Chapter 29: Tales of Kharlan
A flight through Tethe'alla's skies takes the group right above the Ymir Forest, which consists of a series of intertwining bridges and trees above a small lake. There was only one entrance, and the group land their Rheairds in front of it before they head off. Once they approach the first bridge into the misty expanse, Raine sniffs the forest air and folds her arms while commenting "…There's no question. Heimdall lies ahead. I still remember…"
"So up ahead…is the place where I was born?" Genis comments in a rather melancholy tone of voice, and after empathetically placing one hand on his friend's shoulder Lloyd says "It's okay. Let's go."
With the support of his friend, Genis is able to go along with the rest of his friends through Ymir Forest. Being careful of any monsters that man inhabit the place, it doesn't take very long for them to traverse the maze-like spread of bridges before they see the hidden village of Heimdall in sight between a group of land-based trees. But before they can cross into the village, a small elf child with clothes similar in design to the ones Genis and Raine have on blocks the way.
He holds his arms out and says nothing until Lloyd politely asks "Hello. Could you let us through?" The boy then replies with a blunt sounding "No!" Lloyd blinks a couple times out of surprise before asking "Huh? Why?"
The elf kid doesn't reply at all to the question as he firms his stance and glares defiantly at the group. Sheena tries to handle things gently by asking "Why won't you let us through?" But the boy once again doesn't budge. Thinking the boy wouldn't recognize her half-human nature, Raine asks "What's going on?"
This time, Lloyd brings up "We can't tell if you don't say anything" to try and get him to budge on his silence. However, this time around the boy slightly trembled in fear, while simultaneously Zelos, ever the smooth one, subtly voices his mood to the boy "You don't want to make us angry, kid!"
Colette steps in front of the group and holds her hands out while commenting "Stop it, everyone. He's scared!" She then turns around and kneels in front of the boy, smiling at him brightly while asking "What is it? Is something wrong?"
The boy looked a little calmer, and Colette cheerfully asked "Do you want to tell us about it?" It was at this point that the elf stopped feeling scared and began to explain "Mommy is…" He does pause once before letting out a quiet gulp and continuing to say "Mom is sick. I need a Ymir Fruit from this forest to save her, but there are monsters roaming around…"
Lloyd pumps his fist in front of his body and says "Okay, gotcha! Then we'll go get that Ymir Fruit for you. Then will you let us through?" The elf boy was really surprised by the behavior of the humans, and understandably asks "You'll really get it for me?"
Nodding his head, Lloyd explains "Dwarven Vow #11: Lying is the first step down the path of thievery. So I don't lie. 'Cause that's my mortal." Zelos jokingly says afterwards "Umm Lloyd, I think you meant to say 'motto'."
Lloyd glares at the Chosen over his shoulder and then looks back at the boy before saying "…Well anyways, we'll go get it for you, so just wait there." The elf boy nervously says "O…okay…"
Before they head off though, Lloyd is wise enough to ask "So where in this forest is it?" The boy is hesitant to admit that "Actually…I don't know much about. Just-" Zelos loses his patience again and says "What? How are we supposed to search for it then?!" The boy pauses for a moment, earning Zelos the irked glares of the entire group before the boy mentions "…But Mom said, when you're in trouble, the butterflies of the forest will guide you."
"Hmm, they say that the butterflies of this forest react to people's hearts. If we're having trouble with something, we should look for the butterflies." Raine wisely explains, and afterwards Lloyd begins to turn around while looking and saying to the boy "Wait right here, we'll be back soon."
The group then heads back into the Ymir Forest, choosing to split up into two groups to cover more ground considering how vast the place is. They thankfully didn't have to go back to the beginning of the forest since they definitely knew they didn't see any fruit trees along the way.
"Follow the butterflies, follow the butterflies…" Lloyd murmurs as he wanders along with Colette, Presea, Riku and Sheena through the eastern part of the forest, his eyes gazing towards the sky and river as he tries to find those flying insects. "I don't think we really need to worry about them…I can sense a mystical fruit just a few yards ahead of us." Riku comments.
"…Oh yeah, you mentioned being able to control plants before. I wonder why we don't have a Summon Spirit for Flowers, now that I think about it." Sheena says in a pondering tone, and Lloyd says in turn "I wonder if the Giant Kharlan Tree is the reason for that?"
"Probably, who knows? Right now, I think we've found the fruit we're looking for." Riku distracts the group from that discussion by gesturing towards the tree ahead of them that held a single plump peach-colored fruit that glowed with mythical energy. There was a small stump to the right of the tree that would make it easy to climb up and grab the fruit, but Presea pulls out her axe and has a different plan in mind "…I'll chop the tree down to get the fruit."
Lloyd is quickly forced to pull Presea back while saying "Whoa whoa Presea! We can't do that, the forest is too thick! You might cause a chain reaction that'll knock all the trees down." Presea turns around and says to Lloyd "…Then what would you suggest?"
"Oh! Let me handle this!" Colette enthusiastically pumps her fists in front of her chest as she offers to get the fruit. She then walks forward and is about ready to summon her wings to go for the fruit when she suddenly trips over one of the tree's roots and slams face first against the tree itself. This causes the Ymir Fruit to fall out of the tree and land straight onto the river in front of it.
"…." Lloyd is kept silent in disbelief for a few seconds before he quickly runs over to help Colette back onto her feet. Colette nervously chuckles while sticking her tongue out, saying to her friends "Hehehe…Oops." Before they all look at the river to see that the fruit is carelessly traveling to the west.
"Ho boy…What are we going to do now?" Sheena says while rubbing the back of her head. Riku folds his arms and lets out a subtle "A-hem!" in hopes of inciting ideas in the minds of the group. Unfortunately, Lloyd ends up saying something different than what Riku intended as he pumped his fist into the air and said "Don't worry, I have a plan! First, we'll track where the fruit goes along the river, and then knock down smaller trees to divert the river's flow. Once that's done, we'll-"
Riku isn't very subtle with his disappointed glare as he extends his right hand out in the middle of Lloyd's plan and pulls the Ymir Fruit right out of the river. Once he dangles it in front of Lloyd's face, he lets go of it so it can drop into Lloyd's hands while he has a dumbfounded expression on his face and says "Or…or we can just do that."
"Reaching at the fruit with your sword also would've worked better than your plan, Lloyd." Riku comments with no annoyance in his voice, and Lloyd turns at him and explains "Well I didn't want to harm the fruit too much."
"Fair enough Lloyd, just thought I'd bring that up." Riku says after letting out a light chuckle. Colette then clasps her hands in front of her chest and merrily says to her friend "Hehe, it didn't sound like a bad plan though, Lloyd. Anyways, lets get the fruit back to that boy."
With fruit in hand, the group heads back to meet with the boy, where they find the rest of their friends had already returned. Lloyd then hands the fruit over to the boy and says "Here you go, just as we promised. Take it to your mother, and I hope she gets well." The boy holds the fruit in his hands and nervously thanks the group with "Th…thank you. They said humans are inconsiderate, but you guys are different. Thank you very much. Go on in now…"
The boy runs off to help his mother, and the group heads onward to the village of Heimdall. But as they make it to the gate, who else would be waiting for them once more but Kratos Aurion. Lloyd pauses in surprise, but this time the feeling is diluted by how often they had been seeing each other lately. "…So you've made it here." Kratos comments in a subtly satisfied tone of voice.
"What?! Then you do know how to cure Colette's illness!" Lloyd immediately draws this conclusion due to Kratos' presence here, and Kratos waves his right hand out while pointing out "And if I did?" To which Lloyd inquires forcefully "Why are you helping us?! Why are you giving us clues about how to save her? And how did you know that Colette's Angel Toxicosis was the same illness that one of Mithos the Hero's companions had?!"
Kratos is quick to point out "And what do you hope to accomplish by asking that?" Which makes Lloyd flinch and reconsider what he had said as he stuttered out in a flustered manner "Ah…well…" Kratos then starts to walk past Lloyd and the others while mentioning quietly "There's no time. Hurry."
Once he's gone, the group just barely moves forward before a more mature looking elf wearing protective gear steps in their way and firmly says to them "This is the village of the elves. No half-elf may pass." Lloyd, Colette and Genis let out a surprised "What?!" in response to this.
"This is a defense measure against those who brought catastrophe to our village. If you cannot accept that, then you humans may not enter either." The elf explains, though he wasn't very pleasant about it. Raine calmly states "Lloyd. We'll wait here. We'll leave the rest in your hands."
Lloyd had a very hard time accepting this, but considering the trip into the village wasn't going to last long he was able to say to Raine and Genis "…All right, if you say so." The elf then explains further "Talk celebrating Mithos as a hero is forbidden in this village." This causes Lloyd to flip back around and blink her eyes while asking "Why?"
"We have no need to explain. Just do as we say." The elf, after being as bare-bones as possible with the rules, steps aside to let the group sans Raine and Genis pass into Heimdall. But even as they entered, the elf glared bitterly at Colette and Zelos in particular. The group walked through the village, which consisted of moss roofed huts camouflaged between the trees. It doesn't take them long to find the elder's house, but not without the villagers staring in contempt at them.
Entering the elder's house, they immediately find the man standing on the other side of the room while staring at a shelf of potted plants that he is tending to with the help of some water magic from his staff. Once he hears the group entering, he turns around and looks at them in surprise. He puts his staff down and remains somewhat on edge as Zelos steps forward and gives the man the letter from the King.
The elder pauses and opens the letter up while everyone else remains cautious, and once he has scanned it's contents fully he tosses the letter on the table to the right of him and says gently to the group "So…You wish to acquire a Mana Leaf Herb, am I understanding that correctly?"
"Yes, it's very important to us." Lloyd explains, and as the elf elder strokes his small pointed beard he also explains "That is an important plant that we elves use in our magic. We can't simply tell anyone where it grows."
"…Are you sure? Without that plant, a friend of our will die." Regal politely asks, which puzzles the elder as he looks at the group and says "What do you mean?" Lloyd is reluctant to admit to the elder "We have a friend who is sick. She has…uh…angel…effect…"
Seeing as his friend had forgotten the term, Zelos steps in by saying "No no, it was chronic angelus…" However, he quickly finds himself tongue-tied as even he has failed to recall the illness' name. Presea then firmly states with perfect remembrance "Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium." Lloyd recovers from his slip-up and gestures back while saying "Yeah, what she said."
The elder then snaps into a state of shock and lets slip "What?! That's Martel's…so that's why Kratos…" He ponders something to himself for a few seconds while Sheena heard what he said and asks "What? Did you just say Martel?!"
"And what about Kratos?! What did he come here for?" Lloyd desperately asks, but the elder refuses to divulge into what he knew as he let out a sigh and calmly explained "Don't worry about Kratos. Mana Leaf Herb grows in a region southeast of here known as the Latheon Gorge. It lies deep within mountains covered in mist. Show this staff to the watchman."
The elder extends his staff out to hand it off to Lloyd, and once the boy takes it he turns around while hearing him say "Elder!" The elder is silent to himself for a few seconds before he states "…I have no more to say to you, humans." Lloyd was devastated to once again be denied any more information about Kratos' past, but in wanting to keep the peace between this village and his friends Lloyd decides to just leave the house without any further problems.
With another destination set for them, the group heads back to the entrance of the village to meet back with Raine and Genis. "That was fast, did everything go ok?" Raine asks. Lloyd shows her the elder's staff and explains "We're heading for the Latheon Gorge for the Mana Leaf Herb…Also, the elder seems to know Kratos and Martel."
"Really? That's curious…You'll have to find out more later. Right now, Colette is our priority." Raine does what she can to keep Lloyd focused, which ends up working out for them as they make their way back through Ymir Forest to reach the Rheairds. After taking off, the group flies in the direction the elder told them to go. The gorge stands out amongst everything else they could find southeast of Heimdall, so it was easy for them to land to head into it.
Another elf was guarding the gorge, but Lloyd quickly shows off the elder's staff, which causes the guard to bow in an understanding manner and step aside to allow the group passage. Once they went deeper into the gorge, they found themselves hit with a rather powerful yet relaxing gale. After it dies out, the group looks towards the cliff to the left of them and find a few plants amongst the cliffs that are letting out the occasional gust of wind in a certain direction.
"Huh? That's interesting. Plants that let out gusts of wind…" Lloyd comments in a semi-intrigued tone of voice, and after he does this he glances to the right and notices a Sorcerer's Ring Altar hidden between two cliffs. He runs over to it and activates it to change the function of his ring. Once he does that he runs back to the group while Raine and Zelos are talking "Um, Professor? Is it just me, or have you been ignoring my words of love lately?"
Raine brushes this off and looks at Lloyd, saying to him curiously "Interesting…Did you find another altar, Lloyd?" The boy nods his head and activates the ring, which ends up surrounding him and his friends in green bubbles of energy. However, this ends up making the group float slightly off the ground due to how weightless they now were. "W-Whoa! What the heck?!" Zelos exclaims in surprise.
"…Fascinating. This is an anti-gravitational field." Regal comments as his bubble spins around slowly. Presea, floating beside him, is busy curiously poking at her bubble without making it pop. "I guess we can use these bubbles with the wind from those flowers to climb the gorge…" Lloyd comments as he presses down on the ring to shut off the bubbles. Everyone thankfully is able to land on their feet or back without hurting themselves too much.
"Well, if a gust of wind is all it'll take, Sheena or I can conjure one up to carry us to the top." Riku comments as he gestures at Lloyd with his right hand. The boy thinks about this for a moment before nodding his head in agreement and saying "Well, I guess it could work since we'd all be encased in bubbles."
"It'd probably be harder for me to summon Sylph in a bubble though, so go ahead and do your thing, Riku." Sheena hands off duty to the teenage Overlord, who nods his head and waits for Lloyd to activate the bubbles again before he takes the wind blanketing the gorge and carries it underneath the group, lifting them all up simultaneously through the gorge. It was a slow ascension, but it was a better alternative than dealing with all the foliage both dead and alive in the area, especially when Colette's remaining time was unknown.
Once Riku notices a lone house near the top of the gorge, he guides the bubbles towards it and tells Lloyd to get ready to drop the effect. Everyone else gets ready to drop on their feet when the bubbles disappear. Once on the ground, they enter the nearby house under the assumption that they'd find some clue towards the Mana Leaf Herb if they went inside.
The first thing they see upon entering the abode is a cloaked man hunched over by the left-most window. When he hears his front door open, the man glances to the left and ends up revealing his pointed ears in the process. Before anyone can comment on it, the man says in a curious tone "…Humans? And half-elves?" For being an elf, he didn't seem too offended by the presence of these people this far up.
"Who are you?" Lloyd asks in a curious tone. The elf smiles and says to the group "I am the Storyteller…Interesting, you seem to have the elder's staff on you. Is there something you have come to obtain?" The man was to the point in his words, which was much appreciated after how vague the other elves were.
"We're here for some Mana Leaf Herb…Please." Colette asks, and the Storyteller explains in a melancholy tone of voice "I'd like to say just take what you need, but the Mana Leaf Herb is in a somewhat difficult place…I don't know if you'll be able to go get it."
Zelos brags to the elf "We've made it all the way up this mountain. We'll get it not matter where it is. We'll just send Lloyd!" Lloyd then angrily glares at Zelos and says "Hey!" While Presea handles the matter with politeness as she bows her head and asks "Please, tell us where it is."
The Storyteller takes a moment to glance at the group in it's entirety, sensing that there was a single thing driving them to desperately seek out the Mana Leaf Herb, and with that in mind he nodded his head and said "Hmm…all right. Follow me." He then starts to head for the door, and as he opens it Riku glances at him and his hunched over pose and thinks to himself "…I wonder…"
The teenage Overlord follows the group outside of the man's house, where a quick trip around the back takes them to a wooden fence that the Storyteller unlocks. He then points towards a cave up in the distance and says "The leaf can be found in the cave ahead…Be careful." He then turns around and begins to head back to his house, while a rousing "Let's go!" from Lloyd tells the group that it was time to make haste towards the cave. Before he went with the group though, Riku opted to turn around and say to the Storyteller "Wait, Storyteller, I have a question to ask you."
The Storyteller takes pause for a moment before turning around to look up at the teenage Overlord and saying "What is it?" Riku inquires of him in turn "Do you know anyone by the name of the Chronicler?"
"The Chronicler? In my life-span, I can't say I have…Heh, I am assume you asked this because our roles are similar, yes?" The Storyteller replies, and Riku nervously rubs the back of his head because of his generalizing in this matter, which earns a laugh from the elf as he says to the teenage Overlord "Don't worry about it for now. I believe you have a friend who needs an Herb to survive."
With the Storyteller's words getting him back on track, Riku turns back around and runs to catch up with the rest of the group. The group finds themselves in front of the cave in a couple of minutes, after they leapt past a waterfall, naturally. Inside this cave is a hole in the ceiling that shines light upon a florescent light-green plant that was as tall as Presea and Genis.
"There's the plant! Let me grab it!" Lloyd enthusiastically runs forward for the plant, when Riku comments "Wait! Hold on, it might be a trap!" But before Lloyd responds to the teenage Overlord's words he grabs part of the plant and picks part of it off. He then turns around and says "A trap? …Huh, it seems to be ok. Did you sense something?"
"U-Umm…That's odd, there should've been a plant guarding the way…I thought I sensed something approaching the cave from the underground." Riku says while feeling perturbed in his thoughts, and as Lloyd walks back he comments "Well we don't have to worry about it now. We got the plant, let's go tell the Storyteller."
The group head out of the cave and go for the Storyteller's house, and once they enter the elf is surprised to see them back already. "Hmm? You already got the Mana Leaf Herb?" He says in a curious tone of voice. "What? Was there something dangerous we were supposed to find in that cave?" Lloyd asks.
"Yes…There was supposed to be a giant plant guarding the Mana Leaf Herb. How curious…But congratulations on acquiring the Herb." The Storyteller's explanation makes Lloyd blink for a few moments before saying to the man "Yeah…It's for our very important friend." This warms Colette's heart, and she places one hand on her chest while saying her friend's name quietly.
"By the way, now that we have a moment, would you be ok with telling us how long you have lived here for?" Raine asks while folding her arms against her chest. The Storyteller nods his head and says with a weary smile "I am the one who passes on the lore of the elven village to the next generation. It is here that I weave various stories into the mana leaf cloth."
"What kind of stories?" Presea asks, and the Storyteller is not hesitant to explain "Legends of elves descending from the sky, and the birth of humans…The rise and fall of the Balacruf Dynasty. The arrival of angels. The Giant Kharlan Tree, the Kharlan War…And the story of the hero, Mithos."
It's the last detail that shocks the entire group, and Zelos waves his hand out while pointing out quickly "Hey, hey, hey! I thought the hero Mithos was taboo in Heimdall?!" The Storyteller calmly mentions "This is not Heimdall. I live here to pass on the legends without being bound by the customs of Heimdall."
"How very dutiful of you." Riku comments, and afterwards Lloyd decides to take a moment to ask "Just who was the hero, Mithos? We keep hearing his name everywhere we go."
"…Mithos was…born in Heimdall." The Storyteller shows a bit of reluctance in telling this tale to the group, but continues on as he realizes how trustworthy they all were "He was an outsider who was cast out of the village when the Kharlan War began. He ended the Kharlan War with his three companions so that he could return to the village."
"An outsider? So you mean…he was a half-elf?" Raine deduces from the information provided, and Zelos freaks out in disbelief as he comments "What? Mithos was a half-elf? That's impossible!"
The Storyteller nods his head and comments "Mithos was indeed a half-elf. Only one of his companions was human, and the others were half-elves. They were treated as outcasts, but overcame that and put an end to the war." The story was being unraveled more with each second, but there was something rather odd about the matter as Regal is quick to point out "Then why is his name taboo in Heimdall?"
Genis immediately assumes angrily "It's because he's a half-elf." But the Storyteller shakes his head and comments in turn "That is incorrect. It is because the hero, Mithos, loved by Origin, is also a fallen hero."
"A fallen hero? What do you mean?" Lloyd asks. The Storyteller then takes in a deep breath and readies himself to explain the longest part of his tale thus far. "The ones who betrayed Origin and used the power of the magic sword given by Originto split the world in two, were none other than Mithos and his companions. Mithos Yggdrasill, his older sister Martel, and their companions, Yuan and Kratos. The four angels changed the nature of the world, and that is why their names are taboo in Heimdall."
The group had to take a moment to collect themselves after hearing the names of the four heroes who stopped the Kharlan War, and Lloyd in particular was devastated when Kratos' name came up. "Y-Yggdrasill of Cruxis is…the hero, Mithos? A-And his companions were Martel, Yuan and Kratos? That's impossible!"
"Kratos is…the friend of a hero from 4,000 years ago?" Colette says, and Regal is quick to point "Even an elf cannot live that long." The Storyteller explains in response to everyone's concerns "Angels can use special combat abilities developed during the Kharlan War. One ability uses the body's mana to alter its metabolism and stop the body's internal clock. This allows them to stop aging and become capable of living longer than elves."
"I think…it is not good for one to exceed the lifespan of its species." Presea wisely says, her words coming from her personal experiences. Lloyd shakes his head as he feels a bit of pain arising from his confusion "I'm totally confused…None of this makes any sense."
Zelos pulls back from his surprise and says "Really? There's at least one thing we know for certain. The power of Origin was involved in splitting the world. And the magic sword…that's the key." Raine is surprised by Zelos' deduction as she proceeds to comment "Exactly. We must be careful not to lose sight of the true problem. Our final goal is to save the two worlds."
"Yeah. We couldn't control the Giant Kharlan Tree, but if we can return the worlds to their true form…" Sheena's sentence is finished off by Regal, who says with a nod of his head "At the very least, we can reform this system that vies for mana."
"Yeah, you're right." Lloyd says, but Zelos and Genis both comment jokingly "It's a waste of time to think when you have no good ideas." Which causes Lloyd to sink his head and say "You guys are mean…"
"Let's go on to our next destination." Presea says to get the group back on track, and before they leave Colette bows her head to the elf and says "Thank you very much for telling us that story." The Storyteller folds his hands behind his back and says to the group "May the Giant Kharlan Tree protect you…" He had concern in his voice as he let the group depart from his house.
With the help of Riku's wind powers and the bubbles form the Sorcerer's Ring, the group is able to make it back to the bottom of the gorge safely, where they head back to the Rheairds and ready themselves for one trip straight to Altamira for the Zircon information. It wasn't a very long trip, and once they land on the ground they walk straight for the Lezareno Company Building with a short ferry trip being their only distraction.
Once inside the building Regal comments "George should know about the Zircon shipment…Let us go to the third floor and see if he's there." The group enters the elevator and heads up to that floor, and thankfully they find George standing there with a file in his hand and a concerned look on his face. Regal walks up to him and asks "George, is everything running smoothly?"
George lifts his head up from the file in surprise and says "Master Regal…Yes, the business is running along just fine. However, the sealed Exsphere mine was raided by someone. We believe it was the work of Vharley, but fortunately it appears that access to the core area was prevented." Regal is able to calmly say in response "So it would seem. But it is safe to assume that there will be no more trouble from him."
"Are you certain of this?!" George excitedly asks. Zelos grins and states "In other words, Alicia was avenged, through the actions of Regal and Presea." This allows George to cast away some of his guilt and say after a relaxing sigh "I see…This is good news. Are you here just to report this information?"
Regal shakes his head and comments "There is other business we have to attend to. We want to take a look at the records concerning past mining operations. Please unlock the door to the archives." George reaches into his outfit and pulls out a card, handing it over dutifully to Regal while explaining "Documents related to past mining operations should be in the left room of the second floor archive."
Regal thanks George for his help, and the group takes the elevator down to the second floor. It was easy to find the document for the Zircon shipments, and Lloyd pulls it out of the shelves and opens it up while everyone gathers around him. After a couple moments of scanning, Lloyd says "The last zircon shipment was…" Before he can finish, the book is suddenly swiped from his hands by some invisible force.
For a few seconds, Lloyd is left dumbfounded by this, but then the sound of footsteps turns the group's attention towards the right side of the room, where they find Kuchinawa standing there with the document in his hands a curious look in his eyes. "Well, well. What have we here?" He says in a menacing tone of voice.
"Kuchinawa!" Sheena exclaims in bitter rage towards her friend, which causes him to turn around while tucking the document underneath his right shoulder. "Umm…How the heck did you know we were going to be here?" Zelos inquires, but the ninja says nothing regarding it.
"Vharley and the Pope are dead…Why do you still get in our way?!" Lloyd asks in a rather annoyed tone of voice, but it's Sheena who answers for the man by saying "This is about me, isn't it?"
Kuchinawa then exclaims in anger "Of course! Because of you, my parents and countless members of our village died. The Chief has not awoken from his coma for ten years!" Sheena lowers her head out of guilt before saying "I..I'm sorry…"
"You think apologizing will cut it?! I will never forgive you!" Kuchinawa exclaims, consumed by all of his rage. "Kuchinawa! If I'm the one you hate-" Before Sheena finishes her sentence, Riku summons his sword and points it at the ninja, commenting to the girl "Sheena, don't even think about it." Lloyd joins by waving his arm out and saying "If you're going to suggest sacrificing yourself again, I'll never forgive you!"
"There's no reason to satisfy this man's revenge-driven nature. He's already become a traitor of his people by siding with the Pope's actions, there's no reason to keep him alive after the blood he's put on his hands." Riku points out. However, as Sheena wisely admits "Riku…All of us have blood on our hands, it wouldn't be fair to kill Kuchinawa based on that. No…If I'm the one you hate, let's have a one-on-one duel, as dictated by village custom." The teenage Overlord then dispels his sword and steps back after a moment's thought.
"…Do you really think you can defeat me alone?" Kuchinawa asks, but Sheena does not fall for the taunt as she confidently replies "Well? Do you accept my challenge?" Kuchinawa pauses for a moment before replying "Very well. Do you want to do it here and now?"
"We'll follow the village custom and fight on the Isle of Decision. Is that all right with you, Lloyd?" Sheena turns her head to face her friend, and Lloyd shrugs his shoulder and admits "I guess it wouldn't be much use to try and stop you."
"…I'll be waiting for you on the Isle of Decision." Kuchinawa turns around and is ready to head off when Sheena says to him "Wait. Give us back that document." The ninja lifts the document up and says "This is the proof of your promise to fight."
"Colette may die if we don't have that! If you need proof of the duel, I'll give you this." Sheena reaches into her shirt and pulls out a familiar bell, handing it over to Kuchinawa much to the surprise of the group as the man asks "And that is?"
Sheena hesitantly admits "Corrine's…memento." Kuchinawa, understanding the value of this little bell, performs an exchange by giving Sheena the document and taking the bell from her grasp. "…Very well. If you do not come within a week's time, I will grind this bell to dust."
Kucinawa then disappears in a puff of smoke. Colette comments empathetically "Sheena…I know how important that was to you…I'm sorry." Sheena turns around with a brave face on as she says reassuringly "It's okay. All I have to do is…defeat him. I'm…not going to run away anymore. The Isle of Decision is reached from Mizuho, so we can stop by there later. Right now, we have to get the zircon first. Colette's health is more important."
"Yeah, all right. Where's the zircon?" Lloyd asks. Sheena opens the file up, and Regal stands beside her to look at the information provided "…It says the last shipment was sent to the Imperial Research Academy in Sybak."
"Sybak again, huh? Alright, let's get going." Lloyd's remark leads to most of the group head back for the elevator sans Zelos, who stands in place and murmurs to himself "Won't…'run away anymore'…damn it…What should I do?"
He then swiftly catches up with the group to not arouse suspicion, and joins them in heading back to the Rheairds. Once more taking flight, the group goes right back to Sybak and heads straight for the academy. Immediately upon entering, a half-elf with slicked back dirt-blonde hair looks at Zelos in a panic and drops to his knees, raising his hands to the sky while beginning "Ch…Chosen One! Please forgive me!"
Everyone is surprised by the man's actions until he explains "I heard that a ten foot tall angel had descended from heaven, and devoured those who opposed the Chosen!" Lloyd blinks solemnly as he comments "…Ten feet tall?"
"Wow, I didn't know there were scary angels like that." Colette blinks with a little fear in her voice, and Zelos whispers to her "He's talking about the Spiritua thing, sweetie." The man says "I…I trust the Chosen, really!"
Zelos smirks at the man and says to him "Good, good…Is there any of that zircon left here that was purchased from the Lezareno Company?" The man nods his head repeatedly and says "Yes, there is! Go to the next room past the one to the left of me and look through the scattered books for it! Thank you for your kindness, Chosen!"
The man then gets up and runs off as to not anger the Chosen further, and after Zelos shrugs his shoulders at the ordeal the group heads for the aforementioned room and end up having an easy time finding the zircon buried amongst the books atop the desk. Once that was in their possession, Lloyd says to his friends "Now we just need a Mana Fragment. I wonder if it really exists on Derris-Kharlan?"
"I'm curious about Origin's magic sword as well. That might be a clue to saving the worlds." Raine comments. "But how are we going to get there?" Colette ponders. Zelos, surprisingly, chimes in with his own information "According to the scriptures, the entrance is in the Tower of Salvation."
"Then we should go to the one on this side." Lloyd comments, and Zelos nervously scratches the back of his head and momentarily pauses before mentioning "Well, yeah, there is one…But unfortunately, we need my Cruxis Crystal. It acts as the key to the Tower of Salvation."
"Hmm, you sure know a lot about it." Raine comments in a rather suspecting tone of voice, but Zelos answers these thoughts swiftly with "Hehe, I am the great Chosen One, after all."
"I see…You were born with a Cruxis Crystal, too." Lloyd comments. Zelos proudly nods his head and says "Yep. Right now though, my sister is holding onto it. She's in the abbey southeast of the Toize Valley Mine." With their next destination in mind, the group leaves Sybak and get on their Rheairds, flying off once more to the living quarters of Zelos' sister…But little did they know, this trip would be the beginning of the end for their entire journey…
Next Time: Kratos and Yggdrasill