This chapter was not easy, I mean, they really never are, but this one was especially hard because I had to go by the game—for that I'm sorry. You can't blow up a town or murder a population every time though, otherwise when the climax comes I won't have anyone left to torture!

…did I say that aloud? Oops!

Oh, and a special note: I took a few liberties with the dialogue and situation with the Wind Master. The whole idea that the people of Asgard thought that the Summon Spirit of Wind was sealed in the Dais didn't quite make sense in here, so I adjusted things marginally. It shouldn't make a huge amount of difference, but I figured I should mention it.

Heh…anyway, sorry it took so long!

…

The Chosen's Group sat around a table in the tavern of one of Asgard's larger inns. There were a few patrons scattered around other tables and the bar at the far end of the room, but ultimately they were the extent of the guests. Despite how the markets had looked earlier when Lloyd and the others had been about the city, the tourism was all but gone. This was, Lloyd knew, in large part thanks to the creature that Harley and Linar had spoken of, and Lloyd was once again thankful he didn't have to point the group in the right direction.

No, Raine was doing a fantastic job of that herself.

"Unbelievable!" she ranted to a very tired rest of the group. Only Colette really appeared to care, ant it was only because she believed the Professor was more distressed then she actually was. "That they should kick those of us wanting to learn out of a historical site older than the Kharlan War, it's utterly repulsive! And to do so in such a disrespectful fashion!" As her raging became louder, Genis grew redder and redder and some of the other patrons began to notice that something was going on.

Lloyd felt as if he should say something to nudge Raine's thoughts in the right direction. He chose his words carefully, and then injected them when Raine paused to breathe. "I wonder what those two guys meant by saying there was something taking sacrifices inside the rock…"

Genis sighed, "For the billionth time, Lloyd, it's called a dais, and what are you talking about?"

"Well, there were a couple of guys behind the dais that were trying to blow it up with this bomb thing, and they said that the one guy had accidently cracked it and it let some big monster-y thing was eating people." Lloyd shrugged.

Genis looked skeptical, "Lloyd, that was just some stupid story they made to cover up for their attempted vandalism, that's all. It's a bunch of crap."

"Actually, Genis, Lloyd may have a point." Genis turned to stare in confusion and horror as Raine agreed with Lloyd. "The way the Mayor and his men were acting, it was obvious that something out of the ordinary was going on. Perhaps they were telling the truth. It may actually be in our best interests to ask around…"

No. They had to go find Harley, Aisha, and Linar! There was a lot at risk—this was also one of the few ways that they might manage to find the seal in a timely manner! Time, Lloyd had realized, was something he hadn't taken into account since they had reached Palmacosta. His heart sped and he felt panic rise every time he remembered just how much a day or two could throw off the rest of the Journey. For, while the more vital parts of their Journey were thankfully not completely bent on timing, he had been so very, very lucky they had been in the right places at the right times to this point. If they had left ten minutes earlier from the dais, the monument would have been destroyed and they would have had to find another way to the Seal of Wind.

What if they had not been in Palmacosta at just the right moment that they could run into the Fake Chosen's Group? Lloyd honestly wondered how he had been so lucky up to this point, he wished he could ask Raine or Yuan, if anyone would have the answers, it would be them. Unfortunately, the Raine and Yuan that would be able to answer him would be the ones from his time, and he had no way of contacting them.

"Maybe we should just go find those kids who tried to blow up the dais; I mean, they sounded like they were willing to talk, and it didn't look like the Mayor was going to hear us out in the first place." He hoped his verbal nudge would at least push Raine a little further in the right direction, and that their maneuvers wouldn't come too late.

…

Finding out where Aisha and Linar lived was an easy task, and when Lloyd asked, he carefully didn't mention Harley; the people in town were perfectly friendly until one brought up the half-elf. Their house was on the third layer of housing, and Genis and Raine were both panting by the time they reached the top. When Kratos glanced over at him, Lloyd pretended to breathe hard.

"So…is this the place?" Colette looked at the dried sunflower hung on the door. The house itself seemed cheery enough; the stone, while old and windblown, was clean, and the wooden windows and accents were painted yellow to match the sunflower.

"Only one way to find out," Lloyd walked up to the door and knocked. He knew it was the right house, the sunflowers were the giveaway; Aisha loved them.

A moment later, the door was opened by a young woman with hair as deep-sea-blue as her eyes, she surveyed the group with a solemn expression for a moment, then her lips split into a smile. "Hello, how may I help you?" She was soft-spoken but calm.

"Hi, we're looking for Linar and we were told this was where we can find him…?" Lloyd smiled back at her.

"Indeed it is; Linar is my brother. I hope he hasn't caused you any trouble…"

"No, of course not—" Lloyd was cut off when Raine burst in beside him.

"Actually, we caught him and his friend attempting to destroy an ancient monument, and we've come to make sure he is properly punished!"

"Raine!" Genis groaned from behind her. "That isn't why we're here…" He said it quietly, but Aisha obviously caught his words.

"I see…" she sighed and stepped aside to allow the group into the small one-room lower floor of the house. "Please, come in. Linar and Harley are upstairs, but I think we should…explain a few things to you. I'm very, very sorry for the trouble they've caused…"

The group came inside, Lloyd, Genis, Raine, and Colette made themselves comfortable around the scrubbed wood table and Kratos put himself in a strategic corner, foresight if they were ambushed while inside the house. Lloyd would have been exasperated, Noishe was outside and they would have plenty of warning of coming danger, but he himself had been tempted to stand instead of sit. It could have just been his nerves speaking, though.

There were more sunflowers inside, but most of these were alive and beaming at them. They were in sharp contrast to the sad, worried look that Aisha wore when she appeared with Harley and Linar a few moments later. "Apologize!" she growled to the boys, both of whom were younger than she, though not by much.

Linar mumbled a shy apology; for what Lloyd took for a twenty-year-old man, he was as soft-spoken as his sister, but much more shy. Harley couldn't have been much older than his friend, but instead of apologizing, he snapped angrily at them. "You again! Couldn't leave your handiwork alone, could you? Now, thanks to you, tomorrow Aisha's going to be sacrificed! Unbelievable!"

Lloyd sighed as Raine joined the argument and she and Harley completed at who could yell the loudest. The Professor was shrieking about the loss of precious keys to unlocking history, and Harley was claiming that life was less important to her than old rocks.

"That's enough!" Colette cried, and when Colette spoke, it was one of the few times when Raine actually listened. "We're not here to yell at each other! We want to know what's going on and how we can help!"

Aisha seemed shocked by this proposal, and Harley was, quite frankly, scared of this tiny girl who could manage to shut the raging woman up, so it was left to Linar to explain. "Well…if that be the case, then please allow me to explain. I have been studying the Dais my entire life, and recently had several breakthroughs in what it's old uses were, and perhaps that there is a labyrinth beneath. I wanted to take a sample of the rock back with me so that I could study it better, unfortunately when I was chipping my small sample off the side, the chisel slipped and created a large crack.

"Later that month, at the full moon, a monster appeared and demanded that tribute be paid by the people. For several months it was appeased by gifts of food and treasure, but after a time, it began demanding that we sacrifice people. Before the monster was released, there had been a dance—the Maiden Dance—that was performed; it's an old custom, though more for the sake of tourists now. The most beautiful woman in Asgard performs, but after the monster saw the dance, it stole the dancer and has wanted human sacrifices ever since. And now…"

"And now, thanks to this idiot, Aisha's set to be the next dancer and she'll be sacrificed to that beast!" Harley cut in angrily. "We were trying to get rid of that stupid rock and stop the monster, but you've killed my Breaker and I can't get it working again! It'll be months before I can get the supplies for a new one now that Palmacosta's been destroyed!"

The Chosen's Group, or rather Raine, had been sobered by this story. The Professor's eyes were closed and her pale features scrunched together as she pondered this story. It was Colette, however, that voiced what must have been on the minds of all, with, Lloyd thought, perhaps the exception of his father:

"We have to help!"

Lloyd was surprised when Kratos said nothing, and he glanced back to see the man incline his head in agreement. A moment later Genis nodded as well and Lloyd did the same, but his eyes moved back to Raine, still deep in thought.

"…of course we must…" Raine said at last. "The question is how. Even if we offered, I doubt the Mayor would agree to let me further examine the Dais, and we don't have much time. You said the performance was tomorrow, correct?" Her eyes opened and at Aisha's silent nod, Raine continued, "Perhaps I could don the responsibility and perform the dance myself…when the monster came, we could attack…"

"R-really?" Harley was now beaming at the thought of having help and even Linar was looking less pale and more interested, but Aisha turned the offer down almost at once.

"We couldn't allow you to put yourself at risk, Miss!" she said in a voice that was somehow both soft, yet very commanding. "If anything, I will remain the bait and you can attack it when it comes for me."

"Nonsense." There was a glitter in Professor Sage's eyes that hinted at an oncoming bout of Ruin Mode. If Aisha had had any chance in dissuading Raine at first, it was quickly evaporating as the half-elven woman realized just how close she could get to the dais. "You are, I assume, incapable of defending yourself. I am more than able to do so myself. You said there was a dance. Teach it to me."

Aisha was still visibly hesitant, "The dance is difficult, it took me a month to learn, to teach you overnight would be…near impossible."

"Aisha, give it up!" Harley rolled his eyes. "If she wants to do it, let her do it! She's offering to help. It'll probably save your life!"

"I will not let someone die if I can stop it!" Aisha snapped back, her voice gaining volume.

"Aisha, stop." Aisha and Harley were both silenced by Linar's still-soft voice. "Miss, if you are willing to help us, we will be more than honored to accept that offer."

And that was that; Kratos, Genis, Colette, and Lloyd returned to the inn, Lloyd leaving Noishe in case Raine needed protection while Aisha taught her the dance. The group would have a long day tomorrow.

…

At dawn the next morning, Kratos dragged a very sleepy band of teenagers from the inn across the historic city to the home of Aisha and Linar. Colette and Genis were both still groggy, and Lloyd was making himself pretend to be tired—though if he was honest with himself, he was surprisingly exhausted. He had spent the night worrying, but not about what he would have expected. His thoughts hadn't been full of the horrors that could have been reaped upon the world and the time stream if everything didn't meet up as planned or what kind of damage Kvar could have been doing while Lloyd sat around and waited.

No, his thoughts were on the kind of danger Raine would be in on the dais. Part of him felt as though this was utterly foolish, not only did he very well know what the outcome would be, assuming everything went as it would last time, but Raine Sage was more than capable of defending herself, something she'd proven on many occasions.

Yet as he had lain awake that night, he'd thought of everything that could go wrong. By that morning, he still hadn't fully convinced himself that this was a good idea.

Why aren't you worrying like this over Colette? The voice in his head, the one that always reminded him of the guilt he should be feeling was whispering again. She's the one in real danger, hell, Yuan's in more danger than Raine; he's working close to Kvar. But no, you sit here and worry about Raine! He knew it was moronic, he knew he had much bigger things to worry about, but he couldn't calm himself down enough to think logically.

"Lloyd, you okay?" Genis cut across his thoughts, they were all back sitting around the table with Linar and Harley, drinking coffee and waiting for Raine and Aisha who were dressing and putting the final additions to the act together.

"Yeah…just a little worried about Raine…" He sighed quietly and brushed his bangs out of his face. It had been a very long time since he, or any of the others for that matter, had managed to get haircuts. Lloyd and Kratos had both managed to shave frequently on the Journey, and Raine had kept Colette and herself in order, but they could all have used a bit of work.

"I know what you mean, she's going to either go up there and make a fool of herself," Genis rolled his eyes as if he expected this outcome, "or actually manage to summon the monster…"

"And then it is up to us to protect her." Kratos cut across their conversation, his voice quiet but powerful, and with enough calm to stop Lloyd's hurriedly pounding heart. He glanced up at Kratos and gave him a small smile. He wasn't sure if the elder man understood what Lloyd was silently thanking him for, but whatever his thoughts were, he inclined his head slightly in reply.

Raine and Aisha stepped down the stairs, first the blue-haired human came, then Raine. Lloyd had seen her in the Maiden outfit only a handful of times, but on each of these occasions she managed to take his breath away, and he wasn't the only one. Harley and Linar both looked impressed.

Raine's silver hair was still loose around her face, but over it she was wearing a yellow and brown hat. Her shoulders and upper back were bare, and for once her clothing clung to the curves of her body. The top was long and of the same colors as her hat, and hung down almost to her knees. The pants, while still baggy, were an almost burnt orange and the look was completed by light sandals. With her blue eyes offset and her pale shoulders bared, she looked…picturesque.

To ruin the image, Raine snatched Genis' cup of coffee and took a deep gulp of the energy-giving potion. "Well, shall we?"

"You just can't wait to get your hands on the ruin…" Genis grumbled, glaring at his coffee-stealing sister. Without actually looking at him, Raine's hand swooped down and hit the boy over the head. While Lloyd could tell it wasn't enough to actually hurt, Genis pouted anyway.

Out, back across Asgard, thought the crowds of early-morning shoppers, up the countless stairs to the Stone Dais the Chosen's Group, Aisha, Linar, and Harley progressed. At the top, a small group of people, including the Mayor from the day before, had gathered to watch Aisha dance. They were about to get a shock, and Lloyd suddenly wished he had had the foresight to tell the already angry-looking Mayor.

"What is going on here?" he demanded heatedly. "Aisha, why is this woman wearing the Maiden clothes? You are to dance." And get eaten, though he wasn't about to admit to that.

"We have come to solve your problem." Raine crossed her arms and glared at the Mayor with slightly blood-shot eyes that dared him to deny her access to the ruin. "My associates and I have practice in dealing with monsters; I will dance and summon the monster and then we'll see what we can do from there."

The Mayor was not an idiot and, while he clearly wanted to argue with Raine, he could see that he would lose. These people were offering to help, and he would lose nothing to let them attempt. "…very well, but if you are lost in this foolhardy attempt, it is hardly our fault."

Raine nodded curtly and walked forward briskly and leapt lightly onto the stone.

The dance was surprisingly simple for having taken Aisha weeks and Raine a night to master. The Professor moved gracefully from one corner to the next, placing the wooden staff in the center of the delicately swirling runes. As she did so, the runes lit brightly as if mana were flowing through them. She went not to the four corners of the square dais, but to the places on the edge of the rune circle inscribed in the center.

Her movements were slow, practiced, and graceful, but when Lloyd caught a glimpse of her face, she looked focused and almost worried. Lloyd wondered if this was because she was so focused on what she was doing or if she was worrying about the attack that was most likely coming. She moved back to the center of the circle and bowed, not to the crowds, but to the west, out to the mountains and the wind.

Almost instantly, the mana from the runes flashed and the wind picked up and, swirling in the center of a whirlwind appeared the monster.

It was a lank creature; its arms almost as long as its body, its head pulled back and attached directly to its shoulders. Horns jutted out of its grotesquely purple head, and two useless flopping bits of skin and bone hung off its back, which could have been fins or wings. It turned blank eyes on Raine and the half-elf stumbled back with a small cry.

From beside him, Colette gasped softly, then cried, "That's some sort of demon!"

On the other side of him, he felt Kratos already moving, charging up to slice at the monster's arm and distract it from Raine. Lloyd jumped and followed after him and a moment later, Colette did as well. Genis stayed well off to the side and began to chant softly, preparing some spell—hopefully Grave.

Kratos and Lloyd leapt back and forth, one distracting and the other swiping at the beast with their sword. It wasn't particularly bright and couldn't seem to keep the two swordsmen straight. Colette threw chakrams from a further distance, but the sharp blades still sliced at his shoulders and further irritated him.

It took a moment to guard, and Lloyd and Kratos both swooped in to hack away at its slightly tough outer skin, but soon realized what was coming when the felt the mana welling around it. They scattered, Lloyd pulling Colette with him as he went, and were able to doge a sudden gust of wind that would have ripped the three of them apart had they been too near.

On the other end of the battlefield, Genis had finished charging his spell; it was not Grave, but Spread, yet the monster squealed with pain and lashed out blindly at nothing. Kratos was suddenly behind it and hacking away, and Lloyd ran forward, compelled to try to help his father. Even as the monster had turned on the mercenary, Lloyd dragged one sword across its back, making it scream again.

"Genis, use earth spells!" Raine shouted across the dais, "Earth!"

Lloyd could only hope the younger Sage had heard and understood his sister of the roaring of the winds.

Their battle was a dance as complex and graceful as Raine's had been, but far, far more dangerous. Genis had apparently heard his sister, as Lloyd soon felt a large welling of earth mana to his left.

"Stand clear!" Genis shouted and Lloyd and Kratos both threw themselves out of the way a second time as Grave erupted under the monster, rock slicing effortlessly though the hide of the beast. It went down in seconds and Kratos was there a moment later to slide his sword thought the skull of the beast and made certain it was gone.

The group was panting; Lloyd and Kratos were both supporting several bleeding scratches, but the rest of the group was all well, if not shaken. The crowds were quiet, staring in shock. Then, as if realizing what had happened, someone, presumably Harley, whooped and suddenly everyone was cheering.

…

Figured I'd end it simply.

R&R

~Yoshi