Yeah, I'm like... like butter.
Cuz I'm on a roll.... haha...
Yeahhh... top that, dude.
Jack- Stop acting like you're cool. -_-''
Oh come on, you have to admit It was awesome.
xxxxx
"What?! Banished?" Genis gaped at Lloyd.
"Well it wasn't my fault!" Lloyd explained, "This guy practically attacked me...."
"Who?" Aria tilted her head to the side, curious.
"His name's Cross Ward." Lloyd seemed irritated at the name.
"..." Her lips parted, she blinked upon hearing it. "Cross?" she whispered, there seemed to be a hint of venom in her tone.
"Yeah, you know him?"
"..." Her eyes darkened into a deep kind of red. And she was visibly clenching and unclenching her teeth together under her lips. "I'd rather not talk about it." she said coldly.
Lloyd blinked at Aria, he examined her thoughtfully irritated expression. "Hey, are you--" his eyes wandered up and down, wondering why she was... so bright.
"I'm an elf, yes." She stated, placing her hands on her hips and looking up and away from them, she wasn't using her wings. And instead just stood there amongst them. Aria was obviously waiting to be shouted things at. She looked like she was ready to fight someone, a little riled from the cornering that happened a while ago.
"That..." Lloyd was a little speechless, his eyes were wide and his lips parted slightly.
"..." Aria looked at Genis, she was giving him an 'I told you so' look, thinking she knew exactly how Lloyd would react. 'Like any other human who thinks they can overpower a lightelf, who thinks elves are lower than humans.'
"IS SO COOL!!!" Lloyd was ecstatic, he grinned and put his hands together.
"You have wingstoo! It's so cool!" Colette echoed, the two of them started immediately becoming aware of how 'amazing' she was. Aria shot looks of utter confusion to Genis, who knew it was futile to stop the duo of praise.
'you have wings, Colette, how can you be so amazed?' Genis thought, mentally slapping himself in the forehead.
"That's so amazing!" Colette chirped, as if reading Genis's mind.
"You're not afraid?" Aria uncrossed her arms and put them stiffly at her side, with clenched fists. "But--- how?"
"It doesn't matter who you are." Lloyd grinned, and it suddenly dawned on Aria who it was that Genis was referring to earlier.
"You'll find that everyone's different among us. I presume you're not from here. The likeliness of a light elf bringing themselves to a human-filled place like this is minuscule." Kratos stepped towards Aria, his scrutinizing eyes seemed so inescapable.
"I- I came to study the books here, but it doesn't matter now... I can't go back there."
"I see."
Aria fell silent. She huffed in annoyance and spoke again. "Look, I don't have to explain to you, okay?" her voice fell into a mild murmer "Humans need to learn how to mind their own business."
"Of course you don't." Kratos said. "It's technically none of our concern." he seen where it was going. Genis had created the beginning of a friendship that would cause her to follow them wherever they went.
"Everyone." A cool, collected woman's voice could be heard from nearby. Everyone turned to face Raine who rounded a corner and walked towards them.
"P-Professor!" Lloyd smiled. He lifted his hand toward her as he prepared himself to talk.
"I'm not explaining for you this time, Lloyd." Kratos said. And Lloyd chattered his teeth as his mind raced, he became suddenly less secure. When he explained earlier, Kratos had made it sound slightly better than it had been.
The seraph himself was slightly surprised though, after his smooth sentence and immediate, stoic silence. He looked at Raine in confusion, wondering why he hadn't heard her approach the corner before walking around it. She just wasn't there before.
"Professor, you have a cut on your..." Colette trailed, pointing to her teacher's arm, where the material split and frayed, and blood started pooling around a wound and staining at the cloth.
"Oh, yes." Raine slipped something into her pocket and reached up with her opposite hand to grasp it lightly. "I was just now returning home to tend to this." she said, her eyes downcast.
"... So, who were you fighting?" Kratos asked simply.
"I knew it would be impossible to hide it from you." Raine chuckled. "I'll tell you once we get back to the room. Inside." she said.
"But we also have news of our own." Kratos said, looking to Lloyd, who laughed nervously.
"L-let's just get inside first why don't we?" Lloyd's words came out a bit rushed, ended in a cough.
Raine shrugged as they walked in, "We're going to have to get the others though." She said.
"I already did." Kratos spoke once more, following with the group, making their way into the main room of the apartment building. "I told them a day before that we would be having a meeting tonight, which is convenient for us, so they should be here shortly. Zelos proved difficult to find though... I discovered he has been staying in the castle."
"I see." Raine nodded, "...Alright, let's just go in and wait. They know where we are, I presume."
"Of course."
Lloyd, Genis and Colette looked at eachother, "Hey... now that I think about it..." Lloyd trailed.
"He was..." Colette continued.
"I wonder what he was doing in there." Genis thought aloud.
"We'll find out eventually." Lloyd shrugged, and turned towards Kratos and Raine. "Come on guys." He started walking.
"... Genis?" Aria stood behind the rest of them, unmoving since her last position. Her wide orbs of lavender were still mildly streaked with scarlet, and only she remained, alone in the emptiness of the slanted stone street. The glowing points in her clothing and hair seemed to be dropping sparkles of green unto the hard rock below.
"Oh. Yeah, sorry I didn't introduce myself before." Genis scratched the back of his head while looking down.
"....I could have been wrong, though." Aria crossed her arms and blinked up at him.
"A-about what?"
"You being of elven blood." She put her first finger to her lips thoughtfully. "But you said that you were of elven blood as well... I'm a little curious as to how they would have considered you a darkelf. Unless you had more of a tanned figure and painted marks which-- " her sentence ended in a light laugh, she cut herself off to examine him. "You... don't?"
"I-I'm actually uh-I-I-I don't um..." he was at a loss for words, thinking of something to say.
A moment went by, Aria still seemed to be contemplating. "It's just that... You're out of the elf village, so it's kind of weird." she lifted her hands, flat, pointing left to right in a shrug.
"You are." Genis pointed at her.
"Th-that's!!" She immediately put herself into defensive stance, her wings fluttering, causing her to levitate slightly. She now towered above him, leaning in. "Look that has nothing to do with it. I'm just trying to figure out who you are. I can sense elven blood within you yet I've never seen you before and you don't look like any kind of elf I'm used to."
"I'm..." Genis's voice became meek, he had officially given away too much if she could deduct all that from just fifteen minutes of knowing him.
"...Sorry." Aria finally sighed, floating back down to the ground and crossing her arms. "It's just... no, no I have no right to judge. You haven't questioned me too much so um... you can just go join your friends now." her voice trailed into a mumble, she turned her upper body partially towards the institute down hill from where they stood and waited for him to walk away.
"...But--" Genis lifted a hand.
"Aria! Genis! Get in here." Lloyd called with a grin, opening the door and poking his head out.
"..." Aria's mouth froze open, she blinked in utter confusion. "But uh... wait, who said I wanted to--"
"Well, you can't exactly go back now... they'll expel you if they find out you lied about your race, that you were really an elf this whole time." Genis said, motioning to Vareth. "....I'm more that one-hundred and ten percent sure that those guys will definitely say something."
"..." the pureblood elf seemed to be having difficulties with coming up with excuses, "Why are you--"
"We know what it's like. Just come with us and we can even escort you wherever you want. We're used to exploring places we've never gone to before."
She said nothing, thinking about his offer.
"Come on, Genis!" Lloyd waved his arm back and forth. "Aria, you too!"
"Lloyd understands." Genis added quietly, unheard by the boy at the door behind him.
"I see. Fine. I will take you up on your offer." Aria stared forward with a stoic gaze, glancing down before deciding to just follow them in. "...But Genis." she said his name for what felt like the first time to him.
Genis's eyes lifted unto hers, waiting for her to speak.
"I will figure you out. I thought you should know." She smiled warmly, eyes closed. "You interested me."
"A--" Genis cut himself off from speaking when she closed in on him, leaning closely and grinning intimidatingly.
"It's okay. I won't tell anyone else what I find out. I just want to know, myself."
"Gotcha." Genis went stiff.
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"So. When is this?" Sheena was dressed in different clothing. A pitch black, skin tight uniform with patches of fishnets in the front of her legs, and over her back.
"The letter said we have like... a few days to pack and stuff. But that's all. If we don't leave they'll send their guards on us or something." Lloyd explained, holding his arms in front of his face defensively in shear fear of the professor in front of him who's expression he couldn't read.
"... Lloyd." Raine started, making him flinch back a few centimeters.
"Y-yeah?"
"I guess this can't be helped. But what are we supposed to do about Regal?"
A/N: They can brush his hair and cut off about three feet of split ends.... then take away his stripper shirt and give him a tux or something. He'd look better. And replace his yuck-colored pants with umm... purple! yeah, like Kratos.
"I'll find a way into the Dungeons and tell him!" Lloyd pointed his thumb at himself confidently.
"That's nice of you, Lloyd." Raine started, "But do you know where the dungeons are?"
"Uhh..."
"Well that's easy." Zelos piped in, his hands on his hips as he spoke. "They're in the castle. I've officially replaced some high knight guy so I've been given multiple privileges... which includes exploring the castle anywhere I please. They didn't really trust me much at first, so they had someone following me around, but I guess they had no choice because I was so amazing and they want me on their team-hahahaha-"
Zelos continued ranting about himself while the rest of them continued their conversation.
"So we'll have Zelos go in and tell him while we prepare ourselves for departure." Raine nodded, establishing it for the rest of them.
"So-" Aria cut in quietly, but everyone listened. "This guy gets banished from this place and all of you leave with him?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why is that?"
"We're all really good friends with eachother." Sheena said.
"Yes." Presea nodded.
"We can't just let our Lloyd go out on his own." Genis nudged his taller friend.
Kratos nodded, "Something similar may happen to the 'fight' that took place, besides the fact that he often times needs backup what with the situations he likes to get himself into."
"Wow, thanks guys!" Lloyd laughed, scratching the back of his head, "But--wait, what do you mean likes to??" he glared at Kratos.
"We shall not needlessly explain." Presea shook her head.
"Agreed. Now then, Zelos are you ready?" Raine questioned the big-headed chosen, ignoring a protesting Lloyd.
Striking a pose, Zelos positioned his teeth so that they gleamed in the light. "Of course, honey."
"What, is she your wife?" Aria narrowed her eyes in question.
Zelos nodded proudly to himself with a shimmer in his eyes. "Oh? My my... who is this elegant little beauty?"
"..." Kratos grumbled something.
"Ahaha--" Raine chuckled, promptly throwing something firm against the back of his head. "No, I am not." She corrected, as Zelos fell to the floor in pain.
"Zelos has a tendency to address every breathing, and sometimes non-breathing, object with a female figure in that particular fashion." She flashed a smile at Zelos who tried to get up, taking her foot and pressing down on his back. "So pay him no notice."
"Right..." Aria trailed, crossing her arms.
"You-" she cranked down slightly harder with her heel as she spoke, "Should get going." She withdrew her foot.
"Y-yes ma-am." Zelos gave a last, charming smile. "But... maybe our new addition would like to... join me on the way?" he suggested, crawling towards the door before jumping energetically to his feet, newly enthused by something 'unknown'.
"No." Everyone in the room except for Aria (Well, and Kratos) said in unison.
"Okay." Aria's words slurred together with theirs, but she quickly cut herself off, looking around the room suspiciously. "Um... what?" She was actually confused.
"W-well." Sheena trailed, her eyebrow twitching, trying to think of a way to explain that. "Uh-he probably won't be trying to 'walk' much exactly. It's more of a..."
"Pedophilia." Presea stated neutrally.
"Whah--" Aria's mouth dropped open. "You mean... he would have actually tried to... to..."
"That's exactly what we mean." Raine stated.
"I can't believe I almost fell for that!" Aria glared in Zelos's direction, his eyes were wide. "But then again..." her voice grew quiet. "I'm not exactly a child per se..."
Zelos didn't hear her last statement, "No, no! I would never! Ahaha-I haven't ever laid a hand on one so young yet, so why start? I thought that," his face grew serious and apologetic, giving the puppy-dog eyes. "Maybe I could get to know who you are... and that you would understand." he gave a gallant bow, exaggerating the gesture.
"Ah... Oh. I see." Aria blinked, simply following him out the door. "I suppose we could converse for a period of time."
Zelos held out his elbow to her, and She hesitantly took it.
"Haha.." he chuckled, "Of course madame, I would never dream of laying a harmful hand upon you. Let us go."
"B-but!" Genis's hand reached forward, as if trying to pull her out of Zelos's clutches. "D...don't go!" his voice was small, and could hardly be heard. He jumped upon the door closing behind them. "Noooo..." he held his head, irritated. "Grahh! Zelos!"
xxxxxxxxxx
"Hey, where are we going anyway?" Aria finally spoke up.
"The castle of course." Zelos's melodic, level voice spoke into the night ahead of them.
"...." She was silent. "...I've been there before." she sighed. "what happened though... it's not something I'd like to re-live."
"Oh-" Zelos snapped out of his calm gaze, "Do you wish not to go there?" his eyes twinkled with something. "We could always... go somewhere else?" he suggested, stopping them in the middle of the walkway.
"Hm... perhaps, but I really don't care." Aria said. "Their friendship... even yours, everyone with eachother, it was making me sick."
"What?" Zelos cleared his throat, confused as to what she meant.
"I wanted out of there. I was... overwhelmed, you could say."
"You didn't look like it." Zelos blinked, "Huh, well, I apologize."
"..." Aria's eyes downcast. "No need." She glanced over down another street that they were passing. "Oh-" she said suddenly. "That's mine." she looked at Zelos. "Um... if you don't mind."
"Hm? Of course." Zelos released her hand and motioned for her to go retrieve something from the street. He took a few steps closer as she picked herself up off of the ground with her wings and glided ahead, watching as she grew smaller down the alley. She landed before a small head of something, bending over and reaching at it.
She stood up straight and brushed it off a few times, then her hands went to her head. Her glowing hair went out like a light and she bent over again, grabbing something really small and something else kind of baggy.
She shook it off and swatted at the front a few times to get out dust, her gleaming wings folded against her chest and ribs, she then threw it over her upper body. Bending over again, Aria now had black hair and glasses which she wiped on her baggy, stretched shirt to clean off.
He could see her sigh once before turning towards him and jogging.
"Okay. We can go to the castle now. This way... I'll be less likely to be recognised."
"Why would you not want to be recognised?" Zelos faced her full-on. "You are much too gorgeous to be trying to hide such beauty."
"...? What are you talking about?" Aria scoffed. "Sheesh, weirdo." she huffed, shaking her head before shrugging and walking forward, leaving Zelos there with his mouth agape, and wondering why she didn't fall for him right there.
"Now come on. We can't exactly get into the castle to get to that Reggiel guy if you're not giving us access."
"Of course." Zelos flicked his hair back before prancing after her.
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.... Wow that took a while. But you guys should be glad to know that I'm on the last chapter of my geometry book!
*Cheers and applaus*
Ah yes.. I know. I know.
But anyway. I hope, more importantly, that people still actually read it.
