Ah, chapter three already… A bit later than I had wanted to post it, but oh well… Review please?
From here on out, just assume I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I'm already sick of saying it.
…
"Hey, look at these!" Lloyd held his new blades out for his friends to see.
"Wow Lloyd, real swords! You don't have to use wooden ones anymore!" Colette exclaimed happily, enjoying her best friend's enthusiasm.
"I thought you didn't have much gald." Genis had looked up from the thick book the Professor had told him to study, brow furrowed quizzically.
"Kratos lent me some money," Lloyd said carelessly as he fumbled with the swords, replacing the practice blades already attached to his belts.
Colette smiled. She knew that Kratos was nice; he just needed a little time to show it more. She liked it when everyone was getting along. Well, everyone but Skah and the Professor. She frowned, remembering how mad he had gotten when the Professor tried to hit him. Well, it was against Martel's teachings to be mean, and hitting people wasn't exactly nice, but he didn't have to be so mean back to the Professor. Martel said to turn the other cheek, not retaliate.
But now the Professor seemed to have forgotten about it; she was telling Lloyd to be careful with his swords after he had taken them out of the sheaths to show Genis. Lloyd's face turned red as he put his swords away. Colette giggled, because Lloyd's face was almost the color of his shirt. Genis laughed a bit meanly before going back to reading.
Kratos came in right then, so quietly that no one but her noticed. He leaned against the wall watching them all; he was looking the most at Lloyd, but that was probably because him and the Professor were arguing about his new weapons.
"Hi Kratos!" she chirped cheerfully.
"Chosen," he replied, nodding.
Everyone looked over at him, finally noticing that he had come back.
"Oh, Kratos, hold on, I've got some of the money right here." Lloyd dug through his things before coming up with some gald, which he shoved into Kratos' hands. "That covers most of it; I'll pay you the rest soon."
"Mr. Aurion, did you really think it necessary to buy the boy weapons?" the Professor scolded.
"He's safer with them than without, Ms. Sage. He would not be able to defend himself with wooden blades."
"He's a child; he hardly knows how to use them!"
"I know how to fight!" Lloyd protested, not that the adults were paying attention to him.
"If he is going to come on this journey, he will need to be able to fight. Would you rather have him defenseless, like yourself? Without an exsphere, you really are not doing much good."
The Professor spluttered, but recovered quickly. "Lloyd's going to do more damage to himself than to anyone else! He doesn't know what he's doing!"
"Then I shall teach him," Kratos replied coolly, turning to Lloyd and adding, "assuming you have no objections."
"Uh, yeah," Lloyd said, obviously surprised. "Sure."
"Then the matter seems to be settled."
The Professor didn't look happy at all, but she didn't argue anymore. No one looked like they were going to say anything, so Colette figured it was safe to ask something that had been bothering her since they got to the inn. "Where did Mr. Yuan go?"
"Yuan had to leave for a while, Chosen," Kratos told her.
"Are we going to see him again?"
"I expect we will soon enough."
"Okay." Colette smiled; if Kratos and Yuan were friends, then she thought that if he was around, then Kratos might be a little happier.
"Hey Colette, you wanna go hang with Noishe for a while?" Lloyd asked, heading for the door.
"Okay!" She ran over to Lloyd, tripping on the way. Lloyd rolled his eyes, but helped her up and held the door open for her.
…
Outside, Lloyd opened the door to the stable where they were keeping Noishe and scratched the dog's huge ears. "Hey, boy, how are you?" Noishe barked in response.
Colette skipped over to the dog and began petting him. After a few minutes of baby talk to the animal, Noishe laid down on the straw floor of the small structure. Lloyd followed suit, leaning into his pet's furry side. He patted the ground next to him, and Colette quickly plopped down, sighing happily.
"Colette, I wanna talk to you about something," Lloyd began lamely, mentally slapping himself for the abrupt subject change.
"What is it, Lloyd?"
He closed his eyes and leaned back into Noishe, now regretting bringing the topic up, but unwilling to let it drop. "Why did you want to leave me in Iselia? I mean, I know this is dangerous, but that's why you shouldn't have to go alone, and…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Colette hung her head. "Lloyd, I just didn't want you to get hurt. I know I lied, but I thought it would be best if you could go on with your normal life. I'm sorry."
"Colette, since when has my life been normal?" Colette giggled at that, and pleased that he had cheered her up a little, he continued. "Anyway, now I'm here, so we can regenerate the world together. Then maybe we can both go back home, right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure we can…" Her response didn't sound very sure though, and Lloyd was about to ask what was wrong when a mocking voice drifted to them from the stable door.
"Aw, and what do we have here?"
Lloyd looked up over Noishe and Colette to see Skah leaning on the gate, one hand cupped under his chin and orange scarf blowing in the slight breeze, crimson eyes locked on the two teens, smirk twisting his mouth.
"Where have you been?" Lloyd countered as he stood up, brushing sand and straw off himself.
"Around." Suddenly, the man tossed something small towards Lloyd. He caught it, looking at it curiously. "That's an exsphere, right?" the tall blonde asked.
"Yeah, it is… Where did you get this?"
"At that blasted Ranch. The bugger in the dress had two of them on his sword. You've got one, right? So do the kid and the old man."
"Yeah, but you can't use it without a Key Crest."
"Hmm. Too bad." Skah snatched the gem out of Lloyd's hand. "I'll have to find one of those, then." He turned and started for the inn, Lloyd and Colette following him.
"How exactly do you think you're gonna find one?" Lloyd asked as they re-entered the inn.
"Dunno, might just end up taking one from a Desian or something, who cares? I'll figure it out," he replied nonchalantly, absently tossing the stone between his hands. "Why do you even need the crest deal, anyway?"
Lloyd frowned slightly. "I don't really know why, but equipping an exsphere without one is bad for you." His thoughts went back to Iselia, to Marble… He shuddered. "Just don't try it."
Skah looked curiously at Lloyd's reaction, but only shrugged. "Whatever you say, kid." He went back to playing with the small gem.
Out of nowhere, a hand snatched the exsphere out of the air before Skah caught it. "Where did you find this?" Kratos asked.
"At the ranch. Why does it matter to you, old man?"
The "old man's" eyes narrowed at the comment, but before he could reply, the Professor emerged from what Lloyd assumed was her room for the night. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Skah. Lloyd moved back slightly, nervous; he had been on the receiving end of the Professor's bad moods often enough, and wasn't sure he wanted to witness whatever was about to happen next.
Turns out he didn't want to after all, but not for the reasons he expected.
The Professor's silver-blue eyes hardened when she saw the blond man, but her gaze quickly found the gem in Kratos' hand. Suddenly, the look on her face was almost disturbingly happy: eyes wide in excitement, gleaming strangely. It was kind of… scary.
"Is that an exsphere?"
Genis followed her out of the door, eyeing his sister warily as she practically ran to the swordsmen and grabbed the stone, examining it closely.
"Uh, yeah, Professor…" Lloyd saw he wasn't the only one scared now; Genis' face was going pale, and Kratos took a step back. Skah seemed really freaked out, too. Only Colette wasn't affected.
"Skah found two of them when we fought the Desians, Professor," she answered happily.
"Is it true that these stones are amplifiers that awaken our dormant capabilities?" Lloyd only understood about half of that question. "Would it be possible for me to use one?"
He understood that. "No, not without a Key Crest." How many times was he going to have to say that today?
Colette cocked her head to the side. "Can't we just make one?" she asked curiously. It looked like she had been wondering that for a while.
Kratos shook his head. "A Key Crest is made by processing inhibitor ore, then engraving it with a crest to control the exsphere attached to its surface. It is said to be a secret art known only to the dwarves."
"But Lloyd," Genis interjected, "your dad is a dwarf. Can't you make one?"
"I can engrave the charm—er, crest, but I can't process the ore."
"Wait a moment," the Professor said before running back into her room, returning with her arms full of what looked like junk to Lloyd. She spread it all out on one of the tables. "Well, is there any inhibitor ore among these materials?"
Genis groaned. "Raine, you brought all this from our house?"
"Of course, Genis. These are valuable research…" Lloyd felt himself start to drift off as the Professor ranted about the useless stuff.
Skah walked over to the table, ignoring the raving elf, and looked at the assorted items. "These look like what Lloyd's got on his exsphere," he stated, grabbing a couple bits of metal from the collection.
"Huh?" Lloyd shook himself out of his daze and joined Skah. "Those are Key Crests!"
"I found them in front of the human ranch," the Professor explained. "They were engraved with the Angelic language, so I took them."
"But Professor, the charms are almost completely worn off. You can't use them like that."
"Can you repair them, Lloyd?"
He considered the crests for a few moments, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll be able to fix them. I'll work on it tonight."
"Thank you, Lloyd! I'm sorry to make you go through the trouble, but I appreciate it." The Professor's eyes were still glittering strangely.
Lloyd nodded, told her it was fine, he didn't mind. He looked over the Key Crests in his hands, gauging the amount of work he had to do before they were usable… He sighed. This was going to take all night.
…
The mercenary had slipped outside, bored of the discussion inside the adobe building. No one had noticed him leave, which was fortunate: he was expecting a visit, and it wouldn't do to be overheard.
He hadn't gone far from the inn when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Kratos, you bastard!"
Without turning around, he calmly replied, "What is it, Yuan?"
"I was just told by Mithos that I'm needed to guard the Chosen! You set this up."
Kratos shrugged. "And if I did?"
"What about our agreement?"
He turned to face the livid half-elf. "I have not broken our agreement, Yuan. I told Mithos nothing of your involvement with the Renegades. He made this decision himself."
"After you told him you needed help." Yuan gritted his teeth, fighting to control his anger. "My Renegades won't stop just because I'm here."
"I expected no less."
Yuan glared at him; Kratos stared calmly back. "Our compromise still stands."
"Yes, I suppose it does," Yuan snapped. "I have to admit, you're more resourceful than I gave you credit for."
Kratos turned his back on the man, a clear signal that the discussion was over. "Goodbye, Yuan."
"Go to hell."
…
"Hey, looks like Blue's back."
Colette looked up at the sound of Skah's voice, then turned to see Yuan walking in. Her face lit up and she waved to the man, not saying anything because her mouth was full of food: Genis had made lunch.
She swallowed. "Hi, Mr. Yuan! Do you want anything to eat?" An array of fruits was spread out on the table in front of her, along with a few rolls and some dried meat. Lloyd had already finished eating and left to work on the Key Crests and Kratos had disappeared, so it was only her, Skah, Genis, and the Professor around the table.
"Back so soon?" the Professor asked; she didn't look happy to see Yuan at all. "Kratos said you had some other business to take care of."
"Well, I took care of it. So, what are the plans for the rest of the day?" he asked as he sat down next to Colette and helped himself to some fruit.
"I didn't think you were planning on staying with us," the Professor stated coldly. Colette cocked her head to the side, looking at her teacher curiously. She said it like she didn't want him around.
"Why would you think that?" Yuan looked taken aback. "Did you think I was just going to leave? I couldn't abandon the Chosen's group, especially not when Kratos is already with you. You need someone to keep track of the man."
Colette giggled at that, as did Genis. Raine, however, narrowed her eyes. "I suppose you're intent on that." When Yuan simply smirked, she sighed. "Well, I'm afraid we didn't plan on your joining us when we booked rooms for the night. I believe Skah has another bed in his room; the two of you can share, if you don't mind."
Skah opened his mouth—probably to say he did mind, a lot—but Yuan cut him off. "That'll be fine, for now. But maybe next time, we can have a more, ah, desirablearrangement." His smirk widened, and he raised one blue eyebrow. Skah seemed to think something was funny, the Professor scowled, and Genis looked grossed out. Colette frowned, not understanding at all. Pushing it from her mind, she happily went back to eating her lunch.
…
Lloyd yawned, stretched his arms behind him, and rubbed his eyes. Looking back at the Key Crest in his hand, he examined the charm carved into the metal. Satisfied with his work, he stood.
It was about midnight. While the job hadn't been quite as time-consuming as he had thought, it had still taken him all day to repair both Crests, and he was exhausted. He looked longingly at his bed, deciding whether or not to wait until morning to give the Crests to Skah and the Professor.
As comfortable as the bed looked, he had been hunched over his work all day and needed to stretch out; he decided to check if the Professor was still awake. He would have gone to see Skah, except somehow he had ended up in a room with that Yuan guy, and frankly, Lloyd didn't like him, didn't trust him, and definitely didn't want to accidentally piss the guy off by waking him up.
Why Skah wasn't with Lloyd didn't make much sense to him, but the Professor was wary of the blonde, and as much as she didn't like Kratos, she seemed more comfortable with leaving Lloyd with the mercenary. Lloyd didn't really like it—Kratos never said anything, it was kinda creepy—but there wasn't much he could do about it.
Lloyd slipped out of the room, not bothering to tell his "roommate" where he was going. He looked out from over the side of the balcony-like hallway at the lobby and was surprised to see a bit of orange and blond. "Hey," he called out softly as he came down the stairs.
"You still up?" Skah had been leaned back in a chair, staring at nothing, but leaned forward as the younger swordsman approached. "I thought you'd have gone to sleep by now."
"Nah, I was working on this." Lloyd tossed the finished Key Crest to him; Skah caught it effortlessly. "Besides, it's pretty weird with Kratos there. I mean, he's pretty cool, but…"
"I know what you mean. Blue's weirding me out, too."
Lloyd sat down across the table from Skah. "He never freaking saysanything! He just sits there."
"Lucky you. Blue doesn't shut up. Keeps asking all sorts of random things. It's driving me crazy." Skah glanced around the empty room, then leaned a bit closer. "Besides, he seems pretty strange to me, like how he was 'infiltrating' that Ranch. Sure didn't seem like it when we ran into him."
"Yeah, I know. But Kratos knows him and seems to buy it…"
"I don't."
Lloyd sighed. "I don't know what I think."
"I think that the two of you should be asleep."
Lloyd jumped, practically knocking his chair—and himself—over as he turned to see the Professor standing in her doorway, glaring at the both of them.
"Oh, Professor!" Lloyd exclaimed, sincerely hoping that she hadn't been listening to their whole conversation. They hadn't really said anything bad, but still… "I finished your Key Crest for you," he added, hoping to distract her so he could get away.
"Lloyd, you didn't need to stay up 'til all hours to finish that," she reprimanded, but her voice had softened a bit.
"It's fine, Professor," he replied, standing to go hand her the remaining Crest. "Why are you up, anyway?"
"Oh, I was reading about the ruins to the west, considering that they seem the likely location of the Seal of Fire." She was getting that scary look in her eyes again.
"Okay, Professor…" Lloyd backed away slightly. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now." With a quick "Good night" to both she and Skah, he practically ran back to his room, anxious to escape from his teacher, who had been starting to examine the Key Crest with obvious enthusiasm.
Back in his room and well aware that tomorrow they'd have to trek through the desert again before facing whatever awaited at the Triet Ruins, Lloyd collapsed on his bed, blowing out the candle on the nightstand. He rolled over, and almost before he had time to realize he was still fully clothed, was asleep.