The Art of Belonging

by DrakeRise

Finding somewhere you feel like you belong is hard. Especially for an outcast like me. I don't even fit in with my own family. I had no idea where i was going with my life. Until I end up thrown into Sylvarant. Perhaps in this world inhabited by monsters, elves and spirits, I might find somewhere I could call my home, somewhere I belong. I can only hope. self-insert. Hiatus

7. Chapter 7

I didn't get much sleep that night. Genis had some harsh nightmares. He woke barely suppressing a scream the first time. I managed to calm him and get him back off to sleep. The second time he woke up we sat for a while and he told me about what had happened at Iselia.

I comforted him as best I could without hugging him. The third time he woke up Lloyd came in and after Genis had calmed down again he took him for a walk around the city. Genis nodded and slipped some shoes on before padding out of the room. It was at times like this that I realised he was still just a child.

Twelve years old.

I shook my head and went back to sleep. I woke in the morning with an impressive bruise on my stomach and I hurt all over. Considering that the alternative was death I think I got off pretty well. I healed the bruise up and was left with nothing but a scar where Kratos' blade had pierced me.

I went downstairs and walked into the kitchen. Raine was cooking. I walked over and took the red and black satays out of her hands. "These do not go in scrambled eggs." I handed her some grey satay. "Put a little bit of this in." I rummaged around and found some ham. I handed that to her. "Chop and fry, then add it in." I sniffed the milk. "This is gone off." I got some fresh stuff out and put it on the counter. I carefully guided Raine into cooking without adding in extra bits, explaining when I could why adding something would be a bad idea.

By the time we were done we had a passable breakfast. Lloyd, Genis and Colette were sweating as they tried the scrambled eggs (the only part of breakfast I would let Raine near) but relaxed when they realised it was actually quite good.

"See Raine, you are a good cook, you just let your curiosity get the better of you and you do things with... undesirable results. Follow the recopies more until you understand more about different flavours before you try mixing them." Raine nodded and the two of us sat down to eat our own food. After I finished I started on the dishes.

Kratos raised an eyebrow at me. "Is that all you're eating?"

I nodded. "I don't eat much."

Soon enough, the other people staying at the inn came in for breakfast. I spotted a tall blond man in an unusual outfit out the corner of my eye but when I turned around he was gone. Normally I wouldn't notice but this man had a huge amount of mana. He was practically made of it.

A quick glance at Kratos showed he had noticed too. He nodded slightly to me and I slipped out the room. I saw a glimpse of him leaving the inn. I followed silently and saw him disappear around the corner. I trailed him for a while before I felt something slam into me from behind.

I grunted when I landed on the ground and yelped when I felt four points of some kind of weapon jab into my back. It was pressing hard enough to hurt, but not so hard as to rip my cloak or break my skin. "You don't belong here." I twisted my head around enough to see the Wonder Chef behind me, glaring.

I tried to push him away but he swung his giant fork and smashed me in the face, causing me to roll onto my back on the floor. He then kicked me back onto my stomach and jabbed his fork into me again. "Why are you here?!"

I gasped and grit my teeth. "What do you mean?" I hissed.

"Why are you on Sylvarant? You shouldn't be here!"

I gasped when he twisted his fork. "I don't know! I know I don't belong here! I don't know how I got here! I was on a bus and then I ended up in the forest near The Asguard ranch! I swear! I don't know how I got here!"

He growled and twisted his fork. "Do you know what you are doing?"

I whimpered. "No. No. I don't know. Ah! Stop! Please! Whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

He huffed. "You don't know what you did do you?" I whimpered in response but otherwise didn't answer. He sighed heavily and leant more on his fork. "You come into this world and start changing so much... the whole course of history is being thrown off. Luckily enough for you, nothing you've done has affected much outside of your direct influence. So far. Be more careful from now on." He lifted his fork and poofed away. I whimpered and reached behind me to heal the wounds. I slowly stood up and wiped myself down.

I used to like The Wonderchef but really, he's an ass!

I made sure there was no sign of what had just happened and quickly went to the market district. I bought extra supplies and clothes for Lloyd and Genis, as well as sleeping bags and other things you don't think about needing until you need them.

I went back to the inn and found the other's gathered outside. Kratos nodded towards me. "We can finally head out to the seal."

I smiled. "I got enough supplies to last us to the Triet ruins and back. With Lloyd and Genis joining the group I thought I should buy some extra food. Just in case."

Kratos started nodding but froze. "I don't recall saying anything about the Triet ruins..."

I snorted and shook my head. "It was a temple erected to worship Efreet. It would make sense for it to be the seal of fire."

The others just blinked at me for a moment before sighing. Raine shook her head. "Why did you not think to mention this sooner?"

I tilted my head. "When would I have said anything? It was just speculation on my part and we split up before I could say anything since a certain two people were too busy arguing to listen to me. The topic didn't come up at any point after that." Kratos and Raine looked slightly guilty. "I'm the same age as you, Raine, even though I don't look it or act like it most of the time. Despite what you think, I can be responsible sometimes."

Raine sighed. "I'm sorry. We should have listened to you."

I nodded. "It's alright, just please, try to listen to everyone in the future."

Raine nodded, "Well then, let's go."

Colette nodded. "Yes, I'll do my best."

Raine pulled a map out of nowhere. "The Triet ruins are southwest of here. It should take us about four days to get there."

Lloyd fist pumped. "Alright! Let's go check out that seal."

Genis sighed and shrugged. "We'll see if that enthusiasm lasts."

Lloyd chuckled dryly. "I'll be fine. Just you watch!"

Genis and I shared a knowing glance and I smirked. He would be bored before we got there.

Raine pulled something out of her pocket. "Oh, I just remembered. Let me give you this." She stepped closer to Lloyd and handed it to him. "Gathering data on your enemies is useful for protecting the chosen."

Lloyd frowned slightly and looked unsurely up at Raine. "I-I'm going to do it?" he looked honestly surprised that he was being entrusted with this.

Raine nodded. "I'll help too. Just think of it as homework."

Lloyd scrunched up his face. "Eww."

Kratos made a face. He looked disappointed and slightly insulted. "We should get going." He turned away from us.

I shrugged and followed after him, the others following behind me.

We travelled for a while before we had to stop from the heat. We set up a sheet and took shelter under it. As I made lunch for everyone Lloyd came over and sat next to me. He leaned close and whispered so the others wouldn't hear. "Do you think I should tell them about my changes?"

I shook my head. "Wait until we get to the temple. It would be better to do it in a better camp setting in case anyone wants to walk off to think about it."

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. You're right." he leant away slightly. "So, what are you making?"

I laughed. "Just a fruit salad and sandwiches. I will be making cheese pasta for dinner tonight. I have some cheese in my wingpack I want to use."

Lloyd grinned. "Awesome. I love your cheese pasta. The one with the ham?" I nodded and Lloyd grinned wider. "Yes!" he quietly cheered.

I laughed at him and quickly finished lunch. I was very glad that wingpacks preserved food in exactly the state it had been put in it in. So fresh milk could be stored in there forever and not go off. I loved it! It meant I could stock up on food and not have to worry about any of it going off or using bits up in whatever way I could.

After lunch we wanted to lounge around for a while until we had to set off again but Raine had other ideas. Soon Lloyd, Genis and Colette were working on homework assignments and Raine was sitting next to me with a book. "Drake. I want to evaluate your reading level again. Read this chapter out loud."

I sighed and took the book off of her. As I read I noticed I got strange looks from Kratos. I eventually sighed and looked pleadingly at Raine. "Please... Raine, this is embarrassing..."

Raine glared at me. "You'll keep reading. You haven't read a single sentence correctly yet."

I sighed and read more. I was never very good at reading out loud. I stutter and stumble over words often enough without having to read a language I barely know. Learning this language was slightly easier than it would be to learn had I been back on earth since everything written down was in this language. I mostly focused on numbers and ignored the words for a while. I hated not being able to count out currency.

Having to read out loud like this, with Kratos giving me that look. It was so humiliating. I felt my eyes fill with unshed tears. What was he thinking? 'How is he going to be useful to us? He can't even read.' I could feel my breath hitch and I stumbled over the words even worse than before.

Kratos abruptly stood up. "We should get moving."

I sighed and gave Raine the book back before packing with Lloyd and Kratos. Once everything was back in my wingpack we carried on.

I ended up walking beside Kratos again. He looked down at me. He spoke in a gentle voice. Softer than I've heard him speak so far. "You find reading difficult?" That was a nice way of putting it. I cannot read.

I blushed heavily and felt my eyes prickle again. "I only actually learnt the letters and numbers two years ago."

Kratos hummed. "You are doing well for someone so handicapped." I tried very hard not to cry.

I fell back slightly and ended up walking next to Raine. She glanced at me. "You did very poorly. You have been neglecting your studies since you left school. You will need to work hard to-"

I glared at her. "Raine, I am not one of your students anymore. You cannot force me to participate in school work with the kids. I am your age. You have no right to try and force me to participate in your lessons. Leave it."

I stalked forward to walk with Lloyd at the front. Lloyd placed a hand on the small of my back and I took a shuddering breath before sighing and blinking back the tears of humiliation.

I heard Raine spluttering behind me. "What?"

Kratos sighed. "He is likely feeling embarrassed that you forced him to read out loud in front of me."

"More like completely humiliated!" I called back.

Raine sighed and we all descended into silence. The next pack of monsters that came across us didn't last more than a few moments considering I blew them all up.

Literally.

There were bits of them everywhere.

Lloyd sighed and picked a bit of scorpion out of my hair. "And that is why we do not upset Drake. He tends to blow things up when he's angry."

We trudged on for a while before making camp. We had to set it up before it became dark enough that we couldn't see.

Raine looked at Kratos. "Kratos."

He looked at her from where he was unrolling his bedroll. "What is it?"

"Why did you take on the job of guarding Colette?"

Kratos rolled his eyes and huffed. "Humph. I am a mercenary. That's how we earn money to live."

Raine frowned. "In other words, it's just another job?"

Kratos nodded. "That's correct."

Raine tilted her head. "That's really all?"

"Yes." Raine shook her head and went to unpack her own bedroll.

I made dinner and ate in silence, not joining in with the conversations and slipping to bed as soon as I could.

Raine came over and sat next to me. "Drake? I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to embarrass you like that."

I sighed and rolled over, looking up at her. "Raine... you have no idea how humiliating it is not being able to read. And then being forced to read out loud in front of Kratos like that?" I shook my head and wiped the tears off my face. "I tried to ask you not to make me but you didn't listen."

Raine sighed. "I'm sorry. I seem to be ignoring you a lot lately."

I sniffled and looked up at her. "Why do you keep hurting me?" I muttered quietly and rolled over, turning my back on her. She sighed and gently gripped my shoulder before going over to the others. They stayed up for a while before they each went to bed.

I lay with my back to the group for a moment before I heard someone stand up. "Can you take first watch?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes. I will wake you in a few hours."

Lloyd walked over and slid into my sleeping bag. He held me against his chest and I drifted off to sleep. I woke briefly when he moved to take his turn on watch but went back to sleep. I woke early in the morning as I usually do and channelled some mana into my necklace for a while before getting up and ready for the day.

I made a quick and easy breakfast and soon the others were awake and we were ready to set off. We had to get up before dawn so we could get some distance before the sun came up and it got too hot to walk. By noon Genis was practically dead on his feet. He looked up at me. "How are you not hot?"

I looked down at him. "I'm used to working in heat like this. You're usually in the school house or somewhere in the shade but I'm usually in the training grounds. I am hot, I'm just better at dealing with it. It's also in part because I'm an adult, your body get's better at regulating its temperature as you get older." Although my body couldn't...

Genis sighed and looked down. "Again with the whole 'when you're older' thing?"

I laughed and ruffled his hair. "Some things you really can only do when you're older. Don't be in a hurry to grow up."

Genis sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm only a kid once but that doesn't change the fact that I'm too young for a lot of things."

I nodded and gently gripped his shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll pass before you know it."

Not long later we stopped and set up camp. I made sandwiches again and everyone except Kratos and Lloyd had a nap. I woke before the others only because Lloyd kicked me. I glared at him but sighed. I usually take a long time to wake up. I am honestly surprised I wake so early in the mornings. It's usually about four o'clock.

I stored some more mana in my necklace and Kratos looked at me funny. "What are you doing?"

I smiled gently. "Well, you know I told you I don't have mana, but can control the mana in the air around me, right?" he nodded. "Well, I can only use what mana is there in the first place. I can't use a water spell if there is no water mana, for example. I solve that by storing mana in crystals. Each one of these eight corresponds with an element. I just charge them up and I can use the mana later." I pulled the necklace out and showed it to him.

He nodded and went back to cleaning his sword. I glanced up. Speaking of swords. "Monsters. Not far that way, heading in this direction. Lloyd?" Lloyd nodded and we stood up. "Stay here, Kratos. We'll be right back."

Lloyd and I rushed off and easily dispatched the few monsters that had been approaching us. We went back and settled down. I began cleaning my blades while Lloyd did some whittling. Once the worst of the heat had faded we woke up the others and headed out.

A few hours later we set up camp for dinner. I light the firewood by flicking a fireball at it.

Kratos looked at me. "You didn't need to cast for that. You flicked your finger and it appeared."

I nodded. "Yeah."

Lloyd grinned. "Drake is a Mana Master."

I huffed. "Lloyd..."

He slung his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, Drake. You know you're the only person in the world who can do what you can. You can control mana. You're a Master of Mana."

I blushed. "Lloyd... It's not really a skill... it was just a genetic defect. I'm not as good as you make me out to be."

Lloyd laughed. "You really can't take a complement, can you?"

I flushed harder. "You were the first person to give me one." I muttered.

Lloyd sighed and rubbed his cheek against mine. This was something we do. There was nothing romantic in it, though it certainly looked like it if the look Kratos just gave us was anything to go by. I pulled away from Lloyd, my face rivalling his shirt in colour, and set to cooking dinner. Raine watched me and tried to intervene at some points but I waved her off, telling her to watch and learn.

I made a simple stir fry since I had a lot of vegetables in my wingpack. Thank god I was over my fear of being burned. Accidentally setting yourself on fire (repeatedly) tended to do wonders for pyrophobia.

As we walked the following morning I was up front with Kratos, Genis and Colette behind us and Raine and Lloyd at the back. Raine hummed.

Lloyd looked at her. "What's wrong professor? You look troubled."

Raine looked down at her feet. "I'm questioning why a lot of researchers mix pure science and magitechnology."

Lloyd blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

Raine continued as if she hadn't already lost him. "The power of magic that is at the root of magitechnology has never been proved by science. But still they-"

"Professor."

"Yes?"

"Aren't you going to question why you're talking to someone who has no clue as to what you're talking about?"

Raine turned her head and looked at him. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd leant back slightly. "Wh-what?"

"That's a very good question. I'm basically straightening out my thoughts regarding the question by talking to someone."

Lloyd sighed and looked defeated. "So you're just gonna keep on talking aren't you?"

I laughed and called back. "Lloyd, a man only learns in two ways. By reading and by association with smarter people. Since you won't read, that means Raine must teach you, so listen."

Lloyd grumbled but listened as Raine talked. Kratos sighed and I looked up at him. He was probably thinking something along the lines of 'why is my son such an idiot?'

We settled down for the night and Kratos and Lloyd walked away a little bit to train. I sat and read for a little while before going over and joining them. Raine mostly sat with Genis and Colette to go over their schoolwork with them. Kratos made Lloyd and I spar while he watched and made mental notes.

When we finished he walked over to us. "You both need to work on your footwork. You rely too heavily on your attacks and blocking when evading would have been easier and used less energy."

We nodded and I closed my eyes in thought for a moment before grinning. "Alright Lloyd, I'm gonna teach you how to dance." I stepped closer to him. "Take my hand, and place your other one at my waist."

Lloyd blinked and did as I had told him. We waltzed for a while, tripping over each other's feet and stepping each other's toes but we had fun at any rate. We even convinced Kratos to waltz with Raine and Colette and Genis joined in too. Eventually we all (except Kratos) collapsed into our bedrolls (Lloyd in mine with me for some reason) and laughed.

Lloyd grinned at me. "Where did you learn that dance? It's not something I've seen before."

I smirked. Harry Potter and the goblet of fire (book and movie) and Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers, but I wasn't about to tell them that. "Just around and about."

Lloyd huffed and pulled me closer. "Fine, don't tell me." we lay like that for a while until I was almost asleep. Lloyd slipped out of my bed and went to sit on watch with Kratos. I yawned and curled up, falling asleep.

I woke up before dawn and stretched out, slipping out of my bedroll. I stored a bit of darkness mana but I wouldn't really need it. I cannot actually remember any light based enemies other than Luna and Aska and the seal guardian. The monsters in the tower of mana were all darkness for some reason.

I read until the others started waking up and made breakfast for everyone. Once we had all eaten we headed off.

Lloyd sighed. "I am seriously tired of this desert."

Kratos looked down at him. "Well then, do you want to head back to the village?"

Lloyd scowled at him. "How am I supposed to do that?" he frowned and looked away. "I was banished..."

Kratos glared slightly down at him. "Then stop talking as if you are on vacation."

Lloyd winced. "Sorry."

We got to the temple by noon. I looked it and grunted. Wow that was a lot of mana.

It was hotter here than anywhere else in the desert. We decided to rest for a little while before heading in as there would definitely be monsters in there and we wanted to be well rested before trying.

I glanced at Lloyd and he met my eyes. I nodded slightly and he sighed. "Guys, I need to tell you something."

The others sat around us and I gently gripped Lloyd's shoulder in support. Raine frowned. "What's wrong, Lloyd?"

Lloyd took a deep breath. "Well... about a year and a half ago... I started... um..." I squeezed his shoulder. "Changing."

Raine sighed and smiled. "That's called puberty, Lloyd."

Lloyd blushed heavily and glared at her. "Not that kind of changing!" he sighed and shook his head, looking back down at his lap. "I stopped getting hungry. I stopped getting tired too. I can't sleep anymore and I can barely feel pain. My hearing and eyesight are much better than anyone else... I don't know what's happening... at first I thought it was my imagination. I thought... I thought that if I ignored it then it would stop but it didn't. It got worse as time passed."

Raine, Genis and Colette looked confused and slightly hurt. Kratos was very pale. His visible eye had widened and he was staring in shock and horror at Lloyd, though he was doing a good job at hiding it, even if only because he was behind the others and Lloyd was busy staring at his feet.

Lloyd took a shaky breath. "Sorry." He abruptly stood up and ran off around the side of the temple.

Raine sighed and stared at me, still slightly shocked. "Did you know about this?"

I nodded. "We've lived together for the past two years. I found out by accident about a year ago. He made me promise not to tell you guys. He was worried that you would abandon him if you found out. He was scared. He still is, really." I took a shuddering breath. "We're all keeping secrets. Some worse than others. You can't really be mad at him for not telling you when you three are keeping huge secrets from him too." I shook my head.

Raine sighed. "You're right. We can't be mad at him for not telling us. We won't hate him for this though. We'll find out what's happening and sort it out."

I shook my head. "It's not that simple."

Raine looked at me. "What do you mean?"

I shook my head again. "I'm going to find Lloyd." I stood up and walked off in the direction he had gone, following his mana signature to the... beach? What do you call the edge of a desert that leads to the sea? *mental shrug* "Lloyd?"

He turned around. "Hey Drake. How are they taking it?"

I stepped up next to him. "We all have our own secrets, Lloyd. It would be stupid of them to be mad at you for keeping this a secret when they are keeping their own. They don't hate you. They would never hate you. Never. I told you that when I found out."

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah. I guess I was overreacting."

I shook my head. "No, it was completely understandable. Let's give them some time to discuss it and head back, okay?"

Lloyd nodded and I leant against him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and we stood, watching the waves. Occasionally a bird would dive into the water to catch a fish. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. "We should head back." He nodded silently and we went back to camp.

When we got there Genis was making some food. It was a bit late for lunch but we hadn't eaten yet and I supposed it gave Genis something to do. They all looked up at us as we came over and sat back down on the fallen pillar we had been on before. Genis looked back over the pot of food. "Can you still eat?" he muttered.

Lloyd sighed. "Yeah, but I don't need to. I prefer to keep eating though. To try and remind myself I'm still..." he trailed off and sighed. "Well... I suppose I'm not really human anymore am I?"

That caused a long silence before I slapped Lloyd over the back of the head. Hard. "You are Lloyd. That's all that matters. What you are has nothing to do with anything."

Lloyd blinked a few times at me before he smiled. "Yeah. You're right. Sorry. I've been overreacting. Again."

I nodded. "Yes, you have. Now, Genis, what's for lunch?" we chatted for a bit over lunch. Raine kept asking Lloyd questions about his changes and with every minute Kratos got paler and paler. I gathered up half of the dirty dishes. "Hey Kratos, help me with the dishes?" I walked away.

Kratos gathered the rest of them without a word and followed me to the sea. We knelt on a rock and leant over to wash the plates and pots. I looked sideways at him. "You know what's happening to Lloyd." It wasn't a question and I made sure it came out that way.

Kratos swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes."

I nodded. "He's turning into an angel, isn't he?"

Kratos nodded again. "How did you figure it out?"

I sighed. "His mana is very similar to yours. And not only because he's turning into an angel. Kratos, your mana is similar to Lloyd's in the same way that Frank's is to Colette's. You're his father, aren't you?" I whispered the last part, to minimise the chances of Lloyd hearing us. Kratos froze and stared at me. I shook my head. "Not my secret to tell. I won't say a word."

He relaxed again. "Yes, I am." He sighed. "He doesn't need me."

I shook my head. "I think he does. I won't force you to say anything but I'm giving you my opinion on it. Lloyd misses you. He can remember some things about you. You used to look up at the stars together didn't you? He still does. Astronomy is his best subject. His favourite colour is the same shade of red as your hair and eyes."

Kratos shook his head. "He has Dirk, and Frank, Phaidra and Raine. He doesn't need me."

I sighed. "He needs you more than you think."

Kratos didn't comment. We finished the dishes in silence and just as we were about to stand up Kratos put a hand on my shoulder. "You are twenty two correct?"

"Yup."

"Lloyd is eighteen. You are too old for him."

I blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Stay off my son." Kratos picked up his half of the dishes and walked off. I gaped after him for a moment before letting out a short laugh and following.

I kicked him lightly in the shin to get his attention. "You won't be his dad, you have no right to tell him who he can and cannot date. But for the record? Lloyd and I are not a couple."

We walked back into camp and packed everything up. We still had plenty of time in the day so we walked up to the entrance of the temple. Cue Fire Elemental monsters. They were hard to beat. Kratos sighed. "This is going to be a nuisance."

Lloyd looked over at Kratos. "What is?"

Kratos looked up. I don't think me meant to say that out loud. "Ah, nothing. Anyway, it would be a good idea for you to learn techniques to protect yourself."

Colette tilted her head. "Are you talking about self defence training?"

Kratos nodded. "Something like that. I'll show you how it's done. Once you grasp the theory, the rest should be easy."

Lloyd sighed. "Do we have to? How long will it take?"

I looked between him and Kratos. "Well, since there might be more of those things in there, not to mention the Seal Guardian, it would be best if we knew some techniques to defend ourselves with."

Kratos nodded for a moment before looking at me. "Seal Guardian?"

I nodded. "It's only speculation on my part but I'm pretty sure that the seal will have some kind of guardian, something a lot stronger than the rest of the monsters in the temple that would prove a challenge for the chosen."

Lloyd nodded. "Right. Okay, Kratos, what can you teach us?"

As soon as he started I figured I wouldn't be able to do it. I ended up off to the side trying to figure out how to emulate it. In the end I huffed and used wind and water mana to create a sphere around me. I was only able to keep it up for a short time, even less when I got Lloyd to attack it, but I was honestly surprised I got it to exist in the first place.

I ended up really dizzy since the best way to keep it up was to spin on the spot. Dizzy...

While the others were learning their own techs I walked up to the Oracle Stone. I blinked in shock. "Lapidem Oraculo." It was written in the Roman alphabet so I was able to read it. Roman is the alphabet English (and most other languages) is written in. "Electus, et pone manum tuam super istud signum ignis descendret. Ut partem sigilli custos, et reducite. Benedicat tibi diva fili mana genus." I turned to look at Raine who was staring at me in shock. "What does that mean?"

Raine walked over. "Let me get this straight. You can't read Hume but you can read Angelic just fine?!"

I blinked. "That's Angelic? Huh... well, you learn something new every day." I shrugged. "So what does it say?"

Raine raised an eyebrow. "Don't you know? You can read it fine." She actually looked pretty upset with me.

I sighed. "There is a difference between being able to read the letters and knowing what they mean. It sounds like another language I know of. I've never learned it though. Just heard of it."

Raine nodded. "Well, let me see. 'Oracle stone. Chosen one, place your hand upon this stone and descend into the seal of fire. Confront the Guardian and release the Seal. The goddess bless you, child of the mana lineage.' Seems you were right, there is a guardian." (AN: translation of this phrase into Latin is thanks to Google translate. Not all words or sentence structure is correct)

I nodded. "Makes sense." Just then Kratos walked over with the kids. I smirked at Lloyd. "You done?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I don't really get it, but I already feel stronger. I can't wait to try it out."

Genis looked to the sky and shrugged. "I think you're just imagining things."

Raine looked around. "What happened to Noishe?"

Lloyd sighed and looked around. "You're right. He ran off again."

Kratos nodded. "He's probably nervous about the monsters. I think it would be best not to count on Noishe in places with monsters around."

I nodded. "He's somewhere in that direction." I pointed off towards the sea. "His mana is easy to tell from anything else."

Kratos nodded. "At any rate, we should head in. I would rather not waste the whole day."

Colette walked up to the oracle stone. "Say, is this the seal? It has my family crest on it."

By this point Raine had finished being slightly shocked over me being able to read angelic and was now spazing over the door. "Fantastic!" we all looked at her in shock. "Look at this slab covering the entrance! It's clearly of a different composition than the surrounding stone!" she dropped to her knees to examine it. She then started laughing. "It's just as I thought!" she then started petting the stone. "This is polycarbonate, developed during the Kharlan War to defend against magic! Oh feel the smooth surface. It's wondrous!"

I blinked. Polycarbonate? Plastic?! I bent down and examined the door. I barely stopped myself from rolling on the ground with laughter. It was plastic. Honest to goddess, plastic. Industrial strength, yes, but plastic none the less.

I stood up and shook my head. Kratos looked at Genis. "Is she always like this?" Aww... Kratos has the most adorable confused face.

Raine ran over and examined the oracle stone properly. Lloyd looked at Genis. "Is she?"

Genis sighed. "And I was trying so hard to hide it too."

Raine looked over at Colette. "Colette, place your hand here. That should reveal the entrance."

Colette blinked. "Really?"

Raine nodded. "This stone is enhanced with magic designed to identify the chosen. There's no question about it."

Colette stepped forwards and placed her hand on the stone. The door slid open, revealing a staircase going down, into the darkness. Colette's eye widened. "It opened! Wow! I guess I'm really the chosen after all!"

Genis looked up. "Yes, I think we all know that already."

Lloyd grinned. "Okay! Now it's getting exciting! Let's hurry up and go inside!"

Kratos looked at him. "I hope you'll be able to maintain that enthusiasm."

I laughed quietly. "He'll be bored long before we get there."

We all walked down into the depths. I lit part of the staircase so we could see. When we got to the bottom I looked around. There was a path to the left and right and a doorway in front of us. I looked around. "Which way, do you think?" Raine and Kratos debated it for a moment.

We eventually decided to go straight forward. Looking around I noticed a torch in a bracket. I wasn't the only one. Lloyd walked over to it. "Hey look. It's a torch."

Raine hummed. "There was once a city here that was destroyed by Efreet's hellfire. Try lighting it with fire."

I looked at her. "What else would we light it with? Water?" Raine looked at me. "Sorry."

Lloyd glanced at me for a moment before shooting a fireball at the torch. It lit up and a platform moved. Lloyd grinned. "Wow. The floor moved!"

Raine's eyes sparkled. "Interesting. This location must be connected with Efreet."

I looked at her. "Oh, you don't say? I never would have thought the temple of fire would have a connection to the summon spirit of fire."

Raine looked at me. "Why are you like this?"

I huffed. "Sorry, I get testy when I'm hot. Just stop pointing out the obvious. Now, we need to find more of these to open the path. Lloyd, you go that way, I'll go this way. Meet back here."

Lloyd nodded and ran off to the right, walking up the wall as he did so. I jumped and flew off to the left. Within minutes we had found all of the torches and I had found a few items of interest (to Raine) and put them in my wingpack. (I was probably going to forget about them but I could bring them out at the right moment later)

When we got back Lloyd arrived first and jumped down. I flew over and Lloyd's eyes bugged. "You can FLY?! Since when?!"

I giggled nervously. "Umm... A few months after I moved in with you... I probably should have mentioned that, huh?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yes."

Kratos blinked out of his shock. "Lloyd... you can walk up walls?"

Lloyd nodded. "And ceilings. I guess I should have mentioned that."

Raine nodded. "How do you do it?"

Genis sighed. "I'll tell you later. Let's just go to the seal."

I nodded. "Yeah. I saw the warp point. It's just up here." I pointed to the staircase in front of us. We headed up and stood in front of the warp.

Lloyd looked around. "Is everyone ready?" We nodded. "Then let's do this." He stepped on the warp and vanished.

For some reason I feel like this chapter failed. Most of it was filler, skits and conversations. Next chapter, the seal guardian! *sarcastic cheer* action yeah! So easy to write! *end sarcastic cheer*

Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, reviews let me know how each chapter has done. Seriously... 7 reviews... 7... in total... none of them by the same person...

*cries* why don't you love me!

See ya next month!