It's still raining! n.n
Colette: It's been for a while now...
Me: Off and on, anyway! Oh I love it when it rains!
Colette:...Freakyanimegal owns nothing.
Me: I'm siiiiiing-ing in the rain! Just siiiiiiinging in the raaiiiinnn!!
Colette:...Enjoy...? n.n'
Brewing Trouble
"RESSURRECTION!"
The group watched in awe as the Linkite Tree sprang to life, a beautiful, spring green plant with large seeds... Linkite nuts,
that is. Raine smiled, pleased with herself as the group cheered.
"Yes! Now we can meet Aska!"
"Yeah, we just have to make a flute or something-!" Genis stopped. "Um..."
"What is it, Genis?" Presea asked.
"...Lloyd's not here...who's going to make it?" he asked.
An eerie silence fell on them.
"...I..." Lloyd trailed.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"...Crafting used to be a hobby of mine..." Lloyd trailed, "Presea crafts too, right? Perhaps both of us together could make
something that'll work... I mean, if you wanted me to try..."
"I think that's a good idea," Raine said.
"Ooooh, always backing him, aren't you?" Zelos smirked.
"Sheena, smack him for me would you?"
"With pleasure."
SMACK!
"Oooowwwwwww!"
Lloyd ignored them and picked a few nuts from the tree.
"Here, let's see what we can do with these," he said.
"All right," Presea nodded.
The two of them walked off a bit and began to work. Genis watched one with narrowed eyes. Lartan sure seemed
comfortable with Presea...and his sister! What did that jerk think he was doing, moving in on his girl and his sister?!
PRESEA WAS HIS, DAMMIT! And seriously! Colette was dazing off on him too! How dare this guy come out of nowhere, snag
his territory and Lloyd's crush?! The half-elf sat on the ground and pouted, glaring at 'Lartan'...
"...You pissed too?"
Genis looked up to see Zelos, who also was glaring.
"...Why are YOU mad?"
"Well duh! He's taking all the chicks!" Zelos growled. "I mean, it's not just the little angel and the siren, but my voluptuous
hunny hasn't stopped checking him out since we met!"
The Chosen sat on the ground beside Genis, sulking to the fullest extent.
"Even the rosebud! Look! Look at her!" Zelos pointed.
Lloyd was currently beginning to sculpt an instrument of some kind, showing Presea, who didn't specialize in that type of
thing, how best to fashion it, how to hollow it out...and the pink-haired girl seemed in fact to be rather impressed... After
all, she was really Lartan's age...
"She's all 'oooh! Hot older guy!' Dammit, I'm hot!" Zelos scoffed.
"I know!" Genis fumed. "Who does he think he is?!"
"Taking all my hunnies..."
"Hitting on my sister..."
"Now..." Regal said, coming up to them, "I don't believe he's as bad as you say."
"What-?! How long have you been listening?!"
"Long enough," he said, "the women merely find him attractive, that does not necessarily mean they are in love or
infatuated with him. That, and he has not deliberately made advances on them."
"...I still don't like him," Genis muttered.
"Yeah yeah, old timer, once Sheena stops looking at him I'll like him!"
Both of the younger males began to pout again, glaring at 'Lartan' as Regal sighed.
"Besides...have any of you noted he's rather...familiar?"
"Huh?" both of them looked at him.
"It may just be my imagination, however...is he not highly reminiscent of Lloyd?"
"WHAT?!"
"You're comparing Lloyd to that guy!?"
"No way! My bud would never take my hunnies from me!"
"Nevermind, nevermind..." Regal sighed, "...I'll go make lunch..."
Meanwhile, as this was going on Raine was reading off to the side...not taking her eyes off Lloyd, incidentally. She was still
trying to unravel the mystery surrounding her pupil as in how to change him back, and his relation to Kratos... Try as she
might, something was still off. The most she could infer was Kratos was his father...but that was impossible, Kratos was too
young. However, nothing else seemed to make sense...perhaps they really were brothers? But then...he was a little old...
Cousins? Was Kratos an uncle? Hm...
"Hey..."
Raine looked up to see Sheena glaring down at her.
"...Yes, what is it?"
"...He's cute, isn't he?" she said, blushing somewhat.
"What? Who's cute?" Raine frowned.
"Don't be stupid, HIM..." Sheena said, gesturing toward 'Lartan'.
Raine went bug-eyed.
"...I..." she trailed, shocked, "I wouldn't say so-"
"Oh bull, I saw you staring at him," she huffed, flushing more.
"Wha-? N-no, I wasn't looking at him because of THAT..."
"Sure..." Sheena glared, "...what happened between you two?"
She almost fell over.
"Ha-? Nothing 'happened'-!"
"Oh come on, you're always coming to his defense and 'watching him'..." the summoner said, "so do you like him or what?"
"I don't-" Raine stammered, between embarrassed and disgusted.
"Come on! Tell me, do you guys have anything going on?!" Sheena asked.
"N-no! Of course not!" Raine was bright red.
"...Okay then...so that means it's okay if...someone else were to flirt with him?"
"..." Raine choked on her saliva.
"Hah! So you DO like him!" she pointed.
"Wh-what? No, it's not that at all-!"
But what was she supposed to say? No, I don't like him, he's Lloyd, I'm just concerned for him. Yeah...not going to
happen... She looked back at Lloyd and flushed when something inside her went 'click'...he really was...very attractive. If
Sheena wasn't watching, she would've smacked herself. How could she think that about LLOYD of all people?! He was a
child-! ...Well...it's not like she was exactly old herself...that and... Lloyd TECHNICALLY wasn't a child anymore...and there
was the possibility he might never be again... So...her face flushed, if he was an adult now, and stuck that way..was
it...wrong, to think of him that way? That and...though Lloyd was an idiot, he was a very strong, good-hearted, idealistic
and kind man- BOY! He was a BOY! But...but... Sheena smirked.
"I was right, you do like him," she said.
"N-!"
"Fine, deny it all you want," she shrugged, "I'm just going to let you know...if you don't claim him, he's free game."
"..." Raine's eye twitched.
"U-um..."
Both women found Colette walking toward them, flushing.
"I...I'm sorry, I heard you talking...I'm really sorry," she said, "b-but...do you two both...really like him?"
"Why-?" Sheena stared. "Oh Jizou...! Colette! You too?!"
"N-no! Of course not!" she shook her head violently.
"Oh good, because he's a bit too old for you..."
Colette flushed, "W-well...you're not that much older than me..."
"...What?" Sheena said flatly.
"I-! I'm sorry, I'm just saying-! I'm sorry!"
"...He's too old for both of you," Raine stated, point out a fact, "you should give up on him."
Of course, she said that only so they'd get their eyes off 'Lartan' for Lloyd's sake...that...was, why she said it, right?
However, the two other girls took this the other direction.
"P-professor! So you DO like him-?!" Colette gasped.
"I knew it!" Sheena said.
"N-no-! I just-!"
"Well too bad!" Sheena said. "I'm sure he'd much prefer MY type over yours."
Okay, now it was getting personal.
"What type is that?" Raine hissed. "The big-breasted, no brains type?"
Raine smacked herself.
"E-excuse me?!" Sheena snapped.
"W-well..." Colette trailed, "Um...Sheena...that is kinda what...they look at..."
"Well I'd rather be that than flat!" Sheena snapped.
Silence fell like a hammer.
"W-what do-? I-!" Colette flushed.
"...Oh...oh Colette I'm sorry-!" Sheena started.
"Y-you know what?!" Colette turned bright red. "I- I don't need to be like you! I could get him to like me without... THOSE!"
Sheena glared, "HAH! You don't have a chance!"
"W-we'll see about that!" Colette cried, red with both embarrassment and frustration.
With that she stormed off, tripped...then got up and stormed off some more.
"Oh it's on..." Sheena muttered.
"R-really, you two shouldn't-" Raine stammered.
"Can it, Raine! We know you just want him for yourself!"
"I-!" Raine snapped.
Sheena stormed off.
"...Oh sweet motherland Derris-Kharlan..." Raine groaned, "what have I gotten myself into...?"
"Lunch is ready!" Regal called.
The group gathered around to sit about the dish Regal had prepared. Lloyd collected his dish and hesitated a moment,
considering going back to eat by himself when Colette stopped him.
"H-hey...y-you can sit with m- us," she said.
"What? I..." Lloyd trailed.
"Please...I don't like seeing you by yourself..." she blushed.
Oh what was she doing?! She liked Lloyd! And he was way too old for her...but...she really didn't like seeing him
lonely...and Sheena...oooooh! It made her so mad! She was nice! She was an angel! She was the CHOSEN darn it all! She
could get anyone even without being like Sheena!
"Please?" she asked again, giving him the full blast of her big, starry blue eyes.
"U-um...all right..." Lloyd fidgeted, boy Colette was acting weird.
Slowly Lloyd sat down, Colette smiling and sitting beside him.
"Good," she smiled, "I hope you like Regal's cooking, he's a great chef! Hee!"
"Um..."
Sheena spotted this and her eye twitched.
"Hey, mind if I sit here?" she asked, pointing to Lloyd's opposite side.
Colette turned bright red and Lloyd blinked.
"Uh...Sure, if you want to...I guess..."
"Great!" Sheena sat down next to him.
Colette and Sheena locked eyes from beside Lloyd, glaring at each other.
"Uhm...are you two okay...?" Lloyd trailed.
"Fine!" Colette smiled. "So um...Mr. Lartan? How are you so good at crafting stuff?"
"Uh...well...I used to make stuff for fun when I was a kid..." Lloyd said.
"Oh?" Sheena smiled. "I like a man that's good with his hands."
Lloyd flushed bright red as Sheena batted her eyelashes at him, smirking.
"Uh...I...what?" Lloyd stammered.
"I- I bet you're really good at other stuff too!" Colette said, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, I'll bet," Sheena purred, waggling an eyebrow.
Lloyd was getting very uncomfortable at this point.
"I...uh..."
"M-mister Lartan!" Colette tugged his sleeve, making him look at her once more. "I...um...do you want me to get you some
butter for your biscuit or something?"
She of course, was gesturing to the piece of bread on Lloyd's plate.
"Uh-"
"I can 'butter your biscuit' if you want..." Sheena grinned.
"W-what?"
"Oh nothing, it's just, if there's anything I could ever do for you..." Sheena sat up straighter, further pronouncing her bosom
as Lloyd shot an even darker shade of red.
"N-no, that's okay, I- I- think I'll just-" he started to get up.
"W-wait! Please don't go!" Colette cried.
"But I-"
"Please?" Colette gave him the most adorable puppy-eyes she could muster.
Lloyd paled, his throat tightening. She was just so cute when she did that...
"N-no, l-look, I think I- I- should just go sit by myself-"
"Don't sit by yourself! I'll go with you!" Sheena said.
"No! I said I'd go with him!" Colette cried, flushing.
"He wouldn't want a little girl around!"
"I-! I'm not a little girl-!"
"Psh! Yeah right-! Hey...where'd he go?"
Lloyd had retreated to the far side of the 'campsite' shaking a bit as he situated himself with the other males.
"Dammit," Sheena muttered.
"Darn..." Colette moaned.
'Lartan' was currently having an episode, shaking violently.
"Uh...hey, you okay?" Genis asked slowly.
"...Dude?" Zelos poked him.
"I...I...they're..." Lloyd stammered, dark red in the face.
"...You don't get much taste for the opposite sex, do ya?" Zelos smirked.
"Sh-shut up..."
"That's funny, seeing as you get all the girls crawling after ya..."
Lloyd said nothing and bit into his food, trying to ignore the philanderer.
"...So...you really DIDN'T hit on my sister?" Genis asked.
Lloyd began to choke.
"H-hey! Are you all right-?!"
"I- I'm fine!" he stammered, swallowing the chunk of food he was choking on. "I just...and no, I didn't!"
"Oh...okay then," Genis smiled.
"...What?"
"Well, I kinda didn't like you because I thought..."
"Oh geez! No!" Lloyd cried.
"...What?" Zelos frowned, suspicious.
"I- I- she's...just not my type," he coughed.
"Oh really? Then what is your type?" the pervert smirked.
"Uh...I..." Lloyd flushed, "...someone kind...sweet...I um...like blondes..."
"Aaaaahhhh...I see, you like the 'innocent little girl' type," Zelos waggled his eyebrows.
"I..."
"Oh good!" Genis let out a sigh of relief. "Raine's nothing like that at all!"
SMACK!
"O-ow-! SIS?!"
Raine had been walking behind them, glaring down at her sibling.
"Oh! Hello my glamorous beauty!" Zelos grinned. "What's the matter? Mad you're not Lartan's type? Hehehe- OW!"
Now both Zelos and Genis were clutching their heads.
"...Thank you," Lloyd said.
"Don't mention it," she stated, "by the way..."
"Yeah?"
Raine hesitated a moment, her thoughts scattering when she saw his face. He had such intense eyes...such an attractive
face...her eyes slid over his shoulders and torso. That and...damn, what a man...
"..P...Professor...?" Lloyd stammered.
"What?" she jolted, shaking her head. "I...I'm sorry, I forgot what I was going to- I'll be over there."
The half-elf blushed vibrantly and ran off, ashamed of herself.
"...Huh?" Lloyd blinked.
"Well, it doesn't matter if you were hitting on HER..." Zelos grinned, "she's after YOU."
Lloyd jumped about a foot.
"W-WHAT?!" he shouted.
Silence fell, the group staring at the red-clad warrior.
"I...uh..."
Lloyd hesitated a minute and then went back to shoveling his face, attempting to go on like nothing had happened.
"...Weirdo," Genis said, "...Wait...Raine...doesn't..."
Then Genis threw up.
A little while after lunch Lloyd and Presea had finished the ocarina.
"Right, here, Genis,"
Lloyd turned and handed the instrument to Genis, who looked at it in awe.
"Wow...you did a great job..." he said.
"Heh, nah, not really..." Lloyd grinned.
Genis looked at him, then went to look back at the instrument before jolting his head back up to stare at the tall man.
Wait...that face...that face looked just...with that grin...he looked like...
"...Hey," he frowned, "are you all right-?"
"Y-yeah!" Genis shook his head. "Okay! I'm gonna play it now!"
"Okay!" Sheena summoned Sylph.
The short half-elf played the ocarina as Sylph blew the notes on the wind. They only had to wait a minute before Aska
appeared before them in all his shiny glory, the group awed by the mystical being.
Who called me?
"I did! I am Sheena, I wish to form a pact with you!"
Has Luna agreed?
"We don't have a pact with her yet, but we will!"
Very well, I will go and wait with Luna.
Then it flew off.
"Okay then...let's head for the tower of mana," Genis said.
"Right!" Colette chirped.
"You've never seen a pactmaking, have you, Lartan?" Sheena asked.
"Uh..." Lloyd trailed.
"Just watch, I'm sure you'll think it's cool," she grinned.
"Stop flirting with her..." Zelos muttered under his breath.
"Stop flirting with him..." Colette barely whispered.
"Well...shouldn't we be moving on?" Lloyd asked, turning from them.
Sheena snapped her fingers in frustration while the two Chosen mentally did the happy chicken dance. Soon the group was
off again and into the tower. Luckily of course, this time all the entrances and bridges were already accessible so it wasn't
as furiously annoying to get to the top as it was the last time. They had made good progress until they got to the final
warp pad...
"Stop!"
Kratos had blocked their path.
"You-!" Genis started.
"Lartan, hear me out!" Kratos ignored the half-elf.
"H-hey-!"
No one noticed it, with perhaps the exception of Raine, but for a split second Kratos did almost call Lloyd by his real name.
Though, however...she wasn't the only one who noticed. Genis blinked and then looked up at the tall red-clad man and the
tingling feeling of suspicion edged at him again...
"If you make this pact, the defense around the great seed will be completely lost!"
"And that's exactly what we desire!"
Kratos dodged as a mass of electric mana blew past him, the caster appearing on the platform with them. Yuan had arrived
on the scene but his eyes widened when he looked at 'Lartan'...
"You're...?!" he stammered.
"Yuan! What you're hoping for will not happen! If they make the pact-!" Kratos said.
"Do you think we'll pass up this opportunity?!" Yuan snarled. "The rest of you! Make the pact! I'll keep him busy!"
"But-"
"GO!"
The group raced off and quickly warped away, though when Lloyd was inches from it he found himself dodging a rather well
aimed 'grave' spell. The rocks came up and entombed the warp spot, as its name dictated. Lloyd went wide-eyed and
turned to look at the caster.
"Lloyd!" Kratos said. "You've got to listen to me!"
"So it is him..." Yuan's eyes narrowed, "I figured as much...Lloyd! The both of us can take him for good!"
"I..."
"If the seed's protection falls it'll be a catastrophe!" Kratos snapped. "Yuan, you have more sense than this!"
"SILENCE!"
Yuan hurled a large mass of electricity at the rocks surrounding the warp pad, eliminating the barricade of sorts.
"Go!" he shouted at Lloyd.
Lloyd looked at Yuan, then at Kratos who looked- though he never though he'd see it- panicked. What could be so bad that
KRATOS would be so flustered that he was acting like this...?
"GO YOU FOOL!"
Lloyd turned and dashed to the portal. A second later he ran up the stairs to find the rest of the group already struggling.
Aska, in fact, was about to snap off Genis' head... Lloyd then hacked through its neck. The half-elf yelped and turned as the
bird-spirit screeched, one neck now ending in a stump before the mana could reform itself. That time was more than
enough of an advantage.
"HUNTING BEAST!"
This time Aska stayed down.
"Th-that..." Genis whispered, his eyes going wide.
He had seen Lloyd do that technique before, and though he knew dual swordsmen had to have several similar moves, this
one was too perfect. Not perfect, really, more along the lines of a perfect imitation...
"Genis-!"
The half-elf turned just in time to see a blast of light mana hurtling toward him, Luna having just cast it.
"MOVE you idiot!"
Lloyd grabbed his arm and yanked him from harm's way just as Sheena and Zelos performed 'Mirage Thrust' and ended the
fight, both Luna and Aska returning to their position on the altar.
"Th-thanks..." Genis stammered.
"Whew..." Lloyd sighed in relief, then glared, "you idiot! You don't space off during a fight!"
"S-sorry, but..." the boy trailed.
"Okay okay..." the swordsman sighed, "...it's okay."
It was then that Sheena received the pact...
"You did it!" Yuan shouted, having just come on the scene.
"No!" Kratos shouted.
Then something went very, very truly wrong.
"W-woah-!!"
The world began to shake, the tower creaking and then all but jerking to the side, causing the people atop it to yelp and
attempt to grab something so as not to slide off the summit while giant roots crept around the structure.
"W-what happened?!"
"We need to get off this thing-!"
Colette took to the air and grabbed a hold of the one closest, being Presea. Yuan snatched up Raine and Regal and Kratos
took Sheena and Zelos, Colette went to move to attempt to get Genis and Lloyd but just then the tower jerked even more
violently all but throwing the young mage and the swordsman off the side. Raine let out a cry for her brother and Kratos'
eyes widened with horror but then they managed to see a rather odd sight, seeing as the collapsing tower now was
positioned so it allowed them to see straight down... Where Genis had been saved by a very stunned looking Lloyd...he of
course, being stunned by the fact he had somehow just sprouted rather large, vibrant green and blue wings. Raine, Kratos
and Yuan went wide-eyed but first thing was first, they got the hell away from there and landed. The majority of the group
turned to look toward the giant, monstrous tree that had appeared, silenced in a horror-stricken awe. Lloyd, however, had
yet to notice it seeing as he was still a little tiny bit shocked that he had sprouted wings...
"WHERE THE HELL DID THESE COME FROM!?"
...All right, not just a tiny bit.
"Huh-?" everyone looked at him.
"What? The wings? Well you're a Cruxis guy aren't you? We kinda have bigger prob-" Zelos started.
"WHAT? I didn't have-!"
Raine slammed a hand over his mouth.
"Mmph-!"
"Calm down!" she hissed. "We do in fact have bigger problems!"
It was then Lloyd noted the giant tree that was twisting and writhing in the landscape. His eyes widened and he almost
completely forgot about the appendages protruding from his back.
"W..what is that?" he whispered, seeing as Raine had released him.
"...Is that the...Giant Kharlan Tree?!" Genis gasped.
"What?! That THING?!" Sheena cried.
"I was afraid this would happen..." Kratos said in disdain.
"What? What are you talking about?" Yuan snapped.
As the Seraph explained the situation of the tree, Lloyd actually for once in his life managed to pay attention and actually
THINK about it. After the problem was explained, however...
"We don't need to know WHY it's happening!" he snapped. "Just tell us how to stop it!"
The group stared at him.
"...What?" he snapped, angered that they were wasting time looking at him.
"...That's...oddly familiar..." Zelos said.
"...Wait..." Genis whispered.
Kratos quickly stepped in to explain some more of the situation, effectively saving Lloyd's cover for the time being. Though
after a minute Lloyd spoke up again, this time, though...
"If that's the case, couldn't we just set the opposing Summon Spirits against it?"
"Huh?" Colette blinked.
"Well...the positives and negates of a magnet neutralize each other, right? So it could be the same case here-"
"Uh...they don't do that," Zelos said.
"...T-that's not important!" Lloyd stammered before turning to the Seraphim. "Could it work or not?!"
"But even if that would work, how would we do it? We can't get near it!" Sheena said.
"The Mana Cannon," Yuan said.
"The Mana Cannon?" Genis asked.
"We were manipulating Rodyle into building that, we can charge it with the mana of Tethe'alla's spirits and fire it at the
Tree," Yuan stated, "that should be able to re-contain it."
"All right then, here's the plan," Kratos started, "Yuan, I'm going to pretend I don't know who you've been working with or
what you've been doing, in return you'll tell the Renegades to stop-"
"Sir!" a Renegade ran up to Yuan. "Forcystus has executed our infiltration team!"
The half-elf swore.
"That's a problem...if the mana reactor in the ranch isn't shut down the Tree will keep feeding off it..." he muttered, "...I
could send a team back to the Ranch and one to go with you all and the summoner to the cannon-"
"I'll head for the ranch," Kratos stated, "I'll give a signal once the reactor is deactivated. There are too many things we
need the Renegades to do, Yuan, you don't have enough troops to do everything..."
"I'll go," Lloyd said.
"L-" Raine started.
"Sheena, you can head for the Mana Cannon," Lloyd said, "the rest of us can go to the Iselia ranch and stop the reactor.
You wouldn't be able to trust the signal if it just came from Kratos, right?"
"Well...yeah..." Sheena frowned.
"Fine then, we have no time to waste, let us hurry," Kratos stated.
The group nervously looked at each other before Sheena parted with some of the Renegades, the remaining group
members staring at Lloyd some more, then at Kratos, then back...
"...What were we just standing around here for?! We need to go!" Lloyd said.
They nodded, right, they had a job to do...
"..." Genis bit his lip.
This Lartan guy...was he really who he said he was...? Something was very, very off here...he was so much like...could it be
that...? No, that was impossible, but it was starting to be very...
"Um...Dude? You going to put away the wings or what?" Zelos asked.
Lloyd flinched, he chanced a quick glance at his back before taking a deep breath... Okay, how did Colette do it...? Did you
just think about it and they left...? He flinched as he felt them retract. Oh...okay, so you did just have to think about
it...but...how did he even...?
"We're wasting time, let's go," Kratos said.
Lloyd nodded, and he didn't know that both his teacher and Kratos were both just as stunned and concerned as he was...
Especially since they both seemed to notice they weren't the only ones giving Lloyd suspicious looks...
I just would like to say that yes, the girls were probably a bit ooc at the beginning but I really don't care. n.n It was so
damn much fun to write that part, I hope you can forgive me...
Colette: At least I wasn't as ooc as Sheena...
Me: True. Review please? n.n'