Happy belated Thanksgiving!
As it was with last chapter, school has been totally overworking me and I've had issues starting this stupid chapter. Luckily, I actually knew what I wanted to pull off here, so life doesn't suck too badly. The family is out of state for Thanksgiving; it's cold. Stupid Midwest.
Anyway, a fluffy chapter. Focusing mainly on poor, harassed Lloydie getting back in his friend's good books. I figure it's good for him to get a day off. Not sure how many chapters I plan to spend on Palmacosta, but it'll probably end up being more than I'd like. -_-' Thanks for sticking by this story even when I'm so bad at updating, hopefully the fluff sorta makes it up to you, my beloved readers!
….
The Palmacosta government. Lloyd felt a queer cross of admiration, frustration, and guilt at only the sight of the building; certainly it was impressive that any sort of offensive government could have been put in place during the rule of the Desians, but the corruption and stupidity was astounding. After seeing the Tethe'allan government, one would have thought that Dorr's level of corruption was almost pathetic, at least compared to the Pope, but to Lloyd is was horrible to watch Dorr interact with the townspeople, pat children on the head, talk to widows, all the while leading them blindly to their deaths. Finally, Lloyd's heart was heavy with guilt at what would happen to the largest city in Sylvarant: due to his own stupidity, thousands of people would die and the city would be destroyed by a twisted version of the Giant Kharlan Tree.
And, of course, the timeline wouldn't allow him to change a thing.
Lloyd "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed at the building with his friends and put up with Raine's lectures, throwing attention off of himself, but had any of his friends looked at the right time, they would have seen a haunted echo in his eyes. But for once, fate favored him and Lloyd's thoughts went unnoticed.
"It's said that the Dorr family, they're the line of Governor-Generals, have the Book of Spiritua. A book that tells about Spiritua's World Regeneration Journey…it would be amazing to read it. A book written by a real angel!" Colette exclaimed.
"Wait…if it tells all about the Journey," Genis cut in, "I bet it tells where all the Seals are! If we knew that, then we'd be able to find them easier and save the world faster!"
Faster than even Lloyd could catch, a shadow flashed over Colette's normally bright features, but it was gone in an instant. Her smile was in place and she nodded and exclaimed loudly in delight to cover her momentary lapse.
In search of a book that Lloyd very well knew wasn't there, the group made their way into the building. Once inside, then found themselves on the floor of a council room, a long desk stretched around the perimeter with chairs stationed around the outside looking in. At the head of the room sat a blond man dressed in far-too-rich purple silk robes with a similarly dressed girl child on his lap: Dorr and his daughter, or, rather, the twisted half-elf experiment pretending to be Kilia.
Lloyd jolted, realizing for the first time how difficult this Journey was going to be, because for the first time, he was faced with an enemy that he had to pretend wasn't there. He had a choice to make, he could easily have raced forward and eliminated the child, swayed Dorr to his side, and saved lives…but he didn't.
He stood there, feeling out of place, monstrous, and foolish. His eyes flickered to his father, his guilty conscience wanting him to ask for advice, but in those unforgiving eyes he found nothing. He wondered for a moment what his father was thinking as he watched the bastard before them playing with his daughter. He wondered if Kratos was thinking about moments that they had never had, or if he was simply seeing the corrupted scum of the earth playing with death.
"How can I help you?" Dorr's voice was smooth as he looked up at them, "Travelers, I see? We welcome all travelers, as per the Teachings of the Goddess." He put Kilia down and smiled what Lloyd could only see as a greasy and malicious smile, but must have been open and inviting to his friends, minus Kratos, perhaps. "Kilia, please go find Neil for me, we must give these people a proper welcome. Are you on a pilgrimage?"
"Something like that," Raine said, stepping forward, "we're from Iselia."
"Across the sea!" Dorr's eyes lit. "We get very few travelers from Iselia, such an isolated village, I trust all is well?"
Kratos snorted softly and Lloyd felt he had to agree; Dorr was simply making polite small-talk, he didn't give a damn what they were there for. He was just trying to promote his good image. As soon as Neil arrived, they'd be handed over to him and be out of Dorr's hair.
"As well as any village alongside a Human Ranch does, I suppose…" Raine said vaguely.
"But I was under the impression that Iselia had a peace treaty with the Desians…?" Though his tone was polite, Lloyd read the scorn in his eyes. He didn't like the idea that anyone could have a peace treaty with those monsters. What a hypocrite.
"It was broken shortly after the Chosen left on her Journey," Raine murmured, "And we've heard nothing from the Village since."
"Then we best pray for the Chosen's safe passage to Heaven…"
Lloyd's hands clenched and resisted the urge to say something he would regret.
"Actually," began Raine, "It is because of the Chosen's Journey that we've come."
"Oh…?" At that moment, Kilia entered with Neil beside her and Dorr's attention was suddenly focused elsewhere. "Ah, Neil, these are traveler's that have come all the way from Iselia. This is—but oh, pardon me, I don't believe we were properly introduced! I am the Governor-General, Dorr. This is my daughter Kilia and Neil, my assistant. And, you are…?"
"Raine Sage; this is my brother Genis, Lloyd Irving, Kratos Aurion, and Colette Brunel."
"A pleasure." Neil smiled, a genuinely pleased smile, "What brings you to Palmacosta, a pilgrimage?"
Raine's eyes flickered to Colette, then back to Dorr, "A Journey. Colette is the Chosen of Regeneration and we wish to see Spiritua's Book in order to find the location of the next Seal…"
At her words, the eyes of the two politicians and the child all hardened, not that anyone besides Lloyd was paying particularly close attention to Kilia.
"…well, this certainly is a surprise." Dorr's voice was icy, the friendliness gone in an instant. "Considering the real Chosen was in here not but hours ago requesting the same such item."
"Guards!" Neil wasted no time, pulling Kilia away, then summoning the guards. They were well-trained, and in an instant they were surrounded, Lloyd swore softly under his breath. "Take these imposters to the prison!"
Kratos and Lloyd both drew their swords, as did half-a-dozen guards. They were no match for him and his father, Lloyd knew, but he also didn't want to hurt them, or worse, give himself away again. Even Raine had pulled out her staff, the three of them herding Colette and Genis to the middle of their guard.
"No! Please, no! Don't fight!" Colette wrung her hands and Lloyd, in a miraculous moment of insight, stepped back, sliding his left foot along the threadbare carpet that covered the floor of the chamber, and as Colette stumbled back, her foot caught his and she tumbled back into Kratos. The mercenary stayed standing, hardly caught off-guard by the featherweight that was Colette, but the Chosen fell back onto her bottom, her jerk causing her pink wings to splay and fill the room with pink light.
There was a gasp and Lloyd heard the fake Kilia cry, "Daddy, look! Angel's wings!" Neil's eyes were wide and without being told, the guards began to back away, stuttering in shock.
"T-this girl—! Those wings; Sir, this girl must be the Chosen! …men, stand down!" Neil's eyes never left Colette's wings. The Chosen herself was blushing, embarrassed by the admiration written across the human's devout faces.
"…this girl is the Chosen, yes Neil. But, that means that the people we gave Spiritua's Book to were imposters."
"…wait, you mean you gave the book away!" Genis cut across Dorr's cold realization with his high, childish voice. "How stupid can you get?"
"Genis," snapped Raine softly, "that's enough." Then the half-elf turned back to the Governor-General, her blue eyes dark. "Though I too wonder at your logic. You didn't ask for any sort of proof that the people you were giving a priceless artifact to were, in fact, telling the truth?" Angry light glittered in the Professor's eyes, and Lloyd knew that she was having a moment of Ruin-mode mania. He was suddenly very glad he wasn't Dorr.
"W-well," spluttered the man, "we hardly assumed that there would be creatures so low as to pretend to be the Chosen's group!" He tried and failed to look noble.
"It's okay, really!" cried Colette, sensing the dislike and distress that echoed around the room. "I'm sure we can work out the clues…do you think that maybe you could tell us a little of what the Book said?"
"Spiritua's Book was written in the Holy language, Chosen One, and neither the Governor-General nor myself can read it… Perhaps it would be worth your while to ask around at the Church or with the Academy, you may find some old records that could help you…" Neil was genuinely apologetic, and Lloyd felt bad for his skepticism, yet it was all he could do not to grimace at the three of them.
"…he's right, come on guys." Lloyd, a hand still resting on the handle of his left sword, turned back toward the door. "Standing around isn't gonna do us any good, we might as well go see what we can dig up. And we've got to get the potion back too."
Colette nodded vigorously, "Lloyd's right! Come one Genis." Taking the younger boy's hand, Colette turned and started toward the door behind Lloyd. "Bye-bye Mr. Governor-General Dorr! Bye Neil and Kilia!" With another bright smile over her shoulder, she actually overtook Lloyd and the three of them were the first out of the building. Noishe was waiting impatiently outside, and Lloyd had bent down to rub under the Protozoan's chin when Kratos and Raine wandered out behind them.
"…" Kratos looked as if he'd tasted spoiled milk. "I believe I have just discovered another reason to dislike politicians."
"I agree, Dorr is a fool."
"Neil seemed nice enough though." Lloyd said in defense of the man.
"He is naïve and just as concerned with his image as Dorr is," snapped Kratos.
"Well…I suppose we should go to the Church and see if they know anything about the book…" Colette actually seemed to brighten at the idea. Lloyd, on the other hand, did not want to go chill in an ancient building and listen to people give praise to a dead woman. A quick glance at Kratos' face showed that he felt the same.
"Why don't you, Raine, and Genis go see what the church has to say and Kratos and I'll go give the potion to those people," he suggested, carefully not looked at Colette as he suggested it. He knew disappointment would be written in her eyes and it was easier to resist when he wasn't looking at her.
"…Lloyd, I think it would be good for you to come see the church with us," Raine said slowly and Lloyd was suddenly wondering if it was the principle of him not going to church with them or the concept of him running off with Kratos for a few hours. He chose to target the former:
"But Professor, you know I'm not into all that churchy stuff, and besides, we need to get the potion back to those people, as annoying as they are, I don't think they're very patient either."
"Then Kratos can do it himself…" Raine stated.
"…no." There was something in his voice, some statement of finality that made Raine look up at him. "I'm going with Kratos." Genis and Colette were now looking between Raine and Lloyd as if they expected a fight. Kratos' face was unreadable as he studied Lloyd, and when Raine questioned what he wanted, he merely shrugged.
"Lloyd, I think it would be best if you came with us." So that was it, Raine didn't want him spending too much time with Kratos. She thought he was a bad influence. Even if it was true, he still wasn't going to put up with it.
"No. No offence or anything, but the Church of Martel really isn't my thing. We'll meet you at the Palmacosta Academy in two hours, kay?" Without waiting for an answer, Lloyd started off toward the bridge that separated the plaza from the rest of the city and moment later he heard the sound of Kratos' feet following behind.
The older man caught up to Lloyd a moment later and as soon as they had crossed the bridge, both slowed. "…I think you've angered her."
"I know. She's gonna be pissed when we get back, especially when they don't find out anything…"
"Why do you say that?"
Lloyd's heart jumped to his throat when he realized what he'd let slip, but he covered quickly, "Well, Dorr doesn't seem like the kinda guy who lends out important family heirlooms."
"…I suppose you make a good point."
"But Raine and Colette'll still find a way to spend the whole two hours there and I figured I didn't want to sit through that."
"You do not support the Church?"
"Neither do you," Lloyd said in replacement of an answer.
"Why?"
"…there's just somethin' weird about it, ya' know? Like, I hear Colette talk about how she feels so happy and warm when she's in services, or Genis talking about how connected he feels. And Raine always goes on about how it's historical, and has all the evidence based in fact and that should mean I believe it…but I don't. Cathedrals give me the creeps, and they're always cold and echo-y, and in Iselia I always felt out of place, so in Palmacosta I'm just gonna feel like a freak. And all this Mithos the Hero stuff…I don't know, I just think that maybe there's something we don't know. Something lost to history. That story's four thousand years old, maybe we're getting something wrong…" He trailed off as they rounded another corner and found themselves at the end of a busy street, not far from where the Fake Chosen's Group was waiting.
"…you seem to have thought this through. From the way your friends spoke of you, I did not think you so well-rounded."
"…they just think that 'cause I sleep in class…"
"That seems a rather logical reason to me." There was something like amusement in the elder man's voice as he said this and Lloyd looked up at him. Kratos' face was blank as usual, but good humor glittered in his eyes. Lloyd had the feeling that his snubbing of Raine was what had put his father in this good mood, he wasn't so sure that this was a good thing.
"…what about you? Why didn't you want to go?"
"I don't recall ever stating my opinion one way or another."
Another slip: Lloyd hadn't realized that Kratos had not called to attention his own theological beliefs. He resisted the urge to smack himself in favor of a quick lie. "Oh…I guess I just read the look on your face wrong. I though you grimaced a little bit when Colette mentioned going to the Church, I thought I was saving us both. Sorry if you wanted to go…"
Kratos chuckled dryly, "No, you read my…look correctly; I have never believed in the Goddess Martel." Lloyd heard a certain amount of emphasis on the word goddess and knew his father was remembering the woman he'd traveled with thousands of years beforehand. "…there are ends that do not match up in their stories, and the Chosen's Journey…I wonder what good and powerful Goddess could request the ritualistic sacrifice of a child…" Kratos' lips twisted slightly with distaste, but Lloyd focused on one word.
"…what do you mean 'sacrifice'? Colette's becoming an angel, not sacrificing herself…" Yes, it was a question to which he already knew the bitter answer, but the Lloyd that Kratos knew was ignorant of such things.
"…perhaps I phrased that harshly," Kratos' lies were smooth and not a line of remorse remained on his face. "I should have said sacrifice of time, there have been Chosen that have traveled for near a decade and in the end failed the Journey of Regeneration."
"Oh…yeah, I guess that makes sense." Lloyd nodded.
They turned onto another street and saw the inn that the Fake Chosen's Group was to be staying at when the potion was delivered. Lloyd half-hoped that they could give the potion to the inn keeper to send up, but if memory served, he would have no such luck. They entered and the inn keeper looked up; for the largest city in the world, the inn was practically empty. The Desians had made travel for the average person practically impossible and with the monsters now invading the sea and the Human Ranch to the north, there was very little income for the inn.
The Fake Chosen's Group was sitting around the common room speaking in voices that should have been hushed, but weren't. It took Lloyd all of a few steps into the inn for him to be spotted by his own double.
"Well, well, if it isn't the brat who broke our potion. Have you got it, kid? Where are your little friends?"
Not bothering to verbally answer either of his questions, Lloyd held out his hand with the potion in it and sighed.
Kratos said nothing, watching the exchange silently with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, as if he expected to be attacked.
"Well, it seems you're a good little boy after all," the fake Lloyd smirked at Lloyd and Kratos in turn, "Now scram."
Lloyd felt his temper snap. "Oh you're welcome, bitch…" he growled, but only loud enough that Kratos could hear it next to him. No smile upturned the elder man's lips, but a glitter in his eyes told Lloyd that he approved.
The fake Lloyd returned with the potion to his group and sat down, handing the potion to the fake Colette. "Well, that ties up one loose end." He swung his legs up onto the fake Colette's lap and the fake Raine rolled her eyes.
"So, in a few days we'll go to Hakonesia and get our money's worth for this stupid book." Fake Raine smirked, "That old geezer'll pay through the nose to get it…"
"…you mean the book we got from that one guy…?" asked the fake Genis, his words slow and his eyes dazed.
The door of the inn slammed as Kratos and Lloyd left them to their plotting and started back down the street toward the plaza that housed the Palmacosta Academy.
"…they're our fakes…" Lloyd growled.
Kratos rose an eyebrow, "And why would you assume that?"
"Why wouldn't I? Didn't you hear them talking about "this stupid book"? And how the hell do you think they managed to pay for a potion like that in the first place? My bet says they got it from someone else who thought they were us and were trying to be nice."
"…which would, of course, mean that they have the Book."
"Bastards…" Lloyd growled. "They're just gonna try to make money off it!"
"…and what would you have us do?" It seemed like such an odd question coming from Kratos—he was asking Lloyd what to do? Yet Lloyd knew what had to be done, and he knew Kratos well enough to see the test.
"What can we do?" he asked, judging his next words by Kratos' reactions. "As much as I'd just love to burst in there and give them what's coming to them, it's really not an option, and it'd be more than a bit extreme to get the Palmacosta government in on it and have them send the army after them…"
"You don't think they deserve that?" Kratos now sounded almost amused. "You don't want to see them rot?"
"They don't deserve that, there's a difference between what people who really deserve a life-sentence and these guys. They're just a bunch of idiots conning people, but in the end, no one'll be hurt by what they do."
Kratos snorted, but by his tone, Lloyd could tell that he'd passed. "…an interesting take."
…
Hours later, Lloyd found himself in a very strange, but very predictable place: studying in the Palmacosta Academy. He had seen it coming and resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to take the test for Genis' sake. Lloyd looked over the history notes in his hands and sighed: how inaccurate could this stuff get? His eyes flickered over to this father who was sitting quietly reading a book. He couldn't see the title and found he wasn't interested enough to try. Colette was listening to the Professor's lecture to Genis on imaginary numbers.
Lloyd wouldn't get it, so he didn't even try. He looked at the clock, bored already of the studying, and found that they had another fifteen minutes before they were to meet Mighty Washington and one of the professors to take the test. Genis and Raine were the only ones, Lloyd figured, that were really interested in taking this test. Kratos was smart enough, but didn't really care, and Colette would much rather have been back at the Church. Lloyd, however, was actually going to try on the test, if he could focus for that long. He'd lived through a lot more than he had last time, he'd learned a lot more, and he was curious to see how he'd do.
He studied the notes awhile longer, or at least tried, but his eyes just ran over the pages, not taking anything in. He sighed, then felt Colette's foot bump against his. He looked up and caught her eye; she smiled back at him. "You nervous?" she asked.
"Not really. I mean, it's not like I'm the one trying to get into this place. Too stuffy for me."
"I'm sure you'll do great!" She smiled widely at him.
…
Short answer: In your OWN WORDS explain how the Common Language has developed and changed due to influences from Angelic, Dwarvish, and Elvish.
Lloyd smirked: this was worth a lot of points, and for once he actually knew the answer! He was fluent in Dwarvish thanks to Dirk, and had been teaching himself Angelic and picking up a bit of Elvish here and there. He scribbled out an answer, his handwriting comparable to chicken scratch but legible. The test was supposed to take three hours, but Lloyd hadn't bothered to even glance at the math section, he knew it'd kill him anyway, so why waste time?
The science section had…well he'd answered all the questions he could think of answers for. He knew he'd kicked ass on the astronomy part, the mana segment could have been worse, but biology, physics, and chemistry he'd glazed over and, not having understood half the language, had skipped. He was on the reading, writing, and language section at the moment. Most of the essays he half-assed; the Professor would have been horrified at his three-sentence paragraphs, but hey, it worked.
He glanced over at the clock, his mind starting to go numb from all the learning. There was still another hour left, and Lloyd only had the history section left, he was, he realized as he glanced around, the farthest, but only because he had skipped so much. Raine was still bent over some essay, her nose practically brushing the paper. Genis looked much the same, his pencil scribbling along, his knuckles white from stress as he wrote as quickly as he could. Colette was frowning down at a mess of math problems as she erased something and tried again. Kratos was sitting back, rereading part of his essay, looking annoyed at something or another, his precise handwriting filling the pages.
Lloyd flipped to the next page and the history segment began. There was a mess of multiple-choice questions that he read over and answered quickly: so far, so good. He knew his history, he had to, between the Journey and the Professor. Starting during the Kharlan War and working up to modern history, Lloyd circled multiple-choice and scribbled out short answers. He actually choked up with laughter when he reached the question reading, How many companions is it written that Mithos the Hero traveled with? He glanced over at Kratos who had also started into the history section, then back down. Colette, who was sitting next to him, looked at him with questioning eyes but he waved her questions off and returned, answering the question with three.
An hour later, all the tests had been either turned in or collected and the group and Mighty were waiting for the answers. Raine and Genis were talking in hushed voices, and Lloyd did his best not to listen in with his angelic hearing, but he realized all the same that Raine was trying to keep her brother relaxed. Colette was chattering to him, she was obviously anxious about Genis' score as well and talking to keep herself calm.
"The math part was so hard! I only got part-way done, and then I thought maybe I should skip so I went to the science part and I didn't know what they were talking about half the time, but the Reading bit was pretty easy, and the history was kinda hard too…"
"Colette, half the 'history' part was stuff you'd know from the Church, and you're really good at science, you know this stuff. You did fine." Lloyd rolled his eyes, "You love biology!"
"W-well yeah…" A smile pulled at Colette's down-turned lips and she let out a little sigh, and with it went any sign of visible worry. "How do you think you did, Mr. Kratos?"
Kratos, who had been leaning against his desk, staring at the far wall, turned to Colette with a raised eyebrow. "…fine."
"What did you think of the history part?" Lloyd couldn't resist asking the question. He made sure to keep his tone light and conversational.
"…" Kratos merely shrugged and Lloyd got the feeling that he did have an opinion, and unfavorable one at that, but the mercenary Kratos, the one that was supposed to be escorting them, didn't give a damn about the history section.
Saving Kratos from further questions, the old professor hobbled his way back into the room, tests in hand. The group and Mighty sat again, waiting for the scores. Genis looked almost green with worry in his place in the first row next to Mighty.
"Well, I suppose I'll start with the Chosen's Group's scores, then read the scores of Mighty and Genis." The robed professor cleared his throat, "First, Colette Brunel with a score of 267, then Lloyd with 300 exactly, Kratos Aurion with 348, and Raine Sage with 400."
"Of course," Lloyd chuckled, "nothing but perfection from Professor Sage." Lloyd exchanged a smile with Colette.
The professor, obviously unused to being interrupted by his students, cleared his throat again and Lloyd and Colette shut up quickly. "Now, Mighty and Genis. Mr. Sage received a perfect 400, and Mighty 398."
…
Genis couldn't keep the wide smile off his face as the group walked away from the Academy. "I thought maybe I'd screwed up on the fourth essay, but I did it anyway."
"Yeah, Genis, you're the smartest kid on the face of Sylvarant." Lloyd rolled his eyes. "I vote you buy us lunch in celebration." Noishe let out a yip of agreement.
"I'm the one who kicked as-butt on the test, you should buy me lunch!"
"Yeah right, I'm broke, I can't afford my own lunch."
Kratos and Raine both sighed and Raine said, "Actually, I'm impressed with all of you: especially Lloyd's score."
"Yeah…" Genis suddenly turned to Lloyd with a raised eyebrow, "How the heck'd you manage a 300?"
"I guessed?" Lloyd offered with a smirk, "I'm not that stupid, Genis."
"Yeah…I guess…"
…...
Well, that's that. Until next time. I'll try to get the next chapter up faster, but no guarantees.
R&R
~Yoshi