New chapter and more characters appearing!
Also, here's a skit for you all. This one is between Marta, Lumen, Tenebrae and Sheena and it would occur sometime after they left Asgard:
Asuka
Tenebrae: Asuka seems to be a good mother.
Sheena: Yeah, she is great. She experienced many things in her life and always tried to pass it to me.
Lumen: Doesn't she, like, scold you when you do some short of mistake or don't hear her? I heard most parents do that.
Sheena: Well, there was a time I didn't listen to her and even gave her the cold shoulder. I can just say, I regretted it latter. She didn't exactly yell at me after it, but gave me that look of "I told you" and we had a serious talk.
Marta: Then that means you two have a healthy relationship of mother and daughter.
Sheena: Really?
Marta: Yeah, you know what they say: we just scold those we love because we care for them.
Lumen: Like with you and boss when you get angry thinking he is looking to other girls?
Sheena *narrowing eyes*: I don't think that's the same thing, Lumen.
Marta: Well… hum… I…
Lumen: Because you sure get shaking when he looks to another woman or blush when they come on to him.
Tenebrae: Well, love is indeed the act of forcing your feelings over the other person, whether he will accept them or not. Also, it is the desire to keep your object of affection to yourself, just like you would do with a prized possession.
Sheena: What kind of twisted explanation for love is this?
Marta *sighing*: The Tenebrae kind…
Chapter 8
Anger
"That… situation… so far… my mana…" Shadow, Summon Spirit of darkness, mumbled to his listeners.
"Good… thanks for the report Shadow," the aged-looking Summon Spirit of molecules, Maxwell, said.
He sighed after having to hear the reports of all other spirits about the situation in the world, which he already knew. He then looked around him. When was the last time he came to the Summon Spirit's palace on that pocket dimension? He couldn't remember. But it seemed his brothers and sisters had modified the place to gain a more ethereal and otherworldly atmosphere. It almost reminded him of the Monster Graveyard and the Path of Ascension before the Ginnungagap.
The room was round and with no walls, giving view to a starry sky, though he knew all of that was just an illusion, probably created by Origin, to give the place an atmosphere of freedom. The floor on their feet was actually an out flowing pool of water which they could walk over without sinking in, courtesy of Undine, certainly, and around them there were several pillars distributed in a circle, each one with a symbol engraved in it; the symbol of their respective elements. Behind him, on his pillar, was his crest.
The Conference Room was one of the few rooms he remembered having been to in the Twilight Palace. He knew in the upper levels were the Summon Spirits' quarters. When he inquired Origin why they had created rooms for themselves, the King of the Summon Spirits said it was "for them to feel comfortable and have a place to relieve the stress of their work."
Why the hell would they need that? They were spirits, for Lord's sake! But after Gnome invited him to see his room and try the earth spirit's soft bed, he decided there was no use in complaining. Not when you had something that felt like you were lying down on clouds. Even he had his privative quarters in the Ginnungagap.
"Ratatosk," Origin called him. He turned his look to the four-armed Summon Spirit, but didn't get out of his arm-crossed pose, leaning on the pillar behind him with his crest. "How is the situation in the Ginnungagap?"
"Nothing out of normal, as far as I can tell. There haven't even been attempts of any kind to force the door open. It's been quite boring."
"Man, that sucks," Gnome spoke. "You know, maybe you should get out more often. Really Ratatosk, it's been ages since the last you hang around with any of us," the hamster-like Summon Spirit said with a smile on his face.
"Yeah. We miss playing with you," Yutis, one of the Sylph sisters, said.
"More like torturing him," Efreet commented, chuckling.
"Leave him be. You know how he tends to get easily angry over anything," Aska commented.
He gritted his teeth at the second Summon Spirit of light. Aska never liked him ever since that situation with Luna. Sometimes, he could swear that over-sized, two-headed bird had his picture in a dictionary at the side of the word "overprotective."
"Oh, c'mon. Stop picking on him again, Aska. Honestly, and Undine says he's the one that hold grudges around here," Celsius spoke in his defense. He remembered that he and her had a thing sometime ago, after she broke up with Efreet, but his duty kept him locked in the Ginnungagap for so much time he didn't even know how she was still feeling about him nowadays.
"I didn't say that," Undine spoke. He always pictured her as being one of the few in their brandy bunch who could actually come up with an intelligent talk. Aside Origin and Maxwell, of course.
Predictably, another discussion started between the spirits. He sighed. He would never admit, but he missed even their arguing in the meetings. Origin and Maxwell sighed. Shadow was the one to stop the blabbering with his deep and hissing voice, sending waves of darkness around:
"Enough… !" everybody stopped at sensing the chill on their very essences. He smiled. Shadow did know how to efficiently break an argue. "Can't you… stop… even when… Ratatosk… comes… ?"
He and Shadow were never what you could call best buddies, but they kept a cordial relation at least. The other spirits apologized and he decided to resume to his report:
"If you ask me, the demons are probably concentrating their forces in invading another world."
"You think so?" Sephie asked.
"I can't say for sure, but it might be it."
"Even so, it's not like we can do anything about this matter," Volt, the Summon Spirit of thunder, said in the ancient dialect, but they all could understand that. "Denouncing the actions of the Grand Demon Lords would be meddling in Niflheim's affairs and that would go directly against the Treaty."
"Yes," Origin said, his tone a conclusive one. "We cannot give them any reason for retaliation, even more in a dire hour like this. Should they attack Aselia, we wouldn't have means to oppose them."
"That's exactly why we need to put an end to this war," everybody looked to him once he spoke that. That was what he had hoped to discuss in that reunion. "Origin, you said yourself the Royal Family of both countries wasn't willingly to listen to your messengers, even though they showed proofs."
The spirits looked between themselves. They knew he was right, they knew they had to act, but they were with their hands tied by that oath of theirs. Even he was. That was because he had tried to get the help of the mortals, but they were too afraid of how others would see their actions and clang to their petty ideals instead of doing what was necessary to defend the world.
"We have to do something. If you just let me use my monsters, I can wipe them out and…"
"Unthinkable…" Shadow hissed.
"What?"
"Shadow is right, you cannot simply take their lives without justification," Luna spoke.
"But it's not without justification. Those bastards are trying to destroy our world!" he exclaimed in an unintended outburst.
A deadly silence fell over the Conference Room. It was then Origin spoke, his tone a deep, commanding one, which he used only when he was met with something that worried him:
"Ratatosk, control yourself."
He huffed, but obeyed notwithstanding. If there was someone he truly respected, that being was Origin. How could he not? The two fought side by side at the War of the Young Aselia. It was the King of the Summon Spirits who introduced him in their mean and helped him to protect the Kharlan Tree. Origin and the other spirits… they were his…
It was then they heard the sound of what seemed to be someone choking. Before they could locate its source, Undine fell in the water floor, though not sinking on it. The other spirits rushed to her. As he approached, he asked what was wrong with her. Celsius was the one that answered:
"It's her mana. Lately, people have been dumping toxic materials left by the machines that consume mana on the water."
"I've seen it," Maxwell spoke. "These substances leave the mana in the water in a state of complete disarray, not to mention pollution. She may have absorbed some of the contaminated mana while trying to correct it."
Undine seemed to be breathing deeply, her eyes closed and an expression of pain in her face. Origin adjourned the meeting and ordered Efreet to take the Maiden of the Mist to her quarters. The Red Giant nodded and picked her tiny frame in his powerful arms, exiting the Conference Room by the portal that led to the corridors of the Twilight Palace at the end of a staircase. The other spirits followed, worried looks on their faces.
Maxwell gave a deep sight, his aged looks more evident in his worry for his fellow spirit. The Summon Spirit of the molecules floated out of the room. He then noticed the only ones left in the room was himself and Origin, who had a heavy, deep expression in his features. He turned to the King of the Spirits and said:
"See? That's exactly why we have to take action now."
"I know, Ratatosk, I know…" Origin spoke. "But we can't interfere directly. You know the consequences…"
"To the hell with those damn consequences! The world won't wait for someone to decide it's time to save it, unless you've had more luck than me in finding a mortal willingly to put himself on the line to defend Aselia."
He crossed his arms. Origin stayed silently. He knew his equal in power had no means to counter that argument. After all, it was Origin's idea for them to recruit people to help them end that war. However, in the end, it had resulted in nothing. The war was still on and the world was suffering while they could only watch. Why couldn't Origin simply give him permission to wipe out both countries and end that spectacle of stupidity at once? He had the means to do that indirectly, without breaking their oath and Origin knew that.
"I know you're worried about Undine and the others, but you need to calm down Ratatosk," Origin insisted.
"Of course I'm worried! She's practically my sister and you all… you… are my only family," he struggled to say that. He didn't like being emotional. For him that was a sign of weakness.
Origin now looked to him with a surprised look on his face. Maybe Origin already knew he felt like that, given how sharp the King of the Summon Spirits was, but never expected for him to admit that outloud. He also heard from the other spirits that they also thought of their little group as a big family and he couldn't help, but feel like they were exactly that.
"I never thought I would hear these words coming out of your mouth…" Origin said with a mild smile on his face as he closed his eyes. His tone was a soft one, carrying a tint of happiness on it. It soon reverted back to his normal, strong and serious one. "But Ratatosk, I ask of you: do not let the attachment you feel towards us turn into rage and hatred. The others wouldn't like to know that the source of your anger is their state."
"Ok… but I won't make any promises," he crossed his arms again, turning to leave the room and stopping to take a last look on his equal. "But let me ask you this, Origin: what would you do if you saw them being threatened by those ingrates?"
"I would think on a more efficient course of action than letting my emotions take a hold of me and work to save them." Origin answered promptly. He wasn't surprised. Their leader was the one to always keep his head cool even at the direst of the situations. "If that soothes you, I'm working on a plan to revert this situation. It may not take an immediate effect and I'm still working on it, but it might give us the chance to fix things personally should they go wrong."
"Then let's hope your plan works," he said in a neutral tone. Origin always formed a plan when things got too ugly. Good thing they always worked out in the end.
But what would happen if Origin's plan didn't succeed this time? What if he wouldn't have enough time to put it into action? What if more of their brothers and sisters got affected by the state of their respective mana? Even his Centurions had been demonstrating symptoms of being affected by the chaotic state of the mana.
He swore: if those humans took Undine or any of the others from him… if they took his family away… they would pay dearly…
Emil woke up, sweating as he tried to catch his breath. His heart was painfully aching and pounding against his chest. The young swordsman took some time to recover and realize he was in the tent he had set up for himself and Lloyd to sleep and not in the palace of the Summon Spirits shown in his memories.
Another memory of Ratatosk… Emil mused as his heart went back to its normal rhythm.
"Talk about this one to anyone and I swear I'll make your life a living hell," Ratatosk's voice sounded, almost startling Emil. He forgot about the mental channel between him and the Lord of the Monsters.
B-but why? Are you talking about how you felt about the other spirits? I thought it was very surprising, I mean, you didn't look like the kind of being who would feel like that towards anyone and…
"And I want it to stay this way. Don't you see? If someone knew about it, they could have used them to get to me. Showing attachment for someone like that is a sign of weakness that your enemies will use against you. Maybe you should think about that, since you and Marta are so close."
Emil almost blushed at thinking about the brunette girl, but knew Ratatosk was right: if the demons knew of how he felt towards Marta, they would do anything to get their hands on her and use her to get to him. But even so, there was still something in those memories Emil wanted to talk with Ratatosk.
The blonde stood, putting on his clothes and weapons and exiting the tent. He looked around and once saw there was nobody else awaken walked until he stayed at the base of a tree. The swordsman called Ratatosk again on his mind. The spirit answered in an impatient tone:
"What is it now?"
I don't think you should hide what you felt about the other spirits. I know it might have been painful for you to see them leaving this world and…
Emil didn't get to end his mental speech, for in that moment he felt something tug at his spirit with enormous strength, so much it even hurt. He felt Ratatosk taking control of his body and could feel the Summon Spirit's anger like it was his own.
"Now listen up here, you soft-hearted idiot…" Ratatosk said, not even bothering to speak through thought. "My brothers and sisters didn't 'leave' this world. As you can clearly see in my memory, they were crippled by what you, humans, were doing with the environment and mana of this world, since their existence was based on it.
"It was your fault what happened to Undine and all of the others. You wanted them to go away, so you could be free to do whatever you wanted!"
"No. We didn't…" Emil tried to protest, but Ratatosk interrupted him again, his anger stabbing at the portion of the soul corresponding to Emil like swords.
"Shut up! What do you know? You weren't even born then, so shut your mouth when you talk about my brothers and sisters! Or else…"
Emil now felt fear take a grip on his heart when he saw his hand going for the inversed handle of his sword and pulling it out. Ratatosk then positioned the blade near Emil's other arm, all the while smiling an almost maniac smile. The rash Summon spirit spoke:
"I can't destroy this body, or else I won't have anything to take me to my Centurions, but since it's not mine to begin with, I think I can block the pain by putting you in the control at the right time."
"W-what do you think you're doing?" Emil asked in a genuinely scared tone.
"If you don't keep your mouth shut about what you see in my memories, I'll have to teach you to keep silence through pain." the crimson eyes of the Summon spirit turned to blade, his maniacal smile on all the while, like he was enjoying the thought of inflicting pain on Emil. "I wonder what part of your body hurts the most."
"Y-you can't be serious about it! What kind of spirit are you to… ?"
"If you paid any attention to my memory, you'll see that physical pain is nothing compared to the one I felt at seeing what you, humans, were doing to this world." he looked to the blade again. "Humans deserve to be punished."
Before Ratatosk could approach the blade to Emil's skin, someone slapped his sword out of his hand. The blade fell to the ground and Ratatosk had a surprised expression on his face. He turned to look at who had dared to meddle with his affairs and saw it was Marta, with a stern look on her face. For the first time since he had reincarnated in Emil, the Summon Spirit of the Kharlan Tree found himself worried at how much the girl had heard.
"So, you think all humans deserve to be punished, regardless if they never did something to harm you or this world?" Marta asked in a serious tone.
"Marta…" was all that Ratatosk could say.
"Is that what all of us… what I am to you? A criminal who deserves to be punished?"
"I've never sai…" Ratatosk tried to say, but Marta interrupted.
"You just said it. 'Humans deserve to be punished.' Does that include everybody that died at that night protecting you from Nebilim?"
For the first time since he could remember, Ratatosk was at a loss of words. But why were that girl's words having that effect on him? It couldn't be Emil's heart. He could isolate the boy's feelings from himself, so why? He suddenly felt guilt building up inside him. It felt like he was being scolded by Origin.
"I know it must have been heartbreaking for you to lose the other spirits… your brothers and sisters…" Marta paused at that, looking to the ground before looking back to Ratatosk. "But there were people who also lost their families while fighting against the demons to protect you and help this world. We want to redeem ourselves to you."
"Redeem? Don't make me laugh," Ratatosk finally found his voice and shot back a retort to the brunette fighter. "You just want to do it to feel better with yourselves."
There was silence after his words. Marta had her eyes wide at hearing Ratatosk's answer. She then closed them and opened again. She had a sad and tearful expression on her face as she spoke:
"So that's what you really think of us… that we're selfish," she then picked up Emil's sword from the ground and gave it back to Ratatosk, who just eyed her with curiosity. "Very well. If that's what you feel, then kill me."
"What?" Ratatosk could hear Emil exclaiming together with him. What was she thinking?
"You want revenge for everything that happened with you and the other spirits, your family, don't you? It's our fault that you're like this. It's my fault too. So, please, if you have to punish someone, punish me," her tone was almost begging.
Ratatosk considered that for a moment. He had thought of, once getting his power back, giving the humans a true taste of what they have done, but he never thought of giving Marta the same treatment.
But she's also a human. She's one of them… one of the assassins of my tree. the Summon Spirit reminded himself.
"NO! Please, do whatever you want with me but don't do anything to…" Emil tried to protest, but Ratatosk silenced his pleads by weakening their mental link.
The crimson eyes of the Lord of the Monsters shone with cold determination, all anger he felt on his memories at seeing what the humans and half-elves were doing to his brothers and sisters returning. If he had to get past Marta to give the humans their just treatment by their disrespect with the world and life itself, so be it. Marta closed her eyes, preparing herself.
Ratatosk then held the petite girl's shoulder and raised his sword, aiming for her heart. A quick painless death, it was the least he could offer her. However, seconds started to pass, turning into minutes and Ratatosk didn't move his blade an inch, like his arm was frozen in midair. His anger was subsiding now.
Suddenly, he wasn't feeling angry anymore, but why? He had weakened the link between his and Emil's heart, so it wouldn't interfere, but he couldn't find the will to thrust his blade forward. His arm started to shake. He was hesitant. Would it be right for him to kill her? Should he simply ignore her words for the sake of satiating his anger and hatred?
Damn! Why… why am I even thinking this? This… this is…
With a cry of frustration, Ratatosk threw his blade to the ground and let go of Marta, who opened her eyes and looked at him, confused at his actions. Ratatosk gave his back to her, holding his head with his hand and with his teeth gritted. The girl called for the Summon Spirit's name.
"I… I need to be alone... please…" the Summon Spirit said in a heavy and sorrowful voice, which Marta never dreamed of hear coming from him. He never asked for anything.
Unable to find any words, Marta just nodded and left the entity merged with Emil, returning to the camp, where the others were starting to awake. Ratatosk stared at ground for some time, trying to understand why he suddenly felt his heart heavy. Looking to the side, the Summon Spirit saw all of his Centurions there, looking at him with serious and neutral expressions.
"What? Don't give me those looks!" he yelled to them, but none of the Centurions backed away, they just kept looking at him. "Get the fuck off my face!"
Ratatosk then took the sword from the ground and sheathed it, walking away of his subordinates. While he distanced himself from them, all he could think was:
Why couldn't I kill her? She's… she's just another human. Just another filthy human being. however, something inside him, which he was trying to ignore with all of his willpower, kept telling the Lord of the Monsters that Marta wasn't just "another filthy human being."
- / - / - / -
The group was now traveling to the city of Palmacosta, from there they would take a boat and go on to the next continent. However, the travel had been strangely silent. The Centurions, Emil and Marta were all very quiet. Even Lumen, who was usually the chatterbox of the group had a heavy expression on his cheetah-like face.
"Ok, who died for all of you to be like that?" Sheena finally asked, turning to them.
"Yeah. Really, it's good to have some silence now and then, but this is just plain awkward," Lloyd spoke up, also turning to his friends.
"It's…" Emil was about to say, but Marta was faster.
"It's nothing. We just have a lot in our minds lately."
"Are you sure?" Lloyd asked, finding it quite strange.
"It's nothing to worry about, serious," Marta said, with a more reassuring tone.
Lloyd was about to insist, but felt Sheena's hand close on his shoulder. He looked to the attractive woman, who shook her head, giving him a clear signal: they would tell them if it was something serious. The dual swordsman sighed and left it alone for the moment.
"Thanks… Marta," Emil said to his childhood friend.
"It was nothing," she replied trying to put up a smile, but failing.
"Um… Marta… about what Ratatosk…"
"What is that?" Aqua's voice sounded.
The group looked around as they were near the town so they could see the buildings. However, at the entrance of the town were two, strange vehicles, very similar to the one they had seen the other day. Lloyd was the one to ask:
"Aren't those armored vans?"
"That means the Desians are in town," Sheena spoke.
"It is better that we survey the situation before entering," Ventus stated. The Centurion of wind then called for a monster and a Chirpee appeared. The little bird would be perfect to spy without being noticed. "Chirpee, go and search this city for the Desians," Ventus instructed the monster of his element.
The Chirpee bowed its head to Ventus in what was clearly a nod and flew into the town, flying above the buildings to not call any suspicion. The group then settled at waiting. Emil called Marta to come with him and the two walked away of the hearing range from the rest of the group, sitting in an ancient, stone fence along the road.
"Marta, about what Ratatosk said before, I…" Emil started, but Marta interrupted him, saying.
"It's alright. I understand why he's angry with humans. We really did mess up everything even with the spirits during the war," the brunette girl said with a downcast look.
"Yeah, but you didn't have to do that," the young swordsman's tone rose as he spoke. "Marta, Ratatosk was so angry he wasn't thinking straight. He could really have killed you. Please, promise me you won't do anything as reckless as that ever again."
"Emil…"
"I… I don't know what I would do if you were killed and I couldn't do anything about it. I mean, you're my best friend and…" Emil started to blush as he spoke and lowered his head in embarrassment.
Marta couldn't help, but giggle at the expression on her crush's face. It seems he was still not able to confess to her. She then held her hands behind her and started to swing her body to the sides as she spoke:
"Ok then. I'm sorry for worrying you, Emil. I promise I won't do it again."
"Thanks, Marta."
While the two childhood friends were speaking, Lloyd and Tenebrae were observing them, with Lumen at their side. Sheena had gone to another point of the road with Aqua and Ventus was at the head of the group, waiting for the Chirpee to come back. Lloyd looked to the Centurion of darkness at his side and asked:
"What do you think they're talking about?"
"Lloyd, I don't think it would be polite to meddle into other people's busin…" Tenebrae was about to say when Lumen interrupted him.
"It seems boss and his girl are talking about how important she is to him,"
"How can you be so sure?"
"That little guy told me," Lumen pointed with his pawn to the stone fence along the road.
Lloyd and Tenebrae looked and saw a light brown, squirrel monster sitting there. Tenebrae recognized it as being a Peallaidh. The dog-like entity sighed as he spoke, more to himself than for Lloyd and Lumen:
"My, my, just one of Lumen's servant could be that lousy."
"Hey, I'm not lousy, whatever that means," Lumen protested.
Lloyd decided to leave Tenebrae and Lumen squabbling and moved away from the two to where he saw Sheena and Aqua. There was a frog monster with them, which seemed to be using a spray of water on the ground. Curious, the red clad young man approached and heard Sheena comment:
".. good thing you have a monster that can squish water. They were looking really dry."
"Yes. I've heard from some of my monsters about how the chaos energies have been affecting the plants. Is it true some forests petrified?" Aqua asked Sheena.
"Yeah. I saw it happen with the woods near Asgard… it's a pity." Sheena kneeled.
Lloyd could then see the violet haired woman was admiring some flowers and feeling their sweet aroma as the frog monster continued to water them. Sheena then noticed her companion standing right behind her and looked back. Seeing the grin on the dual swordsman's face, she stood, her face starting to redden.
"W-what is it? Why are you grinning?" the guardian user asked.
"This is the first time I see you doing this kind of stuff," Sheena let out an "huh?" at hearing that. Lloyd explained. "I never thought you liked flowers, but I think that's kind of just suits you."
"Y-you idiot," Sheena said, blushing. She hated it when people made her blush. "What? Did you think I don't have a feminine side at all? Just so you know, I do like flowers, okay?"
"Hehe. You're blushing," Lloyd stated.
Sheena blushed even redder at having that pointed out right on her face. She turned her body to the side as Lloyd found out that he could also make the guardian user feel all embarrassed by complimenting her. He felt like that was a sweet revenge for all those times Sheena made him feel embarrassed by saying those double meaning anecdotes.
Aqua sighed and left the couple, Sheena thinking in a good comeback to revert the situation at her favor. The Centurion of water decided to approach Ventus and talk with him. She called the eagle-like entity perched on the stone fence, looking to the port city of Palmacosta with a look that befit the animal he took the form of.
"So, why exactly are we going to Palmacosta?" Aqua asked her brethren. "From what I've heard, you all were going there to take a boat to the Thoda Island, where my altar is located."
"Yes, but thanks to this fortunate turn of events, we can now move to our next location. According to our Lord, we should move on to the Triet Desert. By boat, we shall take two days until we reach Izoold, from where we shall go on foot until the city of the desert and…"
"Ok, ok. I understood already. I know how long it takes to travel to there, thanks," Aqua said, rolling her eyes at another talk the Centurion of the wind turned into a lecture just to show how accurate his sense of directions was.
Ventus sighed. Sometimes he was forced to agree with Tenebrae about Aqua's behavior and personality. It was then he heard a chirp coming from the direction of the city. Ventus called his Lord and the other's attention, saying his scout have returned.
The Chirpee went to the eagle-like Centurion and reported in quick chirps. Ventus nodded his head several times and dismissed his servant, which was transported to his place of origin through the Centurion's power. Emil and the others gathered around Ventus, who spoke up:
"It seems the Desians are mostly around the port and Chirpee felt a powerful presence coming from that direction."
"Do think it can be… a Grand Cardinal?" Emil asked, fearful of the possibility of having to face one of the most powerful Desians. He doubted he could take on one, even if he was alone.
"Possibly. My suggestion is we go to the Inn and wait until they leave city. It didn't look like they were searching for you, my Lord," Ventus said.
"Ok. In that case, let's go right to the Inn," Marta spoke.
Emil and the Centurions nodded to the girl and walked to the entrance of the city. Sheena was about to follow, when she noticed Lloyd was still at his place with a look that mixed concern and anger. The violet haired woman turned to him and asked what the problem was. Lloyd shot his head up, almost confused. It seemed he was in deep thought.
"Oh, nothing," Lloyd said, though his tone didn't convince the beautiful woman in front of him a bit.
"You're worried the Desians might do something?" Sheena asked.
"Well… actually…" Lloyd said, scratching his head. Sometimes, he felt Sheena had the power to read the truth in people's face.
"If that's the case, how about we go and see what they're up to?" the violet haired woman suggested, with a smirk on her face.
"But we should go to the Inn with the others and…"
"And have you with this look on your face while imagining what the Desians are doing here the entire time? No thanks. I rather see the other cute looks that you make," Lloyd let out an "huh?" at that, blushing. "Yeah, like this one," Sheena said, smiling to him, which only made Lloyd blush all the more.
The dual swordsman was never complimented by his looks. The idea of girls finding him handsome was completely foreign, mostly because the girls back at Luin preferred to mock him for his attempts to cause problems for the Desians. But it seemed Sheena insisted in saying he was good looking, even if the red clad warrior didn't see himself like that.
When Lloyd was back to his senses, Sheena was already walking in the direction of Palmacosta. The voluptuous woman stopped and turned her head to him, asking if he was coming or not. Seeing there was no use in protesting, Lloyd followed her to the city. He just hoped Marta and Emil wouldn't get too worried once they noticed they were not in the Inn.
- / - / - / -
Palmacosta was known as one of the biggest cities of Sylvarant, together with Asgard and Iselia. Since its population surpassed the one of a common village, it had its Cruxis Representative and a church on it. Sheena had heard about him: his name was Dorr and, apparently, he was one of the few who were okay, not looking down on people as mere servants, but he also didn't lift a finger against the Desians threatening the population of the city. The proof of that was that there was a small group of them in the docks.
Emil and Marta had went right to the Inn, blending with the crowd that was avoiding go to the docks. However, Lloyd and Sheena were taking the opposite course and were approaching the local shorelines where the ships anchored. The stealthy woman instructed Lloyd to follow her and make silence. The red clad swordsman had to admit she was very good at hiding from others. He wondered where she had learned it from.
The couple located the Desians near a big steam ship and approached, hiding behind a pile of crates which contained fishes. Peeping from their hiding spot, Lloyd and Sheena saw aboard the ship a strong figure with red hair combed in curls and with a face full of scars carrying a large, battle ax. Sheena recognized him from the photos the members of the Vanguard showed her mother when they made meetings at the backroom in Asuka's.
"That's Magnius, the Flaming Lion," beautiful fighter explained to Lloyd.
"So Ventus was right after all," Lloyd said, gritting his teeth, memories of his fight with Rodyle surfacing. He knew if he and Sheena were spotted by Magnius, they were as good as dead.
"Don't worry, he won't catch us," Sheena said in a reassuring tone, putting her hand on Lloyd's shoulder.
Despite the situation, the contact made Lloyd blush again, even more at feeling how firm her grip on him was. However, what Lloyd didn't know was that the guardian user wasn't doing that simply by the pleasure of touching him or reassuring him, Sheena was also using her power to diminish the vibrations of Lloyd's aura, so the two wouldn't be discovered. Though, she also didn't mind touching him or inciting his imagination.
The two focused their attention on the ship once they heard someone speaking in a pleading tone. They saw it was a middle aged man in a captain outfit. Behind him was the entire crew of the ship, who looked absolutely horrified as they could just see the Desians taking something away of their ship.
Sheena looked to the large object being carried by two Desians. She didn't understand much about technology, but it seemed to be quite advanced for a simple gadget. She remembered seeing something like that in Asuka's that lit the neon sign at night.
"Please, without our steam engine, Elizabeth won't work," the captain said. Sheena and Lloyd saw that name written at the side of the hull of the ship.
"Like I care about that," Magnius said, pointing his ax to the throat of the man, who backed away, fear written all over his face. "And doesn't your 'faith' say something about developing new technology, vermin? Are you getting any funny ideas, huh?"
"N-n-no, sir Magnius! It's just that we…" before the man could continue, Magnius grabbed him by his neck, lifting him in the air.
"It's Lord Magnius, vermin!"
Without any further warn, Magnius threw the captain off the ship and into the water. The man surfaced, taking a deep breath and staying floating while the Desians laughed and pointed. Magnius turned to the rest of the crew, which cowered over the glare of the Grand Cardinal.
"It seems you vermin have yet to learn some manners. I would love to teach you, but I have more important things to do than deal with a bunch of ignorant vermin."
"Then why don't you let me lecture them for you?" a new voice said, a feminine one.
Lloyd and Sheena looked to the other side of the docks and saw a new group coming. To their surprise, there were two monsters there, one a balloon looking creature and the other a purple wolf with spirals in its eyes and white mane. Leading them was a blond girl with honey-colored eyes and a blue haired man carrying a dark-blue iron maiden with details in gold. The girl spoke up again in a baby voice:
"Well, well, if it isn't Lord Magnius. Dealing with these humans again?"
"Alice," Magnius said, an evil smirk coming to his lips as he regarded the girl.
Lloyd and Sheena looked between themselves and back to Alice. That girl was a Desian? She seemed to be far too young to be one. However, Sheena could feel the unmistakable demonic aura around her mixed to the aura of a half-elf. But when the guardian user looked to the man accompanying her, she got confused.
The man also emanated chaos energy, but his aura was much more instable than the other half-demons, though it seemed to be restrained by something. All thoughts and questions were erased from her mind when her nose picked up something. She and Lloyd had to cover their noses once they felt a terrible scent invade them.
"Ghaa, what the hell?" Sheena whispered, her eyes watering.
"It… seems to be coming from that guy," Lloyd said, pointing to the man accompanying Alice, who they now noticed was staying some distance away from him. Even the Desians stepped away once the man passed near them, obviously not very pleased with the aroma either.
"Urgh, what is he using? Chaos essence?"
The man stayed at the end of the bridge to the ship while Alice went up. Magnius gave a look of disgust to him before turning his look to Alice and speaking:
"So, what brings you here? In case you haven't noticed, I'm in the middle of confiscating some dangerous material from these vermin," Sheena and Lloyd couldn't tell if his tone was friendly or not, but he didn't seem to be eager to throw Alice into the water or slash her.
"Oh, just passing by. Nothing of too much importance," Alice said.
"So, you're slacking off?" Magnius asked with his evil smirk on again.
"Of course we aren't!" the man that accompanied Alice protested, making her and Magnius look to him. "We're here because we've received reports of Ratatosk being sighted in this region. So, as you can see, my darling Alice and me are just fulfilling our duty and…"
"Decus, shut up!" Alice shouted to her companion, who stopped speaking. His face then got a dumb expression of worry, when he realized he had spoken too much.
"Oh really?" Magnius asked, his smile turning into a grin.
Lloyd and Sheena had sweatdrops falling behind their heads at seeing Decus letting his words slip his and Alice's mission. It was clear the blue haired man wasn't the brightest star around. Alice turned to him with an angry look on her face, asking:
"What did I tell you about opening your big mouth?"
"Only do so if you command me. I'm really sorry, my dearest Alice," Decus said, making a very flashy reverence to her, stretching one of his legs forward.
"Whatever. Anyway, it's not like you would interfere now, would you Magy?" Alice asked, using a sweet tone mixed with her baby voice.
"Well, maybe I won't… if you deal with these vermin for me," the Desian Grand Cardinal said, giving space for her to face the crew behind him.
"With pleasure," Alice said, using the sweetest tone she had, in a sing-song voice.
Sheena and Lloyd shuddered as the girl looked at the crew, which seemed not to be as horrified as before, but they were still with worried and scared expressions on their faces. Alice seemed to be… enjoying the fear she was causing to those people, smiling like a little child in a candy store while patting the edgeless sword she had in her hand.
"Now, which one of you would like to volunteer for a lesson? C'mon, if nobody comes, it's not fun," her tone was as sweet as before while she closed her eyes and smiled.
"Wait a minute," a rather brawny sailor stepped forward, towering over Alice and seeming not as fearful as his workmates. "She's just a little girl," he then approached Alice and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey you! Don't you think you're too young to play around with this bunch?"
In an instant, Alice's expression changed from cute and sweet to neutral and emotionless as she looked to the hand of the sailor on her shoulder. Before anyone could blink, the Desian girl grabbed the man's arm and twisted it with ease, almost breaking it. The sailor let out a yelp of surprised and yells of pain as he felt his muscles and bones straining to their limit.
"Don't…" Alice said in an emotionless, cold tone as she proceeded to beat the man with her sword, first hitting his leg and making him knell while his arm was still being twisted. "ever…" another blow on the man's other leg. "touch me…" this time she hit his side, the blow didn't seem to carry much strength, but the shouts of pain from the sailor said otherwise. "again…"Alice ended by beating him in the face, leaving a vivid red mark where the point of her sword hit.
Lloyd and Sheena gasped, the former not understanding how those weak strikes could hurt so much. Sheena, however, saw how Alice was inflicting pain on the sailor. The blond girl charged an abhorrent amount of chaos energy on her sword and produce invisible discharges of it each time she hit the man, causing such damage to his vital energy that she didn't even need to inflict any physical damage to incapacitate him.
The man, of course, didn't understand what was happening. The blows didn't seem to hurt that much, save for the arm twist Alice gave him, but he felt like his insides were breaking apart upon the little girl's assault. The sailor then ended up falling in the ground. Alice walked over him and touched his chest with her sword.
"You humans are disgusting creatures…" suddenly small trails of smoke started to be produced from the man's chest, like Alice was burning him. He let out more painful yells. Sheena could see the Desian girl was actually burning the sailor's aura. "think you're better than any of us? Think you have the right to complain about how we treat you when everything you've done to us was just as horrible?" she removed her sword's point from the man's chest, who let out ragged breathes. "And to think pathetic things like you were the ones who actually changed the world to the state it is now," Alice's sweet smile and baby voice suddenly returned, like she had never been serious or cold before in her entire life. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you have idiots forming a mob. Not that I'm complaining about it, of course."
Alice then turned and started to leave the ship, with her eyes closed and walking like she owned the entire thing. She passed near Decus and spoke to him, loud enough for Lloyd and Sheena to catch:
"Take care of this one, Decus."
The blue haired man complied and went up the ship, dragging his iron maiden the entire way. The sailor who Alice had tortured was still on the ground, agonizing in pain. The rest of the crew tried to help him, but they all backed away once they saw Decus coming up the ship.
The Desian man then placed his iron maiden at his side and it opened, revealing a black broadsword with golden details and a forked point. He caught the blade and gave it a testing swing. The sailor saw him and spoke:
"You… why is a human… ?" that was all the man managed to say, because in the next second Decus had cleaved him in two.
Lloyd and Sheena closed one eye when they heard the sound of a gurgled exclamation and steel cutting through flesh. When they looked again, Decus was standing, his blade stained with blood and some droplets of it in his clothes, but his expression seemed totally normal as he pointed his blade to each one of the terrorized sailors.
"And may this be an example for all of you. Anybody who touches my Alice will feel the sharp steel of my blade."
Alice was smiling as sweetly as ever as Decus threatened the crew. Magnius, who had been on the docks, watching everything with his arms crossed, looked to the girl and said:
"Well, that was quite good. I guess you could make an actually decent general. If you got rid of that stinky vermin, that is."
"Oh, Decus, you mean?" Alice asked in her baby voice. "He's quite useful. My, I thought even you would know the advantages of having your personal slave, Magy."
If Magnius gritted his teeth by being called by that nickname, or because of the meaning behind Alice's line, Lloyd and Sheena couldn't tell, but it was quite clear the Grand Cardinal and the Desian General weren't best buddies. It seemed the two were on a "mutual tolerance" basis.
"I would watch your tongue if I were you, Alice. You are just a lowly general and I am a Grand Cardinal," Magnius said, with an edge of threat in his voice.
"Oh really?" Alice said, her tone completely unchanging, seeming to not be affected by Magnius' threat at all. She snapped her fingers. Almost instantly one Desian stepped in and lowered behind Alice, standing on four as the girl climbed and used his back as a seat. "It seems your subordinates do recognize me as their superior. Now, how could this be?" she shrugged, smiling.
The Grand Cardinal seemed to growl. Lloyd and Sheena remembered what Tenebrae and Ratatosk had told about demons always following orders of their superiors. It seemed Alice was indeed someone of an important position, just behind Magnius.
"Whatever. I have to take this vermin's engine and see if it's useful anyway. I don't have time to go around finding some runaway vermin," the Desian Grand Cardinal said.
"Oh, alright then," Alice said, standing as Decus came back from the ship. She started to walk away with him, reuniting with her monsters. "Bye-bye, Magy. Hope you don't get caught by the angels," with that last remark, Alice left the docks.
Magnius grumbled under his breath and ordered his men to move. They carried the steam engine out of the docks and Lloyd and Sheena could finally leave their hiding spot. Before both could say something about what they had seen, they heard Ventus' voice sounding near their ears:
"There are you two. What are you doing? Lord Emil and Lady Marta got worried once they saw two you weren't coming."
"We kinda had…" Lloyd started, but was unable to think on something to say.
Ventus looked to the direction the red clad swordsman was shooting glances to and saw the Desians leaving the city. The Centurion of wind looked from the dual swordsman to the attractive female, speaking:
"I see what motivated your little escapade. However, I wonder how Lord Emil and the others will take it."
- / - / - / -
"You went to where the Desians were?" Marta exclaimed upon hearing what Lloyd told her when he, Sheena and Ventus got back to the room Emil had rented in the Inn. "What were you thinking? What if they had caught you?"
Lloyd couldn't find something to say. Marta was kind of scary when she was angry and this was one of those moments. Sheena, however, looked completely unaffected, sitting in a couch in their room with her arms crossed and a bothered look in her face.
"Honestly, here we were, worried the Desians might come to this part of the city and you two simply go to them. Why did you… ?"
"Marta, chill out, will you?" Sheena said, finally getting tired of hearing the rant of the brunette girl. "They would have never found Lloyd with me around, so can you stop going all mother-mode over us?"
"I-I'm not trying to sound like your mom!" Marta protested. "It's just we were worried about you. Right Emil?"
The petite brunette was searching for support from her crush who was busy talking with the Centurions. Upon hearing his name, Emil turned to her, letting out an "huh?" Needless to say, that only angered Marta all the more.
"You weren't even listening?" the girl ranted again, startling Emil.
"I-i-it's just that… I think they knew about the risks Marta," Emil said, sweating under Marta's glare. "I mean, Lloyd and Sheena already fought against a Grand Cardinal. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't do something reckless like…"
"FINE!" Marta yelled, startling not just Emil again, but Lloyd too. "If you're going to stay on their side I'm not going to even bother myself anymore!"
Pouting, the girl sat down on her bed. Emil sighed while Lloyd just stayed looking at her. Sheena shrugged, not even bothered by the girl's mood and picking up a nearby magazine to read. Meanwhile, one thought was going through Lloyd's head:
If there is one adversary I would really pass on fighting, it's women.
After some minutes, Lumen materialized in their room. The Centurion of light had gone outside to check if the Desians had already left city. He spoke:
"The bad guys already left, boss," Emil nodded and everybody got up. "But why can't we use one of Aqua-girl's servants to cross the sea? I mean, it would be cooler that way."
"Oh, of course they can… if they had the ability to breath underwater, you idiot," Aqua said.
"Oh. Well, that's a good reason," Lumen said in his blunt and innocent way, not catching the hostility and insult in Aqua's line. Nobody really paid heed to it. They were already used to the cheetah-like Centurion's personality.
"Can't I drown him. Please my lord?" Aqua asked in a begging tone to Emil.
"Normally I would be more than glad to let her do it. But since I don't have enough power to create a replacement right now...," Ratatosk replied mentally to Emil.
"You can't," Emil said simply, omitting the violent remarks of the spirit inside him.
It was Aqua's turn to pout as she and the other servants of Ratatosk concealed themselves as the group exited the room. Now that the Desians have left the city, Lloyd and the others could see a mob around the church. All seemed very worried and were talking between themselves.
That called the curiosity of the four as they heard all voices silencing and a priest in the front of the church start talking, at his side was a blond man with a blond beard, wearing fine clothes. Marta, Emil and Sheena recognized him as Dorr, Cruxis' Representative of Palmacosta.
"Now my people, please calm down," the priest said. "We know every time the Desians come to our town you all get nervous. We are too. But we must not forget it is in times like this that our true dedication to the Faith is tested. The teachings of the Faith clearly states: thou shall not enter in unnecessary conflict with the demons and their servants, for any careless approach might lead to destruction. Only the holy agents and the Knights of Cruxis truly stand any chance against these beasts."
The silence was so heavy it seemed no one was breathing. Lloyd and Sheena could just roll their eyes at that, suppressing the urge to voice the same thought:
Oh, then we should sit and wait for Cruxis or the Knights to come and let the demons have their way meanwhile.
"We need to have faith in our protectors," the priest continued, pointing to a marine-dark obelisk at the center of the plaza, behind the crowd and near Lloyd, Sheena, Marta and Emil. "Since their blessing was bestowed upon us, we haven't suffered any attacks from the demons."
"But the Desians are still coming," someone in the middle of the crowd spoke, with others agreeing with him.
"That might be… but doesn't it mean some of us are not dedicating themselves enough to the Faith?" the priest asked in a rather sharp tone, like he was interrogating the crowd about a crime they witnessed.
The people in the plaza looked between themselves, murmuring something. The priest continued:
"Only the Faith can guide us to our redemption in the eyes of the gods and goddesses. When that happens, Cruxis will drive the demons away of our world and restore the order, but we must continue to uphold the Faith and follow its teachings until then."
The people nodded and some even cheered. Dorr, who had remained quiet the entire time, didn't move a muscle while the priest of the Church of Cruxis was speaking. It seemed he was there more as a representative figure.
Marta and Sheena said for them to go, angry expressions on their faces. The boys accompanied them as the two started to talk:
"Can you believe that? The way he talked to everybody," Marta said.
"Yeah, no kidding. What's their problem? He spoke like it's our fault that the Desians oppress us," Sheena spoke to Marta.
"I hate people like that. They think that just because they have a safe place in some kind of religious order they can talk down to everybody like they have never done anything wrong."
"It seems the sermon made Lady Marta and Lady Sheena completely forget their previous argument," Tenebrae pointed out to the Centurions, Lloyd and Emil, who were walking behind the two females.
"Yes, but the words he spoke…" Ventus said, landing on Emil's shoulder while still concealed and retracting his wing to its "hand mode", putting it under his beak, in a thoughtful pose. "Are all followers of this Church of Cruxis like that?"
"Most of them are," Emil answered. "But it seems they act like that just because the angels act the same; constantly reminding people that it's their fault that the world is in this situation."
"Like they are being of great help reprimanding people like that," Aqua said. "I mean, it is indeed the humans' fault the world is like this, but they shouldn't waste time blaming others for that. They should think about doing something to fix things right away."
"Unfortunately, humans do have this 'necessity' of finding someone to put the blame on," Tenebrae spoke. "They find it easier to blame others instead of realizing their own mistakes and work to correct them."
"Hypocrites until the very end, that's what they are," Ratatosk said inside Emil's mind. The blonde was trying to keep the Summon Spirit in check, so he wouldn't come out and say those things aloud.
The group arrived at the docks and started to ask the sailors for a ship that could sail them to Izoold. Unfortunately, most of the ships were damaged by the demons that took residence in the sea and the violent, marine monsters. Others had their power engines taken away by the Desians or simply weren't willingly to set sail in the dangerous waters.
After one hour of fruitless searching, the group reunited in the pier and discussed what they would do now. It was then they heard someone say:
"Hey, you all there!" the group turned and saw a man with a purple jacket wearing nothing under it and blue pants. He also wore a blue, captain-styled hat. "I heard you're looking for someone to sail you to Izoold, right?"
"Yes, but it seems nobody want to do it," Lloyd said.
"Well, then you are lucky mate. I am Aifread, the legendary pirate!" the man said in a proud tone and flashing a toothy smile with his eyes closed, while putting his hand under his chin.
"'Legendary'?" Lloyd and Emil repeated, looking between themselves.
"If you're 'legendary,' how come I never heard of you?" Sheena asked, crossing her arms.
Aifread kept his pose, but seemed to start to sweat from the question. He quickly came up with something and said:
"T-that's because I am known mostly by the man of the sea and in port towns. Anyway, you are looking for transport, right? Well, I happen to have a boat right here!"
Aifread pointed to a point in the pier the group hadn't checked and there they saw a boat, a very tiny boat. It looked like the model fishermen used, with only a cabin where the wheel was located and a sail, nothing more. Lloyd couldn't contain the words that formed in his mind and spoke:
"You're kidding right? I've seen boats before and this looks more like a floating bathtub."
"How dare you speak like that?" Aifread spoke, seeming angry. That only made sweatdrops fall behind the heads of the group. "I know I might not have a big crew like most of the other guys, but I have already braved the seas under a furious tempest and even sailed to the remote regions of Flanoir and all by myself!"
"Because nobody was stupid enough to come with you, right?" Sheena inquired in a sarcastic tone.
Marta put her hands on her mouth to stop her giggle as Lloyd and Emil did the same not to laugh at the face Aifread made by Sheena's remark. The so called legendary pirate narrowed his eyes, looking to the side and speaking:
"You have quite the sharp tongue, mate…"
"Wait, but can you really sail us to Izoold?" Emil asked, returning to the main subject of the talk. "Aren't you afraid of the demons?"
"Hah! The demons never achieved to keep me away of the sea, mate. They already tried it several times, but I am Aifread! I shall not give up to the likes of them! I am a man of the sea, my heart rests there and nobody will deny me from it!"
Though the group had to admit Aifread's enthusiasm was something admirable, they couldn't tell if the guy was underestimating the demons or not. The group looked between themselves and asked for Aifread to give them a moment, walking some steps away of him.
The three humans and woman with elven blood considered the situation: they didn't have any other means of crossing the sea, so they would have to take Aifread's offer, even if that meant putting their lives in charge of the strange pirate. They approached him again and Lloyd said:
"Ok, we're going to take the offer. How much is it?"
"Since you insulted my ship, it's 10,000 gald for you and 5,000 per head for the others," Aifread said in a resentful tone.
"WHAT? That's highway robbery!"
"Oh c'mon. Please? Can't you see we're in a desperate situation here?" Marta spoke up.
"Well, hmm… maybe I could. I mean, a pirate like myself has never let down a pretty lady like yourself," Aifread said, with a smile to Marta. He then looked to Sheena. "If that beauty over there also asked."
Aifread raised his eyebrows suggestively to Sheena. Lloyd saw that and narrowed his eyes. However, he didn't need to do anything because in a blink of eyes Sheena had grabbed Aifread by the collar of his jacket and suspend him above the sea in the docks.
The pirate looked absolutely terrified when he realized the situation he was in, but he got even more frightened when he saw the angry look in Sheena's face. The strong, female fighter spoke:
"Say that again and I'll make sure your heart stays under the sea, understood?" Aifread quickly nodded to her. "And another thing; you're going to charge us the normal price for a boat travel which is 4,500 gald. Did I made myself clear?"
"Crystal, miss," Aifread said in a scared tone. "C-could you please put me down now… ?" he barely finished his sentence and Sheena threw him back at the pier.
The violet haired human let out an "hmph" and walked away. Emil and Marta could just look with wide eyes at that demonstration of her "negotiation abilities." Lloyd couldn't help, but grin at seeing Sheena doing that to Aifread. The pirate then got up, dusting himself and trying to recover from the shock. He spoke:
"I-I will depart tomorrow at sunrise. The demons are less active around this time."
"Ok. Thanks," Marta said, now with a smile on her face.
The group walked away of Aifread, who had to hold in a wooden support of the pier to steady the way, Lloyd couldn't help, but keep smiling as he thought of the way Sheena got them a discount from Aifread. The red clad swordsman then said:
"Man, that was awesome, Sheena."
"You think?" the violet haired woman asked.
"Yeah. If you haven't done that to him, I would have put my blade on his throat for the way he spoke to you," Lloyd said, with some anger on his voice.
Sheena looked to the side to hide her blush from the others, who were looking at Lloyd, wondering if Sheena's violent traits have spurred on him. The guardian user never had anyone to be angry for her when men tried to hit on her, besides her mother, of course. The thought that Lloyd also cared for her dignity was touching in her opinion.
Oh no, stop with that, Fujibayashi! You're going to start blushing again. Sheena scolded herself.
"Well, I have to say Lady Sheena's tactic of negotiation is quite effective," Tenebrae commented.
"To speak the truth, mother did say I have the talent to 'convince' people," Sheena said, trying to distract her mind from what Lloyd had said.
"Really? Then maybe that's how Asuka's got so popular, because Sheena convinced people to go there," Lumen said in his cheerful tone, not catching the tone the voluptuous woman used in "convince."
"Uh...I don't think that's the case," Emil spoke with a sweatdrop.