Chapter Four: First Impressions
Iselia: Martel Temple
"Wow, it turned into a rock."
"…It already was a rock." Lloyd told her, watching as she looked back at the cube shaped boulder. Her face turned red and she gave an embarrassed giggle.
"Oh, you're right. I'm Sorry."
Lloyd couldn't believe what he was hearing; sure when he came to Iselia he was expecting the Chosen to be a little ignorant, but he was not expecting her to be a complete idiot. The whole group was weird actually; ever since they had gotten into the Temple Raine seemed to act like an obsessive archeologist and Genis…actually out of all of them Genis seemed to be the most normal. He had shown embarrassment at his sisters excitement when her theory of another Golem monster appearing was correct.
"So this is the Sorcerers Ring." He heard Raine say as he picked the small red item off the pedestal. "This ring has been a part of the church since its establishment. May I?" Lloyd noticed a strange spark in her eye and handed her the ring. She examined it in her hand her eyes widening. "Wondrous, the material this ring was made of is capable of manipulating the mana in the air around it. Oh just feel it, even after all these centuries there isn't even a bit of rust. Marvelous!"
"Raine, we kinda need to go." He heard Genis say as though trying to get his sisters attention as politely as possible, as though afraid to say something in a ruder manner from fear of getting hurt.
"Very well." She gave the ring back to Lloyd, "However I wish to study that ring later, so give it to me once we're finished."
"Uh, yeah…sure." Lloyd was caught between asking why she was so obsessed with the ring and temple and just keeping quiet and pretending he never noticed. He chose the latter option as the four returned to the magic barrier that led to the top floor. Lloyd used the Sorcerer's Ring to send a small ball of fire through the barrier which hit the key behind it. When it unlocked he gave the ring to Colette, "Here, you're the one who should probably be doing this, not me."
"Oh, you're right I should be. Sorry." He brought his hand up to his head, almost slapping himself in the process. Why was this girl apologizing when she didn't do anything?
"You don't have to – never mind let's just go." The blonde girl nodded and they used the warp point to reach the top of the Temple. The room was almost the same as the rest of the temple, a round room that was a Golden brown color. The only difference was the large red altar in the middle of the room that had the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal. He leaned back against the wall spacing out as Genis and Colette discussed her Cruxis Crystal; the blonde girl telling him she was born with it in her hand.
"Look!" He heard Genis call out shaking back to the real world. It was a small sphere of light. He had to admit, he was rather curious which angel Lord Yggdrasil commanded to descend and guide the Chosen to each seal. He watched as the light flashed and in its place the angel hovered before them.
Lloyd had to resist the urge to yell when he recognized him. It was Remiel, one of the few angels on Derris-Kharlan that had some kind of personality. Unfortunately he had the personality of a cactus and was constantly kissing up to their angel lord. Maybe that's how he got the job.
"First head to the Seal of Fire, understood? My beloved daughter Colette." Now he was pretending to be the Chosen's dad; the arrogant angel was digging himself an early grave.
"I can't believe it, the rumor was true!" Genis said when Remiel left. Lloyd at first wanted to ask about the rumor, but then assumed it was about what Remiel had just said. It wasn't important to his mission anyway.
'"We're done here, so we should get going." Lloyd told them getting the three's attention.
"Oh yeah, let's go then." Colette nodded in agreement and they left the altar room.
"You three go on ahead, I'm going to stay here and study the temple some more. This place is simply amazing." The sparkle in her eyes told Lloyd that it would be a good idea to just leave her there. Genis seemed to be thinking a similar idea by the look on his face. "Lloyd you should see if you can escort the Chosen on her Journey, I mean if you don't have any other jobs to take care of."
He pretended to consider the offer then said, "Well I haven't done anything big for awhile. Okay, I'll do it." He saw Colette give a clap of excitement out of the corner of his eye.
"Great, now we can get to know each other better on the journey."
"Yeah…"
As the three walked back to Isalia, Lloyd noticed that Genis was staring at him, specifically at his Cruxis Crystal. He ignored him as they made it to Colette's house, but had a feeling the half-elf would ask about it later. When Lloyd gave his request to guide Colette on her regeneration journey, the mayor, as well as her father and grandmother were, very grateful and offered him a large sum of money. He gave an approving nod at the conditions of his payment.
"Then we'll leave the care of the Chosen to you and Raine."
"That's fine by me."
"I want to go too." Genis spoke up, "If Raine's going than I want to."
"No, absolutely -"
"Sure why not?" Lloyd cut off the mayor and got a few surprised looks from Colette and her family members, "He's a pretty good mage, I'm sure being on the road would do him good. I learned most of my skills by traveling." It wasn't completely true, but still close enough. His father was easier on him for swordsman ship; Yuan and Lord Yggdrasil were the exact opposite.
After persuading the mayor to let Genis come along, they said their good-byes to the family, and left the house so Colette could pack her things without any interruptions. Genis told her he would be bye later with a present for her. Apparently it was the Chosen's birthday; ironic that she'd need to start the journey that would lead to her death on the day that celebrated her birth.
"Hey Lloyd," Genis spoke up as they got closer to the house the two half elves lived in, "could you come outside the village with me?"
The angel gave him a questioning look "Why?" There weren't any nearby towns and the woods would be filled with monsters by now.
"I'm going to visit a friend; I want to tell her about the Oracle. She probably saw it, but she doesn't get many visitors anyway and want to say good-bye to her before we go."
He shrugged nonchalantly, "Alright, just hurry up and get anything you need." Genis ran inside leaving Lloyd to wait. The boy looked at what he guessed was a stray dog as it sat down next to him and sniffed his pants. He scratched the dog behind his ears absentmindedly, like he would with Noishe, until he came out and they left the village to the woods. They were quiet, but he could tell that there were monsters running about, hopefully they were just the weaker ones. "Lloyd, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"That gem on your hand; that's an exsphere right?"
Why did that feeling from earlier have to be right? "Yeah, what about it? You want one or something?"
"No, I just noticed it while in the temple and was wondering about it. That thing enhances your strength right?"
"Yeah," and do magic, fly and use Angelic Abilities, "I could jump from the top of that cliff over there and land on my feet without breaking a bone or anything."
"Wow!" The boy seemed to be fascinated by the exsphere and the abilities it granted to its user. He mused quietly to himself wondering how the boy would react if he found out how exspheres were made. He wouldn't be too impressed by them anymore. The two continued until they reached a spot where the path broke into two parts. "Well this is the place." He said walking down the path leading left to the Desian Ranch.
"The Desian Ranch?" He questioned, "I thought Isalia had a nonaggression with this Ranch."
"Well they already broke the treaty so it doesn't matter anymore right?" He argued, "Today may be the last time I see my friend. Besides, there's something I want to show you - it won't take long, only five minutes, I promise."
'Idiot.' Was the thought that went through Lloyd's head as he listened to Genis. He knew Forcystus would not break a signed treaty, of course the half-elf boy didn't know that and while it was tempting to let him get caught, he would have to answer to the village if they got into any trouble and it would probably hurt his chances of guarding the Chosen. "Five minutes."
"Thanks." Quietly Lloyd followed Genis around the Ranch; he had to admit the boy knew how to get around any of the places guards might see him. He couldn't help but wonder how many times he'd been to the ranch to visit this friend of his. They waited behind the bushes for the guards to leave as they escorted some humans pushing boxes inside. Once gone Genis quietly moved out of the bushes.
"Marble." He called in a voice just loud enough to get an old womans attention.
"Genis!" She seemed happy to see him. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon, how've you been?"
"Fine, thanks. Marble did you see the Oracle?"
"Yes, I saw the Tower of Salvation, now the Chosen's Journey can finally begin."
"The last Chosen failed their Journey right?"
"Yes I heard the Chosen was killed by Desians during the Journey. Oh, who's this Genis? A friend of yours?" Lloyd felt the old woman's gaze fall on him as he smiled.
"This is Lloyd." Genis told her, "The Desian's attacked us at the Temple and he saved us. He's going to be traveling with the Chosen." Lloyd gave a small smile and nod as Genis told her that. He hoped this visit wouldn't be much longer.
"Well I wish you luck."
"Thanks."
"Marble, show Lloyd your hand, the one with the exsphere on it." The older woman did as Genis told and Lloyd looked at it pretending to be interested. "See, it's different from yours; it doesn't have the weird markings on it that yours does."
"Oh, you mean my Keycrest." The angel said, already having an idea where the conversation was going when the half-elf looked like he was going to ask what a keycrest did. "Exsphere's attached directly to a person's skin have negative side effects. To prevent them, inhibitor ore is used as a mount for the exsphere, and then a charm is carved onto it making it a keycrest."
"So you can't make a keycrest without any inhibitor ore?"
"Well you could, but it wouldn't work properly." He explained frowning, "Don't ask me to find any or and make her a keycrest. It's a Dwarvin art, only they know how to make them." The look Genis gave him looked pitiful, but he promptly perked up as he remembered something.
"There's a dwarf named Dirk that lives just north of here. He's really nice and helped build ourbhouse; we could ask him to make a keycrest."
Lloyd snorted, "I doubt a dwarf would make a keycrest for a Ranch prisoner."
"We don't have to tell him it's for a prisoner; we can make up a small white lie, like telling him it's for Raine or something. Please Lloyd."
The brown haired angel sighed, bringing his hand up to his head and shaking it. This kid wasn't going to give up even if he said no; he seemed too stubborn for his own good. "Alright fine, we can ask him." The half-elf looked happier, grinning from ear to ear despite Marble trying to assure them not to go through the trouble. He should be taking her advice.
"Hey old hag, what're you doing over there?" A voice of a guard got the three's attention; Lloyd cursed under his own breath, they'd stayed around too long.
"You two, hurry and get out of here."
"Okay, let's go Genis." The boy gave his friend an apologetic look before following him away from the Ranch. Unfortunately there were already guards waiting for them just outside. "Ugh, just what we needed. Genis, go and I'll catch up later."
"O-okay." He quickly ran off as Lloyd kept his focus on the guards, a smirk forming on the angel's face as he took out his twin swords. Seeing as they were only Whipmasters the fight should be very easy.
End Chapter Four
I'm not sure how you'd be surprised at a rock monster turning into a rock… Well that's chapter four, I'm gonna try to get one or two more up before September 5th, that's when I move into College. Also sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed, I wasn't really sure what direction I wanted to take it, I know exactly what to do next though :).