a source for the link. So all we have to do is destroy one machine from each of the pairs. It would be better to destroy all eight, but we don't have that kind of time. Our best hope is to break the links to stop the mana drainage on the tree, and then deal with the rest later. That way, they won't have enough mana for the amplification powers necessary to attract parts of Zelos' soul to the crystals, either."
"Well, that's simple enough," Sheena shrugged, leaning back in her seat, "So where are we off to first? We have enough time to start heading somewhere before dark."
Regal stared at Raine, catching her attention. "If I may," he began, waiting for approval. After receiving a small nod from the half-elf, he continued, "I would suggest that we rest for the remainder of the day."
"But—the tree. And…" Colette interjected, glancing towards Zelos and then back at Regal, concerned. "Is there enough time?"
"I'm not saying we stop all together. I just propose that we stop until morning. We have been exhausting ourselves this past week. We should take some time to rest and formulate a strategy, so we can start off tomorrow well-rested and well-planned," the president suggested, calm as ever. His response served to calm Colette down.
"I agree," Raine added, regarding Regal with a favorable expression, "We can get a large room at the inn and plan in there. So why don't we break for now and meet up again before dinner?"
"Fine by me," Zelos declared, "So are we excused, professor?"
Raine rolled her eyes. "Dismissed," she said, "But don't get into any more trouble." She ended her statement with a meaningful look at Lloyd, Colette, and Zelos.
"Wait a minute," the redhead protested, withering under her glare, "Why are you looking at me? I wasn't the one who knocked over a giant skeleton. I'm way more graceful than that."
"Don't worry, Zelos," Sheena said, "I'm sure you'll find trouble somehow."
"Hey! It's not my fault that all the ladies throw themselves at me!"
Genis sighed. "Zelos, the last women that threw themselves at you was trying to stab you," he stated, referring to the skirmish outside the temple of lightening.
The chosen let out an amused snort. "An elaborate form of foreplay," he insisted.
Genis scrunched his face, repulsed. Colette, however, blinked a few times, then asked, "Don't you mean two-play?"
The devilish smirk he had sported while teasing Genis vanished, replaced with an incredulous look. She couldn't honestly mean…
"There were only two of you," she continued, oblivious to the stares she was getting from everyone else, "So that would make it two-play. You'd need two more for four-play."
Raine was about to chime in to correct her clueless student, but Zelos interrupted her.
"You're absolutely right, my angel," he clamored, flashing her a grin, "So why don't you, the professor, and my violent demonic banshee meet up with me and I'll show you how it's done?"
He only had a brief moment to catch Colette's delighted expression before a whack on the back of his head made him lose focus. "Pervert," Sheena hissed, venomous, "Stop corrupting her,"
Zelos only shrugged. "She's gotta learn sometime," he said, "Now's as good a time as any."
"I think it's time to pay the bill," Raine announced, standing abruptly. "Come, Colette; we'll make this your math lesson for the day,"
"Okay," the blonde angel smiled, moving to stand up but was grabbed by Raine and dragged away from the table. This left the six remaining members sitting at the dining area, all saying nothing, with only the scraping of Lloyd's fork against his bowl as he finished the last of his lunch breaking the silence.
Presea, seeking to escape the awkwardness, stated, "I will go and restock our supplies." She stood up, pushing her chair in with a scrape.
"And I'll join you," Sheena added, nearly jumping out of her seat. The two girls then walked out of the cafeteria, the door shutting behind them with a clang.
Zelos stared at the rest of the party. "Well, gentlemen," he proclaimed, rising from his seat with all the elegance of his breeding, "It's been a delight, but I'm going to seek the company of the fairer sex."
Following the footsteps of Sheena and Presea, he made his dramatic exit, leaving a bemused Regal and Genis and an oblivious Lloyd.
After the intense scrutiny Zelos had received for the past few days, it was nice to be lost in the anonymity of the crowd. Although he was often recognized in the streets, he was good at sticking to the shadows when he didn't want to be found.
He stood in the corner of the market district, observing the people scurrying about. It was similar to Meltokio. Most of them were still fools—educated, but fools nonetheless.
A sudden movement broke his thought. Out of the corner of his eye—a flash of red? Whipping his head around, he saw her. Seles.
The air caught in his throat, and he found himself frozen; unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to tear his gaze away from the girl in front of him. No, not a girl. A young women. When did that happen?
She was walking amongst the shops that lined the streets of Sybak, stopping every now and then to peruse a particular stall. She worked her way down the busy street, closer and closer to where he was standing. Her hair gleamed in the afternoon sun. In fact, she appeared to be glowing entirely, her skin no longer a sickly pallor but slightly tanned from the sun. Although she wasn't facing him, he could see the gentle smile that crept across her face, a smile that he hadn't seen for years.
This was what he wanted, right? Seles was happy, healthier than he had ever seen her, finally free from her lonely prison in the abbey. Then why did his heart ache when he looked at her?
Trying to shake the lingering thoughts away, he examined her again. She was coming closer. If he wasn't careful, she would see him, and her smile would disappear. He went to move, to disappear in some back alley like the skulking coward he was, but his sister's stop into a stall a few yards in front of him halted his actions. Seles had ducked into a book seller, the excitement plain upon her face, and emerged with a volume tucked under her arm. She smiled to herself her secret smile, giving the area a cursory glance to make sure she was unseen with her guilty pleasure. Zelos regained control of his limbs upon the realization she would look his way, but it was too late. Their eyes met, and as his sister loosen her grip upon her books in shock, a glimpse of bright pink sent his mind reeling.
The weather in Meltokio was gorgeous; not too hot, not too cold, with just the right amount of sun and a refreshing breeze.
Yet the climate did nothing to ease Seles' illness.
The young girl lay in her bed, swallowed up by the cushion and blankets. Books were scattered around the room, haphazard, piled into unsteady stacks and strewn around the floor. One book was in her grasp, and she thumbed through the pages intently, stopping only when she gave a hacking cough or the pain in her head became too great, which was far too often for her liking. All too soon, she reached the end of the book, and she rolled her eyes and slammed the volume shut, throwing it to the floor, where it landed with a satisfying thump.
She lay back down on the bed, too weak to get up but too awake to fall asleep. Besides, she'd already had at least two naps today. Sleeping around got old very fast. In utter boredom, she began counting the books surrounding her—she had always been good at math.
A few blocks aways, Zelos was running towards the mansion, a stack of books balanced precariously in his thin arms. One of the knights who had accompanied him tried to carry the volumes for him, but he had refused. These books were for Seles, and he wanted to bring them to her himself.
"Must we run all the way back, Master Zelos? You'll likely trip and injure yourself," one of the guards huffed. For all of his battle prowess, his stamina could not compete with the eager young boy's.
Zelos just laughed. "We're almost there. I'm not slowing down now!" he panted, ignorant of the plight of his guardians. He was so excited to see Seles that everything else was a blip, an unnecessary detail.
It had been almost a week since he had seen his sister. Between her illness and his duties as the Chosen, they had had no time for each other. But he was unhappy with this, so he had pleaded with one of his instructors to let him out of his lessons early. He was a very charismatic child, so of course she said yes. He let slip a small smile. Women were so easy to convince. He couldn't quite figure out why, but it didn't matter.
Finally, he had reached the front gates. The knights guarding the entrance opened the way, and Zelos sped past them in a rush to see his sister. He just knew she would love the surprise he had gotten her.
The young chosen wasted no time in reaching his sister's room. Upon reaching the doorway, he somehow managed to juggle it open with his elbow, having no free hand for the knob. He kicked the door open with his foot, putting more force behind the strike than he meant too. The heavy wooden structure flew open, hitting the opposite wall with a loud smack and causing Seles to sit up in shock. Upon noticing that it was her big brother (and really, who else would it be?), she rolled her eyes, but not after breaking out into a small, amused grin.
"You really should just have put the books down and opened the door. Or summoned a servant," she stated, her voice flat.
"Where's the fun in that?" he replied, dropping the stack of books on her bed with a slight oomph. "And hello to you, too."
Seles drew her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I thought you were too busy to come by." The sentence was directed towards him, but her gaze remained on the new pile of books.
"Hey, now," he said, his face pinching into a frown, "Don't say that. I always have time to hang out with my little sister."
His face once again broke out into a grin, after he had aired out the negative thoughts and let them flow out the room with the breeze. "And besides, I got you an awesome present!"
He glanced again towards the ill girl, who was now rifling through the volumes he had purchased. She looked unhealthy, of course, but something else was wrong. Her lips were pursued too tight, her eyes too strained, the air about her too despondent to just be the illness.
He approached her hunched form, settling down on the bed beside her with nary a rustle of the sheets. Placing his hand on the cover of a random book near her own pale fingers, he asked, uncertain,"Do you not like the books? I can go back out and get different ones."
She shook her head, drawing her hands further into herself. "No, nothing like that. They're great," She lifted her head and made eye contact, "Thank you. It's just…"
Her voice wavered and she trailed off. She moved to look away, but Zelos spoke before she could do so. "You wish you could choose them yourself."
She gave a slight nod and a sad smile. "Yeah."
Suddenly catching her moment of vulnerability, she straightened up and narrowed her gaze, eyeing the books critically. "But really, what were you thinking?" she accused, holding up a volume that was an intense shade of pink lettered with a flowery script,"I don't read stupid books like these. You should have looked harder in the classical works."
Zelos snorted at that. "Yes you do. You were reading one last week! I know you tried to hide it under the cover of a text on religious theorem."
Seles sputtered, "No—that's not—I mean—it was one time! You're the worst big brother!"
"Then why were you reading another one the day before that? And another week earlier? And when we had to sit through that really long—ouch!"
He raised his hand to the back of his head where his sister had just whacked him with a book. "Jeez, what was that for?"
She simply snorted and went back to sorting through her books. He winced, massaging his injury. It would fade in a minute, but Seles still packed quite a punch for a sickly girl.
"Tell you what," he said, his seriousness catching his sister's attention. She stared at him, rapt. "Someday, when you're feeling better, you can come to the market with me. The one in Sybak has the biggest collection of books you'll see outside a library. You can choose some yourself. I can hold the girly ones."
"I'd like that," she whispered, "I'd like that a lot."
Taking advantage of his momentum, he added,"Also, you should really thank your smart, talented brother, after he went through all the trouble of doing this for you."
She smiled begrudgingly, rolling her eyes, but the resulting expression was genuine. "Thank you, big brother."
They looked at each other and smiled. Everything was going to be okay.
But here in the present, she looked at him and stared. Everything was not okay. He stared back, unmoving. He noticed she carried a large bag of books, and in her hand she grasped a volume with a bright pink cover. For a moment, he had the urge to run over and take the book from her, to hold onto her secrets like he had promised, but he knew it was too late. Dwelling on what could have been served no purpose but to bring back that empty feeling he promised Lloyd he would fight. Yet he couldn't bring himself to move, either. Finally, Seles broke his gaze, heading toward the residential sector with that brisk walk she used when she was bothered but wanted to hide it. He continued to stay, hoping for some reason that she would look back, but she never did. Then again, she always looked forward. He was the one stuck in the past—and that needed to change. He wasn't strong enough to deal with this now, he thought as he turned to head to the inn. Maybe one day he would be. But would she still be there?
AN: Oh look, I'm not dead...yay? It's been awhile. Sorry. But I'm getting back into the swing of things!