Sorry, I meant to finish this sooner, but what with Thanksgiving and relatives showing up unannounced and other circumstances, it just didn't get done.

NOTE ON THE TEXT: In case this isn't clear, anything that's written in italic happened at some point in the past.

…

The room was dark; these rooms always were. Why would they provide anything else for the half-elves perpetually confined here? It was enough for them to get their work done. He didn't like it at all, but they wouldn't let his partner out except on very rare occasions, so he found himself down here almost all the time.

They worked in a small section of the basement; as of late, they practically lived in the tiny room. His notes were spread over all the tables, originally written in black, but now covered in red crosses with quick scrawls correcting his original ideas with new ones, some of the writing in his round lettering and some in a more dignified script. There were also books full of notes from others' previous experiments, and some old tomes on the Summon Spirits.

"Do you think we're ready?" he asked, looking up at his partner, his best friend. "We have all the research, we've done the tests, and it all makes sense! Using Rilena's methods from Flanoir, I think we could do it!"

A frown crossed the other man's face as he looked down at some of the notes, blue light from the silent machines glinting off his glasses. "There's still so much that could go wrong…"

"But in Flanoir they managed it, and it was so similar! With the changes we've made to the formula—"

"Look at what happened to them in Flanoir. They couldn't control what they had created."

"Corrine was a success, though. You can't deny that."

"I suppose…" After shuffling through the notes, the half-elf shook his head. "I don't think we should try it. We need more research."

The human's emerald eyes hardened. "We can do it, I know we can. Think of what this would do for us!"

Still his partner looked unsure. "What it would do foryou, you mean. They'll never let me out of here."

"Have some faith! Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality, remember?" His friend scoffed, so he tried again. "It will work. Trust me."

Viridian eyes met jade ones, and after a moment, his partner nodded. "Fine. We'll try it."

…

The sky was clear ahead; a slight breeze brushed over the land, rustling the dry grass with a soft hiss. Sunlight gently caressed the growing foothills, warming the dry air, which smelled clean, fresh; it held a hint of excitement, adventure. At least, that's how it had seemed when they started out that morning. However, as the day wore on with nothing to break the monotony of travel, a certain brunette teen decided he would have to liven things up on his own.

"Hey guys! Mountain, Colette, grass. Bad ping."

A collective groan reached his ears at the same time as the laughter of his friends. A huge grin spread across his face.

"Okay, Lloyd, the sun, that butterfly, good ping," Colette replied.

Yuan glared back at the children. "Don't you even get started," he hissed.

"What's going on?"

There was only one of their number that hadn't encountered ping before. "Oh sorry, Sophie. It's this game we play, but you have to guess the rules on your own. Well, rule, actually; there's only one."

The Professor immediately began to complain at their antics and Yuan made some very colorful suggestions as to what would happen to anyone who continued this game, but Lloyd laughed and ignored them. "Okay, Yuan, Skah, Sophie, good ping. Me, Genis, Kratos, bad ping."

"So does it have to have people in it to be good?" Sophie asked, head cocked inquisitively to the side.

"No, that doesn't matter at all," Lloyd replied good-naturedly. "I'll give you a few more, okay? Me, flowers, my swords, good ping. You, the mountains, Genis, bad ping, okay? Colette, Skah, Yuan, good ping."

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I still don't follow you."

"Come on, Sophie, guess!" Genis encouraged. "Clouds, me, the trail, bad ping. Okay, Skah, that rock, Noishe, good ping."

"Does a person have to come first?"

"Nope!" Lloyd shook his head, enjoying the annoyance of the adults ahead of him, who were grumbling to each other about "foolish, juvenile games".

"Is it about the number of letters?"

Skah replied this time. "No, I guessed that the first time I played."

"He's the only one that's ever figured it out," Colette giggled.

Sophie eyed the man speculatively. "Well, if he can figure it out, I can," she decided. "Give me some more examples."

"Why in hell are you encouraging them?" Yuan demanded. "This is ridiculous!"

She sneered at him, along with Raine and Kratos, who obviously agreed with him. "You guys are just too old to have any fun. I'm staying back here with them!" she said, falling back between Skah and Lloyd and draping her arms around their shoulders, the large height difference allowed her to be practically carried along between them for a few feet before she slid down and walked between them.

"Good choice," Skah stated blandly, earning glares from the adults ahead.

"Okay," Colette said, "the stump, that cloud that looks like a kitty, Mr. Yuan, good ping."

Sophie looked at the children. "So does it just have to be things in the area? Things you can see?"

Genis shrugged. "Yeah, it's generally stuff you can see, but that's not the one rule."

"Is it the number of syllables?"

"Sylla… what?" Lloyd asked, face scrunched in concentration.

Sophie eyed him, unsure as to whether or not he was serious. "Okay… I'll take that as a no."

Colette smiled at Sophie, saying, "We'll give you a few more, okay? The tree, that big rock, you, good ping. Lloyd, mountain, me, bad ping."

"Let's really confuse her, okay?" Skah said, smirking. "Me, Lloyd, you, good ping. Now me, Lloyd, you, bad ping."

"What? How does that work?" Sophie scowled. "I think that the only rule is that there is no rule, and whatever you say goes."

Lloyd shook his head, laughing. "Nope, if that was it, then the Professor would have gotten it years ago."

"Then it's not even about what you say, is it? You guys probably have some weird secret hand gesture or something that makes it a good ping, or you blink a certain number of times or something."

"You're getting closer," Genis taunted.

Lloyd laughed. "Yeah, but you're still off. It's allabout what you say."

"Is it now…" She trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Aren't you going to try a ping?" Skah asked. "It's easier if you hazard a guess."

"How am I supposed to try when I don't know the rules?"

"Rule, singular," Genis corrected. "And that's why it's called guessing."

She glared down at him for a moment before ignoring the child completely. "No, I'm not guessing. Give me more examples."

"Not now, please," the Professor said from ahead. "We need to stop for lunch, and I would prefer if you would stop your game for now, if you all don't mind."

It was clear that it wasn't a suggestion, and so her students paused their taunts and ran forward to help with lunch, although really that was only to prevent her from trying to make anything. However, only her pupils were so considerate.

"How did you figure it out?" Sophie asked Skah. "It makes no sense."

He shrugged. "Just paid attention."

"Stop talking about that game!" Yuan snapped, glaring at the both of them.

"Yuan, you're just mad you can't figure it out," Sophie replied, but didn't continue her inquiries.

The game wasn't brought up again until after lunch, and even then it was short-lived: the loud protests of Yuan and Raine and occasional silent glares from Kratos were enough to make Colette feel guilty for bothering them and cause Genis to fear punishment from his sister. Once two of the players had left, the game lost its appeal to Lloyd and Skah, so Sophie was left to contemplate the one rule on her own.

…

That evening it started to get really cold. Lloyd was sharing first watch with Skah, but so far the older swordsman hadn't said anything. He shivered and shifted closer to the fire, Noishe adjusting behind him.

Sophie made supper earlier: some weirdly spicy rice dish that Lloyd really enjoyed but had never heard of before. Sophie mentioned it was something that her family had always eaten. Despite the efforts of him, Colette, and Genis, Lloyd didn't think that Sophie really felt welcome in the group; Skah was apathetic, and Kratos and the Professor were just as suspicious of her as they were of Skah. It wasn't exactly hard to miss, especially since Kratos had watched her like a hawk the entire time she was cooking, like he was expecting her to poison the food or something. Then again, Kratos kind of watched everyone like that…

"You had better not be falling asleep, kid," Skah grumbled.

"No, I'm awake. And don't call me 'kid', I'm not that much younger than you." Lloyd stretched a bit before his stomach growled. "I'm hungry. Is there any of that stuff Sophie made left?"

"Nah, your dog ate the rest."

Lloyd glared down at Noishe, who whined, eyes wide. "Well, I'll have to find something else then," he sighed, leaning forward to look for anything edible. He eventually found a bit of bread and some jerky, and after feeding a bit to the begging Noishe, offered some to Skah. "Want any?"

"Sure." He took a few pieces of jerky and ripped a piece off with his teeth, turning to stare at the fire.

"…Are you okay?" Lloyd asked after a moment.

"What?" Skah looked at him, slight surprise on his face.

"You've been pretty quiet lately and stuff…" Lloyd shrugged awkwardly. "I just thought there might be something wrong."

Skah snorted. "That coming from you, who randomly wouldn't talk to anyone the other day?"

Lloyd squirmed in the man's crimson glare. "That was…"

"Something you don't want to talk about, yeah, I know. Let a man keep a few secrets, okay kid?"

"I said stop calling me 'kid'! I'm not that young."

"Yeah, you actually are. What are you, sixteen, seventeen?"

"Seventeen," Lloyd huffed defensively.

"That's what I thought, kid."

Lloyd glared at him. "How old are you, then?"

"Older than you."

"Twenty?"

"Something like that," Skah said, shrugging.

Lloyd frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let a guy keep a few secrets, Lloyd."

…

They traveled fast, and soon had reached the mountains and the Ossa Trail. Lloyd looked up at the huge cliffs around him, wondering what it would be like to try to climb them…

"Don't even think about it, Lloyd," Raine said sternly, catching the all too familiar adventurous look on his face.

He instantly deflated. "But Professor!"

"No, Lloyd."

Frowning, Lloyd racked his brain for other ways to amuse himself. "Okay, the trail, Genis, grass, good p—"

"Child, if you don't shut your mouth, I will cut your tongue out," Yuan hissed.

Shot down once more, Lloyd crossed his arms, glaring at nothing.

"Lloyd, stop acting like a little kid," Genis laughed, elbowing his friend.

Colette came up on his other side. "We'll get to Izoold soon, then we can get a boat. That will be so much fun!"

"Yeah…" Lloyd grinned, imagining sailing across the sea on a huge ship. "It'll be an adventure!"

"What, the current adventures aren't enough for you?" Skah scoffed, hiding a smile. "You would want more excitement."

"Well, it's not like there's too much happening now…"

"Lloyd, there may not even be ships sailing at the moment," the Professor commented from behind them. "We may be staying in Izoold for quite a while."

"Aw, seriously?" Lloyd sighed, disappointed, but quickly cheered himself back up. "Then we'll just have to find some other adventure!"

Kratos watched the teen with slight amusement. "Izoold is not a large town by any standards; I doubt you will be able to entertain yourself for long."

"Why do you people have to be such kill-joys?" Lloyd grumbled. "We'll figure something out."

"Yeah," Colette agreed, nodding emphatically. "We can find something to do. I'm sure the people there will be really nice, maybe they'll know something fun."

Kratos looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but said no more.

"Hey Sophie," Lloyd called to the traveler; she hadn't spoken since entering the trail, and seemed rather tense. "What are you gonna do in Izoold?"

The purple-haired woman didn't reply, didn't respond at all; maybe she hadn't heard him, but that seemed sort of unlikely because she wasn't that far ahead of him. "Sophie? Did you hear me?" he called again.

This time she looked up at the sound of her name; she turned around, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry Lloyd, I was spacing out for a minute… what did you say?"

"I wanted to know what you're doing in Izoold. I mean, it sounds like a pretty small place, right? Why are you headed there? Are you trying to get a boat too?"

"Oh, I'm meeting up with my cousin…"

At that moment, a new voice called out from above them. "Is the Chosen of Mana among you?"

They looked up, astonished to see a young woman, not that much older than Lloyd actually, standing atop an overhang on the mountain. Black hair was tied into a ponytail; she wore a purple robe-like garment over black leggings, a pink ribbon tied around her waist, the ends of which blew out behind her.

"Yeah, that's me," Colette replied, looking at the girl in confusion. "Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter. Prepare to die!"

With that, she leapt down from the overhang, landing effortlessly and immediately charging towards the blonde girl. Lloyd instantly rushed to block her, and he wasn't the only one; Kratos, Skah, and even Sophie started towards the Chosen, but in one of her signature moments of clumsiness, Colette saved herself: she stepped backwards in surprise, tripped, and somehow opened up a hole in the ground, which the assassin stepped directly into.

"Oh no!" Colette cried, crouching by the hole. "Do you think she's okay?"

"Don't worry about it. If she hadn't fallen in, you might have been killed."

"But now she's probably hurt, and it's my fault!" She leaned over the opening in the ground, peering in, and called out, "Are you all right?"

"Colette…" Genis groaned.

Lloyd frowned. "I do feel kind of sorry for her..."

Yuan shrugged. "Don't worry, the fall shouldn't have killed her. But we should get moving, we want to get out of here before she gets out."

"Shouldn't we try to figure out who she was?"

"No," Kratos replied. "She will come after us again on her own. This area is too confined and the footing is poor; it would be wise not to linger."

"I agree with the old man for once," Skah said. "If she's trying to kill the Chosen, she's gonna be back. We'd better get moving."

Through the entire conversation, Sophie had been quiet, staring down at the trapdoor, but now she looked up. "Yeah, let's go."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Colette asked nervously as they started out again.

Sophie nodded. "I think she's fine."

…

The day passed slowly as they walked through the mountains. As usual, they encountered few monsters—fewer than Lloyd had expected, at any rate—and the youngest among their group were swiftly getting restless. Genis fidgeted constantly, Colette was quickly losing interest in the landscape, and it was inevitable that Lloyd would voice the phrase that in two words demonstrated his incredibly short attention span: "I'm bored!"

"How can you be bored again?" Yuan complained. "Amuse yourself!"

"But every time I try, you tell me to shut up!"

"Amuse yourself with something other than that game," the half-elf replied, rubbing his temples.

"But there's nothing to do!" Lloyd huffed, crossing his arms.

Yuan looked over at him, now slightly amused. "I'm sure that your lovely teacher would be willing to start a lesson, so you won't be so horribly deprived of enjoyment."

Lloyd saw the Professor's eyes begin to light and shuddered. "No thanks, I think I'll try to find something else to do…"

Kratos looked at the teen, vaguely disgusted. "It wouldn't hurt for you to learn something, Lloyd."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, but I'd rather—" He cut off, turning to stare in wonder as a huge wooden wall collapsed out towards them, revealing a tunnel into the mountain. In the mouth of the cave stood the girl from earlier, looking slightly rumpled and dirty, but ready to fight. "Whoa," he said dazedly. "She caught up with us."

Colette ran forward, oblivious to the woman's obvious intentions. "Oh, thank goodness! I was worried that you got hurt when you fell."

The assassin took a startled step backwards, looking at Colette in shock. She quickly shook it off, pulling out a few cards with strange markings on them. "D-don't move!" she said.

The blonde stopped, looking at her with wide, innocent eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Y-you shouldn't care! I won't be caught off guard this time. Prepare to die!" She charged, but Lloyd reached Colette before her, pulling the Chosen out of the way as Kratos approached, sword drawn.

The black-haired woman hissed, surveying the group surrounding her. "Damn…" She pulled out another card, this one covered in mystic-looking green swirls. A few quick motions and it disappeared in smoke, replaced by a tall ghost-like creature surrounded in crimson spikes. "That should even things out." She ran at Colette again, only to be blocked by Lloyd's swords. She scowled as she nimbly spun out of the way. "A little help here, Rin?"

"With pleasure," Sophie replied as she drew knives and ran forward into the fray.

…

Silver moonlight bathed the towering stones. Even from this distance, he had to crane his neck to see the tops; he had never seen anything so magnificent before. However, he couldn't just admire them, he had work to do. The Academy had granted them permission to leave—not that it would have stopped them if they hadn't received it—so he and his partner had set out, frantically searching. This was as bad as the Flanoir fiasco, and they could only try to set it right.

They left their small boat at the shore, rushing towards the huge arrangement. According to the local legends, they shouldn't be here, not tonight at least, but they had no time to waste; they had used enough in gathering information. Everything they learned pointed them to this monument of sorts, which could be so much more than it appeared.

As they approached, they realized they weren't alone; a figure stood at the center of the circle; slowly, it began to follow the ring, examining the ancient stone. He heard a distant laugh.

"What are you doing here?" his partner demanded.

The man turned around—or the teen, he may have been rather young, it was impossible to tell in the night—and the moonlight that glinted off the dark hair revealed a wide smile falling off of the face.

"Get out of here, I'm busy."

"Busy with what?" his partner demanded, scowling. "We have business here."

An eyebrow rose, lips curling in amused disdain. "Business, hm? Well, I have business too, business that I would like to finish, if you don't mind."

He was about to reply when a glow caught his eye. Runes glowed green at the bases of the stones, gaining speed as they wove their way higher. Night turned to day in his eyes as a narrow white beam descended from above, lighting the island in white. Earth seemed as water; the ground between the pillars of rock rippled.

"What? No! What's—" The man's shout disappeared as he did, just before the pure light exploded in his own eyes. Then it was only black.