Chapter Four:
Into the Desert
Genis glared back at his friend, still feeling slightly raw over the fact that he had been forced to leave Marble to whatever fate was in store for her.
"That's not what I meant! What I wanted to know is how did you get down here without killing yourself?!" Genis hissed out angrily.
Returning the glare with his own—or rather, his father's own—cold one Lloyd waved one of his blades threateningly under the young half-elf's nose.
"I sincerely do not think that this is the time to be discussing that, but rather the time to be getting the Chosen out of here." He hissed dangerously in reply. Genis was being stupid! This was just not the time to act stubborn or childish, sometimes sacrifices were necessary—and this appeared to be one of those times.
Colette felt her blood run cold at the look of rage etched onto Lloyd's face, and despite the fact that she did not want anything bad to happen to Marble she was pretty certain that not only would Marble be well past detection by this point, but Genis was just being childish.
Placing herself between the two opposing forces Colette attempted to pacify Lloyd while reasoning with Genis.
"N-now Genis…Lloyd's right you know, we're only likely to bring about more trouble for Marble if we stick around, the Desians probably don't even know it was her!" She chirped out, attempting to cheer up the young half-elf. Turning next to the angry teen Colette gave him one of her best smiles. "And thank you for caring about me Lloyd! That's so nice!"
Lloyd could not prevent a slight smile from creeping onto his lips at the blonde's words, she certainly was…nice. Pulling back his sword Lloyd used the other blade to indicate a path through the trees.
"Yeah…anyway, we need to get out of here, so let's head through the trees…and don't head straight for Iselia, the last thing they need is Desians attacking."
Realizing how foolish he had been Genis nodded, "you're right…sorry Lloyd, and Colette…thanks."
That being said the three friends made for the forest, Genis leading while Lloyd brought up the rear. It was a silent trio that crept through the trees, eyes alert and footsteps quiet as they did their best not to leave a trail that would point in the direction of Iselia.
Stopping in the middle of the trees some minutes later Lloyd turned to the other two, eyes serious.
"Okay, here's the plan," he informed the other two calmly.
Genis shot his friend a skeptical glance; he did not trust Lloyd's possible decisions. "You had better not be suggesting we do something stupid…like, say, split up," Genis warned, folding his arms over his chest.
Ignoring the jibe Lloyd turned his body so his back was facing the other two. "Look, Colette, you and Genis head back towards town while I leave another trail to hopefully lead them off."
Even before Genis could get in with a protest Colette was arguing with a strained look on her face.
"No Lloyd! It's too dangerous!"
"Yeah Lloyd! You could get hurt…or even killed!" Genis supplied, angry that Lloyd would even think of doing something so dangerous.
Lloyd simply chuckled, "oh? And do you think I can't take care myself?" He challenged, "believe me; I'm perfectly capable of handling this."
That being said the stubborn brunette slipped off into the trees and looped back, meaning to diverge the trail further back.
"Heheh…well, I guess Lloyd wins this time…" Colette mumbled weakly, worry for her friend already beginning to cloud her eyes.
Genis nodded reluctantly in agreement to his friend's statement.
"Yeah…that does seem to be the case. Anyway, we might as well get going—he's just trying to protect Iselia…and you."
Colette gasped softly at this. "R-really? Protect me? B-but he shouldn't! I'm not that important!"
Genis could have laughed out loud. Honestly, Colette could be so naïve it hurt sometimes.
"Come on, let's go," he sighed out, taking her gently by the arm. "It's like Lloyd said—time we weren't here."
That being said the two friends slipped quietly away into the gently swaying shrubbery, leaving scarce a trial to show that they had ever been there.
Lloyd frowned slightly as ran swiftly and silently through the undergrowth that seemed to thicken the further he went. What was with those two? Sure, he may have supposedly been raised a heartless killer, but that was far from the case, and he had nothing against helping others. Yet he still found their level of helpfulness hard to comprehend. Where he had come from life was…different, most of the 'citizens' of Welgaia, after all, were pretty boring. Yuan, his dad and Yggdrasill, they about summed up those who were worth talking to, and Yggdrasill was pretty childishly cruel at times. He really only thought of Yuan as his uncle and knew little of the man's feelings towards others. His dad however, now there was different story. He knew his dad had a reputation for being dangerous and cruel from time-to-time, yet he was also fully aware that Kratos had a loving and caring side to him.—a side few others ever saw.
All summed up it left Lloyd slightly baffled, thanks to his father the teen could be kind and caring, yet under Yggdrasill's instruction he had also learned to be cold. He really did prefer to be kind, yet he had never before seen a level of care like that—family ties aside.
Then again, all things aside, he was about to do what would probably sum up to the Dumbest Thing Lloyd Aurion Has Ever Done, and that was saying quite a bit, and it was a sacrifice for someone else—so why not?
Finally catching sight of the pathway not too far from the crossroad to the Ranch Lloyd smirked, at least his forestry skills were still working. Angling himself off slightly Lloyd kept well into the woods until the path's divergence was in sight. Once he had spotted the alternate route the brunette teen left the shelter of the trees and made for the Human Ranch, it was time to settle things.
Forcystus watched with an amused look on his face as the brunette brat from earlier approached the gate. He was not, however, expecting what happened next. The bratty teen raised one hand and the next thing Forcystus knew he was glaring a fuzzy monitor. Rising from the chair where he had been seated the half-elf sprinted for the outdoors, what the hell was going on?
Upon reaching the outdoors Forcystus felt his eyes go wide as they settled upon the charred remains of the Ranch's gate. Who…what was this kid? Then it hit him, of course…those eyes.
"Lloyd Aurion I presume?"
Smirking Lloyd shot the half-elf an evil look, he could not resist.
"Give me your name and I shall give you mine."
Yup. Definitely the Seraphim's brat.
Deciding to humour the kid Forcystus gave him a pleasant smile. "Forcystus. But pray do tell, what brings one like you so far from Welgaia?"
Lloyd folded his arms across his chest, was this guy mocking him?
"That is none of your concern, but know this: you endangered the life of the Chosen but moments ago—next time you do so I will not let you off so easily, Grand-Cardinal or not."
"Well then, I suppose I should be minding my manners," Forcystus mocked, realizing that the half-angel was a tad too naïve to get the insult.
Brushing off whatever insult may or may not have been implied Lloyd leaned back on his heels, allowing a moment to elapse before speaking again—just because he could.
"Very well, and one other thing. What are you planning on doing? I can't imagine you got to be where you are by simply sitting back and doing nothing. I would be forced to imagine that you have some form of painful retaliation to take of Iselia."
"Who me? Never. We have a none-aggression pact with those people, do we not?" Forcystus mocked yet again, sarcasm getting thicker on his voice.
"Don't lie to me. What are you planning?"
"Oh…just a little visit from a friend of mine."
Lloyd pondered this for a moment before nodding. "Very well, just see that none of the citizens are killed," he agreed, realizing it would be foolish for him to forbid the Grand-Cardinal from taking action—foolish and likely useless; he did not have that type of authority.—yet.
"If you insist…Master Aurion."
Ignoring the jibe Lloyd simply turned and walked away, back towards the village, oh gosh how he wished it was safe to fly. Yet it was not, so he would have to take to the forest again and make it look like he had at least attempted what he had said he was going to do.
Lloyd let out a sigh of relief when the village proper came into view. Finally back. Scooting out of the trees he trotted into the village and made his way to what he had learned was Colette's house. Tapping lightly on the door he was admitted into the Brunel household that also currently held Genis and Raine. Smiling at the others he took a seat as he was indicated to by Colette's father.
"Well now, it's good to see you've returned safely, Lloyd," Raine stated, returning the brunette's smile with a dangerous one of her own—this kid was in trouble.
Chuckling nervously Lloyd swallowed slightly, gosh but could she be creepy at times.
"Anyway, I believe we were just going over who would be acc-" Raine began before she was cut off by a piercing scream filling the air.
Leaping upright Lloyd allowed a menacing scowl to cover his face for a moment before quickly masking it with a startled look. That Forcystus! He had moved faster than Lloyd had anticipated.
Dashing out the door before the rest had even begun to react Lloyd made for the forest entrance to the village.
Genis quickly leapt up and followed Lloyd, along with Raine and Colette the three of them chased after the brunette. What Genis saw caused him to stop dead in his tracks—the village was burning! Dashing forward he spotted Lloyd, swords drawn, glaring at a large group of Desians.
"What do you want here?" Genis cried, dashing up alongside the mayor who was also present.
"We're simply here t'get revenge on the brat who was in contact with one of our host bodies!" Sneered on of the Desians as he thumped his whip off of his leg.
Drawing up alongside her brother Raine shot a horrified look over the setting. "Who would dare?"
"I believe that would be him," stated the blue-haired leader, indicating Genis with his false arm. Anyway, we'll leave you with a warning about crossing Desians…and this parting gift.
That being said Forcystus signalled his soldiers to move out, leaving only a single, large monster in the village.
'Clearly this is his way of making casualties without going against me directly…if he's not even here it's not his fault I guess,' Lloyd snarled to himself, well, Forcystus was in for a surprise! Readying his blades Lloyd glanced over at Raine, Genis and Colette.
"Well, are you guys going to help me destroy this thing or would you rather stand there all day?"
"We're with ya Lloyd!" Genis called out, already readying a Fireball spell.
Whipping out her chakram Colette smiled at him. "Well, we can't let it hurt the villagers."
Shaking her head Raine relented and prepared herself for healing, after all, she could not just stand around and let the kids get hurt for the village.
Shooting his companions a grin Lloyd jumped straight in, swords whirling in a blaze of silver steel. Cutting up in a double-bladed slash Lloyd was suddenly forced to duck as Genis' Fireball blazed in, narrowly missing his head.
Grinning sheepishly Genis apologized quickly before he began readying another spell. "Err…sorry Lloyd."
Whipping her chakram around Colette let them fly in a large double-loop that spun through the air, slicing up a good deal of the creature's chest.
Glancing up at the feeling of warm blood dripping down onto him Lloyd grinned as he saw the wound Colette had caused. Sheathing one blade he jumped up and caught the beast's arm. Swinging himself up he managed to position himself upon the beast's shoulders where he ripped his other blade from its scabbard and sank both swords deep into the bleeding cut, effectively killing it.
Jumping free from the beast's dying remains Lloyd panted slightly—trying to make it seem like it was an effort.
"Whew! That was close."
Before anyone could make any further comments the mayor stormed up, furry written on his features. "Yes, it was! And all because of you!" He shrieked, pointing at Genis accusingly. "Because of you our village was burned to the ground!"
Raine was not about to stand silent while her brother was treated so, storming up to the mayor she glared at him. "Oh? And what evidence do you have?!"
"I believe what that Desian said was enough! What other reason would they have to break the treaty?"
'Plenty,' Lloyd answered to himself as he watched the scene unfold.
"Humph! I can't imagine Genis doing anything so bland!"
"Well maybe that's because you're just like him!"
This brought an eerie silence to the gathering, none willing to challenge the two dangerously opposing forces.
Shaking her head Raine stalked away, "fine then. I'll just take my brother with me when he go regenerate the world, then he can't be any more of a problem to you," she stated flatly.
"Good riddance, why don't you two not come back while you're at it? We don't need any elves here!"
This startled Lloyd slightly, Genis and Raine let on that they were pure elves? Well, it was not like he could blame them…but that was a good thing to note.
Ignoring the insult Raine turned to Genis, Lloyd and Colette. "Get ready you three; we're leaving as soon as you can be ready."
Genis, still stunned from the events that had just unfolded nodded weakly. "Y-yeah sis…"
"If we move fast we should be able to make the desert town of Triet by tomorrow evening, so gather your things," Raine mumbled out weakly, it was hard to believe that had just happened, after her brother and her had finally felt like they had a home it was back to square one. Oh well, some things were unavoidable…especially for half-elves.
Lloyd smiled grimly as the others began to move off to pack. "So, it's into the desert now."
Wow, you should all consider yourselves very fortunate…I never update this often. Guess it's the reviews. smiles And the fact that I'm very happy for I ACED my precal final today!! I love Lloyd, heheh, he has power, and he knows it, but no one cares. Anyway, please keep reviewing! Ideas, constructive criticism and praise are all welcome! XD