Chapter 6: A Cynical Old Dwarf
Leaving Presea in her home for the time being, the group departs from Ozette to make their way back to Altessa's house past the forest. Along the way, Raine holds her right hand below her chin and thinks about the presence of that strange half-elf man at Presea's house. "Hmmm…"
"Something the matter Raine?" Genis asks as he walks beside his sister. "Genis, do you recall seeing that man before?" The professor asks while deep in thought.
"Huh?" Genis has to pause and recall the man in question before responding with "Now that you mention it, didn't we see him at the Meltokio church?"
Raine nods her head and pieces together what she recalled about the man "A half-elf associating himself with the Pope and a girl who was part of the Angelus Project…" Lloyd overhears the words of his professor and comments "Professor, you can't be suggesting that the man we saw was a Desian, right?"
"Unfortunately for Presea, I think he is. The fact that he paid close attention to you and Colette just further proves it." Raine states, which causes Genis' eyes to widen in a panic as he exclaims to her "Then we have to get to Altessa before it's too late!"
"I have to agree with Genis here." Riku interjects from a few feet in front of the half-elf kid. Glancing over his right shoulder, Riku comments afterwards "That man obviously had an eye on us since you got Presea to travel with you, and now that he's got her back in a stationary location he can just pick her back up at any time. Of course, I don't think he'll do that unless the Angelus Project finishes inside of her."
"So shouldn't one of us have stayed behind to protect her in case he DOES show up early?!" Genis frantically asks.
"Then we'd be making their job easier. I know you feel affection towards Presea, but we can't afford any risks when we have so many enemies after us." Riku calmly replies to Genis' question, and the half-elf boy says "…If only we still had the Rheairds, then Presea wouldn't have to wait long."
"It's a time involved task, but considering how things have been going having the Rheairds would probably make our enemies act faster." Raine explains, and it was with this explanation Genis just sinks into melancholy and says nothing more on the matter.
The group makes their way back to the forest and take the first right path past the entrance, which was now devoid of any Papal Knights. It doesn't take long for them to exit the forest, where they walk a few minutes until they reach an abode at the side of the nearby mountain. The atmosphere became much drier as the cracked and rocky ground leads up to the beige colored wooden door.
Off to the right of the right of the house is a pot and a box filled with crafting supplied, including a pick-axe and shovel. They appear to have not been used in quite some time since rust was surrounding the metal. Everything was also eerily quiet, with little sign of active life in the area. Before the group entered the house, Lloyd bends forward and peeks into the wood-barred window off to the right of the door and can barely see anything inside, save for an inactive fireplace and an empty worktable.
"I don't think he's home." Lloyd quietly says. Colette quickly throws herself on top of Lloyd's back and glares through the window while saying with the utmost excitement in her voice "Don't worry Lloyd, I'll use my angel eyes to find Altessa!"
Lloyd strains himself to keep Colette held up on his back, his body giving out a little sweat as he groans and glances up at his friend and says "A-Angel eyes? Colette, I don't think you have-"
"I see something Lloyd!" Colette enthusiastically proclaims, which causes Lloyd to say dryly "…Never mind. Did you find Altessa?"
"Ummm…Lloyd, do you know what gender Altessa is?" Colette awkwardly asks. Lloyd states "Colette, you were there when Kate told us that. Why do you ask?"
"Because I only see a girl in this house…And she's really green looking." Colette's puzzled remark causes Lloyd to turn his head back towards the window. Standing straight against the window is a girl around Colette's age with a long bright-green ponytail and an arced black metal headpiece. She had sky-blue eyes with no pupils and a slim figure perfectly shown thanks to her pants-less black and neon-green dress.
The girl raised her right hand up and closed her eyelids slowly, a creak being heard coming from her body as she said in an emotionless, feminine voice "HELLO? WHO ARE YOU?"
The sight of this girl makes Lloyd temporarily freak out and pull back, and because he forgot about Colette being on his back when he stands upright in recoil the girl falls straight off and lands on her rear-end. Thankfully something soft was there to break her fall…That soft thing being Zelos himself, naturally.
"Ugh…I'm…Not exactly used to being on the bottom…" The Chosen of Tethe'alla groans out as Colette swiftly rises to her feet and turns around to frantically apologize to Zelos "I'm sorry! Are you ok Zelos?"
Zelos, as evidenced by his quick uprising, says to Colette as he rubs his stomach and grimaces slightly "Hehe…It'd take more than that to take the wind out of me, my dear sweet Colette…"
As Colette nods happily and turns back around, Lloyd rubs his back while Zelos rubs his stomach, both figures quietly groaning in pain as the door opens up in front of them and the girl they saw before stands underneath it and asks in a monotonous tone "HELLO? WHO ARE YOU?" Her repeated words carried a little static in them at this closer range.
Once Lloyd got rid of most of the pain, he held one hand up and cracked half a smile while saying to the girl "Ah, excuse us…We've heard that there is a dwarf living here. Is there any chance we could see him?" The girl registers the boy's question and responds swiftly and kindly "YOU DESIRE A MEETING WITH MASTER ALTESSA. PLEASE COME INSIDE."
The girl rotates herself back around and enters the house. After a curious pause at how the girl spoke and moved, the group followed her inside, where she ends up guiding them to the far left corner of the house. Sitting at a small desk with a few tools strewn about is a small, dark grey bearded man wearing an olden-style green robe and custom-made leather boots. The man is poked in the back by the girl and immediately turns to look at her, grumbling to himself before he notices the presence of eight strangers at the top of the small staircase.
As the girl backs away, the man stands up off his chair and glares through his eyelids at the group, saying in a groggy, elderly voice "Who are you people?" Lloyd kindly steps forth and looks at the man, saying respectively to him "My name is Lloyd. We've come in regards to Presea."
As the name of the girl he wishes to help leaves his lips, the man's faces grimaces in shock, and it is only as Lloyd finishes explaining himself with "We heard about you from Kate in Sybak" that the man stamps his foot down angrily and states "Leave!"
The immediate response puzzles and frightens Lloyd, who can only respond with a wide-eyed "What?" before the man turns back towards the desk and says "I don't want anything more to do with that girl! Get out of here!"
Lloyd and most of the group look at Altessa in a disgusted or disbelieving manner and then proceed to back off away from the dwarf's work area with the strange girl following them close behind to escort them out. Before Lloyd could finish leaving, he turns around to look at the girl and asks of her with his face still distorted in disbelief "What was that all about?!"
The girl explains "I APOLOGIZE. THE MASTER DOES NOT WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH PRESEA." Genis can't accept that answer, and with a swing of his right arm out he proclaims "Why? …He doesn't care if she dies?!"
The girl faces the half-elf boy and says to him "IT IS NOT THAT. IT IS BECAUSE THE MASTER REGRETS WHAT HE HAS DONE." Colette stands in front of the girl and grabs her hands, holding them up close to her face as she leans forward and pleas "Then please, save Presea! All she needs is for her Key Crest to be fixed."
With no physical response besides a blank stare at Colette, the emotionless girl states "…I DO NOT KNOW IF THAT WOULD BE IN HER BEST INTEREST." Lloyd says in a flabbergasted manner "Why? How could anything be worse than living in that cruel condition while waiting to die?!" His voice grows louder until the end of his sentence.
After a momentary pause, the girl replies "IF YOU ARE THAT COMMITTED, THEN YOU SHOULD SEARCH FOR INHIBITOR ORE." Considering his knowledge of how Key Crests work, Lloyd is surprised by this remark and comments "Presea's Key Crest isn't made out of inhibitor ore?"
The girl is about to explain with "CORRECT. HER CREST IS-" But her explanation is cut off with an angered outburst from Altessa "Tabatha! What are you doing? GET RID OF THEM!"
Tabatha looks at the group and explains "I APOLOGIZE, I MUST RETURN. PLEASE COME BACK AGAIN. I WILL ATTEMPT TO PERSUADE HIM." The girl then starts to walk off to join Altessa, and with their efforts proving fruitless at the moment the group decides to leave the house before planning their next move.
Riku stays behind though, saying briefly to Lloyd "I'll join you guys in a moment" Before following behind Tabatha with quiet footsteps.
Altessa sits at the desk, solemnly thinking to himself after this encounter with the group when Riku says to him at the top of the small staircase "Dwarven Vow #2: Never abandon someone in need."
"…What do you think you're still doing here?" Is Altessa's embittered response. Riku replies in turn "Reminding you that you're still a dwarf."
"I haven't forgotten who I am…But what I did to that girl can never be undone." When Altessa says this, he shakes his head and sits down on the short chair behind his body, while Riku gestures at him with his right hand and states "You never know until you try, and judging by the fact that you've been sitting here all this time wallowing in self-pity…I can imagine you haven't tried at all."
"…Please leave my house." Altessa quietly and politely asks of the boy. Riku turns to face the door out, but not before smiling at the dwarf and saying to him "We'll be back with the Inhibitor Ore, and then we can continue this conversation, Altessa."
Riku then exits the house, where the group is discussing the matter of where to find Inhibitor ore. Regal was currently explaining to everyone "I've heard it's mined in the mountain range that extends between Altamira and the Ymir Forest. I would like to help if you're going to create a Key Crest for Presea. I can lead you to the mine."
Lloyd, for being a dull as he is, was starting to recognize a pattern in Regal's actions and asked him "Just what is your relation to Presea, anyways?" Regal shakes his head and calmly states "There is none."
Raine comments in turn, however "Yet you sure seem concerned about her." Regal says to her truthfully "Having seen what happens to an Exsphere user, you can understand just why I'd want to help her."
Lloyd breaks up the two's discussion by stating "Well, either, you haven't done anything suspicious so far. You're welcome to come along with us."
Regal nods his head in an appreciative manner and explains "Inhibitor ore is found relatively near the surface of the Exsphere mine. The mine I know of is across the sea from here, on the southern continent."
Having listened in to everything said so far, a contemplating Zelos slips into his cheerful self and says "You said Altamira, right? That place is awesome! Let's stop by there on the way!" To which Sheena groans and shrugs her shoulders while holding her fingertips against her forehead and saying "We don't have time to hang out at that gaudy resort!"
With the revelation that the mines are seabound from here, Raine shivers and says "The sea? …We're going out to sea again?" Which is contrasted by Lloyd and Colette respectively exclaiming in joy "Okay, then! Let's go!" "Yeah! Let's hurry!"
Most of the group walks off afterwards, with only Zelos and Regal staying behind for the moment. The Chosen of Tethe'alla stares at Regal, something the man picks up on a subtle acknowledgement as he's asked "…By the way, this has been bugging me for a while now." Recognizing that Zelos knew more than anticipated, Regal brushed off his words and went to catch up with the group, causing Zelos to lean back and comment "…Fine, ignore me. Not very friendly, are ya?"
Thus the group starts to head for the coast to use the Elemental Cargo. Along the way, Lloyd stands beside Riku and asks him "Say Riku, I've been meaning to ask this for a while now." Riku glances at him and says "What's up Lloyd?"
"You said you can control all elements, right?" Riku nods his head, even though technically that didn't hold true right now. "Would that include stuff like Inhibitor Ore and whatever Presea's Key Crest is made of?"
Riku carefully explains to Lloyd "I could probably handle Inhibitor Ore, but Presea's Key Crest is made of a very unknown material combined with a magic source…If I'm not familiar with the material, I can't manipulate or create it. Unfortunately, right now my Earth based powers aren't functioning."
Lloyd blinks a couple times and says "Huh? How come?" Riku smiles and replies with "I have a theory on that one, but I'll have to ask Sheena about it." This just raises further questions for the swordsman, and he says "Sheena…?"
"Don't concern yourself with that Lloyd. Just worry about Presea." Riku humbly states, which drops the conversation between them after Lloyd politely says "Alright, if you insist." Lloyd then backs off and communicates with Genis and Sheena for a bit. They reach the coast of the continent in a matter of minutes afterwards, and after activating the EC and using Undine to power it again they start to cross the sea with Regal's guidance to head for the Exsphere mines.
Along the way, Riku thought it would be a good idea to bring his question up to Sheena at long last. After a few minutes time, Sheena walks away after smacking Zelos slightly for a perverted comment, where Riku then glances her way and asks "Hey Sheena, you have a moment to spare?"
Sheena calms down after mumbling to herself about Zelos and pauses diagonally away from Riku, saying to him quietly "Huh? What is it Riku?"
Riku pulls himself away from the wall he was leaning against and turns to look at Sheena, explaining to her briefly "While I was in Sybak, I read a book that explained Summon Spirits to me. I know there are four in Tethe'alla and four in Sylvarant. Since you went over to Sylvarant at one point and I saw you use Undine, I'm just wondering if you picked up the other three as well."
Sheena reaches into her clothes to pull out a few seals while commenting "I'm surprised you did all this research. But anyways…" Lifting her hand up, the ninja holds three different colored seals in front of her body before explaining "I didn't get the fourth one, but here's the summon seals for Efreet, Sylph and Undine."
A puff of smoke comes up on Sheena's left shoulder, and Corrine sits down and nudges against Sheena's face. Lifting her hand up to pet the little fox, Sheena comments "Hehe, Corrine is also an artificial Summon Spirit. So why did you want to know about my Summon Spirits?"
Riku pounds his right fist down on his open left hand and nods his head, saying in a manner puzzling Sheena "Ok, so my theory was correct about my powers."
"What are you talking about?" Sheena asks as she glances at him. Kindly smiling at the girl, Riku says to her "I'll just keep this between you and me for now."
"It should have been obvious by now that I've been to more than one world. There's been a couple times that most of my elemental powers have been suppressed or taken away, forcing me to reclaim them. Right now, the only elements I can use are Fire, Water, Grass and Wind." Riku's explanation is interrupted by Sheena realizing "The same elements as the Summon Spirits I formed a pact with…!"
Riku nods and then continues on with "Knowing this, it's pretty obvious that the rest of my powers will be restored if we pact with the other five Summon Spirits." This information makes Sheena take pause and think solemnly to herself, her head drooping slightly in depression as Corrine pokes at the side of her head to try and cheer her up.
"…Sheena?" Riku asks. The girl replies "First the Rheairds and now your powers…Both require me to make a pact with Volt, and I-I…" With Sheena on the verge of shivering in sadness, Riku says to her calmly "Don't worry about it now. I am not demanding you make a pact with Volt now. Right now we're dealing with Presea, and we'll worry about the Summon Spirits when the time comes."
Sheena lifts her head up and inquires "Are you ok with that?" Riku nods his head and says to the girl "I'm perfectly fine with the powers I have now, it hasn't lessened my combat ability. Just know that when the time does come for us to deal with the Summon Spirits, I have confidence that you can pact with them all, even Volt. Think about it, you already have three under your control, right?"
"Y-You're right." Sheena says with a little more confidence in her voice, and she continues on with "Thank you." Riku nods his head and points out "Hey, you helped me out too, so thanks for that."
Sheena then walks off to have a conversation with someone else, while Riku folds his arms against his chest and thinks in a contemplative manner "This thing that keeps happening to my powers, this can only be caused by an outside force…But who? Who could keep messing with my elements?"
This was a question that couldn't be answered during this current quest, so Riku just didn't let it linger in his mind. After another hour or so of sea travel, the group docks near a man-made cave entrance and exits the EC, where Lloyd excitedly uses the wing pack to store it again.
Everyone then turns towards the cave entrance, where Regal comments "This is the Toize Valley Mine. Be careful as we enter, I heard that there is a defense system to keep anyone but the workers out." With this cautionary hint, the group walks into the mines to seek out some Inhibitor Ore.
The cave was surprisingly bright on the inside without the use of lights on the walls. Instead, the gleam of two orbs on a large, heavily fortified wall gives the area a blue-green glow. With the doorway to the mines sealed tightly, everyone is forced to pause in place and check the area out. Zelos comments "So is this the defense system you mentioned? Doesn't seem that impressive, honestly."
Looking around the area and hearing not even a single sound besides the echo of his voice, Zelos further states "How eerie, it's like the place is a ghost mine." Sheena groans and exclaims to the man "Will you be quiet?! We're trying to concentrate here!"
Zelos says "Aren't we touchy today?" In a suave-as-usual manner. Regal glances at the wall and quietly comments as Lloyd walks past him "…This isn't good." As Lloyd stares up and down at the wall he asks "What's wrong?"
Regal notices some creaking in the wall and comments as he turns to face everyone else "Someone destroyed the system when they tried to force their way through. The system is out of control."
"And we can't get through because of it?" Raine asks, to which Regal replies with a nod of his head. A loud 'chink' directs everyone's attention towards Lloyd as he pulls out his two swords and exclaims "Then let's bust it up even more!" He showed a little enthusiasm at the idea as he spoke.
"That's our Lloyd! Always coming up with easy to understand plans!" Zelos jokingly comments. Colette also happily says "If Lloyd's ok with it, then so am I!" Genis shrugs his shoulders and says after a sigh "…Are you sure? What if this backfires?"
Riku turns towards Regal and asks him "Would you say the defense system would explode and cause a cave-in if we attacked it?" Regal holds his hand against his chin and comments "I wouldn't think so…" With this bit of approval, the teenage Overlord draws out his sword and exclaims "Then tear down this wall we shall!"
Zelos whips out his sword and runs at one of the orbs, performing a hard slash that ends up making the defense system aware of their presence. A turret activates at the center of the black and green inscription behind the group. Riku deals with that using a simple diagonal sword swipe, and he leaps back as the turret explodes to avoid taking a hit while using a pocket of wind to prevent the shrapnel from hitting anyone else.
Genis casts Thunder Blade on the defense system, dealing a hefty amount of damage to the circuitry while preventing it from fighting back. At the same time Lloyd does an upward arc-shaped slash that he follows up on with a downward arc slash, and behind him Colette holds one hand against her chest while levitating above the ground with her angel wings. A ring of pink light surrounds the ground below her feet, and after a flash of light she fires a multitude of glowing pink angel feathers at the wall.
The bombardment of feathers pierces right through the defense system's walls, opening the way for Regal to deliver a sharp kick into one of the processor units on the right side of the door, destroying it completely. Zelos punctures another unit on the left side with his sword tip, which causes a chain reaction within the defense wall that shuts it down entirely. The door creaks open, allowing entrance to the rest of the mine.
Zelos pulls his sword out and flips it back into his holster, saying in a jovial manner "Well that was easy! Now, let's go get that whatchamacallit!" Genis quickly and angrily reminds him "Inhibitor Ore!" The Chosen snaps his fingers and says "Yeah, that thing! Come on, let's go!"
Regal tilts his head and says quietly in thought "…They're all so violent." He says nothing else as he follows the group through the doors.
Inside of the mines is a bunch of ancient looking machinery that still operates perfectly, but considering the type of mine this is everyone here wishes that they wouldn't be working. Finding these technological marvels astounding, Raine's eyes lighten up with sheer joy as she lets out a booming laugh and says in an almost squealing voice "The machines in this mine are fascinating. Look at their sturdiness, their perfect movements, their ability to carry all these rocks and Exspheres!"
Regal is surprised by Raine's sudden shift in behavior, but at the same time is pleased to hear her speak intellectually about her surroundings and offers up more knowledge to her in the form of "This was a mine from the ancient times. These machines are relics from that time."
Raine swiftly turns her head at Regal and exclaims to him "W-What?! Rather than preserving ancient relics, they're still actively using them here?!" Regal is taken aback by this remark, and with an embarrassed tilt of his head that Raine doesn't pick up on in her frenzy he says "Well, I suppose you could look at it that way, but-"
Raine swings her body to face the machines and stamps her foot down while proclaiming "Blasphemy! This cannot be allowed! Bring me the one responsible, now!" Regal merely sighs at what he had just set in motion and says in a calm, apologetic tone "I…I'm sorry." The words fall deaf on Raine's ears though.
After using a lift one after the other the group crosses to the other side of the room they are in, where Regal directs them towards a tunnel to the left. However, a large grey boulder impedes their progress. "We can't keep going with that in the way!" Genis obviously points out.
Zelos turns to face Regal and asks him slyly "What now, Mr. Regal?" Regal rubs the bottom of his chin, perturbed by the presence of the boulder as he explains "In case something like this happens, a special item has been prepared in this mine. I'm sorry, but please go back to the previous tunnel. 'It' should be in there somewhere."
"What do you mean by 'it'?" Zelos calmly asks. Regal turns around and ignores the question as he says "Come on, let's go." The group walks off for the special item, while Zelos says in a flustered manner "Hey, don't leave me behind! …." While he's alone for a few seconds, the Chosen comments "Is it just me, or has his personality changed since we got here?"
After Zelos catches up with everyone, the group makes their way to another Sorcerer's Ring altar close by. Lloyd activates it and holds it up in front of his face while commenting "Wonder what it can do now?"
Regal nervously suggests "I would advise against using that in close proximity to your body." Lloyd lowers his hand and glances back at Regal while asking "Huh? What do you mean?"
"The Sorcerer's Ring was used here to blast rock by creating a condensed ball of mana that explodes in three seconds." Regal's explanation leads to Lloyd awkwardly glancing at the ring and then turning around and saying in an understanding manner "Gotcha. I'll try and be careful."
"You know, I could have just cut the rocks down with my sword if I set it out fire." Riku points out as the group starts to head back to the boulder. "The boulders are made of a specific stone that can only be affected by mana." Regal explains, which was honestly something that made some degree of sense considering the contents.
Back at the boulder, Lloyd uses the ring to blow it up easily, and after recovering from the near deafening explosion they continued on through the mines once more. Along the way the group runs into a mechanical gate, which causes Zelos to comment "Damn, another gate!" Regal calmly points out as the group stops in place "Relax, the inhibitor ore is not that way." He flinches after realizing what he just made note of.
But it was too late, the perceptive Lloyd asks "How do you know that?" Which forces Regal to admit "…I've worked in this mine before." Raine and Zelos both think about this remark to themselves, with Raine commenting "…I see. Then let's be on our way." While Zelos whispers "Hmm. You worked in a mine? Yeah, right…"
With that little distraction out of the way, the group advanced on through the mines, using the ring to blow up any obstacle that stands in their way. It can be said that Lloyd probably enjoyed using the mana bomb a little too much, but he thankfully didn't cause damage to the structure of the mine.
After passing through most of the mine, the group ends up in a secluded cavern filled with boxes and a single waterfall. Regal turns to face the group and says to them all "This is the inhibitor ore mining area."
Lloyd glances around the room at all of the boxes strewn about, commenting in a puzzled tone "Umm…Which one has the inhibitor ore?" Regal calmly suggests to everyone "Hmm…Let's search the area. There may be some left over in the wooden boxes."
Zelos impatiently says to Regal "Oh, please, I'm not going through all those boxes! Let's just blow them all up!" To the dismay of most of the group, Lloyd actually agrees with the Chosen's plan enthusiastically.
"Lloyd…You just want to keep using the Sorcerer's Ring, don't you?" Genis points out. Regal lets out a distressed sigh at how Lloyd is handling the ring, but Riku notices this and reassures him by saying "Hey, Zelos does have a point. Breaking apart the boxes will be quicker than opening them up one by one."
The teenage Overlord pulls out his sword and says to Regal "If it helps, I'll cut some of the boxes down myself. I shouldn't be able to cut down any Inhibitor Ore inside."
Riku and Lloyd work together on opposing sides of the cavern, going through box after box until Lloyd eventually finds the ore they need. Regal notices that Lloyd's efforts have succeeded, and says to him "Good work Lloyd."
Colette cheers "Woo-hoo! We can save Presea now!" Hearing the success from the other side of the cavern, Riku immediately leaps across the room and dispels his sword while commenting "So now all we have to do is create a Key Crest, right?"
Lloyd stands up and nods his head, saying to Riku "Yeah." Regal asks "How long will it take?"
Lloyd explains quickly "TO be honest, only a dwarf could do it right. But if I carve the charm directly into this, I think it'll serve in place of a Key Crest. It that's all right, I can make it right away. Wait just a little bit, ok?"
The group lets Lloyd sit down and work on the Inhibitor Ore for a while, enjoying the calming environment around them until he finishes up his work a few minutes later. Lifting the charm up, Lloyd examines it closely and says "…I think this will do. Later, once Presea has returned to her normal self, let's have Dad or Altessa make a real one."
As Lloyd gets on his feet, Regal comments "I understand. Then it's time we return. It is unbearable to leave Presea in that house steeped with the stench of death." Lloyd nods his head in agreement.
Everyone starts to walk back out of the mines, but as they near the dismantled defense system they find three people blocking their way. There were two lightly armored knights with beak-shaped helmets, and they were both taking orders from a portly man wearing a green miner's outfit with a little patch of hair atop his otherwise bald head. "It's not good, there're no Exspheres around here, either." The portly man says in a disappointed voice.
Regal's muscles tighten in disbelief and anger as he exclaims "…Vharley!" The man flinches in surprise and turns around to look at the cuffed up man, saying in a jolly tone of voice "Regal! So you're the one who destroyed the guard system outside."
Lloyd blinks a few times and asks "Ummm…Who're you?" Zelos explains in a puzzled tone "That's…Vharley, the Expshere broker. What's he doing here?"
Regal steps forward and angrily glares at Vharley, saying in a rather unhinged tone "Why are you here?! Why has the Pope let you stay free?! That's not what I agreed to!"
The knights beside Vharley walk forward and brandish their swords, but the portly man brushes them aside and arrogantly glares up at Regal while laughing. He then goes on to say "Did you think the Pope would REALLY keep a promise to a murderer? Have you forgotten your promise to bring us Colette? I guess so, because you joined up with them instead!" The man's tone was completely nonchalant as he said all this.
Regal's muscles creak at the joints of his cuffs, and he proclaims to Vharley as he starts to kneel down "Silence! If the Pope will not fulfill his promise, then I will punish you myself!"
Vharley recognizes Regal's stance, and immediately cowers back as the man leaps into the air and sticks his foot out to dive straight at the portly man. Vharley and his two knights back away just as Regal crashes into the ground with all of his strength, his impact fracturing the ground so hard that the pathway nearly collapses beneath his feet.
Regal is covered by a cloud of dust rock as Vharley panics and says "N-No way! I'm getting out of here!" He then quickly flees from the mines with his two companions, which is followed up by Regal standing upright and pushing forward while exclaiming "Vharley!"
Colette calmly asks Regal as she walks up from behind "Mr. Regal…How do you know that man?" While Genis follows up with a concerned "He called you a murderer…"
Regal grimaced slightly at what was being said of him, but knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt that since his past was being revealed one bit at a time it wouldn't hurt to be honest about this bit. Turning around to face the rest of the group while saying "I am a prisoner serving time for the crime of murder. I won't blame you if you look down on me."
Lloyd is interested to know more of the details and asks "What happened?" Regal shakes his head and says to the disheartened Lloyd "…Explaining would be an excuse. I committed a crime. That's all that needs to be said."
After a few moments of silence, Lloyd closes his eyelids and replies to Regal with "…My stupid actions have killed many people…I don't know what you did, and your crime won't go away, but when you're suffering, it's all right to at least say so."
Colette follows up on this with an awkward and rather cheesy sounding response "Um, I don't know how to explain it very well, but I think we have the Goddess inside all our hearts. So I think the Goddess also bears the burden of your sins with you." Regal raises an eyebrow at what Colette just said, and the girl nervously backs off and says "Umm…That's all."
Regal closes his eyelids and murmurs to himself while thinking about what the two had just mentioned to him. His response to them both is "…Perhaps someday I will have the opportunity to tell the story…I apologize…"
After that moment the group as a whole drops the subject of Regal's past transgressions and they continue to exit the mines, keeping Vharley's presence in mind as they set up the EC and prepare to head back to Ozette to save Presea.
Along the way, Genis slowly approaches Regal in a rather awkward manner, looking down at the ground as he mentions quietly "…You've…killed a human being." Regal was both surprised and somewhat saddened to mention in response "…That's correct."
The two share a rather melancholy stare between each other, leading to Regal saying in an apologetic tone "…I apologize. I imagine it's not easy traveling with a criminal. I hope you can tolerate me for a short while. Just enough for us to save Presea from the curse of her Esphere."
Genis mentions "…I…I'm a murderer, too." This sentence makes Regal stare down at Genis in disbelief. The fact that a person his age is saying something like that almost calmly was rather perturbing to the man as he expressed it with a simple "…What?"
"I've hurt countless people in order to protect myself." Genis follows up with. Regal is silent for a few moments and waits as the half-elf states "I don't know what it was you did…But I won't tell you to leave just because you've killed people."
"…I see." Regal felt a little bit happier knowing that Genis was warming up to him a bit more, and the half-elf follows up with "Because in the end, we're all the same."
The man cracks a half-smile and says "Thank you." Genis perks up a little more and exclaims "But that doesn't mean I like you, understand?!" Regal laughs at the response given to him and says happily "I see…Thank you, Genis."
Riku, who was listening in on the conversation between Regal and Genis, says as Genis walks off "All of us here have killed someone or something before, but what separates us from the Desians and Cruxis is that we don't enjoy killing. The fact that Genis approached you like that proves how much of a conscience we all have."
"You've killed someone before?" Regal asks in surprise, since from his perspective Riku wasn't that much older looking than Genis. "My role in the universe entails that, naturally…But I'm talking about something else entirely. Because of one mistake, one of the greatest heroes I ever knew died. And it was all my fault."
"…But you weren't the direct cause of their death." Regal points out. Riku folds his arms and leans back against the wall, replying to the man in kind "You're right, I wasn't. But in the end, it was my poor judgment on the situation that led to his demise. A poor judgment born from inexperience…No excuses to be said, just the cold hard truth of the matter."
"So you still carry the weight of guilt around…" Regal wisely comments. Riku adds on to that with "You know, I think that's a better way to describe us all. We're all doing the best we can to shed away the guilt created by one crucial moment in our lives."
"Can one truly do that?" Regal asks of the boy. Riku, who just mentioned his own guilt, could only respond with a simple "I don't really know how to answer that."
"…" Regal hums to himself, finding that Riku's point held a little less weight considering his answer. The two then drop their conversation then and there, for there was nowhere else it could go…
Next Time: Mizuho's Tragedy