Chapter 27: The Hunt for a Cure
Departing from Iselia for the time being, the group heads for the west side of the village, going into the forest path near the now abandoned Human Ranch. Passing by it, Raine folds her arms and glances at it, saying in a calm tone of voice "Hmmm…While we have a chance, shouldn't we destroy the ranch?"
"There's no point. The Desians are done for in Sylvarant, we can leave this ranch be." Kratos says, and Lloyd follows up by mentioning "Besides, it's too close to the village this time. You wouldn't want any debris flying into Iselia, right Professor?"
"…No, I suppose you're right. Forgive me for the distraction." Raine apologizes for the distraction and goes back with the rest of the group so they can continue on to Lloyd's house. Going through the forest takes another ten minutes, and after crossing a stone bridge over a tiny creek they arrive at a humble two-story wood house covered in bits of moss. There was a small gravestone off to the left, and a stable to the right that held an odd dog/horse hybrid with green and white fur.
Standing outside the house was a middle-aged man that was slightly taller than Presea and Genis but had a more muscular build to him. He had a heavy set of eyebrows and a thick brown beard, and he wore brown gloves along with an archaic set of worksmith clothes. The man turns around and looks at the approaching group, widening his eyes at the size of it before looking at Lloyd and saying his name in a chipper, Scottish tone of voice.
Lloyd pauses in place and smiles before saying "Dad! How've you been? Were you affected by the earthquake?" The dwarf named Dirk punches his sturdy chest and claims proudly "This area is on top of hard bedrock. Everything is fine." Lloyd let out a sigh of relief that his dad was safe and sound immediately afterwards.
Kratos then looks at Dirk and says to him "Dirk, we are here by the request of Colette's family. They wish for you to help her." Dirk rubs the bottom of his beard and says "Little Colette is in trouble? Hmmm, if it won't be a bother, I'd like to hear how things have been going for you, Lloyd."
"Huh? Sure thing dad. Might as well go inside, some of us have been walking around for a while." After Lloyd suggests this plan, the group walks into the house, and the more tired members sit on the nearby chairs while Lloyd and Kratos update Dirk on everything that has happened since Lloyd and Genis were banished from Iselia.
"…I am glad to hear that you will be able to go back into the village. I didn't know what to think when I heard you were banished, but now that you have dealt with the human ranch I can only say that I'm proud of you Lloyd. It seems you have come a long way." Dirk gave his praise quietly to his son, and Lloyd smiled and said "Thanks dad."
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid that Cruxis Crystals, regardless of whether they are an evolved form of the Exsphere, are something I don't know anything about. Judging by your story though, you'd have a better shot getting answers from that dwarf in that Tethe'alla place." Dirk had a hard time explaining himself to Lloyd considering how much he wanted help, but Lloyd took this news mostly in stride as he said "Oh…so even you don't know anything about these."
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of help…But while you are here, feel free to stay the night, I'm sure you've had a long day." Dirk's polite offer makes Zelos stretch his arms out in front of his body and say "Boy you aren't kidding. Thank you Lloyd's adoptive father!"
Kratos turns towards the door and calmly replies to the offer with "…I must politely decline." As everyone turns to look at Kratos, Riku quietly slips off to climb the nearby staircase for his own reasons. Dirk waves his arm out and says in an understanding tone "Ah…all right."
Kratos exits through the front door, but Lloyd doesn't let it shut as quickly runs out to the follow the man. As Kratos headed on his way, Lloyd stopped him with an urgent proclamation of "Wait!" Meanwhile, Riku can be seen looking down from the deck of the second floor. Kratos doesn't turn to face Lloyd as the boy asks him "Are you really going back to Cruxis?"
The man calmly yet firmly reminds Lloyd "…I am an angel of Cruxis." Lloyd swings his right arm out and says "Then why didn't you follow Yggdrasill's orders to leave the Great Seed alone?" Kratos quickly explains "I have my reasons…that's all. But as a result, Martel was not lost. That goes along with Yggdrasill's wishes."
"It's true then. You really are our enemy…" Lloyd seemed rather disappointed as he said this, and this makes Kratos take pause before he turns around and addressed him with a quiet "…Lloyd." Lloyd glances at Kratos in bewilderment, and the man quietly explains to him "If you want to save the Chosen, you should research the records from the Ancient Kharlan War. Remember the words of the unicorn at Lake Umacy."
Kratos then turns around and begins to head off once more, but yet again Lloyd tries to stop him with another question he exclaims with all of his might "Wait! Why are you with Cruxis when you're a human?!" Kratos crosses the bridge and passes by Sheena as she enters the area, and as Lloyd lowers his head and Sheena glances at the man Riku leaps off of the house and silently glides after Kratos to talk to him about something before he's out of sight.
The teenage Overlord lands on the ground a fair distance ahead of Kratos, hiding behind a tree for a few seconds until Kratos passes him by. The man takes pause for a moment and lowers his head while commenting "You are not very good at hiding, Elemental Overlord."
Riku pulls away from the tree and says to Kratos "Well it was my intention to be in plain sight. So you're heading back to Derris-Kharlan again, Kratos?" Kratos turns to face the teenage Overlord and asks "And if I am?"
Riku shrugs and says to him nonchalantly "Nothing, really. We'll be seeing each other again soon enough, but will you continue to be our enemy or will you be our ally for good?" Kratos glances at Riku with a raised eyebrow and says to him "You are continuing to assume that I will be your ally. You could not make your knowledge of future events anymore obvious, could you?"
"I figured there's no point in being subtle after my talk with Yuan. And I'm right to assume you haven't told Mithos any of this, right?" Riku states, and then Kratos goes on to say "I see no reason to do so. Elemental Overlord, would you be so kind as to heed my words for a moment?"
Riku nods his head, and Kratos goes on to explain "You would be wise to not continue to rely on your knowledge of future events. You have the advantage only until the moment where things go differently than you are expecting them to." The teenage Overlord smiles at the man and says to him "So long as I know what the future holds, I can set things back on the right path. I won't let any divergence get in my way ever again."
"Heh, is that so? We'll see how that ends up for you. Also, I feel I should tell you this now…You will not have to worry about me trying to capture you for Lord Yggdrasill. I can tell that you won't be willing to revive Martel, and since we have our original method back soon enough it's not necessary." Kratos explains himself, and Riku points out "Yeah, you'll try and capture Colette again once we cure her of the Toxicosis."
"Until then, however, farewell." Kratos summons his angel wings and takes flight off towards the falling night sky, leading to him disappearing mere moments later. Riku then turns around and says to himself "I guess I'll try and get some sleep."
Walking back to Dirk's house, Riku looks towards the second story and sees Colette and Lloyd speaking to one another about Colette's illness. The teenage Overlord smiles and thinks to himself "I won't bother listening in…It'd be awkward if I was caught." Riku then walks into the house, where he finds most of the group having a good ol' time eating food that Dirk and Regal have cooked up.
Dirk looks at Riku and says to him "Ah, Riku was it? There's plenty of grub around for you to eat, on the house from yours truly." Riku glances over at the table and sees Zelos biting down on a heavy load of meat. He raises one piece into the air and says as he chews "Come on Riku…The food is gweat!" His words were slightly jumbled, and thanks to the way he spoke food spit out on the table slightly.
Sheena groans and comments "Zelos, you're such a pig!" This earns a chuckle from the Chosen of Tethe'alla, and a swift slap to the cheek from Sheena. Riku decides to sit down and eat for a while, and once the group was all done it didn't take long for everyone to hit the sack for the night minus Riku and Dirk. The teenage Overlord says to Dirk "You dwarves really like to stay up just a bit longer than humans and half-elves, huh?"
"Even in the wee hours of night, there's still work to be done." Dirk looks up at Riku's face and taps his chest with his fist. "Dwarven Vow 41: It's better to begin in the evening than not at all." He proudly says this vow, and the teenage Overlord jokingly replies "I've heard a few Dwarven Vows from Lloyd already, it's easy to see why."
"Haha, I taught that boy well, even if I'm not his real dad. Anyways, I'm off to chop some wood for tomorrow, if you need me just search in the northern part of the forest." Dirk then takes out a giant axe from the wall and heads outside the house. After that, Riku taps his head with his left hand and begins to communicate with the dark dimension Sodenko and Takashi are inside of.
"Sorry it took so long guys, we had to deal with the aftermath of that tree incident. How is Sodenko holding up?" Riku comments, and Takashi replies in turn "I have never seen her shivering this much. She refuses to say anything to me too. Whatever happened when we were split up has really traumatized her."
"…Sodenko, do you want to talk to me?" Riku inquires in an empathetic tone of voice, but the dragon of light remains silent long enough to warrant the teenage Overlord asking "Whenever you're ready to talk, just let me know."
"…R-Riku, wait a moment…I need to get this off my chest now…" Sodenko was very hesitant in her words, as expected considering how Takashi described her condition, and Riku paid close attention as the dragon of light explained "…I-I wanted to thank you for saving me earlier. After what you heard about me and my unwillingness to help…You still chose to save me."
"Well of course I did. No one will get left behind, especially not my friends." Riku is honest about his intentions, and a moment later he starts hearing Sodenko sobbing quietly in his head. "Heh…heh…When I was trapped near the mana links…I came to realize just how much I hated being alone. I suppose being trapped with your brother for 2000 years can make it that much harder to leave his side…But I truly thought that I would have been trapped there in that cold part of the realm for the rest of time…"
"Sister…" Takashi expressed deep surprise over Sodenko's behavior, and Riku went on to say in turn "This won't happen again Sodenko. I give you my word that I will not let you and Takashi be separated, even if I have to defy the laws of the universe to make that possible!"
"Riku…Thank you." Sodenko gracefully thanks the boy, and Riku says in response with a slight grin on his face "However, I'm not freeing you from that chain quite yet." Sodenko slyly grins in her realm and says "Part of my intentions were that obvious, weren't they?"
"I can tell you were being honest about how you felt, Sodenko, but beyond that I knew your true intentions. It's fine though, you are at least not trying to hide your attempt this time, so I'll put it into consideration. Right now though, I just need you guys to stay back in the realm until I'm done with this world. People clearly noticed the giant dragon attacking a tree, and I don't need to cause more of a panic by summoning you again." Once Riku finished explaining himself, he could feel the two dragons nodding in an understanding manner, and they ended their conversation right there.
Riku then ends up spending the rest of the night wide awake, which surprised Dirk by the time he hauled back a hefty supply of chopped wood for later use. But the dwarf didn't question the matter even though he had plenty of time to do so. Morning eventually came to the land of Sylvarant, and the group wakes up ready to head back to Tethe'alla and deal with Colette's illness. Naturally though, Dirk offers them a delicious breakfast before sending them on their way.
Once outside the house Genis asks "So what are we gonna do now? See Altessa?" He needed a reminder of the plan, and Sheena nods her head and says "Yes. Regardless of whether not we trust Kratos' words, we'd be better off returning to Altessa's place for now."
Zelos scratches the side of his head and says "But can we really trust him though? Kratos, that is…" Lloyd shrugs his shoulders and hesitantly notes "We don't have any other leads. All we can do is keep going!"
"You know, the shoulder shrug isn't giving me any confidence, Lloyd." Zelos bluntly points out, but Lloyd doesn't bother to respond afterwards. The group walks away from Dirk's house and head on back to their Rheairds that they left parked near the Iselia Human Ranch, and then they take off for the sky and swerve themselves towards the dimensional gate above the Sylvarant Renegade Base. It takes them a few minutes to get there, but once they do they are swiftly warped back to Tethe'alla.
After that, it only takes a few minute for them to land in front of Altessa's house, where they find fallen boulders off to the right of the door. "Guess the earthquake got to here. I hope everyone's ok…" Presea comments before the group enters through the front door, where Altessa immediately turns away from Mithos and says in a surprised tone of voice "You're back! If that's so, then the world must be…"
Lloyd nervously rubs the back of his head and says "Actually…" For the next few minutes Altessa is briefed on everything that has happened since they last spoke, and once the matter was over with he murmured out "I see…So that's what caused the massive earthquake yesterday."
"Was there any major damage on this side?" Lloyd asks in a concerned tone of voice, and Altessa reassured him quickly with "It seems that the other regions were not greatly affected. But…" He was hesitant to explain the next part in Genis' presence, but Tabitha opens her mouth and explains "THERE WAS LANDSLIDES AND FALLING ROCKS IN THIS AREA. AND BECAUSE OF THAT, MITHOS WAS…"
Genis then happens to notice that Mithos had a light scar on this right arm, and with widened eyes he comments "Hey! Mithos, what happened? You're hurt!" Mithos nervously clenched his scar and turns away, trying to reassure his friend by murmuring out "Ah…this is…It's okay. I'm fine now…"
Tabitha explains since Mithos was unwilling "DID YOU SEE THE BOULDERS OUTSIDE? YESTERDAY, THERE WAS A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE, AND THE BOULDERS FELL TOWARD ME. MITHOS SAVED ME." Lloyd smiles proudly at Mithos and says to him "That's really impressive, Mithos. And you saved us back in Rodyle's Ranch, too. You're a really nice guy, Mithos."
Mithos' face turns a slight shade of red and he says in an embarrassed tone of voice "N-No…I'm not really…" Presea adds on to Lloyd's remark by mentioning "Mithos is a…kind…person." Genis enthusiastically says with a smile on his face "Yeah! You helped us find Raine when she disappeared, too. You're awesome, Mithos!"
The nervous half-elf glances down and whispers out "…Thank you, everyone." Meanwhile, Zelos and Riku both say to themselves "…A nice guy? …Hmm…" However, this just causes them to suspiciously glare at each other for a brief moment.
Once the matter of Mithos' health was at an end, Altessa said to the group "Anyways, regarding Colette's illness, it's most likely Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium." The length of the illness' name along with the choice of words made Lloyd's head spin, and he murmurs out in an attempt to repeat it "Chr…chronic…angelus?…"
Altessa sighs and then explains "Rejection of the crystal is said to occur in one out of every million people. But I've heard that knowledge of the cure was lost long ago. If you could find records from the Ancient War, then perhaps…" Lloyd then shakes off his confusion and notes "So it all comes back to the Ancient War…But where do go to find records of it?"
Regal thinks to himself for a few moments and then mentions "There's an archive building in Sybak that is dedicated to the history of Mithos the Hero." Zelos glances at Regal and says to him "Huh? Now that you mention it, didn't someone else say something about that before?"
"…Come to think about it, Riku said he did a lot of research on the world in Sybak." Raine then glances over at the teenage Overlord, who stutters out in turn "Y-Yeah, but I never looked up anything regarding the Ancient Kharlan War. I'm not useful this time around."
"W-Well, I've frequented the building a few times. I can show you around if you want me to come along…" Mithos admits, and Genis enthusiastically accepts the help with a "Yeah! That'd be great!" However, Lloyd reads his friend's intentions and comments "You just want to go with Mithos." A mischievous chuckle then emerges from Genis' mouth.
"Thanks for helping us out Altessa. We'll take Mithos with us to Sybak for now and then come back if we find anything out." Lloyd says, and the dwarf nods his head in an appreciative manner before Mithos walks forward to join the rest of the group in exiting the house.
Before they make it to the Rheairds, however, Genis stands beside Mithos and says to him "Oh by the way Mithos, I wanted to give you this!" Genis reaches into his pockets as his puzzled half-elf friend glances at him and tilts his head. Genis pulls out Aska's flute and hands it to him, which makes Mithos flinch in surprise for a brief moment.
"It's a replica of your sister's flute…I-I know it's not the same, but I thought you'd like it…" Genis felt a little embarrassed giving this to his friend, and Mithos had similar feelings as he reached for the flute and said "Genis…I-I don't know what to say."
"Well…Just thank Lloyd for crafting the flute. I was just holding onto it for now…" Genis humbly admits his role regarding the flute, and after Mithos puts it away in his shirt he looks at Lloyd and says to him "Thank you for doing this for me Lloyd…"
"Hehe, not a problem Mithos. Glad you like it." Lloyd says as he glances over his shoulder, but then he proceeds to face his Rheaird and climb on top of it while Genis and Mithos share one together. The group flies off towards the western part of Tethe'alla to arrive at Sybak once more. It had been a while since they were there, but the place was still thriving with intellectual activity.
It was easy to find the archives on the northern part of town, and upon entering the place the group is greeted by shelves upon shelves of books detailing the history of this world. Raine let out a quiet rasp of joy upon scanning it all, while Mithos takes the lead and says to the group "We should be able to find materials pertaining to Mithos the Hero and his companions on the eastern part of this building."
"Well, guess we should split up. Colette, try not to use your wings just in case any of the Pope's men are looming around." Lloyd says, and the group goes their own separate ways within the building to try and find the book they need. There were many books regarding Summon Spirits, a few fictional tales regarding the Ancient Kharlan War, and even a biography by someone who lived before the worlds were split.
It took a while, but eventually after skimming through one of the historical books regarding the war Sheena turns around and says to the group "I think I found something guys!" Lloyd, being the closest to Sheena, ran up to her and asked "What'd you find?"
Sheena points at an open part of the book and comments "One of Mithos' companions was afflicted with a disease that crystallizes the body. There's even a description of what it looks like, and it's very similar to what's happening to Colette!" Once the rest of the group gathers around Sheena, Colette asks "Umm…What happened to that person?"
Glancing into the book before Sheena can get the chance, Presea replies "It seems her disease was cured…Just like Altessa suggested." Lloyd felt extremely glad to hear that, and demanded to know more "Does it say what the cure is?!"
Sheena lifts the book closer to her face and scans the words over, repeating the information quietly to the others "It says a unicorn saved the maiden. Could that be referring to the Unicorn Horn that we got at Lake Umacy?" "…If so, then we already know that those healing arts can't help Colette." Raine sadly comments, but she begins to rub her chin in thought upon hearing this information.
"Now that you mention it, the unicorn did say he lived for healing Martel's sickness…or something like that." Sheena comments, and Lloyd in turn brings up how "It's just as Kratos said…'Remember the unicorn's words.'"
"I wonder who Kratos really is?" Colette ponders, and Zelos bluntly mentions to the group "Have you forgotten already my dear Colette? He's a traitor." He then turns to face Lloyd and says to him directly "What are you gonna do if you trust him and wind up regretting it?"
"…" Lloyd is silent for a moment, but then he turns to Zelos and says to him "We didn't listen to Kratos' warning once before and look what almost happened. We should try and test it out before we worry about it being true or not." Once he was done, Sheena clamps the book shut and backs up Lloyd's words with a confident "Yeah! We can only do what we can!"
Zelos subtly sighs at Lloyd's optimism, but cracks a smile nonetheless and says "Alright then, guess we can go for it." Mithos then looks at Lloyd and comments in a surprised tone of voice "Lloyd…I can't believe how strong you are."
"You think so?" Lloyd replies in a humble sounding tone, and Mithos follows up by asking "How can you be so positive when there may be a trap and only darkness may lie up ahead?" It was an odd thing for the half-elf to say out of the blue, but nobody comments on it as Lloyd calmly says "I think it's because my friends will be there to help me. If I was alone, I think I would have already been crushed by the weight of the burden."
Mithos looks down solemnly and says "I…I wish I'd have had friends like that…" Lloyd then takes one hand onto Mithos' right shoulder and says "You're our friend now, right?" The half-elf looks up at Lloyd as Genis jokingly comments "Yeah! You're one of Lloyd's friends! Although, you may end up catching his stupidity."
Lloyd's expression jolts briefly into anger as he turns around and exclaims "Hey! Genis!" This little exchange between the two makes Mithos burst into a short laugh, and he then says to Lloyd "Yeah…I really envy you."
"So…How can we find more information on the Kharlan War?" Presea then asks, leading to a moment of extended silence from the group before Mithos brings to their attention "I've heard that the royal family has complied and stored most of the material concerning Mithos and the Kharlan War."
This ignites a spark of remembrance in Zelos' head, and he says to the group afterwards "During the Kharlan War, Mithos DID have various interactions with the rulers." Raine folds her arms in a disappointed manner and says "So it's Meltokio then…So the Pope will be breathing down our necks once more. It's dangerous, but we have no other choice, do we?"
"Yeah. We'll head for Meltokio right away, but you should go back, Mithos. We'll take a detour back to Altessa's place and-" Before Lloyd finishes his sentence, Mithos interrupts by mentioning "It's ok. I can make it back on my own."
"But…" Lloyd's concerned for Mithos' safety, but the half-elf comments "It's fine. Don't you need to hurry? And, you're going to be infiltrating the castle, right? So be careful, all of you…"
"…Yeah, I suppose you're right. Okay then guys, let's go!" Lloyd, feeling as though he could trust Mithos to be safe, decided to leave the matter be. The group then began to leave the building save for Zelos, who hangs behind for a moment and whispers out "…Do they all…really believe him?"
He then catches up with everyone else, and after saying farewell to Mithos for the time being they get on their Rheairds and prepare to head for Meltokio. But before they take flight, Raine has a rather perturbed look on her face, and she looks at Riku while thinking back to what she was doing inside of the archive building.
"…Not a single book mentioned the Sylvarant Summon Spirits. Riku knew about them before any of us told him. Could he be just like Kratos after all? A follower of Cruxis waiting to betray us? Or is there something else he's been hiding from us all…" Raine kept this thoughts to herself for the time being, and looked away before Riku noticed her perturbed glare. Focusing on the sky ahead, the group took off for Meltokio to find out more about Colette's condition and the means necessary to cure her…
Next Time: The End of Deception