Chapter Eight: Would Be Assassin

Lloyd remembered when his father told him about the angel transformation; he had explained that it was a slow process where he would gradually lose his some of his senses, in exchange for wings and increased reflexes. As a result, when Colette had turned down one of Genis' meals, the angel had a good idea it was because she had now lost her ability to eat. Despite her refusal the young boy was still persistent even with his older sister telling him to leave Colette alone. "If she's not hungry, don't force her to eat." The healer told him.

"But-"

"Genis, leave her alone. Colette will eat when she's hungry."

"Okay. What about you Lloyd, aren't you hungry?" The silver haired boy asked him.

"No, not really." He answered. He was sitting further away from the group; they were huddled around a small makeshift fire that Genis had made, while he was lay against one of the cold ruins in the dark. He touched one of the more painful looking burns on his arm with his fingers – gloves discarded for the time being.

" Lloyd, don't do that." Raine told him, "You'll only make it worse and we don't need you getting an infection."

"Tch. Sorry."

"Come over here, you must be freezing."

"I'm fine here." He told her with a look and tone that said he wasn't going move.

"I insist Lloyd."

"I'm fine." He repeated in a much lower tone making it clear he was content where he was. Raine shook her head muttering under her breath that he was stubborn. He ignored it and stared up at the night sky, but still keeping his ears open to hear the group's conversation. There next destination was Palmacosta which was on the next continent. To get there they would either need to head north to Hima or take a boat from Izoold. He gave a light smile as Genis and Raine argued over which directions to go while Colette made feeble attempts to get them to stop.

The walk through the desert the next morning felt worse than the last two. First they needed to go back to Triet so Lloyd could get a new set of swords. He hated all the ones they had available, they were either to light to short or just not suited for dual wielding. Never before had the chosen and her companions see someone be so picky about their weapon choice. Then again when you used a weapon for so long it'd be hard to find a replacement, and the choices in Triet were of a rather low quality. Finally Lloyd picked out a pair and once he paid, the group stocked up on supplies for their journey through the desert. They stayed in Triet for the rest of the day and left on the next only stopping once to eat in a shaded area. Lloyd was starting to both hate the desert - there's only so long you can stand seeing mulitple shades of orange and brown - and having to spend time around the group at these points in time. He told Genis that he wasn't very hungry telling him he'd 'eat on his own time.' The younger boy didn't seem to like the answer but conceded anyway. The 'mercenary' could see Raine looking at him with a wary eye; if he didn't make himself seem more normal, he knew that the teacher would be on to him if she wasn't already.

After a few more hours the group finally got to the Ossa Trail. "Ugh, never thought we'd be out of that desert." He heard Genis remark the boy and Chosen sitting down on the wet grass and taking off his shoes to empty collected sand from them. "Sis, when we're done with this journey can we find a different way back to Iselia?"

"There's always the sea up north." The older sister said not noticing the look that crossed Lloyd's face; he knew they wouldn't be going back to Iselia anyway. "But I don't think there are any boats that would go around the continent. Lloyd do you know of any?"

"Huh?" The angel gave her a surprised look not really paying attention. "Oh, uh, none that I'm aware of." All the maps he'd seen of Sylvarant didn't show any other routes on the ground, and he didn't know of any boat routes.

"Then we'll just have to worry about it when the time comes. Genis come on, you too Colette."

"Aw, can't we stay and rest for a little while?" The younger boy protested. "Traveling through that desert was torture."

"My feet hurt, Professor." Colette spoke up, "And the trail looks like it's goes through a hill. Maybe we should wait awhile."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Lloyd said looking up at the top of the cliff.

"Why?" Colette asked getting to her feet.

"We have company." He told her before shouting up to whoever was hiding on the cliff, "No use hiding, we know your there." He waited for a moment and just when he knew one of the Chosen's companions was going to tell him he was imagining things, someone jumped out and landed on the path in front of them. It was a woman, a bit older than he was and wearing a lot of purple. He frowned as he looked over the clothes, purple kimono like top, dark purplish pants, light purple shoes that looked built for combat and a pink sash – finally something not purple – wrapped around her waist. If he hadn't seen it for his own eyes he wouldn't have believed it. Aside for the obvious obsession with purple, the dress was the same as an active Mizuho warrior. It would be fine to see one every once in awhile except for one problem. The people of Mizuho lived in Tethe'alla.

"How the heck did you know I was there?" The woman asked out loud a mix of both frusteration, but also surprise in her voice. Lloyd gave an uncaring shrug.

"Lucky guess." In other words, his enhanced hearing made it easier for him to tell when people rustled tree branches and in bushes. "Something we can help you with?" He asked, hoping this person was not from Mizuho and it was just a coincidence and were just someone who either needed assistance getting though the mountain or heading to the desert. Still the more he looked at her, the more he realized there was something familiar about her that he couldn't quite place.

"I'm looking for the Chosen of Mana. Have you seen him or her?" Somehow he didn't like the way she asked her question. Colette didn't seem to notice anything wrong though.

"Oh, that's me." If Lloyd had eyes on the back of his head he'd be glaring at her; she shouldn't have said that. The girl look on the girls face changed from relatively passive to hostile in a second.

"Then prepare to die." The warrior lunged at Colette before the rest of the group could react. The blonde girl startled stumbled backward tripping on a red lever. A hatch opened underneath the assassin and she fell into it. The group stared in disbelief at what happened before Colette let out a gasp and got up.

"Oh no," The blonde girl looked down the whole before letting out a light groan. "I did it again…" Lloyd shook his head in disbelief wondering how the blonde girl could still sound sympathetic to someone who just tried to kill her.

"You shouldn't worry about it." Raine said, "If you hadn't tripped you could have been killed."

"But…"

"Don't worry about it. She is you enemy." Lloyd told her. The blonde looked up, she still looked worried.

"I hope she's okay." He lightly slapped himself in the forehead to keep himself from slapping the girl. This girl had all the qualities of a good chosen; kind, caring and sympathetic of others. The exact opposite of Zelos. Lloyd looked back down the hole as Genis began explaining some kind of math problem, one he knew he'd have trouble following even if he paid attention. He was much more interested in why a girl from Mizuho was in Sylvarant. Even if he didn't fully understand what Genis was talking about he had a feeling that she was alive, just disoriented from the fall.

That meant she'd be back for them, "We should get going." He spoke suddenly looking up the trail. It was going to be a steep climb. "Whoever that was, she'll come for us on her own so it wouldn't be a good idea to stand around."

The four of them started up the mountain and it became very clear that footing on the path wasn't very good. The group slowly made their way up the mountain. Lloyd found himself taking care or most of the monsters, with Raine healing him on occasion. The few monsters that they were coming across were more powerful than the last; even so the angel knew he'd need to keep holding back until the rest of the party got stronger. The easy fights though were starting to make his mind wonder back to the Mizuho girl. He didn't need to wonder why she was in Sylvarant; Tethe'alla was undoubtedly enjoying its extended era of prosperity because of the previous chosen's death. The question was how did she get here? And why did she seem so familiar?

The group reached the top of the mountain where they stopped to rest. Lloyd told them that he was going to go a little further down to take care of monsters; when Genis asked him if he wanted lunch, he lied and said he had something already with him. He walked a little ways down the mountain then stopped to rest on a rock, relieved to be away from the group. He had to get away for a breather, but he could still hear them from a distance.

"He's so weird…" Sounded like Genis.

"He's so weird." The twelve year old mage spoke up. "I know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back, but I can't help it."

"Genis, just because he doesn't want to eat your cooking doesn't make him weird." Colette scolded him, "I'm sure that he just likes his meals prepared a certain way. Or maybe he's just uncomfortable eating around people being on the road by himself all the time."

"Not what I meant Colette." Genis told her.

"Then what?"

"I'm not sure; it's just something about him that seems off. His mana is really weird, and I noticed in our fight against the temple guardian that it seemed to move around strangely."

"Yes." Raine cut in, "At first I thought it was his exsphere, but even if exsphere's enhance healing arts, his burns shouldn't have healed as quickly as they did. Indeed there's something about our new friend that makes me wonder…"

"But he seems nice." Colette spoke up again, "I mean he's nice to me and he's nice to your Genis."

"True, he's certainly a lot friendlier than I'd think mercenaries are supposed to be. Of course he's practically your age Colette."

"Maybe, but be careful." Raine told them. She wanted to make sure her little brother and his friend were safe. Even as much as she didn't want to believe it, Lloyd's timing in Iselia seemed a little to coincidental for her liking. The fact his mana was different from an ordinary human's didn't help her opinions on him either.

'So Raine is suspicious, the Chosen is oblivious and Genis doesn't know what to think.' Even though he was mostly surrounded by half-elves, or half-elf angels, all his life, he always found himself surprised at how well they could sense mana. Guess he hadn't controlled his mana as well as he thought he had while fighting the monster in the Triet Ruins. Then again it did ruin his favorite swords. Lloyd groaned, he could already hear his father lecturing him on restraint again.

After 'eating' the group continued down the mountain until they reached its base. A large plank of wood keeping the mineshaft closed fell down surprising the group, minus Lloyd who already knew how persistent Mizuho people could be.

"W-wait." The assassin sounded out of breath.

"Wow, she actually caught up with us." Genis commented a mix of surprise and sarcasm in his voice. The assassin seemed flustered by the comment.

"Enough. Chosen, your life is mine!" This time Lloyd pulled out his swords and ran in front of Colette raising it up as the assassin tossed magic cards (or paper it was hard to tell) at her; a weapon foreign to the people of Sylvarant. The assassin faltered not expecting someone to react so fast, and took out another. Lloyd immediately charged forward and knocked the strange weapon out of her hand then tried to force her onto the ground. Instead she sprung backwards to get away from her, but before she could make another move the angel quickly ran over and pinned her against, one sword resting by his side, the other close to the Mizuho girls neck.

"What did you tell the chosen?" Lloyd asked a dark look on his face. The girl didn't answer, the assassins fearless attitude gone. "Well?" He pushed the sword closer making her cringe away. If she had any freedom to move he wouldn't be surprised if she retreated. Of course she didn't so she chose to avoid eye contact, probably thinking of some way out of her situation. "Well?" He repeated louder before stopping realizing exactly where he'd seen this assassin before.

"Zelos you pervert, get out of my room." From the other end of the hallway he could hear a loud slapping sound along with a certain red head groan, and then laugh.

'Sheena…'

"Lloyd stop, don't hurt her." The angel mercenary heard Colette's pleading voice. "Please."

"You want me to let someone trying to kill you go?" He didn't quite understand the logic behind it.

"Please Lloyd!"

He was very tempted to say know, but complied and pulled his sword away from the assassin. "You're lucky…" He told her in a low voice that only she could hear. The assassin seemed to regain some of her nerve, as she quickly moved away from him to get some breathing room. She looked at Colette.

"You got off lucky Chosen, next time you dead." In a flash of smoke the girl was gone leaving the chosen's group by themselves.

"I…" The blonde girl speaking up brought everyone's attention to her. "I don't understand. If it's my job to regenerate the world, so why did she try to kill me?"

"Who knows." Lloyd shrugged pretending to be just as confused as they were. "For all we know someone might not want the regeneration to happen. Come one we can discuss this in the next town where we won't have to deal with monsters." They continued down to Izoold, Lloyd starting to hope that he'd meet up with his father sooner rather than later. He'd need to tell him that Tethe'alla had found a way to Sylvarant. They probably got help from the Renagade who already knew too much to comfort. Still of all the people to send, why Sheena?

End Chapter 8

Remember in an earlier chapter I established that Lloyd and Zelos already got along very well. Well, going by that I imagine he might be somewhat familiar with Sheena.

Got little writers block for this story, but it's cleared now so I'm back to writing (though I think this chapter came out bad, classes have gotten in the way of my proof reading and idea jar :/). Now question for people; I've been playing Dawn of the New World (and discovered that I can't catch monsters even to save my life -_-. How sad…) and noticed that while we know Emil's story, what about Lloyds? So I was thinking of writing a fic on what Lloyd is doing while Emil is off playing 'knight.' Let me know if I should and feel free to give suggestions on what to cover and all that.

Well that aside, please review. Thanks, Happy Thanksgiving, and adios (goes off to class).