I'm back! n.n I think I'll have a muse...Colette?
Colette: YAY! Thank you, Freaky! (Hugs)
Me: Hey hey hey-! NO HUGS!
Colette: Oh, I'm sorry!
Me: It's fine, just say the disclaimer.
Colette: Freakyanimegal owns nothing! n.n
Me: On with chapter two! n.n
Shenanigans in the City
Lloyd nervously walked up to the city as the sun shone brightly in the sky, it was around ten in the morning by the looks of it.
Noishe trotted along beside him as the swordsman nervously approached the guards standing by the entrance...
"Good day," one nodded.
"Er...Yes, have a nice morning," Lloyd said slowly before walking right past the guards whom would've attempted to capture
him beforehand.
The brunette let out a sigh of relief as he entered the city, looking in his pack to see what it was he had managed to bring
with him. He had some gald on him, a couple gels, a life bottle and the book Dirk had given him that listed all the dwarven
vows. Lloyd's stomach growled suddenly, oh great, he didn't have any food... He sighed before noticing something else. He
had a couple beast fangs...great! They easily sold for a thousand gald a piece, that should help...
"Excuse me, sir..."
Lloyd flinched and looked to his side, where a woman was looking up at him (seeing as he had now surpassed six feet).
"Uh...May I help you with something?"
'May I'?! Since when did he say 'May I'?!
"Well..." she fidgeted a bit, "are you...new here?"
Lloyd blinked.
"...I'm just passing through," he said.
"Oh, I see..." she said, "are you...busy?"
"Eh?" Lloyd frowned.
"I just wanted to know if you'd like to join me for brunch," she smiled.
It was as if he got hit by a rock.
"W-what-!?" he stammered, face flushing.
"Huh...? What? Did I say something strange?" she asked.
"N-no-! I just-! I-! I've got somewhere I have to go, sorry, bye!!"
Lloyd dashed off away from the woman, flushing bright red. Once he was convinced he had gone far enough he leaned
against a building, attempting to catch his breath and slow his rushing heart.
"Oh my g-! I can't believe that just...! Ugh..." he shuddered.
Then again, maybe he should get to a tailor...after all, it wasn't that surprising that had happened seeing as he was walking
around in a muscle-shirt for the entire female population to gawk at. He shuddered a bit and rubbed his arm, unnerved at
the more defined biceps...
"Okay...first thing's first..." he said.
With that he made a beeline for the tailor parlor he had spotted before when walking through the city with his friends,
remembering it to be somewhere around the weapon shop 'Trupelos'. Luckily, he found it before he got anything more than
a few second glances from passing women.
"Hello!" the woman at the counter smiled. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Er..yeah," Lloyd said, "I kind of need a new jacket..."
"Hm, okay, stand right here please."
"All right..."
Lloyd slowly moved where she indicated, standing before a three-profile mirror. The color drained out of his face upon seeing
his new body fully for himself. That and something about his new face was familiar...like he'd seen it before... He mentally
smacked himself. Of course he saw it before! It was his face! ...But...there was something else...something like nostalgia...
"Sir? Are you all right?"
Lloyd twitched, then nodded.
"Y-yes, sorry about that."
"That's all right, now hold still..."
The woman took his measurements, raising an eyebrow at the numbers she recorded for his shoulders and arms.
"Wow...do you work out?" she asked.
"Uh..." Lloyd flushed.
"Hee hee," she giggled, "oh aren't you cute, shy tough guys are hard to find."
Lloyd shot bright red.
"Oh you're embarrassed," she giggled, "don't worry, I'm engaged anyway."
The swordsman let out a sigh of relief.
"Anyway, I've done the measurements," she said, "any particular design or color?"
"Um...well..."
She sighed, "Men...look, what color do you want it?"
"Red," he said instantly.
"Okay, long-sleeved or short-sleeved?
"Long,"
"Pockets?"
"Um..."
Lloyd thought about it a minute.
"Yeah, sure,"
"Okay then..."
When all was said and done Lloyd left the building with a red jacket trimmed with black, a pocket on each side of the open
zipper which still allowed the black shirt beneath to be seen. Of course, it had the trailings attached to the collar but instead
of the white cloth they had been replaced with black not only because of the shortage of white at the place, but because the
tailor had urged him against it ("White would clash! Go with black! It matches!"). That and he had managed to acquire black
fingerless gloves and a larger pair of red boots, also decided on via color by the tailor. Lloyd sighed, she was kinda
pushy...oh well, at least that was done and over with... Now he could focus on more important things, like getting back to
the temple to-...
"Oh crap..." Lloyd groaned.
He had forgotten to take his rheaird when he left, the temple of course, only being reachable by flight. Great, just great, how
was he supposed to get back now? He couldn't go to his friends looking like this... So where did that leave him? Asking
Yuan? Sure, the Seraph was on their side and all, but even then how was he supposed to find him without an EC?
"Oh man..." he groaned. "What am I going to do...?"
"You could go back to your friends, for one,"
Lloyd jolted about a foot before turning to the source of the voice, which was a very suspicious-eyed Kratos Aurion.
"You...!" Lloyd snarled.
"So it is you," Kratos said softly, his face falling.
"H-huh-? I-..."
Lloyd drew his swords.
"You intend to fight me here?" Kratos asked.
"If you try anything, yes," Lloyd glared.
"Hmph, because of course I'm going to cause a scene in the middle of an incredibly populated area," he stated.
"..." Lloyd slowly relaxed, "...what are you doing here?"
"Given the situation, are you really the one to be asking questions?"
Lloyd flinched a bit, his gaze faltering a minute before he returned a defiant glare to the Seraph...noting he could now look
him in the eye without trying. His body twitched, adrenaline pumping his system when a thought crossed his mind. He was
older, sure, that didn't really make him stronger, but that thing had put him to sleep simply BECAUSE it wanted to fight a
'worthy opponent' or something like that, right? So...what exactly HAD happened to him..and why did he want to fight so
badly? For some reason, he was confident he could hold his own against Kratos even though he knew full well that the lot of
them together couldn't even faze him...
"LLOYD!"
Lloyd flinched, directing his attention down the crowded street.
"Your friends are looking for you," Kratos said simply.
"Oh damn...!" Lloyd whispered, turning to run the opposite direction.
"And where exactly are you going?" Kratos asked, suddenly in front of him.
"Out of my way, Kratos!" he snapped.
"I'd suggest going back to them," the Seraph said coolly.
"I said out of my way!"
Lloyd dashed forward and Kratos drew his sword hilt to hit Lloyd in the gut and hinder his progress. However, something
odd happened. Somehow Lloyd saw the strike coming and brought his own sword back...and actually managed to knock
Kratos out of his way. The Seraph's eyes widened as Lloyd took the opportunity to race off as fast as he could, not stopping
to question what had just happened even though days ago himself actually getting one over on Kratos would be a sign of
the apocalypse. It was barely a few seconds later when the remnants of Lloyd's group caught sight of the somewhat
unnerved Seraph...
"Kratos! You're here too?" Genis asked.
"I see you took my advice after all," he stated.
"Why are you looking for Lloyd?" Raine, always the analytical one asked.
"What I do is none of your concern," Kratos stated, heading after Lloyd.
The seraph growled a bit to himself, looking around some more... He'd lost Lloyd's mana trail, the city was so dense with
them it was easy to confuse such things... Kratos sighed briefly before heading in the direction his son had ran, noting his
friends were doing the same. Meanwhile, Lloyd himself was tearing down the streets as fast as he possibly could. He looked
around for the nearest possible escape... He spotted the coliseum and dashed in, closing the door behind him. The boy- or
rather, man, looked around frantically...where would be a place he could get away from-? Oh yeah! There was that room in
the coliseum combatants waited in before hand... That'd be prefect! ...Except...you had to actually register for the fight to get
in there... He thought a moment, trying to figure out a better way when he heard voice from out the open windows.
"Lloyd!" Genis called.
"Lloyd, where are you?" Sheena cried.
Okay, combatant room it was.
"Uhm..." he raced up to the receptionist, "I'd like to enter solo competition, please?"
"All right, that'll be five-thousand gald," she said.
Lloyd stared.
"F-five thousand-? I can't-!"
"Lloooooooooyyyydd!"
"Okay! Fine! Here!" Lloyd said, pulling out the money.
"All right, please go to the room to the- Hey!"
Lloyd dashed off for the room, the guard stepping aside to allow the 'new combatant' in. No sooner had the door closed
behind him had his group walked into the coliseum, looking around for their friend.
"Do you see him anywhere?" Regal asked.
"Nope," Zelos groaned, "damn it, bud...where'd you go...?"
"Well, he's not here," Raine said, "we should look somewhere else."
"Let's hurry!" Colette said, racing out the door.
"H-hey! Colette! Wait up!" Genis ran after her.
"...Everyone is really concerned..." Presea noted before she did likewise with the others.
Lloyd let out a sigh of relief inside the preparation chamber, convinced that he had at last lost them. ...Then he realized he'd
signed up for the contest.
"Dammit!" he groaned, smacking himself in the face.
...Then again...back there with Kratos...he had actually managed to get Kratos out of his way. Lloyd's eyes widened. He had
ACTUALLY gotten the seemingly invincible man out of his way...and about what he thought about earlier, when that thing
said it'd 'make him a worthy opponent' or something...
"...What did it do to me...?" he whispered.
"Hey you!"
"H-huh? Yeah?" Lloyd looked up.
"You're next, hurry up,"
"...Right," he nodded.
Hm...maybe a fight would do him some good, it'd distract him a little bit and maybe he could see if that thing had done more
than just make him older... The swordsman walked through the door and into the sudden sunshine, thousands of spectators
cheering as they did at the start of every battle.
"Round one!" the emcee shouted, "GO!"
Lloyd drew his swords as the gates opened, sending in two large wolves. The beasts slobbered and stalked toward him,
growling. Lloyd had fought them before, they were easy, really, but...
"Demon fang!"
He expected the usual, that the 'force' of sorts would cause the animal to stagger a moment. What he didn't expect was to
feel as if he had used absolutely no mana, that the attack took about as much effort as blinking. That...and the fact it quite
literally sliced the first wolf in half.
"H-holy crap-!!" he gasped.
The pieces of the corpse flopped onto the ground, the remaining wolf seeming to stare at its companion with equal shock.
However, it shook it off and raced toward Lloyd, who reacted on instinct and used 'beast'...
"What the...?!" he gaped.
The attack blew the canine across the stadium and bashed it into the wall, leaving an imprint. Lloyd gaped like an idiot and a
silence had fallen on the crowd...quickly followed by an eruption of cheers. Lloyd flinched and looked around at the roaring
fans, laughing nervously and wiping his forehead with the back of his arm.
"Wow! An amazing display! Bring on round two!"
A few undertakers...
"...Let's see what else I can do..." he smirked, getting into an offensive stance...
A few rounds later the final monster, a dragon knight, hit the sand with a dying screech. Lloyd sheathed his swords with a
smirk, feeling only about as exhausted as he did after a normal fight accompanied by his friends.
"WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!" the emcee cried.
"Whew..." he sighed in relief, grinning, "that was fun."
"Congratulations, sir!" the emcee shook his hand. "May I ask your name?"
"Huh? I'm L-"
Wait..not only was he wanted, but if somehow someone knew him by name they would think of the suspender wearing
teenager... That would probably cause some attention he didn't want right now.
"Your name, sir?" the emcee asked.
"Um...L...Lartan...Albane," he said, "Lartan Albane."
"OUR CHAMPION! LARTAN ALBANE!"
Lloyd let out a sigh of relief, having named himself after two stars in Sylvarant. After all, astronomy was the only scholarly
subject he actually liked.
"LAAAAAAAAARR-TAN!! LAAAAAARR-TAN!" the crowd cheered.
"I LOVE YOU LARTAN ALBANE!!" a woman shrieked.
Lloyd blushed bright red, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Here's your reward, Mr. Lartan Albane! Twenty-five thousand gald!"
"W-woah..." Lloyd stared, then grinned, "thanks!"
Great! Not only did he get his money back, but that should be more than enough to get him a room at the inn if he had to...
Grinning, he pocketed his winnings and left the stadium, whistling to himself as he entered the entry way to the lobby. That
was great! He had gone through ten rounds fighting monsters, by himself, without anyone healing him and he was only a
LITTLE tired! It was amazing! ..Wait! Wait! That was bad! That thing did this to him, so-...so what? He could kick ass! Of
course, he still wanted to get back to normal...but there was nothing wrong with enjoying a little power boost while he had
to, right...?
"THERE HE IS!!"
Lloyd turned, startled by the sudden shout.
"Yes! It's him! Lartan Albane!"
There was a group of about thirty women pointing at him.
"EEEEEEE! IT'S HIIIIIM!!"
"W-what the-?!"
Before Lloyd could even move he was surrounded by a clan of women varying from twenty to forty-five, all of which were
fussing over him like Zelos' floozies cooed over the pink-wearing womanizer.
"You were amazing!!"
"I'd never seen anything LIKE it!"
"That part where you jumped up and sliced that crush tortoise?! It was SO amazing! I was in awe!"
"Can I have your autograph?!"
"Can I have YOU!?"
"Woah woah woah!!" Lloyd tried to back away. "I-I'm sorry, but I-!!"
"Oh look! He's bashful!" a blond giggled.
"He kicks ass, he's hot AND he's sensitive!"
Lloyd flinched at the sound of the feared 'fangirl squeal'.
"WE LOVE YOU LARTAN!!"
"Help me!!" Lloyd cried.
For what felt like the millionth time since he woke up, Lloyd ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Once he had lost his
pursuers for the fifth time that day, he let out a sigh and sat down on a bench to try to think about his next course of action.
He needed to get back to the shadow temple, but he needed a rheaird for that... His stomach growled loudly and he sighed.
Oh yeah...he still hadn't eaten anything...okay then, lunch, then think about what to do next.
"Huh...I wonder where Noishe went anyway..." he looked around, "...he'll be fine."
The 'man' stood up and headed down the street, looking around for a restaurant of some sort. One was spotted after couple
of minutes of searching and he entered the facility to the sweet, succulent aroma of cooking food. He inhaled deeply and let
out a sigh, grinning.
"That smells great..." he said.
"Hello, sir!" a waitress smiled. "Just one?"
"Huh-? Uh...yeah," he nodded.
"All right, please follow me," she nodded, leading him off.
Lloyd hesitated a minute before following, looking around and catching sight of a clock on the wall... THREE O'CLOCK!?
ALREADY!? What had he been doing all day-!? ...Okay, there was the tailors...then running from Kratos and his friends...then
the contest...then running from those women...then uh...he had kind of gotten a LITTLE lost after running from the
women...just little. Great, just great, he had gone five hours and was still clueless as how to get himself out of this
predicament. He stewed over it as he waited for the waitress, sighing.
"Okay, honey, what can I get-? Are you all right?"
"Huh?" Lloyd looked up. "Y-yeah...I'm fine, sorry."
"Hm..." the woman looked him over, "...hey! Aren't you that guy everyone's talking about?"
"Huh?" Lloyd stared.
"They said there was this swordsman in red at the coliseum today, apparently he was really something," she smiled, "my
friend went there for her break earlier and told me all about him! Is your name Lartan Albane?"
Lloyd kind of spaced at the question, disbelieving the situation.
"Uhm...well?" she asked.
"Y-yeah..." he stammered.
"Oh really?" she smiled. "Wow, the rumors were right about you."
"Huh? Rumors? What rumors?" he blurted, beginning to become anxious.
"They said he was really shy and cute..." she smiled flirtatiously at him.
"Uh..." Lloyd shot bright red.
"Oh, silly me! Rambling! Sorry, what did you want?"
"U-uh...I...um..." Lloyd stammered, "uhm...well...I don't know..."
"That's all right, I can get you the special if you want," she smiled.
"Y-yeah...I'll just have that, sure," he nodded, still dazed.
"All right! When special coming up!" she grinned, winking at him before walking off.
Lloyd stared off after her, his jaw hanging open somewhat. What the HELL? You'd think he was Zelos or something the way
girls were acting to him now... Seriously, he wasn't THAT different, was he? Maybe he shouldn't have gone into that damn
tournament, then he wouldn't be having all this talk about him-
"Excuse me sir!"
Lloyd looked up.
"Hee hee..." a teenage girl blushed, having come over from a nearby table, "I saw your fight, can I have your autograph?"
"..." Lloyd's eye twitched.
"W-what? Is there something on my face?" she asked, frowning.
"N-no...I just...that's kind of..."
"Flattering? Embarrassing?" she suggested.
"Y-yeah...that," he muttered.
"Oh...well...um...okay, I'll just go now..." her face fell.
Lloyd flinched.
"N-no, it's okay..."
"So you'll give me an autograph!?" she brightened.
Lloyd sighed.
"Sure..."
"Yay!"
Lloyd sighed and signed the paper with his new name, burying his face in his hands as the girl squealed and went to show
her 'treasure' off to her friends at the other tablewhile the poor swordsman drew close to a severe breakdown.
"How does Zelos put up with this...?" he groaned.
After a few minutes the waitress came back over.
"Here you go! The special!" she chirped.
"Than-..." Lloyd paled.
"...What? What's wrong?"
"What...is...that...?" he twitched.
"Tomato soup, why?"
Lloyd used all the minor self-control he had not to throw up.
"...Um...you don't like tomatoes...?"
"...Let's just say if it was 'eat a tomato' or 'eat garbage' it'd be a lot cleaner around here..."
"...Oh, well...I'm sorry," she said, "I'll take it back, maybe you'd like some steak instead?"
"Please, and...sorry..." he said.
"That's fine," she smiled, "anything for a local celebrity! Hee hee!"
"...Someone kill me," Lloyd muttered, plopping his head onto the table.
So it was that after the poor brunette actually got something in his stomach and ditched the place before anyone else could
ask for his autograph, he found himself once again attempting to figure out his 'get to the Shadow Temple' problem.
Okay...he needed a rheaird, where could he get one? ...The Renegades were out, he had no way of getting to them anyway.
Maybe he could take back his without his friends seeing somehow? But how would he do that? He looked up at the sky,
seeing the sun was getting lower...it'd be dark again in a few hours. Geez...what a day...and he still had no idea what he
was going to do. ...He could...just go back to his friends, but...but... He just couldn't see them looking like this! How would he
explain!? The would think he was some looney or that he had done something to...himself. He groaned, mussing his hair with
his hands in frustration. The more he thought the more he fidgeted and wrought havoc on his hair-do, though not being
Zelos, he didn't quite care.
"Dammit..." he groaned.
A whine signaled that Noishe had found him, the protozoan whining once more in a concerned fashion as Lloyd sighed in
exasperation and some relief at seeing his furry friend.
"Noishe...what am I supposed to do?" he asked.
Noishe whined and licked Lloyd's face, attempting to reassure him.
"Hahahah!" Lloyd laughed. "Thanks, Noishe, but...going back can't be my only choice, can it...?"
He looked around one more time... Regardless of what he chose to do, leaving the city now wasn't smart. It'd be dark before
he reached anywhere else, and even he had enough sense not to wander through monster-infested fields in the middle of
the night by himself.
Lloyd sighed, "Might as well get to the inn..."
It was the next morning when Lloyd sat upright in his bed at the inn, groaning as he rubbed his head. He just could not
sleep at all that night... The swordsman yawned and then almost had a heart attack when he saw himself before the part of
his brain that served for memory finally woke up and reminded him of what had happened the previous day. With a sigh he
got to his feet and slugged toward the bathroom, still barely awake enough to notice the sunlight filtering through the blinds
of the window. Of course, he was too drowsy to realize he had a serious case of bed-head as he got dressed. Being who he
was, he of course ignored the mirror and though usually he would've made sure he didn't look like more of an idiot than
usual because of bed-hair, he was too tired to actually give a damn that morning. He was tired, his head hurt and he had
gone through a LOT in the past day, in short, he was not in the mood. The swordsman didn't give a damn if he looked like
crap that morning, he just wanted some breakfast and to get moving. Trudging down to the public cafeteria the inn had next
to the lobby, he spotted the fresh pot of coffee and made a beeline. He hadn't had coffee in a while, and damn did he need
some.
"Mmegh..." he grunted, pouring himself a glass.
He grabbed a danish and plopped into a chair, moving some hair that had been obstructing his eyes out of view before
taking a chunk of the danish and slurping down the coffee. After a few loud slurps he managed to wake up to some extent,
though he was still half-asleep. However, this didn't stop him from noticing several familiar voices that had apparently
entered the room.
"We don't have time for this! We need to look for Lloyd!"
"It'll do no good to do so on an empty stomach, you'll exhaust yourself,"
"But Professor-!"
Lloyd was suddenly wide awake. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder to see his friends before instantly redirecting his
gaze to his coffee, his heart pounding. Okay, he thought, just ignore them, don't look at them...
"Look! If it makes you feel better you can ask around while we eat, all right?"
"Right!"
"Okay!"
There were footsteps as he heard them walk into the room, followed by the sounds of moving chairs. Sweat broke out on
Lloyd's forehead, praying to whatever forces that be that they would not notice him...
Of course, that couldn't happen.
"Excuse me sir?" he felt someone tap his shoulder.
Lloyd grimaced, swearing in his head.
"Y...yes...?" he said.
Okay, just don't look at them, keep facing the same way...
"Um...sorry to bother you, but have you seen this guy?"
Of...course...
"..."
Lloyd took a deep breath and slowly turned to face the speaker. Now see, Lloyd had gotten incredibly lucky, though he did
not realize it. Because of his massive bed-head, his usual hair-style which would've given him away instantly was barely
visible. The irony of this however, was that his hair was now hanging down at parts in a way most similar to Kratos aside
from the lack of hair in the face and that instead of spiked auburn hair it was more wavy milk-chocolate brown. Whatever the
circumstance, his messed up mop made him a lot less easy to recognize. Genis was beside him, holding out one of the
wanted posters of 'Criminal Lloyd Irving' that he had most likely torn from a bulletin board. Lloyd half expected Genis to gasp
or burst out yelling when he locked eyes with him, but the young half-elf was looking at him as if he really was some
stranger he had just walked up to...
"...Well? Have you seen him?" Genis asked.
"...N...no," Lloyd shook his head, "sorry, I haven't."
"...Hey...have I...seen you before...?" Genis frowned.
"No," Lloyd said, attempting to keep calm, "I don't think we've met."
"...But...I really think I've seen you somewhere..." Genis bit his lip.
"I'm positive I've never met you," Lloyd lied again.
"...Wait..." Genis' eyes widened, "you're...!"
Yes, yes I did just leave you with a cliffhanger, on chapter TWO! X3
Colette: Oh my...! That's not very nice
Me: I AM EVIL! FEAR ME! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!
Colette: Um...right... Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed and to Alia Skyhawk, who contributed some ideas to
this chapter... Thank you! n.n And she also said something about Kratos' reaction...um...'wait'? O.o
Me: MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!
Colette:...Review...?