Another chapter and another Centurion to add to the roster!
But don't think the story resumes to just collecting them to awaken Ratatosk. Soon enough, you all will know what I'm talking about.
Chapter 5
Ventus
Sheena was getting water from the well behind her house in the residential part of Asgard. It was still night and she had come back from Asuka's some hours after dancing with Lloyd. She had to admit, the young man was a little slow to pick things up, but was a nice guy nonetheless.
Or maybe it is me who's getting soft… Sheena mused.
Shaking her head to stop thinking about that, she focused on the task of getting water for her mother and herself to have breakfast the next day. The voluptuous woman was filling the second bucket when she felt a presence nearby: a demon. By the aura, she could tell it was a minor one, nothing she couldn't handle by herself.
Sheena acted like she hadn't noticed her stalker, taking the buckets and starting to walk to her house. A loud roar sounded behind her and time seemed to have slowed itself as the violet haired woman let her buckets fall to the ground without spill a drop of water and did a back flip over the demon's head.
She landed some meters away of her demonic attacker, who roared again after landing and turning its head to her, seeming angry by having missed its attack. The demon had a lizard head with fins at the sides and a single horn coming out of its forehead and making a curve upwards. It also was dressing a black armor, which combined with its dark brown scales and black claws.
"If you came here to pick a fight, you chose the wrong person to mess with." Sheena said, with her stare fixed on the demon.
The otherworldly monster roared again and attacked. Sheena then brought her hand to her low cut and pulled out a set of seal cards hidden between her breasts. When the demon almost had its claws on her, she empowered the card and jumped over the demon again. When she and the demon landed again, the lizard-like creature noticed the piece of paper sticking on its muzzle.
The card then shone and several copies of it made of light started to surround the demon like angry bees. Sheena put her one hand near her face, making a hand signal with her middle and indicator fingers up, murmuring:
"Demon Seal." the spectral seal cards stopped in the air and converted into light rushing into the demon and exploding on him, forming images of cursed spirits. The demon went to the ground with the force of the Arte.
Sheena turned to her adversary, who sprung back to its feet and growled to her, showing its sharp fangs and claws and opening its mouth. The guardian user simply cracked her knuckles, readying herself for another round. The lizard demon charged at the same time she did.
Though the creature was agile, Sheena was faster, delivering flurries of punches and kicks on her adversary, some charged with light element, with such grace that it looked like she was doing some short of dance rather than fighting. She also spun sometimes to avoid the claws of the demon, placing a seal on him and releasing a powerful blast of energy into the demon. One of those destroyed part of its armor and the other left the creature confused, unable to land a clean hit on Sheena.
When the demon tried to crush the female warrior with a death-hug, Sheena ducked and laid in the ground, twisting her body so her feet were up and propping herself up with her hands, landing a double kick on the demon's chin. Still with her hands on the ground, she opened her legs and spun like a human top, charging her feet with the element of light and delivering a heavy damage to the demon-lizard's face, which went to the ground again, this time without energy to recover, due to the light-charged burns it had received.
Sheena stood on her feet and stomped on the demon's chest, making it roar in pain as it seemed to be trying to get up, but without success. Seeing it wouldn't be able to take down its prey anymore, the otherworldly creature stopped.
"If you wanted to have a snack, you came to the wrong town, buddy." Sheena said. "You're not going to kill anybody on my watch."
"Foolish woman." the demon said in a rasp voice. "You and you're kind are nothing but bugs in our way. You're just…" it stopped to take breath once Sheena pressed her boot harder on its chest. "...delaying the inevitable. Your destiny is to be killed sooner or later."
"I don't know about that." Sheena said, shrugging. "But one thing I do know…" the young woman shot her hand forward and grabbed the demon's face in a grip strong enough to keep its head from moving. "It's not going to be by you..."
Sheena then called forth energy of light around her and used some of her own magical energies, gathering everything in the hand she was holding the demon's face with and unleashing it in a powerful burst. A flash and a roar of pain followed, which woke some of Asgard's citizens temporarily, right before they went back to their sleep.
Sheena got up from the charred remains of the demon. Her power burnt completely through the chaos energy that sustained the beast together with its scales. She then looked to her still glowing hand as the body of the lizard demon merged with the earth, liberating any chaos energy that was left in the process.
"Strange. I didn't remember it being that powerful…" Sheena thought as the golden glow on her hand subsided. She then closed her fist and thought aloud. Oh well. The more powerful it is, the more demonic asses I can kick.
The violet haired woman then picked up the water buckets and entered into her home, whistling…
- / - / - / -
Dawn broke as Lloyd mumbled his way out of slumber. The brunette swordsman rubbed on his eyes as he sat in the bed. When he opened his eyes fully, the first thing he saw was Lumen's feline face very close to him, with that goofy grin he always carried.
"Whoa!" Lloyd let out, slightly jumping behind and hitting the wall behind him. "Lumen, don't scare me like that!" the red clad young man exclaimed.
"Finally awake, huh? I was wondering just how much you could actually sleep." Lumen said in his normal, cheerful tone. "Boss and Marta already left. They said I should stay here and in case you woke up to say that they went to the stone dais."
Lumen spoke so fast that Lloyd almost lost what the Centurion was trying to say, just after replaying it mentally the dual swordsman could understand it. He then realized an important fact:
"Wait. Emil and Marta already left?"
"Yep. I heard boss saying something about you being a sleepy lazy bum." Lumen answered, still with his goofy grin on.
Lloyd scratched behind his head at the words. No doubt it was Ratatosk. Deciding to leave the fact he overslept aside, Lloyd got up and dressed himself to get ready to go after Emil and Marta. After eating breakfast at the Inn, he exited the building. Lumen, concealed from sight as always, accompanied the red clad swordsman.
"So, where is this stone dais you spoke of?" Lloyd asked Lumen.
"I don't know." the Centurion simply said, his tone never losing its cheerful connotation.
"Wha…? But you said…"
"Yeah, but I wasn't with them the other night when they went to investigate the city, remember?" Lumen spoke, still in his cheerful tone, which made a sweatdrop fall behind Lloyd's head.
"Great… then how are we… ?"
"Hey there!" a familiar voice called. Lloyd turned and saw Sheena walking to him. She was wearing the same clothing she wore when she was working at Asuka's during the day.
"Oh, hi Sheena."
"Hey there, Sheena." Lumen said in his usual goofy grin.
"Hello Lloyd and… whatever thing you are." Sheena said, looking from Lloyd to Lumen, narrowing her eyes when she looked to the cheetah-like entity.
"I'm Centurion Lumen." Lumen said, presenting himself with his typical smile never leaving his face, seeming as oblivious to people's disapproval of him as always.
"Centurion?"
"Ah, nothing." Lloyd said, trying to change the subject. The last thing he needed was being scolded by Ratatosk by letting Lumen reveal about their quest to other people. "Um, Sheena, do you know where there is a stone dais around here?"
"Yes. They're just up that staircase." the voluptuous woman pointed to the staircase that separated the mountain. "Why do you ask? You don't seem to be the type to take interest in history or ruins."
"My friends went up there to… see it." Lloyd spoke, but Sheena noticed the pause on his line. She got a devious look on her face, but didn't comment on it. "Anyway, thanks again!"
Lloyd then ran to the staircase, however he soon noticed he was being followed. Turning, the red clad swordsman saw Sheena walking behind him. He then asked what she was doing and the gorgeous woman said:
"Just going for a walk."
"B-but… don't you have to work on Asuka's right now?" Lloyd asked, starting to get nervous under Sheena's devious glare.
"They can do just fine without me. What I really want is to see what you guys are up to, 'cause it seems your friends haven't come here just for sightseeing or tourism."
You don't know how right you are. Lloyd thought. Seeing there was no way he could convince Sheena to leave (at least not without getting on her bad side), Lloyd followed the young woman up to the stone dais.
The staircase ended in a small summit from which you could see the other mountains and hills behind Asgard. A great stone platform with four pedestals, which had statues of what looked like fairies or some other kind of entity or mystical creature on its top, was at the center of the summit. Lloyd could hear the voices of Emil and Marta carried by the winds that blew around the local:
"I don't see any kind of entrance here. Are you sure it's here, Ratatosk?" Marta asked.
"I don't know. I've just got this image of this ruin and feeling that there's something familiar about it." came Ratatosk's harsh, strong tone.
Sheena raised an eyebrow at hearing the new voice and seeing that there was only Marta and Emil in the vicinity. At that point, Lloyd felt cold sweat running down his forehead. Then Emil's normal voice sounded:
"Perhaps there's some kind of enchantment, or spell that may…"
"What are you two doing around here?" Sheena spoke up.
Emil jumped and Marta got startled. The blonde turned to see Sheena there with her hands on her hips and an inquisitive expression on her face. Close behind her was Lloyd who had an apologetic look on his face. Also the two felt Lumen there in his usual cheerful mood, despite the situation they were in.
"W-we're… researching the stone dais." Emil said, which in itself was true, however, Sheena didn't seem convinced.
"Researching, huh?" the violet haired woman said, crossing her arms. She then looked and pointed her finger near the young couple. "Does this have anything to do with that dog-thing you have there?" Sheena pointed exactly to where Tenebrae was.
If Emil and Marta seemed surprised before, they were simply dumbstruck now. Lloyd thought he clearly underestimated Sheena if she was fast enough to put two and two together. Seeing that hiding was clearly useless now, Tenebrae revealed himself, his canine face also had a surprised expression written all over it.
"How did you… ?" the Centurion of darkness started, but was interrupted by Sheena.
"Like I said to your brother, or whatever that perverted cheetah is to you, I'm sensitive to spiritual and elemental energy and you two aren't exactly easy to blend in the crowd."
Tenebrae looked to Lumen, who just kept his goofy smile. The look the dog-like Centurion had was one of "why didn't you tell us before!". Emil and Marta then looked to Lloyd, who had been silent the entire time. The dual swordsman felt extremely stupid by forgetting to tell his two travel companions that Sheena could see Tenebrae and Lumen.
"Well… um…" Emil started, but was unable to continue. That alone was more than enough of an answer to Sheena.
"In that case, you should go and look for Linar, Aisha's brother." Sheena said. Emil, Marta, Lloyd and the Centurions all looked to her. "But I'm going too. Not that I care about these ruins or anything, but I can see you guys are up to something, I just have to find out whether its good or not."
Emil, Marta and Lloyd looked amongst themselves. The red clad swordsman knew that Sheena wasn't the kind to trust anyone so easily, so they would have to think of something and quick if they wanted to keep any credit at all with the older woman.
"You certainly are devious." Tenebrae commented aloud, looking to Sheena, his sarcastic mood kicking in.
"Am I not allowed to if I see a bunch of people walking around with spiritual beings that I never saw before?" the violet haired woman asked, using a tone equally sarcastic.
"Wow. She's as sharp as you, Tene-man." Lumen said.
Sheena looked to the Centurion of light, now seeming confused. Tenebrae just shook his head and Sheena decided it was better not to ask. She gestured for the group to follow her.
On the way, Emil, Marta and Lloyd (who approached the couple) discussed what to do:
"Do you think we should say to her that it's dangerous, so she won't come along?" Marta asked to the two boys.
"I don't know. Sheena didn't look like the type that would mind to get into a fight." Lloyd commented.
"Yeah. She threw a guy two times Lloyd's size out of Asuka's." Lumen commented.
"He wasn't that big, Lumen."
"But I bet he weighted a lot."
"Maybe…" Emil said, attracting the other's attention. "We should just let her come for now. I mean, I know Linar. I've been to his house the last time we came here."
"Oh yeah. You commented about it." Marta said.
"Excuse me, but what should we do if she follows us in case we find Ventus' altar?" Tenebrae asked, making them focus back on the problem at hand. "Unless she knows how to fight, she would be in mortal danger."
"I can hear you talking, you know." Sheena said not even turning to look at them, almost making the humans in the group jump again. "And just so you know, I do know how to fight."
"Do you really?"
Soon after Tenebrae ended his question he saw the edge of a seal card inches away of his muzzle. The group gasped. None of them had seen Sheena move and, by the looks of it, even Tenebrae hadn't sensed the violet haired woman's fast movement. Lloyd also noticed something strange: the fingers which Sheena used to hold the seal card were glowing weakly and the inscriptions on the card itself seemed to shine with the same intensity as the glow on her finger.
Tenebrae looked to her and seemed to be startled for the first time since Lloyd had met him during that journey. Lumen had let his goofy smile drop and had a look of innocent confusion on his cheetah face while looking to the seal card on Sheena's hand.
"If I wanted, I could have dispatched you and your friend back to wherever you came from." Sheena said in a serious, sharp tone, the tone of someone who had already experienced what was a fight for her life.
The guardian user replaced the seal card between her breasts again, and started to walk. Emil, Marta, Lloyd and the Centurions followed her wordlessly. Tenebrae could just wonder how he could not have sensed the human woman's intent.
"That seemed familiar…" Lumen's voice sounded.
"You mean, Tenebrae been threatened by a woman?" Marta asked, thinking Lumen was probably referring to another comic situation he had witnessed.
"Not really. Aqua picked a lot on him. I mean, there was something about Sheena that reminds me of somebody, but I can't remember who."
The three humans exchanged glances between themselves. They knew Lumen didn't brag or lied about anything, so what could he be talking about? Emil wished that Ratatosk could answer him, or at least give them an idea about it, but he had no means to consult the Summon Spirit without giving his body to him and he certainly couldn't do it in front of Sheena without raising her suspicions of them more.
Lumen and Tenebrae had concealed themselves once the group left the staircase to the stone dais and went to the section of Asgard where the great majority of the residences were. After going up more stairs, they came across with a house with a windmill on its top.
Sheena entered the place, followed by the three other humans and the hidden Centurions. Inside the house was a blue haired man with glasses, using light brown clothes and old shoes. His face reminded them of Aisha.
"Hello Linar." Sheena greeted Aisha's brother.
"Hey, Sheena. What are you doing here? Did… something happen with Aisha?" Linar asked, his tone already getting worried.
"No, she's fine. It's just these people here that were examining the stone dais." the violet haired woman pointed to the group behind her.
Linar then looked pass Sheena to the other three, young adults. However, when his gaze fell upon Emil, the expression on his face changed from analytic to one that seemed to mix surprise and happiness.
"Aster! Is that you?" Linar asked, looking directly to Emil.
"Aster?" Sheena and Lloyd asked at the same time.
"Hi Linar. Good to see you're doing well." Emil answered in a tone that suggested he and Linar were old acquaintances.
Lumen had a confused expression on his cheetah face similar to Lloyd and Sheena. The red clad swordsman saw that she was distracted and took that chance to approach Marta while Emil went with Linar and the two started to talk. Lloyd then asked Marta why Linar was calling Emil Aster.
"Oh sorry, we forgot to tell you. Emil's full name is: Emil Aster Castagnier." Marta whispered to Lloyd, occasionally casting a glance to see if Sheena wasn't hearing them. "The demons only know his first name, so he uses the middle one as an alias in some cities."
"Wait a minute." Sheena said, attracting everybody's attention as she spoke. She pointed to Emil. "So he's the Aster that you've been talking about?"
"Yes, that's him." Linar confirmed. He then explained. "Two years ago, I came back with some tablets and scrolls from the Balacruf Excavation Site. That was before the demons had built the fortress in the mountains nearby. I had some trouble translating the inscriptions, until Aster appeared and helped me.
"He was amazing. He even pointed out that I've made some errors on other of my translations." Linar said with certain pride on his voice.
"Wow." Sheena said, turning to Emil. "You must be very smart to even correct Linar. He's one of the best archeologists in town. Not that we have that many, anyway."
Emil scratched behind his head with an embarrassed smile. Lloyd could just hear all of that with a mild open mouth. Nobody worried much with translating ruins or researching about knowledge of the past nowadays. Most people thought that the only thing they needed to know was the big mistake they committed during the war and that they were paying for it.
However, there was still a group of people that insisted on keeping the lore of the past alive and in research it. They generally were very intelligent people, but some tended to die sooner, due to the fact most sites of ancient culture were now territories where demon and Desian's bases were built.
Marta smiled at hearing Emil being complemented like that and whispered to Lloyd:
"Emil was always very smart. Our scholar friend knew a lot about ruins and things like this and Emil asked to be tutored on it. He can catch things really quick and even learned some by himself. We even thought it was an effect of Ratatosk being inside him."
"Really? Then he must be, like, a genius." Lloyd said.
"Well, he's very modest, but I think you can say that." Marta spoke, her tone turning one of pride and admiration.
"So you're researching the stone dais?" the group heard Linar ask Emil after the blond swordsman had told him the reason they were there. "In that case, this might interest you: I've been doing some research myself and I discovered it seems to be some kind of complex below the dais."
"A complex?" Emil asked, his voice assuming a serious and concentrated tone, which differed slightly from his soft, shy one. Linar nodded to him. "But I didn't found anything that could be an entrance or a door there when I investigated."
Linar took sometime to think. Sheena and Lloyd were curious about it, though they were straining not to get bored if the two researchers started to talk about ruins and translations more deeply. They never shared that out loud, but both Lloyd and Sheena didn't exactly have much interest in old things, though the latter wouldn't just start to get sleepy in the middle of a conversation that involved the subject.
"In that case, maybe… it's just a theory, but if you could get someone do the Maiden Ritual..." Linar suggested.
"Maiden Ritual?" Lloyd asked.
"It's part of Asgard's folklore." Emil started to explain. "It was a ritual performed in the past during a festival in praise of the Summon Spirits of wind, the Sylph. The main attraction was a dance made by one of the main priestesses."
"Hey, isn't that the dance Aisha makes every time we call her to dance on the stage?" Sheena asked.
"Yes, that's it." Linar confirmed. "Our grandmother was one of the last wind priestesses. Aisha says that the ritual signify the 'opening of a door'. "
"Then maybe that's what we need." Marta said.
Emil nodded to her and decided they would go and ask Aisha about the ritual. Before leaving the house, Emil turned to Linar and guaranteed that they wouldn't put Aisha in danger. He also advised Linar to don't try and go to the complex below the stone dais until they have checked if the path was safe.
"I wasn't planning on investigating the complex, anyway. There may be monsters or even some demons down there. And, I'm sure, if they don't kill me, Aisha will once she heard that we've did something like that." Linar said with a mild smile.
The four humans then went back to Asuka's. Before entering the restaurant/night club, Sheena talked to them in an apologetic tone:
"About earlier, I'm sorry for having suspected you were up to no good. If you're really that Aster person Linar talked about, then you surely must know what you are doing."
"There's no need to apologize." Emil said. "I also would be as devious as you if I saw someone doing something strange around the place I live."
"It's good that you think that way because I'll still follow you." Marta seemed a little worried once she heard that, but nobody noticed. "I'm a little curious about it myself. I've lived in this city for the best part of my life, but I never heard we had a dungeon below the stone dais."
"Are you sure you want to go? There might be monsters there. Scary, slimy monsters." Lumen asked, his voice sounding from near Lloyd.
"I'm not afraid of fighting some monsters and I did say that I can defend myself."
"Oh, good." Lumen said with his goofy smile on. "That means you're not one of those women that use tight, low cut clothes to attract males, but can't defend themselves from even cockroaches. "
A heavy silence hung in the air. You could hear the wind blowing at distance. Sheena then spoke:
"Does anybody mind if I kill him?"
"I would say 'go on', but we do need Lumen for our quest." Tenebrae spoke.
Sheena sighed, letting the subject drop. At least, Lumen didn't seem to be the malicious kind. He was just… very blunt and inopportune. The voluptuous woman then noticed Marta approaching her with what seemed to be an angry and serious expression. The brunette girl started to talk:
"If you're coming with us, then there's one condition." she looked to the boys and then whispered, so that only Sheena could hear. "Don't try to steal Emil from me."
The guardian user tilted her head to the side at hearing that. She then looked to Emil, who seemed a little confused as what the girls were talking about. Sheena then looked back to Marta, talking:
"And why would I do that? He doesn't seem that interesting to me."
"What do you exactly mean by that?" Marta asked, her tone starting to get protective.
"Just that he doesn't call my attention. Now can you stop being so possessive?"
"What? I'm not possessive!" Marta said in a defensive tone. She then walked to Emil and asked him, dead on, taking the blond swordsman by surprise. "Do you think I'm possessive Emil?"
"Hum… I-I… that's…" Emil stuttered.
"I'm afraid I have to agree with Lady Sheena, Lady Marta." Tenebrae said, apparently answering for Emil
"T-dark is right. You get kinda scary when you see him getting interested in another chick." Lumen commented, his tone getting a little wary.
Marta shot the two Centurions a glare so venous that the two shut up at the same instant. Lloyd could just observe the scene with a raised eyebrow. Sheena sighed and said for them to just enter and get that done. Emil sighed in relief to don't have to answer Marta's question. He was never very good at lying.
Asuka's was just as in the first day they came to Asgard; three, four families, at the best, were having lunch in the restaurant/night club. Sheena said for them to wait in the entrance as she went for the kitchen to call Aisha.
The group decided to sit in a table nearby while they waited for Sheena to return. It was then Lloyd saw the cashier was making signal for him to come over there. The red clad swordsman said for Emil and Marta to wait for him there and went to Harley, the cashier.
Lloyd approached the man and soon saw he had pointed ears, indicating he was a half-elf. However, the dual swordsman didn't find himself bothered by that in the least. He then asked what was it and Harley asked:
"So, you're the guy that danced with Sheena yesterday?" Lloyd nodded. "Man, how did you get her to do that? Ever since Sheena was dumped by that Cruxis' Representative guy, she thinks every man that crosses her path is a pervert just wanting a piece of her."
"Cruxis' Representative?" Lloyd repeated.
"Yeah. The guy came to town five years ago and he almost convinced Sheena to leave with him, but, in the end, it was all just sweet talk. And Asuka said she could see from kilometers away that the guy was no good. Huh, seems like she really knows how to point out these kind of people. I even thought there was nothing wrong with him and…"
Harley never achieved to end his phrase, due to a frying pan hitting him in the back of his head, electing a painful "Ow!" from him. Lloyd and the red head turned to see Tanny at the other side of the counter, with the frying pan in hand and an angry expression on her face.
"What did Sheena and Asuka say about it, Harley? It's none of our business what happened. But if you still don't get it…" Tanny raised the frying pan again, in a threatening gesture. Harley cowered over the girl.
"Whoa, whoa! Put it down! Sorry. I just wanted to know how the little guy here achieved to get past the wall around Sheena!" Harley justified.
"Oh yeah. Just because you couldn't do it and got a big scar on your back to prove it."
Harley seemed to wince at the memory, unconsciously massaging his back at the mention of it. Sighing, the half-elf went back to the counter as Tanny watched him, patting the frying pan on her left hand, posing like she was some short of guard. She then turned to Lloyd and her cheerful smile immediately returned. Lloyd started to wonder if all girls had mood swing issues.
"Don't mind Harley and his big mouth." she casted an angry glance to the man at the end of her line. "Anyway, you shouldn't worry about it." Tanny spoke, reverting back to her cheerful mood. "It's in the past and I'm sure Sheena doesn't think you're anything like that guy."
The red haired waitress went back to her work, leaving Lloyd to return to his table, thinking on everything he heard. So somebody had fooled Sheena and almost made she leave town, just to prove later that he was using her. The red clad brunette felt his blood boil at the thought. Sheena was a good woman, she didn't deserve to be treated like a toy you could throw away when getting tired of playing with it.
That would be enough for any girl to get so distrusting of men. If ever meet this guy, I'll… Lloyd thought, deciding to leave the threat incomplete, for he was still thinking in a good way to inflict pain to the guy. And he was a representative from Cruxis. Huh, no wonder he thought he could play with Sheena's feelings.
In large communities, it was common for Cruxis to choose a faithful follower to be their representative in society. These followers generally got fanatic about it, thinking that, since they were chosen, it was their holy duty to punish anyone that looked to be against Cruxis in the slightest and that, combined with the power they gained from their position within the ranks of the church, resulted in said representative abusing of his power to do whatever he wanted, thinking the other "less faithful" people should serve him. Of course, there were exceptions and some actually did a good job.
The position was passed on to the children of the representative, who had his fiancé chosen by the church, the fiancé that generally was somebody of an equally faithful family or with conditions to "donate" a good amount to Cruxis' Church, though there were no rich people in a literal sense. The position was just removed from the family if the angels of Cruxis said so.
Sheena came back with Aisha right in time Lloyd had reached the table, masking his anger with whoever had played with the violet haired woman's heart. The brunette warrior decided he wouldn't say he heard that about her, since it was a personal matter and he didn't want to invade her space.
Emil asked Aisha about the stone dais and the Maiden Ritual, explaining the situation a little. The blue haired maiden spoke:
"I heard about this from Linar, but do you really think the ritual can lead you to below the stone dais?"
"I think it's worth a try." Emil said. "But I wouldn't feel good if it put you in danger. There might be monsters down there."
"Then how about we ask her if she can teach one of us the ritual?" Lloyd suggested. "After all, it's just dancing, isn't it?"
"Yes, but in that case…" Aisha said, looking to Sheena.
"No thanks. I don't feel like giving them a little show." the violet haired woman said.
"In that case. Marta, I think it'll have to be you." Aisha spoke, looking to Marta.
"Uh, ok then." the petite brunette said.
"Wait a minute. Why it has to be Marta or Sheena?" Lloyd asked.
"Because it's a Maiden ritual." Sheena said, sighing upon the blunt question. "So, unless you're a woman, or has intentions to be one…" she added the last part with a raised eyebrow.
"I-I'm not like that, if that's what you're asking." Lloyd said.
Aisha said for the group to wait outside while she showed Marta how to perform the steps for the ritual. Sheena, Lloyd and Emil got out of Asuka's and could hear Lumen saying:
"So Lady Marta is going to dance? Man, I can't wait to see that!"
"I have to admit; I wonder how she will perform it. Lady Marta never seemed to be… too gracious." Tenebrae commented with a chuckle.
"C'mon you two." Emil said, looking to where the Centurions were floating. "We have to give Marta our support, not make fun of her."
"Of course. I'm sorry Lord Emil." Tenebrae said in a legitimate apologetic tone.
"'Lord Emil'?" Sheena repeated, confused. "What does he mean by that and what the hell are Lumen and… T-man or whatever is your name?"
"It's Tenebrae. Lumen is the one who likes to arrange nicknames for all of us."
"Do you think we should tell her about our journey?" Emil asked Lloyd.
"I think Sheena is trustworthy. She wouldn't just go around telling everybody." Lloyd said.
"Are you sure you're not saying that just because you…" Lumen was about to ask, but (luckily) Lloyd interrupted him, knowing what the oblivious Centurion would ask.
"No! That has nothing to do with it!"
Sheena cast all of them a glance that asked "what are you talking about?". Lloyd and Emil then explained her about their journey and the Centurions. At the end the violet haired woman had a mildly surprised expression on her face.
"Wow, that's some tale. But it does explain why your aura feels so strange." she said looking to Emil.
"Strange?" the blond swordsman asked.
"Yeah, like… how do I explain it? You two know that all living beings have a unique kind of life force signature to them right?" Emil and Lloyd agreed to Sheena. "Well, that is what summoners and some scholars call aura; a wave of energy that is produced by the being's spirit. Though each one has an unique aura, it bears some similarities between those of same race.
"Your aura, Emil, is unlike any I have seen. It resembles the one of a human, but there is something on it that is just… well, like something you don't encounter on any other being of this world. I think that's what a Summon Spirit aura would be like." Emil let out an "oh…" and lowered his head, like what Sheena said had him upset. Seeing that, the attractive female quickly spoke, a little worried she might have offended the boy somehow. "But it's not like it's a bad thing, in my opinion. It just makes you unique that way."
"Thanks Sheena." Emil said, though Sheena and Lloyd could catch a tint of worry and heaviness on his tone.
Marta then came out of Asuka's, saying she was ready. Aisha wished them all good luck on their work and guaranteed to Sheena she would look over things while she was accompanying Emil, Marta and Lloyd.
The group head back to the stone dais and Marta brought the staff Aisha had given her to do the ritual. Before going up the platform, the brunette fighter mumbled:
"I just hope I don't mess it up."
"Don't worry, Lady Marta." Tenebrae spoke, reappearing together with Lumen. "I'm sure you will succeed."
"Yeah. It's not like you'll just get blank or something right in the middle of the ritual." Lloyd said with a reassuring smile.
"Actually, I do tend to forget things with little details easily." Marta said. At that, Lloyd didn't know what to say and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, better you do it quickly then, 'cause Emil here seemed very anxious to see you dancing." Sheena said.
"Really? You want to see me dancing, Emil?" Marta asked, immediately changing from doubtful and insecure to determined and lovely.
"I…. I… well..." Emil stuttered, unable to say anything with the proximity between he and Marta.
"Then keep you're eyes on me! I'm going to dance like you never saw before."
Marta immediately went to the platform and stood in position to start the dance. Lloyd looked to Sheena and whispered a "thanks" to her, realizing the trick the older woman had used to make Marta get better. Sheena winked to him in return.
"Are you really that eager to see her dancing? Wow, you must like her a lot, boss." Lumen said with his typical goofy smile. Emil's face got beet red.
Lloyd and the others watched as Marta got on her knees in the center of the platform and got up, starting the dance. She moved from one of the minor circles engraved in the surface of the platform to the other, in light steps and swinging the staff above and at the sides of her body, tapping the circle with the point of her staff and making it glow. At the end, she was back to the central circle and kneeled once more, in reverence. Emil had to admit Marta looked beautiful while dancing like that, though he would never have the courage to voice those thoughts. Lloyd and the Centurions found the dance very interesting too.
It was then something happened: Marta's body glowed together with the central circle. Lights came out of the center of the stone dais, as the portal opened. The rest of the group got up the dais while Marta stood, feeling a little strange.
She had felt something near the end of the ritual, like there was something inside her reacting to the dais. She decided to drop the feeling aside and looked to Emil, asking how she looked like, putting her hands behind her and swinging her body to the sides in what looked to be a shy pose. The boy stuttered a little, unable to speak anything coherent.
Seeing that the blonde wouldn't admit he found his friend attractive anytime soon, Sheena decided to cut to the chase for them:
"You were nice. Now can we get on with this?" Marta cast a glare to Sheena.
The group reunited in the center of the shimmering circle and felt like they were being teleported somewhere…
- / - / - / -
Emil and the others arrived in what seemed to be some sort of underground ruin; a long corridor with pedestals on its walls and symbols that glowed with an eerie, green light. Lloyd and Sheena had their mouths opened in awe as they looked around.
"Can you feel what core is here, Tenebrae?" Emil asked the Centurion of darkness.
"Yes. The chaos energies haven't reached here, so I can sense the core nearby. It's…"
"Ventus." the answer didn't come from Tenebrae, but from Marta, who was ahead of the group, gazing at the corridor in a way it seemed she was lost in the space.
"Hey! How did you know, Marta?" Lumen asked.
"Huh?" Marta let out, turning to them. The expression on her face was one of someone who had woken from a deep reflection or a daydream.
"You just said that the Centurion's core that we are bound to encounter here is Ventus. How did you know?" Tenebrae asked.
"Really? I said it?" Marta asked, tilting her head to the side and seeming confused.
"Marta. You were just standing there and said it. I heard you." Emil spoke.
"We too." Sheena said, turning to the group once noticing something was up.
"Are you feeling alright?" Lloyd asked, getting worried his friend might be feeling strange.
"I'm fine, it's just… I felt something strange… and now I can feel something coming from the end of the passage." Marta said.
"You can?" Tenebrae asked in a tone that suggested he was suspecting of something.
"Why is it that important anyway? Can't Emil feel it too?" Sheena asked, turning to the blond boy.
"No. Lord Emil's soul is still not powerful enough to sense a Centurion's core by himself." Tenebrae explained.
"Then, couldn't it be an effect of Marta's exposition to Ratatosk's power?" Emil suggested.
"Um, guys." Sheena called everybody's attention. "Didn't you come here to recover this core, or whatever it is?" the group nodded to the older woman's statement, pushing that discussion to the back of their minds. That is; all of them but Marta, who was still wondering why she could feel Ventus in the first place.
As they explored the ruins, the group encountered a puzzle that involved pressing symbols in the walls in a way an archer's statue would fire a magical arrow and hit the jewels engraved in a mural in a determined sequence. Tenebrae said he was surprised the mechanism was still working even with the absence of mana. They even had to take care of a group of monsters when they missed a jewel in the combination.
At the end of the battle, Emil made pacts with the monsters and even used it to train some of which he already had. Marta and the Centurions had observed Sheena's fighting style and got impressed she could fight off the creatures with just her body or using those pieces of paper of hers. The brunette fighter then asked the voluptuous woman what was that fighting style she used with those papers:
"They are called seals. I'm a guardian user, which means I fight utilizing magical seals, which I empower with my magical energy or the elemental energy around me. As for my melee techniques, it's called martial arts." Sheena explained.
"And where did you learned that from?" Emil asked. Lloyd noticed they were talking to Sheena and approached.
"That is a secret." Sheena told them, in a tone which said she wouldn't talk about the subject anymore.
"Then answer us this; how do you know how to use elemental energy, as well as your magical one?" Tenebrae asked. "For that you would need to be…" the black, dog-like entity was interrupted by Sheena.
"A half-elf? Well, they say one of my grandparents was one and I have some elven blood diluted on me, so I guess that makes me one. Why? Do you have a problem with that?" Sheena's look turned sharper and her expression more serious. She looked at each member of the group in the eyes, like trying to see if they would lie when answering.
"No, not at all,." Emil rushed to say, getting nervous under the glare of the violet haired fighter. "We have a friend who is a half-elf."
"Same here." Marta said.
Sheena didn't even bothered to look at the Centurions, since they were closer to monsters and reminded her a little of spirits, they certainly didn't care for things as race or social tendencies. The guardian user's gaze fell upon Lloyd, who was the only one who hadn't pronounced himself until now.
When he heard that Sheena could possibly be a half-elf, Lloyd got a little surprised. But, as when he discovered that Harley, her workmate, was one too, he didn't feel bothered by that at all. If anything, that made he want to know more about Sheena. Seeing the woman of his thoughts had her eyes upon him, as well as the others, Lloyd looked in Sheena's eyes as he spoke to not let any doubt about his standing in the matter:
"I'm not that familiar with half-elves at all. But I always thought that there should be decent half-elves. Seeing you and that cashier, Harley is his name, I think, I see that I was right. I don't think someone is evil just because of his race.
"I was always taught that what matters is the person's heart, or lack of one, in some cases. You're a good person, Sheena, so I don't think your race matters."
A reflective silence followed after Lloyd's speech. Sheena had her eyes turn wide after hearing that. She could feel how the young man had put his heart in his words. That left her no doubt that he didn't have anything against half-elves. The violet haired woman started then to feel all flustered. She hated to feel like that.
"Y-you could have just said you didn't care about it at all." Sheena said, looking to the side and crossing her arms for them not to see she was now blushing. "I didn't ask for a speech about morals, or this heartfelt thing."
Dammit! Control yourself, Fujibayashi! It's not like you to get all bushy over things like these! Sheena scolded herself mentally. However, her heart had reacted to Lloyd's words and for her to make it low down again would be a lot of work.
"Hehehe. Look. Sheena's blushing." Marta said, with a smile on her face.
"Yeah. She is." Lumen said with a chuckle.
"S-shut up!" the voluptuous woman turned to the two who spoke, trying to sound angry. "I-it's not what it seems, so shut up!"
Lloyd started to blush himself at realizing what effect his words had on Sheena. He just felt like he should speak what was on his heart since the situation was such a delicate one, but never he dreamed it would have this effect on Sheena.
She's… so cute when she blushes. Lloyd thought, but shook his head once he realized what he had just thought. Control yourself Irving! What makes you think she'll ever look to you like that? Lloyd scolded himself mentally.
"Well, I must admit that was certainly the most impressive." Tenebrae said, floating near Lloyd. "You never seemed to be the kind of person that could have such deep insight about a subject as delicate as this one, much less being capable of voice your thoughts with this eloquence."
"Thanks…I think." Lloyd said, not knowing if what Tenebrae said was a compliment or an insult.
After the mood of Lloyd's speech passed, the group resumed their adventure in the underground ruins. After solving more puzzles, some which involved them fighting against gales of winds and watching for traps, and fighting stray monsters, they finally came across a double, stone door, which seemed to lead to the main chamber, according to Emil's translations of the inscriptions around the ruin.
"Man. Ventus sure loves puzzles. I got all confused when we did that jewel sequence thing." Lumen said, sighing.
"Considering how you are, I wouldn't be surprised if there's more things that confuses you." Sheena inputted.
"You can't imagine how right you are." Tenebrae said.
"Hey, c'mon T-man. You don't think I've become a Centurion for nothing, did you?" Lumen said, in a defensive tone.
"Actually, you just became a Centurion for me not to have to stand you." Ratatosk's voice sounded from Emil, finally deciding to appear.
Sheena's eyes seemed to widen as she looked to the blond swordsman. Ratatosk noticed that and turned to her, speaking:
"What? What's with the dumb expression?"
"It's just… your aura… it's almost completely different from before." Sheena said.
"If you paid any attention, you would know that I'm Ratatosk. Or what's left of him, anyway." the Summon Spirit said, shrugging in the final.
"Oh, yes. Sorry." Sheena said, a little nervous at the intimidating and harsh tone of the spirit.
"Humph!" Ratatosk then turned and walked to the door. While he was unlocking the seal of the chamber, Lloyd could hear him say in a whisper. "It's just like they say: appearance and brains never mix."
The red clad swordsman felt slightly irritated by Ratatosk referring to Sheena like that and considered telling her, just so he could get the satisfaction of seeing her give a good lesson to the dirty mouthed…
Wait a minute. Get a hold of yourself, Lloyd! She's not your girlfriend. I don't even think she considers me her friend. I don't have to get all protective about her. Lloyd said to himself mentally.
The door to the chamber finally opened and the group entered. Like in the catacombs of the Tower of Mana, there was a pedestal on the end of the chamber and on it, floating above a spectral, flower-shaped plate, was a drop-like jewel. This one was a vivid green, signalizing that was the Centurion of wind.
"So this is a Centurion core." Sheena mused. "It doesn't seem to feel like Emil, but it does seem to be powerful. Could this thing affect something outside?" the violet haired woman asked.
"You seem to have a keen eye for these things." Tenebrae commented.
"Comes with the training." she said in a tone that suggested she was praising herself.
"Training?" Marta asked.
"Huh… nothing." Sheena said, trying to disguise what she had let escape.
"Anyway…" Tenebrae said, calling their attention back to him, as Emil walked to the altar, still in his Ratatosk mode. The group accompanied him from behind, giving some space for the Lord of the Monsters. "As I was saying: Centurions cores does possess remarkable powers. However, while in hibernation, we cannot control our powers properly and they may flow to the environment around, attracting monsters or, should someone come in contact with our cores, affecting people.
"But since we are adapting to the world's new state, our powers are weaker than normal and aren't enough to cause a flow of energy. Plus, the demonic energy currently overflowing this world is counterbalancing our powers, so they are limited to the space around our altars."
" 'Overflowing?' You talk like this is a bad thing." Lloyd said.
"Because it is. It's because of this energy that the Equilibrium is degenerating as time passes. It's also because of these chaotic energies that you see several natural disasters happening, like water turning to poison and the forest withering or turning to stone. Well, that and the burnt out levels of the mana."
"Oh yeah. I remember the boss saying something about Origin trying to make some emergency laws, or something, so everybody could survive even without mana." Lumen piped in, in his usual cheerful tone.
"Origin? Like the King of the Summon Spirits?" Sheena said, appearing to be very surprised.
"Yep. The big boss, besides the boss. You know. He even made a plan for…" what plan that was about, Lloyd, Marta and Sheena didn't heard, because of Tenebrae using his hand-like tail to cover Lumen's mouth, leaving the Centurion to only mumble some incoherent words.
Lloyd and the girls looked to Tenebrae with a questioning look on their faces, but the Centurion only gave a nervous, canine smile and said:
"It was nothing of important. I can assure you. Now if you excuse me…" Tenebrae floated back, dragging the still mumbling Lumen with him. When he thought he was out of hearing range, Tenebrae started to half-shout, half-whisper to Lumen, seeming very disturbed by what his cheetah-like brethren almost let escape.
"Somebody else suspecting they are hiding something important from us?" Lloyd said, in what Sheena and Marta approved.
However, they didn't pay much thought to it, for in that moment the core was floating above Emil and its groves started to open like flower petals. Suddenly, gusts of wind seemed to invade the chamber, coming from seemingly nowhere. The group had to protect their eyes from the gusts, which converged to the newly awakened core. A green flash covered the entire chamber.
When the humans in the group could open their eyes they saw, in the place where the core had been floating, a majestic, brown eagle, the same size as Tenebrae and Lumen. It had a sharp, yellow beak, golden eyes, a set of dark green feathers came out of its head like some kind of crest, claws of a ivory color and sharp appearance and a brown, feathered tail trailing behind.
The eagle-like Centurion landed on the altar and (what surprised Lloyd and the girls the most) "withdrew" the parts of its wings after its curve to behind them, using the points of the feathers like they were fingers. The eagle then inclined its head forward, putting its "hand" on its chest, in a reverence.
"My Lord. It's good to see you safe and sound once again." Ventus said in a voice that sounded as soft as the wind itself, but as strong as a gale.
"Finally, someone besides Tenebrae who I can keep an intelligent talk." Ratatosk's voice sounded from Emil.
"I'm glad you're happy to see me as well." Ventus said, apparently, translating Ratatosk's rash way of talk.
"Wow. He's good." Sheena said.
"That's nothing. V-wing is the smartest of us." Lumen said, with a proud, yet goofy, smile on his feline features.
"Hello Lumen." Ventus said, after "drawing" back the other half of his wings and taking flight to join his companion Centurions. "I see you're still the same. You too, Tenebrae."
"It's good to see you, my friend." the Centurion of darkness replied.
"Yes." Ventus then looked to Lloyd and the others. "And who might you be? More surprisingly, how come you humans are near our Lord and he hasn't outright killed you? From what I remembered, Lord Ratatosk was very… let's say, not much pleased with you humans." Ventus said.
The trio noticed that Ventus didn't have the same sense of humor as Tenebrae or Lumen, but he seemed very lean on choosing well his words, like he wanted to make everything he spoke sound intelligent or wise.
Tenebrae explained to Ventus the situation and who was each one in the group. When Tenebrae presented Marta (and added, in a whisper, that she was interested in their lord), Ventus' gaze fell upon her and the Centurion took flight until stay near her face, seeming to analyze all of her features in a way that left clear his resemblance to the animal he portrayed.
The Centurion of wind stopped to flap his wings and stayed floating in air, reverting his wings to their "hand state", putting one wing bellow his beak, in a thoughtful pose. Marta asked what it was, feeling a little nervous by having the Centurion stare at her with that intensity.
"You look familiar, thought I can't pinpoint exactly why." Ventus said, more to himself than to the brunette girl.
"W-what do you mean?" Marta asked. Could that be related to what she sensed at the entrance of the ruins.
"Look, this all very interesting and such, but can we get back?" Sheena asked. "I'm tired of this dungeon and the others must be wondering where I am by now."
The group nodded to the voluptuous woman and started to head back. In the way, Tenebrae commented to the other Centurions and Emil, though Lloyd could hear them:
"I'm starting to wonder if Sir Lloyd's 'unique enthusiasm span' isn't some kind of contagious disease."
Lloyd started to wonder if Ratatosk would mind if he beat Tenebrae senseless…
- / - / - / -
After making it all the way back from the tunnels in the underground ruins, the group took the teleporter back to the stone dais. Ventus seemed a little happy to be able to feel the winds again, though it was difficult to tell due to his avian features. After seconds, however, he seemed to have got worried, for he spoke, in a heavy tone:
"Even the winds seem to be carrying chaos with them…the world is in a far worse state than I previously thought."
"Don't worry." Lumen said, in a cheerful, reassuring tone. "Now that our boss is here, everything will be alright. Right boss?" when there were no answer or comeback, the group turned to Emil and found him holding his head down, like he was dizzy or not feeling well. "Boss?" Lumen asked, now sounding worried.
Without any warning, Emil collapsed. Marta called his name and went to his side, trying to awake him. Tenebrae and the other Centurions circled their master, trying to find what was the problem. Sheena and Lloyd also approached, but maintained some distance for Marta and the others.
"Don't worry. It's just a side-effect of the merging." Tenebrae said.
"With my awakening, new powers are also awakening in our Lord. The human portion of his soul may take some time to adapt to it." Ventus said in his wise, soft tone. He then perked his head up, looking to the direction of the city. "I hear the sound of weapons clashing and hushed voices."
It was just then the group realized that there was, indeed, the sound of rushed voices and weapons echoing in the mountain. They noticed with a gasp that it was coming from below the mountain, in Asgard's direction.
"Oh no, the city!" Sheena said, taking her seal cards and going down the stairs without a second word. Lloyd tried to call her, but she was already down there, such was her speed.
"Marta, you and the Centurions stay here and take care of Emil. I'm going to see what this trouble is about." Lloyd said, drawing his twin swords.
In any other circumstance, Marta would have opposed for Lloyd go alone, but she didn't have much of a choice. If it were the demons, they would instantly recognize Emil and try to eliminate him, which would be extremely easy with him in his weakened state. The petite girl nodded to the red clad swordsman.
Lloyd then ran down the mountain and arrived at the gate to the town. What he saw made him gasp. Desians. Lots of them. They were attacking the city and the people were trying to fight back, protecting the buildings and their loved ones with all their might, though they were no match for the demonic-enchanted strength of the Desians.
The dual swordsman then heard cries of pain and shouts of command coming from his left. Turning he saw a whole mob of Desians in front of Asuka's, where Sheena, Harley and Pietro were standing, trying to keep the invaders from entering the building. Sheena alone was fighting three of them, one transformed in what seemed to be some kind rocky creature.
Without think twice, Lloyd ran to join the fray. He wouldn't let the Desians do as they wished with the people of Asgard.
Some notes:
- As you probably noticed, Cruxis' Representatives, in this reality, would be the Cruxis' Chosen Ones from the games. Of course, here we have the difference that it's not just one Chosen for the each country, but one Chosen One for each big community. As for who exactly are them (if you didn't guess who's the one mentioned in this chapter, you seriously need to play the first game all over again), it'll be revealed latter.
- Since Emil and Aster were so alike as mentioned in the games, I "merged" the two here for plot purposes and to add more features to Emil's character. It also gives a hint about a certain other character, a red headed one...
- About Ventus' wing-hand characteristic; think about the talking birds from Disney's movies like "Lion King" and "Little Mermaid" and how they use their wings and feathers like hands and fingers. I took the idea from them.